Another One Bites the Dust!

NPR just reported that the DoJ is about to indict Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK)!! You think he'll break out his "hulk" tie for this battle?

Beat This, Gecko!

CSM reports that some car insurers - Progressive, specifically - are starting to offer rates based on how much, and how aggresive, you drive. Unfortunately you need a devise installed in your car that will track your habits ... and I doubt civil liberty-folks would be cool with someone tracking their movements.

The Socialist

TNR has a good article debunking the rating system over at National Journal that rated Obama as the "most liberal" Senator (and didn't even rank McCain b/c he missed too many votes). Essentially, an accurate analysis puts Obama in the liberal wing - but definitely not the most liberal.

Also, under the NJ's current standards (where they disqualify you if you don't make 1/2 the votes) - Kerry wouldn't have been named "most liberal" in '04 either!

Finally, Someone in the MSM Points This Out

Christopher Hitchens in Slate re-iterates something I've mentioned several times on these (cyber) pages - that Obama has a sophisticated, nuanced view on the Surge as it pertains to the War. As I've pointed out before, the surge is a tactical victory (maybe) - and we need strategic thinking. It seems that Hitchens is the only other person (other than me) who picked up Obama's explanation ofthis in the Austin debate. This is why Obama is able to win the debate even while the Surge is showing some success.

Obama-Kaine '08?

Politico reports that Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine is high up on the VP list. I remember talk of him a while back, but had sort of assumed he wasn't being considered anymore.

B for 3!!! Swish!

I've become more and more impressed w/ Obama's 3-point shot last week in front of the troops, all major networks, and the entire world. Now, I used to have a pretty good stroke back in the day - but even then I don't think I'd chance taking ONE shot that - if I missed - would be run over and over and over on TV and GOP attack ads (if you think you've seen the shot a lot now - think of what would have happened if he'd bricked!). The fact that Obama had the skill, confidence, and cajones to pop the 3 tells me a lot about him. He's confident, daring, decisive, calm, not risk averse and wants the ball in his hands for the game-winning shot ... even if he's in loafers.

Baller.

Rachel Maddow

NYT has a brief profile ... including how she's a Rhodes Scholar who got a job wearing an inflatable calculator on the sidewalk for a car dealership. I noticed her profile is definitely rising after she was Olbermann's sit-in a few weeks ago.

Float on

I am spending the weekend at the "Whitewater Park" at Turkey Run in Indiana, so please keep me updated on what's happening in the real world. Post stories, links and concerns in the Comments section.

What Happened to this Guy?

Didn't Tom Friedman used to be a respected voice in Foreign Affairs? I guess he was always hawkish, though - and late to renounce the war ... maybe that accounts for his McCain apologetics. (Or is he still sour about HRC?). I could pick apart some of his assumptions (some right, some wrong) - but generally I'm not convinced the surge was a strategic victory. Everyone is confusing strategic and tactical goals. The surge was a tactical victory (and I was in favor of the surge) where we couldn't afford to stay in Iraq or leave it - so we up'd our ante. The strategic goal was always to get some sort of political reconciliation and enough stability in order to leave. The surge helped with that some. But we have to credit the pre-surge Sunni Awakening (which is it's own double-edged sword), the pressure our threat of leaving/a new president put on Iraq's leaders, and internal Iraqi politics (everyone trying to bash the U.S. more than the next) have a lot to do with where we are strategically right now. Like I said, the surge helped - in Baghdad where it was focused ... but there are many other factors that contribute to our long-term success all over Iraq - and Obama was more right than he was wrong. I think it's unfair to paint McCain as a tragic figure at this juncture.

I thought Friedman would have avoided falling into the trap of viewing the surge in such simplistic - talkingpoint - terms.

Everyone Needs a Little Help Sometimes

And rich people haven't need the Bush administration so much since the stock market crash! The WSJ reports that - in 2006 - the Richest 1% of American's earned the highest percent of our Adjusted Gross Income since possibly 1929, while at the same time paying the lowest taxes in 18 years! Good to know someone's looking out for 'em.

(fyi, their share of the tax base has gone up - but not as high as their earnings)

Not All Publicity is Good Publicity, it seems

(via Yglesias) McCain has been complaining that Obama has caught all the press attention (which he has) and he wants some of the action. Well, the press has questions on why McCain thinks the Surge caused the Sunni Awakening when it actually pre-dated the troop surge - and also if he really thinks Obama wants to lose the war in order to win a campaign. Unfortunately, McCain cancelled the press avail where he could have gotten some much needed attention.

This Bush is Not Green

EPA director Johnson blocked California's request to have stricter car emissions standards because the White House told him to. This comes from his deputy's Hill testimony today claiming that Johnson thought the waiver from the Clean Air Act was legal and was going to grant the waiver until the Administration stepped in and ordered it quashed - so there could be a nationwide (weak) standard. Johnson claimed, under oath, that the decision was his alone. California wanted to cut GHG from cars by 30% by 2016.

(via Meals) Also, the Labor Department is fast-tracking a rule to weaken regulations on chemical exposure in the workplace. Businesses argue that the present assumption that workers are exposed for 45 years is no longer realistic. The new regulation came from the policy shop - skipped OSHA and other safety organizations review - and will add layers of bureaucracy to the process to blunt any future attempt to re-strengthen the policy.

A Show of Solidarity

(Via Marinade) Vanity Fair shares a building w/ the New Yorker -- and has got their back.

Blatant Lies

I just read Pete Hegseth's NRO article on Obama's Iraq strategy and it's laughable in its inaccuracy. Pete is the Vets for Freedom guy that makes his rounds on TV some (I've at least seen him on Hardball) and I have always thought his head (not Obama's) was in the sand. But this article takes the cake! I checked some of his hyperlinks and they don't even support what he claims they do. A few examples

- claims Obama met w/ some Military commanders who told him a timetable would be bad: then cites a retired general's NYT op-ed and Bush's Chair of the Joint Cheifs on Fox News claiming their disapproval. No one claims that's what Obama is hearing in private meetings (i.e. with Petraus)
- claims Obama reiterated his "clear" withdrawal date in a press release, when the release says Maliki wants a "clear" withdrawal
- Then he says Maliki told Obama he's against a timeline!! Has Hegseth seen a newspaper in the last 5 days?!

