The entire process of Supreme Court nominee hearings is a charade. But every so often the truth wins out. Witness Senator Jefferson Beauregard "Jeff" Sessions III in the current Kagan hearings: It’s difficult to know whether “you’d be more like John Roberts or more like Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” he said, referring to the justice nominated by Clinton who aligns with the court’s liberal wing.
What he wants is a conservative, but he ain't getting one, coz the Democrats won.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Today's Journal
This is what passes for journalism in the Wall Street Journal these days: on top of page A1, a picture accompanied by the caption: The mystery of bad hair days. Inside, the story: Wash Away Bad Hair Days.
Oy vay.
Oy vay.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Opposites
Two different stories on opposite pages in today's Wall Street Journal tell two different, indeed opposite, stories.
After Orszag, Red Ink and Hard Choices: The OMB director is resigning, and the deficit and national debt are being discussed in this story on page A4.
Mr. Orszag's decision to resign as director of the Office of Management and Budget comes as the Obama administration—and the Democratic Party—begin to confront disagreements between those who believe near-term deficit reduction poses too much risk to the fragile economic recovery and those, such as Mr. Orszag, who say the deficit itself may be a more profound economic threat. Behind that economic argument is a political one: The steps that might be taken to reduce red ink—such as tax increases or spending cuts to Medicare and other popular programs—will be politically perilous, especially given the magnitude needed to make any real impact.
The headline and subheading of a story on page A5 are: States Face New Pinch as Stimulus Ebbs. Tax Receipts Aren't Rebounding Quickly Enough to Offset Declining Federal Aid; Push for Additional Medicaid Help Stalls
States have long known stimulus funds sent their way early in the recession would taper off in the first half of 2011. But many hoped a rebound in tax receipts would close the gap.
After Orszag, Red Ink and Hard Choices: The OMB director is resigning, and the deficit and national debt are being discussed in this story on page A4.
Mr. Orszag's decision to resign as director of the Office of Management and Budget comes as the Obama administration—and the Democratic Party—begin to confront disagreements between those who believe near-term deficit reduction poses too much risk to the fragile economic recovery and those, such as Mr. Orszag, who say the deficit itself may be a more profound economic threat. Behind that economic argument is a political one: The steps that might be taken to reduce red ink—such as tax increases or spending cuts to Medicare and other popular programs—will be politically perilous, especially given the magnitude needed to make any real impact.
The headline and subheading of a story on page A5 are: States Face New Pinch as Stimulus Ebbs. Tax Receipts Aren't Rebounding Quickly Enough to Offset Declining Federal Aid; Push for Additional Medicaid Help Stalls
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Haley keeps taking the Southern test
This is a litmus test, which if administered by Demmocrats would be excoriated by conservatives. But, this is South Carolina.
She was born in small-town South Carolina, attended South Carolina schools and won election three times to the state legislature. But in her surging campaign for governor, Nikki Haley has been tested far more than other candidates on her cultural connections to the state. Mrs. Haley, 38 years old, is an Indian-American, born into the Sikh faith, who converted to Christianity as an adult. Her background has prompted some voters to seek assurances that she is committed to her Christian faith and understands the feelings among some about the state's Civil War history.
It is both disgusting and hilarious that anyone in 2010, 145 years after the Confederacy was defeated, believes this nonsense. But they do, and those that do have influence in this state.
Like her three GOP rivals for the governor's office, Mrs. Haley sat this spring for a videotaped interview with the Palmetto Patriots, a local activist group that aims to "fight attacks against Southern Culture" and talks with candidates "to ensure compliance with conservative values."
Balderdash!
Nikki Haley Goes Extra Mile in Proving Commitment 2:15
Mrs. Haley's half-hour meeting with the Palmetto Patriots illustrated how she has sought to assure potential skeptics while also embracing her ethnicity. She pledged to retain a political compromise that gave the Confederate flag a place of prominence in front of the State House, a position that puts her within the mainstream among GOP leaders in the state. Further, Mrs. Haley noted that "as a minority female" she was ideally suited to counteract an ongoing boycott led by civil rights groups.
Being a minority female does not obviate the use of the Confederate flag: the stripes and bars are objectionable, no matter who the governor is in South Carolina.
Mrs. Haley chose her words carefully in talking about the causes of the Civil War. "You had one side of the Civil War that was fighting for tradition, and I think you had another side of the Civil War that was fighting for change," she said.
Tradition versus change, a curious way of putting a war over slavery.
She did not use the word "slavery" but hinted at it, saying that "everyone is supposed to be free."
Supposed to be?
She was born in small-town South Carolina, attended South Carolina schools and won election three times to the state legislature. But in her surging campaign for governor, Nikki Haley has been tested far more than other candidates on her cultural connections to the state. Mrs. Haley, 38 years old, is an Indian-American, born into the Sikh faith, who converted to Christianity as an adult. Her background has prompted some voters to seek assurances that she is committed to her Christian faith and understands the feelings among some about the state's Civil War history.
It is both disgusting and hilarious that anyone in 2010, 145 years after the Confederacy was defeated, believes this nonsense. But they do, and those that do have influence in this state.
