Firstly, Rand Paul is not a racist. He was asked, “Should Woolworth lunch counter have been allowed to stay segregated?” and Paul couldn’t bring himself to say ‘no’ for other reasons entirely. This does show an ideological extremism which will endanger his campaign, which even Dave Weigel called a ‘proper’ gaffe. To think, other self-described libertarians who were patting themselves on the back last Tuesday after hearing news of Paul’s victory, not realizing that perhaps libertarian ideology will get a truly public vetting outside the safety of college campus opinion sheets and NRA rallys. Ezra Klein wrote, “the hard part of Rand Paul’s vision of freedom is being on the wrong side of it. And that’s not the side that Paul — who is wealthy, educated and white — is on,” and that sums up most liberals frustrations with the libertarian movement, that libertarians can’t grasp the tarnished other side of the libertarian coin (backed by gold of course).

Anything to make Madison more like Amsterdam (I lived in the Netherlands before you come to any other conculsions) is fine by me. Who’s for canals, could we get stimulus funds for that?

I hate Ohio State. Jim Tressel is a gentleman though. (From Jon Chait, who hates Ohio State maybe more than anyone.)

In his drive for the GOP Presidential nomination, Tim Pawlenty has left the state of Minnesota out to dry.

I picked that story up from my local paper which I perused after reading a story about my mom’s campaign for County Attorney. Go mom!

Michele Bachmann’s writers are like those of Family Guy, they randomly pull shit out of a hat (fascist dictatorships replace obscure pop culture) and just throw it willy-nilly toward their empty minded fans.

Okay this may come off as slanted after the previous bullet point, no it will come off as slanted. But this gag by Franken on the Senate floor is legitimately funny. “There we see an apple core, there’s a fish head… skeleton, a banana. You don’t want those on the ice! You just don’t want that. That’s bad.” This made me think, what if Bill Murray ran for office and won.

Ezra Klein reveals the not so sacred history of the filibuster. You will hate Aaron Burr even more.

There was a terrorist attack in Florida (via Yglesias).

I’m not Lady Gaga’s biggest fan musically speaking, but after reading this interview she comes off as very very sharp.

Finally, in Madison we have James Brown’s drummer Mr. Stubblefield. See him on Mondays at the Frequency. The Lower East Side has Fela Kuti’s drummer. Point, Madison. A good blurb and a great photo of the guy anyway. Wikipedia ‘Fela Kuti’ to learn more about the legend, or listen to this:

Before I can find a more original sign off, I’ll steal from Murrow: Good night, and good luck.

State of the Union last night. It was more candid and honest than any we had under Bush (which were draped in religious verbosity and allusions to the ‘unmistakable momentum of freedom’). Now we wait and see if the hopeful grace will be followed by a delicious meal of health care reform and job creation. On a side note: Obama calling out the Justices was pretty ballsy. They sat there awkwardly and had to take it while all the Dems stood behind and clapped, making it a unique moment in American history.

-If Madison has high speed rail, lets build a station that looks like this, please. Have Mayor Dave call the architect and use his Hammes connection to get a cheaper building estimate.

-I’m gonna go out on a limb and predict that the lack of parking around the Union and Mendota Ct. will be even more of a problem when this high rise is built. The building is big (and pricey), significantly increasing traffic into and out of the small cul de sac. But tenants will prove to be resilient and creative in finding a place to park. Maniaci’s right that ‘having an automobile is a real cost’, this building will make it costlier which in theory should promote bicycles and walking.

-Minnesota should think about cutting off all access across the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers because Wisconsin isn’t as good at addressing unemployment and the inevitable exodus to pastures greener may send even more bad driving cheese-eaters to the land of sky blue waters.

-Huh, if people know more about key provisions of health care, they are more likely to support it. From an NBC/The Wall Street Journal poll: “Also, while just 36 percent of Americans believe Obama’s efforts to reform the health system are a good idea, that number increases to 53 percent when respondents were read a paragraph describing Obama’s plans.”

-An argument for a Haitian Marshall Plan, here.

-I just started watching TV again and am glad that other people are noticing that the History Channel has jumped the shark. I want a documentary on Napoleon or the Constantinople, not a marathon of Modern Marvels (which by definition isn’t history) or Pawn Stars (a tattooed version of ‘Antiques Roadshow’).

