The Enlightened Despot

The other day Newt cuffed Rush gently by saying that it was ‘irrational’ to hope for the president’s failure - so today Rush bludgeoned Newt. You can read the full quote, but the choicest line is this piece of potkettleblackery:

I’m frankly getting tired of talking about Newt. I mean, it’s a pointless exercise. I’m surprised by nothing when I’m dealing with people in the media who think they’re in politics.

I detest Rush Limbaugh as an overweening, narrow minded thug. His physical appearance - the bloating, the uncurious, porcine face, the slitlike eyes - is a metaphor for the condition of the Republican party. I cannot decide how I would prefer to see him humiliated: a public scolding by a unified Republican party leadership would be satisfying, but so would it be if they just went silent and stopped engaging him at all, leaving him to sputter and rage like Ed Begley at the end of 12 Angry Men.

The other day we noted that, pace Yglesias, the Obama administration would be incorrect to waive their new lobbyist restrictions. As if on cue, the White House today announced two new such waivers for a couple of obscure posts. I still believe this to be incorrect.

The problem is the precedent he is setting. The next administration that comes to office will face pressure to keep this lobbyist rule in place in proportion to how strictly this administration follows it. For every one waiver Obama grants President X will be able to grant ten without political cost, precisely because this is a little issue only the policy wonks follow in detail.

Below, photographs of the people so vital to our nation’s future that waivers had to be granted. First, Ms. Jocelyn Frye, the new Director of Policy and Projects in the Office of the First Lady:

Next, Cecilia Munoz, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs in the Office of the President:

Old political ideologies are being much discussed on the blogosphere. A reprise:

1. Michael Ledeen called Obama a fascist. The inimitable Hendrik Hertzberg had his way with Ledeen, first forcing from him the concession that only Obama’s economic policies were fascist, then drily noting that “for an important expert like Ledeen to say that Obama’s brand of fascism represents ‘tyranny of a very different sort’ from the old Axis brand shows a commendable desire to change the tone in Washington.” Finally there is a splendid quote from E.B. White in 1943 about what is and isn’t fascism.

If we recall matters, a Fascist is a member of the Fascist party or a believer in Fascist ideals. These are: a nation founded on bloodlines, political expansion by surprise and war, murder or detention of unbelievers, transcendence of state over individual, obedience to one leader, contempt for parliamentary forms, plus some miscellaneous gymnastics for the young and a general feeling of elation.

2. Just everyone has been calling Obama a socialist. Obama said today that he isn’t. But what is he?

Q. Is there one word name for your philosophy? If you’re not a socialist, are you a liberal? Are you progressive? One word?

A. No, I’m not going to engage in that.

3. Objectivism. ‘Going Galt’. Absurd. I’m ‘going Galt’ on talking about ‘going Galt’, and I hope everyone else does the same.

via Calculated Risk, a realtor says insulting things about a house. It’s just entertainment until you watch his entire oeuvre and recognize it for what it is: an awful explanation of the housing market’s collapse. Dark comedy is there - but.

Scanwiches.com, high quality sandwich imagery for your education and delight.

So the Despot has fallen silent for almost a week. But we’re back with an edition of one of my favorite features: Yglesias Being Wrong. Actually, it’s ‘Ryan Grimm’ being wrong, with Yglesias merely cheerleading. The topic is lobbyists: Obama promised not to hire them, and now he’s not hiring them. The problem is that many talented Democrats became lobbyists, so it’s making it more difficult to fill undersecretary level positions. Here’s Grimm:

Lobbyists who for years have fought for workers’ rights, environmental protection, human rights, pay-equity for women, consumer protection and other items on the Obama agenda have found the doors to the White House HR department slammed shut. In the past, several progressive lobbyists explained, there was no reason not to register if there was a slim chance that the law might require it. Obama’s new policy changes the calculus, leading folks to deregister as federal lobbyists or consider other employment while they wait out the policy’s required two-year separation from lobbying.

To which I say: fantastic! The problem with lobbying is not that lobbying is inherently evil. It may be so, but it’s a necessary evil guaranteed by the first amendment. The problem is the revolving door between government and lobbying firms. There’s zero surprise that it’s painful to close that door! That’s exactly the point! Make the people who decided to become lobbyists feel some pain, so that in the future people don’t become lobbyists every fucking time that their party gets kicked out of the White House.

Yglesias does not agree - and thus is incorrect. He seems to be entranced by the fact that the democratic lobbyists have “fought for workers’ rights, environmental protection, human rights, pay-equity for women, consumer protection and other items on the Obama agenda,” as Grimm put it. But remember, Matt, that those causes are evil to Republicans. And if we want to keep Republicans from getting out of Congress and then immediately lobbying for their evil causes, we can’t let our guys lobby for our evil causes either.

