The Disappearing Iraq Supporters

++Paul Krugman writes this morning that the Iraq flap over Jeb is terrific because we need to have that debate--finally.

++TPM thought they would get the opinions of the war architects but found them wanting. It's the bad intelligence , you know. The writers found that they had run for the hills. 

++Chris Christie and Pyush Jindal came out yesterday for the Iraq War. Christie also had no problems with the NSA surveillance program and said that only "civil rights extremists" were concerned.

++Michael Gerson writes an op-ed on how the Republicans should answer the Iraq question. The piece in the Washington Post is worth reading for the comments that are devastating.

++Rachel Maddow had a segment on her show that showed the Iraq War was not the consequence of bad intelligence, just bad policy making.

++Peter Beinert at the Atlantic has a piece about why you should not ask Republicans about the Iraq War.

++Gerson and James Woolsey blames it all on Obama.

++Over 70% of Republicans believe the Iraq War was a mistake. Pretty costly one.

President Obama Submits AUMF to Congress

++Rachel Maddow has been the only one arguing that the President needs to submit a bill to Congress asking permission for the current war against Congress. 

++Now he has done it,the fur begins to fly. President Obama wants to rescind the authorization for the Iraq War and gives himself three years of legal powers to wage war against ISIS with very opaque language about the possible use of ground soldiers.

++Democrats sort of like the ambiguity, which allows them to assert themselves without being committed to another endless war. Republicans pretty much hate it. John McCain wonders why the President want to limit his own powers. John Cornyn however liked it because it showed that President Obama isn't acting unilaterally.

++Senator Graham doesn't think it goes far enough and doesn't provide for protecting the Syrian "moderates" from Bashir Assad's air force.

++The debate over the next few weeks will be about who it is we are fighting and who are our allies. It should get rocky.

Kudos to Rachel Maddow

++Should we really congratulate Rachel Maddow for becoming an NBC anchor? Will this be the death spiral of talent?

++But Rachel showed up last night with her talent for explaining certain positive changes in America under the Obama Administration. This segment was followed by her analysis of how it is likely that the government will be shut down by the GOP before the lame duck session of Congress closes.

++Steve Benen, formerly of the Washington Monthly and the leading debunker of Mitt Romney,posted on the Maddow blog some basics about the economy under Obama. Weigant at Friday Talking Points hit on some of the same areas for Democrats to use in the following days.

++The Takeaways:
1. The economy is in full recovery mode and clocking in with jobs numbers of 20 years ago.
2. The Dow has gained 10,010 pts since President Obama was inaugurated.
3. Medical costs are only rising at the level they were fifty years ago.
4. Gas is under $2 per gallon in many states and under $3 in the rest.
5. People without health insurance has plummeted by 30% in a year.
6. The United States is out performing the economies of all developed countries combined.
7. President Obama deal with China over climate change looks like it may produce a larger international agreement.
8. National Polls for the first time since the Great Recession show that a majority of Americans believe the economy is going very well.
9.50% believe President Obama's actions on immigration were just about right and 22% said they didn't go far enough.

++Now turn hard right to Washington and you would think none of this was happening. Oh yes,the national deficit will tumble again this year. This weekend,the last white Southern Democrat, Mary Landrieu, looks like she will be defeated. 

++The GOP want to oust the head of the CBO and let "politicians who have the authority evaluate the implications of their laws." What could possibly go wrong? 

++We enter next year with the Supreme Court threatening to undo Obamacare and then those nice numbers will fall. A GOP Congress passing the Ryan budget which would doom a generation to crushing debt. And the Congress hasn't even decided whether we are at war against ISIS. All of those points by Rachel Maddow,Steve Benen and Charles Weigant are at risk by actions of the new Congress. 

++While the economy should zoom until then,there are a series of issues like the Export-Import bank which have to be dealt with by June. We will be very lucky if we can a recession in the next two years with this Congress.

Domestic HiJinx

++Tan Man Boehner said he "was all in" for being elected Speaker of the House again. Previously, it was thought he would bow out next year.

++David Brat is a Neo-Calvinist,Catholic, libertarian. Andrew Sullivan thinks his right-wing populism might be the ticket for the GOP. Andrew thought the next President after Obama would be a left-wing populist. Weirdly, he finds Brat more convincing than Elizabeth Warren.

++David Frum tweeted "The Challenge: How to keep the GOP small enough to be controlled by rightwing talk shows and large enough to still beat the Greens."

++Rachel Maddow did a good job showing that Cantor was not defeated because of immigration reform. In fact,PPP did a poll the day of the primary that showed the most liberal reform had the highest support.

++Even Tan Man doesn't believe Eric was defeated by immigration reform. And to his credit yesterday, Cantor came out for some sort of protection for the children of immigrants.

++I noted the curious item in Politico's Senate predictions that Republicans will win the Iowa seat. Strange because Joni Ernst, the castrating pig farmer (in her youth),is actually a Fruit Loop. She apologized for her equally Fruit Loop husband calling Janet Napolitano, formerly the head of Homeland Security,a "Traitorous Skank". This isn't the first time she apologized for her husband's remarks. But,what threw me was Ernst is campaigning on "repealing Agenda 21", a conspiracy favorite about the UN taking Americans' private property. I didn't know Iowa has gotten that strange.

++Jason Carter it taking the Medicaid extension issue straight at Nathan Deal. Carter is pointing to the health emergency in rural Georgia as hospitals have to close for the lack of funding, which would be solved by Medicaid expansion.

++The Southern Baptists are going to vote on whether President Obama should be impeached at their annual convention. The platform also calls on Baptists joining Operation American Spring, which had a dismal turnout but will return in the fall.

++Brainwrap points out that the best news about Obamacare isn't being covered. 2/3rds of Americans want to keep it.

++Tan Man Boehner has a unique reason Cantor lost. Besides not saying Benghazi as many times as Lindsey Graham, he lost because of President Obama.

++The Speaker went on to say that immigration reform hasn't passed because of how President Obama handled the swap for Sgt.Burgdahl. 

++The Magellan Strategies Poll shows Alison Grimes beating Mitch McConnell 49 to 46.

++Survey USA poll has Jeff Merkley beating Dr.Wehby 50 to 32 in the Oregon Senate race.

Domestic terrorism

++Alex Jones of Infowars fame predicts that 300,000 policemen will die in a civil war against the militia movement.

++Alex Jones says that Harry Reid and federal officials staged the cop killings in Las Vegas to encourage repression.

++Kudos to Rachel Maddow for her reporting on the connection between Indiana's "Keep A Cop" Law and the Las Vegas' shooters. 

++The DOJ has reconstituted the domestic terrorism unit because of the overwhelming evidence provided by the Southern Poverty Law Center's studies of the rapid rise of paramilitary right-wing groups since the election of President Obama.

++By now the corporate media have at least linked the Millers,the copkillers, with the Cliven Bundy militia movement and the Oathkeepers and others of the Sovereign Citizen movement.

++The plot as revealed by papers they left behind included seizing a courthouse and executing court officials. Earlier in the week, in Georgia a "sovereign citizen" attempted to "invade" a courthouse and plant bombs.

++Recall in prior years on this blog, the plot in Belfast, Maine where a neo-Nazi tried to make a dirty nuclear bomb. He was arrested because his wife turned him in . Among the things found were Adolf Hitler's silverware.

