Saturday Morning News and Views

Good Morning, Conflucians!

There is quite a bit of news this morning for a Saturday. The President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, was killed early this morning in a plane crash, along with his wife and other Polish officials.

The president, 60, had been traveling with the Polish delegation to Russia for the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn. Some 20,000 Polish officers were executed there during World War II.

The Polish military plane originated in Warsaw, the Polish Defense Ministry said. It was approaching the airport at Smolensk — just a few miles east of Katyn — and probably hit some trees at the end of the runway, Paszkowski said.

The Investigation Committee of the Russian prosecutor’s office said the plane, a Tupolev-154, was trying to land in heavy fog.

Putin to head investigation into Polish president’s death

Russian authorities have already said they suspect pilot error in the crash, near Smolensk, in Western Russia.

There are reports the jet made several attempted landings before the crash.

Also on board were leading members of Poland’s political elite, including the army chief of staff and the governor of the central bank.

This is pretty devastating for Poland. So far, it doesn’t sound like there is anything suspicious about the crash.

A “progressive” organization, Campaign for America’s Future, is trying to fight CNN’s plan to give four hours to Pete Peterson, the guy who wants to eliminate what is left of America’s safety net, especially Social Security. Why is CNN allowing Peterson to attack Social Security without allowing opposing views?

BTW, Peterson seems to have an “in” with Obama, and has been appointed to Obama’s “independent commission” to reduce the deficit (i.e., get rid of the “entitlement programs” that we have all paid into for our entire working lives.) This seems like a good political action item for anyone who has the time. Here is the main page for the Campaign for America’s Future.

I learned something new about retiring Supreme Court justice John Paul Stevens. Would you believe Stevens was at the World Series game in 1932 when Babe Ruth “called his shot” and then hit a home run? And he has the framed scorecard to prove it. Stevens is a Cubs fan.

Barely wet behind the ears pundit Ezra Klein thinks Obama should appoint Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court.

I’ve always been partial to the idea of seeing Hillary Clinton appointed to the Supreme Court. She’s got a law degree, of course. She’s practiced law, practiced politics and practiced statecraft. She’s been present in both the executive and the legislative branch. She’s done an enormous amount of retail politics, which I think is useful. She’s smart and hardworking and has proven herself adaptable to a wide range of institutions. The counterargument I got on Twitter is that she’s controversial, but I’m not sure I really believe that anymore. She’s well-known, and many Republicans in the Senate like her personally.

Hmmm…sounds like she could have been a good President. But Klein and the rest of the gang of barely wet behind the ears prog bloggers decided they wanted a barely wet behind the ears President instead. Why should we listen to their suggestions about the Supreme Court? Here are some suggestions from Emily Bazelon and Dahlia Lithwick, two female pundits with much better experience and track records than Klein.

Yesterday, Sarah Palin and Barack Obama had a back and forth in which they ridiculed each other’s experience in nuclear matters. First Palin said:

“It’s kind of like getting out there on a playground, a bunch of kids, getting ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, ‘Go ahead, punch me in the face and I’m not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to with me,'”

Then Obama parried with:

“Last I checked, Sarah Palin’s not much of an expert on nuclear issues,”

And here’s Palin’s next volley:

Palin shot back in her comments Friday, mocking the president for “the vast nuclear experience that he acquired as a community organizer.” She said that his alleged experience had not helped him make progress in the issue with Iran and North Korea

Newsweek has a story about the Hutaree militia–the Michigan group that was raided by the FBI and Homeland security recently: Ex-Members of U.S. Military Were Members of Hutaree Militia Extremist Group

The particular concern raised by military members among extremist groups is that former service members, including disgruntled veterans from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, may be helping to train extremists in firearms and military tactics, according to Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In the Hutaree case, the federal indictment charges that, as part of their plans to spark an “uprising” against the U.S. government, group members engaged “in military-style training” that included “firearms and explosives training, weapons proficiency drills, patrolling and reconnaissance exercises, close quarter battle drills” as well as “preparing defensive fighting positions” and “ambush kill zones.”

The discovery makes the Hutaree case the latest example of what watchdog groups say has been evidence of disturbing links between some current and former members of the U.S. military and extremist hate groups. “This is one more indication that [military] training is of interest to these kind of extremist groups,” said Potok.

Isakoff seems to be the designated hitter for the Obama administration in pushing this story about scary militia groups as the new terrorist menace. Frankly, I’m a lot more scared of the government than I am of a few ex-military guys running around in the Michigan woods. But what do I know?

I’ll leave you with a couple of depressing but important pieces on the state of our economy and our nation.

15 Mind-Blowing Facts About Wealth And Inequality In America

The article is made up of charts that show that wealth inequality is approached Guilded Age levels.

America: The Grim Truth by Lance Freeman

You have the worst quality of life in the developed world – by a wide margin.

If you had any idea of how people really lived in Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and many parts of Asia, you’d be rioting in the streets calling for a better life. In fact, the average Australian or Singaporean taxi driver has a much better standard of living than the typical American white-collar worker.

I know this because I am an American, and I escaped from the prison you call home.

I have lived all around the world, in wealthy countries and poor ones, and there is only one country I would never consider living in again: The United States of America. The mere thought of it fills me with dread.

Read it and weep.

So what are you reading today? Post freely in the comments, and have a great Saturday. We’d better enjoy ourselves while we still can.