Pakistan is looking like Cuba in the 1950s and Iran in the '70s as armed zealots start to take over a country without the will to resist.
Accusing Pakistani leaders of "basically abdicating to the Taliban and the extremists," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded the alarm yesterday before the House Foreign Affairs Committee:
"We cannot underscore the seriousness of the existential threat posed to the state of Pakistan by continuing advances, now within hours of Islamabad, that are being made by a loosely confederated group of terrorists and others who are seeking the overthrow of the Pakistani state."
As Congress debates $7.5 billion in new aid and an "extremely concerned" White House awaits a scheduled visit early next month by the Pakistani president, the growing threat of an extremist takeover of a nuclear-armed nation rises to the top of America's foreign policy agenda.
"The Pakistani government is fiddling as the Northwest Frontier Province burns," warns a statement from Amnesty International, noting that hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis are "now at the mercy of abusive and repressive Taliban groups."
The Obama Administration is facing a Munich-like moment in the Middle East, and it will be a true test for a new president who has been accused of overestimating conciliation and lacking toughness in dealing with allies and adversaries.
This one, unlike George W. Bush's pre-invasion rhetoric about Iraq, does involve the real possibility of mushroom clouds.
Showing posts with label Hillary Clinton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hillary Clinton. Show all posts
Friday, April 24, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Rivals Redux: Clinton and McCain
The Lincolnesque concept is meeting with iffy success on the 200th anniversary of his birth. Hillary Clinton goes to Asia reaching out for the Obama Administration, while John McCain is on talk shows lashing out against his former rival.
On her first trip as Secretary of State, Clinton is visiting Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia to discuss trade, prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation and reversing global warming, but the economic meltdown is at the top of her list. Her first stop is Japan, where the economy is sinking even faster than our own.
But the other candidate for Obama's team of rivals is traveling no further than Washington TV studios to blast the stimulus bill the President will sign tomorrow, calling it "generational theft" that is "laying a huge deficit on future generations of Americans.”
Instead of reverting to the pre-2008 McCain who earned bipartisan respect, the GOP standard bearer is aligning himself with party lightweights like House Whip Eric Cantor, who elegantly describes the stimulus as "a stinker."
The contrast between the McCain of yore, who originally opposed Bush tax cuts for the rich, was underscored on Meet the Press yesterday by journalist Ron Brownstein pointing out the Arizonan's support this year of a huge tax cut for the upper brackets: "For John McCain to talk about--who voted for that alternative of a $2.5 trillion tax cut over the next decade--to talk about generational theft, I mean, pot, meet kettle."
The irony here is that McCain, who has experienced his last hurrah as a presidential candidate, is in a position to revert to the centrist admired by independents and Democrats but still seems yoked to the Sarah Palin wing of the party that brought him down in November.
The most obvious generational theft here is how John McCain will be remembered in history.
On her first trip as Secretary of State, Clinton is visiting Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia to discuss trade, prevention of nuclear weapons proliferation and reversing global warming, but the economic meltdown is at the top of her list. Her first stop is Japan, where the economy is sinking even faster than our own.
But the other candidate for Obama's team of rivals is traveling no further than Washington TV studios to blast the stimulus bill the President will sign tomorrow, calling it "generational theft" that is "laying a huge deficit on future generations of Americans.”
Instead of reverting to the pre-2008 McCain who earned bipartisan respect, the GOP standard bearer is aligning himself with party lightweights like House Whip Eric Cantor, who elegantly describes the stimulus as "a stinker."
The contrast between the McCain of yore, who originally opposed Bush tax cuts for the rich, was underscored on Meet the Press yesterday by journalist Ron Brownstein pointing out the Arizonan's support this year of a huge tax cut for the upper brackets: "For John McCain to talk about--who voted for that alternative of a $2.5 trillion tax cut over the next decade--to talk about generational theft, I mean, pot, meet kettle."
The irony here is that McCain, who has experienced his last hurrah as a presidential candidate, is in a position to revert to the centrist admired by independents and Democrats but still seems yoked to the Sarah Palin wing of the party that brought him down in November.
The most obvious generational theft here is how John McCain will be remembered in history.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Hillary Holdup, Texas Style
George W Bush is on his way home, but some of the Lone Star nastiness he brought to Washington lingers on as the state's junior senator John Cornyn puts a spiteful hold on Hillary Clinton's confirmation as Secretary of State.
The former First Lady will be approved tomorrow in any case, but Cornyn's action is a reminder that right-wing Republicans will not go through their political Alamo with anything resembling civility.
Cornyn, until now famous only for his shouting match on the Senate floor with John McCain over immigration, joins his legislative soul mate David Vitter in beating the dead horse of conflicts posed by the Clinton Global Initiative.
Will the Republican leadership form a posse and get this attention-seeking maverick back into the corral?
The former First Lady will be approved tomorrow in any case, but Cornyn's action is a reminder that right-wing Republicans will not go through their political Alamo with anything resembling civility.
Cornyn, until now famous only for his shouting match on the Senate floor with John McCain over immigration, joins his legislative soul mate David Vitter in beating the dead horse of conflicts posed by the Clinton Global Initiative.
Will the Republican leadership form a posse and get this attention-seeking maverick back into the corral?
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Hillary OKed, Vitter Dissents
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has approved Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State by 16 to 1 with only Sen. David Vitter opposing the nomination.
The Louisianan is unhappy about insufficient disclosure rules for new contributors to the Clinton Global Initiative, an understandable sensitivity to possible exchanges of favors by someone who was embarrassed in 2007 by evidence that he had had financial dealings with the DC Madam as well as prostitutes back home in New Orleans.
