This daily blog is composed of clips and links from other progressive blog and news sites, accompanied by my own observations. We are committed to challenging the Trump administration and its policies, exposing its corruption and lies, and helping to lay the groundwork for a progressive comeback.
Of all the GOP mantras, two of the old reliables are “tax cuts stimulate growth” and “small businesses are the engines of job creation.” So you would think that supporting Obama on a bill to cut taxes for small businesses would be a no-brainer for them. Oh, wait, “supporting Obama” – nope, can’t have that
Longtime readers know how furious I was over the Bush administration's destruction of evidence and obstruction of justice by “losing” millions of emails – in addition to using off-site accounts to circumvent the law on preserving WH communications. How bad was it?
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Monday, August 30, 2010
DROPPING THE PRETENSE
Yesterday I noted the apparent irony that anti-establishment teabaggers don’t see any contradiction in supporting corporate-backed Republicans. That’s because the teabaggers are a corporate-backed movement themselves
http://mydd.com/2010/8/29/try-87000 An estimated 87,000 people attended a rally organized by talk-radio host and Fox News commentator Glenn Beck Saturday in Washington, according to a crowd estimate commissioned by CBS News. . . .
http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/08/26/on-jobs-and-deficits-republicans-are-worse-than-obama.html [Newsweek] Nothing is more important to Republican politicians these days than jobs and the deficit—at least according to Republican politicians. As House Minority Leader John Boehner put it in a "major economic address" on Tuesday, President Obama is "doing everything possible to prevent jobs from being created" while refusing to do anything at all "about bringing down the deficits that threaten our economy." Elect Republicans in November, Boehner assured his audience, and we will put an end to this insanity.
There's only one problem with Boehner's message: so far, the things that Republicans have said they want to do won't actually boost employment or reduce deficits. In fact, much the opposite. By combing through a variety of studies and projections from nonpartisan economic sources, we here at Gaggle headquarters have found that if Republicans were in charge from January 2009 onward—and if they were now given carte blanche to enact the proposals they want to—the projected 2010–2020 deficits would be larger than they are under Obama, and fewer people would probably be employed. . . .
Creepy: what the Senate could look like if the GOP wins
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Sunday, August 29, 2010
WE’VE GOT OURS
Just another example of teabagger cognitive dissonance – they’re all about anti-establishment resentment, but they really don’t mind their GOP heroes raking in cash from major corporate donors
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
But Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour is on the speaking circuit, and touting his status -- recently bestowed by POLITICO -- as “the most powerful Republican in politics" as a selling point.
A source tells me that his fee is between $50,000 and $75,000 per appearance, plus the usual travel expenses -- putting him near the top of political speakers. Barbour pulls more than twice what Steele -- the nominal party chairman -- gets. . . .
I wonder why Fox News should be so upset at the idea that anti-Muslim propagandizing might have had something to do with the NYC cabbie stabbing. Doth they protest too much?
The problem for Fox in concealing their links with political candidates like Palin
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/greta-van-susteren-pretends-sarah-palin-do Beyond the questionable seriousness of Van Susteren’s report, there is a deeper ethical concern. Van Susteren’s husband John Coale is one of “the figures charged with guiding Palin’s political image in Washington,” but Van Susteren never revealed this connection during the special . . .
[NB: Of course, FOX ITSELF is charged with guiding Palin’s political image . . . so it’s a perfect circle, right?
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Thursday, August 26, 2010
NO SECRET
This can’t be because of the Islamophobic rhetoric of the right, can it?
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2010/08/piecing_it_together_1.php [TPM] As you've seen in our earlier reports, we have what appears to be a straight-up hate crime, in which an NYC cabbie picks up a fare, passenger asks him if he's Muslim and then stabs him in the neck. The NYPD says Michael Enright, 21, is going to be charged with 2nd degree attempted murder and a hate crime. . .
Ken Mehlman, Bush campaign manager and former head of the RNC, comes out publicly as gay. That’s hardly news, everyone knew it at the time. The question of the day is, how did he feel about working for and promoting an openly antigay party?
In David Broder’s world of politics, now that John McCain has sold his soul to the right wing to retain his Senate seat, he can go back to being a National Leader and hero of bipartisanship. Is Broder stupid, or does he really believe that when he says it’s so, that makes it so?
