Edgewise

In which I predict the future again!

I predict that in just a few hours it will be proven once and for that I cannot in fact predict the future!

How the War Has to Compete with the War-Profiteers

Especially when it's only mere Iraqis who die.

From the NYT

Lack of Armor Proves Deadly for Iraqi Army

"The Iraqis put quite a few more people in their trucks, and those trucks aren't armored," Major Warren said. "No armor plus more people in the truck equals a substantially higher casualty rate."

The Army unit in charge of equipping and training the Iraqis, the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq, said it was trying to replace much of the Iraqi fleet with new armored trucks.

But it has largely restricted its shopping to American companies that are still swamped by orders for American troops. The unit's biggest initiative, to give the Iraqis 1,500 armored Humvees, will not begin until December, and most will not be built until next summer, military and company officials said.

The Pentagon still has only one contractor in Ohio armoring the Humvees, and a backlog of orders for American troops that dates to the early months of the war has forced the Iraqi troops to the end of the line.

These US soldiers in Iraq present such an excruciating paradox.

These US soldiers in Iraq present such an excruciating paradox.

On the one hand, we have seen how, with the right (i..e., wrong) people and setting, the slippery slope of prisoner abuse plummets deep into the abyss.

But then there is the astonishing generosity, altruism, self-sacrifice that can show up, something that they almost take for granted. They are young, really just older children to me now, but they have spouses and children, which sadly is the accepted, routine, cover for every kind of craven selfishness.

When I see something like this, it moves me:

"Gutierrez said he was scared the first time he went back out looking for bombs after his Humvee was hit. But when the Buffalo patrol found three IEDs, two of them were detonated without injuries.
"'Now I'm not scared,' Gutierrez said. 'I''m angry. If I'm not going to do this, who is?'"

It is straight out of Rabbi Hillel's famous dictum:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when?

I don't think I have ever seen this kind of decency, moral responsibility, anywhere in the business world, nor in academia--though I have seen it in The Movement, notably from the imprisoned draft resisters (who have yet to receive our proper acknowledgment, respect, and gratitude).

And here it is in people who are making war.

A Sweet Old Baseball Rivalry

The Chicago White Sox' unexpected sweep of the Boston Red Sox in this year's World Series calls to mind the mostly forgotten early years of the game, when Baseball franchises were owned mainly by the major cookie companies, and the classic rivalry was between the Baltimore Oreos and the Chicago Hydrox.

What planet is Hugh Hewitt phoning it in from?

From Why the Right Was Wrong:

... tactics previously exclusive to the left - exaggeration, invective, anonymous sources, an unbroken stream of new charges, television advertisements paid for by secret sources ...

Wha?

Excuse me. Project much?

Who leaked to Novak beside 'Official A'?

OK, so the indictment says that Official A leaked to Novak. But didn't Novak say that he was leaked to by (at least) two people, one of whom was "no partisan gunslinger." Assuming that Official A is Rove and that Rove cut a deal and rolled on Libby, thus keeping his shit clean (for now), who was the other leaker? I'm not saying that Novak couldn't have just been flat-out lying. I'm just saying.

Cheney the prime mover behind leak

According the special prosecutor's press release

On or about June 12, 2003, Libby was advised by the Vice President of the United States that Wilson’s wife worked at the CIA in the Counterproliferation Division. Libby understood that the Vice President had learned this information from the CIA.

So, at least as far as Libby is concerned, Cheney was the one pushing the information. Like any good crime boss, he didn't do the actual whacking himself, but he made it clear what was expected.

Sulu's gay

Although I was almost inappropriately delighted to learn today that Sulu is gay, I have to confess that I'm kind of irritated at the timing.

I mean, yesterday Miers withdraws, then this morning, so-called "Scooter" Libby resigns. And now here comes George Takei, pushing those stories right off the front page.

In which I predict the future!

Many years ago, before Seinfeld became a national Thing, I looked up one day and I said "I'm going to start watching Seinfeld." And I didn't just say this myself. I said it to other people too. For example, So-Called Bill.

It didn't make much sense at the time. And then that episode with the whole whoosie thing happened and suddenly everyone was watching. And that was when I first realized that I have the intermittent ability to reach into the future and pluck out a truth.

