With prayers, music and pomp, Germany, with world leaders in attendance, today celebrates the 20th anniversary of the day the Berlin Wall fell.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
A big week ahead in presidential politics. And, for a change, in California politics, too.
President Barack Obama is celebrating the weekend passage of national health care by the House of Representatives. Now he has to get it through the Senate, then reconcile what will be different versions. While he’ll undoubtedly work on that this week, his week looks more likely to be dominated by military and geopolitical concerns. With a memorial service for the Fort Hood shooting victims coming before Veterans Day, which in turn is right before he leaves on his first big trip to East Asia, which he’s delayed a day after the shootings. (Also in the mix, the very fateful question of whether the Army officer shooter was a homegrown jihadist.)
Obama will also be dealing with simmering crises in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Middle East, as well as the selection of Europe’s first president and foreign minister.
In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will be going up and down the state signing portions of the big state water deal he finally worked out with Democratic and Republican legislative leaders, before appointing a new lieutenant governor. I laid out last week why that should be State Senator Abel Maldonado, and I believe it will be.
Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown, who has cleared the Democratic field for governor (which I reported here first on NWN with the passing of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom from the contest), will be consolidating his position, albeit with the chronic rumors from the usual suspects that Senator Dianne Feinstein might run, which she won’t. GOP hopeful Meg Whitman, the ex-eBay CEO, has built a bit of a lead in her party primary, having spent nearly $20 million already. Of course, no one has spent a dime against her. That will change soon enough.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has a big cushion of votes in the House, so she was able to give a pass to newer Democratic members from swing districts and still pass the bill with the public option intact. The Senate side is more problematic with regard to the public option, with some senators likely to go along with a filibuster to keep that out of the bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is trying to move it through with a provision allowing states to opt out. A fallback position would allow the public option to be triggered if it becomes apparent the the private insurance indstry is continuing to fail to provide adequate coverage.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is taking the global stage today marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. After the festivities, the leaders of the 27 nations in the European Union have a working dinner at which they will discuss the selection of their first president and foreign minister.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is an unannounced candidate to be the European Union’s first president. But his bid has faltered. He has a great deal of baggage from the Iraq War. He’s also too liberal for much of Europe, now dominated by the center-right. And he’s too big a superstar for the smaller countries, and for some of the larger ones, too, whose leaders have their own sizable egos. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to have complained that she didn’t relish the idea of having to listen all the time to “Mr. Flash.”
So the conventional wisdom is that the first president will be more of a convener than a power player. As a result, the colorless Belgian prime minister, Herman Van Rompuy, is reportedly the favorite.
But if Blair doesn’t become the president, a Blair protege is favored to become the European Union’s first foreign minister, an even more powerful post if someone like the Belgian takes the presidency and makes it a low-key office. That’s British Foreign Secretary David Milliband. The 44-year old was head of policy planning during Tony Blair’s campaign and the first four years of his prime ministership. Elected to the British parliament in 2001, he became the envirionmental minister, where he championed renewable energy and climate change issues. When Blair stepped down as prime minister in 2007, Gordon Brown then appointed Milliband foreign minister.
While the European leadership question plays out, Obama will be playing host to Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, who’s in Washington for the Jewish Federation of North America meetings. The Israel/Palestine question again seems intractable. Which is not a surprise here. The Israeli leader undoubtedly wants to talk about Iran, which has refused to sign the nuclear agreement its representatives negotiated in Vienna.
Iran has sent out many mixed signals on this. They haven’t entirely rejected the deal they agreed to at first. After a few swerves, their line now is that they want to negotiate “details.” Which means the entire thing.
Afghanistan, of course, is a dominant issue for Obama. It’s a very fateful decision he has to make, and he will hold more high-level talks this week on his latest Afghanistan strategy. Will he announce it before he goes to Asia? And after he travels to Texas for the Fort Hood memorial? That would make it a very action-packed week.
One good bit of news comes from Iraq. After some big terrorist bombings, Iraqi legislators were balking at planned national elections early next year. But over the weekend, they adopted legislation setting up the elections.
Yesterday at the White House, President Barack Obama marked the historic vote on the House floor for national health insurance reform.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 3:45 PM Pacific, Obama signs the Veterans Employment Initiative Executive Order in the East Room.
At 4 PM Pacific, he meets with Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu in the Oval Office.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Berlin today for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Other world leaders speaking at the festivities include Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, former President George H.W. Bush, former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, former Polish President Lech Walesa, and Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the late Soviet Union.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. As discussed last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is on his water victory tour around the state.
At 2 PM, Schwarzenegger holds a press conference at a vista point overlooking Friant Dam in the Central Valley.
He will hold a press conference with state Senator Dave Cogdill (R-Modesto) to sign part a part of the legislative package which he and others say is a big step to rebuilding California’s water system.
Cogdill was the very conservative party leader in the Senate who was ousted by far right senators upset when he helped broker a state budget compromise earlier this year.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START.One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $45 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
In a victory last night for President Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives narrowly passed landmark health care legislation to expand coverage to tens of millions who lack it and place tough new restrictions on the insurance industry.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama has returned to Washington from Camp David.
At 10 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks at the White House on national health care.
The House passed a national health care bill last night on a vote of 220 to 215 after Obama went personally to Capitol Hill to make a closing pitch.
All California Democrats voted for the bill. All California Republicans voted against it.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger will be signing the rest of the big California water deal this coming week, as well as appointing a new lieutenant governor, who I believe will be State Senator Abel Maldonado.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama condemns the despicable attacks at Fort Hood, honoring those who were killed and wounded.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Camp David this weekend.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8:30 AM Pacific, Obama addresses the House Democratic Caucus at the Cannon House Office Building.
The principal topic? National health care.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, Obama makes a statement to the press in the Rose Garden.
At 11:45 AM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart the White House on Marine One en route to Camp David.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House of Representatives will pass national health care this weekend.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, and then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Talking with Sky News on Friday, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, a former ambassador to the US and senior aide to Ariel Sharon, said that Israel is seriously considering air strikes to take out Iran’s nascent nuclear capacity.
This was an unusually frank, on-the-record comment by a top Israeli official with regard to an attack on Iran.
Obama continues deliberations on his latest strategy for Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election canceled due to his challenger’s complaint of ongoing massive electoral fraud.
Obama is also prepping for his big Asia trip, which begins next week.
Investigators examined Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan’s computer, his home and garbage Friday to learn what motivated the suspect, who lay in a coma, shot four times by two civilian police officers. Soldiers do not go about an Army base carrying weapons, which is why Hasan was able to wreak havoc in a way that would have been impossible in a combat zone.
We are all trying to make sense of the shootings at Fort Hood. Perhaps they are simply senseless. Perhaps not.
If this is correct, we have the beginnings of an explanation for this horrific tragedy. But only that.
The Army psychiatrist, and what an irony that is, may be an insane person who grabbed hold of an ideology to rationalize an erratic view of the world. He may be a homegrown jihadist. We don’t know if he acted alone or was prodded by others.
We do know that these acts do not represent mainstream Islam.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
Schwarzenegger will be signing the rest of the big California water package in various events next week.
He will also appoint a new lieutenant governor.
I expect that appointee to be State Senator Abel Maldonado.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START.One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. …
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $77.43 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $43 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Ex-neighbors of the Army psychiatrist reported to have shot 13 people to death at Fort Hood, Texas recall him as a nice and giving person.
** CALIFORNIA 2010: THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD HAS BEEN CLEARED.
Lloyd: What do you think the chances are of a guy like you and a girl like me… ending up together?
Mary: Well, Lloyd, that’s difficult to say. I mean, we don’t really…
Lloyd: Hit me with it! Just give it to me straight! I came a long way just to see you, Mary. The least you can do is level with me. What are my chances?
Mary: Not good.
Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred?
Mary: I’d say more like one out of a million.
Lloyd: So you’re telling me there’s a chance … YEAH!
From Dumb and Dumber.
Former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown has cleared the Democratic field for governor of California in 2010. Without so much as announcing his candidacy.
How that occurred is a story for another time. But for now, we’ll deal with non-serious reports of other challengers purportedly emerging.
They stem from consultants who won’t be hired by Brown — which is a very long list, actually, as Brown is the absolute antithesis of the consultant-driven candidate, since he knows politics far better than all but a few consultants and has a strong network of advisors, which the press has not yet gathered — and a few journos/bloggers who are either resentful, anxious for copy, or ideologically driven for some sort of ultra-left candidate who would have no more chance of becoming the next governor of California than do you.
Which does not include our old friend Willie Brown, the legendary former California Assembly Speaker and San Francisco Mayor, who keeps coming up with fanciful scenarios. Not that he is not really a supporter of the other Brown, mind you. He simply likes to mix things up.
Willie likes to keep things interesting, and focused on himself. So he has, for the past few months, floated a number of alleged challengers to the other Brown. Notably not mentioning Senator Dianne Feinstein, now chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, a post she’s worked toward for years, one of the key geopolitical offices on Planet Earth, and which is not, let me tell you, having worked with a senior member of that committee, granted to someone who runs off to run for some other office once it’s achieved. Feinstein, not incidentally, officiated at Jerry and Anne Brown’s lovely wedding ceremony.
