A few hours before President Obama’s Oval Office speech on Iraq, Brian Katulis and Larry Korb of the Center for American Progress are out with an interesting take on what’s happened in that country since George W. Bush’s much-debated 2007 troop surge. They argue, as others often do, that it wasn’t a relatively minor boost in American …
Tim Pawlenty Sure Looks Like a Presidential Candidate
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty hasn’t announced he’s running for president, but his recent actions regarding health care reform certainly seem to suggest he is.
Today, the governor signed an executive order prohibiting state offices from applying for voluntary federal grant programs created by the Affordable Care Act – unless they …
Glenn Beck, Heretic?
With all due respect to my colleagues, this focus on religion and God isn’t anything new from Glenn Beck. His most recent foray has been a sustained attack this year on churches that preach “social justice,” arguing just a month ago that “Social justice isn’t in the Bible.” Beck had to alter his message slightly for this weekend’s event, …
Going Home
The smart people in the Time.com video department have put together a piece on what some soldiers in the Virginia National Guard’s 1st Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment have to say about leaving Iraq. (President Obama will give a speech from the Oval Office tonight to mark the end of combat missions there.) The soldiers interviewed …
The Reverend Beck
Two slightly belated thoughts about Glenn Beck’s egopalooza on the Mall Saturday. One, it didn’t seem very interesting! I watched the opening of Beck’s show last night, and it seemed to me that he was straining to describe what actually happened. Beck spent about five minutes talking about how Sarah Palin prayed for 10 minutes …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Glenn Beck: Telecharlatan
Perhaps the only joy to be had from Glenn Beck’s typically noisy turn toward God is the discomfort it seems to be causing the assorted imams of right-wing Christianity in this country. Their presence has been a constant in American society, a consistently sordid one–from the Salem witch trials to Billy Sunday to the grinning, megacreepy …
Morning Must Reads: Oval
–President Obama will address the nation from the Oval Office tonight on the end of combat operations in Iraq. Crowley provides some good context of the challenges the speech presents. Marc Ambinder engages in some (informed) speculation on what he’ll say. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs makes it sound like it will be a pivot from Iraq …
Re: Christians Welcome
The Kumbaya that Joe hopes for below is unlikely from Bill Keller, the creator of this 9/11 Christian center campaign. Back in 2007, on a swing through Tampa, I stopped by Keller’s office, which was located in the back of a used car dealership. He struck me as a serious salesman for his version of Christianity, which offers little wiggle …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Christians Welcome
Freedom of religion means that these dudes have a right to set up shop near Ground Zero, too. My hope is that once they get here, and start to sample our insidious cosmopolitan mores–and, perhaps, actually get to meet some of their Muslim brothers and sisters–they will commence interfaith Kumbaya-singing festivals. I mean, life in the …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Respect for Politicking
This is a very good E.J. Dionne column, especially this point:
There was a revealing moment in early August when Obama told an audience at a Texas fundraiser: “We have spent the last 20 months governing. They spent the last 20 months politicking.” Referring to the impending elections, he added: “Well, we can politick for three months.
…
Could Palin Be President?
A new poll suggests not. Only one in four Americans consider her qualified to be commander in chief, with 60 percent sure that she is not qualified. Those are awful numbers and I’m one who thinks the prospects of a Palin presidency are, for the moment, quite unlikely.
But perception of Palin could still change. Consider some pre-’08 …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Road Trip!
It occurred to me that I’ve spent more time in Afghanistan during the past two years than out in America. And while the foreign part of my portfolio has been endlessly fascinating, it’s time to refurbish the domestic side. Therefore, I hereby announce: I’m hitting the road for the month of September in some sort of SUV (a hybrid, I …
Morning Must Reads: When It Rains, It Pours
Reuters/Jim Young
—Obama is going out on a limb by associating himself with the precarious direct Mideast peace talks, writes the L.A. Times.
–Bibi is reassuring fellow Likudniks that he’s made no promises on settlements.
–Martin Indyk knows hope.
–Coming soon to a Harry Reid attack ad near you: Sharron Angle opposed …