Creedocide

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Chickenhawks: President must over-dramatically scold and condemn from home (not Hawaii) to be serious on terror

Glenn Greenwald says Obama's calm is what he likes about him. This is in response to media drumbeaters straight from the mainstream media and/or neocon butcher shops attacking Obama for his so-called lack of a hysterical, over-dramatic return to "defend" us from terrorism and say "bring it on" in from the White House (or heroic as this fearful wing of the Right characterize it) after the failed attack on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. I like that aspect of Obama too. Sometimes his glib aloofness is both a gift and a curse, but in this case, it serves him well.

Greenwald on the struggle to spin Obama's treatment of Flight 253 and our addiction to terror melodramas:

That's because Obama reacted as though this is exactly what it actually is: a lame, failed attempt to kill people by a fractured band of criminals. It's not the Cuban Missile Crisis or the attack on Pearl Harbor, as disappointing and unfulfilling as it is to accept that. It merits analysis, investigation and possibly policy changes by the responsible government agencies -- not a bright-red-alert, bell-ringing, siren-sounding government-wide emergency that venerates Al Qaeda into a threat so profound that the President can't even be away from Washington lest they get us all. As always, Al Qaeda's greatest allies are the ones in the U.S. who tremble with the most fear at the very mention of their name and who quite obviously crave a return of that stimulating, all-consuming, elevating 9/12 glory.

We are so afraid. Why? It's as if we possess only a hairline-sensitive ability -- or disability -- to not lose our minds when an event like Flight 253 happens. The sole interest for cable networks and the rest of the mainstream media is to whip up lame tripes about his bonafides, safe, safe, are you safe, what's Obama doing? Why is he "soft" on terror, which is ridiculously ironic since he's near a 5-front war on Musliim countries right now, with Iran looming in the background. That old right-wing state of fury and vengeance is really drilled into Americans' heads. I fear some did not learn lessons of the Iraq War run-up.

Hubris ... overweening pride

Torture-memo author John Yoo will never go away. He'll continue to pop up to defend torture, a de facto defense of his own egregious behavior as a stooge Office of Legal Counsel lawyer for the Justice Department who was more than giddy to rubber stamp whatever his dear leader Bush wanted: the torture of other human beings in the name of "national security."

Yet it's still a little disorienting to read quips like the ones he offered The New York Times Magazine.

Do you regret writing the so-called torture memos, which claimed that President Bush was legally entitled to ignore laws prohibiting torture?
No, I had to write them. It was my job. As a lawyer, I had a client. The client needed a legal question answered.

When you say you had “a client,” do you mean President Bush?
Yes, I mean the president, but also the U.S. government as a whole.

But isn’t a lawyer in the Department of Justice there to serve the people of this country?
Yes, I think you are quite right, when the government is executing the laws, but if there’s a conflict between the president and the Congress, then you have to pick one or the other.

Were you close to George Bush?
No, I’ve never met him. I don’t know Cheney either. I have not gone hunting with him, which is probably a good thing for me.

"It was my job. As a lawyer, I had a client. The client needed a legal question answered." Unbelievable. Does he hear what's coming out of mouth? I get it, defend yourself at all costs John. But understand that you'll have keep up this pathetic, soul-sucking charade the rest of your miserable life. Maybe it's not a charade, maybe he's convinced himself through extreme delusion that what he did was just. But then why does he continue to pop up in such inane "interviews" like this that only make him look more like the tool he is? Why does he keep writing op-eds?

He knows what he's validated. And he'll have to keep it up, at least for the next 20 years or so.

My holiday

He is watching

Another disappointment

With so much else going on (health care, Afghanistan, Wall St. hackery, 20 inches of snow), I'll admit I don't think much about judicial appointments made by the president. Just not my thing. But I do understand the gravity behind these lifetime appointees that are trusted to uphold the law, of course.

So it's further disheartening -- after all the other shortcomings -- that the Obama administration is woefully behind, or just slow, in filling so many important vacancies. On top of that, Obama has shown a nasty moderate streak. Firedoglake's bmaz has an excellent take on the state of judicial nominees. In Obama's world, he's A) afraid of looking to liberal, B) STILL taking the GOP in somewhat good faith and C) well, he's not a liberal.

bmaz:

Obama’s Infirm Lump Of Coal Judicial Policy

At what point do progressives quit perpetuating the unsupportable dream fixation of a living, breathing principled progressive lurking beneath the slick dick political marketing gloss that is Barack Obama? Obama is not a patsy and he is most certainly no “Constitutional scholar”; if he were, he would not be letting the health and future of American Article III courts wither while he dithers. Instead, Mr. Obama is a common retail politician that is willing to say what it takes to get and stay elected; principles are seemingly merely the vehicle for attracting the support he needs at any one time.

