Moral Quandry

I don't really approve of vandalism as an act of civil disobedience, not even cyber-vandalism like DNS attacks. I think protests should be constructive rather than destructive. Yet I find I can't muster up any outrage against the attempted shutdown of Americans For Prosperity's website. The undercover activist group released a statement explaining:

It has come to our attention that the brothers, David and Charles Koch--the billionaire owners of Koch Industries--have long attempted to usurp American Democracy. Their actions to undermine the legitimate political process in Wisconsin are the final straw. Starting today we fight back.

...Anonymous cannot ignore the plight of the citizen-workers of Wisconsin, or the opportunity to fight for the people in America's broken political system. For these reasons, we feel that the Koch brothers threaten the United States democratic system and, by extension, all freedom-loving individuals everywhere. As such, we have no choice but to spread the word of the Koch brothers' political manipulation, their single-minded intent and the insidious truth of their actions in Wisconsin, for all to witness.

...Anonymous hears the voice of the downtrodden American people, whose rights and liberties are being systematically removed one by one, even when their own government refuses to listen or worse - is complicit in these attacks. We are actively seeking vulnerabilities, but in the mean time we are calling for all supporters of true Democracy, and Freedom of The People, to boycott all Koch Industries' paper products. We welcome unions across the globe to join us in this boycott to show that you will not allow big business to dictate your freedom.

I suppose it makes me morally flawed or something to be sort of cheering for their success. I'm trying to justify it by the fact that the Koch's front group is a virtual enemy combatant and poses an extreme danger to civil society.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

It's the income inequality

I'm late in posting this, and you already know most of this stuff, but I need the graphic for a post at DetNews and the graphs are really very good.

A huge share of the nation's economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244.

But asking them to pay taxes is "theft" and it's the other 90% who are greedy for wanting a decent living wage. Feh.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Payback's a bitch Mr. Ailes

Having seen the rich and powerful escape justice so many times, I don't want to get too excited until this actually happens, but how satisfying would it be to see the bad Roger Ailes go down?

Here’s what I learned recently: Someone I spoke with claimed that Ailes was scheduled to speak at their event in March, but canceled. It appears that Roger’s people, ostensibly using a clause in his contract, said he “cannot appear for legal reasons.”

I asked “What, precisely, does that mean?”

The response: “Roger Ailes will be indicted — probably this week, maybe even Monday.”

This stems from his demanding that Judith Regan, fomerly of HarperCollins, lie about her affair with Bernie Kerik in order to protect Aile's pal Rudy Giuliani. Rumor has it, Ms. Regan has the call on tape. As they say, developing...

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

You say you want a revolution

The usual hardcore, farthest fringe right wingnuts are still desperately searching for union thuggery, and/or doing their best to invent or incite some, but after 12 days of continuous protests no arrests have been made in Wisconsin. In fact, the protesters have been remarkably loud but peaceful. As Madison Police spokesman Joe DeSpain said, "This is one of the largest sustained protests we have seen in Madison since the Vietnam War. And to my knowledge there were absolutely no problems."

But I think what's really making the Koch'd dupes crazy is they can't muster their deluded fans:

No "Tea Party" supporters of the proposal championed by Republican Gov. Scott Walker were spotted on Saturday. They staged a smaller rally of their own in Madison a week ago.

They're frantically declaring Solidarity Day a failure because they hate that the liberals are driving the narrative now. As is should be if we're to reclaim civil society. Like the man once said:



[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

Power to the people

While I find it disturbing that the plutocrats have been so successful in duping so many under-informed Americans into supporting them against their own best interests, I'm heartened by the indomitable spirit of the protesters in Wisconsin. Heading into the second full week of the 24-7 sleep-in occupation of the State Capitol, it's encouraging to see cops engage in civil disobedience.

Ryan reported on his Facebook page earlier today:
“Police have just announced to the crowds inside the occupied State Capitol of Wisconsin: ‘We have been ordered by the legislature to kick you all out at 4:00 today. But we know what’s right from wrong. We will not be kicking anyone out, in fact, we will be sleeping here with you!’ Unreal.”

You would not have seen this in the 60s.



I can't recall another time when law enforcement joined a protest, instead of trying to quash it. Gives me hope that the oligarchs have finally over-played their hand.

Didn't think I'd live to see

When I was a young activist, it felt like we were changing the world with love and flowers. At the time, I thought it was a done deal. Never in a million years would I have believed that 40 years later, we would be fighting the same battles all over again. So this list really resonated with me. This one especially:

4. Who'd've thunk I'd live to see the day when increasing taxes on billionaires (currently taxed at the lowest level in decades) is seen as immoral, while cutting nutritional and medical services for poor children is regarded by the in-crowd as being among the highest forms of moral rectitude?

It's the elevation of greed from a vice to a virtue that makes it feel so much worse this time around.

Standing with Wisconsin - Solidarity Rallies

Well the same "liberal" media who played every gathering of three or more teabag toting Obama haters as a huge game-changer, is downplaying the nationwide demostrations in solidarity with Wisconsin union workers today. As John Cole tweeted a little while ago, "CNN finally mentioned the nationwide protests as the 5 second lede to a five minute piece on the 2nd b-day of the tea party." Don't forget this is same "liberal" news source that embedded for weeks on the Koch Brothers Tea Party Express bus.

Thankfully, thanks to the internets, the events can at least be documented, if not disseminated to the masses via the nightly news. There are incoming links at this Balloon Juice post, including these photos from Lansing, MI.

The attendance numbers vary but even the reddest states are seeing decent turnouts. And of course, Solidarity Central is in Wisconsin where TPM is reporting a massive turnout at the Madison Statehouse, that dwarfs last Saturday's protest. And this on a day when "it's 17 degrees Fahrenheit with heavy snow coming down."

Walker probably thought he would quell the rebellion when he got the bill rammed through the Assemby, but I don't think it's working out quite the way he expected. TPM reports 70K before the rally even began. I've seen several estimates at 100K since which includes about 100 off duty cops who joined the protesters. That may put a crimp in Walker's plan to get the police to disperse the crowds.

Elsewhere, First Draft has ongoing, must read coverage from day one to this hot minute. Just start at the top and scroll.

My long time fav, Roy Edroso covers NYC as only a resident New Yorker can.

Raw Story is running live updates from around the country.

Some Chicago rally photos and videos.

And one picture from L.A..

I'll update if anything striking comes in, but the point is -- this is a big f*cking deal -- and the corporate media is frantically trying to spin it into something very small. The people arising against the right wing fanatics isn't in their book of hallowed narratives.

Reagan was a union man

While conservatives only care to remember Ronnie Reagan's union busting of the air traffic controllers, in reality, before becoming President, Reagan was a long time union member:

Yet conservatives may be shocked to learn that their idol Reagan was once a union boss himself. Reagan was the only president in American history to have belonged to a union, the AFL-CIO affiliated Screen Actors Guild. And he even served six terms as president of the organized labor group. Additionally, Reagan was a staunch advocate for the collective bargaining rights of one of the world’s most famous and most influential trade unions, Poland’s Solidarity movement.[...]

