A Satirical Elizabeth Warren talks about why she's running for the United States Senate.

"I'm Elizabeth Warren, and I will fix this $*%&* myself if I have to."

Seems like her real campaign slogan.

Open Thread below....

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Jack White caused quite a stir with his recent collaboration with Insane Clown Posse, but for those who had all but given up on the enigmatic rocker, this cover of U2's "Love is Blindness" should make up for it. It's off Q Magazine's star-studded celebration of the 20th anniversary of U2's Achtung Baby. Look for it on magazine racks around the end of the month.

The American Jobs Act will not move forward in the Senate, it seems, since it takes a supermajority to decide how many angels dance on the very tippy-top of the head of a pin. After a few minutes of Mitch McConnell's political posturing, which generally includes some middle-finger gestures, Republicans united in full-throated opposition to the bill, once again standing shoulder-to-shoulder to oppose it.

At this time, it appears the bill would have passed 51-48, but of course, in the Senate, we all know it takes 60 to play and when 100 percent of Republicans decide they're not playing, the game is over. Here's what some of them voted against:

John Cornyn and Pete Sessions (TX): 33,800 infrastructure jobs, 39500 teacher jobs, 30,300 school repair jobs. Total number of jobs not created in Texas: 103,600

Pat Toomey (PA): 17,900 infrastructure jobs, 14,400 teacher jobs, 12,300 school repair jobs.Total number of jobs not created in Pennsylvania: 44,600

Marco Rubio (FL): 20,500 infrastructure jobs, 25,900 teacher jobs, 16600 school repair jobs. Total number of jobs not created in Florida: 63,000

Rob Portman (OH): 13,700 infrastructure jobs, 14,200 teacher jobs, 12,800 school repair jobs. Total number of jobs not created in Ohio: 40,700

These are just a few examples. There are many more at the White House state-by-state breakdown of jobs created by the American Jobs Act.

On behalf of Americans everywhere, thank a Republican Senator for their unpatriotic act of putting politics ahead of problem-solving when you have a chance. Either that, or #occupySomething.

[Note: final count is not available because the vote is being held open for Jeanne Shaheen to return from an awards ceremony in Boston]

Brian Ross claims the scoop:

FBI and DEA agents have disrupted a plot to commit a "significant terrorist act in the United States" tied to Iran, federal officials told ABC News today.

The officials said the plot included the assassination of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, Adel Al-Jubeir, with a bomb and subsequent bomb attacks on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. Bombings of the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Buenos Aires, Argentina, were also discussed, according to the U.S. officials.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an announcement today that the plan was "conceived, sponsored and was directed from Iran" by a faction of the government and called it a "flagrant" violation of U.S. and international law.

Okay, not good. Very bad. And there's no question that the Saudis and the Iranians have had a history of aggression towards the other and that both countries sought to assert dominance and control in the power vacuum created by the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the details of this plot have left questions niggling in my brain.

The new case, called Operation Red Coalition, began in May when an Iranian-American from Corpus Christi, Texas, approached a DEA informant seeking the help of a Mexican drug cartel to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, according to counter-terrorism officials.

The Iranian-American thought he was dealing with a member of the feared Zetas Mexican drug organization, according to agents.

The DEA office in Houston brought in FBI agents as the international terror implications of the case became apparent.

The Iranian-American, identified by federal officials as Manssor Arbabsiar, 56, reportedly claimed he was being "directed by high-ranking members of the Iranian government," including a cousin who was "a member of the Iranian army but did not wear a uniform," according to a person briefed on the details of the case.

So maybe I'm reading this wrong, but this is a naturalized American citizen who claims that he's acting on the behalf of high ranking members of the Iranian government. It's a little far-fetched to call this a slam dunk case of a terrorist state and not the actions of bad players who may or may not be part of a faction of a government of which he's relinquished his citizenship. According to the report, this man wanted to get arms from Mexican drug cartels but was dumb enough to try to make a deal with a US DEA informant. Iran has been reaching out to the Obama administration, so a plot on American soil seems counter-productive. What do they gain?

He also reportedly told the undercover DEA informant that his contacts in the Iranian government could provide "tons of opium" for the Mexican cartels, according to officials who have reviewed the case file.

The Iranian government--the ruling mullahs--can provide 'tons of opium'? The mullahs have taken their usual no mercy stance against drug traffickers. I'm not saying that the Iranian government is all sweetness and light, far from it. They have brutally terrorized their own citizens. It's impossible to not be inundated with anti-Iranian rhetoric in this country, but to risk military action by the US in retribution for a terrorist act on American soil to get back at the Saudis? It doesn't seem like the smartest tactic.

Marcy at Emptywheel has some questions too:

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Credit: Driftglass

The new dirty communism, and G*d forbid any Republican should answer 'yes' to that one. Not that Charlie Rose is likely to ask.

The Dartmouth Debate will be help at 8 PM Eastern Time and will be aired on Bloomberg TV. It will also be streamed live at WashingtonPost.com and BloombergTV.

This debate is said to focus on the economy, and since Crooks and Liars does not encourage alcohol abuse, we discourage taking a drink whenever a candidate applauds large corporate "job creators," decries "burdensome regulation" and calls for "tax relief for small businesses."

Let us know what you observe.... Open debate thread below...

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The majority of street lights have been removed from one Michigan city that was having trouble paying its electricity bill.

DTE Energy Company has already repossessed 1,400 street lights in Highland Park as a part of a deal to forgive $4 million in unpaid bills going back at least five years. The company expects the rest of the work to be completed by Oct. 31.

