First Things First

Speaking Truth To Lies

Impact In Black And White

Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985)

Fleeing A Dust Storm (!936)

Gorbachev: Obama Deserves Peace Prize

In an interview with Radio Free Europe, former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev commented that President Barack Obama deserved to win the Nobel Peace Prize. Gorbachev, who also received the prize, said: "I won it unexpectedly and he won it unexpectedly. America means a lot [to the world] and will continue to do so for a long time... That's why [we have to] support a president of such stature, who gave his own country and the world such a strong push forward. And it's already showing real effects. That's honorable."

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Health Care Reform: Choice or No Choice

Obama: "I'm Not Tired"

Impact In Black And White

W. Eugene Smith (1918-1978)

KKK, North Carolina, 1951 (Crowd In Robes Around Burning Cross)

Obama & The Nobel Peace Prize

Geir Lundestad, Secretary of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, explains why President Barack Obama's creation of a new climate in international politics closely fulfills the statues of Alfred Nobel's will.

Obama Reacts To Nobel Peace Prize

Obama reacts to the decision of the Norwegian Nobel Committee's decision to select him as the 209 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Obama Wins Nobel Peace Prize

It was announced this morning that President Barack Obama has been chosen as the 2009 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. The Norwegian Nobel Committee's statement is as follows:

"The Nobel Peace Prize for 2009

"The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 is to be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples. The Committee has attached special importance to Obama's vision of and work for a world without nuclear weapons.

"Obama has as President created a new climate in international politics. Multilateral diplomacy has regained a central position, with emphasis on the role that the United Nations and other international institutions can play. Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations. Thanks to Obama's initiative, the USA is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climate challenges the world is confronting. Democracy and human rights are to be strengthened.

"Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world's attention and given its people hope for a better future.  His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world's population.

"For 108 years, the Norwegian Nobel Committee has sought to stimulate precisely that international policy and those attitudes for which Obama is now the world's leading spokesman. The Committee endorses Obama's appeal that "Now is the time for all of us to take our share of responsibility for a global response to global challenges."

"Oslo, October 9, 2009"

Obama's War

A FRONTLINE investigative report set to air on PBS, October 13, gives a rough sketch of the Pentagon's new thinking on counterinsurgency. In so doing, it manages to dramatize a window's view of how this approach is being enforced in Afghanistan. 

While U.S. strategy has been marketed as people-centric, it appears in practice to be somewhat different. What the report reveals is an abstract, top-down, military-centric approach aimed at controlling the behavior of a population. The tactics that are used fail to flow naturally out of the day-to-day decisions made by a community of indigenous people. They are imposed. Thus they are guaranteed to lack legitimacy.

If this report is true, America's new approach to counterinsurgency is thoroughly wrong-headed. It makes success contingent upon the ability of the the U.S. military to implement a policy of control over the behavior of the Afghan people. It transforms U.S. counterinsurgency operations into a contest of wills with the very people we are trying to help.

Yet tactical control over the Afghan people and their tribal traditions cannot be realistically anticipated. It is an impossible task. It places far too much reliance on the practical ability of the American military to exercise control over the hearts and minds of a population. It gives only faint recognition to the imperatives of Afghan history and traditions.  The lynchpin of success rests too heavily on an ability to control the people's behavior. Such hubris is almost certain to be the Achille's Heel of the new American strategy.

It is imperative that American tactics be freed from efforts to exercise control over the Afghan people. Otherwise, the struggle in Afghanistan will degenerate into Obama's War. Should that happen, the U.S. will be caught amidst a myriad of opposing forces, unable to extricate itself. As in Iraq, Gulliver will have been made impotent relative to the task at hand.

Already the report has unmasked America's military presence as a force that creates doubt, uncertainty, and confusion in the hearts and minds of the Afghan people. U.S. troops interfere with the Afghan's daily lives and their sense of personal security. The Afghan people have become wary of American help. They are unable to interpret U.S. demands and when they do they have to balance them with those of the Taliban. Day after day, they live in fear of U.S. military capability and the shadowy threats posed by the Taliban. Afghans are entangled in a predicament that can only breed resentment, anger, and hostility. 

The Afghans are a frustrated people.  It is as though they have become little more than grist for the ideological mill.  They are unsure how to satisfy the Americans. They feel compelled to placate the Taliban. No matter how they turn, their future is contingent on changing circumstances, contradictory intentions, and the unknown fortunes of war. Eventually, they will have to fend for themselves.