Solidarity’s economic platform in 1981 called for worker-owned businesses, social control of the food supply so as to ensure that everyone was fed, and for workers to decide what days of the week businesses would be able to declare holidays, among other things.

And if ever there was a mantra for the working poor and middle class Americans, Solidarity's opening statement would be it:

Our union sprang from the people's needs: from their suffering and disappointment, their hopes and desires. It is the product of a revolt by Polish society after three decades of political discrimination, economic exploitation, and the violation of human and civil rights. It is a protest against the existing form of power.

Instead we have an entire class of misinformed voters fighting to protect their corporate overlords, blissfully unaware that when the bigwigs are done with us liberals, they'll be squashing them next.

Corporate personhood

As far as I can see the root of our political dysfunction is still corporate personhood. Corporations are not people, they're the anti-people. Their best interests directly conflict with the common good.

It's been a long time since I've asked you to do a point and click 30 second activism, but this is a good one. Please take a moment to sign, "The Free Speech for People Amendment" Petition asking Congress to overturn Citizens United.

Via Avedon who as always has a bunch of important links that are underreported and more astute personal commentary than she has had in a while. Click over and scroll through.

Blaming Obama

I was cruising the local news sites this afternoon. Ran across this poll on the WBTV, a station so obviously right wing they should be a FOX affilitate instead of CBS. Then again, not always much difference in the viewing audience. They had a poll up asking who you blame for gas prices rising. Oil companies were the top vote getter but 26 percent blamed Obama. There's a certain segment of the population here that seriously blames Obama for everything.

But even worse, the TV site links to a Newsmax poll. Without suggesting it's a paid ad. Which I assume and hope that it was. I made the mistake of clicking over and the top question was should Congress repeal all of Obama's agenda. It went downhill from there.

On the brighter side, this Elon poll shows "57 percent say state jobs shouldn't be cut to help close a projected $2.4 billion budget gap." And "58 percent of residents don't like the idea of across-the-board funding cuts for state programs." However, following the national trend, "53 percent oppose making a one penny increase in the sales tax permanent."

Not to say the sales tax in this state isn't onerous and regressive. But one penny isn't going to change anything appreciably at this point. It's pay the tax or make the cuts. Permanent isn't the best way to go, but it probably should be extened for at least another year or two.

The legend of the union thugs

I've been watching the usual ragemongers desperately trying to conjure up some horrifying real life stories to fit their favorite fairy tale about union thuggery. Their few paltry finds out of tens of thousands peaceably demonstrating every day for over a week sounded remarkably similar to the announced plan of that nutty Tea Party leader.

But real or invented, it doesn't matter to those who create their own reality. If there are pictures, it's real enough. It will become part of the ongoing Saga of the Beleaguered Conservative forever.

Banksters buyer's remorse

The Republicans are now so beholden to their crazy, misinformed base that now, even the banksters are now issuing warnings on the GOP budget cut frenzy:

The report by the investment firm Goldman Sachs said the cuts would reduce the growth in gross domestic product by up to 2 percentage points this year, essentially cutting in half the nation's projected economic growth for 2011.

Not that the GOPers are going to be worrying about the Banksters' uncertainty. Republicans have been entirely co-opted by "the angry mob" they created and their own political ambitions.

Congress must pass a spending bill by March 4, when a stop-gap funding measure expires, to avoid a shutdown. But House Republican leaders are under pressure from their conservative base not to give in.

"They're saying they can't go back to the caucus with anything less," an aide familiar with the negotiations between congressional leaders said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. "If they went through a shutdown … then the caucus would at least feel they tried."

There comes a point when trashing the economy for political purposes is going to hurt even the big guys. One might think it's come to that when the Banksters start talking like this:

"Fiscal drag is quickly emerging as a focus," the Goldman Sachs report says. It says the spending cuts are "the most important near-term risk."

Down here, even among the working poor who don't normally follow politics and get all their disinfo from Fox News, I'm hearing murmurs of concern about the shutdown and what it will mean for their checks. Many of them receive some kind of government assistance or Social Security. Of course listens to the poor but when Wall Street gets worried, we should all get scared.

Pardon me, your Freudian slip is showing...

I wouldn't normally link to the lowlifes at Powerslime, and I don't encourage you to read it or click on it all, but the poster fondly nicknamed as Assrocket, makes an interesting typo in his opening graf defending the "honor" of the Koch Brothers:

The most extraordinary story in the news these days is the all-out assault that the Left is mounting against Charles and David Koch and their company, Koch Enterprises. A day doesn't go buy--hardly an hour goes by--without some new attack being launched against these two lonely libertarians.

Isn't he breaking your heart for those poor little rich guys as, literally, not an hour goes by, without them actually "buying" off some politician or bureaucrat to act in their best interests.

Normally, I wouldn't bother with a typo but the Freudian aspect did make me laugh. And I saw this kerfluffle over a typo in a White House tweet on Memeorandum immediately preceding the Assrocket link and found the peculiar juxtaposition equally amusing. In that either laugh sardonically or scream in horror kind of way.

Quote of the Day

From our own Captain Fogg in a comment on an earlier post:

You can put chaste clothing on a whore, but you can't restore her claim to innocence.

So apt, for so much that is happening right now.

Walker's Koch Addiction

It couldn't be more clear since they were one of the biggest contributors to the Republicans' election campaigns, that what's happening in Wisconsin was bought and paid for by the Kochs, but it's worth archiving the full extent of Gov. Walker's sellout of the public interest.

Even before the new governor was sworn in last month, executives from the Koch-backed group had worked behind the scenes to try to encourage a union showdown, Mr. Phillips said in an interview on Monday.

And the Kochs are certainly getting what they paid for. This sweet deal included in the budget was tailor made for the Koch's business interests. It allows Walker to sell "any state−owned heating, cooling, and power plant or may contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department determines to be in the best interest of the state" without any "approval or certification of the public service commission." Can hardly wait to see what bargain basement price they'll pay for taking over those state interests.

But let it not be said that the Kochs don't do their part. It's not just money. They also sent in their astroturfers to make a public show of support for Walker's folly. Right on cue, the Koch funded and controlled Americans for Prosperity showed up at the protests to "prove" Walker was speaking for the "silent majority."

President of the group, Tim Phillips, tells the media:

“We are going to bring fiscal sanity back to this great nation.”

AFP cites the nationwide membership base as proof it's a real grass roots organization.

The "activists wing of the organization today has chapters in 32 states, including Wisconsin, and an e-mail list of 1.6 million supporters, said Mary Ellen Burke, a spokeswoman. She would not say how much of last year’s $40 million budget came from the Koch family, but nationwide donations have come in from 70,000 members, she said, offering it as proof that it has wide support.

For the record, the 2010 U.S. Census reported the population of the US is currently 310,866,579 residents. Of course these people use Malkin math, so that's clearly a vast majority in their deluded little minds. But this is bigger than union busting in Wisconsin.

