A two year old who really enjoys Star Trek

(H/t HuffPost Hill) Read More......

'You're not even fighting with them'

Kerry Eleveld in the Advocate:

At Thursday’s briefing the White House press corps was equally baffled about the Democratic strategy headed into the midterms. Here’s a bit of flavor as a couple reporters struggle to grasp why the Dems didn’t force Republicans to take a vote on the middle-class tax cut that they keep saying the GOP is “holding hostage” in favor of passing tax cuts for the rich.

Gibbs: [The Republicans] price tag for the middle-class [tax cut] was the $700 billion. We could have passed the middle-class [tax cut] alone, provided some much needed certainty to the economy and to middle-class families and had — still had plenty of time to debate the $700 billion price tag for the other cuts.

Reporter: Why not do that? Why not introduce the bill —

Reporter: Why not get Republicans on the record?

Reporter: — and force Republicans to filibuster it?

Gibbs: [Republicans] were unwilling to do that. They were unwilling to —

Reporter: But you can introduce a bill is the point. You can introduce the bill.

Gibbs: Guys, my original answer was I don’t think the bill is the existence of the fight. It is that — look, John Boehner said —

Reporter: You’re not even — you’re not even fighting with them.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama was out on the stump in Madison, Wis., doing an admirable job of trying to recapture a little of that ol’ 2008 campaign magic. And guess what he was talking about: fighting.

“That election was not just about putting me in the White House. It was about building a movement for change that went beyond any one campaign or any one candidate. It was about remembering that in the United States of America, our destiny is not written for us –- it is written by us,” he told a raucous college-age crowd. “The power to shape our future lies in our hands –- but only if we’re willing to keep working for it and fighting for it and keep believing that change is possible.”

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America's leading homophobe tries to distance herself from the recent rash of gay youth suicides

I could write something, but I'd rather quote Joe:

STFU, Maggie Gallagher. Read More......

Taiwanese animators take a stab at animating Woodward's book on Obama

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Gibbs: Sen. Landrieu's taking hostage of OMB nominee 'sad' and 'outrageous'

From Sam Stein at Huff Post:

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs took aim at Senator Mary Landrieu (D-La) on Thursday, calling her decision to block the nomination of the next OMB chairman over concern about a moratorium on deepwater drilling both "sad" and "outrageous."

Addressing what appears to be a political stalemate over the nomination of Jacob Lew to the post, Gibbs offered unusually blunt criticism of a congressional Democrat.

"The budget-planning process is underway," Gibbs said. "And should be underway with a director with the type of bipartisan support that Jack has gotten through two committees. I think it is a sad day when somebody is held up with such bipartisan support with the type of experience that's necessary in an environment where we have to improve our fiscal picture that that person is held up for something that is completely unrelated to them. I think it is sad and I think it's outrageous."

"The president -- well, Secretary Salazar met with Senator Landrieu to update her on where we are with the situation," Gibbs added. "They have met in the last couple of days to get an update on where we are. We are not bargaining the safety of oil drilling away for an appointment that shouldn't be the cause of the type of gridlock that we are used to seeing in Washington. And I would think people who are concerned about our fiscal picture, who are concerned about where we are heading in the deficit, at the time of crisis would not do the type of things that Senator Landrieu is doing."

This is great that Gibbs is standing up to Landrieu. But Landrieu learned her lesson long ago - if you stand up to Obama, he'll eventually cave. Hopefully the White House won't cave this time. At some point, they need to break the cycle, or this legislative hostage-taking will never end. Read More......

Olbermann on the Tax Cuts mess

While this is from late last week, nothing has changed, and this segment contains good analysis from Keith — and good conventional wisdom from Howard Fineman. The second is important, since it tells you the cover story that's being passed out as explanation for folding Dems. Howard is excellent for passing on the cover story.

First the segment, then a few points of our own:



So, you can believe one of two things. The Blue Dogs (who are the ones behind the reluctance to take a vote) are either:

a. Afraid of Republican opponents who will use the word "taxes" in attack ads, or b. Pretending to be afraid of Republicans while taking money from the same Big Money donors as their so-called opponents.

Howard Fineman believes (a). But if you believe (b), then the conclusions are fairly obvious:

As I've often said, Money enables Republicans and neuters Democrats, and ConservaDems are the agents of Money in the Democratic party. (The Republicans are the agents of Money in the Republican party.)

In addition, the Hand of Money working within both parties implies a common purpose. In other words, there is a Puppet Master directing both groups, Republicans and ConservaDems, to a single end.

