Where's the Outrage?

I find it hard to believe that it was just six or eight weeks ago that we were talking about the last possible government shutdown. Tempers flared. There was a lot of finger-pointing but, in the end, Republicans backed off from their extreme positions and the government continued. Once again, we’re looking at a government shutdown. In a terrible game of déjà vu, Republicans have again decided they need to use the American economy as a bargaining chip. Democrats cannot agree to any short-term measures, in my opinion. Republicans are playing a game of death by 1000 cuts (pun intended). They want to hold the economy hostage in order to get not just some of what they want, but all of what they want. The fact that their demands were unreasonable, shortsighted and harmful to the economy (long-term) doesn’t seem to matter to them.

Elena Kagan has now been on the Supreme Court for year.

Average weekly hours worked in the private sector has plummeted over the last several weeks.

Gas prices at the pump continue to decline.

The European Union is still struggling to come up with some rational way to save Greece.

The mainstream media seems to be ignoring protests on Wall Street. Occupy Wall Street could turn into a huge movement. We need Wall Street to begin to work for us again. Currently, they only seem to work for themselves.

Remember when Republican candidates attacked Barack Obama for not supporting Israel? According to the Israeli president, Barack Obama is a great friend of Israel. In fact, Barack Obama has essentially embraced the policies of George W. Bush, who embraced the policies of Bill Clinton. There’s been no discernible movement in America support for Israel for more than 50 years.

What stories are you following this morning?

Tags: Economy, Israel, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
No Comments »

From PA (I inserted some good stuff, I couldn’t help myself):

• Libya: “Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi remained at large Monday, and loyalist forces still held pockets of the city, stubbornly resisting the rebels’ efforts to establish full control, but there was little doubt that the Libyan leader’s four-decade grip on power was ending.”
• The Gaddafi regime is collapsing sooner than anticipated, forcing Western countries to scramble to put together post-conflict plans for Libya.
• Egyptian/Israeli tensions reach their highest point in three decades: “Diplomats scrambled to avert a crisis in relations between Egypt and Israel on Saturday, and the Israeli government issued a rare statement of regret for the killing of three Egyptian security officers by an Israeli warplane.”
• Iran: “Two American hikers imprisoned in Iran for more than two years have been convicted of espionage and sentenced to eight years in jail, according to a news reports.”
• The world probably didn’t need an easier way to enrich uranium, but General Electric has developed a successful new laser-enrichment technique.

• President Richard M. Nixon started a radical program to control inflation on this date in 1971. Wage and price freeze. It sort of worked.
• The Keystone XL pipeline, which would “carry diluted bitumen — an acidic crude oil — from Canada’s Alberta tar sands to the Texas Gulf Coast,” is generating controversy.
• Juan Cole has an interesting item noting the “top 10 myths” about the war in Libya.
• A long-awaited memorial honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.opened to the public today, near the Washington Mall.
• Not suspicious at all: “The e-mail accounts of Rick Scott and most of the governor-elect’s transition team were deleted soon after he took office, potentially erasing public records that state law requires be kept.”
• Rick Perry wrote this very extremist book and now people are saying him about it. It seems that he doesn’t like or believe the ideas in the book which he wrote.
• This whole economy has me worried.
• Gas prices look like they are going to fall for the next several months. That’s good news.
• Something’s wrong with this picture: “[T]he total cost of tuition, room, and board at Amherst College, for instance, is $53,370 a year. Even relatively affluent people can’t easily manage to shell out $53,000 at one time. And so Amherst uses a company called Tuition Management Systems to help make tuition payments more affordable. But TMS charges a 2.99 percent fee for every credit charge transaction. That’s $1,595 a year.”

HP just killed the TouchPad and WebOS

• For those who believe that business always gets things right, I present to you HP’s touchpad. HP had the pad market and did little if anything with it for years. They bought Compaq and Palm several years ago and Compaq had those little devices that were almost useful. The iPad comes out of nowhere. Apple kicks everyone’s butt. HP retools. They rework the OS and present a flop. I don’t understand how you spend all of that time and effort and come out with garbage. Engadget said it best, “Oh, happy day, when one first receives a device that’s been eagerly anticipated for months. Sad, sad day when that device fails to live up to one’s expectations. We all wanted the TouchPad to really compete, to give us a compelling third party to join the iOS and Android boxes on the ballot. But, alas, this isn’t quite it.”

