Month: November 2008

It’s legal in India.

David Boaz worries about the sudden universal rage on the left for the "shock doctrine" – not letting a crisis this big "go to waste".

Yglesias joins the war crimes debate:

I think it’s important to draw a distinction between simply declining to engage in war crimes prosecutions as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, and actually taking prosecution off the table. The latter should be done, if at all, only in exchange for confessions, expressions of remorse, and cooperation with investigations. The former is probably the better part of wisdom for now, but many of the perpetrators can be expected to live for decades and absent something like a real Truth and Reconciliation Commission the door should be left open to doing something down the road if circumstances change. I don’t think it’s even remotely acceptable to just give a full retrospective stamp of approval on everything that was done during the Bush years merely because that might be the most convenient way to build legislative support for Obama’s domestic agenda.

This is a critical decision on the part of the Obama camp before they take office. It will tell us a lot. A middle way, if prosecuting the criminals would tear the country apart in the near future, is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission option – which is Obama’s style.

(Photo: John Yoo, architect of torture and defender of the legality of torturing children under order of the president, by Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty.)

The gay Christianist is asking for money by email:

As part of a severance package with his former church, Haggard agreed to leave Colorado Springs for a period and not speak publicly about the scandal, church officials said at the time. But he never really disappeared, making news when he relocated his family to Arizona and solicited financial support in an e-mail.

Haggard’s plea for funds was rebuked by a three-pastor team overseeing his "restoration" – a healing process that doesn’t necessarily mean a public return. In February, New Life Church announced that Haggard had prematurely ended that relationship. One restoration team member, H.B. London, said a return to vocational ministry in less than four or five years would be dangerous for Haggard, his family, former church and Colorado Springs.

Greenwald, understandably, is mystified by liberal outrage at Obama’s appointments thus far:

It’s difficult to understand what basis progressives think they have for demanding greater inclusion in his cabinet and other high-level appointments, and it’s even more difficult to understand the basis for the disappointment and surprise being expressed over the fact that center-right Democrats and Republicans are welcomed in his inner circle, but — as The Nation’s Chris Hayes put it — "not a single, solitary, actual dyed-in-the-wool progressive has, as far as I can tell, even been mentioned for a position in the new administration."

It goes without saying that there will be Obama policies, both in the foreign policy and domestic realms, that are vastly superior to what we’ve seen the last eight years and to what we would have seen had McCain/Palin won.  And as the second-tier positions begin to fill out, there will probably be a handful of appointees who progressives consider to be one of their own.  And as Digby points out, the magnitude of the financial crisis may compel him to embrace policies that are deemed to be quite progressive (from massive stimulus packages and government intervention in the economy to a diminution of our foreign adventurism).

But Barack Obama is a centrist, establishment politician.  That is what he has been since he’s been in the Senate, and more importantly, it’s what he made clear — both explicitly and through his actions — that he intended to be as President.  Even in the primary, he paid no price whatsoever for that in terms of progressive support.  As is true for the national Democratic Party generally, he has no good reason to believe he needs to accommodate liberal objections to what he is doing.  The Joe Lieberman fiasco should have made that as conclusively clear as it gets.

I’m certainly not surprised by the centrism or the bipartisan flavor. And I’m very happy to see grown-ups in the economic and foreign policy areas. My only problem is with the legacy of torture, where Bush and Cheney have poisoned the center of the CIA.

"Tomorrow, Governor Palin could do an interview with any news media on the planet. Tomorrow, she could probably sign any one of a dozen book deals. She could start talking to people about a documentary or a movie on her life. That’s the level we are at here," – Bill McAllister, Palin spokesman.

The hathos keeps coming (that third guy from the left in the group shot, behind Rich Lowry’s coiff – that’s Mark Steyn):

Caleb Crain asks the generously-funded institution why it isn’t publicly accountable for the $1.1 million donation John M. Templeton, Jr.  just gave to strip gay couples of civil rights in California:

My point is that marriage is a public matter that affects, and to some extent structures, an experience that most people think of as extremely private. It does so in large part by defining limits and end-states, but it does so nonetheless. And so when Mr. Templeton gave money to deprive gays and lesbians of marriage, I would argue that he was not only engaging in a public act, involving a change to the laws of California, but also intruding into the privacy of gays and lesbians in California who live in committed relationships. In effect, he walked into their bedrooms, he sat down at their breakfast tables, and he took something from them. It is worth keeping in mind the size of Mr. Templeton’s donation; he is reported to have been the third-largest donor to the Yes on Proposition 8 campaign.

It is also worth keeping in mind that Mr. Templeton lives in Pennsylvania not California. The size of the donation, the willingness to reach across state lines, the publicity inseparable from law and any advocacy of change to it, the violation of others’ privacy implicit in the denial of marriage to them—all these elements suggest to me that even though Mr. Templeton contributed from his personal funds, and gave the money as an individual, it is fair game for me and others to respond to his contribution as a public matter.

David Zetland on the latest World Energy Outlook report:

Business as usual costs nothing extra but leads to a 6°C increase in temperatures (kinda apocalyptic; watch this). Spend $4.1 trillion (but save $7 trillion) to limit the increase to 3°C. Spend $9.3 trillion (but save $5.8 trillion) to limit it to 2°C. Although it looks like we can keep temperatures in the range of survivable at a net savings, it’s the distribution of costs and benefits that’s mucking things up. Unless we get a world dictator, we need some serious cooperation.

A rescue is in the works. On the other hand:

The Somali pirates, renegade Somalis known for hijacking ships for ransom in the Gulf of Aden, are negotiating a purchase of Citigroup.

The pirates would buy Citigroup with new debt and their existing cash stockpiles, earned most recently from hijacking numerous ships, including most recently a $200 million Saudi Arabian oil tanker. The Somali pirates are offering up to $0.10 per share for Citigroup, pirate spokesman Sugule Ali said earlier today. The negotiations have entered the final stage, Ali said.

"You may not like our price, but we are not in the business of paying for things. Be happy we are in the mood to offer the shareholders anything," said Ali.

The pirates will finance part of the purchase by selling new Pirate Ransom Backed Securities.  The PRBS’s are backed by the cash flows from future ransom payments from hijackings in the Gulf of Aden.  Moody’s and S&P have already issued their top investment grade ratings for the PRBS’s.