Like her three GOP rivals for the governor's office, Mrs. Haley sat this spring for a videotaped interview with the Palmetto Patriots, a local activist group that aims to "fight attacks against Southern Culture" and talks with candidates "to ensure compliance with conservative values."
Balderdash!
Nikki Haley Goes Extra Mile in Proving Commitment 2:15
As WSJ's Peter Wallsten reports, Nikki Haley is having to prove that she understands the traditions and culture of the state she is seeking to lead. Ms. Haley, an Indian-American, is the surging GOP candidate for governor in South Carolina.
Mrs. Haley's half-hour meeting with the Palmetto Patriots illustrated how she has sought to assure potential skeptics while also embracing her ethnicity. She pledged to retain a political compromise that gave the Confederate flag a place of prominence in front of the State House, a position that puts her within the mainstream among GOP leaders in the state. Further, Mrs. Haley noted that "as a minority female" she was ideally suited to counteract an ongoing boycott led by civil rights groups.
Being a minority female does not obviate the use of the Confederate flag: the stripes and bars are objectionable, no matter who the governor is in South Carolina.
Mrs. Haley chose her words carefully in talking about the causes of the Civil War. "You had one side of the Civil War that was fighting for tradition, and I think you had another side of the Civil War that was fighting for change," she said.
Tradition versus change, a curious way of putting a war over slavery.
She did not use the word "slavery" but hinted at it, saying that "everyone is supposed to be free."
Supposed to be?
Friday, June 18, 2010
New York Liberal (yea!)
Elena grew up to become dean of Harvard Law School and President Obama’s solicitor general, and if the Senate confirms her after hearings that begin on June 28, she would be the 112th justice of the United States Supreme Court. But before all that, she was the middle child in a New York family whose intellectual dynamism and embrace of liberal causes provide a window onto the social milieu and culture that shaped her.
Arm twistin'
President Obama’s successful move to force BP to establish a $20 billion compensation fund that the company will have no voice in allocating — just a down payment, the president insisted — may have been the most vivid example of what he recently called his determination to step in and do “what individuals couldn’t do and corporations wouldn’t do.” With that display of raw arm-twisting, Mr. Obama reinvigorated a debate about the renewed reach of government power, or, alternatively, the power of government overreach. It is an argument that has come to define Mr. Obama’s first 18 months in office, and one that Mr. Obama clearly hopes to make a central issue in November’s midterm elections.
I don't see it as being outrageous, though some do; I see as exercising leadership
I don't see it as being outrageous, though some do; I see as exercising leadership
Thursday, June 17, 2010
2 opposed views
It never ceases amazing me how differently two people can see the same event. Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., one of the resident right wingers in the Wall Street Journal editorial board (that is an oxymoron), and Thomas Frank, the token liberal write on the President and the Oil Company BP.
Leading off on the right, the message begins at the headline: Obama vs. BP (and You) and continues with the subheading: The government holds a company's stock price hostage.
The lefty takes a different approach: Britain Cries Foul Over BP and continues in the subheading: Thatcher's heirs may be the only people on the planet to regard Obama's response as swift and effective.
Frank only had to read the column at the top of the page where his appeared to see Thatcher's heirs are not the only ones.
In BP's case this week, the company's stock price hasn't just been taken hostage by Washington, it has been wrapped around management's neck and progressively tightened. The sight hasn't been an edifying one, not least because the target isn't just BP.
BP has authored one of the country's great industrial accidents and expects fully to pay through the nose. You could wish, in this light, Washington's politicians didn't seem quite so much like muggers standing on a street corner waiting for a vulnerable passerby. For one thing, it doesn't benefit the victims, who will continue to line up for years to come, if BP can't reinvest to sustain and grow its business.
Turns out they are not all muggers: here is a Republican representative:
Leading off on the right, the message begins at the headline: Obama vs. BP (and You) and continues with the subheading: The government holds a company's stock price hostage.
The lefty takes a different approach: Britain Cries Foul Over BP and continues in the subheading: Thatcher's heirs may be the only people on the planet to regard Obama's response as swift and effective.
Frank only had to read the column at the top of the page where his appeared to see Thatcher's heirs are not the only ones.
In BP's case this week, the company's stock price hasn't just been taken hostage by Washington, it has been wrapped around management's neck and progressively tightened. The sight hasn't been an edifying one, not least because the target isn't just BP.
BP has authored one of the country's great industrial accidents and expects fully to pay through the nose. You could wish, in this light, Washington's politicians didn't seem quite so much like muggers standing on a street corner waiting for a vulnerable passerby. For one thing, it doesn't benefit the victims, who will continue to line up for years to come, if BP can't reinvest to sustain and grow its business.
Turns out they are not all muggers: here is a Republican representative:
GOP leaders forced Rep. Barton to retract apology to BP
Washington Post - - 2 hours ago
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, accused the White House of conducting a "$20 billion shakedown" by requiring oil giant BP to establish a fund to compensate those hurt by the Gulf Coast oil spill.
Video: Biden: Barton Criticism of BP Fund 'Outrageous' The Associated Press
US Gulf Oil Spill BP's Ally The Associated Press
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