He wants "empathetic moderates" bmaz writes. Good luck.

Justice John Paul Stevens is done after this term, that is a given; but also Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s chair may come open as well. The problem here is that Mr. Obama, even when replacing sitting liberal justices, seems hell bent to move the overall composition of the court markedly to the right with his stated desire to appoint “empathetic moderates” whatever in the world that is in practice. If Stevens and Bader Ginsburg are replaced by a couple of mealy mouthed David Hamiltons, not only will we regret it, but so will our children; that is the gravitas of lifetime appointments. Barack Obama must not be allowed to further shift the Supreme Court to the right.

This business of restricting abortions in health-care reform has been startling enough, now what may happen if one of Obama's moderates is appointed to the SC and flips Roe v. Wade? Any that case is only the tip of the iceberg. Progressives, liberals, all have to step up, because with no pressure, it's too easy for him.

Proof: Jesus must love us

365 Photo: Walking to work Sunday, along Mass. Ave.

Get me off this crazy ride Jane

Most Americans agree: The Bush decade fucking sucked. That's about as eloquent as I can get on that one.

Are we forever desensitized by torture in America?

I like to highlight the Post's consistent online successes when I can. Sometimes it seems there aren't a lot, but that's another topic. One of the lasting gems of the site is online discussions. They get some great guests, politics and otherwise. Today, they invited (a real) conservative writer Reihan Salam and Slate senior editor and legal blogger Dahlia Lithwick to talk about some of the "worst ideas" of the 2000s, an Sunday Outlook feature where Salam wrote about compassionate conservatism and Lithwick about the torture memos. They answered questions about those topics and suggestions from readers.

I was lucky enough to get a response on my torture memo question from the always insightful Lithwick. (I'm Des Moines. Sometimes I'm Baltimore. And I figured out why those two: one, I'm keeping touch with an outsider, Midwestern "perspective" with Des Moines and with Baltimore, I'm a east coaster, yet somewhat local to DC. Weird.)

Des Moines, Iowa: Thank you both for being with us and writing excellent, concise takes on these two "worst ideas" of the decade.

Re: torture memos, the tragic legacy of the memos has now become the apparent refusal of the Obama adm. to thoroughly investigate and prosecute those responsible. It's possibly the prime example of modern Washington's corroded morals. In refusing to rise above the "political ramifications" of taking such action, it seems Obama has simply left the door wide open for more abuses, as you alluded to Ms. Lithwick. Is it almost inevitable that we'll walk down this road again, but with even less resistance due to the institutionalization of torture?

washingtonpost.com: The torture memos (Post, Dec. 20)

Dahlia Lithwick: Hi there and thanks to all of you who read the feature and to those of you who are writing in. Des Moines, this is the question that worries me more than almost any other. Without accountability for the acts of torture and without a probing investigation into how this could have happened, it does seem almost inevitable that we will, sometime down the road, feel justified in doing it again. Certainly the Obama Administration has renounced torture and the memos I referenced were withdrawn. But the issue isn't just these memos but a legal process that was warped. My other nagging fear is that American public opinion has really shifted on torture. Remember how horrified we were by the images from Abu Ghraib? I am not sure we would be as horrified next time. Polling suggests we have come to think of abuse as justified in some instances, despite the fact that the legal prohibition is absolute.

Your Bush-Obama America, December 21, 2009.

Flaming Lips do Pink Floyd

This sounds pretty amazing:

The Flaming Lips will release their version of Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon (one of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums) digitally starting December 22nd. The Lips’ Dark Side — full title The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs With Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing The Dark Side of the Moon — will be an iTunes exclusive for one week until December 29th, at which point it’ll head over to the other digital retailers. As you probably guessed from the rerecording’s epically long title, both Henry Rollins and Peaches contribute “vocal assistance,” or those talking-head bits that served as segues between songs on the original TDSOTM.

I can't wait to hear what they do with Dark Side of the Moon, especially Time. If any band can do the album justice, it's the Flaming Lips.

DC apocablizzard '09

365 Photo: Intelligence in the snowstorm.

Colbert is The Force in American socio-political humor

You want three reasons Stephen Colbert is the prime political satirist and pure entertainer of our time. These are the final three "scenes" of the four-part episode.

First, this part of tonight's "Word" as the segment's called. He essentially apes Bill O'Reilly's talking points, where the text on screen is suggestive and "summarizes" (or adds to) or Bill's thoughts. Anyway, Colbert shows his razor sharp social commentary in discussing the near expiration of some of the Patriot Act and how Obama is advocating to continue the powers, but that's just basically a further civil liberty issue Obama (and the entire party frankly) has reneged on a promise on. (The three videos all have the same preview screenshot -- with Tiger Woods -- but they should be different.)



