Saturday, January 31, 2009
Prediction
Roger Federer wins his 14th Grand Slam tomorrow. Any chance the networks can bring cameras to Pete Sampras' house and watch him cry... again? And... congratulations to Serena Williams, who not only becomes #1 in the world again but now holds the record for most prize money by a woman in any sport.
Friday, January 30, 2009
You have got to be kidding
WTF?
James Pindell, who has covered New Hampshire politics since 2002, tells Political Wire that the odds of Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) taking the job of secretary of commerce are currently 65-35 if offered.
But Pindell notes that Gov. John Lynch (D), who would choose Gregg's replacement in the Senate, "is the type of guy that would pick a Republican just because he is replacing a Republican and to bone up his bi-partisan credibility. Lynch has yet to comment on the issue -- heck Gregg has yet to be appointed -- but right now the money is on former Gov. Walter Peterson (R). He was chair of the 'Republicans for Lynch' committee, would vote with Democrats as much as Maine's Senators do, and most likely wouldn't run in 2010."
James Pindell, who has covered New Hampshire politics since 2002, tells Political Wire that the odds of Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) taking the job of secretary of commerce are currently 65-35 if offered.
But Pindell notes that Gov. John Lynch (D), who would choose Gregg's replacement in the Senate, "is the type of guy that would pick a Republican just because he is replacing a Republican and to bone up his bi-partisan credibility. Lynch has yet to comment on the issue -- heck Gregg has yet to be appointed -- but right now the money is on former Gov. Walter Peterson (R). He was chair of the 'Republicans for Lynch' committee, would vote with Democrats as much as Maine's Senators do, and most likely wouldn't run in 2010."
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Roland Burris
Let us salute a mediocrity who knows how to put his finger to the wind:
I stand behind the Illinois State Senate's decision today to remove Governor Blagojevich from office.
As I've repeatedly stated, the Governor must be held accountable for his actions to the legislature, in a court of law and to the people of the State of Illinois. Impeachment is about whether our State's best interests are being served having the Governor remain in office. Today's conviction speaks loud and clear that there are serious issues preventing him from fulfilling his responsibilities and I support putting new leadership in place. I expect others will join me in thanking the state Senate for fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities.
It is my hope that today will be remembered as a new beginning, more than as an end. I look forward to working with our new Governor Pat Quinn, as we focus our attention back to more pressing issues such as creating jobs, providing healthcare and building a foundation that will provide a better future for all Illinois people.
I stand behind the Illinois State Senate's decision today to remove Governor Blagojevich from office.
As I've repeatedly stated, the Governor must be held accountable for his actions to the legislature, in a court of law and to the people of the State of Illinois. Impeachment is about whether our State's best interests are being served having the Governor remain in office. Today's conviction speaks loud and clear that there are serious issues preventing him from fulfilling his responsibilities and I support putting new leadership in place. I expect others will join me in thanking the state Senate for fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities.
It is my hope that today will be remembered as a new beginning, more than as an end. I look forward to working with our new Governor Pat Quinn, as we focus our attention back to more pressing issues such as creating jobs, providing healthcare and building a foundation that will provide a better future for all Illinois people.
Who knew?
Samantha Power is married to Cass Sunstein. And may be about to spend a whole lot of quality time with the monster.
Best comment from Boston Globe reader Ralston:
Welcome back Samantha! We need you...don't let the social awkwardness get in the way of doing what's best for the country. I'm a Boston Police Officer with Tourettes, and I've been in quite a few awkward situations because of it, but that hasn't stopped me from given my all...@!#$%! You! Good luck!
Best comment from Boston Globe reader Ralston:
Welcome back Samantha! We need you...don't let the social awkwardness get in the way of doing what's best for the country. I'm a Boston Police Officer with Tourettes, and I've been in quite a few awkward situations because of it, but that hasn't stopped me from given my all...@!#$%! You! Good luck!
Have you wondered
Where all the money pledged by rubes watching Gordon Lightfoot, Sarah Brightman, The Irish Tenors or all the other crud WGBH programs during pledge month ends up going to?
Wonder no more:
A 48-year-old Reading man is facing charges that he embezzled nearly $500,000 from Boston's public broadcasting station, WGBH-TV, the attorney general's office said today.
Philip McCabe was formerly manager of accounting at the station. He allegedly used the station's money to pay his personal bills for golf, dining, liquor, clothes, household goods, gas, and other expenses, over a nine-year period.
Wonder no more:
A 48-year-old Reading man is facing charges that he embezzled nearly $500,000 from Boston's public broadcasting station, WGBH-TV, the attorney general's office said today.
Philip McCabe was formerly manager of accounting at the station. He allegedly used the station's money to pay his personal bills for golf, dining, liquor, clothes, household goods, gas, and other expenses, over a nine-year period.
Oh. My. God.
If Judd Gregg agrees to become Secretary of Commerce, Democrats get to 60 seats in the Senate, assuming Al Franken wins. It certainly explains his voting record of late.
That said, getting to 60 forces Democrats to defend their filibuster-proof majority. It will be hard to keep all of them board, and Republicans will have less incentive to cross the aisle. Right now, Olympia Snowe or Judd Gregg can be blamed for every failure to reach 60. Once Democrats already have 60, Republicans can just say Obama's bills failed because of Democrats' internal warfare.
That said, getting to 60 forces Democrats to defend their filibuster-proof majority. It will be hard to keep all of them board, and Republicans will have less incentive to cross the aisle. Right now, Olympia Snowe or Judd Gregg can be blamed for every failure to reach 60. Once Democrats already have 60, Republicans can just say Obama's bills failed because of Democrats' internal warfare.
After acting in Class
Andrew McCarthy would belong to that remarkable, exclusive club of US Attorneys from New York. And he was certainly better in the film than Rudy Giuliani would be as mayor.
Yes I'm kidding. Except for the last sentence. The Andrew McCarthy referred to in the article has even less class than Rudy.
Yes I'm kidding. Except for the last sentence. The Andrew McCarthy referred to in the article has even less class than Rudy.
Nate's right
You've got to wonder why the GOP has decided to make its stand opposing the President on three wildly popular issues: the stimulus, digital television, and fair pay for women.
My guess is that they are hoping and praying that Obama fails on the economy, so that they can then say they opposed his plans from the beginning (it will have helped, of course, if his plans do pass). They figure if he's a success, people wouldn't vote for the GOP anyway. If he fails, at least they won't be in Richard Gephardt's, Hillary Clinton's, John Kerry's or John Edwards' position with regard the Iraq War. They will have presented a clear contrast to the Democrats.
They are praying for a prolonged depression. Their bet may pay off big for them. It could also leave them in the minority for a generation.
My guess is that they are hoping and praying that Obama fails on the economy, so that they can then say they opposed his plans from the beginning (it will have helped, of course, if his plans do pass). They figure if he's a success, people wouldn't vote for the GOP anyway. If he fails, at least they won't be in Richard Gephardt's, Hillary Clinton's, John Kerry's or John Edwards' position with regard the Iraq War. They will have presented a clear contrast to the Democrats.
They are praying for a prolonged depression. Their bet may pay off big for them. It could also leave them in the minority for a generation.
The Obamas and Lilly Ledbetter
At the signing today:
Michelle:
"She knew unfairness when she saw it and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do, plain and simple,'' Mrs. Obama said. [...]
"This legislation is an important step forward, particularly at a time when so many families are facing economic insecurity and instability,'' Mrs. Obama continued. "It's also one cornerstone of a broader commitment to address the needs of working women who are looking to us, to not only ensure that they're treated fairly, but also to ensure that there are policies in place that help women and men balance their work and family obligations without putting their jobs or their economic security at risk.''
Mrs. Obama then introduced Ms. Ledbetter, who she described as "an inspiration to women and men all across the country.'' The crowd clapped and cheered.
Lilly:
Ms. Ledbetter praised the Obamas and said " I just believe in them and their work so very much.''
"Words cannot begin to describe how honored and humbled I feel today,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "When I filed my claim against Goodyear with the EEOC ten years ago, never, never did I imagine the path that it would lead me down.
"I have spent the past two years since the Supreme Court decision in my case, fighting for equal pay for this,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "But to watch him sign a bill that bears my name, a bill that will help women and others fight pay discrimination in the workplace is truly overwhelming. Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. I will never see a cent from my case. But with the passage and the president's signature today, I have an even richer reward." Crowd claps.
"I know my daughters and granddaughters and your daughters and your granddaughters will have a better deal,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "That's what makes this fight worth fighting, that's what makes this fight one we had to win. Now with this win we will make a big difference in the real world. On behalf of all the women in this country who will once again be able to fight pay discrimination, thank you."
Ms. Ledbetter thanked members of Congress, advocacy groups, the president and women who rallied behind the legislation.
"With this bill in place, we now can move forward to where we all hope to be, improving the law, not just restoring it,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "You can count on my continued commitment to fight for the Paycheck Fairness Act and to make sure that women have equal pay for equal work because that's what this country is all about."
Watch the President's remarks here. Barbara Mikulski gets a pen... and has one hell of a handshake.
Watch the Michelle Obama and Lilly Ledbetter event here.
Michelle:
"She knew unfairness when she saw it and was willing to do something about it because it was the right thing to do, plain and simple,'' Mrs. Obama said. [...]
"This legislation is an important step forward, particularly at a time when so many families are facing economic insecurity and instability,'' Mrs. Obama continued. "It's also one cornerstone of a broader commitment to address the needs of working women who are looking to us, to not only ensure that they're treated fairly, but also to ensure that there are policies in place that help women and men balance their work and family obligations without putting their jobs or their economic security at risk.''
Mrs. Obama then introduced Ms. Ledbetter, who she described as "an inspiration to women and men all across the country.'' The crowd clapped and cheered.
Lilly:
Ms. Ledbetter praised the Obamas and said " I just believe in them and their work so very much.''
"Words cannot begin to describe how honored and humbled I feel today,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "When I filed my claim against Goodyear with the EEOC ten years ago, never, never did I imagine the path that it would lead me down.
"I have spent the past two years since the Supreme Court decision in my case, fighting for equal pay for this,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "But to watch him sign a bill that bears my name, a bill that will help women and others fight pay discrimination in the workplace is truly overwhelming. Goodyear will never have to pay me what it cheated me out of. I will never see a cent from my case. But with the passage and the president's signature today, I have an even richer reward." Crowd claps.
"I know my daughters and granddaughters and your daughters and your granddaughters will have a better deal,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "That's what makes this fight worth fighting, that's what makes this fight one we had to win. Now with this win we will make a big difference in the real world. On behalf of all the women in this country who will once again be able to fight pay discrimination, thank you."
Ms. Ledbetter thanked members of Congress, advocacy groups, the president and women who rallied behind the legislation.
"With this bill in place, we now can move forward to where we all hope to be, improving the law, not just restoring it,'' Ms. Ledbetter said. "You can count on my continued commitment to fight for the Paycheck Fairness Act and to make sure that women have equal pay for equal work because that's what this country is all about."
Watch the President's remarks here. Barbara Mikulski gets a pen... and has one hell of a handshake.
Watch the Michelle Obama and Lilly Ledbetter event here.
Behold, the heretic
Blessed John XXIII, Pope of the Council, font of evil for Benedict's new buddies.
What a desecration of his memory.
Benedict's invitation to Israel should be rescinded. And, simultaneously, the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation's request should be granted.
What a desecration of his memory.
Benedict's invitation to Israel should be rescinded. And, simultaneously, the Raoul Wallenberg Foundation's request should be granted.
Richard Williamson in his own words
The "re-incommunication" is the Pope's admission that the conciliarists were wrong and that we may indeed be the true Church.
And finally, someone gives Benedict's actions the larger frame they deserve:
The Second Vatican Council, as it would come to be known, ran from 1962-65, and the aftershocks have continued ever since. The Council fathers--2,400 bishops and thousands of aides an experts from around the world--were able to circumvent initial plans by the conservative Roman curia, or Vatican bureaucracy, to thwart any reform and instead set in motion a council that would upend the church in many ways.
Not surprisingly, the backlash has been going on ever since, under John Paul II to some degree, and with a persistence that has begun to attract the notice of a wider public, to an even greater degree by Benedict XVI.
That was made clearer than ever this weekend when Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four Traditionalist, right-wing bishops who are part of the schismatic Society of Saint Pius X, the brainchild of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve. (The CNS story is here.) [...]
This group vehemently rejects the teachings and reforms of Vatican II--such as on religious freedom, ecumenism, or mass in the vernacular--and apart from viewing popes since Pius XII as heretics, there is a deep strain of anti-Semitism running through their ranks.
Wait, it gets worse: Williamson has also written that "The Sound of Music"--yes, the musical--is "soul-rotting slush" and that "all the elements of pornography are there, just waiting to break out. One remembers the media sensation when a few years later Julie Andrews appeared topless in another film. That was no sensation, just a natural development for one rolling canine female." (It gets better; read the whole letter.) UPDATE: As the Daily Dish reminds me, he is also a 9/11 "Truther" who believes the Twin Towers were not brought down by planes, etc. [...]
On another level, I think Benedict is using the outreach to the far-right as a way to further his project of retrenchment. By extending the boundaries of what is acceptable to a group that rejects Vatican II, Benedict can legitimize some of those views while moving the goalposts--and thus still keeping himself at "the new center." This is another strategem in the ongoing battle over the Council.
Benedict set out his view of this debate in his first address as Pope to the Roman Curia, in December 2005, when he caricatured those who saw Vatican II as a reforning council as advocating the view that the church was breaking with its past, while those sober, sane souls like himself saw it as in perfect "continuity" with past church teachings--despite the obvious evidence to the contrary on a host of issues.
The debate gets almost Orwellian at times, but the damage to the church is all too real.
And finally, someone gives Benedict's actions the larger frame they deserve:
The Second Vatican Council, as it would come to be known, ran from 1962-65, and the aftershocks have continued ever since. The Council fathers--2,400 bishops and thousands of aides an experts from around the world--were able to circumvent initial plans by the conservative Roman curia, or Vatican bureaucracy, to thwart any reform and instead set in motion a council that would upend the church in many ways.
Not surprisingly, the backlash has been going on ever since, under John Paul II to some degree, and with a persistence that has begun to attract the notice of a wider public, to an even greater degree by Benedict XVI.
That was made clearer than ever this weekend when Pope Benedict lifted the excommunications of four Traditionalist, right-wing bishops who are part of the schismatic Society of Saint Pius X, the brainchild of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebrve. (The CNS story is here.) [...]
This group vehemently rejects the teachings and reforms of Vatican II--such as on religious freedom, ecumenism, or mass in the vernacular--and apart from viewing popes since Pius XII as heretics, there is a deep strain of anti-Semitism running through their ranks.
Wait, it gets worse: Williamson has also written that "The Sound of Music"--yes, the musical--is "soul-rotting slush" and that "all the elements of pornography are there, just waiting to break out. One remembers the media sensation when a few years later Julie Andrews appeared topless in another film. That was no sensation, just a natural development for one rolling canine female." (It gets better; read the whole letter.) UPDATE: As the Daily Dish reminds me, he is also a 9/11 "Truther" who believes the Twin Towers were not brought down by planes, etc. [...]
