The Remaking of the State Department

Mark Ralston-AFP/Getty Images

I was a big supporter of Obama over Clinton all through the 2008 elections, and was skeptical of her cabinet appointment, but you know what-- I think she is going to do a good job at State. And I know that her arrival is going to be a huge relief to the staff and diplomatic corp all over the world.

I know many folks who work for the embassy here in Japan and others around the world.

This group, more than most, has been truly held hostage for 8 years. Most are career foreign services members-- and believe profoundly and deeply in diplomacy, cultural understanding, global cooperation and good will. Imagine that is your core belief and you have to work under the Bush administration for 8 years. Many former state folks left, and others held on-- feeling that if they abandoned their posts things would get worse. That at least by hanging in there they could try to mitigate some of the anger and justified disgust at the USA's foreign policy under Bush and Co.

The film footage of Hill's arrival at the State Department says it all. There was cheering and yelling and ear to ear grins. And this from a normally pretty sedate and understated crew of folks.

If Bill stays out of the way, and If Hillary allows herself to be guided by her better angels-- this could turn out to be a fantastic decision. Time will tell.

cross posted from Fighting Liberals

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McCain; Petty, Jealous and Dangerously Flawed

John McCain previously in Iraq putting troops at risk for a political stunt.

Ok, it has been a bad week for McCain. The photos and press from the Obama international trip has made him look weak and tired and out of touch. So I guess I am not surprised at his nastiness and sniping attempts to strike back.

ABC News' Mary Bruce reports: Sen. John McCain suggested today that it is fair game to question Sen. Barack Obama's decision not to visit wounded troops at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during his recent trip to the country.

"If I had been told by the Pentagon that I couldn’t visit those troops, and I was there and wanted to be there, I guarantee you, there would have been a seismic event," McCain told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos in an interview to air Sunday on "This Week".

And

Also, in a new ad released today, the McCain campaign criticized Obama for canceling his Landstuhl trip while finding time to work out.

"He made time to go to the gym," the ad said, "but cancelled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras. John McCain is always there for our troops."

Cameras aren't allowed in military hospitals so that had NOTHING to do with it. But the media, filled with McCain BBQ sauce, just buys into it and supports the latest narrative. We need to have Barack's back. He honors the Pentagon's request that he not go... and now he has to deal with this nonsense. Please!

Sure, John McCain is all for the troops. All for them staying in this illegal, immoral war so that GOP friends and cronies can rack up big defense and private contracts. He supports the troops that he put in danger for his photo op. He supports the troops so much he was against the new GI Bill?! I.feel.ill.

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The 44th President of the United States in Berlin

Obama Speaks to 200,000 at Berlin's Siegessäule

The speech blew my mind.

Obama isn't running for President of the United States. As Gerhard Spörl, the chief editor of Der Spiegel's foreign desk eloquently points out, Obama is running for President of the World.

Der Spiegel

Anyone who saw Barack Obama at Berlin's Siegessäule on Thursday could recognize that this man will become the 44th president of the United States. He is more than ambitious -- he wants to lay claim to become the president of the world.

It was a ton to absorb -- and what a stupendous ride through world history: the story of his own family, the Berlin Airlift, terrorists, poorly secured nuclear material, the polar caps, World War II, America's errors, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, freedom. It's amazing one could even pack such a potpourri of issues into sentences and then succeed in squeezing them all into the space of a speech that lasted less than 30 minutes.

He also could have said: We are a world power, the only one that exists on this planet at the moment, and I am going to act as if that were the case. But you're also allowed to participate in the attempt to try to save the world -- at least a bit of it. In that sense I am different from George W. Bush -- very different. Indeed, Barack Obama has his own sound -- it's more utopian, he speaks of the general human desire for better conditions for all of humanity; and he speaks of the longing for strong and dynamic presidents and chancellors who are capable of acting on a global scale. With this drive and this radiance, he managed to drive Hillary Clinton out of the campaign. It is also the way he is going to outpace John McCain on November 4. It is the way he took the hearts of Americans by storm and it is the way he is now taking Europe by storm.

