ChrisWeigant.com » Foreign Policy

Friday Talking Points [195] -- SOTU Review

Chris Weigant — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:27:08 +0000

Well, that was an eventful week in politics, wasn't it?

Conservative Establishment Piles On Newt

Chris Weigant — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:54:55 +0000

Newt Gingrich may win the Florida Republican primary.

The State Of The Union

Chris Weigant — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 05:43:07 +0000

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.

Economic Optimism?

Chris Weigant — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:19:48 +0000

It's still early days to even know if the economy is truly about to enter a strong recovery or not. A few data points on a graph do not always a trend line make, to put it another way. But from what I have personally seen in previous recessions, there always seems to be a real "tipping point" where American businesses collectively decide that things are going to be better soon -- and then they start hiring people and fulfilling their own prophecy. This could indeed be such a turning point.

Governor O'Malley Is Right

Chris Weigant — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 00:50:55 +0000

O'Malley makes a good point. President Obama's re-election team should heed it.

Friday Talking Points [193] -- Run It Up The Flagpole

Chris Weigant — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 23:50:57 +0000

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.

Happy Birthday, Common Sense

Chris Weigant — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:09:15 +0000

Two hundred and thirty-six years ago this week, a pamphlet was published in Philadelphia. There is some disagreement among historians over the exact date (variously given as January 9th or 10th), and the pamphlet's title page itself only lists the year, 1776. Whatever the actual date, though, Thomas Paine's Common Sense hit the American consciousness like a bombshell -- one which would reverberate for years to come.

Friday Talking Points [192] -- Obama Picking His Fights

Chris Weigant — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 22:56:04 +0000

I have to say, while the Republicans have been having their three-ring primary circus, President Obama has been looking better and better. Both in comparison to the Republican field (of nightmares, so to speak), and also because Obama's been making progress on his own.

Obama Poll Watch -- December, 2011

Chris Weigant — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 23:07:32 +0000

President Obama had a pretty good month last month in the job approval polls, bettering his standing in both approval and disapproval by roughly three-fourths of percentage point. This may not sound like that big a deal, but it was the second straight month of solid gains for the president in both categories.

My 2011 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 2]

Chris Weigant — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 22:08:16 +0000

Her campaign so far has been the populist model for every other Democrat to mimic if they want to catch the wave of anger at Wall Street, and use it to their benefit. Without question, Elizabeth Warren is Destined For Political Stardom.

Obama Looking Stronger

Chris Weigant — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 23:58:23 +0000

President Obama is looking a lot stronger these days. Today, especially, the president emerges as the big winner in the showdown with John Boehner and the House Republicans. But Obama's been looking better and better all month, so Boehner caving should be seen as just the icing on the cake for Obama.

War Is Over. What Next?

Chris Weigant — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:20:37 +0000

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]

Chris Weigant — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 01:36:37 +0000

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 [191] -- The White Knight Is Talking Backwards...

Chris Weigant — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 00:01:10 +0000

You know, it strikes me that this week may be one politics-watchers look back on when proving the thesis: "Anything can happen in politics, and usually does." I can picture seeing some wise pundit a few years down the road making the historical reference: "Yeah, but remember when Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul were leading the polls in the Iowa caucuses? Anything can happen... just anything..."

Obama Poll Watch -- November, 2011

Chris Weigant — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 22:34:27 +0000

This month Obama poll watchers got some good news, and some bad news. This was capped off, at the end of the month, by the Washington punditocracy making an incredibly stupid comparison between polling for Barack Obama and Jimmy Carter -- which we will address at the end of the column (complete with a "guess the president" graph quiz, for your amusement).

Three-Dot Thursday

Chris Weigant — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 01:14:24 +0000

Collins is, I remind everyone, nominally a member of the Republican Party. She's right -- this could defuse a major talking point for Republicans, and do it in a very elegant way. As I said, Democrats should be beating a path to her office door, to quickly work this idea up into legislation that Democrats can support. It is one of the best ideas I've heard all year, and it deserves serious consideration not only because the idea itself is so workable, but also for the sheer politics of it all -- this could take away a big GOP talking point, right before election season begins. Democrats: take note! Please....

Friday Talking Points [187] -- GOP's 22-Week Work Year

Chris Weigant — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 23:13:09 +0000

We'd like to begin today with an issue that we regularly get incensed about here, mostly because it flies under the radar of just about everyone -- including the entire media universe. Because for once, Democrats are making the attempt to use the issue to make some political hay (even though, in this regard, they're admittedly almost as bad as the Republicans).

Occupy Crossroads

Chris Weigant — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:18:38 +0000

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement seems to be at a crossroads. The path it chooses to take next may be the deciding moment for whether it declines into irrelevance or grows beyond its current boundaries into something larger.