++The KKK today said they were recruiting returning veterans to wage a civil war to protect the white population. Against what? I'm sure they can make up anything.

++Since 9-11, all acts of domestic terrorism have been done by the Right. The days of the Weathermen are long gone. But the Obama Administration has been hamstrung on the issue because the congressional Republicans depend on these people as their base and have soundly criticized the administration for even considering the subject. You will recall this topic was first a matter of analysis under W's administration but it didn't generate any controversy.

++Just to give you an example of how hesitant the GOP is in calling out these extremists, John Boehner said today that he could't say whether the cop killing in Vegas was domestic terrorism. Sort of like he's not a scientist so he doesn't know about climate change.

++Harry Reid, who blasted Cliven Bundy and his gang as domestic terrorist, re-affirmed that the Vegas shooting sure looked like domestic terrorism.

++These acts of domestic terror surfaced during the last mid-term elections in 2010 and the GOP didn't combat it but encouraged it with Palinite talk of 2nd Amendment remedies. They will do the same this year to encourage an ugly electoral environment. 

++Two additions to this year's terrorism. It seems we are seeing extreme libertarian white males start to emerge. Mr. Miller, for instance, was from Indiana and was a big Ron Paul supporter. The second fact is that Cliven Bundy stimulated the old guard of the Sagebrush Rebellion with calls for a new Waco. The culmination of the Sagebrush rebellion was the Oklahoma Bombings by Timothy McVeigh.

++With the internet and people like Alex Jones egging people on,these very marginal causes have been amplified.

Swimming in the Swamp

++The Chief Prosecutor at Gitmo didn't recognize the names of the Taliban traded because they didn't make the list for prosecution. John McCain , who was for the prisoner release before he was against it,said that he won't have traded for these prisoners because they were involved in 9-11, which they were not.

++Judge Mukasy, the Attorney-General who followed Fredo Gonzalez, said that President Obama broke the notification law and should be impeached. He said that you really don't need a cause to impeach a President.

++Juan Williams said the pundits should just shut up and he described the Republicans who are against the deal as craven the way they changed.

++Senator Levin's office produced a statement that President Obama did inform the Senate on December,201e that he was going to use his power as commander in chief to do a prisoner swap for Sgt.Bergdahl.

++This morning further reports on Sgt.Bergdahl's condition showed he was tortured during captivity. He also has decided not to talk to his family yet.

++Fox News claims Sgt.Bergdahl converted to Islam during captivity. Their own journalists captured in Gaza actually converted to Islam during their captivity.

++Ollie North claims that Obama originally was going to pay $1 million to the Haggani network but upped the ransom to $5million. Ollie was unclear about who paid--whether the Qataris or oil companies.

++On Friday, Rachel Maddow was mean. She showed that John McCain didn't stay in the Bergdahl briefing because "I don't learn much at them".

A Rambling Wreck

++Kudos to Rachel Maddow for her segment last night showing how bizarre the "debate" on rescuing Sgt.Bergdahl is. About Bill O'Reilly's complaint that the father spoke Pashtun,the "language of the Taliban". It turns out that the language pre-dates the Taliban and is spoken by millions of Afghanis.

++Syria's Assad romped to victory with a 88.7% of the ballots even though only areas under the control of his troops voted.

++Drudge is whipping up the anti-Hillary fever by posting a photo of her on People and asking whether she is holding a walker, alluding to Rove's "brain damage" smear. Actually, she was holding onto a patio chair.

++Rachel Maddow's show has a guest refer to the US funding the Sunni Awakening in Iraq, which was composed of militants who had killed Americans. But my favorite in the hypocrisy ranks is General Petraeus paying Mookie al-Sadar $350 million cold cash for a ceasefire.

++I think the Bergdahl case ignited something deep in the GOP psyche. Normally we celebrate the return of a POW, no matter whom. But this time,the GOP in their gut knows that the war is really over and we are left with the smoldering wrecks of two wars and an intellectual collapse of their War on Terror. It's not pretty but the reaction that your worldview has collapsed provokes intense reaction. 

++Take the article this afternoon in the Hill, Lindsey Graham says that the GOP will ramp up impeachment proceedings against President Obama if he releases anymore prisoners from Gitmo without notifying Congress. You are now tempering with GOP sacred territory when you suggest closing Gitmo.

++My proposal is moving all the remaining prisoners to the Navy Brig at Charleston, South Carolina. 

++My suggestion to Commander-in-Chief Obama is to release the torture report as soon as possible so the GOP can have their cathartic responses. And we can see their glorious frenzy all at once. The American people will finally be confronted by the price everyone has paid in these war years.

The Greatest News of the Last Week

++ Rolling Stone reported that President Obama already made up his mind on the Keystone Pipeline. He's a "No" according to two senior White House officials. The next day one such official tried to walk this back but who knows.

++April was the first month since humans that carbon emissions averaged 400ppm. That's higher emissions than it has been for a million years.

++Thom Hartmann has been the only television commentator who has systematically followed the climate change story and given it the severity it deserves.

++But even Thom can go wobbly on us. He had Guy McPherson from the University of Arizona on his show. Guy says flat out that we will be extinct in 15 to 20 years. Thom made sure that we knew that Michael Mann in "The Scientific American" wrote that we had 20 years to make the right policy decisions to strike a balance.

++Besides President Obama's "decision" on the Keystone XL Pipeline,the other good news is that the Mayan Apocalypse is scheduled for 2021. The scientists just didn't translate the hieroglyphs right.

That takes us into Guy McPherson's predictions.

++The ACLU released information this week about "Little Gitmo" where Muslim prisoners and environmentalists are being held in the Midwest. Their   emphasis were on Muslim Americans being held because of their connections in a "nexus" of terrorist groups. But the eye-catching quotes come from people who have been held as "eco-terrorists", which can mean a whole host of things.

++In my opinion, the whole NSA issue really pertains to the repression of environmental activists. There seems to be less protections for them than anyone. The killing of environmental activists in the United States has skyrocketed in the past decade. 

++ While solar energy has increased 400% since 2010, we should look at the backlash against alternative energy supplies. ALEC, the Koch-funded legislative arm,has ramped up actions against solar energy on the spurious claim that it will increase energy costs.

++In the senatorial race in North Carolina, none--I repeat--none of the GOP candidates believe climate change is man-made--let alone a real phenomenon.

++Virtually all of the House GOP and Senate do not believe climate change requires any policy remedies.

++It will be fascinating to see whether any GOP Presidential candidates for 2016 believe in climate change. As late as 2008,John McCain expressed his view on this matter making him the second to last Republican to believe in climate change--the last being Jon Huntsman.

++The House GOP want to change the government's research into climate change into research on severe weather. 

++If you have one major political party in denial,then policy changes necessary to avoid absolute disaster can not be made. 

++Rachel Maddow gets kudos for bringing an obscure fact to the fore on oil exploration. During the past two weeks, ExxonMobil has bragged that they have $12billion in exploration projects in Russia. Chevron bragged they would be in the forefront of oil exploration in the Arctic off Alaska, even though they blew it. All of this is interesting but as Rachel Maddow showed none of these guys have any plans on how to prevent Arctic oil spills or how such spills would operate. They are so ignorant that they will create small oil spills to study their effect. 

