NC 's Library tagged no_tag →  View Popular

Asked later if Obama's pledge of troops was enough, he told reporters: "We're going to have exactly what we need."

Asked if he backed Obama's announcement that the troops would begin withdrawing in 18 months -- a schedule criticized by U.S. Republicans as encouraging insurgents to wait out the clock -- McChrystal said: "I am absolutely supportive of the timeline."

But for now, regardless of the motivations of the researchers,
damage has been done. How can the world of climate science
recover? First, carry out independent investigations of the
activities of the researchers involved. Pennsylvania State
University has announced that it will
investigate the activities of researcher Michael Mann, who
worked closely with the CRU and several times expressed in the
leaked emails his desire to stifle the scientific work of
researchers with whom he disagreed. In Britain, Nigel Lawson,
former chancellor of the exchequer, has called for an independent
investigation of the CRU. Tireless journalistic global warming
scold George Monbiot has
declared, "It's no use pretending this isn't a major
blow....I believe that the head of the unit, Phil Jones, should
now resign."

One thing more transparency won't fix: the complications and
uncertainty inherent in the policy debate about global warming.
"In the end, I would hypothesize that the result of the freeing
of data and code will necessarily lead to a more robust
understanding of scientific uncertainties, [and] that may have
the perverse effect of making the future less clear," emails
Pielke Jr. "The inability to tolerate dissent has unfortunately
destroyed the credibility of climate change science and I don’t
know how it’s going to come back," laments climatologist and
free-market Cato Institute fellow Patrick
Michaels, who was frequently reviled in the CRU emails. "I
don’t know how the public and policymakers will ever trust what
climate scientists say in the future."

And then there was Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in her testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee this morning, was asked by Republican Senator Lindsey Graham whether the July 2011 had "locked us in" to a withdrawal. "I do not believe we have locked ourselves in to leaving," Clinton responded, before repeating the core administration talking point: "By July 2011 there can be the beginning of a responsible transition that will of course be based on conditions." But "the beginning of a responsible transition" can mean almost anything. It can be nothing more than a changing-of-the-guard ceremony at the airport.

Or it can mean something like what Defense Secretary Robert Gates described this morning at that Senate hearing. Asked by John McCain whether July 2011 amounts to an "an arbitrary date" to begin a transition. Gates replied that the national security team concluded "that we would be in a position particularly in uncontested areas where we would be able to begin that transition." Note the emphasis: particularly in uncontested areas. One would hope we can withdraw from peaceful areas within eighteen months. But there won't be very many of those. People hoping that this war will come to a swift end beginning in the summer of 2011 would do well to understand that now, or risk severe disappointment down the road.

The worry is that Cheney’s abysmal public image could add a negative taint to views shared more broadly by Republicans and even by some segments of the public at large. “Think Gitmo,” the official said. “Fifty five percent agree with him but 30% approve of him.”

Who knows what kind of language Obama will use tonight, and lord knows Obama will never admit that he was wrong about anything, but for those who supported the 2007 surge in Iraq, this kind of rhetoric along with the decision to surge forces into Afghanistan is an implicit admission from President Obama that he was wrong in 2007. And the left knows it, which is at least partly why they are up in arms about this decision. And if Obama's surge is as successful as Bush's was (an 80 percent reduction in US casualties and the routing of Al Qaeda in Iraq), you have to think he'll be pretty pleased with the result.

The president will emphasize the limit on U.S. resources in manpower and budget, Gibbs added.

Now notice something curious: not one of the initial publicly identified signatories of the Manhattan Declaration is Mormon.

That degree of commitment might seem to entitle you to a seat at the table. But no. The framers of the Manhattan Declaration say they "act together in obedience to the one true God, the triune God." Mormons do not accept the concept of God as three-in-one.

"I come from a very good Christian family and I was raised much better than my actions speak," Clemmons said in a clemency application brief to then-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2000. "I'm still ashamed to this day for the shame my stupid involvement in these crimes brought upon my family's name."

"It was not something I was pleased with at the time," said Larry Jegley, who prosecuted Clemmons for aggravated robbery and other charges in Pulaski County, Arkansas, regarding the commutation. "I would be most distressed if this is the same guy."

Rather than being a blow against that attitude, Sunday's vote seems only to reinforce it. Banning minarets won't do anything to assimilate Switzerland's or Europe's Muslims, or to ensure that economic opportunity is available to everyone of whatever creed, or to deal with Western Europe's demographic problem of too few newborns.

When the elites stifle debate and declare subjects of great importance beyond the pale of public discussion, the people will eventually make themselves heard and in ways that might be far more drastic than if they had a say earlier in the process.