Early & Often: All Your Politics in One Place

5/23/13 at 4:43 PM
Comment

Obama Guards His Left Over Terrorism

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks at the National Defense University May 23, 2013 in Washington, DC. Obama used the speech to outline and justify his administration's counterterrorism policy, including increased cooperation with Congress on matters of national security, added transparency regarding the use of drones, and a review of current threats facing the United States.

President Obama’s speech today defending his conduct in the war on terror was notable for what he was defending it against — not against the soft-on-terror (and maybe sorta-kinda-Muslim) attack that Republicans have lobbed against him since he first ran for president, but against critics on the left.

It is a sudden and welcome turnabout. When Obama first appeared on the national scene, he was a political novice, a liberal Democrat who had made his name opposing the Iraq War, a constitutional law professor, and his middle name was Hussein. The need to defend his hawkish credentials was an, and perhaps the, essential task of his 2008 election. And the dynamic persisted throughout his first term, as Republicans used events like Obama’s attempt to close the Guantanamo Bay prison and the Christmas bomber to revive their weak-on-terror caricature.

5/23/13 at 1:48 PM
Politics
Comment

Obama Will Slow Down Drone Strikes But Keep Control

By Joe Coscarelli

The MQ-9 Reaper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle taxis into Creech Air Force Base, Nev., March 13 marking the first operational airframe of its kind to land here. This Reaper is the first of many soon to be assigned to the 42nd Attack Squadron.

In a big counterterrorism speech at the National Defense University today, President Obama plans to lay out his national security strategy for his second term, detailing a strategy for closing Guantánamo and reorganizing the drone program. According to the New York Times, his hope is "to refocus the epic conflict that has defined American priorities since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and even foresees an unspecified day when the so-called war on terror might all but end." But while he will "reject the notion of a perpetual war with terrorists," he's not calling it off just yet. There are incremental changes to be made, but Obama is still in charge.

5/23/13 at 1:23 PM
The National Interest
Comment

The IRS Scandal Is Becoming a Conspiracy Theory

By Jonathan Chait

U.S. President Barack Obama makes a statement on the situation regarding the Internal Revenue Service May 15, 2013 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Obama had a meeting with Senior Treasury Officials, including Treasury Secretary Jack Lew via telephone, on the situation regarding the Internal Revenue Service.

The Internal Revenue Service scandal remains alive and well as an agency screwup story. But agency screwup stories, even ones centering on the agency Republicans most despise and deliberately hobble, have limited political utility. What Republicans want is for the IRS story to be an Obama scandal. And as an Obama scandal, the IRS story is quickly following the same trajectory as the Benghazi story: a fever swamp obsession, in which understanding the fundamentally sinister character of the Obama administration is the predicate for interpreting all information or lack thereof, and the term becomes a code phrase shared by true believers to stand for deeper currents of left-wing machinations invisible to those outside the tribe.

5/23/13 at 12:10 AM
International Affairs
Comment

Obama Plans to Shut Down Guantánamo, for Real This Time

By Margaret Hartmann

This image reviewed by the US military shows the front gate of "Camp Six" detention facility of the Joint Detention Group at the US Naval Station in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, January 19, 2012. An Al-Qaeda magazine was discovered after being smuggled into Guantanamo prison, a senior US official said January 18 amid a debate on new rules on mail inspections. Prison staff found an English-language copy of "Inspire" magazine which used to include such articles as how to make bombs, deputy military prosecutor Andrea Lockhart told a military tribunal hearing. AFP PHOTO/Jim WATSON (Photo credit should read JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

In addition to announcing restrictions in the use of unmanned drone attacks, President Obama's big national security speech on Thursday will address another controversial aspect of his counterterrorism policy: His failure to close Guantánamo Bay. While Obama won't get into specifics in the speech, he's expected to announce that he's renewing his push to close the prison by restarting the transfer of detainees to their home countries, and reappointing a State Department official to oversee that effort. Officials tell The Wall Street Journal that will involve lifting the ban on sending prisoners back to Yemen, which could still be a long and difficult process.

5/22/13 at 5:18 PM
Drone Wars
Comment

Obama Administration Admits to Killing Americans in Drone Strikes Everyone Already Knows About

By Joe Coscarelli

U.S. President Barack Obama holds a news conference in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House April 30, 2013 in Washington, DC. The president took questions on a variety of subjects including immigration reform, the ongoing civil war in Syria and the investigation into the Boston Marathon bombings.

The U.S. government is now prepared to officially announce that it killed four American citizens abroad, including Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, in three 2011 drone strikes. Ahead of a big speech by President Obama on national security, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. informed congressional leaders that it killed al-Awlaki in Yemen on purpose, but said the three others "were not specifically targeted by the United States." They include al-Awlaki's 16-year-old son; Samir Khan, who was killed in the same strike as the elder al-Awlaki; and Jude Mohammed, a man from North Carolina who was indicted in 2009 and killed in Pakistan two years later. Mohammed's FBI wanted page is still active, although probably not for much longer.

