Steve Clemons, a director the Washington-based New America Foundation and among the first to tip Biden for the vice-presidential slot, is among those who argue that Biden's exercise of power in the White House would be similar to that of Cheney's. "The office of vice-president has changed forever," he said. "The office has explicit legal powers now. Maybe some will be rolled back but they can't be rolled back easily." LINK
US secretary of state Condoleezza
Rice just completed her seventh visit to Israel-Palestine since the Annapolis conference nine
months ago. You remember Annapolis,
when after almost seven years of neglect the Bush administration committed
itself to securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal during its last year in
office and to dramatically improving the day-to-day situation on the ground.
Displaying admirable consistency and tenacity, albeit a disconnect from
reality, Rice reiterated that goal during her visit this week. The Israeli and
Palestinian leaders she met with were polite in their… more
John McCain's television ad comparing Barack Obama to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears
will be chronicled by no sane historian, and even those of us who have
seen it must curse the expense of time and neurons involved in viewing
it or reading about it or, God forbid, writing about it. (There goes my
memory of the subjunctive of "être", for example, dislodged to make
room for McCain's latest.) But those of us determined to follow this
race without fail - at work, at home,… more
It's one of those days when a lot of people are probably looking at the Middle East and scratching their heads. The Israelis have
released Samir Qantar, who committed a terrible atrocity, along with four
others who are defined as terrorists to Hizbullah - which Israel defines
as a terrorist organisation. And all of this in exchange for two dead bodies.
What's going on?
I suggest there are three things worth looking at here.
The first is that this brings some kind of closure to the… more
This past week saw not only the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty, forcing a crisis summit this week to chart an alternative path to EU continuity, but also the annual EU-American summit in Slovenia, aiming to forge a common transatlantic agenda on Middle East peace, climate change and trade. The Irish vote is likely to fuel rumours of the EU's demise, yet it is the latter summit that will prove more revealing about its future. While mending transatlantic divides… more
Shaul Mofaz is Israel's minister of transportation. He formerly served as the IDF chief of staff and as defence minister. He is hardly considered to have been one of the greats to occupy either post. Another position he currently holds is that of minister in charge of the strategic dialogue with the US. The very existence of this position is emblematic of the dysfunctionality of Israel's political system right now (ordinarily the role would be part of the… more
...Steve Clemons, director of the American Strategy Programme at the New America Foundation and a popular liberal blogger, said some Clinton allies were pressing ahead to install her as Reid's successor.
"There is appetite in the Senate for it, and I think she'd take it," Clemons said, adding that "if [Obama] is politically savvy and mature, he'll make this happen"...LINK
..."I think the important lesson is - they get a range of savings that is reasonable. It suggests there is a growing consensus that these elements are what are needed for change to happen," said Len Nichols, a healthcare economist at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group...LINK
The razor-thin margin separating the contenders for the Democratic nomination grew even thinner at the weekend. Why is this battle so close? A simple reason is that, despite the occasional invective, Americans genuinely admire both the charismatic Barack Obama and the fiercely resilient Hillary Clinton. When John McCain is thrown into the mix, we have the greatest reality show ever, an epic clash of survivalists. It is a shame Sergio Leone is not here to direct the final scene. But… more
U.S. budget gap set to climb steeply this year (The Guardian)
... Referring to the prospects of growing budget deficits this year, Maya MacGuineas, head of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said, "Every billion is a big deal."
