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Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.

Archive | June, 2009

Dear Jenny, Dump Him

By on 30 June 2009
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It’s time for an intervention.

It’s bipartisanship I can wholeheartedly endorse.

It’s also the latest adventure into what the meaning of “is” is, by variation.

In a stupefying interview of extreme confessional proportions for a politician trying to save himself, Gov. Mark Sanford reaches down for more stupid.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford said Tuesday that he “crossed lines” with a handful of women other than his mistress – but never had sex with them. The governor said he “never crossed the ultimate line” with anyone but Maria Belen Chapur, the Argentine at the center of a scandal that has derailed his once-promising political career.

“This was a whole lot more than a simple affair, this was a love story,” Sanford said. “A forbidden one, a tragic one, but a love story at the end of the day.” …

In the AP interview we learn…

There were lots of women.

There were more meetings with his Argentinian lover than were previously disclosed. No! Really?

That Sanford was “chaperoned by a spiritual adviser” to what was supposed to be his last meeting with his paramour. It wasn’t.

During an emotional interview at his Statehouse office with The Associated Press on Tuesday, Sanford said Chapur is his soul mate but he’s trying to fall back in love with his wife.

There’s a limit to what any woman should have to forgive and the effort Sanford’s admitting it’s taking to fall back in love with his wife sends a message that Mrs. Sanford should be receiving loud and clear.

Of course, this is nobody’s business. Except that Gov. Sanford won’t shut up.

It also reveals Gov. Sanford as an emotional wreck; someone who clearly either needs a break, a rubber room, or a one-way ticket to Argentina. He’s a humiliation to himself, to his family, but also South Carolina voters, who are the ones who have to decide if he should stay or go, but something tells me this latest blubberfest with the AP is going to send his Republican colleagues in South Carolina over the edge.

Any wife who takes a man back after all this is certifiable. Of course, women do it. All the time. But it won’t be a marriage of intimacy ever again.

As for the children, which is the usual reason used for keeping a marriage together, especially religious couples. Sometimes the best example to the children is to make the hard decision. After all, Jenny Sanford is loaded, so the usual case of single mother poverty doesn’t apply.

Time to call a lawyer, Jenny, if you haven’t already.

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MN Supreme Court Orders Franken to be Certified Senator

By on 30 June 2009

BREAKING…. NORM COLEMAN CONCEDES


Norm Coleman has now lost every challenge he’s entered in to trying to wrestle this Senate seat back from the jaws of defeat.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has ordered that Democrat Al Franken be certified as the winner of the state’s long-running Senate race. – AP

It’s over to Gov. Pawlenty.

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Iran 101

By on 30 June 2009

How does Iran work?

Let’s just say it’s as top down as it gets. Flow charts are here and here. Below is the Iran narrative as I see it.

Max Blumenthal sees Iran through the prism of Palestine.

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via Stephen M. Walt

So, if you want to know what any revolution is up against, here’s the heavy lift Iranians have to face. If the people are to take back the power it won’t come through peace.

The Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, regardless of his lackluster religious creds, is where the recent crackdown originates. Roger Cohen mentioned a “crushing” of the Iranian protests recently, which means the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, through the paramilitary thugs called the Basij malitia, are getting the okay to unleash their fury. The Basij militia’s leader is reportedly an ally of Ahmadinejad, which isn’t all that surprising given what we’ve seen play out. Khamenei is the IRG’s “commander in chief,” so to speak.

So it flows nicely for the Supreme Leader that it is the Iranian Revolutionary Guard that is next in power, even as they have close ties with Iran’s president. The flow chart Bill Marsh did over the weekend number the IRG as “perhaps” 120,000 strong. But even though Khamenei is in charge, one of the reasons Ahmadinejad is so secure is his close ties to the IRG. You can bet Khamenei knows this and won’t overstep, as it wouldn’t be all that outrageous to think the IRG could step in if Khamenei weakens significantly. Unlikely, but not out of the question. The Quds Force is an elite branch of the IRG, which has been reported in the news during the Iraq war. They operate exclusively outside Iran.

