A PARTY IN DECLINE

After flirting with candidates who used “Barack the Magic Negro” CDs as part of their campaign, and others who belonged to whites-only country clubs, the RNC settles on Michael Steele as the new face of the Republican Party

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/steele-wins-rnc-chairmanship.php
Meet the new chairman of the Republican National Committee: Former Maryland Lt. Governor Michael Steele . . .

Yes, THAT Michael Steele: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/its_over.php
[Josh Marshall] Reminds me of the good old days in 2006 when Steele's senate campaign rolled out signs to fool people into thinking he was a Democrat. . . .

“Falling upward” http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/30/steele/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] At first glance, this appears to be the kind of step forward that the Republican Party needs to be successful in the years ahead. . . .

On other fronts, though, Steele's a questionable choice. He hasn't displayed a ton of political acumen -- he's won elected office only once, and he didn't head that ticket. He lost the aforementioned Senate race, and, before that, couldn't even win a GOP primary for state comptroller; he placed third, in fact. His tenure as head of the Maryland party wasn't brilliant, either, and he repeatedly had trouble recruiting candidates. (In his defense, it's not easy to be a Republican in the state.) Along the way, he's made some serious missteps: He got in trouble in 2006 for making some unguarded remarks disparaging then-President Bush to a group of reporters. His name was supposed to be kept off the comments, but when it quickly became obvious who was responsible, Steele tried to lie his way out of the gaffe. Also in 2006, he attracted unwanted attention when, speaking before a Jewish group, he compared stem cell research to medical tests that the Nazis conducted on prisoners during the Holocaust.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/30/164136/813/507/691063
[Steele, 2006] Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele profusely apologized yesterday for comments linking stem cell research to Nazi experimentation . . .

In an appearance Thursday before the Baltimore Jewish Council, Steele responded to a question about stem cell research by saying he was "cautious" about the idea of "tinkering around with life," and added:

"Look, you of all folks know what happens when people decide they want to experiment on human beings, when they want to take your life and use it as a tool," Steele said . . .

More: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/jan/30/republicans-michael-steele

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/jan/30/republicans-gop-chair

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/republicans_cheer_for_chairman.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/30/15465/3705/532/691030

Don’t miss it: “Planet Black Guy” http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#28941230

A party in decline

http://www.newsweek.com/id/182137
[Michael Hirsh] As House Republicans defy President Obama over his stimulus package, the party seems to be reverting to form after decades of overreaching ambition and outsized growth; think of the GOP, perhaps, as the Citigroup of politics. Many Republicans seem resigned—even content—to go back to being the party of Barry Goldwater. In other words: We don't care if we're marginalized. In our hearts we know we're right. Never mind that the party suffered terrible defeats in 2008 and 2006, some thoughtful Republicans (mainly on the Senate side, like Lindsay Graham, as well as intellectuals such as David Frum) have been fretting for some time that the GOP base is getting too narrow. These days, you hear little talk of Karl Rove's bigger tent or reinventing conservatism. Quite the opposite: it seems as though the party has decided to go back to basics. The message they're sending: "We don't care if Obama won or that he's popular; let's just wait until the country sees the truth again, as old Barry did. Until then, we'll be happy to be the righteous minority again, proudly willing to go down in flames for our beliefs: government spending never works, and tax cuts always do. Keynesian stimulus is for liberal witch doctors." . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/30/boehner-to-gop-less-work-more-talk/
[House Republican leader] Boehner reminded Republicans that they are no longer in the business of legislating and should focus almost solely on communicating their message with voters.

"We are in the communications business,” Boehner told the crowd during his opening remarks. “We can build a new Republican majority one issue at a time." . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/29/AR2009012903445.html
[Eugene Robinson] Watching the House Republicans vote unanimously against President Obama's economic stimulus package, I thought of Ronald Reagan, the air traffic controllers and the potential consequences for those who fail to recognize that one political era has given way to the next. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/house-republicans-delighted-and-elated.html
House Republicans "delighted" and "elated" and "celebrating" over their zero votes to save the economy . . .

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18204.html
The assembled Republicans rose in a standing ovation Thursday night when Minority Leader John A. Boehner of Ohio showed them a C-SPAN video of the vote itself, according to people present. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) told the group that Wednesday’s vote reminded him of a roll call in 1993, when Republicans forced Democrats to pass a tax increase without a single GOP vote. And conservative Arizona Rep. John B. Shadegg offered a toast to many of his more moderate Republican colleagues who opposed the legislation. . . .

Their cheerleader

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/29/mcconnell-warns-of-grim-gop-future/
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell painted a downright dismal view of the state of his party Thursday afternoon, telling Republican National Committee members the GOP is in grave danger of being marginalized to a regional party.

"We’re all concerned about the fact that the very wealthy and the very poor, the most and least educated, and a majority of minority voters, seem to have more or less stopped paying attention to us," the Kentucky Republican said . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/incoherence-by-digby-republican-hack.html

Rush Limbaugh is the Reverend Wright of the Republican Party – it’s time to wrap him around their neck and ask constantly whether they endorse or repudiate his racist and inflammatory comments

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090130/ap_en_ot/limbaugh_vs_obama
For all the talk of new politics and a new start with a new administration, the media person who has emerged as the chief voice of opposition during the first week of Barack Obama's presidency — Rush Limbaugh — has been doing this for 20 years.

The talk-radio titan said, days before Obama was sworn in, that he hoped Obama failed because he didn't believe in the incoming president's policies.

It's kept him in the headlines ever since, to the point where MSNBC on Thursday asked: "Is Rush running the GOP?" The day before, every Republican House member voted against Obama's economic stimulus plan, a bill Limbaugh has ridiculed as the "porkulus" plan.

"Obama was trying to marginalize me," Limbaugh said. "His hope was that the House and Senate Republicans would join him in denouncing me. Didn't work."

When Rep. Phil Gingrey, a Georgia Republican, tried to praise his House leadership this week by saying it's easy for talk-show hosts to stand back and throw bricks, the headline on the Politico Web site read: "House GOP member to Rush: Back off." Gingrey was so bothered by the phone calls of complaints that he visited four conservative talk-show hosts, including Limbaugh, the next day to apologize. . . .

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/labor-groups-radio-ad-hits-gop-leader-rush-limbaugh.php
Americans United For Change, the labor-backed political group that is currently campaigning for President Obama's stimulus package, has a new round of radio ads tying the GOP to Barack Obama's most vocal critic at this point: Rush Limbaugh, who is taking on the role of the true Leader of the Opposition . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/john_mccain_dittohead.php
[Matt Yglesias] That Rush Limbaugh is loathesome can, I think, be taken for granted. But as we’ve been having occasion to note recently, to a really striking extent conservative politicians everywhere are taking their marching orders on policy and legislative strategy from a boorish and occasionally drug-addled talk radio host. Even John McCain, who a lot of people thought would go back to his maverick schtick of 2001-2003 vintage after losing the election, is standing firmly behind Rush:

I don’t know why he would do that. Mr. Limbaugh is a voice of a significant portion of our conservative movement in America. He has a very wide viewing audience. He is entitled to his views, and he has a lot of people who listen very carefully to him. I don’t know why that the President would take him on. He’s part of the political landscape, and he plays a role.

On the upcoming Senate stimulus bill vote – the lay of the land

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/previewing-the-senate-stimulus-debate-do-they-have-the-votes.php
One possible X factor arising today is the sideline maneuvering of Sen. Ben "Gang of 14" Nelson [D-NE]. He's staying true to form by trying to build a bipartisan coalition of senators to support major changes to the House bill. . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11247
Nelson even is willing to remove popular Pell Grant increases, saving them for annual spending bills later in the year. . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11243
New York Senator Charles Schumer indicated that he would push for increased rail and mass transit spending in the stimulus. . . . Also of note, Senators Patty Murray, Diane Feinstein and Ben Nelson are apparently crafting another amendment that will increase infrastructure spending in the stimulus . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11246
Another declaration from the inner halls of the kleptocracy, this one from Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND). He represents North Dakota not Wall Street - and yet is threatening to vote against the stimulus bill because it doesn't give away more money to Wall Street. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/30/224541/155/230/690315
[Saxby Chambliss, R-GA] If we truly want to stimulate the economy, there's no better place to do that than defense spending. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/30/20224/2014/446/691132
[Reuters] Former presidential rival John McCain expressed disappointment on Friday that President Barack Obama has not negotiated with Republicans over a huge economic stimulus plan and said he is working on an alternative package. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/clockwork-by-digby-its-clear-blue-dogs.html

Army suicides

http://www.propublica.org/article/as-army-suicides-mount-officials-promise-again-to-address-it#7740
Yesterday, the Pentagon announced that the rate of soldiers committing suicides increased last year to the highest level in thirty years. As today’s New York Times reports, the number of suicides among soldiers has now increased for the fourth year in a row . . .

Former NSA official lays out the details of illegal wiretapping. The media response? [Crickets]

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/30/why-the-silence-on-tices-revelations/

Before leaving office, Bush ordered Karl Rove not to testify

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/30/bush_still_trying_to_keep_rove_quiet.html
Just four days before leaving office, Newsweek reports that President Bush "instructed former White House aide Karl Rove to refuse to cooperate with future congressional inquiries into alleged misconduct during his administration."

A letter to Rove's lawyer said that Rove "should not appear before Congress" or turn over any documents relating to his time in the White House because Bush "was continuing to assert executive privilege over any testimony by Rove -- even after he leaves office." . . .

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/clinton_lawyer_on_bushs_exec_privilege_claim_there.php
Neil Eggleston, who specialized in executive privilege issues for President Clinton's White House . . . told TPMmuckraker that, since President Obama has already issued an executive order that appears to take the view that a former president can't assert executive privilege, he's unlikely to back Bush's claim. And assuming things then wind up in court, Eggleston said he'd be very surprised if a court sided with Bush, ruling that executive privilege can be asserted retroactively.

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/newsweek_obtains_letter_from_bush_lawyer_asserting.php

Congress delays subpoena deadline: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/buying_obama_time_congress_delays_rove_subpoena_de.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/30/rove-deadline-delayed/
[Emptywheel] I think this is a good thing. . . . [read on]

Bonus item: If the shoe fits. . .

http://thinkprogress.org/the-architects-where-are-they-now/
[Richard Perle, September 22, 2003] “And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation.”

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/richard-perle-was-right-by-dday-george.html
Richard Perle was right . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:03 AM

 
PUSHBACK

Here it comes: the pushback from the US military on Obama’s Iraq withdrawal plans begins

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/withdrawing_from_iraq.html

http://washingtonindependent.com/28019/want-that-iraqi-referendum-on-troop-withdrawals

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/obama_odierno_and_iraq.php

Ledbetter Act signed into law; more to come

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/131620/134/34/690503

http://washingtonindependent.com/28035/ledbetter-act-is-first-victory-in-a-long-battle

Pressure building on Senate Repubs to support stimulus bill

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/29/progressive-groups-target-gop-senators-over-stimulus-bill/

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/29/135122/298

Waahh! http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/29/house_republicans_on_the_defensive.html
Marc Ambinder reports House Republicans "are reacting strongly to reports that the White House plans a political onslaught to pressure Republicans into supporting the stimulus package and to punish those who don't." . . . [read on]

Mark Halperin, of course

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/13058/4741/58/690495
“This is a really bad sign for Barack Obama . . .”

The fact of the matter: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/punkd-by-digby-following-up-on-ddays.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016665.php

Brilliant: Obama may appoint moderate Republican Judd Gregg (R-NH) as Sect’y of Commerce, giving his governor the chance to select a Democrat in his place. Sixty, voila!

http://www.rollcall.com/news/31881-1.html

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/19758/4363/900/690662
Sen. Gregg has voted with Obama on six of seven notable pieces of legislation through Tuesday. . . .

The end of the moderate Republican?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/121447/754/91/690462
[Brownsox] Nothing says "schadenfreude" like rumors of a Republican primary challenge against the man who, less than three months ago, was their nominee for the Presidency of these United States.

Yet it appears that such a primary challenge may be in the cards in Arizona, if the party's more rabid conservatives in the state get their way.

McCain has never faced a serious challenge in Arizona . . .

Norm Coleman’s case is collapsing in Minnesota. Can we end this farce already?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/friendly-coleman-witness-they-cherry-picked-me.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Here's another funny moment earlier today from the slow-motion comedy show that is the Minnesota Senate trial.

The Coleman team is continuing to call as witnesses some aggrieved voters to complain that their ballots were wrongly rejected. This didn't go too well last time, and the newest pair had their fun moments. One of them was college student Peter DeMuth, who sent away for an absentee ballot because he goes to school in Fargo, North Dakota -- he even drove several hours to St. Paul this morning, just so he could get his vote counted.

Upon cross-examination by Franken attorney Kevin Hamilton, DeMuth said he was contacted by the Republican Party and told about the problem. "They asked me if I knew my absentee ballot had been rejected. I said no," said DeMuth. "They asked me if I was a supporter of Norm Coleman, and I said yes, and they proceeded to ask me if I would like to go further."

Let's think about this for a moment: Over the last several days, the Coleman camp has said repeatedly that they are not cherry-picking who they're helping out, that they don't know who the people they're advocating for actually supported, and for all they know they're helping out Franken-voters.

So much for that argument. On top of that, DeMuth's story is by itself fascinating. . . . [read on]

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman-lawyer-i-dont-care-about-your-procedures----count-the-forgers-ballot.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg launched into an aggressive defense in the case of Douglas Thompson, the friendly Coleman witness from two days ago who said his absentee ballot should be counted even though his girlfriend forged his signature on the application. Thus, Thompson's ballot was rejected because of a very real signature mismatch against his own signature on the ballot itself.

Friedberg didn't directly mention Thompson by name, but he described the exact same situation. "Now suppose I said to Mr. Trimble [another Coleman lawyer], 'Hey, I'm busy, could you sign an application for me, and send it in for me?' I'm gonna get the ballot, aren't I?" said Friedberg.

After some more back and forth, we got to this interesting exchange:

Friedberg: In point of fact, even though I did something I wasn't supposed to do with the application, my ballot should still count because my signature is genuine.

Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann: Not according to the procedures we use to determine whether the signature is genuine.

Friedberg: I don't care about your procedures.

(Franken lawyer calls an objection, is sustained.)

Friedberg: Okay, I do care...

Pathetic: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/29/135114/783/26/690527

Blagojevich O-U-T as governor of Illinois. If you missed his “defense” speech before the Illinois Senate, I can tell you you didn’t miss much except another series of laughable lies and obfuscations. Can we move on now?

http://www.propublica.org/article/blago-gov-no-more-090129#7719
Rod Blagojevich joined the ranks of the unemployed this evening. . . .

More: http://lafiga.firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/blago-blathers-at-impeachment-hearing/

Bizarre: Obama is establishing big changes in WH organization and work habits (he was recently elected President, you might have heard). Guess who’s not happy about it?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/29/obamas_work_habits_detailed.html

Not happy at all: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/29/rove_blasts_obama_use_of_office_space.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/29/133813/432

Trouble ahead for Rove’s immunity claims?

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/rove-its-still-the-absolute-immunity-issue/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/matt-cooper-predicts-bad-things-for-his-buddy-karl-rove/

http://washingtonindependent.com/28129/whos-in-charge-bush-or-obama

What’s in those missing OLC opinions on torture and interrogation – an educated guess

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/29/about-those-missing-olc-opinions/

Oooooh. You know it’s bad when Starbucks is closing stores

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/starbucks-to-close-300-stores.html

Bonus item: Sickos

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016661.php
[Steve Benen] When Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter get together for an interview on Fox News, I realize there's no point in fact-checking their discussion. The madness-per-syllable ratio is just too daunting to bother. . . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:27 AM

 
ZERO

Well, not to play “we told you so,” but there it is. After reaching out to House Republicans, after making substantive changes and concessions on the stimulus bill, Obama gets ZERO Republican votes in support. It’s not really a surprise, and it nicely clarifies matters from here on out

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/house-passes-stimulus-with-zero-gop-votes.php
[Elana Schor] Guess that dinner at the White House didn't go so well ... the $825 billion stimulus bill just passed the House of Representatives with zero Republicans voting in favor. Eleven Democrats -- 10 centrist Blue Dogs and the unconvinced Rep. Paul Kanjorski (PA) -- joined the GOP in opposing the package.

Brad Woodhouse, president of the Dem-allied group Americans United for Change, described the GOP's stalwart opposition in two words: "political suicide," the subject of his e-mailed statement on the stimulus vote.

But maybe this was the Republicans' plan all along. Now Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and his troops can start the next act in the show and ask for just a few more concessions in order to give the stimulus its bipartisan stripes. . . .

More: http://www.samefacts.com/archives/2009_democratic_agenda_/2009/01/house_republicans_vote_unanimously_for_depression.php
House Republicans vote unanimously for depression

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016649.php
If the House Republican caucus, en masse, isn't willing to support a stimulus package in the midst of a global economic crisis, it's hard to imagine when, exactly, GOP lawmakers are going to work with the majority party in a constructive way.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016650.php
The House Republicans, by contrast, looked silly. They were carping about tiny bits of the stimulus (the capitol mall?!). They changed the bits they objected to from one day to the next, and looked for all the world like what I take them to be: people who were determined to oppose the stimulus bill from the outset.

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/stimulus-reportedly-has-23-billion-in.html
Stimulus reportedly has $23 billion in useless GOP pork . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/dumb_jock.php
Hill Republicans have been getting a lot of air time and minimal press criticism for a series of arguments about the stimulus that are in most cases transparently ridiculous. . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/28/181833/100/369/690168

The electoral risks for Republicans

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2009/jan/28/obama-white-house-congress

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/lay_of_the_land_1.php
So, President Obama is extremely popular. The Stimulus Bill is pretty popular. Hill Democrats are reasonably popular. And Hill Republicans are deep in Bush unpopularity territory, as much as they now try to distance themselves from the man they once wrapped their party around. . . And in a lot the industrial Midwest especially, the GOP is the party of 'no'.

By the way, here is what the GOP was doing during their “closed door” conversation with Obama

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/28/republicans_twitter_meeting_with_obama.html
[The Hill] "While Obama implored Republicans behind closed doors to consider supporting his economic stimulus bill, GOP thumbs worked overtime, tapping updates onto the microblogging website for thousands to read." . . .

Where the “Blue Dogs” stood on the stimulus package

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/28/201631/185/340/690205

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/howlin-dogs-by-digby-i-hope-what-dday.html

Now we watch the media spin. Will they decide to play it as “Obama FAILS to gain bipartisan support”? Or “Republicans REFUSE bipartisan accommodation”? We’ll see

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/28/185314/494
[AP] In a swift victory for President Barack Obama . . .

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-assess_29jan29,0,6258371.story
[Chicago Tribune] President Barack Obama fails to crack partisan divide

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/content/article.aspx?RsrcID=42709
[CNS] Republicans United Against Massive Government Spending Program

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/01/23/republicans-craft-careful-resistance-congress/
[Fox] Republicans Craft Careful 'Resistance' in Congress

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/toby_harnden/blog/2009/01/29/hollow_victory_republicans_deliver_slap_in_the_face_to_barack_obama
[Telegraph (UK)] Hollow victory: Republicans deliver slap in the face to Barack Obama

Ouch! http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/29/1212/54549



Here is a very useful summary of just what is in the stimulus package

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/28/225848/686

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/the-progressive-priorities-that-made-it-into-the-stimulus.php

Obama gives an interview to al-Arabiya

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/obama-on-middle-east.html

Good. Blackwater out of Iraq

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/30/world/middleeast/30blackwater.html

I’ve always thought there was an ugly untold story hidden at Bagram Air Force base in Iraq – you can search back issues of PBD to find out

http://washingtonindependent.com/27899/whats-the-dod-got-to-hide-about-bagram

Still trying to track down the Bush gang’s lawlessness

http://www.propublica.org/feature/the-missing-memos-feature#7632
The Bush administration’s "war on terror" -- including its controversial policies on detentions, interrogations and warrantless wiretapping -- was all underpinned by legal memoranda. While some of those memos have been released (primarily as a result of ACLU lawsuits), the former administration chose to keep many others secret, citing security and confidentiality concerns.

The decision to release them now lies with President Obama . . .

More: http://www.propublica.org/feature/obama-inherits-bushs-secret-counterterrorism-law-book-and-the-demands-to-re#7633

http://washingtonindependent.com/27802/aclu-presses-obama-to-release-olc-memos-and-other-evidence-of-potentially-illegal-conduct

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/60870.html

Was Eric Holder foolish enough to PROMISE Republicans there would be no investigations of Bush era wrongdoing?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/leahy-its-improper-for-a-senator-to-seek-torture-assurances-from-holder-in-exchange-for-vote.php
The Washington Times reported today that Attorney General nominee Eric Holder has privately assured Sen. Kit Bond (MO) and other Republicans that the Obama DoJ will not prosecute intelligence officials who engaged in harsh interrogations. . . .

Maybe so: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/holder-aide-we-made-no-special-promises-to-bond.php
“Prosecutorial and investigative judgments must depend on the facts, and no one is above the law. But where it is clear that a government agent has acted in "reasonable and good-faith reliance on Justice Department legal opinions" authoritatively permitting his conduct, I would find it difficult to justify commencing a full-blown criminal investigation, let alone a prosecution.”

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/holders_promises_on_prosecutio.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/28/did-holder-promise-no-prosecutions/

Tracking the guests on the talk shows. When the GOP was in control, we saw mostly Republicans because, well, they were making all the key decisions. Now that the Dems are in power we see mostly, uh, REPUBLICANS, because it’s important to give the alternative perspective counterbalancing time. You win, you lose; you lose, you win

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/28/cable-news-stimulus/
REPORT: GOP Lawmakers Outnumber Democratic Lawmakers 2 To 1 In Stimulus Debate On Cable News . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/mia-or-awol-by-digby-ive-mentioned.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11202

Blagojevich suddenly shifts track, announces that he DOES want to speak in his own defense at his Illinois Senate trial

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-blago-impeachment29jan29,0,567131.story
Some senators wondered whether it was a final grandstand play by the governor that could end with a highly public resignation—depriving the Senate of the opportunity to remove him and preserving Blagojevich's right to seek future office. . . .

Norm Coleman, flailing wildly

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman-camps-newest-push-print-every-voters-name.php
[Eric Kleefeld] The Coleman campaign has launched the latest P.R. front in their effort to have the rejected absentee ballots reconsidered, with some interesting potential ethical ramifications.

The Coleman camp's Web site has now published in an easily accessible form the names and home counties of every individual who delivered an absentee ballot and who has not yet been counted. . . . "Check below to see if you are one of the thousands of Minnesotans the Franken campaign is seeking to disenfranchise," the page says. "And please contact us at info@colemanforsenate.com to express your support for our effort to have your vote counted."

It gets better. By including every last rejected ballot, regardless of backstory or merit, they are including ballots they themselves earlier objected to counting, under the state Supreme Court's controversial decision that gave the candidates a veto power over improperly-rejected absentees -- and they're now saying it's the Franken campaign who is disenfranchising these people. . . .

And remember, the Coleman campaign's position until the last few weeks was that none of these ballots should ever be counted. . . .

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman-i-need-good-americans-to-contribute.php
Appearing last night on Fox News for an interview with Sean Hannity, Norm Coleman made an interesting appeal for money: That he can win this race if "good Americans" contribute to help him pay his legal bills . . .

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken-team-to-coleman-you-dug-your-own-grave-buddy.php
The Franken legal team has been busy this afternoon laying out their argument against Norm Coleman: You don't get to pull a 180. . . .

Will Ken Blackwell bring Ohio 2004 electoral politics to the national GOP?

http://washingtonindependent.com/27680/louisiana-gop-chair-blackwell-knows-free-and-fair-elections

Maybe not: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/28/duncan_leading_for_rnc_chairman.html

Whoa. Think about it

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/28/just_five_republican_states_left.html
According to Gallup, there are only five states that now have a statistically significant majorities of Republicans. They are Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, Alaska and Nebraska. . . .

When the Republican party has been reduced to its cortical stem, the hardest of the hard core, that gives demagogues like Rush Limbaugh disproportionate influence over what’s left. And the remaining Republicans can’t afford to lose or alienate that core. Isn’t Rush loving it!

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/whos-your-daddy-by-digby-republican.html
Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-Ga.) apologized Wednesday to “my fellow conservatives” for comments critical of talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh – saying he sees “eye-to-eye” with Limbaugh . . . [read on]

More: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11190

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/mike_pences_ode_to_rush_limbaugh.php

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/the_wrath_of_rush.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016643.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/28/limbaugh/index.html

Har-de-ha-ha. Bill O’Reilly gets pwned by Jessica Alba

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016646.php

Bonus item: What. A. Pig.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/what_a_guy.php
Former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) revealed more of himself than anyone cared to see, at the expense of Salon's Joan Walsh, this evening on "Hardball." In a debate with Walsh over tax policy, Armey let loose with this chauvinistic gem: "I am so damn glad that you can never be my wife cause I surely wouldn't have to listen to that prattle from you every day." Take a look . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:23 AM

 
KABUKI

Looks like we’re going to have to put up with this ridiculous Kabuki for the next few weeks. Obama says he wants to work with Republicans, will meet with them any time, anywhere, blah blah. Republicans say, they really, really do want to support the President, but they have to remain true to their conservative principles and that means only supporting him if he offers a Republican bill. The media bleats that Obama is “failing” if he can’t get Republicans to support him, and gives tons of air time to Republicans crying crocodile tears because Obama won’t do what they want.

Look, the bill is going to pass and it’s going to pass only with those Republicans voting for it who see it in their electoral interest to do so – no more and no less. The rest of the GOP have decided that their future is in hewing (now, after enabling eight years of Bush profligacy) to the “fiscal conservative” line. There won’t be a filibuster because the Repubs have no stomach in a time of economic crisis to be seen as blocking a new President’s stimulus bill.

Post-partisan? Never.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/play_acting.php
Boehner to Obama: We'd be willing to support a fully Republican bill.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/part_ii_of_the_obvious.php
The McConnell/Boehner plan is to fix the Bush mess by pushing through more of the former president's policies. Again.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/oy_13.php
Sen. Ensign (R): 2001 Bush tax cut a model of bipartisanship Obama should aspire to.

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/27/174058/451
[Jonathan Singer] I'm going to disagree with Josh here -- I think the 2001 tax cuts are exactly the model of bipartisanship that Barack Obama should aspire to. At the outset of his term, George W. Bush was able to get more or less everything he asked for from the Congress in terms upper-range tax cuts, yet still managed to get a dozen Democratic Senators and another couple dozen House Democrats to vote "aye." If President Obama can get almost everything he wants in the 2009 stimulus bill, and can steamroll a significant chunk of Congressional Republicans to support his position at the same time, then that's the kind of bipartisanship I can believe in.

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/stating_the_obvious.php

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/dems-letting-gop-chase-after-shiny-bipartisanship-ball.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016624.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/post-partisan-pain-by-dday-it-was-good.html

The new GOP line: it’s the Dems who are hurting Obama’s bill

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/mcconnell_its_all_the_dems_fault.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/republican-wedgie-by-digby-i-understand.html

The latest: Obama goes up to the Hill to meet with Republicans

What he said to them: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/internal_minutes_of_obamas_mee.php

What the Republicans said: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/18024.html
In many ways, Obama told the assembled Republicans everything they would want to hear, according to people in the meetings.

He promised to make tough spending choices in his first budget blueprint — “everyone will have to take a haircut,” he said. He told them he wouldn’t increase the size of government just to increase the size of government. He even teased House Minority Leader John A. Boehner about his golf swing.

Likewise, Republicans left the meeting with kind words for the president — but still resolved to oppose him on the floor Wednesday when Democrats bring his massive economic stimulus plan up for a vote. . . . [read on]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/27/AR2009012703138.html
Obama spent an hour with the House GOP, and lawmakers emerged saying very nice things about him. But would they vote for his stimulus plan?

