Pruning Shears

No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post

UPDATE:  See this from Larisa Alexandrovna.  I can tell you firsthand that ice has been a problem in northeast Ohio this year.  We had lots of snow about a month or so ago, then a big warm up, then an ongoing cold snap - in other words, a really effective recipie for ice.  Lots of roads have looked deceptively clear recently, so it makes sense that a runway might too.  I knew nothing of Michael Connell and can only offer condolences to his family on its loss - an especially hard thing this time of year.  From a public perspective it also means someone with “information that he was ready to share” will never do so.

While the vice president was making news in other areas last week, I thought he made another statement worth keeping in mind.  It can’t be said often enough - the changes and assertions made by this administration will persist unless they are actively, explicitly repudiated.  How about it, Mr. Obama?

In a bit of good news, “A federal appeals court ruling late Monday is the cause célèbre of the American Civil Liberties Union, as another provision of the Bush administration’s Patriot Act falls to the judicial system.”  That’s the kind of activity I like to see.

I’ve got VP on the brain these days because in addition to his remarkably defiant interviews I’m also reading Angler, and boy howdy is it fascinating.  I think the “Darth Vader” characterization is unhelpful because it is too vague about what he has done - it paints him as having nearly supernatural powers instead of a mastery of entirely ordinary ones.  Gellman’s fleshing out of the details ends up prompting a grudging respect for how comprehensively he understands the nitty gritty of how the federal government works.  For example, see this on page 69:

One of his first assignments to his staff was a fast-track review of Bill Clinton’s departing executive orders.  That would have been a routine step, sooner or later, but Cheney had the savvy to call a halt to operations at the Government Printing Office.  Not many aides would have thought of it.  Cheney knew regulations have no legal force until they are published in the Federal Register.

Face it, you want someone that knowledgeable in charge - of the policies you approve of.  His ability to maneuver is remarkable as well.  Even as forceful an operator was Lyndon Johnson was not able to get in to the weekly Senate Democrat strategy luncheons.  Cheney got in (via) and laid out a fiercely partisan agenda for them, which they fell in line behind.  And not to single out CNN but see this contemporaneous account for some good laughs:

Cheney lunched Wednesday afternoon with a group of five Senate moderates to discuss aspects of a likely Bush administration. Next year, with the Senate evenly split along party lines, earning the support of GOP moderates will be all the more critical.

The five GOP moderates —Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine, Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Jim Jeffords of Vermont — said they spent their time with Cheney talking about potential Cabinet picks and a likely legislative agenda, and that Cheney, as president of the Senate, would become a regular fixture in the chamber.

“We had an excellent meeting,” said Jeffords. “We all agreed we’ve got to move good legislation through that is receptive to the needs of the people and this nation.”

Snowe added that the group touched upon legislation “that Governor Bush talked about during his campaign,” such as education, prescription drugs, tax cuts, campaign finance reform and health care.

Also discussed, they said, was Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling that the Florida recount efforts were unconstitutional, and ways to heal any rifts with Senate Democrats who may be embittered by the protracted battle for the White House.

“We intend to meet with them halfway and to ask them to listen to our ideas and we intend to listen to their ideas,” Specter said of Senate Democrats. “There is no question about the necessity for healing and for the need to come together across party lines to do that.”

“In the aftermath of the presidential election, it’s going to be all the more important,” Collins added.

“They recognize how significant it will be for them to reach out and work across party lines,” Snowe said of the Bush-Cheney team.

They certainly did.  (Lisa Mascaro has another good executive-legislative power article over here.)

I continue to loathe the bailout.

I kept waiting for something else to tie this to, but it seems like one way to increase good will abroad would be to stop being arms supplier to the world.

UNPACKING JANE: From page 190, on the Survival Evasion Resistance Escape (SERE) program being adapted for use in interrogation:

The trademark techniques of the SERE program soon popped up in Guantánamo and other U.S. military prisons holding suspects from the war on terror around the globe.  Hooding, stress positions, sleep deprivation, temperature extremes, and psychological ploys designed to induce humiliation and fear suddenly seemed legion.  Michael Gelles, the chief clinical forensic psychologist for the Navy’s Criminal Investigation Service, who was assigned to aid the CITF, had a ringside view of this.  He explained that the community of military and intelligence experts who have classified clearance to interrogate terrorists is small and ingrown.  “It’s a community where people communicate with each other, and there’s a lot of sharing of information,” he said.  The extraordinary legal authority granted by the president to the CIA may have been intended for only a handful of exceptional cases.  But, said Gelles, the reverse-engineering of SERE techniques was “like a germ.  It spread.”

Which is why you don’t do it in the first place.  People in the pro-torture camp have a willfully naïve view of human nature - both in regard to what will “work” on them and in regard to the possibilities of segregating cruelty.