Big Dog on the Hunt
Bill Clinton evidently returned to politics over the weekend. I didn't see his appearances on "Meet the Press" or other shows, but he set the blogworld abuzz--check out these observations (two very different variations on a common theme) by Bull Moose and The Rude Pundit.

This was enough to send me to the transcript, where I found the following brilliant little frame:

...just think what would happen if the Chinese--we're pressing the Chinese now, a country not nearly rich as America per capita, to keep loaning us money with low interest to cover my tax cut, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Katrina and at the same time to raise the value of their currency so their imports into our country will become more expensive, and our exports to them will become less expensive. And by the way, we don't want to let them buy any oil companies or anything like that.

So what if they just got tired of buying our debt? What if the Japanese got tired of doing it? Japan's economy is beginning to grow again. Suppose they decided they wanted to keep some of their money at home and invest it in Japan, because they're starting to grow?

We depend on Japan, China, the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, and Korea primarily to basically loan us money every day of the year to cover my tax cut and these conflicts and Katrina. I don't think it makes any sense. I think it's wrong.

This was in response to a question George Stephanopoulos asked Clinton about what the Democrats should do in response to the White House refusing to back down on tax cuts to pay for disaster relief. Clinton effortlessly ties this into a larger narrative that hits on the illogic of our policy toward China; the risk we incur thereby; and the larger unfairness of Bush's economic approach ("my tax cut," which he'd referenced earlier).

The guy is unbelievable. It's nice to see him back in the game.

On a housekeeping note, I proudly announce two additions to my blogroll on the left side of this page:

• The Smiling Nihilist: newly launched blog by my itinerant college roommate Greg D--fixer of flailing tech companies, gluttonous consumer of high and low entertainment, lover of many women, fighter of real and virtual evil (in video game action at least), and, um, a smiling nihilist.


• 826NYC: a Brooklyn-based nonprofit group that helps school-age kids with their creative and expository writing skills. It's modeled after 826 Valencia, the San Francisco-based center founded by Dave Eggers among other s. I'm tutoring there this fall one day a week and excited to be working with kids again. The center is nestled in the back of the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company, a great place to browse if you ever find yourself on Fifth Avenue of a sunny afternoon.