We've returned and our sincere apologies for skipping out on last week. We were in the midst of a much needed vacation, but that doesn't mean that we didn't watch last week and this week's show, which for the latter we'll comment in content in a moment (For those who want to skip this part and get right to the topics at hand, we've marked it with an asterisk (*).) For now, we'd just like to opine a bit on the new format of the program, which unfortunately impedes on the ease of providing an in depth thoughtful opinion as it stands, but we're plowing through.
First, there's the obvious awkwardness of introducing a panel at the top of the show and then having them sit for almost half of it seemingly without participating. We get it that they are listening to what the guests have to say, but they can do that off-set. When John Stanton of "Buzzfeed" asked a question to Grover Norquist we thought, yes, that's how "Meet The Press" was originally intended... Great, but then he was the only one to ask a question. It didn't help that everyone had to look over his shoulder around a camera to have the exchange. Hopefully a new set will fix that.
Mr. Todd should first interview the two individuals, in this week's case the aforementioned Mr. Norquist for the Americans for Tax Reform and author and columnist Thomas Frank, and then open up the questioning to the press. And they should all be press if you intend to legitimately drill down deeper into the subject so that viewers have a more thorough understanding of the topic. That's really what the program is all about. This means no activists/lobbyists or political consultants asking questions. Ramesh Ronnuru, Editor at The National Review could have asked one question to Mr. Frank as a counter to Mr. Stanton's. Four journalists asking Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) would have made for great television two weeks ago. If this really isn't their intention to do it this way, then throwing it out there as they did this week is silly. Just have Mr. Todd ask all the questions.
And what's with Mr. Todd running all over the set? And what was with last week's jazz groovy loop music while Mr. Todd stood at the touchscreen? And what was with this week's worse Marshall music? Let's just try no music at all.
[We also saw this column from Erik Wemple at The Washington Post about the 'Afraid to Say' segment - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/09/22/chuck-todds-afraid-segment-on-meet-the-press-must-be-killed/.]
And with all that said, the consolation is that the topics and the
amount of time spent of them, e.g. The U.S. conflict with ISIS, have
been spot on. And as we'll finally get to the discussion, the disjointed way in which the different individual's perspectives are being captured looks clumsy. Your Sunday "Meet The Press" moderator should have a calming, thoughtful presence, which is to say that you don't want to see him one minute up standing, the next down sitting, then standing again, to finally sitting.
Also, Mr. Todd, please stay on topic. Sometimes there is a bit of drift. You don't have to end every segment on a lighter note. There is no need to ask an NFL question after solely discussing only one other particularly serious topic, in this case ISIS with Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Christopher Murphy (D-CT).
Here is the one and only time we'll phrase something this way in this column. They got to work all that shit out!
Enough.
*
From the various answers with regard to combating ISIS from great guests, which included all the above and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Powers and Fmr. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of State, Ret. Admiral Mike Mullen, we don't see it.
Senator Johnson captured it best in saying that he supports the president's decision to go after ISIS, but doesn't quite see a successful strategy. Ambassador Power said that for Saudi Arabia's part in the effort, they would allow the U.S. military to train 5,000 Sunni moderate troops - Free Syrian Army - in their country. In a year's time, after the training, they are going to go back to Syria and fight on two fronts - one against the Assad Regime and one against ISIS. There more than just 5,000 fighters in the Free Syrian Army, but they are still drastically outnumbered. Senator Murphy stated that he didn't vote for arming the moderate Sunnis because he didn't believe they could effectively be the ground force on two fronts. We would agree. The Free Syrian Army will get plowed if that's the case, even with U.S. air power supporting them.
The Free Syrian Army's focus is battling Assad, which ISIS supports. Who's to say that they don't cut a deal with ISIS. Turkey apparently has, which has refused to comment on how they got all their diplomats back from ISIS. Then the U.S. has wasted more money and resources, only to be duped; it's a possibility.
So does that mean the U.S. has to put troops on the ground. Admiral Mullen rightly dismissed the media driven disagreement between the military and the Obama Administration. Of course General Dempsey wouldn't leave anything off the table in making recommendations to the president, and that includes the idea of having troops on the ground, whatever it takes to complete the mission. That's just being prudent. It's for the president to decide whether to take that recommendation or not.
Senator Murphy also pointed out that it's the U.S. that is taking the lead and not the countries in the region. It's a point well taken, but who is there to really step up? The Saudis, an ally the U.S. doesn't need? The Jordanians? Admiral Mullen said they are capable, but they are dealing with keeping the country stable given the immense refugee crisis. The Iraqi army didn't measure up and the Kurdish peshmerga are going to defend the land that they want to make their country. Right now the Kurds don't have any more capability than that.
Technically, there are already U.S. troops on the ground, special forces and advisers; close to 2,000 to help the Iraqi army get back on its feet and to direct U.S. airstrikes. However, these are not ground forces, as in brigades. President Obama simply will not commit to that. Mr. Obama seems to prefer a more stealth, yet ruthless approach - drones and airstrikes along with covert forces. The problem with that is it won't defeat ISIS.
Training the Free Syrian Army, whose motives are not entirely clear, may turn beneficial for the U.S. but helping the Kurds and the Iraqi Army is really the best chance the region has of eliminating ISIS. But it's not an easy task, as Admiral Mullen alluded to in describing what the Maliki government did to the army - making it a sectarian force instead of an inclusive one.
As Amy Walter of the "Cook Political Report" pointed out, the U.S. public has security concerns, which is true. However, sending large numbers U.S. troops back to Iraq would be a mistake simply for the reason that perpetuity would then be required to maintain peace at a cost to the U.S. that can not be sustained in perpetuity.
Speaking of 'costs in perpetuity,' it's probably not the first time you've read about the economic situation in Kansas before this latest edition of "Meet The Press." Governor Sam Brownback cut taxes in his state so drastically that practically all public services have suffered, economic growth has been far behind other states surrounding it, and the state's deficit is way up.
Yet, Mr. Norquist can effectively explain why Governor Brownback made the correct decision and why economic growth will start moving in the right direction. He cited a number of states that are looking at what is happening in Kansas and are seriously considering doing the same. He also said that states with Republican governors have cut taxes by $30 billion and states with Democratic governors have increased taxes by $40 billion over the past decade.
Yes, the 'blue' states increase taxes, but they also subsidize the 'red' states in taxes to the federal government that gets redistributed to all the states. We can rebut each one of Mr. Norquist's assertions, but what would be the point. The fact, that Republicans frankly refuse to accept, is that big state governments work and the public likes that they work. The mistake Republicans make is that they equate state government action with federal government action.
Thomas Frank threw it down to Chuck Todd saying that Mr. Todd knows that the country is drifting toward being an oligarchy, but is he correct? It's undeniable that the U.S. is the closest to it as it has ever been given Citizens United and all the undisclosed millions that are funneled to candidates' supporting P.A.C.s, making a mockery (a deceitful ruse as it pertains to oligarchy) of the political system. And how do we know that Chuck Todd knows this? He proved Mr. Thomas correct when he analogized that the U.S. voting populace was divided into two groups - Chick-fil-a voters and Starbucks voters.
See you next week.
Round Table (Panel): John Station, Washington Bureau Chief, Buzzfeed; Amy Walter, National Editor, The Cook Political Report; Ramesh Ponnuru, Senior Editor, National Review; Neera Tanden, President, Center for American Progress
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Sunday, September 07, 2014
9.7.14: Chuck Todd's Debut and the President Obama Inteview
In his debut as the 12th moderator of "Meet The Press," Chuck Todd described the set and the show's format like living in a house while we're changing it, and we'll take him on his word because we're not sold on a set that looks a like one of the daily programs on MSNBC, and our jury is out on having the moderator doing board analysis work, though Mr. Todd is very good at it.
With that said, Mr. Todd's interview with the president gleaned many candid answers - worthy of the program and the mayoral segment displayed some key insights into how cities are rebuilding success in society. We'll comment on this later, but first the interview with President Obama.
(And yes, we'd give a high-five to Chuck Todd at the end of the program, as the credits rolled.)
In a speech scheduled for Wednesday, Mr. Obama said he will inform the American people of the degree of which ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) is a threat to the country and what the administration plans to do. "I'm preparing the country to make sure that we deal with a threat from ISIL," Mr. Obama said.
