Friday Talking Points [195] -- SOTU Review
[ Posted Friday, January 27th, 2012 – 17:27 UTC ]
Well, that was an eventful week in politics, wasn't it?
Archive of Articles in the "Afghanistan" Category
The State Of The Union
[ Posted Tuesday, January 24th, 2012 – 22:43 UTC ]
I haven't written one of these snap-judgment reactions to a speech in a while, so forgive me if this is a bit choppy and disorganized. As always, I am writing this before looking at other opinions of President Obama's just-completed State Of The Union speech. I feel this keeps my opinion unsullied by any sort of "groupthink" effect. Sometimes I read other speech reviews the next day and find I agree with them, sometimes not, but this way at least you know I'm not just regurgitating others' thoughts.
Friday Talking Points [193] -- Run It Up The Flagpole
[ Posted Friday, January 13th, 2012 – 16:50 UTC ]
Not a whole lot has been happening in Washington, due to Congress being out on one of their countless month-long vacations. Not a whole lot of Democrats have been in the news, either, since the Republican primary season is sucking all the oxygen out of the political arena right now.
War Is Over. What Next?
[ Posted Monday, December 19th, 2011 – 17:20 UTC ]
American troops are, finally, out of Iraq. The war is technically over. Our men and women in uniform will be home for the holidays. This is all good news, and is worth celebrating by a nation weary of decade-long wars.
My 2011 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 1]
[ Posted Friday, December 16th, 2011 – 18:36 UTC ]
As always, if you disagree with any (or all) of my picks, feel free to make your own in the comments. The categories are completely open to interpretation, and don't forget that there will be a "Part 2" column next week, so I can likely squeeze things I forgot in there.
Friday Talking Points [186] -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear
[ Posted Friday, October 21st, 2011 – 15:46 UTC ]
It has been a big week on the foreign policy front, with the death of Libya's dictator and President Obama's announcement today that all U.S. troops would be out of Iraq by the end of this year (leaving roughly 150 to guard the embassy). But before we get to all of that, I've got some domestic advice for the president's re-election team.
Friday Talking Points [182] -- Class Warfare? Hardly.
[ Posted Friday, September 23rd, 2011 – 16:12 UTC ]
A satellite is falling out of the sky, but it probably won't hit anybody. Probably. I personally got over this fear by listening to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "It Came Out Of The Sky" (which I heartily recommend, just on general principles).
Obama's Libya Strategy Proves His Critics Wrong
[ Posted Monday, August 22nd, 2011 – 17:05 UTC ]
Even with all those caveats, however, Obama deserves a victory lap at this point. At the heart of Obama's war plan for Libya was an enormous gamble that could have failed in any number of ways. It didn't. America successfully cleared the skies of Libya, and then "within days, not weeks" we bowed out of the lead role in the fight. The French, the British, and the rest of N.A.T.O. stepped up to the plate and performed admirably well. The American military continued in a support role -- exactly as Obama told us would happen -- and the outcome, at this point in time, has to be judged a clear success.
Obama Poll Watch -- June, 2011
[ Posted Wednesday, July 6th, 2011 – 13:21 UTC ]
As many were predicting, President Obama's bounce in approval polls due to the death of Osama Bin Laden did not last very long. While Obama started the month still strongly riding the wave of public approval from the Bin Laden raid, this had mostly dissipated by the second week in June, and Obama's poll numbers flattened out after that. The plateau he hit at this point is slightly higher than he had before the "OBL bump," but that's about the only consolation for Obama fans in the June numbers.
Afghanistan Withdrawal Polling
[ Posted Tuesday, June 28th, 2011 – 17:03 UTC ]
Some poll numbers are starting to come in on President Obama's announced withdrawal plans for American troops in Afghanistan. Overall, the polling shows public support is about as high as could be expected, given the fact that the opposition to Obama's plan is split between "pull more out faster" and "pull the troops out slower."