Well, it's happening again. It's happening right now, in fact. And that's why I'm here to tell you: George W. Bush will pick Maureen E. Mahoney to be the next Supreme Court Justice. And she'll be confirmed.

Don't say I didn't warn you. Because I did. Just then.

You were warned.

Watergate-esque

You could make the case that Plamegate isn't and won't be Watergate, in that all the focus has been on the possibility that some of the President's key people may go down, but you don't really hear much speculation that the President himself could be dragged in.

But then there's this: when Nixon left office, it's pretty safe to say that he was running his White House. You don't have to be partisan to posit that the same might not be quite as true for President Bush.

And then, what if Bush stays on, as we all expect he will, but the people who've been running the White House for him go home? Or at least, go elsewhere...?

Does that make it Watergate? Well, still, not exactly. I mean, it's not the same thing as the President stepping down.

But it does make it Watergate-esque.

Speaking of which: could this have anything to do with why we haven't seen much of the Vice President of late?

But doesn't she deserve an 'up or down vote'?

Conservatives Launch 'Withdraw Miers' Website

Sauce for the goose?

Desperate times

OK, so horrific earthquake in Kashmir. Delay, Miers, Libby, Rove, all that. Wilma's kinda fierce. Deficit's growing. Continued Katrina fallout. Inflation mebbe. Gas prices. You know what I'm talking about here, right? I'm talking about news. There's lotsa news. Like, big stories. Everywhere.

And what are the good folks over at Fox focused on? Well the 24/7 section over on foxnews.com features the top stories from their top programs. And that's right, on October 21st, John Gibson is waaaaaay out on the front line, fighting the good fight against.....

The War on Christmas.

That's right, it's the war on the war on Christmas. Beating back all the Christmas haters out there. And they are legion. He's on (his phrase) "Christmas Patrol." In October. In October. And that's "The Big Story."

And I get that he's got a book he's selling here. But still. All I can think of to say is:

Oh come on now.

Absentee voting party (in Berkeley)

from the East Bay for Democracy newsletter:

ABSENTEE VOTING - MADE FUN

What better reason for a get-together than voting our progressive values as a block? Join other East Bay for Democracy folks as we pot-luck, and de-luck Arnold Schwarzenegger's radical agenda for California.

When: Monday October 17, 2005 starting at 7:00PM
Where: Redwood Gardens Community Room, 2951 Derby at Belrose in Berkeley, CA

What: Bring your friends & family, a dish to share, or a beverage, (or both) and most importantly, BRING YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT!. We'll watch a great DVD about the special election and we'll do some direct GOTV work by filling out our ballots together and making sure they get in the mail.

RSVP PLEASE!

If getting pregnant were like catching a cold

If getting pregnant were like catching a cold, just something that people randomly came down with, I doubt the government would even think of coercing those who caught it to take the pregnancies to term--even though the Pro Life-Baby Killer considerations would be just the same.

There is definitely a sexual anxiety at play here that can't stand to see people "getting away with" having sex with impunity.

Be Prepared

HANOI (Reuters) - The spread of Asia's deadly bird flu to Europe is a "troubling sign" and the world must work faster to prepare for a potential flu pandemic, U.S. Health Secretary Mike Leavitt said on Friday.

-----------------
I hear that Bush White House officials are assembling a team of top Public Relations experts from around the country, to minimize any harm the millions of deaths might cause.

Special Election as fodder for theater

John Warren from Unconditional Theatre invites us to hear stories about the upcoming special election:

The Special Election is less than a month away. How much do you know about the ballot measures? Wondering whether it's worth going to the polls at all? Unconditional Theatre is here to help!

We're hosting an evening of stories & dialogue focused on California's Special Election, to help you get familiar with the measures and connect with the unique reasons for your voting decisions. We'll share personal stories that relate to the measures, offer dramatic readings from the ballot book, and discuss the content of the propositions themselves.

It's a fun way to get a handle on the measures and discuss them with your peers. Even if you already know how you're voting, this can help you articulate your reasons and become a better advocate for your position.

