Obama will use middle name "Hussein" at swearing in

Obama says he's not making a statement, but he is. This is about putting the final nail in the coffin of the GOP's ongoing slur over his middle name, but it also very much is about reaching out to the world's 1 billion Muslims. This may seem like nothing to some people, but it's not nothing. Symbolism matters. Obama understands that. This is smart. Very smart. (And with an approval rating about 3 times that of George Bush, Obama can afford to use a little of that goodwill to put the middle-name rap to rest once and for all.)

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Joe the Plumber is now trash-talking McCain

But he really likes Sarah Palin, she's the "real deal." Good, maybe the blithering idiot can pick this even bigger idiot as her vice president, then we can have even more fun in 2012. Read More......

Two shootings in two weeks in my wonderful DC neighborhood

Joe Sudbay just called to let me know that the cops have blocked off the street because we've had yet another shooting. That would be the second in the past few weeks. And I live in a GOOD neighborhood, as DC goes. It appears the shooting happened, again, right off the 18th Street strip of bars and restaurants in Adams Morgan. It's a place EVERYONE goes. It's a place everyone WILL go during the inauguration. And we have shootings at 830 at night. And like I said, this is the GOOD neighborhood, by DC standards. Welcome to your nation's pathetic capital, folks. Enjoy the inauguration!

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The LA Times laments those uppity gays

The LA Times has an "editorial" on their Web site lamenting the fact that some anti-gay bigots felt they had to leave their jobs in gay-oriented businesses after it was discovered that the bigots had donated to Proposition 8. The LAT thinks that goes too far.

Let's get something straight here, as it were. The LA Times finds it queer that someone working in a pretty much gay owned and operated business like theater in California is now facing scorn from their gay coworkers and gay audience members after embracing anti-gay hate.

Anyone else scratching their heads?

Here's what the Times wrote about gays:

As much as we abhorred Proposition 8, there's nothing to cheer about when private individuals are afraid to donate to the political campaigns of their choice because it may cost them their livelihood. In the case of Scott Eckern, who resigned from the California Musical Theatre in Sacramento, the future of the nonprofit company was at stake after some artists refused to work with him. But what if that situation were reversed and Eckern were targeted because he opposed Proposition 8? Or because he was gay? Professionals have to look past their personal and political differences or everyone with an opinion will be on an official list of undesirables.

And here is what the Times would never dare write:

As much as we abhorred slavery, there's nothing to cheer about when private individuals are afraid to donate to racist political campaigns of their choice because it may cost them their livelihood. In the case of Sam Eaton, who resigned from the California Black Musical Theatre in Sacramento, the future of the nonprofit company was at stake after some black artists refused to work with him. But what if that situation were reversed and Eaton were targeted because he opposed slavery? Or because he was black? Professionals have to look past their personal and political differences over slavery or everyone with an opinion will be on an official list of undesirables.

Gosh, I never thought of it that way. If blacks hate Klansmen, then Klansmen will hate blacks, and then where will we all be? Can't we all just get along with people who are beating the crap out of us?

Now for some real world examples.

What do you think would happen to a production assistant at Black Entertainment Television if someone found a white hood and a 7 foot burning cross in his office? Oh, I'm sorry, that's too mean of an example. Forget the Klansman. The production assistant is simply found to have donated money to an effort to overturn Loving v. Virginia and make it illegal for black men to marry our white womenfolk. I'm sure the racist's black coworkers and black audiences would embrace him in the morning for his principled stand against miscegenation. I mean, it's just his opinion.

Or how about an employee of the local Jewish Community Center. I mean, he wasn't an actual Nazi, he just thinks that Jews are money-grubbing long-nosed thieves and therefore donates his money and time to David Duke's "European American" "civil rights" group. I'm sure the anti-Semite's Jewish coworkers and Jewish community members would embrace him for his principled chutzpah.

It's time for the Los Angeles Times to own up to its own homophobia. They wouldn't dare tell blacks and Jews to stop being so mean to the bigot in their midst. But when it comes to gays and lesbians, somehow the crime is never as great, and the punishment never as deserved. Read More......

Specter starts playing typical GOP obstruction games with Obama's nominee for Attorney General

The games begin.

Senate Republicans are trying to remain relevant, but all they know how to do is obstruct. That's one reason why next year there will be only 41, maybe 42, Republicans. But, those GOPers just can't help themselves. They're already up to their old tricks with the new president:

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, wants to slow down the process of confirming Eric Holder attorney general, citing lingering concerns about the nominee’s role in the 2001 pardon of Marc Rich.

Specter said his concerns do not suggest he would oppose Holder, but said starting the hearings before Jan. 26 is “not realistic or fair.”

Earlier this week Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) set a Jan. 8 confirmation hearing date for Holder and said he would like the nominee confirmed by the time President-elect Obama takes office on Jan. 20.

Specter's "concerns" are bogus and he knows it. There's no reason for Democratic Senators to indulge the GOP (although, the Senate Democrats sure exposed their weakness when they caved in to Lieberman.)

