With the casualty count heavily in the Israeli favor, the Israeli cabinet is set to back an end to military activities in the Gaza Strip.
There is much talk of a unilateral cease-fire occuring shortly before Obama takes office. For its part Hamas is insisting Israel pull out of Gaza and lift their blockade.
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The Right has been bloviating about the dangers of the Attorney General nominee, Eric Holder, since his name first surfaced after the election. The National Review was horrified about his “leftist” views:
He is convinced justice in America needs to be “established” rather than enforced; he’s excited about hate crimes and enthusiastic about the constitutionally dubious Violence Against Women Act; he’s a supporter of affirmative action and a practitioner of the statistical voodoo that makes it possible to burden police departments with accusations of racial profiling and the states with charges of racially skewed death-penalty enforcement; he’s more likely to be animated by a touchy-feely Reno-esque agenda than traditional enforcement against crimes; he’s in favor of ending the detentions of enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay and favors income redistribution to address the supposed root causes of crime.
Well, that’s pretty scary all right. One can see why the Right would be concerned. Since no one else is likely to be worried, however, they bring up the really really bad thing he did. And if Dick Morris says it’s bad, it must be really super bad.
You may not always agree with his political analysis but Dick Morris, perhaps better than anyone willing to talk about it, knows his Clinton-ology. Morris reminded us that Eric Holder played a leading role in one of the most infamous events of a presidency filled with infamy: the pardon of billionaire fugitive Marc Rich. Morris dubbed candidate Obama’s decision to select Holder as one of three people charged with vice-presidential vetting his “first clear, serious mistake.”
Rich, of course, was the commodities trader who fled the country in 1983 to escape prosecution for tax evasion, racketeering, and trading with the enemy. Rich’s attorneys circumvented normal procedures, took the pardon to the White House attorneys, and gained pardon for their client, whose wife just happened to be a friend and major donor to the Clinton library, the Democratic Party, and Clinton’s legal defense fund. A firestorm ensued as did congressional investigations in which Democrats as well as Republicans excoriated the Clintons’ conduct.
Remember Ken Blackwell, the Republican Secretary of State who promised and delivered Ohio’s electoral votes to Bush in ’04? He’s back in the news, this time opposing any economic recovery that might give Democrats an electoral advantage.
Possible problems with President-elect Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan must be thoroughly vetted. While only a few details are known, one overlooked issue is that it could create a major electoral advantage for Democrats at taxpayer expense. That would be unacceptable for what is being touted as a nonpartisan measure, and gives Republicans yet another reason to oppose it if not restructured.
This one’s for the Guiness Book of Records, folks:
Only 22% approve of his job as president. While it may appear that the great “uniter” has indeed united the country, sadly this is not the case. 57% of Republicans approve of their leader, whereas only 6% who identified themselves as Democrats gave Bush a similar high mark. Still, Bush has lost more than a third of his party.
Considering that Bush also held the highest approval rating (90%) in the aftermath of 9/11, he also holds the record for greatest drop in approval of any president since polling began.
Remember little 3-year-old Adolf Hitler Campbell? How could we forget the poor New Jersey boy whose parents saw no harm in naming their son after one of the world’s most notorious murderers? Perhaps now they are beginning to see how that wasn’t such a great idea. According to Holland Township police chief David Van Gilson, Adolf and his younger siblings JoyceLynn Aryan Nation and Honszlynn Hinler have been removed from their parents’ home by the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services.
More here, too.
Classic Friday Night Party Music -
Boogie Wonderland
YMCA
MPeople
… yeah, yeah, yeah! 
R.E.M.
(for Bruce)
This video is brought to you by the letters B, H, and O, and the number 44.
Barefoot
Summerfling
Hush Sweet Love
Creedence Clearwater Revival
(no video, but the Witch can still dance to it)
I know this is highly misogynistic, but I can’t resist:
Ever wondered about Guts or Balls ?
There is a medical distinction. We’ve all heard about people having guts or balls, but do you really know the difference between them? In an effort to keep you informed, the definitions are listed below:
GUTS – Is arriving home late after a night out with the boys, being met by your wife with a broom, and having the guts to ask: ”Are you still cleaning, or are you flying somewhere?”
BALLS – Is coming home late after a night out with the boys, smelling of perfume and beer, lipstick on your collar, slapping your wife on the arse and having the balls to say: ”You’re next, fatty.”
I would call that neither guts nor balls, but a deathwish. Ok. You can call me names now or take the discussion to a more intelligent level.
We’re waiting. For Tuesday and what comes after that. So some English newspapers are assessing George W. Bush and his presidency and Barack Obama and our expectations.
