Dr. X's Free Associations

Blago Making Threats?

On WBEZ radio:

I think you’ll learn a lot about a lot of different people in politics here in Illinois and in Washington. And I’m interested in being able to clarify things as much as I can, and shed some light on how this process works, and shed some light on this cynical political process...

And here:

If you’re willing to listen, maybe later in the week, I’d like to tell you some of the inside stuff and some of the things they were trying to say and do. So I’ll keep that for some other time if you’re interested in hearing that.

Via Eric Zorn

Vicious Recoil

Video below the fold:

Anecdotal Thursday Update

This really gets to me.  Today I learned of two more friends, in their 50s, laid-off this month from their jobs.  Both are very good men--hardworking, honest, decent through-and-through--the kind of guys that are always there for others.  Both are men I know from the volunteer world.  They work food pantries, PADS and they distribute coats, gloves and hats to the homeless out on the streets, always ready to give of themselves--the kind of guys who would donate a kidney to a stranger.

We Need Cynics

Will Wilkinson:

By late September of 2001, George W. Bush was the most popular president of modern times. The tragic shock of 9/11 awakened a sense of patriotism, common purpose, and deference to government entirely new to Americans who came of age after Nixon. The President displayed comforting steel in the wake of the terrifying attack. He was a uniter, not a divider. And never in recent memory have Americans been so united. Congress trembled in the face of Bush's mighty approval ratings. Nor was the media eager to gainsay the national mood.  Read the rest

Anecdotal Thursday

An acquaintance is being forced into a very premature retirement by the large privately-owned company where he has worked for the past 18 years. He doesn't know yet what kind of package he will get, but at least there will be a retirement package.  I won't mention the name of the company, but it is big, old and has a sterling reputation as a well-run, relatively recession-proof business that has never before laid-off employees.  He has never been a big earner, but he's been responsible.  Without sharing the details of his situation, I'll just say that he will have a very tough time finding employment.  Had he been able to work 10 more years at his job, he would have been set for a secure retirement.  That has changed.

Vintage Photos: New York, 1946

Gene Sedric performing at The Place.  Left-click photo to enlarge.

Stimulus is a Dirty Word

It does seem that it's always about sex for the Republicans.

Wednesday Links

Sports and Brain Injury: The NY Times reports that evidence of brain trauma was found in a 6th deceased former NFL player.

Memories and Lies:  Neuronarrative has a thoughtful discussion of memoir.

Jeffrey Sachs is worried about the proposed tax cuts: The US debate over the fiscal stimulus is remarkable in its neglect of the medium term – that is, the budgetary challenges over a period of five to 10 years. ... Without a sound medium-term fiscal framework, the stimulus package can easily do more harm than good...

Fannie and Freddie to blame?  Do Britain, Ireland and Spain all have Maes/Macs? Other countries exist in the world, and many are having the same problems.  Purple

The Milorad Watch: Does Blago still harbor presidential aspirations?

WTF?  In Chicago this week, a 14-year-old walked into a police station, reported for duty and went out on patrol in a squad car.

Kristol's Replacement

Yglesias:

[t]he goal in finding a conservative writer should be to find a writer who’s not a liberal but who liberals enjoy reading. That doesn’t need to be columns that make liberals feel good about themselves (e.g., conservatives writing about how brain-dead the GOP is, etc.) but it needs to be columns that liberals find not maddening but challenging. When I read Tyler Cowen’s skeptical notes on the stimulus, for example, I don’t become infuriated, I become better-informed about the issue. At his best, this is what David Brooks contributes on that page—he’s raised issues about public choice and so forth that liberals tend to neglect but that are genuinely important. That’s the standard you should be reaching for, though, people who can take on strong liberal arguments and raise strong doubts about them. Not someone who “drives liberals crazy.”

Abe Foxman Concerned That Mitchell Might Be Fair

Foxman tells Jewish Week:

“Sen. Mitchell is fair. He’s been meticulously even-handed,” said Abraham Foxman [...] “But the fact is, American policy in the Middle East hasn’t been ‘even handed’ - it has been supportive of Israel when it felt Israel needed critical U.S. support.

“So I’m concerned,” Foxman continued. “I’m not sure the situation requires that kind of approach in the Middle East.”

Yep, fairness could present problems for Israel.

Via Lotus