Month: January 2010

Oooooooh

by digby

Not a teabagger?:

BlueMassGroup has the background:

I mean, maybe Brown really didn’t know, and was just expressing the fact that he was unsure whether Obama’s mother was married. But why would that possibility even be in his head? I took a little tour of the wingnuttosphere to find out who’d been saying what on that topic.

Turns out that a number of fringey folks, including one Andy Martin and prominent wingnut Jerome Corsi (of “Unfit for Command” fame) have been assiduously peddling the theory that Ann Dunham and Barack Obama, Sr. never actually got married. Said Martin, in July of 2008 (not long before Brown taped the interview posted above):

Barack Obama, Senior, and Anne Dunham never married. Obama knows this fact. This is also why he keeps his white grandmother a virtual prisoner; she knows too, and she won’t lie.
Through the past several decades Obama has pretended he ‘didn’t know’ the facts about his illegitimate birth. He thought he could get away with the big lie. And he almost did get away with it….

His mother was promiscuous and had a child out of wedlock, in 1961, when that was still scandalous behavior. Is this Obama’s idea of ‘family values?’ Obviously, he has been deceiving the American people and hoping his advertising lies could overcome the truth. He has failed.

Corsi, for his part, has been keeping the faith even post-election. This post at World Net Daily, “Was Obama’s birth out of wedlock?”, is from September of 2009:

Was President Obama born out of wedlock in 1961? … As WND has previously reported, the only documentation for Ann Dunham’s marriage to Barack Obama, Sr., comes from their divorce documents that list the marriage date as Feb. 2, 1961…. No wedding certificate or photograph of a ceremony for Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. has ever been found or published.

There’s much more at the link.

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Taking The Bait

by digby

I too wasn’t crazy about the bank tax because it isn’t really all that much money. After all they are on course to award over a hundred billion in bonuses for one year alone) and it doesn’t get to the long term problem of obscene executive compensation and the resultant bad incentives.

But like Atrios,I’m gobsmacked at how quickly the Republicans abandoned their phony populism and jumped to the defense of their rich patrons. This one seemed like an easy one, but you can tell that even the teabaggers just cannot wrap their minds around regulating and taxing the people who drove the economy into the ditch.

Maybe the Democrats will be so inspired that they might actually think it’s a good idea to push through some real reforms since the political benefits are now obvious. Push that button and the Republicans rush to cameras and immediately start defending the indefensible.

Meanwhile, here’s Obama’s Saturday address which is on this subject. It’s pretty good:

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The Three Presidents

by digby

I know it’s not the time to be snarky. But that really takes me back. And reminds me of so many things …

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WTH?

by digby

Here’s some profiling for you:

The FBI says it will take down an updated wanted poster of Osama bin Laden, after a Spanish lawmaker protested that his photo had been used to make it.

The lawmaker says he was “surprised and angered” when he found out his hair and facial wrinkles were used to create a digitally enhanced image of what the al-Qaida leader might look like today.

Gaspar Llamazares calls it “shameless.”

Both men are 52. But Llamazares says he has “no similarity, physically or ideologically, to the terrorist.”

He told reporters in Madrid that he wouldn’t feel safe traveling in the U.S. now, because many airports use technology that compares the physical characteristics of travelers to other photographs.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press, the FBI said its artist was “unable to find suitable features among the reference photographs.” It says features used in the updated image of bin Laden came, in part, from a photograph found on the Internet.

The image was posted on the State Department’s terrorism rewards Web site.

You’d better hope you don’t have a passing resemblance to a criminal because if they can’t find a recent picture, they’ll just use yours.

That poor Spaniard probably would get tackled by some yahoo every five minutes if he comes to the US. After all, it would be irresponsible not to.

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Back To the Future

by digby

Dday reports that the Republicans are gunning again for Dawn Johnsen now that the boogeyman has returned with terrorism in his pants:

Dawn Johnsen’s nomination cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee months ago, and with Arlen Specter’s support her confirmation has been thought to be all but assured. Nevertheless, with the re-nomination process, Republicans will seek additional hearings, a perfect opportunity for them to fearmonger on terrorism:

“In recent weeks there have been several incidents threatening our national security and underscoring the need for more aggressive counterterrorism efforts, information sharing, and military and intelligence initiatives,” all seven of the GOP Judiciary members write, arguing that, “We believe many unanswered questions remain about Dawn Johnsen’s suitability to guide our Nation’s legal response to the war on terror. … Ms. Johnsen’s record calls into question her dedication to aggressive Executive action in national security matters.”

