Below is a quote from the newly-installed Bank of Japan governor, Masaaki Shirakawa, whose nomination process shined a light on the ridiculous inability for Japanese politicians to get anything done.  The quote illustrates two things: 1) how the Japanese often speak in very vague, roundabout terms so as to never convey intent or sentiment; and 2) how those in positions of authority love to state the obvious when given a microphone for fear of making even the slightest mistake.

Japan’s economy currently faces many downside risks at home and [from] the outside.  The BOJ must take appropriate policy actions after carefully examining economic indicators and other information, the financial market conditions at home and abroad, and also the future path of the economy and prices.

What was the question?  What are the risks facing the economy today and what is the role of the BOJ?  This is like someone asking me what I want for lunch and me responding with something like:

Should my blood-sugar level reach a critical point and I find myself in need of replenishment, I will carefully examine the options provided me in an effort to ensure that my body’s need for energy is met while also balancing my preference for foods that taste good.

Better yet, if I were asked who will win this year’s NBA championship:

Each year, at the end of a basketball season, one team is left standing.  My expectation is that it will be the team that outscores the other team during the last game of the playoffs by converting more chances than the other team and by allowing less points.

Hehe.  This is fun.

It looks like we’re not the only ones that have to deal with the embarrassment of a goofball leader. According to this article from the IHT, those fickle French aren’t taking much of a shine to their new president, Nicolas Sarkozy. Hehe.

“Sarko l’Américain” is another common insult, although the French may soon have to think up a fresh one if the Americans elect a president who delivers speeches like the one Barack Obama gave on race, while this country has its first modern leader not to have graduated from the country’s upper-crust schools, a head of state who, on a recent visit to the Vatican, arrived late, with an exceptionally crude French stand-up comic named Jean-Marie Bigard in tow. The coup de grâce: The hyperactive Sarkozy reportedly text-messaged somebody or other while with the Pope.

This video is fantastic.  Tim Russert completely dismantles Hillary’s boldfaced lie about that now infamous Bosnia trip – and Bill’s misguided attempt to cover a lie with another one – which is topped off by watching Clinton surrogate-for-life James Carville awkwardly tap dance around a response when called to comment on it.

Look, I hate what’s going on in Iraq just as much as any other conscientious objector.  However, the man that we’ve put in charge of things over there, General David Petraeus, is taking entirely too much heat from the anti-war public.   Desperate to put a human face on a war they vehemently reject, the anti-war establishment has had a heyday with their disparagement of Petraeus, going so far as to insinuate dishonesty on his part with a play on his name.

I am in no position to judge his progress or contemplate whether he’s fudging the numbers.  What I can comment on is what I’ve seen him display in whatever public forum he’s encountered, whether that’s on Capitol Hill or on an evening news show.   And what I’ve seen is someone who comes off as strikingly genuine and forthright in his assessment of things.  Sure there is the obligatory silver lining attached to an otherwise dismal situation, which is human nature for anyone forced to comment on their own work.  However, as evidenced by the above clip, I think he’s been quite honest in his assessment of things, stating plainly that progress has occurred yet it’s been uneven and that we remain a long way from a solution.  I found him thoughtful, respectful and articulate in his responses, all attributes that have been sorely missing from the political scene in our country for many, many years.

Last year, when asked by Senator John Warner if a victory in Iraq would make us safer at home, Petraeus did the unthinkable.  He answered honestly by saying, “I don’t know”.  He admitted that he doesn’t know, that his only duty is to make Iraq a more tenable situation to expedite anything even closely resembling a victory for our troops there.  He is staying above the philosophical fray of why we are there in the first place and focusing on doing his duty to the best of his ability.

What we need to remember is that this guy is just like all the other brave men and women that we’ve sent to serve in this war – he has been called to duty by his country (and her tremendously misguided president), and he is going to carry out his mission with honor and courage.  This man has a PhD in international relations from Princeton and has more badges and stripes than I have freckles.  Hearing him speak, I’m left wondering, is this what it looks and sounds like to have good, informed leadership in our country?  Much better than the bumbling, lying fools we’ve been dealing with for as long as I can remember.

General Petraeus didn’t choose this war.  This war was given to him.  This war was broken beyond repair and now he’s been ordered to fix it, which would indeed make him a modern day miracle worker.  Don’t hate this man for trying, when called upon, to accomplish the impossible.  We should honor his efforts, thank him for his service to our country and appreciate his introduction of the term “battlefield geometry” into the vernacular.  Let’s see W try to get his head around that one!

Every once in a while, I stumble across a fantastic piece of writing that, in one form or another, speaks to me. That happened to me today as I got around to yesterday’s copy of the International Herald Tribune while on a train headed for Niigata.  I highly recommend that you read this editorial.  You may disagree with its politics, but surely you’ll appreciate its poetic touch of humanity.   

So Hillary decided to finally release her tax returns, which showed that she and Bill earned a handsome $109 million over the past seven years. Much of this was earned by Bill on the post-presidential speaking circuit, followed by royalties for books written by both Hillary and Bill. While many eyebrows have been raised at the amount, I have no problem with the figures. After dedicating much of their professional lives to public office, whose pay pales in comparison to the private sector, I believe politicians have every right to follow their elected careers with profitable private ones. I just wonder how much George W. Bush stands to take down in speaking/writing fees once he (finally) leaves office. Something tells me people won’t be lining up to hear him speak, particularly among our friends overseas. I’m setting the over/under at $5 million and, naturally, taking the under.

It was announced last week that an informal poll of 109 professional historians conducted by the History News Network found that George W. Bush ranks among our country’s worst presidents – ever. As a matter of fact, 61% of the historians ranked W’s presidency the absolute worst. Another 35% ranked his presidency in the range of 31st-41st. Only four of them ranked the Bush presidency among the top two-thirds of all time. On the question of whether his time spent in the office has been a failure or a success, a whopping 98% of respondents answered the former.

Luckily, W preempted such bashing during a February chat with Fox News Sunday:

As far as history goes and all of these quotes about people trying to guess what the history of the Bush administration is going to be, you know, I take great comfort in knowing that they don’t know what they are talking about, because history takes a long time for us to reach.

You really should follow the above link and read what some of these historians had to say about the second Bush. There are some really classic takes, including this from one of the panel’s most distinguished historians:

Bush does only two things well. He knows how to make the very rich very much richer, and he has an amazing talent for f**king up everything else he even approaches. His administration has been the most reckless, dangerous, irresponsible, mendacious, arrogant, self-righteous, incompetent, and deeply corrupt one in all of American history.

In related news, a recent CBS News-New York Times poll indicated that 81% of Americans believe the country is on the wrong track, and 78% believe the country is worse off than it was five years ago. Meanwhile, W’s approval rating continues to hover around 28%.

If I were McCain, I would throw up in my mouth each time I was deridingly referred to as “McSame“. Doesn’t seem like that would equate to much success in a popular election. You can bet your bottom dollar that the Dems will hammer away at that come November, assuming they get their sh*t together and decide on a nominee by then (please, for the sake of all that is good, don’t let that person be Hillary!).