The Liberal Doomsayer

Saturday Stuff

2009-07-11T19:39:00.000-07:00

More lowlights from The Party of No - first we have Repug Arizona Sen. Jon Kyl...

...and House Minority Leader John "Man Tan " Boehner ("What would they do?" indeed)...

...and I apologize for wasting your time with more coporate media nonsense on this...

...and of course, it's not as if Former Commander Codpiece ever intentionally ogled young women, right? (h/t Jed Lewison at The Daily Kos - from a US women's volleyball team contest at last summer's Beijing Olympics)...

...and I guess you can file this under "fighting vainly the old ennui" - and it's suddenly raining here also.

Friday Stuff

2009-07-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

By the way, I don't think I'm going to be able to post the way I want to on a couple of big non-Sarah Palin stories that have broken recently, so I'll just try to provide some "ultra-quick hits" here...

I just have one response to this - NOW does everybody know why we've been screaming about a certain George Walker Bush for as long as we all have here? NOW does everybody know that we WEREN'T EXAGGERATING when we called our prior ruling executive cabal a bunch of corporatist, power-hungry, moralist-pretending, Constitution-shredding PIRATES??!! And now, does everybody know why I and much of this country were SO DAMN ANGRY ABOUT THE CONGRESSIONAL DEM FISA SELLOUT??!!

Update 1 7/11/09: Here's more (h/t Eschaton).

Update 2 7/11/09: As Frank Zappa once observed, "the beat goes on and they're so wrooong" (here).

Update 3 7/11/09: Man, is Tony Auth on a roll! (hope it isn't too hard to read; the talking donkey in the pen says, "We were against unconstitutional wiretapping before we were for it").

In the matter of Leon Panetta vs. Pelosi (or, in this case, Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois), with the typically clueless House Repugs looking for a way to stick it to the Speaker because they have not one thing better to do, I think it's important to remember two things: Pelosi wouldn't be where she is unless she were an expert at "saving face," as they say, and Panetta (who's been around longer than she has I'm sure, though I guess I should check on that) isn't going to "dime out" the people he needs to run his agency effectively by admitting she's right (even though she probably is). Aside from that, I don't know what else to say about this - I know there's an important principle here...namely, our intel services aren't supposed to break laws, even though they routinely do...but I'm afraid it's going to be lost amidst the flotsam generated by the corporate media-political-industrial complex in this country.

OK, now that that's out of the way, here's what I thought was a good interview Rachel Maddow conducted with chief NBC foreign correspondent Richard Engel last night on Iran...

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...and I just love it so when moralistic, hypocritical, self-serving Repugs go down in flames...

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...RIP Drake Levin of Paul Revere and The Raiders (God, the go-go dancers from "back in the day" are a hoot, and as a YouTube commenter pointed out, no, that's not Goldie Hawn - funny if it were, though)...

...and it looks like Mr. Plant got a "Whole Lotta (Royal) Love" here, so to speak (God, Bob, Prince Chuck looks better than you do!), so here's a Led Zep fave in honor of the occasion (from '73).

Friday Mashup (7/10/09)

2009-07-10T18:16:00.000-07:00

(Cleaning out my "in" bin again...).

I’m almost glad I came across this opinion column in the Christian Science Monitor (an otherwise sensible publication) written by David Rittgers, an Army Special Forces veteran and attorney affiliated with the Cato Institute (a clue right there as far as I’m concerned), who tells us as follows…

Washington – Congress seems intent on passing new hate-crime legislation. It may sound like a surefire way to tamp down on hate crime, but it won't work.

The law would expand federal jurisdiction from crimes motivated by the victim's race, color, religion, or national origin to include the victim's gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

…

Scott Roeder is accused of shooting abortion doctor George Tiller to death; he is sitting in jail awaiting prosecution. The same goes for Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad, who shot up an Army recruiting station in Arkansas and killed Pvt. William Long. As soon as Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn is out of the hospital, he can join them.

It would have been more apropos of Rittgers to note an example of an LGBT individual here (to be honest given the proposed modifications), since the late Dr. Tiller, the two Army recruiters and the Holocaust Museum guard do not fall into that category as far as I know (though no one should be penalized for being straight either, I want to emphasize).

The point I want to make, though, is noted here (from a factsheet linked to this post)…

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 would direct federal resources to help local law enforcement fight violent hate crimes, and would let federal law enforcement step in when locals don’t.

Religious Right leaders choose to portray the hate crimes legislation as a “threat to religious liberty.”

They spread the lie that the churches will be silenced, and that church leaders and their supporters will be jailed for speaking out against homosexuality. The bottom line: This is all completely false. I urge my colleagues on the other side of this issue to stop bearing false witness against this legislation.

That was written by a member of African American Ministers in Action, a group that supports the legislation, by the way.

And as Think Progress notes from here…

…a federal hate crimes law already exists: Passed in 1968, it allowed federal investigation and prosecution of hate crimes based on race, religion, and national origin. The new law would simply add sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected groups,and allow local governments to get needed resources from the federal government for investigations and prosecutions.

As Think Progress tells us, the bill passed the U.S. House and awaits action from the Senate (where we can hope they take an altogether different view than Rittgers does).

This April New York Times editorial tells us the following…

In 1993, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act, widely known as the motor voter law, to make it easier for eligible voters to register and to increase registration rates of traditionally underrepresented groups, including poor people.
In addition to requiring states to provide voter registration materials to people applying for and renewing driver’s licenses, the law requires states to offer registration forms at offices that administer public assistance such as food stamps and unemployment insurance.

States started out with some enthusiasm, but in recent years compliance has fallen sharply. Project Vote and Demos, public-interest groups that work for voting rights, studied the implementation of the motor voter law nationally from 1995 to 2007. In a 2005 study of 103 people leaving a Department of Jobs and Family Services office in Ohio, only three reported being given voter registration forms. Surveys conducted outside of public assistance offices in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland and other states found similar problems.

And an update from this week tells us the following…

Brenda Wright, director of the Democracy Program at the nonprofit group Demos, one of the groups behind (lawsuits filed by a coalition of groups across the country to force states to comply with the law), said 2.6 million people were registered through public assistance offices in 1995-1996, the first two years the law was in effect. But she said registration has dropped precipitously throughout the nation since then, as much as 90 percent or more in some states.

Wright said 2 million to 3 million more low-income people could be registered each year if all states followed the law.

The suits say that the states are violating the 1993 National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as "motor voter" because it requires states to offer voter registration when residents are applying for a driver's license or state ID. To reach low-income citizens who are less likely to own vehicles, the law also requires that voter registration be distributed along with applications for public assistance like food stamps and Medicaid.

The coalition of advocacy groups, which also includes the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Project Vote and the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, say most states have programs for driver's license registration, but many are ignoring the public assistance requirement.

I’ll keep on the lookout for further developments here (unfortunate that it took legal action to try and make states comply with the law, but there you are - and yes, I know I just referred to ACORN - "ooga booga!," wingnuts).

This tells us that US handgun demand is driving the world gun trade, though fortunately, as noted here, those supporting “concealed carry” rights are having a difficult time trying to get their way on college campuses.

Meanwhile in the realm of sanity, this tells us that the one-gun-a-month bill has passed the NJ “lege” and is currently sitting on Gov. Corzine’s desk (the Garden State would be the fourth in the nation to limit gun purchases in this manner).

Election year or no, sign this, Guv.

Finally, in the “Friday Funnies” department, I give you Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, who compares our country at this moment to pre-WWII Nazi Germany here.

I’m not going to give DeMint’s lunacy a spec of credibility here, but I will only point out that the National Socialists Party (as noted here) rose to power through development of a cult of personality invested in its leader (Adolf Hitler, of course) and a loathsome intolerance (and avocation of violence of course) against those thought to be outsiders or not of their own kind for one reason or the other. And though there are some who argue that our current president is endowed with a cult of personality of his own (and Dubya wasn’t?), I believe that is where the comparison ends.

However, if DeMint is actually right (and God, let us hope history proves him wrong), then I would say that the “road map,” if you will, towards a dictatorship conceived by the Nazis is being followed more closely by the individuals shown above because of the symptoms on display in the video (who have more common cause with DeMint than they EVER will with Obama); happily THEIR party is out of power at the moment (and let us do what we can each and every day to make sure it stays that way).

Thursday Stuff

2009-07-09T20:23:00.000-07:00

I agree with Cenk of course, but I can assure you that the people of the Valley Swim Club who are responsible for this mess feel very little embarrassment (K.O. named John Duesler tonight as a Worst Person, but to be honest, I think he looks like nothing more than a naive chump here)...

...and by the way, I've had a bunch of disagreements with Repug Sen. Charles Grassley, but boy was he spot-on here, particularly considering this...

...also, with all of the words recently written with the passing of former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, it's easy to forget about another one to, to me, is demonstrably more vile, and it's this guy - happy birthday, you cretin (here is a fitting remembrance, particulaly in light of this)...

...and oh yeah, I thought this was catchy (YouTube, by the way, is saying they're going to stop supporting IE 6, which is an old, crappy MS browser I know, but it's what I'm running, and I have no intention of trying to upgrade to a new, crappy MS browser, or to go through the pain of converting to anything else - basically, it's buh-bye to the vids if YT does that except for MSNBC, just to let you know).

