Obama's Re-Calibrated "Plan for Iraq"

I've just posted on STANDPOINT magazine's "Lost Illusions" media column about Barack Obama's NYT Op-Ed "My Plan for Iraq."

My conclusion?

"Obama's primary posturing, and McCain's hyperbole, aside, differences on Iraq are narrowing. That said, Obama concludes his editorial by again underscoring his long ambition to "End the War"; but as I've twice asked in Standpoint on-line posts: what war does the candidate mean he is ending?

"Over the last year, US, UK and Iraqi forces, fighting together, have virtually ended the conflicts against the various parties attempting to thwart establishment of civil society and democracy in Iraq. They’ve done so by defeating those malefactors.

"It’s now clear that, over the last eighteen months, the best way to 'support the troops' was to let them win."

Read the post HERE, please!

Along with Jonathan Foreman and others, I'll be an occasional contributor to "Lost Illusions," which of course took its name from the Balzac novel of the same name, about the 19th century Parisian world of letters.

For Release: Barack Obama Campaign Denials

Christopher Beam offers amusing advice to the Obama campaign, suggesting a strategy to deal with rumors via their fightthesmears.com website. Read it on SLATE here.

But Beam has it all wrong. The most effective way to disseminate new myths about a candidate is not by advancing them, but by DENYING them.

So, with a hat-tip to the aforementioned, here are THE MAIN POINT’s statements for release concerning Democrat Party candidate:

From: [Redacted]
To: [Redacted]
Subject: WHO IS BARACK OBAMA?

We’d like to clarify some recent speculation about candidate Barack Obama.

Barack Obama does not wear his FLAG PIN even in the shower.

There is no tape in our possession of Michelle Obama saying the PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE at a conference on PATRIOTISM.

Barack and Michelle do not take their daughters HUNTING every weekend.

Barack Obama does not have the DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE tattooed on his stomach

FRANCIS SCOTT KEY is not the only artist on Barack Obama's iPod.

Barack Obama has not memorized The BIBLE.

Barack Obama does not go to CHURCH every day.

Barack Obama's new airplane includes a conference table, a kitchenette, but it does not include a CHAPEL.

Barack Obama does not own a BASEBALL TEAM.

Barack Obama is not licensed to drive a SIXTEEN-WHEELER.

A "Milestone"

So much has been made of the fact that Obama is the first black nominated by a major party in a Western country that I feel it's overshadowing the true significance of his candidacy, which is something else and which I'll address above shortly. In any case, I think that was a milestone America was ready to pass almost a decade ago when Colin Powell could have gained the nomination from either party. What's more, Barack Obama is, properly speaking, mixed race.

That said, Ezra Klein HERE is good on the milestone, such as it is:

"Towards the end of the 1967 movie "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," Dr. John Wane Prentice, played by Sydney Poitier, sits down with his fiance's white father, played by Spencer Tracy. "Have you given any thought to the problems your children will have?" Tracy asks. "Yes, and they'll have some...[But] Joey feels that all of our children will be President of the United States," replies Poitier. "How do you feel about that?" asks Tracy, looking skeptically at the black man in front of him. "I'd settle for Secretary of State," Poitier laughs.

"Written in the late-1960s, the exchange was, indeed, laughable. The Civil Rights Act had been passed three years prior. Two years before, the Watts riots had broken out, killing 35. Martin Luther King Jr. would be assassinated a year later. But here we are, almost exactly 40 years after theatergoers heard that exchange. The last two Secretaries of State were African-American and, as of tonight, the next president may well be a black man. John Prentice's children would probably still be in their late-30s. They could still grow up to be cabinet officials or even presidents, but they would not necessarily be trailblazers."

Hat tip Tigerhawk

Obamacon 2

David Brooks sounds almost like another "Obamacon" HERE, or perhaps just another admirer.

Lots to admire. Again and again, Obama has outclassed HRC.

An Obamacon - another conservative for Obama

The delicious Dorothy, a.k.a. PhDiva, has been dubbed an "Obamacon," a conservative who's crossed the aisle for that candidate. Andrew Sullivan has thus coined a new and useful term.

Read the whole thing HERE.

She has a predecessor in Susan Eisenhower, as noted HERE.

