By Jonathan Miller, on Wed Apr 20, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET NATO’s operations in Libya have created a very odd moment in international affairs. The decision to commit US and NATO forces to help the embattled rebels by imposing a no fly zone happened so fast there was barely any time for an actual debate. The momentum for swift action, however, has dissipated now that the decision has been made, leaving us with a stalemate on the ground and with lingering concerns that, almost in a fit of insensibility, the US and its allies have begun an adventure without any clear idea of how or when it will end.
The political contortions surrounding the decision to act will keep historians and political scientists busy for years. It offered, for example, the confusing spectacle of the Secretary of Defense going into detail about what a bad idea a no fly zone was only a few days before the decision to go ahead. The President made the decision while traveling in Latin America, and only spoke to the American people in detail several days after the air war began. The political class was similarly confused.
“] Click on the chart above to see how Alex Pareene of Salon wonderfully skewered the GOP position. Only relatively marginalized groups on Right and Left offered clear objections—Glenn Beck seeing in the Arab Spring a global conspiracy of liberals and Islamists to establish a Caliphate; Dennis Kucinich wanting to impeach the President for going to war—but the political establishment acquiesced quickly to the arguments for action. Congressional Democrats, many of whom had been vocal critics of military actions elsewhere, closed ranks around the President. Congressional Republicans were caught flat-footed, and after a period of confusion settled on a strategy of criticizing the manner in which the decision was made rather than the decision itself.
The international reactions have been no less confused. Europeans, concerned about the unrest in a country so close to their shores and which provided so much of Europe’s oil, were among the first calling for action, seconded (incongruously enough) by the Arab League. Calls for a no fly zone grew as it appeared that TheBrotherLeaderWhoseNameWesternMedia-HasNotBeenAbleToTransliterateEffectivelySince1969 was preparing to massacre the rebels in the besieged towns and cities of Eastern Libya. With President Obama arguing that the US could not go it alone, and our most important European allies expressing a willingness to shoulder a large share of the burden, the UN Security Council supported the idea, and voila! A triumph of multilateralism.
Except…
 TheBrotherLeaderWhoseNameWesternMediaHasNotBeenAbleToTransliterateEffectivelySince1969 Yes, the Security Council managed to avoid a Russian or Chinese veto, but the best those two international free riders could offer was to abstain. Neither China nor Russia has made any constructive contribution to settling the problems, and no one expects them to either, which is incongruous but habitual for two states who enjoy complaining about American unilateralism. To make matters worse, the Germans, in the person of Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, who had spoken so loudly in the run-up to the vote about the need to avoid a humanitarian catastrophe, joined China and Russia in the abstention. Westerwelle and his boss, Chancellor Angel Merkel, had their eyes on upcoming state elections and decided not to rile the German public by committing the Germans to military action—thus choosing to be preemptively irresponsible rather than provide ammunition for their even more internationally irresponsible domestic rivals. Westerwelle then doubled down on the pusillanimity by announcing that the German abstention did not mean the Germans would not support allied actions in general, as if fecklessness and opportunism are somehow more appealing when one makes no effort to hide them. In the end, the German government was rightfully pummeled from all sides, continues to earn the scorn of media critics (such as Roger Cohen in the NY Times), has alienated its allies, and lost the big state election in Baden-Württemberg anyway.
 France's Sarkozy Meanwhile, France, with Britain close behind, has taken a leading role in the Libya action (and, partially in response to critics who said the West did not care about non-oil-producing lands, Ivory Coast as well). Recent French actions would overturn all the American canards about French weakness and cowardice so popular in the debate over Iraq, if the people who traffic in such canards actually allowed themselves to be swayed by actual facts. One should of course not over-praise French willingness to act, since it reflects domestic politics as much as the German decision. President Nicolas Sarkozy has calculated that these actions will help burnish his image as a leader as he attempts to rev up his re-election campaign. Whether it will do that remains to be seen. In this case, however, the French government has both made a clear decision and has backed it up with actions.
Read the rest of…
Ronald J. Granieri: Form, Function & Fantasy in Foreign Policy
By Tom Allen, on Fri Apr 15, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET 
How does one recover from a passion, a deep abiding interest and engagement? From a loss, maybe—that can take some work. But I don’t ever want to recover from politics, though I won’t run again.
I may have had less trouble than some recovering from a loss, because I chose after 12 years in Congress to take a long-shot chance at a U.S. Senate seat against Sen. Susan Collins, an incumbent with an approval rating over 60 percent. Those odds, I realize even more today, don’t usually work out, and mine did not.
