President George W. Bush stirred up a lot of controversy yesterday with what he says is his final press conference as president, alternately acknowledging mistakes and showing defiance. He delivers a farewell address Thursday night.
** OBAMA ENCOUNTERS SOME TURBULENCE. While Hillary Clinton encountered and mostly surpassed expected questions about her husband’s foreign fundraising for his foundations (it remains to be seen how hamstrung his foundation activities will be by her ascending to secretary of state), President-elect Barack Obama had turbulence on other fronts today.
First, he told his former Democratic colleagues in the US Senate that he will veto any attempt to stop him from using the second $350 billion tranche of the already approved Wall Street bailout. But he will make the program more transparent than it’s been and send a big chunk of money to direct relief for homeowners.
Elsewhere during the day, Obama’s pick for treasury secretary, New York Federal Reserve chief Tim Geithner, found that a tax problem or four of his were now in the Senate’s domain. Team Obama maintains that this is routine, even for a financial expert.
And Obama’s pick for federal budget director, Peter Orszag, was blasted by Democratic Senator and former astronaut Bill Nelson of Florida for offering “mumbo-jumbo” instead of hard facts for his fiscal plans.
** STATE OF THE STATE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will focus almost entirely on California’s chronic budget crisis in his state of the state address on Thursday. No bright colors in his palette for this speech, more a matter of blacks and grays.
Schwarzenegger and state legislative leaders have spent most of the day in Big 5 meetings on the budget crisis. No resolution yet.
** ANOTHER DAY: 24 AND THE AGE OF OBAMA. One of the signature TV series of the Bush/Cheney years is back. What relevance, if any, does it have in the new age of Obama? … While there has always been a less remarked upon yet powerful lefty side to the show, let’s talk first about fictional agent Jack Bauer’s propensity to torture, a relentlessly hardball approach that has made him an icon to many on the right, and the show’s inevitable amping up of the terrorist threat.
The Bush/Cheney Administration essentially adopted the thriller approach to politics. What underlies that? The knowledge that most anything seems plausible if you keep things moving too fast for the audience to think about it.
The Bush/Cheney Administration essentially adopted the thriller approach to politics. What underlies that? The knowledge that most anything seems plausible if you keep things moving too fast for the audience to think about it.
We saw it again in the just-concluded season premiere of 24, when Bauer (played by the terrific Kiefer Sutherland), told a balky agent: ”You’re running out of time — you don’t have a better option.”
If that’s how you define the logic of the situation, then extreme measures always seem more plausible.
24 took the thriller genre and amped up the adrenaline even further with the show’s format, in which everything takes place in a 24-hour period, ostensibly in real time, with hour-by-hour episodes replete with not only the requisite fast cuts and handheld cameras of the modern thriller genre adding to the urgency but also regular split screens and a ticking clock motif. … From my new column.
** GALLUP POLL: HILLARY’S SOARING POPULARITY. The new Gallup Poll has Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton at a 10-year high in popularity. That should hold through her confirmation hearings, as what I saw this morning, including her tour d’horizon, looked very impressive.
A new Gallup Poll finds 65% of Americans saying they have a favorable opinion of Hillary Clinton, the highest rating for her in almost 10 years. Clinton had not had a favorable rating above 60% since 1999, after having been consistently above that level during the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to the impeachment but ultimate acquittal of husband Bill Clinton. That included Hillary Clinton’s all-time high 67% favorable rating immediately after the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president in December 1998.
Since late 1999, Hillary Clinton’s favorable ratings have been around 50%, ranging from a low of 44% in March 2001 to a high of 58% in February 2007.
The last measure in 2008, taken just before the Democratic National Convention last August and following months of a hotly contested Democratic nomination campaign with Barack Obama, was 54%. Since that time, her image has improved among most key demographic and political subgroups, but much more among women than men.
