Updated Obama Primer

By Carol Gee

"Barack Obama 1-2-3-4-5"

This post was first written on 3/22/08. For today I've updated the original a bit and reposted it. It amounts to a little "pocket reference" for keeping connected with (or regarding) President Obama.

Obama on the Web - In chronological order:

Barack Obama and Joe Biden: The Change We Need -- Obamba Blog, Obama Store: This is the original campaign web site, Obama for America*.

The Inauguration of President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden -- This was the site of the Presidential Campaign Committee, fronted by Senator Dianne Feinstein.

USA Service.0rg -- This was the web site that was used with the thousands of volunteers who participated in the MLK National Day of Service on January 19.

Welcome to the White House -- The main website of President Obama's administration. It replaced White House.gov in the blink of an eye at noon on January 20. It can also be reached via a link (click Executive Branch) at "Federal Government" at USA.gov.

USAspending.gov -- is the result of legislation authored by Senators Obama and Coburn in 2006 and launched in 2007. To quote Obama,

"We should do everything we can to ensure that the American public can easily access and track how the Federal government does its business," said Senator Obama. "Our government took an important step last year by launching USASpending.gov and giving ordinary citizens an important tool to hold Washington accountable.

"*Obama for America becomes Organizing for America" in a merger with the Democratic Party. David Plouffe, the Obama campaign manager, will remain involved. Former Governor Tim Kaine has replaced former Governor Howard Dean as Chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Marc Ambinder explains (1/17/09):

The Obama political machine is merging with the Democratic National Committee.

The President-elect launched Obama 2.0, or Organizing for America, this morning with a YouTube video.

An Obama political aide said that OFA will be housed at the Democratic National Committee, resolving a longstanding debate about whether the entity should be separate.

A press release prepared by OFA calls the organization "the next phase" of the Obama organization, and will offer "volunteers the continued opportunity to work for change in their communities by organizing in support of reform in Washington."

From the original post -- March 2008

Barack Obama: My Space

Barack Obama: Wikipedia

3/18/08:" The Speech" from NYT Obama on Race

Foreshadowing References -- I found it interesting to see his progression in print as I wrote the first post.

Roots -- From Voice of America, "Obama Receives Hero's Welcome at His Family's Ancestral Village in Kenya" Nairobi 27 August 2006.

National oratory -- Barack Obama: 2004 Democratic Convention Speech

Environment -- From Grist/Muckraker Barack Star :"Illinois Senate candidate Barack Obama's got green cred." By Amanda Griscom, 04 Aug 2004 To quote:

"Environmentalism is not an upper-income issue, it's not a white issue, it's not a black issue, it's not a South or a North or an East or a West issue. It's an issue that all of us have a stake in," Obama shouted. "And if I can do anything to make sure that not just my daughter but every child in America has green pastures to run in and clean air to breathe and clean water to swim in, then that is something I'm going to work my hardest to make happen."

The crowd went bananas in response to this call for unity across ethnic and socio-economic lines, as though they'd been waiting for exactly this kind of dynamic leader to free environmentalism from the perception that it's predominately a white upper-middle-class issue.

Obama's environmental activism stretches back to his undergrad days at Columbia University, during which he did a three-month stint with a Ralph Nader offshoot organization trying to convince minority students at City College in Harlem to recycle. Later, when he worked as a community organizer on the South Side of Chicago, he fought for lead abatement in the Altgeld Gardens neighborhood.

Harvard Law Review -- Barack Obama in New York Times Feb. 6, 1990, "First Black Elected to Head Harvard's Law Review." To quote:

The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

''The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress,'' Mr. Obama said today in an interview. ''It's encouraging.

''But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent who don't get a chance,'' he said, alluding to poverty or growing up in a drug environment.

. . . On his goals in his new post, Mr. Obama said: ''I personally am interested in pushing a strong minority perspective. I'm fairly opinionated about this. But as president of the law review, I have a limited role as only first among equals.''

Therefore, Mr. Obama said, he would concentrate on making the review a ''forum for debate,'' bringing in new writers and pushing for livelier, more accessible writing.

. . . Professors and students at the law school reacted cautiously to Mr. Obama's selection. ''For better or for worse, people will view it as historically significant,'' said Prof. Randall Kennedy, who teaches contracts and race relations law. ''But I hope it won't overwhelm this individual student's achievement.''

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Inauguration Day Tuesday

By Carol Gee

The day Tuesday happens to be big in the political world. Elections are often held on Tuesdays. And this year Inauguration (January 20) falls on a Tuesday. So what on earth can I say about the Inauguration before it happens? I want to be in front of my television instead of my computer. I must imagine it in advance. Here is my fantasy, my prediction --

The day will be cold and gray. The crowds will be huge, millions, in fact. And they will be well-behaved, for the most part. Except for those people desperate to use one of a limited number of Porta-Potties. It could get ugly. Not everyone will be able to use their cell phones or Blackberries at the same time, due to overloading of the system. But eventually everyone will get home and get back in touch.

The moods will be wide-ranging -- excited, joyful, moved to tears, confused, anxious and relieved. People, filled with optimism, will have a spirit of helpfulness, of generosity and of shared community. They must be prepared for a great deal of celebration and stress, all at the same time. And they will have to be rather physically fit. The walks will be long, the pavement hard, the grass bumpy and the seating nonexistent.

The people who come to see the Inauguration will be kids old enough to walk a long ways, adults and a few very fit Seniors. They will come in all colors and from many different nations in addition to the USA. They will get tired and hungry, but generally will remain of good cheer.

The people who are participants in the Inauguration will be well organized, patient, nervous or excited and overcome with emotion at times. There will be lots of Democrats, some Republicans who are required to be there because of their office, and some who want to be there because it is of historic importance. Most will wish President Obama and the First Lady well. Security will be omnipresent* and as tense as at any time in memory. Google will capture# the Inauguration from space. And the media will cover it all.

The Inaugural speech will be magnificent and memorable to the millions watching. The Inaugural Poet will wax poetic. The Bible will be Lincoln's, and it will carefully be returned to where it belongs. All the Obamas will be beautiful and stylish. All the Supreme Court Justices will look distinguished. The bands will march smartly in straight lines. The parade will be on time, as will all other elements of the ceremony. And the day following Martin Luther King Day will make African-Americans and all Americans proud that history is being made in a profoundly important way.

