Your 520 pets...

It was Chris' idea. And I thought it would be cute. See if any of you would send in pictures of your pets. I figured maybe we'd get 30 or 50. Never counted on 520 and counting. Every time I check the email, there are more. :-) And they're absolutely adorable. I've been wanting a dog since I moved to Washington... in the mid-80s. But have rented an apt. until now, so couldn't have a dog, and now that I have place of my own, I travel so much - at least every few months, and then there's a month (at least) of cat-sitting every August in Paris. But have to admit, going through all of your pets is reigniting the desire for a dog. We'll see.
:-)

But keep the pictures coming, I'll post em, just posted a ton today. The email address is under the photos, in the upper right corner of the blog. Read the rest of this post...

Jon Stewart on Sean Hannity's apology

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Will Krugman and Stiglitz get invited to the jobs summit?

President Obama recently announced he'll be holding a jobs summit in early December in order to get the best brains in economists and industry together to help figure out how to turn unemployment around faster. Two faces that absolutely need to be there are America's top two Nobel laureates in Economics, Joe Stiglitz and Paul Krugman. But Krugman already says he hasn't been invited. No word from Stiglitz.

Unfortunately, the administration has a penchant for snubs. The blogs have been snubbed from the beginning - while every other Democratic constituency was invited for meetings with the president, not the blogs. (Unless you consider a conservative blogger, Andrew Sullivan, representative of the liberal blogs. And now that Josh Marshall has turned his site into more a mainstream media presence than a blog, suddenly he's welcome to meet the president, ten months into the presidency.) But it's not just the Netroots, Team Obama started to create early on a list of good gays and bad gays in the LGBT community (the good get invited to cocktail parties, the bad ask the President to keep his promises, and they get ignored by Obama's supposed gay liaison (who isn't a liaison at all - Obama refused to reinstate the Clinton-era position, so a lower-level staffer (Clinton appointed a special assistant to the position) named Brian Bond kind of sort of has the job in addition to other duties, but the 'bad gays" never hear from him)). And so it goes with economic policy as well.

The President famously snubbed Stiglitz and Krugman at the beginning of his administration, when we were desperately trying to figure out how to avoid the country collapsing into a second Great Depression. And while Krugman was a Hillary supporter - as if that should matter when trying to determine how to avoid an economic collapse - Stiglitz was an early, and vocal, Obama supporter. Finally, after much criticism, the President invited Krugman and Stiglitz for dinner. Not that things got better after that.

So what about now? Will the snub continue, or will the Obama White House acknowledge that it needs to start listening to a diversity of views, including the views of progressive Democrats. Read the rest of this post...

Obama removes Suu Kyi's release from statement

UPDATE: Obama couldn't convince ASEAN 10 to make a statement though he did come out with strong words. Maybe participating more often in these meetings could have a positive impact.

"There are clear steps that must be taken: the unconditional release of all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi; an end to conflicts with minority groups; and a genuine dialogue between the government, the democratic opposition and minority groups," according to Obama, who said the regime should work to ensure its people's needs are met.

Maybe he's a fierce advocate for human rights too. Reaching out to Myanmar to try another path forward is fine but dropping calls for the release of Suu Kyi in a public statement is beyond disappointing. So now supporting a Novel Laureate who is under house arrest is even too hot to handle for Obama. Who will be thrown under the bus next?

President Barack Obama and his Southeast Asian counterparts are expected to drop a call for Myanmar's ruling generals to release political prisoners, including pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, ahead of elections next year.

A joint statement to be issued after a summit Sunday between the U.S. president and leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — their first ever — devotes an entire section to Myanmar, a major irritant in relations between the two sides.

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Bank failures up to 123

The Republican economic model continues to deliver results. No surprise there though continuing the same approach with minor tweaks is a head scratcher. It's as little was learned from the meltdown. CNNMoney:

Two Florida banks and one in California failed Friday night, bring the 2009 national tally to 123. Regulators closed Century Bank, Federal Savings Bank in Sarasota, Fla., Orion Bank in Naples, Fla., and Pacific Coast National Bank in San Clemente, Calif.

Customers of all the failed banks are protected, however. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which has insured bank deposits since the Great Depression, currently covers customer accounts up to $250,000.

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David Broder would be happy with the wrong decision on Afghanistan

David Broder's column on Afghanistan and Obama today is absurd:

It is evident from the length of this deliberative process and from the flood of leaks that have emerged from Kabul and Washington that the perfect course of action does not exist. Given that reality, the urgent necessity is to make a decision -- whether or not it is right.

So, a wrong decision works for Broder. That's good to know. Broder is the so-called "Dean of the Washington press corps." That press corps willingly let Bush lead us into the Iraq war without question. That's an example of a wrong decision.

Read Steve Benen's critique of Broder:

The premise of the piece is that a decision is needed immediately. Where did this arbitrary deadline come from? Broder doesn't say; he just warns of the Taliban "coming back in Afghanistan," as if the Taliban hasn't already reclaimed much of the country.

Thinking back, I don't recall Broder ever showing this kind of Afghanistan-related antagonism towards the Bush administration -- which was, not incidentally, the team that allowed Afghanistan to deteriorate, watched as hard-earned gains slipped away, and never bothered to craft a strategy for the future of U.S. policy in the country.

Indeed, reading today's Broder piece I get the distinct impression that the columnist had lunch with John McCain at some point this week, and then rushed back to his desk to jot down the senator's criticism. That's a shame. Given the reality, Broder was facing an editorial deadline, and he decided the urgent necessity was to write a column -- whether or not it was right.

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

An eclectic group on the shows today.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton makes a couple of appearance. On "This Week," the guests are Clinton and Rudy Giuliani, which was something we would have seen back in the early days of 2000, before he dropped out of the Senate race. Rudy's going to use the upcoming terrorism trials to stage a comeback in New York politics. He's also on CNN and FOX News Sunday. So, this looks like the start of his 2010 campaign for Governor or Senator. (And, let's hope he's as successful as that stellar presidential campaign.)

For whatever reason, Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) is appearing on FOX today. Why is it that Democratic members of Congress and their staffs just don't get that FOX is nothing put a right-wing propaganda network? I know that most Democrats on Capitol Hill are very serious people who just want to talk about policy --- and they dismiss those of us who apply a political lens to things. But, even those very serious people operating in the Capitol Hill bubble should get that FOX is out to destroy the Democratic agenda.

The full lineup is after the break.

Here it is:

ABC's "This Week" — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton; former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Rep. Peter Hoekstra, R-Mich.; Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.

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NBC's "Meet the Press" — Clinton; Education Secretary Arne Duncan; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.; the Rev. Al Sharpton.

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CNN's "State of the Union" — Giuliani; White House senior adviser David Axelrod; Sens. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Judd Gregg, R-N.H.; Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D-Mont.

"Fox News Sunday" _ Giuliani; Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

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Santana - Oye Como Va

Rough video but a fantastic live performance of a classic.

Gray-ish morning over this way and a high likelihood of rain over here today so it's going to be a wet ride. The wonderful winter drizzle season appears to be settling in. Ah, northern Europe in November. The crummy weather starts around now and should be finished by about this time next year only to start all over again. If anyone in a sunny location would like to send over some sunshine, we will gladly accept it. Maybe you need some rain to refill your water supplies? Email and let's do a fair trade. Read the rest of this post...