Robert Samuelson:

We should resist the temptation to see the forthcoming "economic stimulus" package as a panacea. It won't be. At best, it would represent traditional "pump priming." This familiar metaphor is worth pondering. To get the pump started, you add water; then the pump operates independently. Similarly, the stimulus will succeed only if the economy resumes spontaneous expansion and job creation.
...

What the United States needs is export-led growth. The rub is that many other countries want that too. Just as large U.S. trade deficits signified American overspending, large trade surpluses in China, Japan and other Asian countries signified their oversaving. In China, consumption spending is 35 percent of GDP, notes economist Nicholas Lardy of the Peterson Institute. That's half the American level.

The future of the U.S. economy depends on finding new sources of productive demand. That is partly a domestic exercise, but it also requires that other societies reduce their oversaving and reliance on exports. This is a tall order. Our fate is not entirely in our hands -- or Barack Obama's.

January 6 ...

In 1540 King Henry VIII of England was married to Anne of Cleves, his fourth wife. (The marriage lasted about six months.) In 1720 the Committee of Inquiry on the South Sea Bubble published its findings. In 1759 George Washington and Martha Dandridge Custis were married. In 1838 Samuel Morse demonstrated the telegraph for the first time. In 1878 poet, historian, and novelist Carl Sandburg was born in Galesburg, IL. In 1900 it was reported that millions of people were dying from starvation in India. In 1912 New Mexico became the 47th US state. In 1919 26th president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt died in Oyster Bay, NY, at age 60. In 1931 Thomas Edison executed his last patent application. In 1942 the first commercial around-the-world airline flight took place, when a Pan American Airlines flight landed in New York. In 1945 future president George Herbert Walker Bush married Barbara Pierce in Rye, NY. In 1950 Britain recognized the Communist government of China. In 1952 Peanuts debuted in Sunday papers across the United States. In 1963 Wild Kingdom premiered on NBC. In 1993 jazz trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie died in Englewood, NJ, at age 75; also on this day, ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev died in Paris at age 54. In 1994 figure skater Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed on the right leg by an assailant at Cobo Arena in Detroit, MI. Four men were later sentenced to prison for the attack, including Tonya Harding's ex-husband. In 1998 the spacecraft Lunar Prospect was launched into orbit around the moon. The craft was crashed into the moon, in an effort to find water under the lunar surface, on July 31, 1999. In 2001 with the vanquished Vice President Al Gore presiding, Congress formally certified George W. Bush the winner of the achingly close and bitterly contested 2000 presidential election. In 2005 former Ku Klux Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was arrested 41 years after three civil rights workers were slain in Mississippi. (Killen was later convicted of manslaughter.)

John Kass:

Don't let the political class tell you that this is a terrible time for the people of Illinois. Don't let the Democrats tell you. National and Illinois Democrats, from Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on down, could have demanded a special election.

Illinois Democrats could have stripped the governor of his power to appoint a senator and held a special election so that everyone could vote. But they didn't want you to vote. The national Democrats, and the bosses here, wanted to hand-pick Obama's replacement the Chicago Way.

And don't let the Republicans tell you it's a terrible time. Illinois Republicans kept their mouths shut under the corrupt former Gov. George Ryan, and they let their party be run by Combine bosses like indicted Springfield insider William Cellini. You could fit their credibility into an olive.

So as the politicians shriek about how terrible this is, remember—this is not terrible.

Not for us.

But it is a terrible time for Illinois politicians, from the self-professed reformers to the Outfit stooges, because they've been exposed, and now the nation will see how this freak show runs.

Sunlight isn't all that bad. It dries up the mildew.

Rather than become embarrassed, think of the next few days as theater, the actors being the crazy uncles who escaped from the locked basement and began wandering among strangers before deciding to put on a show.

Or, you could pretend you're an anthropologist from another galaxy far away, fascinated by the amazing creatures before you. Study their antics. Appreciate their use of language, what they say, and pay particular attention to those who don't say anything.

The leader of the speak-no-evils is the boss of Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley. Blagojevich's chief of staff, John Harris, was also charged in the federal case. Harris worked closely for Daley, at the airports and at the Police Department, and Harris has one chance: to sing.

January 5 ...

