What Kind Of Day Has It Been

International

• Pro-Assad demonstrators attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus, today. The attacks were clearly orchestrated by the Assad regime and clearer still a violation of international law. What happens when a state looses protesters to attack an embassy? It gets sued.
• In the wake of South Sudan's independence, the UN Security Council voted to end the UN peacekeeping mission there.
• Things keep getting worse for Rupert Murdoch.

Domestic

• Debt ceiling drama continues as President Obama today ruled out a short-term stopgap measure. But the GOP seems to be moving yet further from compromise--and its radical presidential nominees are saying crazy things. Here's an examination of the 1979 sort of default.
• Politicians on both sides of the aisle--but a few more Republicans than DFLers--in MN are continuing to cash pay checks while the rest of the State's employees are furloughed with the State government shutdown. 
• Palin still refuses your Editor's requests to just go away.
  

The Short List - July 11, 2011

International

• Tensions are rising between Afghanistan and Pakistan.  Meanwhile, a suicide bomber has killed six people in northwest Pakistan.


• Qaddafi's son alleges in an interview that his father's government is negotiating with France directly, which France denies.


• A high-ranking U.S. official met with Yemen's President Saleh in Saudi Arabia and urged him to step down.


• A horrendous blast at a military base in Cyprus has killed 11.


• The UN is calling for action to assist with the "worst humanitarian disaster" right now in Somalia, due to a drought.

Domestic

• The debt ceiling negotiations are set to continue today, the the parties still seem far apart and despite what was once a shared vision for a grand bargain, Speaker Boehner backed off of a major deal because it would likely have included $800 billion in tax increases, despite over all savings of over $4 trillion.  Paul Krugman reminds us(NYT) that much of our economic woes come in now small part from the excuses men (and women) create.


• The case for nuclear fusion research directed by the government.  Did we wait for private investment to start the Manhattan Project?


• Also, America F**k Yeah!  The U.S. women play in the semi-final match against France on Wednesday at 11:30am ET.

Santorum’s Security Delusion

Rick Santorum, soon to be a 2012 GOP also-ran, appeared on CNN’s State of the Union this morning and, amid a broadside leveled against the President, declared that ‘as bad a job as this President has done on the economy, he has done a worse job keeping us safe.’* Characteristically, this attack was accompanied by no evidence. Nor could it be.

For all his failings, President Obama has been extraordinarily strident when it comes to national security. The rate of drone strikes in Pakistan has increased exponentially since the President took office, with the first such strike coming just two days after being sworn in. Targeted killings of suspected members of al-Qaeda have expanded to Somalia and they have returned to Yemen. There has been no successful major terrorist attack on the United States since Obama’s inauguration and the inevitable attempts have resulted in the quick apprehension of the would-be terrorists. Oh, and he got bin Laden—the guy who authored the 9/11 attacks and the Bush administration singularly failed to track down for seven years while spinning off to the adventure-cum-quagmire of Iraq.

Any of these may be of debatable merit when it comes to proving the relative state of U.S. national security—certainly there is a vigorous debate over the merit of the drone program in Pakistan. Yet, these are the sorts of anecdotes generally trotted out when politicians begin to debate whether we, the American people, are safer today than we were some number of years previously.

In fact, assessing the state of U.S. national security is a complex task. It requires a definition of time frames and metrics—are we talking near term or long term; are we discussing national security vis-à-vis non-state actors or rising powers—even before we come to the question of the causality, or the linkage between this relative security or insecurity and actions that the United States has, or even could, take.

But this is not what Rick Santorum has done. Instead he has, without explanation, evidence, or argument, leveled a bald charge that the President has rendered us less safe. The American people deserve more from their candidates for President.

*Please forgive your Editor for the paraphrase; he was unable to rewind the segment and no transcript is yet available.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

Intergalactic

• "And we have liftoff of the Space Shuttle Atlantis." Last liftoff of the STS, ever without a clear path forward for U.S. participation in space.
  