And finally, the most important aspect of this drama is Disappearing the Puppet Master. That is, the "fight" between the two groups must appear to be an actual fight. If the common people thought these political heavyweight matches were no better than WWE "battles", they'd start thinking, well, differently about their political system.

Note that I didn't define the two groups as the two parties. This is not Dems vs Reps. This is progressives (in the Dem party) vs servants of Money (in both parties). Whatever you think of a particular candidate or position, if the Democratic party dies, progressive hopes die as well.

It's a fine line to walk, keeping the Democratic party as a viable force and massively growing progressive power within it. But in my opinion, there's no other way forward. (Which brings us back to the point made by Arshad Hasan of Democracy for America in an earlier post; if Dems are going to lose seats, it matters a lot which seats are lost.)

GP Read More......

GOP House candidate, and teabagger, accused of sexually assaulting mom of four

The Cleveland Plain Dealer:

On her last visit to Ganley's office, Aug. 1, the woman said she dropped off her van for repairs. While she waited in Ganley's office, the suit says, he made sexually suggestive comments and invited her to join him and his friends at a condominium he owns in Strongsville. Ganley gave her a $100 bill and told her to buy some lingerie and high-heeled shoes, according to the lawsuit.

Ganley told her he wanted to dominate her, parade her on a leash and have sex with her in front of his "play friends," the suit says. It accuses him of grabbing her from behind, wrapping his arms around her, kissing her and, despite her resistance, reaching into her pants.

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Republican Senator DeMint places 'Hold' on all legislation

Jim DeMint, the South Carolina senator who has embraced the Tea Party as closely as any in his chamber, has placed a unilateral Hold on all legislation. Here's Keith Olbermann to explain:



Stunning.

It's also stunning that the rules of the Senate allow such behavior. Watch the fight, by the way, at the opening of the new Senate in January. Unlike the House, which has continuing rules (because by Robert's Rules, each two-year House session is a continuation of the last one), the Senate (again by Robert's Rules) reconstitutes itself every two years. This means that Senate rules are voted on — by majority vote — every two years. No filibuster for that vote; this is the vote that re-establishes the filibuster.

Do you want a list of which senators are serious about fixing the problem? Watch that vote.

Also note that in the follow-up interview, Arshad Hasan of Democracy for America talks about watching the individual races to see which progressives succeed, not just which Dems succeed. I would second that. I'm not suggesting that a Dem loss would be good. But clearly, increasing the number of strong (and reliable) progressives vis-à-vis the total number of Dems is a necessary step forward.

To that end, may I suggest two progressives who needs your help now: Alan Grayson and Russ Feingold (who is mentioned toward the end of the clip).

The Grayson ActBlue page is here. The Feingold ActBlue page is here.

Strong progressives are only way out of this mess.

GP Read More......

Congrats to Blackwater for its fat new State Department contract!

Caring about violent abuses of authority is so 2008.

From Spencer Ackerman for WIRED:

Never mind the dead civilians. Forget about the stolen guns. Get over the murder arrests, the fraud allegations, and the accusations of guards pumping themselves up with steroids and cocaine. Through a “joint venture,” the notorious private security firm Blackwater has won a piece of a five-year State Department contract worth up to $10 billion, Danger Room has learned.

Apparently, there is no misdeed so big that it can keep guns-for-hire from working for the government. And this is despite a campaign pledge from Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ban the company from federal contracts.

Eight private security firms have won State’s giant Worldwide Protective Services contract, the big Foggy Bottom partnership to keep embassies and their inhabitants safe. Two of those firms are longtime State contract holders DynCorp and Triple Canopy. The others are newcomers to the big security contract: EOD Technology, SOC, Aegis Defense Services, Global Strategies Group, Torres International Services and International Development Solutions LLC.

Don’t see any of Blackwater’s myriad business names on there? That’s apparently by design. Blackwater and the State Department tried their best to obscure their renewed relationship. As Danger Room reported on Wednesday, Blackwater did not appear on the vendors’ list for Worldwide Protective Services. And the State Department confirms that the company, renamed Xe Services, didn’t actually submit its own independent bid. Instead, they used a blandly-named cut out, “International Development Solutions” to retains a toehold into State’s lucrative security business. Blackwater’s “affiliate U.S. Training Center is part of International Development Solutions (IDS), a joint venture with Kaseman,” according to an official State Department statement to Danger Room. “This joint venture was determined by the Department’s source selection authority to be eligible for award."

Spencer is clearly just a whiner. Read More......

