Train of Thought Lounge : Inauguration Series Pt. 1

Greetings everyone;
I would like to wish everyone a Happy Inauguration weekend. The buildup has been surreal for anyone in the DC area over the last week. Road closings, 10 degree weather, Metro delays...And much more..

In honor of this special moment in history, I'd like to bring the lounge out of its winter hibernation with a special 3 part series of American themed inspiration.

Today, I leave you with U2's The Hands that Built America from Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York. Written by film score legend Howard Shore (composer of The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, Silent of the Lambs)and Bono, the song's themes really run deep today. Now, some of you have mentioned that Obama is not Irish/European and that the movie focused on the Irish and European influences in a young US, but it does not matter. Just focus on the BIG PICTURE here and enjoy.

No Complaining allowed.

The following people are no longer allowed to make ANY sort of criticism of the Bailout(TARP) Bill:

President Obama and the following Senators:

Akaka (D-HI) Alexander (R-TN) Baucus (D-MT) Begich (D-AK) Biden (D-DE) Bingaman (D-NM) Boxer (D-CA) Burris (D-IL) Byrd (D-WV) Cardin (D-MD) Carper (D-DE) Casey (D-PA) Clinton (D-NY) Conrad (D-ND) Dodd (D-CT) Durbin (D-IL) Feinstein (D-CA) Gregg (R-NH)

Hagan (D-NC) Harkin (D-IA) Inouye (D-HI) Johnson (D-SD) Kerry (D-MA) Klobuchar (D-MN) Kohl (D-WI) Kyl (R-AZ) Landrieu (D-LA) Lautenberg (D-NJ) Leahy (D-VT) Levin (D-MI) Lieberman (ID-CT) Lugar (R-IN) McCaskill (D-MO) Menendez (D-NJ) Merkley (D-OR) Mikulski (D-MD)

Murray (D-WA) Nelson (D-FL) Pryor (D-AR) Reed (D-RI) Reid (D-NV) Rockefeller (D-WV) Salazar (D-CO) Schumer (D-NY) Snowe (R-ME) Stabenow (D-MI) Udall (D-CO) Udall (D-NM) Voinovich (R-OH) Warner (D-VA) Webb (D-VA) Whitehouse (D-RI)

No complaints about oversight, because you didn't add any meaningful oversight provisions to the bill.

No complaints that the banks aren't lending money, because you didn't mandate that in the bill.

No complaints that the banks are still paying executive bonuses, because you chose not to make those provisions enforceable.

No complaints that you didn't see this coming, because you had 3 months to hold hearings and see first hand why the first 350 Billion dollar TARP bill was an extremely flawed bill.

Yeah, the money is going to Obama, but it doesn't fucking matter. The people that Obama tasked with handling this money are Tim Geithner and Larry Summers. That's Tim Geithner who totally fucked up the response to the current economic crisis, and Larry Summers, who has yet to acknowledge that it's his brilliant ideas got us into this mess.

The New York Times editorial page LAST MONTH:

As treasury secretary in 2000, Mr. Summers championed the law that deregulated derivatives, the financial instruments — a k a toxic assets — that have spread the financial losses from reckless lending around the globe. He refused to heed the critics who warned of dangers to come.

. . .

At the New York Fed, Mr. Geithner has been one of the ringmasters of this year’s serial bailouts. His involvement includes the as-yet-unexplained flip-flop in September when a read-my-lips, no-new-bailouts policy allowed Lehman Brothers to go under — only to be followed less than two days later by the even costlier bailout of the American International Group and last weekend by the bailout of Citigroup. It is still unclear what Mr. Geithner and other policy makers knew or did not know — or what they thought they knew but didn’t — in arriving at those decisions, including who exactly is on the receiving end of the billions of dollars of taxpayer money now flooding the system.

You gave these people 350 billion dollars of our money with no strings attached.
You live with the consequences.

No grandstanding hearings and "nobody could have imagined" speeches, that's all I ask.

Travels, December-January

I'll let you put the last month together, using a few pictures I took along the way:

So that's where I've been.

A recap of the last few years:

Liberals: Ugh, torture? Seriously? We better stop that, not only does it go against everything our nation stands for but it'll also end up ruining the court cases against anyone who's legitimately dangerous.