It's good to know that someone in Washington is standing up against the possibility of undue influence by those with whom the Clintons are, um, getting into bed.
The Louisianan is unhappy about insufficient disclosure rules for new contributors to the Clinton Global Initiative, an understandable sensitivity to possible exchanges of favors by someone who was embarrassed in 2007 by evidence that he had had financial dealings with the DC Madam as well as prostitutes back home in New Orleans.
It's good to know that someone in Washington is standing up against the possibility of undue influence by those with whom the Clintons are, um, getting into bed.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Is Smart Enough?
At her confirmation yesterday, Hillary Clinton invoked the concept of "smart power" as a guide to American diplomacy.
In his hearings, Education Secretary Arne Duncan cited Barack Obama as a role model for America's school children. “Never before," he said "has being smart been so cool.”
And in another hearing room, Senators were mooning over Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, the nominee for Energy Secretary. Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman enthused over Chu's "insight and vision" to carry out Obama's energy policies.
But is brilliance alone the panacea for all of America's problems? With the possible exception of the Defense Department's Douglas Feith, characterized as the "dumbest effing guy on the planet' by Gen.Tommy Franks, Bush's Neo-Cons were not stupid but blinkered in their perception of how the world works and too arrogant to learn from their mistakes.
The test for all that Obama brainpower will be to avoid replicating the record of JFK's "The Best and the Brightest" whose tunnel vision led to quagmire in Vietnam as surely as the Neo-Cons confidently took us into Iraq disaster and, back home, free-market ruin.
"It doesn’t help," Nicholas Kristof wrote recently, "that intellectuals are often as full of themselves as of ideas."
What's encouraging is that, although Obama has surrounded himself with figures like Lawrence Summers and Rahm Emanuel, who never suffer from an excess of doubt, he himself keeps showing the open-mindedness to empathize with opposition and avoid hubris.
Talking about measures to save the economy, the President-Elect said the other day, "“This is not an intellectual exercise, and there’s no pride of authorship. If members of Congress have good ideas, if they can identify a project for me that will create jobs in an efficient way--that does not hamper our ability to, over the long term, get control of our deficit; that is good for the economy--then I’m going to accept it.”
Now that sounds like the smart use of power.
In his hearings, Education Secretary Arne Duncan cited Barack Obama as a role model for America's school children. “Never before," he said "has being smart been so cool.”
And in another hearing room, Senators were mooning over Nobel Prize-winning physicist Steven Chu, the nominee for Energy Secretary. Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman enthused over Chu's "insight and vision" to carry out Obama's energy policies.
But is brilliance alone the panacea for all of America's problems? With the possible exception of the Defense Department's Douglas Feith, characterized as the "dumbest effing guy on the planet' by Gen.Tommy Franks, Bush's Neo-Cons were not stupid but blinkered in their perception of how the world works and too arrogant to learn from their mistakes.
The test for all that Obama brainpower will be to avoid replicating the record of JFK's "The Best and the Brightest" whose tunnel vision led to quagmire in Vietnam as surely as the Neo-Cons confidently took us into Iraq disaster and, back home, free-market ruin.
"It doesn’t help," Nicholas Kristof wrote recently, "that intellectuals are often as full of themselves as of ideas."
What's encouraging is that, although Obama has surrounded himself with figures like Lawrence Summers and Rahm Emanuel, who never suffer from an excess of doubt, he himself keeps showing the open-mindedness to empathize with opposition and avoid hubris.
Talking about measures to save the economy, the President-Elect said the other day, "“This is not an intellectual exercise, and there’s no pride of authorship. If members of Congress have good ideas, if they can identify a project for me that will create jobs in an efficient way--that does not hamper our ability to, over the long term, get control of our deficit; that is good for the economy--then I’m going to accept it.”
Now that sounds like the smart use of power.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Caroline Kennedy's Genetic Conflict
News that she is interested in being appointed to Hillary Clinton's Senate seat is coming as a surprise to those who have always seen Caroline Kennedy as an essentially private person, temperamentally more like her mother than her father.
“I believe that she is considering it,” her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tells the New York Times. “A lot of people the last couple of weeks have urged her to do it.” She apparently called New York Gov. David Paterson this week to discuss the position.
That would represent a drastic midlife switch for the 51-year-old wife and mother of three who has kept a low profile in her career as a lawyer, writer and philanthropist, very much like her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy, in her widowhood.
She emerged last January with a Times op-ed piece titled, "A President Like My Father," to endorse Barack Obama and then actively campaign for him and serve on his vice-presidential search team.
If Caroline Kennedy were to replace Sen. Clinton, she would be committing herself to run in a special 2010 election and for reelection in 2012, two grueling political campaigns for someone who has spent a lifetime so far in relative privacy.
But it's also easy to understand what has led her to consider such a change. A year after JFK's death, I asked Jacqueline Kennedy to become a contributing editor of McCalls. She was still too deep in mourning for that, but she talked about wanting to find a way to keep alive her husband's "ideas and ideals."
It's a measure of the difference between then and now that she could conceive of doing that only through a man. "Robert Kennedy would be perfect," she said, "but that's not possible."
Now her daughter, even with the same tendencies toward privacy, seems to be ready to step out and emulate her father in the Senate.
Caroline Kennedy may have given us a clue when she wrote that OpEd about Obama:
"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president--not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
“I believe that she is considering it,” her cousin Robert F. Kennedy Jr. tells the New York Times. “A lot of people the last couple of weeks have urged her to do it.” She apparently called New York Gov. David Paterson this week to discuss the position.
