Atlantic Review

Since Global Warming is not one of the issues at hand, how is it that The White Houses's actions are magically caused by their political opponents exactly? The issues are, as noted above strategy for Afghanistan, finance policy coordination, GWOT prisoners, and Yuan policy. How is the minority party in the US House and Senate managing that? By imputed emotions? Evil brain-waves? President Obama's international affairs are his and his advisors' alone. You can't keep blaming staw men. Perhaps you can take some comfort in the idea that the security of Canadian uranium won't keep people up at night, while Teheral keeps testing missiles and refining fissile material. Or for that matter, worrying about the nukes that DoS have comcluded that the opaque North Korean autocrats [url=http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2010/04/11/26/0301000000AEN20100411000200315F.HTML]already have[/url].

They ALWAYS mention climate change, whether it's in passing, relevant, or otherwise, it's one of those things like a "mom and apple pie" statement that has become profunctory in Europe. What they don't say when they are saying that they were disappointed in the US at COP15, is that the Europeans said that they would not cut emmissions unilaterally, and then some of the member states hinted that they might - but only after the significant attendeed - just about ALL the significant attendees - refused the European scheme. In large part, the article is insulting to Merkel: [i]She is traveling to a country whose stunningly beautiful aspects hold an almost childlike fascination for Merkel, but whose political realities represent a cause for concern. During her visit, she will encounter representatives of opposing camps in the country's deeply divided political landscape.[/i] As if she's "childlike", that there isn't a dog-whistle effect behind saying that someone loves America, and that by some magic, the US is the only nation on earth with political parties that oppose one another. Exqueeze me? Baking powder? Die Linke nearly outdid the SPD in support a year ago! Deeply divided? [i]Noooooo![/i] Only Americans can be deeply divided! As for your selective plucking on about conservatives and racism, need I ask which party consistently opposed enforcing laws against lynching for decades on end? The stain of racism is on the left, especially the union left who for decades were trying to protect "white mens' jobs" employing a form of populist hatred that the left are using today on the Tea Party movement in a bid to silence them. Throw selectively crafted partisan red-meat at yourself all you like, just beware of the intellectual corner it paints people into. It leads people inot inventing imaginary motives of those they write about, just like the writer you cite from SPON: [i]She would take a vacation there now if she could.[/i] Really? Whould she? How would he know? OH! I forgot! He doesn't have to! She's a conservative, so it's okay to just impute motives on them!

Is this a forum to copy-and-paste the standard, left/Democrat talking points, or will David condescend to real discussion? David the Spiegel that you gave to Joerg who made it into a post has some interesting points, I don't know why you wouldn't want to discuss those points. There's no question, Congress sucks at the moment, in fact it has been a big problem for 5-10+ years. But it is, in my opinion, an institutional problem between two independent branches of government; as we saw when Democrats controlled all of Congress (House and Senate), even then, Congress still wouldn't do what the President (and the head of their Party) wanted! If Obama can't rely upon his own coalition, how is that the opposition's fault? It is somehow unfair or against the rules for Republicans to remind the Democratic Congress that they face re-election?

I would have quoted from Kennedy who is given credit, though she denies ever having said it, of "Whatever!"

The Spiegel article speaks to the difference between the US political style (regardless of party) and the European style -- [url=http://atlanticreview.org/archives/1339-That-Vision-Thing-Or-The-Best-of-Atlantic-Review.html#c20375]sports vs. art[/url]. European politics much less confrontational, much less populist, in fact the game there is to avoid confrontation at all costs, since confrontation creates losers who, the theory goes, might become alienated and then become a threat to the body politic. (In America, we are also concerned about threats to the body politic, but our Constitution makes it impossible to take such a, dare I say it, preemptive or even, preventative, approach, except during times of war.) I wonder if Obama feels like he has no choice but to be individualistic and confrontational? He might argue that, if he weren't forced to operate under US political rules, that he could be more collectivist or consensus-oriented. Certainly, his political philosophy has collectivist tendencies. But, I doubt it is a simple as that. Obama is a sportsman, a (Anglo-Saxon style?) lawyer (trained in a system in which one side must lose), a street fighter, and an American. He loves to win. If he were to find himself in a European-style, collective/consensus system, [i]he would need to rebel against it[/i]. Such a system would neutralize his strongest assets: personal charisma, personal passion, and populist idealism (left variety). The German system, in general, is very wary of these types of assets. Oddly, it seems to find reassurance in the suspicion that these Obama assets are "staged" or "calculated". If Obama's attributes were seen to be less staged or calculated, it would set of all kinds of alarm bells in Germany, for obvious reasons. It isn't just Germany, the still-emerging EU political culture also seems to favor calculated blandness (to the point of anonymity!) over calculated charisma -- exhibit A is [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Van_Rompuy]Van Who?[/url]. Ah, the Europeans...who, perhaps understandably, fear the blandness of American commercial culture (McDo, etc.)...who, nevertheless, seem determined to be governed by nameless Grey Men in Grey Suits debating the curvature of bananas. No wonder the Chinese think they can eat our collective lunches. I think if either the US, or Europe, can find the solution to our respective, multi-generational entitlements bubbles, before the Chinese take over, then things will turn out OK.

Re: The Civil War I've said all along that the Republican Party should adopt the Confederate flag as its emblem, and now it has embraced Sarah "Her Whiteness" Palin as the Republican standard bearer. Just last week the Republicans declared April Confederate History Month, honoring those seditionists and terrorists who fought bravely for their "freedom" (i.e. the freedom to own slaves).

McConnell only added the message condemning slavery after the uproar from Democrats and African-Americans in Virginia. But Haley Barbour, the Republican governor of Mississippi said "it don't mean diddly".

What a crock. I live in Virginia, I'm white and I complained. The Governor's office is not hard to contact. I told the nice young man they transferred my call to that it was an embarrassment and he told me he had been taking TONS of calls with similar sentiments. As he asked for neither my race/ethnicity nor my party affiliation, (he did ask for my zip code) I can only conclude that no one knows those particulars about the people who complained - and neither do you.

Back to the article, Maybe Scharzenegger could aks Merkel to bail out California ! Let's see if she will say OK to that "far away Mediterranean club" ! doesn't seem that Merkel has a political progam, but only domestic agendas, ah yes she is a very good housekeeper, she doesn't waste the money that her hubby allotes her !