“We thought it was important to do,” Mr. Phillips said, adding that his group is already working with activists and state officials in Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania to urge them to take similar steps to curtail union benefits or give public employees the power to opt out of unions entirely.

I can't help but recall an argument I had with a friend about how 2010 was not the right time to let the GOP regain power simply to teach the Democrats a lesson about ignoring progressives. He confidently predicted they would lose it again by 2012 and asked, "How much damage can they do in 2 years?"

I'm not sure we're going to survive the answer to that question. At least, people like me, already teetering on the edge of third world level poverty very well may not. In their powerlust, the GOP has lost the last shreds of morality. And as bad it is now, this is only the beginning.

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]

One term Senator Brown

I believe this is called biting the hand that fed you Sen. Brown:

"You're talking about being an ideologue? If you're looking for one, I'm not it," said Sen. Scott Brown.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said he doesn't consider himself a member of the Tea Party movement and would welcome any primary challenger.

Brown's election was an anomaly. He had a lame opponent who didn't campaign until the last moment and then did it badly. But even with Coakley's incompetence, Brown would never have won without the influx of Tea Party money from all over the country and his dogwhistles to the movement. He may not consider himself to be a Tea Partier, but he certainly played one on the campaign trail.

He knows this and surely he realizes that it's not a trick that can be duplicated. I don't see how he can pull off another win in Massachusetts. The rush of undefined anger that allowed him to tap into the Tea Party mania of the day has been distilled over time into a purity test that he will surely fail. He will likely see an extreme TP challenger, who may well win a primary driven by the pocket of cranky Yankee GOPers there. But an extremist con won't win in the general election. Not in Massachusetts. Thinking by the time election day rolls around again, the recklessness of the current crop of GOPers, and the damage they will create, will scare the Indys back to the left.

But Brown will be all right. I'm willing to predict a TV punditry gig in his future.

Justin Bieber was creepy

The Bieber thing has become so ubiquitous, I've no longer been able to avoid him. I tried to like him. I did. But there's something about that kid that I find really creepy. Which I don't think is fair. Because he's just a kid and probably a victim of some ugly adult supervision. But that just changed.

In possibly the best post ever published on the internets, Thers put Bieber in a context that didn't make my skin crawl. This is my favorite part.

I wish anyone in Washington was proposing a Canadian-style system. However, they are not. The Canadian system is not especially similar to "Obamacare." They are different things! This minor detail of substance however does not detain Hill; he has a trendy pop culture hook for a canned wingnut diatribe, dammit!

Recall that in May of 2010, then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi noted that the Obamacare legislation would enable “artists” to simply quit their day-jobs, and not worry about providing for themselves. "We see this as an entrepreneurial bill,” Pelosi noted at the time, “a bill that says to someone, 'if you want to be creative and be a musician or whatever, you can leave your work, focus on your talent, your skill, your passion, your aspirations because you will have health care.'"

No need to think about who pays the Doctor, for Ms. Pelosi. Just focus on your “passion” and “aspirations,” and thanks in no small part to her, you will simply “have” healthcare. Sounds like Bieber’s Canada.

The ability to work hard and live your dreams without having to worry about going bankrupt because of medical bills-- sure sounds like Canada is basically Mordor. This is one of the reasons an overwhelming majority of 14% of all Canadians want a US style system, because they're tired of having the freedom to follow their "passion" and "aspirations," on account of how terrifying those things are once you put them in scare quotes.

Brilliant takedown and finally, I have a reason to kind of like little Justin. Or at least empathize with him. And I wanted to. Seriously, read it all.

Stupid saboteurs seeks to discredit SEIU - updated

Thanks to a complicit media the GOP has been remarkably successful in premptively shifting the blame to Democrats for acts they commit themselves. On the fringes of the party, far right conservatives regularly indulge in paranoid fantasies about lefty infilitrators who attend rallies to make them look bad. But again, they accuse the opposition of the plots that dance in their own heads. However, few are as stupid as Tea Party leader Mark Williams who advertised his plans to sabotage pro-labor protests:

We are going to target the many TV cameras and reporters looking for comments from the members there (5) we will approach the cameras to make good pictures… signs under our shirts that say things like “screw the taxpayer!” and “you OWE me!” to be pulled out for the camera (timing is important because the signs will be taken away from us) (6) we will echo those slogans in angry sounding tones to the cameras and the reporters. [...]

Our goal is to make the gathering look as greedy and goonish as we know that it is, ding their credibility with the media and exploit the lazy reporters who just want dramatic shots and outrageous quotes for headlines. Even if it becomes known that we are plants the quotes and pictures will linger as defacto truth.

Stupid runs deep in this guy. You may remember Mark Williams was tossed out of the Tea Party Express for penning his infantile, racist "satire" framed as a letter from "the colored people" to Abraham Lincoln.

Update: I see Williams has already killed the post, but you can't really erase anything on the internet. It's still in the Google cache, it was widely reported and there's always the screen captures.

The miracle of life

A little breather from the crazy out there. Josh Levs of CNN is one of the first journos who followed me when I first joined Twitter and has stuck with me since. Would have missed the goosebump raising story of his son's birth if I hadn't checked into Twitter today. Seriously, read it all but here's part of it:

I reached in, palms facing up, put my pointer fingers into the baby's armpits, and helped guide the baby out. That's when my heart started pounding even faster, and my adrenaline went from overdrive to supersonic.

The umbilical cord was snaked around the baby's neck, tightly. Think a turtleneck with five circles. The baby's eyes were shut and I saw no sign of breathing. As far as I knew, no sign of life.

So as the operator went on reading the standard directions: "Wrap the baby in a clean cloth or towel... tie a shoelace tightly around the umbilical cord..." I stopped following her. I focused on the neck. Didn't even look down to see what gender the baby was.

"Oh my God, the baby's not breathing," I said. "Breathe baby, breathe."

The miracle of birth at its most miraculous.

GOP's first priority

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see the GOP's "fiscal concern" only extends to programs favored by Democrats. No where is that more clear than the House GOP majority passing multiple amendments to defund PBS, Planned Parenthood and longtime Koch Brothers nemesis EPA. But when a Democrat proposed cutting the millions the Pentagon spends annually to place a sticker on a NASCAR, she was not only voted down, but received threatening mail from Tea Party conservatives. Ironically, one of the supporters of the spending, alleged Democrat Patrick McHenry of North Carolina said, “This amendment is about politics in certain districts for certain groups of people.” He fails to mention his district is in the very heart of NASCAR terrority. Neither are tax breaks for oil corporations on the GOP's slash list.

Only one GOP cut has been so far taken off the table and its proposal shows just how far the GOP ideology has descended into pure "anything -- no matter how stupid -- to piss off liberals" territory. Representative Steve Womack of Arkansas retracted his proposal to cut off financing for President Obama’s teleprompter.

