Ted Cruz, the GOP’s new great mainly white hope versus Donald Trump, explodes into first place in Iowa.
With everything else going on, I wanted to return to a theme I’ve be writing about in one form or another for almost 15 years. And quite apart from the counter-terrorism and military policies we pursue in fighting terrorism, there are a great number of people, often “policy intellectuals” but not always, for whom the ‘war on terror’ is a channel for their own grandiosity, personal boredom or wish that they lived at a more dramatic historical moment.
I first wrote about this at length about a dozen years ago when I reviewed (“The Orwell Temptation“) Paul Berman’s Terror and Liberalism for The Washington Monthly. This was Berman’s stab at standing himself up as the Orwell of the “War on Terror” and giving the whole effort an intellectual heft, gravity and pedigree. In other words, not just a vast counter-terrorism operation but a war of ideas, something that smart guys write career-making books about. Like Orwell. We’re thankfully many years since this sort of grandiose intellectualism was in vogue on this topic. But we are seeing a rapid return.
I wanted to share with you TPM Reader BF’s take on my weekend post (“The Condundrum“) and the President’s speech. I want to do so not only because I think he makes good points that are worth considering but also because he captures a viewpoint I have heard from a number of people in recent days. In so many words, they agree with President Obama on the policy merits. But they do not believe his rhetoric and his policies are connecting with the public in a visceral way or reassuring them that he takes the threat seriously, appreciates their fears or has a plan on a scale to address the threat.
I’d like to propose that there is another conundrum to consider. That is, in short, whether it may make sense to “over-react” in order to prevent something even worse down the line.
The president’s speech was just what I expected. Serious, reasonable, thoughtful. But will it do anything to cut into support for someone like Trump? Will it actually reassure anyone who is genuinely frightened of Muslims becoming radicalized and launching attacks in their backyard? I don’t think so. Obama’s speech, as sound as it was on policy grounds, won’t do any of the things he hopes in terms of convincing the skeptical public that he is doing enough or all that is possible.
As you likely are too, I’m watching conversations unfold among friends on Facebook and in real life about the terrorist attack in San Bernardino and what the United States should be doing in response. Depending on your point of view, the argument is framed as one between American values and bigotry or political correctness and getting tough on radical Islam. Admittedly, these are extreme formulations, in each case using one side’s caricature of the other. But all of this ignores the central conundrum we face when we think about counter-terrorism, especially ones of the lone wolf variety or even more organized ones like the recent massacre in Paris.
We’re watching a press conference held by two lawyers who represent the extended family of the suspected San Bernardino massacre attackers. That is, to put it mildly, a pretty challenging position to be in. But, I must say, they are doing about as badly at it as you can possibly imagine. As we noted, one of the two, David Chesley, earlier today floated the idea that not only were we not getting the full story about this attack (certainly a possibility and a reasonable question to ask) but that the Sandy Hook massacre may have been a false flag hoax. That claim certainly doesn’t build a lot of confidence.
You know what time: We’re gearing for the 2015 Golden Dukes, the 9th Annual Golden Duke Awards, our annual celebration and awards program honoring great achievement in scandal, public bad acts, public ridiculousness and so much more. Look out next week for the announcement of categories, this year’s judges and your chance to send in your nominees.
Not a surprise at this point. But the FBI has now officially taken over the San Bernardino massacre investigation as an ‘act of terrorism.’
We take public policy seriously here at TPM. You know that. And we’ve been doing a research project over recent months to understand the impact of monopolies on price and service in acquiring high speed internet access. Well, the verdict is in and monopolies or duopolies make all the big telecom providers grand historic disasters of almost unimaginable dimensions, whose terribleness is only slightly offset by the perpetual comedy of their extreme incompetence. Here’s our report.
For the last six months, I’ve looked at the Republican presidential primary with one key assumption: Donald Trump will not be the nominee. That assumption no longer holds up. Just after the Paris attacks, with Trump’s rebounding polls, for the first time I could see a viable path Trump had toward the nomination. Since then a couple things have changed that make me think that it’s not just possible but perhaps even likely. I’m not predicting it. I just think it’s a very real possibility.
Families in the midst of abject grief say a lot of crazy things. I know some of this from personal experience. The same doesn’t necessarily apply to their lawyers. The lawyer for the family of suspect Syed Farouk is raising questions about various details of the Wednesday shooting as well as referencing conspiracy theories about the Sandy Hook massacre and whether it was a “real incident” or a set up.