"No, but he's a charming guy," said Rep. Jack Kingston (Ga.).

"No," said Rep. Kevin Brady (Tex.), but it was a "very warm dialogue."

"Probably not," Rep. Louie Gohmert (Tex.) said with a grin that made clear his "no" vote is certain. But "he's truly a nice guy." . . . [read on]

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11165
[Chris Bowers] As Congressional Democrats chug along, the actual Republican strategy is not to offer an alternative, but to:

1. Complain about one small aspect of the bill at a time, such as contraception funding, non-existent CBO reports, non-existent earmarks and, now, ACORN.

2. Demand that, in the name of bi-partisanship, that small aspect of the stimulus be dropped.

3. Secure meetings with Obama, in order for these complaints and demands to appear relevant to the national media.

4. Hope that, as Digby notes, Democrats in Congress and / or liberal activists grow publicly angry with President Obama if / when he makes these concessions in order to secure more Republican votes. Thus, Republicans are fulfilling Obama's vision (even though they oppose the stimulus) while Democrats are thwarting it (even though they are writing and supporting the stimulus).

5. Rinse, lather, repeat.

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/interview_cantor_on_what_repub.php

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11169

Sigh

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/27/not-so-fast-gop-might-bac_n_161280.html
Republicans are still open to supporting a stimulus package in the House, a GOP leadership aide tells the Huffington Post, despite reports that they will oppose it. . . .

The GOP “alternative”

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/republicans_to_introduce_econo.php

The media loves (the appearance of) bipartisanship

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/uriah-heeps-on-parade-by-digby-its.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016619.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/would_love_to_but_prevented.php

Plain speaking

www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/opinion/27herbert.html
[Bob Herbert] What’s up with the Republicans? Have they no sense that their policies have sent the country hurtling down the road to ruin? Are they so divorced from reality that in their delusionary state they honestly believe we need more of their tax cuts for the rich and their other forms of plutocratic irresponsibility, the very things that got us to this deplorable state?

The G.O.P.’s latest campaign is aimed at undermining President Obama’s effort to cope with the national economic emergency by attacking the spending in his stimulus package and repeating ad nauseam the Republican mantra for ever more tax cuts. . . . [read on]

The latest right-wing squeal is that (some) released Gitmo prisoners end up back on the battlefield. Is this recidivism a real issue?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/27/153851/101/907/689646

Rove’s lawyer punts his Executive Privilege claim to the Obama administration – will they support their predecessor’s expansive claims of immunity?

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/the-legal-intrigue-behind-rove.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/ball_in_obamas_court_on_roves_us_attorney_testimon.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/corruption_in_washington_/2009/01/the_rove_subpoena.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/27/roves-renewed-privilege-assertion-is-it-absolute-immunity-or-executive-privilege/

The GOP fights to maintain a filibustering minority in the Senate (it’s all they have left)

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/27/16712/9268

Norm Coleman’s increasingly feeble fight in Minnesota grinds on

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/colemans-supposedly-friendly-witnesses-backfire.php

The Blagojevich trial: hear the tapes

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/27/the-blagojevich-shakedown/

Rachel Maddow scores a coup: gets a long, windy interview with Blago, during which he massacres his own trial defense. If you have the time, this is worth listening to entirely – but at least get the legal analysis

The interview: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/

The transcript: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28880998

The analysis: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#28882609

Rush Limbaugh: head of the GOP?

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2009/01/is_rush_limbaugh_the_new_face.html

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/27/192252/890

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/27/214157/410

Fox News tries to advance their line that Obama only won because of a fawning press (which is why we need Fox News, see?)

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/big-surprise-fox-news-promoting-anti.html

Bonus item: She’s b-a-a-a-ck (with a P-A-A-A-C)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016635.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:44 AM

 
SIDESHOWS

“Bipartisanship,” in the current lingo, seems to require Obama reaching out to Republicans who have made it quite clear that they won’t vote for his stimulus package, ever

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/opinion/26krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] As the debate over President Obama’s economic stimulus plan gets under way, one thing is certain: many of the plan’s opponents aren’t arguing in good faith. . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016614.php
[Steve Benen] Congressional Republicans have reportedly "taken issue with the large chunk of funding in the stimulus package -- some $300 billion all told -- that will go to shore up the budgets of states." Matt Yglesias notes how ridiculous this is. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/26/133414/627

http://www.congressmatters.com/storyonly/2009/1/25/18186/1297/545/466

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/26/BL2009012601451.html

How bipartisanship works?

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009_01_25_archive.html#1052292422183423234
[AP] House Democrats appear likely to jettison family planning funds for the low-income from an $825 billion economic stimulus bill, officials said late Monday, following an appeal from President Barack Obama at a time the administration is courting Republican critics of the legislation . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/me_too.php
[JEM] I'm starting to get really annoyed with most news outlets, particularly Politico, which seems to be auditioning for the role of Drudge 2.0, portraying Obama's pledge to be more bipartisan as some sort of political straight jacket. Apparently, Obama has to completely transform all of his ideas and proposals to whatever the Republicans demand if he hopes to live up to his 'promise' of bipartisanship. I hope these articles conclude that he's broken his promise by the time the stimulus passes (with more than 60 votes, mind you), just so I don't have to endure them for the next four years.

Who’s winning the politics of this?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/whaddya_think.php
[JG] Excuse me if I sound like a worry wart, but I am a little concerned that Obama is being punked by the GOPers on the stimulus bill. As I understand it, he has already changed the proposed bill to include tax cuts and made other changes to please the GOP. However, it seems that he has yet to get them to buy in. It would seem that rather than putting their proposals into the package upfront, it would be better if he made it clear that he would include their proposal only if they agree to support the bill. By making the concessions up front, he seems to be diluting his proposals, lending credibility to both the GOP's proposals and criticisms of Obama's package.

[ND] I have to disagree with your reader about his worry that Obama is getting 'punked' by Republicans. I am beginning to think that a lot of liberals are suffering from some kind of Stockholm syndrome with the republicans and conservatives giving them credit for every little move while trashing Obama and doubting him every step of the way. Though we may not like everything that is on the bill and should as progressives push for what we think needs to be done the comments I have seen go way beyond that. Calling into question Obama's commitment to progressive causes and his savvy about how to get a good bill passed. People seem to forget that Obama is extending a hand not in order to get all the republicans to bend over for him (excuse the graphic description) but is doing this for a large audience. The ones getting punked are the republicans who will look childish and small when this is done. Obama is playing chess while the republicans and many liberals are barely doing checkers. Not a week in and already giving the cons more credit than the guy who won the election for our cause.

The Repubs and their media allies were eager to cite a CBO “report” on the stimulus package that never actually existed. Now there is a real CBO report – think they’ll mention it?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016609.php
[WSJ] “According to Congressional Budget Office estimates, a mere $26 billion of the House stimulus bill's $355 billion in new spending would actually be spent in the current fiscal year . . .”

[Steve Benen] The problem, for those who were away from their computers over the weekend, is that the CBO report conservatives are relying on doesn't exist. . . .

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/cbo_scores_the_stimulus_bill.html
CBO anticipates that implementation of H.R. 1 would have a noticeable impact on economic growth and employment in the next few years. . . . [read on]

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/actual_cbo_report.php

The Republicans play oogy-boogy on GITMO

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016612.php
[Steve Benen] Fox News personalities argued last week that the Obama would bring dangerous terrorists "to our soil, right here." Karl Rove argued over the weekend that Obama will change his mind about Gitmo because "there will be an uproar in the U.S." about detaining suspects on American soil. John McCain told Fox News yesterday, "I don't know of a state in America that wants them in their state. . . .”

Elana Schor reports that the most likely facility is the military's maximum-security prison in Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas -- which, by the way, is where Candidate McCain wanted to send the detainees when he endorsed closing Gitmo . . .

I can appreciate the discomfort one might feel in the proximity of a psychotic religious fanatic, but as the Not-In-My-Backyard phenomenon goes, this is pretty silly.

As Glenn Greenwald explained the other day, there are already all kinds of suspected terrorists, including those associated with the 9/11 attacks, in federal detention right here on U.S. soil. As far as I can tell, no one much cares, and there have been no protests from conservative commentators, lawmakers, or activists about moving them out of the country.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/no_not_the_only_one.php
[SG] Am I the only one who is simply flabbergasted that any Republican, much less a member of the Bush Administration like Karl Rove, thinks the closing of Gitmo will be a campaign issue that favors the GOP? I listen to these people lecture us about the difficulty Obama will face in relocating the prisoners and one word keeps repeating itself in my mind: chutzpah! Of the highest order! It's as if they built a poorly designed nuclear plant, let it melt down on their watch, did nothing to clean it up, and then upon leaving office said: "Good luck with that nuclear plant! We'll be watching and ready to pounce when you haven't got that sucker under control in a year!"

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/not-in-my-backyard-the-gopers-complicating-obamas-gitmo-closure.php

You have to say this for the media: they know how to take a simplistic but catchy question, prepped for them by the Right, and inject it directly into the conventional wisdom bloodstream

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/26/13019/8429/522/689014
[David Gregory] Do you think that the president is making America less safe in taking this step? . . . [read on]

Obama’s four Executive Orders, and the new era they portend

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/tny/2009/01/behind-the-executive-orders.html
[Jane Mayer] On Thursday, President Barack Obama consigned to history the worst excesses of the Bush Administration’s “war on terror.” . . . [read on]

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/26/what-jane-mayer-tells-us-about-warrantless-wiretapping/

“Question of the day”

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/question_of_the_day.php
[Josh Marshall] How much TARP money should be spent on lobbying Congress to loosen the restrictions on getting TARP money in the first place?

Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/house_judiciary_chairman_subpoenas_karl_rove_1.php
[AP] The House Judiciary Committee chairman subpoenaed former White House adviser Karl Rove on Monday to testify about the Bush administration's firing of U.S. attorneys and prosecution of a former Democratic governor. . . .

"I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court, and today's action is an important step along the way," Conyers said . . . "Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it. After two years of stonewalling, it's time for him to talk," Conyers said.

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/conyers_to_rove_time_to_talk_about_us_attorneys.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/26/173427/182/266/689270

I am really surprised that the judges didn’t throw Norm Coleman and his whole case out of court for this

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota-election-judges-toss-colemans-faulty-evidence-tell-him-to-try-again.php
[Eric Kleefeld] The first day of the Minnesota election trial has come to a close, and it couldn't have been a fun day for Norm Coleman, who was present in the courtroom to watch everything that happened.

It's not a good day when the court throws out your evidence and tells your legal team to submit it all over again.

Earlier today, Franken attorney Marc Elias raised serious questions about the Coleman campaign erasing sections from photocopies of rejected absentee-ballot envelopes that they're attempting to get put into the count. Later questioning by Elias of Coleman attorney Gloria Sonnen revealed that the submitted copies also include written notes added on to the envelopes by the Coleman team, and it's impossible to tell what writing was there originally and what was added by the Coleman camp.

The judges have now ordered Coleman's legal team to subpoena and submit the original ballot envelopes themselves, if they want them to be reviewed and potentially counted. . . .

It could have been worse -- the judges have bent over backwards by giving Coleman another chance to submit this evidence, instead of striking the claim entirely.

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken-lawyer-gets-coleman-witness-to-concede-key-point.php

The Blagojevich circus goes on the road

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/26/blago/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] [E]verything about Blagojevich's latest foray into the national media spotlight is over the top. While he's being interviewed on what seems to be every possible channel, his trial in the Illinois state Senate is starting -- and he's skipping it, complaining that "the fix is in" and saying, "I'm talking to Americans to let them know what's happening in the land of Lincoln. If they can do it to a governor, they can do it to you." . . .

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/26/blagojevich-says-he-considered-oprah-for-senate/
Embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich said Monday that he considered appointing Oprah Winfrey to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat. . . .

I have no brief for Blago whatsoever – but isn’t this, as Adam B says, a little bit of a jury bribe, coming in the middle of an impeachment trial?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/26/121715/455/385/689135
“None of the funds provided by this Act may be made available to the State of Illinois, or any agency of the State, unless (1) the use of such funds by the State is approved in legislation enacted by the State after the date of the enactment of this Act, or (2) Rod R. Blagojevich no longer holds the office of Governor of the State of Illinois. . . .”

You know this is said by someone who NEVER eats at McDonald's

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/26/11102/0505/715/688821
George Will argues that the rising consumption of cheap fast food during the Bush Recession shows the market works, saying the boost in quarterly profits at McDonald’s is a perfect example of "the market sorting this out." . . . [read on]

End of a very-short era. Bill Kristol’s column for the NYT ends (without explanation) with this

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/opinion/26kristol.html
This is William Kristol’s last column.

More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/cut-kristol-as-era-ends-a_b_160852.html
[Greg Mitchell] As you surely know by now, Bill Kristol wrote his final column today for the New York Times, sparing the paper any further embarrassment. But, as usual, he did not spare us all a good belly laugh . . . [read on]

Bonus item: Rush Limbaugh, beyond parody

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_012609/content/01125108.guest.html
I have a serious proposal to make: the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan 2009. . . . This does not have to be a divisive issue. It does not have to be in any way, shape, manner, or form a divisive issue. . . . There is no bipartisanship in President Obama's plan. President Obama's definition of bipartisanship is when Republicans cave and agree with his plan so he can then claim it's bipartisan. But he's not compromising on anything here.

Mine is a genuine compromise. So let's look at how the vote came out, shall we? Fifty-three percent of voters in this country -- we'll say, for the sake of this proposal, 53% of Americans -- voted for Obama. Forty-six percent voted for Senator McCain, and 1% voted for wackos. Let's give the remaining 1% to President Obama, so let's say that 54% voted for President Obama and 46% voted for Senator McCain. As a way to bring the country together and at the same time determine the most effective way to deal with recessions, under the Obama-Limbaugh Stimulus Plan of 2009, $540 billion of the one trillion will be spent on infrastructure as defined by President Obama and the Democrats. The remaining $460 billion, or 46% that voted for Senator McCain, will be directed towards tax cuts, as determined by me.

These tax cuts will consist primarily of capital gains tax cuts and corporate tax rate cuts. So Obama gets $540 billion to spend his way. The other people of this country who did not vote for his way get $460 billion spent the way they would like it spent. This is bipartisanship! This is how bipartisanship really works. Okay, Obama wins by a 54-46 majority, so he gets 54% of the trillion bucks. Spend it his way. We get 46% of the trillion bucks to spend our way, and then we compare. Then we see which stimulus actually works and works the fastest . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:20 AM

 
POISONING THE WELL

Another Bush going-away gift

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016597.php
[Steve Benen] Upon announcing his plan to close the military detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Barack Obama also began a process that would review the case files for every detainee. The problem for the new administration, however, is that there are no files. . . . [C]onsider just how big a mess Bush has left for Obama here. The previous administration a) tortured detainees, making it harder to prosecute dangerous terrorists; b) released bad guys while detaining good guys; and c) neglected to keep comprehensive files on possible terrorists who've been in U.S. custody for several years. As if the fiasco at Gitmo weren't hard enough to clean up.

I'm reminded of something John Cole said the other day: "The moral of this story is not the danger for Obama going forward with his Gitmo decommissioning, the moral is that when venal, shallow, small men are given unfettered power and authority, they do incompetent, stupid, and evil things."

And on the economy . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/25/1303/52720/935/687576
[Devilstower] While we are now looking forward to changes with the Obama administration, we're currently living with the world W wrought. For the last eight years, conservatives weren't just digging a hole, they pulled out a squadron of excavators that have put craters all over the national map.

A lot of the numbers are familiar, but with the departure of the economic mangler in chief, it's worth a quick review just to get a look at the scope of the task ahead . . .

Go, go!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/26/us/politics/26calif.html
President Obama will direct federal regulators on Monday to move swiftly on an application by California and 13 other states to set strict automobile emission and fuel efficiency standards, two administration officials said Sunday.

The directive makes good on an Obama campaign pledge and signifies a sharp reversal of Bush administration policy. Granting California and the other states the right to regulate tailpipe emissions would be one of the most emphatic actions Mr. Obama could take to quickly put his stamp on environmental policy. . . .

Trouble ahead for Obama in the Middle East?

http://www.metimes.com/International/2009/01/23/obamas_middle_east_agenda/7786/

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/24/whats_love_got_to_do_with_it_pt1/

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11103

And in Afghanistan and Pakistan?

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/is-afghanistan-going-to-be-obamas-iraq-1515332.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/01/26/obama/index.html

I’ve gone back and forth on this, but I basically come down on the side of Atrios

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009_01_25_archive.html#5592074635301034158
I actually hope every Republican votes against the stimulus package, and I hope that instead of trying to please them the Obama team comes up with what they think the right package will be. The Republicans should lay out a competing vision, which won't pass because they aren't in charge. Then, 2 and 4 years from now voters can judge the results and if they aren't pretty they'll know who to blame and decide that the competing vision would have been a better one.

With bipartisanship you'll not only get a compromise that sucks, when it's time to throw the bums out no one will be quite sure which party should be blamed. Then what new candidates do is just run against some generic "Washington."

Democrats have the presidency and big majorities. Instead of hiding behind the spread-the-blame-around tactic, they should announce their vision and run with it.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/25/the-best-politics-is-good-policy/

The politics of obstruction

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/25/112439/111

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11095

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/26/21656/8887

The range of views on the Sunday talk shows

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/misinformation-brigade-by-dday-sunday.html
[Dday] The Sunday talk shows were filled with conservatives (it really is a new era on Sunday mornings, isn't it?) trashing the Obama recovery plan and demanding more concessions in exchange for their votes, despite the fact that they have almost no leverage in the Congress. This is mostly a head game, using Obama's supposed commitment to bipartisanship to force the types of unwise policies Americans roundly rejected at the polls into the final bill. . . . [read on]

How the GOP plans to politicize the closing of Gitmo: NIMBY

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/25/rove_sets_up_obama_on_gitmo.html

Perhaps recent experiences in Illinois and New York should make us rethink the policy of letting governors choose Senate replacements

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/25/172610/047

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/against_appointed_senators.php

Rod Blagojevich, standup comedian

http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2009/01/blagojevich_in_nbc_interview_c.html
Blagojevich in NBC interview compares himself to Gandhi, King and Mandela . . .

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/01/senate-trial-looms-blagojevich-unbowed.html
Setting the stage for a momentous act of political repudiation, the state Senate prepared to open the first impeachment trial of a governor in Illinois history on Monday and disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich acknowledged his days in office were numbered.

“I think what you’ll see is a roll call that will be pre-designed, and we’ll see whether or not I even get one vote,” Blagojevich said in an interview with NBC’s “Today Show,” according to a transcript released Sunday. He alleged the Senate trial was “rigged, and it’s fixed.” . . .

[NB: Hmmm. . . . what OTHER explanation could there be for the fact that there will be a unanimous verdict on his guilt?]

Bonus item: Ben Stein IS a comedian (of sorts), but I don’t think he meant this column to be so hilarious

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/business/25every.html
NOT long ago, a woman in California called me for advice. . . .

Comment: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016601.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:44 AM

 
TRIAL AND ERROR

FUBAR in Gitmo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012401702.html
President Obama's plans to expeditiously determine the fates of about 245 terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and quickly close the military prison there were set back last week when incoming legal and national security officials -- barred until the inauguration from examining classified material on the detainees -- discovered that there were no comprehensive case files on many of them.

Instead, they found that information on individual prisoners is "scattered throughout the executive branch," a senior administration official said. The executive order Obama signed Thursday orders the prison closed within one year, and a Cabinet-level panel named to review each case separately will have to spend its initial weeks and perhaps months scouring the corners of the federal government in search of relevant material.

Several former Bush administration officials agreed that the files are incomplete and that no single government entity was charged with pulling together all the facts and the range of options for each prisoner. They said that the CIA and other intelligence agencies were reluctant to share information, and that the Bush administration's focus on detention and interrogation made preparation of viable prosecutions a far lower priority. . . .

We had a preview of this a few days ago: now the latest issue has hit the stands

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/24/the-first-oral-history-non-revisionist-version/
[Vanity Fair] “Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: ... I think the clearest indication I got that Rich [Armitage] and he both had finally awakened to the dimensions of the problem was when Rich began—I mean, I’ll be very candid—began to use language to describe the vice president’s office with me as the Gestapo, as the Nazis, and would sometimes late in the evening, when we were having a drink—would sometimes go off rather aggressively on particular characters in the vice president’s office.”

[Anthony Cordesman] “It’s important to note that we made even more mistakes in Afghanistan than we did in Iraq. We were far slower to react, but in both cases we were unprepared for stability operations; we had totally unrealistic goals for nation building; at a political level we were in a state of denial about the seriousness of popular anger and resistance, about the rise of the insurgency, about the need for host-country support and forces; and we had a singularly unfortunate combination of a secretary of defense and a vice president who tried to win through ideology rather than realism and a secretary of state who essentially stood aside from many of the issues involved. And in fairness, rather than blame subordinates, you had a president who basically took until late 2006 to understand how much trouble he was in in Iraq and seems to have taken till late 2008 to understand how much trouble he was in in Afghanistan.”

Getting to know Rahm Emanuel

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25emanuel.html

Go, go!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/us/politics/25regulate.html
The Obama administration plans to move quickly to tighten the nation’s financial regulatory system.

Officials say they will make wide-ranging changes, including stricter federal rules for hedge funds, credit rating agencies and mortgage brokers, and greater oversight of the complex financial instruments that contributed to the economic crisis. . . .

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/the_new_regime.php

I’ll take this match-up every week: Obama’s weekly “radio” address (which has now become a video-podcast address), versus John Boehner

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/president-obamas-first-weekly-radio.html
[Obama] “It’s a plan that will save or create three to four million jobs over the next few years, and one that recognizes both the paradox and the promise of this moment - the fact that there are millions of Americans trying to find work even as, all around the country, there’s so much work to be done. That’s why this is not just a short-term program to boost employment. It’s one that will invest in our most important priorities like energy and education; health care and a new infrastructure that are necessary to keep us strong and competitive in the 21st century. . . .

I know that some are skeptical about the size and scale of this recovery plan. I understand that skepticism, which is why this recovery plan must and will include unprecedented measures that will allow the American people to hold my Administration accountable for these results. We won’t just throw money at our problems - we’ll invest in what works. Instead of politicians doling out money behind a veil of secrecy, decisions about where we invest will be made public, and informed by independent experts whenever possible. We’ll launch an unprecedented effort to root out waste, inefficiency, and unnecessary spending in our government, and every American will be able to see how and where we spend taxpayer dollars by going to a new website called recovery.gov.” [read on]

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016592.php
"Our plan is rooted in the philosophy that we cannot borrow and spend our way back to prosperity," Boehner stated.

The minority leader said the package authored by congressional Democrats was "chock-full of government programs and projects" . . .

I love these Republicans: Obama wants to “Europeanize America.” Hey guys, why don’t you go after FRENCH FRIES again?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/europe_a_continent_full_of_lovely_countries.php

More GOP brilliance

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016590.php
[Steve Benen] Several far-right lawmakers took to the House floor this week, to praise and pay tribute to the 43rd president.

Note that these Republicans not only adore Bush, but Rep. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) feels so strongly about his affection for the former president, that he literally chokes up talking about the "more hopeful" future Bush has left his children. . . . .

GOP moving further to the right?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/24/2252/77119/681/687838

A party in disarray

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/24/12555/3816/2/688501

Rush Limbaugh, rushing from blowhard to buffoon

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/24/115446/875/36/688475
“But I just want to say, folks, look I support Obama. I just don't support his policies. I support our president, like I have supported all presidents. I just don't support Obama's policies. I don't support the nationalization of the banks, which has happened. I don't support the nationalization of the auto companies. I don't support the nationalization of the mortgage business. I don't like Barney Frank and Chris Dodd running things. And I don't want that to continue.”

[Susan G] Setting aside whether you agree or disagree with his characterization of policy here, let's think long and hard about who was president when the "nationalization of banks" began. Who was president when the auto companies were "nationalized?" When the mortgage business received government aid? Someone in the executive branch--not Barney Frank and not Chris Dodd, and not Barack Obama--gave those measures the green light.

What was that guy's name again?

Ouch! http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/conservatism-can-never-fail-by-digby.html
[Mickey Edwards, former R-OK] The Republican Party that is in such disrepute today is not the party of Reagan. It is the party of Rush Limbaugh, of Ann Coulter, of Newt Gingrich, of George W. Bush, of Karl Rove. It is not a conservative party, it is a party built on the blind and narrow pursuit of power.

Not too long ago, conservatives were thought of as the locus of creative thought. Conservative think tanks (full disclosure: I was one of the three founding trustees of the Heritage Foundation) were thought of as cutting-edge, offering conservative solutions to national problems. By the 2008 elections, the very idea of ideas had been rejected. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016589.php

Blagojevich’s chief lawyer quits

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hVNAcA-xtCA6PKQ8h5s7dBlD_BKwD95T8TRG0
[AP] "The heart and soul of this has been a struggle of me against the system," Blagojevich said at a news conference Friday. . . .

He has chosen not to mount any defense in the Senate impeachment trial that begins Monday and could remove him from office within days. He may ask the Illinois Supreme Court to block the trial, arguing its rules are hopelessly biased against him.

Blagojevich, a fan of Western movies, drew a long analogy Friday between his situation and that of a cowboy falsely accused of stealing a horse. His story ended with one cowboy suggesting the accused thief be hanged, with the other suggesting he first be tried, then hanged.

"Under these rules, I'm not even getting a fair trial; they're just hanging me. And when they hang me under these rules that prevent due process, they're hanging the 12 million people of Illinois who twice have elected a governor," he said.

The Democratic governor told The Associated Press on Thursday night that he's willing to sacrifice himself for principle by standing up to lawmakers he believes are violating the Illinois Constitution. "The fight will continue," he said.

Blagojevich's fight would have one fewer supporter as his chief defense attorney, Ed Genson, announced Friday that he would pull out of the federal criminal case. In announcing his withdrawal, Genson insinuated the governor didn't listen to his advice.

"I never require a client to do what I say, but I do require them to at least listen," Genson said. . . .

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/blagojevich/1395690,CST-NWS-gensen24.article
Genson, sources said, had been frustrated over a lack of communication with other attorneys for Blagojevich. That dissension boiled over Thursday when lawyer Sam Adam Sr. and his son Sam Adam Jr. said they planned to file a lawsuit to block the governor's upcoming Senate impeachment trial. Genson had said there was no chance a lawsuit would be filed.

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/24/three-data-points-on-blagojevich/

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/24/AR2009012402086.html
STATE OF THE UNION: (CNN), 9 a.m.: Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.); Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.); David Plouffe, former campaign manager for Barack Obama; New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I); Douglas J. Feith, former Bush undersecretary of defense; and Charles D. Swift, former Navy defense attorney and visiting associate professor at Emory Law School.

THIS WEEK (ABC): House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.).

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Vice President Biden.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): National Economic Council director Lawrence H. Summers and House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio).

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:36 AM

 
LOYAL OPPOSITION?

The Republicans still seem to think they’re going to have a significant hand in shaping the stimulus package – to which Obama has a succinct response

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012203961.html
Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of "petty grievances," President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition yesterday to an economic stimulus plan that he had hoped would receive broad bipartisan support. . . .

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17862.html
President Obama listened to Republican gripes about his stimulus package during a meeting with congressional leaders Friday morning - but he also left no doubt about who's in charge of these negotiations. "I won," Obama noted matter-of-factly . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/23/i-won-on-day-4-president-obama-confronts-the-limits-of-bipartisanship/

The Republican political instincts remain sharp

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/nrcc_the_fundamentals_of_our_economy_are_strong.php
[NRCC website] “Thanks to Republican economic policies, the US economy is robust and job creation is strong.”

