Farewell. The Flying Pig Has Left The Building.

Steve Hynd, August 16, 2012

After four years on the Typepad site, eight years total blogging, Newshoggers is closing it's doors today. We've been coasting the last year or so, with many of us moving on to bigger projects (Hey, Eric!) or simply running out of blogging enthusiasm, and it's time to give the old flying pig a rest.

We've done okay over those eight years, although never being quite PC enough to gain wider acceptance from the partisan "party right or wrong" crowds. We like to think we moved political conversations a little, on the ever-present wish to rush to war with Iran, on the need for a real Left that isn't licking corporatist Dem boots every cycle, on America's foreign misadventures in Afghanistan and Iraq. We like to think we made a small difference while writing under that flying pig banner. We did pretty good for a bunch with no ties to big-party apparatuses or think tanks.

Those eight years of blogging will still exist. Because we're ending this typepad account, we've been archiving the typepad blog here. And the original blogger archive is still here. There will still be new content from the old 'hoggers crew too. Ron writes for The Moderate Voice, I post at The Agonist and Eric Martin's lucid foreign policy thoughts can be read at Democracy Arsenal.

I'd like to thank all our regular commenters, readers and the other bloggers who regularly linked to our posts over the years to agree or disagree. You all made writing for 'hoggers an amazingly fun and stimulating experience.

Thank you very much.

Note: This is an archive copy of Newshoggers. Most of the pictures are gone but the words are all here. There may be some occasional new content, John may do some posts and Ron will cross post some of his contributions to The Moderate Voice so check back.


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Monday, March 8, 2010

Leadership 101? -- Email from #43 to #44

By John Ballard



This turned up in a Google cache after the source vanished.
We have no way to validate its authenticity.

From: George W. Bush [gwb@*******]
 Sent: Wednesday, March 03, 2009 11:04 PM
 To: Barack H. Obama [barry@*******]  

Subject: Pointers

 Mr. President,

 I wanted to pass along three pointers from Boy Genius. His advice served me well for 8 yrs.

 1. Either appoint incompetent department heads, or burden your department secs with bureaucracies so cumbersome that nobody could make them work. Since it's inception, Homeland Security has served the second aim quite well.

 2. When something goes wrong, wait for our side to demand that the government authorize more spending on military/security contracts/ technologies. You ought to give in to this demand because it will not only make your friends richer, it will show the public that you are serious.

 3. Being a Dem, you should probably propose bringing terror suspects to justice. Then just wait. Wait for our side to demand that you orchestrate an end run around the justice system. This is an  invitation for you and your team to seize power from other branches of government (i.e. the power to arrest and detain people away from judges and the justice system). Yes, our side will demand you seize greater power for yourself. Suggest you accept the offer.

 The key is to realize that no failure ever need be blamed on your own leadership team (unless it involves a sex scandal). Your side and our side have an unwritten understanding that the problem is always

 1) that the president has been forced to share/dilute his power (during wartime no less!) with other branches of government; and
 2) that there has been too little public investment in security/mil/tech. Suggest you talk about the need for bipartisanship on matters of national security (i.e. take your cues from our side).

 So long as you don't try to be too effective, there will be failures and> perceived failures. Each time you flunk out, our side will demand that more power be into your hands and more contracts will go to your friends and ours. To sum up: Don't try to overachieve. I didn't.

 Know that Laura and I deeply appreciate that your patriotism and honor. We will always be grateful to you. In four years, we expect to have you and Michelle over at the ranch. :)

God Bless

 George

P.S. Don't pay any attention to Dick, he's a jerk.


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