them.ws

No more feeds
No more feeds. Download the soruce code here http://them.ws/stuff/tmp/feeds.zip

You'll need to create a database table for this to work properly. The required SQL commands are in themws_rss.sql. Open that in a text editor and and copy the command and run it in PhpMyAdmin in a database. Then in config.php edit the three variables $usr, $pwd and $db with the MySQL username, MySQL user password and the MySQL database where you created the rssfeeds table.

The Nation: All Weblogs

Altercation: McNamara Memories
by Eric Alterman
9 Jul 2009 at 2:12pm

Wrap-up:

We have a new "Think Again" column called "Conflicts by the Rich, for the Rich," here.

I also did a Daily Beast post on Palin's defenders on Sunday, which is here. (Otherwise, I've been at the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake which I'll write about a bit next week.) Meanwhile:

For my daughter the moment came in kindergarten. Even though she was the only African American girl in her classroom, she made friends easily, adored her teacher, and was growing in confidence as a student. Then in May, just a few weeks from the year's end it happened. She and a little white boy were playing together at recess as they had done all year when he looked at her and said, "You know, I would like you better if you would take off your brown skin and put on some white skin."

It was 2008 and we live in a liberal enclave in the Northeast.

She was confused, hurt, and surprised when she told the story. She wasn't completely sure what it meant, but I could hear in her voice the creeping, sticky shame of inferiority. I sat listening with my stomach in my feet and a voice in my head screaming, "Not yet. It's only kindergarten. Not yet. Not yet."

This comment appeared from a reader, responding to my post about how progressives view Obama and objecting to the notion that people who approve of his overall performance may not also harbor serious disappointment. As the reader put it:

If asked, I'd say that, overall, I approve of Obama's performance. However, the president has disappointed me on more than one issue since he was elected… So because I've been disappointed in some of the Obama administration's actions, I'm not supportive? If I express that disappointment and disagreement, I'm not supportive?

I'm really troubled by the trend of criticizing anyone who questions and disagrees with Obama. We are abdicating one of our fundamental rights as Americans if we offer unquestioning, blind allegiance to Obama or any other government leader.

In May, at a point when congressional Republicans and their amen corner in the media were attempting to defend the Bush-Cheney administration's torture regime, their primary defense was: Pelosi knew.

The spin held that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as a member of the House Intelligence Committee, had in 2002 been secretly briefed about the use of harsh interrogation techniques on terror suspects.

Pelosi said the Central Intelligence Agency had failed to inform her about the character and extent of the harsh interrogations.

With both the House and Senate looking to pass health care bills prior to the summer recess which begins August 8, now is the moment of truth for Democrats: will they offer a real public plan option to compete with private plans and drive down costs? Or will they cater to the healthcare industry which is now spending $1.4 million per day on lobbyists to protect their profits?

Throughout this debate, one Senator who has been willing to tell it like it is, with the people's interest at heart, is Bernie Sanders. This week he will publish 'The Health Care Crisis: Letters from Vermont and America'--a collection of healthcare stories sent to him from across the nation.

"In early June we sent out a letter to our email list--and we said two things," Sen. Sanders told me in an interview this week. "Number one, please sign a petition calling for a single-payer system; and two, give us some of your experiences with the private health insurance and your experience in terms of health care in general. Well, in a few weeks, we got 40,000 signatures on a single-payer petition. But, as important, we received well over 4,000 responses--from Vermont and all over the country--people telling us what's going on in their lives with regard to healthcare."

A few weeks ago, Rachel Maddow appeared on Charlie Rose and announced that conservatives weren't the only ones disenchanted with Barack Obama. "The President has disappointed the left," she said. Rose asked her to be more specific – on what exactly? "I would say on the war, on healthcare, on economic [policy]… on civil liberties and on civil rights," Maddow said.

That's pretty deep disappointment. But if it's true, it begs the question of what, exactly, constitutes "the left." Certainly not most Democrats, 90 percent of whom approve of Obama's job performance (that's from the latest Quinnipiac survey; other polls have recorded even higher figures). Or most African-Americans, among whom Obama's approval rating is 94 percent. Or most Hispanics, 70 percent of whom think Obama is doing a fine job. Or most voters under thirty-five.

Maddow, presumably, was referring to a much smaller cohort of self-identified (white) progressives: people who favor a single-payer universal health-care system, have attended antiwar demonstrations, believe catastrophic global warming is imminent, support shutting down Guantanamo immediately, champion full equality for gays and lesbians, and perhaps supported John Edwards or Dennis Kucinich in the Democratic primary before finally coming around to Obama.

Funerals tell us more about the living than the dead. It's why anthropologists often begin with rituals of death as an entry point for understanding societies and cultures.

I remember watching the funeral of Princess Diana. It was a perfectly British event: the poignant, silent march of her children, the bells tolling at Westminster Abbey, the red coat pallbearers. But I remember being taken aback as the car carrying Diana's casket drove through the streets of London. I was surprised because at that moment the mourners began to applaud.

They'd stood for hours lining the streets and as the casket passed they needed to grieve collectively and publicly. Stiff-upper lip British culture does not have a mechanism for such public grieving. There is no piercing death wail, no garment rending, no ceremonial dance, so instead the British applauded. Those applause revealed the missing place in English life for public mourning.

'UPDATE Thursday, July 9--Clashes erupted today between at least a thousand protestors in Tehran and baton-wielding security forces. Demonstrations took place all over Iran -- according to one report, in 400 cities.'

In Iran, a supposed sandstorm is being used to create its own "fog of war."

The Iranian opposition called for a three-day general strike to demonstrate their rejection of President Ahmadinejad, and in response the Iranian government ordered the shutdown of all banks, businesses, and universities because of a sandstorm.

