Where's the Outrage?

From TP:

After the 9/11 attacks, President Bush famously declared that he would capture Osama bin Laden “dead or alive.” However, less than a year later — in March 2002 — Bush said that he was “not that concerned” about the al Qaeda leader. Today on CNN’s Late Edition, host Wolf Blitzer asked Vice President Cheney, “How frustrating is this to you personally, knowing he’s [bin Laden] still at large?” Cheney hesitated, then simply replied that he would “obviously…like to solve that problem.” He added that it’s more “important” to “keep…this country safe,” indicating that bin Laden is inconsequential.

Tags: Bush Administration by ecthompson md
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Sunday Afternoon News Roundup

• Although Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has stated that his country is close to achieving its objective, it is hard for me to imagine what that objective is. If the objective is chaos, starvation and causing more Palestinians to hate you intensely, then perhaps he is right. The intensity of the fighting appears to be increasing.
• New York Times columnist Bob Herbert agrees with me. In his column yesterday he discusses the horrible jobs picture. He emphasizes the need to throw out the Republican safety blanket, tax cuts for all, as the answer to all problems. Tax cuts are not going to fix this problem. We’re going to need to invest, as I said yesterday. Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman gave us all some information to ponder on Friday. He suggests that the $775 billion stimulus package may not be large enough to stimulate our economy. Personally, I don’t think Obama and his economic team will get a second bite at that apple. It is critical for them to get the economic stimulus package correct the first time.
• George Bush admitted today in an interview with Brit Hume that he authorized the torture of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. So does that mean that he has admitted to a war crime?
• One of the most interesting stories that came out yesterday was that Israel asked the Bush administration for permission to bomb Iran. They also asked for special bunker-busting bombs. The Bush administration said no. The Bush administration said no to Israel. It just doesn’t seem right. The neoconservatives have gone out of their way to push a pro-Israeli agenda, especially in foreign policy. Look for more reporting on this issue.
• Look for Obama’s economic team to overhaul what is left of the $700 billion bailout package. Thank goodness. This is clearly in need of some significant overhauling.
• Frank Rich wrote an excellent column yesterday comparing the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme to the cronyism and corruption seen in the Bush administration. Basically, he states that over the last eight years we, the American people, have been victims of the Bush administration’s Ponzi scheme. No, it was not literally a Ponzi scheme but it was our money getting thrown to an endless supply of Republican insiders.
• Finally, I was on a Maureen Dowd bandwagon for many years. Then, over the last two years, she has criticized Barack Obama relentlessly. The man couldn’t put on socks and shoes without a long column describing his inadequacies in putting on socks and shoes. In yesterday’s column, she discusses the victory laps that VP Cheney and President Bush have been taking. I think she is correct in mentioning when Fred Barnes and Bill Kristol, the neoconservatives’ conservative, can point only to President Bush’s attempt to privatize Social Security as his biggest (almost) accomplishment. This president’s legacy is in serious jeopardy. Just consider where we would be if we’d have allowed the privatization of Social Security.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bush Administration, Economy, Torture by ecthompson md
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Deion Sanders, on the NFL network, said the Carolina State police were looking for Jake Delhomme because he murdered his team. Nobody, including myself, gave the Arizona Cardinals any opportunity to beat the Carolina Panthers. We all thought that the victory we saw when the Arizona Cardinals destroyed the Dallas Cowboys was all about the Dallas Cowboys’ flaws and not about the good things the Arizona Cardinals were doing on the field. When the Cardinals beat the Atlanta Falcons, the Falcons just hadn’t played well. Also, the Arizona Cardinals played some truly awful football when they went east. So, clearly, the Cardinals, going East would mean disaster for the Cardinals.

Yet, the smart football folks should’ve been able to break down the film against the Atlanta Falcons and discover a few of the things that the Arizona Cardinals were doing that were positive.

I’ve said this before and I will say again. At the end of the year and in the playoffs, defense matters. Defense is king. The primary job of the offense in the playoffs is not to hurt your own defense (ask the Tennessee Titans). Do not turn the ball over. Jake Delhomme was a one-man turnover machine. When he threw his third interception, Daryl Johnston, doing the national color commentary, said, “I just don’t know what he is seeing on the field.” Delhomme continually put his defense in that position. In a nutshell, this is why the Arizona Cardinals will be playing next weekend and the Carolina Panthers will be sitting down.