UPDATE. Reaction across the leftosphere: Steve Benen thinks it’s a dilemma; Ezra Klein thinks the administration should stick to its guns.

Two good bloggers who support EFCA but seem to admit that it’s not the best solution to the problem. First, Mark Kleiman takes shots at Al Sharpton (a sure way to endear yourself to me) and reminds him of

the decades-long campaign of skilled, professionalized, and thoroughly illegal management intimidation that has broken the back of the private-sector labor movement in this country? I’d gladly take real free elections (quick, offsite, with no chance for management to threaten and propagandize) as a substitute for card-check, but the status quo simply won’t do.

This is so honest! But why settle for EFCA, which seems simply take the intimidation advantage now enjoyed by employers and give it to labor organizers. That hardly seems right.

Next up, Ezra Klein. He quotes some terrifying statistics (on which more later), among them that in 25% of cases when employees try to organize, at least one is fired illegally.

It’s possible there are other solutions than EFCA. But it needs to be solved, one way or the other. EFCA has its problems, but pretending that it’s somehow a perversion of workplace democracy as compared to a world in which 25 percent of organizing campaigns see a worker fired is absurd. It’s as if political candidates had the power to revoke your citizenship and take away your Social Security if you voted the wrong way. Would that really be a form of democracy worth preserving?

That the EFCA system is better than the current system does not mean it’s the best. Why can’t we have a system that doesn’t allow intimidation from either employers or labor organizers?

Designed by Italians, it allows you to pick your stylish shoe.

Parting shot on Rick Warren. I realize that not all human beings have read this sympathetic piece by Malcom Gladwell.

Rick Warren thinks gay people are bad when they’re being gay. President elect Obama does not think gay people are bad. But he’s honoring Rick Warren with a role in his inauguration. This is not a cause for outrage; this is not even confusing. This is what it means to find common ground and reach beyond partisan divides.

If you don’t believe me, believe the men themselves. Obama:

What I’ve also said is that it is important for America to come together, even though we may have disagreements on certain social issues. And I would note that a couple of years ago, I was invited to Rick Warren’s church to speak, despite his awareness that I held views that were entirely contrary to his when it came to gay and lesbian rights, when it came to issues like abortion. Nevertheless, I had an opportunity to speak. And that dialogue, I think, is part of what my campaign’s been all about; that we’re not going to agree on every single issue, but what we have to do is to be able to create an atmosphere when we — where we can disagree without being disagreeable and then focus on those things that we hold in common as Americans.

Rick Warren:

I commend President-elect Obama for his courage to willingly take enormous heat from his base by inviting someone like me, with whom he doesn’t agree on every issue, to offer the Invocation at his historic Inaugural ceremony.

Hopefully individuals passionately expressing opinions from the left and the right will recognize that both of us have shown a commitment to model civility in America.

Both men specifically mention that they are overlooking points of disagreement. It’s just that simple.

Actually, it’s a map of Somali pirate activity. And it’s for 2007 so it’s not very ancient. But it is good! Full .pdf here. Sample below:

(h/t my new favorite blog of the day, War & Health)

The Washington Post reports that the Chinese plan to send a ‘fleet’ to the Gulf of Aden to combat Somali pirates. This is will be the first deployment of Chinese warships outside of the Pacific. According to the China Daily:

Twenty percent of the 1,265 Chinese ships that have passed through the waters in the first 11 months of this year, have faced such attacks, [Foreign Ministry Spokesman] Liu [Jianchao] said. Seven of these ships were hijacked, and the pirates were still holding a Chinese fishing ship and 18 sailors.

History buffs will recall that America’s postrevolutionary navy was created and first used to combat piracy, so analogies abound.

There are several in this roundup. Here is Trinity College Library, Dublin:

China has roughly 2.3 million soldiers in the Peoples’ Liberation Army (PLA). We have about 1 million soldiers in our Army, plus about 200,000 in the Marine Corps. Some quick math: 2.2 million - 1.2 million = 1 million more soldiers in China then America. Oh Noes!!!1!

But what China is missing is force projection, the ability to take their soldiers and put them somewhere other than where they are based. We can project our forces but they can’t, so their 2.2 million soldiers aren’t going to be doing much except training in China and hoping for another chance to pummel India.

A countries’ navy is its first and best tool for long range force protection, which is why it is so important to keep tabs on the development of China’s navy.

A spectacular update to Google Earth was announced on their blog yesterday. Thousands of buildings have been rendered in photorealistic 3D for your navigational enjoyment.