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
** OBAMA WILL REVERSE BUSH EXECUTIVE ORDERS. Not surprisingly, President-elect Barack Obama will swiftly reverse many of President Bush’s executive orders on torture and interrogation of terror suspects, the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, and increased secrecy in government.
Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) said he’s been informed that President Obama will support his proposed legislation to make public some opinions from the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, which issued some of the Bush Administration’s most sweeping claims of executive power. Obama also has promised to limit President Bush’s practice of using “signing statements” to amend legislation.
“Every day we get indications that they’re serious about reversing the abuses of the Constitution,” Feingold, a harsh Bush critic, told Politico. Feingold said Obama’s staff told him to expect executive orders rapidly reversing Bush policies on the interrogation and detention of terror suspects, and on keeping the records of past presidents secret. He declined to be more specific.
** OBAMA TODAY. President-elect Barack Obama continues work on his transition in Washington. He joins Democratic senators for their weekly lunch meeting and monitors confirmation hearings for members of his Cabinet, several of which are taking place today.
The principal one, of course, is for Hillary Clinton. She’s up on Capitol Hill promoting an approach called “smart power,” a blend of diplomacy and military options. As opposed, presumably, to dumb power, which we may have been watching for the past several years.
Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton talks Middle East strategy in her Senate Foreign Relations confirmation hearing.
Clinton has some questions to answer about an AP story which, not surprisingly, finds that Senator Clinton supported projects pushed by some of the contributors to President Clinton’s foundation.
Obama wants the second $350 billion tranche of the Wall Street bailout to be released, but Congress is balky. Probably because the first $350 billion was spent in ways largely unaccounted for. Obama says he, too, wants restrictions, and that much of the money should go to homeowners in need of relief.
Meanwhile, the Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza continues. Troops have moved closer to the central area of Gaza City. Hamas rocket attacks into Israel are continuing, though causing few casualties. The Israelis say their goal is to stop the rocket attacks and smuggling of military supplies into Gaza.
And the Russia/Ukraine natural gas crisis, affecting all of Europe, continues, with both sides accusing the other of tactics preventing full natural gas flows. Russia’s deep aim, of course, is to turn the former Soviet republic, much flirted with by the US and NATO, back to an alliance with Moscow.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has private meetings and discussions in and around the Capitol today around his state of the state address on January 15th and California’s chronic budget crisis. He has no scheduled public events.
Will his state of the state address focus only on California’s chronic budget crisis, or will it address a broader agenda for the state?
** CIA: THE PANETTA PICK AND THE FEINSTEIN FACTOR. President-elect Barack Obama named his top intelligence leadership team on Friday. And, as I expected, new Senate Intelligence Committee chair Dianne Feinstein rather quickly backed down from her opposition to Leon Panetta and championing of a CIA insider for the post, of only a few days ago. The whole exercise was very instructive in old and new political dynamics. … From my new column.
** CIA: PARSING THE PANETTA PICK. … From my January 6th column.
** OBAMA: VACATION’S END. … From my January 2nd Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the new Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti.
While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, which I know as a former DemRussia advisor, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included.
Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. After crashing over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, crude oil is trading in the $38 to $39 per barrel range.
The drop of $109 per barrel since the record high over the summer comes on acknowledgment that the weak US economy will cut future demand and on the easing of previous geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. It is clear that that, contrary to much chatter, neither the US nor Israel is about to launch a strike against Iran. And the Russian war with Georgia, confounding much speculation and reporting to the contrary, actually decreased the geopolitical risk premium in the oil market.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum.
Read 
| Comments (67) |
That Bush is a piece of work.
What Hillary is saying sounds good.
She’s saying what Barack wants her to say.
I can’t watch him.
Jonas Blane Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:10 am
That Bush is a piece of work.
Good column on the Cia, Panetta, and Feinstein. DiFi is out of touch. She’s been an insider too long.
Panetta’s been an insider as long as Feinstein. It might be she was never what she was cracked up to be.
