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- It's astonishing and very indicative of what drives Republicans these days that until Dick Cheney's crew issued marching orders, congressional Republicans were perfectly content with the handling of Umar Abdulmutallab after his arrest. The result, predictably, has been incoherence and lies about which administration did what with which terrorism suspect, culminating in The Sage of Georgia's assertion to Jon Stewart that "shoe bomber" Richard Reid was an American citizen (he's not), and thus reading him Miranda rights was appropriate. Or did he really mean Jose Padilla, the American citizen who was shipped off as an enemy combatant for years and not given the criminal rights afforded to other Americans? At any rate, I think the point is TERRORISTS ARE SCARY AND WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE.
- Between filibusters and holds, the story of the 111th Congress has been a year-long exposé on the institutional failings of the United States Senate, which worked under an unspoken gentleman's agreement that the body's countermajoritarian tools would be used sparingly. That understanding has clearly died, and some important Senators are starting to take notice. There are ways of changing the Senate's rules that do not require 67 votes, but the consequences could be cataclysmic. But to paraphrase Mr. Benen, what do Democrats have to lose? An already dysfunctional Senate? Things that are broken don't fix themselves. You have to make an effort to fix them.
- Alan Wolfe has written a review of a conservative book about intellectuals and society that raises more interesting questions about intellectuals and society than the book in question, Intellectuals and Society: "It recycles ancient clichés about the academic world and never questions its author’s conviction that those who share his right-wing views are always right. Jonah Goldberg calls it 'an instant classic.' Case closed." But don't take Mr. Goldberg's word for it. One of his National Review colleagues mused today, "Thomas Sowell remains the most prolific, insightful, and consequential public intellectual in America and Victor Davis Hanson will assume the title should Sowell ever retire." One wonders if anybody working at Buckley's magazine has any inkling of the intellectual heterogeneity that once constituted National Reivew, many decades ago.
- Remainders: Obama is not exactly welcoming their hate; the snowstorm shutdown of the federal government could cost taxpayers $100 million a day, conservatives are beside themselves with joy; Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-MI) becomes the 17th House Republican to retire in advance of November's elections; Rep. Diane Watson (D-CA) becomes the 12th House Democrat to retire in advance of November's elections; Steve King (R-IA) ingeniously captures that spirit of 1776; and the guy taking over the Defense Appropriations Committee chair, Norman Dicks, same as the old boss.
--Mori Dinauer