Here, Stephen interviews Steven King in his "Better get to know a Steven" series (Stephen Colbert meets a Steven with a V). He chats with Steven King. Colbert shows why he's such a great interviewer in this absurdist character he plays. The improviser in him comes out when responding to a guest, though usually the question is just a trap and puts the guest in a no win position. But that's not always an easy feat. Plus, the horror "visions" of Stephen's are hilarious.



And here why he's also an extremely intelligent, concerned citizen watching Rome burn and wondering what the hell is happening. He's with Tom Brokaw talking about the failures of the last decade. Who's to blame? Brokaw cops out and says everyone. Brokaw also tears into the decisions that were pretty obviously impacted by the Bush administration. But he refuses to place blame. Anyway, Colbert shows his depth here, yet he never loses to comedic touch.

Bike things

365 Photo: New Eastern Market bike ... things.

The nonexistent cultural critique of Obama in music

As I've asked before, where are the artists in the age of Obama? Is all we are left with a shambles of half-ass celebrity musicians at this point? On Washington Post's poll of most influential band/musicians of the 2000s, their list rightfully included Radiohead, The White Stripes and Kanye West. But they included Taylor Swift and one or two other marginally talented but largely vacuous acts.

So this Washington Post discussion with Chris Richards and Dave Malitz piqued my interest, The Best of the Decade in Music. I asked the following about the best of the decade that contained some low lights for music's power to inspire dissent and cultural/political/social scrutiny. Chris responded. (By the way, in these chats, I never use Washington. I say I'm from Des Moines usually. Today was Bal'mor.)

Baltimore, Md.: In one end-of-the-year review, someone commented that The Strokes' first album title pretty much summed up the decade: Is This It.

The 2000s seemed pretty lackluster to me. But the more fractured the music scene becomes, the harder it is to pinpoint what was influential and, really, what the consensus is on anything in music.

Focusing on rock only, I'd throw The White Stripes, The Strokes, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips and Radiohead into the mix of most impactful. Veterans like Sleater-Kinney and Sonic Youth continued a steady buzzsaw through rock music (and younger peers). S-K was particularly important in that One Beat was a crisp commentary on the state of America, especially in light of 9/11 and the Iraq war. Where were all the other voices pushing against the Bush administration? It was left to, what, Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Green Day? Among others. Those bands are fine and all, but not exactly the youthful voice of dissent? And now the question that seems to be long overdue in getting at least an initial answer is what the Obama era will sound like. Any "hope and change" feel-good moments are long gone. Where's the pushback to simply more rampant corporatism, escalated war, an ultimate letdown on health care and largely continuing Bush's egregious record on government secrecy and civil liberties? Or what about is impact on hip-hop? Who will be the first artist in that world to say, 'Where's the follow up?' Where's our cultural response to Obama? Is America in too much of a haze to care? Where are the artists?

Chris Richards: Our time is running out, but this is a thoughtful question we wanted to share.

Very quick response: I think there was a lot of political music in the 00s (just in hip-hop I'm thinking of Lil Wayne's Katrina response "Georgia Bush" and Young Jeezy's response to Obama's candidacy "My President Is Black"), but not enough.

By and large, I think a desire for escapism really dominated American culture.

I don't know Richards, but I largely agree with him. Well, it's unclear if he actually thinks there was a lot of "political music" in the decade or not. But I agree with the escapism. That's spot on, I think. (And yes, I like to be called thoughtful.)

The point is, we are pretty deep in the Obama era -- almost a year just as president and 3 or 4 years as a political phenom -- and I can't really identify one prod at Obama and what he's done as president in music. Are there bands singing about a hard economy? The gripping paralysis of our increasingly economic-unbalanced society? The thirst for imperialism? Militarism? Civil liberty snatching? Torture advocacy? Rampant corporatism? The forgotten swaths of America? Are black artists, hip-hop and otherwise, seeing where Black America is going under the first black president -- largely nowhere they weren't before I'd boldly say? Is anyone calling attention to the morally-deluded pack of whores we call leaders? I'm sure bands are out there, but I'm not hearing it. Maybe I should look harder. I hope I'm not looking hard enough, but I'm not sure.

Right on cue

365 Photo: Teabaggers decide to wear red and cry about Socialism. Someone tell these numbskulls that health-care reform is being controlled by industry and jackoff senators, financial reform is handled by the former Wall St. executives that populate the Obama White House and the president is actively opening the door for more torture in America's future. But no, the black guy with a funny name and silver tongue must be a Commie.

That is rich: Joe Lieberman edition

What a dick.

“I don’t feel like a spoiler,” Mr. Lieberman said. “I feel like somebody who has wanted to be for health care reform. We have within reach — the core parts of this bill are a historic accomplishment. I mean, think about it, 30 million people who can’t afford health insurance in our country today are going to get it under this bill. The cost curve is going to be bent down.”

