Month: May 2010

Bend It Like Boehner

by digby

Greg Sargent makes an important observation:

That’s damn clever — as nakedly obstructionist a move as you could dream up. And it’s not the first time, either. As Think Progress notes, Republicans have repeatedly used sex-related amendments to cause the gears of government to seize up. It couldn’t be more obvious what the intent of these moves is. Yet is there any evidence voters care? Dems have spent the past year highlighting this kind of stuff. And polls show that voters agree that Republicans are not interested in good faith cooperation with Obama and Dems. Yet there’s no evidence that there’s any correlation between this and the political fortunes of the parties. Polls show that Dems hold a small edge at best over the GOP in the generic ballot matchup — even though Republicans have far lower favorability ratings.

Just as voters don’t care about bipartisanship for its own sake, it seems likely that they just tune out the constant railing about GOP obstruction as so much Beltway white noise. Perhaps it only encourages a sense that Washington is dysfunctional, souring voters even more on government — and on both parties, including the one that’s running the place.

It’s a sad but true fact about American culture that winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing.

I’ve told the story before about sitting despondently in my front yard on the morning after the Supreme Court stopped the vote in Florida chatting with my neighbor about how shockingly undemocratic it was and wondering whether or not people would accept Bush as president. He shrugged and said that most people probably secretly respect him more for having gotten away with it. That was way too cynical for me at the time. Now, not so much. All you have to do is watch one of the ubiquitous reality show competitions (or Wall Street) to see that bending the rules is considered the smart move.

And while it’s true that Republicans whine all the time about Democrats breaking the rules, they do it with a smirk and a wink thereby letting everyone know they are the ones gaming the system. (Do you think they really cared that someone called General Petraeus, General Betrayus? — And doesn’t that seem quaint at this point considering the current level of discourse?)

The Democrats should just eliminate the filibuster and let the Republicans howl. The teabaggers will have a mass aneurysm, of course, babble about revolution and say black helicopters are coming to take the babies away to FEMA camps, but so what? They do that when Obama attends the White House egg rolling ceremony. The Dems should be far less afraid to have that fight than to be seen whining about how the Republicans aren’t playing fair. That’s the main thing people like about them. It shows they are winners.

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Talk Food With Jared Polis

by digby

At 5:00 Howie Klein will be hosting a Blue America live chat at Crooks and Liars with Colorado Rep Jared Polis about a subject near and dear to this blog: food.

Howie writes a bit about the Jamie Oliver experience and then says:

Better than average reality show, sure, but that isn’t why John, Digby and I invited Congressman Jared Polis (D-CO) over for a chat today. We ran into him at a friend’s house about a month ago and we were fascinated by a bill he had introduced, H.R. 4870, the Healthy School Meals Act. He’ll be joining us at Crooks and Liars today at 5pm (PT/6pm, MT) for a discussion of the bill and the ramifications of the obesity epidemic. Epidemic? You bet– and worse. The Pentagon is complaining that the have an exploding manpower shortage based on obesity and it’s actually turning into a serious national security threat. Health care experts, including two former U.S. Surgeons General, said on Wednesday said that obesity has reached epidemic proportions and is a threat to security in the United States and abroad.

“Obesity is not just a health issue,” said Richard Carmona, who served as surgeon general in the George W. Bush administration. Carmona is now with the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent Obesity Alliance (STOP), a coalition of consumer, government, labor, business, and health insurers that advocate “innovative and practical strategies” to combat obesity.

Obesity “affects our national and global security,” said Carmona. He said the U.S. has reached a “tipping point,” at which obesity “now impacts every aspect of our society, including the future of our health system.”

Obesity is crippling individuals and hurting American families, the workforce – even work productivity and the nation’s ability to be prepared for natural and manmade disasters: “When we look at one of the top reasons why young men and women fail to be retained on active duty in our uniformed services, obesity again rises to the forefront at a time when we need them more than ever.”

[…]

And that brings us to Jared’s bill which aims to bring the option of school kids eating some plant-based food at school meals. Jared isn’t a vegan or even a vegetarian. He just wants to make sure that children have a choice, noting that in the past 30 years “the prevalence of overweight in children ages 6 to 19 has tripled and 1 in 5 is struggling with obesity and related conditions like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease, which were previously considered adult diseases.”