International

• South Sudan, world's newest state.
• Protests in Yemen turned deadly today following Saleh's speech yesterday.
• The Economist wonders if Gujarat offers a vision of India's future. Meanwhile, The Washington Post worries that India is unprepared for an urban boom.

Domestic

• Carney said the administration doesn't get excited about jobs data. Bullshit. And if the administration doesn't, this dyed-in-the-wool Democrat does. Get it together, fellas.
• On the bright side, GOP fundraising numbers are flagging compared to 2007 -- tough to say if this represent tighter wallets or more money going to GOP IEs.
• One filled with invective, here at DCExile. For those of you not bound up in the argument in the Comments, a quick recap: Colin and I still fundamentally disagree about the point of life but agree that Jason's wrong about whether Stiglitz misspoke. Aside from that, it's been more of the same.

The Short List - July 8, 2011

International

• A spasm of violence has erupted in Karachi with reports of as many as 95 people killed since the violence began Tuesday.  Provincial police have been ordered to "shoot on sight."  Also related to Pakistan, Admiral Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said yesterday that he believes Pakistan sanctioned the killing of journalist Saleem Shazad(NYT).  He did not go so far as to implicate the ISI directly, though The New York Times did cite Obama administration officials who implicated the ISI earlier this week.


• Pro-Qaddafi's forces face desertion and diminishing supplies according to fighters captured by rebel forces in the western portion of Libya.


• The Syrian government is protesting the US ambassador's visit to Hama this week, claiming it's an attempt to "incite an escalation in the situation."


• British Prime Minster Cameron has called for an independent media corruption probe, and there are reports that party leaders in the UK have told their members that they do have too cozy a relationship with the press.


• The New York Times gives the prognosis on South Sudan, Africa's soon-to-be 54th state.

Domestic

• The unemployment rate sadly rose this month to 9.2% as the private sector added just 18,000 jobs despite having "record cash stockpiles and healthy profit margins."  Meanwhile the government sector cut 39,000 jobs in June.  CNBC's Maria Bartiromo was shilling the "uncertainty argument" on Morning Joe this morning, but doesn't point a finger at Republicans who are using the good credit of the United States as a pawn.  Meanwhile, Eugene Robinson has a sharp column in The Washington Post this morning.


• Texas executed a Mexican national yesterday.  E.G. writing at Economist.com has two great pieces on the death penalty in the past couple days.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

International

• Berlusconi against Libya before he was for it before he was against it. Notably, NATO is flying its missions out of Italy and from Italian airbases. 
• Saleh appeared delusional (and injured) on Yemeni television even as he remains in Saudi Arabia, and his complicated country slips further from his regime's grip.

Domestic

• Nate Silver has an excellent statistical examination of the radicalization of the Republican party and the emergence of its structural inability to compromise. What Silver calls "conservative," Gene Lyons rightly notes is really an "anti-government cult."
• Then again, POTUS described today's debt talks as very constructive.
• Fox News has proved its mettle, its conviction to open debate, by trying to gin-up controversy over Media Matters 501(c)(3) status. This is likely to go nowhere. Query: does a judicial proceeding (quasi- or otherwise) that is built on manufactured, unmeritorious claim that is patently politically motivated--worse, an example of "I'll just take my ball and go home"--qualify as a frivolous lawsuit? Jon Stewart does this bit well.
• Stigletz considers the dangers of unfettered free market zealotry.
  

The Short List - July 7, 2011

International

• Update from Libya from The Washington Post and Al-Jazeera.


• The founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program has released documents that, if authentic, would confirm payments from North Korea to Pakistani military and government officials for nuclear technology.


• Sudanese President Bashir says he will visit South Sudan as it becomes an independent country(NYT) on Saturday.  Many details remain to be worked out between the two states that were recently locked in a civil war.  Meanwhile, the independence of South Sudan bolsters the prestige, and pocketbook, of Uganda(NYT).


