Yes, in the United Kingdom they’re holding an official inquiry into how and why ex-P.M. Tony Blair followed George W. Bush and Co. off a cliff into war in Iraq. And guess what? Blair is facing hard questions. It’d be nice if W. faced any official questions in the U.S. But don’t expect anything of the sort.
Yet another liquor store in Crown Heights, this one brand spanking new. And like all the others, this one comes with bullet proof glass that separates cashiers from their would-be thieves, er, patrons, sort of like a sign that reads, “Welcome, fuck you, and thanks for shopping here!” all at the same time.
Nothing’s irreversible.
— Jack Shepherd
Brilliant then, brilliant now, former, and now deceased, British M.P. Robin Cook’s resignation speech to parliament in March 2003 over the imminent invasion of Iraq.
It’s O.K. to head out for wonderful, but on your way to wonderful you’re going to have to pass through all right. And when you get to all right, take a good look around and get used to it because that may be as far as you’re going to go.
— Bill Withers, Still Bill (2010)
Like, way cool.
Alexander Kosolapov, The History, 1985, Acrylic, canvas. 50” x 80”
Nothing about losing an election forces you to bend to the will of the guy who won—just ask the Republicans who lost in 2006, then lost in 2008, then opposed everything Obama proposed, and are now thrilled to have 41 votes in the Senate. The option of responding to this setback with determination exists. There’s no rule preventing the House from passing the Senate health care bill. For that matter, there’s no rule preventing the reconciliation process from being used to implement a carbon tax with the revenue split between rebates, investments in clean energy, and deficit reduction. That’s not going to happen, but the reason it’s not going to happen is that Democratic members of congress don’t want to do it. They could go down in history as the people who took bold action to solve that problem, but they prefer not to.
— Matthew Yglesias, January 19, 2010
