All in the Family

Any time a group has "family" in its name, you know they're not happy.

- Jon Stewart, The Daily Show, 11.17.04

Former CIA agent awed by bin Laden

Michael Scheuer, former CIA analyst and author of Imperial Hubris, on "Meet the Press" yesterday:

MR. RUSSERT: Do you think Osama is still fully in control of al-Qaeda?

MR. SCHEUER: I think it's wishful thinking to think that he isn't, sir. The one example is the tremendous sophistication and spontaneity of his media machine. There has to be some command and control there. And to imagine that it doesn't--that he's unable to do it is just absolutely incorrect. He's really a remarkable man, a great man in many ways, without the connotation positive or negative. He's changed the course of history. You just have to try to take your fourth-graders' class to the White House visitors' center...

MR. RUSSERT: When you say "great man," people cringe.

MR. SCHEUER: Yes, sir. Absolutely they cringe, but a great man is someone--a great individual is someone who changes the course of history. And certainly in the last five or six years, America has changed dramatically in the way we behave, in the way we travel. Certainly he's bleeding us to death in terms of money. Look at the budget deficit now. Much of that goes against Osama bin Laden.

MR. RUSSERT: You see him as a very formidable enemy.

MR. SCHEUER: Tremendously formidable enemy, sir, an admirable man. If he was on our side, he would be dining at the White House. He would be a freedom fighter, a resistance fighter. It's--and again, that's not to praise him, but it is to say that until we take the measure of the man and the power of his words, we're very much going to be on the short end of the stick.

If nothing else, I guess Mr. Scheuer demonstrates the power of bin Laden's persuasion.

Did you know?

Bush signed legislation today raising the government's debt limit by $800 billion. Good thing we have a limit, huh? Imagine how we might be spending if we didn't have constraints.

Drunk on Ethanol

A must-read article about the tax $s being wasted on ethanol subsidies, and the environmental impacts, courtesy of Audubon.

Noah's Lark

Timothy Noah goes out of his way to find something nice to say about Bush. Ironically, the Bush quotes in the article stood out to me, as an atheist, during that press conference as well. I too am very used to the most open-minded people generously allowing me to worship the higher power of my choice... though I choose to worship none.

Will and Quinn in Newsweek

Couple of Newsweek columns worth a read:

George Will on the challenge ahead for (any) President.

Jane Bryant Quinn on America's "Kindness Deficit" when it comes to health care.

Reaching out

Quotes from Bush's 11/4 press conference:

"I will reach out to those who share our goals."

"I will reach out to others and explain why I make the decisions I make."

Moral values trump war as election issue

More evidence that John Kerry and the Democratic party did not get out the vote. NBC News asked voters exiting polling places what issue was most important to them:

22% Moral values
20% Economy
19% Terrorism
15% Iraq
08% Health care
05% Taxes

Another way to look at these numbers:

34% Terrorism and Iraq
25% Economy and Taxes
22% Moral Values
08% Health care

It's too bad that more people don't grasp the relationship between health care, economic issues, war, and morality. But at this time, the definition of morals seems limited to abortion and gays.

Falwell's crusade

Jerry Falwell speaking of Iraq on CNN's Late Edition, Oct. 24:

""If it takes 10 years, let's blow them all away in the name of the Lord."

Dread

I don't know what to dread more. Four years of the world hating our leader, an even less accountable Bush, a massive swing to the right in the Supreme Court, a Republican-dominated legislature and executive branch that will drive us further away from our Constitutional rights and further into debt... I cannot begin to understand how Bush can get the majority vote; I feel like a stranger in my own country.