L.A. Times - Commentary

Why die for Karzai?

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Does U.S. support for the Afghan president really make sense?

Fifty-nine Americans died in October fighting to protect the corrupt Afghan electoral process that resulted in a second five-year term for Hamid Karzai. Since July and the run-up to the August election, 195 Americans were killed and more than 1,000 were wounded, a higher casualty rate than during the 2007 military "surge" in Iraq. A principal purpose cited by President Obama for sending 17,000 more combat troops to Afghanistan earlier this year was to protect the election, which, according to most observers, Karzai stole.

The U.S. needs to teach Hamid Karzai a thing or two

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The Afghan leader needs to learn how to act as a wartime leader. Perhaps George W. Bush could offer some pointers.

Hamid Karzai begins another term as Afghanistan's president with a long to-do list. The Obama administration has made clear to him that he must crack down on corruption, install a team of technocrats to run the country and weed out warlords and narco-traffickers. Those are all important priorities, but there is something else he should be doing as well: acting as a wartime leader.

Sometimes, an extremist really is an extremist

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

If we act as if 'Islam is the problem,' we will guarantee that Islam will become the problem.

Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan demonstrated many things when he allegedly committed treason in the war on terror. For starters, he showed -- gratuitously alas -- that evil is still thriving.

The arguing is the argument against a constitutional convention

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

To be successful, such a gathering would mean cooling passions and toning down of dissent. Given our partisan bickering, neither is likely.

Two ballot initiatives were filed last week that, if passed, would call forth a constitutional convention in California. Half of the approximately 435 delegates would be randomly selected, the other half appointed by local officials to represent citizen diversity. Those in favor of rewriting the state Constitution through a convention are encouraged by a growing acceptance that the current document is an unworkable hodgepodge of conflicting amendments, largely culpable for our broken legislative process. Unfortunately, they cannot escape a simple political fact: Legitimacy demands a diverse convention; yet the more diverse it is, the more partisan it will be, and the more partisan, the less likely it is to succeed.

Hungary was the first rip in Iron Curtain

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Months before the Berlin Wall fell, Hungarians had marched to demand democracy.

The breaching of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago this month has become the symbol of the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe and, ultimately, the triumph of democracy. But sometimes I wonder if we actually know yet what we were witnessing.

Cold War nostalgia

Mon, 9 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

In the former East, there is ostalgie. In the West, we too look back in longing: for the symbol of moral clarity and superiority the wall was to us.

The global celebrations marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall aren't entirely about commemorating the rebirth of freedom or reliving those thrilling moments when a perverse and repressive system collapsed. Listen closely to the exalted commentary recounting the events of those historic days and you're also likely to hear the subtle intonations of regret and nostalgia.

A $1-billion bad idea for Jordan Downs

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

The L.A. Housing Authority proposal for a 2,100-unit project represents a stunning waste of money and opens the door wide to fraud. Focusing on the benefits of less crime could revitalize the area.

Bad ideas, if they were ever widely accepted, have a curious way of sticking around. That's because they give rise to institutions that have a momentum of their own. We've long known there are better ways to fix blighted neighborhoods than simply pressing "reset" -- that is, letting the government tear down old buildings and put up new ones. But we remain saddled with a system of public housing that keeps looking for ways of, well, pressing reset.

Obama by the numbers

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Polls and election results show that rising unemployment and partisan politics have chipped away at the president's popularity.

President Obama didn't get much time last week to savor the gauzy one-year-after retrospectives of his 2008 election victory, with its 53% of the popular vote and 365 electoral votes. He had other numbers to think about.

Is Jerry Brown all there is?

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Since Gavin Newsom dropped out of the 2010 gubernatorial race, Brown, who hasn't even formally declared his candidacy, remains the only option. Can't Democrats come up with anyone else?

With San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom's announcement last month that he was withdrawing from next year's gubernatorial contest, the Democratic field in the race has dwindled to one: Jerry Brown. Whatever one thinks of Brown's merits as a once-and-future governor, that's a pretty thin field to choose from.

Hocus-pocus politics

Sun, 8 Nov 2009 00:00:00 -0800

Cartoonists Matt Davies, Gary Varvel and Joel Pett conjure up some commentary on this year's elections.

The commentary crowd consulted crystal balls, Tarot cards, voodoo dolls and psychics to divine meaning from the off-off-year elections. Matt Davies read the "tea party" leaves and dogged the GOP for its grand old tricks. Gary Varvel gazed into his magic 8-ball and saw B-ball outpolling democracy. I tried to take the long view on the president's misfortune tellers, but somehow I doubt anyone's listening. Oh well. Back to the old Ouija board.