The Supreme Leader also has control through appointing the Guardian Council, which is headed by Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, who is in Ahmadinejad’s corner. It’s comprised of 6 clerics and 6 jurists. They have blocked all females from their ranks. Also appointed is the head of the judiciary, whose name is Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahrudi (and very close to the SL), and other council members, with the GC controlling elections, who can run in these elections, as well as having the last say on anything the Parliament passes. Their current speaker is Ali Larijani, Iran’s former nuclear negotiator. If the GC doesn’t like a law they simply block it. Bill Marsh calls the Guardian Council “the regime’s gatekeeper,” as they have the power to obliterate all reform ideas that incubate in the Parliament or anywhere else. The GC also approves candidates for Parliament, which basically is a toothless chamber, because it has no power over the SL, with the GC also having ultimate power over any decisions made.

The SL also has control over the president and can even kick him out of office. However, don’t forget the IRG, which can be moved to act on behalf of the president. Since the “green wave,” Ahmadinejad is now completely dependent on Khamenei, so any independence once imbued in the Iranian presidency is now a formality. However, the president has the power to put his people throughout the government, but also into the Iranian media. Another way to control the message and know who’s not toeing the line.

The Expediency Council is headed by former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, but is appointed by the SL. Rafsanjani intervenes between GC and Parliament disputes, but also aids the SL when asked.

Finally, the all important Assembly of Experts, who chooses but also can remove the Supreme Leader. It is headed by Rafsanjani, who backed Mousavi and is adamantly opposed to Ahmadinejad, who defeated him for president in 2005.

Fouad Ajami, who analyzed Iran from the neoconservative perspective, thinks Obama has to choose between the regime and the people on the street.

But if you look at the Iranian hierarchy and where the power is entrenched there’s really no choice at all, at least right now.

Only the Iranians can change this fact and it won’t come in the short-term and it won’t come without mayhem, death and destruction. That is, unless the people get help from inside the Iranian structure, peeling away power from Khamenei, which would weaken Ahmadinejad that could bring down the regime. But never forget the Revolutionary Guard, where Ahmadinejad has strong allies. It’s a long, likely bloody, road to “freedom.” Remembering that we are talking about the Islamic Republic of Iran.

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Bye-bye Baghdad

By on 30 June 2009
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Happy holiday!

The oilmen commeth.

An oil consortium led by British Petroleum has won a contract to develop a large oil field in Iraq, as dozens of international firms compete for the rights to the nation’s oil and gas reserves.

BP, along with China’s CNPC, secured the contract for the Rumaila oil field on Tuesday, the largest of Iraq’s six oil fields on offer to foreign and state-owned companies. … A total of 32 firms, including US and European giants ExxonMobil and Shell and companies from China, India and other Asian states, are chasing the opportunity to get 20-year service contracts to develop six giant oil fields and two gas fields.

As a side note, the above screen capture is evidence of MSNBC’s new HD format. I’m loving it.

TO ADD… Tom Ricks brings the pessimism, though some would say it’s simply reality.

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Is Madoff Worse than a Child Molester?

By on 29 June 2009
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Talk about sentence overkill.

I’m sure it makes some people feel good, but it hasn’t solved the problem or revealed the mysteries. I also still want to know who helped him and where is the money, but also where was the SEC?

Madoff’s lawyers referred to the verdict as “mob vengeance.”

A federal judge sentenced Bernard L. Madoff to 150 years in prison on Monday for operating a huge Ponzi scheme that devastated thousands of people, calling his crimes “extraordinarily evil.”

But worse than a child molester? In Corpus Christi just a couple of weeks ago, a guy was found “… guilty of six counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child and two counts of indecency with a child. Those counts accused him of repeatedly molesting a girl” and sentenced to 80 years.

The stories of the victims of Madoff are heartbreaking in the extreme. But aren’t investors to be responsible enough to know that if something sounds too good to be true, with rewards that don’t make sense when compared to the rest of the investment world, that likely means something’s amiss?

In a capitalistic society, every citizen investor is responsible for his or her investment decisions. Government can only do so much.

On the other hand, people need to trust that investment brokers aren’t lying crooks.

Between the two lands your own personal judgment, but you, too, are involved. There is also a good rule about percentages of your money being invested in different funds, etc.

Jill Schlesinger, Editor-at-Large for CBS MoneyWatch.com, has a ridiculous post up that claims the sentence “doesn’t seem long enough.” Really?

