Ross Douthat warns the members of the left-leaning media trying to find its footing in an Obama-dominated world:
“It would be absurd for a ideologically-motivated publication to turn down a shot at political influence to preserve its sense of purity…. But it’s still worth noting that this is roughly how the Bush Administration treated the conservative media - rolling out scoops to partisan outlets, wooing right-wing media types with Presidential face-time, bypassing mainstream outlets in favor of talk radio and Fox News, and so forth. And in the long run, it was good for neither the Bushies nor for conservatism. ”
So far, from what I’ve seen, I don’t expect the President to follow his predecessor’s (all-too-easy) media path.
Watch a discussion expanding on this topic between Douthat & Matthew Yglesias (across ideological lines, if you’re not familiar with them) here.
Earlier on this blog: Another warning to the media on the perils of complacemency.
Politico’s Jim Vandehei & John Harris 
From the website 
“I’m not a guy that believes in signs, but I am pleased to learn our new President has a taste for pheasant; our favorite bird,” said Dave Nomsen, PF’s Vice President of Government Affairs. In an unprecedented show of support for conservation, Obama’s transition team held three meetings with Nomsen and other conservation leaders since his November election victory. Those meetings have focused on the country’s top conservation issues, including the future of the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and global climate change.”
A GITMO-ECTOMY
January 22nd, 2009, 1:00 pm by Dan LehrAbove: President Obama removes one of terrorism’s biggest recruiting tools.
Read about it here, & a discussion about whether it’s the right thing here.
Today I heard Rush Limbaugh on the radio call this move a “political” one.
To which I say: well, duh.
But not ‘political’ in the way Rush is meaning (appeasing the left).
For too long we have failed to capitalize on the United States of America’s greatest weapon: the idea behind this country & the ideals it champions.
Some discussion on Talk 102.3 this morning brought to mind an analogy. Styles, et al were discussing what to do with the Guantanamo prisoners - & how we can’t have them mingle with the “normal” prison population, because they wouldn’t last longer than 2 seconds. They noted that America-bombers & child rapists are subject to the prisoners’ “own form of justice.”
That’s a perfect way of looking at the mindset behind the creation of Guantanamo.
The problem with the system is that it doesn’t leave room for justice. It keeps terrorist suspects off the streets .. but because we’ve thrown them down a legal rabbit hole, one that’s in my view ultimately self-defeating, many of the legitimate terror cases will never be given true justice.
Closing Guantanamo takes away a terrorist recruitment tool, & joins the battle where it really should be fought, & ultimately will be won - not in a physical location, but rather inside the minds of everyone around the world.
& there’s nothing that says we can’t hold a suspect extra-legally. But those cases should be both temporary & reserved for the very few, ones which we have clear-cut evidence on, & not just people picked up off the battlefield, or arrested in cases of mistaken identities who have languished in Gitmo hell for years.
We as a people are far smarter than that, & it’s a breath of fresh air to have someone in charge who realizes this.
(I should also note that I have the utmost confidence we are perfectly capable of housing these prisoners on U.S. soil. The fears of “well, what if we have a prison break?” can be dispelled if you think through logically the scenario about exactly how much damage a person in handcuffs & an orange jumpsuit could really do while on the run).
We need to have faith in our country, & the multitude of legal precedents of our criminal justice system.
We should not be afraid to try these cases based on evidence & the rule of law, & the rights that our Founding Fathers believed to be inalienable - not just to American citizens, but to the entire human race.
I, for one, would rather die while upholding my great country’s ideals than give those ideals up in the name of security.
FURTHER READING:
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