No Excuse For Being Clueless Congress, You’ve Got A Good Bookstore On Your Doorstep

25Jan09

Riverby Books: high quality used libros on Capitol Hill.

I hope and pray congresspersons regularly browse Riverby Books.

It shouldn’t be hard. The store is four blocks east of the Capitol. And it’s open everyday, 10-6.

Unfortunately I doubt it, knowing how inept our all-important Congress tends to be.

The collection – no surprise – includes many political titles. But the store houses all manner of books and includes many Washington-focused titles.

Get Smart, Check It Out!

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Tags: bookstore, Capitol Hill, Riverby Books, Washington D.C.

Second Supreme Court Coup Attempted, Averted

22Jan09

Inauguration Day 2009: Arrival of the Supreme Court, originally uploaded by USA TODAY.

In an attempt to cast doubt on the presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, members of the out-going administration and the Supreme Court conspired to make the new president misstate the oath of office.

Ex-Vice President Dick Cheney was the brainchild of the plot, according to a confidential source within the former Bush Administration. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia acted as Cheney’s deputy. The good friends, reportedly, hatched the plan during a recent hunting trip.

The basic idea was to create a cloud of confusion over the constitutionality of Obama’s presidency.

If the conspirators could get Obama to flub the oath, to say it differently than required by the Constitution, they would have grounds to delegitimize his tenure as president

And, at the same time, they hoped to rally the conservative base. Cheney wanted to light a fuse under grassroots Republicans – the few remaining. He foresaw the misstated oath as the beginning of a wide-spread resistance movement.

Regarded as the most astute Supreme Court justice, Scalia, a strict constitutional constructionist, had been encouraging Chief Justice Roberts to confuse Obama during the oath for weeks.

Roberts was reluctant to go along at first.

But Cheney and Scalia, die hard conservatives, relentlessly applied pressure and enlarged the core group of conspirators, enlisting the Quiet Justice – Clarence Thomas – who reportedly actually gave his verbal approval of the plot.

Cheney’s office ran an all-out covert public relations campaign in support of the coup attempt over his final two weeks in power. Those attempts were largely unsuccessful, Fox News excepted.

The actual cause of Cheney’s ill health has been attributed to his dogged support of the coup. He was also rumored to have been unable to sleep over the past week. The specter of a “radical” taking control of the country haunted him greatly.

In the end, fortunately, Cheney’s last act came up short.

John Roberts was taken from his Bethesda home last night and forced to readminister the oath to President Obama.

The stark audacity of the plot is a synergistic conclusion to George W. Bush’s presidency. Though in contrast to the successful Supreme Court Coup of 2000 that put Bush in office, this attempt failed.

And, as of this hour, there is still no word as to ex-President Bush’s knowledge of the coup attempt.

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Tags: Barack Hussein Obama, coup, Dick Cheney, John Roberts, oath of office, Supreme Court

My Fellow Dallasites, Let’s Greet Bush Properly: Shoes Please!

18Jan09

My shoes. W's new house.

He deserves nothing less.

Just like the famed Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zeidi who, on Bush’s final foreign trip, threw his shoes at the American dictapresident. Neither hit Mr. Bush, an athletic, mobile Man.

Al-Zeidi’s family claims he was tortured after the episode. He is still being detained.

But, as opposed to throwing them at Bush, I propose dumping loads of them as close as possible to his new house, at 10141 Daria Place, in the fancy North Dallas neighborhood of Preston Hollow.

Tons of them along Meaders Lane, from Inwood to Preston, would guarantee that Bush sees them upon his arrival next week.

And, just so you know, Bush’s neighbors have their own kind of welcome in mind.

A common sign amongst Bush's new neighbors. This one was found at the back of Tom Hicks's estate.

Let’s do it Dallas. This is Democrat country!

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Tags: Dallas, daria place, George W. Bush, iraqi journalist, new house, shoes

Amtrak Surprise

18Jan09

Amtrak's Texas Eagle, on the right, and a Trinity Railway Express train, on the left, in downtown Fort Worth.

A fine side benefit of the crappy economy: Amtrak trains in the middle of the country are running on time!

