paralepsis

Here's what: No matter what they say, the Bush administration will always, always , ALWAYS use any authority Congress gives them. Chris Dodd should have known better : In the mortgage rescue bill, the Treasury Department was given authority to buy major stakes in the two mortgage giants — if it had to. But Paulson, until recently, predicted that the government would not need to get federal money involved in propping up Fannie and Freddie. Just the ability to do so, he suggested, would be enough to calm the market. "We certainly accepted him at his word that this was going to be all that was necessary," Dodd said, adding that the administration has now "used that authority aggressively." Dodd said that he would be more wary of Paulson's words in the future. "Fool me once, your fault; fool me twice, my fault." [emphasis added] Uh huh. Now, I don't necessarily oppose the Fannie/Freddie thing. Unlike the Iraq war, something along these lines was ...

I love this guy.

In the Washington Post , Liz Cheney makes the following argument for escalation (or against withdrawal, or against Hillary, or whatever): If we quit in Iraq now, we must get ready for a harder, longer, more deadly struggle later. It's worth noting that the policies of this administration brought us to whatever Hobson's Choice we now face. Are we really faced either with this unwinnable quagmire or something even worse later? Well, maybe worse than it is now. But if so, that's the fault of Bush, Nanny Dick, and the neocon cheerleading squad (Bush always had a soft spot for his fellow cheerleaders). Doubtful, however, that it will be worse than what we face if we stay and stay and stay. Hey, and Liz (can I call you Liz?): a big shout out to the old man for pimping this war and for covering up the smearing of critics.

A few thoughts about the new report that Iraqi insurgents are planning to attack in the States. The most obvious thought is, why should they come here when they're already killing us over there? Given the number of Americans who died this last weekend (n.b. -- total subject to increase), why mess with a winning formula? Second thought: obviously we should be wary, and I'm all for following leads and tracking them down. But how many leads turn out to be real? The ABC story gets quite breathless about precedent. U.S. officials now require universities to closely track foreign nationals who use student visas to study in the United States. University officials must report international students who fail to arrive on campus or miss class regularly. In August, the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement alerted intelligence agencies and state and local law enforcement about 11 Egyptian students who had failed to report to their classes at Montana State University. ...

As though seeking the worst possible setting to make the stupidest possible comments, President Bush decided to turn a menorah-lighting ceremony into an impromptu seminar about Iran . (Thanks to Josh Marshall for the link.) President Bush and his Cabinet have seized upon the Maccabean message of refusing to give in to tyranny to reinforce Bush’s refusal to deal with Iran as a means of resolving Iraq’s burgeoning crisis. In at least one closed meeting, Bush made the connection explicitly. Clash of civilizations, anyone? You'll need to sign in to JTA (free) in order to read the whole article, entitled "Bush appropriates Chanukah moral in depicting current threat from Iran." Because what could be better in dealing with Iran than to compare Iranians with ancient enemies of the Jews? “After Jerusalem was conquered by an oppressive king and the Jews lost their right to worship in freedom, Judah Maccabee and his followers courageously set out to reclaim Jerusalem from fore...