HL News News Videos HL's Comics Entertainment Blog HLTV HL Store
Mary-Charlotte Domandi: The End of Prohibition?
Howard Wooldridge, a retired Michigan police officer, rode his horse Misty across the U.S., talking to groups like Rotary clubs, Kiwanis, churches, Elks lodges, John…
John R. Bohrer: Enough About ‘Roland Burris, Good Guy’
It doesn’t matter how clean his record was when he was in office a decade ago or if he didn’t pay a cent for his appointment: Roland Burris is a willing pawn in a very corrupt game.
Arianna Huffington: Obama Isn’t the Only One Being Inaugurated on Jan. 20th
The night before Obama is sworn in, HuffPost is co-hosting a pre-Inaugural ball at the Newseum in Washington. Just before midnight we will have a Countdown to a New Era. It’s a new era not just because Bush will be out and Obama in, but because taking on the challenges America is facing will require a new era of citizen engagement. To illustrate this we are putting together a video that will symbolize that we are all stakeholders — all being inaugurated on January 20th — by having people from across America send us video of themselves taking the presidential oath of office. The preamble of the Constitution starts with We the People. And it has never been clearer that we can’t “form a more perfect Union” without the active participation of millions of us.
Stimulus = Stopgap
WASHINGTON — We should resist the temptation to see the forthcoming “economic stimulus” package as a panacea. It won’t be. At best, it would represent traditional “pump priming.” This familiar metaphor is worth pondering. To get the pump started, you add water; then the pump operates independently. Similarly, the stimulus will succeed only if the economy resumes spontaneous expansion and job creation. The incoming Obama administration has understandably focused on the immediate task of designing the stimulus program. It has said less about how it would encourage self-sustaining economic growth. But that, in the end, is the crucial issue. Ever-expanding government budget deficits — reflecting spending increases and tax cuts — would ultimately be ineffective and self-defeating.
Obama Faces World of Conflict
At 12:00 noon on January 20, the United States will have experienced sixteen years of contentious, divisive, and mediocre government. This bleak period has been evenly split, to the day and hour, between Democrats led by President Bill Clinton and Republicans led by President George W. Bush. That dismal record will test President Barack Obama, who takes office that day, as much or more than the economic recession, the issues of immigration, energy, education, and health care, the bog of Iraq and Afghanistan, the eruption of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and a litany of difficulties that almost any schoolboy could recite.
Obama’s Pick For SEC Chair Didn’t Catch Madoff While At Finra
The Wall Street Journal has a deeper look at the various government investigations into Bernard Madoff’s business, stretching back over the last 16 years — all of which failed to detect the alleged “$50 billion ponzi scheme” that Madoff is…
SEC IG, Probing Madoff, Looks To Be On The Warpath
SEC Inspector General David Kotz, who is conducting an investigation into the agency’s failure to detect Bernard Madoff’s alleged “$50 billion ponzi scheme” despite conducting several probes of Madoff’s business over the last decade, testified before Congress today. And from…
Gregoire Trip Fuels Speculation
Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) canceled a Tuesday lunch appearance and two sources confirmed to The Hill she is in Washington, D.C. The governor’s actions “have triggered a wave of speculation” that Gregoire could soon replace Gov. Bill Richardson (D) as President-elect Obama’s Commerce Secretary-designate.
“Her office refused to confirm Gregoire’s whereabouts all day Monday.”
Big Booty Beauty and the New Sexual Aesthetic
Booty. Rump. Bubble butt. Whatever the term, big backsides — and people’s reactions to them — tell us a lot about American culture.
Atrocities in Gaza: Piecing Together the Story
As Europe calls for a ceasefire, Israel is accused of cruel tactics and use of deadly white phosphorous in its blood-soaked assault on Gaza.
Why Colleges Are Just Not That into You
Schools are cruelly soliciting more applications than they need just to improve their selectivity ratings.
The End of the Financial World as We Know It
American capitalism is in a state of pure madness — here’s how we can bring the financial system to a saner place.
