A Nail In His Place

By this point in the presidential campaign, the public knows that a charismatic Barack Obama wants sweeping “change.” While the national media have often fallen hard for the Illinois senator’s rhetoric — MSNBC’s Chris…

Barack Obama, evidently stung by the fact that his statements on foreign policy have come across as naive at best,…

The administration simply got bad intelligence. Critics are wrong to assert deception.
By James Kirchick
June 16, 2008
latimes.com

Touring Vietnam in 1965, Michigan Gov. George Romney proclaimed American involvement there “morally right and necessary.” Two years later, however, Romney — then seeking the Republican presidential
nomination — not only recanted his support for the war but claimed that he had been hoodwinked.

The rest of the story…

The Obama campaign has released the roster of its National Security Working Group. You’ll want to take your No-Doz before reading the full list:

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright
Senator David Boren, former Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
Secretary of State Warren Christopher
Greg Craig, former director of the State Department Office of Policy Planning
Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig
Representative Lee Hamilton, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee
Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder
Dr. Tony Lake, former National Security Advisor
Senator Sam Nunn, former Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Secretary of Defense William Perry
Dr. Susan Rice, former Assistant Secretary of State
Representative Tim Roemer, 9/11 Commissioner
Jim Steinberg, former Deputy National Security Advisor

Okay, one obvious quibble–what the hell does Eric Holder know about National Security? I know he did the high profile prosecution of Dan Rostenkowski and was instrumental in getting Marc Rich his presidential pardon, but even so, Holder’s national security bona fides aren’t immediately apparent. Since his name keeps coming up in regards to Obama-related activities, he’s probably your next Attorney General if Obama wins. While Holder wouldn’t be an inspiring pick, we could do worse. (Hint: rhymes with “Schmeval Schmatrick.”)

But I digress. What really leaps out about the list is what a thoroughly conventional crew of advisors Obama has cobbled together. Does anyone really think Warren Christopher will devise a revolutionary national security plan? Or Madeline Albright? Or Tony Lake?

This goes back to what I was saying about Obama a couple of weeks ago. Rhetorical skills aside, Obama is a decidedly inside-the-box thinker. If he were really going to take America’s national security in a new direction, he wouldn’t be seeking counsel from these fossils.

Obama’s penchant for conventional–nay, clichéd–thinking provides equal measures of hope and fear. Those who fear that Obama might just turn over our national security checkerboard can probably breathe easier. That’s not how this particular politician rolls.

But the reliance on such a conventional cast of advisors suggests that Obama hasn’t really given much thought to national security. Instead, he has opted for the George H.W. Bush route of prudence. Everyone on the list of advisors (with the exception of Holder) has establishment credentials. If Obama has a national security vision, it remains impossible to discern.

The news coverage and media analysis that followed the arrival Monday of same-sex marriage in California was absolutely predictable. There was the inevitable flood of profiles and personal stories, along with celebratory reportage.

The general theme of much of the coverage was that same-sex marriage had become a reality and yet civilization continues.  The same theme predominated after the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts in 2004.

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