TX gov invites Limbaugh to move to Texas

It seems that Texas Governor Rick Perry, who isn't well-loved by conservatives, and who is whispered to have his own Lindsey Graham problem, is now seeking to solidify his support in the next election's primary by sucking up to GOP leader Rush Limbaugh. Not only does the GOP have a Limbaugh problem, but more generally, they have a conservative problem. The party is beholden to the far right, and its national leadership is either all far right or, like Michael Steele, in mortal fear of crossing the far right. Limbaugh isn't the cause, he's the symptom, of the GOP's woes. Their problem isn't that they have Limbaugh, it's that they love Limbaugh. Read More......

Poll: 72% of Americans think Dick Cheney is a bit of a boob

Okay, I made that up. But only just. From CNN:

Seventy-two percent of those questioned in the poll released Monday disagree with Cheney's view that some of Obama's actions have put the country at greater risk, with 26 percent agreeing with the former vice president.

In a March 15 interview on CNN's "State of the Union with John King," Cheney said the Bush administration's anti-terror strategies "were absolutely essential to the success we enjoyed of being able to collect the intelligence that led us to defeat all further attempts to launch attacks against the United States since 9/11."

"I think that's a great success story," Cheney said. "President Obama campaigned against it all across the country. And now he is making some choices that, in my mind, that will in fact raise the risk to the American people of another attack.

Interestingly, the poll found that, yet again, those few Americans still willing to call themselves "Republicans" are increasingly a rather nutty bunch.

CNN Polling Director Keating Holland pointed out the partisan divide evident in the results. "By a 53 percent to 46 percent margin, Republicans agree with Dick Cheney," he said. "But more than nine in 10 Democrats believe that Obama has not made the country less safe from terrorism. They are joined by more than seven in 10 independents who don't see an increase in the threat from terrorism since Obama took office."

Note the figures. 90% of Democrats. 70% of Independents. The Republicans are on the road towards becoming a permanent minority party as they continue to curry favor with their all important 27% of the population. Read More......

BREAKING: Franken wins, again, per court ruling only minutes ago

From Markos we learn that a three-judge panel in Minnesota has just ruled that Al Franken won the Senate race last November in Minnesota.

Over five months after the election, a three-judge panel has declared Democrat Al Franken the winner of the Minnesota U.S. Senate race.

The judges issued their final ruling late Monday, stating "Franken received the highest number of lawfully cast ballots in the Nov. 4, 2008 general election."

They also have determined that Franken is entitled to receive the certificate of election.

Markos quotes the Minnesota Post saying that regardless of what Coleman chooses to do, they think Franken will be seated in May or June. Read More......

Hacker claims credit for Amazon anti-gay snafu

UPDATE: Amazon is still claiming it was an "accident."

*From: *"Amazon.com Customer Service" cust.service03@amazon.com
*Date: *April 13, 2009 4:46:09 PM PDT
*Subject: **Your Amazon.com Inquiry*

Hello,

Thank you for contacting Amazon.com.

This is an embarrassing and ham-fisted cataloging error for a company that prides itself on offering complete selection.

It has been misreported that the issue was limited to Gay & Lesbian themed titles - in fact, it impacted 57,310 books in a number of broad categories such as Health, Mind & Body, Reproductive & Sexual Medicine, and Erotica. This problem impacted books not just in the United States but globally. It affected not just sales rank but also had the effect of removing the books from Amazon's main product search.

Many books have now been fixed and we're in the process of fixing the remainder as quickly as possible, and we intend to implement new measures to make this kind of accident less likely to occur in the future.

Thanks for contacting us. We hope to see you again soon.

Sincerely,
Customer Service Department
Amazon.com

We'd reported last night about the fact that Amazon had suddenly started removing "sales rankings" from gay-themed literature. When contacted, Amazon reportedly told one blogger that this was because the content in question was deemed "adult" in nature. That started a massive firestorm on Twitter, and in the gay blogosphere, leading Amazon today to say that the RankingGate was caused by a "glitch" in their system. Except that a hacker now claims they did it. Which is all well and good, except then why did Amazon say it was caused by a glitch, and why did Amazon reportedly write to one blogger and say the move was intentionally done because the gay literature in question was deemed "adult" in nature? Read More......

