New York Times Editorial, A Test for President Karzai: “Whom Mr. Karzai chooses for his new cabinet will be the first indicator, after his fraud-marred election, of whether he is truly determined to rein in epidemic levels of corruption and incompetence. His speech on Tuesday to an anti-corruption conference in Kabul suggested, ominously, that he still does not get it.”  Full Article

Trudy Rubin interviews General McChrystal as published in the Winnepeg Free Press:
But how can we rely on an Afghan government riddled with corruption?
McChrystal’s answer, which is key to the U.S. strategy: “Absolutely we need a credible partner. But we can leverage the good people at the local level simultaneously to working with the centre.” That means working with effective cabinet ministers, such as those at defence, interior, rural development and agriculture, and bolstering their staff in Kabul and at provincial and district level. It also means funnelling more aid through competent provincial governors and district heads, and pressing President Hamid Karzai to increase their numbers. Full Article

Robert Maier of Kabul Press: “Thirty minutes ago, I instructed Gen. McChrystal to arrest President Hamid Karzai…”  The speech Obama should give… Full Article

Matthew Green of the Financial Times London writes: “Last month, Mr Brown describing Afghanistan as a “byword” for corruption, and said the Afghan leader must do more to tackle graft after he was declared the winner of elections tainted by huge fraud.”  Green writes of Brown’s trip to Afghanistan to try to mend relations with Hamid Karzai while not backing down from demands of stronger efforts from the Afghan government.  Full Story

A bio of Mr. Karzai from the Afghan government website: A Brief Biography of President Hamid Karzai

Democracy? That’s a laugh

While watching “The Young Victoria” the other day, a film about England’s 19th century queen, the thought struck me: Perhaps these odes to feudal aristocracies — films like “Marie Antoinette” or “The Duchess” — are so popular because they seem so familiar; just replace the lords and ladies with CEOs and trophy wives, the moated castles with gated communities, and the outrageous opulence with, well outrageous opulence.  Full Article

Regina Weinreich at Huffington Post on Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story:
“Whatever you may think of Michael Moore and his movies, one great reason to see this one is the footage he uncovered in an archive in South Carolina of President Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights which ensures the right of individuals to have a job, a fair wage, and health care.”  Full Article

Matt Diehl says that Capitalism: A Love Story is Michael Moore’s newest piece of trash.

From the New York Times, Manohla Dargis: “[Moore]’s on far firmer ethical ground when he doesn’t use other human beings as props. Some of the more effective scenes in “Capitalism” involve his straightforward, journalistic interviews with people who have been abused by the greed of their employers.” Full Article

Xan Brooks of The Guardian (UK):  “Michael Moore’s latest documentary drew tumultuous applause at the Venice film festival today, suggesting that the veteran tub-thumper has lost none of his power to whip up a response. If the film finally lacks the clean, hard punch provided by the record-breaking Fahrenheit 9/11, that can only be because the crime scene is so vast and the culprits so numerous.”  Full Article