So it turns out that the cop who pepper-sprayed the nonviolent protesters at UC Davis is an exemplary officer – a “hero” who once saved the life of a fellow officer. Clearly, there’s a discrepancy between the overzealous role he played on Friday afternoon and his normal routine. I think, however, that in order to understand why police in full riot gear [...]
If you’re a fan of The Daily Show, you probably remember Jon Stewart being unaccountably super-sympathetic to SuperFreakonomics co-author Steven Levitt on October 27. Levitt, of course, is an economist-turned-amateur-climatologist. And Jon Stewart was being super-sympathetic about the book’s misconceived amateur climatology. To Stewart’s credit, he did acknowledge a few days later that he may [...]
(1) In retrospect, one thing is clear about the 2008 Presidential election. It seems to have forever emboldened adulterers in the Republican party (both admitted and unadmitted) into fancying themselves as perfectly viable candidates. This is perhaps the natural result of seeing admitted serial adulterer John McCain make it all the way to the finals, [...]
There you go. All the constant criticism of huge bonuses paid by bailed-out and twice-bailed-out banks was bound to start having an impact. So Morgan Stanley and Citigroup’s Smith Barney, having seen the writing on the wall, have stepped up to the plate. They have unambiguously renounced fat bonuses. Not the concept, mind you, just [...]
Michael Lewis and David Einhorn had an op-ed in the NYT on Sunday that is worth reading. Their piece draws attention to two inter-related aspects of the meltdown in the financial markets. First, there is the role of the SEC: Created to protect investors from financial predators, the commission has somehow evolved into a mechanism [...]
Until Hank Paulson came along, my favorite Bush cabinet member was undoubtedly Mrs. Mitch McConnell, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao. The manipulation of jobs and cost data during her tenure has been breathtaking, and it allowed the administration to get away with happy-talking the economy for the first seven years of their rule. In addition, her [...]
Condi Rice, Ph.D., tells us: I think generations pretty soon are going to start to thank this president for what he’s done. This generation will. And since Condi is so smart, and always right, and certainly never lies to us about anything, I figured I may as well steal a march on everyone else and [...]
It’s not for nothing that I’ve been tracking Hank Paulson since he was selected Treasury Secretary. He was supposed to bring “credibility” to the job, and in 2006 with the economy teetering, that was kind of important. His track record (wreckord?) has been simply atrocious, exemplified by quotes like these: “All the signs I look [...]
In one of its more misguided moments, the McCain campaign decided to attack Obama for having close ties to former Fannie Mae officials. The basis for the attacks: — Obama had initially picked Jim Johnson, former chairman and CEO of Fannie Mae, to vet vice-presidential candidates — Former Fannie Mae chief executive Franklin Raines has [...]
Back in January, I relayed an email exchange with a former reader/current Obama supporter, who was imploring me to “join the movement” and using the occasion of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day to do it. I responded with a link to “Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder [...]