President-elect Barack Obama said Friday that “Iran’s development of a nuclear weapon, I believe is unacceptable. . . Iran’s support of terrorist organizations, I think is something that has to cease.” What I cannot understand is why American politicians who speak publicly on this issue do not at least acknowledge that to the best information […]
Archives for November 2008
Rather on the Broken US News Industry
Dan Rather blames the decline of television news in the US on media consolidation and the corporate bottom line. Rather prescribes greater courage on the part of journalists, but that seems to me not to address his premise. If media consolidation is the problem then Anti-Trust actions would make more sense as a response. His […]
Can Obama Get out of Iraq in 16 Months? Bombings Shake Baghdad
The daily bombings in Baghdad that appear to signal a resurgence of the guerrilla movement continued on Thursday, with three bombings in the capital killing 5 persons and wounding dozens. Time asks whether President Obama will stick to his 16-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The article quotes. Gen.Ray Odierno and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar […]
Monsters on Television
Paul Krugman, among my favorite political commentators, has spoken forthrightly of how during the past few years we have had “monsters” in office, naming Tom Delay, Karl Rove and Dick Cheney. He complains that until recently, if an observer simply called them what they are, he or she was termed “shrill.” (h/t Daily Kos). I […]
Karzai: President Obama, Stop this Bombing
Afghan President Hamid Karzai called on president-elect Barack Obama to reverse the increasing US and NATO dependence on air strikes to combat anti-government guerrillas. The call came in the wake of reports that a US bombing raid intended to disrupt Taliban supply lines to the southern city of Qandahar had accidentally killed 40 civilians and […]
Pakistan on Obama: Hope and Trepidation
Pakistan’s president, Asaf Ali Zardari, and its prime minister Sayyid Raza Yusuf Gilani, gave a warm welcome to Barack Obama as US president. They recently maneuvered military dictator Pervez Musharraf out of office, despite support for him from the Bush White House and much of the Republican Party Establishment, including John McCain. Obama has differed […]
Celebrating in Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ann Arborites celebrated Obama’s victory into the wee hours on Nov. 4-5.
Natalie Portman on Wars
Padme Amidala makes a statement.
The Ordinariness of Revolution
Nabil Al-Tikriti writes in a guest op-ed for IC: All day they came. And came. On this overcast Tuesday wave after wave of “real Americans” quietly queued up in determination to rattle the cage of the old order. The first woman in line had proudly planted her folding stadium chair in a light drizzle at […]