Month: June 2008

Looping Back To Failed War #1

by dday

Meanwhile, in that other, forgotten war:

About 870 prisoners escaped during a Taliban bomb and rocket attack on the main prison in southern Afghanistan that knocked down the front gate and demolished a prison floor, Afghan officials said Saturday.

The police chief of Kandahar province, Sayed Agha Saqib, said 390 Taliban prisoners were among those who fled the prison during the attack late Friday.

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force put the number of escapees slightly higher, at around 1,100, according to spokesman Brig. Gen. Carlos Branco. He conceded that the assault was a success.

If the Taliban is able to pull off mass-scale operations like this, and now has hundreds of fighters willing to do more, shouldn’t this be a signal that Afghanistan needs dire attention, and not by browbeating NATO partners but a legitimate commitment. The Taliban almost assassinated Hamid Karzai a couple months back, and now this. They bombed out a wall with a truck at the front gate, had a suicide bomber blow himself up at the back wall, and then rockets fired from INSIDE the prison courtyard, all at the same time. They reportedly had minibuses waiting for the escapees.

Heckuva job.

…four U.S. soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan yesterday. Sad and horrible.

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The Jam

by digby

I was having an interesting conversation the other day about music that got me looking over YouTubes of some of my favorite bands of yore. And, you my friends, are going to have to suffer (enjoy?) the fruits of my labors.

Here are two by one of my very favorite bands of all time, The Jam. I was traveling in Europe a lot in the late 70’s and early 80’s (don’t say it…) and this music was everywhere.

I felt like somebody had crawled inside my head and made music out of what was in there:

The videos are a time capsule, but the music holds up, I think. If you like this sort of thing…

Update: Completely coincidentally, I was searching out a Youtube of a modern modpop-power punk (whatever) band, The Kaiser Chiefs, to put up to show that while I’m a relic, I still sort of keep up with the somewhat ephemeral British rock scene, and I find that they headlined the Isle of Wight festival this very night.

They’re not The Jam, but this tune from a couple of years ago is actually a pretty good representation of the genre:

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Under Water

by digby

The media are busy eulogizing one of the their own,* so they don’t have time for this, but Jesus Christ:

Rising water from the Cedar River forced the evacuation of a downtown hospital Friday after residents of more than 3,000 homes fled for higher ground. A railroad bridge collapsed, and 400 city blocks were under water.

In Des Moines, 100 miles to the southwest, officials issued a voluntary evacuation order for much of downtown and other areas bordering the Des Moines River. Mayor Frank Cownie said the evacuations were an attempt “to err on the side of citizens and residents.”

Des Moines is Iowa’s capital and largest city, with about 190,000 residents. But the hardest-hit was Cedar Rapids, a city of 124,000 people.

Gov. Chet Culver declared 83 of the state’s 99 counties to be state disaster areas, and nine rivers were at or above historic flood levels. Elsewhere in the upper Midwest, rivers and streams tipping their banks forced evacuations, closed roads, and even threatened drinking water.

And get a load of this:

Dave Koch, a spokesman for the Cedar Rapids fire department, said the river will crest Friday at about 31.8 feet. It was at 30.9 feet early in the morning. In a 1993 flood, considered the worst flood in recent history, it was at 19.27 feet.

The weather conditions that triggered the floods were the same as those in 1993: hot air from a ridge of high pressure on the East Coast colliding with cooler air from the West Coast, according to Ken Kunkel, interim director of the Illinois Water Survey.

Far be it for me to bring up the Obalglay Armingway, but this seems really bad.

Good luck to all you midwesterners affected out there. Yikes.

*I’m not being flippant. It’s really hit the media hard and they all need to talk about it on the air. Other stories will have to wait for another day.

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The Camera Is Your Friend

by digby

John Amato at Crooks and Liars has produced a useful little primer on how to deal with Bill O’Reilly’s ambush-style of journalism. It could be quite helpful to those who find themselves on the receiving end of his producer Jesse Watters’ camera and microphone.

For instance:

3) Now comes the critical time. When he asks you his misleading or false question about a bogus issue that Bill O’Reilly has trumped up to his FOX news audience, say:

“I’ll be happy to answer your questions, Jesse, but can I ask you something first? Are you embarrassed to be working for a man that got sued for sexual harassment by Andrea Mackris and lost millions of dollars?

Jesse will look puzzled at first, so repeat this phrase.