“For the Committee to properly discharge its advice and consent duty, we believe a second hearing is necessary to evaluate Ms. Johnsen’s nomination and approach to the serious national security questions currently facing this administration,” they added.

That’s right. Because Johnsen, as the head of the DOJ Office of Legal Counsel might tell the government that it would be illegal to torture and then where would we be?

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One Story

By digby

I’m hard on the media and often feel as if the world would be a better place if we just blew it all up and started over. I give CNN as much grief as any other network. But when a tragedy strikes they are always on the ground and the bring the story home. And to their credit, even their anchors report the stories with gravity and human emotion and they usually put the shallow, politics aside, at least for a little while.

Campbell Brown has been especially moved by the children in distress and has shown her feelings openly. Here’s one example:

I’m sure the cynics among us think that’s bathetic mawkishness. But I think it’s real — at least I had the same reaction. That story was just heartbreaking, particularly when you realize how many thousands of kids have died alone and frightened in similar circumstances in this tragedy.

It’s almost beyond our capacity to feel anything after a while. I’m grateful to Brown for allowing her tears and compassion to show and remind us all to let ours show as well.

h/t to Nicole Bell who sagely notes:

If only more talking heads in this country could move past their own limited binary thought of politics to recognize that there is no Left/Right, no Democratic/Rebublican paradigm to this story. There is only humanity and more importantly, human suffering, to which we, as fellow humans, are obligated to respond. You can donate to Haitian Relief via Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders.

Update: Lance Mannion has some typically perspicacious thoughts on this subject.

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Winograd For Congress

by digby

John Amato has an announcement:

I’ve been thinking about running against Jane Harman for a long time. I’ve had reporters quiz me on it and many readers ask me to run, but I’ve decided not take part in 2010’s Congressional election in my home district of CA-36.

There a few reasons why I’ve taken this path. I think I can do more good for my country and the state of California by concentrating on CrooksandLiars in these troubling times and continue my work for Blue America PAC as the 2010 election comes upon us.

David Neiwert, C&L’s Managing Editor and I are putting the finishing touches on our new book we have just about finished titled Over the Cliff, which will require time to promote it, but there is also another important reason which made it so much easier for me to drop out of consideration for the upcoming election: The fact is we have a great progressive candidate already in the race and her name is Marcy Winograd.

She’s taking the fight once again to the Blue Dog in our district and I’m putting my full support behind her campaign as she moves forward in 2010. Marcy stands for progressives and since she lives in a progressive district, I’m confident she will fight in ongress for those principles and represent her constituents without compromising as we’ve seen Jane Harman do so many times before. So please join me in supporting Marcy Winograd for California’s 36th District.

Please donate if you can.

I’ve met Marcy.  Her district is right next door to mine.  She’s a stalwart progressive in every sense of the word. She is Blue America’s first endorsement for the 2010 cycle and there couldn’t be a more worthy candidate.

The contrast between her and Jane Harman is pretty stark. Let’s put it this way: if the Republicans take back the government, Marcy Winograd will not call whistleblowers who report about illegal spying “despicable” and neither will she be caught on tape herself by the illegal wiretappers, making deals with foreign lobbyists. She won’t vote for every military appropriation known to man.  She won’t join the Blue Dogs, (and they wouldn’t have her.)  And she most definitely will never, ever, proudly call herself the “best Republican in the Democratic party.”

One thing you should know: Marcy, unlike her opponent, is not the second richest person in the congress and neither is she a protector of corporations.  She’ll need to finance her campaign with money from average citizens — and she wouldn’t have it any other way.  If you can donate to her campaign, she will be very grateful.

If you’d like to meet her, she will be holding a live chat today with Howie and John over at Crooks and Liars at 10:00AM pst.

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The History Of Haiti

by digby

Truthout has thoughtfully provided Noam Chomsky’s history of Haiti from his book Year 501.

It’s quite a story.

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Hating The Troops

by digby

Following up on Limbaugh’s revolting comments, Turkana at Dkos writes:

Great comment from RichM:

OK…

I know now Limbaugh is obviously in a death spiral of “how low can you go”. So what the fuck are we going to do about it? My suggestion? This should get his ass off of Armed Service Radio.

