I am trying to work through the odd series of events that led San Mateo police to raid the home of a Gizmodo blogger this week: Someone leaves a cell phone in a bar. It is a special secret cell phone. The person who finds the cell phone sells it to Gizmodo, a technology blog, which then writes a post apparently revealing proprietary …
Political Theater
There is a reason Congressional hearings are relegated to C-SPAN: they can be soul-crushingly boring. There’s only so long one can watch rich people berate richer people for being greedy. The Goldman hearing has conformed to a familiar pattern. Senators begin with pointed questions and descend into demagoguery; the bankers force stoic …
Today In Blogfights: Will Sarah Palin Run?
There are some delicious contretemps going on over at Atlantic.com, home of the mega-watt blogger. Joshua Green doesn’t think Palin will run for president. Andrew Sullivan does. But that’s not all. Sullivan accuses Green of dangerous complacency, and willful myopia.
[W]here the f— have you been this past year?
It doesn’t matter
…
General Jim Jones, National Security Advisor, Struggling Comedian
On a secret flight to Kabul a few weeks back, Gen. Jim Jones, Obama’s National Security Advisor cracked a joke at the expense of Afghan president Hamid Karzai in an on-the-record briefing with reporters. The White House opted not to put out a transcript of the conversation, so I transcribed the relevant part here on Swampland, including …
In the ArenaUncategorized
On CNN
My esteemed colleague Jim Poniewozik weighs in here on the current dilemma facing CNN and I agree with much of what he says. But I’d add another thing: We are not talking about huge audiences here. Cable news is essentially a boutique operation: Fox may get 3 million viewers for its highest rated demagoguery; CNN barely nudges a million …
Morning Must Reads: The Show
President Barack Obama participates in a town hall meeting on health care insurance reform at Gallatin Field in Belgrade, Mont., Aug. 14, 2009. (Official White House photo by Pete Souza)
–Obama departs on a two-day Midwest trip today with townhalls and business tours on the agenda. Jeff Zeleny writes it’s an effort to shore up …
In the ArenaAfghanistan
Talk to the Taliban
Ahmed Rashid, perhaps the best informed journalist in the world when it comes to Afghanistan and Pakistan, confirms my belief that Hamid Karzai’s recent maneuverings are part of a reconciliation strategy with the Taliban:
According to U.S. and Afghan officials, Karzai’s first question when he arrives will be whether Washington supports
…
Goldman on the Hot Seat
The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will grill Goldman Sachs execs this morning, a day after releasing reams of documents that appear to show — despite Goldman’s testimony to the contrary — that the firm raked in money by shorting the housing market. I have a preview here, and we’ll be following along as the hearing …
Thank You, Sir, May We Have Another?
The cloture vote to stop a GOP filibuster on the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd’s bill to overhaul just failed in the Senate 57-41. The vote took nearly an hour as Senators rushed through Washington traffic to make the first vote of the week. All Republicans voted Nay. Republican Senators Bob Bennett of Utah and Kit Bond of …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Financial Reform Vote–No Cloture
The Senate just failed to stop a Republican filibuster of the Financial Reform Bill. The Democrats forced the vote even though they knew the Republicans would stand together because they want “Republicans Block Financial Reform” headlines tomorrow…and also “My Opponent Backed the Bankers” ads in the fall. Republicans filibustered …
The Goldman Hearing: What’s At Stake?
Tomorrow morning, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations will hold a hearing into the role investment banks played in the financial crisis. To show how Wall Street’s titans “spread poison through the system,” as Sen. Carl Levin put it today, the subcommittee chose months ago to focus its investigation on Goldman Sachs — a …
Financial Reform: Popular In Abstract And In Detail
One of the casualties of the bitter year-long Congressional battle over health reform was good public standing of the endeavor as a whole. While individual policy proposals within the Democrats’ framework remained popular, the country soured on the patchwork package those policies formed. A Washington Post/ABC News poll released today …
In the ArenaUncategorized
Free South Park Prophet Now!
In memory of Doug Marlette
My old pal Doug was always vehement in defense of the first amendment rights of cartoonists like him–and I vowed to continue his fight after he died, so here goes: This Ross Douthat column today is important. It is possible to respect Islam, be a devout Muslim and be a devout American, too, respecting the …