The Rand Paul Love Revolution is getting side-tracked. It appears that the KKK and the neo-Nazis are fund-raising for him. Even Republican bloggers are demanding he return the funds and the GOP denounce the white supremacists like they did with David Duke in the past. So far, just crickets. Even worse people are reprinting the tweets from white supremo Don Black that Ron Paul asked him to raise funds for his son. Having been defended as a neophyte politician and not racist because of his libertarianism, it appears that Rand Paul has a record of actually campaigning around the country on repealing the Civil Rights Act. His spokesperson used to play for a heavy metal band out of Bowling Green,Ohio and tweeted on Martin Luther King Day "Happy Ni**er Day". He hasn't been heard of in days. Maybe Alan Greenspan, the world's best known libertarian, came come to Rand's defense.
Hapless Harry Reid looks like he will have fun this November. The Chicken Lady has plummeted in the polls and teabagger Sharon Angle is emerging as the GOP front-runner. Angle was voted the worst member of the Nevada Assembly in 1999 and in 2005. She told Politico ,"They ( the Democrats) missed the pulse of the nation. There is a new tide of conservatism sweeping the nation."
Her campaign platform should certainly raise a few eye-brows. She will cut billions and billions from the federal government. She will build nuclear reactors within Yucca Mountains. She will abolish the income tax and replace it with a flat tax. She will abolish Social Security and Medicare. She will defund Obamacare. She will ban all abortions. She will pull the United States out of the United Nations. She will get rid of the Department of Energy and the Education Department. She will get rid of all limits to campaign financing. In heavily Hispanic Nevada, she advocates adopting a tough Arizona-type immigration law.
Eric Massa, the deposed Democratic congressman accused of sexually harassing male staffers and the star of the Glenn Beck Holy Hour, told Esquire that Dick Cheney met with Generals at the Pentagon and advocated a military coup against President Obama. He also said that Cheney tried to recruit General Petraeus to be the Republican nominee in 2012. Probably all true even though Massa is coo-coo for cocoa puffs.
Richard Blumenthal, who once had a monstrous lead in the Connecticut Senate race, apparently still has a huge lead in the race, even after he apologized for "mis-speaking about his military service in Vietnam". Polls indicate he has anywhere between a 3 point (Rasmussen) to 15 point lead (Public Policy).
The RNC isn't doing so hot. At the end of April, it had $12.5 milion cash on hand. The average from 2002-2006 was $40 million. For the by-election in 2006, for example, they averaged $46 million in the bank each month. The DNC has $15 million. Usually, Republicans compensated for their lack of numbers with their bankroll. Unless Karl Rove's secret Republican Party is producing the big bucks, there will be a liquidity problem come Fall.
The Baked Alaskan charges that President Obama is in the pocket of the oil industry. So far this year, the oil industry has donated $12.8 million to candidates, 71% were to Republicans. In 2008, they contributed 77% of their campaign pledges to Republicans and over 2/3rds of their Presidential contributions to the McCain/Palin ticket. Also heard from the Quittah from Wasilla was that Obama's criticizing BP was "un-American." The previous week she said that Obama's problem with the oil spill was not going with an American company.
Another Republican in South Carolina, who won the party's nomination for Congress, is being beat up by the GOP leaders. They happen to find out that he is likely to be indicted soon.
Jan Brewer, the Governor of Arizona, has requested predator drones from the federal government to hunt down illegals.
A blogger at the Dailykos outlined a possible strategy for Democrats this fall. The blogger said that Democrats must get the most extreme positions of Republican candidates on record and make them defend them in public. We have not seen such extreme positions since the 1960s.
Which raises the issue of how could the John Birch Society survive and even thrive after the death of Communism? Today's new Republican candidates' policy positions are straight out of the John Birch Society.
If you want a hint at how slanted Rasmussen's polling is these days, he had Rand Paul with a 25% lead over the Democrat Jack Conway the night after the primary, even though all other polls had Rand 1% ahead.
35,000 New Jersey citizens protested the obliteration of the state's educational system by Governor Christie. Half the crowd of the so-called teabaggers' first rally in Washington,D.C. But there was scant news coverage.
Showing posts with label Eric Massa. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Eric Massa. Show all posts
Monday, May 24, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Red House
Another burning blues song from Hendrix.
Former military colleagues of Eric Massa are delighted by his performance before the American public ,saying "Now, you know what we had to put up with." Apparently, General Wes Clark brought him along as a protege and only yesterday was raving about him on his website as one of the strong supporters of repealing DADT and telling readers to support him. The link has since disppeared from Gen. Clark's website. The military types said he was always a flake.
The Grand Exorcist of the Vatican says that the devil is there and that the reports about violence and pedophilia are true. The 85-year old exorcist says there is black smoke in the rooms inhabited by the Devil and that there are Bishops who do not believe.
Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, must have sensed the same thing in Georgia. After hinting he was going to run for congress to replace Rep. Linder, who is retiring, he suddenly announced this morning he would not run. The Devil here might be Kevin Spacey playing Jake Abramoff, Reed's former business partner.
The AP has a poll ,which will really thrill Republicans. Only 4% of the American people do not want to change our health care system. Yes, that's right, only 4% want to maintain the status quo. When it comes to voting the healthcare bill, 43% are for reconciliation, while 41% want Congress to scrap everything and start again. On other polls, which breaks out the actual provisions of the plan, large majorities back the provisions, and also back the public option, but oppose mandates. These run counter to the endless GOP talking points that a majority oppose health reform. By last week, nearly every talking head and Republican politician said 70% opposed. No one has yet come forth to show where this magical number came from.
Katheleen Sebelius challenged the insurance companies at their meeting at the Ritz-Carlton saying that even if healthcare reform fails,their current business model works against their interests and those of the American people. She called on the companies to stop the ad campaigns and the lobbying and to cut the premiums. It was a gutsy speech to a bunch of leeches. They have already approved several millions to run ads rationalizing their large rate hikes. They acknowledge they have a public relations problem. I guess so.
Nancy Pelosi said--and politicians in her position risk alot by spinning this--that she has the votes to pass healthcare. She says she is waiting for the CBO to score the modified Senate bill and once she has the scoring by end of business today she will get to work.
