Open Thread

The Pope has a solution to Catholicism's most pressing problems: bring back the Latin Mass.

40 years of the new Mass have brought chaos and banality into the most visible and outward sign of the church. Benedict XVI wants a return to order and meaning. So, it seems, does the next generation of Catholics.

And in other news, an Indonesian government minister is blaming the people's immorality for the disasters that have struck Indonesia.

More order, meaning, morality and obedience. It sounds like the solution to all mankind's problems.

Open Thread

Dave Johnson provided this clever video explaining how to look at income distribution here.

Seems like a good time to review the current state of the estate tax because it looked like 2010 was going to be a very dangerous time to be too rich because that was going to be the year the estate tax was going to phase out completely but only for one year, and all those people waiting for their inheritance would have to watch their chance to grab every penny without sharing with you and me slip away unless ole moneybags passed on in 2010. Fortunately, under Obama the extremely wealthy will be no more threatened than they were in 2009 since the estate tax repeal was put on hold.

LCurve's graphic depiction of wealth distribution shows why taxing the rich is the right thing to do.

Republican Dance with The Devil

Although it is quite amusing to read stories like this of the latest Republican inanities, the fact that the GOP has been taken over by extremists is problem for the country. Hendrik Hertzberg explains:

The Republican party’s self-marginalization may be “good” for Democrats in the short term, in that it may slightly reduce the inevitable Republican gains in the 2010 midterms (and a Republican gain is inevitable no matter what), but in 2012 a Republican party in thrall to an unhinged, irresponsible, extreme-right lumpen “base” would present a real danger to the nation and the world, because it will be the one and only alternative to Obama and the Democrats.

If Obama is reelected, as I expect he will be, then perhaps the fever will pass. Perhaps by 2016 the Republicans will have drawn back from the brink of madness. So we must hope, because one day they will be back in power. That is as certain as the coming of winter—more so, actually, given the climate change they are determined to deny.

It's like courting the Taliban in Afghanistan because they are the only choice left if you are against Karzai.

Open Thread

Mark Thoma has a very good piece in CBS MoneyWatch discussing the need to not cut back on deficit spending on the real economy before the economy gets back on its feet. Until real jobs come back, ordinary Americans will not believe the economy is out of recession no matter how much the deficit hawks and Wall Street cheerleaders repeat their belief that inflation is the biggest concern on the horizon. Let's hope the White House is listening.

Ex Brit Ambassador On Bush Rush To War: "We Found Ourselves Scrabbling For The Smoking Gun"

It's old news that due to the Bush Administration's ravening desire to invade Iraq, the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy. They wanted a war, and they were going to get one. It's old news that the Bush Administration was so demented in its war lust that it tortured people, to try to force that fixing of facts. Well, yet another insider has gone on the record. As reported by The Guardian:

The military timetable for an invasion of Iraq in 2003 did not give time for UN weapons inspectors in the country to do their job, the former British ambassador to Washington told the Iraq inquiry in London today.

Sir Christopher Meyer said the "unforgiving nature" of the build-up after American forces had been told to prepare for war meant that "we found ourselves scrabbling for the smoking gun".

He added: "It was another way of saying 'it's not that Saddam has to prove that he's innocent, we've now bloody well got to try and prove he's guilty.' And we – the Americans, the British – have never really recovered from that because of course there was no smoking gun."

The evidence keeps accumulating, and it is no longer possible for Bush apologists to deny the facts. The war was on, whether or not there was a valid reason for it. Which not only should be investigated as a crime against humanity, but which also undermined the war in Afghanistan. Which is extremely relevant, given that the Obama Administration is tasked with figuring out how to clean up the disaster Bush wrought. So, a little reminder, from a 2007 article in the New York Times:

Open Thread

Peter Beinart writes that the reason Joe Lieberman is such a pill is he's mad at Democrats and he's going to show them they can't push him around. That's why the guy who had for years advocated for Single Payer is ready to sabotage the health care bill if it contains a public option.

