Afternoon at the Last Manatee

The major news from the China-U.S. Summit is that the pandas can stay at the Washington zoo for five years more.

Freepers are upset that Sasha Obama tried out her Mandarin on Hu Jingtao. Sasha Obama is learning Chinese at her grammar school.

Michelle Obama is being blamed for causing more pedestrian deaths because of her campaign to get more adults to exercise. Oscar de la Renta also criticized the First Lady's Red dress at the White House dinner for Hu.

165 Republican congressman have signed on to eliminating all funds for USAID. I would make it conditional on finding out who killed Vince Foster. The strategy for the administration in its wars is to transfer more of the responsibility to our development programs in order to build up civilian power. To make this transition work, you have to have an increase, not a decrease in aid funding. But the Hate America Firsters actually believe that foreign aid is a critical part of a national debt, which it is not. The only problem is that the American people actually believe this and the teabaggers and conservatives have been exploiting this. The new freshman Republicans have brought back the isolationism from the Lindbergh period and the American Firsters.

Dick Armey, creator of the corporate, Koch-funded teabaggers, went on the Hill today to lecture the freshmen Republicans not to shut down the government, something they have been threatening to do. Armey knew that it was a disaster for Republicans under Newt but also that it would be an economic disaster today.

Gentleman John Boehner, Old Swizzle Stick, has run up against his first challenge from the teabaggers. Boehner and Ryan were trying to avoid meeting their pledge to cut $100 billion from the Federal Government this fiscal year. The Republican Study Group actually sent a letter to Boehner demanding that this goal be met. Since half the fiscal year is over, this would entail crippling budget cuts for the remainder of the year. Boehner is aware that the cuts proposed by the Republican Study Group would have catastrophic effects on the economy and the ability of the federal government to function. It's not clear whether Boehner can triumph over his new flock.

We are seeing the divide appear between the corporate Republican Party and the teabaggers. While Rep. Ryan has been designated to respond to President Obama's State of the Union speech, Michelle Bachmann has decided all on her lonesome to hold her own response, which she will pre-record for the Tea Bag Express. Having heard her speech about destroying socialism by repealing the health care bill, we can expect some rhetorical fireworks.

Wouldn't you want to be at a White House meeting to discuss strategy about how to deal with the fact that one part of Congress is now controlled by people who fundamentally don't understand anything about government. What would you advise? All Obama needs now is an infrastructure bill. He doesn't need a budget. They should aim at continuing resolutions for the next two years. Then maybe you let the House fire as much fireworks as they want. But it is unsettling. Do you call Boehner in and tell him he's responsible for his nutjobs?

Mike Huckabee admitted today that budget cuts at any level will results in the loss of jobs. That's why I'm less than gung-ho that we have a recovery that will strengthen. I think we can expect some slips because of the financial crises in the states and also from federal budget cuts ,which Obama will institute.

I think it's tacky that both Harry Reid and Gentleman John Boehner turned down the White House's invitation to the dinner honoring Hu Jingtao. But you know Hu is going to hug Obama for the next two years because he's afraid of the other barbarian Americans. You want to deal with the know-nothings.

James Fellow at the Atlantic wrote a nice appreciation of the summit and thought the musical program of jazz performed by jazz greats was a typical American moment. He should be aware that China now has become the primary consumer of American jazz and that American jazz artists are in high demand at the clubs in Shanghai. But he was right, it was a nice touch and Herbie Hancock playing with Lang-Lang was a nice moment, and a nice piece.

It really is great that the Supreme Court recognizes corporate rights over individual rights. Today Verizon announced it was suing the FCC over its net neutrality policy saying its constitutional rights were being violated. Cool! William Douglas used to say that if corporations had civil rights than so did trees.Red Woods Versus Weyhauser. An idea whose time is come.

We haven't heard the last from the Tucson shooting days. Orange County police are now searching for the people who are threatening to kill Jerry Brown on Valentine's Day. The police have linked the culprits with spray-painting graffiti that urges the killing of Catholics.

Mark Steyn writing in the New Criterion made a full-throated defense of U.K. and American exceptionalism. He warns that the socialist President, who doesn't acknowledge the exceptional nature of America, is allowing China to seize Taiwan and that because of the American national debt, which he projects to cost 20% of the GDP in 15-odd years, we will not be able to compete with the world's largest corporation, The People's Liberation Army of China.