Karl Rove's book Courage and Convictions is all the talk among the media in the Beltway. Richard Viguerie, conservative master of the mass mailings, said that he never associated the two words in the title with Karl and that he never viewed Karl as a conservative , just a paid political operative. In all the e-mails and conservative underworld, I have heard nothing, not whispers--just crickets.
Glenn Greenwald's blog piece on Chief Justice Roberts' arrogance and the regal position of all our judges is worth reading.
A strange poll. This is from PPP, which are pretty reliable, has Marco Rubio leading Meek, the Democrat in Florida, 44 to 39. Pollster. com have Democrats back in the lead in Congress 45-43%, reversing their trend of the past few weeks.
The Chinese have issued a statement saying they will continue to back America's debt. The Chinese military, who were annoyed by our arms sales to Taiwan and the meeting with the Dalai Lama, wanted Beijing to retaliate against the Americans by refusing to buy any more treasuries.
Get ready for the big money dump from the stimulus plan. Roughly $200 billion mostly earmarked for infrastructure projects and alternative energy initiatives is about to be unleashed on the economy. There are about 25,500 projects, which should create another 900,000 jobs through the remainder of 2010. Weirdly, the largest number of jobs--250,000--will be created in the Southeast.
Republicans argue that targeted tax breaks for industries that must needed it could have created tens of millions of jobs. What they neglect to tell anyone is that the large private sector neglected to create a single job over ten years and only 26% of them paid any taxes whatsoever.
Maybe it's just Spring. But I feel things are turning around.
Lastly, Number 3 Willie Davis, the fleet-footed centerfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died at the age of 69. Davis, the team's all-time hit leader, was in his time the fastest runner in baseball and a stolen base threat. Buzzy Bavasi said of Willie," He could have been in the Hall of Fame. He had million dollar legs but a ten cent head." Don Newcombe, Dodger great, convinced the club in the 1990s to get medical assistance for him because he had been struggling. Davis, who had been prone to violence and paranoia, finally became a Buddhist and seemed to have overcome his demons.
Former military colleagues of Eric Massa are delighted by his performance before the American public ,saying "Now, you know what we had to put up with." Apparently, General Wes Clark brought him along as a protege and only yesterday was raving about him on his website as one of the strong supporters of repealing DADT and telling readers to support him. The link has since disppeared from Gen. Clark's website. The military types said he was always a flake.
The Grand Exorcist of the Vatican says that the devil is there and that the reports about violence and pedophilia are true. The 85-year old exorcist says there is black smoke in the rooms inhabited by the Devil and that there are Bishops who do not believe.
Ralph Reed, the former head of the Christian Coalition, must have sensed the same thing in Georgia. After hinting he was going to run for congress to replace Rep. Linder, who is retiring, he suddenly announced this morning he would not run. The Devil here might be Kevin Spacey playing Jake Abramoff, Reed's former business partner.
The AP has a poll ,which will really thrill Republicans. Only 4% of the American people do not want to change our health care system. Yes, that's right, only 4% want to maintain the status quo. When it comes to voting the healthcare bill, 43% are for reconciliation, while 41% want Congress to scrap everything and start again. On other polls, which breaks out the actual provisions of the plan, large majorities back the provisions, and also back the public option, but oppose mandates. These run counter to the endless GOP talking points that a majority oppose health reform. By last week, nearly every talking head and Republican politician said 70% opposed. No one has yet come forth to show where this magical number came from.
Katheleen Sebelius challenged the insurance companies at their meeting at the Ritz-Carlton saying that even if healthcare reform fails,their current business model works against their interests and those of the American people. She called on the companies to stop the ad campaigns and the lobbying and to cut the premiums. It was a gutsy speech to a bunch of leeches. They have already approved several millions to run ads rationalizing their large rate hikes. They acknowledge they have a public relations problem. I guess so.
Nancy Pelosi said--and politicians in her position risk alot by spinning this--that she has the votes to pass healthcare. She says she is waiting for the CBO to score the modified Senate bill and once she has the scoring by end of business today she will get to work.
Karl Rove's book Courage and Convictions is all the talk among the media in the Beltway. Richard Viguerie, conservative master of the mass mailings, said that he never associated the two words in the title with Karl and that he never viewed Karl as a conservative , just a paid political operative. In all the e-mails and conservative underworld, I have heard nothing, not whispers--just crickets.
Glenn Greenwald's blog piece on Chief Justice Roberts' arrogance and the regal position of all our judges is worth reading.
A strange poll. This is from PPP, which are pretty reliable, has Marco Rubio leading Meek, the Democrat in Florida, 44 to 39. Pollster. com have Democrats back in the lead in Congress 45-43%, reversing their trend of the past few weeks.
The Chinese have issued a statement saying they will continue to back America's debt. The Chinese military, who were annoyed by our arms sales to Taiwan and the meeting with the Dalai Lama, wanted Beijing to retaliate against the Americans by refusing to buy any more treasuries.
Get ready for the big money dump from the stimulus plan. Roughly $200 billion mostly earmarked for infrastructure projects and alternative energy initiatives is about to be unleashed on the economy. There are about 25,500 projects, which should create another 900,000 jobs through the remainder of 2010. Weirdly, the largest number of jobs--250,000--will be created in the Southeast.
Republicans argue that targeted tax breaks for industries that must needed it could have created tens of millions of jobs. What they neglect to tell anyone is that the large private sector neglected to create a single job over ten years and only 26% of them paid any taxes whatsoever.
Maybe it's just Spring. But I feel things are turning around.
