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Paul Krugman: Conscience of a Liberal
The Confluence
Suburban Guerrilla Ian WelshOk, I’ve tried everything (well, *almost* everything) I can think of to get to sleep and nothing is working. I see that myiq2xu failed to post my two recommendations for Worst Music Video. And although I don’t think anything will top Vlad of Moldavia, I thought I’d post my nomination for Worst International Music Video. Let’s just say that the disco era was not kind to Bollywood:
So, what’s keeping *you* awake?
Corrente (Lambert) Avedon’s Sideshow
The Confluence 
It’s still early on the West Coast but I am definitely an insomniac. We are starting a Norcal Chapter of Puma Pac and I have a lot to do. Oh great, I just saw that moron who calls himself president and now I’ll never be able to sleep.
It’s 10:25 PM in California, and I’m about to turn in. I have a headache thinking about the government, and how we still have the best government money can buy. Unfortunately, Obama has always been cheap to buy off–think Tony Reko of the pizza and slum-housing empire. Obama was Rezko’s #2 politician, after Gov. Blag. Where is Rezko now? Was he ever sentenced?
The S.F. Chronicle did have an opinion piece in which the writer stated that the banks/financial institutions were being bailed out because this is the way to subsidize the wealthy. Meanwhile, the poor are losing their homes. He urged readers to withdraw money from any bank that took a loan, which would result in the corrupt banks’ failures. Switch to local, well-run banks. He said to buy Ford if it does not take a handout. Finally, he urged not buying at all.
MoDo praised Obama for his writer’s view of the world in today’s NYT.
“Yet with that detached and novelistic eye that allows him to be a great writer, he is also able to do a kind of political jujitsu, where he assesses the bluster and insecurities of other politicians, defuses them, and then uses them to his advantage.”
His “novels” were about himself, but they were party fictitious. “Great,” I don’t know about that. I could never make myself read his two autobiographies. Detached, yes. Political jujitsu–isn’t that what Axelrod made happen. According to a front page article on the Times a few weeks ago, Axelrod is staying close by to fill up the teleprompter.
erratum–“buy a Ford (if you need a car)”
Try this:
http://www.sleepmdhealth.com/
It works.
I just watched William K. Black on Bill Moyer’s Journal discussing the financial crisis. We are so screwed.
We’re having a tea party in SF on 4/15. Who else is having one?
The editorial section in the Chronicle pisses me off and gives me hope but there are so many fucking idiots out there. How do you reach these morons?
Truly an awful music video! Hard to imagine that a worse one exists!
CB: I come from a Ford family and I married into one. I’m getting ready to buy 2 Fords. Which models are you looking at?
My dad was a FORD dealer. I drive mustangs. PERIOD.
That NK deal that just happened.
i saw axelrod today. gave me nightmares.
I’m not buying any car, my old Volvo just turned over 100,000 miles (I bought it used from my brother). I work at home most of the time and have a 5 minute commute when I need to be in the office. My father used to love Fords. The best was my mother’s little English Ford. The other Fords alway started rattling soon after they were purchased.
Check the Insight section–Sean Olender’s “Bailout psychology destroying the economy.” This is amazing since the paper worked overtime to trash Hillary and prop up The One. it opens–
“President Obama must stop the bailouts and start the prosecutions. It’s time to focus on anti-poverty programs to protect the growing unemployed from hunger and homelessness. Stealth payments to billionaire bondholders must cease immediately.”
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/04/05/INR316Q4F5.DTL&hw=Sean+Olender&sn=001&sc=1000
After Vlad of Moldavia there was no point
“Smell Yo Dick” won the domestic category with “Jizz in My Pants” taking second
How did I miss those two?
One disturbed person wrote that and sung it. I’d hate to be the guy that woke up in bed next to that woman. Especially if there were knives in the house.
At work so I’m posting and running.
Turbo version of MYIQ’s winner featuring the scream by Howard Dean!
Puma SF — google california tea parties
you are going to be amazed….
Ten people laid off at my department. summer weekend hours cut 60%. Guess who teaches the weekend class.
ah, i’m sorry. I don’t get any summer classes either. They cut the schedule severely and only full profs are teaching.
vbonnaire: i think this is going to be awesome plus I just heard that Acorn people are joining in asking for you to sign a petition. They are taking names and email addresses. I guess the brown shirts are among us.
So Obama has just taken his first major international security test? Look out. We’re all in trouble.
hope this brings a laugh….
damn, it seems like yesterday!
huh?
ps…RD & Co. The obots in CA? They are like soooooooooo weird.
