Thursday Instahoglets

By Libby

It's a really cold day here in the almost south of North Carolina, but after reading about the deep freeze further north, I'm not complaining, at least about the weather. Politics -- well -- there's always something.

Via Avedon, if you missed David Cay Johnston's takedown on trickle-down economics, then you must read it all. Most of it is wonky but the opener on why America exists is brilliant prose. Noting that somehow the American dream has been redefined to mean the accumlation of personal wealth, he has this to say:

By contrast, the preamble to the Constitution tells us the nation's reason for being in 52 words that can be reduced to six principles: society, justice, peace, security, commonwealth, and freedom. Individual riches don't make the list. They are a product of American society, not its guiding purpose. Progress, then, must begin with a return to the best of the values that created this Second American Republic—one born, it's worth remembering, from the failure of the Articles of Confederation, whose principles (weak government, unfettered capitalism) found their resurrection in the economic policies of the past three decades.

Lance Mannion wants to save the New Deal. He reminds us, "The country, not just its economy, needed to be saved, and Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal saved it."

And this was fun. The bailout game. Save the economy without generating a depression. I actually made the leaderboard and had money left over. [via]

Glenn catches Tommy Friedman advocating for the textbook definition of terrorism. Of course it's only good as long as Friedman approved perps are committing it. Be sure to read the update link to Brandon Friedman on wingnut fantasy land.

This USAF blogger flowchart is just bizarre. I think our government has declared war on us.

Steven Benen: "Watching Dick Cheney's latest "exit interview" with PBS's Jim Lehrer last night, it was hard not to marvel at the man's shameless, almost pathological, dishonesty."

Meanwhile, adding to the milestones of the new president, The official Obama portrait is the first one to be taken on a digital camera. I like it although I could have done without the lapel pin.

But that's a small matter now that we're reaching the end of the worst presidency in my lifetime. I have a feeling that the minute the oath of office is administered to President Obama, the citizenry will heave a collective sigh of relief and get giddy. Certainly, there are massive celebrations planned including the full peal at Trinity Church in NYC, which lasts 3 1/2 hours and has been rarely heard since the "change-ringing" bells were installed three years ago.

And last, Happy Anniversary Spocko. A little over two years ago, Spocko, a small blogger, took on hate radio and won a very important battle against the Disney corporation. But the war against hate isn't over yet. Spocko is still fighting and you can help.