The new quagmire: Seven questions for Barack Obama on Afghanistan. With hindsight of Mary McCarthy’s Vietnam memoirs and penned by retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.
Greenwald calls Jane Harman a bunch of names although strangely, hypocrite isn’t one of them. Jeff Stein delves further into the mess.
Socialist Andre Damon pretty cynical about everything.
Reese Erlich seems to think loosening policy toward Cuba will bring more illicit drug trafficking.
Jessie’s bond-trader friend whacks at the Wells Fargo earnings piñata.
Tom Engelhardt ruminates on the constant stream of civilian casualties that largely go unreported on these shores.
Dems want to sweep torture hearings under the rug as much as Bush flunkies do.
The problem with the Tax Day Teabag Protests was that no alternative was offered. Some of those interviewed called Obama a fascist but could not articulate why they felt this way. The governor Texas threatening to secede is apparently signaling his constituents that it’s okay to hate America again. I understand the bipartisan frustration of tax dollars insuring that the wealthy stay wealthy, but middle class truck drivers and factory workers complaining about tax increases is way off the mark. These people didn’t complain when their dollars were funneled to Bush and Cheney cronies amid the privatization of the Iraq War. It’s basically the same thing. Continue reading “The Yawning Sarcophagus of Common Sense”
Matt Dillon nailed Charles Bukowski in the movie Factotum. He never smiles and got the cadence just right. Someone should cast him again in another Bukowski / Chinaski novel turned movie. Mickey Rourke missed in Barfly.
There’s a man playing a lonely trumpet outside. I turn on WNYC and listen to the talk radio people go on and on about the G20potentates on parade. Saturday Night Live will do something clever with this.
Via Digby. This pleasantly reminds me of elementary school and watching movies that explained the banking system. Watch it if you’re confused about what’s going on.
What can you say about the food sold at the 99¢ store? They got my 99¢, I got some food that tastes different, and the big guys with the obnoxious website did not get my $3.99. These are the same guys voraciously taking over the packaged organic food industry.
From Richard’s Forewards and elsewhere:
Tom Engelhardt lives in my neighborhood!! I’ve been observing these same buildings lie fallow since 2007, also hoping the influx of rich fresh blood would also help the Ding Dong Lounge.
Dean Baker pessimistic that Timmeh’s plan will help anyone outside the banking industry.
Via Atrios, Yves at Naked Capitalism: “Given the lack of any mention of a special resolution regime, or intent to develop one, the point of this bill is NOT, appearances to the contrary, to be able to put more firms into receivership. It is to get broader authority to bail them out.”
Even though I’m mostly Irish, I usually end up hiding out on St. Patrick’s Day. I’m just not a big fan of the kelly green plastic crap, “kiss me I’m Irish” buttons, Irish sports bars, or fake Irish accents.
WFMU has launched its video podcasts with this stunning debut. I hope you donated to the station if you ever listen.
If they’re blooming everywhere, maybe we should eat jellyfish! Asians specialize in clear or white base foods that don’t taste like much: cellophane noodles, tofu, and rice, so you also have all the great spices, sauces, and pickling techniques. It’s only a matter of time before I order some jellyfish in chinatown though the texture scares me. Full disclosure: I got stung pretty badly by jellyfish as a kid which resulted in my shunning the ocean altogether for a few years. Nobody peed on me.
If the AIG executive bonus scandal has been good for anything, it’s brought what’s been wrong all along with how the Obama administration has handled the bailout / stimulus by putting faces on the corporate welfare recipients. Over at kos, barbinmd has proposed some simple policy guidelines for executives who remain with bailed out institutions: “Executives at a failing company don’t get a bonus. Executives at a failing company don’t get a raise.” Simple answers to simple questions.
The Wall Street Journal reports Obama’s poll numbers are really starting to slip. While this may be true, the MSM’s insistence that this has been true all along is false, partly because MSM coverage of the stimulus has been disingenuous. Obama’s centrist approach will keep him afloat for a little while. So the fringe is starting to fray.
Other stuff from Richard:
Chas Freeman’s on his withdrawal from the National Intelligence Council. Discusses the smear machine in front of the Israel lobby. Politico’s Ben Smith comments.
CIA reports Israel likely to go the way of South Africa.
Naked Capitalism still skeptical about bank behavior. The Japan model is just kicking the can down the road.
The left and the right both fascinated that the FBI’s terrorist watch list has hit 1 million. Keeping track of a million terrorists must be pretty easy!
Tom Engelhardt gives a history lesson in American imperialism in light of rhetoric over Afghanistan. (very long)
