In Memory of Jack Layton

Jack Layton, 1950-2011.

Jack Layton was only a man.  That is clear.  But he was a very rare sort of man, and a very rare sort of politician.  He was sincere in a way that few in his profession ever are.  He was optimistic and forward-looking.  He was a man who garnered the respect of his political opponents in a way that would be nearly unfathomable in America.  (Indeed, it was nearly unfathomable in Canada.)

But sadly, he was indeed only a man.  Mortal.  His death on Monday may not have been a shock in light of his long-running battle with cancer, but it was depressing nonetheless.  And now we are left to reflect on what is missing from the world as a result.

Daddy Issues: The Reality of China’s Challenge to the United States

Michele Bachmann needs to learn a lot of things. First off, among those members of the Republican Party who can read books, her approval rating hovers tenuously between Rick Perry and genital warts. Slightly less immediately, she needs to know that puns are the absolute lowest form of humor… on Earth. And making any sort of puns relating to President Hu Jintao’s name is an exquisite means of saying “I am not, and will never be, by any definition of the words, an intentionally funny person.” I didn’t think anything could make Michele Bachmann’s already groan-inducing remarks at CPAC all the more objectively more painful when she was able to stop talking about lightbulbs long enough to touch on the subject of China, and how they hold a “vast amount” of American debt. Bachmann insisted that, “Hu is your Daddy.”

Koreablog

From the most recent fizzled flashpoint in November 2010.

It is once again the most wonderful time of the year:

The US and South Korea have begun a joint military drill to improve combat readiness on the Korean peninsula.  The annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise brings together 530,000 forces in Korea and abroad, using computer programmes to simulate war situations.  North Korea has reacted furiously to the exercises, which run for 10 days.

For the uninitiated, this happens every year in August or September and has for decades, although the name of the exercise has changed.  Every year, South Korea and the United States perform large-scale exercises.  Every year, North Korea responds like a seven-year-old would.  Is this year any different, or is there something else here?

Why Perry Is Dangerous (And Also a Nut)

The rare Texan Loon (R-TX) in his natural habitat.

There has been a lot of concern about Rick Perry as of late.  Most of this centers around the prayer rally he hosted just prior to announcing his candidacy.  There was commentary on this from all the places you'd expect.  There was also some from places you might not, too. 

Perry's religious views and religious grandstanding, though, are less of a big deal than other things.  What is a big deal is his idea of how government works, and how America should be run.  To put it simply: Gov. Perry might believe in a thing called "The United States of America".  But it seems evident that he doesn't believe in a United States of America.  It is a key distinction, and one with major consequences.

Insurgencyblog

The remains of a police station struck by the FARC in Colombia.

I know we've been quiet for a few days here at the Mob, but sometimes we find that there's nothing much new to say about anything; either there's no real new news, or everyone else has already said what we would want to say.  It can happen to anyone.  And sometimes what you need when that happens is to just dig a little.

So in the process of that digging, I turned up this.  It seems like the FARC in Colombia is starting to be a big problem again.  And that opens things up for some discussion of why insurgent/terrorist/militia groups are able to remain in existence for so long in some places, and how nations often fail to combat them well.

Standard & Very, Very Poor

Over the weekend, and into today, there has been much sound and fury about Standard and Poor's downgrade of the United States' credit rating to AA.  Unfortunately for S&P (or fortunately for the rest of us), it turns out that it is signifying nothing.  It is now left to the rest of us to wonder: what is happening here, what does it mean for us, and what does it mean for S&P?

Things Fall Apart

We've covered the protests and crackdown in Syria before, of course.  But things are quickly escalating well past where they were last week.  Things have gotten worse in a hurry, it seems.  So it's recap time.

Where Do We Go From Here?

The title asks a question, so here is a picture of The Question.

The last few weeks have, with good reason, worried liberals and others.  Once again, we have seen the only political party that even attempts to speak for any of our concerns fail horribly.  The debt ceiling debate was an inherently winnable policy fight on a number of different grounds.  While the ultimate deal (as we noted in its aftermath) is better than we could expect considering how badly the Democratic leadership failed, it still amounts to a loss in terms of the debate.  It legitimizes Republican bad economics.  It legitimizes "austerity".  None of this is particularly good.

Given all that, it's worth taking a moment to figure out how the Democratic Party can recover strategically from this sort of a failure.  It's a good question.  Fortunately, there are answers.

Our Long National Nightmare Is Finally Over

It appears to be the beginning of the end for this round of debt ceiling talks.  The House has now passed a plan, and the Senate should shortly do the same.  This bill will presumably be signed by President Obama as well.  Finally, we can stop dealing with this stupid, stupid manufactured crisis and move on to other things.  So the real question is: what's in this (hopefully final) deal, and what does it mean?  It seems to me that while this deal is bad, it's...somewhat less bad than it could or should have been.

