The Commentariat -- January 5

Click on the cartoon to link to this fairly amusing account by New Yorker cartoonist James Stevenson about his introduction to the idiocyncratic world of the magazine.Did We Say Budget Cuts? Howard Fineman: "Republicans campaigned coast to coast on, among other things, a promise to cut $100 billion out of the federal budget. But now they are talking about cuts as slim as $30 billion, blaming the change on the fine print that no one read -- or if they read, did not understand." ...

... I think [the Republicans] woke up to the reality that this will have a direct negative impact on people's lives.... You know, it's easy to talk about these things in the abstract. It's another thing when you start taking away people's college loans and Pell Grants or cutting early education programs. -- Rep. Chris Van Hollen, (D-Md.)

... Ezra Klein: "One of the [House Republicans'] new rules says that new legislation must be paid for. But the health-care bill reduces the federal deficit by more than $100 billion over the next 10 years. Luckily, they've figured out an answer to their problem: They've decided to simply exempt the repeal bill from the rules. That means they're beginning the 112th Congress by lifting their own rules in order to take a vote that will increase the deficit. Change we can believe in, and all that." So Minority Leader Eric Cantor lied about it. And he'll likely keep on lying abou it. ...

... Ha ha. Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic has some helpful information for Cantor:

Eric Cantor has become the first Republican to argue with basic arithmetic.  As Cantor's office finds reality frustratingly outside its grasp, it's worth pointing out some other common misconceptions that they might need help with:

Toilets swirl a different direction in the Southern hemisphere - NOT TRUE: http://bit.ly/toilet000

Elvis is really alive - NOT TRUE: http://bit.ly/elvis000

Shania Twain is Mark Twain's great-granddaughter - NOT TRUE: http://bit.ly/shania000 

French Fries originated in France - NOT TRUE: http://bit.ly/frenchfries000

If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down!
-- George W. Bush, September 2008

[Those are] the 10 most immortal words in the history of economics. -- Warren Buffett

Anne Kornblut & Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "President Obama ... is weighing a major reshuffling of his staff that could see as many as eight people playing new key roles in the weeks ahead.... Among the biggest changes could be the departure of press secretary Robert Gibbs...." ...

     ... Brian Montopoli of CBS News Update: "Robert Gibbs has confirmed to CBS News that he is leaving his job as White House Press Secretary. 'It is true,' Gibbs said in response to an email Wednesday morning.... Gibbs plans to work as a political consultant and give speeches upon leaving his post." ...

... Garance Franke-Ruta of The Atlantic: "Robert Gibbs' announcement today that he will be stepping down from the White House podium to take an advisory role offers an opportunity for the White House to repair relationships with the community Gibbs derided as 'the professional left....' The first opportunity is to bury the hatchet with a community of people that has felt itself repeatedly and needlessly insulted by Gibbs and also by former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel." ...

... Sam Youngman of The Hill: "Former DNC chairman and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean said Wednesday that William Daley would be a 'huge plus' for the Obama administration if he is tapped to be the president's new chief of staff.... At the same time..., [Dean] excoriated Obama's senior staff.... Noting that many officials are 'either out of the White House or going,' Dean blasted Obama's current officials who he says have treated the left wing of the Democratic Party with 'contempt.'"

Fear of Death Panel Politics. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Obama administration, reversing course, will revise a Medicare regulation to delete references to end-of-life planning as part of the annual physical examinations covered under the new health care law.... The move is an abrupt shift, coming just days after the new policy took effect on Jan. 1. Many doctors and providers of hospice care had praised the regulation.... While administration officials cited procedural reasons for changing the rule, it was clear that political concerns were also a factor."

Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Driven from his party’s leadership in 1998 and sidelined for nearly a decade, [John] Boehner  ... now faces the challenge of harnessing the Tea Party zeal that propelled him to power without disheartening those who might be expecting too much." ...