This means the United States is definitely and rightly going to do something, and the reason we say 'rightly' is because if the world community lead by the United States waits until ISIL starts turning its attention outward from the territory they are now trying to occupy then it's too late. And it may seem periphery that the U.S. killed the head of Al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda off-shoot, in Somalia, but it's not. ISIL recruits from all over the world and groups like Al-Shabab are certainly looking to connect with ISIL.
Mr. Obama said that he'll explain that ISIL is a serious threat, but one that we can deal with, and here's the plan, but as he mentioned he's going to need the support of Congress, with whom he said he has been consulting and which by early indications is coming around to supporting the president. It's happening slowly, as is the building of an international coalition, but it is happening. Joe Scarborough, who will be a regular contributor to "Meet The Press," said that it's been in fact a conservative position in taking a measured stance as to what to do about the chaos in the Middle East. If this is an accurate assessment, then the president should have congressional support.
(We do not think this is a good idea to have Joe Scarborough as a prominent contributor. Mr. Scarborough has his own program, where he opines loudly, and Mr. Todd needs to be the dominating personality on the program at all times. Chuck Todd is "Meet The Press" now.)
It was also important to hear the president outline what the United States is not going to do, which is putting 100,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. However, we would be careful of the nuance in this answer because we all know that ISIL can not be defeated by air strikes alone. Mr. Obama said that the United States military will be instrumental in coordinating Iraqi and Kurdish troops, but there also must be a large international force, the bulk of which will be made up of U.S. troops because the reality is that anything short of that is not going to eliminate ISIL as is the president's stated goal. That's the rub, that's the 'preparation' that the president referred to, but we agree with Mr. Obama in that the United States can not serially occupy countries in the Middle East, or around the world for that matter. As the president said, we just don't have the resources (money) to do it.
And, as Mr. Obama accurately explained, the United States is the country that when there is a crisis in Ukraine, it is the one that mobilizes other countries to act; when there is an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, other countries look to the U.S. for solutions and security.If you believe in the idea of American Exceptionalism, these are the kinds of burdens and the costs (hard and otherwise) that come with being exceptional.
And that's the reasoning behind Mr. Obama's decision to be careful in how the U.S. engages ISIL in Syria. The president said we would hunt down ISIL members and assets. Well, to do that it's going to take American personnel on the ground, there's no way around it. But finding and funding the Free Syrian Army (moderate Sunnis) is going to be tricky because the United States is going to need help from Shia populations in the region to defeat ISIL, populations that include Iran's. For the moment, the United States also needs Assad in place to defeat ISIL so that results in Saudia Arabia not giving its support. As Micheal Leiter noted on the program, the Saudis do not trust the president to do all he can to take out Assad. (There's so much to be said about the Saudis and trust and doing the right, humane thing, but we'll just leave it... we really don't want to get that upset on this football Sunday.)
On this Sunday, Mr. Todd introduced a new feature to the program entitle "Who Needs Washington?" which was a very good segment interviewing three mayors in three different parts of the country from three different political party affiliations.
(A segment with such a title implies that Washington does know anything, so we found it funny that later in the program there was another feature entitled, "What Everyone in Washington Knows," and because of the stale topic of Hillary Clinton political aspirations, we'd answer that premise with, "Not much.")
We poke fun, but the segment with the three mayors gave the viewer a very good perspective of what local officials are doing to improve the lives of citizens in their cities. What was most telling about the segment was how all three mayors were instituting policies that run in 'sharp contrast' (Mr. Obama's phrase in describing the countries party differences) to Tea Party policy choices - this was across the board. Instead of giving vouchers for schools in Tacoma, Washington, Mayor Marilyn Strickland (I) talked about giving vouchers for housing so that children can maintain continuity in their education by staying at the same school. Speaking of education, you expect Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor, Bill Peduto, to express expanding early childhood education - a publicly funded program that is long overdue in national scale. And even though Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett said that people of his city, describing their conservative leaning, don't like program they can't 'touch and feel," meaning public programs, he signed a tax increase, a Republican tax increase, to improve and repair infrastructure. As ideological as the two major national political parties are, local politics are all about practicality.
Round Table: Amy Walter, National Editor of The Cook Political Report; John Stanton, Washington Bureau Chief for Buzzfeed.com; Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe;" Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post
Post Note: Our wish would have been for Mr. Todd to interview the President in studio (we understand the difficulties of presidential scheduling), live for 20 minutes because it would have spoke volumes to the renewed importance of the 'program of record.' Plus, not chopping up the interview and running it as one longer segment is what separates serious journalism from commercialized TV journalism, no? Further impressing upon the viewer the importance of the interview and hence the program. Alas, it was just a wish.
And apologies for not getting to the topic of immigration this week.
With that said, Mr. Todd's interview with the president gleaned many candid answers - worthy of the program and the mayoral segment displayed some key insights into how cities are rebuilding success in society. We'll comment on this later, but first the interview with President Obama.
(And yes, we'd give a high-five to Chuck Todd at the end of the program, as the credits rolled.)
In a speech scheduled for Wednesday, Mr. Obama said he will inform the American people of the degree of which ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and Levant) is a threat to the country and what the administration plans to do. "I'm preparing the country to make sure that we deal with a threat from ISIL," Mr. Obama said.
This means the United States is definitely and rightly going to do something, and the reason we say 'rightly' is because if the world community lead by the United States waits until ISIL starts turning its attention outward from the territory they are now trying to occupy then it's too late. And it may seem periphery that the U.S. killed the head of Al-Shabab, an Al Qaeda off-shoot, in Somalia, but it's not. ISIL recruits from all over the world and groups like Al-Shabab are certainly looking to connect with ISIL.
Mr. Obama said that he'll explain that ISIL is a serious threat, but one that we can deal with, and here's the plan, but as he mentioned he's going to need the support of Congress, with whom he said he has been consulting and which by early indications is coming around to supporting the president. It's happening slowly, as is the building of an international coalition, but it is happening. Joe Scarborough, who will be a regular contributor to "Meet The Press," said that it's been in fact a conservative position in taking a measured stance as to what to do about the chaos in the Middle East. If this is an accurate assessment, then the president should have congressional support.
(We do not think this is a good idea to have Joe Scarborough as a prominent contributor. Mr. Scarborough has his own program, where he opines loudly, and Mr. Todd needs to be the dominating personality on the program at all times. Chuck Todd is "Meet The Press" now.)
It was also important to hear the president outline what the United States is not going to do, which is putting 100,000 troops on the ground in Iraq. However, we would be careful of the nuance in this answer because we all know that ISIL can not be defeated by air strikes alone. Mr. Obama said that the United States military will be instrumental in coordinating Iraqi and Kurdish troops, but there also must be a large international force, the bulk of which will be made up of U.S. troops because the reality is that anything short of that is not going to eliminate ISIL as is the president's stated goal. That's the rub, that's the 'preparation' that the president referred to, but we agree with Mr. Obama in that the United States can not serially occupy countries in the Middle East, or around the world for that matter. As the president said, we just don't have the resources (money) to do it.
And, as Mr. Obama accurately explained, the United States is the country that when there is a crisis in Ukraine, it is the one that mobilizes other countries to act; when there is an outbreak of Ebola in West Africa, other countries look to the U.S. for solutions and security.If you believe in the idea of American Exceptionalism, these are the kinds of burdens and the costs (hard and otherwise) that come with being exceptional.
And that's the reasoning behind Mr. Obama's decision to be careful in how the U.S. engages ISIL in Syria. The president said we would hunt down ISIL members and assets. Well, to do that it's going to take American personnel on the ground, there's no way around it. But finding and funding the Free Syrian Army (moderate Sunnis) is going to be tricky because the United States is going to need help from Shia populations in the region to defeat ISIL, populations that include Iran's. For the moment, the United States also needs Assad in place to defeat ISIL so that results in Saudia Arabia not giving its support. As Micheal Leiter noted on the program, the Saudis do not trust the president to do all he can to take out Assad. (There's so much to be said about the Saudis and trust and doing the right, humane thing, but we'll just leave it... we really don't want to get that upset on this football Sunday.)
On this Sunday, Mr. Todd introduced a new feature to the program entitle "Who Needs Washington?" which was a very good segment interviewing three mayors in three different parts of the country from three different political party affiliations.
(A segment with such a title implies that Washington does know anything, so we found it funny that later in the program there was another feature entitled, "What Everyone in Washington Knows," and because of the stale topic of Hillary Clinton political aspirations, we'd answer that premise with, "Not much.")
