I shouldn't make jokes about Randy Newman. It's like magical thinking. Yes,indeed, folks, Governor Kasich yesterday opened the Ohio state parks to oil and gas drilling and severely cut the state's environmental agencies. Yesterday, Koch Industries and their subsidiary Georgia-Pacific were being investigated for polluting the Coffee Creek in Arkansas, pouring 45 million of waste in, producing an "odorous foam and patches of black water." The Creek feeds into Louisiana's Quachita River, which had been a recreational area for its pristine waters but which has seen its local economy disappear with the pollution. So Randy and his burning river will soon return to Ohio. And our own House of Representatives just put on the floor a bill to limit any restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions--not limit greenhouse gas--limit the restrictions on them. Thanks Charles Koch.
Also, because Ohio had to deal with the budget, it was another opportunity to restrict abortion rights. The actual Ohio budget was published by the Columbus Dispatch, despite Governor Kasich's prohibition. And what a budget it is. All the prisons will be privatized and all parole officers eliminated. He says this will earn the state $200 million and save another $20 million per year. All the state liquor stores will be sold. (In Virginia, this is being debated but legislators found that after the first windfall, it actually costs the state money.)
Then we move to budget cuts. All local governments are cut by 25%. Libraries are also cut. Then the interesting stuff begins with the re-organization of the school systems. Education in theory gets a raise and tuition hikes to state colleges are kept to about a 3% range. But then you get into the whole hocus pocus of charter schools, vouchers and the like. I tend to think this creates educational apartheid but I may be wrong.
Now Back in Wisconsin, Governor Walker has already created 10,000 jobs through his policies. That was quick. Well, he was actually quoting the last governor's numbers as his own. Instead, what Walker faces is no longer a trickle but a torrent of retirements and he will soon face a severe deterioration of services throughout the government.
Walker also has proposed that the mediator for contract or labor disputes be a political appointee. Given the prospects of his recall, that might not be bad. But it's nuts.
Conservative websites are apoplectic over unions pulling out their funds from the M & I bank. They've even accused unions of being disloyal. Disloyal to a bank? What happened to the free market and choice?
Our Man, Randy Hopper continues to step in it. Complaints have been filed at the Attorney-General's office because of the discovery he doesn't live in his district.
Tough Man Majority leader Fitzgerald relented and rescinded the fines against the Democratic senators . He even decided to return their voting rights in committees. Big of him.
The occupation of the Michigan capital has begun. Michael Moore is leading the charge with the UAW. Newly elected Republican Rick Snyder has embraked on perhaps the most radical restructuring of Michigan. If you read the entire bill on "financial martial law", you have a fascinating document , which may serve as the model for other state governments and finally our national government. This program deserves real study and analysis because it is far worse in its implications than the unions or the Left believe.
This plan is like the entire state of Michigan becoming an auto company under U.S. government receivership. First, the Governor has severely cut state funding of local governments. Then to prepare for the impending disaster, he can unilaterally place "emergency managers" in charge of school boards,towns, counties and cities. First, a corporation must determine whether there is such an emergency. Once the manager is sent in, he or she can fire elected officials unilaterally,undo the results of democratic elections, dissolve or disincorporate governments, unite desparate governments and cancel union contracts.
You can play around with this for some delightful scenarios. The Mayor of Detroit becomes popular and thinks of running against a standing Governor. The Governor to embarass his rival declares a financial emergency in Detroit and sends a corporate manager to take over. The Mayor calls out the police to prevent the manager from taking office. The Governor sends in the National Guard. And off we go.
Now the next phase is something out of USAID programs gone mad. The officials, who the corporations have determined didn't make the grade, will be sent for re-education to a team of corporate managers, including General Motors and will be taught how to get efficient results. If they successfully complete the course, then they may be allowed to return to their position.
Now there is no sunset clause in this law when a school board or a town is returned to democratic rule. Let's say Ypsilanti goes under a financial manager and the situation straightens out in a year. There is no provision to allow the city to return to its original democratic state.
Then you have the reality of corporations wanting to own towns and cities. Since the Governor can act unilaterally,he just has to pay off campaign donors. You literally will have company towns back in America again.
