Category Archives: Politics & Government

Looking for pork in the stimulus bill

Posted on by

The Huffington Post is asking readers to dig through the compromise Senate stimulus bill and report any examples of “wasteful pork-barrel spending or corporate giveaways.”

This just seems a great example of the Net empowering people. Thousands of folks who care enough to dig through this mother, taking notes and sharing them. And when they find the bull-shit we know is there, we all scream bloody murder. Has anyone turned the kitchen light on the the DC cockroaches like this before. We used to leave this stuff to the AP or the Washington Post or some other MSM entity. I love the idea of anyone with time and inclination to get involved. Shoot, this seems almost as useful as voting.

Inauguration: Day One

Posted on by

Not counting Saturday since that was just travel. But today was a full day. We rode the Metro from the northern part of the district where we’re staying down to the National Mall. Got there around 9 or 9:30 a.m. Not a lot people there yet except media types getting set up or already in place (MSNBC).

Couldn’t get the GPS on the iPhone working until George suggested I reboot. You don’t want to be at an event like this without a fully functioning iPhone.

Walked down to the Capitol (as close as we could get) and then all the way down Pennsylvania Ave to the end of the parade route, mostly to locate the office of the firm at which Barb works.

By then the crowds were flooding in to get seats for the opening ceremony and concert. If today is any indicator, tomorrow and Tuesday are gonna be scary. But I must say everyone seemed happy (joyuous?). Lots of little kids, even as cold as it was.

Tomorrow we head back down to pick up our tickets, at which time we’ll have some idea of where we’ll be for the Big Moment.

The historic nature of this event is starting to get to me and it’s hard not to feel a real bond with the millions that will be here. You won’t find many in this crowd who think O is “just another smooth talking pol.” We are all believers.

Inauguration security tightest ever

Posted on by

“People attending the ceremony and parade can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine — magnetometers like those used at airports — to counter snipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away as well as undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols. And Washington’s 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command center. Including the Secret Service, 58 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies are providing security.” – Associated Press

An Oral History of the Bush White House

Posted on by

Just finished reading a very long piece on the Bush administration in Vanity Fair. Almost 40 pages printed from their website. It reads like a very depressing, but gripping, novel. Painful but hard to put down. I’m posting here because I don’t consider this politics. If you don’t want to wait for The Golden Bush Years chapter in the 2080 history books, read this Vanity Fair account. Sort of a high colonic to start the year off clean. A few nuggets from the final page:

“Lawrence Wilkerson, top aide and later chief of staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell: As my boss [Colin Powell] once said, Bush had a lot of .45-caliber instincts, cowboy instincts. Cheney knew exactly how to polish him and rub him. He knew exactly when to give him a memo or when to do this or when to do that and exactly the word choice to use to get him really excited.

Bob Graham, Democratic senator from Florida and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee: One of our difficulties now is getting the rest of the world to accept our assessment of the seriousness of an issue, because they say, You screwed it up so badly with Iraq, why would we believe that you’re any better today? And it’s a damn hard question to answer.

Meanwhile, the Taliban and al-Qaeda have relocated, have strengthened, have become a more nimble and a much more international organization. The threat is greater today than it was on September the 11th.

David Kuo, deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives: It’s kind of like the Tower of Babel. At a certain point in time, God smites hubris. You knew that right around the time people started saying there’s going to be a permanent Republican majority—that God kinda goes, No, I really don’t think so.”

“We are the Arabs!”

Posted on by

“In the 1980 film “The Formula,” George C. Scott plays a detective who uncovers a plot to kill anybody with knowledge of a secret Nazi formula for a synthetic fuel. The bad guy in the film is Adam Steiffel, the Chairman of Titan Oil, played by Marlon Brando. The two meet on Steiffel’s patio, where the oil mogul is enjoying breakfast, and the scene produces a couple of memorable lines in a case of art imitating life.

“You’re not in the oil business; you’re in the oil shortage business,” Scott says to Brando. An aide to Brando’s character races to the table with news of price activity by the Arab states, to which Brando’s character responds, “You idiot, we ARE the Arabs!”

— Terry Heaton

And I hate crowds

Posted on by

Did I mention that Barb and I will be attending the inauguration in a couple of weeks? I use the word “attending” loosely.

Bridges and major roadways closed to all but bus traffic; the D.C. subway system expecting ‘crush-level’ crowds; escalators closed. The Congressional Inaugural Committee issued an “Inaugural Advisory” that basically said: stay home.

