The Hollywood Liberal

Kristol Wants ?More Than A No-Fly Zone? In Libya, Says U.S. Should Attack Qaddafi?s War Ships And Tanks
While the U.S. and NATO allies work with the international community to get consensus on and authorization for a no-fly zone in Libya to prevent Muammar Qaddafi’s forces from killing his own people from the air, the right-wing war hawks have predictably criticized President Obama’s measured approach. Newt Gingrich said last week that if he […]

While the U.S. and NATO allies work with the international community to get consensus on and authorization for a no-fly zone in Libya to prevent Muammar Qaddafi’s forces from killing his own people from the air, the right-wing war hawks have predictably criticized President Obama’s measured approach. Newt Gingrich said last week that if he was president, he would’ve already bombed Libya, with or without UN or NATO support. Tim Pawlenty moved in Gingrich’s direction a couple days later, dismissing the need for an international coalition on Libya. And today on Fox News Sunday, war hawk leader Bill Kristol said he wants more than just a no-fly zone. Kristol thinks the U.S. should battle with Qaddafi’s forces:

KRISTOL: I think at this point you probably have to do more than a no fly zone. You probably have to tell Qaddafi he has to stop his movement east and that we are going to use assets to stop him from slaughtering people as he moves east across the country. We might take out his ships in the Mediterranean. We might take out tanks and artillery.

Watch it:

Madison Rally Bigger Than Biggest Tea Party Rally
Police estimated up to 100,000 people turned out in Madison, WI yesterday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) assault on unions, making it bigger than any protests the city has witnessed, even those during the Vietnam War. The Madison rally is part of a much larger Main Street Movement of average Americans demanding fairness in […]

Police estimated up to 100,000 people turned out in Madison, WI yesterday to protest Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) assault on unions, making it bigger than any protests the city has witnessed, even those during the Vietnam War. The Madison rally is part of a much larger Main Street Movement of average Americans demanding fairness in labor laws, social spending, and taxation that has emerged in Ohio, New Jersey, Florida, Michigan, and elsewhere. But yesterday’s rally in Madison is noteworthy because at 85,000-100,000, it was bigger than the biggest tea party protest, the September 12, 2009 rally in Washington, D.C., which turned out only an estimated 60,000-70,000. A photo of the Madison rally yesterday:

For two years, tea party activists and their allies in the GOP have claimed that the hard-right movement represents the true beliefs of the American people. But the crowd in Madison and numerous polls tell a different story.

Public Rejects Cuts to Medicare, Social Security
Albert Hunt, Bloomberg
Albert R. HuntThe American comic strip Pogo once famously noted, "We have met the enemy, and he is us." This may be the best way to describe the current fracas in Washington over the deficit. Politicians of both parties have done a poor job of educating the public, and voters are sending conflicting, and in some cases, misguided, messages. A Bloomberg National Poll published last week, in line with other surveys, is instructive. Americans consider the widening deficit and debt a big deal; they also reject most of the measures necessary to deal with the threat by warning…

Are Japan Nuclear Fears Overblown?
Josh Dzieza, The Daily Beast
Shortly after Japan was hit with the double disaster of a magnitude 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunami, a possible third reared its head: nuclear meltdown. The quake caused 11 of Japan's nuclear reactors to shut down automatically, including three at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, 170 miles northeast of Tokyo. But the quake also cut Fukushima off from the power grid, forcing plant operators to switch to emergency diesel generators in order to continue cooling the reactor core, generators that then failed shortly after the tsunami hit.

In Japan, Much Searching But Few Are Rescued
Fackler & McDonald, NYT
NATORI, Japan — The tsunami that barreled into northeast Japan on Friday was so murderous and efficient that not much was left when search-and-rescue teams finally reached Natori on Monday. There was searching, but not much rescuing. There was, essentially, nobody left to rescue. NYTimes.com is compiling photographs from readers in the region affected by the earthquake and tsunami. The streets in Ishimaki City, Japan, were still flooded on Sunday. The government ordered 100,000 troops to take part in the relief effort "” nearly half the country's…

Egypt Needs a Culture of Tolerance
David Ignatius, Washington Post