Month: January 2010

Headline Of The Day

by digby

Brown showcases his conservative leanings

Uhm ….

State Senator Scott P. Brown laughed last week when a national media personality asked him to elaborate on his politics: By describing himself as a fiscal conservative and an independent, did Brown mean to suggest he’s a social liberal?

“No,’’ Brown chuckled in the radio interview. “I’m not known as a social liberal, that’s for sure.’’

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a better example of IOKIYAR. This one really takes the cake.

Update: His daughter is an American Idol contestant, and his wife is a former rock video model and newscaster. Just a down home Real American family.

Of course, Republicans are allowed to be in show business and be political at the same time. Again — IOKIYAR.

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Keeping Their Heads

by digby
 
I’ve been wondering whether or not the media hysteria surrounding the failed Undiebomber terrorist attempt was reflected by the public at large and, no surprise, it isn’t:

Percentage of Americans who were “somewhat” or “very worried” that “you or someone in your family will become a victim of terrorism”…

…two months before the attempted Christmas bombing: 36%
…two weeks after the attempted Christmas bombing: 34%

Percentage of Americans who had a “great deal” or “a moderate amount” of confidence “in the Obama administration to protect U.S. citizens from future acts of terrorism”…

…four months before the attempted Christmas bombing: 63%
…two weeks after the attempted Christmas bombing: 65%

Source: CNN.

I thought this was probably an inside the beltway phenomenon driven by Republicans and the media, each  for their own reasons. I just don’t think that the public is going to get up in arms about a failed terrorist attempt by some screwed-up loser kid at a time when they have real problems. I’m sure everyone expects the government to take it seriously and do everything in its power to correct the problems that led to this guy being able to get on an airplane with explosives in his pants. But as far as it having an effect on their confidence in the government or Obama’s leadership on terrorism — nah.  Most Americans are grown up enough to understand that there is no perfect safety.

Now, unemployment and the economy? That’s another story …

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Free Advertising

by digby

We have a ruling coming down any day on campaign finance which will probably open the floodgates of corporate spending on elections, but in the meantime, Roger and Co will do what they to keep Palin in the public eye:

Former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska has signed on as a contributor to the Fox News Channel.

The network confirmed that Ms. Palin would appear on the network’s programming on a regular basis as part of a multiyear deal. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Ms. Palin will not have her own regular program, one person with knowledge of the deal said, though she will host a series that will run on the network from time to time. This person would not elaborate, but the network does have a precedent for such a series. Oliver L. North is the host of an occasionally running documentary series on the military called “War Stories.”

Weather gal? She’s from Alaska, after all, and they do know weather. Or it could be a sports program. Being a sportscaster was always her ambition.

They certainly can’t have her talking about public affairs, can they?

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Shut Up And Sing

by digby

Jonathan Alter has written a scathing column about the Republicans in congress in which he blasts them for obstructionism and predicts that the Democrats will likely lose the supermajority (which they have been unable to effectively deploy as yet.)

And then he concludes with this:

[W]hy don’t Democrats use 2010 to build on their 2009 accomplishments? You didn’t hear much about them because the Democratic base has turned into a bunch of pouty purists who can’t take yes for an answer. Instead of being thrilled about the most important piece of social legislation in a generation, Democrats are, once again, perusing their selection of fine whines.

It’s time for them to lift their chins and face the world as it is, not as Daily Kos told them it was supposed to be. Then sour can turn sweet this year on jobs, financial regulation, immigration reform, climate change—and the rest of the Democratic agenda.

The country is in deep shit. People are hurting financially and feeling afraid for their futures. The compromised health care reform, which is far less comprehensive than we expected, hasn’t even been passed yet, the war is raging and the Wall Street sharks and the banksters are rolling in thousand dollar bills while the rest of the country is mired in high unemployment and economic insecurity. Telling people to buck up and start cheerleading at a time like this is a waste of breath. Democrats are citizens too, after all.