The power to govern will quickly pass from Party to Party, Peacefully. The White House will get to work quickly, Tuesday afternoon, actually. People from other countries may wonder how we manage to do it this way for hundreds of years. And some may wish they were American. Others will go home and vow to work harder for better government, or peace or maybe revolution. And many others will go back to their own nations feeling that the earth is a bit smaller, and that we are all neighbors, able to be united in spirit despite differences.

The time has come to close. These are my predictions and assumptions. I will post again, post-Inauguration to let you know how I did. Have a great day. Enjoy, celebrate, reflect and hug those you love. Today is January 20, 2009. I thought it would never come. And now it here; I intend to enjoy it to the fullest.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Today feels real

By Carol Gee

Today is the last full day that George W. Bush will hold the office of President of the United States. And this story from Politico.com "It's over: Bush staffers make exits" (1/16/09), makes it a reality in my mind.

(Image: Free Images.uk)

What will be going on in the White House this Monday, Martin Luther King Day, this Day of Service planned by the Obamas? ProPublica: reported last week that the "Midnight Regs: [are] Nearing the End Game" (1/16/09). Our current president may still be keeping his pen at the ready, really. Politico.com: listed "10 Bush pardons to watch for" (1/19/09). Politico posts pros, cons and odds. To quote:

1. Pardon Prospects: Military and CIA interrogators of war-on-terror prisoners. . . 2. Pardon Prospect: Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr. . . 3. Pardon Prospect: Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales . . . 4. Pardon Prospects: Former American Israel Public Affairs Committee Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, Former Pentagon Analyst Lawrence Franklin . . . 5. Pardon Prospect: Former Justice Department official Bradley Schlozman . . . 6. Pardon prospect: Former junk bond king Michael Milken . . . 7. Commutation Prospects: Former Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean . . . 8. Commutation Prospect: Former Governor George Ryan (R-Ill.) . . . 9. Commutation Prospect: Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard . . . 10. Commutation Prospect: Randall “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.)

Update re (7): Bush commutes sentences of former U.S. border agents.

Republican defeat has been a bitter pill to swallow -- Regarding How Obama Got Elected.com"# (1/14/09) Jon, my regular contributor, notes, "Here is a website the repugs. are rehashing their loss. Palin is spouting lies again as a sore loser. Hello, "BITTER," party of one, or maybe a party of all the repug. losers." And, unfortunately, some Republicans will hold to a spoiler mentality, rather than making the best of their bad situation. Here is an example from Think Progress "Blackwell: GOP Must Defeat Job-Creating Stimulus Because It Will Ruin GOPs Election Chances"# published (1/17/09). What is so sad is that they "just do not get it": From Think Progress comes this sad headline:"Think Progress Fred Barnes doesn't bat an eye when C-Span caller and Barnes fan calls Obama Mr. Monkey Boy"# (1/17/09). McClatchy concludes with commentary that the: " 'Just say no' philosophy is failing GOP"* (1/13/09). To quote:

. . . the party of can-do – has become the party of stale white bread and "just say no."

Not just "no" to immigrants – a desperate move to pander to the close-the-border GOP crowd.

Or no to fair wages in a struggling economy while handing over a trillion dollars of taxpayer-financed bailouts to the fat cats in Detroit and Wall Street.

Scandals or discouraging realities will not all be going away today: Reported by The Public Record: "Universities And Other Scoundrels Reach Late Deals With Bushies"* was the headline on (1/17/09). Also this news comes from Buzz Flash: "Report Finds Major U.S. Companies Have Offshore Tax Haven"* 1/16/09). And finally from Facing South is this story: "Black Lung Rising"* (1/13/09). To quote:

The sight of more than a billion gallons of toxic coal ash waste covering a community in Eastern Tennessee has clearly shown the limits of claims made by the coal industry's "clean coal" marketing campaign.

To get another view of the dirty reality behind coal, we need to look inside the lungs of Appalachian miners.

Meanwhile in Congress there is very little possibility that anyone will be held accountable for all of this. In his new book, "35 Articles of Impeachment and the Case for Prosecuting George W. Bush" (available for download from Feral House Books), Congressman Kucinich establishes Bush as the 'decider' behind countless abuses of power. But nothing will come of it. And Republican senators such as Inhofe from Oklahoma will continue to be out of step with the bipartisan mood of the country. The story is from Think Progress: "Inhofe: Browner Is A Secret Socialist Who Belongs To A Scary Group Called The Center For American Progress"* (1/14/09) To quote:

Appearing on Fox News this morning, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) peddled the emerging right-wing trope that Barack Obama’s White House energy and climate adviser Carol Browner is a secret socialist.

Many of us will still be tempted to pinch ourselves to make sure it is all real. For me I plan to continue with my efforts to get closure, to use one of my therapeutic terms. This post is one of three left in my set of Monday (Republican) drafts. They will all get published today, and I will be rid of them! At least, for a while.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Transition soon to end

By Carol Gee

Obama transition time is now less than a week. There is considerable Inaugural hope, but America is still in shock.# But everyone is moving forward and looks to be mostly on track. For example, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog posts "The Official Photo"* (1/14/09), noting:

The official presidential photograph of Barack Obama has been released. It's the first ever presidential portrait shot with a digital camera.

It's the Economy, stupid -- In his economic speech on January 8, President-elect Obama admits that there is so much work to be done. The nation is fearful that we are fighting off economic depression.# At the very least, as McClatchy headlines, "Recession calls up sacrifice* (1/6/09). As the first part of the new strategy, the Senate voted Thursday, 52-42 to release the second $350 billion of the TARP funds.

Confirmation votes have already begun. To track those nominations and confirmation fights, see "References" below. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted positively Thursday for Secretary of State designate, Hillary Clinton, with only one Republican dissenting, Senator Vitter. There was an interesting related article at The New Republic - The Plank: "They Are All Hillary's Women Now"* (1/14/09). To quote Michelle Cottle's conclusion:

Both the history and the temperament of the incoming Secretary of State suggest that she will prove a strong champion of women . . . in such straits. To be sure, Hil will have a lot on her plate. But she has always taken pains to remind us (not to mention an annoyed Chinese government) that women's rights are human rights.