On another level, I think Benedict is using the outreach to the far-right as a way to further his project of retrenchment. By extending the boundaries of what is acceptable to a group that rejects Vatican II, Benedict can legitimize some of those views while moving the goalposts--and thus still keeping himself at "the new center." This is another strategem in the ongoing battle over the Council.
Benedict set out his view of this debate in his first address as Pope to the Roman Curia, in December 2005, when he caricatured those who saw Vatican II as a reforning council as advocating the view that the church was breaking with its past, while those sober, sane souls like himself saw it as in perfect "continuity" with past church teachings--despite the obvious evidence to the contrary on a host of issues.
The debate gets almost Orwellian at times, but the damage to the church is all too real.
Italian right wing Catholics defend the Pope
No wonder Berlusconi keeps winning elections:
In Italy, a priest who is a regional leader of the same ultra-traditionalist group as Williamson, made headlines on Thursday by telling a local newspaper "gas chambers existed at least for disinfecting" inmates but he wasn't sure if they were used to kill them.
The priest, Floriano Abrahamowicz, defended Williamson and said while it was "impossible for a Christian to be an anti-Semite," the whole Williamson affair was part of a "very powerful campaign against the Vatican".
He told the La Tribuna newspaper in the northeastern city of Treviso that Williamson had been "imprudent to get into technical matters" about whether people had died by gassing or not.
In Italy, a priest who is a regional leader of the same ultra-traditionalist group as Williamson, made headlines on Thursday by telling a local newspaper "gas chambers existed at least for disinfecting" inmates but he wasn't sure if they were used to kill them.
The priest, Floriano Abrahamowicz, defended Williamson and said while it was "impossible for a Christian to be an anti-Semite," the whole Williamson affair was part of a "very powerful campaign against the Vatican".
He told the La Tribuna newspaper in the northeastern city of Treviso that Williamson had been "imprudent to get into technical matters" about whether people had died by gassing or not.
American Catholics defend the Pope
Remarkable.
When Hamas denies the Holocaust, it's not a source of outrage it's a sign of the need for more education funding for the poor dears.Now that's some media manipulation. The Vatican could learn a thing or two from these guys.
Um... I think it has!
When Hamas denies the Holocaust, it's not a source of outrage it's a sign of the need for more education funding for the poor dears.Now that's some media manipulation. The Vatican could learn a thing or two from these guys.
Um... I think it has!
Benedict's reinstated brother
The actual quote. Keep in mind that the statement was made this month.
"I believe that the historical evidence . . . is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed," Williamson said on Swedish television this month. "I believe there were no gas chambers."
Well, at least he's pro-life.
"I believe that the historical evidence . . . is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed," Williamson said on Swedish television this month. "I believe there were no gas chambers."
Well, at least he's pro-life.
Chief rabbinate of Israel to Ratzi
Drop dead.
Israel's chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday to protest a papal decision to reinstate a bishop who publicly denied 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision.
"It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.
The rabbinate, which faxed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, also canceled a meeting with the Vatican set for March.
Still more by Frances Kissling in Salon:
The leaders of the Catholic Church seem genuinely baffled whenever they ignore or excuse anti-Semitism and someone objects. Why, they wonder, were people so upset that the pope met with Kurt Waldheim? There was that Wehrmacht business, but didn't the former United Nations secretary general lead an otherwise exemplary life? What's wrong with Carmelite nuns erecting a huge cross at Auschwitz? Can't we just live and let live? Can't we stop harping on these unpleasant secular matters that have no significance theologically?
The latest case in point is Richard Williamson, a priest in the ultraconservative movement known as the Society of Saint Pius X. The society is a traditionalist Catholic group that rejects the reforms of Vatican II and still uses the Tridentine Latin Mass. Williamson and three other members of the society were excommunicated in 1988 when movement founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, now deceased, consecrated them as bishops in spite of specific orders from Pope John Paul II not to do so. While not obeying the pope is a really big no-no and Lefebvre and his "bishops" have also gone so far as to call recent popes, including John Paul II, "heretical," the current pope has apparently decided it's time to make peace. Benedict has just rescinded the excommunication of Williamson and his three comrades. The announcement of the pope's decision came not long after Swedish television aired an interview in which Williamson denied the existence of gas chambers and said no more than 300,000 Jews had died in Nazi custody.
But, hey, Hillary made up with Obama, so why can't Benedict do it with these guys? It's not like he's trying to build a big church where everyone is welcome. Since becoming pope in 2005, Benedict has been quite clear that on any issue that concerns greater democracy or diversity in the church, or women and homosexuality generally, no détente is likely. He seems to want a small, obedient church, and the ultraconservative Lefebvrists, if brought back into the fold, are likely to be formidable allies in that effort. First, they are men; second, they are clerics; third, they were validly (if illicitly) consecrated bishops. They also have money and the support of some powerful lay Catholics, a bit like Opus Dei. [...]
A 2006 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center accused the American branch of the society of anti-Semitism, citing among other offenses a 1997 article in the Angelus suggesting that Jews should be locked in ghettos because they kill Christians. Williamson, who has become the center of concern among Jewish groups who have commented on the Vatican's lifting of the excommunication and efforts to heal the schism, goes far beyond just consigning Jews to the ghetto. He is an outright Holocaust denier. The Vatican reaction to the widespread alarm and condemnation that followed its rapprochement with Williamson is pro forma and appalling. Williamson's views on the Holocaust, says church leadership, are not those of the church. Williamson was not excommunicated for those beliefs, and the lifting of the excommunication has nothing to do with them. His opinions on the Holocaust and the Jews are secular. End of story.
But the story is unending. Soon we will see the architect of the Reichskonkordat, another Pope Pius ( the Xll), made a saint. His canonization is in process. As with Benedict, Jews were just not high on his agenda; theo-politics was more important. In the 1933 Concordat he negotiated with Hitler while he was Vatican secretary of state, Pius agreed the Catholic Church would stay out of German politics in return for preserving, indeed expanding, church privileges and authority. The Concordat revoked the church's ban on Catholics joining the Nazi Party and the Vatican pledged that German bishops would obey and honor the German state. Guenter Lewy's seminal work "The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany" asserted that "there is general agreement that the Concordat increased substantially the prestige of Hitler's regime around the world."
And some still wonder why the Catholic Church gets criticized. The last acceptable prejudice, they claim, is anti-Catholicism. Are these people serious? The Vatican has been getting away with anti-Semitism for centuries. Isn't it time we all said, "Enough"?
It was time in 1979, and thirty years later, only more so.
Israel's chief rabbinate severed ties with the Vatican on Wednesday to protest a papal decision to reinstate a bishop who publicly denied 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. The Jewish state's highest religious authority sent a letter to the Holy See expressing "sorrow and pain" at the papal decision.
"It will be very difficult for the chief rabbinate of Israel to continue its dialogue with the Vatican as before," the letter said. Chief rabbis of both the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews were parties to the letter.
The rabbinate, which faxed a copy of the letter to The Associated Press, also canceled a meeting with the Vatican set for March.
Still more by Frances Kissling in Salon:
The leaders of the Catholic Church seem genuinely baffled whenever they ignore or excuse anti-Semitism and someone objects. Why, they wonder, were people so upset that the pope met with Kurt Waldheim? There was that Wehrmacht business, but didn't the former United Nations secretary general lead an otherwise exemplary life? What's wrong with Carmelite nuns erecting a huge cross at Auschwitz? Can't we just live and let live? Can't we stop harping on these unpleasant secular matters that have no significance theologically?
The latest case in point is Richard Williamson, a priest in the ultraconservative movement known as the Society of Saint Pius X. The society is a traditionalist Catholic group that rejects the reforms of Vatican II and still uses the Tridentine Latin Mass. Williamson and three other members of the society were excommunicated in 1988 when movement founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, now deceased, consecrated them as bishops in spite of specific orders from Pope John Paul II not to do so. While not obeying the pope is a really big no-no and Lefebvre and his "bishops" have also gone so far as to call recent popes, including John Paul II, "heretical," the current pope has apparently decided it's time to make peace. Benedict has just rescinded the excommunication of Williamson and his three comrades. The announcement of the pope's decision came not long after Swedish television aired an interview in which Williamson denied the existence of gas chambers and said no more than 300,000 Jews had died in Nazi custody.
But, hey, Hillary made up with Obama, so why can't Benedict do it with these guys? It's not like he's trying to build a big church where everyone is welcome. Since becoming pope in 2005, Benedict has been quite clear that on any issue that concerns greater democracy or diversity in the church, or women and homosexuality generally, no détente is likely. He seems to want a small, obedient church, and the ultraconservative Lefebvrists, if brought back into the fold, are likely to be formidable allies in that effort. First, they are men; second, they are clerics; third, they were validly (if illicitly) consecrated bishops. They also have money and the support of some powerful lay Catholics, a bit like Opus Dei. [...]
A 2006 report by the Southern Poverty Law Center accused the American branch of the society of anti-Semitism, citing among other offenses a 1997 article in the Angelus suggesting that Jews should be locked in ghettos because they kill Christians. Williamson, who has become the center of concern among Jewish groups who have commented on the Vatican's lifting of the excommunication and efforts to heal the schism, goes far beyond just consigning Jews to the ghetto. He is an outright Holocaust denier. The Vatican reaction to the widespread alarm and condemnation that followed its rapprochement with Williamson is pro forma and appalling. Williamson's views on the Holocaust, says church leadership, are not those of the church. Williamson was not excommunicated for those beliefs, and the lifting of the excommunication has nothing to do with them. His opinions on the Holocaust and the Jews are secular. End of story.
But the story is unending. Soon we will see the architect of the Reichskonkordat, another Pope Pius ( the Xll), made a saint. His canonization is in process. As with Benedict, Jews were just not high on his agenda; theo-politics was more important. In the 1933 Concordat he negotiated with Hitler while he was Vatican secretary of state, Pius agreed the Catholic Church would stay out of German politics in return for preserving, indeed expanding, church privileges and authority. The Concordat revoked the church's ban on Catholics joining the Nazi Party and the Vatican pledged that German bishops would obey and honor the German state. Guenter Lewy's seminal work "The Catholic Church and Nazi Germany" asserted that "there is general agreement that the Concordat increased substantially the prestige of Hitler's regime around the world."
And some still wonder why the Catholic Church gets criticized. The last acceptable prejudice, they claim, is anti-Catholicism. Are these people serious? The Vatican has been getting away with anti-Semitism for centuries. Isn't it time we all said, "Enough"?
It was time in 1979, and thirty years later, only more so.
Who is holding up the Paycheck Fairness Act?
Just passing the Lilly Ledbetter Act is not enough. The enemy? The U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The proponents of the Act have not cited any evidence establishing that the existing wage gap is caused by employer discrimination. ... As labor economists and feminist scholars alike have proven and observed, the existing wage gap between men and women is attributable to a number of factors ... includ[ing]: personal choice; women's disproportionate responsibilities as caregivers and other family obligations; education; self-selection for promotions and the attendant status and monetary awards; and other "human capital" factors.
The proponents of the Act have not cited any evidence establishing that the existing wage gap is caused by employer discrimination. ... As labor economists and feminist scholars alike have proven and observed, the existing wage gap between men and women is attributable to a number of factors ... includ[ing]: personal choice; women's disproportionate responsibilities as caregivers and other family obligations; education; self-selection for promotions and the attendant status and monetary awards; and other "human capital" factors.
"Defending these idiots was your old gig"
Yet another critique of Geithner, who may well be more committed to Goldman than to the American taxpayers he's already cheated once.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Hooray
Republicans are still blocking the Hilda Solís nomination.
Don't think Hispanics are not noticing. Spanish language La opinión has already weighed in with an editorial:
President Barack Obama is within his rights to nominate his Cabinet, and the Senate, to confirm it if there are no specific impediments. In Solís' case, the opposition is strictly political, since there are no conflicts of interest, unpaid taxes or other personal roadblocks that put in doubt her ability to exercise the function for which she was nominated.
Republicans seem anxious to insult Mexican Americans for another few election cycles. Incredibly foolish, given the political opportunity afforded them by the dearth of Hispanics in the Obama Administration. Their idiocy, once again, is the Democratic Party's gain. The longer anonymous Republican senators use the hold tactic to delay the vote on her confirmation, the better for us.
Public officials in top Latino media markets should be sure to issue statements. Daily.
Don't think Hispanics are not noticing. Spanish language La opinión has already weighed in with an editorial:
President Barack Obama is within his rights to nominate his Cabinet, and the Senate, to confirm it if there are no specific impediments. In Solís' case, the opposition is strictly political, since there are no conflicts of interest, unpaid taxes or other personal roadblocks that put in doubt her ability to exercise the function for which she was nominated.
Republicans seem anxious to insult Mexican Americans for another few election cycles. Incredibly foolish, given the political opportunity afforded them by the dearth of Hispanics in the Obama Administration. Their idiocy, once again, is the Democratic Party's gain. The longer anonymous Republican senators use the hold tactic to delay the vote on her confirmation, the better for us.
Public officials in top Latino media markets should be sure to issue statements. Daily.
Bettye LaVette
Finally recognized:
"'Music has always been the creative heartbeat of the American experience,'" Denzel Washington said at the Lincoln Memorial during Sunday's opening ceremony, noted The Philadelphia Inquirer. "That truism was brought vividly to life this week. Bettye LaVette turned in a soul-searing performance at the memorial of Sam Cooke's civil-rights-era classic 'A Change Is Gonna Come.'"
Of singing for Obama, Bettye said in Tina Brown's Daily Beast: "In the middle of the song I turned and looked and Obama was on the stage, the whole group of them, and my eyes were just fixed on him for a moment. I was singing the line 'I always believed that a change would come,' and just as I turned, our eyes locked and he was mouthing the words along."
Bettye recounted her other most meaningful moments of the day in the Detroit Free Press, where Bettye proclaimed: "Do you know I just hugged, kissed and sung for the president of the United States? For the second time in six weeks?" And in another section of the paper, she revealed: "I got a chance to talk to them. He (Obama) held me and he said, 'I appreciated you singing for me so much and I really loved the song.'"
Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi was on Oprah yesterday (1/21) showing photos he had taken during all the inaugural festivities. While Oprah was holding a photo of Bettye and Jon, he exclaimed, "That's Bettye LaVette who sang with me 'A Change is Gonna Come.' Talk about a lady who's lived the lyric of a song -- looking into her eyes was almost as magical as looking out at the 400,000 people I was singing to. It was pretty special." [...]
"It was truly the most wonderful experience and highlight of my life," Bettye whispered with all the sincerity and humility in her soul.
I guess I'll never get to see her in a small club again.
"'Music has always been the creative heartbeat of the American experience,'" Denzel Washington said at the Lincoln Memorial during Sunday's opening ceremony, noted The Philadelphia Inquirer. "That truism was brought vividly to life this week. Bettye LaVette turned in a soul-searing performance at the memorial of Sam Cooke's civil-rights-era classic 'A Change Is Gonna Come.'"
