The State of Bush:

Last night G. W. informed the nation that he would no longer tolerate pork born in congress. After seven years of never encountering a spending bill that he couldn't love, Bush pronounced his anguish at the profligate spending the government has been doing throughout his tenure as the country's most unwise of all leaders.

G. W. has run this country like the CEO he is, a failed one. His only business success was to convince a bunch of Texas tax payers to give him hundreds of millions of dollars—tax money—to build a baseball park for a mediocre team. The promise was that the taxpayers' town would benefit economically. It didn't. Only G. W. and his handful of henchmen walked away with money in their pockets. Taxpayers' money. That's G. W. for you, a fine graduate of the Business School of Enron, his close friends in Texas.

Oh, by the way, G. W. now hates pork because the Republican party no longer controls either house of congress. Just in case you missed that connection.

It's worth noting that the "earmarks" Bush decried in last night's State of the Union Address actually "make up less than 1 percent of the federal budget," as David Kirkpatrick points out in today's New York Times. This has been a steady Republican ploy for decades. Bemoan social spending, which is always a small percentage of the budget, while throwing billions at the military-industrial complex.

G. W. four years ago: "My views are one that speaks to freedom." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., January 2004.

And now for some historical perspective: If the impeachment against Bill Clinton had succeeded and he had been removed from office, Al Gore would have been president, with a considerable advantage in the 2000 election, which he probably would have won handily. The nation would have entered the new millennium with a massive economic surplus. We would never have gone to war in Iraq. Serious advances would have been made in our efforts to control global warming.

If only Bill Clinton would have had the foresight of Richard Nixon … the world is full of these what if's.

And then Bush said this, "The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself." — George W. Bush, Grand Rapids, Michigan, January 29, 2003.

Are the Times Changing?

Senator Obama won yesterday's South Carolina Democratic primary by a healthy margin, with 55 percent of the vote to Sen. Hillary Clinton's 27 percent. Former Sen. John Edwards came in third with 18 percent.

As The New York Times points out, "the Confederate flag, swayed in the cool breeze on Saturday only a few yards from where supporters waved placards for Mr. Obama, who if elected would become the nation’s first black president."

In the meantime, Sen. John McCain, a man whose candidacy for the highest office in the land was thought dead, is in a tight battle to become the front runner in the Republican party, while former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani appears to have completely lost his way in a Florida swamp.

Obama's pitch is that he is the candidate to bring the country together, but the fact of the matter is that the federal government, despite Bill Clinton's impeachment and the nastiness over health care, functioned with considerable unity under Clinton I's reign. And from an economic standpoint, the nation has never witnessed an economic boom like the one that took place during the last four years of the last century. It has been argued, that Bill Clinton was the best Republican president—he was a member of the Democratic party, if you remember—since the first Roosevelt. How much more unity could you want?

That "unity," however, came about during a time when the Republicans staged a "revolution." They achieved their so called "revolution" by breeding hatred and dissension within the nation, appealing to racism and misogyny and fear. The "unity" that Obama seeks to offer isn't in Washington, it's within the nation itself.

We have less than a year to put up with this man: "I've been to war. I've raised twins. If I had a choice, I'd rather go to war." — George W. Bush, Charleston, West Virginia, January 27, 2002.

Every Which Way:

The rich and powerful can figure more ways to suck the money out of the working folks than anyone spending a lifetime trying to dream ways up could possibly imagine. Consider this one:

Best estimates for this year's presidential campaigns reach at least $2.5 billion spent by the candidates. At least half of that money will go into TV advertising, but lest you think that means your local affiliate stands to rake in the profits, think again. The vast majority of that money will end up in the hands of the few mega companies like Viacom and Ruppert Murdock's companies that control the so called free flow of information in the U. S.

So as you throw campaign money at your favorite candidate, remember this: What you are really doing is making the fat cats fatter.

"It's true because I said so!" "He was a state sponsor of terror. In other words, the government had declared, you are a state sponsor of terror." — George W. Bush, discussing Saddam Hussein in Manhattan, Kansas, January 2006.

Yes, boys and girls, George W. Bush never told a lie. That's because he never bothered to find out what the truth was. That's always the safest way, see?