It's fine if you want to stay in Iraq for a long time - just say it and try to back it up. Instead, this article is full of outright lies that are directly contradicted by Byron York's post on the same page! Don't act like Obama's view is batty when over the last week it's becoming clear that McCain's policies are becoming increasingly isolated (with even W drifting toward Obama in some areas).

Good Disguise, Karadzic

(Via the WaPo)

Poor President

Pelosi goes into Grandmother mode: dumping on Bush ... "bless his heart"

Jindal Has the Edge

McCain is meeting w/ Gov. Bobby Jindal this week ... Novak and Drudge think McCain will choose his VP by weeks end, and Limbaugh and Gingrich have Jindal as their top pick. The breakdown here.

UPDATE: others think he'll hold off so there isn't a (losing) coverage battle with Obama's Iraq visit.

UPDATE UPDATE: Now, Bob Novak claims he just threw it out there - put it up on the net - that McCain was about to announce at the behest of their campaign ... maybe to distract from Obama's Iraq visit. That's low.

Why Obama's Iraq Trip is Perfection

... And really bad for McCain. Yglesias has a nice insight on how McCain called Obama out for not going to Iraq - assuming he'd either have to flip flop (if he saw progress) or remain out of touch .... but neither happened and now everyone agrees Obama was right all along! Whups. This also indicates that Obama wasn't just "lucky" - but was actually more attuned with the politics on the ground.

Also, E.J. writes in today's column how the more Bush Administration shifts toward Obama (Iran, timetables, etc.) the more "safe" Obama will seem to the general population ... which helps him compete (or beat) McCain on foreign policy experience.

McCain's Mix-Ups

Finally a list of McCain's mix-ups in one place. I don't think all of his "gaffes" are created equal - some are just mix-ups that occur when you've been on the trail for 2 years and have press around you 24-7. But, some of them are pretty odd for a "foreign policy expert" to be making ...

Yglesias chalks it up to poor staffing and briefing. I think that's true. But the authors (Allen and Van DeHei) prefer to chalk it up to old age.

David Simon is the Bomb

So - I'm getting through season 5 of the Wire Finally, so I thought I'd re-read this article on David Simon since it's about the newspaper and season 5 . God I love this show and am really sad it's about to be over (for me). I remember when it was on HBO a lot of fans were disappointed w/ the last season - but I'm loving it still. It's over the top - but b/c you know the characters so well it's totally believable as well.

Be sure to read David Simon's response post to Yglesias's blog on the Wire. Dude is crazy - but awesome.

Also - I caught the first 2 episodes of David Simon's Generation Kill on Sunday. Not a bad series ... I wouldn't say I love it as much as Band of Brothers yet, but it's a good look at the early stages of the Iraq war. There's obviously a lot that can be taken from it (especially for liberals) but what I was really intruiged by was the soldiers' extreme respect for the Iraqi's and the Republican Guard as fighters. All I remember from the early days of the war was the impression that we just romped through the Iraqi lines. If the Gen Kill depiction is correct, our Marines were a lot more impressed w/ the Iraqi heart than the DoD let on.

Where's McCain's "Base" Now?

McCain has joked about the media being his "base" and he's been given a pass on several gaffes, inconsistencies, and generalities by the press. But now the New York Times rejected McCain's op-ed responding to Obama's Iraq op-ed last week. The NYT wasn't satisfied with the content, it claims, because it didn't talk about definitions of "victory", troop levels, or "timetables." I'm not sure McCain can ever get his published in the NYT without it being viewed as capitulating. Also - why would the NYT do something dumb like this that will obviously reflect badly on them? They could have always just done its own editorial picking apart the op-ed if it wasn't up to snuff.

Take Back the "God Vote"

(Via KKP) For all of Obama's talents, he's is exceptionally good at speaking about his faith. Word out today that both he and McCain will attend a convention at Rick Warren's Saddleback church sometime before the convention. We can expect that, although Obama may not be Warren's ideal candidate on paper, Obama will probably perform better on stage than McCain and will ease any belief (on the base's part) that Obama a Philistine. Futhermore, it's hard to paint him as a Muslim when he gets an audience with the nation's most famous evangelical pastor. Kudos to Warren for his proven track record of bipartisanship.

Now the Administration is Getting Antsy

AG Mukasey, reacting to Boumediene and the Courts' recent involvement in the fate of Gitmo detainees has proposed some legislation to - once again - strip the courts of the power they have recently reclaimed. One of the proposals is - yes - that the Government can hold foreign detainees as long as the "War on Terror" continues. I'm thinking that we could also hold smugglers in jail until we win the "war on drugs."

I Like Seeing This

Obama, Petraus, and (my #2 VP choice) Hagel flying over Baghdad. Looks chummy w/ the GOP' White Knight (a.k.a. Petraus)

Obama-Maliki '08

Here's a quick run-down of why Malaki's endorsement of Obama's position on troop withdrawals is really bad for McCain. . . it's also not getting much coverage (or at least the admin/McCain campaign is trying to bury it or explain it away). In any event - it's hard to say we're setting up a democracy and viable government over there and then ignore the PM's wishes!

This works very well in Obama's favor. Now, let's just hope he continues to "look" presidential on his MidEast trip (aside from shooting 3's) so he comes back w/ the world & Iraq on his side and looking like the leader of the free world.

UPDATE: Byron York at NRO begrudgingly accepts this also ... showing some common sense.

New Jib Jab Funny

I haven't linked to this yet. Jib Jab is becoming a main event.

Nuthin' But Net

Obama's got range! Check out this video of his trey ball in Iraq. (start at 1:00 mark).

So Inspirational

Credit where credit is due -- Bush just agreed with Maliki on an "aspirational timetable" to get out of Iraq. It will, of course, depend on some improvements on the ground. But it is a concession on W's part - and a step in the right direction.

