Chuck Todd is the one who is way, way, way out of touch on the issue of investigating the torturers

Jason Linkins obliterates Chuck Todd's oh-so-inside-the-beltway dismissive tone about investigating and prosecuting the torturers:

I really have to object with the way Chuck Todd is characterizing the underlying public pressure that's being brought to bear on President Obama and the White House to investigate and potentially prosecute the authors and the agents of the previous administration's torture regime.

The whole thing is knit up in political process tropes and infused with the pointless melodrama of the day, when a serious and substantive look at this issue is called for.

As Jason notes, in a Gallup Poll, 62% of Americans wanted either a criminal investigation or review by an independent panel when asked about the Bush administration's "possible use of torture in terror investigations."

Read the whole post. It's brilliant. And, Jason is so right. He totally disabuses Todd's rant that this is somehow the work of the "blogosphere":

I gather that the invocation of the "blogosphere" here is meant as a further means of belittling this issue, but Todd should check himself. Those poll numbers indicate that the blogosphere is but a small part of the broad support for investigations. Furthermore, those bloggers are doing the work on the issue that the traditional press can't seem to be bothered to do. Check out this New York Times article, published over the weekend, that documents the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah. All of the enterprise reporting for the article was done by blogger Marcy Wheeler, of Emptywheel. Good thing, too! It's not like the Times, in possession of the same memos, noticed the story.

That was very excellent work from the very excellent Marcy Wheeler. Oh, but, she's just a "blogger." Chuck Todd is a "real" reporter who gets paid a lot to regurgitate the conventional wisdom from inside the D.C. bubble.

It's been sad to watch, but Chuck Todd, who I used to really like, is morphing into Mark Halperin. Read More......

Does anyone really think we're alone?

CNN has a story about an Apollo 14 astronaut who is pitching the cause of UFOs and other life out there. The specific story sounds a bit odd but the bigger story about life beyond earth doesn't strike me as odd in any way. Are there people who really think there's no life beyond our little planet? It wouldn't surprise me if the knuckle-dragging religious right are terrified of the subject but beyond that, don't most people believe others are out there? Who knows whether there have been visitors or whether the sitings are simply military projects but either way it strikes me as possible. Why not? Of course living in the land of the Coneheads, maybe I don't get the controversy.

Mankind has long wondered if we're "alone in the universe. [But] only in our period do we really have evidence. No, we're not alone," Mitchell said.

"Our destiny, in my opinion, and we might as well get started with it, is [to] become a part of the planetary community. ... We should be ready to reach out beyond our planet and beyond our solar system to find out what is really going on out there."

Mitchell grew up in Roswell, New Mexico, which some UFO believers maintain was the site of a UFO crash in 1947. He said residents of his hometown "had been hushed and told not to talk about their experience by military authorities." They had been warned of "dire consequences" if they did so.

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When are we going to repeal Congress' health insurance?

It's always been a mystery to me why Congress gets its own government-run, special rights, health care plan. If there is any indication that Congress isn't going to come through with a comprehensive health care plan that benefits ALL of us, we should begin a push to repeal their government health coverage. Let the members of Congress and their staff do what Joe and I do. Call up Blue Cross and get your own damn health insurance. And when Blue Cross tells you that they won't cover your prescriptions beyond $1500 a year, because they're cheap skates, that they're going to hike your premiums 600% because you moved to another state, then we'll see how opposed you are to a comprehensive solution.

Actually, there's no reason to wait. We know there's at least a 50-50 chance that the Dems, and many of our health care advocates, will cave and accept, at best, half a loaf. We should start the push to repeal their health coverage now. It would cause quite a stir in the news, and I'd love to see members of Congress on both sides of the aisle explain why they deserve a government handout that they refuse to give the rest of the country. And just think of the money the government would save! Read More......

Miss California, the latest anti-gay "victim"

Miss California is now hitting the TV circuit, trying to blame "the gays" for her loss at the all-important Miss USA competition. You see, she was one of the top five finalists, and she was asked a question about gay marriage. She said she's against it. She ended up not wining. And now, she's all over TV whining about how her bigotry cost her the crown.

Okay, first off, it's a stupid beauty pageant. Nobody cares.

Second, clearly no one lectured Miss Bull Connor about the importance of losing gracefully. Whining on national TV, on show after show, about how your crown was stolen, is real poor form.

