Link Stew

[madwriter]

Sooner or later I may post real content of photos.

Byrd: Obama In Power Grab. Granted Byrd often uses his scholarship of the Constitution for his own ends--like whipping a copy out of his pocket to get out of speeding tickets while Congress is in session. But he does know it better than most D.C. politicos. On the other hand, the abuses still

Comments

I wish Klaus Schmidt would quit with the wacky theories already

[dakiwiboid]

The Gobekli Tepe site is magnificent, but Schmidt seems to be determined to pull be the 21st century's Schliemann. I get nauseated every time I read his stuff.

Re: I wish Klaus Schmidt would quit with the wacky theories already

[madwriter]

I was wondering about that. The whole Demigod of Archaeology thing as it seemed to me.

Schleimann is a demigod to the popular imagination

[dakiwiboid]

but but most archaeologists feel about him about they way they feel about Belzoni. Certainly, Belzoni was the first European to get into the burial chamber of Khafre's Pyramid, but he did everything by brute force. He used gunpowder on the Pyramid of Menkaure, ripped slabs of stone out of tombs with his bare hands, etc. etc. He may well have destroyed as much as he preserved.

Schleimann ripped up the Troy he was looking for, of course, while he was digging for the one he expected.

Schmidt may be using reasonable archaeological methods, of course, but it's getting to be hard for me to believe that with all of this garbage coming out of his mouth. Maybe he's just spouting it in order to bring in funding, but hasn't he tried grant applications?

[sameinanylingo]

On the other hand, the abuses still haven't kept pace with what Bush did yet.

On the other hand, Obama has only been in office for a little over a month.

As for the parking meter, our meters here clearly state if they're broken DO NOT PARK THERE! How hard is that? People who park at broken parking meters then get tickets and claim ignorance because it was broken should get fined double the amount. Just sayin'!

[madwriter]

My issue here with overreaching executive power isn't timing in general but timing after crises; historically presidents have used them to extend their power. And as I mentioned in LJ before, I expect Obama will keep most of the powers Bush took, despite what he said in the election; so far the closing of Guantanamo is the only power surrender he's made much noise about.

[brent_kellmer]

my issue with what Byrd says is that by saying Obama shouldn't appoint czars because Bush misused them is like saying that we shouldn't have cops because the last chief of police used them for his own ends. In other words, Byrd is weakening his own argument by throwing his net way too wide. What he should do is to get Obama to agree that executive privelege does not apply to the czars any more than it does other WH advisors. Because ultimately, that's what they are -- advisors.

[madwriter]

I think Byrd has the same fear I did--that Obama will keep the majority of the extra executive powers Bush gathered about him. I'll wait to be proven wrong, though.