AlterNet Blogs: PEEK

Hitler, Darwin and the Sasquatch
by General JC Christian
9 Jul 2009 at 8:39pm
They're all inter-related, you know.
After Casting Sole No Vote on Slavery Memorial, Rep. King Keeps Digging Deeper
by Steve Benen
9 Jul 2009 at 6:37pm
This is one contorted excuse.
Airing of Grievances: Right-Winger Incensed over 'Commie's' Jab at 'Saturday ...
by Roy Edroso
9 Jul 2009 at 5:45pm
Oh, and Pinochet was a good guy, damnit!
Panetta: CIA Lied to Congress
by Booman
9 Jul 2009 at 4:34pm
Note to Obama: The object of oversight is to keep covert activities within a legal framework and protect people's rights.
Enough Psuedo-Feminist War-Mongering in the Name of Islamic Women
by Joshua Holland
9 Jul 2009 at 3:35pm
Really.
Will the Dems Ever Grow a Spine?
by Jill Hussein C.
9 Jul 2009 at 2:28pm
Can you imagine if the Republicans had the White House, the House of Representatives, and a 60-vote majority in the Senate?
Welcome to Post-Racial America! (No Black Kids Allowed)
by Staff
9 Jul 2009 at 1:38pm
A private club booted a group of campers for fear that they'd "change the complexion" of the facility.
'Paranoid' Netanyahu Calls David Axelrod and Rahm Emanuel 'Self-Hating Jews'
by Ben Armbruster
9 Jul 2009 at 12:23pm
The Prime Minister lives in a state of perpetual crisis.

Democracy Now!

Obama's War: Thousands of Marines Battle in Helmand in Major U.S. Offensive
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
9 Jul 2009 at 8:45am
In Afghanistan, a powerful truck bomb killed at least 25 people today, including up to 16 schoolchildren, in a province just south of Kabul. The latest bloodshed coincided with a major American military offensive in Helmand province in the south. US forces last week launched what?s being described as the largest Marine offensive since the Vietnam War. Some 4,000 Marines and hundreds of Afghan troops are targeting areas in the Helmand River Valley to wrest it from Taliban control. We go to Kabul to speak with Wall Street Journal journalist, Anand Gopal.[includes rush transcript]
Stella D'Oro Workers End 11-Month Strike After NLRB Victory, But Owner Threat...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
9 Jul 2009 at 8:29am
More than than 130 workers at the Stella D?Oro Biscuit Company in the Bronx have ended an 11-month strike. The employees walked off the job last August after company officials tried to force them to accept a 20% pay cut, elimination of sick days and overtime and other cutbacks. The workers returned to their jobs a week after the National Labor Relations Board ordered the company to reinstate and pay back wages to the striking workers. The company's owner ? the Connecticut-based private equity fund Brynwood Partners - is now threatening to close the factory within 90 days.[includes rush transcript]
Report From Urumqi: Thousands of Chinese Troops Enter City Torn by Ethnic Cla...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
9 Jul 2009 at 8:20am
Thousands of Chinese troops have flooded into the regional capital of the country's western-most Xinjiang province following bloody clashes between the city's Han Chinese and Uighur populations. Four days after the violence that left at least 150 dead and over a thousand injured, reports indicate an unsteady calm has returned to the city of Urumqi. We go to Urumqi to speak with Al Jazeera English correspondent Melissa Chan.[includes rush transcript]
In Rare U.S. Broadcast, Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Discusses Cou...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
9 Jul 2009 at 8:10am
Talks between the ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and the leaders of last week's military coup begin today in Costa Rica. Shortly before leaving Washington DC for Costa Rica, Zelaya sat down with us for a rare U.S. television interview. He discusses how military coup forces forced him out, the upcoming talks in Costa Rica, his domestic policies in Honduras, the role of the United States and more.[includes rush transcript]
Headlines for July 9, 2009
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
9 Jul 2009 at 8:00am
U.S. Drones Kill 45 in Pakistan, 50 Killed in Iraq Bombings, 25 Die in Afghan Bombings, Mullen Foresees "Long Relationship" With Afghanistan, U.S. Awards Lucrative 5-Year Military Contracts in Afghanistan, G8 Fails to Agree on Emissions Cuts, Greenpeace Activists Hang Banner on Mt. Rushmore, Zelaya Calls for Coup Regime's Departure, Honduran Coup Foreign Minister Calls Obama "Little Black Man", Chinese Troops Threaten Uighurs in Xinjiang, Panetta Admits CIA Has "Misled" Congress, Obama Threatens Intelligence Bill Veto to Prevent Widening Briefings, Massachusetts Challenges Federal Gay Marriage Ban, Whistleblower Calls Firing Political Retaliation, 2 Black Prisoners Jailed Under Torture-Linked Chicago Police Commander Freed, Charges Dropped Against 4 Members of "San Francisco 8"
Fmr. Congressmember Cynthia McKinney Back in U.S. After Being Detained and De...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
8 Jul 2009 at 8:50am
Former Congressmember Cynthia McKinney arrived back in the United States Tuesday following her deportation from Israel. McKinney was one of 21 activists seized by the Israeli military in international waters last week as they tried to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. We speak with McKiney and with filmmaker Adam Shapiro who was detained and deported as well.[includes rush transcript]
Declassified Docs Implicate Indonesian President Yudhoyono in Coverup of 2002...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
8 Jul 2009 at 8:27am
In Indonesia, exit polls show incumbent president Yudhoyono, has a clear lead in the country's second direct presidential election since the fall of the Suharto dictatorship over a decade ago. Newly declassified documents implicate Yudhoyono in the cover-up of the Indonesian military's role in the 2002 murders of two Americans and an Indonesian in West Papua. We speak a Papuan human rights activist who worked with the Indonesian police and FBI to investigate the murders. She now lives in exile in Australia and in a Democracy Now! exclusive is speaking out on the investigations for the first time. We also speak with cultural anthropologist, Eben Kirksey, and with John Miller of the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network.
World Leaders, Protesters Gather in Italy for G-8; Global Financial Crisis & ...
by mail@democracynow.org (Democracy Now!)
8 Jul 2009 at 8:16am
President Obama arrived in Italy from Moscow this morning where leaders from eight of the world's richest nations are gathering in the town of L'Aquila, for the annual Group of Eight summit. The three-day meeting is expected see high-level talks on the global economic crisis, climate change, food security and Iran. Protesters are also gathering for the G-8. We speak with Loretta Napoleoni, author of "Rogue Economics: Capitalism?s New Reality." [includes rush transcript]

[CaRP] Connection timed out (110)

MoJo Articles

Coming Soon: 'Judge Sonia'?
by By Stephanie Mencimer
10 Jul 2009 at 7:00am

Monday kicks off the confirmation hearings for Sonia Sotomayor, and by all accounts, the event promises to be a snoozer. Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee will speechify about empathy and legislating from the bench. They'll demand to know what Sotomayor thinks about Roe v. Wade or probe her reasoning in the infamous Connecticut firefighters case. And like all prospective justices, her answers will be unsatisfactorily vague. Republicans are no doubt longing to take swipes at President Obama's first nominee, but they don't have the votes to block her appointment, so they'll probably pull their punches to avoid alienating Latino voters with gratuitous attacks. Sotomayor has also given them precious little material to work with.