The Onion - Always on the Ball

(Via VH1) "Recession-Plagued Nation Demands New Bubble to Invest In"

I say widgets or illegal immigration futures.

Denver Homeless During the DNC

Bill Johnson in the RMN has a nice piece on how the homeless are reacting to Denver's plan to send them to the zoo and movies during the DNC. Sounds like many will refuse and probably just go to jail.

Daily Dish

(Via KKP) Scientology gave Katie Holmes has purple hands! Maybe next time she's in Batman she'll be one of the villians.

One Term, then Hillary in 2012?

HRC has bought HRC2012.com domain name.

A Golden Calf for Sale

Not sure what I think about this: UK avante artist Damien Hirst created a Golden Calf - literally dipped in gold, but preserved in formaldehyde - and is now going to auction it at Sotheby's. Here's the picture. TNR thinks it's selling out (sort of). I, honestly, don't know what I think. But you can't disagree that it's a powerful statement ... the question just becomes "what is the statement?"

UPDATE: (via Mississippi) think the Onion had this in mind?

An Inconvenient Argument

E.J. sums up Al Gore's recent energy speech and argues that Gore has the Democratic narrative nailed down - if only Dems would follow it.

The Dark Night

A good review of the movie .... looking forward to seeing it this weekend. Did you know Sen. Leahy has a cameo?!

National Popular Vote Campaign

I hadn't heard of this. The NPV is a movement to get states to allocate their delegates proportional to the (national?) popular vote winner - IFF (that's philosophy lingo for "if and only if") a majority of other states do it too. Therefore, nothing happens at first, but when other states adopt the law then we have a de facto popular vote system. Interesting idea. Under the Constitution states can allocate delegates as they wish, so it doesn't require and amendment, and it modernizes the antiquated (in many people's view) rationale for the Electoral College.

Brooks, Where's the Big Idea?

David Brooks' column has at least been hitting on a theme most conservatives aren't willing to embrace - that our problems (energy, healthcare, transportation, human capitol, financial structure) are too big and complicated to leave to the ordinary GOP "hands-off" "laissez-faire" "government is the problem" approach. Reform in these areas requires - and can only be accomplished - by government. This is a pretty big admission for conservatives - and wipes out a chunk of their philosophy. (I doubt many would still argue these problems will solve themselves)

So, the next question is - how should the government proceed. This is where Brooks sells us short in the name of historic conservatism. He looks at Disraeli and TR as models, but surprisingly extrapolates from their tenure a notion that we should "tread softly" into the future - careful not to disturb our American Ideals. I think all Americans are in favor of maintaining our ideals (and we probably agree on most of what they are) and framing it as 'us vs. them' only serves the local political climate - not the broader discussion. Set aside the fact that Disraeli (from what little I know) and TR (from which I know a little more) seemed pretty radical (remember TR left the GOP to form the Bull Moose Party ... and he was HUGE on the environment and busting up the trusts and robber barons) ... even if Brooks is right that they were modest change agents, I would argue that these problems are so big that we need Radical change agents. Not the radicalism that destroys American values (who does that?), but radical big thinking ... only large-scale change will solve these problems (energy in particular) and we need to start with big ideas so that whatever we are left with after the politics and beaurocracy whittle it down will be suitable. Only if Brooks' reforms could be implemented whole-scale should we talk about modest change, because if we start with modest proposals we'll end up with lackluster results.

Update: Noam over at TNR has a similar take - and of course mentions the New Deal which I forgot.

Sewage Plants Don't Name Themselves

(Via Medium) San Fransisco is going to rename (if the ballot measure passes) the Oceanwide Wastewater Treatment Facility the "George W. Bush Sewage Plant."

ImBev Avenges the Plight of Micros

A good story in Salon on how Budweiser got what it deserved. Plus, the author has compliments for my favorites (High Life, Leinies, etc.) and really knows what a beer says about a person. At least it's good news that we're on the verge of a new microbrew resurgence. Good quick read.

McCain Thinks He'll be in the Senate Next Year - Not the White House

(Via Politico) That is what he suggested at a town hall meeting earlier this week in New Mexico by way of offering a tip of the cap to Rep. Steve Pearce, who is running to succeed Sen. Pete Domenici.

Via a very attuned Dem:

McCain: "Could I mention the presence of my friend Congressman Steve Pearce who I believe will be joining me in the United States Senate.
(Applause)
Steve, thank you"

Why it's Hard to Shake McCain

Chiat has a nice piece in TNR about why he still likes McCain. I have to agree - like many people, I REALLY liked him back in 2000, and now have a much lower opinion of him. However, there are some things about McCain that make him the best of the bunch, or at least hard to dislike. Is it because Bush has lowered our standards so much? Probably ...

What's Good for the Goose

Try and Weasel out of This One

(Via Nagy) Ferrets halt gas development in Colorado. This is going to piss off some people for sure.

Breaking News: Bush Does Something Sensible

The Guardian reports that the U.S. will actually send a diplomat to Tehran - it's not an embassy - just a halfway house, but still .... nice job.

Obama Vets Veeps in Hightops

Obama's been spending a lot of time playing ball in the gym lately - but not coming out sweaty. Some think he's talking VP while shooting hoops.

Back off Michelle

Barack defends Michelle saying "I don't have thick skin when it comes to criticism of my wife." Glamour magazine interviews him:

Candidates’ spouses “didn’t sign up for this. They’re supporting their spouse. So it took a toll. If you start being subjected to rants by Sean Hannity and the like, day in day out, that’ll drive up your negatives.”

That's Not All Jesse Said!

(Via KKP) The Fox "hot" mic also caught Jesse Jackson dropping the N-word. He talks pretty street.

This Week's Winner: Obama

According to Halperin. I tend to think his scorecard is too nuanced to accurately track how voters view things ... but its fun for pundits

Btw - why does everyone think the Obama family interview on Access Hollywood was so bad? I agree with this. It's one interview - ever - total! It's not like he has the kids shaking hands outside some factory at the closing whistle.