Let's roll this one back. Mark Steyn used to write for the tabloids in London. He and Niall Ferguson, another Brit neocon, have warned that America's debt and its entitlement programs will cut into its ability to spend for defense. And both take the Malthusian curve of debt as inevitable and nothing will be down to bring it down. They also don't give a squat whether Americans have a pot to piss in as long as American maintains its empire and total military supremacy above everyone and every threat. In other words, the Brits and new Brit-Americans will fight the world to the last American. Sort of like the Saudi attitude toward Iran--will fight Tehran to the "last American."

I humbly disagree with this viewpoint. And I also don't believe we will see the People's Liberation Army flooding across Asia and sweeping into Europe any time soon. I also don't want an Empire. Beijing is well aware of Taiwan's economic development and will not jeopardize that any time soon.

Some blogger wrote that the negative effect of the GOP's proposed budget cuts will give the Democrats a political gift. Not so fast. The polls going in the election, the polls going out after the election, all indicate Americans are sensible in their approaches to the economy. BUT and it is a big BUT they did elect these characters. Will there be a backlash or will the spinmeisters manage to blame Obama for these cuts. Besides, the cost of average people will be enormous.

Whom Do You Represent?

It seems the GOP has trouble grasping representative democracy. Even though you win elections, you do have to represent all your constituents. The exit polls for this year's elections clearly indicate the issue was jobs and the economy. Yet, our newly elected Republicans have taken this to mean an outright endorsement of their ideology--and an ideology it is. They claim they are for "limited, constitutional government, cutting taxes (although they will not acknowledge Obama cut them) and the deficit".

While the President extended his hand to reach compromise, both John Boehner and Mitch McConnell said that Obama would have to adopt the Republican agenda or else they will close down the government. Oklahoma Tom Coburn threatened to close down the government unless $300 billion cuts in spending were found immediately. Senator Jim DeMint has demanded the right to read every bill before he would consent to let it come to a vote. A punk Michigan congressman, who just barely won election, demands that Obama do what Republicans say or the government will be closed down.

All of this rhetoric comes around the impending need to raise the debt ceiling of the country. The last time the GOP blocked this under the Clinton Administration we were not in a depression, fighting two wars, and having to assure the international community we can manage the awesome debt accumulated during the Bush-Cheney years. A failure to raise the debt ceiling now would trigger a collapse of the stock market and another severe challenge to the international economic system. Yet, our great media doesn't call these people out on their sheer insanity. They like the sports analogies of politics.

Dick Armey gave an interview with NPR where he outlined what the new Republican House should do. He claims that this is utterly the last chance the Republican Party has or else it will be finished on the national stage. He said that new teabagger members should just vote for limited government and cut all spending. The only spending that they should guarantee is military because that is the only function the federal government must perform. He said that he would suggest introducing a bill immediately to repeal Obamacare and even if it didn't go to the President then they should keep voting on it to fulfill their promises. (Note: repealing Obamacare would increase the federal debt by trillions as we know from the OMB report.) Asked whether Republicans should compromise with the Democrats and President Obama, he said Obama called Republicans "nasty things" during the campaign , unlike the nice epithets the GOP has called the President since Day 1, and that the Republicans can not trust him.

Now listening to Dick Armey talk about "limited government", you get a sense we are a country the size of New Hampshire, have no international obligations, social commitments to our citizens and aren't pivotal to the world financial system. The Exit Polls show that 37% of the Republican voters wanted more spending for job creation, not less, and a majority really didn't care about the national debt--like Republicans never have since Eisenhower. Also, the largest voting bloc for Republicans were the white elderly and the Party can not risk alienating its last base of support by cutting entitlement programs.

Now we have Republicans sitting in Congress saying they will not compromise. It's like they have never participated in the legislative process before.

But what bothers me is whom do they think they represent. We always hear Boehner say "The Voice of the American voter has been heard." but he never said that when President Obama won. When healthcare reform enjoyed a 59% popularity before the disinformation campaign was launched, we didn't hear Boehner accepting this. Only when Fox News and the faux teabaggers started their white riots, did he invoke the popular will. BUT, we once understood that if you were elected to such offices, you represented everyone in your district or your state no matter what their affiliation. Already, new members are turning away calls from constituents who did not support them. They is unprecedented in recent memory.

