Taylor Marsh - News, Political Analysis, Foreign Policy, and Independent Political Opinion on Progressive Politics
Taylor Marsh has been writing on line since 1996, with the archives provided here a representation of that work.
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Google is tracking you...
It’s in response to Google’s new (ahem) privacy policy, which lands March 1, 2012.
Meanwhile, after Twitter announced it would agree to censoring tweets in some countries, a boycott call broke out.
This post has been updated.
UPDATE 1.4.12 (12:01): Rick Perry gives 1st concession speech of life. Not assessing gravity of back surgery & trying to run for presidency looms large.
UPDATE (10:54 pm): NBC News Predicts Ron Paul places 3rd. Romney team can exhale. Republican establishment & Iowa state boosterism, inspired by threats of extinction, kept Paul from winning. Santorum no Huckabee, because he’s Santorum. But with 110,000 reportedly the total turnout, Republican Establishment has to be shell shocked. They’ll all be counting Chris Christies in their sleep. As for Obama, he addressed caucus goers, too. However, with Paul’s anti-war support, you’ve got to wonder what a progressive challenger taking the debate to Pres. Obama on his Bush-esque foreign policy might have done.
It’s a big if.
Rick Santorum is now in the center ring, with Ron Paul, well, the Establishment doesn’t like Mr. Paul.
But anyone talking down what it would mean for Romney if he wins Iowa is simply wrong. It would be a campaign coup of their dreams.
Of course, you won’t hear this on MSNBC, with Chris Matthews and Lawrence O’Donnell tag teaming Romney’s team on Super PAC ads, Al Sharpton joining in, clearly showing the same old bias of this cable network. Thank the gods Rachel Maddow was playing referee, though she was outnumbered and couldn’t manage to keep the whole segment from turning into a farce.
Of course, that’s not to say Romney’s victory doesn’t begin with the Supreme Court’s decision on Citizens United, which many of Mitt Romney’s biggest supporters backed enthusiastically.
However, when you’re going to have an interview with a senior Romney adviser Ben Ginsburg, who should be asked about Super Pacs because he was involved in pushing the case that made Super PACS come alive, you could at least do it fairly or at least one at a time, with a panel that isn’t loaded 4 to 1 against conservatives.
Newt Gingrich wouldn’t be squealing if he had a Super PAC, something all good conservative Republicans are never found without at election season. But hearing Chris Matthews now carry his water is an obvious set up, because if you don’t think Democrats would rather run against Gingrich than Romney you haven’t been paying attention.
MSNBC’s amateur hour election coverage isn’t going to cut it.
As an aside, Keith Olbermann’s “Countdown” will reportedly not be on CurrentTV tonight, which was tweeted by Brian Seltzer. He’s been AWOL the whole Iowa run-up.
People also want to forget that back in the fall Mitt Romney was seen as not being able to compete in Iowa, not having a prayer. However, running a stealth campaign, his team quietly got his 2004 team up and going and plodded a plan to make some sort of showing.
There’s no love for Mitt Romney anywhere, with whatever excitement there is seemingly on the side of Rick Santorum, according to reports on the ground, which is all I’ve got to go on from the Beltway. We’ll see if they’re right or if the media blows it again.
Just one week ago the big momentum was with Ron Paul. But then the Establishment Republican class started floating to the Iowa GOP and every media source that would suck it up that this would mean the end of their status. Suddenly state boosterism exploded and Mitt Romney started rising, as Paul was getting hit on Iran.
Will pragmatism win the caucus day?
If Mitt Romney wins tonight, that will be one reason why. But it will take a big turn out.
UPDATE 7: 110,000 reportedly the total turnout. Republican Establishment has to be shell shocked. They’ll all be counting Chris Christies in their sleep.
UPDATE 6: Romney takes tiny lead for 1st time: 23.1%, Santorum 22.9%, Paul 22.9% via AP at 9:31 p.m. ET. 25.8% precincts in, via Politico.
UPDATE 5: Santorum 24.1%, Romney 23.9%, Paul 21.9% via AP at 10:03 p.m. ET. 45.5% precincts in.
UPDATE 4: Mitt’s problem? Ron Paul, Iowa, Santorum and Ann Romney trending on Twitter but he isn’t.