Republicans Disrespect Iraqi Democracy

Chris Weigant — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 00:28:55 +0000

While predictable, this reaction is absolutely ridiculous. Every single talking point the Republicans came up with on the subject shows their almost complete lack of understanding of the basic concepts of democracy -- both here at home, and abroad. Which is why these points need refuting, one by one.

Friday Talking Points [186] -- Foreign Policy Issues Reappear

Chris Weigant — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:46:39 +0000

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.

From The Archives -- Obama's Libya Strategy Proves His Critics Wrong

Chris Weigant — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 00:29:47 +0000

Too busy researching today to write, even though it is a momentous day in Libya. I'll be commenting on this in the near future, most likely, but for now this will have to do.

A Quick Separation-Of-Powers Historical Footnote

Chris Weigant — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:07:55 +0000

The issue of what, exactly, "three co-equal branches" means in American government -- and, more importantly, what happens when two of them disagree -- goes back a long way. Further than Franklin Roosevelt, further even than Abraham Lincoln. The first president to truly tangle with the Supreme Court was actually Andrew Jackson, who fought the court on two separate issues: Jackson's policy of "Indian removal," and the Second Bank of the United States. The first one is where Jackson responded (according to legend -- he may not have actually said this) to a court ruling against him: "John Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it!" By doing so, Jackson was stating his open defiance of a Supreme Court decision, and pointing out that the Executive Branch actually controlled the levers of federal power, and not the Judicial Branch.

The End Of The Iraq War Is In Sight

Chris Weigant — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:50:50 +0000

The end of the American military's involvement in Iraq is almost upon us. Someone in the White House recently leaked what should have been apparent to everyone all along -- that the Pentagon is preparing to withdraw all our remaining troops from Iraq, by the end of this year. Less than 200 will remain, to guard the embassy, but all our other brave men and women in uniform will be home to celebrate the dawning of a new year.

Friday Talking Points [183] -- What I'd Call "Class Warfare"

Chris Weigant — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 23:26:06 +0000

Last week (as with this week) the subject de semaine was "class warfare." The comment which inspired this week's mini-rants contained a simple, repetitive concept: "When [something outrageous pushed by Republicans happens], nobody calls it 'class warfare'. Maybe we should."

Friday Talking Points [182] -- Class Warfare? Hardly.

Chris Weigant — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 23:12:19 +0000

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).

Friday Talking Points [180] -- Give 'Em Hell, Barry!

Chris Weigant — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 00:02:02 +0000

President Barack Obama opened his re-election campaign last night with a wowzer of a speech to a joint session of Congress. But we'll get to that in detail in a minute. First, we must mark an important anniversary this week.

King's Eloquence Goes Far Beyond "I Have A Dream"

Chris Weigant — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 23:48:24 +0000

As we all know, we're not there yet. We're a little closer than we were when Dr. King was taken from us, but we've still got quite a ways to go yet. For inspiration on the journey which still awaits us all, I strongly urge all Americans to seek out Dr. King's actual words -- the words you're not used to hearing over and over again. Take ten or fifteen minutes and read the text of one of his speeches. Watch video, or listen to audio of Dr. King speaking. It will be well worth the time it takes.

Obama's Libya Strategy Proves His Critics Wrong

Chris Weigant — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 00:05:58 +0000

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.

Libyan Battle Map

Chris Weigant — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:32:53 +0000

The rebels are on the move in Libya.

Libyan Rebels Battle For Brega

Chris Weigant — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 22:43:26 +0000

A battle is currently being fought in Libya over the town of Brega, which could turn out to have strategic importance for the rebel forces. This battle has been underway for days now, and may continue for days to come. The American media has so far been ignoring this development in the Libyan revolution, perhaps due to lack of solid information from the frontlines. But it deserves a bit more attention than it has so far been getting.

Friday Talking Points [173] -- Obama 2.0?

Chris Weigant — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:50:53 +0000

Are we seeing the new model of Barack Obama's presidency? Is this (in the parlance of Silicon Valley) "Obama 2.0"?

Memory Lane: Footnotes From Yesterday's Article

Chris Weigant — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 23:46:48 +0000

Today, I'd like to excerpt some of those articles, as "footnotes" to yesterday's column. While copyright laws prevent me from just pasting whole articles in here, I am allowed fair usage excerpts, which is what you'll find below. The promise of the internet was supposed to be easy access to this sort of thing, but in recent years many media sites have locked off their archives behind paywalls, making it impossible to freely access this historical material.

Obama Poll Watch -- June, 2011

Chris Weigant — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:21:31 +0000

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.