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/23/152039/669/351/688176

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016583.php

The media, of course, LOVES bipartisanship – but somehow that always seems to come down to the Democrats caving to GOP demands

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/chuck_yer_killin_me.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/hyperventilating.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/amazingly-negotiating-with-ourselves.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11089

Why – real – bipartisanship – won’t – happen, in words of one syllable

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/23/144923/998/338/688165
[Kos] 1. If the stimulus plan succeeds, Obama and the Democratic Congress will get all the credit.

2. If the stimulus plan fails, everyone who supported it will get blamed for blowing it.

The appearance of bipartisanship, versus getting the right bill

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/norquists_stimulus_strategy.php
[Grover Norquist] “We engage the Democrats by being cheerful and pleasant and open to conversation. They say they want 10 ideas? OK, here are 10 ideas. The next time they say they want 10 ideas, we say that they asked before, and, just for the record, they rejected our ideas. When you get to May, who’s the obstructionist and who’s the collaborator?”

[Matt Yglesias] To me, this re-enforces the case for making the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, six, seventh, eight, ninth, tenth, and only priority in terms of the stimulus to write the best bill possible and pass it with the minimum number of votes necessary. Stimulus is a great idea in theory, but in practice the results of the congressional process may well get ugly. A bill that works substantively will be good enough politically, and worrying too much about the short-term politics just opens up the door for the bill to get more screwed up. If a giant stimulus passes and the economy stays in a funk, nobody’s going to care how many Republicans voted for the bill years in the past.

Wishing for a better press

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/23/the_medias_role_in_the_financial_crisis/
[Dan Gillmor] Our government's current operating principle seems to be bailing out people who were culpable in the financial meltdown. If so, journalists are surely entitled to billions of dollars.

Why? Journalists were grossly deficient when it came to covering the reckless behavior, sleaze and willful ignorance of fundamental economics, much of which was reasonably obvious to anyone who was paying attention, that inflated the housing and credit bubbles of the past decade. Their frequent cheerleading for bad practices -- and near-total failure to warn us, repeatedly and relentlessly, of what was building -- made a bad situation worse. . . . [read on]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/23/a-controversial-cbo-repor_n_160495.html
[Ryan Grim] Reports of a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office, showing that the vast majority of the money in the stimulus package won't be spent until after 2010, have Democrats on the defensive and the GOP calling for a pullback in wasteful spending.

Funny thing is, there is no such report. . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/factcheckers-by-dday-in-this-economy-i.html

Heh

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012203928.html
A joke made its way around the Capitol yesterday: How do you know the 2008 election is really over? Because John McCain is causing trouble for Republicans again. . . .

Bipartisanship? Don’t make me laugh

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/214045/780/138/687364
[Jed L] 1. Rush Limbaugh tells his radio audience that he wants Obama to fail.

2. Within four hours of Barack Obama's inauguration, FOX was pimping the Republican talking point that the Dow took the biggest dive of any inaugural day in history, mentioning it on at least ten separate occasions. (The talking point is technically true, but misleading. It ignores the fact that in percentage terms, the Dow dropped by about the same amount as it did on Ronald Reagan's inaugural day. More importantly, the drop had no more to do with Obama than the fact that on Wednesday, the Dow climbed by more points than it has on the first full day in office of any President in U.S. history.)

3. On Wednesday alone, Republicans stalled Secretary of State Clinton's confirmation until late in the day, lambasted Timothy Geithner for having screwed up his taxes a few years ago, even though he's subsequently paid back everything that was due, and blocked a vote on Eric Holder's nomination to be Attorney General.

More from Rush: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/whos-rooting-for-failure-now-by-digby.html

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/former-bush-speechwriter-obama-is-most.html
[National Review] Obama is already proving to be the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office. . . .

More on this: the new GOP line, with a big assist from the media, is that Obama is dismantling the Bush security infrastructure that has kept us safe

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11096

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/23/al_qaeda/index.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1862456,00.html
[Time] Will Obama Roll Back Bush Anti-Terror Tactics?

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/politics/bulletin/bulletin_090106.htm
[US News] Move To Undo Bush's Anti-Terror Policies?

Plain speaking

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/22/AR2009012203658.html
Retired Adm. Dennis C. Blair, President Obama's nominee to lead the U.S. intelligence community, told Congress yesterday that torture "is not moral, legal or effective" and that "there will not be any waterboarding on my watch." . . .

A new broom

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/01/23/washington/AP-Obama-Abortion-Ban.html
President Barack Obama on Friday struck down the Bush administration's ban on giving federal money to international groups that perform abortions or provide abortion information -- an inflammatory policy that has bounced in and out of law for the past quarter-century. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/roe-vs-wade-by-digby-on-todays.html

“A photocopying problem”

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken-legal-team-coleman-is-doctoring-evidence.php
[Eric Kleefeld] At a pre-trial hearing in the Minnesota election lawsuit just now, Franken attorney Kevin Hamilton made a striking accusation: That the Coleman campaign has been doctoring evidence.

As an example, Hamilton showed two photocopies of a rejected absentee ballot envelope, one of which he said was the unaltered original, and the other taken from Coleman's legal filings in his attempts to get more of the rejected ballots opened. The Coleman copy was missing the section in which a local election official explained why it was rejected.

"We would not be able to stipulate to the authenticity of a document where the key portion has been cut out," Hamilton complained.

Coleman attorney James Langdon expressed his absolute surprise. "What he has pointed out is news to me," said Langdon. "There has been no effort on our part to be anything other than absolutely truthful."

Langdon speculated that there may have been a photocopying problem. . . .

Norm Coleman’s strategy now seems to just do anything that puts off a resolution of the Senate seat – meanwhile, he’s already taken another job

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/yet-more-ballot-high-jinks-in-minnesota.php
A group of seven voters from around Minnesota have now filed a new class action lawsuit . . . The Franken campaign is now opposing the lawsuit, on the grounds that it has been filed too late in the process, while Coleman is supporting it.

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota-election-court-rejects-colemans-latest-gambit.php

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/22/franken-coleman-update-012208-norms-new-job/

Rod Blagojevich has that magical ability to say ANYTHING with a straight face

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/blago-my-arrest-was-like-pearl-harbor.php
"December 9 to my family, to us, to me, is what Pearl Harbor Day was to the United States," Blago told the Associated Press. . . . “And just like the United States prevailed in that, we'll prevail in this."

Bush counterterrorism advisor says, well, we always MEANT to get around to closing Gitmo . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/us_too.php
It “didn’t happen.” . . .

Bush climate change opponent “burrows” into a secure job deep in the NSF civil service bureaucracy

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/a-loyal-bushie-burrows-into-obamas-system.php

WATB

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/bush-aides-whining-about-obamas.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/oh-boo-hoo-by-digby-these-people-can.html

Dick Cheney is upset that his minion Scooter Libby didn’t get a Bush pardon. Hey, Mr. “I Shot My Friend in the Face and Let Him Apologize,” if you want to take Libby off the hook, there is one very simple thing you could do

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/22/dick-still-complaining-that-his-beloved-firewall-didnt-get-pardoned/

Sarah Palin is still hiding behind her kids – and even her conservative pals are getting a little tired of it

http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/palin_media_children/2009/01/21/173769.html?s=al&promo_code=7839-1
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is going on the offensive against news organizations and bloggers she says are perpetuating malicious gossip about her and her children. But political observers say the former Republican vice presidential candidate can't have it both ways: trotting out the children to showcase her family values, then trying to shield them from scrutiny. . . .

Bonus item: Paranoid insane

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016544.php
A prominent far-right website called WorldNetDaily ran a piece the other day with a provocative headline: "Hail King Obama: President for life -- Move under way to repeal Constitution's term limits." . . . Steve M. noted a variety of right-wing blogs that got pretty worked about this, including one that insisted Obama "might take a page from his role models Chavez and Castro." . . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:32 AM

 
FRESH AIR

Three Executive Orders coming today

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/01/torture-gitmo-a.html
According to a former Hill aide, the orders will:

∙ close the detainee camp at Guantanamo Bay within a year and establish a process by which the U.S. government figures out what to do with the remaining detainees;

∙ establish new rules on interrogation methods moving forward;

∙ establish new guidelines for the treatment of detainees moving forward

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/19839/6764/195/687291

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/us/politics/22gitmo.html

George Mitchell to become Mideast envoy. But is he TOO fair?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/foxman_mitchell_is_fair_and_im_unhappy.php
[Jewish Week] Some Jewish leaders say the very qualities that may appeal to the Obama administration — Mitchell’s reputation as an honest broker — could spark unhappiness, if not outright opposition, from some pro-Israel groups.

“Sen. Mitchell is fair. He’s been meticulously even-handed,” said Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League. “But the fact is, American policy in the Middle East hasn’t been ‘even handed’ — it has been supportive of Israel when it felt Israel needed critical U.S. support.”

“So I’m concerned,” Foxman continued. “I’m not sure the situation requires that kind of approach in the Middle East.” . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/mitchell_doesnt_cut_it.php
Unstated here is that Mitchell is half Lebanese Christian by ancestry . . . [read on]

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/21/224514/235
[Charles Lemos] It's a smart choice . . . [read on]

John Cornyn (R-TX) holds up ANOTHER Obama nominee’s confirmation vote (Eric Holder for AG). But now we learn the real reason why (hint: it’s not Marc Rich or Elian Gonzalez)

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/to-prosecute-or-not-to-prosecute-cornyns-holder-holdup-splits-gopers.php
[Elana Schor] Sen. John Cornyn's (R-TX) decision today to force a week-long delay in Eric Holder's Judiciary Committee confirmation vote has opened an unexpected fissure in the GOP. On the one side are Republicans who want Holder to echo President Obama's promise to "move forward" -- widely interpreted as a hint that Bush-era officials and operatives would not be prosecuted for the torture of detainees -- and on the other side is, well, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). . . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/gopers_worried_about_torture_prosecutions_delay_ho.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016547.php

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2009/01/cornyn_holder_torture_and_the_obstruction_of_justice.php

Okay, okay. Obama retakes the inaugural oath

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/this-just-in-obamas-presidency-isnt.html

Ooh, ouch: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/hows_it_looking_obama_reacts_t.php

Politico: Why Obama will fail

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/drudgico-pops-bubble-by-digby-they-have.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016538.php

Behind the curtains

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/125817/470/368/687118
Kagro X over at Congress Matters looks at the public process that begins today as the stimulus package begins its legislative journey. But he also peeks behind the curtains at what goes on before it ever hits CSPAN ... and what that can mean in shaping the direction of legislation . . .

More: http://www.congressmatters.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/11353/1070/578/433

We’re starting to learn what really went on with Bush’s illegal wiretaps

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/msnbc-nsa-spied-on-us-journalists.html
[John Aravosis] MSNBC's Keith Olbermann interviewed a former National Security Agency analyst tonight. The analyst says that, under the ruse of making sure that the NSA did NOT target American media and journalists, they actually collected information on every communication those journalists and media organizations had 24/7. . . . [read on]

More: http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/3165

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/russell-tice-confirms-everything-weve-surmised-about-bushs-illegal-wiretap-program/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/22/002/24210/125/687385



Rump Republicans now consider their remaining number “freedom fighters” (yes, really)

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-era-of-comity-and-bipartisanship-by.html

Norm Coleman, desperate man

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/115322/560/403/687083
[Brownsox] Lest there be any doubt about it, Norm Coleman has pulled a full 180-degree turn in his desperate efforts to hang on to a Senate seat which has slipped out of his grasp . . .

More: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/todays-update-in-minnesota-lawsuits.php

Governor Patterson to appoint Hillary's replacement – and it won’t be Caroline Kennedy

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/21/paterson_knows_his_pick.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/19113/8479/194/687292

Or maybe it will: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/caroline-kennedy-withdraws-her-name-from-senate-race/

In or out? http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/whos_on_first.php

Bush and Cheney keep fighting to cover up administration records

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/cheney_aides_testimony_in_records_case_a_triumph_o.php
[Zachary Roth] Yesterday we noted that a court had declined to compel Cheney's office to hand over all of its records to the National Archives -- instead taking the word of a low-ranking vice-presidential aide that she would do so.

As we said, the plaintiffs -- a group of historical and non-profit organizations -- are still concerned that key documents are missing. And after speaking to them, it's easy to see why. . . . [read on]

Can Obama stop it? http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/could_obamas_executive_order_help_pry_loose_bush_r.php
[Zachary Roth] Over at TPM, Josh and David have been mulling the significance of the executive order, issued today by President Obama, concerning the Presidential Records Act. Could it apply retroactively to previous administrations, making it easier to pry loose records that the Bush White House has fought to keep secret?

According to Anne Weismann, a lawyer for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, the tentative answer is yes. . . [read on]

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/president-obamas-new-presidential-records-order/

Bush’s refusal to pardon Scooter Libby “stuns” conservative supporters

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/bush-opts-for-continued-protection-over-payback/

Boy Scout

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/bush-boy-scouts-leave-their-camp-better-than-they-found-it/
[Bush] “Boy Scouts leave their camp better than they found it” . . .

http://wincoast.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85839
George W. Bush leaves office today with the Dow Jones industrial average off 2,306 points from when he took over: The worst performance for any U.S. president. . . .

http://blog.navelliergrowth.com/2009/01/the_stock_market_during_the_bu.html
Through the eight Bush years, the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 Index fell by an annualized rate of 2.3%. This makes George W. Bush the only president of the last five who has seen the stock market decline over the course of his presidency. . . .

Bonus item: Worst. President. Ever.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/21/future-historians-agree-worst-president-ever/



***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:17 AM

 
CHANGE HAS COME

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

The White House BLOG: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/change_has_come_to_whitehouse-gov/



The Speech

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/president-obamas-inaugural-address.php



Highlights: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/obamas-speech-the-highlights.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016530.php
Adam Serwer had an interesting take on Obama's inaugural address, arguing that the speech was, at its core, about maturity. . . . [read on]

A repudiation

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/us/politics/w21assessS2.html
Though couched in indirect terms, Barack Obama’s inaugural address was a stark repudiation of the era of George W. Bush . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/20/BL2009012001472.html

Almost two million people were present

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/135145/580/914/686572

Screwing up the oath – it was clearly Chief Justice Roberts’ fault – but not if you read the AP version

AP: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/first_inauguration_for_roberts_as_chief_justice.php
But at one point early on, Obama paused, as if grasping for the next words. Roberts helped him over the brief awkward moment, repeating a few words to get Obama back on track. . . .

ABC: http://blogs.abcnews.com/theworldnewser/2009/01/the-inuagural-o.html
Chief Justice John Roberts is a man who has made very few public missteps in his life -- but he appears to have made one when swearing in Barack Obama. Roberts slightly flubbed the oath, which then tripped up Obama. . . .

CNN: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/20/obama-oath/
On CNN, Wolf Blitzer said, "John Roberts had one job to do today and he sort of screwed up." Jeffrey Toobin replied, "I almost fell out of my chair."

TPM: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/heckuva_job_robie.php
Now hearing that Roberts tried to get through the oath from memory without the text in front of him. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016527.php

Fox News and Drudge make you dumber

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/fox_eats_wallaces_brain.php
I thought it would only be some extreme wingnuts thinking that there might be a question about whether Obama is really president since Roberts screwed up the oath. But now Chris Wallace is saying it might end up in the courts. . . .

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/dump_that_meme.php

In fact, the oath has NOTHING to do with it: http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/01/20/obama-becomes-44th-president-before-oath/
Barack Obama became the 44th president of the United States at noon Tuesday, before he took his oath of office.

The 20th Amendment to the Constitution states that the terms of the president and vice president end at noon and that the terms of their successors begin on noon of Inauguration Day. . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/20/would-everybody-just-give-justice-roberts-a-break/
There have been deviations from the language in the Constitution before . . .

Day one

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/20/AR2009012004743.html
In one of its first actions, the Obama administration instructed military prosecutors late Tuesday to seek a 120-day suspension of legal proceedings involving detainees at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/21/23136/2196/558/686952

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/20/president-obama-officially-halts-gitmo-show-trials/

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g2koz1OqqNsQO15NDQw5LPVULiCgD95R5M5G1
One of President Barack Obama's first acts is to order federal agencies to halt all pending regulations until his administration can review them. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2209225/
The top Bush executive orders that Obama should scrap immediately. . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=11031
Rahm Emanuel Signals Deep Defense Spending Cuts

Unfortunately, not EVERYTHING has changed

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/texas_senator_blocks_clintons_state_confirmation.php
[AP] The confirmation of Hillary Rodham Clinton to be secretary of state will be held up for at least a day due to the objection of a single senator. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he wanted "a full and open debate and an up-or-down vote on Sen. Clinton's nomination." . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/141716/940/901/686593
[Obama] "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. . . ."

[McJoan] It's back to reality, courtesy Sen. John "Box Turtle" Cornyn, in perhaps the most poorly timed and politically inept move he could make. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/not-playing-blame-game-by-digby.html

It sucks to be a Republican right now

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/20/colin-powell-tees-off-a-parting-shot-at-bush-cheney/

When will it end?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/judge_takes_cheneys_word_that_hell_hand_over_recor.php
[Zachary Roth] Dick Cheney may now be the former vice president, but a court ruling handed down yesterday, his last full day in office, could make it less likely that we'll ever get a full account of his role in crucial Bush administration decisions.

The Washington Post reports that a federal judge decided that a pledge from Cheney's office that it will turn over key records to the National Archives, as required by law, is good enough. . . .

In Minnesota: dead-ender Norm Coleman is starting to look pretty silly

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/not-even-the-inauguration-can-stop-litigation-in-minnesota.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/152435/043/851/686635

Glimpses from a Bush going-away party

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016519.php
“The most depressing event in the world” . . . [read on]

Rush Limbaugh hates America

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/20/142225/046/907/686595
I disagree fervently with the people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, "Well, I hope he succeeds. We've got to give him a chance." Why? . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/20/why-does-rush-limbaugh-hate-america/

Bonus item: Glenn Beck wept on Inauguration Day . . . but not for the reason you might think

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/glenn-beck-cried.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:38 AM

 
PBD 2.0

With this day, one of the primary purposes of this blog has been set aside. While disclosures and investigations of the Bush gang’s misdeeds will continue to unfold, and be of interest here, their significance moves into the past tense. We are willing neither to forgive nor forget, but there are other political challenges now.

For me, first among these is to keep our boots on the neck of a fallen Republican party: demoralized, directionless, and with no emergent leader on the horizon. Senior Republicans are quitting right and left, faced with the prospect of years in the minority. On some issues they may be able to demagogue and obstruct, but their message is more and more out of step with public sentiment and the situation in the world today. Demographically, they are at a growing electoral disadvantage in many parts of the country; and while they have strong pockets of support it is very hard right now to see these stitched together to shape a viable national party. Our aim must be to keep it that way.

If Obama and his people are smart – and I think they are very smart – they will find a way to shape policies that forge and mobilize a different national consensus, one based in progressive values but bringing into it new moderate and conservative constituencies. This has already required him to do things that anger and frustrate progressive groups, and we can never let him take our support for granted. But it will have enduring benefits to our larger purposes if he can leverage off, here and there, traditionally conservative and moderate groups whom we have not seen, and who do not see themselves, as part our traditional coalitions.

There will be resistance to this new kind of politics. Some will come from the left. More of it will come from a new generation of Republicans, lean and hungry, convinced that the failings of Bush and McCain were in not being conservative enough. Much of it will come from right-wing media, pundits, and think tanks, unchanging in their ideologies and with unlimited resources to give them voice.

And much of it will come from the mainstream media sources who will eventually decide that their own interests require them to maintain narratives around the traditional political polarities because conflict creates drama and because you can never be accused of bias as long as you frame every narrative in an on-the-one-hand/on-the-other-hand manner – which means that they will always give oppositional voices from the right disproportionate exposure and credence, and which means that the professional chattering class from the right will always be able to secure air time regardless of their track record.

Through all of this, PBD will still have a role: collating important information and progressive analysis and commentary, to be sure, but also holding a mirror up to the simulacra of political legitimacy that conservative politicians and pundits have always seemed to be able to recreate no matter what their failings. Well, they’ve failed very, very badly now, over a period of many years – and people have seen them for what they are. Now we must counteract the usual pendulum of conventional opinion that says, things will come around and they’ll get their turn again.

Or as a wise politician once said, “There's an old saying in Tennessee – I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee – that says, fool me once, shame on – shame on you. Fool me – you can't get fooled again."

In today’s news . . .

Off to a fast start

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/us/politics/19show.html
On his first full day in office, Mr. Obama will order American military leaders to plan the speedy withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq and will direct his economic advisers to do everything possible to avert a prolonged downturn and double-digit unemployment, his top aides said Sunday.

Within the first week, he might also issue executive orders calling for the closure of the detention center at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba even though the process might take time . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016495.php

The end of Gitmo?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/washington/19gitmo.html
For nearly six years, Haji Bismullah, an Afghan detainee at Guantánamo Bay, has insisted that he was no terrorist, but had actually fought the Taliban and had later been part of the pro-American Afghan government.

By reviewing government documents, court records and media reports, The Times was able to compile an approximate list of detainees currently at Guantánamo.

Over the weekend, the Bush administration flew him home after a military panel concluded that he “should no longer be deemed an enemy combatant.”

Asked about the panel’s decision, which was not publicly announced and seemed to acknowledge a mistake of grand proportions, a Pentagon spokeswoman said, “Mr. Bismullah was lawfully detained as an enemy combatant based on the information that was available at the time.”

The decision was part of a pattern that has emerged in the closing chapter of the administration. In the last three months, at least 24 detainees have been declaredimproperly held by courts or a tribunal — or nearly 10 percent of the population at the detention camp in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016510.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/gitmo_war_court_back_for_what_may_be_last_session_2.php

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/19/coach-bush-is-3-23-in-real-courts-on-gitmo-show-trials-katyal-the-hero-of-hamdan-to-join-obama-administration/

No more Bush pardons?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/20/washington/20sentence.html
President Bush on Monday commuted the sentences of two former Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican drug smuggler, but he was preparing to leave office without granting clemency to any better-known figures or government officials who could face liability over administration policies. . . .

A senior White House official said that the commutations announced on Monday would be Mr. Bush’s last acts of clemency before he leaves office.

The Bush gang (again) refuses to turn over emails, despite a court order

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/18/bushco-you-cant-have-scooters-and-turdblossoms-emails/

At the same time, another court says Cheney can decide what needs to be archived from his office

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/court_rules_in_favor_of_cheney_in_lawsuit.php

Reversing stem cell policy

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016504.php

Reversing abortion policy

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/19/sources-obama-may-use-executive-order-reverse-abortion-policy/

Rebuilding the union base: the Employee Free Choice Act

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/18/1946/94116/54/685406

Building a permanent base

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/17/AR2009011703093.html
President-elect Barack Obama yesterday announced the formation of a group to continue the grass-roots engagement that was a hallmark of his presidential campaign, but lobbying now for his policy priorities in the White House.

"As president, I will need the help of all Americans to meet the challenges that lie ahead," Obama said in a video message e-mailed to supporters and reporters. "That's why I'm asking people like you, who fought for change during the campaign, to continue fighting for change in your communities."

The new group, called Organizing for America, will be a "special project" of the Democratic National Committee, according to Obama transition spokesman Ben LaBolt, and it appears to be the primary vehicle for issue advocacy for Obama's agenda. It will also be the keeper of Obama's e-mail list, which has 13 million addresses. . . .

What next in the still-unresolved Minnesota Senate race?

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/18/franken-coleman-update-011809-take-it-away-sara/

http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman-camp-count-every-vote----all-of-them.php

The future of Fox News

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016508.php
Of course they're "re-energized." Rich Lowry recently noted, "People get ginned up when the other side is in power," and pointed to the fact that the National Review's circulation increased to 280,000 during the first two years of the Clinton administration, up from 150,000.

Fox News no doubt expects to take advantage of a similar trend, and it's probably right. There's a not-insignificant number of people in the country who are saying, "Tell us why Obama's wrong." It's a group of folks who need a cable network, and Fox News will fill the niche.

Bonus items: Tough to be a right-wing blog

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/20/so-slow-news-day/
[Powerline, July 2005] It must be very strange to be President Bush. A man of extraordinary vision and brilliance approaching to genius, he can't get anyone to notice.

[Powerline, January 2009] Everything considered, I give the Bush administration a B-.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:45 AM

 
EPIC FAIL

Today’s posting is entirely devoted to a look back over the events that made the Bush years the disaster they have been for the country. I’ve picked only representative links for the main events – so much more can be said, and will be said, about the failures of George Bush and the people he surrounded himself with. It is a record that leaves behind a trail of lingering damage of every sort: economic, military, environmental, and on and on. Now a new administration has to begin by fixing what Bush has ruined. He has been the anti-Midas. Well, it’s good to see him go. Good riddance.

http://www.slate.com/id/2202262/pagenum/all/
The highest form of fail—the epic fail—involves not just catastrophic failure but hubris as well. Not just coming in second in a bike race but doing so because you fell off your bike after prematurely raising your arms in victory. . . .




2000: Bush v. Gore

http://press-pubs.uchicago.edu/sunstein/chapter9.html
There is an old question: does a judge decide how a case will come out, and then find a justification in the law? Or does the judge approach the case with no strong prior inclination and follow the legal materials where they lead? . . .

The extraordinary litigation that led to the Supreme Court’s decision in Bush v Gore allows us to speculate, with more confidence than usual, about how the Justices approached the issues presented by that case. The fast pace of the proceedings, and the relative novelty of the legal issues, made the Justices’ thought processes unusually visible. They could not, as they ordinarily would, wait for the lower court proceedings to be fully completed and take as much time as they needed before committing themselves publicly to a position. They had to respond to two separate decisions of the Florida Supreme Court very quickly and very publicly.

The conclusion that emerges, in my view, is that several members of the Court—perhaps a majority—were determined to overturn any ruling of the Florida Supreme Court that was favorable to Vice President Gore . . . [read on]

“You’ve covered your ass, now”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200608240013
CNN reported on Bush's receipt of the now-famous August 6, 2001, memo titled "Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." But the program omitted any mention of Suskind's report that, after Bush was briefed by a CIA officer on the memo, Bush replied, "All right. You've covered your ass, now."





“America is under attack!”

http://www.buzzflash.com/editorial/04/08/edi04057.html
For that reason, we are offering, if you click here, a few minutes of George W. Bush sitting in the Booker School classroom on September 11th, 2001, after he was notified that both twin towers had been attacked. (Bush will be notified of the second terrorist attack about one minute into the video and then sit another five minutes before the tape ends.)

We say, "show me," and what does this video show us?

* That Bush is a pawn and unable to act decisively until his handlers tell him what to do and hand him a script.
* That he put at risk the children and adults at Booker School by staying in the classroom, even though he might, the White House claimed, have been a target of the terrorist attacks that day.
* That he calmly listened to a pet goat story and complimented the children on their reading skills as Americans and foreigners burned alive or jumped to their deaths from the twin towers.
* That he did not ask a question of Andrew Card or seek any further information on the terrorist attack on America until his handlers had decided FOR him what he should do.
* That he showed the chronic lack of leadership that has characterized his entire life, the scion of a family who are brand names that other forces use to advance an anti-American, Neo-Confederate, plutocratic, fundamentalist religious agenda. He cannot act on his own.
* That he chose to continue a photo-op with black children designed to give him the image of a "compassionate conservative" concerned about education for even black kids was more important than the national security of the United States.

Also note that Bush had been informed of the first attack even before he got into the classroom, so the several minutes (at least five before this tape ends) that he spent waiting to be told what to do just represents the time after the SECOND attack.

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WztB6HzXxI

“The people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon"

http://www.geocities.com/theyellowroseoftexas04/President-Bush-Ground-Zero.html
[September 2001] "I hear you, the rest of the world hears you, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon."

The workers broke into spontaneous chants of "USA, USA" as Bush took a small American flag and waved it.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/09/14/barnes-osama/
[September 2006] Barnes said that Bush told him capturing bin Laden is “not a top priority use of American resources.” . . .

