I'm co-opting Charles Pierce's "Thing in Politico That Make Me Want to Guzzle Antifreeze" genre, but I think it's worth the theft. Politico ran a piece yesterday by Akbar Ahmed, the Chair of Islamic Studies at American University, called "What Washington Doesn't Get About ISIS," that would have been better titled "What Akbar Ahmed Couldn't … Continue reading Prestone on the rocks

While they were creating a brand new window dressing leadership position for Elizabeth Warren yesterday, Senate Democrats named Jon Tester of Montana as the new chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, where among other things he'll be responsible for recruiting candidates to run for the Senate in 2016. In contrast to Warren, Tester's record … Continue reading Here’s how you know which way Senate Democrats are shifting

Shouldn't there be an "and" or a "but" here somewhere? The Obama administration moved forcefully Thursday to distance itself from Bush administration policies, telling a United Nations panel that the ban on torture enshrined in a 1984 treaty that the U.S. signed applies worldwide and covers all people and places, including detention facilities abroad. “The … Continue reading What am I missing?

Elizabeth Warren has been appointed to the newly-created position of "here's something for you liberals now can you please just be happy with this and ignore our inevitable lurch to the right?" It's only because I have some faith in Warren that I think this job could actually come to mean something, but as a … Continue reading Throwing a bone

You know how there's been a concern that the U.S. air campaign in Syria could drive ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra into some kind of alliance? Well, about that: Militant leaders from the Islamic State group and al-Qaida gathered at a farm house in northern Syria last week and agreed on a plan to stop fighting … Continue reading ISIS and Nusra and bears, oh my!

Turns out our friend "Caliph" Ibrahim is still among the living: An audio recording of the speech by the leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, was distributed online, along with Arabic, English and Russian transcripts. It was first reported by the SITE Intelligence Group, a jihadist monitoring organization. Mr. Baghdadi’s speech appeared to end days of rumors … Continue reading Well it was a nice thought

This is a month-old story, but Zack Beauchamp just referenced it in a Vox piece today, so it's worth looking at. After the last round of nuclear talks concluded in Vienna last month, the top Russian negotiator told reporters that there was "no consensus" on the final disposition of the heavy-water reactor (and plutonium proliferation … Continue reading Iran talks: Arak reportedly still a sticking point, but who’s stuck?

Hey, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi is dead! Well, maybe, I mean. U.S. airstrikes on al-Qaʾim, Iraq, on Sunday reportedly "seriously wounded" or possibly even "killed" the erstwhile Caliph Ibrahim, though it should go without saying that reports like these are the definition of sketchy and shouldn't be given too much weight without reliable confirmation. He's definitely … Continue reading ISIS is losing, whether its leader is dead or not

The ostensible leader of the Democratic Party just completed what must fairly be called a historic agreement with China over climate change: According to the plan, the United States will reduce carbon emissions 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025, nearly twice the existing target—without imposing new restrictions on power plants or vehicles. Tuesday's announcement … Continue reading Does the Democratic Party have an environmental message at this point?