Month: August 2009

Getting It Right

by digby

There’s a lot of new information in the newly released emails indicating that Karl Rove and Harriet Miers were both heavily involved in trying to influence the US Attorney’s to make unfounded prosecutions against political opponents and then firing them for refusing. None of the that is surprising, of course, but it certainly is good to see some additional proof even if it is coming at a glacial pace.

But also among the emails is this, from TPM, which is just precious:

In March 2007, about a month and a half after the firings became public knowledge, Solomon — then a reporter for the Washington Post, and now the editor of the Washington Times — emailed DOJ press aide Brian Roehrkasse, asking for information that would “bring some perspective to how the process occurred.

Solomon continued:

Of course, the White House counsel’s office had to sign off. Of course, an administration in its last two years looks for some fresh blood to inject into jobs. Of course, DOJ’s analysis of prosecutors goes beyond performance evaluations to achievements or failures on policy issues like immigration.

I think we can get this just right with your help.

Of course, Solomon was seeking information from a source, so a certain amount of sycophancy might have been a smart move. But he seems to be saying flat-out that he accepts just about every premise of the administration’s defense on the story.

A few days later, Roehrkasse and Dana Perino emailed each other about a New York Times story on the firings. Perino, referring to Solomon’s story for the Post, written with Dan Eggen, wrote: “the wp was much better than this.”

Roehrkasse replied:

I know….which is change consider (sic) the post coverage with eggen has been so bad. But the post brings in john solomon and becomes far more fair in their coverage and the times brings in eric lipton and becomes far worse.

And they wonder why we call them mediawhores.

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Teabagging: The Next Chapter

by digby

They aren’t going to stop with the birthing and the soylent green. The crazy knows no bounds. As we speak, they’re already working themselves up into their next frenzy:

Savage says “internment camps being planned.” From the August 10 edition of Talk Radio Network’s The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: You see, there are internment camps being planned. You may not understand it because you didn’t see it on CBS News. But I direct you to an article that came out over the weekend that will scare you to death. It came out on WorldNetDaily. I put it up on MichaelSavage.com. Now, you say, “Well, they’re making it up. They’re just scaring you.” No. It’s an ad for National Guardsmen to run internment camps.

WOR’s Malzberg: “Internment camps. It ain’t going to be for Ara — for Muslim terrorists.” On the August 10 broadcast of his radio program on WOR in New York City, Steve Malzberg said of the internment/resettlement specialist ad:

MALZBERG: But what kind of administration is this? And I think lots of us fear we know the answer as to what kind of administration this is. Internment camps. Internment camps. It ain’t going to be for Ara — for Muslim terrorists, I can tell you that much. That we know. It’s not going to be Muslim terrorists in these internment camps. What options does that leave left? Who does that leave? Who does that leave?

After noting stories about swine flu “worst case scenarios” and two governors’ opposition to Defense Department emergency powers, Malzberg said:

MALZBERG: They’re working on various levels simultaneously, ladies of gentlemen. God forbid this bird — this swine flu gets out of hand. God forbid. Because they will separate families, they will intern, they will quarantine, they will — there’s all kinds of speculation as to what they might do.

But why is the Defense Department now intruding on states’ emergencies? What’s the deal with commercials for internment camp soldiers needed, police needed? What’s going on in this country? The website to turn in your neighbor.

This is Barack Hussein Obama. Ah, uniter. Open, transparent. Yeah, right — Marxist. Marxist. And does this not sound like a Marxist government ready to rock and roll? Ready to rock and roll.

WND’s Porter: “Internment/confinement/correction camps for American civilians?” In an August 11 WorldNetDaily.com column, Janet Porter noted the Defense Department listing and wrote:

Internment/confinement/correction camps for American civilians? Maybe there’s something to all those rumors of FEMA concentration camps. After all, those internment/resettlement specialists are going to have to report to work somewhere. If you’re going to round up American citizens, you’re going to need a place to put them.

Internment and confinement are for criminals … for terrorists. And terrorists, according to DHS, are … us.

[…]

We’ve gotten more than a glimpse of the agenda of the people to which we’ve handed the keys of power. It is unmistakably evil.

WND: Ad “generating concerns that there is some truth in those theories about domestic detention camps.” In an August 7 article, WND news editor Bob Unruh wrote:

An ad campaign featured on a U.S. Army website seeking those who would be interested in being an “Internment/Resettlement” specialist is raising alarms across the country, generating concerns that there is some truth in those theories about domestic detention camps, a roundup of dissidents and a crackdown on “threatening” conservatives.