Catholic leaders welcomed Bush at Notre Dame even after he personally allowed 152 people to die

The backlash against Notre Dame for inviting Obama to give the commencement speech this year has really been bugging me. The leaders of that institution (the same leaders who protected pedophiles for decades) have a double standard for Democrats and Republicans.

For example, the Catholic Church is vehemently opposed to the death penalty -- as it should be. As Governor of Texas, George Bush was a very strong proponent of the death penalty -- and he implemented it many times:

George W. Bush during his six years as governor of Texas presided over 152 executions, more than any other governor in the recent history of the United States. Bush has said: "I take every death penalty case seriously and review each case carefully.... Each case is major because each case is life or death." In his autobiography, A Charge to Keep (1999), he wrote, "For every death penalty case, [legal counsel] brief[s] me thoroughly, reviews the arguments made by the prosecution and the defense, raises any doubts or problems or questions." Bush called this a "fail-safe" method for ensuring "due process" and certainty of guilt.

So, Bush actually had a role in the deaths of 152 people. Yet, the Catholic hierarchy welcomed him with open arms at Notre Dame's commencement in 2001.

Yet, this year, the Catholics leaders are having a hissy fit because Obama is going to give the commencement speech at Notre Dame. Obama never signed an execution order. He didn't oversee the executions of 152 people. No, Obama is pro-choice. He supports a women's right to choose (which is the law of the land because of Roe v. Wade.)

This just further confirms the hypocrisy of the church. Catholic leaders couldn't have gotten their heads any further up George Bush's butt. His sins were excusable because he's a Republican. And, Republicans, who mock most of the Catholic Church's values, play Catholic Church leaders for the fools that they are. Read More......

Obama issues new policy on travel and cash remittances for Americans with family in Cuba

Keeping a campaign promise:

President Barack Obama on Monday will ease limits on family travel and cash gifts from the United States to Cuba and allow U.S. telecommunications firms to bid for licenses on the communist-ruled island, a U.S. official said.

The decision does not lift Washington's trade embargo with Cuba though it does open a crack in the bulwark set up more than four decades ago and maintained by successive U.S. administrations.

The move also fulfills one of Obama's campaign promises to allow Cuban Americans to travel more freely to Cuba and increase financial help to family members there, and could herald improved ties between the two longtime foes.

Supporters of easing U.S. sanctions against Cuba welcomed the move, which will affect an estimated 1.5 million Americans who have family members in Cuba, as "ground breaking".

Good move. And, it is a big step in the right direction.

From the White House Fact Sheet:

Specifically, the President has directed the Secretaries of State, Treasury, and Commerce to take the needed steps to:

· Lift all restrictions on transactions related to the travel of family members to Cuba.

· Remove restrictions on remittances to family members in Cuba.

· Authorize U.S. telecommunications network providers to enter into agreements to establish fiber-optic cable and satellite telecommunications facilities linking the United States and Cuba.

· License U.S. telecommunications service providers to enter into roaming service agreements with Cuba’s telecommunications service providers.

· License U.S. satellite radio and satellite television service providers to engage in transactions necessary to provide services to customers in Cuba.

· License persons subject to U.S. jurisdiction to activate and pay U.S. and third-country service providers for telecommunications, satellite radio and satellite television services provided to individuals in Cuba.

· Authorize the donation of certain consumer telecommunication devices without a license.

· Add certain humanitarian items to the list of items eligible for export through licensing exceptions.

Read More......

The Republicans really don't think there is a problem with the economy

The Republicans really don't think there is a problem with the economy. They just don't think we're in a crisis. They're living in some kind of alternate universe. That's why the all vote NO and want Obama to fail. And, that's why two of their leaders, RNC Chair Michael Steele and House GOP Whip Eric Cantor, dismissed the idea that we're in an economic downturn.

John and I have both been writing this about the Republicans for awhile. There's no other way to explain the GOP's behavior. They just don't think it's a really a problem. The DNC cut an ad that explains the GOP's denial:
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How can Goldman talk of repaying TARP and not talk about AIG?