That would represent a drastic midlife switch for the 51-year-old wife and mother of three who has kept a low profile in her career as a lawyer, writer and philanthropist, very much like her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy, in her widowhood.
She emerged last January with a Times op-ed piece titled, "A President Like My Father," to endorse Barack Obama and then actively campaign for him and serve on his vice-presidential search team.
If Caroline Kennedy were to replace Sen. Clinton, she would be committing herself to run in a special 2010 election and for reelection in 2012, two grueling political campaigns for someone who has spent a lifetime so far in relative privacy.
But it's also easy to understand what has led her to consider such a change. A year after JFK's death, I asked Jacqueline Kennedy to become a contributing editor of McCalls. She was still too deep in mourning for that, but she talked about wanting to find a way to keep alive her husband's "ideas and ideals."
It's a measure of the difference between then and now that she could conceive of doing that only through a man. "Robert Kennedy would be perfect," she said, "but that's not possible."
Now her daughter, even with the same tendencies toward privacy, seems to be ready to step out and emulate her father in the Senate.
Caroline Kennedy may have given us a clue when she wrote that OpEd about Obama:
"I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president--not just for me, but for a new generation of Americans."
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Gates-Keeping
With the imminent naming of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State, the retention of Robert Gates at Defense will raise questions about exactly what Barack Obama means by "change."
One thing is clear: The new president does not equate change with personal revenge (Joe Lieberman's survival even more than Clinton's appointment proves that) or even, as with Gates, new faces.
Idealistic as he may be, Obama is also a pragmatist and keeping Gates is a practical solution during the necessary emphasis on the economy in the early days of the new administration.
Next week, Obama will be naming the rest of his foreign-policy team, which will reorient our Middle East policy away from Iraq toward the dangers posed by Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his two years at Defense, Gates has clearly been as realistic as could be expected, while serving Bush, on that subject.
Moreover, as soon as he replaced Rumsfeld, he saved American lives by giving priority to mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks (MRAPs) that had been stalled for two years by Pentagon bureaucrats and, in succeeding months, aligned himself with Condoleeza Rice in blunting the push of Cheney's Neo-Cons for attacking Iran.
"Off with their heads" ideologues won't be satisfied by the arguments for retaining Gates, but he will be a reassuring figure as Obama goes about saving the economy and getting us out of Iraq.
One thing is clear: The new president does not equate change with personal revenge (Joe Lieberman's survival even more than Clinton's appointment proves that) or even, as with Gates, new faces.
Idealistic as he may be, Obama is also a pragmatist and keeping Gates is a practical solution during the necessary emphasis on the economy in the early days of the new administration.
Next week, Obama will be naming the rest of his foreign-policy team, which will reorient our Middle East policy away from Iraq toward the dangers posed by Afghanistan and Pakistan. In his two years at Defense, Gates has clearly been as realistic as could be expected, while serving Bush, on that subject.
Moreover, as soon as he replaced Rumsfeld, he saved American lives by giving priority to mine-resistant, ambush-protected trucks (MRAPs) that had been stalled for two years by Pentagon bureaucrats and, in succeeding months, aligned himself with Condoleeza Rice in blunting the push of Cheney's Neo-Cons for attacking Iran.
"Off with their heads" ideologues won't be satisfied by the arguments for retaining Gates, but he will be a reassuring figure as Obama goes about saving the economy and getting us out of Iraq.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The Coming of a Can-Do Government
In the wreckage of this week's news, it's encouraging to watch the Obama Administration taking shape with an emphasis on extreme competence (no heck-of-a-job Brownie in the lot).
Today's New York Times describes it as "tilting toward the center, inviting a clash of ideas," but the left-right analysis seems less to the point than the question of getting things done as transition team members "believe that the new administration will have no time for a learning curve."
Starting with the choice of Rahm Emanuel, a can-do guy if there ever was one, the new President clearly intends to surround himself with brains and real-world experience rather than like-mindedness and loyalty.
That was reflected in the leak yesterday about the new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, a pragmatist with deep experience, whose choice sent the stock market into euphoria. As America's face to the financial world, he will represent steady resolve compared to former Treasury chief Lawrence Summers, a bombastic figure Obama considered putting back into the job, who will likely end up in the White House as a senior economic adviser.
After such choices as the new Attorney General Eric Holder, Peter Orszag as Budget Director and Greg Craig as White House Counsel, conservative David Brooks calls the new Obama team "more impressive than any other in recent memory...open-minded individuals who are persuadable by evidence...admired professionals" who are "not excessively partisan" and "not ideological."
How does Hillary Clinton fit into this picture? She certainly would not blend into the Obama woodwork, but there is something more at stake in her choice as Secretary of State. For those who have become unsure about American values, she would make the Bush-Cheney worldview look like the aberration it has been and reassure continuity of our good intentions and good sense.
As with all of Obama's other choices, personal loyalty would be beside the point.
Today's New York Times describes it as "tilting toward the center, inviting a clash of ideas," but the left-right analysis seems less to the point than the question of getting things done as transition team members "believe that the new administration will have no time for a learning curve."
Starting with the choice of Rahm Emanuel, a can-do guy if there ever was one, the new President clearly intends to surround himself with brains and real-world experience rather than like-mindedness and loyalty.
That was reflected in the leak yesterday about the new Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, a pragmatist with deep experience, whose choice sent the stock market into euphoria. As America's face to the financial world, he will represent steady resolve compared to former Treasury chief Lawrence Summers, a bombastic figure Obama considered putting back into the job, who will likely end up in the White House as a senior economic adviser.
