Via Sullivan, Lionel Ritchie on Helium:
Such a simple idea and so damned funny.
by John Cole| 25 Comments
This post is in: Humorous
Via Sullivan, Lionel Ritchie on Helium:
Such a simple idea and so damned funny.
by John Cole| 48 Comments
This post is in: Foreign Affairs
This is the weirdest story I have seen in a long time:
Amid a discussion of trade in 1973, Chinese leader Mao Zedong made what U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger called a novel proposition: sending tens of thousands, even 10 million, Chinese women to the United States.
“You know, China is a very poor country,” Mao said, according to a document released by the State Department’s historian office.
“We don’t have much. What we have in excess is women. So if you want them we can give a few of those to you, some tens of thousands.”
A few minutes later, Mao circled back to the offer. “Do you want our Chinese women?” he asked. “We can give you 10 million.”
“How much for the little girl? How much for the women?”
A truly bizarre offer. As a side note, I wonder what America would look like if we had an influx of ten million Asian women of child-bearing age several decades ago? Would it have changed marital structures and the culture, with that many available women? Would it have hastened the advances of the women’s rights movement? It would seem something like that would have a dramatic impact on society (much like what happened in Europe during the Great Wars when populations of young men were killed).
(via Memeorandum)
by Tim F| 38 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads
Now is the time on sprockets when we slow dance.
***Update***
by John Cole| 18 Comments
This post is in: Domestic Politics
In pictures. Make sure you click on the picture to launch the slideshow.
(thanks to a reader for sending that in)
by Tim F| 26 Comments
This post is in: Media, General Stupidity
If you’re already rich and powerful, Obama’s message of empowering ordinary Americans doesn’t sound very hopeful. Real hope for those guys is the prospect of passing on a hundred million dollar inheritance without paying taxes on it.
The <em>Wall Street Journal</em> ExplainedPost + Comments (26)
by John Cole| 95 Comments
This post is in: Politics, Republican Stupidity, War on Terror aka GSAVE®, Republican Crime Syndicate - aka the Bush Admin.
The thing I don’t get about this whole FISA mess, to include the petulant walkout in Congress, the president’s multiple misleading statements (including another stammering and stuttering appearance just a few moments ago), Andy McCarthy’s apoplectic bag of gibberish, and the Powerline today, is why are they lying?
Why? The facts are clear:
For example, Richard Clarke, the former Chief National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Advisor to Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, has stated: ‘Our ability to track and monitor terrorists overseas would not cease should the Protect America Act expire. If this were true, the president would not threaten to terminate any temporary extension with his veto pen. All surveillance currently occurring would continue even after legislative provisions lapsed because authorizations issued under the act are in effect up to a full year.’
“And, Kenneth Wainstein, the Assistant Attorney General for National Security recently said in an interview – according to the New York Times – that if the PAA expires, intelligence officials would still be able to continue eavesdropping on already approved targets for another year under the law.
“We must not fall prey to fear-mongers who claim that our intelligence community could ‘go dark.’ That is simply not true.
And, if it is so important, Bush could sign an extension. He chose not to do that. Kevin Drum also points out another option:
Look, if it’s that important, there’s a simple answer: pass the bill without telecom immunity. Then come back and introduce immunity in a separate bill. If you’ve got the votes for it, fine. If not, too bad. I’m against immunity myself — though hardly hellbent on the subject — but whichever way the vote went, in the meantime we’d have the FISA extension and surveillance could continue normally.
So we are in a 12 day recess, Bush does not have his bill, and yet, life still goes on. But back to my main question- “Why are they lying about it?” I just do not get it. Do they really see some sort of political gain? Or are we finally at the end of the rope, they can not win any arguments, so the minority party and this failed President have only lies and bullying tactics to show that they are somehow relevant?
*** Update ***
This post is in: Election 2008
Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) is reportedly switching allegiances:
Confusion erupted Thursday night amid reports that a prominent African American supporter of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s had changed his mind. Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who is also a Democratic superdelegate, was reported by the New York Times as having decided to switch his superdelegate vote from Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama after Lewis’s district, around Atlanta, went for the Illinois senator.
But the Clinton campaign reported having no word from Lewis on the subject, and a spokeswoman for Lewis, Brenda Jones, said the Times story and a similar one by the Associated Press, saying he was contemplating such a switch, were inaccurate. Both the Times and AP stories quoted Lewis directly after speaking with him; he was not available for comment later Thursday.
That’s bad news for Hillary and, I think, barring some incredible performance in the next primaries, that the Clinton campaign is effectively drawing to an end. Lewis’s switch, if in fact it’s true, is not surprising to me because I think it reflects a larger phenomena. In the beginning, Obama was just a charismatic young senator with a following that a lot of people probably didn’t think to take all that seriously. Now, people are seeing that there is quite a bit of substance behind that charisma that’s just not there in Clinton. As Obama continues to win and get more coverage, people are getting to know him better and are paying attention to him. And, of course, there’s the whole “not wanting to be on the losing side” thing.
As John noted earlier, Clinton is banking on the super delegates. They may not hang around long enough to be of much use.