memeorandum: Decline of the West — Ten years ago, in the final pages … (Scott McLemee/Inside Higher Ed)

3:35 PM ET, December 2, 2009

Top Items:

Obama's Afghan policy speech at West Point — Following is the transcript of President Obama's speech Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. (The Post's report on the president's address is here.) — Thank you. Please be seated. — Good evening.

CNN:

McCain challenges Obama in private meeting — Washington (CNN) - Hours before he was set to address the nation on his new Afghanistan strategy, President Obama and members of his war council spent about an hour briefing senior members of Congress at a White House meeting that multiple sources described as businesslike and sobering.

Discussion: The Hill, Riehl World View, Wonk Room and MyDD

Thomas L. Friedman / New York Times:

This I Believe — Let me start with the bottom line and then tell you how I got there: I can't agree with President Obama's decision to escalate in Afghanistan. I'd prefer a minimalist approach, working with tribal leaders the way we did to overthrow the Taliban regime in the first place.

Discussion: Taylor Marsh

Gabor Steingart / Spiegel Online:

Searching in Vain for the Obama Magic — Never before has a speech by President Barack Obama felt as false as his Tuesday address announcing America's new strategy for Afghanistan. It seemed like a campaign speech combined with Bush rhetoric — and left both dreamers and realists feeling distraught.

Discussion: The Corner on National …, Left Coast Rebel, Power Line, The Atlanticist, Fausta's Blog, The New Republic, Indecision Forever, Outside The Beltway, The Greenroom, Financial Times, Gateway Pundit, Guardian and The Lonely Conservative

Fred Kaplan / Slate:

But where does it end? — The war that President Barack Obama laid out at West Point Tuesday night—its rationale, strategy, tactics, and resources—is different, in ways large and small, from the war that George W. Bush fought (and didn't fight) in Afghanistan.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, PoliBlog and marbury

Gilles Dorronsoro / Carnegie Endowment …:
Obama's Afghanistan Speech and Strategy

Discussion: Matthew Yglesias, Informed Comment and ATTACKERMAN

New York Times:
Two Messages for Two Sides — WASHINGTON — President Obama went …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, The Moderate Voice, NY Daily News, Boston Globe, NPR Blogs, Firedoglake, Washington Monthly, Prairie Weather, Wall Street Journal, The Huffington Post, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Neptunus Lex

New York Post:
Setting up our military to fail

Discussion: Maggie's Farm

David Ignatius / Washington Post:
Surge in Afghanistan, then leave

Discussion: PostPartisan, New York Times, The Huffington Post, Guardian, Think Progress, American Prospect, The Atlantic Politics Channel, The Corner on National … and The Fix

Tristero / Hullabaloo: The Afghan War Gets The Speech It Deserves

Andrew Malcolm / Top of the Ticket:
Obama's revealing Afghanistan war speech: 4,582 words and not one …

Discussion: Indecision Forever, Christian Science Monitor, Erick's blog, Philly.com, Outside The Beltway, Democratic Strategist and RedState

Fred Barnes / Weekly Standard:
A Disappointing Speech in Support of the Right Policy

Discussion: Power Line, The Huffington Post, Left in the West, Scared Monkeys, Commentary, Betsy's Page, The Moderate Voice and GlobalPost

John Dickerson / Slate:
Obama's Afghanistan speech was confusing.

Discussion: Open Left, Bloomberg, Lynn Sweet, Guardian, The Note, Commentary, New York Times, Politics Daily and ABCNEWS

Tiger Woods:

Tiger comments on current events — I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family.

Discussion: Silicon Alley Insider, The Market Ticker, Mashable!, The Moderate Voice, QandO, The Huffington Post, AmSpecBlog and Hot Air

ESPN:
Woods: ‘I have let my family down’

Discussion: TalkLeft

Associated Press:
Transcript of Tiger Woods' statement

Discussion: Us Weekly, Times of London and Althouse

Robin Givhan / Washington Post:

Rogers's unwanted new guest: Scrutiny — Social secretary's managerial style faces criticism in wake of her first state dinner — On the night of the Obamas' first state dinner, White House social secretary Desirée Rogers glided past the rope line of press and photographers at 6:53 p.m. …

Discussion: Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Swamp, The New Republic and The Caucus

Devin Dwyer / ABCNEWS:
E-MAILS: Read Salahis' Exchange Over White House ‘Invitation’

Discussion: Politics Daily, TPM LiveWire and American Power

Chris Good / The Atlantic Politics Channel:
The Cantor Jobs Offensive

Discussion: The Hill, The Note, Hotline On Call, The Washington Independent and The Foundry

Rick Karlin / Capitol Confidential:

This just in: Gay marriage on tap in Senate — Senate Democrats have just put out a notice: yes they do plan to debate the same-sex marriage bill — passed again by the Assembly last night — today. — They will vote on the DRP, Tier V pension plan, public authority reform and marriage equality.