Stimulate the Economy by Mending Our Safety Nets
Lots of talk this week about the proposed stimulus. One high priority ought to be the most vulnerable members of our society. The safety net created in the 1930s to protect Americans from extreme poverty is in tatters. Now that…
Obama’s Middle East Burden–and Opportunity
Longtime State Department Middle East specialist Aaron David Miller on the outlook there, and the test for Obama: Despite efforts to sound reassuring during the campaign, the new administration will have to be tough, much tougher than either Bill Clinton…
Kristol Unclear
William Kristol’s penchant for certainty fails him this morning. Here are a few sentences from his NYT column, helpfully annotated by me: “Israel could well succeed in Gaza….the Israeli leadership seems aware of the mistakes — political, strategic and military…
Conservatives Label Fitzgerald A Failure, Ignoring His Record Of Successful Terrorism Prosecutions
Since U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald investigated the Bush administration’s leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity — and successfully prosecuted Scooter Libby for perjury — conservatives have sought to discredit the prosecutor. Last month, Michelle Malkin insisted that Democrats would “turn on a dime” against Fitzgerald for going after a Democratic governor — despite the fact that […]
Since U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald investigated the Bush administration’s leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity — and successfully prosecuted Scooter Libby for perjury — conservatives have sought to discredit the prosecutor. Last month, Michelle Malkin insisted that Democrats would “turn on a dime” against Fitzgerald for going after a Democratic governor — despite the fact that President-elect Obama and top congressional Democrats have called for Fitzgerald to be reappointed as U.S. Attorney.
Continuing their assault on Fitzgerald, conservatives like to argue that Fitzgerald’s prosecution record is weak. Yesterday, Fox News’s Brit Hume decried Fitzgerald’s so-called “propensity” to make accusations “in news conferences” that he “is unable to prove in court.” This morning, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough slammed the prosecutor for bringing cases with “a lot of smoke” but “no fire,” and wondered, “Is Fitzgerald going to go 0 for 2 here in national investigations?” Watch it:
To say Fitzgerald might go “0 for 2″ in national investigations not only ignores the fact that he won a conviction of a Bush aide in the Plame case but, more importantly, completely ignores Fitzgerald’s successful prosecution of the terrorists — including “the blind Shiek” Omar Abdul Rahman — who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. During the trial, Fitzgerald provided a passionate and forceful voice against what he called “a war of urban terrorism,” years before “the War on Terror” began:
– “Terrorism is real. It is here. It is in this courtroom,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald told the jury. [AP, 10/2/95]
– Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald concluded more than two days of the Government’s closing argument by telling the jurors, “The defendants in this room conspired to steal from Americans their freedom from fear.” [NY Times, 9/8/95]
Fitzgerald also indicted Osama bin Laden for terrorism years before he was on the national radar, after the 9/11 attacks. In addition, he secured the fraud conviction of Conrad Black, who had ties to the Bush White House. After successfully prosecuting terrorists, mobsters, governors, and White House officials, Fitzgerald is hardly in danger of going “0 for 2.”
New TSA Uniforms Trigger a Rash of Complaints
The new blue uniforms issued to Transportation Security Administration officers at hundreds of airports nationwide may have a snazzy look, but they have become a major irritant for some of those employees.
Obama Pitches Stimulus Plan
President-elect Barack Obama arrived on Capitol Hill yesterday and immediately set to work reassuring skeptical Republicans about his massive economic stimulus package — part of a campaign that earned him praise for seeking their input but questions from those averse to hundreds of billions of…
Richardson Addresses Decision to Withdraw Name as Obama Cabinet Nominee
(JOINED IN PROGRESS) RICHARDSON: … this decision was a difficult one, I think it was the right thing to do. I made the decision over the weekend after exploring my options. I had hoped that the CDR investigation would have concluded in December with a clean bill of health for my administration…
Biden, 4 Other Senators To Visit Southwest Asia
Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. will travel to Southwest Asia later this week, his Senate office announced yesterday.
Franken Win Certified, but Senate Will Delay Seating
Entertainer-turned-politician Al Franken declared victory in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race yesterday, just hours after a state panel charged with overseeing the recount of nearly 3 million ballots certified that the Democrat had received 225 more votes than Republican Sen. Norm Coleman.
After recounting 2.4 million ballots cast in the state’s Senatorial election, Minnesota officials are ready to name Al Franken the winner by a mere 225 votes. Franken’s rival, Sen. Norm Coleman, will likely fight the decision in the state supreme court. His campaign manager, meanwhile, is calling for a do-over.
