Where’s the Outrage?

Sunday morning news Round-up

• Do you remember the US attorney scandal? Seven US attorneys general were surprisingly all fired at once. After further investigation we learned that more US attorneys general had been fired, bringing the total to nine. To make a long story short, the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility in the Justice Department came out with a 392-page report which detailed some of the circumstances surrounding the firings. The report harshly criticized Alberto Gonzales, Kyle Sampson, (Gonzalez’s former chief of staff), and top Justice Department deputy Paul McNulty. Of course many senior officials in the Bush administration, including Harriet Miers and Karl Rove, refused to cooperate with the investigation.
• GM and Chrysler are in discussions about a possible merger. When you take two poorly managed companies and merge them together what do you get?
• The Bush administration has removed North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terrorism. In return, North Korea is continuing to dismantle their plutonium reactor. Remember that we can’t talk to our enemies. We don’t want progress.
• The FBI released the files of longtime columnist Jack Anderson. Anderson was a critic, to put it mildly, of J. Edgar Hoover. He even earned a spot on Nixon’s “enemies list.”
• Sunday morning pundit round-up — here.
• Yesterday, Bob Herbert, NY Times columnist, had a great piece on the complete failure of conservatism. “The first is how wrong conservative Republicans have been on so many profoundly important matters for so many years. The second is how the G.O.P. has nevertheless been able to persuade so many voters of modest means that its wrongheaded, favor-the-rich, country-be-damned approach was not only good for working Americans, but was the patriotic way to go.” Amen!!
• NATO forces are planning to target the heroin networks that are funding the Taliban. This sounds all well and good until you figure that we were supposed to be doing this in Afghanistan over six years ago. There should no longer be a Taliban. There should no longer be heroin networks. This is simply the latest in a string of bad news coming out of Afghanistan.
• Longtime Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe was supposed to be in a power-sharing arrangement with opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Well, not so much. The heads of all the ministries have been appointed by none other than President Mugabe.
• This is a great time to be a sports fan. Basketball and hockey are starting. Baseball is deep into the playoffs (Tampa wins in the 11th?). Week six of the NFL begins today.  I’m sure you could probably find a soccer game and a tennis match somewhere. Ah, Sports Heaven.

Tags: Afghanistan, Bush Administration, North Korea, Party Politics, US Attorneys by ecthompson
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Here’s the Monday evening news roundup:

• Let’s start overseas. North Korea is miffed that the U.S. has not lived up to their obligations in the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty in their eyes. It appears that they are beginning to start up their nuclear reactor, again.
• We saw a record jump in oil prices today, as if we don’t have enough to worry about.
• Wall Street seems to be having a difficult time figuring out what Congress is doing, just as I am. The Dow lost 372 points today.
• An Iraqi top official testified in front of the Senate today. The former chief inspector of Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity told U.S. senators that approximately $9 billion of American reconstruction money had been lost, stolen or misused. $9 billion. That’s one third of a Bear Stearns bail out.
• The New York Times had a large article on Senator John McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis. Rick Davis received approximately $30 thousand per month for five years as the president of an advocacy group for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Although Senator McCain has been hammering Senator Barack Obama about ties with loan agencies, McCain’s campaign cried foul. They began whining that the New York Times is partial to Barack Obama. Then again, they’ve been whining on a variety of subjects recently. They just aren’t being treated fairly. The New York Times responded with an official statement.
• Details of the $700 billion loan bailout are slowly emerging. Questions about McCain and his economic decisions are bubbling to the surface. Did he almost bankrupt Arizona with his electric cars? By the way, as long as we are talking about this bailout, we should remember that we know President Bush loves corporate insiders. Well, where did Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson come from? In his previous role as chairman of Goldman Sachs, he received $38 million in 2005. Sweet package. In his current role, he has surrounded himself with Goldman Sachs ex-employees. Who stands to gain from this corporate bailout? Not Goldman Sachs. Couldn’t be.
• The final game of the regular season has been played in Yankee Stadium. I’m not a New York Yankees fan. But still, I do appreciate the history and the significance of Yankee Stadium. The House that Ruth built will be torn down. If it wasn’t so big, it should be made into a museum. The new Yankee Stadium was built across the street and will be ready for the New York Yankee home opener in April of 2009.
• Congratulations to Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart!!!

