Quick Bytes
By Libby
I just got a last minute call to babysit for a friend this afternoon so I'm off in a minute until this evening. In the interim, here's a few links to some quick reads you may have missed because they probably didn't get enough attention.
Swopa shows us how Obama is ready and able to take on the GOP slime machine.
Vanity Fair outlines how Bush administration incompetency helped Hamas take over Gaza. Sadly, No has the shorter version, with illustrations.
Scarecrow comes up with a list of questions I would love to see answered on the campaign trail.
Jann Wenner endorses Obama. It's quite a flowery little piece. Here's a sample.
Meanwhile, our military readiness is at risk because Iraq and Afghanistan are draining our resources.
If you noticed that Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty the other day, then you may have seen the candidate's statements on it. Robert Naiman thinks Obama had the better response.
Norman Soloman also looks at this story and comes to this conclusion.
And while we're all obsessing about the primaries, Bush just gutted intelligence oversight.
That's it. Gotta go. Let me know in comments if I missed anything good this afternoon. I'll be offline until I get back.
I just got a last minute call to babysit for a friend this afternoon so I'm off in a minute until this evening. In the interim, here's a few links to some quick reads you may have missed because they probably didn't get enough attention.
Swopa shows us how Obama is ready and able to take on the GOP slime machine.
Vanity Fair outlines how Bush administration incompetency helped Hamas take over Gaza. Sadly, No has the shorter version, with illustrations.
Scarecrow comes up with a list of questions I would love to see answered on the campaign trail.
Jann Wenner endorses Obama. It's quite a flowery little piece. Here's a sample.
Obama has emerged by displaying precisely the kind of character and judgment we need in a president: renouncing the politics of fear, speaking frankly on the most pressing issues facing the country and sticking to his principles. He recognizes that running for president is an opportunity to inspire an entire nation.All Spin Zone notices the USAF is passing over US corporations and awarding big contracts to overseas companies. So much for war being good for the economy.
Meanwhile, our military readiness is at risk because Iraq and Afghanistan are draining our resources.
If you noticed that Colombia violated Ecuador's sovereignty the other day, then you may have seen the candidate's statements on it. Robert Naiman thinks Obama had the better response.
Judging from Hillary's statement, we should expect no meaningful change in U.S. policy towards Colombia, Ecuador, or Venezuela (which she falsely claims is a dictatorship) if she is elected president -- unless it is a change to make it worse.I'd agree.
Norman Soloman also looks at this story and comes to this conclusion.
The best way to avoid becoming disillusioned is to not have illusions in the first place. There's little reason to believe that Obama is inclined to break away from the routine militarism of U.S. foreign policy. But it's plausible that grassroots pressure could pull him in a better direction on a range of issues. He seems to be appreciably less stuck in cement than the other candidates who still have a chance to become president on January 20, 2009.I'd agree with that as well.
And while we're all obsessing about the primaries, Bush just gutted intelligence oversight.
White House issued a new executive order effectively gutting the Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB), “created in 1976 in the wake of widespread abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies.” Under the order, many of the IOB’s investigative powers will now be transfered to DNI Mike McConnell. “Rather than intelligence agencies reporting their activities to the board for review, they will now report them to McConnell,” the AP notes.And finally, Jon Turley calls it beautiful logic but Diane thought it was really the perfect description of tyranny. I'd agree with Diane on that one.
That's it. Gotta go. Let me know in comments if I missed anything good this afternoon. I'll be offline until I get back.
Labels: Linkfest
posted by Libby Spencer at 12:20 PM
3 Comments:
speaking of obama
http://www.antiwar.com/justin/?articleid=12475
raimondo comes out of the closet...again
Well, you forgot this link, at Foreign Affairs.
Check out Adam Garfinkle:
"Years from now, when historians work on advanced drafts of the Bush legacy, they may well conclude that the Iraq war, the failed "freedom agenda," and the White House's response to 9/11 compose its central contributions. But this is not certain. After all, judgments about historical epochs are, as the humorist S. J. Perelman once observed of the prospects for immortality, "subject to the caprice of the unborn." And even if these policies do turn out to be the main themes of the Bush presidency, they might look different a decade or so hence....More broadly, who can possibly know now the long-term effects of current U.S. policy in the Middle East, any more than French observers in 1801 could accurately reckon the impact of Napoleon's botched adventures in Egypt? Yes, neoconservatives, flush with having been vindicated by the West's victory in the Cold War, lazily applied their creed to problems and places for which their experience was a poor guide. But who is to say that a third generation of neoconservatives...will not do better? Whatever they are called, and wherever they come from, there will be idealists in the United States' future."
Interesting Lester. This is second time in 24 hours I've seen an independent candidacy proposed for O.
LOL Anon, no wonder you're embarrassed to post commnets under your real name. You expect anyone to take Archie seriously? He's clearly trying to wash the blood off his hands after shilling for the war for two solid years at State.
As for "who is to say that a third generation of neoconservatives...will not do better?" It's because they're ideologues not idealists who afraid of contradicting Daddy or Granddaddy for fear of seeing their trust funds cut off.
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