Tags: Domestic Issues, Foreign Affairs, Iran, Israel by ecthompson md
3 Comments »

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out criteria for peace in an address before Congress. The one point that he made that I think deserves underscoring is that the leadership of Israel has acknowledged that there needs to be a Palestinian state, but the leadership of the Palestinian Authority has never said there should be and must be an Israeli state.
• Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is going to stand trial for killing or ordering the killing of unarmed protesters. As a rule, if you’re an ousted dictator, you need to get out of the country.
• Do you remember when gas prices went through the roof in 2008? Everybody was standing around trying to figure out what was going on. Well, I think everybody settled on commodities traders. It appears the US government is suing some of these commodities traders. Basically, the government is saying that these commodities traders bid up the price and then sold short to make money both on the upside and the downside of oil prices. In the meantime, you and I just simply paid more at the pump… for no good reason. I wonder if this is exactly what is happening now??
• For all those Republicans and conservatives who thought it was a bad idea to prop up the American automotive industry, now we can give them a big fat raspberry as Chrysler begins to pay back the American government and therefore you and me, the American people. This is what believing in America is all about.
• There’s a big election in New York. The New York-26. This is a very Republican district. The polls have just closed. This is supposed to be a referendum on Medicare. As a rule, I think these general pronouncements, calling elections referendums on x or y are usually wrong. All politics is local; at least that’s the way the saying goes. How did the candidates run their campaign? That determines who wins and who loses the majority of the time. The Republican candidate Jane Corwin publicly stated that she embraced the Paul Ryan plan to end Medicare. When you publicly embrace an unpopular position, expect to get some blowback from your constituents… like you will not get elected. Kathy Hochul is the Democrat. I hope that she has put together a smart campaign. I hope that she has worked hard. She has a unique opportunity to win this race. Election results can be found here.

Tags: Economy, Foreign Affairs, Israel, Party Politics by ecthompson md
No Comments »

• The Dallas Mavericks tried as hard as they could to fumble away victory against the Oklahoma Thunder. In spite of what looked like a concerted effort to lose, the Mavericks made just enough plays down the stretch to win.
• Since I’m alive today, I guess that means the world did not end. I find apocalyptic thinking kind of interesting. This is been a part of man’s consciousness for thousands of years. Live blogging here.
• Maine representative pulls a gun on a reporter. I’m guessing that sanity is not a criteria for political office.
• Herman Cain, CEO of Godfather’s pizza, has announced that he’s running for president. WooHoo!
• Mitch Daniels, Indiana Governor and former director of the Office of Management and Budget under George W. Bush, has decided he is not going to run for president.
• For reasons I don’t understand, President Barack Obama announced nothing new with regards to Israeli – Palestinian policy, yet conservatives went nuts.  (Romney – President Obama has thrown Israel under the bus. He has disrespected Israel and undermined its ability to negotiate peace.) What conservatives heard was “the 1967 borders.” What President Obama said was “returned to the 1967 borders…” and this is the important part… “with land swaps.” The land swaps would account for some of the settlements and the security concerns that Israel has to have. We have to get off of Square One. For the security of Israel, Palestine and the United States, we need an equitable solution to this problem. Some in Israel are supporting Obama’s plan.
• In yet another article justifying the stupid and sometimes criminal behavior of powerful men, Time Magazine jumps into the fray. Society is different today than it was 30 or 40 years ago. Officially, men and women are supposed to be in monogamous relationships, but in reality, powerful men played by different rules. Times have changed. We live in the age of the Internet where almost nothing can be kept secret. Preying on younger women is no longer okay. Using your position of power to manipulate the legal system or to “course” someone have sex with you is no longer okay. It hasn’t been okay for decades. The list of men that have gone astray is long and wide ranging. I think the words of Senator Tom Coburn are probably needed here. Allegedly, he told Senator John Ensign, while he was waiting to have a rendezvous with his mistress, “put your pants on and go home.” The top 10 political sex scandals are worth a read if to reinforce the idea that some men stray often.
• The final round of the Colonial is going on right now. To say that David Toms had a bad day yesterday would be an understatement. He shot a 4 over par after shooting 8 under par on Thursday and Friday. He starts today’s round one stroke back. If he can play a solid round of golf he can still win this tournament. Charlie Wi leads the tournament by one stroke at the start of today’s round.
• Finally, in NBA basketball, the Miami Heat play the Chicago Bulls this evening. The Miami Heat with Lebron James and Dwayne Wade have an opportunity to take control of the series. They’re playing at home. There’s no reason to believe they shouldn’t be able to out hustle, outshoot and out muscle the Chicago Bulls. The question is how badly do they want it.

Mavs veerse Thunder [ 2:19 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Israel, Obama administration, Party Politics, Sports by ecthompson md
No Comments »

So what happened on that flotilla? This video tells another story.

Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Iara’s Testimony. from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.

it is clear that this video tells another story of what happened on the flotilla. We don’t have the whole truth from either video that we’ve seen. I suspect that the truth is somewhere in the middle. It appears that some on this flotilla were aching for a fight. Who brings a slingshot with them anywhere? On the other hand, Israeli commandos who attack in the middle of the night weren’t simply innocent victims either. In my opinion, this whole flotilla confrontation is a reflection of the whole Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Two peoples telling a story from two completely opposite sides of the spectrum. We’re not to get peace until we can find some middle ground. Right now, it doesn’t appear that anybody looking to hard to find that middle ground. Sooner or later everyone will need to come to the conclusion that they are not going to exterminate their opponent. Neither the Palestinians or the Israelis will get tired and move to Iowa. Both peoples have been in this land for thousands of years. an equitable solution needs to be found.

Tags: Israel, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine) by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

I don’t know how other bloggers like Steve or Markos come up with their ideas of what to talk about. I don’t know if they sit down in front of the computer, like I do, and scan multiple news sites before they find something that clicks. Sometimes, I can spend more than an hour just looking for the right thing to write about. Anyway, I threw a few ideas together in tonight’s grab bag.

• I’m not sure what went wrong when Israel decided to stop a flotilla in international waters. The flotilla was heading for Gaza. They suspected weapons or terrorists or both. Several people are dead. Turkey and Israel are pointing fingers at each other and we’re in the middle.
• The guys over at Crooks and Liars have written a new book called Over the Cliff: How Obama’s Election Drove the American Right Insane. I’m buying a copy and I hope you are too.
• Labor unions are pulling out all the stops against Arkansas Senator Blanche Lincoln, who has consistently sided with big business over labor.
• If you and I and all of our friends in the progressive blogosphere donate $50 to help strengthen financial reform, could we change Congress? Could we change the bill? I doubt it. The financial sector is simply awash in truckloads of money.
• The teeth in the financial reform bill was an amendment named after Sherrod Brown and Ted Kaufman. The Brown-Kaufman amendment would’ve limited the size of banks and held the amount of risk that they could take. How did 27 Democrats vote against this amendment? How did this amendment go up in flames so quickly? It is clearly a testament to the power of Wall Street.
• I know that people are clamoring for president Obama to do something with this oil spill but for the life of me I can’t think of what it is he would need to do. Send in the Navy? And do what? How would the Navy stop the oil spill? By the way, how come we’ve been drilling off the coasts of the United States for over 30 years and we don’t have a viable plan of how to fix it if something goes wrong?
• The Prince of Persia is really a good movie. My wife and I just saw it and we both enjoyed it. It is a little clichéd at times but still very enjoyable.
• Finally, I feel sorry for Al Gore and Tipper Gore. They should be able to suffer through their divorce in private.

Tags: Big Oil, Economy, Israel by ecthompson md
No Comments »

Really tired. Spoke at a rally after work. Need to pass healthcare reform now. Call your congressman.

• Russian secrets are for sale.  This is very scary.

From Political Animal:

• Israel: “The discord between the United States and Israel over Jewish building in East Jerusalem deepened Tuesday with Israeli officials rejecting demands by Washington and expressing anger over the public upbraiding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Obama administration. On a day of scattered — although, in spots, fierce — disturbances by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, news emerged that Israel was moving ahead with a second building project there.”
• Gen. David Petraeus, the commander of U.S. troops in the Middle East and South Asia, had a nuanced answer for the Senate Armed Services Committee on DADT repeal, but he acknowledged for the first time that “the time has come” to consider scrapping the existing policy.
• Don’t expect interest rates to go up any time soon: “The Federal Reserve on Tuesday repeated its pledge to hold interest rates at record lows to foster the economic recovery and ease high unemployment.”
• Nice to see a boost in consumer sentiment, for a change.
• Words of wisdom from Attorney General Eric Holder to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science.
• Important piece on U.S. Central Command and the “Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” that is jeopardizing U.S. standing in the Middle East.
• There’s a fascinating tale behind the gun used at the Pentagon shooting two weeks ago. The madman, John Patrick Bedell, was able to get the gun without a background check — which would have prevented the sale — at a Las Vegas gun show, taking advantage of the gun-show loophole.
• The burden of higher-ed costs on students and their families in California is pretty extraordinary.
• And demonstrating the kind of dignity we’ve come to expect from House Republicans, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) spoke on the House floor today and said the health care reform legislation should be eaten … and then “passed.” Stay classy, Louie.