Anyway, Willie Brown. He has recently floated Steve Westly, ex-eBay honcho, former state Controller, and current mega-Obama backer and greentech venture capitalist. And LA Congresswoman Jane Harman. And California First Lady Maria Shriver.
As it happens, I am in regular contact with Westly, often talking Beatles and Bond. Which is not true of Willie Brown. I know what he’s doing, and he’s not running against Brown. Quite the contrary. Shriver? Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger finds this amusing. She’s not running against Brown, either, which Willie would know, had he asked his pal Arnold. Harman? She’s not running for governor. She’s in a rather difficult Democratic primary re-election campaign. She couldn’t beat Brown if she tried for a hundred years.
Which brings us to a singularly non-serious report in Wednesday’s San Francisco Chronicle by reporter Carla Marinucci. Carla, who I have known for many years, has long been a regular conduit for lobbyist/political consultant Garry South. She also was the reporter recorded, unfortunately without notice, by Brown’s now ex-spokesman, in an effort to improve her reporting. Garry, who I’ve known since he moved to California in the early ’90s, was the chief strategist for a campaign which had no strategy — other than throwing right-leaning, anti-Brown spitballs — that of San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. Which was, needless to say, not how to do that campaign, to the extent that it existed.
Marinucci has produced numerous pieces reflecting Garry’s anti-Brown agenda, an agenda which may also be a front for Republican interests. Her latest report purported to reveal that there is a big anti-Jerry Brown move in the Democratic Party. It is, let’s be charitable, non-serious.
Carla’s hook is that former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg is emerging as a primary challenger to Brown. This is, to put it charitably, non-serious.
Hertzberg, who finished third in a race for LA mayor in 2005, was one of our volunteers in the Gary Hart for President campaign. Shortly after he became speaker, we met in what had been Willie Brown’s Capitol office, and he showed me the little heart-shaped pin I’d given him as a Hart campaign insider.
Bob is not running for governor, which I knew without asking. He’s focused on his group, California Forward’s, big governmental reform agenda. Nevertheless, thanks to Carla’s reportage, we talked yesterday, and here is his comment: “Oh, God no, I’m not running for governor!”
Marinucci in her San Francisco Chronicle report had elicited much the same quote, albeit not as pithy. Which, in her interpretation, meant that he was strongly considering running against Brown.
Hertzberg is not going to run against Attorney General Jerry Brown. Quite the contrary.
Buttressing, as it were, her reporting, Marinucci cited two blog reports which she presented as evidence of a mounting challenge to Brown.
The reports, actually, are quite the opposite, as a reasonable read of them reveals.
Then she cited a poll that she said showed big opposition within the party.
This poll, a term I use advisedly, is an Internet poll on the site of the California Majority Report. Which Marinucci reported is the web site for the state Democratic Party.
Which is, to put it simply, quite wrong.
The CMR is run by three Sacramento consultants, all of whom I know well. It is not the state party web site. Not by a long shot, as we all know well.
When I sent Carla an e-mail on this, she changed her report on the Chronicle web site. Naturally, I have a screenshot copy of her original report.
Here is what she wrote originally: “Indeed, a poll currently being taken by the California Majority Report — the state’s Democratic Party website — suggests that there’s a hunger among Democrats for other candidates.”
And here is what she changed it to after I told her she was dead wrong: “Indeed, a poll currently being taken by the California Majority Report — a state Democratic Party website — suggests that there’s a hunger among Democrats for other candidates.”
In both cases, she wrote: “The website poll shows 34 percent of the Democratic party respondents support Brown for the 2010 gubernatorial nomination — but 42 percent are “hoping someone else runs” and another 10 percent say they’re undecided and want additional candidates. (San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom had about 12 percent of that vote before he dropped out last week.)”
The irony is that her little change still makes her report dead wrong. The California Majority Report is still, in no way, shape, or form, a state Democratic Party web site.
In fact, there’s hardly any action there at all, as it goes days absent any posts from its principals or other writers.
In fact, the last two comments there are from me. And the first of those was posted in … September.
And the numbers in the poll have been the same for weeks now.
It doesn’t require actual reporting to know this.
** HUCKABEE IS THE LEADING GOP PICK FOR 2012. A new Gallup Poll shows that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee to be the strongest Republican choice to run against President Barack Obama in 2012.
Looking ahead to the 2012 presidential election, 71% of Republicans say they would seriously consider voting for Mike Huckabee. This gives Huckabee a slight edge over Mitt Romney (65%) and Sarah Palin (65%) in this early test of the strength of several potential Republican contenders. A majority of Republicans also say they would seriously consider voting for Newt Gingrich, but far fewer say they are currently ready to support the lesser-known Tim Pawlenty or Haley Barbour. …
The poll suggests that the appeal of these potential challengers to Barack Obama in 2012 at this point is primarily limited to the Republican faithful. Among all Americans, Huckabee and Romney perform better than the other Republicans tested, but only about 4 in 10 Americans say they would consider voting for either. …
In addition to gauging potential support for each candidate, the poll also asked Americans to say whether they think each is qualified to be president. Huckabee and Romney are the leaders in this respect, with about half of the public saying each is qualified. …
Thus, more Americans believe Huckabee (50%) and Romney (49%) are qualified to be president than say they would seriously consider voting for them (40% and 39%, respectively). The same is true for Gingrich, although there is a wider gap between the percentage who believe he is qualified (44%) and the percentage who would seriously consider supporting him (29%).
That is not the case for Palin, however. Thirty-three percent of Americans would seriously consider voting for her, but about the same number — 31% — believe she is qualified to be president. In fact, Republicans are more likely to say they would seriously consider voting for Palin for president (65%) than to say she is qualified for the job (58%). …
I like Huckabee. He is, however, like Palin, a creationist. And America in the 21st century will not elect a creationist as its president.
Gingrich is the author of alternative history novels. Which I have read, incidentally. He’s now being dinged by the right as being too “liberal.” Romney made his fortune as a corporate takeover artist, back when he was working with Meg Whitman, who hopes to be California’s next governor …
** ARNOLD’S BEST PICK FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR? ABEL MALDONADO. Who is Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger going to pick as California’s new lieutenant governor, now that the old one is in Congress? That’s a good question.
Here’s who he should pick: State Senator Abel Maldonado.
Why?
That’s easy.
Maldonado is a Republican. Schwarzenegger gets nothing picking a Democrat. Former Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg is already out of the picture.
More to the point, Maldonado is a moderate Republican. If Schwarzenegger is to leave a legacy of more sensible politics in an era of frequently silly hyperpartisanship, he needs to bring greater moderation to an increasingly far right California Republican Party.
Maldonado is also, clearly, a Latino. And Latinos are the future in California politics. Yet they have been absent in the top ranks of statewide elected leadership in this state supposedly focused on the future.
And Maldonado has been an Arnold ally. One he did not do much for when he ran for state controller in 2006.
That led to a bitter break between the two. More lately, however, Maldonado has made some tough votes for Arnold on the budget and other matters.
The rap on Arnold is that he is not loyal to his friends. Actually, he is. But frequently not in politics, oddly enough.
Making Maldonado California’s new lieutenant governor deals with all these issues.
Can he be confirmed? Sure.
President Barack Obama, closing yesterday’s tribal nations conference, shared his shock and sympathy with the victims of the Fort Hood shootings.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama signs the Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009 in the Oval Office.
At 11:35 AM Pacific, Obama visits Walter Reed Army Medical Center.
This was the previous duty station of the alleged Fort Hood shooter, an Army psychiatrist.
At 1:25 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Congressman-Elect Bill Owens of New York in the Oval Office.
Owens won a Congressional seat held by the GOP since the Civil War. How did he do it?
By being a reasonable person, and by not being caught in the middle of the GOP civil war between moderates and the far right.
He also supported national health care, with the public option, winning 49% of the vote in a seat held by Republicans since the Civil War.
Federal authorities last night searched the Killeen, Texas apartment of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the man believed to be responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base.
At 2:10 PM Pacific, Obama meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi says the House of Representatives will pass national health care on Saturday.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, and then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Israel regards this as typical Iranian stall ball.
Talking with Sky News earlier today, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, a former ambassador to the US and senior aide to Ariel Sharon, said that Israel is seriously considering air strikes to take out Iran’s nascent nuclear capacity.
This was an unusually frank, on-the-record comment by a top Israeli official with regard to an attack on Iran.
Obama continues deliberations on his latest strategy for Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled due to his challenger’s complaint of ongoing massive electoral fraud.
The UN is moving most of its foreign staff out of Afghanistan. This comes in the wake of last week’s deadly Taliban attack on UN staffers in Kabul.
In more good news, Iraq is talking about delaying its national elections now set for two months from now.
Obama is also prepping for his big Asia trip, which begins next week.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He signs the first pieces of the big California water package, those dealing with groundwater management.
At 10 AM, Schwarzenegger signs two bills at the Tujunga Wellfield Groundwater Recovery Project in Los Angeles, SBX7 6 and SBX7 8, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento).
Tonight Schwarzenegger celebrates First Lady Maria Shriver’s 53rd birthday.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START.One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. …
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $43 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama told Native American tribal leaders today that he is determined to reverse the federal government’s history of marginalizing and ignoring the plight of Indian nations.
