11.25.10 -- 8:39AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (10)

SLIDESHOW: First Turkeys

--David Kurtz

11.25.10 -- 7:48AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (22)

Non-Decision Points

The essence of George Packer's elegant review of George W. Bush's memoir:

The structure of "Decision Points" ... reveals the essential qualities of the Decider. There are hardly any decision points at all. The path to each decision is so short and irresistible, more like an electric pulse than like a weighing of options, that the reader is hard-pressed to explain what happened. Suddenly, it's over, and there's no looking back. ...

In Bush's telling, the non-decision decision is a constant feature of his Presidential policymaking. ...

Here is another feature of the non-decision: once his own belief became known to him, Bush immediately caricatured opposing views and impugned the motives of those who held them. If there was an honest and legitimate argument on the other side, then the President would have to defend his non-decision, taking it out of the redoubt of personal belief and into the messy empirical realm of contingency and uncertainty.

Brilliant stuff.

--David Kurtz

11.25.10 -- 12:48AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (86)

Michael Stephen Bowden

A week ago Tuesday, 77 year old Michael Stephen Bowden was getting a routine physical exam at a VA clinic in Spartanburg, South Carolina when he told the attending VA nurse he would "like to shoot the President [and] then myself." This revelation earned Bowden an impromptu psych evaluation in which he confided further that he "was thinking of traveling to Washington, DC, to shoot the President (Obama) because he is not doing enough to help African Americans."

That triggered a visit from the Secret Service to Bowden's home where he lives with his wife and grown son. But things didn't go as they normally do when the suspect recants his statement or explains that there was some misunderstanding. Bowden waived his rights and went on to make a sworn statement in which he said that "if I had the opportunity to put (President) Obama against the wall and shoot him, I would. I would kill, if possible, the president for what he has done to this country."

Agents' concerns were heightened when a search of Bowden's home revealed a small armory of weapons, including 3 loaded semi-automatic handguns and a semi-automatic rifle in the immediate vicinity of Bowden's bed.

Bowden was arrested on November 18th and charged with threatening to take the life of, kidnap or inflict bodily harm on the President of the United States. A judge has ordered a full psychiatric evaluation.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 11:11PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (20)

The Wages of Polyamory

Pastor who castigated Facebook as a website of sin takes leave of absence from church after revelation of three-way (sometimes four-way) relationship.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 6:04PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (52)

Tom Delay Convicted In Texas

A Texas jury has just returned a conviction against former House Majority Leader Tom Delay in his campaign money laundering case.

Delay faces up to life in prison, according to the AP, but that seems far, far more severe than any sentence Delay will actually get.

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 5:28PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (22)

Band Of Debtors

Alan Simpson, whining about the crap he says he's getting as co-chair of the President's debt commission: "We had the greatest generation. I think this is the greediest generation."

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 3:29PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (11)

Jon Kyl Walks A Fine Line

When is an earmark not an earmark?

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 2:41PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (17)

Slideshow: Behind the Scenes at the White House

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 2:38PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (23)

Spare Me

Fmr. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN)

I've got no brief for Joe Miller, but what is Norm Coleman -- Norm Coleman! -- doing opining that Miller ought to throw in the towel now in the Alaska Senate race?

It's only been three weeks since the election, and Coleman dragged his own Senate election contest out for 8 months. Now, there's virtually no doubt Miller is going to lose, but it's Norm Coleman!

I guess when you're working the inside game in DC as an ex-senator you have to kiss up to the Republican establishment which much prefers the return of incumbent Lisa Murkowski to the insurgency of Joe Miller.

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 1:56PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (33)

The Safety Question, Pt.3

Another expert weighs in on the safety issue ...

Since I've written to you before about politics, I should start by saying that I am something of an expert on radiation risk assessment. I was a member of a National Academy of Sciences committee on radioactive wastes, among other things. However, my expertise is NOT in the molecular mechanisms of cancer induction, which is at the core of the disagreement here, so all I can do is try to clarify what the issues are. In any case, I haven't read anything more than the letter to Holdren and the FDA reply, so please repeat these comments only anonymously (and change the initials).

