ONTD: Politics

The pledges were made in two days of talks between the world's two biggest economies which ended with both sides hailing progress in their often tense relationship.

The difficulties in relations, particularly in human rights issues, were underscored by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who described Beijing's rights record as "deplorable" in a magazine interview. China's current crackdown on dissent, she said, amounted to "a fool's errand".

But on economic matters, officials were upbeat after talks.

"We are seeing very promising shifts in the direction of Chinese economic policy," U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said.

The annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue yielded more results on economic issues than some analysts had expected, although many remained skeptical China's market-opening vows would translate into concrete benefits for U.S. business.

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When I first heard China call the United States out on some of its own problems with human rights and discrimination, I was euphoric. Finally, a superpower who can stand up to the United States! But it's clear to me now that this is the same situation as the Cold War, where both sides go back and forth calling each other names and things progress as usual, if not slower, just so one side doesn't lose face. Case in point, it looks like China's going to stand firm with this yuan reevaluation stuff for a while, because there's no way Xi Jinping is going to "back down" to the US within the first three years of his presidency.

Marking the 8th anniversary of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, protesters rallied Saturday against continued American involvement there in Chicago.

The protesters also spoke out against the U.S. military getting involved in Libya.

Their message is simple. They want U.S. military involvement in the Middle East to end.

"We cannot continue to spend billions of dollars on war," said protester Julie Harley.

Many peace activists in Chicago took to Michigan Avenue Saturday to mark the 8th anniversary of the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq.

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PRESIDENT Obama says the noose is tightening around Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. In fact, it is tightening around the Libyan rebels, as Colonel Qaddafi makes the most of the world’s dithering and steadily retakes rebel-held towns. The United States and Europe are temporizing on a no-flight zone while the Organization of the Islamic Conference, the Gulf Cooperation Council and now the Arab League have all called on the United Nations Security Council to authorize one. Opponents of a no-flight zone have put forth five main arguments, none of which, on close examination, hold up.

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The United States should immediately ask the Security Council to authorize a no-flight zone and make clear to Russia and China that if they block the resolution, the blood of the Libyan opposition will be on their hands. We should push them at least to abstain, and bring the issue to a vote as soon as possible. If we get a resolution, we should work with the Arab League to assemble an international coalition to impose the no-flight zone. If the Security Council fails to act, then we should recognize the opposition Libyan National Council as the legitimate government, as France has done, and work with the Arab League to give the council any assistance it requests.

Any use of force must be carefully and fully debated, but that debate has now been had. It’s been raging for a week, during which almost every Arab country has come on board calling for a no-flight zone and Colonel Qaddafi continues to gain ground. It is time to act.

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WASHINGTON – A lawsuit targeting the Pentagon contains an astonishing anecdote about a retired Sergeant's experience after being sexually assaulted by a colleague during a deployment to Afghanistan.

The lawsuit, available here, was filed by 17 military women against Secretaries of Defense Robert Gates and Donald Rumsfeld in Virginia. It assails "the military's repeated failures to take action in rape cases created a culture where violence against women was tolerated, violating the plaintiffs' Constitutional rights."

Sergeant Rebekah Havrilla alleges in the complaint that in 2006, after her military supervisor repeatedly sexually harassed her, she was raped by a colleague she was working with at the time.

"He pulled her into his bed, held her down, and raped her. He also photographed the rape," it reads. Havrilla reported the incident within a month.

In February 2009, she reported for active duty training and, upon seeing her rapist, went into shock.

"She immediately sought the assistance of the military chaplain," the lawsuit reads. "When SGT Havrilla met with the military chaplain, he told her that 'it must have been God's will for her to be raped' and recommended that she attend church more frequently."

The complains adds that "SGT Havrilla suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic depression."

Havrilla's harrowing story, and the broader lawsuit, sheds light on the ongoing and widely reported problem of sexual assault in the military.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said it was "a command priority" to "ensure all of our service members are safe from abuse" and pledged to commit more resources to the goal.

"Sexual assault is a wider societal problem and Secretary Gates has been working with the service chiefs to make sure the U.S. military is doing all it can to prevent and respond to it," Morrell told NBC News.

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Israel called on the United States and a number of European countries over the weekend to curb their criticism of President Hosni Mubarak to preserve stability in the region.

Jerusalem seeks to convince its allies that it is in the West's interest to maintain the stability of the Egyptian regime. The diplomatic measures came after statements in Western capitals implying that the United States and European Union supported Mubarak's ouster.

Israeli officials are keeping a low profile on the events in Egypt, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu even ordering cabinet members to avoid commenting publicly on the issue.

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Could there be any stronger indication that the United States' alliance with Israel is little more than a Cold War relic? When it is in the United States' "genuine interests" to prop up a massively unpopular president-for-life, maybe it's time to reconsider some priorities.