-Journalism and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

-And, if you’re like me and enjoy having Tennis (or any sport for that matter) in the background while you travel the series of tubes called internet, check out Justine Henin play Serena Williams in the Aussie Open final. I have a gut feeling that it’s gonna be a classic. A victory for Henin may help strengthen Belgium’s national identity so, Allez Belgique/Ga Belgie.

-The U.K. announced new laws banning drinking games. I wonder how something like this would go down in Madison. The ‘dentist chair’ game is quite crude, it reminds me of the one from Ireland called ’1, 2, 3′. During my travels I noticed drinking games are one of those things Americans truly do best. Whether this is good or not is obviously in the eye of the beholder. I’m just saying that ‘quarters’, ‘beer pong’, or ‘wizards’ add to the complex layers of drinking culture in a way that shotgunning doesn’t.

-C’mon who isn’t a little curious to venture into Segredo, the new botique bowling alley which replaced Mad Ave? I like how the article doesn’t shy away from calling Mad Ave. unsafe. Don’t go on Wednesday though. “You got a date Wednesday, baby!”

-Being a Vikings fan is worth $530.65. Being a Packers fan? Still priceless, because when the city owns the team it probably won’t threaten to move.

-Hey, if you thought that health care reform was going to benefit profit-driven healthcare providers more than our current system, why do healthcare share prices rise when it looks like democrats may commit political suicide by scuttling the plan.

-Chait at T.N.R. dug this up:the ramifications of electing Republicans. Do we want to go back to that? Really, America?

Then again, who could ever leave a country that produced Woody Guthrie, Rock ‘n Roll, and the Wu Tang Clan?

On a final note: there is no definitive word that the health care bill will not get through reconciliation, this all hinges upon whether the Dems in Congress understand the ramifications of not passing the bill. Think of how election night 2008 felt. Got it? Now imagine the exact opposite of that.

Haiti is one of the closest countries to the United States geographically. That must mean something, at least I have some sort of sense that it is easier to help than say, Indonesia. What is happening there is chaos, a tragedy, and all too real. The Arcade Fire has long been a champion of support to Haiti’s people and their song could never be more appropriate. Their website links to the charity they supported during their Neon Bible Tour, Partners in Health. They are correct that ‘time is of the essence.’

-Chris Blattman, a development expert at Yale links to the London Times article that helps put into some perspective how Haiti became the mess that it was before this earthquake and that the reason we don’t see natural disasters of this nature hurting neighbors like the Dominican Republic lies in the country’s natural endowment, history, and ability to govern. Nothing that the victims of the disaster could ever control.

-Texas in Africa has some excellent suggestions for finding a charity to donate to.

-If you want to do something beyond donating to a charity, please follow the advice of the Wronging Rights blog and lobby the White House to grant Haitians Temporary Protected Status here in the U.S.

Designating Haiti for TPS status would provide an immediate, tremendously valuable benefit to Haitian immigrants in the United States. But, more importantly it would benefit their loved ones who remain in Haiti and are in desperate need of their assistance. TPS would increase and stabilize remittances at a time when they are absolutely vital. Equally significantly, especially in the quake’s immediate aftermath, it would allow immigrants to return to Haiti to find and help their loved ones, or to mourn those who they have lost, without jeopardizing their ability to return to the United States and support their surviving family members.

To express your support, contact the White House here. (Note from Kate: This is the White House’s generic “tell us a thing” form, so you’ll need to select “I have a policy comment” on the subject drop-down menu, choose “Immigration” from the drop-down menu that appears below and then write something to the effect of “I am writing to express my strong support for granting TPS to Haitians in the aftermath of the 1/13/10 earthquake” for the message content.)

-Ezra Klein proposes another way to help Haiti.

Listening to Billy Bragg makes me want to buy a Mexican Strat and a cheap amp. If I land the job I’ve applied for, I might just do that. It would be that or a Kindle. I have seen the Kindle and it is incredible. Maybe in 20 years hipsters will be dragging around dog-eared paperback copies of Penguin Classics like Joyce’s ‘Portrait of An Artist as a Young Man’ because it will be even more ironic, as the printing page is becoming yesterday’s vinyl record. (Though doesn’t stop me from buying 45s whenever the opportunity presents itself.)

