Now Obama Points Toward The Exit

Obama is not exactly burning his ships after he lands at today's healthcare summit.  From the WSJ:

Obama Readies a Fallback Health-Care Proposal

Scaled-Down Plan Would Expand Insurance to About Half as Many People as Pending Bill Envisions

By Laura Meckler

President Barack Obama will use a bipartisan summit Thursday to push for sweeping health-care legislation, but if that fails to generate enough support the White House has prepared the outlines of a more modest plan.

His leading alternate approach would provide health insurance to perhaps 15 million Americans, about half what the comprehensive bill would cover, according to two people familiar with the planning.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer made similar comments about the plausibility of a smaller plan on Tuesday.  None of this will stiffen the spine of wavering Democrats looking for a graceful retreat from the current unpopular bill.

PUSHING BACK:  The White House is furious,as is Team Reality.  Shorter Ezra Klein - there is no fallback plan, even though there is.  Oh, let him tell it:

Plan B has been around for awhile. In August, discussions raged in the White House over whether to pare back the bill. The comprehensive folks won the argument, but people also drew up plans for how you could pare back the bill, if it came to that. More thinking was done on this in the aftermath of the Massachusetts election, when Rahm Emanuel and some of the political folks again argued for retreating to a more modest bill. As you'd expect, these conversations included proposals for how that smaller bill would look.

At this point, I could quote some White House sources swearing up and down that that's all this is. A vestigial document that's being blown out of proportion by a conservative paper interested in an agenda-setting story. They're furious over this story. None of the quotes are sourced to the White House -- not even anonymously -- raising questions that the whole thing is sabotage. But it hardly matters. There's no Plan B at this point in the game, and most everyone knows it.

He could quote White Sources but he won't?  Odd reserve for a journalist, but this may spare his sources some embarrassment when Plan B that was drawn up months ago and revised weeks ago yet doesn't exist is put forward.

PILING ON:  CNN's new poll (also Murdoch-inspired sabotage, no doubt), shows 25% of the public favors the bills on offer, 48% don't want those bills but would like to see Congress keep working towards a more sensible reform (but we daren't cal it a Plan B), and 25% want to watch curling.

Comments

[BumperStickerist]

The time for debate is over,

the time for rhetoric is upon us.

We must move forward, not backward, upward not forward, and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards health care reform.

[bgates]

If I wrote the news:

"His leading alternate approach would threaten law-abiding American citizens with jail time unless they collectively surrendered enough money to provide health insurance to 15 million other people. (It will be impossible to tell how much health insurance will actually be provided by this scheme until after the government has acquired the money from taxpayers.)"

[Captain Hate]

If the Repubs had brains they'd insist that tort reform be included in any "reform" and let the Commiecrats sail off the edge of the earth in a burning ship to avoid it. That might require some "accidents" to sadly occur to a couple crones from Maine and a certain squishy RINO from Ohio.

[2DRIGHT]

It is past time for US citizens to demand to be heard and make this wonks listen!

A maga march on DC amd NYC media centers is the only way, short of pitchforks, to get them to listen.

[Extraneus]

"We know that your party receives a lot of money from the trial lawyers' association. Is that the reason you refuse to include tort reform, which estimates say could save upwards of $50B per year?"

[is there a Greg Craig to delegate that one to?]

"You've said that a 'public option' would increase competition in the health insurance industry, yet you've refused to allow consumers to purchase insurance across state lines. Could you explain that to the American people?"

[Greg?]

If the Republicans are prepared, they should come out fine in comparison to the cast of ghouls the Dems have invited.

[Neo]

The four major problems with the current plan:
1) the general sense that it is meant to undermine the insurance system rather than bolster it.
2) No tort reform
3) use of the Medicare money (that really doesn't exist) to pay for it
4) the iron clad use of the Medical Advisory board to reduce cost by denying procedures (although this is intentionally left vague)
vs
the outlying years will bankrupt the country.

This paradox in 4), pointed to by Palin, has been brushed over intentionally. It's sort of equivalent to giving your power of attoney to a relative who wishes you dead.

[Rick Ballard]

Extraneous,

It doesn't matter much. Unless President Pinhead starts drooling too much we're going to see "cool, cerebral, intellectual" in the MSM pap aftermath. There's a fair chance that he'll say something of Bidenesque stupidity that will be enshrined by You-Tube for future delectation but it will never appear on the networks.

