We Americans might do well to wrest our attention away from our national navel long enough to gain some passing familiarity with what is going on in the rest of the world. To wit, Pakistan, via the go-to guy for all things Middle Eastern, Juan Cole:
Barnett Rubin's most recent posting on Pakistan's crisis and Bush administration policy is a college education all on its own. Read, and grow learned. It is also a sensitive and searching deconstruction of the Bush administration's 'war on terrorism' rhetoric and its practical meaning for Pakistani and Afghan politics. And it is written by one of the world's great experts on the Taliban and al-Qaeda, who actually knows Afghanistan and Pakistan intimately.I certainly include myself in that collective "we" since I feel woefully uninformed about the complexity of the issues in that part of the world, and Lord knows the Bush administration and the mainstream American press are not going to be helpful. Viva la blogosphere!
6 comments:
I think the most interesting thing right now is the sudden rejuvenation of John McCain's stagnant campaign. It looks like Republicans are starting to come to the realization that Romney-Huckabee-Giuliani-Thompson all have not panned out and/or have too many problems to be viable. So they are slowly accepting the tried and true establishment candidate.
Unfortunately, I also think McCain would have the best shot at actually winning the presidency too, so that worries me just a bit. But overall, the fact that even third and fourth tier Democratic candidates in Iowa draw bigger crowds than the GOP frontrunners should tell you something about where this election is heading.
Good point, Mike. Having been burned so many times in the Prediction Game, even when the outcome seemed Really Obvious, I approach the forecast of a Democratic victory in '08 with some caution, but I can't help but feel (ever-so-timidly!)optimistic. And if McCain ends up with the nomination, I think either Obama's or Edwards' message of "Change" will play really well against him. I don't know about Hillary. If McCain wins, do you think he would actually pick Joe Lieberman as a running mate??? Gahhhh, what a world, what a world, what a world....
Or how about Rudy Giuliani saying he might tap Dick Cheney for Vice President again.
You have to admire his chutzpah!
Happy new year, Ann!
You make a good point. Our lack of knowledge about the rest of the world, esp. the muslim world, is very dangerous. Few American newspapers even have foreign correspondents any more. That said, as a political junkie I can't stop myself from tuning into the Iowa coverage.
On Lieberman - does Conn. have a recall mechanism? There must be quite a few Conn. voters who feel like they were conned into voting for a Republican.
Hi Freewheel! Happy New Year to you too! I expect that Joe Lieberman's days are numbered as a US Senator, and he couldn't be gone soon enough for me. Mike, I choose to view Rudy's comment about Dick in the most charitable way possible: as a sick joke - which presumes that Rudy DOES have a sense of humor, an iffy proposition at best!
Rudy!
Now that I have your attention (sorry) I can report that the caucus was much more animated than 4 years ago. Being from Chicago, I always try to inject the right amount of anger and/or violence into things political, but the only moment that got rowdy was a Hillary supported who jumped on a chair and began bloviating his thoughts aloud. Too far away from me, I could only watch in delight as another Edwards supported read him his STFU and sit down rights.
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