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Monday, January 12, 2009 12:00 AM

Obama v. the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran

Last year, the NIE famously concluded with "high confidence" that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Why did Obama say yesterday that Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons?

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  • Monday, January 12, 2009 06:26 AM

    Disappointed but not surprised

    I had hoped Obama would surprise us, but it appears not. I had been waffling about voting for him, but his betrayal of principles in voting for the revised FISA law decided the matter for me: I did not vote for Obama. I stood in line for an hour in order to vote for a candidate I knew would not win: Ralph Nader.

    I have had enough of voting for the "lesser of two evils." As Marcel Duchamp said of bad art, (i.e., "bad art is still art just as a bad emotion is still emotion"), the lesser of two evils is still evil.

    Obama is a mediocrity and although he is obviously preferable to George Bush/Dick Cheney, we can see he will be, if perhaps less overtly barbarous or lawless than the swine he's replacing, a diligent tool of empire.

    Perhaps Obama will still surprise us in the small good things he may do, but they will be small and incidental to the great good things that demand to be done. Thus are we undone.

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