The Dish

Things must be rough for the president because even Fred Barnes has clambered out of the prone position and is proposing a radical shake-up of the administration. Money quote:

The president’s most spectacular move would be to anoint a presidential successor. This would require Vice President Cheney to resign. His replacement? Condoleezza Rice, whom Bush regards highly. Her replacement? Democratic Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, whose Bush-like views on Iraq and the war on terror have made him a pariah in the Democratic caucus.

There’s a let-down, however. Fred wants to move Cheney to Defense. At that point, the idea gets loopy. But give Fred points for trying. The chances of such a shake-up, alas, seem to me to be close to zero. This president cannot seem to fire people; and he cannot easily manage them either. New people scare him. My prediction? He’ll sleep-walk with the same people and the same pillow till he’s sent back to Crawford. But I hope I’m proven wrong.

Don’t worry. I haven’t dropped this ball. In fact, I intend to run with it some more and hope you can help. Here’s my intention, but I’ll need to beg a little of your patience. I’m taking notes on all your suggestions for saving money – both current spending and future liabilities – and hope to come up with a serious wish-list for righting our fiscal mess. My idea is to then send the program to some independent experts – on the right and left – who will give us a rough idea of whether we have achieved the goal of retruning the government to fiscal sanity. One ground-rule: we keep the current income tax rates and payroll taxes, but we can remove deductions or tax shelters. I know many will call that raising taxes. So be it. I like the broad reductions in rates because they don’t penalize success. I’m also open to restoring the gas tax to where it was years ago (or more, if necessary) and restoring the estate tax. But the main point of this is to cut spending – on entitlements and discretionary spending, including parts of the defense budget, if needs be. I’ve set up a new AOL address to receive your suggestions: WhatIdCut@aol.com. Keep them coming.

The trouble is: this takes time and effort and focus and my book deadline is April 1. I’m nearly there but don’t have time to do all this right now. I’m not ducking this. I think we could do a real service by hashing this out. Maybe some of us fiscal conservatives can even come to some agreement with moderate liberals on what a reasonable solution might be. But give me a few weeks or so to revisit this. Deal? Meanwhile, keep the suggestions for cuts coming. Pretend you’re a dictator who can impose a solution. Once again: WhatIdCut@aol.com – no apostrophes. The politicians seem unable to solve this. So maybe an army of fiscal Davids can. Have at it.

Will Chef ever be able to escape the super-secret, brain-washing cult, the "Super Adventure Club"? I don’t know. They have amazing brain-washing techniques. Is his transformation into a Darth Vader Super Adventure Clubber reversible? Not many people escape its clutches. But wherever you are, Chef, and whatever they have done to you, know this: we still love you. And we want you back.

It’s a fatal combination, as Jon Chait explains.

A reader writes:

"I’m a conservative (and editorialist/reporter) from New Hampshire who covered the same-sex civil marriage issue for my community newspaper. As a matter of fact, I was present at one of the lengthy public hearings held throughout the state. A raucous affair!

As such, let me tell you and your readers this: this amendment never had any chance of passage from the start, for political "inside pool" reasons as well as our "Live Free or Die" motto. The widely-held view by state legislators (off the record, of course), was that the committee’s recommendation of an amendment to ban gay marriage was more indicative of the committee chair’s views than a general consensus of what the state felt on the matter. In fact, I know of more than one legislator who drifted from the committee for precisely those reasons.

So it’s no surprise it got voted down roundly by the State House. New Hampshire has been – and will continue to be – a libertarian state. We hate taxes (no sales or income tax here!), we hate big government (we trust it to plow roads, and that’s about it), but we don’t hate each other. Gays and lesbians are too much a part of our social fabric – our friends, family, neighbors, and yes, politicians – for this ridiculous constitutional ploy to have had any chance. In response to your post, then, I’m not sure if this marks "a turning tide," as the tide was never flowing in favor of the amendment. At least not here.