Lastly, Number 3 Willie Davis, the fleet-footed centerfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, has died at the age of 69. Davis, the team's all-time hit leader, was in his time the fastest runner in baseball and a stolen base threat. Buzzy Bavasi said of Willie," He could have been in the Hall of Fame. He had million dollar legs but a ten cent head." Don Newcombe, Dodger great, convinced the club in the 1990s to get medical assistance for him because he had been struggling. Davis, who had been prone to violence and paranoia, finally became a Buddhist and seemed to have overcome his demons.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
They want you as a new recruit--cue in the Village People
Rahm Emmanuel did a little rope-a-dope with the Fox News crowd by saving the best on Massa until right before he appeared on the Glenn Beck. First Steny Hoyer said Massa's charges about being forced out were "not serious", then Gibbs at the White House press briefing in the morning downplayed Massa's charges that the White House wanted him out because he opposed health care reform as ridiculous. Then as the day moved on, the press already knew right before Beck that the charges against Massa was he molested a series of male aides. The ones who hadn't pressed the ethics charges soon followed to make it known they had complaints also. By the time Massa got on Fox he was nearly as incoherent as he was the day before and only admitted to "tickle fights" with male staff. All the grave charges against the Democratic leadership disappeared and finally Beck had to apologize to the audience for wasting their time. Nicely done.
Meanwhile Howard Dean led a rally of pro-healthcare protestors in Dupont Circle. The group wanted to make citizens' arrests of medical insurance company executives who have called an emergency meeting in the Capital now that President Obama has taken out after them.
There are now 50 Senators on the record for reconciliation and 40 have signed on for the public option so far. Senate and House Republicans made it clear to day that they are going to make the mid-term elections a referendum on health care reform and will campaign to repeal it. I guess they are throwing in the towel. Now let's walk this one through. Let's say the republicans actually win both the House and the Senate and pass a bill repealing healthcare reform. Do you really think they will have 2/3rds of the Senate to override a veto? It's just a red herring.
Republican news outlets like Politico and Drudge are now circulating the story that Nancy Pelosi has "lost control" of the Democratic caucus because of how she handled the Rangel case. There is virtually no evidence of this. It's just another late minute ploy to shake Democrats who are wavering on health care.
What does disturb me is Steny Hoyer's statement that the vote may not be March 18th as the White House said today. That's the day President Obama is supposed to fly abroad. Don't go, Mr. President, until these clowns vote on it.
While all this is going on, the left appears to be throwing a tantrum and I can't figure it out why. Yes, the health care bill is far from perfect but it will help 30 million people and a few of us who remain at the mercy of the health insurance industry. But this drumbeat about how Obama is going to lose this constituency, that constituency for crimes real and imagined are at this early stage hyperbolic and certainly premature.
The good news is that a Zogby-Newsmax poll has Obama beating Bush 48-38. Zogby has definitely taken the one way ride to Palookaville. Once the premier pollster during the Carter years, he is just scrapping bottom for any clients he can get. For me, there is virtually no worth to Zogby polls at this stage.
Which brings me to the sad state of Rasmussen polls, which during past cycles were sensible and reasonable. My gut tells me Rasmussen is cashing in big time in the 2010 election cycle, perhaps to sell the business off. Rasmussen has been repeatedly been conducting polls around the country for Republicans in such a frequency as to raise questions about motivations. There is no earthly reason to have conducted so many polls so early in an election year except to establish a climate , a tone, a background favorable to Republicans and to influence the electorate. And to make buckets of cash.
Breaking down any of his polls recently, you will see Rasmussen over samples Republicans, often by as much as 8-9%. I was sad when Zogby bit the dust of credibility and I also regret Rasmussen travelling down the same road. Check for yourself, the difference in Rasmussen's approval polls for President Obama against Gallup or anyone else. You will find Obama has been in the low 40s in Rasmussen for quite some time, while Gallup ranges from 49 to 52. The difference is not plausible in my mind.
In many of these state races, Rasmussen has the only poll out there. If the Republican leads by less than 10 percent, then consider the race a toss-up. I think that is the margin of real error. And if the Democrat is in any type of lead, you already know the results.
All of this is part of an effort to manufacture a Republican comeback at a time when the party has no ideas or leaders. It's a very tricky thing to pull off. It's true they have their own private TV channel, which is the only one in my lifetime to actively organize protests against a sitting President. They also have dominance in my opinion over the other networks and the Washington Post. But so far they are just throwing anything at the wall to see if it will stick. The rolling Rasmussen polls are part of a strategy of psywarfare. I'm interesting to see what Rasmussen will do from a business angle after the mid-terms are over.
For the public good, I think it would be great to have the media boycott U.S. Senators of both parties for one week. I think this would be a great experiment and it would send our Samurai Warlords crazy. Frankly, I don't care if Blanche Lincoln is for health care but doubtful about reconciliation. Or that Lindsey Graham put his finger in the air and decided it was OK to criticize Liz Cheney. And why must we have John McCain on every week since he lost to President Obama? Did we have Michael Dukakis on every week or John Kerry? And, by the way, where are the Democrats when it comes to national security issues? They never appear to defend the Administration even though it's cleaning up on the war on terror.
I've been watching Alabama ever since accusations were made against Karl Rove manipulating the case against Governor Spiegelman. Alabama over many election cycles has been owned by Republicans. Between Ralph Reed and Karl Rove, there have been dirty tricks played galore in the state. But I've noticed recently that the Democrats are beginning to put together a solid team of candidates, including for Governor. I think this is one state to watch for some interesting changes this year. The other state is Texas.
I was fascinated today to learn Rupert Murdoch is going to move the headquarters for his media empire to Dubai. I wonder how much of this is related to the Saudi ownership in the company. His leading business partner as I've posted elsewhere is a Saudi Prince, who reportedly funds the families of suicide bombers. Interesting that this goes uncommented on in the U.S.
I'm having a tough time becoming a permanent Yankee Fan. Steinbrenner will not extend the contracts of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera until after the season ends. He's the same old goat.
The Packard family is taking out after Carly Fiorina in California. Carly's main argument why she should be a Senator was her "superb" job as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Not so, say the Packards, who believe she brought the company close to ruin. They had to intercede to stop her attempt to acquire Compaq and finally stimulated a shareholder revolt to can her. You will recall the memorable moment in the McCain campaign where Carly told everyone that as CEO she purposely kept H-P funds abroad to escape paying Americam corporate taxes. So the people of California can elect a tax-dodger.
