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By Susan Zakin
By Beverly Gage
$18.45
$40
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George Stephanopoulos picked the president-elect’s brain Sunday in a wide-ranging interview. On Gaza, Obama defended his silence but he said to expect Mideast action on Day 1. On prosecuting Bushies for abuses such as torture or domestic spying, don’t hold your breath. On the economy, “Everybody’s going to have to give.”
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AP photo / Abdel Kareem Hana
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By Chris Hedges — Israel will, from now on, speak to the Palestinians in the language of death. And the language of death is all the Palestinians will be able to speak back. The slaughter—let’s stop pretending this is a war—is empowering an array of radical Islamists inside and outside of Gaza.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — One of the clearest signals President-elect Barack Obama has sent is his determination to learn from the Clinton years, and particularly from the former president’s failures on health care.
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Wikimedia Commons / Kevin McCoy
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Last time he came knocking at the Capitol, the Senate sent Roland Burris away empty-handed. But now that the Illinois secretary of state has ended his protest and signed the relevant paperwork, Burris is hoping his next visit has a happier ending.
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amazon.com
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A revelatory account of a hidden chapter of the treatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II deepens our understanding of American prejudice and the abuse of power.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The substantive issues surrounding an economic stimulus are clearer than the politics of getting it passed fast. Here’s how Obama is trying to weave the politics and the substance together.
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daisysdeadair.blogspot.com
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The U.S. Senate is safe from “Hardball” host Chris Matthews—at least for now. Matthews will stay put on the media-specific side of the political arena instead of making a bid for a Senate seat in his home state of Pennsylvania, as suggested by the recent scuttlebutt about him.
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By William Pfaff — The impending end of the Bush administration and the inauguration of Barack Obama pose the enormous and explosive question of what to do about those responsible for what are regarded by a significant part of the world as war crimes.
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myspace.com / presidentiscoming
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“The President Is Coming,” an Indian mockumentary opening this weekend in the subcontinent, tells the story of six contestants fighting for “the greatest prize”—a chance to shake the hand of George W. Bush. Needless to say, it’s a comedy.
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AP photo / Rina Castelnuovo, pool
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By Bill Boyarsky — The president-elect has struggled to stay out of the Gaza fight, but based on everything he said during the campaign, he appears determined to stand up for Israel.
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By Joe Conason — As the government contemplates spending very large sums of money, it is reassuring to know that somebody still worries about waste. Or it would be reassuring, if only that somebody were not Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader.
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Flickr / ronnie44052
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The Paris Hilton of conservative politics is back and more preposterous than ever. Joe “the Plumber” Wurzelbacher is headed to the Middle East to report on the war in Gaza for Pajamas Media. But isn’t that dangerous? Not to worry, says Joe: “Being a Christian I’m pretty well protected by God, I believe.”
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Lou Dobbs is diversifying his nonsense portfolio. The anti-immigrant poster boy has taken up the now-passé fight against climate science. In this clip, Dobbs refers to “many scientists” and “just the facts” as he tries to pin climate change on something he calls the “solar sunspot activity cycle.”
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By Amy Goodman — While the Israeli government, dominated by hawks in the midst of a political campaign, has escalated its assault on Gaza, there are many Israelis who are outraged by what’s happening.
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Roland Burris tells MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow he’d rather not have a media circus swirling around his controversial appointment. But that’s what is shaping up as he moves to claim a seat in the U.S. Senate.
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By Marie Cocco — I am supposed to be typing out words that articulate a highly audible and terribly alarmed tsk tsk. Instead, I am laughing with unrestrained amusement at the farce that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich has engineered. Honestly, I haven’t had this much fun since New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s implosion.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — While Republicans are looking inward and focusing on appeals to the party’s activist base, Obama wants Democrats to concentrate their energies on recently acquired political terrain and the new converts who were central to his party’s sweep last year.
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It’s awards season, and we need your help. Truthdig is a 2008 Weblog Awards finalist in two categories: Best Political Coverage and Best Liberal Blog. Show your support by voting here and here. Polls close Jan. 13, and you can vote once every day in each category. Thanks, as always, for your support.
Posted on Jan 5, 2009
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White House / Shealah Craighead
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Americans have always preferred Laura Bush to her husband, and now Scribner, an imprint of a division of a subsidiary of Sumner Redstone’s National Amusements, is hoping to capitalize on that appeal with an “intimate” new memoir set for 2010 release. There’s no telling how much the better Bush is getting paid, but “millions” is a safe bet. Update after the jump.
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CIA
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The president-elect has reportedly chosen Leon Panetta to head the CIA and retired Adm. Dennis Blair as director of national intelligence. Both men bring a mixed bag. Panetta is an experienced bureaucrat, but he’s no James Bond. Blair has been praised for his terrorist-fighting skills, but he was criticized for a supposed conflict of interest that benefited defense contractors.
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AP photo / M. Spencer Green
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By Stanley Kutler — Some have argued that the Senate does not have the right to reject embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s pick to replace Barack Obama. However, history clearly disagrees.