Conservatives: *Watch 24, engage in apologetics, lose election after election*

Now, a twist that isn't even slightly surprising to anyone whose views on torture haven't been formed exclusively by the actions of Jack Bauer: "The United States may never be able to prosecute an alleged plotter of the September 11, 2001 attacks because he was tortured, a top Pentagon official said in an interview."

Who would have thought that we'd eventually be able to trace a straight line between Rush Limbaugh gurgling with pleasure at the idea of someone being tortured, and seeing one of the plotters of 9/11 walk? Oh right, plenty of people.


Edit: It's come to my attention that JJ also just posted about torture and 24. Read his, it's better.

So stupid it hurts

Glenn Beck: (Via Atrios)

During the January 13 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade falsely suggested that only "people at the U.N. [United Nations]" want to close the U.S. military-run detention facility at Guantánamo Bay. Discussing torture in Fox Broadcasting Co.'s TV drama 24, Kilmeade asked Fox News' Glenn Beck: "Do you think anybody talks about Gitmo except these people at the U.N., who think it's the worst thing that's ever happened?" While Kilmeade was speaking, Beck answered, "No." In fact, Sen. John McCain, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, and former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, James Baker, Warren Christopher, Madeleine Albright, and Colin Powell are among those who have said that Guantánamo should be closed.

Beck and the Fox & Friends hosts also invoked 24 as a justification for the use of torture. Referring to the show's recent season premiere, in which protagonist Jack Bauer, a former member of the fictional "Counter Terrorist Unit," defends his use of torture during a hearing before Congress, Beck said: "[I]t's going to take somebody who sits in front of Congress who is not afraid of them anymore and does what Jack Bauer did. And that is, 'Yes, I did torture, and I'm proud of it.' And it's time for these things to come out of the closet." Introducing an excerpt from 24, in which Bauer is seen answering questions from a congressional committee about torture, Kilmeade stated: "Let's listen to what happened in the fictional series 24 and see if this helps build your argument."

After the clip, co-host Steve Doocy said: "In particular, in that clip, you know, the guy [fictional Sen. Blaine Mayer] goes, 'You tortured them.' And he [Bauer] goes, 'Well, it probably was torture under your definition. But ask the people whose lives I saved whether or not it was worth me going over the edge' -- they would probably -- you ask the average person, 'Is it OK to do something, rough somebody up, to save lives?' You ask the person on the street, they'd say, 'Yeah, why not?' "

During the segment, on-screen text read: "What Americans Need to Hear; Beck Applauds Jack Bauer's Honesty"

Sweet Jesus. While it may be clear to 99.9% of the people watching the show, I guess Glenn Beck can't wrap his mind around the fact that Jack Bauer IS NOT REAL. His name is Keiffer Southerland, and he is not a special agent. He is a talented actor who has a drinking problem. Funnily enough, he has spoken out against REAL LIFE torture, but then again none of this matters because 24 IS A FICTIONAL TV SHOW.

I (and I'm assuming the other 99.9% of people who manage live their lives while distinguishing fiction from reality) watch 24 because it's entertaining. There are tons of twists, cliffhanger endings, explosions, and most importantly, lots of Jack Bauer running around and singlehandedly fucking shit up Rambo style.

The first episode contains, a person surviving two M16 shots to the chest and a secret conspiracy within the US Government to help a genocide involving multiple traitors within the president's cabinet and FBI. Jack Bauer drives through a concrete barrier out the second story of a parking garage while pinned underneath the driver's seat, only to easily run away from the scene afterwards. The season opened with one of the main characters coming back from the dead... so we're talking about soap opera levels suspended disbelief.

And that's ok, because I'm pretty sure realism wasn't the goal here, whether it relates to torture or people being able to run through machine gun fire.

So before he gets carried away, somebody better keep Beck's hands off of a Robocop DVD, or we'd have calls for a privatized robotic police force before you know it. Yeah, I know it's Glenn Beck and I shouldn't be surprised, but this close to livestock levels of intelligence.