Discussion: The Daily Dish, Christian Science Monitor and New York Times

Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:

New York State Senate Votes Down Gay Marriage Bill — ALBANY — The State Senate defeated a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage, after an emotional debate that touched on civil rights, family and history. The vote means that the bill, pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson …

Discussion: Gawker, The Page, The Moderate Voice and TPM LiveWire

Andy Towle / Towleroad News #gay:
Watch Live: New York Senate Debating Marriage Bill

Discussion: The Daily Politics

Brad / Think Progress:

Lou Dobbs Explodes: ‘Who The Hell Does This President Think He Is!?!’ — Birther Lou Dobbs and climate denier Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) are concerned that President Barack Obama is trying to turn America into a monarchy. Appearing on Dobbs' radio show on Tuesday, Inhofe argued President Obama …

Discussion: Media Decoder, TPM LiveWire, The Atlantic Politics Channel and Wonk Room

Scott McLemee / Inside Higher Ed:

Decline of the West — Ten years ago, in the final pages of a collection of his selected writings, Cornel West gave readers a look at the work he had in progress, or at least in mind, for the years ahead. One would be “a major treatment of African-American literature and modern Greek literature.”

Discussion: Ezra Klein and First Thoughts

Peter Wehner / Commentary:

A Fighting Chance — The decision President Obama made was better than the speech he gave. What will matter, long after his address is forgotten, is that Barack Obama gave Generals McChrystal and Petraeus, two of our greatest military minds, the troops (30,000, plus additional allied troops) …

Discussion: Power Line, The Corner on National …, Ross Douthat and Washington Wire

Sarah Palin / Facebook:
Finally, A Decision for Afghanistan: We're In It to Win It

Discussion: Stop The ACLU

Greg Sargent / The Plum Line:
Republicans Casting Afghan Decision As More McChrystal's Than Obama's

Discussion: The Daily Dish and Mouth of the Potomac

Heather / Crooks and Liars:

Matthews on Obama's Speech at West Point: He ‘Went to Maybe the Enemy Camp Tonight’ — Chris Matthews with possibly the stupidest comment of the night after Obama's speech at West Point. A military installation is “the enemy camp” Chris? Unbelievable. … Matthews was already back tracking a bit later in the evening.

Jeff Poor / NewsBusters.org:
Matthews Calls West Point, Site of Obama Speech ‘The Enemy Camp,’ ‘Strange Venue’

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, DaTechguy's Blog, Stop The ACLU, The Foundry, Left Coast Rebel, Scared Monkeys, JammieWearingFool and NO QUARTER

John Koblin / New York Observer:

Watch Out, Times! Murdoch Plans $15 M. N.Y.C. Edition — “Good journalism is an expensive commodity,” said Rupert Murdoch at a Federal Trade Commission conference in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, Dec. 1. — We'll say! — Mr. Murdoch is ready to roll out a budget of $15 million …

Discussion: Michael Calderone's Blog, City Room, Media Decoder, Gawker, Mediaite, Silicon Alley Insider and At-Largely

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:

THERE ARE 39 OTHER GOP SENATORS.... NBC News announced the line-up for this week's “Meet the Press.” Take a wild guess who'll be on. … I especially loved the “Exclusive!” with the exclamation point, as if this were a rare, special occurrence. — For those keeping score at home …

Discussion: msnbc.com

Jason / The Tolbert Report:

HuckPAC Resignation — As I mentioned this morning, I resigned my position as Arkansas coordinator for HuckPAC today where I served in a volunteer capacity. My departure was with a heavy heart but was done after serious prayer and consideration. Some have asked about the timing.

Discussion: Ben Smith's Blog, Human Events, Washington Post and The Other McCain

Mark Zuckerberg / Facebook Blog:

An Open Letter from Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg — It has been a great year for making the world more open and connected. Thanks to your help, more than 350 million people around the world are using Facebook to share their lives online. — To make this possible …

Discussion: Telegraph, Gawker, The Palmetto Scoop, TechCrunch, Mashable! and GigaOM

Amanda Terkel / Think Progress:

Despite His Promise To ‘Applaud’ If Obama Deployed 30K More Troops, Rove Bashes Him For Being ‘Weak’ — Yesterday morning, former Bush adviser Karl Rove went on NBC's Today Show and said that if President Obama decides to send 30,000-35,000 troops to Afghanistan, he would be “among the first to stand up and applaud.”