There are around 7 different Bush Doctrines out there and 'preemptive' hasn't been the latest one for three years. Not since Bush read Natan Sharansky's book 'Case for Democracy' in 2005 in fact.

For Glenn Greewald's edification and he needs and should never have written an article on the subject without knowing it.

1) The Bush administration's policies of unilaterally withdrawing from the ABM treaty and rejecting the Kyoto protocol, together with others, amounted to a radical change in foreign policy and was the first 'Bush doctrine'.

2) Following 9/11 Bush declared: "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime". This "with us or against us" policy regarding terror became the second Bush Doctrine.

3) Iraq. A year later, when the Iraq War was looming, Bush offered his major justification by enunciating a doctrine of pre-emptive war and this was the third doctrine.

4) The idea that the fundamental mission of American foreign policy is to spread democracy throughout the world is the present one.

Peter D. Feaver, who worked on the Bush national security strategy as a staff member on the National Security Council, said he has counted as many as seven distinct Bush doctrines.

Poor journalism that is misleading at best and dangerous at worst.

Mike

I was not pro McCain but I was very suspicious of Obama because there was so little known about him and what was known suggested that he'd destroy the US economy by dragging it to the extreme left which even countries like Russia and China have recoiled from.

His choices so far suggest that he will be a pragmatist and not a 'communist' and I'm getting ready to eat many of the negative words and cautions that I wrote about him.

His polictical choices in the foreign and defence areas also suggest that his known connections with Jihad may in fact turn out to be helpul and not explosive.

If he continues like he's started out I shall become a convert!

It's unclear to me if Mike Madden failed to read the details of the Health Plan, or just the sections referring to the Public Option in particular.

Perhaps he couldn't read what is says because he didn't want to see it, or because he wasn't wearing his glasses.

The term Public Option would create an enormous Medicare look-alike program, which would offer alternative health insurance to the non-elderly, thereby purportedly putting it into competition with the 1,000 to 1,500 health insurance companies that sell health insurance today.

Private health insurers presently spend around 33% of every health care dollar on non-health related things such as,

Medicare spends 2 or 3% on its administrative overhead.

It is estimated that the House version of the public option will cover only 10-12 million people, which would be far too small a number to put any significant pressure on private insurance companies, to say nothing of the 16 to 17 million that would remain uninsured.

There are more details at http://tinyurl.com/healthorinsurance

Mike

I will keep this short and sweet.

"President Obama resumed the role he is best at, representing the U.S. with dignity and authority abroad".

Yes, the world loved how Obama described the brutes in Iran killing and torturing demonstrators, as a "spirited debate".

We loved seeing Obama bowing to Muslims ..

http://www.ourchangingglobe.com/americans-dont-like-obamas-self-abasement/

and hugging people like Chavez.

The world laughed at Obama for suggesting to Putin and Medvedev that they attempt to control corruption in Russia.

For obvious reasons the above wasn't reported much in the US MSM but the French headlined it with a caption, "Obama puts his foot in the plate".

If his Cairo speech achieved anything, it was the lessening of America's hegemony.

Mike

The MSM is still in denial.

It created Obama and sees its error, but for the most part it still refuses to condemn or to criticize.

The government can't make people pay for health insurance and they can't fine people via their income tax for not having medical insurance.

http://www.ourchangingglobe.com/certain-parts-of-the-intended-health-plan-are-unconstitutional/

Why isn't the media all over this?

The biggest mistake that Obama and his administration have made since he got elected is trying to fix something that it's not urgent to fix, and the public has shown again and again in the polls that health care is not one of its priorities.

Nearly nine out of 10 Americans say they have coverage—and most of them of them are very happy with it.

Of the 46 million uninsured,

9.7 million are not U.S. citizens;

17.6 million have annual incomes of more than $50,000;

14 million already qualify for Medicaid or other programs.

That leaves less than five million people truly uncovered out of a population of 307 million.

The unemployed figure just rose again, and many people are panicking about the deficit which looks to be out of control.

Why doesn't the administration focus on what the people believe to be important?

Mike

P.S. And why does Salon ask readers to "write a letter" rather that "post" or "make a comment" ?

I don't know what comments you're reading?

The ones I've read are anti-Obama and believe him to be left of socialist i.e. communist.

Most informed people know that Obama was a member of the New Party (communist) just 13 years ago and he didn't leave it: the courts shut it down.

http://tinyurl.com/obamafarleft

More and more extreme left wingers are being discovered in the administration and we can thank the MSM for getting a communist elected to the highest post in the land.

The question now is, "when will the MSM own up to its mistake and start publishing honest articles".

Mike