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Thursday, October 30, 2008
The neoconservatives have learned nothing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In a column in the Washington Post, Robert Kagan takes issue with those who — in his mind, anyway — believe the United States is in decline as the world’s dominant power and ought to act accordingly. As he correctly points out, with all of its problems the United States of America is still unchallenged as the world’s economic, cultural and military colossus.
However, what Kagan does not want to acknowledge is that even the most powerful nation in the world can overreach. Even the most powerful nation in the world has limits beyond which it weakens itself.
Kagan was an early and ardent advocate of an American invasion of Iraq, advocating unilateral action if necessary. His attitude about the use of American power then and now was captured nicely in the first two sentences of a column he wrote back in November 2002.
“America, with its vast power, can sometimes seem like a bully on the world stage,” he wrote. “But, really, the 1,200-pound gorilla is an underachiever in the bullying business.”
Kagan, like many of his fellow neoconservatives, has an inflated sense of what America acting alone on the world stage can accomplish. Our real-life experience in Iraq and Afghanistan has apparently not chastened him much. It is not “declinism” to point out that America cannot be the world’s policeman, imposing its version of order on every reluctant corner of the globe.
At this point, it is hard-earned common sense.
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The tape, the LA Times and John McCain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
John McCain and some of his supporters are trying to make a big deal of the fact that the Los Angeles Times is refusing to release a tape of a private going-away party for a Palestinian college professor in 2003 that was attended by Barack Obama. In April, The Times used the tape to write a story about Obama’s remarks at the event.
According to the story, Obama recounted a series of dinners and conversations with Khalidi and his wife Mona over the years, conversations that had been “consistent reminders to me of my own blind spots and my own biases… . It’s for that reason that I’m hoping that, for many years to come, we continue that conversation — a conversation that is necessary not just around Mona and Rashid’s dinner table,” but around “this entire world.”
The McCain camp apparently believes the tape may contain evidence of far more nefarious comments or activities. Or at least it wants others to believe that. As long as the tape remains private, the McCain camp is free to imagine all sorts of things about its content, including the possibility that Bill Ayers may have been in attendance. In the final, dwindling days of the 2008 presidential campaign, perhaps one of the most important in our history, this is what they would rather talk about than the economy, our overstretched military or energy policy.
In fact, McCain claims that the Times’ refusal to release the tape is firm evidence of media bias against him and in favor of Obama. He knows better.
According to Times reporter Peter Wallsten, he was given access to the tape and permission to write about its contents only on condition that the tape not be released to the public. While you can debate whether the Times should have agreed to those conditions, it did so and is now bound by that promise.
However, if the Times had refused the deal, it risked not getting access to the tape at all, and as a result nobody would know about it today. Furthermore, the source who provided the tape probably has very honest reasons for keeping it private. The party was private; other people at the party had no reason to believe they were at a public event. The only part of what happened there that has public import are the statements by a man who later became a presidential candidate, and those statements are now on record.
In the end, for reporter Wallsten and the Times, it comes down to keeping your word. And while Fox News, in its own obsessive way, is trying to make this a big story, its own deputy managing editor disagrees publicly. Bill Sammon is a newspaper guy by training, and it shows in his statement:
“To me, it’s pretty simple. Reporter Peter Wallsten made an agreement with a source to refrain from publicly disclosing the tape. Unless that source lets Wallsten off the hook, the reporter is journalistically bound to abide by the agreement, regardless of how much heat his newspaper takes from pundits on TV.
“Indeed, Wallsten has little choice in the matter. If he were to cave in to mounting public demands for the tape, no self-respecting source would ever give him another shred of information. Nor should they.”
In his own life, John McCain has put a lot of emphasis on personal and professional honor, citing it as a central part of his being. He ought to recognize that others can be motivated by personal and professional honor as well. His refusal to do so — a refusal based purely on hopes of personal gain — does not speak well of him.
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Time to put down your predictions…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
OK folks, step up and put your marker down. Who’s gonna win, and by how much? Let’s see what your thinking.
Your post should contain two things. First, predict the winner’s electoral vote count. For example, McCain 276, or Obama 311.
Then, in case of a tie, we’ll use the winner’s popular vote total to decide the matter, to the tenth of a percent. For example, McCain 50.2 percent, or Obama 52.7 percent.
Deadline to post your entry will be Saturday at noon. All entries must be posted on this thread, so I don’t have to go searching through the blog posts to find our winner.
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Criticism of Palin, McCain also nails the innocent
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Politico’s Roger Simon puts it well, at least initially:
“John McCain’s campaign is looking for a scapegoat. It is looking for someone to blame if McCain loses on Tuesday.
And it has decided on Sarah Palin.
In recent days, a McCain “adviser” told Dana Bash of CNN: “She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone….”
Also, a “top McCain adviser” told Mike Allen of Politico that Palin is “a whack job.”
Maybe she is. But who chose to put this “whack job” on the ticket? Wasn’t it John McCain? And wasn’t it his first presidential-level decision?”
Good point, Roger. But then Mr. Simon has to go and ruin a perfectly fine piece by taking a personal and totally undeserved shot at some of the finest, most humble and hardworking people in America:
“Is she really a diva and a whack job? Could be. There are quite a few in politics. (And a few in journalism, too, though in journalism they are called “columnists.”)”
Et tu, Roger? Et tu? How unfair.
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