I'm looking forward to "there will be growth in the spring" pablum and standard prog pixie dust, much like that which Bullshitbunker continues sprinkle in comments. It's been said that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people but I believe the Democrats are in the process of proving that erroneous.

The Republicans need only stress the negative economic impact, unknown costs and probability of increasing job losses due to uncertainty in order to "win" this particular farce, wrapped in a travesty, inside an charade. The people have already spoken, President Pinhead is just doubling down on sure defeat.

[Neo]

In a short phrase, it's too vague even with the thousands of pages in the legislation.

[The Once]

Let me be clear.... my health care plan totally sux0rs!

obama + "let me be clear" + google => 3,260,000 hits.

[Janet]

There's a fair chance that he'll say something of Bidenesque stupidity that will be enshrined by You-Tube for future delectation but it will never appear on the networks.

...and that sums up my great frustration. For many Americans, if they are uninformed, it is because the MSM has lied, hidden, and spun so much information.

[BumperStickerist]

President Obama should take some advice from Misters Johnny Mercer and Harold Arlen and not mess with Mister In-Between

Accent-u-ate the Positive

~/ You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between/~

as sung by Aretha Franklin

-

[pagar]

Americans need not be uninformed, the info is out There.

"Barrasso adds that he remains “fascinated” at how not one “logical thought” has been expressed by Democrats in their summit-prep efforts, and still feels that Obama is unwilling to work with the GOP."

[Extraneus]

"Some months ago, you explained to us that our ideas wouldn't be considered because... I believe your exact words were 'I won.' What has caused you to change your mind since then?"

This is an opportunity, and shouldn't be wasted with a snooze-fest, Repubs. The glass jaw will be jutting out there majestically, for sure.

[bgates]

Well, that was depressing.

I just saw a little interview on a sports radio show (yes, "saw", they run it on tv) with a young guy named Myron Rolle. He plays safety at Florida State, and he just finished a pre-med degree in 2 1/2 years and is headed off to Oxford to be a Rhodes Scholar before he tries out for the NFL before continuing on to med school in hopes of becoming a neurosurgeon.

And what inspired this bright fellow as a youth? "Reading about great leaders like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan." What kind of questions were part of the Rhodes interview? "What three books are on my nightstand; what would I tell Barack Obama - since the interview was right when he came into office - how can he help our country considering he's walking into a situation where he has to deal with a climate crisis, two wars overseas, a failing economy, and a failing health care system...."

He's looking forward to his time at Oxford, where, he says, he will really be challenged in his beliefs.

[bunkerbuster]

One sure bet:

Obama will outperform expectations.

Thanks guys!

Bush had to expend his own political capital on lowering expectations, but thanks to Obama Paranoia Syndrome the wingnutosphere keeps the bar flat on the ground for Obama to glide right over without breaking stride...

[Janet]

Why should his beliefs be challenged? Blacks are not allowed to embrace any ideologies except leftist ones....otherwise they are = to mass murderers.
LUN a shameful WaPo sponsored wedsite that has the article "Black Folks We'd Like to Remove From Black History". John Allen Muhammad (beltway sniper) is = to Clarence Thomas. Just sickening.

[narciso]

Mandela, I could see, yes he was a terrorist,
but there were as they say 'pre-existing conditions' but Kofi Annan, the blame shifting
international bureaucrat from Rwanda to Iraq
to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

[bgates]

One sure bet:

Obama will outperform expectations.

The expectations were:
-a net cut in federal spending
-no taxes raised on anybody making less than $250k
-no mandated insurance purchase
-eliminating half a trillion dollars in Medicare waste and fraud
-televising all health care negotiations on C-SPAN
-keeping lobbyists out of the administration
-bringing a new era of unity and bipartisanship to Washington
-closing Gitmo on day one
-withdrawing from Iraq in year one
-persuading Europe to send troops to Afghanistan
-finishing health care as a political issue for all time

-and those were all expectations set by Himself. "Your mom voted for Obama" will be the playground taunt of the future, and the future starts in about 3 years.

[JM Hanes]

bunjerbuster:

"One sure bet: Obama will outperform expectations."

[Extraneus]

Check out the slope of the green line since around September. Heading for 20 by June or so at this rate.

[PaulL]

I hereby nominate everyone else to live-blog the health show. I know I'm not going to watch any of it.