Aren’t you embarrassed to be working for a man that got sued for sexual harassment by Andrea Mackris and lost millions of dollars? Don’t you have any decency? Aren’t you ashamed by that?”

There’s more solid, practical advice like that at the link. Remember, the camera is your friend…

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Dead At 58

by digby

Tim Russert died today of a heart attack. RIP.

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Nobody Did Nothin’

by digby

The NY Times takes on the issue of media sexism during the primary campaign and they find that the news media believes it didn’t happen. Those of us who saw it were just a bunch of bimbos who got all riled up by the Clinton campaign and started hallucinating:

Many in the news media — with a few exceptions, including Katie Couric, the anchor of the “CBS Evening News” — see little need for reconsidering their coverage or changing their approach going forward. Rather, they say, as the Clinton campaign fell behind, it exploited a few glaring examples of sexist coverage to whip up a backlash and to try to create momentum for Mrs. Clinton.

Phil Griffin, senior vice president of NBC News and the executive in charge of MSNBC, a particular target of criticism, said that although a few mistakes had been made, that they had been corrected quickly and that the network’s overall coverage was fair.

“I get it, that in this 24-hour media world, you’ve got to be on your game and there’s very little room for mistakes,” Mr. Griffin said. “But the Clinton campaign saw an opportunity to use it for their advantage. They were trying to rally a certain demographic, and women were behind it.”

His views were echoed by other news media figures. “She got some tough coverage at times, but she brought that on herself, whether it was the Bosnian snipers or not conceding on the night of the final primaries,” said Rem Rieder, editor of American Journalism Review. “She had a long track record in public life as a serious person and a tough politician, and she was covered that way.”

Nicholas Lemann, dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, said: “I have not had a lot of regretful conversations with high-ranking media types and political reporters about how unfair their coverage of the Hillary Clinton campaign was.”

Among journalists, he added, the coverage “does not register as a mistake that must not be allowed to happen again.”

Why would it? Has there ever been a case where the media admitted they made a mistake? Have they ever suffered for it?(other than the massive loss of credibility and circulation, which never seems to affect their own.)

Depressingly, even Olbermann named Katie Couric the Worst Person In The World for saying that there had been sexism in the media during the primary campaign. He said:

“It is sad that Ms. Couric could not have emulated [Cowan] and separated the hype from the news in her own promulgation of the nonsense that Senator Clinton was a victim of pronounced sexism.”[my emphasis]

It’s not nonsense.

You can argue with it and tell me that you (and your young wife and older daughter and frisky grandmother) didn’t see any such thing. But I know what I saw. And today I see the same press corps that denied they were in the tank for Bush for years and denied that they had a nonstop obsession with Bill Clinton’s crotch and insist even to this day that they had nothing to do with hyping that useless meat grinder over in Iraq — those same people are denying that there was sexism in this campaign. Olbermann may not have personally been involved in those earlier journalistic atrocities, but the people he defends — and the network on which he appears — certainly were. Notoriously.

Does the media have it right this one time, or is it it possible that they are a bunch of incompetent, narcissistic, un-self aware, celebrity putzes refusing to do any kind of self reflection or examination of their own piss poor behavior as usual?

perhaps those of us who saw this were having a mass hallucination. It does happen. (Those Salem witches were pretty whacked out.) But I really, really doubt it. I’m not prone to such things and after years of watching the media from a political perspective, I trust my instincts. And I’m getting a little bit tired of these people telling me that up is down and black is white and that I’m not seeing what I see.

From the comments in that NY Times article, it appears that the news networks don’t particularly care that many of their viewers find their coverage insulting to women. Indeed, they seem intent upon insulting them further for even bringing it up. That’s an unusual perspective for a capitalistic enterprise and one that, were I a shareholder, I might find disturbing.

Howard Dean says in the NY Times article:

Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic Party, who says he was slow to pick up on charges of sexism because he is not a regular viewer of cable television, is taking up the cause after hearing an outcry from what he described as a cross-section of women, from individual voters to powerful politicians and chief executives.

“The media took a very sexist approach to Senator Clinton’s campaign,” Mr. Dean said in a recent interview.

“It’s pretty appalling,” he said, adding that the issue resonates because Mrs. Clinton “got treated the way a lot of women got treated their whole lives.”

Dean is a smart guy. Even if he doesn’t believe it (and I have no reason to think he doesn’t) he recognizes that more than half the Democratic Party is women and that this is an issue that the party should take seriously. It was, at least until recently, something that at least the liberal wing of the party could all agree on.