UNCONDITIONAL THEATRE'S
SPECIAL ELECTION STORIES & DIALOGUE

Sunday October 23rd, 7:00pm

Epic Arts
1923 Ashby Ave at MLK, Berkeley
(across the street from Ashby BART)

Epic Arts is kindly donating the space to us, and we'll have snacks and drinks on hand. As always, anyone who shows up is invited to read and discuss. Participation is free.

DIRECTIONS

By BART: Take the Richmond line to Ashby station. As you exit the turnstile, bear right and then right again as you exit the station. Cross the parking lot diagonally to the corner of Ashby & MLK. Epic Arts is across Ashby, the yellow building two doors down from the Ashby Stage.

By Car: From San Francisco, cross the Bay Bridge and take Highway 80 eastbound to Ashby. Take the lefthand fork of the exit ramp, and follow Ashby about 1.5 miles. Park as soon as you cross MLK. Epic Arts is on the left hand side, the yellow building two doors down from the Ashby Stage.

Posted by xian at 8:23 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

More on "Appearance of a Conflict of Interest"

I am inspired by Dumpster's post below, to make a general point about "The Appearance of a Conflict Interest." I believe the meanings of the key terms here have become distorted and compromised in recent years. It may not affect this EPA ruling directly, but the Inspector General did contribute to the convenient confusion surrounding the subject

So...

Favoritism is when I have an interest in unfairly favoring one side, and I act on/succumb to it.

Conflict of Interest is when I have an interest in unfairly favoring one side, whether or not I act on/succumb to it.

Let's say I own stock in one of the companies affected. I must "recuse myself"--take myself out of the decision making process--simply because I own the stock. If I did not "recuse myself," I would be guilty of having a conflict of interest--whether or not I actually committed favoritism by acting on my interest.

Simply to continue acting, despite having a conflict of interest, is itself a crime. And simply to hold an official position covering an area in which I have a conflict of interest is also a crime--unless the area of conflict is merely peripheral to the position, openly acknowledged, and quarantined by recusal.

The idea of "the appearance of a conflict of interest" is just a fabrication, a diversion. It would be something like appearing to own the stock, but not really owning it.

The function of this phrase has been to draw attention away from the fact that having a conflict of interest, even when it is not acted on, is indeed a crime. Or to put it another way, one needn't prove that it has been acted on, for it to be a crime (punishable ethics breach, etc.).

Flip your WHIG

Over at Hullabaloo, Digby explains how the Plame investigation could conceivably unravel the conspiracy to build a false case for war in Iraq.

Appearance of Conflict of Interest

That's a concept we're hearing a a lot about lately:

Over the weekend the Comical ran a WaPo story reporting that the EPA's Inspector General says there is no such thing as quid pro quo:

The inspector general's yearlong review of the EPA's writing of a rule to manage shop towels contaminated with toxic chemicals found "no evidence of direct political influence" by lobbyists for Cintas Corp., whose chairman, Richard Farmer of Cincinnati, is a top Republican donor who raised more than $250,000 for the 2004 Bush-Cheney campaign.

It's also emerging that Bill Frist has money in the family business via an even less blind trust than we already knew about. This one's run by his brother. It's a topic of much discussion on dKos, but nobody seems interested in whether other congresspeople -- including Democrats --might also have "qualified" blind trusts.

And of course, there's Harriet Miers. Googling her name with "conflict of interest" reports 169,000 hits. Wolcott has been calling her Miss Hathaway for her devotion to the boss; and that loyalty to a sitting president is, even more than her crony-capitalist ideology and her acceptability to Dobson, et al, at the heart of her disqualification for the SC.

Appearance of conflict of interest also figures in a couple of ways in Plamegate. That seems to have been the implied accusation in Rove & Libby's campaign against Joe Wilson: if Wilson's wife was involved in selecting him for the Niger trip, then it goes without saying that he must have been unqualified and must lack credibility. Seems a rather fastidious view of nepotism for this White House to be taking.
But Plamegate is also revealing a real conflict of interest, and that's with the MSM figures involved. All of the journalists to whom this "damaging" information was leaked were chosen because they were presumed (quite safely) to be loyal to the administration. Both Novak and then Cooper ran the item at face value, accepting the supposedly obvious inference that Wilson was indeed discredited; and Miller had apparently been looking to dig up dirt on Wilson after learning that he'd been Kristof's anonymous source. All of them seem to have understood their journalistic responsibility as advancing the interests of the administration, not any [snort, guffaw] disinterested pursuit of information.