But there is one question to which Sotomayor might have to provide a straight answer—and that could trigger some drama. Her response could shed light on what kind of a justice she'll be and, at least in one respect, how she'll differ from the man she's replacing, Justice David Souter.

Here's how reporters Steven Lee Myers and Marc Santora of the New York Times described the highly touted American withdrawal from Iraq's cities last week:

"Much of the complicated work of dismantling and removing millions of dollars of equipment from the combat outposts in the city has been done during the dark of night. Gen. Ray Odierno, the overall American commander in Iraq, has ordered that an increasing number of basic operations—transport and re-supply convoys, for example—take place at night, when fewer Iraqis are likely to see that the American withdrawal is not total."

Acting in the dark of night, in fact, seems to catch the nature of American plans for Iraq in a particularly striking way. Last week, despite the death of Michael Jackson, Iraq made it back into the TV news as Iraqis celebrated a highly publicized American military withdrawal from their cities. Fireworks went off; some Iraqis gathered to dance and cheer; the first military parade since Saddam Hussein's day took place (in the fortified Green Zone, the country's ordinary streets still being too dangerous for such things); the U.S. handed back many small bases and outposts; and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki proclaimed a national holiday—"sovereignty day," he called it.

"Do you have anything to declare?"

Here's The Fog of War, as recommended by Brian, and me:

BTW: Robert Scheer on Robert Strange McNamara

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

News Quiz

Today in Pakistan, US drones killed:
A- 12
B- 37
C- 45
D- Some Pakistani heart and mind

Greenpeace placed an Obama banner, with a plea for the G8 to act on global warming, over: A- Mount Rushmore B- Neverland Ranch C- The Society of Illustrators

Later the G8:
A- Blew off CO2 cuts
B- Blamed nonmembers China and India
C- Ate great Italian food
D- All of the above

You've probably seen the ads. Ominous voice-overs warn you about how health care reform "could put a bureaucrat in charge of your medical decisions, not you." A massive bulldozer with "government-run insurance plan" written on the side crushes your health care "choices." Canadians and Britons relay horror stories of their experiences dealing with health care in those nightmarish socialist dystopias.

The ads are the product of a multimillion-dollar ad campaign designed to derail health care reform—especially what's been dubbed the "public option," which would set up a government-run plan to compete with private insurers. The man behind this ad blitz is the person who might be Public Option Enemy No. 1: one-time hospital executive and longtime Republican donor Richard Scott.

EARLY ONE MORNING in August 2005, a small team of game wardens and deputies climbed through coyote brush and manzanita in the Sierra Azul Open Space Preserve outside San Jose, California, searching for an illegal pot farm. As they crested a ridge, they discovered densely planted rows of cannabis stalks. Suddenly, a high-powered rifle cracked and an officer fell to the ground, shot through both legs. Seconds later, another deputy shot and killed a man wielding a sawed-off shotgun. "It was literally like a jungle firefight," recalls warden John Nores, who fired at the other shooter before he escaped into the woods. Left behind in a meadow just minutes from the heart of Silicon Valley were 22,000 marijuana plants worth some $88 million.

Over the past decade, marijuana patches known as "grows" or "gardens" have sprung up on public lands across the West, including a third of California's national parks and nearly 40 percent of all national forests. Where hippies once grew just enough weed to peace out, traffickers now cultivate more than 100,000 plants at a time on 30-acre terraces irrigated by plastic pipe, laced with illegal pesticides, and guarded by men with MAC-10s and Uzis. Grows have turned up everywhere from the deepest backcountry to the edges of suburban subdivisions. Farming pot on public land can be more profitable than smuggling it across the increasingly militarized border. The 3.1 million pot plants seized in national forests in the year prior to last September had an estimated street value of $12.4 billion.

THERE IS A MAN DRIVING FAST down a dirt road leading to the border. A rooster tail of dust marks his passage. He is very frightened and his 15-year-old son sits beside him in silence. The boy is that way—very bright, yet very quiet. They are unusually close. The father has raised him as a single parent since he was four.

The father and son are fleeing to the United States. Back in their hometown of Ascensión, Chihuahua, men with assault rifles are searching for them. These men are soldiers in the Mexican Army and intend to kill the father, and perhaps the son, also. As the man drives toward the border crossing at Antelope Wells, New Mexico, he thinks the soldiers are ransacking his house. No one in the town will have the guts to speak up.

The man knows this absolutely.

IT WAS THE GREAT LUPE VÁSQUEZ who first informed me of the existence of the baladas prohibidas. We were at the 13 Negro drinking early in the evening, which is to say that it was not yet midnight and Lupe had not yet blacked out. The jukebox exploded into another happy song, indistinguishable to my ignorance from the others, and the grim field workers at other tables nearly smiled, while the dancing couples on the metal floor grew livelier, and several men shouted along with the singer. Even Lupe, who trudged bitterly through life, cheered up when he heard this corrido, which was naturally so loud that he had to shout into my ear for me to apprehend that it dealt with the demure lady friend of a wanted drug lord who happened to be absent when two federales visited their residence, promising her that they wouldn't hurt him, so she told them to sit down and wait if so it pleased them; but while fixing refreshments she overheard their plan to liquidate her lover, so she sweetly invited them to rest just a moment longer, then strode out and blew them away!

