Wednesday’s Mini-Report

February 20, 2008

Today’s edition of quick hits.

* It looks like the election results in Pakistan didn’t faze the Bush gang: “The administration first tried to promote a power-sharing deal last summer, between Mr. Musharraf and Ms. Bhutto, but neither side proved amenable enough, and the deal collapsed after Mr. Musharraf imposed emergency rule, suspended the Constitution and dismissed the Supreme Court. Despite those actions, and despite Ms. Bhutto’s assassination in December, the Bush administration still has not given up on the idea that a democratically elected Parliament would share power with Mr. Musharraf. Nor has administration officials given up hope that there would be some way to construct a coalition that will keep Mr. Musharraf in power as president.”

* Fidel Castro’s resignation was encouraging, but will Raul Castro be any better? “Nothing fundamental in Cuba has changed in the almost 19 months since Fidel, 81, temporarily handed the reins to his 76-year-old defense minister. Raul Castro is thought to be more practical than his brother on economic issues, and less ruthless. He has called on university students to debate Cuba’s problems ‘fearlessly.’ In 1989, when Fidel ordered the executions of allegedly disloyal senior officials, including Raul’s favorite army general, the younger Castro admitted weeping over the purge. Yet he backed it unequivocally. Still committed to one-party rule, Raul may hope to use what’s left of his life to build Chinese-style market communism.”

* The forecasts just keep getting worse: “The Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its projection for economic growth this year, citing damage from the double blows of a housing slump and credit crunch. It said it also expects higher unemployment and inflation. The updated forecasts come amid worry by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues that the economy could continue to weaken, even after their aggressive interest rate cuts in January, according to minutes of those private deliberations released Wednesday.”

* High court disappointment: “The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a challenge to President Bush’s order authorizing the interception of some phone calls and e-mails within the United States, dealing another defeat to civil libertarians who say the president violated the law.”

* I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it appears the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay are a sham. What a surprise.

* What would happen if we listened to Ron Paul and embraced the gold standard?

* Congress is in recess this week? As a technical matter, no; lawmakers are still relying on pro forma sessions to prevent White House mischief. It may seem silly, but then again, so is the president.

* Congratulations to Josh Marshall and TPM for winning a prestigious George Polk Award for the coverage of the U.S. Attorney purge scandal. Well deserved.

* You’ve got to be kidding me: “NBC News said Tuesday it has reprimanded the employee responsible for mistakenly flashing a picture of Osama bin Laden on MSNBC as Chris Matthews talked about Barack Obama. ‘This mistake was inexcusable,’ MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said.”

* Remember, CNN pays this clown a lot of money: “On his CNN Headline News show last night, conservative talking head Glenn Beck fumed about the House leadership’s decision to let the Protect America Act (PAA) expire this weekend. This was ‘an extension requested by the president,’ exclaimed Beck. Beck then jumped on President Bush’s fearmongering bandwagon, claiming that the House leadership — specifically Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) — would be responsible for the death of Americans: ‘He feels — and I happen to agree with him — that this congressional game-playing by Nancy Pelosi will end up killing Americans.'”

* And finally, one wonders if he can even appreciate why we find this amusing: “Yesterday, President Bush defended his decision not to send U.S. troops into the Darfur genocide, saying he learned lessons from the genocide in Rwanda. Ignorant of the comparison to Iraq, Bush said, “A clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive.”

Anything to add? Consider this an end-of-the-day open thread.

Aren’t Glenn Beck’s ratings about a quarter of all his competitors? If he’s an embarrassment and unpopular with viewers, then why do they keep him around?

  • Bush administration still has not given up on the idea that a democratically elected Parliament would share power with Mr. Musharraf. Nor has administration officials given up hope that there would be some way to construct a coalition that will keep Mr. Musharraf in power as president

    What business is it of ours, really, and what tools would we have to impact the situation? What message would a US-brokered deal send to those who voted? And when Bush’s efforts don’t work, and Sharif is leading the largest bloc, why would the effort not embitter him towards the US? (Obama or Clinton can say thanks for leaving that screw up in one of their laps. . .)

