"I don't think the report is true, but these crises work for those who want to make fights between people." Kulam Dastagir, 28, a bird seller in Afghanistan
FT.com / World - US says troops could quit Baghdad soon
Topic: War on Terrorism
6:07 pm EDT, Sep 4, 2008
General David Petraeus, the top US commander in Iraq, said declining violence in Baghdad raised the possibility that American combat troops could leave the capital by next summer.
Asked in an interview with the Financial Times whether it was feasible that US combat forces could leave Baghdad by July, he said: “Conditions permitting, yeah.”
This struggle to embrace modernity without abandoning faith falls on one of the fault lines in the modern world. It is arguably the critical fault line, the tectonic rift that is advancing the bloody borders of Islam and the increasingly sectarian boundaries of American politics. As humankind abandons the secular totalitarianisms of the last century and grapples with breakneck technological and scientific discoveries, the appeal of absolutist faith is powerful in both developing and developed countries...
You cannot confront the complex challenges of domestic or foreign policy today unless you understand this gulf and its seriousness. You cannot lead the United States without having a foot in both the religious and secular camps.
I've been reading Andrew Sullivan's blog over the past few days because he has served as a hub for information and opinion critical of Palin. There have been a number of insightful things posted there but I've generally refrained from posting them here as I've made my views about her pretty clear.
I'm still not sure what I think about Obama. Sullivan supports him, and offered up this explanation, which, I think is worth reading in spite of its length. I think at times it reaches too far, particularly the alarm about Iraq, which is a problem that seems to have been constantly fading away since the strategic shift last year. But my alarm about Islamic extremeism certainly hasn't faded, and there are some interesting insights here that are more complicated than a list of issue stances.
The Daily Show has a segment with video clips of Dick Morris, Karl Rove, Bill O'Reilly, and others complaining about the media's unfair treatment of Sarah Palin, along with earlier video clips of these folks dishing out the same garbage about others...
The most important clip set is the first one, wherein Rove talks about qualifications and experience.
American Forces Attack Militants on Pakistani Soil - NYTimes.com
Topic: Miscellaneous
12:45 pm EDT, Sep 4, 2008
Helicopter-borne American Special Operations forces attacked Qaeda militants in a Pakistani village near the border with Afghanistan early Wednesday in the first publicly acknowledged case of United States forces conducting a ground raid on Pakistani soil, American officials said.
I've repeatedly argued on this blog that Palin is not qualified to be Vice President. I have not, however, mocked her accomplishments. In fact I've complemented her career several times. I can admire your achievements without thinking you prepared for the highest office in the land.
The Republican party, apparently, does not get this. Last night speakers repeatedly mocked "community organizers." Not Obama. Not his experience. They actually directly mocked "community organizers." I, personally, have nothing but respect for smart people who are willing to forgo a good salary in order to roll up their sleeves and help the poor.
You guys look like assholes.
Gary Pederson (8/19, Letters) made a couple of disparaging comments about Barack Obama's time as a community organizer, even suggesting that being an organizer isn't a significant accomplishment.
Our church has been working with Communities Creating Opportunity (CCO) here in Kansas City, and we've come to know the amazing community organizers who work for CCO. They are some of the most dedicated and hardest-working people I've ever met.
Community organizers help ordinary members of the community find the power to confront problems in their neighborhoods, their cities and states and even nationally. Community organizers often succeed where government leaders fail, because they harness the power of people.
I think that sounds like a great accomplishment for someone hoping to become president.
The Rev. Donna Simon Abiding Peace Lutheran Church North Kansas City
1. Her purpose is to highlight Obama's lack of executive experience and rekindle concerns about his association with a radical church. Once she has served this purpose some revelation or event beyond McCain's control will pull her from the race, allowing him to gracefully select a more qualified running mate.
