Head exploding

Mine, that is. And I don't understand why others (like the Times editorial page, the lefty blogosphere -- and the paranoid wingnut blogosphere, for that matter) aren't.

I'm speaking of yesterday's jaw-dropping Supreme Court decision authorizing universal warrantless strip searches. Forget whatever happens with the healthcare decision -- this cements the Roberts court's place in judicial history. I already had as low an opinion of Scalia, Alito and Thomas as I thought it was possible to have -- but this reveals a new sub-basement. I honestly don't know how even they can look themselves in the mirror, much less Roberts himself. These people who purport to be hyper-alert, above all else, to intrusions by the state into our personal freedoms. And what can one conclude about Kennedy, except that he is actually around the bend, that his "interesting" ideas on liberty are infused now with even more fascinating speculations on the humours and phlogiston and personal messages conveyed on food packaging? Go ahead, read what he says in his majority opinion about why it's okay to strip search people for broken tail lights. A police state can't get more, ahem, interesting than that.

The crazy is abroad in the land. The Tea Party tinfoil hatties and dedicated misogynists are on the march, and the perception of that is empowering our faux "originalist" Supremes to throw off the shackles of their strictly constructed robes and let their freak flags fly.

Political malpractice

As Paul Krugman makes clear, yet again, citing a post by Greg Sargent, Obama's failure on the economy was as mistaken politically as it was on policy.

But, then, speaking of political malpractice, it seems this David Corn book from which Sargent grabs a damning passage is, in fact, a big wet kiss for the Big O. Given Corn's performance in the primaries, that's no surprise. Now, he seems to have been chosen as the apostle and chronicler of The One's mid-term conversion experience. Here's a taste from the Amazon blurb:

"Corn captures the dilemmas faced by a president assailed by disappointed progressives and defiantly obstructionist Republicans determined to see his defeat. Here is a chief executive trying to balance the cross-cutting demands of governance and politics while handling unending challenges at home and abroad. The book reveals a thoughtful leader with a cool head who is unafraid to take risks and make tough choices, a steely battler who successfully turned his enemies' obstinacy to his advantage. Obama has often frustrated supporters, but Corn shows how the president, who often puts pragmatism ahead of partisan demands, has craftily operated within a hostile conservative political climate, looking to win the long game, achieve progressive goals, and, ultimately, win reelection."

Oy. Eleven-dimensional chess is back in season.

This ain't no party

Because (note the double negative) it is one party, at least. The Republican War on Women, I mean. And Charles Pierce in Esquire nails it. This guy is good.

Silence of the Lim(baugh)? - Updated

Key parts of the wingnut echo chamber are starting to crumble. Rush. Rupert. Dare we dream that Roger will not be far behind?

Update: The sounds of silence.

Sinking ship

The GOP's plunge into stark raving insanity is accelerating -- witness the departure of even its putative "moderates." Anybody who isn't mad as a hatter is booed offstage, and if you want to stay on that stage, you have to put on your best Ophelia 24/7. No knowing asides to the audience allowed.

Please, please, Dems -- wake up, seize this moment. Do not be content to get elected because "at least they're not crazy." Recognize that we now have one party rule -- because the other party is into misrule, unruliness. No more bullshit post-partisan posturing. No more self-flattering "reasonableness." Instead, do serious economic analysis and push for serious solutions to real problems. You're gonna get another shot at actual power -- the Republican Party is melting, melting. Don't blow this.

"This is Madness" - Updated

So says Diane Ravitch, describing the astonishing doubling-down on teaching to the test now underway in New York State and nationally. As she notes, the Obama Administration is directly culpable for this. Our President may say in SOTU that we shouldn't teach to the test -- but he is dramatically increasing that in practice.

And what of Gov. Cuomo, he of the gay-marriage halo effect? This way political irrelevance lies. "Taking on education" (aka embracing the agenda of today's conventional-wisdom education "reform") seems to be the policy crack of our age. No Child has now been Left Behind by everyone -- witness a hall of Arizona Republicans loudly booing Rick Santorum for having voted for it at this week's debate. Making it his signature issue doomed Bloomberg to "he wasn't Giuliani" in the history books (and prepared that great educational reformer Joel Klein to become Hack-in-Chief Rupert Murdoch's defense attorney). And my bet is that it will at least do serious damage to Cuomo's presidential hopes.

We need a smarter approach to educating our political leaders on education. They keep failing the test.

Update: It is encouraging that the Grey Lady seems to have woken up to the sham that is "education reform." Witness two devastating pieces by or about persuasively wonderful teachers (both in Brooklyn) whom the test-mad regime labels "bad": A Sunday op-ed by William Johnson and a commentary today by Michael Winerip. There was even a sort-of public retreat from "reform" funder-in-chief Bill Gates.

The money quote from the Winerip piece:

"If city officials were trying to demoralize and humiliate the workforce, they’ve done a terrific job. News organizations get an assist for publishing the scores, and former Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein deserves a special nod for enthusiastically supporting the release."

What Violet Said

Yep.