Charlie Crist looks like he's toast in Florida. Marco Rubio has an insurmontable lead for the Republican primary. Rubio is a major scandal waiting to happen. He's already been caught out using the party American Express card to charge his rather extensive personal expenses. He will be a disaster as a Senator, even though conservatives believe he is one of them--he's not. Crist has been a decent governor in hard times. Remember Jeb lost the entire state pension fund at Lehman Brothers. The Democratic candidate is too weak. Crist should either change parties or run as an independent.
Things are looking up for former Republican Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island. He appears to have a commanding lead in the race for the state house. He is one of those who was run out of the Republican party by the right.
The New York profile of Liz Cheney is worth a read. The operative elements of the article concern her personal and her husband's relationships with key media personalities in town. All her appearances are very managed and limited with the collusion of her media friends. It's not political, it's totally personal.
Finally, Jimi Hendrix Valleys of Neptune is sweet. You forget how good he was. This is the last album he recorded before he died. It was hung up in litigation until the family won the rights to all his work. It was recorded shortly after Electric Ladyland. I could have done without the copious notes on every single personnel dispute and where the band stayed in Manhattan during this period. But good listening.
Meanwhile Howard Dean led a rally of pro-healthcare protestors in Dupont Circle. The group wanted to make citizens' arrests of medical insurance company executives who have called an emergency meeting in the Capital now that President Obama has taken out after them.
There are now 50 Senators on the record for reconciliation and 40 have signed on for the public option so far. Senate and House Republicans made it clear to day that they are going to make the mid-term elections a referendum on health care reform and will campaign to repeal it. I guess they are throwing in the towel. Now let's walk this one through. Let's say the republicans actually win both the House and the Senate and pass a bill repealing healthcare reform. Do you really think they will have 2/3rds of the Senate to override a veto? It's just a red herring.
Republican news outlets like Politico and Drudge are now circulating the story that Nancy Pelosi has "lost control" of the Democratic caucus because of how she handled the Rangel case. There is virtually no evidence of this. It's just another late minute ploy to shake Democrats who are wavering on health care.
What does disturb me is Steny Hoyer's statement that the vote may not be March 18th as the White House said today. That's the day President Obama is supposed to fly abroad. Don't go, Mr. President, until these clowns vote on it.
While all this is going on, the left appears to be throwing a tantrum and I can't figure it out why. Yes, the health care bill is far from perfect but it will help 30 million people and a few of us who remain at the mercy of the health insurance industry. But this drumbeat about how Obama is going to lose this constituency, that constituency for crimes real and imagined are at this early stage hyperbolic and certainly premature.
The good news is that a Zogby-Newsmax poll has Obama beating Bush 48-38. Zogby has definitely taken the one way ride to Palookaville. Once the premier pollster during the Carter years, he is just scrapping bottom for any clients he can get. For me, there is virtually no worth to Zogby polls at this stage.
Which brings me to the sad state of Rasmussen polls, which during past cycles were sensible and reasonable. My gut tells me Rasmussen is cashing in big time in the 2010 election cycle, perhaps to sell the business off. Rasmussen has been repeatedly been conducting polls around the country for Republicans in such a frequency as to raise questions about motivations. There is no earthly reason to have conducted so many polls so early in an election year except to establish a climate , a tone, a background favorable to Republicans and to influence the electorate. And to make buckets of cash.
Breaking down any of his polls recently, you will see Rasmussen over samples Republicans, often by as much as 8-9%. I was sad when Zogby bit the dust of credibility and I also regret Rasmussen travelling down the same road. Check for yourself, the difference in Rasmussen's approval polls for President Obama against Gallup or anyone else. You will find Obama has been in the low 40s in Rasmussen for quite some time, while Gallup ranges from 49 to 52. The difference is not plausible in my mind.
In many of these state races, Rasmussen has the only poll out there. If the Republican leads by less than 10 percent, then consider the race a toss-up. I think that is the margin of real error. And if the Democrat is in any type of lead, you already know the results.
All of this is part of an effort to manufacture a Republican comeback at a time when the party has no ideas or leaders. It's a very tricky thing to pull off. It's true they have their own private TV channel, which is the only one in my lifetime to actively organize protests against a sitting President. They also have dominance in my opinion over the other networks and the Washington Post. But so far they are just throwing anything at the wall to see if it will stick. The rolling Rasmussen polls are part of a strategy of psywarfare. I'm interesting to see what Rasmussen will do from a business angle after the mid-terms are over.
For the public good, I think it would be great to have the media boycott U.S. Senators of both parties for one week. I think this would be a great experiment and it would send our Samurai Warlords crazy. Frankly, I don't care if Blanche Lincoln is for health care but doubtful about reconciliation. Or that Lindsey Graham put his finger in the air and decided it was OK to criticize Liz Cheney. And why must we have John McCain on every week since he lost to President Obama? Did we have Michael Dukakis on every week or John Kerry? And, by the way, where are the Democrats when it comes to national security issues? They never appear to defend the Administration even though it's cleaning up on the war on terror.
I've been watching Alabama ever since accusations were made against Karl Rove manipulating the case against Governor Spiegelman. Alabama over many election cycles has been owned by Republicans. Between Ralph Reed and Karl Rove, there have been dirty tricks played galore in the state. But I've noticed recently that the Democrats are beginning to put together a solid team of candidates, including for Governor. I think this is one state to watch for some interesting changes this year. The other state is Texas.
I was fascinated today to learn Rupert Murdoch is going to move the headquarters for his media empire to Dubai. I wonder how much of this is related to the Saudi ownership in the company. His leading business partner as I've posted elsewhere is a Saudi Prince, who reportedly funds the families of suicide bombers. Interesting that this goes uncommented on in the U.S.
I'm having a tough time becoming a permanent Yankee Fan. Steinbrenner will not extend the contracts of Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera until after the season ends. He's the same old goat.
The Packard family is taking out after Carly Fiorina in California. Carly's main argument why she should be a Senator was her "superb" job as CEO of Hewlett-Packard. Not so, say the Packards, who believe she brought the company close to ruin. They had to intercede to stop her attempt to acquire Compaq and finally stimulated a shareholder revolt to can her. You will recall the memorable moment in the McCain campaign where Carly told everyone that as CEO she purposely kept H-P funds abroad to escape paying Americam corporate taxes. So the people of California can elect a tax-dodger.