A New Day For The FDA

2009-07-09T14:29:00.000-07:00

(Posting will be questionable for the foreseeable future, by the way – maybe tonight, but we’ll see).

This CNN story from Tuesday tells us the following (in light of the recent e coli outbreak)…

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Top Obama administration officials outlined several new initiatives to safeguard the country's food supply Tuesday, saying the recent spate of food-borne illnesses is unacceptable.

The FDA intends to issue new guidance over the next three months regarding steps the entire food industry can take to more quickly detect contamination sources and remove the unsafe products from stores.

A new position at the agency -- deputy commissioner for foods -- will be created for the sole purpose of overseeing food protection. The commissioner will be part of a "unified incident command system" established to address contamination outbreaks and facilitate responses at the federal, state, and local levels, officials said.

In addition, they said, food safety information will be more effectively communicated to the public through a revamped Web site: www.foodsafety.gov.

The announcement was made near the White House by Vice President Joe Biden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

…

J.D. Hanson, a policy analyst for the Center for Food Safety, called the initiatives a good first step. "They are the kinds of things we have been calling on previous administrations to do, and we're glad this administration is moving fairly quickly on these issues," he told CNN.

Hanson praised the creation of the position of deputy commissioner for foods at the FDA, saying it should have happened long ago. "You'd think an agency called 'Food and Drug' would have made food a priority a long time ago. They didn't until today."

But he said the government still isn't tough enough with the food industry. "Their goal of 90 percent compliance with their new guidelines is not good enough. It needs to be very close to 100 percent compliance."

And he said bureaucracy stands in the way of improvement. "Right now there are 13 federal agencies that deal with food safety. We would pull all of those functions into one agency."

And that explains why both HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the announcement along with Biden.

Also, this tells us about H.R. 2749, the Food Safety and Enhancement Act of 2009 sponsored by U.S. House Dem John Dingell, a bill that, if enacted, would provide a pretty comprehensive overhaul of much of our food management, dealing with registration of food facilities, adherence to performance standards, enabling a public notification and advisory system (don’t worry, though – I don’t think we’ll see a “color-coded” alert for foods like Tom Ridge’s notorious alert system at DHS), quarantine authority for foods, and civil and criminal penalties in the event of noncompliance, among many other aspects (a similar bill was introduced by Rep. Rose DeLauro in 2007, though I don’t have any update on that – could have expired at the end of the session).

However, as noted here about the Dingell bill…

(H.R. 2749) quickly passed out of a House subcommittee, but not before it was weakened by deal-making. Instead of phasing in a system that would track the origins of ingredients in processed foods, the measure now orders the FDA to study the issue. The mingling of foods from sources around the world is a significant factor in the magnitude of recent salmonella outbreaks, because a small amount of tainted food from one source can contaminate much more. This is why it was so difficult to trace the source of the salmonella in a 2008 case involving salsa that sickened more than 1,300 people.

Congress should restore the tracking provision to a bill that otherwise contains many of the elements for meaningful reform. The bill would tighten food oversight by requiring companies to develop safety plans and by funding more frequent FDA inspections through a fee on food producers. Before consumers get too excited, they should know that "more frequent" means once every four years instead of once a decade, and as often as once every 18 months for foods considered most at risk for contamination. The bill also would enable the FDA to issue recalls, a provision so obviously overdue that most Americans think the agency already has that authority.

Yep, I have to admit that I thought that also, though I suppose our lawmakers were no doubt influenced by right-wing pabulum on this subject such as the following (from here)…

Most of this food--whether produced at home or imported from abroad--is perfectly safe. Market competition and consumer choice provide the incentives that drive producers to supply high-quality products in return for market share and profits. While markets are the best defense against tainted food, there is still some risk that unsafe products may reach America's kitchens--accidents can happen.

Thus, as a complement to the market, govern¬ments implement food standards, testing require¬ments, and inspection procedures in an attempt to reduce the risk of harm to zero. The U.S. government may be able to do more to catch the occasional tainted product by restricting and controlling the market with costly regulations, but only at great expense to con¬sumers and companies. High food prices and less food will not bolster America's food security.

Instead, government should take a balanced approach to food safety by keeping markets free and limiting the scope and cost of government intervention to establishing minimum accepted quality stan¬dards and implementing science-based methods of detecting tainted domestic and foreign products before they reach U.S. consumers. Even though the focus of legislative reform is currently on import safety, domestic food sources should face compara¬ble government scrutiny.

So…our government is supposed to let “the markets” make decisions on food safety absent those “costly government regulations”…but somehow provide scrutiny of our foods while “limiting the scope and cost of government intervention”?

I have to admit that I’m a bit curious to find out how much these Heritage flunkies are compensated for concocting this doubletalk.

Even though the Dingell bill could use some work, we should be grateful for the steps taken by the Obama Administration to protect our food supply particularly because of the sad record of former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History on this score in particular (this tells us of FDA scientists intimidated by the prior regime during a tainted tomato scare – hence the pic – this also tells us that there was no requirement under Bushco to notify us in the event of a recall of genetically modified foods, this confirms once more that the Repugs are “the party of unregulated meat and poultry,” and this tells us, among other things, that Bushco’s FDA operated under a $135 million shortfall in 2006).

And given all of that, I’m not sure what would turn my stomach more thoroughly – an ingestion of tainted food, or the thought that we could still be in the dark days of Bushco noncompliance with even the most basic food protection measures (and I emphasize that I don’t plan to find out any time soon).

A Meta Post On The Valley Swim Club Story

2009-07-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

(And I also posted here.)

This doesn’t have anything to do with politics (not directly anyway), the Iraq war, or any other national news. It doesn’t have anything to do with George W. Bush either, or President Obama (actually, I’m in the middle of a wholly other topic more typical for this site that I want to post on before the day ends, and hopefully I’ll get to it).

To back up for a minute, I first heard about this story here at Eschaton (I’m pretty sure NBC 10 here in Philadelphia, to be honest, broke it first). Basically, here’s what happened (as Adam B tells us here); some kids from the Creative Steps Day Camp in Northeast Philadelphia bussed to the Valley Swim Club of Huntingdon Valley, PA to go swimming (the Creative Steps kids being African American and the Valley Swim Club being private with mainly a white membership, though I believe it has advertised itself as public to attract new members, but I’m not 100 percent sure about that…and by the way, the Valley Swim Club took $1900 from Creative Steps to let the kids swim).

Well, when the Creative Steps kids arrived, Adam B recounts what happened (from Philly news reports)…

According to 14-year-old camper Dymir Baylor, with whom I spoke yesterday, some of the comments were heartless.

"I heard a white lady say, 'What are all these black kids doing here? They might do something to my child,' " recalled Dymir, who says he lives in a neighborhood so diverse, he'd never heard anyone speak like that before. "It was rude and ignorant."

His mom, Sharrae Thompson, was appalled that an adult would behave so terribly.

"I was just shocked," she said. "This is 2009. You can't believe people would carry on like that."

(Creative Steps director Alethea) Wright was adamant that (Valley Swim Club President John) Duesler make things right.

"I told him, 'The parents don't want their money back. They want a good place for their children to swim, which is what they paid for. Please, let's try to work this out.' "

…

…Wright says memberships were arranged through e-mail and paid for in advance, but when the kids showed up at the club, she says members made racially insensitive comments and took their kids out of the pool:

"One of the members was shouting out, 'We're gonna see to it that they don't come back anymore.' And two days later, Dr. John called me and said, 'Miss Wright, I truly apologize, I'm so embarrassed, but the membership has overthrown me in votes and you're not going to be able to come back to the club.'"

I’m sorry that I don’t have anything particularly brilliant to add here, partly because this story has been covered much more thoroughly by news professionals who do this sort of thing for a living. But though I didn’t grow up in Somerton as Adam B did, I did grow up in the Bustleton section of Northeast Philadelphia, which is right next door (to Somerton and Huntingdon Valley).

And not for a minute am I going to defend the vile words and actions of those who denied access of the Valley Swim Club facilities to the Creative Steps kids. I don’t give a damn what the color of their skin happened to be; the Valley Swim Club should have done what is best for the kids, figured out what their mistakes were and made things right for next time.

Instead, they have stupidly chosen to mistreat the Creative Steps kids by accusing them of “doing something” to the white kids who comprise much of the club’s membership. And they have opened the proverbial Pandora’s Box which will generate consequences that will only grow worse over time (in terms of any possible good image the Club once held or tried to maintain).

I guess I’m posting about this because I’m feeling equal parts anger, disgust, and sorrow, and I’ll try to express these feelings through some reasonably intelligent prose.

The fact is that I know these people. And many of them are truly hard working and good in many ways; they took care of their homes, participated in the typical neighborhood and family functions, served their communities as well as this country, and on and on. My parents interacted with them, and we all grew up together.

But way, waay too many of them are stone racists (and I’m not going to absolve myself completely either – I’d like to think that I grew out of that over time, but I won’t kid you; I definitely get that impulse also on occasion, wrong as it is).

Now if I were to say that to any of them (or if I had done so in the past), at least one of two things would have happened: 1) They would have done their very best to utterly kick my ass and would have likely succeeded, or 2) They would have expressed hurt and indignation over what they considered to be my thoughtlessness.