-There has been a little battle brewing among our national news and economic elites over whether Europe is better than America or vice versa. Ross Douhat seemed to have lit the spark when he said “Social democracy has its benefits, but global competitiveness isn’t one of them”. His colleague at the NYTimes Krugman stoked the flames. Greg Mankiw responded with this useless (and snarky) post, though he later was a little more ready to contribute to the discussion. The conclusion is that comparing America to Europe does not really prove anything as people will draw different conclusions from the same sets of data.
My take is that if one likes more vacation, more soccer, better public infrastructure, improved access to the BBC, and cheaper school and healthcare in exchange for higher taxes and less GDP growth, Europe is ideal. If one’s utopia involves large tracts of open land to build spacious homes, more material wealth (think gigantic TVs with 200 channels), greater reliance on personal responsibility regarding education, healthcare, and transportation, and more American Football, in exchange for a less mobile society and greater income inequality, then maybe the U.S. is for you. Of course, the choice isn’t that simple since we cannot feasibly ‘vote with our feet’ en masse by moving to those countries whose priorities match our own.
There are so many fundamental differences, interpretation of liberty, etc, that they are impossible to keep track of. In a sense, depending on the person, the American or European way just ‘feels’ more right and no one ever is going to prove who actually is. That is unless the neo-cons somehow get us all blowed up.

-I would like to point out that architecture in Sweden (despite their socialist ‘shortcomings’) is not stifled by government interference like architecture in the U.S. is stifled by an emphasis on the bottom line (I like to call this phenomenon ‘efficiency interference’). A design proposal for the new Stockholm Public Library is striking.

-the lede says it all here: “Thieves in Brazil made off with nearly $6 million in a heist that demonstrated the unbelievable distracting power of soccer in the country.”

-This clutch of links is for Kevin Bargnes, who has a lot of Detroit pride. Yglesias talks about turning Detroit around. And, a sobering reminder of the project that will be.

-Gratitude: A tasteful holiday greeting card from Joseph Stalin here.

-And finally, Mark ‘The Shark’ Titus, Ohio State’s most articulate bench warmer and (conjecture here) complete jackass in real life, has made an NBA highlight video showing his soaking wet jumpshot. It is great. Bill Simmons and Mike Bruesewitz are documented fans of Club Trillion, so you’d best hop on the wagon.

-Best Date Movie: Amelie (if she hasn’t seen it), otherwise Across the Universe
Among cultured college Freshmen girls, Amelie was the flavor du monde for a good chunk of the decade, but it really holds up. This movie is completely bearable for a guy to watch, Audrey Tatou is hot. The catch is that it may have been overwatched sometime around 2004. If that is the case, Across the Universe is goto, I mean its a romantic Beatles musical with Penelope Cruz playing a nurse during the ‘Happiness is a Warm Gun’ sequence.

-Worst Date Movie: There Will be Blood
Daniel Day Lewis after beating the priest to death with a bowling pin: “I’m done now”

-Best ‘Lord of the Rings’ Movie: The Two Towers
This one is going to hold up the best over time to become our generation’s ‘Zulu’

-Most Suprisingly Good time/Uplifting movie: Be Kind Rewind
So creative and about small community business creating something unique and bringing New Jersey together. Sneaky good date movie also.

-Worst “Best Picture”: Slumdog Millionaire
“Bollywood ending” was a complete disappointment. A little gyration on a train platform is boring when applying bollywood standards.

-Best “Best Picture”: Gladiator
Oh come on, admit it, 10 years on and this movie seems like it could have been made yesterday and is still great, it will be considered legendary in 20 years. I predict that Scott’s other sword and sandals flick “Kingdom of Heaven” is going to age well also, if only for the line:
“What is Jerusalem worth?”
“Nothing…[walks away and turns around]…Everything.”

-Best Picture: Ciudad de Deus
This movie is perfect. It has guns, slums, beaches, brazilian women, a funky soundtrack, and they even fit in Buscape as the guy you’re rooting for to get out. And all of it is true.

I’ll be posting a clutch of links that I have been finding on reader over break sometime later today. Hopefully, I’ll be getting back in the blogging groove after that.

“The controversy forces the justices to toil with difficult thought and present the public with their judicial philosophy, and the media then has something to stir up into controversy.”

The Daily Cardinal reported that a little over half of UW-Madison graduates leave with debt, and that the debt averages to $23,200. This should make students feel good (those who owe the average or below) or even worse.

The Herald reported on the equality march up State this weekend. I am going to assume that LGBT marchers were not actually greeted “with smiles, shouts and thumbs up,” because I “read with a skeptical eye everything written in the Herald, and assume everything written about the campus and local left is a lie.”

“At this point I’m so fed up that I’ll just tell you everything,” says Mike Verveer on Edgewater.