... How much did we pay for that little stunt of reading the Constitution aloud during the first session of the House? Juli Weiner of Vanity Fair reports that a conservative estimate is that it cost more than $1 million. ...

... Ezra Klein liked Boehner's speech: "Boehner promised almost nothing at all. He certainly didn't set himself up as a foil to President Obama, or anoint himself leader of a new conservative moment in American politics. Rather, his speech had two themes: Humility, and comity."

Kathleen Hennessey of the Los Angeles Times: "The new class of Republican lawmakers who charged into office promising to shun the ways of Washington officially arrives on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. ‪But even as they publicly bash the capital's culture, many have quietly begun to embrace it. Several freshmen have hired lobbyists — the ultimate Washington insiders — to lead their congressional staffs. In the weeks leading up to Wednesday's swearing-in, dozens of the newcomers joined other lawmakers in turning to lobbyists for campaign cash....‪ This picture of business-as-usual Washington clashes with the campaign rhetoric of many newcomers, some who were propelled by support from the anti-Washington "tea party" movement. It also muddles the image House Republicans hoped to project as they took the helm this week." ...

... Dana Milbank: "Even before the speaker's gavel is passed at noon from Nancy Pelosi to John Boehner, it would appear that the Republicans are determined to form just as arrogant and overreaching a majority as the one they defeated." Milbank offers a litany of House Republican offenses that of course predate their swearing-in. First on the list: voting "to increase the deficit by $143 billion as part of a repeal of health-care reform."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in a Politico opinion piece: "In the new Congress, Democrats will find pragmatic ways to solve the problems facing our country and to revive the economic growth and innovation that have made America the global leader it is today. We will continue to reach out to Republicans as partners in problem solving — in the hope that they will make decisions based on common sense and not on the extremism that has recently gripped their party."

** A Nation in Decline. Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The share of our civilian population employed has dropped to 58.2 percent -- the lowest level since the early '80s, when far fewer women had entered the workforce. The social pathologies long associated with the inner-city poor ... now stalk the white working class.... As wages and employment levels have fallen for the Americans who have graduated high school but not college, their level of out-of-wedlock births (44 percent) has approached that of Americans who haven't completed high school (54 percent). Americans with college diplomas or more, by contrast, have a rate of just 6 percent.... Our economic woes, then, are not simply cyclical or structural. They are also - chiefly - institutional, the consequence of U.S. corporate behavior that has plunged us into a downward cycle of underinvestment, underemployment and under-consumption."

Reuters: "Israel told U.S. officials in 2008 it would keep Gaza's economy 'on the brink of collapse' while avoiding a humanitarian crisis, according to U.S. diplomatic cables published by a Norwegian daily on Wednesday. Three cables cited by the Aftenposten newspaper, which has said it has all 250,000 U.S. cables leaked to WikiLeaks, showed that Israel kept the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv briefed on its internationally criticized blockade of the Gaza Strip." ...

... Now, here's an interesting conspiracy theory from William Engdahl on VoltaireNet: "The story on the surface makes for a script for a new Oliver Stone Hollywood thriller. However, a closer look at the details of what has so far been carefully leaked by the most ultra-establishment of international media such as the New York Times reveals a clear agenda. That agenda coincidentally serves to buttress the agenda of US geopolitics around the world from Iran to North Korea. The Wikileaks is a big and dangerous US intelligence Con Job which will likely be used to police the Internet." Read it all. I'm not saying I buy it, but Engdahl makes a good circumstantial case.

Sharon Terlep & John Kell of the Wall Street Journal: "U.S. auto sales rose 11% in December, capping a year that suggests the industry is on the verge of one of the most dramatic shifts in its history. For most of the past century, the U.S. car industry was dominated by General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC. Now, as a result of both long-term trends and the upheaval of the last two years, the Big Three are about to be replaced by a Gang of Seven as the industry's driving force."

