Al Qaeda Whack a Mole

If Al Qaeda is like whack a mole--stop them here and they pop up there--what's the point? Katie Couric talks with Thomas Friedman:

Friedman: Rightwing Putting Obama's Life in Danger

I hate to write about this, but I have actually been to this play before and it is really disturbing.

I was in Israel interviewing Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin just before he was assassinated in 1995. We had a beer in his office. He needed one. I remember the ugly mood in Israel then — a mood in which extreme right-wing settlers and politicians were doing all they could to delegitimize Rabin, who was committed to trading land for peace as part of the Oslo accords. They questioned his authority. They accused him of treason. They created pictures depicting him as a Nazi SS officer, and they shouted death threats at rallies. His political opponents winked at it all.

And in so doing they created a poisonous political environment that was interpreted by one right-wing Jewish settler as a license to kill Rabin — he must have heard, “God will be on your side” — and so he did.

Others have already remarked on this analogy, but I want to add my voice because the parallels to Israel then and America today turn my stomach: I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening. Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into delegitimation and creating the same kind of climate here that existed in Israel on the eve of the Rabin assassination.
....
And Mr. Obama is now having his legitimacy attacked by a concerted campaign from the right fringe. They are using everything from smears that he is a closet “socialist” to calling him a “liar” in the middle of a joint session of Congress to fabricating doubts about his birth in America and whether he is even a citizen. And these attacks are not just coming from the fringe. Now they come from Lou Dobbs on CNN and from members of the House of Representatives.

Again, hack away at the man’s policies and even his character all you want. I know politics is a tough business. But if we destroy the legitimacy of another president to lead or to pull the country together for what most Americans want most right now — nation-building at home — we are in serious trouble. We can’t go 24 years without a legitimate president — not without being swamped by the problems that we will end up postponing because we can’t address them rationally. NYT

Robert Gates on This Week Sept. 27

On This Week, the roundtable debated a middle ground on Afghanistan and Obama's gut. The roundtable concluded that Obama has not yet made up his mind yet.
Bob Woodward said this is what makes Obama unique. He's listening and he's willing to change his mind.
George Will, who's against boosting troops in Afghanistan, says that's the hardest thing for a president to do--change his mind in public.
The biggest hindrance to progress in Afghanistan now appears to be the vast corruption in the Afghan government and the flawed election. Read Stanley McChrystal's assessment of Afghanistan here.
Watch John McCain, who's for an increase in troops (the surge in Iraq was his idea after all). McCain said he recently gave Obama his input on Afghanistan.
There is a question as to whether our troops are too stretched already.
Watch Robert Gates talk about the strategy decision here. Having the wrong strategy could be more deadly in Afghanistan, Gates said. Gates said he is sitting on McChrystal's troop request. He hasn't given it to Obama yet. Gates and McChrystal differ troop numbers.
Moving to Guantanamo, Gates said he was one of the people who recommended a deadline for closing Gitmo. A deadline needed to be imposed to overcome bureaucracy, he said. McCain disagreed.
This week's This Week was a good one. It was a rational discussion of Afghanistan, Gitmo and Iran. I highly recommend taking in the whole show.

Wingnuts Quest to Further Dumb Down America

On Meet the Press, Tom Friedman says that the objections to Obama speaking to schools is "flat out stupid." People need to stand up to stupidity. A toast to Friedman.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Bob Schieffer Happy Happiness is Contagious

Face the Nation's Bob Schieffer comments on a new study that says happiness is contagious.

The meat of the show- Tom Friedman speaks about reviving the auto industry with new management. Obama suggested on Meet the Press this morning that the industry needs fresh thinking: