The American Crack-Up--The Continuing Series

At least we are seeing some comeback in language these days. Max Berg wins kudos for referring to the dollar as "the roach motel of global currencies." Once you're in, it's hard to get out. Max explains that there is no longer any fundamental strength to the dollar, any gains are coming from technical strengths as hedge funds move assets around.

Jonathan Turley , constitutional law professor at George Washington, explaining Karl Rove's willingness to testify to the Justice Department, said,"No one wants to be the last person protecting Captain Queeg's raspberries." He went on to explain that it would be difficult for Rove to plead executive privilege to the executive branch itself. Later that night, Karl Rove said he would not honor the congressional subpoena.

Dick Cheney, who may be replacing Richard Nixon as my gift that keeps on giving, darkly warned Politico that they will be more terrorist attacks if Obama doesn't maintain Bush's policies. Now Wait A Minute! The National Intelligence Estimate published in December predicted another terrorist attack in five years--no matter what policies were in place. Cheney also said that the government documents, when opened, will show that "waterboarding" prevented attacks on America. Since this period has last longer than WWII, let's declassify them now so we can evaluate that statement.

Fredo appeared on television last night to defend the record of his Justice Department and said that he hasn't gotten a job because on on-going investigations into his actions and the bad economy. Fredo, you are doomed.

"Country First "John McCain, after urging in his e-mail opposition to the stimulus package, just won't be around for the vote on the bill. He and Jon Kyl will be in Germany attending a security conference. This seems to be a career pattern of his--hit and run.

You know the conservatives' claim FDR extended the Depression for seven years. They may be right. The National Economic Research Board did a comparative study of severe economic situations around the world such as Japan and Sweden in the 1990s and found that even if recovery happens in two years, the economy will not fully recover for between 7 and 9 years, odd enough the number used by conservatives against FDR. The NERB says you can't avoid it. Just like you can't not avoid a country's debt increasing by 85%. For the US, during this time, this would mean $7-9 trillion. Then we will be hit by high interest rates.

Republican Governors Haley Barbour and South Carolina's Stanford are against the stimulus package and may refuse to accept any of its funds. I think that's terrific.

The General Smedley wing of the conservatives are vigorously circulating articles about the alleged differences between Obama and Petraeus over the timetable for withdrawal from Iraq. The major mischief maker here is General John Keane at AEI , the father of the "surge" and colleague of Dick Cheney and mentor to General Petraeus. The Neoconservatives are trying to hype the animosity between the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Petraeus and Odierno and President Obama. This is all part of the blowback from Obama's closure of Gitmo and determination to end Iraq. You will see this play out in dramatic form over the next few months.

This is also related to people like Robert Kagan writing articles about Obama wanting to cut the Defense Budget. Actually he is increasing it from last year and unfortunately is still funding the wars separately and off budget, just like Bush and Cheney. The full defense budget is over $1 trillion.

A fun Greenberg Poll is out which shows that Rush Limbaugh has a lower approval rate than Rev.Wright and Bill Ayers. Rush is at 21%, with only 44% of Republicans feeling positive to him. The former marine and ex-Navy corpsman the Right Rev. Wright garners 28% and Weatherman Underground veteran Bill Ayres stands at 29%.

Can South Carolina prosecute Michael Phelps for smoking a bong? I don't know the answer. If a photo shows up of him doing the deed and he confirms it, can you really take it to court. What if he's bragging? What's the physical evidence?

The woman lawyer fired by the Justice Department's Monica Goodling because of rumors she was a lesbian was re-hired. It seems after a national search they couldn't find anyone as qualified as she in native-american law.