Mugabe thugs resorting to violence, again

One can only hope that this band of criminals are brought to justice sooner than later. Neighboring South Africa under Thabo Mbeki has consistently offered support to Robert Mugabe, somehow excusing his excessive violence against the people of Zimbabwe because he was part of the African liberation movement. In the minds of too many of that generation, liberation is used as an excuse for torture and murder. Liberation made sense but violence against your own people is still violence. Now that the government has changed and there is a power-sharing government, Mugabe's ZANU-PF goons are resorting to even more violence in an attempt to gain amnesty for previous crimes.

They will probably get away with it unless the opposition holds firm and neighboring powers take a stand. More from the NY Times:

“Their faces were immediately pasted on the wall for everyone to see that they were behind the killing, the violence, the torture and intimidation,” said a senior official in Mr. Mugabe’s party, ZANU-PF, who, like others in the party, spoke anonymously because he was describing its criminal history.

To protect themselves, some of Mr. Mugabe’s lieutenants are trying to implicate opposition officials in a supposed plot to overthrow the president, hoping to use it as leverage in any amnesty talks or to press the opposition into quitting the government altogether, ruling party officials said.

Like South Africa at the end of apartheid or Liberia at the close of Charles Taylor’s reign, Zimbabwe is in the midst of a treacherous passage from authoritarian rule to an uncertain future. After a bloody election season last year stained by the state-sponsored beatings and killings of opposition supporters, Mr. Mugabe and his rivals in the Movement for Democratic Change agreed to a power-sharing government that includes both victimizers and victims.

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Jack the hunting cat

Jack is an impressive hunter of gloves but does OK with hats and shoes. If only Sushi and Nasdaq would bring home goodies other than birds, or parts of birds. Sushi used to have a mistress and would come home smelling of her perfume but those days ended when she moved out. The new owner was less impressed with Sushi's visits to his flower garden. Read More......

If your main issue isn't hate crimes or federal anti-discrimination legislation or marriage, you're probably not gay

A group of "gay" Republicans have now formed a new gay organization to push for private health care and private savings accounts. Okay. The gay group says that it won't be working on gay issues because gay groups that work on gay issues are "probably not Republican." Never a truer word was spoken. Republicans nowadays aren't interested in civil rights. In helping their fellow man. And gay Republicans? They're the worst. Most gay Republicans I've ever met have been seriously messed up in the head about being gay. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them are nice people. They're just nice people in need of years of therapy. So when I hear that a new gay Republican group is forming, but it not only won't work on gay civil rights issues, it looks with disdain on those who do, I know that this is a true gay REPUBLICAN group. Little g, big R, and traumatized to its core. Read More......

Gas guzzlers dominate New York auto show

Maybe Obama didn't fire enough management. They don't get it and probably never will. You have to wonder about the consumers as well who will be the first begging for oil drilling in Florida or Alaska at the first gas price increase.

That gas-guzzling, pollutant-spewing darling of suburban and rural America is a passé relic of a bygone era, according to the book editors, fashion photographers, literary critics, Broadway choreographers and other practitioners of the bedrock industries that built this country.

They’d better stay away from the New York auto show this week because there they will see car manufacturers showing off their latest off-road contenders, and the majority of the new models unveiled at the show’s press preview earlier this week were SUVs or crossovers. Why? Because while these vehicles may have been declared dead in Manhattan, the residents of the Fly-Over states have kept buying them (to the extent that anyone is buying anything more than food and water these days).

It also sounds like it's time to slap an ugly gas guzzler tax on these monsters. Maybe the Democrats won't go along with the coddling the auto manufacturers this time as they did during the Clinton years. Read More......

GOP chair Steele questions whether we're really in an economic crisis

The far-right extremists running the Republican party today do not believe that we are in any kind of economic crisis. That is why Steele said this today. That is why the Republicans all voted against the stimulus (why vote to save the country from falling into a depression if you think the economy is fine?). That is why GOP governors are turning away stimulus money, and risking their own local economies and the national economy. Because the far-right extremists who have taken over the Republican party do not believe that the economy is in any trouble. Talk to anyone. Ask them how their sales are going. Ask them how many customers they have this years as compared to last. Ask them if they still have a job, if they're still working a full week. This goes beyond out of touch. It's basically insane. The media really needs to come down hard on this - the Republicans need to be grilled on why they continue to believe that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Read More......

Church in New York will tweet the Passion on Twitter (seriously)

This is just begging for a spoof. Read More......