Confirmation hearings continue -- La Vida Locavore headlined, regarding Governor Vilsack's nomination to be Secretary of Agriculture and his ties to agriculture and biotechnology, "Department of odd omissions"* (1/12/09). Eric Holder's nomination as Attorney General had much potential for fireworks until this news came through. We learned what Holder said from Yahoo! News: "Holder: Waterboarding is torture."# There was no equivocation, no mincing words, no shading of his important legal opinion. Pundits were of the opinion that that declaration will seal his successful nomination. CQ Politics says that, "Holder Signals New Era at Justice Department, Vows Independence as Attorney General" (1/15/09). To quote further:

Attorney General-designate Eric H. Holder Jr. outlined positions on detainee treatment and presidential authority that differ starkly from those of the Bush administration during his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing Thursday.

. . . “I agree with you, Mr. Chairman, waterboarding is torture,” Holder said. The statement was an unequivocal departure from the stance of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey , who refused to make such a statement at his own 2007 confirmation hearing.

The statement has potentially significant implications for government agents who waterboarded suspected terrorists since 2001. And it is symptomatic of the new approach Obama is expected to take to the detention and treatment of suspects in the war on terrorism.

How will the new President govern? McClatchy puts it this way (1/7/09): "Move over, boomer presidents: A new generation takes charge."* Politico says that there will be "late nights, long hours in Obama White House" (1/14/09). There is also an interesting question posed by Secrecy News (11/6/08): "The Presidential Transition and Secrecy." The Democratic Strategist takes "Two new looks at Obama" on (1/12/09). To quote:

One, by Mike Tomasky in The Guardian, coins an interesting new phrase for Obama's approach to the stimulus package: "indirect direction:"

. . . Meanwhile, over at New York magazine, John Heilemann takes everything ever said about Obama's unique political appeal and ramps it up many notches in a piece that suggests he's the first "Independent" president.

Running three governments at the same time -- is what Politico calls "Obama's speed and balancing act" (1/14/09). To quote:

First is Obama’s own administration, still being assembled and facing a few rough patches a week before his Inauguration. Next is his ambitious economic recovery bill, approaching $850 billion and fast becoming a second government in its own right. Third is the leftover business of the outgoing Bush White House: what to do with the last $350 billion in a financial markets rescue fund approved a month before Obama’s election.

Finally, maintaining a Democratic Congress could prove to be a big advantage in President-elect Obama's first full term. If President-elect Obama maintains his bipartisan, pragmatic style of trying to fix problems and get things done, he should be able to avoid a mid-term defeat at the hands of the now mostly discredited Republicans.

Additional References:

• Financial Times: "In depth coverage of the Obama transition"


• CQ Politics: "Track Obama's Cabinet Nominees"


• ProPublica: "Gitmo Database Details 779 Prisoners' Cases" (1/15/09)


• McClatchy: If you are thinking of turning your assets into gold heed this 24-karat advice: Beware* (1/6/09)

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Geithner, the Tax Man, and the Treasury

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Oh, how the right is salivating over Treasury nominee Tim Geithner and his tax problems, specifically, his failure to pay almost $43,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes over several years earlier this decade.

Appearing before the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday, Geithner explained, according to the Post, that the "mistakes on his tax returns early this decade were unintentional and that he has since paid back the $42,702 he owed, including interest... [H]e mistakenly believed that his employer at the time, the International Monetary Fund, was deducting those taxes from his paycheck." Democratic committee chairman Max Baucus called his mistake "serious," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is withholding judgement, and two other Republicans, Jim Bunning and Jon Kyl, are temporarily delaying his confirmation, but, of all people, Orrin Hatch, one of the most conservative and most partisan of Republicans, came to his defence: "I still support him. I have no problem. He's a very, very competent guy."

But then there are those who are making much ado, such as the Politico's Roger Simon, a noted conservative, who asks today, "What if I didn't pay taxes?" Which isn't fair, of course, because Geithner still paid most of his taxes, he just neglected to pay certain taxes that he thought were already being deducted." It an incredibly and typically idiotic piece.

Then there's The Wall Street Journal, a right-wing rag (in editorial terms), which facetiously calls for "a Geithner tax amnesty." But Geithner didn't "forget" to pay his taxes, it was just an oversight on his part -- a serious one, to be sure, but it's not like he was engaging in tax fraud or otherwise simply refusing to pay his taxes.

And it isn't just the right. Even The New York Times (which is actually far more rightist than most people realize) editorialized that "the disclosures cannot be dismissed so easily, or papered over," that "Geithner must be questioned forcefully about these matters at the hearing next week, and his explanations must be credible."

As the Times reports elsewhere, though, "several tax experts" say that "it is an easy mistake for an employee of an international organization to make." Even the Politico admits this: "Should the U.S. treasury secretary know how to do his own taxes? Maybe not, say payroll lawyers, accountants and tax professors, who consider Timothy Geithner’s failure to pay four years of Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes to be a fairly common mistake — even for a top economist chosen to run the Treasury Department, including the Internal Revenue Service."

And while media outlets like CNN are similarly making much ado and focusing on all the supposed opposition to Geithner, Republicans, with few exceptions, are pretty much on Geithner's side, dismissing the tax oversight and stressing his abilities and qualifications.

Now, this is not to say that I myself am fully behind Geithner. I have my reservations, but they have nothing to do with his taxes. Rather, they have to do with the fact that he once worked for Henry Kissinger (I'd like to know more about what he did for Kissinger & Associates), that he's another Rubin-Summers (who were both enablers of the banking crisis back when they were at the Treasury in the '90s under Clinton), that he has been very much part of the problem with respect to the financial meltdown, and that he's an enthusiastic cheerleader for the ever-growing financial bailout.

Still, I'm not against him -- I trust Obama on this -- and, despite these concerns, I do not necessarily oppose his confirmation. Indeed, as Robert Kuttner (via Benen) noted last September, Geithner is actually quite progressive with respect to regulatory policy. And Paul Krugman likes him, which is, for me, very much in his favour, even if Frank Rich makes a strong and persuasive case against him for being "no less tardy [than Rubin] in discovering the reckless, wholesale gambling that went on in Wall Street's big casinos, all of which cratered while at least nominally under his regulatory watch."

Regardless, it looks like he'll be confirmed. Thankfully, the stupid matter of his taxes won't be his undoing.