This is the type of Republicans we are, Andrew, and this is the type of Republicans we will remain, theocons or no!"

Keep hope alive.

… and confronts Senator George Allen. A moving moment. The next generation of gay kids are the best yet. They haven’t been as psychologically damaged by homophobia as my generation; and they won’t take being treated as second-class citizens and human beings. I’m proud of being part of a gay generation that stood up for our dignity and equality at a critical time and changed history. I’m even prouder of the generations that are coming.
(Hat tip: John.)

Here’s a wonderful example of how global country music can be. In a cricket match against India, the England team was up against it. They needed inspiration:

Flintoff revealed that a blast of country music during the lunch break was behind England’s inspired display of seven wickets for 25 runs. "We went in the dressing-room, had our lunch then played a bit of Johnny Cash, Ring of Fire," he said. "It got the lads going and we came out afterwards with a spring in our step."
Matthew Hoggard admitted: "I’m the only guy that’s sad enough to have Johnny Cash on his iPod. We had a rousing rendition and that seemed to do the trick."

Still walking the line. Or should that be "bowling"?

(Photo: Robin Jones/Getty)

The Wall Street Journal doesn’t think so. Even those who offer token opposition to the practice imply that this kind of thing has happened in the past and we shouldn’t take much notice of it. Here’s an interesting transcript from a trial of Japanese interrogators after World War II, who "waterboarded" American detainees in captivity. The war crimes prosecutor is getting testimony from an American soldier who was waterboarded:

"Q: What other physical treatment was administered to you at that time?

A: Well, I was given what they call the water cure.

Q: Explain to the Commission what that was.

A: Well, I was put on my back on the floor with my arms and legs stretched out, one guard holding each limb. The towel was wrapped around my face and put across my face and water was poured on. They poured water on this towel until I was almost unconscious from strangulation, then they would let me up until I’d get my breath, then they’d start over again.

Q: When you regained consciousness would they keep asking you questions?

A: Yes sir they did.

Q: How long did this treatment continue?

A: About twenty minutes.

Q: What was your sensation when they were pouring water on the towel, what did you physically feel?

A: Well, I felt more or less like I was drowning, just gasping between life and death."

Here’s the CIA’s formal description of the waterboarding technique approved by president Bush for use in Guantanamo and in other secret CIA torture sites around the world:

"The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner’s face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt."

Sound familiar? It’s worth placing in the public record that the Bush administration’s torture policies are, in this specific respect, the same as the Japanese dictatorship’s in World War II. The American prosecutor at the time dismissed charges against the American serviceman whose testimony appears above on the following grounds: "The untrustworthiness of any admissions or confessions made under torture would clearly vitiate a conviction based thereon." How far we’ve sunk. And it took a Christian president, supported by Christian voters, to take us there.

There’s been a significant drop in new HIV and AIDS cases in Florida this past year. Not earth-shattering, and only one year’s data – but I’m passing it along because the MSM almost never reports on decreases in HIV and AIDS rates. They have a story line that HIV is exploding everywhere, especially among gay men, and they sure aren’t going to report on anything that disturbs that line.

According to this Pew poll, Americans favor torturing detainees in some circumstances by a wide margin. There’s a reason John Kerry didn’t bring it up in the debates. And there’s a reason Cheney and Rumsfeld know they can continue the practice: they have widespread public support. Most disturbing to me are the high numbers of self-decribed Christians favoring torture: only 26 percent of Catholics oppose it in all circumstances, while only 31 percent of white Protestants rule it out entirely. If you combine those Christians who think torture is either never or only rarely acceptable, you have 42 percent of Catholics and 49 percent of white Protestants. The comparable statistic of those who are decribed as "secular," which I presume means agnostic or atheist, is 57 percent opposition. In other words, if you are an American Christian, you are more likely to support torture than if you are an atheist or agnostic. Christians for torture: it’s a new constituency. Another part of the Bush legacy.