More Amazing Good News... Too Inconvenient For American Media.

Jan 7th, 2011

A few days ago, I let loose (quite legitimately, I might add) on Marty Peretz for his recent essay in TNR regarding Muslim reaction to the violence against Egypt's Copts. 

The broader point I was trying to make had to do not just with the general omission from American media of information that reflects poorly on our own country, but also the exclusion of news which inconveniently demonstrates positive action in others. Here are some more current happenings you might not have heard about:

From Ahram Online:

"Egypt’s majority Muslim population stuck to its word Thursday night. What had been a promise of solidarity to the weary Coptic community, was honoured, when thousands of Muslims showed up at Coptic Christmas eve mass services in churches around the country and at candle light vigils held outside.

From the well-known to the unknown, Muslims had offered their bodies as “human shields” for last night’s mass, making a pledge to collectively fight the threat of Islamic militants and towards an Egypt free from sectarian strife.

“We either live together, or we die together,” was the sloganeering genius of Mohamed El-Sawy, a Muslim arts tycoon whose cultural centre distributed flyers at churches in Cairo Thursday night, and who has been credited with first floating the “human shield” idea."

It Would Be Funny... But... cont...

Jan 7th, 2011

In one of the best pieces of satire I have read in weeks,  David Cole has drafted what he calls "The Conservative Constitution" for WaPo. I recommend the entire piece. Here are his "amendments:"

News Flash: Bolling Is Lying... Again

Jan 7th, 2011

Leave it to a stooge from the Murdoch Device, in this case FOXBusiness "commentator" Eric Bolling, to spin the latest job numbers as "bad news."  But the number of provable lies he spouts is troubling... even for a Murdoch Drone.

The most blatant canard he foists relates to what we call "shadow unemployment." He implies that the numbers are primarily down because of people who "have pulled themselves out of the workforce." This is, as any adult who has read the latest numbers will tell you, bullshit. For the very first time a very long time, those numbers actually went down.

It gets better as he smugly dismisses the jobs that were created in the last month:

"A robust economy creates more than 150,000 jobs per month just to keep up with the population."

Okay. Fine. It would be one thing to merely harp on the fact that less jobs we're created than anyone would like. However, Bolling has argued, as all Murdoch Drones do, that a wholesale return to W Era economic policy, and the "W Tax Cuts" in particular, is the only course that can "correct" our economy. The average monthly job creation under the entire George W Bush administration was... wait for it...

31,250 jobs per month.
Bolling can suck it. Where was his criticism much less his righteous indignation then?



It's worth putting his "analysis" in some broader context. Let's take the way-back-machine to just prior to the 2008 Presidential election. After the several month gas price crisis that Summer, Bolling attributed the easing of wholesale barrel prices to... the selection of Sarah Palin as John McCain's running mate.

Why They Hate Health Care Reform

Jan 7th, 2011

Carlson nails it:

Add caption

Job Movement

Jan 7th, 2011

The latest unemployment numbers show that modest growth has pushed the unemployment rate down to it's lowest level since April 2009. Of course, since the Republicans have been claiming that every single thing wrong with America began on the 20th of January that year, I suspect they'll take credit for this up-tick. After all, the 112th Congress was sworn in 2 whole days ago. Also, "shadow unemployment" numbers are down as well.

Taibbi Likens Wall Street To Russian Oligarchy

Jan 7th, 2011


Pretty amazing stuff:
"Question: How did your work in Moscow help you uncover hypocrisy in America? 

Matt Taibbi: One of the reasons I was so attracted to this Wall Street story was when I first started looking at it in the summer of 2008, I was continually struck by how much it reminded me of a lot of the dynamic that I had seen covering the Russian government and the Russian state where there was this oligarchical system that they had over there.  There were a very tiny collection of super-connected industrial figures, these oligarchs.  They were bankers mostly. And there was this circular process of government gives tons of money to banker; banker then scams the public and returns money to politicians who in turn keep giving money back to the bankers. And that whole circular process is very similar to what is going on here in the States now where we have a small group of very, very politically connected banks who give massive campaign contributions to both parties and they’re rewarded with selective regulation and bailouts and then the money comes back again.  I think if I hadn’t seen that in the more crude form that you see in Russia where—stuff is just right out in the open in Russia sometimes; they don’t even really hide it—if I hadn’t seen that it would have been harder for me to see this story.

Recorded on November 22, 2010
Interviewed by Andrew Dermont
Directed by Jonathan Fowler
Produced by Elizabeth Rodd"

It Would Be Funny... But...

