Jane Hamsher made me do it

From the Blogometer:

Oh, the irony! After vigorously opposing Caroline Kennedy's Senate bid and cheering her ultimate decision to bow out, the netroots are now voicing concerns about Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, whom NY Gov. David Paterson just appointed to NY's vacant Senate seat. Many liberal bloggers are unhappy that NY's new Senator has such a centrist voting record -- particularly on social issues such as gay rights and gun control. They're also complaining that Dems "just lost an excellent chance to expand the progressive caucus in the Senate," since Paterson (in their view) could have easily appointed someone more liberal to represent the solidly blue state of NY. Several lefty bloggers are criticizing their colleagues who attacked Kennedy, since they believe that Kennedy would have been a far more reliable vote for liberals than Gillibrand will be. Al Giordano is particularly disgusted: "Each and every 'Netroots progressive' that railed against a possible Kennedy pick owns this one."

In the law, we refer to this kind of logical fallacy as "post hoc ergo propter hoc." After this, therefore because of this. The idea is that the reason we got Gillibrand, a somewhat conservative Dem, is because some complained about whether Kennedy had the experience to be a successful Senator.

The quote above suggests that it was wrong to express concerns about Kennedy's effectiveness... why? Because the governor then put in someone worse. Yes, and this is our fault how? Using the Blogometer's logic, if a politician is leaning towards a bad decision, he shouldn't be questioned about that decision lest he make an even worse decision.

Try that one in child-rearing some time. "Oh, I know little Jimmy is playing with the scissors, but if I take them away, he may go for the knife instead." Or at a national level, yes, our biggest mistake of the past 8 years was challenging George Bush and the Republicans TOO much. Had we only just sat back and done nothing, they'd never have wrecked the country. Oh yeah, we tried that sitting back thing. Didn't work so well.

Um, that's just kind of idiotic. Read More......

DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen Condemns Rush Limbaugh’s Comment Hoping President Obama Fails

Condemnation is good, but a joint resolution of Congress admonishing him would be even better.

"Rush Limbaugh's reprehensible remark that he ‘hopes' President Obama fails to meet the extraordinary economic challenges Americas face has no place in the public discourse.

"Mr. Limbaugh's comments politicize the economic struggle of millions of hard working Americans. With the unemployment rate over seven percent, today's news that 62,000 more Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, and millions of Americans struggling to keep their health care and homes, all Americans, regardless of their ideology, hope that President Obama succeeds in getting people back to work and turning our economy around."

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More on the inaugural mess

It'd be nice to know who was responsible for logistics on the mall, and it would be equally nice to know that someone high up understands that this was a big screw up that needs to be addressed for next time. Letting people like Terry Gainer try to downplay how bad it was, and blame the screw up on the fact that no one could have predicted the crowd would be wearing winter coats when the weather was predicted to be in the low 20s, only guarantees that the same gang of bozos will repeat this fiasco during the next big event. From NavalGazing.com

We did everything right but still failed to get to the parade route of the Inauguration, not due to the massive crowds but instead because the security was incompetent. We were among thousands of people stuck at 7th and E Streets NW in Washington DC. For five hours, one block from our destination. Ah well.

We got up at 3:15 a.m. and left the house by 4:00 a.m., and even managed to get seats on one of the first Metro trains to downtown. Unfortunately, it broke down at Rhode Island Avenue, about three miles from our destination. We decided to walk and after a few blocks found a cab. We arrived downtown just after 5 a.m. The lines of people were massive, going two long blocks down the street.

Our hope was to get through the checkpoint when it was supposed to open at 7 a.m. Instead, it opened at 7:35 a.m. and it took us five hours to go two blocks to get near the gate. They only had two entrances for the thousands of people and a few staff. At no point were there any announcements to the crowd that the entrance was virtually closed, so we just stood there. It was 14 degrees.

In a display of poor judgement or obliviousness, there was a police command center located on the third floor of the building above the entrance gate. There, throughout the entire time, were at least twenty officers standing and looking out the window at the crowd. They ate nearly the entire time.

Above, we see Officer J. Moczygemba (Badge 1265) of the San Antonio police. This is pretty much the image thousands of people will remember of the Inauguration: poorly staffed security that did not make any efforts to communicate with the crowd and many other officers above them, eating breakfast and taking photos.

And just when things could not get worse, the police decided to let two large tour buses come down the street through thousands of people. The buses were trapped.

We finally gave up at 10:00 a.m. even though we were across the street from the gate. At the rate we were going, it was going to be another three hours if we were lucky. We drove back to Silver Spring and watched the swearing-in of President Obama at a nearby restaurant.

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Two simple words for the Republicans from Obama: "I won."

Not that complicated really, but too hard for the Republicans to grasp:

Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: “I won.”

The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona , who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.

Obama noted that such workers pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. The issue was widely debated during the presidential campaign, when Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, challenged Obama’s tax plan as “welfare.”

With those two words — “I won” — the Democratic president let the Republicans know that debate has been put to rest Nov. 4.