The Carolina Panthers did not have or did not display anything that resembled a stout defense this year. Their defense was average. The loss of Kris Jenkins in the middle was a huge blow to this team. It may have been possible that the Panthers could have overcome some of the early turnovers if they had a better defense. When the game was on the line, throughout the second quarter, the Panthers could not get any pressure on Kurt Warner and they had no answer for Larry Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald personally torched the Panthers’ secondary. He had eight catches for 166 yards and one touchdown.

Defense wins championships. The Arizona Cardinals brought the suffocating defense. Now, if you were an Arizona Cardinals, fan wouldn’t it be nice if the Philadelphia Eagles were able pull out a victory in the Meadowlands. That would mean you would host the Eagles next week in Arizona. Wouldn’t that be sweet!

Panthers lose [ 0:01 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Sports by ecthompson md
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The Tennessee Titans beat the Baltimore Ravens in every way except the score. In the playoffs, turnovers will kill you. The Titans had three turnovers and 12 penalties. The Ravens did just enough to win. They didn’t turn the ball over and they didn’t fumble. You’ve gotta hate losing this way. The Titans beat themselves.

(In the second game of today, the Carolina Panthers are shooting themselves in the foot. Three turnovers in the first half. The Arizona Cardinals are in a game that most folks thought would be a blowout. Larry Fitzgerald is killing the Panthers.)

From ESPN:

As grudge matches go, this was worthy of the WWE. The Baltimore Ravens survived 13-10 against the Tennessee Titans on Saturday thanks to Matt Stover’s 43-yard field goal with 53 seconds remaining.

Two teams with an extreme dislike for each other never stopped pounding it out in the wind and rain.

The difference: Baltimore forced three turnovers and never gave away the ball. (more… )

Tags: Sports by ecthompson md
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I don’t know why this tune is so catchy. Maybe it is the “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s.” Maybe it’s the simple harmony. All I know is that you tend to sing it for about four hours after you hear it.  Lenny Kravitz.  Fly Away.

Tags: Music by ecthompson md
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I read about this the other day and got sick to my stomach. This is the kind of crap that some people think is funny? Or maybe it was a deliberate attempt to wipe out several liberal blogs all at once. If the heat is too hot, burn down the kitchen? That seems to the philosophy of some hackers. Let’s fight back.

From DailyKos (I just sent some money.):

You know how some politicians are fond of saying “you can’t solve a problem by just throwing money at it.” Well, here is a problem you can solve by throwing money at it. Send in a contribution to save Soapblox now!.

Why is Soapblox Important?
Soapblox is an inexpensive, community-building content management platform developed by Paul Preston and currently used by over 100 progressive blogs. For only $15 / month, Soapblox has offered most of the features available on sites like Daily Kos and MyDD: user diaries, recommended diaries, promoted diaries, interactive comments, comment ratings, tip jars, and even things like quick hits. It is a lot of functionality for not much price, making it ideal for independent, progressive, grassroots media. As such, it has been adopted by about 90% of the fifty-state blog network, and also by several national sites including Pam’s House Blend, My Left Wing, Swing State Project, and my own Open Left. Collectively, the blogs on Soapblox received over 50,000,000 page views in 2008, and provided a huge percentage of the state-level, local politics coverage in the progressive blogosphere.

Why Is Soapblox in Danger?
On Wednesday morning, Soapblox was hacked to within an inch of its life. A quarter of all Soapblox sites went completely offline, and their databases were gone. Most others were threatened, as My Left Wing and Open Left temporarily lost all of their diaries. The hackers were in so deep, that Paul temporarily threw in the towel and declared defeat. Dozens of bloggers that I knew were all frantically emailing each other. Desperate attempts were made to try and copy all of our data before The End. At one point I was, literally, running up and down the stairs in my apartment building freaking out, as there are few things I fear more than my website’s content being wiped out. It was an impending blog apocalypse, where the entire archive and operation of over 100 blogs were almost wiped off the Internet with no hope of return.