Late Night With John McCain

Politico has a good wrap-up of John McCain's off-color to totally inappropriate jokes. I actually laughed out loud at one or two. Half are really bad, and the others are fairly funny or just lame ... but they're all usually the sort of thing you don't usually hear from a POTUS candidate. At least they're less cringing than watching Romney sing "who let the dogs out" with some black kids.

Biden for Veep

Sen. DeMint (R-SC) sent a letter to Obama the other day asking him to hold hearings on Afghanistan b/c he chairs the Foreign Relations Subcommittee that handles the area. Well, Biden, a man after my own heart responded: essentially saying that as chair of the full cmte he held all the relevant hearings, and Obama chaired a few at Biden's request, and Obama's long-held view that Afghanistan needed a few more brigades is now the Conventional Wisdom (CW). This is yet another example of why he's my pick for VP. He's a great debator - a regular seeming guy - and has mad foreign policy cred.

Another Plug

For Lizza's New Yorker article on Obama's rise in Chicago politics. The fact that Obama is able to float above the fray while battling in the political trenches is something that has been overlooked b/c of his messiah-like rise but is definitely apparent (i.e., he killed the re-vote in MI and FLA, and figured the caucus and post-super tuesday strategy out, flipped on public funding, etc.). This was definitely learned and honed in the Windy City and Springfield. He's a realpolitik idealist. A must-read.

Spot On

This captures my view pretty well... I think, if I knew what I thought. I also agree w/ KP over at NRO that the cover won't perpetuate or change anyone's views - it may even help Obama by pointing out the craziness of the rumors. But, I think I get annoyed by the conservative free speech champions complaining that liberals are whining, while they allow these rumors to circulate to the point where they're so well known it's they make it to the cover of the New Yorker - blurs fact and fiction - and become so common they are percieved as true.

I Thought This Was Settled.

The Al-Marri ruling yesterday in the 4th circuit kind of confused me. Glenn Greenwald has a good contextual explanation over at Salon. As I understand it, the President can still designate citizens (or non-citizens in the U.S. legally like Al-Marri) as "enemy combatants" and detain them forever ... but they do get a chance to challenge the enemy combatant status. Only if it sticks can they be detained indefinitely. Now, I thought that the Gitmo cases in '05 (Hamdan, Hamdi, Rasul, etc.) said prisoners couldn't be held indefintely - but now I think they simply said they cannot be held indefinitely without process. The Padilla case, where the 4th Circuit said the President had the power of executive imprisonment (simply by designating someone - a citizen - as an "enemy combatant") was never tested in the Supreme Court because the government (seeing the writing on the wall) brought criminal charges against Padilla. Therefore, the 4th Circuit's holding that the President can designate and detain citizens under an "enemy combatant" designation is still good law. That's what the 4th Circuit followed in Al-Marri, and then following Hamdi and Boumediene said Al-Marri still needs to get some process. Anyway, I'm sure this will be heard by the Supreme Court, and they'll reverse (even Scalia doesn't think the President can arbitraily designate citizens as enemy combatants).

All the loopholes are just confusing.

That's One Sophisticated Homeless Dude.

Instead of busing the homeless out of NYC and Boston like in '04, Denver is thinking about simply
sending them to the movies or the art museum while the DNC is in town.

The Shimmy Awards

GOP house members now give out "spirit awards" - or "Shimmys" named for my friend Rep. Shimkus - to the member who gives the best or most floor speeches. So, congressmen need an incentive to talk? Oh, and the prize given to the Shimmy award winner during the Energy debate was - get this - an oil can. Really, is that smart symbolism?

There is a Lion in Colorado!

No joke - a sighting of an African lion outside Colo Springs! Does this look like a dog to you?

I'm Not a Gaffe Man

But McCain has screwed up foreign affairs facts on several occasions (remember confusing whether Iran supported the Sunni or Shia - and Lieberman helped him out). Now, McCain has referred to Czechoslovakia for the second time ... a country that ceased to exist 15 years ago.

What SCOTUS Didn't Do This Term

An interesting list of cases the Supreme Court denied cert on this term. Here's a taste of some of the cases the court could have weighed in on (interesting stuff!!):

CIA's "extraordinary rendition"... the raid on Rep. Jefferson's Rayburn office ... the NSA warrantless wiretap program ... DHS scrapping enviro regulations for a border fence ... the failed bicameralism requirement in the FY05 budget ... the 1st Amendment rights of a Representative to dispense an embarrasing Newt Gingrich phone call ... the rights of dying patients to get drugs not approved by the FDA ... defining the scope of emminent domain after Kelo ... and whether mulit-national companies could be held complicit in S. African aparteid.

Inside the New Yorker Cover

Ryan Lizza goes back to Obama's start in Chicago. I agree w/ Yglesias on this.

Now That We Know Who They Are

... Let's go get 'em. The terrorist watch list hits 1 Million. If the gov't thinks there are more terrorists/enemies, then are we more or less safe than we were? Or are we still just in the process of defining the enemy. At any rate, it'd be nice to start crossing people off the list. . . this is the epitome of bad bureaucratic policy and the solution (possible) worse than the problem.

Obama on Fareed's New Show

Here's the transcript from "GPS". They hit on G8, Russia, Darfur, Jerusalem, Asia, Islam and many other subjects and I can't even find a point to quibble with.

Here's Obama's Iraq strategy in his own words.

Obama Just Isn't That Funny

(via Southpaw) Good article that questions what you can realistically lampoon Obama for in the wake of the New Yorker cover debate.

On the issue of the cover. I'm torn - I understand it's satirical and does poke fun at the absurdity of the right-wing attack on the Obama's. But on the other hand, is it really appropriate for the cover? Or to run without a headline? And does it actually reinforce any misconceptions? Thought's on this would be appreciated.

Contest: if someone can send me a New Yorker cartoon that for once actually has the effect of making me laugh ... I'll give you a prize.

Who Murdered Bear Stearns?

Vanity Fair has an intriguing article on what may (if anyone ever investigates it) become the "greatest financial crime ever committed": And it may have been pre-meditated. A really intense story, where you know the ending but just have to understand how it went down.

