A Little Of The Old In And Out



(image via foxnews)

In: Infrastructure. We know that the nation's infrastructure is not a sexy policy issue -- as if anything "policy" could even be construed as "sexy" -- but it must be addressed, and if not by this President, then the next. Even after Katrina and the Minnesota bridge collapse, levees on the Mississippi were worfully unprepared for the Midwest floods. Senator Chris Dodd has held hearings in the Senate, and Michael Bloomberg, who so very badly wants to be someone's Presidential running mate, has founded and is the co-Chair of Building America's Future (with Governors Schwarzenegger and Ed Rendell). That is a strong beginning with some political heavyweights, but it is not enough.

Yes, the economy is in bad shape. Our crumbling infrastructure, however, is a problem that cannot wait for the next disaster of epic proportions before we do something of great import to address the issue.



(image via setimes)

Out: Where's Richard Holbrooke? It is almost as if Richard Holbrooke was keeping a low profile since The Toronto Drubbing he and the glorious Samantha Power -- call me, Samantha? -- took at the hands of imperium apologist creep Niall Ferguson and his dark cohort Charles"Sucker-Punch" Krauthammer (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment).

Actually, Holbrook's absence among Obama's surrogates reflects not so much keeping on the DL as much as the "careful integration" of the Obama and Clinton campaigns. It's delicate business, you see. From Politico:

"The Obama campaign announced this morning a Senior Working Group on National Security -- a mix of top advisers who served in the Clinton administration, prominent ex-politicians with national security bona fides (Sam Nunn, Lee Hamilton), and top Hillary Clinton supporters like former Secretaries of State Madeline Albright and Warren Christopher.

"Conspicuously missing from the list: Would-be Clinton Secretary of State and Richard Holbrooke.

"Holbrooke was not immediately available for comment, but his office said that he wasn't in DC, where Obama will be meeting with both the working group and retired flag officers who support him.

"It's unclear why he wouldn't be on that list .."

Here's Governor Bill Richardson From The Observer: "At a Council on Foreign Relations event today, I asked Richardson why he thought Holbrooke's name was missing from the working group on foreign policy that Obama announced and met with today, and whether Holbrooke potentially had a useful role to play as part of such a working group.

"'I think he does,' said Richardson. 'Getting the reintegration of the Clinton people, that will take a little time. But yeah I think he has a lot to contribute. He will. He will.'"



(image via firstshowing)

In: Picturehouse's "Mongol." Although "Mongol," the first part of a trilogy on the life of Genghis Khan is an international indie that could, it has not been getting much buzz (perhaps the marketing was off), it is doing quite well for itself. From Indiewire:

'Sergei Bodrov's 'Mongol' from Picturehouse is atop the weekly iW BOT box office chart for the second week in a row, which was published this afternoon. The film earned $112,212 on 5 screens over the weekend, for a $22,442 average. More in this week's box office column, which was published last night."