But one thing I haven't seen mentioned in a long time is the GOP's first priority is winning the White House in 2012. Their best chance for that to happen to is make certain the economy doesn't improve and ensure the working class voter suffers, which they have successfully blamed on President Obama thanks to a complicit media. Nothing they've done since taking the House majority indicates they've strayed at all from that plan.

Whenever three or more Tea Partiers gather

I'm sure you've noticed that the major media pretty much ignored the workers' protest in Wisconsin for the first few days and as far as I know none of the major TV stations are doing 24/7 live feeds, or embedded with the protesters (yes, I'm looking at you CNN) as they did for so many anti-Obama protests for the last two years. So it's unsurprising to see that the minute the Koch Brothers assemble their own agitators, suddenly the NYT makes a small counterprotest A-1, above the fold, news. They're also careful to make what on the scene reports called a small turnout of TPs seem larger than they probably were though to be fair they did note the TPs were outnumbered. However, I see no mention that the Tea Party folded their little demo a couple of hours early or that the pro-worker protesters have been consistently estimated in the 60K-75K range as the week progressed.

On the other hand, one aspect of the major media coverage I'm happy to see is widespread reports about how peaceful this workers rights protest has been, even as it grows by the tens of thousands every day. Though there is a sign at the Capitol building saying no guns allowed inside, as far as I know, they didn't feel the need to put that up until rumors a "concealed carry" contingent among the Tea Party types was going to protest against the people on behalf of "big" government.

In Wisconsin: Can't spell Conservative without the Con

It's no secret that Republicans hate unions, especially public employee unions but they used to at least try to be a bit subtle about it. As events are proving in Wisconsin, they apparently don't feel the need to hide their agenda anymore. As Ezra sums up nicely, Gov. Walker couldn't be more obvious in his union busting tactics:

In English: The governor called a special session of the legislature and signed two business tax breaks and a conservative health-care policy experiment that lowers overall tax revenues (among other things). The new legislation was not offset, and it helped turn a surplus into a deficit [see update at end of post]. As Brian Beutler writes, "public workers are being asked to pick up the tab for this agenda."

But that's not what Walker is doing. He's attacking the right to bargain collectively -- which is to say, he's attacking the very foundation of labor unions, and of worker power -- and using an economic crisis unions didn't cause, and a budget reversal that Walker himself helped create, to justify it.

And of course, our "liberal" media has been dutifully repeating the GOP lies about the "expolsion" of government employees since Obama was elected, but in truth:

In 2010, the number of state and local government employees fell by an estimated 208,000 positions. In 2011, those cutbacks are expected to total an additional 150,000 positions." In other words, private jobs are coming back, but state and local jobs are still being lost. Public-employee unions are on the mat. Walker is trying to make sure they don't get back up.

The other media narrative that was being pushed for days was that those greedy government employees don't want to pay a little more for their own benefits while the rest of America is struggling. This lie is easily debunked. In fact Wisconsin public workers offered to accept those cuts. But that's not what the Koch Brothers paid for with their massive campaign donations:

This afternoon, Marty Beil, executive director of the Wisconsin Public Workers Union, sent a message to the Governor’s office agreeing to the cuts to pension & welfare benefits sought by Walker in his bill. The governor’s response was “nothing doing.” He wants the whole kit and kaboodle – the end of the collective bargaining rights of the public unions.

And let's not forget, the other agenda here. While this is about destroying public sector unions, it's "only the unions that support Democrats" that are being targeted. But one of the most heartening aspects of the workers' protests that have been going on for days is that the exempted, normally conservative, unions of firefighters and law enforcement officers are standing with the targeted groups. They surely understand that once the GOPers succeed in destroying collective bargaining for one, then all are in danger.

Sadly, this isn't an isolated event. Karoli has a good roundup of links showing Republican governors across the country are plotting similar strategies.

I guess the good news is it appears the GOP has finally done what didn't seem possible. Thanks to their greed and hubris, Americans finally left their computer screens and are back in the streets -- protesting for their rights and for what's right, with an energy I haven't seen since the 60s. So there's that...

Working poor

Haven't posted in the last couple of days because I've been picking up extra shifts at work. Ironically even though I've had a total of two days off in the last five weeks, I still didn't make enough money to pay all the bills. This is a "right to work" state. I'm discovering this means employers have the right to work you nearly to death for the lowest wage legally possible.

I have been following the news but I've been so overwhelmed by the sheer scope of the crazy, and so exhausted from dealing with the cranky public every day, that I just haven't been able to organize my thoughts. Early shift today and tomorrow off unless they offer me a pick-up shift, so hoping to catch up this weekend.

Progressives United

The deluded voters of Wisconsin put the GOP in power and kicked out the best advocate for workers rights in DC last November. But former Senator Russ Feingold isn't about to quietly retire into oblivion. Today Feingold announced the formation of Progressives United, a new PAC to act an a counterweight to the Kochtopus released unto the unsuspecting masses via the Citizens United decision at SCOTUS. The group will "boost progressive candidates and combat corporate influence in politics."

“Washington, sadly, has become a playground for corporations and our lobbyists,” Mr. Feingold said. “It’s time we stood up to the total dominance of corporate power that’s invaded our democracy and hijacked our elections.”

Feingold went on to say in the video announcement:

"We'll work to ensure that our elected officials, both Republicans and Democratic, are held accountable to the people, and not to the lobbyists in Washington. We'll call out the media, when they hide from the real story. And we'll support candidates when they uphold our progressive ideals, even if the Beltway establishment doesn't."

Sounds good to me. Pretty sure the deluge of misinfo unleashed on the airwaves by the conservatives in 2010 is going to look like a trickle compared to 2012. We're going to need all the pushback we can get.

I endorse this message

My friends at the Swashzone are working to pull the plug on Glenn Beck. Check out the plan and an appearance by one of the victims of the Arizona assassination attempt on Gabrielle Giffords in the comments. Meanwhile, our own Captain Fogg adds to the conversation in his own superbly eloquent style.

To be clear, I don't think Glenn Beck has to shut up entirely. He's entitled to his opinions and can gather his flock of deluded souls as he wishes in a free society. However, he shouldn't be given a national platform on television to promote outright lies that foster psychopathic paranoia and I won't support any business that underwrites him, as is my right. Let him ply his insane conspiracy theories on his own site and not under the imprimatur of an alleged "news" station.

Send good thoughts

Horrifying tweet from my long time cyber-friend Ben Masel:

I'm diagnosed with lung cancer. They're letting me out of the hospital to make the protest at the Capitol before radiation treatments begin.

He's talking about the citizen protests against the Governor in Wisconsin. I'm working a longer post about that but in the interim, please send a good thought to Ben.

GOP Job Killers

You would have to be an idiot not to realize that the GOP's latest proposals would swell the unemployment rolls. Even Boehner admits the budget cuts would kill jobs in the federal sector but frankly my dears, he doesn't give a damn.

At a press conference in the lobby of RNC headquarters Tuesday morning, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) shrugged this off as collateral damage.

"In the last two years, under President Obama, the federal government has added 200,000 new federal jobs," Boehner said. "If some of those jobs are lost so be it. We're broke."

