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Monday, May 02, 2005
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Do-Something Democrats....
On her show recently Randi Rhodes was speculating on how Democrats
might respond if the Republicans go through with their "nuclear option"
(or more aptly the "Crybaby Option") to once and for all officially
ignore all Democratic opposition. She suggested...
[j a c k *]
10:25:33 PM 
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In-stinct.
Some plain words of wisdom for the GOP from the ever-sensical Joe
Gandleman of The Moderate Voice. This kind of verbal stops political
debate — cold. So Robertson now says our judges are in some ways worse
than terrorists. Why?...
[Centerfield]
10:18:09 PM
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F-18's down in Iraq 
F/A-18 aircraft
US military jets missing in Iraq
In
a brief statement, the US military said the two Marine Corps aircraft
were flying in support of operations when contact was lost.
It said there was no indication of hostile fire in the area at the time. A search effort is under way.
US media quoted naval officials as saying they thought the two planes had been involved in a mid-air collision in bad weather.
Who knows? What are they going to say? That the Iraqis can shoot down fast movers, now?
[Steve Gilliard's News Blog]
10:10:38 PM
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How Bush is Destroying the Middle Class. For
the last week, I have run a series of diaries titled “It’s the Economy,
Stupid”, highlighting the negative effects of Bush’s policies on the
middle class. Because we are already moving into the beginnings of the
2006 election cycle, I wanted to take all of these diaries and
construct one coherent argument that all Democrats could use for the
upcoming elections. I have added some new information and arguments,
and taken out some of the editorial fat.
The economy will be very important for all candidates for office. It
is imperative they have the ability to concisely describe Bush’s
failures. Bush continually talks about an ownership society. What he really means is a society where the corporations own the workers.
I have documented where information comes from if you want more
information. None of my material is copyrighted. Please copy it and use
it wherever and whenever you want. Whenever you hear the Republican
talking points about how they are better at the economy – hit them with
these facts and make them think about what is really going on. [BOPnews]
10:09:01 PM
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Robertson: Judges worse than Al Qaeda.
Derek Rose | May 2
NY Daily News - Federal judges are a more serious threat to America
than Al Qaeda and the Sept. 11 terrorists, the Rev. Pat Robertson
claimed yesterday. "Over 100 years, I think the gradual erosion of the
consensus that's held our country together is probably more serious
than a few bearded terrorists who fly into buildings," Robertson said
on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "I think we have
controlled Al Qaeda," the 700 Club host said, but warned of "erosion at
home" and said judges were creating a "tyranny of oligarchy."
Confronted by Stephanopoulos on his claims that an out-of-control
liberal judiciary is the worst threat America has faced in 400 years -
worse than Nazi Germany, Japan and the Civil War - Robertson didn't
back down. Wow, wow, wow. Hat tip Kos.
[The Agonist]
9:16:09 PM
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Iran Plans Defense of Nuclear Program.
Dafna Linzer | Tehran | May 2
WaPo - Iran is planning to mount a staunch defense of its nuclear
energy program at an international conference beginning today and will
insist on rights to the same technology afforded to all members of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a senior Iranian official said
in an interview yesterday. Key facts relating to NPT conference
United Nations | May 2 Reuters - The monthlong conference that began on
Monday at the United Nations aims to take stock of the 1970 nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty, which was designed to halt the spread of
nuclear weapons. Iran crisis overshadows nuke disarmament talks Louis
Charbonneau and Evelyn Leopold | United Nations | May 2 Reuters - The
controversy over Iran's nuclear ambitions threatened to overshadow a
conference on a key disarmament treaty on Monday, with world leaders
telling Tehran to refrain from sensitive atomic activities.
[The Agonist]
4:32:28 PM
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Responding to Democracy.
Wesley Clark's contribution to the Washington Monthly's Democracy in
the Middle East forum is a great, great read, much better than the
title made it sound. On one level, the essay is the surprisingly adept
effort of a 2008...
[Ezra Klein]
4:30:38 PM
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It's Not Just About Politics.
Robert Waldmann writes: Robert's Stochastic thoughts: Brad DeLong has
criticised Jonathan Weisman from time to time for excessive Bush
friendliness. I expect that Brad is satisfied with this column. I
personally have no complaints about the headline (for a change)...
Robert is wrong! Take a look at the leading paragraphs: GOP May Be
Splintering on Social Security: A badly divided Senate Finance
Committee yesterday held the first hearing examining President Bush's
efforts to restructure Social Security. While the Democrats remained
united in their opposition, there were signs of cracks in the
Republicans' support for the president. After months of political
positioning, the stakes were high as the committee took up Bush's
signature domestic issue for his second term. The White House has
framed the Social Security debate as a matter of political courage,
challenging both parties to secure the program's long-term solvency
while giving all Americans an ownership stake in their economy. But
over the course of the president's Social Security tour, public support
for Bush's proposal has fallen, and Democrats see the issue as their
best chance to make political gains in Washington. With that highly
charged backdrop, Republican divisions at the hearing had added
significance... Democrats see the...
