The Pakistani Army captured a key city from the Taliban over the weekend as the Obama-urged offensive continued.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama, following his Saturday date night in Manhattan with First Lady Michelle Obama, has no public events today.
Obama will likely discuss on Monday the imminent bankruptcy reorganization of General Motors
Obama is prepping for the second major international tour of his presidency coming up.
On June 3rd, Obama goes to Saudi Arabia for private meetings with King Abdullah and others.
On June 4th, Obama is in Egypt, where gives his long-anticipated major address to the Islamic world at the University of Cairo and meets with President Hosni Mubarak.
On June 5th, Obama is in Germany, where he tours the late Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald, visits wounded American troops at Landstuhl, and meets with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
On June 6th, Obama is in France for the 65th anniversary of D-Day. Obama meets with President Nicolas Sarkozy and – joined by Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper – speaks in Normandy.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no public events today.
Schwarzenegger is prepping a major address to the California Legislature on the state’s chronic budget crisis, turned chaotic by the global economic slump and voter rejection of special election initiatives.
It’s unclear how hard and fast Schwarzenegger is in his commitment to massive budget cuts he has recently outlined. But whether it’s these or others – with more tax hikes evidently off the table and a demonstrated need for speed due to a looming cash crunch – the general scale of the cut appears likely if not simply logical.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … TERMINATING THE DARKNESS?
In his weekend video/radio address, President Barack Obama discusses his ground-breaking appointment of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama has no public events today.
He is attending the soccer game of one of his daughters – the White House won’t say whether it’s Sasha or Malia — in Washington’s Palisades Park.
At 12:15 PM Pacific, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama depart the White House on Marine One, en route to Andrews Air Force Base.
From there, they travel on Air Force One to New York City, where they will spend the evening.
Obama is prepping for his big international tour next week, which will take him to Egypt (where he will deliver a major address to the Islamic world at the University of Cairo, co-hosted by Al-Azhar University, the world’s oldest Islamic university), Saudi Arabia, Germany, and France (where he will commemorate the 65th anniversary of D-Day).
Obama is also monitoring a few geopolitical crises.
Reviewing the North Korean situation, further exacerbated yesterday when North Korea launched yet another short-range missile. … North Korea set off what appears to have been an underwhelming nuclear device on Monday, prompting international condemnation. Obama put out a statement in the middle of the night on the move. And the UN Security Council, meeting in emergency session, thoroughly denounced it.
The Hermit State has launched several short-range missiles since then, further inflaming the situation. The missiles reportedly had a range of about 80 miles. North Korea has placed its forces along the border with South Korea on full alert, and threatens that any attempt to interdict any of its vessels to check for weapons of mass destruction will be considered an act of war.
Secretary of Defense Bob Gates is now in Singapore for a meeting with Asian defense ministers. He says he sees no reason as yet for additional US troops in the region. The US has 28,000 troops in South Korea. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg was dispatched by Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to accompany Gates to the already scheduled Singapore meeting of Asian defense ministers — which is called, in festive fashion, the Shangri-La Dialogue — to further discussion of the North Korean crisis. From Singapore, Steinberg will go to Beijing, Seoul, and Moscow to discuss next steps.
The Pakistani Army offensive against the Taliban, urged by Obama, is continuing, with more signs that Taliban forces are being disrupted and driven back in various places. There is house-to-house fighting underway in several cities.
And Pakistani forces, earlier today, have re-taken the largest city in Swat Valley, which had been essentially ceded to the Taliban in an earlier agreement with the government.
But Pakistan now has a sizable refugee crisis, with some 2.5 million people displaced from their homes. Many are staying with friends or relatives, but the country’s support system is strained nonetheless.
And jihadist terrorist attacks have multiplied this week.
The new Star Trek, the biggest movie in America so far this year, opens in Japan this weekend. Here is the TV ad, which manages to mention director J.J. Abrams, creator of Lost, twice. I met Abrams through his father, which is how you know you’re getting old.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has no planned public events this weekend.
