Morning,
It’s freezing here but we barely got any of the half a foot of snow predicted. I’m not cryin’

Good morning Elliot.

Fox News is Bush League

We got it in Chi yesterday
With 1-4 predicted
More on the way – I hope they’re wrong.
And, wouldn’t you knoe it?
With the first chance to use the new Christmas snow tube Santa left, lil Mack is running a 101 degree fever.

Bummer, hope you get better in time to enjoy the tube.

LOL!

aww that’s a shame about the lil one mack, morning MM.

It’ll be interesting to see the Bush 41/43 interview.
this is how it’s being promoted:

In an exclusive interview, President George W. Bush discusses key decisions that defined his time in the White House — including fighting the War on Terror, controversial interrogation techniques and the powers of the presidency.

Then, a rare sit-down with father and son presidents: former President George H.W. Bush joins the conversation.

would be nice to know what conditions were set on topics for the joint interview.

morning. almost 20F here, but it’s blowing which makes it seem colder. we did get about 6 inches of snow (haven’t gone out in it yet though, estimate is only from poking my head outside).. but last night the forecast was for 5-11 inches, so i’m not complaining either. and so far no really big snows (which for here is over 18 in), although the winter is still young.

would be nice to know what conditions were set on topics for the joint interview.

transparency? not for us little people.

Doesn’t appear that the Israeli/Gaza fight is on topic for the shows this morning, surprises me a bit.

Bush call halted US voting for ceasefire

Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, was forced to step back from voting in favour of the Gaza ceasefire resolution at the UN Security Council after orders from Washington, diplomatic sources said yesterday.

this is disturbing and disappointing.

I’m not complaining about the lack of snow but that’s cause I don’t want to shovel it. Haven’t looked at statistics, but we don’t get as much as we used to.

Morning all

would be nice to know what conditions were set on topics for the joint interview

fluff – you betcha
220 hrs & 10 min

yeah, I’m thinkin’ that part’s gonna be all warm and fuzzy and “nostalgic.”

Not alot new, but pretty good conversation on Matthews, including his Big Question: Why are Democrats speaking out against OB. MORE than Republicans? What do y’all think? Good morning…

Just about a week…Thanks for the reminder…feels like Christmas, again. (Don’t read too much into that; not = messiah silly talk)

I am an independent not a dem but I bought off on Obamas premise that this is about us and not him. If it is about us I think we should have a place in the discussion.
219 hrs & 59 min

Most of Matthews topic questions make me roll my eyes

we certainly do.

Juan Cole’s post this morning is good, just in case the US Propaganda Machine overlooks reporting Gaza and Israeli/Zionist war crimes.

http://www.juancole.com/2009/0…..ation.html

p.s. Apparently Juan Cole is up for a blog award, you might give a vote

Yeah, but what about frickin’ ABC?

Roundtable: Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, and ABC News’ George Will.

[mod note: In the FDL comments, please do not wish or suggest acts of violence be carried out on others. Thank you.]

Informed Comment

Gee, I’m holding my breath waiting for that roundtable discussion .not.

ABC = All Bygone Conservatives
219 hrs & 37 min

from your link to juan cole:

Singer Annie Lennox was among the speakers on Saturday: [youtube-s]

She called what is happening a genocide. If one thinks of genocide as large numbers of people being killed, as in Rwanda or Cambodia, then her terminology seems exaggerated. But a case could be made that she used the right word.

Contemporary international legal thinking on genocide does consider destroy the lifeways of a people to be in this category. Here is the UN definition:

‘ In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part . . . ‘

That what the Israeli governmentis doing is intended to destroy in part the Palestinians as an independent people seems to me incontesta

Informed comment is in second place – need to encourage folks to vote for him. Less than 30 K total votes cast so far
219 hrs & 31 min

Good morning.

Dana Peroxide is gonna be on WJ later this week. Can’t wait to see her respond to real Qs vs. the synchophantic ones from the press.

I thought I heard that Kent Conrad and John Kerry were going to be on tomorrow.
219 hrs & 25 min

Good morning. You’re right, that roundtable is designed to slam everything Obama says. Not one person there to support him. ‘Liberal media’ strikes again.

OT– you all have to see digby’s post this morning about CNN’s propaganda piece to trip up the stimulus package. They’re trying to use the recession to take down Social Security again. (Some things never change).