After such choices as the new Attorney General Eric Holder, Peter Orszag as Budget Director and Greg Craig as White House Counsel, conservative David Brooks calls the new Obama team "more impressive than any other in recent memory...open-minded individuals who are persuadable by evidence...admired professionals" who are "not excessively partisan" and "not ideological."
How does Hillary Clinton fit into this picture? She certainly would not blend into the Obama woodwork, but there is something more at stake in her choice as Secretary of State. For those who have become unsure about American values, she would make the Bush-Cheney worldview look like the aberration it has been and reassure continuity of our good intentions and good sense.
As with all of Obama's other choices, personal loyalty would be beside the point.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Hillary Clinton's Defining Moment
Today's transition hot topic is the rumor that the President-Elect is considering Hillary Clinton for Secretary of State and that the two of them have met in Chicago to discuss it.
Coming right after the buzz about her as Senate Major Leader, this seems to be a fork in the road for the former First Lady. Does she best keep her presidential hopes alive by devoting herself to domestic issues or foreign policy?
It may be a close call. In the immediate future, the economy will be front and center on the national agenda, but if any Obama initiatives fail (and some almost certainly will), should the once and future candidate risk taking the heat for them as legislative overseer? As the original proponent of "a vast right-wing conspiracy" a decade ago, how effective would she be in reaching across the aisle for bipartisanship?
As Secretary of State, Clinton would be the face of America interacting with world leaders, but it would be President Obama's policy and, while there might less glory in it, the position would strengthen her future claims about experience against any upstart political opponent in 2016.
If Obama offers her the position, it would be tempting and, for the rest of us, fascinating to see Bill Clinton traveling the world in the role of an upgraded Denis Thatcher.
Coming right after the buzz about her as Senate Major Leader, this seems to be a fork in the road for the former First Lady. Does she best keep her presidential hopes alive by devoting herself to domestic issues or foreign policy?
It may be a close call. In the immediate future, the economy will be front and center on the national agenda, but if any Obama initiatives fail (and some almost certainly will), should the once and future candidate risk taking the heat for them as legislative overseer? As the original proponent of "a vast right-wing conspiracy" a decade ago, how effective would she be in reaching across the aisle for bipartisanship?
As Secretary of State, Clinton would be the face of America interacting with world leaders, but it would be President Obama's policy and, while there might less glory in it, the position would strengthen her future claims about experience against any upstart political opponent in 2016.
If Obama offers her the position, it would be tempting and, for the rest of us, fascinating to see Bill Clinton traveling the world in the role of an upgraded Denis Thatcher.
Saturday, November 08, 2008
Hillary Clinton, Senate Majority Leader?
Obama passed on her as vice president but can still put Hillary Clinton on the team by backing her for Senate Majority Leader.
In that role, Harry Reid has been ineffectual in rallying Democrats to curtail Bush's excesses or even effectively articulate an opposition view. Now, with a Senate reshuffling that includes the stepping-down of Robert Byrd and the throwing-out of Joe Lieberman, "change" could be served by bringing Clinton to the forefront.
With a clear electoral mandate and wide margin in Congress, before reaching out to Republicans as he has promised to do, the President-Elect can solidify his own ranks by recruiting the faction of his own party he narrowly defeated to win the nomination.
By naming Rahm Emanuel chief of staff, Obama has shown he was no qualms about relying on former Clinton loyalists. Choosing the former First Lady as a legislative partner would be a logical next step.
During the primaries, there were insistent rumors that Reid himself was offering his position to Sen. Clinton as an inducement to concede the nomination. He denied them, but the idea now won't come as a shock.
Clinton's ascension would be a powerful metaphor for cracking the glass-ceiling with women in the leadership positions of both houses of Congress, and her passion on domestic issues would nicely compliment Joe Biden's strength on foreign policy as surrogates for the new Administration's views.
The efforts of both Clintons during the campaign and the logic of a Hillary run in 2012 as a natural heir to a successful Obama Administration are strong arguments against any worries about possible subversion.
In his reaching out for bipartisan consensus, the President-Elect could start with unifying his own party.
In that role, Harry Reid has been ineffectual in rallying Democrats to curtail Bush's excesses or even effectively articulate an opposition view. Now, with a Senate reshuffling that includes the stepping-down of Robert Byrd and the throwing-out of Joe Lieberman, "change" could be served by bringing Clinton to the forefront.
With a clear electoral mandate and wide margin in Congress, before reaching out to Republicans as he has promised to do, the President-Elect can solidify his own ranks by recruiting the faction of his own party he narrowly defeated to win the nomination.
By naming Rahm Emanuel chief of staff, Obama has shown he was no qualms about relying on former Clinton loyalists. Choosing the former First Lady as a legislative partner would be a logical next step.
During the primaries, there were insistent rumors that Reid himself was offering his position to Sen. Clinton as an inducement to concede the nomination. He denied them, but the idea now won't come as a shock.
Clinton's ascension would be a powerful metaphor for cracking the glass-ceiling with women in the leadership positions of both houses of Congress, and her passion on domestic issues would nicely compliment Joe Biden's strength on foreign policy as surrogates for the new Administration's views.
The efforts of both Clintons during the campaign and the logic of a Hillary run in 2012 as a natural heir to a successful Obama Administration are strong arguments against any worries about possible subversion.