  • A clear lesson I learned in the museum was that outside forces that tend to divide people up inside their country are unbelievably counterproductive.

    This president is incredibly un-self aware. This quote needs to be repeated at every opportunity …

  • * It looks like the election results in Pakistan didn’t faze the Bush gang

    Even without my tin-foil hat on, I can’t help wondering…. will the results of *our* elections, in November, leave them equally unfazed?

  • Disconnected from the experiences of common Americans and dishonest in advocating direction for the American society. Two fond memories of this most tragic and incompetent Bush WH I will remember to my grave. Yes, they should stop the embarrassing self comparisons to Lincoln and start worrying about real things such as being seen as the absolute worst president in our nation’s history to date and most likely on into perpetuity. -Kevo

  • Given that Glenn Beck is “intellectually challenged to a profound degree,” the nice folks at CNN must be keeping him as a compliance requirement for the Americans with Disabilities Act. Just think of his program as “a short yellow bus without wheels.”

    ************************************************************

    As for keeping the House in pro forma, the logic stems from the Constitutional provision that allows the president to not only call them back into emergency session, but the more sinister power to unilaterally adjourn the chamber until he so desires.

    Article 2, Section 3 (and I quote)—“…he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper;….”

    Had the House gone to formal recess, and Bush wanted to go willy-nilly on the issue, he might have simply “adjourned” the House indefinitely. Given the current herd of pro-administration rulings out of SCOTUS, I think we all know how well that would turn out, were it to happen….

  • “Wait a minute, we can’t have acquittals. If we’ve been holding these guys for so long, how can we explain letting them get off? We can’t have acquittals, we’ve got to have convictions.”

    And that’s our justification for convicting and possibly executing some Gitmo detainees: because allowing justice to be truly served would be bad for PR. Glad to know what a life’s worth in the Bush administration’s eyes.

    The next time someone says that one of the greatest virtues of this nation is that it’s a meritocracy and that successful people are rewarded for their hard work and abilities, just saying the name “Glenn Beck” will refute their entire argument.

  • This week’s “Lexington” in The Economist (Gadzooks, its Wednesday…it should have been here Saturday, reminding me that living smack dab in the middle of America’s social and evolutionary cul-de-sac does have its disadvantages.) is a worthwhile read on the state of America’s politics.

    It points out that independents equal Democrats and outnumber Republicans, suggesting that the Obama/McCain race that seems to be shaping up may, in fact, be a symptom of the growing independent demographic. It may also suggest that the independents are coming close to hijacking the political process from the Parties…amen. The theory does help explain Clinton’s travails.

    Thanks for the gold standard link. It is a kooky idea; he should have stuck with the idea that our currency shouldn’t be issued by a private, for profit bank…and it probably shouldn’t be.

  • I’m surprised CB missed it but McCain ask Bush today to veto (protect america act) PPA because the CIA and other agencies have no reason to follow the Military Field Manual. So what hes saying is that if a soldier captures someone and interrogation is going bad just turn them over to the CIA so they can be tortured. I’ve heard some concoluted answers from McCain but this has to be the most serious double speak I have heard. Talk about twisted logic.

  • A new TV ad in Texas asks people to vote early for Clinton. That might seem to be a good idea for her campaign. But it stars Henry Cisneros. He was Bill Clinton’s HUD Secretary, who in ’99 pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about hush payments made to his mistress. She then became involved in a bank fraud scheme in order to hide the money. Cisneros was pardoned by Bill Clinton as he left office. Does HRC really want to remind people of adultery, pardons, shady bank deals, and endless investigations? All in one ad?

  • I don’t want to alarm anyone, but it appears the military commissions at Guantanamo Bay are a sham.

    “No, no!” said the Queen. “Sentence first — verdict afterwards.”
    “Stuff and nonsense!” said Alice loudly. “The idea of having the sentence first!”

