Hilarious.

The very worst -case scenario has come true, and one blogger had it all figured out in advance. Digby has the best post out there on how Bush and the “Gang of Four” Republicans who opposed his amendments to the war crimes act actually worked in concert, making Bush look good beyond words. Not only is he “tough” on terrorists, but he has the patience and diplomatic skills to work with “the opposition” to craft a wise and reasonable “compromise.” Except, as Diby shows, there is no compromise, there was no real opposition and Bush gets absolutely everything he wanted and more.

And by forcing the Congress to vote on it shortly before the elections, it becomes a litmus test of whether you are loyal to America. This is political cynicism at its very best, and it is a brilliant example of how Bush-Rove stage-manage elaborate stunts to create a powerful image, whether it’s on an aircraft carrier or the Senate floor. Republicans – strong, virile and reasonable. Democrats – cowardly, disorganized, weak. Sure, we all know it’s a trick, an illusion. But it makes me increasingly terrified that the GOP is about to make a sensational comeback and hold onto the House. In fact, until I’m convinced otherwise, until I see the Dems take back the microphone and start getting their own messages out, I am officially predicting a Republican upset. They will win in November. Not across the board, but they’ll do far better than any of us expected. Go read the Digby post to see just how beautifully they played the media on this. Appearances. They’re all that matter. Republicans have raised “positioning” to a high art form, while the Dems still don’t get it.

And now, we have to face the sad fact that we have officially sanctioned torture, and will protect Americans who carry it out.

The bad news is that Mr. Bush, as he made clear yesterday, intends to continue using the CIA to secretly detain and abuse certain terrorist suspects. He will do so by issuing his own interpretation of the Geneva Conventions in an executive order and by relying on questionable Justice Department opinions that authorize such practices as exposing prisoners to hypothermia and prolonged sleep deprivation. Under the compromise agreed to yesterday, Congress would recognize his authority to take these steps and prevent prisoners from appealing them to U.S. courts. The bill would also immunize CIA personnel from prosecution for all but the most serious abuses and protect those who in the past violated U.S. law against war crimes.

Once again, Bush pulls off a coup. And once again, America becomes in the eyes of the world a far different nation than it was a few short years ago. A smaller nation, a more petty and paranoid nation. We keep slipping from bad to worse, and one can only wonder where we we’ll finally end up. Grim. A grim day for all of us, and a chilling reminder of the legalized thuggery for which the Bush administration stands.

Yesterday it was China’s top-10 dudes, today it’s the country’s top-10 girls – for those of you who are into that sort of thing.

Howard French writes of how China’s affluent are going the whole nine yards to give their kids a leg up in today’s competitive world. Paying huge sums to teach their children, how to speak English with a Western accent, how to play golf and polo, and how to eat chicken and watermelon without spitting the detritus back onto their plates, China’s wealthiest parents are funding what sounds like a thriving new industry.

Every weekday this summer, Rose Lei drove her daughter, Angelina, 5, to a golf complex at the edge of central Shanghai for a two-hour, $200 individual lesson with a teaching pro from Scotland.

But now that the school year has started, little Angelina will have to cut back on the golf, limiting herself to weekend sessions at a local driving range. In addition to her demanding school schedule, she will be attending private classes at FasTracKids, an after-school academy for children as young as 4 that bills itself as a junior M.B.A. program.

Ms. Lei, 35, a former information technology expert and the wife of a prosperous newspaper advertising executive, is part of a new generation of affluent parents here who are planning ways to cement their children’s place in a fast-emerging elite.

A generation ago, when people still dressed in monochromes and acquiring great wealth, never mind flaunting it, was generally illegal, the route to success was to join the right Communist Party youth organization or to attend one of the best universities.

Now the race starts early, with an emphasis not on ideology but on the skills and experiences the children will need in the elite life they are expected to lead. In addition to early golf training, which has become wildly popular, affluent parents are enrolling their children in everything from ballet and private music lessons, to classes in horse riding, ice-skating, skiing and even polo.

I can’t begrudge these people their success, and if I could afford it and I had children, I’d probably do the same things they’re doing. Of course, it’s hard not to compare the haves with the have-nots and to despair at the widening gulf between them. But then again, it’s a cruel, heartless and unfair world out there, especially in China, where it often seems the only way to survive is to adopt an every-man-for-himself mentality.

The rather short list focuses on Shanghai, with the one exception being the Beijing stadium featured above. Actually, I don’t find the buildings featured in the post to be that ugly, but the aforementioned stadium and the caption the blogger wrote to describe it were worthy of a post:

The National Stadium in Beijing – 42,000 tons of pure steel fugliness. What Batman’s nest would look like if he were really a bat, and if bats made nests.