[Old Lurker]

Me too, Paul. I'd rather watch re-runs of ice dancing. (just trying to cause trouble)

[Sue]

http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjA5MjNhNzJjNDJlNjBlYjQ0NDFhNDVmMGExNTRmMTI=>Obama to Britain, Drop Dead

I really, really can't stand this president.

[Extraneus]

New Jobless Claims Jumped to 496,000 as Heavy Snow Caused Rise in Layoffs

Another AP parody:

WASHINGTON -- The number of new claims for unemployment benefits jumped unexpectedly last week as heavy snows caused layoffs to rise.

[Danube of Thought]

Tort reform is essential, but it's a mere bagatelle. No way the GOP should accept federalization of the system in return for that.

I see Obama invited Olympia Snowe and she declined.

[narciso]

Six hours of this, isn't that a violation of the Geneva Convention, send the tape to KSM
and he'll confess all over again

[Sue]

My biggest fear is the GOP will cave.

[JM Hanes]

Jane:

Don't know if you saw this article, via Instapundit, which is made for You Too material: More than 70 percent of congressional offices violate OSHA safety standards

[Jane]

Yeah I just blogged it JMH

[Jane]

Clarice sent it to me last night. I had seen it and never put 2 + 2 together for You Too so I really appreciate all the suggestions.

Thank you.

[Jane]

Sorry to have 3 posts in a row, but there is no way I am going to be able to listen to this man drone on for 6 hours.

So far he's said the deficit is the result of not having health care, and we all know how urgent it is. They should get up and walk out.

[Clarice]

I sent it to her yesterday,JMH.

Love the fallback position and its leak today before the summit of summits.
what's the fallback fallback? free bandaids and aspirings?

[Captain Hate]

I'd rather watch re-runs of ice dancing. (just trying to cause trouble)

I've done a good job of not watching the UN of sports and deathcare-to-be-put-on-ice won't reach my retinas either.

Speaking of spectacles of de gubbiment: I didn't know that the Donkeycrats had dropped so low as to include nutjob and UAW tool Kucinich in the grilling of Toyoda. Anybody that thinks Bammy's policies will produce economic growth and jobs should look at Dennis's economic wasteland of a district.

[Old Lurker]

What's interesting about the Olympics is that NBC expects to lose $250M on them. And that's with parent GE buying a bunch of the commercial slots. MSM shows its business acumen once again. Must be that Profit Earning Ratio stuff again.

[RichatUF]

I've got it on and it looks like he is using a teleprompter for his prepared remarks. Wonder if he is hoping that this will be the GOP surrender talks.

I'm wondering what the hell he is talking about the deficit being caused by healthcare. A 2.5 Trillion dollar program wouldn't fix the deficit. His cash-for-caulkers and cash-for-clunkers would probably be better places to look. Ask about the ecocomic crisis in Europe-they've all got socialized healthcare and they're all swirling down the drain.

[narciso]

In the schadenfreude department, about that imminent twit, Alan Grayson, in the LUN

[narciso]

Claudia Rossett, asks the question, everyone seems to have missed on Mabdouh

[Danube of Thought]

Sue, don't worry. Although I've always considered the GOP the stupid party, I think on this one they've figured out that they have the facts and the public on their side.

And I'm beginning to think of the Dems as the utterly delusional party.

[maryrose]

I live near Kucinich's wasteland of a district and the only thing K has accomplished is getting a train to run less often and doing a flip-flop on abortion. Hopefully he is still a no vote on Healthcare because of the cost.

[RichatUF]

And for anyone interested, Cato is live blogging the GOP surrender talks.

Can't watch any more. The camera cut to Obama and he had his nose stuck in the air and a smirk on his face.

[Captain Hate]

I'm wondering what the hell he is talking about the deficit being caused by healthcare.

I wish the Repubs would knock this hanging curveball out of the park because, if nothing else, BOzo is capable of retaining only a very small number of talking points which are repeated at every opportunity. Ditto the health problems of Topsy and Jemima when children are supposed to be offbase in political matters.

[Porchlight]

My biggest fear is the GOP will cave.

Sue, I don't blame you, but I think it's different this time. They know they have the cards, and are playing from an overall position of strength - even though this particular event is risky for them due to the usual suspects manipulating the PR. So they may play it safe today, but I don't think they'll cave. It'll be more like "that's nice Mr. President, thanks but no thanks." And the majority of the country will agree.

[SunnyDay]

I'm watching with the sound off. There's a dude on there cleaning out his ears on camera.

BWAHAHAHA.

