A nation of infants - Headlines 12/16/08

[Caro]

Politics and Media Headlines 12/16/08

Wrapped in the Flag



America Must Take the Cure (by Froma Harrop)
Al goes to the doctor. Al: "I'm still short of breath. I know you told me to quit smoking, and honestly, I've tried. But kicking the habit is really stressful. Doc, can you help me?" Doctor: "I understand. Let me find a way to help you continue smoking." (Emphasis added.) No serious medical professional would ever offer that response. Smoking caused Al's breathing problems. However difficult quitting cigarettes may be, it is the only way Al will get better.

Likewise for the sick consumer economy. The cure will require discomfort. While Washington should take the panic out of shoppers, it should not impede their pained efforts to change unhealthy behavior… Like Al's smoking, Americans' love of debt and taste for real-estate speculation made the problem now needing treatment. The cure in both cases is to stop the bad habits that caused it.
Froma has put her finger on one of the most important problems facing this country. Americans don’t want to own up to and deal with difficult truths or tasks. They want to believe the people who tell them that such truths don’t exist, or that the tasks are unnecessary, even old fashioned. They want to believe that there are no consequences for their actions, or lack of action, or that magic will somehow solve all our problems. Those are childish wishes and beliefs, and the longer Americans put their faith in so-called leaders who play into them, the more difficult will be the reckoning when it comes. As it surely will.—Caro

WHY DID FITZGERALD ARREST THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS INSTEAD OF INDICTING HIM? (by Margie Burns)
Yes, obviously arresting a governor packs maximum drama, makes an incomparably bigger splash than indicting him. –So is that why U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald arrested Blagojevich, instead of going to a grand jury to get an indictment against him?... (I)t seemingly is most useful in casting a putative shadow on Obama. The Rezko trial seems to have started out with this potential, but no go.
Margie is an admirer of Fitzgerald, as am I, but there do seem to be some definite advantages to Republicans in his action against Blagojevich, especially considering the timing.—Caro

Obama: Staff had no inappropriate contact with Blago (Chicago Sun-Times)
Barack Obama insisted once again Monday that his office did nothing wrong in its contacts with Gov. Blagojevich’s office over a replacement for Obama’s seat in the U.S. Senate — but the president-elect said the feds have asked him to delay release of an internal report that clears his staff. “We were prepared to release the findings of the review that had been done, which was quite thorough and comprehensive,” Obama told a news conference in Chicago. “The U.S. Attorney’s office asked us to hold off releasing those for a week, and so I would ask for a your patience because I do not want to interfere with an ongoing investigation.”
“I have investigated myself and found no wrongdoing.” Why is Obama communicating with the U.S. Attorney? For Fitzgerald to ask that the report on the investigation not be made public, he had to be aware that it was complete. Who told him that, and why? Were its contents discussed?—Caro

It all depends on what the meaning of “we” is: (by Bob Somerby at the Daily Howler)
This Sunday, it was Gwen Ifill, on This Week, who parsed until she dropped. In what follows (her very first statement), Ifill parsed and pondered—played Pilate himself—about the Blagojevich matter. The lady was asked about her recent interview with David Axelrod, Obama’s top adviser… “Yeah. David Axelrod said, We had nothing to do with this. But there, you know—we’re back into this parsing situation about what ‘we’ means… What is ‘we?’ What is ‘involvement?’”… Since Ifill had actually interviewed the guy, she could, of course, have asked him! Instead, she waited until she reached network TV, where she authored a classic bit of boneheaded, upper-end “parsing.” Most egregiously, she suggested types of involvement from types of players which no one has ever alleged.
Ifill must show that she can be unnecessarily hard on Democrats, especially an African American Democrat, being an AA herself, in order to maintain her Beltway insider credentials.—Caro

Republicans' Guilt-by-Association Gamble (by Chris Cillizza at The Fix, Washington Post)
National Republicans moved aggressively over the weekend to link scandal-tarred Gov. Rod Blagojevich to President-elect Barack Obama — a guilt-by-association tactic that represents a significant gamble for a party still looking to pick itself up off the electoral mat. The Republican National Committee released a web video (read: electronic press release) over the weekend that dug up a series of pro-Blagojevich quotes from Obama — dating back to 2002.

Blago to Reporters: 'I Can't Wait to Talk to You Guys' (by Matt Jaffe at Political Punch, ABC News)
Just before 7 p.m. CT (on Monda), Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich left the offices of his lawyer Ed Genson in downtown Chicago. The governor, who is facing bribery and fraud charges, was met by numerous reporters outside the back entrance of the building. "There's gonna be a time and place to talk about this," Blagojevich said. "I'm looking forward to it. In fact, I can't wait, but until then I need to do the appropriate thing… "I can't wait to talk to you guys and to have a chance to be able to say the things I'm looking forward to saying," he said. "But there's a time and place for all of that and I'll, uh, we'll soon let you know when it's gonna be."

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Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com