It doesn't go into whether the Fed, etc. was right in propping up Bear Stearns (the Economist had some good pro-con articles on whether it's ok to allow banks to fail shortly after it happened - but I haven't tracked them down yet) ... but that's a question for another day. The "run" on the bank, fueled by malice or rumor is a good reminder that most of our institutions (the Courts, the Congress, Wall Street) are very fragile for no other reason than - at the very top levels - they are held together by mutual trust and understanding between people. When that breaks down, the "institution" itself isn't enough to hold it together without consent of the people involved.

A Silver Lining in a Dark Economic Cloud

(Via VH1) E.J. Dionne has a good article on how traditional conservative economic assumptions are being challenged by the current state of affairs. A-Lias and I were talking the other day about this ... that Conservatives have been deft at hiding behind the "competency" defense (I think Yglesias is good at pointing this out) - i.e., the Iraq war wasn't a mistake it just wasn't executed properly, or supply-side economics and tax cuts are the way to go we just haven't always cut the right taxes, or deregulation will promote growth but there have just been some bad egg CEOs out there that have taken advantage of the rest of us, etc. What A-Lias and I were saying (and Dionne explains) is that the end results of many of these policies show not that that the policies were corrupted by bad actors but that they are the extension of actual bad policies - many of which have been festering since the Reagan (aka 'GOP Jesus') administration. If anything positive will come from this confluence of economic crisis let's hope it's a re-examination of the validity of some policies that have gone un-challenged for 30 years.

In Defense of Jesse Jackson ...

... Sort of. Are we all struggling with what an Obama presidency will mean for race relations in America?

It's Your Turn

I've been in NYC for a few days and have been out of the loop. If anyone has some good articles to catch me up on what's been going on, please post them in the Comment section.

I guess Phil Graham made a gaffe? Yahoo is still refusing Microsoft's offer? What else has been going on?

I Can't Imagine George Will Drunk

But it sounds like he loves the virtues of beer.

Pretty Please?

Warren Christopher and James Baker chaired a committee charged with re-doing the War Powers Act (which is pretty worthless) at a time where the Constitution's opaque directions to the President and Congress couldn't be more at issue. David Broder outlines their proposal. It doesn't sound bad - but it doesn't sound much different from the war powers act. And I figure that whenever war comes up, the President will hold his powers jealously, and the Congress will timidly try to counter-balance them .... just as it has always been.

Wow

Jesse Jackson just said he wanted to "cut [Obama's] nuts off" .... really? Yes, really.

Gitmo Power Struggle

Remember how the DC District Court is trying to hurry up habeas proceedings for the Gitmo detainees? Well, the court also told the military that the prisoners could not be transferred without 30day notice to the court and the detainee's lawyers. Now the Gov't wants the DC Appeals Court to reverse that decision so the Military can transfer the prisoners ... I don't know where they'd take them (since the Admin. used to think Gitmo was an ideal place) ... but I think the Gov't thinks Boumediene just applied to Gitmo, so if they take the prisoners elsewhere then their habeas petitions won't be heard (relying on Munaf v. Geren that forbade habeas petitions from Americans in US custody in Iraq awaiting Iraqi trial). Grasping at straws? We'll see. The whole story is here.

FISA Update

Just as I predicted (a no brainer), Obama voted for the Dodd, Specter, and Binghaman amendments - which failed ... but then voted for the overall bill - which passed. That way he's registered his objection to the immunity provisions, but agreed to the final version - not missing the forest for the trees.

HRC voted against it - and McCain did not vote.

Update: Greenwald over at Salon is pretty pissed about this. Again - I agree that the immunity provision isn't ideal (and I do wonder why the Democratic controlled congress can't do what it wants) - and think that the biggest problem with it isn't giving companies immunity but instead it covers up any info on administration wrongdoing that would have come out in any trials. That said, as far as describing the bill as authorizing "warrantless wiretaps" - I just haven't seen anyone describe why this bill is as bad as what the Administration was already doing (can anyone help me?). I mean, as far as I know the President still has to go to the FISA court - and that's a step up from what W was (or wasn't) doing.

We Could Use Another (Cold) War

Remember how Condi was going to bring peace in the Middle East this term? Well now she's decided on a realistic goal - putting a Missile Defense Shield (with NATO support) in the Czech Republic or Poland. Now, Russia is pissed and has responded sharply (what are"military-technical methods" anyway?). In any event, chalk it up for increasing tensions with another big/powerful country (see: improved relations with Iran - who just tested a long-range missile capable of hitting Israel)

W looked into Putin's "soul" and liked what he saw ... and when he met with Medvedev he thought he was a "smart guy" - hopefully W got the 2nd one right.

Conservatives Don't Like Volunteers?

Jonah Goldberg over at NRO has a pretty out of this world article on how Obama's (and McCain's and Dodd's, Bush, Edwards, JFK, etc.) call to national service is akin to slavery, fascism, and an educational hurdle. Essentially, we are already a charitable nation and volunteering doesn't help anyone, and involving the gov't would screw it up more - so it's a horrible idea. It's funny b/c Goldberg quotes DP Moynihan postively when he says "the conservative truth is that culture, not politics, determines the success of society." I wonder how successful our society would be if we had a culture where our common bonds were strengthened through service of - and respect for - our fellow citizens. Just a thought.

Laura Bush

Did you know Laura Bush killed a boy in a car crash when she was 17? A "fictionalized" book on George and Laura to come out around convention time is causing a ripple - and is the subject of Dowd's column

Mo D Gets Cop-eeed

(Via Nagy) A fake Maureen Dowd op-ed critical of Obama has been emailed around - and now the cover's blown. The article claimed Obama gets all his donations from the Saudis and has lied about how many donors and small donors he has. I'm surprised someone would pick Dowd to copy ... of the NYT columists I always think her style is the most unique - and she has no problem nicknaming famous people ("I'm a Dinner Jacket" "W" "Barry" etc.), using chic slang, humor, etc. If I were to impersonate a NYT op-ed-er I think I'd try Friedman, I've been less and less impressed with what he has to say and think that he sets a low enough bar .....