Charlie Crist looks like he's toast in Florida. Marco Rubio has an insurmontable lead for the Republican primary. Rubio is a major scandal waiting to happen. He's already been caught out using the party American Express card to charge his rather extensive personal expenses. He will be a disaster as a Senator, even though conservatives believe he is one of them--he's not. Crist has been a decent governor in hard times. Remember Jeb lost the entire state pension fund at Lehman Brothers. The Democratic candidate is too weak. Crist should either change parties or run as an independent.
Things are looking up for former Republican Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island. He appears to have a commanding lead in the race for the state house. He is one of those who was run out of the Republican party by the right.
The New York profile of Liz Cheney is worth a read. The operative elements of the article concern her personal and her husband's relationships with key media personalities in town. All her appearances are very managed and limited with the collusion of her media friends. It's not political, it's totally personal.
Finally, Jimi Hendrix Valleys of Neptune is sweet. You forget how good he was. This is the last album he recorded before he died. It was hung up in litigation until the family won the rights to all his work. It was recorded shortly after Electric Ladyland. I could have done without the copious notes on every single personnel dispute and where the band stayed in Manhattan during this period. But good listening.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Afternoon Coffee
Could we have a hand of applause for Samantha Power, Michael Posner and Harold Koh? These three are quietly trying to seek a way to repatriate Canadian-born terror suspect Omar Khadr. Khadr was apprehended when he was 15 and has now been sentenced to be tried before a military commission. The only problem is that American officials really do not want to try a child for war crimes. The government of conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper has steadfastly refused to ask for Khadr's return and it is not about to provide Barack Obama any cover. But there are quiet bilateral talks under way.
Rep. Eric Massa (D.-N.Y.) has gone bonkers. He's peddling the notion that he was set up by the Democrats who want him gone because of his opposition to health care. Somehow he forgets that he was the one who sexually harassed his aide. It wasn't entrapment. To further entertain America, he will appear on the Glenn Beck show and will tell everything about Democrats and their plans for healthcare reform.
Arlen Specter today says that Democrats are so mad at Republican obstructionism that they don't care anymore and will push the bill through simply out of spite.
The California Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, who has been a leader in anti-gay legislation, finally crumbled and admitted he was gay. He had been arrested on a DUI with a male in his car after it was determined he had been in a gay club. Gay politicians commented that he was often seen cruising clubs. Ashburn blamed his anti-gay votes on his constituency but Equality California, a gay rights group, called that excuse lame. Ashburn actually sponsored or voted for bills that called for gays to be fired from their jobs or kicked out of public accomodations. Cenk at the Young Turks earlier this week raised an interesting question, "Are all conservatives gay?"
I haven't gotten the final note on whether this is bogus. But there was reported a group "Patriots for a Moral Utah" ,which is affilated with the tea parties, as proposing a bill to expel gays from Utah. Some reporters are convinced it's a hoax.
Teabaggers have changed their name to avoid being associated with a gay sexual technique. Instead they want to be called tea partiers--which, unfortunately for them, is gay slang for having "sex on crystal meth". I shudder to think the next port of call for these people.
Interesting and unusual polling news out of Kentucky. You would think with Bunning out of the picture and self-destructing before our eyes, Republicans would maintain the seat with the voters relieved Bunning was gone. Well, the Republican candidates support for Bunning's stance against extending the unemployment insurance has backfired. Right now both Democrats would win against either one of the Republicans. A long way out I know but this is one I never believed would change.
From Texas: Mayor White is within striking distance of Rick Perry. White has overwhelming positives in the approval ratings. If Obama does go for immigration reform and even if he fails, this might be the motivating factor for the Hispanic community to push White in.
In Beckistan, the war against Christianity continues. Beck is saying that when churches use the term social justice to address poverty and human rights, it's simply a "code word" for communism and Nazism, both ideologies known as warm and friendly to Christians and other faiths. Wait on second thought, the Nazis were very friendly to Mormans. He urges laypeople to discuss the issue with their priests and pastors and if the church doesn't stop preaching about social justice then people should leave the church. He finally got it right that the Nazis were on the right but he claimed that both communism and Nazism were one philosophy. In the United States, according to Beck, this comes down to rights of the workers and democracy. I am sure you will see punch backs from the "classic Christians" on this one. How about the Sermon on the Mount for instance? The material is too rich not for alot of blowback.
President Obama was in Pennsylvania slamming the health insurance industry and calling for the vote on healthcare. I shudder when the President plans to leave the mainland because all hell breaks out in Washington. With Eric Massa on the loose and liable to commute from one Fox news show to another, there is no telling how much damage control will have to be done and whether health care will be derailed by another shiny object. Mr. President, please don't go to Indonesia.
Since President Obama seems hellbent on weakening us, the DemocracyCorps poll is out that shows 58% support for Afghanistan, 55% on his policy on terrorism, 54% for his foreign policy , but only 46% for his policy on detainees and interrogations. If you are like me and flip to the Dailykos to check on President Obama's approval numbers, be aware that RS2000 has changed it criteria from likely voters to registered voters. That accounts for this week's 2 pt. drop to an abysmal 53% approval rating.
Rep. Eric Massa (D.-N.Y.) has gone bonkers. He's peddling the notion that he was set up by the Democrats who want him gone because of his opposition to health care. Somehow he forgets that he was the one who sexually harassed his aide. It wasn't entrapment. To further entertain America, he will appear on the Glenn Beck show and will tell everything about Democrats and their plans for healthcare reform.
Arlen Specter today says that Democrats are so mad at Republican obstructionism that they don't care anymore and will push the bill through simply out of spite.
The California Republican Senator Roy Ashburn, who has been a leader in anti-gay legislation, finally crumbled and admitted he was gay. He had been arrested on a DUI with a male in his car after it was determined he had been in a gay club. Gay politicians commented that he was often seen cruising clubs. Ashburn blamed his anti-gay votes on his constituency but Equality California, a gay rights group, called that excuse lame. Ashburn actually sponsored or voted for bills that called for gays to be fired from their jobs or kicked out of public accomodations. Cenk at the Young Turks earlier this week raised an interesting question, "Are all conservatives gay?"
