text:
The crowds that marched on the White House Sunday in opposition to the Keystone XL Pipeline project arrayed themselves behind a banner that read, "We did NOT vote for KXL."
That was the most vital political message of a day that saw almost 400 Americans—the overwhelming majority of them young people—arrested as part of a dramatic protest against the oil pipeline project that has drawn outspoken opposition from environmental groups.
A lot of Washington politicians, pundits and professional strategists miss the political dynamic that goes with the pipeline debate. Polling shows that young people "get" the climate change issue, and that they see it as a high political and personal priority.
Indeed, they care about it so much that they marched on the White House to urge the Obama administration not to approve the Keystone proposal. Hundreds were willing to be arrested. They recognize, as notes Smith College student Aly Johnson-Kurts, an organizer of Sunday's protest, that "the traditional methods of creating change are not sufficient…so we needed to escalate."
This notion that traditional methods of creating change are not sufficient is significant, especially for Obama and his party.
The Democrats have relied in recent presidential election years on overwhelming support from voters under the age of 30. And they have suffered as enthusiasm among young voters has declined in off-year congressional elections.
In 2008, exit polls suggested, voters aged 18–29 accounted for 18 percent of the 131,313,820 Americans who turned out. Obama won their votes by a striking 66-31 margin over Republican John McCain. Obama's winning margin was roughly 10 million votes, of which more than 7 million came from young people.
In 2012, according to exit polling, younger voters increased as a percentage of the overall electorate, with 18–29-year-olds making up 19 percent of the 129,085,403 who turned out. They favored Obama by a 60-36 margin. That translates to an advantage of more than 5 million votes for Obama. Notably, Obama won the national popular vote by 4,982,296 votes.
There are analyses that suggest an even more significant youth-vote benefit for Obama and the Democrats in battleground states. But the national numbers should establish the importance of the youth vote.
Unfortunately, turnout among young people tends to slide in off-year congressional elections—like the critical one that the US faces in 2014. In 2010, when Democrats suffered serious setbacks at the federal and state levels, voters under 30 made up just 11 percent of the overall electorate. They still backed Democrats—indeed, they were the only age demographic to do so—but their ability to influence election results was reduced by the sharp reduction in numbers.
The Obama administration must make its call regarding Keystone based on science and sound long-term thinking regarding energy, environmental and agricultural policy.
But those who talk about the political ramifications of this decision should keep in mind that sign that read "We did NOT vote for KXL."
A 2013 poll found that more than 60 percent of young Americans felt that, were the administration to approve the pipeline, Obama would be breaking a campaign promise. And a significant percentage of those surveyed said they would feel betrayed by a decision to let the Keystone project go forward.
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If young voters get a signal that they are not being heard, if they feel disappointed and disenfranchised, there is every reason to believe it will be harder for Democrats to mobilize them in 2014.
That does not mean that all young voters will stay home. Younger voters are not single-issue voters. Millions will still go to the polls in 2014, including, undoubtedly, the vast majority of those who marched on Washington Sunday. But if their percentage of the overall electorate is low, and if a portion of those who do turn out opt out of frustration or hope for a Green alternative, an already tough election season could get dramatically tougher for the Democrats.
Read Next: Keystone XL might be making you sick, literally.
As others at The Nation and elsewhere have observed over the past two weeks, the Ukraine political conflict (not to mention history) is complex, and one should be wary of black and white portrayals in the American media and via US officials and members of Congress. This applies as well to RT (formerly Russia Today) television and RT.com, which have a following among some on the US left and many others.
RT, of course, is funded by the federal budget of Russia through the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications of the Russian Federation. According to its Wikipedia page, it currently reaches the homes of 85 million in the United States, making it the foreign channel with the second-highest penetration here (after the BBC). It also goes out to over 600 million in 100 other countries, they say.
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Just for fun, here are all of the Ukraine-related headlines on their site at present:
Kerry's threats vs Russia unacceptable, West sides with neo-Nazis—Russian FM
Arms, 400 kilos of explosives seized from Kiev radicals on Crimean border
Up to 10yrs' jail for dual citizenship: Ukrainian bill targets tens of thousands
Russian Defense Ministry dismisses Ukraine ultimatum reports as 'total nonsense'
Anti-Maidan protesters storm regional govt building in Donetsk
Rule by oligarchs: Kiev appoints billionaires to govern east
From Kabul to Kiev, American meddling wreaking havoc
Russian option to send troops is only to protect human rights—Lavrov
Anti-Russian rants are just PR ahead of EU parliamentary poll—Russian officials
Crimean air base pledges allegiance to local authorities
Russia's UN envoy: Radical forces destabilising Ukraine must be stopped
And, on the op-ed page:
'No chance of Russia being able to back down on Ukraine'
The West organized the coup in Ukraine and they can make this very ugly, but there is no chance of Russia being able to back down, Danny Welch, blogger and anti-war activist, told RT.
Read Next: Nicolai N. Petro's take on the situation in Ukraine.
There's an old joke about presidential primary politics involving Mo Udall, a Democratic member of Congress from Arizona back in the 1970's, who tried and failed to make it as a candidate for president. It goes like this:
Shortly after I announced my candidacy in New Hampshire, I walked into a local barbershop and began introducing myself:
"Hi, I'm Mo Udall and I'm running for President."
"Yeah, we know," says one of the hangers-on. "We were laughing about that yesterday."
Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana, might not be laughing if he heard that joke. With Chris Christie in deep and growing trouble over the set of scandals that surround him, there's increasing talk that one of the other governors waiting in the wings might step in to take over the front-runner's position—and Jindal, a very, very conservative Republican whose platform is centered on slicing and dicing "entitlements," including Medicare and Social Security, wants to be that governor. For the past two years, he's been assembling the rudiments of a presidential campaign team. There's only one problem: in poll after poll of Republican voters, Jindal comes in dead last—or the pollsters don't even bother including his name among the choices.
But don't tell Jindal. He's building a campaign machine, and he's out to grab headlines. Last month, during a meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington, Jindal easily eclipsed Christie, who stayed in the background, and it was Jindal who appeared as the Republican spokesman on Face the Nation on February 23 and who went to the White House for a dinner with President Obama. Christie skipped that dinner, and coming out of the White House Jindal took the microphone to denounce Obama is no uncertain terms, breaking the polite protocol that usually marks such events.
And on March 14, the New Hampshire Republican party is hosting "An Evening with Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal."
His campaign is already taking shape. Last year, Jindal founded what looks like a pre-presidential organizing committee called America Next. In its mission statement, Jindal says:
There is a great sense in this country that the leftwing Obama experiment has been a failure…. A rebellion is brewing outside the Washington Beltway.
According to The Weekly Standard, Jindal is putting together seasoned political operatives for America Next:
Jindal will serve as America Next's honorary chairman, while the day-to-day operations will be run by Jill Neunaber, a veteran of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign… Curt Anderson, a spokesman for America Next, says the group will have "experts all over the country, including Governor Jindal, working on policy plans."
Curt Anderson helps run On Message Inc., a high-powered (and Louisiana-connected) political strategy and media firm. Anderson has worked for Steve Forbes and for the Bush/Cheney election team, and he helped elect Jindal governor. According to his On Message bio, "In 2010 Curt co-authored Governor Jindal's new book, Leadership and Crisis." Other professionals at On Message include Wes Anderson, Jindal's pollster, and Timmy Teepell, Jindal's top political strategist. His On Message bio says:
[Teepell] served as Chief Strategist on Governor Jindal's re-election campaign and won it by a historic margin. Teepell directed Governor Jindal's transition successfully and later advised multiple new Governors on their transitions. In his job as Jindal's Chief of Staff, Teepell helped implement historic reforms that have turned his home state of Louisiana around. In recent years, Teepell served as a campaign consultant to the Republican Governors Association assisting in winning multiple races around the country.
Anderson, who consults for America Next, is helping Jindal staff that organization up, too, says the Baton Rouge Advocate:
The governor's longtime political adviser Curt Anderson, of OnMessage Inc., confirmed Monday that Chris Jacobs is joining the nonprofit's staff as a policy director…. Jacobs worked for Jim DeMint, a U.S. senator from South Carolina who now runs The Heritage Foundation.
And National Review says that Jindal has tapped Spencer Zwick, a top fundraiser for Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign, "for an assist with introductions to some of the Romney campaign's top givers."
Is Jindal running? It sure sounds like it. To Politico, he gave the usual demurral:
Of course, there's no satisfying the press's appetite for all this 2016 speculation, and that's fine—none of it matters in real life. The whole thing is ridiculous and we are getting way ahead of ourselves.
Of course, by any standard measure, Jindal is indeed way ahead of himself. Still, the New Orleans Times-Picayune put his chances this way:
Jindal's move may have been savvy. Among the probable Republican presidential candidates, Jindal is often ignored or dismissed. In the wake of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's downfall, a stunt at the White House, well timed and expertly executed, could expose him to conservative primary voters who might find much to admire in a politician with the courage to confront Obama.
Based on his record in Louisiana, his past as a politician and Washington policy geek, and his hiring of folks from outfits such as the Heritage Foundation, is seems clear that Jindal will present himself as an authentic far-right governor who's committed to dismantling the social safety net. He has experience in Washington trying to do exactly that. Back in the late 1990s, in a little-known part of his career but one that gets a mention on his official Republican Governors Association bio, Jindal was the executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare. As such, Jindal was part of the group that laid the plans, only partially successful, to privatize and voucherize Medicare.