You Thought Bush Had It Bad

(Via Syd O) Looks like more people like a swift kick in the nutz than they like Congress. . . their approval is now down to 9%.

UPDATE: The numbers aren't "approval ratings" per se .... the 9% is just how many people rated Congress' performance as "excellent or good" - 36% actually rated their performance as "Fair". Not sure if that is "approval" or not.

WTF?

(Via Medium) ... Hilarious - the DMV gets duped.

"Believe Me, It's Torture" - a MUST see

Christopher Hitchens - a dude I really don't care for - was voluntarily waterboarded ... and didn't like it.

Seriously - watch it. (good thing he doesn't have any Nat'l Secrets)

Habeas Update

A Federal Judge in DC has decided that the Detainee habeas petitions will take precedent in the wake of the Boumediene v. Bush decision granting Gitmo detainees the right to petition federal courts. I'm pretty sure that the urgency stems partially from the fact that the Military is still going forward with the Military Review Board hearings ... and at least one detainee (Hamdan) is trying to get his habeas petition going before the Military tries him. Since we're in unchartered territory there is sort of a jurisdictional race going on. Therefore:

The government has got to get across the message that we are going to move
these cases forward, and not in the normal course of business; this is an
extraordinary situation…The government has to set aside every other case pending
before them and get these cases moving first….People in all levels of government
should understand that.”

FISA

The Senate is going to take up the FISA bill tomorrow - and Obama is expected to be there and vote for it. I know he's been catching flak for his support of the bill because it includes the immunity for phone companies that went along with illegal wiretaps (which he opposes) - but it doesn't really bother me. It's my understanding that the bill is pretty good going forward (i.e. includes increased judicial review of any requests instead of in-house DOJ approval that W wanted) but is less than ideal looking back because of the immunity provision. There are several amendments pending that will strip the immunity clause or make it conditional on a 3rd party review of the facts and I wouldn't be surprised if Obama voted for those - they lose - and then he votes for the final version. Senate Intel Chairman Rockefeller supports the immunity provision - but Harry Reid is against the whole package. Overall, if Obama does as expected I don't have a problem with it ... he's always been open to compromise and I doubt he'll want to miss the forest for the trees. And he can always appease the left by voting for the amendments.

A more cynical view I've heard is that Obama expects to be President and wouldn't mind the extra powers. That does seem a little outrageous ....

"When They Ask Us To Leave, We'll Go"

.... Those are the President's words ... we'll see if he sticks to them.

I'm sure you have heard, but the US and the Iraqi Parliment are in negotiations over what our long-term presence will be (since the UN chartered operation expires at the end of the year - not sure what the significance of the UN thing is or how it came about, though). Anyway, in the midst of the negotiations PM Maliki and his Security Advisor both stated today that they want us out - or at least an agreement to a timetable to get out - in the final agreement. This is big stuff - it shows agreement w/ Obama, the Dems, and a majority of the American people that the US should start to withdrawl and makes it hard for McCain to argue that we should stay there a long time (100years or whatever).

On the flip side, we haven't taken seriously much of what the Iraqi Gov't has said in the past ... and there's speculation (at least Pat Buchanan) that this is an internal political move on Maliki's part b/c Sadr wants the US out and Maliki needs to "cut him off at the pass" so to speak. In any event it's very hard for us to argue that there is an emerging sovereign government over there and yet ignore their request for our withdrawl.

An Insider's Look at the Bear Stearns Take-Over

I wish I knew more about economics, but I caught the first half of Charlie Rose's interview with JP Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon last night. He gave a first hand account of how the take-over went down. It was kind of high drama. Essentially Dimon was called late on a thursday night by his friends over at Bear Stearns and was told that they were about to go bust - and a JP Morgan takeover was the only solution ... so he spent the next days continually on the phone w/ the Fed and Bernanke and Paulson and his staff figuring out how they could afford to buy Bear Stearns and avert a total Wall Street meltdown. It ended up going through - and in the knick of time. Pretty intense drama.

See Dick Erase Testimony

(Via Meals) Dick Cheney tried to delete congressional testimony by the EPA on the negative health consequences of Climate Change. Unbelievable - this has got to be unprecedented. In EPA v. Massachusettes the Supreme Court said the EPA had to regulate GHG under the clean air act if they were found to be a public health hazard. Cheney was obviously trying to scuttle any evidence toward that end. But, now that it's exposed I'm sure the EPA will have to start regulating GHG. A rare defeat for the Veep.

Jack Sprat

Looks like Colorado is the thinnest state. I bet the 50 Olympians from the state doesn't hurt things any.

(Via Mississippi) Check out the obesity trends over the last 20 years. We're going to ass-plode!

A "Short and Plain" Statement.

Should have paid attention in civpro.

A Tacoma, WA lawyer filed a 465-page lawsuit (it had an 8 page title!) and when the Judge got it he responded with this order:

Plaintiff has a great deal to say,

But it seems he skipped Rule 8(a).

His Complaint is too long,

Which renders it wrong,

Please rewrite and refile today.

I Need a Dumptruck Baby to Unload My Head

1st - fmr. HRC spokesman Howard Wolfson is joining Faux News

2nd - my boy David Simon (who produced the Wire) has a new mini-series on HBO called Generation Kill about the first 40 days of the Iraq war through the eyes of an elite Marine Unit. Looks pretty good.

3rd - you know how much ado has been made of the National Journal naming Obama the "most liberal senator" ... but did you know that McCain missed so many votes that they couldn't even give him a score this year!

Does DC Understand Western Water Rights?

I caught Matt Yglesias's proposals for water-rights reform in the west (I guess attending the Aspen Ideas Fest makes you an expert on Western issues) ... and I think he's right - except that what he describes is very similar to the way the west (CO at least) already divides water rights. The only difference is that, although many of his suggestions take place prospectively, most of the rights have already been appropriated in a manner that doesn't favor the most efficient use. Yglesias references this Brookings report on suggested alternatives. Unfortunately - even if the legal hurdles are overcome (it suggests a national system, but water rights are traditionally in the state's province and I see a big federalism problem looming) it would require total chaos in dismantling existing structures and then an improbable 'equitable' re-distribution.