Of singing for Obama, Bettye said in Tina Brown's Daily Beast: "In the middle of the song I turned and looked and Obama was on the stage, the whole group of them, and my eyes were just fixed on him for a moment. I was singing the line 'I always believed that a change would come,' and just as I turned, our eyes locked and he was mouthing the words along."
Bettye recounted her other most meaningful moments of the day in the Detroit Free Press, where Bettye proclaimed: "Do you know I just hugged, kissed and sung for the president of the United States? For the second time in six weeks?" And in another section of the paper, she revealed: "I got a chance to talk to them. He (Obama) held me and he said, 'I appreciated you singing for me so much and I really loved the song.'"
Meanwhile, Jon Bon Jovi was on Oprah yesterday (1/21) showing photos he had taken during all the inaugural festivities. While Oprah was holding a photo of Bettye and Jon, he exclaimed, "That's Bettye LaVette who sang with me 'A Change is Gonna Come.' Talk about a lady who's lived the lyric of a song -- looking into her eyes was almost as magical as looking out at the 400,000 people I was singing to. It was pretty special." [...]
"It was truly the most wonderful experience and highlight of my life," Bettye whispered with all the sincerity and humility in her soul.
I guess I'll never get to see her in a small club again.
Good news for the President
From the Hotline/Diageo poll. It's not just that he has a 76% approval rating. It's that voters don't expect the economy to turn around any time soon:
And, as you may know, economists generally agree that the country is now in a recession. Roughly how long do you think it will take before the economy comes out of recession and is back on track?
Length of Recession Total
Less than 12 months 3%
More than 12 months but less than 2 years 26%
Between 2 and 4 years 43%
More than 4 years 25%
Don’t Know 3%
Another interesting one:
How would you rate his speech, compared to past inaugural speeches given by previous presidents in your lifetime?
The best inaugural speech 33%
Better than most but not the best 45%
Correct answer: The best inaugural speech (unless you can remember Kennedy's). But still a B+ at best. His speech at the Lincoln Memorial, however, was in A range.
And, as you may know, economists generally agree that the country is now in a recession. Roughly how long do you think it will take before the economy comes out of recession and is back on track?
Length of Recession Total
Less than 12 months 3%
More than 12 months but less than 2 years 26%
Between 2 and 4 years 43%
More than 4 years 25%
Don’t Know 3%
Another interesting one:
How would you rate his speech, compared to past inaugural speeches given by previous presidents in your lifetime?
The best inaugural speech 33%
Better than most but not the best 45%
Correct answer: The best inaugural speech (unless you can remember Kennedy's). But still a B+ at best. His speech at the Lincoln Memorial, however, was in A range.
Obama on DC
Entertaining:
President Barack Obama took a poke at his new hometown Wednesday, after a slick coating of ice forced his daughters’ school, Sidwell Friends, to close for the day along with many other schools in the Washington area. That wouldn’t happen in Chicago, Obama said.
“In Chicago, school is never canceled,” the president said. “In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you’d go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn’t even stay indoors.”
“We’re going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town,” he continued. “When it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don’t seem to be able to handle things.”
Obama’s poke at the Washington area’s notorious inability to cope with even a dusting of snow came at the beginning of a meeting with corporate executives devoted to the $825 billion stimulus package the administration is trying to sell to Republicans and the public.
While reporters were in the room, the president didn’t appear to want to discuss anything beyond Sasha and Malia’s snow day–the second in a row. He only addressed the economy - albeit briefly - after a reporter shouted a question on the way out of the meeting.
President Barack Obama took a poke at his new hometown Wednesday, after a slick coating of ice forced his daughters’ school, Sidwell Friends, to close for the day along with many other schools in the Washington area. That wouldn’t happen in Chicago, Obama said.
“In Chicago, school is never canceled,” the president said. “In fact, my seven-year-old pointed out that you’d go outside for recess in weather like this. You wouldn’t even stay indoors.”
“We’re going to have to try to apply some flinty Chicago toughness to this town,” he continued. “When it comes to the weather, folks in Washington don’t seem to be able to handle things.”
Obama’s poke at the Washington area’s notorious inability to cope with even a dusting of snow came at the beginning of a meeting with corporate executives devoted to the $825 billion stimulus package the administration is trying to sell to Republicans and the public.
While reporters were in the room, the president didn’t appear to want to discuss anything beyond Sasha and Malia’s snow day–the second in a row. He only addressed the economy - albeit briefly - after a reporter shouted a question on the way out of the meeting.
Corporations gang up on Cass Sunstein
Since they've got nothing, really, they're trying to say he's with PETA. If he really were, he'd have attacked this woman at the inauguration.
In the Jakarta Post
Indonesia is the logical choice for his first trip abroad:
US President Barack Obama responded in fluent Indonesian to answer a State Department employee's question after Hillary Clinton's swearing in as the 67th Secretary of State on Thursday.
A letter from the US Embassy in Jakarta issued Friday states that, after making his formal remarks at the event, President Obama mingled with US diplomats, shaking hands and chatting casually.
Charles Silver, a former Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Jakarta, addressed Obama in Indonesian, saying “Selamat siang, Bapak.” Without missing a beat, President Obama responded, “Terima kasih. Apa kabar?”
Silver responded “Baik, baik” and then told the President he had served in Indonesia several times and Obama complimented him on his accent. The President then said if he were to visit Indonesia he would like to visit his old neighborhood in Menteng.
US President Barack Obama responded in fluent Indonesian to answer a State Department employee's question after Hillary Clinton's swearing in as the 67th Secretary of State on Thursday.
A letter from the US Embassy in Jakarta issued Friday states that, after making his formal remarks at the event, President Obama mingled with US diplomats, shaking hands and chatting casually.
Charles Silver, a former Counselor for Public Affairs at the US Embassy in Jakarta, addressed Obama in Indonesian, saying “Selamat siang, Bapak.” Without missing a beat, President Obama responded, “Terima kasih. Apa kabar?”
Silver responded “Baik, baik” and then told the President he had served in Indonesia several times and Obama complimented him on his accent. The President then said if he were to visit Indonesia he would like to visit his old neighborhood in Menteng.
Pakistan's president speaks
His message to Barack Obama: "Give us $1.5 billion. That will help solve a lot of problems."
Though, likely, none of ours.
Though, likely, none of ours.
Food crime
Unbelievable:
Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the outbreak to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga. On Jan. 9, investigators descended on the plant for a thorough inspection, which was completed Tuesday.
The report from the inspection, first posted on the Internet by Bill Marler, a lawyer, cites 12 instances in 2007 and 2008 in which the company’s own tests of its product found contamination by salmonella.
In each case, the report states, “after the firm retested the product and received a negative status, the product was shipped in interstate commerce.”
It is illegal for a company to continue testing a product until it gets a clean test, said Michael Taylor, a food safety expert at George Washington University. [...]
The firm took no steps to clean its plant after the test results alerted the company to the contamination, he said, and the inspection team found problems with the plant’s routine cleaning procedures as well.
The plant also stored pallets of peanut butter next to supplies of peanuts, the inspectional report says. Finished products should be stored far from raw materials to reduce the chances of re-contamination of the finished goods, according to federal rules.
But don't just blame the Peanut Corporation of America. And the legislators who refused to fund regulatory agencies that protect American taxpayers from unsafe food. And a president whose political appointees directed serious public servants to cool it on regulation. There are enemies of food safety in both parties, but a majority belong to the GOP.
Officials from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention traced the outbreak to the Peanut Corporation of America plant in Blakely, Ga. On Jan. 9, investigators descended on the plant for a thorough inspection, which was completed Tuesday.
The report from the inspection, first posted on the Internet by Bill Marler, a lawyer, cites 12 instances in 2007 and 2008 in which the company’s own tests of its product found contamination by salmonella.
In each case, the report states, “after the firm retested the product and received a negative status, the product was shipped in interstate commerce.”
It is illegal for a company to continue testing a product until it gets a clean test, said Michael Taylor, a food safety expert at George Washington University. [...]
The firm took no steps to clean its plant after the test results alerted the company to the contamination, he said, and the inspection team found problems with the plant’s routine cleaning procedures as well.
The plant also stored pallets of peanut butter next to supplies of peanuts, the inspectional report says. Finished products should be stored far from raw materials to reduce the chances of re-contamination of the finished goods, according to federal rules.
But don't just blame the Peanut Corporation of America. And the legislators who refused to fund regulatory agencies that protect American taxpayers from unsafe food. And a president whose political appointees directed serious public servants to cool it on regulation. There are enemies of food safety in both parties, but a majority belong to the GOP.
Kirsten Gillibrand
In her own words:
“What makes me so successful is that I’ve developed so many relationships,” she said in a phone interview on Jan. 27, hours after being sworn in as a U.S. senator, as she walked to the Senate floor to cast her first vote. “Because I did fund-raising and organizing in New York for 10 years before I ever ran for office, I developed so many great relationships with all the people that care about elective politics. [...]
“These were all the relationships I called upon when I decided to run,” she continued. “When I did my first poll I asked Hillary Clinton to review it. I asked Andrew Cuomo to review it. I asked Eliot Spitzer to review it. These are all people that I had worked with helping them to get elected, working on their causes, so they all had become friends through my 10 years of organizing in New York.”
Oh yeah, that's so much more inspiring than having a senator who sought to emulate her uncle, the greatest senator in U.S. history. Thanks Kos and the rest of the progressive blogosphere, for not having Caroline Kennedy's back. She would have had ours.
Still more:
Born into an elite Albany political clan—she is the daughter of an influential lobbyist with Republican ties and the granddaughter of a close aide to Erastus Corning, the longtime mayor of Albany—the 42-year-old has nurtured deep Clinton ties and Cuomo connections. She is the pick of the Patersons and a favorite of Rahm Emanuel. [...]
Even after she went back into the private sector to work as a lawyer at a white-shoe firm, the public sector was never far from her mind.
Mr. Schiller said that “throughout the time she worked here, and closely with me on complex federal litigation, she was in touch with Hillary Clinton, she was in touch with the Democratic Party. She never stopped thinking about and planning her career.”
I'm inspired. So f***ing inspired.
“What makes me so successful is that I’ve developed so many relationships,” she said in a phone interview on Jan. 27, hours after being sworn in as a U.S. senator, as she walked to the Senate floor to cast her first vote. “Because I did fund-raising and organizing in New York for 10 years before I ever ran for office, I developed so many great relationships with all the people that care about elective politics. [...]
“These were all the relationships I called upon when I decided to run,” she continued. “When I did my first poll I asked Hillary Clinton to review it. I asked Andrew Cuomo to review it. I asked Eliot Spitzer to review it. These are all people that I had worked with helping them to get elected, working on their causes, so they all had become friends through my 10 years of organizing in New York.”
Oh yeah, that's so much more inspiring than having a senator who sought to emulate her uncle, the greatest senator in U.S. history. Thanks Kos and the rest of the progressive blogosphere, for not having Caroline Kennedy's back. She would have had ours.
Still more:
Born into an elite Albany political clan—she is the daughter of an influential lobbyist with Republican ties and the granddaughter of a close aide to Erastus Corning, the longtime mayor of Albany—the 42-year-old has nurtured deep Clinton ties and Cuomo connections. She is the pick of the Patersons and a favorite of Rahm Emanuel. [...]
Even after she went back into the private sector to work as a lawyer at a white-shoe firm, the public sector was never far from her mind.
Mr. Schiller said that “throughout the time she worked here, and closely with me on complex federal litigation, she was in touch with Hillary Clinton, she was in touch with the Democratic Party. She never stopped thinking about and planning her career.”
I'm inspired. So f***ing inspired.
Obama=LBJ?
Lord knows that's not an insult, coming from me. But how sure is he that he wants his own Vietnam in Afghanistan, the graveyard of empires?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Three cheers for an American heroine
The Lille Ledbetter Fair Pay Act will soon be the law of the land.
Under the bill, workers may bring a lawsuit for up to six months after they receive any paycheck that they allege is discriminatory. The high court had held that such cases could be brought only within six months of the pay discrimination's beginning, rejecting a long-held interpretation by lower courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that each paycheck represented a fresh act of discrimination.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the president "looks forward to signing the bill" and that first lady Michelle Obama and Lilly Ledbetter, the woman for whom the legislation and the court case are named, would attend.
And did you know?
The weekend before his swearing-in, she was one of 16 guests on the train that carried Obama from Philadelphia to Washington. And hours after becoming president, Obama danced with her at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
Only three Republicans backed the legislation.
Under the bill, workers may bring a lawsuit for up to six months after they receive any paycheck that they allege is discriminatory. The high court had held that such cases could be brought only within six months of the pay discrimination's beginning, rejecting a long-held interpretation by lower courts and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that each paycheck represented a fresh act of discrimination.
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the president "looks forward to signing the bill" and that first lady Michelle Obama and Lilly Ledbetter, the woman for whom the legislation and the court case are named, would attend.
And did you know?
The weekend before his swearing-in, she was one of 16 guests on the train that carried Obama from Philadelphia to Washington. And hours after becoming president, Obama danced with her at the Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
Only three Republicans backed the legislation.
An ad in Craigslist
Oh my, The perfect challenger for Vitter in a GOP primary. He might be so damaged by the process that he could become a pretty soft target for the general.
Seeking a female candidate to challenge David Vitter in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in 2010. Candidate must be over thirty years old and a registered Republican in the state of Louisiana. Beyond this, we are looking for a candidate with a history in some aspect of the adult entertainment industry who has taken the benefit of that experience both monetarily and otherwise and translated it into success in their later career.
Candidate will have the benefit of an experienced campaign staff including finance and media teams. Reasonable compensation as allowed by federal campaign finance rules will be offered. This is a serious offer for a serious candidate who cares about the direction of her state and community and who is willing to accept the serious commitment of a state wide political campaign.
Please forward a resume or CV with contact information along with a 200 word description telling us who you are and why you think you are the ideal candidate to challenge David Vitter.
Location: Louisiana
Compensation: Reasonable under FEC regulations OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
Democrats would also be well advised to use the Vitter re-election as a vehicle for damaging Bobby Jindal's shot at 2012. So far, unfortunately, it looks like he's smart enough not to endorse Vitter at this point.
Seeking a female candidate to challenge David Vitter in the Republican primary for the United States Senate in 2010. Candidate must be over thirty years old and a registered Republican in the state of Louisiana. Beyond this, we are looking for a candidate with a history in some aspect of the adult entertainment industry who has taken the benefit of that experience both monetarily and otherwise and translated it into success in their later career.
Candidate will have the benefit of an experienced campaign staff including finance and media teams. Reasonable compensation as allowed by federal campaign finance rules will be offered. This is a serious offer for a serious candidate who cares about the direction of her state and community and who is willing to accept the serious commitment of a state wide political campaign.
Please forward a resume or CV with contact information along with a 200 word description telling us who you are and why you think you are the ideal candidate to challenge David Vitter.