In Louisiana, he tried and failed to enact a sweeping tax reform plan that would have eliminated the state's income tax and replaced it with a far more regressive sales tax. The idea was intensely unpopular in Louisiana, and the governor's popularity went into a steep dive as a result. As The New York Times, reporting on Jindal's defeat on the issue, said:
Then he announced he was shelving it. "Governor, you're moving too fast, and we aren't sure that your plan is the best way to do it," Mr. Jindal said, describing what he had heard from legislators and citizens alike. "Here is my response," he said. "O.K., I hear you."
The plan, to get rid of the state income and corporate taxes and replace the lost revenue with higher and broader sales taxes, was not dropped altogether. Mr. Jindal emphasized that he was still committed to losing the income tax, but that he would defer to the Legislature to suggest how exactly to make that work.
But Jindal isn't giving up on the idea. Said Teepell, "You go through temporary rough patches. But that's not going to slow him down."
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Like Christie, Jindal supports charter schools and vouchers and getting rid of teacher tenure. Unlike Christie, Jindal refused to accept the expansion of Medicaid under Obama's Affordable Care Act.
Down in Lousiana, everyone knows he's running. Said Bob Mann, a former aide to the state's Democrats and a professor at Louisiana State University:
You don't get any argument from anybody down here that Jindal's running for president—it's just an accepted fact, like the sun rising in the East. There's an overriding sense among insiders here…that most of the higher-profile initiatives that he's embarking on here are all with the national audience in mind. He's totally devoted to building relationships outside of Louisiana. Louisiana is no longer in his focus—he's looking way beyond us."
As for whether or not Jindal's tax initiative was really meant to pass or whether it was designed to win favor among national Republicans, Mann says: "I question whether he really wants to do something or if he just wants the headline that he tried to do it, worked really hard and these nasty tax-raising Democrats foiled him."
Read Next: Michelle Goldberg on electoral nihilism
In a story that ran in Saturday's edition headlined "De Blasio Picks More Liberal Activists Than Managers for City Posts," The New York Times declares that "In Bill de Blasio's City Hall, it seems more and more, there is only a left wing." It points to recent appointments of Steven Banks, "a longtime critic of city policies affecting low-income residents" to be HRA commissioner as evidence that the mayor "has built a team filled with former activists—figures more accustomed to picketing administrations or taking potshots from the outside than working from within." The list of lefties reads as follows:
Carmen Fariña, his schools chancellor, had quit the Bloomberg administration in protest over its emphasis on standardized test scores. The mayor's top political strategist, Emma Wolfe, rose from campus activist to organizer for the advocacy group Acorn, the health care union 1199 SEIU and the Working Families Party before helping Mr. de Blasio get elected public advocate in 2009. His wife's new chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger, was the longtime gatekeeper for the Rev. Al Sharpton. And his new counsel, Maya Wiley, was most recently in the running to lead the N.A.A.C.P. Laura Santucci, his chief of staff, is a former acting executive director of the Democratic National Committee and a former political aide at 1199 SEIU. Zachary W. Carter, his corporation counsel, was an appointee of President Bill Clinton as the United States attorney in Brooklyn and led the prosecution of police officers in the beating of Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant.
The article goes on to say that "at least a few appointees have been less ideological and more managerial," naming Deputy Mayor Anthony E. Shorris and Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.
Oddly, NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton—one of de Blasio's first and most important appointments and the one that earned him raised eyebrows from some leftists and street protests from others—is not mentioned. Maybe that's because Bratton was an outspoken critic of his predecessor Ray Kelly and therefore, while no left-wing nut, not sufficiently managerial.
Indeed, you could enter into evidence many names that run counter to the idea that de Blasio has stacked his administration with progressive activists. His deputy mayor for human services, Economic Development Corporation head, NYCHA general manager, homeless services commissioner and youth services commissioner all come directly from the Bloomberg administration. His deputy mayor for economic development comes from Goldman Sachs, and his deputy mayor for strategic initiatives comes from an organization that gave Mayor Bloomberg an award for his anti-poverty crusade. The planning chief has deep roots in the midtown business community, the budget boss is a career adviser to the state legislature and the child welfare chief is moving from the Cuomo administration. A developer heads the Housing Development Corporation. I could go on. You can bet your favorite pair of Sansabelt slacks that none of these people have The Anarchist's Cookbook on their bookshelves.
Now, it is true that some of de Blasio's more recent appointments, namely Banks and Wiley, are very vocal advocates for a very different way of governing than Bloomberg practiced. And, yes, some appointments are more important and influential than others, so lefties could be outnumbered in de Blasio's cabinet without being outgunned. I'll also admit that some lefty handwringing about the composition of the de Blasio team—in which I have been a sweaty-palmed participant—missed the forest for the trees. And the questions about de Blasio's ability to communicate and to manage the city (as long as they are questions and not, two months into his term, conclusions) are fair game.
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But what is definitely off-target is the notion, which the Times repeated Saturday but certainly didn't invent, that "more managerial" appointees are somehow ideologically neutral.
This misconception underlay a lot of the skewed analysis of the Bloomberg administration, which was seen as apolitical, as merely interested in unimpeachable goals like efficiency and transparency. Observers were apparently thrown by the fact that Bloomberg combined liberal social beliefs with a devotion to market forces, and wed a comfort with activist policy to a $26 billion-wide blind-spot to the perils of plutocracy. It was a complex ideology—and hard to categorize because we have so few classic liberal Republicans these days—but it was an ideology nonetheless. Calling it otherwise gave many of Bloomberg's ideas a nonpartisan sheen they didn't deserve. ("What's wrong, man: Are you against efficiency?") Ideology is not like a beard, that some people have and some people don't. It's like skin color: even white guys have it.
This misconception threatens to get de Blasio compared to Bloomberg not as a progressive taking over from a centrist but as an ideologue seizing power from a technocrat. And that means that de Blasio's policies could be debated not on their merits or the critique behind them but merely on the fact that they reflect a strong belief. That's something de Blasio's cabinet will have to resist, even if "working from within" is new to some of them.
Read Next: Jarrett Murphy on de Blasio's latest appointment—a liberal veteran of the Legal Aid Society.
So it's beginning already.
It was probably inevitable, given widespread left-wing disappointment with Obama and longstanding reservations about Hillary Clinton, that we'd see another outbreak of electoral nihilism: the conviction that it doesn't really matter which of the two parties holds the presidency. This myth has tempted radicals for a long time. In 1960, back when Commentary was still a liberal magazine, Dwight McDonald took to its pages to declare the outcome of the Nixon/Kennedy election a matter of indifference, as "the effect of one as against another built-up-torn-down candidate is in the realm of metaphysics and so of little interest to sensible people." Fourteen years ago, this belief led otherwise smart people to declare that there was no meaningful difference between Al Gore and George W. Bush.
The shock of the Bush presidency cured this delusion, for a while—there was remarkable acceptance of John Kerry in 2004, despite his nakedly militaristic convention, and progressives twice mobilized for Obama. Yet here, with the 2016 primaries not yet begun, comes an essay on the cover of Harper's Magazine arguing that liberals are too focused on winning elections for Democrats.
"Each election now becomes a moment of life-or-death urgency that precludes dissent or even reflection," writes Adolph Reed, the University of Pennsylvania political scientist, in "Nothing Left: The long, slow surrender of American liberals." He continues, "For liberals, there is only one option in an election year, and that is to elect, at whatever cost, whichever Democrat is running…. True, the last Democrat was really unsatisfying, but this one is better; true, the last Republican didn't bring destruction on the universe, but this one certainly will. And, of course, each of the 'pivotal' Supreme Court justices is four years older than he or she was last time."
Reed has been making a version of this argument for many years in many different elections. In 2000, he voted for Nader and dismissed the importance of the Bush vs. Gore election. During the primary in 2007, he wrote a column titled "Sitting This One Out," saying, "This time, I'm not going to acquiesce in the fiction that the Presidential charade has any credibility whatsoever." But the placement of this essay on the cover of Harper's, and the enthusiastic reception it's been given by people like Bill Moyers, suggests that the case has renewed resonance.
There are a number of things to argue with in Reed's piece, among them the strange idea that Bush wasn't really that bad. (He may not have destroyed the universe, but he presided over the destruction of Iraq, New Orleans, the American economy and a Supreme Court remotely sympathetic to organized labor, among other things.) Other people, I'm sure, will take on his argument that Obama has continued Bill Clinton's work of moving the Democratic Party rightward. (Bill Clinton ended "welfare as we know it," while Obama enacted the biggest expansion of the welfare state since LBJ.) What I want to highlight is an internal contradiction in the case Reed makes against what he calls "electoralitis."
"Nothing Left" has some very incisive things to say about the broad collapse of the left as a political force. He's right about how the absence of a positive, fully articulated vision of the future has been paralyzing; as Slavoj Žižek has said numerous times, it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism. Without a clear program, writes Reed, "the left careens from this oppressed group or crisis moment to that one, from one magical or morally pristine constituency or source of political agency…to another. It lacks focus and stability; its métier is bearing witness, demonstrating solidarity, and the event or the gesture. Its reflex is to 'send messages' to those in power, to make statements, and to stand with or for the oppressed."
Reed argues, persuasively, that a vibrant left can only be grounded in a rebuilt labor movement: "Pretending some other option exists is worse than useless…. We need to reject the fantasy that some spark will ignite the People to move as a mass."