Agriculture in the West soaks up like 75% of the supply so that we can grow corn and wheat in the prairie. This is horribly inefficient, but the problem is, under our Prior Appropriation system Ag owns most of the historic rights. Personal and Municipal use is miniscule, but still must shell out a lot of money to buy more rights to keep up with growth (and there is the market). The most immediate way to free up more water would be to have farmers switch to crops that require less water - or switch to wind or solar farms and - and then re-distribute the Ag water to the cities under a market allocation system that would encourage effeciency.

Are We Really at War?

Fareed Zakaria says NO. A good article debunking claims of W as the "wartime president" and McCain's insistence that Al Qaeda is a danger to our very existence. Essentially Osama was able to inflict a wound - and then allow our reaction to wound us even farther:

"Bush and his circle have conceived of the problem as military and urgent when it's more of a long-term political and cultural problem. The massive expansion of the military budget, the unilateral rush to war in Iraq, the creation of the cumbersome Department of Homeland Security, the new restrictions on visas and travel can all be chalked up to this sense that we are at war. No cost-benefit analysis has been done. John Mueller points out that in response to a total of five deaths from anthrax, the U.S. government has spent $5 billion on new security procedures. Of course, this is actually what Osama bin Laden hoped for"

Also - it compares our current situation to something more like the Cold War - where Eisenhower was an example of a prudent president.

I think anyone who travels and deals with TSA security has thought at one time or another what the cost-benefit of taking off your flip-flops and throwing away toothpaste has been.

Circle the Wagons

I think the death of Jesse Helms has put the GOP requiem's in a tight spot. Sure, I can blame the MSM for making Helms famous for his stand against civil rights ... but at the same time that also looks to be what conservatives really liked about him! Now that he's died, GOPers have to walk a fine line whrn praising him for something that they can't really praise him for. So, you get something like the NRO's editorial obit this week. They mention civil rights last among the things he said "no" to ... make the claim that liberals were too sensitive when he used the loss of "white" jobs during a campaign to defeat a black guy ... praise him for not exploiting his "generosity" at adopting a child with cerebal pausly ... and of course when all else fails - he helped get Reagan elected.

I wish they would elaborated on what "version" of civil rights he was FOR ... instead they say he was for a "version" of them, and then skip to the next paragraph. I would have appreciated the insight, seriously, and would have liked to know what "version" was noble enough to offset his fillibuster against MLK day ...

UPDATE: It seems that when Helms retired from the Senate David Broder didn't think the MSM was giving enough attention to the race issue. Serves as a good counter-point to the NRO obit.

Bring in Murphy

Kristol over at NYT thinks that Mike Murphy will join the McCain team - soon. (MTP fans will remember Murphy). We'll see if the prediction holds - and whether it's in time. I have to admit, I'm suffering from a little election fatigue and haven't followed the tit for tat as much as i used to, but it seems that the GOP think McCain's campaign is tanking (like Kristol) and the Dems think that McCain has been winning the last few weeks (at least that's been my impression).

UPDATE: Murphy will NOT be joining the parade

Where Do We Go After Boumediene?

A Nice back and forth over at TNR between two legal scholars on what we need to do with Gitmo detainees and the future of this whole problem after Boumediene and Parhart. What I think gets lost in the shuffle is that there was no long term planning by the Bush Administration about what to do with these guys and how we were going to process them over the long run. The administration essentially thought they could cage detainees in Cuba - argue that Gitmo, although on a US Military Base, isn't under US jurisdiction - and hope the Supreme Court didn't notice. That ... and some bad lawyering from John Yoo - was their long term strategy. We need a comprehensive solution from Congress (note: good discussion on why DTA wasn't good enough in SCOTUS eyes).

Good part:

"Look, I believe the policies the administration adopted post-9/11 were better for national security than the ones we had pre-9/11. But that said, I do think that, and I've said this going back to 2003 or 2004, that at a certain point, when using the military system of detentions is obviously not working, and thoughtful people who want to support the policy realize that it's not a good fit, I think their energy would have been much better directed at trying to come up with a system that would be comprehensive and permanent and legitimate, rather than letting it get caught up in the politics of executive power. "

Back From a Wedding

And Dowd has some marriage advice for you ladies.

Let's Add Pictures ...

The GF pointed this out to me ... hilarious.

Doing a Bang-Up Job

I caught most of the Frontline re-run on Darfur tonight ... did you all know that Kofi Annan was head of Peacekeeping Operations in Rwanda - and then served in some capacity during the Yugoslavia (during the Chechnya genocide) ... from what i could gather, in both instances he was in a position of power and (especially in Rwanda) he was responsible for NOT doing anything.

Meanwhile - as far as I know - Darfur is still going on .... although i hope i'm wrong.

UPDATE: it seems that there are now at least 450,000 dead - and the UN peacekeeping force is faltering

Happy Independence Day!

Heading to Detroit for a wedding - have a great 4th of July ... and take a read of the document that gave you a 3 day weekend:

"In Congress, July 4, 1776,
THE UNANIMOUS
DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

When in the Course of human events,
it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have
connected them with another, and to assume, among the Powers of the earth, the
separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God
entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they
should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold
these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That, to secure these rights,
Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the
consent of the governed. That, whenever any Form of Government becomes
destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish
it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such Principles
and organizing its Powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to
effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that
Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient
causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown, that mankind are more
disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by
abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But, when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object, evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the
necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The
history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries
and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute
Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid
world.