[DebinNC]

The camera cut to Obama

There's some Obamabot director deciding whose mug gets shown and when? Good grief.

[centralcal]

Strong beginning by Sen. Lamar Alexander. Obama already irritated and frustrated!

[centralcal]

Deb: so far the camera shots to The Won are helpful - it has only just begun and he is already coming off rather irritated.

[Janet]

what's the fallback fallback?

A first aid kit and a copy of an old Peace Corp book, "Where There Is No Doctor".

The 2010 version of a chicken in every pot!

[anduril]

This story, Poland's future looks bright, sheds some light on articles I've been seeing lately about large new gas reserves becoming accessible thanks to new technology developed in the US. This story has very broad implications, especially for US policy in Central Asia and the Mideast:

The great fear of the post-Soviet age, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, was that Russia would somehow continue to seek to exert sinister influence, and even, control, over its ex-satellite states in East and Central Europe. It would do this not in the old way — by tanks (although Georgia has had a bitter taste of those recently) — but by using its role as chief energy power supplier to browbeat the Europeans.

Yet unlike other Central European states, Poland, which is far the biggest of the recent newcomers to the European Union, has managed to avoid the dependence on energy from next-door Russia — especially on Russian pipeline gas, on which its smaller neighbors still depend so heavily. It can draw on its own energy in the form of plentiful domestic gas and its own enormous coal reserves.

The coal burning, which currently still provides two-thirds of Poland's electricity, will of course have to be cut down to meet carbon targets. Gas and in due time nuclear power will have to replace coal, at least until methods of capturing carbon in coal burning can be made commercial, which at present is far from being the case.

But Poland's gas prospects are now becoming so good that there is even talk of Poland becoming a gas exporter to its Central European and Baltic northern neighbors, thus providing one more means by which the Europeans can reduce their uneasy reliance on Russian gas supplies.

This in turn reinforces the opportunities for the whole of Europe to become increasingly self-sufficient in low-cost energy, and therefore far less reliant not only on Russia's arrogant gas monopoly, Gazprom, but also on the smoldering Middle East and other shaky and worrying sources of oil and gas round the world. Moscow's gas czars would then have to sell their gas eastward to China, Japan and other Asian customers for the best price they could secure.

[Captain Hate]

Laura Ingraham just commented that Bammers looks bored as hell as Pelosi Galore drones on. Other than his ADD I can kind of sympathize with him.

[Rob Crawford]

it has only just begun and he is already coming off rather irritated.

Of course he's irritated. The peons aren't falling into line the way they should, and he can't just have them shot.

[anduril]

CNN sheds some of the little light available on the nitty gritty of the Dubai hit:

Authorities have not said how he died, al-Mabhouh's family was told there were signs of electric shocks on his legs, behind his ears, on his genitals and over his heart. Blood on a pillow led police to believe he was suffocated, the family was told. The killers left some of al-Mabhouh's medicine next to his bed in an apparent effort to suggest his death was not suspicious, police said.

Looks like the killers indulged themselves a bit. I wonder if they took any video footage?

[Janet]

Harry Reid is talking about a donut hole...good Lord...the most boring man on planet earth!

[Jane]

My favorite part so far:

With sadness to the point of weeping (like when she talked about those "nazi teabaggers", Nancy Pelosi talks about a guy who was too embarrassed to tell his family he had no money for health care. Leave it to Nancy to announce it to the country.

[glasater]

The stock market is NOT doing well.......

[Rob Crawford]

Best thing about having a killfile -- not having to scroll through pages-long screeds.

Seriously, "anduril", get your own blog.

[Janet]

Steny Hoyer is trying to kill Harry Reid with his eyes.

[glasater]

Couldn't watch/listen any longer after Nancy and Harry....will appreciate others comments that do.

[Old Lurker]

What Rob said.

[DrJ]

What OL said.

[Rob Crawford]

It's amazing, OL, watching the page shrink to half its original size as the killfile kicks in.

[anduril]

Phil Giraldi has an informative article re the whole business of faking passports for special ops by intelligence agencies: What’s In a Name?

He discusses some of the issues involved, especially the increasing complexity due to new technologies for checking documents as well as tracing physical identities and movements of those identities internationally. In doing so, he draws some parallels between the Dubai hit and the CIA kidnapping in Italy.