And finally, she may be the only one who thinks she was destined to win. Here's Richard Roeper in the Chicago Sun-Times:

[W]e saw headlines on Monday such as, "Miss California Sparks Furor With Gay Marriage Comments on Miss USA Telecast," and, "Miss California Sparks Outrage over Gay Marriage Remarks."

Really? We're getting worked up over this? Because that hot blond woman in the white bikini didn't issue an articulate, passionate defense of gay marriage? (Not that hot blond girls in white bikinis aren't issuing passionate statements on all the major issues of the day even as we speak.)

It's great fun and column fodder to dissect these videos, but not for a moment should anyone seriously give a flying tiara about what a pageant contestant believes about the pressing issues of the day.

As far as wacky answers go, the winner for the night wasn't Miss California. Hands down, it was Miss Arizona.

Rest assured that Miss California will become the next religious right spokesman for hate. And that's the day she will truly be mocked mercilessly. (It's no longer safe in America for blonde bimbos to be bigots!)

It's one thing to lose. It's another to be a loser.

More from OutFrontBlog. Read More......

Pirate brought to US, will face criminal charges

So, remember how Newt and other right wingers were trashing Obama and betting against the US when the pirates were holding the Captain of the Maersk Alabama hostage? Jed got it on video:

Betting against America is, well, pretty un-American.

Now, the surviving pirate is now in the US. And, he's going to be tried for his crimes, via press release from the Department of Justice:

Muse, who is over 18 years old, was presented in U.S. Magistrate Court and ordered detained. Muse is charged with: (1) piracy under the law of nations; (2) conspiracy to seize a ship by force; (3) discharging a firearm, and aiding and abetting the discharge of a firearm, during and in relation to the conspiracy to seize a ship by force; (4) conspiracy to commit hostage taking; and (5) brandishing a firearm, and aiding and abetting the brandishing of a firearm, during and in relation to the conspiracy to commit hostage taking. The first count carries a mandatory term of life imprisonment; the second count carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison; the third count carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment; the fourth count carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment; and the fifth count carries a maximum potential penalty of life imprisonment.

Kinda shows that Gingrich and his ilk are even bigger idiots than we thought a couple weeks ago. Read More......

Roubini calls out the recent market success

It's hard to argue against Roubini these days since he's been much more right than wrong about this economy. There do appear to be some signs of life out there but it also seems tenuous and could turn quickly. We probably won't see any broad positive news out of the banks for quite a while and it's more likely that bad news will come first. More from Roubini and the AP:

"For people who say there are green shoots, I seen only yellow weeds frankly," Roubini said at a conference in Hong Kong. "It's not a true recovery. It's just a bear-market rally, it's a suckers rally."

That's because the U.S. economy won't grow again until 2010 after contracting by 2 percent this year, he said. Unemployment will hit 11 percent next year and corporate earnings will come in worse-than-expected, he predicted.

Troubles in the financial sector, meanwhile, are far from over and will be worse than many expect. The results of the government's "stress tests" will show even the biggest 19 American banks don't have enough capital to cope with the huge losses they'll inevitably suffer on souring loans.

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Religious right now denying that they've murdered doctors, bombed clinics, and demanded the right to incite murder

The religious right is simply besides themselves over the news that the Department of Homeland Security has reported the fact that for years white supremacists have tried to exploit social issues like abortion and same-sex marriage.

Would the religious right, and the Republican party it runs, prefer that America's law enforcement community not investigate all terrorist threats facing America. Here is what the religious right is claiming in an email I received today:

When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) made the outrageous claim - labeling pro-life supporters as ''extremists'' in a report on domestic terrorism - we sprang into immediate action. We're fighting back.

To brand pro-lifers as ''rightwing extremists'' and ''domestic terrorists'' is more than offensive ... it's incorrect as a matter of law and completely wrong as a matter of policy.

That is a lie. And typical of the false witness that religious right leaders bear on a regular basis. Here is what the Homeland Security report actually said:

Paralleling the current national climate, rightwing extremists during the1990s exploited a variety of social issues and political themes to increase group visibility and recruit new members. Prominent among these themes were the militia movement’s opposition to gun control efforts, criticism of free trade agreements (particularly thosewith Mexico), and highlighting perceived government infringement on civil liberties as well as white supremacists’ longstanding exploitation of social issues such as abortion, inter-racial crimes, and same-sex marriage. During the 1990s, these issues contributed tothe growth in the number of domestic rightwing terrorist and extremist groups and an increase in violent acts targeting government facilities, law enforcement officers, banks, and infrastructure sectors.