UPDATE 3: C-SPAN live streaming selective Iowa caucus counting.
UPDATE 2: CNN final entrance poll results: 24% Paul; 23% Romney; 19% Santorum; 13% Gingrich.
UPDATE: Robert Reich on Twitter: Waiting for the results the #iacaucus is like waiting at the airport for someone you don’t know, don’t care about, and believe is deranged.
The Mitt Romney campaign is making an immediate shift in tactics, a move that is necessary because, as one Republican close the campaign put it, “What they are doing now isn’t working.” – ABC News
Romney has already begun giving time to Fox News Channel and now he’s decided to demur from The Donald’s Apprentice debate. Trump’s statement, via CNN:
“It would seem logical to me that if I was substantially behind in the polls, especially in Iowa, South Carolina and Florida, I would be participating in the debate,” Trump said. “But, I can also understand why Governor Romney decided not to do it.”
It’s also being reported that Sen. John McCain is considering laying hands on Romney, something he’d previously said he wouldn’t do.
McCain has been it subtly on Twitter.
McCain actually owes Romney, because he earned it. During the 2008 season, as one aide put it, “He went wherever and whenever he was asked.” Frankly, it’s small of McCain not to come out early for Romney, because that would be the class thing to do.
Romney has decided that he needs to show he wants the nomination and show some heart, or at the very least, that he’s willing to fight for it.
Everyone is gearing up, but it’s not as much for Mitt Romney as it is to stop Newt Gingrich.
via NBC's Carrie Dann
It’s the hail Mary of political moves.
It also could work, as the right is always willing to come to the rescue of a Republican in free fall. Limbaugh was defending Perry against the Republican establishment from the start on his show today.
Meanwhile, Herman Cain launches CainTruth, which is going after the female accusers as job one.
The other womanizer in the field, Newt Gringrich, gets a PAC.
All of this noise is obliterating Mitt Romney’s debate performance, which was a tour de force, A+. The Mittster just can’t get no respect, because the conservative wingnuts are too busy bolstering the second and third tier rabble.
Great news for Pres. Obama.
“The Republican base doesn’t want Romney. The Republican base doesn’t want Romney.” – Rush Limbaugh’s opening chant on his radio show today
…and so it begins.
The Republican establishment thinks they’ve won. But if Mitt Romney’s the nominee, will the Tea Party stay around?
Conventional wisdom among non-conservatives and anti Tea Party people is that Republicans and the right will fall in line and back Mitt Romney.
Comments on my FB page have been very interesting today.
Reader GA6thDem said the same thing in the comments, with part of what he said below:
To me the Tea Party was really just the personality based mirror image of the “Obama Movement” … I also think that the majority of tea partiers will swallow hard and vote for Romney. The question in the end is will it be enough?
Today, Rush Limbaugh blew that notion out of the water, as several callers, as they did yesterday, continue to plead with Limbaugh to take Romney on. There was a lone voice pleading with Rush to remember Reagan’s 11th commandment, don’t speak ill of another Republican, and give Mitt Romney a chance.
Limbaugh also took out after Rick Perry today, who [update] couldn’t even get the date of the American Revolution correct, saying he was “too passive” and “needed to dominate, but he didn’t. Then he went further, saying Perry made himself disappear like “an a list magician in Las Vegas,” all of which I tweeted at the time.
As I’ve said before, the prospect of Obama vs. Romney is not particularly an exciting contest. Both candidates could entice challenges, with Rush Limbaugh revealing real unease in the Republican base.
What it also portends, if Romney is the nominee, is a tough Tea Party or evangelical type as vice presidential nominee.
However, any thought that the Republican base is going to blindly sign on to a Mitt Romney nomination discounts the power the Tea Party has built and portends a resurgence of a movement that has lately been slowly losing power and its clout.
**UDPATED**
Peach Liqueur bottle fell from 6' bar shelf, missed the cat by an inch & didn't break.
MSNBC is reporting the 5.9 earthquake that hit northern Virginia and across the east coast was the largest since 1897 and “released the equivalent energy of 10,676 tons of TNT.”
The North Anna plant lost off-site power.
Our birds began freaking out just minutes before it hit, so I knew something was up. It was a very respectable tremor that sent our kitties flying. It lasted more than a 10-count where we live.