Lupe's hatred of authority exceeded even mine, and for good reason; most days he had to deal with the lordly ways of United States immigration inspectors, of foremen who might or might not offer him a job and who if they did cared about their production quotas, not about his back; of companies who didn't pay him for the hours he had to sit in buses waiting for the frost to melt off the broccoli; and whenever he got a vacation from these entities, he got to visit the know-it-alls at the employment office in Calexico. Now and then he had also enjoyed the hospitality of Northside's police and judges. That was why a few beers at the 13 Negro soothed the pain of the 13 Negro's prices, and when a certain sort of corrido came on the jukebox, Lupe even smiled.

Apparently the swine flu is all the rage in London. This from Harper's Weekly:

Officials in Britain said that the number of new cases of swine flu in that country was doubling weekly and could reach 100,000 new cases per day by the end of August; Dr. Richard Jarvis, chairman of the British Medical Association's public-health committee, cited reports of people throwing "swine flu parties" to expose themselves to the virus and build their immunity. "I don't think it is a good idea," he said.

Here's my take (from The American Prospect):

them.ws

No more feeds
No more feeds. Download the soruce code here http://them.ws/stuff/tmp/feeds.zip

You'll need to create a database table for this to work properly. The required SQL commands are in themws_rss.sql. Open that in a text editor and and copy the command and run it in PhpMyAdmin in a database. Then in config.php edit the three variables $usr, $pwd and $db with the MySQL username, MySQL user password and the MySQL database where you created the rssfeeds table.

[CaRP] XML error: SYSTEM or PUBLIC, the URI is missing at line 26

them.ws

No more feeds
No more feeds. Download the soruce code here http://them.ws/stuff/tmp/feeds.zip

You'll need to create a database table for this to work properly. The required SQL commands are in themws_rss.sql. Open that in a text editor and and copy the command and run it in PhpMyAdmin in a database. Then in config.php edit the three variables $usr, $pwd and $db with the MySQL username, MySQL user password and the MySQL database where you created the rssfeeds table.

WorkingForChange

FAQ: Petraeus' testimony
by Will Durst
14 Sep 2007 at 4:00pm
Frequently asked questions about the General's congressional testimony
Republicans gone wild 2!
by Will Durst
31 Aug 2007 at 12:40pm
The most crazed, sexed up elected official footage ever accumulated
Rove bye bye
by Will Durst
23 Aug 2007 at 1:10pm
President's strategist to spend more time lying to his family
Me. Me. Me. Me. Me.
by Will Durst
15 Aug 2007 at 8:05pm
State-sponsored selfishness steals spotlight in Decision '08
Between the fringes
by Will Durst
2 Aug 2007 at 7:00pm
The center's still here, but all anybody hears is right and left
Skooter skates
by Will Durst
13 Jul 2007 at 6:40pm
Dubya deems Libby sentence 'excessive'
Boss Dick
by Will Durst
3 Jul 2007 at 2:50pm
Vice President Cheney reports to no one, and we should be glad
Darting squirters
by Will Durst
20 Jun 2007 at 12:20am
Bush eschews 'quagmire,' but when it rains it pours

