Pakistan

Kerry: Pakistan And U.S. Are At A Critical Crossroads

Susan Crabtree | May 17, 2011, 1:35PM

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA)

Sen. John Kerry (D-MA), fresh from a trip to Pakistan aimed at repairing deeply frayed relations with the United States, said Tuesday the two nations are at a critical crossroads and cautioned against either side taking precipitous action.

Kerry spent the weekend meeting with Pakistani officials and trying to determine steps that would assuage the deep distrust between the two nations after the discovery of Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan and his subsequent killing in a covert operation by a Navy SEALs team.

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John McCain

McCain Fears Sadr's Influence In Iraq Ahead of U.S. Withdrawal

Susan Crabtree | February 3, 2011, 1:18PM

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is expressing concern about the movements of radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr in and out of Iran and Iraq ahead of the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq later this year.

"I'm very concerned about Sadr's activity -- and his followers...I'll be pretty blunt," McCain said Thursday at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

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Alan Grayson

New Grayson Ad Hits Opponent On Women's Issues, Eschews Taliban Comparison (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 4:49PM

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL)

Here's that new ad Alan Grayson was talking about on CNN last night.

As promised, the spot steers clear of comparing his Republican opponent Daniel Webster to the Taliban, but it does focus on the same issues his previous "Taliban Dan" segment addressed.

The ad notes the following Webster positions:

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Acknowledges 'Taliban Dan' Moniker May Have Gone Too Far (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2010, 12:24PM

On CNN last night, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) acknowledged that his use of the nickname "Taliban Dan" to describe his Republican opponent Daniel Webster may have gone too far. But he defended the thrust of the ad, which depicts Webster as a Christian extremist.

"I know you disagree with your opponent, and -- and certainly you disagree with his views," said host Anderson Cooper. "But calling him Taliban Dan, I mean, it's equivalent to somebody -- calling somebody a Nazi or, you know, a Maoist. I mean, why go down that road?"

"Well, in a way, you're right," Grayson admitted. "We let that ad run and die a natural death. Now we're running an entirely different ad on the same point, because people need to know Dan Webster's record."

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Institute for Basic Life Principles

Inside The Institute For Basic Life Principles -- The Organization That Inspired 'Taliban Dan' Ad

Brian Beutler | October 4, 2010, 8:40AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

"Wives, submit yourself to your own husband."

Those words, spoken by Tea Party backed Republican Daniel Webster, were spliced into a September campaign ad called "Taliban Dan," produced by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL), who is in danger of losing his conservative-leaning Congressional seat.

The problem for Grayson was that those words were taken out of context. Speaking before a gathering of a fundamentalist group called the Institute for Basic Life Principles, Webster said "[First] write a journal, second, find a verse. I have a verse for my wife. I have verses for my wife. Don't pick the ones that say she should submit to me. That's in the Bible. But pick the ones that you're supposed to do. So instead "love your wife, even as Christ loved the church he gave himself for" as opposed to 'wives, submit yourself to your own husband.' She can pray that if she wants to."

Webster's been with IBLP in its various forms for decades. After he released the full footage of his remarks, many critics indicted Grayson for dissembling. It appeared, after all, as if Webster had repudiated female submissiveness to husbands. So Grayson took his lumps. And the underlying claims in the ad -- including that Webster opposes all abortion, even in cases of rape -- went largely unaddressed.

However, the distorted remarks notwithstanding, a former member of IBLP told TPMDC last week that Grayson has every right to compare the organization's mores -- and Daniel Webster's as well -- to those of the Taliban.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Ad Hits "Taliban Dan Webster" For Demanding Submissiveness From Women (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | September 27, 2010, 9:40AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

A tough new ad by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) has his Republican opponent Daniel Webster on the defense just weeks before the election. The segment focuses on Webster's extremely conservative religious views, and concludes by calling him "Taliban Dan Webster."

"Religious fanatics try to take away our freedom: In Afghanistan, In Iran, and right here in Central Florida," the narrator begins.

Though reporters and partisans argue about dubbing a Congressional candidate a member of the Taliban, perhaps the most damning portion of the ad comes from multiple pieces of footage Grayson has unearthed of Webster referencing and endorsing parts of the bible that instruct women to be submissive to their husbands.

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Alan Grayson

Grayson Knocks 'Taliban Dan' Webster For Supporting 'Covenant Marriage'

Brian Beutler | August 23, 2010, 10:23AM

Republican congressional candidate Daniel Webster

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) isn't taking any chances with his re-election, attacking all of his potential opponents as they fight each other in the GOP primary. But he's saving his harshest line for his likely rival, Daniel Webster -- or, as Grayson calls him, "Taliban Dan." Why? Because in 1990, Webster sponsored and supported legislation in Florida that would have made it much more difficult for people to divorce -- a policy called "covenant marriage."

In a letter to supporters, Grayson described it like this: "Dan Webster's bill reduces the institution of marriage to a roach motel: You can check in, but you can't check out."

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Asia trip

Obama Tells Chinese Students Decision On Afghanistan Gives Him 'A Heavy Heart'

Christina Bellantoni | November 16, 2009, 8:57AM

President Barack Obama

President Obama's town hall in Shanghai (held around midnight East Coast time) was a highlight of his 8-day Asia trip. He'll be holding a press conference today in Beijing and also will see the Great Wall and Forbidden City.

He makes the diplomatic visit as he's considering whether to send a surge of up to 40,000 troops to Afghanistan, and the 300 Chinese students he spoke to at the town hall were well aware of the upcoming decision. A Fudan University student asked Obama if terrorism is still the greatest security concern for the United States, adding, "How do you assess the military actions in Afghanistan, or whether it will turn into another Iraqi war?"

His answer in full after the jump.

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Nobel Peace Prize

Van Hollen Condemns Limbaugh, Steele For Agreeing 'With The Taliban And Iran' On Obama's Nobel Prize

Eric Kleefeld | October 9, 2009, 5:41PM

Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) released this statement, making it clear that Democrats will use Republican condemnation of President Obama's Nobel Peace Prize as an issue of the GOP's basic patriotism:

"The outrageous reaction by Rush Limbaugh, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, and others to President Obama winning the Nobel Peace Prize is the latest sad example of Republicans putting politics before country by rooting for America to fail. House Republicans should immediately condemn these outrageous statements asserting that they are 'on the same side as the Taliban.'

"Rush Limbaugh and his Republican allies may, as Rush Limbaugh said, 'all agree with the Taliban and Iran,' but millions of Americans see the President's winning of the Nobel Peace Prize as an affirmation of our nation's values and it should be celebrated.

"Democrats and Republicans should join President Obama in seeing this award as a call to action against the common economic and security challenges we all share."