Today's edition of quick hits:
* The details of the story appear to change quickly, but it appears Chen Guangcheng and his family will be able to leave China to study abroad.
* In the meantime, Mitt Romney seems eager to condemn U.S. efforts in this case, a move even Bill Kristol found foolish. "To inject yourself into the middle of this way with a fast moving target I think is foolish," Kristol told Fox News, adding, "There is no need to butt into a fast moving story when the secretary of state is in Beijing with delicate negotiations."
* Romney also believes the U.S. should create 500,000 jobs a month and have an unemployment rate below 4%. For a guy who pretends to have an expertise on economic policy, this is oddly incoherent.
* Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today U.S. enemies in Afghanistan "have sought to take advantage of a series of troubling incidents involving misconduct on the part of American troops," adding, "These days, it takes only seconds for one picture to suddenly become an international headline."
* Keystone lingers: "TransCanada Corp. reapplied for a permit Friday to carry oil sands crude across the U.S. border as part of the Keystone XL pipeline project."
* Getting final approval for reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act will be difficult given that the House GOP version "would dramatically rollback confidentiality protections for abused immigrant women, make it more difficult for undocumented witnesses to work with law enforcement officials, and eliminate a pathway to citizenship for witnesses who cooperate with police on criminal cases."
* Jonathan Cohn makes a point about the Affordable Care Act that often goes overlooked: "The Affordable Care Act will actually increase freedom, by giving people more opportunities to obtain health insurance and, as a result, to get affordable medical care when they inevitably need it."
* It's genuinely amazing to think where the economy would be today were it not for all the easily-preventable public-sector layoffs (i.e., austerity).
* Fox News' Brian Kilmeade believes terrorists prefer to watch MSNBC. No one's ever accused Kilmeade of being brilliant.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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There are no "US enemies in Afghanistan". Why are we fighting in Afghanistan? Whatever the reason is, we are not being told. All we hear are lies. The assertion that the Taliban is the enemy of the United States is laughably absurd.
Nazi like taliban who go around killing women and girls for no other reason than they are teachers and students are the enemey of my america
Calling all rich NASCAR democrats. Please sponsor a 'Romney Lies', Chevy. I would even force myself to watch a race just to hear the announcers having to say 'Romney Lies'!
NASCAR championship winner kurt bush hand no sponsor on his hood last week , they are looking for someone , there is an opening right there , they can even just buy it for 1 weekend , that would be freakin awesome!!!! How could the msm miss that???
I think it's time that these idiots running for office should shut up about bombing another country, shut up about putting sanctions on another country, and stop the childish name calling they like to do so well. Someone should remind them these foreign countries are paying attention, too. They may have a cheering fan club here in the states when they do that, but more often than not, they screw up our foreign policy by pissing these people off to the point that they won't cooperate. It doesn't make the President look bad, it makes our country look bad.
We do not have to imagine how the right would feel if a Democrat candidate was to question a republican president on a matter like this China thing. We already know they would be outraged and call it unpatriotic. Yeah we know but then we also know how the right is filled with hypocrisy.
Kilmeade say's terrorists watch CSNBC. Well Brian they must want to know what's really happening in the world. One other thing,if people really believe the keystone pipeline is meant to refine oil for the US consumption,think again,if that were true they would build a refinery in N.Dakota.This oil is meant for foreign shores.
As to the affordable care act-Consider this. If a qualified hard working student gets into Med School , graduates with honors and a debt of a hundred thousand or so, what do you think the most important lesson was? He learned that money rules and that his skills must be worth a fortune.
Socialized medicine that pays for Med students to graduate and move into public health care would result in doctors who know about the value of community. Insurance companies would no longer dictate what treatment is to be given,malpractice insurance would also end since the government would be the provider...
Who am I kidding.The right is already screaming about socialism and all Obama did was give the insurance companies and providers more money.Of course he thought it would be easier to start with a republican plan laid out by republicans during their Bush years. Funny how those same folks are screaming the loudest.
Because of Sputnik and the Space Race, teachers were needed for future generations and so, the National Defense Student Loan Program was created in the early 60s whereby any student could apply for a loan and if they agreed to teach for two years per year of loan money, their loans would be reduced by half. It was good for the students, their families, and the nation. I was one of those beneficiaries. I think 37 quality years of student growth and my improvement as a teacher in both alternative and regular high schools was a good investment. My Republican parents certainly appreciated the loan since I wouldn't have been able to afford college without it on my dad's salary. They certainly didn't see it as part of a socialist plot! If people keep reminding Republicans of the past that shows good government actions, perhaps it won't matter so much if we extend opportunity to other American students...especially if we replace those backward thinking folks with Democrats who want to move this nation forward.
