Month: October 2009

Irony

by digby

Following up n my post earlier about an armed citizenry, here’s a cautionary tale. Apparently, the story of this woman carrying a loaded glock to her daughter’s soccer games was a big story in the Philadelphia area. (I hadn’t heard of it.) This is quite a coda:

Meleanie Hain, 31, a mother of three and latter-day national symbol of the gun-rights movement for her insistence on openly carrying a loaded Glock handgun, was unarmed in her kitchen and idly Web-chatting with a family friend. She was, her mother said, about to leave her husband, after the latest episode of their fight-and-reconciliation cycle had ended poorly, and Scott Hain, 33, was displeased. “Scott was not a person to be by himself,” said Jenny Stanley of Lancaster, Meleanie Hain’s mother. Outside the webcam’s view, Scott Hain picked up a gun. By then, the chat partner, in another Pennsylvania county, had let his attention wander over to the television. Then, at what police would say later was 6:07 p.m., the online feed erupted with a gunshot and a scream, and the friend saw Scott Hain walk into view. He raised a handgun and fired several times, and the friend called 911. By the time police arrived, Meleanie Hain was dead in the kitchen, and Scott Hain had used a shotgun to commit suicide in an upstairs bedroom. Their three children, a neighbor said, had run from the house shouting, “Daddy shot Mommy!”[…]
The murder-suicide happened more than a year after Meleanie Hain became a national figure for carrying her Glock handgun to her 5-year-old daughter’s preschool soccer game. She had told interviewers that she feared unforeseen dangers in her quiet, rural community, about 80 miles west of Philadelphia and not far from Lancaster’s Amish communities. Instead, the danger arose from her decaying marriage, despite its veneer of domesticity. On Wednesday, Scott Hain had mowed the yard before going inside and leveling his gun at his wife.

Here’s a person who was well armed and obviously trained. She was a poster child for the gun rights movement who felt she needed to be armed at her child’s soccer game. And all her armed vigilance couldn’t stop her from being a victim.

Far be it for me to come to any conclusions about this family or their situation. I don’t know the details. But I do know this:

According to statistics compiled by the Brady Campaign from academic studies and law enforcement sources, gun violence is a key element of domestic violence. Over half of family murders are caused by firearms, and firearm assaults are more than 12 times as likely to result in death than violence without guns involved.

Women take the brunt of domestic violence when guns are involved. In 2002, more than 4,400 women were killed with handguns. Almost one-third of these were killed by current or former intimate partners. It also appears that the presence of a firearm in the family home makes it far more likely that a domestic violence incident will end in gun violence and homicide.

In fact, it is about 83 times more likely that a hand-gun will be used against a woman by a current or former intimate partner than used by the woman in self-defense during a violent attack by that partner.

Meanwhile proponents of guns have spent millions to oppose laws that would require lengthier and more thorough background checks or that would prohibit possession of or selling a firearm to a person under a restraining order by his or her current or former intimate partner for abuse. They also oppose laws that would require the police to temporarily remove guns from the scene of domestic violence.

I am not hostile to gun rights. But the American fetishization of guns is a problem which this story amply demonstrates. There is absolutely no logic to the idea that the more guns everyone has the safer we will be. That woman had guns and believed in using them, but she didn’t have eyes in the back of her head and didn’t realize she needed to be packing in her own kitchen in case her husband went nuts.

These people had three kids and it’s a miracle one of them wasn’t taken out too.

h/t to TJ

What’s It Like On Their Planet?

by digby

Kevin K. caught this … ahem … unusual piece by a brilliant right wing pundit:

WHY HILARY CLINTON IS AT THE PEAK OF HER POWER and WHAT SHE CAN DO WITH IT by John Charlton I did not vote for Hillary Clinton. But this week I am a Hilary Clinton fan, in a sense. Let me explain. Hillary Clinton, the Secretary of State of the United States under Barack Hussein Obama, is, in my opinion, the most powerful person on the planet right now; that is, this week. She holds this position because the unique circumstances of history which have brought the United States into its present Constitutional Crisis; and of events which have unwittingly put her in the position of restoring the Republic and the Democratic Party, by her action, or destroying the same by her inaction. […] If Hilary Clinton just simply said simple one sentence, this week, it would cause the Obama administration to implode; resurrect the Democratic party as a viable entity in the 2010 elections, and be met with a swift ground swell of support from the entire people of the United States who still believe in the rule of law. What is this sentence? “After careful legal and historical study, I don’t believe Obama is a natural born citizen; and therefore I request Congress to hold hearings to determine whether he lawfully occupies the office of President of the United States, in accord with the objective requirements of Article II, Section i, paragraph 5, of the U.S. Constitution!” Such a statement would show the following about Hilary Clinton’s character:1) It would definitely demonstrate that she is a person of integrity, who puts the U.S. Constitution before all else. 2) It would definitely prove that, as a woman, she is not a follower but a leader.

