[I'm not sure this Independent story is quite that big a deal, but it got Drudge all globally hot and bothered with the banner headline and pic below, so at least the deniers and delayers will all see it.]
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Hewitt: U.S. will get ‘blown up by the Islamists under Obama.’
On his radio show yesterday, conservative talker Hugh Hewitt announced that he was “living for” the Sept. 13 football game between USC and Ohio State, adding that he predicts that it will be the last game played before the United States “gets blown up by the Islamists under Obama.”:
And none of the USC people will give up their tickets to me. I’d pay fair price. They — they know Ohio State’s gonna slaughter the Trojans. They know that they’re gonna slaughter the Trojans, and therefore they do not want me there at the bloodbath, since it’s probably the last football game we’ll ever get to see before the United States gets blown up by the Islamists under Obama. I — I would like to see Ohio State slaughter USC. This is what I’m living for right now.
Listen here:
Hewitt is not alone among conservatives in his unhinged fearmongering. Last week, former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton said that the “best outcome” of an Obama presidency would be “more embassy bombings, more World Trade Center attacks.”
Bolton Bristles When Challenged On Getting It Wrong On Iraq: That’s ‘An Ad Hominem Attack’
Former UN Ambassador John Bolton has been intensifying his calls for a war with Iran, telling Fox News last weekend that Israel may attack Iran before the inauguration of a new U.S. President. He added that Arab states “would be delighted” if this happened.
Bolton appeared on XM radio’s Potus ’08 earlier this week to talk about an Iran war. He argued this issue “goes fundamentally to your tolerance for the risk of radical Islamists holding nuclear weapons.” Host Tim Farley interrupted and asked, “It also goes, does it not, to the credibility of those making the argument?”
Bolton bristled at the accusation:
Absolutely not! And by the way, the credibility point is an ad hominem reference. … But to address the merits of the argument requires a response on the merits, not an ad hominem attack.
Farley tried to interject, but Bolton demanded, “Let me finish my answer!” The host later followed up by noting that the credibility of the argument is lacking when war advocates like Dick Cheney and President Bush “tell you one thing and the truth turns out to be something else.” Bolton responded by complaining to the host that you’re “debating with me.” Listen here:
George Monbiot, a columnist for the Guardian, has charged that Bolton was “instrumental in preparing and initiating the Iraq war by disseminating false claims through the State Department” while he was under-secretary of state for arms control.
Before the war, Bolton orchestrated the removal of the head of a global arms-control agency, Jose Bustani, because the Brazilian was trying to send chemical weapons inspectors to Baghdad. In Feb. 2003, Bolton orchestrated the removal of State Department official Rexon Ryu because Ryu “had been instrumental in getting the most controversial allegations” out of Colin Powell’s U.N. speech.
But Bolton would prefer all these acts are washed away with history so that he can have a clean slate to make his pitch for a new war.
Department of Analogies
On the subject of analogies between the idea of establishing an enduring US military presence in Iraq and establishing one in Germany, mostly what Andrew said. But more broadly, you have to ask yourself what the point is of bothering to construct analogies across obviously non-analogous situations. Nothing about the trajectory of US policy in Iraq since the fall of Saddam has resembled the years 1945-1950 in Germany at all. One hardly needs to enumerate specific points of difference.
The problems with this strategy, meanwhile, have nothing to do with analogies. The problem has to do with the fact that there are large and influential segments of Iraqi opinion that are fundamentally opposed to a permanent American military presence in Iraq and other segments of opinion that are deeply skeptical of it. Meanwhile, the major Iraqi social movement that does favor a permanent US presence is Kurdish separatism. That’s the problem right there. When you define the mission in Iraq as, in part, the construction of an Iraqi government that will be amenable to an intimate long-term security arrangement featuring a permanent American military presence you make the mission much, much more complicated. The pursuit of this policy by the Bush administration makes the American military in Iraq a divisive, destabilizing force int he country despite the best efforts of our soldiers to be playing a constructive role. And as long as we’re there, our presence will always be a divisive, destabilizing force.
Consumer Confidence Report: ‘Americans Feel Downright Terrible About The Economy’
A new consumer confidence report released on Tuesday suggests that “Americans feel downright terrible about the economy as it is, and their expectations for the near future are even more depressed.” According to the report, the June consumer confidence index fell to 50.4, the lowest level since 1992. One economist observes:
This is incredibly awful…Even as some people spend their tax rebates … the majority appear to be overwhelmed by the surge in gasoline and food prices, and the drop in stock and home prices.