The Americans will be in Afghanistan for a period. But they will be gone before long. The Afghans know this to be true. They also know the Taliban will remain in the area indefinitely. The question is this: Can U.S. military forces guard against the eventuality of a growing Taliban presence? Is it reasonable to expect they can? Or is there need for a new strategic arrangement?

Republicans: Whatever It Is, I'm Against It

Groucho Marx certainly never had the current Republican leadership in mind when he sang this tune in 1932. But the lyrics certainly do correlate to the politics of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky), Rep. John Boehner (R-OH), and Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA).  

To capture today's spirit, the "Party of No" needs a new theme song. What tune could be more suitable than Groucho's "Whatever It Is, I'm Against It!"

And, one more thing ... what better way to dramatize Republican opposition to the "politics of hope" and the optimistic beat of the Democratic theme song, "Happy Days Are Here Again!"

Fox's Shep Smith Favors Public Option

Fox News' Shepard Smith says that a vote against the public option is a vote for the insurance company. Watch the following exchange:

Apple Quits Chamber of Commerce

Apple today notified the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that it had decided to resign its membership effective immediately due to the strong stand the Chamber has taken against the EPA's effort to limit greenhouse gases.  The letter of notification follows:

The Right Is Simply Wrong

Republicans Cheer America's Loss

Who would have thought it would become fashionable to cheer America's failure to have Chicago become the venue for the 2016 Olympics? Certainly no one ... until the Republicans made it their cause for celebration.

Rockefeller: Health Care Trumps Profit

Michael Moore Warns Dems: Get With It!

Sen. Harkin: Health Care w/Public Option

America's Best Idea: The National Parks

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Census Worker Hanged In Kentucky Forest

On September 12, the body of Bill Sparkman was found hanging from a tree in the Daniel Boone National Forest in rural southeast Kentucky. He was found hanging with the word "fed" written on his chest. Sparkman, 51, was a cancer survivor and part-time government census worker.  

For the past week and a half, investigators have been trying to determine whether his death was a suicide or a murder related either to his government job or some anti-government sentiment.

Yet, a further question must be asked: was Sparkman's death politically motivated? Could it have resulted from a demented hostility to the U.S. government whipped up by the likes of Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and others on the far right? Or was it something else? 

Clearly, the use of irresponsible language can lead to violence. It was such eventuality that Speaker Nancy Pelosi warned against recently.  She was roundly criticized by the far right for having done so. 

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and RNC Chairman Michael Steele both issued dire warnings against the 2010 Census, even though it is required by the U.S. Constitution. Rep. Bachmann said that she intended to break the law and would refuse to answer any census questions beyond noting the number of people in her household.

Rachel Maddow interviews an AP reporter:

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Obama: I Was Black Before The Election

On the David Letterman Show last night, President Barack Obama had an interesting comment about whether racism was behind the vitriol and unsavory behavior exhibited recently at the Town Hall Forums. Obama said: "It's important to realize I was black before the election."
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The Amazing Act of Kissing

Acrimony sometimes suffuses the air.  But we witness marks of affection as well.  At The Big Picture, there are 33 inspiring photos of kisses, each of which bring forth the gentle, loving side of our nature.

Hypocrisy & Health Care Reform

Dick Armey, the former Republican Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, is now Chairman of an organization called Freedom Works. This group uses large industry donations to fund "Tea Party" and Anti-Health Care Reform rallies around the country, such as the 9/12 march in Washington DC last week.

Bill Moyers explains how Armey and Freedom Works use deliberate lies and disinformation to manipulate the fears and passions of ordinary Americans. Their aim is to accumulate power and wealth for themselves and pursue a political agenda that, if successful, would deny reliable health care coverage for all Americans.

Meanwhile, health insurance companies are busy refusing payment to those who already have health care coverage. Why?  Because individuals have what has come to be known as "pre-existing conditions". And just what are "pre-existing conditions"? The list is long but pregnancy, an intention to adopt children, acne, hemorrhoids, bunions, chronic tonsillitis, and varicose veins are among them.

Profit and health care are contradictory notions. It seems as though in the "war of ideas" corporate profit is struggling mightily to defeat health care. Let's hope justice prevails for the American people.

Joe Wilson, South Carolina, & Health Care

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SNL Explains Joe Wilson's "You Lie!"

Frank Schaeffer: A Subculture of Insanity

President Carter: Racism Bubbles Up

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Obama's Health Care Plan

Robert Reich Explains The Public Option

Bill Moyers: Reflections On America