Bush’s priorities have always been skewed. Just months after declaring he wanted bin Laden “dead or alive,” Bush said, “I truly am not that concerned about him.” Turning his attention away from bin Laden, Bush trained his focus on Iraq — a country he now admits had “nothing” to do with 9/11. . . .

90% → 22%

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml
President Bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll showing Mr. Bush's final approval rating at 22 percent. . .

Mr. Bush enjoyed a high approval rating of 90 percent -- the highest of any president -- following the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001. . .





“We’re taking him out”

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/03/24/timep.saddam.tm/
"F___ Saddam. we're taking him out." Those were the words of President George W. Bush, who had poked his head into the office of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice. . . . It was March 2002 . . .

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE4DF173CF931A15753C1A9649C8B63
[October 2002] President Bush said today that the United States was trying diplomacy ''one more time'' to disarm Saddam Hussein ''peacefully'' . . .



WMD lies

http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/memos.html
[July 2002] C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. The NSC had no patience with the UN route, and no enthusiasm for publishing material on the Iraqi regime's record. There was little discussion in Washington of the aftermath after military action. . . .

http://www.thornwalker.com/ditch/snieg_wmd_main.htm
It was not just Saddam's alleged possession of WMDs that served as the Bush administration's primary justification for launching a preemptive attack on Iraq but also the concomitant grave threat that Saddam's weapons posed to American security: that is, the possibility of his using them against the United States. The imputed immediate danger meant that Washington could not safely rely on the slow process of searching by UN weapons inspectors. . . .

More: http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/WMDlies.html

Chalabi

http://www.slate.com/id/2173554/nav/tap2/
[Fred Kaplan] The dispute concerns what many regard as the Bush administration's single biggest mistake in the first few months after Saddam Hussein's ouster—the order, in May 2003, to disband the Iraqi army.

It was a move that put 250,000 young Iraqi men out of a job, out on the streets, angry, and armed—and all but guaranteed the violent chaos to come. . . .

[Paul] Bremer is right about one thing: It wasn't him. . . . In his memoir, published last year, Bremer wrote that he was handed the orders—and told to announce them as soon as possible—by Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy. . . . Feith was a messenger, too, reporting directly to Paul Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defense, and ultimately to Secretary Rumsfeld.

Did Rumsfeld write the order? Bob Woodward, in State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III, quotes Rumsfeld as saying that the order came from elsewhere. Does that mean it came from the White House? My guess is it came from Vice President Dick Cheney, if only because his is one of the most leakproof offices in Washington. Had the order originated someplace else, that fact would have leaked by now. It's like the dog that didn't bark in the Sherlock Holmes story; unbarking dogs in this administration, especially at this late date of decrepitude, tend to be the hounds in Cheney's kennel.

But where did Cheney get the idea? A good guess here is that it came from that familiar meddler of the era: the Iraqi exile, chief neocon guru, and suave banker-mathematician, Ahmad Chalabi.

Chalabi, recall, was interested in two things above all, once Saddam Hussein was toppled: removing Baathists from every level of activity in Iraqi politics and society and installing his militia, the Free Iraqi Forces, as the foundation of a new Iraqi army. . . .

http://www.slate.com/id/2096813
The Iraqi exile, MIT-trained mathematician, and wealthy businessman who plotted with high-level U.S. officials to return to Baghdad and grab the reins in a post-Saddam government—to bring to his homeland the virtues of modernization and Western-style democracy—has now joined forces with Iraq's most prominent anti-American theocrats. . . .

As president of the Iraqi National Congress, an exile group set up in 1992 (in part with CIA money), Chalabi pushed persistently for an armed overthrow of Saddam, especially after George W. Bush was elected and some of Chalabi's chief sympathizers—most notably Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle—gained high posts in the Pentagon.

As the Bush officials stoked the war flames, for several convergent reasons, Chalabi played a key role. He found defectors who affirmed suspicions that Saddam was building weapons of mass destruction. He assured Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney that the Iraqi people would greet American liberators with flowers; that his militia, the Free Iraqi Fighters, would restore order; and that, after a few months, the vast majority of U.S. troops could go home, leaving behind a small, inconspicuous force—25,000 to 50,000 soldiers—at bases to be set up well outside the cities. The new Chalabi government would then be a vehicle for economic modernization, Western-style democracy, and—by the force of its example—the transformation of the entire Middle East. . . .

Public opinion polls taken by the occupation authority were indicating that, of the 25 members of the Governing Council, Chalabi was by far the least popular. He had been airlifted into Iraq by a U.S. military plane and was seen as a tool of U.S. interests. . . .

“Mission Accomplished”

http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/28/mission.accomplished/
[October 2003] What was once viewed as a premier presidential photo op continues to dog President Bush six months after he landed on an aircraft carrier to declare "one victory" in the war on terrorism and an end to major combat operations in Iraq.

Attention turned Tuesday to a giant "Mission Accomplished" sign that stood behind Bush aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln when he gave the speech May 1.

The president told reporters the sign was put up by the Navy, not the White House. . . .

Navy and administration sources said that though the banner was the Navy's idea, the White House actually made it.

Bush offered the explanation after being asked whether his speech declaring an end to major combat in Iraq under the "Mission Accomplished" banner was premature, given that U.S. casualties in Iraq since then have surpassed those before it. . . .

Two wars

http://www.usnews.com/articles/opinion/fajami/2008/09/24/the-world-that-bush-will-leave-to-his-successor.html
It was his fate, and our country's lot, that so quintessentially American a figure as George W. Bush would take this country so deeply into the complications of Arab and Muslim affairs. The man who had promised a "humble foreign policy" pushed into Kabul and Baghdad . . .

Eight years—and two wars—later, that American unity is a distant memory, and the war in Iraq had ruptured that national consensus on America's proper role in foreign lands. The successor of this terribly consequential and controversial president will have to knit together a new consensus, set out to find a sustainable mix of assertiveness and restraint, and leave his own mark on history as he grapples with President Bush's bequest.




Dick Cheney, the Co-President

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/22060
When George W. Bush testified before the 9/11 Commission, Dick Cheney was with him in the Oval Office. . . . [read on]

Plame

http://thinkprogress.org/leak-scandal/
23 Administration Officials Involved In Plame Leak . . .

“Compassionate conservative”

http://www.counterpunch.org/auerback11222005.html
Bush's "Compassionate Conservatism", a Report Card . . .

Abu Ghraib

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/02/ted_zimbardo










Torture

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9956644/
Bush was asked about reports that the CIA was separately maintaining secret prisons in eastern Europe and Asia to interrogate al-Qaida suspects — and demands by the International Red Cross for access to them.

Without confirming or denying the existence of such prisons, Bush said, “Our country is at war, and our government has the obligation to protect the American people.”

He pointedly noted that Congress shares that responsibility with the administration.

“We are finding terrorists and bringing them to justice. We are gathering information about where the terrorists may be hiding. We are trying to disrupt their plots and plans. Anything we do ... to that end in this effort, any activity we conduct, is within the law. We do not torture,” Bush said. . . .

More: http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff12182008.html

Gitmo

http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-06/2006-06-14-voa47.cfm
President Bush says he understands that many people are unhappy about the detention of suspected terrorists at the Guantanamo naval base.

It is a prison the United Nations has asked him to close, but Mr. Bush says that would be too dangerous.

"I would like to close Guantanamo, but I also recognize that we are holding some people who are darn dangerous and we better have a plan to deal with them in our courts," said Mr. Bush.

The president says he believes those detainees should face military tribunals, but he is waiting on a decision from the Supreme Court before moving forward.

Mr. Bush says eventually those prisoners will either be returned to their own countries or put on trial with legal counsel. . . .

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/18/opinion/edgitmo.php
In a long series of speeches and interviews, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have been crowing about Guantánamo Bay, secret prisons and abusive interrogations, claiming they met the highest legal standards and that no prisoner had been tortured.

Fortunately, the truth broke through, in the words of some of the very people ordered to carry out the policies. . . .

More: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080303/tuttle

Condi Rice

http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/08/rice.transcript/
RICE: I think that concern about what I might have known or we might have known was provoked by some statements that I made in a press conference. I was in a press conference to try and describe the August 6 memo. . .

And I said, at one point, that this was a historical memo, that it was -- it was not based on new threat information. And I said, "No one could have imagined them taking a plane, slamming it into the Pentagon" -- I'm paraphrasing now -- "into the World Trade Center, using planes as a missile." . . .

BEN-VENISTE: Isn't it a fact, Dr. Rice, that the August 6 PDB warned against possible attacks in this country? And I ask you whether you recall the title of that PDB?

RICE: I believe the title was, "Bin Laden Determined to Attack Inside the United States." . . .

Swift boats

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5797164/
[August 2004] President Bush on Monday criticized a commercial that accused John Kerry of inflating his own Vietnam War record, more than a week after the ad stopped running, and said broadcast attacks by outside groups have no place in the race for the White House.

“I think they’re bad for the system,” added Bush, who had ignored calls to condemn the ad while it was on the air. . . .

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2007-04-04-bush-sam-fox_N.htm
When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee was poised to reject a controversial Republican fundraiser as ambassador to Belgium last week, the White House quietly withdrew the nomination.

Withdrawn, but not for long. President Bush on Wednesday bypassed the Senate and used a recess appointment to name St. Louis businessman Sam Fox, 77, to the diplomatic post.

Fox's nomination had drawn fire because he donated $50,000 to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth . . .

Ohio 2004

http://whatreallyhappened.com/WRHARTICLES/2004votefraud_ohio.html
Vote Fraud 2004: How Ohio was "Delivered" to Bush

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/10432334/was_the_2004_election_stolen
Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Social Security

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-11-bush-social-security_x.htm
[January 2005] President Bush launched a high-profile campaign on Tuesday to convince Congress that it must overhaul the nation's 70-year-old Social Security system before it goes "flat bust."

Bush says changing the retirement program is the top priority of his second term . . .

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6906269/
President Bush, on a road trip to promote private Social Security accounts, acknowledged Friday that his proposal would not by itself fix the future financial problems of the retirement program. . . .




“Heck of a job”

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2006/02/09/brown/
It's not blackmail, exactly, but former FEMA Director Michael Brown sure seems to be putting the screws to the White House that praised him, then dumped him, for his role in the Hurricane Katrina fiasco.

As Congress complains about White House stonewalling on Katrina, Brown's lawyer has written a letter to White House counsel Harriet Miers in which he says this his client is prepared to go public with "all facts" about the federal government's response to the hurricane . . .

One of my most-linked postings on PBD

http://pbd.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_pbd_archive.html#112584204969052885
[September 2005] Like the moment when the curtain is pulled back to reveal the levers and machinery that make a puny man appear to be a Great Wizard, the events unfolding around Hurricane Katrina have revealed to people the true George Bush – and even many of his strongest supporters are disillusioned and angry.

To most of PBD’s readers, this is no surprise, but after 9/11 Bush enjoyed an extraordinary level of support, even by many who did not vote for him, because in the wake of that horrible event people wanted a Man in Charge -- plain-spoken, humble, but strong and decisive.

But what they have seen for the past several months, on issue after issue (Iraq, Plame, Sheehan, Katrina) is a weasly, cowardly, defensive hair-splitter who continually ducks responsibility for his own actions and blames others. He doesn't even stick by his own tough-guy promises. . . .

Even worse, the timing of his unbelievably self-indulgent five week vacation and his dodging of the Wicked Witch Cindy Sheehan, followed up now by his belated and indifferent reaction to the suffering caused by the hurricane, have made people see him as the lazy, self-centered, smug, privileged, uncaring, and deeply unreflective man many of us have been calling him from the start.

Now, as the staged photo ops are revealed as just that, as his own words get redefined for him by Rove and the Communications Team, and as he continually, constantly hits false notes in trying to show and express the simulacrum of caring (for dead troops, for suffering Gulf Coast victims, for the opinions of anyone who doesn’t agree with him), he has reached his worst moment – a moment that Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush 41, and Clinton all reached – the moment when your one deepest character flaw is exposed, the one flaw that people will not forgive you for. The smug little rich boy who was plucked from a life of uneven accomplishment by his Daddy’s advisors, who saw him as an ambitious and malleable instrument for their plan to remake the government and transform the Middle East, now stands before us, manifestly unprepared for the moment. He doesn’t “get it,” but more damningly doesn’t think he has to.

Karl Rove

http://www.cs.umass.edu/~immerman/play/opinion05/WithoutADoubt.html
I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend -- but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' he continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''

The war on science

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0705-04.htm

http://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2004/10/the_bush_war_on.html

http://www.alternet.org/environment/78056/

Harriet Miers

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/03/politics/politicsspecial1/03cnd-scotus.html
[October 3, 2005] President Bush nominated Harriet E. Miers, the White House counsel, as his choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor this morning. . .

Ms. Miers, 60, a longtime confidante of the president's, has never been a judge. . . Mr. Bush said of Ms. Miers, "She has devoted her life to the rule of law and the cause of justice." He added that Ms. Miers, "will not legislate from the bench."

The president said that while considering his choice in recent days, Ms. Miers had "stood out as being exceptionally well suited" to replace the retiring Justice O'Connor. . . .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/10/20051027-2.html
[October 27, 2005] “Today, I have reluctantly accepted Harriet Miers' decision to withdraw her nomination to the Supreme Court of the United States. . . .”

Rumsfeld

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15516265/
[November 1, 2006 – before the election] President Bush said Wednesday he wants Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney to remain in his administration until the end of his presidency, extending a job guarantee to two of the most-criticized members of his team. . . .

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15622266/
[November 6, 2006 – after the election] Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary on Wednesday, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses. . . . According to the source, Bush agreed Rumsfeld should be removed after seeing election results favoring Democrats. . . .

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/15/AR2007081502089.html
Donald H. Rumsfeld, who came to symbolize the Bush administration's problems in the war in Iraq, resigned as secretary of defense one day before last fall's elections, although President Bush did not announce the move until the day after the elections. . . .

Not only did Bush not telegraph his intention to replace Rumsfeld, but he also publicly stated in the days before the elections that he envisioned Rumsfeld serving in his administration for the foreseeable future.

"I didn't want to inject a major decision about this war in the final days of a campaign," Bush said when asked about the statement by reporters. "And so the only way to answer that question and to get you on to another question was to give you that answer." . . .

Alberto

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1714926720070820
Not since the Watergate scandal more than 30 years ago has the U.S. Justice Department been as politicized as under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, current and former officials said.

They said the department's integrity has been damaged, employee morale has been hurt and Gonzales' relations with the Democratic-controlled Congress have deteriorated beyond repair in a firestorm of criticism from lawmakers, including some Republicans.

Several senators said last month they had lost confidence in Gonzales and his ability to head the Justice Department . . .

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/003920.php
The verdict is clear: Alberto Gonzales is the lying-est attorney general in recent history. . . .

Vacations

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/11/politics/uwire/main3927378.shtml
[Mar 11, 2008] President Bush recently spent his 879th day at his ranch in Crawford, Texas, since the Supreme Court, in all its great wisdom, elevated him to the presidency. This according to NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me," which noted that Bush broke former President Reagan's record for taking vacations from the White House . . .

879 days down on the ranch - which, if you're into arithmetic, works out to around 30 percent of eight years.

Surplus → Deficit

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/07/28/2009.deficit/index.html
[July 28, 2008] President Bush's budget chief blamed the faltering economy and the bipartisan stimulus package for the record $482 billion deficit the White House predicted for the 2009 budget year. . . .

President Bush inherited a budget surplus of $128 billion when he took office in 2001 but has since posted a budget deficit every year.

http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/n06437087-us-usa-budget/
[Jan 7, 2009] The U.S. budget deficit will swell to a record $1.186 trillion in fiscal 2009 . . .







What failure looks like

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/18/poll.bush.presidency/
As George W. Bush spends his final days in office, a national poll suggests that two-thirds of Americans see his presidency as a failure. . . .

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/04/20040413-20.html
Q Thank you, Mr. President. In the last campaign, you were asked a question about the biggest mistake you'd made in your life, and you used to like to joke that it was trading Sammy Sosa. You've looked back before 9/11 for what mistakes might have been made. After 9/11, what would your biggest mistake be, would you say, and what lessons have you learned from it?

THE PRESIDENT: I wish you would have given me this written question ahead of time, so I could plan for it. (Laughter.) John, I'm sure historians will look back and say, gosh, he could have done it better this way, or that way. You know, I just -- I'm sure something will pop into my head here in the midst of this press conference, with all the pressure of trying to come up with an answer, but it hadn't yet.

Bonus items: Goofs and bloopers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5skcF6Kljtw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqiPrRG5lNU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFKwFxDp660

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKD_BSMXVjg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kotWVVE26v8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxkpm7bH7j4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lwbSdL2s00

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/174420/george_w_bush_slipups/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:55 AM

 
22%

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/01/16/opinion/polls/main4728399.shtml
President Bush will leave office as one of the most unpopular departing presidents in history, according to a new CBS News/New York Times poll . . .



More: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4726026n



Looking back at Bush’s 2000 inaugural address

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016486.php

Politico thinks the Dems have a problem in not letting bygones be bygones with Bush

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17539.html
For the last eight years, Democrats have been counting the days until George W. Bush leaves the White House.

Now some of them can’t seem to let him go. . . .

This right-up-to-the-end Bush-bashing is part reflex and part coordinated message.

With Bush in office, some Democrats have defined themselves by their opposition to a man they long viewed as a less-than-legitimate president. . . . [read on]

Has Obama decided that a case against the Bush gang on torture will fail?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/prosecuting_torture.html
Eric Posner argues today that it's unlikely Barack Obama will try to prosecute Bush administration officials for torture. Partly this is because he believes prosecutors will conclude that their legal case is too weak to ensure conviction, and partly for political reasons . . . [read on]

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/for_the_defense_3.php

Will Obama rein in CIA interrogations?

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10967

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/establishment-dicks-by-digby-ive.html

A cease-fire in Gaza at last?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7835794.stm

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/mearsheimer-on-gaza.html

What was gained? http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10925
Israel's Attack On Hamas Undermines Fatah . . .

More: http://livingbetweenworlds.blogspot.com/2009/01/israel-in-gaza-critical-reframing.html

Careful parsing

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/17/the-government-sez-we-dont-have-a-database-of-all-your-communication/
The Government Sez: We Don’t Have a Database of All Your Communication [read on]

Former Bush Chief of Staff Andy Card has a cousin . . .

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/17/bushco-drops-all-charges-against-andy-cards-cousin/
[Emptywheel] Just five days before the end of his term, Bush's DOJ has dropped all charges against Andy Card's cousin--Susan Lindauer--whom they had accused of being an unregistered agent for Saddam Hussein's Iraq. . . .

Basically, this appears to be a story about an intelligence op that got too emarrassing, so the Administration first accused Lindauer of working for Saddam, and then, when she talked about her ties to US intelligence, they accused her of being crazy and got her committed. And now, they are attempting to avoid a public trial in which she could prove her case. . . .

Lindauer seems prepared to sue for damages for having been committed, so we might yet get public testimony on these issues. . . . [read on]

Desperate Republicans beg Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) not to quit

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/17/131920/912/549/684911

Fred Barnes thinks Obama is a wimp

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016480.php

Fox News helps the Bush/Cheney Legacy Project

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/17/33857/6337/300/685176

How the establishment media tries to limit Obama’s policy options

http://mediamatters.org/items/200901160012

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/serious-people-part-xxvi-by-digby.html

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/18/1503/46581/995/685474
NBC Meet The Press: Incoming Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel; Roundtable with: Tom Brokaw (NBC News), David Brooks (The New York Times), Presidential Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Tavis Smiley (PBS), and Chuck Todd (NBC News).

CBS Face The Nation: Incoming National Economic Council Director Lawrence Summers; Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson; John Dickerson (Slate).

ABC This Week: Incoming White House Senior Advisor David Axelrod; Roundtable with: George Will (ABC News), Donna Brazile (ABC News), Matthew Dowd (ABC News), Gwen Ifill (PBS), and E.J. Dionne (The Washington Post).

CNN: David Axelrod; Outgoing White House Press Secretary Dana Perino; Bush White House Counselor Ed Gillespie.

The Chris Matthews Show: Dan Rather (HD Net); Helene Cooper (The New York Times); Katty Kay (BBC); Mark Whitaker (NBC News).

Fareed Zakaria GPS: Peggy Noonan (The Wall Street Journal); Pat Buchanan (MSNBC); John O'Sullivan (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty); Hendrik Hertzberg (The New Yorker).

Bonus item: A critique of Obama’s official WH photo

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/obamas-official-white-house-photo.html
[John Aravosis] As a photographer myself, I don't love it. I think the camera angle makes him look small (it's shot from too high up), the blue shirt looks too blue-collar for a president, and the jacket droops on his shoulders (I don't even like the tie or the way it's tied). The entire photo is diminutive of a man who is about 6-1, intensely charismatic, and leader of the free world. The only part of the photo I like is his face. The eyes are piercing, and I like that. The lips are pursed, not sure I like that. But the rest of the photo just isn't presidential to me.

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/17/coming-soon-to-a-post-office-near-you-epic-fail/
[Gregg Levine] First off, note the center-right framing!

. . . and what’s with all that head-room?

Second, the contrast ratio: F-L-A-T. In other words: Bo-o-o-o-r-ri-i-i-ing! Look, I know you don’t want the first noir president to look all film noir, but really, couldn’t we spice this up a little? Lower the fill a bit? Give him a kicker maybe? Throw up a cookie on the background? At least break it up with a flag or finger?

Third, that tie! It looks like swag from an American Legion convention. Go back to that iridescent pale blue number you love so much—yeah, it’s a little Wedding/Bar Mitzvah guest-ie, but it was understated, classy even. Or, better yet, you’re young, you’re skinny, how about a tie to match?

. . . and that knot! I know PEBO can tie a better knot—if there is one thing I will take away from the 2008 election cycle, it is that Barack Obama knows how to tie a great half-windsor. . . but this, this is like Michelle tied it around her neck, then loosened it, then slipped it over Barack’s head and retightened it, all while checking her Blackberry. Sloppy, sloppy work.

. . . and, I’m not a big fan of seeing collar over the knot—especially when you have a stylist on hand. Uh, you did have a stylist on hand, right?

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:22 AM

 
THE LONG GOODBYE

Relish the moment

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17497.html
[Politico] The president will be the president until 12 noon Tuesday, but most of his employees will be gone by the close of business Friday.

They’ll turn in their BlackBerrys, laptops, building passes and gym keys.

And by the time the weekend is out — before the new administration can reverse course on waterboarding or SCHIP or anything else — teams of painters and carpet cleaners will have wiped away any hint that they ever set foot in the White House . . . .

Farewell, George

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016463.php
[Bush] "Like all who have held this office before me, I have experienced setbacks. There are things I would do differently if given the chance. Yet I've always acted with the best interests of our country in mind. I have followed my conscience and done what I thought was right."

[Steve Benen] When reflecting on his two terms, in other words, Bush's argument is that he didn't deliberately fail. He acted with the nation's best interests in mind? He did what he thought was right? Well, of course he did. What president goes around trying to undermine the country, making decisions he hopes are wrong?

The president, in this sense, set the bar as low as it can go. When parents tell a little-leaguer, "It doesn't matter if you succeed, just do your very best," it's the right way to offer support to a child. Similarly, Bush seems to think having the right intentions, as he perceives them, should count, regardless of the results. He's effectively asking the nation, "How about an 'A' for effort?"

I've heard quite a few Bush defenders of late quibble with the notion that his presidency should be considered an abject failure. But how much debate can there really be when Bush's pitch to Americans can be boiled down to, "I gave it my best shot"?

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/tale-told-by-idiot-by-dday-i-didnt.html

He calls it “moral clarity.” We call it “moral oversimplification”

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/the-manichean-presidency-thankfully-comes-to-an-end/

The 43 people who helped make the Bush administration what it was

http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2009/01/pr20090116
1. Dick Cheney -- The worst Dick since Nixon. The man who shot his friend while in office. The "most powerful and controversial vice president." Until he got the job, people used to actually think it was a bad thing that the vice presidency has historically been a do-nothing position. Asked by PBS's Jim Lehrer about why people hate him, Cheney rejected the premise, saying, "I don't buy that." . . . [read on]

Farewell, Alice

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016472.php
[Dana Perino, Bush's press secretary] When asked if she perceived a bias in the media against the president, she said, "I don't think I would always be asked about my feelings about liberal bias in the media, if there wasn't any liberal bias in the media."

[Steve Benen] Got it. As Perino sees it, there must be something to the premise of the question if the question is asked all the time. If there was no bias, the argument goes, the question wouldn't come up.

But if we take this one step further, the line of thought becomes even more illustrative. For example, Perino is frequently asked to defend Bush administration incompetence. If we follow her logic, I don't think she would always be asked about Bush's incompetence, if there wasn't any Bush incompetence.

Indeed, it's quite an easy road to follow. I don't think Perino would always be asked about Dick Cheney's breathtaking dishonesty, if there wasn't any breathtaking dishonesty.

I don't think Perino would always be asked about Bush's failures on Iraq, the economy, and the response to Hurricane Katrina, if there weren't any Bush failures on Iraq, the economy, and the response to Hurricane Katrina.

See how easy this is?

More: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/16/perino/index.html
Some of Perino's most memorable responses to questions posed by the liberal media follow. . . . [read on]

The kind of people they (still) are

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016466.php
[Steve Benen] During the presidential campaign, Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) -- a #1 seed in my bracket for Most Offensive Member of Congress -- offered one of the more insulting attacks of the year against Barack Obama. King told Fox News' Geraldo Rivera that al Qaeda would be "dancing in the streets" if Obama were elected. He added, "[I]f they don't dance in the streets, I will come and apologize to you and everybody in America. But I'm saying, I'm right."

As is usually the case, King had no idea what he was talking about. Instead of apologizing, King has decided to offer a new smear.

While he was willing to concede he was wrong about the whole terrorist street dancing routine, King has moved on to the whole "Hussein" controversy. He doesn't like the fact that the president-elect will be sworn in using that middle name during Tuesday's Inauguration. . . .

The congressman says he doubts Obama's sincerity when he explained that he chose to use his middle name so as to be historically consistent with past inaugurations, when America has heard the full names of its presidents echo from the inaugural stand.

“Whatever his reasons are," King said, "the one he gave us could not be the reason."

Now, I realize that Steve King is a couple of crayons short of a box, but I'd love to hear him elaborate on the possible secret reason Obama plans to use his full name on Tuesday. Obama has said it's to keep with inaugural customs, but King seriously seems to believe the president-elect has some other motivation in mind.

What on earth is this man talking about? I've lost my Crazy to English translation guide; someone is going to have to help me out.

The kind of people they (still) are: Fred Barnes

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/fred_barnes_and_the_monkey_boy.php
[Matt Yglesias] Here’s a good one. A right-wing caller to C-SPAN identifies himself as a big Fred Barnes fan and asks a question during the course of which he refers to Barack Obama as “monkey boy.” Barnes doesn’t bat an eye and just moves to answer the question . . . [watch]

The kind of people they (still) are: DOJ official John Tanner “apologizes” to Mary Berry about his “black and bitter” comment – and only makes things worse

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/berry_tanners_supposed_apology_is_even_funnier.php

Bush political appointees at the Dept of Justice are refusing to leave their posts

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/16/132430/483/585/684883

Change is coming to the DOJ

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/16/1526/81222/541/684935
[McJoan] [W]e're going to have a real lawyer at the helm again. . . [read on]

Will new AG Eric Holder follow the syllogism?

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/the_moustache_of_justice.php
(1) Yesterday, AG designee Eric Holder said, without hesitation that water-boarding is torture.

(2) Dick Cheney has admitted authorizing water-boarding.

(3) Torture is a felony under US law punishable by up to 20 years of prison.