This is a serious problem. For example, John Kasich barely won by a whisker his battle against Gov. Strickland. During the election campaign he was asked what he would cut and what taxes would he raise etc. Like all GOP candidates this year, he dodged or refused to answer these questions. Yesterday, after the results were announced, he proclaimed that he was cancelling the rapid train plans through Ohio, which had been approved by the Federal Government, stated he would refuse to accept any further stimulus funds for the depressed state, would not enforce the voter-approved tax hike to support the public school system and would totally reorganize State government and eliminate whole departments. He said he would drastically cut education spending. Remember nearly 49% of the state voted against him. The scenario was repeated in Wisconsin with the election of a new Republican Governor. The first day after his victory, he announced he was cancelling the new rail link into the state as developed as part of the rehabilitation of our rail systems.

Like Chrissie in New Jersey cancelling the tunnel to Manhattan, these Republicans try to make a great show of cancelling such projects as if they are saving money. In all three cases, they will have to pay hundreds of millions back to the Federal government. Also, all three rail projects were to be funded by US-backed transportation bonds.

But it's the collossal arrogance and ignorance of these people which is appalling. We should expect this in the next year because you can look it up--none of these people told the voters what they would actually do. But it is clear that they all had a coordinated plan. Cut to Karl Rove. Speaking in western Pennsylvania yesterday to oil drillers, he assured them that there would be no new regulations on oil drilling passed by the House and that anything having to do with Clean Air was dead. How Does He Know? Was this a quid pro quo, all the candidates agreed to for the support of Crossroads America? Is this not bribery?

Out on the West Coast, a tired, old, hoarse Jerry Brown made his victory speech in an Art Deco movie theater built in 1928. Brown had refurbished the building and created two schools there while Mayor of Oakland. Perhaps it's his Jesuit training or Zen practices or simply his memory of his past time as Governor. He opened his speech with his firm commitment to a younger generation and stated his first priority as governor would be to get the resources to support the public education system in the state. Jerry Brown was one of the reasons California could brag about its public education system and its extensive college system. This jewel in the state's crown had been tarnished by draconian budget cuts in recent years.

But Jerry Brown reminded his audience that the political situation in the state and in the nation was highly polarized. He said that over 40% of the voters did not cast their ballot for him but his opponent. But he urged everyone not to compromise on principle but to compromise so that all Californians could seek common ground and a vision for the future. This is not the winner--takes--all principles we are seeing among Republicans. His words may be corny but they remain true in all of political life. Once the campaign ends, governing begins and we have to search for the common good. Maybe it's Jerry Brown's 71 years or maybe it's his experience as a successful governor 35 years ago, but it was clear that he would try and serve all Californians. You do not get that sense from any of the Republicans who have been elected. There is a ruthless nihilism that comes through that should scare everyone. There is no sense of the common good. It is completely lacking.

Another bright spot in the last few miserable days was the YouTube talk by AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka. I guess you have to have led a long miners strike to have the bounce he did after the election. He addressed his rank-and-file and talked in detail of all their election activities and said how much they had affected the elections in Nevada, Colorado and California. He could have said that they came damn close in Pennsylvania, Illinois and Ohio. But if you are going to speak in defeat, Trumpka had the tone down pat. He said the work begins again today to fight for workers' rights. I find myself more and more impressed by him.

Not to miss a beat, Nancy Pelosi was in California to start the formation of the state's "exchanges" for the implementation of the healthrefom bill and made an extensive speech about how this will help the state rebound from its economic woes and generate new jobs. As for her loss as Speaker, she can claim that she led the most progressive legislation in over a generation. It's really too bad some 400 of these bills never got taken up by the Senate.

Progressives are finally waking up to find that almost all their caucus is left in place. It was the Blue Dog caucus that was slaughtered. Progressive really have to find a way to commuicate their positions. Throughout the last two years, polling on policy reflects that the American people support "progressive" positions if phrased specifically. Almost 60% of the American people backed a public option for healthcare reform. Similar percentages back a larger stimulus and also President Obama's plans for the infrastructure. Given that Teabaggers supported funding for job creation, there might be room for a little subversion in the next Congress.

Republicans are now showing their true attitudes to the teabaggers. Michelle Bachman's attempt to make a move to #3 in the House was rebuffed and Karl Rove has now openly gone after the teabaggers. In the House, they will get their pet rocks like the gratuitous investigations into ACORN but they will not have a say about the corporate agenda of Tan Man Boehner. Boehner had already plotted policy in his meeting with Wall Street in New York last Spring.

So far, the Republicans have overreached in their statements about their mandate. The Rasmussen poll is actually looking quite prescient about the degree of disappointment people will feel with the new Congress. It's going to be interesting to see how the teabaggers react to getting their orders from the leadership. The new Republicans are far more radical and less corporate than their leaders. It would be delightful if the GOP didn't vote in a solid block for the first time in years. It might take the new authoritarians to break up the authoritarian rule.

