How Low We Have Sunk.

Padilla never got a trial.

I Should Have Known Better

Yesterday, I did the unthinkable: I linked to George Will's column. Turns out that was a big mistake, since he basically misrepresented the exchange between Bush and Webb in a manner that did not treat Webb fairly. TPM documents the atrocity.

I Am Not The Only One

Who thinks George W. Bush is our worst president ever. While being interviewed by Douglas Brinkley, Lou Cannon, famous biographer or President Regan, trys to defend W. Bush:

Shortly after Thanksgiving I had dinner in California with Ronald Reagan's best biographer, Lou Cannon. Like many historians these days, we discussed whether George W. Bush is, conceivably, the worst U.S. president ever. Cannon bristled at the idea. Bush has two more years to leave his mark, he argued. What if there is a news flash that U.S. Special Forces have killed Osama bin Laden or that North Korea has renounced its nuclear program? What if a decade from now Iraq is a democracy and a statue of Bush is erected on Firdaus Square where that famously toppled one of Saddam Hussein once stood?

Whats the problem with Cannon's defense? Well, let's just say that it is more likely that monkeys will fly out of my tochus than for us to be able to bring a functioning Democracy to Iraq. Moreover, even if those three things were to come true (and it is possible, but unlikely, that we will kill or capture Bin Laden or come to an agreement with North Korea) it won't change all of the other harm Bush has done to this nation. After all, New Orleans is still a wreak and Al Queda is still out there and we still have a huge deficit and so on and so on. Oh, and read the op-ed by Brinkley, which I have linked above.

WordBones Is Back

He's upset with Barbra Russell.

The Trillion Dollar (and Countless Lives) Question.

Time asks if W. will listen to Baker.

Or maybe even Rumsfeld?

The Senior Tax Cut

Fineline readers might recall 3 angry posts on this blog after the County Council, in the week before the election, approved a property tax cut for seniors with less than 75,000 dollars a year in taxable income. I am still burning mad about this issue. I have read with interest reports that
Councilman Calvin Ball recently proposed creating a committee to re-examine this issue.

Well lets not just examine this issue, lets get rid of the egregious and cynical tax cut.

First of all, this tax cut does nothing to address the unmet needs of those Seniors who need it the most: Those seniors who can't afford to own their own residence. On the other hand, those seniors who own the most expensive homes get the most relief.

This inequity is not addressed by capping the availability of this tax cut to those having an annual income of less than $75,000. One could easily have an income of $74,999 per year and yet be among the wealthiest Americans. In fact, if Warren Buffet (the second richest person in the United States, I didn't use the richest, Bill Gates, in my example because he is too young) chose to move to HoCo and live in its more extravagant and expensive home, he could, if he wished, qualify for this tax cut. He could merely stop receiving a salary or wages and limit his dividend and bond income to $74,999 annually while at the same time spending the rest or investing in non-income producing investments (they would still make him money by increasing in value). Or heck, he could stop making money completely and live the most extravagant lifestyle in the nation by spending his enormous fortune away AND STILL QUALIFY FOR THIS TAX CUT!

And why limit this relief to just seniors, there are plenty of other groups in HoCo who have unmet needs that need to be addressed. For example, the severely disabled.

And speaking of unmet needs, the county's multimillion-dollar deficit for future health care costs for county employees when they retire is currently estimated at $477 million. County Executive-Elect Ulman says the county must devise and fund a plan to resolve the problem.

We all know where they should start.

The Baltimore Sun Previews the Ulman Administration

To me it was good news and bad news. Mainly good news.

The Good News:

Ulman also intends to seek additional staffing for the Police Department, calling the 380-officer department woefully inadequate. He expects developers to dig deeper to help provide greater public amenities. He wants the county to be a national leader in finding solutions to problems of public health, education and smart growth. And Ulman expects his staff to read. "I will be assigning books ... to my staff members," he says. "I have a lot of ideas. I love people who want to solve problems and want to be focused on our challenges and look at models." Mostly, he says, the administration will be "focused on delivering the most efficient and accountable government services. ... The nuts and bolts."

(emphasis supplied). The Bad News:

His administration, for example, will not support building 5,500 housing units in downtown Columbia - a key component of the current plan to transform it into an urban center.