• The Washington Post reports the Muslim Brotherhood is fraying in Egypt as new and old members clash on where the organization should go as Egypt seeks new leaders.


• There are reports of violence in southern Yemen as that country slips further into civil war.
• The phone hacking scandal (that we haven't been paying much attention to) is spreading in the UK.

Domestic

• President Obama offers up cuts to Social Security and Medicare in exchange for tax increases as the negotiations continue over raising the debt ceiling.


• President Obama also appointed the first openly gay service member to serve on Westpoint's Board of Visitors.  Brenda S. Felton is a graduate of Westpoint and was part of the first class where women were also admitted.


• HUD will pay $62 million to settle a discrimination lawsuit brought forth by two groups representing poor, largely African-American, New Orleans home owners.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

International

• Libyan rebels began today with a goal of taking al Qawalish on the road to Gharyan, and take it they did. Rebels also progressed outside of Misurata towards Zlitan.
•  President Obama is being once again incoherently criticized by the Right for his treatment of terror suspects. Specifically, so-called Hawks are angry that, after detaining a Somali terror suspect for two months in military custody and interrogation, the suspect was handed over to the FBI for civilian prosecution. Evidently it would show greater resolve to subject him to military tribunals--never mind the dismal record of those tribunals and the questionable jurisdiction they would have over this suspect.
• The US issued warnings today about terrorists traveling on aircraft with implanted bombs. Notably, the implantation of a bomb in the rectum of an AQAP suicide bomber is credited with sparing the life of Saudi Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef.
  

Domestic

• Elliott Spitzer's comeback hits a road block.
• There's been a fair amount of chatter about Romney's $18 million Q2 haul. I'm more interested to know how he has a burn rate of 30% this early. Dear Lord that sounds like one top-heavy campaign!
• The Supreme Court will decide Medellin again.
  

The Short List - July 6, 2011

International

• Syrian armed forces reportedly killed 22 and left 80 wounded when they drove into Hama yesterday.  Amnesty International has accused the regime of crimes against humanity.


• A British drone, controlled by the US Air Force from Nevada, killed four civilians, along with two militants in Helman province in southern Afghanistan in late March according to the British government, which was compelled to confirm the report originally made public by The Guardian.  In other British-Afghanistan news, Prime Minister Cameron has announced the UK will withdraw 500 troops from Afghanistan by 2012, bringing their total force in the country to around 9,000.  The UK is the second largest single country force in the country behind the US.


• Moody's has downgraded Portugal's debt to junk status and warned a second round of rescue funds may be needed.


• The US has indicted a Somali national in civilian court in New York, after the suspect was held for two months on a Navy ship and interrogated.  He has not been charged with a crime specifically tied to an attack on the US, but does accuse the suspect of providing material support to al-Shabab and AQAP.


• Rebel groups claim pro-Qaddafi forces have killed at least 11 civilians in Misurata, Libya after constant shelling.

Domestic

• President Obama is trying to restart debt negotiations as less then a month remains before the US hits the debt ceiling.  Meanwhile, even as those negotiations, likely to include deep spending cuts, take place House Republicans plan to announce a new transportation funding re-authorization bill that will cut 50% of the current budget to around $230 billion over six years.  This move comes despite an urging by the American Society of Civil Engineers that $1 trillion is needed over the next decade just to keep roads in good working order and match increasing demand.  Talking infrastructure, The Economist's Gulliver notes that, "[t]he best way to get high-speed rail to succeed in America is to actually build it somewhere, and then to wait for the other states to say 'I want that!'"


• Speaking of cash money, Mitt Romney raised $18.25 million in the last three months and ended June with $12.6 in the bank.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

Intergalactic

• 58% of Americans believe that space exploration is essential. This, on the eve of U.S. manned spaceflight's death.

