Pruning Shears

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

Still quiet on the drone front. Nothing reported in Afghanistan/Pakistan. This reported in Somalia from Press TV, presented with the usual caveat. Allegations of torture at Bagram; Karzai wants control transferred. The Taliban notes that Bagram has had accusations of torture for years and mocks Karzai’s sudden concern.

Combat operations have concluded for:

1. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Chad R. Regelin, 24, of Cottonwood, CA.
2. Army Spc. Pernell J. Herrera, 33, of Espanola, NM.

Days since Washington Post has updated its Faces of the Fallen site: 21.

So Mullah Omar is no longer on America’s hit list? I thought he was right behind Osama bin Laden on the US al Qaida hierarchy. Is it maybe something to do with rumored peace talks aimed at getting us out of Afghanistan? Anyone got any more information?

Snapshot from the recession.

A while back someone - I forget who and would link back if I remembered - remarked that Obama and Reagan share a curious dynamic: Both are enormously popular with constituencies whose policies they hurt. In Reagan’s case, blue collar white voters, in Obama’s African Americans. Yvette Carnell noted the latter this week:

So please, stop thinking that the worst thing a white politician can do to you is call you a nigger, because it’s not the worst by any stretch of the imagination. The worst thing any politician can do to you is refuse to take your demographic seriously and thus, recapture and neutralize your political power. The worst thing a politician - any politician - can do to you and me is saturate us with symbolism and starve us of substance, as is the case with our current President who sends us Christmas cards showcasing a beautiful black family, with few policy initiatives that actually support any black families other than his own, to match the card.

Would Ron Paul make a good President? I’m not sure, but he’d certainly make an effective Republican nominee for President. I wholeheartedly believe that having a Republican nominee in the fray who has real policy differences with establishment politicians would be superior to having Obama face his slightly more evil twin - Mitt Romney - in the 2012 election.

Via millbot, the best song you will hear this week.

Speaking of Romney (via (via)), it looks like Mitch Daniels is doing his best to make sure workers’ right are front and center in this election year. Which will give Randy Johnson plenty of opportunities to explain to voters just what kind of job creator Romney was. And for ads like this and this to refresh Indianans’ memories of what the candidate of Mammon has in store for them. And Romney is the least sleazy of the bunch. (The original Globe page, and story itself, isn’t loading for me at the moment. Anyone else not getting a page but no story?)

Lambert asks if libertarians know anything about jubilee years. Krugman asks if anyone knows anything about anything.

Horror story of the week.

The president recess appointed several people to fill important posts. Republicans freaked out and looked terrible doing it. He’s also responsible for a huge increase in renewable energy investment (via). Progressives have lots of reasons to be happy with the president on the domestic front. And yes, I do have some sympathy for the argument that structural reforms in fundamental areas like elections (via) are almost a prerequisite for major policy initiatives to have a shot at success. I think, though, it’s possible to acknowledge all that and still wonder where this feistier president has been hiding away the last few years.

When fraud is rampant it only makes sense to stand up for yourself.

Sunday funnies. Southern Beale: “Maybe this is a generational thing but I don’t get my sense of empowerment from my underwear.”

John Cole: “Yes, this is the very same Politico that, were it not for Fox News, would be the worst source of bullshit, nonsense, and trivialization of politics in the country.”

Paul Constant (via):

Let’s take a moment to reflect on Romney supporters. There are quite a few young ones, and they all look like creepy little jerks. They are obviously born of wealth, their pale skin moisturized as much as human skin can be moisturized, their teeth perfect and white, their hair leavened with a dollop of extremely expensive product, their costly clothing hanging perfectly on their toned bodies. Hiding behind their smiles is an intense hatred for any humanity that does not look like it trotted right over from the country club. But, oh! Those smiles! It took me a moment to realize that the Romney supporter was telling me that the room was full and I couldn’t get in due to fire codes, because his body language was completely detached from what his words were saying. His broad smile and gimlet eyes seemed to suggest that he’d just asked me to be his best friend for ever and ever, even as he was denying me entrance into a place I wanted to go. Underneath those textbook-perfect manners and impeccable optimism lurked something nasty.

ECONNED EXCERPT is postponed. Sorry!