Reuters:
“At the moment, Franken has a 225-vote lead,” after the weekend counting of what were deemed the last uncounted absentee ballots, said Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat who oversaw the process.
Ritchie said unless the supreme court acts on Coleman’s request and orders more ballots to be counted, he will reconvene the state’s Canvassing Board on Monday to certify Franken as the winner of the November 4 contest.
Israel Begins Ground War in Gaza
Israeli forces crossed into Gaza on Saturday night, launching ground attacks and seriously ratcheting up the Israeli-Palestinian conflict following a week of bombardment from intensive airstrikes. The United Nations Security Council met that evening in New York about the mounting Mideast crisis.
The New York Times:
The ground campaign brought new risks and the prospect of significantly higher casualties on both sides in a conflict that, even before the ground war started, had already taken the lives of more than 430 Palestinians and four Israelis.
While a ground campaign in densely populated Gaza is likely to increase the civilian death toll there, the Israeli Army also faces new threats. Hamas has had 18 months since Israel withdrew from the territory to smuggle in more lethal weapons against tanks and troops. Its more sophisticated arsenal has been on display over the last weeks, as it has launched scores of longer range rockets from Gaza into Israeli cities.
Israeli officials said they want to strike a hard blow against Hamas, improve Israeli deterrence and significantly change the security situation in southern Israel, where residents have been plagued by rocket fire out of Gaza for years.
Bush Will Be First Ex-Prez To Not Get Lifetime Secret Service Protection
WASHINGTON — President George W. Bush’s “after-life,” as Laura Bush calls the post-presidency, is shaping up to be pretty comfortable, with a Dallas office, staffers,…
James Moore: The Exclamation Point at the End of the Story
America’s role as the unwavering good guy is a mythology that has sustained us but may ultimately be our ruin.
Franken To Be Declared Senate Victor In Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS (Reuters) - Democrat Al Franken will be declared the winner of the tight U.S. Senate contest in Minnesota, emerging from a ballot recount with…
The Daily Muck
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) used campaign funds to pay parking tickets in the Washington, D.C. area, according to campaign finance records. Although it is not illegal to use campaign funds to pay off tickets written during campaign activities, it is…
Fitzgerald Asks For Extension On Blago Indictment
US Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has asked for a 90-day extension to bring an indictment against Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich. In a motion filed today in U.S. District Court, Fitzgerald said that the length, scope, and complexity of the investigation, combined…
My War Against Food Nazi Moms
It’s madness: Feeding your child a sandwich made with white bread or a bag of Doritos could cost you custody of your children?
Why Big Finance Is Laughing All the Way to the Bank
Instead of making loans to help the economy, they’re shoring up their own finances and buying up their competitors.
Can America Clean Up from Its Worst Environmental Disaster? [Contains Photo Slideshow]
With the breaking of a coal waste dam in Tennessee, environmental and human health is threatened by millions of pounds of toxic chemicals.
Challenging Group Thinking Economists on Budget Deficits and the Dollar
Virtually the whole economics profession somehow managed to overlook the largest housing bubble in the history of the world. Remarkably, few, if any, economists were fired or even demoted for their extraordinary incompetence. Unlike dishwashers and factory workers, economists are…
Can There Be Politics in Tragedy? Or in Gaza?
I’m immersed in long-range writing and leave tomorrow for six months in Berlin, but the Gaza war provokes me to share a brilliant essay by Darry Li, a doctoral student in anthropology and Middle East Studies at Harvard and a…
Delusions, cont’d
“Hamas legislators won a democratic majority in elections four years ago.” –Ethan Bronner, NYT online, Jan. 3. “Eighteen months ago, Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in a coup.” –George W. Bush, radio address, Jan. 3. I was just saying…
Reid: ?I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we?ve ever had.?
In early 2006, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said of President Bush: “I really do believe this man will go down as the worst president this country has ever had.” This morning on Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Reid whether he regrets making that statement. Reid refused to back down. “I think […]
In early 2006, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said of President Bush: “I really do believe this man will go down as the worst president this country has ever had.” This morning on Meet the Press, host David Gregory asked Reid whether he regrets making that statement. Reid refused to back down. “I think you just have to call things the way you see them,” he said. “I really do believe President Bush is the worst president we’ve ever had.” Watch it:
Transcript: More ?