In These Times

Sewer Socialism Down the Drain?
by Roger Bybee
10 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
Public water, one of the most important legacies of Milwaukee's Socialist Party, which led the city almost continuously from 1910 to 1960, is now under attack from those who see a chance to convert this fundamental resource into a profit stream via privatization. In the name of coping with rising deficits, privatization advocates led by City Comptroller Wally Morics have proposed leasing the water system to private operators for 75 to 99 years. Once the city moved to hire consultants on the water privatization proposal, it tapped into a broad current of citizen outrage in favor of preserving a vital part of "the commons," as public water advocates put it. The grassroots opposition to privatization came to a head at a June 12 rally of some 300 pumped-up citizens outside Milwaukee's City Hall. Environmentalists, health advocates, unionists, senior citizens and youth activists were present. "Public water is a trust that belongs to all of us," declared Cheryl Nenn, the interim executive director of the Milwaukee Riverkeepers. "Where there has been privatization, jobs have been lost and benefits cut for workers, while monitoring of water quality has been cut or eliminated, and prices have risen." "We must stand for public ownership?
Block ?Em, Sock ?Em
by Joel Bleifuss
9 Jul 2009 at 1:39pm
Across the country progressive groups are mobilizing to support legislative initiatives, but to what effect? On the climate change front, the Sierra Club heralds the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) that passed the House and is now in the Senate as "a great step forward for a clean energy future in the U.S." The group notes that the legislation needs to be strengthened by the Senate. How the more conservative Senate, America's House of Lords, will do anything other than muck up the bill remains unclear. Americans for Financial Reform, a national coalition of more than 200 state and local organizations, has come together to reform and regulate the banking system. "Our principles will only prevail if the voices of the public are heard over those of bankers, traders, mortgage brokers and their armies of lobbyists," says Heather Booth, the group's executive director. Health Care for America Now (HCAN), a mega-coalition of progressive groups, is promoting a 10-point set of healthcare reforms, one of which is "a public health insurance plan that guarantees affordable coverage without a private insurer middleman." These campaigns, though different in focus, are similar in that they urge constituents to pressure their elected representatives.?
Budgets by the People
by Michael Fox
8 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
On a chilly evening in late May, hundreds of Porto Alegre, Brazil, residents packed into the Cecores gymnasium of the working-class neighborhood of Restinga for their yearly regional Participatory Budgeting (PB) assembly. Mayor José Fogaça and his PB team sat before them at long tables. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the process in this southern city. The lively crowd cheered and waved banners. Residents spoke in support of their needs, or denounced the government for not fulfilling promises it had made. "Housing" was on the lips of many. ? "I struggled. I'm proof of this," said Fabiana dos Santos Nacimento, a mother of six, who won her own home through the PB process a decade ago. "I waited six or seven years to acquire my home. And now my daughters are here and I'm struggling to help them acquire a home next door."? More than 750 residents voted housing as this year's third most important priority, behind social assistance and roads. During the last decade and a half, thousands of working families with the National Movement for the Struggle of Housing (MNLM for Movimento Nacional de Luta pela Moradia) have won homes through participatory budgeting in this region?
Republicans: A Threat to the Republic?
by Robert Parry
7 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
Sarah Palin's abrupt decision to resign as Alaska's governor--and her rambling explanation--underscore again how the Republican Party over the past dozen years has put up candidates for top national offices who are unqualified or ill-suited for those sensitive positions. Like Palin, George W. Bush was a charismatic underachiever who hadn't accomplished much in life and showed little intellectual firepower but was nevertheless presented by the GOP as its candidate for one of the most powerful jobs on earth. However, unlike Palin who lost her vice presidential bid, Bush took the presidency for two terms--in two dubious elections--with disastrous consequences for the nation. Then, even amid the wreckage of the Bush administration's final days, the Republican Party enthusiastically nominated first-term Alaska Gov. Palin to be a heartbeat away from the presidency, which they hoped would be filled by 72-year-old cancer survivor John McCain. Shrill, baby, shrill The Republican Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota, was a glimpse into Crazy Town, with a national party gone giddy over the folksy Sarah Palin, who we were told could "field-dress a moose." The dominant chant of the convention--sometimes led by Palin herself--was "drill, baby, drill." On the campaign trail, Palin tossed out the reddest of?
Fighting the Cloud Factory
by Kari Lydersen
6 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
For Marisol Becerra and other kids growing up in the Little Village neighborhood in Chicago, the smokestack from the Crawford coal-burning power plant is part of the gritty, industrial landscape called home. Located between a major highway, rail line and canal, the plant dominates the skyline of the southwest side neighborhood. Since age 14, Becerra, now 19, has been trying to do something about the plant's plumes of emissions, which include high levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, mercury and other pollutants that cause a range of respiratory and cardiovascular problems. One study estimates the Crawford and nearby Fisk plants cause 41 premature deaths and 550 emergency room visits each year. In 2003, Becerra started volunteering with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), a grassroots group fighting to clean up contaminated sites and win healthier conditions in her Mexican-American neighborhood. She founded a youth arm of LVEJO called Youth Activists Organizing as Today's Leaders, which publishes the newsletter El Cilantro and helped create an interactive map of toxic spots in Chicago and nationwide. Now a student at DePaul University in Chicago, Becerra has continued her environmental activism as co-chair of the Environmental Concerns Organization. In 2008, she won a?
Solidarity Reunited?
by David Moberg
4 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
CHICAGO--A square plaque in the pavement outside the Sheraton Chicago hotel commemorates the formation of the UNITE HERE union here five years ago. That event was an exuberant, optimistic celebration of the merger of the traditional hotel (HERE) and apparel (UNITE) unions. UNITE HERE's second convention at the same hotel this week was not so celebratory: Much of the old UNITE union broke away earlier this year with the active collaboration and support of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which then absorbed the breakaway units. But UNITE HERE president John Wilhelm and delegates seemed optimistic, even as they face a battle with their erstwhile ally, SEIU, over members, money and the right to organize traditional HERE industries. A three-front battle Wilhelm thinks UNITE HERE will prevail in a three-front battle with contentious employers, a rotten economy and the "company union" (as they label SEIU) by focusing the union's fight on companies, strengthening members' involvement in the union and rallying support from other unions and allies. The moves UNITE HERE announced at its convention, held from June 29 to July 1, do seem to strengthen its hand as it takes on SEIU, which is much richer and roughly eight times?
Death of the Newspaperman
by David Simon
3 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
The captains of the newspaper industry, martyrs all, claim they were heroically serving democracy to their utmost, only to be undone by a cataclysmic shift in technology and the arrival of all things web-based. Partisans of new media, weblogs and Twitter assure us that American journalism has a perfectly fine future online and a great democratization in newsgathering is taking place. In my city, there is a technical term we often administer when claims are plainly contradicted by facts on the ground. We note that the claimant is, for lack of a better term, full of it. High-end journalism is dying in America and, unless a new economic model is achieved, it will not be reborn on the Web or anywhere. The Internet is a marvelous tool and clearly the informational delivery system of our future, but thus far it does not deliver much first-generation reporting. Instead, it leeches that reporting from print publications, whereupon aggregating Web sites and bloggers contribute little more than repetition, commentary and froth. Meanwhile, readers acquire news from the aggregators and abandon its point of origin, namely the newspapers and magazines themselves. In short, the parasite is slowly killing the host. It is nice to?
The Stupidity of ?Smart? Phones
by Megan Tady
2 Jul 2009 at 7:00am
Apple's iPhone looks good enough to eat. I've yet to take a bite of this "smart" phone, but know that once I do, there will be no going back; I'll be reaching for it before I get out of bed and updating my Facebook status from yoga class. ("I think I just found my chi. Wait--it was my phone on vibrate.") The temptation to join the growing legions of iPhone admirers is strong. So what's stopping me from signing up? Purchasing an iPhone means I have to become an AT&T subscriber. The company has an exclusive deal with Apple to provide wireless service to iPhoners--meaning I'm backed into a corner. If I don't like AT&T, or it's not available in my area, I'm facing a digital impasse: no service, no phone. This is unfortunate, not because I'm missing out on the iPhone's "bar finder" application, but because smart phones are setting the stage for the future of the mobile Internet. They are revolutionary because they free us from our home or office computers. We can catch breaking news, create and upload content, and navigate online social networks and movements from anywhere. It's the Internet--some might say "the world"--in our pockets.?

Daily Kos

Your Abbreviated Pundit Round-up
by DemFromCT
10 Jul 2009 at 7:51am

Friday punditry!

Adam Ross:

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today that the United States will set aside billions of dollars to pursue a vaccine for H1N1, commonly referred to as swine flu.

The Obama administration has officially overreacted.

First comment on WaPo site:

Let me guess.

The WaPo editorial writers would rather US tax dollars be spent bombing Iran than defending America, right?

Seriously, are you all brain dead - or were you just dropped on your head as children?

Paul Krugman: Ok, I was right about the size of the stimulus. And don't pester me with comments about what could and could not pass the Senate after 30 years of 'govt spending is bad.'

What he needs, in short, is to do for economic policy what he’s already done for race relations and foreign policy — talk to Americans like adults.

William Schneider:

Right now, the economy is a good news/bad news story.