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Carrying signs that read "Don't stop until the flag drops" and "It's not about heritage," 1,000 people marched to the grounds of the state capitol building on Monday to protest the Confederate battle flag on the Capitol grounds.

The march was organized on Martin Luther King Jr. Day by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to protest the continuing commemoration of the Confederate role in the Civil War.

Organizers said it was also to protest the threat of state education budget cuts, a proposal for a state identification card and talk of stricter immigration laws in South Carolina.

Linda Pearson, 61, of Columbia said she was proud to march on Martin Luther King Day.

"I come every year and I usually try to bring my grandchildren. It's still all about the flag, really," she said.

The Confederate flag hung from a flagpole atop the Capitol building until 2000, when it was moved to a monument to Confederate dead elsewhere on the grounds. The flag was moved only after an NAACP economic boycott of the state.

Dr. Lonnie Randolph Jr., president of the South Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said the organization wants the flag completely removed from the grounds.

It also condemned South Carolina's ongoing commemoration of the sesquicentennial of the Civil War, which it views as celebrating slavery.

In December, the NAACP organized protest marches in Charleston around a "Secession Ball" that marked South Carolina's secession from the United States 150 years ago.

The ball was sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and featured period dress and the singing of "Dixie."

In an interview, Randolph said he was sure the United States would not allow a commemoration of the Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota, when Indians were killed by U.S. cavalry in December, 1890; or a party celebrating the dropping a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima; or a party celebrating the Holocaust in which millions of Jews died.

"They would not allow it and the NAACP is not going to allow South Carolina to do it," he said, referring to the state's commemorations of the Civil War.

South Carolina, in December 1860, was the first state to secede from the United States after the election of Abraham Lincoln, leading to the formation of the Confederacy.

The crowd listening to speeches after the march included the state's new attorney general, Alan Wilson, the son of Rep. Joe Wilson, Republican of South Carolina, who shocked a joint session of Congress in September, 2009, when he shouted "You lie!" at President Barack Obama as he spoke to Congress.

"I'm here to offer support as a private citizen," said Alan Wilson, also a Republican. "Our state has come a long way but we have a long way to go. We have got to look for common ground wherever we can."

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Russia delivered at least 1,800 shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles to Venezuela in 2009, U.N. arms control data show, despite vigorous U.S. efforts to stop President Hugo Chavez's stridently anti-American government from acquiring the weapons.

The United States feared that the missiles could be funneled to Marxist guerrillas fighting Colombia's pro-American government or Mexican drug cartels, concerns expressed in U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and first reported in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.

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I was a little girl who hadn't even learned the alphabet when I overstayed my visa. If the DREAM Act doesn't pass, I might have to take my degree and go back to a country I never knew.

I'm a senior at Harvard and I'm undocumented. I’ve spent most of my life keeping my immigration status a secret, but in retrospect it seems that I could have been more discreet at times.

I watched September's live vote of the DREAM Act—the controversial legislation that would pave the way toward amnesty for illegal immigrants who have grown up and gone to college here—as I pretended to take notes in one of my political science seminars. Classmates on either side of me, who may have suspected my secret, shot me glances that alternated between the confused and the sorry as I fumbled with my laptop and watched the C-Span live stream on mute. It didn't look to be going well. Harry Reid looked flustered. And then I saw the news ticker flash announce what I already knew—the DREAM Act was not going in for a vote.

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WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama's top adviser suggested to The Huffington Post late Wednesday that the administration is ready to accept an across-the-board, temporary continuation of steep Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthiest taxpayers.
That appears to be the only way, said David Axelrod, that middle-class taxpayers can keep their tax cuts, given the legislative and political realities facing Obama in the aftermath of last week's electoral defeat.

"We have to deal with the world as we find it," Axelrod said during an unusually candid and reflective 90-minute interview in his office, steps away from the Oval Office. "The world of what it takes to get this done."

"There are concerns," he added, that Congress will continue to kick the can down the road in the future by passing temporary extensions for the wealthy time and time again. "But I don't want to trade away security for the middle class in order to make that point."

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POLITICS!!!!!!

I suppose this shouldn't be surprising.  There are plenty of moneyed interests and individuals on both sides of the aisle. The Democrats talked a big game in the run up to the election, but had no problem waiting until afterwards to "compromise."

China on Tuesday urged the United States to terminate as soon as possible its economic, commercial and financial embargo against Cuba.

Wang Min, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal as he spoke at a UN General Assembly plenary meeting.

Wang said the General Assembly has adopted resolutions by an overwhelming majority for eighteen consecutive years on the necessity of ending the US embargo against Cuba which has been imposed since 1961.

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Translation: China can't really boss the United States around and neither can the UN, but it is fun to pretend that the US will get their heads out of the sand and update their foreign policy from the 1970s.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  Lots of midterms.  Hope everyone is excited for the election!