You're Daily Cup of Iraq Black Coffee

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In the 2004 National Intelligence Estimate, civil war was a worst-case scenario. In the 2007 one, Iraq has zoomed past civil war to hell: “The Intelligence Community judges that the term ‘civil war’ does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent attacks on coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence.”

As John McLaughlin, the former acting director of central intelligence, told The Times’s Mark Mazzetti: “Civil war is checkers. This is chess.”

-- Maureen Dowd for The New York Times

It just feels like we are drawing closer to the point where we are going to start to really feel the pain of this nightmare, and not just the military families in our country.

xXx

You're Daily Cup of Iraq Black Coffee

♠
In the 2004 National Intelligence Estimate, civil war was a worst-case scenario. In the 2007 one, Iraq has zoomed past civil war to hell: “The Intelligence Community judges that the term ‘civil war’ does not adequately capture the complexity of the conflict in Iraq, which includes extensive Shia-on-Shia violence, Al Qaeda and Sunni insurgent attacks on coalition forces, and widespread criminally motivated violence.”

As John McLaughlin, the former acting director of central intelligence, told The Times’s Mark Mazzetti: “Civil war is checkers. This is chess.”

-- Maureen Dowd for The New York Times

It just feels like we are drawing closer to the point where we are going to start to really feel the pain of this nightmare, and not just the military families in our country.

xXx

Texas Pragmatism

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HOUSTON, Feb. 2 — Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

Averting a potentially divisive debate in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed an executive order mandating shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008.

Mr. Perry’s action, praised by health advocates, caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground.

-- Ralph Blumenthal for The New York Times

Every once in a while my Texas surprises me, but then the Lone Star State has shown from time to time a healthy pragmatic streak that can cut across all the Jesus love.

Apparently, there is some suggestion that a pecuniary motive may have been involved in the decision anent a tie between a lobbyist for Merck and the governor, but one is happy to let that be drowned out by such praises as this:

The Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group often critical of Mr. Perry, issued a statement praising his move. “Today’s decision by the governor is not just a positive step forward in efforts to promote women’s health,” said the group’s president, Kathy Miller. “It is also an important acknowledgment that health and science should not be held hostage to politics and ideology.”

In an age when we are usually disappointed and cynical about politics and our politicians, we have to appreciate it whenever we get good results, by whatever route they are achieved.

xXx

Texas Pragmatism

♠
HOUSTON, Feb. 2 — Texas on Friday became the first state to require all 11- and 12-year-old girls entering the sixth grade to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer.

Averting a potentially divisive debate in the Legislature, Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, signed an executive order mandating shots of the Merck vaccine Gardasil as protection against the human papillomavirus, or HPV, starting in September 2008.

Mr. Perry’s action, praised by health advocates, caught many by surprise in a largely conservative state where sexual politics is often a battleground.

-- Ralph Blumenthal for The New York Times

Every once in a while my Texas surprises me, but then the Lone Star State has shown from time to time a healthy pragmatic streak that can cut across all the Jesus love.

Apparently, there is some suggestion that a pecuniary motive may have been involved in the decision anent a tie between a lobbyist for Merck and the governor, but one is happy to let that be drowned out by such praises as this:

The Texas Freedom Network, a nonpartisan advocacy group often critical of Mr. Perry, issued a statement praising his move. “Today’s decision by the governor is not just a positive step forward in efforts to promote women’s health,” said the group’s president, Kathy Miller. “It is also an important acknowledgment that health and science should not be held hostage to politics and ideology.”

In an age when we are usually disappointed and cynical about politics and our politicians, we have to appreciate it whenever we get good results, by whatever route they are achieved.

xXx

Aloe Oasis

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That Aloe Oasis shampoo is just the ticket for Bo. His coat actually seems fuller and more fluffy, making him look more lovable. We mentioned how some of Monk's love had been waning for the eskie, and at that time, a big reason may have been because his coat looked so stringy and sickly. Now Monk wants to bury his face in Bo's coat.

xXx

Aloe Oasis

♠
That Aloe Oasis shampoo is just the ticket for Bo. His coat actually seems fuller and more fluffy, making him look more lovable. We mentioned how some of Monk's love had been waning for the eskie, and at that time, a big reason may have been because his coat looked so stringy and sickly. Now Monk wants to bury his face in Bo's coat.

xXx

The Dubya Warp

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Once Bush is gone -- and with luck, sooner -- anti-Bush sentiment will lose its polarizing force, its power to bind and exclude. At that point, merely opposing Bush, which many have decided will do for now, will no longer be mistaken for a policy agenda. And not every idea that Bush has defended will be regarded as wrong merely for that reason. A more enlightening debate on foreign policy, taxes and global warming might then begin.