Location: Louisiana
Compensation: Reasonable under FEC regulations OK to highlight this job opening for persons with disabilities
Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. Please, no phone calls about this job!
Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests.
Democrats would also be well advised to use the Vitter re-election as a vehicle for damaging Bobby Jindal's shot at 2012. So far, unfortunately, it looks like he's smart enough not to endorse Vitter at this point.
She didn't get "I am not a crook"
But Joy Behar does get a "Let me make this perfectly clear" out of Blago.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Antonia Novello, criminal
I always had a bad feeling about her. Loyal readers might remember her not-too-complimentary appearance in these pages in the last month alone.
An appointee of President George H. W. Bush who was the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as surgeon general, Dr. Novello was praised even by the Clinton administration for her “vigor and talent” and promised to bring new attention to pediatric health.
But the New York State inspector general’s office says that she turned her staff at the Health Department into her personal chauffeurs, porters and shopping assistants during her seven-year tenure, and has referred a criminal case, including potential felony charges, to the Albany County district attorney.
A report from the office of Inspector General Joseph Fisch to be released Tuesday depicts Dr. Novello as preoccupied with shopping and routinely abusive of her authority over employees, ordering them to buy her groceries, pick up her dry cleaning and even water her houseplants.
It gets better:
On one occasion, Dr. Novello purchased a heavy statue of Buddha during a shopping excursion in Troy, N.Y., then required a Health Department security guard to move it into her apartment, and then a few days later move it to another spot in her home because she didn’t like how it looked, according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The guard told investigators that he often had to ask his teenage son to help him move her furniture around.
Dr. Novello also ordered a Medicaid fraud investigator in her department to drive her on trips to Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. On numerous occasions she had state workers drive her or her mother from the Albany area to Newark Liberty International Airport, roughly 300 miles round trip, to fly to Puerto Rico for personal business. When traveling between state offices in New York City and Albany, she liked to stop at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, N.Y., and she is also accused of using state workers to take her on excursions to three malls in the Albany area.
Security guards who acted as her drivers told state investigators that she would embarrass and yell at them if they did not do things the way she wanted and expected them to be at her beck and call at all hours. [...]
The report also says Dr. Novello brushed off a written warning from one of her subordinates and subsequently took steps to hide what she was doing.
The report alleges that Dr. Novello required state employees to work more than 2,500 hours of overtime performing personal services for her, costing the state $48,000. One employee told investigators that “Novello’s fondness for shopping was so well known that employees in the office would give her sales fliers or coupons to encourage her to leave the office so that they would not have to work late,” according to the report. [...]
One security guard who was interviewed by investigators said that after the Whalen memo, he was called into a conference room. Dr. Novello told him that “she had been questioned on my hours and that we needed to calm down,” the guard said, according to the report.
The guard testified that Dr. Novello told him to spread his overtime hours on different days of the work week so nothing out of the ordinary would be noticed. She also told him to park the state car in inconspicuous places on shopping excursions and even ordered the guard to drive her in his own personal car.
Once the distinguished public servant realized Puerto Rican voters wouldn't crown, she dropped out of the 2000 race for San Juan mayor. San Juan voters should consider itself lucky; they would never have discovered her abuse of the system. In a society as socially stratified as Puerto Rico's, after all, her behavior would have been par for the course. Plaza las Américas is pretty close to Old San Juan. And when you have a chauffeur, nothing is far.
An appointee of President George H. W. Bush who was the first woman and first Hispanic to serve as surgeon general, Dr. Novello was praised even by the Clinton administration for her “vigor and talent” and promised to bring new attention to pediatric health.
But the New York State inspector general’s office says that she turned her staff at the Health Department into her personal chauffeurs, porters and shopping assistants during her seven-year tenure, and has referred a criminal case, including potential felony charges, to the Albany County district attorney.
A report from the office of Inspector General Joseph Fisch to be released Tuesday depicts Dr. Novello as preoccupied with shopping and routinely abusive of her authority over employees, ordering them to buy her groceries, pick up her dry cleaning and even water her houseplants.
It gets better:
On one occasion, Dr. Novello purchased a heavy statue of Buddha during a shopping excursion in Troy, N.Y., then required a Health Department security guard to move it into her apartment, and then a few days later move it to another spot in her home because she didn’t like how it looked, according to the report, a copy of which was obtained by The New York Times. The guard told investigators that he often had to ask his teenage son to help him move her furniture around.
Dr. Novello also ordered a Medicaid fraud investigator in her department to drive her on trips to Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. On numerous occasions she had state workers drive her or her mother from the Albany area to Newark Liberty International Airport, roughly 300 miles round trip, to fly to Puerto Rico for personal business. When traveling between state offices in New York City and Albany, she liked to stop at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, N.Y., and she is also accused of using state workers to take her on excursions to three malls in the Albany area.
Security guards who acted as her drivers told state investigators that she would embarrass and yell at them if they did not do things the way she wanted and expected them to be at her beck and call at all hours. [...]
The report also says Dr. Novello brushed off a written warning from one of her subordinates and subsequently took steps to hide what she was doing.
The report alleges that Dr. Novello required state employees to work more than 2,500 hours of overtime performing personal services for her, costing the state $48,000. One employee told investigators that “Novello’s fondness for shopping was so well known that employees in the office would give her sales fliers or coupons to encourage her to leave the office so that they would not have to work late,” according to the report. [...]
One security guard who was interviewed by investigators said that after the Whalen memo, he was called into a conference room. Dr. Novello told him that “she had been questioned on my hours and that we needed to calm down,” the guard said, according to the report.
The guard testified that Dr. Novello told him to spread his overtime hours on different days of the work week so nothing out of the ordinary would be noticed. She also told him to park the state car in inconspicuous places on shopping excursions and even ordered the guard to drive her in his own personal car.
Once the distinguished public servant realized Puerto Rican voters wouldn't crown, she dropped out of the 2000 race for San Juan mayor. San Juan voters should consider itself lucky; they would never have discovered her abuse of the system. In a society as socially stratified as Puerto Rico's, after all, her behavior would have been par for the course. Plaza las Américas is pretty close to Old San Juan. And when you have a chauffeur, nothing is far.
Goodbye, Labour
This has got to be the last straw for disgusted UK voters. Pity poor Gordon Brown, who was responsible for little of the Tony Blair trashfest or the appointment of most if not all of a sorry crew that includes one named Lord Taylor and another named Snape.
Maybe one day they'll have an elected Senate and enjoy corruption comparable to our own. Power to the people!
Maybe one day they'll have an elected Senate and enjoy corruption comparable to our own. Power to the people!
Boohoo
Power is sometimes defined as the ability to force people to do things they wouldn't do left to their own devices.
Blue Dog Democrats are worried that Obama's prodigious fundraising and organizing might damage the DNCC's own fundraising, forcing them to support him on key votes.
That's the power of organizing. That's the power of leadership. And that's the power of the new President. Hooray!
Blue Dog Democrats are worried that Obama's prodigious fundraising and organizing might damage the DNCC's own fundraising, forcing them to support him on key votes.
That's the power of organizing. That's the power of leadership. And that's the power of the new President. Hooray!
Journamalist returns to work after eight year vacation!
During the Bush Administration, he didn't report on criminality that dwarfed a robbery that made him famous--all for access and book deals. Now he's back to real hard core reporting, warning that someone in the Obama Administration might have a nanny problem.
Wow, that's weighty. Especially compared to piddling incidents like this, from 2005.
Now, Woodward is scrambling to explain why, for more than two years, he didn’t disclose that a government official told him the wife of Bush war-policy critic Joe Wilson was undercover CIA employee Valerie Plame. Even after the Plame leaks turned into a big scandal rocking the Bush administration, Woodward failed to tell any Post editor about his own involvement -- though he may have been the first journalist to receive one of those leaks. And, in media appearances, he disparaged the investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald without so much as hinting at his own stake in disparaging it.
Interviewed several months ago on NPR’s “Fresh Air” program, Woodward portrayed the investigation as little more than a tempest in a teapot. “The issues don’t really involve national security or people’s lives or jeopardy,” he commented, adding that “I think in the end, we will find there’s not really corruption here.”
Woodward also told the national radio audience: “The woman who was the CIA undercover operative was working in CIA headquarters. There was no national security threat, there was no jeopardy to her life, there was no nothing. When I think all of the facts come out in this case, it’s going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great.”
How's this for a scandal: a reporter who covered up a crime the Washington Post should have reported on still has a job. At the same newspaper.
Then again, I'm sure Bobby could find something else to (not) write about if the Obama Administration gave him few interviews for an upcoming book.
Wow, that's weighty. Especially compared to piddling incidents like this, from 2005.
Now, Woodward is scrambling to explain why, for more than two years, he didn’t disclose that a government official told him the wife of Bush war-policy critic Joe Wilson was undercover CIA employee Valerie Plame. Even after the Plame leaks turned into a big scandal rocking the Bush administration, Woodward failed to tell any Post editor about his own involvement -- though he may have been the first journalist to receive one of those leaks. And, in media appearances, he disparaged the investigation by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald without so much as hinting at his own stake in disparaging it.
Interviewed several months ago on NPR’s “Fresh Air” program, Woodward portrayed the investigation as little more than a tempest in a teapot. “The issues don’t really involve national security or people’s lives or jeopardy,” he commented, adding that “I think in the end, we will find there’s not really corruption here.”
Woodward also told the national radio audience: “The woman who was the CIA undercover operative was working in CIA headquarters. There was no national security threat, there was no jeopardy to her life, there was no nothing. When I think all of the facts come out in this case, it’s going to be laughable because the consequences are not that great.”
How's this for a scandal: a reporter who covered up a crime the Washington Post should have reported on still has a job. At the same newspaper.
Then again, I'm sure Bobby could find something else to (not) write about if the Obama Administration gave him few interviews for an upcoming book.
The new Don
Donna. From Foreign Policy's Madame Secretary Blog via Politico:
On Tuesday, Politico's Glenn Thrush reported about a little tête-à-tête between Hillary Clinton and John Cornyn in the Capitol. Cornyn, you'll recall, had just prevented a unanimous consent vote on Hillary's nomination and Thrush, who saw but did not hear the discussion, characterized the exchange as "heated," which Cornyn denied.
Well, one of our eagle-eyed sources spotted the same discussion and was able to get within earshot just in time to hear Clinton warn Cornyn, "The Clintons don't forget." One day later, Cornyn's objections to Clinton's confirmation magically disappeared and the man who had set the roll call vote in motion voted in favor of confirming Clinton. Now let's see how she handles Hamid Karzai.
On Tuesday, Politico's Glenn Thrush reported about a little tête-à-tête between Hillary Clinton and John Cornyn in the Capitol. Cornyn, you'll recall, had just prevented a unanimous consent vote on Hillary's nomination and Thrush, who saw but did not hear the discussion, characterized the exchange as "heated," which Cornyn denied.
Well, one of our eagle-eyed sources spotted the same discussion and was able to get within earshot just in time to hear Clinton warn Cornyn, "The Clintons don't forget." One day later, Cornyn's objections to Clinton's confirmation magically disappeared and the man who had set the roll call vote in motion voted in favor of confirming Clinton. Now let's see how she handles Hamid Karzai.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Not Dr. Strangelove after all
Frank Rich:
PRESIDENT Obama did not offer his patented poetry in his Inaugural Address. He did not add to his cache of quotations in Bartlett’s. He did not recreate J.F.K.’s inaugural, or Lincoln’s second, or F.D.R.’s first. The great orator was mainly at his best when taking shots at Bush and Cheney, who, in black hat and wheelchair, looked like the misbegotten spawn of the evil Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the Wicked Witch of the West.
PRESIDENT Obama did not offer his patented poetry in his Inaugural Address. He did not add to his cache of quotations in Bartlett’s. He did not recreate J.F.K.’s inaugural, or Lincoln’s second, or F.D.R.’s first. The great orator was mainly at his best when taking shots at Bush and Cheney, who, in black hat and wheelchair, looked like the misbegotten spawn of the evil Mr. Potter in “It’s a Wonderful Life” and the Wicked Witch of the West.
It is written
Geeks have taken the White House. Next stop: Hollywood. Meet Dev Patel, the delightful star of this year's odds-on favorite for Best Picture.
"A hazy illusion that Jefferson Davis is still the president"
The Fourth Circuit asks for nonpolarizing judges. Ken at the great Down with Tyranny responds.
Dick Cavett
Reflects on the inauguration, Marian Anderson's frozen core and former president Bush.
“You have to feel sorry for him,” someone cooed. “No. You do not!” I shouted at the screen. I know he “tried” and he “did what he thought was right.” But so does the incompetent surgeon.
What does that excuse?
His brief discomfort “sitting there” can’t have been less endurable than the discomfort of the young soldier describing on the news how he watched helplessly as his gut-shot buddy bled to death on the sands the smirking Texan sent him to.
“You have to feel sorry for him,” someone cooed. “No. You do not!” I shouted at the screen. I know he “tried” and he “did what he thought was right.” But so does the incompetent surgeon.
What does that excuse?
His brief discomfort “sitting there” can’t have been less endurable than the discomfort of the young soldier describing on the news how he watched helplessly as his gut-shot buddy bled to death on the sands the smirking Texan sent him to.
A gay reflection on Benedict XVI
A bit obvious? Absolutely. But still worth saying:
Pope Benedict XVI calls homosexuality a "tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."
Pope John Paul II said that homosexuaity is an “ideology of evil,” and when discussing gay marriage said that, “It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.”"
Pope Benedict has now reversed the ex-communication of a group of far-right schistmatic Bishops, one of whom is a Holocaust denier.
"the move came just days after one of the four, British Bishop Richard Williamson, was shown in a Swedish state TV interview saying that historical evidence 'is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed.'"
My marriage harms no one, but the Pope considers us an "ideology of evil", while this man who endorses evil and excuses one of the greatest horrors of the modern world is "redeemable".
Go figure.
Pope Benedict XVI calls homosexuality a "tendency ordered to an intrinsic moral evil, and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."
Pope John Paul II said that homosexuaity is an “ideology of evil,” and when discussing gay marriage said that, “It is legitimate and necessary to ask oneself if this is not perhaps part of a new ideology of evil, perhaps more insidious and hidden, which attempts to pit human rights against the family and against man.”"
Pope Benedict has now reversed the ex-communication of a group of far-right schistmatic Bishops, one of whom is a Holocaust denier.
"the move came just days after one of the four, British Bishop Richard Williamson, was shown in a Swedish state TV interview saying that historical evidence 'is hugely against 6 million Jews having been deliberately gassed.'"
My marriage harms no one, but the Pope considers us an "ideology of evil", while this man who endorses evil and excuses one of the greatest horrors of the modern world is "redeemable".
Go figure.
Daaaa-yum
Quote of the post-election season, I should think.
The top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the White House for a working discussion over the shape and size of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The meeting was designed to promote bipartisanship.
But Obama showed that in an ideological debate, he’s not averse to using a jab.
Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: “I won.”
The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona , who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.