In his reaching out for bipartisan consensus, the President-Elect could start with unifying his own party.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
The Smart/Shrewd Divide
After eight years of obstinate stupidity in the White House, the change voters should want most is a combination of common sense and common decency.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
"You can't beat brains," JFK used to say, but this year's debate has somehow been shifted to a mistrust of intelligence--at first by Hillary Clinton's attacks on Barack Obama as naïve, followed by John McCain's claims of wisdom only through suffering and now by Sarah Palin's salty assertion of hockey-mom shrewdness.
What will be at stake in the next two months is how Americans judge the qualities of mind they want in a president. The threat of terrorism, the woes of the economy, the endangered environment require more than a sound-bite mentality and a determination to, in the most frequently used word in McCain's acceptance speech, "fight" and respond to mindless chants of "drill, baby, drill."
In the campaign, Barack Obama's open-mindedness is being distorted into irresolution, but what he would bring, as conservative David Brooks noted almost two years ago, is "a deliberative style to the White House [that] will multiply his knowledge, not divide it.”
So far, John McCain's campaign has been fueled by the same Karl Rovian "cleverness," the familiar cast of lobbyists, the cronyness of opportunists like Joe Lieberman and now the selection of a VP who puts a fresh face on the same stale ideas of the Religious Right and the Neo-Cons.
Obama himself and those who support him know he doesn't have all the answers, but he will be asking the right questions and bringing to bear what the best minds have to offer in searching for solutions.
If voters are going to risk the future on real change, they would do well to take their chances with brains in the White House rather revert to what Richard Hofstadter labeled "The Paranoid Style in American Politics" and "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life" almost half a century ago.
Friday, September 05, 2008
Gender Wars Gone Wild
Sarah Palin's arrival has sent the sexism debate into a cuckooland where Pat Buchanan is defending her womanhood and Gloria Steinem is attacking her credentials.
According to Steinem, "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with [Hillary] Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for--and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
The courtly Buchanan, on the other hand, defended Palin in an on-camera attack on Chris Matthews. "What's your problem with strong women, buddy?" Buchanan asked. "The MS in MSNBC should not stand for misogyny."
In the real world, the Obama people are mobilizing to deal with it all by ignoring Palin's gender, raising questions about her inexperience and possibly stepping up Hillary Clinton's role in the campaign.
“Anyone who was inclined to support Hillary Clinton," says one of her former staff, "typically did so because of her focus on middle-class, bread-and-butter issues. Her message for Barack Obama on those issues could certainly help the Democratic ticket at the ballot box.”
Meanwhile, the new topsy-turvy gender politics will be making some strange bedfellows indeed.
According to Steinem, "Palin shares nothing but a chromosome with [Hillary] Clinton. Her down-home, divisive and deceptive speech did nothing to cosmeticize a Republican convention that has more than twice as many male delegates as female, a presidential candidate who is owned and operated by the right wing and a platform that opposes pretty much everything Clinton's candidacy stood for--and that Barack Obama's still does. To vote in protest for McCain/Palin would be like saying, 'Somebody stole my shoes, so I'll amputate my legs.'"
The courtly Buchanan, on the other hand, defended Palin in an on-camera attack on Chris Matthews. "What's your problem with strong women, buddy?" Buchanan asked. "The MS in MSNBC should not stand for misogyny."
In the real world, the Obama people are mobilizing to deal with it all by ignoring Palin's gender, raising questions about her inexperience and possibly stepping up Hillary Clinton's role in the campaign.
“Anyone who was inclined to support Hillary Clinton," says one of her former staff, "typically did so because of her focus on middle-class, bread-and-butter issues. Her message for Barack Obama on those issues could certainly help the Democratic ticket at the ballot box.”
Meanwhile, the new topsy-turvy gender politics will be making some strange bedfellows indeed.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Gender Goop
The booing of Sarah Palin yesterday for lauding Hillary Clinton's presidential primary achievement is a dandy metaphor for the sexual stew this election has created.
Here is a woman on the Republican ticket chosen mainly for gender appeal trying to profit from the unhappiness of Hillary supporters being rebuffed by Hillary-hating ideologues even as she tries to win an election for them.
If this foreshadows a Palin problem in her own party, it pales by comparison to the bind she creates for Democrats. If they harp on her lack of qualifications, they risk accusations of sexism. (Recall the success of Clarence Thomas, a less than brilliant choice for the Supreme Court, in clobbering Democrats, with charges of a "high-tech lynching.")
Looking ahead to the Vice-Presidential debate, Joe Biden will have to walk on eggshells to avoid appearing condescending. Even if he treats Palin with utmost courtesy, showing his superior grasp of foreign policy could be interpreted as sexist bullying.
Unlike the unspoken racism that dogs Barack Obama, the question of Palin's identity as a woman will be the subject of open argument ad nauseum, perhaps one of the goals the McCain campaign had in mind when choosing her.
It could serve the double purpose of defending veiled racial attacks on Obama with countercharges that Palin too is being victimized while she goes relatively unscathed in promoting the values of the Religious Right.
This is not quite what the leaders of the Women's Movement had in mind over half a century of trying to break through glass ceilings.
Here is a woman on the Republican ticket chosen mainly for gender appeal trying to profit from the unhappiness of Hillary supporters being rebuffed by Hillary-hating ideologues even as she tries to win an election for them.
If this foreshadows a Palin problem in her own party, it pales by comparison to the bind she creates for Democrats. If they harp on her lack of qualifications, they risk accusations of sexism. (Recall the success of Clarence Thomas, a less than brilliant choice for the Supreme Court, in clobbering Democrats, with charges of a "high-tech lynching.")
