The more it stays the same Originally an historian, and now in my seventh decade, I have been impressed with how institutional inertia outweighs democratic inputs at almost every turn. Editorialist Ross Douthat wrote yesterday in regard to the Tea Party’s chances of effecting a national policy shift: It wouldn’t be the first time a [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Afghanistan, fiscal responsibility, Gitmo, institutional inertia, Iraq, Obama, Ross Douthat, Tea Party, The Seduction of the Tea Partiers
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- 27 September 2010 – 10:55
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Former Vice President Dick Cheney was arguably wrong about many things ─ but not always (and that is important to recognize) Bob Woodward’s new book, Obama’s Wars, apparently exposes conflict and an unsettling “split the difference” attitude within the Commander in Chief’s conduct of the Afghanistan war. Even last year, Dick Cheney urged the President [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Afghanistan, Bob Woodward, Can a president lead with Woodward wathcing?, Dick Cheney, dithering, Kathleen Parker, Obama's Wars
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- 25 September 2010 – 10:18
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
“Compare and contrast” questions often highlight errors in thinking and policy Hidden and unanalyzed assumptions cause policy errors that kill people. (I have written more about this here.) Good lawyers often expose sloppy thinking by comparing and contrasting similar situations that have, nevertheless, been treated completely differently in practice. Before embarking on policy-making, one should ask [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Afghanistan, compare and contrast, Doug Moench, drug cartel, Mexico, terrorist, training camps, violence, war
- Published:
- 1 July 2010 – 07:38
- Author:
- By BrainiYak
Media attention devoted to President Obama’s firing of General Stanley McCrystal for apparent insubordination overlooks the inanity of the United States’ counterinsurgency strategy (COIN). (Michael Hastings’ Rolling Stone article, The Runaway General, is the source material for McCrystal’s firing. Hasting also exposes the vacuity of the COIN strategy.) The President’s foolishness (or political cynicism) in thinking (or implying) that COIN is [...]
Categories: Uncategorized
Tagged: Afghanistan, COIN, counterinsurgency, general, McCrystal, Michael Hastings, Rolling Stone, The Runaway General
- Published:
- 25 June 2010 – 07:40
- Author:
- By BrainiYak