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- Daphne Eviatar reports that the recently passed war supplemental, now signed by President Obama, contains a potentially unconstitutional provision preventing the president from releasing Guantanamo Bay prisoners without congressional approval. In addition to being a suspension of habeas, the provision also leaves unresolved the question of which branch of the federal government actually has control over the fate of the Gitmo detainees.
- President Obama has been evasive on the question of whether he'll veto a health care bill that does not contain a public option. But White House aides are now suggesting that the first Obama veto could be over the defense budget, should Congress continue its "weaponized Keynesianism" as it pursues all the F-22s under the rainbow.
- Steve Benen reminds us that the GOP's relationship with the CBO is highly conditional, meaning they only praise its objectivity and nonpartisanship when scored legislation synchronizes with the Republican political agenda. Nothing shocking about that, but this fundamental intellectual dishonesty has yet to be rigorously called out when the likes of Eric Cantor, Mike Pence or Newt Gingrich show up on your TV.
- I'm not sure what the relevance of this Politico piece on the "politics of personal perfection" is supposed to be. Apparently, "certain people -- mostly Republicans" believe that what Americans really pine for is presidential leadership that is mediocre at best. Didn't we already hear the "celebrity" critique last year? How'd that turn out? Did voters secretly wish Joe the Plumber had been on the November ballot? And are Republicans really going to revisit the "guy you'd have a beer with" strategy of George W. Bush?
- Remainders: Michelle Obama wants to add more substance to her new role; Rudy Giuliani wants to turn New York into California; Michael Goldfarb thinks cap-and-trade is the Democrats' Iraq War; and I thought wingnuts were supposed to approve of the Japanese internment?
--Mori Dinauer
