Their Tears Are Sweet to Behold

Somebody call the fucking Waaahmbulance for the editors at the Wall Street Journal. Those dirty little commie bastards at The Guardian are taking baseball bats to kneecaps and they don't like it one bit:

We also trust that readers can see through the commercial and ideological motives of our competitor-critics. The Schadenfreude is so thick you can't cut it with a chainsaw. Especially redolent are lectures about journalistic standards from publications that give Julian Assange and WikiLeaks their moral imprimatur. They want their readers to believe, based on no evidence, that the tabloid excesses of one publication somehow tarnish thousands of other News Corp. journalists across the world.

"Competitor-critics"? Spare me. 

Of course, those meanies at The Guardian couldn't help but clap back. If those clowns in Congress get their act together on the whole debt ceiling thing, I might actually be able to enjoy the schadenfreude.

Discussions in Black History Month: The Browning of America

I've started my Black History Month posts much earlier than last year, though I fear that the quality will be much diminished. After catching this NYT article I've been thinking about the growing number of young USians describing themselves as multiracial, and the optimism about the future of US race relations - much the same as that attached to the Obama presidential campaign.

Harbinger

Remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth I expect to accompany re-districting?

The state of Ohio will lose two congressional seats thanks to the latest U.S. Census figures, and liberal stalwart Dennis Kucinich is worried his seat is on the chopping block.

In an e-mail to supporters Wednesday, the seven-term Democratic congressman and two-time presidential candidate says the Republican-controlled Ohio legislature is likely to eliminate his heavily Democratic Cleveland-area district.

This could just be Kucinich making a play for donations, but I wouldn't be surprised if his seat were eliminated.

H/T John Cole.

Is our Democrats Learnin'?

I will not trust to hope, but it was nice to see this from Sen. John Kerry.

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Maddow Vs. Stewart

I absolutely love Rachel Maddow, mind like a steel trap; and I consider John Stewart one of the best commentators on US politics. So it was great to see this interview where Maddow really pushes Stewart to get at what he's trying to do and his precise role. The interview felt a bit awkward in parts, however. I think this was down to the fact that he was making his points about 24-hour cable news to the person whose show is one of the least representative of the problems Stewart critiques. I do take issue with what I see as a false equivalence in his analysis of political dialogue in the US, which I've written about elsewhere, I've been doing some more thinking, and I'm mulling over his points in the Bush WMD and waterboarding discussion.

Crank Up The Wingnut Wurlwitzer!

I expect lots of crowing from the pundits about "the people" having delivered their verdict on the so-called big government tax and spend policies of the Obama administration, and I shall pay them no mind. I have little time for those who largely kept quiet while an inherited surplus was transformed into a structural deficit with  tax cuts, two wars, and a new programme - all unpaid for. Furthermore I'm quite certain that if you were to ask people specific policy questions they would not opt for a roll back of provisions for people with pre-existing conditions, nor for another transfer of wealth to the rich and super-rich through the Bush tax cuts. 

The economy sucks, incumbents always get soaked when the economy sucks. In fact considering how many people are hurting I'm surprised that the drubbing the Democrats received wasn't much worse 

What annoys me most about the result is that now the Republican leadership has no incentive whatsoever to actually get to grips with the business of governance. These knuckleheads spent the last two years ginning up fear about a secret muslim Kenyan socialist usurper, and they've been rewarded with control of the lower house of Congress and quite a few state legislatures - I expect some real wailing and gnashing of teeth when districts are redrawn. The next two years should be even more fun: crazy bills with no chance of making it through the senate and frivolous investigations (to keep the base nice and angry), increased legislative paralysis, the inaction and its consequences shamelessly blamed on Obama.

I can't wait!

Copenhagen

Obama's taking quite a bit of heat for the outcome of the recent climate summit. For example George Monbiot writes:

the immediate reason for the failure of the talks can be summarised in two words: Barack Obama

Naomi Klein also holds Obama's feet to the fire.

I think there is some counter-evidence to push back against this notion that Copenhagen was down to Obama's failure to use his powers to fly in the face of special interests and take real leadership on the issue.

Research group

The chief gave a talk at a meeting held yesterday by a research group on immigration. I toddled along with the chief, and a board member. The Secretary General of one big Japanese union was in attendance, who if I heard correctly, has the ear of at least one minister. People in attendance were largely in agreement with the changes the chief proposed. However my perception is that few of them are real movers and shakers. Conspicuous lack of representatives from the government, and from the communities that any change in policy would affect.

The board member who came along strikes me as a man who keeps abreast to happenings in Japanese politics. He was aware of the new controls over the policymaking process(outlined here) the DPJ is bringing in, which I was thinking of alerting them to, that may require a rethink of lobbying strategy. I also caught a glimpse of part of at least one of his theories of change when he discussed the need to first engage in "agenda setting" through the media to build awareness, and the pressure on lawmakers to respond. I'm looking forward to reading his answers to the questionnaire I sent him.

The boss keeps calling me Obama, before correcting himself and saying my actual surname. I suppose I could kinda take it as a compliment, if Obama wasn't the worst presn't EVAR in the whole history of the United States!!eleventy-one!