We’ve got to find some way to counter the wingnut propaganda machine.

update on dennis ross from jim lobe

previously:

UPDATE: Washington Institute Reports Bigger Role for Ross
January 7th, 2009
The matchless Nelson Report has updated the news about the prospective appointment of Dennis Ross as Special Envoy for Iran, and the update is even more concerning than the original report. Chris Nelson apparently got hold of an internal memo from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP) in which its director, Robert Satloff, outlines Ross’ much-expanded job description. It reads as if Ross will be a sort of Middle East “czar”.

yesterday:

UPDATE: Ross Super-Envoy Post May Not be Done Deal
January 10th, 2009
I understand from various sources that Dennis Ross’ prospective status as Middle East super-envoy and, as the WINEP memo disclosed by The Nelson Report claimed, Clinton’s “top advisor on a wide range of Middle East issues, from the Arab-Israeli peace process to Iran,” is not yet a done deal.

lots more at the links

Wait, aren’t you leaving out Tom “flat Earth” Friedman? He’s a liberal from the New York Times, right?

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

OT– you all have to see digby’s post this morning about CNN’s propaganda piece to trip up the stimulus package. They’re trying to use the recession to take down Social Security again. (Some things never change).

We’ve got to find some way to counter the wingnut propaganda machine.

we have a tricky job ahead of us: how do we counter the rightwing noise machine bs AND point out that obama’s stimlus plan (at least what we know of it), well sucks?

Fareed is going to cover the Israeli/Gaza conflict today.

you would think the stock market crash would have been the stake through the heart of that idea.

stupid moveon has is trying once again to turn us into unthinking shills for the Ds – and they’re using the batshit crazy Rs to do it, which i find particularly offensive. from email:

Dear MoveOn member,

The bad news: As of this morning, unemployment hit a 16-year high. We’re in trouble.1

The good news: Yesterday, President-elect Obama laid out a bold plan for how to get us out of this economic crisis and invest in 3 million jobs. It’s smart and progressive—doubling clean energy production, providing health care for laid-off workers, and offering real relief to struggling states.2

But the most important parts are already under attack by oil and health insurance lobbyists, joined by congressional conservatives who want to replace these progressive provisions with tax cuts for the rich.3

Only a massive public outcry will get Obama’s plan passed intact. Can you sign our petition to Congress to pass Obama’s economic plan right away?

argh!

Chris Hayes on WJ is the first time I’ve heard someone outloud that the Federal Reserve is out of amunition. I watched cnbc the day that the Fed reduced rates to zero and there was a big rally because the Fed was throwing everything at the problem. NO ONE mentioned that meant that the Fed would subsequently be powerless.

Heh..we got yours, then…We shoveled 6 inches of snow after dinner last night and then there is another 4-5″ out there in the driveway this morning…oh…my….aching….back…

Oh goody, you got ours too. Only a couple of inches in mid-Hudson. (Sorry about your back, but better yours than mine. *g*)

Well, Obama has been outspoken about more transparency for the bailout funds…can that be retroactive to find out where it has all gone? Elizabeth Warren says, Yes. Let’s insist. Paulsen was asking for no oversight from the beginning…why would that be? Inquiring minds want to know, soon. Later, dogs.

ABC has the transcript up for the Obama interview.

Good morning everyone! We’ve got snow here this morning too. Stinks. The only snow we like is Christmas Day snow. Other than that, snow is annoying and should be considered illegal for not matching our shoes. ;-)

Posted yesterday on PUAC

Talk about bankrupt ideologues, the current issue of Scientific American has “economic advice” from Jeffery Sachs, quoting his mentor Milton Friedman as authority (See Naomi Klein Shock Doctrine index for references). Such “authority” from such a source should show why the economic prospects are black. Such “expertise” reflects poorly upon academic credentials for all holders. That is the source of “The Chicago School of Economic Phrenology” as reference to that cadre of economic demagogues.

If you read the link, this vainglorious PHD starts reciting what is going wrong with the economy, his example is cascading failures. He did not even get his history correct, his distortion is obvious and glaring for historians of the period. The purpose of the banking acts and regulations was to give PEOPLE confidence in their banks, not bankers confidence in their customers. And damned fools with PHDs are going to lead the country out of this mess. NOT BLOODY LIKELY.

And it’s Brit Hume doing the Bush interviews.

Can you speak up, I van’t hear you./s

Byron York is on CSpan right now, talking about the stimulus. eCAHN, are you going to call in and kick his ass?

It’s all perfectly rational. The invisible hand won’t work if you can see it. /s

yes please, eCAHN

I’m flipping back & forth between cspan1 & 2, depending on how much I can stomach either one. On 2 is someone talking about the plight of the Palestinians, and I have a hard time listening to that. But York is equally difficult for a different reason.