From The Archives -- The Forgotten Battle Which Won The American Revolution

Chris Weigant — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 19:20:43 +0000

Which is why, this Independence Day, I will personally be lifting my glass in a toast to a French admiral, and the French sailors who served under him. Because without Admiral Compte de Grasse's efforts, we might not even have an Independence Day to be celebrating. The Battle of the Chesapeake deserves to be remembered. This military triumph deserves a bit of celebration. By all Americans. So, I hope you'll join me in honoring the good French admiral this Sunday. Lift a glass and give grateful thanks to his bravery and his heroic efforts on behalf of our own revolution -- whose successful end he made possible:

Afghanistan Withdrawal Polling

Chris Weigant — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 00:03:26 +0000

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."

Friday Talking Points [170] -- Newt Loses Two, Huntsman Gains An "H"

Chris Weigant — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 23:13:30 +0000

Well, it's certainly been an eventful couple of weeks, hasn't it?

We're back on our regular weekly schedule here after returning home from our second trip this month (this one to Netroots Nation), after which I can firmly conclude that flying, these days, sucks. Big time. Sigh.

Predicting Obama's Afghanistan Announcement

Chris Weigant — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 19:54:07 +0000

Later today, President Obama is going to address the nation on the subject of the Afghanistan war. Specifically, he's going to make good on a promise made a year-and-a-half ago: to begin the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan next month. The big question everyone's been speculating about in the run-up to this announcement has been how big a reduction the president will announce.

The 2012 Republican Presidential Field

Chris Weigant — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:32:01 +0000

The Republican presidential field for the 2012 presidential election will be on full display this evening, as CNN airs the second nationally-televised candidate debate, this one from the early-voting state of New Hampshire. Since the first debate was a little light on heavyweight candidates, this is the first chance a lot of Republican primary voters will have to assess the biggest names in the race.

Obama Poll Watch -- May, 2011

Chris Weigant — Fri, 27 May 2011 06:04:25 +0000

This month was the best month President Barack Obama has ever had in the polls, when measured as change over the previous month. If you count it one way (measured by absolute values) Obama's best month was technically the second month into his term -- when he was still enjoying his "honeymoon" period, and had 63.4 percent support from the public. But in terms of actually changing public opinion, May was indeed the best month Obama's had, by far.

A Son Of Erin

Chris Weigant — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:42:17 +0000

Barack Hussein Obama is not exactly the first name that springs to mind when the average person thinks of American politicians with Irish roots, to say the least. But Obama does indeed have Irish ancestry, and he certainly played this up in his recent visit to the Emerald Isle. Today, we are going to print the full text of Obama's address to an ecstatic Dublin crowd.

Friday Talking Points [168] -- Zombie Attack!

Chris Weigant — Fri, 20 May 2011 23:46:17 +0000

A word here about timing is necessary, I think. While the blog post is quite obviously meant as a semi-joke, wouldn't this have been more fun in, say, mid-October -- a few weeks before Hallowe'en? Instead of this week, with the "End of Days" prophesied for midafternoon this Saturday? I'm just saying....

The Full 2012 Republican Field

Chris Weigant — Thu, 12 May 2011 00:50:12 +0000

This has been an unusual year, in terms of presidential campaign politics, because (so far) it has run counter to the conventional wisdom. A standard column for any pundit to write every four years is the "Campaign Starting Even Sooner!" article, in which you decry the fact that the presidential race is beginning earlier and earlier each cycle. Not many of those articles have been written this time around.

Beginning The End Of America's Longest War

Chris Weigant — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:12:56 +0000

In roughly two months, President Barack Obama is going to announce the beginning of the end of America's longest war. He could not have known, when he initially set this summer for the beginning of the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, that the timing would work out so perfectly. With Osama Bin Laden now dead, it's going to be a lot easier to begin pulling out of Afghanistan. The only question left to ask is how fast this drawdown will be accomplished.

Friday Talking Points [166] -- Osama Bin Laden Is Still Dead

Chris Weigant — Fri, 06 May 2011 23:01:46 +0000

I don't care how ironic that sounds to some, it's true. Osama Bin Laden declared war on America, waged that war for years (and killed Americans in doing so), then hid for many more years, and was finally hunted down and killed like an animal. Mission accomplished.

Obama Poll Watch -- April, 2011

Chris Weigant — Wed, 04 May 2011 22:29:32 +0000

The death of Osama Bin Laden on the second day of this month has overshadowed Obama's poll numbers from last month already. Obama's poll numbers in May are going to be a lot more interesting (to put it mildly) than his poll numbers from April are going to be. I realize all of this, but I still (for completeness' sake) feel obligated to put out this monthly report of where Obama stood last month with the public.

Any Channel

Chris Weigant — Tue, 03 May 2011 00:00:11 +0000

"Turn on your television... to any channel."

Should America Assassinate?

Chris Weigant — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 00:27:31 +0000

Assassination, as a foreign policy option, is supposed to be completely forbidden to America. That's the theory, at least. But in our post-9/11 world, the once-unthinkable is now increasingly being seen as a viable option. The moral discussion of whether or not America should engage in assassination, though, hasn't even really begun in any noticeable way. Which is a shame, because the country as a whole should consider what its leaders are doing in this respect. Especially while we're bombing Tripoli, once again.