We poke fun, but the segment with the three mayors gave the viewer a very good perspective of what local officials are doing to improve the lives of citizens in their cities. What was most telling about the segment was how all three mayors were instituting policies that run in 'sharp contrast' (Mr. Obama's phrase in describing the countries party differences) to Tea Party policy choices - this was across the board. Instead of giving vouchers for schools in Tacoma, Washington, Mayor Marilyn Strickland (I) talked about giving vouchers for housing so that children can maintain continuity in their education by staying at the same school. Speaking of education, you expect Democratic Pittsburgh Mayor, Bill Peduto, to express expanding early childhood education - a publicly funded program that is long overdue in national scale. And even though Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett said that people of his city, describing their conservative leaning, don't like program they can't 'touch and feel," meaning public programs, he signed a tax increase, a Republican tax increase, to improve and repair infrastructure. As ideological as the two major national political parties are, local politics are all about practicality.
Round Table: Amy Walter, National Editor of The Cook Political Report; John Stanton, Washington Bureau Chief for Buzzfeed.com; Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's "Morning Joe;" Nia-Malika Henderson, The Washington Post
Post Note: Our wish would have been for Mr. Todd to interview the President in studio (we understand the difficulties of presidential scheduling), live for 20 minutes because it would have spoke volumes to the renewed importance of the 'program of record.' Plus, not chopping up the interview and running it as one longer segment is what separates serious journalism from commercialized TV journalism, no? Further impressing upon the viewer the importance of the interview and hence the program. Alas, it was just a wish.
And apologies for not getting to the topic of immigration this week.
Sunday, August 31, 2014
8.31.14: Diminishing Returns of U.S. Foreign Policy
General Anthony Zinni, during one of today's round tables, said that to defeat ISIS there needs to be a 'coalition of outsiders' or phrased another way (Wes Moore's) an international coalition. If ISIS is a global threat, and it is, it's going to take a concerted effort by the world's most powerful nations to rally the regions powers to rid the Middle East region of this terrorist army (Richard Engel's words) and purveyor of chaos. However, China has little interest in getting mixed up in any affairs of the region. As a matter of fact, China makes a deliberate effort to not get involved. For Russia and Vladimir Putin ISIS provides a strategic blessing.
While the United States has the west's attention is concentrated on ISIS, Mr. Putin can act practically without impunity in Eastern Europe however he sees fit. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said that she believes this is a deeply personal matter for Mr. Putin to return Russia to its former level of influence and control in Eastern Europe, a return to glory if you're so inclined to think that way. Any move against ISIS is going to have to be done without either of those countries takig part and both would like nothing better than to see the United States drain it's military and diplomatic resources even more than it already has, rendering it ineffectual on the world stage.
It was the gamble that was laid down in 2003 when the United States decided to invade Iraq - that decision was either going to pay big dividends in terms of influence in the region and around the world, as it related to oil and energy, or it was going to slowly bleed the United States of its monetary and more decidedly moral strength to influence other nations. We see where we are now - the dividends are nonexistent.
What we're left with is a cautious president, unwilling to take definitive action on anything foreign policy related, and this cautiousness or herky-jerky (Ruth Marcus' technical term) approach is reinforced by a Congress concerned about elections instead of running the country. When Meet The Press showed that YouTube video of John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the toy monkey, we found that embarrassing. This is what the political leaders in Washington are reduced to doing?
Some are saying that Russia's moves in Ukraine are an incursion. No, that's incorrect - it's an invasion. Russia troops crossing the Ukrainian border to start a third front in a civil conflict is an invasion, and the fact is that Ukraine and Russia are at war, though one side is fighting it, at the moment, through a proxy. And because of the tactical distraction that ISIS is providing Mr. Putin against his western (U.S.) adversaries, there is no reason for him to stop until Russia achieves a 'special sphere of interest' exclusive to Russia, as stated by a Russian official during a taped segment today. But you notice in that statement that Russia wants to create this regardless of whether the countries under this 'special sphere' want it or not. Former Ambassador to Russia, Micheal McFaul had no answer when asked what would stop Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin knows his history and that it will repeat itself in as much as western Europe acquiescing to hostile Russia advances in the east where essentially they'll do nothing.
Congress needs to debate these issues immediately upon returning to session, the first of which must be the threat of ISIS because they along with other terror groups are looking to turn their aggression toward western countries. We're not eager to see the United States commit to another war with troops on the ground but it's difficult to determine whether General Zinni was being accurate or cavalier when he said that 2 American brigades could defeat ISIS in a short amount of time. The folly of the Bush-Cheney Iraq invasion has sowed the doubt.
What we do find laughable is that the United States would actually heed a warning from the Assad regime not to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in Syria as that would be an act of aggression against a sovereign nation. The United States has heeded this warning. Now some would say that if the U.S. did conduct airstrikes on ISIS in Syria that this would be in effect helping the Assad regime. However, the U.S. (the Obama Administration) could play it a different way and say 'no,' the start of these airstrikes on Syrian territory are actually putting Assad on notice - that once ISIS is decimated, you'll be the next pariah to be dealt with.
Generally, this column is not hawkish, but with ISIS, they threat is too great to way too many. So we agree with General Zinni in that the Syrian border within the Islamic State should not be honored. Mr. Obama has to starting getting out front and lead from there, but he can not do - we repeat CAN NOT - if he doesn't have Congressional support. And if Congress can not support its president, on foreign policy at the very least, diminishing returns are all we're going to get.
Round Table 1: Michael Leiter, NBC National Security Correspondent; Michelle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense; General Anthony Zinni; Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul
Round Table 2: Doris Kearns-Godwin, presidential historian; Wes Moore, author; Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; and David Henniger, The Wall Street Journal
Two More Things:
Really, there is sexism in the U.S. Senate? An body politic dominated by old white men who've been living in a surrealistic ideological dogmatic bubble for way too long, we simply can't believe it... please.
Lastly, big congratulations to Chuck Todd on becoming the new moderator of "Meet The Press." We look forward to opining on the programs under your stewardship.
One More Thing:
To all the hardworking, happy Labor Day! Try to take it easy at least for one day this weekend.
While the United States has the west's attention is concentrated on ISIS, Mr. Putin can act practically without impunity in Eastern Europe however he sees fit. Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA) said that she believes this is a deeply personal matter for Mr. Putin to return Russia to its former level of influence and control in Eastern Europe, a return to glory if you're so inclined to think that way. Any move against ISIS is going to have to be done without either of those countries takig part and both would like nothing better than to see the United States drain it's military and diplomatic resources even more than it already has, rendering it ineffectual on the world stage.
It was the gamble that was laid down in 2003 when the United States decided to invade Iraq - that decision was either going to pay big dividends in terms of influence in the region and around the world, as it related to oil and energy, or it was going to slowly bleed the United States of its monetary and more decidedly moral strength to influence other nations. We see where we are now - the dividends are nonexistent.
What we're left with is a cautious president, unwilling to take definitive action on anything foreign policy related, and this cautiousness or herky-jerky (Ruth Marcus' technical term) approach is reinforced by a Congress concerned about elections instead of running the country. When Meet The Press showed that YouTube video of John Boehner, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the toy monkey, we found that embarrassing. This is what the political leaders in Washington are reduced to doing?
Some are saying that Russia's moves in Ukraine are an incursion. No, that's incorrect - it's an invasion. Russia troops crossing the Ukrainian border to start a third front in a civil conflict is an invasion, and the fact is that Ukraine and Russia are at war, though one side is fighting it, at the moment, through a proxy. And because of the tactical distraction that ISIS is providing Mr. Putin against his western (U.S.) adversaries, there is no reason for him to stop until Russia achieves a 'special sphere of interest' exclusive to Russia, as stated by a Russian official during a taped segment today. But you notice in that statement that Russia wants to create this regardless of whether the countries under this 'special sphere' want it or not. Former Ambassador to Russia, Micheal McFaul had no answer when asked what would stop Mr. Putin. Mr. Putin knows his history and that it will repeat itself in as much as western Europe acquiescing to hostile Russia advances in the east where essentially they'll do nothing.
Congress needs to debate these issues immediately upon returning to session, the first of which must be the threat of ISIS because they along with other terror groups are looking to turn their aggression toward western countries. We're not eager to see the United States commit to another war with troops on the ground but it's difficult to determine whether General Zinni was being accurate or cavalier when he said that 2 American brigades could defeat ISIS in a short amount of time. The folly of the Bush-Cheney Iraq invasion has sowed the doubt.