The religious right is not made up of good Americans who simply disagree with you and me. They're not even good Christians. They're angry, intolerant, hateful bigots. They're America's Taliban. They are the offspring of the racists who supported slavery and miscegenation laws. The Internet is their fire hose, but other than that, they are no different than the hate that came before them.

Considering the fact that the religious right is now demanding that civil rights laws preserve a conservative Christian's right to kill people he doesn't approve of, it's no wonder that a simple study from the Department of Homeland Security is giving the extremist who control the Republican party such angst. Read More......

Self-socialism

A reader writes in response to Chris' post that Americans are increasingly cutting back on doctor visits in order to save money during the economic crisis:

John,

As to the reports that people are limiting their doctors appointments, isn't that what we would call "self-rationing"?

The anti-single payer folks always complain about rationing in other places. Now we have proof that our system leads to self-rationing.

No rationing in America my butt.

Cheers,

-Greg

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Treasury lawyers: TARP recipients subject to pay limits

Start the clock to see how long it takes the Wall Street freeloaders to file lawsuits, spending TARP money for attorneys along the way, of course. While this is good news - fair news, really - it's disturbing to read how ill equipped Treasury is to deal with this very important and very costly program. It remains unclear what part of "$1 trillion" Geithner doesn't think is important enough to hire more than 10 people to administer oversight. Unfortunately, Geithner does not appear to be improving though at least the Treasury legal team is providing decent news.

Treasury Department lawyers have determined that firms participating in a $1 trillion program to relieve banks of toxic assets could be subject to limits on executive compensation, contradicting the Obama administration's previous public position, according to a report to be released today by a federal watchdog agency.

The disclosure comes amid a congressional investigation into whether the administration is abiding by a law limiting lavish pay for executives at firms that have benefited from the $700 billion bailout for the financial system.

Speaking last month about the initiative to buy toxic assets, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said, "The comp conditions will not apply to the asset managers and investors in the program."

Let's hope it's Geithner who is wrong on his previous statement. Sooner or later he is going to need to step it up or move on. Read More......

Message to Dems. on health care reform: "Don't cave on us"

The biggest concern I have about health care reform isn't the Republicans or even the insurance companies. It's the Democrats. Today, the front page of the Washington Post (which everyone in D.C. still reads) has an article on this very issue:

As Congress returns to begin an intense debate over reshaping the nation's $2.2 trillion health-care system, prominent left-leaning organizations and liberal House members are issuing a warning to their Democratic allies: Don't cave on us.

The early skirmishing -- essentially amounting to friendly fire -- is perhaps the clearest indication yet of the uphill battle President Obama faces in delivering on his promise to make affordable, high-quality care available to every American.

Disputes over whether to create a new government-sponsored insurance program to compete with private companies shine a light on the intraparty fissures that may prove more problematic than any partisan brawl.

More than 70 House Democrats recently warned party leaders that they will not support a broad health reform bill that does not offer consumers a government-sponsored policy, and two unions withdrew from a high-profile health coalition because it would not endorse a public plan.

"It's way too early" to abandon what it considers a central plank in health reform, said Andy Stern, president of the Service Employees International Union. He said the organization pulled out of the bipartisan Health Reform Dialogue because it feared its friends in the coalition were sacrificing core principles too soon. "You don't make compromises with your allies."

Stern, who knows a thing or two about negotiating, is right. Democrats are famous for negotiating with themselves and offering concessions and compromises before being asked. That can't happen this time.

Chris wrote a post earlier today about Americans postponing visits to the doctor because of cost. That's just wrong. But, it doesn't happen to members of Congress, their families or their staff. It's not happening to the Cabinet or the White House staff either. Those people all have excellent health care coverage. Everyone should.

And, anyone who doesn't think it matters should read the front page article in the other paper that everyone in D.C. reads. The New York Times profiles the Walker family:

When Danna Walker left the second-floor conference room and returned tearily to her desk — where someone had already deposited a packing box for her belongings — her first thought was not of the 14 years she had worked for DHL or the loss of her $37,000-a-year salary.

