Month: April 2012

The awful repercussions of “Stand Your Ground”

by David Atkins

The shooting of Trayvon Martin has justifiably put a focus on the insanity of “Stand Your Ground” gun laws. With reports in that George Zimmerman is in custody and will be charged with 2nd-degree murder leading to a raft of right-wing outrage, it’s important to remember that the Right’s rush to defend Zimmerman comes not only out of racial resentment, but out of a fear that these Wild West gun laws might be re-examined.

CNN has done stories focusing on other problematic cases in which Stand Your Ground has played a role. One of more troubling may be the recent shootings in Tulsa:

One possible motive that has been raised in the Tulsa Good Friday shooting spree, which left three dead and two critically wounded, is the 2010 killing of suspect Jacob England‘s father, Carl England, allegedly by Pernell Jefferson. Reporting on that 2010 incident has been unclear, but a review of contemporaneous news accounts and court records show echoes and shadows of the killing of Trayvon Martin, including an apparent connection to the “Stand Your Ground” laws that Martin’s case has put into focus.

Jacob England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 37, were arrested Sunday for a Good Friday shooting spree that left 3 people dead, and two critically wounded. All of the victims were black people, and Jacob England’s Facebook page contained a message, posted Thursday, which read “Today is two years that my dad has been gone, shot by a fucking ni**er.”

Coming, as it does, in the midst of a media firestorm over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the Tulsa shootings are sure to become part of the heated national dialogue on race and justice. The 2010 shooting of Jacob England’s father is likely to figure prominently in that discussion.

The alleged perpetrator’s father was shot after a violent confrontation that left him dead. The shooter received a light six-year sentence rather than the much more serious charges that would have entailed without Oklahoma’s Stand Your Ground law:

Pernell Jefferson was charged with First Degree Attempted Burglary and felony firearms possession. He pleaded not guilty, and those charges are still pending. On May 27, 2010, he was sentenced to a term of 6 years in prison for violating the terms of a suspended sentence on an earlier conviction for Felonious Pointing of a Weapon, a sentence he’s still serving. He’s scheduled for trial on the weapons and attempted burglary charges in May.

Still unclear from the reporting is how that initial scuffle started, but from there, the sequence is that Jefferson was hit with a baseball bat, tried to break into the apartment, then left after issuing a threat to go get a gun and “settle the dispute.” Carl England and Damien Neal went looking for Pernell Jefferson, England attacked him, and Jefferson shot England. Despite his earlier threats, police apparently determined that Jefferson acted in self-defense, and charged him, instead, with the weapons charge and the attempted break-in.

Oklahoma enacted a “Stand Your Ground” law in 2006, without which Pernell Jefferson probably would have been charged for the shooting. Rather than shooting England, Jefferson could have run away, called the police, fired a warning shot, or simply brandished the weapon at him. Under Stand Your Ground, though, he had “no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another or to prevent the commission of a forcible felony.”

There may be little in America today that is doing more damage to race relations in the U.S. than these murderous gun laws. Perhaps if racist whites began to understand that they’re the ones getting shot, too, things might change. But I wouldn’t count on it: a lot of these people are eager for a racial shooting war to start so that they can “solve America’s problems.” As my delightful gun-owner next door neighbor once said to me, “If we’d only sent them all back to Africa after the Civil War, we wouldn’t have all these problems today.” I have no doubt what he thinks the proper solution is now, and I’m certain these controversies aren’t unwelcome for guys like him.

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The Call to conservatism

by digby

When I was researching those pretty young female Santorum fans, I came across quite a bit of talk about this. Just as Roger Ailes recognized that the wingnuts needed good looking women to front their retrograde, throwback ideology, the anti-abortion crusade has made a change:

I’m happy to report that the new face of the anti-abortion movement is much less unpleasant looking. In fact, it’s downright photogenic, pleasant, and rock concerty — which makes it even scarier.

Dallas Observer staff writer Anna Merlan attended a 3,000-lady-strong rally called The Esther Call, a revival-style gathering for young women who believe that God is the sort of dude who unleashes tornadoes that destroy entire towns as a kind of cute way to say “wassup” to people at pro life rock concert/church services. Led by a charismatic, tight tee shirt-wearing, guitar strumming dude named Lou Engle, the anti-abortion protest/church service looked a lot like a new breed of anti-abortion rally, characterized by concert-style lighting in a feminine pink, speaking in tongues, crying in the mosh pit, and proclamations that the wrath of a vengeful God is going to rain down on America because abortions. But first, before you’re cast into hell, Lou Engle and the gang are going to pray for you in a fun, free-form concert-style setting with cool youthy music. It’s like Coachella, if the point of Coachella was to take away women’s access to both abortion and legalized birth control. Coochella.