[look here for all the
"wrongs" - there are a BUNCH]

In every stage of these Oppressions, We
have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions
have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince, whose character is thus
marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a
free People.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our British brethren.
We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend
an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the
circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their
native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our
common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt
our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of
justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity,
which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind,
Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of
the united States of America, in GENERAL CONGRESS assembled, appealing to the
Supreme Judge of the World for the rectitude of our intentions, DO, in the Name,
and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly PUBLISH and
DECLARE, That these United Colonies are, and of Right, ought to be free and
Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British
Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Bri
tain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that, as FREE and INDEPENDENT
STATES, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances,
establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which INDEPENDENT STATES
may of right do. AND for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance
on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our
Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor. "

Levity From the Onion

"Raped Environment Led Polluters On, Defense Attorneys Argue"

DPRK Nuclear Reactor

So N. Korea blew up the smokestack at Yongbyon recently. Not as awesome as the Administration would have you believe (and liberals hope) ... it's closer to as bad as NRO thinks (i.e. they got the world off their back, destroyed a symbolic but worthless facitlity, kept their HEU (highly enriched uranium), a small arsenal, and maybe didn't even disclose all their Pu) - or maybe you can frame it as a 3 Little Bears agreement as Slate does.

2 Elite Candidates - let's admit it

Yglesias has a nice sum-up of McCain's not-so blue collar lifestlye. I think the elitism thing is a worthless label ... I'd kind of like to have an elite president. But if you're going to levy the "slander" I think what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Now, I do think "out of touch" is a problem for a candidate, and that's usually what the elitism attacks are referring to. Along those lines - McCain admits to not knowing the price of gas (or remembering the last time he filled up) and also doesn't know how to use a computer (Mom's got a one-up on him!)

Limbaugh in NYT Mag

Tim Russert is gone but we have to live with this guy?? Not that I'd wish harm on a soul ...

Nice profile on Limbaugh for this week's NYT Mag

First - did you know he's deaf??

2nd - i think the "mullah" t-shirt is funny

3rd - i'd take a Biltmore-esque library in my home any day

Irony in the SCOTUS child rape case

Turns out the military gives the death penalty for raping kids - but the DOJ forgot to tell somebody. I suppose originalists who hate Justice Kennedy's "emerging consensus" style reasoning in Kennedy v. LA would like this information to go against the Court's conclusion that a "maturing society" doesn't use the death penalty in this instance. The irony is - in light of Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, US Atty Firings, FISA spying, etc. - the U.S. military and DOJ hasn't had the most "mature" reputation under this administration and therefore seems to re-enforce Kennedy's "emerging consensus" argument.

Habeas and Gitmo

A good CSM summary of what's going on here. It's fascinating how fast these individual cases drop once actual evidence is demanded . . . i don't even think we're talking about burdens of proof - just evidence! Under the combat review boards the Military wouldn't give the detainee a lawyer, access to evidence, or even a straight answer on what they were charged with. And unless these guys are truly POWs (until we sign a treaty on the USS Missouri to end the "war on terror" and they can go home) - then a simple habeas petition is the least our great nation can do.

UPDATE: Ruth Marcus has a nice op-ed outlining how the Government's case against Parhart's was thrown out. Judge Sentelle even joined in ... and he's no lefty wimp.

Should We Get Out Of Iraq?

Two smart guys in Foreign Affairs only disagree on how SOON we should go!!

A great article - essentially the "success" of the surge is only a band-aid on a bullet hole. Take the Sunni Awakening for example - we exploited religious/cultural/political fissures and divides in order to turn the Sunnis against AQI (Al Qaeda in Iraq) ... but in the long run, AQI will go and the divisions will remain - damning a realistic chance at long-term stability.

These guys only disagree over how soon we go - do we go unconditionally or do we allow a possibility that we can leave some soldiers behind to help the Iraqi Gov't if they need some backup (assuming they make some political process). Both agree that in order for any political progress to happen we have to be willing to get out of there - or at least make the Iraqi's think we're going so they'll be in the hot seat.

Also, i heard the other day that we are turning over Sadr City (i think it was) to the Iraqi Army ... but then i heard we now have to SPY on the iraqi army to keep them in line.

Is Google Making us Stoopid

On several levels - Yes. (Great Atlantic article)

It's been a bit since i read this - what do you all think? There's obviously a balancing act that goes on with new technology, where there are new opportunities but you also lose some of what makes us human (see Neil Postman's Technopoly). In any event - i enjoy those who are willing to admit the downside of "progress"

Science and the Left

So, Yuval Levin was one of the up and coming conservatives David Brooks touted last week ... and it seems he likes to write about how the Left and Science are held together by the devil himself. It's a long article - and he is right on this front (at the very end of it): when it comes to life issues (beginning of life and end of life) liberals are torn between "equality" (which science does not support and suggests erring on the side of human dignity) and "humanity" (which supports utilitarian ends). Other than that correct observation on how to frame the tension, he pretty much mischaracterizes science history and associates every famous thinker and scientist of the enlightenment with the bad democrats. I wonder if there are any historical figures he deems worthy to associate w/ the GOP. Furthermore, any contradiction are not isolated Dem issues - the GOP has plenty of inconsistancies.

Can't Wait Till Janet Reno Comes out for the DNC

Then SO many questions will be answered.....

DIA has new body scanners - and it's not enough (for some reason) that they go through the trouble to blot out your private parts

Poisoning the 4th

What would the rodeo be without "unskinny bop"? Looks like Poison drummer Rikki Rockett doesn't read his tour dates and ended up performing the famous Greeley Rodeo sunday despite being a big Animal Rights guy

Sabre Rattling Behind Closed Doors

Syd Hersh has a monopoly on scoops! W got $400M from the Gang of Eight LAST YEAR to up covert ops in Iran.

Hersh was also on Fresh Air Monday . . .

Which Came First?

Obama's campaign finance opt out ... or the flood of 527s that the GOP claimed weren't going to be an issue but are now pumping money into an RNC independent attack arm.

No Need to Re-Invent the Wheel

So it seems the Gitmo interrogators were trained in Chinese torture techniques straight outta the Forgotten War. NYT breaks it.

The Maiden Voyage

So - in lieu of the Jiggle Mail, I am just going to post thoughts and articles on my new blog. Check in throughout the day and let me know what you think.

The Lyceum was the name of Aristotle's school in Athens ... and and I "Call 'em (column) like i see 'em" ... ha ha ha. So although the name may sound pretentious - it's just a lame joke ...

Enjoy!