I suppose it is all very amusing to witness  Rep. Jack Kingston (R — Satan’s Diaper) publicly denying evolution, his great gleaming frightening teeth flashing televangistically, or else, perhaps, Haggardly. Yet I found it rather a grisly spectacle. Comic, but grisly. That the American right wing believes a lot of shit is hardly news. But [...]

When fully in control of Washington, the Republican Party has traditionally shown no concern for budget deficits. They had no problem passing both unpaid-for tax cuts or huge entitlement expansion on nearly party line votes. As Republican Vice President Dick Cheney famously said, “Deficits don’t matter” –at least as long as Republicans are in the White House.

The Egyptian revolution is really separating Congress into those who at least make a nod to democracy and those who worship power. In the early days of this, I think the reactions are far more telling than they will be when Mubarak gets run out of the country and a new government takes over.

The sensible members of the FCIC referred criminal violations as they deemed appropriate. They properly did not discuss them. The Final Report gives clues about the crimes the sensible majority suspect.

Nighttime in Egypt and everyone is wondering what comes next. The people are still out in Tahrir Square in Cairo but Mubarak still sits … well, somewhere hidden away trying to figure out his next move. Obama and Clinton and the rest of the Washington crew must be trying to figure out the same.

In The Monster, Michael Hudson gives us a detailed account of the how Roland Arnall created Ameriquest and made it into the giant of subprime lending. In the process the book implicates the major Wall Street firms, most importantly Lehman, who eagerly packaged junk loans into mortgage backed securities and more complicated instruments. He also notes the corruption of the three major credit rating agencies, who received big fees for giving these assets investment grade stamps. The list of aiders and abettors includes Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, California Governors Grey Davis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, and even the community group ACORN.

President Obama just spoke on the situation in Egypt, and he continued to walk a tightrope on the issue, rallying for the “universal rights” of the Egyptian people but not abandoning President Hosni Mubarak, who earlier fired his cabinet but refused to step down from his 30-year rule.

Obama mirrored other US government officials who have spoken today by saying that the “Egyptian authorities must refrain from violence against peaceful protesters,” and respect the human rights of the citizenry. But “at the same time, those in the streets have the responsibility to be peaceful.”

In a briefing yesterday, the Pentagon laid out the steps for the eventual repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, which will pave the way for openly gay members to serve. A training program will start next month, and ultimately open service could begin by the summer.

Since Tuesday, protesters have been reporting that government thugs, NDP party thugs, have been acting initially as provocateurs and now as looters. There were widespread reports Thursday night for example that plain clothes police were spreading petrol on cars and otherwise preparing chaos.

There are now four versions of the cooperation between Wikileaks and its journalistic “partners:” Vanity Fair, NYT, Guardian, and Spiegel. A comparison of them is more instructive than reading any in isolation.