No. But Hamas is now a governing body, not just a bunch of freedom fighters. So I would think there is a strategy beyond “Let’s inflict pain” on their adversaries or some strategic goal.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 12th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
You’re under the impression that Hamas is out to reach common ground with Israel?
Their real goal is not to govern the Gaza Strip.
I’m not surprised by her reactions.
># Len Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:59 am edit
Panetta’s been an insider as long as Feinstein. It might be she was never what she was cracked up to be.
Thanks.
># Capitol Boy Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:31 am edit
Good column on the Cia, Panetta, and Feinstein. DiFi is out of touch. She’s been an insider too long.
Sometimes I can, sometimes I can’t.
># Capitol Boy Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:25 am edit
I can’t watch him.
Jonas Blane Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:10 am
That Bush is a piece of work.
Hillary works for Obama now.
># Capitol Boy Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:24 am edit
She’s saying what Barack wants her to say.
A little on the vague side, though.
># Jonas Blane Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:20 am edit
What Hillary is saying sounds good.
A compliment?
># Jonas Blane Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 9:10 am edit
That Bush is a piece of work.
A guest of Charlie Rose last night noted Bush’s comment on Katrina was he wondered whether he should have had Air Force One land in New Orleans. Nothing about the suffering of the residents. The self absorption behind that is telling. He just doesn’t get it. And I am angry at this vindication talk. He deserves only repudiation for so many failures of leadership. I bet his leadership academy will be a laughingstock.
Look over Fred Barnes’ tortured attempt to tout achievements for Bush and realize we are witness not merely to a failed presidency, but the implosion of a political movement. While in a steep decline for some time the far right has held its stranglehold of our national dialogue while squandering power in a spasm of self indulgent greed and foreign policy stupidities. The magnitude of their failure is monumental and I think they are fooling themselves to think the recent election is a blip and they will soon be on the rise again…
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/986rockt.asp
Well, that counts for a first lesson in Geopolitics 101. Thanks.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Their real goal is not to govern the Gaza Strip.
FAIRYTALE OR NIGHTMARE WORLD VOTE?
We are the Muslims resistance is futile, prepare to be assimilated (become the same as us). In November (2005), the Taxpayers League, held a debate in the (6th) Minnesota Republican Congressional District, and it was decided that in fact all cultures are NOT equal, and NOT all values are equal. And with the ever ballooning Muslim population of France and Western Europe they are shifting to a Muslim ethic they are not being assimilated they are doing the assimilating.
Now, the Romans got tired of all the trouble they were having with the Jew’s of Palestine about (2000) Two-Thousand years ago and decided that the best way to hand it was to disperse the Jew’s across the Empire as slaves of the Empire, and they didn’t assimilate, and today we have the Jew’s dispersing the Muslim problem across Europe, but this time it’s only sowing the seeds for their own destruction.
Let’s examine the (UN) United Nations Human Rights Council resolution vote condemning Israel’s military offensive against the Islamic Peoples of the Palestinian Territory of Gaza, which Israel dismissed as one-sided and a “fairytale world vote”. But, was it really all a “fairytale world vote”, or the beginning of Israel’s worse nightmare? The total number of vote’s cast was (47) forty-seven, (33) thirty-three or (70%) seventy percent voted for the resolution, a Super-Majority, in most elections, (13) Lucky number thirteen abstained from voting, that an Obama, “Empty Suit, no spine position vote” just here to get my paycheck vote, representing (27%) and (1) One voted against the resolution, representing (3%) three percent, of the vote.
And just how did it all break down, East Vs West, The (EU) European Union and Canada Vs the Russian Federation, The Peoples Republic of China, and South America. But, that is going to change, there is no doubt that the (USI/MIC) United States of Israel, Military Industrial Complex, did a lot of behind the scenes arm twisting to obtain just abstention vote from Europe, the population demographics taken into consideration, it’s not going to continue.
Israel has sown the seed’s of it’s own destruction, as the generations of Muslims in Europe will continue to grown and continue to assimilate the culture’s around them, and then it’s going to be Israel’s worse “Nightmare World”.
