Now Gaddafi can breath again!

I suppose it's churlish of me, after weeks of urging that our Follower in Chief get off the dime and do something to help the Libyan rebels, to complain about Mr Obama's apologetic declaration of war--er, kinetic action--last night. So I'll just pass along this, from NBC News via Newsbusters (boldface as on the website):

WILLIE GEIST: What's the reaction there [in Libya], though, not only from the rebels but if any from Colonel Gaddafi to what the president said last night about not wanting to wait to see images of mass graves and slaughter of civilians before he intervened? What are they saying there?

JIM MACEDA: Well, there hasn't been any official comment, Willie, from Gaddafi or from the regime or from the compound, yet. I can tell you that the whole, the atmospherics here of the government officials and minders is very different. They had gone to ground for a number of days: very quiet, very tense. They're looking much more themselves: much more bellicose, much more defiant in the past 24 hours. I would think, it's an educated guess but I would say that Gaddafi, after hearing that speech ... that the regime now is feeling a lot better. That they're feeling that they dodged a bullet. If NATO's taking over, they like that. They've got much better relations with NATO than with the United States in general. And they love the idea that the US position as stated by Obama is that they're not looking for regime change. Soon as he heard that, I'm sure Gaddafi was quite excited. He thinks he can probably negotiate his way out of this as he has over the past 41 years in other situations.

The video is on the Newsbusters site. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

We can breath again

According to the New York Times this morning, anti-Qaddafi forces are on the march again in Libya, apparently retaking the town of Ajdabiya, which controls access to the country's eastern shore. There's a useful map here. Libya has two strips of Mediterranean shore, separated by a gigantic bight, the Gulf of Sidra. The interior is notable largely for the Sahara Desert, much fought over during World War II in a contest to control the shoreline.

This geographical curiosity is what makes our no-fly zone feasible, and also explains the importance of Ajdabiya. If the rebels can clear the Qaddafi forces out of the eastern part of the country, and if Europe and the United States grant them diplomatic recognition, then they can probably hold on for the long haul. By the same token, Qaddafi may well hold on to the western part of the country. The momentum for actually unseating him may have leached away already. Mr Obama, in his radio address yesterday, allowed that “We are succeeding in our mission.” But he coyly refrains from defining what that mission is. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

The commander who won't

I voted for Barack Obama in the New Hampshire primary, in large part because his speeches thrilled me as no other presidential candidate in my lifetime. (Jack Kennedy came close.) By November however I had become disenchanted, and now I'm just befuddled. Where is the great speechifier of 2008? Peggy Noonan asks the same question in the Wall Street Journal today, and asks it better than I ever could:

I cannot for the life of me see how an American president can launch a serious military action without a full and formal national address in which he explains to the American people why he is doing what he is doing, why it is right, and why it is very much in the national interest. He referred to his aims in parts of speeches and appearances when he was in South America, but now he's home. More is needed, more is warranted, and more is deserved. He has to sit at that big desk and explain his thinking, put forward the facts as he sees them, and try to garner public support. He has to make a case for his own actions. It's what presidents do! And this is particularly important now, because there are reasons to fear the current involvement will either escalate and produce a lengthy conflict or collapse and produce humiliation.

Unlike me, Noonan is skeptical of our military action in Libya. (I only fret that it came too late.) But she is spot on--actually very gentle--in analyzing Obama's failures in this, his latest war. He is a commander-in-chief who refuses to command. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Why he dithered

I have regularly expressed my contempt for Mr. Obama's dithering over the past month, while a democratic movement bled on the sands of North Africa. But here is Fouad Ajami in the Wall Street Journal with an analysis of the president's failure that is more, um, nuanced than mine:

Everywhere Mr. Obama looked, he saw Iraq. We couldn't rescue Tripoli and Benghazi because of what we had witnessed in Fallujah and Sadr City. Iraq was Mr. Obama's entry into the foreign world, it was his opposition to that war that gave him a sense of worldliness and gravitas. He had made much of being "a student of history." But history didn't stretch far for him, and in a man who claimed affinity with distant peoples and places, there was a heavy dosage of parochialism. It was history's odd timing: A great historical rupture in the Arab world, bearing within it the promise of remaking a flawed political tradition that knew no middle ground between despotism and nihilistic violence, happened on the watch of an American president proud of his deliberateness and his detachment from history's passions.

Worth a read. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

How's that followership stuff working out for ya?