The Telegraph is counting on history for a final positive verdict on the Bush presidency. Andrew Roberts says:
The decisions taken by Mr Bush in the immediate aftermath of that ghastly moment will be pored over by historians for the rest of our lifetimes. One thing they will doubtless conclude is that the measures he took to lock down America’s borders, scrutinise travellers to and from the United States, eavesdrop upon terrorist suspects, work closely with international intelligence agencies and take the war to the enemy has foiled dozens, perhaps scores of would-be murderous attacks on America. There are Americans alive today who would not be if it had not been for the passing of the Patriot Act. There are 3,000 people who would have died in the August 2005 airline conspiracy if it had not been for the superb inter-agency co-operation demanded by Bush
after 9/11.
The man is a historian, as such he should know that you should not compare what is different. He does it anyway:
The next factor that will be seen in its proper historical context in years to come will be the true reasons for invading Afghanistan in October 2001 and Iraq in April 2003. The conspiracy theories believed by many (generally, but not always) stupid people – that it was “all about oil”, or the securing of contracts for the US-based Halliburton corporation, etc – will slip into the obscurity from which they should never have emerged had it not been for comedian-filmmakers such as Michael Moore.
The war for oil argument hasn’t been about Afghanistan to my recollection. Andrews goes on like this, I guess we can count his’ out as a serious prediction. (read full article here)
The Times’ Gerard Baker handles the question a bit more critically. He doesn’t rule out a more favourable view of Bush in the future, but says:
The proper indictment of Mr Bush, then, is not the silly idea that he was some uniquely evil tyrant, seeking selfishly to enlarge the American Government’s power around the world. It is that he was grotesquely, almost picturesquely, inept.
[...]
This, sadly, is the probable Bush legacy. History may one day come to view more favourably the goals and ideals of America in the last eight years. But it will surely never forgive the execution. (read more)
Matthew Norman at The Independent does not mince his well chosen words:
For the millionth time since the Supreme Court ratified the coup d’etat of 2000, you found yourself gazing at this creature – never so cloyingly self-pitying as when railing against self-pity, struggling all the while to prevent himself gurning his distaste for his questioners – in rank disbelief. How did this happen? How did a man devoid of any evident interest in politics and the exercise of power journey from drunken business failure to the Oval Office in so few years? Can he really be as dense as the sub-Prescottian aphasic lapses suggest, or was he right to tell us, in supposedly endearing self-parody, that we misunderestimated him? And how, above all, can he have spent eight years in the planet’s mightiest job, unleashing untold mayhem abroad and at home, without leaving any firm impression of who he is and what, if anything, he believes?
Read the whole article here, it’s worth it, if only for his choice of words. “sub-Prescottian aphasic lapses”, I’ll have to look that one up.
But, let’s leave George W. Bush now. I’ve had enough of him and so have many. How should we view Barack Obama? Jonathan Steele at The Guardian tackles the Obama-Kennedy analogy:
Yet beware the Kennedy analogy. It is wrong in fact, as well as being a snare and a delusion. The differences between Kennedy and Obama are far more striking than the parallels. Kennedy was the arrogant and spoilt brat of a politically ambitious male chauvinist multi-millionaire father, who gave his four sons a patrician sense that they had a right to rule, and screw around when they felt like it. Admittedly, Jack Kennedy had to struggle against poor health throughout his life, but his personal battle cannot be compared to Obama’s ability through merit and determination to surmount a peripatetic upbringing in an impoverished single-parent household for much of the time. Kennedy may have broken a glass ceiling as the first practising Roman Catholic to become president, but he did not see himself as a standard bearer for other Catholics. His breakthrough is as nothing compared to Obama’s triumph in winning the White House as a black man, and a proud representative of all of America’s non-Anglo minorities. In depth and scope his life experience far exceeds Kennedy’s pampered youth. (read more)
Barack Obama should be seen in his own merits and, if I may add, been judged by his own actions and his own words. I for my part am looking forward to the next four years. There will be change. To the global economies and to societies in the US and all over the world. We’re at a crossroads, there will be dangers. In economically dire times people so often craved for leadership and elected dictators instead. It is a calming thought that an intelligent and integer man will be leading the world’s biggest democracy. But even so, we need to be watchful and fight against any excesses that may occur. Especially the ones made out of good intentions. That’s why I am here, blogging.
A little-noticed provision buried in the Bush Administration’s $13.4 billion loan package to General Motors will prohibit the United Auto Workers from launching a strike as long as the company receives funds from the federal government.