    Fine, Alice. Howzabout verdict first, trial aftewards??

    Congratulations to Josh Marshall and TPM for winning a prestigious George Polk Award for the coverage of the U.S. Attorney purge scandal.

    Not to shabby. A Polk is almost as good as a Peabody. In fact, just call it a Peabody; nobody will notice. In fact, since I posted some comments over at TPM, I think I’ll take credit for winning that Peabody!

  • Bush, when speaking about Cuba, also said “This should be a transition to free and fair elections. Not these elections that the Castro brothers rig.”

    Oh, the irony…

  • Its weird I didn’t see one Quick Hit in CB’s writing tonight but the Obama supporters are out with their knives to slash her up. Some of you may not like her and thats fine but remember Obama can’t win in November with just your support. Also remember you still need 271 electoral votes and this slamming Clinton will most certainly cause voter backlash.

  • Meanwhile, in Wellington, NZ at the Cluster Bomb conference…..

    Australia has been accused by key pressure group, the Cluster Munition Coalition, of being among 19 nations trying to water down the proposed treaty.

    Australia was part of the “bad guys cabal,” Ms Williams said, and was working with nations including Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Japan to weaken the cluster munitions treaty.

    Cluster bombs are especially deadly because they contain smaller bomblets that scatter over a wide area. They can lie unexploded for decades, killing and maiming civilians years after a conflict has ended.

    The United States, China, India, Pakistan, Russia and Israel have snubbed the Wellington conference.

    Strange to think that the “bad guys cabal” includes Britain, Australia, Canada, France and Germany. And the US snubbed it entirely.

    Let’s hope New Zealand and it’s remaining friends can lay a solid foundation for the formal negotiations to be held at the Diplomatic Conference in Dublin in May.
    RV

  • The Democratic presidential debates in TX and Ohio are going to be crucial and possibly quite nasty. Hillary is going to leave no stone unthrown. The result could help the thugs regardless of who gets the nomination. Sure hope they will be on the tube. These, even I have to watch.

  • Of course, Hillary will leave no stone unthrown. It is the final act of a failing empire to send the old men and the young boys out of the city and into the battle—the “end-of-ends” mass sacrifice, ‘ere total defeat. Fortress Hillary’s “last stand” gambit is synonymous to that act.

    And I note that a large number of those who claim that the heated battle between Hillary and Barack will somehow help McCain—are coming from Clintonistas. Isn’t it comforting to know that, after seven long years of KG43, we’ve managed to produce a top-tier Dem candidate who can sling fearmongery, dishonesty, and self-proclaimed omniscience on a level with the best (read: worst) of what the administration and its cronies have to offer?

    Only in Bu$hylvania….

  • There’s an interesting article in today’s NYT, about Obama’s fund raising:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/20/us/politics/20obama.html

    Although the article doesn’t say it explicitly, to me, it went a long way towards answering the question some commenters were asking earlier; to wit: why didn’t Hillary campaign more in Wisconsin (and other states as well).

    It appears that Obama not only vastly out-paces Hillary in fund raising, he gets most of his money from thousands (if not millions) of small-time, *online*, donors. Most of Hillary’s money however comes from fund raising *events*. Which, in turn, means, that, while he’s not hurting for money for ad buys, he has *more time* to spend stumping.

    I have been to a couple of fund raisers locally, for Jim Webb. This was small beer compared to presidential fund raisers Clinton is likely to attend (our tickets were $100), but the number of people attending a fund raiser is likely to be limited even in her case. While Obama’s rallies tend to be huge. So that, even if only a quarter of those attending are fired up enough to go home and hit the “donate” button to the tune of only $25, he’s still going to come up on top. And a huge rally is more likely to catch the attention of the media (they like big numbers), so his gain is doubled — in money and in recognition.

    And there’s, of course, also a gain for us; he’s less likely to be beholden to a few big-time donors…

  • Schadenfreude: The feeling one experiences when he hears “McCain in bed with lobbyist.” Now we may find out whether pledged delegates are obligated in the Republican party. Woo Hoo!!!

