The Rest Of (A Couple Weeks) In Review

Well, I'm home, and will resume full blogging on Monday. I have to admit to being kind of pleased with not blogging for a while - some perspective is nice, and having that enormous chunk of time back doesn't hurt either. You can actually talk to people and clean your house! I finally finished Nixonland, which is a towering achievement and will become a reference book at the ready. And I took a step back to marvel at the wealth of expert knowledge in the blogosphere, with all the self-doubt that engenders in me. Whether or not this will dampen my desire to wade back into the debates remains to be seen.

For now, snapshots of Thanksgiving 2008.

• The Tim Geithner appointment as Treasury Secretary got me to reading a lot of profiles about him - here in the NYT, describing him as aware of the potential hazards of the derivatives market, but with a velvet touch; Justin Fox' brief, speaking to his limited experience outside the financial markets (which could be positive); Robert Kuttner's speculative piece on the next Treasury Secretary, with lots of speculation on Geithner; and Noam Scheiber's piece, positioning Geithner in much the same way, but stressing the past ties to Rubin and Summers. I think Geithner will be given a free hand to push his regulation policies, but there's a heck of a lot more to do than that, and there's a lot of debate over whether Geithner would have let Lehman fail if left to his devices. Like everything in the Obama Administration, his success or failure totally hinges on whether he recognizes the historical moment as wholly different, requiring a new kind of response.

• In other cabinet news, the Clinton appointment at State is happening tomorrow. We'll also see Robert Gates asked to stay on at Defense, Eric Holder at Justice, James Jones as National Security Advisor, Janet Napolitano at Homeland Security and Susan Rice as UN Ambassador. It's a list of very big names, suggesting that Obama is very confident of his ability to manage them. There's a very inviting window of potential, where Obama allows Clinton et al. enough leeway to execute effectively but not enough to basically freelance and create large power centers in the executive brach. I don't feel that Clinton's more hawkish tendencies are helpful, and yet the Clinton global brand is, especially when contrasted with Bush.

• In one of her final acts in the Senate, Clinton is fighting extremely hard to stop a dangerous new rule from Health and Human Services that would allow medical service providers in workplaces that receive federal funding to "opt out" of providing care to patients if they find it morally objectionable. Clinton and Patty Murray introduced legislation to block this rule and there is companion legislation in the House. Quoting Diana DeGette:

"The Bush Administration's 11th hour attempt to restrict access to reproductive health care is not only abusive, but also threatens everyone's access to other vital health care services," said Rep. DeGette, Vice Chair of the Committee on Energy and Commerce. "This legislation sends a clear message that this is the wrong direction for health care policy in America. The Bush Administration continues to pursue its extreme ideology over sound public health care policies even as it enters its final days."

• Now Hamid Karzai wants a withdrawal timeline from Afghanistan. What's very obvious is that the best way to get elected in an occupied country (Karzai is up for re-election next year) is to tell the occupiers to leave. The political dynamics will make it impossible for Karzai to cooperate with any increased troop effort from NATO. Read also this very good article with a retired Russian general saying, simply, that we're making all the same mistakes in Afghanistan and the only option is to leave.

• There's this weird new meme out there that Obama's small donors were actually fat cats because they were reliably tapped over and over again throughout the campaign and eventually gave over $200. This is of course the point of online donations and the reason why Obama raised half a billion online from people who never went to a rubber chicken fundraiser or shook hands with the President-elect. THAT'S the point of the online donor revolution, not some arbitrary dollar amount. It's about bringing people into the process who were traditionally ignored.

• Samantha Power is back and that's excellent news. In a fair bit of irony, she's working as part of the "Agency Review Team" of the State Department, which is likely to be headed by the woman she called a "monster" during the primary. Now that's a team of rivals!

• Change.gov is now much more interactive, offering feedback options on issues in ways that are advanced even for blog commenting, let alone the transition of the executive branch of the federal government. It's auspicious, but much like the "tell us your ideas about the Democratic platform" initiative, one wonders whether this just allows commenters the illusion of participating in the process, while the "grown-ups" get the business done without concern for the kids playing in the sandbox.

• Not only is John Brennan out as a high-level intelligence official in the Obama Administration, he is specifically referring to liberal bloggers as the reason for his demurral of any post. That's a new one. I didn't follow the Brennan stuff fully, but his closeness to George Tenet's reign at CIA was disconcerting.

• Where are all the acorns this year? I noticed that the squirrels got into our Halloween pumpkin this year for the first time I could remember. I'll put this in with "the bees are all gone" and "better enjoy the sushi because there won't be any fish in 20 years" in the list of things which cause me to lament man's inhumanity to the planet.

• There's a deadly stampede like this at Wal-Mart every year. At some point you'd think they'd introduce a little thing known as "the line." A few years ago a woman was trampled nearly to death in a mad dash for a $29 DVD player, and Wal-Mart, with the utmost generosity, decided to hold the DVD for her at the discount. You know, to make it up to her. To which Satan replied, "You guys are some bastards!"

• Yes, Philadelphia International Airport and USAirways suck at baggage handling. They lost my bag to on the way home, and as I was routed through Charlotte I was flying roughly the same route as Pam Spaulding. Thing is, I PAID $15 for the privilege of having them lose my bag, as part of their new baggage check fees. They also charged me $100 each way to bring my dog in the plane under the seat, about double other airlines, and they've taken to charging $2 in the cabin for water and offering absolutely no entertainment options for a cross-country trip. I don't care about most of this (an airplane is a vessel and they don't need to keep me constantly entertained), but you'd think all those extra fees would translate into not losing the bags of half the passengers.