Curbs May Be Eased On Paving In Forests
LOS ANGELES — The Bush administration appears poised to push through a change in U.S. Forest Service agreements that would make it far easier for mountain forests to be converted to housing subdivisions.
Top Democrats Favor Deliberate Approach to Stimulus Bill
Lowering expectations for quick passage of an economic stimulus bill, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid rejected setting “some false deadline” for delivering legislation to President-elect Barack Obama in favor of a more deliberate approach that allows Congress to get the package right “the first…
Virginia Governor Kaine Said to Be Next DNC Chairman
Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine will become chairman of the Democratic National Committee later this month, serving as the top political messenger for Barack Obama’s administration even while finishing his final year in the governor’s mansion, several sources said.
Commerce Pick Richardson Withdraws, Citing N.M. Probe
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to be commerce secretary, withdrew from consideration yesterday, citing an ongoing federal “pay-to-play” investigation involving one of his political donors as a significant obstacle to his confirmation.
Leave it to global warming to ruin both a day at the beach and an entire oceanic ecosystem. Researchers are blaming the environment’s public enemy No. 1 as well as rising seawater acidity for what has been the slowest coral growth rate at the Great Barrier Reef in more than 400 years.
The BBC:
Coral growth in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef has slowed to its most sluggish rate in the past 400 years.
They studied massive porites corals, which are several hundred years old, and found that calcification has declined by 13.3% since 1990.
Global warming and the increasing acidity of seawater are to blame, they write in Science journal.
Coral reefs are central to the formation and function of ecosystems and food webs for tens of thousands of other marine organisms.
Airline Apologizes to Detained Muslim Passengers
AirTran Airways was in damage control mode Friday after forcing nine Muslim passengers off an Orlando-bound flight at Reagan International Airport in Arlington, Va., the previous day. The travelers were detained after two other passengers reported hearing what they considered to be threatening remarks by 33-year-old Inayet Sahin as she and members of her family found their seats on the plane. Sahin and her group denied any wrongdoing, and on Friday they were considering AirTran’s conciliatory offer of a refund and a return trip home.
The Washington Post:
Officials said several other passengers overheard the conversation and became alarmed when they heard Sahin remark that sitting near the engines would not be safe in the event of an accident or explosion. Irfan and Izaz said the remark was entirely misconstrued and that the conversation was nothing more than innocuous banter.
“The conversation we were having was the conversation anyone would have,” Irfan said of his sister-in-law in a telephone interview from Florida today. “She did not use the word bomb, she did not use the word explosion. She said it would not be safe to sit next to the engines in the event of an accident.”
The three were traveling with six others: Irfan’s brother, Kashif, 34; Kashif’s three boys, ages 7, 4 and 2; Sahin’s sister; and a family friend. All but one are U.S.-born citizens, but Kashif Irfan said he and the others think they were profiled at least in part because of their appearance. He said three of the six adults in the party are of Pakistani descent, two are of Turkish descent and one is African American. He also said they have a traditionally Muslim appearance, with the men wearing beards and the women in head scarves.
?
Reid, Burris To Meet As Senate Showdown Looms
Arrangements are under way for a Wednesday meeting between Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Roland Burris, the Democrat tapped by Illinois Gov. Rod…
Brian Normoyle: Coleman Should Concede to Victorious Senator Franken
On the morning after the November 2008 election in Minnesota, incumbent Senator Norm Coleman prematurely declared victory in his long, hard-fought reelection bid against opponent…
Paul Jenkins: Along Came Caroline. And Andrew. And Beau.
Speculation about Hillary Clinton’s successor in the Senate will soon be moot, but the debate about America’s political dynasties is hopefully just starting. This year’s newly open Senate seats were particularly revealing, with the leading contenders in New York, Delaware, Colorado and Illinois all including the kin of prominent politicians. This is nothing new: as recently as 2000, the presidential election offered the choice between the son of a former president and grandson of a Senator, George W. Bush, and the son of a Senator, Al Gore. And, of course, long before that, the Adams’ had been the first father and son US presidents. But rather than disappearing as one would expect in a more mature, diverse democracy, the habit seems to be intensifying.
