Signs of the Times

I was talking to my bro-in-law about Him Who Must Not Be Named and about His Highness's imperial disregard for the balance of powers. A lot of that conversation revolved around W's insidious use of presidential signing statements, and Todd was completely unfamiliar with that phenomenon. So I looked up some news stories and editorials on the subject and sent them to him, and while I'm at it I'll post them here for future reference:

• Charlie Savage's Pulitzer Prize-winning report that broke the news
• A NYTimes editorial on how W uses the signing statements to avoid more public actions like the presidential veto
• Another NYTimes editorial that covers some of the legislation impacted by W's signing statements and details the unparalleled proliferation of this tool under his administration. Spoiler: "Over 212 years, 42 presidents issued 'signing statements' objecting to a grand total of 600 provisions of new laws. George W. Bush has done that more than 800 times in just over five and a half years in office."

Worst. President. Ever.


PS: In completely unrelated news, here's one response to the Obama election from Huntsville, Arkansas. It seems the owners of the Faubus Motel--yes, previously owned by the Faubus you're thinking of--have raised a Confederate Flag to protest the President Elect. And they've flown it up until at least Nov. 28.

"I've found a flaw."

I've gone a long time without a post, missing out on the big news of the last couple months: the financial meltdown leading our economy into recession, and Obama's election. Both are historic, but I just want to focus on one little issue relating to the former.

On October 23, responding to the initial mortgaged-fueled bank failures that set off the economic slide that continues today, Alan Greenspan was called into Congress to talk about the state of the economy. What did Greenspan, a lifelong neoliberal ideolgist, have to say for himself?

When Henry Waxman asked him, “Do you feel that your ideology pushed you to make decisions that you wish you had not made?”, he gave this response: “Yes, I’ve found a flaw. I don’t know how significant or permanent it is. But I’ve been very distressed by that fact.”

Wow. Nice avoidance of responsibility, Al. And let's make sure to add that it could just be a minor flaw. I mean, maybe that little flaw wouldn't lead to the failure of Detroit, fast-rising unemployment, or the worst economic crisis in a century, would it?