More: http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/color-of-change-campaign-turn-off-fox.html [Digby] I don't know about you, but I see FoxNews on in businesses all the time, just droning out its propaganda to people who don't even know what they are listening to. Color of Change is sponsoring an action called TurnOffFox which I think is very interesting. . . .
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
A MAN, A PLAN
The GOP CAN’T say what their economic plan for the future is, because everyone knows it is just an echo of the past
2. Pledge to veto EFCA or energy reform legislation passed by Congress after the November election but before the new Congress.
3. Tell Democrats to support the GOP's effort to repeal a provision of the health care law that Boehner claims would require businesses to itemize all expenditures over $600. . . .
4. Submit a massive spending reduction package to Congress.
It is a GOOD thing to make this guy the face of the Republican party going into the fall campaign
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/boehner-boring-empty-playboy.html [Digby] I have to give it to Boehner. His speech today was almost elegant in its pompous vapidity. He's got a real gift for saying absolutely nothing with the careless aplomb of an empty playboy years past his prime. . . .
Abortions are still legal, but that doesn’t keep right-wing elected officials from doing everything they can to make it practically impossible for women to get them
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
AUTOMATIC
Obama’s popularity continues to decline, and everyone is trying to figure out whose fault it is
We are starting to realize the dangers of turning over our basic societal processes to automated programs that can be hacked
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/23/business/23flash.html The stock market mysteriously plunges 600 points — and then, more mysteriously, recovers within minutes. Over the next few weeks, analysts at Nanex, an obscure data company in the suburbs of Chicago, examine trading charts from the day and are stunned to find some oddly compelling shapes and patterns in the data. . . . [read on]
http://www.eff.org/issues/e-voting Many states are hastily implementing flawed electronic voting machines and related election procedures. . . .
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/tea-party-primer-on-dc-dangerous-scary-and-full-of-arabs.php "If you are on the subway stay on the Red line between Union Station and Shady Grove, Maryland. If you are on the Blue or Orange line do not go past Eastern Market (Capitol Hill) toward the Potomac Avenue stop and beyond; stay in NW DC and points in Virginia. Do not use the Green line or the Yellow line. These rules are even more important at night. . . ." [read on!]
Marco Rubio, losing in Florida, becomes a little less teabaggy
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/22/892377/-First-Amendment-values This topic is explored in depth in Drew Westen's seminal work, The Political Brain. In one sentence, the book's upshot is this: Democrats spend all of their time trying to appeal to the rational brains of voters through facts, figures and laundry lists of legislative accomplishments, while Republicans focus on more emotional topics, such as narratives and values. And guess which side of the brain is stronger? . . . [read on]
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/tea-party-candidate-wants-to-put.html Paladino laid out several plans that included converting underused state prisons into centers that would house welfare recipients. There, they would do work for the state — "military service, in some cases park service, in other cases public works service," he said — while prison guards would be retrained to work as counselors. . . . [read on]
http://mydd.com/2010/8/22/the-latest-in-gop-extremism-internment-camps "We can ship them out to the middle of the country and put up high walls and leave them there," said Marg Baker, the middle-aged real estate broker vying for the Republican nomination in the state's 48th district, north of Tampa.
Baker was filmed advocating the camps idea at a local meeting of the 9-12 Project, Glenn Beck's activist group, earlier this month. She told Salon today that she was upset at the way some had misinterpreted her comments. "They're trying to think I want to erect some sort of prison camps like over in Germany" -- which she is not, Baker said.
Asked if what she had in mind was more like the Japanese internment camps of the World War II era, Baker said, "something like that. But unfortunately in the Japanese camps they detained American citizens. The only ones I want to detain are the ones who are illegal."
She added, "You've gotta have places for them to eat and sleep and breathe fresh air. It can be a tent city ... You don't want to make them too comfortable or they'll want to come back."
No, the GOPers don’t REALLY care about the deficit
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
The latest GOP “insight” – would Muslim countries let us build a Christian church near a “ground zero” site of their own? Then why should we let them build one near ours?
Because we need to take our guidance on religious tolerance from those countries
[NB: OK, I can credit that: Bush finally listened to his generals and shifted strategies after years of futility. But if Bush deserves “some” – doesn’t that mean Obama deserves “some” too, John?]