Pay off Those Student Loans, Kids. Melissa Corn of the Wall Street Journal: "After paying the companies that actually collect [defaulted student] loans and other costs, the U.S. Department of Education expects to recover 85% of defaulted federal loan dollars.... It is nearly impossible to discharge student loan debt, even in bankruptcy. The government can garnish a borrower's wages, withhold tax returns and siphon off Social Security and disability payments in order to recover the funds. Collection costs stretch out the defaulted loan's term, with those payments taking precedence over principal reduction. That, in turn, allows the government to tack on extra interest."

Another Way B of A Will Fix You. Zach Carter & Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: it appears Bank of America is automatically lowering credit ratings of people who just ask questions about the status of their mortgages. CW: this doesn't surprise me. Home & auto insurance companies were reportedly cancelling policies of policyholders who merely asked if particular losses were covered, even if they never filed claims.

Laissez Faire Extraordinaire. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Last month ... Representative Darrell Issa ... dispatched letters to 150 companies, trade groups and research organizations asking them to identify federal regulations that are restraining economic recovery and job growth. Mr. Issa ... said the concerns of businesses had been ignored by the Obama administration as it pursued what he described as an unprecedented regulatory expansion.... Mr. Issa ... is underscoring the commitment of the new House majority to help business by curtailing government. 'This is even more evidence that House Republicans are in the business of protecting corporate special interests instead of creating middle-income jobs,' the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee said...."

William D. Cohan of the New York Times: "With Goldman’s investment in Facebook, we have a front-row seat to the process by which Wall Street creates and inflates financial bubbles."

CW: I've refused to cover the big race for RNC Chair, but Jon Stewart tells you all you need to know:

New York Times Editors: "Justice Antonin Scalia has a knack for drawing unflattering light to himself and the Supreme Court." Too bad he doesn't even acknowledge that his antiquated, narrow views are in conflict with numerous Supreme Court rulings. ...

... What's most preposterous is that Scalia was part of the most shameful and flagrantly political use – it was abuse, really -- of the 14th Amendment in Supreme Court history, when he joined the majority in the Bush vs. Gore decision and stopped the Florida recount, brazenly using 'equal protection' as one of the cornerstones. The ... majority argued that the white, wealthy George W. Bush would have his rights violated if Florida counties used different procedures to recount votes.... Now, if Scalia really thought the 14th amendment only intended to make former slaves full citizens, he should have applied it to make sure black voters ... were treated fairly in Florida (and in fact, we know they were not.) -- Joan Walsh of Salon

Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post: "The tightening grip of Islamist extremism in Pakistan was violently highlighted Tuesday with the assassination of one of the country's most outwardly progressive politicians by one of his police guards, who told investigators he was incensed by his boss's stance against a controversial anti-blasphemy law. The killing of Salman Taseer, the razor-tongued governor of Punjab province, stunned the nation and further rocked Taseer's ruling Pakistan People's Party, which is struggling to keep its government afloat following its key ally's defection to the opposition Sunday."

Talent Where You Find It:

... Here's a related story from, appropriately enough, the Voice. AND some updates from Reddit.

The Commentariat -- January 4

Before we let Nino Scalia & Darrell Issa get us down, let us take a nonsense break:

Liz Goodwin of Yahoo News: "Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said in a recently published interview that the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment does not prohibit discrimination based on gender or sexual orientation.... The equal protection clause states:

No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1971 that the clause protected women from discrimination." [CW: emphasis mine] Here's the California Lawyer interview of the supremely excrable Scalia.

Hypocrisy Watch. Peter Beinart in the Daily Beast: the tea party's complete disinterest in foreign policy conflicts with (1) their stated reverence for the Constitution, which they interpret to give the President & central government hardly any power, and (2) their hatred of the deficit & big government, inasmuch as military & security spending accounts for more than half of the federal budget.

Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "The incoming Republican majority in the House is moving to make good on its promise to cut $100 billion from domestic spending this year, a goal eagerly backed by conservatives but one carrying substantial political and economic risks.... The reductions that would be required ... would be roughly 20 percent on average" for domestic programs. ...