Sometimes, at least.

That was the fortunate case for me last week on the Texas Eagle from Dallas to Austin.

In the first half of 2008, the Texas Eagle was the worst Amtrak line, running on time only 14.3 percent of the time. It was on time zero times in July.

A quick glance of the most recent Texas Eagle trains shows more are running on time than not.

The main reason for the delays is that Amtrak does not own the rail lines, outside of the Northeast. Hence, passenger trains must yield to freight traffic.

But the current recession has reduced freight traffic, making for more on-time trains.

This is all fine and dandy, but what happens when the economy recovers?

Unfortunately,  the House’s latest version of the massive stimulus plan seriously neglects passenger rail, allotting it only $1.1 billion.

A sad affair.

Please, Vice President-Elect Biden, Mr. Amtrak, don’t let passenger rail service get the shaft!

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Tags: amtrak, on time, texas eagle

Depressed Christmas?

15Dec08

Not at this house on 41st St. in Northwest, DC. Almost Maryland.

I counted 14 inflatable Christmas decorations. My guess is that they’ve been adding one additional piece every year.

Not much more yard to work with. Gonna have to go exurban – if they want to keep expanding.

I do wonder how much it costs to keep those suckers inflated. Not so enviro-friendly.

But fun, lots of fun. Every car that drove by stopped to gaze. A fine experience for the kiddies, I’m sure.

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Tags: inflated Christmas, Washington D.C.

Shinseki, Chu Begin Asian American Takeover of Top Federal Posts

12Dec08

Steven Chu, originally uploaded by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

While Obama has received heaps of praise for his Cabinet selections thus far – and probably deservedly so – two of his most recent picks stand out. (I do, however, like Frank Rich, have reservations about his economic team, especially Larry SumDog.)

Eric Shinseki, for secretary of Veterans Affairs, is a symbolic beauty. The most outspoken military critic of the Iraq War returns to government to head the department that is responsible for the well-being of America’s soldiers. Beautiful.

And Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate with a passion for tackling climate change, will head the Energy Department – formerly a hangout for Bush and Cheney’s oil brethren. Priceless.

Obama and his team have hit their stride with these two. Let’s hope they continue to get it right. (A food secretary would be phenomenal!)

And from here on out, I’m thinking all his picks should be Asian Americans. They are the smartest Americans.

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Tags: Asian Americans, beautiful, Chu, food secretary, Obama, priceless, Shinseki

The “Movement” to Bring “Change” Shall Continue

06Dec08

This ain’t ancient Greece. We don’t live in a real democracy.

Unfortunately, Barack Obama seems intent on making his supporters think otherwise.

The United States of America just completed a grueling election. A fine fulfillment of our kind-of-democratic ideals – at least for Democrats in the primaries, where voters actually decided against the wishes of the Party.

Yet, in the wake of victory, I still get campaign-like emails from Obama’s team.

Today, John D. Podesta, the head of Obama’s transition team, tells me about the team’s unprecedented transparency. Apparently, information about the transition’s meetings will be made public: Who these actors are, the topics discussed, and any documents exchanged.

Seems hollow. They won’t actually be telling us what is discussed.

A few days ago, Podesta told me about the results of a health care policy discussion. Even future Health Care Czar Tom Daschle read through the public’s comments – over Thanksgiving weekend!

Former Senate Majority Leader Daschle, a man who has written a book about our abysmal healthcare system, needs to hear from ordinary people about how to solve this crisis?

David Plouffe, Mr. Obama’s former campaign manager, also writes me. Most recently, he has told me about the new national security team and has encouraged me to attend a neighborhood meeting in the coming week.

The purpose of this meeting is to “plan the future of this movement,” where “your ideas and feedback will be collected and used to guide this movement in the months and years ahead.”

The campaign is morphing into the transition. In late January, I’m sure, someone important in the White House will start emailing me.

Keeping us – Obama’s most enthusiastic supporters – engaged in the political process is, no doubt, a good thing. We desperately need more civic engagement in America.

But, whereas the majority of voters chose Barack Obama as the vehicle for their hopes of a better government, Obama’s communication’s team now seems intent on using us as rhetoric.

