Month: February 2010

Chait is expecting a massive Republican health care freakout:

You can imagine how this feels to conservatives. They've already run off the field, sprayed themselves with champagne and taunted the losing team's fans. And now the other team is saying the game is still on and they have a good chance to win. There may be nothing wrong at all with the process, but it's certainly going to feel like some kind of crime to the right-wing. The Democrats may not win, but I'm pretty sure they're going to try. The conservative freakout is going to be something to behold.

Not surprising, it seems to me, that the poll that came out of CPAC seemed to echo Ron Paul's appeal to the next generation, and not the bitter culture wars of the old Christianist guard:

No one – sorry, Maggie – put forcibly divorcing me and my husband as their first choice. And why the hell should they? It's an absurd priority in a country facing this level of crisis. I think they're too glib about the healthcare crisis in this country and too callous with respect to those facing real distress or bankruptcy or neglect in their health. But overall, a GOP devoted above all to reducing the role of government and attacking government spending through cutting entitlements for wealthier seniors, and ending an unaffordable empire, would bring me back into the fold. Allahpundit gasps here.

This is the next generation. They give me hope.

The NYT got a sneak peek of a study entitled "Gays in Foreign Militaries 2010: A Global Primer," to be released tomorrow:

The report concludes that in foreign militaries, openly gay service members did not undermine morale, cause large resignations or mass “comings out.” The report found that “there were no instances of increased harassment” as a result of lifting bans in any of the countries studied.

Bush Official Criticizes Obama For Killing Too Many Terrorists.

Corby Kummer had foodies do a blind taste-test of food from Walmart and Whole Foods. Walmart held its own, especially in the produce department. Balko looks at research suggesting Walmart helps combat obesity:

“We expected the study to show an increase in obesity in communities with a Wal-Mart,” [economist Art ] Carden says. “We know that Wal-Mart lowers the cost of food, but we figured it’s not always the best food for you.” To their surprise, they found the opposite—there was a small but statistically significant reduction in obesity rates in communities with a Wal-Mart, perhaps because the store also sells fresh produce of good quality at a good price.

Broadening the study to big-box stores in general, the effect was even more pronounced. “People actually bought more produce, more fruits and vegetables,” Carden says. “Instead of just eating more, they ate a higher-quality diet—a lower-fat diet than the rest of the population.”

Isikoff relays more disturbing details from the OPR report:

At the core of the legal arguments were the views of Yoo, strongly backed by David Addington, Vice President Dick Cheney’s legal counsel, that the president’s wartime powers were essentially unlimited and included the authority to override laws passed by Congress, such as a statute banning the use of torture. Pressed on his views in an interview with OPR investigators, Yoo was asked:

“What about ordering a village of resistants to be massacred? … Is that a power that the president could legally—”

“Yeah,” Yoo replied, according to a partial transcript included in the report. “Although, let me say this: So, certainly, that would fall within the commander-in-chief’s power over tactical decisions.”

“To order a village of civilians to be [exterminated]?” the OPR investigator asked again.

“Sure,” said Yoo.

General Petraeus fights back against the cowardice and dishonor of Dick Cheney:

Joe Klein's latest column is on Gaza and the Middle East. He follows up here:

The most frequent request, especially from the Palestinian side, is for the President to lay out a proposed two-state plan. One Israeli expert said that this doesn't have to be the ultimate deal–state to state issues (like the right of return, or reparations, for some Palestinian refugees) can be worked out between the Israelis and Palestinians–but Obama's proposal should resemble Bill Clinton's parameters laid out in December 2000, including suggestions on borders, security and sovereignty.

While Israel would seem to have the whip hand in any negotiation strategy–it controls the Palestinian lands, Netanyahu has practically no domestic opposition, the Palestinians remain divided between Fatah and Hamas–the Israelis I spoke with think that some sort of accomodation with the Palestinians has to come soon. "Next year, 50% of all first-graders in Israel will be either Arabs or Othodox Jews," a member of the centrist Kadima Party told me. "We have a serious demographic problem."

"There's an old military expression — no great strategist and no great battle plan survives first contact with an enemy. And no great political campaign survives first contact with trying to govern in Washington D.C. So he has run into difficulty… And as I go around the country and talk to people, they know that health care has to be fixed. They know we need more in education. They know we need to do more with energy. But they don't see that as their main priorities. And as the president went into these areas, all of which are important. It's a disgrace that we have millions of people who are uninsured. But at the same time, in the eyes of the American people, in my judgment, it looked as if that somehow had become more important than the main attack, which was fix the economy and get the Americans working again," – Colin Powell on Barack Obama's first year.