Jan 7th, 2011

If you haven't yet read Matt Taibbi's most recent column on Speaker John Boehner, you really must. Here's one of the choice anecdotes:

"Of all the longtime Republican Beltway hacks who are now scrambling to find ways to throw enough sunshine on the Tea Party mob to keep their jobs, Boehner has been the most hilariously transparent. In yet another scene straight out of a screwball comedy — maybe it was an earlyhommage to the now-departed Leslie Nielsen — Boehner in November 2009 stood up in front of a crowd of Tea Partiers who had gathered to protest the upcoming Obamacare vote, and tried to stroke his audience by holding up a copy of the Constitution. Professing his love for the sacred document, Boehner pledged to "stand here with our Founding Fathers, who wrote in the preamble: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident.'" The crowd was silent. Boehner had confused the Constitution with the Declaration of Independence."

At this juncture, I can't tell if he's more drunk than stupid or simply an ignorant drunk.

rePUBLICan ENEMY #1, part 5

Jan 7th, 2011

PREVIOUS ENTRIES: PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3 - PART 4

Make no mistake, Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) is still a dishonest, manipulating thug. The far right base of the Republican party has responded to his extremism over the last 2 years by investing in him tremendous support.

With the hope that he not merely continue to articulate their ignorant rage against Barack Obama, but might now do real violence to the administration, they have helped elevate him to the highly coveted position of Chairmen of The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

It now seems that Rep. Issa may be beginning to realize that there is a vast difference between raising money from destructive corporations, racists and neo-fascists and advancing their agenda in government itself. Before the 112th Congress was even sworn in this week, he began stumbling over his past proclamations and walking back his rhetoric. He continued his shifty dance in an interview with John King over at CNN. King is to be commended. He did a bang up job taking Rep. Issa down another notch.

Rep. Darrell Issa in Washington, D.C.

202-225-3906

Rep. Darrel Issa in Vista, CA.

760-599-5000

Nadler Gets One Right

Jan 7th, 2011

I have never been terribly impressed with Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY). That said, Mr. Nadler made the absolute best critique of yesterday's ridiculous and dubiously motivated reading of (not entirely) The U.S. Constitution.


From the WaPo:
"Nadler called the "ritualistic reading" on the floor "total nonsense" and "propaganda" intended to claim the document for Republicans. "You read the Torah, you read the Bible, you build a worship service around it," said Nadler, who argued that the Founders were not "demigods" and that the document's need for amendments to abolish slavery and other injustices showed it was "highly imperfect." "You are not supposed to worship your constitution. You are supposed to govern your government by it."

Dean On The Tea Party

Jan 7th, 2011

Gov. Howard Dean soberly assesses the Tea Party Movement. He makes fine points although I think he underestimates the danger they pose.

“The demographic changes we have all known were going to happen have happened and all of a sudden it is here for them and they don’t know what to do.... Every morning when they see the president, they are reminded that things are totally different than they were when they were born.”

Quote Of The Day

Jan 7th, 2011

"Education is our only political safety. Outside of this ark all is deluge." -- Horace Mann

Oh, Rush...

Jan 6th, 2011

El RushBo has decided to call Democrats "perverts" who are "perverting" the Constitution. While he offers no evidence that the Democrats are in fact "perverts," we figured we throw a bomb back with the verified charges of his "doctor shopping" and his "drug abuse."

Not very helpful... is it, Rush?

Quote Of The Day

Jan 6th, 2011

"Basing our happiness on our ability to control everything is futile." -- Stephen R. Covey

Things You Can't Make Up

Jan 5th, 2011

The Murdoch Device Business Channel's resident tool, Stuart Varney, continued the network's war-on-unions by suggesting that private entrepreneurs would have done a better job during New York City's recent snow catastrophe. He used Homer Simpson as an exemplar from the classic "Mr. Plow" episode. I am not making this up.

Censure Bill James

Jan 5th, 2011
Please join us in signing the petition to censure Mecklenburg County, NC Commissioner Bill James for saying, "Homosexuals are sexual predators."

Petitions by Change.org|Start a Petition »

That's IT!?!

Jan 5th, 2011

We've been hearing about it, arguing about it, waiting for it and grappling with it for months. The "it" I refer to is the promise by Republicans that the 112th Congress would make their first order of business a bill to repeal "Obamacare."  Here it is in full. Hold onto your hats...