Brazil calls for ceasefire in Libya

say the Reuters headline, the day after Barack Obama left Rio on his tour of Latin America. If the president of the United States doesn't lead, who will follow? Not Brazil, evidently. Probably not anyone else, either. The Arab League is heading for the exit, and Europe's two stalwarts--France and Britain--are divided on what to do next, now that Mr. Obama wants his "allies" to take over the lead role.

What lead? What allies? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

About those Polish concentration camps

The New York Times has now followed the lead of the Wall Street Journal and inserted an instruction in its style book for reporters and editors: Auschwitz was a "German Nazi" concentration camp, not a Polish one! Why did it take more than sixty years to figure that out?

Personally, I don't even like the term "Nazi," which has always struck me as an alibi for Germans behaving badly from 1933 to 1945. "The Nazi army." "Nazi-occupied Europe." The army was actually German--does that really need to be said? The Germans occupied Europe--does that really need to be said? And of course the Germans built the concentration camps, in Poland and elsewhere. (But mostly in Poland! Poland had three million Jews, and it was easier and more sanitary to murder them there. Indeed, German, French, Dutch, and other Jews were exported to Poland for the express purpose of working or otherwise doing them to death.) The impression left is that the Nazis came from some alien planet, and returned there in May 1945, never to trouble us again, leaving only the Poles with guilt for the atrocities the Germans committed.

I don't know how many letters to the editor I have written over the years on the subject of "Polish concentration camps,"  to The New Yorker among others. I never got an answer, and the letter was never published. Perhaps now this will change, but I am not optimistic. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Hope for Libya

Here's one less tank of Gadaffi's. Let's hope its destruction came soon enough. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

A Bohunk in the Ivory Tower

Danusha Goska, an American of blue-collar Polish parentage, blogs scathingly about her experience as a college student, graduate student, and faculty member in an academic world given over to any minority except the one she represents:

There are offices on campus devoted to African American students, gay students, Hispanic students, Native American students, international students, returning women students, veteran students, physically handicapped students, cognitively impaired students … there are special scholarships, parties, speakers, monies, procedures, counselors, deans, days, cafeteria tables, recruiters, retention experts, dedicated to making all of the aforementioned students' lives easier, their graduation assured, and their post-graduation employment a cinch.

There is no campus office for me, or others like me, though, poor, white Christian ethnics are among the most discriminated against and unwelcome students on elite campuses like this one.

That sounds about right to me. My own background was rather similar to hers, save that my parents were Irish instead of Polish. And with one other, crucial difference: I was a student in the 1950s, before America began to obsess over designated, privileged minorities. I particularly liked Danusha's anecdote of having to work as a domestic servant in order to earn the money that a middle-class classmate got in grants simply because of the color of her skin. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Can he vote 'present' by absentee ballot?

So here's the score: the French stepped up to the plate. (Remember how we used to mock them? "Ah, the French!" we would giggle. "Always there when they need us!") The British of course stepped up to the plate. Heck, the Arab League stepped up to the plate. And even the United Nations Security Council stepped up to the plate, albeit with five abstentions. As for the most powerful man in the world, the forty-fourth president of the United States--well, Mr Obama skipped off to Brazil. Only then (and evidently only after he was prodded by Hillary Clinton) did he let it be known that he was, after all, in support of hard measures in Libya.

If there has been a more contemptible performance by an American president in the past hundred years, I can't think of what it could possibly be. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Great moments in world leadership

Unlike the president of the United States, I am a busy man and must work for a living, so I don't follow Women's Tournament Challenge basketball, whatever that might be. If you have more leisure for such things, here are Mr. Obama's picks (or is it "pick"?) from the official White House website. What a great thing it must be, to have nothing pressing on one's mind!

Next up: a visit to Brazil. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Reviews, options, consultations, discussions

The word from White House dot gov:

Readout of President Obama's meeting with his national security team on Libya

At today’s meeting, the President and his national security team reviewed the situation in Libya and options to increase pressure on Gaddafi. In particular, the conversation focused on efforts at the United Nations and potential UN Security Council actions, as well as ongoing consultations with Arab and European partners.

The President instructed his team to continue to fully engage in the discussions at the United Nations, NATO and with partners and organizations in the region.

Well, that's a huge relief. For a month now, I feared that the United States of America wasn't going to do anything to help the Libyan democracy movement. Not to worry! Our best minds are reviewing the situation. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Obama as Ike

In one of the weirdest op-eds of recent years, David Brooks (the house conservative for the New York Times) glories in the passivity of Barack Obama:

The campaign of 2008 was marked by soaring calls for transformation. Now the administration spends much of its time reacting to events and counseling restraint.