The improved border control screening process linked to data bases can tell if the number and name are authentic, which explains why the Israelis cloned actual identities from genuine passports for their Dubai assassination operation. The Israelis revealed in this operation that they are able to reproduce British passports that will pass muster at both European and Middle Eastern border control points, but they are not able to alter the data base that the passport is stored on, so they had to use real identities and passport numbers together with substituted photos. But, like the Americans in Milan, the Israelis should have thought a lot harder about what they were doing and what the unintended consequences might be. They should have known that in the wake of the assassination the Dubai authorities would be able to piece together their involvement from CCTV footage and also from the immigration and customs records...

Mossad clearly has a top operational priority to obtain genuine foreign documents to support its activities. The German passport used in Dubai was obtained fraudulently in the name of an Israeli rabbi who actually carries an American passport. Two Canadian passports featured in a botched assassination attempt in Amman Jordan in 1997. An investigation carried out by the Canadian authorities revealed that Canadian Jews emigrating to Israel were routinely required to turn over their passports for Mossad use. In 2004, four suspected Mossad operatives were engaged in obtaining genuine New Zealand passports by applying in the names of local people who were either invalids or dead.

Now, every visitor to Israel from Europe or America should assume that his or her identity is susceptible to cloning by the Mossad for the carrying out of intelligence operations that could well include assassination. And what was the gain? The killing of a mid-level Hamas official who may or may not have been in Dubai to arrange to buy weapons from Iran. Hardly a big fish and hardly worth it, even from the Israeli point of view.

Recent CIA and Mossad operations reveal that much of what goes on in the shady world of spy vs. spy is self-generated with little to do with the national interest of either country. The bungled operations in both Milan and Dubai demonstrate that the two intelligence services are prepared to commit enormous resources against targets that really don’t matter for much. Muslim cleric Abu Omar snatched in Milan was dutifully tortured by the Egyptians after he was rendered home and later released because he wasn’t a terrorist even by the very elastic definition applied by Cairo and Washington. He also didn’t know anything useful. The killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai was meaningless as he will presumably soon be replaced. That ill-conceived and poorly executed operations to kill and kidnap even when the target is not worth pursuing are mounted reveals above all that the intelligence services in Israel and the US are out of control.

[Old Lurker]

"watching the page shrink to half its original size"

And with no loss of relevant content.

[Danube of Thought]

I'll watch not a second of it but will check in here frequently to see the comments of those who do. I value what the JOMers in the aggregate say more than any other person or group.

[narciso]

Rossett's question is something to consider, they knew who Mabdouh he was, they probably
asw his little press conference on Al Jazeera, why didn't they detain him, either
at Doha airport, or at the Al Bustana hotel; probably would have saved his life

[Jane]

Oh dear Obama is contradicting Lamar Alexander - no rise in cost but if they upgrade the policy from those awful policies they have then a rise in cost. So no rise in cost.

Obama is floundering. He's also lying - says buying insurance against state lines is in the senate proposal.

[Janet]

Obama has diarrhea of the mouth. He isn't even letting the Republicans respond. Just another Obama speech.

[narciso]

So we shouldn't have killed Hamza Rabia, or Abu Faraj Al Libi, or Mustafa Atef, because they were likely to be replaced.

[Janet]

Alexander says How bout letting some others talk....

[Captain Hate]

For those of you who can endure it, is Earflaps Obaritone talking with a negro dialect today?

[Clarice]

Rossett's piece is right. In fact, Tzipi Livni said much the same thing yesterday.

[anduril]

The WSJ has a lengthy article on the Dubai hit. The reason my link doesn't use the article's actual title is because the title fails to hint at the most interesting new details which are disclosed: there is another American angle, beyond just the credit cards:

Dubai also identified a company called Payoneer Inc., based in New York, though it wasn't clear what precise role authorities believe that company played. In a chart released to reporters, authorities suggested the company distributed the cards on behalf of MetaBank.

According to its Web site, Payoneer offers online payment solutions, including arranging for employers to pay overseas workers through money transfers into prepaid MasterCard debit-card accounts. Payoneer is based in New York, but has offices in Tel Aviv.

The company's chief executive, Yuval Tal, appeared as a commentator on the Lebanon war in 2006 on Fox News, identifying himself as a former Israeli special-forces soldier. Mr. Tal wasn't available to comment.

The company is privately held, according to a news release issued by the firm earlier this week. In a statement, tThe company said: "We are aware of the news reports. We are cooperating with the bank and the authorities to explore the matter."

[Janet]

Tom Coburn speaking...really good...really, really good...talking about government waste, too much regulation, and tort reform.

