Yeah, yeah, the budget wars, but I'm going with US/Iran.
What didn't matter is fairly easy: while other things he did may have been important, the Cruz fauxlibuster was pure, 100% meaningless hype.
What do you have? What do you think mattered this week?
The shutdown is next week's news I guess, so Iran seems a big deal historically and potentially, and the most definitive IPIC report on the climate crisis has the most longterm significance.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the Pittsburgh Pirates hosting a playoff game matters.
I'm not so sure about Cruz. These McCarthy/Father Coughlin types burn bright fast and burn out suddenly, but in between they can do a whole lot of damage.
What mattered: Bud Seling formally set a date for his retirement.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the fauxlibuster, but I think his actions to undermine Boehner were interesting. Like the Captain, I, too, wonder how long he can sustain this, but it's fascinating to watch the House just willingly serve his grandstanding for nothing in return.
I'll go with Iran too.
ReplyDeleteOn the "glad we didn't go to war" front, there's al-Nusra taking a lead role in the rebel opposition. And then there's Kenya getting attacked by Islamic terrorists because of their intervention in Somalia.
Not just Iran, but initiatives addressed at Iran, Syria, and the Israeli-Palestinian situation have the potential for a comprehensive approach to the interrelated issues of the Middle East. This is extremely ambitious, and it could easily fall apart. There will be "spoilers" working against it from every corner: Congress, AIPAC, Israel, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states. (And those are just the ones on our side. There will be factions seeking to undermine it among the Iranians, Syrians, and Palestinians, too. And then there's Russia.) Still, I think it's important to try.
ReplyDeleteAt the same time Egypt may be in the process of blowing up, but that's not this week's news.
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2013/08/30/will-egypt-follow-syria-into-civil-war