Featured Articles — April 16, 2009

April 16, 2009 by Jonathan Movroydis | Filed Under Featured Articles 

Interesting Takes From Home And Abroad:

The Obama Doctrine By E.J. Dionne, The Washington Post
Let’s face it: If the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips had failed, the foes of President Obama’s foreign policy were ready to throw the Book of Handy Jimmy Carter Epithets at him.

Republicans and the Tea Parties By Karl Rove, The Wall Street Journal
Yesterday was Tax Day, and it was marked by large numbers of Americans turning out for an estimated 2,000 tea parties across the country. This movement is significant.

Turd Blossom In The Mirror By Jonathan Chait, The New Republic
The depiction of Barack Obama that has emerged from some quarters of the American right is that of a Bush-like figure. He is irresponsibly running up deficits and covering them up with budgetary gimmickry. Under the guise of healing rhetoric, he ruthlessly pressures fellow partisans in Congress to toe the line. He is “filling White House ranks with former lobbyists,” and his administration is devolving into general incompetence. And he has given unprecedented, Rove-like power to his political Svengali, David Axelrod. Oddly enough, the author of all these particular criticisms is Rove himself.

How Pakistan almost exploded By David Ignatius, The San Diego Union Tribune
A month ago, Pakistan came close to a political breakdown that could have triggered a military coup. How that crisis developed – and how it was ultimately defused – illuminates the larger story of a country whose frontier region President Obama recently described as “the most dangerous place in the world.”

The battle against piracy begins in Mogadishu By Ben Macintyre, The Times UK
The Somali marauders who are terrorising shipping have deep roots in the local ‘shifta’ tradition of outlaw robber gangs.

How To Beat the Pirates By Fred Kaplan, Slate
Maersk-Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips (right) stands alongside Cmdr. Frank Castellano. Click image to expand.Maersk-Alabama Capt. Richard Phillips (right) with Cmdr. Frank CastellanoThere’s nothing like a rant by Kim Jong-il and an assault by pirates—all in the same week, no less—to highlight the strangeness of global politics in our times.

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