An aside, or sledding uphill: Ain't it interesting that the Republicans are in a dither because their front runners in this years presidential elections have left leaning tendencies in a few areas, while the two front runners on the Democratic side try to appear the least left leaning as possible? Naturally, if you're a woman or an African American running for the highest office in the land, you'd better not appear to be someone who is about to sellout the country to a liberal constituency. Otherwise you'll never get enough votes to win. And if you're a Republican, well, you're traveling in the wake of the worst presidency in the history of the country.

The Case against the Clintons: Whether justified or not, the argument that may well set forth the deciding factor that keeps the Democrats out of the White House might well be the one set forth in today's New York Times by conservative writer Garry Wills.

Wills argues against the Clintons based on the notion that having two people serve as chief executive would undermine the country. His argument is two pronged. First, he argues that Bill could never be expected not to participate in some large capacity, nor could Hillary keep him from it. Second, he argues that a two headed chief executive is partly to blame for what's occurred in the past seven years. The Cheney/Bush presidency has allowed the office of chief executive to behave in a completely unchecked manner, precisely the thing that the founding fathers most feared.

Would a Clinton presidency end up the same way? It certainly seems unlikely that a Vice President would play a part in any way resembling what Cheney's part has been in the current White House. Imagine the scenario: Hillary is elected, then something happens to her. Suddenly Bill's out of office too. What would the writers of 24 do with this plot?

Bush Orders Expanded Network Monitoring:

Under the guise of national security, the Bush signed an executive order to increase network monitoring. According to The Washington Post, " The directive, whose content is classified, authorizes the intelligence agencies, in particular the National Security Agency, to monitor the computer networks of all federal agencies -- including ones they have not previously monitored."

The directive itself is classified, and even the congress, which has a Constitutional obligation to provide checks and balance to the administrative branch of government, has been refused allowance to see the order.

According to The Post, "congressional aides and former White House officials with knowledge of the program, the directive outlines measures collectively referred to as the 'cyber initiative,' aimed at securing the government's computer systems against attacks by foreign adversaries and other intruders. It will cost billions of dollars, which the White House is expected to request in its fiscal 2009 budget."

In other words, this administration that has brought the country to near bankruptcy is once again planning to generate even more massive debt, while enriching its friends. Remember, that defense spending ends up in someone's pockets. Those billions we've spent and your children will have to pay to fight a completely unnecessary war went into someone's bank account.

George W. Bush's View on the Oval Office: "See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office—I love to bring people into the Oval Office—right around the corner from here—and say, this is where I office, but I want you to know the office is always bigger than the person." — Washington, D. C., January 2004.

Stimulus: So how do you plan to spend your tax rebate?

Darfur + China = Genocide:

Genocide in Darfur is back in the news as Nicholas Kristof addresses the issue on the Op-Ed page of today's New York Times. The catalyst, naturally, is oil. China needs oil for its massively growing economy, and Darfur has it. China, on the other hand, has plenty of weapons that the government in Darfur needs to carry out its genocide policies. So when you wonder why the U. S. and the rest of the world seems incapable of acting against this third world murderous government, you now have an important piece of the puzzle.

China not only wants that oil, but the rest of the developed world wants to keep the oil flowing to China as well. If China has to look elsewhere to replenish the supply, the price of oil will only go higher. That's just one more reason to look for alternative sources.

Wisdom for the ages from the master of malformed thinking: "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." — George W. Bush in Nashua, New Hampshire, January 2000.

Which One of These Guys Wants To Be the Next Dick Cheney?

Is the mayor of 9/11, Rudy Giuliani, going to be the next candidate after "Law 'n Order" Thompson to announce he's not really serious about this head of state thing and pull out of the Republican race? Rudy G. staked his campaign on Florida and the polls show him rapidly fading with the handsome guy and the old guy surging. The Washington Post reports the latest poll showing that McCain is in the lead with 25 percent and Romney running a close second with 23 percent. Ruddy and the Huckster trail at 15 and 13 percent respectively.

Ruddy G. hunkered down in Florida where he resembled a certain VP hiding in a Washington bunker who popped out only occasionally to blast a buddy in the face with a shotgun. Ruddy apparently figured if Bush could win the Oval Office in Florida that he didn't need to run in any other state. But my real guess is that His Honor the Mayor of 9/11 really has his eye on Cheney's bunker. As for Huckabee, you've got to figure he's thinking the same thing. After all, that's how he became governor of Arkansas.