His legislation is based on the fact that children consume too much fat, saturated fat and sodium and don’t get enough fiber, whole grains, fruits or vegetables and that research shows that children who eat school-purchased lunches are more likely to be overweight and obese, and less likely to eat enough fruits and vegetables. So what does the bill do? Improves children’s eating patterns by encouraging the inclusion of healthful plant-based options in the National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs.

Introduces plant-based foods to schools, increases their availability and affordability, and provides incentives for schools to provide healthful entree options in the lunch line.

Removes restrictions on providing nondairy milk alternatives with school lunches, thus ensuring that all children receive vital nutrients.

Healthy food for children? What is he, some kind of communist?

Click the link. (There’s a prize involved.)

I also encourage anyone who is interested in this subject to watch Food Inc. It will put this issue in a very different perspective.

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Listening To Rush

by digby

Anyone who doesn’t subscribe to Media Matters’ “Limbaughwire” is missing out on a profoundly important insight into the thinking of a fairly large number of Americans. Here’s a piece of yesterday’s dispatch:

Rush then complained about a school in St. Louis that is sending students to view the Gulf of Mexico oil slick, portraying the students the victims of indoctrinators disguised by educators. Rush then suggested that the Highland Park school can send those kids to the U.S.-Mexico border to see what the real problem is, adding that the problem isn’t Joe Arpaio. Rush later declared that Boston should be added to the boycott list because people allegedly connected to Faisal Shahzad were arrested there on immigration-related charges.

Rush also tore into the cap-and-trade bill introduced by “the haughty John Kerry,” claiming that it will replace cooking stoves in Africa and that the authors of the bill admit it will cause energy prices to skyrocket. Liberals want utility bills to be so high you won’t use them, he said, because they want to control you. Rush then claimed that liberals’ focus on debunking the discredited rumors about Elena Kagan’s supposed sexual orientation is about baiting GOP senators to say something about it in order to paint them as bigots. Apparently, portraying Kagan as a “Chaz Bono lookalike” does not constitute focusing on her sexual orientation as far as Rush is concerned.

At one point Rush took a call from a man who ranted that Obama doesn’t acknowledge white people, that Democrats favor Muslims and minorities, and that Obama won’t send troops to Arizona to enforce immigration laws because he’ll be perceived by Hispanics as “sending whitey” down there. Rush didn’t interrupt the caller’s rant, and when the caller asked Rush if his rant was too extreme, Rush responded, “you’re right down the line.” Rush got upset only when the caller said that Republicans weren’t doing anything to oppose the Obama agenda. Rush also read at length from an attack on Obama and Kagan by The American Spectator’s Quin Hillyer, which begins, “Who the hell does Barack Obama, this morally preening, arrogant hypocrite, think he is?” Rush then ridiculed Miss America contestants who claimed they wanted to “make a difference,” adding, “Hitler made a difference.”

Chris Matthews issued a challenge this week to any Republican who is willing to come on his show and say that Limbaugh is wrong. He has had no takers.

Every elected Republican is scared of this man and that should scare everyone else.

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Real Americans Love Racial Profiling

by digby

Chuck Todd subbing for Chris Matthews:

“There’s growing evidence that Americans are willing to put up with racial profiling if it means their safety.”

What do you mean “Americans” white man? I suspect Hispanic Americans, African Americans and Arab Americans tend to see their “safety” in slightly different terms.

But then they aren’t Real Americans, are they?

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Depending On Conscience

by digby

Krugman makes a good point about why libertarianism doesn’t work:

Thinking about BP and the Gulf: in this old interview, Milton Friedman says that there’s no need for product safety regulation, because corporations know that if they do harm they’ll be sued.

Interviewer: So tort law takes care of a lot of this .. Friedman: Absolutely, absolutely.

Meanwhile, in the real world: In the wake of last month’s catastrophic Gulf Coast oil spill, Sen. Lisa Murkowski blocked a bill that would have raised the maximum liability for oil companies after a spill from a paltry $75 million to $10 billion.