** QUICK HITS. Speaker Nancy Pelosi says that her house of Congress will vote out national health care on Saturday. … A horrific set of shootings has occurred today at Fort Hood in Texas, home of the 1st Cavalry Division (in which my dad once served) amongst other units. There are 12 dead and 31 wounded. The three alleged shooters are all Army personnel, including an officer with an Arabic name, who is apparently a shrink. … The far right, led by the execrable Drudge Report, has already been quick to play up his name and implied religion. Not that the aptly named Drudge, once the de facto assignment editor for big media before his bias and ignorance were so well known, would know anything about any of this. … I’m sure that folks on the other extreme will talk up the evils of military service. We should know more before rattling on. We do know that the Fort Hood units have been heavily deployed in combat zones. … California GOP Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina, the ex-Hewlett Packard CEO, today rolled out eight Senate endorsements: Arizona Senator John McCain, Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Arizona Senator Jon Kyl, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski and Maine Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe. … Fiorina trails Senator Barbara Boxer by a wide margin and is locked in a dead heat in the GOP race with far right Orange County Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, who will benefit from the Tea Party crowd on the national right wing.
** NEW POLL: OBAMA NOW SEEN AS MOSTLY LIBERAL.A new Gallup Poll shows that President Barack Obama is now seen by most as mostly liberal in his policies.
This is in significant contrast to how he was seen when he was sworn in as president.
A majority of Americans now see President Barack Obama as governing from the left. Specifically, 54% say his policies as president have been mostly liberal while 34% call them mostly moderate. This contrasts with public expectations right after Obama’s election a year ago, when as many expected him to be moderate as to be liberal.
This finding comes from a USA Today/Gallup survey, conducted Oct. 16-19, which offers several indications that Obama’s public image has changed since his election last November. Much of that change is inauspicious for Obama.
Perhaps related to the re-evaluation of Obama’s ideological orientation, fewer Americans today than in April say Obama is keeping the promises he made during the campaign.
While most Americans say it is important to them that President Obama keep the promises he made during the campaign (82%), far fewer, 48%, currently believe he has done so. This represents a slide in support for the president on this measure since April, when nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) said he was keeping his promises.
For all the criticism of Obama from certain quarters of the left, he actually has lost no support amongst liberal voters. Where he has dropped is amongst moderate Democrats, independents, and, of course, Republicans.
Obama’s favorable rating, now 55%, is a more fundamental indicator of the post-election change in his image. Immediately after the election, 68% of Americans viewed Obama favorably. The figure rose to 78% around the time of his inauguration and registered in the mid- to high 60s from March through July. However, an early October Gallup survey showed the figure dropping to 56%, similar to the latest finding.
Among Democrats by ideology, Obama’s favorability rating has fallen mostly among moderate Democrats, from 97% to 84%, with a smaller dip among conservative Democrats, 78% to 72%. It has held steady at 97% among liberal Democrats.
This erosion of support for Obama among moderate Democrats (as well as among Republicans and independents) may correspond with the increasing percentage of Americans perceiving that Obama is governing from the left.
President Obama is not enjoying the same broad appeal and centrist image that he did in the afterglow of his election last November. Although a majority of Americans continue to view him favorably, this percentage has declined. The common perception that he would govern as a moderate has given way to a heightened belief that Obama’s policies are mostly liberal. (Interpreted in the light of Americans’ generally conservative leanings, this could be a problem for Obama politically.) And whereas in April most Americans believed he was sticking to the promises he made during the campaign, fewer than half now say that’s the case.
** GARAMENDI RESIGNS AS LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA. I don’t know who Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will appoint. However, it will not be anyone who is running for governor.
Here’s the resignation letter of the new Congressman, who won in a landslide in a Tuesday special election:
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
On Tuesday, November 3, 2009, I was elected to fill the vacant seat representing California’s 10th Congressional District.
Today, at 12:00pm EST, I will be sworn in as a member of the United States Congress. Therefore, effective at the time of my swearing in as a member of Congress, I resign my position as Lieutenant Governor of the State of California.
It has been an honor to serve the people of California as Lieutenant Governor, and I look forward to continuing to serve our great state in Washington, DC.
Sincerely,
JOHN GARAMENDI
Lieutenant Governor
An Italian court has convicted 23 Americans of abducting an Egyptian cleric, suspected of terrorism, and torturing him as part of an interrogation. This is the first trial concerning the CIA’s extraordinary renditions program. It’s all in absentia, of course.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has delivered opening remarks and is participating in an interactive discussion with tribal leaders at the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior.
At 8 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 8:40 AM Pacific, he receives his daily intelligence briefing in the Oval Office.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama and Vice President Biden have lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 10:40 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner in the Oval Office.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama meets with President Ian Khama of Botswana in the Oval Office.
At 12:40 PM Pacific, Obama meets with representatives of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in the Oval Office.
At 1 PM Pacific, he meets with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office.
At 1:50 PM Pacific, Obama delivers closing remarks at the White House Tribal Nations Conference at the Department of the Interior.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Obama continues deliberations on his latest strategy for Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled due to his challenger’s complaint of ongoing massive electoral fraud.
The UN says it will temporarily relocate 600 of its foreign staff based in Afghanistan. This comes in the wake of last week’s deadly Taliban attack on UN staffers in Kabul.
Obama is also prepping for his big Asia trip, which begins next week.
Hideki Matsui tied a World Series record with six RBIs as the New York Yankees won their 27th championship last night with a 7-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no planned public events today.
Presumably he is still celebrating from finally getting his big state water deal with the Legislature.
Legislative passage came very early yesterday.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START.One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. …
** ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER, JERRY BROWN, BILL CLINTON AND THAT CRAZY CALIFORNIA GOVERNORSHIP. … From my October 8th essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $46 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama is urging states to get their education policies in line with his administration’s reform priorities. And he has an economic incentive for them to do so: $5 billion in grants known as “Race to the Top.” California is moving forward on this.
** QUICK HITS.AARP is coming out for the national health care bill put together by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. … To no one’s surprise, ex-Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina announced today that she’s running for the US Senate. She is tied in the Republican primary with far right Orange Conty Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, and trails Senator Barbara Boxer by a wide margin. … Look for this Cali GOP race to replicate the far right vs. moderate dynamic of that upstate New York Congressional seat that fell to the Democrats last night. … Speaker Nancy Pelosi will hold a ceremonial swearing-in for Congressman-elect John Garamendi tomorrow afternoon on the House floor to fill the 10th district seat of California left open when Ellen Tauscher resigned to become the Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Affairs. … That will vacate the lieutenant governorship. I’ not sure who Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will appoint.
The package went from $9.9 billion in bonds to $11.1 billion this week as liberal legislators added more money for water recycling and conservation programs. Can California afford it?
“This is without any doubt the most comprehensive water infrastructure package that has passed here,” Schwarzenegger said.
Well, since the 1960s, that is, in the days of the late Governor Edmund G. “Pat” Brown.
The plan provides funding for new dams, groundwater cleanup, conservation and habitat restoration. It gives Schwarzenegger comprehensive tools to begin restoring the crucial Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and create a stable water supply for cities in Southern California and farmers in the Central Valley.
Lawmakers have wrangled for years over how to upgrade the water system. The problems became more acute this year when farmers faced a third dry year with less snowfall and new pumping restrictions to protect a delta fish.
Democrats and Republicans spent months hashing out a strategy intended to change how water is used in California and how to better manage the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
The water plan includes creation of a seven-member governing council to oversee the delta that funnels fresh water from Northern to Southern California, where most of the state’s population lives. The maze of earthen levees is susceptible to earthquakes that could halt pumping for months. Federal courts and agencies have ordered reductions in pumping to protect the delta’s collapsing ecosystem.
Legislators want to require California cities to use 20 percent less water by 2020, although large urban areas such as Los Angeles and San Francisco would not have to meet such a high threshold because per-capita water use is lower than other parts of the state.
In his statement issued at 6 AM, which you can read below, Schwarzenegger singled out state Senate President Darrell Steinberg, a prominent Obama backer, for his leading role in making it happen.
President Barack Obama and European leaders speak after a meeting yesterday at the White House where they discussed Afghanistan, climate change, the global economy and other topics of mutual interest.
** OBAMA’S OFF TO A VERY GOOD START.One year ago, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. Is his presidency delivering on the promise of his candidacy? Yes. I think he’s off to a very good start. But I’m not doing handstands.
I keep Obama’s book containing his campaign program, Change We Can Believe In, on my desk. Is Obama doing what he said he would do? Yes, mostly.
It’s important to be clear about something. Obama is not a left-wing politician; he’s a center/left politician. That’s clear when you examine what he ran on last year. He ran on a center/left platform, not a left-wing platform.
Many on the left and the right, either through misunderstanding or pursuit of their own agendas, get this wrong. Each wing imagines (or pretends to imagine) that Obama is a lefty, and alternately prods and assails him on that false basis.
But let’s not clear space on Mount Rushmore just yet. …
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington and Wisconsin today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has also participated in a credentialing ceremony for foreign ambassadors in the Oval Office.
At 8:15 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 8:30 AM Pacific, Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base on Air Force One en route to Madison, Wisconsin.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan meet with students at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 11:30 AM Pacific, he delivers remarks on strengthening America’s education system at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin.
