Majority of Public Deems Afghanistan War 'Not Worth Fighting' from The Takeaway: Early Edition by feedback@thetakeaway.org (Public Radio International and WNYC Radio)

The latest ABC News/Washington Post poll shows that 60 percent of Americans say the Afghanistan war is "not worth fighting." This is a record low in public support of the war. Mary Galeti, the wife of Afghanistan veteran First Lieutenant Russell Galeti, and Gideon Rose, editor of Foreign Affairs and author of "How Wars End: Why We Always Fight the Last Battle," describe their observations of public opinion, and what it might mean for the Obama administration's efforts in Afghanistan going forward. We asked how your support for the War in Afghanistan has changed since it started nine years ago. Here are some of the responses we got by text message.

Download that podcast here. With The Atlantic, Rose recently opined on the whole issue of Wikileaks:

"It's actually pretty striking how generally intelligent and sensible and straightforward the officials involved have been," said Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose. "U.S. policy turns out to be pretty much what we say it is on the surface. There are not secret, nefarious, hidden agendas behind the scenes." The cables revealed a diplomatic corps made up not of soulless, colorless bureaucrats but of perceptive, human, and well-intentioned people, Rose said. If anything, the cable dump makes the U.S. look weak (and incompetent in preventing leaks) rather than hegemonic or scheming. "The United States is seen as trying to do sensible things but blocked by the intractability of various situations and the obduracy of other currents. This does portray a world in which the U.S. is not dominant," Rose said, while noting that such an interpretation may be realistic, given the truth that "diplomacy is always a matter of getting a less bad option."

More senior staff changes: Out goes the general from The Economist: Full print edition

In comes the pol: WHEN fighting two wars, trying to stop Iran building nuclear weapons and facing a continuing danger of terrorist attacks, few things matter more than cool decision-making in the White House. That is why the departure last week of General James Jones (above), Barack Obama’s national security adviser, has prompted frenzied analysis. Was he planning to leave anyway? Or was he pushed because Bob Woodward disclosed in his latest book that the former NATO commander had a low opinion of the president’s inner circle of political advisers, calling them, among other things, the “politburo” and “the Mafia”? The answer seems to be: a bit of both. As Mr Obama said in a fulsome Rose Garden send-off, General Jones had never intended to stay for a full term. On the other hand, the leaks in Mr Woodward’s “Obama’s Wars” show that deep tensions have existed inside the president’s national-security team. In part this was a clash of personalities. Most generals believe in a chain of command, and General Jones appears to have resented the fact that some of those who worked for him had better access to the president than he did himself. He forced one such underling, Mark Lippert, out of the White House altogether. But another, Tom Donilon, has now been promoted to become national security adviser in the general’s place. ...

Check out the full Economist story here. See also: The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008

Reports Say Former Car Czar Has Reached a Settlement with SEC from News from WNYC New York Public Radio by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC Radio)

Steven Rattner, the man who oversaw the Obama Adminsistration's turnaround of the auto industry, has been having a pretty busy week. His book about the turnaround came out and according to reports from The New York Times, he’s apparently reached a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over his role in a large and long-standing pension fund kickback scheme. New York Times reporter Louise Story discussed the reported settlement.

You can read the full WNYC story here.

Pay-to-Play Scheme Snags Hevesi, But Not DiNapoli from News from WNYC New York Public Radio by listenerservices@wnyc.org (WNYC Radio)

Rattner is no longer with Quadrangle. In April of this year, the company formally settled with Cuomo's office and the SEC and paid a total of $12 million to settle the case. It also issued a public letter describing Rattner's actions in hiring the politically-connected Morris as "inappropriate, wrong and unethical." At the time, Rattner, a former New York Times reporter, had no comment. In his book “Overhaul,” which lionizes his work in Washington, Rattner says he and his former colleagues at Quadrangle cooperated in the pension probe for months before it blew up publicly. Rattner says that before he and Quadrangle hired Hank Morris, they "checked him out" with Senator Chuck Schumer. "Both of us had worked on Chuck Schumer's first campaign for Senate in 1998," writes Rattner. Rattner says Schumer told him Morris was a "straight shooter." Rattner says he disclosed the existence of the pension probe to the Obama White House as part of his vetting process for the auto czar job. Rattner quotes White House press Secretary Robert Gibbs defending him to the press corps when Rattner and Quadrangle became ‘page one’ news. “He’s not accused of doing any wrong-doing and is not likely to face any criminal or civil charges related to this,” predicted Gibbs.

Check the show out here, at this link.

Books of The Times: Bailing Out the Big Guys, Posthaste from NYT > Books by By MICHELINE MAYNARD

In the epilogue to his new book, “Overhaul,” Steven Rattner tallies up the bill for the government assistance that spared General Motors, Chrysler and their financial subsidiaries and automotive suppliers from ruin. The total, authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations in 2008 and 2009, comes to a staggering $81.8 billion. While that government assistance has kept the companies alive, “predicting with any accuracy how much of the $82 billion of bailout money will ultimately be recovered is a difficult exercise,” writes Mr. Rattner, a former journalist for The New York Times and a financier who led President Obama’s restructuring effort.

Read the full NYT story here.

SPATWATCH: Michael Moore's Labor-Day Rant Against Rahm Emanuel from The Atlantic Wire by Erik Hayden

Last week's release of ex-Obama administration "car czar" Steven Rattner's book "Overhaul" came bundled with one strategically placed leak intended to drum up buzz: Rahm Emanuel saying "Fuck the UAW [United Auto Workers union]." The backlash to the throwaway line, which garnered predictable reactions from Beltway pundits, appeared to dissipate during the Labor Day weekend daze. Liberal gadfly Michael Moore, however, wasn't going to let that one slide. In an article for The Daily Beast, Moore declares a "Happy F---ing Labor Day" to you, Rahm, before railing against Obama's White House Chief of Staff in a 1,200 word expletive-filled screed. While the filmmaker admits that he "likes" Emanuel, he can't understand why Rahm would choose to target organized "working people" in such a way. "Maybe Rattner got confused because you [Rahm] drop a lot of F-bombs," Moore mused. Here are the highlights from his history lesson/tirade:

Read the full Atlantic story here.