Today is primary day in Virginia, so it will be interesting to see how this will impact it.
As a long-time former Southern California resident, I experienced the Northridge quake when I was living just down from Sunset Blvd, which was epic.
I’ll likely not see the beasts the rest of the day… Our classic champagne flutes survived.
UPDATE 2: The tweet of the day, via Howie Klein. Oh, I just can’t stop laughing…
UPDATE: NBC’s Robert Bozell said something interesting; that the harder environment on the east coast versus the softer ground on the west coast made the tremor travel further and wider.
**UPDATED**
Karl Rove came to Fox News Sunday and further humiliated Bret Baier, who recently gave one of the worst moderating performances so far of the 2012 GOP wannabe circus spectacle. It was ugly from the jump. From FNC:
BAIER: Hey, Karl, at the GOP debate in Iowa, I asked all the candidates the question, whether they would accept this deal in which Democrats agreed to $10 in real spending cuts for $1 in tax increases. Every single hand on the stage went up, saying they would walk away from that deal, opposing any tax increases. Now, I was expecting some of them to push back and to ask for time for a nuanced answer. They didn’t. There was no push back. So, when Democrats complain about ideological rigidity or stubbornness in the modern Republican Party, do they have a point?
ROVE: Well, look, first, with due respect to your question, that was a question that had a predictable answer to it, and that kind of a thing when you’re asking people to raise their hand and not offering them a chance to get a nuance answer, you’re going to get raising hands. Let me go back to what Bill said –
BAIER: Wait a second. Hold on. I mean, we gave them the opportunity, Karl. You know, so I mean –
ROVE: With all due respect — Bret, with all due respect, that was lousy question for a debate. And if you wanted a better answer, ask that question to candidates individually.
The entire interview was filled with “crosstalk,” which translated means Karl Rove had no intention of shutting up to let anyone get a word in, because he was on a mission. Clearly ticked off after the Fox News Channel debate, Rove used Sunday to take Baier to the woodshed, treating the FNC anchor to a little verbal batting practice.
If the earlier exchange wasn’t clear enough, Rove doubled down a bit later.
BAIER: OK. I’m trying to be the traffic cop here. And there’s a little delay, Karl, so I know you can’t hear right now when I try to jump in — and I’m sure that’s why haven’t stopped when I have.
ROVE: Not really, Bret.
Bill Burton did his best to appear relevant to the interview, but this was Rove versus Baier, with the FNC anchor looking like an amateur cub reporter by the time it was over.
UPDATE: Bret Baier took issue with this post via Twitter, simply saying “Hmmm i didn’t see it that way.”
“Pivot [to jobs] is not an appropriate word. It is continuing the focus we have had…” (Via Sam Stein on Twitter)
That is the funniest thing I’ve read today, until I read this… From The Hill:
President Obama will travel the Midwest by bus this summer to talk up the White House’s job-creation efforts and to try to shore up political support in battleground states.
Obama will embark on a three-day tour, from Aug. 15 to 17. The administration said Wednesday that the trip had long been planned but wouldn’t outline an itinerary beyond saying the stops would be in the Midwest.
[...] “He looks forward to talking to the folks about growing the economy, creating jobs,” said White House press secretary Jay Carney at Wednesday’s press briefing.
Pres. Obama could step off of a bus in Missouri in blue jeans, a work shirt and steel toes, but nobody and I mean nobody is going to buy this stunt. The biggest mistake any politician can make is trying to be someone he isn’t and Barack Obama is not a bus guy. It’s an optics effort, but now his advisers better pray this pr move doesn’t turn into a Dukakis in a tank moment.
As for the jobs pitch, Matt Stoller and Digby team up for the tweet of the day, which really is the biggest failure of Obama’s presidency, though there are plenty of items from which to choose:
**UPDATED**
Photo of the Day: President Barack Obama talks with staff during a Domestic Policy Council meeting in the Oval Office, July 28, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
As Speaker Boehner pitifully massages a House bill into further irrelevance, after failing to heard the Tea Party anarchists to vote on his raising the debt ceiling bill, humiliating his speakership.
Pres. Obama has his own problems, after criticism began mounting that he’s been reduced to the sidelines.
