Steve, what are New America's plans for this thing with David Walker on the 23rd? I got and email from Concord Coalition about it and since many people from New America are appearing with him I'm hoping it will be on cspan or something....

CharlesJ -- Thanks for your note. I have purposely put myself out of the loop on the events just ahead as I have some deadlines and am out of town. The best thing to do is to call Jenny Buntman at 202-986-4901 or email her at buntman@newamerica.net and she can give you the scoop. I'm sure we will solicit C-Span, but we only hear a day before the event if they will come. But if you contact her, she might also be able to forward you any prepared comments he makes -- and I'm sure that we'll also digitally record it (though our versions have really lousy, tinny sound quality -- which I think we are working to improve). Best, Steve Clemons

What would be great is if you guys discussed the influenza at one of these conferences to generate some ideas on how to motivate both government and business to take steps so that 300-500 million people don't die.

More generally, health policy is very important and I think a key aspect of good governance in the future and that it should be addressed.

Oh, yeah?

Well I'm in Pittsburgh!

Praktike raises a good point. I hope the conference is in a windowless room, otherwise everyone's conclusion would be that America -- faced as it is with terrorism and rising powers in Asia and the EU -- should just "hang loose."

Just listened to the Dean Perle debate. Dean is absolutely incoherent and bereft of ideas. Half the time he doesn't even finish a sentence.

Well, everyone will give you conference-related stuff, so let be say that the snorkeling off of Poipu Beach is fantastic - the best on the Island.

I hope that the conference addresses the collision course that the U.S. and China are on over access to oil. Having grown up on Kauai, and currently living in Honolulu, I would like to have an idea how we are going to avoid a war that might involve the (nuclear?) bombing of Pearl Harbor and Barking Sands (on the west end of Kauai).

Steve, your thoughts on this:

The dollar tumbled Tuesday as a number of central banks indicated they would diversify their reserves out of Treasurys and into other investments such as the euro.

The euro bought $1.3203, up from $1.3065 late Monday. The dollar bought ¥104.10, down from ¥105.57 late Monday.

South Korea, which has the world's fourth-largest stockpile of reserves that has traditionally been held in U.S. debt, was the driving force behind Tuesday's selloff after it announced its plans to diversify into other currencies.

China must have a hard time not laughing at our revived bravado. One thing that responsible people of both the left and right must acknowledge is the danger inherent in our government's tacit willingness to sell China the rope to hang us with. They are not only our outsourced manufacturing, but now also our financiers.

The combination of Clinton-era free-trad over-enthusiasm and Bush-era deficit-spending underpinned by non-market-price treasuries purchasing by China (and others) have had the effect of putting our economy into the power of the People's Republic of China. Our consumption, growth of government, and tax cuts are all enabled by their too-easy credit. Which is exactly what (I assert) elements in their leadership have long planned.

America isn't perfect, but our system of laws and cultural norms is less imperfect than that of the PRC. But we need to recognize that they feel the same way about us (that their culture is superior, and that they should by rights be in charge).
One day not too far off, China is going to assert itself by cutting us off. The chaos that will ensue from their treasuries boycott will spark a depression. We will have to raise interst rates way high to attract enough capital to keep our government solvent. This will punture our asset price bubbles in real estate and securities. Heavily indebted american consumers will go bankrupt in droves. The bottom will fall out of the dollar, and the American standard of living will plummut.

I say that the absolutely reckless economic policies of the current administration and Congress are going to wreck American prosperity; furthermore, they hasten the day when China supplants the US as the global hegemon (for our military superiority is underpinned by our weath; when one goes, the other will follow).

I don't want the butchers of Tienamen Square as my loanshark, and neither should you. I leave it to the hand-wringers to determine if this is a betrayal, treason, or simply very stupid policy, but there is no question whose fault it is. Republicans who are selling the Republic to our most dangerous enemies (for that is China, no mistake), look in the mirror. And stop. And start living in the real world, where policy choices have costs, and costs must be paid, now, or in the future with compound interest.

Try a variant of Bush's Iran line on your wife sometime and see how reassuring it is: "Honey, the thought of being unfaithful to you is ridiculous, however as your husband all options are on the table."

steve duncan:
"Try a variant of Bush's Iran line on your wife sometime and see how reassuring it is: "Honey, the thought of being unfaithful to you is ridiculous, however as your husband all options are on the table."

So, let's see if I get this ... the US is in some way married to Iran? ... is there something I'm missing? Duh?

"This notion that the United States is getting ready to attack Iran is simply ridiculous," Bush said after meeting with leaders of the European Union (EU).