What we do find laughable is that the United States would actually heed a warning from the Assad regime not to conduct airstrikes on ISIS in Syria as that would be an act of aggression against a sovereign nation. The United States has heeded this warning. Now some would say that if the U.S. did conduct airstrikes on ISIS in Syria that this would be in effect helping the Assad regime. However, the U.S. (the Obama Administration) could play it a different way and say 'no,' the start of these airstrikes on Syrian territory are actually putting Assad on notice - that once ISIS is decimated, you'll be the next pariah to be dealt with.
Generally, this column is not hawkish, but with ISIS, they threat is too great to way too many. So we agree with General Zinni in that the Syrian border within the Islamic State should not be honored. Mr. Obama has to starting getting out front and lead from there, but he can not do - we repeat CAN NOT - if he doesn't have Congressional support. And if Congress can not support its president, on foreign policy at the very least, diminishing returns are all we're going to get.
Round Table 1: Michael Leiter, NBC National Security Correspondent; Michelle Flournoy, former Under Secretary of Defense; General Anthony Zinni; Former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul
Round Table 2: Doris Kearns-Godwin, presidential historian; Wes Moore, author; Ruth Marcus, The Washington Post; and David Henniger, The Wall Street Journal
Two More Things:
Really, there is sexism in the U.S. Senate? An body politic dominated by old white men who've been living in a surrealistic ideological dogmatic bubble for way too long, we simply can't believe it... please.
Lastly, big congratulations to Chuck Todd on becoming the new moderator of "Meet The Press." We look forward to opining on the programs under your stewardship.
One More Thing:
To all the hardworking, happy Labor Day! Try to take it easy at least for one day this weekend.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
8.24.14: Decision Time for the West on ISIS/ Rand Paul's Views
(Chris Jansing moderated, hosted really, "Meet The Press" this week and she does her format well, but it's not a format for this program. We'll touch on it throughout this week's post.)
Sir Peter Wesmacott, British Ambassador to the United States, said that his government,using sophisticated voice recognition, is close to identifying the terrorist who killed journalist James Foley. He further explained that the murder of Mr. Foley has pointedly focused the west's attention to ISIS and the threat they pose, and the threat is great. NBC's Richard Engel said that ISIS isn't really interested in negotiating with the west on any level, that it's simply about destroying it.
Gleaning information from today's program's guest sources, an overall picture of ISIS is that it occupies a third of Iraq and a good portion of Syria with the border between the two has been indeed erased. We know that they're capable militarily and they have the means to fund the Sharia, violence and propaganda by selling oil for cheap. They are a threat not only to the Middle East, including Israel, but also to western countries having recruited individuals from them. All this with the goal of establishing an Islamic Caliphate, and they have seemed to get off to a good start.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said that the United States has the capabilities to defeat ISIS but questioned the country's will. He also said that the United States' Department of Defense and our Intelligence Agencies are not configured correctly to combat ISIS, putting that failure on The White House. As the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he must know that we have far more people on the ground in Iraq than has been made public, and like it or not that is going to have to increase. Even a strong Iraqi army coupled with the already well trained and organized Kurdish pesh merga complimented by U.S. air power is not enough the defeat ISIS on the territory it controls.
Also, if you take Mr. Rogers at his word, he's convinced that if not combated against, ISIS will commit acts of terrorism on United States soil. (The other thing we know about ISIS is that they want to expand their territory.) From what the congressman said, he's an advocate for escalating operations against ISIS. However, another Republican Rand Paul (in a too long propaganda segment about Rand Paul propaganda) tossed out a warning about electing a 'war hawk' like Hillary Clinton who would most certainly get the United States in another Middle Eastern war, according to him.
The point is that conducting two long simultaneous wars has left the United States weary and its leaders, regardless of party, conflicted about what to do. As Editor and Anchor of the PBS NewsHour, Gwen Ifill, pointed out, there hasn't been any word from the Hill or the White House on what to do. At the moment, the air strikes authorized the Obama Administration are achieving a status quo preventing ISIS from expanding, can hold up until Congress reconvenes but they can not go on indefinitely. And the United States can not long continue to go it alone.
All civilized countries are at a defining turning point here with ISIS, and they have to recognize it.
Sadly, the United States, to lead, needs a strong unified policy on how to combat and eliminate ISIS so that it can rally its allies and the rest of the world [read: China and Russia] around it. We say 'sadly' because you know why. A unified policy from the United States government is highly unlikely, but the United States can not keep operating on the 'president going it alone' strategy - Congress must engage. But again, sadly, they are only interested in the midterm elections.
Speaking of elections, Rand Paul is most certainly running for President of the United States in 2016, the entire segment was an illustrating photo opportunity just for that. As Citizens United documented the humanitarian purpose of the trip, Dr. Paul was also able to answer political questions from NBC. It has to be pointed out that one of Dr. Paul's answers to what happened in Ferguson was narrow and disturbing.
"Let's say none of this has to do with race. It might not, but the belief-- if you're African American and you live in Ferguson, the belief is, you see people in prison and they're mostly black and brown, that somehow it is racial, even if the thoughts that were going on at that time had nothing to do with race."
Senator Paul, in his libertarian ideology, is simply denying the existence of an institutional racism that still exists in the United States, the general human condition of African Americans in this country, and the overwhelming statistics of the double standards that exist in the justice system. And taking it back to Ferguson, you can bet that the black protesters that have been arrested have absolutely been charged with some crime, yet, the white police officer who shot an unarmed man six times (two in the head) with four witnesses standing by hasn't even been arrested.
And even if there are good reasons for those circumstances, just like The Washington Post's Michael Gerson said commenting on photos of President Obama playing golf while the press covered the murder of James Foley, symbolism matters. And in the case of Ferguson, that's no exception. In that context, it is of course easy to see the continued anger.
Due to Senator Paul's libertarian ideology, he does not seem to acknowledge the existence of racial inequality in the United States and if he were president that means he would take no action to improve the very real opportunity disparity that lead to things like what's happened in Ferguson. You have to have a very cold approach to the human condition to maintain an ideology.
It was good to hear Mr. Gerson, a conservative columnist, disagree with Senator Paul in his call to cancel all foreign aid. Mr. Gerson explained that ideology has consequences and the Kentucky senator is ignoring those consequences in that millions of children in poor countries would suffer and die without that aid.
This kind of ideological adherence isn't presidential material in the United States.
Guests: Rep. Mike Rogers, Amb. Peter Westmacott, Richard Engel, Helene Cooper, Gwen Ifill, David Ignatius, Mayor Kasim Reed, Michael Gerson, Gov. Jay Nixon, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sen. Rand Paul
Post Note: We were going to comment more on the poor format of the show (the awkward walk across the set by Ms. Jansing), but we'll give it a rest - it's the last week in August after all.
Sir Peter Wesmacott, British Ambassador to the United States, said that his government,using sophisticated voice recognition, is close to identifying the terrorist who killed journalist James Foley. He further explained that the murder of Mr. Foley has pointedly focused the west's attention to ISIS and the threat they pose, and the threat is great. NBC's Richard Engel said that ISIS isn't really interested in negotiating with the west on any level, that it's simply about destroying it.
Gleaning information from today's program's guest sources, an overall picture of ISIS is that it occupies a third of Iraq and a good portion of Syria with the border between the two has been indeed erased. We know that they're capable militarily and they have the means to fund the Sharia, violence and propaganda by selling oil for cheap. They are a threat not only to the Middle East, including Israel, but also to western countries having recruited individuals from them. All this with the goal of establishing an Islamic Caliphate, and they have seemed to get off to a good start.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI) said that the United States has the capabilities to defeat ISIS but questioned the country's will. He also said that the United States' Department of Defense and our Intelligence Agencies are not configured correctly to combat ISIS, putting that failure on The White House. As the Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, he must know that we have far more people on the ground in Iraq than has been made public, and like it or not that is going to have to increase. Even a strong Iraqi army coupled with the already well trained and organized Kurdish pesh merga complimented by U.S. air power is not enough the defeat ISIS on the territory it controls.
Also, if you take Mr. Rogers at his word, he's convinced that if not combated against, ISIS will commit acts of terrorism on United States soil. (The other thing we know about ISIS is that they want to expand their territory.) From what the congressman said, he's an advocate for escalating operations against ISIS. However, another Republican Rand Paul (in a too long propaganda segment about Rand Paul propaganda) tossed out a warning about electing a 'war hawk' like Hillary Clinton who would most certainly get the United States in another Middle Eastern war, according to him.