Trump Mania

Chris Weigant — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 23:57:15 +0000

Most intelligent political analysts' reaction (right, left, and center) to the news that Donald Trump may be considering a run for the presidency could be summed up as some version of: "You have got to be kidding me." Followed quickly by: "This is going to be so much fun!" But the real punchline to this joke of a candidacy was actually on the punditocracy, when Trump's poll numbers took off and soon put him either in the lead or very close to it for the Republican nomination. Republican voters, it seems, aren't following the punditocracy's lead on "The Donald."

Friday Talking Points [164] -- Skynet Attacks!

Chris Weigant — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 23:34:17 +0000

Again, this is not science fiction. It's a reality that already exists in the skies over at least two countries right now (and possibly more). Robots are killing humans. These robots are not acting on their own, they are fully controlled by human operators -- but the next generation of drone aircraft will not need a human to operate them (again, this is fact, not supposition). Robot artillery, robot tanks, and robot infantry cannot be all that far behind. War as the ultimate video game, in other words.

Reviewing America's Wars [Part 2]

Chris Weigant — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 07:37:27 +0000

President Obama is trying a new concept for America in Libya -- where we open a war, but then almost immediately bow out and turn it over to others to deal with. In Libya's case, this means N.A.T.O., led largely by Britain, France, and Italy. Libya is also another country with a few diplomatic fictions in place. We're not supposed to be on anyone's "side" in Libya, even though it is obvious we are aiding the rebel forces. We're not supposed to be explicitly for "regime change" (because the United Nations didn't approve it), even though we are quite obviously in favor of Ghaddafi leaving as soon as possible. And nobody's supposed to be "arming" the rebels, even though as time goes by it becomes obvious that they're getting their ammunition from somewhere (not to mention uniforms, communications equipment, and other "non-lethal" support).

Reviewing America's Wars [Part 1]

Chris Weigant — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:19:58 +0000

Since the mainstream media has, quite obviously, abdicated all responsibility for reporting the news in any sort of journalistic fashion, I thought today would be a good day to review the current status of America's wars. Depending on how you count, there are now three (or four) of these wars which have been all but forgotten by the media these days.

Friday Talking Points [162] -- Budget Standoff Continues

Chris Weigant — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 23:51:20 +0000

Sigh. What's depressing about the whole thing, to me at least, is how the entire knock-down-drag-out fight is merely the preliminary round. This whole government shutdown walk-to-the-brink-and-stare-into-the-abyss thing is nothing more than the warmup for the next budgetary battles -- which will be much bigger. The entire initial fight is about staking out ground for the next two fights -- raising the debt ceiling, and the 2012 budget. Nobody involved -- not the Tea Party Republicans, not President Obama, not John Boehner, not Harry Reid -- really cares all that much about how this particular round ends up. They're all stuck thinking: "If I give in now, they'll want more later" -- and they're all entirely correct.

Obama Poll Watch -- March, 2011

Chris Weigant — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 22:06:53 +0000

President Obama's poll numbers slipped back a bit in March, bringing an end to his recent "bump." This was Obama's first bad month in a while, ending the positive trends Obama had set for the past two months in approval rating, and for the past five months in disapproval rating. In March, Obama lost all the ground he had gained in February, but still finished the month up from where he started the year. In a statistical twist, Obama's approval and disapproval numbers for March, 2011 exactly matched his numbers for March, 2010.

Friday Talking Points [161] -- April Fools

Chris Weigant — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 23:47:58 +0000

To clarify that title: when you pull a prank on this particular day, you're supposed to reveal yourself as the prankster by yelling "April Fools!" (or even, as a purist might insist, "April Fools'!"). I am not doing so, hence the absence of the exclamation mark. Sadly, my task is today is not to prank anyone (I did that last year and promised I wouldn't do it again), but to catalogue the recent spate of foolishness from our national political arena. A sober list of the fools of April, rather than an excited "April Fools!" gotcha, in other words. Well, maybe not all that sober. You decide.

Obama's Libyan Gamble, Week Two

Chris Weigant — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 23:09:11 +0000

Events on the ground in Libya, roughly one week after coalition warplanes and cruise missiles began flying, seem to have taken a turn for the better for the rebel forces. Surprisingly, though, the American media and political establishment seems largely focused on any number of ways this war could turn out badly for America, for Libya, and for the world. As city after city falls to the rebel forces, perhaps this narrative will shift somewhat. President Obama is about to give a speech to the nation, which may help focus the media on what is actually going on in Libya, rather than speculating about what could happen. Or perhaps not -- Obama's speech may become "the story" itself, and be picked apart word by word for the next few days, no matter what the rebels are doing in Libya.

