Monday Links

* Much like everything else so far, the Obama administration’s diplomatic efforts are stumbling out of the gates. The administration presented Russia with a reset button, which is cute because a) they mistranslated the word “reset” for “overcharge,” (and do they really have no Russian translators at State?) b) it implies that the problem with Russian relations are our fault and not, say, Putin pulling liberally from the KGB playbook for the last ten years, and c), uh, giving a big red button to the only country capable of going toe-to-toe in terms of nuclear arms? Seriously? Maybe Russia didn’t mind, but really.

Of course, the bigger flub was just how poorly the British Prime Minister’s visit went over. After cancelling a press conference due to snow (keep in mind, this is the same guy who complained about DC snow policy shortly after entering office) and the multiple gift gaffes, one has to wonder what the hell they were thinking. Of course, the Telegraph may be giving us an answer, and if the anonymous sources are an indicator (and I’ve noted plenty of times how uncomfortable anonymous sources make me), President Obama really dropped the ball on this one. The most troubling passage is the report that an official from the administration “dismissed any notion of the special relationship [between the US and the UK], saying: ‘There’s nothing special about Britain. You’re just the same as the other 190 countries in the world. You shouldn’t expect special treatment.’” Uh, yeah. I really, really hope this ends up not being true.

* Thank goodness we have Jake Tapper. the Obama Administration is working off of faulty numbers regarding health care and bankruptcy.

* Congress may be cutting a program designed to bring us closer to compliance with NAFTA, as the program allowing a number of Mexican truck drivers access to American roadways is set to be slashed. Not surprisingly, Obama and Biden voted to get rid of it last time it came up in the Senate. More international flubs, really - a step backward for our trade agreements, a step backward with Mexican relations. Of course, who’s most against it? The labor unions, citing “safety concerns” even though the evidence tells us otherwise. It’s really pathetic.

* Speaking of unions, it appears the Employee Free Choice Act is the next thing to worry about. I’d love to hear from someone who actually supports this as to why it’s a good idea.

* Does having a “stimulus” sticker on projects financed by the stimulus skeeve anyone else out?

* It’s cases like this that make me loathe the fact that we’re going to be another 15 years behind on having a responsible Supreme Court again. The Court decided that, even if someone uses a drug incorrectly or it has passed all regulatory standards, the drug companies can be held liable. The three dissenters? Scalia, Roberts, Alito. (Thomas had a concurrence that appears to have more to do with the ability to bring such suits). This is a completely unreasonable ruling. Another sad day.

* The best piece on this continued Limbaugh nonsense I’ve read yet. The completely unhinged reactions by many people who are still inexplicably finding this fascinating is puzzling to me. The best portion:

The 2008 primary season provided a particularly good indication of Limbaugh’s level of influence. He seems to have supported Mitt Romney. Despite Limbaugh’s support, Romney received only 4.7 million votes. The candidate Limbaugh favored least and argued against most–John McCain–won the nomination. Again, I’m not a devotee of Limbaugh’s show, but my sense is that Limbaugh made his distaste for McCain very apparent. Republican primary voters paid little heed.

After the Romney flame-out, Limbaugh began promoting what he called “Operation Chaos,” where he instructed listeners to vote for Hillary Clinton in Democratic primaries. Limbaugh claimed a good deal of credit for her subsequent victories, but I’ve never seen any data which suggests that his influence was significant, let alone decisive. To the contrary, almost all of the Democratic primary results–both before and after “Operation Chaos”–fit within a stable racial, socio-economic model.

Finally, in the general election, I presume that Limbaugh favored (to some degree) McCain over Obama. Again, Limbaugh’s influence failed to materialize.

I’m open to the argument that Limbaugh is influential; but I don’t think there’s a prima facie case for it.

* Nick Hornby’s 40 books. If this were a Facebook meme, I’d fail miserably as I’ve read…3 of these.

Mirrored from The International House of Bacon.