This reminds me of the movie "Brazil". I have a cousin, a lesbian teamster with a semi living in Michigan and I hope she joins the WOW--WAR ON WORKERS rally of the teamsters. She looks just like the lady truckdriver in the movie. It would be appropriate if she drove by the capitol.
Now there is a little notion of democracy to consider here. This is a radical program, which brings up a whole host of public policy issues. There was no public debate over this. There was no discussion in the camapign on this. It's simply that one political party has agreed to ram this through without any dissent. This is such a significant move that the whole state should be hosting debates, having news casts about the pros and cons. If people are going to give away their democratic rights,at least have them do so openly and after discussion.
But, folks, this is the state to watch in terms of the dystopian future. These moves in Michigan and to a lesser degree Kasich's less radical but nonetheless politically altering policies make me think that the gig is up for the Republican presidential nomination. I believe alot of these managerial moves in government are preparations for Mitt Romney.
And this doesn't interfere with the social conservatives. Nine--that's right 9--anti-evolution bills have been introduced in state legislatures since January 1.
Showing posts with label Governor Snyder. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Governor Snyder. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
The Ides of March in Kochistan
The Koch Brothers, the Hannibel Lecters of Politics, without the class, have been busy scrubbing Wikipedia and Google about their more nefarious activities and past. The two are walking adverisements for high estate taxes and the Rico Act. The good brother, William, referred to his brothers as running a "criminal enterprise". The poor lobbyists for Koch Industries in Madison have been running around state listening to their bosses being invoked in every speech. Apparently, they have been cornering speakers who mention the Brothers asking "Why did you mention them?"
I've come to the conclusion that the Kochs really don't have any ideology. They are sociopaths who want to be able to do anything they desire. The tip-off was David Koch's throw-away comment in the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker that he was an "anarchist." You have to feel sorry for people who had their father and came from demon seed. Imagine if you always have to air-brush your father's fervent anti-Americanism and his admiration for Benito Mussolini. But there is no governing philosophy behind them except the desire to act as marauders.
Let's take the staggering fact that they fund all anti-climate change programs in various conservative think tanks and even footed the bill for the anti-carbon emissions referendum in California. You know they don't personally believe this. It's simply because they do not want any regulations on their oil business. The damage this has done is turn the Republican Party, which supported climate change legislation, totally around that they now are all climate change deniers.
I'm convinced that the kerfuffle over their little exclusive retreat with Clarence Thomas and Glenn Beck to plot the downfall of Barack Obama was simply a social attempt for them to pick up some class. They wanted to meet Clarence and Glenn, not vice versa. That's their idea of social climbing. Can you imagine? At least their gay brother Frederick has some style, although collecting nude photos of Yul Brynner is a bit tacky. But he does have a beautiful Modigliani.
Now the Koch-funded think tank ALEC has provided the legislative templates for all the anti-collective bargaining bills throughout the Midwest. Each of the states are implementing their agenda in their own way. I'm surprised that Gov Kasich in Ohio doesn't allow them to frack so that the Cuyhauga River can start burning to the sea again. Would they invite Randy Newman to their next Get The Black Man Party? Then he could sing Sail Way.
You would think with their minions shuffling off into the night through a tunnel that things would be quiet in Wisconsin. But no, the mistress of Poor Randy Hopper had to have her photo and bio scrubbed from the lobby shop she works for. His wife did sign the recall petition after all. His Republican constituency is furious with him because once the story went viral, it turns out he hasn't lived in his district for over a year.
The Democrats are claiming they have reached 45% of the signatures needed to recall 8 of the Republican Senators. Early polling suggests that Democrats will be able to take back the Senate by picking up at least three of these seats, even Hopper's.
Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald should become an honorary Koch for his utter classlessness. Fitzgerald already took away the Democrats' parking places, their xerox privileges and some of their staff. Now, he has e-mailed that when the legislature is back in session the Democrats will not bbe able to have positions on committees or vote in committee. Classy,heh?
Secretary of State LaFollette, descendent from Fightin' Bob, will not print the anti-union bill until the 21st as is legal. But Governor Walker wanted it done today. Meanwhile, the unions are using the time to secure the contracts they had already negotiated.
Governor Scott Walker, who is considered a dead man walking,showed up to speak at the Lincoln-Reagan Republican dinner and was greeted by several thousand protestors. He now travels around the state with a large police escort. This is a small state. Just to give you a contrast--Maine used to have a Governor Angus King and he would drive around the state on a motorcycle without the need of any security or escorts.
