Obama's Roosevelt Moment?

I have felt for some time that Obama would come to a point where he would give up on consensus governance and strike out in a bold and unilateral direction. It could be that Friday's post-closing announcement of suits against mortgage lenders is the opening salvo in just such a new economic plan of battle.

Today's call in The Atlantic for a new "grand bargain" between business and labour is just the type of bold and aggressive action that served both parties so well for a half century from the 1930s to 1980s. It could well be that two and a half years of conciliatory efforts may be the foundation for much bolder action such as this now. Obama's opponents can no longer claim that he is unwilling to compromise -- he has greatly damaged relations with his base and endangered his re-election prospects through just such efforts. And it has demonstrably garnered him very little.

Perhaps it is only wishful thinking on my part, but in the run-up to 2012, we may yet see the Obama we all hoped for. Roosevelt did not enter office with radical ideas, but grasped them, albeit much more quickly than this administration, out of necessity.

Our Friends Until They Are Our Enemies

So it seems that we were a little cozier with the good Colonel than recent events would lead us to believe. As today's Globe & Mail describes it

The intelligence documents found in Tripoli, meanwhile, provided new details on the ties between Western countries and Col. Gadhafi's regime. Many of those same countries backed the NATO attacks that helped Libya's rebels force Col. Gadhafi from power.
One notable case is that of Abdel-Hakim Belhaj, commander of the anti-Gadhafi rebel force that now controls Tripoli. Mr. Belhaj is the former leader of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a now-dissolved militant group with links to al-Qaeda. Mr. Belhaj says he was tortured by CIA agents at a secret prison, then returned to Libya.
Two documents from March 2004 appear to be American correspondence to Libyan officials to arrange Mr. Belhaj's rendition.
Referring to him by his nom de guerre, Abdullah al-Sadiq, the documents say he will be flown from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Libya and asks for Libyan government agents to accompany him.
It also requests American “access to al-Sadiq for debriefing purposes once he is in your custody.”
“Please be advised that we must be assured that al-Sadiq will be treated humanely and that his human rights will be respected,” the document says.

Of course, if we wanted him treated humanely, why the F*&% did we send him to Libya?

Just asking.

The Harper Government and the Supremacy of Parliament

We pay Fearless Leader's salary, but who is he working for? From today's Toronto Star, news that legislation is apparently vetted by our American cousins prior to presentation to Parliament. This is a government with little if any regard for the institutions of democracy in Canada.

So when we wind up with copyright legislation that looks much like that south of the border, we will know why:

U.S. cables describe a December 2006 meeting between Bernier, industry minister at the time, and then U.S. ambassador David Wilkins.
“Bernier also stated that the final copyright legislation ‘would be in line' with US (government) priorities, but was not specific,” says the U.S. Embassy cable.
“Bernier promised to keep the Ambassador informed on the copyright bill's progress, and indicated that US (government) officials might see the legislation after it is approved by Cabinet, but before it is introduced in Parliament,”

Who Won and Who Lost

As we head into the sequel of the great recession, we get this timely reminder from Joe Stiglitz on the appalling cost of our responses to terrorism.

Though the financial cost has been staggering, and will undoubtedly stay with us for years to come, it is the human cost that truly beggars the imagination. As he notes:

In Afghanistan and Iraq, the U.S. and its allies knew that long-term victory required winning hearts and minds. But mistakes in the early years of those wars complicated that already-difficult battle. The wars' collateral damage has been massive: By some accounts, more than 1 million Iraqis have died, directly or indirectly, because of the war. According to some studies, at least 137,000 civilians have died violently in Afghanistan and Iraq in the last 10 years. Among Iraqis alone, there are 1.8 million refugees and 1.7 million internally displaced people.

And when we are gone, we will be trillions of dollars in debt and both will remain failed states. So who won?

Another Socialist Fund Manager

Bill Gross, from the Peoples Republic of Pimco, has the following to say about the dim prospects for global capitalism:



Come the revolution, Bill can be the Commissar of Treasuries!