So, the question is who is living in a “Fairytale World”?
Take a sedative.
This looks fun!
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
Presidents, in their pursuit of national interests, are above concerns about human suffering, even on a mass scale. They become so used to making decisions that mean life or death for thousands of people that a little thing like a city drowning may not register with them. Some of them, anyway.
>Dana; “…Nothing about the suffering of the residents…”
Damn, that was another great piece in the HuffPo! But DiFi lost TWO races for Mayor before succeeding Moscone. While popular enough to place first in the at large election for the Bqard of Supervisors (in 1969 and 1973) she could do no better than placing third for Mayor in 1971 and 1975.
But Lady Di just marked an unreported milestone. On January 1 she became the third oldest Californian to ever be a member of the U.S. Senate, eclipsing Sen. George C. Perkins, who retired at the age of 75 years and 192 days old. If she does not become California’s oldest Governor, she will surpass Alan Cranston and Hiram Johnson as the most aged California senators in 2012.
Chris M, for some reason I was up at 5 a.m. and pondered what is it that marks a great leader. Can it be that whatever their beginnings, whatever their limitations that they are capable of surmounting and transcending those to a great truth?
With his momentous words that concluded the Gettysberg Address, Lincoln elevated and thus brought nobility to the cause of union victory. It was a slow process by which he arrived at the realization that preserving the union as it was could no longer be the purpose for which they fought. He did what he knew was right.
For Bush to harp on if only the WMDs had been found insults the memories of the many thousands, Iranian and American, who have died from this war that should have never been started at the behest of people who were so wrong it is terrifying they still are producing op-eds, showing up on TV, etc.
Our moral authority has been shattered. A Chaney-like shortsighted pursuit of national interest can have long-term dire consequences. Let us learn the lesson and in the words of Lincoln “that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom; and that this government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
I am afraid that’s true. Bush should have been happy there were no WMD in Iraq. That was best for the world. Instead, he worried about himself and his “legacy”.
I am only happy that Tony Almeida is back and that he isn’t a bad guy.
Jack Aubrey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
This looks fun!
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
SPOILER WARNING (for those who tivoed the 4 hours to watch later)
But Tony admitted to having done some bad stuff when he dipped into the dark side before pulling back when confronted by spectre of helping endanger millions of innocents. And he still looks like a Man stained by his past.
This seems to be a season for moral dilemmas, with questioning of motives and consequences. Jack speaks up for the public’s right to know and letting them decide where the lines should be drawn in balancing security vs. freedom. Yet he rejects attempts to question his past actions.
I suspect we’ll remeber this as a season about shades of grey.
>marcos leon Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I am only happy that Tony Almeida is back and that he isn’t a bad guy.
I’ve never liked “24″ much.
Well, he’s still made the right choice. So the show has two tarnished heroes now.
># Dana Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 3:02 pm edit
SPOILER WARNING (for those who tivoed the 4 hours to watch later)
But Tony admitted to having done some bad stuff when he dipped into the dark side before pulling back when confronted by spectre of helping endanger millions of innocents. And he still looks like a Man stained by his past.
This seems to be a season for moral dilemmas, with questioning of motives and consequences. Jack speaks up for the public’s right to know and letting them decide where the lines should be drawn in balancing security vs. freedom. Yet he rejects attempts to question his past actions.
I suspect we’ll remeber this as a season about shades of grey.
>marcos leon Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
I am only happy that Tony Almeida is back and that he isn’t a bad guy.
One of the true bummer openings of any TV show was the first episode of 24 Season 5. David Palmer assassinated. Michelle Dessler murdered. Tony Almeida critically wounded if not dead.
># marcos leon Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm edit
I am only happy that Tony Almeida is back and that he isn’t a bad guy.
Jack Aubrey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
This looks fun!
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
Not a very reflective guy, our outgoing president …
># marcos leon Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm edit
I am afraid that’s true. Bush should have been happy there were no WMD in Iraq. That was best for the world. Instead, he worried about himself and his “legacy”.
