| Sorry about the lack of writing -- the twins came down with some virulent strain of 'flu. Four days of high temps and vomiting, and counting. So I'm a little frayed, to say the least. So...a links list of dubious quality.
Terror in Mumbai. Two thoughts spring to mind. First, this is terrible news, for the victims, their families, and for Mumbai. I'll be thankful for peace in my home tomorrow. Second, I hope Bush doesn't do anything stupid. January 20th can't come soon enough.
Obama to keep Gates on as Secretary of Defense. Not surprising -- rumors abounded for weeks that this would happen -- and maybe not a bad idea, either. Gates is a competent administrator, one who isn't rabidly partisan. And let's face it -- keeping Gates on will assure many folks in military circles that a Democratic administration won't be anti-military. Which isn't a bad thing when you're fighting two wars, and need everyone on board to get out of at least one of them.
JEFF: "'m not much for criticizing Obama's appointments. For the most part, I'm content to let him pick whomever he wants and judge his administration on the policies it implements. The exceptions to this are especially egregious nominations or nominations of people who are clearly incompetent. We've had one of those so far and he's now withdrawn. So I'm relatively happy."
Newsweek: "...the new Obama Justice Department is not likely to launch major new criminal probes of harsh interrogations and other alleged abuses by the Bush administration. But one idea that has currency among some top Obama advisers is setting up a 9/11-style commission that would investigate counterterrorism policies and make public as many details as possible. "At a minimum, the American people have to be able to see and judge what happened," said one senior adviser, who asked not to be identified talking about policy matters. The commission would be empowered to order the U.S. intelligence agencies to open their files for review and question senior officials who approved "waterboarding" and other controversial practices." Not crazy about this; the folks at the top should be punished. I guess if the details gain traction with the public, we can push for prosecution.
In Florida, a ban on gays adopting was overturned by a judge as unconstitutional: "'The best interests of children are not preserved by prohibiting homosexual adoption,' the judge, Cindy S. Lederman of Miami-Dade Circuit Court, said in a 53-page decision. She said the law violated equal protection rights for children and their prospective parents." The judge found that "sexual orientation is not a predictor of a person's ability to parent." The state plans to appeal the ruling to the Florida Supreme Court.
Attorney General heckled during a speech. Okay, no big deal, right? Only it was a Washington Supreme Court justice who stood up and shouted "tyrant". It was later in the speech that Mukasey fainted.
So. The current financial crisis continues. A CitiGroup bailout? (Kevin Drum, in the understatement of the week: "...it appears to be a pretty sweet deal for CitiGroup.")
Hilzoy: "As I've said before: we absolutely need to make sure that the people who run these banks do not conclude from our unwillingness to let them take down the entire financial system that it's OK to run these risks. The best way I can think of to do that is to make sure that they, personally, pay.
"I don't think I'm saying this out of vengeance. At least, I'm trying not to. I just do not want a system in which private individuals get the rewards of excessive risk-taking and taxpayers pay the price when it all goes wrong; and I do not know how else to avoid one."
Jonathan Golob -- who described himself as "apoplectic" about the news of the Citigroup bailout: "Let me tell you something. I could pick 20 random people off the street, hand them a billion dollars each, and I'd be confident they'd create a better bank than these shitheads. And if these random men and women fucked up, I'm absolutely certain their collective mistakes would total less than $300 billion. Starting a bank, particularly an inept and greedy bank isn't that fucking hard."
There's no doubt that the "free" market crowd and their particular unrealistic ideology had a hand in this mess, so it is with great joy I present to you McSweeney's thrashing of the "free" marketers' favorite "literary" star, Ayn Rand: Atlas Shrugged, updated for the current financial crisis.
"Freedom's Watch" -- a well-funded group assembled ostensibly to stir up support for the Iraq War appears headed for extinction. Steve Benen: "when Freedom's Watch was first announced, it was billed by conservatives as the right's version of MoveOn.org. It's worth remembering that the right has always been confused about how MoveOn became a success. Conservatives too often think, 'We'll get some money together, deliver a right-wing message, hire some Bush hands, and the grassroots will come together. It'll be awesome.'
"It doesn't work that way. MoveOn doesn't follow a top-down model; it's the other way around. MoveOn drew support because it had a cause (Clinton impeachment). It showed staying power when new causes emerged, and there was a genuine demand for progressive activism."
A couple other observations: Reminds me of efforts in Montana to build a rightwing blog-o-sphere. And it's also illustrative that you need good ideas to get people on board. |
