Right wing talk show hosts (cable and radio) have been garnering a lot of attention lately. Good for their ratings and their pocketbooks—granted. Their attacks on Democrats and those who represent them or run for public office on their behalf, came to a deafening, vicious crescendo during the final months of the presidential elections. More recently, radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh has pretty much hogged the limelight with his well-publicized hopes that the new President will fail, that...

The Washington Post just let the dog out: “The little guy is a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog given to the Obama girls as a gift by that Portuguese water dog-lovin’ senator himself, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts. The girls named it Bo — and let it be noted that you learned that here first. Malia and Sasha chose the name, because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because first lady Michelle Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, a source said. (Get it? Bo . . . Diddley?)”...

Excerpts from “War Is a Racket”: WAR is a racket. It has always been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. . . In the World War* a mere handful garnered the profits of the conflict. At least 21,000 new millionaires and billionaires were made in the United States during the World War. That many admitted their huge blood gains...

The week started out on a good note for Rush Limbaugh. But from then on things went quickly to hell in a hand basket for him, and ended on a great note for America and Americans. On Monday, the market hiccupped and was down a few points But then, on Tuesday, things got even better for Rush. The Dow Jones lost over 100 points and Rush was gloating, even taking time to blame Obama’s return to the U.S. from his European tour for the market’s fall. But yesterday, what a disappointment it must...

We have read, heard and seen plenty of reactions—from the left, from the right, from the middle, and from the independents—on President Obama’s seven-day European tour, including his unexpected stop in Iraq. If interested, here is some reaction from an European source, the Netherlands’ NRC Handelsblad. In an editorial, “Obama’s seven days in Europe,” we read: The Good: On his first official trip abroad president Obama met with adoration and kisses. Not even...

Yesterday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates unveiled the much-awaited fiscal year 2010 defense budget proposal. In his announcement, Gates emphasized that he reached his final decisions after many hours of consultations with the military and civilian leadership of his department. That he also consulted closely with the president, but received no direction or guidance from outside his department on individual program decisions. He made it clear that he plans to orient the U.S. military toward...

I have been writing about the deliberations on whether to permit media access to our returning fallen heroes when they touch American soil at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. A lot of controversy and apprehension surrounded the issue and the decision. Finally, on February 26, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced a policy consistent with what we presently have at Arlington National Cemetery which allows the family to decide whether to allow media coverage. There was still apprehension and...

I passionately want the President of the United States to succeed and our economy to recover. As I have mentioned before, in this respect I am an optimist, and I celebrate every gain by our markets, “regardless of how small or fleeting,” and I look for every sign, no matter how miniscule, that our economy is in fact improving. That is the reason I am exuberant today. Wall Street rallied for a third straight day in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was way up—closing up...

Norway is one of the “partner nations” for Lockheed Martin’s multinational Joint Strike Fighter development and production program. Last November, Norway formally announced that it had selected the F-35 Lightning II to replace its aging F-16 fleet and to fulfill Norway’s future air-combat capability requirements. Norway plans to acquire 48 F-35s, and the first F-35s would be delivered in 2016. Norway’s participation in the JSF program will also bring substantial opportunities...

The Washington Post just reported : The Obama administration decided Tuesday to join the U.N. Human Rights Council, reversing a decision by the Bush administration to shun the United Nations’ premier rights body to protest the influence of repressive states, according to U.N. diplomats and rights activists. And: The United States will participate in elections in May for one of three seats on the 47-member council, joining a slate that includes Belgium, Norway and New Zealand. New Zealand has...

Those who read my posts know by now that I have consistently opposed the invasion and occupation of Iraq—I have received a lot of grief for that—and that I passionately support our troops in harm’s way. I have been at the receiving end of a lot of skepticism for the latter. I have strongly supported better benefits, medical care, mental care, and better recognition for our heroes’ valor and sacrifices (more Medals of Honor, appropriate recognition for the real injuries that...

A few days ago, President Obama outlined his plans for the war in Afghanistan, which basically consist of: * Further increasing the presence of American forces in Afghanistan—4,000 more troops to train Afghan security forces on top of the 17,000 extra combat troops that he already has ordered to Afghanistan. * Increasing aid to Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion every year over the next five years. * Setting benchmarks to measure progress in fighting Al Qaeda and the Taliban. The United...

In October of last year, a Miami court handed down a conviction. It was a very unusual conviction. It was the first time a U.S. Court handed down such a conviction. “This is the first case in the United States to charge an individual with criminal torture. I hope this case will serve as a model to future prosecutions of this type,” proudly said none other than Bush’s Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. On January 10 of this year, a federal court in Miami brought that case to conclusion...

