Links and Minifeatures 09 18 Sunday (late)

President Bush Gets Another One Right.



OK, so the response to Katrina has been unacceptably slow. So the president has decided to do something about it. No, not floggings. They're going to review disaster plans before something else happens, so that a) everybody at all levels of government is playing from the same piece of music and 2) weaknesses get spotted now, before other disasters strike. And other disasters will strike. People fifty years from now will owe their lives to Katrina and the rational way President Bush is dealing with this - rather than point fingers and blame somebody else and stonewall (as he well could because he's never running for anything else), he's trying to fix the problems before more disasters happen. And the cost, although not trivial, is so cheap it's hard to argue against it.



Is President Bush perfect? Hell no! His immigration policy is more of the "bury my head in the sand" we've had since Johnson, and his spending policies are a disaster in progress. Is he closer to rational on more issues than any president we've had since at least Truman? Yes. Does he actually get things done better than any president we've had since at least Theodore Roosevelt? Yes again. Once a problem becomes apparent, does he do his best to actually deal with and fix it better than any president we've had since Lincoln? Damned straight! Barring a future disaster in the War on Terror or something else unforseen, I have good evidence to believe that in two generations time our current President will be looked on as belonging in the very top tier of past presidents, and on the day he hands the office over to his successor he will have more to be justifiably proud of than any president in living memory.



To this, let us append a "credit where credit is due!" Bravo, Donna Brazile!



On the other hand, DU Reacts

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The Moderate Voice has some reasons why the democrats should support Roberts, in amplification of the ones from the Washington Post. I said much the same thing back on July 20th. Elections have consequences and one of the consequence of being elected President is that you get to choose who you want on the Supreme Court. Roberts is a very mild choice compared to some the President might have chosen. Furthermore, he is about as qualified as they come. If the administration is going to face a nasty knock-down drag out fight no matter how reasonable their nominee, why should they not nominate a more polarizing figure. It's not as if they can't get anyone confirmed if it comes to a party line vote. The so-called nuclear option (actually, a majority of senators requesting the close of debate about an issue), if likely to be successful, both publicly and legislatively.



Dean's World suggests that Bush's next nominee be Janice Rogers Brown. I think Ms. Brown would be an excellent nominee (she's a lot more centrist than most leftists give her credit for, but keep in mind her experience is in California where it seems more right wing), but Dean thinks the Donkeys will pull at least a short filibuster on anyone following Roberts to satisfy their base. Additionally, keep in mind that it hasn't been all that long since we here in California recalled Rose Bird and her two minions from the California Supreme Court, all of whom must stand for periodic re-confirmation from the public. As I recall, Ms. Brown beat back such an attempt on her career a few years ago. A conservative demogogue could not have survived any serious recall effort - California as a whole is way too liberal for that. If Rose Bird had been even vaguely reasonable, she would never have gone down to defeat



Justus for All has more on Roberts and the likely aftermath. His conclusions match mine.



Below the Beltway also agrees.



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Jihad Watch talks about hard liners in Iran consolidating power. I think they're circling the wagons, trying to hold off revolution and the United States long enough to develop nuclear weapons. Not to put too fine a point on it, with democratic Afghanistan and Iraq to either side, the theocracy in Iran is doomed without some kind of trump card.



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Chapomatic has a worthwhile suggestion for those wishing input into the US political process: have your country apply for admission as a state. Face it: if the US is so powerful that you find yourself withing to be able to vote for our leaders, this says something good about our system.



Or to revert to lowest common denominator language: If you want a say, you have to agree to abide by the results.



HT to Enrevanche



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Ogre has a point in regard to forceably evacuating even those who aren't victims of Katrina. A very palpable point. If you're going to pull anything "state of emergency" you have to limit it to places where there actually is an emergency. If there's no threat to her, she's getting supplies, and she's not bothering anyone, leave her alone. Can you imagine them pulling this excrement on Paul over at Wizbang? Enoughfirst level readers there to make it uncomfortable for anyone, and with the second level links of people who go there all the time, enough to make it an act of slitting your own throat. What's the difference between the two? Well, nothing, really, once the story starts making the rounds. The one would just get off to a faster start than this one did.



On the plus side, looks like Louisiana Libertarian is going home to Slidell. He likes what the President said, and castigates the Louisiana governor for empty words.



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Part of an old debt repaid: Target Centermass covers the dedication of a memorial to those who fought in the Battle of Britain.



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Watchful Investor has a worthwhile post on Greenspan and the fiscal situation. I disagree on some particulars, but the whoe thing is well worth reading, and I'm too tired to articulate well my disagreements.



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I suppose I should apologize for light apparent activity. I just got too stressed out these last two weeks with trying to run two businesses (one a pre-start-up) in only five hours a day left over from childcare that some other things fell by the wayside, and this weekend I mostly fell apart. Starting tomorrow, the childcare situation should be abated so I hope for more time and activity here.