As the day went on, through a lot of effort Soapblox was able to fend off the attack, save all data, and restore full service. However, the threat remains. [Read more →]

Tags: Blogging issues, Domestic Issues by ecthompson md
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524,000. That’s a big number. In the month of December, 524,000 Americans lost their jobs. Over the past year, 2.6 million Americans have lost their jobs. Jobs were lost both in manufacturing and service sectors. Both November’s and October’s numbers were revised downward.

1.5 million jobs were lost in the last quarter of 2008. The unemployment rate is now 7.2%. 11.1 million Americans are unemployed. Underemployment, a much better gauge of job market weakness, has risen to 13.5%. This is an increase of 4.8 percentage points over December of 2007. When you combine the number of people who are out of work or underemployed, you come up with a whopping total of 21 million Americans.

By now, it should be clear to anyone and everyone that the policies of the Bush administration have been disastrous for our country. The Economic Policy Institute has more on the jobs picture.

Tags: Economy by ecthompson md
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For reasons that are 100% unclear to me, someone has hired Samuel Wurzelbacher to cover the war in Gaza. No, really.

From AP:

Joe The Plumber is putting down his wrenches and picking up a reporter’s notebook.

The Ohio man who became a household name during the presidential campaign says he is heading to Israel as a war correspondent for the conservative Web site pjtv.com.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher says he’ll spend 10 days covering the fighting. (more… )

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show has more. Watch the whole clip, including Joe the Plumber’s answer as to how he will be protected while covering the war.

Tags: Election 2008, Israel by ecthompson md
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Smart men do it with knowledge. I always wanted to make that into a bumper sticker. This was just my opinion since I like to think of myself as a smart guy. Now there is proof.

From LiveScience:

Smart men rejoice:

Turns out that intelligent people are generally healthier than their less-clever peers – studies have shown that brainiacs are, for instance, less likely to suffer from heart disease and Alzheimer’s. Scientists have suggested that smart people may score less stressful jobs in safer places and that they may make better lifestyle choices, for instance by exercising more and eating better. In other words, maybe bright people actually listen to the Surgeon General.

But these newest findings, to be published in an upcoming issue of the journal Intelligence, found that negative habits had little effect on sperm quality, so they don’t support that theory.

The researchers instead speculate that intelligence might be passed down as part of a larger package of good attributes. One gene can influence multiple traits, so the genes involved in smarts may somehow improve sperm quality – and perhaps other characteristics as well. (more… )

Tags: General by ecthompson md
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In my opinion, there are lots of reasons to love the Rachel Maddow Show.  Maddow is really the only true progressive on the air today. I put Keith Olbermann in a category of populist more than progressive.

At any rate, her look at President-elect Barack Obama‘s speech on the economy is truly progressive. She compares Barack Obama’s vision to Ronald Reagan’s. Ronald Reagan proclaimed that the government was the problem. This has been the dominant etiology of the United States and economic political thought for almost 30 years. Now, in this crisis, Barack Obama is stating that the government is the only agency that has the ability to fix this problem.

Some spending conservatives (blue dog Democrats and fiscal conservative Republicans) are trying to argue that spending cuts and tax cuts are what we need.  Here’s the problem — manufacturing is down because demand for American products is down. American consumers are not buying. American businesses are shedding jobs. Remember we lost over a half a million jobs in November. December’s job numbers are expected to be the same. Tax cuts are not going to stimulate buying. Tax cuts are not going to stimulate enough job growth. Targeted government spending will get businesses to begin to hire here at home to cover these government contracts. Businesses will then in turn have to buy supplies in order to do business which would stimulate more the economy. Individuals hired at a “fair” rate will then be able to spend money again stimulating the economy.

I believe that Barack Obama is on the right track. I’m just hoping that his powers of persuasion will be enough to pull Congress along with him.

