My take.

As they say in the Clint Eastwood movie, Hang ‘em. Hang ‘em high.

I continued to be stunned by the obsession with the rights of the Somali pirates – these “enemies of the human race” (hostis humani generis). They are entitled to a a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging (bonus points if you recognize that movie line).

Brennan Withdraws From Consideration for Administration Post

Win for them, I guess.

h/t Herald Tribune

The Czech Republic is set to occupy the rotating European Union presidency. The current Czech president is one Vaclav Klaus, a trained economist in the Milton Friedman camp. He has a colorful and controversial political history, being a known dissident under Soviet rule, involved in the Velvet Revolution, and sometimes scandal-ridden. He’s considered center-right, and is a bitter rival with national hero Vaclav Havel.

But hey, all that is peanut butter and jelly to me. Two things you should know:

• He’s a big, big free marketeer
• He so vehemently opposes the AGW Hoax that he once called ManBearPig an “apostle of arrogance”.

The Europeans were near-catatonic, making rocking motions and chanting “Excelsior!”

The trial had been scheduled to begin four days before the Dec. 6 general election in which Jefferson is seeking a 10th term against Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao, the Green Party’s Malik Rahim, Libertarian Party candidate Gregory Kahn and independent Jerry Jacobs.

Though no one can say for sure, it appears that the trial likely will be held sometime in the first half of 2009.

Story here.

…if that would require them to subpoena one of Obama’s own Cabinet members?

Oh, right: they realistically can’t. Add that to the list of Things The Netroots Aren’t Getting For Christmas.

ABC Radio News reports Bob Gates has agreed to remain as SecDef for a minimum of one year. Hope and Change is looking suspiciously like the Clinton Administration and some Bush holdovers.

It’s almost certain that one of these potential Blue on Blue conflicts (via Hot Air Headlines) will involve a relevant member of Congress for you; one that might and should be contacted so that you may politely express your opinion on how he or she should vote.

Time to start thinking in these terms, ladies and gentlemen. Our opposite numbers do.

I’m sorry, but this was the most jarring sentence I’ve read in the past few days, taken completely by itself:

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal says he has “full confidence” in Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit and believes the bank’s financial problems will resolve themselves with time.

Well, I’m sooooooo glad that Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has complete confidence in Vikram Pandit now that the federal government of the United States has effectively nationalized his bank. And let’s make no mistake, folks: the Saudi Prince is, according to the article, the largest individual investor in Citigroup.

Does this mean that the United States taxpayer has just written the checks to stabilize a Saudi Prince’s bank?

In the world of business, there are some people who still understand what the lasting and deleterious effects of ideologically-driven social policies have been on companies across America and its competitiveness in general:

The problem goes back to decisions made in the ’70s by the U.S. government, which was trying to put a Band-Aid on a discrimination problem. As a result, human resources, initially designed to assure employee availability and productivity, became a compliance function. This massive focus on equal opportunity, which should have centered on skills, wiped out the emerging science of expert employee management by trying to force people into jobs they weren’t yet qualified to do. Collateral damage was the loss of the skills and knowledge of how to do layoffs. As a result, this knowlege exists in few companies in any segment. This will be a problem, and a significant one, as company after company has to lay off staff as a result of the economic meltdown.

You never hear viewpoints like this expressed on the evening news.