Really surreal

Obama's ability to look good while continuing Bush's policies of the last two years of his administration still holds. Saying the right thing while saying nothing is a talent, shown again today in his remarks on the economy.

It was well timed too, as the press is still basking in the afterglow of 'taking out' some bedraggled Somali pirates. Yeah, we can take some straight talk on the economic bad news when we've just seen our 'best and brightest' in their new incarnation, snipers!

It is hard to see the long term benefits of escalating in Somalia, but that seems to be the next step. Whack a mole gets frustrating after a while, and the pirates will learn to shoot first when negotiating with the US. So expect a move against their 'bases', the impoverished fishing villages that have seen their livelihood destroyed by foreign fishing fleets. Air strikes will put back them in their place, starving quietly.

Now our miracle man is off for a meeting in our old playground, Latin America. After the trivial changes to the Cuba policy, it's unlikely we'll see more than threats to Chavez and Morales, while prodding the others to support 'democracy'. Like in Europe, style will trump substance.

Here on the home front, the 'legal left' is getting exercised over Obama's continuing, once again, Bush's claims that the executive is above the law. When you had a bunch of low-life gangsters and idiots making absurd legal claims it seemed almost normal, but now, with everybody so bright and articulate, making the same arguments takes on a surreal quality. Do they really think that 'sovereign immunity' is a valid legal argument?