In an effort to prove he’s still very much in the game, today, just a few minutes ago, Pres. Obama spoke in the Diplomatic Room, with Washington watching over him, slamming Speaker Boehner and Tea Party members for continuing to work on a bill that everyone knows is D.O.A. in the Senate.
Since Pres. Obama has refused to use the power of the presidency and the U.S. Constitution, invoking the 14th Amendment as Truman did [Update: There is some disagreement on this one, as he utilized an emergency clause in what precipitated the "Steel Seizure" case.], he once again turned to begging the American people to keep calling, emailing and even tweeting Congress.
Never has the presidency looked so small.
But Mr. Obama did get one thing right. Whether we have a AAA credit rating or not, we definitely do not have a AAA political system. He’s proven that all on his own.
We don’t yet know what the final deal to raise the debt ceiling will be. But now that Harry Reid is developing a proposal with $2.5 trillion in cuts and nothing in revenues, it’s a safe bet that it won’t include any tax increases. Which means that whether Republicans realize it or not, they’ve won. The question now is whether they can stop. [...] If you take the Republicans’ goals as avoiding a deal in which they have to vote for tax increases and denying Obama a political victory, it looks like they have succeeded. … – Ezra Klein
President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden meet with Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen in the Oval Office to discuss the DADT (Don't Ask, Don't Tell) repeal certification, July 22, 2011. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Kathryn Ruemmler, Counsel to the President, also attend the meeting. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
All that was ever needed is a simple debt ceiling increase, something I’m still hoping will manifest. The plan floated by Sen. Reid is an embarrassment, but considering the entire Washington political class is too, no more should be expected from Democrats, who have failed to represent those who elected them so thoroughly that an argument for them in ’12 is no longer sustainable when using facts.
Klein goes on to say, however, that if Republicans keep pushing and there is default, the political damage will be incalculable. But considering that people have soured on all of Washington’s political class that’s an easy analysis.
The biggest loser in what Sen. Reid is proposing is the middle class and then the Democratic party. But these groups have been losing for a very long time. The reason for this is captured in Elizabeth Drew’s piece in the New York Review of Books that got so much attention over the weekend:
[...] This all fits with another development in the Obama White House. According to another close observer, David Plouffe, the manager of Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, who officially joined the White House staff in January 2011, has taken over. “Everything is about the reelect,” this observer says—”where the President goes, what he does.”
Plouffe’s advice to the President defines not just Obama’s policies but also his behavior. Plouffe tells the President, according to this observer, that the target group wants him to seem the most reasonable man in the room. Plouffe is the conceptualizer, and Bill Daley, the chief of staff who shares Plouffe’s political outlook, makes things happen; Gene Sperling, the director of economic policy, and Tom Donilon, the national security adviser, are smart men but they come out of politics rather than academia or deep experience in their respective fields. Once Austan Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, departs later this summer, all of the President’s original economic advisers will be gone. Partly this is because the President’s emphasis on budget cutting didn’t leave them very much to do. One White House émigré told me, “It’s not a place that welcomes ideas.”
Because of the extent to which the President had allowed the Republicans to set the terms of the debate, the attitude of numerous congressional Democrats toward him became increasingly sour, even disrespectful. After Obama introduced popular entitlement programs into the budget fight, a Democratic senator described the attitude of a number of his colleagues as:
Resigned disgust at the White House: there they go again. “Mr. Halfway” keeps getting maneuvered around as Republicans move the goalposts on him.
If Republicans are smart, though there is no evidence they are, they’ll double down on the theme represented above, because it’s the heart of Barack Obama’s political cravenness: “Everything is about the reelect.” Speaker Boehner has on Twitter, but they should do more of it. It has the virtue of being true. It’s orchestrated through David Plouffe, Obama’s version of Mark Penn, but certainly best represented by Pres. Obama himself. There is absolutely nothing Obama reelect won’t do for another term, with Obama’s water being carried by the Senate establishment in Sen. Harry Reid.
As for the rest of Drew’s analysis, like Frank Rich and so many others, it’s way too late and has been written over and over again by people outside the establishment. Drew’s piece is interesting for emphasizing the Democratic bankruptcy of David Plouffe, I guess, but it’s really nothing more than the traditional press finally catching up.