Lincoln actually began defending slavery. Although that was a tactical move, I think.
>Dana Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 12:42 pm edit
Chris M, for some reason I was up at 5 a.m. and pondered what is it that marks a great leader. Can it be that whatever their beginnings, whatever their limitations that they are capable of surmounting and transcending those to a great truth?
With his momentous words that concluded the Gettysberg Address, Lincoln elevated and thus brought nobility to the cause of union victory. It was a slow process by which he arrived at the realization that preserving the union as it was could no longer be the purpose for which they fought. He did what he knew was right.
Thanks! And thanks for the additional history.
Feinstein will become California’s oldest US senator in history.
># Sullihan Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 12:22 pm edit
Damn, that was another great piece in the HuffPo! But DiFi lost TWO races for Mayor before succeeding Moscone. While popular enough to place first in the at large election for the Bqard of Supervisors (in 1969 and 1973) she could do no better than placing third for Mayor in 1971 and 1975.
But Lady Di just marked an unreported milestone. On January 1 she became the third oldest Californian to ever be a member of the U.S. Senate, eclipsing Sen. George C. Perkins, who retired at the age of 75 years and 192 days old. If she does not become California’s oldest Governor, she will surpass Alan Cranston and Hiram Johnson as the most aged California senators in 2012.
Bush was complaining that he had landed AF1 that he would have been criticized for diverting police resources to his security.
># Chris M Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:35 am edit
Presidents, in their pursuit of national interests, are above concerns about human suffering, even on a mass scale. They become so used to making decisions that mean life or death for thousands of people that a little thing like a city drowning may not register with them. Some of them, anyway.
>Dana; “…Nothing about the suffering of the residents…”
Hopefully. Somewhat.
># Jack Aubrey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am edit
This looks fun!
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
Short but, well, not sweet.
># Dana Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 10:40 am edit
Well, that counts for a first lesson in Geopolitics 101. Thanks.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Their real goal is not to govern the Gaza Strip.
Actually, it would appear that Charlie Rose’s guest lifted Bush’s remark out of its context.
>Dana Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 10:37 am edit
A guest of Charlie Rose last night noted Bush’s comment on Katrina was he wondered whether he should have had Air Force One land in New Orleans. Nothing about the suffering of the residents. The self absorption behind that is telling. He just doesn’t get it. And I am angry at this vindication talk. He deserves only repudiation for so many failures of leadership. I bet his leadership academy will be a laughingstock.
Lincoln abhorred slavery but he was an ambitious man. To say he defeneded slavery requires some nuance. He acknowledged that slavery was enshrined in the Constitution– that was a plain fact– but he strongly opposed the institution of slavery his entire adult life.
Dana, my “national interest” comment above was of course not aimed solely at Bush. Lincoln, for example, made a policy choice that resulted in 600,000 deaths because he believed it to be in the national interest. That sort of decision, like Bush’s decision to invade Iraq, requires a certain steely resolve and a cold distance from those who end up being victims for a larger cause.
Now, those who drowned in New Orleans died for no cause. But Bush had certainly become more inured to death over the course of his term.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Lincoln actually began defending slavery. Although that was a tactical move, I think.
Chris, perhaps it requires some nuance to point out that Lincoln also favored repatriating slaves to Africa.
The truth is that people exist in contexts, including the contexts of contemporary views and personal ambitions.
The airbrushing happens somewhat later.
lol
At least it’s not the Eagles.
Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 4:42 pm
One of the true bummer openings of any TV show was the first episode of 24 Season 5. David Palmer assassinated. Michelle Dessler murdered. Tony Almeida critically wounded if not dead.
># marcos leon Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 2:30 pm edit
I am only happy that Tony Almeida is back and that he isn’t a bad guy.
Jack Aubrey Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:25 am
This looks fun!
