Sunday Early Bird News Round-Up

Good morning and welcome to Sunday.

On this day in history, February 27th 1933, Germany’s parliament building was gutted by fire. Chancellor Adolf Hitler, blaming the Communists, used the fire as justification for suspending civil liberties.

I’ve rounded up some links so you don’t have to:

~In today’s NYT Nick Kristoff argues that contrary to some stereotypes, the Arab world is not “unfit” for democracy.

~Newt Gingrich gets on the crazy train during an interview with Newsmax and essentially claims that the administration’s failure to continue defending DOMA could constitute an impeachable offense. Apparently when the right disagrees with a Democratic President they turn to their old standby- impeachment. While I don’t in any way endorse such nonsense, it shows that the GOP is much more willing to go after their political opponents than the Democrats were during the Bush years (and also today). Think of all the wrongdoing that arguably should have resulted in some sort of legal accountability- the lies that led to the Iraq War (never seriously looked into), warrantless wiretapping, abuses of the PATRIOT act, torture, extraordinary rendition, the destruction of the CIA torture tapes, the outing of Valerie Plame (obstructed by Scooter Libby- the resolution of that was a joke) and on and on. In most of those cases, the Democrats not only didn’t call for serious investigations but they went along with the wrongdoing by legitimizing it afterward or by claiming that they just wanted to “move forward.”

~Iraq continues to be on incredibly shaky ground. Iraq’s largest oil refinery was shut down after bombs were set off in what is being described as a quite sophisticated attack. No one has claimed responsibility.

~Haaretz reported that German Chancellor Angeloa Merkel is none too pleased with Bibi Netanyahu right now. She apparently told him that he has not ‘made a single step to advance peace.’ Germany is a key Israeli ally and it’s getting harder and harder for Israel’s far-right government to claim that all its allies are trying to “delegitimize” it. While the U.S. continues, through it’s inaction, to quietly enable the ongoing expansion of settlements, Europe has made clear it will not toe that line.

~With each passing day, more news of the brutality of the Gaddafi regime surfaces. Gaddafi’s hold on power is weakening and the administration has finally stated unequivocally that it’s time for him to step down. The U.S. declared unilateral sanctions on Friday while late last night the UN Security Council imposed sanctions and referred Libya to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Secretary Clinton heads to Geneva tomorrow where she will address a meeting of the UN Human Rights Council.

Here is a map from the BBC that shows who controls which parts of Libya as of yesterday:

~More trouble for President Saleh of Yemen.

~How long before women rise up against the Republican War on Women? The blog Down with Tyranny calls out the DCCC for pandering to Blue Dog Democrats who signed on to defund Planned Parenthood and other women’s health initiatives.

~Unless the lineup has changed, there will be no union representatives on the Sunday Talk Shows. Go figure. Meet the Press will actually has Gov. Walker on- you would think that would necessitate a key figure in Wisconsin involved in the opposition to Walker’s union-busing. If you thought that, you’d be wrong.

~Candidate Obama called whistleblowers “patriots.” President Obama is using the DOJ to wage war against them. Why does President Obama hate Candidate Obama?

~Following up on the incredible Rolling Stone story about the alleged use of PsyOps on American lawmakers, Steve Clemons wants to know if General Caldwell used it on the President of the U.S. or any key members of his foreign policy team. Apparently, the WH press corp and the other members of the MSM and pundit class can’t be bothered with such trivialities.

~In case you missed it, the Israelis and Palestinians actually agreed on something! And to their credit, Israel allowed three hundred Palestinians to cross from Libya to the West Bank.

~Open season on the FLOTUS? Is it me or is this an obsession of the right? Whether one likes Michelle Obama or not, fighting childhood obesity, promoting organic gardening and championing the rights of military families is hardly uber-radical stuff. Was Barbara Bush constantly criticized by Democrats? Because I don’t remember that. Is this even a smart move by the GOP, at least in terms of independent voters?

~Hey you guys, remember when candidate Obama said this?: “And understand this: If American workers are being denied their right to organize and collectively bargain when I’m in the White House, I’ll put on a put on a comfortable pair of shoes myself. I’ll walk on that picket line with you as president of the United States.” Hahahahaha! April Fool’s! Get it? He was just kidding. Here’s Cenk Uygur of MSNBC ripping into Obama for his pathetic non-support of unions. Clearly the strategy is “well, the unions will vote for us no matter what we do so we can throw them under the bus and make nice with big business.”

~Think Progress lists the top 10 worst aspects of the Wisconsin GOP that you’ve never heard of.

~MoDo talks car dashboards in today’s NYT (?)

~The Obama admin. meets with lobbyists on a property next to the White House known as Jackson Place, possibly in order to keep the meetings out of the Secret Service logs and thus hidden from the public. Candidate Obama believed in transparency. President Obama believes in talking about transparency while creating exceptions, excuses and tricks. Why does President Obama hate Candidate Obama?

~More nuclear setbacks for Iran. Boy, they are sure having some bad luck!

~It’s about time- The Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled Pamela Geller’s group ‘Stop the Islamization of America’ a hate group. Geller is a total bottom-feeder whose conspiracy theories make Glenn Beck look mentally sound. Her latest tin-foil hat claim? CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference )was infiltrated by the Muslim Brotherhood.

~I’m with John Aravosis on this one- calling the appointment of an openly gay man to fill the position of White House Social Secretary “historic” is perhaps setting the bar a wee bit too low. Chief of Staff, Supreme Court nominee or Secretary of State? Yeah, historic. But Social Secretary? Sorry, I’m just not willing to give them too much credit for this one. Yes, Obama has appointed several openly gay officials, the most important (status-wise) of which is John Berry as director of the Office of Personnel Management. But still, can anyone really claim that even within a supposedly liberal Democratic administration, being gay doesn’t disqualify someone from Cabinet posts or other super-high profile positons?

~Calls for protests against the Assad regime in Syria have cropped up on Facebook.

~While ordinary hardworking Americans are being asked to sacrifice on the altar of austerity measures, the largest corporations (Bank of America, Boeing, Citigroup, General Electric pay ZERO in federal income tax despite huge taxpayer subsidies. When Americans get financial help or subsidies it’s called welfare but when huge corporations that pay out hundreds of millions in executive bonuses do it it’s called Business As Usual.

The End.

[cross-posted over at Secretary Clinton Blog]

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