No International Outcry Against Hamas
Just for a lark, I decided to google “international condemnations of Hamas” this morning. You can guess what came up, right? Naturally, searching for condemnations of Hamas, one finds only international condemnations of Israel. An Australian report noted that the “British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is calling for an urgent ceasefire, while Russia’s Foreign Minister says he’s told his Israeli counterpart to urgently halt the military action.” The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, “strongly condemned Israel’s disproportionate use of force,” as did Brazil. Indonesia called on all countries to “sever all forms of diplomatic and business ties with Israel.” French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently holds the rotating chair of the European Union, did call upon Hamas to halt its rocket attacks but also censured Israel’s “disproportionate response.” Let’s fantasize. Let’s pretend that the “international community” (it’s not a community, thus the quotation marks) actually lived by the principles it claims to advance. It happens that international communiteer par excellence, Jimmy Carter, (he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 “for his decades of untiring effort to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts”) was in Syria on Dec. 14, meeting with Hamas leaders. Nobel laureate Carter was silent when Hamas announced its decision to allow an Egyptian brokered ceasefire with Israel to expire. Nor did he — or any international leader — comment upon the 4,000 rockets that Hamas has rained down on Israel just since 2005.
In Cut and Paste Job, Treasury Admits It Still Doesn’t Know What Banks Are Doing With Bailout Money
Earlier this month, as we noted at the time, the congressional oversight panel for the financial bailout released a report on how the Treasury is spending the $700 billion in taxpayer money Congress gave them. In its report, the panel,…
Report: SEC Probing Other Madoff-Style Ponzi Schemes
Was Madoff just the tip of the iceberg? The SEC is investigating at least one case in which investors may have been cheated out of as much as $1 billion, by money managers using tactics similar to those alleged to…
Israeli Professor in Washington Post: War Is “Unnecessary, Cruel and Cynical”
It just gets worse and worse. But, as always, some of the most eloquent anti-war testimonies come from Israel itself. The surprise here is that an American and not an Israeli or European paper published it (the MSM’s bias in…
Watching Death Day and Night So Close By. . .
I have just been communicating in the last few minutes with two friends over Facebook — one a prominent Jewish American blogger now visiting family in an Orthodox community in Israel — and the other a prominent Arab Muslim blogger…
The Grave Dancers
I’m so happy to see that Sam Zell, the “grave dancer” who has already destroyed our local newspaper, the L.A. Times, has found fresh territory to plunder. Sam and a bunch of former Resolution Trust Company (R.T.C.) officials are working…
Suicide bombing in Iraq kills as many as 32 people.
Outside of Baghdad yesterday, a suicide bomber disrupted a reconciliation gathering, killing as many as 32 people and wounding dozens more. Capt. Muthanna Ahmed, a spokesman for the provincial police, told the Washington Post that the “gathering was convened to foster reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite tribes in a region once so violent that residents […]
Outside of Baghdad yesterday, a suicide bomber disrupted a reconciliation gathering, killing as many as 32 people and wounding dozens more. Capt. Muthanna Ahmed, a spokesman for the provincial police, told the Washington Post that the “gathering was convened to foster reconciliation between Sunni and Shiite tribes in a region once so violent that residents had nicknamed it the Triangle of Death.” The attack was the worst Iraq has seen “since a suicide bomber killed 57 people at a Dec. 11 meeting of Arab and Kurdish leaders who had gathered to discuss ways to reduce tensions in the contested northern city of Kirkuk.”
Fox News claims ?magic negro? text was ?inadvertently cleared for air.?
As ThinkProgress recently noted, Fox News allowed at least one racist message directed toward President-elect Obama to make it on the air during its New Years broadcast. In a statement to TVNewser yesterday, Fox News VP of programming Suzanne Scott defended the incident, claiming that the text message referring to Rush Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic […]
As ThinkProgress recently noted, Fox News allowed at least one racist message directed toward President-elect Obama to make it on the air during its New Years broadcast. In a statement to TVNewser yesterday, Fox News VP of programming Suzanne Scott defended the incident, claiming that the text message referring to Rush Limbaugh’s “Barack the Magic Negro” song was “inadvertently cleared for air.” Instead of offering an apology, Scott took the opportunity to attack Fox’s rivals:
Fox News VP of programming Suzanne Scott explains, “We receiv