In 1781 Richmond, VA, was burned by a British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold. In 1885 the Long Island Railroad Company became the first to offer piggy-back rail service which was the transportation of farm wagons on trains. In 1896 it was reported by an Austrian newspaper that Wilhelm Roentgen had discovered the type of radiation that became known as X-rays. In 1900 Irish Nationalist leader John Edward Redmond called for a revolt against British rule. In 1914 Ford Motor Company announced that there would be a new daily minimum wage of $5 and an eight-hour workday. In 1925 Mrs. Nellie Taylor Ross succeeded her late husband as governor of Wyoming, becoming the first female governor in the US. In 1933 the 30th president of the US, Calvin Coolidge, died in Northampton, MA, at age 60; also on this day, construction of the Golden Gate Bridge began. In 1940 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) got its very first demonstration of FM radio. In 1948 Warner Brothers-Pathe showed the very first color newsreel. The footage was of the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl football classic. In 1949 in his State of the Union address, President Truman labeled his administration the Fair Deal. In 1957 Brooklyn Dodger Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson retired. In 1970 Joseph A. Yablonski, an unsuccessful candidate for the presidency of the United Mine Workers of America, was found murdered with his wife and daughter at their Clarksville, PA, home; UMWA President Anthony Boyle and three others were convicted of the killings. In 1972 President Richard M. Nixon ordered the development of the space shuttle. In 1987 President Ronald Reagan underwent prostate surgery. In 1994 former Speaker of the House Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill, died in Boston at age 81. In 1998 US Representative Sonny Bono died in a skiing accident.

The Chicago Tribune's Robert Mitchum reports:

It's well-known that a meteorite colliding with Earth is considered the most likely reason why dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. Now a team of scientists says it has found new evidence that a comet triggered a similar extinction much more recently: 13,000 years ago, when humans were around to witness the event and suffer its terrible consequences.

The researchers also think that when the comet exploded above the planet's surface—ultimately killing off mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and other large mammals that roamed North America...

January 4 ...

In 1821 the first native-born American saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton, died in Emmitsburg, MD. In 1896 Utah became the 45th US state. In 1928 NBC Radio debuted The Dodge Victory Hour which starred Will Rogers and Paul Whiteman and his Orchestra, and singer Al Jolson. In 1935 Bob Hope was heard for the first time on network radio as part of The Intimate Revue. In 1936 the first pop music chart based on national sales was published by Billboard magazine. In 1944 the attack on Monte Cassino was launched by the British Fifth Army in Italy. In 1948 Britain granted independence to Burma. In 1951 North Korean and Communist Chinese forces captured the city of Seoul during the Korean War. In 1957 Collier's magazine was published for the last time. The periodical was published for 69 years. In 1958 the Soviet satellite Sputknik I fell to the earth from its orbit. The craft had been launched on October 4, 1957. In 1960 French author Albert Camus died in an automobile accident at age 46. In 1962 New York City introduced a train that operated without conductors and motormen. In 1965 Poet T.S. Eliot died at age 76; also on this day, President Lyndon Johnson proclaimed the building of the "Great Society" in his State of the Union address. In 1970 The Beatles recorded as a band for the last time. In 1974 President Richard Nixon refused to hand over tape recordings and documents subpoenaed by the Senate Watergate Committee. In 1995 the 104th Congress convened, the first entirely under Republican control since the Eisenhower era. In 1999 16 people were killed and 25 injured when gunmen opened fire on Shiite Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Islamabad, Pakistan; also on this day, former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura was sworn in as Minnesota's 37th governor. In 2004 the NASA Mars Rover Spirit landed successfully on the Red Planet. In 2006 Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a second, more serious stroke. His authority is transferred to Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

The Chicago Tribune's John Kass:

... finally, despite all the willful cheerleading of national media types who prattled cherubically about the new Camelot, Americans are finally realizing that Chicago politics is no fairy tale.

President-elect Barack Obama was not found as an infant, floating in a reed basket along the banks of the Chicago River. He is not the gentle faun, the Mr. Tumnus, of the Daley machine. Obama could have forcefully and publicly demanded that Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and fellow Illinois Democrats support legislation for a special election to fill his vacated Senate seat. Obama had a responsibility to the people of Illinois to do so. But he kept his mouth shut. As always, he avoided conflict with machine political bosses, a consistent character trait stubbornly ignored by his media cheerleaders.

His top White House strategist and his chief of staff are creatures of the Daley machine, and Democrats didn't want to risk the Senate seat. What happened to the promise of transcending the old politics?