However, he is also certain to demand the help of the Germans, Brits and French in Afghanistan and Iraq. He's not going to allow NATO to shirk its duty -- and that is where the perils of the engaging "we" and the catchy "Yes, we can" lie. Otherwise all these hard-nosed Europeans will hope and pray that the future President Obama isn’t really all that serious about the saving the world of tomorrow, the polar caps, Darfur and the poppy harvest over in Afghanistan.

George W. Bush is yesterday, the Texas version of the arrogant world power. Obama is all about today: the "everybody really just wants to be brothers and save the world" utopia. As for us, we who sometimes admire and sometimes curse this somewhat anemic, pragmatic democracy, we will have to quickly get used to Barack Obama, the new leader of a lofty democracy that loves those big nice words -- words that warm our hearts and alarm our minds.

Let's allow ourselves to be warmed today, by this man at the Victory Column. Then we'll take a further look.

The speech will BLOW YOU AWAY.

It is worth giving it your attention for thirty minutes.

Daughter number three, Kyle, and I were watching, debating if Obama truly means everything he is saying, or if he is simply a super politician.

Either way, we both agree, he is without question, simply the best orator either of us can remember seeing... her in her lifetime, myself, since Dr. King. I was not quite nine years old on April 4, 1968, when Dr. King was assassinated. I had listened to his speeches -- can't tell you if they came to me on the radio and television live or delay, but I had listened to them. And in years past, I've spent easily hundreds of hours listening to Dr. King speak. Without question, to me he is THE political orator of the last century, bar none.

This century is young and its voices have yet to be heard... yet whomever 100 years from now historians judge to have been the orator of the century, certainly Obama has a genuine shot at the title.

If you listen to nothing else, go to 20:53 and listen till the end. It's under five minutes.

In the final five minutes Obama repudiates Bushism to the world.

He says, the America you loved, the America you dreamed of and trusted, the America you grew up believing in... that America is still here and always will be. Count on it. We have had our rough spots here and there as everyone does, but the American dream is as alive today as it was over 200 years ago. And with your help America will reach out our broad arms across the wide waters and embrace the world, to cure AIDS in our life times, to a blogger in Iran, to victims of human rights abuse where ever they may be.

Want to see if Obama's got what it takes? Cue to 20:53 and rock & roll.

You're watching The 44th President of the United States at work.

It isn't even a question.

h/t Raw Story.

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U.S. Claims Right to Kidnap Any Foreign Citizen

The ensemble of idiot lawyers appointed by the head chimpanzee Bush are making more friends internationally.

AMERICA has told Britain that it can “kidnap” British citizens if they are wanted for crimes in the United States.

A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it. --timesonline.co.uk

Whats the phrase? Imperial Hubris? What these stupid monkey's don't get is that besides the fact that there are more than a few countries that are going to have a BIG problem with this, they are opening the door for the kidnapping and imprisoning of U.S. corporate executives abroad. Not that I give a damn considering what they are stating here.

The American government has for the first time made it clear in a British court that the law applies to anyone, British or otherwise, suspected of a crime by Washington.

It's just that I presume the U.S. Titans of Industry© are also going to have a problem with this. Bush Co is basically funneling corporate money to the Democrats.

These guys are really trying to take us back to the 1800's.

UPDATE: Dr Cole lists a report from Baghdad:

Al-Hayat reports in Arabic that al-Mashhadani objected that US officers in Iraq do not have the prerogative of arresting a member of parliament without being ordered to do so by the Iraqi prime minister. (Parliamentarians have diplomatic immunity unless shown to have committed crimes).

My guess is that they don't know about how the U.S. is now the supreme legal authority everywhere on planet earth... Mars Bitches!

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It's About Oil Prices, Stupid

$80 Oil

Oil up 31% this year

Reuters

Oil hit an all-time high over $80 a barrel on Thursday after Hurricane Humberto forced the closure of some U.S. Gulf refiners, stoking concerns of fuel supply shortfalls.

