Political Landscape
 

De-Mining Southern Sudan


"Why are Zimbabweans some of the best de-miners?" asks CNN Correspondent David McKenzie on this week's episode of "Inside Africa." Mine clearance is not something one necessarily thinks of when thinking of Mugabe's Zimbabwe. For a mere $30 million, the United States helped Zimbabwe comply with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty. Years later, that noble dose of foreign aid is the gift that keeps on giving. Zimbabwean de-miners are good at their jobs, and are contributing to the stability of the continent.


Southern Sudan was heavily mined during the war in Darfur. Thousands of anti-personnel mines have been cleared since the conflict wound down. "Recently the spot-light of the humanitarian mine action community has been focused on Southern Sudan where large areas of land area contaminated with landmines and Unexploded Ordnance (UXO)," says IRIN News, a project of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. "The Sudan Government and the southern rebel movement are currently running a first-ever joint operation on landmines which both side are responsible for laying since their wars began in 1983."


The United Nations Development Programme, mirabile dictu, has projected an $990,000 2010-11 budget for humanitarian de-mining in Zimbabwe. It is foreign aid well spent, for Zimbabwe, and for the region.

 

Obama's Call on the Dalai Lama

109778.jpgIn anticipation of Barack Obama's first visit to China last fall, the country's state-run news agency, Xinhua, collected questions from its readers for the U.S. President. Among them, were these gems:


"You've got a nice figure. Had you thought about shooting commercials or movies or something like that if you didn't win the election?"


"How much wine can you drink for once? Will you play the Truth or Dare game after drinking?"


"Could you encourage American kids not to eat hamburgers all day long?"


"Can I discuss with you China's purchasing Hawaii with U.S. dollars?"


"Will you encourage Americans to marry Chinese people?"


Once my giggles subsided, I stumbled upon a few that made me stop and think. One, in particular, resonates with the current fracas over the Dalai Lama's imminent visit to the United States: "How would it make you feel if China treated Osama Bin Laden like the U.S. treats the Dalai Lama?"


Chinese officials warned President Obama that if he met with the Dalai Lama when the Tibetan spiritual leader visits Washington D.C. this week, as every president has since 1991, it would threaten to dismantle whatever progress has been made in building a positive relationship between the two superpower nations.


Obama refuted the warning and agreed to meet with the 74-year-old Buddhist monk, though he did cancel a meeting in October, presumably to appease Chinese government leaders. Many human rights groups, who see the Dalai Lama as a champion of peace and China as an oppressive tyranny, were outraged by that earlier choice.


This is a tough one, isn't it? Obama's decision to stick to his principles and anger the Chinese government could be potentially causing a major setback in foreign relations. This could be bad for a great many people, including human rights groups. But if he pandered to the wishes of the Chinese, he would be sending a message that, sometimes, might does equal right. It's not a choice I'd want to make, to say the least.


[Image: Bangkok Post]

 

"Don't Ask Don't Tell" Under Review, Finally

Yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen, the US Military's top-ranking officer, called for an end to the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that bans openly gay people from the armed services.


"No matter how I look at the issue," Mullen said, "I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens."


Finally, someone is speaking some sense on this issue! Now if only those involved in the decision-making process besides Mullen (including vocal dissenter John McCain) would recognize the fact that forcing people into a strictly-enforced closet is no way to encourage them to serve their country. At least this is several steps in the right direction.


Via CBS Nightly News:


 

The $100 Million Election

When Scott Brown won the Senate seat left open by the late Ted Kennedy, liberals and Democrats feared the worst. President Obama himself recognized that Brown's victory would be a major setback for his party, ending the brief period of a Republican filibuster-proof United States Senate that began with Al Franken's election back in June.


Since the term of the hour seems to be "health care," that has been the focus of most news covering Brown's influence in his new position. Specifically, those in favor of health care legislation worry that he was elected just to prevent it. But there are some who think that Brown's victory can be chalked up to his close ties with the American financial industry. The Daily Kos suggests that "this wasn't a 'kill health care' Senate seat purchase. This was a 'preserve my $100 million bonus' Senate seat purchase."


To remind us of why, if this is true, we should be concerned, the Kos posted this ad from Americans United for Change, released the same day that Brown was elected:


 

Sarah Palin's Bookmobile

going_rogue.jpgWhat's the best way to become a best-selling author? You could rely on word of mouth, great press, or just dumb luck. But that's all so uncertain. Here's another idea: buy your own product en masse.


Sarah Palin showed us how by using $63,000 of her own money to buy copies of her political memoir, Going Rogue, through her political action committee, Sarah PAC. It's hard to say how many copies the former Alaska governor got for that amount, though. If she paid the full cover price, her supply would be just under 2,200. If she bought them all on Amazon, she could have gotten close to 5,000 copies. Also, it depends on how much sales tax she had to fork over, which may have been less than the standard rate for buying the books in bulk. And because she brokered the deal with her own publisher, HarperCollins, the company may have given her a special discount.


Regardless, we're talking about a lot of books. Apparently, Palin is using them as "fundraising donor fulfillment," along with $8,000 worth of brightly colored bookmarks made by a Nashville-based event planning firm.