Airwaves Up for Sale:

The news that you are likely to miss and will surely be under reported, on Thursday the federal government will begin auctioning off large amounts of the nation's airwaves. Likely winners will be the huge wireless phone companies, according to today's Times.

Radio spectrum licenses are being returned from television broadcasters, who are converting to digital. The Times characterizes the transactions as "coveted as oil reserves are to energy companies."

Asian Markets React to Plunging U. S. Market:

While the American economy stagnated under the Bush administration's idiosyncratic behavior, the Asian and European economies were supposed to be "decoupling," moving away from a reliance on the U. S. market place and trading with each other. But as The New York Times reports this morning, decoupling can only go so far. After yesterday's drop in market value, the Asian market continued to fall off dramatically, forecasting a potential world-wide recession. According to the Times, "the Frankfurt Stock Exchange plummeted 7.2 percent, its steepest one-day decline since Sept. 11, 2001." And "The 7.4 percent drop in the Sensex index in Mumbai was the second-worst single-day tumble in its history." Meanwhile "in the Western Hemisphere. Canadian stocks were down nearly 5 percent, and a key market index in Brazil was off 6.6 percent."

Today The Fed has cut the prime rate to 3.5 percent, the largest drop since 1990, when Bush's father was president and homelessness was at a high not seen since The Great Depression.

Yesterday's News:

With the American stock exchange closed yesterday, the focus turned to the international scene. World-wide stock markets are reacting negatively to the American economic free-fall as stocks drop everywhere. (See The New York Times article here.)

Today's Washington Post characterizes the financial situation this way: "Stock markets around the world plummeted yesterday as a financial crisis that began in the market for U.S. home mortgages spread to almost all corners of the globe."

Today in History:

Today marks the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the U. S. In an interesting side note, while the abortion rate drops in the U. S., use of RU-486, the "abortion pill," is on the rise. (See The Washington Post story.)

Today's Bushism: "Then I went for a run with the other dog and just walked. And I started thinking about a lot of things. I was able to—I can't remember what it was. Oh, the inaugural speech, started thinking through that." — George W. Bush, January 22, 2001, U. S. News & World Report.

Who's Out of Work?

The unemployment rate made a leap, and not the kind anyone likes, recently, going from 4.7 percent to 5.0 percent. So who's out of a job? Well, if you have kids in college, preparing to become professionals and enter what we are currently calling the middle-class, you're not going to like the answer, George.

According to a story in today's Washington Post, the largest growth in long term unemployment is among the middle-class:

Once concentrated among manufacturing workers and those with little work history, education or skills, long-term unemployment is growing most rapidly among white-collar and college-educated workers with long work experience, studies have found, making the problem difficult for policymakers to address even as it grows more urgent.

A Proposal That Unifies:

Okay, Barack, you are all about unifying the country, even to the extent of extolling the memory of Ronald Ray-gun, so here's an idea for you: The country needs to save energy. We need to promote high mileage automobiles. So try this idea out: Encourage people to buy high mileage automobiles by providing them with heavy tax incentives to do so. Not by taxing those who don't, but by granting significant tax cuts to those who do.

Doug Struck points out in today's Washington Post that

The cost of replacing anything, from a power plant to a coffee maker, is the first hurdle. Even if the logic of long-term savings makes it an economical move, individuals and companies often have no money for the initial replacement cost.

So make this proposal, Barack: Offer a significant tax cut to anyone who purchases a vehicle that gets, let's say, 40 or more miles to the gallon. Something like a deduction equivalent to the cost of purchasing the vehicle. If the car costs $10 thousand, then the purchaser could deduct that sum from his or her personal income taxes, either for one year or spread out over the estimated life expectancy of the vehicle. This is done all of the time for businesses, so why not allow individuals to do it as well. It could go a long way to improving the environment, cutting our reliance on foreign energy, and appeasing the Republicans who like nothing more than cutting taxes.

A year from today, Bush will either be out of office or he and his henchmen will have performed a coup: "One year ago today, the time for excuse-making has come to an end." — George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., January 2003.