The "Barbara Bush Principle"

Papers Offer Peek at Miers's Views
Washington Post

Miers, President Bush's nominee to the Supreme Court, said in her 1995 letter to Bush that the legislation was a blatant attempt to protect a "handful of greedy, but immensely rich and powerful" trial lawyers.

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DKo: The legislation in question protected the use of a lawyer's "contingency fee." The idea here is that if you think you have been damaged, and can't afford to hire a lawyer to sue, you can offer a lawyer 1/3 of the awarded compensation, in the event that you win.

This bumps right up against what we may now call the "Barbara Bush Principle": We needn't worry too much about the living conditions of people who were already "underprivileged" anyhow.

Similarly, if you can't afford to hire a lawyer, you must not have much that could suffer worrisome damage.

We see this too--except when publicity bears down--in the wealthy who avoid prison, because "they have suffered enough already," in lost prestige, social standing, etc. Since the poor already lack these things, they must be sent to prison, if they are to suffer more.

Barbara Bush deserves a ton of props for exquisitely crystallizing this principle in her post-hurricane remarks. And it is reassuring to see them so lovingly preserved across the generations of Bush Family Values, soon to be personified again by an old friend on the new Supreme Court

In Honor of the Yom Kippur Fast

This is from the weekly prophetical reading that is designated for Yom Kippur (Beginning this year on the evening of October 12.):

Jeremiah 58

6 ...this is the fast I desire:
To unlock the fetters of wickedness,
And untie the cords of the yoke
To let the oppressed go free;
To break off every yoke.

7 It is to share your bread with the hungry,
And to take the wretched poor into your home;
When you see the naked, to clothe him,
And not to ignore your own kin.

8 Then shall your light burst through like the dawn

---------------------------
May we all strive for its fulfillment, and may your name be inscribed for good in the book of life.

Love,

David

If I were king

I just tried out Nathan Newman's National Budget Simulator and, with a little tinkering, reduced the deficit by about 90%:

Old budget was $3747.36 billion
($2672.527 billion in spending, $1074.833 billion in tax expenditures and cuts).

New budget is $3369.49 billion
($2633.78 billion in spending, $735.71 billion in tax expenditures and cuts).

You have cut the deficit by $377.87 billion.
Your new deficit is $23.13 billion.

A summary of my choices is included below the fold.

Spending ($2633.78 billion: cut $38.74 billion)

$312.27 billion .... Military Spending
Cut $133.83 bil. from base of $446.105 bil.(-30%)

$55.93 billion ..... Iraq War and Afghanistan Operations
Cut $55.91 bil. from base of $111.851 bil.(-50%)

$115.48 billion .... Veterans & Retired Military Pensions and Services (No Change)

$34.75 billion ..... International Affairs
Increased $3.16 bil. from base of $31.590 bil.( 10%)

$26.36 billion ..... General Science, Space, and Technology
Increased $2.39 bil. from base of $23.967 bil.( 10%)

$2.55 billion ...... Non-Defense Energy Spending
Increased $0.43 bil. from base of $2.121 bil.( 20%)

$40.51 billion ..... Natural Resources and Environment
Increased $9.35 bil. from base of $31.163 bil.( 30%)

$18.21 billion ..... Agriculture
Cut $7.8 bil. from base of $26.020 bil.(-30%)

$84.81 billion ..... Transportation
Increased $14.14 bil. from base of $70.673 bil.( 20%)

$19.1 billion ...... Community and Regional Development (No Change)

$128.14 billion .... Education
Increased $64.07 bil. from base of $64.068 bil.( 100%)

$47.81 billion ..... Training, Labor and Unemployment Programs (No Change)

$303.98 billion .... Non-Medicare Health Spending
Increased $50.66 bil. from base of $253.320 bil.( 20%)

$345.75 billion .... Medicare (No Change)

$71.94 billion ..... Civilian Retirement (Social Security excluded) (No Change)

$227.45 billion .... Aid to Low-Income Families
Increased $20.68 bil. from base of $206.773 bil.( 10%)