But here's the thing: arguments for ignoring electoral realities, for backing some quixotic third-party candidate or imagining that leftists can sway the system through ultimatums, are based on precisely this fantasy. Movements lead politicians, not the other way around, and simply deciding that the politicians we have aren't good enough won't will a movement into being. A left that absented itself from the dirty work of electing a president would be indulging in the very reflex Reed decries: trying to send a message to those in power rather than contending for power itself.
The right understands this; it has simultaneously, over decades, systematically taken over the GOP from the bottom up, built a huge network of interlocking intellectual, legal and political institutions and mobilized every four years to try to elect a Republican president.
Occasionally, over the years, conservatives disgusted by the inevitable compromises of electoral politics have threatened to turn their backs on Republican presidential candidates. When Reagan was in office, the right complained about him in language strikingly similar to left-wing denunciations of Obama. In 1983, Richard Viguerie even suggested that Reagan shouldn't run for re-election. Think of how much better off we'd all be if right-wingers had refused to support what they saw as the lesser of two evils. Instead, they spent decades organizing within the party until it had no choice but to do their bidding.
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And despite Reed's pessimism, similar work is finally happening in the Democratic Party. Consider the new left-leaning mayors in New York, Seattle, Boston and Minneapolis, and the major initiatives to raise wages in metropolitan areas across the country. A new New York Times story is headlined, "De Blasio Picks More Liberal Activists Than Managers for City Posts." Some of these people will, with enough work, become tomorrow's national leaders. This is a bizarre moment to assert that there's no significant difference between Democrats and Republicans.
So yes, for liberals, there is only one option in an election year, and that is to elect, at whatever cost, whichever Democrat is running. The rest of the time, those who find the current choices intolerable should join in the long, slow groundwork that would allow for better ones.
Read Next: Can the GOP win back big-money donors before 2016?
UPDATE I: As predicted, President Obama is under heavy pressure from the right and from members of Congress to take strong action immediately to confront Russia. The New York Times summarizes the pressure, but it's coming from many directions: Senator Bob Corker (R.-Tenn.), Senator Marco Rubio, who's trying to build his thin foreign policy credentials, from John McCain, the NATO expansion advocate, and many other hawks and neoconservatives. The way it's being posed is: Obama has supported diplomacy with Iran and Syria, he's cut the military budget, and he's generally weak in regard to Russia and China, so he's reaping what he's sowed. That's ludicrous – but, when the pressure starts to include Kerry, other administration officials, and perhaps (let's see) Hillary Clinton, then Obama might, against his better judgment, opt for a more confrontational stance. The statement from the Foreign Policy Initiative goes so far as to advocatean "emergency NATO meeting" and "forward deployment of NATO forces in the former Warsaw Pact countries."
Speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee today, McCain accused Obama of having a "feckless" foreign policy – feckless meaning, in this case, not invading other countries. The crisis in Ukraine, he said, "is the ultimate result of feckless foreign policy where nobody believes in America's strength anymore."
ORIGINAL POST Vladimir Putin, Russia's autocratic president and would-be reviver of Russian greatness, must back down.
Unfortunately, Russia's jingoistic media is hyping the threat to "Russians" and "Russian-speaking" Ukrainians, they're playing up pro-military demonstrations by "patriotic youth" and other Russians—even as security forces in Russia arrest antiwar protesters—and they're reporting on the happy "tea and sandwich brigades" helping out in now-occupied Crimea. In one absurd passage, RT reports:
Russia's biggest bikers' club, the Night Wolves, has staged a major motorbike rally in the capital in support of Russian speakers in Ukraine. Despite the fact that the motorcycle season hasn't yet kicked off, over 100 bikes participated in the rally.
It's outright war propaganda. A statement from Moscow described Putin's call with President Obama thus:
In response to the concern shown by Obama about the plans for the possible use of Russia's armed forces on the territory of Ukraine, Putin drew attention to the provocative, criminal actions by ultra-nationalists, in essence encouraged by the current authorities in Kiev…. The Russian President underlined that there are real threats to the life and health of Russian citizens and compatriots on Ukrainian territory. Vladimir Putin stressed that if violence spread further in the eastern regions of Ukraine and in Crimea, Russia reserves the right to protect its interests and those of Russian speakers living there.
The trick for President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry is to create a face-saving way for Putin to accept the fact that Ukraine, including the disputed Crimea, isn't Russia's any longer, and neither the Russian empire nor the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics exists any longer. And the venue has to shift to the United Nations.
Russia's actions, so far, indeed amount to acts of war. Its troops have invaded Ukrainian territory, and Putin—sounding like George W. Bush vis-à-vis Iraq—has asked Russia's legislature for permission to use Russian troops throughout all of Ukraine. Memo to Putin: like Iraq, Ukraine is a sovereign nation, whose territory is inviolable. And Crimea, though Russia has legitimate interests there—its Black Sea fleet, after all, is based there according to a lease arrangement with Kiev—is part of Ukraine.
It may not be possible, at this stage, to resolve the crisis peacefully at all. It may be that nothing the United States can do, whether threatening Russia with economic sanctions and expulsion from the G-8, can change Putin's mind regarding Ukraine. In that case, Russia will seize and consolidate control of Crimea, build support for broader Russian intervention in Ukraine's pro-Russian east—the country's industrial heartland—and back the ousted president, Viktor Yanukovych, or some other pro-Russian proxy as a vehicle for expanding Russian involvement into Ukraine's west. In the Russian argument, the accord that was negotiated last month, which would have allowed Yanukovych to remain in power until new presidential elections were held, is still valid—which is utter nonsense. The change in Kiev is permanent, and the fact that it was so violent and chaotic is a testament to Russia's overplaying its hand.
The fact that the United States has few, if any, real options to stop Russia doesn't make Russia's aggression any less ominous. Fact is, the fragile US-Russian relationship, which has been spiraling downwards for years, is critical to resolving several world crises: the civil war in Syria, the nuclear talks with Iran and the stabilization of Afghanistan after 2014, just for starters. If Russia expands its invasion of Ukraine, beyond what it's already done, all that is at risk. And not just at risk: Russia's actions in Ukraine could tip the balance in Washington sharply against President Obama's recent, more pronounced shift toward diplomacy rather than conflict. With the president already under fire from hardliners and neoconservatives, as well as hawks within his own administration, Obama's very inability to halt the Russian action in Ukraine could lead him to accede to the demands of those who, for instance, want to take military action in Syria.
It's true that Russia has profound strategic and economic interests in Ukraine, and it's also true that the United States, really, has none whatsoever. But that's an argument for both Russian patience and American forbearance, since eventually the turmoil in Ukraine will settle into some sort of stability, and Russia's overwhelming presence in the region will allow an accommodation in which Moscow, Washington and especially the European Union—and not NATO!—all can have relations with whatever government emerges in Kiev.
So far, Obama and Putin have had a least two tense and unproductive telephone discussions in recent days. Appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday, Kerry issued the starkest warnings yet about consequences if Russia doesn't hold off. He said—and there was some question about this—that all of Europe's major powers will join the United States is taking economic measures to isolate Russia unless the invasion is halted. And Kerry said:
He is not going to have a Sochi G-8. He may not even remain in the G-8 if this continues. He may find himself with asset freezes on Russian business. American business may pull back. There may be a further tumble of the ruble. There's a huge price to pay.
Threats and promises of punishment to come are one thing, but if the crisis is to be resolved without catastrophic consequences in international affairs, then the United States and Europe have to offer some sweeteners to Moscow, too, at least in private. Incredibly, though, in his Meet the Press appearance, Kerry refused to rule out a military response to Russia's actions, even though there is no credible American action to take and, if the United States did engage militarily, it would undoubtedly be the most serious event since the 1962 Cuban missile showdown. Still, Kerry said: "The last thing anybody wants is a military option in this kind of a situation," and then added, "But."
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President Obama has made a series of statements on Ukraine, including the March 1 White House statement after speaking with Putin and his February 28 remarks on the crisis in Ukraine.
Obama's remarks, in his February 28 statement, did in fact acknowledge Russia's substantial interest in Ukraine:
I also spoke several days ago with President Putin, and my administration has been in daily communication with Russian officials, and we've made clear that they can be part of an international community's effort to support the stability and success of a united Ukraine going forward, which is not only in the interest of the people of Ukraine and the international community, but also in Russia's interest.
However, we are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine. Russia has a historic relationship with Ukraine, including cultural and economic ties, and a military facility in Crimea, but any violation of Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity would be deeply destabilizing, which is not in the interest of Ukraine, Russia, or Europe.
But the president needs to go further to outline how the crisis might be resolved, to Russia's advantage and in the interests of the Ukrainians and world affairs, if and when Russia halts its military actions.
Read Next: Nicolai N. Petro on the growing threat of military confrontation in Ukraine.
As the crisis in Ukraine deepens, media commentators and members of Congress are returing to Cold War rhetoric on nuclear weapons, calling for a halt to already-negotiated cutbacks in the massive U.S. arsenal and/or extending the reach of our nuclear umbrella to Kiev. Sen. Marco Rubio on 'Meet the Press" called for expanding our so-called "missile shield" defense.
Still, it's worth remembering that it could be much worse. No nukes is good news, in Ukraine.
