I'm not sure what to say about tonight's debate, except to opine that I don't think it will matter much. It's foreign policy, and people don't care about that. I expect viewership will be low. Romney, if her's smart, should make the debate about his views and policies, rather than trying (as he did last debate) to prosecute Obama about … Read More
What Is It With Republicans And Calling Something Terror?
So Romney had a chance to screw Obama on Benghazi, but he blew it. He decided to make it about when Obama called it an "act of terror" and he got his facts wrong, and he looked really really really stupid. Obama did in fact call Benghazi an act of terror the very next morning after the attack happened, in the Rose … Read More
Tripoli, No Benghazi
Keep this in mind when it is brought up in the debate tonight. According to State Department officials involved, the security requests were for the U.S. Embassy in the capital, Tripoli, not Benghazi, the New York Times reported last week: In a stream of diplomatic cables, embassy security officers warned their superiors at the State Department of a worsening threat from Islamic extremists, … Read More
Foreign Service Corps Not Fans of Romney
From a Foreign Service Officer … It’s probably not a surprise. But can I just say that if Mitt Romney wins in November, he is going to have a very chilly reception from his employees every time he goes abroad? I don’t think I can quite state the rage we’re all feeling towards him. Via TPM
Cartoon Nails It
Boy, if this Oliphant political cartoon doesn't accurately describe Romney's desparation over the past few days, nothing does: These past few days, Romney has been playing to the crowd that was so outraged by a mosque bgeing built at Ground Zero (by the way, I've been there — you can't see any mosque — it's blocks away). And he thinks this … Read More
Romney Condemns The Movie That The U.S. Consulate Criticized, After Which Romney Condemned For The Criticism
And now Romney's campaign is desperately circulating talking points to supporters, to try to deal with the fallout from his crass statements. Expect all of these to immediately start spouting from the right wing media and blogs:Romney Camp Tries to Manage Fallout From Libya Response. From the "Questions and Answers" section: Questions & Answers: Don't you think it was appropriate … Read More
The Attacks On U.S. Ambassador
Well, it's ugly no doubt. As you probably know by now, families are in mourning, and the diplomatic corps is dealing with the tragedy of four Americans — including the U.S. Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens — being killed in the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. It is the first time a U.S. ambassador has been killed in 33 years. Obviously, there … Read More
Strange Homage
So I read this, this morning: The AP reports that both presidential candidates are setting aside their attack ads for the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I don't quite understand this form of tribute — "It's 9/11… so we'll resume the name calling, lying and smearing tomorrow?" I think we can all be joined in our common acknowledgement of the … Read More
Our Stupid (Republican) Electorate
Public Policy Polling asked a question of Ohio likely voters – namely, who was more responsible for Osama bin Laden’s death: Barack Obama or Mitt Romney? In what some… have called “the greatest thing ever,” a full 15 percent of Ohio Republicans surveyed said Romney deserved more credit than the president. Another 47 percent said they were “unsure.” ….Oh, dear. … Read More
Fox News Outs Member of Seal Team Six
So one of the guys of the elite Seal Team force that killed bin Ladn decided to write a book. And he did it under a pseudonym, Mark Owen, to protect his identity and his family. Good. Except stupid Fox News decided to out him. You can see it here, in this article. Can you imagine if MSNBC had done … Read More
“”Revolution’s in the Air, 9mm in my hand.”
Lyrics from a song recorded by Definite Hate, one of many hardcare white supremist bands in which the Sikh temple killer played. You can hear some of the music here.
Nope, No Right-Wing Extremists Here
A couple of years ago, The Department of Homeland Security released a report entitled Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment, the thrust of which was that the nation faces an internal threat from domestic terrorists with right-wing political ideology. The right blogosphere howled, but, as I discussed here as well as here and here, they simply were … Read More
Romney’s Stupidity Tour Continues
And in Israel: In a breakfast meeting this morning, the Republican presidential candidate told about 40 wealthy donors who breakfasted at the King David Hotel: "As you come here and you see the GDP per capita, for instance, in Israel which is about $21,000 dollars, and compare that with the GDP per capita just across the areas managed by the Palestinian Authority, … Read More
Party of Delusion
This is amazing. Most Republicans really live in a bubble not connected to reality. A recent Dartmouth study polled Democrats, Republicans and Independents on various matters related to foreign policy. At the end were two questions which revealed astounding results: That's right — 63% of Republicans still think Iraq had WMDs, even though the Bush Administration (finally) admitted otherwise. And … Read More
9/11 Was Avoidable
For history's sake, let's be clear about this: A new trove of previously classified CIA documents were publicly released for the first time yesterday, shedding new light on the run-up to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The documents, which were obtained by the National Security Archive through the Freedom of Information Act, point to missed opportunities by intelligence agencies to … Read More