Sure sounds right. Like the old saying goes: Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

(h/t Steve Benen)

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

Dare Them To Filibuster

So, some are suggesting that the Democrats are willing to punt the public option, under threat of filibuster, in the Senate. If so, that would be absurd. The Democratic leadership's response to those threatening a filibuster should be simple: we dare you to try. Because if the Democrats stand their ground, they will win. Even if the bill temporarily fails, those key senators responsible for its failure will be done, in politics. And then we can get on with the business of reforming and repairing this broken nation.

Let's look at some easy facts. The public option continues to poll consistently extremely well. Even in Connecticut. Even in Arkansas. Even in Maine. Even in Nebraska and North Carolina. Anyone notice a pattern, here? And key Senators from those states want to be responsible for derailing the public option? And because of that threat, the leadership may decide not even to try?

It's time for the Democratic leadership to stop playing games. Move the bill forward. With the public option. Dare those senators to make good on their threats. Get our very popular president back on the airwaves. When he speaks, people listen. And support for his issues improves. Because people support him. And because he's superb at selling an issue. So, send him to some of those key states. Force some of those recalcitrant senators to debate him. In public. Force them to explain to their constituents why they are opposing a bill those constituents support.

By even wavering on what to do, the Democratic leadership sends a message that they don't really believe in the public option, or that their belief is not strong. Taking a stand would send a very different message. It would prove that the leadership knows they are doing what is right, knows that the public supports doing what is right, and is ready to stand down those who oppose doing what is right and what the public supports.

It's not complicated. Press forward. Don't waver. Act as if this matters. Dare those threatening to filibuster to do so. Force them to decide whether they want to be on the wrong side of history. Do it very publicly. Put their careers and their legacies on the line. Buckling to a threat is the definition of weakness. The Democrats are in a position of strength. It's time they started acting like it.

Exceptional

Reuters:

President Barack Obama has no plans to join a global treaty banning landmines because a policy review found the United States could not meet its security commitments without them, the State Department said on Tuesday.

"This administration undertook a policy review and we decided that our landmine policy remains in effect," spokesman Ian Kelly told a briefing five days before a review conference in Cartegena, Colombia on the 10-year-old Mine Ban Treaty.

"We determined that we would not be able to meet our national defense needs nor our security commitments to our friends and allies if we signed this convention," he said.

It was the first time the administration had publicly disclosed the decision.

The treaty bans the use, stockpiling, production or transfer of antipersonnel mines. It has been endorsed by 156 countries, but the United States, Russia, China and India have not adopted it.

The usual rationale for our refusal is Korea. The DMZ is riddled with land mines. The fear is that without those mines, the North Korean army will just roll right to Seoul. That's absurd, for many different reasons, but that's the usual rationale.

Open Thread

Nancy Pelosi definitely gets the seriousness of the US employment situation. So what comes next? Can we smack the Blue Dogs for their aid in cutting the stimulus package?

Safe Travels & Happy Thanksgiving, eh?

I’m going to miss the brave and insightful Al at Anonymous Liberal, a good man who had the correct humility to wonder if he truly had anything to offer in our big swirl of society and politics. I disagree with his final conclusion, of course, but I so know what he means, I often wonder these days why anyone would think my tiny voice has any worth. In the past I always rationalized the issue by identifying myself as one of the flawed little people I speak for, but that obviously hasn’t worked well lately, silence in all the hurt I could never make a difference for seems to be my preferred http political mode these days.

I think readers can see how a single-payer, gasoline-tax, solar-fanatic peace for Jesus sumbitch like myself could be unhappy with the current flavor of liberalism currently emanating from the White House and Congress, if one could be so charitable to call it that. It’s been a tough year for this Keynesian Machiavellian liberal, very true, and personally level some things went well, others not as planned. California is going to the dogs, that’s also been very hard, and I really don’t think readers always want a litany of how fucked up the world has become on so many fronts, so I’ve been relatively quiet.

Open Thread

One of the best aspects about the health care reform being argued in the Senate is having the powerful Senators and their aides having to make due with the health care exchange. That's one way to keep their eyes on the prize. What should also be added to the provision is if the bill fails, they too will live with the consequences.