Always elegant

In adversity, when faced with stupidity, or simply awkward mistakes, Obama is always elegant. Yesterday the presidential frontrunner faced a question from the AP about the "whereabouts of Obama bin Laden." See his gracious response HERE.

Eisenhower Republicans Redux

In speaking the last few weeks with other Americans in London, as well as New York, Washington, Philadelphia, and elsewhere I've been struck by the strong, if quietly-stated, enthusiasm among many Republicans for the likely Democratic nominee Obama. In most cases, it's a judgment, or comparative judgment, about his character, but also excitement, or perhaps relief, over the prospect of a candidate who demonstrates a commitment to moving on from this era of partisan politics. I first noticed this phenom when Susan Eisenhower gave the candidate an early endorsement, HERE.

Reading, watching

Have been reading Natasha Randall's just-published translation of the early Soviet writer Yevgeny Zamyatin's WE. A few days ago, on the northern underground line I saw another rider put down a give-away tabloid and pull out his bag a copy of WE. Natasha was thrilled to hear this. It reminded me of John Mortimer's anecdote of sitting on a bus next to someone reading one of his novels. His stop was approaching, but he knew that just two pages ahead from where his neighbor was reading there was a joke...

Am also reading Elizabeth Gray's translations of Hafiz. My favorite poet, and these are the sorts of translations I've long been looking for. Attempting Lajos Egri's formidable The Art of Dramatic Writing. Am looking forward to seeing on Monday David Hare's play The Vertical Hour, just transferred to the Royal Court Theater. Was it trenchant in NY, or just polemical? Is it still timely now? Looking forward to seeing Israeli director Joseph Cedar's BEAUFORT, about Israeli soldiers stranded under fire during the 2006 Lebanon war. Cedar won the Silver Bear for best director at last year's Berlin festival, and now his film is up for an Oscar for best foreign film. The next project he's circling, or so I hear, sounds provocative, and a little bit brilliant. Want to see the new cut of BladeRunner (!). Am liking the Hospital members club, and their new magazine... featuring as it does writers Sasha Wilkins, Hephzibah Anderson, and Jessica Gearhart. Heard wonderful things about the Jaipur Literary Festival.

Also saw director John Irvin's cut of The Garden of Eden, and while I found it hard to trust my own judgment I was liked it very much. And happy to see that Irvin, a veteran, was quietly proud of what he'd done. Meanwhile, at least one constituency has twigged to the themes of the film and appears to be looking forward to it. A very informed reading of Hemingway's work here.

Food historian Carolin Young's emails about the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery have made me hungry. Have been saving my pennies, though, for an EasyJet flight to Fez to visit my old friend Karina, a designer, who's just bought a ramshackle riad in the medina, the medieval quarter. Speaking of fashion, beloved LibertyLondonGirl is up for best insider blog at the Fashion Blog Award. Vote for her here.

Otherwise, have been liking Obama, especially the tone of his campaign. Such an elegant guy. In his televised response to the Bush State of the Union speech, with that gray suit and skinny lapels, the grainy low-fi video feed, I thought his people were channeling an early 1960s thing, reinforcing JFK comparisons. But the JFK comparison is apt for another reason... as my friend Nora Maccoby said, "He speaks and the soul lifts." My friend Susan Eisenhower is expansive here on the subject in today's Washington Post. (Novelist and historian Caleb Carr, a sometime-contributor to this blog, heatedly disagrees. Liz Wurtzel too... her comments, the funniest of this campaign-season, could be found at WSJ opinion last week.) All hats off to John McCain for his recent (finance-free) resurgence. I'd been sure the Republicans were going to choose the baptist minister or the fellow who looks as if he's about to announce layoffs. It suddenly feels lucky that the US might have two such presidential candidates facing off. Lucky for the world. But I think Obama will win the general election in a landslide.

The Big Smoke is sunny today, and not at all smokey. I'd put this in a Facebook status, but it's a bit much. What's more, with all those zombie hugs, and superwall posts leading to blind alleys, I'm over FB, for the moment. Oh, have just been reminded of one good thing from FB... Zyzzyva magazine editor Howard Junker just tracked me down, friended me, and sent me his latest issue, which looks better than ever.

- JSL