And it would have eventually occurred to me that these individuals (in the Philadelphia suburbs, in this case, though you could find people with this shared experience throughout this country) landed in the suburbs due to the “white flight” in this country from the cities that took place primarily in the 1950s (indeed, in Bucks County where I live, people who arrived over the last 10-15 years from Philadelphia, including your humble narrator, were often stigmatized on the pages of the Bucks County Courier Times, though not so much any more). And that experience had a lot to do with coloring their racial perceptions.

But that doesn’t absolve any of them (or anyone who has grown up in that area, or anywhere in this country where such tacit racism is allowed) of their actions.

This also reminds me of the presidential election last year. I heard more than a few white people who were peers of mine or family friends express some truly stupid, and in some cases vile, racial contempt towards Barack Obama. It truly was just like they turned on a “stupid” switch somewhere in their brains when it came to the election.

Am I trying to bestow some saintly character on African Americans by saying this? Of course not. Stupidity, greed, vanity, thoughtlessness, criminality, and every vice you can name come in all shapes, sizes, genders, races and ethnicities. But I suppose I feel compelled to say all of this about this story because it has utterly laid bare a dirty aspect of my upbringing, to say nothing of that of probably millions of other Americans.

A while back, I teed off on Attorney General Eric Holder because of some phrasing from him that I genuinely didn’t like about race relations in this country (here).

However, given this story, I think the main reason I feel this way is that I’m starting to believe that he could be right.

Update 7/10/09: I'm not a bit surprised that Keystone Progress has now gotten involved - kudos to them (here).

Wednesday Stuff

2009-07-08T21:04:00.001-07:00

"Worst Persons" (the blog Freedom Works gets the bronze for decrying lobbyists, when the person in charge of FW, Dick "Barney Fag" Armey, is a lobbyist extraordinaire for AIG and GM - you can cut some of this with a knife, my fellow prisoners; Jim Inhofe gets it also for calling Al Franken a clown - yes, I know I already gave him the treatment for that here (last item), but why not again, I ask?; but Repug State Senator Sylvia Allen of Arizona gets the nod for proclaiming that the earth is 6,000 years old in the course of a hearing about uranium mining - ummm, OK)...

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...and now, time for a musical interlude.

Abu G. Finally Lands On His Feet

2009-07-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

(And I also posted here.)

This CNN story tells us that former Bushco attorney general Alberto Gonzales has secured employment; he will work to recruit minority students for Texas Tech University’s diversity office and teach a junior-level political science seminar on "Contemporary Issues in the Executive Branch," according to a statement from the school.

And this story from April 2007 (when Gonzales was in charge) tells us that, in addition to the notorious role Abu G. played in the firing of the U.S. Attorneys…

Federal enforcement of civil rights…eroded over the past six years due to “willful neglect and calculated design” by the Bush administration, according to a recent report released by two Washington think tanks.

The report, which was issued by the Citizens’ Commission on Civil Rights and the Center for American Progress, focuses much of its criticism on the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice, long the federal government’s instrument for enforcing civil rights laws.

The division was created in 1957 by President Eisenhower as a response to the growing national civil rights movement. It is charged with enforcing laws in areas such as voting, education, employment and housing.

Now, on the eve of the its 50th anniversary, the report says that the Civil Rights Division has “fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair.”

…

In the area of employment, the report claims that the division is pursuing fewer cases in which the complainants are African Americans “while devoting more resources to ‘reverse discrimination’ cases where the complainants are white.”

In voting, the report charges that the Bush administration has intentionally misused the division’s mandate to further Republican Party aims, and has “effectively ignored” the division’s longstanding priority of combating voting discrimination against African Americans.

Well, I suppose this isn’t an issue for Texas Tech, as long as the minority students are Hispanic, or of any other ethnic or racial origin other than African American (removing tongue from cheek as I type this).

And actually, given what we know of our happily-now-gone AG, I’d like to suggest the following course offerings to be taught by Texas Tech’s new hire…

Covering Up A Future President’s Misdemeanor Drunk Driving Conviction

Ignoring The Freedom of Information Act To Restrict Access of Presidential Records

Initiating Convenient Memory Lapses When Testifying Before Congressional Committees

Abusing The USA Patriot Act For Fun and Profit

Soliciting Contributions For Your Legal Fund While Facing Congressional Investigations Into Perjury and Obstruction of Justice Charges

Also, I guess Texas Tech probably doesn’t have a satellite campus in Spain, but if they did, I would love to see “Fredo” sent there by the school, given this story.

Tuesday Stuff

2009-07-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Mark this day on your calendars (h/t The Daily Kos)...

...and leave it to the Repugs to try and spoil the occasion...

...though the party out of power is no doubt an inspiration to these cretins, as Pap tells us...

...and this news flash: Michael Jackson is still dead (and yes, he received a very nice sendoff; wonder if these guys were influenced - maybe?).

Some “Fish-y” Palin and Sanford Fodder

2009-07-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

I was honestly going to leave former “Governor Hottie” and Mark Sanford alone, which is particularly tough in Sanford’s case since, as noted here, he voted to impeach President Clinton over the business with Monica Whatsername, and he also excoriated fellow Repugs Rob Livingston and Larry Craig over their infidelities.

I was going to grumble and merely accept the rank hypocrisy of the fact that, as noted here, Sanford was censured by his own party in South Carolina, enduring the fate that Clinton should have endured for approximately the same offense (to say nothing of the fact Dem governors Jim McGreevey and Eliot Spitzer resigned and candidates John Edwards and Gary Hart saw their aspirations end as a result, while Sanford, John Ensign and “Diaper Dave” Vitter continue merrily on).

I really thought I would get past all of this, until I read Stanley Fish’s column in the New York Times today, in which he tells us…

I did not vote for Sarah Palin in the November election, and had I been a resident of South Carolina, I wouldn’t have supported Mark Sanford. But I find their failings and, in the case of Sanford, sins more palatable than the behavior of the pundits who are having so much fun at their expense.

Please note that Fish considers himself a columnist only and not necessarily a pundit, as if that actually makes a difference.

In the matter of Just Plain Folks Sarah in particular, Fish tells us as follows…

Palin had barely finished speaking when MSNBC paraded analysts from both sides of the aisle (Matt Lewis and Chris Kofinis) who agreed that (1) it was a disastrous performance and (2) they couldn’t for the life of them figure out why she had delivered it. Kofinis: “It’s hard to understand why she’s resigning.” Lewis: “What she’s essentially done is guarantee that no pundit could make any intellectual defense of her.”

Later, Joe Scarborough pronounced in the same vein: “It’s hard to find a compelling reason.” The former majority leader of her own party, Ralph Samuels, chimed in, “I’ve had a million calls today from friends, all political junkies, and everyone is asking the same questions. Is it national ambition, or does she want time to write the book, or is she just tired of it. Don’t have a clue.”

Maybe he should look at the video and pay attention this time to the reasons she gives. It is true that her statement was not constructed in a straightforward, logical manner, but the main theme was sounded often and plainly: This is not what I signed up for. I’m spending all my time and the state’s money responding to attack after attack and they aren’t going to let up because, “It doesn’t cost the people who make these silly accusations a dime.”

“Silly accusations,” huh? And Palin’s statement “was not constructed in a straightforward, logical manner”? Shocking!

I’ll tell you what, my fellow prisoners. Let’s review some recent history concerning Our Gal Sarah, Dontcha Know, and you can decide who is “silly” here and who isn’t.

This tells us that Palin lobbied against the stimulus before she saw a drop in oil-related revenue impacting her state.

This tells us about the wingnut Alaska cruise that first brought Palin to the attention of usual conservative media suspects such as Rich Lowry (ugh) and V.D. Hanson before she ended up as the VP nominee last year.

This tells us that, prior to her debate with fellow VP candidate Joe Biden last year, Palin couldn’t recall a single newspaper or magazine she’d ever read.

Among the wealth of information here, we learn that Palin said that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were “publicly owned” (they started out that way before they were privatized).

We also learned the following (here, from the once-credible Dana Milbank)…

Barack Obama, (Palin) told 8,000 fans at a (Florida) rally here Monday afternoon, "launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist!" This followed her earlier accusation that the Democrat pals around with terrorists. "This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America," she told the Clearwater crowd. "I'm afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country." The crowd replied with boos.

…

Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

Here is a tour de force Palin post by georgia10 of The Daily Kos, in which we’re reminded that Palin claimed to oppose the “Bridge to Nowhere” she once supported, managed to insert earmarks on behalf of her state with the help of a lobbyist to former Senator Ted “Tubes” Stevens, never issued a single order as the head of Alaska’s National Guard, managed to fire a longtime local police chief who ran afoul of her, etc.

And finally, this “Political Punch” post from Jake Tapper tells us of Palin’s encounter with the “Reverend” Thomas Muthee of Kenya, who “laid hands” on Palin in a church service to protect her from “witchcraft” (or as Bill Maher said on “Real Time” last year, “if Barack Obama were in this video instead of Palin, this election would be over”).

And it’s not as if Palin didn’t have her own defenders in the media, including Michael Barone, who claimed that “journalists” were attacking Palin because “She did not abort her Down’s syndrome baby” (nice).

Also, I’m not going to waste more space on Sanford than that which is absolutely necessary, since I already devoted a lot of space documenting what an awful governor he is here (and please, Governor, no more apologies, particularly for using state funds for your trips to Argentina – I’d prefer that you go, but if you stay, at least you’ll serve as a bad example...and how funny is it that, when Sanford served in the U.S. Congress in 1997, he "pointed to the U.S. embassy in Argentina as an example of wasteful State Department spending when he was trying to cut the department’s budget," as Politico tells us?).