[Jane]

Coburn is great.

[Porchlight]

Count me in with the folks who can't/won't watch. You guys are gold, thanks so much for doing what I can't bear to do and reporting back.

[glasater]

The Cato live blog running above the feed is pretty interesting.

That way I can mute the computer when Reid comes on--just cannot listen to that man.

[Porchlight]

anduril,

I'm begging you, please leave this thread to the HCR summit liveblogging and use another thread for your posts. I think you'll get more eyeballs this way and it'll be easier for readers to keep up with the more urgent HCR commentary.

[Janet]

Fraud rate in Medicare is huge. Why create more government programs.

[narciso]

The whole thing has a very Col Renault feeling, both round up the usual suspects'
and "I'm shocked gambling is going on here'
as well 'my winnings, please" The Emirates gave us BCCI, they were headquarters for AQ
Khan's nuke stop n shop, as well some of the efforts in Iran's nuclear project

[SunnyDay]

Yes, Jane, Coburn is hitting the legit points.

Now being accused of filibustering. :P

[anduril]

New Jobless Claims Far Worse Than Expected
from Clusterstock by Vincent Fernando

The Department of Labor's (DOL) measure of initial jobless claims for the week ending February 20th was reported today as a seasonally-adjusted 496,000 vs. an expected 460,000 from consensus.

[SunnyDay]

/ sound

[Janet]

For those of you who can endure it, is Earflaps Obaritone talking with a negro dialect today?

Not yet Captain, but the day is young.

[glasater]

From the Cato live blog:

Arnold Kling: So far, the Democratic strategy seems to be to talk about everything except what is in the bill. They are running away from the bill, but saying that we have to pass it yesterday.

Santelli on CNBC says the hearing involving the Fed chairman is having an effect on the markets--along the the Med summit.

[anduril]

it'll be easier for readers to keep up with the more urgent HCR commentary

Oh, like:

is Earflaps Obaritone talking with a negro dialect today?

So blatantly racist comments qualify as "urgent HCR commentary" among you so-called conservatives? No one even raises a verbal eyebrow?

[Sue]

The live chat at CATO says Coburn was "through" bring back Lamar. I took it to mean Coburn wasn't very effective. Glad to hear otherwise.

[Captain Hate]

Has anybody asked Barry during his sob story of Stanley Ann dying what he was doing to help her out with her "problems" with the insurance companies (which are surely more of his BS strawmen)?

[Janet]

Hoyer talking about wellness programs (Coburn brought it up). I fear wellness programs. The busybodies will never be satisfied.

[Captain Hate]

blatantly racist comments

LOL. Good luck on getting anybody to take you seriously.

[Sue]

Capt'n,

I wouldn't believe his answer.

[Jane]

I love the: "If you have a better idea we'd love to hear it" stuff. Uh where have you guys been for the last year. Oh wait, I know that answer.

[Jane]

Bambi assumes that Coburn has not read the bill, and pretends all his ideas are in the bill. It is so disingenuous.

[Porchlight]

I was trying to be nice, anduril, but whatever.

[narciso]

And this just seems gratuitous, to insult your banker this way

[DebinNC]

I hope Lamar Alexander's challenge of BO's "facts" is correct. If so, I hope he emboldened others there to follow his example, unlike John McCain who seemed bemused by it all. Thanks to all able to watch and report for the benefit of those of us who can't take it.

[anduril]

Giraldi's main point, btw, re blowback and consequences, is simply this:

The Dubai operation resulted in a paper and data trail that could not be concealed and it will possibly end a friendly though low-keyed relationship between Dubai and Tel Aviv.

Is that worth letting some thugs get their jollies zapping this Hamas cretin's genitals a few times before he died?

[Captain Hate]

Btw, TM has opened a new thread specifically for HCR theater so anduril can have unfettered access to filling this up with his copy and paste bandwidth destroyers.

[Old Lurker]

Don't feed the boor. He likes it.

Tom wants to move us to the new HCR Open Thread.

[Janet]

Obama speaking again...and speaking...and speaking...and speaking.
Kline(R) talking about small companies being allowed to band together for savings. Not a new idea.

[Porchlight]

Moving over to the new thread - thanks for the heads up!

[glasater]

Cato:

Arnold Kling: You can really see how Pelosi and Reid are problems for Obama. So far, they are the only ones here who did not get the memo to try to sound conciliatory and constructive