In spite of the zippy, happy GDP numbers, the Dow continues its steady decline into the 9's.
It's January/February. We're tired of winter; tired of payments coming due; tired of not knowing what Obama really wants; tired of the fake tan of John Boehner and his sour expression; tired of getting out of bed; tired of the same-old in our jobs.
Democrats are reportedly "confused." Maybe also exhausted. Steve Benen thinks, "There are at least five good reasons to make every effort to wrap up health care over the next few weeks." Snore.
We are not feeling "robust." But apparently the debate between Obama and Congressional Republicans was. WaPo calls it "spirited." They couldn't, however, seem to agree on who's responsible for the toxic atmosphere. (Dumb waste of time. A majority of us already agree about who's responsible and remaining 25% would vote Republican even if it means catching rabies.) The big deal is that we got to watch the goings-on (I didn't, did you?).
They're going to meet once a month until spring or 4th of July or until someone asks them to either you-know or get off the pot.
Nate Silver turns his attention today to the proximate cause of Obama's approval ratings last summer. One of many hypotheses and a particularly interesting one is -- ta da -- Al Franken's win, after counts and recounts, of the Minnesota Senate seat. Once the Democrats achieved that sixtieth vote, they lost the good will of those who feared they would "ram" legislation through.Meanwhile, Tony Blair seems to be slipping away from the guillotine and George W. Bush... Well, godalmighty! There are those signs on front lawns in town today -- large, full-color posters of the cheerful, zoned-out. cross-eyed Bush giving a peek-a-boo wave. The text reads, "Miss him yet?"
Not.
"It took jurors 37 minutes on Friday to convict Scott Roeder," the guy on trial in Kansas for murder Dr. Tiller. At least we now know that murdering a doctor with cold intent is just about as bad as "killing babies."
One way for the US out of Afghanistan is by allowing "the enemy" a win. If that sounds horrible to you, just chuck your cellphone into the gutter and go back to your well-armed hideway in the woods in Idaho. There's been a change.
From the UN's Kai Eide to Hillary Clinton to Hamid Karzai, the talk is all about separating the decent sheep from the killer goats among the Taliban and persuading the former to enjoy full citizenship and a role in government. To put it another way, it appears that the additional troops we sent to Afghanistan aren't carrying the entire burden: a significant diplomatic effort to bring peace is also underway. There's bound to be enraged pushback from militarists in this country for whom a halfway decent win consists of nuclear annihilation of anyone who has opposed the US's right to do anything, anywhere.
Peace. Sounds pretty good to most of us.