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Media advance falsehood that Pentagon has confirmed that 61 former Guantánamo detainees have returned to battlefield

From Media Matters:

Since President Barack Obama signed an executive order requiring that the Pentagon's detention facilities at Guantánamo be closed within a year, numerous media figures and outlets have repeated or failed to challenge the claim that 61 former detainees held there have returned to the battlefield. In fact, the figure, which comes from the Pentagon, includes 43 former prisoners who are suspected of, but have not been confirmed as, having "return[ed] to the fight."

I'd like to know who in the Pentagon outright lied to the American people, in an effort to lobby on behalf of keeping Gitmo open. Then I'd like to know when Obama is going to fire that person. It really is time that someone sent the Pentagon a message that this lying thing will no longer be tolerated. Read More......

Our president actually has a brain

Been eight years since we could say that.

As President Obama worked the rope-line at the State Department Thursday, a State Department staffer named Charles Silver, knowing the President once lived in Indonesia, shouted out, "good afternoon" in the local language.

Obama responded back in what Silver later told ABC News was "very good" Bahasa Indonesian. The two then chatted briefly about the neighborhood Obama once lived in.

Bush would have probably told the guy "speak English!" Read More......

Erasing Bush

I'm really enjoying this week:

After Inauguration Day, departed presidents usually become footnotes pretty quickly. What we are witnessing now is far more dramatic. It's closer to a liquidation, or a cauterization. George W. Bush is being turned into an unperson, like a character out of Orwell. It's been only two days, and there is scarcely a trace of not only his personal presence, but of his policies. Or at least that is the impression Barack Obama would like to convey.

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Merrill Lynch, who you bailed out, paid $3bn to $4bn in Christmas bonuses

Disgusting. And this comes on the heels of Chris' post about the former CEO spending $1.2m on decorating. And spare us the talk about how all the good employees would leave if they didn't get good bonuses. Where would they go? McDonalds? There isn't exactly a dearth of good employees, or a hiring frenzy, on Wall Street or anywhere else in the country right now. Their Christmas bonus was getting to keep their incredibly high-paid jobs, guaranteed by the US government. Something most of us can only wish for. This is truly despicable. The government should demand that money back. More here. Read More......

Former Bush Speechwriter: Obama Is “Most Dangerous Man Ever To Occupy Oval Office”

Clearly, if you really want to make a pig squeal, take away his White House pass. From The Plum Line.

The CIA program he is effectively shutting down is the reason why America has not been attacked again after 9/11. He has removed the tool that is singularly responsible for stopping al-Qaeda from flying planes into the Library Tower in Los Angeles, Heathrow Airport, and London’s Canary Warf, and blowing up apartment buildings in Chicago, among other plots. It’s not even the end of inauguration week, and Obama is already proving to be the most dangerous man ever to occupy the Oval Office.

If we're counting which president watched more innocent Americans die on his watch:

George Bush: 3,000+
Barack Obama: 0

I think George Bush still holds the record for most dangerous, dumbest, most ineffective, and a whole lot more. Oh yeah, and Barack Obama didn't take a surplus-economy and turn it into another depression. But who's counting. Read More......

Gillibrand supports same-sex marriage

Good.

[S]he assured the state's leading gay rights group yesterday that she backs same-sex marriage, and shows no other conservative leanings.

Kristin Gillibrand, you'll recall, is the person reportedly being chosen by the NY governor to replace Hillary in the US Senate. We look forward to hearing Ms. Gillibrand actually say this for herself, rather than rely on third party hearsay. Read More......

Obama to reverse Mexico City policy abortion-ban today

From AP:

Officials say President Barack Obama will sign an executive order Friday ending the ban on federal funds for international groups that promote or perform abortion....

The so-called "Mexico City policy" bans U.S. taxpayer money from going to international family planning groups that either offer abortions or provide information, counseling or referrals about abortion. It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned.

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Bush aides whining about Obama's inaugural speech. They think Obama was mean.

Waaaahhh. Republicans have such thin skins. The Bushies think Obama was mean to their guy in the inaugural address:

“There were a few sharp elbows that really rankled and I felt were not as magnanimous as the occasion called for,” Karen Hughes, a longtime Bush confidante, said in an interview. “He really missed an opportunity to be as big as the occasion was and, frankly, as gracious as President Bush was as he left office.”

Dan Bartlett, another top adviser, used similar language. “It was a missed opportunity to bring some of the president’s loyal supporters into the fold,” he said. Marc A. Thiessen, the chief White House speechwriter until this week, added: “It was an ungracious inaugural. It was pretty clear he was taking shots.”

After what Bush did to America and the world, they got off lucky.

Rahm was having none of it:

Mr. Emanuel mocked Bush advisers for bristling at the message of the Inaugural Address. “If they didn’t know that was the judgment of people, then their subscription to the newspapers were canceled over the last three years,” he said.

