Paul Krugman writes:

This is a column about Republicans — and I’m not sure I should even be writing it. Today’s G.O.P. is, after all, very much a minority party. It retains some limited ability to obstruct the Democrats, but has no ability to make or even significantly shape policy. Beyond that, Republicans have become embarrassing to watch. And it doesn’t feel right to make fun of crazy people. Better, perhaps, to focus on the real policy debates, which are all among Democrats.

(Emphasis supplied.) No need to go further. I would add just one point - the most important political debate going on right now is the POLICY debate about the economy and the financial crisis. How the economy goes and how the financial crisis plays out will determine the political fate of Democratic control of Washington. Not tea parties or what David Broder thinks.

Speaking for me only

I brought up this issue last month, and Digby and Greenwald revisit it, in the context of the Bagram detainee facility - the question of what does Marty Lederman, now in the Obama Office of Legal Counsel, think about the arguments being made by the Obama Justice Department. On Bagram, Lederman wrote in the past:

Would habeas rights extend to alien detainees held in foreign locations other than GTMO? That is to say, can the military avoid the impact of Boumediene simply by detaining or transferring all alleged alien enemy combatants to a different facility, such as at Bagram?

Short answer: No. . . .

MORE . . .

Nate Silver writes:

A more robust interpretation/criticism of Obama's "bipartisan" positioning is that he is playing a game he knows he can't lose. . . as [Mark] Schmitt suggested more than a year ago, Obama may have known full well that Republicans weren't about to seek compromise, nor would it necessarily have been politically advantageous for them to do so. If partisan squabbling is inevitable, it is useful to have pre-positioned oneself in advance as its victim rather than its instigator.

. . . What I don't think Obama can be accused of, however, is breaking any promises. . .

That pretty clearly is false with regard to policy (if not "politics" which is what Silver is talking about.) To back my assertions, let me cite . . . Nate Silver:

AP:

Most people say they plan to use this year's tax refund to pay bills, deciding in this sour economy to be more frugal with their annual windfall. Fifty-four percent of those receiving refunds said they intend to pay off credit card, utility, housing and other bills, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll released Monday. That compares with 35 percent who said the same thing a year ago.

This is, ironically, bad for the economy in the short run, as it will lead to lower aggregate demand.

Numerous critical points from Warren.

• 1--No clear goals from Treasury for TARP
• 2--The financial services industry wants to operate in a business as usual environment.

But Warren rightly points out that "their system has collapsed." Worse:[More...]

What's on your menu today? Martha Stewart is cooking:

Ham from costco,lemon meringue pie,rack of lamb,scalloped potatoes,artichokes,asparagus etc.

Why Costco hams? Martha tweets:

Hams are antibiotic free,lightly smoked over applewood-very similar in taste to the good old Kurowycky hams no longer made

I'm not a ham eater or a vegetarian (although I made Kitchari today (split moong beans and basmati rice -- with tumeric, cinnamon sticks, cardomon pods, bay leaves, cloves, cilantro and ginger heated in ghee).

What do vegetarians eat on Easter? Check out Vegan Soul Power by a vegan law student --it's filled with great photos and what looks like good recipes.

Here's an open thread. What's the best thing you cooked or ate today? Or, talk about something else, your choice.

Hooray for the Captain! He jumped overboard and was rescued. Navy Seals shot and killed three of the pirates. The fourth was taken into custody.

Capt. Richard Phillips was helped out of the water off the Somali coast and is uninjured and in good condition, the official said. He was taken aboard the USS Bainbridge, a nearby naval warship.

It's regrettable there was any loss of life but the Captain had to be freed.

Last night negotiations broke down between the Somali elders and U.S. negotiators for the release of hostage Captain Richard Phillips. The sticking point was whether the Somali pirates should be arrested and turned over to authorities for prosecution.

Today, the Somali elders are trying again.

Media reports said that Somali elders set off from the port of Eyl on Sunday in a fresh attempt to find a compromise that will secure Phillip's release.

[More...]

Hale Bond writes a diary that I believe demonstrates, inadvertently, precisely what is most wrong with the Geithner Plan - the decision to ignore the fact the banks are simply not going to lend very liberally, even when bailed out. Bonddad is critical of "pressure" on JP Morgan (because it took TARP money) to do a deal with Chrysler to help Chrysler avoid bankruptcy. Bonddad says this is a pitfall of "nationalizing" banks.

It seems more of an indictment of TARP and TARP 2 (the Geithner Plan) to me. Suppose for a moment that instead of TARP and TARP 2, the $750B had been spent instead to fund a government bank dedicated to stimulating the economy and job creation/saving. Thus, a borrower like Chrysler would have made the case that loaning money to it would help stimulate the economy and save and create jobs. The government could have taken a convertible debt position and/or negotiated with existing creditors on how senior the debt to the government would be. Chrysler (and GM) are just examples of how this could have worked. TARP and TARP 2 have not spurred significant activity in the credit markets. Lending is not significantly increasing in response to TARP. Direct government loans outside of the financial industry would have been much more effective. More . . .

Someone is on TV talking about politics. I regret to say I do not know who. And now for something completely different - the Obamas get a dog:

The first family has settled on a first pet -- a 6-month-old Portuguese water dog that the Obama girls are naming Bo. The selection was one of the White House's most tightly kept secrets. President Barack Obama's daughters, 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha, picked a black and white pup, a White House official speaking on the condition of anonymity told The Associated Press Saturday night. The dog is a gift from Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who owns several Portuguese water dogs himself.

(Emphasis supplied.) Happy Easter to the observant.

What is really amusing about this NYTimes article is the easy unstated assumption that the financial crisis had nothing at all to do with the Masters of the Universe and now there are "great opportunities" for the up and coming Masters:

There is an air of exodus on Wall Street — and not just among those being fired. As Washington cracks down on compensation and tightens regulation of banks, a brain drain is occurring at some of the biggest ones. They are some of the same banks blamed for setting off the worst downturn since the Depression. This is certainly a concern for the banks losing top talent. . . To deter the people it thinks caused the crisis, the government is clamping down.

(Emphasis supplied.) More . . .

Apparently, the pirates have fuel after all, and are within 20 miles of reaching shore, with kidnapped Captain Phillips, who is still alive.

The New York Times reports negotiations have failed because the U.S. is insisting on arresting the pirates. As experts predicted last night, the pirates are willing to release Captain Phillips without the ransom if they don't get arrested.

The priority should be the safe return of Captain Phillips, not retribution. Prosecuting these particular pirates will not stop the next hijacking. Until the conditions in Somalia causing the piracy are addressed, the hijackings will continue.