While other neocons are pulling back a bit from there thesis’ and their support for the war on Iran, one is just starting up.

Joshua Muravchik, a former socialist but now working at the American Enterprise Institute, has mind boggling OpEds in two major publications today.

In the Washington Post he asks: Can the Neocons Get Their Groove Back? Proving that he never lost his groove he is demanding Bomb Iran on the pages of the LA Times.

Cont. reading: Pay the Price?

Frank Rich is damning the paper we is writing for:

ELECTIONS may come and go, but Washington remains incorrigible. Not even voters delivering a clear message can topple the town’s conventional wisdom once it has been set in the stone of punditry.

Right now the capital is entranced by a fictional story line about the Democrats. As this narrative goes, the party’s sweep of Congress was more or less an accident. .. And now the party is deeply divided as its old liberals and new conservatives converge on Capitol Hill to slug it out.
It’s Not the Democrats Who Are Divided (liberated version), (emphasis added)
NYT OpEd, Nov. 19, 2006

Rich is right here of course – the "split" that is seen within the Democrats is pure fictional. There are discussions in any party. Racist lover Trend Lott was voted to House minority leader with just one vote lead. It is obvious that the Republicans are the ones who are more divided.

But facts do not keep Rich’s colleagues away from writing just the fake stories he is damning – on the same day, in the same publication, on the front page.

Democrats Split on How Far to Go With Ethics Law

After railing for months against Congressional corruption under Republican rule, Democrats on Capitol Hill are divided on how far their proposed ethics overhaul should go.
[…]
Some Democrats say their election is a mandate for more sweeping changes, and many newly elected candidates — citing scandals involving several Republican lawmakers last year — made Congressional ethics a major issue during the campaign.

Bigot punditry all over – of course there is discussion. But the same discussion is happening within the GOP. But the "liberal" NYT will not touch on that party.

Rich should think about changing the publication … they may fire him soon anyway.

For the record: I do agree with the U.S. Secreatry of State on this:

"The Iraqis, if they do make good decisions, like Vietnam has made good decisions, if they will take tough decisions," and the world supports them, "they can and will have a better chance," Rice said.
Rice: Iraqis Must Face Up to Differences

Cont. reading: Agreeing With Condi

Mark P. Denbeaux, a counsel to two of the Guantanamo detainees and Seton Hall University law professor has released a second short report (pdf) about the military justice system used in Guantanamo Bay.

The first report (pdf) found that detainees are held based on accusations of being a "Fighter for …" (8%), a "Member of …" (30%) or "Associated with …" (60%) various "terrorist organizations".  (It also found that only 5% of these detainees were captured by U.S. forces. 86% of the detainees were caught by either Pakistan or the Northern Alliance and turned over to the U.S. at a time when the U.S. offered large bounties.)

The second report looks into the definition of "terrorist organisation" as used by the military to determine the "fighter / member / associate" status.

Cont. reading: Terrorist Lists

News & views …

A government that keeps some of its constituents hungry does not look good. Solution? Change the wording:

U.S. Department of Agriculture:
"Household Food Security in the United States, 2004 2005:"
(Both links PDFs)

About a third of food-insecure households (4.4 million, or 3.9 percent of all U.S. households) were food insecure
to the extent that one or more household members were hungry, at least some time during the
year, because they could not afford enough food had very low food security.

Cont. reading: BB Declares Victory Over Hunger

From: JB
To: WritersTeam
Subj: Commission Draft

All,

we have decided a seven point outline for the new "save-George" product. Please have a draft text ready along the outline by Friday noon – Dick and Henry will revise over the weekend.

Thanks

James

Outline:

Cont. reading: Email from JB

Billmon:

If Jim Webb and I are now on the roughly same side on the big issues of the day — the war, globalization, corporate power, economic fairness, social justice — it tells you something has fundamentally changed in American politics. It may not be a realignment (a political system this polluted and decrepit may not be capable of such a thing) but when Senators from Virginia start talking like Walter Reuther, it sure the hell isn’t business as usual.

Comrade Webb

Billmon:

Guardian Angel

Reader citizen k has pointed to  a remarkable op-ed by Senator elect Jim Webb in the Wall Street Journal: Class Struggle.

Starting with a description of the widening gap between rich and poor Webb writes:

Trickle-down economics didn’t happen. Despite the vaunted all-time highs of the stock market, wages and salaries are at all-time lows as a percentage of the national wealth.
[…]

Cont. reading: “Class Struggle”

Con Coughlin of The Daily Telegraph writes today: Iran ‘is training the next al-Qa’eda leaders’

Iran is seeking to take control of Osama bin Laden’s al-Qa’eda terror network by encouraging it to promote officials known to be friendly to Teheran, The Daily Telegraph can reveal.

Cont. reading: Ides of March

The last time I visited the U.S. was in fall 2000. A friend in Santa Barbara had invited me to his wedding. Before I have visited the U.S. some 25 times and have been to about 20 states on business and private trips.

But since the U.S. attack on Afghanistan, I instituted a private little boycott and vacated elsewhere. Some American friends thought it was a stupid thing for me to do and laughed at me. Eventually they came to Europe to see me.

I recently was invited again, I declined to come and yesterday I sent this link.

Cont. reading: “The terrs have won”

"We in the Middle East have followed the American policy in Iraq for a long time, and we are very much impressed and encouraged by the stability which the great operation of America in Iraq brought to the Middle East. We pray and hope that this policy will be fully successful so that this stability which was created for all the moderate countries in the Middle East will continue."

President Bush Welcomes Prime Minister Olmert of Israel to the White House, November 13, 2006

News & views …

Billmon:

Come to Daddy

What will the situation in Iraq be two years from now?

Except for some marginal changes, some more troops there and some less there, the situation will just be the same than it is now.

Lang and Lagauche also see this picture.

The Iraq Study Group is just a big sham to produce a new plan that will just be the old plan in new cloth. The Democrats are for staying in Iraq just as much as the Republicans and the decider has decided and will not change that.

Unless there is some cathalytic event – another 9/11 in the US, an attack on Iran, or an attack by the Iraqi resistance with mass US casualties, there is nobody important who will really press for change.

Billmon:

The Loser

News & views …

Billmon:

I feel like I stepped into a political time warp and came out in 1989.

Flashback

Billmon:

By the time congressional subpoenas start being served on the top guys themselves, it will be much harder to spin the ensuing court battles over executive privilege as matters of principle.

The Toe Sucker Gets It