TARP may only cost $50 billion

A real bargain, eh? Yes, it could have been much worse but doing a victory dance for the Bush-enacted program may be a bit much. The point that continues to escape Washington about the unpopular program is that people hate it because the bankers walked away with barely a scratch. Watching the architects of the crash stuff their pockets with obscene bonus money while everyone else either lost their job or worried about their future did not help.

At the White House on Thursday, the Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, briefed President Obama about A.I.G. and about the broader outlook for the expiring rescue program, putting the projected losses at less than $50 billion, at most. Yet neither the White House nor Congressional Democrats are likely to boast much in the month remaining before midterm elections. For most voters, TARP remains a four-letter word.

Brian A. Bethune, the chief financial economist in the United States for IHS/Global Insight, while critical of parts, called the program over all “a tremendous success. Now obviously, they can’t go out on the campaign trail and say that, because certainly, for a lot of voters, it’s just not going to resonate.”

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Jane Hamsher on what anti-gay policies say to LGBT youth

Jane explained quite eloquently that anti-gay policies and rhetoric affect young LGBT people. And, she's right "The President should do whatever he can to stop that.":
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Friday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Today, the President hosts the kick-off event for Rahm Emanuel's campaign for Mayor. It's being held in the East Room. I find it odd that there's a big public ceremony for a departing staffer. Later in the afternoon, Obama attends the investure ceremony for the newest Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan over at the Supreme Court. That makes sense. But, a televised event to say Rahm is quitting? It was probably Rahm's idea.

Okay, he's your problem now, Chicago. Please show some sense. The NY Times reports that Rahm has no political base, but "Emanuel’s supporters note how easily he carried his district when he ran for Congress, and say they expect he will have support from some gay voters and from Jewish Leaders." Gay voters? Seriously? Every LGBT voter and every straight ally in Chicago needs to ask why the Obama administration has failed to deliver on its basic campaign promises to the LGBT community. Rahm Emanuel is part of the answer. He treated gay issues like it was 1993. And, in my opinion, Emanuel is the poster boy for political homophobia:

Political homophobes aren't gay-hating in the traditional sense. In fact, publicly, most are strong supporters of LGBT equality. But, behind closed doors, many Democratic leaders, consultants, Hill staffers and the rest will vociferously argue that there is no political benefit to actually supporting LGBT rights. Political homophobia is rampant among some Democrats. In some ways, it's worse than blatant homophobia, since we think most Democrats are on our side. And outwardly, they are.

Political homophobia dictates policy in DC more than we'd like to think.

Rahm is a prime practitioner. Now that it suits his politics (For years, Mayor Daley was a strong supporter of full LGBT equality, including marriage), we'll probably start hearing that he's actually been a great champion behind the scenes. Seriously, Chicago. Don't fall for it.

Trust me, I'm glad Rahm is leaving. But, I do think it's stunning that someone in such a critical position is bailing on the President four weeks before an election. It's just unheard of.

Okay, enough about Rahm. Seriously. He's out of our lives (except for you folks in Chicago. And, you have the power to make sure he's not running your city.)

So, what's the non-Rahm news? Read More......

More problems for NATO in Pakistan

This is not going well. At all. Why are we still in there anyway?

Suspected militants in southern Pakistan set ablaze more than two dozen tankers carrying fuel for foreign troops in Afghanistan on Friday, highlighting the vulnerability of the U.S.-led mission a day after Pakistan closed a major border crossing.

The Pakistani government shut the Torkham border in the northwest in apparent protest at a NATO helicopter incursion that killed three of its soldiers on the border. The events raised tensions between Pakistan and the United States, which have a close but often troubled alliance in the fight against militants.

The convoy of tankers attacked Friday was likely headed to a second crossing in southwest Pakistan that was not closed. It was not clear if the vehicles had been rerouted because of the closure at Torkham.

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UK Conservative government welcomes Sudan trade delegation

It's a rather unique trade policy to invite trade partners who are wanted to The Hague. It's not that there aren't plenty of morally repugnant trade partners out there that we all rely on, but this does seem to be extreme. The Independent:

The Government is courting the regime of the indicted war criminal Omar al-Bashir by declaring that relations with Sudan have entered a "new epoch". The announcement came as Britain welcomed a trade delegation from the country which has near pariah status, for the first time since warrants for President Bashir's arrest were issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, over atrocities in Darfur.

Khartoum's high-level delegation met British government officials and business leaders on Wednesday to encourage investment in a country still targeted by US sanctions. It was the clearest example yet of how problematic William Hague's new foreign policy, in which commercial interests are to trump ethical concerns, will be for the Coalition to implement. The change has already seen complaints that UK diplomatic missions have been reduced to commercial agencies to drum up business.

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