The only Republican presidential (well ex candidate) qualified to talk about the situation in China is Jon Huntsman. He was after all the ambassador to China under Obama and at least has knowledge of dealing with China. Mitt when we have a similar situation in France then you can comment. Otherwise shut up!
I don't really think that serving as a missionary in France during the Vietnam War is equivalent to serving as ambassador to China at any time. I've met and interacted with Mormon missionaries, and, frankly, I find 19-year-old boys hard to take seriously, especially when they're addressed as 'elder', and regardless of whether they can speak French. Huntsman at least had the very great advantage of being fully adult when he was ambassador to China.
So, in summary, Mitt can jolly well shut up about France, too.
(Can you tell I'm not a Romney fan? I fear I may be too subtle.)
Why don't we just ask Chinese people living here in the U.S. They give the best massages ever. They reach those hard to reach places and I'm sure they have a lot of secrets they would love to share. We have our share of secrets almost in about every single family. I would share in confidentiality if it meant it was for the good of all God's children. Awareness is the first step in healing. Forgiveness comes a little later, but, it must come in order to feel reborn. Our Country needs to be reborn on an individual basis and then as a sweet contagion strong enough to withstand raging tides and blistering desert heat. I am prepared to hold your hand and even to sing "Kumbaya" if it meant we had another chance at getting it right this time. For now I am saving seeds my daughter-in law is saving chickens. How funny is that?
Angel
The current ambassador to China, Gary Locke, is a Chinese American. He has impressed the Chinese people by carrying his own luggage and buying his own coffee. You wouldn't find a Chinese official doing that. Some flunky would do that. They like his humility. He's seems a really nice guy.
That being said I think Westerners have had difficulties negotiating with China Since before Marco Polo. What say you MM? ;-) BTW Huntsman did his Mormon missionary work in China, which is why he can speak fluid Mandarin. So at one time he was a 19 year old being called "elder" .
I meant "speak fluent Mandarin" not "speak fluid Mandarin" Though for all I know Huntsman's Mandarin may flow from his mouth like cold clear water flows over stones in a mountain brook. ;-)
Saturday is Derby Day! Everyone is sitting on pins and needles to see if they can make it through another race without the curtain of death being rolled out. I watch the Derby just like a NASCAR Race, waiting for the instant reply of the big wreck!
Bill Kristol has shown wisdom and respect for the sensitivity of a situation where the Sec. of State (office respected, even if it is someone with whom he disagrees ) is in China, where controversy exists.
However, Romney, nor others blurting out remarks about foreign countries, especially the defunct countries like Soviet Union and Czechoslovakia are out there spouting less than wise (uninformed) remarks about a very controversial current event. Bad judgement by Romney and others would make them unelectable to some folks, many folks, even. Romney think economy fixed and jobs come from mega-mergers, layoffs and tax cuts. Well, all he does is make remarks about letting GM fail and talks of cutting more government jobs, which would bring less people buying homes, cars, electronics, etc. Wow, what a great idea!
GOP voter fraud in California. http://www.news10.net/news/article/192033/2/Sacramento-elections-officials-GOP-voter-drive-suspicious
At the Avocado Festival I went to on Saturday there was a voter registration booth with only an elephant symbol. It was like saying only Republicans can register. Truly sad.
Mitt Romney, first choosing to say that even President Carter would have made the call to send the Navy Seals into Pakistan’s territory to kill bin Laden, fails the country’s mission behind our US Troops who made calls everyday in these two wars.
Our military management and Sergeants on the field made calls everyday with terrorists and insurgents in plain clothes, not like in the old wars, where military intelligence followed whole groups of the enemy in military uniforms as targets. When you think about that, our U.S. Forces did pretty darn good keeping the civilian casualty count down. Our President made a good intelligence call not knowing 100% if it was bin Laden in the compound.
When our Troops made raids, they did not know if weapons pointed at them were from boys who feared political insurgent groups breaking into their houses or them, and our Troops had to make the calls, in these stinking wars that left some of ‘them’ morally challenged by the murder-loving society. (Now can see why a few Troops in the news, might have hated insurgents so much that they took pictures of dead-insurgents in honor of the wars victims.)
God bless this man he has thrown us the rope in which we may use to bring about more Peace and healing in his nation and in ours. I pray in my heart diligently that only good things will manifest concerning this young man and the good hearts of his country and ours. This is one worth praying about.
Just another case of Mitt Romney not knowing or understanding what comes out of his mouth!