Lou Engle is a familiar religious right huckster, who has modeled “The Esther Call” on his simpler, universal “The Call”. It’s smart marketing:

Here’s the pitch:

Back to Life is a young women’s movement fashioned to awaken America’s conscience to the injustices of abortion by amplifying the female voice. Growing at unprecedented levels, the abortion industry has a longstanding, twisted pattern of wounding millions of women. Abortion has killed 54,000,000 fellow Americans, and this issue must be called to national accountability. No longer leaving things to politicians, lawyers or previous generations, our vision as young women is to carry the part of this battle which is ours.

Preemptive Strategy
“As young women, we will carry the part of this battle which is ours.”
In response to this corruption, a select group of young women from all over America will undoubtedly capture the nation’s attention as they send a message of sacrifice and commitment to assure the abortion industry and it’s supporters that there are still young women in this nation who believe in the right to life. We believe that the Lord has given us a preemptive strategy on the cusp of a milestone in American history––the 40th anniversary of Roe v Wade––as we engage in a purposeful and sacrificial pilgrimage between two key national abortion landmarks across Texas, focusing on a time when our country once protected life.

The Fight For Life
The fight for life in America has existed longer than these young women’s lives. It’s fueled legislation, roused heated debates, and continues to divide our country. Rather than be overwhelmed against the mammoth injustice of abortion, Back to Life creates opportunities for the voices of these young women to be heard. They are lodged in the middle of a tug of war; 58% of total abortions in our nation are from the demographic of 20-something women; the abortion industry is specifically targeting them, and they are responding by sending a message of life in their generation.

Note how they switch back and forth between the voice of authority and the voices of the “young women” themselves. They didn’t even notice.

So, what does this mean? Who knows? There has been a strong youth component to the forced childbirth movement for a long time. You have seen this many times, I’m sure:

And this bloggingheads featuring Sarah Posner and Matt Anderson author of the book Earthen Vessels (which he describes as a theology of the body for evangelicals) explains why it’s a problem:

All the outreach in the world isn’t going to bring young evangelicals into the Democratic Party as long as it’s committed to protecting a woman’s right to abortion. This issue is ground zero for evangelicals, especially the young and idealistic ones.

I wish I could say that this would stop the Democrats from trying to find the illusory “common ground” but it won’t. In fact, I have little doubt that many in the leadership would be more than happy to completely cave on the issue at the earliest possible moment — and are waiting patiently for the day when the country is sufficiently worn down and indoctrinated that they are able to do it without too much resistance. I sense that plenty of liberals are already tired of hearing about this.(Don’t think it can’t happen — I watched liberals cave on the death penalty and gun control.)

If I had to game this out, I’d see a gradual capitulation on abortion rights in trade offs to protect birth control. Two front wars are always tough to fight.

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Job Creators

by digby

They used to say that the money wealthy people spent would trickle down to everyone else, but nobody was really buying it. I’m not sure anyone’s buying this either:

“Let’s define rich,” Scarborough suggested. “So, what’s the cutoff? Is it $500,000?”

“I don’t even want to get into what the cutoff is because I don’t think we should get into this definition,” Ryan said. “But I’m not going to give you what I think is a rich person and what I think is not a rich person because you have to look at the fact that these are job creators.”

As I was reminded earlier today, even poor Americans are richer than 98% of the rest of the world. By that measure, we’re all rich.

But within the US it’s not hard at all to figure out who has most of the money:

And as for the “job creators” well, I happen to have a rich person right here to tell you all about it:

It is a tenet of American economic beliefs, and an article of faith for Republicans that is seldom contested by Democrats: If taxes are raised on the rich, job creation will stop.

Trouble is, sometimes the things that we know to be true are dead wrong. For the larger part of human history, for example, people were sure that the sun circles the Earth and that we are at the center of the universe. It doesn’t, and we aren’t. The conventional wisdom that the rich and businesses are our nation’s “job creators” is every bit as false.

I’m a very rich person. As an entrepreneur and venture capitalist, I’ve started or helped get off the ground dozens of companies in industries including manufacturing, retail, medical services, the Internet and software. I founded the Internet media company aQuantive Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp. in 2007 for $6.4 billion. I was also the first non-family investor in Amazon.com Inc.

Even so, I’ve never been a “job creator.” I can start a business based on a great idea, and initially hire dozens or hundreds of people. But if no one can afford to buy what I have to sell, my business will soon fail and all those jobs will evaporate.