[…]

Officials at the state and federal National Guard levels told WND they were unaware of the program, although one officer speculated it could be intended for soldiers trained in the U.S. and dispatched overseas to “detention facilities.” From the national level, WND was told, officials were unaware of any such “internment facilities” at which there could be jobs to be available.

Examiner.com’s Dolen-Proffit: “[O]nce those ‘Internment/Resettlement’ positions have been filled, you better be quiet.” In an August 10 post, Examiner.com’s Sacramento Conservative Examiner Karole Dolen-Proffit noted the job listing and wrote:

So if you oppose firearms restrictions, are a returning veteran, reject the idea of big federal government, oppose abortion or lax immigration policies, or are currently unemployed, then you are now a target. Consider yourself warned, and once those “Internment/Resettlement” positions have been filled, you better be quiet and fall in line, or prepare for whatever the consequences may be for your “right-wing extremist” activities.

You can find the actual job listing and explanation at the link. But, why bother?

What I can’t understand is why they haven’t consulted the country’s most respected expert on the subject:

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The CEO Of Whole Foods Makes A Convincing Case For Libertarian Healthcare Reform

by tristero

John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods, in an op-ed on healthcare reform tackles healthcare. In articulating a libertarian vision of reform he makes an utterly convincing case.

He convinces us to buy our food directly from farmers and farmer’s markets. Oh, sure, there are conservatives and libertarians among farmers. But at least they don’t call their workers “team members,” for crissakes. And it’s cheaper.

On The Road With Orly

by digby

Esquire has a great story about the conservo-crazy cult which he colorfully describes as “pus exploding from a wound.” When you read the article, you’ll see just how apt this description is. Here’s just a little excerpt:

Almost immediately following the election, a rash of extreme but nonetheless important statements about Obama and his agenda started appearing in the media. Here’s a small but representative sample, lest we allow the latest Dobbsian rhetoric (or Chuck Norris) to obfuscate the chorus: 1. Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma said the bailout was the start of America’s downfall. “To abandon a market-oriented society and transfer it to a Soviet-style, government-centered, bureaucratic-run and mandated program, that is the thing that will put the stake in the heart of freedom in this country.” 2. Congressman Pete Sessions of Texas said that Obama intended “to inflict damage and hardship on the free enterprise system, if not kill it.” 3. Congressman Ron Paul of Texas said that “socialism” was too mild a word for what Obama was doing because taking over corporations “adds a fascistic aspect to socialism.” 4. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota said she wanted her constituents “armed and dangerous” because Obama was planning “re-education camps for young people.” She also said that “Thomas Jefferson told us having a revolution every now and then is a good thing.” 5. Ambassador Alan Keyes called Obama a communist who is trying to establish “an American KGB.” 6. Rush Limbaugh Show guest host Mark Davis told a joke about a soldier who has only two bullets in his gun when he meets Osama Bin Laden, Harry Reid, and Nancy Pelosi — and uses both bullets on Pelosi before strangling the other two. 7. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama put his considerable weight behind the “birther” movement: “His father was Kenyan and they said he was born in Hawaii, but I haven’t seen any birth certificate.” 8. Legislators in thirty states filed Tenth Amendment “sovereignty” laws as a symbolic gesture of defiance to Washington. 9. Tens of thousands of YouTubers watched a video called “Revolution Now,” in which a masked man claiming to be a soldier and an “anonymous American patriot” warned of growing resistance within the military. “There’s a revolution brewing,” he said. “We have allowed the tyrants to take over this country.” 10. Seven percent of the country thought, at a time when the Republicans were almost unanimously resistant to everything the Democrats proposed, that the GOP was being too cooperative. That’s roughly 21 million seriously alienated people. But nobody vibrated with the new sense of alarm more vividly than Fox’s new talk-show host, Glenn Beck. “The year is 2014. All the banks have been nationalized,” he began one show. “Unemployment is about between 12 percent and 20 percent. Dow is trading at 2,800. The real-estate market has collapsed. Government and unions control most of business, and America’s credit rating has been downgraded.” In another, he sounded exactly like a militia member from the backwoods of Montana: “They’ll take away guns, they’ll take way our sovereignty, they’ll take away our currency, our money. They’re already starting to put all the global framework in with this bullcrap called global warming. This is an effort to globalize, to tie together everybody on the planet!” Beck called for resistance and talked about storming Washington, selling T-shirts blazed with the pitchfork of an angry mob — and all of this led to startling success. Debuting last January in a weak 5 P.M. time slot, Beck shot to the No. 3 cable-news slot overnight, right behind Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity with 2.5 million viewers. And all of this was nothing compared to the alarmed citizens raging away on his Web site: * Obamacare meant that “bureaucrats are going to decide who lives and dies,” one said. * The new pro-union card check law was “possibly the greatest threat against American free enterprise ever,” said another. * People were “better off trusting their mattresses” than the greedy bankers, said another. * There were “35 terrorist training camps spread across the U.S.A.” that were run by Sheikh Gilani from Pakistan, said another. * Homeland Security “deliberately ignores the border and the redistribution of wealth is NOT constitutional,” said another. * Others solicited signatures for a new “martial law early alert” system and suggested that people download a video that “completely destroys the myth that Barack Obama is working for the best interests of the American people.” * “GET YOURSELVES HUNKERED DOWN WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS,” one woman advised. “GET PASSPORTS AND START LOOKING NOW FOR INEXPENSIVES SAFE PLACES TO GO — THE U.S.A. IS OVER AS WE HAVE KNOWN IT.”