Forget the Democrats for a minute. The new Republican party has an ideology that is like the mirror image of a Marxist paradise. It is libertarian, free market utopianism. Col.Wilkerson, Colin Powell's former Chief of Staff, said that these Republicans' views on economics are so laughable except for the situation we're in as a country. Wilkerson warned that the United States has to have good presidential leadership for the next four terms to get out of our mess and if we don't we will decline rapidly.

What does "constitutional, limited government" mean in the 21st century? We know from the past eight years that endless tax cuts and de-regulation did not create jobs and prosperity or make us stronger abroad. We know that economic development depends on education, investment in research and development and infrastructure, which did not happen until this President took over. And how do you square "limited government" with your imperial dreams? People like Pat Ryan with his "Blueprint for the Future" tries to square all this but only comes up with a country that would de-develop but remains a formidable military power. And he now will be head of the budget committee in the House. Over 15 libertarians won seats in the New Hampshire legislature and maybe that's where such people belong.

The problem we face is that people like the simplistic solutions until the implications are spelled out. If you eliminate social security, will your children take care of you in your old age? Will you and your family be able to afford healthcare? If you severely cut public education, won't we be at the mercy of other countries' who can out-compete us and out-arm us?

It seems to me an indicator of a Great Society is how it takes care of its most vulnerable. This new Republican vision has no room for compassion, empathy or solidarity with others. There is no social compact. There is really no role for government except to protect us from real and imagined foes. Limited government breeds large corporate entities, which Republicans frame as "entrepeneurs", "the producers", and "small business". Only government can violate human rights, not corporations. The rest of society--the old, the infirm, the poor, minorities--are just out of luck. Because that's the price you pay for your freedom.

Many of the new Republican senators and congressmen proclaim that "Atlas Shrugged" is their inspiration. Almost all who said this are dependent on government for their wealth and their families receive unemployment insurance, social security and government pensions. I received an e-mail tonight from a conservative complaining about Obama's mythical plans to raise taxes on the "European model" with a complete chart of all of Europe's tax rates. He said the example was Greece, where until this year you could retire at the age of 48. What is strange is that this person receives a nice miltary pension, benefits from government health insurance at $300 per month, works for defense contractors and also receives a stipend from a news agencies partly owned by the Saudis. He basically gamed the imperial side of our system to have a permanent livelihood. But he has no sense of irony when he advocates these right-wing positions about our welfare state.

Now this call for the repeal of healthcare. The Republicans are promising they will repeal this signature accomplishment of Barack Obama. They might as well try and air-brush him out of history. What they never say--and our media doesn't mention--millions more Americans will go bankrupt because of health costs. We are currently spending 2.5 trillion dollars a year on healthcare in this country, several times the percentage of GNP of any other developed nation. From the healthcare debate, we saw how that cost will continue to escalate unless something like the healthcare bill was passed. The Republicans scared seniors this year--this was Karl Rove's doing--that Obama cut $500 billion from Medicare. What he did was eliminate that much in fraud, waste and over-charging by insurance companies. Any repeal of healthcare would out the country again at the mercy of rapacious health insurance companies. But even they don't want it repealed as some of their spokesmen made clear today. They need the individual mandates--the precise element the Republicans oppose--in order to survive as a viable business.

Somehow the bipartisan agreement that we have a dysfunctional healthcare system seems to have vanished once Barack Obama triumphed. The alternative offered by House Republicans last time would only increase coverage of 3 million Americans, not 40 million and would only save $58 billion in a one time move. We would be stuck with the monstrous system as it is and all go bankrupt.

To answer Senator Coburn, President Obama should repeat his desire to kill the new fighter jet, which is running billions over budget and would cost $300 billion to complete. That would be the instant budget cut Coburn was looking for. But the problem is that the House doesn't want to cut this needless weapons system that was geared for the Cold War.

There are some cynics who believe we should just let Republicans have their way and then the American people would become aware of their treachery. But we know from this mid-term that the American people have already forgotten how we got to the present place. And they would buy into tax cuts for corporations as job creation. Even though we found out the contrary during the George Bush years. A key element in this mid-term elections was the almost relentless 20 month propaganda campaign by the right against President Obama so that none of his significant achievements were acknowledged and almost all the bad moves at the end of the Bush years were blamed on him such as the TARP program, which he turned into a profit.