5/22/13 at 1:33 PM
The National Interest
Comment

The Climate-Change Wars Begin This Summer

By Jonathan Chait

Power towers are seen as the sun sets July 24, 2006 in San Rafael, California. The California Independent System Operator declared a stage two power alert for all of California today after available power had fallen to below five percent as high temperatures scorched the state for eight days straight prompting Californians to use a record 50,270 megawatts of power. Temperatures are expected to cool slightly over the next few days but strain on the power grid will continue. A Stage 2 alert means that remaining available power has fallen to below five percent and some businesses will begin to voluntarily shut down some of their operations in exchange for discounted rates. Californians hope to avoid a Stage 3 alert, which would involve rolling blackouts, as calls go out to cut back on power usage until the heat subsides this evening.

The biggest piece of President Obama’s second-term agenda is his widely expected plan for the Environmental Protection Agency to issue new carbon regulations for power plants, a move that could bring the United States in line with the greenhouse-gas-reduction goals it agreed to in Copenhagen and open the way for an international treaty to control climate change. If the administration unveils such a plan, conservatives will undoubtedly challenge its legality. The legal challenge won’t take place for two years, but the two sides are preparing for war already. The field of battle will be the Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C.

5/22/13 at 10:44 AM
The National Interest
Comment

Biden Praises Jews, Goes Too Far, Accidentally Thrills Anti-Semites

By Jonathan Chait

US Vice President Joseph Biden and his wife Dr. Jill Biden (unseen) walk in the cemetery on Mt. Herzel in Jerusalem on March 9, 2010.

Joe Biden spoke last night in honor of Jewish American Heritage Month. Biden has long, deep ties to the Jewish community — Obama actually picked him in 2008 in part to reassure skittish Jewish Democrats. Biden indeed offered fulsome, heartfelt praise in his remarks, before wandering into highly uncomfortable terrain and delivering a speech that is likely to be quoted by anti-Semites for years and decades to come. (It’s already the subject of excited discussion among the white supremacist community.)

Biden’s remarks were not anti-Semitic. They were very, very philo-Semitic. The thrust of his largely unscripted monologue is that Jews have contributed enormously to the United States. That’s obviously a standard spiel for praising any ethnic group, but Biden took care to emphasize that Jews have not just contributed their share to the United States, but far more:

5/22/13 at 2:25 AM
Early And Awkward
Comment

Oklahoma Senators Who Opposed Sandy Aid Would Like Some Tornado Aid

By Margaret Hartmann

Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) speaks during a news conference to announce a plan to defund the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, at the U.S. Capitol March 13, 2013 in Washington, DC. Although Inhofe and his fellow sponsors expect the legislation to fail, they believe it is an important survey of who supports health care reform.

FEMA says the $11.6 billion in its disaster fund should cover immediate response and recovery efforts in Oklahoma, but the state's two senators are still in an awkward position, as they both opposed the Hurricane Sandy relief bill. Tom Coburn took issue with the Sandy appropriation because it wasn't offset by cuts elsewhere, and he said on Tuesday that he'll stand by that principle — meaning he might wind up opposing an aid bill for his home state if more funds are needed. However, his colleague James Inhofe said on MSNBC that the situation on the East Coast was "totally different." "Everybody was getting in and exploiting the tragedy that took place," he said. "That won't happen in Oklahoma."

“I think there’s a lot of hypocrisy involved here," says Rep. Peter King.

5/22/13 at 12:49 AM
Immigration Reform
Comment

Senate Committee Passes Immigration Bill, Minus Protections for Gay Couples

By Margaret Hartmann

LONG BEACH, CA - MAY 18: A group that wants immigration reform for gay partners marches in the Pride Parade at the conclusion of the two-day 25th annual Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival and Celebration on May 18, 2008 in Long Beach, California. The California Supreme Court voted 4-3 to overturn a ban on gay marriage in California on May 15, 2008 making it the second state where gays and lesbians can marry. Legal gay weddings will begin in about a month. Anti-gay activists vow to change the California constitution to disallow voters the right to approve same-sex marriages. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)

After deliberating for five days and considering more than 300 amendments, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the bipartisan immigration reform bill on Tuesday evening, clearing the way for a debate on the Senate floor early next month. The bill was approved 13-5, with support from only three Republicans; Gang of Eight members Jeff Flake and Lindsey Graham, and Orrin Hatch, who the group wooed by accepting his amendment to offer more visas for high-skilled workers. The new version of the bill should be more palatable to Republicans, particularly since they won their game of chicken with Patrick Leahy over adding provisions to protect same-sex couples.

5/21/13 at 5:49 PM
Irs Scandal
Comment

Pleading the Fifth Doesn’t Make You Guilty

By Dan Amira

Lois Lerner, an official at the center of the IRS's ongoing conservative-targeting scandal, announced today that she plans to plead the Fifth if forced to appear before Darrell Issa's House Oversight Committee tomorrow. At the same time, her lawyer maintains her innocence. “She has not committed any crime or made any misrepresentation but under the circumstances she has no choice but to take this course,” the lawyer's letter contends.

Predictable scoffing has ensued. If you're pleading the Fifth, you obviously have something to hide.

Or not.