It's all so painfully, pitifully obvious. And nothing will change.

Like when Colbert laid out the Bush administration at the Washington Press Corps Dinner. Truth to power. Response?

Condemnation, truthiness and silence.

Or when Stewart laid out Cramer. Maria Bartimiro looks a little more rumpled than usual, but other than that it's BAU.

How about a trade? You guys get your billions and we get EFCA, single payer health care, and $50B over five years to convert to renewables. OOPS, too late.

But why drag Adams into this? Ya think Obama is going to expand his support of Bush's state secrets doctrine and unitary executive to incorporate a Sedition Act? It's actually Hamilton's fault.

Arlen reminds me a lot of Harry Reid. They even look alike. And they both look a little like Lieberman.

My email to Joe Sestak:

Count on my financial support if you primary Specter. Double if he guts EFCA and votes against Dawn Johnsen.

As a former Pennsylvanian, born in Pittsburgh, I can't believe this weasel got the concessions he apparently got from Reid. Everyone I know in Pgh voted straight Democratic, straight labor. We don't need more blue dogs, we don't need more Democrats, we don't need more Liebermans, we need better democrats.

Please put me on your mailing list when you form your committee.

Thx

It has been over 40 years since I wrote a paper on a restoration comedy (might have been Goldsmith. "She Stoops to Conquer"?). I found the literary devices so transparent and contrary to my understanding of human nature that I "proved" the whole thing a satire. I might have gotten a C- from a TA who commented, "Nice try, but it won't work. He meant every word."

Since then I have been slow to call irony, even when provoked. The title, "Let War Crimes be Bygones" is extreme provocation, and some of the content absurd (pursuing current violations is like reopening issues a century and a half old?). But it's also obvious that taken as a whole this piece will be seized upon by torture apologists as fodder for their cause.

GK is too talented and careful a writer to be ambiguous and flippant about human agony and trashing the Constitution, particularly on so polarizing an issue. So, either way, Garrison, you're blowing it out your butt on this one.

What Little Brother said. Regrettably.

We already knew Reid is a spineless weakling or, worse, a closet supporter of the positions he pretends he cannot successfully oppose.

The real issue here is the overall direction of the President. The view that each distinct decision and utterance of Obama is a distillation of the solution of 17 unknowns in 18 equations notwithstanding, the overall trend is looking pretty pathetic.

Let's see we have:

1. Ongoing support and expansion of state secrets and sovereign immunity (impunity?).

2. Continuing terminations of valuable people under Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (But the personal note was a nice touch, don't you think?)

3. Total silence from the WH, allowing defeat of cramdown legislation. (Campaign promise)

4. STRONG opposition to investigation, fact finding, and prosecutions on torture. (Let war crimes be bygones?)

5. Domination of Treasury by banksters. (Ya gotta love that pass-pass stress test.)

6. Equivocation on Iraq withdrawal.

7. Ramping up in Af-Pak.

8. Confusion on Gitmo shut-down.

9. Failure to support key nominees through confirmation when the going gets tough.

10. Allowing EFCA to flounder.

11. Now our wicked uncle Timmy is putting SS "reform" back on the table.

We're supposed to shut up and have faith, and in return we get a watered-down health care proposal?

I'm beginning to fear that the only thing we'll get out of supporting Obama is a clearer understanding that, as Durbin pointed out, "The big banks own the place." Lock, stock, and barrel.

The results of the presidential election are finally in. OBL won. He defeated the Constitution.

This will be remembered as the historic week that BHO made Elephantman sound almost rational. Oh, shit.

Paul Dirks & Omooex: Your lukewarm defense of Obama is surprising. Taken in isolation about the Military Commission issue your comments sound reasonable. Taken together with pullback of the photos, lack of support for Dawn Johnsen, continuing pushback against torture investigations, amplification of state secrets doctrine, continued ramping up and refining of focus on AF-PAK, etc. your comments sound like those of the die-hard Bush apologists of old. Better spelling and syntax, but still.

Whatever his motivation and mindset, and however intense the pressure he feels, it appears obvious that Obama has bought into the National Security State. Lock, stock, and barrel.

The results of the presidential election are in. The Village won.

Paul Daniel Ash: Right on. But, as you well know, Jeessus gots nuttin'ta do widit.

Ondelette & coram nobis: Thanks

Sovereign immunity really covers it. The Constitution is just a piece of paper. Long live the King.

I really like Nathaniel Hawthorne: "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true."

This post has been proofread by Matt Yglesias.

Short answer: Precision?

I wrote on July 8 last year:

"Two choices: drink the kewl-aid, or fight from the outside.

I saw Ralph Nader on TV Sunday night. He made a whole lot of sense on a lot of issues. Total outsider, totally uncool. That's cool. But outsiders who try to play the inside game are just spoilers. We need a pedagogy and a vocabulary of permanent opposition.

Obama gets my vote, sure. My time and my money go to more focused efforts."

I like horses too, Titonwan. Let's ride.