CHris Christie Keeps Stepping In It

++Chris Christie's spokesperson lashed out at MSNBC this afternoon after Steve Kornacki had on his show the Democratic mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer, who revealed her diaries and recollections of how Christie tried to muscle her for approval of a real estate deal in the northern part of town. According to her, the Lt. Governor took her aside at a Hurricane Sandy event and told her unless she approved this deal Hoboken would not received the money they requested. Indeed, she didn't. 

++This past week belongs to the Bergen Record,Steve Kornacki and Rachel Maddow for their reporting on the GWB scandal and the Hurricane Sandy funds. Kornacki cut his teeth on Jersey politics and it shows. He even went and walked around the blocks under discussion to ascertain why just three block were chosen for the re-development scheme.

++Meanwhile Christie was at a behind the closed doors fund-raiser for Gov. Scott in Florida and spoke not at all about the scandals rocking his administration.

++Meanwhile David Wildstein, the Port of Authority person most responsible for the GWB closings,has offered to tell all if he is clothed in immunity. His lawyer claims he has a real story to tell. The question remains how he can obtain immunity from three different authorities investigating the case.

++If the Christie people believe MSNBC is totally partisan toward him, at least they can point to Ed Schultz who said last night he'll probably walk. But Christie's problems are no longer the press. They have become legal issues and his office as  well as 17 people have been subpoenaed in great detail. They have two weeks to comply with supplying the materials.

++The usual conservative pundits thought Christie put the issue behind him with his marathon press conference. But that had only opened more holes in an already ragged story.

++Steve Kornacki shows what real journalism can do and how it elucidates an issue. He deserves congratulations.

MunichKatrinaObamacareBenghazi

++Mark Halperin really did raise the issue of rationing care at the end of life and believes this will be a big issue about Obamacare.

++Paul Krugman thinks Obamacare will soon become another Benghazi as enrollments soar. Krugman and Ezra Klein both report smooth sailing on healthcare.gov. Klein now says the Administration will conduct their outreach.

++Politico reports that Obama has asked his team not to seek better national news coverage about Obamacare but focus on local stories that are positive.

++The Amazon Post actually wrote a positive story about the Kentucky exchanges after it had been covered for weeks by television stations.

++The Post now raises the question about how the IRS will be able to handle the deluge now that the website can handle 800,000 a day.

++Paul Krugman in another article wrote about how Californiacovered is doing quite well and that if Obamacare works in the largest state it can work anywhere.

++Republican governors are now faced with a dilemma of how to avoid expanding Medicaid. Apparently,Florida is in secret negotiations with the Administration to expand Medicaid. 

++The Supreme Court is actually entertaining the Hobbyland Case, where the owner pretends his business is a religious organization and should not offer birth control in his insurance plans.

++NPR did a weirdly positive story about California's efforts on Obamacare. Weird because they had that nasty interview with Jerry Brown last week.

++The corporate television still repeats the strange meme that Obamacare is like Katrina, which left thousands dead.

++Ed Schultz to his credit is the only one on television who keeps pounding away on the positive news from Obamacare.

++Polls suggest that Obama and the Democrats have taken a pasting on this news coverage and the GOP now leads the generic congressional polls. This is incredible after the Democrats were posting "wave election" numbers during the shutdown.

++Patty Murray (D.-Wash) says that the budget conference will have a small budget deal, where the Democrats and GOP split the difference. It is still dubious whether the House GOP will go along.

++Bibi Netanyahu threatened President Obama in the phone call on Sunday after the Iranian deal saying that Obama should be concerned whether he will remain the most powerful person in the world after this. 

++Think Progress wrote a piece showing how the world now looks according to Bibi's Bomb Cartoon, namely a helluva safer and Iran further away from a nuclear weapon.

++The GOP howling over the Iran deal continues, likening it to Munich, which is a reference always used on negotiated settlements.

++Rachel Maddow last night showed how deft the diplomacy was. Not only did the Iran deal get done but also it was agreed that the Syrian peace conference will be convened. The Syrian opposition has accepted.

++The one agreement that looks strangely in doubt is the Afghan security arrangement. Susan Rice met with President Karzai and he made more demands after having agreed to the last agreement negotiated with John Kerry. The United States now threatens to leave without one.

++President Obama has established parole boards for the remaining 167 prisoners in Gitmo. Today,the Amazon Post published a story that the CIA has operation "Penny Lane", which turned Gitmo prisoners into double agents and then released them. The sooner we close the base the better.

++China declared an air defense zone over the contested islands with Japan. Naturally, the US military flew through it without notifying the Chinese. There will be more bluffing as we pivot toward the Pacific.

++President Obama lobbied again in California on the immigration bill and challenged John Boehner to pass it even in a piecemeal fashion.

++Andrew Sullivan at The Dish had a fascinating article after the Iran deal on President Obama as the Liberal Reagan. I don't know about the liberal since the President said in California he doesn't have a strong ideology.

Republicans Back Junk Insurance

++The Upton bill passed the House with 39 votes from Democrats. The bill basically was another attempt to repeal Obamacare. That's what Boehner says "It's the first step in repealing Obamacare". Basically, the political problem with the GOP is that they have utterly no position on healthcare.

++Last night Ed Shultz came back from his afternoon rant about President Obama and listened to President Obama's Ohio speech. Ed was right that the President should have delivered it in Washington, instead of his mea culpa at the press conference.

++Rachel Maddow went into her wonky mode and explained how Romneycare was rolled out in Massachusetts and concluded the current Obamacare roll out actually has gotten five times the enrollment Massachusetts had. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney himself claims Romneycare was deliberately slow in its roll-out.

++The Hill printed today an article how the healthcare website is down to 1% errors and will probably make the end of the month deadline.

++Talkingpointsmemo and Washington Monthly spends the day analyzing whether Obama's fix is really such a thing and how it will impact on getting the right mix of young and older people into the exchanges.

++Dana Millbank speculates that the Obama presidency is done and that he only has a year to salvage his Presidency.

++The GOP is energized for 2014,saying that it will be Obamacare 24/7 and they will campaign on this as if it is his Hurricane Katrina. What happens if by March Obamacare hits the necessary figures? Would you like to start campaigning on taking away healthcare from millions of people? It's not the same thing as taking foodstamps away from poorer Americans because they have no representation.

++Rinse Penis of the RNC says the GOP will pick up more seats in the House because of the fiasco with Obamacare. But then again, would that mean anything since the House hasn't passed anything in two years?

++Kaiser Health estimates that GOP sabotage of ACA will cost about 13 million the chance at health insurance. 

++Meanwhile the Dow is heading to 16,000 . Totally ignored throughout Obama's presidency, now analysts are saying it is the Obamacare boom because of the botched roll-out. Where were they while under Obama's watch, the Dow rose by over 9,000 its?

++The President is meeting with the health insurance companies today because they aren't too happy with the one year fix. Also,the insurance commissioners of various states are resisting the change.

++Meanwhile California keeps plugging along and thinks they will have 500,000 in the exchanges by the deadline.

If It's Halloween, it must mean--BENGHAZI

++So John McCain is going to hold up Janet Yellin's nomination to the Fed Chair until he gets more information on Benghazi. He joins Lindsey Graham who will put a hold on every Obama nominee until he gets to meet the survivors of Benghazi.

++The Senate GOP are trying to put a hold on all of President Obama's justices because they believe Obama is stacking the courts because he's filling vacancies. Beauregard Sessions has attacked Supreme Court Justice Roberts as not being a true conservative because he supports having the Senate confirm judges to end the huge backload of cases.