Friday Talking Points [160] -- "Name That War" Contest

Chris Weigant — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 00:27:43 +0000

Anyone who sits in the Oval Office -- no matter what their name or political party -- is going to have detractors. As they should, since disagreeing with political leaders is almost the national sport in America, and always has been (sorry, baseball, but political bickering has been around a lot longer). Sometimes criticism of the president is for very principled and deeply-held beliefs. Sometimes, it is just knee-jerk-ism of the first order.

The Chances Of Success In Libya

Chris Weigant — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:52:02 +0000

So, the big question is: what are the odds? What chance does each of these three scenarios -- win, lose, or stalemate -- have of actually becoming reality in a short stretch of time (one month, perhaps two at the outside)?

Obama's Libyan Gamble

Chris Weigant — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:02:52 +0000

Admiral Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the rounds of the Sunday morning political shows yesterday, to lay out the Obama administration's plan for this war. Very few people in the media listened to what he said. The war plan for Libya -- if everything goes perfectly -- can be summed up as: "Lead the initial attack with cruise missiles. Spend a few days bombing command-and-control infrastructure, and generally kicking butt as we see fit. Take out as many Libyan Air Force assets as possible. Then turn the entire thing over to 'the coalition' and step back into a support role. Let the French, the British, and the Arabs (and anyone else who wants to join in) supply the warplanes and pilots to patrol the no-fly zone from this point onward, while American pilots fly the electronic jamming planes and intelligence aircraft necessary to provide the fighters with an accurate picture of what's going on."

Friday Talking Points [159] -- Firing Up The Base

Chris Weigant — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 00:22:30 +0000

Here's a quick test for whether you are being fed speculation and fluff, or whether you are being told real information: Are there numbers involved? If so, then thank a scientist (and the editor or producer who allows such science on the air, I guess).

The No-Fly Zone Decision

Chris Weigant — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:11:27 +0000

The world's opinion-makers, in both government and media, seem to have settled on the idea that imposing a "no-fly zone" over Libya would be a good idea for all concerned. Not everyone has jumped on this bandwagon yet, but it seems to be the most popular option under discussion by those advocating "doing something" about the situation in Libya. But would a no-fly zone really change the dynamic all that much? Even if it had been imposed two weeks ago, would it have achieved any real goal? These are hard questions to answer, but anyone advocating a no-fly zone (especially one largely imposed by the U.S. military) really does need to at least consider them.

Friday Talking Points [157] -- Eight Point Nine

Chris Weigant — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 01:06:23 +0000

While technically true ("job growth" is not the same thing as the unemployment rate), but that last sentence could also have been written as: "the unemployment rate fell at the fastest rate in over fifty years -- since 1958, to be exact." Both are true, and yet they tell very different stories -- "a grim nine percent" versus "fell at the fastest rate in over fifty years."

Obama Poll Watch -- February, 2011

Chris Weigant — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 21:17:33 +0000

In January, President Obama had the biggest improvement in his public approval rating of his entire presidency. In February, Obama consolidated and built on his January "bump," by posting his second-most-improved month ever. This turnaround has set the clock back for Obama over a full year (in terms of his overall polling numbers), to roughly where he was in December, 2009. All in all, not a bad month for the president.

Obama Should Give Second Cairo Speech

Chris Weigant — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 00:58:24 +0000

Now, obviously, events have changed the situation on the ground dramatically since Obama gave this speech over a year and a half ago. In the last two months, two governments have fallen -- including Egypt's, where Obama gave his speech -- and many more are in danger of falling (to some degree or another). Libya is currently in the midst of what can only be termed a civil war, as a result of the wave of "people power" spreading throughout the region. Leaders even of countries that have not yet had mass demonstrations are scrambling to make political reforms happen as fast as they possibly can, in the hopes of keeping their populace happy enough that these leaders may remain in power.

Friday Talking Points [156] -- Fighting On Several Fronts

Chris Weigant — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 00:20:52 +0000

We've got so much to cover this week, we're going to have to move pretty quickly here. In international news, North Africa and the Middle East are still seething. The American news media, however, are (I actually heard this phrase being used by someone with a blowdried haircut the other night on television) experiencing "revolution fatigue." Seriously. They're bored with the whole storyline. Another dictator fell? Crowds of unarmed people being machine-gunned? Yawn. Don't we have an Oscars story we could run, instead?

