Radical Roundup - April 11, 2008

Just when Barack Obama's actually made a decent foreign policy statement (pledging not to negotiate with Hamas), a leading lefty blogger argues, "one has to wonder why he's taking such a hard line."

Oh sure, that's a tough one. Hamas' ultimate depravity couldn't have been a deciding factory, right? In march, for example, Hamas cheered the murdering of eight students at the seminary in Jerusalem, saying "We bless the operation. It will not be the last."

In addtion, here's the BDS line of the day (courtesy of The Reaction):

Sadly, it's looking less, and less, likely that we will see him exit the White House, handcuffed, in a perp walk - as he so richly deserves.

A presidential "perp walk"!

That's a new one, but not to be outdone, here's Juan Cole on our Republican "dictatorship":

War turns Republics into dictatorships. The logic is actually quite simple. The Constitution says that the Congress is responsible for declaring war. But in 2002 Congress turned that responsibility over to Bush, gutting the constitution and allowing the American Right to start referring to him not as president but as 'commander in chief' (that is a function of the civilian presidency, not a title.)

Now Bush has now turned over the decision-making about the course of the Iraq War to Gen. David Petraeus.

So Congress abdicated to Bush. Bush has abdicated to the generals in the field.

That is not a Republic. That is a military dictatorship achieved not by coup but by moral laziness.

I think Bush's decision-making's trumped by Cole's intellectual laziness.

I mean, this is sure one lousy dictatorship! Bush is now generally considered a lame duck, with approval rating dropping to record lows on top of that. Geez, you'd think the "Decider" would be able to manufacture a little more consent than that!

But don't take my word for it: "A man who didn't decide he wanted to be president until well into his forties certainly is an unlikely tyrant" (source).

But hey, what more fitting way to conclude a "radical roundup" that with some afternoon FDL, on Michael Yon:

All the while Michael Yon's been saying we're winning, over 2200 Americans have been killed. So what I wanna know is -- at what point will war cheerleaders propagandists like Michael Yon feel enough shame to finally STFU?

In 1945, 6,800 died at the Battle of Iwo Jima, but, of course, that was the "good war."

Those were the days I guess...

Photo Credit: "Gunman in Jerusalem Attack Identified, New York Times