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Saturday, November 29, 2008
The Heroes of MumbaiIn the midst of tragedy, there were some who sprang into action: As the terrible events of Wednesday night unfolded, the staff of what had been Bombay’s finest hotel leapt into action. Scores of tales later emerged of unnamed workers hiding guests, barricading doors, tending the vulnerable and issuing orders.
Dalbir Bains, a British businesswoman, was with friends beside the hotel pool when the first crackle of automatic gunfire was heard a short distance away. “We heard shots and saw a man who’d just been shot. The terrorists were just behind us as we ran,” she said.
She made her way upstairs to Sea Lounge, a café on the first floor of the hotel, where the guests were still unaware of the fast-approaching threat. “Within seconds the staff had locked the doors, turned off the lights and told everybody to get on the floor,” she said. “They were fantastic. They saved lives.” Highly recommended!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Here's a ClueExcitable Andrew, quoting a Newsweek piece: Maddow's partner, artist Susan Mikula, believes the "unlikely" label is just code for lesbian: "She goes from Stanford to Oxford to activism to radio, then TV? What's so unusual about that? Is it because she is a gay lady?" Yes, because it is so unusual for lesbian women to host talk shows. Ellen Degeneres, Rosie O'Donnell and now Rachel Maddow. What's really unusual is how far left Maddow is; that's the "unlikely" part of the story, not that she's gay. Rosie's a liberal but Rachel's a flaming leftist.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Is Obama A Centrist Liberal?It's time to acknowledge that Obama's appointments thus far are quite reassuring. One of the reasons why I opposed Obama during the general election campaign was that he was the blank slate, the tabla rasa on which people were writing their own hopes and dreams. My concern was that we didn't know what we were buying. That was why Ayers and Wright were so troubling. But Obama's nomination of Rahm Emanuel as Chief of Staff was a very good sign. Emanuel is one of the most despised Democrats by the netroots, right up there with Joe Lieberman. The nomination of Hillary Clinton (not yet official at this point) to State again indicates more a centrist position than a liberal posture. Ditto with Gates, if he is asked to stay on at Defense. Indeed, the netroots are grumbling that they are not getting anything out of this administration for "progressives". Dennis Kucinich's Department of Peace seems to be going nowhere. It's not the same as getting a centrist Republican. But it's about as good news as we could get coming out of the election. Update: More discussion here. "The list [of disappointments] is getting awfully long," wrote the blogger bmaz at Firedoglake. "Almost as long as Barack Obama's arm that he used to take our money and efforts to get himself elected. All we have seen is the short arm he has used to punch us in the face and collect street cred with villagers for having done so." Open Left's Chris Bowers wrote on Friday that he felt "incredibly frustrated ... [W]hy isn't there a single member of Obama's cabinet who will be advising him from the left?" Even Pat Buchanan -- not exactly the world's most liberal guy -- apparently thinks Obama needs to throw a bone to progressives after the start the transition is off to.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
The World Can't WaitThe New York Times has now published not one, but two OpEds suggesting that Bush should step down now, and not wait until Obama's inauguration. Putting Barack Obama in charge immediately isn’t impossible. Dick Cheney, obviously, would have to quit as well as Bush. In fact, just to be on the safe side, the vice president ought to turn in his resignation first. (We’re desperate, but not crazy.) Then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would become president until Jan. 20. Obviously, she’d defer to her party’s incoming chief executive, and Barack Obama could begin governing. Obviously. And let me suggest that this whole senate confirmation of Obama's cabinet should be eliminated. And he should be allowed to add, say, twenty members to the Supreme Court, and let's do away with his reelection in 2012 because that's just a formality that's going to get in the way of his enacting the will of the people. And let's also do away with that pesky little amendment that bans presidents from serving more than two terms.
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