I feel like a pawn.

Our input is not really necessary to improve health care policy. Nor will they actually be taking our temperature next week, at those neighborhood meetings, in order to see which issues President Obama should tackle first. (Didn’t we just have a long-ass campaign for both?)

But it will be helpful if Obama appears to be listening to us.

It makes a nice story. One Rachel Maddow (I do love her) was more than happy to relay last night.

Barack: We elected you. The time for talk about a “movement” is over. You will be the government on Jan. 20.

Be honest and humble. Good ideas and smart strategy, of course, would be nice, too.

However, telling your supporters that they’ll be guiding your presidency is disingenuous. And all this talk of transparency is condescending. Both are tools designed to score political points.

Be a real leader.

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Tags: condescending, David Plouffe, John Podesta, Obama, pawn, Rachel Maddow, transition team, transparency

Canada’s Conservatives Kaput?

02Dec08

Interesting things are happening in Canada’s government.

Basically, in the midst of economic turmoil, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party have not put forward a sane economic stimulus plan. During parliamentary debate yesterday, (A great debate, just like Prime Minister’s Questions, that again shows parliamentary superiority to our bicameral borefest.) Harper and his Conservatives spoke repeatedly of their fears of deficits.

Herbert Hoover would be proud.

Into this leadership vacuum, a left-leaning coalition of parties has decided to form. Quite the rare phenomenon for Canada. Something that’s only happened once before, during the turmoil of World War I.

Elections were held in October. The Conservative Party did increase their seats in the House of Commons, from 124 to 143. (The House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament, has 308 seats.) However, turnout was low.

And the main opposition party, the Liberals, had a terrible showing, losing 26 seats, leaving them with 77 seats. Its worst performance ever.

But, and this is an incredibly big b.u.t., the Liberal Party along with the New Democratic Party and the separatist Bloc Québécois do have enough votes – at least 155, which is the minimum to control the government – in the new Parliament to form a coalition government.

(Here’s a nice overview of the difference between majority and minority gov’ts, though coalition gov’ts aren’t discussed. They’re that rare for Canucks!)

The Globe and Mail, Canada’s “paper of record,” which endorsed Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party in the October elections, doesn’t like the idea of the coalition government.

The paper does blame Harper for poor handling of last week’s economic “debate.” But the coalition would be an “experimental and unstable government at the time [Canada] can least afford one.”

The left-leaning Toronto Star thinks the coalition should be given a chance. It is the essence of democracy, according to today’s editorial. And the coalition would be less unstable than an “opposition ready to pounce and defeat [Harper's] government at every opportunity.”

In the wake of Harper’s do-little economic strategy, Canada’s left-leaning parties will offer a more robust economic stimulus plan – something of a no-brainer, in the United States at least.

And this type of coalition government is surely not undemocratic. In Germany, for example, it is the norm.

For a liberal Yank, like me, this episode is particularly satisfying . I found it unconscionable that someone in Canada’s government – Stephen Harper? – would try to influence the outcome of the Democratic primaries.

How a sensible, progressive country like Canada allowed a guy like Harper to come to power has always been beyond me. It had the feel of some Republican-inspired conspiracy.

So now that Bush and his Republicans are out, it seems fitting for Harper to get the boot too.

Update (Dec. 9): Stephen Harper has shut down Parliament for six weeks, in an attempt to avoid a no-confidence vote – the vehicle for which the opposition would come to power.

In this time, Harper will be putting together a budget. One that will better tackle the current economic crisis.

As for the main opposition party, the Liberal Party, their leader Stéphane Dion will step down prior to Parliament’s reconvening, which will be Jan. 26.

Dion’s replacement is Michael Ignatieff, a former professor of human rights at Harvard and an initial supporter of the Iraq War.

Ignatieff has indicated a no-confidence vote could be avoided in January if Harper comes forth with a sufficient economic stimulus plan.

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Tags: Canada, coalition government, Conservative Party, controversy, Herbert Hoover, Liberal Party, Stephen Harper, unstable

Shoppers Score Major Victory Against Recession

29Nov08

Henrietta, NY –

American shoppers – in just one single day – scored a major victory for the global economy.