Remember that when the Soviet Union broke up, several of the breakaway republics took with them some of Mother Russia's nukes. Ukraine had many of them, the biggest budget and a lot of animosity toward Russia. But somehow, with our help, they gave them up. Bill Maher even shoved this fact down the throat of Bill Kristol last night on his HBO show when Kristol disparaged diplomacy.
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The terrific Amy Davidson of The New Yorker reviews the history here.
It was not obvious where all these missiles would end up, particularly not in the case of Ukraine, which was stronger than the others and more sharply at odds with Russia; it thought it might find better friends. (Steven Pifer, of the Brookings Institution, has a useful review.) The new Ukrainian government also thought that Russia was not negotiating in good faith (from a certain perspective, it had absconded with Ukraine's tactical warheads). Russia, meanwhile, suggested that the Ukrainians were not decent stewards of the weapons: they didn't know how to take care of them, and they would deteriorate and turn into public hazards—"much worse than Chernobyl," the Russian Foreign Minister said at the time. The disaster at Chernobyl had given the Ukrainians a look at a nuclear accident; it had also underscored a sense that Moscow was neglectful and mendacious. They also knew that I.C.B.M.s, even if they had no use for them, contained highly enriched uranium that was extremely valuable. And Ukraine needed money. In September, 1993, the negotiations between Russia and Ukraine fell apart.
The United States could have approached this in any number of ways. One might have been heedlessly, without a full understanding of the danger—gleeful about the spectacle, and glad to see the inheritors of the Soviet Union dispossessed of a few more bombs. We could have helped keep Ukraine a nuclear power, thinking that it would make the country, in some way, ours. Or we could have been excessively fearful, and supported Moscow's contention that the Ukrainians had no right to these things, anyway, encouraging them to just go in and take them. This might have made the dissolution of the Soviet Union look a lot more like a civil war, in which our position was ambiguous. We could have postured, and lost the Cold War peace.
Instead, we offered two things…
Read on to see what happened. And see a full report by a Brookings expert here.
Then Davidson concludes:
What are the lessons for the current crisis, other than to be abjectly relieved that we don't live in a world where nuclear weapons are even more loosely held than they are? One is to not disparage diplomacy, or treat it as a lesser form of foreign policy, or to think that there is no place for a calm middle. Another is to remember how human and fallible the actors are, and how much listening and getting a sense of their interests can help.
Further readng: My recent book, Atomic Cover-up.
Read Next: Nation in the News: Stephen Cohen: The US Should Promote a Stable and United Ukraine.
Next week's issue of The Nation will feature a report by Stanford Professor Cécile Alduy about the alarming rise of Marine Le Pen and the French far right. In recent years, Le Pen has skillfully, if disingenuously, attempted to scrub her National Front party of the most odious manifestations of the anti-Semitism, racism and outright xenophobia in which her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, specialized during his forty-year leadership of the party. At the same time, Alduy writes, the French mainstream—mistakenly scapegoating immigrants for the country's economic malaise—has moved further to the right. Whatever the results of local elections slated for later this month and European Parliament elections in May, there is a serious risk that the toxic ideology of the National Front will become further enshrined and legitimized as a driving force in the public conversation—not only in France, but across Europe as a whole.
Although Le Pen "has managed to put a modern gloss on an old political brand," Alduy writes, the underlying philosophy of the National Front remains almost exactly the same as it was under Jean-Marie Le Pen. It is perhaps useful, then, to re-examine the behavior of the wolf before it donned sheep's clothing—and for such a mission there is no better guide than Daniel Singer, The Nation's longtime European correspondent before his death in 2000. His numerous dispatches on Le Pen père—"the man whose name is synonymous with the recent revival of overt racism in French politics and society," Singer wrote in 1985—show how mutable and dangerous remains the threat emanating from what Singer, in a recurring assortment of related metaphors, called France's plague, poison and disease.
In "The Resistible Rise of Jean-Marie Le Pen" (September 7, 1985), Singer wrote of Le Pen:
Smiling, smartly dressed, he now seems—particularly on television, where he is on his best behavior—a frank and reasonable fellow saying aloud "what everybody really believes," telling people "what they already know," a man who merely echoes the basic precept of that great American Ronald Reagan: namely, that communism is the root of all evil. A red-faced, rather fat man who warns the "silent majority" against muggers, drug addicts, gays and crypto-pinkos, Le Pen might be described as a sort of French Spiro Agnew preaching law and order, except that he is not of Greek or any other foreign extraction. That is an important difference, because the man and the movement he leads, the National Front, trumpet the slogan "Frenchmen First" and spread the fairy tale that everything would be fine in the streets and hospitals, in the schools and even the factories were it not for the foreign hordes invading France, particularly those crossing the Mediterranean. France would be just marvelous without Marxists, Arabs and other aliens.…
The entry of avowed racists into the French Parliament is not in itself the worst prospect. As the old saying goes, you don't bring the temperature down by breaking the thermometer…. More worrisome is the underlying ideological shift to the right, the radical metamorphosis of the substance and form of political debate, of which this plague is only a symptom.
Three years later, after the National Front had secured a new level of legitimacy when Le Pen won more than 14 percent of the vote in the 1988 presidential election, Singer wrote "In the Heart of Le Pen Country," about a visit to Marseille:
Serious trouble does not begin when the men with jackboots or with cloven hoofs opt for fascism. It begins when the tinker and tailor, your neighbor and your cousin, are driven sufficiently mad by circumstances to vote for an admirer of Pinochet, a preacher of apartheid, a man for whom the gas chambers are a mere "detail." As I looked down from the steps of the station, on departing this outwardly still-warm and attractive town, I could not help feeling that moral pollution is not so easily perceived. All the more reason to probe below the surface, to sound the alarm and, above all, to seek a cure—unless we want to wake up one day, too late, in a fully contaminated city or country.
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* * *
Singer continued to track Le Pen's rise throughout the 1990s. His dispatches from the time show an increasing concern about Le Pen's staying power, and even foreshadows the more recent attempts by his youngest daughter, Marine Le Pen, to conceal the party's underlying fascism by projecting a more smiling, human face:
"The Ghosts of Nationalism" (March 23, 1992):
Although unemployment in Western Europe is now roughly three times higher than it was twenty years ago, it has not reached the proportions of the prewar Depression, nor is the fate of its victims comparable. Although discontent is high, workers are not flocking en masse to Le Pen and his equivalents. The danger for Western Europe is not an immediate takeover by various National Fronts. The threat lies in the gradual extension of the disease: the spread of racism and the weakening of class solidarity, sapping society's capacity for resistance should a really catastrophic slump bring back another bout of the deadly epidemic.
"Hate in a Warm Climate" (April 20, 1992):
Le Pen has been told that to win votes he must keep his tongue in check, so he's on his best behavior. He makes no openly racist or anti-Semitic remarks. Yet, listening carefully, you can still judge the man. His reference to Jean-Claude Gaudin as "the bearded woman"—a not so gentle hint about the incumbent's alleged homosexuality—gives an idea of his moral tone. The contempt he puts into the words "of every race and religion," describing demonstrators he saw in London, is also revealing. So is his scorn for those who stir up unpleasant memories of World War II: "They only want to talk about Pétain and Touvier" (a wartime torturer, hidden for years by the clergy and only recently arrested). "Whatever the subject, it reminds them of Hitler and Vichy."
"Liberté, Egalité, Racisme" (October 21, 1996):
In its new posture the National Front is increasingly reminiscent of the prewar fascist movements. Equally worrying is the fact that the phenomenon is not simply French. From Antwerp to Vienna, passing through northern and southern Italy, in the absence of rational prospects, all sorts of forces of unreason are gaining ground. Naturally, the situation should not be overdramatized. The economic crisis is not yet deep enough for a Le Pen to be voted into power in any Western European country. But the poison is spreading. It will not be halted by pandering to prejudices, making compromises, sticking to an increasingly conservative consensus. It won't be stopped by decree, either. The counteroffensive will require relentless daily battles on the political, social and cultural fronts. If the respectable right is more to blame as the carrier of the disease, the main responsibility, nevertheless, belongs to the left: The rise of Le Pen will not be really resisted until the people, offered the prospect of a radically different society, start struggling for genuine solutions instead of seeking scapegoats. This French lesson, now read throughout Europe, does not lose its validity on crossing the ocean.
"Supping with the French Devil" (April 20, 1998):
Much having been written here about the resistible rise of Le Pen, we can sum up the spread of the disease in shorthand. When François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981 the front was insignificant. Deprived of office, the right invented the myth that growing unemployment was due to immigrant labor, forgetting that however low it would stoop, Le Pen could get lower still. Thus he acquired his stock in trade, imposing a phony debate on the nation. But he was able to consolidate his position only because the left failed to offer a radical alternative. With France experiencing a vague consensus on economic policy combined with rising social misery, Le Pen could appear to be the only outsider, gaining support notably among workers and the unemployed. His queer mixture of Reaganomics at home and opposition to globalization is incoherent, so whenever the social movement is active (as in the 1995 winter of discontent) the front is cast aside. But it recovers, feeding on the economic failure of the other protagonists.
Thus the fate of the National Front is really in the hands of the left. If it listens to the international financial establishment, opting for a deflationary policy and the dismantling of the welfare state, it will encourage the spread of the disease, which no changing of the electoral thermometer will cure. Only if it tackles unemployment head-on, radically reshaping French society, will the left be able to contain a cancerous growth that is already serious, although not yet fatal. The responsibility is historical because…the corpses of the past are still unburied. Pace Hegel and Marx, history may repeat itself not as farce but as tragicomedy.
