Obama's War Day 5. The deadline is still on to wrap this thing up in "days not weeks", though I notice that talk of handing over control of the combat operation to....somebody or another has been scheduled to occur within days for...well, days now. That said, I know I'm jumping all over this impossible, frivolous deadline imposed by the administration. And honestly, if we inexplicably must be involved in this chest-thumping lunacy in the Middle East than I'd prefer that our unnecessary involvement be wrapped up in as orderly a fashion as possible. However, the claim that we would be out within days rather than weeks is beginning to sound to me like a similar claim made during another recent war...
Yesterday, I noted that Obama's War comes down to us "spending money we don't have to kill people we don't know in order to protect rebels we don't trust". David Rothkopf over at Foreign Policy wonders who the rebels might be and what sort of government we could be looking at in Tripoli.
Al Jazeera helpfully gives us a name.
The turmoil in the Middle-East has had the effect of exacerbating the unemployment crisis. What are all these diplomats going to do for a living now that they've left the service of Libya, Yemen et al? Personally, I hope that they go into customer service. If you can defend Libya before the UN, I'm quite certain you can handle phone calls for Verizon.
Might as well check in with the Middle-East Arms Expo. I imagine it's a sellers-market right now.
Meanwhile, the US has committed itself to throwing more good money after bad in support of another unending conflict.
Castro announced that he resigned his position as head of the Cuban communist party... five years ago. Evidently, he forgot to mention it to anyone until now. Since no successor was named during the interim, does this imply that a party dedicated to central planning was operating without....central planning?
Let's consider some of the differences between these two cases: This man is looking at a possible 20 years in prison and 25 years on the sexual offenders list for essentially, singing a dirty song in a YouTube video. This man was sentenced to six months probation after having sex with a 16 year old who was beaten and hauled to his hotel room. Why the sentencing disparities? Did I mention that one of the men is a Hall of Fame linebacker?
Which naturally brings us to Berlusconi...
As Republicans nationwide seek to limit the role of government in the marketplace and in day to day life in general, the South Dakota legislature would like to make it clear that wombs and women's decisions are still very much the business of big government. Very much indeed. I think it's pretty safe to describe this bill as legally mandating that women seeking abortions first undergo a shaming by a stranger with or without any sort of credentials. Yes, I actually think that's a perfectly apt description.
Sometimes sadly, politicians will simply stick to their ideological guns, no matter the cost.
The New York Times wonders if police overresponse to a crime could have contributed to the death of an officer. It most definitely well could have! And it's tragic that an officer lost his life but the militarization of the police and the disproportionate use of SWAT teams in non-violent situations endanger citizens every day! Radley Balko has been following this for years. You can view articles on it here.
I am by the way, a big fan of Radley Balko and I see that he'll be moving to the Huffington Post. I am not a big fan of the Huffington Post...Frankly, I think that its best offerings tend to be cute pictures of animals. However, they've picked up some talent of late. Besides Balko, Andrew Sullivan will be signing on. I may have to give it a look. Congratulations are due at any rate. I hope it turns out to be a good fit. It'll be interesting seeing how the Huffington Posts readers respond to a distinctly libertarian writer.
In other media moves: Glenn Beck is contemplating starting his own channel. Not only will viewers be able to satisfy their cravings for man-tears and outright lunacy 24/7, but undoubtedly it will do wonders for the nations chalkboard industry.
It looks as though the Supreme Court will rule that defendants facing jail time in civil trials (in this case for delinquent childcare payments), do not have a right to be provided with a lawyer if they cannot afford one. I have to disagree. Granted, we're not talking about a criminal trial but if someone is looking at incarceration, then I think access to a lawyer is necessary.
Football continues its relentless, dull march towards safety. I read this though and wonder "Why even bother with a kickoff?"
Here's what happened: 24 Hours in Pictures.
Song of the Day: How can you go wrong with Thurston Moore?
Goddamnit!
Goddamnit!
Beards of War.
No comments:
Post a Comment