The billions handed over to AIG which are then passed along to Goldman Sachs continues to be avoided in these discussions. It's all fine and good that Goldman is ready to pay back the TARP money but having this discussion without the indirect TARP payments is ridiculous. Pay that back and then let's talk about how Goldman can get around the pay restrictions associated with the TARP billions.

That's noteworthy because Wall Street's desire to pay off TARP loans has intensified as complaints about federal involvement in the banking sector have risen.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, warned in a speech last month of the dangers of the "vilification of corporate America." Less than a week later, Dick Kovacevich, the chairman of Wells Fargo, pronounced the government's plans to test the balance sheets of big banks "asinine."

Goldman execs have been considerably more politic. Asked last month at a conference whether Goldman would become the first big bank to return TARP funds, Gary Cohn, the firm's co-president, replied that he would be surprised if anyone "is really in position to give back TARP money till the results of the stress tests and first-quarter earnings are out of the way."

There's nothing quite like listening to bank CEO's complain like this. The anger out there has nothing to do at all with these banks ruining the US economy. Folks like Dimon (who was one of the candidates for Geithner's job at Treasury) need to get out among real people for a change instead of the Wall Street crowd. There's a reason his type is disliked, especially when he makes comments like this. Read More......

71% of Americans have confidence in Obama to do the right thing on the economy. Most have little or no confidence in the GOP Congress.

The economy is the dominant issue in American these days. And, the American people trust their president to deal with it:

Over two-thirds of Americans -- 71% -- have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in President Obama to do or recommend the right thing for the economy, a much higher level of confidence than is given to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, or the Democratic or Republican leaders in Congress.

Barely one-third of the American people have confidence in Congressional Republicans. Of all those tested, only the Republicans had a higher negative rating. When it comes to having confidence in the GOP on the economy, 58% of Americans have "almost a little or none." The Congressional Republicans have earned that lack of confidence. The GOP strategy of saying "NO" has resulted in NO confidence. Read More......

Anti-gay bait and switch

Evan Wolfson points out in this Huff Post piece that the anti-gay-marriage crowd is now not just targeting gays, they're trying to undermine all civil rights laws affecting blacks, Latinos, and every other person covered by civil rights law in this country.

[B]eware: the NOM campaign is bait-and-switch. The real agenda here is not just resistance to marriage rights, it's undermining the broader civil rights laws that ensure that we can all participate equally in society, even if other people don't like us. Though they wrap it in marriage, the opposition is actually about gay - and they are attacking the idea that civil rights laws should protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation at all.

Evan's larger point is that the anti-gay groups are challenging the entire underpinning of civil rights law. If we permit far-right bigots to be exempt from civil rights laws that they find morally, or "religiously," offensive, then that carves an exemption for any extremist religious group, and worse, any member of that group working in the private sector, and even the public sector, to discriminate against anyone he or she wants.

For example, if a Mormon working at a pharmacy doesn't have to sell condoms to a gay couple, what's stopping that same Mormon from refusing to sell condoms to an inter-racial couple? After all, the Mormons discriminated against blacks up until the 1970s, and the church teaches that African-Americans have black skin because God is punishing them for being evil. If a Mormon doesn't want to serve an African-American, he can easily just quote his religion.

And what about EMTs? The religious right wants EMTs to have the right to refuse to help you - they want to give ambulance drivers the right to refuse to save your life - if they find you religiously objectionable. That means Southern Baptist EMTs can let gays die. It happened in Washington, DC to a transgender person who was left to die by an ambulance team who found the victim objectionable. But if Baptists can let gays die, why can't they let Catholics - who, after all, according to the Baptists, worship Satan - die, all in the name of religious freedom of course? And if Baptists think Catholics worship Satan, imagine what a Baptist EMT would think of a Jew?

Listen to the words of the religious right and their Republican defenders. They no longer talk about stopping individual gay civil rights legislation. They now are trying to establish a "civil right" by which any American worker can refuse to serve any other American, simply by offering the excuse that their bigotry is justified by their freedom of religion. That's not only patently absurd, it's incredibly dangerous. It undercuts - no, guts - all existing civil rights law, for everyone.