Obama noted that such workers pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. The issue was widely debated during the presidential campaign, when Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, challenged Obama’s tax plan as “welfare.”
With those two words — “I won” — the Democratic president let the Republicans know that debate has been put to rest Nov. 4 .
Democratic and Republican aides confirmed the exchange. A White House spokesman said he wasn’t immediately aware of the exchange. The aides who heard the remarks stressed that it wasn’t as boldly partisan as it might sound.
The top congressional leaders from both parties gathered at the White House for a working discussion over the shape and size of President Barack Obama’s economic stimulus plan. The meeting was designed to promote bipartisanship.
But Obama showed that in an ideological debate, he’s not averse to using a jab.
Challenged by one Republican senator over the contents of the package, the new president, according to participants, replied: “I won.”
The statement was prompted by Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl of Arizona , who challenged the president and the Democratic leaders over the balance between the package’s spending and tax cuts, bringing up the traditional Republican notion that a tax credit for people who do not earn enough to pay income taxes is not a tax cut but a government check.
Obama noted that such workers pay Social Security and Medicare taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. The issue was widely debated during the presidential campaign, when Sen. John McCain, the Republican nominee, challenged Obama’s tax plan as “welfare.”
With those two words — “I won” — the Democratic president let the Republicans know that debate has been put to rest Nov. 4 .
Democratic and Republican aides confirmed the exchange. A White House spokesman said he wasn’t immediately aware of the exchange. The aides who heard the remarks stressed that it wasn’t as boldly partisan as it might sound.
A DC guessing game
I would guess Judd Gregg, John McCain or Chuck Grassley. That's in addition to Diapers Dave, Arlen Specter and Lisa Murkowski, who don't fit the stated criteria.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Most striking inauguration commentary
NBC anchor Brian Williams, who got away with saying, how "unfortunate" Dick Cheney's appearance in a wheelchair would be given the inevitable comparisons that would be made with Dr. Strangelove. Inevitable? Hardly, Brian Williams, but a grateful nation thanks you for your contribution to national discourse.
Minerva
The free speech case of the year comes from South Korea.
And the Washington Post provides a clause to die for: "In this education-obsessed country, where academic credentials are often taken as a measure of human value, he was also something of an idiot savant."
More on Park Dae-sung here. One strategy for dealing with the Korean government is shaming, something the foreigners quoted in this piece seem to understand. That said, the unpopular government will go forward with its prosecution (the public may be outraged, but 60% of elites support it). Amnesty International, meanwhile, does not seem to be active on this case.
At least a whole lot of Koreans are furious:
The government is always talking about attracting foreign investors and businesses, but when foreign companies and investors see news like this, they’ll see how backwards and incompetent the government is here and who would want to invest in a country like this? You write a blog that goes against the wishes of the government and bam! you are in the slammer. Why don’t we just dust off the old military uniforms for the military dictatorships of the 60s, 70s and 80s… While we are at it, bring back the law that makes miniskirts, long hair and after-hour clubbing illegal. Let’s continue to step backwards and devolve into a third world country.
This is an embarrassment, a disappointment and an absolute tragedy for South Korean democracy that the government always tries to trumpet as a “model” for other developing countries in the region. Welcome to South Korea everyone… it’s democracy is kinda like Communist China, but hey, their economy is kicking our ass, so maybe our government wants to be more like them. Bring me the YUAN!
Maybe Barney Frank can take him off Korea's hands?
And the Washington Post provides a clause to die for: "In this education-obsessed country, where academic credentials are often taken as a measure of human value, he was also something of an idiot savant."
More on Park Dae-sung here. One strategy for dealing with the Korean government is shaming, something the foreigners quoted in this piece seem to understand. That said, the unpopular government will go forward with its prosecution (the public may be outraged, but 60% of elites support it). Amnesty International, meanwhile, does not seem to be active on this case.
At least a whole lot of Koreans are furious:
The government is always talking about attracting foreign investors and businesses, but when foreign companies and investors see news like this, they’ll see how backwards and incompetent the government is here and who would want to invest in a country like this? You write a blog that goes against the wishes of the government and bam! you are in the slammer. Why don’t we just dust off the old military uniforms for the military dictatorships of the 60s, 70s and 80s… While we are at it, bring back the law that makes miniskirts, long hair and after-hour clubbing illegal. Let’s continue to step backwards and devolve into a third world country.
This is an embarrassment, a disappointment and an absolute tragedy for South Korean democracy that the government always tries to trumpet as a “model” for other developing countries in the region. Welcome to South Korea everyone… it’s democracy is kinda like Communist China, but hey, their economy is kicking our ass, so maybe our government wants to be more like them. Bring me the YUAN!
Maybe Barney Frank can take him off Korea's hands?
Friday, January 23, 2009
Heehee
Problems in the Eurozone. It turns out that a common currency without political unity means separate but equal.
While sharing a currency with some of the mightiest economies in the world helped Europe’s poorer nations share in the wealth, a boon during boom times, in hard times the rules of membership are keeping them from doing what countries normally do to ride out economic storms, including enormous spending.
So Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries are mounting billion-dollar stimulus plans and erecting fences to protect their banks. But the peripheral economies are being left to twist in the market winds.
With the need for stimulus to deal with the severe downturn, these countries find themselves caught in an awful policy bind: credit is available, but only at punitive rates; and further borrowing not only breaks with European Commission dictates but raises broader questions about their solvency.
Yes, at least we take care of our poor, underperforming, welfare receiving, racist white underbelly.
Each year, the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group, crunches numbers from the Census Bureau to produce an intriguing figure: how much each state receives in federal spending for every dollar it pays in federal taxes.
For example, according to the most recent data, for every dollar the average North Dakotan paid in federal taxes, he received $2.07 in federal benefits. But while someone in Fargo was doubling his money, his counterpart in neighboring Minnesota was being shortchanged. For every dollar Minnesotans sent to Washington, only 77 cents in federal spending flowed back to the state.
Using the Tax Foundation's analysis, it's possible to group the 50 states into two categories: Givers and Takers. Giver states get back less than a dollar in spending for every dollar they contribute to federal coffers. Taker states pocket more than a dollar for every tax dollar they send to Washington. Thirty-three states are Takers; 16 are Givers. (One state, Indiana, has a perfect one-to-one ratio of taxes paid and spending received. As seat of the federal government, the District of Columbia has no choice but to be a Taker, and is therefore not comparable to the 50 states in this regard.)
The Democrats' electability predicament comes into focus when you compare the map of Giver and Taker states with the well-worn electoral map of red (Republican) and blue (Democrat) states. You might expect that in the 2000 presidential election, Republicans, the party of low taxes and limited government, would have carried the Giver states -- while Democrats, the party of wild spending and wooly bureaucracy, would have appealed to the Taker states. But it was the reverse. George W. Bush was the candidate of the Taker states. Al Gore was the candidate of the Giver states.
Consider:
78 percent of Mr. Bush's electoral votes came from Taker states.
76 percent of Mr. Gore's electoral votes came from Giver states.
Of the 33 Taker states, Mr. Bush carried 25.
Of the 16 Giver states, Mr. Gore carried 12.
As Paul Krugman pointed out in his critique of Homeland Security funding in 2003,
I've written before about the myth of the heartland -- roughly speaking, the ''red states,'' which voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 election, as opposed to the ''blue states,'' which voted for Al Gore. The nation's interior is supposedly a place of rugged individualists, unlike the spongers and whiners along the coasts. In reality, of course, rural states are heavily subsidized by urban states. New Jersey pays about $1.50 in federal taxes for every dollar it gets in return; Montana receives about $1.75 in federal spending for every dollar it pays in taxes.
So don't worry, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alabama and Louisiana. You may be the biggest leeches on American taxpayers, but at least you won't be left twisting in the wind like the poorer half of Old Europe.
While sharing a currency with some of the mightiest economies in the world helped Europe’s poorer nations share in the wealth, a boon during boom times, in hard times the rules of membership are keeping them from doing what countries normally do to ride out economic storms, including enormous spending.
So Germany, France and the Scandinavian countries are mounting billion-dollar stimulus plans and erecting fences to protect their banks. But the peripheral economies are being left to twist in the market winds.
With the need for stimulus to deal with the severe downturn, these countries find themselves caught in an awful policy bind: credit is available, but only at punitive rates; and further borrowing not only breaks with European Commission dictates but raises broader questions about their solvency.
Yes, at least we take care of our poor, underperforming, welfare receiving, racist white underbelly.
Each year, the Tax Foundation, a nonprofit research group, crunches numbers from the Census Bureau to produce an intriguing figure: how much each state receives in federal spending for every dollar it pays in federal taxes.
For example, according to the most recent data, for every dollar the average North Dakotan paid in federal taxes, he received $2.07 in federal benefits. But while someone in Fargo was doubling his money, his counterpart in neighboring Minnesota was being shortchanged. For every dollar Minnesotans sent to Washington, only 77 cents in federal spending flowed back to the state.
Using the Tax Foundation's analysis, it's possible to group the 50 states into two categories: Givers and Takers. Giver states get back less than a dollar in spending for every dollar they contribute to federal coffers. Taker states pocket more than a dollar for every tax dollar they send to Washington. Thirty-three states are Takers; 16 are Givers. (One state, Indiana, has a perfect one-to-one ratio of taxes paid and spending received. As seat of the federal government, the District of Columbia has no choice but to be a Taker, and is therefore not comparable to the 50 states in this regard.)
The Democrats' electability predicament comes into focus when you compare the map of Giver and Taker states with the well-worn electoral map of red (Republican) and blue (Democrat) states. You might expect that in the 2000 presidential election, Republicans, the party of low taxes and limited government, would have carried the Giver states -- while Democrats, the party of wild spending and wooly bureaucracy, would have appealed to the Taker states. But it was the reverse. George W. Bush was the candidate of the Taker states. Al Gore was the candidate of the Giver states.
Consider:
78 percent of Mr. Bush's electoral votes came from Taker states.
76 percent of Mr. Gore's electoral votes came from Giver states.
Of the 33 Taker states, Mr. Bush carried 25.
Of the 16 Giver states, Mr. Gore carried 12.
As Paul Krugman pointed out in his critique of Homeland Security funding in 2003,
I've written before about the myth of the heartland -- roughly speaking, the ''red states,'' which voted for George W. Bush in the 2000 election, as opposed to the ''blue states,'' which voted for Al Gore. The nation's interior is supposedly a place of rugged individualists, unlike the spongers and whiners along the coasts. In reality, of course, rural states are heavily subsidized by urban states. New Jersey pays about $1.50 in federal taxes for every dollar it gets in return; Montana receives about $1.75 in federal spending for every dollar it pays in taxes.
So don't worry, Mississippi, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Alabama and Louisiana. You may be the biggest leeches on American taxpayers, but at least you won't be left twisting in the wind like the poorer half of Old Europe.
Lilly Ledbetter will be going to the White House
The Fair Pay Act passes, 61-36. Betraying the Republican coalition against fair pay for women: all four GOP women. And that champion of women's rights, Arlen Specter.
Fidel on Barack
Praise, of sorts:
The bulk of the column was devoted to praising Obama, in part for his decision to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, recalling his thoughts Tuesday as he watched Obama assume the "leadership of the empire."
"The intelligent and noble face of the first black president of the United States ... had transformed itself under the inspiration of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King into a living symbol of the American dream," he wrote.
However, Castro suggested Obama would soon fall victim to the U.S. system: "What will he do soon, when the immense power that he has taken in his hands is absolutely useless to overcome the unsolvable, antagonistic contradictions of the (American) system?" [...]
"No one could doubt the sincerity of his words when he affirms that he will convert his country into a model of freedom, respect for human rights in the world and the independence of other nations."
The bulk of the column was devoted to praising Obama, in part for his decision to close the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, recalling his thoughts Tuesday as he watched Obama assume the "leadership of the empire."
"The intelligent and noble face of the first black president of the United States ... had transformed itself under the inspiration of Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King into a living symbol of the American dream," he wrote.
However, Castro suggested Obama would soon fall victim to the U.S. system: "What will he do soon, when the immense power that he has taken in his hands is absolutely useless to overcome the unsolvable, antagonistic contradictions of the (American) system?" [...]
"No one could doubt the sincerity of his words when he affirms that he will convert his country into a model of freedom, respect for human rights in the world and the independence of other nations."
"You broke it. You own it."
New York mediocrity, courtesy of the left.
UPDATE from Wikipedia: "On gay rights, Gillibrand has received an 80 out of a 100 rating from the LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, which is the lowest score out of New York’s Democratic representatives."
UPDATE from Wikipedia: "On gay rights, Gillibrand has received an 80 out of a 100 rating from the LGBT advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, which is the lowest score out of New York’s Democratic representatives."
CNN's Roland Martin
He may be a perfect fit for the "best political team on television" (yeah, and every British taboid really is Newspaper of the Year) but this inarticulate journamalist really is the anti-Obama, hired just in time for the new presidency.
Now comes news that he's also nuts.
I'd take MSNBC's Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough, a rogues' gallery if there ever was one, over CNN's team of twits any day of the week.
Now comes news that he's also nuts.
I'd take MSNBC's Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough, a rogues' gallery if there ever was one, over CNN's team of twits any day of the week.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Oscar nominations II
Ebert's take:
In a startling upset, "The Dark Knight" failed to make the cut in the Best Picture category Thursday, as this year's Academy Awards nominees were announced. The Batman drama, second top-grossing film of all time after "Titanic," was also a critical favorite and looked to many like a shoo-in.
The five nominees were “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader” and “Slumdog Millionaire.” All of these, even the big-star, big-budget "Button," told stories far outside the Hollywood mainstream. All five also won Best Director nominations, Stephen Daldry of "The Reader" upsetting the favored Christopher Nolan of "The Dark Knight."
There had been rumbling of unease in the Hollywood establishment that a younger and more indie-minded Academy membership was tilting the Oscars away from its traditional lean toward good but anticipated mainstream films. This year's nominees seem to confirm that trend.
Among other relative surprises were the nominations of Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor" and Melissa Leo for "Frozen River." The first two were indie productions, highly praised, that did not have wide releases or big promotional budgets. Jenkins might be seen as winning a nomination somewhat expected to go to Clint Eastwood. Kate Winslet was nominated for best actress, as was widely expected--but for "The Reader," not "Revolutionary Road."
The major studios' inability to dictate Oscar nods and wins is one of several reasons the show is the only one among the big three (Oscar, Grammy, Emmy) to have even a modicum of class.
In a startling upset, "The Dark Knight" failed to make the cut in the Best Picture category Thursday, as this year's Academy Awards nominees were announced. The Batman drama, second top-grossing film of all time after "Titanic," was also a critical favorite and looked to many like a shoo-in.
The five nominees were “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “Frost/Nixon,” “Milk,” “The Reader” and “Slumdog Millionaire.” All of these, even the big-star, big-budget "Button," told stories far outside the Hollywood mainstream. All five also won Best Director nominations, Stephen Daldry of "The Reader" upsetting the favored Christopher Nolan of "The Dark Knight."