It was of Jake. In three months, once her benefits ran out, how in the world would she provide health insurance for Jake, her mountainous, red-headed 21-year-old son, who had learned three years earlier that he had metastatic testicular cancer?

Since the day she was laid off in October, Ms. Walker and her husband, Russ, co-owner of a struggling feed store here on the outskirts of Houston, have mounted a largely fruitless quest to find affordable coverage for Jake’s pre-existing condition. Their odyssey has become all too familiar to millions of newly uninsured Americans who suddenly find themselves one diagnosis away from medical and financial devastation.

If members of Congress had to miss doctor visits because they couldn't afford to pay or if members of Congress spent days trying to get coverage for their kid's pre-existing condition, I have a feeling we'd have real health care reform. Read More......

Giuliani opposed to same-sex marriage, but consecutive marriages are just fine.

Giuliani wants to be the new spokesperson for preserving "traditional" marriage. He loves that institution so much, he's done it three times. Apparently, Rudy thinks it will lead him to the Governor's office in New York. What a hypocrite:

RUDY GIULIANI is declaring war on gay marriage -- vowing to use his strong opposition of it against the Democrats if he runs for governor next year.

BUT HIS GUY PALS PLAN TO WED

The former mayor, in an extended interview with The Post, also predicted that Gov. Paterson's high-profile effort to legalize gay marriage would anger many New Yorkers and spark a revolt that could help sweep Republicans into office in 2010.

"This will create a grass-roots movement. This is the kind of issue that, in many ways, is somewhat beyond politics," said Giuliani, a two-term mayor who unsuccessfully sought the GOP presidential nomination last year.

"I think gay marriage will obviously be an issue for any Republican next year because Republicans are either in favor of the position I'm in favor of, civil unions, or in many cases Republicans don't even favor civil unions," he continued.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy. The issue in 2012 is the economy. Your party ruined it - and won't help the president fix it.

Plus, Rudy is out of touch. A majority of New Yorkers now support same-sex marriage.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Rudy Giuliani hardly opposes same-sex marriage. He's the only candidate in the Democratic Republican field (Freudian slip) who has a more pro-gay record than even Mitt Romney. What you're seeing is a Giuliani who's desperate to become president. And unfortunately, the only way you can win the Republican primary is to be a far-right nut. Of course, then you can't win the general election, but rest assured, Giuliani will rediscover his drag wig and lipstick if and when he wins the GOP nomination. Then he won't be talking to the religious right for four more years. Read More......

Why is the religious right so concerned about protecting its right to kill?

I went to church this weekend. I don't go very often, but it was Greek Easter, and mom learned long ago how to successfully yank my chain (I believe, regarding going to church, she pulled the "do you want your mother to die thinking your soul is going to hell?") She's good. Anyway, despite our church's conservatism, anti-gay attitudes, and backwards thinking regarding the rights of women, one thing you'll never hear in a Greek church is bigotry and hatred. Church is about loving thy neighbor and doing what's right. It's not about voting against the stimulus package and stopping the gays.

That's my church. Unfortunately it's not the same church - nor the same God, I fear - that the religious right worships.

I've been following the radical right for about 15 years now, and they still never cease to amaze me. Perhaps it's because, at my core, I'm still a good Christian boy who wants to believe that even bad people contain a kernel of good.

Yeah, not so much.

To wit: The religious right's newest argument for opposing granting equal civil rights to gay Americans. If we grant gays equal rights, Baptists and Mormons may no longer be able to incite violence against gay Americans.

Seriously, that's their pitch.

Here's an email being sent around by one of the large religious right groups about the Hate Crimes amendment:

It is imperative that we contact all members of the House and demand that they vote against this bill as it will not protect a pastor, Bible teacher, Sunday School teacher, youth leader or anyone else from prosecution if he or she teaches against homosexuality if an individual who hears their message then goes out and commits a crime against a homosexual. The pastor or teacher could face prosecution for using "hate speech" and "conspiracy to commit a hate crime."

I could give some technical response, such as the fact that we already have a hate crimes law on the books that protects religious right bigots, and no one has been prosecuted under that law for their speech. And I could even try to explain that we don't need the hate crimes amendment to prosecute murderers or their accomplices. If a preacher succeeds in trying to incite someone to violence, I seriously doubt their stature as a person of faith is going to protect them for current American laws pertaining to murder. But, rather than get all lawyerly, let's talk about the bigger problem here.