** NEW COLUMN COMING UP … ANOTHER DAY: 24 IN THE AGE OF OBAMA.
The Liberia scheme* was a lowpoint in Lincoln’s public utterances regarding slavery (Attempting to curry favor with southern Illinois voters, he also said some not-so-admirable things in the course of the 1858 debates with Douglas). That was Lincoln the politician.
Lincoln the man, having made several riverboat trips to New Orleans, was far more exposed to and repulsed by the realities of slavery than most men of his era. But, as you note, he was of his time.
* Publicly discussed as late as mid-1862, I believe (only a few months before the EP was proclaimed)
I think Lincoln is great. Although his is not one of the busts in my office.
Those would be Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy.
But all these folks, like Lincoln, are real people with feet at least somewhat comprised of clay.
Lincoln certainly was a politician, and there is context. Yet he became great.
What leaves me shaking my head over Bush is even in the final months he has been offered opportunities to show some leadership with the financial meltdown and Bernie Madoff. But he just wasn’t up to it. And I think the bank bailout has ended up leaving a bad taste in the public’s mouth. Talk about exiting on a low note.
OK. I’ll concede. But he also offered no other comment on Katrina and the ongoing fiasco of the response. What should have proved a highlight of his tenure by rising to the occasion ended up denting his teflon and I think shadows him to this day.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 4:52 pm
Actually, it would appear that Charlie Rose’s guest lifted Bush’s remark out of its context.
I’m just commenting on the facts immediately at hand, not my view of Bush’s presidency per se …
Some grow in office, rise to the occasion … some do not.
># Dana Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 6:13 pm edit
Lincoln certainly was a politician, and there is context. Yet he became great.
What leaves me shaking my head over Bush is even in the final months he has been offered opportunities to show some leadership with the financial meltdown and Bernie Madoff. But he just wasn’t up to it. And I think the bank bailout has ended up leaving a bad taste in the public’s mouth. Talk about exiting on a low note.
Good column on “24″. Yeah, I was also unhappy with with how quickly Agent Walker agreed to the use of torture after the set up that the FBI folks found it distasteful. Manny Coto, the Executive producer, has solid writing chops and hopefully he’ll eventually have the character re-evaluate her abrupt change of attitude and question was it the right call.
“The knowledge that most anything seems plausible if you keep things moving too fast for the audience to think about it.” HA! When I took my Mom to the first Mission Impossible movie during a visit she complained everything was happening too fast. Essentially I told her that was to keep you from noticing the gaps in the storyline. Glad to see Bill you have the same analysis in a similar situation.
I think the setting up of moral amiguity and greater good paradoxes could make for a strong season. And that is certainly relevant to our realpolitik world.
Understood.
>Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
I’m just commenting on the facts immediately at hand, not my view of Bush’s presidency per se …
Before I dash off to have a savory dinner of savory smoked sausages a friend gave me I’ll just note leadership is a tricky thing. A bunch of folks online lost it when Metro here in L.A. gave some initial estimates how long the Wilshire subway project may take to complete given uncertain funding at this time. Obviously we are going to work to alter the situation but these things take time and wigging out is unproductive. I know being one of the seasoned hands on this stuff I need to put together something to encourage everyone to chill out and explain the big picture, but it takes a while to work out that sort of uber commentary. People often react to the day to day and it is important to be mindful of the medium and long term also. Dealing with these complicated aspects is how it is when you are out front. No glory but it needs doing.
That is obvious.
Bill Bradley Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
Bush was complaining that he had landed AF1 that he would have been criticized for diverting police resources to his security.
># Chris M Says:
January 13th, 2009 at 11:35 am edit
Presidents, in their pursuit of national interests, are above concerns about human suffering, even on a mass scale. They become so used to making decisions that mean life or death for thousands of people that a little thing like a city drowning may not register with them. Some of them, anyway.
>Dana; “…Nothing about the suffering of the residents…”
Does anybody else bother to “subscribe” to the SAC BEE Capitol “Alert?”
lol