Looking ahead to the Vice-Presidential debate, Joe Biden will have to walk on eggshells to avoid appearing condescending. Even if he treats Palin with utmost courtesy, showing his superior grasp of foreign policy could be interpreted as sexist bullying.
Unlike the unspoken racism that dogs Barack Obama, the question of Palin's identity as a woman will be the subject of open argument ad nauseum, perhaps one of the goals the McCain campaign had in mind when choosing her.
It could serve the double purpose of defending veiled racial attacks on Obama with countercharges that Palin too is being victimized while she goes relatively unscathed in promoting the values of the Religious Right.
This is not quite what the leaders of the Women's Movement had in mind over half a century of trying to break through glass ceilings.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The McCain-Clinton Team Goes Gold
Cancel the conventions, call off the debates and go straight to the Election Night scoreboard to see how large McCain's margin of victory has turned out to be. The pollsters and pundits are wrapping the story into a neat package: The Republicans went to school on Hillary Clinton's last-minute Obamacide and are finishing off what she started.
At last weekend's Saddleback shootout, the Democratic nominee did not pull the sound-bite trigger fast enough to gun down McCain's prefabbed POW anecdotes and pithy gates-of-hell promises to protect Americans from Osama, the Russians and whoever else is lurking out there in their paranoid fantasies.
Maureen Dowd, insightful as ever but much less funny, wraps it all up imagining a dead-of-night celebration by Hillary and Mac the Knife of their joint victory over the Senate upstart who wanted to take away the country they have been pandering so hard to take over.
We can turn our full attention to the Olympics, where the competition is keener and the judges aren't announcing the results before the contestants start their routines. Then, during the next two weeks of convention blather, we can all go to the beach and get a nice tan instead of watching political volleyball when we all know the score.
At last weekend's Saddleback shootout, the Democratic nominee did not pull the sound-bite trigger fast enough to gun down McCain's prefabbed POW anecdotes and pithy gates-of-hell promises to protect Americans from Osama, the Russians and whoever else is lurking out there in their paranoid fantasies.
Maureen Dowd, insightful as ever but much less funny, wraps it all up imagining a dead-of-night celebration by Hillary and Mac the Knife of their joint victory over the Senate upstart who wanted to take away the country they have been pandering so hard to take over.
We can turn our full attention to the Olympics, where the competition is keener and the judges aren't announcing the results before the contestants start their routines. Then, during the next two weeks of convention blather, we can all go to the beach and get a nice tan instead of watching political volleyball when we all know the score.
Another Woman in Denver
Lilly Ledbetter is the latest addition to the list of speakers at the Democratic convention next week, and her appearance may possibly do Barack Obama as much good as Hillary Clinton's.
In today's Washington Post, Ruth Marcus explains: "Ledbetter was on the losing end of a Supreme Court case last year on equal pay. A manager at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, she consistently received smaller raises than her male counterparts. The Supreme Court threw out her suit because, the five-justice majority said, she waited too long to complain, even though she didn't know about the pay difference earlier.
"Now, a bill to fix this equal pay Catch-22 is pending in Congress--and the Ledbetter case has emerged as a key piece of Obama's effort to woo women. In particular, working women, less-educated women, older women. Women who voted for a certain woman and haven't come around to the guy who defeated her."
Obama is co-sponsoring legislation to reverse the result in the case. McCain opposes it. When Lilly Ledbetter takes the stage in Denver next week, her presence may make a stronger argument for the Democratic nominee than anything Hillary Clinton could possibly say.
In today's Washington Post, Ruth Marcus explains: "Ledbetter was on the losing end of a Supreme Court case last year on equal pay. A manager at a Goodyear tire plant in Alabama, she consistently received smaller raises than her male counterparts. The Supreme Court threw out her suit because, the five-justice majority said, she waited too long to complain, even though she didn't know about the pay difference earlier.
"Now, a bill to fix this equal pay Catch-22 is pending in Congress--and the Ledbetter case has emerged as a key piece of Obama's effort to woo women. In particular, working women, less-educated women, older women. Women who voted for a certain woman and haven't come around to the guy who defeated her."
Obama is co-sponsoring legislation to reverse the result in the case. McCain opposes it. When Lilly Ledbetter takes the stage in Denver next week, her presence may make a stronger argument for the Democratic nominee than anything Hillary Clinton could possibly say.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Obama's VP Mystery Plot
The process is unfolding like one of those country-house melodramas in which likely suspects disappear one by one. The latest departure from the cast is former Virginia Governor Mark Warner, a candidate for the Senate seat of retiring John Warner (no relation), who has now been designated as the keynote speaker of the Democratic nomination.
Yesterday, Chuck Hagel took himself out by having a spokesman tell USA Today he is "not planning to endorse either candidate," and in a bit of veepstakes overkill, today's Washington Post reports bipartisan unhappiness over the possibility that the Nebraska Republican who went to Iraq with Obama might be on the ticket.
Hillary Clinton, as the too-obvious suspect is long gone but has been busy enlarging her convention cameo, while the handful of viable survivors--Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Tim Kaine, Kathleen Sebelius--mill around the sets waiting for their mobile phones to ring with a text message from Obama revealing whodunit.
Miss Marple couldn't have plotted it better.
Yesterday, Chuck Hagel took himself out by having a spokesman tell USA Today he is "not planning to endorse either candidate," and in a bit of veepstakes overkill, today's Washington Post reports bipartisan unhappiness over the possibility that the Nebraska Republican who went to Iraq with Obama might be on the ticket.