Can the Dems pass the DISCLOSE Act – or at least make the Repubs pay for blocking it?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/22/895215/-Sunday-TalkA-Lie-Grows-in-Washington Meet the Press: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); Chairman of FreedomWorks/Former Rep. Dick Armey (R-TX); Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D); Roundtable: Former Rep. Rick Lazio (R-NY), Jeffrey Goldberg (The Atlantic), Paul Gigot (Wall Street Journal) and Katty Kay (BBC).
Face the Nation: Commander of US Forces in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno; Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Author Greg Mortensen ("Stones into Schools").
This Week with Christiane Amanpour: Afghan President Hamid Karzai; Wife of Imam Feisal Abdul-Rauf Daisy Khan; Head of the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan Rabbi Joy Levitt; Roundtable: George Will (Washington Post), Judy Woodruff (PBS), Former Clinton Labor Secretary Robert Reich and Al Hunt (Bloomberg).
State of the Union: Commander of US Forces in Iraq Gen. Ray Odierno; Fromer Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Richard Myers (Ret.); Former US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad; Former Commander of US Central Command Adm. William Fallon (Ret.); Reliable Sources: Michael Martin (NPR); Ramesh Ponnuru (National Review); Todd Purdum (Vanity Fair).
The Chris Matthews Show: Gloria Borger (CNN); Dan Rather (HDNet); John Heilemann (New York magazine); Michele Norris (NPR).
Fareed Zakaria GPS: Peter Beinart (Daily Beast); Brett Stephens (Wall Street Journal); Pakistani Politician Imran Ali; Harvard University Professor Niall Ferguson; Nina Hachigan (Center for American Progress); Claremont McKenna College Professor Minxin Pei; Author Zachary Karabell.
Bonus item: So, if Obama has to “prove” he isn’t Muslim, how does he do that? The ridiculous pork debate . . .
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
"I think the president's problem is that he was born a Muslim, his father was a Muslim. The seed of Islam is passed through the father like the seed of Judaism is passed through the mother. He was born a Muslim, his father gave him an Islamic name" . . .
England: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7949342/Cocaine-should-be-legal-says-top-doctor.html "Professor Sir Ian Gilmore said making drugs such as heroin and cocaine legal would “drastically” cut crime and addicts’ health problems. . . . State-regulated use of drugs would also save money and avert the need to try to stop drug production in countries such as Afghanistan, he said."
Mexico: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-09/mexico-ex-president-fox-calls-for-drug-legalization-as-way-to-end-violence.html Former Mexican President Vicente Fox said his country should legalize the production and sale of drugs in order to curb rising cartel-related violence. . . Legalizing narcotics would curtail funding to organized crime groups, who are using profits from the drug trade to consolidate power, Fox wrote yesterday on his personal website. . . . “Radical prohibition strategies have never worked,” Fox said. “The cost of the fight against organized crime, and in particular narcotics trafficking, has been enormous in our country.”
Bolivia: http://www.alternet.org/drugs/95692/the_coca_wars_are_futile,_but_drug_legalization_is_win-win/ Bolivian farmers deserve better than harassment over a traditional crop they economically need, making the Morales administration's tolerance of coca growing just. But supply-side anti-drug efforts are futile in term of the ultimate goal, and people around the world affected by cocaine and the illegal trade deserve better too. Only global legalization can stop the violence and corruption that characterize the illegal drug trade. Addicted users will also feel freer to seek help when they are not considered criminals, and will be less likely to do harm to themselves or others in the meanwhile. Ending drug prohibition is a win-win proposition.
Portugal: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html The question is, does the new policy work? At the time, critics in the poor, socially conservative and largely Catholic nation said decriminalizing drug possession would open the country to "drug tourists" and exacerbate Portugal's drug problem; the country had some of the highest levels of hard-drug use in Europe. But the recently released results of a report commissioned by the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, suggest otherwise. . . . The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.
United Nations: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/24/un-backs-drug-decriminali_n_220013.html In an about face, the United Nations on Wednesday lavishly praised drug decriminalization in its annual report on the state of global drug policy. In previous years, the UN drug czar had expressed skepticism about Portugal's decriminalization, which removed criminal penalties in 2001 for personal drug possession and emphasized treatment over incarceration. The UN had suggested the policy was in violation of international drug treaties and would encourage "drug tourism." . . . But in its 2009 World Drug Report, the UN had little but kind words for Portugal's radical (by U.S. standards) approach. "These conditions keep drugs out of the hands of those who would avoid them under a system of full prohibition, while encouraging treatment, rather than incarceration, for users. Among those who would not welcome a summons from a police officer are tourists, and, as a result, Portugal's policy has reportedly not led to an increase in drug tourism," reads the report. "It also appears that a number of drug-related problems have decreased."