The rest of Fish’s column is a bunch of navel-gazing about what Palin and Sanford’s true intentions supposedly are, as if anyone can divine that (I would say it’s merely survival for Sanford).

In Palin’s case, though, if this really is a case where she has had enough and that’s all there is, then she should also realize that, for reasons not entirely of her own choosing, she has exceeded any reasonable person’s wildest expectations of what she could have ever hoped to accomplish (oh, and by the way, here’s still more proof of how overmatched she was).

And by the way, if somehow she really is done (though I don’t think so), let this be her postscript.

Monday Stuff

2009-07-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Well, it's nice that Robert McNamara finally realized his mistakes in Vietnam (as he acknowledges in this C-SPAN interview with Brian Lamb), at least 30 years too late, though (and by the way, this story is true)...

Update 7/7/09: Here are more "fond recollections" with Joe Galloway, and a better retelling of the Martha's Vineyard Ferry story.

..."Worst Persons" (John Boehner decries the lack of "shovel-ready" stimulus projects, except the ones in his state of course; Flush Limbore proposes an armed insurrection against our government by Honduran rebels...uh, isn't that, like, incredibly illegal?; but the Duval County, FL Repug Party and their teabaggin' pals take it for more Obama-Hitler comparisons - ugh)...

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...I don't know if Allen Klein deserves a tribute song or not, but if one fit, I think this would be it...

...and oh yeah, time to rock...

More Dubya Mementos

2009-07-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

(And I also posted here.)

The New York Times (via Think Progress) tells us here today that when Former President Highest Disapproval Rating In Gallup Poll History opens his library at Southern Methodist University in 2013, “visitors will most likely get to see one of his most treasured items: Saddam Hussein’s pistol.”

The Times also tells us that another library memento candidate could be “a brick from the Iraq safe house where the Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed by an American air strike in 2006.”

I think it’s telling that no direct role was played by Dubya in acquiring these items (the story also tells us that, along with gifts donated to presidents, “sitting on John F. Kennedy’s desk in the Oval Office was a paperweight made from a coconut shell he had carved with a distress message after his PT-109 was sunk during World War II”).

With that in mind, I’d like to suggest these “additions” to Number 43’s SMU library…

A portion of the levee that ruptured along the Industrial Canal of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward during Hurricane Katrina in 2005 (the occasion of Dubya’s infamous “fly-over”)

A slice of the birthday cake Dubya presented to “Straight Talk” McCain on the occasion of the senator’s 69th birthday on an Arizona airport tarmac, which also occurred while New Orleans drowned (the cake reportedly melted in the heat)

A Florida voting ballot with a so-called hanging or partially perforated “chad” from 2000 during the contested election which made him president

A book of fart jokes to commemorate Dubya’s preoccupation with that genre of humor (Timothy Noah of Slate tells us that a “whoopee cushion” trick carried out against Karl Rove was postponed for two weeks in deference to the aftermath of the London al Qaeda bombings)

A manuscript of Dubya’s 2003 State of the Union address, one of the most grotesque examples of wall-to-wall lies ever foisted on this country

His ceremonial veto crayon, which he used only once before the Democrats took over Congress in 2006 – after that, he vetoed 11 bills until he left office last January

A copy of the Iraq Study Group report, issued in December 2006 after the Democrats had recaptured Congress, which recommended a “phased withdrawal” from that country and negotiations with Iran and Syria over Iraq; this was promptly ignored in favor of “the surge”

This is all I can think of for now. If I come up with anything else, I’ll update this accordingly.

Think Progress notes that historian Douglas Brinkley said Bush has “a True West magazine kind of pulp western mentality,” and I think that makes these items appropriate; I would tend to think “pulp” is an apt description also (as in the matter between his ears).

Fourth of July Stuff

2009-07-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Smart cat...

...don't worry - here they are (from 2005, recorded at Disney-MGM Studios in Walt Disney World, FLA).

Where The Rubber Meets The Road (7/4/09)

2009-07-04T11:39:00.000-07:00

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes for the week ending Sunday June 28th.

House

Homeland-security budget: By a 389-37 vote, the House approved a $44 billion Department of Homeland Security budget for fiscal 2010, up 6.5 percent from 2009. The bill bars development of a national ID card, requires threat assessments of Guantanamo Bay prisoners, and prohibits spending to block individuals from importing FDA-approved drugs from Canada.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), Allyson Schwartz (D., Pa.), Joe Sestak (D., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.).

As noted here, the presence of language in the bill about barring development of a national ID card was in all likelihood the reason for Castle’s “No” vote here (no other information on his web site). And I realize the argument for this has some theoretical merit, but trying to implement this in the real world would be a nightmare (one of the reasons why I personally support licenses for illegal immigrants – we need to track these people somehow). Also, telling foreign nationals that they suddenly need an ID card to work and/or study here would exacerbate the “brain drain” that developed after 9/11 at a time when we can least afford it.

Air marshals budget. By a 134-294 vote, the House refused to cut spending in the Homeland Security Budget for the Federal Air Marshal Service from $860 million to $819 million. The agency's mission is to station armed marshals on an undisclosed number of passenger flights.

A yes vote was to cut the air marshals budget.

Voting yes: Castle, Pitts.

Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

I’m hearing rumblings that Castle might make a run for the Senate in 2010. If he does, I can’t wait to hear him try to defend votes like this one.

Economic stimulus. By a 113-318 vote, the House refused to cut Department of Homeland Security spending by $2.7 billion, which is the amount of stimulus funds Congress added earlier this year to the department's budget.

A yes vote backed the spending cut.

Voting yes: Adler.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

I have to admit that it took a long time for John Adler to made a rookie mistake like this one (can’t find any further information to explain this).

2010 military budget. By a 389-22 vote, the House authorized a $680 billion military budget for fiscal 2010, including $130 billion for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and $9.3 billion for the National Missile Defense. The bill sets a 3.4 percent military pay raise, increases active-duty personnel by 40,200 troops to 1.4 million troops, and bars permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

Withdrawal from Afghanistan. By a 138-278 vote, the House defeated an amendment to the 2010 military budget requiring that the Defense Department report to Congress by the end of the year on any plans to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Brady, Fattah, and Sestak.

Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Pitts, Schwartz, and Smith.

Here is a link to a congressional votes post from September ’06 where a measure calling for accountability from Dubya on Iraq was introduced in the Senate and defeated in a party line vote. I’m just trying to point out here how one party kept in lockstep with its commander in chief, as opposed to the Dems.

Yes, accountability is always a good thing, but, for better or worse, Obama has barely had time to do anything is Afghanistan. Do I personally agree with what he’s doing? Not completely. But all I’m saying is that he deserves a chance before politicians of his own party start hectoring him over withdrawing troops.

Interrogation videotapes. The House required, 224-193, the government to videotape all military interrogations, except during combat, and retain the tapes in a secured and classified repository. The amendment was added to the military budget bill.

A yes vote backed the amendment.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Fattah, Murphy, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

Voting no: Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Holden, and Pitts.

Patrick once opposed this (here), but kudos for doing the right thing this time (and Castle looked like a chump earlier, but he does the right thing here; also, even though there’s a lot not to like about Chris Smith, he also keeps casting votes like this one).

Cap-and-trade energy package. The House voted, 219-212, to shift U.S. energy production and consumption from fossil fuels to renewable fuels while setting cap-and-trade rules to cut emissions linked to global warming.

A yes vote was to pass the measure.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Fattah, LoBiondo, Murphy, Sestak, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Dent, Gerlach, Holden, and Pitts.

I weighed in on this earlier here (first item) – shocking that, except for the air marshals vote with Castle, Joe Pitts isn’t hanging out on a limb all by himself this week.

Senate

Tourism in America. By a 53-34 vote, the Senate failed to get 60 votes for ending a filibuster on a bill that would establish a federal corporation to increase foreign travel to the United States and expand Department of Commerce tourism programs.
A yes vote was to advance the bill.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), and Robert Menendez (D., N.J.).

Not voting: Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

Yeah, why the hell do we need to spend money on any stinkin’ tourists, particularly in light of this?

Harold Koh nomination. The Senate confirmed, 62-35, the nomination of Yale Law School Dean Harold Hongju Koh as the Department of State's top lawyer.

A yes vote was to confirm Koh.

Voting yes: Carper, Casey, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

Now that Koh is confirmed, hopefully Dawn Johnsen will be next.

Legislative branch budget. The Senate killed, 65-31, a motion to reduce the $3.12 billion legislative branch budget for fiscal 2010 to its 2009 level. The bill remained in debate.

A yes vote opposed a budget freeze at 2009 levels.

Voting yes: Casey, Carper, Kaufman, Lautenberg, Menendez, and Specter.

The Inquirer reports that Congress is now in a July 4th recess, with everyone scheduled to return to Washington next week.

Friday Stuff

2009-07-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Words can't express my shock over the news that Just Plain Folks Sarah Palin is resigning (and not even finishing out her term...???) - with that in mind, here once more is her interview in front of the turkey slaughtering processor, for the benefit for the half-dozen-or-so people on this planet who haven't seen this yet (there's a version out there with commentary by K.O., but I think the captions here are funnier)...