Americans seem both overwhelmed and increasingly pessimistic. The expectations index, for instance — the measurement of “how people figure things will look in six months” — dropped to 41.0, “the lowest figure in the 40 years of the survey, and broke through the previous low of 45.2 reached in December 1973 — just as the economy was beginning to plunge into recession from the effects of the surge in oil prices that followed the Arab embargo announced that fall.”
The mood is not much better in 2008:
- The percentage of people who expect their income to drop in the next six months” also hit record highs to 15.9 percent, 5.1 percent higher than during the economic hardships of 1973.
- “Those claiming business conditions are ‘bad’ increased to 32.5 percent from 29.7 percent“
- “Those saying jobs are ‘hard to get’ increased to 30.5 percent from 28.3 percent in May“
- “Those expecting business conditions to worsen over the next six months rose to 33.9 percent from 32.9 percent”
- “The percent of consumers expecting fewer jobs in the months ahead increased to 35.5 percent from 32.3 percent“
Objections by Feingold delay FISA.
The Hill reports that because of Sen. Russ Feingold’s (D-WI) objections to legislation overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), Senate leaders have decided to push back consideration of the bill until after the Independence Day recess. Feingold, along with several other lawmakers, are fighting against granting immunity to telecomms that participated in the Bush administration’s illegal spying program.
The CAFE we could have had
White House intervention at the EPA is back in the news.
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming finally received some long-awaited documents from the EPA. In a letter to President Bush, Committee Chairman Markey indicated what the EPA was recommending before the White House stepped in to weaken the regulations. First Representative Markey sets the stage:
On May 14, 2007, you directed EPA, along with other agencies, to prepare a regulatory response to Massachusetts v. EPA by the end of 2007 and to complete it by the end of 2008. According to reports, EPA staff spent about six months developing this proposal, and transmitted both a positive finding of endangerment to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and a draft regulatory proposal to require the equivalent of 35 miles per gallon (mpg) fuel economy standard from the fleet of cars and light trucks by 2018 to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in early December, 2007.
Good Deals
Swapping Jermaine O’Neal for TJ Ford, Rasho Nesterovic’s expiring deal, and a Toronto draft pick seems like a reasonable move for Indiana and an excellent pickup for the Raptors. Toronto was overstocked with Ford and Calderon at the point so even though Ford’s a good player they’re not, in practice, giving very much up. And O’Neal should help add some frontcourt toughness and defense and create a situation where they don’t feel compelled to give many minutes to Bargnani.
Lieberman Attacks Democratic Critics On Right-Wing Radio: They’re Invested In ‘Retreat And Defeat’ In Iraq
Yesterday, Brave New Films launched a “Lieberman Must Go” petition drive arguing that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) no longer deserves a chairmanship or leadership role in the Senate Democratic Caucus because of his overt support for President Bush and John McCain’s key policies, especially on Iraq.
As if he was consciously hoping to throw fuel on the petition’s fire, Lieberman appeared on conservative stalwart Bill Bennett’s radio show this morning and assailed his Democratic colleagues on Iraq. Referencing a bellicose speech he gave at John Hopkins last year, Lieberman accused his former colleagues of being “invested in a narrative of retreat and defeat in Iraq”:
LIEBERMAN: Oh, about a year ago I gave a speech at John Hopkins and I expressed my concern about where my Democratic party was going on foreign policy and I specifically talked about Iraq, and I said that the party seemed invested in a narrative of retreat and defeat in Iraq, regardless of what was happening on the ground, regardless of the consequences of retreat and defeat. And unfortuantely, too many of the leaders of the party have continued to have that approach to Iraq.
Listen here:
Lieberman’s shot at “leaders of the party” is surprising given that it is “leaders of the party” who are protecting him from efforts like the Brave New Films petition. Despite growing frustration within the Democratic caucus, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) previously said that Lieberman’s chairmanship will not be at risk next Congress.
But Reid’s patience may be running thin. He said “I’ll consider anything” when asked in May about Lieberman’s future in the caucus. He also told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann that he’s going to watch Lieberman’s conduct “very closely.” On Bloomberg TV last Friday, Reid hinted that Lieberman might not be with the party “forever”:
MR. HUNT: And you expect him to be in the Democratic caucus next year?
SEN. REID: Well, unless something untoward comes up. You know, I – these votes are important. And, as we know, when Obama’s elected, he’s going to wind down the war so that will become much less of an issue. So on issues that are important to this caucus, Lieberman has voted with us. Now, does this mean he’s in forever? I don’t know about that.
Continued vociferous attacks on the policies preferred by the “leaders of the party” are likely to only spread that patience even thinner.
Transcript: Read more
Federal agents raid Blackwater site.
Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Blackwater Worldwide this week, “as part of an investigation into whether the private security company sidestepped federal laws prohibiting the private purchase of automatic assault rifles.”
