Electric Politics

Break Update

Wed, 22 May 2013 22:52:29 -0500

This has been a busy break. A very busy break. First I gave a deep cleaning to the downstairs — kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, living room, den — then, after a couple days rest, I tackled the attic. With intelligent planning, sorting and pre-bagging I filled a dumpster with attic debris in two days. Wow! A huge old carpet remnant, seven mattresses, two easy chairs, a couple of office chairs, etc., etc., plus lots of big, black contractor bags. Not to mention bags of stuff (old suits, blankets) to the Lupus foundation, whose virtue is that they make home pickups, and about twenty five bags of books to the State Department book fair, who also make home pickups (which totals a couple thousand books donated to them over the last few years). With some extremely welcome help I completed that tranche of attic cleaning last Friday. Between residual attic debris and what's in the basement I've probably got another dumpster's worth of junk but I'll wait to work on that until later... Then this Monday I had jury duty (previously postponed). Thanks be to the Gods of Jury Selection, I was let go and not only let go but let go at just past noon. Hallelujah! Since Monday afternoon I've been vegging and metaphorically patting myself on the back for a Spring Cleaning job well done. I'll start seriously thinking about the podcast next week and hope to have the schedule up and running no later than June 14th, with further updates to the schedule's specifics posted here as they become available.

What Difference Does It Make?

Fri, 10 May 2013 02:54:37 -0500

In congressional testimony in January Secretary Clinton rhetorically asked "What difference does it make?", referring to whether the administration had initially attributed the Benghazi attack to terrorism or to the Muslim street's reaction to a virulently anti-Islam video. It's a strong rhetorical question that should be thrown back at her. What difference does it make whether a rescue of Americans in Benghazi was ever attempted? In retrospect, given the events that we are presently aware of (and what we are aware of may yet change), the administration argues that any rescue attempt would have been too late to arrive and that therefore they made the correct decision about not sending an emergency team. But that sneakily misses the point. Although in retrospect we may "know" that a rescue attempt would have been too late, at that moment in time no such knowledge was available. The actual decision was binary: 'Will we try to rescue the Americans in Benghazi, or won't we?' We're now learning that not only was no attempt made but that an actual attempt was quashed by political higher ups. The always puzzling fact that no assets whatsoever were deployed thus needs further explanation. Although still circumstantial, this week's insider testimony suggests the Administration made a very political decision along the lines of 'we don't want terrorism distracting the public from the 2012 campaign so, all things considered, our Americans in Benghazi must die quietly.' If this can be proved it's game over for Mr. Obama.

Antigonish

Thu, 09 May 2013 23:23:57 -0500

Unfinished Business re Benghazi

Mon, 06 May 2013 14:13:56 -0500

Making allowance for the possibility of an inept, politically addled, somewhat long in the tooth and not, shall we say, highly promoted career foreign service officer, nevertheless, what Greg Hicks is now finally getting around to making public seems potentially quite serious. If it is, in fact, true that the Pentagon called off a rescue mission to the Americans under siege in Benghazi then (1) someone really screwed up, and (2) Susan Rice's Sunday talking points do appear suspect, just as Republicans have been alleging all along. Further investigation should be relatively straightforward. If there's any danger from further facts becoming known it could only be to Mr. Obama's reputation and one has difficulty imagining anybody in Congress, Democrat or Republican, leaping to defend him. On the other hand, if there was a rapid response flameout then it behooves us to fix the process.

What Else Is New?

Mon, 06 May 2013 02:05:36 -0500

When she started out as prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Carla Del Ponte didn't do so well. Over time, however, she gradually rehabilitated herself — but that's another story. Suffice to say I believe she's become a reliable investigator. Currently, she's a UN commission member looking into reports of the use of Sarin gas in Syria. And she says that from what the commission has found it's the rebels using Sarin, not the government. Which makes perfect sense. The rebels have reason to leave traces of Sarin gas here and there in hopes of outside (e.g., US) intervention. One wonders, also, whether all the reports of Sarin use may have emboldened the Israelis to start blowing things up in Syria? Whatever, the Israelis really should stay out. They may not understand this but it's not in their interest to have a wider Middle East war. Maybe later. Not now. Probably never.

Vacation Update

Thu, 02 May 2013 07:59:40 -0500

No rest here for the weary. But I'm very pleased at how much I'm getting done. Phase one of Spring Cleaning took care of the kitchen, breakfast room, dining room, living room, and TV/dog kennel space. Plus assorted closets and hallways. Deep cleaning. Whew! But it's not just cleaning, it's sorting for stuff to be thrown out, to be set aside for a yard sale, to be sent to the attic awaiting further decision, etc. Books to rearrange, books to store in the attic, books to give to the annual State Department book fair. Amazing how stuff accumulates. Phase two will be a direct assault on the aforementioned attic. It's a relatively large maze that hasn't been cleaned/cleared for a very long time. A dumpster rental will be required. Phase two, however, is somewhat contingent on what happens next week when I'm called to DC jury duty. If I'm chosen for a jury and the trial goes on for several days then I may have to put off the attic — either that or delay the podcast schedule by a short while. Planning being complicated.