International

• Hama, a Syrian city famous for a brutal crackdown nearly 30 years ago, has reportedly slipped out of the Syrian government's control.
• Moody's downgraded Portugal.
• A potential deal in Yemen that would allow Saleh to retain power has been torpedoed. Saleh has yet to return to Yemen since his flight to Saudi Arabia last month.
• Qaddafi sort of offered to give up power today. Obviously his grip on power is weakening, while his grip on reality remains about as strong as ever.
  

Domestic

• Sarah Huckabee is on the ground in Iowa for Pawlenty.
• VP Biden now tweets--or at least, a staffer tweets in his guise.
  

The Short List - July 5, 2011

International

• The Syrian government continues its brutal crackdown on dissent, as the army has encircled Hama and prepares to enter the city.


• The Pakistani army has begun an offensive into the border tribal region of Kurram to strike at militants.  In other Pakistan news, several administration officials have said that Pakistani journalist Saleem Shazad, who reported on the infiltration of militants into the army and intelligence services, was killed on orders from Pakistan's ISI(NYT).


• An Egyptian court has cleared three ministers during the Mubarak government of charges of graft and corruption.


• Hugo Chavez has returned to Venezuela after undergoing at least a couple surgeries to remove a cancerous tumor from his body.  Details of his illness remain shrouded in secrecy.

Domestic

• Drone research is all the rage as countries and companies rush to match U.S. capabilities.  This is an interesting study in proliferation on the one hand, and a frightening opening stanza in the process of lowering the threshold for war.


• The Army has launched a mental toughness program for its soldiers, and finding some early success in implementing "Comprehensive Solider Fitness.


• In the wake of the Citizens United decision, we brace for the tidal wave of independent, unverified cash that's set to break on the 2012 election.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

International

• Sky News is reporting the outbreak of violence in Aleppo between police and demonstrators.
• The U.N.-sponsored tribunal for the assassination of Rafik Hariri has handed down four indictments, including two for suspected members of Hezbollah.
• Oil prices are back up to pre-release levels.

Domestic

• Mark Halperin more aptly described himself than the President today -- and earned himself a suspension from MSNBC for his troubles. This Editor asks, when will TIME do the right thing?
• The FEC ruled in Stephen Colbert's favor. Colbert immediately filed papers for the formation of a so-called super PAC.
• The Senate confirmed General David Petraeus 94-0 as the new Director of Central Intelligence.
• The Justice Department has announced that it will investigate the deaths of two detainees held by the contractors employed by the CIA.
• New York moves to lift its fracking ban while New Jersey moves to ban the practice.
• And Eric Cantor, who walked out of debt ceiling talks last week, stands to make a profit if the talks fail. So, Cantor has a conflict of interest and he is betting against America. Oh, but he's serious about the debt.

The Short List - June 30, 2011

International

• A U.S. drone strike targeting members of al-Shabab makes Somalia the sixth country where drone strikes have taken place.  The two targets were reportedly wounded in the attack.  Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the U.S. military has been told by the Pakistani army to stop using the Shamsi airbase in Baluchistan, were previously U.S. drone flights have originated from.


• Militants forces with links to al Qaeda have gained ground(NYT) in the southern port city of Zinjibar in Yemen, further demonstrating the power vacuum in that country.  In Washington, John H. Brennan, one of President Obama's counter-terrorism advisers, outlined the new strategy(NYT) to deal with al Qaeda which focuses on clandestine and rapid action activities.


• The head of the African Union is expressing concern over French arms drops into rebel held areas of Libya. The concerns spring up from further arming the continent.


• A UN-backed tribunal has passed down indictments and at least a few arrest warrants to Lebanon's chief prosecutor following an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minster Hariri.

Domestic

• President Obama struck a "combative" tone at a press conference yesterday.  It's a slow domestic news days apparently when the top story is the president's tone.