If Republicans want to obstruct, the Democrats need to fight it every time. Starting with this nomination. The country is in peril. We don't have time for Arlen Specter's games.

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Traditional marriage, Bible-style

Markos passes along a comment about what the law would say if we had traditional Biblical marriages like the Mormons and their buddies on the far-right are demanding:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

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Another story for the "reporters, please do your job" pile

There's a story going around on AP and the Wall Street Journal about a family about to lose their house because they can't make the payments. On its face it's a sad story - blind and autistic child, deaf parents - but the details of the story are a bit odd. The parents got their home improved by the Extreme Makeover folks. Their property taxes went up almost 50% (though that shouldn't have been a surprise), but the kicker is that the family says they refinanced their mortgage and the monthly rate nearly doubled from $1200 a month to $2300.

On its face, a tragic story. But something's missing. Why did the mortgage payments go up? Was this an adjustable rate mortgage, or was it the refinancing? And if it was the refinancing, why did they refinance and how did they refinance? The story talks about how the insurance wouldn't pay all of their child's medical needs, so perhaps they took out a home equity loan on the improved post-Extreme-Makeover value of their house (that would be understandable in order to take care of a sick child). But the story doesn't tell us what happened. Even odder, the WSJ says that the mortgage is at 11%. That's insane. How does anyone agree to a mortgage that high? Yes, it sounds like predatory lending. It also sounds like you're a moron if you accept a loan at 11% when the going rate is 6 or 7.

Here's the thick of it:

The Vardons remortgaged the house after the makeover.

"We didn't have bad spending habits," Judy Vardon said. "My husband got laid off for a time and insurance wouldn't cover Lance's autism therapy and some other things like his vision and special dental work."

The family had debts of $20,000 for the boy's therapy alone.

The mortgage was resold to different companies three times since then and the interest rate on the loan went up to more than 11 percent. Each time the mortgage was sold the interest rate went up.

"Millions of others are experiencing the same thing," said Judy Vardon, who takes care of Lance and doesn't work outside her home.

It sounds like they agreed to an ARM. So they knew what they were getting. They knew their rate could go up and by how much. That doesn't make them evil, and it doesn't make the story less sad, but there seems to be more nuance to these hardship stories than the media is letting on - these don't seem to be cases where people were told their loan was fixed at 5% and it mysteriously doubled to 11% because the mortgage broker lied.

There are too many things not explained in this story. And if you look closely at a lot of the stories the media is doing on the personal impact of the mortgage crisis, you'll find the same thing over and over again. They never really give us all the details, seemingly out of a desire to make the story juicier (like that ABC story I wrote about a while ago in which they didn't tell you the "poor homeowner" owned a $1.3m home). I'd prefer the actual facts. Read More......

Citi's super secret plan to save money: No more lollipops

I just got an email from a Citi employee saying that Citi announced a few months back that in order to cut costs branches were told to no longer hand out lollipops to children. It's not clear if this report is true or not, but considering that Citi's execs still haven't decided if they're going to take bonuses or not this year (they're "considering" it), the lollipop solution may be the best we can hope for. Read More......

Mormon friend Pat Boone thinks civil rights advocates are terrorists

It's always so cute when you poke a religious right Republican and find out just how much of a freak these people really are. Just another example of the fine bedfellows the Mormon bigots have thrown their lot with. Someone in Utah clearly has a master plan to trash any good will the Mormons have left. And it's working.

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Obama says Blagojevich should resign

Obama is right:

President-elect Barack Obama believes that Gov. Rod Blagojevich should resign, his advisers said on Wednesday. "The President-elect agrees with Lt. Gov. Quinn and many others that under the current circumstances it is difficult for the governor to effectively do his job and serve the people of Illinois," Robert Gibbs, the incoming White House press secretary, said.

Blagojevich should resign. But, he's clearly an egomaniac who has no sense of decency. And, given what Blago thinks about Obama, it's not likely he'll heed the president elect's advice.

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Nationwide strike brings Greece to a standstill. Citizens demand "change."

I'd read a "change" quote in another article about the nationwide riots in Greece, and now another today.

"There is demand for change: social, economic and political change," said Odysseas Korakidis, 25, who does two jobs. "It's not unusual here to hold down two jobs to get just 800 or 1,000 euros a month. In other countries, that's inconceivable!"

Fascinating. I don't think Obama's victory had any hand in the riots, but the message from that victory continues to inspire, well, change. I've heard the word "change" batted about in a number of countries since Obama won, and even before. In Italy this past spring, the liberal (or more liberal than Berlusconi) opposition rallied under the cry "Si puo fare" - basically, Yes We Can.

It simply irks me the degree to which Republicans love to cite the "shining city on a hill" quote, but then show utter disdain for the rest of the world and are blind to the message we send them. What happens in the US matters to the world. People want to look up to us (something you learn if you do any international travel). We continue to inspire. The only question is whether we inspire hatred, or admiration. After eight year long years, we are thankfully moving back to the latter. Read More......

A president who agrees with Al Gore on global warming that "The time for denial is over."