There had been rumbling of unease in the Hollywood establishment that a younger and more indie-minded Academy membership was tilting the Oscars away from its traditional lean toward good but anticipated mainstream films. This year's nominees seem to confirm that trend.
Among other relative surprises were the nominations of Richard Jenkins for "The Visitor" and Melissa Leo for "Frozen River." The first two were indie productions, highly praised, that did not have wide releases or big promotional budgets. Jenkins might be seen as winning a nomination somewhat expected to go to Clint Eastwood. Kate Winslet was nominated for best actress, as was widely expected--but for "The Reader," not "Revolutionary Road."
The major studios' inability to dictate Oscar nods and wins is one of several reasons the show is the only one among the big three (Oscar, Grammy, Emmy) to have even a modicum of class.
Geithner criticizes China
There are any number of reasons to criticize the Chinese government. But is it really wise to criticize your banker when you need a loan?
My suspicion is that the move is a sop to labor in advance of the usual post-election cave on China (the Bush 43 Administration preferred waiting until it had to pay to receive a plane back after the Chinese shot it down). And who better to do it than the Cabinet secretary the labor movement is least likely to trust.
My suspicion is that the move is a sop to labor in advance of the usual post-election cave on China (the Bush 43 Administration preferred waiting until it had to pay to receive a plane back after the Chinese shot it down). And who better to do it than the Cabinet secretary the labor movement is least likely to trust.
Yitzhak Perlman=Milli Vanilli
Aretha may not have been in perfect voice, but at least you heard her actual performance. But even the Queen might have found it impossible to breathe life into that John Williams piece.
Nashville shocker
An unexpected red state result:
Nashville voters rejected a proposal on Thursday that would have made it the largest U.S. city to require all government business be done in English.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results showed the ''English First'' proposal was defeated on a vote of 41,752 to 32,144. Proponents said using one language would have united the city and saved money, but business leaders, academics and the city's mayor worried it could give the city a bad reputation. Similar measures have passed elsewhere. [...]
Business leaders, academics, religious leaders, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Phil Bredesen argued the measure would tarnish the city's welcoming image, harm tourism and business recruitment and endanger federal funding for many city services.
Supporter Glenda Paul, 35, said having one language is an important part of keeping government small as she exited a voting precinct Thursday.
''If I moved to France to start a business, I would be expected to speak French and that doesn't mean that I am not welcome there. It just means I need to respect the language.''
But Claire King, 31, who lives in East Nashville, said Thursday that she voted against the amendment because ''it sends a message of intolerance.'' She said she thought multiple perspectives and languages enrich to the city's culture.
The AP adds a slam in addition to the extra prepositions:
Nashville's documented translation expenses have totaled $522,287 since 2004. By comparison, the special election cost $300,000.
And a side note:
About 10 percent of Nashville's nearly 600,000 people speak a language other than English in their homes, according to census data. The city is 5 percent Hispanic and home to the nation's largest Kurdish community and refugees from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Don't get too excited, though: Obama crushed McCain in the country music capital by twenty points while losing the state by fifteen.
Nashville voters rejected a proposal on Thursday that would have made it the largest U.S. city to require all government business be done in English.
With 100 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results showed the ''English First'' proposal was defeated on a vote of 41,752 to 32,144. Proponents said using one language would have united the city and saved money, but business leaders, academics and the city's mayor worried it could give the city a bad reputation. Similar measures have passed elsewhere. [...]
Business leaders, academics, religious leaders, Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Gov. Phil Bredesen argued the measure would tarnish the city's welcoming image, harm tourism and business recruitment and endanger federal funding for many city services.
Supporter Glenda Paul, 35, said having one language is an important part of keeping government small as she exited a voting precinct Thursday.
''If I moved to France to start a business, I would be expected to speak French and that doesn't mean that I am not welcome there. It just means I need to respect the language.''
But Claire King, 31, who lives in East Nashville, said Thursday that she voted against the amendment because ''it sends a message of intolerance.'' She said she thought multiple perspectives and languages enrich to the city's culture.
The AP adds a slam in addition to the extra prepositions:
Nashville's documented translation expenses have totaled $522,287 since 2004. By comparison, the special election cost $300,000.
And a side note:
About 10 percent of Nashville's nearly 600,000 people speak a language other than English in their homes, according to census data. The city is 5 percent Hispanic and home to the nation's largest Kurdish community and refugees from Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Don't get too excited, though: Obama crushed McCain in the country music capital by twenty points while losing the state by fifteen.
Ukraine is game to you?
Windows users, beware. This one is worth getting an antivirus program for. But how about this:
The program uses an elaborate shell-game-style technique to permit someone to command it remotely. Each day it generates a new list of 250 domain names. Instructions from any one of these domain names would be obeyed. To control the botnet, an attacker would need only to register a single domain to send instructions to the botnet globally, greatly complicating the task of law enforcement and security companies trying to intervene and block the activation of the botnet.
Computer security researchers expect that within days or weeks the bot-herder who controls the programs will send out commands to force the botnet to perform some as yet unknown illegal activity.
Several computer security firms said that although Conficker appeared to have been written from scratch, it had parallels to the work of a suspected Eastern European criminal gang that has profited by sending programs known as “scareware” to personal computers that seem to warn users of an infection and ask for credit card numbers to pay for bogus antivirus software that actually further infects their computer.
One intriguing clue left by the malware authors is that the first version of the program checked to see if the computer had a Ukrainian keyboard layout. If it found it had such a keyboard, it would not infect the machine, according to Phillip Porras, a security investigator at SRI International who has disassembled the program to determine how it functioned.
Mac users, on the other hand, are safe, particularly if they aren't running Windows on their machines.
And that means the Obama White House is safe too:
Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.
What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.
"It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs. [...]
One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.
The program uses an elaborate shell-game-style technique to permit someone to command it remotely. Each day it generates a new list of 250 domain names. Instructions from any one of these domain names would be obeyed. To control the botnet, an attacker would need only to register a single domain to send instructions to the botnet globally, greatly complicating the task of law enforcement and security companies trying to intervene and block the activation of the botnet.
Computer security researchers expect that within days or weeks the bot-herder who controls the programs will send out commands to force the botnet to perform some as yet unknown illegal activity.
Several computer security firms said that although Conficker appeared to have been written from scratch, it had parallels to the work of a suspected Eastern European criminal gang that has profited by sending programs known as “scareware” to personal computers that seem to warn users of an infection and ask for credit card numbers to pay for bogus antivirus software that actually further infects their computer.
One intriguing clue left by the malware authors is that the first version of the program checked to see if the computer had a Ukrainian keyboard layout. If it found it had such a keyboard, it would not infect the machine, according to Phillip Porras, a security investigator at SRI International who has disassembled the program to determine how it functioned.
Mac users, on the other hand, are safe, particularly if they aren't running Windows on their machines.
And that means the Obama White House is safe too:
Two years after launching the most technologically savvy presidential campaign in history, Obama officials ran smack into the constraints of the federal bureaucracy yesterday, encountering a jumble of disconnected phone lines, old computer software, and security regulations forbidding outside e-mail accounts.
What does that mean in 21st-century terms? No Facebook to communicate with supporters. No outside e-mail log-ins. No instant messaging. Hard adjustments for a staff that helped sweep Obama to power through, among other things, relentless online social networking.
"It is kind of like going from an Xbox to an Atari," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said of his new digs. [...]
One member of the White House new-media team came to work on Tuesday, right after the swearing-in ceremony, only to discover that it was impossible to know which programs could be updated, or even which computers could be used for which purposes. The team members, accustomed to working on Macintoshes, found computers outfitted with six-year-old versions of Microsoft software. Laptops were scarce, assigned to only a few people in the West Wing. The team was left struggling to put closed captions on online videos.
Hope Kos is happy
Caroline Kennedy is out. The left blogosphere that spewed so much venom towards her is now stuck with Kirsten Gillibrand. She will no doubt be an adequate senator for a left-leaning state, but she will spend every single day the next four years fundraising, since she will have to face voters in 2010 and 2012. And when you have your hand out to rich people and corporations, how progressive are you going to be? Count on the left to shoot itself in the foot every time.
On top of everything, Democrats will now also lose her House seat in a special election.
On top of everything, Democrats will now also lose her House seat in a special election.
The UK is 'full of losers'
Because their currency will soon be worth less than the dollar? Well, that, too.
MoDo drinks the Koolaid
Go figure.
I grew up here, and it was the first time I’ve ever seen the city wholly, happily integrated, with a mood redolent of New York in the weeks after 9/11. The Obamas have made an unprecedented pledge to get involved in the real city that lies beyond the political Oz, and have already started doing so in many ways, including starting the night out at the D.C. Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
Downtown was a euphoric pedestrian mall of commerce and communal kindness. The patience that America is extending to Mr. Obama, according to a Times poll, was reflected across the capital, as the cram of people sparked warmth rather than antsiness.
Strollers laughed as a peddler in a Rasta hat hawked his “Barack Obama incense.” And revelers stepped up to a spot where you could pick out a colored magic marker and complete posters that began, “Mr. President, I hope for ...”
Entries ranged from “burning less oil” to “healthcare for all” to “a cure for cancer” to this lofty and entirely understandable sentiment: “a sick inauguration party.”
I grew up here, and it was the first time I’ve ever seen the city wholly, happily integrated, with a mood redolent of New York in the weeks after 9/11. The Obamas have made an unprecedented pledge to get involved in the real city that lies beyond the political Oz, and have already started doing so in many ways, including starting the night out at the D.C. Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.
Downtown was a euphoric pedestrian mall of commerce and communal kindness. The patience that America is extending to Mr. Obama, according to a Times poll, was reflected across the capital, as the cram of people sparked warmth rather than antsiness.
Strollers laughed as a peddler in a Rasta hat hawked his “Barack Obama incense.” And revelers stepped up to a spot where you could pick out a colored magic marker and complete posters that began, “Mr. President, I hope for ...”
Entries ranged from “burning less oil” to “healthcare for all” to “a cure for cancer” to this lofty and entirely understandable sentiment: “a sick inauguration party.”
Windows 7
Sounds like a winner:
Actual new consumer-facing features in Windows 7 are slight enough for Microsoft to refer to "screen dimming" as significant new feature related to battery life. The Windows 7 website notes, "Bright idea: With a display that dims automatically, you get longer battery life" (below). This feature has been in Windows for at least fifteen years, so it appears the company is rather desperately scraping the barrel for features it can promote in its new operating system release.
Actual new consumer-facing features in Windows 7 are slight enough for Microsoft to refer to "screen dimming" as significant new feature related to battery life. The Windows 7 website notes, "Bright idea: With a display that dims automatically, you get longer battery life" (below). This feature has been in Windows for at least fifteen years, so it appears the company is rather desperately scraping the barrel for features it can promote in its new operating system release.
"A veritable moral hazard monsoon"
Obama's vaunted economic team may not be all that it's cut out to be. And if they fail, he's a one termer.
Pelosi on Inauguration Day
Ouch:
Watching George W. Bush leave the presidency and take off on his helicopter "was like having a 10-ton anvil lifted from my shoulders," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, describing her emotions and thoughts on Inauguration Day.
She was just a few feet away from Barack Obama when he took the oath of office, and Pelosi said she "thought about his mother, and how she raised him and shaped this extraordinary young man." [...]
"Continually frustrated" by Bush on many issues, Pelosi said the change in administrations "will be like night and day" for the state and nation. [...]
During the transfer of power Tuesday, Pelosi said, she watched Bush when Obama pledged a new foreign policy and a clean break from the last eight years.
"That must have been a painful part" for Bush, she said. When asked if she felt at all sorry for Bush, she demurred: "I feel sorry for the people hurt by his policies."
Watching George W. Bush leave the presidency and take off on his helicopter "was like having a 10-ton anvil lifted from my shoulders," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday, describing her emotions and thoughts on Inauguration Day.
She was just a few feet away from Barack Obama when he took the oath of office, and Pelosi said she "thought about his mother, and how she raised him and shaped this extraordinary young man." [...]
"Continually frustrated" by Bush on many issues, Pelosi said the change in administrations "will be like night and day" for the state and nation. [...]
During the transfer of power Tuesday, Pelosi said, she watched Bush when Obama pledged a new foreign policy and a clean break from the last eight years.
"That must have been a painful part" for Bush, she said. When asked if she felt at all sorry for Bush, she demurred: "I feel sorry for the people hurt by his policies."
Madoff's most dangerous victim
Zsa Zsa. Or is it Zaa Zaa? Gaa gaa? Regardless, you don't want to make her angry.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
"He sure did shruck the country"
Notes from Bush's ice cold and entertainmentless farewell party. As Markos notes, they were incompetent till the end. In the final moments they Katrina'd their own party.
In my inbox today
Breaking News from ABCNEWS.com:
Barack Obama: President of the United States of America [12:06 p.m. ET]
Barack Obama: President of the United States of America [12:06 p.m. ET]
Yet another parallel to Lincoln
You may have read that Barack Obama will be sworn in on the Bible that Lincoln used.
But here's another parallel:
Chief Justice Roger Taney, then age 84 _ an author of the infamous "Dred Scott" ruling four years earlier, which inflamed pre-Civil War passions by declaring that Congress had no power to abolish slavery _ administered the oath to Lincoln.
So it's appropriate that Obama is being sworn in by John Roberts, who spent a career crushing voting rights. It started over a quarter century ago when he was but a young sprout:
As Special Assistant to Attorney General Smith in the Justice Department, and as counsel in the Reagan White House, Roberts compiled a staunch record of hostility to civil rights. For a unanimous panel, denied the weak civil rights claims of a 12-year-old girl who was arrested and handcuffed in a Washington, D.C., Metro station for eating a French fry. Roberts noted that "no one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation" and that the Metro authority had changed the policy that led to her arrest. (Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 2004).
Documents compiled from a FOIA request suggest that Roberts played a significant role in supporting the Reagan Administration’s “race-neutral” approach to combating discrimination. With regard to remedies for segregated public schools and employment discrimination, Roberts advised the Attorney General about the Justice Department’s disagreement with a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, which had asserted that mandatory busing and “the fullest use of…affirmative action” were necessary. Roberts explained the Department’s position that, “the objective of a proper desegregation remedy” was simply “the end to official discrimination on the basis of race,” a position that effectively eliminated much of the government’s traditional role in working to eradicate the effects of prior discrimination.
After a 1980 Supreme Court decision, Mobile v. Bolden, dramatically weakaned certain sections of the Voting Rights Act, Roberts was involved in the administration’s effort to prevent Congress from to making it easier for minorities to successfully argue that their votes had been diluted under the Voting Rights Act by the ruling. The Supreme Court had decided, despite a lack of textual basis for this interpretation of the statute, that plaintiffs claiming certain violations of the Voting Rights Act, such as minority vote dilution, had to prove that the discrimination was intentional rather than just having a discriminatory effect.
