Note: The links on both articles take you to the second article. That’s because the article changed as the day progressed. Blagojevich may quit on Monday: Illinois official By Alister Bull Reuters December 14, 2008 Scandal-plagued Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich could announce on Monday that he will leave office, the state’s top legal officer said […]
Recently, I was talking about the future of the blogs, and mentioning emptywheel‘s facility at document analysis. In the course of that discussion, I also mentioned eriposte: The master is eriposte, but his offerings are rare and almost too dense to follow without another translation or two. I said that because of his series on […]
Thom Hartmann on Countdown: This is an Absolute Consequence of Reaganomics By Heather Saturday Dec 13, 2008 Can we please see more of Thom Hartmann on the cable news networks? Good for David Shuster for bringing him on while filling in for Keith Olbermann on Countdown. They discuss the Republicans absolute hatred for unions and […]
Thinking about the auto industry’s failed bail-out set me to thinking about The Great Depression – those years between the Stock Market crash in 1929 and the outset of World War II. While the Market fell in October of 1929, the devastation of the economy didn’t immediately follow the crash. The Stock Market rallied somewhat […]
Delaying the Return of the Rule of Law By: emptywheel Saturday December 13, 2008 Anonymous Liberal asks why AG Mukasey is refusing to turn over the new "family jewels"–the OLC opinions authorizing torture and warrantless wiretapping. Now, as a lawyer, AL is challenging the legal basis to withhold those opinions. But I’m interested in the […]
An Old Rage to Quell By David Ignatius December 14, 2008 Barack Obama wrote in "Dreams From My Father" of his days as a student at Occidental College, groping for his political identity: "We smoked cigarettes and wore leather jackets. At night, in the dorms, we discussed neocolonialism, Frantz Fanon, Eurocentrism and patriarchy." That’s one […]
Pack of Liars By Dan Froomkin Washington Post Yesterday’s bipartisan Senate report on the abuse of detainees in U.S. custody at Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and elsewhere doesn’t just lay out a clear line of responsibility starting with President Bush, it also exposes the administration’s repeated explanation for what happened as a pack of lies. "The […]
I’ve mused about the auto industry bailout all day. The Republican Senators defeating it [for the reasons they defeated it] was short-sighted and obstructionistic, for sure. But I’m not sure I’m for it either, for other reasons. On paper, bailing out people who have been as unresponsive as the auto industry feels like giving the […]
Illinois AG Asks High Court to Declare Gov. Unfit By CHRISTOPHER WILLS The Associated Press Friday, December 12, 2008; 1:56 PM In an unprecedented move, the Illinois attorney general asked the state’s highest court Friday to strip scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich of his powers. Lisa Madigan took the action as pressure on the governor intensified […]
Worried on the Left? The Disillusionment Story Line Is Overdone By E. J. Dionne Jr. Oh, my: Barack Obama is still more than a month away from assuming the presidency, and already there are reports about "the left" being dispirited about change they no longer believe in. These fears – in this case expressed by […]