On the one hand, during the second quarter, stocks turned in one of their best performances in years. On the other hand, it would take several more such quarters to bring the market back to where it was before last fall's crash. And consumer confidence went down last month as job losses climbed sharply. The economy has shed nearly 3 million more jobs than the Obama administration originally forecast.

What to make of it all? Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said last month, "These early signs of improvement are encouraging, but the global economy is still operating well below potential and we still face very acute challenges."

Challenge #1: jobs

Charlie Cook:

Like the health care and the cap-and-trade proposals that have dominated center stage for months, another stimulus package would not be easy to move through Congress. In the June 12-15 NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, Americans said, by 58 percent to 35 percent, that keeping the federal budget deficit down was more important than "boosting the economy even though it may mean larger budget deficits now and in the future."

Michael Kinsley:

Why doesn't the president give himself a well-deserved treat and slow down a bit on health-care reform? Instead of going for a total overhaul, go for some smaller successes, or what business executives and gorillas call the "low-hanging fruit"? Pick half a dozen, get Congress to swallow them and see where we stand?

More on Sarah Palin's Republican problem from the likes of Peter Wehner, Dan Schnur, and my favorite, Vin Weber:

...she has a core of supporters that will never desert her but can never elect her.

This is all, of course, good news for John McCain. Except that it reflects on his poor judgment to choose her.

Joe Conason: Franken's party up, Palin's party down.

Matthew Continetti:

Something about Sarah Palin riles people up.

Hint: it's that she was not remotely qualified for the job she auditioned for.

Her charisma is such that she does not need to hold an office to command attention or wield influence.

See Vin Weber.

John Petro of the Drum Major Institute writes:

Last month, Senators John D. Rockefeller and Frank Lautenberg introduced a bill that would establish performance-based goals for our surface transportation system. The bill would, according to Senator Lautenberg, "establish a national policy that improves safety, reduces congestion, creates jobs, and protects our environment."

Among these goals is to reduce the amount Americans drive, or more specifically, to "reduce national per capita motor vehicle miles traveled on an annual basis." Basically, Americans should be driving less—fewer trips over shorter distances. This has as much to do with the way we use our land as it does with transportation policy. Where we choose to live and work and get the groceries largely determines how much we drive. We are driving longer distances to work and to complete all the other little errands that populate our days.

However, Gabriel Roth argues in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that reducing the amount we drive should not be a policy goal of the federal government.
Reducing the total miles traveled—whether the length or number of trips—means people would have to reduce the activities they want and need to do. People would be "coerced," in effect, to live in less desirable places or work in less desirable jobs; shop in fewer and closer stores; see their doctor less frequently; visit fewer family members and friends.

Roth’s claim of coercion is absurd.

= = =

The rescue begins below and continues in the jump. With this edition, the Green Diary Rescue departs for a two-week vacation. The next GDR will appear on July 26. If you haven’t yet joined DK GreenRoots, you’re missing out on a dynamic group of eco-blogger advocates.

= = =

Haole in Hawaii posted Another Random Photo Diary from his island retreat. This is a shot from last winter off Laie Point.

Bruce Nilles announced a Milestone: 100th Coal Plant Stopped: "As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state. This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on global warming. As other countries like China say they will not act until the U.S. does, these 100 stopped plants are a sign from Americans. We are taking action against global warming, and it's time to join us."

= = =

The Overnight News Digest is posted. Included is the story Panetta orders internal probe of secret spy program after some members of Congress say CIA misled them.

Please enjoy reading these outstanding, ranger-selected diaries:

arodb claims he's too old to be an activist, but he sure seems like one as he becomes enmeshed in challenging the recent police overreaction at a Francine Busby fundraiser: Just back from speaking at City Council. (ItsJessMe)

ShadowSD analyzes Progressive vs. Moderate Voters: The Conservadem and GOP Myth. (ybruti)

First-time diarist snaxattack explains the importance of the insurance exchange model in The future of health insurance portability? (dadanation)

jimluce discusses one way to obtain an affordable, high-quality college education in Fall Pick: American University of Nigeria. (taylormattd)

BenGoshi reports that India Hikes Science Budget, Hard Times Notwithstanding. (ybruti)

greendem highlights how, in retaliation for losing a lawsuit to the residents of Richmond, California, Chevron gets busted, fires workers, attacks local tax laws. (dadanation)

Nulwee discusses an innovative scientist who radicalized conservation and re-branded it as a potent force for change: Richard Jenkins and Thinking Through Your Environmentalism! (taylormattd)

jotter has High Impact Diaries: July 8, 2009.

va dare has Top Comments 7.9.09 - Coal Country Film finds new WV venue.

Please feel free to promote your favorite diaries in this open thread.

While John Ensign looks for his checkbook, and Tom Coburn gives relocation advice, the political and polling axis continues to turn.

MN-Gov: Coleman Bruised Badly By Electoral Contest, Says New Poll
So, all that talk about the inevitability of a Coleman gubernatorial bid might have taken a little bit of a hit. PPP polls Minnesota, and finds that Coleman's favorables are a painful 38/52, and that he would lose to either former Senator Mark Dayton (41-39) or Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak (45-39). Here's an "ouch" for the Coleman-loving Wall Street Journal to ponder: 54% of those polled said that Coleman's conduct during the post-election phase had made them LESS likely to vote for him.

The Money Chase: Lots of New Figures, And Several Impressive Ones
As we have seen throughout the week, a lot of candidates for office in 2010 are posting their second-quarter fundraising totals now. Most impressive, without question, was the haul for the establishment candidate in the Florida Senate race. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist Florida Governor raised an eye-popping $4.3 million for the quarter. Crist outraised Republican insurgent candidate Marco Rubio by a 14-to-1 margin. Meanwhile, the Democrats have a reason to smile as well, as one of their rookie challengers, Palm Springs Mayor Steve Pougnet, banked over $200,000 for the quarter. In the race for Texas Governor Rick Perry announced a huge haul: $4.2 million in nine days. He starts the campaign against Republican primary opponent (and US Senator) Kay Bailey Hutchison with about $9 million on hand.

TX-Gov: Perry Has Double Digit Lead in GOP Primary, Says UT
A new poll out today from the University of Texas gives Governor Rick Perry a twelve-point edge (38-26) over Kay Bailey Hutchison in the GOP primary for Governor. While this poll confirms others with a Perry lead, I remain a bit mystified that so many folks would be undecided in a race with two major players in the party.