Fast-tracking

By Carol Gee

Upcoming legislative issues -- Congressional leaders, Senate Democrats will meet with President-elect Barack Obama Tuesday to iron out concerns over the proposed stimulus package. Stimulus specifics include a round of tax cuts, but not an earlier jobs-credit proposal, increased aid to students and schools and doubling the energy tax credits. To quote Glenn Thrush at Politico.com:

The Senate trip comes amid increased jockeying between the transition team and Hill Democrats over the details of three monumental legislative issues -- the composition of the roughly $775 billion stimulus package, the fate of Obama's controversial $300 billion middle-class tax cut and his push to quickly pass the second $350 billion tranche of the highly unpopular bank bailout.

Bipartisanship? At President-elect Obama's behest, our current president (OCP) has agreed to request the remaining $350 billion from the TARP bailout fund. Congress has fifteen days to object to the request or it will go through. It will be interesting to see whether the new administration will be able to clear up any of the financial mess left by the Republicans' disbursement of the first $350 billion.

Hearings -- Tuesday also will see Hillary Rodham Clinton's confirmation hearing to become the new Secretary of State. Memeorandum's story is that Clinton [will] emphasize 'smart power.' Politico headlines: "Land mines ahead for Hillary." The headline exaggerates the danger that Clinton will encounter very difficult questions by the committee members. At the same time it looks as if Illinois senator designate, Roland "Burris may breeze into [the] Senate," without the involvement of the rules committee after all, and as he said, "without creating a scene." ProPublica headlined: "Senate Dems Cave, Burris to be Seated." It is not clear yet what will happen to Minnesota's Al Franken.

Individuals will leave 2010 openings -- One of my favorite Republican senators, George Voinovich of Ohio, announced that he will retire at the end of his term in 2010, according to Yahoo! News, ". . . like 3 other GOP senators#." Others include Sens. Kit Bond of Missouri, Mel Martinez of Florida and Sam Brownback of Kansas. In an interesting aside, BuzzFlash: reveals that this is the "Oldest. Congress. Ever*" (1/6/09).

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo*" and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Conyers contra Gupta

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Needless to say, I'm not alone in my opposition to Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general (though it is evident that it is hardly Obama's most controversial move thus far, generating comparatively little criticism).

As HuffPo reports, Rep. John Conyers has sent a letter to his Democratic colleagues arguing against Gupta:

I join in opposition with respected Noble Peace Prize award wining economist Paul Krugman, who has very serious concerns with having Dr. Gupta be the nation's Surgeon General. [...]

Also, there are highly experienced medical professionals who question whether Dr. Gupta has the necessary experience or even the medical background to be in charge of some 6,000 physicians or more who work in the United States Public Health Service. Gerard M. Farrel, Executive Director of the Commissioned Officers Association, stated in the January 7, 2008 Washington Post that Dr. Gupta will certainly face a "credibility gap" because he never served in the National Health Service Corp, and furthermore, does not have the "experience or qualifications to be the leader of the nation's public health service." Clearly, it is not in the best interests of the nation to have someone like this who lacks the requisite experience needed to oversee the federal agency that provides crucial health care assistance to some of the poorest and most underserved communities in America.

I do not oppose Gupta because he lacks experience -- indeed, what is needed in the position is not so much bureaucratic competence as the ability to lead public relations efforts on public health issues, and, in this sense, Gupta, with his extensive experience in broadcasting, could do well -- but rather because of his flacking for the pharmaceutical industry, that is, because he is part of the problem, a celebrity cog in the marketing machine for Big Pharma and the very system that so badly needs to be overhauled or, preferably, replaced.

Still, Conyers makes a good point, adding to the growing case against Gupta.

Activists find ways to stay involved

By Carol Gee

People all over the world have protested for one side or the other in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. AlterNet reported that, "An unprecedented number of Americans question Israel's actions in Gaza.* (1/6/09). Activism, protest, organizing -- there are legitimate activist organizations as well as illegitimate ones. The following story refers to the sometimes very dark and terrible side of protest. On 1/6/09, McClatchy reported on a "Cross burned in yard of man who helped troubled youth."*

"People are getting ready"# to be actively involved in helping to get our nation back on track during these very dark times. Our president-elect has invited this. The official working website of the incoming administration is here: The Obama-Biden Transition Team.

"Grassroots for Obama" was spawned by his campaign in the blogosphere. Communication on the web is also done through e-mail. Activists probably receive a lot of e-mails. I am not even a real "activist," in the classic sense, and still my box is usually full. These are tough times* and there are lots of needs. The e-mails, while absolutely legitimate, are unsolicited. I have no idea how I have gotten on these lists. I find the range of good causes heartening and interesting, however. A few examples follow:

• Blago -- Grainger@GraingerTerry.com: Phil Molfese is the contact. The cause is a "citizen group to hold demonstration" outside of Governor Blagojevich's office, 100 W. Randolph St., Friday at noon. They will ask the governor to resign. I will not be attending but you might want to show up.


• Media Bias -- Sarah Coles wanted me to know about "the top 5 trend predictions for political communications and political media under the Obama presidency," via Skewz (www.skewz.com), the first user-driven political media aggregation site for exposing media bias. I joined Skewz, an interesting twist, and intend to post biased pieces as I find them.

If I were a young person, I would also find all the the communications perfectly normal, but I am a granny. Millenials are activists, very involved with each other and with their communities, their nation and the world. I am by no means a milennial, but I do get a lot of e-mails from Michelle and Barach, and David Plouffe at Barack Obama.com, where I have posted just a few times. The Democratic Strategist explains:

. . . there is probably a good reason why Obama has decided to keep his personal organization and its vast electronic relationship with millions of supporters intact instead of disbanding it or folding it into the national or state Democratic parties. This officially nonpartisan network will work overtime to keep the bipartisan grassroots engaged in the struggle in Washington, and deploy pressure accordingly. This formidable organization is a tangible asset that should not be dismissed or minimized.

The range of kinds of potential involvement in Obama's grassroots bipartisanship is wide. The biggest thing right now, of course, is to be one of the ten people selected to attend the Inauguration as the Obamas' guests. The first guest has just been announced. Quoting Michelle's e-mail:

Cynthia Russell from Newberry, Florida, and her guest will attend the welcome ceremony, Barack's swearing-in, the Inaugural Parade, and our Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Cynthia is a builder and has been feeling the impact of the recent economic crunch. She wrote:

"I'm a single woman who has been building homes for over 18 years. I've supported myself and have been able to help out my mother from time to time. Now I find myself wondering how much longer I can hold on and be able to pay my bills and keep the doors open for business. Barack gives me hope. Hope that 2009 will truly bring change to Americans who find themselves in this mess with me."