[Brad DeLong's Semi-Daily Journal]
4:30:10 PM
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Producing the Boxes.
Apparently, the Administration has lost a bit of visual ground in the
effort to sanitize the war. In response to a second Freedom of
Information Act request, the Pentagon has been forced to release the
military photos of U.S....
[BAGnewsNotes]
4:28:36 PM
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Do-Something Democrats. From jack*: On
her show recently Randi Rhodes was speculating on how Democrats might
respond if the Republicans go through with their "nuclear option" (or
more aptly the "Crybaby Option") to once and for all officially ignore
all Democratic opposition. She suggested the Democrats might stop
deferring to the Republican agenda and start bringing their own bills
to the floor. I have to admit I was taken aback.
They can do that? Then why haven't they done it already? Jack*
has a list of old habits the Democrat lawmakers need to abandon and
suggestions for new things to do. It all hinges upon understanding that
for now, at least, they aren't winning in Washington but should take
advantage of their pulpit to make real noise about things that matter.
If Dem lawmakers are going to lose regardless they should be
introducing popular reforms, forcing their Republican counterparts to
vote on record against them. The American people need help
understanding that Republican lawmakers are bullies. Make it crystal
clear for them. Lose loudly. Lose big. [BOPnews]
3:21:12 PM
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Runaway Network Exec Kidnaps News.
Runaway Network Exec Kidnaps News
Brian Montopoli | May 2
CJR Daily - Last Friday, we learned that new CNN president Jonathan
Klein "is being welcomed as a hero within CNN" because "ratings are
beginning to rise thanks to Klein's steering toward news and away from
attitude." Sounds great, right? After all, who doesn't want to see CNN
cut back on "Crossfire"-style shoutfests in favor of actual news
reporting?
[The Agonist]
3:20:35 PM
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The Carnation Revolution
We were in Lisbon on a national holiday, the 25th of
April. It’s a day celebrating the bloodless overthrow of the fascist
regime of António de Oliveira Salazar and his successor, Marcello
Gaetano, in 1974.
"Freedom Day on April 25 is one of the major holidays in Portugal,
usually a day of celebration and joy, though some right-wing sectors of
population still regard the developments after the coup d'état as
pernicious for the country. On the other hand, some of the military
leaders think that the leftist inspiration of the uprising has since
been abandoned.
"A pink or reddish-pink color carnation is the symbol of this
revolution, since soldiers put these flowers in their guns, in what
came to symbolize the absence of violence for changing the regime in
Portugal—a regime that had been one of the longest dictatorships of the
20th century
"There were two secret signals in the revolution: first the airing
of the song : E depois do adeus by Paulo de Carvalho, which alerted the
rebel captains and soldiers to start the revolution; and then Grândola,
Vila Morena, confirmed the actions and "announced" that the revolution
had started and nothing would stop it except "the possiblity of a
regime's repression" (Quotation is from an encyclopedia article that
can be found here.)
We had heard there was to be a parade down the Avenida da Liberdade,
a broad, tree-shaded avenue of shops and hotels, so we took a leisurely
stroll down the avenue, joining thousands of Lisboans on a holiday
promenade until the parade began.
Vendors carrying baskets of red carnations wandered through the
crowd and carnations were everywhere—in buttonholes, pinned on dresses,
decorating baby strollers, tied to car antennas.
We had been told "a parade" so of course we expected floats and
bands, clowns and guys riding unicycles or walking on stilts. What we
got was an immense "march" of people carrying banners and signs
celebrating the revolution and advocating a range of political and
social goals.
Signs celebrated the revolution, but long banners also called for
gay rights, women’s rights, legal rights for undocumented residents,
and social justice. Familiar issues. One banner protested the
privatization of social services, another identified the United States
with imperialism, war, and the KKK. There were pick-up bands and groups
in national costume. Everyone was having a good time and from time to
time the marchers were joined by people lining the street so that the
line between watchers and walkers dissolved.
I have posted pictures of the march over at the Hot Eye. Please take a look. (link) [Ojo Caliente]
2:56:46 PM
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Elected Dictatorship. Via Juan Cole, I come across a transcript of Joe Biden on Hardball. And Joe says something that's worth repeating, and worth discussing:
BIDEN: I`m against the 100 hours because it is not enough
for debate. If the Senate wants to block extreme -- even if they`re not
extreme. If 40 senators want to block anybody for nomination, they have
the right to do that. And the reason they have the right to do that,
it`s the one bulwark against pure majoritarianism . . .