* * *
Subscribers to The Nation can access our fully searchable digital archive, which contains thousands of historic articles, essays and reviews, letters to the editor and editorials dating back to July 6, 1865.
If I were reporting a story about social welfare programs in the city and wanted to talk to a source who could cite chapter and verse on how the de Blasio administration was or wasn't fulfilling its moral and legal commitment to the poor, I'd call Steve Banks, the Legal Aid big-wig who for my entire career has been a monitor and critic of the Giuliani and Bloomberg administration's approach to welfare, food stamps, homeless shelters and other threads of the safety net.
That phone call will be awkward now, because Banks will be running that policy for de Blasio, who on Friday named him the head of the Human Resources Administration.
A cynic might dismiss the move as shrewd politics: neutralize your most likely critic by making him your right-hand man. But there are plenty of other very vocal advocates in the city who will seamlessly continue their watchdog duties without Banks at their side. A more fair reading of the move is that this is de Blasio understanding that while some agencies are prepared to follow his more progressive marching orders—and therefore can be led by the kind of veteran insiders the mayor has appointed to lead them—HRA needs a deeper reorientation.
As Banks put it yesterday, "The impact that HRA has on the lives of very vulnerable children and adults in this city is really limitless. It's there to be a helping hand and it should be a helping hand. Unfortunately, over the years it hasn't been a helping hand for people that desperately need help…"
Under Mayor Bloomberg, HRA kept finger-imaging food-stamp applicants even after the federal agency that oversees the nutrition program, USDA, asked it to stop. Bloomberg refused to apply for a waiver to let more jobless adults without disabilities or kids get food stamps. The waiver was open to all counties with high unemployment, and New York easily qualified, but the mayor refused—even when his own aides wanted to do it, and, later, even when the post-recession stimulus bill made the waiver open to every city. Welfare rolls were static or even fell during the economic crisis, as lines at pantries grew and homeless shelter populations swelled, but the previous administration took the shrinking beneficiary population as a feather in its cap. And when the Bloomberg administration launched its much-ballyhooed effort to reduce poverty, HRA—the city's welfare agency—bizarrely was not at the table.
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As City Limits's Neil de Mause reported three years ago, it's hard for those of us who live comfortably to understand the outsize role HRA plays in the lives of the city's 1.6 million poor people. HRA appointments and paperwork requirements can dominate poor people's schedules, and its decisions on benefits and penalties are of extraordinary consequence.
If the city is serious about reducing inequality, and understands that government's best tools for doing so are those that affect the low end of the population's income distribution, HRA has to be part of the picture. The appointment of Banks suggests it will be. Said Banks:
we need to understand who it is that the agency is serving. The agency is serving people that are cycling in and out of low-wage work and are coming to the agency to get one-shot rent arrears [assistance] and things of that nature to keep a roof over their heads and keep them out of the shelter system. To an extent we have bureaucratic obstacles that were from another era, when the population was different and the ideologies were different, we have to look at all those barriers and see which one should be taken down in order to have proper policies that are aligned with the mayor's values and the mayor's goals.
Banks also put it this way: "We have to make sure that people are treated as human beings."
Read Next: Jarrett Murphy on how de Blasio is making life better for homeless kids
—Samuel Adler-Bell focuses on labor, mass incarceration, literature and film.
Follow @samadlerbell
"Diary: Get Off the Bus," by Rebecca Solnit. London Review of Books, February 20, 2014
Rebecca Solnit reports on the intensifying conflict between lower-income San Francisco residents and the youngish Silicon Valley gentry who've been migrating to (read colonizing) their city over the past decade. My favorite anecdote describes an unofficial "Beddazzle a Tech Bus" competition, hosted by a Mission District blog. The winning design—theoretically intended to beautify the austere, white, window-tinted coaches that shuttle tech workers from SF to their lavish campuses down the peninsula—features a Google Street View photo of the Clarion Alley murals, a colorful palimpsest of radical iconography and slogans, painted by local artists and community groups. If Google actually adopts the design, the resulting bus will perfectly embody the Silicon Valley ethos: an elite neo-liberal project, benefiting a very tiny fraction of the population, cloaked in the cosmetic trappings of countercultural rebellion. Get off the bus indeed.
—Dustin Christensen focuses on Latin American politics and sports.
Follow @dustyc123
"Is Venezuela Burning?" by Mike Gonzalez. Jacobin, February 25, 2014
As antigovernment protests in Venezuela capture the world's attention, Mike Gonzalez provides a wonderful socialist take on the situation for Jacobin. For Gonzalez, there are many reasons that the protests have erupted. The objects of the protesters' aggression demonstrate the obvious class character of the demonstrations: protesters have burned some of Venezuela's new buses, attacked Cuban medical personnel in the country and have attempted to invade Bolivarian University, which provides free higher education to the poor. However, to focus solely on the sharp class divides in Venezuela is to miss the bigger picture. To the dissatisfaction of many, rampant corruption, speculation and inflation have wrecked Venezuela's economy. The new Venezuelan bureaucratic class, "wearing the obligatory red shirt and cap of Chavismo," are much to blame for this situation. They are "the speculators and owners of this new and failing economy," writes Gonzalez, and they have enriched themselves while "institutions of popular power have largely withered on the vine." Gonzalez's solution is to deepen the Bolivarian revolution. This would require the dismissal of corrupt bureaucrats, the removal of speculators and expansion of participatory democracy. Sounds like a good strategy, and not just for Venezuela!
—Laura Cremer focuses on labor, gender and the historicization of culture and politics.
Follow @lfcremer
"Cult-like, corrupt and Christian conservative: Inside the campus group creating Walmart managers," by Josh Eidelson. Salon, February 26, 2014
A fascinating book published several years ago by historian Nelson Lichtenstein introduced me to the complex and bizarre ideological apparatus behind Walmart: the corporation employs incredibly sophisticated strategies of social and emotional manipulation. All corporations dabble in emotional manipulation in the realm of advertising, of course, but outsiders don't always realize that workers are often subject to the same tactics. Josh Eidelson's interview with Curtis DeBerg, which mentions Lichtenstein's book (The Retail Revolution: How Wal-Mart Created a Brave New World of Business) expands our understanding of who is systematically manipulated by Walmart to include college students and teachers participating in the "enterpreneurship" competitions it quietly funds, even if the similarity between beleaguered business professors and actual employees can certainly be overstated. So can the uniqueness of Walmart—its practices are of course mirrored in kind, if not in scale, elsewhere.
—Cecilia D'Anastasio focuses on ethics, feminism, press freedom and tech.
Follow @cecianasta
"Why Study Philosophy? 'To Challenge Your Own Point of View,'" interview with Rebecca Goldstein by Hope Reese. The Atlantic, February 27, 2014
I'm often disappointed by philosophers purporting to defend the field of philosophy and, inevitably, showcasing its frivolousness by harping on the importance of "knowing our place in the universe" and "debating the existence of free will"—not that these questions aren't interesting. As emphasis is increasingly placed (by whom, even?) on the "practical education," the study of philosophy seems more and more the residue left over from a more financially secure era. The Atlantic interviews philosopher Rebecca Goldstein, author of Plato at the Googleplex, whose vested interest is in preserving the integrity of her field. At many points in the interview, Goldstein appears to be an apologist, tossing off justifications for ethical studies only relevant to the bourgeoisie who sip tea with their pinkies out. But in arguing that "there's a lot of philosophical progress, it's just a progress that's very hard to see. It's very hard to see because we see with it," Goldstein redeems ethics as a soil rich for fueling equal rights movements and activism.
—Simon Davis-Cohen focuses on self-governance, climate adaptation and science.
Follow @SimonDavisCohen
"The Third Party That's Winning," by Sarah Jaffe. In These Times, March 3, 2014
For those interested in alternatives to the two-party system, a working understanding of the Working Families Party (WFP)—oft-mentioned on TheNation.com—is indispensable. Jaffe offers a comprehensive look at how the party got started, its impacts across the country and its nimble tactics. The WFP's work within and around fusion voting systems and its blurring of formal and informal political institutions offer many lessons learned. For more on emerging political parties check out Andy Kroll's recent Mother Jones feature on Minnesota's Democratic Farmer Labor Party and look into the rise of Net parties.
—Justine Drennan focuses on marginalized groups' relationship with technology and development.
Follow @JKooKooD
"Rumours and 'Fake' Photos Prompt Calls for Responsible Social Media in Venezuela," by Adriana Gutiérrez, translated by Victoria Robertson. Global Voices, February 19, 2014
Social media users have become an important force in popular organizing and information-sharing, but can they also successfully organize to mediate their own risk of promoting harmful misinformation? That risk was evident with the Boston bomber witch hunt on Reddit last year, and this piece in Global Voices—a site that itself builds many stories around social media reactions—looks at responses to inaccurate citizen journalism on both sides of the tensions in Venezuela. It quotes a parody of a zealous tweep: "It was a terrible picture: a police officer with a black uniform that I had never seen in Venezuela mistreating a student in a street that clearly wasn't here…. I couldn't resist, I had to retweet and share it with the world." But the piece also offers hope for learning and dialogue, noting efforts—many by fellow social-media users—to instruct and empower netizens with the principles of fact-based reporting.
—Corinne Grinapol focuses on education and international relations/national security.