Limbaugh is disparaging a humanitarian effort by the U.S. military. He is disparaging a mission that should make our military proud. He is disparaging our military! Why is he on Armed Services Radio?

We’ve been there before, of course.  But this time he really has demeaned the whole US military, not just the badly injured vets he called “phony soldiers.”

I recall that during the tsunami the military was on the ground working for weeks, so Limbaugh’s claim that they only do this during Dem presidencies is just nonsnese. But I also recall seeing soldiers on TV saying they were very pleased to be able to help. I can’t imagine they like being called “meals on wheels” when they are actually being quite heroic and saving desperate people from certain death.

And it’s long past time for this smart-ass jerk to be taken off armed forces radio. It’s insane that soldiers should have to listen to this crap all day and have to try to keep up their morale. Unless they hate thier country it’s hard to see why they would want to. Limbaugh certainly does. He hates everybody.

Update:  is it possible that rightwingers actually see a thwarted terrorist attack and a shooting rampage in the US are equivalent to the massive human misery that we are seeing in  Haiti?

BECK: I also believe this is dividing the nation…to where the nation sees him react so rapidly on Haiti and yet he couldn’t react rapidly on Afghanistan. He couldn’t react rapidly on Ft. Hood. He couldn’t react rapidly on our own airplanes with an underwear bomber…it doesn’t make sense. […] Three different events and Haiti is the only one. I think personally that it deepens the divide to see him react this rapidly to Haiti.

Well, Beck and his pals didn’t like to see anyone give a damn about katrina victims either.  He said they were scumbags. 9/11 families too. He’s just a soulless shell of a man.

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Teeny Little Bright Spot

by digby

Howie found a small kernel of something good in a week of horrific bad news on every front:

Yesterday I had to put off a meeting with the Blue America attorney because he was manning a northern Virginia polling station. I hadn’t realized there was a special election, but he reminded me that when lunatic-fringe sociopath Ken Cuccinelli was elected Virginia Attorney General, his state Senate seat came open. It’s a Republican-leaning district and no one really expected it to go from insanely die-hard Republican to unapologetic Democratic. But I had to postpone the meeting again today because he was celebrating. His candidate, state Delegate Dave Marsden, a former Republican, won the seat last night!

Marsden, 61, a two-term delegate from Burke who switched political parties earlier this decade while serving as the head of the state Department of Juvenile Justice under both Republican and Democratic governors, won the 37th state Senate seat vacated by Attorney General-elect Kenneth T. Cuccinelli (R) by rallying a voter base reeling from big losses in November’s statewide and House races.

Marsden’s victory over Republican Stephen M. “Steve” Hunt, a former Fairfax County School Board member, also expands the control of Virginia Democrats in the Senate chamber… Rex Simmons, the newly-elected chairman of the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, said Marsden’s victory would ensure Democrats would have a “seat at the table” with Republican Governor-elect Robert F. McDonnell.

“This is a tremendous win for Democrats in a district that has been largely Republican in the past,” Simmons said. “This will give us a state senator for every inch of Fairfax County.” The 37th has had a Republican state senator since 1992.

Republicans were left scrambling late Tuesday to figure out what happened.

“It’s very disappointing,” said Anthony Bedell, chairman of the Fairfax County Republican Committee. “We had the momentum, we had the support and we just didn’t get it done.”

Voters in the district voted for McDonnell in the governor’s race against state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D-Bath) in November but both Senate candidates knew that their biggest challenge was simply to get voters to the polls. Hunt tried to energize his party’s faithful at a Fairfax County Republican Committee last week, telling members: “The U.S. is at a crossroads. The state of the nation depends on a special election in Fairfax County.”

In the final days, both campaigns turned aggressive. Marsden decried Hunt’s “very bad judgment,” referring to his views on homosexuality and sex education, and Hunt told a group at a Fairfax County Republican Committee last week that he intended to “demolish” Marsden in the election. Hunt’s wife, Monique, even tried to drum up publicity by calling in to Fox News commentator Sean Hannity, who rebuffed a request for an interview with her husband.

After all the talk about Virginia being a bellweather, it seems to me that this at least confirms some people’s view that the Deeds loss really was about his singularly lackluster self rather than a broad embrace of teabaggery.