Big Brother v. Little Brother

Chris Weigant — Thu, 24 Feb 2011 00:48:44 +0000

Everyone knows who "Big Brother" is, of course, because we all had to read George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four at some point in our schooling. Big Brother is the fictional benevolent figurehead in Orwell's "negative Utopia" masterpiece, whose beaming visage is a front for a totalitarian police state which spies relentlessly upon its own citizenry. Television sets, in this future world, are both unavoidable and two-way -- broadcasting images of what you are doing in your own home to the government watchers. To some extent, Orwell's dark fantasy has become everyday life in some places (it's almost impossible to avoid being publicly filmed now in cities like London, for instance). But there's been a balancing revolution in surveillance as well -- which is more and more apparent in the recent news. I'm going to call this effect "Little Brother" -- citizens watching, filming, and reporting on governmental activities to a rapt worldwide audience. And we've already seen how powerful a tool this can be in the Middle East.

My Class Warfare Rant

Chris Weigant — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 19:39:52 +0000

Before I even begin here, I'd like to address what my critics will respond with, when they hear what I have to say. They're going to call these ideas "class warfare." You know what? They're right. I am calling on the middle class and the working class and all the other classes that make up over 19 out of every 20 Americans to start fighting back. Note that, please -- fighting back. Because there has indeed been class warfare waged in America in recent decades, and our class is losing -- and losing badly. The wealthiest of the wealthy -- the modern-day robber barons among us -- have been successfully waging class warfare on the rest of us for so long now that I am sick of it and I think it's time the rest of us fought back, rather than meekly submitting to the whims of the moneyed class. So, before my critics even have a chance to respond, I will save them the trouble -- you are damn right that there is class warfare happening in America. By admitting this, I'm urging the people who have borne the brunt of the situation to wake up and begin to stand up for what is right.

Revolutionary Thoughts

Chris Weigant — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:33:06 +0000

The revolutionary tidal wave (or, if you prefer, the "Tunisami") sweeping the Middle East and North Africa spreads ever wider, as in country after country young protesters take to the streets in an attempt to change their countries' governments. But don't expect an outcome equal to the (mostly) peaceful overthrows in Tunis and Egypt in every single country now affected by this "people power" movement. There are major differences from country to country, both in terms of the form of government (and the military), and in terms of the likelihood of a victorious outcome for the protesters.

Friday Talking Points [154] -- Egypt Rising

Chris Weigant — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 00:37:23 +0000

The stunning news today of Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak stepping down has all but eclipsed the other political news of the week. Who would have thought, a month ago, that a government that had oppressed its own people for over three decades would fall simply because a bunch of people marched in the streets and refused to give up?

Politics Ends At The Water's Edge

Chris Weigant — Sat, 05 Feb 2011 00:44:38 +0000

This doesn't mean blind obedience or unquestioned following of any leader. But it does mean "don't bump his elbow" deference to our elected leader when the country needs to speak with one voice.

He Is Us

Chris Weigant — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:49:48 +0000

Egypt, it seems, is failing to follow a convenient storyline for the American journalists to follow.

Obama Poll Watch -- January, 2011

Chris Weigant — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 05:48:41 +0000

Obama poll-watchers have been waiting to see a "bump" upward in public opinion job approval ratings pretty much ever since he took office. In two years, there really hasn't been one. Until now.

Tunisami!

Chris Weigant — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:35:37 +0000

One wonders, in the future, what is going to happen when all the familiar colors have been used up by other countries. Will they begin a two-tone scheme (the Blue-Yellow Revolution), or go with ever-increasingly obscure colors (the Teal Revolution, the Fuchsia Revolution, the Ecru Revolution)?

Democracy's Drawback

Chris Weigant — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 23:15:13 +0000

America is a strong supporter of democracy worldwide. Except, of course, when we aren't. That piece of doublethink has been at the center of American foreign policy pretty much since World War II, and it is the heart of the conundrum we now find ourselves in regards to what is happening in Egypt and other countries in North Africa and the Middle East. Because we're conceptually all in favor of democracy -- right up until the "wrong" person or group wins an election. According to our definition of "wrong," of course. This is the key drawback to democracy (and American support of democracy in the rest of the world) -- sometimes the "wrong" people win.

Friday Talking Points [153] -- SOTU-palooza

Chris Weigant — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 19:38:16 +0000

But for now, let's take a quick look back at the week that was, and then spend the rest of the column examining the "narrative" of Obama's speech.

A Spacey Three-Dot Thursday

Chris Weigant — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 01:49:00 +0000

OK, it's going to a be a quick and disjointed column today, because I have to get tomorrow's Friday column done early tonight. So we return to the "three-dot column" format pioneered by the intrepid Herb Caen of San Francisco newspaper fame (who also famously coined the term "beatnik," by the way...). Today, we've got two Sputnik footnotes, a Sarah Palin chuckle, and a quick note on Obama's "ask the president a question on YouTube" session. Without further ado...

Obama's New Ideas

Chris Weigant — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:57:54 +0000

The day after President Obama's big yearly speech to Congress and the American people, most pundits and talking-head types in the media are vying to outdo each other on stating "what it all means" or similar high-flown overanalysis. What many of them seem to have missed, however, is the fact that Obama used his speech to introduce a few topics into the political debate. Some of these topics have been around for a while, championed by various people and groups, but what seems newsworthy to me is the fact that Obama included them in his list of proposals for the future.