At 12:55 PM Pacific, Obama departs Madison, Wisconsin.
At 2:40 PM Pacific, he arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 2:55 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White House.
At 4:15 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host an event celebrating classical music in the East Room.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Obama continues deliberations on Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled.
Republican Chris Christie, a former corruption-busting prosecutor, unseated the deep-pocketed but very unpopular Governor Jon Corzine on Tuesday in a bruising contest that focused on New Jersey’s ailing economy.
Things did not go well yesterday for Obama in elections in New Jersey and Virginia, where both Democratic candidates lost.
Virginia was long expected.
But Obama tried to help Governor Jon Corzine pull things out over the weekend in New Jersey, where the former Wall Street mogul had become quite unpopular. It didn’t happen.
Obama has good job approval ratings in both states, so his coattails, at least for a weak candidate (Virginia) and an unpopular candidate (New Jersey) proved non-existent.
Things went better in Congressional special elections.
In California, Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi easily won a Bay Area seat, as expected.
In upstate New York, the Democrats picked off a seat long held by Republicans, taking advantage of the bitter fight between right-wingers and moderates.
Vice President Joe Biden went head to head on the day before the election with Sarah Palin again, and helped win the seat.
Obama also monitored the New York city race in which independent Mayor Michael Bloomberg narrowly defeated the Democrat, despite record-setting spending (Obama was effectively neutral in that race), and the Maine initiative to repeal that state’s gay marriage law, which did pass.
NOTE: SCHWARZENEGGER WATER WEBCAST NOW AT 11 AM.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger lengthy private talks in and around the Capitol paid off early this morning with the passage of a big California water deal.
Schwarzenegger hailed the legislative passage early today:
“Water is the lifeblood of everything we do in California. Without clean, reliable water, we cannot build, we cannot farm, we cannot grow and we cannot prosper. That is why I am so proud that the legislature, Democrats and Republicans, came together and tackled one of the most complicated issues in our state’s history. This comprehensive water package is an historic achievement.
“I particularly want to applaud the leadership of Senate President Darrell Steinberg. He has been a tireless leader, a relentless advocate for the environment and a true statesman.”
Schwarzenegger will hold a press conference to discuss the legislature’s passage of the package to reform and rebuild California’s water system today in the Capitol at 10 AM.
This afternoon, he tours Electric Vehicles International and announces the opening of their new worldwide headquarters and manufacturing facility in Stockton.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $47 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel marked the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — which is still a few days off — on Tuesday in a speech to Congress urging the world to “overcome the walls of the 21st Century.”
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF OBAMA’S ELECTION.
** QUICK HITS. The Virginia governorship is going easily, according to exit polls, to Republican Attorney General Bob McDonnell. He has the right office, which he won by less than 400 votes from last time from Democratic gubernatorial nominee, state Senator Creigh Deeds, he kept Sarah Palin away, and he racked up bipartisan endorsements. … Exit polls, like earlier polls, say New Jersey’s governor’s race, featuring unpopular incumbent Jon Corzine, is tight. … The Maine anti-gay marriage initiative may be in trouble with a bigger than expected turnout, especially amongst younger voters.
** SCHWARZENEGGER SPEAKS. (FROM THE YEARLY WILLIE BROWN BREAKFAST IN SAN FRANCISCO.)
WILLIE BROWN:
When seeking reelection one of the first stops that he made was right here. He won the job in 2003 and one of the first telephone calls he made was to me to say, “You didn’t beat me. Now you have to join me. I want you on my transition team.” And when I told him that we were doing this event again he said, “I’m interrupting my schedule to come by and say hello.” Ladies and gentlemen, the governor of the state of California, the Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Applause)
GOVERNOR SCHWARZENEGGER:
Well, thank you very much for this nice welcome and thank you very much, Willie, for inviting me to speak here today. Of course, you can never turn down Willie. Whenever he asks you for anything you just say yes, Willie, I’ll do it. I have been doing this for every year since I have become Governor, you know and he has been an extraordinary friend and has been very helpful at my administration, so I really appreciate that. Let’s give a great hand to the man that organizes this event, Willie Brown. (Applause)
We have all kinds of interesting people and they maybe have been introduced, I don’t know but I just got here. So I just wanted to say it’s great to see you, Treasurer Bill Lockyer, here. Thank you very much for being here. Then Attorney General Jerry Brown — I don’t know if he stayed. Oh yeah, he’s right here. Hi, Jerry. (Laughter) He’s so tanned. (Laughter) You must be working hard. (Laughter) But anyway, it’s also great to see Steve Poizner. Where is Steve? He’s right here. I never can find you. There you are. Tom Campbell, is he still here? Yes, right here, Tom Campbell.
And, of course, my friends George and Charlotte Schultz are here today. Charlotte, of course, is extraordinary. Yesterday she did such an unbelievable job in having His Highness the Aga Khan be coming for a visit and of course Charlotte has organized the whole thing, the big, big event and the luncheon and all of those things. She does an outstanding job. And of course George has been a dear friend and very helpful in my administration. He’s a mentor of mine and a great, great advisor. And so let’s give a big hand to all of the special guests that are here today. (Applause)
And I know that there are 27 — Willie told me there are 27 elected officials that are here today also, right? We want to say welcome to them all. And I don’t know all the names, Willie didn’t give me the card. He maybe doesn’t care about you but I mean — (Laughter). You know, I actually wanted to mention all of those names but Willie says, “Forget them.” But anyway, so — (Laughter)
But anyway, I just wanted to come by. You know, I’m really excited about this audience, because I have been standing up here now for four minutes and no one has yet screamed out, “Kiss my gay ass.” (Laughter) I mean, this is big time, this is big time. I mean, things are happening here in San Francisco. I love it. (Applause) I love it. What a great audience. Maybe they wanted to behave because George Schultz is here, the secretary. (Laughter)
But anyway, I wanted to just come by here and talk about three things that are very important and that we need to get done here in California. But before I talk about those three things — which is water, our infrastructure, it’s just so important and then reforming our tax system and reforming education — I just wanted to say that I just came from Washington.
I was at the White House and doing a press conference with Vice President Biden. And the reason why I was back there is because they had a press conference announcing about the great success that the economic stimulus package has had on America and they wanted to have a Democratic governor standing there beside him at this press conference and a Republican governor.
And I, of course, was one of the first governors that came out and supported the economic stimulus plan because I don’t see it as a political issue. I see it as a people’s issue, I see it as a job issue. It’s about jobs, jobs, jobs, not is it a Democratic administration that came up with that idea or a Republican administration. And this is why I wanted to go back there and be supportive of the administration, because I think they have done an extraordinary job with this economic stimulus package. California has gotten a lot of money because of that and we have created or retained 110,000 jobs in California and we wanted to go back there and just let them know how much we appreciate that.
And, of course, the critics are saying that the economic stimulus package didn’t mean anything and it had no effect. I think they should tell this to the 62,000 teachers that it saved and kept their jobs here in California and also professors in higher education. And so I think it had a tremendous impact, not only in education but in green technology and also the billions of dollars that we got in infrastructure. So we got so far $18.5 billion of this money. There are $50 billion altogether coming our way and the rest is coming this coming year.
And, of course, I’m also negotiating with them right now about getting billions of dollars for high-speed rail because, as you know, that we are the first state that really has talked about high-speed rail and how important it is. (Applause) And I’m very excited about it. You know that this state has started already 10 years ago talking about high-speed rail and planning and now last year the people have approved $10 billion to start the high-speed rail project.
But there are $8 billion available in federal money and we want to get a lot of that money, because other states are talking about high-speed rail now also. But they really don’t talk or mean high-speed rail, because for them when it travels a little bit faster than the regular train, which is like 100 miles an hour or 120 miles an hour, they call it already high-speed rail but it’s not high-speed rail. We are the only ones really to talk about true high-speed rail where the train will go past 200 miles an hour, just like they do in China or in Germany or in Italy and in Japan and so on. So we are really looking forward to getting billions of dollars from the federal money, of part of that stimulus money also.
Now, the second thing that I wanted to talk about is water infrastructure. As you know, we have had a major, major challenge here in this state when it comes to water infrastructure. And the basic challenge always has been that 70 percent, 75 percent of the water comes from northern California and of course two-thirds of the people, 70, 75 percent of people, live in southern California. So the trick always was, how do you get some of this water from northern California to southern California? I don’t see it as that divisive of an issue, even though sometimes people say, why we should give water to the southern Californians? But southern California is part of California and northern California is part of California, so I think that one has to help each other in this case.
And so I think that Pat Brown was a great visionary. Pat Brown was the one that was very much in charge and created the great infrastructure of California that we have still been living off. And he created the water infrastructure because of the great challenges, which was called the State Water Project, which is a 600-mile maze of canals and dams and pumps through the middle of California all the way down to southern California.
However, one of the very important parts and important pieces of the puzzle really never got built, which was the canal. And he had, in his plan there was a canal that goes around the Delta in order to protect the Delta and to protect its ecosystem. But that never was built because California ran out of money in the late ’60s and then during the Reagan administration they got into a big battle on who should pay for what. And so the federal government, you know, felt that they shouldn’t pay for it, California felt the federal government should put in some money and so in the end the canal never really was built.