The point is that conducting two long simultaneous wars has left the United States weary and its leaders, regardless of party, conflicted about what to do. As Editor and Anchor of the PBS NewsHour, Gwen Ifill, pointed out, there hasn't been any word from the Hill or the White House on what to do. At the moment, the air strikes authorized the Obama Administration are achieving a status quo preventing ISIS from expanding, can hold up until Congress reconvenes but they can not go on indefinitely. And the United States can not long continue to go it alone.
All civilized countries are at a defining turning point here with ISIS, and they have to recognize it.
Sadly, the United States, to lead, needs a strong unified policy on how to combat and eliminate ISIS so that it can rally its allies and the rest of the world [read: China and Russia] around it. We say 'sadly' because you know why. A unified policy from the United States government is highly unlikely, but the United States can not keep operating on the 'president going it alone' strategy - Congress must engage. But again, sadly, they are only interested in the midterm elections.
Speaking of elections, Rand Paul is most certainly running for President of the United States in 2016, the entire segment was an illustrating photo opportunity just for that. As Citizens United documented the humanitarian purpose of the trip, Dr. Paul was also able to answer political questions from NBC. It has to be pointed out that one of Dr. Paul's answers to what happened in Ferguson was narrow and disturbing.
"Let's say none of this has to do with race. It might not, but the belief-- if you're African American and you live in Ferguson, the belief is, you see people in prison and they're mostly black and brown, that somehow it is racial, even if the thoughts that were going on at that time had nothing to do with race."
Senator Paul, in his libertarian ideology, is simply denying the existence of an institutional racism that still exists in the United States, the general human condition of African Americans in this country, and the overwhelming statistics of the double standards that exist in the justice system. And taking it back to Ferguson, you can bet that the black protesters that have been arrested have absolutely been charged with some crime, yet, the white police officer who shot an unarmed man six times (two in the head) with four witnesses standing by hasn't even been arrested.
And even if there are good reasons for those circumstances, just like The Washington Post's Michael Gerson said commenting on photos of President Obama playing golf while the press covered the murder of James Foley, symbolism matters. And in the case of Ferguson, that's no exception. In that context, it is of course easy to see the continued anger.
Due to Senator Paul's libertarian ideology, he does not seem to acknowledge the existence of racial inequality in the United States and if he were president that means he would take no action to improve the very real opportunity disparity that lead to things like what's happened in Ferguson. You have to have a very cold approach to the human condition to maintain an ideology.
It was good to hear Mr. Gerson, a conservative columnist, disagree with Senator Paul in his call to cancel all foreign aid. Mr. Gerson explained that ideology has consequences and the Kentucky senator is ignoring those consequences in that millions of children in poor countries would suffer and die without that aid.
This kind of ideological adherence isn't presidential material in the United States.
Guests: Rep. Mike Rogers, Amb. Peter Westmacott, Richard Engel, Helene Cooper, Gwen Ifill, David Ignatius, Mayor Kasim Reed, Michael Gerson, Gov. Jay Nixon, Rev. Al Sharpton, Sen. Rand Paul
Post Note: We were going to comment more on the poor format of the show (the awkward walk across the set by Ms. Jansing), but we'll give it a rest - it's the last week in August after all.
Sunday, August 17, 2014
8.17.14: Justice and Peace; What Comes First in Ferguson
-->
***
This brings us to the second half topic - ISIS in Iraq, who is definitely using U.S. weapons in the effort and so far success in establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East - where we'll try and be brief this week.
"Ferguson and the Racial Divide" was the
headline for today's lead story on "Meet The Press," with Andrea
Mitchell as the moderator, which is a clear reminder of what the state's
governor Jay Nixon (D) called during his interview 'deep wounds' that still
exist in these communities. These deep wounds the governor was referring
to, of course, stem from the racial injustice that still flagrantly exists in
the United States 150 years after the most bloody war in American history that
decided that all men in this country are indeed created equal. However,
while Fergurson, Missouri is illustrating the continued presence of an old
national ugliness, it's also shown us the phenomenon of a new ugliness - the
militarization of our police departments.
Before we get more into that, we're compelled to call
out the governor for not answering Andrea Mitchell's question as to why Chief
Jackson hasn't been fired. The governor said that Mr. Jackson has
subverted the chain of command and, disparaged a man's character when he
released a video tape of an incident involving Michael Brown in a convenient
store before he was shot multiple times by Officer Darren Wilson. The
police department released this video tape without having released any details
of what happened during the shooting - obstructing public justice. No
longer is Chief Thomas Jackson qualified, due to his actions, to act in the
best interest of the community he serves. And the governor hasn't
stripped him of all authority.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editor-in-Chief Gilbert Bailon
commented that there is a deep distrust of the police department by the
community and given the above, that's stupidly easy to understand. Why
wouldn't they be distrustful and
suspicious? Let's not to forget to mention that journalists have also
been arrested, with open hostility from the police as The Washington Post's Wesley Lowery phrased it, for reporting on
what's been happening in Ferguson.
The governor explained that there are dual
investigations going on into what happening - one by the local district
prosecutor and the other by the Justice Department. Well, the JOD needs
to scrutinize the Ferguson Police Department because their actions have been at
the least a public disgrace if not criminal in some regard with their delays in
releasing information.
Speaking of criminal, as Harvard Law Professor Charles
Ogletree said, the officer should be arrested. He shot an unarmed Michael Brown
to death and he hasn't been at least arrested? When you consider all this,
it even angers one who just sitting and writing about it, to say nothing for
the citizens in Ferguson.
What we found striking is the juxtaposition of how the
governor and Civil Rights hero John Lewis (D-GA) outlined the desired goal for
the town of Ferguson. The governor said that "to have justice, we
need peace,' while later in the program Mr. Lewis said 'we cannot have peace
and order without justice.' We found this very telling about the deep
differences in the psyche of our individuals from different backgrounds think
of how to achieve the same goal. What the governor said implied that
peace, in this case calm through suppression, needs to be achieved first before
you can start talking about justice. Conversely, Mr. Lewis was saying
that until justice is served, there can be no peace - his phrasing coming from
a deep understanding of what it means to be oppressed. The governor, not
so much. Just something to think about.
Moving forward, as Los Angeles City Council member,
Bernard Parks and Representative and Mr. Lewis explained, there must be a
dialogue between the authorities and the community so that the common good can
progress, but we have to be honest, that's going to take a while and progress
will be slow because the specter of what we've seen, this glimpse through the
window of the future in how authorities will trample the Constitution to
protect their actions will still be hanging above it all.
The pictures of assault vehicles, smoke bombs, sniper
rifles all trained on citizens of an American town are truly eye-opening, which
is now fact and becoming standard operating procedure. But just like in Iraq,
if you have all these surplus weapons and vehicles and munitions someone is
going to pick them and want to use them. Well, the military had a surplus
laying around here at home so why not get something back for all this money
spent and sold everything to local municipalities dirt cheap. Then the
notion of 'we have them, why not use them' sets in.
***
This brings us to the second half topic - ISIS in Iraq, who is definitely using U.S. weapons in the effort and so far success in establishing an Islamic caliphate in the Middle East - where we'll try and be brief this week.
We neither agree with Ms. Harman's assessments that
President Obama has made all the right decisions on Iraq nor do we agree with
Rep. Turner's complete condemnation of Mr. Obama's policies toward the Middle
East. However, to answer Andrea Mitchell's central question as to weather
we're in the middle of a war in Iraq, the answer is yes. And because the
United States is obligated to act, the president is at the moment showing the
right measure of participation. Jason Riley of The Wall Street Journal said that the key is for the United States
to eliminate ISIS. We agree but he seemed to be advocating U.S. troops on
the ground which is not a good idea, and if it ever came to that again, no
allies would go with us.
But what really stuck with us from the round table
discussion on the Middle East was what Jane Harman said in outlining a truth
about said caliphate, which was that the center of control will be in Saudi
Arabia; let's face it - a false ally of the United States who has actively
funded other Sunnis motivated to kill Americans. Yet, American political
leaders - Democrat and Republican alike - have to continue to call them
friends. Two words to explain that - cheaper gasoline.