And even beyond the apparently parochial concerns of half the party, there is the ongoing concern about the party as a whole. After all, the press has been helping the Republicans “feminize” male Democrats for years by portraying them with negative female stereotypes: irresolute (a woman can change her mind, sirrah!) hysterical, shop-o-holics… etc. Having an actual female in the race allowed them to cast off all their restraints and really show their colors. These nasty stereotypes work against all liberals, not just women.

Yesterday some polls came out that showed surprise, Obama is doing fine with women. (There is some vague new sub-group they’ve identified as “suburban women,” which I assume is the “soccer mom” cohort, who favor McCain by 6 points, but whatever…)

His problems, such as they are, are with white men. Just like all Democrats.

White men make up 40% of the electorate, and the Arizona senator has a 20-point lead over Sen. Obama among them, 55% to 35%. The pollsters say race does not explain the gap; recent Democratic nominees, all white men, lost big among white men.

The pollsters note that pluralities of white male voters say they don’t like Sen. Obama and don’t relate to his background and perceived values. In contrast, by a 2-to-1 ratio, they express positive views of Sen. McCain and identify with his background and values. The difference is less stark for voters overall. By 50% to 42%, they identify with Sen. Obama, and by 55% to 37% with Sen. McCain.

So, it’s not really worthwhile to keep harping on how the wimmins are crazy and full of shit. They are already moving to do the practical thing, as expected, and are supporting the person who represents their interests. And the reward they get is to be told they are hallucinating when they see rank sexism in the news media.

It happened. It’s going to continue to happen unless people are at least willing to admit that it’s a problem. Someday, it’s going to happen to a candidate that we all support. (In fact, it’s already happening to Michelle Obama, who is going to be subject to the same narrative that dogged Clinton for years — the “inappropriate” first lady.)

It’s bad enough that women are still making substantially less than men in the workplace, that the courts are busily striking down anti-discrimination laws and that their right to own their own bodies is constantly subject to political barter. Is it really too much to ask that the news media treat women respectfully and take their concerns seriously? WTF? I can’t even believe we have to have this discussion.

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Roadblocks

by digby

Here’s what an obstructionist opposition party looks like:

Expect a lot more of this in the next congress. The Republicans actually define themselves as obstructionists: they want to “stop the liberals” from raising your taxes, surrendering to the enemy and getting your daughter pregnant. They consider it a selling point.

Depending on the magnitude of the win, the Democratic leadership and the new president will have their hands full in the next congress with a bunch of rowdy, minority Republicans who will be having the time of their lives trying to define the Democrats as big spenders and weak sisters and themselves as the brave heroes saving the country from ruin — prepping the ground for a big comeback under the banner of The Man Called Petraeus.

They may not be successful, but we should probably be prepared for how to deal with that. This little show they put on this week is just a preview.

H/T to Think Progress

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The Exorcist

by tristero

Maybe everyone already knows this, but I didn’t. When he was in college, the governor of Louisiana performed an exorcism on a classmate. This would be hilarious were it not for the fact that Jindal actually believes the exorcism also cured the woman of cancer. People die on account of such stupid beliefs.

I have known many devout Catholics, including priests and nuns. I have never met a single one, however, that performed an exorcism. While I haven’t spoken to all of them about the subject, those I have talked to about exorcism are more embarrassed by the practice than anything else. Sure, they believe in evil spirits, but c’mon, there are limits, seems to be the attitude. (Question, did the Vatican give Jindal, et al, permission to perform the exorcism? I thought you could only “legally” do them after a very careful, official review.)

Once again, I am amazed by the Republican propensity for elevating genuine weirdos into high office. Ashcroft, whose father anointed him with Crisco when he was made Attorney General. Frist, who tortured cats, and despite a medical education, refused to say that AIDS could not be spread by kissing. Santorum, and so many other GOPers who have an obsession with man-dog sex. Evolution deniers. Racists. Homophobic homosexuals. Scalia, who simply can’t read the very clear Declaration of Independence without serious misunderstandings. Twisted New Age flakes like Newt Gingrich, now an elder statesman. Boykin, a general who’s lost his mind, sees Satan hovering over battlefields, in charge of the hunt for bin Laden. A serious contender for the GOP nomination who once released a serial rapist just to get back at Bill Clinton. The current GOP nominee who thought it was funny – ah, ha ha ha! – to sing “Bomb Iran!” to the tune of the Beach Boys’ “Barbara Ann.”