Read more »

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 1:40PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)

Travel Advice

Motor Trend editor to Rush Limbaugh: "Driving and Oxycontin don't mix."

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 1:08PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (8)

'Working In The Taint Mines'

Some pre-holiday fun during the long afternoon to your long weekend:

Read more »

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 1:05PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (21)

First They Came For My Junk

A moment like this reminds me of the moment in the late 30s when the Nazis started with security pat-downs but no one protested until it escalated into genocide.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 12:33PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (11)

Why Didn't You Just Say So

Minnesota State legislator Tom Hackbarth tells cops: I wasn't trying to shoot up that abortion clinic; I was stalking my online girlfriend.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 12:18PM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (111)

The Safety Question, Pt.2

TPM Reader TT chimes in on the safety issue. Before getting to TT's comments, let me say that despite the fact that there are no levels of radiation with zero potential health consequences it's also true that there are various sorts of x-rays we've decided as a society are acceptable levels of risk versus what's gained -- dental x-rays, medical x-rays, going high in the atmosphere, etc. What I would say, based on reading several articles about this, is that while the total amounts of radiation are less than what people get from other kinds of exposure we believe are innocuous, there are knowledgeable people saying that the comparisons the TSA is making involve apples to oranges comparisons between how different sources of radiation are absorbed by the body.

I just wanted to weigh in on several points on the new TSA scanners and procedures as a scientist and as someone that frequently works on homeland security topics. First, as any scientist can attest, that one of the major training messages in radiation safety courses is to always minimize the dose of ionizing radiation. There is NO safe level of ionizing radiation (there are three major types of ionizing radiation: alpha particles [helium nucleus], beta particles [electrons], and gamma rays [short wave, high energy electromagnetic waves]). Nada. Zip. None. Argonne National Lab did studies in the 1950s-1960s on many generations of beagle dogs to determine if there was a safe, minimum exposure level. The theory was that radiation exposure was like chemical exposure in that at some point the dose is so low that no damage occurs. The evidence proved otherwise. Also, the damage from ionizing radiation is cumulative, so frequent or repeated exposures have much longer lasting effects. The US and other governments have set some standards to limit radiation exposure for workplace and health safety, but there is no lower threshold dose that does no damage.

Read more »

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 11:41AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (17)

Throwing Down the Gauntlet

The Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the premier organizations tracking hate groups and racist organizations in the country, has placed the Family Research Council on its list of hate groups that it tracks.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 11:25AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (12)

Mea Culpa

Joe Klein reassesses and repents for supporting Bush's Social Security privatization plan back in 2005.

--David Kurtz

11.24.10 -- 10:25AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (12)

The Safety Issue

Here's a good, measured run-down of some of the possible safety concerns about those backscatter x-rays. The issue isn't that there's clear evidence they're unsafe but rather than this particular technology operates somewhat differently and may be used somewhat differently than the x-rays used in the studies that supposedly prove their safety.

Interestingly, there's another technology, millimeter-wave scanners, that doesn't use x-rays at all and seems not to have any health concerns tied to it at all. They're in use in a few airports but not many. Ironically, for those worried about junk-exposure, they seem to produce slightly more revealing images than the backscatter junk detectors.

--Josh Marshall

11.24.10 -- 9:34AM // RECOMMEND RECOMMEND (13)

And Stay Out!

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer

It was pretty audacious for former Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer to file suit against the party for failing to pay him severance after it fired him for allegedly defrauding the party of hundreds of thousands of dollars. But then Greer -- currently awaiting trial on criminal charges related to the alleged fraud -- took it a step further and invoked his right against self-incrimination in refusing to be deposed in his own lawsuit. So the judge has thrown the lawsuit out.

--David Kurtz