Madoff is a being used as a symbol that’s supposed to send a warning message. It should come as cold comfort for people, because the system that allowed it to happen is still in place with no answers as to where the regulatory agencies were when Madoff ran amok.

Good riddance to the schmuck, but the overkill sentence is nothing less than judicial smoke and mirrors.

Madoff is the biggest con artists to ever hit Wall Street, leaving financial victims everywhere. But worse than a child molester?

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Sotomayor in Line with Supreme Dissenters

By on 29 June 2009
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Today, the Supreme Court ruled that precedent no longer matters. An illustration of how important Obama’s court appointments will turn out to be.

Cue the right-wing freakathon! Rush led the way today by reiterating his talking point that Sotomayor is a “racist.”

Via AP:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities. …

Reality is that in her Court of Appeals decision she used precedent, which ended up in a unanimous decision, because other judges on the court agreed with her.

Text of today’s ruling is here.

However, James Joyner uses the opportunity to say that Justice Ginsberg’s dissent is “absurd.”

The usual suspects go full tilt unhinged. Thinkers they are not.

Glenn Greenwald outs the Supreme slim majority on this one:

3. For all the chatter about “judicial activism” and that dreadful Roberts metaphor of “a neutral umpire calling balls and strikes,” it is so striking how frequently conservative judges invalidate policies which conservatives dislike as a political matter. Here we have the conservative wing of the Court declaring illegal the employment decisions of local government officials, who used a political approach — diversity — which conservatives dislike on policy grounds. So often, the outcomes of the allegedly neutral conservative judges are completely consistent with (and aggressively advance) the political preferences of conservatives (Bush v. Gore being only the most obvious example). Indeed, few things are rarer than conservatives Justices invalidating policies that conservatives like politically, or upholding policies they despise — the true test for whether one applies to law independently of political and outcome preferences.

A new poll on the issue finds Americans agreeing across the political spectrum. The recession and unemployment fears, as well as the general unease with the economic situation today is a silent partner in these opinions. Just a guess.

“Not surprisingly, most Republicans think that the firefighters were victims of discrimination, but a majority of Democrats join in that view,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “Fifty-seven percent of Democrats say the white firefighters were discriminated against. Two-thirds of Independents and three-quarters of Republicans agree.”

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Coup Today, Tomorrow Iraq

By on 29 June 2009
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Honduras is on everyone’s radar right now. It’s the first coup in South America since the cold war ended, bringing memories of the region’s harrowing past. But a big shift begins in Iraq tomorrow that will bring Bush’s war back into our conversation as the Iraqis begin the process of policing their cities themselves.

There is a lot of attention on Honduras today, where a military coup has ousted Chavez’s friend. It’s likely that when many Americans hear the news they’ll be unfazed. I doubt most people know where it is on a map (next to El Salvador). Amidst Zelaya’s squeals of “I am the president of Honduras,” the Honduran Congress quickly voted him out. The Wall Street Journal has a story putting Pres. Obama in the middle of this dispute, even as countries joined together condemning the coup. A statement from Obama is one thing, but going any further than that should be resisted.

“The decision was adopted by unanimity in the Congress. That means all of the political parties. It has been endorsed by sectors that represent a wide array of Hondurans — the Episcopal Church, the Catholic Church. And well, of course, the armed forces,” he said. “The difficult part will be for the international community to see things as the Honduran people see them,” the official said. – Honduran Military Ousts President

The Obama administration: A senior administration official would not confirm that account, but said, “We were very clear . . . that any resolution of the political conflict in Honduras had to be democratic and constitutional.”

None of our business.

As for Iraq, Peter Feaver has written a post that will be copied over the days and weeks ahead. The big blast in Sadr City last week gave him a good setting from which to begin. Feaver’s premise is simple:

Early reports that General Odierno felt the deadline should slip a bit gave way to more recent reports that he was comfortable meeting the deadline. This reassured me somewhat, until I re-read this assessment by Stephen Biddle. He offers a sober assessment of a number of ways the Iraq project could unravel, and a grim reminder that, as bad as Iraq has been, there are many ways that it could become much worse if we misplay our hand.

