Hey Soccer Fans

You never explained it to me like this.

Beckham for H&M.

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy

I find that I'm still grinning.

Oddly enough, linkage

Just two.

Charles Blow is none too pleased that all of the GOP candidates are "Genuflecting to the Tea Party."

And Warren Buffet says that we should stop coddling the super-rich.

Seen on a Brick Wall

a little over a mile from the Capitol

Learn from Egypt.
Change is in the streets.

 .

Term Limits for the Supreme Court

Mr. Yglesias points out that every time there is a Supreme Court vacancy he argues against lifetime appointments. I usually ignore him but it is time to point out that I profoundly disagree.

He argues about alternative strategies, term lengths, and the like but outside of pointing to age and other minor flaws, fails to provide a solid, cogent argument favoring the change. He ultimately says "fixed-term system would create a predictable relationship between winning presidential elections and appointing justices, and it could also contain a sensible process for replacing a sick or dead justice." That doesn't seem like much of a reason to create such a profound change.

Let me address what I think are minor points first. He argues that there is "undue weight on throwing up young appointees." I think that there is a lot of value in having appointees of all ages. "Throwing up" young appointees on a court with a system of lifetime appointment helps create a mix of ages on the court. It think it is a positive rather than negative thing.

I don't share his concern about the current system generating a lot of randomness. Life is filled with randomness. Our political system is filled with randomness. Efforts to control that will, of necessity, fail. Meteors fall into buildings. Young people die.

As for the current model, I think that people grow in the job. They learn. Then gradually change their perspectives. They apply law to new people and situations. They learn to work with one another in spite of themselves. Over time they don't always end up like they started. And some of that means that they become more wise. A look at the career of Earl Warren will give you an idea of what I mean. This wouldn't happen with a finite appointment.

The fixed-term model that Mr. Yglesias proposes -- a single non-renewable term -- is already in place for the Comptroller General who has a single 15 year term and retires at full salary. However it doesn't remove the political or financial considerations. In fact it may amplify them. The most recent Comptroller General removed himself after about a decade to take a position as President of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. They were able to trade on his previous job title. And all of the contacts made during his term provided him with a fine rolodex. In other words that fixed-term model just provides a foundation for a more powerful lobbyist.

Think of a lifetime court appointment as tenure. As the formation of a group of knowledgeable people we hope will become wise. Folks who can learn to base their personal self-worth on their ability to be fair, to work for everyone, to maintain integrity. That isn't worth giving up.

Political Party Affiliation by State -- WOW

Gallup (!) finds that so far in 2009 there are 30 red states and 4 (4!) blue states. Check it out.

This is amazing. The only states that are Republican are Utal, Wyoming, Alaska, and Idaho. Alabama leans Republican. They say "That leaves a total of eight states that are competitive in terms of party identification, with none showing a party advantage of greater than two points. These include Mississippi (+1 Republican), North Dakota and Nebraska (even), and Kansas, Arizona, Texas, South Carolina, and Montana (all +2 Democratic)."

The original piece has more details and state-by-state analysis.

via Rachel Maddow

I Know It Is Fashionable

to negate everything Mr. Obama does. Yes, I'm disappointed too.

But I remain touched by how well he represented us in Europe. I was shocked to hear from Elie Wiesel that he was the first American president to visit a concentration camp. It was about time, I'd say.

Today

Courtesy of NASA

Maddow Interviews Cox About Teabagging

wherein they both get mad props for keeping as much of a straight face as they were able.

No Time To Watch The Span?

Here is a synopsis of the debate about the economic stimulus plan going on at this very moment.

Franken and Coleman Vote Counting

Live here:

http://www.theuptake.org/

Update: It's over. Franken by 225. I'm sure Nate will keep us updated on anything new.

Excuse Me For a Moment But This Is A Private Post

(History here, if you must.)

Shocking Sporting News

Hard to believe but the Lions fired Marinelli.