The Selling of America:

In the past century, the U. S. had a policy of "spreading democracy throughout the world," which translated to using just about any means possible to "spread" opportunities for wealthy American capitalists to establish or purchase businesses in foreign countries. In some cases, this was backed by gun-boat diplomacy, in others by establishing brutal dictatorships, such as the ones in Iraq and Iran.

Now something new is afoot. In addition to foreign businesses establishing footholds in the U. S., foreign governments are buying up businesses here. Peter S. Goodman and Louise Story report on what's happening in today's New York Times. They report that

The most conspicuous beneficiaries [businesses] are Wall Street banks like Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, which have sold stakes to government-controlled funds in Asia and the Middle East to compensate for calamitous losses on mortgage markets. Beneath the headlines, a more profound shift is under way: Foreign entities last year captured stakes in American companies in businesses as diverse as real estate, steel-making, energy and baby food.

Even Maureen Dowd chimes in on the subject:

The country is engaged in a fit of nativism and Lou Dobbsism, obsessing about the millions of Mexicans who might be sneaking across the border when billions in foreign money are pouring into Citigroup. You figure out what might be a bigger problem.

The national boundaries that really matter are the financial ones: Who’s going to own the American economy?

Question of the Day:

Who has the most experience to be the next president of the United States? (Shudder!!!) Dick Cheney. (Nicholas D. Kristof's Op-Ed in today's New York Times.)

Nevada Caucuses:

Nevadans have spent the day caucusing. That's something my colleagues do outside the mail room on a regular basis. In the latter's case, the activity usually leads to considerable hot air being expelled and little if anything accomplished.

So what's the real difference between a "caucus" and a "primary"? According to Shelley Berkley, a Congresswoman from Las Vegas: "If you have a primary, the state pays. If you have a caucus, the party pays." (See Gail Collins excellent Op-Ed in today's New York Times.)

It’s only a matter of time before some state party decides to pick its presidential delegates by counting the number of voters who paint themselves blue and howl at the full moon.

— Gail Collins

And lest we forget, our superiors have had this to say, "I want everbyody to hear loud and clear that I'm going to be the president of everybody." — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., January 18, 2001.

With Bush at the Saudi Court:

“'We don’t need America to dictate our enemies to us, especially when it’s our neighbor,' said an insider at the Saudi royal court" (qtd. Maureen Dowd, New York Times 1-16-08). Maureen Dowd describes the amazing opulence of the Saudi Court that oil has generated in recent years, in her column yesterday.

Three years ago, George W. Bush had this to say in explaining why Osama bin Laden had not yet been found: "Because he's hiding."

Now that he's entering his last year in office, it is comforting to remember that the man who told us his administration would not be a nation builder had this to say at the beginning of his term in office: "There's no such thing as legacies. At least, there is a legacy, but I'll never see it." Certainly, there is little doubt that he was absolutely correct about that. The current members of his party who hope to succeed him are running away from his "legacy" so fast they almost sound like Democrats when you listen to them.

Any guesses about which conservative think tank author will issue a book entitled something like "The Bush Years and the Betrayal of America"?

Economy in Free Fall:

While your president Bush is practicing his sword dancing at The House of Saud, new housing starts in America are currently fewer than at any time since 1991, a period that saw more homelessness in the U. S. than at any time since The Great Depression. (See the Times article.)

Note: Computer technology is the first technological advance that has actually reduced jobs rather than creating jobs.

Sign of the Times: Merrill Lynch Posts a $9.8 Billion Loss

The New York Times reports that the investment firm had a total right-down of $16.7 billion resulting in the mega loss of money. Another sign of the market's free fall is Lehman Brothers cutting of 1,300 jobs.

It's snowing in the north-east, but Bing Crosby ain't singin'. What passed for Christmas has come and gone, and we're left with the wisdom of a fool: "I'm hopeful. I know there is a lot of ambition in Washington, obviously, but I hope the ambitious realize that they are more likely to succeed with success as opposed to failure." — George W. Bush, speaking to the Associated Press in Jan. 2001.

The Best Advice on Education:

Forget no child left behind and its mediocrity creating testing. The best advice I've come across so far comes from Nancy Kalish, writing on the Op-Ed page of today's New York Times. It's ridiculously simple: Start school later in the morning.