Round Table 1: Wesley Lowery, The Washington Post; Gilbert Bailon, Editor-In-Chief St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Baltimore Mayor
Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School Professor; and
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)
Round Table 2: Anne Gearan, diplomatic correspondent
for The Washington Post; Jason Riley, member of The Wall Street Journal's
editorial board; Jane Harman, the president and CEO of the Woodrow Wilson
International Center for Scholars; and Republican Congressman Michael Turner
from Ohio.
8.17.14: Goodbye to David Gregory
The Huffington Post had been pouring on the coverage of "Meet The Press," especially in this last week, and its ratings woes all centered around the performance of the moderator David Gregory. Even Jennifer Rubin of The Washington Post weighed in on the program's troubles and with some suggestions on how to fix it. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/david-gregory-meet-the-press/),
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/08/15/meet-the-newer-press/).
One of the posts from The Huffington Post shows the internal memo about the announcement of David Gregory's departure. You'll see in the graphic below, taken from today's "Meet The Press" web site front page Mr. Gregory's farewell tweet and the official announcement that NBC Political Director, Chuck Todd, will be taking over as the moderator.
There has been a lot criticism about the way in which NBC handled all of this - not giving a supportive statement when the whispers became louder, not making the change quickly enough to save face and dignity, etc. Not to defend the network, but there wasn't an easy way to do it. We're sure that Mr. Gregory was liked among his colleagues and it's not like his goal was to not do well and carry on the excellence of the program of record after the untimely death of "Meet The Press" icon Tim Russert. However, this is a business and ratings are dollars and based upon that, you have to do what ever you can to compete.
One of the articles on The Huffington Post suggested that "Meet The Press" just go away altogether. Stupid idea. You don't cancel the first television show, the 'program of record' as we like to call it, because of a bad spell.
Chuck Todd was Mr. Russert's protege but at the time of his death, Mr. Todd wasn't ready to take over the reigns as moderator, but he is now. As we've said in a previous column, Mr. Todd has a lot to do to improve the show, but so do the producers (also how we have previously outlined).
So before Chuck Todd takes over on September 7th, Andrea Mitchell will be serving as moderator (a curiously good choice). With that, we thank David Gregory for his time and effort on the program and we look forward to the era of Chuck Todd beginning.
It's all business so let's get on with it.
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2014/08/15/meet-the-newer-press/).
One of the posts from The Huffington Post shows the internal memo about the announcement of David Gregory's departure. You'll see in the graphic below, taken from today's "Meet The Press" web site front page Mr. Gregory's farewell tweet and the official announcement that NBC Political Director, Chuck Todd, will be taking over as the moderator.
There has been a lot criticism about the way in which NBC handled all of this - not giving a supportive statement when the whispers became louder, not making the change quickly enough to save face and dignity, etc. Not to defend the network, but there wasn't an easy way to do it. We're sure that Mr. Gregory was liked among his colleagues and it's not like his goal was to not do well and carry on the excellence of the program of record after the untimely death of "Meet The Press" icon Tim Russert. However, this is a business and ratings are dollars and based upon that, you have to do what ever you can to compete.
One of the articles on The Huffington Post suggested that "Meet The Press" just go away altogether. Stupid idea. You don't cancel the first television show, the 'program of record' as we like to call it, because of a bad spell.
Chuck Todd was Mr. Russert's protege but at the time of his death, Mr. Todd wasn't ready to take over the reigns as moderator, but he is now. As we've said in a previous column, Mr. Todd has a lot to do to improve the show, but so do the producers (also how we have previously outlined).
So before Chuck Todd takes over on September 7th, Andrea Mitchell will be serving as moderator (a curiously good choice). With that, we thank David Gregory for his time and effort on the program and we look forward to the era of Chuck Todd beginning.
It's all business so let's get on with it.
Sunday, August 10, 2014
8.10.14: Continuity of Mistakes - Back to Iraq
President Obama said in an interview with The New York Times Tom Friedman that (and we're paraphrasing) the president engage in the Middle East when the goals reflected 'inclusive' politics, that there would be no victor and no vanquished.
As President Obama has done with domestic issues, he's going to have to negotiate off of that utopian position because that just isn't happening. As Andrea Mitchell pointed out, the administration is being held hostage by the negotiations, or lack thereof, to remove Maliki as the Iraqi Prime Minister. This serves as a pointed example of how the administration has continually acted in a lackadaisical
manner with all of these crises in the Middle East.
The air strikes that the president has ordered are now of the sort of a last resort. Though they're meant to keep ISIS from slaughtering the trapped Yazidi Christians in Northern Iraq, a sect that ISIS has deemed devil-worshipers, that should not be the signal that air strikes send. The administration and the United States should clearly state that these air strikes will greatly intensify if ISIS advances closer to Erbil, the capital city for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
As nice as it sounds when Senator Dick Durbin says that only Iraqis can save Iraq, but it's just not realistic. Iraq at this moment barely exists as a country and if we don't help the Kurds, there will absolutely be nothing that we left of any good after our incomprehensible military mistake in Iraq if we don't help establish this territory for a nature ally. That doesn't mean troops on the ground; we're happy that they're out, but that they were there, we now have a moral obligation to help them. And as it was pointed out on the program, the U.S. is going it alone with these air strikes, no friends to help us. If that's the case then build up the friends you have there and that's the Kurdish people, send as much aid as possible - immediately, which is one criticism Rep. Peter King (R-NY) had of the president that we agree with, that Mr. Obama is too slow to act.
Chuck Todd explained that the administration has been modulating on the notion of stability versus democracy [for the region] meaning that stability in the Middle East comes in the form of brutal dictators and democracy leads to utter chaos and anarchy. When you think of it in those terms, it's a false choice. It's also false at this point because neither are part of the equation.
As Robin Wright pointed out, the Obama Administration never solved the diplomatic/political objectives in Iraq, which the need to complete were inherited from the Bush Administration. The United States is so politically divided that we no longer act as one country even when it comes to foreign policy. The continuity we illustrated is a continuity of mistakes.
Our last president made atrociously poor military decisions and this current president has followed suit on the diplomatic side. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry is embroiled in Israeli/Palestinian diplomacy that is going utterly nowhere, to the point where 'diplomacy' isn't even the word for it anymore. It used to be that if you could solve this conflict the rest of the Middle East would reside in peace, but even that is no longer the case.
Where that leaves us - our new objective - is how The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg described it and that is to keep ISIS from spreading because as former Director of Counter-terrorism Center Michael Leiter explained, he and most analysts believe that ISIS will do nothing but expand if not deterred. Rep. King's hyperbole and panic-button striking temperament aside, this includes attacks on the west. What's sad, is that Senator Durbin said it was a reality of war today that enemies of the United States would be using U.S. military hardware to fight us. We realize, as Mr. Durbin said, that this is nothing new in history, but this seems different, vastly different.
Iraq is now being described as the graveyard for American ambition, and through the course of 4 United States presidents we've dropped approximately 40,000 bombs and missiles on that country, left with tens of thousands wounded and dead for our troubles, and this is the state it's in. We should be appalled, but not surprised.
Round Table: Chuck Todd - Political Director, NBC News; Andrea MItchell - Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News; Rich Lowry - Editor, The National Review; Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)
As President Obama has done with domestic issues, he's going to have to negotiate off of that utopian position because that just isn't happening. As Andrea Mitchell pointed out, the administration is being held hostage by the negotiations, or lack thereof, to remove Maliki as the Iraqi Prime Minister. This serves as a pointed example of how the administration has continually acted in a lackadaisical
manner with all of these crises in the Middle East.
The air strikes that the president has ordered are now of the sort of a last resort. Though they're meant to keep ISIS from slaughtering the trapped Yazidi Christians in Northern Iraq, a sect that ISIS has deemed devil-worshipers, that should not be the signal that air strikes send. The administration and the United States should clearly state that these air strikes will greatly intensify if ISIS advances closer to Erbil, the capital city for the semi-autonomous Kurdish region.
As nice as it sounds when Senator Dick Durbin says that only Iraqis can save Iraq, but it's just not realistic. Iraq at this moment barely exists as a country and if we don't help the Kurds, there will absolutely be nothing that we left of any good after our incomprehensible military mistake in Iraq if we don't help establish this territory for a nature ally. That doesn't mean troops on the ground; we're happy that they're out, but that they were there, we now have a moral obligation to help them. And as it was pointed out on the program, the U.S. is going it alone with these air strikes, no friends to help us. If that's the case then build up the friends you have there and that's the Kurdish people, send as much aid as possible - immediately, which is one criticism Rep. Peter King (R-NY) had of the president that we agree with, that Mr. Obama is too slow to act.