George W. Bush's memoirs are out. Don't buy them. But one gets a sense how dumbed down we have become as a country when there is no outrage that he proudly asserts he approved the torture program and specifically ordered KSM to be waterboarded. P.S. Contrary to his assertions there was nothing learned from the torture other than disinformation that linked Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda. Also, W says that even though he had been told about the impending economic collapse two years in advance, he was more interested in things like the rate of inflation and not these larger issues. So he didn't do anything. The most distressing moment of his presidency was not 9-11 or blowing Iraq, but being called a racist by Kanye West.

George W. claims that he really didn't pay attention to the destruction going on in Iraq for two years and then he was forced to act. Compare what the Right says about President Obama and his achievements in 20 months. Can you imagine the reaction if Obama postpone a decision for two years? Look what happened when he deliberated on the strategy in Afghanistan.

That's why one can not believe the American people will learn the disasterous effect Bush's policy had on the U.S. and the world at large. What you see after the mid-terms is the revenge of George W. Bush and his henchmen. It really doesn't mean anything to have a reality-based politics. I believe it's essential but clearly the majority of Americans do not.

And So It Goes.

Kurt Vonnegut would not have been surprised but I am amazed. After the debacle of Joe Barton apologizing to BP for Obama's "shakedown" to create a $20 billion escrow account, the entire conservative blogosphere came to Barton's defense. Even after Tan Man Boehner threatened Barton with the loss of his committee seat, we see Newt Gingrich and other conservatives appear on Fox News and call Barton courageous. This is like the conservative support of the South Carolina congressmen who yelled "You Lie" at the State of the Union address. The Wall Street Journal warned that this fund set a precedent and wanted the government to pursue BP through legal means. And the capo di tutti, Rush Limbaugh called this "organized crime". Forget for a moment, that BP actually consulted the Republican leadership about this idea before they brought it up with Obama and the leadership approved. It's not like there is a wall between the corporate world and the Republican party.

The best defense of BP was Freedomworks' own Dick Armey, who said that the White House acted unconstitutionally in "forcing BP" to create the escrow account. This is rich coming from someone whose President enthusiasically embraced the doctrine of the unitary executive as the rationale for almost total power. Just days earlier Armey, head teabagger, told teabagger candidates to hide their affiliation because people think there are kooks. There is a rich irony here. Teabbaggers imitate American colonists who protested the East India Tea Company, while coming to the defense of British Petroleum. It's no mistake because Freedomworks enjoys the financial support of BP and Koch Industries, America's largest private oil company. Part of their work is to lobby for the lifting of all bans on offshore drilling.

(P.S. There were between 85-95 corporate agreements similar to the Escrow Fund during George W's administration. Remember Chevron agreeing to create a fund when they were caught violating the Iraq embargo? And the list goes on.)

The Baked Alaskan gave a full-throated defense of corporations claiming that support for corporations was the "American way". The absolute brazen support of corporations at this time is amazing. David Broder woke up from his coma long enough to suggest that while President Obama is mired in the Gulf crisis, he should look over his shoulder at the American corporations sitting on over $1 trillion that could be invested in the economy right now. What Broder didn't report is that Republican Senate leadership told the corporations to hold back until after the elections to move on this.

The Corporate Crime Reporter noted yesterday that EPA investigators have been trying to get BP prosecuted since 2005 because of safety violations, oil spills in Alaska and other problems but were stopped because BP provides 85% of the fuel for our military in Iraq.

So Washington pundits keep criticising Obama's Oval Office speech, saying the magic has worn off--probably for them. Darkness at Noonan called Obama a snake-bitten President.

I have to check myself with the flood of criticism from the right and the left and see whether any of this is really taking hold in the public. Remember the healthcare debate and all Americans opposed it except when the specific provisions of the bill were polled, which showed overwhelming support for them? The same is appearing now with Obama's proposals on the Gulf crisis.

Support for creating a fund of billions of dollars to compensate workers and businesses that have been affected. 82% Approve.
Support for increasing the amount of federal regulation of the oil industry. 68% approve
Support for changing the law so there is no limit to the amount of money BP can pay: 63% approve
Support for suspending all new drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico and other offshore sites for six months. 58% approve
Support for filing criminal charges against BP. 53% approve

(CNN poll)
In addition over 70% support developing alternative sources of energy and nearly the same percent believe this will create more jobs.

If you notice,my posts this year have already surpassed the entire volume of last year. the reason is that I want to keep up the same rate as GOP Senate filibusters, which are now looking to top all of last year.