"Having said that, all options are on the table," he added, drawing laughter at a clear reference to military action.

bertignac, let me spell it out for you. You see, the husband in my analogy wants to reassure his wife he won't run around on her. He says the notion is ridiculous. He then states he is keeping the option to run around on her on the table. If I was the wife I'd think I'd just been issued a pretty worthless reassurance of my husband's intentions. Similarly, Bush wants to reassure the world the notion of us attacking Iran is ridiculous. He also wants us to know he's keeping open the option of attacking Iran. So, I guess that means Bush is reserving the right to do something he's willing to admit ahead of time is ridiculous. Duh!?

steve:
"Analogy is the comparison of two pairs which have the same relationship."

So I don't think your comparison fits into this kind of analogy. The important point is that Bush said that the US was not "getting ready" to attack Iran. It was just realism to add that "all options are on the table" because whatever he said, all options are and always were and shall be "on the table.

bertignac, would military planning of tactics, strategy, force needs, possible timing and other logistics constitute "getting ready"? If Bush and the DoD are in fact not getting ready in that sense of the discussion I'd say they're remiss in their duty to protect and serve the country. My understanding is there are plans for a multitude of scenarios involving the use of the military. Certainly "getting ready" for a conflict with Iran is one of them. If you watched and listened to his speech there was all but a wink and a nudge on Bush's part betraying the "not getting ready" line was but a thinly veiled lie. Question: Do you believe we're not getting ready to attack Iran in the context there aren't thorough, up-to-date plans covering all aspects of launching an attack?

ah guys, i hate to harsh your buzz but an attack on iran would probably mean higher taxes (china ain't gonna be buying our debt to do this) and most likely a draft (spare me the talk of "precision bombing")...it is gonna be a bit harder to rally the nation around the flag on this one and i have doubts that 43 will be expending his political capital on this as well.

steve:
I think you are digging too literally into what Bush said. I think on the level of public diplomacy it was important to the Europeans and to the Iranians that he said what he said. Now, it is obvious that there are always contingency plans going on, at least I hope so. Whether the US is "getting ready", if you mean by that, is the US in the first stages of an invasion plan, I have no way to know. But again, on the level of diplomacy, what he said feeds into the current process of negotiations, and I think that is what is foremost.

bertignac, I agree with you if we're conceding the word "diplomacy" actually means "lying" when employed by this administration. Certainly most of the world, both friend and foe, understand that to be the case.

Lawrence:
Ah, you're talking already like this thing is a done deal. Hey, as Steve kind of aborted his original post, how about talking about what's going on in Lebanon and Syria, how it may play out, and how the "Greater Middle East Initiative" may be bearing early fruit.

Have you read David Ignatius in WaPo?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45575-2005Feb22.html

"It's strange for me to say it, but this process of change has started because of the American invasion of Iraq," explains Jumblatt. "I was cynical about Iraq. But when I saw the Iraqi people voting three weeks ago, 8 million of them, it was the start of a new Arab world." Jumblatt says this spark of democratic revolt is spreading. "The Syrian people, the Egyptian people, all say that something is changing. The Berlin Wall has fallen. We can see it."

steve:
when in the history of the world has diplomacy not been simple direct true declarative sentences that indicated an action in a specific time in the future, and when that time came the action was carried out? stop being so obsessed with "this administration".

PS
By the way the same Walid Jumblatt who wished that Paul Wolfowitz had been hit by a rocket attack in Baghdad. Ah, those unrealistic, radical, evil bad neo-cons! Maybe they were right! Yoohoo, Zbig, Brent, yoo hoo ... where are you guys?

i wished i shared your enthusiasm and belief in this "intiative"...but resting your hopes upon the likes of walid jumblatt reminds me of the last time his name was popping up in US newspapers (i don't see any Grenadas about to divert peoples' attention this time)...i am all for greater democracy for everyone, but realize that not all victors will be supportive of US interests (or at least this administration's view of 'em), will you be ready to allow that to occur or will you be one of those guys encouraging boys from the midwest to go to the Middle East and make it safe for us? lastly, the easy part of the elections (the vote) is over, now the hard part (legislating) begins...you would have thought that people would hesitate a bit before proclaiming "mission accomplished"; if these elections lead to massive corruption and instability, there won't be much incentive for others to follow.

Lawrence Rocke:
Well, let's watch what the young Lebanese do in Beirut over the next few weeks, shall we? ... and let's watch what happens ... by the way, somehow the rhetoric around here reminds me of similar rhetoric (invariable of the left or new-left variety) in the 1970s about movements like Solidarity in Poland, or dissidents in Russia.

"Now the hard part begins." This could be the mantra of the goal-moving Democrat criticnoids.