Hillary Clinton, as the too-obvious suspect is long gone but has been busy enlarging her convention cameo, while the handful of viable survivors--Evan Bayh, Joe Biden, Tim Kaine, Kathleen Sebelius--mill around the sets waiting for their mobile phones to ring with a text message from Obama revealing whodunit.
Miss Marple couldn't have plotted it better.
Saturday, August 02, 2008
Whole Deck of Race Cards
The Issue That Dared Not Speak Its Name is now on everybody's lips, including John McCain's and Barack Obama's own. Is this good or bad? Maybe both.
On the positive side, it's healthy to drag prejudice into the open (fresh air as a disinfectant and all that). Those who vote against Obama because of race should at the very least be made to squirm for it, if they have the capacity for being embarrassed, instead of hiding behind euphemisms.
But we are now involved in a more convoluted debate that threatens to diminish all sides. Let's review the bidding:
After the Jeremiah Wright YouTube rants, Obama made his Philadelphia speech about race, was almost universally applauded for it and prepared to move on.
But Hillary Clinton's sudden enormous popularity with "working-class voters" in the late primaries showed that millions had a wee problem seeing a black person in the White House, and it was inevitable that Republican swiftboaters would notice and act accordingly.
Obama, in effect, challenged them to try. “We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run,” he told Americans in June. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?”
For the past month, the McCain campaign has been doing just that, using "different" and "flashy" as its locutions of choice.
Responding to the Britney Spears-Paris Hilton ad, Bob Herbert in today's New York Times muses:
"Gee, I wonder why, if you have a black man running for high public office--say, Barack Obama or Harold Ford--the opposition feels compelled to run low-life political ads featuring tacky, sexually provocative white women who have no connection whatsoever to the black male candidates."
When Obama himself hit back, he was accused of playing the race card. “I did not bring up the issue," John McCain says in his best I'm-shocked,shocked style. “Senator Obama...brought up the issue of race, I responded to it...I’m disappointed, and I don’t want that issue to be part of this campaign."
So what we have now is a whole deck of race cards, with double edges, on the table. Once the August silly season is over and the Conventions start, politicians on both sides will be talking about the economy, wars and threats other than Obama's skin tone. But the issue will be there, under the radar, all the way to November.
On the positive side, it's healthy to drag prejudice into the open (fresh air as a disinfectant and all that). Those who vote against Obama because of race should at the very least be made to squirm for it, if they have the capacity for being embarrassed, instead of hiding behind euphemisms.
But we are now involved in a more convoluted debate that threatens to diminish all sides. Let's review the bidding:
After the Jeremiah Wright YouTube rants, Obama made his Philadelphia speech about race, was almost universally applauded for it and prepared to move on.
But Hillary Clinton's sudden enormous popularity with "working-class voters" in the late primaries showed that millions had a wee problem seeing a black person in the White House, and it was inevitable that Republican swiftboaters would notice and act accordingly.
Obama, in effect, challenged them to try. “We know what kind of campaign they’re going to run,” he told Americans in June. “They’re going to try to make you afraid of me. He’s young and inexperienced and he’s got a funny name. And did I mention he’s black?”
For the past month, the McCain campaign has been doing just that, using "different" and "flashy" as its locutions of choice.
Responding to the Britney Spears-Paris Hilton ad, Bob Herbert in today's New York Times muses:
"Gee, I wonder why, if you have a black man running for high public office--say, Barack Obama or Harold Ford--the opposition feels compelled to run low-life political ads featuring tacky, sexually provocative white women who have no connection whatsoever to the black male candidates."
When Obama himself hit back, he was accused of playing the race card. “I did not bring up the issue," John McCain says in his best I'm-shocked,shocked style. “Senator Obama...brought up the issue of race, I responded to it...I’m disappointed, and I don’t want that issue to be part of this campaign."
So what we have now is a whole deck of race cards, with double edges, on the table. Once the August silly season is over and the Conventions start, politicians on both sides will be talking about the economy, wars and threats other than Obama's skin tone. But the issue will be there, under the radar, all the way to November.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Big Field for Obama Veepstakes
The first test of his decision-making is at hand.
The short list is down to "about twenty current top government officials, former top government officials and former military leaders" as Barack Obama looks for a running mate who would both give him credibility and be qualified to succeed him.
There is Hillary Clinton, of course, but name recognition of those being considered runs all the way down to the retired former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Gen. James Jones, who meets the first qualification but would be a little shaky on the second.
There are governors, of course--Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, although one of them, Ted Strickland has ruled himself out with a Shermanesque declaration.
Among former rivals for the nomination, John Edwards has professed no interest, leaving Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich--and Joe Biden.
The esteemed E. J. Dionne Jr. has made his choice known in the Washington Post: Biden "should be at the top of any list of vice presidential picks for Obama...Few Democrats know more about foreign policy, and few would so relish the fight against McCain on international affairs. Few are better placed to argue that withdrawal from Iraq will strengthen rather than weaken the United States."
That may be more of an argument for Biden as Secretary of State than VP, for which there are countless contenders--Jim Webb, Evan Bayh, Mark Warner, Tom Daschle, Sam Nunn and on and on.
Obama's vetting committee has a lot of work to do, but they may be inspired by recalling how less effort in going through the process produced Dick Cheney.
The short list is down to "about twenty current top government officials, former top government officials and former military leaders" as Barack Obama looks for a running mate who would both give him credibility and be qualified to succeed him.
There is Hillary Clinton, of course, but name recognition of those being considered runs all the way down to the retired former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO, Gen. James Jones, who meets the first qualification but would be a little shaky on the second.
