Question of the Night

Could Obama have handled the Afghanistan war better?

I admit, this is a bit of a trick question. During the 2008 election, I felt bad for whoever was handed this shit sandwich after winning in November -- I didn't think there were any good choices then, and I still don't now. Maybe the best choice would have been to pull troops out immediately starting in 2009, but Republicans would have hammered Obama for that choice until Kingdom Come. And while I could criticize Obama for playing politics by setting timetables for troop withdrawls to be completed after the 2012 election, it's not like he had this other, obviously better option to go with.

In fact, any time I try thinking of what Obama is responsible for in Afghanistan, I keep circling back to the Bush Administration. It was Bush who ignored Afghanistan to wage a needless war in Iraq. It was Bush who installed the ineffective Karzai, who has delusions of dictatorship. It was Bush who never built up Afghanistan's defense forces to secure the country before he left office. Bush had six years to do this and he didn't get past square one. Indeed, one has to question how much of a united polity Afghanistan is -- as opposed to a loose federation of tribes who aren't friendly with each other under an arbitrary national border -- yet it was Bush who convinced that we could go "nation building" in Afghanistan. It was also Bush who oversaw a corrupt national rebuilding effort in Afghanistan where the military gave money to contractors, who took a cut and hired other contractors, who took a cut and... Well, you get the picture. Who knows how many pennies were left to build a school after this process, all to have that school destroyed by the Taliban because we never built up Afghan's security forces to protect the country.

And now... Well, Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan, and we're in "peace talks" with the brutal Taliban regime our military pledged to defeat; yet cannot defeat because, like bin Laden, the Taliban take refuge in Pakistan. So we're fighting a war we're not sure we can even war in the wrong place.

This is the definition of a "clusterfuck". Obama's crime lies in continuing the Afghanistan war, and he didn't have much choice in the matter when he entered office.

So the blame for this mess lies solely with former President Bush. This $429 billion mistake, funded after Bush's $1.35 trillion tax cut in 2001, must be considered a major reason for why our country is broke and discussing austerity measures right now. Indeed, this is how Bush's shameful legacy will effect us for years to come.

Recession Photo Contest

The Huffington Post is running a contest for what photo best captures the recession. My vote is for this picture by Mark Smith.

Brevard County Unemployment

RNC chairman Michael Steele literally laughed at talk of America being in a recession.

"I've heard a number of people say that across the country. The malls are just as packed on Saturday."



I would like to hear Steele's explanation for Brevard County, Florida having a 10.1 percent unemployment rate in March. Last March, the unemployment rate for Brevard County was 5.3 percent. Does Steele think these people quit their jobs to spend more time at the mall?

The R Word

The Bush administration has taken great pains to avoid using the word recession. White House Press Secretary Tony Fratto and White House Press Secretary Dana Perino avoided the word.

“The classic definition of a recession is not something that we could determine now, or forecast. It’s something that people look back on.”

Fratto punted in front of the White House Press Corp.



The White House economists have equal dread for the R word. "Recessions are things that are declared by other people — National Bureau of Economic Research." Edward Lazear, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers. Unfortunately for Lazear, the National Bureau of Economic Research released a report that the United States has been in a recession since December of 2007.

The committee identified December 2007 as the peak month, after determining that the subsequent decline in economic activity was large enough to qualify as a recession.

Payroll employment, the number of filled jobs in the economy based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ large survey of employers, reached a peak in December 2007 and has declined in every month since then. An alternative measure of employment, measured by the BLS’s household survey, reached a peak in November 2007, declined early in 2008, expanded temporarily in April to a level below its November 2007 peak, and has declined in every month since April 2008. For a discussion of the difference between payroll and household survey employment measures, see Mary Bowler and Teresa L. Morisi, “Understanding the Employment Measures from the CPS and CES Surveys,” Monthly Labor Review, February 2006, pp. 23–38.

President Bush is now forced to use the R Word.

"Our economy is in a recession," Bush said flatly, speaking to reporters on the South Lawn only hours after the release of a government report showing the biggest month of job losses in 34 years. "This is in large part because of severe problems in our housing, credit and financial markets, which have resulted in significant job losses."

While repeatedly listing the serious problems in the economy, the White House has refused to embrace the actual term until Monday, when a panel for the National Bureau of Economic Research said the recession began last December and is ongoing.

Admitting there is a problem is the first step towards a solution. The Bush administration admits nothing. That is why the insurgency in Iraq happened. In 2005, Dick Cheney said the Iraq insurgency was in the "last throes." That doesn't explain why President-elect Barack Obama will inherit two wars and a recession.

Update: Crooks and Liars has video of Bush saying the R Word. Bush did everything to downplay the recession.

"We're working with the Federal Reserve and FDIC, and credit is beginning to move. A market that was frozen is thawing. There's still more work to do. But there are some encouraging signs."

What thawing is Bush talking about? 533,000 jobs were lost in November. Those aren't people that are going to do their patriotic duty of shopping?