With regard to the stimulus:
Overall, 84 percent of Democrats, 69 percent of independents and 52 percent of Republicans backed a broadly-defined plan for new federal spending of about $800 billion to try to revive the nation’s economy.
Irwin Stelzer gets it, even if other conservatives don’t yet.
A Gitmo detainee tells a different and harrowing story – especially of outsourced torture in Morocco. More details about his case here:
Peter Feaver debates the "war on terror" label:
The two views of whether we are at war or not can be reconciled — if Obama intends to say that we are really at war, but we will voluntarily not use all of the tools of war because we do not need to. That is certainly a popular straddle today. Whether it will still be popular if the country suffers another terrorist attack remains to be seen. In the meantime, one of the things I will be watching in the coming months is how the Obama team navigates its way through the symbolic minefield of labeling the conflict. Looking only at the President’s own words and actions in the first two days, the team is off to a bit of a rough start.
So. Farewell then, Bill Kristol
You weren’t very good,
Just rather boring.
Once a neocon. Now an old con.
Not missed, but nor forgotten.
I guess these are the worst of Times for you.
Sad, but true.
– E.J. Thribb, 17 and a bit. On a related note, Mrs Bingo Little and Pete Wehner are a match made in Wodehouse Heaven. But I digress …
The problem lies in the West Bank settlements. A Sixty Minutes piece that depresses:
Max Bermann compares George Mitchell’s task in Israel and to the feat he accomplished in Ireland:
Mitchell’s challenge isn’t so much getting to “yes” on an agreement but merely getting to the table. While in Ireland all sides were exhausted and were willing to take bold steps to begin negotiations – such as John Major quietly dropping the UK’s vow not to “negotiate with terrorists” and beginning talks with Sinn Fein and Sinn Fein’s acceptance of a status short of a united Ireland – in the Middle East the split between Hamas and Fatah, Israel’s refusal to negotiate with Hamas, and Hamas’ refusal to move down from its maximalist stance means simply getting to the table with all relevant players seems almost impossible. So Mitchell’s job over the next few years in terms of the peace process seems less about getting to “yes” and more about trying to rekindle momentum for peace that could eventually serve to push the parties to the negotiating table.
Check out the commercial in Battlestar Galactica.
The pace of their disappearance has accelerated in the last few decades, according to a new study.
For Petheads, the big news is a new album out in March. Lots of obsessive questions here. My fave:
Q: We´re talking about an electronic piece of music? or synthpop, just pure ‘pop’, or something different?
A: It’s dark, slightly blippy pitchbendy electronic pop with synths in it. No donks have been put on this record.
I wouldn’t normally do this kind of thing, actually. But a new Pet Shop Boys album always rocks my donk. This one is a collaboration with Xenomania, with help from Tchaikovsky and Johnny Marr. Neil and Chris offer the following description of the first single:
"a post-lifestyle anthem which sounds like nothing we’ve done before."
We’re all so post-lifestyle now, aren’t we?
The Dish 