The lead religious right groups are concerned that if the Hate Crimes amendment passes, they may no longer be able to incite the murder of gay Americans.

The religious right is no longer simply demanding that we tolerate their intolerance, now they want us to recognize their right to murder people they disagree with.

They've moved from the right to life, to the right to kill. Who are these people, and what "god" do they worship? Read More......

Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

King Abdullah of Jordan is visiting with Obama today. Let's see how many ways the Republicans can twist that into something scandalous. If it wasn't so disturbing, it would almost be funny to watch the GOPers explode every time Obama makes a move. It's almost like they are programmed to start squawking any time the President does something. They've lost all perspective. And, it's only been three months.

And, isn't it just great to see Dick Cheney take the lead on criticizing Obama? We couldn't ask for a better spokesman. Cheney ties the GOP to the past and personifies the failures of the Bush years. Thanks, Dick. Keep it up.

Thread the news... Read More......

More Americans postponing doctor visits due to cost

And of course, the longer one waits the higher the costs tend to be. It's a bad cycle that doesn't help patients from a health or cost perspective in the long run. In the near term they save a few bucks - quite a few for many - but it's a trend that needs to be reversed. Reuters:

Twenty percent of Americans say they have delayed or postponed medical care, mostly doctor visits, and many said cost was the main reason, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters released on Monday.

That figure is up since 2006, the last time the question was asked on the survey, when 15.9 percent of people said they had postponed or canceled medical care in the past year.

All of this comes back to the critical issue of a national system that benefits the general population and not only the wealthy, doctors, insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies. Read More......

Obama and team going with Ford hybrids

Setting an example starts at the top. Once the government purchasing starts to kick in it ought to help bring much more money into this area which (in theory) should trigger more investment and innovation.

Maybe it's Ford's refusal to take bailout money, or maybe the Obama gang just likes the company's hybrids, but team is a big fan of the car company. The proof: President Obama and spokesman Robert Gibbs drive Escape hybrids. And now, Ford tells Whispers, former Obama campaign manager and adviser David Plouffe is sitting nicely in a Fusion Hybrid.

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Blair cashing in on the speaking tour

The only surprise is that he's not doing more speeches for right wingers in America. Much like Giuliani, who raked in millions from poor countries to tell them what they already know, Blair the supposed leftist is pilfering anyone and everyone who can stomach whatever it is he has to say. He's out performing Clinton in terms of generating revenue at the speed of light. Maybe Blair can even sign a few consulting deals with shady countries just like Bill. Moving forward Blair still holds onto the dream of being the first full time EU President (instead of the 6 month terms that exist today) so naturally, having been a failure at home and a whore to the world makes him the ideal candidate.

As Tony Blair soaked up the applause of an adoring Filipino audience at the end of his latest paid speaking engagement last month, a startling statistic must surely have popped into his head. In the space of just 30 minutes, Mr Blair had earned £183,000 – the same as his salary as prime minister.

Put another way, he earned £6,000 per minute for addressing a 2,000-strong audience in Manila, making him far and away the highest-paid public speaker on the planet.

And the lectures, where Mr Blair delivers such pearls of wisdom as "politics really matters, but a lot of what goes on is not great", are only a small part of his vast earnings, which could very well net him a staggering £80 million by the time he reaches retirement age in 10 years' time.

A year ago £80 million would be roughly $160 million but even in this Blair-owned recession, it still equals around $117 million. As they say, there's one born every second. (hat tip to Cat, who has as much love for Blair as I do.) Read More......

Bank of America CEO: "credit is bad and will get worse"

Not exactly the most comforting quarterly report from BofA today. Profits are up thanks to the purchase of Merrill Lynch but a very cloudy future for the bank. With the bank "stress tests" due out later this week many have to wonder where this one will end up in the review.

Bank of America has received $45 billion of federal bailout money, and some analysts have said it may need even more capital.

"We continue to face extremely difficult challenges, primarily from deteriorating credit quality driven by weakness in the economy and growing unemployment," Lewis said in a statement.

In a conference call, Lewis also said that "credit is bad and will get worse," and that he wouldn't "hazard a guess when credit will improve."

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