Obama Makes Recess Appointments But One Big One Missing

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John Bolton is now formally and appropriately addressed as “Ambassador Bolton” because of the right of the executive branch to make recess appointments in the wake of inaction by Congress on presidential nominations. Bolton never got a confirmation vote in the Senate.

Van Wolferen: 1/2 Year of Hatoyama > 1 Year of Obama

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Japan’s Prime Minister, Yukio Hatoyama, is having a tough time. The popularity of his cabinet has fallen to the high 30s/low 40s from previously unsustainable, stratospheric heights — but structural change has costs, and I remain optimistic that Democracy 2.0 is taking over in Japan.

My Fault: Apologies to David Frum!

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David Frum and many observers think that he was excommunicated from the Cheney-dominated halls at the American Enterprise Institute because of a hard-hitting, honest appraisal of Republican self-delusion and hyperventilation over the health care battle. If you missed Frum’s humdinger of an essay titled “Waterloo“, read it here. And here is the GOP empire’s response….

Democracy in Iraq: Maybe!

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Wow. When the unexpected happens in an election, it’s a good market test of whether balloting really does serve as a credible system of expressing the public’s will. Incumbents hardly ever lose — particularly in the Middle East. Despite Hamas winning the elections in Palestine a few years ago, President George W.

The Innovation Delusion

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This is a guest note by Ralph Gomory, one of the nation’s leading thinkers about technology, innovation, and the productivity health of national economies. Gomory previously served as IBM’s Senior Vice President for Science and Technology and subsequently as the immediate past president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.