GM Posts $2 billion Profit

AP: "DETROIT - Strong profits on new cars and trucks helped General Motors Co. earn $2 billion in the third quarter, enhancing the company's appeal as it nears next week's initial public stock offering."

I grudgingly supported the automaker bailout, and I'm glad I did so. Letting GM sink wouldn't have just ended that company -- it would've taken thousands of jobs, not just from GM but from the company's suppliers. The trickle-down effect of that would've been disastrous for a fragile economy. Critics like to point out that the UAW got a pretty sweet deal out of this -- and, sure, it absolutely did. The deal was messier than most people would like. But it worked. And as bad as the economy is, it would've been worse if the Bush and Obama administrations had sit back and watched it happen. All of us are better off as a result.

More About Slate's Fake Domestic Abuse Story

Media Matters is on it. Apparently the one guy Slate scared up to provide an anecdote on behalf of the trend is, well ... you judge:

What the article doesn't tell you: Sampson runs a "Consulting and Investigations" firm whose clientele consists of people who say they were "victimized not only by cold and calculating foreign national brides, but by the 'system' itself." In other words, he makes money by helping men prove that their spouses are faking domestic abuse. Sampson has also signed affidavits used by Orly Taitz in her birther lawsuits seeking to prove that Barack Obama is not eligible to be president.

I should be surprised that Slate, which so vigorously points out bogus trend stories in other outlets, somehow fell prey to the same kind of loose-end reporting exemplified here. It can happen to all of us, I guess. But I do hope that Slate's media critic, Jack Shafer, addresses the issue. Or that somebody there does.

Afghanistan Quagmire Watch

Ugh:

"The Obama administration has decided to begin publicly walking away from what it once touted as key deadlines in the war in Afghanistan in an effort to de-emphasize President Barack Obama's pledge that he'd begin withdrawing U.S. forces in July 2011, administration and military officials have told McClatchy."

That should eventually put an end to Al Qaeda's attacks from Yemen, right?

Dana Milbank Doesn't Think Bill O'Reilly Is Funny

And I completely agree. After all, if there's an expert on what's not funny, Milbank would have to be it.

Atheism: As Annoying as Religion, But Without All The God

It's annoying that atheists don't realize that one of the benefits of life free from religion should be life free from evangelization,but that's clearly not the case. The even funnier part of the New York Times story about the atheist advertising holiday campaigns is the revelation that the atheists are now splitting up into congregations:

"That is one reason for the multiple campaigns: the groups are competing with one another to gain market share, said Mark Silk, founding director of the Greenberg Center for the Study of Religion in Public Life, which is also at Trinity College.

“There’s a competitive environment for ‘no religion,’ and they’re grabbing for all the constituents they can get,” Mr. Silk said."

South Park got there first.

Andrew Sullivan on the Republicans and Obama

Uh-huh:

"If a black Republican president had come in, helped turn around the banking and auto industries (at a small profit!), insured millions through the private sector while cutting Medicare, overseen a sharp decline in illegal immigration, ramped up the war in Afghanistan, reinstituted pay-as-you go in the Congress, set up a debt commission to offer hard choices for future debt reduction, and seen private sector job growth outstrip the public sector's in a slow but dogged recovery, somehow I don't think that Republican would be regarded as a socialist."

Given the Clinton nostalgia we've seen from some quarters of the right in recent years, I predict that Obama's presidency will be seen as "the good old days" by Republicans in about 15 years.

* My Andrew Sullivan boycott remains in effect. Stuff still bubbles up to me, though, and I'm not going to pretend I don't see it.

Harold Meyerson: Hire Pelosi

Co-sign:

"Yet she remains the Democrat most capable of forging a unified opposition to Republican attempts to undercut key programs such as Social Security and Medicaid, and her record demonstrates that she is the Democrats' most effective fighter for the interests of ordinary Americans. That's not the perception, alas, but it's the reality - which Democrats ignore at their peril."

It is intriguing to me that the loudest voices against Pelosi returning as minority leader have been Republicans like Eric Cantor. He's free to express his opinion, but he might not be offering Democrats the most unbiased advice. Pelosi continues to strike me as a singularly effective leader for Democrats within Congress. I think she should keep the job.