Archive for October, 2009
WTF?
Obviously Sarabeth has the Onion-esque Nobel Peace Prize story covered, and since I’ve been traveling all day, I was unable to register my confusion. As far as I can see, at best, Obama won the award because he’s NotGeorgeBush. I say “at best” because Guantanamo is still open, no one is being held responsible for [...]
Two More Perplexing Defenses Of The Prize
Another meme being advanced today on behalf of Barack Obama‘s Peace Prize is that it’s perfectly normal for the prize to be awarded before recipients actually succeed in the causes they are rewarded for. Here’s Robert Naiman in The Huffington Post: Some initial commentary has called the award unprecedented and wondered why the committee would [...]
Josh Marshall’s Curiously Hollow Argument
Josh Marshall, at TPM, this morning addresses the argument that Obama was awarded the prize just for not being George Bush. And produces a quite unexpected take. He seems to argue that, yes, Obama was awarded the prize precisely for not being Bush, but this is a fitting and deserving basis for the award. This [...]
The Previous Betting
Interestingly, this was the previous prognostication on the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize: Wanted – a peace maker or rights activist engaged in a current conflict whose influence would benefit greatly from winning the Nobel Peace Prize. That is who Norway’s Nobel Committee will choose for 2009 Peace Prize laureate if, as experts expect, it returns [...]
For The Staggering Achievement Of “Not Being George Bush”…
Henry Unger has a blog on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website. The title of his overnight post today is: Power Breakfast: Strategic hiring, Obama peace prize, state revenue drops Just like the news itself that Obama has won the Peace Prize, I do not get it. Whether you are a fan of the President or not, [...]
Political Geniuses
Schumer: Opt-Out Public Option Gaining Steam – TPMDC (10/8/09): We’re chasing the ball on a new idea (is it a trial balloon? is it the magic answer?) to pass a health care bill with a public option that states–likely small, and conservative states–could choose not to participate in. The velocity on this story seems to [...]
Guard Dogs And Peanut Butter
This, apparently, is what happens if enough generations of economics professors hold forth in class enough times about “guns and butter”. The phrase enters the national consciousness. And there it festers. Sometimes, it mutates randomly. In the time of George Bush, that valiant guardian of morality (especially in the military) and of family values, “guns [...]
Coward
Obama’s Gitmo blame game – Politico (10/6/09): Greg Craig, the top in-house lawyer for President Barack Obama, is getting the blame for botching the strategy to shut down Guantanamo Bay prison by January — so much so that he’s expected to leave the White House in short order. But sources familiar with the process believe [...]
IOKIYAD?
Sirota: It is what you don’t hear that, more than anything, tells you the American Left does not really exist (or is, at minimum, absolutely FUBAR). And one of those deafening silences just happened. Two weeks ago, the Massachusetts legislature did not merely make a mockery of election law by going back and forth and [...]
Not Funny Because It’s True
I’m not too proud to beg someone to argue with the substance. Begging. Bookmark on DeliciousDigg this postShare on Facebookshare via RedditShare with StumblersTweet about itBookmark in BrowserTell a friend