++Senator Thune is relieved that Obamacare has taken attention away from the government shutdown.

++27 Republican Senators passed a resolution condemning their own personal vote to raise the debt ceiling.

++GOP pollster Fred Sleeper has warned the Republicans from playing the race card by referring to Hispanics in derogatory terms and urges the GOP to get behind immigration reform. Fat chance.

++As I wrote during the shutdown, the GOP has given up on national elections and will concentrate on Congressional and state elections because they now want the executive branch to be weaken. Yesterday, Ted Cruz came out openly in favor of curtailing the powers of the executive branch.

++E.J. Dionne has an excellent column in today's Washington Post saying America is sick of the extreme right. It's a good read and I agree with it. 

++Romney supporter Dana Millbank went after the brainless GOP for their charade with Kathleen Sebelius. He noted that this was their chance to crucify Sebelius and they looked like a bunch of clowns. Oh and no,Congressman, Kathleen Sebelius can not join an exchange because she has employer-provided health insurance. It would be illegal for her to do so.

++Rachel Maddow had an excellent interview with Harry Reid last night where Senator Reid talks about the GOP imploding during the shutdown. Among topics were ENDA, which he is proud of and will bring to a vote,and he says the GOP will not shutdown the government again. He says if he wanted the GOP to disappear he would like to see Ted Cruz nominated as their presidential candidate.

++Make sure you keep reading Charles Pierce at the Esquire political blog because he is writing some of the best and vicious commentary these days.

++For anyone interested in Obamacare, if you are over 50,click into the AARP website. It's fast and will walk you through all the healthcare options. You can enroll but save the information for when you can.

++President Obama hit it out of the ballpark on healthcare during his speech at Feneuil Hall. He also lit out against the GOP for their support of "junk" insurance. He argued again about the various components of the law. So if you are annoyed that he said If you like your plan, you can keep it, then you are less than 5% of those actually affected. And if you are affected, you can get a better policy.

++Tomorrow food stamps will end for millions of Americans. The next chance they can be restored is in mid-November when Congress goes back to negotiating the FARM bill. Old-time Republicans are furious at Heritage Action,Club for Growth,and Americans for Prosperity because they are going to score Congressman on whether they support such a bill. This was an old mainstay for GOP congressional types in the Farm Belt and would seriously damage the agricultural industry.

++ADP reports only 130,000 jobs were created this month. The FED job report will be confusing because government employees during the shutdown will be counted twice--as unemployed and employed. But contractors will be unemployed. We'll see whether we have entered a new recession.

++The FED isn't taking any chances and have signalled that they are not letting up on their stimulus until next Spring.

++What is amazing is this recovery is the fifth longest in American history but the weakest because of the loss of government jobs. The size of our federal government is now at the same level as 1967. Meanwhile the national debt is lower again this year, declining the fastest rate in 60 years.

++Harry Reid deserves the last option. The Simpson-Bowles Commission recommended $4.2 trillion in cuts to our deficit. Congress has already cut the budget by 2.5 trillion and if you pass Immigration Reform this would be another $1 trillion. So,the whole problem comes down to $700 billion, and subtract the gains in Obamacare, you are down to about one-half a trillion dollars. So problem almost solved in a rational time.

Down the Rabbit-Hole and into the Bleachers-Can the GOP Reform?

++First, gays are urging Andrew Sullivan not to go down the rabbit-hole since he urged gays to be generous to their adversaries. But Andrew has taken note of Bill Clinton's recent emergence in favor of gays rights when he signed DOMA and DADT into law. I'm with Andrew on this. DOMA was clearly a homophobic piece of legislation that Bill Clinton should be held responsible for. It occurred when Republicans got whiff that Hawaii might approve same-sex marriages in the 1990s. DOMA was aimed particularly to head this off at the pass. Clinton was looking to re-election so he didn't want the backlash if  he vetoed the bill. And we can credit Clinton with welfare reform, which he persuaded supporters he would correct once re-elected.

++John Oliver did a fun spot on the House Republican reaction to same sex marriage and wondered why Republicans when they think of it always descend into the area of bestiality. He can be forgiven because he is a Brit but all the Republicans come from states where Romney one--which all make it legal to have sex with a horse.

++Likely states where same sex marriage will be approve sooner rather than later are states where 50%+ favor it. These include New Jersey at 60%+, Michigan at 57%+ Virginia at 57% and Illinois at 50%.  Grass-roots campaigns are hitting Arkansas,Ohio, North Dakota, Wyoming and Michigan.

++As Andrew Sullivan noted yesterday, the conservatives in the House plan to introduce a constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage. The problem is that enough states already legalized it to stop such an amendment.

++Nate the Great Silver has surfaced again to say that Hillary Clinton has a 60-70% advantage if she decides to run for President. He argued that her advantage is akin to a sitting President. He says she has to signal her desires sometime in 2014 to clear the way in the primaries or harm any Democrat who might run as a nominee.

++Now to the issue at hand. The Times They Are A Changin". Can Republicans reform themselves? Reince Preibus did an autopsy which showed that voters thought the GOP was anti-modern,intolerant, racist, sexist and ignore the youth vote. Michael Gerson explained to the party that supporting immigration reform was not really about winning the Hispanic vote but was about dispelling the image that the Republican party was against immigrants in general and were intolerant. Others have weighed in and Fred Malek told the Post Today that donors were hanging back because they wanted the party to appear pragmatic. John McCain morphed into a diplomatic politician yesterday after the immigration reform win in the Senate to suggest he would be politely conferring with House colleagues about passing reform. Asked whether Republicans could win without it,he gave a polite reply, the equivalent of "We're Toast".  Michael Tomasky in the Daily Beast countered today with an article about how others in the GOP believe they can win through 2050 by doubling down on the white vote and exploiting xenophobia. 

++With the internet and television shows like Rachel Maddow, the escapades of the GOP at state levels are more prominent today than at any time and the picture is particularly nasty. Women's healthcare rights are being "disappeared" by Republican state legislatures dominated by men. Egged on by the Christianist fringe,this year has been the worst in terms of access to abortion procedures and even contraception. 

++With the gutting of the Voters Rights Act, states are now embarking on changes that the DOJ has said are "overtly racist". The Maddow show did a segment on how Texas' Voter ID law will further depress the Hispanic vote and how redistricting in Texas only benefited white legislators. These plans are now being implemented in about six other states right after the Supreme Court decision--don't wait, just GO.

++The once modernizing state of North Carolina has moved into reverse and became the first state not to receive federal aid to the long-term unemployed. 

++The GOP's obsession with Obamacare has led to 39 House votes to repeal it and States have turned down Medicare expansion that would have insured millions of poor people. The GOP's attempt to gut Obamacare and underfund it will just mean it will be implemented in about half the country, while the rest will again have no healthcare.

++In their appeal to the Young, every Republican in Congress is against stopping the increase in college loan payments from doubling.

++The fanatical anti-science attitude of the Republican base bodes ill for any constructive attempts at climate change policy.

++On the issue at hand, Republicans honestly believe they will garner 70% of the white vote so there is no incentive to change, particularly with a by-election creeping up where turnout if low and the electorate is predominately white. 

++So this leaves John Boehner between a rock and a hard place. Privately, Boehner has told close acquaintances he favors an immigration law and believes the House will pass some version. But in the last few days, his Caucus have been overt in denouncing the Senate bill and saying the Senate can go "stick it".  Politically, it does not matter to the sitting members because through gerrymandering people believe Republicans will keep the house, having lost the house by a million votes in 2012, so what does it matter. 