But then Jonathan Alter isn’t exactly someone whose views on what liberals should do is very trustworthy. He is, after all, the guy who wrote this:

In this autumn of anger, even a liberal can find his thoughts turning to … torture. OK, not cattle prods or rubber hoses, at least not here in the United States, but something to jump-start the stalled investigation of the greatest crime in American history. Right now, four key hijacking suspects aren’t talking at all.

COULDN’T WE AT LEAST subject them to psychological torture, like tapes of dying rabbits or high-decibel rap? (The military has done that in Panama and elsewhere.) How about truth serum, administered with a mandatory IV? Or deportation to Saudi Arabia, land of beheadings? (As the frustrated FBI has been threatening.) Some people still argue that we needn’t rethink any of our old assumptions about law enforcement, but they’re hopelessly “Sept. 10”—living in a country that no longer exists.

I don’t think a person who has shown this kind of judgment is in any position to tell others to clap louder, do you?

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Awful

by digby
 
Oh man.  This excerpt about the Edwards campaign from the exciting new political gossip tell-all is really unpleasant. It’s a Shakespearean tragedy — or a farce, I’m not sure. Both John and Elizabeth are portrayed as pretty awful people in the midst of a pretty awful situation. And there are some gratuitous, personal details in it that really shouldn’t have been published, IMO.

A lot of people wondered about Edwards.  On paper he had everything and seemed to have a real populist touch at a time when populism was increasingly relevant.  But a lot of people I knew felt there was just something “off” about him, they just couldn’t put their finger on it. Perhaps this is one of those cases where heuristics really do make a difference.

Whatever.  I’m sure Heilemann and Halperin are very proud to be the top, tabloid journalists in the country providing much shaudenfreude for the Villagers and entertainment for everyone else. They’ll sell a lot of books — it’s human nature to like mean, nasty gossip — and this one looks like it gives TMZ a run for its money. I’m sure we’ll be hearing every sordid detail on a loop for the next week at least. 

Update: Andrea Mitchell just reported that personal detail I found so offensive on NBC Nightly News. Elizabeth Edwards isn’t a sympathetic character in that article, but to me she seemed, in that moment, a woman in terrible, primal pain. Let’s say that no matter how awful a person she is, any woman who is diagnosed with incurable bone cancer and then finds out that her famous husband is sleeping with another woman (and knows she is about to suffer an epic public humiliation when it all comes out)  is likely to act like a freak at times. Nice of the villagers to turn that into entertainment.

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Socialite Freedom Fighters

by digby

Yesterday I wrote about the propensity of conservatives (and those who think like them) to get overstimulated by terrorist violence, imagine that they are being personally singled out for the next attack and react as if they are warriors bravely protecting the homeland from the invaders when they are really just sitting around the bar bullshitting about what they’d do, by God, if one o’ them terrists tried to take what’s theirs. It’s Walter Mitty stuff, driven by the rush of non-stop war porn on TV.

Jonathan Schwarz recalls a similar situation during the LA riots back in 1992. I was here then also and what he describes is absolutely true. People I worked with had all “heard” that “they” had stolen a fleet of cars and driving into Beverly Hills to rape the wimmin folk and then steal their TVs. I guess everyone’s the star of their own drama. Jonathan also recounts a couple of particularly good examples of the phenomenon in DC after 9/11.

But my favorite is a different one. All the Villagers believed they were next and turned to their leader for guidance on what to do.

On the evening of Nov. 14, Quinn took her message to the grass roots, addressing approximately 70 folks at a meeting of the Citizens Association of Georgetown. Speaking from the pulpit of St. John’s Episcopal Church, Quinn said that she had gathered enough information to “scare you a lot.”

[…]

Your N95 Mask: The Building Block of Emergency Prep. At her talk, Quinn held this particle-filtering device to her mouth and said that she’s “never without it.” She also stuffs one into the briefcase of her husband, former Post Executive Editor Ben Bradlee, who she says “grouses” about the precaution.

Pick a Room and Stock It. You need water and food to last a week, a battery-powered radio and flashlight, planned emergency routes, contact numbers for the family, the antibiotics Cipro and doxycycline, a first-aid kit, and plastic sheeting and duct tape. Quinn herself keeps all these things in her home’s laundry room, because it’s “easy to seal off.” Also, her food supply is heavy on the beans, “because they’re nutritious.”