A “policy of crime”

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/turley-speaks-out-on-the-bush-policy-of-crime/



Another last-second Inspector General report, this one from the Defense Dept, says there was nothing wrong with secretly paying supposedly “neutral experts” to push the DOD line on television

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/dod_pundit_report_finds_no_wrongdoing.php

Yes there was: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/hodes_blasts_whitewash_ig_report_on_pentagon_pundi.php

The Bush admin claimed with much fanfare that they had “found” the 14 million emails they had lost or deleted. Guess what?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/big_surprise_bush_administration_claims_on_missing.php

On TARP

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/tarp_what_did_we_get_for_our_money.php
TARP: What Did We Get For Our Money? . . .

Obama gets the second half of the TARP money, promises to spend it differently

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/obama_team_we_promise_well_do_second_tarp_differen.php

On Obama’s “Green” policies

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/big_green.php
[A reader] The range of subsidies for energy in stimulus bill is very impressive. It is noteworthy that there is a grant program for alternatives. Grants to start up businesses are very rare. Tax policy usually returns tax payments or creates deductions and credits against taxes. To send checks to people is quite extraordinary for Congress. So this is a sign of awareness that wind and solar need real cash, given that they are start up projects where there haven't been taxes paid in the past. Giving them a transferable tax credit, one that they can sell to others, is not effective for the special bad reason that there is no appetite for buying tax credits just now, since folks don't have profits and have plenty of losses from their own businesses and portfolios.

It is also good that loan guarantees appear in the proposal. But the big question is this: can the energy secretary guarantee $8b of loans or does the provision mean that he can guarantee approximately $100b as long as he doesn't actually spend (that is, lose) more than $8 b.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/more_on_green_stimulus.php
[Another reader] The stimulus bill gives the Secretary of the Energy Department the power to guarantee about $100 billion of loans to alternative energy projects. While this pales in comparison to guarantees given to many banks, and definitely in comparison to the $7.5 trillion of debt guaranteed by Treasury, FDIC and the Fed over last year, still this ability to get alternative energy investing across the valley of death now faced by the sector is hugely important as a green job creation mechanism and a major step toward energy independence and climate change abatement. Hat's off to Chris Van Hollen and Ed Markey and other members of Congress --- if the Energy Secretary has the freedom to administer the guarantees in a commercially reasonable way.

Norm Coleman is trying to stretch out the legal process in Minnesota as long as possible, not because he can win but because it would keep Franken out of the Senate for months. The three-judge panel rejected that process

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota_election_court_throws_out_colemans_mega-.php

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/franken-coleman-update-011609-motion-sickness/

Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment lawyer quits

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/blagojevichs-lawyers-dont-do-impeachment/

Fox never disappoints

http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/16/fox-bush-inherited-9-11/
"[Bush] inherited the 9/11 attacks. He inherited the recession and he inherited some tough times on Wall Street. . ."

Bonus item: CNN’s Rick Sanchez slaps down “Joe the Plumber”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016475.php
"You know that guy who lives down the street -- the guy who shows up at the backyard barbecue when there's free food? You know that guy? He knows everything about everything, but really knows nothing, hates everything and everybody. He can't understand why anybody would find any fault with him. You know, the obnoxious guy -- there's always one at every party or every gathering on every block. You know that guy. We all know that guy. . . .”

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:45 AM

 
GOODBYE ALREADY

Bush says farewell – and displays all the qualities of smug self-assurance and dull cluelessness we will be glad to see in the rear view mirror

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/15/bush_speech/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] There were some odd moments in the speech. Bush's delivery was awkward; he spoke as if he didn't really feel the words he was speaking, as if he wasn't making a serious connection with them. And some of those words were, at best, poorly chosen. . . .

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/bushs-farewell-address-st_b_158382.html
[Arianna Huffington] Thursday night's valedictory speech was quintessential Bush: delusional from beginning to end. . . .

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/16/my-fellow-unindicted-co-conspirators/
[Attaturk] Before the expected horrendous proclamation of "so long suckers!" farewell address, one of many off-putting things about Bush's speech was the setting. . . .

Watch: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#28682372



More: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-tv/arianna-discusses-bushs-f_b_158371.html

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#28682497

Dick Cheney, defiant to the end

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/feature/2009/01/14/cheney_interview/index.html

More: http://thinkprogress.org/2009/01/14/cheney-war-killed/

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/cheney_takes_on_torture_the_flaws_of_the_iraqi_peo.php

Watch: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/dick_cheney_my_memories_of_moi.php

Torture at GITMO

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/14/15354/2509/387/684048

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/14/BL2009011401868.html

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/prosecuting_for_torture.html

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/15/the-us-torture-regime-where-is-the-swift-justice/

The WH says it has now found 14 million emails it said it had “accidentally” erased or lost (maybe)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011401957.html

The sorry state of Bush’s Department of Justice – glad to be rid of them

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/tpmtv_black_and_bitter.php
[Zachary Roth] A recent Justice Department report found that John Tanner, the former head of DOJ's voting-rights section, told a colleague he liked his coffee "Mary Frances Berry style -- black and bitter." Berry, an African-American, was at the time the chair of the US Commission on Civil Rights, which works to protect voting rights.

This is hardly the only piece of evidence that Tanner -- who it appears is still on the DOJ payroll, and still working on voting issues -- might not be the best person to be safeguarding Americans' right to vote. . . .

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/doj_kept_tanner_working_on_voting_rights_--_even_a.php

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/schumer_on_tanners_racist_email_shocking.php

Intelligence court rules Bush warrantless wiretapping legal – or does it?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/court_bush_can_eavesdrop_without_warrant.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/15/113742/459/51/684384

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016460.php

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2009/1/15/9533/54420

http://www.anonymousliberal.com/2009/01/from-department-of-bad-legal-reporting.html

Glenn Greenwald, of course: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/15/fisa/index.html
A case study in 8 years of lying and ignorance . . .

House Dems release their stimulus bill

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011403291_pf.html

Text: http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10939

Highlights: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/the_first_chapter_is_a.php
[Marc Ambinder] Moolah -- a large expansion of unemplyoment benefits, increasing the duration and amount of the money; also: a big expansion of the (highly stimulative) foos stamp program.

Education: $41 billion for school repair; nearly $80 billion to states and local governments to prevent criticial services from being cut; $15.6 billion for Pell grant expansion; $6 billion to colleges and universities

A passel of other items, like a few billion for home heating subsidies.

COBRA -- $39 billion worth of new spending to allow folks who've lost their job to keep their employer's insurance even longer.

Highway/Road/Rail: $30 billion for projects; also, billions for light rail, upgrades and repairs and Amtrak.

Energy: $11 billion for the electricity grid, $8 billion in loan gaurantees for new power station / transmission projects, $6.7 billion to make government buildings more energy efficient, $6.2 billion to help poor families make their homes more energy efficient; $600 million for new, energy efficient cars for the federal fleet; $2.4 billion for carbon capture research;

Businesses: $430 million for small business loans; $100 million for rural business grants; several hundred million to help foster job growth in the manufacturing sector and in localities hit hard by the recession.

Science -- $3 billion fo rthe National Science Foundation, $2 billion more for the NIH, hundreds of millions for high energy physics, satellite development, construction grants, the U.S. geological survey, NASA climate change programs and more.

Tax Cuts -- Obama's downpayment on payroll tax relief -- $500 per person, $1000 per couple. The Earned Income Tax Credit will be expanded.

Digital conversion -- $650 million in new coupons for the digital television transition.

GOP reaction: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/15/quote_of_the_day.html
"Oh. My. God."

-- House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH)

Bipartisan support? Fuggedaboutit

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-stimulus15-2009jan15,0,5548815.story
[LAT] Reporting from Washington -- President-elect Barack Obama's hopes of scoring significant bipartisan support for his stimulus package are fading, as the debate over the nearly $800-billion plan morphs into a classic Washington impasse: two rival parties in irreconcilable conflict.

Obama had hoped to induce Republicans to back his plan by putting forward a series of business tax cuts. But GOP support is peeling off as the party crafts alternative ideas that rely even more heavily on tax reductions. . . .

The Republicans come out with their brilliant alternative: defund Social Security, pass more massive tax cuts, and add no new spending at all

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/thats_original_2.php

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/the_house_republicans_propose.php

No, we aren’t in a post-partisan era after all

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/opinion/16krugman.html

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189731669479777.html
Obama Should Act Like He Won . . .

Looks like AG nominee Eric Holder won’t have any trouble

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/15/holder/index.html

Holder calls waterboarding “torture”

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/15/133455/907

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/torture_/2009/01/inmydreams_dept_what_holder_might_have_said_to_cornyn.php

SCHIP passes (finally)

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/with_no_bush_six_republicans_switch_from_no_to_yes.php

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/14/schip-passes-the-house-289-139/

Retired Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), he of the epithet “The Republican brand is in the trash can . . . if we were dog food, they would take us off the shelf,” reflects anew on the state of the party

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/14/1203/65128/800/683635
But let’s not kid ourselves, our party is broken. . . . [read on]

Who is the dumbest Republican? It’s such a tough call

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016452.php

How demographics help the future of the Dems

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016437.php

A little inside baseball: Harry Reid takes the GOP to the cleaners on Democratic committee assignments

http://congressmatters.com/storyonly/2009/1/13/163816/472/629/390

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016444.php

Keep talkin’ Joe

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016441.php
[Steve Benen] Earlier this week, Samuel "Joe the Plumber" Wurzelbacher, "reporting" from Israel, insisted that journalists shouldn't be allowed to cover a war, in part because reporters "make a big deal" over events on the ground, and in part because media professionals want to "down soldiers." Wurzelbacher added, "I think media should be abolished from, uh, you know, reporting."

Yesterday, he explained what he meant.

"[Y]ou don't need to see what's happening every day, that's my personal opinion, you don't have to share it. But, you know, okay, you don't have to see, you know, 800 dead, 801 dead. It's like they drill that in your head.... They want you to sit there saying there are so many people dying. You know these are large, these are numbers, you know I don't want to take away from that. Let me, uh, think about how to say that again. Just essentially, they keep drilling it into your head, newscast after newscast after newscast.

"I think the military should decide what information to give the media and then the media can release it to the public. I don't believe they need to be in the front lines with soldiers, I don't believe they need to, uh, you know, be bothering the military for information or for access to certain areas."

Bonus item: The OTHER Bush farewell address

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiBxDk3dWYA&eurl=http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/15/bushs-farewell-address/



***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 8:29 AM

 
DECLINE TO PROSECUTE

An explosive DOJ Inspector General’s report outlines clear lawbreaking and perjury before Congress – but did not recommend prosecution. Why not?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/why_no_charges_for_schlozman.php
[Zachary Roth] Given that the DOJ Inspector General's report found that Bradley Schlozman broke the law in making politicized hiring decisions, and lied about it to Congress, why and how did the US Attorney's office make the decision to decline to bring criminal charges? . . . [read on]

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/doj_schlozman_deviated_from_strict_standard.php
[DOJ] Today's report describes troubling conduct by a former supervisor in the Civil Rights Division prior to his departure from the Division nearly three years ago. The mission of the Justice Department is the evenhanded application of the Constitution and the laws enacted under it, and that mission has to start with the evenhanded application of the laws within our own Department. As today's report makes clear, Mr. Schlozman deviated from that strict standard. . . .

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/13/shorter-schloz-criminal-referral/
[Emptywheel] Of course, the report is dated July 2, 2008. So what has happened? . . .

The U.S. Attorney’s Office informed us on January 9, 2009, of its decision to decline prosecution of Schlozman. The Interim U.S. Attorney, Jeffrey Taylor, was recused from the matter and the decision.

So, after taking ten months to decide whether or not to prosecute (ten months which happened to include an election in which one of those named in the report--Hans Von Spakovsky--served on FEC), they now release the report. Nice.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/layer_upon_layer_of_lies.php
[Longtime reader] So Justice managed to interview more than 120 people, review 200,000 e-mails, and sift through mountains of documents in less than a year, but it took six full months for someone at the DC US Attorney's Office to decide not to prosecute?

This decision stinks in three ways . . . [read on]

The full report: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/special/s0901/final.pdf

Our old pal, Bradley Schlozman

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/doj_ig_takes_down_schlozman.php
"The evidence in our investigation showed that Schlozman, first as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General and subsequently as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and Acting Assistant Attorney General, considered political and ideological affiliations in hiring career attorneys and in other personnel actions affecting career attorneys in the Civil Rights Division. In doing so, he violated federal law - the Civil Service Reform Act - and Department policy that prohibit discrimination in federal employment based on political and ideological affiliations, and committed misconduct. The evidence also showed that Division managers failed to exercise sufficient oversight to ensure that Schlozman did not engage in inappropriate hiring and personnel practices. Moreover, Schlozman made false statements about whether he considered political and ideological affiliations when he gave sworn testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee and in his written responses to supplemental questions from the Committee. . . ."

Watch: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/watch_bradley_schlozman_lie.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/bradley_schlozmans_greatest_hits_highlights.php



http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/setting_the_bar.php
[Josh Marshall] Following the news that the DOJ IG found that arch-bamboozler Bradley Schlozman lied to Congress about his actions while serving at DOJ, a number of readers have written to say: Okay, fine, so he's not being prosecuted. But isn't there even some movement to disbar the guy since he's back out practicing law? . . .

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/16463
Schlozman lawyer calls report "inaccurate, incomplete, biased, contrary to law" . . .

Pat Leahy (D-VT): http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/leahy_on_report_schlozman_lied_to_me.php
Today's report confirms some of our worst fears about the Bush administration's political corruption of the Justice Department. Not only did senior Republican appointees violate the law in hiring based on politics in the Civil Rights Division, they also lied about it when called to explain themselves to Congress. . . . [read on]

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/leahy_schloz_committed_heinous_crime.php

More from Bush’s “Justice” Department

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/bitter_and_black.php
Voting Section Chief John Tanner sent an e-mail to Schlozman asking Schlozman to bring coffee for him to a meeting both were scheduled to attend. Schlozman replied asking Tanner how he liked his coffee. Tanner's response was, "Mary Frances Berry style - black and bitter." Berry is an African-American who was the Chairperson of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights from November 1993 until late 2004. Schlozman forwarded the e-mail chain to several Department officials (including Principal DAAG Bradshaw) but not Acosta, with the comment, "Y'all will appreciate Tanner's response." . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016419.php

ANOTHER report

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/13/house-judiciary-issues-scathing-report-on-bushcheney-imperial-presidency/
In a report just made public, the House Judiciary Committee issues a scathing report on the Bush/Cheney abuses against the rule of law. Entitled "Reining In the Imperial Presidency," the report details a myriad of issues which have plagued Congress and the judiciary where the Bush/Cheney administration has overstepped constitutional boundaries. . . . [read on]

The full report: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/printers/110th/IPres090113.pdf

Encouraging news

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/judge_white_house_must_pass_on_us_attorney_documen.php
[AP] A federal judge says the incoming administration of Barack Obama must be given copies of documents the Bush White House has been withholding from Congress on the firings of nine U.S. attorneys.

The order by U.S. District Judge John Bates is a minor victory for the House Judiciary Committee. . .

The House committee was concerned that the documents would no longer be readily available once they were shipped to the National Archives when President George W. Bush leaves office on Jan. 20.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/13/will-the-bushcheney-crimes-get-flushed-down-the-memory-hole/

Legacy watch

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/13/BL2009011301509.html
[Dan Froomkin] President Bush famously asserts that history's verdict on his presidency won't come until he's long dead. But far from waiting until his corpse is cold, the verdict is largely in before he's even left the building. . . . [read on]

Is there no end to Condi Rice’s abasement?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/olmert_says_called_bush_to_force_change_in_un_vote.php
[Reuters] Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said a telephone call he made to U.S. President George W. Bush last week forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to abstain in a U.N. vote on the Gaza war, leaving her "shamed".

Pouring on political bravado in a speech late on Monday, Olmert said he demanded to talk to Bush with only 10 minutes to spare before a U.N. Security Council vote on Thursday on a resolution opposed by Israel calling for an immediate ceasefire.

"When we saw that the secretary of state, for reasons we did not really understand, wanted to vote in favour of the U.N. resolution ... I looked for President Bush and they told me he was in Philadelphia making a speech," Olmert said.

"I said, 'I don't care. I have to talk to him now,'" Olmert said, describing Bush, who leaves office on Jan. 20, as "an unparalleled friend" of Israel.

"They got him off the podium, brought him to another room and I spoke to him. I told him, 'You can't vote in favour of this resolution.' He said, 'Listen, I don't know about it, I didn't see it, I'm not familiar with the phrasing.'"

Olmert said he then told Bush: "'I'm familiar with it. You can't vote in favour.'

"He gave an order to the secretary of state and she did not vote in favour of it -- a resolution she cooked up, phrased, organised and manoeuvred for. She was left pretty shamed and abstained on a resolution she arranged," Olmert said. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/w_house_reports_of_olmert-bush_call_inaccurate.php
[Reuters] The White House Tuesday denied reports that a telephone call by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to President Bush forced Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to abstain in a U.N. vote on the Gaza war. . . .

More: http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/israeli-pm-ehud-olmert-claims-to-be.html
[Juan Cole] Olmert's account cannot be accurate as to detail. Bush was not interrupted during his speech in Philadelphia, and the speech was given many hours before the UN vote. But that kind of discrepancy is easily resolved if we want to believe that Olmert is telling the truth. When he called the White House, he may have initially gotten a staffer who said something like, Bush is away at Philadelphia for a speech. Olmert could have misunderstood the staffer to say that Bush was still giving the speech.

But that Condi Rice worked hard to get that UN resolution and that the other diplomats were shocked when she suddenly instructed Zalmay Khalilzad to vote against it is well known and was reported in the Arabic press at the time. . . .

On Obama's decision to close Guantanamo

From the right: http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/13/maf_gitmo/index.html

From the left: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/13/obama/index.html

Fed Chair Bernanke tells Obama he wants more money for banks

http://money.cnn.com/2009/01/13/news/economy/bernanke_speech/index.htm

What will Obama’s education policy be? Don’t ask his nominee for Sect’y of Education

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/us/politics/14webduncan.html

Hillary Clinton, a powerhouse Sect’y of State

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/14/us/politics/14state.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/13/235852/021

Is another Obama appointee in trouble?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016427.php
[WSJ] Sen. Charles E. Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is raising questions about a housekeeper who worked briefly for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner without proper immigration papers, and multiple years when Mr. Geithner didn't pay Social Security and Medicare taxes for himself. . . [read on]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/scandal_3.php
[Matt Yglesias] So it seems that when Tim Geithner worked at the IMF, his FICA taxes weren’t automatically withheld in the customary way, and consequently he underpaid taxes by tens of thousands of dollars and when the error was pointed out to him he . . . paid back taxes and penalties. What’s more, Chuck Grassley is “raising questions about a housekeeper who worked briefly for Treasury Secretary-nominee Timothy Geithner without proper immigration papers.” I, for one, know that whether or not Geithner once had a housekeeper whose work visa was valid at the time of hiring but expired during the time she was employed by him ought to be the primary focus of our attention as we think about filling key economic jobs amidst a huge crisis.

More: http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/geithners_nanny_nonproblem.php

Yeah, well I predicted it too

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/barack_obama_20.html
[Kevin Drum] Barack Obama is apparently planning to create a permanent political organization designed not just to help him win reelection in 2012, but to help him get his policy agenda passed in the meantime . . .

This is something that Mark Kleiman more or less predicted many months ago. (To me, anyway. I'm not sure if he blogged about it.) His conjecture was that Obama's organization had fundamentally redefined presidential politics thanks to its huge pool of dedicated volunteers and its ability to quickly raise unheard-of sums of money . . . [read on]

Well, Obama did say he would meet with ANYONE without preconditions

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/report_obama_meets_unconditionally_with_george_wil.php

Al Franken (D-MN) has lawyers too

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota_update_now_its_franken_going_to_the_state_supreme_court.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken_camp_to_minnesota_court_throw_out_colemans.php

The “24” generation: defenders of torture

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/13/101945/599/954/683497

Bonus item: Sarah Palin, the gift that keeps on giving

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/13/palin-slams-bored-anonymous-pathetic-bloggers-who-lie/
Sarah Palin fired a new salvo in her war on the media, unloading in a new interview on her home state paper and “bored, anonymous, pathetic bloggers who lie.” . . .

[NB: Hey, what’s wrong with being “bored, anonymous, and pathetic”?]

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/13/palin/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] Apparently, Palin lets no good deed go unpunished. She's badly distorting what actually happened here; in reality, the ADN was defending her against the conspiracy theories regarding her son's birth. The paper's editor even sent her an e-mail telling her this . . .

Palin’s real enemies: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/13/huckabee_takes_swipe_at_palin.html
[Mike Huckabee (R), a likely Republican presidential candidate in 2012] "Now I must say I did not think that either the Charlie Gibson interview or the Katie Couric interviews were unfair. In fact, if anything, Katie Couric was extraordinarily gentle, even helpful. [Palin] just... I don't know what happened. I can't explain it. It was not a good interview. I'm being charitable."

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:28 AM

 
ADMITTING MISTAKES

It’s simple really: the reason why Bush doesn’t admit any mistakes is because he doesn’t really think he has MADE any mistakes

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/12/bush.press.conference/index.html
"I don't know if you want to call those mistakes or not, but they were -- things didn't go according to plan, let's put it that way," Bush said. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/12/BL2009011201584.html

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/12/bushs-final-presser-redefining-success-one-rooftop-rescue-at-a-time/

Watch: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/still_bush_after_all_these_years.php



Speak for yourself

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/still_feeling_the_hate.php
[Jim Fallows] I think even people who oppose the Bush Administrations policies would find it somewhat harder to dislike him viscerally after this performance -- rather than getting angrier the more they see him, as with most of his appearances over these last eight years.. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/no_more_bush_to_kick_around_1.html

The numbers don’t lie

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/11/AR2009011102301_pf.html
President Bush has presided over the weakest eight-year span for the U.S. economy in decades, according to an analysis of key data, and economists across the ideological spectrum increasingly view his two terms as a time of little progress on the nation's thorniest fiscal challenges. . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/for_the_defense_2.php
[WP] Bush and his aides are quick to point out that they oversaw 52 straight months of job growth in the middle of this decade, and that the economy expanded at a steady clip from 2003 to 2007. But economists, including some former advisers to Bush, say it increasingly looks as if the nation’s economic expansion was driven to a large degree by the interrelated booms in the housing market, consumer spending and financial markets. Those booms, which the Bush administration encouraged with the idea of an “ownership society,” have proved unsustainable.

[Matt Yglesias] 52 months would be great except that there are 96 months in an eight-year term. In other words, if you overlook Vietnam then Lyndon Johnson’s foreign policy went okay.

A couple of days ago I suggested that the reason the Bush admin was requesting the second half of the TARP funds was so that they could disburse additional funds before leaving office. I was mistaken – they’re asking for them on Obama’s behalf

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Economy/story?id=6626721

http://www.propublica.org/article/obama-teams-request-for-bailout-money-short-on-specifics-090112#7198

But! http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/whos_running_tarp_you_might_not_wanna_know.php
[Zachary Roth] Last week, Congress's oversight panel for the TARP funds confirmed in a report that the Treasury Department essentially has no idea what banks have done with the astronomical sums they've been handed.

Given this lack of information, we figured it might at least be helpful to know a bit about a few of the people at Treasury who are in charge of administering the massive program, and what their backgrounds might tell us about the way they've gone about it. . . . [read on]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/whyd_he_even_need_to_ask.php

Obama says one of his first acts will be closing Guantanamo. Good. But . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/12/obama_gitmo/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] On Sunday, Barack Obama told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that it probably wouldn't be possible to close the infamous U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay within the first 100 days of his administration. Some observers immediately took this as a sign the president-elect was backing away from his campaign promises on the issue, and that he wouldn't make the closure a priority. Naturally, this engendered some predictable crowing from the right.

In what certainly seems like a response to the response, on Monday Obama advisors told the Associated Press that an executive order ordering the facility's closure "is expected during Obama's first week on the job -- and possibly on his first day."

Now, that doesn't mean the prison will actually be closed immediately. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016408.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/12/16931/2931/190/683252

Where do you put the prisoners?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/12/obama-to-close-gitmo-where-would-you-put-the-high-value-detainees/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016412.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016413.php

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/gitmo-over-and-out-by-dday-today.html

Sunshine

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/obama_backs_sunshine_for_secret_legal_memos.php
[Politico] Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he's been informed that President Obama will support his proposed legislation to make public some opinions from the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel, which issued some of the Bush Administration's most sweeping claims of executive power. Obama also has promised to limit President Bush's practice of using "signing statements" to amend legislation. . . . [read on]

Another troubled confirmation for Obama?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/obamas_sec_nominee_headed_for_bumpy_confirmation_h.php

Roland Burris, chosen by an impeached governor, will be seated; Al Franken (who won an election) won’t

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/12/burris/index.html

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota_sec_of_state_to_franken_no_im_not_certif.php

What next in Minnesota?

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/judges_selected_for_minnesota_election_lawsuit.php
The three judges who will be presiding over Norm Coleman's lawsuit to contest the Minnesota election result were just appointed this evening . . .

More: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/10/franken-coleman-update-011009-annals-of-wtf/

Another senior Republican quits (It sucks being in the minority for years to come)

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/12/voinovich/index.html

What next in Ohio? http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/our_never-too-early_guide_to_the_2010_ohio_senate_race.php

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/the_ohio_senate_landscape.php

And yet another is apparently considering it

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/12/144625/775

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016401.php
Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), an aggressive NRSC fundraiser, told the Politico the recent announcements have "caused some panic" in Republican circles, adding, "I'm really concerned."

Please, please pick Ken Blackwell as head of the GOP

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/thanks_for_sharing.php
RNC Chair candidate Ken Blackwell says that if he had homosexual urges he could and would restrain them. If he did, that is. And he doesn't.

The right LOVES “Joe the Plumber”. Let them

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016405.php

Theocracy watch: Bush’s big plan to funnel federal money to “faith based” programs was mostly a bust

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016403.php

Bonus item: The Top 25 Bushisms

http://www.slate.com/id/2208132/
1. "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."—Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004 . . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:54 AM

 
DON'T LOOK BACK

Obama has a tough call. What the Bush gang did on torture, imprisonment without trial, secret rendition, illegal surveillance, deserves to be investigated and punished. But if he tries to do that, nothing else will be possible politically. There will be no time to deal with the financial crisis. Stimulus, infrastructure, health care, energy, all the big first term goals, will be pushed to the back of the agenda. The media won’t create space for any other topic. The climate in DC will be poisonously partisan. Should he go ahead and do it anyway? Well, if you think that these are war crimes of a Nuremberg severity, maybe so.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/11/centrism/index.html
[Glenn Greenwald] Obama today rather clearly stated that he will not close Guantanamo in the first 100 days of his presidency. He recited the standard Jack Goldsmith/Brookings Institution condescending excuse that closing Guantanamo is "more difficult than people realize." Specifically, Obama argued, we cannot release detainees whom we're unable to convict in a court of law because the evidence against them is "tainted" as a result of our having tortured them, and therefore need some new system -- most likely a so-called new "national security court" -- that "relaxes" due process safeguards so that we can continue to imprison people indefinitely even though we're unable to obtain an actual conviction in an actual court of law.