TM Note: Originally crediting Drews’ piece to the New York Times, this has been corrected above.
The above graphic is the headline on Emily’s List fundraising email (just click on it to support Wasserman-Schultz), as they capitalize off of the battle that’s ensued over DNC chairman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz taking it to Allen West.
“The gentleman from Florida. who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries, as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries, unbelievable from a Member from South Florida,” Wasserman Schultz said, saying the legislation “slashes Medicaid and critical investments essential to winning the future in favor of protecting tax breaks for Big Oil, millionaires, and companies who ship American jobs overseas.” – Allen West tirade: Wasserman Schultz ‘vile…despicable…not a Lady’
Wasserman-Schultz hit a nerve, a whole bundle of them. It started long before this brouhaha, with Republicans putting her in their sights from the start. Many of you’ll remember this hit video, which came with an aggressive campaign to paint the DNC chairman as, well, you know.
… Wasserman Schultz is kind of an easy target. Any “aggressive messenger” is. Extreme and shrill is always far easier to spoof than subtle and nuanced. – Hot Air
To Republicans, any strong female is considered shrill, extreme and aggressive. Unless, of course, she’s speaking their tune, like Ann Coulter; except when she gets to the top of the presidential wannabe heap, which makes the GOP boys’ club incredibly nervous.
Meanwhile, Emily’s list is making money off of his unhinged, ungentlemanly, unprovoked rant.
On Twitter, the hash tag being used is #actlikealady, which could be used in so many, many ways, if for no other reason than to have fun at West’s expense.
From: Z112 West, Allen
Sent: Tuesday, July 19, 2011 04:48 PM
To: Wasserman Schultz, Debbie
Cc: McCarthy, Kevin; Blyth, Jonathan; Pelosi, Nancy; Cantor, Eric
Subject: Unprofessional and Inappropriate Sophomoric Behavior from Wasserman-Schultz
Look, Debbie, I understand that after I departed the House floor you directed your floor speech comments directly towards me. Let me make myself perfectly clear, you want a personal fight, I am happy to oblige. You are the most vile, unprofessional ,and despicable member of the US House of Representatives. If you have something to say to me, stop being a coward and say it to my face, otherwise, shut the heck up. Focus on your own congressional district!
I am bringing your actions today to our Majority Leader and Majority Whip and from this time forward, understand that I shall defend myself forthright against your heinous characterless behavior……which dates back to the disgusting protest you ordered at my campaign hqs, October 2010 in Deerfield Beach.
You have proven repeatedly that you are not a Lady, therefore, shall not be afforded due respect from me!
Steadfast and Loyal
Congressman Allen B West (R-FL)
All this makes me ask, what exactly would it take for a female to be considered a lady by Mr. West. Silent, subservient and Schlafly-esque is the ticket, I have very little doubt.
BREAKING…. Moody’s puts the U.S. on notice.
President Barack Obama abruptly ended a tense budget meeting on Wednesday with Republican leaders by walking out of the room, a Republican aide familiar with the talks said. – Reuters
It’s all about averting default now.
Tapper’s title is stark: President Obama: We Need to Decide by Friday if We’re Working on a Compromise Deficit Reduction Bill or Just Some Way to Avoid Default.
Amidst discussions of credit ratings agency Moody’s putting the U.S. on review for downgrade, President Obama told congressional leaders today that by Friday they all have to decide what they’re doing: a compromise package to reduce the deficit, or if there’s no willingness to compromise, some other way to raise the debt ceiling and avoid defaulting. – Jake Tapper
Chuck Todd tweeted: Early GOP readout indicates today’s debt talks ended “abruptly” with POTUS. Described as “tense.” Todd also said “Both sides quietly grumble group’s too big to get true frank talks.”
From a CNBC tweet: Cantor: President ‘Abruptly Walked’ Out Of Debt Talks – Areas Of Agreement ‘Not Even $1.4T’ In Savings – DJ.
Felicia Sonmez, congressional blogger for the Washington Post, tweeted that “Cantor offered to support two separate debt-ceiling votes.”
Jill Jackson from CBS tweeted: Obama wants deal to get the government thru 2012. So he threatened to veto smaller bills and told Cantor not to call his bluff.