And since then, you know, it was a huge holy water war, for decades, for the last four decades. And it was everyone going against everybody. I mean, you saw the — it’s pitting north versus south, rural versus urban and environmentalists against businesses and farmers and so on and it was a disaster. And we became paralyzed here in this state and I think, because of that, nothing got done.
And, of course, it was part of an initiative in 1982 and it was defeated, to build the canal. And since then, again, everyone was kind of frozen on this whole thing. And I have talked about rebuilding our infrastructure here in California and we have, you know, won on the ballot initiative a lot of the infrastructure that I proposed. But I proposed $68 billion and only 42 billion has really been passed by the people of California and also by the legislators and so what was left behind really was to build more prisons cells and to build the water infrastructure.
And now we are back again. I think there is a lot of great, great work that is being done in Sacramento. But in the meantime, the Delta has been dying, federal judges have been turning off the pumps, farmers can’t plant crops and building permits are being denied. And this, of course, all hurts business, it hurts our businesses here in California. And these are all self-inflicted wounds, just because the legislature never got its act together for the last four decades to really start get going and to build the water infrastructure.
And so this is why it is very important now to recognize these are self-inflicted wounds. It has nothing to do with the economic slowdown or with the recession or anything like that. And that we have to get, you know, everyone together, Democrats and Republicans together. And I’m very happy to say that they are working together now, Democrats and Republicans in Sacramento and it’s very encouraging of the development that is going on.
Of course we are talking here about two issues, which is the bond issue and also policy bills that have to be passed, which is about fixing and creating above-the-ground and below-the-ground water storage, building the canal, fixing the ecosystem in the Delta, fixing the Delta itself. And also making sure that we go and monitor the groundwater and clean the groundwater, because we have a lot of chemicals now in the groundwater and it’s totally unacceptable, so that has to be part of that water infrastructure package.
And also, we are revisiting the water rights, which as you know are more than 100 years old. So those are all the things that are part of this overall package here. It’s a very comprehensive package.
And I’m very happy to say that last night the Senate passed the infrastructure bond part of this whole package and is now lobbing it over to the Assembly. And the Assembly now, at 9:30, is in session to go and to hopefully pass that bill and to pass also the policy part and lob it over to the Senate, where they hopefully approve it. So all of this is going to go and happen this week.
If that all works out, which I think it will, this will be a historic accomplishment by the legislature. I just want you to know, because we criticize the legislature a lot of times because they are slow. They are slow in things and this is just because the way it works in California because it’s very divisive, the way the system is set up, you know, with the redistricting. And we have talked about it and luckily California has passed redistricting reform so we’ll get Democrats and Republicans closer together. And then eventually, next year, there will be also be open primaries. And I hope that you all vote for that, because all of that will bring Democrats and Republicans closer together, rather than the way it is now, where they are so far apart because of the redistricting the way it works.
But you know, I’ve very happy that they are now getting the water done. And then, of course, after that we have other challenges that are ahead of us but I think this is a historic thing.
And then, of course, I want to also mention that it’s not over when the legislature passes that, because then it will go on a ballot and the people will have to approve. I don’t know what the number ends up being but it’s somewhere between $9.5 and $10 billion. The people then have to approve that.
So next November, in November of 2010, it will be on the ballot and again you will see Democrats and Republicans going up and down the state of California and campaigning for these measures, because that’s what the people want to see. When they see Democrats and Republicans campaign together usually the initiatives pass and this is why it is so important to do that. So this challenge, all of those challenges will be ahead of us.
The other thing that I wanted to talk about briefly is education reform. I think that it is very important that we get some of this economic stimulus money that the Obama administration has put out there, $4.3 billion for the Race to the Top. This is billions of dollars that are available for the states. And we, of course, this state is not competitive right now because we cannot even compete for that money because there are certain laws that still have to be passed.
I think the legislators have done a good job on passing two of the laws, which is tearing down that firewall that prohibits linking student achievement data to teachers’ evaluations. There was always, between the teachers’ performance and the students’ performance, there was always a firewall that didn’t allow us to link the two together. But now, for the first time, the legislators have passed that bill and now we can link the two together, which is very important.
And also providing greater opportunities for our students. Up until now the way it was, was that when students were stuck in a low-performing school they couldn’t get out. They needed the permission from the principle. But now we changed that law. Not only can they get out of that school and go to another school but they also can go to another district, which is a huge breakthrough for the state of California. It’s something that certain elements and special interests have fought for many, many years but now we broke through that.
And I think it is because, again, of the Obama Administration and because of Arne Duncan, who is the secretary of Education in Washington. And he has given us that extra push, because this is something, that those are laws that we tried to get passed over the last few years and couldn’t. But they gave us that extra push and gave that extra push to the legislators, because there’s money involved. And so I think that was an additional inspiration to the legislators so we can compete for these billions of dollars, so I think that that was a really great breakthrough also.
The other thing that I wanted to talk to you about is our inadequate tax system. It’s an outdated tax system and it’s a horrible tax system and the reason why I’m saying this is because our current system is just too volatile. We have seen again in this recession what has happened, exactly the same as has happened in the last two decades in California, that when our economy goes down just a little bit, which means that instead of increasing our economic activities by five percent, which usually is the case in California, it increased only by two percent. But because of that drop of three percent we have seen a drop in our revenues by 28 percent. …
Now, we had to raise taxes because of that. That makes a lot of people angry, when you raise taxes. And then we had to make severe cuts across the board on all of the programs, which also makes a lot of people angry. And this is why you see the poll numbers now of the legislators and myself being way down, because the people are basically angry. …
And I have to tell you that one of the reasons, what made me interested in becoming governor is not to take on the little challenges, anyone can do that but to take on the big challenges. Like rebuilding California was one of those big challenges because it hasn’t been done for four decades. Or, you know, reworking and reforming the system in such a way so it is workable. There are so many things, if it is in water or if it is in building infrastructure and roads, or affordable housing, or the levees and all of those things. They just couldn’t do it in California. But we came in and we started doing that and moving it in that direction. The same is again with the tax system. It’s a very difficult thing to do but we are going to get it done.
And so this is why I think it’s very important that Democrats, again and Republicans work together on that and go and look at it and say OK, this has been a problem for decades, so let’s get it done. And so this is why I urge the legislators, both parties, to work together on this very important issue.
So anyway, I just wanted to run some of those big challenges by you. I also wanted to let you know that even though people ask me all the time, aren’t you regretting now to not having done Terminator 4 (Laughter) and make another $30 million? And that you have stepped into this arena and have become governor with all those headaches and the recession and the problems left and right and negative stories in the press and all this?
And I always tell them no, not at all. It is such a great honor for me and such a great pleasure for me to do this job and to give something back to our state. Because the bottom line is that even though yes, I missed out on the $30 million for Terminator 4 and, you know, each year I could have done a movie. And you know, running for governor and doing all those initiatives, I had to actually spend a lot of my own money. As a matter of fact, I had to spend $32 million of my own money. My wife is going nuts about all of this. (Laughter) That’s why even though, no matter how many times Willie Brown writes about that my wife should jump into the race for governor, she will never do it. Just alone when she looks at the dollars that are involved, she will never do it, trust me.
But I can tell you that it has been such a pleasure doing this job. Every day it’s exciting to get up in the morning and say I’m going to work for the people of California, because the reality of it is that I wouldn’t be in this position and I wouldn’t have been able to be as successful in bodybuilding, winning 13 World Championship titles and doing all of the movies that I have done and working my way up being a leading guy and making the most money of any actor in the history of the world. (Laughter) It was all because of California, all because I came here. I could have gone to any other place in the world. It’s because of coming here. (Applause) So I love my job, I love giving back to the state.
Thank you very much for having me here and thank you, Willie Brown, for the great, great invitation here. Thank you.
** WILL MERKEL BACK BLAIR? German Chancellor Angela Merkel met today with President Barack Obama. Relations between the two nations have been a bit frayed of late, as Germany is heavily dependent on Russia for energy and there is unfinished business between the two great powers, Russia and America.
Left unclear at the noon hour is how successful the president was in lobbying for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to become the first president of the European Union.
Despite earlier signals, Merkel has emerged as the principal roadblock to a Blair presidency. Which would be helpful to America in geopolitics.
President Barack Obama says the economy is back from the brink and on the right track during a meeting with his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
He has also met in the Oval Office with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and held a press availability with her.
At 7:30 AM Pacific, Merkel addresses a joint session of Congress.
At 8:35 AM Pacific, Obama meets with His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in the Oval Office.
At 11:05 AM Pacific, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 11:40 AM Pacific, Obama participates in the U.S.-European Union Summit in the Cabinet Room.
At 1:30 PM Pacific, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with Secretary of Defense Bob Gates in the Oval Office.
The topics? The Afghanistan strategy review, the latest on the Pakistani offensive against the Taliban, and the Iranian nuclear crisis.
At 2:15 PM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Nebraska Senator Blanche Lincoln in the Oval Office.
The principal topic? National health care. She’s an opponent of the public option.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.” Which is typical Iranian stall ball.
Obama continues deliberations on Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled.
Virginia and New Jersey vote today for governor.
Obama also monitors statewide elections in New Jersey and Virginia, the city-wide election in New York City, and Maine, where an anti-gay marriage initiative is on the ballot.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private talks in and around the Capitol today on the big proposed California water deal.