Tags: Economy, Media, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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• The United States abstained from a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate and durable cease-fire in the Gaza Strip. The United States abstained. The United States abstained? I just don’t understand how we are not taking the lead in this conflict. It would seem that sitting on the sidelines is not a viable option.
• A committee in the Illinois House of Representatives has recommended that Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich be impeached. The recommendation was unanimous. Interestingly, Ronald Burris, soon to be the junior senator from Illinois, had to testify in front of this committee. He stated that there was no “quid pro quo” for his nomination.
• As of today, it appears that only one of Barack Obama’s nominations for his Cabinet posts is going to be scrutinized or beat up by the Republicans. Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Charles Grassley are gearing up to oppose Eric Holder (Obama’s choice for Attorney General). The part of this saga that I find intriguing is that no one had any specific objection to Eric Holder shortly after the nomination was announced. Early in December, Karl Rove called Eric Holder, “one controversial nominee.” Since then, Arlen Specter’s rhetoric has become more and more negative towards Eric Holder. So here are some of my questions. Is Alan Specter worried about a challenge from his Right in 2010? Do Alan Specter and Charles Grassley take marching orders from Karl Rove? Has Karl Rove become the de facto president of the Republican National Committee? Why would Karl Rove have any significant pull in the Republican Party after getting trounced in two national elections?
• Terrible flooding in Washington State.
• Missile strike has reportedly killed two top Al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan. Only time will tell if these guys where truly top Al Qaeda operatives or just Al Qaeda foot soldiers.
• Has Microsoft thrown in the towel on Vista? Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, has announced that Windows 7 is in Beta testings. He is calling it the best Windows ever. Well, it has to be better than ME.
• Missouri Senator Kit Bond is rumored to be retiring. No run in 2010. This opens up another Republican seat for the Dems to challenge.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Israel, Legal, Obama administration, Senate by ecthompson md
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In academic surgery, we have these venues called mortality and morbidity conferences. In theory, these are supposed to be open and honest forum where you truly review and investigate all complications. I believe Governor Sarah Palin should attend one of these conferences. At the end of the day, Palin needs to have critically evaluated her performance in this election. What happened from the moment she was introduced and became a superstar to election night that changed the public’s perception of her?

If Governor Palin truly wants to run for national office again, she’s going to have to look in the mirror and ask, “How can I do better?” Without her having made an honest assessment, it is hard to understand how she can move forward. The problem was not the McCain campaign. The problem was not the media or bloggers. One problem was her superficial knowledge of national issues. Another problem was her inability to synthesize complex issues without sounding as if she was sewing 2 or 3 sound bites together. The media didn’t make her look bad during her interview with Charlie Gibson/Katie Couric. She was smug. She was superficial at a time when she needed to be thoughtful and deep. Of course, this is only my opinion. She may be perfect. I’m just a biased blogger sitting in my mom’s basement in my pajamas wearing an aluminum hat. So what do I know?

Tags: Countdown, Election 2008 by ecthompson md
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I briefly got a chance to look at Barack Obama’s speech on the economy. He isn’t president yet; nonetheless, he is urging Congress to get some work done. Working too slowly will worsen the problem. Passing a stimulus package that is too small will prolong the recession if it doesn’t lead to a depression. Congress for the first time in a long time matters. They need to get this right. 

Here’s what Steve Benen said and I agree 100%.

“I know the scale of this plan is unprecedented,” Obama said, “but so is the severity of our situation. We have already tried the wait-and-see approach to our problems, and it is the same approach that helped lead us to this day of reckoning. That is why the time has come to build a 21st century economy in which hard work and responsibility are once again rewarded.” To that end, Obama described an ambitious vision on energy, healthcare, education, infrastructure, and closing loopholes that “allow Wall Street wrongdoers to slip through regulatory cracks.”

But here’s the part of the speech that, at least politically, was the most important:

“It is true that we cannot depend on government alone to create jobs or long-term growth, but at this particular moment, only government can provide the short-term boost necessary to lift us from a recession this deep and severe. Only government can break the vicious cycles that are crippling our economy — where a lack of spending leads to lost jobs which leads to even less spending; where an inability to lend and borrow stops growth and leads to even less credit.

“That is why we need to act boldly and act now to reverse these cycles. That’s why we need to put money in the pockets of the American people, create new jobs, and invest in our future. That’s why we need to re-start the flow of credit and restore the rules of the road that will ensure a crisis like this never happens again.”