The funny thing is that the same people who believe we should rely on tort law also push “tort reform” which essentially guts it.

This exposes one of the great problems with libertarian thought. First, it assumes that people are rational in the first place. And then it assumes that people who are rational care about preserving the system as much as they care about getting theirs.

This fundamental misunderstanding of human nature is what led Oracle Greenspan to find himself gobsmacked at the age of 80 by the Wall Street melt down. It just never occurred to him that rational people would kill the golden goose — even though they had already hoarded enough goose eggs to keep them and their heirs sitting pretty for centuries.

Are they supposed to “care” about what happens to other people? Gosh, what would Ayn Rand say about that?

As Krugman dryly notes:

And don’t say that we just need better politicians. If libertarianism requires incorruptible politicians to work, it’s not serious.

I’d say the same thing is true of unfettered free markets: if libertarianism requires responsible businessmen, it’s not serious either.

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Clap Louder

by digby

McChrystal Says Despite Progress in Afghanistan, ‘Nobody is Winning’

What would constitute winning?

GENERAL STANLEY MCCHRYSTAL: I think it’s very — our success is very dependent upon the people believing in the future.

Now, they don’t have to believe that the government that they have today is perfect. What they have to believe is that the government we are working towards is better than what an alternative would be. They have to believe in the future. And, therefore, they have to support that progress to it.

Their government will be challenged for many years, like governments are around the world. Their security will be challenged. But, if they believe in the future, they believe that they can make it better, and that this government and this constitution and this security force apparatus that they are creating along with their partnership with the coalition, and particularly the United States, is something that leads to a better future, then their support becomes strong. And that’s the key point.

Oh God.

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Our Brave Representatives

by tristero

The main difference between the two parties seems to be this: While Republicans in Congress are blithering idiots, Democrats are both blithering idiots and very easily frightened.

Pathetic.

The Jack Bauer Republicans

by digby

We are a constitutional, self-governing republic that has decided to torture. Period. It would be good if we could look ourselves in the face and admit it to ourselves. At the very least, we could give ourselves a break from our own tattered sanctimony. Charles Pierce

And now it looks like some people want to elect war criminals. And I’m, not talking about those who ordered it from afar. Benjamin Sarlin reports:

Call them the Jack Bauer Republicans.

Two Iraq veterans who left the military after surviving charges of crimes against detainees are running credible campaigns for Congress. And far from minimizing the incidents, both candidates have put the accusations front and center in their campaigns, attracting rock-star adulation from conservatives nationwide in the process. But critics, including human-rights activists, veterans, and now even defeated primary opponents, warn that their records should disqualify them from office.

Last week, Ilario Pantano won the Republican nomination in North Carolina’s 7th District, setting up a challenge to incumbent Democrat Rep. Mike McIntyre in November. In 2001, immediately following the 9/11 terror attacks, Pantano, a veteran who had previously fought in the Gulf War, left his career as a successful producer and media consultant in his native Manhattan to rejoin the Marines and was eventually deployed to Iraq. In April 2004, Pantano killed two unarmed Iraqi detainees, twice unloading his gun into their bodies and firing between 50 and 60 shots in total. Afterward, he placed a sign over the corpses featuring the Marines’ slogan “No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy” as a message to the local population.

[…]

Pantano said that he acted in self-defense and that the two suspects were charging at him, but the military accused him of premeditated murder. The case became an international news story and Pantano’s defense a popular cause for conservatives. In 2005, military prosecutors dropped the charges, in part because a key witness’s testimony could not be corroborated.

Funny how the only time the right reveres the legal system’s protections is when it’s protecting war criminals. Indeed, the article goes on to say that he’s actually running on the incident, making it the center of his campaign. But then, he’s considered something of a “good guy” by people as disparate as Michelle Malkin, James Carville and Jon Stewart.

His defeated primary opponent, also an Iraq war vet, is so offended by the whitewash that he’s continuing to speak out against him:

“I’ve taken prisoners in Iraq and there’s no excuse for what he did,” Breazeale told The Daily Beast. “To shoot two unarmed prisoners 60 times and put a sign over their dead bodies is inexcusable.