  • Its weird I didn’t see one Quick Hit in CB’s writing tonight but the Obama supporters are out with their knives to slash her up.

    Sweet Jesus, the Clinton backers are sensitive.

    Jim, there were a grand total of three comments here prior to your post that even mention Clinton. The first (#3) had an offhand comment about a foreign policy problem that would confront either Clinton or Obama in office, the second (#11) cited an article in the Economist about how independents are emerging as a strong bloc and said, quite calmly, “The theory does help explain Clinton’s travails;” and the third (#13) referenced a Clinton ad in Texas and made an admittedly snarky point about Bill Clinton’s presidency.

    That’s it. Three mentions before your comment — two completely innocent, one mildly mocking of her husband’s foibles.

    And your reaction? “The knives are out to slash her up”?

  • libra – Obama has an e-mail campaign out to solicit the millionth donor to his campaign. The count they showed on the e-mail was somewhere over 900,000 donors so far. While campaigners like Howard Dean, John Edwards and even Ron Paul have built successful grassroots small donation programs, the critical mass of Obama’s ordinary citizen support is nothing short of amazing.

    Adding to the funding momentum, Obama’s organization on the ground has been nothing short of impressive. Whether Obama’s campaign is successful due to his vision and management style, the people he has surrounded himself with or the aura that has infected those that support him is debatable. That there is no other campaign that has so much positive going for it is not.

  • Raoul wants “to build Chinese-style market communism.”

    In other words, one-party capitalism. Fascism. See also Republican Party.

  • Time out!!!

    If it’s clear where you live, head out and take a look at the lunar eclipse. Totality is 10-10:51 eastern, 7-7:51 here on the West Coast.

    Looks like it’s going to be a beauty! (An orange beauty at that.)

  • The blogosphere is abuzz with the New York Times story about presumptive GOP nominee John McCain and the nature of his relationship with lobbyist Vicki Iseman. It remains unclear why the paper sat on the story since December. But whether or not the New York Times has had the goods on him, it didn’t stop the Times from endorsing John McCain in the state’s Republican primary last month.

    For the details, see:
    “NY Times Endorsed McCain Before Running Scandal Piece.”

  • “And I note that a large number of those who claim that the heated battle between Hillary and Barack will somehow help McCain—”

    For the record I am 100% behind Obama. I VERY much hope that he can, with all our help, turn this country around and wrest control of it from those who actively or passively are leading it to banana republic status.

    That being said, I don’t think that everyone who mentions possible negative outcomes, must be labelled as a clintonista. That smacks of , dare I say, cultism.

    Obama’s success is not based on sleight of hand. His momentum is not that fragile. Greatness is dictated by circumstance as much as it is by the character of the leader of the movement. The circumstance, imho, is that people are at long last fed up with almost 3 decades of abuse. They will not easily be deterred from giving Obama a chance to lead.

  • “And I note that a large number of those who claim that the heated battle between Hillary and Barack will somehow help McCain—”

    For the record I am 100% behind Obama. I VERY much hope that he can, with all our help, turn this country around and wrest control of it from those who actively or passively prioritize corporate or plutocratic interests.

    That being said, I don’t think that everyone who mentions possible negative outcomes, must be labelled as a clintonista.

    Obama’s success is not based on sleight of hand. His momentum is not that fragile. Greatness is dictated by circumstance as much as it is by the character of the leader of the movement. The circumstance, imho, is that people are at long last fed up with almost 3 decades of abuse. They will not easily be deterred from giving Obama a chance to lead.

  • Everyone remember the two women-not-his-wife, Swedish ambassador and Lockheed Martin lobbyist, who spent the weekend with Cheney when he shot that old man in the face?

    I wonder what made me think of that.

  • Astounding that all of the rate cuts have not jump started the economy considering they only benefit the largest banks which are trying to show a profit as they lost billions on the mortgage meltdown and thereby will not pass the interest savings on to consumers.

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