... Michael O'Brien of The Hill: "The Senate's top Democrats, led by Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.), wrote incoming House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Monday warning the new GOP House against advancing legislation that would undo the sweeping healthcare overhaul.... Democrats in the House, meanwhile, are already beginning to organize efforts to throw procedural wrenches into the repeal effort."

(1) Steve Benen: former House Majority Leader Tom "DeLay resigned in disgrace and was convicted on money laundering charges, but the new Republican leadership team has hired DeLay's old team to help run the chamber.... Corporate lobbyists have been brought on to shape policy; and the K Street project that Boehner swore to leave in the past is looking reconstituted. Given the spectacular failures of the last Republican majority, getting the old gang back together isn't exactly encouraging." ...

(2) ... Richard E. Cohen of Politico: "In another statement of the new House Republican majority’s commitment to the Constitution, aides to incoming Speaker John Boehner plan to take their oath of office Tuesday morning — a day before the same oath is administered to the 435 House members of the new Congress. At Boehner’s request, Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the staff ceremony...."

(3) ... CW: so here you have the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court appearing to publicly endorse the continuity of Congressional Republican sleaze. Notice, too, how Cohen writes this little fluff piece about Boehner's "commitment to the Constitution" without irony.

Ken Vogel & Marin Cogan of Politico: incoming House freshman Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) will host a lavish fundraiser tonight from which some of the Repubican leadership is pretending to distance itself. Some conservatives are criticizing the event as inconsistent with stated Republican "austerity" goals. CW: no kidding.

Manu Raju of Politico: "The first day of the new Congress was supposed to mark the beginning of the end of how the filibuster has been regularly used to kill legislation on the Senate floor. But Democrats who have been complaining for two years about Republican obstruction are struggling to unite behind a single filibuster reform plan...."

Erik Wasson of The Hill: "Liberal groups say they are increasingly worried that President Obama will strike a [backroom] deal with Republicans on Social Security reforms in exchange for a 'yes' vote on increasing the nation's debt ceiling":

What I am really afraid of is another deal behind closed doors. At least with President Bush, he went around the country on a tour and presented his plan, and people didn’t like it. -- Nancy Altman of Social Security Works

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President Obama’s legal advisers, confronting the prospect of new legal restrictions on the transfer of Guantánamo detainees, are debating whether to recommend that he issue a signing statement asserting that his executive powers would allow him to bypass the restrictions."

Julianna Goldman & John McCormick of Bloomberg News: "President Barack Obama is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former U.S. Commerce secretary, to a high-level White House post, possibly as his chief of staff...." ...

... Ben Smith of Politico: "A Daley appointment would be an early signal of Obama's confidence that the party's left will ultimately have no choice but to show up and vote for him in 2012." ...

... Update. Howard Fineman: "President Barack Obama is in what appears to be the final stages of choosing a new White House Chief of Staff from among the following candidates, in approximate descending order of likelihood, according to a very highly placed administration source: Acting Chief of Staff Pete Rouse, former Clinton Commerce Secretary Bill Daley, former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle and -- a dark horse candidate -- Agriculture Secretary and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack." CW: Vilsack would be a great choice: he can flash-fire people, then say he's sorry he acted precipitously.

Law Prof. Geoffrey Stone in a New York Times op-ed: "THE so-called Shield bill, which was recently introduced in both houses of Congress..., would amend the Espionage Act of 1917 to make it a crime for any person ... to disseminate ... classified information.... Although this proposed law may be constitutional as applied to government employees ..., it would plainly violate the First Amendment to punish anyone who might publish or otherwise circulate the information after it has been leaked."

On December 26, the editors of the New York Times wrote, "... the many who are struggling have no progressive champion. The left have ceded the field to the Tea Party and, in doing so, allowed it to make history. It is building political power by selling the promise of a return to a mythic past." ...