Worst of all, Obama (in response to Stephanopoulos' asking him about the number one highest-voted question on Change.gov, first submitted by Bob Fertik) all but said that he does not want to pursue prosecutions for high-level lawbreakers in the Bush administration, twice repeating the standard Beltway mantra that "we need to look forward as opposed to looking backwards" and "my instinct is for us to focus on how do we make sure that moving forward we are doing the right thing." Obama didn't categorically rule out prosecutions -- he paid passing lip service to the pretty idea that "nobody is above the law," implied Eric Holder would have some role in making these decisions, and said "we're going to be looking at past practices" -- but he clearly intended to convey his emphatic view that he opposes "past-looking" investigations. In the U.S., high political officials aren't investigated, let alone held accountable, for lawbreaking, and that is rather clearly something Obama has no intention of changing. . . . [read on]

The full interview: http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Economy/Story?id=6618199&page=3

What they have wrought

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10848
[Daniel De Groot] The Bush Administration employed numerous forms of torture on people held in its custody, arguably the most egregious being waterboarding, and has openly admitted to using these techniques, and refused to repudiate their use in future. I won't recount the litany of other counts that should be part of some future indictment of Bush, but that alone is enough to put him in the Crimes against Humanity category. . . . [read on]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/the_embrace.php
[Jim Henley] The United States government has always engaged in war crimes and human rights violations. What’s different this decade is that, under the leadership of a terrible president, our elites have become vociferous advocates of the goodness and rightness of war crimes and human rights violations. . . . [read on]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/establishment-dicks-by-digby-ive.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/in-future-america-does-not-torture-by.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/11/105033/052/654/682788

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/11/note-to-pebo-this-prosecute-the-torturers-issue-isnt-going-to-go-away-part-ii/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016394.php

Can we do both?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11rich.html
[Frank Rich] If we get bogged down in adjudicating every Bush White House wrong, how will we have the energy, time or focus to deal with the all-hands-on-deck crises that this administration’s malfeasance and ineptitude have bequeathed us? The president-elect himself struck this note last spring. “If crimes have been committed, they should be investigated,” Barack Obama said. “I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt, because I think we’ve got too many problems we’ve got to solve.”

Henry Waxman, the California congressman who has been our most tireless inquisitor into Bush scandals, essentially agreed when I spoke to him last week. Though he remains outraged about both the chicanery used to sell the Iraq war and the administration’s overall abuse of power, he adds: “I don’t see Congress pursuing it. We’ve got to move on to other issues.” He would rather see any prosecutions augmented by an independent investigation that fills in the historical record. “We need to depoliticize it,” he says. “If a Democratic Congress or administration pursues it, it will be seen as partisan.”

We could certainly do worse than another 9/11 Commission. Among those Americans still enraged about the Bush years, there are also calls for truth and reconciliation commissions, war crimes trials and, in a petition movement on Obama’s transition Web site, a special prosecutor in the Patrick Fitzgerald mode. One of the sharpest appointments yet made by the incoming president may support decisive action: Dawn Johnsen, a law professor and former Clinton administration official who last week was chosen to run the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Justice.

This is the same office where the Bush apparatchik John Yoo produced his infamous memos justifying torture. Johnsen is a fierce critic of such constitutional abuses. In articles for Slate last year, she wondered “where is the outrage, the public outcry” over a government that has acted lawlessly and that “does not respect the legal and moral bounds of human decency.” She asked, “How do we save our country’s honor, and our own?”

The last is not a rhetorical question. While our new president indeed must move on and address the urgent crises that cannot wait, Bush administration malfeasance can’t be merely forgotten or finessed. A new Justice Department must enforce the law; Congress must press outstanding subpoenas to smoke out potential criminal activity; every legal effort must be made to stop what seems like a wholesale effort by the outgoing White House to withhold, hide and possibly destroy huge chunks of its electronic and paper trail. As Johnsen wrote last March, we must also “resist Bush administration efforts to hide evidence of its wrongdoing through demands for retroactive immunity, assertions of state privilege, and implausible claims that openness will empower terrorists.”

As if to anticipate the current debate, she added that “we must avoid any temptation simply to move on,” because the national honor cannot be restored “without full disclosure.” She was talking about America regaining its international reputation in the aftermath of our government’s descent into the dark side of torture and “extraordinary rendition.” . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016386.php

Obama still tweaking stimulus plan

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0109/17335.html
Emerging from a two-hour meeting in the Capitol with Obama advisers Lawrence Summers and Jason Furman, Senate Democrats praised the President-elect's team for agreeing to make changes to its stimulus proposal based off of concerns senators raised last week at a meeting with the president-elect’s senior aides. . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/11/223353/590

We know that Bush is a stunningly unreflective character; and yet the reminders still have the power to shock

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/opinion/11dowd.html
[Maureen Dowd] From Gaza to the unemployment figures to the $10.6 trillion debt, things keep spiraling while W. keeps fiddling. Just as when he was in the National Guard and didn’t bother to show up, now, as the scabrous consequences of his missteps shake the economy and the world, he doesn’t bother to show up. He’s checked out — spending his time on more than a dozen exit interviews that do nothing to change his image as a president who was over his head and under Cheney’s spell.

Asked by People magazine what moments from the last eight years he revisited most often, W. talked passionately about the pitch he threw out at the World Series in 2001: “I never felt that anxious any other time during my presidency, curiously enough.”

Asked by Fred Barnes and Bill Kristol of The Weekly Standard if he had made progress in some areas for which he hasn’t gotten credit, the president put trying to privatize Social Security at the top of his list. It’s frightening to think where a lot of people would be now if that effort had succeeded. . . . [read on]

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/11/bush-upon-leaving-office-i-did-a-heckuva-job/

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016393.php

Bush still thinks he’s a “compassionate conservative”

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/bush_compassion_is_good.php

Bush’s legacy: a UK perspective (thanks to Ahmad S. for the ink)

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/rupert-cornwell/rupert-cornwell-the-bush-legacy-1299684.html
Say what you like, George Bush has been a transformational figure. Under him, almost everything in America has been transformed – alas for the worse. . . . [read on]

There will be provincial elections in Iraq at the end of this month. Here’s what to expect

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/11/205230/455/449/682969

A follow-up to yesterday’s NYT story about Israel’s plans to bomb Iran

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/11/nyts-sanger-sure-gets-it-wrong-us-did-sell-israel-bombs-for-iran-attack/
[Siun] [T]here’s a problem with Sanger’s report. He gets a central fact wrong in his very first sentence which reads:

“President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex …” [read on]

For eight years the Republicans had their snouts in the trough, shoveling money to their pet projects and enabling Bush’s astounding deficit spending and tax cuts – leaving Obama a trillion dollar plus debt before even taking office. But NOW they’ve gotten religion, and are deficit hawks again

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jRdSuvENNkUSR763MjD8eLX4n0QAD95KVC200

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016389.php

CNN helps: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/fiscal-madness-by-digby-i-cant-believe.html

Let’s hope the Republicans keep believing that their only problem is technology and communications strategy, not the substance of their policies

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/11/151533/125

A couple of days ago we learned that “Joe the Plumber” was being hired and sent to Israel as a war correspondent for Pajamas Media. Should anyone be surprised at the result?

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/move-over-edward-r.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:03 AM

 
REFUSING TO WIN

I think Borger is only about half right here – but how stupid of the Dems to give her, Chris Matthews, and the usual gang the raw material to let them make this the narrative on the eve of Obama’s triumphant inauguration

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/09/borger.democrats/index.html
[Gloria Borger] Yes, it's early. Very early. Barack Obama hasn't even moved into Blair House yet.

But it's time -- for an intervention.

How else to confront the oddly self-destructive behavior of congressional Democrats? How else to figure out why they seem intent on depriving their new president of a swift -- and truly bipartisan -- victory on his all-important economic stimulus package?

It's as if they haven't quite figured out what the public meant when it voted to change business as usual. Or that sometimes, in order to get something done, the perfect is the enemy of the good, as the cliché goes. Or to effectively cripple the Obama presidency in its infancy would be, er, bad for them. . . . [read on]

Meanwhile, the Republicans are self-destructing, if we let them

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016381.php
[Steve Benen] Congressional Republicans have publicly supported Neo-Hooverite economic policies; they've launched baseless character attacks against Eric Holder; and they've demanded more "middle class" tax cuts that don't benefit the middle class. They've also spent most of the post-election period talking about the Fairness Doctrine, Marc Rich, Elian Gonzales, and the need for a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.

And yet, the wingnuts are furious. Odd.

Apparently, the base won't be truly pleased unless congressional Republicans, in the face of a drastic economic crisis, opposes any government effort to stimulate the economy at all. Michelle Malkin has begun calling a rescue package the "Generational Theft Act of 2009." Don Surber believes Obama's plan, tax cuts and all, is "evil." . . .

Karl Rove’s plan for Republican resurgence

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/karl-rove-sets-gop-senate-strategy.html

Is Norm Coleman fighting in Minnesota because he really thinks he can still win, or because the national GOP just wants to keep Franken out of the Senate for as long as possible?

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/franken-coleman-update-010909-the-long-goodbye/

John McCain helps Obama (a bit)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016382.php

Is Obama underplaying the size of the stimulus package, in order to let the Dems increase it once it gets into Congress’s hands? If so, is that good politics?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/what_to_worry_about.php

George Bush, man of mystery

http://www.slate.com/id/2204488
[Jacob Weisberg] We do not know how people will one day view this presidency because we, Bush's contemporaries, don't yet understand it ourselves. The Bush administration has had startling success in one area—namely keeping its inner workings secret. Intensely loyal, contemptuous of the press, and overwhelmingly hostile to any form of public disclosure, the Bushies did a remarkable job at keeping their doings hidden for eight years. . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0811.homans.html
Last Secrets of the Bush Administration . . .

Fred Barnes, “sycophantic hack”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016377.php
[Steve Benen] In his latest gem, published in the new issue of his magazine, Barnes insists Bush's presidency "was far more successful than not," and Bush's "courage" not only "merits special recognition," it exceeds that of Ronald Reagan. Seriously.

To prove his point, Barnes points to Bush's "ten great achievements":

1. Bush stood up to "global warming hysteria," and helped undermine the agenda of "alarmists."

2. He endorsed "enhanced interrogation," "secret prisons," and "wireless eavesdropping."

3. He seized unprecedented executive authority, and ignored congressional attempts at oversight.

4. He offered "unswerving support for Israel."

5. He signed the No Child Left Behind initiative.

6. He delivered his second inaugural address.

7. He signed the Medicare prescription drug benefit.

8. He pushed the Supreme Court even further to the right.

9. He improved U.S. relations with Japan, South Korea, and Australia.

10. He created a "fragile but functioning democracy" in Iraq.

Note, of course, that lists of some of Bush's biggest failures also contain some of these same "achievements."

Dick Cheney, yeah we tortured: what're you gonna do about it?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/10/112335/740/981/682445

How close did we get to an attack on Iran?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/washington/11iran.html
President Bush deflected a secret request by Israel last year for specialized bunker-busting bombs it wanted for an attack on Iran’s main nuclear complex and told the Israelis that he had authorized new covert action intended to sabotage Iran’s suspected effort to develop nuclear weapons, according to senior American and foreign officials.

White House officials never conclusively determined whether Israel had decided to go ahead with the strike before the United States protested, or whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel was trying to goad the White House into more decisive action before Mr. Bush left office. But the Bush administration was particularly alarmed by an Israeli request to fly over Iraq to reach Iran’s major nuclear complex at Natanz, where the country’s only known uranium enrichment plant is located.

The White House denied that request outright, American officials said, and the Israelis backed off their plans, at least temporarily. The White House denied that request outright, American officials said, and the Israelis backed off their plans, at least temporarily. But the tense exchanges also prompted the White House to step up intelligence-sharing with Israel and brief Israeli officials on new American efforts to subtly sabotage Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, a major covert program that Mr. Bush is about to hand off to President-elect Barack Obama. . .

Protests grow over Gaza

http://www.juancole.com/2009/01/israeli-soldier-in-gaza-purification.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10835

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/11/sunday-talking-heads-january-11-2009/
ABC's This Week: President-elect Barack Obama. Roundtable: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, The New York Times' Thomas Friedman, The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan, and ABC News' George Will.

CBS' Face The Nation: Roland Burris, Former Illinois Attorney General. Rep. John Boehner (R-OH) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL).

CNN's Late Edition: "Vice President Dick Cheney, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, ex-presidential advisor David Gergen, Washington Times' Tara Wall, Democratic strategist James Carville, CNN's Gloria Borger and Candy Crowley."

NBC's Meet The Press: Bill Cosby and Dr. Alvin Poussaint, co-authors of the best selling book "Come on People: On the Path from Victims to Victors," and two political leaders on the front-lines of this struggle, Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and the congresswoman representing South Central Los Angeles, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA). Then, an economic Roundtable: Economic adviser to president-elect Obama, Fmr. Rep. David Bonior (D-MI); The Wall Street Journal's Paul Gigot; CNBC's John Harwood, Vanity Fair's Bethany McLean; and Moody's Economy.com's Mark Zandi.

Bonus item: Understatement of the year

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/10/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html
"It turns out, this isn't one of the presidencies where you ride off into the sunset."

-- President Bush, quoted by the Associated Press on his legacy.

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:50 AM

 
STIMULATING DEBATE

More analysis of Obama’s stimulus plan

Krugman: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/09/opinion/09krugman.html

Judis: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=611d21dd-edb6-45f8-802c-568e35493234&k=55817

Stiglitz: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/drunkdriving_on_the_uss_road_t.html

Going to the people

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/9/17254/93023/194/682207
[Jed L] A new Gallup survey shows that while Americans support the overall stimulus plan by a 53%-36% margin, the thing that excites them most is the prospect of creating jobs and investing in our economic future by rebuilding America, a component of President-elect Obama's plan supported by a staggering 78% of this country . . .

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/9/94037/44064/447/681978

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/09/obama_using_polling_techniques_to_sell_stimulus.html
[Taegan Goddard] President-elect Obama's top political aides "are adapting their campaign tactics to selling policy, using data from polls and focus groups to shape the debate over a stimulus plan that may cost at least $775 billion," according to Bloomberg.

For instance, they are "encouraging lawmakers to use the word 'recovery' instead of recession and 'investment' instead of 'infrastructure.' Those recommendations came from focus-group research indicating that such framing would make the package more appealing to voters."

Ten days – TEN friggin’ days – before Bush and his minions go away, and they’re still pushing to get the other $350 billion bailout dollars released, so they can shovel as much of it as possible to their buddies before they leave office

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010902846.html

The Anti-Legacy Project

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/07/bergen.war.terror/index.html
How Bush botched war on terror . . .

More: http://www.propublica.org/article/bush-admin-still-withholding-key-war-on-terror-memos-0108#7159
Bush Admin Still Withholding Key ‘War on Terror’ Memos . . .

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/oh-now-theyre-trying-to-insist-on-their-responsibility-to-archive/
[Emptywheel] It seems like BushCo--particularly Cheney--have been fighting for about 2 years to limit their responsibility under the Presidential Records Act to actually supply their papers to the National Archive in usable and timely fashion.

Well, all of a sudden, they're arguing the contrary--that the papers have to go immediately. . . . [read on]

Give it up

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/09/AR2009010903412.html
A federal judge yesterday rejected the Bush administration's latest attempt to keep secret the identities of White House visitors, and he declared that the government illegally deleted Secret Service computer records. . .

The new apologia: Bush was doing just great until Katrina, an unforeseeable act of God, ruined his Presidency. Just very bad luck, you see

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/final-straw-by-digby-it-seems-that.html

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10825

Truth Commission?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/no_love.php
[Josh Marshall] A bill was introduced in the House Tuesday to create a Bush-era Truth Commission, the National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties.

We've been trying to get some answer from the House leadership -- Pelosi and Hoyer -- about whether they're inclined to support the bill or bottle it up. And so far we haven't been able to get an answer from either.

We'll keep pushing for an answer. But we thought you'd like to know.

More: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/sleeper_bill_of_the_month.php

Alberto Gonzales’ next job

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/abu-gs-new-book/

I’m so pleased that we have been able to share the pleasure of knowing Rod Blagojevich with the rest of the country

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/09/blago_circus/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] The circus that is the Rod Blagojevich scandal got a little more bizarre Friday afternoon, when the embattled governor held a press conference to discuss his impeachment. . . . [read on]

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/blagos-dog-and-pony-presser/
[Bmaz] Rod Blagojevich just had a fascinating press conference. Like a demented king (there is that Elvis parallel again) holding forth in his court. Probably not for long, but the guy knows how to play a room, you have to give him that. . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016373.php
[Steve Benen] Did you happen to catch Rod Blagojevich's event this afternoon? Did you notice that the governor appears to be stark raving mad?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/in_his_spare_time_he_walks_on_water.php
[David Kurtz] The one-man trainwreck that is Rod Blagojevich held another memorable presser today . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/why_blago_is_so_great.php
Blago Releases 'List of Nine Reasons Why I'm Great'

Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-LPVF3_FEs



More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/either-blagojevichs-lawyer-has-lost-his-mind-or-i-have/

Roland Burris, in limbo

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/lon-monk-and-roland-burris/
[Emptywheel] There were two things of note that came up at yesterday's Roland Burris testimony before the IL impeachment committee. His $1.2 million campaign loan gift from Joseph Stroud--who was also giving to Blagojevich at the time (who, incidentally, also employs Vicki Iseman as a lobbyist). And, his discussion(s) with Lon Monk about wanting the Senate Seat. . . . [read on]

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/the-method-to-blagojevichs-sam-adams-madness/

The people of Minnesota have spoken (twice now): time to go away, Norm

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/poll_minnesotans_want_coleman_to_concede_defeat.php
Poll: Minnesotans Want Coleman To Concede Defeat . . .

He won’t: http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/franken-coleman-recount-update-010809-how-far-will-it-go/
[Phoenix Woman] Now that Norm's decided to blow another couple million bucks on his lawyers, the big question is: How far will it go? Will Norm be able to take this all the way to the conservative-controlled US Supreme Court, should the three-judge contest panel not give him the answer the national Republican leadership wants to hear? . . . [read on]

Sarah Palin: Nope, not bitter, not bitter at all

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/09/a-class-act/

Bonus item: Letterman’s Top Ten Bush Moments

http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/lettermans-top-10-moments-of-bush-years.html



Extra bonus item: Bush mad libs

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/9/21351/41440/866/681535

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:42 AM

 
MR. OBAMA COMES TO WASHINGTON

Not even President yet, elected by a landslide and facing a public demanding immediate action on the economy, and what does Obama encounter? Dems who don’t like his tax cuts, Repubs who don’t like anything else but tax cuts, and a menagerie of egos demanding obeisance from the President elect. So this is what a post-partisan environment looks like

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/democratic_senators_not_fond_of_obamas_tax_cuts.php
Democratic Senators Not Fond of Obama's Tax Cuts . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/harkin_fears_trickle-down_stimulus.php
"There's only one thing we've got to do in this stimulus, and that's create jobs," Harkin told me. "I'm a little concerned by the way Mr. Summers and others are going on this ... it still looks a little more to me like trickle-down." . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/a_tale_of_two_stimuli.php
[Elana Schor] [Chuck Schumer] a member of the finance committee that will get the first crack at changing the stimulus, seemed to anticipate that bum-rush to impose congressional will on the plan. "You'd have each individual say, 'I'd like to add this or that big idea,'" Schumer said of today's meeting . . .

Minutes earlier, his finance committee colleague Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) expressed a different breed of certainty. "I'm very confident about some adjustments being made" to the plan, Kerry said . . .

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) . . ."This is a work in progress, as it should be ... there's nothing that's written in stone," Reid said. "Barack Obama has never said he will give us this bill and that's what you take."

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/gopers_lay_down_their_marker.php
[Elana Schor] While Democrats and Barack Obama are hard at work thematically outlining their economic recovery goals, Republicans got down to brass tacks this afternoon. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) signaled pretty strongly that they have a ceiling for an acceptable amount of stimulus spending -- and it ain't a high one. . . .

Josh asks the question

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/any_constituency_for_bold_action.php
In the avalanche of writing about a massive Stimulus Bill, the one proposition (though grandly general) that's been of most interest to me is one that is heavy on infrastructure spending and spending on R&D geared toward developing a sustainable Green economy. I say this with the understanding that in our current economic plight you'll likely need a significant amount of front-loading of 'shovel-ready' projects, tax rebates, aid to states not to cut critical safety net programs in the short run, etc. But I'm not talking so much about where the bill starts, but where it's going.

But is there a constituency in Congress for that? . . .

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/more_on_the_constituency_question.php

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/broad_very_shallow_not_in_congress.php

The irony of a Congress that just voted a $700 billion bailout for the financial industry at the demand of a lame duck and unpopular President, all within a matter of days, with no debate, no oversight, no specific goals or benchmarks to measure effectiveness – now suddenly questioning every aspect of Obama’s proposals and insisting on weeks of hearings, is a little much to stomach

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/seiu_head_to_congress_treat_main_street_bailout_wi.php
EIU president Andy Stern just put out a statement calling for Congress to quickly pass Barack Obama's stimulus package, showing how labor is falling in line to mobilize support for the new president's agenda.

Stern rebuts anyone complaining about the price-tag of the package, pointing out that Congress didn't have too many problems with a different big-spending bill a few months back . . .

Highlights from Obama’s recovery plan speech

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/8/133358/4279/767/681658

Still working on the details

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/08/AR2009010804109.html
Confronted with intense skepticism on Capitol Hill over the $700 billion financial rescue program, Treasury Secretary nominee Timothy F. Geithner and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team are urgently overhauling the embattled initiative and broadening its scope well beyond Wall Street . . .

Not all deficits are the same

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/8/21528/97809
[Charles Lemos] This deficit is unlike the other deficits brought to you courtesy of the GOP and their free market ideology. This is the deficit of government investment in the economy; this is a planned one, not a Laffer-Friedman supply-side tax cut driven one. Now is not the time to worry about "too much burdensome debt". Now is the time to worry about an economic collapse. When it comes to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the spending component should be massive. Invest in alternative energy, in our cities, in our schools, in mass transit, rebuild our fraying infrastructure, tackle climate change, and inject subsidies into industries that provide jobs so as to stabilize the economy. Through this deficit we are investing in America. The GOP's deficits were little more than a transfer of capital from the nation to the top one percent of Americans. . . [read on]

Will Obama go over the heads of Congress and whip up public pressure on them to get serious?

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/obama_warns_of_dire_consequenc.php

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/01/on-stimulus-its-easy-being-green.html

Who’s playing whom?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/2009_democratic_agenda_/2009/01/postpartisan_amity_a_oneway_street.php
[Mark Kleiman] The Beltway consensus seems to be that Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress need to make nice to Republicans and not press for any legislation (e.g., card check) that will give them indigestion, because otherwise (1) Republicans will sulk and obstruct and (2) the voters will be unhappy that the promised post-partisan era hasn't arrived.

Oddly, there's no equivalent sense that the Republicans shouldn't sulk and obstruct, as they're currently doing on the stimulus, the Holder nomination, and seating Franken. From where I sit, they're badly overplaying a very weak hand.

I'm not sure where the double standard comes from, but it seems to me that Obama and the Congressional leadership need to demonstrate to the GOP that, as cooperation will be beneficial, obstruction will be painful. . . .

Some of my progressive friends are upset about Obama's accommodating posture. But I suspect this may be more rope-a-dope. The more Obama looks reasonable, the more the voters will blame the Republicans when a confrontation arrives.

Damn it, Harry

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/8/11302/42906/984/681433

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/just-wild-about-harry/

Suddenly, Dems who consistently rolled over for Bush have their spines back – because it’s so much easier to stand up to a fellow Dem

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/brushback-by-digby-yep-sen.html

Fighting over Sanjay Gupta? WTF?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/conyers_vs_gupta.html
[Kevin Drum] Sam Stein reports that Rep. John Conyers has decided to publicly oppose the nomination of Sanjay Gupta as Surgeon General. That's.....weird. I don't really care much one way or the other about Gupta (though having a telegenic personality lead our public health service seems like a pretty inspired idea, frankly), and it's hard to believe that Gupta's smackdown with Michael Moore three years ago is anything more than a minor blip in the grand scheme of things. I wonder why Conyers is bothering to expend political capital on this?

Defending Gupta: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/in-defense-of-the-sanjay-gupta-appointment/

Another major initiative from Obama

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/obama_getting_serious_about_financial_re-regulatio.php
We've heard talk from various quarters in recent weeks about the pressing need to re-regulate the financial markets, in response to the SEC's failure in the Bernard Madoff case, and to the broader financial crisis.

And in his interview yesterday with CNBC, Barack Obama added a bit more detail to the picture of what we can expect, and when. . . .

Will Obama talk with Hamas?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/08/barack-obama-gaza-hamas

Obama picks Tim Kaine as the new head of the Democratic Party, and that’s fine. But did he have to diss Howard Dean in the process?

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/08/snubbing_dean.html

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016356.php

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/tim-kaine-to-head-dnc-will-the-fifty-state-strategy-survive/

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/obama_snubs_dean.php

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/8/13352/37665/23/681369

The last thing that could do in Roland Burris’s chances at the Senate seat was a bad performance in his testimony at Blagojevich’s impeachment hearings. He may still make it into the Senate, but he didn’t help himself

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/burris-doing-very-badly-before-the-impeachment-committee/
[Emptywheel] Burris is doing terribly in his testimony before the Blago impeachment Committee. . . . [read on]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-burris-testify-09jan09,0,7377065.story
Even as he sought to allay concerns about how Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked him for the U.S. Senate, Roland Burris disclosed Thursday he relayed his interest in the job to one of the governor's lobbyist fundraising friends whose activities are under federal scrutiny . . .

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/01/burris-called-b.html
Before Gov. Rod Blagojevich picked him to fill the state's empty U.S. Senate seat, Roland Burris called a top Blagojevich staffer to recommend his nephew for a state job, a close Burris aide said today. . .

Live-blogging his testimony http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2009/01/live-blogging-b.html

Impeachment coming for Blagojevich

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/draft-blagojevich-impeachment-report-released/

The report: http://www.chicagotribune.com/media/acrobat/2009-01/44419149.pdf

Now Blagojevich wants Patrick Fitzgerald fired!

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/five-years-after-pay-to-play-gang-tried-to-get-fitz-fired-blagojevich-tries-again/

“No one could have predicted.” Interesting how easily and often this excuse comes from the Bush gang

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/01/cheney_says_no_one_saw_financial_crisis_coming.php
AP Interview: Cheney: No one saw financial crisis coming, so Bush has no need to apologize

No one, eh? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/17/magazine/17pessimist-t.html

More lies from Cheney

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016357.php
"I'm actually a warm, lovable sort." . . . [read on]

Outgoing Attorney General Mukasey ALMOST acknowledges the criminal state of the Justice Dept under Bush, but can’t quite bring himself to say it

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/mukasey_laments_politically_influenced_functioning.php
“As I suggested a few moments ago, not all of the news over the last 14 months was good news. We heard allegations, and saw revelations, of politically influenced functioning within the Department, principally in hiring, and of other deviations from established procedures and acceptable professional standards. . .”

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/doj_still_hounding_wiretap_whistleblower.php
[Zachary Roth] The Bush DOJ may not usually be inclined to hold its own members accountable for criminal wrongdoing. But when the alleged wrong-doing consists of embarrassing the administration by revealing the existence of a program that was illegally spying on the American people, the wheels of justice seem to start turning. . . .

The GOP are looking for something to do, a national emergency that is worthy of their attention and something they can brand as their cause célèbre. And they’ve found it

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/08/fairness/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] It's a good thing there are no really important problems the country has to deal with. That frees up Congress to worry about things like the possible return of the Fairness Doctrine, even though there's almost no chance it actually will return anytime soon. . . .

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016347.php

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/the_fairness_doctrine_1.html

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/08/republicans-bravely-introduce-groundbreaking-legislation-to-repeal-fairness-doctrine-prohibition-and-slavery-to-follow/

Another senior Republican retires, another Dem opportunity in 2010

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/bad_news_for_gop_missouri_sen_kit_bond_announces_r.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016352.php
[Steve Benen] Bond is the third incumbent to announce their retirement in advance of the 2010 cycle, following Mel Martinez (Florida) and Sam Brownback (Kansas), while Kay Bailey Hutchison (Texas) is planning a gubernatorial campaign that will create a fourth Republican open-seat contest. At least three of these four were likely shoo-ins for re-election.