And in fact, Biddle intimates that the United States may very well be in the process of misplaying its hand by hewing too rigidly to the SoFA withdrawal schedule. The money quote: “The most effective option for prevention [of renewed violence in Iraq] is to go slow in drawing down the U.S. military presence in Iraq.” Biddle recognizes that slowing the withdrawal would impose costs — strain on the armed forces and, perhaps a greater hurdle, political embarrassment for Obama and for the Maliki government. But he reminds us that letting the positive trajectory in Iraq reverse imposes great costs, too, and thus concludes: “On balance, paying the cost of a slower withdrawal, while expensive, may ultimately be the cheaper approach.”

I just want out.

“I think from a military and security standpoint, it’s time for us to move out of the cities.. “I believe security and stability is headed in the right direction.” – Odierno on “State of the Nation”

But no one should be deluded into thinking that violence in Iraq won’t rise when we do. That’s simply not our problem anymore.

Let’s just hope the Obama administration understands that once we start withdrawing there’s no going back.

Besides, 130,000 troops still remain on patrol outside the Iraq cities. This is just one phase. The end of our military involvement in Iraq cannot come soon enough.

For the Iraqis it’s just the beginning of a very long road.

Tariq al-Hashimi, Iraq’s Sunni vice-president, echoed the concerns of many Iraqis when he urged “our people to be more cautious and avoid, whenever possible, crowded areas unless there is something important”. In a statement posted on his website on Saturday, al-Hashimi urged Iraqi security forces to increase their presence in public areas, markets and mosques. – Al Jazeera

Mine fields ahead.

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Camp David Obama’s Church Choice

By on 29 June 2009

The Obamas will evidently attend regular service at a small, quiet church at Camp David where they can hopefully find solace without the silliness of spectators.

The First Family won’t have that problem at Camp David, where the 150-seat Evergreen Chapel attracts a congregation of between 50 and 70 people most Sundays. The rustic stone-and-glass octagonal structure was built nearly two decades ago through private funds; President George H.W. Bush dedicated it in 1991. At the ceremony, Christian singer Sandi Patti sang and the late Cardinal James Hickey of Washington delivered a sermon calling the chapel a “witness to our common belief that we need to seek divine guidance in the conduct of our national affairs.”

Little story on a quiet week, as Congress is on recess and we all get ready for fireworks.

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Milbank to Pitney: ‘You’re such a d—’

By on 28 June 2009

Now, boys. That’s what Pitney reports Milbank whispered to him before the show began. Classy.

But give it to Howard Kurtz, he gets to the meat of it straight out.

“Do you think there’s some jealousy involved by the media establishment in the fact that you got that second question?” – Howard Kurtz

It’s old media being one upped by new media in the most obvious way, with old media fearing for its very life because after being thrown out of Iran the only avenue to talk to the world and get out what’s happening in that country is via the Internet, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, all things new media, as old media is left in the dust.

Pitney’s question reveals this frightening new reality.

This was so painfully obvious you’d think Milbank would have some humility about it, especially since Pitney had access through the outreach at HuffPost to get an Iranian to talk to the president. But that’s really the rub. What’s old media to do? Watch silently as we pass them by?

Milbank not only sounds foolish on Kurtz’s show, bringing forth his silly little list of grievances, but a bit like a school bully (representing old media) who doesn’t know how to act after he’s been bested by the smart kid (new media).

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News Around the World

By on 28 June 2009

–updated–

An eerie stillness has settled over this normally frenetic city. … “People are depressed, and they feel they have been lied to, robbed of their rights and now are being insulted,” said Nassim, a 56-year-old hairdresser. “It is not just a lie; it’s a huge one. And it doesn’t end.” – In Tehran, a Mood of Melancholy Descends

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Iran remains in limbo, with people facing a regime that offers no out, no way forward, only more walking into the past. As the regime crushes all dissent, they’ve created much bigger problems for themselves than citizen protests, as the Guardian lays out:

The power struggle inside Iran appears to be moving from the streets into the heart of the regime itself this weekend amid reports that Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani is plotting to undermine the power of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani’s manoeuvres against Khamenei come as tensions between the speaker of the parliament, Ali Larijani, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also appeared to be coming to a head.

