Adam Weinstein

Engagement Editor

I'm Mother Jones' engagement editor and Tumblrizer, specializing in explanatory journalism and new-media reporting. As a Navy vet and ex-Iraq contractor, I'm also committed to articulating all things martial—good, bad, and weird—to new audiences.

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Adam Weinstein is Mother Jones' engagement editor, having previously served the magazine as its national security reporter and copy editor. Before that, he worked at the Wall Street Journal, the Village Voice, and the Tallahassee Democrat. He's written for the New York Times, New York magazine, GQ, and Newsweek. A Navy veteran, two-day Jeopardy champion and ex-political scientist, he also did a recession-fueled stint as a military contractor in Iraq. For more about Adam and his writing, click here.

What Would Romney Do: National Security

Here are nine possible outcomes of Romney's plans for "an American century" should he win the presidency.

—By Adam Weinstein and Dana Liebelson

| Sat Nov. 3, 2012 3:03 AM PDT

Say Mitt Romney pulls off a victory on Tuesday: What might he move to do on the national security front as president? Here are some of the possibilities:

1. Ratchet up military hostilities with Iran. Or Russia. Or China. Or Syria...

Romney has been short on specifics with respect to Iran's nuclear ambitions, other than to say he'd press for greater sanctions than the Draconian ones already secured by President Obama. But one difference is Romney's willingness to back threats with what he calls "a credible military option." That means attacks on Iranian targets, whether by US or Israeli forces, are on the table. Romney would need congressional approval for a full-on war, but as commander-in-chief, he could take provocative steps that would make such a conflict difficult to avoid: He has vowed to increase naval exercises with Arab states, and to maintain a more robust US naval presence in the Persian Gulf. Recent history in the Cold War and in the Gulf itself suggests that putting US military assets in close proximity to adversarial forces increases the risk of a violent conflict.

On the Environment

On Reproductive Rights

On National Security

On Food and Agriculture

On Civil Liberties

Likewise, Romney has rattled the saber against Russia ("our No. 1 geopolitical foe"), China ("On day one, I will label China a currency manipulator"), and Syria (which he incorrectly called Iran's "route to the sea"). Such tough rhetoric complicates US diplomatic relations with the first two and raises rebels' expectations for US intervention in the latter.

2. Throwing money at defense like it's 1985.

Romney plans for the US to spend a minimum of 4 percent of annual GDP on defense, which one expert calls "skyrocketing North of Cold War levels." That would add $2 trillion in new defense spending above what the Pentagon has requested for the next decade. That would require congressional approval (unlikely if the Democrats retain a majority in the Senate) and it doesn't even take into account the defense cuts of $492 billion over the next decade that are set to trigger automatically as a result of last year's congressional debt compromise. But Romney would have other means for deploying defense spending, including:

[Read the full article]

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Video: Romney Locks Up 1980s Lying Car Salesman Vote

—By Adam Weinstein

| Wed Oct. 31, 2012 10:36 AM PDT

It's an October surprise—October 1988, maybe: Reagan-era TV pitchman "Joe Isuzu" has endorsed Mitt Romney!

In a series of iconic commercials, Joe Isuzu was the Japanese car company's ballyhooed on-air spokesman through the late '80s, as well-known and zeitgeisty as later ad stars like "the most interesting man in the world" and the "Can you hear me now?" guy. Played by longtime character actor David Leisure (you know, the Hare Krishna in Airplane), Joe was an amusingly upbeat liar, making ever-more mendacious claims about Isuzu vehicles and capping them off with the tagline "You have my word on it." (Relive shaky YouTube clips of his greatest hits at the bottom of this post.)

Apparently, Joe Isuzu finds a lot to like in Mitt Romney's fast-and-loose approach to political truthiness. Thanks to Leisure and comedy producer Martin Lewis, the car salesman is back to endorse the GOP presidential candidate with some more Joe-like promises:

Of course, this isn't the first time Joe Isuzu has penetrated the American political consciousness. The pop-culture character inspired this line of attack against Vice President George H.W. Bush's pie-in-the-sky fiscal plan by Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis in a 1988 presidential debate:

Given how that race turned out for Dukakis, Joe Isuzu's political influence was as effective as an underpowered compact pickup truck.