... Ralph Nader responds: "... have your public editor look into why flagrant, often bigoted right-wingers are given so much time and space compared with fact-based progressive leaders committed to the 'equality and welfare' that your editorial espouses."

Miguel Helft of the New York Times: "With its $500 million infusion from Goldman Sachs and other investors, Facebook ... [now has] the financial muscle it needs to compete with better-heeled rivals like Google.... The deal ... [gives Facebook] the ability to delay an initial public offering. That would allow it to remain free of government regulation and from the volatility of Wall Street. It would also allow Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s chief executive, to retain near absolute control over the company he co-founded in a Harvard dorm room in 2004."

"All Politics Is Local"? Not Any More. Nate Silver: "... elections in the United States have become increasingly nationalized in recent decades."

"The Personality of an Oyster." Joshua Green of The Atlantic profiles Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in an article aptly titled "Strict Obstructionist." ...

... In case you just can't get enough of McConnell, here's an op-ed he wrote in the Washington Post advising Democrats to obey him or something. CW: I didn't read it.

Mark Thompson of Time remembers John Wheeler, a former Pentagon official & advocate for veterans, whose body was found in Delaware on December 31.

Michael Crowley of Time recommends Greg Jaffe's heartbreaking dispatch to the Washington Post on some troops fighting in Afghanistan. CW: instead of reading novels on his Hawaiian vacation, President Obama would have done better to read Jaffe's report on real life and death in Obama's war. Crowley also recommends the film "Restrepo" by Outpost Films. As part of the film project, this 14-minute video centers on the actions that led to Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta's receipt of the Medal of Honor. Giunta is the first living recipient since the Vietnam War:

... Read more about the Outpost documentary film, "Restrepo" by Sebastian Junger & Tim Hetherington.

The Commentariat -- January 3

Steven Davidoff of the New York Times: "Goldman Sach’s investment in Facebook once again raises the issue of whether the Securities and Exchange Commission will force the social networking company into an initial public offering. In particular, this issue arises because of the special purpose vehicle that Goldman plans to create in order to allow its clients to invest up to $1.5 billion in Facebook." ...

... Evelyn Rusli of the New York Times: "Goldman Sachs may have found a new friend in Facebook, but the financial firm isn’t finding much love from members of the social network." ...

... Related News Stories: "New York Times: "Facebook, the popular social networking site, has raised $500 million from Goldman Sachs and a Russian investor in a deal that values the company at $50 billion, according to people involved in the transaction. The deal makes Facebook now worth more than companies like eBay, Yahoo and Time Warner." AND "As part of a deal that values Facebook at $50 billion, Goldman Sachs is offering wealthy clients a chance to invest in the company without its going public." CW: so fucking egalitarian.

New Yorker art."Oh, Shut Up." Rick Hertzberg: "In the absence of the filibuster, the health-care law would offer a public alternative to private insurance, the financial reform would be strong enough to close off the likelihood of another meltdown, and the very rich (and their heirs) would pay something closer to their fair share of taxes. Nearly two hundred qualified nominees for executive and judicial offices would be on the job instead of in limbo. And a climate-and-energy bill, a bill to require corporations to be open about their political spending, the DREAM Act, and dozens of other worthy measures — all of which passed the House and had majority support in the Senate — would now be the law of the land."

Steve Kornacki of Salon takes the MSM approach to the Obama presidency & declares that 2010 wasn't a bad year for Obama after all. CW: I don't really agree with Kornacki, but his POV is worth considering.

Paul Krugman: "... what we’re looking at over the next few years, even with pretty good growth, are unemployment rates that not long ago would have been considered catastrophic — because they are. Behind those dry statistics lies a vast landscape of suffering and broken dreams. And the arithmetic says that the suffering will continue as far as the eye can see." ...

... Emily Kaiser of Reuters: "U.S. private employers have recorded 11 consecutive months of job gains, yet the number of people who are so discouraged that they have given up searching for work stands at an all-time high."

