Opinion: reasons

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Thứ Sáu, 17 tháng 2, 2012

Iran's latest nuclear advances: 4 reasons the world should worry

The State Department says Iran is overhyping its progress to look strong in the face of punishing sanctions. But how much of a comfort is that, really? With tensions already rising over Iran's nuclear program, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Wednesday unveiled two "major" nuclear breakthroughs: Tehran has built faster uranium enrichment centrifuges, and loaded Iranian-made fuel plates into a medical research reactor. U.S. State Department officials insisted that Iran had "hyped" the news to prove it wasn't intimidated by international sanctions, and that the developments were actually "not terribly impressive." But that doesn't mean there's no cause for concern. Here, four reasons to worry:

1. Iran is pridefully defiant
It's true that "the nuclear revelations didn't live up to the hype," says Elise Labott at CNN. But Ahmadinejad's bluster is still troubling, even if it says "more about the defiance of the regime in the face of escalating sanctions" than it does about Iran's actual nuclear progress. With the regime's legitimacy within its own borders tied to the pride Iranians take in the nuclear program, Tehran might never back down.

2. Diplomacy isn't working
There aren't "any diplomatic, financial, or other means for bringing an end to what President Obama accurately calls Iran's 'nuclear weapons program,'" says Thomas Joscelyn at The Weekly Standard. Obama's "outreach to the mullahs failed." Iran has "already suffered substantial costs in terms of international 'prestige' and 'influence' — economic and otherwise — and has unquestionably decided that the benefits of acquiring nuclear weapons are worth it." Military force may be our last remaining option.

SEE MORE: The West's inimical posturing on Iran

3. Iran is pushing oil prices up
Iran's nuclear boasting isn't the only sign of rising tensions. Israel is accusing Iran of planting bombs targeting its diplomats in several countries. Iran has threatened to cut off oil supplies to six European countries and block Persian Gulf exports through the Strait of Hormuz. Put it all together, and Iran's feuding with the West has pushed the price of a barrel of Brent crude to its highest point since last summer, says Eric Lam at the Financial Post, at $119.99 a barrel. Thanks, Iran, for the "further harm [to] the global economy."

4. This all helps fear-mongers push for war
If anything, Iran's focus on producing fuel rods for a medical reactor backs up its claims that it wants nuclear knowledge for peaceful purposes, says Iran's Press TV. It's sad that media outlets are portraying this news as "a provocative step toward building nuclear bombs." We saw this before with Iraq, says Glenn Greenwald at Salon. "Fear-mongering" propagandists "exaggerate or fabricate bad acts by the designated Enemy du Jour," without bothering to check the facts, and we move closer and closer to an avoidable and unnecessary war.

SEE MORE: Coordinated attacks on Israeli diplomats: Payback from Iran?

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Thứ Tư, 15 tháng 2, 2012

5 reasons the Santorum surge won't last

It's official: Several polls confirm that Rick Santorum's recent surge has pushed him into the lead in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. A CBS News/New York Times poll was one of several this week showing the former Pennsylvania senator edging past longtime favorite Mitt Romney, with the support of 30 percent of GOP primary voters compared to Romney's 27 percent. Last month, Santorum placed third in a similar poll — behind Romney and Newt Gingrich — with just 16 percent. Still, many political strategists believe Santorum is destined to be steamrolled by Romney. Here, five reasons the social conservative's detractors believe he's ultimately doomed: 1. He'll drown in a sea of Romney's money
Many pundits believe that Romney can't take down Santorum with the kind of negative ads he used to annihilate Newt Gingrich, simply because Santorum doesn't have nearly as many skeletons in his closet as the thrice-married Gingrich does. But "even if he doesn't go heavily negative," says Ed Kilgore at The New Republic, "Romney can use his heavy money advantage to saturate the airwaves" with positive ads in Arizona and Michigan, which vote on Feb. 28. That should help Romney stage a comeback in those two states. And if Mitt wins both, "the road gets much rockier for Santorum."

SEE MORE: Did Santorum actually beat Romney in Iowa?

2. Santorum can't appeal to mainstream Americans
"Santorum is essentially an ultra-right-wing protest candidate" in what is "essentially a centrist or center-right country," says John Cassidy at The New Yorker. The audience for "extremist views" always expands some during times of economic distress, which is how the neocons and Tea Partiers managed to burst onto the scene. But it just won't be enough to make the country at large interested in "supporting a religious zealot and armchair militarist of Santorum's stripe." And with the economy improving, "the market for political extremism is shrinking anyway."

3. Many conservatives still have eyes for Newt
In 2008, Santorum "was fighting to get former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney elected," says Chuck Norris at WorldNetDaily. It's still baffling that "an alleged conservative like Santorum would fight for the flip-flopping Massachusetts moderate" when there were real conservatives, like Mike Huckabee, in the race. "How can the 'alternative to Romney' also be a Romney supporter?" He can't. That's why, for many of us on the Right, Newt Gingrich is still the only true conservative alternative to Romney.

