Here and There

update: great analysis of Wilson’s erroneous (not to mention disrespectful and misplaced) outcry at PolitiFact.com.

original post: I’m doing my best to look to the example of Barack Obama in his effort to move beyond partisan bickering in the dust-up over Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) screaming out “You lie!” after Obama claimed that his health care reform bill would not insure illegal immigrants.

Therefore, my only response is: No, President Obama isn’t lying (PDF).

You know what’s un-American? Torture.

You know what’s socialistic? Medicare.

You know what’s shameful? When the government does nothing.

You know what’s pathetic? Incompetence.

You know what’s Soviet-like? Gulags, indefinite detention*, extraordinary rendition.

* To be fair, the guy I voted for in 2008 recently endorsed this shitty policy. For shame.

Thx: Sullivan

I hesitate to use terms like “worst presidency ever.” Sure, we can analyze and rank the 43 who’ve held the office to date, but what we’re all missing is context. Relativism.

All I can do, simple-minded blogger that I am, is reflect on how this presidency affected and impressed (not in the sense of delighted, but had an impression on) me.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been following Jonathan Turley for a few years now, since I first saw Turley and Bruce Fein appear before Congress to discuss surveillance. He impressed me with his intelligence and articulation, in addition to coming down on the right side of things.

Just now, I saw him on Rachel Maddow, and it struck me for the first time what a great pick Turley would be for the Supreme Court.

Agree? Don’t agree? Am I totally full of it? Let me know!

PS I’m a straight guy with a crush on a lesbian. Maddow just announced that infrastructure is one of her favorite subjects. I know it would never work out, but not because of the obvious reasons — Maddow also declared her love for PBS supreme douche David Brancaccio. And now, she made the pirate “arrrrhhh” sound. Boo, Rachel!

Ignoring the economy and my personal stake in it, I’m becoming quite a fan of the United States of America these days.

Okay, that’s the capsulized version. I just really trust that we’re reprioritizing, and doing it right this time. This really does feel like a once-in-a-generation election. Obama has already made some very important decisions, and despite disagreeing with a few, they’ve almost all been good ones.

Rhetorical question? Here’s one for you: What if Nazis take over the U.S. government? I’m just asking rhetorically.

Thx: John Cole

Matthew Yglesias » Worst President Ever

I don’t know. Yglesias is really only thinking domestically. Bush has let a major U.S. city disintegrate, overall infrastructure deteriorate, drastically increased the disparity between rich and poor, and plunged the country into massive amounts of debt after years of surplus.

He’s helped the international community slide into chaos, invaded a sovereign nation for virtually no reason at all, snubbed international legal and environmental treaties, and presided over perhaps the most drastic fall of the U.S. dollar in history. He’s allowed (possibly knowingly) the U.S. to torture prisoners, when he wasn’t farming it out. I know I’m forgetting plenty here.

This is no statistical analysis, mind you. Nor am I anywhere near as versed in history as Yglesias. And I agree: Buchanan was abysmal. I just think he’s giving Bush too much credit here, or not holding him as accountable as he should.

Needless to say, count me in that 42 percent that thinks he’s the worst. I think he’s a great candidate for it, anyway.

Can someone check me on this? Did the number one law enforcement officer in the nation really say the following today?

Not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime. In this instance, the two joint reports found only violations of the civil service laws. (HuffPost)

I mean, seriously. Stop what you’re doing and think about this. I’m not sure I can go into work tomorrow. I feel ill. I’ve lost my appetite.

The bright side: At least one of Bush’s goons has come right out and said, mincing no words, what has been obvious to many, many people for a long time now: There is no law in the United States anymore.

God help us.

Audible gasps heard in offices across the land! Productivity soars!

The Bush Squad wants to redefine birth control as abortion.

My take: They sat back and reflected, and realized that they hadn’t wreaked enough physical, moral, and sexual havoc on the nation and the world, and decided this would really get the ball rolling again, circa 20 A.D. style.

Bastards. At least Speaker Nancy Pelosi had the decency to waste no time denouncing the move.

Christopher Hitchens agreed to undergo a demonstration of waterboarding.

He quit after about 15 seconds of the demonstration. In a corresponding piece for Vanity Fair, Hitchens says that, without any equivocation or doubt, the technique is torture.

What struck me was how sterile the demonstration was. There’s full lighting, probably air-conditioning, Hitchens has the comfort of knowing he’ll survive and go home to his belongings and loved ones. Those and other conditions are antithetical to what actual prisoners go through. And even given such “handicaps,” Hitchens is certain of the horrendous nature of the technique.

Srsly, when do we prosecute the people who gave and carried out the orders to do this?

This story, by Wired.com’s Ryan Singel*, describes an analysis of contributions from U.S. telecommunications’ PACs to representatives, and how the money may correlate to those reps votes on the recent FISA renewal act now in the Senate.

Singel points out that 40 percent more money went to the 94 Democrats who now support the bill (as opposed to their opposition to the original bill, which went before the House three months ago). Also, in total, meaning when you include Republican reps who, naturally, support warrantless wiretapping and, perhaps more importantly, immunity for the telecoms from prosecution, the PAC money to those voting in favor of the new bill is nearly double that going to members of Congress who voted against it.

This is slightly complicated, but very, very sickening.

Honestly? Screw campaign finance reform. How about legislative finance reform? How about Larry Lessig, and others like him, who are pushing to keep special interest money out of politics altogether?

Members of Congress are charged with representing their constituents. Since when are AT&T, Verizon, and the like constituents of anyone?

* Singel is a colleague of mine.

SCOTUS takes six years to get it right. Go Justice Kennedy.