++Remember Republicans have lost the popular vote for election in 5 out of the last 6 presidential elections. You would think this would wake them up but it does not appear to be so. Currently,they have manufactured another urban myth that Romney would have won and the IRS acted like ACORN in thwarting the white vote. The problem with the party is that their donors base is wary about such ideas because they were assured by the party Romney would win. So the big donors are sitting on their wallets.

++Unless they have a conversion experience, I see the GOP sleepwalking into the future. They are not disappearing yet but they sure are creepy.

Sandy Koufax is Back in the Park

++After a decade exile from the Dodgers, Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax is back at spring training as a pitching coach. The LA Times printed a spread of Dodgers at spring training showing the still fit 70-year old engulfed by autograph seeking fans.

++Only moments ago, Yankee great Mariano Rivera threw 25 pitches at batting practice and promised himself satisfied after his knee injury that cost him most of last year.

++This is all to say we have something to look forward to with spring training. Meanwhile, Kobe Bryant promises that the Lakers will make the playoffs and he doesn't fear any of the other teams going in. But making the playoffs comes first.

++Since I was a teenager, I bought every J. Ballard book that came out as it hit the bookstands or the Doubleday Science Fiction book club. Sadly,I have bought my last with "Miracles of Life: Shanghai to Shepperton,An Autobiography."(Liveright,2013). If you want to know the real details of "Empire of the Sun", the first part of the book describes Ballard's youth growing up in Shanghai before and after the Japanese occupation. Later, Ballard, a middle-aged suburbanite, outrages the literary world with the Atrocity Exhibition and his novel Crash that was made into a film. Ballard describes how he created an art exhibit of auto wrecks and filmed responses to it as inspirations for these two books. Fittingly, Ballard describes his time in medical school and his desire to become a psychiatrist,a profession which had not gained legitimacy in England at the time. In 2006, he found that he suffered from advanced prostate cancer, which had moved to his spine. With his doctor's help, he summoned up the energy to write this last book. We are glad he did and reading it I miss his vision even more.

++Forbes' most miserable city is Detroit, the Motor City. Former New York Times reporter and Detroit News reporter Charlie LeDuff chronicles his move from Los Angeles back to his hometown of Detroit. LeDuff's "Detroit:An American Autopsy" (Penguin,2013) reads like it is written by a Midwestern Jimmy Breslin. The street and the people are in every word. A great read about a city that has been abandoned.

++It is Sequestration time next week and Rush says that he is ashamed of his country for the first time.He laments that everyone believes the Democrats about how horrible it will be even though the cuts are  a miniscule part of our budget. Paul Krugman has been writing up a storm of how this is all insane and unnecessary. Rachel Maddow raised the real question why ,if Congress hates it, don't they just repeal it . Even Ezra Klein couldn't give her a straight answer about this because it was too logical a question.

++The reason my posts have gotten so sporadic is because I refuse to be held hostage to manufacturer crises, which this is one among a series. The problem is that in all likelihood it will trigger a new recession. Howard Dean looks at this more optimistically saying that the recession would be short and it will be the first time and probably the only time one can get cuts in defense spending. But President Obama who again had to dive into the breech proposed another smaller deal with about a week left. 

++The re-branding of the Republican Party doesn't seem to be working. John Boehner tried to tie Obama to sequestration even though Talkingpointsmemo nailed his Power Point presentation arguing for it in 2011. Polls show that over 50% of Americans hold the GOP responsible. 

++Whether it is Pew or Bloomberg, President Obama's approval rating is between 51-55%, the highest in three years. Pew showed that Americans favor Obama's approach to key issues all across the board. Only 22% of Americans now identify with the Republican Party and the approval of Congress is about 18%. Another poll of several thousand Americans showed that calling someone a Republican is now considered an insult.

++I remember that we had an election in November. You would never know it in Washington. The slight moves we have are in the area of immigration reform with Marco Rubio and pro-reform Republicans pretending to throw a snit fit over the Obama plan leaked to USATODAY. The Miami Herald pulled Rubio down a peg by showing how his plan matched President Obama's in every key point. While it looks like the Senate will pass a comprehensive reform package, it is not all that clear the House can or will. House Republicans are emphatically saying that there can be no road to citizenship, a key element needed to solve the problem. Down the street the Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO came to an agreement over mechanisms for migrant workers and visas for technology workers.

++The gun debate continues with Joe Biden urging people to buy double-barreled shotguns and not automatic weapons. Joltin' Joe has taken the wind out of the sails of the NRA by neutralizing the idea that Obama is coming after peoples' guns. Wayne La Pierre has gone bonkers urging Americans to buy guns to prevent debt riots and hurricanes. Louie Golmert of Texas says that the 2nd Amendment prevents the imposition of Sharia Law.

++The new and kinder GOP has been closing down Planned Parenthood clinics around the country and introducing more restrictive anti-abortion legislation at the State level.

++The good news is that Mississippi finally ratified the 13th Amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery.

++The Not so Good News is that the Supreme Court is poised to gut the Voting Rights Act,which would have a devastating result on minority voting rights.

++I am taking a wait and see on the cases on DOMA and Prop.8. President Obama is thinking of weighing in on the cases and an ad campaign has started with Colin Powell and Dick Cheney urging same sex marriage. 

++The latest right-wing conspiracy theory is that President Obama through executive action will get the  Psychiatric profession to rule Christianity is a mental disorder.

++Senator Hagel looks like he will limp to the finish line. Yesterday he picked up support from Senator Shelby. It seems the right's campaign to say Senator Hagel was a member of the group "Friends of Hamas" didn't pan out since it became clear that no such group exists.

++The Log Cabin Republicans, who endorsed homophobic Mitt Romney, can't get love because they were excluded from the CPAC convention.

++Meanwhile, the "Good" Mormon Jon Huntsman came out for same sex marriage yesterday.

++And I'll leave this post with the return of Nate the Great Silver to political punditry. Nate has the Democrats retaining the Senate in 2014 and gaining a few seats in the House but coming short of a takeover because of gerrymandering.

Good Things on July 4

I recommend E.J. Dionne's column about the meaning of this day and the emphasis the signers placed on the common good. As E.J. writes, the signers didn't hate government or laws,just the manner in which they were being enforced. While our independence day is July 2 or a month later when all the signers finished their work,it should be remembered that a good third of the signers lost all their property and wealth in standing up for independence. Another 9 were killed in the Revolution. Signing the document entailed real risks and many paid an enormous cost. I could do without the accusation against the King leaving the colonists to the threats of the wild Indian breeds.

Since the American Right would like to co-opt the whole American revolution, we should remember that the original tea party was a protest against the King granting the East India Company corporate tax breaks so they could wipe out the local American tea merchants. And,unlike revisionists who want to make them Christians, we should remember the gathering place for the make believe Indians were the Masonic Lodges in Boston.

For the future generations, I hope Greek Prime Minister Papandreau is wrong when he says,"The economic system is stronger than the will of the people."