Eric Cantor also told FNC that “all progress in debt talks has been erased,” via a tweet from Maggie Haberman.
I told you it was tense in town.
**UPDATED**
Tweeting/retweeting Pres. Obama’s news conference, with select tweets below:
Taylor Marsh: “It weighs on you,” circumstances hitting Americans. Then ode to Iowa, “put aside the expedience of short-term politics” to get it done. End
Taylor Marsh: Obama: “I’ve been doing bin Laden, the Greek crisis.” Clearly ticked off about charges he’s not leading. #thinskin (This was a hit on Congress being on break.)
Taylor Marsh: Obama: I met with the leaders & at some point they’ve got to do their jobs. “They need to do their jobs. That’s why they’re called leaders.”
Matt Stoller: “Balanced approach” versus “Step up and get this done” #ClicheFight
Peter Daou: Guess which topic never comes up in these press conferences: the one that directly imperils our existence #climate #warming
Taylor Marsh: @MPOTheHill Nice try, but no, it’s not about interrupting econ message. It’s about 2012 message to voters he’s going to need in swing states (Note: Talking about Obama not being willing to make news on gay marriage today.)
Andrea Mitchell: No one’s asked Obama whether Kabul attack signals how hard it is to stop Taliban from pulling off inside jobs. Affect on drawdown?
Taylor Marsh: MSNBC crawler under Obama: “61% disapprove of how Pres Obama has handled federal budget deficit (from McClatchy-Marist)” He’s lost pr war.
Taylor Marsh: This is NOT helpful to progressives & Democrats, with Obama once again lost in word fogs with absolutely no econ message you can grasp.
Jonah Goldberg: Breaking: Mel Tormé called from heaven. Worried Obama trying to steal “velvet fog” nickname during this press conference.
Taylor Marsh: Obama calls Libya Was Powers Act “fuss” over politics, but it’s obvious his ego is in a bunch over being challenged. Thin skin prevails.
David Corn: BREAKING: GOP Accuses Obama of Waging Class War on Corp. Jet Owners. #waitforit #corpjetownersaresmallbusinesses
Taylor Marsh: @chucktodd asks on Libya, debt limit & gays. “Noise about process” on Libya leads into hyperbolic nonsense about Gadhafi’s killing history
Taylor Marsh: Obama is making revenue argument ridiculous by saying corp. jets, instead of making case for taxes so gov. can function for the people.
Taylor Marsh: Obama still doesn’t get it. Dems giving in on entitlements w/o GOP giving on taxes gives them the edge. Blinking first never ever works.
TM: Get rid of tax breaks for millionaires & billionaires, corporate jet owners, oil & gas, Obama’s pitch.
Chuck Todd: Interesting opening statement from POTUS focusing on Congress. Phrase “pending before Congress right now” uttered multiple Xs already
TM: “Right now” begins Obama’s pointing the finger at Congress.
Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good. – Sen. Bernie Sanders (Shared Sacrifice letter to Pres. Obama)
If only Pres. Obama could channel one-quarter of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ passion (see video above).
But he is having a news conference at 11:30 a.m. tomorrow from the East Room of the White House. Here’s why, in case you’ve been on the beach:
“So far, they’re saying that it’s essential,” McConnell told reporters Tuesday. “We think it’s a job-killing step that shouldn’t be taken, and Republicans are not interested in going in that direction.” – Mitch McConnell holds ground on taxes
Enough is enough, Sanders is correct. Unfortunately, Pres. Obama simply doesn’t have what it takes to make this case. He simply does not know how to rally the middle class by touching the hearts of the people to raise them up on their on behalf.
The last president who could do that was William Jefferson Clinton.
So, Pres. Obama is still likely to “yield once again.”
Dear Mr. President,
This is a pivotal moment in the history of our country. Decisions are being made about the national budget that will impact the lives of virtually every American for decades to come. As we address the issue of deficit reduction we must not ignore the painful economic reality of today – which is that the wealthiest people in our country and the largest corporations are doing phenomenally well while the middle class is collapsing and poverty is increasing. In fact, the United States today has, by far, the most unequal distribution of wealth and income of any major country on earth.
