November 25, 2009
The Decision
President Barack Obama is reportedly close to announcing a way forward on Afghanistan, vowing yesterday to “finish the job” and allowing aides to say (without attribution) that a decision could be out early next week. For students of history, such as Bill Moyers–who was White House assistant to President Lyndon B. Johnson during the time he escalated the Vietnam War–Obama’s words will be listened to especially carefully:
I was 30 years old, a White House Assistant, working on politics and domestic policy. I watched and listened as LBJ made his fateful decisions about Vietnam. He had been thrust into office by the murder of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963–46 years ago this weekend. And within hours of taking the oath of office was told that the situation in South Vietnam was far worse than he knew.
What will Obama say about the conflict, now that campaign talk has given way to hard realities? What will he commit to and refuse to do? Will he propose to pay for any new troops with tax increases, spending cuts? How do the plans fit into the strategic vision for that region? Is Afghanistan linked in some way to Pakistan (as a modern-day “domino” in the larger Global War on Terrorism that cannot fail) or viewed in narrower terms? Will Obama level with us or give us spin?
For a look back at how one president made a similarly fateful decision, watch “Path to War,” a two-parter on “Bill Moyers Journal.”
November 24, 2009
Updated (Full Video) Frontline Investigates: The Credit Card Industry
Frontline on PBS and The New York Times team up tonight on a program exploring the credit card industry. From the press release:
It took the economic collapse in the fall of 2008 to set the stage for potentially historic change in the consumer credit business. President Obama and his team pushed through a credit card reform bill in May, and they’re now looking to establish a new Consumer Finance Protection Agency. But the banking and financial services industries contribute huge amounts of money to Congress — and the jury is still out on whether the new regulations can pass. “It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s a modest step,” says Harvard law professor Elizabeth Warren. “It’s a set of very discrete new laws. And the credit industry instantly set to work on how they could run around them. By itself, that set of rules won’t change the game.”
Watch a preview the whole show below (but remember, this isn’t cheap):
November 23, 2009
This Should be Fun
Tonight on “Surviving the Holidays with Lewis Black,” the cantankerous curmudgeon we all know and love gets us through the holiday in one piece. On the History Channel tonight.
November 20, 2009
Science Friday: Thanksgiving Edition
Heritage turkeys, unlike the commercial breeds, haven’t been selected for growth traits and thus grow slower. They are older when they are eaten, are fattier (flavor is stored in fat), and taste quite different. (And, perhaps because they are perceived as being organically and humanely raised, they sell for a higher price.) Gobble up below or here.
November 19, 2009
Jury Duty Today
I’ll be spending the day in the bowels of one of the least attractive buildings in D.C. Fun, fun!
But which (witch?) is worse, actual jury duty, or this, which took place yesterday from 2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.:
The University of New Haven (UNH) Legal Society will sponsor a lecture on the history and importance of jury duty with Jammy Davis from the Connecticut Jury Outreach Program. Davis will provide a brief history of jury duty dating back to the Salem witch trials and discuss the jury selection process, jury trials and the importance of participating in jury duty. A question and answer session will follow the presentation. This event is open to UNH students, faculty and staff.
I wonder how many university students blew off sleeping for that. Probably had them begging for a summons.