That’s why I can say with confidence that rich people don’t create jobs, nor do businesses, large or small. What does lead to more employment is the feedback loop between customers and businesses. And only consumers can set in motion a virtuous cycle that allows companies to survive and thrive and business owners to hire. An ordinary middle-class consumer is far more of a job creator than I ever have been or ever will be.

This brings us right back to the increasingly obvious fact that Randroids like Paul Ryan simply can’t be entrusted with the nation’s financial decisions. They don’t understand (or care) how democratic capitalism works — and they’re going to kill it.

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My experience of earlier recessions has always been that it takes people a good 18 months to 2 years before they believe it’s really over. I don’t know if it’s shorthand for “crappy economy” or if it’s just that it takes that long for people to shift their perceptions, but people never seem to agree that a recession is over until long after it’s technically passed. It can be a big problem for politicians, (especially when they’ve cried “green shoots” multiple times and unemployment is still high.)

In any case, this result from the latest NBC/WaPo doesn’t surprise me:

4. Do you think the country’s (economic recession is over), or do you think the (economy is still in a recession)?

Recession is over — 21%
Still in recession — 76%
No opinion — 4%

West told almost 100 Floridians in Palm City on Tuesday that “he’s heard” as many as 80 Democrats in Congress are members of the Communist Party, according to the Palm Beach Post.

The freshman Republican, an outspoken conservative and Tea Party favorite, is a longtime critic of the Democratic Party…

West has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick for the 2012 Republican nominee. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley ( R) called him a “good” choice. Sarah Palin has also spoken highly of him.

Update: Oh this is even better than I thought:

“I believe there are about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party: It’s called the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” West said at an event Tuesday, according to a partial YouTube video and his campaign manager, Tim Edson, who was there. West was responding to a question: “What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists or International Socialists?”

“He stands by his words,” Edson said. But Edson and West’s office clarified what he meant.

“The Congressman was referring to the 76 members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus,” West Communications Director Angela Melvin said in a statement to Roll Call. “The Communist Party has publicly referred to the Progressive Caucus as its allies. The Progressive Caucus speaks for itself. These individuals certainly aren’t proponents of free markets or individual economic freedom.”

A call to the Communist Party USA was answered by a woman who gave her name as Esther. Asked about West’s comments, she said, “That’s the most ridiculous statement I’ve ever heard.”

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Le Nouveau Riche n’Oblige Pas

by David Atkins

I must confess that I haven’t read or even looked at Chris Hayes’ new book yet, so I may be shortchanging or mischaracterizing his argument. If so, I’ll be back with some copious meae culpae. But from my brief perusal of his own interviews and the reviews, it would seem that Hayes’ thesis complements something that I’ve been thinking for a while ever since reading this article in the Atlantic about plutocracy, but haven’t written much about for fear of needing to explain my position with too many caveats or for fear of being taken out of context. The idea is the disturbing notion that the breaking down of blue blood rigidity, and the comparative ease of the rise of a new global class of nouveau riche may have the horrible unintended consequence of an even more out-of-touch and entitled group of individuals than the blue bloods they replaced.

This is not to say that old school plutocrats are angels by any stretch of the imagination, or that there aren’t some fine liberal philanthropists to be found among the new rich. But at least with blue bloods, most people (including, even at a base subconscious level, among the blue bloods themselves) understood that they hadn’t actually earned their wealth. Inherited wealth came with noblesse oblige, the notion that those born into privilege were obligated share the wealth. It was understood by a significant section of society at least since the Great Depression if not before that wealth begat more wealth, that social mobility was limited, and that the wealthy were obligated to the rest of the nation to ensure that the social order was generally kept.

The few new rich who won the lottery of the IPO economy, by contrast, feel that they earned that money, dammit (regardless of how many of their similarly talented fellow entrepreneurs didn’t quite hit the jackpot for one reason or another), and that they don’t owe anyone else a damn thing. Add to this the fact that a high proportion of those who are most successful in rising to the top of the business ladder tend to be sociopaths or have sociopathic tendencies, and we have the perfect recipe for an Ayn Rand renaissance, and a society with less compassion than seen in Rockefeller’s day.

Let me put it another way: I think you’d have an easier time trying to convince Paris Hilton of the need for her to pay a higher tax rate, than you would David Koch. Paris Hilton and her ilk would understand at a certain level that her wealth wasn’t exactly something she could morally keep all to herself at the expense of society, while David Koch ironically labors under the illusion that whatever wealth he managed to extract from society was his by right. The economic explosion of the mid-19th century due to the expansion of the West created a similar class of nouveau riche sociopaths, and it took a good 50 years for the country to recover from the collective damage they did.