President Obama's Saturday morning address to the nation focused on Republican efforts--so far successful--in filibustering a new Jobs bill, that includes vital payments to state governments to save the jobs of teachers and law enforcement officers, extends unemployment benefits and also corrects the Medicare payments to doctors. Last year the Republican tactics were aimed at stalling the healthcare bill. This year it's flat out to kill aid to states and the unemployed. President Obama merely is asking for a vote on the bill. So far this has 57 votes. Nelson and Joe Lieberman (I-Knesset) are opposed.

I will return to the great deficit debate in a later post because this is where things will really get nasty. But for now I am absolutely astonished that Republicans can be so raw in acting against the public good. You really would have to look at the war against FDR in his first term to find such a precedent. I wish the opposition to Obama was all racially motivated. At least George Wallace was a populist racist. This is a total war by the wealthy and corporations to render us an undeveloped country. The final looting of the country.

I leave you with the true words that someone who voted four times for FDR and was "proud of it" said to me. President Ronald Reagan said to me," Remember large corporations are generally not very patriotic." You might recall this was when Pepsi and Archer-Midlands were actively trying to sabotage his policy toward the Soviet Union. The sentiment still stands.

I think I'll take the day off and read Michael Lux The Progressive Revolution: How The Best in America Came To Be (Wiley, 2009). Lux spends a great deal of his book on the progressive responses to corporate control of America.

The Calm Before the Storm--The Big Fade

The noise level has dropped dramatically. The Tea Baggers have one last go at it today by storming the Hill and button-holing members. Took me a long time to get an e-mail to our Congressman Jim Moran last night because the anti-health care folks are mass e-mailing Congress. Citizens United--those Citizens United--are robocalling against health care reform.

But I get a sense the air has gone from the fight. Bob Corker appearing on Charlie Rose looked like a defeated man when he admitted Health Care would pass. Jim DeMint, who thought this was Obama's Waterloo and vowed to break the President, says he's not sure it's going to end up that way. Teabagger-in-Chief, Dick Armey held a press conference yesterday, saying it would pass and that members of Congress are spineless and Nancy Pelosi isn't tough enough. I guess she's a girlie-girlie. 'Though I like Dick's Tony Lama boots. Americans for Prosperity will be driving around the District offices of congresscritters beeping their horns. Since it's the NCAA basketball tournament period, don't you think the message will be confused. You know it's over when World News Daily, the extreme right forum alerts everyone that healthcare reform will pass.

So the last burning question is whether Dennis "The Menace" is going to vote for it since his arm was twisted by the President while going and coming from Ohio yesterday.

What will be interesting to watch is whether Republican Senators have the stomach to submit amendments after amendments to prolong the fight. Democrats have already signed on to round-the-clock voting in the Senate. So, it might get interesting.

Lindsey Graham pouted that if health care passes , it will be much more difficult for the President to get any cooperation to pass anything else. Doug Brooks went off his meds today claiming the reconciliation process damages the "humanizing effect of the Senate". Doug, they are all dead there. The Senate reminds me of old Red Smith columns in the sporting section of the New York Times. The line was,"He only writes about famous dead people."

Our august Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia has distanced himself again from his hand-picked Attorney-General's embrace of the birther cause. And the mother of birthers, Orly Taitz, candidate for Secretary of State in California, received another blow--the court upheld her $20,000 fine for wasting their time. You will recall Orly petitioned the UN Human Rights Council to protect her from recriminations by the Obama Administration. Moldovan-born Orly is a Gsa-Gsa Gabor look-alike.

Arizona's own J.D. Hayworth is against same sex marriage because a man could marry a horse. John McCain is against same sex marriage because he doesn't believe marriage should be between two people who love each other. Great primary to watch. Cindy McCain has gone off to Africa for charity work while the two hombres shoot it out.

Sean Wilentz wrote a defense of my son's ancestor Ulysses S. Grant in the Sunday Times. He wanted to explain why Grant deserves to remain on the $50 bill and not be replaced by Ronald Reagan as proposed by southern congresscritter Patrick Henry. He said all the slanders against Grant and his Presidency were manufactured by " pro-South revisionists", who hated Grant's reconstructionist policies. Sounds similar to today.

The great state of Oklahoma has removed the picture of the President of the United States from the legislature. Apparently, it incensed to many representatives.