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Flickr / aflcio2008
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After recounting 2.4 million ballots cast in the state’s U.S. Senate election, Minnesota officials are ready to name Al Franken the winner by a mere 225 votes. Franken’s rival, Sen. Norm Coleman, will likely fight the decision in the state Supreme Court. His campaign manager, meanwhile, is calling for a do-over. Updates after the jump.
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Flickr / FaceMePLS
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President-elect Obama is still working out the nuts and bolts of his recovery (fingers crossed) package, but Obama advisers have disclosed that at least one proposal would expand benefits and compensation to the unemployed. With the economic meltdown vaporizing more and more jobs, here’s hoping Congress gets it done before February.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — The governor is playing Chicago-style hardball at the highest level. His opponents need to reply in kind.
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By Amy Goodman — Strong voices for peace have left us this year, people who used their art for social change, often at a high personal price.
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By Eugene Robinson — In a sense, we’re all Bernie Madoff. We’ve been running our economy in accordance with his accounting principles for a generation—and now we face a most unpleasant reckoning.
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AP photo / Dawn Villella
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Minnesotans have been parodied for their politeness, but the state’s Senate race seems to get nastier and nastier. With Al Franken taking a sliver of a lead by most estimates, the bitter recount battle halted Monday as both sides made a scene in Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s office.
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AP photo / Craig Ruttle
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By Chris Hedges — The free market and globalization, promised as the route to worldwide prosperity, have been exposed as a con game. We will either find our way out of this mess by embracing an uncompromising democratic socialism or we will continue to be fleeced and impoverished by our bankrupt elite.
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Satire by Andy Borowitz —
Global markets swooned this week in reaction to photos showing that President-elect Barack Obama had lost his shirt.
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By Ellen Goodman — The 43rd president is going home with less remorse and fewer regrets than my grandchildren express for spilling their cereal.
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USAF / Michael B. Keller
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By Scott Ritter — Iraq is not Vietnam, yet there are parallels between the two wars. The American military dominated the battlefield in both conflicts, and yet America the nation emerged the loser in each. A “decent interval” is now needed for American troops to withdraw.
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Or so he says in a series of videos on his megachurch’s Web site. Among other highlights, Warren blames bloggers and talk radio for stirring up the controversy around his forthcoming inauguration prayer.
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Flickr / marcn
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An internal review of Barack Obama’s staff by Barack Obama’s staff found “no indication of inappropriate discussions” with embattled Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to auction the president-elect’s Senate seat to the highest bidder.
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White House / Eric Draper
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By Eugene Robinson — The history-be-my-judge interviews that President Bush and Vice President Cheney have been giving recently help me understand their choices—but also reinforce my confident belief, and my fervent hope, that history will throw the book at them.
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By E.J. Dionne, Jr. — By inviting Pastor Rick Warren to give the inaugural invocation, President-elect Barack Obama has alienated some of his friends on the left, but the choice also enrages conservatives who fear the breakup of right-wing dominance in the white evangelical community.
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Flickr / Joe Shlabotnik
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On Monday, the paper of record published an e-mail from the mayor of Paris slamming Caroline Kennedy’s political maneuvering as “appalling.” Unfortunately, the Times failed to check whether the message was authentic—it wasn’t. Guess that explains all those articles by Nigerian princes.
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The outgoing chairman of the Democratic National Committee fought to expand his party’s reach to the red states that Barack Obama won. His pioneering Internet fundraisers became Obama’s pioneering Internet fundraisers. He refused to budge on Florida and Michigan. So why is Howard Dean out in the cold?
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Satire by Andy Borowitz —
Caroline Kennedy would like to be considered Time magazine’s Person of the Year for 2009 and has let the magazine’s editor know of her interest in the honor, aides to Ms. Kennedy confirmed this week.
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California’s governor tells “60 Minutes” how he went from a guy who drives a Hummer to a guy who drives a Hummer that runs on vegetable oil and why he wouldn’t count out a run for the White House.
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Rep. Barney Frank, the first openly gay member of Congress, isn’t happy about the “high honor” Barack Obama has bestowed on the Rev. Rick Warren, who recently likened gay marriage to incest and pedophilia. This isn’t a speech at a forum, the congressman points out, but a role that is “traditionally given as a mark of great respect.”
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Wikimedia / Daniel Schwen / Altered
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The vice president-elect revealed Sunday that he sought and won a major promise from Barack Obama: For every major decision, “I’ll get to be in the room.” Even if you love the guy, that’s got to be tiresome—not to mention impractical.
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bradblog.com
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BradBlog has the latest from the endless recount battle in Minnesota, where Al Franken currently is trailing by only two votes. Results are day-to-day, but the Star-Tribune is predicting Franken will win out by fewer than 100 votes.
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letstravelvacations.com
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By David Sirota — A voyage to Sin City in this moment of ecological and economic crisis is a journey to a giant concave mirror reflecting back the magnified—and ugly—truths about this epoch of cataclysmic consumption and hubristic hedonism.
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Truthdigger of the Week: Sen. Angus King
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