Samantha Power, Wikipedia tells me, is special assistant to President Barack Obama and runs the Office of Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights as senior director of multilateral affairs on the staff of the National Security Council. She is, I can tell you, a remarkable woman by any imaginable definition in too many ways to elaborate here (thoughWikipedia’s entry will give you at least an idea of what I mean and this New York Timesarticle will give you an idea of why the role she may or may not have played in convincing the president to intervene in Libya has made her front-page news again).
Personally, I am divided about the decision to intervene in Libya. Even if it turns out swimmingly—which military interventions never, ever do—I think Obama made a grievous mistake in failing to go to Congress to get the requisite constitutional authority to put U.S. soldiers in harm’s way for an extended period. But my point today has little to do with the ultimate wisdom (or lack thereof) of Obama’s decision or even with the degree and quality of Ms. Power’s influence. Rather it’s about the nature of conservative journalism.
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