U.S. crude traded up 9 cents to $80.00 a barrel by 2:15 p.m. EDT, after hitting a record $80.20 earlier. London Brent crude gave up 23 cents to $77.45 a barrel.

U.S. gasoline futures soared in early activity after Hurricane Humberto shut oil shipping channels and three refineries as it slammed onshore in Texas, before being downgraded to a tropical storm.

"We have a storm working its way to American facilities. We have an economic crisis, so many things are affecting ... prices," said Hasan Qabazard, director of OPEC's research division.

Though quadruple the levels of 2002, the price of oil when adjusted for inflation is below the $90-a-barrel peaks of the Iranian Revolution in 1979 and the start of the Iran-Iraq War the following year.

Strong fundamentals and the recent price surge has lured more investors into oil markets, their enthusiasm growing thanks to a market structure that encourages favorable returns.

"Modest demand growth combined with no significant supply increases has caused oil inventories to decline sharply, creating backwardation in the oil forward curve, which is a very bullish signal," said Jeffrey Currie of Goldman Sachs.

In a backwardated market, oil for delivery in the near term is more expensive than for later shipment. Investors make money by selling the more costly prompt oil futures contract and buying cheaper crude contracts for later delivery.

The market shifted into backwardation in part because some analysts and consumers believe OPEC will not pump enough oil to satisfy demand for fuel this winter. [jwe: emphasis added]

To try to soothe consumers, OPEC agreed a small supply increase on Tuesday. But analysts said OPEC's deal to raise output by 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) from November 1 was not enough to reverse a rally that has lifted prices by 31 percent this year.

And we're not even talking about the problem of national banks moving their investments from dollars to euros, and Iran trying to accept oil payment in euros instead of dollars. Which is a large part of why the United States is really planning an attack -- to maintain U.S. control of the world's reserve currency instead of allowing the Proposed Iranian Oil Bourse to succeed. More on this in another post another day.

In the meantime, the weakness of the dollar continues to cause oil producers to not want to cut either production or prices. Consequently when we see prices rise to new records due to shortfalls in the market, it becomes clear prices really are this high naturally. No one is holding back to jack up prices. Everyone is already at or near capacity because they're already being hurt by the low dollar.

Oil.
Another edition of Short Answers to Foolish Questions:

1. What kind of company gave the most to GWB's election?
2. What industry did Bush & Cheney spend their life in?
3. What is the principle product of Iraq?
4. Of Iran? Saudi Arabia? Hell, the whole middle east?
5. During war, which prices always go up, up, up?
6. In which industry does Cheney have his "blind trust" invested?
7. Which industry has had the biggest (record) profits since Iraq?
8. What prices would hit $150-300 a barrel if we invade Iran?
9. Saudi Arabia has the world's largest supply of ____?
10. Poor people die fighting each other over ____,
making rich people much richer who control all the ____.

Bonus: The Bush Administration denies its war is about?

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UNION! UNION! UNION!

Thousands Riot in Chile

Over 400 people were arrested and hundreds injured yesterday when Chile's largest trade union (Chilean Workers Center) called for a day of protest over President Michelle Bachelet's Socialist administration economic and trade policies.

Police threw tear-gas at protesters as clashes broke out in several cities during the nation-wide protest. Most of the violence was in Santiago, near the Presidential Palace, where riot police turned water cannons on protesters blocking the streets.

This riot wasn't just students. It was middle class. Even though Chile's economy (more below) is doing quite well with copper's high prices, the middle class feel the rich are getting richer while they are not only being left out of the economic boom but getting screwed in the bargain. Yesterday the middle class made it clear they were done being screwed.

Call it a Chilean version of Labor Day. Or the Boston Tea Party.

Guardian Unlimited

Thousands of Chileans took to the streets yesterday in a burgeoning middle class revolt against the 17 years of coalition government that has ruled since the fall of Augusto Pinochet in 1990.

Television images showed senator Alejandro Navarro, of President Michelle Bachelet's Socialist party, bleeding from the back of his head after apparently being clubbed by a police officer. Mr Navarro, who was treated in hospital, supported the protest.