Watch That Gas Gauge. If Quinn’s Georgetown neighbors have spotted her frequently at the gas station recently, it’s not necessarily because she’s doing a lot of traveling. The Postie always keeps her tank full in case catastrophe strikes. In practice, that means that when the needle on her Mercedes-Benz station wagon drops by a fourth, it’s back to the filling station. “Three-quarters is pretty much the rule,” she says.

Two Words: Peanut Butter. Along with a supply of water, Quinn keeps a “large jar” of peanut butter in her car, primarily for the protein. Even a small amount of this staple, says Quinn, will sustain the terrorism victim for quite some time.

Keep the Kayak in the Garage. In a 2003 Post piece, Quinn advocated the use of inflatable kayaks as an evacuation mode for those who live near water. The mass hysteria following Hurricane Katrina, though, has apparently soured Quinn on riparian retreat. “Somebody would stick you up with a gun,” said Quinn of an evacuee headed to the river with a portable craft.

Don’t Bother Putting Masks on Your Dog. At the Georgetown speech, an audience member suggested placing masks on pets to keep them from spreading contagions. Quinn responded that she’d tried putting an N95 on Sparky, her now-deceased Shih Tzu, but it didn’t work.

Don’t Trust Public Officials. In a wide-ranging critique of local and federal preparations for terrorist attacks, Quinn made the following contentions:

•Police and fire officials in the District don’t want to warn residents about the hazards posed by chlorine tankers on D.C. railroad tracks out of fear of causing hysteria.

•Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson’s contention that the nation is prepared for a biological or chemical weapons attack is “the biggest lie.”

•Federal emergency authorities “not only lie, they don’t tell the truth.”

See, these brave socialites and bureaucrats knew they were on their own against the freedom hating islamofascists who wanted to kill them in their beds.  They were the last line of defense between us an sharia law. 

This is why that beeyotch Desiree Rogers must be fired. Otherwise everyone will be forced to wear gasmasks and live on peanut butter and duct tape again. Or something.

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Why Not Waterboard Him?

by digby

This is ridiculous:

New Jersey’s senators said Saturday that the Jan. 3 security breach at the airport should not be downplayed as merely the act of a romantic man.

“What he may have thought was a cute trick turned out to be a disaster,” Sen. Frank Lautenberg said about Jiang, a doctoral student arrested late Friday for the airport breach that stranded thousands of travelers.

Jiang was with his girlfriend, a former Rutgers student who was flying home to Los Angeles. She has not been identified.

“People who say he was just a Romeo don’t understand the gravity of this situation, when you look at all the inconvenience to over 16,000 people, the delays, the concerns, the fears and the costs in financial terms,” Lautenberg said.

Lautenberg called for harsher penalties for Jiang, who faces arraignment on a “defiant trespassing” charge for the breach. He faces a fine of up to $500.

Lautenberg, a Democrat, said he would push for a review of federal statutes “to see if there is any course of action” that could be taken against Jiang.

“I’d like to see if we can bring this under federal jurisdiction, as opposed to just a misdemeanor and a $500 fine, that’s a slap on the wrist,” Lautenberg said. “He maybe thought he was being a Romeo, but he added to our woes, to the unease about travel. An example has to be made of this.”

The senator also said that Jiang, who Lautenberg said appears to be here as an international student from China, should have his visa revoked, though he is not personally pursuing it with federal authorities.

“He’s really an unwelcome guest,” Lautenberg said. “He should be returned to his homeland.”

The guy is a dweeby, microbiologist who screwed up without possibly knowing that he would cause that kind of problem. I don’t think anybody did. He didn’t actually have any ill intent. And I seriously doubt he or any other decent citizen who might like a final few minutes with his girlfriend will ever do it again after all this brouhaha.

I don’t think the threat of deportation or a federal rap will deter a terrorist who plans to blow up an airliner, though. So this is just more stoopid.