January 3 ...

In 1496 references in Leonardo da Vinci notebooks suggested that he tested his flying machine. The test didn't succeed and he didn't try to fly again for several years. In 1521 Pope Leo X excommunicated Martin Luther. In 1777 Gen. George Washington defeated Gen. Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton in the Revolutionary War. In 1815 by secret treaty, Austria, Britain, and France formed a defensive alliance against Prusso-Russian plans to solve the Saxon and Polish problems. In 1823 Stephen F. Austin received a grant from the Mexican government and began colonization in the region of the Brazos River in Texas. In 1825 the first engineering college in the US, Rensselaer School (now now known as Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) opened in Troy, NY. In 1868 the Shogunate was abolished in Japan and Meiji dynasty was restored. In 1871 Henry W. Bradley patented oleomargarine (known as margarine). In 1892 author J.R.R. Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa. In 1924 English explorer Howard Carter discovered the sarcophagus of Tutankhamen (King Tut) in the Valley of the Kings, near Luxor, Egypt. In 1925 Italy's Benito Mussolini announced that he would take dictatorial powers in the country. In 1947 US Congressional proceedings were televised for the first time as viewers in Washington, Philadelphia, and New York City saw some of the opening ceremonies of the 80th Congress. In 1953 Frances Bolton and her son, Oliver from Ohio, became the first mother-son combination to serve at the same time in the US Congress. In 1959 Alaska became the 49th state. In 1961 the US severed diplomatic relations with Cuba. In 1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicated Cuban prime minister Fidel Castro. In 1973 CBS sold the New York Yankees to a 12-man syndicate headed by George Steinbrenner for $10 million. In 1988 Great Britain's Margaret Thatcher became the country's longest-serving prime minister in the 20th century. In 1990 ousted Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega surrendered to US forces, 10 days after taking refuge in the Vatican's diplomatic mission. In 1991 the British government announced that seven Iraqi diplomats, another embassy staff member, and 67 other Iraqis were being expelled from Britain. In 1993 President George H. W. Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in Moscow. In 2000 Charles M. Schulz's final original Peanuts comic strip appeared in newspapers. In 2004 NASA's Spirit rover landed on Mars. The craft was able to send back black and white images three hours after landing.

The powerful symbolism of Barack Obama, the first black US president, is undeniably uplifting.

It has dominated the conventional wisdom, or more appropriately, the media narrative of the presidential campaign and the transition period of President-elect Obama's administration.

However, there is a competing narrative that, through the willful whitewashing of the mainstream media, was kept hidden throughout the presidential campaign: Barack Obama, the first Chicago Democrat to get to the Oval Office.

In the end, which narrative about an Obama Administration will eventually prevail? The positive, almost magical, image portrayed by Obama's supporters and media allies -- or the more negative image of the shrewd Chicago Democrat who won the White House?

The betting here is that no matter how much Obama's media allies will try, the image of Barack Obama, Chicago Democrat, will never be extinguished. And rightfully so.

Because it's the truth. The nasty, ugly, real truth.

Alan Dershowitz:

There have been three types of international response to the Israeli military actions against the Hamas rockets. Not surprisingly, Iran, Hamas, and other knee-jerk Israeli-bashers have argued that the Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians are entirely legitimate and that the Israeli counterattacks are war crimes.

Equally unsurprising is the response of the United Nations, the European Union, Russia, and others who, at least when it comes to Israel, see a moral and legal equivalence between terrorists who target civilians and a democracy that responds by targeting the terrorists.

And finally, there is the United States and a few other nations that place the blame squarely on Hamas for its unlawful and immoral policy of using its own civilians as human shields, behind whom they fire rockets at Israeli civilians.

The most dangerous of the three responses is not the Iranian-Hamas absurdity, which is largely ignored by thinking and moral people, but the United Nations and European Union response, which equates the willful murder of civilians with legitimate self-defense pursuant to Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.

This false moral equivalence only encourages terrorists to persist in their unlawful actions against civilians. The US has it exactly right by placing the blame on Hamas, while urging Israel to do everything possible to minimize civilian casualties.

January 2 ...

