Patterico's Pontifications

11/1/2009

Unrelated News of the Day

Filed under: Government — DRJ @ 3:28 pm



[Guest post by DRJ]

Karzai challenger Abdullah Abdullah refuses to participate in Afghan Presidential run-off election:

“Abdullah Abdullah, speaking at a mid-morning gathering of several thousand supporters, stopped short of calling for an electoral boycott, but he did not make clear what he expects his partisans to do if the vote is held. At a news conference afterward, he repeatedly declined to predict or suggest what should happen now, stressing that his only decision was “not to participate” in the Nov. 7 runoff.
***
… Abdullah’s unilateral withdrawal did little to resolve a political crisis that has been building since August, when the presidential poll was marred by massive fraud. The resulting victory for Karzai was later declared invalid, and U.S. and European officials pressed the president to accept a runoff, which Karzai was heavily favored to win.”

Meanwhile, half a world away, small business lender CIT filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunday in New York:

“CIT said in a statement that its bondholders have overwhelmingly approved a prepackaged reorganization plan which will reduce total debt by $10 billion while allowing the company to continue to do business.
***
CIT’s move will wipe out current holders of its common and preferred stock, likely meaning the U.S. government will lose the $2.3 billion it sunk into CIT last year to prop up the ailing company. The government could have lost billions more, however, had it not declined to hand over more aid to the company earlier this year.”

Apparently CIT has a cash flow problem since it lists “$71 billion in finance and leasing assets against total debt of $64.9 billion.” IMO this is good because, in the long run, bankruptcy will help CIT and the small businesses to whom it lends more than government bailouts.

— DRJ

24 Responses to “Unrelated News of the Day”

  1. He should have hired ACORN!

    AD - RtR/OS! (57758f)

  2. Abdullah’s unilateral withdrawal did little to resolve a political crisis that has been building since August.

    Ya’ think?

    Pretty difficult to stage a fair election when the incumbent appoints all of the Independent Election Commission (IEC).

    steve (376feb)

  3. Funny, it worked quite well in Venezuela, and was OK’d by Jimmah.

    AD - RtR/OS! (57758f)

  4. Get ready for lots of bad news on the economy. Afghanistan will be brushed off as a distraction from Obamacare.

    Mike K (2cf494)

  5. Oh, it will be just fine. Hillary consecrated the one-candidate election:

    “We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward,” she said. “I don’t think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election.”

    Voter turnout will indicate whether Karzai has ANY legitmacy. A one-horse second round could still cost the lives of Afghans and Western troops.

    steve (376feb)

  6. Obama needs to learn the First Rule of SOB’s:

    He might be an SOB, but he’s our SOB!*
    *FDR on Somoza of Nicaraugua during the 30’s.

    AD - RtR/OS! (57758f)

  7. The Barcky crowd seems to have ever-changing standards on legitimacy of elections. And their sycophants are more than happy to go along with it.

    JD (860ec4)

  8. Did Newt endorse Abdullah?

    Paul (231c33)

  9. Voter turnout will indicate whether Karzai has ANY legitmacy

    Well, that settles it, then. We must stage a unilateral withdrawal immediately from the country, and let the recently rehabilitated Taliban declare victory. I find it more than hilarious when the Left suddenly declares that without a legit gov’t, how can we possibly save the country? Would they have preferred a situation like Saddam in Iraq? Would that have been a better pretext for unconditional surrender before the Surge worked? Nothing but disengenous liars, all of them.

    Dmac (a964d5)

  10. Did Newt endorse Abdullah?

    I don’t know – you should ask Eric, I hear he’s on Newt’s loyal Twit(ter) account.

    Dmac (a964d5)

  11. Legitimacy for the Dems seems to revolve around their preferred outcome.

    JD (68664a)

  12. In other unrelated news, the UAW members appear to be rejecting Ford’s contract offer, which was intended to bring their costs closer to parity with GM and Chrysler as I understand it.

    That’ll teach those uppity bastards at Ford, trying to survive without a government takeover!!

    daleyrocks (718861)

  13. I find it more than hilarious when the Left suddenly declares that without a legit gov’t, how can we possibly save the country?

    It helps.

    According to General McChrystal, the “crisis of public confidence” that sprang from “the unpunished abuse of power by corrupt officials and power-brokers and a widespread sense of political disenfranchisement” are a strategic threat on par with the insurgency.

    steve (376feb)

  14. Yes, and the quickest route towards ending “the unpunished abuse of power by corrupt officals” is proving to the nation’s citizenry that not only are we going to be around for awhile, we’re going to win. That’s the primary qualifier you neglected to include in your source, and McChrystal’s made mention of that fact more than once over the past few weeks. Try again.

    Dmac (a964d5)

  15. Damn, Dmac….There you go again with those fact thingies.

    AD - RtR/OS! (57758f)

  16. the unpunished abuse of power by corrupt officials and power-brokers and a widespread sense of political disenfranchisement”

    Okay, that covers DC, Chicago, LA, Boston, NYC, NO, and the like…but what did he have to say about Afghanistan politics?

    political agnostic (2c0586)

  17. steve – political agnostic beat me to it. Obama didn’t do squat about corruption in Chicago or Illinois. In fact, he was in bed with some of the biggest crooks and brought a bunch of them to Washington with him. Why do you think people would believe an excuse about him being concerned about corruption in another country if he wasn’t in his own back yard?

    daleyrocks (718861)

  18. Let’s send a panel of the last three governors of Illinois to advise Karzai. They can be given time off if President Obama requests it, as long as they wear their electronic bracelets and report to their parole officers weekly.

    steve (ed39cc)

  19. Heh. I bet that would get bipartisan support, steve, but it’s not that great for the Afghans.

    DRJ (dff2ca)

  20. It’s not that great only in the sense they know very little about poppy production – or so we’re led to believe.

    steve (ed39cc)

  21. Abdallah is Tadjik at least partially so, how exactly would he get the support of the Pashtun
    in the disputed areas. He seems very much like
    Allawi, in the sense of having a definite ceiling
    on his possible support

    bishop (996c34)

  22. I suppose he would do that by forming political alliances of mutual interest, just as was formed between Sunni and Shia in Iraq.

    AD - RtR/OS! (57758f)

  23. Can we call him Ab Ab now?

    Sure Glad we now have a genius in the WH. He’s managing the Afghan situation so…geniusly.

    Patricia (b05e7f)

  24. So the U.S.-picked fraud is now the de facto leader? This totally undermines our legitimacy… http://www.newsy.com/videos/abdullah_s_pullout_affects_afghan_poll_runoff_u_s_policy

    akorozco (b1d2aa)


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