Really. They are all just non rock and rollers — “frost their crockies”
they need it…..
Puma-SF–Ford owns Volvo. I forgot. I’m waiting for a plug-in before I buy another car, but I tend to keep my cars for a long time. I’d love to bypass gas stations as much as possible. It would be an incentive to get solar panels. We want them now, but don’t use much energy. I live in a small, well-insulated house, and we have adapted to minimal heat in the winter. I love my clothes line!
Another SoCal fave from los 90’s….
it was unnerving yesterday — very.
These are the Red Hot Chile Peppers doing Under the Bridge —
hope we all get some sleep — and that some form of sanity can prevail in this world — and the gov.
Night all…….
Love that song!!!
Sorry to mass Dump&Run. I’ll be back.
B0 in Prag
30.000 happy people. Or maybe it was 20.000(!). But lots of them and lots of press. Much more than with any other President. And TOTUS was displayed VERY prominently. Has he been complaining on his blog 🙂
I taped the speech and watched it in FF mode. Not only does his head go left-right-left-right, the same goes for his index fingers: Left finger up, right finger up, left finger up, right finger up. I don’t think it was synchronized with the head though.
In the middle of the speech a couple of youngsters displayed a banner saying
OBAMA SORRY
4 BERLUSCONI
For what I don’t know. Embarrassing the Queen? Or for missing the meeting of all the state leaders, on the bridge connecting Germany and France? The Italien embarrasment arrived talking on his cell phone and continued doing so, wandering along the banks.
People looked happy and … curious. They really liked it, when he said: Yes We Can.
Afterwards there were lots of praise for the man and the speech. “Retorisch Brilliant!” one said, beaming.
Berlusconi said yesterday, that he works very hard for the country, running around to all these international meetings-and all he gets in the Italian press are endless discussions of his gaffes.
And he’s threatening to stop them reporting them, as damaging to Italy’s rep. Of course,, it’s not him that damaging it, it’s the reporting of it.
http://tinyurl.com/berlugaffy
No wonder the O and him get on so well. hey have so much in common.
He’s a gaffe a minute-but at least we don’t get Obama 24/7 because of that.
Not everybody was overwhelmed:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5110965/Barack-Obamas-missile-defence-pledge-fails-to-stir-Czech-audience.html
I’m sure it didn’t impress after what he did to Poland.
http://tinyurl.com/cblee9
From that article:
“Any illusions that a Democratic Obama Presidency would mean a rollback of such provocative NATO and US military moves of recent years should be dismissed as dangerous wishful thinking. Obama’s foreign policy team in addition to father Zbigniew Brzezinski, includes Brzezinski’s son, Ian Brzezinski, current US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs. Ian Brzezinski is a devout backer of US missile defense policy, as well as Kosovo independence and NATO expansion into Ukraine and Georgia. “
Interview with Chuck Todd by ZDF
What he has learned from this trip? That back home they say, in politics it is all about the homeland. But here that is what they all are saying, Merkel, Sarkozy, Obama, Brown. Maybe something got lost in translation, ‘cause I think he could have figured that out back home.
Pressconference in Germany
Merkel, as the host, finish the pressconference with a “Danke schön …”, and gets ready to step down. But B0 has something to say too, “Danke schön” he echoes, and then, pointing a finger in Merkels direction “My German … is not so good as Chancellor … Murkel’s.” (Swoon! Prince Charming in action!)
And then he grabs her overarm as he does with all people. But she is prepared and grabs his shoulder back, and shows that she knows how to play in this silly superiority contest. (I love it, every time I see her do that. She’s so smart.)
He looks so immature next to her – but she is only abt 7 years older! Very telling!
There has been a violent earthquake in the south of Italy, centered around L’Aquila.
Berlusconi has cancelled his trip to Moscow.
Russia, France and Greece have offered aid.
26 dead and still counting.
Reposted from below:
From The Telegraph:
No
Could you diagram (shows you how old I am) that first sentence/paragraph?
Hmm, yes the original says that too. Transitive verb with no object. Looks like The Telegraph is having a bad Monday morning already in London.
thanks for the link – loved also some of the reader’s comments!
From that Prague speech:
His missile defence shield isn’t welcomed by 70% of Czechs, and 95% in the locales where they are to be situated, so when he enthused about it, it was
“greeted with an unusually stony silence throughout most of the crowd.”