A Different Kind Of Speech

Chris Weigant — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 05:02:43 +0000

I'd have to sum up my immediate reaction to tonight's State Of The Union speech with the old Monty Python line: ".... and now, for something completely different ..."

"State Of The Union" Predictions

Chris Weigant — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:01:52 +0000

Well, it's that time of year again. The time of year when pundits across the land helpfully (oh, so helpfully) offer the president advice on what he should say in his "State Of The Union" speech tomorrow. While I've engaged in this sort of thing before, this year I'd like to make predictions of what President Obama will say tomorrow night (as opposed to what I would like him to say). Which means I'm not endorsing any of this personally, merely attempting to predict what will be in tomorrow night's speech in advance.

So Long, Joe

Chris Weigant — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 02:36:33 +0000

Senator Joe Lieberman will announce tomorrow (from all reports) that he will not be seeking another term in the Senate. Democrats across the land are collectively heaving a large sigh of relief at the news. "So long, Joe," seems to be the prevailing sentiment, although if you listen closely you can hear the muttered "... don't let the door hit you on the way out," or other less-than-endearing sentiments.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Vietnam Speech

Chris Weigant — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 01:02:34 +0000

Perhaps the more tragic recognition of reality took place when it became clear to me that the war was doing far more than devastating the hopes of the poor at home. It was sending their sons and their brothers and their husbands to fight and to die in extraordinarily high proportions relative to the rest of the population. We were taking the young black men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in Southwest Georgia and East Harlem. So we have been repeatedly faced with the cruel irony of watching Negro and white boys on TV screens as they kill and die together for a nation that has been unable to seat them together in the same schools. So we watch them in brutal solidarity burning the huts of a poor village, but we realize that they would never live on the same block in Detroit. I could not be silent in the face of such cruel manipulation of the poor.

Friday Talking Points [150] -- A Fortean Week

Chris Weigant — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 01:18:52 +0000

Sometimes it is hard to come up with a metaphor to describe the week that was. This was not one of those weeks.

Obama Poll Watch -- December, 2010

Chris Weigant — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 11:58:38 +0000

President Barack Obama had a mildly good month in the polls during December. Not a fantastic month, mind you; maybe not even a great month... but a mildly good month, nonetheless.

From The Archives -- Obama's Iraq Withdrawal Timeline

Chris Weigant — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:28:39 +0000

[Note: This time, next year, the big political news story will be the Republican primary campaign for who will take on President Obama in 2012. The first primaries and caucuses will be right around the corner (although, hopefully, they'll be in February, 2012 -- a modest improvement on how early the primary calendar has [...]

My 2010 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 2]

Chris Weigant — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 02:34:02 +0000

Welcome back to our annual year-end awards column!

111th Congress Ends With Bang, Not Whimper

Chris Weigant — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 01:08:08 +0000

President Barack Obama gave an afternoon press conference today, and he sounded a lot more confident than he has sounded for quite a while. The reason for this is that the 111th Congress is ending with a bang, and not the expected whimper. After the Democrats' "shellacking" (to use Obama's preferred term) in the midterm elections, few inside-the-Beltway prognosticators figured much of anything would get done in the lame duck session of Congress before the newly-elected Congress is seated in January. As it turned out, this conventional wisdom was wrong. The lame duck Congress produced more weighty legislation than most lame ducks manage -- a fitting end to two years with more significant legislative victories than any Congress since Lyndon B. Johnson (or even Franklin D. Roosevelt, depending on how you score these things). Which is why President Obama had good reason to sound as confident as he did today.

My 2010 "McLaughlin Awards" [Part 1]

Chris Weigant — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 00:45:59 +0000

My apologies to anyone tuning in who was expecting to see the 150th "Friday Talking Points" column, since it will be pre-empted for two weeks here. But the good news is we're doing so to bring you our annual "McLaughlin Awards," which are even more fun!

Friday Talking Points [149] -- Making Holiday Sausage

Chris Weigant — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 00:46:46 +0000

The holidays are just around the corner, and the preparatory legislative sausage-making on Capitol Hill is in full swing. What a happy, happy time of year!

Obama's New Theme: A Sputnik Moment

Chris Weigant — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:56:19 +0000

President Obama gave a speech today in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Billed as a speech on the economy, it may provide an early forecast of what is likely to be the overarching theme of Obama's State Of The Union speech next month. While this speech has not gotten a whole lot of attention so far, one phrase of it is garnering some mild interest: the idea that America is experiencing a "Sputnik moment." What remains to be seen is whether this talking point is going to catch on and become an actual Democratic narrative next year. It certainly is worth mentioning, due to the almost complete lack of any Democratic narrative these days. Whether it inspires the public's imagination, though, is an even tougher row to hoe.