...Jon Stewart takes down that idiot Michael Scheuer for wishing another 9/11 on this country (Stewart's initial five-word reaction nails it - h/t The Daily Kos)...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

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www.thedailyshow.com

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Political Humor

Jason Jones in Iran

...and time for a bit of summer fun...

...also, Happy Fourth, everybody.

Thursday Stuff

2009-07-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

A word from our sponsor: the Friday area votes in Congress thing is on my "to do" list, but after that, I don't know what will be going on around here over the 4th and into next week. I'll keep you posted.

But in the meantime, let's kick start this baby...

...and memo to President Obama: sometimes worrying about setting a precedent isn't as important as doing the right thing, particularly when the Bushco cretins outed a patriotic American, Valerie Plame by name (David Shuster, sitting in for K.O., interviews Michael Isikoff)...

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...and RIP, Fayette Pinkney of The Three Degrees, pioneers of The Philly Sound (I don't think she was in this later incarnation of the group from '82, though)...

...and if Karl Malden had never acted in another movie besides this one, which of course is "On The Waterfront" with Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger and Marlon Brando from 1954, he would deserve a special place for it alone (particularly for this scene).

Lamenting “Polarization” With Bernie, Smerky And Irv

2009-07-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

I really didn’t have a lot to say about the passing of local radio personality Irv Homer (pictured) last week except for a brief mention at the end of another post, but intrepid Philadelphia Daily News columnist Michael Smerconish had some words on the subject in his column today.

Homer held court on radio station WWDB in these parts, among other employment locations. And it was not uncommon for us in the Doomsy household to put the station on in the morning (we’re talking about the late ‘90s here) for news with Gil Gross and Pat Farnack, with Irv coming on at midday. After that, the lineup often changed, with a pair of talkers named Jay and Hilarie (?) followed by Kent Voss and Dr. Jim (God rest him). So basically, I can vouch for Smerky here when he says that Homer went back and forth between conservative and liberal viewpoints, being true to what he was, and that was a libertarian.

All of that went up in smoke the day before the 2000 presidential election, when Beasley Broadcasting bought the station and changed the format (one of many times) to all-80s hits (or, as I always tell the missus, you just can’t get enough of A Flock Of Seagulls – and I always wondered about the timing of that change).

And I probably would not have another word to say about any of this were it not for the fact that Smerky then used this as an excuse to note his recent conversation with one Bernard Goldberg (former CBS News correspondent and pathological liar), in which he tells us…

"What we have in this country is we have people who hang on every word" that people like Rush Limbaugh and Keith Olbermann say, Goldberg told me. The problem with that, he continued, is that "regular folks have now confused cable television with real life." They think America really is as divided as a split-screen TV - far from the truth, Goldberg noted.

And it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Listeners and viewers become so dependent on the labels and ideology that they block out any personality or any show that doesn't fit neatly into one box or the other. Politicians and candidates for office play the game to get their name in the paper or on the on-screen graphic.

The shame of it is that these 24/7 split-screen kerfuffles serve only to shut down the important debates the country could be having on the important issues of the day. The end result is the snuffing out of nonpartisanship in this country.

Cue the tinny-sounding violin someone, please (as if either Goldberg OR Smerky would have a clue about “regular folks”).

Gee, I wonder if the reason why Goldberg lumped in K.O. with Flush Limbore here is that Olbermann busted Goldberg on taking a question from Charlie Rose to Tom Brokaw in an interview the former conducted with the latter, taking a completely different answer from Brokaw to another question and clipping the quote to boot, and putting them both together to make it sound like Brokaw was agreeing with Rose that “there’s a lot we don’t know” about Obama here?

Also, how sad is it that Goldberg ducked an interview with CNN’s Howard Kurtz, of all people (backgrounder here), here after Goldberg accused Kurtz of “being in the tank” for Obama?

And for more Bernard Goldberg nonsense, here is his claim that “left wingers” “threw Oreo cookies” at RNC chairman Michael Steele, and here is another bogus charge that neither Hillary Clinton nor Barack Obama, when they were running for president last year, condemned the “General Betray Us” MoveOn ad.

And as far as Goldberg’s book about the 100 people who are supposedly “screwing up America” (from 2005, with new Minnesota Senator Al Franken at number 37, I believe), this review from The Boston Globe tells us as follows…

In a similar vein, if Democratic Senators Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Robert Byrd of Virginia are ''screwing up America," hasn't Representative Tom DeLay (R-Texas) contributed at least a little? What about Representative Dan Burton (R-Indiana), the far-right conspiracy buff who once shot a pumpkin in his backyard to reenact the supposed murder of Clinton aide Vince Foster -- and has joined forces with the loony left to propagate the dangerous canard that vaccines cause autism?

And if Goldberg is going to throw the book at leftist academics, writers, and pundits who were quick to blame America for the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, it's odd that evangelical ministers Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, who asserted that we brought it on ourselves by angering God with secularism, feminism, abortion, and gay rights, are let off the hook.

It’s also funny how we never heard the whining from Smerky and his pals about America being as “divided as a split-screen TV” when the Repugs just about wrecked our country when they were in charge from 2001 through 2006, isn’t it?

And it’s sad that Irv Homer can no longer “take to the mic” once more to say those very words, which I’m quite sure he would.

Update: God, is Kurtz a mess (here).

Wednesday Mashup (7/1/09)

2009-07-01T15:19:00.000-07:00

(And I also posted here.)

This tells us the following…

GRANTS PASS, Ore. — A federal judge has struck down the Bush administration's change to a rule designed to protect the northern spotted owl from logging in national forests.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled from Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday that the U.S. Forest Service failed to take a hard look at the environmental impacts of changing the rule to make it easier to cut down forest habitat of species such as the spotted owl and salmon on 193 million acres of national forests.

"I am hopeful that this is the last nail in the coffin to (President George W.) Bush's assault on our public forests," said Pete Frost, an attorney for the Western Environmental Law Center in Eugene, which represented plaintiffs in one of two cases challenging the rule.

Amen to that; this is actually a follow up to this prior post, in which the Obama Administration…

…told a federal court that it will not defend the Bush administration's decision to cut back protections for the northern spotted owl.

…

Interior Department lawyers said in the motion that the decision was based on an inspector general's report finding there was political interference in owl protections by a former deputy assistant interior secretary.

And that person would be Julie MacDonald; the prior post gets into all of the gory details (the best that can be said for her is that she’s gone).

Here’s another item of interest…

WASHINGTON — A federal panel said Wednesday that a judge should reconsider the $110,000 in fines he levied against two companies in the 2002 Quecreek Mine accident.

The Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission's preliminary decision was in response to challenges by PBS Coals Inc. and Musser Engineering Inc. against the fines levied by an administrative law judge last fall. A federal safety panel had previously recommended lesser fines of $5,000 against each company.

As noted here…

In August 2003, the (U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration) blamed the accident on inaccurate mine maps and said the companies could have done more to ensure the miners' safety. The safety administration had suggested PBS Coals and Musser Engineering were moderately negligent, but (Administrative Law Judge Robert) Lesnick found both companies "grossly negligent" (Lesnick said the companies played "Russian roulette" with the lives of the miners and exhibited a "very high level of negligence”).

(Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission) Chairman Michael Duffy said he was having "serious problems" with characterizing the actions of the companies as "gross negligence." He asked why the panel should not be influenced by considering what was standard operating procedures by companies involved in mining in Pennsylvania during the time period in question.

So it sounds like the federal panel is contemplating reinstating the fines that were originally referred to as “outrageous” by the United Mine Workers of America here in 2004.

And this post about the tragedy of the Sago Mine Collapse in West Virginia tells us the following (12 of the 13 mine workers were killed)…

A New York Times article dated August 9, 2004 detailed the Bush administration's close relationship with the coal mining industry. While the piece largely focused on environmental issues, it still makes it clear that (the) administration's concern for the health and safety of coal miners took a back seat to their concern for the bank accounts of their allies at the mining companies.

Given all of this, I cannot imagine how the existing judgments against PBS Coals and Musser Engineering can be overturned (well see what happens, though).

I also wanted to note that the acting governor of PA at the time, Mark Schweiker (pictured), did a commendable job of communicating news developments as the Quecreek drama unfolded (PA having learned its lesson in media disaster management after Three Mile Island – Schweiker assumed the role of governor after Tom Ridge was named to head the Department of Homeland Security in 2001). I often wondered if he would have beaten Ed Rendell in a head-to-head race for governor, but Schweiker opted out of public life to become president and CEO of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, leaving Attorney General Mike Fisher as the Repug standard bearer who would lose to Rendell in 2002.

You’re absolutely not going to believe this item from Baltimore Sun media critic David Zurawik, including the following…

Two weeks ago, I praised Fox News for being one of the only TV news operations seriously questioning the administration of President Barack Obama as it pushes an agenda of massive social change not seen since Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.

Whatever the reasons for Fox's tenacity, I said, it is the one channel that seems absolutely committed to being a watchdog on the White House -- a job crucial to any notion of press responsibility.

It is to laugh, my fellow prisoners...

This tells us how, after enjoying exclusive coverage of Dubya, Fix Noise blasts ABC for last Wednesday's “infomercial” on health care.

Also, here is some typical Fix Noise punditry on the stimulus from Fred Barnes and Morton Kondracke...