When my friend Bill Delahunt retired rather than run again for the Massachusetts 10th district, he had a simple explanation: “I have a two-year old granddaughter.” I get it. My wife and I have a three-year old grandson and a one-year old granddaughter—with another on the way.
That’s not much of a prescription for younger recovering politicians, but it works for some of us.
I do miss the people, my constituents in Maine, all over the state. People of all ages and backgrounds from all walks of life; the students, the retired, labor activists, businessmen and women, health care providers, the uninsured, veterans and war protesters, delegates to party conventions and, yes, even (or especially) supporters of mine at political fund-raisers.
I don’t miss the hours, though. I ran into Tom Davis, the respected Virginia Congressman, on the street in Washington in 2009, the year after we had both left Congress. He just looked at me and said, “Weekends!”
Since I work now as the CEO of the Association of American Publishers, the public policy advocacy organization for the book publishing industry, I spend half of most months in Washington. So I still see some of my friends in (and after 2010) out of Congress. Most of those that have left in the last few years have few regrets, because the atmosphere of congressional activity has become poisonous.
As a form of recovery, I am refusing to leave the arena entirely. Within days of losing my Senate race, I started writing a book which has evolved into an attempt to explain the deeper sources of the polarization that cripples our ability to make long-term strategic decisions about our most pressing public issues.
For me, the signature question of my experience was, “Do these guys believe what they are saying?” That’s what we Democrats asked each other when we heard, “Tax cuts pay for themselves,” or “We’ll be welcomed as liberators,” or “Climate science isn’t proven.” We fully understood that many of our arguments made no sense to Republicans. Why not?
I am exploring the attitudes and ideas that shape our thinking on a range of issues. In particular, I want to highlight the enduring tension in American culture and politics between individualism and community. The working title is Dangerous Convictions: Inside a Polarized Congress. 
But spring is coming, the snow is melting in Maine, the birds returning and soon the fish will be moving again. I will pick up my fly rod and go off with my wife, Diana, to one of our favorite Maine sporting camps, casting for brook trout and landlocked salmon during the day and listening to the loons at night.
I will finish the book this year, and like most authors, I live in the hope that it will make a difference in how Democrats and Republicans think about each other, and, just perhaps, work together for the common good.
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Fri Apr 8, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET The Politics of the Planet People have been searching for a technical fix for global climate change for a long time. One of the leading plans has been “cloud whitening” which would decrease the amount of solar energy reaching the Earth, thereby decreasing the greenhouse effect. However, new evidence from Europe shows that this technique might actually warm the planet even more. [BBC]
Are you more optimistic about the use of technology to solve the planet’s climate ills? Scientists at the University of Minnesota have unlocked a way to use carbon dioxide as a fuel for vehicles. That could be useful. [Futurity]
Building are often the leading culprit in municipal government’s carbon footprint. This is certainly the case for New York City. Mayor Bloomberg has decided to implement a new kind of leasing arrangement which would incentivize energy efficiency. [NYC.gov][Explanation from Tapped]
One of the reasons I volunteered for the RP before he was recovering was because of his stance on mountaintop removal coal mining. If you don’t much about the issue of MTR, I would encourage you to educate yourself about it. The Rainforest Action Network releases yearly report cards to banks about their exposure to this form of mining. Their most recent report just came out. See how your bank scored. [RAN]
One of the other WWGs which I do is The Politics of Hoops. I love basketball. I also love it when my WWGs overlap. Here is a picture from the 70s of Phil Jackson with his bicycle. This makes me want to cheer for the Lakers. [tumblr]
By Jason Atkinson, on Wed Apr 6, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET  I was born in the Amazon and raised by a pack of wolves until the age of twelve, when some missionaries in dug-out canoes came to spread the gospel, then found me and took me back to their home in Oregon to raise me properly.
Jonathan Miller, my lifelong friend from our Rodel Fellow days, and expert forger of Al Gore’s signature, asked me to contribute a biographical sketch. I, however, really do not like discussing myself and I chose to use the more interesting Discovery Channel version of a first sentence.
I have never considered myself much of a politician either; I am more like an idealist with twinges of Robin Hood and Teddy Roosevelt pumping through my veins…so much for humility.
I have served in the Oregon Legislature since 1999. My first campaign became a forecast for my political life: lobbyists and “insiders” were against me and contributed $40k to my first opponent. My wife gave me $100 bucks and I outworked the guy. Many campaigns later, sometimes winning both the Republican and Democratic primaries, I am still the same man the “insiders” hold in suspect.