The next few weeks--Obama's traditional bad season--should see some frightening occurences. Rand Paul, who would not know the common good if it hit him in the face, will filibuster the debt ceiling vote. This should make us remember that few gave America a chance to survive on the day of its birth. I find it ironic to have received an e-mail today from the Campaign for Liberty,Ron Paul's campaign, claiming that the situation today is similar to when Americans found against the King. This time we are supposed to fight our own government which I recall was democratically elected the last time I look--and perhaps the last democratically elected one will may have for a while.

While politics has become dreary recently, there are a few bright spots in our culture.

I recommend Steve Benen in his crusade against Mitt Romney's claims to being a job creator, If Steve keeps at it, his findings might find their way into the mainstream media, which has studiously ignored Willard's rather lame record on precisely what he thinks is his strength. Steve says that Romney is "leading with his chin" on this front.

Andrew Sullivan's website "Daily Dish" reminds us everyday that art,culture,science, religion and music may inform our lives more than the hackneyed debates in Washington. I especially love the website's use of poetry. The time-lapsed videos posted every few days reminds us of the beauty of planet earth. Beauty does matter. Andrew, a naturalized American, retains a fondness for the British Conservative Party and its strange austerity program. But to his credit, Andrew was aeons ahead in arguing the basic conservative nature of same-sex marriage and has lived to see the day when his lonely work has paid off.

Who would have ever thought that one of our leading ethical and moral leaders would turn out to be Dan Savage? I don't know whether that is a good or bad sign for our culture. Dan Savage has become immortal in our political life. Try to Google Santorum. When all the establishment gay organizations sat on their hands, Dan and his partner took the initiative to video, "It'll Get Better" to address the concerns of young gays, who were being bullied or afraid to come out of the closet. This simple campaign that has gone viral with celebrities, sports teams, even the White House taping messages is credited with saving hundreds of teenagers from committing suicide. While I miss reading about the furries in Savage Love, Dan shows that one person can make a real difference and is a reason for optimism in our troubled land. My political mentor, Bayard Rustin, would have loved Dan. Bravo for everything you do.

And thye digital generation keeps surprising us. Playing For Change reminds us that the relationship we have with music is global. If you've never heard them, check out the YouTubes or better yet buy the album with the DVD. Musicians from around the world collaborate long-distance on some of the world's best known songs.

For the geezer crowd, I recommend Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, a cinematic tribute to Paris and a fairy tale about the days in the 1920s of the "Lost Generation". Having walked the same streets less than a month ago,Woody Allen evokes the Paris I've known and loved--even if he's on the touristy side. And after all these years, he still maintains his grudge against California. And Carla Bruni was a nice touch as a tour guide at the Rodin Museum.

In Aspen. Bill Clinton resumed his role as elder statesmen and political analyst, which he is good at. Clinton likes Jon Huntsman as an authentic human being and a pretty good Governor, thinks Romney has picked up his game since last campaign and expressed surprise at Michelle Bachmann's prowess on the campaign trail even though he disagrees with her about everything. He concludes that President Obama will win re-election because he has a good story to tell and significant achievements to show. He says that the President's national security creds will be strong . He says this was true even before he got Bin Laden. He also warned Obama not to cave to the Republicans over the debt ceiling vote.

The Newt spent July 4th with his lovely bride Callista trying out his new niche issue campaign. Newt's new book on American Exceptionalism is out. Newt's problem in my view has been his courting the Religious Right with phony historian David Barton by his side and his funding of the anti-gay marriage efforts in many states. He decided to go hard right before he knew tha landscape and how his campaign would be depopulated. So correcting course to his more geeky side is going to be tough.

Joe Biden reminded me of Hubert Humphrey in his speech before the NEA, when he attracked the Republican assault on teachers and public employees as one of the "biggest scams" in American history. For his effort, NEA overwhelmingly endorsed Obama for a second term.

Maybe we should look more kindly on the Three Amigos--John McCain, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham--as sort of a nostalgia group, a reminder of the neocons. They can keep touring for the rest of their terms and remind us that we should never withdraw from a country we invaded and since we have such a large defense budget we should invade more countries. It's really best if McCain stays away from any discussion of tax issues because it reminds us all of the 2008 debacle when he suspended his campaign to set the country right.

These three on a tour to Afghanistan were horrified that President Obama would dare pull 12,000 troops out by the end of the year. The Left has widely criticized the President for not pulling out more since it's unclear what is to be gained by shoring up the Karzai regime, which seems to be endorsing the worse policy ideas of the Taliban daily. And, of course, why should we withdraw from Iraq at all. I mean Tim Pawlenty says it's a model for the region. Lieberman says that Iran is petrified by being surrounded by democracies. Does anyone listen to these guys anymore? That's why I think we should keep the Three Amigos around so that we never fall back into this kind of thinking again. At last count, the total costs for our liberation of Iraq and Afghanistan will total $4 trillion.

Karl Rove is still up to his mischief. Now he's picking up the theme of how the Obama Administration favors the Muslim Brotherhood. Some one should show him the photo of Ike meeting the head of the Muslim Brotherhood at the White House. I'm sorry, Karl, keep to producing the ads that the stumulus was a failure and that the Democrats want to cut Medicare benefits, while the GOP wants to eliminate it. Does anyone find it strange that the Swiftboat billionaires are bankrolling Rove's operation? Remember when the Bush White House swore this was an independent operation not connected to their campaign against Kerry?

Does anyone thiunk it's strange that Mitt Romney, a Mormon, says that marriage is between a man and a woman? How about a few women? Isn't that the tradition?

My challenge this July 4th is to avoid delving into all the nonsense being said by the GOP on the debt ceiling issue. I take the CBO view--Do nothing. Restore the Bush tax cuts and implement the cost-savings measures in the Affordable Care Act and the debt will be manageable. Better yet withdraw troops in a timely manner from Iraq and Afghanistan and cut defense spending where appropriate.

Another good thing about this country is Paul Krugman. While I don't agree with him calling Obama "Herbert Hoover", I do agree with him that we have instantly lost sense of any lessons that the 2008 financial crisis taught us. Here's hoping his predictions about the future are wrong. He got to be right once and let's leave it at that.

And who can neglect Rachel Maddow--the only fresh face on television who has both intellect and humor. Her reporting on DADT probably influenced the Obama Administration's decision more than we know. She has been ahead of the curve on reporting on the war against Americans in the states such as Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio. And we owe her a debt of gratitude for her constant reporting on the war against the uteri, the unnerving campaign to restrict reproductive rights in about two dozen states.

Enjoy the Fireworks!

Oh Great, More Shining Objects

If you want to see Weiner's weiner,you can see the Breibart leaked penis shot at Gawker.com.

Howard Stern says he wants to have sex with Rachel Maddow.

Rachel Maddow thinks David Vitter, the Republican Senator from Lousiana should resign because he was a frequent customer of madams in D.C. and New Orleans. What Ms Maddow doesn't realize is that Vitter has the winning charm of wearing beautiful lingerie, according to the madam in New Orleans. This counters his habit of weaing diapers in D.C. And should give him a by.


And those are the high points of the week.

I'm curious to know whether any statements by Republicans vying in the Presidential primaries will be used against them in the general election. Maybe it's just the summer silly season but there have been some real corkers. Is the winning strategy of people like Romney and Huntsman just to be pummelled by the crazies so they look moderate and sane for the general election?

Romney was in Michigan for fund-raising. He was rightly attacked by local Republicans and former Democratic governor Jennifer Granholm for telling "Detroit To Drop Dead" in his statements against the bailout of the auto industry.