Now, I don't think there is anything magical about the number 5,500. But I am concerned about the NAMBY reaction the usually environmentally sensitive people of Howard County are having concerning downtown. First of all, if you want "urban," you need density. Second, whether we like it or not, growth is coming to our future. If the BRAC process works out as planned, a lot more people are coming to our area. We can either house them by expanding into presently rural areas (which is terrible for the environment and wastes energy), or we can build up rather than out. That is the real choice. Basically, we can either build these units in downtown and along the route 1 corridor or we can build them in Western HoCo or Carroll County and savour the sweet smell of their car exhaust as they drive between Carroll County and Fort Meade.

End of rant...for now at least.

Who Will Chair the New County Council?

The Sun is reporting that it will be Calvin Ball. Dave Keelan is speculating that Greg Fox might get to decide between (what he sees as) two competing factions among the Democratic Majority.

I have no clue who will be the next chair person. I would not rule out any of them (besides Mr. Fox, the lone Republican). Unlike Mr. Keelan, I would expect that the four Democrats will be intelligent enough to agree on a leadership arrangement among themselves before making their vote public. One solution would be to agree to rotate the Chair among the four Democrats on a yearly basis, since there are four Democrats and four years in their terms. If you forced me to bet, this would be my guess.

Knowing the way Council members elect Sigaty and Watson conducted themselves on the School Board, i.e. in a collegial and cooperative manner and from being familiar enough with the personalities of the other two Democratic members, I would be very surprised to see the Democrats on the Council split on a regular basis.

Who would make the best Chair? Let's just say that all four of them would be good Chair people.

New State GOP Chairperson

Dave Wissing at Hedgehog Report reports that the state GOP has chosen its new leader: Dr. James Pelura III, a veterinarian from Anne Arundel County. As Dave reports, an Anne Arundel Republican blogger, Greg Kline reports

Here is Dr. Pelura's pitch in his own words "Dear Fellow Republicans,As we are all aware, recent election results have put a pall over our party and Maryland Republicans. As I see it, we have two choices; crawl back into our caves for another 36 years or recognize our problems, face them head on and fix them!My philosophy during Governor Ehrlich's initial campaign, during my stint as Maryland State Chairman for Bush/Cheney '04 ,during the Governor's recent campaign and countless other races I have worked on has been predicated on the notion that:1) The majority of Marylanders are basically conservative, 2) The Republican Party of Maryland must reach out to the actual voter and make them feel proud to be Republican.3) The Republican Party should simply promote Republican ideals which will benefit all candidates on the ticket.4) There should be active and open cooperation between the Republicans in the House and Senate and the State Party.5) Most voters want to vote for something or someone and not against something or someone.

(emphasis supplied). Now I don't know if this is just the kind of thing you have to say to get elected as state GOP Party Chair, but point no. one doesn't reflect actual reality. Failure to keep in touch with reality (especially on the part of their national leadership) is one reason the Republicans find themselves in such a mess. If they don't adjust, their party won't be able to make much of a contribution in the future. In other words it will be good news for Democrats, bad news for Maryland.

A Fresh Start.

I'm feeling excited and optimistic. On Monday, A new County Executive and County Council will be sworn in. It's an exciting time. Only one member of the County Council, Calvin Ball, will be an incumbent. Calvin has served for less than a year. They are also a very youthful crew, but at the same time, do not lack for experience. We will have a County Executive who has served on the County Council and two members of the County Council (Mary K. Sigaty and Courtney Watson) who have served together on the Board of Education. Calvin has served as a community redevelopment official in one of Columbia's older village centers, and Jen Terrasa has served on the the village board of another of Columbia's Villages. I don't know much about Greg Fox, but I am sure he also brings some valuable experiences to the table.

The new County Executive and council members inherit a county that's currently in great shape. However, the future presents some interesting challenges and opportunities, not least of which will be to strike the right balance between the competing interests and objectives that are inherent in the redevelopment of downtown.

Evan Bayh is Running For President.

He doesn't stand a chance, he ought to be running for the other party's nomination . He was a big supporter of Bush's tax cuts. And yes, I realize, the article indicates he is just evaluating his options . . .

If he gets the Dem nomination, I'll stay home on election day.

See, That Didn't Turn Out So Bad!

Pelosi names Reyes to head Intelligence Committee.

Oberman on Gingrich

Hot pundit on pundit action.