Reagan told us that government “is the problem.” Clinton told us the “era of big government is over.” And Obama wants America to know that government is the “only” institution that’s capable of addressing an economic crisis of this severity.

For all of the talk in recent weeks about the president-elect’s ideology and partisan fealty, this speech was a reminder of the importance of government activism in a time of overwhelming challenges. And that, at its core, is an inescapably liberal message.

Tags: Congress, Economy, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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From the DailyKos -

Jimmy Carter believes that the “devastating invasion of Gaza by Israel could easily have been avoided.”

Nicholas Kristof described the Boomerang Syndrome:

Arab terrorism built support for right-wing Israeli politicians, who took harsh actions against Palestinians, who responded with more terrorism, and so on. Extremists on each side sustain the other, and the excessive Israeli ground assault in Gaza is likely to create more terrorists in the long run.

If this pattern continues, we may eventually see Hamas-style Palestinians facing off against hard-line Israelis, with each side making the others’ lives wretched — and political moderates in the Middle East politically eviscerated.

Rosa Brooks explains the stupidity styles of all the players in the current conflict in Gaza.

Hesham Hassaballa, searching for the middle ground, says:

It is possible to be pro-Palestine, pro-Israel and pro-peace all at the same time…

David Broder is feeling the love for Rep. Walt Minnick, because he’s all about the bipartisanship.

David Limbaugh, giving his .02 on Barack Obama’s stimulus package, warns Republicans “that when you polish manure, you still have manure.” Let’s take his word on that.

Ishmael Jones lauds the choice of Leon Panetta to head the CIA because of his unquestionable loyalty to Barack Obama. After all, George Bush didn’t replace a Clinton administration holdover and look at what happened.

Americans may disagree on the reasons for our lack of preparedness prior to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and our response to those attacks … but we should agree that much of the intelligence provided to President Bush by the CIA was false or nonexistent.

Americans may disagree on whether Mr. Bush’s associates should have been charged over the Valerie Plame affair … but we should agree that the CIA and its employees certainly had an uncanny knack for being intimately involved in the crises that threatened the Bush presidency.

Karl Rove, concerned about “mythmaking” now that George Bush is finally riding off into the sunset, explains why the housing and overall economic crisis is all the Democrats fault. [Is is possible for Karl Rove to move his mouth without lying? -ecthompson]

Richard Viguerie says that small-government conservatives must fight for a return to their core beliefs…and then “future generations will celebrate us as those who fought for freedom…” O-kay.

Betsy McCaughey tells you why you never want to sit by a doctor or a nurse in a restaurant.

Tags: Domestic Issues, Media by ecthompson md
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It has taken me awhile to be able to talk about the Dallas Cowboys and their complete and total failure this year. In a must-win game against the division rival Philadelphia Eagles, you shouldn’t need a game plan. You play this team twice a year. As a matter of fact, the Philadelphia Eagles have used the same formula for victory for over 15 years. 15 years ago the dynamic quarterback was Randall Cunningham. Now it’s Donovan McNabb. Both quarterbacks are streaky and they’re surrounded by average receivers. The engine that runs the Eagles is their defense. Punts are victories and turnovers are self-inflicted stab wounds. It’s that simple. So, what ever you do, don’t turn the ball over.

I didn’t really have to watch the game in order to know what happened (I did watch every freaking pitiful minute). If someone would have told me that the Cowboys lost 44-6, I would’ve told them that Tony Romo had several turnovers. Someone else fumbled the ball once or twice. The offensive line looked like Swiss cheese. Our defense look good for a quarter and a half and then it was as if the offense broke down. That is in fact what happened. Why? I don’t play football and haven’t since ninth grade. I’m not some high-paid football analyst. Yet, I knew the keys to victory so why didn’t the Dallas Cowboys?

I’ve complained all year about the offensive line. Without Kyle Kozar, what was a good offensive line became extremely average. During the Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl run in the early- to mid-90s, offensive linemen got hurt but there was a competent backup to step in his place. There was no competent backup this time. Four years ago, with Drew Bledsoe as quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys were playing these very same Philadelphia Eagles at home when Flozell Adams blew out his knee. Instantaneously, we went from being able to do whatever we wanted to on offense to being stuck in the mud.

