Ailes '12?
Of all the various names being floated as potential GOP presidential candidates in 2012. I don't think there's been any trial balloon quite as daffy as this one. Roger Ailes? Seriously? Yes, the man can run a very successful cable news channel (whose most successful show, it's worth remembering, is watched by about 1 percent of Americans). And, yes, he's been a very good political operative. But a candidate? Ailes on the stump would make Cheney look JFK. See for yourself.
Today's Words of Wisdom . . .
. . . come from Dashiell Bennett who, discussing the Isiah Thomas-Magic Johnson feud, writes: [I]t's pretty clear from this sordid tale—and Michael Jordan's Hall of Fame speech, among other incidents—that pretty much every superstar you idolized as a kid is a selfish, insecure, backstabbing prick. Of course, that's also why they were all such awesome basketball players.
What Did Bush Bequeath Obama in Afghanistan?
Dick Cheney says the Bush administration left the Obama administration with a plan (and a good one) for Afghanistan: The President’s chief of staff claimed that the Bush Administration hadn’t asked any tough questions about Afghanistan, and he complained that the Obama Administration had to start from scratch to put together a strategy.
A Semi-Defense of Bush's Buckraking
TPM and others are having a lot of fun over the fact that George W. Bush is heading out on the motivational speaking circuit.
How Do You Say Diebold in Pashto?
NYT: The task was left to Mr. Kerry and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who have experienced their own frustration at the polls, and used those scars in dealing with Mr. Karzai. In one personal moment during a weekend of long dinners and walks in the garden of the sprawling, heavily fortified presidential palace in Kabul, Senator Kerry recounted his experience in the 2004 presidential election, including the lingering questions about ballots cast in Ohio that helped decide the vote against him. “I told him, ‘sometimes there are tough things,’ “ Mr.
Dept of Unfortunate Metaphors
Doug Wilder tells TPM that if Bob McDonnell becomes governor, "Virginia won't sink into the seas." Probably not, but McDonnell does seem to be a bit confused about global warming. On a more serious note, TPM's Bellatoni makes a really smart point. Doug Wilder is someone who really enjoys being in the news--and his neutral stance in this gubernatorial race has made him more newsworthy than an early endorsement of Deeds would have. That said, the news value of Wilder's neutral stance is probably dwindling. Which means it's time for Wilder to do something else to stay in the headlines.
Can You Hear Me Now (Afghan Edition)?
If you haven't been reading David Rohde's serialized account of his seven months being held hostage by the Taliban, you should be. It's not only a riveting read, it tells you a lot of stuff about Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Taliban that you probably didn't know before.
Will November 7 > August 20?
From the conclusion of the Guardian's extremely thorough anatomy of what went wrong with the August 20 election in Afghanistan: [A] run-off is likely to suffer from many of the same problems as the first vote. It's worth reading the whole Guardian piece to get a sense of just how botched that first vote. really was. And you have to hope the run-off will at least be a little bitter: now that the international community seems more resolved to fight election fraud, maybe Karzai will be less committed to engaging in it. But resolve can only do so much.
How Much Will a November 7 Run-Off Really Change?
It's obviously significant that Karzai has not only agreed to a run-off, but has acquiesced to holding that run-off on November 7, rather than pushing it back until after the Afghan winter, as some thought he might try to do. And it does give the Obama administration some more room to operate. But how much?
Erskine Bowles Hearts Richard Burr?
Ben Smith flags an N&O squib about some kind words Richard Burr and Erskine Bowles had for one another at a recent event in Durham, North Carolina. Burr, of course, defeated Bowles in the race to succeed John Edwards back in 2004: "I've had a chance to work with this guy for four full years and nobody works harder or smarter for North Carolina than Richard Burr does," Bowles told about 200 people at N.C. Central University.
