The Guns Are Out, the Risks Are Real (Links)
Cheney: We Didn’t Go Far Enough Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney believes that the Bush Administration’s policies should have been pushed much further. Whores on Terror The documentation of “sexual humiliation,” sodomy, and other forms of “enhanced interrogation” conducted by U.S. personnel are too extensive to be denied or pawned off on a couple of redneck privates. Ten of Obama’s Health-Care Missteps What the White House did wrong, in no particular order. Obama Isn’t Saying the Right Thing He should be saying, “Stop lying.” At Health Care Events, Guns Are Out, and the Risks Are Real It’s not enough for conservatives to repudiate violence, as some are belatedly beginning to do. Krugman: Extreme Opponents of Health Care Unappeasable “What they hate is the whole idea of any kind of health reform and more broadly what they hate is the whole idea of Democrats actually holding the White House.” In Alaska, Palin Leaves Behind Mismanaged Health Care System—Hundreds Die Waiting For Care The situation is so bad that the federal government has forbidden Alaska from signing up new people; no other state in the nation is under such a moratorium. A Case of Affinity Fraud The peddlers of anti-progressive lies are managing to convince a certain kind of American—white, socially conservative, etc.—that the hate-mongers are people like them; and, even more important, that progressives are Those People, people not like them. Them Versus Us By 1900, the U.S. had become more diverse and densely populated, with an industrial economy dominated by large corporations, and it had became abundantly clear that government power was necessary to regulate the marketplace, provide a safety net for the poor and elderly, and protect the environment. O’Reilly gloats that Fox’s ratings are due to its ‘fair and balanced’ approach You know how when someone says, “Now, I’m not trying to be a jerk, but…”, you can be certain that what will follow is them being a jerk. Ironic Divorce Protector of traditional marriage Doug Manchester is leaving his wife of 43 years.
The Angry Man, the Droll, the Perv (Links)
Ronald Reagan: A Vengeful, Score-Settling, Hard Left Ideologue? How severely has our political spectrum shifted in the last two decades? The Banality of Bush White House Evil Torture was a tool in the campaign to exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would support a war that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. Orwell on Law Scholarship In the quest to adopt a simpler and more direct style in legal discussion, lawyers could learn a lot from Orwell. Op-Ed Art That Was Rejected by NYT Editors Milton Glaser drew an alien for a Valentine’s Day manuscript in 1996, but an editor determined that its beak “looked like a taboo human part.” Human Landscapes From Above (Photos) Photographer Jason Hawkes has been carrying his Nikon D3 aboard helicopters around the world, hanging out the doorway and capturing landscapes—most somehow affected by humans—below. What Kind of Web Commenter Are You? The Angry Man? The Droll? The Perv?
Frank Rich: Republicans are ‘Committing Suicide’
Frank Rich touches upon goodwill toward Obama, truth-seeing, and Bobby Jindal, among other things.
As he stood before Congress on Tuesday night, the new president was armed with new job approval percentages in the 60s. After his speech, the numbers hit the stratosphere: CBS News found that support for his economic plans spiked from 63 percent to 80. Had more viewers hung on for the Republican response from Bobby Jindal, the unintentionally farcical governor of Louisiana, Obama might have aced a near-perfect score.
I have to wonder, though: why are people only seeing the truth now, when they walked around blindfolded for the last eight years?
Grover Norquist, Guns, Sexting (Links)
How many guns do you own? Grover Norquist grills GOP Party Chair candidates about their conservative credentials. Harper’s posts a statistical retrospective of the Bush Administration. Bill O’Reilly: Senators Leahy and Sanders would ‘torture the hell out of Bush if they could.’ Bush’s 2005 inauguration was actually 4x more expensive per person than Obama’s. Politico lists ‘seven reasons for healthy skepticism.’ Six Pennsylvania teens face child porn charges after taking nude photos of themselves. John McCain says that Sarah Palin could be president someday. Meanwhile, Palin has reportedly hired D.C. lawyer Robert Barnett help land a book or TV deal. Gail Collins compares Bush’s long goodbye with ‘one of those reconstituted rock bands that have been on a farewell tour since 1982.’ Frank Rich examines ‘eight years of Madoffs.’
Pentagon to Cut Benefits for PTSD Afflicted Vets (Links)
Can someone please remind me why ‘Average Joes’ are supposed to support the GOP? The Bush Administration is rushing to de-regulate hazardous chemicals in the workplace and the Bush Pentagon is cutting benefits for veterans with PTSD. An American special ops intelligence officer says that the number of soldiers killed as a result of America’s torture policy ‘is close to the number of lives lost on September 11, 2001.’ Condoleeza Rice says ‘you won’t…hear from me again‘, and I’m beginning to like her more and more. Everyone is talking about Bush’s admitted ‘unpreparedness for war.’ Meanwhile, Jeb Bush suggests that the GOP create a separate ’shadow government’. The San Diego Union Trib profiles Howard Kaloogian, a ‘local conservative’ who appeared in that ‘daffy palin ad‘. The following people don’t know history from a hole in the ground: Tom Friedman and Joe Klein. Peggy Noonan is also trying to join the ’saying stupid things’ club. Upon leaving office, George Bush will miss ‘flying in the presidential airplane and the food at the White House,’ as well as trains, dumptrucks, and making mudpies. California officials will investigate accusations that the Mormon Church violated its tax-exemption requirements by participating in the effort to ban same-sex marriage in California. At Mother Jones, Kiera Butler interviews historian Frank Rich. Finally, am I actually supposed to care about the LA Times‘ front page series profiling the unlikely romance between a racist California murderer and ‘a thoughtful, successful Omaha woman’? Maybe critics are right that LAT owner Sam Zell is in the process of ‘eviscerating some of [America's] best newspapers.’