A Scary Story

From the Daily Kos:

On Sunday afternoon, Washington, DC radio host Jerry Klein of WMAL was commenting on the Muslim Imams kicked off a flight. Klein suggested that all Muslims in the United States should be identified with a crescent-shape tattoo or a distinctive arm band, the phone lines jammed instantly. Among the callers: "Not only do you tattoo them in the middle of their forehead but you ship them out of this country ... they are here to kill us." and: Another said that tattoos, armbands and other identifying markers such as crescent marks on driver's licenses, passports and birth certificates did not go far enough. "What good is identifying them?" he asked. "You have to set up encampments like during World War Two with the Japanese and Germans." Finally a half hour into his show, Klien revealed the game: "I can't believe any of you are sick enough to have agreed for one second with anything I said. For me to suggest to tattoo marks on people's bodies, have them wear armbands, put a crescent moon on their driver's license on their passport or birth certificate is disgusting. It's beyond disgusting. Because basically what you just did was show me how the German people allowed what happened to the Jews to happen ... We need to separate them, we need to tattoo their arms, we need to make them wear the yellow Star of David, we need to put them in concentration camps, we basically just need to kill them all because they are dangerous."

There are some scary people out there.

This Will Solve Our Corruption Problems

From the Post:

The new chief of the U.S. General Services Administration is trying to limit the ability of the agency's inspector general to audit contracts for fraud or waste and has said oversight efforts are intimidating the workforce, according to government documents and interviews. GSA Administrator Lurita Alexis Doan, a Bush political appointee and former government contractor, has proposed cutting $5 million in spending on audits and shifting some responsibility for contract reviews to small, private audit contractors.

The sheer audacity of the Bush Administration is amazing. But wait, it gets even better:

Doan also has chided Inspector General Brian D. Miller for not going along with her attempts to streamline the agency's contracting efforts. . . . Doan compared Miller and his staff to terrorists, according to a copy of the notes obtained by The Washington Post. "There are two kinds of terrorism in the US: the external kind; and, internally, the IGs have terrorized the Regional Administrators," Doan said, according to the notes. [emphasis supplied].

Talking Points Memo adds:

Although the Post story doesn't mention it, you might recall that David Safavian, the chief of staff at the GSA earlier in the Bush presidency, was convicted for, among other things, lying to the GSA inspector general about his connections to Jack Abramoff. So of course we need less oversight.

Can Anyone Tell Me

Why John Kerry is running again?

What makes him think he has any chance of winning?

The same goes for Joe Biden.

A response to David Keelan

Over at Howard County Blog, the Blogger-in-Chief , David Keelan, doesn't think my ridicule of Newt Gingrich's article in Human Events was justified.

Let's just say,that he was unable to persuade me that (1) Newt is not a gasbag, and (2) that Newt had much to say of any importance in his article.

First, the underlying premise of Newton's article is that the U.S. can't afford to lose Iraq. I agree that losing Iraq will be disastrous for the U.S. and for the Middle East. What I find ridiculous about Newt's article is its implicit assumption that the U.S. could still "win" in Iraq. It's too late for that. We should have never invaded in the first place. Once we invaded, we botched the occupation. There is no way to win there now. The sooner we leave the better it will be for both us and the Iraqis.

Second, I find using the particular example of the American Revolution to make his point, rather interesting given the former Speaker's previous occupation (Professor of American History). The military success of the American Revolution, where a small, poorly funded army of insurgents defeated the greatest superpower the Earth had ever known (at the time) at the height of its powers, showed how difficult it is to defeat an insurgency when you are despised by the locals. Newt had the analogy reversed, we are now in the same position as the British, not General Washington.

Perhaps the question should have been: What would have happened if King George had a Baker Commission?

Better yet, what would have happened if George the 43rd had a Baker Commission before he decided to invade?

Voting Machines

From the Washington Post:

Paperless electronic voting machines used throughout the Washington region and much of the country "cannot be made secure," according to draft recommendations issued this week by a federal agency that advises the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

The assessment by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, one of the government's premier research centers, is the most sweeping condemnation of such voting systems by a federal agency.

The whole story is here.

The Navy Expects Global Warming

Too bad their commander in chief refuses to believe its real.

Baker Commission Recommends Withdrawal from Iraq

Too late.

Bush's response.

He's the worst President in our History.