Kevin adds:

And: 3) It would without question prove that she is fucking insane and should be institutionalized immediately.

Has anyone heard what exactly this “constitutional crisis” is specifically based upon? I know there are the tenthers and the birthers, but I wonder if there’s anything more specific that that.

The extreme insanity of that screed above notwithstanding, I am so struck by the fact that the wingnuts seem to have simply taken the oppositional rhetoric of the left and are running with it without having the vaguest idea why.

The “constitutional crisis” was the total flouting of congressional prerogatives, the shredding of the fourth amendment, denial of habeas corpus etc, etc etc. It was proclaiming out of nowhere that the office of Vice president is a fourth branch of government. It’s the idea that the presidency is all powerful during a time of war — a war determined by the president to have no end.

I guess the wingnut constitutional crisis is that the president is supposed to be some kind of Kenyan Candidate, bred from birth to take over the United States? Is that it?

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Almost Perfect

by digby

I’ve been meaning to mention to new conservative Bible,but Stewart and Colbert have done such a good job that it didn’t seem necessary. But Mary at the Left Coaster singles out the true absurdity of the project:

Truly, one of the most fundamental beliefs of those who call themselves fundamentalists is that the Bible has a unique and supreme place in defining Christian belief. The first of all the fundamentals is this:

The inspiration of the Bible by the Holy Spirit and the inerrancy of Scripture as a result of this.

[…]
Evidently the Bible that they’ve been putting all their faith in had been corrupted by liberals and needs to be fixed so as to reflect the Conservative Religious Right’s belief that only they have “the truth.” And, if you are Phyllis Schlafly’s son, you launch a project to purge the Bible of all that liberal cant.

See, the Bible is inerrant except for all that icky liberal Jesus junk. It just needs a little editing, that’s all. Then it will truly be the word of God. Who apparently is Phyllis Schlaffley’s son. Who knew?

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The Next Big Thing

by digby

In case you were wondering what the astroturfed teabaggers’ next step is, here it is:

Obviously, the “main stream” media are hard of hearing and seeing. About 2 million mad-as-hell taxpayers assembling in Washington, D.C. for the largest-ever (most well-behaved ever, most respectful ever) protest did not make it onto their radar screens (or our TV screens). They need our help. Maybe we cannot repeat an assembly of 2 million mad-as-hell taxpaying patriots in one place, but surely those who longed to go and couldn’t would love to be a part of Operation “Can You Hear Us Now?” I’ll bet for every one patriot who went to D.C. there are 10-20 more who wished they could have been there as well. Well my friends, HAVE I GOT A PLAN FOR YOU…

It’s called, “Operation: Can You Hear Us Now?” Here’s how it might work, but feel free to improvise! Step 1: Contact all your freedom-loving, American-loving, free-speech loving friends and get together to plan. Draw from your local Tea Party group or 9/12 group or other friends. Protest all things you did in D.C. – plus the complicit media! Step 2: Identify local left-wing media outlets (most likely TV, since no one reads newspapers anymore). Step 3: Plan a rally for October 17th, 2009. If you have enough folks, visit multiple sites concurrently, otherwise pick your least favorite, liberally biased outlet as ground zero. Time it for max participation for the working (i.e. tax-paying) class. Before the AM news or at the evening 6 o’clock hour might be good (local time). Step 4: Use your 1st Amendment Right to Free Speech right outside their offices or broadcast locations. Make sure you are on public property, not private property. Bring your signs, banners, flags, and voices to the event. Protest big government, small minds in Congress, and liberal media atrocities in reporting (or non-reporting). (Watch for the Free Speech media to attempt to have you forcibly removed by law enforcement – so stay on public property!) Step 5: Be peaceful, respectful, but let them HEAR you and SEE you. Remember, they are hard of hearing and their eyesight isn’t what it used to be the last 8 years prior. They accidentally missed 2 million people protesting in D.C. in one of the biggest protests in US History. Bring your video to upload clips to the internet later. Step 6: Complete your event peacefully and leave the premises. Go home! Step 7: Turn on the TV and see if they saw you. If not, smile and remember that November 2010 is just around the corner!