Tags: Congress, Education, Israel, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine) by ecthompson md
No Comments »

I’m going to work. More later -

From Political Animal:

• Mexico: “President Barack Obama is ‘deeply saddened and outraged’ at news of the murders of a federal employee and two relatives of workers at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, an administration spokesman said.”
• Netanyahu is sorry U.S. officials are upset, but Israel isn’t changing course: “In the face of sharp American disapproval of an Israeli plan for an East Jerusalem building project, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu firmly rejected Monday any curbs on new Jewish settlements in and around Jerusalem.” (ed. This is a big deal. This is a very big deal.)
• And predictably, GOP leaders are attacking the Obama administration for being unhappy with Israel. (ed. the knee jerk reaction of conservatives is nauseating but what is worse is that democrats are apologizing for standing strong and asking Israel how are more settlements helpful?)
• Step one is done: the House Budget Committee voted 21 to 16 this afternoon to send the final health care reform package to the House Rules Committee. Two Blue Dogs — Texas’s Chet Edwards and Florida’s Allen Boyd — voted with Republicans. Both voted against reform in November.
• Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) kicks off his initiative to reform the way Wall Street does business. The White House is pleased. More surprisingly, Elizabeth Warren seems to like the plan, too.
• Good to see industrial production edge up.
• Eyeing an overhaul of No Child Left Behind.
• Student aid bill “hobbles forward.”
• Fantastic interview with Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens from Jeff Toobin. Of particular interest: Stevens will retire before the end of Obama’s first term.
• Fareed Zakaria on the success of Obama’s approach to Pakistan.
• After Rep. Dennis Kucinich’s (D-Ohio) votes against health care, against the hate crimes bill, against the Democratic budget, against the cap-and-trade bill, and against financial regulation, Nate Silver considers the liberal lawmaker’s value to the Democratic Party.
• Utah’s House Republican majority leader resigned in the wake of his under-age, hush-money, hot-tub scandal. Probably a good idea.
• Fact Checking the Sunday Shows.
• Harry Reid issued a statement today, noting that he still expects his wife to make a “full recovery.” (ed. I’m happy for Reid and his family. Both his wife and daughter were in a serious car crash on Thursday.)

Tags: Economy, Healthcare, Israel, Legal, Obama administration, Pakistan by ecthompson md
No Comments »

I talk with Middle East expert Brian Katulis from the Center for American Progress. We discuss Clinton’s recent Middle East trip, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Iraq, Afghanistan and the multiple issues with Pakistan. This is an information discussion. Enjoy.

Special Edition of the Errington Thompson Show - Middle East [ 27:33 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Podcasts by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

Early Wednesday Morning News Roundup

• The economic stimulus package passed the Senate yesterday by a 61-37 vote, which was no surprise. Lawmakers begin now the difficult task of reconciling the two versions of the bill. Remember that both the House and the Senate will vote on the compromise bill and if it passes both Houses then the bill goes to President Obama.
• Progressives and moderates seemed to like President Obama‘s news conference yesterday. Predictably, conservatives — not so much.
• Overseas — just to prove that the Bush administration did not corner the market on government scandals, Taiwan’s former first lady has admitted to laundering $2.2 million. To make matters worse, her husband is in jail and her son has already pleaded guilty to corruption charges.
• An internal Pakistani memo suggests that five of the 10 gunmen who attacked Mumbai, India three months ago were from Pakistan. Tensions between Pakistan and India remain high.

• There is a provision in the economic stimulus package, back here in the United States, that has set aside $1.1 billion for research comparing medical treatments/drugs/devices. The pharmaceutical industry and the medical device industry are not interested in such research projects. They are gearing up to pressure lawmakers to take this provision out of the bill while lawmakers from the House and Senate reconcile the two versions. I think this is a small window into what is going to become a much larger fight as president Barack Obama and the Democrats are planning on health-care reform.
• Just when you thought you’ve heard the last of Sarah Palin and Trooper-Gate it appears that the state Attorney General is resigning. Oh, by the way, Governor Palin was invited to speak at that big conservative convention (CPAC). Interestingly, she has declined the offer and will instead send a video.

• Yesterday, Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner rolled out what was supposed to be the administration’s plan to fixing our banking system and take care of toxic debt. Unfortunately, it appears that the plan was not all that detailed. I was somewhat disappointed but, more importantly, Wall Street had a hissy fit. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down over 300 points. Remember, is the third major speech that we’ve heard from a Secretary of the Treasury on how they plan to fix our financial crisis. Each time, they have failed to come up with a clear and concise plan. Noble prize-winning economist Paul Krugman was less than impressed. With luck, over the next several days, Secretary Geithner will begin filling in the details.

NBC’s Brian Williams interviews Timothy Geithner.  Watch:

[Read more →]

Tags: Economy, Israel, Obama administration by ecthompson md
No Comments »

I’m kind of exhausted this evening. So I’m going to use (borrow) Steve’s evening Roundup. I must add that Arianna Huffington‘s post is great. There are just some people who don’t understand the environment in which we are living. Many business CEOs don’t get it. Off with their heads! (I just added that part.)