BARNES: There's already a lot of stimulus in place. We have had gasoline prices that dropped like crazy, helping the poor and the middle class. Rich people don't get much more for that. Gas for their limos maybe doesn't cost as much. We've seen the Federal Reserve pumping all this money into banks, another $150 billion to go out. As we know, because there's a problem, there will be billions more after that. Look what the Federal Reserve is doing, it's buying up tens of billions of these mortgage securities. They're increasing the money supply. They're buying treasury bonds. There's a lot of stimulus out there. If you added some tax cuts, plus some spending to ease the pain of the recession, I think it would be great shape.

KONDRACKE: All that's being done and the economy is still cratering.

Here is still more from the recently sane Shep Smith...

Fox News' Shepard Smith falsely suggested that a $500 individual tax credit, reportedly included in President-elect Barack Obama's proposed economic recovery plan, would benefit people who don't currently pay taxes, asking, "I know we don't know the details yet, but $300 billion in tax cuts -- how do you cut taxes on people who don't pay taxes?" In fact, all American workers are required to pay taxes on their wages for Social Security and Medicare under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act.

And finally, I give you this...

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) took the lies (about the stimulus) to a new level today when he — with the help of an enthusiastic Fox News’s Megyn Kelly — declared that the 2009 omnibus bill included funding for a train traveling straight from “Disney” to Nevada’s most famous brothel, the Moonlight Bunny Ranch (supposedly supported by Harry Reid, of course).

Thanks for playing our game, Dave - here are some lovely parting gifts...

And in a typical no-class move, Sen. Jim Inhofe said here that Al Franken, who was FINALLY proclaimed the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race yesterday, was “a clown.”

This tells us that Inhofe “derailed a study on motorcycle safety by making sure it was to be conducted by an underfunded Oklahoma state agency.”

This tells us that, in his global warming denialist hysteria, he decried a children’s book on the subject published by one of the producers of An Inconvenient Truth.

This tells us that Inhofe claimed as follows…

WASHINGTON — U.S. Jim Inhofe, who earlier said a criminal investigation "probably should be'' conducted into allegations the EPA suppressed a climate change report, said Tuesday he is not qualified to make that determination.

…

In his interview with the Tulsa World on Tuesday, he also said that his own investigation into the matter has not uncovered anything that would warrant a criminal investigation.

This tells us Inhofe said "There has never been a documented case of torture at Guantánamo" and he also called Obama’s Cairo speech “un-American.”

Well, given a choice, all I can say is that I’d rather be a clown than an idiot.

Tuesday Stuff

2009-06-30T20:23:00.001-07:00

He's good enough, he's smart enough, and...HE'S FINALLY A FREAKIN' UNITED STATES SENATOR!! CONGRATULATIONS, AL!

(And by the way, isn't it hilarious the way the report makes it sound like Coleman was some kind of a good guy or something by deciding not to exhaust his final appeal of the election, which would have been to the Supreme Court of Hangin' Judge JR? I wonder if the fact that they just finished up also until October had anything to do with Coleman deciding not to exhaust that appeal?)...

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...and we can only wish, right?...

...and gee, I wonder if mentioning Delaware and Indiana were ever-so-veiled references by Dr. Dean to "corpocrats" Bayh and Carper here (more here)...

...and yep, PA State Senator John Eichelberger continues to be a homophobic...well, I won't use the word I'd like to here; I'm sure you can think of good ones also (an update from this)...

...and once more, time to rock (probably good advice for Eichelberger here).

Starting To “Draw Down” For Good In Iraq

2009-06-30T14:47:00.000-07:00

(And I also posted here.)

On the occasion of our partial withdrawal from Iraq today, I actually thought it was a good idea to revisit part of a speech President Obama’s predecessor gave here on that country in front of a typically sympathetic AEI audience, before Iraq War II began in February 2003…

Rebuilding Iraq will require a sustained commitment from many nations, including our own: we will remain in Iraq as long as necessary, and not a day more. America has made and kept this kind of commitment before -- in the peace that followed a world war. After defeating enemies, we did not leave behind occupying armies, we left constitutions and parliaments. We established an atmosphere of safety, in which responsible, reform-minded local leaders could build lasting institutions of freedom. In societies that once bred fascism and militarism, liberty found a permanent home.

I'd like to comment on the text I just highlighted.

In the matter of “rebuilding Iraq,” I realize I could point out a few different things, but I happened to come across this good story from last March in the Boston Globe (don't say all I ever do is bitch about Iraq and ignore the "green shoots" of good stuff, if you will)…

John Dunlop, 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds of muscle, works out of the US Army's Forward Operating Base Falcon in the Rashid District, at the sharp end of Baghdad, but he's not in uniform. His mission is to help Iraq rebuild itself, block by block, and yesterday, as it happened, verse by verse.

Poetry is in the lifeblood of this proudly literate country, and so it was that Dunlop and an Iraqi arts professor convened a poetry competition in war-ravaged Rashid. It was one more way to revive a sense of possibility.

"When you've got local poets who are identified with the community coming forward, it pulls the community around a common identity. It's like everyone's pulling for the same football team," Dunlop said by telephone from Iraq on the eve of the final round of the competition. "It's a sense of normalcy, not war and instability - of culture, of things happening, the kinds of spices that make communities worth defending."

...

Dhafer Al Makuter, an Iraqi translator who has worked with Dunlop since last August, said the importance of poetry to Iraqis can't be overstated. "It's like McDonald's to Americans. Poetry is for when you pray or go to the circus. Everything in Iraq is done with poetry. Today we bought some tractors for Iraqi farmers. A poet was hired to read poetry to the guests at the ceremony for almost an hour. Poetry in Iraq is people's life."

…

Doug Arbuckle, a USAID colleague who was Dunlop's boss in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in 2001, is working with him again in Baghdad. Arbuckle is USAID's executive officer for the Iraq mission, which has 120 expatriate staff such as Dunlop as well as 1,500 contractor employees and 3,700 Iraqi employees.

"John is unafraid. He plows right in and gets the work done. He is a great big guy, and in many of the environments we work in he could be very intimidating, yet he is extremely effective. He establishes rapport very quickly with new people, " Arbuckle said. "And he is the kind of personality who appeals to the military. He's big enough that nobody messes with him."

And let’s not forget that, when it comes to “remaining in Iraq,” Dubya said here that he wanted to “see a lengthy U.S. troop presence in Iraq like the one in South Korea to provide stability but not in a frontline combat role,” though, judging from the celebrations as our troops pulled out of their cities, you can argue as to whether or not that is something the Iraqis actually wanted.

Although, when it comes to “leaving behind an occupying army,” General George Casey, as noted here (from last month)…

…said this week that the American military is preparing to continue its interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan for at least another decade.

Kind of makes me wonder how much different this is from “Straight Talk” McCain’s notorious answer about a possible “hundred year” occupation during the presidential campaign (a pox on both political parties for this...nothing "hopey, changey" about this).

And when it comes to Iraq having a constitution and a parliament…well, they have the former, as noted here, but as far as the latter is concerned, the New York Times tells us this today…

We once hoped that a clear timetable for an American withdrawal would finally persuade Iraq’s leaders to make the political compromises that are the only way to hold their country together without an indefinite occupation. That has not happened. The Parliament has still not passed a law to divide Iraq’s oil resources equitably.

Indeed there are worrying signs that Iraqi politicians are doing the opposite — looking for ways to shore up their communal interests in case the civil war reignites. Many of Iraq’s neighbors are making the same calculations.

…

We are particularly concerned about the Iraqi government’s cavalier — or worse — treatment of the Awakening Councils. Those are the former Sunni insurgents who decided to switch sides, at Washington’s urging. Members have complained about delays in being paid. The government has barely made a down payment on its commitment to find jobs for the group’s 94,000 members in the security services, ministries or private sector.

Baghdad blames dropping oil prices and a budget squeeze for the employment problems. But keeping these fighters, and their relatives and neighbors, on the government’s side should be a top priority. Mr. Maliki has further alienated many Sunnis by ordering the arrest of several council leaders and a few high-profile Sunni politicians. Iraqi officials say the arrests are justified. United States officials need to impress on the prime minister the dangers he is courting.

And when it comes to leaving behind “an atmosphere of safety”…

Violence is down, but extremists are still trying to spark a new cycle of attacks and retaliation. In June, more than 300 Iraqis and 10 Americans were killed.

Finally, I don’t know how anyone can seriously claim that “liberty found a permanent home” when you realize the following (from here)…

George W. Bush’s misguided attack on Iraq has had catastrophic consequences for the Iraqi people. Although the removal of Saddam Hussein was a blessing, the bloody chaos that resulted was not. Estimates of the number of dead in the ensuing strife starts at about 100,000 and rises rapidly. The number of injured is far greater.

Moreover, roughly four million people, about one-sixth of the population, have been driven from their homes. The most vulnerable tended to be Iraq’s Christian community and Iraqis who aided U.S. personnel — acting as translators, for instance. Yet the Bush administration resisted allowing any of these desperate people to come to America, since to resettle refugees would be to acknowledge that administration policy had failed to result in the promised paradise in Babylon.

…

As the Iraq War played out, the Bush administration seemed to do everything in its power to ignore the refugee crisis. Former President Bush, reluctant to admit to a failed war policy, never mentioned the plight of the refugees and for years refused to allow Iraqis fleeing the war zone to resettle in the U.S. Only after significant political pressure from members of Congress and advocacy groups did the administration’s policy begin to change, and refugees began gaining access to the United States.