Schwarzenegger is prepping for his major address on the state’s chronic budget crisis, now turned chaotic thanks to the global economic slump and last week’s defeat of the special election initiatives, to the California Legislature on Tuesday.
** THE AVOIDABLE TRAGEDY OF CALIFORNIA’S PROP 8. The California Supreme Court’s decision to uphold Proposition 8, last November’s successful initiative against same-sex marriage is all the more tragic in that the initiative never should have passed in the first place. …
The right to same-sex marriage will, in the end, win out. It’s the getting there that is messy. And it need not have been as messy as the passage of Prop 8, and its expected upholding by the California Supreme Court, has made it. …
Gay marriage opponents got a huge gift immediately from San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom’s comments. Newsom had enraged top national Democrats, including Senator Dianne Feinstein and Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, by unilaterally declaring same-sex marriage lawful in San Francisco in the midst of the 2004 presidential race. Though it was a move that was predictably easily overturned, national Republican strategists credited the furor it caused with playing a propulsive role in turning out huge numbers of fundamentalist voters in Ohio, the lynchpin of George W. Bush’s 2004 re-election. … From my new column.
** OBAMA’S NEW CALIFORNIA-BASED CLIMATE POLICY: SIX KEY THINGS TO KNOW. When President Barack Obama announced on Tuesday that he is making California’s standard for vehicle fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions the new national standard, he accomplished a number of things. … From my May 20th column.
** 24 AND THE TORTUOUS POLITICS OF TORTURE. The longtime hit TV series 24 has just wrapped a tumultuous seventh season in the midst of national debate about the past national policy of interrogation by torture of terror suspects. And, while 24 returned to past form as a crackling thriller, it’s done it in the midst of presenting a running debate about torture, mostly coming down on the side of torture.
Which, in its way, is appalling. There’s one thing, though. Torture may be more popular than many of us would like to think. … From my May 18th column.
** ANGELS AND DEMONS AND RELIGIOUS POLITICS. The sequel to one of the most controversial movies in recent memory is opening this weekend. And the collective response is a mild “hmm.” … From my May 15th column.
** WHAT DOES OBAMA’S AFGHAN COMMAND CHANGE MEAN? For the first such change in wartime since Harry Truman replaced General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War in 1951, Barack Obama is replacing General David McKiernan in Afghanistan. Obama is moving both to change a stalemated war in Afghanistan and to scale back expectations there. … From my May 13th column.
** THE HYPE FLU’S BIG FADE. Remember that big, dangerous swine flu threat that the cable culture was going on about round the clock, still scaring the sweat out of people a week ago? Why, it’s going to … er, never mind.
It was all very breathless and alarming. … From my May 11th column.
** STAR TREK‘S NEW COMING-OF-AGE SAGA FOR GENERATION O. Let’s get the straight-up politics out of the way up front. Barack Obama, as he says himself, grew up on Star Trek. And both the new Spock, young Heroes TV star Zachary Quinto, and the classic Spock, Leonard Nimoy, each of whom star in the new movie, backed him for president, with Quinto campaigning around the country. … From my May 8th column.
** OBAMA’S TROUBLED AFPAK SUMMIT. … From my May 6th column.
** 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 new 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, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, 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.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
You can listen to my recent video webchat with Schwarzenegger here.
** 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, crude oil closed on Friday at $66.31 per barrel. Energy markets are closed on the weekend.
This is up about $32 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, due in part to some positive economic signs and in part to geopolitical jitters over Pakistan and North Korea.
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| Comments (25) |
That’s another good Obama speech on Sotomayor.
The Japanese ad for “Star Trek” is pretty funny.
Is “Space entertainment” a Japanese phrase?
Appointing her is a great coup for Barack.
Jonas Blane says:
May 30, 2009 at 10:56 am
That’s another good Obama speech on Sotomayor.