Follow @Corinneavital
"Calculating Coups: Can Data Stop Disasters?" by Peter Dörrie. Think Africa Press, February 20, 2014
In the age of the quants, the reach of quantitative data spreads far. Here, in Peter Dörrie's piece on political forecaster and academic Jay Ulfelder, it is being used to predict coups. Ulfelder's data analysis has been pretty impressive, with Mali, the Central African Republic and Sudan all making it on to Ulfelder's list before conflicts there broke out.
The role of statistical analysis and forecasting models has had a growing influence on political science, at times set antagonistically against on-the-ground interpretation of issues. Quantitative data is important, but how much of a role should it have in how we understand and study the world? In this case, it's important to remember that it's one way of looking at conflict, not the way.
—Mara Kardas-Nelson focuses on health.
Follow @marajennkn
"Health Centers See Threat From 'Private Option' Medicaid," by Phil Galewitz. Kaiser Health News, February 21, 2014
The problem with Republican governors pushing a "private option" Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act isn't just political, it may also have a huge impact on how much funding health centers receive. Take Arkansas, which is using money from the federal government meant to expand Medicaid to place people on private plans instead (Utah and New Hampshire are considering doing the same). Doing so allows states and the politicians who run them to ideologically push back against expanding public programs, while still assisting lower-income citizens and boosting the private insurance sector. But there's more than ideology on the line here: given that federal law requires higher reimbursements to health centers than what private insurers pay, health centers traditionally reliant on Medicaid reimbursements are seeing per patient funding slashed in half, threatening the overall strength and sustainability of the public healthcare system. (Pennsylvania and Iowa also use the "private option," but require reimbursements at normal Medicaid rates.)
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—David Kortava focuses on sustainable development.
Follow @davidkortava
"We need money for aid. So let's print it," by Michael Metcalfe. TED, February 2014
Economist Michael Metcalfe is pushing a seemingly implausible solution to worldwide chronic aid shortages: just print the money. At this you can almost hear some some crotchety undergraduate economics professor muttering to himself, "What nonsense… increasing the money supply like that would trigger inflation!" Not necessarily, Metcalfe argues, recall what happened when, in order to save the financial system, the central banks of the US, UK and Japan created $3.7 trillion out of thin air… Nothing, as it turned out; the general level of prices for goods and services in these economies did not skyrocket. So, Metcalfe asks, if we can defy the sanctity of the money supply to protect the financial assets of the global elite, then why not in the service of a more noble objective?
—Benjamin Pokross focuses on education and the arts.
"The Bane and the Boon of For-Profit Colleges," by Eduardo Porter. The New York Times, February 25, 2014
In this article from the NYT, Eduardo Porter offers a reexamination of an often-maligned sector of higher education, for-profit universities. Many of the recent debates about the role of higher education come to the fore in his discussion: what's the value of a college degree? Is everyone entitled to one? What should be the role of trade schools? The controversy around for-college universities, Porter shows, is ultimately indicative of the larger failure of higher education to provide access to higher education for everyone who's looking for it.
Read Next: Aryeh Younger on Swarthmore's Open Hillel, the first in the country.


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Fox News contributor Father Jonathan Morris discusses a recent Gallup poll that shows that less than half of Christians attend church no more than once a month. In the interview, he discusses some of the reasons contributing to the decline, and the differences in Catholic and Protestant church attenders. (Video recorded Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007).
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» September 2011
Displaying blog posts
Site News: Popular Posts for the Week of 09.23.2011
, 23 September 2011
Zend Framework
Popular posts from PHPDeveloper.org for the past week:Community News: PHP 5.4.0beta1 Released for Testing XPertDeveloper.com: PHP Debugging Tools Lukas Smith's Blog: My PHP framework winner predictions Lorna Mitchell's Blog: ArrayAccess vs ArrayObject Kevin Schroeder's Blog: Zend Framework 2 Event Manager Michael Nitschinger's Blog: Quick Tip: Lithium Redirect Artur Ejsmont's Blog: How to properly secure remote API calls over SSL from PHP code PHPMaster.com: Introduction to PHP Arrays Lars Tesmer's Blog:...
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Xdebug's Code Coverage speedup
Planet PHP
, 23 September 2011
Xdebug's Code Coverage speedup London, UK Friday, September 23rd 2011, 09:23 BST Besides a debugging and development aid, Xdebug also implements the back-end code to provide code coverage information for use with PHPUnit. Code coverage tells you how much of your code base is actually being tested by your unit tests. It's a very useful feature, but sadly, it slows down PHP's execution quite a lot. One part of this slowdown is the overhead to record the information internally, but another part is because...
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The Phix Project Has A New Home
Planet PHP
, 23 September 2011
Phix now has a new home, as I've recently left Gradwell. And a new PEAR channel. And an awesome new logo thanks to Jeremy and Kerry from Magma Digital. And a roadmap on Trello. And, if you're using either Ubuntu or Fedora as your dev desktop/laptop, a new one-line installer that takes care of those pesky system-level dependencies that the PEAR Installer can't help you with :) How To Move To The New PEAR Channel If you have already installed an older version of Phix from pear.gradwell.com, you'll need to...
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PHP Components: Publishing Your PEAR Channel On Github
Planet PHP
, 23 September 2011
In my Beyond Frameworks talk, I explained how a component-based architecture can help answer some of the important (i.e. expensive!) questions you might face when creating long-lived apps that rely on a PHP framework. In this series of blog posts, I'm going to look at how to go about creating and working with components. This is a guest post by Martin WernstAYhl. Martin is a university student at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, currently studying the first year of Engineering Physics. He...
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Liip Blog: Integrating Magento into Symfony2
, 23 September 2011
On the Liip blog today, there's a quick post about integrating Symfony2 and Magento, the popular PHP-based ecommerce platform.So last week four developers sat together on a regular Hackday to see what's needed to hook up Magento into Symfony. To make this short the outcome is a Magento bundle for Symfony2. When we met in the morning we weren't even sure what exactly to try out but soon agreed on implementing a Symfony authentication which uses the Magento customer database.The post talks about some of...
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Zend Developer Zone: Announcing September's Zend Framework Bug Hunt Days
, 23 September 2011
Zend Framework
The Zend Developer Zone has a new post about this month's Zend Framework Bug Hunt Days happening today (the 22nd), 23rd and 24th:For those who haven't put the recurring event in their calendar, the Zend Framework Monthly Bug-hunt is here again! This Thursday, Friday and Saturday (the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of September), we'll be hosting our monthly bug hunt. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, each month, we organize the community to help reduce the number of open issues reported against the...
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Introducing Gigger, a Realtime Javascript Monitoring Framework
Planet PHP
, 23 September 2011
Go to Live Demo A Monitoring your web application is essential for professional maintenance and development. Especially if you have a high load on your website and you want to keep the current users on your site, you definitely should stay alert for problems and be able to react fast in case of problems. Monitoring is also crucial for A/B tests, since you have to evaluate somehow which version of your website performs better. Many big players also measure constantly how much revenue the website...
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PHPBuilder.com: Introducing Namespaces for PHP Developers
, 23 September 2011
On PHPBuilder.com today there's a new article from Jason Gilmore introducing you to namespaces in PHP 5.3+ development. Namespaces make it simpler to separate out your code into functional pieces and help keep it organized.The inclusion of namespace support within PHP 5.3 effectively brought the need for gripes and workarounds to a halt, however adoption of this exciting new feature has seemed surprisingly slow in the more than two years since its release. [...] The utility of this new feature is simply...
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XpertDeveloper.com: PHP clearstatecache() Explained
, 22 September 2011
XPertDeveloper.com has a quick new post looking at a function that might be overlooked until it suddenly becomes just what you need - clearstatecache for clearing file state information in the current script.For the functions like is_file(), file_exists(), etc PHP caches the result of this function for each file for faster performance if function called again. But in some cases you want to clear this cached information, for the task like getting the information of the same file multiple times in same...
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aY You are not aoMr. Xa
Planet PHP
, 22 September 2011
I keep coming across code like this (lifted, verbatim, from an OSS project I've been working with recently): $a = $num * $coeff + $_SANITIZED_GET['val'];What, in the name of all that is good and just, is aoa?a Or, for that matter, what are aonuma and aocoeff?aComputer manufacturers, OS vendors, and programming tool developers have worked for decades to give us the ability to create identifiers of arbitrary length. Personally, I'd much rather see someReallyLongNameThatLooksALittleRidiculous than a...
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Non alphanumeric code in PHP
Planet PHP
, 22 September 2011
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PHPMaster.com: From Zero to Cloud: Setting up an EC2 Sandbox, Part 3
, 22 September 2011
SitePoint's PHPMaster has a new post today, the third part of a series helping you get your application from "zero to cloud" on an Amazon EC2 setup. In this latest post they wrap things up by showing how to set up the full lamp stack on the remote server. Here's part one and two that lead up to this latest part.This is the final article in a three part series focused on setting up EC2 as a sandbox for application developers. I assume you have an AWS account with Amazon; if you don't, please read Part 1...
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Site News: Blast from the Past - One Year Ago in PHP
, 22 September 2011
Here's what was popular in the PHP community one year ago today:Developer.com: Build Your First PHP for Android Application Gonzalo Ayuso's Blog: Live video streaming with PHP Matthew Turland's Blog: "Web Scraping with PHP" Now Available in Print! Kevin Schroeder's Blog: You want to do WHAT with PHP? Chapter 8 Ibuildings techPortal: Building an Continuous Integration Server for PHP with Hudson Jordi Boggiano's Blog: PHP Console in Your Browser Community News: SymfonyDay 2010 Registration Discount Dennis...