In my America – which includes Greil Marcus’s Old Weird America AND the modern art scene in New York City – it just isn’t that easy to find people as bizarre – and as tawdry – as these. The Republican party is one very, very strange gaggle of geese. I wonder:

Do crazy people flock to the top of the Republican party because like attracts like, or does Republicanism drive perfectly normal people insane?

I think the answer is “yes.”

Straight Shootin’ Hack

by digby

Just in case anyone still doubted whether John McCain was an unprincipled, slick Republican hack just like the rest of them, you can’t find a better example than this:

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) criticized to the Supreme Court’s ruling granting Guantanamo Bay detainees the right to challenge their detention in civilian courts:

It obviously concerns me. These are unlawful combatants. They are not American citizens. We should pay attention to Justice Roberts. It is a decision the Supreme Court has made and now we need to move forward. As you know, I always favored the closing of Guantanamo Bay, and I still think we ought to do that.

Closing Guantanamo never meant diddly. It’s the human rights, stupid.

There is nobody in the country (except for some nutballs like Ted Sampley) who would attack McCain for taking the principled stand on issues of prisoners of war, habeas corpus and torture. He has more latitude than anyone to challenge this nonsense and put the country back on a moral course. He pretends to be “different” than the rest of them. But every time he has had the chance to do something substantive, whether legislatively or rhetorically, he’s ended up aligning himself with the administration.

Courtesy of Think Progress:

– In 2004, the Supreme Court ruled in Rasul v. Bush that the Bush administration had no jurisdiction to strip habeas corpus rights from detainees. In 2005, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced legislation overturning this decision and thus stripping detainees of their rights. McCain voted for the bill, which passed 49-42. – The Military Commissions Act of 2006 denied anyone Bush labeled “an ‘illegal enemy combatant’ the ancient right to challenge his imprisonment in court.” McCain weakly pushed to strengthen the torture restrictions in the legislation, but ignored the lack of habeas rights. In the end, he voted for the Military Commissions Act. – In 2007, Senate conservatives successfully filibustered legislation that would have “given military detainees the right to protest their detention in federal court.” In a 56-43 vote, the chamber fell just four shy of the 60 needed to cut off debate and proceed with the bill. McCain was part of the conservative filibuster and voted against moving forward with the legislation.

Today, the McCain campaign blog also approvingly cited Justice Antonin Scalia’s exceptionally extreme rhetoric on the consequences of the decision.

He also recently voted against making the entire government follow the Army Field manual, effectively making it legal for the CIA to torture.

He is actually our worst enemy on these issues, because his own story leads people to believe he will do the “right” thing. But on this, as with 99% of the rest of the standard GOP agenda, he’s right there holding hands and singing along with the president.

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Fergawdsake

by digby

From FDL:

Larry Sinclair is one of the most outrageous anti-Obama smear merchants. So why is the National Press Club hosting him this coming Wednesday? Apparently Jeff Gannon wasn’t available. Sinclair’s story about having used cocaine and having sex with Obama in 1999 is not credible. As Stoller says, it’s another “whitey” style rumor and we all know how quickly this stuff makes the leap from the right wing smear machine to Sean Hannity to Fox News and then alley-oops its way into the AP. Remember Nedra Pickler’s article questioning Obama’s patriotism? That one had a nice soft landing. And one in 10 Americans already think Obama is a Muslim. Larry Sinclair has accused Obama of murdering his pastor. I understand the Press Club regularly rents out their facility to people, but it wouldn’t take much effort for them to check his story out and conclude it’s demonstrably false. Sinclair also indicates they’re sending out a press release on his behalf. Every facility exercises judgment in this stuff. Would they do it for the Klan? More than anything else, it was the Swift Boaters being treated like they were legitimate by traditional media that allowed them to wreak such havoc on Kerry’s 2004 campaign. Reverend Wright’s appearance at the Press Club also dominated the headlines for a month. They should be careful about letting their credibility be used to legitimize Larry Sinclair, no matter how marginally. Sign the petition telling the Press Club not to play host to Larry Sinclair.

Update: many of you may not remember that Gennifer Flowers was introduced to the country via a “news conference” as was Paula Jones. This is likely being orchestrated by some bottom feeder like Floyd Brown.

I doubt that anyone will believe him, but it just gets out into the ther and keeps up the nonsense about Obama not being “one of us.”

And BTW: Have you heard that Gennifer and Paula are still hyping their lies for money? Yep. And guess what? Their little venture was featured on CNN yesterday.

Let the freakshow commence.

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