The picture of JJ Abrams is the funniest part!
Jonas Blane says:
May 30, 2009 at 10:57 am
The Japanese ad for “Star Trek” is pretty funny.
They are appealing to Japan’s geek culture …
It is, as the Republicans are hung up on personal attacks that appear quite unseemly.
> Capitol Boy says:
May 30, 2009 at 11:26 am (Edit)
Appointing her is a great coup for Barack.
Jonas Blane says:
May 30, 2009 at 10:56 am
That’s another good Obama speech on Sotomayor.
Apparently so …
> Jonas Blane says:
May 30, 2009 at 10:58 am (Edit)
Is “Space entertainment” a Japanese phrase?
I know, it becomes monotonous …
> Jonas Blane says:
May 30, 2009 at 10:56 am (Edit)
That’s another good Obama speech on Sotomayor.
I think the Sotomayor appointment has the potential to further shrink the national Republican party. I note that her appointment has a significantly higher approval rating among Republican women than GOP men. Some of the woman who support the Sotomayor appointment could migrate away from the GOP if the GOP male attacks on Justice Sotomayor are seen as too shrill.
At the risk of commenting past the expiry date…I wish you could make the former Vice President disappear like…ahem…instead of your much anticipated new column, Bill. I guess patience will be the order of the day…on both counts!
New video today?
That’s good news from Pakistan.
This admittedly ignorant Westerner is not going to get too excited about the Pakistani army’s ability to bomb the Taliban out of one village (for now, anyway). It’s not yet clear to me how much of what is happening there is progress– the military and political weakening of the Taliban and Al Qaeda– and how much is wack-a-mole, wherein today’s military success, not backed up by political and economic stability, only angers the populace and drives the disenchanted into the arms of the Islamists. I am pleased to read of plans to increase non-military US investment in Pakistan.
More here.
Sotomayor is proving to be a brilliant political move by Obama. The worst (and least popular) aspects of the GOP’s conservative base have been put on full display, undoubtedly only accelerating the departure of women and latinos (and latinas) from the GOP.
Indeed.
Oh, it’s a lot more than one little village.
Sadly, one does not defeat the Taliban without major military action. They’ll be happy to take civilian aid.
> Clutch J says:
May 31, 2009 at 12:21 pm (Edit)
This admittedly ignorant Westerner is not going to get too excited about the Pakistani army’s ability to bomb the Taliban out of one village (for now, anyway). It’s not yet clear to me how much of what is happening there is progress– the military and political weakening of the Taliban and Al Qaeda– and how much is wack-a-mole, wherein today’s military success, not backed up by political and economic stability, only angers the populace and drives the disenchanted into the arms of the Islamists. I am pleased to read of plans to increase non-military US investment in Pakistan.
It is.
> Jonas Blane says:
May 31, 2009 at 11:39 am (Edit)
That’s good news from Pakistan.
Well, a national holiday weekend isn’t a good time to put that piece out. Then various things intervene, like the gay marriage decision, etc. These things don’t write themselves …
> Elizabeth Miller says:
May 31, 2009 at 5:56 am (Edit)
At the risk of commenting past the expiry date…I wish you could make the former Vice President disappear like…ahem…instead of your much anticipated new column, Bill. I guess patience will be the order of the day…on both counts!
The Limbaughs of the world just cannot help themselves …
> John Lovell says:
May 30, 2009 at 7:38 pm (Edit)
I think the Sotomayor appointment has the potential to further shrink the national Republican party. I note that her appointment has a significantly higher approval rating among Republican women than GOP men. Some of the woman who support the Sotomayor appointment could migrate away from the GOP if the GOP male attacks on Justice Sotomayor are seen as too shrill.
What new video today?
The demise of GM, and the rise of Up …
Incidentally, NWN passed 83,000 comments sometime in the past week.
ubcBK5 AKAIK you’ve got the answer in one!