NJ-Gov: Christie Loses Ground, But Maintains Lead, According to Rasmussen
In this year's New Jersey gubernatorial campaign,  Rasmussen gives Republican nominee Chris Christie a seven-point edge (46-39) over Democratic Governor Jon Corzine. While this is still a significant edge for the challenger, it is roughly half of the advantage he enjoyed in the afterglow of his primary win. A June Ras poll gave Christie a twelve-point advantage (51-39). Rasmussen notes that 42% of voters are either truly undecided or are still persuadable, which is excellent news for the incumbent, who needs to claw back from a deficit he has been burdened with throughout.

Incidentally, Corzine's troubles, as well as sagging poll numbers for many incumbent Democratic governors, will be the topic of my essay this Sunday during Sunday Kos.

NY-State Senate: Espada Returning To Dems?
Well, this is an amusing development: it is now being reported that apostate Democrat Pedro Espada is planning to return to the Democratic fold in the State Senate, thus breaking the 31-31 deadlock and returning the Democratic Party to the majority they held until Espada and his co-conspirator Hiram Montserrate decided to start this whole mess a month and a day ago. In the strangest part of the saga, Malcolm Smith, whose role as Senate leader was allegedly the crux of the dispute, will be reinstated as Majority Leader. Anyone with good theories on what the holy heck happened here--please share.

Fox & Friends host Gretchen Carlson discusses the results of study conducted in Finland and Sweden showing married individuals are less likely to develop dementia and Alzheimers...which prompts her sidekick Brian Kilmeade to launch into a stream of science-babble that would make a eugenicist blush:

KILMEADE: We keep marrying other species and other ethnics.

CARLSON: Are you sure you're not suffering from some of the causes of dementia now?

KILMEADE: You see, the problem with, uh. The Swedes have pure genes because they marry other Swedes because that's the rule. Finland, Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society.

In America, we marry everybody, Italians, Irish.

MORRIS: So the study does not apply to us?

KILMEADE: The study does not apply to us.

The most charitable explanation for Kilmeade's comments is that he was saying that he doesn't think the study applies to the 'mutts' in America (who marry "other species" and "other ethnics") because it was conducted in Finland and Sweden (who have "pure genes" and "pure society").

When that's the most charitable explanation, you know you've said something really loony -- a special kind of ignorance right up there with "the Earth is 6,000 years old."

Apparently, Kilmeade is so hung up on his belief that people of different colors belong to different "species" that he failed to grasp that even if his views were right, this study measured the influence of a lifestyle choice (i.e., the environment) on Alzheimer's and dementia. In other words, even if you accept Kilmeade's demented predicate, the conclusion he's drawing is moronic.

The larger point is that even though there are some diseases that plague certain ethnic groups more than others, it does not necessarily follow that the reason for the difference is genetic in nature. In fact, it usually doesn't. Take, for example, Alzheimer's: research shows that the genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease is the same among African-Americans and whites.

You wouldn't expect Kilmeade to know that, however. He's too busy fantasizing about the "pure society" of Finland.

Also see Stroszek's recommended diary, "Fox and Friends" Host Argues for Racially "Pure Society".

In response to Judge Vaughan Walker's order from a hearing in early June commanding the attorney for plaintiffs al-Haramain et. al to file a motion for summary judgment, the attorneys filed that motion [pdf] today.

The motion opens with a bang:

"Warrantless surveillance of American citizens, in defiance of FISA, is unlawful and unconstitutional."
President Barack Obama, December 20, 2007

"We owe the American people a reckoning."
Attorney General Eric Holder, June 13, 2008

This lawsuit challenges the federal government’s warrantless electronic surveillance of plaintiffs Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, Inc. and two ofits lawyers, plaintiffs Wendell Belew and Asim Ghafoor. By this motion, plaintiffs seek this Court’s determination of plaintiffs’ Article III standing and defendants’ liability under FISA’s civil liability provision, 50 U.S.C. section 1810.

With this motion, plaintiffs submit non-classified evidence that this Court has already determined constitutes prima facie proof that plaintiffs were subjected to electronic surveillance within the meaning of FISA. Defendants have the burden of proving the existence of a FISA warrant for that surveillance. Unless, in opposition to this motion, defendants demonstrate a genuine issue of material fact with regard to plaintiffs’ electronic surveillance, or prove the existence of a FISA warrant, plaintiffs will be entitled to a summary determination that they were subjected to warrantless electronic surveillance and thus have Article III standing.

On the question of defendants’ liability under section 1810, there cannot be a genuine issue of material fact, because the liability issues require no fact-finding at all, but are purely legal in nature: May the President disregard the requirements of FISA based on Congress’s 2001
Authorization for Use of Military Force? May the President disregard the requirements of FISA based on inherent presidential power? Is FISA an unconstitutional intrusion on presidential power? These issues are wholly amenable to resolution by summary judgment. The time has come for this Court to address them, and to decide the overarching constitutional question presented by President George W. Bush’s program of warrantless electronic surveillance: May the President of the United States break the law in the name of national security?

STATEMENT OF ISSUES

After all the strum and drung of the past three and a half years since we learned about the illegal spying of the Bush administration, it does come down to that second question--does the executive have the authority to disregard the law? The filing, as Spencer argues, "presents a dare to the Obama administration: embrace the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance claims, invoke a secrecy doctrine that Attorney General Eric Holder has pledged to overhaul, or allow a case challenging the merits of warrantless surveillance to win."

"This is the culmination of three and a half years of work, over repeated attempts by the government" to shut the case down, said Jon Eisenberg, the lead attorney for al-Haramain. "There have been shenanigans by the Bush Justice Department, which were no surprise, but also by the Obama Justice Department, which has been a shock."

In March, lawyers for the Obama administration followed its predecessor’s lead in the al-Haramain case, attempting to void the proceedings by invoking the "state secrets" privilege, which instructs judges to stop court proceedings because of potential national security concerns created by the airing of sensitive information. The original basis for al-Haramain’s case is a classified phone surveillance log that the government accidentally disclosed to al-Haramain’s lawyers and has since been recovered by the FBI. But Walker allowed the case to go forward after al-Haramain’s lawyers constructed a case using non-classified information — making no use of the so-called "Secret Document" — indicating that the Oregon-based charity was subject to surveillance....