As I mentioned in the morning open thread, the big news yesterday should have been the meeting between Obama and Al Gore. For eight years, we've lived under the Bush regime, which for years has denied the existence of global warming. That crowd mocked Al Gore. Now, we have a president who agrees with Gore. That, in the long run, really was the most important political news yesterday:

President-elect Barack Obama met with former vice president Al Gore in Chicago on Tuesday to discuss climate change, declaring after the meeting, "The time for denial is over."

The meeting, also attended by Vice President-elect Joe Biden, came as Obama prepares to nominate his administration's top environmental officials -- decisions that could come as soon as this week.

"All three of us are in agreement that the time for delay is over," Obama told reporters as he sat between Gore and Biden at the transition headquarters after the meeting.

"We all believe what the scientists have been telling us for years now," Obama said, "that this is a matter of urgency and national security, and it has to be dealt with in a serious way. That is what I intend my administration to do."

I think sometimes it's easy to forget just how much the world is going to change when we get our new president. Read More......

Deal almost done on auto industry. GOP Senators talking filibuster

That Democrats on the Hill still have to negotiate with George Bush is really quite annoying. How can anyone trust the Bush White House to get anything right? Per usual, the Senate Republicans will hold the key via their filibuster power:

Congressional Democrats and the White House appear to have a deal on a $15 billion package to support the auto industry, but it must still win the critical support of Senate Republicans to become law.

"Bipartisan hard work has paid off and I understand an agreement has been reached," said Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), late Tuesday evening. "This gets us to the 20 yard line, but getting over the goal line will take a major effort, particularly in the Senate."....

Several Senate Republicans, including Sens. Richard Shelby (Ala.) and John Ensign (Nev.), expressed disappointment earlier on Tuesday over the draft language of the bill. Senate Republicans will hold a policy lunch on Wednesday, where some senators may make a pitch to mount a filibuster.

The Senate GOP doesn't want to help American workers, especially workers in unions. They stick to protecting Wall Street.

Reuters reports the House could vote today:

The U.S. House of Representatives could vote as early as Wednesday on a $15 billion plan to bail out and restructure U.S. automakers but the initiative may face Republican roadblocks in the Senate.

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MN paper reports FBI investigating "allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to steer money to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman"

We're still waiting for the final verdict in the Minnesota Senate race between incumbent Norm Coleman and Al Franken. The five-member canvassing board meets on December 16th to review challenged ballots. But, that's not all the news affecting Coleman. The FBI has taken an interest in some business dealings of Coleman's benefactor :

Federal investigators are looking into allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to steer money to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, the Pioneer Press has learned.

Agents with the FBI have talked to or made efforts to talk to people in Texas familiar with the allegations, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Houston is where the first of two lawsuits was filed alleging Nasser Kazeminy, a Bloomington financier, tried to steer $100,000 to Coleman via his wife's Minneapolis employer. The second suit, filed in Delaware, alleges Kazeminy initially tried to get money directly to the senator.

Both Coleman and Kazeminy have denied any wrongdoing, and Coleman last month said he welcomes an investigation.

Neither Coleman nor his office has been contacted by the FBI, spokesman LeRoy Coleman said Tuesday morning.

"We have not been contacted by any law enforcement or investigative authority on this matter," he said.

Not yet, anyway. Remember, these allegations were raised in lawsuits against Kazeminy that were completely unrelated to anything political. The guy's business associates raised these issues.

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Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Yesterday, the big political news was supposed to be about Obama's meeting with Al Gore. Alternatively, there was the news about the car industry bailout, which was also pretty significant. But, no. That wasn't the news. There was only one story: Rod Blagojevich. The guy was out of control. I know most politicians are egomaniacs, but Blago set a new standard. The full story will come out soon enough -- and we'll know the real names in the criminal complaint instead of the designations like "Senate Candidates 2" and "Adviser A." That's going to be very interesting, too

Let's see what today brings.. Read More......

NYT: Obama supported an ethics law, so that makes him unethical

One of the weirdest stories ever from the New York Times. Will Bunch dissects it, but in a nutshell, it's apparently Obama's fault that the Illinois governor is corrupt. Why? Because Obama supported an ethics law that the Illinois governor was trying to get around, so Obama forced the Illinois governor to disobey the law, or some such idiocy. Kind of like saying it's the police's fault that people commit crimes, because if there were no laws, then there'd be no crime because everything would be legal. Simply, amazingly, astonishingly, bizarre of Times to write this piece. Read More......

NYC forecasts 165,000 job cuts over next 2 years

The NYC comptroller doesn't see improvement until 2010. I'd like to think that's the case but at this rate, that will be a best case scenario and when's the last time we saw "best case" in this market?

The economic downturn has not yet found a bottom, according to New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr., who says huge job losses still lie ahead for the city.

“We’re projecting over the next two years probably about 165,000 jobs may be lost—of that probably about 35,000 on Wall Street,” he said.

Thompson says New York has been trailing the rest of the country during this economic dowturn, and his team doesn't believe the city will see the bottom until the beginning of 2010.

To deal with the downturn, New York has cut its budget three times this year, but Thompson says there soon will be no more fat to cut.

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