Ezra Klein on the role of blogs in the progressive movement

From Ezra Klein:

[M]y sense is that liberal blogs are not much interested in claiming independence from the liberal movement. They're interested in being recognized as a valuable wing of it. Hamsher's idea for "fellowships" actually seems like a perfectly appropriate way to understand the connection. The issue isn't that Americans United for Change want "free publicity." It's that they're not recognizing the operating costs that render that publicity possible. What Hamsher and others seem to be arguing is that if blogs are to be considered part of the leftwing infrastructure, that the moneyed elements of the coalition realize that full-time blogging isn't a costless endeavor and commit to funding blogs just as you'd fund field organizing. That's not, as Gawker would have it, extortion. It's movement-building. And they're part of the movement.

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Dr. Laura endorses same-sex unions, so long as they're not called "marriage"

That's a rather huge leap forward for the former star of StopDrLaura.com (a Web campaign I created and ran with a few friends almost a decade ago when Dr. Laura was hideously bay on gays and our issues (she called us a "biological error")).

Box Turle has the transcript of Dr. Laura on Larry King this week:

KING: Basically, five states now say you can have it. What do you think of that? What are you laughing at?

SCHLESSINGER: Well, I don’t have much of an opinion on it.

KING: You have no opinion on it?

SCHLESSINGER: Not much, no.

KING: But you’ve always favored that marriage must be between a man and woman.

SCHLESSINGER: I’m very big on human beings finding love, attachment and commitment and being faithful to it, because there’s more to benefit when there is real true commitment and faithfulness to it. I still believe, as just every president has, and all the people who ran for office, that marriage is a sacrament between a man and a woman. So not calling it marriage works for me. But that two people would have that sort of commitment to me is very healthy and very positive thing in their lives and society as a whole.

KING: So, you favor marriage between a man and a woman, but you applaud the fact that even people of the same-sex can have that kind of commitment to each other.

SCHLESSINGER: That’s a beautiful thing and a healthy thing.

Never thought I'd say it, but atta-girl Dr. Laura. Read More......

The ladies from Sex and the City explain what the GOP Teabagging Protests are all about

From Jed at DailyKos. The FOX crew, with an assist from Georgia Republican Phil Gingrey, are getting ready for some teabagging. This one is probably not safe for work as it also features the women from "Sex and the City" explaining what FOX is all excited about:

My goodness, those FOX guys love their teabagging. They just can't stop talking about it. And, many of the FOX "stars" are going to cover the teabagging live. Can they show that on TV???? Read More......

The law prevents discrimination against gays -- even by those who purport to base their hatred on religion

Turns out that religious groups are having a rough time implementing their homophobic policies these days. The Washington Post reports:

Faith organizations and individuals who view homosexuality as sinful and refuse to provide services to gay people are losing a growing number of legal battles that they say are costing them their religious freedom.

The lawsuits have resulted from states and communities that have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Those laws have created a clash between the right to be free from discrimination and the right to freedom of religion, religious groups said, with faith losing.

Wow. That sucks for them, doesn't it? Really awful when religious groups and licensed professionals aren't allowed to practice hate. That's so un-Christian. Oh, wait. It's supposed to be hate that is un-Christian.

Our society is changing rapidly. The right wingers know it and it's freaking them out. Their days of controlling the social issues agenda will soon be over once and for all. Winning on Prop. 8, with that huge infusion of Mormon money, is going to turn out to be one of their last gasps.'

NOTE FROM JOHN: What's really going on here is that the religious right wants a complete exemption from civil rights law for anyone who claims that their bigotry is inspired by God. Are you a conservative Catholic ambulance worker who doesn't want to save the dying gay man in your gurney? Invoke God. How about the Baptist fireman who finds it distasteful to save the child of the lesbian couple burning in their apartment? Or the Mormon pharmacist who thinks the black customer having an asthma attack before his eyes can just carry his ass over to the next pharmacy ten miles away, since, you know, under the Mormon faith blacks turned against God and that's why God burned their skin black - to mark them as evil.

In each and every case above it would absolutely positively be impinging on the religious freedom of each of those individuals by forcing them to save the lives of the people they took their jobs to help. Then again, most major religions consider the Mormons a cult, so does that mean ambulance drivers could refuse to help Mormons under these proposals? Could firemen refuse to save the Mormon Temple? Could anyone refuse to work with anyone else who doesnt believe in their particular religion? After all, you're all going to hell - why should I save your lives, do your taxes, or teach your kids in public school?

And finally, if the religious right gets its way, then all civil rights laws applying to blacks and other minorities will be gone. How long before the Southern Baptists revisit all those Bible provisions they used to use to justify slavery? And the Mormons revisit the teachings they held only 30 years ago about blacks being chidden of God? Read More......

