“My guess is that President Obama held so many meetings with his national-security advisers on this topic—nine, plus a 10th on Sunday night to get their orders and talking points straight—because he wanted to break through his own ambivalences; because he needed to come up with a reason (not just a rationalization) for doing whatever it is that he’s decided to do, some assurance that it really does make sense, that it has a chance of working, so he can defend it to Congress, the nation, and the world with conviction. Let’s hope he found something. A columnist can be ambivalent; a president can’t be.” —
Fred Kaplan - My mixed feelings about the war in Afghanistan
In the end, the dichotomy he draws between the acceptability of his ambivalence and the unacceptability of a president’s in such a situation sounds to me like he’s saying “it sucks to be you” - which given the complexity and seeming lose-lose outcome of each potential avenue, I kind of agree with. Yet, I’m entirely comfortable with a President and his administration taking their time (or dithering, depending on who you ask) to hammer out a strategy to achieve the nation’s objectives (which, in and of themselves, have not been entirely crystal clear), even going so far as to reconsider campaign rhetoric (which admittedly was rather cheap and crass - but then again, when isn’t it) and previous actions of his administration.
Should a president be ambivalent after initiating a significant war strategy? No. Should a president be ambivalent (at least as I read it) to a point where he questions and considers the intricacies of an issue before initiating said strategy? I think yes.
new spoon album coming in january! and new spoon single out now!
![thedailywhat:
Life-Altering Revision To An Existing Device of the Day: Damjan Stanković’s Eko Stoplight has a built-in timer that tells you exactly how long you have until the light turns green.
Yet another one of those specks of brilliance that make you go, What possible reason could there be for this to have taken so long to come into existence.
[via.]
living in dc, i already can tell how long i have to wait by looking at the crossing signal’s timer for the intersecting road. still, this is pretty awesome.](http://22.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ktxh6kMHZV1qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
Life-Altering Revision To An Existing Device of the Day: Damjan Stanković’s Eko Stoplight has a built-in timer that tells you exactly how long you have until the light turns green.
Yet another one of those specks of brilliance that make you go, What possible reason could there be for this to have taken so long to come into existence.
[via.]
living in dc, i already can tell how long i have to wait by looking at the crossing signal’s timer for the intersecting road. still, this is pretty awesome.
“We drill into these guys that we want to play. I don’t want to watch a tennis match, smacking balls here and there. We are trying to get these guys ready for the next level. … I want us to be remembered for playing soccer, not just kickball. They are better than that, they deserve better than that.” —
Portland’s Bill Irwin, after the Pilots played attractive soccer for much of their 1-0 loss at Virginia… via soccer insider.
that’s awesome.
Joe Biden - Second-Most Powerful Vice President in History?
great read from ny times magazine.
“One such measure would be another round of aid to beleaguered state and local governments, which have seen their tax receipts plunge and which, unlike the federal government, can’t borrow to cover a temporary shortfall. More aid would help avoid both a drastic worsening of public services (especially education) and the elimination of hundreds of thousands of jobs.” —
paul krugman on the jobs imperative
i, like just about everyone else, had some qualms with the stimulus package - the biggest of which was the stripping of funding to states in favor for the tax cuts the GOP deemed necessary. as we all remember, this netted zero republican votes. in response to the worst economic conditions in a century, inadequate support from the federal government, and an inability to deficit spend, states have been forced to strip critical public services and drastically cut payrolls.
i really hope mr. krugman’s words on this point are heeded at this week’s jobs summit.
[video]
just picked this up at kramers, looks like it has potential.
[video]