The Morning Blog

Day 3 of Obama's War. Remember, this is a conflict in which American involvement is supposed to last "days, not weeks". As such, we should be able to expect peace in the Middle East by...Oh, by Friday, give or take a day. Mark your calendars! After all, we've got a coalition! NBC Pentagon Correspondent Jim Miklaszewski:

"Despite the White House attempts to make this look like it's a huge coalition effort -- obviously it required coalition political support -- but for now the U.S. military is not only in the lead but conducting almost all military operations, with only minor participation from the French, as you mentioned, even British fighters over night. There's a U.S. commander. And even this morning I talked to senior military officials, when I asked them how soon will the U.S. turn over the command to the coalition -- and the indication is the U.S. military is in no hurry to do that."

And what precisely is our goal in Libya anyways? If we're not trying to hit Qaddafi...Well, frankly, why not? Is all of this worth it if we're ultimately left with the same Libyan status quo?

“The president is the commander in chief, but the administration has a responsibility to define for the American people, the Congress, and our troops what the mission in Libya is, better explain what America’s role is in achieving that mission, and make clear how it will be accomplished,” Speaker John A. Boehner said in a statement.

Might be a good time to have that promised chat with Congress. Maybe he could explain the moral issues that compel us to take action in Libya while ignoring the Ivory Coast?

Putin is not helping. Though Medvedev dials it back a bit.

Oh my...Did we really exclude Turkey, the only Muslim country in NATO from the emergency summit discussing military action in Libya? Wow...clumsy.

Meanwhile in Yemen...

Egyptian voters voted in favor of a referendum on constitutional changes. It's likely that this will provide a not-insignificant boon to the Muslim Brotherhood (who really aren't all that scary nowadays). At any rate, it's democracy in action and we certainly can't expect it to be tidy or give us what we want. Congratulations are due to the Egyptians for handling the vote in such an orderly and peaceful fashion. Regardless of the outcome, well done Egypt!

NOT well done France: The xenophobic National Front is performing well in local elections. Granted, Marine Le Pen is not her father. She's a kinder, gentler sort of fascist.

Well, at least Obama's charming the pants off the Brazilians. Which if you've seen any images of Carnival probably isn't that hard to do. I think it's a valuable endeavor. Brazil does after all, put the 'B' in BRIC. We need to strengthen our ties with them.

Interesting profile here on a man who could quite frankly be called "The Father of New York City". Notably, he was also called a "lying nincompoop" but that's neither here nor there.

Pain in the ass.

I see that Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, will make his debut on Dancing with the Stars tonight. And I have nothing more to say about that. Nothing at all.

Once again, I suspect that all theoretical physicists are high.

Kacee Bait: These iPads might be more interesting than I thought. Apparently they have the power to channel Jesus and "cure homosexuality". No seriously. There's an app for that.

The word of the day is mimetolith.

Inasmuch as I'm looking down the barrel of what could be a prolonged hiatus in professional football, I've been wondering what other sports might interest me and justify the ownership of a television. Living in Pittsburgh, several sports are right out, namely basketball (no local team to root for), and baseball (no local team worth calling such). Hockey is ok...But this... Definitely something I could see myself watching on a Sunday!

Some moon!

Good for the British: "Criminalising drug users has been an expensive catastrophe for individuals and communities."

Who said: "No American woman should be denied access to family planning assistance because of her economic condition."? Nixon.

The icemen cometh.

Finally, someone has the courage to stand up for those who have been historically marginalized and demand equal civil rights for unicyclists.