What's more, with four more Republican incumbents likely to face major challenges next year -- Burr in North Carolina, Gregg in New Hampshire, Specter in Pennsylvania, and Voinovich in Ohio -- Bond's announcement makes the 2010 cycle that much more difficult for the GOP. . . .

And another? http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/9/32112/63196

Getting to know Rick Warren

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/religion_and_politics_/2009/01/rick_warren_moderate.php

Fox News, where hosts can say anything without fear of contradiction. Really, ANYTHING

http://mediamatters.org/items/200901080005
Brit Hume asserted on Your World that "the New Deal -- everybody agrees, I think, on both sides of the spectrum now, that the New Deal failed. The debate is over why it failed," later stating, "President [Franklin] Roosevelt waged what could only be called a jihad against private enterprise." . . . [read on]

Bonus item: Sarah Palin said she hates whiners. Well, you can hardly tell . . .

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/01/08/palin-takes-digs-at-fey-couric/
“I did see that Tina Fey was named entertainer of the year and Katie Couric’s ratings have risen," Palin said in the interview. "I know that a lot of people are capitalizing on, oh I don’t know, perhaps some exploiting that was done via me, my family, my administration — that’s a little bit perplexing, but it also says a great deal about our society.”

More whining: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016355.php

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/08/palin/index.html

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:52 AM

 
REGRESSION TO THE MEAN

Too early to say, but is Obama already having trouble?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/ceding_the_initiative.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/the_clock_is_ticking.php

The pundits help: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/matthews_obamas_a_disaster.php

Looks like Burris is going to get in, and Obama is once again undermined by fellow Democrats

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/tpmtv_the_burris_backdown.php

Burris gets in, but Franken doesn’t? What genius planned this strategy?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/7/174115/9765/54/681338

Obama’s weak Senate partner

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/07/reid/index.html

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/07/harry-reid-free-ted-stevens-and-other-political-disasters/

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/reid-hot-poker-by-digby-jane-hamsher.html

A guide to Obama’s upcoming confirmation hearings

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/confirmation_station_a_guide_to_the_hearings.php

Pat Leahy turns Arlen Specter’s comparison of Eric Holder to Alberto Gonzales on its head

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/leahy_you_guys_voted_for_gonzo_so_whats_wrong_with.php

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/party-like-its-1999-by-dday-efforts-by.html

Prospects for the Employee Free Choice Act

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/7/104359/0772/245/681147

Some people think Obama’s stimulus package is too small. Will it increase?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/7/183630/8646/42/681358

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/start_small_and_build.php

Opposition to Obama’s tax cuts

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010703431.html

Entitlement reform?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/entitlements.html

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/07/barack-and-the-blue-dogs-in-a-tree-with-entitlement-reform/

Many suggested that Bush was intentionally running up a big deficit to bequeath his successor as a hedge against any new Democrat’s initiatives. Sure enough, it may be playing out that way

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/07/AR2009010701156.html
The nation's budget deficit will soar to an unprecedented $1.2 trillion this year, congressional budget analysts said yesterday, a startling tide of red ink that could dampen enthusiasm on Capitol Hill for some of President-elect Barack Obama's most ambitious priorities. . . .

The Bush Years: Then and Now. A devastating contrast

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/01/07/1736214.aspx

Four more secret legal opinions for Bush come to light

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/07/iraq-war-memos-released-working-thread/
[Emptywheel] It's as if, at each stage of the process, Bush got Yoo to say he could do what he wanted regardless of the machinations in Congress and the UN, so he could claim he didn't need that authorization. . . . [read on]

The Bush Justice Dept is determined to investigate illegal domestic surveillance: that is, who leaked about it!

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/07/tamm/index.html

The end of Bush’s signing statements

http://www.propublica.org/article/bush-signing-statements-will-retire-with-their-author-107#7057

The New York Fed is still covering up information about the financial bailout

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/in_reversal_fed_now_wont_release_key_doc_on_asset-.php

The Repubs and their allies are determined to paint Franken’s Minnesota win as fraudulent

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016333.php

Coleman’s legal prospects: zip http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/colemans_lawsuit_this_whole_election_stinks_--_and.php

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/07/coleman_unlikely_to_prevail_in_court.html

The Repubs, looking for any signs for hope, get overly excited about a governor’s race in Puerto Rico

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/downright_sad.php

The Repubs are determined to build a strong, effective web presence. Their model is TPM and similar sites. But their lack of efficacy isn’t just because they don’t get how these new media work – it’s a problem of content. Do they really think that the way to get people to take them seriously again is to promote JOE THE PLUMBER as a serious journalist and commentator?

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/dont_get_no_respect.php

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/7/135239/8514/145/681239
[Brownsox] So Not-Joe the Not-Plumber has now gone from not-plumbing, to being Joe The Candidate, to Joe the Country Star, to Joe the War Correspondent.

Dissing C-SPAN: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/the_rnc_debate_too_hot_for_c-span.php

NBC backs down, hosts Ann Coulter anyway: and gets just what they deserve

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/07/coulter/index.html

More: http://mediamatters.org/items/200901070005

CBS too: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016338.php
[Steve Benen] Giving a circus clown seven minutes of airtime, in which she's treated as an important political analyst, is bound to leave one feeling unfulfilled. . . .

Bonus item: The Fiscal Conservative Party likes itself a quarter million dollar bathroom

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/07/why-do-republicans-hate-the-public-good/

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:24 AM

 
TAKING A STAND

We know, we know: one President at a time. But when will Obama speak out on Gaza?

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/2820

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7812498.stm

Obama should think twice before implementing a “surge” in Afghanistan

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/opinion/06herbert.html

Leon Panetta for CIA chief: a range of views

Feinstein: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/feinstein_on_panetta.php

Bayh: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/bayh_hedges_his_bets.php

Roberts: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/exclusive_former_intel_chair_roberts_backs_panetta.php

Reyes, Rockefeller: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/reyes_pleased_rockefeller_not_so_much.php

Feingold: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/feingold_likes_panetta.php

Graham: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/bob_grahams_candid_take_on_panetta.php

Horton: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/01/hbc-90004141

Holt: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/holt_on_panetta.php

D-Kos and Mother Jones: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/6/1103/51678/858/680542

More: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/panetta-to-be-named-cia-director/
Given his background, Mr. Panetta is a somewhat unusual choice to lead the C.I.A., an agency that has been unwelcoming to previous directors perceived as outsiders, such as Stansfield M. Turner and John M. Deutch. But his selection points up the difficulty Mr. Obama had in finding a C.I.A. director with no connection to controversial counterterrorism programs of the Bush era. . . .

Mr. Deutch, now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said . . . that given global environment, there are indeed good reasons for Mr. Obama to select a C.I.A. veteran to lead the C.I.A. But he said that two of the agency’s most successful directors, John McCone and George H.W. Bush, had little or no intelligence experience when they took over at C.I.A.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-bradley/cia-parsing-the-panetta-p_b_155644.html
[William Bradley] Panetta's fellow Californian Dianne Feinstein, the incoming chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, is miffed that word of the appointment got out before she was notified, saying that she's always thought the post should go to an intelligence professional. It also turns out that she may have had her own candidate, a career CIA insider, a sign that Feinstein's grasp of the political atmospherics today is, let's say, not strong. . . .

Word is, and you know how the word is, that Obama had been leaning to picking intelligence professional John Brennan, who advised him during the campaign, as CIA director. But that got blown up as it became apparent that Brennan could be linked to some of the politically toxic practices of the CIA during the Bush/Cheney years, namely the torture policy.

Which would make Feinstein's reported touting of current CIA Deputy Director Stephen Kappes very wrongheaded. Prior to becoming the number two person in George W. Bush's CIA, he was one of the people running the agency's clandestine operations division. To say that he can be linked to torture, rendition, Guantanamo, overly zealous surveillance practices, etc., is merely to state the obvious.

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/chief_of_staff.php
[Matt Yglesias] With regard to the Panetta situation, it’s worth noting that not only has it never been the case that the CIA Director must be a career intelligence professional, it’s also long been the case that past service as a White House Chief of Staff has been viewed as a wide-ranging qualification for future public office. Alexander Haig became Secretary of State. Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney both went on to serve as Secretary of Defense. James Baker become Secretary of Treasury and Secretary of State. There’s nothing unusual about the idea that service in that job qualifies people for senior national security positions.

http://www.slate.com/id/2208020
[Fred Kaplan] This has been Obama's persistent dilemma on the matter of picking a CIA chief (and the reason it has taken him so long to do so): finding someone who is a) up on the issues and the workings of the intelligence bureaucracy but b) not tainted by the Bush administration's record of renditions, torture, or extralegal surveillance.

Panetta's pick suggests that no such person exists—and that, if forced to make priorities, Obama values b) over a). Panetta has written articles denouncing the use of torture under any circumstances. In that respect, he is clean. . . . [read on]

Joe!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/biden-obama-made-mistake_n_155634.html
The Obama transition team made a mistake by not consulting with Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California before choosing Leon Panetta to head the Central Intelligence Agency, Vice President-elect Joe Biden said Tuesday. . .

While visiting the Senate, Biden was asked if Feinstein, the incoming intelligence committee chair, should have been part of the process. "I'm still a Senate man and I always think this way: I think it's always good to talk to the requisite members of Congress," said Biden. "I think it was just a mistake." . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/rounding_up_on_panetta.php
Earlier today, Elana Schor got an impromptu interview with Sen. Feinstein who seemed to soften her initial coolness toward the appointment and suggested she might be more receptive if Obama kept on the CIA's current #2 guy Stephen Kappes in his current role. And this late piece in the Times quotes unnamed transition officials saying that Pres-Elect Obama does intend to do that. So presumably everybody has enough wiggle room here to avoid any sort of big fight.

Does the Panetta choice tell us something about future investigations of CIA conduct?

http://marcambinder.theatlantic.com/archives/2009/01/torture_etc.php

Looking deeper at Obama’s stimulus package

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/boring_into_the_obama_stimulus_plan.php

Stimulus round two? http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/6/12228/58141/762/680638

Is Obama playing the Republicans, or vice versa?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016324.php

Does the choice of CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta for Surgeon General indicate a high-profile, media-driven push for major health care reform?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/health_care_/2009/01/the_gupta_nomination_getting_the_troops_ready_on_health_care.php

Norm Coleman refuses to accept the Minnesota recount results. He’s going to court. Even if he loses (as expected), he keeps Franken out of the Senate for a few more weeks

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman_im_going_to_court.php

http://campaignsilo.firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/franken-coleman-recount-update-010609-the-knaak-trimble-retirement-fund/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/6/153614/7508/535/680857
[Jed L] Yes, this is the same Norm Coleman who two months ago -- when he was leading the vote count process -- said that if he were in Al Franken's shoes, he'd step aside. . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/frankens_lawyer_ridicules_former_senator_coleman.php
[Eric Kleefeld] How is the Franken campaign responding to the lawsuit from Norm Coleman, contesting the results of the Senate recount, which could bottle this up for months? In a briefing just now with reporters, lead Franken lawyer Marc Elias approached it with a very calm and sober demeanor -- and ridiculed Coleman to no end.

"We are on the precipice, I suppose, of the next phase here," Elias said, "which is where the Coleman campaign takes a very big rock, and pushes it up a very steep hill."

What exactly is Coleman's legal complaint disputing about the recount, you might ask? Everything we've heard before, Elias said, with a couple new twists.

The Coleman campaign's complaint shows that they intend to fight on: the allegations that absentee ballots in 25 selected precincts were counted twice to Franken's benefit; the decision of the state canvassing board to revert to election night totals in a pro-Franken precinct where they lost one of five numbered envelopes, containing 133 ballots; to work to get rejected absentee ballots counted that local officials from around Minnesota, in both blue and red counties, have re-examined and say were properly thrown out; and to contest the inclusion of those 930 absentee ballots that were counted this past weekend -- which their own campaign agreed to have counted under a careful bargain.

Elias did say, though, that there's one thing he hadn't heard before: The Coleman campaign wants to have ballots thrown out in cases where the election officials neglected to properly initial them.

But don't expect Franken to be sworn in by the Senate any time soon. Elias said the decision to seat Franken is constitutionally the prerogative of the Senate -- implying that as a trial lawyer it's beyond his area.

One very important thing to note is that Elias repeatedly referred to Coleman as "former Senator Coleman" -- a reference to Coleman's term having expired this past Saturday -- a rhetorical point we'll probably be hearing more of in the weeks and months that this thing takes.

I know it’s all theatre, but isn’t it sad?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/07/us/politics/07burris.html
Roland W. Burris, the would-be junior senator from Illinois, arrived at the Capitol on Tuesday morning for the start of the 111th Congress . . .

Mr. Burris, who shortly before his arrival had insisted he was “certainly not looking for drama,” found himself caught up in a comedy of sorts. Looking unsettled and with rain glistening on his topcoat, he entered the building to encounter a mob of reporters and photographers in a spectacle that briefly overshadowed the convening of the new House and Senate that will soon take up the ambitious program of President-elect Barack Obama.

Capitol police officers tried to clear a path for Mr. Burris. “You can’t keep a regular citizen from walking into the Capitol,” one officer shouted.

Somehow, Citizen Burris made his way to the office of Nancy Erickson, the secretary of the Senate, to whom he presented his credentials, only to have her reject them. Afterward, the aspiring legislator stood in the rain outside and declared, “Members of the media, my name is Roland Burris, the junior senator from the State of Illinois.”

Not yet, he isn’t. . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/mr-burris-goes-to-washington/

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/the-constitution-and-roland-burris/

DiFi gets a bit of revenge, comes out in favor of appointing Burris

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/06/feinstein-seat-burris-in_n_155747.html

Ouch. Arlen Specter comes out against Eric Holder, calls him “another Alberto Gonzales”

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/specter_holder_could_be_another_gonzo.php

Jeb Bush: no to Florida Senate seat in 2010

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g1g_1QTpZ5s4yTVGnK_iHsVxZK_wD95HS2OO0

More: http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/2834

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/6/16145/68215
[Jonathan Singer] This news almost undoubtedly makes it easier for the Democrats to win the open seat Senate contest to succeed unpopular one-term Republican Senator Mel Martinez . . .

Put THIS in your Legacy Project

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/6/153234/4575
[Jonathan Singer] We all know that George W. Bush's economic track record has been bad, but just how bad was it. The depth and long term effects of the Bush recession are not yet known, but some of the preliminary numbers compiled by Pew look horrendous. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016325.php
[Steve Benen] Few conservative writers/activists have been as consistent in their sycophancy for George W. Bush as the Weekly Standard's Fred Barnes. It makes sense, then, that the president would reward the Republican pundit with a private luncheon (with Bill Kristol) in the president's private dining room adjacent to the Oval Office late last week.

Yesterday, Barnes published a piece on what he learned from the president . . . [read on]

No, Congress is not going to drop its investigations of Bolten, Miers . . . and Rove

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/the-little-bomblet-for-turdblossom-in-the-new-rules/

GOP leaders: we’re hip with technology! We have Facebook pages! We use Twitter!

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016319.php

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/doing_it_with_twitter.php

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/political_persuasion.html

Makes you proud to be an Amuhrican

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/06/world/asia/06iqbal.html
When Muhammad Saad Iqbal arrived home here in August after more than six years in American custody, including five at the military prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, he had difficulty walking, his left ear was severely infected, and he was dependent on a cocktail of antibiotics and antidepressants. . .

The maladies, said Mr. Iqbal, 31, a professional reader of the Koran, are the result of a gantlet of torture, imprisonment and interrogation for which his Washington lawyer plans to sue the United States government. . . .

Mr. Iqbal was never convicted of any crime, or even charged with one. He was quietly released from Guantánamo with a routine explanation that he was no longer considered an enemy combatant, part of an effort by the Bush administration to reduce the prison’s population. . . . [read on]

Bonus item: news you can use – The Nation’s Guide to the Nation

http://www.thenation.com/section/nation-guide-to-the-nation

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:02 AM

 
MAKING SAUSAGE

The economic mess, and how we got here

http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2009/01/01/ignoring-the-oracles/
It’s hard to tell what’s more striking about Raghuram Rajan’s 2005 presentation at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole symposium — the way many of the dangers he laid out came to pass, or the way he was attacked, and then discounted . . .

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/111709/
[Joseph Stiglitz] 5 Disastrous Decisions That Got Us into This Economic Mess . . .

So it looks as if Obama’s $300 billion tax cut is really just adding into the stimulus package tax proposals he’s already committed to

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/note-on-ideology-and-what-works-by-dday.html
[Dday] I'll start by noting that these were, for the most part, campaign promises. It's why I remember Kevin Drum and others saying that Obama had not successfully fought against the great Tax Revolt, even as it showed signs of running out of steam. He would insist that we was offering a tax cut for 95% of Americans and tossed out tax incentives like they were candy, even while he was talking at the same time about other economic goals. Once you play on that side of the field, those lobbyists who know how to cram tax loopholes into Congressional bills start licking their chops.

Now, his plans would probably make the tax code more progressive, which is good. The tax credits for businesses that don't lay off workers, for example, seems good, as well as eliminating the ability for corporations who paid no federal tax to apply for the credits. Then there's the "Freakonomics" proposal to reduce withholding, so that workers will get a little bit more in their paychecks instead of a lump sum, which may lead to more consumer spending. And this article leaves out some of the details. But aside from the fact that tax cuts didn't stave off the current recession, and that this limits the pool of money for infrastructure and public works projects to a insufficient level, the worst part of all of this is the fact that it appears the Obama team looks at tax cuts as a way to get Republicans on board. Here's the deal: there are only two Republicans in America, at most, that need to be "on board" with something like this, and if a new President and a Democratic Senate can't flip them, I don't know why they even try anymore. This looks like an example of a bias that the Obama team has had for a while, that everything has to be bipartisan and attract the support of both parties, because only then can it be legitimate. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/another_take_2.php
[JZ] Obama promised a tax cut for working-class and middle-class taxpayers during the campaign. It was his way of stopping the Reps on the issue. Then the Tax Policy Center (IIRC) came out with their analysis showing that the Obama plan would give more relief to middle-income taxpayers and lower. It seemed to me that this was an effective way of blunting GOP criticism on the issue--although perhaps in this election cycle it wouldn't have matter anyway.

But now it seems to me that Obama needs to follow through on this promise. Part of the whole GOP branding exercise has been to label the Dems as Those Who Will Raise Your Taxes. It's nonsense, but it has sometimes been effective. If Obama didn't come through with it, then it would be playing into the Reps hands "don't believe the Democrats--remember the Obama tax cut that he promised?"

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/05/a-stimulus-bill-with-40-in-tax-cuts-wont-do-the-job/
[Ian Welsh] A Stimulus Bill with 40% in Tax Cuts Won’t Do the Job . . .

http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/is-obama-relying-too-much-on-tax-cuts/
[Paul Krugman] Is Obama relying too much on tax cuts? . . .

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/tax_cuts_as_stimulus.php
[Matt Yglesias] There’s some concern out there about the extent to which the Obama stimulus plan that’s emerging in press accounts relies on tax cuts rather than public investments. It’s worth saying that there is a case on the merits for using tax cuts . . .

Will this move help him gain GOP support?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/05/obamas-1-priority-is-bipartisanship/
[Politico] Obama strategists say he wants to get 80 or more votes in the 100-member Senate, and the emphasis on tax cuts is a way to defuse conservative criticism and enlist Republican support.

[Ian Welsh] In order to get those 80 votes, Obama has pre-compromised his stimulus bill, which will define the first year of his administration more than anything else, loading it up with 310 billion of tax cuts, making up 40% of the total. (I will also note that he and his team seem to have flunked negotiation 101, because you don't pre-compromise if you know how to negotiate, you come out with the most liberal bill possible, even if that's not what you want, so you can bargain towards the bill you want. This bill will be watered down even further from it's already pre-compromised state).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/05/opinion/05krugman.html
[Paul Krugman] News reports say that Democrats hope to pass an economic plan with broad bipartisan support. Good luck with that.

In reality, the political posturing has already started, with Republican leaders setting up roadblocks to stimulus legislation while posing as the champions of careful Congressional deliberation — which is pretty rich considering their party’s behavior over the past eight years. . . . [read on]

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/80_votes.php
[Matt Yglesias] News reports over the weekend were talking about how Obama wants to see 80 votes in the Senate for his economic recovery package and I find that pretty puzzling. Obviously, any president is going to want as many votes as he or she can get. But by the same token, stating that in advance as an explicit goal means that any group of 21 Senators can band together and hold action hostage to any kind of crazy idea whatsoever. If, by contrast, you state in advance that you’re looking for one or two Republican votes to help pass something, then suddenly you’ve got six or seven Republicans who’d like to be the one or two who get bought off. And since you’ve then got a handful of bidders for the slots, you know you can probably get them at a low price. Asking for 80 totally reverses the bargaining dynamic and even starts encouraging random Democrats to start driving hard bargains.

In political terms, meanwhile, it’s meaningless. . . .

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/stimulating-debate-by-digby-democrats.html

And, of course, shifting from spending to tax cuts, even though it’s just what the Republicans asked for, isn’t enough. It will never be enough

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/moving_the_goal_posts.php
[Elana Schor] As the Obama team prepares an economic recovery package geared to win as many as 80 votes in the Senate, it's worth looking at the Republicans' counter-strategy. Their conference has grown more conservative since Election Day, so winning 20+ members from Mitch McConnell's squad will inevitably require concessions to his logic.

And where does McConnell think the stimulus negotiations should start? . . . [read on]

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/leaders_play_the_stimulus_numbers_game.php
McConnell said, "there was no discussion about the overall size of the package. I don't think it's been determined."

The tactic is one familiar to savvy members of Congress: If they can delay public agreement on an issue, they win more time to shape it to their liking. The longer Republicans delay in accepting the size of the bill, the greater chance they have of shrinking it. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/snakes.php
[Josh Marshall] We're watching the Republican leadership's press conference on the Stimulus bill. I think I got about all I needed to know watching Mitch McConnell (R) talking and seeing a smirking Rep. Eric Cantor (R) hovering over his shoulder. McConnell's angle seemed about what you'd expect. Love the tax cuts. We'll support those. But we're just starting to demagogue your spending proposals. So good luck on that . . . .

Obama and Congress

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2009/01/05/BL2009010501296.html
[Dan Froomkin] For the past eight years, Congress has had a remarkably consistent record. When something was important to President Bush -- particularly if it was even vaguely related to national security -- Congress pretty much always caved. The combination of blindly loyal Republicans and cowering Democrats provided Bush with a winning margin time and again, even when the Democrats were ostensibly in charge, and even when Bush was demanding retroactive approval for laws he had brazenly violated.

The relationship between President Obama and Congress will inevitably take on an very different dynamic. But even though his fellow Democrats have solidified their control of both houses, it's not clear that Obama will be able to put together a coalition as effective as Bush's. . . .

Whoa. Didn’t see this coming: Leon Panetta to lead CIA

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/05/panetta/index.html
Panetta will, if confirmed, come to the job without much in the way of intelligence experience. Obama is said to have wanted someone who's a veteran with this kind of work, but as the New York Times notes, that was all but impossible because of the Agency's history during the Bush administration. The choice, the paper's Carl Hulse and Mark Mazzetti write, "points up the difficulty Mr. Obama had in finding a C.I.A. director with no connection to controversial counterterrorism programs of the Bush era."

More on Panetta: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/5/144045/2535/965/680427

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/05/panetta-to-head-cia/

Choice Panetta quotes: http://www.montereyherald.com/leonpanetta/ci_8511876
“Fear exacts a terrible toll on our democracy. Five years ago, America went to war in Iraq over the false fear that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

Even though we now know that there were intelligence officials who questioned the assertion, few leaders were willing to challenge this argument for war because they knew it might undermine public support for the president's decision to invade Iraq.

More recently, President Bush vetoed a law that would require the CIA and all the intelligence services to abide by the same rules on torture as contained in the U.S. Army Field Manual.

But all forms of torture have long been prohibited by American law and international treaties respected by Republican and Democratic presidents alike.

Our forefathers prohibited "cruel and unusual punishment" because that was how tyrants and despots ruled in the 1700s. They wanted an America that was better than that. Torture is illegal, immoral, dangerous and counterproductive. And yet, the president is using fear to trump the law.

The same rationale is used to justify eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without a warrant. The president has made clear that the failure of the Congress to pass this authority could jeopardize our security. Instead of trying to negotiate a compromise with Congress that would meet both our intelligence and privacy concerns, it is easier to threaten with fear.”

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2008/0801.panetta.html
“According to the latest polls, two-thirds of the American public believes that torturing suspected terrorists to gain important information is justified in some circumstances. How did we transform from champions of human dignity and individual rights into a nation of armchair torturers? One word: fear.

Fear is blinding, hateful, and vengeful. It makes the end justify the means. And why not? If torture can stop the next terrorist attack, the next suicide bomber, then what's wrong with a little waterboarding or electric shock?

The simple answer is the rule of law. Our Constitution defines the rules that guide our nation. It was drafted by those who looked around the world of the eighteenth century and saw persecution, torture, and other crimes against humanity and believed that America could be better than that. This new nation would recognize that every individual has an inherent right to personal dignity, to justice, to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

We have preached these values to the world. We have made clear that there are certain lines Americans will not cross because we respect the dignity of every human being. That pledge was written into the oath of office given to every president, "to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution." It's what is supposed to make our leaders different from every tyrant, dictator, or despot. We are sworn to govern by the rule of law, not by brute force.

We cannot simply suspend these beliefs in the name of national security. Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.”

Dianne Feinstein and Jay Rockefeller are NOT happy about Panetta

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/really_a_mystery.php
[From an observer up on the Hill No one asked the Hill. Came as a suprise to HPSCI and SSCI members. Feinstein and Rockefeller wanted Steve Kappes. Members like and respect Panetta, but they want an IC professional in the post. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/on_a_need_to_know_basis.php
[David Kurtz] Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), a less senior member of the Senate intel committee, says he was consulted in advance on the Panetta pick for CIA, so I'm starting to think that not alerting incoming chair Dianne Feinstein or outgoing chair Jay Rockefeller was not necessarily an inadvertent oversight by the Obama team.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/what_was_that_about.php
[Josh Marshall] Seems like there could be a real fight over this nomination, within the Democratic party. . . .

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/05/panetta_critics/index.html
[Alex Koppleman] Apparently, when it comes to choosing the next head of the CIA, Barack Obama just can't win. . . .

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/boo-hoo-by-digby-dianne-feinstein-is.html
[Digby] Dianne Feinstein is having a little public fit because she wasn't consulted about Panetta and had instructed the president-elect that he had to choose an "intelligence professional." Well, excuse me. When did Difi get a veto on cabinet appointments?

The fact is that DiFi is actually implicated in the torture regime and should just shut up on this . . .

Welcome to Washington, Barack. First your good friend Bill Richardson forgets to be forthcoming about his little problems and now DiFi goes public in a fit of pique. Wrangling the egomaniacal Democrats and the defensive bureaucracy is always one of the biggest challenges for any poor Dem who actually wins the presidency. Good luck.

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/06/its-all-water-under-the-board-for-some-folks/

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/05/could_panetta_switch_to_commerce.html
Could Panetta Switch to Commerce? . . .

New blood in the Justice Department, who seem determined to reverse years of Bush policies

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016309.php
[Steve Benen] there's a lot to like about this team, especially Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan as the Solicitor General, the first woman to earn the position. Ogden and Perrelli are also obviously very qualified for their respective posts.

Dawn Johnsen at the OLC is especially encouraging . . .