You know the Governors went a bridge too far when the unions joined a rally in rural Wisconsin sponsored by the Sierra Club. The group consciously tagged it Hard Hats and Tree Huggers Together.
Bill O'Reilly of Tiller, Tiller, the Child Killer Fame,said on Fox News that liberals should apologize for the death threats against the Republicans in the state. But the problem is that these threats are coming from Republicans and independents who feel betrayed.
Milwaukee is now complaining that the infrastructure is collapsing. Remember the Governor was the county commissioner until a few months ago.
I wonder if Randy Hopper is going to seek sanctuary from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He was after all the point man to kill the Child Victim Bill, which protected the Catholic Church from a host of cases against pedophile priests. And Randy did his job--he killed the bill.
The department of the state government that registers retirements reports that the first four days of March they recorded more teacher retirements than the same month last year. Because of the budget cuts for education in Madison, scores of younger teachers are leaving the profession because they can't afford the job. Maybe they should walk down the street to the Koch Brothers' new lobby office and get a job there. The University of Wisconsin is seeing more early retirment of professors and staff because older personnel want to save the pensions and medical benefits they currently have. This is how a very successful educational system gets destroyed.
Now back to Ohio, John Kasich delivered his state of the state address to thousands of protestors. Remember Kasich barely beat Strickland and trumpeted his commitment to transparency. Yesterday he notified the press that he did not want them to disclose his budget. What is he going to do if the Cleveland Plains Dealer does it--waterboard the reporter or detain him like Bradley Manning. This is the same guy who ruled that everything of his plan Jobs for Ohio is secret and that no businesses who received government contracts should be known. It's not coincidence that Kasich has the lowest approval rating of a new Ohio Governor in history.
Perhaps, the best that would come out of this is for President Obama to appoint Gov. Strickland as the new DNC Chair since he will need the state for re-election.
Meanwhile in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder ran on a platform of bipartisan cooperation and invoked past Republican governors who were moderates. He turned on a dome when elected. You would think that a state which has only seen jobs creating by President Obama through the rescue of the car industry and the development of solar and battery power would want to remain friendly with the people who created the only jobs in 20 years in the state. But no,the Governor decided to cut business taxes dramatically and increase them on the middle class.
But that's really not the issue. Michigan has passed legislation that would allow the Governor to unilaterally declare a locality, town, city or school district a financial emergency and suspend the democratic rule and bid out its management to either a coporation or city manager type. The Democrats, who are in a minority, tried to suggest that whoever or whatever assumed these positions would earn less than the Governor. The motion was defeated. Now the Governor is free to auction off Michigan to private corporations. I think we should demand Koch Industries buy the whole state . Then their subsidiary Georgia-Northern could clear cut all the Michigan forests.
Where does Dixie Cups go for their reputation back? After all they existed before they would bought by the evil brothers.
I've come to the conclusion that the Kochs really don't have any ideology. They are sociopaths who want to be able to do anything they desire. The tip-off was David Koch's throw-away comment in the Jane Mayer piece in the New Yorker that he was an "anarchist." You have to feel sorry for people who had their father and came from demon seed. Imagine if you always have to air-brush your father's fervent anti-Americanism and his admiration for Benito Mussolini. But there is no governing philosophy behind them except the desire to act as marauders.
Let's take the staggering fact that they fund all anti-climate change programs in various conservative think tanks and even footed the bill for the anti-carbon emissions referendum in California. You know they don't personally believe this. It's simply because they do not want any regulations on their oil business. The damage this has done is turn the Republican Party, which supported climate change legislation, totally around that they now are all climate change deniers.
I'm convinced that the kerfuffle over their little exclusive retreat with Clarence Thomas and Glenn Beck to plot the downfall of Barack Obama was simply a social attempt for them to pick up some class. They wanted to meet Clarence and Glenn, not vice versa. That's their idea of social climbing. Can you imagine? At least their gay brother Frederick has some style, although collecting nude photos of Yul Brynner is a bit tacky. But he does have a beautiful Modigliani.