This is beyond free floating anxiety; it’s a form of mass hysteria and it wasn’t precipitated by ideological differences with Obama. It’s Vince Foster Banarama 2.0. And it’s grown even though they had a run of eight long years of blood and Jesus. Maybe it’s because there aren’t any normal Republicans anymore so their feedback loop is completely closed — or maybe it’s the addition of FOX News and Free Republic to their old toxic stew combined with the fact that they were so soundly humiliated by Republican failure that has given them this new energy. But basically, it’s the same people spouting the same crap: pissed off white, middle aged conservatives who think they own this country and can’t stand it that they have to share it with anyone else.

Be sure to read to the end for the report on the “road trip” with Orly Taitz. Wow.

Update: And then there’s this.
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Good. But Not Good Enough.

by tristero

Focus on the Family, one of the most repellent and cynical of the modern extremist christianist organizations, is facing a “serious shortfall.”

Focus on the Family also announced Tuesday it would no longer stage “Love Won Out” conferences across the country. The events drew both participants and picketers for their promise to “help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome.”

But don’t celebrate just yet. There are still plenty of nutjobs to go around. Nothing PZ Myers could do or say will ever be half as insulting to the beliefs of genuine Christians as the “core message” of these sleazeballs:

The events will go on, instead staged by Orlando, Fla.-based Exodus International, a network of ministries whose core message is “Freedom from homosexuality through the power of Jesus Christ.”

A Little Less Information and A Little More Inspiration

by digby

There is a lot of chatter about how people don’t know what’s in the plan and that’s why they are angry. Perhaps. But here’s what Obama said today, as he has over and over again, as do other health reform advocates:

“If you like your health-care plan, you can keep your health-care plan,” the president told a gathering in Portsmouth, N.H. “You will not be waiting in any lines. This is not about putting the government in charge of your health insurance.”

“For all the chatter and the yelling and the shouting and the noise, what you need to know is this: If you don’t have health insurance, you will finally have quality, affordable options, once we pass reform. If you do have health insurance, we will make sure that no insurance company, or a government bureaucrat, gets between you and the care that you need.”

I really doubt that most people need to understand the mechanisms of the health exchange or the regulatory structure of the public plan to understand what he’s promising there.

It’s not that they don’t know what he’s saying, it’s that they either think he’s lying or that he can’t achieve what he’s promising. It seems that “yes we can” isn’t enough, and it isn’t all that surprising since the whole country is deep in the shit and nobody feels very inspired about anything.

I honestly don’t know what anyone, even Obama, can say at this point to make it seem as though anything can change. But maybe he needs to leave the explanations to others and get back to the hope, which seems to be sadly missing in all this.

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Strange Days Indeed

by digby

When you feel overwhelmed by the crazy, always read the great Tom Tomorrow. It’s gotten me through many a tough time in Bizarroword USA:

This point is one that continues to amaze me. These people are coming unhinged over expanding access to health care. It’s not about taking away guns or mandating abortion or outlawing churches or some other issue about which you could understand these people having such strong feelings. They have worked themselves up into a complete frenzy over helping sick people. The right wing noise machine is awesome.

Click over and read the whole Tom Tomorrow strip. You’ll feel better. Or, at least, you’ll know you’re not alone.