This would help account for why Sarah PAC raised over $2 million in 2009 and ended the year with just $900,000 in the bank. Sarah PAC also spent $20,000 to send Palin's personal photographer along on her national book tour last fall. With that kind of funding, it's no wonder she's a bestseller.

 

The Union's in a State, Alright

Veronica did a great job last week of recapping President Obama's Sate of the Union address. Read her post for an astute analysis of what Obama said, some provocative questions about what the future may hold, and a call to action; you'll be glad you did. But if you're pressed for time, here is the political cartoonist Ed Stein's take:


Stei100126-600x405.gif


I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I don't blame Obama for most of the problems we're facing right now. I blame the junky machinery of the U.S. Government, which may be the most inefficient organization ever formed. Maybe Obama should give an address about that. I'm sure he'd love to, but then he'd get voted out of office. Ain't that the rub?


[Image: InDenverTimes.com. See more of Stein's work at EdSteinInk.com]

 

Leaving Afghanistan... Someday?

It must be very hard to be Barack Obama. He's constantly being pressed for definitive answers, resolute plans, and swift follow-through. But rarely can he deliver on all three, as we've seen in the past year, and it's no fault of his own.


The political apparatus is forever getting clogged with Senatorial bickering, Supreme Court legislations, public dissent, and an endless list of other obstacles that make Obama the idealist look more like Obama the deceiver.


Take a look at how General Patraeus tries to move the goal posts set by the president just a few months ago, when he said that we would be out of Afghanistan by July of 2011. Again, I am sympathetic to Obama here: He may have had every reason to believe this would be possible when he set that date. If the date gets pushed back, which it surely will, I blame the junky machinery of Washington D.C. Unfortunately, it'll be Obama who ends up taking the blame.


 

The State of Our Union is Up to Us


I've heard it been said that a great leader leads but also gets others to do some leading. During the State of the Union address last night, President Obama, I hope, made it clear that if we are going to get this country back on track, it is going to take all of us.


He took the Republicans to task for being obstructionist on most bills in the Congress. "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics, but it's not leadership." But also reminded the Democrats to use their majority: "I would remind you that we still have the largest majority in decades, and the people expect us to solve problems, not run for the hills." He also took blame for not selling the health insurance reform bill better to the American people.


President Obama proposed a lot of things, some progressive like a cap on student loan repayments and forgiveness after 20 years (which I have no idea how that would be paid) but also some not so much like new offshore drilling (Drill, Baby, Drill?).


Even the most progressive ideas sometimes are implemented in a way that doesn't fulfill the intent. Top universities are giving more aid to wealthier families. Mortgage modifications aren't addressing the fact that homes are underwater and include balloon payments.


And that is where we come in.


I truly believe that President Obama has a progressive streak, but that is all it is, a streak. He also has conservative bend. President Obama said that the Congress and he were voted in to serve the people and the people need to remind them all of what we want. We need to remind them of what that is by pushing them on health care, education funding, jobs and anything else we hold dear.


Do we really want failing schools to be closed and communities disrupted in order to ship students around like cogs in some machine?


Will we really read the earmarks online before the vote in order to voice our opinion?


Will "Don't Ask Don't Tell" really be repealed?


One year after the Lily Ledbetter Act, will we finally push the Senate to pass its partner bill, the Paycheck Fairness Act?


Which way will you push them?

 

Farewell, Air America Radio


Last week was a bad week for Progressives. There was Scott Brown taking the Ted Kennedy seat in the United States Senate. That hideous Supreme Court ruling allowing corporations to spend ungodly sums in political races. And there was news that Air America Radio was collapsing.


I've been a writer for Air America's blog since September. The blog went dark last Thursday, without links to older stories. This week the radio station will follow suit, evaporating into the ethers. It is a sad occasion, to be sure. I was not a frequent listener to the station, nor did I always go as far as my fellow online writers went politically (I did not, for example, wholly abandon the President for his compromises on the health care bill). But, with the plethora of right-wing thought on the radio -- a medium frequented by the working class, the poor and the over-60 demographic -- it was good to have Air America radio as a progressive counterbalance. Alas, no more.


Air America radio, RIP.

 

Get With the Program: One on One With Hillary Clinton

HillaryClinton One Year Later.jpgNow that the Obama Administration has completed its first year in office, it's time to take a step back and review how the first 12 months have gone for some of the leading figures of the Obama team. Just how has Hillary Clinton performed in her first year as Secretary of State? In a one-hour special feature for PBS, Tavis Smiley, host of TAVIS SMILEY REPORTS, takes a closer look at Hillary's first year in office:

"In the first of four primetime specials that examine some of the country's defining moments, noted broadcaster Tavis Smiley accompanies Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on a diplomatic mission abroad, to meetings on Capitol Hill and within the State Department itself, to give the American public a candid and incisive view of the inner workings of U.S. diplomacy and international relations."

The one-hour program airs on PBS on Wednesday, January 27, from 8:00 - 9:00 pm EST.


[image: One on One With Hillary Clinton courtesy of Tavis Smiley Reports]