I would expect this to get good coverage because the “mainstream” press has decided that the teabaggers are a huge story and they have been very, very remiss in not covering the right wing more fully. That ACORN thing was a gigantic and important development that they missed because they weren’t paying close enough attention to every paranoid conspiracy theory that emanated from Glenn Beck’s lips so now they are falling all over themselves to ensure that their “concerns” are given a full airing.

I guess they really do think their 9/12 protest was one of the biggest in US history. Just goes to show you they can convince themselves of anything.

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An Armed Citizenry

by digby

Some Republican official in Florida says:

“As long as we have the second amendment, that’s what keeps the government dealing with us. That’s what gives us the right to freedom of speech that’s what gives us the right to freedom to assemble, because the government knows the bottom line is that we are an armed citizenry.”

Really? Being armed is what makes the government deal with us and “gives us” our inalienable rights? Because if that’s the case, I’d better load up on tanks, aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs because from where I sit the government has me seriously outgunned.

Update: BTW, does anyone think it’s a great idea to arm that senior citizen in the video who’s shooting willy nilly and saying “I don’t know what I’m doing!” I’m sure we’ll need the manpower when the revulushun comes and all, but maybe they could assign her to the rear and have her knit flags or something. The idea of her running around with a gun is more than a little bit unnerving.

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Thanks For All The Fish

by dday

Just offering a last goodbye. I’ll be sure to let you know when we have a URL firmed up over at FDL.

See you in the ‘sphere.

Update: By digby

Good luck and congratulations.

Your contribution to this blog has been immeasurable and I’ll miss you greatly. This place won’t be the same without you. But we’ll all be reading you in your new digs I’m sure, so the pain of separation shouldn’t be too great.

Come back and see us anytime!

digby

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Knowledge Worker

by digby

Grayson has been all over the TV today saying a lot of typically smart quotable things about the Nobel Prize and health care. But I think his statement on Afghanistan from a couple of days ago was exceptional, mostly because it showcased his personal familiarity with the country, which is so rare among our leaders you wonder if they can even find it on a map. (In fact, Alan Grayson has been just about everywhere on the planet and can evidently speak in great detail about nearly any country you can mention.)

Howie Klein is another world traveler of epic proportions has also spent time in Afghanistan and writes this:

In 1969 I drove to Afghanistan. Between then and 1972 I spent over half a year there, and never spent one single day in a hotel. Traveling from London, through then still-Communist nations like Hungary and Bulgaria, then through Turkey and Iran and into Herat, the most important component doesn’t feel like mileage, but time. Sure, I traveled in space; but what seemed far more profound was a trip back in time. Afghanistan was like being in the 11th Century, not the turn of the 20th. And I noticed immediately that the people there don’t recognize a country called “Afghanistan.” In Herat and Kandahar, respectively the 3rd and 2nd biggest towns, there was resentment towards the “central government” as a pretension– backed by foreign military equipment– of Kabul, the biggest town and what foreigners insist is the capital of “the country.”

The only part of the discussion of Afghan policy more awkwardly missing from the calculations that there is no Afghanistan, is that all the men there– yes, all of them– are stoned all day, every day on the strongest hash (much of it opiated) on God’s earth. I know West Point was just named the best college in America by Fortune but do they teach them that stuff there?

I doubt it. I’m sure they get a whole lot of drivel about hearts and minds and Lone Superpower and the like.

Anyway, Grayson’s comments, which were made during a panel on Afghanistan at a screening of Brave New Films’ Rethinking Afghanistan were along those very same lines and are well worth thinking about as we begin to debate how to go forward (or backward) on the war. You can see the Youtube and read the transcript of his remarks at DownWithTyranny.

As dday noted earlier today, David Obey, at least, seems to be thinking along these same lines. Let’s hope the rest of the leadership is as well.

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In Case You Missed It

by digby

… the Senate Judiciary Committee voted yesterday to make the Patriot Act even worse. Hairdressers and manicurists everywhere beware. You are now suspected terrorists and the government has the right to target you without due process. But don’t worry, it’s not all bad.

Here’s Marcy:

Remember how last week I used the hypothetical example of using Section 215 of the PATRIOT Act to get records on people who had bought hydrogen peroxide and acetone?

I’m going to make a wildarsed guess and suggest that the Federal Government is doing a nationwide search to find out everyone who is buying large amounts of certain kinds of beauty products. And those people are likely now under investigation as potential terrorism suspects.