You would also have to be an idiot to believe a word he says. Boehner is either lying about the numbers or just too stupid to check. In fact:

...[T]here were only 20,000 more federal employees under Obama in 2010 than under George W. Bush in 2002 -- and that, on a per capita basis (federal employees per 1,000 Americans), it's at the lowest level at least since 1962.

I'm going with lying. Boehner can't be that stupid and he has no incentive to tell the truth since he pays no price for his perfidy.

Health care for he, but not for thee

Blue America PAC has been running health care hypocrite ads against some GOPers who voted for repeal of health care reform out of "fiscal concern" but then take the taxpayer subsidized benefits for themselves. Seems they only got the ad on NJ Rep Lance half right.

The good news for at least one of those congressmen is that Blue America got it wrong. It turns out that Republican Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey had, in fact, turned down his federal benefits. Thus, the Blue America ads were not accurate.

The bad news is that the reason Rep. Lance turned down the federal benefits is because he’s already getting a better policy at a much better deal from the State of New Jersey. As a retiree from the state senate, he qualified for a free Cadillac style health care plan the state provides for retirees and their families (he does have to pay co-pays but no premiums) for life. [...]

Lance receives family health coverage that is free except for co-pays, the state Department of Treasury confirmed Friday. The former state senator, assemblyman and Kean administration official qualified for retirement in 2006, his 25th year of service. He retired in January 2009, when he moved on to Washington, and enrolled in the state’s free health plan for retirees.

Guess he's not worried about Christie's threat to cut those "lavish retiree benefits" in the next budget. I'm guessing that will only apply to the union workers, not to the political class.

Wall Street only goes one way

Good column by Felix Salmon today that should be read in full on how Wall Street is failing in its core public function of allocating capital efficiently. Do read it all but here's the money graf:

"At risk, then, is the shareholder democracy that America forged, slowly, over the past 50 years. Civilians, rather than plutocrats, controlled corporate America, and that relationship improved standards of living and usually kept the worst of corporate abuses in check. With America Inc. owned by its citizens, the success of American business translated into large gains in the stock portfolios of anybody who put his savings in the market over most of the postwar period."

In other words, it's not just deregulation in general that's the problem with Wall Street effectively running what's left of the capitalist economy. The big investors have rigged the game to the point that the wealth will never "trickle down" and there's no one to hold them accountable for their actions. The new velocity of money is a one way street that only leads up to those who need it the least. And they don't care how they get it, just as long as they get to keep it all for themselves.

Huge loss for the justice system

I've known Nancy Gertner since well before she was appointed as a local judge in Massachusetts. She was a brilliant defense lawyer and I rejoiced when she was raised to the federal bench. Now I'm sad to see Judge Gertner is retiring.

This is not a small deal. Actually, it’s a profoundly big one. Gertner is many things to many people. She is an unapologetic liberal. She is an unrepentant advocate. She is a civil libertarian of the highest order.

But she’s also something else, something greater than the sum of these various parts. She is a voraciously fair judge who uses her love of the law and the benefit of her sizable intellect to give refuge and recourse to those who need it. An entire region will miss that.

Despite her liberal leanings she's a fair and impartial jurist.

“The job of a judge is to individualize — to apply formal, cold law to individual human beings,’’ Gertner said as she rocked in her quiet chambers. “That’s not pro-plaintiff or pro-defendant.’’ [...]

That philosophy involves a cordial courtroom, decisions rendered in plain English rather than legalese, and criminal sentences accompanied by elaborate written explanations that are widely hailed by other judges.

I'd always hoped that someday she would make it to SCOTUS. We couldn't have hoped for a better final arbiter of the law of the land.

Not just Fox

We all know that Fox is not news but really how different are the Sunday bobblehead programs? This week John McCain appears twice among an all GOP lineup of guest "experts" on Egypt. This is not out of the ordinary. Fox may be the most blatant, but on the whole the entire major TV media functions as a propaganda organ for Republicans.

Of course Fox remains the worst offender. Its employees are required to become journalistic snipers in a relentless character assassination of Democrats. Media Matters provides the latest proof of Fox's corruption, albeit via an anonymous insider.

The source continues: “I don’t think people understand that it’s an organization that’s built and functions by intimidation and bullying, and its goal is to prop up and support Republicans and the GOP and to knock down Democrats. People tend think that stuff that’s on TV is real, especially under the guise of news. You’d think that people would wise up, but they don’t.”

I don't usually like to link to anon sources but I trust Media Matters and there's a compelling reason to offer anonymity in this case. I recommend a read in full in if you missed it. But getting back to co-option of the entire TV media.

The former insider admits to being perplexed in late 2009 when the Obama White House called out Murdoch’s operation as not being a legitimate news source, only to have major Beltway media players rush to the aid of Fox News and admonish the White House for daring to criticize the cable channel.

“That blew me away,” says the source, who stresses the White House’s critique of Fox News “happens to be true.”

Lord knows I've tried and I can't forget Jake Tapper's "sister organization" defense of Fox at that time. It still rankles to this day.

GOP Priorities

The Republicans have begun to release their list of proposed cuts to reduce the dreaded deficit. Painfully clear where they think the sacrifices should be made. Krugman pulls out a few items:

WIC 1008 million
Food for Peace 544 million
NOAA 450 million
NASA 579 million
Energy efficiency and renewable energy 899
Science 1111 million
Nuclear nonproliferation 648 million
Federal buildings fund 1653 million
Homeland security administration 489 million
FEMA, various, around 1.2 billion
EPA clean water and drinking water about 1.8 billion
Community health centers 1.3 billion
Centers for disease control 900 million

So let's review. They want to stop feeding poor people, ignore climate disruption, kill science based study, remain dependent on carbon based fuel and hell with trying to conserve energy. Let those nukes proliferate, cut back on protecting national security, no more providing federal help in national disasters and who needs clean water anyway? Let's go back to the days when rivers caught fire. Oh, and forget about preventative health care for the rural poor or containing medical epidemics. Why it sounds just like the good old days of the Wild West. Who wouldn't want an outbreak of diptheria again?

Of course, they could maybe repeal tax breaks for billionaires but gosh, that would make the uber-wealthy so very nervous and we couldn't have that -- could we? I mean who would fund their smear campaigns if they had to pay a few thousand more to the public commons?

Also conspicously missing seems to be any cuts in Congressional compensation. I wonder how much we could save if we stopped paying for politicians' healthcare and cut their salaries by 10 percent or maybe a little more? And does anybody know what we're paying for their staff? Maybe they could make do with a few less aides. I mean if everything is on the table...

The Bloodlust of The Angry Mob

The GOPers were laughing back when their angry mob of deluded Tea Partiers were shouting down Democrats at health care town halls. They thought they were being very clever in riling up the easily deceived with phony sloganery and defended the raging outbursts as exercises in free speech. Not so amusing now that they're being booed too.