From CBS News: “While the actual swearing-in will take place shortly before noon, the formal program begins at 11:30 AM and the musical prelude and seating will begin much earlier. Security checkpoints will open for ticketed guests at 8:00 AM, and the committee advises arriving no later than 9:00 AM to ensure that you are through the checkpoints by the time the program begins. Screening will end when the program begins at 11:30 AM and late arrivals will not be able to enter the grounds.”

And if it’s raining like pouring piss out of a boot?

“Regardless of the weather conditions, umbrellas will not be permitted in the ticketed areas.”

Same goes for “strollers, Laser pointers, Signs, Posters, Animals (other than service animals), Alcoholic beverages, (and) Other items that may pose a threat to the security of the event as determined by and at the discretion of the security screeners.”

But I’ll get some good pix that I can put online, right?

“Be aware that it may be difficult to talk or send pictures from your cell phone, according to wireless companies. Please use text messaging to send critical messages.”

What the hell. I waited in for five hours to hear a Steve Jobs keynote address at MacWorld (which, as it turns out, was his final one)… I can wait a few hours to watch history being made. I’ll be the one dressed like Frances McDormand.

Forrest Gump on the bailout

Posted on by

This showed up in my in-box and I don’t know the source or the author but will be happy to properly attribute if anyone knows.

“Mortgage Backed Securities are like boxes of chocolates. Criminals on Wall Street stole a few chocolates from the boxes and replaced them with turds. Their criminal buddies at Standard & Poor rated these boxes AAA Investment Grade chocolates. These boxes were then sold all over the world to investors. Eventually somebody bites into a turd and discovers the crime. Suddenly nobody trusts American chocolates anymore worldwide.”

“Hank Paulson now wants the American taxpayers to buy up and hold all these boxes of turd-infested chocolates for $700 billion dollars until the market for turds returns to normal. Meanwhile, Hank’s buddies, the Wall Street criminals who stole all the good chocolates are not being investigated, arrested, or indicted.”

Mama always said: ‘Sniff the chocolates first, Forrest’.

Quote of the day from a fund manager: ‘This is worse than a divorce… I’ve lost half of my net worth and I still have my wife..’

And one more perspective:

“Back in 1990, the Government seized the Mustang Ranch brothel in Nevada for tax evasion and, as required by law, tried to run it. They failed and it closed. Now we are trusting the economy of our country to a pack of nit-wits who couldn’t make money running a whore house and selling booze?”

Bruce Sterling’s Distraction

Posted on by

If you’re looking for an interesting read over the long weekend, may I suggest Distraction, by Bruce Sterling. I read this book in October of 2004, long before my political awakening. Here’s a short review on Boing Boing:

Distraction is the story of an America on the skids: economy in tatters, dollar collapsed, unemployment spiked, population on the move in great, restless herds bound together with networks and bootleg phones. The action revolves around Oscar Valparaiso, a one-of-a-kind political operator who has just put his man — a billionaire sustainable architecture freak — into the Senate and is looking for some downtime. But a funny thing happens on the way to the R&R: Oscar and his “krewe” (the feudal entourage who trail after him, looking after his clothes, research, security, systems and so on) end up embroiled in a complex piece of political theater, a media war between the rogue governor of the drowned state of Louisiana, the Air Force, the newly elected president, and a weird, pork-barrel science park in its own glassed-in dome.

I’d love to know how many books and screenplays about the 2008 campaign are in the works.

Inauguration of President Obama

Posted on by

I don't like crowds. And I don't like waiting in line. But if Our Source comes through with tickets, Barb and I plan to attend the inauguration of President Obama on January 20. Barb has a friend who has graciously invited us to stay with her (no hotel rooms for miles and miles).

I really don't expect to see much. Or even as much as we could see on TV. But it's one of those historic events that even I can't pass up, given the opportunity. Should be a blog-rich environment. And the experience might make all future airport check-in's seem like a walk in the park.

"People attending the ceremony and parade can expect to be searched by machines, security personnel or both. Precautions will range from the routine — magnetometers like those used at airports — to counter-snipers trained to hit a target the size of a teacup saucer from 1,000 yards away. Plus undercover officers, bomb sniffing dogs and air patrols.

The Secret Service — the agency coordinating the security — also has assigned trained officials to identify and prevent cyber security risks. And, as it does at every inauguration, the service has mapped out escape routes for the 44th president.

In addition Washington's 5,265 surveillance cameras, spread around the city, are expected to be fed into a multi-agency command center." [Article at RawStory.com]

This could still fall through. Our Source is a Republican big wig and they aren't swinging as much weight as they once did. Stay tuned.