There is one more detail in this that I don't know the answer to but someone here may know. Do the contractors in Iraq have the typical U.S. passport that is commonly issued to any citizen or do they have official U.S. government passports? There is a difference. In a past life I had the latter and having that passport requires the person to whom it was issued to follow the directives of U.S. authorities. That is, if the U.S. government tells you to pack it up and go home that is what you are legally required to do. I don't know if that type of passport exists today or if they are issued to contractors any longer or not. It may have changed after four decades.

Posted at August 26, 2008 7:36 AM in response to Agree To Disagree? Maliki, Bush Admin Clash On Status Of Pullout Agreement

There is an official command structure and a contractual obligation in place that Blackwater is bound to. Not to mention that the U.S. can exercise its legal authority and tell Blackwater to cease all operations in Iraq. If the CIC tells Eric Prince to do something and makes undeniably clear the consequnce of not doing so Prince would have no choice. Blackwater was invited into Iraq by the U.S. government and can be uninvited at any time. I am sure the president has complete authority in this regard. If that weren't the case it would imply that a U.S. corporation or a U.S. citizen could go anywhere in the world and commit crimes harmful to the U.S. without the U.S. being able to do anything about it.

Posted at August 26, 2008 5:16 AM in response to Agree To Disagree? Maliki, Bush Admin Clash On Status Of Pullout Agreement

Obama needs to state and perhaps run an ad informing voters of only one thing about these ads.

Let voters know they are factually false and ask voters to consider if it is acceptable for McCain to lie in this way and then ask them if they want to be lied to for another four years. Lied to in a way, just as Bush lied, that harms their families and the country.

Obama needs to hit hard on this because it is the fundamental feature of all the attack ads. They are all lies. Republicans can do no other because there is no truth that can be told that works in their favor.

Posted at August 26, 2008 4:31 AM in response to McCain Campaign Launches Direct Hit On Obama Over Ayers Ties

Mike,
What I was referring to is the idea of parsing authority across multiple elements in a shared way with a nation as large and as populous as China. This introduces challenges that have never been attempted or fully considered. The functional elements and the scope of such an undertaking would require a vast infrastructure not yet invented. I'm going by the overall effectiveness of how well we manage this with 300 million people. There exists a staggering amount of interleaved information that is frequently not accommodated by legislation. With 1.3 billion people these problems are compounded. China is every bit as diverse, probably more so, than the U.S. For these reasons I think that for China a decentralization of authority is simply not practical. I'm a computer weenie and I think of this in terms of a data set so large and with so many variables that is boggles the mind. In those terms democracy doesn't 'scale' well. I can't imagine what would be the outcome of having the number of autonomous units decentralization would produce in this situation. We know we have a system where there are people working at cross purposes all the time. What would our system look like with 1.3 billion people. I suspect it would simply be too large to manage using a decentralized scheme. The inherent waste generated under such a system would be intolerable.

Posted at August 25, 2008 7:32 AM in response to Do not underestimate the CCP

Voters need to be made aware of the depth of the disinformation campaign being waged against Obama.

Obama needs to make this an issue and connect it to the way McCain might conduct his presidency. He also needs to make the association to Bush and how he has repeatedly deceived the nation and thus place the entire republican political machine on the defensive on issues of honesty and ethical conduct. Bush is infamous for displaying a public empathy on issues while behind the scenes acting quite differently. McCain is the same. He has sponsored or voted for all manner of feel good legislation but the outcomes don't measure up. And on issues that are very clear cut he has most often voted with the WH even though that vote had a negative impact on a majority of citizens.

Posted at August 25, 2008 6:11 AM in response to While We Weren't Watching

These houses are likely investment properties that act as a hedge against inflation. Given the housing market that isn't so great at the moment. The bottom line is McCain has more money than he knows what to do with and that is more than a little troublesome for a presidential candidate in these hard times. This campaign is more than a little bit about haves and have nots. He is clearly reluctant to draw attention to the fact he is a lifetime member of the haves while the majority of Americans relative to himself are members of the have nots.

The contrast between himself and Obama is causing a lot of trouble for McCain. It places an inconvenient emphasis on the class struggle going on in this country. Voters have become all too aware that tax cuts, simply because of the arithmetic, overwhelmingly benefits persons with seven figure incomes. On that alone McCain is facing an uphill battle. It is a major piece of the republican thrust. But from a voter perspective he probably loses the vote of people who think that is very important.

Posted at August 25, 2008 5:43 AM in response to All Those Houses. . .

Why are you angry. It is just a contest that was lost. Nobody died. Relative to present day politics it was merely another day at the office. It is waht it is. If you don't like the way the game is played maybe you should find something different to do. Complaining about how this one is played will get you nowhere. And Hillary especially knows this because she plays this game really, really well.

Posted at August 25, 2008 4:50 AM in response to Biden as the Perfect Bridge from Good Past to Better Future

McCain is going to have a hard time finding someone to offset Biden. I think most of the probables who might get the job done are also right wing whack jobs carrying too much baggage. Another issue is the more right leaning possibles may not be a good fit in this election. The country, apart from the normally right leaning but vocal minority, is more inclined to moderation. McCain has already shifted somewhat to the right so I think anyone to the right of him would hurt the republican ticket. Had Bush not screwed up so for the last eight years perhaps someone a bit more to the right could squeek by. Under the circumstances though I just don't see it. Mitt goes pretty much whichever direction the wind is blowing so he isn't such a great pick. It's too easy to portray him as a liar without scruples or convictions. Connecting him to the lax ethical standards as evidenced by big business would be childs play. McCain is faced with having to pull a John Roberts out of his hat. Such a person may not exist.

Posted at August 24, 2008 10:18 AM in response to Biden choice leaves McCain at a decision point

Aboyer,
Powell is the only one who would do McCain any good. Hillary wouldn't do it and Rice is a loser.

Posted at August 24, 2008 9:51 AM in response to McCain's VP Hope: Hillary, Condeleezza or Colin

Ellen,
I would estimate that while they may want to change, the impetus for doing so is often eradicated by events. I offer recent events in Eastern Europe that have made Russia revert to what appears as the former state we once knew.

The issue is clouded because within the Chinese state we have, just as in the U.S., two groups who are in disagreement. The one in power is determined to remain in power and under the system in question the way to do that is to be certain not to give the appearance of weakness. Just examine the Olympics and what was observed and commented upon. Westerners saw a very tightly controlled social and political environment. There was absolutely nothing left to chance that would indicate to the people of China or an outsider even the slightest lessening of control. The Olympics was a big deal for China but the message here was unmistakable.

One question I have is what if China were more open or even a democracy? Is it even possible to administer a nation of 1.3 billion people without very tight central control? We struggle to balance our freedoms with issues of security, our economy, tax equity, health care and all manner of other things. Imagine if we quadrupled our population? Bigger in this case would greatly magnify the complexity of mananging it all. And what if you wanted to provide all the amenities we enjoy. What if, in China, everyone had a car? Is it possible to have a nation as big as China and have per capita productivity high enough to support a democratic state in the way we know it? It would be absolutely necessary to artificially regulate the scheme of income distribution and socialize health care for starters. In the end the notion of freedom or a western democracy would be, out of necessity, compromised. Perhaps you could achieve this with advanced technologies but we are nowhere near that and woun't be for some time to come. Until we greatly improve the efficient use of global resources these things are not possible. Everybody simply can't have a house, a car and a big screen TV. Right now the dollar and environmental cost of that is not within our reach. And unless we get a lot smarter it may never be.

Posted at August 23, 2008 5:11 AM in response to Do not underestimate the CCP