A portion of the water legislation passed the state Senate last night. However, there is a long way to go, so don’t get too excited yet.
Schwarzenegger will also speak early this morning at the Willie L. Brown Jr. Institute on Politics and Public Service breakfast annual breakfast in San Francisco.
He will be joined by former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown, the de facto Democratic nominee for governor in 2010.
GOP gubernatorial hopefuls Tom Campbell and Steve Poizner are also scheduled to speak.
Former eBay CEO Meg Whitman won’t speak.
** IT’S NOVEMBER 22, 1963 ON MAD MEN. “Everything’s going to be okay.” — Don Draper
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF.President Barack Obama is fixing to reveal his latest strategy for Afghanistan, perhaps after the election a week from Friday. He appears to be preparing to split the difference. Perhaps he should be preparing to split the territory.
Afghanistan has a government, of a sort, but it doesn’t really have a nation. It won’t have a nation unless we build it. And there is no guarantee that, as the saying goes, if we build it, they will come. … From my October 29th column.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown came out this month, nearly at the same time that its director, Roman Polanski, was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing Los Angeles over 30 years ago following a downward guilty plea and brief imprisonment for unlawful sex with a minor.
Chinatown, the tale of a smart, tough detective investigating what he thinks, at first, is a simple case of infidelity in late 1930s Los Angeles, is my favorite film. On the surface, it’s a period detective picture, a big Hollywood movie with the trappings of film noir. Beneath, it’s much more. Armed with an alarmingly intelligent screenplay by Robert Towne, brilliantly cast from stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway down through the extras, the film creates its own mesmerizing world through evocative music, costuming, and production design.
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, Mr. Gits. But believe me, you don’t.” (Words to always keep in in mind, which I sometimes have not.) … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $43 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama welcomed Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s re-election with as much admonishment as praise. The Saturday run-off election was canceled after the top challenger withdrew, citing massive electoral fraud.
** QUICK HITS. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s finance director, Mike Genest, resigned today after four years of hard service. The veteran Republican blasted GOP gubernatorial hopeful Steve Poizner’s proposals as being non-serious. … Attorney General Jerry Brown’s communications director Scott Gerber resigned today. He caught a hostile reporter distorting remarks from the AG’s office, and presented a correct transcript to the San Francisco Chronicle, which had to change the story. However, he taped her without mentioning he was doing so. Can’t do that, even if your purpose is to maintain an accurate record of one’s own remarks.
** IT’S NOVEMBER 22, 1963 ON MAD MEN. “Everything’s going to be okay.” — Don Draper
President Barack Obama campaigned yesterday with New Jersey’s unpopular Democratic governor, Jon Corzine, a former Wall Street mogul who is in a very tight race in Tuesday’s election.
MONDAY MORNING QUARTERBACK.
This is a very big week in presidential politics, as President Barack Obama marks the first anniversary of his victory. I’ll have a special column on that.
His party also has important elections in Virginia and New Jersey, and Obama hopes to move national health care through one house of Congress as he holds a summit with leaders of the European Union and preps for his big tour of Asia next week.
In California politics, it might be a big week, if long-promised action on the state’s chronic water crisis happens. In the 2010 race for governor, favorite Jerry Brown settles in as the de facto Democratic nominee after finishing clearing the field last week. And the Republican hopefuls continue sniping at one another on the riveting question of which is most right-wing.
Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi will win a Bay Area special election for Congress on Tuesday occasioned by the president’s appointment of Ellen Tauscher as undersecretary of state for arms control. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger then appoints a new lieutenant governor, who must be confirmed by the Legislature.
Team O seems confident that national health care reform will be passed this week by the Hose of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi late last week unveiled a bill which has won support from her fractious party caucus, a bill which includes the public option.
Things are less upbeat in two off-year gubernatorial elections. Republican Bob McDonnell, the state’s attorney general — who has won quite a few Democratic endorsements — will defeat state Senator Creigh Deeds handily. Deeds lost to McDonnell in 2005 for attorney general by less than 400 votes. But state attorney general is the best office to hold, and the best from which to run for governor or senator.
In New Jersey, unpopular Democratic Governor Jon Corzine, the former Wall Street mogul, may pull out a win against Republican Chris Christie. Or he may not. Obama campaigned with Corzine yesterday.
Meanwhile, geopolitical crises simmer and bubble as Obama engages in more summitry this week prior to his big trip to Asia next week.
Iran seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated the week before last in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
Strange doings in the Islamic republic.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai’s rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out of the run-off election next Saturday.
Why? He says that Karzai refuses to make the moves necessary to make it a fair election. One-third of Karzai’s votes in the first election were thrown out due to fraud.
The Obama Administration today congratulated Karzai on his re-election. The run-off, you see, has now been called off. No sense risking lives for an election with no contest.
This is a serious problem for Obama, who is in the final stages of devising his latest strategy for Afghanistan.
He may not divulge his new Afghanistan strategy before he leaves for Asia next week. He seems to want more alternatives.
European leaders also descend on Washington this week, with the EU-US summit. The principal focus will be climate change.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is addressing a joint session of Congress and conferring with the president.
Will he press the case for former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to be the first president of the European Union? Merkel has emerged as the biggest roadblock to a Blair presidency.
With Blair as president of Europe, the US would have a big ally in global deliberations.
He, of course, remains highly controversial for his backing of George W. Bush in the invasion of Iraq and the war on terror. And many on the right distrust him because, while a man of the center/left, he is a social democrat. Though hardly a socialist.
In California, we’ll see if a big water program is approved. I know you’ve seen me write this before.
I’ll also explain later in the week much of how Brown finished clearing the Democratic field for governor of California. I’ve just noticed a very self-serving version dictated to a compliant blog by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s late strategist. It’s all Newsom’s fault. He’s lazy and incompetent.
Actually, no. In any event, Newsom is the same person he’s always been. It was obvious to me from the beginning that he had no chance against Brown.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8:10 AM Pacific, Obama meets with the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board in the Roosevelt Room.
At 11 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt of Sweden in the Oval Office.
Reinfeldt holds the presently rotating presidency of the European Union. Toorrow is the EU-US summit in Washington.
At 1 PM Pacific, he meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated last week in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, then said no to it. Now it says it wants to negotiate “details.”
This is typical Iranian stall ball.
Obama continues deliberations on Afghanistan, where President Hamid Karzai is officially re-elected with the weekend election now canceled.
Vice President Joe Biden is in New York state today, trying to help Democrat Bill Owens steal a congressional seat opened by the president’s appointment of its longtime GOP incumbent as secretary of the Army. This opened a huge fissure in the Republican party between moderates and the right-wing.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is still closed, nearly a week after Labor Day repairs came crashing down during the Tuesday evening rush hour. It may re-open this afternoon.
9:30 AM UPDATE: The Bay Bridge has reopened.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger holds private talks in and around the Capitol today.
He has no scheduled public events.
No legislative action yet on the big proposed California water deal, other than hearings.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF.President Barack Obama is fixing to reveal his latest strategy for Afghanistan, perhaps after the election a week from Friday. He appears to be preparing to split the difference. Perhaps he should be preparing to split the territory.
Afghanistan has a government, of a sort, but it doesn’t really have a nation. It won’t have a nation unless we build it. And there is no guarantee that, as the saying goes, if we build it, they will come. …
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown came out this month, nearly at the same time that its director, Roman Polanski, was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing Los Angeles over 30 years ago following a downward guilty plea and brief imprisonment for unlawful sex with a minor.
Chinatown, the tale of a smart, tough detective investigating what he thinks, at first, is a simple case of infidelity in late 1930s Los Angeles, is my favorite film. On the surface, it’s a period detective picture, a big Hollywood movie with the trappings of film noir. Beneath, it’s much more. Armed with an alarmingly intelligent screenplay by Robert Towne, brilliantly cast from stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway down through the extras, the film creates its own mesmerizing world through evocative music, costuming, and production design.
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, Mr. Gits. But believe me, you don’t.” (Words to always keep in in mind, which I sometimes have not.) … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $43 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
As expected, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, the only challenger left to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, officially withdrew from next Saturday’s run-off election, citing ongoing massive fraud.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey today.
Obama is going all out today to secure the re-election of New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine, who is in a tight race on Tuesday. The Republicans will re-take the governorship of Virginia.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 8:55 AM Pacific, Obama departs the White House on Marine One en route to Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Air Force One.
At 9:10 AM Pacific, Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base en route to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
At 9:55 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Philadelphia.
At 10:20 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at an event for Governor Corzine in Susquehanna, New Jersey.
At 11:25 AM Pacific, Obama departs Philadelphia on Air Force One en route. Newark Liberty International Airport.
At 11:55 AM Pacific, Obama arrives in Newark, New Jersey.
At 12:25 PM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks at an event for Governor Corzine at the Prudential Center in Newark.
At 1:20 PM Pacific, Obama departs Newark, New Jersey on Air Force One en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
At 2:10 PM Pacific, Obama arrives at Andrews Air Force Base, where he boards Marine One.