None of this is to say that economic mobility even at the highest levels is a negative thing, or that we’d necessarily be better off under the thumb of Baron Howard Whittlethorpe the Fourth. But it is to say that of all the classes of people in the world, it may well be that the nouveau riche are among the most to be feared at an organizational and societal level as a general rule, individuals among them to be excepted as usual. For it’s the nouveau riche who tend to be the most entitled and most ruthless of all.

As a matter of public policy, if any part of this thesis has merit it means that societies with major economic mobility at the upper end of the income scales must make all the more certain to have economic protections in place for the poor and middle class, because the nouveau riche are potentially even likelier to attempt to predate on them and resent their less fortunate fellows than are the generationally wealthy.

Update: A number have written, correctly, to inform me that the Koch brothers did inherit millions. Still, read the whole Atlantic article to get a sense of the attitudes of so many of the self-made rich…

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Buy this book

We’re killing ourselves, Volume XXIII

by digby

Barbara O’Brien of Mahablog asked if I would re-post this article for my readers. It’s sobering.

Experts Forecast Global “Catastrophe of Death and Disease” From Asbestos Use
by Gary Cohn

Asia is heading for a huge jump in asbestos-related diseases in the coming decades, according to numerous scientific studies and two of the world’s most prominent experts on public health and asbestos exposure. Not surprisingly, the consequences are expected to be felt most severely in India and China, two emerging economies and most populous countries in the world.

“What we can expect is very predictable – an absolute catastrophe of death and disease,” Dr. Arthur Frank, chairman of environmental and occupational health at Drexel University, said in a recent interview with this reporter. He added that the coming catastrophe is “all preventable.”

“What we can expect is very predictable – an absolute catastrophe of death and disease”
– Dr. Arthur Frank, Chairman of Environmental and Occupational Health, Drexel University

Frank’s cautionary words parallel numerous scientific studies and expert predictions forecasting a surge in mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases in Asia in the coming decades. This is primarily because India, China, and other countries on the continent continue to use – or in some cases, even increase – their dependence on asbestos for cheap roofing insulation, in cement, and other widespread applications.

Another expert, Dr. Amir Attaran, a scientist, lawyer and acknowledged expert on global health issues, said that the consequences of continued heavy use of asbestos will be felt particularly hard in India, a growing nation of 1.2 billion people with few limits or controls on the use of asbestos.

“It’s a scientific failure, a clinical failure, and a social and moral failure of India. It is a failure of culture and science”
-Dr. Amir Attaran

When asked about the consequences of the country’s widespread use of asbestos, Attaran, a leader in the fight to stop exports of the material to Third World countries, quickly replied: “In disease terms, incalculable. India has no public health controls. They will pay dearly for this with an epidemic of mesothelioma.”

“It’s a scientific failure, a clinical failure, and a social and moral failure of India. It is a failure of culture and science,” Attaran added.

Asbestos and Asia

Asbestos has historically been used as cheap insulation material in construction, ships and cars. In the United States and Europe, it has been banned for most uses because of its clear-cut links to mesothelioma and other diseases, but it is still widely used in Asia and other nations because it is effective, yet relatively inexpensive. In Asia, it is used primarily for cheap roofing insulation, and in cement and power plants. The health hazard of exposure is compounded by the fact that Asian workers often toil in factories with poor ventilation.

A few Asian nations, such as Japan and South Korea, have banned asbestos, but they are the exceptions.

In recent years, numerous studies have documented the anticipated rise in mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases over the next several decades in Asia. One recent study, in the Journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, said that Asia, with its large, developing countries, currently accounts for about 64% of the world’s asbestos use. This represents a steady increase — the continent accounted for a 33% share from 1971 to 2000, and 14% from 1920 to 1970.

Medical experts say that it generally takes people 20 to 50 years after exposure to asbestos to develop mesothelioma and other asbestos-related diseases. This timetable clearly forecasts that Asia’s current rate of usage is likely to lead to a huge hike in asbestos-related diseases in the coming decades.

An Asbestos Tsunami

Ken Takahashi, the lead author and acting director of the World Health Organization Collaborative Center for Occupational Health, has said that Asia can anticipate an “asbestos tsunami,” in the coming decades. In response, WHO has identified asbestos as one of the most dangerous occupational carcinogens in the world, and says there is an urgent need to stop asbestos use in order to curtail the enormous associated health damages.

An estimated 107,000 people worldwide die each year from asbestos-related diseases, a number that will continue to grow if efforts to curb its usage fail.

While already substantial, this assessment is probably low, according to leading public-health experts, as it is difficult to categorically track deaths from asbestos-related diseases in Asia because India, China and other countries do not to keep reliable data on them.