"This protest will start to change things. There will be one after another," said Arturo Martinez, of United Workers Central. The union is tapping into widespread anger at economic inequality in Chilean society. As riot police and ruling party politicians tried to play down the protests, the capital was filled by protesters demanding higher pensions, better public transport, subsidised housing and a halt to rising food and electricity prices.

President Bachelet initially defended her record as a progressive politician, then conceded and promised "subsidies to all" families in need and a "short-term solution" for economic inequality.

Yesterday's protest comes after weeks of labour action, including strikes by poultry workers in southern Chile and copper miners in the north. Union leaders called the demonstrations to protest against the government's "neo-liberal" economic policies and to further the national debate about the country's minimum wage.

Salaries for workers have been at the forefront of public debate after recent statements by Bishop Alejandro Goic calling for "an ethical [minimum] wage" for Chilean workers.

Bloomberg

Chile, with 15 million inhabitants, is the world's biggest producer and exporter of copper, ahead of the U.S. and Australia. The economy expanded 6.1 percent in the second quarter fueled by higher investment, domestic consumption and exports. Copper prices rose 16.7 percent this year.

``People see the money and they say to themselves, `Why don't they spend it,''' said Julio Espinoza, an analyst at brokerage BiCE Corredores de Bolsa in Santiago. ``It's a very difficult situation.''

Giving into the demands would add to pressure on inflation, already at the upper end of the central bank's target range, and might lead policy makers to boost interest rates to stem rising prices, he said.

The price of copper, Chile's main source of foreign exchange, has rocketed this year to as much as $3.71 a pound on July 20 from as low as 60 cents in 2001. Copper for delivery in December rose 3.15 cents, or 0.95 percent, to $3.34 a pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange at 3:12 p.m. New York time.

``When you press a balloon, sooner or later it explodes, and in this case the people are the balloon,'' said Luis Perez, a 32 year-old employee at a law office in Santiago, after joining the protest. ``The country has money in the pockets but it doesn't help poor people.''

With state revenue benefiting from the two-year surge in copper prices, the government should be spending more, said Roberto Daza, a 41-year-old taxi driver in Santiago.

``We have a terrible health system, hospitals are crammed with patients,'' he said. ``Chile has lot of resources from higher copper revenue that should be distributed more equitably among the people,'' he said.

Codelco, owned by the Chilean government and the world's largest copper producer, said on Aug. 14 that it added a record $4.67 billion in profits and taxes to government coffers in the first half of the year.

My mentor, my boss for six years is a senator in Chile, representing the Tarapacá Region, Chile's northenmost administrative and one of the poorest regions in the country. There's nothing on Fernando Flores' blog (auto-translated by Google) about this so far but we shall see. Check back.

I'm with the Chilean middle class. Hell, I'm with the American middle class. Want to have a general strike? Go Union go! Not a fan of the violence so much, but hey... I'll be happy to help clean up the blood. I like a good spot of trauma I do. *smiles sweetly*

This Republican crap about how we should take the money and give it back to the rich via tax cuts so they can trickle it back down. Bullshit if I ever heard it. Sure, you need to take a reasonable amount of capital and reinvest in capital improvement and in new projects. But then you need health insurance for everyone, education for everyone, retirement and vacation, childcare for everyone. Take care of the people doing the work so they have time to raise their families, learn new domains of knowledge, invent entirely new fields of opportunity, and rest when their work is done, all in good health.

What is just plain wrong is taking the money made by the people doing the work (that's you and me) and handing the vast overwhelming majority of the money to the few people at the top who make the major business decisions, own most of the company stock. It's bullshit. I'm not talking about paying out on 401K's. I'm talking $2-50 million dollar salaries and options for CEO's and other top executives and corporate officers.

It isn't a question of not having a market economy. It's a question of the government not making sure all its citizens are provided for. As the citizens of Chile are making clear.

Go Union go! And here in the United States... Happy Labor Day.

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