At 2:25 PM Pacific, Obama lands on the South Lawn of the White Hose.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran is now saying it wants to continue negotiating on the nuclear deal its negotiators accepted, and which it more recently said no to. The Iranian signals on this are rather chaotic.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai’s rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, today said officially that he will not participate in the run-off presidential election next Saturday.
This is a serious problem for Obama, who is in the final stages of devising his latest strategy for Afghanistan.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Israel this weekend for talks on the Palestinian peace process and the Iranian crisis.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama says that, while there is nothing to celebrate until job numbers turn around, the recent dramatic turnaround in gross domestic product is a sign of better things to come.
Happy Halloween!
I’m wearing my Don Draper costume this year …
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
At 3:35 PM Pacific, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama greet trick or treaters at the North Portico.
Ah, how did those darn kids get in?
At 4 PM Pacific, the Obamas attend a Halloween reception in the East Room.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated last week in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, has now said no to it.
Strange doings in the Islamic republic.
In Afghanistan, President Hamid Karzai’s rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, says he will boycott the run-off election next Saturday.
Why? He says that Karzai refuses to make the moves necessary to make it a fair election.
One-third of Karzai’s votes in the first election were thrown out due to fraud.
This is a serious problem for Obama, who is in the final stages of devising his latest strategy for Afghanistan.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger joined Vice President Joe Biden and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley yesterday in Washington to talk up the Obama economic program.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Los Angeles today.
He has no scheduled public events.
No legislative action yet on the big proposed California water deal.
Schwarzenegger is back from a whirlwind trip to Washington, where yesterday he held a press conference with Vice President Joe Biden to discuss actions to stimulate the economic recovery, and New York, where he participated in a charity auction with Audemars Piguet.
Schwarzenegger holds a private fundraiser today for his friend, Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
Crist is running for the Senate in Florida, and is the favorite.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF.President Barack Obama is fixing to reveal his latest strategy for Afghanistan, perhaps after the election a week from Friday. He appears to be preparing to split the difference. Perhaps he should be preparing to split the territory.
Afghanistan has a government, of a sort, but it doesn’t really have a nation. It won’t have a nation unless we build it. And there is no guarantee that, as the saying goes, if we build it, they will come. …
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown came out this month, nearly at the same time that its director, Roman Polanski, was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing Los Angeles over 30 years ago following a guilty plea and brief imprisonment for unlawful sex with a minor.
Chinatown, the tale of a smart, tough detective investigating what he thinks, at first, is a simple case of infidelity in late 1930s Los Angeles, is my favorite film. On the surface, it’s a period detective picture, a big Hollywood movie with the trappings of film noir. Beneath, it’s much more. Armed with an alarmingly intelligent screenplay by Robert Towne, brilliantly cast from stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway down through the extras, the film creates its own mesmerizing world through evocative music, costuming, and production design.
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, Mr. Gits. But believe me, you don’t.” (Words to always keep in in mind, which I sometimes have not.) … From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” Considering that he is the most recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama is in a seemingly curious set of positions. He’s spurred major military offensives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been deeply enmeshed in a tense stand-off with Iran.
There are many complex things to be said about each of these situations, which are all interrelated with not only one another, but also US relations with such challenging countries as Israel and Russia. But let’s start with the basic versions. …
Obama is in the thicket of “Afghaniranistan,” a multi-faceted complex of geopolitical crises. He is actively using military force in two of the countries, and has threatened, at the least, tough sanctions in the third. (The Obama Administration also recently accelerated the development of advanced bunker-buster bombs, suitable for use against, say, underground nuclear facilities.)
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Friday at $77 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $43 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama announced that former Senators Chuck Hagel, a Republican, and David Boren, a Democrat, have agreed to serve as co-chairmen of the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board. The previous members, who included former California Governor Pete Wilson, all appointed by former President George W. Bush, agreed to resign en masse when Obama took office.
** FLASH — IT IS THE DAY FOR GAVIN. HE’S GONE, AS REPORTED FIRST ON NWN. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom dropped his longshot bid for governor of California at 3 PM today.
Frankly, despite all the hype from a credulous local press, he never had a chance.
This leaves Jerry Brown, already the favorite for the governorship in 2010, as the de facto Democratic nominee.
The field has been cleared.
As long anticipated on NWN.
There’s a lot more to say. But I’ve already said it.
** IS THIS THE DAY FOR GAVIN? Rumors are flying that San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will drop his longshot bid for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination.
I don’t know for sure if he’ll do it today. However, the end of his candidacy is only a matter of time. One way or the other.
Also on hand was Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley, an old colleague of mine from the Gary Hart for President days. A great guy. Marty was an advance man, which I think is one of the best ways to get politics.
Hey, how come I’m not governor of a mid-Atlantic state?
Anyway, I digress.
The Obama administration on Friday touted reports of 640,000 stimulus jobs, the latest economic numbers and the backing of a Republican governor to try to undercut GOP attacks on the effect of its massive $787 billion package.
Reports to be released Friday afternoon will show that stimulus projects, such as highway and other infrastructure work, have directly saved or created 640,239 jobs, Vice President Joe Biden said. White House officials said a total of about 1 million jobs have been created or saved by the stimulus when taking into account the roughly 400,000 jobs that come from the economic effect of tax cuts, increased Pell Grants and other direct payments not measured in Friday’s reports.
“I can say, without fear of being contradicted by a responsible source, that so far we have created over a million jobs,” Biden said.
Biden also noted that the GDP grew by a 3.5 percent annualized rate in the third quarter of 2009, marking the first time the economy expanded since last year’s second quarter. Economists “left, right and center have attributed it to the Recovery Act,” he added. …
Republicans at every turn have cast skepticism on the stimulus’s positive effect. They’ve noted that the unemployment rate, less than 8 percent when President Barack Obama took office, is now at nearly 10 percent. …
Biden appeared Friday with California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, one of a handful of Republicans outside Washington who publicly pushed for the White House’s stimulus package.
“This is not something that is a Democrat issue here or a Republican issue; this is a people’s issue,” Schwarzenegger said. “It’s a jobs issue. It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs.”
Schwarzenegger also took on GOP suggestions that the stimulus reports have shown that the package hasn’t had much effect. He said the data to be posted Friday afternoon will show that California, struggling to close a $60 billion deficit, has seen more than 100,000 jobs as a direct result of the package, the most of any state.
“This is also what our numbers show,” Schwarzenegger added.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington today.
It’s a big AfPak day today.
Obama has received his intelligence and economic briefings and met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
Obama has also signed the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009 in the Diplomatic Reception Room.
At 10:30 AM Pacific, Obama meets with the Joint Chiefs of Staff on Afghanistan and Pakistan in the Situation Room.
In addition to the president, here are the participants:
Vice President Joe Biden
Secretary of Defense Bob Gates
General James Jones, National Security Advisor
Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General James Cartwright, USMC, Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
General George Casey, Chief of Staff of the Army
General James Conway, Commandant of the Marine Corps
Admiral Gary Roughead, Chief of Naval Operations
General Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff of the Air Force
Tom Donilon, Deputy National Security Advisor
John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Counterterrorism and Homeland Security
Lieutenant General Douglas Lute, Special Assistant to the President for Afghanistan and Pakistan
Notice the heavy contingent from the Department of the Navy, nearly half the group.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan, conferring with that nation’s leaders.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Iran, which seemed, after a typical stalling tactic, to accept the nuclear deal it negotiated last week in Vienna, albeit with big caveats, has now said no to it.
Strange doings in the Islamic republic.
Obama is also monitoring the meeting of the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels. The group is discussing the powers of the first president of the European Union, who may be elected in the next few months by representatives of EU nations.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the leading candidate for president of the European Union. Blair, of course, is at once loved and hated, highly controversial for his role in backing America in the invasion of Iraq and the war on terror.
Blair’s candidacy, which he has not officially declared, is running into opposition from the left, for his former alliance with George W. Bush, and the right, because he is a social democrat.
He may also be too big a figure for the liking both of aspiring leaders on the world stage — who don’t like being overshadowed — and smaller countries, who fear that he will ignore them.
In any event, the European Union must decide whether it wants a real president or a sort of convener, as the duties of the office are not spelled out in the founding document.
The European Union is also running into trouble with regard to climate change. This is a bad sign for the Copenhagen conference in December.
The European Union is to provide finance for developing nations to help them cut greenhouse gas emissions. But Eastern European countries, never rich to begin with, are mired in deep recessions and don’t want to ante up.
Highly-regarded Los Angeles Police Chief William Bratton, the ex-New York police commissioner, is stepping down for a high-paying private sector job, raising fears that the department will suffer in his absence.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Washington today.
No legislative action yet on the big proposed California water deal.
Schwarzenegger holds a press conference with Vice President Joe Biden at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building to discuss actions to stimulate the economic recovery.
He holds another press availability at another site nearby a little later to address specifically California-oriented questions on the economy.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF.President Barack Obama is fixing to reveal his latest strategy for Afghanistan, perhaps after the election a week from Friday. He appears to be preparing to split the difference. Perhaps he should be preparing to split the territory.
Afghanistan has a government, of a sort, but it doesn’t really have a nation. It won’t have a nation unless we build it. And there is no guarantee that, as the saying goes, if we build it, they will come. …
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown came out this month, nearly at the same time that its director, Roman Polanski, was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing Los Angeles over 30 years ago following a guilty plea and brief imprisonment for unlawful sex with a minor.