Most high schools around the country now start classes before 8:00 am. This is a schedule dedicated to creating failure. As Kalish points out, teenagers operate biologically on a different time schedule than either adults or their younger siblings. Kalish relates how a number of school districts around the country have set their opening times to somewhere between 8:20 and 8:40 am and have discovered that the students not only learn better but that more of them actually show up to class.

When I was growing up, I attended one of the best high schools in the country, a public school in Illinois, where the administration seemed already primed to this logic without the benefit of any educational psychologists. Our little school with around six hundred students started the day at 8:23 am each day. Absenteeism was rare, and I only ever witnessed one student falling asleep in class.

Kalish has some other good advise too, like setting aside time in school for home work. Our high school did that as well. I was able to complete at least half of my home work while still at school. And the time spent doing home work at school always seemed far more productive than at home.

Just how good was that little high school? Well, I was in my junior year of college before I encountered a course as tough as any I had in high school. The physics course I took in high school was, in fact, the most demanding course I ever took. And yes, I did take a physics class in college, from a professor with a national reputation.

And now for a little enlightenment from our estranged leader: "The California crunch really is the result of not enough power-generating plants and then not enough power to power the power of generating plants." — George W. Bush, The New York Times, Jan. 14, 2001. (He was attempting to cover up for his buddies at Enron at the time.)

What I mean by change is

I'm willing to compromise by having everyone believe just like me! Good 'nough for ya?

Or as our extreme leader put it last year, "We thought long and hard about what to propose. We proposed a bold initiative, an initiative that takes equities out of the system, so people are treated fairly." — George W. Bush, Lee's Summit, Missouri, January 2007.

Economics 101:

Paul Krugman addressed the comparison of the American and European economies yesterday on the Op-Ed page of The New York Times, pointing out that Republican criticism of the EU is mostly hokum and relies on the average American's ignorance of anything outside his or her immediate environment. But like almost everyone, he failed to mention military spending. Check the numbers, America spends far more on military might than the rest of the world combined. And absolutely no one follows the money trail. The flat truth of the matter is that no one in the public sphere either knows or is willing to tell us where all of that military money ends up.

We are told that this coming year, America will spend over $600 billion on our military. Still think Ron Paul with his notions of massively downsizing our military has a chance to win the Republican nomination? Think again. The military/industrial complex is still our biggest industry. Why else would our politicians be forever manufacturing enemies abroad and at home?

When you start examining the recovery of Japan and Europe after World War II, one major factor becomes eminently apparent: they saved tons of money from the shear fact that they no longer needed to throw money down the military hole. This was the greatest form of aid America gave those countries.

George W. Bush on education: "Rarely is the question asked: 'Is our children learning?'" — George W. Bush, Florence, South Carolina, January 11, 2000.

Trade Deficit Becomes Gorge:

Remember when some knucklehead in Washington told us that a weak dollar would mean our exports would narrow the trade deficit? The latest figures confound this argument. The New York Times reported yesterday that the "trade deficit grew 9.3 percent, to $63.1 billion" in November. It is true that exports grew in the same time period, but only by 0.4 percent. America sold $142.3 billion overseas.

The major factor has been the increase in oil consumption. The northeast has had a colder winter than in the past couple of years, and Americans simply refuse to alter their driving habits, including the trucking industry. America has moved its economy to 18-wheelers, probably the most foolish and wasteful economic decision imaginable.

Why is the price of oil so high? Because speculators are willing to bid the price up to almost any level, knowing that Americans are willing to pay almost any price for it.

Sen. John McCain on the campaign trail: “I feel like Will Smith in I Am Legend — I’m the last guy standing that’s not a zombie” (qtd. Gail Collins in her Op-Ed piece for Saturday).

Too Good to Pass Up:

The hot news out of Washington has nothing to do with the primaries. Everybody's talking about the FBI's latest fiasco: The Bureau can't pay its phone bill. Lora Jakes Jordan reports on the situation in Salon.com. The plug on the Bureau's wire taping activities has been pulled by the phone companies.