The FCC unveiled their internet plans today. It was a real snoozefest. All the attendees dozed off. I'm glad because it is as radical and meaningful as I said yesterday. This one will just pass through without anyone thinking about it. President Obama got the initiative off the ground through a downpayment hidden in the stimulus package. The FCC aims for 90% connectivity.

Progressives are complaining that President Obama is missing the opportunity to salt the courts with liberals. Not true--his nominees are now being quietly confirmed and they are from moderate-left to liberal. The problem will come when Justice Stevens needs to be replaced. he claims he will retire within three years. I think he will after the mid-terms if the Democrats maintain a decent majority in the Senate. But I bet President Obama will appoint a Sotomayor moderate on the bench so that the Court will tilt even more right than it is today. I would support Laurence Tribe and force the issue in the Senate about who knows the constitution and who doesn't.

My thanks to President Obama for the college tuition tax credit. This is the type of thing that he has been sprinkling around that really makes a difference. I am not sure people realize this. For an average American family, the enlargement of the credit allows you to send a son or daughter or even yourself to state universities for very little money. Here in Virginia, with the tax credit, the University of Virginia, an Ivy-League quality school, would cost you about $10K per year. And our knucklehead Governor will not be able to destroy the Virginia university system in the remaining three years of his term. For snobs like me, the tuition credit doesn't do as much good but it helps. This small act does alot for the future of education.

I am very ambivalent about President Obama's larger educational policy. I'll blog in later days some of the fall-out from this policy on our own local school system. And, having lived through the privatization of everything from prisons to our national seurity, I am very wary about Arne Duncan's plans to privatize charter schools.

The Israel flap will not go away. George Mitchell has cancelled his trip to the region. President Obama spent an hour on the phone to Bibi. The best thing that could happen now for Israel is Germany to release the Eichman files. Apparently, the files reveal that Germany smuggled Eichman to Argentina. These might remind everyone how we got Israel in the first place. Friends of Israel should call Tel Aviv and remind Bibi he isn't the mayor of Levittown. The actual background of this latest snafu is actually quite distressing and brings in some of the characters from our right whom I've been writing about.

Now when President Obama flies to Indonesia and all hell breaks out in the Senate, is the House bill he signed the law of the land? In other words, if the Senate can't get its act together, will the House bill remain as law? We know the minute he leaves the country, the Republicans will start some new nonsense. I have no idea.

(Note: I've consulted our in-house parliamentarian, Dr. Vinnie Boom-Bah, and he says it is the law of the land because the House passes the Senate version. So let the food fight begin.)

Other people are getting wise to Rep. Pat Ryan's Roadmap to Future Ruin. Several think-tanks have their analyses out and I'll share them with you as I digest them. In short--everyone earning up to $200,000 will have their taxes massively increased; the very wealthy will be earning upwards to $500,000 additional tax credits and the whole plan will basically run enormous deficits that can never be corrected. In policy language, all these think-tanks agree that the Ryan Plan is a conscious effort to de-develop the country and make us a third-world country. No wonder Tom Davis doesn't want Republicans to debate governance this year!

Back from Africa before Going Back

Mea culpa. Missed the New Jersey vote. Forgot the state usually voted in a governor of a party opposite that of the President. Gay marriage vote in Maine was a disappointment. Yet, 47% bodes well for the future. Underestimated the strength of the local Catholic Church and the effect of sermons on Sunday urging a yes vote. The Democrats picked up two seats in the by-election with upstate New York going Democrat for the first time since 1871. Despite closing vote margin, it's still Democratic.

New Gingrich plans a Contract with America, Part II, to nationalize the 2010 elections. Karl Rove warns Obama not to nationalize the 2010 elections as a referendum on the Addministration. Seems like the Republicans are already going down that road. Why not Democrats?

Eric Holder's announcement to try the 9-11 masterminds in New York City provoked the usual outcry from conservatives, worrying the accused might get off on a technicality. Could that technicality be torture, I wonder. Presidential aspirant Sarah Palin tweeted"Hang 'em High!" It's a little late for that. I happen to agree with the Administration's decision. It's nice to see the rule of law being asserted again after a two term hiatus. The New York federal attorneys have a 99% conviction rate on terrorism cases. I think it's worth the gamble.

While abroad the gruesome Fort Hood incident happened. The perpetrator has been indicted for over a dozen counts of homicide and is facing a death penalty. If the incident had been terrorism as conservatives maintain, he would be charged either before a military commission or be given over the federal authorities. Critics of the Administration conveniently neglected to mention that President Obama ordered an investigation into the killings once it happened and then today again ordered a further investigation. The mysterious Yemeni imam mentioned in the case turns out to be a native born American, who has the dubious distinction of being the Rush Limbaugh of jihadist internet. With the breakup of the 9/11 anniversary plot by the FBI, we may have crossed the corner into homegrown Islamic terrorists--joining our growing group of white supremacist and Christian terrorists.