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Least Surprising Headline Ever: "Stimulus Plan Meets More GOP Resistance"

Of course the Republicans are resisting the stimulus package. That's what they do. Bipartisanship only works if both sides play. And, we're seeing that the GOP is playing the same old games. Lest anyone forget, it was a Republican president abetted by a Republican Congress that got us into this crisis. So, why would anyone want the GOP to determine the stimulus package? They'd just give us more of the same:

Just days after taking office vowing to end the political era of "petty grievances," President Obama ran into mounting GOP opposition yesterday to an economic stimulus plan that he had hoped would receive broad bipartisan support.

Republicans accused Democrats of abandoning the new president's pledge, ignoring his call for bipartisan comity and shutting them out of the process by writing the $850 billion legislation. The first drafts of the plan would result in more spending on favored Democratic agenda items, such as federal funding of the arts, they said, but would do little to stimulate the ailing economy.

The GOP's shrunken numbers, particularly in the Senate, will make it difficult for Republicans to stop the stimulus bill, but the growing GOP doubts mean that Obama's first major initiative could be passed on a largely party-line vote -- little different from the past 16 years of partisan sniping in the Clinton and Bush eras.

"Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters yesterday, saying Republicans were not being realistic in their expectations.

Thank you, Nancy Pelosi. Our side won because the American people wanted change. Elections are supposed to have consequences. And, one consequence of this election has to be an improved economy. Soon. Very soon. The GOPers on Capitol Hill are willing to sacrifice the U.S. economy (when we're on the verge of a depression) for their own self-interest. That's sick, but that's their choice. You know a lot of Republicans agree with the words of Rush Limbaugh when he said, "I hope Obama fails."

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

What a week, huh?

It has taken a couple days to sink in. Yesterday made it more real with the statement from the President on Roe v. Wade and hearing the President say "I can say without exception or equivocation that the United States will not torture" while knowing that he actually means it.

So, let's see what today brings... Read More......

Former Merill Lynch CEO spent $1.2m on redecorating

What ever will the US do without business leaders like John Thain? They always provided top quality financial numbers for the company and the shareholders and employees, but also moral guidance. We should all admire them and maybe even make TV shows that glorify them because they are *that* fantastic.

John Thain, the Merrill Lynch boss who orchestrated its fire sale to Bank of America at the height of last autumn's financial panic, has been ousted from the company after a vicious run-in with BoA's chief executive, Ken Lewis.

Insiders said Mr Lewis had lost confidence in the 53-year-old Mr Thain, amid rising unrest among Merrill's senior staff and after new allegations that Mr Thain spent $1.2m (£865,000) to redecorate his office even as Merrill's losses were skyrocketing.

The two men have been at loggerheads since last month, when unexpected losses on Merrill Lynch's trading desks came to light and threatened to unravel the takeover. A furious Mr Lewis initially considered backing out of the $50bn deal, but the US government agreed to provide $20bn in new capital and $118bn of guarantees to ease the strain of absorbing Merrill's battered balance sheet.

So what did Thain spend the money on besides a posh interior designer to the stars? (Well, isn't he also a star?)

* Area Rug $87,784
* Mahogany Pedestal Table $25,713
* 19th Century Credenza $68,179
* Pendant Light Furniture $19,751
* 4 Pairs of Curtains $28,091
* Pair of Guest Chairs $87,784
* George IV Chair $18,468
* 6 Wall Sconces $2,741
* Parchment Waste Can $1,405
* Roman Shade Fabric $10,967
* Roman Shades $7,315
* Coffee Table $5,852
* Commode on Legs $35,115

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Karzai out in Afghanistan?

It's difficult to say that much is going in the right direction in Afghanistan but never would Bush have made any changes and it's doubtful McCain would have rocked the boat either. Those days are over, as Obama appears to be looking at alternatives to change the direction of that failing effort.

Barack Obama's arrival in the White House and the wind of change sweeping through Washington could lead to the ousting from power of Hamid Karzai, President of Afghanistan, The Independent has learnt. International support for Mr Karzai, who was once the darling of the West, has waned spectacularly, amid worsening violence, endemic corruption and weak leadership. But until very recently, diplomats insisted there were no viable alternatives even as fighting has intensified and the Taliban insurgency in the south has grown. But four key figures believed to be challenging Mr Karzai have arrived in Washington for meetings with Obama administration officials this week. There is now talk of a "dream ticket" that would see the main challengers run together to unite the country's various ethnic groups and wrest control away from Mr Karzai.

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The Gay Ball the media didn't tell you about it

There seemed to be a dearth of coverage about the gay and lesbian side of the inaugural festivities. Our readers reported that a number of networks oddly cut away from the inaugural parade the moment the gay band showed up. And not much mention of the gay ball the Human Rights Campaign held Tuesday night (I was still flu-ing it, so I had to stay home). My friend Ben Finzel posted some photos and commentary over at the Gay.com blog. And even more on the the gay side of the inaugural over at Out Front Blog. Read More......