I teach a college seminar on Oregon politics and servant leadership. The class starts with the showing of three speeches: Robert Kennedy’s brilliant speech in Indiana when M.L.K. was assassinated; Representative Barbara Jordan’s speech at Watergate, “we are here to uphold the Constitution, the Constitution that at one time did not uphold me;” and Ronald Reagan’s first inaugural “City on a Hill.” Then I ask the students if they will see that sort of behavior while watching the Oregon Senate. That question is followed by the question that is the final exam: Do you believe 10% of the Oregon Senate holds the other 90% together? If they answer yes, then I ask them to put the names down. Since 2003, most of the answers have been yes, and most of the names are the same. The Senators named are rarely the grand-standers, the partisans or the blowhards. I think this premise holds true in every Legislature, every Congress all the way to the first five Continental Congresses in U.S. history.
If I have an epithet in politics, I hope it would be I was one of the 10%. That is my goal, but looking at my press lately, I am being taught what a rotten person I am. When Jonathan’s and my classmate; Gabby Giffords, was shot; I made a speech about civility and it was not taken well. Bloggers lit me up, talk-radio jumped in and other Senators saw a weakness so they piled on. In the hyper-partisan era we now live in, I am sad to report my experience has not closed the gap between issues or personalities. Thinking of becoming a recovering politician, I told a friend I was not afraid of the heat in kitchen, but after standing in it so long I have asked myself, is it worth it? Going back to that idealism line, I have to answer yes.
 The femoral artery In 2006 I ran for Governor, did not win, started working in Northern Iraq with the Kurds, came home, and was shot in my garage. Unlike the Amazon bit, this is all true. A .38 bullet – hidden inside a bag – was dropped in my shop and the derringer went off, destroying my femur and cutting my femoral artery. My wife heard the noise, came out to find her husband bleeding to death on the floor, tied a tourniquet with a rubber inner tube and has enjoyed Christmas and her birthday even more ever since. I am told I was about 90 seconds away from bleeding out, my leg was to be amputated and I was never to walk again. All three did not happen thanks to God’s healing hand and my headstrong ability to fight through the pain of rehab.
My life changed in that instant, but politics was already speculating I was dead, that I could not win statewide anyway, and that somehow I had shot myself. That last bit was the hardest to hear, as I never saw the gun and had no knowledge of it near me. About a year later, I was speech-making to a crowd of about 1,000 citizens on the steps of the Capitol, when someone who said to all I shot myself introduced me, which got a lot of laughs. I handled it ok, but my wife let the introducer know in no uncertain terms how far out-of-line he was.
 It has been a tough three years: my wife had and beat cancer, our 8-year-old son had and beat cancer, and my party beats on me for not “being good enough.” There is no complaining as I have more pain killers than the lot of bad apples, but it does bring an old American conundrum into focus: How do you vote if your conscience and your district/state/party are at polar opposites?
I struggle with politics. I love service but am burned out on the pettiness. I hope the body politic is not run by those who can raise the most money to personally destroy the competition, but right now that is where the pendulum points.
 A van down by the river... Back to the Amazon with more truths: I earned my MBA after being run over by a car while on my bicycle. I sat on the pavement and thought “I have accomplished everything I set out to do in professional alpine skiing and racing bikes around the world, I think it’s time for grad school.” It was, and I married Stephanie half way through school. I live between Salem/Portland (Oregon’s political and business hubs) and our farm in Southern Oregon, except during steelhead season when I live in a van by the river. Anyway, I fly fish two-handed with religious conviction, struggle to get two more books published and enjoy foreign diplomatic work more than anything I have ever done.
And, just for the record, if you ever need Al Gore to sign something, I know how to get that done.
By Robert Kahne, RP Staff, on Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 1:30 PM ET The Politics of the Planet Since the tsunami and subsequent nuclear meltdown in Japan, people have wondered about the global impact. Want an honest, albeit pessimistic take? Read this post from Barry Riholtz’s blog [The Big Picture].
Not enough bad news for you? The Physicians for Social Responsibility have issued a statement which says they are deeply concerned about the amount of radiation in food. [PSR]
Google, Kings of the Internet, have decided to use their philanthropic project, Google.org, to take on Global Climate Change skeptics. [Solve Climate News]
Check out this very interesting read about how the Chinese environmental movement will be considerably different there than it has been in the United States, and different from how it tried to be in the USSR. [The Atlantic]
Japan’s nuclear problems have created repercussions on the other side of the Eastern Hemisphere. Germany’s ruling party, the Christian Democrats, have now lost a former stronghold to the Greens. Here’s a super-informative piece with context about how global events have impacts that are truly global. But read it quick, before it goes behind that paywall. [New York Times]
The EPA made waves in 2009 when it ruled that greenhouse gasses were a threat to human health. Read this profile of how Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has served as ringleader of efforts to overturn this scientific ruling through political means: [Lexington Herald-Leader]
An interesting read concerning the Obama administration’s recent ruling about genetically modified crops and its impact on organic farming. [The Rural Blog]
By Jonathan Miller, on Fri Apr 1, 2011 at 8:30 AM ET Mark Twain once quipped: “Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it.”