(For those of you who don't follow this sport where grown men put on plastic padding and hard hats and play a metaphor for war by moving an oddly shaped ball up and down a playing field, the Lions are the local Detroit team. Marinelli was their coach. Their 'season' -- that is to say the period of time during the year wherein they play their games -- is over. And for the first time in the history of the sport their local team lost sixteen games and didn't win one.)

And since I am mentioning sporting news, I must note what was so well said in this post titled "An Epic Day For Schadenfreude."

The Cowboys are in the process of being, to quote Emmitt Smiff, “blowed out.” Ben Roethlisberger was hurt (grrrr), the Patriots are on the verge of being eliminated with an 11-5 record. The Bucs lost to the Raiders. Detroit is 0-16. And the era of Favre is drawing to a close.

(If you don't follow the sport I can't explain. It is too esoteric.

(Photo from KSK post noted above.)

Inaugural Invocation

I am disgusted beyond belief that President-elect Obama has selected the Hawaiian-shirted gasbag Rick Warren (R,Corporatist) to give the "invocation" at the inauguration. My disgust goes way beyond his gay and lesbian hatred. He claims to be not of the right but thinks that women are property that he, through the oh so familiar means of claiming special knowledge of God's wishes, should be able to tell what to do with their bodies. Not to mention how horribly offensive it is to compare abortion to the Holocaust.

I wasn't going to talk about Rick Warren. FAIL.

He's a smarmy religion-based capitalist who makes a ton of money off of his book(s) (Amazon.com Sales Rank: #339 in Books) and assorted products. He does good works and smiles in that phony condescending way no matter what he is saying. (Why are their wives always bleached blondes with way to much makeup?) And then there is that "mega-church" thing that has been popular of late. He's smart, I'll give him that. He updated the country preacher thing and made it acceptable to a generation reared on television and short attention spans.

I know I'm blithering. Go read the piece in The Nation entitled "What's The Matter With Rick Warren?" wherein they say, on point,

Warren represents the absolute worst of the Democrats' religious outreach, a right-winger masquerading as a do-gooder anointed as the arbiter of what it means to be faithful.

Obama, when questioned about his choice, argued that this represents outreach to those who disagree and besides, Obama was invited to Pastor Rick's church. (Yeah, he really calls himself Pastor Rick. Must be that California thing where everybody pretends that they are casual and familiar instead of remembering that manners exist for a reason.) These are pitiful arguments. Ok, invite him to the White House. But the inauguration is a representation of the nation's ideals and ought not serve as a platform for a bigot. I know I'm not the first to note that Mr. Obama surely wouldn't have a KKK member give the invocation arguing for inclusion. It give the imprint of approval to Pastor Rick. Billy Graham was the pastor who appeared to advise presidents for years. That didn't set so well with me but at least he didn't act like a political pastor.

I started out this rambling post to make a point. Finally.

Why do we still have an invocation and a closing prayer for the inauguration? Isn't this a civil matter? Don't we have a nation composed of many religions and none? Yet we have a Christian opening and closing -- Joseph Lowrey of the SCLC will give the benediction. Insisting on bracketing this event with Christian symbolism seems to be eliminating a lot of Americans who don't participate in this particular brand of religion. So why not just drop it?

Mr. Obama, his family, and those who choose could very well start the day or precede the ceremony by attending a church service. Or by inviting in a religious leader of his choosing to pray together. But why can't that be a matter of personal choice? Why the need to impose his religious preferences on all of us during what is clearly a civil matter? Isn't it time to end this vestigial practice?

On The Bailout

Courtesy for the Guys From Area51

Now Is The Time For Class Warfare

Thomas Frank, author of What's The Matter With Kansas, has scored a regular Wednesday column with the Wall Street Journal. Yeah, go figure.

He tells us

Now comes the fall culture-war offensive, catching the Democrats by surprise as it always does and spreading panic and desperation among their ranks. As the depth of the Republican breakthrough becomes apparent to Democrats, they launch the same feeble counterattacks that failed them last time, prudishly correcting misleading GOP advertisements and crying for the recess monitor when the other side plays dirty.

