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Obama's Absentee Leadership on Libya
Tweet Share on Facebook March 30, 2011 Comment (16)However the current American-led (but soon to be NATO commanded) military engagement over or in Libya turns out, it is safe to make one prediction. Should a motion picture ever be made about events that preceded American participation in the hostilities there, no one would title it The President’s Speech. And its central focus will be on the supporting cast, with heavy emphasis placed on Hillary Clinton, who sees the enterprise as being in the vital interests of the United States, and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who does not.
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Obama, Congress, Tea Party All Fail on Libya
Tweet Share on Facebook March 23, 2011 Comment (3)Once again, by responding a day late and a dollar short to unfolding events, President Obama has made things more difficult for himself. (I hesitate to say a “dollar short,” because spending money may be the one of the few things he knows how to do.)
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No-Fly Zone in Libya Would Be a Disaster for the United States
Tweet Share on Facebook March 16, 2011 Comment (11)Well, the stampede toward an American-imposed “no-fly zone” over Libya is on. Like many bad ideas, this one has attracted a rather unusual coalition of politicians and pundits from across the political spectrum.
It includes Republican Sen. John S. McCain from Arizona, who never encountered an American intervention he opposed, and Democratic Sen. John F. Kerry from Massachusetts, who, the last time he came upon one he supported, wound up insisting he had really been against it. Also signed on are the much-maligned “neo-cons.” No surprises there. More interesting is the growing number of liberals and neo-liberals, who hector continuously about the evils of anything that smells of “American hegemony,” but support this measure. This crowd, it might be said, favors putting the armed forces of the United States in the service of any good cause, save those that promise to advance identifiable American interests in the world. (Count me among those who think the removal of Qadhafi a worthy goal and one for the Libyans or other Arabs to carry out.)
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Libya, Egypt, and the Congress-Lobbyist Complex's Revolving Door
Tweet Share on Facebook March 9, 2011 Comment (1)Recently, a student in a class I offer on Congress asked me an interesting question. “Can you think of any sitting member of Congress who would not exchange his or her job and the $174,000 it pays for a career as a lobbyist, where the same person might earn millions in exchange for gaining their clients access to their former colleagues?” “Jay Rockefeller,” I blurted out.
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On Spending, Congress Will Take the Coward's Way Out
Tweet Share on Facebook March 2, 2011 Comment (1)Before Congress and the president finally agree on a budget, there will be many twists and turns in this saga. Well-connected special pleaders with more access to policymakers than ordinary citizens are already at work trying to preserve what they regard as sacrosanct. Several weighed in last Sunday in the Washington Post. All argued that the cause they advocate comprises a very small part of the budget and that cutbacks will not make a significant dent in the deficit.
