Linkmeister

Democrats, Japan, tanks, etc.

In football they call it the "prevent" defense, often derided as preventing nothing but victory. That's what I'd call the Democratic election strategy this midterm, and there is at least one reporter at the NYT who agrees with me. Grrr. Of course, it's a little hard to compete with Air Force One. In other large mechanical object news, the Brits are looking for a lost tank. Those weekend winds were really something, huh?

If you're old enough, you may remember all the management books touting Japan as the growing economic entity of the new century, and as an implicit threat to the US. Well, we've all seen that that didn't happen, but here's an interesting op/ed which makes the case for a Japanese threat to the US economy if it reforms, in part because of all the dollar-denominated savings their companies, banks and individuals hold.

Here's a lovely tribute to Paul Wellstone from David Broder, one of the nation's most experienced political observers. C-SPAN is showing the public memorial at the moment; it's a Who's Who of the Democrats (I will not make any wisecracking conspiracy theories about what the administration could do if it were so minded, mostly because I don't think they're that evil).