And none of this works.

Exactly. Every time they play dirty, just like they did last time and the time before that and the time before that, Democrats whine that it isn't fair. They are amazed that God, guns, and gays are the issue one more time, that Democrats are called elitist, and that somehow the Dick Cheneys and John McCains of the world are seen as two-fisted beer drinkers.

We need to get over the fact that it doesn't make sense. They have a way of tapping into some irrational feeling that we aren't capable of understanding. Instead we should be good observers and see that it just keeps happening.

Things would go better for Democrats if they recognized the culture war for what it is: a debased form of class war, a false populism in which an "authentic" America rises up against its would-be masters, an effete bunch of arugula-eaters who say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." But a visceral feeling of class conflict is what lies at the core of the whole thing: a righteous grievance against wrongful, pedantic rulers. It is so attractive emotionally that I often wish I could sign up for it myself.

Me too. But alas, that isn't my way.

Mr. Franks brings us to the issues today and the current Wall Street mess. (Follow the link above to read the whole piece. It is worth the trip.)

There is simply no way to blame this disaster, as Republicans used to do, on labor unions or over-regulation. No, this is the conservatives' beloved financial system doing what comes naturally. Freed from the intrusive meddling of government, just as generations of supply-siders and entrepreneurial exuberants demanded it be, the American financial establishment has proceeded to cheat and deceive and beggar itself -- and us -- to the edge of Armageddon. It is as though Wall Street was run by a troupe of historical re-enactors determined to stage all the classic panics of the 19th century.

..

There has scarcely been a better time to shove the arugula aside and talk about the realities of class. It is heartening to see that Barack Obama is beginning to do just that, but he must keep hammering at the point until everyone in America understands the choice that lies before us.

Exactly.

Best Convention Schwag

According to Salon, Planned Parenthood is passing out 700 pounds -- that was pounds -- of condoms at the convention. They look like this:

Obama/Biden 2008

He wasn't my first choice but it was a solid choice without Hillary involvement. Biden is a white male Roman Catholic who has foreign policy experience coming out of his ears. I'll struggle to put aside my antipathy to his hair transplants.

He can be an attack dog on he campaign trail and I just can't wait to watch him debate Mitt. That alone is worth the price of admission.

But who is going to be Secretary of State now?

Independence Day, Washington D.C.

Security Theater - Papers Please Edition

"Beginning Saturday, June 21, 2008 passengers that willfully refuse to provide identification at security checkpoint will be denied access to the secure area of airports. This change will apply exclusively to individuals that simply refuse to provide any identification or assist transportation security officers in ascertaining their identity."

This new procedure will not affect passengers that may have misplaced, lost or otherwise do not have ID but are cooperative with officers. Cooperative passengers without ID may be subjected to additional screening protocols, including enhanced physical screening, enhanced carry-on and/or checked baggage screening, interviews with behavior detection or law enforcement officers and other measures."

according to the Transportation Security Administration .
Please note, in case it isn't clear from the press release that you don't have to have an ID to fly. If you tell TSA personnel that you lost your ID, you may fly. If you tell TSA personnel that you misplaced your ID, you may fly. If you tell TSA officials that you left your ID at home, you may fly. If you have a fake ID, you may fly.

But

If you insist that you have Constitutional rights, the TSA will punish you by preventing you from getting on the airplane.

The notion that one has a right to fly without ID and without additional security being imposed was tested in Gilmore v. Gonzales. The Ninth Circuit concluded that the additional security did not impede his right to travel or associate. However they also stated that

"Gilmore ís right to petition claim similarly fails. Although Gilmore did not fly to Washington, D.C., where he planned to petition the government for redress of grievances, the identification policy did not prevent him from doing so."

It seems to me that the 9th Circuit's conclusion in Gilmore v. Gonzales is being tested. That is they are asserting via a Secret Document known only to the judges they have the right to force people to provide documents, especially when they argue their Constitutional right not to.

Those fuckers never quit.