Things That Matter

Their opinion is important but we can't change it now- that would only happen after a period of effective governance by Obama. Therefore, for today, focus on the positive aspects of the letter.
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Agreed.

Them be fighting words of the worse kind:

Barack Obama has been called a lot of things but "House Negro" has never been one of them until today. For the first time in a very long time, the leaders of al-Qaeda and more importantly Osama bin Laden himself are about to be seriously tracked down and just as likely be killed as captured.

And ironically it will occur on the basis of a presidential mandate soon to be issued by an American whose father was an African Muslim and whose middle name is Hussein.

Make that much more likely to killed than captured given this stupid naive al-Qaeda attempt to insult our new President.

Sometimes it is better to just lay low and remain hidden in one's cave without bringing any unnecessary public attention to one's self......a life lesson al-Qaeda has fortunately forgotten and much sooner than later to be paid for with their lives.

The funny thing about Zawahiri calling Obama the complete opposite of Malcolm X, is that a few nutso right-wing bloggers have driven themselves even further into a psychotic rage trying to prove that Malcolm X is in fact Obama's real father. Just like Darth Vader.

Well, maybe we can survive the next for years. Why do you think they were pulling for Obama to win the election? Could it be that they were stopped by the GOP, and know that the next president is going to be a push over. I put no hope in mortal man, as no matter who is the president, he is not exempt from making mistakes. I hope is that the next administration will give in to those individuals who cannot stand the ideas of freedom.

Correction: My hope is that the next administration will not give in to those individuals who cannot stand what freedom is all about.

My hope is that the next administration will not give in to those individuals who cannot stand what freedom is all about.
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Well, I can't really see a primary challenge to Pres. Obama, and I can't see a Republican who will prosecute Bush, Cheney, Yoo, Addington, and the rest of the torturers and human rights violators. So I think you might be out of luck.

Pintortwo: "...is anyone feeling uncomfortable with Obama's plan to increase troop-levels in Afghanistan?"
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I certainly am. Anyone who has read almost anything at all about Afghanistan ought to be uncomfortable - the must-read is Rory Stewart's "The Places In Between," which drives home the hopelessness of imposing anything on Afghanis. That said, Afghanistan under the Taliban was truly appalling, for them and for us, and I have a sense that we have to try SOMETHING before walking away and giving it back to them. There is no point in building those roads and schools without trying to create some level of security for the girls who will walk the roads to the schools. I've wondered - what if we outbid the Taliban for the poppy crops?

" The Bush Cabinet dated back to the Ford White House (and to the previous Bush Cabinet)."

I don't get the whinging about Clinton people in the Obama administration. If you were a Democrat and wanted to work in government 8 years ago, presumably you wanted to work in the Clinton administration. How can Obama avoid them? Look for Carter people? Or Johnson's? Would really, really old guys be change?
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If, heaven forbid, the Republicans get the White House back in 4 or 8 years, it'll be interesting to see how Republicans avoid picking people who have worked in a Bush administration. Because I am sure they will not be running as a Bush restoration.

"Obama's election has taken the wind out of al Qaeda's sails in much of the Islamic world because it demonstrates America's renewed commitment to multiculturalism, human rights, and international law.

Not that Islam has any claim to care about multiculturalism, human rights, or any law other than their own, but I ask what religion does care about these things?

[...] c/c à Joe Klein [...]

[...] and Richard Clarke think it’s a telltale sign of how badly an Obama presidency has already knocked Al-Qaeda off its game.  The New Republic wonders how Al-Qaeda missed the conservative wingnut memo that Obama is [...]

btw: "sleep-clotted." Nice.

[...] Swampland - TIME.com » Blog Archive Things That Matter « "The Zawahiri letter is one of the first real indications we have of the new international state of affairs (the Ahmadinejad letter of congratulations may also have been a good sign, but was leavened by the author's lack of real power and the fact that he's running for reelection). The terrorists are now exposed as racists, on top of everything else. We have many miles to go in Afghanistan and the northern and western precincts of Pakistan, and more blood to shed–and innumerable ways to screw up, since no one has ever gotten Afghanistan right–but the wind seems to have shifted slightly and is now at our back." (tags: obama al_qaeda) [...]

