Look what this guy is doing now:Via
Atrios, we learn that the right wing is in a tizzy over a Christmas tree tax. The story is being promoted by Drudge and the
Fox Nation.
Other bloggers are chiming in.
The story originated from the Heritage Foundation in a
post written by David S. Addington. (Where it has picked up over 1,000 comments from outraged conservatives.)
Does that name sound familiar? It should.
David Addington was chief of staff to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Addington was described by U.S. News & World Report as "the most powerful man you've never heard of".
He was one of the biggest supporters of unbridled executive power:
Addington has consistently advocated that under the Constitution, the President has substantial and expansive powers as commander-in-chief during wartime, if need be. He is the legal force behind over 750 signing statements that President George W. Bush issued when signing bills passed by Congress, expanding the practice relative to other Presidents.
And there are various clams that Addington was a major force behind the authorization of torture.
Now he's blogging about Christmas trees.
posted by Quiddity at 11/09/2011 07:55:00 AM
Quiddity ponders why the media isn't covering the Murdoch story but then pushes it out of the way for this Christmas tree story.
I'm not complaining. I'm just answering your question.
Here's one vote for jello... By reacting the White House makes itself look even worse. It's admitting a "mistake" and giving the right wing a "victory." Appeasement politics FTL!
Seriously, how is this anything but an unforced error. What possible course of action could the Obama administration take at any point that would turn the new tax into a vote-winner instead of a vote loser? There are a lot of government programs that people aren't really sure if we need or not, but people instinctively understand that we don't need a tax on Christmas trees in order to fund a Federal Christmas Tree Promotion Program. The only way this tax would have succeeded in any respect is if that no one had noticed. Wasn't that the purpose of this? To create a nice comfortable new little nest in the Department of Agriculture for a couple of new administrative mice to live in?
Next question? Who the hell ordered this? Or probably more accurately, who wasn't paying attention when this went down? A big part of the job of the President is appointing the right people to keep track of how his little Federal mice are occupying their time, and keeping them from making little piles of doo-doo for the President to step in.