While away, I missed Orly Taitz protest against Fox News. The video showed a hefty crowd of about 15 --give or take a few bystanders. The U.S. Attorney has been ordered to collect the $20,000 fine levied against Taitz. She suffered another blow when he case was turned down because the judge feared she had induced witnesses to commit perjury. An Indiana birther case was rejected and the judge went further than even I in asserting that being born on American soil you were native-born. The judge basically went so far as to dismiss the case, even if President Obama had no American parents. Pretty heavy stuff. In her television statements, Ms. Taitz reverted to the white supremacist version of the Constitution, claiming that the "original" intent of native-born was that someone must have two American parents. Not true. the Constitution left the definition up to Congress. Simply put --one of your parents had to be an American above the age of 14 and it didn't matter where you were born. Also, your parents can not sign away your citizenship as Ms. Taitz claims when Barack Obama's mother married an Indonesian. Do you believe an employee of USAID would give up her son's--let alone her own American citizenship in a country undergoing a civil war? The birthers are now suing each other over who are the most authentic.

The teabaggers are doing the same. The Tea Party Express and the Tea Party Patriots are warring against it other. I guess the are competing for the different corporate money behind each group. I got my mailing from Freedomworks, which boasted their Washington rally drew 750,000--which every reliable source has disputed. 50-75,000 if we're generous. Dick Armey in his fund-raising plea claims to be building a mass movement. How about 12 million strong for Obama's organization--that's a goal to aim at.

My 2009 Hero of Democracy award goes to David Plouffe for creating the first 21st century campaign and introducing the whole array of the digital revolution to electoral politics. His book Audacity to Win documents the whole saga of the historic Obama campaign. My question is whether such a campiagn can be waged when Obama is a sitting President. I tend to doubt it. It may well be a one off. I am convinced that Republicans have yet learned how Obama beat them in 2008. In no Republican accounts does the name Plouffe occur. It's all about Axelrod and the Chicago machine. They might want to read the book and learn something. Plouffe also restored the badly damaged reputation of campaign managers, who have been perceived as slightly lower than pond scum.

Meanwhile, John McCain's campaign manager Steven Schmidt is getting slaughtered by the rumors surrounding Sarah Palin's memoirs. Schmidt made several strategic errors in the race but he alone could not make up for McCain's inherent weakness on the economy. But that's not why he is taking heat. Sarah Palin claims he and the campaign stiffed her with the legal bills for her vetting, made her (at the point of a gun?) buy her expensive wardrobe, wanted her to go on a diet and cursed in front of her daughter. Any of this true? Who cares? It's great fodder for the tabloids.

Levi Johnston, the putative father of Bristol's baby, will appear full frontal in Playgirl, posing with a hockey stick. It seems conservatives are now getting the hang of American culture. Carrie Parjean, former Miss something and defender of family values and self-proclaimed friend of Sarah Palin, had to cave in her lawsuit against the beauty pageant organizers because it seems not only did she pose nude but she made --several--sex tapes for her then boyfriend complete with sex toys. While she claimed she did this when a teenager, her boyfriend claims she was 20. Instead of heading this off at the pass when the pageant lawyers asked her to withdraw the suit, she had to watch with her mother in the audience as the tape was shown at the trial. At this rate, she could become a full blown member of the Family, joining John Ensign and Tom Coburn.

When I decide what we should do in Afghanistan, I'll let you know. After reading every possible option, I'm convinced that Obama was right with "None of the above." Most troubling have been the investigative pieces done by the Nation and others about the level of corruption in the Afghan government and how we are paying off the Taliban not to attack our supply lines. On this Obama can't win for losing. But he is at least asking for the "off ramps".

While Obama is in Asia, I will be returning to Africa where the Chinese look like they are colonizing the place. This is going to become a social problem that will ignite local reaction like the days when Idi Amin reigned terror down on the Asian shopkeepers.

Mercenary Simon Mann was released from prison in Equatorial Guinea. On release he let loose on Mark Thatcher and Eli Kalil, the Lebanonese financier of the invasion plans. One curious question: "Why did President Obama ask for his release?" What other gems are left to be discovered from the Bush years? Stay tuned.