[...] JOE KLEIN: “The Zawahiri letter is one of the first real indications we have of the new international state of affairs (the Ahmadinejad letter of congratulations may also have been a good sign, but was leavened by the author’s lack of real power and the fact that he’s running for reelection). The terrorists are now exposed as racists, on top of everything else. We have many miles to go in Afghanistan and the northern and western precincts of Pakistan, and more blood to shed–and innumerable ways to screw up, since no one has ever gotten Afghanistan right–but the wind seems to have shifted slightly and is now at our back.” MORE [...]

I don't get why the pundits and press are so whiney about the people Obama is picking.
The democrats have had ONE democratic administration in 30 years. Where the hell is he suppose to find anyone with even the minimum of experience that is under the age of 70 if not from the Clinton's 8 years of being in the white house.
That is the only place to find people.
Get over it press!
Do they really expect obama to go into the white house ala Jimmy Carter with all rookies? How'd that work out?
With the mulitude of serious problems facing this country this is no time for Obama to experiment with all new rookie faces.
Besides, Change does not mean rookies.
It means a change from immature baby boomers and their stupid culture wars and wedge issues. Change from incompetent and crooked cronies. Change from torture and wars. change from a gov. that doesn't care.
It means competent gov. that is for the people and the good of the country. Public service over greed and ideology. The end of big vs small government and more about competent and caring government. Streamlining and modernizing. Having the best and brightest work for the good of the people and the people taking part in their government.
That is what change mean.
I wish the stupid brain dead media would get over the conventional wisdom and think. think about what Obama has been saying for 2 years and what he is really saying.
And quit being such babies.

[...] Joe Klein writes an excellent column largely on the how al Qaeda’s statement about Obama shows how Obama presents a threat to the propaganda premise of terrorists. [...]

[...] case you’ve missed the news on the latest missive from the cave: Indeed, the only thing I have a really strong blogometric opinion about today is the letter Ayman [...]

Well said,Mr.Klein.

[...] Joe Klein This entry was posted on Thursday, November 20th, 2008 at 9:11 am and is filed under Politics . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site. [...]

[...] Joe Klein thinks: The Zawahiri letter is one of the first real indications we have of the new international state of affairs (the Ahmadinejad letter of congratulations may also have been a good sign, but was leavened by the author’s lack of real power and the fact that he’s running for reelection). The terrorists are now exposed as racists, on top of everything else. We have many miles to go in Afghanistan and the northern and western precincts of Pakistan, and more blood to shed–and innumerable ways to screw up, since no one has ever gotten Afghanistan right–but the wind seems to have shifted slightly and is now at our back. [...]

Joe,

Take a vacation more often! Seriously, you're right on points.

Obama's cabinet picks (the latest presumably Napolitano at Homeland Security): doesn't competence feel soooo good?

My hope is that the next administration will not give in to those individuals who cannot stand what freedom is all about.

Good luck.

There was about $288 billion in wholesale heroin produced in Afghanistan in 2007. (The number came from muliplying the crop production times the wholesale street price. You can Google the numbers yourself.)

That pays for a lot of insurgent weapons.

You can't build infrastructure (roads, schools, power plants) without security.

We do need to buy up (and destroy) the heroin crop. It might cost about $30 billion for the first year, but it would shut down Al-Queda in Afghanistan almost completely. Don't be surprised, however, that it will take years to bring "civilization" to Afghanistan. It took Moses 40 years of wandering in the desert to do something similar.

I'm hardly your knuckle-draggin type, and after 9/11 I had more apprehensions about America's reactionary behavior than about substantial security threats to the nation (*AHCHOO-Iraq was inevitable-OOO*). But any more I believe when these cowardly, flow-stone, self-important "revolutionaries" send us anonymous video messages, we should really be sending them video responses.

I'm just tired of the cliche'd stock footage of dude's playing on monkey bars in the desert, or a line of guys in ski masks round-housing a ping pong paddle---as if the counterattack to an American invasion would involve issuing millions of ping-pong paddles as our last line of civilian defense.

Any takers?

Hey Osama! Ya muthah!!

I thought your analysis that Obama's election represents a massive threat to Al-Qaeda psychologically was absolutely correct. The Arab world, as a vast generalism, appears to feel broadly repressed by the more wealthy more white more Christian world, which they perceive to be lead by America. Obama's color and background make that a more difficult view to sustain.

The only path to sustaining this point of view would be to discredit Obama - hence the houseslave or lapdog epithet.