Now the Koch-funded think tank ALEC has provided the legislative templates for all the anti-collective bargaining bills throughout the Midwest. Each of the states are implementing their agenda in their own way. I'm surprised that Gov Kasich in Ohio doesn't allow them to frack so that the Cuyhauga River can start burning to the sea again. Would they invite Randy Newman to their next Get The Black Man Party? Then he could sing Sail Way.
You would think with their minions shuffling off into the night through a tunnel that things would be quiet in Wisconsin. But no, the mistress of Poor Randy Hopper had to have her photo and bio scrubbed from the lobby shop she works for. His wife did sign the recall petition after all. His Republican constituency is furious with him because once the story went viral, it turns out he hasn't lived in his district for over a year.
The Democrats are claiming they have reached 45% of the signatures needed to recall 8 of the Republican Senators. Early polling suggests that Democrats will be able to take back the Senate by picking up at least three of these seats, even Hopper's.
Senate Majority Leader Fitzgerald should become an honorary Koch for his utter classlessness. Fitzgerald already took away the Democrats' parking places, their xerox privileges and some of their staff. Now, he has e-mailed that when the legislature is back in session the Democrats will not bbe able to have positions on committees or vote in committee. Classy,heh?
Secretary of State LaFollette, descendent from Fightin' Bob, will not print the anti-union bill until the 21st as is legal. But Governor Walker wanted it done today. Meanwhile, the unions are using the time to secure the contracts they had already negotiated.
Governor Scott Walker, who is considered a dead man walking,showed up to speak at the Lincoln-Reagan Republican dinner and was greeted by several thousand protestors. He now travels around the state with a large police escort. This is a small state. Just to give you a contrast--Maine used to have a Governor Angus King and he would drive around the state on a motorcycle without the need of any security or escorts.
You know the Governors went a bridge too far when the unions joined a rally in rural Wisconsin sponsored by the Sierra Club. The group consciously tagged it Hard Hats and Tree Huggers Together.
Bill O'Reilly of Tiller, Tiller, the Child Killer Fame,said on Fox News that liberals should apologize for the death threats against the Republicans in the state. But the problem is that these threats are coming from Republicans and independents who feel betrayed.
Milwaukee is now complaining that the infrastructure is collapsing. Remember the Governor was the county commissioner until a few months ago.
I wonder if Randy Hopper is going to seek sanctuary from the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. He was after all the point man to kill the Child Victim Bill, which protected the Catholic Church from a host of cases against pedophile priests. And Randy did his job--he killed the bill.
The department of the state government that registers retirements reports that the first four days of March they recorded more teacher retirements than the same month last year. Because of the budget cuts for education in Madison, scores of younger teachers are leaving the profession because they can't afford the job. Maybe they should walk down the street to the Koch Brothers' new lobby office and get a job there. The University of Wisconsin is seeing more early retirment of professors and staff because older personnel want to save the pensions and medical benefits they currently have. This is how a very successful educational system gets destroyed.
Now back to Ohio, John Kasich delivered his state of the state address to thousands of protestors. Remember Kasich barely beat Strickland and trumpeted his commitment to transparency. Yesterday he notified the press that he did not want them to disclose his budget. What is he going to do if the Cleveland Plains Dealer does it--waterboard the reporter or detain him like Bradley Manning. This is the same guy who ruled that everything of his plan Jobs for Ohio is secret and that no businesses who received government contracts should be known. It's not coincidence that Kasich has the lowest approval rating of a new Ohio Governor in history.
Perhaps, the best that would come out of this is for President Obama to appoint Gov. Strickland as the new DNC Chair since he will need the state for re-election.
Meanwhile in Michigan, Governor Rick Snyder ran on a platform of bipartisan cooperation and invoked past Republican governors who were moderates. He turned on a dome when elected. You would think that a state which has only seen jobs creating by President Obama through the rescue of the car industry and the development of solar and battery power would want to remain friendly with the people who created the only jobs in 20 years in the state. But no,the Governor decided to cut business taxes dramatically and increase them on the middle class.
But that's really not the issue. Michigan has passed legislation that would allow the Governor to unilaterally declare a locality, town, city or school district a financial emergency and suspend the democratic rule and bid out its management to either a coporation or city manager type. The Democrats, who are in a minority, tried to suggest that whoever or whatever assumed these positions would earn less than the Governor. The motion was defeated. Now the Governor is free to auction off Michigan to private corporations. I think we should demand Koch Industries buy the whole state . Then their subsidiary Georgia-Northern could clear cut all the Michigan forests.
