Short Takes on G-8, Iran, Afghanistan, and Venezuela

EJ Dionne
Dana Milbank
Ben Smith
Joe Klein

Disclaimer: this photo is not from Iran and does not show the latest protests which took place this morning.

The big news from the G-8 conference is that the larger European nations pledged to help their smaller brethren out during this global economic crisis, and now they are trying to worm their way out of those promises. Guess there weren't enough of Italy's high priced, beautiful secretaries, drugs, and alcohol provided by Prime Minister Berlesconi, though he does have a former topless model escorting around Michelle and the girls..

Iran has released over 2000 people that were arrested after the elections, but is keeping 500 for show trials. Iranian security forces continue to make arrests, for example, yesterday a lawyer specializing in human rights and who would probably have represented many of those still in jail, was arrested while in his office... I wonder how long the government will be able to keep a lid on things, or when the next public eruption will happen, more forceful and violent than before... This morning, for example, was the anniversary of student protests in 1999, and about 250 people gathered at the University for a traditional demonstration. It was quickly, brutally dispersed, creating more frustration and resentment bottled up for use in the future... 

Elections are coming up in August in Afghanistan, a country you might not expect to see anything resembling democratic process. In this case, politics does make strange bedfellows, such as this story from the Denver Post: "A Democratic Party strategist who helped Bill Clinton get into the White House is now assisting a former Afghan finance minister in his campaign to unseat President Hamid Karzai in upcoming elections.

James Carville said he joined the team of Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank official, so Afghans had a viable choice in the Aug. 20 poll. "This is probably the most important election held in the world in a long time," Carville said late Tuesday. "This is probably the most interesting project I have ever worked in my life."

The Obama administration has repeatedly said it does not support any of the 41 presidential candidates, and Carville said he is working as a private citizen. Nevertheless, the involvement of a strategist with such close ties with the Democratic Party — and in particular Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan — is likely to raise questions about Washington's stance.

Karzai is the front-runner in the presidential race, even though many Afghans and international officials have slammed his performance.

Ghani, who had to renounce his American citizenship to compete in the election, served as Karzai's finance minister. He has a doctorate in anthropology from Columbia University. He left the government after the elections of 2004 and became chancellor of Kabul University."

Back in Central America, Venezuela has decided to give the Honduran negotiations an extra incentive by turning off the flow of oil to Honduras. They'll turn it back on after Zelaya is allowed to return to his country. Ouch...

Here is the link to Vanity Fair magazines story on Sarah Palin, if you want to read it. If you do go to their website, read the Michael Lewis article on AIG, it's probably more important and Michael is a great writer...

late night jokes:

"President Obama is in Russia. Today he waved to Sarah Palin." --David Letterman

"But it's an important trip for Obama to go to Russia. He's gotten a lot of concessions. He has now gotten the Russians to agree to decrease production of nuclear warheads. Well that's not bad right there. And, that's not all. They're going to increase production of fruit-flavored vodka." --David Letterman

"But it's not all fun and games for President Obama over there in Russia. He has a busy agenda. Today, he visited the birthplace of Yakov Smirnoff." --David Letterman

"Now how about this, ladies and gentlemen? The Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, has announced she is stepping down. She will no longer be the Governor of Alaska. First thing, she woke up and went out on her porch and waved goodbye to Russia. Obama was waving to her." --David Letterman

"And people are puzzled by this. They say, 'Well Governor, Sarah, what are you going to do? What's going to happen?' And insiders believe that she hopes to be the next 'Octomom.' But I don't know." --David Letterman

"But she's going to take the summer off, and then will come back next fall in the 10 o'clock slot." --David Letterman

"She said that before she decided to quit, she called Dick Cheney. Do you remember Dick 'Ka-boom' Cheney? And I thought, well, this is great because when you want some advice on strategic maneuvers, I mean, you go to the architect of the Iraqi war. I mean, isn't that where you go? That's where you want to be." --David Letterman

"But friends of Governor Palin are saying that she is resigning because she is tired of attacks from the media. Thank God I didn't say anything." --David Letterman

"Here's something wacky. Osama bin Laden's first wife -- and this guy has literally like 40 wives or something, yeah, 40 wives -- well his first wife, wife No. 1, is writing a book all about Osama bin Laden. It's a fascinating story. And it talks about when Osama was 16 years old, when he was just a kid, listen to this, he wrecked the family camel." --David Letterman

"But the book is going to be huge. It's being published by Random Cave." --David Letterman

"Anybody here from Minnesota? Congratulations on your new senator, Al Franken, finally sworn in as Senator of Minnesota. Sworn in today, down in Washington. A lovely ceremony, officiated by the Church Lady." --David Letterman

"They swear him in today. Listen to this. He has to race right back to Minnesota to begin his re-election campaign. It's crazy." --David Letterman

"It's an emotional day. A lot of us are still mourning the loss of one of America's most entertaining figures, who left us all too soon. But don't worry, folks, Sarah Palin will be back. Comedians everywhere are praying." --Conan O'Brien

"Speaking of Sarah Palin, Senator John McCain was reportedly surprised by Sarah Palin's resignation as governor of Alaska. He said he was surprised. McCain was also surprised to find that television now comes in color." --Conan O'Brien

"Today, in Russia, President Obama delivered a speech to the graduating class of Moscow's new economic school. That's right. The title of his speech was 'Can We Borrow 4 Trillion Rubles, Please?'" --Conan O'Brien

"General Motors had some good news. General Motors says it's struggling to meet demand for its new 2010 Chevrolet Camaro. G.M. said they're 'sorry, but both of you are going to have to wait a little longer.'" --Conan O'Brien

David Letterman's Top Ten Messages on Sarah Palin's Answering Machine

10. "Hi, it's George W. Bush. Why didn't anyone tell me resigning was an option?"
9. "It's John McCain--Why did I call?"
8. "Mark Sanford here. Ever been to Argentina?"
7. "I'm calling from Geico to see if you want to renew your dogsled insurance"
6. "It's Letterman. We still cool?"
5. "McCain again. Still no idea why I called"
4. "Hi, it's the dry cleaner. Having trouble getting caribou blood out of your Prada jacket"
3. "Hi, it's Sarah...Oops...Dialed my own number"
2. "Schwarzenegger here. If you want a job, California could use a new governor"
1. "Hey, it's McCain. Who would've thought you'd retire before I did"