In 1492 the leader of the last Arab stronghold in Spain surrendered to Spanish forces loyal to King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella I. In 1788 Georgia became the 4th state to ratify the US Constitution. In 1872 Brigham Young, the 71-year-old leader of the Mormon Church, was arrested on a charge of bigamy; he had 25 wives. In 1879 Thomas Edison began construction on his first generator. In 1890 Alice Sanger became the first female White House staffer. In 1900 US Secretary of State John Hay announced the Open Door Policy to prompt trade with China. In 1920 science fiction author Isaac Asimov was born near Smolensk, Russia. In 1929 the United States and Canada reached an agreement on joint action to preserve Niagara Falls. In 1935 Bruno Hauptmann went on trial in Flemington, NJ, on charges of kidnapping and murdering the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh. (Hauptmann was found guilty, and executed.) In 1942 the Philippine capital of Manila was captured by Japanese forces during World War II. In 1955 Panamanian President Jose Antonio Remon was assassinated. In 1960 Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. In 1968 Dr. Christian Barnard performed the first successful heart transplant. In 1971 a federally imposed ban on television cigarette advertisements went into effect in the US. In 1974 President Richard M. Nixon signed a bill requiring all states to lower the maximum speed limit to 55 MPH. The law was intended to conserve gasoline supplies during an embargo imposed by Arab oil-producing countries; federal speed limits were abolished in 1995. In 1986 former baseball owner Bill Veeck, known for his innovative promotions, died in Chicago at age 71.

Wes Pruden:

The Palestinians could have a two-state solution if they would only take it. But they are determined to win a one-state solution bought at the price of a second Holocaust. This is the reality that Israel's critics in the West willfully refuse to acknowledge. The Jews can expect to be made the villains of the piece - again.

How can you not love this woman?

January 1 ...

In 404 AD the last gladiator competition was held in Rome. In 1622 the Papal Chancery adopted January 1st as the beginning of the New Year (instead of March 25th). In 1735 Paul Revere was born in Boston, MA. In 1752 Betsy Ross was born in Philadelphia, PA. In 1772 the first traveler's checks were issued in London. In 1785 London's oldest daily paper The Daily Universal Register (later renamed The Times in 1788) was first published. In 1797 Albany became the capital of New York state, replacing New York City. In 1801 Italian astronomer Giuseppe Piazzi became the first person to discover an asteroid; he named it Ceres. In 1804 Haiti gained its independence. In 1808 the US prohibited import of slaves from Africa. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which declared that all slaves in the rebel states were free. In 1879 author E.M. Forster was born in London, England. In 1892 Ellis Island Immigrant Station formally opened in New York; also on this day, Brooklyn and New York merged to form the single city of New York. In 1898 Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island were consolidated into New York City. In 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was founded. In 1902 the first Tournament of Roses (later the Rose Bowl) collegiate football game was played in Pasadena, CA. In 1909 the first payments of old-age pensions were made in Britain, with people over 70 receiving five shillings a week. In 1919 J.D. Salinger was born in New York City; also on this day, George Halas was named the MVP of the Rose Bowl. In 1926 the Rose Bowl was carried coast to coast on network radio for the first time. In 1937 the First Cotton Bowl football game was played in Dallas, TX, with TCU beating Marquette, 16-6. In 1939 the Hewlett-Packard partnership was formed. In 1942 President Franklin D. Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued a declaration called the "United Nations"; it was signed by 26 countries that vowed to create an international postwar World War II peacekeeping organization. In 1945 France was admitted to the United Nations. In 1953 country singer Hank Williams, 29, died of a drug and alcohol overdose while en route to a concert date in Canton, OH. In 1956 Sudan gained its independence. In 1959 Fidel Castro overthrew the government of Fulgencio Batista, and seized power in Cuba. In 1975 the magazine Popular Electronics announced the invention of a person computer called Altair. MITS, using an Intel microprocessor, developed the computer. In 1984 AT&T was broken up into 22 Bell System companies under terms of an antitrust agreement with the Justice Department. In 1987 a pro-democracy rally took place in Beijing's Tiananmen Square (China). In 1993 Czechoslovakia split into two separate states, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The peaceful division had been engineered in 1992. In 1994 the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) went into effect. In 1995 the World Trade Organization came into existance. The group of 125 nations monitors global trade. In 1999 the euro became currency for 11 Member States of the European Union. Coins and notes were not available until January 1, 2002. In 2004 Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to the US Congress, died at age 80; also on this day, California Congressman Robert T. Matsui died at age 63.