Chris Good: "The Dissatisfied, Angry GOP"

Here's something that might explain the plight of the GOP. How interesting and revealing, although it's not much of a surprise. The GOP has been the party of NO. Now they're morphing into the party of anger.

From The Atlantic:

Fewer than half (49 percent) say the leadership of the GOP is taking it in the "right direction," vs. 42 percent who say it's taking the party in the "wrong direction," according to a new Post poll. (Compare that to November 2005, when 76 percent of Republicans liked the direction of their leaders.) Congressional Republicans don't fare much better--41 percent hold negative views of Republicans in Congress.
In other words, Republicans are not enthused about the people representing their party in Washington.

The one thing the GOP has, it seems, as its energizing and perhaps defining characteristic, is anger at President Obama: a full 46 percent of Republicans say they are "angry" about Obama's policies, while 43 percent are dissatisfied--meaning nearly all Republicans hold negative views of the president.

CERN Breaks Record With LHC

From Information Week:

Early Monday morning, the problem-plagued Large Hadron Collider (LHC) set a world record in Switzerland when it accelerated twin proton beams to an energy of 1.18 TeV (teraelectronvolts), surpassing the record of 0.98 TeV set in 2001 by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory Tevatron collider in the U.S.

The LHC, a particle accelerator used to study small particles for advanced physics research, is operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).

The LHC began operation in September 10, 2008, only to be shut down nine days later following a breakdown caused by a faulty electrical connection between two of the accelerator's massive magnets.

The accelerator's planned restart in 2009 was delayed when two vacuum leaks were found in July.

In November, a piece of baguette dropped by a bird led to a temperature spike in the collider's machinery, but the incident did not delay the LHC's restart earlier this month.

CERN's accelerators and technology director Steve Myers praised the LHC's performance. "I was here 20 years ago when we switched on CERN's last major particle accelerator, LEP," he said in a statement. "I thought that was a great machine to operate, but this is something else. What took us days or weeks with LEP, we're doing in hours with the LHC. So far, it all augurs well for a great research program."

Next year, the LHC will fire even more energetic beams -- 3.5 TeV per beam, colliding with an engery of 7 TeV -- in order to generate proton collision data that's more useful. Today's test aims to make sure that higher intensity experiments can be handled safely.

The LHC is expected to generate about 15 petabytes of scientific data annually, enough to fill over 1.7 million dual-layer DVDs.

To distribute, store, and analyze this data, CERN oversees the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), a network that coordinates over 100,000 CPUs at over 170 sites in 34 countries, serving 8,000 physicists around the world.

Reaction to Swiss Minaret Ban

From the Guardian:

Muslim leaders from around the world, senior church figures, European politicians and human rights experts have deplored Switzerland's decision to ban the building of minarets.

The polarising verdict in a Swiss referendum held yesterday raised fundamental questions about discrimination and freedom of religion, with the Swiss government itself doubtful over whether the popular vote could be translated into national law, as required by the country's system of direct democracy.

"Scandalous," said the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, while Babacar Ba, a senior official of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, warned of an "upsurge in Islamophobia" in Europe.

But far right leaders in Europe applauded the Swiss vote and called for parallel prohibitions in other countries.

"The flag of a courageous Switzerland which wants to remain Christian is flying over a near-Islamised Europe," said Mario Borghezio, an MEP from Italy's anti-immigrant Northern League.

In the Netherlands, the anti-Muslim Freedom party of Geert Wilders, which is steadily growing in popularity, called for a similar vote for the Dutch. "It's the first time that people in Europe have stood up to a form of Islamisation," it declared.

Despite Swiss fears of a violent backlash in the Islamic world and business fears of an adverse impact on Arab spending in Geneva and Zurich, as well as exports to the Middle East, Muslim leaders reacted mostly with sorrow. "The main thing is to keep calm and to realise how much work still needs to be done to defend basic freedoms," said Ba, the OIC ambassador in Geneva."We must do this by taking a constructive part in the debate on all issues which cause fear and concern, and to try to bring people together in order to confront extremism."

The surprisingly high vote of 57% for the minaret ban put the Swiss government and establishment on the defensive, engaged in damage limitation. In Brussels, the Swiss justice minister, Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf, who opposed a ban, argued that the vote was neither against the Muslim community nor against Islam. She sought to explain the decision to EU interior ministers, some of whom were highly critical.

The Vatican denounced the ban as an infringement of religious freedom.

Roman Catholic bishops in Swizerland issued a statement regretting the ban, accusing the rightwing Swiss People's party, which spearheaded the prohibition campaign, of caricaturing and exaggerating the alleged threat posed by Muslims, and also warned that the ban "will not help Christians oppressed and persecuted in Islamic countries".