Boy, Hume is rippin’ Bush to shreds /s

eCAHN – how much snow did you get?

Chris Hayes on WJ is the first time I’ve heard someone outloud that the Federal Reserve is out of amunition. I watched cnbc the day that the Fed reduced rates to zero and there was a big rally because the Fed was throwing everything at the problem. NO ONE mentioned that meant that the Fed would subsequently be powerless.

roubini, at RGE, has been been explaining that it’s the traditional monetary tools that are no longer available (or effective), but that there are lots of non-traditional tools to use (not saying how effective any of them are expected to be or how risky it is to use them).. stuff like purchasing long-term treasuries, buying equities, etc. not sure, being new to all this, but i think this is the kind of thing that is being called quantitative easing?

don’t know if the nomenclature is for real or a joke, but i find it humorous - welcome to planet ZIRP for (zero-interest-rate-policy).

thanks. i haven’t read it. will do so now.

*yawn…stretch like da tigers*

It’s 63 degrees and a little froggy in sunny FL this mornin’. Now to read the rest of the comments.

So what were they going to do — fire her? G’morning, everyone.

Suffered thru part 1 of Fox’s Bush interview. Now part with GHWB (ugh)
Don’t think I can take Cheney & Pelosi.

Just an inch or two.

Congrats to your Gators, Dragon. Now we’ll have to listen to another year of bragging about how great the defences are in the SEC. Sheesh.

Conditioned response. It’s what we do lately.

No one knows how the non-interest rate monetary tools will work because it hasn’t been tried. Having studied how interest rates have worked in the post-WWII period, mainly thru influencing households’ expectations, not thru the direct effect of lowering borrowing costs, I am skeptical about the non-interest rate tools. They are invisible and therefore cannot influence expectations.

I don’t see MoveOn as a progressive organization. They were big Clinton (Bill) supporters and I don’t see them changing their views on the economy. The founders were well heeled and didn’t want the impeachment distraction to interfere with their free market economic interests.

Is it simplistic of me to feel that what people need are jobs that pay decent wages and a feeling of confidence that they won’t lose their jobs or their homes..and then they will spend money and the engine will get going again? or am I just being dumb?

FYI the British have recently lowered their interest rates to about .5% IIRC, the lowest rate in 300 years. The demand for British Sterling has put the pound at an exchange rate practically level with the Euro. The Euro still has a marginal rate of interest but it too looks like succumbing to the US fiscal non-sense. At effectively 0% interest rate, the effective ability to effect fiscal policy also reflects 0 ability to function. Without that ability to function, no worthwhile result can be forthcoming, economic policy just went down the tubes.

Football’s over. I’m waiting for spring training.

Conditioned response. It’s what we do lately.

or possibly that there actually is serious stuff to criticize?

Well, yeah, that, too. Details! *g*

The question is how you create those jobs. The economy is simultaneous and, in my view but not that of the supply-siders, consumer spending is what creates jobs. As that is not going to happen in today’s economy, the buyer of last resort, i.e. the only one with no budget constraint, the federal government, must step in.

As for good jobs with rising real wages, that’s a very complicated story. Krugman argues in Conscience of a Liberal, and I agree, that the only time that labor has any power is when the govt is on their side. (That’s the very short version of a much more complex story.)

Hey, guys…Christy is upstairs with new thready goodness

re sachs. i’m a sucker for systems analysis (recovering engineer, what can i say?)… but not when it’s bs or used to explain why no one is to blame or to avoid mentioning the word “bubble” until the last paragraph. more argh.

Does she have cookies? *g*

that is the best description i’ve seen of moveon. thanks.

Nope, she has apples!

i didn’t know that the purpose was to influence expectations.

My pet hypothesis. Did some surveying with U. Mich that supports it. Other economists do not share my opinion.

economic policy just went down the tubes.

even if monetary policy is not available, there is fiscal policy?

FRANK RICH…OPINES

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01……html?_r=1

Defrocking is done to priests and ministers amiss, what can be done to dis-robe a PHD awry?

can’t say i agree either. but then my survey size is only n=1. *g*

what can be done to dis-robe a PHD awry?

easy as pie.

make them come to fdl under a pseudonym and tell them no fair mentioning education or past experience. they must make their case solely on the quality of their evidence and argument without any of us knowing who they are.

What fiscal (or monetary) policy? No handle there. Competency totally lacking. Ian and Sterling have more to offer than these Economic Phrenologists.

Polemics. We don’t have the polemic writings so plentiful in the past.

ooooo, that would be fun. Afraid the suicide rate amongst the ivory tower crowd might escalate, however.