More on the appointees: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/5/113123/6649/22/680353

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/yes-he-will-by-digby-this-is-excellent.html

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/05/olc/index.html
Obama's impressive new OLC chief

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/05/obamas-doj-appoints-through-the-lens-of-bushs-olc/
Dawn Johnsen, whom Obama has appointed to head OLC, has been much more critical of Bush's own OLC. After the Yoo memo was leaked in 2004, she was one of a number of former OLC lawyers who signed the Principles to Guide the Office of Legal Counsel, an attempt to prevent similar misuses of the OLC advisory process. More recently, Johnsen testified before Russ Feingold's "Secret Law" hearing. Here's her criticism of the way the Bush Administration used secrecy to bypass statute . . .

More on Johnsen: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016312.php

Who could have expected this?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301993_pf.html
The Maryland State Police surveillance of advocacy groups was far more extensive than previously acknowledged, with records showing that troopers monitored -- and labeled as terrorists -- activists devoted to such wide-ranging causes as promoting human rights and establishing bike lanes.

Intelligence officers created a voluminous file on Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, calling the group a "security threat" because of concerns that members would disrupt the circus. Angry consumers fighting a 72 percent electricity rate increase in 2006 were targeted. The DC Anti-War Network, which opposes the Iraq war, was designated a white supremacist group, without explanation.

One of the possible "crimes" in the file police opened on Amnesty International, a world-renowned human rights group: "civil rights." . . . [read on]

Two of the more shameless advocates of untrammeled Executive power (when Bush was the Executive) now say Congress needs to rein in the power of the President (now that a Dem is in charge)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016303.php
[Steve Benen] John Bolton, the former ambassador to the U.N., and former deputy assistant attorney general John Yoo, best known for his torture memos and creative ideas about the "unitary executive," have a fascinating op-ed in the New York Times today. Now that Bush is leaving office, Bolton and Yoo believe -- get this -- the president should have less authority and discretion when it comes to international affairs. . . . [read on]

More: http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/world_government_watch.html

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/chutzpah-by-digby-you-just-cant-make.html

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/bolton_in_fantasyland.php

http://oxdown.firedoglake.com/diary/2808
[Scarecrow] Even worse, according to these scholars, would be for the US to sanction an international judicial system that would hold nations and/or their officials publically accountable for committing war crimes.

Now why would a man who sanctioned aggressive war against a country that did not attack or threaten us, and who helped misrepresent the case for war, and a man who sanctioned the use of torture and found it to be consistent with US law, be concerned about international justice? . . .

How the Bush gang’s efforts to rewrite history are enabled by a press that doesn’t challenge their lies (it would be disrespectful, you see)

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016302.php

Will Roland Burris get his Senate seat after all?

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/05/burris_update/index.html
If the Senate does try to keep Burris out, we can expect a lawsuit, Burris lawyer Timothy Wright says. And, though there’s precedent (Powell v. McCormack) for forcing Congress to seat a duly elected member with dubious ethics, the meaning of that case for this situation is debated. . . .

Mr. Senator: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/jimmy_stewart_he_aint.php

Minnesota's Supreme Court rejects Coleman appeal, removing one of his few remaining options. Franken is certified the winner by the canvassing board. It’s over. Still, there’s no sign Coleman is prepared to concede

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota_supremes_reject_coleman_lawsuit_clearing.php
Norm Coleman's last chance to stop Al Franken from winning the Minnesota recount today just came to an end, with the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously denying his lawsuit seeking to count an additional 650 absentee ballots that local election officials had thrown out. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/4/215838/5707/174/680217
The only option Norm Coleman has left is a legal battle that analysts agree is doomed . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman_attorney_victory_is_conceivable_--_but_not.php
Coleman attorney Fritz Knaak] "It's conceivable, I'm not saying probable or likely, but conceivable that in a ... [court] contest, we could see these numbers change by hundreds on both sides," he said. "Everything is on the table and it's a different game."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/05/AR2009010502739.html
Coleman's counsel, Tony Trimble, said, "This process isn't at the end; it is now just at the beginning." . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/franken_officially_wins_minnesota_senate_recount_-.php
It's Not Over . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/cry_lie_me_a_river.php
[Josh Marshall] As you'd expect, the Journal editorial page is already coming up with a string of bogus insinuations about the Minnesota recount, all suggesting that the process has somehow been rigged in favor of Al Franken or even that there's some more Republican fantasy voter fraud involved. One point they don't mention though: the canvassing board, the outfit making all the key decisions has at least as many Republicans as Democrats, and may actually have more Republicans than Democrats. What's more almost every key decision has been made unanimously.

http://washingtonindependent.com/23845/rnc-chair-accuses-dems-of-stealing-minn-senate-seat
Republican National Committee Chairman Mike Duncan — who is currently campaigning to keep his job — is accusing Senate Democrats of trying to steal the U.S. Senate election in Minnesota . . .

Harry Reid plays soft: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/reid_spokesman_he_will_not_try_to_seat_franken_tom.php
Harry Reid's office says that he will not attempt to seat Al Franken in the Senate [Tuesday] -- though they are reiterating Reid's call for Norm Coleman to concede the race rather than drag it out. . . .

Ken Blackwell, author of the Ohio vote fraud in 2004, is probably the worst of the bunch running for head of the Republican party. Let’s hope he gets it

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/05/blackwell/index.html

Bonus item: NBC withdraws its invitation to Ann Coulter, and the predictable sources scream bloody murder

http://tbogg.firedoglake.com/2009/01/05/the-whores-hustle-and-the-hustlers-whore/

http://www.eschatonblog.com/2009_01_04_archive.html#1571070490851283554
[Atrios] I can't believe NBC is depriving Ann Coulter her first amendment right to appear on their networks any time she wants to.

http://mediamatters.org/countyfair/200901050013
CBS still plans to welcome her . . .

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:34 AM

 
MAKING NICE

Obama to add $300 billion in tax cuts to his stimulus package in order to secure GOP support

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123111279694652423.html
President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion of tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs.

The size of the proposed tax cuts -- which would account for about 40% of a stimulus package that could reach $775 billion over two years -- is greater than many on both sides of the aisle in Congress had anticipated . . .

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016298.php
[Hilzoy] It's fine by me if Obama wants to include the middle-class tax cut he promised during the campaign. And the business tax cuts he has mentioned seem more intelligent than the standard cuts in corporate tax rates -- they're targeted at firms who invest, or who hire new workers.

That said, there are a lot of reasons not to focus on tax cuts. First, the money we are proposing to spend on stimulus is not free. We are proposing to spend a lot of it, and a lot of economists seem to think that $750 billion is on the low side. For both reasons, it's important to get the greatest possible stimulus per dollar. And tax cuts won't do it. . . .

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/300_billion_in.php
[Josh Marshall] And these refundable business tax cuts sound like they could easily turn out to be giveaways without having much tangible stimulus effect on the economy. . . .

Smart politics? Or did Obama and the Dems blink?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/negotiating_with_themselves.html
[Kevin Drum] Obama's team is so focused on getting a big bipartisan majority for their stimulus legislation that they're negotiating their goals down even before they actually start negotiating. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/reid-hoyer-dont-expect-fast-action-on.html

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/5/2929/96433

Will the Dems fight back against Republican delaying tactics?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/forthwith.html

Harry Reid says Blago is lying about his rejection of African-American candidates to replace Obama. (Might the Dems seat Burris after all?)

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10721

http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/04/blagojevich-reid-and-rahm-who-is-distorting-claims-about-jesse-jackson-jr/

Chuck Schumer: Al Franken has won

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/schumer_franken_has_won_senate.php

Harry Reid: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/reid_coleman_has_lost_and_he_s.php
“I believe that tomorrow the bipartisan state canvassing board will certify Al Franken the winner. After all, early on Senator Coleman criticized Al Franken for wanting a recount and wasting taxpayer money. I would hope now that it is clear he lost, that Senator Coleman follow his own advice and not subject the people of Minnesota to a costly legal battle.”

Bill Richardson out as Sect’y of Commerce

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/04/richardson/index.html
Bill Richardson, the New Mexico Governor who Barack Obama tapped to be secretary of Commerce, has withdrawn his name from nomination for the position, NBC News reports.

While denying any wrongdoing, Richardson cited a pending investigation into an unspecified company that has done business with the state of New Mexico: "Let me say unequivocally that I and my administration have acted properly in all matters and that this investigation will bear out that fact," he said Sunday on NBC News. "But I have concluded that the ongoing investigation also would have forced an untenable delay in the confirmation process." . . .

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10728
[CNN] Meanwhile, two Democratic strategists outside the transition told CNN that Obama aides pushed the withdrawal because they did not want another ethical distraction in the wake of controversy surrounding embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. . . .

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2009/01/04/richardson_kept_details_of_investigation.html
Sources tell ABC News that Obama transition officials "feel that before he was formally offered the job of commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson was not forthcoming with them about the federal investigation that is looking into whether the governor steered a state contract towards a major financial contributor." . . .

More: http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/04/richardson-withdraws-as-commerce-secretary-nominee/

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/richardson_withdraws_nominatio.php

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016295.php

Prospects for the “Employee Free Choice Act”

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/04/hoyer-says-employee-free-choice-act-will-pass-in-early-spring/

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/4/134814/6303/296/680087

We just learned that the economy has been in a recession for a year. What has Bush been saying during that year?

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/4/44211/15172/368/679999



Dick Cheney explains Iraq war mistakes (it’s all the Iraqis’ fault, of course). We don’t expect him to tell the truth, naturally – but does he really think nobody REMEMBERS what actually happened?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/04/cheney-calls-iraq-significant-success-masterfully-done-blames-lengthy-bloody-occupation-on-lack-of-iraqi-get-up-and-go/

How the Right controls the narrative

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/story-of-blame-by-digby-think-progress.html
[Digby] The right wing understands something that progressives just refuse to engage in and that is that most people, particularly the media, understand their world through stories. And so they consciously craft plots and narratives to explain events that favor their worldview. Right now, after eight years of Bush and a decisive election repudiating Republican rule, it seems impossible to believe that their story makes any sense to people. But they will tell it anyway, full in the knowledge that within a few months any talk of Bush will be as stale as Rickrolling and the focus will be completely on Obama. And they will already be well on their way to setting forth an alternate reality that slides neatly into familiar grooves worn smooth by decades of right wing propaganda. . . . [read on]

The Bushes aren’t ready to go quietly: they’re already building up Jeb for his turn. Do they really think that “America Needs Another Bush” will be a strong campaign theme?

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016293.php

Theocracy watch: there are no atheists in OUR foxholes

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/12/29/national/a164642S10.DTL
An atheist soldier suing over prayers at military formations claims a larger pattern of religious discrimination exists in the military, citing attempts to convert Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan and an evangelical bias in a suicide prevention manual.

The expanded lawsuit filed Monday by Spc. Dustin Chalker and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation in U.S. District Court in Kansas City also claims the military doesn't take complaints of religious discrimination seriously enough. . . .

http://www.kentucky.com/505/story/638596.html
The Pentagon is cracking down on evangelizing at its national network of recruit-processing centers, telling religious groups that it won't permit proselytizing at the sites.

A new regulation quietly distributed last month to commanders of the 65 centers says that religious literature and publications produced by other "non-federal entities" may be made available to recruits at the sites but that they cannot show favoritism to any particular faith or group.

"Under no circumstances," will any outsiders "be permitted to proselytize, preach or provide spiritual counseling" to recruits or staff members at the centers, the regulation adds. . . .

Right wing nuts: the return of Ann Coulter

http://mediamatters.org/items/200901040001
Ann Coulter recently announced that she is scheduled to appear on the January 6 broadcast of NBC's Today to promote the release of her new book, Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America, which Media Matters obtained in advance of its January 6 release. Media Matters has documented that NBC has repeatedly provided Coulter a platform to spew her inflammatory rhetoric . . . Coulter's latest book is rife with such inflammatory and offensive comments.

Coulter says the Democratic primaries were a contest of "Who's the Biggest Pussy?” . . . [more]

More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/changing-tone-by-digby-it-was-only-two.html

Right wing nuts: is there NOTHING they can say that discredits them?

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/quote_of_the_day_010409.html
[Michael Goldfarb] The fight against Islamic radicals always seems to come around to whether or not they can, in fact, be deterred, because it's not clear that they are rational, at least not like us. But to wipe out a man's entire family, it's hard to imagine that doesn't give his colleagues at least a moment's pause. Perhaps it will make the leadership of Hamas rethink the wisdom of sparking an open confrontation with Israel under the current conditions.

[Matt Yglesias] To be clear, he’s not saying that it’s sometimes okay to kill a bad guy’s innocent children as part of a military operation directed against the guy. He’s saying it’s better to kill his children than it would be to avoid killing them.

More: http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/goldfarb_endorses_terrorist_ethics.php

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 6:49 AM

 
REWRITING HISTORY

Obama’s historic victory: ho hum. The right’s revisionism begins . . .

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2009/01/democrats_year_less_change_tha.html
[David Paul Kuhn] The 2008 campaign did not make history. It was made by history. Conventional coalitions and events elected Barack Obama.

Looking back, there remains a disconnect between the myth of the 2008 campaign and what occurred. Some history was made. After 43 white men, a black man will be president. A woman almost was president. And because of Hillary Clinton, we likely will not ask next time whether a woman can be president.

Now Democrats are thinking in far grander terms. Obama's victory is said to signal the resurrection of the liberal era. . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/3/143524/8171

Obama starts to build momentum for his stimulus package

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2009/01/03/economic_stimulus/index.html
[Alex Koppelman] The President-elect pledged that the plan, which he called the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," would create three million new jobs, 80 percent of them in the private sector. Obama said it will include doubling renewable-energy production and renovating public buildings to make them more energy-efficient. He promised funding for rebuilding the country's crumbling roads, buildings and bridges, and constructing new school classrooms, labs and libraries. He also said the plan would include money for computerizing the country's healthcare system. . . . [read on]

Al Franken wins the Minnesota recount, playing by the rules that he and Norm Coleman agreed to, but Coleman plans to tie up the conclusion for weeks, maybe months, with court challenges

http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/37047159.html
Norm Coleman's term as a U.S. senator ended at noon Washington time on Saturday, and by evening his hopes of winning a second term had been dealt an expected but serious setback as state officials counted previously rejected absentee ballots in St. Paul.

DFLer Al Franken held an unofficial lead of 225 votes over Coleman, according to a newspaper tally of the officials' count of the absentee ballots. Franken had led unofficially by 49 votes going into the day and gained a net 176 votes from the new ballots.

With the recount complete, focus immediately shifted to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which continued to consider a request from the Coleman campaign to alter the process and add more absentee ballots to be reconsidered. But by early evening there was no word from the state's highest court as to when it would rule or hear arguments. . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/with_more_absentee_ballots_cou.php
[Eric Kleefeld] With these new figures, it's worth examining just how slim the odds would be of Coleman finding some way to win this thing, should he follow through on his campaign's vow to challenge the result in court.

First, there's Coleman's claim that 25 selected precincts double-counted a bunch of absentee votes for Franken, netting Franken about 110 votes. During the recount, the state Supreme Court ruled that Coleman could only raise this issue after the recount concluded and an apparent winner was determined. But if courts agree with him on that and took those votes away from Franken, Coleman would still lose. Then there's the canvassing board's decision to restore to Franken a net total of 46 votes that went missing from a single precinct during the recount. Coleman's campaign has indicated that they plan to contest that decision, but winning on it would still have him behind.

One other thing: The burden of proof in any legal arguments will be on Coleman, with the assumption going in that Franken's victory was legitimate. And even if he won both of the two issues above, he'd still be almost one hundred votes behind.

What options does he have left? Coleman's only hope would be to win on his campaign's latest efforts to restart this phase of the recount and force the counting of about 650 rejected absentee ballot envelopes from red precincts, which the local officials say were tossed properly. An affidavit from a Hennepin County election official shows the Coleman campaign hasn't even supplied reasons to look at these ballots, and election officials in multiple counties, including Ramsey county, Pipestone County and others all say they've been taking the time to review the Coleman list, and they stand by their decisions. . . .

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/coleman_campaign_reaffirms_tha.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Minnesota law is unique in that it prohibits the issuing of an official certificate of election until the legal challenges are all resolved. Unless Coleman backs down and concedes defeat, he could bottle up a Franken win for weeks or even months, depending on how appeals go -- even though it appears to be nearly impossible that he could ever succeed.

And since the Senate Republican leadership has promised to block the seating of Al Franken on any provisional basis, that means this seat could stay vacant for a while. . . .

Will the Dems fight to seat Franken now?

http://www.samefacts.com/archives/democrats_in_congress_/2009/01/how_to_get_franken_seated_now_nuclear_joe_biden.php

Progressives fall for Blagojevich’s cynical racial politics

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/3/19577/93035

More: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/3/94832/93890/631/679744

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301719.html

Shuffling Democratic committee chairs

http://www.congressmatters.com/story/2009/1/3/15515/22313/691/320

More: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016282.php

The giants vying to head up the Republican party. Giants, I tell you

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010202377.html
Following an election that has left Republicans with no clear vision about how to regain power, the normally low-profile race to head the GOP's national committee has turned into a six-man showdown that has opened rifts along racial, regional and ideological lines. . . . [N]early all of the candidates are facing intense scrutiny from party factions, as GOP officials view the next chairman as a vital figure in the post-Bush era. . . .

The hopefuls are campaigning as though they were running for president, bombarding RNC members with calls and e-mails, appearing on national cable shows, enlisting allies to rally support . . . .

For example: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/3/62656/26775/685/679706
[Michael Steele, one of six candidates fighting to become the next chairman of the Republican National Committee] “I'm trying to avoid the use of words that start with 're,' words like renewal, rebuild, recharge, re-this and re-that. I'm convinced we should not re-anything.”

David Broder tells us where he is coming from: the Republicans he’ll miss leaving the Senate

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/02/AR2009010202100.html

Utter failure

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/3/114559/6899/595/679772
[Reuters] Former U.S.-installed Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has denounced the policies of President George W. Bush as an "utter failure" that gave rise to the sectarian venom that ravaged his country. . . .

[Scout Finch] Perhaps Allawi didn't get the memo that "history will judge" Bush's actions......not the Iraqi people, the American people, the rest of the world, or anyone actually affected by his policies of disaster. Only unknown historians in another lifetime will be able to truly judge his legacy.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/everyone_turns.php
[Josh Marshall] [L]et's not forget that Allawi connived with Bush for some time when Bush had power. In addition to being more or less accurate, Allawi's judgment is a telling sign of what it means to have power -- both in the deep sense and in the more immediate sense of controlling violence -- and what it means to lose it. President Bush had none of the power rooted in respect, judgment and persuasion. He won two elections and he controlled an army. Now he has nothing. . . .

Pucker up

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jgsqOTaE1yThAATF7Cmli9rrBjkwD95FPQIO1
[AP] President George W. Bush will be judged on what he did. He will also be remembered for what he's like: a fast-moving, phrase-mangling Texan who stays upbeat even though his country is not.

For eight years, the nation has been led by a guy who relaxes by clearing brush in scorching heat and taking breakneck bike rides through the woods. He dishes out nicknames to world leaders, and even gave the German chancellor an impromptu, perhaps unwelcome, neck rub. He's annoyed when kept waiting and sticks relentlessly to routine. He stays optimistic in even the most dire circumstances, but readily tears up in public. He has little use for looking within himself, and only lately has done much looking back.

Bush's style and temperament are as much his legacy as his decisions. Policy shapes lives, but personality creates indelible memories — positive and negative. . . . [read on]

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/portrait-of-jackass-by-digby-dont-read.html
[Digby] Don't read this puff piece on Bush if you've just eaten lunch. Apparently, despite all evidence to the contrary, he's a sensitive, intelligent leader with a heart of gold. He's been very misunderstood. (No mention of the massive, overwhelming failure of his policies and decisions.)

Despite the writer's obvious fondness for the Bushian personality, it actually confirms everything I ever assumed about him. He's a self-centered, authoritarian jerk who requires everyone to bow and scrape before him, even though he's an idiot. . . .

More puffery

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=NTcyNGY0ZDQxY2EyMjBhODc5NmE5ZjJmZGZkNDk2MjA
[Byron York] [T]he president’s political fortunes haven’t affected the intense loyalty that those who know him best feel for him. The people who have worked with George W. Bush in the White House for many of these past eight years have seen a different man from the one reflected in so much negative press coverage. And as they prepare to leave on January 20, their feelings for him are, if anything, stronger than when they arrived. . . . [read on]

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTU5OGZiZTk4MjMyZTQ3MDkwMjE5MzNjMjAzYzI4ZTA
[Peter Kirsanow] I've had an opportunity to meet a few hundred of those nominated/appointed by President Bush. Personally, some of them had sharp disagreements with certain aspects of the president's policies (immigration reform probably topped the list) but I never heard anyone express anything but deep admiration, loyalty and respect for the president, both as a man and as a leader. If there was any negative refrain, it was borne of the widespread frustration that the president didn't do more to defend himself and his policies. Nonetheless, most anticipate that history will assess George W. Bush more favorably than today's media and polls — provided history isn't skewed by agenda-driven scholarship. . . .

Another going-away present from Bush

http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2009/01/the_ownership_society.html
[Kevin Drum] The Washington Post reports that the Bush administration plans to sign an eleventh hour agreement allowing a timber company in Montana to pave roads passing through Forest Service land. Why? . . . [read on]

Fox News climbs on the Magic Negro bandwagon -- just a mistake, they say

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016286.php

Washington Post: how could this be an accident?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/03/from-the-department-of-wishful-thinking-your-gop-media/
“With the GOP’s majority in the Senate, Obama’s agenda may rest on his ability to deliver on pledge to change the way Washington does business.”

Right Blogostan: a fact-free zone

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016281.php
[RedState's Erick Erickson] I'm sure Greg Sargent is good at what he does, but I'm also sure the Washington Post would not even consider hiring someone directly from the right-of-center blogosphere.

Of course the Washington Post is connected to both Newsweek and Slate, so its biases are pretty well established . . . .

[Steve Benen] As John Cole was quick to point out, it was, of course, the Washington Post that hired Ben Domenech nearly three years ago, to run a blog called "Red America." Domenech was, at the time, a young and inexperienced writer, known for some over-the-top conservative vitriol, including his belief that Coretta Scott King was a "communist," and his argument that some U.S. Supreme Court justices "are worse then [sic] the KKK."

Domenech was eventually forced to resign from the Post in the wake of a plagiarism controversy.

And where did Domenech blog before getting hired by the Post? A site called RedState -- the same site Erick Erickson writes for now.

(In his comments section, Erickson argues that the Post having hired Domenech doesn't count, because he "was tossed quickly after lefty outrage," as if the plagiarism matter was irrelevant.)

What's more, my friend Adam Serwer notes that while Erickson also complains about Newsweek's so-called bias, it was this same magazine that profiled none other than Erick Erickson just a week after the election. . . .

Sunday talk show line-ups

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/03/AR2009010301716.html
THIS WEEK (ABC): Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Senate appointee Roland W. Burris (D-Ill.).

FACE THE NATION (CBS): Vice President Cheney.

MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.).

LATE EDITION (CNN): Queen Noor of Jordan, New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine (D), South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R), Binyamin Netanyahu, chairman of Israel's Likud party, Israeli cabinet minister Isaac Herzog, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney (R).

Bonus item: A different take on Bush

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/opinion/04rich.html
[Frank Rich] We like our failed presidents to be Shakespearean, or at least large enough to inspire Oscar-worthy performances from magnificent tragedians like Frank Langella. So here, too, George W. Bush has let us down. Even the banality of evil is too grandiose a concept for 43. . . . He is smaller than life.

The last NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll on Bush’s presidency found that 79 percent of Americans will not miss him after he leaves the White House. He is being forgotten already, even if he’s not yet gone. You start to pity him until you remember how vast the wreckage is. It stretches from the Middle East to Wall Street to Main Street and even into the heavens, which have been a safe haven for toxins under his passive stewardship. The discrepancy between the grandeur of the failure and the stature of the man is a puzzlement. We are still trying to compute it. . . [read on]

***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).

I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
- posted by Nick Burbules @ 7:11 AM

 
STAGECRAFT

What a sad little moment

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/iraq_maliki_gre.php
[WP] The handover of the Green Zone from U.S. to Iraqi control Thursday presented such a powerful symbol of the waning American presence in Iraq that it would have been nearly impossible for both sides not to mark it with a formal ceremony.

They did, but the ceremony wasn't much. . . . [read on]

[NB: I hear they had a very slightly used “Mission Accomplished” banner they could have used . . . ]

Condi Rice, Ms. Irrelevant

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/rice-white-house-give-israel-go-ahead-for-more-war-in-gaza/
[Scarecrow] Speaking this morning from the White House on the continuing war on Gaza, Condi Rice illustrated once again why she may be one of America's worst, most ineffective and disingenuous Secretaries of State. . . . [read on]

The buddy system

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/firms_hired_by_fed_to_manage_o.php
[Zachary Roth] So, how much are the four firms hired to manage the Fed's mortgage-backed securities purchase program getting paid for their work, and how did they get the contracts in the first place?

They're not saying. . .

More: http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2008/12/nice_work_if_yo_2.php

If you’re a business under federal investigation, quick, cut your plea deal now

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/01/AR2009010101849.html

More: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/bush-doj-is-now-filenes-basement-for-corporate-crooks/

http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/01/change_but_how_much.php

The Burris debate continues

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/what-oh-what-is-to-be-done-about-burris/

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/fighting-good-fight-by-digby-jane.html

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/reid-punkd-by-blago-over-burris-rejects-the-rule-of-law/

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=10690

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/1/2/114025/6934/933/679442

The latest developments: http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/the_latest_news_from_the_illin.php
[Eric Kleefeld] Meanwhile, the Illinois House is being called back for a potential impeachment vote against Rod Blagojevich next week. An aide to a top legislative Democrat tells Election Central that the speed of the vote depends on a ruling Monday by a federal judge on whether Patrick Fitzgerald can release to them the tapes of Blago's wiretaps, and how long it would take for any necessary edits and redactions to be made.

"If he says you need a week, then maybe they'll wait," the source told us. "If the judge says you need three months, well they probably won't wait for that." At this point, it appears that Blagojevich is still on track to be removed from office around early February. . . .

More: http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/2/155342/2332

Senate Republicans, sensing a partisan opening, say if Burris can be blocked, so can Franken

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/cornyn-uses-reids-burris-tactics-to-refuse-seating-franken/

http://www.mydd.com/story/2009/1/2/155342/2332

Minnesota Senate race may be settled soon

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/is_obamas_stimu.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/minnesota_supremes_take_no_act.php

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/01/breaking_franken_and_coleman_a.php
[Eric Kleefeld] In a major breakthrough in Minnesota, the Coleman and Franken campaigns have resolved that about 900 wrongly-rejected absentee ballots will be counted this weekend, out of nearly 1,350 that the county election officials had initially sorted out. . . .

Can the Republicans be bargained with on the stimulus package? I don’t really see how

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/01/is_obamas_stimu.php

Do Obama and the Dems have to bargain, anyway?

http://firedoglake.com/2009/01/02/after-2-years-nancy-pelosi-realizes-democrats-have-a-majority-in-the-house/

The Republicans and race

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016274.php
[Steve Benen] More than three years ago, at the annual meeting of the NAACP, then-RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman made an appearance and made an interesting acknowledgement: it was a mistake for his party to exploit racism for partisan gain. Mehlman conceded that Republicans, for decades, tried to "benefit politically from racial polarization," adding, "I am here today as the Republican chairman to tell you we were wrong."

The speech was supposed to signify a new beginning with regards to the Republican Party and race. It wasn't. In fact, recent events suggest the party is slipping backwards. . . .

More: http://www.americablog.com/2009/01/party-of-lincoln-is-now-party-of.html
The Party of Lincoln is now the Party of McConnell, Coburn, DeMint and Vitter . . . [read on]

Slow learners

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2009_01/016271.php
"I would hope that the more conservative members of our caucus would take a look at these election results," [Sen. Susan Collins of Maine] said. "It's difficult to make the argument that our candidates lost be