Friday Talking Points [148] -- Aliens Landing?

Chris Weigant — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 00:42:51 +0000

So the good news this week was apparently that giant mutant space monsters are not, in fact, about to arrive and (assumably) enslave humankind and eat our children for snacks.

Obama's Busy Week Ahead

Chris Weigant — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 00:52:54 +0000

President Barack Obama has a busy week scheduled, as Congress begins the lame duck session. Everyone in Washington has a few busy weeks ahead, until the 111th Congress wraps up business and heads off into the sunset, but President Obama will be at the center of this whirlwind. So it's worth taking a look at how the week is going to play out. To put it in football-watching terms, we're just returning from the "two-minute warning" commercial break, in the fourth quarter. And anything could happen.

Friday Talking Points [147] -- Democrats Fighting The Good Fight

Chris Weigant — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:24:24 +0000

Well, I don't know about anyone else, but I thought that was a pretty good week for Democrats.

Signs Of Life From Obama And The Lame Duck

Chris Weigant — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:00:04 +0000

Democrats seem to be eager to fight a few battles before the sun sets on the 111th Congress. Strong statements have come from the most unlikely people. Votes are being scheduled on some very contentious issues. This push seems coordinated between the White House, the Senate, the House, and even the Pentagon. Meaning that the lame duck session might be a lot more productive than generally assumed, in the end.

Rare Earth Optimism

Chris Weigant — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 01:53:19 +0000

The town of Mountain Pass, California, is about as close to a ghost town as you can get without actually being empty. The town lies fifteen miles in from the Nevada border, on the interstate highway route from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. It is a mining boom town that went bust -- and not back in the Wild West days, but very recently. But it's not just any mining town out in the desert, it's a very special one.

Obama's Next Steps

Chris Weigant — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:28:52 +0000

President Obama conveniently scheduled a trip to Asia immediately after this year's midterm elections. This has worked, so far, as designed -- it removed Obama from the political scene in Washington, while serious jockeying for position takes place among both major American political parties (leadership elections will be one of the first things the lame duck Congress will do when it reconvenes next week). This also has allowed Obama a pause to consider exactly what his next political steps are going to be, now that he faces two years of a politically-divided Congress (with Republicans in charge of the House, and Democrats still nominally in charge of the Senate).

Missile Launch West Of Los Angeles?

Chris Weigant — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 01:49:48 +0000

A missile apparently launched out of the ocean 35 miles west of Los Angeles last night, and the Pentagon has no idea what or whose it was. Now, I realize that we've all gotten a bit blasé over such things since the end of the Cold War, but this should really be front-page news, don't you think? If anyone either in the military or outside of it (a private American contractor who builds missiles, for example) got permission for such a launch, the Pentagon really should know something about it -- which they appear not to. Because if this was merely a matter of missed communications, that's one thing -- but any other plausible reason would be truly alarming. And the lack of knowledge at the Pentagon is disturbing, to say the least, when we're talking missiles being launched that close to one of America's biggest cities.

The Lame Duck Window

Chris Weigant — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 00:26:43 +0000

Democrats in the 111th Congress may be down, but they are not quite out yet. Due to the quirky nature of our political calendar, the "old" Congress will reconvene in a week or so, and stay in session through December, and then the "new" or incoming Congress will be convened for the first time in January. What, if anything, this "lame duck session" will accomplish is an open question. They certainly won't have any shortage of issues to tackle, and this may well be the last chance Democrats get at moving their agenda forward for the next two years. Whether they will take this window of opportunity to do so or not remains to be seen, though.

Terrifying Hallowe'en Nightmares, Left And Right

Chris Weigant — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 23:17:29 +0000

It's that time of year again... the time when we pre-empt our usual Friday Talking Points column here and instead gather 'round the virtual campfire and shove a metaphorical flashlight under our chin, and proceed to tell two tales of horror guaranteed to make your blood run like ice water in the veins, no matter which side of the political divide you hail from.

California Marijuana Proposition Update

Chris Weigant — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 23:56:10 +0000

I have to admit that I still have no answer to the question last week's article asked in its title. At this point, nothing more than sheer speculation can answer how President Obama and the White House would react to Proposition 19 passing.

Obama Poll Watch -- September, 2010

Chris Weigant — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 20:34:02 +0000

President Obama got a bit of a bounce in his monthly poll average in September, but the news is of a decidedly mixed variety. There is good news and bad in the numbers from last month for Obama, and it's looking like there won't be much of a pre-election change in his numbers which could help congressional Democrats out on the midterm campaign trail.

Friday Talking Points [139] -- Three Years Of FTP

Chris Weigant — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 23:42:28 +0000

First, though, we simply must wish ourselves a happy third anniversary. Woo hoo! Three years of FTP columns!