Eye on the Watcher’s Council

As you may know the members of the Watcher’s Council each nominate one of his or her own posts and one non-Council post for consideration by the whole Council. The complete list of this week’s Council nominations is here.

The Glittering Eye, “Unsell It”

Now that the Democrats’ control of the Congress in the next session has been secured it might be a good opportunity for them to unsell the plan for withdrawal they’ve been running on. One can always dream.

Soccer Dad, “Bolton for the Door”

Soccer Dad comments on the likelihood of John Bolton being a nearterm casualty of the midterm elections.

Joshuapundit, “UN General Assembly Condemns Israel for Defending Itself…Again”

Freedom Fighter comments on a recent UNGA resolution condemning Israel’s actions with respect to the Palestinians. I’m not surprised at the resolutoin but I am surprised at how resilient the narrative of Israel as evil colonialists and Palestinians as fighting a courageous war of national liberation is.

American Future, “Our Rules of Engagement in Iraq”

Marc submission for this week is about exactly what it says it is and by all means go and read his interesting post. As fate would have it I was discussing the U. S. rules of engagement with a friend this morning. He pointed out that the rules were, essentially, a shifting of risk. Stricter rules of engagement place our troops at greater risk; more lenient rules place civilians at greater risk.

Rhymes With Right, “What the Democrat ‘Brain Trust’ Thinks About America”

Greg explores some of the peculiar ideas of Bill Maher, Garrison Keillor, and Michael Moore. I think it’s a bit unfair of Greg to tar all Democrats with what a handful of entertainers think. All political parties have a few crazy people. But, then again, as I’ve written before I do wish the Democrats would get their crazy people off the front porch.

AbbaGav, “Naming the Price, Waiting for Response”

Gavriel zeroes in on something I’ve been working on a post about myself. In all the nostalgia for foreign policy realists and the pious advice of negotiating with Iran and Syria I’ve seen precious little discussion of what the Iranians and Syrians might want for their cooperation (or how that can be secured once agreed to). Gavriel suggests that Syria might demand the Golan Heights. If I were a Syrian negotiator that would be the smallest part of what I’d be looking for.

The Education Wonks, “Is This How EduCorruption Smells?”

EdWonk notes a case of pay for play at a California public school.

Done With Mirrors, “Media Icons”

Callimachus uses an iconic photographic image from the Viet Nam War to illustrate how the narratives that grow up around images have more force and greater endurance than the truth.

ShrinkWrapped, “A Dirty Little Secret”

I agree that the primary motives in the Viet Nam-era anti-war movement were cowardice and selfishness. I think it’s a bit of a stretch to extend that to the present-day anti-war movement, as ShrinkWrapped attempts to do in this post. I think today’s motives are more nostalgia and force of habit—a persistence of vision that makes people see things which are very, very different as being very much the same.

Right Wing Nut House, “All Your Smoking Are Belong to Us”

Rick Moran considers the case of a California city council’s extending a ban on smoking to everywhere within the city limits including private property (say, in one’s home). I wonder whether such a ban would stand up to legal challenge. Wouldn’t they need to demonstrate some city interest in such an ordinance?

Gates of Vienna, “When Good Men Run in the Other Direction”

In her submission for this week Dymphna begins with Lincoln Chafee’s role in blocking the nomination of John Bolton and ends up lamenting the quality of the candidates who run for political office, touching on third party movements and a number of other topics on the way. I’m not certain that I agree with the premise of her conclusion. I think, rather, that many of the candidates were once good but, through the series of compromises required to secure office, end up not knowing what they believe.

The Sundries Shack, “So, What About the Polar Bears.”

Jimmie Bise, machete in hand, attempts to bushwack his way through the issue of global warming, using reports of declines in polar bear populations as a starting point. Unfortunately, the native guides are not to be trusted.

Well, I’ve decided which posts I’ll vote for. Which would get you vote?

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