But he was also blasted for his statements saying that humans contributed to climate change. Rush Limbaugh said Romney's position on climate change means,"By,By Nomination."

Jon Huntsman has been blasted in video ads on RINOS for his role as a Western governor in forming an alliance with other governors, including The Arnold, to promote alternative energy sources to combat climate change. The religious Right is also attacking him on his support for civil unions for gay partners.

But we have some wingdings.

Herman Cain says he won't sign a bill over 3 pages long. That's great. What would that do to the defense appropriations bill. Cain wants loyalty tests for Muslims and will hire gays because they won't support Sharia Law. His solution to illegal immigration is to build the equvalent of the great Wall of China and have a moat filled with alligators on the border with Mexico. Cain also will join Joey Lieberman at Glenn Beck's "Restore Courage" rally in Jerusalem. Cain is also noted for not knowing what the right to return is but he did say,"You mess with Israel, you mess with America." He currently is tracking at about 10% in the polls.

Frothy Mix Santorum will outlaw gay marriage by insisting on a constitutional amendment outlawing same sex marriage. He also denounced the exceptions for a woman's health on abortion bills as ludicrous. And he denounced climate change as "junk science".

Rudy Guiliani, according to Bill Kristol, will throw his Yankee camp in the ring and run for the nomination. Rudy has been tough on Romney the last two weeks and has been in New Hampshire regularly.


South Carolina lawmakers are now making the pilgrimage to New Jersey to court Chris Chrissie for a run for the nomination. The Governor seems to making the appropriate moves. He's introduced anti-labor legislation so he can don the Scott Walker crown and he has succumbed to the Koch Brothers' pressure and moved away from the state's alternative energy program, which had been successful.

The Magical Mystery Tour is soon to begin. Six Republican contenders (?) will be travelling the country together on a bus. Included in this strange adventure will be Newt, Michelle Bachmann and Greg Johnson. I think Ringo Starr should join them. Unfortunately, the way things are going, Ringo would soon be the odds-on favorite for the nomination.

The Tea Party Patriots, claiming to represent 3,000 affiliated groups, is against the Tea Party Express' endorsement of Mitt Romney. The Patriots' co-founder Jenny Beth Martin said there is no grass-roots support for Mitt and that they do not believe they should automatically endorse the Republican nomination.

Newt's campaign has collapsed. Senior strategists and key aides--the high command--have quit en masse because the direction of the campaign wasn't compatible with Newt's vision.

Wisconsin is not only running fake Democrats against the Republicans in the recall elections, they are redistricting Paul Ryan's district so that it will be even redder because they worry he will be seriously challenged this year.

Polls show that Americans are split on raising the debt ceiling limit. The problem is that they do not know what it is and actually believe it is a license to increase deficit spending, which will happen anyway. Americans are also unaware of how much the Bush tax cuts contributed to the debt problem but are accurately aware of the cost of the wars and the Medicare Plan D. Talk Progress celebrated yesterday's 10th anniversary of the Bush tax cuts by listing all the programs that could have been funded if we still had the $2.5 trillion they cost the government.

By now, most Americans realize that Paul Ryan is not an economist and knows nothing about Medicare. But is there no political price one pays for flat out lying about the debt ceiling. Ryan really did say that defaulting on our debt would be a good thing. There is no known economist or economic policy type on the Right, Middle or Left who believes this in the least. Ryan's statements were not just bluster or gaming the negotiations with the President on cuts, they were flat out ignorance. The very scary news is that House Republicans really, really believe this nonsense. This goes beyond Thomas Frank's analysis of the Wrecking Crew. This is the Demolition Team.

Is the current Republican insanity just based on their animus against President Obama or are they simply doubling down on a failed ideology without regard to its consequences?

If you are Center-right in inclination, you have to be in a panic when you read Tim Pawlenty's economic program or Newt's more modest calls for the eradication of parts of the government. Pawlenty's program as I wrote yesterday will be Bush on steroids, plunging America to a point where it really could never recover. These are not debatable statements. This is reality-based conclusions. Pawlenty is more radical than Ryan--both plans plunging America into a century of enormous debt and destroying what fig leaves are left of our social welfare net.

If you hold these views, I think you owe an explanation to the public about what happens after you have dismantled local, state and federal government and public education, how does your plan actually create wealth and jobs? No one on any side believes that tax cuts have created any jobs and enhanced the economy of the country. So, besides despising this country, what possible benefits--and to whom--are these crazy programs?

Contrary to leftwing critics of these zany programs, I seriously believe none of these programs benefit the real, productive private sector. Companies do not want to locate in areas with poor educational systems and a deteriorating infrastructure. Nor do they want to recruit a labor force from a population scrambling around to pay their bills day after day. Even companies in the Third World require massive government breaks and tax holidays to accept this degree of risk in their investment. This includes the extraction industries as well. Then you throw on top of this the government's possible default on its debt, just because that is your ideology, then you have a recipe for real capital flight.

The heat must be getting to me but it's alarming to see MSNBC say we have to treat the Michelle Bachmann candidacy seriously. What's serious about it? The candidate is not a serious person with serious views. Is the seriousness in it because she might win?

Let's look at today's litmus tests for the 2012 Republican nomination. You must be absolutely anti-abortion--and now we are inching toward anti-birth control. You must be anti-climate change--even if you don't propose to do anything about it. You must be anti-alternative energy sources and devoted only to fossil fuels. You must be anti-public education. You must be anti-immigrant. You must be anti-woman. You must be anti-minorities. You must be anti-union. You must be anti-Medicare. And, inching its way back, you might have to become anti-social security. You must be anti-evolution and pro-creationist. And you have to be absolutely against taxes.

With only 35% of Americans believing the country is heading in the right direction, Reuters has Obama at 50% approval rating and he leads all Republican rivals by double digits, even Romney by 13%. The leading Republicans are Palin at 22%, Romney at 20% and Ron Paul and Herman Cain are tied at 7%.

James Carville, who has never been a fan of President Obama, says that if the economy creates jobs on the average of the last three months, minus the disasterous number of last month, Obama wins. But Carville said something else, which didn't get much coverage. He believes there is rage building up n this country, which will lead to social unrest and upheaval. I think of the decades leading up to the election of FDR, where America is torn by violent labor strife and repression. It was 100 years ago but it feels similar to today.

The new Gallup poll reports that 45% of Americans now identify themselves as Democrats, while only 39% are Republicans. This is the largest gap since October 2009, when Democrats led Republicans by 7 percentage points. Does this reflect the cost of the GOP entertaining truly suicidal ideas? Or is this just temporary?

Claps and Boos

Back from a jaunt to upstate New York,I missed a raft of weirdness on the internet in my days away. Some stories deserve calps and other boos.

Claps

Frank Schaeffer's post at his website "Obama is now and will be a great President." Just when you think the left and the right are going to eviscerate President Obama, Frank, recovering from his days as founder of the Christian Right, reminds us all what is at stake with this presidency and ably defends President Obama's record of achievements so far. He manages to punch out the Right for their ravings and slap down the Left for their whining.

Thom Hartmann. Thom Hartmann is growing on me. First, he explained how the original tea party was against huge corporate tax cuts--that time for the East India Company. Now, he runs a montage assembled by Think Progress on how the Ryan Plan is inspired by Ayn Rand. The kicker was his detail that Ayn Rand's libertarianism started with her admiration for a serial killer and a brutal child molester named William Hickman. Hartmann read from Rand's diary, which saw this monster as a type of Superman, who did not care about society. He went on to say that Rand actually started a novel with an Hickman character as the hero. Nice job.