Eisenberg said he is curious to see whether the Obama administration would actually defend the warrantless surveillance activities of its predecessor. The motion seeks to put the administration in a bind by citing numerous statements from senior officials denouncing the Terrorist Surveillance Program as illegal and the constitutional arguments for it to be dubious....

"What does Obama do?" Eisenberg said. "This is not just a question of hypocrisy. It’s a big constitutional mistake if he endorses [former Vice President Dick] Cheney’s theory of executive power."

That the program was illegal isn't in question. Given that al Haramain's lawyers have seen the proof--in that classified memo that was inadvertantely provided to them by the government--it's also not in question that al Haramain was included in that illegal wiretapping, and as bmaz points out was being surveilled during the period within the Bush administration that almost broke the Justice Department--the period punctuated by the dramatic confrontation at John Ashcroft's hospital bedside.

This information has been well known for years. The question now is whether Obama's Justice Department is going to continue to defend it. It hasn't commented yet on the filing. Walker will hear arguments on this filing on September 1.

June 16: Tom Coburn praises John Ensign's "corrective force" for going public with his affair, and asks for forgiveness on Ensign's behalf:

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Ensign could use forgiveness.

"If you look at it in the light of everybody makes errors, at least he fessed up and resolved the problem with his family; so I think it speaks well of his corrective force."

July 8: Tom Coburn's office attacks Ensign for not having followed Coburn's advice to go public sooner:

"Dr. Coburn did everything he could to encourage Senator Ensign to end his affair and to persuade Senator Ensign to repair the damage he had caused to his own marriage and the Hampton’s marriage. Had Senator Ensign followed Dr. Coburn’s advice, this episode would have ended, and been made public, long ago."

July 9: Tom Coburn claims doctor-patient privilege, refusing to reveal his dicussions with Ensign about the affair, even though a day earlier, his office had done just that:

"I was counseling him as a physician and as an ordained deacon. ... That is privileged communication that I will never reveal to anybody. Not to the Ethics Committee, not to a court of law, not to anybody," Coburn said.

July 9: Despite his claim to have doctor-patient privilege, Tom Coburn goes into detail on what he says he did not discuss with John Ensign:

"I was never present when a letter was written, never made any assessment of paying anybody anything. Those are untruths. Those are absolute untruths."

What we have here is another example of a "Godlier than thou" Republican whose first reaction was to lie, providing political cover to a political ally. Then his lies changed to protect himself. That's certainly within the realm of normal behavior by politicians, but Tom Coburn has always claimed he was different than normal politicians.

Time and time again, Republicans like Tom Coburn prove that they can't walk the talk. Maybe it's time they start talking the walk.

Healthcare reform is nothing if not a wild ride these days. First, conflicting with the supposed message President Obama sent to liberal groups to lay off the pressure on Senators, Organizing for America is organizing members to pressure their Senators.

Late yesterday, Organizing for America, or OFA, blasted out an  email calling on supporters to deluge their Senators and members of Congress, Democrats included, with calls demanding that they support Obama’s "three principles for real health care reform":

Obama is reported to have said this about liberal groups: "We shouldn’t be focusing resources on each other." If this is true, it raises the question of why his own political operation should do this, but outside groups shouldn’t.... OFA’s activities make the meme that Obama wants the groups to muzzle themselves seem pretty far fetched.

Go OFA, SEIU, DFA, FDL--the whole alphabet soup of progressive organizations and activists coalescing around health care, because it's becoming increasingly clear that nothing but sustained, progressive pressure on the Senate can make a dent in the bubble that surrounds them, making them think that somehow bipartisanship and feeding their own and each other's egos matters more than passing the real health care reform their constituents are demanding.

Case in point, after Harry Reid's brief display of backbone, telling Baucus to abandon his fool's errand of getting Grassley on board, he's put bipartisanship back on the table.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid promised Wednesday not to leave Republicans out while shaping the health care bill, GOP senators said.

Sen. Olympia J. Snowe of Maine said Reid met privately with her and three other Republicans [Grassley, Enzi, and Hatch] and assured them that the GOP would be included in negotiations with the House on a final version of the legislation. "He said it would be a bipartisan, open conference" committee, Snowe said after the meeting.

Finally, health care reform stalwart Sen. Ron Wyden--who I know from a long association with him has been committed to the goal of universal health care from the beginning of his political career--is reinforcing that bipartisan pipe dream.

In an interview this week with the Huffington Post, Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) maintained that there was still "great interest in the Finance Committee for a bipartisan bill on both sides of the aisle" and he urged lawmakers to continue to pursue a collaborative path. He would not comment directly on news that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid had urged the Committee's Chairman, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) to drop efforts to attract Republican support. But he also didn't hide his own preferences.

"I'm committed to the priority that the president laid out," said Wyden. "I think the president got it right. He said 'I want to get it done this year' and he also indicated that his first choice is to have a bipartisan bill because he recognizes that a bipartisan bill allows the country to come together."

Wyden deserves a lot of credit for keeping health care reform at the forefront in the last few years with his Healthy Americans Act, a bill that has garnered Republican support. Utah Sen. Bob Bennett was, and is, a cosponsor, and in the last Congress, Ron was able to get the support of more Republicans and a wide array of private stakeholders. It's arguable that without his efforts, there wouldn't have been as many trade associations and business organizations willing to come to the table for President Obama. That said, the changes that the Wyden bill becomes the solution--slim to none. Which is probably one of the reasons that there is bipartisan support for it--it's a lot easier for a Republican to sign up for a bill they know doesn't have a chance of passing.

I don't believe that Wyden would ever stand in the way of real health care reform, or a robust public option, but I  can only hope that he's using his very good relationship with the Republicans on his bill to try to bring them over to real reform. But the reality is Republicans aren't going to be falling over themselves to allow the Democrats to pass this massive, historic accomplishment. That's a reality that Wyden and the rest of the Democrats are just going to have to come to terms with.