In case you wonder whether this guy might just be a “good guy” yourself, it’s important to keep in mind that he was “inspired” to run for office because of calls to prosecute people for torture:

“For someone who lived through what I lived through, that was very personal to me,” Pantano said. “The idea of people being prosecuted for doing their jobs in what is in fact a war—it struck me that members of Congress were being disingenuous. What our men and women were doing in enhanced interrogations was not torture and the prospect of investigations smacked of politics.”

And then there’s this fine fellow:

Retired Lt. Col. Allen West, running in Florida’s 22nd District to replace Democratic Rep. Ron Klein … West was forced to retire from the Army and fined $5,000 after he admitted to apprehending an Iraqi policeman he suspected of planning an ambush, watching as his troops beat him, and then firing a gunshot by the Iraqi’s head in order to scare him into divulging information. West said the decision saved lives by preventing an ambush. But no plot was ever discovered and the policeman in question later told The New York Times that he had no knowledge of any attacks.

Such an incident might be a source of shame for some officers. But not for West, who has developed a superstar following among Republicans by portraying himself as a real-life Jack Bauer.

“You might recall that in 2003, I made the decision where I sacrificed my military career for the lives of my men,” he was quoted in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel as saying in a 2007 campaign speech—his first bid for the Florida House seat, which he lost. ”I will sacrifice every ounce of me to be your next congressman.”

In endorsing him via her Facebook page in March, Sarah Palin described West as “a decorated war hero who’s served with distinction in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.” As Palin notes, a video of one of West’s speeches has garnered over 2 million views on YouTube. His national popularity has brought him floods of cash; he raised $677,586 in the last reported quarter versus just $330,140 for the incumbent Klein.

Alan West is a big favorite among the Ron Paul followers.

Stacy Sullivan, a counterterrorism adviser for Human Rights Watch, tied the candidates’ popularity to broader trends.

“It’s very disturbing because it indicates that we have a culture that not only condones, but rewards detainee abuse,” she said in an email.

Pete Hegseth, executive director of Vets for Freedom, a conservative group that backs veterans who support the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and has endorsed both candidates, told the Beast that he thought West and Pantano had backgrounds that resonate well with voters.

“Both Allen West and Ilario Pantano were courageous warriors on the battlefield who did what they felt needed to be done to protect their troops and accomplish their mission,” he said. “They’re not traditional rank-and-file politicians who follow the path of last resistance, so in that sense I think it does make them appealing.

Hey, it’s not like the government isn’t already filled with war criminals. But I think this may be the first time in a century or so that people actually run for office touting their crimes. They’re not even pretending to be decent anymore.

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Can It Be?

by digby

If the Dems are paying attention surely they realize now that Financial Reform is a political winner and that they should beat the Republicans about the head and shoulders with their votes against it. (Uhm, yeah.)

Huge pieces of this package are passing with bipartisan support, including the Durbin interchange fees amendment this afternoon. Of course, the biggie — the Consumer Financial Protection Agency — remains along with the Lincoln derivatives amendment (subject to primary outcome apparently) and Merkley-Levin. So it’s not over yet. Still, the Senate voted down John Thune’s amendment to sunset the CFPA (perhaps because it was completely idiotic — but that’s never stopped them before.)

This is really excellent news for the ability of a tiny bit of reason to find its way into politics in the middle of a systemic meltdown. It’s not really all that much, but it’s something — and it’s obviously politically potent enough that they were able to break the Republican obstructionist strategy for the first time. It’s true that except for the Audit the Fed vote which passed unanimously, only a handful have voted with the Dems, but it’s enough to make it more than a Maine token vote. And that makes it a perfect tool to hammer the Republicans who voted against it in the fall campaign. Well played, Democrats (and for once I’m not being facetious.)

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Virtually Speaking

by digby

Virtually speaking is hosting a fun “cage match” tonight between Republican Jon Henke and Democrat Cliff Schecter at 6PDT and 9EDT.

Give it a listen:

Listen to Virtually Speaking on Blog Talk Radio

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