Not only that, but a strike would give the federal government the power to call in their loan — putting the loan in default and forcing GM into bankruptcy. The government now has the power to force a bankruptcy if “any labor union or collective bargaining unit shall engage in a strike or other work stoppage.”
Keith Olbermann interviews Lt. CMDR. Charles Swift about the torture of multiple detainees.
“It’s in almost every case that’s going on down there,” Swift told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.
The Washington Post reported that a senior Pentagon official believes a detainee held at Guantanamo Bay was tortured. Lt. CMDR. Charles Swift told Keith Olbermann that there are more cases of tortured detainees.
“For me, the biggest story today is this is the first administration official in charge of prosecutions ever to admit it. To say flat out, ‘well, that’s torture’ but it’s not like that’s the only case.”
Gaza's Health Ministry says 1,010 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting, including some 400 women and children. AP Photo
Here’s another list of news reports and opinion pieces on Gaza:
Chronology: Which Side Violated the Israel-Gaza Ceasefire? – Common Dreams
Navy Stops Iranian Gaza Aid Ship Again – Common Dreams
Israel’s free ride ends by Michelle Goldberg - The Guardian
It’s a common, almost clichéd observation that the American media is less critical of Israeli policy than the Israeli media. In mainstream American depictions of the ceaseless misery of the Middle East, Israeli righteousness and Arab violence are routinely emphasised. The reality of Israeli settlements and Palestinian suffering have been, at best, a footnote.
Conservatives often complain that the news isn’t even more biased toward the Jewish state – or the most hawkish elements within it – but such carping both obscures and reinforces the real distortion in American Middle East coverage, serving as a pre-emptive warning to any outlet that might show too much sympathy for the Palestinians. (The crudeness of Israel’s most vociferous detractors on the far left doesn’t help, since it further marginalises criticism of Israel as the preserve of cranks who can’t see a difference between Dachau and Jenin.)
Slowly, though, something is changing. As Israel pulverises Gaza, questions and doubts about Israeli policy are becoming more prominent in the American media..
Olmert Piles up the Pressure – Common Dreams
Eyeless in Gaza, Hell-Bent for Iran – Truthout
Whether on Gaza or any other issue, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. But, as the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan taught, none of us is entitled to our own facts, a lesson that all sides in the Gaza conflict need to learn…
Hamas Agrees in Principle to Egypt Offer for Gaza Truce – Truthout
Hamas has agreed in principle to the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire but is still demanding clarifications on a number of issues, senior officials for the group said in Cairo on Wednesday.
The Hamas announcement was followed by a further statement by group official Salah al-Bardawil that the group was working toward achieving the following goals: an end to Israeli aggression in Gaza; the lifting of the siege on Gaza; the reopening of Gaza’s border crossings; the rehabilitation of the Strip; and a compensation for Gaza residents…
Eyewitness: Gaza’s medical crisis – BBC News
Israeli Arabs torn by Gaza violence – BBC News
Independent Groups Debunk Israeli War Propaganda – AlterNet
Tom Friedman offers a perfect definition of “terrorism” – Glenn Greenwald
CNN’s John Roberts talked with John Ging who is the director of UNRWA in Gaza. Ging believes that Israeli shells that recently struck the U.N. complex contained white phosphorus. “It looks and smells like phophorus and it’s burning like phophorus. That’s all I can say. That’s why I’m calling it phophorus,” said Ging.
The complex under fire is the U.N. central distribution facility in Gaza. “We’re trying to deal with our whole transport compound. It’s on fire and now have some danger spreading into the warehouse, where all of the food and thousands of tons of food and medicine. This is a hub of the whole operation, the whole United Nations operation in Gaza, this is the hub, where it all comes to, gets distributed from,” he said.
Is this payback for the U.N. working so hard to bring about a ceasefire? For not supporting Israel in this ‘exercise’ (slaughter)?
More from The Guardian and BBC News, and Times Online.
From The Guardian report:
The local headquarters of the UN refugee agency was set ablaze by what appeared to be phosphorus shells today as Israeli forces pushed deeper into Gaza City, unleashing the heaviest onslaught on the densely packed neighbourhoods since the military operation began nearly three weeks ago.
The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, expressed “strong protest and outrage” and demanded an investigation into why there was an attack on the compound of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), a well-known location in Gaza marked with blue UN flags. The number of casualties in the Gaza Strip, now 1,055 according to local UN officials, had “reached an unbearable point”, Ban added.
However, Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told Ban later that troops shelled the building in response to gunfire coming from within…
Right…
The Independent reports: Brown condemns Israeli attack as “indefensible”.
