Month: December 2013

Professional journamalism

by digby

I get the sense that certain members of the press think Glenn Greenwald is very odd for responding to an MSNBC host’s question about whether he defends Edward Snowden’s actions this way:

Greenwald: “Sure. I do defend him just like people on MSNBC defend President Obama and his officials 24 hours a day.

Host Kristen Walker: “Not everyone on MSNBC does that 24 hours a day.

Greenwald: “No, not everybody, but a lot of people on MSNBC do. Sure, I don’t make any bones about the fact that I consider what Edward Snowden did to be quite heroic, just like I consider what Chelsea Manning did, Daniel Ellsberg, one of my political heroes. I as a journalist am grateful when people sacrifice their own interest to come forward and bring transparency to the United States government. That to me is what journalism is about and we need that in the United States. I absolutely do defend what Edward Snowden does and I don’t pretend otherwise.”

I’m sure that most journalists understand what Greenwald was saying there. After all, there have been journalists who went to jail rather than reveal their sources, which would be the most self-sacrificing defense any reporter could make. It’s right there in the job description. (And it’s quite different than “defending” the powerful, institutional players in Washington who use their positions to dishonestly manipulate policy the way, say, Judy Miller, did.)

I don’t know this for sure, of course, but if Edward Snowden had not revealed his identity, does anyone doubt that the journalists to whom he gave his material would have gone to jail to protect his identity if they’d had to? I don’t. I suspect that Gellman, Greenwald and Poitras would have all done time rather than reveal him if he had chosen to stay anonymous. Snowden spared them that by coming forward, so it’s actually even less surprising than it might have been otherwise that the reporters would openly defend him. After all, they are working with highly respectable, legitimate news organizations full of editors, legal advisors and experts to vet the material. Any professional journalist would defend his source in such a situation.

Wouldn’t he?

Holiday fundraiser:

Iraq’s endless birth pangs

by digby

Well, this certainly portends good tidings for the new year:

The United States is quietly rushing dozens of Hellfire missiles and low-tech surveillance drones to Iraq to help government forces combat an explosion of violence by a Qaeda-backed insurgency that is gaining territory in both western Iraq and neighboring Syria.

The move follows an appeal for help in battling the extremist group by the Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, who met with President Obama in Washington last month.

But some military experts question whether the patchwork response will be sufficient to reverse the sharp downturn in security that already led to the deaths of more than 8,000 Iraqis this year, 952 of them Iraqi security force members, according to the United Nations, the highest level of violence since 2008.

Al Qaeda’s regional affiliate, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, has become a potent force in northern and western Iraq. Riding in armed convoys, the group has intimidated towns, assassinated local officials, and in an episode last week, used suicide bombers and hidden explosives to kill the commander of the Iraqi Army’s Seventh Division and more than a dozen of his officers and soldiers as they raided a Qaeda training camp near Rutbah.

Just what the country needs. Hellfire missiles.

What an excellent reminder as we go into 2014. We are not superheroes. We do not have super powers, even though we are a superpower. It’s a sad fact that we cannot right all the wrongs in the world. It’s a crime that we commit so many of them ourselves. And it’s a tragedy that most of the time, even when our intentions are good, we are so big that we are a bull in a china shop, making things worse.

I don’t know when those “birth pangs” of the Iraq democracy are finally going to end, but George W. Bush was probably right when he said we’ll all be dead before we know how it comes out. Unfortunately, so will a lot of kids who deserved better.

Holiday fundraiser:

What the hell am I going to do with all this turkey?

by digby

The perennial question for anyone who’s cooked the big bird.

This is what you should make tomorrow. It’s easy and will detox you from your egg noggy overindulgence:

Turkey Gumbo, cher!

4 stalks celery, chopped
3 small yellow onions, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cup good olive oil
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
16 ounces andouille sausage, sliced into thin rounds
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
8 to 10 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth, as needed
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/4 cup hot sauce (or as much as you want…)
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons kosher salt, as needed
1 1/4 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper, as needed
4 cups pulled cooked turkey meat, skin removed

In a food processor, combine 1/4 cup chopped celery, 1/4 cup chopped onion, and 1/4 cup chopped green bell pepper. Process until smooth.

Pour 3/4 cup of the olive oil in a heavy medium saucepan or Dutch oven, add the flour, and place over moderate heat. Cook the mixture, stirring slowly and constantly, until the roux is dark brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Add the puréed vegetables, and stir to combine. Cover and reserve.