I haven't gotten the final note on whether this is bogus. But there was reported a group "Patriots for a Moral Utah" ,which is affilated with the tea parties, as proposing a bill to expel gays from Utah. Some reporters are convinced it's a hoax.
Teabaggers have changed their name to avoid being associated with a gay sexual technique. Instead they want to be called tea partiers--which, unfortunately for them, is gay slang for having "sex on crystal meth". I shudder to think the next port of call for these people.
Interesting and unusual polling news out of Kentucky. You would think with Bunning out of the picture and self-destructing before our eyes, Republicans would maintain the seat with the voters relieved Bunning was gone. Well, the Republican candidates support for Bunning's stance against extending the unemployment insurance has backfired. Right now both Democrats would win against either one of the Republicans. A long way out I know but this is one I never believed would change.
From Texas: Mayor White is within striking distance of Rick Perry. White has overwhelming positives in the approval ratings. If Obama does go for immigration reform and even if he fails, this might be the motivating factor for the Hispanic community to push White in.
In Beckistan, the war against Christianity continues. Beck is saying that when churches use the term social justice to address poverty and human rights, it's simply a "code word" for communism and Nazism, both ideologies known as warm and friendly to Christians and other faiths. Wait on second thought, the Nazis were very friendly to Mormans. He urges laypeople to discuss the issue with their priests and pastors and if the church doesn't stop preaching about social justice then people should leave the church. He finally got it right that the Nazis were on the right but he claimed that both communism and Nazism were one philosophy. In the United States, according to Beck, this comes down to rights of the workers and democracy. I am sure you will see punch backs from the "classic Christians" on this one. How about the Sermon on the Mount for instance? The material is too rich not for alot of blowback.
President Obama was in Pennsylvania slamming the health insurance industry and calling for the vote on healthcare. I shudder when the President plans to leave the mainland because all hell breaks out in Washington. With Eric Massa on the loose and liable to commute from one Fox news show to another, there is no telling how much damage control will have to be done and whether health care will be derailed by another shiny object. Mr. President, please don't go to Indonesia.
Since President Obama seems hellbent on weakening us, the DemocracyCorps poll is out that shows 58% support for Afghanistan, 55% on his policy on terrorism, 54% for his foreign policy , but only 46% for his policy on detainees and interrogations. If you are like me and flip to the Dailykos to check on President Obama's approval numbers, be aware that RS2000 has changed it criteria from likely voters to registered voters. That accounts for this week's 2 pt. drop to an abysmal 53% approval rating.
Rays of Light
Congratulations to Jeff "Big Dude" Bridges for his Oscar win for his sensitive portrayal of a modern-day cattle rustler in Rancho Deluxe. Sam Waterson didn't win best supporting actor. And Tom McQuane missed out on screenwriting honors. Oh, go rent it anyway.
The first woman won director for a feature--Kathryn Bigelow and her Hurt Locker won the kudos for best pic.
Icelanders voted 93% to 2% to reject paying the debts of the nation's largest and oldest bank. Fireworks displays accompanied the vote. Maybe if we keep suckering the Chinese and Saudis to underwrite our debt, at the appropriate moment we should declare a Jubilee year where all debts are forgiven and we won't pay off the debt. Nice fantasy but it would be great to see all the exploding heads. The Icelanders reaction is understandable. The British seized all Icelandic assets and businesses in England under their anti-terroist laws.
Could we applaud President Obama for not giving up on Dawn Johnsen after the Republicans held her nomination up for a year? They objected to her becoming Assistant Attorney-General because she opposed torture.
Further below the radar, the Justice Department wanted to beef up legal assistance to the poor during this time of economic devastation. The man chosen to head these efforts is America's leading constitutional scholar, Laurence Tribe. Laurence Tribe has been one of my favorites for years and would be the liberal counterweight to Tony Scalia if nominated to the court. To his credit, he's taking a leave of absence from Harvard to direct this effort.
The Los Angeles Times printed a nice analysis of Silent Clarence Thomas' dissent on Supreme Court decisions about "cruel and unusual punishment". It seems they read remarkably like little Johnny Yoo's torture memos. Yoo was Thomas' legal assistant at the Court.
The whole Republican establishment, Ken Starr and Ted Olson have come down on Liz Cheney for her Al Qaeda 7 ad from Keep America Scared. It seems the Bush Administration hired most of these people after they defended detainees. Here again, the founding fathers came in handy. John Adams defended British soldiers after the Revolution and said it was the most satisfying moment of his public service.
But the Al Qaeda 7 ad was timed perfectly. The OPR report on the Torture lawyers came out the week before. The Democrats in the Senate became vocal about holding hearings on the subject. Then the ad breaks and Senator Grassley demands answers from the Obama Administration. But the investigation into Yoo's missing e-mails continues.
Other former Bush Administration types are now ratting Liz Cheney out for her role in hindering the State Department from creating a broader coalition government in Iraq and her back channel assistance to those in the Pentagon trying to make the case for WMDs in Iraq. She deliberately avoided her own conference on Democracy in Bahrain to slip into Iraq to make sure the visiting State Department official was stymied. And the beat goes on.
The one downbeat note is that the Obama Administration may be making a deal with Republicans to close Gitmo in return for its trying KSM in a military commission. While this is half a loaf, it ignores the very real constitutional problems with military tribunals. I suggest they try him here in Old Town. The last time a 9/11 conspirator was tried here we got TV trucks for two days and the 9/11 families camped out at our church and the whole thing dissipated without an incident.
Americans are beginning to push back against some of the insanity. Our own attorney general Ken Cuccinelli sent directives to the colleges in our state system that they are not to protect the rights of gays because it's not law. Last year the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime law was passed that makes it a federal crime to persecute gays so I don't know what he's talking about. Neither doe the university presidents. The President of Williams and Mary was first off the block by saying the college will protect everyone's rights no matter what the Attorney-General says. But chiming in are the Republicans who blast the Attorney-General for creating a socially divisive issue where none existed.