The same can be said about the turbulent storm that’s been hailing down on our country’s discourse. Particularly after a national tragedy — Oklahoma City, 9/11, Tucson — the hyper-partisan politicos, cable TV screaming heads and ideological flamebloggers all pledge to tamp down their rhetoric as they wax poetically about civility. And then, inevitably, they return to their partisan corners, crucifying the other side over the next urgent issue.
Today, we launch The Recovering Politician to provide a civilized forum as an antidote to our nation’s toxic addiction to vitriol and demonization. Here is a place for debating and discussing the issues of the day — politics, sports, pop culture, religion, you name it — without the finger-pointing and blame-assigning that’s all too typical on the Web and among our more crass media.
 Your host and frequent commentator is Jonathan Miller, the Recovering Politician. The RP is a proud progressive Kentucky Democrat, but he’s learned that we must put aside our labels on occasion to work for the common good.
The RP does not belong to a traditional 12-step program, but as a great admirer of friends who have battled real addictions, and a proud advocate of programs that empower them (see Recovery Kentucky), the RP has learned that many of the same principles espoused in recovery — candor, humility, compassion — can be a valuable tonic for our system at large and the players within.
The RP will be joined by dozens of other contributors — recovering politicians who’ll offer their own ideas about how to fix America’s most intractable problems: climate change, skyrocketing health care costs, our multi-trillion-dollar debt, crowning a college football national champion, celebrity idolatry, mom jeans, yadda, yadda, yadda. (OK, maybe not mom jeans; too polarizing…)
Like The RP, the site’s contributors are in the process of trying to prove F. Scott Fitzgerald wrong: that there are second (and third, and fourth…) acts in American lives. You’ll get the perspective of those who’ve survived the arena, and now are free to offer their critiques, unburdened by political pressures. You’ll hear from all sides of the spectrum, as well as from folks who’ve already carved their niche in the real world to share their expertise.
Every week day, the site will also feature a handful of “The RP’s Weekly Web Gems”: a set of links focused on a particular issue (i.e., the environment, health care, fashion. the NFL), culled by the RP’s crack staff, that reflect the best civil discourse on the Web.
Be forewarned: civility does NOT imply preciously-sincere, campfire-style appeals for spiritual unity. Nor does it require compromising core beliefs, watering down faith or appeasing bullies. Expect passionately-opinionated, controversial, imagination-provoking posts. Get ready for vigorous, rigorous debate. But all within the spirit of mutual respect and a determination to advance us all to workable solutions.
 Click on Al Gore's face for an instructive video on how to affect the weather And you’re encouraged to join the fray and make some helpful noise: Please share your comments, early and often, through your Facebook account. It’s easy.
At a minimum, please share your thoughts on the site itself through your comments. And if you like what you read, please recommend articles via the buttons at the upper right of every post and share them with your friends through the buttons at the bottom.
One last admonition: Please be patient. It may take us a few days to complete our mission to rescue the nation from its polarizing, paralyzing discord. Then, and only then, will we try to do something — finally! — about improving the weather around here…
By Jonathan Miller, on Thu Mar 10, 2011 at 4:41 PM ET LAUNCH DATE: APRIL 1, 2011
In just a few days, a new entry to the blogosphere will revolutionize the way Americans think about politics.
All right…I doth promote too much. I am a recovering politician after all.
I can promise, however, that The Recovering Politician will present a unique forum for spirited, reasoned, civil dialogue — dispatches from a few dozen folks who’ve actually served in the arena; and now having left, are liberated to share their experiences and critiques of the system without partisan bias or interest group pressures.
Don’t expect interminable political blather; our contributors will also share their opinions and ideas about business, religion, sports, pop culture, you name it. And you’ll be encouraged to join the conversation through your comments.
Be prepared to join us on April 1. In the meantime, feel free to surf around the bare bones of the site: check out our mission, sign up for my email notification list, and join me on the social networks: Facebook, Twitter, etc — you can find the links and forms above.
So strap in tight, liftoff is in T minus 12,000, 11,999, 11,998…
Best,
Jonathan Miller, The Recovering Politician
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