BIDEN: In their heart, they know this is not the thing to do. This
is a fundamental change in our constitutional system that exceeds the
issue of judges. And it is dangerous. We are not a parliament. We were
never intended to be. The states were intended to be equal. This will
change that dynamic, not just for judges, but across the board. [BOPnews]
2:55:23 PM
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IOKIYAR
It's Ok If You Are Republican. Even possibly advocating the overturning of the American Constitution. Pat Robertson just did this, too.
This one radical extremist cleric is taking over my blog. Help! Someone
in the government, someone in the media, someone sane anywhere in the
world, help! Notice that this lunatic is a lunatic and cut off his
preferential treatment to all good media perks. No, Americans are not
that fringey. No, you are not going to lose your cushy livelihood if
you point out that he is raving mad:
Appearing
on ABC's "This Week," Robertson — who founded the Christian Coalition —
also said he would be wary of appointing Muslims to top positions in
the U.S. government, including judgeships.
...
Robertson, who
launched a brief presidential bid in 1988, said that if he were
president he would not appoint Muslims to serve in his Cabinet and that
he was not in favor of Muslims serving as judges.
"They have
said in the Koran there's a war against all the infidels," he said. "Do
you want somebody like that sitting as a judge? I wouldn't."
Note
that Article 6. of the Constitution explicitly bans any kind of
religious test for judges. But even if Robertson didn't mean to
literally require that candidates should not be Muslims, his argument
makes no sense. Remember that we are right now in the big wingnut push
to have more religious judges in the Supreme Court? Well, wouldn't
fundamentalist Muslim judges be just the sort of people Robertson is
looking for? People of the book, interpreting things strictly on
religious grounds and so on?
Gah. All he wants is a Robertsonian Gilead where everybody thinks just like Pat. Which is a world where nobody thinks at all.
----
Via Americablog.
[ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES]
2:54:37 PM
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It’s only the validity of the public debt of the United States government.
Today's White House press briefing included a lengthy exchange on
whether the president believes in supporting the Treasury's
obligations. It didn't go well.
A reporter asked Scott McClellan
about the president's belief that the current Social Security system
"leaves behind file cabinets full of IOUs." The journalist asked if the
president is suggesting that there's a [...]
[The Carpetbagger Report]
2:52:15 PM
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UK-PM: fun poll.
YouGov Poll. 4/28-30. 1,400 respondents. (No trend lines)Is Tony Blair a grinning liar? Yes 46
No 42 Is Tony Blair a good prime minister? Yes 36
No 50 Is Michael Howard a scary right-winger? Yes 37
No 44 Is Michael Howard a potentially good prime minister? Yes 26
No 54 Is Charles Kennedy an amiable buffoon? Yes 34
No 54 Is Charles Kennedy somebody who couldn't cope as prime minister? Yes 52
No 29 More
serious polling shows that Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, is the
most liked of the three candidates. But, people still don't trust the
Lib Dems to govern. The Tories are hovering at about a third of the
electorate. If Britain had a unified Left, the Torries would be a joke.
As is, the three-party dynamic gives them chances to win constituencies
(districts) with barely more than a third of the vote. Catch all the latest polls, and a handy calculator to convert vote totals to parliamentary gains and loses, at this handy interactive BBC page. [Daily Kos]
7:08:30 AM
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As 'Italy hits back over agent's death,' Corriere Della Sera unredacts the U.S. military's report clearing American soldiers.
[Cursor.org]
7:06:59 AM
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The AP reports on allegations that Custer Battles and its employees in Iraq have been 'running wild' in the streets and the suites, CorpWatch examines the 'Contract Quagmire' in Iraq, and the Sydney Morning Herald's Paul McGeough offers evidence to suggest that the country could become a 'nest of corruption.' Plus: Rumsfeld offered to free Saddam?
[Cursor.org]
7:05:59 AM
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The Times also reports on the Bush administration's post-9/11 cozying up
to Uzbekistan, citing "growing evidence" that the U.S. has sent terror
suspects there for detention and interrogation. Earlier: 'U.S. scatters bases to control Eurasia.'
[Cursor.org]
7:05:16 AM
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"Only the top Republicans and Democrats on the House and Senate
intelligence committees are acquainted with the deportation program"
known as "extraordinary rendition," writes Helen Thomas, and "Their silence ... is deafening."
[Cursor.org]
7:04:42 AM
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The New York Times previews the findings of an upcoming military investigation into the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo, prompted by FBI e-mails made public by the ACLU, and Physicians for Human Rights releases a report claiming that "psychological torture was systematic and central to the interrogation process of detainees in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo."
[Cursor.org]
7:04:05 AM
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© Copyright
2005
Michael Mussington.
Last update:
6/1/2005; 1:34:08 AM.
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