The Arab masses have seized control of the international agenda with their marches and bravery. The Republicans on Capitol Hill and in Madison, Wis., have seized control of the domestic agenda with calls for spending cuts.

The Obama administration has reacted to both of these movements by striking a prudent, middling course. Internationally, the administration has sought a subtle (overly subtle) balance between democracy and stability. Domestically, the president offered a budget so tepid that it effectively ceded center stage. He called for a few cuts but asked people not to get carried away.

On Friday, President Obama gave a press conference that perfectly captured his current phase. He acknowledged rising gas prices but had no new energy policy to announce. On Libya, he emphasized the need to deliberate carefully our steps ahead but had no road map to propose. On the federal budget fight, he spoke passionately about the need to reach a compromise. But when given the chance to talk about what it might look like, he rose above the fray and vaguely counseled balance and moderation.

It is easy to see why the president should be striking this pose now. Prudence is always a nice trait in a leader, especially in the face of a thorny problem like Libya. At a time when the nation is anxious, Obama is coming across as a cautious and safe pair of hands. The man is clearly not going to do anything rash.

If this appeared in National Review, it would sound like condemnation. But Mr. Brooks intends to praise Mr. Obama.

Not doing anything rash? Heck, the man isn't doing any at all. He's just sitting there, waiting for his luck to change. Ike ended the Korean War, submitted three balanced budgets, created the Interstate highway system, and got the Civil Rights Bill of 1957 signed into law. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Time indeed!

One of the neat things about subscribing to The New Yorker is the email that arrives most every week with a preview of the coming issue's articles, with a link to the online edition in case you can't wait to read one of them. Thus it was that I hurried to investigate "David Remick on Obama and the Middle East." (Not available to non-subscribers.) I just naturally assumed that it dealt with the great issue of the day--Libya's murdering of its own people--and it does in fact contain a clarion call for action: "It is time for President Obama to speak clearly and firmly."

Alas, as I should have guessed, Mr. Remick is not calling for action against an enemy--an enemy of the U.S. and of democracy--but against a friend, and the only true democracy in the region, to wit: Israel. Wouldn't you know it? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Peugot has a hybrid

 

Just the thing for the budding Dale Earnhardt III with a contemporary conscience! Peugot has rolled out a 550-horsepower diesel-electric machine with an 80 hp electric motor that, the company assures us, will power the vehicle in the pits, though presumably not on the track. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Actions, options, costs, benefits ...

 
"When it comes to U.S. military actions, whether it's a no-fly zone or other options, you've got to balance costs versus benefits," Mr. Obama said. "And, you know, I don't take those decisions lightly."

It would be fairer to say that he doesn't take those decisions at all. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Oh dear

Poor Japan! As if an earthquake and a tidal wave (whatever happened to that wonderful term?) weren't enough, the Japanese had a power plant explode. I wonder how long it will take before the Good People start using this triple tragedy as proof that America must stop playing with the notion of restarting its atomic power industry? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

On, Wisconsin!

Congratulations to Governor Scott Walker and the (rump) Wisconsin State Senate, who despite the mayhem have managed to pass a public-employee reform bill that returns some measure of power to the citizens who foot the bill for all that early retirement, comfortable pensions, and gold-plated health insurance. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Not to decide is also a decision (Sartre)

Reports the New York Times this morning: "President Obama’s national security team met at the White House on Wednesday to discuss how to oust the Libyan leader, including the possible imposition of a no-flight zone, but made no decisions, according to the White House press secretary, Jay Carney." Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Why we can't abolish the National Endowment for the Humanities

“The mean-spirited bill, H.R. 1 … eliminates the National Endowment of the Humanities, National Endowment of the Arts. These programs create jobs. The National Endowment of the Humanities is the reason we have in northern Nevada every January a cowboy poetry festival. Had that program not been around, the tens of thousands of people who come there every year would not exist.” -- Harry Reid, U.S. Senate majority leader. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Qadaffi faces a range of potential options!

Remember Hillary Clinton's campaign ad in which the White House phone rings at three o'clock in the morning? Well, that phone started ringing weeks ago, and it hasn't been answered yet. Here's the president's latest declaration on whether or not we should aid the Libyan rebels:

President Obama, appearing Monday morning with Australia’s prime minister, tried to raise the pressure on Colonel Qaddafi further by talking about “a range of potential options, including potential military options” against the embattled Libyan leader.

Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

The missing F-22

I have great respect for Robert Gates, whom Dubya appointed and Obama retained as Secretary of Defense, but I am puzzled his arguments with respect to the F-22 air-superiority fighter and our unwillingness or inability to enforce a no-fly zone over rebel-held Libya. Here's how it goes:

1) We don't need and can't afford more F-22s than the 187 now on order. Better that the money should be spent on the smaller, cheaper, slower, but more versatile F-35, which is tailor-made for the sort of counter-insurgencies that now challenge us. One reason the F-22 is so expensive is that it is nearly invulnerable to ground fire, because the enemy can't see it or, seeing it, can't hit it.

2) The United States couldn't (or anyhow shouldn't) attempt to enforce a no-fly zone in Libya because we would first have to destroy Libyan anti-aircraft defenses, and that would require more airplanes than could be flown off a single aircraft carrier.

How does that compute? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

You are paying this lady $632,233 a year

I built a Heathkit FM tuner in 1964, located WCRB on the dial, and have listened to it ever since. Recently it was taken over by WGBH, the "public broadcasting" channel in Boston. So in addition to the usual non-commercials for retirement communities, dating services, and the like, I now get to listen to executives urging me to let my Congressfolk know how much I love public radio and public broadcasting. Well, I do love them, as it happens. I just don't think that Joe the Plumber ought to be obliged to pay for them. Here for example is Paula Kerger, the president of PBS. She is paid $632,233 a year. Should taxpayers contribute to that? No way.

It would be sad if WGBH went off the air. It would be even sadder if WCRB (now called Ninety-Nine-Five for its location on the dial) should disappear. But somehow I don't think they will, even if they have to cut Ms Kerger's compensation by half. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

What *could* he have been thinking?

Dana Kennedy does her dangedest to suss out a possible motive for the murder of two American servicemen:

Who is Arif Uka and why is he suspected of opening fire today on American servicemen on a U.S. military bus at Frankfurt's airport?

The attack killed two airmen and wounded two.

Investigators were scrambling to find out more about the 21-year-old Kosovo citizen after they say he fired shots at U.S. military personnel on a bus outside Terminal 2 at one of Europe's busiest airports this afternoon.

Rep. Patrick Meehan, a member of the U.S. Homeland Security Committee, said it looked like a terrorist attack. The New York Times quoted a man whose office is near the site of the shooting who seemed to back up that assertion.

Speaking on condition of anonymity to protect his business, the man said witnesses told him that the gunman first talked to the military personnel to find out who they were and then opened fire, shouting "God is great" in Arabic.

Well, Dana, we're here to help. Speaking on condition of anonymity, we speculate that the reason he's suspected is that several people saw him do it. As for the other business, well, doesn't every street thug these days shout "God is great!" in Arabic? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

The UN speaks, Libya trembles

Wow. The UN Human Rights Council (as it's now called, since the earlier Human Rights Commission became an embarrassment) actually suspended one of its members yesterday. Boo hoo, Muammar Gadhafi! This is the same Human Rights Council whose draft report contains these words of praise from what blogger James Tarranto calls "a rogue's gallery of tyrannies":

Sudan noted the country's positive experience in achieving a high school enrolment rate and improvements in the education of women. The Syrian Arab Republic praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya [that is, Libya] for its serious commitment to and interaction with the Human Rights Council and its mechanisms. . . . North Korea praised the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its achievements in the protection of human rights. . . . Palestine commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the consultations held with civil society in the preparation of the national report. . . . Saudi Arabia commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya's achievements in its constitutional, legislative and institutional frameworks. . . . Venezuela acknowledged the efforts of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya to promote economic, social and cultural rights, especially those of children. . . . Cuba commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for the progress made. . . . Myanmar commended the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya for its economic and social progress.

To their shame, Gadhafi's thuggish regime also got sweet words from Canada, Australia, and even the U.S. I suppose it's too much to hope that there could ever be a revolution at Turtle Bay? Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Viva Libya libre!

Enough already: it's time for the United States to extend recognition to the provisional government of Libya. It's just plain humiliating that we should stand by, thumbs in all the wrong places, waiting for the United Nations, when France and Britain are leading the way with actions that really bite the dictator in his softer extremities. There's a civil war in Libya! The good guys are winning! Please, Mr. Obama, don't just stand there gazing helplessly toward Turtle Bay: do something. Show the world that you deserve that Nobel Peace Prize you got so effortlessly. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford