Singlethink

David Sirota helps us remember our way--hopefully--back toward sanity.

In the slow-motion train wreck that became the current economic meltdown, our bipartisan political Establishment and the sycophantic punditburo have been wrong over and over and over again. They told us that eviscerating consumer protections would unleash the market's benevolent power and boost the economy. They told us that a trillion-dollar Wall Street bailout would solve a credit crisis. They told us that bailout would be subjected to intense oversight and scrutiny.

Wrong, wrong and wrong -- and when critics predicted just that, sneering commentators and congressional leaders berated us as know-nothing Luddites, conspiracy theorists, or both.

GOP to UAW:

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The Statue

Obama's achievement at being elected the first African American President was so great, that instead of inaugurating him President, they're going to inaugurate a statue of Barack Obama, The First African-American President of the United States.

In his desire to bring a "new kind of politics" to Washington and to "be President of all the people," Obama has surpassed all previous Presidents-elect. So he will be sworn in in January as a petrified version of himself, a perfect statue all factions of American society can respect, look proudly upon, and position however needed.

The six foot two and one half inch carving of granite shows Obama in shirt sleeves, blazer jacket slung over his shoulder, necktie loosened, standing at a specially-erected podium and rostrum on the mall, and gesturing upward with his right hand.

According to Frida Berrigan at Alternet,

A new era in Pentagon spending would have to begin with a recognition that enduring security is not attained by threat or fiat, nor is it bought with staggering billions of dollars. It is built with other nations. Weapons come second.

Pundits are saying now that it was the problem of bringing change to the Pentagon, that helped Obama achieve the solution to "turn to stone."

See also, Baker, Peter and Shanker, Tom, Obama Plans to Retain Gates at Defense Department, the New York Times, Tuesday, November 25, 2008.

Check out this offering from sagacious William Greider on the SecTreas appointment:

A year ago, when Barack Obama said it was time to turn the page, his campaign declaration seemed to promise a fresh start for Washington. I, for one, failed to foresee Obama would turn the page backward.

First Amendment

Reporters Without Borders publishes a "Freedom of the Press" Index for about 150 different countries. It has been published for about six years now, during which time the United States has dropped from no. 17 on the list to no. 53.

Some media outlets are trying to spin it so that it looks like the U.S. is no. 36 on the list, but this is a distortion that any baseball fan can see through.

"Another" Voter Fraud Story?

The San Jose Mercury published an interesting story about an ARREST in California, concerning voter-registration fraud.

Where are all the Republican dogcatchers now?

Love Those Foreign Publications

This from The Economist

"It's An Ill Wind:"