From Washington Monthly:

* The “truce” in Gaza is already looking shaky, in light of a Palestinian roadside bomb that killed an Israeli today, which sparked an Israeli “airstrike that wounded a Hamas militant.”

* No brainer: “The Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, announced on Tuesday that he would crack down on lobbying to influence the $700 billion financial bailout program by the companies that are receiving billions in taxpayer funds.”

* Speaking of which, Geithner was confirmed late yesterday, following a 60-34 vote. Three Democrats (Harkin, Feingold, and Byrd) voted against him, as did one of the independents (Sanders) caucusing with the Dems.

* Climate researcher Susan Solomon, of the NOAA’s Earth System Research Laboratory, believes “many damaging effects of climate change are already largely irreversible.” Solomon explained, “People have imagined that if we stopped emitting carbon dioxide the climate would go back to normal in 100 years, 200 years; that’s not true.”

* The Lily Ledbetter measure is headed to the White House for the president’s signature.

* Al-Arabiya’s Hisham Melhem thinks it makes sense for al Qaeda to be “nervous” about Barack Obama.

* Surprise, House Republicans not only fail to negotiate in good faith, but they also fail to maintain any kind of ideological consistency.

* Thanks to still more Republican objections, progress on S-CHIP has stalled once again.

* CNN’s Ed Henry is confused about why the CBO incomplete “report” on the stimulus became controversial. [Read more →]

Tags: Economy, Environment, Israel by ecthompson md
No Comments »

For reasons that are 100% unclear to me, someone has hired Samuel Wurzelbacher to cover the war in Gaza. No, really.

From AP:

Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher says he’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting. (more… )

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show has more. Watch the whole clip, including Joe the Plumber’s answer as to how he will be protected while covering the war.

Tags: Election 2008, Israel by ecthompson md
5 Comments »

• The United States abstained from a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The United States abstained. The United States abstained? I just don’t understand how we are not taking the lead in this conflict. It would seem that sitting on the sidelines is not a viable option.
• A committee in the Illinois House of Representatives has recommended that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich be impeached. The recommendation was unanimous. Interestingly, Ronald Burris, soon to be the junior senator from Illinois, had to testify in front of this committee. He stated that there was no “quid pro quo” for his nomination.
• As of today, it appears that only one of Barack Obama’s nominations for his Cabinet posts is going to be scrutinized or beat up by the Republicans. Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Charles Grassley are gearing up to oppose Eric Holder (Obama’s choice for Attorney General). The part of this saga that I find intriguing is that no one had any specific objection to Eric Holder shortly after the nomination was announced. Early in December, Karl Rove called Eric Holder, “one controversial nominee.” Since then, Arlen Specter’s rhetoric has become more and more negative towards Eric Holder. So here are some of my questions. Is Alan Specter worried about a challenge from his Right in 2010? Do Alan Specter and Charles Grassley take marching orders from Karl Rove? Has Karl Rove become the de facto president of the Republican National Committee? Why would Karl Rove have any significant pull in the Republican Party after getting trounced in two national elections?
• Terrible flooding in Washington State.
• Missile strike has reportedly killed two top Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan. Only time will tell if these guys where truly top Al Qaeda operatives or just Al Qaeda foot soldiers.
• Has Microsoft thrown in the towel on Vista? Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has announced that Windows 7 is in Beta testings. He is calling it the best Windows ever. Well, it has to be better than ME.
• Missouri Senator Kit Bond is rumored to be retiring. No run in 2010. This opens up another Republican seat for the Dems to challenge.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Israel, Legal, Obama administration, Senate by ecthompson md
5 Comments »

Wednesday Evening News Roundup

• I feel pretty confident that Roland Burris will be seated in the Senate sometime soon. Everyone, slowly but surely, is coming to the same conclusion. We have no evidence that Roland Burris has done anything wrong. The man has an ego the size of the state of Illinois, true, but as far as I know, that is not a crime. Representative Bobby Rush, who looks something like Skeletor, is a perfect character in this relatively unbelievable tale. He was the one who was called to the podium after Ronald Burris was introduced as Governor Blagojevich‘s choice for the vacant Senate seat. Rep. Rush keeps using these race-based analogies which just don’t fit. I would go so far as to say they’re completely and totally inappropriate. He went on Hardball with Chris Matthews and equated not seating Ronald Burris with the dogs that were commanded to attack blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. I just hope someone can find him a good psychiatrist.
• A cease-fire was negotiated in the Gaza Strip so that humanitarian aid could get into Gaza City.  The cease-fire which was supposed to last three hours lasted approximately 15 minutes.
• President-elect Barack Obama stated that the stimulus package may grow as change is needed. I find this completely appropriate.
• Senator Dianne Feinstein, who had nothing but venom to spew at Leon Panetta on Monday, is now supporting his nomination. Maybe Tuesday was the first time she had an opportunity to see how much progressives really despised her role in facilitating the crimes against the Constitution that George Bush perpetrated.
• President Jimmy Carter gives his assessment of what is happening in Gaza.  Whether you believe his version of events or not, it is clear that he has tired to broker peace and stop the blood-shed.