There are governors, of course--Tim Kaine of Virginia, Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas and Phil Bredesen of Tennessee, although one of them, Ted Strickland has ruled himself out with a Shermanesque declaration.
Among former rivals for the nomination, John Edwards has professed no interest, leaving Bill Richardson, Chris Dodd, Dennis Kucinich--and Joe Biden.
The esteemed E. J. Dionne Jr. has made his choice known in the Washington Post: Biden "should be at the top of any list of vice presidential picks for Obama...Few Democrats know more about foreign policy, and few would so relish the fight against McCain on international affairs. Few are better placed to argue that withdrawal from Iraq will strengthen rather than weaken the United States."
That may be more of an argument for Biden as Secretary of State than VP, for which there are countless contenders--Jim Webb, Evan Bayh, Mark Warner, Tom Daschle, Sam Nunn and on and on.
Obama's vetting committee has a lot of work to do, but they may be inspired by recalling how less effort in going through the process produced Dick Cheney.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
"Yes, We Can"
Hillary Clinton was truly remarkable today, making the most difficult speech of her life and finding her voice as a national leader over and above that of a politician seeking office.
Coupling pride in her own achievement on behalf of all women, she rallied them to the imminent cause of backing Barack Obama in restoring their country to its best self--to "take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama...I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."
She encouraged party unity, acknowledging the hard fight and the disappointment of her supporters, while reminding them that "the Democratic Party is a family, and now it's time to restore the ties that bind us together."
Clinton's full-throated endorsement had a heartfelt quality that should quiet critics who see her as cold and manipulative, culminating in her raising the Obama banner of "Yes, We Can."
For those of my generation, she brought to mind an old song popularized by Bing Crosby in the 1930s:
Three little words, oh what I'd give for that wonderful phrase,/To hear those three little words, that's all I'd live for the rest of my days./And what I feel in my heart, they tell sincerely./No other words can tell it half so clearly./Three little words, eight little letters which simply mean I love you.
Today Hillary Clinton got the words and the music just right.
Coupling pride in her own achievement on behalf of all women, she rallied them to the imminent cause of backing Barack Obama in restoring their country to its best self--to "take our energy, our passion and our strength and do all we can to help elect Barack Obama...I ask all of you to join me in working as hard for Barack Obama as you have for me."
She encouraged party unity, acknowledging the hard fight and the disappointment of her supporters, while reminding them that "the Democratic Party is a family, and now it's time to restore the ties that bind us together."
Clinton's full-throated endorsement had a heartfelt quality that should quiet critics who see her as cold and manipulative, culminating in her raising the Obama banner of "Yes, We Can."
For those of my generation, she brought to mind an old song popularized by Bing Crosby in the 1930s:
Three little words, oh what I'd give for that wonderful phrase,/To hear those three little words, that's all I'd live for the rest of my days./And what I feel in my heart, they tell sincerely./No other words can tell it half so clearly./Three little words, eight little letters which simply mean I love you.
Today Hillary Clinton got the words and the music just right.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Can Hillary Be a Healer?
As they hold their private summit in Washington tonight, the question that hangs in the air, whether she is on Obama's ticket or not, is: Can Hillary Clinton rise above a lifetime of experience to help heal the Democratic Party?
As someone who has had to fight all her public life, from the 1992 health care fiasco through her husband's impeachment and a year and a half of brass-knuckles campaigning, who has had to show voters she is tough enough to be Commander-in-Chief, who has had to carry the accumulated anger and resentments of her gender, and now their bitter disappointment, is it humanly possible for one woman, however resilient, to turn away from all that and use her strength to bring peace to a fractured party?
This moment is as much a test for Hillary Clinton as her 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to invade Iraq. Back then, none of the potential Democratic candidates could summon the courage to oppose it for fear of appearing weak. They all failed, but how much more pressure did she feel then as a woman in that position and five years later not to admit it was mistake?
As it turned out, the need to appear tough hurt her candidacy, and in the past few weeks, her posture as "a fighter" in the face of impending defeat and in the past few days her refusal to acknowledge the reality of it have damaged her even further.
But now, in these next days, Hillary Clinton has a chance to turn away from all that. As her backers try to blackmail Obama into putting her on the ticket, her statement today that the choice is his alone is a good start.
It would be heartening to see her rise above the politicking of this moment and show the wisdom and leadership her party needs to start repairing the damage that eight years of nasty Bush-Rove politics has done to the country.
As someone who has had to fight all her public life, from the 1992 health care fiasco through her husband's impeachment and a year and a half of brass-knuckles campaigning, who has had to show voters she is tough enough to be Commander-in-Chief, who has had to carry the accumulated anger and resentments of her gender, and now their bitter disappointment, is it humanly possible for one woman, however resilient, to turn away from all that and use her strength to bring peace to a fractured party?
This moment is as much a test for Hillary Clinton as her 2002 vote for the resolution authorizing Bush to invade Iraq. Back then, none of the potential Democratic candidates could summon the courage to oppose it for fear of appearing weak. They all failed, but how much more pressure did she feel then as a woman in that position and five years later not to admit it was mistake?
As it turned out, the need to appear tough hurt her candidacy, and in the past few weeks, her posture as "a fighter" in the face of impending defeat and in the past few days her refusal to acknowledge the reality of it have damaged her even further.
But now, in these next days, Hillary Clinton has a chance to turn away from all that. As her backers try to blackmail Obama into putting her on the ticket, her statement today that the choice is his alone is a good start.
It would be heartening to see her rise above the politicking of this moment and show the wisdom and leadership her party needs to start repairing the damage that eight years of nasty Bush-Rove politics has done to the country.
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