USA: http://www.justice.gov/dea/demand/speakout/06so.htm Legalization proponents claim, absurdly, that making illegal drugs legal would not cause more of these substances to be consumed, nor would addiction increase. They claim that many people can use drugs in moderation and that many would choose not to use drugs, just as many abstain from alcohol and tobacco now. . . .
Bonus item: “Mama grizzlies” growl back at Palin – and she doesn’t like it
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Friday, August 20, 2010
THEN AND NOW
The DOUBLING of the number of people who think Obama is Muslim needs explaining. Obviously there was an effort to press this myth early on (the birthers, etc), but why such a sharp increase recently? Is it Obama’s position on the Ground Zero Mosque? Or something worse?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/business/19auto.html General Motors filed Wednesday for a landmark public stock offering that would let the federal government begin selling off its stake in the automaker as well as raise money for G.M.’s turnaround. . . .
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_08/025274.php [Steve Benen] No one should be surprised. Rove has been lying to voters, just as a matter of course, throughout his career. For a campaign operation organized by the activist/hatchet-man/media-personality to base its work on playing voters for fools is entirely predictable.
But as Rove's lies go, this one takes some chutzpah. It was Rove's White House, after all, that crafted and approved irresponsible tax cuts -- which failed miserably in their stated goal -- and put an expiration date on them. It wasn't Obama, and it wasn't Democrats -- Rove's White House played a budget game and set the lower rates to expire at the end of 2010.
If it's a "bomb," Rove helped set the timer. He has no reason to whine (or lie) about it now. . . .
http://mydd.com/2010/8/19/a-5 Last night, the Roy Blunt campaign posted a gross web video with an image of 9/11 rubble and a Robin Carnahan statement about the proposed Park51 project. . . .
http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/08/republican-babes-are-smokin-hot-dems-are-definitely-not-says-mn-gop.php Want to see part of the brilliant strategy Minnesota Republicans have cooked up for November? Here's a video the state GOP made that shows how totally hot conservative babes are, and how nasty (and hairy) liberal women are. The crafty video, via Mother Jones, first goes through pictures of super sexy Republican babes -- like Sarah Palin, all the Fox News hotties, and so on -- set to Tom Jones' "She's a Lady." Ooh, they're so hot. Then come the Democrats! This one took a lot of brain power, and Photoshop skills, to get the point across. With the Baha Men's classic "Who Let the Dogs Out?" playing in the background, you'll see Rosie O'Donnell's head pasted onto Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's recently waterboarded body, Janeane Garofalo several times, as well as former US Attorney General Janet Reno and very old, former White House reporter Helen Thomas. They even remembered Cindy Sheehan. . . .
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
Chris Dodd (D-CT) has shifted his attacks on Elizabeth Warren, from “she’s qualified but I don’t think the Senate will confirm her,” to “I’m not sure she’s qualified.” Why?
http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2010_08/025267.php Fox News' parent company, News Corp, raised some eyebrows with its $1 million contribution to the Republican Governors Association. There's just no modern precedent for a media conglomerate to offer this kind of financial support to a party's campaign committee.
Today, Nathan Daschle, executive director of the Democratic Governors Association, contacted Fox News CEO Roger Ailes with a suggestion of sorts. The network's news division, Daschle said, should add a disclaimer during its coverage of gubernatorial races. He even wrote a sample script of what Fox News' on-air talent should say: "News Corp., parent company of Fox News, provided $1 million to defeat Democratic governors in November." . . . [read on]
***If you enjoy PBD and support what we are doing, you can help by forwarding a copy of this issue to your friends (using the envelope link below) or by sending them a copy of its URL (http://pbd.blogspot.com).
I don't get anything personally out of this project, except the satisfaction of doing it (I don't run ads, etc). The credit really all goes to the people whose material I copy and redistribute. But if I do have a "mission," it is to get this information into the hands of as many people as I can.***
THE LEVERS OF GOVERNMENT