Alena Protivinska, a 30 year old website designer, described herself as a “big fan” of Mr Obama but accused him of “hypocrisy” for urging world peace while at the same time promoting a military security agenda.
“He sounded like George W Bush saying that we should be afraid in order to justify missile defence,” she said.
“He has said that he wants to listen to Europe but he does not respect Czech democracy. Over 70 per cent of us are against missile defence which has been forced on us,” said the 38-year aid worker.
http://tinyurl.com/20000prague
Some are seeing the light, finally. There’s Hope!
and some CHANGE ..
Arrrrgh, my Obot sister and brother-in-law sent me an Obaminator card for my birthday, just to “rub it in”!
I know I will have the last laugh one day.
Good morning from London,
todya’s FT has an interesting commentary on the US budget by Clive Crook. It is not overly positive and ends:
“The government’s promises, on present plans, will be unaffordable. If they are honoured regardless, the only question is which comes first: broadly based tax increases or fiscal collapse. Welcome home, Mr President.”
FT’s Clive Crook last Monday on O-zero. Sorry it is a bit long, but I thought it was good and you cant link it.
Nice-guy image buys Obama only so much goodwill
During last year’s election campaign, Barack Obama’s supporters stressed his promise as a leader who could restore US standing in the world. Even at home, despite the worsening economy, many of Mr Obama’s fans deemed this his most important virtue. The rest of the world agreed. Understanding that nothing happens unless America takes charge, few other governments were opposed to a renewal of US leadership. On the contrary, most longed for it.
As the Group of 20 developed and emerging nations’ summit in London approaches, how is that going? About as well as could be expected.
Mr Obama’s campaign always exaggerated the difference he would make on foreign policy. His style could hardly be more different from the caricature of US supremacism projected by George W. Bush, but the underlying issues were unlikely to be any easier to deal with. So it has proved. In many areas of foreign and security policy, in contrast to the clear break he is attempting in domestic policy, Mr Obama is mostly rebranding Mr Bush’s approach.
On Iraq, things are moving much as they would have done if Mr Bush were still in office. Likewise in Afghanistan, where the administration is proposing a surge not unlike the one in Iraq – overseen by the same general, under the political supervision of the same defence secretary – which Mr Obama found so unimpressive last year.
On Iran, Mr Obama has for the moment adjusted the rhetoric, but not the underlying condescension, the key demands, or the implicit “do as we say or else”. “War on terror” terminology is used less often and less eagerly than it was by the Bush administration. This has not stopped the US attacking targets in Pakistan, a legally dubious enterprise to put it mildly, and one that looks a lot like waging war on terror. Lately the administration has even wanted North Korea’s leaders to believe that the US might shoot down the rocket they are preparing to launch. How George W. Bush can you get?
What about Guantánamo, which many Americans see as a scar on the country’s conscience and reputation? Mr Obama has reaffirmed his campaign promise to close the prison, and plans are afoot to do this. But the administration is in no hurry to release the people it no longer calls “enemy combatants”. In a recent television interview, the president criticised some of the releases carried out by the Bush administration, mentioning that people let go have rejoined terrorist groups. To the dismay of civil-rights lawyers, the government’s legal posture towards prisoners trying to challenge their detention in court is in most ways indistinguishable from that of the previous administration.
This strategy of mostly persisting with the foreign and security policies of Mr Bush while insisting that those policies have been overthrown has not yet met organised resistance from US allies. The fact that Mr Obama is so much better liked buys him a great deal of goodwill, and the desire to suck up to him still predominates.
Nonetheless, as the new president continues to seek material support for his fundamentally Bush-like security policies – more European troops in Afghanistan, a united front in dealing with Iran and other troublemakers, overseas dispersal of the G-Bay detainees – he is often going to come up empty-handed, leading to disillusionment on both sides. Friction with the allies is likely to increase.
It has already increased markedly in trade and economic policy. The administration is frustrated that Europe’s governments are failing to pull their weight on fiscal stimulus. It talks openly of Europe’s “free-riding” on the much bolder US fiscal expansion.
Each side’s position is defensible. The US is right that a big temporary fiscal stimulus is needed, and that countries such as France and Germany have scope to do more. Europeans are right that their automatic fiscal stabilisers, under the influence of their higher tax rates and bigger welfare states, are more powerful than those of the US, and that comparing discretionary fiscal boosts in isolation is wrong; in most cases their prudent borrowing capacity is also less than that of the US. At the G20 these disagreements will again be papered over.