Our supreme leader may have been addressing the issue when he had these words to say three years ago: "Who could have possibly envisioned an erection—an election—in Iraq at this point in history?" — George W. Bush, Washington, D. C., January 10 2005.

Republican Owned Supreme Court Set t0 Prohibit Indiana Dems from Voting:

States with Republican dominated legislatures are passing laws like the Indiana "fraud law," that is intended to keep Democratic voters from exercising their right to vote, and the Supreme Court, the same body that performed the coup in 2000 that put George W. Bush in the White House, believes it's perfectly okay to keep some voters out of the system as long as they are Democrats.

See Linda Greenhouse's story in today's New York Times.

A dose of Bush: "It's about past seven in the evening here so we're actually in different time lines." — George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., January 2001.

Are White Voters Still Afraid of Black Candidates?

Andrew Kohut, writing in today's New York Times, thinks so, and he's probably correct, especially the undereducated poor, who are afraid Blacks will take their jobs.

Everybody is rushing to find an explanation of how the pollsters could get it so wrong in New Hampshire. You'd think it was 1948 all over again, Harry Truman posing with his newspaper headline. Senator Obama is the Tiger Woods of politics, the Black man that every white person likes; but the numbers are still showing that plenty of undereducated whites with incomes below what is becoming the new poverty level, less than $50,000 per year, still have difficulty with having a Black man in power. These are the same folks who are most fearful that their jobs will be outsourced or given to Mexican immigrants, regardless of how irrational that fear may be, the same folks who ran to Richard Nixon in 1972.

More words of wisdom from The White House: "I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country." — George W. Bush, Washington, D.C., January 2004.

Speaking of Illegal Immigrants:

Washington Post Staff Writer, N. C. Aizenman, presents "Two Views of 'Illegal'" immigrants in the Post today. Here's one:

"To call us illegal is to call us criminals," said Salvadoran-born Maria Isabel Rivas, 28, who trekked across the Arizona desert seven years ago to join her husbandi n Herndon. "But how can this be a crime? Our only crime is to come here and work like burros."

You probably already know the other one. It goes something like "We need you and want you; we just don't want to see you."

Democracy under Siege:


Voter fraud is usually defined as the individual voter attempting to defraud the government by voting when he or she is not eligible; however, the latest wave of fraudulent voting behavior is coming directly out of state legislatures.

States are passing laws like the one in Indiana to prohibit legal citizens from exercising their right to cast votes, specifically targeting those voters most likely to vote Democratic. The so called voter ID fraud law in Indiana is designed to prohibit voter fraud, an example of which has never occurred. Nevertheless, a high percentage of citizens have had their votes destroyed as a result of the law.

Possibly as high as 13 percent of voters in Indiana had their votes thrown out during the last election because they lacked the proper ID, even, as in most cases, when authorities on the spot could testify to who those people were and readily recognized them. In the vast majority of these cases, the voters were registered Democrats.

According to The New York Times, 27 other states have had legislation introduced to enact the same sort of laws, attempting to disenfranchise voters. The case is being pushed towards the Supreme Court this year, where it will be interesting to see if the ultra conservative geriatric group of predominantly old white men will push justice aside to support this new form of voter fraud—the theft of the citizens right to vote.

And this from the leader of the free world: "The best way to defeat the totalitarian of hate is with an ideology of hope—an ideology of hate—excuse me—with an ideology of hope." — George W. Bush, Bennying, GA, January 2007.

Irony, thy name shall be Wall Street:

If you are the CEO of a publicly held company, like say the Tribune Company, there is nothing that will make your stock rise faster on Wall Street than to lay people off. Wall Street loves down-sizing. So what gives when the Feds announce that unemployment has risen to 5 percent last month, the news of which sent stocks tumbling? Peter S. Goodman and Michael M. Grynbaum report on the situation in yesterday's updated business section of The New York Times.

Answer: We are a consumer society. People who are out of work buy less. Worse yet, when the rate of unemployment begins to grow dramatically, other consumers, even those with good jobs, begin to act conservatively in their buying habits, fearful that they might be next.

In the beginning, we were an agricultural society, then an industrialized nation, then an information society. Now we just consume stuff. (At this point, cue the George Carlin monologue.)

Signs of things to come?