The offensive line is the Cowboys’ chief problem, but it is not the only problem. Let’s look at the high-profile acquisitions that we’ve had over the last 12 months. There’s Adam “Pac Man” Jones. Early in the season he seemed to have some sort of positive impact. A combination of injuries and a well-publicized fight at a Dallas hotel got him sidelined for around six weeks, making him completely useless. He was released today. How about Roy Williams?  Here’s a big, tall gifted receiver who has no work ethic. He’s completely useless. It may be that over the summer he’ll be integrated into the offense but the problem with the Cowboy offense was not a lack of receivers. Instead, the problem was quarterbacks running for their lives because of a lack of offensive blocking. Take Zach Thomas. Zach Thomas will be in the Hall of Fame someday. Thankfully, his career does not depend on this year. He was completely invisible as a Dallas Cowboy. I guess he was supposed to bring leadership but that didn’t happen. I would like to add a bit about Tank Johnson. With the Chicago Bears, Tank Johnson was a one-man wrecking crew. He is big and strong and extremely athletic. Yet we’ve seen none of these properties as a Dallas Cowboy. [Read more →]

Another Cowboy collapse Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Sports by ecthompson md
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Wednesday Evening News Roundup

• I feel pretty confident that Roland Burris will be seated in the Senate sometime soon. Everyone, slowly but surely, is coming to the same conclusion. We have no evidence that Roland Burris has done anything wrong. The man has an ego the size of the state of Illinois, true, but as far as I know, that is not a crime. Representative Bobby Rush, who looks something like Skeletor, is a perfect character in this relatively unbelievable tale. He was the one who was called to the podium after Ronald Burris was introduced as Governor Blagojevich‘s choice for the vacant Senate seat. Rep. Rush keeps using these race-based analogies which just don’t fit. I would go so far as to say they’re completely and totally inappropriate. He went on Hardball with Chris Matthews and equated not seating Ronald Burris with the dogs that were commanded to attack blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. I just hope someone can find him a good psychiatrist.
• A cease-fire was negotiated in the Gaza Strip so that humanitarian aid could get into Gaza City.  The cease-fire which was supposed to last three hours lasted approximately 15 minutes.
• President-elect Barack Obama stated that the stimulus package may grow as change is needed. I find this completely appropriate.
• Senator Dianne Feinstein, who had nothing but venom to spew at Leon Panetta on Monday, is now supporting his nomination. Maybe Tuesday was the first time she had an opportunity to see how much progressives really despised her role in facilitating the crimes against the Constitution that George Bush perpetrated.
• President Jimmy Carter gives his assessment of what is happening in Gaza.  Whether you believe his version of events or not, it is clear that he has tired to broker peace and stop the blood-shed.

I am again having some computer issues and may not be able to post as much as I would like to this evening.

Tags: Hardball, Israel, Obama administration, Senate by ecthompson md
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This is the final show of 2008. I have some great Christmas music to share. I start the show with short review of the week’s news… So Bush, who almost never gives a pardon, gives a pardon and then says he’s sorry, that he’s made a mistake and is taking the pardon back! After some more news, I interview Kyle Monson, editor of PC Magazine, and we discuss some of the great games that are out there for Play Station, XBox 360 and Wii. This show is a lot of fun. Enjoy!

The Errington Thompson Show 12-27-08 [ 46:40 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Tags: Bush Administration, Fun, Podcasts by ecthompson md
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Our terrible Texas Senator John Cornyn has very little to say about our current economic troubles, but he sure goes on a lot about the closely contested U.S. Senate race in Minnesota.

(Please click here to read the latest report on Senator-elect Al Franken’s ever expanding lead in the Minnesota count.)

Senator Cornyn has been all over making sure that the next U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Al Franken, must face every possible obstructionist hurdle before he can take the seat he won at the ballot box last November. Senator Cornyn has said he will help filibuster any effort to seat Mr. Franken.