Earlier a first set of Obama "house meetings" focused on getting people to tell President-elect Obama how to fix health care, is probably the first of many example of many similar efforts to come in the future. Obama coffee mugs were for sale at Christmas time. Michelle's Christmas card suggested donating to your local food bank or to the USO care package program. Filling out a survey (550,000 participated) prompted this recent interesting information:

. . . your ideas about the future of this organization are taking shape. Here are a few things you shared in the survey:

• House meetings were the primary way supporters got involved in the campaign


• People are excited to volunteer around a number of top issues, including education, the environment, health care, poverty, and the economy
• 86 percent of respondents feel it's important to help Barack's administration pass legislation through grassroots support


• 68 percent feel it's important to help elect state and local candidates who share the same vision for our country


• And a staggering 10 percent of respondents indicated that they would be interested in running for elected office

This feedback is essential to our next steps, because this movement is fueled by your ideas and your passion.

I have registered/joined several activist organizations, though I have not contributed money. They include:

1. One.org -- This very active organization looked back at a great 2008. The organization's current effort is a petition drive to ask President-elect Obama to, "In your inaugural address, please make a clear affirmation of your pledge to fight poverty and preventable diseases worldwide, and support that statement with an FY2010 budget request that puts the U.S. on track to meet your historic commitments."


2. WEcansolveit.org -- The We Campaign is a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. The goal of the Alliance is to build a movement that creates the political will to solve the climate crisis.

The New Year is a good time get reconnected to your community.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

More on Panetta

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I don't have much to add to my thoughts from yesterday on the Panetta-to-CIA pick. He may turn out to be just what the CIA needs, a superb organizational leader with fantastic political skills and an inside track to Obama, or he may, given his lack of intelligence experience, fail miserably either to reform the CIA or to rejuvenate it and to make it even more relevant under a friendlier president.

As with many of Obama's appointees, I'll take a wait-and-hope-and-see approach.

According to Charles Faddis, a "retired senior CIA operations officer," quoted by CQ's Jeff Stein, the reaction to the Panetta pick from the rank-and-file at the CIA has been "overwhelmingly negative":

These are people who are sweating blood everyday to make things happen and living for the day that somebody is going to come in, institute real reform and turn the CIA into the vital, effective organization it should be. To them this choice just says that no such changes are impending and that all they can look forward to is business as usual.

Faddis himself is an Obama supporter, but, to him, "Panetta is not the guy we need to run CIA right now," given that "he knows nothing about intelligence, particularly human intelligence."

Still, Panetta has his prominent supporters, including Sen. Evan Bayh, as well as leading intelligence experts like Paul Pillar and Gregory Treverton. And at The Daily Beast, Leslie Gelb writes that Panetta is a great choice -- and exactly what Langley needs:

The next best thing for the CIA and the best thing for the country is to have Leon Panetta in the job. He is a nonpartisan Democrat, a proven manager, a wise man without being a congenital middle-of-the-roader, and someone who truly knows how to navigate between the political pressures that so dominate Washington without being overcome by them.

As I said, we'll see (though, given that it's the CIA, there's a lot that we won't see).

The key, though, is not so much Panetta as Obama. As Michael Crowley puts it, "[t]he far more important and interesting question is what policies Obama will hand down to the CIA from on high, particularly when it comes to whether we will continue a policy of renditioning terror suspects to other countries for 'interrogation.' Panetta is a hard-liner against torture but he was present at the creation of the rendition practice under Bill Clinton in the 1990s -- but it's Obama's call anyway, not his.

Not to take anything away from what the CIA director does, but it's the president who is ultimately responsible. What is needed, post-Bush, is not just organizational reform, but policy reform, and it is Obama who must be the bringer of change.

Sanjay Gupta for surgeon general?

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The WaPo's Howard Kurtz is reporting that Obama has asked celebrity tele-Dr. Sanjay Gupta, he of CNN and CBS fame, to be the new surgeon general.

Now, I'm in no position to question Gupta's abilities as a neurosurgeon or otherwise his medical qualifications. He may very well be an excellent doctor, as he seems to be (he performed brain surgery during the Iraq invasion in 2003). Furthermore, there is no doubt that he is telegenic and that he would make an excellent spokesman for public health issues. And, indeed, what's needed in that position is not so much expertise in medicine as the ability to communicate effectively with the broader public, that is, to inform and teach through the media. (Think C. Everett Koop and his anti-smoking campaign in the '80s.) In this regard, the media-friendly Gupta, a man who is clearly comfortable in front of the camera, seems to be an excellent pick for the job.

And yet.

It seems to me that what is needed in a surgeon general is also someone who can make the case for, or at least someone who is supportive of, a reformed public health care system, given that this seems to be, as many of us hope it genuinely is, one of Obama's main policy priorities. But is Gupta an advocate of such reform? I have my doubts. As he exposed in his critique of Michael Moore's movie Sicko back in July 2007, he seems to be very much a part of, as well as a defender of, the status quo, namely, the corporatized health care system controlled by Big Pharma and the HMOs. As I put it then, he picked apart Moore's movie, avoided subjecting the existing system and/or Moore's critics to similar evaluation, and failed to address the most serious flaws of the American system, namely, the enormous costs even to those with insurance and the utter lack of insurance for millions." So is this really the man who should be the spokesman for public health in the United States?

I see that my friend Steve Benen, while acknowledging (but not making much of) the Moore incident (which occurred on CNN, no less), thinks that Gupta "seems like a strong choice," given that he "would likely be the highest-profile official since Koop, and could conceivably play a valuable role in advancing a reform campaign." Well, maybe. And -- yet again, yet again -- I'm wondering if I should -- yet again, yet again -- give Obama the benefit of the doubt and trust that he knows what he's doing, that all will work out. Like Krugman, though, I just can't quite get past Gupta's "mugging" of Moore -- and that he got it wrong.