Begin the Beguine

Wed, 01 May 2013 01:33:53 -0500

Cat Fight

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:31:27 -0500

Maureen Dowd's April 20 NYT column, "No Bully in the Pulpit," castigated Mr. Obama for his weak leadership. Obama hyper-partisan Elizabeth Drew wasted no time responding in her April 28 blog at the New York Review of Books, "Obama and the Myth of Arm-Twisting." To paraphrase Drew, 'it's a waste of time to try leading Congress.' To paraphrase Dowd, 'the only way any President has ever accomplished anything of significance was by pushing it through Congress.' Drew, having written thirteen books on various political subjects, has the reputation of being a serious, respected thinker. Dowd is known mainly for being a satirical columnist. (Dowd, however, has won a Pulitzer while Drew has not.) So who's right, and why does it matter?

Miranda Who?

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:00:00 -0500

Unsurprisingly, the administration's decision not to Mirandize Dzhokhar Tsarnaev (at least temporarily) has raised more than a few liberal hackles. Notably, and quite predictably, Glenn Greenwald has weighed in with a typical legalistic screed. Greenwald's outrage is worth noting as an example, and reference point, for what's wrong with a lot of liberal opinion: a confusion between ends and means.

Got Them

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:55:37 -0500

Well, technically, one is still on the run but he'll be caught soon, dead or alive — hopefully alive so that he can talk. Looks like a couple of Chechens. Muslims, I suppose. Who'd have thought? There's a lot we need to find out, especially whether they came here purposefully to commit an act of terrorism. And brace yourselves for another round of good old-fashioned American xenophobia...

We'll Get Him

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 20:39:38 -0500

One of Sharon's daughters works for New York Road Runners, otherwise known as the New York Marathon. As it happens, she was in Boston on the 15th, to see how Boston runs its Marathon, and she was hanging around the finish line until about an hour before the bombs went off. Luckily, she left to get a train back to New York — but her knees are still a bit wobbly. Sharon, of course, refuses to imagine the possibility that her daughter could have been injured or killed. What kind of society do we live in, anyway?

My guess is that the perpetrator is a white, twenty-something military veteran, who served in Afghanistan within the last five years, who sustained combat injuries there, who now lives in the Boston area (or maybe Connecticut), and who is a Libertarian, Second Amendment "gun rights" fanatic. We'll see... Anyhow, I'm sure he'll be caught.

Down Time

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:53:32 -0500

I'm now officially taking a break. I really need a rest, maybe a reset. Time for some woolgathering. More walks in the park (Casey likes the trails near the stables in Rock Creek). And spring cleaning! I'll be gone for at least six weeks, possibly a bit longer. When I've got the summer schedule set, even if it's preliminary, I'll post a notice here. Meanwhile I'm sure I'll blog a bit too. Keep the faith, enjoy the season!

Forking Cyprus

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:02:28 -0500

After what the Germans have done to Cyprus — and make no mistake, it's the bloodthirsty German bullies with their Quisling under-thugs who perpetrated the deed — it's difficult to see how Cyprus might protect itself. I think Paul Krugman and Robert Kuttner are partly right: Cyprus should leave the Euro, but I would add a practical twist.

First, just take a look at what the Eurocrats have done: They say they will loan Cyprus €10 billion provided that the Cypriot government seizes billions in deposits from two private banks. Set aside the ethics of seizing deposits. How can Cyprus repay the loan? According to the CIA factbook Cyprus' estimated 2012 GDP, at the official Euro exchange rate, is 22.45 billion dollars. At 1.28 dollars to the Euro, €10 billion equals $12.8 billion, or 57% of GDP. In comparison, the U.S. GDP in 2012 was about $15.65 trillion; 57% of that is about $8.95 trillion; even for the U.S., the incurring of an unexpected, instantaneous debt of $8.95 trillion would pose severe difficulties regarding repayment.

On Racial Entitlements

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 06:20:03 -0500

Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is entirely correct: it is pretty damn difficult to get rid of racial entitlements. Too bad for him, though, that the real racial entitlements Americans should worry about are the exact opposite of what he meant. Whites — not blacks — enjoy racial entitlements, have enjoyed racial entitlements since the founding, and find the guarantee to being entitled forged irrevocably into the Constitution, albeit in passably neutral language. This problem is much, much worse than you might imagine. For an explanation, see Juan F. Perea, "Race and Constitutional Law Casebooks: Recognizing the Proslavery Constitution," Michigan Law Review [Vol. 110,1123 April 2012]. Ostensibly a book review, Perea's essay does an admirable job probing both the extent of our institutional racism and our deficiencies in recognizing it. Scalia, indeed, should be ashamed of himself... If not for his moral cowardice, for his public display of ignorance.

Kudos to Argo!

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:29:14 -0500

Kudos to Argo, and to Ben Affleck. It's a terrific movie and I'm delighted that it won Best Picture. For those who think it unfairly depicts Iranians, I simply refer you to the fact that in Iran the film is the biggest bootleg hit in years. Besides, the prefatory material in Argo regarding the CIA's role in deposing Mosaddegh, while containing some inaccuracies, is properly skeptical of U.S. policy. Some have criticized Argo for not giving enough credit to the several western governments who offered various kinds of aid in exfiltrating the six. In particular, some Canadians are bent out of shape, and there's grumbling from other quarters. Get over it! This is a film 'based on' true events, not a docudrama of true events. And while I realize that it's difficult these days to want to give the CIA credit for anything, in this case they deserve it, for getting six Americans home — without blowing anything up or killing anybody. Setting those and similar questions aside, Argo is a ripping good yarn.