This is the same Attorney-General who in one of his first acts decided to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for regulating carbon emissions.
But the Republicans know things--they have been in control of the House of Delegates for nearly ten years. These actions by both the Governor and the Attorney-General have galvanized the Democrats, who in recent days have become mobilized after their sleep during the Creigh Deeds campaign to take back the House. It was interesting to see a reaction in such a short time.
For reasons that I will never know, Virginia is a hotbed of climate change deniers. I understand Texas where the oil industry holds sway. But here? A cranky conservative wrote the local Fredericksberg paper that climate science was fraudulent and they let him ramble. Turns out his near neighbor is a science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. It also turns out the man started work on climate change in the late 1960s and wrote the first textbook on how to develop models for studying it. And it further turns out that he collaborated with Carl Sagan in the days before Sagan went mystical on us. He blasted back a point by point refutation of this crank and told the editors not to do this again because they are printing lies to the public.
Creationists are also having problems. Apparently, home schoolers who are not evangelical Christians have become vocal about the biology textbooks sold to homeschoolers that dismiss Darwin and evolution. Much to my delight, it is the kids who are calling out the chapters on evolution as "lies". Virginia Tech professor Duncan Porter was called in to evaluate the textbooks and said he would give them an F. The result is the creation of an organization to defend secular home schoolers from such false information.
All is not well in Beckistan. First the fans of the Founding Fathers have jumped on him for falsely portraying their beliefs. Now "classic Christians", the non-fundamentalists, are going ballistic over his misquoting the Bible and misinterpeting the teachings of Jesus. The flash point was his recent show repeating the garbage that Obama is brainwashing "your children." In it he tries to argue that the Obama Administration is going against Christian teachings on parent-child relationships. Of course, the 'classic Christians" blasted him for this but also pointed out the uncomfortable truth that Jesus said he came "to divide the children from the parents". And other slightly uncomfortable fact that Jesus himself publicly denied his own family, including his mother.
Local feminists in Massachusetts noted that certain front-groups named Feminists for Life played a disproportionate role in Senator Brown's win. These pro-lifers claimed they were linked to the Susan B. Anthony Museum, which has received federal grants and state funds. Apparently, these pro-lifers had hijacked the museum's name and poor Susan B. Anthony, who never made any statements on abortion in his life. After local papers turned down their findings, they went ahead a published it on a blog which began circulated far and wide, forcing the press to finally cover the issue.
Diane Ravitch has jumped ship. Appearing all over NPR and Democracy Now, Diane is pushing her new book The Death and Life of the Great American Public School System, which blasts the Leave No Child Behind policy adopted by George W. Bush. As someone who was involved in developing the policy, Diane's strong opposition now has brought criticism from the right but she is a hard target for them to assail. She worries that the Obama Administration is following the same path with Arne Duncan's educational policy. At the present she's on fire.
Whatever your position on the Iraq War, the Iraqis came out despite a campaign of violence in large numbers to vote in their national elections. Hopefully, the count will be correct and the results will not fuel more sectarian violence. President Obama reiterated that we are still on the timetable to leave.
Elsewhere, more Al Qaeda members were nailed and leaders of the Taliban were captured. This is sure to disappoint Obama's critics.
Sister Sarah Palin spoke in Calgary to adoring crowds of Canadians. She admitted she used to come across the border from Alaska for Canadian Health Care. It should also be noted that her daughter Bristol is receiving free health care from the Alaskan tribal authorities. So much for the argument over government takeover of health care. I wonder if Canada has death panels.
Republican elected officials scrambled like crazy to distance themselves from the RNC's fear campaign to raise money. A very big donor, one of the DeMoss family, wrote Steele that he would no longer contribute to the party. His letter was followed by a slew of others from big donors. On the otherside, the DNC has been making money by publicising the whole deal.
Representative Eric Massa has or has not resigned depending on which statement today he is making. He says Rahm Emmanuel harassed him, while he was in the shower naked, on the health care bill. He said his sexual harassment of his staffer was a reaction to his own cancer. Anyway a no vote on healthcare is about to vanish.
The Democratic scandals involving New York will not affect the party. But other scandals may become fuel for the Republicans. Revisionist historians are wrong about why the Republicans took the House in 1994. It has nothing to do with the healthcare debate, even though Newt is running around town saying it did. It had to do with a rash of scandals that afflicted Democrats. Remember the bright, talented Stephen Solarz having to resign after the post office scandal. These brought the backlash, not health care.
The first woman won director for a feature--Kathryn Bigelow and her Hurt Locker won the kudos for best pic.
Icelanders voted 93% to 2% to reject paying the debts of the nation's largest and oldest bank. Fireworks displays accompanied the vote. Maybe if we keep suckering the Chinese and Saudis to underwrite our debt, at the appropriate moment we should declare a Jubilee year where all debts are forgiven and we won't pay off the debt. Nice fantasy but it would be great to see all the exploding heads. The Icelanders reaction is understandable. The British seized all Icelandic assets and businesses in England under their anti-terroist laws.
Could we applaud President Obama for not giving up on Dawn Johnsen after the Republicans held her nomination up for a year? They objected to her becoming Assistant Attorney-General because she opposed torture.
Further below the radar, the Justice Department wanted to beef up legal assistance to the poor during this time of economic devastation. The man chosen to head these efforts is America's leading constitutional scholar, Laurence Tribe. Laurence Tribe has been one of my favorites for years and would be the liberal counterweight to Tony Scalia if nominated to the court. To his credit, he's taking a leave of absence from Harvard to direct this effort.
The Los Angeles Times printed a nice analysis of Silent Clarence Thomas' dissent on Supreme Court decisions about "cruel and unusual punishment". It seems they read remarkably like little Johnny Yoo's torture memos. Yoo was Thomas' legal assistant at the Court.
The whole Republican establishment, Ken Starr and Ted Olson have come down on Liz Cheney for her Al Qaeda 7 ad from Keep America Scared. It seems the Bush Administration hired most of these people after they defended detainees. Here again, the founding fathers came in handy. John Adams defended British soldiers after the Revolution and said it was the most satisfying moment of his public service.