Chinatown, the tale of a smart, tough detective investigating what he thinks, at first, is a simple case of infidelity in late 1930s Los Angeles, is my favorite film. On the surface, it’s a period detective picture, a big Hollywood movie with the trappings of film noir. Beneath, it’s much more. Armed with an alarmingly intelligent screenplay by Robert Towne, brilliantly cast from stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway down through the extras, the film creates its own mesmerizing world through evocative music, costuming, and production design.
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, Mr. Gits. But believe me, you don’t.” (Words to always keep in in mind, which I sometimes have not.) From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” Considering that he is the most recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama is in a seemingly curious set of positions. He’s spurred major military offensives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been deeply enmeshed in a tense stand-off with Iran.
There are many complex things to be said about each of these situations, which are all interrelated with not only one another, but also US relations with such challenging countries as Israel and Russia. But let’s start with the basic versions. …
Obama is in the thicket of “Afghaniranistan,” a multi-faceted complex of geopolitical crises. He is actively using military force in two of the countries, and has threatened, at the least, tough sanctions in the third. (The Obama Administration also recently accelerated the development of advanced bunker-buster bombs, suitable for use against, say, underground nuclear facilities.)
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $44 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
President Barack Obama spent early Thursday morning honoring the return of fallen soldiers. Obama attended the return of 18 soldiers killed this week in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
** QUICK HITS. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today unveiled a national health care reform bill that has won support throughout her fractious party caucus, including the public option. Some thought it couldn’t be done. I first met her at a party at her San Francisco home, back when she was Northern California chair of the party at the designation of Jerry Brown. … Iran “accepted” the nuclear deal negotiated last week in Vienna. But with such huge caveats that more negotiations will be needed. Which, I believe, is the point. I suspect Israel’s patience is running a bit thin. … LA Times columnist George Skelton reveals two giant falsehoods in ex-eBay CEO Meg Whitman’s radio ads. She’s already spent many millions trying to be the Republican nominee for governor of California. … The California press is noticing that organized labor is donating very heavily to the favorite to be the next governor of California, former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown. Lobbyist and political consultant Garry South’s candidate has been essentially ignored by labor. So he trashed labor’s significance and told a reporter, with regard to another campaign: “What happened with the major bunch-up behind that Democratic candidate, labor included, is you got an unelectable candidate,” South said. This is non-serious. Or has South forgotten that the candidate with whom he made his name, former Governor Gray Davis, was heavily backed by, yes, organized labor, which was critical to his election? Not really. He just thinks what’s left of the local press doesn’t know much. As in the case of the “big Bill Clinton endorsement,” actually part of a nationwide payback tour for Hillary backers.
** AFGHANISTAN, AGAIN: THE THICKET OBAMA’S NOT GETTING OUT OF.President Barack Obama is fixing to reveal his latest strategy for Afghanistan, perhaps after the election a week from Friday. He appears to be preparing to split the difference. Perhaps he should be preparing to split the territory.
Afghanistan has a government, of a sort, but it doesn’t really have a nation. It won’t have a nation unless we build it. And there is no guarantee that, as the saying goes, if we build it, they will come. …
But is V-R Day, not that he said anything like that, Victory over Recession Day or Virtual Reality Day? While unemployment is always a lagging indicator, employment is notably lacking in this recovery. The recession began two years ago, though many on the right denied it for most of 2008.
President Barack Obama said U.S. economic growth in the third quarter affirms that the recession is abating, adding that the nation has “a long way to go” to fully recover and reduce unemployment.
He said a Commerce Department report that the economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, after shrinking for four quarters, is “welcome news and an affirmation that this recession is abating.” It isn’t enough, he added.
“The benchmark I use to measure the strength of our economy is not just whether our GDP is growing, but whether we’re creating jobs, whether families are having an easier time paying their bills, whether our businesses are hiring and doing well,” Obama told business leaders in a speech on the White House grounds.
Washington policy makers are seeking to sustain the recovery from the worst recession since the 1930s and boost job growth. The unemployment rate reached a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September. …
The bigger-than-expected growth may strengthen Democrats in Congress, said House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who called the economic turnaround a response to Democratic fiscal and monetary policy. Economic growth weakens Republican arguments that Democratic priorities such as overhauling health care and limiting greenhouse gases should be put off until the economy improves, he said.
“They’re using the argument that this is a bad time,” Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said in an interview. The growth “undercuts that because it shows by the time these things go into effect we will be out of the recession.”
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Delaware and Washington today.
Early this morning, Obama made an unscheduled trip to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to honor the return of 18 soldiers fallen this week in Afghanistan.
As George W. Bush never did this, it’s the first occasion since 9/11.
Obama received his daily intelligence briefing onboard Marine One.
At 8:50 AM Pacific, Obama delivers remarks on the Administration’s plan to help small businesses at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building.
At 10:45 AM Pacific, Obama meets with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore in the Oval Office.
Lee is the architect and patriarch of Singapore, having served as its prime minister from 1959 to 1990, during which time the small city-state became a leading Asian Tiger. His son is Singapore’s current prime minister.
Singapore hosts the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, which Obama will attend, next month.
At 11:40 AM, Obama meets with Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy in the Oval Office.
At 12:45 PM, Obama meets with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 2:45 PM Pacific, Obama meets with representatives of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus in the Roosevelt Room.
Obama flew very early this morning on Marine One to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware for a solemn movement.
Obama is prepping today for his Afghanistan strategy session on Friday with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
National Security Advisor General James Jones is in Moscow today on a two-day visit to confer with top Russian leaders on the Iranian crisis, Afghanistan, NATO, and other matters.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is in Pakistan, conferring with that nation’s leaders.
Obama is monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq.
Obama is also monitoring the meeting of the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels. The group is discussing the powers of the first president of the European Union, who may be elected in the next few months by representatives of EU nations.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is the leading candidate for president of the European Union. Blair, of course, is at once loved and hated, highly controversial for his role in backing America in the invasion of Iraq and the war on terror. He’s a longtime favorite here on New West Notes, which has occasionally been referred to as New Labour Notes. Blair’s recasting of the sclerotic Labour Party as New Labour galvanized Britain and ended the right’s seeming lock on politics there.
Tony Blair is also the subject of a scathingly clever roman a clef novel — with an explosive conclusion — by ex-Blair friend Robert Harris called The Ghost. Roman Polanski, the director of Chinatown, made it into a movie starring former Bond Pierce Brosnan as “Adam Lang” and Ewan McGregor as the ghostwriter of his memoirs. However, it was not complete when Polanski was arrested in Switzerland, where he’s long had a home, on a 32-year old California sex charge. The movie was to have been released in February, when the formal British inquiry into Iraq, which begins in 26 days, is to wrap up.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is in Washington today.
Schwarzenegger will receive the National Park Trust – 2009 Bruce F. Vento Public Service Award for his role in preserving parks during California’s chaotic budget crisis.
This event is at the Newseum.
Schwarzenegger delivers remarks at 9:45 AM Pacific.
The National Park Trust cites Schwarzenegger for “his leadership and innovation in the protection of public lands in California and for his life-long commitment to children’s health and to connecting them with the outdoors.”
In the evening, Schwarzenegger attends a gala marking the opening of a new building at Georgetown University’s school of business.
First Lady Maria Shriver is a Georgetown grad, though not in business.
Schwarzenegger will deliver remarks, after which McDonough School of Business Dean George Daly will present Gov. Schwarzenegger with the school’s Dean’s Medal.
** CHINATOWN’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION AND THE POLANSKI SCANDAL. In one of the great ironies, the 35th anniversary edition of Chinatown came out this month, nearly at the same time that its director, Roman Polanski, was arrested in Switzerland after fleeing Los Angeles over 30 years ago following a guilty plea and brief imprisonment for unlawful sex with a minor.
Chinatown, the tale of a smart, tough detective investigating what he thinks, at first, is a simple case of infidelity in late 1930s Los Angeles, is my favorite film. On the surface, it’s a period detective picture, a big Hollywood movie with the trappings of film noir. Beneath, it’s much more. Armed with an alarmingly intelligent screenplay by Robert Towne, brilliantly cast from stars Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway down through the extras, the film creates its own mesmerizing world through evocative music, costuming, and production design.
“You may think you know what you’re dealing with, Mr. Gits. But believe me, you don’t.” (Words to always keep in in mind, which I sometimes have not.) From my October 23rd essay.
** OBAMA IN THE THICKET OF “AFGHANIRANISTAN.” Considering that he is the most recent winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, President Barack Obama is in a seemingly curious set of positions. He’s spurred major military offensives in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and has been deeply enmeshed in a tense stand-off with Iran.
There are many complex things to be said about each of these situations, which are all interrelated with not only one another, but also US relations with such challenging countries as Israel and Russia. But let’s start with the basic versions. …
Obama is in the thicket of “Afghaniranistan,” a multi-faceted complex of geopolitical crises. He is actively using military force in two of the countries, and has threatened, at the least, tough sanctions in the third. (The Obama Administration also recently accelerated the development of advanced bunker-buster bombs, suitable for use against, say, underground nuclear facilities.)
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY.(NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
This is up about $44 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
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