Everyone understands that over the long-term we have got to reduce the deficit – a deficit that was caused mainly by Wall Street greed, tax breaks for the rich, two wars, and a prescription drug program written by the drug and insurance companies. It is absolutely imperative, however, that as we go forward with deficit reduction we completely reject the Republican approach that demands savage cuts in desperately-needed programs for working families, the elderly, the sick, our children and the poor, while not asking the wealthiest among us to contribute one penny.
Mr. President, please listen to the overwhelming majority of the American people who believe that deficit reduction must be about shared sacrifice. The wealthiest Americans and the most profitable corporations in this country must pay their fair share. At least 50 percent of any deficit reduction package must come from revenue raised by ending tax breaks for the wealthy and eliminating tax loopholes that benefit large, profitable corporations and Wall Street financial institutions. A sensible deficit reduction package must also include significant cuts to unnecessary and wasteful Pentagon spending.
Please do not yield to outrageous Republican demands that would greatly increase suffering for the weakest and most vulnerable members of our society. Now is the time to stand with the tens of millions of Americans who are struggling to survive economically, not with the millionaires and billionaires who have never had it so good.
Respectfully,
Sen. Bernie Sanders;
and Co-signers
Amnesty International is helping promote this action of civil disobedience, which is a long time in coming.
Great article on the history of the driving movement today in Foreign Policy:
In the early 2000s, women’s rights, particularly the right to drive, began to be cautiously discussed in Saudi media. Some newspapers published stories about the daily struggles women faced with foreign drivers and featured Islamic scholars who declared that no religious rule prohibited women from driving. Liberal columnists encouraged the government to lift the ban. This unprecedented freedom in the Saudi press was in part due to the pressure that the United States put on the Saudi government to reform following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 2005, Shura Council member Mohammad al-Zulfa brought up the topic of lifting the ban of women drivers during a meeting of the consultative body. He argued that doing so would save the kingdom funds that it spends on foreign drivers, which he estimated at over $3 billion a year. – DRIVEN
It’s trending on Twitter under #Women2Drive. Once again proving the importance of social media to women around the world.
When you’re in the car sometime today, take one moment to honk in honor of these brave women who are simply trying to get a basic freedom. Driving. I can’t imagine our life without it.
There’s a constant refrain from the Right that feminism is dead or that we’re in the post-feminism era. As I’ve argued for well over a decade, as long as there are women out there denied freedom, any freedom, the notion and idea of feminism isn’t completed.
**UPDATED**
After saying he was going to keep the X-rated photo as leverage, you know, (ahem) in case Rep. Anthony Weiner targeted him, Andrew Breitbart leaked the photo during an appearance with wingnut radio hosts Opie and Anthony.
It was tweeted earlier by the radio hosts, which was posted on yfrog, then Gawker blasted the photo.
Though they now claim that they retrieved a still of the phone from a videotape of the show and that Breitbart didn’t allow them to photograph it, the original image, now removed from Yfrog, showed a thumb in the corner of the lens, as though it was taken from a cell phone camera. Yfrog was the image-sharing service to which Weiner sent the “joke” photo of him in his boxers that started the entire scandal.
The bad news is Rep. Weiner’s campaign to keep his job just got a lot tougher (if not impossible).
The good news is, congratulations, Tony.
Tim Kaine sent the message for the Democratic Party this morning when he asked Weiner to resign, followed by others, so I sent a message via Twitter to Mr. Kaine. He will not get my vote for senator.
That all this is happening as we find out Huma Abedin is pregnant adds a poignant note to this sorry spectacle.
I remain someone who doesn’t think stupidity is a criminal offense, nor is a libido, and neither means someone can’t handle their job in Congress. It’s also not breaking news that a man could be proud of his junk and the boys. It’s just best not to take a photo then transmit it across open technology platforms when you’re a sitting congressman, no matter how proud you might be. It’s criminally dumb, but not shocking to me.
To drive the point home, I particularly want to get sleuthing anti sex puritans out of politics so that private foibles, except something seriously criminal, should not be an impediment to public office. It’s simply long past time America grew up.
When I look at the carnage of the George W. Bush presidency, a faithful man who couldn’t navigate technology if his life depended on it, I’m convinced of this.