Well, two different Senators used, essentially, the same hypothetical today (albeit in context of National Security Letters). […]

I’m not certain, but I think they’d have to use Section 215 rather than NSLs for this purpose. So while Kyl assures us that they’re not searching everyone in the country buying hydrogen peroxide, it appears very very very likely they are searching some subset of the country for their beauty, home improvement, and cleaning supplies.

Well that’s good. If you don’t fit their profile, whatever that is, you have nothing to worry about.

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Mean And Cruel

by digby

Here’s another reason why Republicans don’t win the Nobel Peace Prize. I received this note from one of my readers:

I’m VERY upset, I see where Senator Kyl of Arizona has put a stop to the fast track extension of the unemployment benefits…I wrote him an email even though I’m from Florida and thank god he’s not my senator….however I see no coverage on this at all. This is a terrible situation for so many people. Jobs aren’t available even though I continue to send my resume out and look for any sort of employment. I’m a single mom trying to make ends meet and put food on the table….it’s really not possible without some help. I’ve recently applied for food stamps for the first time ever, yet that takes some time…and it doesn’t pay the water or light bill. Any delaying the extension of unemployment benefits is very upsetting and scary.

Here’s the story:

Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) can expect a lot of hate mail soon. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) tried to accelerate the usual lengthy process in order to take a quick vote on proposed bill H.R. 3548 to give federal unemployment benefits extension to all 50 states but Kyl halted his efforts, calling for more time to consider the bill and possibly add amendments to it. Kyl did this despite my warning to the contrary.This means that the bill has no chance of a vote this week, as Senate Dems had indicated was likely, but rather the earliest can pass is next week. So for the thousands whose benefits will run out soon, let alone those whose benefits have already run out, you have Jon Kyl to thank for not getting this extension passed sooner.

Here’s more:

As Congress debates the measure, 400,000 people ran out of benefits in September and another 208,000 are set to lose them this month, according to the National Employment Law Project. Some 1.4 million people will stop receiving checks by year’s end if Congress doesn’t act, according to the employment law project.

Evidently, Kyl is worried that undeserving people are receiving benefits. So 600,000 people have to suffer. Typical Republican.

His phone numbers are here if you’d like to give him a buzz and tell him what you think of his compassionate conservatism.

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The British Get It

by tristero

Earlier today, I made what I thought were utterly uncontroversial statements: (1) It’s a rotten idea to serve your kids Nutella on toast for breakfast every day and (2) Nutella’s commercial urging parents to do so because they can scam their kids into eating “multi-grain toast” is misleading and despicable.

And as usual, some commenters leapt to defend Big Food. We learned from them that sugar and fat are good for you. But that’s not the problem. The problem is, obviously grossly excessive sugar and fat consumption that is the problem with a daily dose of Nutella on toast for breakfast followed, again quite obviously, any reasonable diet you care to imagine.

Bottom line: you care about your kids? Don’t feed them Nutella and toast every day for breakfast. Are you rushed for time and Nutella and toast is the only thing you have time to prepare? Well, ok, but don’t pretend you’re giving them something “healthier” than pop tarts because you’re not. Merely because you can prepare a potentially less-nutritious breakfast choice than Nutella and toast does not make Nutella and toast “better.” It just means you’re kidding yourself. It also means you’re still not feeding your kid a decent breakfast. If you do it every day… well, that’s my point. Again: if you care about your kids, don’t feed them Nutella and toast every day for breakfast.

Please don’t blame me for pointing out, again, something that is patently obvious. If, as one commenter says, you have only 90 seconds to prepare breakfast, that doesn’t mean Nutella on toast is a responsible solution to your time problem. You still haven’t fed your kids a decent breakfast even if you replaced the [insert here the least nutritious breakfast you can think of here] when you did so. It is not “better.”

Which brings us to the Nutella advertising campaign. Turns out I’m not alone in feeling they are being cynically misleading in associating Nutella with healthy eating. Britain banned a Nutella ad, and they were right. There were three complaints made. Two were dismissed but the third one stuck.

[The Advertising Standards Association] said the ad implied Nutella made a “more significant nutritional contribution to a balanced breakfast than was the case”.

The ASA added that in the context of claims for the nutritional benefits of a balanced breakfast Nutella had only mentioned hazelnuts, skimmed milk and cocoa powder.

This created “the overall impression that Nutella made a significant contribution to a balanced breakfast”.

The ASA said that only small quantities of sugar and fat were recommended as part of a balanced diet and the ad was misleading, and therefore should not be shown again, because Nutella had a high sugar and fat content.