And when the front page of today's post IN THE REAL WORLD reads "9/11 Suspect Tortured, Says Trial Overseer", there are probably more important things to discuss than what happened on a TV show.

So much for that Democracy thing...

Hey Israeli Arabs? SUCK. ON. THIS.

The Central Elections Committee on Monday banned Arab political parties from running in next month’s parliamentary elections, drawing accusations of racism by an Arab lawmaker who said he would challenge the decision in the country’s Supreme Court.

The ruling, made by the body that oversees the elections, reflected the heightened tensions between Israel’s Jewish majority and Arab minority caused by Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli Arabs have held a series of demonstrations against the offensive.

The good news is that the supreme court is likely to overturn this fairly unbelievable decision.

Chris Bowers :

The status quo, of a mostly democratic Israel occupying Palestinian territories that are not functional as nation-states, in also untenable. Israel simply cannot maintain an apartheid operation and a democratic state at the same time. Democracy will collapse if apartheid is maintained. Disallowing the Arab parties from running in the elections next month should be understood as the start of that process. (And no, referring to it as apartheid is not controversial. During my trip to Israel, it was a word that Israeli politicians of all stripes had no difficulty using to describe the current situation.)

Calling off democracy for a section of the population is pretty bad. But it also raises the question: Is there any Israeli action, no matter how vile or repulsive, that would cause AIPAC's monopoly on U.S. policy to be broken?

I don't know the answer, but why not call your congressman and ask? It's your money making this happen, you have a right to know.

And if they don't give you an answer, then just tell them you wish you could move to Maryland's 4th, and have a representative like Donna Edwards.

Coherent Writing FAIL

I'd be the first to admit that I'm not a great writer, but at least this is just a stupid blog, not a column in the New York Fucking Times:(Via Ezra Klein)

Over the next couple of years, two very big countries, America and China, will give birth to something very important. They’re each going to give birth to close to $1 trillion worth of economic stimulus — in the form of tax cuts, infrastructure, highways, mass transit and new energy systems. But a lot is riding on these two babies. If China and America each give birth to a pig — a big, energy-devouring, climate-spoiling stimulus hog — our kids are done for. It will be the burden of their lifetimes. If they each give birth to a gazelle — a lean, energy-efficient and innovation-friendly stimulus — it will be the opportunity of their lifetimes.

I've read this paragraph at least 10 times, I still have no clue what Thomas Friedman is attempting to say. Why is the stimulus a baby? Why beat the the baby metaphor into the ground when when it didn't really make sense to begin with? Why are China and America giving birth to livestock offspring? Why did one of our country's most reputable newspapers pay him a lot of money to write this?

It reminds me of the great Thomas Friedman take down a few years back, by one of my personal favorite writers, Matt Tiabbi:

The usual ratio of Friedman criticism is 2:1, i.e., two human words to make sense of each single word of Friedmanese. Friedman is such a genius of literary incompetence that even his most innocent passages invite feature-length essays. I'll give you an example, drawn at random from The World Is Flat. On page 174, Friedman is describing a flight he took on Southwest Airlines from Baltimore to Hartford, Connecticut. (Friedman never forgets to name the company or the brand name; if he had written The Metamorphosis, Gregor Samsa would have awoken from uneasy dreams in a Sealy Posturepedic.) Here's what he says:

I stomped off, went through security, bought a Cinnabon, and glumly sat at the back of the B line, waiting to be herded on board so that I could hunt for space in the overhead bins.

Forget the Cinnabon. Name me a herd animal that hunts. Name me one.

This would be a small thing were it not for the overall pattern. Thomas Friedman does not get these things right even by accident. It's not that he occasionally screws up and fails to make his metaphors and images agree. It's that he always screws it up. He has an anti-ear, and it's absolutely infallible; he is a Joyce or a Flaubert in reverse, incapable of rendering even the smallest details without genius. The difference between Friedman and an ordinary bad writer is that an ordinary bad writer will, say, call some businessman a shark and have him say some tired, uninspired piece of dialogue: Friedman will have him spout it. And that's guaranteed, every single time. He never misses.

That seems about right for the man whose greatest contribution to our national discourse was explaining how we needed to go into Iraq in order to tell the middle east to "suck on this".