2. The oil industry wants her out of Alaska because she has cleaned up some favored kinds of corruption there. They knew she'd jump at this chance. Either they'll win, and she is out of Alaska, or they'll loose because of her, ensuring enough bad coverage of her that she won't be re-elected in her home state.
3. Her purpose is to discredit and marginalize the evangelical wing of the Republican party, who will rally behind her and then be blamed when she drags down McCain's campaign.
(I don't believe any of these but I find them entertaining. The interesting thing about the first one is that there was clearly a baby revelation in the offing and the National Enquirer is claiming to have been involved in a premature delivery of it. The last one is the most far fetched. The idea of open bristling at the evangelicals within the Republican party is hard to imagine. Got any more?)
flynn23 wrote: Comparing her to Obama strictly on the level of experience and she wins.
To be perfectly clear, I am talking about comparisons of their overall qualifications for the Presidency. My point is that focusing on "number of years in an executive role" as you do is an oversimplification. I didn't really want lay out what is clearly documented elsewhere as it provides ample opportunity for partisans to continue to stick their fingers in their ears, but here goes:
Palin's background is: 1987 - BS Journalism - University of Idaho 1988 to 1992 - Television Sports Reporter 1992 to 1996 - City Council, Wasilla, Alaska 1996 - 2002 - Mayor, Wasilla 2003 - 2004 - Appointed to Alaska Oil Ethics Board 2006 - Present Governor of Alaska, the 48th smallest state in terms of population, whose largest metropolitan area is less than a quarter of the population of Nashville, Tennessee.
Obama's background is: 1983 - BA Political Science - Columbia University 1985 - 1988 - Director of a community non-profit 1988 - 1991 - JD Harvard, President of the Harvard Law Review 1992 - 2004 - Part time Professor, Constitutional Law, University of Chicago 1992 - 2002 - Lawyer - Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland 1992 - Served on the board of a large number of public interest organizations 1997 - 2004 - State legislature, Illinois (America's 5th most populous state, containing its 3rd most populous city.) 2005 - Present - United States Senator
If you were hiring a business manager, perhaps you might prefer Palin. Obama is a lawyer and like most lawyers has not had large organizations reporting to him. Palin clearly does have more time in an executive role. But thats not what we're doing here. Furthermore, just about any executive at a medium to large sized company anywhere in America would beat out Palin for executive experience. They are not all qualified to be President of the United States. The question is, what qualifies a person to be President.
Chiefly, the President of the United States is responsible for making policy decisions, which is not merely a matter of operational experience in an executive role, but a matter of understanding the long term implications of those decisions and the complicated legal and political context in which they will play out. This requires a deep understanding of our country and of world affairs.
There is absolutely nothing about Palin's background that qualifies her to grapple with the depth of these matters. If she is capable of doing so, nothing about her background indicates it or would prepare her for it. You cannot simply skip from being Mayor of a tiny town in Alaska to being President. The idea that you could hold up this person next to someone who, among other things, has taught constitutional law at one of the top law schools in the country for 12 years, and say their qualification for the Presidency is comparable...
Frankly I can't find words to express this more clearly than to say that I think thats fucking idiotic. In fact its exactly the kind of fucking idiotic thinking that partisans have been foisting on this country repeatedly over the past few years in their cynical power struggles. It is frustrating to me that so many people that I know who are otherwise reasonable and intelligent are willing to buy into something which is so transparently stupid, particularly given the gravity of whats at stake here.
Sure, I'd be more comfortable if Obama had spent time in an executive roll, thats a perfectly valid criticism of his record. But you cannot reasonably hold up Palin and say that her qualifications are comparable to Obama. That makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.
Research conducted by a team of North American scientist shows our solar system is special, contrary to the accepted theory that it is an average planetary system. Using computer simulations to follow the development of planets, it was shown that very specific conditions are needed for a proto-stellar disk to evolve into a solar system-like planetary system. The simulations show that in most cases either no planets are created, or planets are formed and then migrate towards the disk center and acquire highly elliptical orbits.