Tags: Congress, Economy, Election 2008, North Korea, Sports, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show by ecthompson
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Good evening. It’s time for the news round-up.

• The way deficit is up. I thought that after seven years of Republican rule, the deficit would be under control. Tax cuts were supposed to spur investment in pay-off for deficit. I’m guessing it just didn’t work out as they planned.
• Rumors abound about North Korea’s reclusive ruler Kim Jong Il. The North Korean leader failed to appear at a military parade earlier today. Some have suggested that he has had a major stroke.
• President Bush dusted off an oldie but goodie today: The surge is working, but yet it hasn’t quite worked. We can withdraw a miniscule amount of troops — 8000. The gains that we’ve made are tenuous. Yada, yada, yada. This is interesting in the wake of all the publicity surrounding Bob Woodward’s new book. The Pulitzer prize-winning author suggests that the military leaders did not and do not support the surge.
• Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has new allegations to fend off. It appears that the “maverick” billed Alaskan taxpayers for 312 nights in which she was supposed to be traveling when, in fact, she was at home. Oops. It be interesting to see if this story gains traction.
• One hundred fifty-seven years worth of investment experience may be going down the drain at Lehman Brothers. The investment bank has lost more than 91 percent since February of 2007. No matter how you look at this, it’s bad. Is another bailout in the works?
• For reasons that are unclear, cyclist Lance Armstrong, has announced that he is going to compete in another Tour de France. Why?

Tags: Domestic Issues, Economy, Iraq, North Korea by ecthompson
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Maybe, just maybe talking to your enemies works. Ask North Korea.

From WaPo:

North Korea dynamited the dirty gray cooling tower at its deactivated Yongbyon nuclear facility on Friday, a made-for-TV event intended to show the United States and the world that it is serious about abandoning its nuclear weapons program.

After a loud explosive charge, the 60-foot tower imploded within seconds, melting into a thick white cloud of smoke and dust. The late afternoon demolition was filmed by television news crews invited from the five countries that for years have been pressing Kim Jong Il’s totalitarian state to back away from nuclear confrontation. (more…)

Tags: Bush Administration, North Korea by ecthompson
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Threatening North Korea for 5 years didn’t do anything except allow North Korea to build several nuclear weapons. Suddenly, the Bush administration tried diplomacy. They kicked John Bolton and Donald Rumsfeld to the curb and started talking. Now, North Korea is dismantling their nuclear facility. (The Bush administration has pieced together exactly what Bill Clinton had done nearly 7 - 8 years ago.)

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From WaPo:

President Bush today lifted some trade sanctions against North Korea and acted to remove the country from a list of states that sponsor terrorism, after the isolated Stalinist regime turned over a key document detailing its rogue nuclear program.

Nearly seven years after Bush described North Korea as part of “an axis of evil” and less than two years after Pyongyang stunned the world by exploding a small nuclear device, Bush said the receipt of the nuclear disclosure marked the start of an “action for action” process meant to end with the full dismantling of the country’s nuclear facilities and weapons. (more…)

Tags: North Korea by ecthompson
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There has been no greater example that has debunked the Muscular Amero-centric Bush policy of “my way or the highway” than North Korea. The Bush Administration threw out the Agreement Framework of the Clinton administration. They began the inflammatory finger pointing. They refused to talk with North Korea. North Korea escalated their nuclear program and threw out the IAEA. North Korean exploded something. John Bolton was removed from the negotiation process. Christopher Hill began to actually talk with North Korea. The hard neocons - Rumsfeld and Cheney - got fired or marginalized and magically North Korea began to come around. Yesterday an agreement of economic cooperation was signed. As important, is an agreement to end the Korean War. South Korean never signed that treaty.

I think that this is a significant development.  Kind of like where we were at the end of the Clinton administration before Bush screwed it up.