But the Al Qaeda 7 ad was timed perfectly. The OPR report on the Torture lawyers came out the week before. The Democrats in the Senate became vocal about holding hearings on the subject. Then the ad breaks and Senator Grassley demands answers from the Obama Administration. But the investigation into Yoo's missing e-mails continues.
Other former Bush Administration types are now ratting Liz Cheney out for her role in hindering the State Department from creating a broader coalition government in Iraq and her back channel assistance to those in the Pentagon trying to make the case for WMDs in Iraq. She deliberately avoided her own conference on Democracy in Bahrain to slip into Iraq to make sure the visiting State Department official was stymied. And the beat goes on.
The one downbeat note is that the Obama Administration may be making a deal with Republicans to close Gitmo in return for its trying KSM in a military commission. While this is half a loaf, it ignores the very real constitutional problems with military tribunals. I suggest they try him here in Old Town. The last time a 9/11 conspirator was tried here we got TV trucks for two days and the 9/11 families camped out at our church and the whole thing dissipated without an incident.
Americans are beginning to push back against some of the insanity. Our own attorney general Ken Cuccinelli sent directives to the colleges in our state system that they are not to protect the rights of gays because it's not law. Last year the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime law was passed that makes it a federal crime to persecute gays so I don't know what he's talking about. Neither doe the university presidents. The President of Williams and Mary was first off the block by saying the college will protect everyone's rights no matter what the Attorney-General says. But chiming in are the Republicans who blast the Attorney-General for creating a socially divisive issue where none existed.
This is the same Attorney-General who in one of his first acts decided to sue the Environmental Protection Agency for regulating carbon emissions.
But the Republicans know things--they have been in control of the House of Delegates for nearly ten years. These actions by both the Governor and the Attorney-General have galvanized the Democrats, who in recent days have become mobilized after their sleep during the Creigh Deeds campaign to take back the House. It was interesting to see a reaction in such a short time.
For reasons that I will never know, Virginia is a hotbed of climate change deniers. I understand Texas where the oil industry holds sway. But here? A cranky conservative wrote the local Fredericksberg paper that climate science was fraudulent and they let him ramble. Turns out his near neighbor is a science professor at Virginia Commonwealth University. It also turns out the man started work on climate change in the late 1960s and wrote the first textbook on how to develop models for studying it. And it further turns out that he collaborated with Carl Sagan in the days before Sagan went mystical on us. He blasted back a point by point refutation of this crank and told the editors not to do this again because they are printing lies to the public.
Creationists are also having problems. Apparently, home schoolers who are not evangelical Christians have become vocal about the biology textbooks sold to homeschoolers that dismiss Darwin and evolution. Much to my delight, it is the kids who are calling out the chapters on evolution as "lies". Virginia Tech professor Duncan Porter was called in to evaluate the textbooks and said he would give them an F. The result is the creation of an organization to defend secular home schoolers from such false information.
All is not well in Beckistan. First the fans of the Founding Fathers have jumped on him for falsely portraying their beliefs. Now "classic Christians", the non-fundamentalists, are going ballistic over his misquoting the Bible and misinterpeting the teachings of Jesus. The flash point was his recent show repeating the garbage that Obama is brainwashing "your children." In it he tries to argue that the Obama Administration is going against Christian teachings on parent-child relationships. Of course, the 'classic Christians" blasted him for this but also pointed out the uncomfortable truth that Jesus said he came "to divide the children from the parents". And other slightly uncomfortable fact that Jesus himself publicly denied his own family, including his mother.
Local feminists in Massachusetts noted that certain front-groups named Feminists for Life played a disproportionate role in Senator Brown's win. These pro-lifers claimed they were linked to the Susan B. Anthony Museum, which has received federal grants and state funds. Apparently, these pro-lifers had hijacked the museum's name and poor Susan B. Anthony, who never made any statements on abortion in his life. After local papers turned down their findings, they went ahead a published it on a blog which began circulated far and wide, forcing the press to finally cover the issue.
Diane Ravitch has jumped ship. Appearing all over NPR and Democracy Now, Diane is pushing her new book The Death and Life of the Great American Public School System, which blasts the Leave No Child Behind policy adopted by George W. Bush. As someone who was involved in developing the policy, Diane's strong opposition now has brought criticism from the right but she is a hard target for them to assail. She worries that the Obama Administration is following the same path with Arne Duncan's educational policy. At the present she's on fire.
Whatever your position on the Iraq War, the Iraqis came out despite a campaign of violence in large numbers to vote in their national elections. Hopefully, the count will be correct and the results will not fuel more sectarian violence. President Obama reiterated that we are still on the timetable to leave.
Elsewhere, more Al Qaeda members were nailed and leaders of the Taliban were captured. This is sure to disappoint Obama's critics.
Sister Sarah Palin spoke in Calgary to adoring crowds of Canadians. She admitted she used to come across the border from Alaska for Canadian Health Care. It should also be noted that her daughter Bristol is receiving free health care from the Alaskan tribal authorities. So much for the argument over government takeover of health care. I wonder if Canada has death panels.
Republican elected officials scrambled like crazy to distance themselves from the RNC's fear campaign to raise money. A very big donor, one of the DeMoss family, wrote Steele that he would no longer contribute to the party. His letter was followed by a slew of others from big donors. On the otherside, the DNC has been making money by publicising the whole deal.
Representative Eric Massa has or has not resigned depending on which statement today he is making. He says Rahm Emmanuel harassed him, while he was in the shower naked, on the health care bill. He said his sexual harassment of his staffer was a reaction to his own cancer. Anyway a no vote on healthcare is about to vanish.
The Democratic scandals involving New York will not affect the party. But other scandals may become fuel for the Republicans. Revisionist historians are wrong about why the Republicans took the House in 1994. It has nothing to do with the healthcare debate, even though Newt is running around town saying it did. It had to do with a rash of scandals that afflicted Democrats. Remember the bright, talented Stephen Solarz having to resign after the post office scandal. These brought the backlash, not health care.
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