-- Clive Crook for National Journal

Mr. Crook argues for those who favor Republican-ish, conservativey policies that Dubya's incompetence and inadequacy is gravely distorting politics and policy discussions. For instance, on foreign policy:

One is Iraq. This ill-founded and appallingly executed war has discredited all of the administration's foreign-policy thinking. I don't mean to defend the administration, but some of that thinking was correct. Bush is right, in my view, that America cannot rely for its security on multilateralism; that the United States should not give other countries veto power over its actions abroad; that global jihadism needs to be forcefully confronted; that pre-emptive action against these new enemies is warranted; and more besides. A calculating, enlightened, and level-headed unilateralism is the right way, in my opinion, for America to conduct itself in the world. Right now, though, what chance is there of a fair hearing for any kind of avowed unilateralism?

Seriously, we may be fucked in Iraq, but that does not mean we need to follow the leadership of France.

I am thinking that maybe we are at least fortunate in how liberals and Democrats are finding it easier to unite and marshal forces, particularly when we enter the post-Dubya political world when the debate will be better joined.

xXx

The Dubya Warp

♠
Once Bush is gone -- and with luck, sooner -- anti-Bush sentiment will lose its polarizing force, its power to bind and exclude. At that point, merely opposing Bush, which many have decided will do for now, will no longer be mistaken for a policy agenda. And not every idea that Bush has defended will be regarded as wrong merely for that reason. A more enlightening debate on foreign policy, taxes and global warming might then begin.

-- Clive Crook for National Journal

Mr. Crook argues for those who favor Republican-ish, conservativey policies that Dubya's incompetence and inadequacy is gravely distorting politics and policy discussions. For instance, on foreign policy:

One is Iraq. This ill-founded and appallingly executed war has discredited all of the administration's foreign-policy thinking. I don't mean to defend the administration, but some of that thinking was correct. Bush is right, in my view, that America cannot rely for its security on multilateralism; that the United States should not give other countries veto power over its actions abroad; that global jihadism needs to be forcefully confronted; that pre-emptive action against these new enemies is warranted; and more besides. A calculating, enlightened, and level-headed unilateralism is the right way, in my opinion, for America to conduct itself in the world. Right now, though, what chance is there of a fair hearing for any kind of avowed unilateralism?

Seriously, we may be fucked in Iraq, but that does not mean we need to follow the leadership of France.

I am thinking that maybe we are at least fortunate in how liberals and Democrats are finding it easier to unite and marshal forces, particularly when we enter the post-Dubya political world when the debate will be better joined.

xXx

At the Berghof Sanatorium

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When I first started considering rereading Magic Mountain, before even thinking about buying a hardcover edition, I was concerned that the novel would no longer have that magic for me after four or five readings - a novel about young, stuffy, upper-class Europeans.

Beyond the pleasure of getting a beautiful edition of the book, I have been happy to see how Monk's face brightens when he meets the old characters. When Settembrini is introduced, or when Castorp first hears the restaurant door being slammed, it is like meeting old friends after too long an absence.

And no place has ever felt more like home.

xXx

At the Berghof Sanatorium

♠
When I first started considering rereading Magic Mountain, before even thinking about buying a hardcover edition, I was concerned that the novel would no longer have that magic for me after four or five readings - a novel about young, stuffy, upper-class Europeans.

Beyond the pleasure of getting a beautiful edition of the book, I have been happy to see how Monk's face brightens when he meets the old characters. When Settembrini is introduced, or when Castorp first hears the restaurant door being slammed, it is like meeting old friends after too long an absence.

And no place has ever felt more like home.

xXx