We're supposed to thank Joe Lieberman for all his work on reform? Fuck that. This obstructionist, sour grapes, vain drama queen has ostensibly done more than any Republican to block true meaningful reform since he's part of the block of 60 votes that are supposedly behind reform. And he's got the balls to say he should be hailed as a positive force in this?

Basically what getting 30 million of the 45 or 47 million uninsured people under some kind of insurance means is that those 30M will HAVE TO BUY INSURANCE out of their own pocket from a private insurer. That is reform? That is the liberal answer to this colossal clusterfuck? Digby:

Nobody's "getting covered" here. After all, people are already "free" to buy private insurance and one must assume they have reasons for not doing it already. Whether those reasons are good or bad won't make a difference when they are suddenly forced to write big checks to Aetna or Blue Cross that they previously had decided they couldn't or didn't want to write. Indeed, it actually looks like the worst caricature of liberals: taking people's money against their will, saying it's for their own good. --- and doing it without even the cover that FDR wisely insisted upon with social security, by having it withdrawn from paychecks. People don't miss the money as much when they never see it.

And don't let anyone say there are solid reforms sprinkled throughout the Senate's proposal that will actually mean something to a decent amount of people. Why? Because the forces of Washington will water them down and eventually strip them of any substance, especially if Republicans ever have power again, which they will.

Nice work Democrats. You let the likes of Joe "Elmer Fudd" Lieberman and Ben "Ralph Wiggum" Nelson derail reform (Although that may give those vanity whores too much credit; Obama and Harry Reid have been completely ineffectual for the liberal cause). And any so-called progressive in Congress, especially the Senate, has been walked right over.

Par for the course in 2009, the year of Obama. Maybe we should all write our congressman. I wonder what they would write back?

Don't surrender

Here are two good reads for the day.

Cary Tennis of Salon on identity and self-expression.

The "common-sense" assumption is that "underneath" we are all just regular joes. The true self may be extraordinary and fine. It is axiomatic that if each of us is unique, our true self will be something the world has never seen before. If we are completely ourselves, we may not be recognized. We hide the true self, fearing rejection by the crowd. So we "dumb down," you might say. We find a million ways to conceal.

One of the tricks I have learned is that by seeming to reveal all we can conceal much. The more we reveal, the more we can hide. What we really wish to conceal lies at the bottom of the heap of revelations. Often what we truly wish to hide is our own weakness, fear and vulnerability. That is how I felt at that meeting -- weak, fearful, vulnerable. Yet I found myself thinking my way through it and not acting. "What, indeed, is the exact effect of speaking to others about our condition?" Blah, blah, blah.

And Glenn W. Smith at Firedoglake talks us off the ledge and injects some hope of his own into the ruins of Obama's multi-layered mess.

While we struggle to overcome that fundamental error, we run the risk of demoralizing Americans. In the long run, we need one another more than we need Obama. I might even say that inspiration should be our first and most important strategy. Our demoralization is certainly a key strategy of our opponents, as it has been with all authoritarians. A great essay on the renewal of hope in the face demoralizing tyranny is Vaclav Havel’s, “The Power of the Powerless.”

I have many acquaintances who can no longer even read news about the health care reform because they find it depressing. This demands recognition and action. These anxious folk are not weak or apathetic. Their hopes need renewing. We rely on our individual resources, but also upon one another for inspiration. If we don’t take steps to relieve the anxiety and restore hope, we will set the movement back a decade. The 2010 elections will be lost, but that may turn out to be the least of our problems.

[...]

Hope requires a tougher realism than either cynicism or surrender. Without an eyes-wide-open view of what is, the necessary steps for change are impossible to determine. Also, hope can easily devolve into a sentimental “everything’s gonna be alright” passivity or naivety. Popular melodrama sells a lot of this.

It takes much more character to hope in bleak times than it does to give up. That's invaluable advice.

Outside the Portrait Gallery

365 Photo: Along F St.

Window dressing for a serial killer's fantasy camp

Humans are rats

It's often difficult to make the distinction between the two.

Herndon man says he killed wife; police find female body in suitcase

A man showed up at Herndon police headquarters Friday morning with a note saying he had killed his wife, police said, and when officers went to the couple's apartment, they found a woman's body stuffed inside a suitcase on the apartment balcony.

The 36-year-old woman's name was not released, pending notification of her family. Police think she was strangled, Lt. Jeff Coulter said, and her body was not dismembered or otherwise harmed. She apparently was small enough to fit inside a large suitcase, police said.

The man, Jamie A. Kuhne, 34, was charged with murder. He is being held in the Fairfax County jail.

The couple have a 1-year-old son. Police said Kuhne apparently took the boy to day care early Friday, then drove to the police station shortly after 7 a.m. and turned himself in.