Much of the mainstream press has played the rising opposition to Senate confirmation of Ben Bernanke as a case of misplaced populist rage. The fact that the opposition within the Senate began with that chamber's left (Bernie Sanders) and right (Jim Bunning) seems to confirm the premise that it's only the fringe that opposes his reappointment as Fed Chairman. The Boston Globe, for example, recently profiled Sanders and his case against Bernanke under the remarkable headline, "Sanders a Growing Force on the Far, Far Left." (I've always thought of the far, far left as Chairman Mao and Che Guevara. Bernie is a European style social-democrat.)

Nothing like it has ever happened. The President of the United States, the elected representative of the people, has just told the head of General Motors -- a company that's spent more years at #1 on the Fortune 500 list than anyone else -- "You're fired!"

I simply can't believe it. This stunning, unprecedented action has left me speechless for the past two days. I keep saying, "Did Obama really fire the chairman of General Motors? The wealthiest and most powerful corporation of the 20th century? Can he do that? Really? Well, damn! What else can he do?!"

This bold move has sent the heads of corporate America spinning and spewing pea soup. Obama has issued this edict: The government of, by, and for the people is in charge here, not big business. John McCain got it. On the floor of the Senate he asked, "What does this signal send to other corporations and financial institutions about whether the federal government will fire them as well?" Senator Bob Corker said it "should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise." The stock market plunged as the masters of the universe asked themselves, "Am I next?" And they whispered to each other, "What are we going to do about this Obama?"

Not much, fellows. He has the massive will of the American people behind him -- and he has been granted permission by us to do what he sees fit. If you liked this week's all-net 3-pointer, stay tuned.

Michael Moore is an Academy Award-winning American filmmaker, author and liberal political commentator. He is the director and producer of Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and Sicko, three of the top five highest-grossing documentaries of all time.

Kevin Rudd has made a big impression in Beijing by being the only western leader who can speak Mandarin. The Chinese leader, Hu Jintao, seemed to appreciate having a friendly Prime Minister that he could speak to without interpreters. Many people had a list of serious subjects they wanted Rudd to raise but I hope he just talked about the weather. Nice bit of rain! Congratulations about the “blue” skies that are breaking through. What a marvelous effort! How will you make Beijing and Shanghai and every city like this every day? How interesting! Tell me more. We have a common problem, don’t we. Maybe we should take this seriously, work together and cut the CO2.

George W was in Beijing too, looking a bit left behind maybe because China is now the world’s biggest CO2 emitter and all of George W’s “CO2 denial” has ended up sending vast pollution clouds from China across to North America. Well done, George, supporting China’s right to pollute. Maybe George didn’t notice but Kevin Rudd did. He’s not stupid and the smog that won’t quite go away despite closing down half the city is a bigger story than Michael Phelp’s record gold. Thanks to coal and minerals Australia and China are economically entwined for some years into the future but will this be a Faustian bargain with both countries locked in to a black spiral of coal fuelled CO2 emissions +/or trillions of wasted investments.

Kevin is back in Australia to face a string of Labor governments that all seem committed to building new coal power stations. Michael Costa, the NSW Treasurer will be keeping Kevin in line - don’t look at the clouds over China just mine more coal, burn more coal. Rudd has to go back to see Hu Jintao in late August to talk about the climate. The Olympic “Beijing-semi-Blue” skies will be clouding over and new science reports will be alarming. Will Kevin let himself see the truth and be honest with his new best friend? This is Kevin’s chance to become a world leader instead of Michael Costa’s stooge.

Hitler's spin machine used the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games to show off his nation's muscular ambition. We all know what happened next. In its opening ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China's leaders seemed to say to the world: never mind what has come before, ours is a new nation based on China's own unique achievements. They did not need to say that the $40 billion invested in the Games was a rounding error from the most rapid transfer of national wealth in history; from consumer nations to China's national treasury...

Unlike Hitler in 1936 who was in the process of imposing imperial ambitions on the outside world, China's political elite (as opposed to the Chinese military leadership) is most concerned with managing its own internal stressors, including a significant percentage of citizens who live in poverty. The Beijing Olympics in 2008 does not presage some new war: in a certain sense, the impulse to war has been blunted by the peaceful transactions of globalized trade; the victor's ascendence is measured in reverse proportion to the USA's hollowed out industries and scattered Rust Belts. To the masses in Asia, what America's falling economic tide exposes is the first fraction of our standard of living...

China is governed today by a political elite that fully embraces Orwellian focus on security and control. Through this set of circumstances, the sight of President Bush waving on U.S. competitors at the Olympics can be interpreted as either a brand new day based on resurgent, grand achievements or a forced smile at a dynamo he understands better now that his own time clock is running out. [More]

The movement for a Green New Deal is gathering pace. This is not just about the reinvigoration of Keynesian economic principles to fight climate change, but also the need for a radical metaphor for reform - and a bold language of hope - that lives up to this definining challenge of our age. SARAH BARNS considers the language of climate change reform.