We See Ourselves? in Him and His Speech

Professor Stanley Fish at the NYTimes discusses the inaugural speech as an example of "parataxis" (which I translate as one damned thing after another). Dr. Krauthammer at the Post discusses how flat the speech was and how interesting the speaker is. I've seen lots of other reactions, which range over a wide spectrum, mostly following political preferences.

Twill be interesting to see how it looks 10 years from now.

Newsflash: President Has a Bit of Power

For those who were worried over whether President Obama really has any power, the sad news is he lost his Blackberry. According to Treehugger he gets a secure replacement. So even a President can't resist government rules and regulations. Long live the bureaucracy.

Reminder to Foodies: Advise and Consent

The "foodies" (i.e., organic, locavore, sustainable advocates) have been proposing names, first for Secretary of Agriculture and now for posts within ag. I found the following excerpt from a Government Executive piece on USDA appointment to be a reminder of where the power really is:

Meanwhile, a House Agriculture Committee member and a key Senate aide said they believe Chuck Hassebrook, executive director for the Center for Rural Affairs, is a top candidate for deputy secretary.

Other Capitol Hill sources said a Hassebrook nomination would be highly controversial and might not make it out of the Senate Agriculture Committee because he has been such a strong critic of farm programs. Hassebrook is an advocate of strict farm program payment limits and favors more spending on nonagricultural rural development.

Lesson to the Alice Waters of the world: you don't have the power. To get it, you need an "Emily's List" and get your hands dirty, not cleaning vegetables but in the day to day politicking that elects Reps and Senators.

Finally the Truth: Elections Are About Cats

From an interview at the Monkey Cage (with a political scientist who ran as a libertarian in NC governorship race):

Political scientists tend to think elections are “about” issues. I think elections are about cats. Specifically: would I let this [candidate] watch my cat for a week? Would I give him the key to my house? Would I trust her to feed ol’ Tabby, and change his litterbox? Issues are secondary. People vote for the person that they think they can trust.

And a compliment for a blogger I follow:

Drezner, on the other hand, has the perfect mindset. He is just serious enough, and has a heterodox moderate-right-libertarian political viewpoint that makes almost EVERYONE angry, and certainly makes everyone think. To my mind, Drezner is the best poli sci blogger, and always will be. A good poli sci blog has to focus on world affairs and trade, not just the U.S.

FOIA and Sec 1619

A commenter asks whether Obama's executive order on FOIA impacts Sec. 1619 of the 2008 farm bill. (See my previous post.) My answer, given with a little research but no law degree is: No.

I think 5 USC Sec.552, the FOIA, has the answer in

(b) This section does not apply to matters that are-- ... (3) specifically exempted from disclosure by statute (other than section 552b of this title), provided that such statute (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld;

I think Sec. 1619 exempts the data from disclosure.

A Poem I Like and a Teacher I Can Take

I liked some poetry growing up, but my taste stopped with Mr. Frost and college. But I ran across this poem by the late Snodgrass, which University Diarist has now posted with an interpretation. It probably appeals to old men like me more than whippersnappers and women.

Obama Missed a Chance

I was pleased Obama took a second to thank the wait staff at the luncheon in the Capitol yesterday. But he missed a chance to ram his message home in his speech. If, in the context of small steps being important, he had asked the million+ on the Mall to take responsibility for their trash it would have been great (that is, if they'd planned ahead with the Park Service to have designated sites for garbage). The reality of the day after the first black President's inauguration is a lot of black workers picked up trash from the Mall.

Radiation Alert: FSA Computers Use Cobalt

That was the typo in this Nextgov post on the $250 million for FSA computer fixes in the stimulus package.

(House AG Chair Peterson says he's urged USDA to keep the computer consultants who recommended the money and to do away with the use of "cobalt" (now corrected to "COBOL" in the post). Sounds good, except:

• I just got through watching Obama talk about new conflict of interest rules. Seems to me hiring computer consultants to implement what they just recommended is exactly the sort of thing our new President does not want.
• It's very easy to talk about getting rid of COBOL. Unfortunately the FSA systems are so interrelated it's hard. First you have to have a platform to migrate too (which appears now to be a centralized database with internet access). Second you have to maintain the old system, build the new system, and be sure you've handled the interfaces between new and old. (At least that's the way I thought when I worked there. Now I wonder whether we wouldn't have been better off just having the county offices maintain two systems for a couple years. We'll never know now.) And, third you have to respond to the demands from the Hill timely to implement new programs while keeping the old ones going.
  

To Keep Things in Perspective

From an MSNBC post about the surge in internet traffic yesterday, which strained some sites:

Akamai also maintains an index showing the number of Internet users clicking into online news sites, and today's figures showed a significant spike of 5.4 million users per minute at 11:45 a.m. ET. However, that peak ranks just No. 5 on Akamai's all-time list, just below the first day of the NCAA's "March Madness" basketball tournament in 2006.

Curley : JFKennedy :: Adam Clayton Powell : Obama?

James Curley (and his rival, Honey Fitz, JFK's grandfather) were professional Irish politicians (Boston mayors I'm barely old enough to remember) and corrupt. Adam Clayton Powell was a professional Negro politician (US Rep from Harlem back in the day) and corrupt. JFK was a new sort of Irish-Catholic politician, who didn't run as either.

I think the lesson is that a politician who runs as a representative of a group can often get away with corruption. And it may take a couple generations for the "group" to melt enough in the American pot.