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They All Want A Daddy

by digby

Following up on tristero’s post below about today’s mind numbingly stupid Maureen Dowd column, I would just note that she’s not the only one. I wrote about this meme as it was developing. And last week, Chris Matthews took it to the next level in this exchange with Drew Westen.

(I should also note that while I agree with some of Westen’s critique about Obama in this widely read article, the following is simply bullshit. If Obama has any problems the fact that he doesn’t “sound passionate” enough, isn’t among them.)

MATTHEWS: OK, let‘s talk about that executive role. And I want you to jump in here, Drew, because I think we‘re on to something very narrow and very particular and pointed here. Something like the White House security and those grifters broke in—a small matter, you could argue, because nothing really went wrong, but they did break in. They had no right to be there. It took him the longest time.

Now, Sally Quinn, who writes about things in Washington, said today in “The Washington Post” on the op-ed page, he should have fired somebody. It should have been Mark Sullivan out of Secret—somebody, Desiree Rogers, in charge of social life. That was a case. Then the other thing with this thing with the airplane almost being blown up—nobody seems to be—you don‘t get a sense he‘s the boss.

[…]

MATTHEWS: OK, let me get a little dispassionate from you there, Drew, and that is this question. Executive ability—this president was not a governor. He was not a mayor. He‘s not used to cashing the checks or signing them. He‘s not used to being there when there‘s a four-alarm fire downtown.

My idea of a president, my idea of a mayor, a police chief is exactly the same. In fact, the job I‘ve always wanted was police commissioner of Philly, OK? I want to be the guy standing on the curb when there‘s a big fire. I want to be there when the reporters come by and says, What happened here? Have you got things under control? How many engines you got here? Are you going to put it out in an hour or what? I want to see a president on the job. I love that stuff.

I thought Bush was out to lunch during Katrina. I think that really killed his presidency and his role in history because he wasn‘t there. He was somewhere in Crawford with his feet up, drinking near beers. I don‘t know what he was doing, but he wasn‘t on the job.

This president was in Hawaii getting some sun. Fair enough. But it looked terrible. It looked terrible. When there‘s a big fire, the mayor ought to be there.

WESTEN: Well, you‘re absolutely right, and…

MATTHEWS: That‘s my thought. What are your—what‘s your thought…tell me what his brain should have been doing.

WESTEN: He—well, you know, what his brain should have been thinking back to was the other Bush, who came out on September 12th with that foghorn because that‘s the Bush who actually captivated the American people…

MATTHEWS: I liked that guy.

WESTEN: … because he showed the passion. You know, he was right there, and every American stood by him. And the president we saw today…

MATTHEWS: Then he let Cheney eat him up like a Pacman. Cheney and the neocons grabbed that little hero that we loved with the firefighter and turned him into a little agent of their causes.

The so-called little hero let Cheney eat him up like Pacman? Not much of a hero if you ask me.

Regardless of the political theatre, which makes me sick on its own terms, no rational culture should think this way about terrorism. It’s puerile, “PeeWee’s Funhouse” level kabuki and my hunch is that the only people who really expect it are the media gasbags who are trying to make this event into a crisis for their own purposes —  and the politicians who run around like chickens chasing after every shiny object the media throws out there.

Here is how mature people think about these issues:

Fareed Zakaria: Senator Dianna Feinstein says that she believes the United States government should overreact rather than under react to these kinds of events.

Isn’t that exactly backwards? The purpose of terrorism is not to kill the few hundred that are attacked, but to terrorize the tens upon tens on millions who watch. Terrorism is unique as a military strategy in that it depends for its effectiveness upon the response of the society.For it to work, all of us have to respond with fear and hysteria. So far, we’re doing just that.

I don’t mean to suggest by this that the system worked. It didn’t. When the US got information about the terrorists father they should have immediately checked if he had a visa and put him on a now fly list. They should not have allowed him to enter an airplane with a makeshift bomb. These are all mistakes, they should be fixed.

But there will be other mistakes uncovered over the years as we go through this process. And we must have the ability to calmly seriously and effectively react to these problems and improve the system so that it gets better and better every year, rather than going crazy.