I am again having some computer issues and may not be able to post as much as I would like to this evening.

Tags: Hardball, Israel, Obama administration, Senate by ecthompson md
2 Comments »

Monday Night News Roundup

• “Bernard Madoff” is becoming synonymous with “swindler” and “crook.” A very nice article in Newsweek details how he started his Ponzi scheme. Seeems it all began at the Palm Beach Country Club in Florida. Here’s a wonderful line from the article –They [the rich soon to be swindled] knew that money and social cachet could afford them access to exclusive services and experiences—private jets, club seats at sporting events, invitations to state dinners. Similarly, many believed a high fabulousness quotient entitled them to Madoff’s too-good-to-be-true service—consistent market-beating returns without volatility, all without big charges. Anything that sounds too good to be true usually is.
  
• New numbers from Detroit are out. Americans bought 2.9 million fewer cars in 2008 then they did the year before. Even Toyota and Honda have seen declines in car sales over the last four to eight weeks. I think this is a sign that this recession is not going anywhere any time soon. We need an economic stimulus package and we need it now.
• I would be remiss if I did not discuss some of the violence going on in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military has invaded the Gaza Strip and their forces have surrounded Gaza city. My question is… now what? Three Israeli soldiers have died from so-called “friendly fire.” The Palestinian death toll is now well over 500. Doesn’t the death of innocent citizens fuel some this Palestinian anger? The European Union has tried to mediate some sort of cease-fire. French President Nicholas Sarkozy is currently in the Middle East. Israel is calling for some sort of international monitoring contingent. Hamas has stated they will only stop the rocket attacks once the blockade is lifted off of Gaza. Of course, the blockade is the only thing that is preventing more guns, ammunition and rockets from entering Gaza. In my opinion, both sides need to learn how to behave.
• The rumor mill, which has so far been very accurate, has suggested that former White House Chief of Staff, Leon Panetta has been picked to run the CIA. Although Leon Panetta is not an intelligence expert, he is widely regarded as an excellent manager. I haven’t really made up my mind on this pick yet. Maybe a skilled manager is exactly what the Central Intelligence Agency truly needs. William J. Lynn, former top Pentagon official in the Clinton administration, has been chosen to be Deputy Secretary of Defense. Considering the information I laid out for you in my post earlier tonight about the amount of waste in the Defense Department, the Deputy Secretary of Defense is an extremely important position. That role will be crucial in preventing this kind of giant waste. (I’m still depressed over the withdrawal of Governor Bill Richardson.)
• Former Senator Claiborne Pell has died at the age of 90. For the last several years he suffered from Parkinson’s disease. I never knew the senator from Rhode Island, but I have benefited from the grants that now carry his name. A senator who championed the arts and education can be marked as “great” in my opinion. There’s a great editorial in the New York Times giving a personal account of how much these Pell grants have meant. We could sure use some more senators like Claiborne Pell.
• I just started a new book called “The Return of Depression Economics And the Crisis of 2008” by Paul Krugman. It turns out this really isn’t a new book. The book has been updated but it was first published nearly a decade ago to describe what was going on in Japan and Asia. His column today really comes from this book. Krugman outlines the need for bold action and the resistance he will find from some politicians who want “proof” that deficit spending will help prevent massive layoffs. Note that these same politicians did not require proof that tax cuts actually work to stimulate the economy. This is another great article.
• Finally, Media Matters analyzes Ann Coulter’s latest pack of lies called “Guilty.” Ann Coulter has been one of the best from the Right at spinning a lie. She usually starts with the truth and then moves to some topic that’s more obscure. She will state this topic as fact and then make her big point, which is almost always wrong. So the formula is: truth, which leads to half-truth, which then leads to outright lie. From Media Matters – These falsehoods come on a wide-ranging list of subjects including her defense of the claims made against Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth during the 2004 presidential campaign; her assertion that “Fox News has never been caught promoting a fraud”; her claim that President-elect Barack Obama was referring to Gov. Sarah Palin when he said “you know, you can put lipstick on a pig; it’s still a pig”; and attacks she makes against New York Times columnist Frank Rich.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Economy, Israel, Media, Obama administration, Party Politics by ecthompson md
5 Comments »

Israel promised that there’d be a ground portion to this offensive. True to their word, tanks have rolled into the Gaza Strip. A spokesperson for Hamas had this to say:

From CNN.com:

Israeli tanks rolled into Gaza on Saturday night as the military launched the second phase of its assault on the Hamas-ruled territory after a week of airstrikes.