Roberts joined the Administration in opposing the “Section 2” extension of the Act, strongly supported by both the House and the Republican-controlled Senate, which would have reinstated the effects standard. Instead, he participated in the effort to amend the extension of the Act so that voting rights plaintiffs would continue to have to prove discriminatory intent, a much harder task. As the Washington Post stated:
"Opponents of [the effects standard] say this would require courts to strike down any voting system that didn’t result in proportional representation. Not true. It would simply reinstate the standard used by the courts before the Supreme Court decision in Mobile v. Bolden, a 1980 case requiring proof that the drafters of the law in question intended to discriminate – a standard that is virtually impossible to meet since the legislators in question have all been dead for years."
His efforts would continue with post-campaign legal counsel for Bush in Florida in 2000 and culminate in his selection as Chief Justice, giving him the opportunity to crush the rights of the underprivileged for decades, again rather like Roger Taney.
And rather like Roberts' own mentor, William Rehnquist, whose racist record was so lengthy as to demand its own webpage. As David Corn noted following the Roberts appointment,
But let's be clear: in recent years there has been no other Supreme Curt justice who had a personal history so loaded with racism--or, to be kinder than is warranted, tremendous insensitivity to racial discrimination--as did William Rehnquist. As a law clerk for Justice Robert Jackson in the early 1950s--when the Court was considering the historic Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case--Rehnquist wrote a memo defending the infamous 1896 decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the separate-but-equal doctrine. Rehnquist noted, "That decision was right and should be reaffirmed." In other words, he favored continuing discrimination and racial segregation. During his 1971 confirmation hearings, after he was nominated to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, he said that memo merely reflected Jackson's view not his own. But few historians have bought that shaky explanation.
It's not hard to conclude that Rehnquist was on the wrong side of history and then lied about it--especially given actions he took later. In 1964, Rehnquist testified against a proposed ordinance in Phoenix that would ban racial discrimination in public housing. As The Washington Post notes in today's stories on his death, Rehnquist wrote at the time, "It is, I believe, impossible to justify the sacrifice of even a portion of our historic individual liberty for a purpose such as this." In other words, people are not truly free if they are not free to discriminate. In his 1971 hearings, Rehnquist repudiated that stance. But did he really mean it? Twelve years later, he was the only justice to say that Bob Jones University--that hotbed of racial discrimination and religious bigotry--had a legal right to keep African-Americans off its campus.
Roberts' mentor made his bones by disenfranchising minority voters, as Alan Dershowitz remembers:
In 1962, Republican activist William (then "Bill") Rehnquist was the leader of Operation Eagle Eye, a flying squad of GOP lawyers that swept through polling places in south Phoenix to question the right of minority voters to cast their ballots. As Dave Wagner reported in the Arizona Republic last year, Rehnquist defended keeping African Americans out of stores and restaurants in Phoenix. In 1964, at the Bethune Precinct, (which was 40 percent Hispanic and 90 percent Democratic) Rehnquist and Operation Eagle Eye activists challenged every Black and Mexican voter's ability to read the Constitution of the United States in the English language (then a requirement.)
The result, according to one witness, was "a line a half-block long, four abreast…They wanted people to become frustrated and leave." In his testimony to a US Senate hearing on his appointment to the Supreme Court, Rehnquist denied that he officially challenged anyone's right to vote. Just as today's defenders of Bush, argue that voter error, not bias, disproportionately shrank the counted vote, Rehnquist argued that he broke no rules, he was just following the law.
The ironies won't be lost on the new President, himself a constitutional scholar who voted against the wretched top judge, or the new Vice President, who in addition voted against Rehnquist's elevation in 1986.
By 1865, Taney was gone, replaced by Lincoln's erstwhile rival Salmon P. Chase. Roberts, on the other hand, will have decades to crush the oppressed. But a second Obama administration might see the retirement of Scalia and/or Kennedy, thus putting an end to Roberts' conservative judicial coalition.
In the end, history has the last laugh. Taney's name is mud today; Rehnquist, too, is remembered primarily for his racism, homophobia, sexism and insensitivity towards the poor. And for Bush v. Gore, which gave America eight years of war, poverty, depression and debt.
At noon tomorrow, Barack Obama will begin his inaugural speech. In spite of Taney and Rehnquist and hundreds of other conservative jurists who used their legal talents to preserve injustice. One day, the only decent thing Roberts' grandchildren will be able to say about him is that he swore in the nation's first African American president.
But here's another parallel:
Chief Justice Roger Taney, then age 84 _ an author of the infamous "Dred Scott" ruling four years earlier, which inflamed pre-Civil War passions by declaring that Congress had no power to abolish slavery _ administered the oath to Lincoln.
So it's appropriate that Obama is being sworn in by John Roberts, who spent a career crushing voting rights. It started over a quarter century ago when he was but a young sprout:
As Special Assistant to Attorney General Smith in the Justice Department, and as counsel in the Reagan White House, Roberts compiled a staunch record of hostility to civil rights. For a unanimous panel, denied the weak civil rights claims of a 12-year-old girl who was arrested and handcuffed in a Washington, D.C., Metro station for eating a French fry. Roberts noted that "no one is very happy about the events that led to this litigation" and that the Metro authority had changed the policy that led to her arrest. (Hedgepeth v. Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, 2004).
Documents compiled from a FOIA request suggest that Roberts played a significant role in supporting the Reagan Administration’s “race-neutral” approach to combating discrimination. With regard to remedies for segregated public schools and employment discrimination, Roberts advised the Attorney General about the Justice Department’s disagreement with a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report, which had asserted that mandatory busing and “the fullest use of…affirmative action” were necessary. Roberts explained the Department’s position that, “the objective of a proper desegregation remedy” was simply “the end to official discrimination on the basis of race,” a position that effectively eliminated much of the government’s traditional role in working to eradicate the effects of prior discrimination.
After a 1980 Supreme Court decision, Mobile v. Bolden, dramatically weakaned certain sections of the Voting Rights Act, Roberts was involved in the administration’s effort to prevent Congress from to making it easier for minorities to successfully argue that their votes had been diluted under the Voting Rights Act by the ruling. The Supreme Court had decided, despite a lack of textual basis for this interpretation of the statute, that plaintiffs claiming certain violations of the Voting Rights Act, such as minority vote dilution, had to prove that the discrimination was intentional rather than just having a discriminatory effect.
Roberts joined the Administration in opposing the “Section 2” extension of the Act, strongly supported by both the House and the Republican-controlled Senate, which would have reinstated the effects standard. Instead, he participated in the effort to amend the extension of the Act so that voting rights plaintiffs would continue to have to prove discriminatory intent, a much harder task. As the Washington Post stated:
"Opponents of [the effects standard] say this would require courts to strike down any voting system that didn’t result in proportional representation. Not true. It would simply reinstate the standard used by the courts before the Supreme Court decision in Mobile v. Bolden, a 1980 case requiring proof that the drafters of the law in question intended to discriminate – a standard that is virtually impossible to meet since the legislators in question have all been dead for years."
His efforts would continue with post-campaign legal counsel for Bush in Florida in 2000 and culminate in his selection as Chief Justice, giving him the opportunity to crush the rights of the underprivileged for decades, again rather like Roger Taney.
And rather like Roberts' own mentor, William Rehnquist, whose racist record was so lengthy as to demand its own webpage. As David Corn noted following the Roberts appointment,
But let's be clear: in recent years there has been no other Supreme Curt justice who had a personal history so loaded with racism--or, to be kinder than is warranted, tremendous insensitivity to racial discrimination--as did William Rehnquist. As a law clerk for Justice Robert Jackson in the early 1950s--when the Court was considering the historic Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation case--Rehnquist wrote a memo defending the infamous 1896 decision, Plessy v. Ferguson, which established the separate-but-equal doctrine. Rehnquist noted, "That decision was right and should be reaffirmed." In other words, he favored continuing discrimination and racial segregation. During his 1971 confirmation hearings, after he was nominated to serve as an associate justice on the Supreme Court, he said that memo merely reflected Jackson's view not his own. But few historians have bought that shaky explanation.
It's not hard to conclude that Rehnquist was on the wrong side of history and then lied about it--especially given actions he took later. In 1964, Rehnquist testified against a proposed ordinance in Phoenix that would ban racial discrimination in public housing. As The Washington Post notes in today's stories on his death, Rehnquist wrote at the time, "It is, I believe, impossible to justify the sacrifice of even a portion of our historic individual liberty for a purpose such as this." In other words, people are not truly free if they are not free to discriminate. In his 1971 hearings, Rehnquist repudiated that stance. But did he really mean it? Twelve years later, he was the only justice to say that Bob Jones University--that hotbed of racial discrimination and religious bigotry--had a legal right to keep African-Americans off its campus.
Roberts' mentor made his bones by disenfranchising minority voters, as Alan Dershowitz remembers:
In 1962, Republican activist William (then "Bill") Rehnquist was the leader of Operation Eagle Eye, a flying squad of GOP lawyers that swept through polling places in south Phoenix to question the right of minority voters to cast their ballots. As Dave Wagner reported in the Arizona Republic last year, Rehnquist defended keeping African Americans out of stores and restaurants in Phoenix. In 1964, at the Bethune Precinct, (which was 40 percent Hispanic and 90 percent Democratic) Rehnquist and Operation Eagle Eye activists challenged every Black and Mexican voter's ability to read the Constitution of the United States in the English language (then a requirement.)
The result, according to one witness, was "a line a half-block long, four abreast…They wanted people to become frustrated and leave." In his testimony to a US Senate hearing on his appointment to the Supreme Court, Rehnquist denied that he officially challenged anyone's right to vote. Just as today's defenders of Bush, argue that voter error, not bias, disproportionately shrank the counted vote, Rehnquist argued that he broke no rules, he was just following the law.
The ironies won't be lost on the new President, himself a constitutional scholar who voted against the wretched top judge, or the new Vice President, who in addition voted against Rehnquist's elevation in 1986.
By 1865, Taney was gone, replaced by Lincoln's erstwhile rival Salmon P. Chase. Roberts, on the other hand, will have decades to crush the oppressed. But a second Obama administration might see the retirement of Scalia and/or Kennedy, thus putting an end to Roberts' conservative judicial coalition.
In the end, history has the last laugh. Taney's name is mud today; Rehnquist, too, is remembered primarily for his racism, homophobia, sexism and insensitivity towards the poor. And for Bush v. Gore, which gave America eight years of war, poverty, depression and debt.
At noon tomorrow, Barack Obama will begin his inaugural speech. In spite of Taney and Rehnquist and hundreds of other conservative jurists who used their legal talents to preserve injustice. One day, the only decent thing Roberts' grandchildren will be able to say about him is that he swore in the nation's first African American president.
Obama HLS '91
But... Harvard's News Office makes a special point of noting that George W. Bush counts "for both Harvard and Yale."
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
At the steps of the Lincoln Memorial
From the President-elect's remarks two hours ago:
What gives me that hope is what I see when I look out across this mall. For in these monuments are chiseled those unlikely stories that affirm our unyielding faith - a faith that anything is possible in America. Rising before us stands a memorial to a man who led a small band of farmers and shopkeepers in revolution against the army of an Empire, all for the sake of an idea. On the ground below is a tribute to a generation that withstood war and depression - men and women like my grandparents who toiled on bomber assembly lines and marched across Europe to free the world from tyranny's grasp. Directly in front of us is a pool that still reflects the dream of a King, and the glory of a people who marched and bled so that their children might be judged by their character's content. And behind me, watching over the union he saved, sits the man who in so many ways made this day possible.
And yet, as I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you - Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.
It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Latino, Asian, and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.
This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office - the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans - that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.
It is this thread that binds us together in common effort; that runs through every memorial on this mall; that connects us to all those who struggled and sacrificed and stood here before.
What gives me that hope is what I see when I look out across this mall. For in these monuments are chiseled those unlikely stories that affirm our unyielding faith - a faith that anything is possible in America. Rising before us stands a memorial to a man who led a small band of farmers and shopkeepers in revolution against the army of an Empire, all for the sake of an idea. On the ground below is a tribute to a generation that withstood war and depression - men and women like my grandparents who toiled on bomber assembly lines and marched across Europe to free the world from tyranny's grasp. Directly in front of us is a pool that still reflects the dream of a King, and the glory of a people who marched and bled so that their children might be judged by their character's content. And behind me, watching over the union he saved, sits the man who in so many ways made this day possible.
And yet, as I stand here tonight, what gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between. It is you - Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there.
It is the same thing that gave me hope from the day we began this campaign for the presidency nearly two years ago; a belief that if we could just recognize ourselves in one another and bring everyone together - Democrats, Republicans, and Independents; Latino, Asian, and Native American; black and white, gay and straight, disabled and not - then not only would we restore hope and opportunity in places that yearned for both, but maybe, just maybe, we might perfect our union in the process.
This is what I believed, but you made this belief real. You proved once more that people who love this country can change it. And as I prepare to assume the presidency, yours are the voices I will take with me every day I walk into that Oval Office - the voices of men and women who have different stories but hold common hopes; who ask only for what was promised us as Americans - that we might make of our lives what we will and see our children climb higher than we did.
It is this thread that binds us together in common effort; that runs through every memorial on this mall; that connects us to all those who struggled and sacrificed and stood here before.
Liveblogging the "We Are One" concert
2:58 EST But I swear I am watching Bettye Lavette and Jon Bon Jovi sing "A Change is Gonna Come" on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
2:59 Bettye has chosen to sing key verses in past tense.
3:05 Tom Hanks more annoying than expected by an order magnitude: he recites the Gettysburg Address to an orchestral accompaniment.
3:09 James Taylor and John Legend singing "Shower the People?" That's sounds about right.
3:13 Joe Biden doesn't seem to have seen the microphone, he's shouting so loudly.
3:15 Finally, a musical performance that makes some sense: good guy John Mellencamp, who, perhaps believed himself Lincolnesque in playing both sides in the Indiana primary, singing "Pink Houses."
3:18 I don't seem to remember a gospel choir in the original "Pink Houses."
3:23 A look back at Marian Anderson's legendary performance at the Lincoln Memorial closes with her first few lines from "My County 'Tis of Thee," which are continued, and who could make this up, by Josh Groban.
3:28 Kal Penn and George Lopez present together. I guess all the remaining ones will be either black or white.
3:32 Cablinasian alert! Not surprisingly, the AMEX model, in true Tom Hanks fashion, praises the military. And is followed by the U.S. Navy Glee Club singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." Sorry, folks, no Patti or Aretha.
3:40 Garth Brooks comes out of semi-retirement to sing... "American Pie?" The camera pans to the President-elect, who dutifully pretends to groove to it.
3:42 And he segues into... The Isleys' "Shout?" This is bizarre.
3:44 He closes with an over the top but (at last) appropriate version of the gay friendly anthem that got him banned from country radio, "We Shall Be Free."
3:48 Speaking of which, where is Dolly Parton?
3:49 Usher's is singing "Higher Ground" backed up by Stevie Wonder?! Someone is scratching a blackboard. Could it be Alanis Morrisette's long awaited post Curb Your Enthusiasm comeback? No, it's a truly out of place Shakira!
3:54 Someone get rid of the sharks, it's Samuel L. Jackson!