One very disturbing development is that @persiankiwi has gone silent. Her/his tweets have been instrumental in this fight. Sullivan notices it as well. Nico Pitney has much more.

Another potentially history changing story comes from the Middle East in the voices of the women. It’s inspiring, but more importantly, it’s a potential crack in the dynamics, a new way forward if it’s supported and protected. Obviously, that’s a big if.

… “This is our time, women’s time,” said Khoulod Al Fahed, a Saudi businesswoman and blogger. “It is the time for women to speak up and demand the rights that have been stolen from us in the name of religion and culture.”

Middle Eastern women have long played active roles in the struggle for democracy and human rights. In recent months, women have won small yet unprecedented victories. In Kuwait, four female lawmakers were elected to parliament last month, the first time women have won seats in the nation’s legislature. In Egypt, election law was recently changed to give women a quota of 64 parliamentary seats. Palestinian women have launched protests to free prisoners held by Israel, while Egyptian women have organized labor and pro-democracy strikes in recent years.

Iran’s making the thugocracies sweat:

Out of fear that history might repeat itself, the authoritarian governments of China, Cuba and Burma have been selectively censoring the news this month of Iranian crowds braving government militias on the streets of Tehran to demand democratic reforms.

Between 1988 and 1990, amid a lesser global economic slump, pro-democracy protests that appeared to inspire and energize one another broke out in Eastern Europe, Burma, China and elsewhere. Not all evolved into full-fledged revolutions, but communist regimes fell in a broad swath of countries, and the global balance of power shifted.

Jose Maria Aznar weighs in very critically on Obama regarding Iran.

Delayed public displays of indignation may be good for internal political consumption. But the consequences of Western inaction have already materialized. Watching videos of innocent Iranians being brutalized, it’s hard to defend silence.

In Afghanistan, a new U.S. policy on opium.

At home, the climate bill inches forward, with a push from Pres. Obama, as well as this from Al Gore:

The American Clean Energy Security (ACES) Act is one of the most important pieces of legislation Congress will ever pass. This comprehensive legislation will make meaningful reductions in global warming pollution, spur investment in clean energy technology, create jobs and reduce our reliance on foreign oil.

The next step is passage of this legislation by the Senate to help restore America’s leadership in the world and begin, at long last, to put in place a truly global solution to the climate crisis.

We are at an extraordinary moment, with an historic opportunity to confront one of the world’s most serious challenges. Our actions now will be remembered by this generation and all those to follow – in our own nation and others around the world.

CQ Politics has the party vote breakdown. Rep. Boehner was reduced to ineloquence.

Included in the news unfolding around the world is the drama of Michael Jackson’s death, which continues to play out. The doctor, who has retained counsel, which is prudent in a case like this, is getting some scrutiny.

With Jackson’s death Thursday at age 50, investigators have turned their attention to a new figure in his life, cardiologist Conrad Murray of Las Vegas, whom Jackson called his personal physician. Murray was in Jackson’s rented mansion at the time he collapsed from an apparent heart attack.

People can argue with each other about what news isn’t getting covered, but the truth is that many people care more about this story than anything else. The magnitude of MJ’s passing has rippled across the world, shocking many who just didn’t get what he meant to so many, but also the impact of his stratospheric talent, which is bringing a flood of sales to the Jackson estate.

In honor of Stonewall, Frank Rich has written a piece that I’ll let you judge for yourself. Rich long ago lost me.

UPDATE: Military coup in Honduras.

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The Boyfriend Cuckold

By on 27 June 2009
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Gov. Sanford just might have been outed by the other man.

Hell hath no fury like a man cheated upon. It’s not the classic definition of cuckold, but it fits. Providing this report in the New York Times doesn’t end up competing story with another storyline from somewhere else. It comes with a warning: women everywhere beware:

The associate, who asked not to be identified, is a Buenos Aires television executive involved in hiring the woman, whom he identified as María Belén Chapur, a producer at the television network America from 2001 to 2002.

Last December, the executive said, Ms. Chapur was dating a young Argentine a few months after her affair with Mr. Sanford began. The man happened to see the e-mail messages being exchanged between the governor and Ms. Chapur, said the executive — who said he had direct knowledge of the situation — and hacked into her e-mail account to see the rest.