In recent years, some Asian nations, including Japan and South Korea, have banned or limited asbestos use. But in most other Asian nations, most significantly India and China, the use of asbestos has continued with little or no regulation or oversight. (This reporter got a first-hand view of the problem in the late 1990s whileinvestigating India’s notorious shipbreaking facilities in Alang, where thousands of unprotected workers worked on large, retired vessels with high asbestos content).

Many public health experts, such as Frank of Drexel University, have called for a ban on asbestos exports to Asia. Last year, Frank led a group of 120 medical doctors and other health professionals in a campaign to stop Canada from exporting asbestos to developing nations. Canada, which has largely banned asbestos for domestic use, is the second-largest exporter of asbestos to Asia, behind only Russia.

In an appeal to Canadian medical experts, Frank and his colleagues warned that Canada is morally obligated to consider the “enormous harm to health for generations,” if the exports continue – a plea that so far has gone unheeded.

In the recent interview, Frank reiterated the urgency to stop developed nations such as Canada from exporting asbestos to the Third World, along with the need for Asian nations to ban asbestos and start using available non-lethal substitutes.

“What needs to be done is very simple,” Frank told me. “They should stop using asbestos in Asia.”

However, this is unlikely to happen as long as established countries continue to chase the profits from exporting the carcinogen. “Canada is the world’s biggest hypocrite when it comes to asbestos,” said Frank. “It is taking it (asbestos) out of Parliament buildings but willing to sell it overseas.”

Next up: The hypocrisy of asbestos-exporting nations. Canada, for example, has banned the use of asbestos domestically and is scheduled to begin a $1 billion renovation project to clean its parliamentary buildings of asbestos this summer. Yet Canada remains one of the world’s biggest exporters of asbestos to the Third World.

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Who are these “other people” (besides men) you speak of?

by digby

It’s hard to believe that guy was accused of sexual harrassment, what with his over whelming respect for women and all.

By the way, this piece by Stuart Rothenberg indicates that Romney doesn’t just have huge problems with women, but with “other people” as well.

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Torture dispatch: Fresno edition

FRESNO, Calif. (CN) – Fresno police drowned a man by Tasering and hogtying him, then sticking a garden hose “onto (his) face and mouth” when he pleaded for water, the man’s two children claim in Federal Court.

The two minor children, I.R. and H.R., claim that in the summer of 2011 Fresno police restrained their father, Raul Rosas, at a friend’s house while responding to a domestic disturbance call.

The children say their father was not armed and “had not committed a crime.”

After an altercation with a John Doe officer, police pepper-sprayed Rosas and then Tasered him a “countless number of times,” the complaint states.

The children claim their father was Tasered “for eight to ten more minutes,” then he was “hogtied with his ankles tied to his handcuffs behind his back.”

The complaint continues: “Decedent was then slammed onto a table in the residence’s backyard face down. An officer was observed with his knee on decedent’s back while decedent was hogtied, handcuffed, and face down.

“Decedent stated that he couldn’t breathe and that he needed water; an officer ran water from a hose onto decedent’s face and mouth to the point of making it more difficult for decedent to breathe. Decedent tried to move his mouth away from the water and gasp for air. A witness yelled ‘He can’t breathe, you’re drowning him,’ but the officer continued running water over decedent’s face.

“After turning the water off, the Doe Officer(s) continued to press his knee against decedent’s back and continued to put pressure on it. Witnesses repeatedly asked officers to let decedent get up because he couldn’t breathe, but their cries for help were ignored.

“By now there were in excess of 15 deputies and officers on the scene.

“After some time passed, decedent had clear spit bubbles coming out of his mouth.

“Witnesses yelled at officers that decedent was not breathing and pointed to the clear spit bubbles but again were ignored. Doe officer claimed decedent was ‘faking it.'”

“Officers, after much pleading from witnesses, checked decedent’s pulse and discovered he had stopped breathing after not feeling anything when they touched decedent’s neck.

“Decedent had his handcuffs taken off and was untied and placed on his back on the ground. After some time had passed, an officer started doing chest compressions but none of the officers administered mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the decedent. Ultimately a witness at the scene administered CPR to decedent.

“Some time later, an ambulance arrived and took over trying to revive decedent.”

I’m pretty sure this what Dick Cheney would call a “no-brainer” when the authorities are dealing with somebody who gives them lip. Or whenever they need to.

If this is all true, you have to give them credit. It is a truly innovative torture regime employing pepper spray, electro-shock, hog-tying and water torture. I wonder where they came up with the idea?

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