Where does Dixie Cups go for their reputation back? After all they existed before they would bought by the evil brothers.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Isn't It Grand, Isn't It Fine
If you want a good overview of the politics going on in the states right now, Rachel Maddow is in a groove. Last night's show highlighted the bizarre legislation in Michigan. Governor Snyder, who had vowed not to be a partisan,has raised taxes on the middle class and seniors, while cutting corporate taxes. His budget proposal would impoverish local and city governments. Not to worry, the Governor would be allowed to declare a "fiscal crisis" and appoint an overseer or corporation to run the beleaguered municipality. It's the most recent version of creating "Company Towns". The corporation or overseer then could remove from office any democratically elected officials. Sounds a little unconstitutional but that was in the old days.
To vent, I listen to Mike Malloy Truthseeker on progressive radio stations. The other night he raised an issue about Wisconsin that totally escaped me. Since his broadcast, leftwing blogs have picked it up. Scott Walker, the governor, talks to Jesus Christ every day in the morning and Walker says that Jesus tells him what to do--literally. Jesus Christ told him when he was a younger man to get a job at IBM even though he didn't want to. The same applies to his abandoning his last campaign for governor--Jesus told him to quit. The son of a Baptist minister Scott Walker revealed these sensitive moments to the Christian Businessmen's Group. He is only doing on the budget bill what Jesus wants. Interesting, however, that all the Christian denominations have come out against his budger repair bill. How does this square with what Jesus has been telling him?
This Saturday Wisconsin farmers will be riding their tractors and combines into Madison to protest the Budget Repair Bill. It's not union solidarity we're seeing here--well,some of it is. The farmers are pissed that the bill repeals a state-run insurance scheme that was created by progressive Republicans--remember them--during the insurance frauds of the early twentieth century. The plan pays for itself and has no budgetary consequences. Older farmers depend on this program. The other bone the farmers have is that their wives supplement the family income and keep the small farms going by being teachers or nurses. The budget repair bill would lead to greater unemployment.
The Republicans don't seem to think the Wisconsin recall laws are legal. Interesting. Efforts to mount recall campaigns are picking up steam and there are enough signatures to recall at least one Republican. Eight are targeted by this campaign.
Reversing Wisconsin's entire history, Republican legislators passed a law that regulates who can come in and out of the Capitol building and it warrants metal detactors and the usual security apparatus. To outsiders this would seem normal but it is a source of pride to people in the state that Wisconsin keeps its capitol open to everyone 24/7.
It turns out that the report of some $7 million in damages to the Capitol was bogus and put out by the Right to defame the demonstrators. Anyway the Painters' Union offered to repair any damage done for free.
Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-funded astroturf organization run by Abramoff's old lobbying buddy, held a bus tour of the state. Joe the Plumber, who is not named Joe nor is he a Plumber, asked the people of Wisconsin whether they sided with socialist America or the real America. The bus tour topped out at 600 in Madison, not a great showing for teabag nation.
Felon Rick Scott,Governor of Florida, managed to win a bipartisan court case that challenged his refusal to accept federal funds for the high-speed rail project from Tampa to Orlando, a project that has been on the drawing boards for a decade. Scott also managed to alienate the entire state with his budget address. As Rachel Maddow has pointed out twice so far, he's cutting $1.75 billion from public education and slashing property and corporate taxes by $1.68 billion, which will mean squat to the deficit. Demonstrators at the capitol are now far outdrawing the past teabag crowds by several thousand.
The first Iowa Republican events have started. Five would-be Presidential contenders spoke before a Faith Forum. New favorite Buddy Roemer, former Democratic senator and Governor from Louisiana, spoke about faith and didn't address his previous three marriages. But Newt was there railing against all the secular socialists in the Obama Administration. In a quiet moment, Newt talked to a Christian radio station and admitted that he did let his wallace flop out, as Captain Beefhart would say. Newt admitted he was working so hard to save the nation that he slipped and committed adultery. I'm sure Callista was pleased to hear she was an accident in his life. Unlike Scott Walker,Newt speaks with God and graciously God forgave him his adultery and rewarded him with a wonderful marriage. So if God forgave him, then there's no problem. As Newt said, if his past mattered, he would be irrelevant now but since the future is at stake then all bets are off.
Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish opined two days ago that the Republican Party no longer exists. He gave a detailed taxonomy of the fragments of the Republicans and the conservative movement and I agree with him. Proof of this is the sad spectacle of Dick Lugar now coming around to accepting the House budget proposal even though he had openly opposed them. Lugar is frightened of a teabag primary. Also only 33% of Maine Republicans now believe that Olympia Snowe should be renominated--this about a woman who won with over 70% of the vote last time. There really is no there there.
Dana Milbank said that John Boehner is using Richard Nixon's Mad Bomber strategy on the budget, using the insanity of the House proposals to muscle greater concessions from the Senate and the White House. I prefer the incompetence argument and that he has no control over the House Republicans. Hapless Harry Reid is miffed that he thought he had a budget deal with the Republicans only to see Mitch McConnell walk away. The Democrats today are trying to force a vote on the House budget proposal to get sitting Republicans to go on record for cuts to the most basic of programs.
Rep. Peter King is holding his I Hate Islam hearings on the House side. The irony of this is that when Ronald Reagan was going to speak at the Nassau Coliseum in new York the Secret Service put King on a watch list because of his fervent support of the IRA, who were then at their bombing best. King is trying to demonstrate that the Muslim community is not cooperating with law enforcement authorities. Unfortunately for him, Duke has done a study and the FBI confirms that over half the terrorists suspects are picked up on tips from the Muslim community. However, this doesn't deter anyone. One witness tried to implicate Rep. Ellison, the only Muslim in the House, and the Democratic Party in aiding terrorism.
The off shoot of this Islamophobia is the resurgent attacks on Sikhs, who have nothing to do with Islam. After 9-11, Sikhs here in Virginia and in Texas were killed as a reaction to the bombings. Now this has started up again in southern California. At Divinity School, one of the fun things was to see Sikhs unravel their turbans and after cleaning,hang them down five flight of stairs.
With the war continuing in Libya, Newt Gingrich appeared on Fox News as "a friend" to announce that if he were President he would have created a No-Fly Zone last night. This is the type of rhetoric which got us into boatloads of trouble the last administration. As Secretary of Defense Gates pointed out, creating a No-Fly Zone entails preliminary bombing and disabling Libya's air force--which in former days was considered an act of war.
While President Obama continues calls for Muammar Qaddafhi to step down,Michael Scheuer, whose Bin Laden book I liked, reverted to his old obnoxious self and called Obama a "racist". He said that Obama was like "Kipling and Woodrow Wilson" in calling for democratic cghange in Libya. Scheuer said that Qaddafhi represented "zero" threat to the stability of the region. But only days before in a Washington Post op-ed he said that the unrest in the Arab world benefited Al Qaeda.
I don't know why organizations such as Planned Parenthood and NPR fall for the stunts of conservopunk Jim O'Keefe. NPR's chairperson resigned today after a video surfaced that their major fund-raising believed that the teabaggers were racist and maybe NPR was better off without federal funding.
President Obama's decision on Gitmo was terrible, even though understandable. Under the last Defense Bill, Democrats and Republicans prohibited Gitmo detainees from being tried in civil courts or if innocent being transferred to another country. Obama's decision to reinstate the flawed military commission process is being challenged by House Republicans, who want to eliminate the review process being proposed. What this all this means is that the United States has abandoned its own history and now accepts holding people indefinitely without trial. At issue are 45 cases, which could not be tried because we tortured the detainees and their testimony would not be admissable in a court of law.
But have good cheer, Canadian professors are teaching Omar Kadr at Gitmo so he won't go home hating our guts. They have developed a home schooling program for the child soldier who has been languishing there all these many years.
Meanwhile Bradley Manning still sleeps naked. Having been in solitary for the last seven months and only charged--some 59 of them--last week, Manning has been subjected to sleep deprivation and having to stand at attention naked at the morning roll calls. I bet money on the fact that he did not leak the diplomatic posts to Wikileaks. He did leak the footage of our armed forces killing civilians and reporters with gunships as well as the Iraq and Afghanistan files. Basically, his treatment is to send us and everyone in the military a lesson. But it might have been nice if the military had followed some rudimentary legal guidelines.