Even so, they could easily be the prelude to worsening tension over trade. True, the “Buy American” provisions in the fiscal stimulus law were partially defanged at the administration’s request, but the Obama administration has made and continues to emphasise the link between willing fiscal co-operation and commitment to open markets. Given Europe’s relative caution on fiscal policy, this is ominous.
But surely, you say, I am forgetting climate change – where US leadership is so badly needed, and where the Obama administration has promised a clean break with past policy. Thanks for mentioning it.
Mr Obama’s recent budget proposed a cap-and-trade system to curb carbon emissions and raise more than $600bn (€451bn, £420bn) in new revenues over 10 years. Equipped with this bold new initiative, Mr Obama’s team could head to the Copenhagen climate conference in December and assume the leadership role on global warming that the US has hitherto shunned.
The trouble is, many Democrats as well as most Republicans are opposed to cap and trade. They see it as a big new tax – a position that the administration, curiously enough, wishes to deny. Asked this week whether cap and trade would be “a tax on gasoline, electricity and other forms of energy”, Peter Orszag, budget chief, said: “I wouldn’t characterise it like that.” However Mr Orszag would characterise it, Congress now seems likely to leave cap and trade out of the budget, and so far the administration is failing to put up a fight. US negotiators may have to go to Copenhagen with good intentions but no actual policy.
Opinion polls in the US show a disparity between Mr Obama’s personal approval rating, which remains high, and views about his policies, which are less favourable. A poll of world leaders would likely echo the sentiment. At home and abroad, then, the same two questions arise. How long can Mr Obama remain popular if his actions, for one reason or another, are not? And what is popularity worth anyway, where the calculus of ends and means remains unmoved?
Interesting read, viv, thanks.
I still can’t understand why his personal approval is still high. Haven’t checked the numbers lately though.
I suspect many voters are trying to keep an open mind and give him a chance.
It’s kind of like having a new son-in-law. You don’t want to say what you’re really thinking in case you’re wrong, even though your gut tells you that your daughter is making a big mistake.
And I suspect that many others are unwilling to say that they were taken. I have a number of friends who appear slight;ly chagrined, but still have not completely detoxed from the koolaid. We had the same phenomena with Bush voters. They knew they were wrong but just couldn’t bring themselves to admit it.
There is just one difference – you usually dont vote for your son-in-law!!
I didn’t vote for Obama either
I think our attitude can help them realize they were wrong. I’ve done more listening than talking and several of those staunch O supporters have admitted they made a big mistake and are wondering what they can do now.
I was listening to Cokie Roberts this morning on NPR. She was saying that the antiwar folks on the left were getting pretty upset with the Obama administration and were getting ready to show it.
lol! I’m sure that has Barry in a sweat….not
yeah..i think code pink is red with rage at him..lol..
A study in the media coverage – Obama vs Clinton
http://edgeoforever.wordpress.com/2009/04/06/clintons-almost-bowing-crim/
Here an overview from some German newspapers abt the O-trip….no worries – it is in English!
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,617644,00.html
One of comments on the Telegraph article, ( thanks for the link ) struck me
And what is with that “French Maid” fancy dress that Michelle is wearing? Can’t someone dress her in something that doesn’t make her look like she about to break out a juggling act?
Cherokee Kid April 05, 2009
10:18 PM GMT
A good description of her Prague outfit .
Michelle could be a very striking woman if properly dressed. We say, doesn’t anyone know how to dress this lady?? Well they do. I realized the reason we see her in these dumb outfits( that collar is unbelievable ) is so she will not over shadow Barry. That’s the interesting part and why I’m posting about it. They are trying to make her seem less, so he can seem more… pathetic all around.
Also when the press says they are barry bored, I read that as” the check is late “
FT’s style guru Tyler Brule was not impressed by the bare arms. He said:
No right to bare arms at summit
*g*
Humour, the only weapon we have that actually seems to penetrate the teflon.
The Obamas remind me of Ken and Barbie….the one can read well from the teleprompter, the other one is occasionally scoring in the dressing deparment…..let me ask again ARE THE US READY FOR DEMO-CRAZY?
I hope American puma in Italy is OK.
The disco era was kind to no one …
Technically I believe this video is not exactly Bollywood but close – Lollywood ( Lahore) because I think this is from Pakistan.
and I hate to tell you this but there are probably WORSE ones out there 🙂 I should know I kinda grew up watching this stuff :-))