Dick Cheney has been mounting an uncharacteristic media interview campaign to defend “enhanced interrogation.” He’s been taking about how these techniques produced “valuable information.” From a file near his former office, he’s requested to CIA reports be released. These documents he feels will prove that these techniques worked. The most secretive man in politics, now wants information released….Dick Cheney has been mounting an uncharacteristic media interview campaign to defend “enhanced interrogation.” He’s been taking about how these techniques produced “valuable information.” From a file near his former office, he’s requested to CIA reports be released. These documents he feels will prove that these techniques worked. The most secretive man in politics, now wants information released….
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The Middle East: Hillary Clinton’s Aid Breakthrough
by Melissa Mahfouz
Special to iVoryTowerz
The United States is starting to get it right in the Middle East. The U.S. has pledged $900 million in aid for reconstruction efforts in Gaza, thanks, in a large part, to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. This move certainly transcends any political boundaries, but hopefully may be perceived by Palestinians and the Arab world as an effort by the U.S. to mend relations. The $900 million, however, is not pity money, but rather a recognition of the need for an independent Palestinian infrastructure, as well as a recognition for the wrongs directed towards the Palestinian people.
Secretary of State Clinton deserves quite a commendation for her efforts in the region already. (Clinton just concluded her first diplomatic swing through the region.) In the course of a few weeks, and with the reconstruction funds, she has already accomplished what the Bush administration failed to achieve over an eight year tenure. Now, there must be a diligent effort between the Palestinian Authority and Clinton’s crew to ensure that the money goes to the Palestinian people, which is quite a stretch. Internal meddling, corrupt officials, and political middlemen all stand as potential barriers to guaranteeing that each and every penny goes to reconstruction and development efforts. The largest portions of the aid package are to be allocated towards humanitarian aid, economic and public works projects, as well as funding for institution building projects and budget shortfalls within the Palestinian government.
If this aid and construction are successes, then the United States would have fostered a breakthrough not seen in years. Again, the major players we are counting on are Secretary Clinton, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarek, Israel’s Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, regional public officials, and the voice of the Palestinian people themselves. This is quite an opportunity to forge multilateral relations, and to truly exert a much-needed diplomacy.
(The photo of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meeting in Ramallah with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority earlier this month is an official photo from the U.S. State Department and is in the public domain.)
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Add the GOP to the Endangered Species List
by Jeff Siegel
Newspapers aren’t the only cultural institution that is in danger of joining the blacksmith and the turntable as cute relics of someone else’s past. The Republicans are headed that way, as well.
How else to explain two recent GOP imbroglios: Party insiders ripping former presidential candidate John McCain at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) and party chairman Michael Steele apologizing for calling Rush Limbaugh “incendiary” in an interview? At CPAC, U.S. Rep. Michael C. Burgess (R-TX) said: “I am a recovering McCain surrogate.” In the latter instance, Steele asked the talk show host for forgiveness after Limbaugh criticized Steele for having the temerity to criticize Limbaugh.
Regular visitors here know that I am no fan of the Republican Party, which aided and abetted George Bush’s eight-year misrule. But I can feel sorry for it, and I do — just like I feel sorry for the friend who always goes out with the wrong guys and never learns from her mistakes. It’s really quite sad, but in the end, it’s her own fault.
The GOP is long past denial. It’s living in a universe far, far away, where the collapse of the banking system never happened, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan quickly ended in victory, and the stock market is still setting record highs. It doesn’t understand the immense cultural and socio-economic changes taking place in the U.S. and it doesn’t realize that the country gave President Barack Obama a mandate in November to undo the damage the GOP did under Bush. In the eyes of Burgess, Limbaugh and their fellow travelers, Bill Clinton is still president and nothing has changed since they hoisted Clinton by his petard. Or, as the noted philosopher Paul Simon once noted: “We believe what we want to believe and disregard the rest.”
One day, perhaps, the GOP will realize that voters use iPods and not turntables. If it doesn’t, it will join the Whigs and the Know Nothings and the Federalists in the history books. And it will have no one to blame but itself.
(Political graphic by Frederick; you can see more of Frederick’s graphics at the blogs Guys from Area 51 and MCCS1977. This graphic is made available through a Creative Commons License.)
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Presidential Debate Highlights, Round One
(Editor’s Note: As the usual public service after major debates during the presidential campaign, this blog is providing video highlights of the salient moments from the first one-on-one debate between Senators John McCain and Barack Obama. This debate was held at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Mississippi.)
by Rick Rockwell
After Sen. McCain (R-AZ) gave up on his position that there should be no debate before Congress dealt with the current economic crisis, both presidential campaigns came to Mississippi ready to discuss the issues. In a 97-minute discussion, moderated by Jim Lehrer of PBS, both sides scored on various issues. The main themes of the debate included the economic crisis, the Iraq War, the Afghan War and international relations with Pakistan, Iran, and Russia. Other topics of national security and budget issues also crept into the debate. Immediately, some commentators latched on to the difference of style: Sen. Obama (D-IL) often addressed the cameras directly or McCain. McCain rarely looked directly at Obama or the cameras, instead directing his gaze to Lehrer or the audience in the hall. So the differences in the candidates were apparent, even beginning with body language. And now the video highlights after the jump….
Although the debate began like many of these affairs with the candidates repeating sections of their current campaign speeches, Lehrer managed to get both to stop using that tactic after the first 20 minutes or so, at least until the final moments. This opened the way to verbal sparring from both sides with a variety of jabs, some revealing Obama’s inexperience in the Senate and others about McCain’s shoot-from-the-hip temperment (including his song about bombing Iran).
The debate format allowed candidates to directly question and respond to each other without intervention from the moderator, and one of the first feisty exchanges came over which candidate had actually helped the oil companies more. Watch also as both candidates duck specifics about how the economic crisis will affect their promises and plans, although McCain did offer a broad outline of how to align the federal budget during the crisis.
Another heated discussion revolved around the thorny issues of relations with Pakistan and the conduct of the war in Afghanistan.
The vice presidential candidates will debate next Thursday, Oct. 2 at Washington University in St. Louis, MO.
For more background on the 2008 campaign, please see these archival posts:
- “New Hampshire: Barack Obama’s Latest Hope;”
- “John McCain and the Republican Right;”
- “Joe Biden: More of the Same from the Democrats;”
- “Sarah Palin, Sex & the Republicans;”
- “2008 Election Manifesto: Voting Your Conscience Isn’t Wasting Your Vote;” and
- “Campaign 2008: Mainstream Media, Take a Deep Breath.”
(The photo of Sen. Barack Obama campaigning in Philadelphia, PA in July is by Llima via Flickr, using a Creative Commons License.)
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