Oh by the way, Michelle Bachmann will decided whether she's going to run for President in June. Sarah Palin is going on a Faith tour and is scheduled to miss the first real Republican debate at the Reagan Center. The Donald really does have people in Iowa scouting out the feasibility of a Presidential run. While the faith gang was in Iowa, Ron Paul was running from town to town. This suggests that the Love Revolution might be back.
Client Number 9--Eliot Spitzer--is rumored to be exploring a run for the Mayor of New York.
To vent, I listen to Mike Malloy Truthseeker on progressive radio stations. The other night he raised an issue about Wisconsin that totally escaped me. Since his broadcast, leftwing blogs have picked it up. Scott Walker, the governor, talks to Jesus Christ every day in the morning and Walker says that Jesus tells him what to do--literally. Jesus Christ told him when he was a younger man to get a job at IBM even though he didn't want to. The same applies to his abandoning his last campaign for governor--Jesus told him to quit. The son of a Baptist minister Scott Walker revealed these sensitive moments to the Christian Businessmen's Group. He is only doing on the budget bill what Jesus wants. Interesting, however, that all the Christian denominations have come out against his budger repair bill. How does this square with what Jesus has been telling him?
This Saturday Wisconsin farmers will be riding their tractors and combines into Madison to protest the Budget Repair Bill. It's not union solidarity we're seeing here--well,some of it is. The farmers are pissed that the bill repeals a state-run insurance scheme that was created by progressive Republicans--remember them--during the insurance frauds of the early twentieth century. The plan pays for itself and has no budgetary consequences. Older farmers depend on this program. The other bone the farmers have is that their wives supplement the family income and keep the small farms going by being teachers or nurses. The budget repair bill would lead to greater unemployment.
The Republicans don't seem to think the Wisconsin recall laws are legal. Interesting. Efforts to mount recall campaigns are picking up steam and there are enough signatures to recall at least one Republican. Eight are targeted by this campaign.
Reversing Wisconsin's entire history, Republican legislators passed a law that regulates who can come in and out of the Capitol building and it warrants metal detactors and the usual security apparatus. To outsiders this would seem normal but it is a source of pride to people in the state that Wisconsin keeps its capitol open to everyone 24/7.
It turns out that the report of some $7 million in damages to the Capitol was bogus and put out by the Right to defame the demonstrators. Anyway the Painters' Union offered to repair any damage done for free.
Americans for Prosperity, the Koch-funded astroturf organization run by Abramoff's old lobbying buddy, held a bus tour of the state. Joe the Plumber, who is not named Joe nor is he a Plumber, asked the people of Wisconsin whether they sided with socialist America or the real America. The bus tour topped out at 600 in Madison, not a great showing for teabag nation.
Felon Rick Scott,Governor of Florida, managed to win a bipartisan court case that challenged his refusal to accept federal funds for the high-speed rail project from Tampa to Orlando, a project that has been on the drawing boards for a decade. Scott also managed to alienate the entire state with his budget address. As Rachel Maddow has pointed out twice so far, he's cutting $1.75 billion from public education and slashing property and corporate taxes by $1.68 billion, which will mean squat to the deficit. Demonstrators at the capitol are now far outdrawing the past teabag crowds by several thousand.
The first Iowa Republican events have started. Five would-be Presidential contenders spoke before a Faith Forum. New favorite Buddy Roemer, former Democratic senator and Governor from Louisiana, spoke about faith and didn't address his previous three marriages. But Newt was there railing against all the secular socialists in the Obama Administration. In a quiet moment, Newt talked to a Christian radio station and admitted that he did let his wallace flop out, as Captain Beefhart would say. Newt admitted he was working so hard to save the nation that he slipped and committed adultery. I'm sure Callista was pleased to hear she was an accident in his life. Unlike Scott Walker,Newt speaks with God and graciously God forgave him his adultery and rewarded him with a wonderful marriage. So if God forgave him, then there's no problem. As Newt said, if his past mattered, he would be irrelevant now but since the future is at stake then all bets are off.
Andrew Sullivan in his Daily Dish opined two days ago that the Republican Party no longer exists. He gave a detailed taxonomy of the fragments of the Republicans and the conservative movement and I agree with him. Proof of this is the sad spectacle of Dick Lugar now coming around to accepting the House budget proposal even though he had openly opposed them. Lugar is frightened of a teabag primary. Also only 33% of Maine Republicans now believe that Olympia Snowe should be renominated--this about a woman who won with over 70% of the vote last time. There really is no there there.