Rep. Anthony Weiner engaged in risky behavior considering the trail technology leaves, which may or may not require counseling, but it doesn’t mean he can’t work a job if New Yorkers want him to.
The notion that Weiner will keep Democrats from focusing or winning in 2012 is preposterous, but that’s what Obama loyalists are pimping. People are focused on the economy and jobs, with the longer Republicans focus on Weiner’s weiner bound to eventually cause a backlash.
As long as there are prudes and moralists we will continue to be led by tight-ass people whose squeaky clean life make it miserable for the rest of us, but also don’t make this country work any smoother, make the middle class stronger, or wars less likely.
On the upside, maybe this will be Alec Baldwin’s big break, though what he knows about running the biggest city in the country is yet to be proved.
Rep. Weiner has failed the Jack Ryan politics 101 survival test: “Give them no place to go, nothing to report, no story.” It’s the art of political war.
“Will you help to support Arnold’s love child?”, someone yelled from the crowd of press.
“Were you fully erect…?” came next.
A fitting finale for Rep. Weiner’s confessional press conference.
Rep. Nancy Pelosi is asking for an ethics investigation amidst Rep. Weiner saying he won’t resign.
Quite a few people in media have also gotten caught up in this one too. Partisanship isn’t helpful when sex is involved. Getting too far out in front of anyone involved in a possible sex scandal is always a bad way to go, especially when you start blaming people unequivocally for pushing it without proof.
Andrew Breitbart is now the most powerful man in new media, with progressives aiding his rise.
It used to be that reporting on something meant you had to have a basic knowledge of the subject, in this case sex and political scandal. But when the subject also includes new media platforms, the old timers simply think Twitter and Facebook are passing fancies and they don’t need to understand them; captive traditional journalist types believing old rules still apply.
On Twitter, someone young enough to know better, Jay Newton-Small tweeted this:
But there r 3 reasons why this won’t go away: 1) I hate 2 say it as I think it’s great she wasn’t there but we have 2 hear from his wife
I asked her via a tweet why Weiner’s wife had to say a word, but unsurprisingly she didn’t reply.
The days of a political wife having to offer cover for her louse of a spouse are over, especially when he didn’t physically cheat, though there is a case to be made for emotional infidelity on this one.
Chris Matthews had yet another embarrassing hour of over the hill TV, though anyone who has watched him over the years won’t be surprised. Matthews started by talking about Hollywood and “70 year-old people dressed like.. 8 year olds,” then segued into people talking in “idiot Twitter language.” Later he said this:
“What is [sexting] about? Why don’t people call each other and have a nice romantic conversation if they like each other? I’m sorry, is it complicated? You used to call up and ask for dates, is it weird now?” – Mediate
Weiner didn’t want a date, in fact, he wanted the exact opposite.
Matthews, Jay Newton-Small and many others reporting on this story are clueless, but that doesn’t stop them from rambling on and on.
As I wrote when Weinergate broke, this is about voyeurism, joined with the opportunity to reach out and not directly touch someone while getting your kicks flirting in a way that keeps the act of adultery at arm’s length, but still allows the obsessed to indulge his or her fantasies.
At this point, an important distinction even after Rep. Weiner’s televised confessional today, his compulsion to indulge himself has absolutely nothing to do with his wife or having a physical affair outside of his marriage, both of which he’s denied. In situations like Mr. Weiner’s there is more often than not absolutely no correlation to how he feels about his wife and marriage and the voyeurism he’s acting out. He can be madly in love with his wife, be technically faithful, though, again, some spouses would disagree with this definition, while enjoying himself in what he considered harmless fantasy, that is until he got caught.
What can begin as harmless voyeuristic adventurism can have at its root sexual compulsion, which can be dangerous in your life if not admitted, investigated and resolved.
The mistake people make when venturing into risky private interaction with people unknown to them on a public social platform is that, like with most technology, being unmasked is one click away. But then again, without that thrill the rush wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the voyeur.
Weiner’s behavior isn’t new, but the media platforms that make the world able to uncover your secret fantasies is.
Politicians still think they can hide private things behind closed doors. Arnold Schwarzenegger did a good job of it for a long time, but he never engaged online in the antics Weiner did. Sometimes it’s better to do it the old fashioned way, though John Edwards found out when you’re stupid that doesn’t work either.