And of course, Obama has said “this is a major problem, that we are responsible for this problem and we will try to change this.”

We’ll see, won’t we?

And just out of curiosity, I actually visited the AEI site to see what they had to say about this milestone day in Iraq, and…surprise, surprise…they actually didn’t ignore it, given their prior war cheerleading. But as far as the violence that has transpired during the transition, “resident scholar” Michael Rubin had this say…

The worst is yet to come.

Take a bow, you cretins.

Monday Stuff

2009-06-29T20:55:00.000-07:00

Kudos to Lee Stranahan for this...

...and this also (more here - Casey and Specter have both said they support the public option)...

"Worst Persons" (somebody donated $10 grand to run bus ads telling atheists to make themselves public, even though the person who ran the ads wants to keep his identity a secret - hey, talk about mixed messages; Flush Limbore predictably attacks Judge Sonia Sotomayor for her ruling in the Ricci firefighters case now that JR and the Supremes have made new law - again - with Limbore of course choosing to ignore the fact that Sotomayor HAD to rule the way she did because Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was still in force in her original ruling before Roberts and his pals gave it a brand new interpretation with this "strong basis in evidence" stuff - I know, waay too much explanation here; but "Joe The Plumber" gets it for threatening to lynch Chris Dodd...throw this idiot's mangy ass in jail)...

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...and time to rock (lyrics here).

Monday Mashup (6/29/09)

2009-06-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

(This turned out to be long - and I also posted here.)

Over at The Hill, there’s a whole raft of Repug propaganda about the American Clean Energy and Security (ACES) Act (HR 2454), which passed the House by a 219-212 vote last Friday. It has been called “an energy tax that will hurt Americans” (Rep. Dean Heller), “not serious” (Rep. Brian Bilbray), “more taxes for Texas” (Rep. John Culberson), a “national energy tax that will strain families’ budgets” (Rep. John Kline – and he cites data from The Heritage Foundation; who would know better about “working families,” right?), and here, the House Repug leader, none other than “Man Tan” Boehner, called the bill “a pile of shit” (uh oh, time for another blogger ethics panel).

Well, it should be noted that there were actual Republicans who acted like actual grownups and supported HR 2454, and one of them was Frank LoBiondo of New Jersey (pictured), who tells us the following from here…

The ‘American Clean Energy and Security Act’ is the opportunity to break the cycle of inaction and finally move our nation towards real energy independence.

This is by no means a perfect bill but, for New Jersey businesses and families, many of the federal standards that will be created are mirroring state standards long on the books. For the past decade, New Jersey has been forward-looking in its energy policy and sought to establish diverse, renewable alternative sources of energy to meet the state’s needs. From the development of biofuels based on crop waste and planning for additional nuclear reactors, to building small and large-scale wind farms and countless solar panel projects, individuals and municipalities recognized opportunities and took action.

In the process, new local businesses were founded and jobs were created in the emerging ‘green industry’ here in New Jersey. What must happen next is the growth of domestic manufacturing of the materials needed for alternative energy production, such as solar cells, wind turbines and environmentally-friendly buildings. This legislation rightly focuses on growing that manufacturing base, creating green jobs and finally establishing our energy independence. The positive effects will be felt nationally and here in South Jersey. These are objectives I have long believed and advocated for as part of a national energy policy.

I have disagreed with LoBiondo (as well as Mike Castle and especially Chris Smith), and I will again, but for now, thanks to the three of them for doing the right thing.

I recently had the opportunity to read Jane Mayer’s fine article on Leon Panetta taking over at the CIA, when I came across this excerpt…

Panetta, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up washing dishes in his parents’ restaurant. He is disarmingly forthright, with an easy laugh; he is also a stern disciplinarian and a workaholic. Colleagues say that Panetta, who attends Mass regularly, can be principled to the point of rigidity. It was partly Panetta’s rectitude that got him the C.I.A. job. During the Bush years, he decried the country’s loss of moral authority; in a blunt essay for Washington Monthly last year, he declared that Americans had been transformed “from champions of human dignity and individual rights into a nation of armchair torturers.” He concluded, “We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don’t. There is no middle ground.”

Panetta’s impassioned essay unexpectedly became an asset during the Obama transition, after John Brennan—the initial candidate for C.I.A. director—was pressured to withdraw. Critics accused Brennan, who had been a top agency official during the Bush years, of complicity with the torture program. (A friend of Brennan’s from his C.I.A. days complained to me, “After a few Cheeto-eating people in the basement working in their underwear who write blogs voiced objections to Brennan, the Obama Administration pulled his name at the first sign of smoke, and then ruled out a whole class of people: anyone who had been at the agency during the past ten years couldn’t pass the blogger test.”)

Well, you can just add this latest bit of ridicule to this collection from Glenn Greenwald, as well as this, in which David Simon, former Baltimore reporter and creator of HBO's The Wire, tells us that the state of the news biz is one in which "the parasite is killing the host" (not too hard to figure that one out).

Oh, and by the way, Mayer (pictured) tells us that, despite this, Brennan eventually became “a senior official on the National Security Council.” We also learn the following…

Brennan’s supporters have argued that he had no operational control over the interrogation program, and point out that his tenure as Tenet’s chief of staff ended in March, 2001, before the Al Qaeda attacks. But he was subsequently named deputy executive director, and served in that position until March, 2003—the period when the most brutal detainee treatment occurred. In addition, Brennan often briefed President Bush about daily developments in the war on terror. Brennan has described himself as an internal critic of waterboarding—a position that friends, such as Emile Nakhleh, a former senior officer, confirm. Yet, in an interview with me two years ago, Brennan defended the use of “enhanced” interrogation techniques and extraordinary renditions, in which the C.I.A. abducted terror suspects around the globe and transported them to other countries to be jailed and interrogated; many of those countries had execrable human-rights records. He also questioned some people’s definition of “torture.” “I think it’s torture when I have to ride in the car with my kids and they have loud rap music on,” he said. Asked if “enhanced” interrogation techniques were necessary to keep America safe, he replied, “Would the U.S. be handicapped if the C.I.A. was not, in fact, able to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities? I would say yes.”

Gee, Mr. Brennan, if we water boarded you half as many times as say, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, would you consider THAT torture too?

But just remember, the outcry over Brennan is only because of “Cheeto-eating people in the basement working in their underwear who write blogs,” and not because we’re talking about a person who equates brutal interrogation techniques with listening to his kids’ too-loud music in the car.

There’s all kinds of great stuff in Mayer’s story, also including the following…

In April, Panetta fired all the C.I.A.’s contract interrogators, including the former military psychologists who appear to have designed the most brutal interrogation techniques: James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. The two men, who ran a consulting company, Mitchell, Jessen & Associates, had recommended that interrogators apply to detainees theories of “learned helplessness” that were based on experiments with abused dogs.

All done by Bushco in our name, people.

And during my little tour of pundit land, I happened to come across this item from former Laura Bush employee Andrew Malcolm, in which he alleges that the nomination of Mignon Clyburn for FCC commissioner (daughter of Dem House Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina) is a “quid pro quo” for Mr. Clyburn’s support during last year’s presidential campaign.

Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn’t. But I think it’s important to note the following (from here)…

(Mignon) Clyburn is a South Carolina public service commissioner…(and) she is currently the chair of the Washington Action Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC).

So at least she has already served as a public service commissioner.

Now, let’s compare the Mignon Clyburn nomination to some ACTUAL nepotism, Dubya style, in the case of Julie Myers (here)…

Myers has been a controversial figure since the day that President Bush nominated her. She was widely criticized as being a crony hire, being the daughter of former Air Force Gen. Richard Myers and possessing almost no immigration or customs experience. During her tenure, ICE was heavily criticized for carrying out politically-motivated immigration raids.

Myers’s resignation comes just days after a “federal law enforcement official” told the AP that Barack Obama’s aunt was living in the United States illegally. ICE officials, however, are “prohibited from commenting on any individual’s status or the status of any case.” House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) has called for an immediate investigation into the matter. On Saturday, Tim Dickinson at Rolling Stone questioned whether Myers may have been the source of the unauthorized leak.

And as Think Progress also notes, Myers was involved in that untidy little incident where she was photographed with an ICE employee in blackface.

Now, Malcolm, do you still want to talk about nepotism?

Charlie Savage of the New York Times has been reviewing about 150 hours of recently-released recordings from the Nixon White House covering January and February of 1973, as noted here. Some of what we find out is that Nixon encouraged abortions for “black and white” babies, and we also hear his ruminations on Jews and attractive Republican women (ugh).

Also, The Sainted Ronnie R thought getting rid of special prosecutor Archibald Cox (in tandem with the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus) was just fine, which makes sense when you realize that he later would reward the solicitor general who made it happen with a Supreme Court nomination, and I’m talking about Robert Bork, of course.

But we also learn the following in a discussion between Nixon, his Chief of Staff H.R. Haldeman, and secretary Rose Mary Woods (this is set up by a discussion of whether or not Harry Truman was a good president for firing Douglas MacArthur, who wanted to cross the Yalu River into China during the Korean War – I think Truman did the right thing, personally)…

NIXON: In America, you can — even when the president is wrong, you cannot have disloyalty. ...