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From USAToday:

The South Korean president signed a commitment with North Korea Thursday to seek a formal end to the Korean War, ending a historic three-day summit during which he was snubbed by his host and upstaged by a nuclear agreement 600 miles away in Beijing.

South Korea never signed the cease fire that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War; so the two Koreas have remained technically at war ever since. In their declaration Thursday in the northern capital Pyongyang, South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il agreed to pursue a permanent peace. South Korea has said it will need to work with the other combatants in the Korean war — China and the United States — to reach a formal peace deal. President Bush has said there can be no permanent peace on the Korean peninsula until North Korea gives up nuclear arms. (more…)

 

 Korean Agreeement [2:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, North Korea by ecthompson
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This is good news for the Bush administration after nothing but bad news day after day for months. Alberto, Cheney, Iraq, Scooter Libby, Iraq, Iran, the environment the list is almost endless. This may be something that the Bush Administration can cheer about.

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From CNN.com:

Pyongyang and Washington have agreed on a three-week timeframe for shutting down the North’s plutonium-producing reactor, a top U.S. nuclear envoy said Saturday after returning from a rare visit to the reclusive state.

Christopher Hill — the chief U.S. negotiator at international talks on North Korea’s nuclear programs — said they were looking at a three-week timeframe for shutting down the Yongbyon reactor, when asked by reporters on his arrival at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport. (more..)

 

 North Korea agrees to shut down reactor [7:19m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, North Korea by ecthompson
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Maybe China has become more involved.  Maybe Russia has played a larger role.  Because China and Russia are the keys to Korea. 

I’ll believe it when I see it.  North Korea has made a career out of breaking promises.  (Update: Now, I’m not saying that we shouldn’t have made this deal.  I think that we should have made this deal 6 years ago.  In the video below, NBC Nightly News interviews John Bolton.  Why?  The man is crazy.)

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From WaPo:

North Korea agreed Tuesday after arduous talks to shut down its main nuclear reactor and eventually dismantle its atomic weapons program, just four months after the communist state shocked the world by testing a nuclear bomb.

The deal marks the first concrete plan for disarmament in more than three years of six-nation negotiations, and could potentially herald a new era of cooperation in the region with the North’s longtime foes _ the United States and Japan _ also agreeing to discuss normalizing relations with Pyongyang. [Read more →]

 

 NN - North Korea nuclear deal [7:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Foreign Affairs, North Korea by ecthompson
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Great points.  The administration is going to have to actually talk to North Korea.  Wow.  A discussion. 

 

 Hardball - Richardson discusses North Korea [6:18m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Foreign Affairs, North Korea by ecthompson
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From CNN.com:

Two U.S. government officials with access to classified information tell CNN that the initial air sampling over North Korea shows no indication of radioactive debris from the event Monday that North Korea says was an underground nuclear test.

The U.S. Air Force flew a WC-135 Constant Phoenix on Tuesday to collect air samples from the region.

A third official reiterated that at this point “there isn’t information to allow confirmation it was a nuclear test.”  more

————

So what’s the next move?  Do we continue to ignore and name call?  Or do we pull back from the UN security council?  What does North Korea do?

Video to follow.

Tags: North Korea by ecthompson
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Great article by Joseph Cirincione from the Center for American Progress in Salon.com:

We have suspected for more than 15 years that North Korea has separated plutonium from nuclear reactor fuel for use as the core of a nuclear bomb. If the test there on Monday of a nuclear device proves to be authentic, North Korean scientists will have demonstrated that they have designed an explosive casing that can compress plutonium to critical mass, triggering an explosion. North Korea will have become the world’s ninth nuclear-armed state.

The Bush administration appears divided over how to respond. Yet, despite some internal dissent, hard-liners in the administration have controlled the U.S. approach to North Korea since Bush took office. That approach has brimmed with tough talk and threats, while scorning diplomacy as a badge of weakness. The White House refuses to negotiate directly with North Korea — but it has no viable plan, military or otherwise, for stopping further tests. North Korea’s provocative move is the latest evidence that Bush’s strategy for preventing the global spread of nuclear weapons has failed.