SEE MORE: Has Rick Santorum finally become a frontrunner?

4. Nobody's endorsing Santorum
Santorum's victories last week in Missouri, Minnesota, and Colorado have "not resulted in a flood of endorsements from prominent conservatives, or even a trickle," says Steve Kornacki at Salon. Facing a massive financial disadvantage against Mitt, "it's critical for Santorum to have loud, influential Republican opinion-shapers making his case and defending him against Romney's attacks." Maybe GOP leaders just don't watn Santorum.

5. Swing voters don't like him — even in his home state
Santorum likes to say he's the only GOP candidate who "has actually won a swing state." But six years ago, as a senator seeking a third term, "Santorum proved he can also lose in such a politically competitive state — and lose big," says Julie Hirschfeld Davis at Bloomberg. Santorum lost his last race in the swing state he calls home by a whopping 18 percentage points. Apparently he's not as popular with the undecided "Republicans who will determine who gets the party’s nomination," not to mention the independents who could swing the general election in November.

SEE MORE: Rick Santorum's belated Iowa win: Too late to matter?

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Thứ Sáu, 10 tháng 2, 2012

Grammy Awards preview: Top 5 reasons to watch

Adele is expected to bring down the house — and bring home six awards — and other likely highlights from Sunday's telecast of music's biggest night Brace yourself, says Kyle Anderson at Entertainment Weekly. This year's Grammy Awards features roughly "957 performers and will last four years." The statement is only slightly hyperbolic: Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Bruce Springsteen, Kelly Clarkson, Tony Bennett, and Alicia Keys are among the 30 entertainers booked to sing at the show (so far). As for the actual awards, Kanye West leads the pack with the most nominations (7), followed closely by Adele, Bruno Mars, and the Foo Fighters, who have six nods apiece. Here, 5 reasons commentators are hyping Sunday's telecast as music's biggest night yet:

1. Adele will make her triumphant comeback
Adele's hit album 21 may have spent the last five months atop the Billboard charts, but the "Rolling in the Deep" singer hasn't performed publicly since undergoing microsurgery on a benign polyp on her vocal chords in November. That makes Sunday's Grammy Awards her big comeback. "With nothing more than a piano, a little black dress, and a microphone," says Stephanie Goldberg at CNN, the British super-chanteuse has a history of bringing down the house with her awards-show performances — as proven at the BRIT Awards in February 2011 and again at August's MTV Video Music Awards. "For it to be my first performance in months is very exciting and of course nerve-wracking," Adele said in a statement.

SEE ALSO: Could Amy Winehouse's death verdict be overturned?

2. And sweep the awards
Adele isn't just poised to steal the show, says Jeremy Egner at The New York Times. She's expected to win all six awards for which she's nominated, including the top trifecta: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. The blockbuster sales for 21 combined with its "across-the-board appeal [to] hipsters and soccer moms alike" make Album of the Year Adele's award to lose, says Katie Hasty and Melinda Newman at HitFix. "Rolling in the Deep" is a flawless track that may be "the biggest crossover tune in 25 years." There's no way it won't earn Adele both Record and Song of the Year (the latter goes to songwriters).

3. Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys will reunite
The surviving members of the Beach Boys — Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and David Marks — will reunite for their first performance together in roughly two decades on Sunday. In and of itself, that would be exciting news, says Anderson. Baffling, however, is the decision to have pop-rockers Maroon 5 ("Pumped Up Kicks") perform alongside them. This "has the potential to be both a blissfully memorable celebration of great music or a complete and utter train wreck."

SEE ALSO: Madonna's Super Bowl halftime show: 'Sheer fun'?

4. Chris Brown will perform at the event that "nearly destroyed his career"
The confounding collaborations don't stop at the Beach Boys & Co., says Gil Kaufman at MTV. The implausible roster of Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, DJ David Guetta, the Foo Fighters, and techno-electronica producer Deadmau5 will all participate in what's being touted as "the show's first-ever salute to dance music." But the bigger news is the return of Chris Brown to the Grammy stage three years after he was arrested for domestic assault after hitting then-girlfriend Rihanna on the way to the ceremony. Though the R&B star has spent the last three years on something of a goodwill tour, some people "are still unwilling to forgive Brown for the assault that took place, and they don't think he should be allowed anywhere near a stage of this magnitude," says Mack Rawden at Cinema Blend.

5. There will be a host for the first time in 7 years
The Grammy Awards haven't had an official host in seven years. Enter LL Cool J. The rapper-turned-NCIS: Los Angeles star will emcee the ceremony — receiving a promotion of sorts, says Lisa de Moraes at The Washington Post, considering that LL has gamely hosted the "thankless" Grammy Nominations Concert Live! special since 2008. While his agreeable presence should moves things along nicely, the gig may end up being just as thankless. "Let's face it, more than any other major televised trophy show, this one isn't about the house… It's about the performances."

SEE ALSO: Born to Die: Lana Del Rey's 'polarizing' debut album

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