ChrisWeigant.com

Archive of Articles in the "Iran" Category

Still Watching Basra

[ Posted Tuesday, March 25th, 2008 – 15:36 UTC ]

Maliki, on the surface, seems to be trying to do the right thing. Over and over again Americans have been asking "when will the Iraq Army be able to provide security on their own?" so Maliki's move can be seen as trying to do just that. The British are apparently not coming out of their base, and are leaving the situation almost entirely within Iraqi hands (the Brits are providing intelligence and surveillance from the air, but that's it for now). So this is the first real and honest test of the theory: "When the Iraqis stand up, we can stand down."

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Friday Talking Points [24] -- Which Side Are You On?

[ Posted Friday, March 21st, 2008 – 16:33 UTC ]

Like the hapless characters in Waiting For Godot, America sits and watches in fascination as the Democratic nomination race grinds into yet another calendar season. At this point, it is looking like it may well go unresolved all the way to the Democratic National Convention in late August.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Nancy Pelosi and all the other undeclared superdelegates have it within their power to call "Palomino!" on this whole process. Because there are enough of them left to swing the contest to either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. They should do so now.

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Friday Talking Points [23]

[ Posted Friday, March 14th, 2008 – 16:13 UTC ]

As Robert Anton Wilson pointed out (or William S. Burroughs, if you prefer), hexagram 23 of the I Ching is "breaking apart." Anyone who subscribes to his "23 enigma" theory will note that this is the twenty-third installment of this column. If you throw hexagram 23, the I Ching cautions: "the roof is shattered, the house collapses." I leave you, dear reader, to draw your own conclusions as to how this relates to Democratic politics for this particular week.

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An Exit Poll Vignette

[ Posted Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 – 15:58 UTC ]

POLLSTER: We take these polls to "take the pulse" of the people voting, so the news media can report on what the electorate is feeling. I know some of the answers are inadequate, but there are just so many opinions that the media can pay attention to in any one election.

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Where Will Iraq Be In November?

[ Posted Wednesday, February 27th, 2008 – 15:19 UTC ]

While everyone else is having fun determining who "won" or "lost" the Democratic debate last night, I would like to revisit an important topic: Iraq. Because while the national news media (fickle as they are) have lost almost all interest in the situation in Iraq, it is still going to be a large issue in the November presidential election. Which means we should be paying attention to it now.

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Friday Talking Points [16] -- The State Of The Blog

[ Posted Friday, January 25th, 2008 – 16:16 UTC ]

Netizens, fellow bloggers, Speaker Pelosi, Majority Leader Reid, Members of Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and all Americans... I am proud to stand before you and say... the state of the weblog is strong!

Blogging, for instance, means you can put your own comments out there before President Bush gives his final State of the Union speech next Monday. This is a good thing for our blogosphere!

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My "McLaughlin Awards" For 2007 [Part 2]

[ Posted Friday, December 28th, 2007 – 14:55 UTC ]

OK, here we go with Part 2 of my annual McLaughlin Awards. Last week's column covered the first half of these awards.

Unfortunately (as of this writing) the transcript for last week's McLaughlin Group is not yet available on their website, so you'll have to check it later to compare how I did with the actual McLaughlin Group themselves.

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My "McLaughlin Awards" For 2007 [Part 1]

[ Posted Friday, December 21st, 2007 – 14:41 UTC ]

For those of you who have been reading this column long enough, you may remember a fun set of columns (Part 1 and Part 2) I wrote last year, giving my picks for the annual tongue-in-cheek awards handed out by the McLaughlin Group television show.

Because I had so much fun doing it last year, I present for your amusement, agreement, and/or rage my selections for this year's awards. This is a two-week event, so check back here next Friday for Part 2.

As always when this column hands out awards, our eminent jury consists of me, my wife, and our cat (who breaks ties with her vote). So I wouldn't take it too seriously.

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Predictions For 2008

[ Posted Monday, December 17th, 2007 – 15:06 UTC ]

[Warning: these all have absolutely no basis in reality, and are all merely the product of an overactive imagination. I am not a psychic nor do I pretend to be one. So there.]

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Honestly

[ Posted Saturday, December 15th, 2007 – 17:58 UTC ]

Frank

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