I watched Stop-Loss last weekend, which is heart-wrenching movie about a beautiful boy soldier named Ryan Phillipe who returns to his home town in Texas, gets stop-lossed after several years fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is forced to choose between living his life as a fugitive , or succumbing to the backdoor draft and going back to the war that might kill him. It’s like if you had given your whole career to a company, and were looking forward to your depressing retirement party and your gold watch, you’re all ready to spend some quality time with your 401k, right? Then, the day after you retire, some VP comes up to you and tells you you’re going to have to work for thirty more years, and this time you’re going to need a bulletproof briefcase.

Anyway, the war has already done some damage to the bodies and psyches of Ryan Phillipe and his friends before the titular stop-loss order. They’re drinking too much, digging foxholes in the yard, and showing many traits of post-traumatic stress disorder. Sounds pretty depressing, right? Especially since it was written and directed by the woman who made Boys Don’t Cry. So. . .

The caption on this read, “The Bravest Place to Stand is On Each Others Side”

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As you know, our economic ship of state has hit a seriously big iceberg. So does it surprise you that the Bush administration’s response is to rearrange the deck chairs?

Anyone who has worked in a large organization — or, for that matter, reads the comic strip “Dilbert” — is familiar with the “org chart” strategy. To hide their lack of any actual ideas about what to do, managers sometimes make a big show of rearranging the boxes …

You now understand the principle behind the Bush administration’s new proposal for financial reform, which will be formally announced today: it’s all about creating the appearance of responding to the current crisis, without actually doing anything substantive.

Sounds like Katrina, non? More incompetence after the jump.

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The Treasury Building adorns the back of America’s useless currency

The US Treasury Dept. rolled out their proposal for a major overhaul of the American banking system today. The plan, championed by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, calls for the creation of new regulatory bodies to oversee “risky practices” on Wall Street. We won’t bother going into the details of the plan for this reason: it’s never going to happen. It’s already dead in the water. “Since this is opening day in baseball, I might as well make a baseball metaphor,” Sen. Chris Dodd told the New York Times. “This is a wild pitch. It is not even close to the strike zone.”

The White House however, is eager to see the changes made into law, arguing that it’s not at all like this is some plan that they just made up yesterday. “Secretary Paulson has been working on this package for about a year, so it’s not like pulling a rabbit out of a hat,” White House Press Queen Dana Perino said at the press briefing today. Wow, Dana, that is a relief. You guys saw this one coming a mile away!

But even Secretary Paulson has his reservations. “Some may view these recommendations as a response to the circumstances of the day,” Paulson said today. “That is not how they are intended.” He doesn’t think Congress should act on his recommendations until after the crisis is over and possibly a new president is in place. He can rest his weary head on that one. This adorable little plan is no danger of becoming law.

Treasury Rolls Out Overhaul of Financial Regulators [New York Times]
Crossposted from WhiteHouse.com

Kudos to Barack Obama for being able to spot a catchy book title when he hears one, but we have a suggestion for all you drooling reporters out there who ooh and ah over everything that comes out of Obama’s mouth (or pen, in this case) – do your own work. Before you go and name your next piece “The Audacity of ____”, don’t. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s an email that that just came in from my father. He’s been a volunteer precinct captain for the Obama campaign in Texas.

from Terra Group to Greg Wasserstrom and others date Mon, Mar 31, 2008 at 11:08 AM subject We won in Texas!

Obama Win Appears Big in Texas Delegate Battle [McClatchy]
A Conventional Weekend [Texas Blue]

In case you haven’t heard or seen it yet, President Bush threw out the opening pitch before the first home game in the Washington Nationals brand new stadium. He was given a wonderfully warm reception. Relive it here. And check out the color commentary on Deadspin (yes, a member of the evil empire, but I have always had a thing for jocks).

A note to the Nationals - if you want to start a winning tradition, you may not want to start with this guy. Although next year it will be a riot when McCain does the old lady granny pitch that hits the ground in the dead center between home plate and the pitcher’s mound.

President Bush Throws Out First Pitch [RedLasso]
President Bush’s One Night Away From It All [Deadspin]

Don’t you hate it when this happens?

It appears that Prime Minister Nouri Maliki’s ultimatum to Shiite Muslim militiamen to surrender to the Iraqi government might not be working precisely as he had intended.

When nobody had turned up by Friday, Maliki gave members of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada Sadr’s Mahdi Army militia 10 more days to turn in their weapons and renounce violence.

Instead, about 40 members of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi army and National Police offered to surrender their AK-47s and other weapons this morning to Sadr’s representatives in the cleric’s east Baghdad stronghold of Sadr City.

Nobody could have predicted ….

Babylon and Beyond [LA Times Blogs]

Before you read this, see the disclaimer below - the story is a year old. On the other hand, does that make things better, or worse?

And you thought there wasn’t enough time for the Bush administration to finish destroying the world:

Moscow, March 27 (RIA Novosti) Russian military intelligence services are reporting a flurry of activity by US Armed Forces near Iran’s borders, a high-ranking security source said Tuesday.

‘The latest military intelligence data point to heightened US military preparations for both an air and ground operation against Iran,’ the official said, adding that the Pentagon has probably not yet made a final decision as to when an attack will be launched.

He said the Pentagon is looking for a way to deliver a strike against Iran ‘that would enable the Americans to bring the country to its knees at minimal cost.’

He also said the US Naval presence in the Persian Gulf has for the first time in the past four years reached the level that existed shortly before the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Alright, I’ll admit it’s a little bit tinfoil hat, but if it happened, would you be all that surprised? More after the jump.

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Cynic gurukalehuru just left our 10,000th comment. In celebration, we just added a fancier looking comment board that includes the ability to reply. Isn’t that special?

Update: As it turns out, the scrolling up and down thing does kind of suck. So this is what we’re going to do. There is yet a third posting system we want you guys to try installed on this post. Try that out, and then vote.

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Update 2: I restored the old comments system. It’s definitely better. How do they do it in other places? I don’t even know.

Yes Cynica, it’s another depressing Iraq post.  Deal.

Iraq’s government has extended by 10 days a deadline for Shia militiamen fighting troops in Basra to hand over their weapons in return for money.

More than 130 people have been killed and 350 injured since a clampdown on militias began in Basra on Tuesday.

US-led forces joined the battle for the first time overnight, bombing Shia positions, the UK military said.

Aid agencies say the violence upsurge had made Iraq’s already poor humanitarian situation “critical”.

We’re going to pay them for their guns?  Even if the insurgents fell for it, what prevents them from going out and buying … more guns with the money!?  

Can you tell these idiots were installed by the Bush administration?

Iraq Extends Shia Arms Deadline [BBC News]