The atmosphere in Washington these days, the media calls, the political wrangling the calls for heads to roll these are all indications of panic — and partisanship. And overreacting would cause the worst policy responses — large, broad brushed, expensive efforts to pat down thousands more grandmothers every day, keep the military involved in everyplace that claims they have al Qaeda. But these might not be the most effective responses. We need less grandstanding from everyone, including the president of the United States, and more sober efforts to simply improve security and resilience in this country.

Being calm and deliberate about terrorism is the right policy to keep America secure. Chest pounding and overreaction just so that the pundits and politicians can get that marvelous thrill up their legs is the wrong policy. It is a testament to just how much power these fatuous gasbags have that they actually seem to think they can force the president to come before the microphones and “sound” really mad so that they can feel comfy and secure that Daddy will keep the boogeyman from killing them in their beds. But the more belligerent he gets and the more bellicose the threats, the less safe we all actually are.

I have no problem knocking Obama when it’s called for, but this is nonsense. His calm, mature demeanor and deliberate approach to national security is an asset both in political and policy terms. Regardless of the conclusions he reaches about military escalation and the rest, we know this: the last thing we need is another angry, sophomoric cheerleader giving the Islamic fundamentalists exactly what they want.

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 American Understanding

by digby
 
John King did his State of the Union segment in Wyoming today. He spoke with some nice people in the Jackson Hole area who complained heartily about the horrible state of the local economy. They said the health care plan was too complicated because it was a thousand pages and nobody knows what’s in it. They also complained about how horribly high the cost of their health insurance was. They hate all the bickering in congress and even wished that Dick Cheney, a local, would stop criticizing the president, so they aren’t tea baggers. They all said they want Obama to succeed. 

John King: To be more successful in his second year what should he do?

Wyoming citizen: Cut spending

King: cut spending ..

Other WC: I think we’re out of control.

King: Cut spending? Why does the spending bother you?

Different WC: We have a deficit. It’s so huge right now. I just don’t think it’s helping our economy. I don’t think it’s helping anybody.

These were all people in their 40s who own businesses  there in Wyoming.  I suspect they are like a lot of people.  King, of course, didn’t pursue it and ask specifically why they thought that spending and the deficit were the cause of the slowdown or why stopping it would fix things, but I would guess they’d all come back with taxes as the standard reply.

Granted, these people are all probably Republicans although they didn’t say it. But what would Democrats have said differently I wonder?

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MoDo Wants A Daddy

by tristero

Maureen Dowd

No Drama Obama is reticent about displays of emotion. The Spock in him needs to exert mental and emotional control. That is why he stubbornly insists on staying aloof and setting his own deliberate pace for responding — whether it’s in a debate or after a debacle.

“Mental and emotional control.”

That sounds like an extraordinary set of virtues to have in a United States president. But they are nothing but problems for the emotionally-troubled NY Times op-ed columnist. Her very next sentence:

But it’s not O.K. to be cool about national security when Americans are scared.

In fact, being “cool about national security” or other potential emergencies (say, huge, city-wrecking hurricanes) is exactly what I want my government to be. I want – expect – reasoned, intelligent responses from my government to the problems we face. That’s what I voted for, not hysteria or phony displays of emotional connection.

The ghastly attack by that double agent in Afghanistan, let alone exploding underpants, really didn’t scare me. Here’s an example of what does:

He’s so sure of himself and his actions that he fails to see that he misses the moment to be president — to be the strong father who protects the home from invaders, who reassures and instructs the public at traumatic moments.

I simply can’t believe that anyone would need the president of the United States to be their Daddy. I simply can’t believe that anyone would write that they need the president of the United States to be their Daddy. I simply can’t believe that the New York Times would publish an op-ed columnist who would write that she needs the president of the United States to be her Daddy. I simply can’t believe that our public discourse is so debased that someone as unstable as MoDo has regular access to a wide public – not to rise above her psychological problems and inform us, or provide us with sensible opinions, but merely to trot out her deeply weird neuroses because she apparently thinks everyone shares them.

And that – the abysmal level of our public discourse – scares the daylights out of me.