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MODX: A CMS Framework Designed with PHP Developers in Mind
Planet PHP
, 22 September 2011
MODX: A CMS Framework Designed with PHP Developers in Mind By Bob Ray If you have ever wrestled with trying to create a custom Web site using a CMS that made you jump through hoops to get the desired output, you should definitely check out MODX, a CMS framework designed from the ground up with Object Oriented Programming PHP developers in mind. Read this article to learn more about MODX CMS framework and how you can easily use it to build your own content management system customized to your needs.
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Lars Tesmer's Blog: How to Unit Test a Class Making Calls to an URL (or the Filesystem) With PHPUnit
, 22 September 2011
Lars Tesmer has a suggestion for all of the unit testers out there (you do unit test your code, right?) when needing to test a piece of code that makes a call to something on the file system or a remote resource. Their examples come from tests written against the Assetic codebase.For our most recent After Work Hacking my co-workers and me decided to write unit tests for the open source project Assetic. That turned out to be a better decision than our last one, yet we still ran into an interesting...
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Freek Lijten's Blog: I was at a conference, you should go too!
, 22 September 2011
Freek Lijten recently attended a conference put on by PFZ.nl, a one day event of PHP content on a wide range of topics. He shares some of his impressions about the event and why he thinks they're a valuable part of any developer's experience in their field.I had a great time for three main reasons: I learned new stuff, I met people and I got inspired by topics I already knew about. I like to (shortly) share on the experience itself and I hope to explain why I think it is valuable to visit a conference...
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Ibuildings techPortal: DPC Radio: Let's take over the world with Zend Framework
, 22 September 2011
Zend Framework
On the Ibuildings techPortal today they've posted the latest episode in their DPC Radio series as recorded at last year's Dutch PHP Conference. This episode is Martin de Keijzer's talk Let's take over the world with Zend Framework.Many people use Zend Framework for it's MVC implementation, but it has a lot of hidden gems. Internationalization (i18n) is one of them. We will look how you can create an application that will have the right languages, currencies, dates and times all based on the location of...
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Announcing September's Zend Framework Bug Hunt Days
Zend Developer Zone
, 22 September 2011
Zend Framework
For those who haven't put the recurring event in their calendar, the Zend Framework Monthly Bug-hunt is here again! This Thursday, Friday and Saturday (the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of September), we'll be hosting our monthly bug hunt. For those of you unfamiliar with the event, each month, we organize the community to help reduce the number of open issues reported against the framework.
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Business analytics with CouchDB and NoFlo
Planet PHP
, 22 September 2011
The purpose of business analytics is to find data from the company's information systems that can be used to support decision making. What customers buy most? What do they do before a buying decision? What are the signs that a customer may be leaving? For the last month we've been working in Salzburg to build such a system, the Intelligent Project Controlling Tool needed for running large collaborative research projects like IKS. Since the design we went with can be reused for other business analytics...
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Alberto Viana's Blog: Zend Framework and Oracle XMLType
, 22 September 2011
Zend Framework
Alberto Viana has a new post to his blog about using Oracle ZML Types with a Zend Framework application. He created a custom adapter to create the type and handle the binding/execution on an new OCI8 connection.So few days ago I needed to insert Oracle XMLtype with Zend Framework. I used oracle adapter to wrote it in Zend Framework. I was looking for and I found on Chris Jones Blog.His table has a column defined as an XMLType, a special data type specifically for working with XML datasets directly in the...
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Men's white analogue dial bracelet watch
Item No.0610117347
This men's white wrist watch from Lorus has a silver fine linked bracelet strap and an oversized white dial with black minute markers and a date feature.
- Model reference: RXD29BX9
Debenhams is happy to exchange or refund your purchase within 28 days providing the goods are in a fully resaleable condition (including tags) and not within the exclusion policy*. This policy does not affect your statutory rights. You can return unwanted items either by visiting your local store (the fastest way to get a refund), by arranging a courier collection or returning by post. Exclusions apply to selected products. For instructions on how to return products and information on Debenhams refund policy visit the returns and refunds section of the website.


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A blended Rosé added to the great Piper-Heidsieck Cuvée Brut classic blend is a generous champagne. A great, not so classic, structured, full-bodied Champagne, with more than just a hint of red fruits and elaborated with a majority of Pinots Noirs, wines from over 100 crus, and Pinots Meuniers from the Grande et Petite Montagne de Reims.
On the palate:A brisk, original and juicy wine which simultaneously offers black cherry, blackberry, pink grapefruit and blood orange notes. This structure and fruitiness is enriched with warm, spicy notes of Espelette pepper, tea and liquorice.
"The darkest wine of the tasting; lush raspberry and cherry nose; bright, juicy and fresh with ripe fruit and lovely acid structure; long and vibrant. 55%-60% Pinot Noir, 20%-25% Pinot Meunier, 10%-15% Chardonnay. " 93 Points Tasting Panel
"Hints of roasted hazelnut and toasted brioche add richness to this refined and creamy rosé, partnered with juicy acidity and layers fruit-forward black currant, dried strawberry, licorice and smoke. Spiced finish. Drink now through 2018." 92 Points Wine Spectator
The 'Piper' style plays on a register of freshness, vivacity and fruitiness. Piper-Heidsieck wines are joyful, youthful champagnes, with aromas of citrus and pip fruits contributing to their sense of liveliness. Consumers are pleasantly surprised when they taste these wines for the first time. If they were to be defined as a fragrance, they would be described as belonging to the...Read More About Piper-Heidsieck
Champagne is both a region and a method. The wines come from the northernmost vineyards in France and the name conjures an image like no other can. An 18th Century Benedictine monk named Dom Perignon is said to be the first to blend both varietals and vintages, making good wines not only great, but also special and unique to their winemaker. Today, nearly 75% of Champagne...Read More About Champagne
Pink Bubbles Some Champagne and sparkling wine is pink. It's more rare, and more robust, and sometimes more expensive. But it's one of those wines that is just deliciously appealing. The pink color in a rose sparkler comes from the skins - which means that the wine must include at least one of the red grapes of the traditional method - Pinot Noir or Pinot...Read More About Rosé
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Review Search: Erik Larsen
Showing results 1-9 of 9
Supreme #67Erik Larsen's wrapping up his short-lived "Supreme" run with a fight between Mean Supreme and Omni-Man from "Invincible," even as the other Supremes try to find a way to get their powers back.
December 21st, 2012 | ||
Supreme #66Erik Larsen's run on "Supreme" continues with what feels like two very different books deliberately grafted together; one about the Liefeld-created Supreme, the other about the Moore-revamped Supreme -- but one half is better than the other
August 15th, 2012 | ||
Supreme #63One final Alan Moore script for "Supreme" is published and it makes me yearn for a high-quality collection or two of the rest of his run.
April 4th, 2012 | ||
Savage Dragon #177Dragon's kids fight a Hulked-Out Osama Bin Laden, while the subplots keep rolling.
December 21st, 2011 | ||
Savage Dragon #176A nice done-in-one issue that would be a good introduction to new readers.
November 30th, 2011 | ||
Herculian #1It's Erik Larsen like you've never seen him before... no, really.
March 3rd, 2011 | ||
Image United #1It's an interesting idea, but at the end of the first issue it's still more stunt and less story.
November 29th, 2009 | ||
Image United #1Most of the Image founders unite on a mega-event jam reunion action adventure. It isn't very good, though.
November 25th, 2009 | ||
Savage Dragon #145While many of the titles that helped launch the Image fleet have rebooted or simply faded away, "Savage Dragon" marches forward. This issue is a great jumping on point.
February 26th, 2009 |


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Rumeur Perfume
By Lanvin for Women
Rumeur Perfume by Lanvin, A woody floral musk fragrance with top notes of magnolia, a heart of white rose, jasmine and orange tree blossom . The fragrance's base is composed of patchouli and musk. All products are original, authentic name brands. We do not sell knockoffs or imitations.