Chuck Todd explained that the administration has been modulating on the notion of stability versus democracy [for the region] meaning that stability in the Middle East comes in the form of brutal dictators and democracy leads to utter chaos and anarchy. When you think of it in those terms, it's a false choice. It's also false at this point because neither are part of the equation.
As Robin Wright pointed out, the Obama Administration never solved the diplomatic/political objectives in Iraq, which the need to complete were inherited from the Bush Administration. The United States is so politically divided that we no longer act as one country even when it comes to foreign policy. The continuity we illustrated is a continuity of mistakes.
Our last president made atrociously poor military decisions and this current president has followed suit on the diplomatic side. Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry is embroiled in Israeli/Palestinian diplomacy that is going utterly nowhere, to the point where 'diplomacy' isn't even the word for it anymore. It used to be that if you could solve this conflict the rest of the Middle East would reside in peace, but even that is no longer the case.
Where that leaves us - our new objective - is how The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg described it and that is to keep ISIS from spreading because as former Director of Counter-terrorism Center Michael Leiter explained, he and most analysts believe that ISIS will do nothing but expand if not deterred. Rep. King's hyperbole and panic-button striking temperament aside, this includes attacks on the west. What's sad, is that Senator Durbin said it was a reality of war today that enemies of the United States would be using U.S. military hardware to fight us. We realize, as Mr. Durbin said, that this is nothing new in history, but this seems different, vastly different.
Iraq is now being described as the graveyard for American ambition, and through the course of 4 United States presidents we've dropped approximately 40,000 bombs and missiles on that country, left with tens of thousands wounded and dead for our troubles, and this is the state it's in. We should be appalled, but not surprised.
Round Table: Chuck Todd - Political Director, NBC News; Andrea MItchell - Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC News; Rich Lowry - Editor, The National Review; Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD)
Sunday, August 03, 2014
8.3.14: Stopping the Spread...
Stopping the Spread... the Ebola Virus
The bad news is that the Ebola virus is deadly, infectious and incurable; and we're in the midst of the worst outbreak of the disease in history with over 1,300 people infected and more than 700 dead in West Africa, primarily in Liberia where an American doctor (Dr. Kent Brantley) was infected. And given that in a globalized world, diseases are also global, given our transportation systems, and everyone should be concerned as Director & CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Dr. Toby Cosgrove explained on the program.
The good news is that the virus is not as infectious as others, also pointed out by Dr. Cosgrove, and it can be contained. Also, the chases of an outbreak in the United States is slim, but with that the government is taking precautions regardless. Not as much good news, we admit - that seems to be the tread these days.
However, take heart because the U.S. government takes these situations incredibly serious as you can tell, having the Director of the Ceners for Disease Control Dr. Tom Freiden making the rounds on the Sunday talk show circuit to get information to the public as to not cause alarm. (They outlined on the program, via graphic, that all major points of entry in the U.S. have medical personnel on hand for any emergency.) This is where the United States is the undisputed leader in our opinion. No other country is as prepared for such emergencies as the United States and act as quickly. To this point, Dr. Frieden said that the CDC was sending experts to West Africa to assess the situation and assist in containing the disease - a 'surge in response' he called it. And Dr. Cosgrove stated that he was very confident in all the actions the CDC has taken.
Just another existential threat to throw on the pile.
[Thank you David Gregory for asking Dr. Cosgrove about the toxicity of the drinking water because of what's happening to Lake Erie. The toxic water is from an algae build-up in Lake Erie caused by fertilizer run-off from farms - the further price the environment pays under the weight of economic 'progress.' This worries us more than the spread of Ebola!]
Stopping the Spread... Israeli/ Palestinian Violence
In considering the two sides of the crisis in Gaza and the points made by the foils appearing on today's program, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for Palestine to the UN and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer respectively, it's easier to understand why Israel has a clear conscious about this.
Mr. Mansour is a UN representative to the UN for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, not Hamas in Gaza; therefore leaving the PA with no leverage or influence a decrease in the violence. However, as Mr. Dermer pointed out and what we all know, the PA and Hamas do not see eye to eye and actually have different goals, yet have a supportive pact with one another. And as the ambassador explained, when Mr. Gregory asked Mr. Mansour about Hamas and their tactics, he could not condemn their actions.
Mr. Mansour said that the international community must empower the PA as to govern Gaza, but our question would be: How does that empowering get done? For that to happen, that means you have to take on Hamas and the only ones doing that are the Israelis. And in a round about way, Mr. Mansour is saying he agrees with Mr. Dermer when he said that the road to peace goes over Hamas not through it. Everyone knows this and that's why Arab leaders in other countries are quietly routing for Israel.
And even if you agree with Mr. Mansour when he stated that Hamas using the civilian population as human shields is false, you would have to agree with Mr. Gregory's use of the phrase 'exploiting civilians' because that certainly is the case. You can not lose site of the fact that it was Hamas who initiated this latest conflict, indiscriminately firing rockets into Israel.
By the way, we aren't studied up on the nuances of the Israeli appropriations bill to continue funding for Iron Dome, however, we disagree with Rep. Ellison's no-vote on the funding. We should encourage and support the signature defensive measure the Israelis have to protect themselves from rocket fire. Mr. Ellison needs to remember that rockets can not only come from Hamas in Gaza but also from Hezbollah in Lebanon. What you would vote 'no' on would be giving Israel free offensive military weapons. More cynically, don't give them money to buy weapons, have them use their own money to purchase them.
From what we've outlined above, it's easy to understand that the Israeli response is going to be disproportionate to what Hamas can retaliate with, and the Israelis should do what ever they can to mitigate civilian deaths - they're not targeting civilians, yet there are more and more protests around the world against Israel's actions. In last week's column we displayed pictures of the devastation in Gaza City, which at that level is completely unacceptable and punitive response is intolerable, but Hamas, given the history, has left Israel little choice. The rest of the world knows that it is not Hamas that is going to stop the spread of violence - it's a fact that the world has to come to realize.
And you can certainly take one thing, if anything, from the joint interview with Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and John Thune (R-SD) and that is that the United States, no matter how unpopular that actions, the United States will support Israel... as it should.
Round Table: Carolyn Ryan, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times; Mike Murphy, Republican Political Strategist; Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN); and Kristen Soltis Anderson, Partner & Co-Founder Echelon Insights
One Last Thing...
We here at The Meet-The-Press Opinion do not think that anyone from the program actually reads this column. Why would they, right? However, today's program was refreshingly sharp and informative - cruising through the hour. There weren't any distracting prerecorded segments; with the exception of Chuck Todd there were no other correspondents; there were serious guests on either side of serious issues; and Mr. Gregory 'owned' the hour. What's odd it that today's format and pacing reflected an outline we had put together in a previous column. (http://meetthepressopinion.blogspot.com/2014/05/51114-short-sighted-separatists-in.html)
We'd be incredibly, humbly flattered if we didn't know for a fact it was coincidence.
But then we went to the Meet The Press web site this morning and saw this:
Coincidence is all good with us.
The bad news is that the Ebola virus is deadly, infectious and incurable; and we're in the midst of the worst outbreak of the disease in history with over 1,300 people infected and more than 700 dead in West Africa, primarily in Liberia where an American doctor (Dr. Kent Brantley) was infected. And given that in a globalized world, diseases are also global, given our transportation systems, and everyone should be concerned as Director & CEO of the Cleveland Clinic Dr. Toby Cosgrove explained on the program.
The good news is that the virus is not as infectious as others, also pointed out by Dr. Cosgrove, and it can be contained. Also, the chases of an outbreak in the United States is slim, but with that the government is taking precautions regardless. Not as much good news, we admit - that seems to be the tread these days.
However, take heart because the U.S. government takes these situations incredibly serious as you can tell, having the Director of the Ceners for Disease Control Dr. Tom Freiden making the rounds on the Sunday talk show circuit to get information to the public as to not cause alarm. (They outlined on the program, via graphic, that all major points of entry in the U.S. have medical personnel on hand for any emergency.) This is where the United States is the undisputed leader in our opinion. No other country is as prepared for such emergencies as the United States and act as quickly. To this point, Dr. Frieden said that the CDC was sending experts to West Africa to assess the situation and assist in containing the disease - a 'surge in response' he called it. And Dr. Cosgrove stated that he was very confident in all the actions the CDC has taken.