3:58 Bono introduces "Pride (In the Name of Love)" from the venue to end all venues.
4:02 Finally, moment of perfection from Bono, who introduces "City of Blinding Lights," by saying what an honor it is for "four boys from the south side of Dublin" to have been a "part of the soundtrack to your campaign." The group may only have five great songs (which, in fairness, that's more than, say, Jackie Wilson), but Bono maximizes them by packaging them with a poetry and drama that few other artists can match.
4:10 The president-elect is introduced by... two bald eagles? He notes the presence of Lincoln and King. And he harks back to his opening speech at Springfield by saying what gives him hope is the spaces in between: "you," the people who believe in what the nation can be. That struggle for the promise of America is what ties the monuments of the Mall together. He reclaims the symbols of America, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
4:19 Springsteen, Peet Seeger and company, appropriately, sing Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." Speaking of which, how perfect for Obama to close his speeches yesterday with Ray Charles' definitive version of "America the Beautiful."
4:23 And how, um... popular? For Beyonce to close today's events with the same song. Tom Hanks, a bit constipated looking, puts his hand on his heart. Queen Latifah does too, but she looks like she's having a blast.
UPDATE: The restoration of "This Land is Your Land" is being recognized as the major cultural moment it is... and a passing of the torch.
2:59 Bettye has chosen to sing key verses in past tense.
3:05 Tom Hanks more annoying than expected by an order magnitude: he recites the Gettysburg Address to an orchestral accompaniment.
3:09 James Taylor and John Legend singing "Shower the People?" That's sounds about right.
3:13 Joe Biden doesn't seem to have seen the microphone, he's shouting so loudly.
3:15 Finally, a musical performance that makes some sense: good guy John Mellencamp, who, perhaps believed himself Lincolnesque in playing both sides in the Indiana primary, singing "Pink Houses."
3:18 I don't seem to remember a gospel choir in the original "Pink Houses."
3:23 A look back at Marian Anderson's legendary performance at the Lincoln Memorial closes with her first few lines from "My County 'Tis of Thee," which are continued, and who could make this up, by Josh Groban.
3:28 Kal Penn and George Lopez present together. I guess all the remaining ones will be either black or white.
3:32 Cablinasian alert! Not surprisingly, the AMEX model, in true Tom Hanks fashion, praises the military. And is followed by the U.S. Navy Glee Club singing "You'll Never Walk Alone." Sorry, folks, no Patti or Aretha.
3:40 Garth Brooks comes out of semi-retirement to sing... "American Pie?" The camera pans to the President-elect, who dutifully pretends to groove to it.
3:42 And he segues into... The Isleys' "Shout?" This is bizarre.
3:44 He closes with an over the top but (at last) appropriate version of the gay friendly anthem that got him banned from country radio, "We Shall Be Free."
3:48 Speaking of which, where is Dolly Parton?
3:49 Usher's is singing "Higher Ground" backed up by Stevie Wonder?! Someone is scratching a blackboard. Could it be Alanis Morrisette's long awaited post Curb Your Enthusiasm comeback? No, it's a truly out of place Shakira!
3:54 Someone get rid of the sharks, it's Samuel L. Jackson!
3:58 Bono introduces "Pride (In the Name of Love)" from the venue to end all venues.
4:02 Finally, moment of perfection from Bono, who introduces "City of Blinding Lights," by saying what an honor it is for "four boys from the south side of Dublin" to have been a "part of the soundtrack to your campaign." The group may only have five great songs (which, in fairness, that's more than, say, Jackie Wilson), but Bono maximizes them by packaging them with a poetry and drama that few other artists can match.
4:10 The president-elect is introduced by... two bald eagles? He notes the presence of Lincoln and King. And he harks back to his opening speech at Springfield by saying what gives him hope is the spaces in between: "you," the people who believe in what the nation can be. That struggle for the promise of America is what ties the monuments of the Mall together. He reclaims the symbols of America, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.
4:19 Springsteen, Peet Seeger and company, appropriately, sing Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land." Speaking of which, how perfect for Obama to close his speeches yesterday with Ray Charles' definitive version of "America the Beautiful."
4:23 And how, um... popular? For Beyonce to close today's events with the same song. Tom Hanks, a bit constipated looking, puts his hand on his heart. Queen Latifah does too, but she looks like she's having a blast.
UPDATE: The restoration of "This Land is Your Land" is being recognized as the major cultural moment it is... and a passing of the torch.
A special relationship indeed
Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico's new nonvoting delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, has informed island mayors of a boondoggle worth at least $2.5 billion: Obama's stimulus package will include Puerto Rico. Talk radio will have a field day should it find out.
Puerto Rico faces an annual budget deficit of $3.2 billion a year right now, about half of which comes from a generous and very much unfunded health care entitlement created under former governor Rosselló about a decade and a half ago. Tax collections will certainly go down this year, and the new governor's austerity package is bound to have a negative multiplier effect throughout the economy that will almost certainly cancel out a good chunk of the revenue expected from higher income tax rates.
At some point a political entrepreneur on the American right will realize that with the Cold War over, Cuba no longer a security menace, and the Vieques base gone, Puerto Rico provides no security benefit and a huge economic cost to the United States t a time that the federal budget deficit is about to explode.
A multibillion dollar, twenty year program transitioning Puerto Rico to some form of autonomy (a "reparations or development fund" then PIP chair Rubén Berríos himself proposed to Congress during the Young hearings in the 1990's) would provide a substantial longer term savings without causing an inhumane jolt to islanders' well being. Citizenship claims could be processed creatively, along the lines of Hong Kong and British citizenship in 2000.
Puerto Rico elected a pro-Bush statehooder as governor and gave the new President his biggest (and most racist) electoral drubbing outside of Appalachia. Congressional Puerto Rico policy, however, will remain on autopilot. Strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate will ensure this. One big reason for this is an underlying, unvoiced and completely misplaced belief in both parties that Mexican voters (the only Hispanics outside of Florida whose numbers can tip entire states) might change their party voting behavior because of a perceived injustice to a different national grouping.
American taxpayers' ignorance continues to be Puerto Rico's salvation.
Puerto Rico faces an annual budget deficit of $3.2 billion a year right now, about half of which comes from a generous and very much unfunded health care entitlement created under former governor Rosselló about a decade and a half ago. Tax collections will certainly go down this year, and the new governor's austerity package is bound to have a negative multiplier effect throughout the economy that will almost certainly cancel out a good chunk of the revenue expected from higher income tax rates.
At some point a political entrepreneur on the American right will realize that with the Cold War over, Cuba no longer a security menace, and the Vieques base gone, Puerto Rico provides no security benefit and a huge economic cost to the United States t a time that the federal budget deficit is about to explode.
A multibillion dollar, twenty year program transitioning Puerto Rico to some form of autonomy (a "reparations or development fund" then PIP chair Rubén Berríos himself proposed to Congress during the Young hearings in the 1990's) would provide a substantial longer term savings without causing an inhumane jolt to islanders' well being. Citizenship claims could be processed creatively, along the lines of Hong Kong and British citizenship in 2000.
Puerto Rico elected a pro-Bush statehooder as governor and gave the new President his biggest (and most racist) electoral drubbing outside of Appalachia. Congressional Puerto Rico policy, however, will remain on autopilot. Strong Democratic majorities in the House and Senate will ensure this. One big reason for this is an underlying, unvoiced and completely misplaced belief in both parties that Mexican voters (the only Hispanics outside of Florida whose numbers can tip entire states) might change their party voting behavior because of a perceived injustice to a different national grouping.
American taxpayers' ignorance continues to be Puerto Rico's salvation.
The most liberal president since FDR
Isn't viewed that way according to today's Washington Post-ABC News poll:
He is also now more highly rated on being in sync with respondents' "values" than he was last summer. About two-thirds now see Obama as "about right" ideologically.
He is also now more highly rated on being in sync with respondents' "values" than he was last summer. About two-thirds now see Obama as "about right" ideologically.
The Secret Service and Obama
Scary and heartening.
I would take issue with this portion:
"I don't think there could have been any higher-order target for [Osama] bin Laden than [President Bush], because this president launched the attack on Afghanistan," Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees the Secret Service, told The Washington Post last month. "I think what will be different perhaps for the new president is [he] may excite the attention of some domestic groups that maybe were not that engaged previously. And so that's an issue we're going to have to be looking at."
Chertoff is way off, as he likely well knows. Obama is a far bigger threat to Al Qaeda than George W. Bush, who has been their greatest recruiting tool.
I would take issue with this portion:
"I don't think there could have been any higher-order target for [Osama] bin Laden than [President Bush], because this president launched the attack on Afghanistan," Bush Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees the Secret Service, told The Washington Post last month. "I think what will be different perhaps for the new president is [he] may excite the attention of some domestic groups that maybe were not that engaged previously. And so that's an issue we're going to have to be looking at."
Chertoff is way off, as he likely well knows. Obama is a far bigger threat to Al Qaeda than George W. Bush, who has been their greatest recruiting tool.
Free tomorrow
HBO broadcasts the inaugural celebration tomorrow, headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Bettye Lavette and the next President himself. Lending faux gravitas and presumably a perfectly introduced "One" will be U2. Representing new swing state Indiana: John Mellencamp. And introducing old swing state Missouri: Sheryl Crow.
Presenters we look forward to: Queen Latifah, Denzel, Forest Whitaker.
Presenters we don't: the increasingly annoying Tom Hanks and Tiger Woods.
Artists on their way to PBS pledge month: Josh Groban, John Legend.
Artist who's probably already been on pledge month: James Taylor
Foreigner who will fool the gringos into thinking American Hispanics are represented on the charts and on stage: Shakira
Diva lacking good songwriters but most likely to bring the house down: Beyoncé.
Representing Oklahoma's Garth Brooks, whose "We Shall Be Free" was a plea for tolerance that probably explains why he's the only artist from the region of the country that voted for Kerry more than Obama.
Presenters we look forward to: Queen Latifah, Denzel, Forest Whitaker.
Presenters we don't: the increasingly annoying Tom Hanks and Tiger Woods.
Artists on their way to PBS pledge month: Josh Groban, John Legend.
Artist who's probably already been on pledge month: James Taylor
Foreigner who will fool the gringos into thinking American Hispanics are represented on the charts and on stage: Shakira
Diva lacking good songwriters but most likely to bring the house down: Beyoncé.
Representing Oklahoma's Garth Brooks, whose "We Shall Be Free" was a plea for tolerance that probably explains why he's the only artist from the region of the country that voted for Kerry more than Obama.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Israeli elections
Bibi may yet get his comeback.
Contrary to other polls published in the last 24 hours, that project a close race between Kadima and Likud and a stalemate between the left and right, the Globes survey gives the right-haredi block 67 Knesset seats, and the center-left block 53 seats.
Three more weeks until the elections.
Contrary to other polls published in the last 24 hours, that project a close race between Kadima and Likud and a stalemate between the left and right, the Globes survey gives the right-haredi block 67 Knesset seats, and the center-left block 53 seats.
Three more weeks until the elections.
The digital TV transition
A decade in the making, and utterly mismanaged. Fortunately, the President-elect is on it. And even more fortunately, at least politically, is that Republicans really, really aren't.
Related news: Kevin Martin has resigned from the FCC, and Obama's nominee to replace him is a whole lot better.
Related news: Kevin Martin has resigned from the FCC, and Obama's nominee to replace him is a whole lot better.
Even Utah backs gay rights
And Utahns seem open to anything short of gay marriage, civil unions and adoption. And that's not a small thing in a state where only 26% voted for Kerry in 2004 and 34% for Obama.
While Utahns aren't ready to let gay and lesbian couples exchange wedding vows or enter civil unions, most are willing to give them broader legal rights to inherit property, visit a partner in the hospital and ward off employment discrimination.
A Salt Lake Tribune poll finds that 56 percent of Utah voters support increased legal protections for same-sex couples -- a potential boon for Democratic state lawmakers who intend to introduce a package of gay-rights bills this legislative session. [...]
"People should have, under the law, the same rights," says poll respondent Gary Weston, of Murray, who favors some legal protections for same-sex partners but not civil unions. "What they should not have is a circumstance that permits or invites the law to recognize a [relationship] that would permit gays and lesbians to raise children who are in the formative years of their lives." [...]
Although disheartening for gay-rights advocates who would prefer a policy-path toward civil unions, the survey offers hope to backers of a legislative push known as the Common Ground Initiative. This five-bill package would make it illegal to discriminate against gay or transgender employees, provide wider rights for inheritance and health insurance and give same-sex partners the ability to sue in cases of wrongful death, among other things.
The poll shows Utahns have a "basic sense of compassion and fairness that says we should entertain the possibility of giving basic legal protections to these nontraditional families," says Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, who is sponsoring the bill about probate benefits.
Even in the LDS community, public opinion splits almost 50-50 on whether gay and lesbian couples should receive some legal protections. However, 85 percent of Mormons side against civil unions and about two-thirds reject allowing unmarried couples to adopt or foster children.
The LDS Church has not taken a position on the Common Ground Initiative. However, the church's Web site suggests that LDS leaders would not object to wider same-sex benefits on matters of fair housing, employment protection, probate rights and medical care.
In fact, my guess is that they may go out of their way to not oppose those benefits given how much attention LDS has gotten in the wake of Prop 8.
While Utahns aren't ready to let gay and lesbian couples exchange wedding vows or enter civil unions, most are willing to give them broader legal rights to inherit property, visit a partner in the hospital and ward off employment discrimination.
A Salt Lake Tribune poll finds that 56 percent of Utah voters support increased legal protections for same-sex couples -- a potential boon for Democratic state lawmakers who intend to introduce a package of gay-rights bills this legislative session. [...]
"People should have, under the law, the same rights," says poll respondent Gary Weston, of Murray, who favors some legal protections for same-sex partners but not civil unions. "What they should not have is a circumstance that permits or invites the law to recognize a [relationship] that would permit gays and lesbians to raise children who are in the formative years of their lives." [...]
Although disheartening for gay-rights advocates who would prefer a policy-path toward civil unions, the survey offers hope to backers of a legislative push known as the Common Ground Initiative. This five-bill package would make it illegal to discriminate against gay or transgender employees, provide wider rights for inheritance and health insurance and give same-sex partners the ability to sue in cases of wrongful death, among other things.
The poll shows Utahns have a "basic sense of compassion and fairness that says we should entertain the possibility of giving basic legal protections to these nontraditional families," says Sen. Scott McCoy, D-Salt Lake City, who is sponsoring the bill about probate benefits.
Even in the LDS community, public opinion splits almost 50-50 on whether gay and lesbian couples should receive some legal protections. However, 85 percent of Mormons side against civil unions and about two-thirds reject allowing unmarried couples to adopt or foster children.
The LDS Church has not taken a position on the Common Ground Initiative. However, the church's Web site suggests that LDS leaders would not object to wider same-sex benefits on matters of fair housing, employment protection, probate rights and medical care.
In fact, my guess is that they may go out of their way to not oppose those benefits given how much attention LDS has gotten in the wake of Prop 8.
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