"Chewing Gum for Terrorists." Law Prof. David Cole in a New York Times op-ed: "Under current law, it seems, the right to make profits is more sacrosanct than the right to petition for peace, and the need to placate American businesses more compelling than the need to provide food and shelter to earthquake victims and war refugees." ...

... Glenn Greenwald has a different take on the Paris meeting, which David Cole references, in which "Rudy Giuliani and former Bush officials Michael Mukasey, Tom Ridge, and Fran Townsend ... appeared at a forum organized by supporters of the Mujaheddin-e Khalq (MEK) -- a group declared by the U.S. since 1997 to be [a] 'terrorist organization' -- and expressed wholesale support for that group." Greenwald writes that, "The reason there isn't more uproar over these Bush officials' overt foreign-soil advocacy on behalf of a Terrorist group is because they want to use that group's Terrorism to advance U.S. aims." ...

... John Cook gives the story a Gawker flavor: "Rudy Giuliani & John Bolton Are Terrorists Now."

NEW. Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: Pennsylvanian "Patrick J. Toomey was elected to the Senate in November as part of the Republican revolution, with a big assist from Tea Party activists, an endorsement from Sarah Palin and the expectation that he would join with other antiestablishment conservatives to remake Washington. But as he prepared to take office this week, Mr. Toomey hardly sounded like a partisan rabble-rouser." ...

... "Lindsey Graham Joins the Loonies." Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "... Graham seems to grasp ... that default could be catastrophic. But that's not stopping him from making his demands." ...

... BECAUSE, as David Dayan of Firedoglake argues, "... the Democrats and the White House are talking about insanity, while the Republicans are banking on the responsibility of their opponents."

Former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski in a New York Times op-ed: during the state visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao, Presidents Obama & Hu should establish "a joint charter ... [which would], in effect, provide the framework not only for avoiding what under some circumstances could become a hostile rivalry but also for expanding a realistic collaboration between the United States and China."

Justin Elliott of Salon on the neo-imperialism of Sen. Lindsey Graham & amigos. With video.

Joe Klein of Time: President "Obama -- or his advisors -- undercut [Special Envoy Richard] Holbrooke from the very outset, which crippled our ability to push the Afghan government toward legitimacy and made Holbrooke's mission near-impossible." Here's Leslie Gelb's tribute to Holbrooke, which is the basis for Klein's post.

At the Diplomats' Bazaar. Eric Lipton, et al., of the New York Times: "United States diplomats were acting like marketing agents [for Boeing], offering deals to heads of state and airline executives.... This is the high-stakes, international bazaar for large commercial jets, where tens of billions of dollars are on the line, along with hundreds of thousands of high-paying jobs.... To a greater degree than previously known, diplomats are a big part of the sales force, according to hundreds of cables released by WikiLeaks, which describe politicking and cajoling at the highest levels." With links to related documents.

Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: in anticipation of a WikiLeaks document dump, the Bank of America does some forensic sleuthing of its own transactions.

Jake Sherman of Politico: "Rep. Darrell Issa is aiming to launch investigations on everything from WikiLeaks to Fannie Mae to corruption in Afghanistan in the first few months of what promises to be a high profile chairmanship of the top oversight committee in Congress.... The House Oversight and Government Reform is also planning to investigate how regulation impacts job creation, the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration and the failure of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to agree on the causes of the market meltdown." ...

... Nicole Belle of Crooks & Liars has a terrific reprise of Darrell Issa's appearance yesterday on CNN's "State of the Union." Issa's interrogator -- Republican-friendly Ed Henry, of all people. As Belle writes, "It's amazing how ridiculous these GOP talking points are rendered when the media does their job even a little bit." With video. ...

... AND Some Big-Mouth Republicans Retreat. Alan Zibel of the Wall Street Journal: "Earlier this year, leading House Republicans proposed to privatize mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac or place them in receivership starting in two years. Now, as Republicans prepare to assume control of the House next week, they aren't in as big a rush, cautioning that withdrawing government support in the housing market should be gradual." ...