For some blasts from the past, check out these vintage Joe Isuzu ads:

Palm Beach County Screws Up Another Presidential Election

—By Adam Weinstein

| Mon Oct. 29, 2012 8:56 AM PDT

Wikimedia Commons

Just in case 2012 hasn't filled you with Bush-Gore-repeat nightmares yet, there's bad news from the South Florida epicenter of the 2000 debacle: Election officials in Palm Beach County say they screwed up at least 60,000 absentee ballots and have to perform a recount.

That's right: The county that gave you the butterfly ballot is back. An error by the county's printer caused ballots to go out to absentee voters with a typo, and as completed votes roll back into the supervisor's office by mail, volunteer workers have to copy the votes by hand onto new ballots to ensure they're counted by the county's tabulation machines.

"It won't be able to read [the misprinted ballots]," county elections supervisor Susan Bucher told the Palm Beach Post when the problem came to light two weeks ago. "It will just kick them out."

If you're asking, "How the hell?" here's the deal:

[Read more in the MoJo blog]

Virginia Gov. Says Obama Insulted the Navy. Pot, Meet Kettle.

Bob McDonnell says Obama's debate zinger offended sailors. But the GOPer has his own history with the Navy.

—By Adam Weinstein

| Wed Oct. 24, 2012 11:24 AM PDT

Flickr/pasukaru76

Bob McDonnell had some harsh words for President Obama after Monday night's debate. The Republican Virginia governor, who's been stumping for Mitt Romney, was fuming mad after Obama knocked Romney's misleading lament that the Navy had fewer ships than in 1916. ("We also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed," the president retorted.)

That didn't sit well with McDonnell, whose state coffers rely on a federal military presence—including largest naval base in the world:

President Obama's comment about 'horses and bayonets' was an insult to every sailor who has put his or her life on the line for our country.
— Bob McDonnell (@BobMcDonnell) October 23, 2012

McDonnell repeated the charge verbatim in a statement released through the Romney campaign the next morning, then doubled down on it in an uncomfortable interview with Anderson Cooper Tuesday night. It's poppycock, though: Sailors generally agree with Obama on the silliness of counting dreadnoughts versus nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. "Navy officials argue that just one or two of the Navy's modern destroyers and submarines could take out the entire 1916 fleet with ease," the Wall Street Journal's Julian Barnes reported Tuesday.

There's more: Despite touting his own past experience as an Army medical supply officer, McDonnell has often run afoul of the sea service in his short tenure. Here are five McDonnell policies that left some sailors fuming:

[Read the full article]

Meet the US Army's Soldier of the Year, a Nepalese Immigrant

—By Adam Weinstein

| Tue Oct. 23, 2012 2:57 PM PDT

Sgt. Saral Shrestha accepts his Soldier of the Year award

The US Army named its soldier of the year on Monday. He's a special forces-connected sergeant, an officer-in-training, an Afghanistan vet... and a recent immigrant to the United States from Nepal.

Sgt. Saral Shrestha, a native of Kathmandu, came to America in 2007 and enlisted in the Army in 2009; according to his parents, he came on a student visa but was granted US citizenship in an Army naturalization ceremony. He currently serves as a power-generator technician with the 3rd Special Forces Group, supporting their missions overseas, and reportedly tore up the stiff competition for the service's coveted prize.

"The competition included urban warfare simulations, board interviews, physical fitness tests, written exams, and battle drills simulating what soldiers would encounter in combat," the local Ft. Bragg newspaper reports. That probably wasn't hard for Shrestha, who'd already deployed to the Afghan war zone and plans to take an officer's commission after he finishes a master's degree. (As motivation, Shrestha cited his great grandfather, who served in the British Army during World War II. "I heard his stories when I was growing up and I guess that inspired me to some extent," he told the Republica, a Nepali daily newspaper.)

[Read more in the MoJo blog]