While the rest of the media swoons over Obama and Huck[ster]abee, Salon.com puts 2008 in perspective this way:

1) The Dow Jones industrial average registers its worst performance since 1983 [the first of the two Reagan recessions and the worst since the Great Depression] on the first trading day of the year, falling 220.86 points;
2) The price of a barrel of oil briefly hits the magic number of $100; and
3) 16 states sue the Environmental Protection Agency over its refusal to allow California to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from automobiles.

--Andrew Leonard

And there's this from your leader-in-chief: "Not over my dead body will they raise your taxes." --George W. Bush, Ontario, California, Jan. 5, 2002.

Pundits, draw your conclusions!

Last night's results from the Iowa caucuses have the pundits all a twitter. Barack Obama shelled the Hillary machine, and comedian Mike Huckabee, according to New York Times columnist David Brooks, has thrown the Republican nomination to—of all people—John McCain. Brooks can't imagine in his wildest dreams that the grand old party would ever nominate the trailer trash governor from Arkansas.

(For some interesting stats, like Obama's record number of caucus attenders, check out Variety here.)

And now for your daily dose of Georgie: "I want to thank you for taking time out of your day to come and witness my hanging." — George W. Bush, Austin, TX, Jan. 4 2002, at the dedication of his gubernatorial portrait.

Where Your Tax Dollars Go:

Glenn Greenwald reports on military spending in today's Salon.com: The United States' budget for fiscal year 2008 is $623 billion; meanwhile the rest of the world combined will spend only $500 billion, and part of that money comes from the U. S. in the form of military aid.

Evidently, money 't'ain't enough to capture a middle-age terrorist with kidney disease.

Do you feel safer? Or just poorer? Meanwhile, China, the number two military spender has a budget of only $65 billion.

49 Years Ago the 49th Joined:

Forty-nine years ago today, Alaska joined the Union as the 49th state. Back in 1959, the country was in the midst of the Cold War, but regardless of the political hype about the perceived threat of nuclear attack, the real concern of that day was how to arrange the stars in the flag. As I can personally testify, we were almost as stupid under Eisenhower as we are today under What'shisname.

More wit from the same: "We need to apply twenty-first century information technology to the healthcare field. We need to have our medical records put on the I. T." — G. W. Bush, Collinsville, Illinois, January 2005.

Today's Top Story: Criminal Inquiry into C. I. A. Tape Erasures:

Everybody and their brothers are talking about the Justice Department's inquiry into the destruction into the C. I. A. videotapes (see the Times article) that showed agents torturing people following 9/11. The question is will this simply be another whitewash like the 9/11 Commission itself, which, as you no doubt recall, was simply a venue for the Administration to cover up its ineptitude.

The Real Top Story:

While the Justice Department's investigation of the C. I. A. garners headlines with its supposed potential to lead to criminal convictions of a president and his vice (it should but it's not gonna happen), the issue that will affect us all appears in today's Washington Post. It is the economy, stupid. Neil Irwin points out that we are facing that godawfull bugaboo of the Nixon and Carter administrations, stagflation, that state of the economy wherein both inflation and stagnant economic growth occur.

Driving home from the grocery store yesterday, my daughter reminded me of when gasoline cost only 79 cents a gallon:

Yes, it's true, folks, just nine short years (1998) ago the price of crude dropped below $11 a barrel. For about a month, we bought gas at the pump (when adjusted for inflation) at the cheapest price in history, and heating our houses … well, who really worried much about that.

Yesterday afternoon oil hit $100 a barrel, although it quickly dropped to $99.62. Just four years ago, oil sold for $25 a barrel, by the way. Is it any wonder that the average wage earner thinks the economy is at the bottom of a tainted well?

Here are some words from an honorable oilman, whose father was the same: "I believe we are called to do the hard work to make our communities and quality of life a better place." — George W. Bush, Collinsville, Illinois, January 2006.

And now for a few words from America's #1 carpetbagger:

It seems only fitting and proper to begin the new year with a quote: "You can fool some of the people all the time, and those are the ones you want to concentrate on"—George W. Bush, 2001 Gridiron dinner.

And in case you haven't had your fill of hypocrisy, you can try this from Mike Huckabee. Don't forget to watch the news conference with the pulled video.