Archive for February, 2009
by James M. Wall It is official: Ambassador Charles Freeman has been appointed chairman of the National Intelligence Council. The announcement came Thursday afternoon from the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis C. Blair. From the Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair has selected Charles W. Freeman, Jr. to […]
Filed under: Media, Middle East Politics | 3 Comments
by James M. Wall The Washington Post’s Al Kamen has a follow up story on the State Department assignment given to Dennis Ross, discussed in my earlier posting, However, the smear tactics now being used by the Israel Lobby against Ambassador Charles Freeman’s appointment as the new NIC chairman are not in the Kamen story. His story […]
Filed under: Uncategorized | 3 Comments
by James M. Wall The MSM (Main Stream Media) still has not noticed, but the Israel Lobby is out in full force to scuttle the appointment of Ambassador Charles W. Freeman as the new chairman of the National Intelligence Council. Once the word swept across the blogosphere, the battle was joined. You will not […]
Filed under: Middle East Politics, Politics and Elections | 5 Comments
by James M. Wall In his new book, The Inheritance, David E. Sanger describes the impact of a 140-page NIC-produced National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on the Bush White House just before Thanksgiving, 2007. The report was not what the war-oriented forces in the White House wanted to see. The NIE brought to a screeching […]
Filed under: Middle East Politics, Politics and Elections | 6 Comments
by James M. Wall Samantha Power first gained national attention with her 2003 Pulitzer Prize winning book, From Hell: America and the Age of Genocide. Then Senator and future President Barack Obama read the book. In 2005 he invited the 38 […]
Filed under: Middle East Politics | 2 Comments
Tom Geoghegan Is A Progressive Running to Replace Rahm Emanuel In Illinois’ Fifth; He Could Win
Update: Thursday, February 19: Tom Geoghegan has just been endorsed in the Fifth District Democratic primary by Democrats for America (DFA). By James M. Wall At last count, 14 candidates are competing in the special March 3 […]
Filed under: Politics and Elections | 3 Comments
by James M. Wall There are not many “good news” stories in politics these days. But a Florida woman, Henrietta Hughes, was central to one of the few “good news” moments that reached national attention in Fort Myers Thursday. Huffington Post has the story with two videos, one with the beginning of the story, the other […]
Filed under: Religion and politics, The Human Condition | Leave a Comment
by James M. Wall Update on Sam Stein of Huffington Post, Below: It was yet another sign that the Bush years are over when 48 minutes into his first White House presidential press conference, President Obama turned to Helen Thomas, who, at least for the moment, is back on the White House predetermined questioner list. […]
Filed under: Politics and Elections | 3 Comments
by James M. Wall I first met Howard Dean during the early days of his 2004 run for the presidency. He struck me then, as he does now, as a passionate man with progressive ideas, a politician willing to take risks. It is therefore, no surprise that two prominent Democratic members of Congress, Iowa’s Senator […]
Filed under: Media, Politics and Elections | 2 Comments
Updated (February 5) by James M. Wall Obama envoy George Mitchell faces two big problems in his effort to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. Because the problems are intimately connected they will have a major impact on the […]
Filed under: Middle East Politics | 4 Comments
