War Drones On
The CIA and military are using drones more and more,
In Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia we’re giving ’em what-for.
Inevitably, civilians die
When we target some bad guy.
So is this really a legitimate way to wage a war?
Month: December 2013
A Quarter of Under-30 Uninsured Americans Plan to Pay Obamacare Fine
26%
Of the uninsured under age 30 say they are more likely to pay the fine, compared with 30% of those aged 30 and older, Gallup finds. The biggest differences appear by party identification — 45% of uninsured Republicans plan to pay the fine, compared with 31% of independents and 15% of Democrats.
’12 Years a Slave’ Film Illuminates Racial Subtext of Obama Era
This last weekend, I finally saw ’12 Years a Slave.’ It was the most powerful movie I’ve ever seen in my life, an event so gripping and terrifying that, when I went to bed ten hours later — it was a morning matinee — I lay awake for five hours turning it over in my mind before I could fall asleep. I understand it not merely as the greatest film about slavery ever made, as it has been widely hailed, but a film more broadly about race. Its sublimated themes, as I understand them, identify the core social and political fissures that define the American racial divide to this day. To identify ’12 Years a Slave’ as merely a story about slavery is to miss what makes race the furious and often pathological subtext of American politics in the Obama era.
— Jonathan Chait, writing in New York Magazine.
House Still Considering Impeachment of Obama
We’ve also talked about the I-word, impeachment, which I don’t think would get past the Senate in the current climate … Is there anything else we can do?
— Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-TX), quoted by the Washington Post, noting there are enough votes in the House to impeach President Obama.
Bevin Admits He’s a Longshot to Unseat McConnell
I’m David, and he’s Goliath. That’s just the reality of it. However, the path to victory just gets wider and wider.
— Matt Bevin (R), quoted by the Wall Street Journal, on his long-shot bid to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).
Democrats Leading GOP in Fundraising
$65 million
Amount the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee raised through October, with $25 million in the bank for the 2014 cycle. By contrast, the National Republican Congressional Committee raised $52 million during that same period and had $18 million in the bank.
Half of Young Voters Would Vote to Recall Obama
52%
Of voters aged 18 to 29 years old would vote to recall President Obama, a new Harvard Institute of Politics survey finds.
Texas Republican Compares Obama Admin Deal on Iranian Uranium to Chamberlain’s Appeasement of Hitler
Prime Minister Chamberlain would have been proud after the West gave the snake oil salesman of the desert, Mr. Rouhani, exactly what he wanted: time and money to pursue his quest for nuclear intimidation.
— Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX), quoted by The Hill, comparing the Obama administration’s short-term deal on Iran’s nuclear capability with former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s attempt to appease Nazi Germany.
The Fight’s Not About Health Care
So what are we fighting about? How smoothly the law operates, and how many customers it manages to enroll by the end of Obama’s term, are open questions. Likewise up for debate is whether Obama’s approval ratings will recover. But these are not fundamentally questions about the life or death of Obamacare. They’re about how much political pain Democrats in Congress must endure. We’re not fighting over health care policy. We’re fighting about the midterm elections.
— Jonathan Chait, writing in New York Magazine.
He Won’t Quit
Gov. Rick Scott says he wants him to resign,
And his fellow Republicans think that’d be fine.
But Trey Radel says nix —
He knows Florida politics,
You’ve got to do a lot worse than snort a few cocaine lines.