TPM uncovered the nice little historical note that Ayn Rand applied for Medicare when her husband came down with Alzheimer's. The centerpiece of Paul Ryan's Ayn Rand-inspired budget is the elimination of Medicare.

Think Progress for its wonderful montage of House Republicans espousing their belief in Ay Rand interspersed with footage of Mike Wallace interviewing Ayn Rand, where she advocates the destruction of everything about America and Christianity. Her supreme virtue is selfishness and in the tape argues that self-love is superior and that the weak don't deserve love.

Paul Krugman for explaining in his New York Times post that the S&P's warning on the national debt is a big nothingburger. TPM reminds us that the last time the S&P commented on our creditworthiness was in 1995 when Newt and company threatened not to vote for the debt ceiling. Ed Klein reminds us that the S&P gave three stars to the subprime mortgages.

Rachel Maddow for solving the mystery of why Michigan appointed an emergency manager for Benton Harbor, a small lakeside town. The reason is that the town is almost 90% black and has a per capita income of $10,000. But they do have a wonderful lakeside park, which was given to the town by their mayor in the early 20th century. Well, it seems the author of the Financial Emergency Bill has an interest in developing Lakeshore Estates, which would be a high end residential community with golf courses bordering the park. The plan has been rejected by the Benton Harbor Planning Commission. But, never fear, the Emergency Manager has fired all the planning board and installed members who favor the development. A very nice job of reporting.

Wisconsin Recall Drive. The Recall drive has now hit four Republican Senators, enough to turn that body Democratic. Our favorite Senator, Randy Hopper, the one with a mistress hired by Scott Walker, sent out a mailing to his constituents and listed a phone number if they had questions. The problem is that the number is a sex talk line. Tends to reinforce attitudes about Randy Randy.

CNN's latest poll shows that 51% of Americans back same-sex marriage.

A Marist poll shows that 70% of teabaggers are opposed to Medicare cuts.

Mariano Rivero,who saved my short trip, by saving two straight games for the Yankees against the Texas Rangers.

BOOs

David Barton,phony historian and Christian. David Barton has been hitting them out of the ballpark. Barton's latest big boner was saying that the bible was against "net neutrality". He said that the idea was "evil". Last week, Barton said that Jesus was against the minimum wage and the estate tax. But he hit two today. The second is his claim that Thomas Jefferson allowed the use of Government funds to evangelize American Indians, thereby showing that he did not believe in the separation of church and state. His evidence was the treaty with the Kaskaskia tribe which allowed for funds to pay for the building of a church and the payment of a priest. What Barton never tells his audience was that Jefferson was mortified by this treaty and tried to hide its contents from Congress, precisely because he knew this provision would spark an uproar. The Indians had converted to Catholicism in the 1600s and they had requested these two items as part of the deal. Jefferson OK'd it because of realpolitik but in his writings disavowed any attempt to evangelize the Indians.

John Boehner for hiring Paul Clement , the former Solicitor-General under George W, for $500,000 to argue the case of the Defense of Marriage Act, which has been ruled unconstitutional---and trying to stick the DOJ with the bill for the defense because the Obama Administration decided not to defend the case.

John Boehner again for turning down the opportunity to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, a holiday that has-- until this year-- been celebrated on a bipartisan basis. I guess if you have access to enough money, you don't need the Hispanic vote.

Sunday Afternoon at the Last Manatee

If Dana Milbank can go through one month without mentioning Sarah Palin,then I will restrain myself over the next week from raving about the budget battles. Those patriotic Americans--Chris Smith and Michelle Bachmann--refuse to agree to any budget that doesn't eliminate the funding for Planned Parenthood. In fact, Bachmann has taken this theme up to raise funds for her PAC.

Let's hear it for Hapless Harry Reid who finally told the truth about the House's Budget. "It's the worst budget and worst written piece of legislation in U.S. history."

With the entire Mideast in flames,the House's elimination of foreign aid is even more prescient than ever before. It's sort of like Mitt Romney declaring how poor Obama is at creating jobs just as the jobs news shows over 250,000 private sector jobs having been created.

On the economic front, Robert Reich is right that the United States would have to create about 330,000 jobs per month through 2014 to get to 6.5% unemployment. With the Republican controlled states throwing hundreds of thousand public sector workers out of a job, we will not make it.

Give the Wisconsin demonstrators some kudos for keeping their sense of humor. After Fox ran footage of union strife with palm trees in the background, demonstrators have placed inflatable palm trees around the Capitol building. The democratic legislator who was tackled by police at the Capitol was actually tackled by police brought in from rural communities about 150 miles away by Scott Walker. Nice job, Rachel Maddow for this bit of news.

Congratulations to Rachel Maddow for her big bump in ratings. Good news for some of us but bad news for the state of the news in the United States. People are turning in so they can get some real news for a change as the major networks have stopped covering the Wisconsin and Midwest wars against the public sector. The Ohio parade for choice today got no coverage. It reminds me of the anti-Iraq war demonsotrations when compared to the teabaggers.

Let's hear it for David Koch. He's anti-Iraq war, pro gay marriage and pro legalizing medical marijuana. The New york Times decided to suck up in covering his MIT Koch Cancer Center. David is concerned that federal funding will be cut from programs on prostate cancer. Apparently he suffers from it and wants a cure found instead of treating his own. He also claimed that the hoax call to Scott Walker was identity theft. Now he can't call Senators because they'll believe it's a hoax. His good brother claimed on 60 Minutes that his other two libertarian brothers run their business like a criminal enterprise and that they can't stand anything they can't control.

Someone has to tell the Pentagon's spokespeople to stop using the term "The Left" when referring to any of their critics. This isn't the George W years. Really, honest to god human beings can be concerned about the treatment of the alleged Wikileaks leaker without having a political position. Keeping a detainee stripped and naked in solitary with all the lights on should raise concerns. This is especially true when this was being done for months prior to last week's charges being brought.

Charles Koch, the other evil brother, penned an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal explaining their position. A fascinating piece from a businessman. He hails Canada keeping the percentage of government spending below 15% of GDP, instead of our 25%. He waxes on about Canada's boom economy. What he doesn't tell the readers is that Canadians have guaranteed health care and a defense budget that is miniscule compared to the United States. This was all before the conservative Harper Government. In fact, part of Obama's argument for his health reform bill was that we were spending as a society some three times what Canada does in terms of % of GDP. If you add the national security budget,you have your difference. Another thing missing from Charles'op-ed is that Canadian banks had better controls and regulations so they didn't melt down like ours. In other words, he likes a regularted business environment that spends less on defense and provides all citizens with healthcare. Sounds good to me.

Another rainy day patriot is the CEO of 3M, who accused Barack Obama of being anti-business. He says he will move his company somewhere like Mexico or Canada where they appreciate business. Clever man. If he does, let's pass a law that all CEOs and executives must move to that country and pay their income tax. What he was suggesting was that 3M should benefit from NAFTA , while those in the headquarters benefit from the low personal income taxes. So boycott Post-Its.

Oh yeah, I forgot--it's now official--Barack Obama in two years created more private sector jobs than George W. Bush did in eight. By the end of 2011, he's be close to suprassing both Bushes' in job creation. I know you've heard this alot on television.