Not to mention, what the religious right is proposing is that they be given the right to kill people. In the name of God. Still don't think they're America's Taliban? Read More......

Obama beats first national security test

As Chris and Joe have both mentioned, in freeing the US hostage held by the Somali pirates, and capturing a pirate, Obama has passed his first national security test with flying colors.

Obama's handling of the crisis showed a president who was comfortable in relying on the U.S. military, much as his predecessor, George W. Bush, did.

But it also showed a new commander in chief who was willing to use all the tools at his disposal, bringing in federal law enforcement officials to handle the judicial elements of the crisis.

The rescue appeared to vindicate Obama's muted but determined handling of the incident.

Let's not forget Obama's Republican predecessor's first national security test. You remember, when George Bush capitulated to China and apologized after they took our airmen hostage. Then there was Bush's second national security test, stopping bin Laden from striking America. That one didn't go so well either. And in eight years, Bush never did catch bin Laden, nor did he give any indication that he cared to. Read More......

Amazon blames "glitch" for reclassifying gay-themed literature as porn

If you believe them. Somehow their computers magically took a bunch of gay-themed literature, including the critically-acclaimed "Giovanni's Room" by James Baldwin, and "Brokeback Mountain" by Annie Proulx. Why the "glitch" especially targeted books by gay authors and/or about gay characters suggests that Amazon was up to something, regardless of whether that something turned into a glitch. Amazon isn't saying, nor are they explaining the glitch, or anything else. Amazon needs to come clean, now, and fully explain exactly what happened, and what they were doing. Read More......

Chinese sofas, the latest poison

Just another day of poisonous products coming from the world's largest dictatorship. From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The international journal Allergy has confirmed what thousands of British and mainland European citizens have known for more than a year: new leather sofas imported from China are a hotbed of allergens.

Dimethyl fumarate, in the form of a fine, white crystalline powder, was found in sachets embedded in the furniture sourced to China. It is believed the body heat generated from sitting on a contaminated couch causes a toxic vapour to seep out....

About 200,000 of the suspect couches have been imported by 15 furniture retailers in Britain alone and compensation for victims, some of whom required hospital treatment, could be in the tens of millions of dollars.

Chinese products are everywhere in the US. And all of them are likely made using some kind of chemicals somewhere along the way.

Chinese goods make up a huge percentage of the products in our stores. I remember a few years back, I decided to survey the holiday products (Christmas and Easter) in the local drugstores. By my unofficial count, 90% of the products were made in China. They're everywhere. So all of this poison is a problem. But, their products are cheap. That's why the businesses are stocking them - Chinese products save us money. If we shift away to other products, it means inflation, and ultimately, less money in our pockets. Then again, it means not having to worry about poisoning our pets and our children and our house guests.

It's an interesting question as to whether the rash of poison products coming from China in any way shows that capitalism beats communism. Granted, we've had our own doozy of a meltdown, where our own system of checks and balances clearly didn't fix things before they went too far. But wasn't our failure really the same as China's? Under the Republicans, didn't we too have an economy that was without checks and balances due to an out of touch, overly strong central government that was only interested in profit, and helping its friends? That did everything for business, and nothing for the consumer?

At least we were able to change governments. What can China do to rescue itself? Read More......

GOP leaders were hoping (and convinced) Obama would fail

The Republicans desperately want Obama to fail -- even if that means the nation suffers. What's most disturbing is just how vocal so many GOP blowhards, which includes everyone at FOX, are about it -- even in the midst of a crisis. The latest example was the pirate hostage situation. But once again, the President stayed cool, calm and collected. He acted like a president should. The results speak for themselves, just as the GOP's bizarre obsession with wanting Obama and the U.S. to fail, says so much about them.

From Jed at DailyKos:

These people are sick. And, it sure looks like they hate America these days. Read More......

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

As John reported, Rev. Rick Warren blew off ABC's "This Week" yesterday. Paul Krugman was on that show for the roundtable discussion. His brilliant suggestion:

The show replaced him with pirates, plus an extended roundtable. But I think they should have done what the British show Have I Got News For You did when a guest failed to show: they replaced him with a tub of lard, addressed throughout the show as the Rt. Hon. Tub of Lard.

