Yet one more reason Obama shouldn't go to Copenhagen to lobby for the Olympics: Chicago doesn't need him, since, judging from this report, it looks like Oprah's got things under control:
``Everyone is mesmerized by Oprah,'' said Charmaine Crooks, an Olympian and former International Olympic Committee member from Canada.
Mark Lippert
Politico's Jonathan Martin has an excellent piece up on Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty's diligent, under-the radar preparation for a presidential run in 2012: the PAC he's opened, the donors and advisers he's been gathering, the operatives (some of whom worked for Mitt Romney in '08) he's been feeling out.
That's the name for uranium tetraflouride, a large quantity of which has mysteriously disappeared into Iran. David Sanger and co explain.
It may sound like an SNL skit, but Al Qaeda's latest innovation is quite disturbing:
On September 26, Academy-award winning director Roman Polanski was arrested by Swiss authorities. A warrant had been pending against him since 1978, when he fled the United States after being charged with rape and pleading guilty to engaging in unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. Now, film luminaries are leaping to his defense. Click through this TNR slideshow to see what they're saying.
FP's Marc Lynch asks why we can't:
The WSJ says that Gates has fresh doubts about the prospects of a major counterinsurgency campaign. But his spokesman, Geoff Morell, says he's also dubious about Joe Biden-backed the counterterrorism approach. Gates "does not think that is a path to success in Afghanistan," Morell tells the Journal. It's not clear what to make of this, as I'd be surprised if Gates endorsed a halfway muddle-through strategy.