“We want to create a situation where the civilian population in southern Israel is no longer on the receiving end of those deadly Hamas rockets. When quiet can be achieved, this operation can be finished,” Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told CNN.

The goal of Operation Cast Lead is to halt what Israeli officials describe as a near-constant barrage of Hamas rockets into the southern part of the country from Gaza.

“We haven’t articulated regime change as the goal of this operation. Our goal is to protect our people,” Regev said. Israeli officials say four people have been killed and 59 wounded in Hamas rocket attacks in the past week. (more … )

Seems to me that Israel is trying to get a few last minute licks in on Hamas before Obama gets into office. I don’t think Obama will give Israel the free reign that the Bush administration has allowed. Obama and the United States will always be a close friend of Israel, but that doesn’t mean that we have to support everything that Israel does.

Tags: Israel by ecthompson md
No Comments »

You have been waiting and waiting for years to get the upper hand. You had a recent “misadventure” into Lebanon. Now you have taken Hamas by surprise. They are wildly firing rockets and really hitting no one. You may have them on the run. Would you stop?

From WaPo:

A top Hamas leader and several members of his family were killed Thursday in an Israeli air strike in the Gaza Strip, as Israel pressed its offensive for a sixth day and a Hamas rocket destroyed part of an apartment building in the Israeli port city of Ashdod.

Nizar Rayyan, a cleric who served as a liaison between Hamas’s political and military wings, had called for renewed suicide bombings inside Israel and refused to go into hiding, as other prominent Hamas members had done. His death, confirmed in a statement issued by Hamas, marked the first known killing of a senior leader of the militant group since Israel began air strikes on Saturday. Two of Rayyan’s four wives and four of his 12 children were also killed after Israeli forces bombed their apartment building, Palestinian health officials said. (more… )

Tags: Israel by ecthompson md
3 Comments »

Eight years ago, when many in the US thought that it really didn’t matter who was president and that the country could run on automatic pilot, George Bush was elected. At the time, he was thought to have had the greatest foreign-policy team of all time. Colin Powell. Dick Cheney. Condoleezza Rice. Incredible credentials. Yet, after the last eight years, to describe President Bush’s foreign-policy as being a disaster is simply being kind. He’s made little or no progress in the Middle East. As a matter of fact, some may suggest at this point that his administration has actually taken the peace process backwards five or ten years.

On January 20th, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have to hit the ground running. The lack of American leadership is palpable around the world. Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip for the last four days. They did this in retaliation to multiple rocket attacks into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. This is a typical scenario. Israel takes a pounding and then retaliates disproportionately. The retaliation inevitably causes an international outcry. Sometime soon thereafter, Israel stops the offensive and we go back to square one. Soon-to-be Secretary of State Hillary Clinton must break this cycle.

Personally, I think it is important that we support Israel. The Palestinians, though, are living in abhorrent conditions. Their standard of living must be raised. If you have something to live for, then you are less likely to want to turn yourself into a human bomb. Hillary Clinton must find the balance that has escaped George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and her husband, Bill Clinton. She must find a way to get all the parties involved to begin the discussion and to find a solution to the problem. This means including Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. (Some of these Arab countries have treated the Palestinians like unwanted stepchildren.)

From a political standpoint, this is a huge time bomb. If Barack Obama spends a lot of political capital early in his presidency on trying to fix the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and can’t find a solution, that will hurt some of his domestic agenda. On the other hand, we have seen what eight years of neglect does. On the surface, this seems to be a lose-lose proposition. But, as an optimist, I think that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton will need to (and, with luck, will be able to) balance this with the many other crises around the world. We do need to defeat Al Qaeda. We do need to do better in Afghanistan and make it a functioning nation.  We also need to help Pakistan, not only with its relationship to India, but also with its relationship to Afghanistan. We need to get out of Iraq and develop a presence in Africa. We need to bolster Africa’s attempt to control some of its violence within its own continent (the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Darfur for come to mind). As a nation, we cannot ignore the problems of South and Central America. In addition, the growing challenges of Asia, which include the vulnerability of some Asian countries to Al Qaeda, may be as daunting as any challenge that I’ve yet mentioned. I have to make a special mention of North Korea, of course, since it was an original member of the Axis of Evil.