- K De Krizia
- Kai
- Kaloo
- Kaloo Liliblue
- Kaloo Lilirose
- Kaloo Lollies
- Kanabeach
- Kapsule 547
- Kapsule Floriental
- Kapsule Light
- Kapsule Woody
- Karl Lagerfeld
- Kashaya De Kenzo
- Kat Von D
- Kat Von D Poetica
- Kat Von D Saint
- Kate Moss
- Kate Moss Summer Time
- Kate Moss Vintage
- Kate Spade
- Kate Spade Twirl
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- Katie Price
- Katy Perry
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- Kenneth Cole
- Kenneth Cole Black
- Kenneth Cole Reaction
- Kenneth Cole White
- Kenneth J Lane
- Kenzo
- Kenzo 5:40pm In Madagascar
- Kenzo Amour
- Kenzo Amour Florale
- Kenzo Amour Indian Holi
- Kenzo Amour Le Parfum
- Kenzo Ca Sent Beau
- Kenzo De Kenzo
- Kenzo Eau De Fleurs Magnolia
- Kenzo Eau De Fleurs Silk
- Kenzo Eau De Fleurs Tea
- Kenzo Flower
- Kenzo Flower Essentielle
- Kenzo Flower In The Air
- Kenzo Flower La Cologne
- Kenzo Flower Red
- Kenzo Flower Summer
- Kenzo Flower Tag
- Kenzo Homme Boisee
- Kenzo Jungle Elephant
- Kenzo Jungle Le Tigre
- Kenzo Summer
- Kenzo Vintage
- Keora
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- Kim Kardashian Glam
- Kim Kardashian Gold
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- Kimora Lee Simmons
- Kindle
- Kinky Woman
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- Kipling
- Kiss
- Kiss Her
- Kiton
- Kiton Donna
- Kjl
- Kl
- Klein Becker
- Klein Becker Face Care
- Knowing
- Ko2 America
- Konvict
- Korloff
- Korloff Paris Blue
- Korloff Paris Green
- Korloff Paris Red
- Kors
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- Kylie Minogue
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3.3 oz Eau De Parfum Spray
Item #429168
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About Lanvin
History and background of Lanvin. Founded in 1889 at 22, Rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré by Jeanne Lanvin (Paris 1867 - 1946), Lanvin is the oldest Parisian fashion house. From Haute couture (1909) to men's fashion (1926), decoration (1920), and perfumes ("My Sin" in 1925, "Arpège" 1927), the young milliner became the Ambassador of French elegance; transforming her hat and clothing workshops into a veritable fashion empire. Read more about Lanvin
More Lanvin fragrances
for Women: Eclat D'arpege , Arpege , Jeanne Lanvin , Marry Me , Oxygene , morefor Men: Lanvin , Arpege , Lanvin L'homme Sport , Avant Garde , Oxygene , more
See all Lanvin products
Customer Comments
I was so amazed at how quickly my order came. 2 Days ago I received notice that it was on its way, Thank you so much for your amazing service and not to say your great prices. Now I won't have to go to a party tonight with a note. I'll have the perfume !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
T. Fasano (Babylon, NY)
by PowerReviewsPros
- Great smell (33)
- Long-lasting (28)
- Draws compliments (24)
- Clean & fresh (21)
- Sexy (21)
- Doesn't hold (3)
- Too weak (3)
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- Daily use (26)
- Anytime (19)
- Special occasions (19)
- Evening (16)
- Signature fragrance (13)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Classic style (30), Adventurous style (7), Natural style (6)
- Fragrance Type:
- Floral (27), Woody/earthy (16), Oriental/spicy (10), Powdery (10), Fresh/aquatic (7)
Most Liked Positive Review
This fragrance is sensual, through and through! I feel thoroughly exotic and appealling when I wear this, this is my 3rd bottle to date - it seems to round off the whole outfit of...Read complete review
This fragrance is sensual, through and through! I feel thoroughly exotic and appealling when I wear this, this is my 3rd bottle to date - it seems to round off the whole outfit of the day, rather like an exclamation mark at the end of an already standout sentence or comment!!! (OK, three then...) I ordered this recently and when my fragrance arrived it was damaged, had leaked and I couldn't get the lid off - imagine my distress, I am after all addicted to the stuff - but the point of THIS is that FragranceX have been very professional and honourable and helpful...once we managed to communicate with each other...and they reimbursed me without incident. This site certainly is all about pleasuring your senses!
Most Liked Negative Review
An useful fragrance.
A beautiful every-day-fragrance.Not strong.Warm and flowery.
A beautiful every-day-fragrance.Not strong.Warm and flowery.
Reviewed by 49 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-5
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- Great Smell
- Great Value
Best Uses
- Anytime
Comments about Rumeur Perfume:
Not many people have heard of Rumeur.. It's such a beautiful smell..
- Fragrance Type:
- Woody/Earthy
- Clean & Fresh
- Great Smell
- Long-Lasting
- Sensual
- Sexy
Best Uses
- Daily Use
Comments about Rumeur Perfume:
It's been 10 years that I am loyal to this perfume
- Draws Compliments
- Great Smell
- Great Value
- Long-Lasting
- Sensual
- Sexy
Best Uses
- Anytime
Comments about Rumeur Perfume:
Harsh and soft, dusty and fresh, heavy and light, dark and bright, rebellious and elegant, old fashioned and modern. It's all about the opposites. This is Rumeur.
- Fragrance Type:
- Floral, Powdery, Woody/Earthy
- Clean & Fresh
- Great Smell
Best Uses
- Daily Use
Comments about Rumeur Perfume:
It's a pity that the perfumes I like always disappear. I only can find it in internet. So thanks a lot!
- Fragrance Type:
- Fresh/Aquatic
- Great Smell
- Long-Lasting
Best Uses
- Anytime
- Special Occasions
Comments about Rumeur Perfume:
I was looking during severals months for my favorite Rumeur Perfume by Lanvin. I was so glad I could still command it at Fragrancex.com, because this product is no longer available in Belgium/Europe. Great!
- Fragrance Type:
- Fresh/Aquatic
Displaying reviews 1-5
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7:44 PM CDT, August 3, 2012
Advertisement |
LATROBE (AP) — Ramon Foster gives a wide smile, looks to the ground sheepishly and laughs quietly.
Like most of the men he lines up next to on the Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line, Foster is affable, fun-loving and often flashes that smile — off the field, anyway.
In the trenches? A different story.
Much different.
What induced Foster's chuckle on a muggy late morning earlier this week at St. Vincent College was a question about the "mean," in-your-face persona the Steelers' offensive line appears to be embracing more than ever this season.
"Definitely, we have a little nasty edge to us," the right guard said.
As one former Steelers offensive lineman prepares for induction into the Hall of Fame Saturday — Dermontti Dawson — indications are that this season's reconfigured unit will play with an edge befitting a franchise traditionally known for its toughness and physical play.
"Our coach teaches us ... to always finish," Foster said. "If you've got a guy going down, put him on his back and show him why you are doing what you're doing."
Strong words from a 6-foot-6, 325-pound former undrafted free agent from Tennessee who has started 26 games over the first three years of his career. But Foster delivers that message with a soft voice and something of a verbal shrug when he's in his T-shirt, basketball shorts and sandals.
Center Maurkice Pouncey is even more jovial when in street clothes. He resembles the Marshmallow Man from "Ghostbusters" fame a bit — more so for his ever-present grin than his 6-4, 304-pound frame.
Following in the lineage of Mike Webster and Dermontti Dawson, who was elected to the Hall of Fame earlier this year, as All-Pro Steelers centers, Pouncey is the type of player that everyone in Pittsburgh likes. Personally, professionally, you name it. And that's good, too, because he'll acknowledge that just about every player that lines up across from him has different feelings. It's not uncommon to see the former Pro Bowl center in a defensive lineman's face, involved in a skirmish or even sometimes taking personal foul penalties.
"Totally different dude," Pouncey said of his on-field personality. "I lock in, I'm trying to be a warrior, try to go as hard as I can and try to go out there and lead the squad. I won't even think about being a nice guy out there. I'll shake your hand afterward. But during the game? It's not happening."
Pouncey is only entering his third year with the Steelers (No. 7 in the AP Pro32), but he's already the most tenured player at his position on the line. Former college teammate Marcus Gilbert took over at right tackle early in his rookie season last year when Willie Colon sustained a torn triceps in the season opener.
Colon has since been moved to left guard. That has Pittsburgh coaches and players — including Colon himself — excited at the possibilities. Colon prefers an aggressive style, and guard more so fits that.
"You've got to be able to kind of let other people across the field from you know that you've got teeth, too — and that you're willing to bite," Colon said. "If you're able to do that, it just makes a statement."
Colon is one of the most popular players in the Steelers locker room among teammates, coaches and media, as well. One of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's best friends on the team, Colon is introspective and engaging. But, like Foster and Pouncey, Colon flips the proverbial switch once he puts on his shoulder pads.
"I'm a passionate guy out there," Colon said. "Ever since I've been here, the offensive line has always kind of been the unit to lead the way, and to do that you kind of got to be fiery. You've got to have a no-backdown mentality, and I wear it with pride."
Sometimes, maybe a little too much.
The first Steelers practice of this training camp that involved shoulder pads was only a few drills old when Colon was involved in a mild pushing-and-shoving incident with a defensive teammate. After practice, though, it was over. And more than one teammate commented they hoped Colon would do it again, just to maintain the "mean" tone to camp for a team that went 12-4 last year. Even Pouncey marvels at the "nastiness" of the man who lines up to his left, Colon.
"He's a dog, man," Pouncey said. "He's a monster in there."
Pittsburgh feels as if it's added another monster in David DeCastro, who is competing with Foster to start at right guard. The Steelers' first round pick out of Stanford, the 6-5, 316-pound DeCastro has been playfully dubbed "Mr. Personality" by teammates in Latrobe. In contrast to the outgoing Pouncey and Colon, words such as "angry" and "focused" were used by college teammates to describe the man who helped protect No. 1 overall pick Andrew Luck.
"He looks like a military dude," Pouncey joked of the dark-haired, crew-cutted DeCastro. "He's too serious some of the time. But man, he's a great guy to have out on the field."
That's all the Steelers ask out of all their offensive linemen.
"We expect physical play from all our players," Pittsburgh offensive line coach Sean Kugler said. "We drill it that way, we coach it that way. You want the same mentality all the time."
It didn't take new offensive coordinator Todd Haley long to pick up on the mentality of his new linemen. When asked if he thought the unit had a "mean streak," Haley jokingly answered, "You think?"
Pouncey, perhaps, said it best when describing how the Steelers' linemen strive to approach their jobs:
"Go out there and just try to beat up on the guy across from you."
And then when it's over, flash those smiles in the locker room.