Yet on the portion of his U.S. Senate web home labeled “Jobs and The Economy“, Senator Cornyn has added only one update since October 27. The subject of that one update was the proposed auto bailout. Here is some of the wisdom the Senator offered on that issue—

“The nation’s top automakers this week presented their proposals to the Democratic Congressional leadership on how they plan to turn around their businesses and get out of debt. I have yet to see the details of their proposals so I cannot comment on the merits…”

Where are the Senator’s viewpoints on what Texas needs from the upcoming stimulus package? Or his suggestions for job creation in these hard times? How many Texans have lost jobs since October 27 while Senator Cornyn is MIA on issues of substance?

Above you see a picture of Senator-elect Franken. Those two Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders have no problem with the idea of Senator Franken. It is clear from the picture above that Mr. Franken is a friend of Texas. I think he may even be in love with Texas. (He was on a USO tour of Iraq in this photo.)

So what is Senator Cornyn’s problem?

One thing is that Senator Cornyn has plenty of time on his hands ignoring the needs of the hard-working Texans. Idle hands are indeed the Devil’s workshop.

In fact, Senator Cornyn is now getting involved in the Illinois Senate dispute as well.

The other issue is that the Republican rump of 41 Senators has selected Mr. Cornyn as Chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

If only Senator Cornyn worked as hard for all Texans as he does for his apparently more important constituency of the few remaining Republican Senators in Washington.

Tags: Election 2008, Elections, Party Politics, Senate by Neil Aquino
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There’s been a lot of handwringing and consternation over Barack Obama’s choice of Leon Panetta to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat-California) issued a terse statement on Monday afternoon letting everyone know that she wasn’t consulted and she did not approve. Remember that I was reserved in my comments. Now that the dust has settled, I think it is clearer that Barack Obama has probably made the right decision. Leon Panetta will not be someone easily pushed around and isolated from the White House by any of the senators on the Senate Intelligence Committee. Instead, known as an excellent manager, Leon Panetta should be able to organize that agency.

I don’t think that this was a slap in the face. Instead, I think that it was an announcement that things are really going to be different. This will not be business as usual. After renditions, torture, illegal wiretaps and the like, I think that this strong signal that things are going to be different and different is a very good thing. Finally, I would add that the Obama team didn’t leak Panetta’s name. It was leaked by someone on the Hill who wasn’t happy. (Feinstein or Rockerfeller’s offices..? I’m just guessing but I bet that I’m close.)

From WaPo:

President-elect Barack Obama said yesterday that he has selected a “top-notch intelligence team” that would provide the “unvarnished” information his administration needs, rather than “what they think the president wants to hear.”

But current and former intelligence officials expressed sharp resentment over Obama’s choice of Leon E. Panetta as CIA director and suggested that the agency suffers from incompetent leadership and low morale. “People who suggest morale is low don’t have a clue about what’s going on now,” said CIA spokesman Mark Mansfield, citing recent personnel reforms under Director Michael V. Hayden.

On Capitol Hill, Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence were still stewing over Obama not consulting them on the choice before it was leaked Monday and continued to question Panetta’s intelligence experience. Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. acknowledged that the transition team had made a “mistake” in not consulting or even notifying congressional leaders, and Obama telephoned committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and her predecessor, Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), yesterday to apologize. (more… )

Tags: National Intelligence, Obama administration by ecthompson md
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There are two stories out of Alaska which I feel compelled to talk about. The first is Levi Johnston, Bristol Palin’s boyfriend or fiancé (I’m not sure which). The second story is about Sherry Johnston, Levi’s mother. Both are sad stories. Both tales remind me how completely un-ready for prime time Sarah Palin and her extended family are.

Sherry Johnston pleaded not guilty to six counts of possessing and selling OxyContin yesterday. She had no lawyer and asked for a public defender. She is in the middle of a divorce from her husband. This sounds like a story that we’ve all seen before, but this time it’s not on Montel Williams or Jerry Springer.

Levi Johnston has problems of his own. Over the weekend, a talk show host asked a simple question regarding how it is that Levi is able to be in an apprenticeship program without the prerequisite high school diploma. It is now being reported that Levi has quit his job and is returning home to focus on “education.” Sarah Palin denies having any influence in getting him a job for which he was not qualified.

This is an extremely sad commentary on our society. As a trauma surgeon, I see this kind of story every day.

Tags: Election 2008 by ecthompson md
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