a plan to salvage Preznit Blinky's legacy

* kristof has a plan to salvage Preznit Blinky's legacy:

"Fourth, encourage Dick Cheney to look pale in public. Then he can resign on health grounds, and you can appoint Condi Rice or Bob Gates to take his place. Mr. Cheney has been the single worst influence on your foreign policy, as well as the most polarizing figure in your administration. There’s no better move you could make to signal a new beginning than to accept Mr. Cheney’s resignation.
[]
Seventh, put aside those thoughts of a military strike on Iranian nuclear sites, and make it clear to Israel that we oppose it conducting such an attack. A strike would set back Iran’s nuclear programs by only five years or so, but it would consolidate hard-line rule there for at least 25 years."

* clemons:

"The probability is that 2007 will be a worse year for America's national security portfolio than 2006. I've just been reading thoroughly Bob Woodward's State of Denial, which I had previously read only in snippets.
[]
What was reminded so vividly from Woodward's book was the White House's systematic lack of concern for the many al Qaeda warnings that the CIA and others were waving in front of Bush and then National Security Advisor Rice at point blank range."

* krugman:

"The truth is that we can afford to cover the uninsured. What we can’t afford is to keep going without a universal health care system."

* cannon points us to this 5 min clip from Curtis' Power of Nightmares about the Arkansas Project.

* wapo:

"There are many more atheists and agnostics in the country than is generally recognized. For instance, we atheists and agnostics are as numerous as Southern Baptists, and we are also the fastest growing category–-faster even than the Mormons and the evangelicals.

Why, then, are we atheists in general so unnoticed, and why is this changing? Since atheists, in general, think there are much more important and interesting topics to discuss than whether or not God -- which God? -- exists, we seldom raise the issue.

But recent trends in America have suggested to many of us that this diplomatic reticence has been exploited by sectarian ideologues, evangelists, politicians, and others intent on maintaining the illusion that we are a negligible fringe community, so we are encouraging those who agree with us to come out of the closet .

I use the idiom advisedly. A few decades ago, homosexuality was looked upon as so shameful that few dared declare themselves, and as a result, most homosexuals had to lie their way through life, for fear of losing their jobs, their reputations, their friends and family.

How times have changed -- and for the better! It is now possible for homosexuals to be elected to Congress, to star in television shows, to be honored for their accomplishments and treasured by their friends. Could an atheist be elected to Congress? Probably not now, but if we can just raise the consciousness of Americans to the fact that some of their best friends are atheists, this will change."