KCRW's Left Right & Center: Reading List--7/25/08
Here are columns by Tony Blankley and Robert Scheer, both about Barack Obama, which we'll be discussing on tomorrow's show. (Other topics TBA, but probably the housing bill that's moving fast to help prevent total mortgage meltdown.)
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
BLANKLEY: The GQ statesman
By: Tony Blankley
OP-ED:
Watching Sen. Barack Obama glide through his foreign trip so far, nervous Republicans and other patriots have to hope that American voters will not view him through the eyes of a Hollywood casting director. Because one could not cast a man, who can better visually portray a worldly statesman?
Obama on the Brink
Posted on Jul 22, 2008
By Robert Scheer
Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack.
AND here's a special report from FOX News -- about John Bolton's comments:
Fox News
Bolton: Bush Paving Way for Obama Admin.
by Major Garrett
I wanted to share an interview former Bush United Nations Ambassador John Bolton did with Fox about the administration's decision to send the State Department's No. 3 diplomat, William Burns, to meetings this weekend in Geneva to discuss an incentive package aimed at deterring Iran for building and deploying nuclear weapons.
Bolton is on the outside looking in at an administration he barely recognizes. A hard-liner on Iran, Bolton sees only folly in attempts to negotiate Iran away from what he considers its single-minded obsession with obtaining nuclear weapons and using that leverage to make itself an even bigger player in the Middle East.
More importantly, Bolton appeared to concede Obama will win the White House. He went so far as to say Bush's Iran moves could take the Iran issue off the table for McCain and give Obama a boost in credibility on national security he believes is unfounded but will nevertheless occur.
The interview occurred Wednesday and I apologize for the late posting.
Tony Snow's funeral set me back professionally and emotionally yesterday and I'm playing catchup on several fronts as a result.
This is the Bolton verbatim:
"This is not going to be a one time meeting. I can tell you what the State Department will say the day after the meeting: 'It went really well, we made a lot of progress, now we've got a process going, surely we should go to the next meeting.'
In any event it's the Bush administration legitimizing the Obama presidency's policy. It's like Senator Obama already has a transition office in the West Wing.And, I think, it will make it very difficult for congressional Republicans and Sen. McCain to continue their critique of the weaknesses of the existing administration policy.
The problem is that the negotiations with Iran have already been underway for 5 years. This is not a new idea. It's not a new idea when Sen. Obama proposes it, it's not a new idea for the us to sit at the table. After 5 years of negotiation, the only consequence is that Iran is 5 years closer to nuclear weapons. Iran is not going to give up its pursuit of those weapons voluntarily, the diplomatic options have been tried and failed and our real options are now, unfortunately, quite limited.
I think the State Department is doing its best to ensure a smooth transition toward the Obama administration. So, I have little doubt that an interest section is highly likely before the end of the Bush Administration. Once again, Tehran will read that as a weakening of the administration's resolve and will use it to their advantage."
Again, this interview occurred Wedneday. The Bush administration confirmed work on creating an interest section in Iran on Thursday.
On the eve of Obama's overseas trip, this criticism from a former Bush insider suggests John McCain may have less latitude to criticize Obama on Iran. He may have lost ground in criticizing Obama on Afghanistan due to his endorsement of sending more troops there this week - after Obama called for the same thing on Aug. 1, 2007.
Mentioned in Today's Show: David Brooks editorial in New York Times:
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Comments
Mr. Blankley there is so much personal opinion in this piece that it is difficult to take it seriously. The comment about the 40 foot 3 pointer was absurd. Even if it did take several tries why would anyone be concerned? It was just nice little moment. Why attack it.
As awkward as this comment was, the comparisons between the Iraq War and World War II are much worse. This was a war fought out of necessity and supported by the free world. The Iraq war was pre-emptive and sold to the American people and the world based on lies. You cannot believe that by putting these two wars side by side gives credibility to this piece and the Iraq war.
And why must we keep talking about winning and losing? The U.S. has been in Iraq for 4 years. You were promised that it would be over within a few months. Senator McCain thinks that it would be OK to be there for 100 years. This is called perpetual war” Please re-read 1984. We need win, win solutions.
I hope that you are firmly dressed down for your comment “The central front (of terrorism) is in the minds of Muslims around the world” Terrorism can be the last refuge for desperate people without power and hope. It also can be a place to where criminals will be attracted. To attribute terrorism to a specific religion is utterly objectionable.
And this is the whole issue that I have with current political main stream commentary. I am convinced that if you stick with the issues and present them in an honest, rational, direct way people will listen.
Senator Obama is doing everything he can right now to control his message - and he needs to do this. The American mainstream media was bought out by big business a long time ago. They are no longer the Fourth Estate, whose purpose was to provide a frame work for political issues and to be an advocate for those who could not speak for themselves. If they can bring him down they will. They will follow your example of smear and innuendo. They will attack all those little, unimportant details to try and undermine any credibility he may have.
So if you have a valid concern that can be backed up with specific facts, please let us hear it. We the people need to hear all relevant information – both good and not so good, plus all that’s in between
That and someone like Robert Scheer saying a couple of weeks ago on LRC (and I'm paraphrasing) "...the war was supposed to be about securing the oil supply and making the middle east a more democratic place." Actually the war was supposed to be about protecting the U.S. from an imminent threat that "could come in the form of a mushroom cloud." Perhaps you were speaking ironically but it didn't come across that way. I nearly fell off the treadmill when you said it!
Even if the war in Iraq is a tremendous success it is a moral quagmire and a terrible precedent. The end justifying the means is a slippery slope. And the world is watching us slip...
Sarah--producer
Mr. Scheer, I am an unapologetic fan. So, I am in near complete agreement with your comments. . (I say ‘near’ because I think at times the point may be missed when you become a trifle combative.)
We need leadership that will turn us away from war and down a new path or I fear for the future of the human race. This can only happen with real and permanent change to our political system. A system that has outlived its original purpose - designed by and for men it will always be about wining and losing. It can’t be helped - it is in the nature of men. Which, in and of itself is not necessarily good or bad but it needs to be tempered by the feminine.
In order for women to compete in the current political system, they must adjust themselves to the male perspective and I fear turn their backs on their own nature - the feminine nature being one of inclusion and consensus rather than of singularity and combativeness.
Recently I read where women are leaving the legal profession in droves and I believe that this is the same issue. This profession being another male dominated field that is all about winning and losing. Anything else is considered a weakness.
Listening to Senator Obama's speech in Berlin, he is speaking to the world and to a yearning that we all have. We want something different. If in the end, he is just another political hack, this should not matter. He is stirring people up, raising expectations, telling people that they need to be involved to make this work.
Last point - we need to be realistic about our leaders. They are just people. If we treat them like gods and kings they may come to believe that this is what they are. We must make them accountable each and every day. If we don’t we can expect more of what we have had over the past 8 years. .