In a heavy large pot over moderate heat, warm the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Add the andouille sausage and sauté, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the red bell pepper, along with the remaining green bell pepper, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until just soft and brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining celery and onions, along with the garlic, and sauté, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 8 cups of chicken stock, along with the thyme, cayenne pepper, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and the reserved roux, whisking as needed to dissolve the roux in the liquid.

Bring the gumbo to a boil, stirring frequently, then reduce the heat to low, season the gumbo with salt and pepper, and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about 15 minutes. (The gumbo should have the consistency of chowder. If it thickens too much as it simmers, add additional stock; if it’s too thin, in a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and 3 tablespoons oil and gradually add this mixture to the gumbo, simmering the mixture for a few minutes between additions, until the desired consistency is reached.) Add the turkey meat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the turkey is heated through, about 5 minutes. Serve hot, over rice if you prefer.

It’s all about da roux, cher.

Enjoy!

Holiday fundraiser:

If anyone wants to send something via snail mail, the address is on the column on the left.

The godless atheist on Christmas

by digby

…. came though with a lovely universal message:

And yet super-mom Sarah Palin insist that non-believers are just ruining everything ….

Holiday fundraiser:

If anyone wants to send something via snail mail, the address is on the column on the left.

Revealing QOTD

by digby

None other than the word salad queen talking about the true meaning of Christmas:

LOPEZ: Do you worry about gifts at Christmas? That they miss the point of the holiday? How can we redeem Christmas so it is about the Savior?

PALIN: Nope. I don’t worry about gifts — I love that part of the tradition! When people wring their hands about the presents, I get it, though. It costs money and sometimes people aren’t as thankful as you think they should be when you spend your time and money on them. But presents aren’t the problem. Our hearts — as ungrateful as they sometimes are — need a fresh application of the gospel at Christmas more than ever.

You betcha! From a Christian perspective the main problem with the rampant consumerism and materialism of Christmas these days is that people aren’t grateful enough for how much time and money you spent on them.

You can look it up. In the gospel.

Holiday fundraiser:

If anyone wants to send something via snail mail, the address is on the column on the left.

The Christmas truce

by digby

If there’s one thing that perfectly illustrates the total insanity of war, it’s the Christmas truce of WWI. In the middle of one of the bloodiest, meat-grinding wars in history, they took the day off to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace.

This is from a cache of letters sent home from the front:

THE WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS IN THE TRENCHES: Sergt. A. Lovell, A Company, 3rd Rifle Brigade, writing to relatives at Walthamstow, on Christmas Day, says:

“Christmas Day! The most wonderful day on record. In the early hours of the morning the events of last night appeared as some weird dream – but to-day, well, it beggars description. You will hardly credit what I am going to tell you. Listen. Last night as I sat in my little dug-out, writing, my chum came bursting in upon me with: “Bob! hark at ‘em!” And I listened. From the German trenches came the sound of music and singing. My chum continued. “They’ve got Christmas trees all along the top of their trenches I Never saw such a sight!”. Climbing the parapet, I saw a sight which I shall remember to my dying day. Right along the whole of their line were hung paper lanterns and illuminations of every description, many of them in such positions as to suggest that they were hung upon Christmas trees.

And as I stood in wonder a rousing song came over to us – The Watch on the Rhine. Our boys answered with a cheer, while a neighbouring regiment sang lustily the National Anthem. Some were for shooting the lights away, but almost at the first shot there came a shout in really good English: “Stop shooting!”. Then began a series of answering shouts from trench to trench. It was incredible. “Halloo! Halloo! you English; we wish to speak.” And everyone began to speak at once. Some were rational, others the reverse to complimentary. Eventually some sort of order obtained, and lo! A party of our men got out from the trenches and invited the Germans to meet them half-way and talk. And there in the searchlight they stood, Englishman and German, chatting and smoking cigarettes together midway between the lines. A rousing cheer went up from a friend and foe alike. The group was too far away for me to hear what was said, but presently we heard a cheery “Good-night.” A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all,” with which the parties returned to their respective trenches. After this we remained the whole night through singing with the enemy song for song. “Give us Tipperary”, they cried. Whereupon an adjacent Irish regiment let loose a tremendous “whoop,” and complied with the request in a way as only Irishmen can.

Some of the soldiers walked across no-man’s land and exchanged gifts and even played some friendly games of football. And then the next day they started killing each other again!!

In subsequent years the brass brought the hammer down and harshly discouraged this behavior. After all, if the troops saw the enemy as human beings they might not be willing to go out the next day and shoot each other down for the abstract ambitions of powerful old men. We can’t have that.

We are a daft species sometimes. There must be a God because it’s a miracle we didn’t go extinct.

h/t to LGM

Holiday fundraiser:

If anyone wants to send something via snail mail, the address is on the column on the left.

