HARTFORD COURANT: Still ticking! It’s the Dodd Clock. It’s now been 179 days since Dodd promised to release his mortgage documents.
Archive for 2009
January 20, 2009
BARACK OBAMA: Wartime President.
CONGRATULATIONS TO MR. OBAMA: The civil-rights revolution was something of my parents’ generation, not mine — my dad marched at Selma, but I was learning to walk, talk and eat at the time, skills I found useful in later life, but . . . . Still, whether or not you voted for Barack Obama, this is a watershed moment. I find that my overwhelming feeling for him right now is sympathy, though, as it was for President Bush. Bill Clinton probably realizes just how lucky he was to be President during a period where things were relatively calm. I fear that won’t be Obama’s lot, as it wasn’t Bush’s, though I hope I’m wrong.
Meanwhile, let’s also hope that this watershed will fade from memory. It was a big deal when JFK became the first Catholic President, but now it seems quaint that that was ever an issue. It will be nice to see the same thing come true regarding the first black President. Meanwhile, inevitably some people will find their fondest expectations unmet, while others — at this point, I count myself among them — will be pleasantly surprised by how things go.
IN THE MAIL: Will Bunch’s Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future. Tear one down, build one up, whatever . . . .
DICK CHENEY: “The most pro-gay Vice President in history.”
A WARNING of who might be lurking in the streets of D.C. today.
MOVING TOWARD CLINICAL TRIALS in shutting down cancer with nanotechnology.
REASON TV: Hopes and fears for an Obama Presidency.
AMANDA RIPLEY EXPLAINS how to behave in a plane crash.
MARTY LEDERMAN AND DAVID BARRON to the Office of Legal Counsel. They should work well with Dawn Johnsen.
ANN ALTHOUSE is liveblogging the inauguration.
AMERICA PASSES A MILESTONE: We now have more people employed in government than manufacturing. Check out the graphic.
WHAT’S GOING ON WITH AL QAEDA in Pakistan.
Al Gore’s side may be coming to power in Washington, but they appear to be losing the battle on the idea that humans are to blame for global warming. Forty-four percent (44%) of U.S. voters now say long-term planetary trends are the cause of global warming, compared to 41% who blame it on human activity.
Plus, Carbon caps=EPIC FAIL:
While George Bush was in office, progressives (or so I mote) deluded themselves that the problem was one of evil leadership that didn’t care about the environment. Now that Barack Obama is coming in, that belief has become insupportable. Either Barack Obama, too, is evil and doesn’t care . . . or it is not politically possible for any American leader to take serious action on global warming.
(Nor, as yet, any European leader, before we start whining about selfish Americans–I’ve been listening to EU ETS proponents tell me that the system had finally ironed all the bugs out and was really going to start reducing emissions for years now. )
Time to dust off those geoengineering ideas, I guess. But I wouldn’t put ’em into place just yet.
BRITAIN on the edge of bankruptcy? We should probably avoid emulating their approach to governance, then . . . .
UPDATE: “A downward spiral.”
VIDEO: Charles Rangel and the Harlem Tax Revolt of ’09. By Evan Coyne Maloney. (Bumped).
BUSH’S REAL SIN: Winning in Iraq. Yeah, it blew the preferred “Iraq is Arabic for Vietnam” narrative.
DANNY GLOVER says it’s time to stop the “redneck” slurs.
IAN HAMET fixes a typo. Heh.
BAD NEWS FOR SICK PEOPLE:
Sidney Wolfe, who seemingly never met a new drug or device he thought should be legal, has been named to four-year term on the FDA’s Drug Safety and Risk Management Committee. He’s got the “consumer” slot. Well, I’m a big-time pharmaceutical consumer, and this man does not speak for me.
Me either.
Knoxville, Tennessee.
MORE ON THOSE UNDERFUNDED / OVERGENEROUS PUBLIC PENSIONS: Cities in Missouri, California and Pennsylvania are among those in financial crises.