Chuck Todd says Republicans have fled their own party

NBC's Chuck Todd took Karl Rove and other Republicans to task today for outright lying about Obama being "the most polarizing president in American history." Todd said it's not true. He also explained that Republicans ought to be careful about what polls they use to push this phony storyline. The problem, as Todd explains it (hat tip DKos), is that Republicans have fled their own party, so the remaining pool of "Republicans" in polls are uber-conservative, and dwindling:

And then the other thing that Republicans ought to be aware of when they're making these charges, is that the pool of Republicans has gotten smaller, and so sure, the most conservative part of the party is still identifying themselves as Republicans, and absolutely, three out of four disapprove of the President's job. But there are a lot of former Republicans sitting in that independent category now, Nora, and a majority of independents do approve of the President's job. So it is a, it's one of these things that Republicans ought to be careful about how they're writing it because it's not, it's not the best news. It's a smaller group of Republicans that are identifying themselves that way and when you're getting shellacked in the middle like that, it doesn't matter what the ends look like. The middle is what decides these elections and right now we're seeing the President, he had big numbers with the middle during the election and he still has big numbers with them now.

This is a point I made the other day. Here is the video of Todd:

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Rachel Maddow on conservative Teabagging

Oh my. 7 minutes of teabagging discussion on prime time. For the uninitiated, I wrote about this unfortunate topic yesterday:

You might have heard that conservatives are holding teabag parties across the country, and calling on their supporters to send teabags to Washington, to protest Obama's stimulus spending. Well, as Andy Cobb points out in this not-safe-for-work PG-17 video, the conservatives may have bitten off more than they can chew with their new, unfortunate, metaphor.

In a nutshell - okay, I swear that didn't come out on purpose - the conservatives are calling on their followers to "teabag Obama." Unfortunately for those organizing this rather silly protest, "teabagging" is a specific sex act. You can follow the link above, and watch the video, for the gory details.

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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

It's Good Friday for Christians. When we were kids, we were told to be silent from noon until 3:00 P.M. (that's when Jesus was on the cross). Then, my mother would haul us down to our church to do the stations of the cross. At mass, we had to kiss the cross. And, no meat. Lots of traditions (and superstitions) wrapped up in this particular holiday -- and in almost all aspects of Catholicism.

Should be a slow news day. The markets are closed. Congress is out. Back in the Bush days, we could have expected some big, sleazy announcement very late in the day. So glad those days are over.

Let's see where this day leads.... Read More......

Federal government places order with Detroit for fuel efficient cars

This is a good move and works for everyone. If Detroit is going to build the right cars that save money and are good for the environment then they ought to be supported. If Chrysler wants to keep rolling out gas guzzlers, let them fail.

President Barack Obama, saying he was committed to a strong U.S. auto industry, announced on Thursday that the government would purchase 17,600 new fuel-efficient vehicles from American automakers by June 1.

Obama said the vehicles, part of the U.S. government fleet, would be purchased from

General Motors, privately held Chrysler and Ford, all of which had an existing contract with the federal government's General Services Administration.

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Can I have some TARP to go with my stimulus

Larry Summers should have already had people in the administration asking him about his recent financial dealings on Wall Street since they appear to be in conflict with the "no lobbyist" policy. If he's going to get such an easy ride internally on this issue it should not come as a surprise that outsiders ask questions. Anywhere. Summers was clearly agitated but generally held his composure and laughed it off. Read More......

Eight years of Bush, and now only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism

Those Republicans are a funny bunch. First they destroyed the appreciation of America around the world and now it looks as though they have turned off millions of Americans to capitalism. Looking at what they did to it, it should come as no surprise. Too many people associate capitalism with what the GOP delivered but that was not the capitalism that we used to know. Over time we found a system that allowed business growth coupled with benefits to workers and consumers. That all changed courtesy of the Republican party (with some Democratic help) who somehow thought that was not enough. The GOP never knew when to stop and now we have this. Rasmussen:

Only 53% of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 20% disagree and say socialism is better. Twenty-seven percent (27%) are not sure which is better.

It's time to leave the Summers-type Democrats in the past where they belong and move onto an economic system that works for everyone. No system is ever perfect but we need to get back to the balance and flexibility that used to exist. The US is still an easier place to do business than in much (or all) of Europe and when it's working well, it has the potential to generate a lot of jobs of all types. The two-tiered jobs that the GOP economic brains delivered is not what we need. It's time to get back to finding a reasonable balance. Read More......

UK anti-terror chief resigns

Those British people really are a funny bunch. Don't they know that when there is a massive failure, you are supposed to praise and promote people? Resignation? What a crazy concept and not what we do either in government or business. Heck, if this was business, we would probably even have given him a platinum parachute. In this case since he is in government, inviting him to the White House and placing a medal would be much more fitting. What do they know in the UK anyway?

Britain's top counter-terrorism officer has resigned, the London mayor's office said Thursday, a day after he accidentally exposed a sensitive document about a terrorism investigation.

Police were forced to bring forward the timing of a series of raids after Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Bob Quick unwittingly revealed the names of those to be arrested.

Quick was photographed as he got out of a car at Prime Minister Gordon Brown's residence in London and the names were easily to read when the images were enlarged.

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