by William S. Lind, July 08, 2009:

According to the July 3 Cleveland Plain Dealer, President Barack Obama said something very interesting last week. He told the AP that he has "a very narrow definition of success when it comes to our national security interests" in Afghanistan. "And that is that al-Qaeda and its affiliates cannot set up safe havens from which to attack Americans."

Well. If his words were reported accurately and he really means them, President Obama may have built the golden bridge we need to get out. That definition of success may be attainable.

But here’s the rub. Adoption of a realistic strategic goal in Afghanistan means reversing a decision the administration reportedly made last March, at Hillary’s insistence. Hillary demanded, and reportedly got, a commitment to the opium dream of a "secular, democratic, peaceful" Afghanistan.

Has President Obama already figured out he was had by the Clintons? Will he dare assert his authority over Hillary? How long will he stick to his guns when the Clintons ramp up a guerilla campaign against him among Democratic activists?

As I said in my last column, problems in court politics are often more difficult than problems on the battlefield. Dumping the Clinton’s dreamy-eyed idealism in foreign policy in favor of realistic strategic objectives promises a battle royal at court. Of course, Obama may have just been musing aloud, in which case Hillary will soon set the record straight. But if the president really meant what he said and sticks to it, it will represent a major step forward.

Unfortunately, the July 4 Plain Dealer reported another step back. In a story on the Marine Corps’ "big push" in Helmand province, the paper said ...

... for more, much more, click sig ...

Since Mrs. Clinton, as a neo-con, has deeper bipartisan support than Obama and there is more agreement with her in the administration that Obama formed, I suspect that the Obama Administration's goal is, in fact, the one that you need to be doing a lot of hash to believe can work.

Pass the hash.

Blah.

I don't know much about Froomkin personally, but enough to know that any voice that questions the establishment line is rare and valuable. So, I think this is good news.

On another note, I know that you are typically averse to taking direction from your readers, and fair enough, but this would seem like an ideal context in which to mention Senator Benjamin Cardin's Newspaper Revitalization Act, which would have allowed newspapers to act as "non-profits" for tax purposes.

Given that HuffPo managed to find the money to hire Froomkin, to my mind that ought to call into question the need for such a bill.

That's assuming that the plain conflicts of interest such a bill creates, and its constitutional dubiousness, are not sufficient in and of themselves ...

Nr. 8!

is the hardest!

Attention Whore

A pervasive pattern of excessive emotionality and attention seeking, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:

1.is uncomfortable in situations in which he or she is not the center of attention

2.interaction with others is often characterized by inappropriate sexually seductive or provocative behavior

3.displays rapidly shifting and shallow expression of emotions

4.consistently uses physical appearance to draw attention to self

5.has a style of speech that is excessively impressionistic and lacking in detail

6.shows self-dramatization, theatricality, and exaggerated expression of emotion

7.is suggestible, i.e., easily influenced by others or circumstances

8.considers relationships to be more intimate than they actually are.

You gotta work on it!

Huffington Post couldn't have hired a better man than Dan Froomkin. He's a truth-teller who feels an obligation to one constituency--the general public.

Greenwald mentions a possible fly in the ointment. Arianna Huffington is in solid with many of the same people whose asses Froomkin loves to kick. I hope Huffington lets Froomkin carry on with his ass-kicking.

Piss on the Washington Post, that corrupt, statist, neocon rag. It deserves to go belly-up, and the sooner the better.

fascinates me, somewhat in the manner Cocktailhag mentioned above. It is like a strange slice of the zeitgeist, and I love rolling through it, picking out the sublime and the ridiculous, all that grist for the intellectual mill. The freaks, the politicians, the fools, the academics, the celebrity nudie shots, the strange missives from the celebs, and an occasional little bit of writing from someone unexpected like a playwright or somesuch that touches my heart. Right up my omnivourous alley (but I am something of a speed reader though). Indeed: YMMV.

...of the uigher story, now that its clear that the chinese govt had very litle to do with any of the deaths? The way your version reads, the chinese shot 140 uighers, when in fact they went on a murderous rampage. An update would be nice...

OT or not, Levin's stance vis a vis the Constitution et cetera needs to be hammered again and again. Dude is not (necessarily) Our Friend at all, any more than the Good Senator Dodd is on similar and other matters. This lionization of -- and demonization of -- various Senators gets us damn little, and for my money, I'd just abolish the August Body altogether like forebears often advocated.

But then I guess abolishing the Senate is not exactly "constitutional" either.

Harumph.

I was hoping Salon was going to dump Camille Haglia and hire Froomkin instead. I know nothing about him, but anyone's got to be better than Paglia.

Like I said! Thanks for that impassioned reporting!

Kudos to Huffpo for hiring exactly the kind of true reporter that Arianna has yearned for in the MSM, which she has astutely criticized as you stated. And btw, she has been tough on the Obama's administration's economic team and actions, as well as their Constitutional, civil liberties and human rights abuses. The honeymoon with BHO has been over for many regular commentators there, including myself, for months. And I do trust that she'll let Froomkin have full editorial decision on his posts. It's what she wants, and I know/trust that she has that kind of integrity, no matter who at the top she hob nobs with at times.