The greatest danger is not that North Korea would attack us or our allies with this new capability, or even that they would provide a nuclear weapon to terrorists. Kim Jong Il would know that the response to the use of a North Korean bomb by him or his surrogates would end his life, his regime and a good part of his country. The greatest danger is what happens next in the region — and the specter of a new arms race that could fast spiral out of control. more

Tags: North Korea by ecthompson
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James Baker is a very polished act.  He has been Secretary of State, Secretary of Defense and Chief of Staff. 

Also, although Jon Stewart is a comedian he does seem to ask some thoughtful questions in a way that does not embarrass or “get in the face” of his guests.  He’s gotten some absolutely fabulous guest of the last couple weeks. 

 

 James Baker on TDS [4:01m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Baker on TDS 2 [3:47m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Baker on TDS 3 [1:40m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Books, North Korea by ecthompson
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Someone, please give me one example of how diplomacy by the Bush White House has worked anywhere around the world.  On the other hand, we have plenty examples of its failure.  Yesterday, we have yet another example as North Korea performs a nuclear test.

 

 Korea tests and nuclear bomb [3:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Foreign Affairs, North Korea by ecthompson
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As I sent out my mini-rant last night, I got an interesting response from one of my friends. Don’t forget Darfur, she said.  Wow.  I did forget.  I hadn’t mentioned Darfur in months.  This is the largest humanitarian disaster in years.  We know that it is going on.  The president hasn’t mentioned Darfur in over a year.  According to the White House web site, the last time that the president mentioned Darfur was in 2004 and that was simply a press release. 

Today 2 op-ed’s in the NY Times really address the lack of leadership in the foreign policy arena from the Bush Administration.  Let’s assume that the Bush Administration does not really want to promote democracy outside of standing around with world leaders and smiling.  Darfur would have been an excellent place to promote democracy.  Nicholas Kristof writes - “No genocide has ever been publicly chronicled so extensively as this one. We have satellite images of the burned villages, and detailed reports from groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Aid workers interact daily with the two million displaced people, and we can watch as Sudan spreads instability into neighboring countries.”  And Frank Rich wrote - “AS American foreign policy lies in ruins from Pyongyang to Baghdad to Beirut, its epitaph is already being written in Washington. Last week’s Time cover, “The End of Cowboy Diplomacy,” lays out the conventional wisdom: the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war, upended by chaos in Iraq and the nuclear intransigence of North Korea and Iran, is now officially kaput. In its stead, a sadder but more patient White House, under the sway of Condi Rice, is embracing the fine art of multilateral diplomacy and dumping the “bring ’em on” gun-slinging that got the world into this jam.”
[Read more →]

Tags: Domestic Issues, Foreign Affairs, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), North Korea by ecthompson
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There is a ton of stuff going on in the world today.  There’s almost so much confusion and violence it is almost impossible know where to start.  Israel has invaded Lebanon.  The Beirut airport has been bombed.  Operation “together forward” appears to be a complete and total disaster as violence escalates in Iraq.  Iran has told us in essence you can take your deadline and… North Korea continues to develop its missile technology.  The six party talks have been almost as effective as me yelling out my window with a megaphone to North Korea, “Please stop making nuclear weapons.  I’m very serious this time.  I mean it.”

On the domestic front, the news is in much better. Gas prices are up in with the instability in the Middle East one can expect in gas prices to continue to climb for the foreseeable near future. Wilson and Plame are suing the Vice President and other White House officials.  Robert Novak who went underground for months after walking off a CNN set is suddenly back.  He was on 7 different programs on Wednesday.  Seven.  He announced that he was going to reveal his main source.  His lips flapped but the main source was not revealed.  Billions of dollars were cut last week from the federal student loan programs in order to balance the budget which is no where near being balanced.  We found out that our deficit for 2006 is only going to be $296 Billion this year.  That’s the 4th largest deficit in history.  All of the top 5 largest deficits have occurred on President Bush’s watch.  The Bin Laden unit has been dismantled.  So….

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is getting very ugly out there.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Budget, Domestic Issues, Mess O'Potamia (Iraq/Iran/Israel/Palestine), North Korea by ecthompson
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