HALDEMAN: And before it’s decided they should tell you what they think. After it’s decided they’ve got to be on your side.

NIXON: Well, they ought to come in and try to buck you up a little. Say good point.

WOODS: I wish we could try some of our senators and congressman for treason.

NIXON: Don’t worry about that.

WOODS: I really do. Some day we’ll write them up —

NIXON: The story will be told, Rose, sooner than you think.

Wow, Rose Mary Woods had a trace of Madame Defarge, people. Color me shocked!

Yes, I knew that she was “fiercely loyal” to Tricky Dick, but I just never figured her for a co-conspirator to all of the machinations of the Nixon White House (in spirit anyway, if not in actual practice).

Just thought I’d share that one, that’s all.

And finally, I journeyed online to the Bucks County Courier Times site, only to find that they’re taking note of the number of words in constituent replies from Patrick Murphy’s office (here) - wow, hard-hitting stuff!

And I also came across the following from J.D. Mullane’s blog (once again, real rough going there, people)…

I thought we weren't going to interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. Maybe if the Honduran military had shot innocents on the streets, Barack Obama would have laid off the meddling.

See, Bucks County, PA’s journalistic mistake alleges that Obama is at fault for not preventing the ouster of the president of Honduras (Manuel Zelaya), even though we apparently knew it was coming.

But for background purposes, I think it’s important to note the following (from here)…

Tanks rolled into the Honduran capital city of Tegucigalpa today and soldiers seized the national palace, just hours before the country was to hold a constitutional referendum.

Zelaya had orchestrated the vote in hopes of changing the law to allow him to stand for re-election, which is prevented by term limits in Honduras.

…

The country's supreme court had ruled the referendum illegal and congress -- as well as Zelaya's own political party members -- had opposed it. But Zelaya had pushed forward despite widespread opposition.

Zelaya is a close ally of leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has become a unifying force for strong, leftist political movements in Latin America.

…

Roger Noriega, the former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, said Zelaya underminded his own government's institutions and now those institutions aren't there to protect him.

"No one should applaud an illegal interruption of power. I don't think coups are good for institutions in the Americas and you need institutions to have stability and justice in these countries. Having said that, Zelaya was attacking these institutions," Noriega said. "The lesson I think we should get from this is that these populist strongmen really need to play by the rules."

…
Local media reports say that Zelaya, who the Honduran military had flown to Costa Rica, is now making his way to Nicaragua where he's expected to meet with OAS officials later in the week.

So now, we are in a position where we must work “behind the scenes” in an effort to help Zelaya return to power in some legitimate fashion (and in the meantime, make it plain to him that he does not have the authority to disobey the courts of his own country).

And all of this is Obama’s fault as far as J.D. is concerned.

Well then, let’s “compare and contrast” with how Obama’s predecessor chose to intervene in that hemisphere and take a look at the results (here)…

The effort to engage Mr. Zelaya differed from Washington’s initial response to Venezuela’s brief coup in April 2002, when the Bush administration blamed Mr. Chávez for his own downfall and denied knowing about the planning of the coup, despite the revelation later that the Central Intelligence Agency knew developments about the plot in Caracas on the eve of its execution.

After his return to power following the 48-hour coup, Mr. Chávez demonized the Bush administration, and the ties that frayed with the United States are only now being repaired in part by the decision last week by Washington and Caracas to return ambassadors to embassies from which they had been expelled.

So, as he did in Iran, President Obama has chosen to follow the rule of law and let natural events play out within a sovereign nation (with a diplomatic assist), as opposed to interfering and thus consolidating anti-American support.

When it comes to “meddling,” your hero Dubya was a pro, J.D., as opposed to that “piker” Obama, wouldn’t you say?

Sunday Stuff

2009-06-28T19:43:00.000-07:00

I also posted about this over here - unbelievable...

...and RIP, Sky Saxon of The Seeds (love the guitar solo where the fingers don't even strum the strings).

Friday Stuff

2009-06-26T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, at least he didn't mistreat a horse (and from the way he bolted from the hearing today, as reported by the New York Times here, I would be prepared for more revelations)...

..."Worst Persons" (yes, the execrable Cynthia Davis still runs the Missouri food program for needy kids - and now it turns out that she's been pilfering food "on the sly"? Peachy; yep, I would say also that it's time for Mort Kondracke to revisit his RNC talking points before he decides to spout off on something else he doesn't know about (another fossil from "Dr. McLaughlin's Gong Show"); and while I haven't devoted space here to Mann Coulter for an age, I have to say that I haven't missed her (?) one bit)...

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Where The Rubber Meets The Road (6/26/09)

2009-06-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

As reported in last Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer, here is how Philadelphia-area members of Congress were recorded on major roll-call votes last week.

House

Voting 226-202, the House approved the conference report on a bill (HR 2346) to appropriate $80 billion through Sept. 30 for U.S. combat operations and $26 billion for nonmilitary programs. The bill was backed by 221 Democrats and five Republicans and opposed by 170 Republicans and 32 Democrats. Republicans objected mainly to the bill's $5 billion outlay for the International Monetary Fund, and most Democratic foes were casting antiwar votes.

A yes vote was to approve the conference report.

Voting yes: John Adler (D., N.J.), Robert E. Andrews (D., N.J.), Robert A. Brady (D., Pa.), Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.), Tim Holden (D., Pa.), Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.), Allyson Y. Schwartz (D., Pa.), and Joe Sestak (D., Pa.).

Voting no: Michael N. Castle (R., Del.), Charles W. Dent (R., Pa.), Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.), Frank A. LoBiondo (R., N.J.), Joseph R. Pitts (R., Pa.), and Christopher H. Smith (R., N.J.).

This was held up for a time because of the Lieberman-Graham Oh Mah Gawd We Can’t Let Anyone See Those Dirty Torture Pictures Amendment, but even though the amendment was removed (I don’t believe it made it back into the supplemental before it was signed), President Obama gave Graham his assurance that he’ll ban the pix, even issuing an executive order if he has to, according to this (of course, an executive order doing away with DADT once and for all is a better idea, but I digress).

Justice Department budget. Voting 259-157, the House passed a bill (HR 2847) appropriating $64.4 billion for the fiscal 2010 budgets of the Justice and Commerce Departments, NASA, and several other agencies. The bill represents a 12 percent spending increase over 2009.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, Murphy, LoBiondo, Schwartz, and Smith.

Voting no: Castle and Pitts.

Hmm, there’s an amendment here from Repug Dave Reichert of Washington (one day, Darcy, one day) allocating $2.5 million for the Office on Violence Against Women – I thought Joe was big into human rights…or something…??

Guantanamo Bay. Voting 212-213, the House refused to bar the use of funds in HR 2847 (above) to carry out President Obama's decision to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The amendment went beyond a ban already in the bill on releasing Guantanamo prisoners into the United States.

A yes vote was to keep Guantanamo open.

Voting yes: Adler, Castle, Dent, Gerlach, LoBiondo, Pitts, and Smith.

Voting no: Andrews, Brady, Fattah, Holden, Murphy, Schwartz, and Sestak.

Typical party-line BS to maintain the existence of a facility that offends the conscience of the world (and ooh, don’t transfer those scary terrists into one of our supermaxes!!).

Yes, Obama needs to fight a little harder on this (as if he doesn’t have enough to do). And in a perfect world, the “worthy opposition” would see the light of day here, and more than a few voters in this country would grow up.

But sadly…

Legal Services Corp. Voting 105-323, the House defeated an amendment to HR 2847 (above) to shut down the Legal Services Corp., which is the main federal program for providing the poor with legal representation.

Voting yes: Pitts.

Voting no: Adler, Andrews, Brady, Castle, Dent, Fattah, Gerlach, Holden, LoBiondo, Murphy, Schwartz, Sestak, and Smith.

This week’s stupid No vote by Joe Pitts (glad there aren’t any poor people in PA-16 who need legal representation – of course, those cameras I noted yesterday record everything perfectly, so there’s no need for costly litigation in the event of a wrongful arrest).

Senate

War budget. Voting 91-5, the Senate sent President Obama a bill (HR 2346) appropriating $106 billion through September for purposes such as funding U.S. combat in Afghanistan and Iraq; sending nonmilitary aid to Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Middle East; containing flu on a global scale; fighting Mexican drug cartels; supporting the International Monetary Fund; providing disaster aid to areas of the United States, and funding a new program to help consumers replace gas-guzzlers with fuel-efficient vehicles.

A yes vote was to pass the bill.

Voting yes: Thomas Carper (D., Del.), Bob Casey (D., Pa.), Ted Kaufman (D., Del.), Frank Lautenberg (D., N.J.), Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), and Arlen Specter (D., Pa.).

In the article I linked to previously about Lieberman-Graham, it’s noted that fellow Repug Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., voted against it…

…DeMint's aides said he opposed the bill because it contains "a $108 billion IMF bailout" and the $1 billion to help automakers.

The measure provides only $5 billion in direct funding to the IMF, as part of a credit line that could go higher.

DeMint's amendment to strip the IMF funding was defeated in the Senate last month by a 64-30 vote.

Typical.

In addition to DeMint, Tom Coburn, Mike Enzi, Russ Feingold and Bernie Sanders voted No also (as noted here, with the latter two for very different reasons than the others, I’m sure).

This week, the House took up an energy and global-warming bill, while the Senate resumed debate on a bill to promote foreign tourism in the United States.