Should one ugly high-profile incident like this disqualify him? Maybe not, and, like I said, he undeniably has a lot going for him. For example, as Kurtz notes -- and this I did not know -- "[h]e was a White House fellow in the late 1990s, writing speeches and crafting policy for Hillary Clinton." That certainly inspires greater confidence, but I need to know more about his position on health care reform, as well as on the existing system that has left millions of Americans uninsured, and about his willingness to work with and in support of soon-to-be health czar and HHS Secretary Tom Daschle, before giving Obama the benefit of the doubt and approving this questionable appointment.

It would be good for the U.S. to have a prominent, highly visible, charismatic, and telegenic surgeon general at a time of reform, not to mention in case of public health emergencies. It's just not clear to me that Gupta is the right choice.

Yet.

Dumb and dumberer

By Carl

I had a feeling this might happen:

Weeks before President-elect Barack Obama chose New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to head the Commerce Department, a small group of volunteers with ethics, tax and investigative expertise -- most of them lawyers -- scoured his background looking for embarrassing facts or political problems.

[...]Sources within the transition and the Justice Department said that Richardson had played down the importance of the probe and did not reveal that his office and staff could be at risk. The seriousness of the matter became apparent after the FBI began its own background check on Dec. 2. But Richardson's longtime aides defended his disclosures, noting that subjects under examination by a grand jury are rarely aware of its secret deliberations.

[...]But a source with the Obama transition said Richardson's disclosures to the team were incomplete.

My first reaction when I heard the BillR was considering taking the Commerce job was "WTF?"

Not that he's a bad choice, but as career moves go, this was a no-brainer: stay governor of New Mexico or go be a minor Cabinet official in the Obama administration, when you had already been UN ambassador and energy secretary?

I'd pick governor in a heartbeat, screw the "pleasure of the president" service stuff.

As well, he would have had to deal with Hillary, whom he knifed in the back at the earliest opportunity. Imagine trying to keep her in front of you for two or four years.

If you're going to accept a plum for beating up your old boss' wife, I would think an assignment as ambassador to a nice tropical island nation that has no extradition treaty with the US would be in order. You're 60. You deserve it. You've earned it.

But Commerce Secretary?

And to think, I gave this moron a contribution for governor!

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

Tuesday at the bar

By Carol Gee

My Glass Runneth Over with blog material today. The Tuesday's-about-Congress blog theme often makes for a slow party at my keyboard. But not today. I have more than I can manage and the nation's road ahead is slick, so a "digest" will have to do.

United States Senate

Former Senator Barack Obama will make a fine President of the United States, with great potential to restore civil liberties, to restore checks and balances, and to restore the rule of law. One of his most admirable themes is bipartisanship, already cautiously welcomed by the GOP leadership. According to a Yahoo! News story:

The Democratic-dominated Congress convenes Tuesday to confront perhaps the worst Great Depression and to grapple with a hugely ambitious agenda set by President-elect Barack Obama.

. . . This year, . . . with the economy in a worsening recession, Democrats are promising swift action on an as-yet-unveiled $775 billion economy recovery program that is the first order of business for the Obama administration.

. . . With their numbers bolstered by last fall's elections, congressional Democrats are well-positioned to dominate the session.

Senator Joseph Biden may not have cast his last Senate votes, despite his being the vice president-elect due to take office January 20. And he is taking advantage of the expertise available by raiding Rep. Steny Hoyer's staff for his legislative affairs director.

Senator Majority Leader Harry Reid is just too weak to fill his job description. He drives many in the blogosphere virtually "to drink," though I have no clue as to what to do about it.

Senator Hillary Clinton will make an excellent secretary of state, a shoo-in for confirmation, will be strong enough to fill the job description.

Senator Chris Dodd will be a very, very busy chairman of the Senate's Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in the 111th Congress, looking to assist the auto industry and the financial and housing sectors of our ailing economy.

Senator Al Franken will have to wait to be sworn in as the Democratic Senator from Minnesota, though he has won the race. Even though his opponent, Norm Coleman, will challenge the results in court, Franken will be the 59th Democratic Senator, bring the body close to a tantalizing "filibuster-proof" majority.

Senator Roland Burris (he says) will also be sworn in at some point, speculates Politico, and I agree. Yahoo! News says, "Senate Democratic leaders need to work out a looming confrontation with Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who faces charges of having attempted to sell the seat." And I believe he will run for reelection in 2010.

Senator Ken Salazar's successor, "unknown" Michael Bennet from Colorado, was an early Obama supporter. Bennet has headed the Denver school system, will probably do well enough to get reelected in 2010 as well. Salazar has been tapped to be the new secretary of interior.

Senator Diane Feinstein has no standing to judge Leon Panetta, according to The Reaction's "Creature." And I heartily agree. Nor does Senator Jay Rockefeller, nor Senator Kit Bond, because of their record of caving in time after time to the Bush administration's unlawful and unconstitutional demands regarding warrantless wiretapping, military tribunals, etc. Must the CIA be headed by a spy? Can the director of national intelligence be an ex-admiral? CQ's Jeff Stein, who writes the blog "Spy Talk," makes a very powerful and reasoned argument that Panetta is an excellent choice to lead the CIA, headlining that he "could be the cure for the CIA's ills."

Senator Patrick Leahy, D-VT, will be the very capable chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. It will be this committee that holds the hearings to confirm President-elect Obama's top nominees for key Justice Department posts. McClatchy reports that the naming of the most recent nominees (David Ogden, Elena Kagan, Tom Perelli and Dawn Johnsen) signals "An End to Bush Terror Tactics."# To quote:

President-elect Barack Obama signaled that he intends to roll back Bush administration counterterrorism policies authorizing harshinterrogation techniques, warrantless spying and indefinite detentions of terrorism suspects. The most startling shift was Obama's pick of Indiana University law professor Dawn Johnsen to take charge of the Office of Legal Counsel,

. . . Obama said that he hoped that the four appointees would restore "integrity, depth of experience and tenacity" to the lead federal law-enforcement agency, which has been battered by scandal.

"This is a superb set of appointments," said [Walter] Dellinger, who headed the Office of Legal Counsel from 1993-96 and then served as U.S. solicitor general. "These four are highly accomplished in the profession and bring a stature to the job that will allow them to say no to the president when no is the correct answer."

United States House of Representatives

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is strong enough to fill her job description, and she will have the help of a 20 seat Democratic gain in the House to move legislation forward quickly. According to Yahoo! News, "'We will hit the ground running ... to address the pain being felt by the American people,' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., promised Monday as she welcomed Obama to her office."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has done a good job since his election to that post, and even though he was always a strong conservative, he is also a realist.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) plans to introduce a constitutional amendment to curtail presidential pardon powers, according to TPM Muckracker.