Infuriated, the man sent the messages to The State, the newspaper in South Carolina’s capital, Columbia.

Why do I say beware to women?

Because as forgiving as our gender has historically had to be, because we couldn’t support ourselves in past centuries, so we couldn’t afford burning down the roof over our own heads. The male of our species is not very forgiving. Once a woman cheats on a man, I’ve learned through innumerable interviews, that most men never really forgive fully, always wondering, even feeling so stripped of masculinity that they can’t ever resume what once was in the relationship.

Fallout from a cuckold boyfriend, who is made a fool, is a lesson about privacy. Don’t leave a trail. Not anywhere, but especially in your email inbox.

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Obama’s Michael Jackson Friday Detainee Dump

By on 26 June 2009

–updated–

Calculating that the world is riveted on all things Michael Jackson, which is true, Pres. Obama evidently is hoping this leak will slide underneath the media mat this late on a Friday. The Washington Post and ProPublica report:

The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close Guantanamo, has drafted an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.

Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.

And speaking of Jackson’s passing, the White House press corp passed up yet another opportunity to do their jobs. Seriously, if news is the news, then why would the entire press corp sit muzzled when there’s a chance to ask the President of the United States about the passing of arguably the biggest pop icon in U.S. history? Even Reagan acknowledged MJ. But today’s traditional press evidently thinks that asking Obama about a pop culture earthquake is beneath them even if it absolutely is news. So instead, we hear what Obama thought through his press secretary, because the mainstream media was waiting for a written statement from Obama. Hearing MTV tonight quote Gibbs saying what Obama thought, instead of hearing from the President himself about Jackson, was ridiculous. I’m sure Chancellor Merkel would have withstood it if the press asked the President about his feelings on Jackson, especially given his global stature. Want to bet a few German citizens feel the same way?

Besides, in what news agency editorial office is the passing of the man who changed pop culture forever not news, especially given the Elvis type doctors’ care that lingers over his death? Never mind that Obama grew up during the Jackson era and is, you know, African American, too.

So, Mr. President, yes we’re looking at Jackson’s life and celebrating his genius, but just in case you thought we weren’t paying attention, we most definitely are.

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Michael Jackson’s Statospheric Talent

By on 26 June 2009

originally published on Huffington Post

The stunning interview on CNN featuring Jackson spokesperson Brian Oxman, as well as the 911 tape, reveal where this story is headed. But as important as it is to tell the whole story of Michael Jackson’s full life, I’m drawn forever to the Quincy Jones portion.

“I am absolutely devastated at this tragic and unexpected news… To this day, the music we created together on “Off The Wall”, “Thriller”; and “Bad” is played in every corner of the world and the reason for that is because he had it all…talent, grace, professionalism and dedication. He was the consummate entertainer and his contributions and legacy will be felt upon the world forever.” – Quincy Jones

Mortal Michael was a never-ending tabloid story.  But it’s simply not where this story will stay.  Just look at the video above, emailed to me by a friend, compliments of the “Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines” as the YouTube page describes it.

It takes an extraordinary artist to suck the broadband out of the Internet upon your passing, which is exactly what was reported happening yesterday after the news began to travel.

You didn’t have to be a fan of Michael’s music or his incredible gifts to understand that this powerhouse talent was a force unto itself. Something we were witnessing that we hadn’t seen before.

Just watch him. At his best he defied the triple threat bar, something I know a little bit about.

Jackson’s death also stands well apart from McMahon, Fawcett (who really had serious courage to take herself where she did) and most other celebrity deaths we’ve seen simply because his talent was a force beyond what had been seen that also spanned many generations, with fans around the world greater than the US. It’s a real mistake to lump him in with others.

Jackson was in the spotlight longer than Elvis and Lennon.

As someone who spent almost 25 years, from the time I could walk as a performer, getting to Broadway, this man’s talent was a stratospheric force; even if you weren’t a fan that was easily seen. Having witnessed my share of “normal” and “ordinary” child performers, also having been one of them on the mere mortal scale, that life in itself makes for a weird start for anyone. But when you catapult Jackson to where he went before he was in double digits, well, you don’t need anything else to send you down strange lane. Couple that with the fact that he was the bread winner when he was still a kid, well, just take a look at Judy Garland, another over the top talent.