Dana Milbank said that John Boehner is using Richard Nixon's Mad Bomber strategy on the budget, using the insanity of the House proposals to muscle greater concessions from the Senate and the White House. I prefer the incompetence argument and that he has no control over the House Republicans. Hapless Harry Reid is miffed that he thought he had a budget deal with the Republicans only to see Mitch McConnell walk away. The Democrats today are trying to force a vote on the House budget proposal to get sitting Republicans to go on record for cuts to the most basic of programs.
Rep. Peter King is holding his I Hate Islam hearings on the House side. The irony of this is that when Ronald Reagan was going to speak at the Nassau Coliseum in new York the Secret Service put King on a watch list because of his fervent support of the IRA, who were then at their bombing best. King is trying to demonstrate that the Muslim community is not cooperating with law enforcement authorities. Unfortunately for him, Duke has done a study and the FBI confirms that over half the terrorists suspects are picked up on tips from the Muslim community. However, this doesn't deter anyone. One witness tried to implicate Rep. Ellison, the only Muslim in the House, and the Democratic Party in aiding terrorism.
The off shoot of this Islamophobia is the resurgent attacks on Sikhs, who have nothing to do with Islam. After 9-11, Sikhs here in Virginia and in Texas were killed as a reaction to the bombings. Now this has started up again in southern California. At Divinity School, one of the fun things was to see Sikhs unravel their turbans and after cleaning,hang them down five flight of stairs.
With the war continuing in Libya, Newt Gingrich appeared on Fox News as "a friend" to announce that if he were President he would have created a No-Fly Zone last night. This is the type of rhetoric which got us into boatloads of trouble the last administration. As Secretary of Defense Gates pointed out, creating a No-Fly Zone entails preliminary bombing and disabling Libya's air force--which in former days was considered an act of war.
While President Obama continues calls for Muammar Qaddafhi to step down,Michael Scheuer, whose Bin Laden book I liked, reverted to his old obnoxious self and called Obama a "racist". He said that Obama was like "Kipling and Woodrow Wilson" in calling for democratic cghange in Libya. Scheuer said that Qaddafhi represented "zero" threat to the stability of the region. But only days before in a Washington Post op-ed he said that the unrest in the Arab world benefited Al Qaeda.
I don't know why organizations such as Planned Parenthood and NPR fall for the stunts of conservopunk Jim O'Keefe. NPR's chairperson resigned today after a video surfaced that their major fund-raising believed that the teabaggers were racist and maybe NPR was better off without federal funding.
President Obama's decision on Gitmo was terrible, even though understandable. Under the last Defense Bill, Democrats and Republicans prohibited Gitmo detainees from being tried in civil courts or if innocent being transferred to another country. Obama's decision to reinstate the flawed military commission process is being challenged by House Republicans, who want to eliminate the review process being proposed. What this all this means is that the United States has abandoned its own history and now accepts holding people indefinitely without trial. At issue are 45 cases, which could not be tried because we tortured the detainees and their testimony would not be admissable in a court of law.
But have good cheer, Canadian professors are teaching Omar Kadr at Gitmo so he won't go home hating our guts. They have developed a home schooling program for the child soldier who has been languishing there all these many years.
Meanwhile Bradley Manning still sleeps naked. Having been in solitary for the last seven months and only charged--some 59 of them--last week, Manning has been subjected to sleep deprivation and having to stand at attention naked at the morning roll calls. I bet money on the fact that he did not leak the diplomatic posts to Wikileaks. He did leak the footage of our armed forces killing civilians and reporters with gunships as well as the Iraq and Afghanistan files. Basically, his treatment is to send us and everyone in the military a lesson. But it might have been nice if the military had followed some rudimentary legal guidelines.
Oh by the way, Michelle Bachmann will decided whether she's going to run for President in June. Sarah Palin is going on a Faith tour and is scheduled to miss the first real Republican debate at the Reagan Center. The Donald really does have people in Iowa scouting out the feasibility of a Presidential run. While the faith gang was in Iowa, Ron Paul was running from town to town. This suggests that the Love Revolution might be back.
Client Number 9--Eliot Spitzer--is rumored to be exploring a run for the Mayor of New York.
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