Gov. Huckabee Pardoned Killer

From the Seattle Times:

Documents released this morning by the Arkansas Parole Board show police slaying suspect Maurice Clemmons was supposed to remain in prison there until at least 2015, but won his release by claiming he'd changed while behind bars.

Clemmons' appeal for clemency was granted in May 2000 by then-Gov. Mike Huckabee, who commuted Clemmons sentence and made him immediately eligible for parole.

Clemmons wrote in an appeal to Huckabee that he'd been sent to prison after an extended crime spree that started in 1989 when he was a teenager — and that he was a different person now.

At the time of the crimes — which included aggravated robbery, firearms possession and burglary — Clemmons claimed he was 16 years old and had moved from Seattle to a high-crime neighborhood in Arkansas.

"I succumbed to the peer pressure and the need I had to be accepted by other youth in my new environment and fell in with the wrong crowd and thus began a seven (7) month crime spree which led me to prison," Clemmons wrote in his application to Huckabee.

Clemmons said he came from "a very good Christian family" and "was raised much better than my actions speak (I'm still ashamed to this day for the shame my stupid involvement in these crimes brought to my family name.)," he wrote.

"Where once stood a young (16) year old misguided fool, who's (sic) own life he was unable to rule. Now stands a 27 year old man, who has learned through 'the school of hard knocks' to appreciate and respect the rights of others. And who has in the midst of the harsh reality of prison life developed the necessary skills to stand along (sic) and not follow a multitude of do evil, as I did as a 16 year old child."

Clemmons added that his mother had recently died without seeing him turn his life around and that he prayed Huckabee would show compassion by releasing him.

The documents indicate Clemmons' release from prison was supported by Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Marion Humphrey, who cited Clemmons' age at the time of his crimes and called his sentence excessive. His release was unanimously approved by the parole board.

Huckabee, a Republican presidential contender in 2008, issued a statement Sunday night mourning the deaths of the four Lakewood police officers and suggesting that if Clemmons is responsible "it will be the result of a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington state."

Huckabee's statement noted that Clemmons' release was approved by the parole board and that prosecutors in Arkansas failed to file additional charges against Clemmons after his parole violation in 2001, which could have extended his time in prison.

Obama's Afghanistan Decision

From the BBC:

US President Barack Obama has issued new orders for the US military in Afghanistan after deciding how many more troops to send, officials say.

Mr Obama told senior military leaders about his long-awaited decision on troop numbers on Sunday night, a White House spokesman said.

The president is now briefing the UK, French and Russian leaders on the plan.

The moves come as British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he would send 500 more soldiers to the country.

According to US media reports, Mr Obama is set to formally announce that a further 30,000 troops are to be sent to Afghanistan in a televised address on Tuesday.

He has been considering a request from the US military commander in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 soldiers.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Mr Obama held an unannounced meeting on Sunday night with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Associated Press reported.

He then spoke to senior staff including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and National Security Adviser James Jones before holding a videophone conference with the head of the US operation in Afghanistan, Gen Stanley McChrystal and Karl Eikenberry, ambassador to Afghanistan.

SEALs to face Court-Martial

Fox News reports that several of the SEAL operators that captured a wanted terrorist are going to face court-martial proceedings for alleged detainee abuse. Sounds incredible? Want to rally in the streets and shout about how anti-military the Obama administration is? Not so fast. Let's take a moment to examine this story by trying to answer the unhinged rage of "real American military supporters".

SEALs are being punished for a "bloody lip"!

Not really. They are being charged with the "abuse" AND lying about it. Their commanding officer formally passed this up the chain of command.

This is another KSM Obama moment.

Not really. The complaint was filed with IRAQI officials, who then notified our side.

We should just shoot terrorists and spare our military from this kind of fiasco.

We could. I'm not personally against it, but we'd lose the intelligence that comes from interrogation of enemy personnel. That puts lives at risk.

The SEALs are being punished.

Not really. Rather than take a slap on the wrist and admit guilt, the operators have opted for a court-martial so that they can prove their innocence. Good move on their part.

This is a travesty.

Wrong. This is America. A nation of laws. Let's let that motto prevail here. Justice should win out.

Finally, a word about why this may be going on:

For those that don't really follow news, the wars, and all things political, the problem here is that the US and the Pentagon cannot really deal with another abuse case, no matter how trivial. Our relationship with our "new allies" depends on us showing them that we respect the rule of law. That's something that Blackwater muddied for us time and again. And because this reflects on all theaters of this war, allegations such as these must be addressed.

And just because it still irks me, here's the FOX News headline: "Navy SEALs Face Assault Charges for Capturing Most-Wanted Terrorist"

Kinda makes it sound that the SEALs are in trouble for capturing the terrorist. Way to distort the situation. I'm sure Hannity and Beck will be purple with rage. Uninformed and total "anti-Obama" rage.