The city council calls the plan the "Highland Park Lighting Improvement Project" because it will also replace 200 lights on street corners with more efficient models.

"We're trying to keep (costs) down so the taxpayers don’t have to pay extra money," Mayor Hubert Yopp said Tuesday.

The city hopes that the reduction of service will curb their overall electric bill from more than $60,000 per month to about $15,000 per month.

For obvious reasons, Highland Park residents have been worried about increased crime as the lights come down.

"After they took the street light from in front of my business, someone climbed onto my roof and stole an air conditioning unit," businessman Bobby Hargrove told The Detroit News. "I feel like I'm being punished -- I've always paid my bills on time, but they took the street light anyway."

Hargrove claimed that the Highland Park police officer he spoke to after the robbery tried to use the opportunity to make a few extra bucks.

"He contacted me about a week after my air conditioner was stolen and told me he'd make sure my place didn't get broken into -- if I paid him $650 every two weeks," he complained. "That's like paying protection to the Mafia."

Although Yopp has denied the crime rate is up, city school board secretary Robert Davis also said that at least three schools were broken into right after the lights were removed.

"Thankfully, DTE agreed to put new lights in front of the schools, although they're not all up yet," Davis explained.

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Paul Singer, a hedge fund manager who made his money by kicking nations when they're down.

A predatory hedge fund multimillionaire is a major funder of the right-wing attack machine on Occupy Wall Street. Ironically, this "Swift Vote Veterans" and "Crossroads GPS" funder was also one of the top donors in the movement to legalize gay marriage in New York (his son is gay):

As the New York Times has documented, Paul Singer, a Republican activist and hedge fund manager worth over $900 million, has emerged as one of the most important power brokers within the GOP. Now, it appears that the reporters financed by Singer are at the forefront of efforts to tarnish the reputation of 99 Percent Movement demonstrators:

Journalist Who Admitted To Infiltrating Protests To ‘Mock And Undermine’ The Movement Works For A Singer-Supported Right-Wing Magazine. In a column posted last night, reporter Patrick Howley admitted that he had surreptitiously joined an anti-war spin-off group from the OccupyDC protests that planned to demonstrate at a military drone exhibit at the Smithsonian’s Air and Space museum. Howley wrote that he “infiltrated” the action and sprinted into the police along with a few protesters in order to “mock and undermine” the movement. Singer is a major donor to the Spectator, a right-wing magazine known for its role in the “Arkansas Project,” a well-funded effort to invent stories with the goal of eventually impeaching President Clinton.

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When asked why he opposes President Obama's jobs bill, one of the Fox & Friends kids makes the not so startling observation that Joe Lieberman says stuff that any garden variety Republican senator would say in his place. That Lieberman has been using Republican talking points for years seems to have escaped her. Or maybe it's just a little knowing dig at Lieberman as Fox gets ready to get rid of Lieberman next year like the rest of us.

Just when you thought gay was the new black, it looks like the posh country club set has taken to discriminating against people without religious faith.

Infamous atheist, and evolutionary biologist, Dr. Richard Dawkins was slated to appear at the Wyndgate Country Club, outside of Detroit, for an event organized by the Center For Inquiry (CFI) Michigan and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Science and Reason. But, according to the CFI Web site:

The Wyndgate terminated the agreement after the owner saw an October 5th interview with Dawkins on The O’Reilly Factor in which Dawkins discussed his new book, The Magic of Reality: How We Know What’s Really True.

In a phone call to CFI–Michigan Assistant Director Jennifer Beahan, The Wyndgate’s representative explained that the owner did not wish to associate with individuals such as Dawkins, or his philosophies.

Jesus. Well, it's a private facility. They can legally discriminate, right? Not necessarily so, according to CFI:

Although privately owned, The Wyndgate facilities are open to the public for special events and occasions. According to Title II of the Federal Civil Rights Law of 1964, “open to the public” means “all persons shall be entitled to the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of any place of public accommodation, as defined in this section, without discrimination or segregation on the ground of race, color, religion, or national origin.”

So in summation, behind every oppressive force in modern history is golf. There, I said it. You're welcome, Internet.

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Project much Eric? I think Bolling's doing his best to replace Glenn Beck as the most petulant talking head on Fox News. Filling in for Neil Cavuto, Bolling brought in Fox regular Star Parker to call the Occupy Wall Street protesters a bunch of immature, smelly children who are lazy and don't want to work.

The "get out and get a job" meme to mock the protesters seems to be the latest talking point out of all the conservative pundits out there sneering at the people who've taken to the streets. Parker's done pretty well for herself going from being on government welfare to wingnut welfare, which apparently pays a lot better. Not everyone is willing to sell their soul to be a right-wing talking head though, Star.

Bolling: As the bailouts continue there, the protests continue here. My next guest says, 'what part of broke, don't these spoiled children understand?' Syndicated columnist Star Parker joins me now. So Star, they do seem like petulant little children. It's not fair to us, we hate Capitalism. (His words) Well, how about going out and trying to find a job instead?

And what would one of theses shows on Fox be if they didn't kowtow to Wall Street as well to try to explain their behavior to their viewers. It's not the bankers fault that they took all sorts of risks, over-leveraged themselves and crashed our economy and then tightened up lending standards where small businesses couldn't get loans after we bailed them out. No, the problem is they're over-regulated. Yeah, that's the ticket.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Please keep the Solidarity Pizzas coming. We're up to 22 cities and counting.)