I'm reminded of a friend's dog. Huge cuddly bear of a pup of unknown pedigree. Total sweetheart. I was the one who named him Zachary. They lived in the country and all was well until one day Zach grew up and killed a lamb at a neighboring farm. Getting a taste of blood changed him entirely. He never attacked humans, but they couldn't stop him from going back to the sheep farm for more. Ultimately he had to be put down.

And thus does the GOP reap the bitter fruit of their poisoned tree. They convinced the Tea Party tantrumists they were a majority and empowered them as such, presumably to defeat Democrats. But they did too good a job in villifying the opposition. Now the slightest whiff of bi-partisan governance is grounds for banishment.

Tea Party activists in Utah have already said that they want to challenge Mr. Hatch in a Republican primary next year, declaring him to have worked too closely with moderates and Democrats. The same conservatives helped defeat Mr. Hatch’s Senate colleague, Robert F. Bennett, at the state’s Republican convention last year.

Poor old Orrin. He was so flummoxed by their rage, he apologized for doing the right thing. But really it doesn't matter what he says now. The mob has developed a taste for blood and it's not even really about policy for them. They don't have any clear policy positions beyond the sloganery. It's all about feeling powerful, no matter what the consequences.

Greed is good

Never thought I'd live to see the day when greed and cheating stopped being treated as shameful vices and were celebrated as virtues instead.



Stunning to think there's millions of people in this country who are basing their political ideology on a freaking novel. A work of bloody fiction. Jebus. If we're going to run the place according to a fairy tale, I would much prefer we choose The Lord of the Rings. Hell, even Alice in Wonderland would make more sense. Those two are at least grounded in moral values. [via DougJ]

Sex scandals

Unless there's some illegal activity involved, say paying for it with taxpayer's money, I'm generally not that interested in political sex scandals. I tend to think Americans make too much of a basic human drive. And every time there's a feeding frenzy over the latest incident, this springs to mind:

What Republican leadership?

If anything has become clear this week, it's that the Republicans don't have a leader in Speaker Boehner. He's already lost control. The House is now being ruled by "the angry mob."

House Republican leaders said Thursday that they would accede to demands from conservatives and dig deeper into the federal budget for billions of dollars in additional savings this year, exhibiting the power of the Tea Party movement and increasing chances of a major fiscal clash with Democrats.

The Tea Party yahoos in Congress apparently don't have a clue that the real life effects of actually acting on their phony campaign sloganery is going to be disastrous. They think they're oh so clever right now, but sooner or later they're going to have to be specific about their slash and burn strategy. I expect the public backlash will be painful for all of us, but I'd guess that the ensuing mayhem will be what finally destroys the credibility of the far right for the foreseeable future. So there's that...

Too big to exist: Corporate Dirty Tricks

Go after the big mega-coporations and they will fight back with murderous intent. Shades of Karen Silkwood:

ThinkProgress has learned that a law firm representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the big business trade association representing ExxonMobil, AIG, and other major international corporations, is working with set of “private security” companies and lobbying firms to undermine their political opponents, including ThinkProgress, with a surreptitious sabotage campaign.

Not so different from Republican dirty tricks. Shades of Dan Rather:

According to one document prepared by Team Themis, the campaign included an entrapment project. The proposal called for first creating a “false document, perhaps highlighting periodical financial information,” to give to a progressive group opposing the Chamber, and then to subsequently expose the document as a fake to undermine the credibility of the Chamber’s opponents. In addition, the group proposed creating a “fake insider persona” to “generate communications” with Change to Win. View a screenshot below:

The mega-corporations are killing us. They're adjudicated as "persons" and enjoy the same rights as flesh and blood individuals, but you can't put them in jail for murder. Seems to me the best way to usher in an authentic new Progressive Era is with some good old-fashioned trust busting again.

Republicans in Disarray

It's a wonder John Boehner isn't on 24/7 crying jag with the way this week is going for him. He's finding out early that obstruction is easy; governing is hard. Especially when you have a bunch of inexperienced yahoos in your party who are all looking for their fifteen minutes of fame and then some.

The willingness to buck the leadership was not unexpected given the size of the Republican freshman class, 87 new members, and the fact that newcomers and many veterans felt empowered by election results they read as a mandate to push spending cuts and shake up Congress.

“It is going to take a while for them to find their way,” said Representative John B. Larson of Connecticut, chairman of the Democratic Caucus. “For so many of their new members, discipline within the party and allegiance to a party doesn’t mean an awful lot.”

I'm not sure that's true. Clearly Boehner didn't expect the mutiny on the Patriot Act or he wouldn't have fast tracked it. And it's not clear why he thought "a measure to provide aid to workers displaced by new trade agreements" was going to get passed by any Republicans, new or old. As evidenced by their continued refusal to extend benefits, it seems rather clear they hate unemployed people.

I was surprised he didn't get more votes for demanding the United Nations give us our money back though. Thought the UN was a universal villian for the GOP. And then there's the demand for really making those jugular vein level $100 billion spending cuts. That has the potential to turn into an intercine bloodbath.

I have a feeling Boehner must be feeling a bit like the designated driver at a frat party, with the drunk guys ready to beat him up to get their car keys back.

Budget cuts to freeze the poor

All I can say is this had better be an unfounded rumor. I mean what could be more cruel? Only weeks ago, the White House and Congress in their merry bi-partisan lame duck lovefest had no problem throwing hundreds of billions of extra debt onto the deficit to extend and in fact enhance tax breaks for billionaires because you know, it's just makes them so nervous when a single penny of their government subsidized profits are threatened. But gosh, we're in a debt crisis so, poor people should suck it up and literally freeze under this proposed budget cut.

The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, would see funding drop by about $2.5 billion from an authorized 2009 total of $5.1 billion. The proposed cut will not touch the program's emergency reserve fund, about $590 million, which can be used during particularly harsh cold snaps or extended heat spells, three officials told National Journal.

"About $590 million?" That's supposed to mitigate this Scrooge move? Seriously? Millions out of work altogether or severely underemployed. They're already hungry and barely staying one step ahead of homelessness. It's been an unusally cold winter and with climate disruption, which is being ignored when it's not being denied by our political overlords, extreme weather is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. So their solution is to cut fuel assistance? Good Lord, the need has never been greater. Basic decency would suggest they increase the funding. But apparently Obama is worried about the polling.

The president’s budget is due next Monday, and the administration has been bracing traditional Democratic allies for cuts to favorite programs. The White House understands that Americans are skeptical of Obama’s willingness to tackle the estimated $1.5 trillion budget deficit and believes that he must cross a threshold of seriousness in their minds.

Well, I guess freezing the poor to death is one way to prove he's serious about cutting "entitlement" spending. Deadly serious. I wonder what brand of champagne they'll be pouring in the corporate boardrooms to celebrate the President's "cold hard choices?" [graphic via]

Strange bedfellows

Curious and curiouser. I've been meaning to post about the upcoming extension of certain Patriot Act provisions but time got away from me and it came up for a vote. It seems Dennis Kucinich challenged the new Tea Party Republicans to put their Constitutional love where their votes are and shockingly they voted it down.