I read a different article (Alternet or AlJereeza) that when it came to the vote in Security Council, Cheney was against, Rice was for, so Bush compromised with the abstain vote.

Anybody surprised about Cheney’s stand?

my comment was sadly meant to be strictly hypothetical as i can not disagree re competency issue. :(

for months i have tried to imagine obama having to explain his policy choices to us here as just another commenter using a pseudonym and getting anything like the same level of support.

8 more days of these war criminals, although I wouldn’t put it past Darth to order his puppet Shrub to order a strike against Iran on the morning of the 20th.

Juan Cole had one of his best posts yesterday. His thoughts should be hailed on all progressive blogs.

sorry i must disagree in part with cole on this. while a agree on his suggestions for putting pressure on congress, the purpose of street protests is not the same and the target audience is not the same (it’s not congress).

protesting is one way we have to show solidarity with the victims of our wars or israel’s wars. here are other benefits in meeting like minded people and networking, etc.

it’s not an either/or choice. we need to do both and i’m sorry juan cole doesn’t get that (love him otherwise).

Congress would only pay attention to protests if every street in DC was filled with angry, chanting, shouting people. And maybe not even then. Local protests are for local exposure, to get the local nimrods to pay attention to what’s going on outside of the room where their teebee(s) live.

I don’t think Bush is finished with his destruction yet, either. Just think, if not for Pelosi in 2006 so much might have been avoided.

Don’t forget Lightbrain Harry Reid. As long as we focus on the GWOT and “homeland security” we’ll just sink deeper into the bog. Every time I see or hear “homeland security” my brain immediately provides an image of jackbooted thugs doing what jackbooted thugs do. And it ain’t pretty.

at the very first protest, actually a silent vigil, i ever went to (in 2002 after the israeli atrocities in jenin refugee camp) i happened to stand next to a palestinian american woman who had a sister in ramallah. she told me with tears in her eyes how much it meant to her to have anglo looking people standing with her and that as soon as she could talk with her sister (phone access had been unavailable for days) she would tell her about the vigil – how it was called for by a christian (catholic worker) and how it was attended by caring people in the community.

if no one in congress ever even heard about another protest, i’d still think they are of critical importance.

I agree and is one of the reasons that I keep doing it. If I can get just 1 person to think about what’s going on rather than blindly follow some ideology then those hours have more than worth it.

Folks may get tired of my sayin’ it, but Cesar Chavez put the United Farm Workers together “one person at a time.” It’s also true of many other progressive organizations.

MoveOn ain’t one of ‘em. *g*

edit – have been more than worth it

Preview is mah fren

Obama just answered Stephanopolous’s question about appointing a special prosecutor to investigate torture.

I have been hoping Obama would finesse his answer so as to not signal to the bushies that they are in trouble, it would lead them to destroy more evidence.

But Obama’ answer was great. 1. If a person clearly committed a crime they should be prosecuted. 2. No one is above the law.

This is bad news for Bushco and GREAT NEWS FOR AMERICA!

Speaking of snow and ice, a Mainer got an OUI (operating under the influence) on a Zamboni recently:

http://news.mainetoday.com/updates/037707.html

Hysterical.

Joe the Plumber’s sidekick.

Look,I been thrown in jail for protesting Apartheid in Geneva. I do Take Back The Night Marches (even lead them)…etc…

I think the point Cole is making is addressing the flow of power and the fact that we can be empowered to hold a lobbying voice for peace against a minority voice which has a great deal of power globally and terribly influences politics at the grassroots level with money.

His point about the protests is more along the lines that protests are not enough. On that point, he is spot on.

Now protests matched with a powerful peace lobbying power…That would mean change in US policies.

but cole didn’t say protests are not enough – you did (and i agree with you). cole said they are useless and don’t matter – and i don’t agree with that (seems like you don’t either?).

On the Uselessness of Street Protest;
And the Usefulness of Web 2.0 Lobbying
This kind of headline about large street protests against the Israeli attack on Gaza annoys me no end.

The mechanisms are well known whereby the Israeli Right* is able to engage in this cavalier disregard for civilian life (and, some are saying possible occasional targeting of civilians.

I’m sorry, but it just doesn’t matter if tens of thousands of people demonstrate in Paris. Oh,it might put a little pressure on Sarkozy to remonstrate a little harder with the Israeli government, but in the larger scheme of things it isn’t very significant.

my bolds.

NYT’s Sanger Sure Gets It Wrong – US Did Sell Israel Bombs for Iran Attack
upstairs

Most likely. LOL