• Michelle Bachmann was apparently not was Tom Petty had in mind when he wrote "American Girl" and has requested the candidate to stop using the song.  I'm just going to come out and say it, Republicans could avoid some legal wrangling if they just stuck to Toby Keith songs.  And a tagline suggestion for the DNC: Republicans - Lame policies, Lamer music.

What Kind Of Day Has It Been

International

• France admits to providing 40 tons of arms and ammunition to Libya rebels operating in the mountains of western Libya in June. Notably, rebels operating in that area of the country have made the most gains against Qaddafi's regime of late. This Editor applauds the French in this reportedly unilateral action.
• Greece backed the first of two austerity packages causing U.S. and European markets to improve.
• North and South Sudan have agreed in principle to buffer zones to be filled with Ethiopian observers.

Domestic

• The President gave his first formal press conference in 3 months today. He used the opportunity to hammer Republicans on their intransigence in the debt ceiling talks. Speaker Boehner has responded in kind, returning to what's become the GOP's favorite talking point, that the President is not leading. 
• A 6th Circuit Panel Opinion finds in favor of the individual mandate. In the 2-1 decision, a Bush-appointed judge, and former Scalia clerk, ruled in the government's favor. Read the opinion here.

The Short List - June 29, 2011

International

• Libyan rebels seized a weapons depot outside Zintan in the west of the country as rebels make their slow advance toward Tripoli, reinforcing my colleagues point.


• Fresh protests continue in Cairo's Tahrir Square between police and citizens, underlining how revolution is often the easy part.


• A Kabul hotel that was overrun by Taliban forces yesterday is back under government control after a last stand battle between the Taliban and a NATO helicopter gunship.  There are reports that 9 are dead and dozens injured in what is the most sophisticated attack in Kabul in recent memory.


• Greece's parliament is set to approve a new round of austerity measures, despite several days of strikes and protests.

Domestic

• Top Democrats have rejected a proposal that would cut $600 billion in Medicare spending by raising the eligibility age and assess higher premiums on wealthier seniors.


• Banks of America has settled with 22 groups of investors to the tune of $8.5 billion to avoid litigation related to mortgage backed securities.

Fact Check: Nancy Youssef

What’s with Nancy Youssef’s overly pessimisticreport about the Libyan intervention on NPR’s On Point today? During her appearance, wherein she was nominally supposed to update listeners on the status of the Libyan intervention 100 days on:

Youssef: The rebels are trying to hold on to the ground they’ve gained. Interestingly they have less ground than they did a hundred days ago . . . .

Gjelten: The rebels have less ground, they’re actually losing ground? I thought the rebels have been making a little bit of progrees.

Youssef: They have. But if you look at how much land they hand—especially in the east—from, compared to where they were when this began. Remember, they had all the way to Bin Jawad when this began and now they’re not able to take Brega which is about a 100 kilometers east of Bin Jawad . . . .

After challenging her once, Gjelten allows this assertion to go. But Ms. Youssef is flatly mistaken. The Libyan rebels had pushed to Bin Jawad on March 6, 2011—some two weeks before the Libyan intervention began. The rebels were quickly pushed out of Bin Jawad and by March 7, Qaddafi’s forces had reestablished control over Bin Jawad. At that point, Qaddafi’s counteroffensive against the rebels was in full swing and, between then and March 19, 2011, his forces moved east all the way to Benghazi, where Qaddafi’stanks were stopped in their tracks by NATO airstrikes. Subsequent NATO air support for the rebels have allowed Libya’s rebels to push Qaddafi’s forces back to Brega and fight Qaddafi to a stalemate in the east while—as Youssef admits—gaining ground in the west. Notably, rebels did advance all the way back toBin Jawad on March 27—some 8 days after the intervention began—but were pushed back to Brega.

Despite Ms. Youssef’s flawed report, it is clear, as this blog has repeatedly noted, that the Libyan rebels are making slow and steady progress to liberate their country.