A measure to extend key provisions of the Patriot Act counterterrorism surveillance law through December failed the House Tuesday night, with more than two-dozen Republicans bucking their party to oppose the measure.

The House measure, which was sponsored by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) and required a two-thirds majority for passage, failed on a 277-to-148 vote. Twenty-six Republicans voted with 122 Democrats to oppose the measure, while 67 Democrats voted with 210 Republicans to back it. Ten members did not vote.

It seems Boehner's procedural trick that required a two-thirds majority backfired on him. But I fear the celebration will be short. It no doubt will come to a vote under a different rule that only requires a simple majority. Still, doubt the establishment Villagers will be celebrating, but bi-partisanship baby!

Superbowl Sunday

I've watched at least part of every Superbowl since the very first one. Every year in a different place. Picked up an extra shift at work so this year I missed it entirely. It's okay. I only watched it for the commercials anyway and you can get them online now. I liked this one the best.



I also loved the little Darth Vader kid but the Chrysler one worked better for branding. Chrysler 200 sticks with you from the first view. Had to watch the Darth kid twice before I remembered what it was advertising.

Cheney: Mubarak not so bad

Crawling out from under some undisclosed rock, Dick Cheney lectures us on loyalty to our friendly dictators:

But Mr. Cheney said that from the standpoint of American interests, while democracy and freedom in other countries were to be celebrated, they were not the only important issues. On other fronts, he said, Mr. Mubarak had long helped the United States.

“He’s been a good man, he’s been a good friend and ally of the United States,” Mr. Cheney said. “We need to remember that.”

Sadly, he's right. It's not like we're so pure. The US has a long history of supporting repressive regimes when it suits our purposes. And really, how many dictators are willing to do our dirty work for us on secret renditions?

That being said, the empath in me does have some small sympathy for Mubarak. I know he's done much evil but he's still just a human being and it can't be easy for him to see his status being shredded so publicly. Imagine if all the internet trolls suddenly started demonstrating in front of your home. Thinking it must feel like that, only much worse. [Reuter photo]

Email from an ordinary citizen in Egypt

There's a revolt in Egypt and suddenly everybody on the internets is an expert on Middle East policy. While there are more than a few truly informed commentators out there, Frank Rich echoed my reaction to the explosion of armchair experts:

A month ago most Americans could not have picked Hosni Mubarak out of a police lineup. American foreign policy, even in Afghanistan, was all but invisible throughout the 2010 election season. ... And so now — as the world’s most unstable neighborhood explodes before our eyes — does anyone seriously believe that most Americans are up to speed? Our government may be scrambling, but that’s nothing compared to its constituents. After a near-decade of fighting wars in the Arab world, we can still barely distinguish Sunni from Shia.

It's not so easy to filter through the noise to get to the relevant views, but a long time list-serv friend just started a blog and her inaugural post reprints an email from an ordinary citizen in Alexandria. Read it in full for a real life view from inside but a couple of the salient points. For one, the author tells us not to believe the media, particularly Al Jazeera. She says the protests have been more peaceful than chaotic. Not that there isn't any violence though:

What we cannot understand is that ALL the jails in Egypt were forced open at the SAME time and prisoners released (incl. political prisoners and criminals) and let loose on the Egyptian population. We were in fear for our lives when we heard via TV the screams of Cairo inhabitants, particularly in Maadi, asking for help and protection from robbers who went into their homes en masse.

However, they apparently think it's been worth it:

The overall feeling is that, while this revolution has come at the cost of many losing their lives, everyone has a sense that it has shaken the country from the stagnation we felt it was going through and we are all hopeful that it will bring the changes that we aspire to.

I hope she's right.

I don't want to celebrate - Updated

I just don't get the Ronald Reagan adulation at all. Despite the rightwing revision of his history into some sappy fairy tale, in reality the guy was in the top five of worst Presidents ever. His biggest accomplishment in life was salvaging his Hollywood career after being upstaged by a chimpanzee. But you know, facts have a liberal bias, blah, blah, blah. Anyway, Wonkette reviews his real history.

Oh can you believe it was only a hundred years ago when Ronald Reagan was born? Which side of the Civil War did he fight on, anyway? (Answer: He didn’t fight at all, but he was an extra at the Ford Theater the night Lincoln was shot, and later claimed to have played the role of Robert E. Lee in James Joyce’s movie Ulysses S. Grant.) Oh, also, back in the 1980s when Ronald Reagan was actually serving as president in some weird state of constant incapacitation? Everybody thought he was a moron. Most Republicans didn’t even support him during the regular lows of his disastrous two terms. He also didn’t defeat the Soviet Union — they ran out of money on their own, just like we’ve done here in America in the past 10 years, in the exact same Central Asian country.

More at the link, along with some his greatest hits on video. Painful to watch but oddly mesmerizing. [via Anne Laurie] [graphic]

Update: Think Progress adds, 10 things conservatives seem to have forgotten about Reagan. Or maybe they really just don't know?

Oh -- "That" government paid health care

Read it and weep dear readers. A fine example of the deep intelligence among our new political overlords, duly elected by the easily duped. The Tea Party Representative from New York:

Buerkle, who voted to repeal the health care reform act, was twice asked about the health insurance she receives as a government employee. At first she said she couldn’t understand why people were so interested in her health insurance, and that taxpayers didn’t pay anything for it. She later corrected herself after being handed a note from a staffer. Like most employees, she pays for a portion of her insurance and her employer, the government, pays the rest, she said.

Add her to this list of health care hypocrites who now roam the hallowed halls of our nation's Capitol.

Mississippi Judge Dismisses Reform Bill Challenge

Funny, after the media frenzy only a few days ago when Judge Vinson declared the health reform bill unconstitutional, there's been barely any buzz about this Mississippi judge throwing out a challenge lawsuit.

Granted it's not quite as significant a ruling, since he dismissed the case for failure to establish standing and is giving the plaintiff's 30 days to amend their complaint, but I suspect this has more to do with the story failing to support the GOP talking points. Also, interestingly the judge was appointed by George W. Bush in 2004, so it doesn't fit the usual media narrative.

Still, I'm surprised that more lefty bloggers didn't push this story. And for those keeping count at home we're now 3 to 2 in favor of the law.

The Pen is Mightier Than the Words

Every time I see one of these TED talks, I'm uplifted and inspired. And they stick with me. This is a really good one. A pen and paper can change the world.



Feeling certain it would have more impact than just bitching on the internets.

It's a MAD world

Those of us of a certain age grew up reading MAD magazine, eagerly awaiting every new issue. I didn't realize it was still in publication, but apparently it's still going strong and BoingBoing announces:

David from MAD Magazine sez, "AL JAFFEE IS TURNING 90! On March 13, long-time MAD writer/artist, creator of the Fold-In and Snappy Answers, and accused (but never convicted!) shoplifter Al Jaffee is going to be 90 freakin' years old! To celebrate, we're asking all fans (and enemies) to send in letters, cards, poems, drawings, paintings, sculptures, operettas, WHATEVER -- so we can pass the love straight to Al! The sky's the limit! You can send your birthday wishes to: The Big Jaffee c/o MAD Magazine 1700 Broadway NY , NY 10019. The deadline is March 1st -- so get crackin'!"