From Politics USA:
"A BILL

To repeal the job-killing health care law and health carerelated (sic)
provisions in the Health Care and Education
Reconciliation Act of 2010.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Repealing the Job-Killing Health Care Law Act’’.

SEC. 2. REPEAL OF THE JOB-KILLING HEALTH CARE LAWAND HEALTH CARE-RELATED PROVISIONS IN
THE HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2010.

(a) JOB-KILLING HEALTH CARE LAW.—Effective as of the enactment of Public Law 111–148, such Act is re7
pealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such Act are restored or revived as if such Act had not been enacted.

(b) HEALTH CARE-RELATED PROVISIONS IN THE HEALTH CARE AND EDUCATION RECONCILIATION ACT OF 2010.—Effective as of the enactment of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111–152), title I and subtitle B of title II of such Act are repealed, and the provisions of law amended or repealed by such title or subtitle, respectively, are restored or revived as if such title and subtitle had not been enacted."

My questions for the 112th Congressional Republican leadership are as follows:

That's it? That's all you could come up with? Are you insane? Or are you just that lazy? It doesn't even look like it was written by adults. It looks like the kind work a stoned high school student would turn in after he had waited to start until the night before it was due. You had roughly 9 months to draft this and you released 2 paragraphs with typos? Did you guys put in the phrase "JOB-KILLING" four times in a sad attempt to increase word count?

Grade = F

Impeach Scalia

Jan 5th, 2011

There is a great danger in the casual way the term "impeachment" has been thrown around over the last few years. What's more, to propose impeaching a Supreme Court Justice is and should be almost unheard of. 


It's time to seriously pursue it now. Justice Antonin Scalia has so overstepped the bounds of propriety and into the realm of activist politics that he must be removed from the Court. He is a clear and present danger to the established separation of powers and the independence of the judiciary.


From The L.A. Times:

"Reporting from Washington — 

The decision by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia to accept an invitation from Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the founder of the House's Tea Party Caucus, to speak to incoming House members about the Constitution is drawing fire from some who worry the court is injecting itself into partisan politics.

The meeting "suggests an alliance between the conservative members of the court and the conservative members of Congress," said Jonathan Turley, a law professor at George Washington University, who said Scalia had shown "exceedingly poor judgment."

"Poor judgement?" That's a little like saying of someone who has intentionally run over a dog that they "hit the brakes too late." Impeachment is more than justified.

Beinart On The Tea Party's "Constitutionalists"

Jan 5th, 2011

Writing for The Daily Beast, Peter Beinart notes the big gap in the Tea Party's pseudo-worship of the U.S. Constitution:

“But beneath this apparent right-wing continuity lies a massive shift. For President Bush, believing in the Constitution meant believing that when it comes to national security, the federal government in general—and the president in particular—can do pretty much whatever they want. For the new Republican Congress, by contrast, believing in the Constitution means believing that when it comes to intervening in the economy, the federal government in general—and the president in particular—can do barely anything at all.

Today’s Tea Partiers generally ignore this shift because they ignore national security itself. Their “Contract from America” doesn’t even mention foreign policy. But imagine what would happen if the Tea Partiers did grapple with the foreign policy implications of their constitutional vision. They believe, after all, that the framers of the Constitution wanted federal power to be extremely limited so it wouldn’t infringe upon personal liberty. They’re fond of quoting Thomas Jefferson, the founder most associated with distrust of a powerful federal government. And they generally downplay the role of Alexander Hamilton, who believed that only a strong central state could build America into an industrial power. But Jefferson’s distrust of federal power was deeply bound up with his fear of militaries and empires. He believed that a standing army, if created, would menace individual freedom and he wanted America to be a trading nation that would steer clear of the “entangling alliances” that defined European power politics."

Indeed.

Where Are The Jobs?

Jan 5th, 2011

Jobs are arguably the only thing America reliably exports anymore. The chart below shows the minimum 512,000 jobs transfered from America to China alone in 2010.

As the Republicans continue their perverted and anti-historical assault on the union bogeyman, it's worth asking what I believe is the great question of our age; How can an American corporation argue that it's patriotic to enhance profit by divesting from America?

Salman Taseer - R.I.P.

Jan 5th, 2011

Gov. Salman Taseer 1946-2011

Salman Taseer, the Governor of Pakistan's Junjab province, was shot dead yesterday by one of his own bodyguards. He recently had made a domestic and international stir by calling for reform of that country's repressive and destructive blasphemy laws.