A few weeks ago, Patrick Leahy, six-term Democratic Senator from Vermont, a former prosecutor and the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee wrote an article in TIME titled “The Case for a Truth Commission.” In it, the Senator discusses the abuses during the Bush administration years—such as the scandal at Abu Ghraib, the disclosure of torture memos and the revelations about the warrantless surveillance of Americans. Leahy then asks, “So what is to be done about the abuses...

I am the eternal optimist. You have heard about the little boy, on Christmas morning, looking for his pony in a pile of horse manure? Well, “that’s me.” Therefore, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone who knows me, that I take delight in every “up tick” in the stock market, regardless of how small or fleeting. You may call me naive. That’s OK. That I look for every sign that our economy may be recovering from the tragic recession we inherited from the previous administration....

Joe Gandelman has pretty much covered the waterfront on this one. So here is only one more perspective, from the New York Times. Basically, President Obama outlined plans to further increase the presence of American forces in Afghanistan (4,000 more troops to train Afghan security forces on top of the 17,000 extra combat troops that he already has ordered to Afghanistan); increase aid to Pakistan to the tune of $1.5 billion every year over the next five years; and setting benchmarks to measure progress...

A couple of days ago, I “reported” some of the Dutch reaction to the Netherlands’ version of our AIG scandal in “The Netherlands ‘AIG.‘” The Dutch “version” being the ING Group, that is reported to have paid out 300 million euros (about $405 million) in bonuses to thousands of its employees despite the company’s steep losses. As part of the Dutch reaction, I mentioned, “While I don’t think legions of Dutch “boeren” (farmers) armed...

Yesterday, March 25, was National Medal of Honor Day. President Barack Obama marked the day at Arlington National Cemetery by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, accompanied by four living recipients of the nation’s highest military award. He also expressed his gratitude to all servicemen and women, especially those who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor: Since it was first awarded during the Civil War to the current battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan, Medal of...

The AIG bonuses story has been monopolizing the headlines in the United States. At his press conference tonight, the President was asked about the AIG “scandal” again, and he addressed it, again. But a very similar story is playing out in the Netherlands. It is eerily similar to AIG’s—even the name of the financial company involved is only three letters long (or short). The company is ING. Bank Group ING is a relatively young Dutch global financial services company providing...

On February 26, I wrote about Secretary of Defense Robert Gates’ decision to reverse the 18-year old ban on news coverage of our returning fallen heroes at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. It was—and still is—a controversial decision, albeit it will be up to the families of the heroes to decide whether to admit the press to ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base. More recently, the Pentagon has also announced that it will cover the costs for those families who wish to meet their fallen...

On Saturday, I wrote a post summarizing an amazing CSIS report titled “Study on a Possible Israeli Strike on Iran’s Nuclear Development Facilities.” It wasn’t until today that I read a message sent by Israeli President Shimon Peres to the Iranian people on the occasion of Novruz. Novruz in Persian means “New[-year]-day”, and is the beginning of the year for the people in Iran and in countries with common cultural heritages. Since my post on the CSIS study...

We have all read and heard about the Iranian nuclear program and its possible capability to produce nuclear weapons; about the diplomatic, economic, and other ongoing efforts to get Iran to come clean on its nuclear weapons intentions; and about the threat such a capability would pose to Israel and to world peace. We have also seen reports about the possibility of an Israeli preemptive strike against such Iranian nuclear facilities and capabilities. But until a few days ago, I had not dreamt of...

Except for in the Netherlands, in the Flemish part of Belgium—the Dutch spoken there is referred to as Flemish—and in a few of the former Dutch colonies, such as Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, Dutch is not generally spoken anywhere else in the world. (Dutch is also the “parent” language of a couple other languages, such as Afrikaans in South Africa.) The population of the Netherlands is around 17 million. Therefore, it is not surprising that English is comprehensively...

With a new administration and fresh national defense policies, continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and tight defense budgets, there continue to be important daily developments in this area. Under the heading “Defense Potpourri,” I plan to periodically summarize some of the most important and interesting news items, as long as there is interest. AIR REFUELING TANKER CONTRACT I have mentioned before that, after strong protests by Boeing, the huge, $35 billion air refueling tanker...

Boeing yesterday unveiled the F-15 Silent Eagle (F-15SE) which, according to Boeing, “… is designed to meet our international customers’ anticipated need for cost-effective stealth technologies, as well as for large and diverse weapons payloads,” and “The innovative Silent Eagle is a balanced, affordable approach designed to meet future survivability needs.” While not a “fifth generation” aircraft like the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning...