Uncle Ron, What Should We Do?

Ronald Reagan, May 20, 1988, transmitting the Convention Against Torture to the Senate for ratification:

The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention. It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.

The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called "universal jurisdiction." Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.

It's getting harder and harder to deny the inevitable conclusion that there is going to be a messy shitstorm in this country. The excerpt above is from Glenn Greenwald, in an atypically short piece shredding of Charles Krauthammer's column from The Washington Post today.

Obama isn't helping either. Every time he opens his mouth on this subject things get muddier and muddier. The only good I see coming out of his comments is that there is no real news to talk about, and yet there is a huge story hanging out there called 'Torture'. The media abhors a vacuum, and so the digging goes on and new information continues to come to light.

As long as Obama keeps feeding the beast and the e-ink is spilled in commentary, the real world will sit and wait.

Let's Get One Thing Straight

For anyone that is concerned with Civil Liberties, this week's release of the OLC memos is an important victory. My choice of words is deliberate. It's a victory, which implies a battle.

Folks, the Obama Administration was COMPELLED to release these documents as a result of a lawsuit brought by the ACLU. As a reader of Glenn Greenwald's blog, I can tell you that the Obama administration has been fighting the release of this stuff tooth and nail, using the very same specious arguments that the Bush administration used before it.

They claimed state secrets, and when that failed they said, "give me a minute" over and over, extension after extension after delay.

These memos contain NO Intelligence information. Only the legal framework for justifying the means to gather intelligence. Now Dick Cheney is on the TV saying that we ought also to declassify other memos with DO detail intelligence and lay out in great detail what information was gained and how we averted 9/11 Redux.

Can you see how stupid this is? Dick, can I call you Dick?...if you want these memos released, you can sue just like the ACLU did. Give them a call. They are a principled bunch and will take your case if it has merit, even if you dont.

Dont count on winning though. You know...because they are classified for a very good reason.

President Obama...You're My Heeeeeerooooo!!!

Please people. This whole Pirates of Penzance drama is being completely blown out of context.

No, it wasnt a test of Obama's resolve or whatever. Anyone that thinks anything beyond their next meal was in the minds of the Pirates needs their head examined.

No, this doesn't reflect on the President's military prowess in any way either. All he did was authorize the rules of engagement and get out of the way. If shooting three half starved and illiterate Somalis floating in the middle of the ocean required the direct involvment of our President, then we might as well mothball the Navy.

Folks, this was professional guys doing what they do. These pirates never had a chance, and it was an act of kindness to put them down with....get this...three simultaneously fired shots. Nobody knew anyone else was hit. One pop, three dead pirates.

So the reality challenged folks on both sides of the political spectrum need to go back to criticizing the First Lady's bare arms or lobbying for marijuana legalization or whatever and let the SEALS go back to cleaning their weapons and waiting on orders.

Not Presidential crisis, not averted by President, not test not passed. Nothing to see here....move along.

Commentary: Is Obama skidding or crashing? - CNN.com

Commentary: Is Obama skidding or crashing? - CNN.com

Short post. I loves me some Penn Jillette. Nothing like someone firmly grounded in the rational world looking at crap, but having the personality to call it Bullshit. I'm guessing a lifetime spent hustling people tends to reinforce the idea that most of them just aren't very smart.

To continue his metaphor though, I think that Obama is skidding...but I fear that he might be a formula one guy trying to control a funny car on a wet track.

Geithner-Fu

I read an interesting analysis of the Geithner plan over at Ezra Klein's blog and it conforms with everything I've said about the "wait for it" factor with Obama.

In a nutshell, it took Geithner 6 weeks to come up with this plan not because he didnt know how to fix it, but because Obama is a master politician and needed to overlay a complex set of political imperatives over a very gnarly financial problem.

It's a Public song in the key of Private enterprise, with the Nationalization-ettes as backup singers.

Check out the theory...I'm willing to buy it for now.

It's So Conservative it's Revolutionary

Reich's take on Obamanomics

Reich points out an interesting thing about how Obama's economic policies can be seen both at being a very conservative and truly revolutionary at the same time. Both a return to the policies of Reagan and an utter refutation of them.

More interesting for me, and missed by Reich is how this shouldn't surprise anyone. What is happening here is a synthesis of left and right....meeting in a place I like to call "common sense".

He is Gulliver in a world of big-enders and little-enders and Reich can't see that it doesnt matter which end of the egg you crack, the goal is to get it open.

Dow 36,000 Guy Trashes Obama

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2009/03/dow-36000-guy-accuses-obama-of.html

This just boggles me. Nature abhors a vacuum right? Well there is a sucking credibility hole here that demands to be filled. Since this moron lost his credibility TWO bubbles ago....who will pay the debt to Newton's Second Law here?

In my opinion, Bloomberg takes the hit for giving this moron a street corner and a sandwich board.

"repent...the end is nigh"

someone put a quarter in this guy's tin cup and direct him to a shelter.

Walking and Chewing Gum

I love how the latest "insight" in the media is building and gathering steam. "Obama is too ambitious.." "The Economy isnt a part time crisis..." "The American People can only handle so much change...." "Stem Cells are not a national priority right now...."

Do they imagine that the man sits in the Oval Control Room...immediately adjacent to the Oval Office of course (pay no attention to the man behind the curtain)...and is furiously fiddling with dials and controls like some sort of Executive One Man Band?

The dude had TWO years to hone a policy position on just about everything he felt was important. He had HOARDS of people working on them. These people are now implementing his policy FOR HIM. Sure...he shows up and signs...he takes reports etc along the way...but c'mon.

His mind was made up on the Stem Cell thing the day Bush announced it. He said, "that's crap" like the rest of us. He told his science wonks to fix it...they said, "it's fixed but we had to do X or Y"...he said, "fine but I really dont like Y, try Z" and that was it.

15 minutes of Presidential time...30 max and that includes the photo op.

The man sets an agenda and wields the bully pulpit. Just because he does 5 things at once does NOT mean that each of them takes up 20% of his time. He can still be spending 99% of his time on Banking Crisis....and split the other 1% along an almost infinite list of fully delegated "other" issues.

There's this whole other guy that everyone got all pissed off about...Rahm Emmanuel. You might have heard of him? He swats down the stupid stuff...brings important issues to the President....and squashes anyone that wastes a millisecond of Obama's time.

Seriously...you tell me how many "initiatives" and "projects" are currently in the planning or implementation phase at GE? I dont mean silly stuff. I'm talking about major things that need Executive sign off. The economy is taking for GE too...you think they stopped EVERYTHING? Hell no. If anything, every project is now taking up MORE bandwidth as they decide to stop, go or postpone.

Every Exec VP in that company has his own slate of initiatives (like the Cabinet in governmnent) and is managing them and reporting back to the CEO. That's why they are there. Our President can't do the same?

It's a farce to listen to these people. I mean it's EVERY bit as insulting as dealing with Jeremiah Wright or Shandra Levy or listening to Mooseburger jokes during a serious newscast.

Here...I'll 'seed' another rant and just let it bloom elsewhere. Right hand: "We need stimulus to get our economy mooving again...and we need it NOW", Left hand:"What is all of this stuff that Obama is doing in this Stimulus bill??? He needs to focus!!"

Hello? You stimulate by spending. You spend on silly things or you spend on thoughtful things. This guy is spending on thoughtful things...agree or disagree....but dont mistake it for anything other than what it is....Stimulus.

He could have simply rounded all of the budgets up and begun hiring for Federal Jobs and called it Stimulus. I, for one, am glad he didnt....and I think every other "less govt is better" person out there should agree.