$25.62 billion ..... General Family Support (No Change)
$6.82 billion ...... Commerce and Housing Loan Programs (No Change)
$544.82 billion .... Social Security (No Change)

$38.79 billion ..... Administration of Justice
Cut $4.3 bil. from base of $43.099 bil.(-10%)

$15.98 billion ..... General Government Administration
Cut $1.76 bil. from base of $17.754 bil.(-10%)

$211.08 billion .... Net Interest (No Change)
$-44.37 billion .... Undistributed Offsetting Receipts and Allowance (No Change)

Tax Expenditures ($735.71 billion: cut $339.11 billion)

$0 billion ......... 2001 and 2003 Tax Cuts
Cut $294.59 bil. from base of $294.6 bil.(-100%)

$18.11 billion ..... Corporate Tax Breaks
Cut $42.24 bil. from base of $60.360 bil.(-70%)

$86.71 billion ..... Personal Business and Investment Benefits (No Change)
$168.47 billion .... Pension and Retirement Tax Benefits (No Change)

$155.09 billion .... Health Insurance Tax Benefits
Increased $14.1 bil. from base of $140.990 bil.( 10%)

$147.34 billion .... Housing Tax Benefits
Cut $16.36 bil. from base of $163.710 bil.(-10%)

$159.99 billion .... Other Individual Deductions and Expenditures (No Change)

My other adopted African child

I just agreed to give $10 every month to the Democratic National Committee. And now I feel like I've now got another adopted child out there in the Sudanese desert, going to a new school, hopefully. Getting wells put in for clean water. All of that. I hope they send me a picture as my little DNC grows up. And as with my other adopted African child, whose name unfortunately I can't recall at just this moment, more than anything, I hope the DNC doesn't grow up wanting to kill me.

Ok, that's not really my number-one hope. But I liked the way it sounded. Send yer complaints to the blog-police. Lousy, stinkin' blog-coppers. Come and get me, ya no-good blog-screws!

-Cecil

No guarantee Rove won't be indicted

And when the frogs, come marching out.... Think Progress :: BREAKING: Karl Rove to Give Additional Testimony ... oh Lord I want Karl to be in that number, when the frogs go marching out.

Though I'd easily let go of my Karl-wish to see him roll over on the boss.

Update: I had titled this "Rove requests a do-over" but this Kos article suggests that the offer to testify further was made back in July and that it's Fitzgerald who took him up on the offer just now (while explicitly not offering him any immunity for further testimony).

Weighing Justices

Justice may be blind and that's for the good but what about those scales? When it comes to weighing one side against another I'm worried about size and heft overpowering brevity and thrift. Another way of imagining this concern is to place a bible on one side of the scale and the U.S. Constitution on the other. Both speak to the law but in entirely different ways.

I have nothing against Christians, per se. I happen to be one-- by baptism (not my choice) and by an adolescent era decision to become one (via the United Methodist church). However, I haven't set foot in a church for the purpose of worshiping since I was eighteen. That said, I have no particular beef with the church I joined as a youth (against my father's adamant objection) nor with those who choose to worship in whatever manner or in whatever religion they choose.

But I do object, and in this way I think I am a strict constructionist here, to the injection of specific religious doctrine (belief, covenant, more, scripture--whatever you prefer to call it) into the procedures of civil law. I so fervently came to this view of things over several decades of intellectual and not-so-intellectual engagement with the burning topics of American society from the Movements (civil rights, peace, women's lib, gay rights, yadda yadda) to the Issues (abortion rights, health care, living wage, drugs, Darwin, blah blah blah) to the Wars (remember Granada? etc, etc, etc). So fervent, in fact, that I had to give up playing the game Civilization when I discovered that all my civilizations crashed after Phase I because I refused to let them invent religion.

Why am I going on about this anyway? How can I hold a certain fondness in my heart for "That Old Rugged Cross" sung by a bunch of off-key warblers in an old smelly movie theater (new church under construction) and yet get red-eye and ear steam over School Prayer? I am reminded of another story....When My High School Science Teacher Was Asked About God. Now I adored this guy. He was soft spoken and patient, never making me or anyone else feel stupid for asking a stupid question. His classroom was decorated with innumerable jars of pickled wonders and he got me through my first dissection (med school was definitely not for me) with humor. And when asked if he believed in God he replied in the most comforting way possible that he did but that God had nothing to do with Science. So, he became sort of my Minister of Science.