If history shows us anything, it is two definitive paths which have not yet led to the settlement of this long conflict. The first path was taken by President Clinton, which was to wait to the end of his presidency then throw his whole weight behind the peace process. He, like Bush, was a lame duck and, because of that, could not get an agreement. Then there is President Bush’s way… ignore the problem and hope it will go away, which doesn’t work either. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton must choose a different path. It is time for Hillary Clinton to be great.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Israel, Obama administration by ecthompson md
No Comments »

Friday Evening News Roundup

Attorney General Michael Mukasey collapsed during a speech last night. The exact etiology of his collapse has not been revealed. He was admitted to a hospital overnight and released today, so one would assume that the requisite tests were performed and they were all negative. Of course I wish him well.

I find all the leaks around Barack Obama’s Cabinet choices very compelling. There has been no official confirmation of any Cabinet post of which I am aware. The speculation on whether Senator Hillary Clinton will take the job of Secretary of State continues to fill the airwaves. Speculation has also turned to Governor Bill Richardson , reportedly being considered for Secretary of Commerce. The current governor of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Timothy Geithner, may be chosen as the Secretary of the Treasury. Other Cabinet possibilities include Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano heading up Homeland Security, though I’m not sure that this department doesn’t need to be completely dismantled…but that’s another discussion. Former Senator Tom Daschle has been chosen for Health and Human Services if he can work out some of the conflicts of interest. Former Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder has been chosen as theObama team’s Attorney General. There is still speculation on whether or not Barack Obama will keep Robert Gates on as Secretary of Defense. Remember, though, with the exception of Rahm Emanuel, there has been no official announcement from Barack Obama or any of his team members.

Former National Security Advisor Brent Scowcroft (served under Presidents Gerald Ford and George H. W. Bush) and former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (served under President Jimmy Carter) wrote a nice op-ed in the Washington Post today. They have asked that Barack Obama not squander the goodwill that he has garnered throughout the world and focus his attention on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This certainly needs to be put on the front burner. As a matter of fact, Obama might consider appointing a special envoy to negotiate the peace settlement. Maybe someone like former President Bill Clinton would be appropriate. Now wouldn’t that cause a ton of conjecture about Bill’s muscling in on Hillary’s territory?

There seems to be a fly in the ointment concerning the conviction ofSenator Ted Stevens. David Anderson, a prosecution witness, has written a letter stating that he was extensively “coached” by the prosecution. He went even further, saying he would not have testified the way he did without the coaching. This is starting to look less like a case of corruption and more like an episode of LA Law (I don’t want to know who slept with whom in this case!).

Huge rally on Wall Street. I will repeat what I said about Wall Street a couple months ago, however. It will take some time for the stock market to recover. Look for continued volatility for the next six to eight months. The overall trend of the Stock Market will be down during this time. 

Tags: Domestic Issues, Economy, Israel, Obama administration, Senate by ecthompson md
1 Comment »

Here’s the Sunday evening news Roundup:

• Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has resigned after his government has become mired in corruption investigations.
• If I hand somebody a blank check, I feel pretty confident they’re not going to write it for $700 billion. So, what we’re handing the financial industry is worse than a blank check. The fact that this proposal has bipartisan support does not warm my heart. The Bush administration wants quick action but… Can someone stand up and clearly articulate where the problem is? Can somebody tell us, the American people, that throwing $700 billion at the problem will fix it? We know the American automotive industry is looking for approximately a $25 billion handout, is that included in this $700 billion? And probably the worst part of this legislation is that the Secretary of the Treasury has no ability to be looked at by the judiciary. There’s no oversight. I don’t get how this is good for America. I understand that financial meltdowns are bad. But I also understand that handing out $700 billion is also bad. (Psst – foreign banks have their hands out also.)
• In order to win in November, Democratic nominee Barack Obama needs to win the women’s vote.
• The Americans won the Ryder Cup for their first victory since 1999. Very cool.
• Most of the NFL games have been completed. The Miami Dolphins, like all Bill Parcell’s teams, will be competitive. They absolutely trounced the New England Patriots, with Ronnie Brown running for four touchdowns and throwing for another. (Yep, I had him on my fantasy team and I sat him down today.) The Denver Broncos can’t play defense. The Indianapolis Colts will continue to struggle until they fix their offenses and defenses lines. Brian Griese beat his old team, the Chicago Bears, throwing 67 passes. The Washington Redskins are learning how to play under their new coach. They beat a very strong Arizona Cardinals team. The Kansas City Chiefs, the Detroit Lions, and the St. Louis Rams are vying for the trophy of the worst team in pro football.

Tags: Economy, Election 2008, Israel, Sports by ecthompson md
No Comments »