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Raw Democracy

by digby

Howie is going to Adam Schiff’s Town Hall today. If you’re in LA, click to link to get instructions. There are a lot of interesting wingnuts, egged on by talk radio, planning to attend so it should be quite the spectacle.

I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the fact that so many people think it’s just dandy to carry weapons to these things, though. Apparently, it’s a constitutional right to go to public political events, get red in the face and hysterically shout down everybody who doesn’t agree with you while packing heat. From what I gather from all the apologists on TV, no American should be intimidated by this and there’s no reason that anyone should feel this sort of thing keeps others from expressing their views.

I don’t think it’s legal to carry guns to public events in LA, so you probably won’t get shot at this one. But be advised anyway that if someone shows up with a gun strapped to his leg like he’s Wyatt Earp* with a sign talking about revolution, you shouldn’t feel that it’s a dangerous environment and be intimidated. He’s just expressing his views — emphatically. Nothing to worry about.

*As you probably know, Earp is famous not just for the Gunfight at the OK corral. He’s also famous for confiscating guns. But whatever …

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Who Says We Don’t Have Universal Health Care?

by digby

See, it’s all good:

Hundreds of people were already lining up to receive free health care checks at the the Forum in Inglewood.

Volunteer doctors, dentists and optometrists will conduct free health clinic for uninsured and under-insured individuals.

The eight-day healthcare event will run from 5:30 a.m to 6 p.m. and is sponsored by Remote Area Medical, a charity that in the past has staged clinics in rural sections of the United States.

People started arriving before 3. Many said they didn’t have health insurance and saw this as an opportunity to be checked out. Organizers placed them in stadium seats outside the Forum, and some said they waited for hours to get medical treatment.

Since 1985, about 400,000 adults and children have been treated by the organization, its leaders said. Individuals will not be required to show proof of income or insurance or documentation of any kind for treatment, according to organizers.

This is the same group that does the rural health care program that radicalized former insurance flack Wendell Potter. They work in major urban areas as well. If things don’t change, in a couple of years they’ll be needed in the suburbs as well.

If the uninsured want health care they can (probably) get it by staying up all night and waiting in the street outside a sports stadium once a year. What’s the problem?

Update: I just heard on TV that they think nearly 100,000 people showed up for this event. I don’t know if that’s true, but the crowd was much more vast that the above report indicates. Of course, there are three million uninsured in LA, so that’s really just a drop in the bucket.

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Like Drugged Up Thugs

by digby

Out in Wyoming, the very heart of Real America, the locals don’t like seeing the cops use their tasers up close and personal against one of their own:

Glenrock residents packed their town hall Monday to voice outrage over the tasing of a 76-year-old man by police officers at a parade.

The man’s family called for the officers’ firing, and Police Chief Tom Sweet told the crowd “we probably didn’t do things the best way we could have.”

The Aug. 1 incident remains under investigation, but most of the people who addressed town leaders at a council meeting suggested the officers used excessive force when they tased Bud Grose at Glenrock’s annual Deer Creek Days event.

“They both, in my opinion, acted like doped up thugs,” Grose’s daughter-in-law, Pat Grose, said.

Glenrock Mayor Steve Cielinski and most of the town council apologized to residents and asked for patience, as agents with the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation examine whether any crimes were committed during the encounter.

Cielinski promised the results of the investigation would be made public. “If we have to stand up and take it on the chin, we will,” he said.

The exact circumstances that led to the tasing have not been disclosed by authorities. Glenrock police told state agents Bud Grose failed to obey directions while he was operating an antique tractor at the parade.

Grose had not discussed the encounter publicly, but several people who witnessed the event told the crowd police repeatedly shocked him with a taser.

“Those two were the most out-of-control officers I’ve ever seen in my life,” said Scott McWilliams, a witness who said he was shoved by one of the officers. “These two guys got to go.”

Mike Pyatt, a former Glenrock police officer, called one of the officers a “hot head” and said the other had poor people skills. He called on town leaders to make changes at the department.

“We will hold you accountable,” he said.

Police officers are no long required to have “people skills,” because they have weapons which are deemed perfectly acceptable to use in any situation, at their sole discretion. Why should they need patience or basic psychology or even any kind of rudimentary analytical skills when they can, without threat of serious repercussion, shoot people with 50,000 volts, thus instantly crumpling them to the ground in horrible pain they will do anything to not repeat? It’s a very efficient way to solve any situation and reinforce the All American belief that you must obey police no matter what.

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