Just another existential threat to throw on the pile.
[Thank you David Gregory for asking Dr. Cosgrove about the toxicity of the drinking water because of what's happening to Lake Erie. The toxic water is from an algae build-up in Lake Erie caused by fertilizer run-off from farms - the further price the environment pays under the weight of economic 'progress.' This worries us more than the spread of Ebola!]
Stopping the Spread... Israeli/ Palestinian Violence
In considering the two sides of the crisis in Gaza and the points made by the foils appearing on today's program, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for Palestine to the UN and Israeli Ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer respectively, it's easier to understand why Israel has a clear conscious about this.
Mr. Mansour is a UN representative to the UN for the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, not Hamas in Gaza; therefore leaving the PA with no leverage or influence a decrease in the violence. However, as Mr. Dermer pointed out and what we all know, the PA and Hamas do not see eye to eye and actually have different goals, yet have a supportive pact with one another. And as the ambassador explained, when Mr. Gregory asked Mr. Mansour about Hamas and their tactics, he could not condemn their actions.
Mr. Mansour said that the international community must empower the PA as to govern Gaza, but our question would be: How does that empowering get done? For that to happen, that means you have to take on Hamas and the only ones doing that are the Israelis. And in a round about way, Mr. Mansour is saying he agrees with Mr. Dermer when he said that the road to peace goes over Hamas not through it. Everyone knows this and that's why Arab leaders in other countries are quietly routing for Israel.
And even if you agree with Mr. Mansour when he stated that Hamas using the civilian population as human shields is false, you would have to agree with Mr. Gregory's use of the phrase 'exploiting civilians' because that certainly is the case. You can not lose site of the fact that it was Hamas who initiated this latest conflict, indiscriminately firing rockets into Israel.
By the way, we aren't studied up on the nuances of the Israeli appropriations bill to continue funding for Iron Dome, however, we disagree with Rep. Ellison's no-vote on the funding. We should encourage and support the signature defensive measure the Israelis have to protect themselves from rocket fire. Mr. Ellison needs to remember that rockets can not only come from Hamas in Gaza but also from Hezbollah in Lebanon. What you would vote 'no' on would be giving Israel free offensive military weapons. More cynically, don't give them money to buy weapons, have them use their own money to purchase them.
From what we've outlined above, it's easy to understand that the Israeli response is going to be disproportionate to what Hamas can retaliate with, and the Israelis should do what ever they can to mitigate civilian deaths - they're not targeting civilians, yet there are more and more protests around the world against Israel's actions. In last week's column we displayed pictures of the devastation in Gaza City, which at that level is completely unacceptable and punitive response is intolerable, but Hamas, given the history, has left Israel little choice. The rest of the world knows that it is not Hamas that is going to stop the spread of violence - it's a fact that the world has to come to realize.
And you can certainly take one thing, if anything, from the joint interview with Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and John Thune (R-SD) and that is that the United States, no matter how unpopular that actions, the United States will support Israel... as it should.
Round Table: Carolyn Ryan, Washington Bureau Chief, New York Times; Mike Murphy, Republican Political Strategist; Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN); and Kristen Soltis Anderson, Partner & Co-Founder Echelon Insights
One Last Thing...
We here at The Meet-The-Press Opinion do not think that anyone from the program actually reads this column. Why would they, right? However, today's program was refreshingly sharp and informative - cruising through the hour. There weren't any distracting prerecorded segments; with the exception of Chuck Todd there were no other correspondents; there were serious guests on either side of serious issues; and Mr. Gregory 'owned' the hour. What's odd it that today's format and pacing reflected an outline we had put together in a previous column. (http://meetthepressopinion.blogspot.com/2014/05/51114-short-sighted-separatists-in.html)
We'd be incredibly, humbly flattered if we didn't know for a fact it was coincidence.
But then we went to the Meet The Press web site this morning and saw this:
Coincidence is all good with us.
Sunday, July 27, 2014
7.27.14: The Advancing Wolves
The wolves are advancing is how David Brooks of the New York Times phrased it in the context that the United States' inability to influence global conflicts and events. Clearly, he was referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he was also referring to the rival militia violence in Libya. To further extrapolate, the wolves can include Assad in Syria and Iran - anyone that is ignoring what ever side or position the United States takes. No fear of consequences. Mr. Brooks explained that since WWII the United States was able to exert pressure throughout the world to keep a global order.
[He also mentioned that the United States was able to do this despite some small wars. We need to remind Mr. Brooks about small wars... Fifty-eight thousand died in Vietnam, no small war. Nor was Korea.]
But could he be also referring to Israel?
Despite the calls for a prolonged cease fire from Secretary of State John Kerry, the United States voice is being largely ignored. The concerns that the Obama Administration has about the civilian casualties in Gaza go noted but then put aside. As Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) assessed, Israel isn't going to agree to such a cease fire just to give Hamas a chance to reload.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Israel has accepted five different cease fires, and Hamas has even broke one that they called for, but say that this latest 24-hour one does in fact take hold, the sides are so far apart that it will have zero effect. The Prime Minister wants the total elimination of Hamas - that's the goal plain and simple. Anything short of that doesn't work for Mr. Netanyahu. We're not saying this because we agree or disagree, but simply based on what he stated. When he says that he wants to weaken, discredit and demilitarize Hamas, all those parts add up to the elimination of Hamas.
Mr. Netanyahu said that the Egyptian initiative is the only one on the table and it outlines the Palestinian Authority having political control over Gaza, not Hamas. You can understand Israel's retaliation in the face of rockets being fired into your country and wanting to eliminate the secret tunnels. But the pictures don't lie - parts of Gaza City (see below), its most populace areas, are devastated. NBC's Richard Engel described it as punishment.
Both sides are clearly to blame for what happened at the UN school in Gaza - Hamas for making it a military target and Israel for making it an indiscriminate one even though it was clearly marked as Chris Gunness, UN Relief and Works Agency Spokesperson, said. But as we've said before, there are no conditions in which Hamas would recognize Israel's right to exist, and if they continue rocketing into Israel, we better get used to these pictures and these tragedies like the one at the UN school.
Senator Schumer candidly said that he thinks it's 'dubious' that the United States can dictate outcomes around the world, no where more evident than in Europe with Ukraine, Russia, and Putin the ego wolf. His government plays large hand in the responsibility of killing 298 people aboard a commercial flight and he hasn't altered his behavior in the slightest. Russia is still solidly supplying the separatists in eastern Ukraine with no sign of abatement.
The U.S. is having little influence on Europe's willingness to act, and Mr. Schumer used an ominous analogy to illustrate the point saying that Europe can not employ the 1938 policy of appeasement, drawing a correlation between how Europe responded to the Nazis and how they are responding now to Mr. Putin. However, one thing is for sure, Europe should listen to the U.S. and go hard on the sanctions because Mr. Putin will continue to use military force in all areas he thinks he can. And he knows that Europe will simply stand by and watch him do it as long as he doesn't cross a certain line; that line by the way being Poland. Mr. Putin has a giant dictatorial ego, but he is not stupid. But if he were, then Europe would be immediately asking for U.S. for help.
With that said, he shouldn't have been allowed to do as much as he's done, and the European Union needs to act.
Then there's Africa in slow disintegration, one country at a time. It's been a fools errand to try and maintain a diplomatic presence in Libya since the tragic death of Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. It shouldn't be seen as a political opportunity or a criminal offense, but simply as a sign, one that says the United States has relinquished any influence it has over the events there. Period, end of sentence.
As the panel agreed, the United States can not withdraw from its leadership role around the world, but as Ruth Marcus commented, the American people no longer want the United States to serve as the world's policeman. The pressure that David Brooks talked about and the United States' ability to exert it to keep the peace has been discredited because of the horrible mistake it made in Iraq. It drained the U.S. of all its international mojo.
Round Table: Judy Woodruff, Co-Anchor and Managing Editor, PBS NewsHour; David Brooks, Columnist, New York Time; Nia-Malika Henderson, Reporter, Washington Post; Ruth Marcus, Columnist, Washington Post
Post Note: We may or may not come back later to comment on the interview with Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) and the comments made by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). The topic of poverty discussed with Mr. Ryan is certainly one of importance that we will comment on, and we find it disgraceful that Congress is about to go on a 5-week recess without the House voting on an immigration bill and a veterans' bill that both passed in the Senate. But hey, the above commentary is heavy enough for one Sunday.
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