... AND Carrie Johnson of NPR: the Justice Department gets ready for Republican attacks. Plus audio.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). New York Times photo.More Reasons to Miss Alan Grayson. Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "He has zero faith in the incoming speaker of the House, John A. Boehner, whom he calls a 'tool of special interest.' He derides the Tea Party’s successes as 'bought and paid for by the enormously rich and the selfish.' And he can barely contain distaste for his Republican successor, whose views he sums up as 'bizarre fundamentalist.' Representative Alan Grayson ... is leaving office on Wednesday much as he entered it two years ago — as the pugnaciously partisan, verbal-bomb-tossing, liberal folk hero of the 111th Congress.... While surveying the wreckage of the November elections that cost him his seat and looking to the Congressional term ahead, Mr. Grayson posits that many Democrats have not been acting Democratic enough." Read the whole article.

Two Essays I've Been Meaning to Link:

(1) "According to most scientists, the sun rises in the east, although critics say...." Garrett Epps of The Atlantic on why lawsuits against the Affordable Care are crap & the judges who buy into the plaintiffs' arguments are dumb as posts. And journalists are not doing their jobs in explaining the crap cases, either.

(2) Sam Harris in the Huff Post: "... throughout the 1950's -- a decade for which American conservatives pretend to feel a harrowing sense of nostalgia -- the marginal tax rate for the wealthy was over 90 percent." Harris goes on to skewer just about every conservative economic myth. He then proposes a 21st-century American Renaissance, brought to you by our wealthiest countrymen.

Prisoners Go High-Tech. Kim Severson & Robbie Brown of the New York Times: "A smartphone hidden under a mattress is the modern-day file inside a cake."

Do give yourself a treat & read the blog post of Steven Lee Myers, et al., of the New York Times on the antiquities of Iraq. Update: a related story is here. Here's one of the videos incorporated into the post:

... Ernesto Londoño of the Washington Post reports on a $5 billion U.S.-funded program that has done nothing but build new ruins: "investments under the plan -- known as the Commander's Emergency Response Program, have created no more than a temporary illusion of progress. They have also shown a lack of U.S. foresight and highlighted the shortcomings of an Iraqi government the Americans were trying to boost."

XO Movie Night. Anahad O'Connor of the New York Times: Navy "Capt. Owen Honors reportedly not only orchestrated the making of ... raunchy videos, but also starred in them and filmed them aboard the [U.S.S.] Enterprise with government equipment while the carrier was deployed during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The videos were splashed across the Internet over the weekend, and are now at the center of a Navy investigation. According to The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk..., Captain Honors made the videos in 2006 and 2007 to entertain and boost the morale of sailors aboard the carrier. The videos were filmed with cameras and equipment from the carrier’s public affairs office, and were shown at least once a week on closed-circuit television throughout the ship. Captain Honors at the time was the carrier’s executive officer..., but he later became its commanding officer." Here's the Virginia-Pilot story & video.

Local News

Noah Kristula-Green of the Frum Forum: Christine O’Donnell is responsible "for destroying and cannibalizing the Republican Party in Delaware. Despite the media’s continuing fascination with O’Donnell ... less attention has been paid to O’Donnell’s negative effect on the down-ticket races in Delaware, or to the fact that the damage she did will last for several election cycles. There has also been no attempt to hold accountable the conservative media figures who endorsed O’Donnell." Kristula-Green bashes Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin & Jim DeMint.

David Catanese of Politico reports that my Republican Congressman Connie Mack the Umpteenth, who is the son & grandson of senators of the same name,  husband of Mary Bono & otherwise a dimwitted cipher who seldom gets near Southwest Florida, will run for Sen. Bill Nelson's seat. I'm not that big a fan of Nelson's, but Mack isn't qualified to wipe Nelson's boots. Still, he could win. Here's an uncritical (Fort Myers) News-Press story about him.