How to explain your non-profit job to your family this holiday season

by David Atkins

Non-profit activist and talented writer Lucas Zucker has some advice for young non-profit workers this holiday season:

It’s that wonderful time of the year when young adults prepare to have public judgment of their life and career decisions become a major topic of conversation among a large group of people they barely know (i.e. their extended family).

So, if you’re a budding medical doctor, congratulations! You have a commonly known, widely socially accepted and financially lucrative career path and can stop reading now.

On the other hand, if you make less money than some of your friends in food service, working at an organization no one has ever heard of, for a cause that’s too political to be seen as polite dinner conversation in the first place, here’s a helpful guide to help you navigate the awkward conversation.

1. “This will look great on my grad school application!”

Many of the olds are under the impression that getting a graduate degree is a smart economic choice. Whether you’re really planning on it or not, allow your family members to believe you’re going to grad school. This will keep a glimmer of hope alive in their mind that whatever it is you’re doing now is only a temporary transitional phase. If there’s anything we learned as teenagers, it’s that the only reason any sane person would actually care about helping their community is to accumulate feel-good credentials to use on their college applications.

2. The bait and switch

Sure, some of your college friends working in the private sector may be making 2-5 times as much money as you, but you’ve got a solid job and that’s more than a lot of people can say. This tactic taps into the fundamental emotion behind your family’s scrutiny: Fear. Here’s how it works. First, when asked about your life, explain how you’re living in a tent in Zuccotti Park or are taking a brief holiday break from chaining yourself to ancient redwoods. After the horrified backlash, tell them actually you have a job with a nonprofit organization. In comparison, it’ll sound like investment banking.

3. Start a political argument

Say you’ve got conservative family members who even if they could understand the mechanics of what you do at this “job” of yours, would be deeply morally opposed to it. Now I know nobody likes to argue politics with their family. But if you distract them with some sweeping abstract debate about immigration, LGBT rights, Obamacare, etc. you can totally avoid having a specific conversation about yourself and your job.

4. The Obama

On the other hand, say you’ve got a progressive family who is down with the overall idea of someone out there saving the world, they just would prefer you to be doing something a little more… professional. Most people know Barack Obama did some fluffy nonprofit thing in his youth. And being the president of the United States is about as professional as you get. This one works kind of like the grad school tactic, but instead of advanced education, you tell them how your current job is preparing you to run for public office. Your grandma will get at least a few years of bragging to her friends before she catches on to your bullshit.

Lucas has five more like this, and they’re all great. On a somewhat more serious note, Lucas’ piece on the challenges of attracting and keeping talented young people in community organizing is also an excellent read.

We need to keep folks like Lucas in the movement. Without a dedicated funding structure keeping them working toward social justice, the Lucas Zuckers of the world are going to hit 35, realize they need to actually provide for a family, and take all their talent and training into a dead-end corporate job. That would be a tragic waste. The world needs a lot more community organizers, and a lot fewer corporate jockeys writing ad copy.

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Not how they taught it in elementary school

by digby

I guess I never realized the subtext of one of our founding myths before …

We did get the Bill of Rights out of it. Be nice if we could keep ’em.

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My favorite quote from A Christmas Carol

by David Atkins

Millions of Americans will be/have been watching A Christmas Carol today and yesterday. Some of the movie versions alter or gloss over this bit from the book, so I think it’s important to quote this particular section just as Dickens wrote it:

“Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest he had never felt before,”tell me if Tiny Tim will live.”

“I see a vacant seat,” replied the Ghost, “in the poor chimney-corner, and a crutch without an owner, carefully preserved. If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, the child will die.”

“No, no,” said Scrooge. “Oh, no, kind Spirit. Say he will be spared.”

“If these shadows remain unaltered by the Future, none other of my race,” returned the Ghost, “will find him here. What then? If he be like to die, he had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

Scrooge hung his head to hear his own words quoted by the Spirit, and was overcome with penitence and grief.

“Man,” said the Ghost, “if man you be in heart, not adamant, forbear that wicked cant until you have discovered What the surplus is, and Where it is. Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. Oh God! To hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust.”

Hard as it is to believe, we are actually having this public policy argument in this country today, as Republicans argue that we don’t have money to feed the multitude of children on the SNAP program, because the taxes required to do so would interfere with the productive freedoms of billionaires.

Of The Christmas Carol, Dickens wrote in 1843:

I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly…

173 years later, conservatives are still out of humour with Dickens’ simple ideas, kicking against the pricks impelling them to basic decency.

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Best Christmas song of the modern era

by digby

… maybe ever:

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… if you want it.

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