This is via the Shanghaist, and it brought back memories of one of my posts from two years ago. Still, for sheer, unbridled ugliness, nothing can match this hotel on the outskirts of Beijing. Nothing.

A thought-provoking and sure-to-be controversial post by a China blogger. When I say “controversial,” I really mean it – this is the kind of post that can lead to fist-fights. I can’t take a stand because I don’t know enough about the subject. But I can say that it’s an intriguing read, and I’m hoping it generates some intelligent comments so we can see all sides of the story.

Yesterday I wrote about the government-deleted online survey in which too many respondents said they’d rather their nationality not be Chinese. That was too much for the sensitive souls in the censorship office, so, as well all know, the whole thing got zapped and two editors lost their jobs.

Now CDT offers a translation of how the story was described over at wenxuecity.com. It’s quite revealing:

The survey, started on Sept. 4 and ended on Sept. 10, registered 10,234 votes with 64% saying ‘don’t want to be a Chinese in the next life.’ Unfortunately but not surprisingly, the poll was whitewashed well before its original plan to run through October 11. (Note: the poll page is now pure white, unlike most deleted pages where visitors can see an automated error message.)

Someone says in a posting, ‘I want to answer below, like Albert Einstein: If I have a choice, I hope to be a Chinese in a China where there are civil liberties, rights protection, promoted citizenry welfare, freedom from poverty and fear. If possible, I would like to pay my due to help bring about the reality of such a China…’

Commenting on the survey, columnist Wang Yifeng says it ammounts to a satirical swipe at the Chinese Communist Party, which has always touted itself as ‘great and glorious.’ Under the evil-spirit rule of a foreign Marx-Leninism, people in this ancient, historically glorious nation have to depend on human trafficking for freedom, Wang observes. But for the vast majority who cannot get out of the country via the illegal means, they can only pin their hopes on the next life, which is a tragedy for the Chinese people.

Imagine, the CCP being incapable of tolerating a “satirical sweep.” Every year the president of the US gets up in front of the National Press Club to get roasted, and makes fun of himself. Can you imagine Hu and his colleagues ever actually laughing at themselves? (Although, to be fair, it’s hard to imagine any Asian leader getting up in public and laughing at himself.) There were lots of little lessons in this story, not only from the poll results (which, as with all Internet surveys, is questionable) but from the reactions to it from all sides. One of the best single posts I’ve read on the event and why it’s so interesting is over here.

I am blogged out. Here’s an exceptional column from Herbert, who was writing about this grotesque injustice before it got catapulted onto the front pages.

The Torture of Liberty
By BOB HERBERT
Published: September 21, 2006

After traveling to Ottawa to interview Maher Arar last year, I wrote: ‘If John Ashcroft was right, then I was staring into the malevolent, duplicitous eyes of pure evil … But all I could really see was a polite, unassuming, neatly dressed guy who looked like a suburban Little League coach.’

It turns out John Ashcroft was wrong. After an exhaustive investigation, a government commission in Canada ruled definitively and unequivocally this week that Maher Arar was no terrorist. He was nothing more than a quiet family man who found himself sucked into a vortex of incompetence, hysteria and a so-called war on terror that has gone completely haywire.

(more…)

Orwell’s prescience never fails to amaze me, and the more I read him, the more awestruck I become. Two posts today drive this point home. Each of these posts contains a touch of genius, and I read them with a true sense of wonder. Who needs salaried pundits anymore when you have such brilliant minds doing it better, and for free?

The Codpiece in Chief today delivered a speech of extraordinary meaninglessness to the United Nations, inspiring the great Fred Kaplan to write:

President Bush had nothing to say at the United Nations today. This was the clearest message of his 25-minute speech before the General Assembly – that he has no plans to change course, no desire to talk with his enemies, no proposals to put on the table, no initiatives of any sort, except to name an envoy to Sudan.

His address was full of stirring words, signifying nothing. At one point, he spoke “directly to the people across the broader Middle East.” To Iraqis, he said, “We will not abandon you” – which many Iraqis must have taken as a mixed blessing at best. To Afghans, he said, “We will stand with you,” to which they could be forgiven for blinking a skeptical eye. To the Lebanese, he expressed admiration for their courage but said surprisingly little else.

We simply have never witnessed another president like our George. The man is a blank slate, an empty shell, a tabula rasa. In short, he’s nothing at all. And we made him emperor of the universe. How very peculiar.