We’ll all have to walk through the analysis, the coroner’s report, and the often ghoulish dissection of Michael Jackson’s life over the next weeks. The good, the bad and the very ugly.

However, the backdrop of it all will be his music, but especially his videos and the voyage Michael Jackson took the pop world on through his direction, though Quincy Jones was instrumental. Jackson changed MTV forever, breaking through all barriers through the sheer force of his raw nuclear gifts.

So, turn off the analysis. Skip the obituaries focusing on all that went wrong, and there was plenty of that, too, with stories already pointing to an Elvis like death from drugs.  Instead, just listen to the music.  Better yet, watch him.

Michael Jackson was simply in a category all his own.

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Clarence Thomas Vindicates Anita Hill

By on 26 June 2009

The ghost of Anita Hill’s testimony hovers over Thomas’s appalling judgment in the strip search case that should put all doubt about his mental acuity to rest. He also left no doubt why compassion and diversity is important on the court, especially when it comes to cases dealing with women, particularly young women.

Andrew Cohen:

Alone among his colleagues on the Supreme Court, he declared Thursday in dissent in Safford v. Redding that an “abusive” and “humiliating” strip search of a middle school student for prescription Ibuprofen was actually a constitutional exercise by school officials who not only deserved immunity from liability but praise for their zealous dedication to student safety.

Less concerned about a forced and unnecessary intrusion into a young girl’s pants and bra than he was about judicial intrusion into school safety policies, Thomas declared that the odious search was legal because administrators could have found what they were looking for.

Sotomayor won’t make it even on the court, but she will bring some sanity, which is clearly lacking from Thomas.

The lone woman currently on the Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, called the search “abusive” and “humiliating” and cited other relevant facts to argue why school officials should not have been afforded immunity from the lawsuit that Redding’s folks brought. “Any reasonable search for the pills would have ended when inspection of Redding’s backpack and jacket pockets yielded nothing,” Justice Ginsburg wrote, and, “to make matters worse, [the school official] did not release Redding, to return to class or to go home, after the search. Instead, he made her sit on a chair outside his office for over two hours. At no point did he attempt to call her parent. Abuse of authority of that order should not be shielded by official immunity.”

It is not shocking to me that Clarence Thomas didn’t find the groping of a young girl exceptional or that he didn’t think she had rights over the school. If you believed Anita Hill, the rest simply follows.

And it’s important to remember that the one person most responsible for Thomas being on the court is Joe Biden, and I say this as one of his advocates, though based solely on his foreign policy acumen. Because if you view Biden’s part in the hearings again the political reality stacked up against Hill is impossible to ignore.

Clarence Thomas in a way vindicated Anita Hill in his lone dissent in Safford v. Redding. He also proved why Obama’s criteria for compassion and life experience, especially from a woman’s perspective, is need on the Court.

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‘TM-DC’ Podcast

By on 26 June 2009

PODCAST
Sanford’s Argentinian love affair and a little frank talk about relationships.

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“Dr. Taylor” is in. Relationships are the topic, with a lot of fodder to mine (having a little fun, too). That’s because Gov. Sanford, as tragic as he looked when he got caught, was quite breezy about taking chances.

Just how reckless was Mark Sanford? Read Ben Smith:

Sanford booked the trip on Delta Air Lines on June 10, using the company’s SkyMiles program, the source said. He bought a ticket for June 18, returning June 28.

After or close to the time his wife kicked him out, Sanford planned a ten-day trip to Buenos Aires to see his mistress Maria Belen Chapur. A man cut loose by his wife who plans an extended disappearing act in another country to cavort with his mistress is not exactly a man with whom you bet a second chance.

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Michael Jackson Dies

By on 25 June 2009

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That stunning, almost supernatural talent, Michael Jackson, has died.

I’m leaving the life, the troubles, the tragedy aside. Instead, watch the talent.

As a person who started my life as a stage performer (song and dance Broadway babe, acting too), watching him at his best was like nothing else. What a force. Watch him.

…but just maybe he’ll finally have peace.

Ed McMahon… Farrah Fawcett… and now Jackson. My Irish-Scots mother always warned bad news comes in threes.