In what will likely be known as the “Battle of Black Friday,” an overwhelming majority of average Americans showed up for duty, happily forking over their credit cards.

There was a sense of urgency in the air. A domestic D-Day, of sorts. Hard-scrabble shoppers – bags under their eyes, serious-looking faces – began forming lines at popular retail outlets well before pre-dawn openings.

“Yeah, things have been bad. But this is what we do. I’ve been shopping on the day after Thanksgiving with my girlfriends for years,” said Jill Johnson, a retired teacher, who was shopping yesterday at Henrietta’s Target.

Showing up in massive numbers that greatly exceeded expectations, shoppers sought deals with reckless abandon.

At 6:45 a.m., a happy mob of over 100 people had formed around the desk in Target’s electronics department. Spontaneously, as if on cue, they began to chant: “We want Wii. We want Wii.”

Enthusiastic shoppers gather in Target's electronics department in Henrietta, NY.

Similar scenes played out across the country.

Emotions were understandably hot and heavy on such an important day. In some locations, things got out of hand. Sadly, 2,000 frenzied Long Island shoppers trampled and killed a Wal-Mart employee.

But, far and away, yesterday’s events were peaceful. Some were even calling them heroic.

It was a far cry from the story line of the past few weeks. Serious doubts about the resiliency of the American shopper were commonplace.

“There won’t be a Christmas this year, no way,” said Tim Connor, senior economist at the American Consumer Society, at a recent Brookings Institute panel discussion. “Housing, the credit crunch. And now unemployment is rising. I just don’t think people will show up.”

Many others in the chattering class will, no doubt, be forced to revise their pessimistic forecasts too.

But while the victory will most likely prove to be pivotal, it alone will not be sufficient to stave off recession. Further purchasing will be necessary.

“This is a good start. But only a start. If Americans can continue to step up to the plate, like today, we just might come out of this okay,” said Jim Jeremiah, vice president of the US Chamber of Commerce.

Surely it is too early to say so. And I know I just might be jinxing our economic future. I don’t care. I just want to be the first to pass along the good news:

We did it! Recession defeated!

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Tags: America!, Black Friday, shopping, victory over recession

Communist Country, USA

28Nov08

The always patriotic John Douglas Brown House in Old Town Alexandria.

Probably the most ridiculous comment during the recent presidential campaign came courtesy of John Sydney McCain III’s brother, Joe McCain:

“‘I’ve lived here for at least 10 years and before that about every third duty I was in either Arlington or Alexandria, up in communist country.’”

It’s true. Alexandria and Arlington, the one-time home of George Washington and Robert E. Lee, are now decidedly blue. Obama won almost 72% of the city of Alexandria’s vote. He won the same percentage in Arlington County.

The “communist” claim was just a degree or two away from McCain’s official campaign line of Obama being a socialist, put forth most ardently by Ms. Sarah Palin.

With no issues to run on and a poorly organized campaign, Republicans were left with nothing but the bottom of the barrel. “Socialized medicine” was also popular.

So, for Joe McCain, “communist” was probably pretty close to “Democrat.” And Virginia is a Democratic place. Obama carried the state; the first Democrat to do so since LBJ in 1964. Democrats now control both Senate seats, the governorship, and just gained control of the state’s congressional delegation – winning three seats to take a 6 to 5 edge.

But how does Northern Virginia stack up against America’s most liberal places?

A small sampling of Obama’s percentage in America’s most liberal places:

Alameda County (Oakland and Berkley, CA): 79%

San Francisco County: 84%

New York County (Manhattan): 85%

City of Boston: 79%

King County (Seattle): 70%

Multnomah County (Portland, OR): 77%

Conclusion: While Alexandria has Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, coffee shops, and bookstores (my criteria of liberalness), it still has a ways to go.

There is no bohemian vibe, no critiquing of mass American culture. On the whole, Old Town Alexandria is a cute, squeaky clean place. The epitome of the values of Middle America.

Left of center, yes. But very American.

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Tags: Alexandria, communist country, Democratic, Joe McCain, Northern Virginia, Obama