I Have To Talk About the Debt Ceiling Again, Don't I

And yet, unfortunately, this is more than likely not even close to the end:

House Republicans on Friday narrowly approved legislation authorizing a limited increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit in exchange for more than $900 billion in spending cuts.  The 218-210 vote occurred nearly a full day after it was originally scheduled as Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) agreed to revise the legislation to win enough conservative support to carry the House.

I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire: Part 1

It is not uncommon to hear Americans complain about the United Nations (UN) and the participation of the U.S within it. These critics, very often, simply don’t get it.  They don’t understand the reasons why the UN was created and what the goals of the institution are, and it is vital to understand those reasons in order to understand the United Nations.  

Meanwhile...

Is anyone paying attention to Syria anymore?  I mean, I know that the debtpocalypse is approaching, and Libya is much more high-profile, but is anyone paying attention to Syria?

Because you should.

Why I Talk About Politics All The Time

It is no secret to those who know me personally that I am a political junkie. When people see me, they will literally walk to other direction in fear that If they don’t, I will start talking to them about the debt ceiling or corporate influence on campaign finance or some other infernal thing that I‘d recently made me “cause of the week”. (Im that guy). This is not something that I am embarrassed or ashamed about. It may not be normal. It may not even be healthy. But there are so many complex issues facing our nation (and our planet) that it is literally impossible for me not to spend most of my waking hours thinking about them or studying them. As a matter of fact, I am completely baffled that most people do not spend as much time worrying about, studying and thinking about these problems too.

Oslo

Here's a story I can't be sarcastic about:

A massive bomb blast has hit government buildings in the Norwegian capital Oslo, killing at least seven people and injuring several others.

Is This What Accountability Looks Like?

The recent cluster of testimony by the Murdochs in front of Parliament is, well...very funny.  Both weird funny and ha-ha funny, I guess:

Rupert Murdoch has said he cannot be held responsible for the scandal at the News of the World, saying he was let down by "people I trusted".

Master Opinion Blaster Episode II: Attack of the Drones

            Ladies and gentleman, welcome to part two of “Master Opinion Blaster,” the Liberal Mob chronicle of News Corp. Last week, we took a look at what exactly news is, and how News Corp’s and Fox News’ names are based entirely on deception. I laid out exactly how Fox and News Corp are particularly devoted to misleading their viewers, and quite frequently avoiding facts while “reporting the news.” Now, while this is a massive problem, perhaps the real problem isn’t that News Corp constantly misrepresents information (after all, who cares if crazy people make stuff up and scream it in the corner); it’s just how far they can scream their craziness. I imagine News Corp as being that same crazy person, only instead of screaming into a corner, they have a massive network of television channels, newspapers, and websites and have somehow managed to learn how to spell.

Obligatory News of the World Post

Hmmm.

Well now.  This is interesting.  Yes.  Very interesting:

Sean Hoare, the former News of the World showbusiness reporter who was the first named journalist to allege that Andy Coulson was aware of phone hacking by his staff, has been found dead .

Why Do You Always Find It So Hard To Read?

In the United States of America, the supreme law of the land is the United States Constitution. There are many states and municipalities, all with their own unique set of laws and statutes, but all must adhere to the Constitution. We here in the U.S. tend to think of the Constitution as something akin to a holy document – whether rightly or not, we place our faith in the “founding fathers” and their vision for the future – that protects us from our government, ourselves, and those who would do us harm. It protects us in that, inter alia, we have the freedom to say whatever we want, whenever we want – a right we often times take for granted – and we can sleep soundly at night knowing that there won’t be a government “enforcer” at our children’s schools to make sure that they are dressed appropriately or divided into ethnic, gender, race, or other categories – although this is a more recent development than our constitution, and a work in progress. We are free to believe what we want to believe, and practice our beliefs in whatever way we see fit, so long as we do so in a way that does not bring harm to others, or infringe upon the rights of others.

Musings on Regime Change

In light of the recent recognition of the Libyan transitional government by the United States and others, we are presented with an excellent opportunity to reflect on the Arab Spring and United States policy towards the Middle East-Northern Africa region. The last six months have seen perhaps the most widespread and significant political change in the entire Middle East-Northern Africa region since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. The world has seen successful, non-violent democratic movements take hold in Egypt and Tunisia, popular uprisings in Libya and Syria, and protests of various sorts all across the region from Algeria to Bahrain to even Jordan.

Wait, There's Two Sudans Now?

Five days ago, a new country was born. After years of conflict, the (very cleverly) named nation of South Sudan came into being. It isn't every day that a new country happens, of course, so it's worth taking a look at this particular case and see what the prospects are like for this new nation. The two big questions are, of course, why did this happen, and what are the new state's challenges? Also, what do you get a country for its birthday?