Josh Marshall writes:

I don't have any problem with Obama's cabinet picks so far. But it's certainly true that Democrats with a high partisan profile haven't figured prominently among his major appointments, with the notable exception of Rahm Emanuel.

I guess Hillary is in the "Hillary for New York" party. I am tempted to attribute this to CDS but that is probably not the case. He probably does not think Hillary has a "high partisan profile." After all, Republicans love the Clintons - remember all the Hillary-cans?

Speaking for me only

This is an Open Thread.

I have always called my self a "Centrist." What does that mean actually? Well nothing really. But it is valuable politically.

We Democrats are "the Centrists" now I am happy to say. Chris Bowers is not:

Pew recently releases a much-discussed survey arguing that, despite massive partisan gains for Democrats, the ideological balance of the country has not shifted much. . . . This finding needs to be disputed . . .

I disagree. This finding needs to be embraced. I think we should argue that the country chose "Centrism" when it chose the Democratic agenda. More . . .

If this fellow is to be believed, apparently so:

Mark M. Lowenthal, an intelligence veteran who left a senior post at the C.I.A. in 2005, said Mr. Obama’s decision to exclude Mr. Brennan from contention for the top job had sent a message that “if you worked in the C.I.A. during the war on terror, you are now tainted,” and had created anxiety in the ranks of the agency’s clandestine service.

Yes, Mr. Lowenthal, if you were involved in torture, if you defended torture, as Mr. Brennan did (his empty protestations to the contrary notwithstanding) you are tainted, for life. I do not presume Mr. Lowenthal's libel of the entire CIA is accurate, but I DO agree with him that torture enablers are tainted. And rightly so.

Speaking for me only

Ungracious outgoing Colorado Republican Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave, who has yet to call winner Betsy Markey and congratulate her on her win in Colorado's 4th District race for Congress, made a robocall for Georgia Congressman Saxby Chambliss after her defeat. Here's the text:

Hello, I'm Marilyn Musgrave. Until last month I was the congresswoman from Colorado. Leftist special interests from around the country poured money into my district to defeat me. They overwhelmed us with money. And they smothered the truth with vicious attacks and lies.

More...

Your daily Percy Harvin report:

[Florida] Receiver Percy Harvin, meanwhile, missed practice Tuesday but [Florida coach Urban] Meyer said he was "getting better and better." Harvin sprained his right ankle against the Seminoles and is considered questionable against the Crimson Tide.

Since I only have the New Deal and Percy Harvin on the brain, here is an Open Thread for your commenting pleasure.

Digby has recommended this post. It is an interesting post in parts, but some of it is absurd to my eyes. Some particularly wrongheaded parts of it (as well as some of the interesting parts) follow:

Paul Krugman in his Times columns, his Times blog, and his latest book The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 (which Krugman will be discussing at the FDL Book Salon this afternoon at 2 pm EST), has devoted a great deal of attention to describing the lessons to be learned from FDR and the New Deal (both its successes and failures.) In particular, he has expounded on John Maynard Keynes' critiques thereof. In his last column, Krugman wrote:

The idea that tight fiscal policy when the economy is depressed actually reduces private investment isn’t just a hypothetical argument: it’s exactly what happened in two important episodes in history. The first took place in 1937, when Franklin Roosevelt mistakenly heeded the advice of his own era’s deficit worriers. He sharply reduced government spending, among other things cutting the Works Progress Administration in half, and also raised taxes. The result was a severe recession, and a steep fall in private investment.

This was Keynes' critique (annotated at the link) at the time:

Director Roman Polanski, now age 75, has filed a new motion to have the sex assault charges against him dismissed. His motion alleges prosecutorial and judicial misconduct, revealed in a recent HBO documentary on the case. The statements were made by the deputy DA on the case and a judge. The victim in the case, then 13, now 43, has wanted the charges dropped for years, and still does.

In a legal brief, the attorneys quoted heavily from the documentary, citing statements by former Deputy District Attorney David Wells in which he acknowledged advising the judge on how to sentence the film director, even though he was not assigned to the case.

The lawyers said that Wells' recommendation to send Polanski away for a diagnostic study was illegal without Polanski's lawyers present. They said Wells also inflamed the judge by showing him photos depicting Polanski with girls at an Oktoberfest party in Germany while he was awaiting sentencing. They said the photos were misrepresented.

More...

One of the major concerns I had about now President-Elect Barack Obama (when he was candidate Obama) was his then apparent adherence to a theory of transformative change that would be post partisan. I think post-Democratic Convention Obama utterly abandoned that approach and as President-Elect, his rhetoric has been bold and progressive. No doubt some of this is attributable to the incredible challenges the country faces. But perhaps this has been his plan all along - the Mark Schmitt Theory of Change. At any rate, President-Elect Obama is a far cry from the Post Partisan Unity Schtick candidate we saw before.

In that sense, he appears to have rejected the Third Way vision of his University of Chicago Law School colleague Cass Sunstein (who I have criticized quite a lot). Rick Pildes writes a very good article on Sunstein's views on public policy and the law. Here is a telling excerpt:

The World at Risk Terror Report was released today. You can read it here(pdf).

It predicts a biological, chemical or nuclear attack before 2013. From the executive summary:

The Commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with great urgency, it is more likely than not that a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013. The Commission further believes that terrorists are more likely to be able to obtain and use a biological weapon than a nuclear weapon.

The Commission believes that the U.S. government needs to move more aggressively to limit the proliferation of biological weapons and reduce the prospect of a bioterror attack.

Among the report's recommendations:[More...]

You have all heard this story by now:

"I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it.

-Franklin D. Roosevelt
Comment to a group of reformers. His point: Until they lead the way, they shouldn't expect leaders to follow.

Is the story true? Who knows. But here is a real life example - Oscar DePriest's Amendment to FDR's Civilian Conservation Corps:

President-Elect Barack Obama will name New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson as his Commerce Secretary tomorrow.

Why was John Kerry left out in the cold? Among the few high-level positions left for him is Secretary of Veterans affairs.