Separating Religion and Science, the Bible and the Constitution, Faith and Reason, and all those complicated dualities of daily life is one of the basic tenets of American life. It's why we have and discuss and fight over our Constitution. It's the basis of our civil life and the reason we have any religious liberty at all, including the liberty to not have a religion.

So, getting back to the Scales of Justice, the question in my mind today is what book of laws tips the scale in the heart and mind of the current Christian president's Christian Supreme Court nominee? Can one wear an American flag lapel and a Christian cross on the same suit and be trusted to be a supreme judge of American constitutional and civil law? The answer may be yes. But you will have to prove it to me.

I admit it

It amuses me that conservatives are just now beginning to notice how totally they've been played by Dear Leader.

In fact, this thread a RedState is totally making my day. A few choice excerpts:

We're disgusted By: SpectatorGirl

Bush lied to us. Let Kos cheer.

The post below should not get lost, that her name was on a list of acceptables supplied by the Democrats.

Bush is a gutless, abortionist liar. I spit on him. Seriously.

and this

Bush did lie to us, and now that I know he is capable of such blatant lying, I am distraught.

Now we have to seriously wonder if the Democrats were right all along. Did we go to war for oil? Was it payback for daddy?

and and this

Will never give another dollar to Republicans By: captain

we have 55 republican senators.
could have picked a real conservative.

instead, he picks a 60-year-old woman who's never been married and has never had kids. are we really to believe that she'll vote to overturn roe?

are we to believe that this woman hasn't had sex outside of marriage over the past several decades? and if she has, hasn't she been counting on the right to abortion just as other career-oriented women do?

bush has betrayed us. i will never again contribute to the republican party.

Harriet Miers, fashion froward?

My first glimpse of the latest nominee to the U.S. Supreme Court on the afternoon news revealed not just your usual power-suited Washington insider. First, the suit was a serene royal blue, not screaming patriotic red. Beneath the suit jacket, nominee Miers sported a demure "high-collared" silk blouse, also in royal blue. Could this be a fashion nod to exiting Supreme Sandra Day O'Connor's "founding fathers" style ruched collar and cravat? Or is it hinting at strictly clerical leanings? The usual American flag pin hung on her left jacket lapel as well as some undistinguished piece of costume jewelry on the right shoulder. But my eye caught something new in neckware for the Washington power set - a dangling silver cross-on-a-chain. Prominently displayed, this wasn't your demure gold Catholic-school girl choker. But neither was it large or gothic enough to be retro-Punk. Call it Conspicuously Devout, could Miers' crafty accouterment be a clue to the true fashion tilt of the newest Supreme Court hopeful?

Sorry Gallows Humour

The real problem with medical marijuana, the DEA says, is not its specific effects on health, but that it "sends absolutely the wrong message to elderly people."

This age group tends to view debilitating diseases as "cool," and statistical studies indicate powerful peer-pressure for illness and pain at this age. It may also be a "gateway condition" for harder, fatal diseases.

Grotian to the max

One of the best ways to follow Saddam Hussein's trial may just be Case School of Law's new Grotian Moment Blog.

(via TalkLeft)

Fa love Pa!

OK, this story about missing killer dolphins in the Gulf Coast is just creepy.

Shock and Opossumism

Bush 'encouraged' despite report on Iraqi troops, Reuters

During congressional testimony on Thursday, Gen. George Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq, and Gen. John Abizaid, top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said the number of such battalions [that can go into combat without the help of the U.S. military] had dropped since July to one from three, out of the roughly 100 Iraqi battalions.

Bush...sought to repair any damage. He said on Saturday the U.S. military and its allies are "constantly adapting our tactics to the changing tactics of the terrorists."

---------
DKo: "Playing opossum," a tactic the wily frontiersman commander mastered during his own service in the National Guard.

According to my sources, even with the drop from three to one, he is 'still not satisfied." "There is still a lot more work to be done." As soon as he detects someone showing signs of life, the nation's CEO intends to "delegate forcefully," and finish the job.