In this case, Rev. Tub of Lard would have been more accurate -- and so perfectly appropriate.

Let's get this week rolling... Read More......

Japanese whale hunters return with less

Good. There is little market demand for whale meat though the Japanese right insists on the annual hunt so they can relive the bad old times. Over time this is going to become too costly in terms of money and reputation for the Japanese though we're not there yet.

Japan's controversial whaling fleet returns to port this week with a smaller-than-expected haul, blaming harassment from militant activists in the Antarctic, the fisheries agency said.

On its five-month mission, the six-ship flotilla caught 680 whales including 679 minke and just one fin whale -- well below a planned total haul of between 765 and 935 of the giant mammals, the agency said.

"It was mainly because of the harassment by the Sea Shepherds," said Shigeki Takaya, an official with the agency's whaling division.

Read More......

Obama passes the initial foreign test

As much as it is driving the hard right crazy, the rescue mission off Somalia worked. Captain Phillips was rescued during a brilliant mission by the Navy who had been given authority by Obama. As the hostage crisis developed, the hard right had been mocking Obama, hoping that he and yes, America, would fail. As much as they try and run away from their desire to see everything fail during this Obama administration, it is their own hatred of Obama that failed. They have been all too willing to give him none of the credit for a success and all of the blame should anything go wrong. The reality, of course, is that both extremes are not correct though it never works out that way in the real world.

This really was a great day for everyone involved in this crisis and Obama showed everyone that he was willing and able to step up and work well with the military in a crisis situation. The Navy made requests and he worked with them and allowed them to execute the mission with his full support. The problem of piracy will continue and more needs to be done in the region to shut this down but for now, Obama has passed the first non-US test. Unfortunately, to be continued...

"The president's focus was on saving and protecting the life of the captain," one adviser said. Friday evening, after a National Security Council telephone update, Obama granted U.S. forces what aides called "the authority to use appropriate force to save the life of the captain." On Saturday at 9:20 a.m., Obama went further, giving authority to an "additional set of U.S. forces to engage in potential emergency actions."

A top military official, Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, commander of the Fifth Fleet, explained that Obama issued a standing order that the military was to act if the captain's life was in immediate danger.

"Our authorities came directly from the president," he said. "And the number one authority for incidents if we were going to respond was if the captain's life was in immediate danger. And that is the situation in which our sailors acted."

Read More......

Shareholders spoke and McDonald's listened

This is the way the system should work. Well done by the shareholders for forcing the issue and equally well done by McDonald's for listening and taking action.

McDonald's, the largest fast-food chain the world and the largest buyer of potatoes in the United States, is under pressure from shareholders to do something about pesticide use on the potatoes it buys. To avoid a shareholder resolution on the subject, McDonald's has agreed to "survey its U.S. suppliers to compile a list of best practices in pesticide reduction and recommend those best practices to its global suppliers," according to Reuters.

Potatoes have been on or near the list of the Environmental Working Group's dirty dozen foods with the most pesticide residue for years. That means, according to a government analysis, that after a typical person buys a typical potato and prepares it in a typical way, it's among the fruits and vegetables most likely to be laced with pesticides. (The government regulates pesticide residue, so any chemical left on food is deemed to pose no health risk; that said, pesticides are designed to kill something -- a bug, worm, fungus, or weed -- and most people don't like the idea of taking each meal with a little drop of poison.)

It's not always easy supporting producers who make efforts to do the right thing. Organic foods do taste better but the price can often be much too high to afford on a daily basis. Our local grocery store has been floating more and more organic products ranging from ready-made meals, saucisson (dried sausage), cheese, fruits, veggies and wine. Overall the prices are fairly competitive, which helps a lot and makes it an easier choice for everyone to support. Read More......

What an odd, yet interesting, little video about gay marriage

Some gay guy did a video, while sitting on his couch, about the upcoming California Supreme Court decision over Prop 8. It's an odd little video, and yet you just can't stop watching. Take a gander.
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