I always loved the fold-ins. They were one of my favorite features.

IOKIYAR: How soon they forget edition

Disgraced former Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, who was forced to resign in 2006 when his lewd emails to barely out of their teens, male Congressional pages became public, is back in action. Apparently all is forgiven as he was invited to address the Palm Beach County Young Republicans meeting last week. Apparently he was big hit. Young Republicans President Jackie Fay called him enthralling. And after a different speaking engagement, Palm Beach County GOP Chairman Sid Dinerstein said, "He remains very charming and engaging. The anger that I had for about two years is gone."

Well I guess everybody deserves a second chance, but most homosexual pedophiles don't get one because it's also true old habits die hard. If were the Florida GOP establishment, I would at least take care to make sure Foley doesn't get their teenage boys' cell phone numbers.

Bad barbecue

Good Lord, Obama haters are really flailing now. I mean, all they have to obsess about is an alleged barbecue gaffe? Cripes, you can't walk four blocks in any city in this state without tripping over a barbecue joint and even out in the sticks you can't drive more than four miles in any direction without running into some shack proclaiming the best barbecue in the south.

It seems the silly season never ends and our political discourse is driven by very stupid people. And by the way, the Charlotte media is rife with Republican Christian conservatives who don't try very hard to hide their disdain for Democrats and especially our President.

Snowpocalypse 2011

Watching from afar and snow free here, I was searching for accounts and especially pictures of the big blizzard. Thought this one was the iconic photo of the storm.

The link will surely rot in a few weeks as Yahoo links are prone to do, but finally found the back story:

CHICAGO – Lindsey Wilson was on Lake Shore Drive, but she couldn't tell where. It was dark, and the snow swirling around the stranded bus made it impossible to see anything but the closest cars.

There was talk among her fellow commuters of 25-foot waves washing up from Lake Michigan and about when the bus might get going, but nobody knew anything — not the driver, not the emergency operators passengers were calling, and not the shivering motorists climbing aboard to keep warm after firefighters pulled them from their cars.

When a group of passengers decided enough was enough and started to walk, she joined them.

"I got 100 feet, everything was an orange hue, there was snow in my face, I couldn't see anything, I turned around and couldn't see the bus and I thought I was going to die," she said Wednesday morning.

Incredible. Over a thousand cars stuck in snow with the people in them stranded for hours. One thing I wonder about though, if you click over to the gallery, you'll see they opened up the opposite lanes right next to it by the next day. Surprised that people stuck near the outside lane didn't organize and dig themselves out. It wasn't that far to freedom and even if you hired ten teenagers to do the digging, would likely have been cheaper and faster than waiting for the city to tow you out.

Oh and the woman quoted above did make it safely back to the bus where they were eventually rescued. [AP photo]

When repeal is a good thing

Harry Reid let the GOPers' proposed repeal of the entire health reform bill come to a floor vote and to no one's surprise it failed to pass the Senate. However, one provision of the bill, the much reviled '1099' tax reporting language "that required companies to report goods and services transactions worth $600 or more to the IRS" was repealed on a bi-partisan vote.

It was a stupid provision and widely criticized on all sides of the political spectrum. A good example of how an imperfect bill can be improved over time.

What if repeal of health care reform succeeded?

This is the most interesting read of the day. An essay that answers the question, “If this bill doesn’t survive judicial scrutiny, then what?”

The most salient point that offers some new perspective:

Well, first, the government would have a mess on its hands dealing with the unwinding of a complex health care bill which includes not only health care provisions, but radical changes to the student loan infrastructure, tax cuts for most (and tax increases for some), and more. The states attorneys general suing to overturn the health care law would find themselves shifting from popular ground to highly unpopular ground once it became known that the consequence of success would include collecting billions in back taxes which Americans suddenly owed because the tax break which existed under the health care bill had disappeared.

Most obviously, overturning the health care bill would return the health care regime to the status quo ante which most everyone agrees was both failing and unaffordable, a miserable combination. [...]

The rest deals with the effects of the paltry Republican alternatives, which basically covers ground that has already been analyzed separately over the last couple of years, but well worth reading the concise review of how it would generate a "race to the bottom" for health insurance consumers.

Taken in its entirety, it almost makes me wish the Republicans succeed. The mess it would create might really ensure they lose the reins of power for the foreseeable future this time. Maybe it would even force them to embrace reality-based policy positions in the future.

Is John Boehner the next John Edwards?

This story is supposed to be published by National Enquirer this week. First I've heard about it and I'm not convinced that evidence of Boehner's affair with a lobbyist would actually end his career. As we've seen time and time again, IOKIYAR.

I mean, it didn't permanently hurt McCain, Thune, Sanford, Newt or Vitter, just for starters while Edwards and Gary Hart suffered great damage. But I suppose it will serve as an amusing distraction if it's true. Can't wait to see the far right bloggers demand the "lamestream media" investigate these allegations. (Yeah, that last bit was a joke.)

DNC chooses Charlotte

This is good news for my little corner of the world. The 2012 Democratic National Convention will be held in Charlotte, NC. Unemployment out this way is higher than in the rest in the state. Not sure if this would generate any long term jobs but we could use the influx of money in general.

Charlotte beat out some intense competition for the convention but I thought from the beginning it was the obvious choice. Lots of hotels and restaurants and though it will be too early for any fall color, the countryside is beautiful for short shortseeing trips and the weather is likely to be great.

Hoping some of my media tweeps will be covering the event so I'll finally get a chance to meet them in person. Thinking I should apply for blogger press credentials.

Judge Vinson's judicial activism showing

Shocking. Yet another GOP judical appointee rules against the health care reform law. Much ado about Judge Vinson's ruling but I agree with Orin Kerr's take on its flaws. Constitutional law isn't my area of expertise but it seems rather obvious the judge erred in ignoring the Raich precedent. And by the way, we told you at the time of her case that the Commerce Clause based ruling was going to cause trouble down the line.

In any event, although Judge Vinson's judicial activism and adoption of Tea Party themes is worth noting, this isn't that big a deal. We're now 2 for 2, with two Democratically appointed jurists upholding the law and 2 GOP appointed conservatives attempting to strike it down in the lower courts. SCOTUS will be the ultimate arbiter in this matter and we'll just have to wait and see which way Justice Kennedy swings when it gets there.

Meanwhile, of more interest is the disparity in the media coverage. As Steve Benen documents, our legacy media downplays the favorable rulings and overplays the conservative strikes against reform. Also, if you're a fan of legalese, Ezra rounds up the law bloggers, pro and con.

At the moment, all I have left to say is, I hope all those that ignored me when I said the most important reason to vote -- even if it's hold your nose voting -- is because of judicial appointments, will listen to me now.