The elections of 2010 were an unqualified success for conservative candidates and the conservative brand. One year hence, and the mid-term euphoria has turned into plodding, pre-presidential election doldrums. Almost literally without doing anything different, President Obama has seen his approval rating climb into the light, and his chances against all Republican comers turn in his favor. This isn’t a prognostication, I’ll not go that far onto the political limb. The game however, as Sherlock might say, is afoot. But how?
Read the rest of this entry »Archive for the 'Foreign Affairs' Category
Af-Pak: To Leave, Or Not To Leave
In the aftermath of moderate success on the ground in Afghanistan, in the afterglow of Geronimo-E KIA, in the context of budget balancing that already includes ending heating oil subsidies here at home, what should be our next course of action?
Read the rest of this entry »The Question Of Israel
The question of Israel isn’t a simple one, even for Jews. Philip Roth, in his interesting historical fiction, The Plot Against America, expressed a sentiment I have heard in some quarters: “…the poor old man who…seemed unable to get it through his head that we’d already had a homeland for three generations. I pledged allegiance to the flag of our homeland every morning at school. I sang of its marvels with my classmates at assembly programs. I eagerly observed its national holidays…Our homeland was America.” But it isn’t that simple either; driven out of Palestine by the Romans 19 centuries ago, the idea and reality of a Jewish Israel is powerful. And it needs to be noted that synagogues are really just an acceptable, temporary, replacement for the Temple to an observant Jew.
Read the rest of this entry »Obama’s Foreign Policy
Call it, “Listen carefully and carry several sticks of varying sizes.” Pull the bulk of combat troops out of Iraq while ramping up the war in Afghanistan. Sanction the regimes in Iran and North Korea, but avoid direct military action. Communicate intentions regarding Tunisia and Egypt, but take direct action in Yemen and Lybia. If President Obama was a football team, he wouldn’t be a rigid, system-driven squad like Oklahoma’s teams were under Barry Switzer (successful as they were); he would be a flexible, gameplan to opponent group like the New England Patriots.
Read the rest of this entry »How Slippery This Slope?
Over the decades, both sides of every major policy debate in our democracy have used the time-honored phrase, “a slippery slope”. Whether the issue was abortion, guns, speech, or business regulations, the argument has been counted on by both the intellectual and the intellectually lazy.
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