Rep. Charles Rangel's ethical problems remain, leaving the door of his powerful committee chairmanship a bit up in the air. House Democrats are contemplating a set of rules changes, strongly opposed by the GOP, that will have the effect of markedly consolidating their power to legislate, as well as keep Committee chairs in their seats without term limits.

"Cleaning up the mess" is what we elected Barack Obama to do. But it is also the job of Congress. We cannot let them off the hook, expecting that President-elect Obama will "come in on a big horse" and clean up the town gone bad. Our entire economy has gone bad and it is rapidly getting worse. Upcoming issues are serious and imminent. Legislation will be required in addition to executive orders and leadership. Hearings cry out to be held, bipartisanship is yet to be learned. We look to the individuals named in this post, along with many others not named, to step up and do their jobs.

Reference: A look at the work of the 110th Congress -- Congressional Quarterly (12/30/08)

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

More Panetta

By Creature

I have no idea if putting a person free of significant intelligence experience in charge of the CIA is a good idea or a bad one, but if doing so pisses off Dianne Feinstein then I'm all for it. Feinstein was a torture enabler and as such she gets no say.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

Leon Panetta

By Creature

Along the same lines as my last post, how sad is it that I'm happy the new CIA Director is against torture? This shouldn't even be a debate, let alone a cause for joy.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

Quote of the Day

By Creature

"This is an excellent day for those who believe in presidential adherence to the rule of law [...]" -- Digby, reacting to Obama's great pick of Dawn Johnsen to head the DOJ's Office of Legal Council. It's a sad day when we cheer presidential adherence to the rule of law, but such is the state Bush & Cheney have left us in.

(Cross-posted at State of the Day.)

16 more days

By Libby Spencer

I watch this and I think, wow, he looks so young. But as I listen I want to believe he can pull it off. The baby face nothwithstanding, it feels like the grownups are in charge again.



The "American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan". How refreshing to have programs that deserve their name instead of some kind of Orwellian doublespeak for "screw you suckers."

Repairing the infrastructure. Better energy policy. Modernizing public schools instead of privatizing them into oblivion. Improving the medical system. Spreading tax relief around to everybody. It's good policy. I don't see how anyone could complain but somehow I'm sure there will be some who will. Namely talk show Republicans.*

(* Yes, Mark coined that phrase.)

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)

Any sign that demilitarization is coming?

By Carol Gee

Under the Bush administration the United States was introduced to several new national security wrinkles, sold to us as ways to keep us safe. Within the framework of a president claiming unitary authority as the commander in chief, the measures included: 1) preventive, or preemptive, war with Iraq; 2) secret, warrantless wiretapping through massive data mining within the U.S.; 3) authorization to suspend habeas corpus and to torture; 4) politicization of the Justice Department; and 5) successfully co-opting the leaders in Congress as well as Intelligence Committee chairmen.

"Hold on Mr. President-elect!" -- What are the chances of the "military-industrial complex" becoming less influential in the Obama administration? There are ominous signs that it may not happen any time soon. First, a couple of personnel issues cause me some concern.

Intel baggage, the DNI and the CIA -- Transitioning into national security competence and being able to "hit the ground running," is not turning out to be easy for President-elect Obama. He lacks extensive intelligence experience, though he did propose that the DNI have a fixed appointment like that of the FBI Director. The President-elect has yet to name his Director of National Intelligence or a new CIA Director. Serving currently are DNI Mike McConnell and CIA Director Michael Hayden, who came later in the Bush administration. Both of the current officials are military men and are willing to stay on in their positions. The CIA was blamed for the intelligence failures before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, as the bad prewar intelligence about Iraq's weapons programs. The CIA was also involved in the rendition of captured terrorism suspects to countries known to use torture, secret prisons all over the world for high-level captives, as well as the use of torture in interrogations. According to a recent (12/3/08) Washington Post analysis by by Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus, "Experience will be prime asset for Obama's Spy Chiefs." To quote:

President-elect Barack Obama faces a dilemma in selecting his top intelligence advisers: finding experienced leaders who understand the challenges facing the various U.S. intelligence agencies -- but who are untainted by the controversies and problems that have plagued the intelligence apparatus during the Bush era.

. . . Prominent voices in the intelligence community and the Obama camp have argued that a seasoned professional is needed when the country is waging two wars and a campaign against terrorism, and that a newcomer would face an excessively steep learning curve.

Pincus cont'd:

[DNI] Mike McConnell warned against yet another structural overhaul for a community that has been the subject of 41 high-level studies since 1946

. . . The creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2004 was in part an attempt to forge a clear chain of command; yet the restructuring has led to new squabbling over turf and control over the intelligence community's budget, which currently totals $47.5 billion. Some independent experts have argued that the office is an unneeded layer of bureaucracy, and many in Congress have called for reducing its size.

. . . While acknowledging that reforms are still needed, intelligence officials expressed concern that reformers could inadvertently reverse hard-won progress achieved over the past three years. . . . "For the first time, there's someone who wakes up each morning and has the interest of the entire intelligence community as his No. 1 job," office spokesman Richard Willing said.

. . . Other frequently mentioned candidates for top intelligence posts in the Obama administration include retired Navy Adm. Dennis C. Blair, seen as a favorite for director of national intelligence; Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), formerly the ranking Democrat on the House intelligence committee; and John Hamre, a former deputy defense secretary who is also considered a candidate to eventually succeed Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, whom Obama has nominated to remain at the Pentagon.

In related matters, 1) This comes from Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com (11/26/08): "Exceptional news: John Brennan won't be CIA Director or DNI." And 2) This was by Jeff Stein from CQ Politics (12/5/08): "Send Dollar Bill to the CIA" To quote:

The former New Jersey Democratic senator (1979-97), presidential candidate and NBA star — so named for the $500,000 contract the Princeton grad and Rhodes scholar landed with the New York Knicks — impressed many a CIA official when he served on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI).

“I distinctly remember briefing Bradley on counterintelligence and other intelligence matters and being blown away by how serious, informed, and supportive he was,” James Olson, a former head of CIA counterintelligence now teaching at Texas A&M, said by e-mail.

