In his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech this morning, President Obama called his own accomplishments “slight” in comparison to past winners and spoke at length about the irony of winning the award as a wartime president. He evoked the concept of “just war” to argue for the use of force that is “necessary” and “morally justified.”
Five young Muslim American men from suburban Washington “who disappeared late last month were detained in Pakistan on Wednesday in a police raid on a house linked to a militant group.” One of the men left behind a video “calling for the defense of Muslims in conflicts with the West and suggesting that ‘young Muslims have to do something.’”
Hate radio talker Rush Limbaugh is “criticizing” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for allowing Democrats “to debate and vote on amendments” during the health care debate. He has “questioned McConnell’s strategy a few times” this week, “joining a chorus of growing critics.” McConnell aides called Limbaugh’s show to explain, but he “did not seem to buy it.”
“A bare majority of Americans support President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan,” a new CBS News/New York Times poll found. “But many are skeptical that the United States can count on Afghanistan as a partner in the fight or that the escalation would reduce the chances of a domestic terrorist attack.”
“A recent pay increase for Afghan troops and police appears to have resulted in a surge of applicants,” said a top U.S. military official. Half of December’s recruiting objective was met in the first seven days, while “in the three previous months, recruiting fell short of targets.”
Yesterday, the UK Meteorological Office released a statement signed by 1,700 scientists in Britain expressing the “utmost confidence” in the “scientific basis” that global warming is “due primarily to human activities,” undercutting skeptics in the wake of the right-wing “Climategate” scandal.
To fight global warming, American businessman and philanthropist George Soros suggested that climate financing be boosted with some $100 billion in Special Drawing Rights from the International Monetary Fund. Soros called the current proposal of $10 billion insufficient.
Following a City Council vote of 7-1, the city of Berkeley “mailed coat hangers to 20 members of Congress on Wednesday in protest of the anti-abortion amendment in the House version of the federal health care bill.” The “metal coat hangers were mailed with a protest letter to members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of the amendment but have a history of supporting abortion rights.”
South Carolina lawmakers defeated a measure to impeach Gov. Mark Sanford (R) yesterday but recommended a formal rebuke for his trips to Argentina to see his mistress. ”We can’t impeach for hypocrisy. We can’t impeach for arrogance. We can’t impeach an officeholder for his lack of leadership skills,” said GOP Rep. James Harrison.
And finally: Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) can’t understand why she’s so polarizing because she considers herself “a lovable little fuzz ball.”
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