Mumbai, the city that never sleeps

The title of this article is a bit misleading (The Rich Are No Longer Isolated from Realities of India). It is a wistful tribute to Mumbai by a "Mumbaikar" during this terrible tragedy.

Brennan out of running for CIA post

Startling development: John Brennan has withdrawn himself from consideration for the top post at the CIA, saying he would be a distraction. His vocal defense and advocacy of "enhanced interrogation techniques", wiretapping and other Bush admin offensiveness caused outcry against his potential appointment.

Brennan, however, denies culpability, saying that he wasn't involved in decision-making. But his opponents are well aware of this; it has been his public support of torture policies that make his nomination unacceptable.

A very interesting twist to this story involves the origin of the pressure for Brennan to remove himself from the running: the liberal blogosphere. Not editorials, TV punditry, etc.

Most people got news about the election at least in part from the internet.

While Rome Burns

Like I was saying:

"It would be hard to find a more striking contrast of presidential behavior than what transpired in the course of just a few minutes on cable news early Wednesday. As Barack Obama spoke to reporters in Chicago about the grave concerns and frustrations that the economic crisis portends, George W. Bush was making turkey and dog jokes on the White House lawn.

"If one hadn't the faintest clue about the American political process, it would be downright confusing to be told that the latter individual was officially in charge. But this is the status of the White House transition: the public is forced to watch as the man without the certified power sounds competent and concerned while the one controlling the levers does a decent imitation of Nero."

Bush:

Just to be safe, I will be pardoning a second bird in the unlikely event the main act chickens out... Turkeys are not only the ones on edge this morning. You see, it turns out the Rose Garden is Barney's turf. So the press corps is a little nervous as well.... This is an election year, so it is fitting that the names of these two birds were chosen through the Democratic process. After a long, drawn out election season, the people finally spoke. The name of the ticket sent here to the White House was Pumpkin and Pecan. Pumpkin is right there. Pecan is in an undisclosed location.

Obama:

What [criticism of the past] speaks to is the frustration of eight years in which middle class wages have gone down, or in real terms their family incomes have been reduced. It speaks to my frustration about all the families I've met over the last two years that have lost their health insurance or their pensions are in danger, young people who can't afford to go to college. It expresses frustration about our inability to tackle some of the long-term problems that we've been facing and have been talking about for decades, whether it's health care, energy, an education system that's been slipping behind in critical areas like math or science. And most of all, I think frustration with the incapacity of Washington to take bold, clear, decisive steps to deal with our economic problems.

Still Shallow After All These Years?: George W says goodbye to the White House

A&E and History channel have endless quality family viewing on holidays. Served up today, on Thanksgiving: An historic tour of the White House, culminating in a state dinner this fall. Laura Bush, creditably, contributes heavily to the detail and anecdotal flavor of each room. They throw in some brief interview clips with Laura and George jointly. Lots of Barney and Miss Beasley playing on the lawn.

When asked what they'll miss when they have to move out shortly, GWB tosses off, "The cooking, being Commander in Chief of course, Marine One" [makes a gesture toward the lawn where the presidential helicopter takes off and lands]. They both joke about how good the food has been and will Laura be able to measure up now, and they say what a wonderful place it's been to live, an honor, etc.

I wasn't going to take such flippancy down a familiar path: So George W is still the callow man who took office 8 years ago, one you might suppose would get ego thrills being ferried in a helicopter to the private humongous jet, and in whose memory the superb food stands out above most experiences. It was an off-the-cuff remark. Yet he made almost identical statements in a StoryCorps interview broadcast on NPR. These interviews are intimate (conducted by your own family member usually) and designed for posterity. Time for shaping your legacy! And yet:

"Frankly, I'm not going to miss the limelight all that much," Bush said in an intimate family conversation with his sister, Doro Bush Koch, about how he'll feel when he leaves the White House to make way for Barack Obama on Jan. 20.

"Been a fabulous experience to be president," Bush told Doro in the conversation recorded for the oral-history organization StoryCorps. But he said he'll be ready to go when the time comes.

Bush did acknowledge in the Nov. 12 conversation _ aired Thursday on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" _ that he would miss the trips on the presidential jet and not having to worry about traffic. He and first lady Laura Bush both agreed in the talk that they would miss the chefs at the Executive Mansion, but disagreed about who would be in charge of meals when they move back to Texas in January.

Frankly, I won't miss you all that much, GWB. I've been disgusted at how little ownership he has taken over all the catastrophes that have happened over the last eight years. I shouldn't say happened, because I believe that is exactly the way he (and Cheney) view it--all the bad stuff just "happened" to him, and the country, when he was in fact the agent, "the decider."

Even September 11: we can debate whether Clinton should have "wagged the dog" during his own political meltdown and aggressively gone after bin Laden, but the fact remains, we know that the Bush administration did not get its act together in eight months in office to effectively protect the country. We know about the damning memo "Al Quaeda Attack Imminent."

Add to the seminal event of the Al Quaeda attacks, oh say, the baseless and endless war on Iraq, no WMD, Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, Katrina, mishandling of Afghanistan, and the cherry on the sundae, this financial crisis.

So, yes, he has a few regrets. He shouldn't have said, "Bring it on." He's mellowed.

At a time of emergency, when we could use a President who casts off the lame-duck stigma, GWB has already headed to the locker room. He could be trying, for the good of the country, to get things done instead of wind things down. He punted the auto industry loan to Congress, IMO, because he wants a Democratic Congress to take full responsibility, and blame, for an unpopular bailout. The president-elect wants it, so GWB should suck it up and do what he probably thinks ought to be done anyway, but is delaying for political reasons.

Yeah, I just want him to go away too. Unfortunately, GWB is spending his time under the radar wreaking as much damage as possible (on abortion rights and the environment) and placing friends in jobs. He's still officially in charge for another 7 or 8 weeks, and in principle he ought to be furiously bailing water, not trying to gracefully bow out.

Maybe he doesn't realize he's playing with real people's lives and livelihoods. Maybe he never did realize that. Maybe 8 years in the most serious, high-pressure, high-responsibility job in the world still didn't make GWB a serious, responsible and thoughtful person. It sure doesn't seem like it.