People are betting that this will be the headline when President-elect Obama names his new Director of National Intelligence: "The New Team: Dennis C. Blair." I am ready to accept this news because Blair would, in my opinion, be a huge improvement over Admiral McConnell, whom I believe has become deeply compromised under Bush. The story comes originally from the New York Times author Mark Mazzetti and it was published November 22, 2008. It is one of a series of profiles of potential members of the Obama administration. A former four-star Admiral, Blair was in the Navy for 34 years, with much of his work in the intelligence field. Born Feb. 4, 1947, in Kittery, Me., Blair graduated from Annapolis. In addition to being a high achiever, "a workaholic," and an avid fisherman, he is married, with two grown children, a son and a daughter. He worked at the Central Intelligence Agency and served on the National Security Council. He also directed the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, and, to quote,

. . . commanded the Kitty Hawk Battle Group and the destroyer Cochrane. In civilian life, Mr. Blair was president of the Institute for Defense Analyses, a nonprofit largely financed by the federal government to analyze national security issues for the Pentagon, from 2003 to 2006.

Admiral Blair was an occasional adviser to Mr. Obama in the Senate, but the relationship was short and it did not include being a close adviser during the campaign. He is close to the Clintons, however; he was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford with Bill Clinton. He is very smart, an Asia expert and evidently a good leader. He commanded the U.S. Pacific fleet and, to quote,

. . . is considered adept at running sprawling organizations, seemingly a prerequisite for heading an office that is still grappling with the task of fusing 16 spy agencies.

. . . In his own words: ''The use of large-scale military force in volatile regions of underdeveloped countries is difficult to do right, has major unintended consequences and rarely turns out to be quick, effective, controlled and short lived.'' (Congressional testimony, Nov. 7, 2007)

Mazzetti reports that Blair "carries as baggage," quote:

Had to step down as president of the Institute for Defense Analyses amid concerns that his positions on several corporate boards constituted a conflict of interest. The Pentagon's inspector general later concluded that he had violated the institute's conflict-of-interest standards by serving on the board of a military contractor working on the Air Force F-22 jet while the institute was evaluating the program for the Pentagon.* The inspector general found, however, that Mr. Blair did not influence the organization's analysis of the F-22 program. Another possible hindrance: The selection of a retired admiral to the national intelligence post could fuel worries about the militarization of intelligence. . .

[*see] Correction: November 26, 2008, Wednesday A brief profile on Monday about Dennis C. Blair, who is among the candidates for top positions in the Obama administration, gave an incomplete description of findings by the Pentagon inspector general's office on his role as president of the Institute for Defense Analyses, which conducts research for the Defense Department. While the office concluded that Mr. Blair had violated the institute's conflict of interest standards by serving on the board of a military contractor working on the F-22 fighter program while the plane was under evaluation by the institute, it also found that he had not influenced the institute's analysis of the program.

Mazzetti added that Blair speaks Russian, and that "he was in the same Naval Academy graduating class as Oliver North and Senator Jim Webb of Virginia. He was passed over for chairman of the Joint Chiefs by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, who considered him too independent and was wary of his views on engagement in Asia."

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

What qualifies as news on a slow news day?

By Carol Gee

This is news -- "Death Toll surpasses 350 in Fourth Day of Conflict," at Memeorandum from the New York Times. Twenty-one different stories follow the site's same Middle East theme. This disturbing conflict broke out, hundreds are dead and our future and current presidents remain on vacation, "getting regular briefings" as they say. So far, President-elect Obama has deferred to President Bush, not commenting directly on the outbreak of violence. Transition/vacation/holiday time in the USA appears to be the perfect period for the protagonists. All of us are waiting for THE CHANGE except the Israelis and the Palestinians. They are in predictable sync after decades of THE SAME, unable to think new thoughts or try new solutions. And it will not be over by January 20, as Steve Benen wisely reminds us.

What about Congress and this issue? Congress is also on vacation, and that usual Tuesday theme is almost devoid of any meaningful items these days. However, Congressional Quarterly yesterday reported on what various legislators are saying about the conflict between Hamas and Israel. Predictably, Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev), up for reelection in 2010, Reps Howard Berman, D-CA) and Illeana Ross-Lehtinen, Chair and Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, all come down on the side of Israel. In contrast Rep. Dennis Kucinich is calling for a UN inquiry into the Gaza situation. To quote:

“Israel is leveling Gaza to strike at Hamas, just as they pulverized south Lebanon to strike at Hezbollah,” Kucinich said. “Yet in both cases civilian populations were attacked, countless innocents killed or injured, infrastructure targeted and destroyed, and civil law enforcement negated. All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law. Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable. It is time for the UN to not just call for a cease-fire, but for an inquiry as to Israel’s actions.”

The Palestinian death toll from the Israeli air strikes has reached 300 so far, and Israeli officials said they were expecting a lengthy campaign to destroy Hamas’ military capacity. Israel has called up 6,500 reservists for a possible ground assault on the Gaza Strip.

So far, Hamas rockets have killed two Israelis and wounded scores of others.

Any other news about Congress? Rep. Rahm Emanuel will resign his House seat on January 2 to become President-elect Obama's Chief of Staff. A special election in the spring will fill the vacancy, the WaPo's Anne Kornblut reports. Senator Norm Coleman and would-be senator Al Franken are still in a tussle over counting rejected ballots, the count stalled by their lawyers, and facing a court imposed deadline to finish. And because the Illinois seat of Barack Obama will remain vacant for a time, the Senate will have 57 Democrats, a majority short of being able to break a Republican filibuster. What would the Congressional Republican opposition target? Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) are already signalling that they intend to slow down any early passage of an economic stimulus package by demanding "a more methodical process that might delay the legislation's passage will into February," according to the Washington Post. Ironically, they are now calling for fiscal responsibility and opposing "more pork-barrel spending." Why are we not surprised that bipartisanship has not broken out all over the Hill? Watch and take notes, as this minority tactic will be a model for the 111th Congress starting January 6, 2009.

This is not news -- Also at Memeorandum from People.com: "Bristol Palin welcomes a son." A couple more stories follow along, including sites named appropriately, The Dish Rag and The Swamp, along with the predictable Anchorage Daily News. So what else is new? I admit that I am doing here what I hate in the MSM -- repeating inane gossip. So Sarah Palin is a grandma; so am I (six times). You know it is a slow news day when I join the chattering class to once again discuss Sarah Palin.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)