Silent meditation for them all. … .. . Then put on “Thriller.” Better still, watch him.

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6.25.09: Sanford’s Argentinian Love Affair, ‘Dr. Taylor’ Weighs In (and sings Evita, too)

By on 25 June 2009


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CIA Responds to Iran Charge US Murdered Neda

By on 25 June 2009

–updated–



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What You Might Have Missed

By on 25 June 2009

While Sanford was weeping, some other things passed through the information key hole.

Elliott Abrams speaks, tagging Hillary as “wrong on settlements.” A rule of thumb I always use on Mr. Abrams is the more emphatic he is about something the more skeptical we should all be of it. This goes double on settlements. Read Marc Lynch, who is recently back from Israel with some interesting news. As for Hillary, Abrams is the one who is wrong.

On another front, if the Leveretts go any further they’ll have to eat their way out of the corner they’re in. This headline is likely the silliest I’ve read in recent memory: Will Iran be President Obama’s Iraq? I’m assuming the Leveretts, both of whom are very smart people, realize we’re not going to invade. After the event at New America Foundation, where Flynt Leverett was described as the “crack cocaine of realists” by Steve Clemons, to say they’re a little defensive in this piece is an understatement. That they still give no credit to the dynamics and courage of the protesters is stunningly callous in my view, as well as not very good analysis.

Obama to North Korea (yesterday), via the White House:

CONTINUATION OF THE NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO NORTH KOREA

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On June 26, 2008, by Executive Order 13466, the President declared a national emergency pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701-1706) to deal with the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States constituted by the current existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula. The President also found that it was necessary to maintain certain restrictions with respect to North Korea that would otherwise have been lifted pursuant to Proclamation 8271 of June 26, 2008, which terminated the exercise of authorities under the Trading With the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1-44) with respect to North Korea.

Because the existence and risk of the proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, the national emergency declared on June 26, 2008, and the measures adopted on that date to deal with that emergency, must continue in effect beyond June 26, 2009. Therefore, in accordance with section 202(d) of the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1622(d)), I am continuing for 1 year the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13466.

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Nico Pitney Reveals Insecurity of Old Media

By on 25 June 2009

Call it “crashing the gate” 3.0, the media version, with due respect to the original coiners of that phrase.

But we’re in it now. Just recently I was talking about old media v. new media, but it seems the dynamics between what is passing away and what is taking its place has broken out into the open. And it’s all because of a most unlikely ally: Barack Obama. After all, it’s not like candidate Obama, or as president, he has championed new media.

That battle between the “serious” journalists who “toil daily,” you know, like Dana Milbank (pictured above), as opposed to new media who works 24/7. The New York Times’s Kate Phillips has a beauty of a column on the earthquake today, even though new media outlet Politico, founded by old media men, helped start this pie fight. The bold below revealing old media entitlement arrogance in a nutshell.

While that may indeed be a thorn in the feet of the corps who toil daily, the perception of a favored one who got exceptionally advance notice may send signals — far and wide — as to what lengths the administration will go to stage and control the message the president wants to send.

That is what has gotten lost in all the old vs. new media antagonisms. It’s not about Mr. Pitney’s work or for that matter, the question he asked. It’s about how the administration finagled the position in which he became an actor for the president’s agenda.

How else will new media break in to the closed group that deems itself the only ones who “toil” if not by invitation?

What old media is seeing, starting when Sam Stein was called on at another Obama press conference, is their dominance on access and hierarchy smashed to smithereens and they’re not taking it all that well.

They’re envisioning their umbrella of health insurance, paid vacation, retirement, etc., disappearing, which is what old media is worried about at its core. Losing the cushy pad from which they pontificate, something new media has never had.

They also can’t admit that new media has earned our spot.

There is also no evidence whatsoever that Pitney coordinated the exact question with the White House. In fact, Obama didn’t even answer his question, actually making Pitney part of the group who gets double speak, too. Never mind that it was the hardest question asked that day.

President Obama invited a reporter from new media giant Huffington Post to ask a question from an Iranian citizen that ended up relegating old media to the outsiders looking in. A question that old media didn’t have, because they don’t have the access.

This isn’t J.F.K.’s press corps anymore. New media has crashed the gate and it’s every man and woman for themselves.

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