The Tokyo Tea Party (shivers)

From Molly Ball in the Atlantic:

Aeba, one of the leaders of Japan’s right-wing Happiness Realization Party, was accompanied by Yuya Watase, the founder of the Tokyo Tea Party; their interpreter, a Happiness Realization Party official named Yuki Oikawa; and Bob Sparks, their American political consultant. Together, they said, they were on a mission to export American-style conservatism—the gospel of small government, low taxes, and free enterprise—to the Land of the Rising Sun.

The Tokyo Tea Party uses the same slogan as its American counterpart—“Taxed Enough Already”—and even goes by the same name (though I was assured that there was no danger of confusion with the traditional Japanese tea ceremony). Aeba’s Happiness Realization Party, meanwhile, is the political arm of a new-wave religious movement called Happy Science, whose founder claims to be a reincarnation of the Buddha. The Happies, as they are called, envision a Japan that is at once more muscular on the world stage—they propose eliminating the constitutional ban on waging war—and more religious at home. “The best analogy would be the Christian Coalition, Buddhist-style,” Sparks offered helpfully.

Yes, because that's what the world needs is a newly militaristic evangelical Japan. Read the rest of this post...

CNN's Zakaria: Europe suffers from too much austerity

I'm not saying that CNN's Fareed Zakaria is wrong. But after all of these years of the West, via the IMF, forcing developing countries to decimate their budgets and thus their economies, at the expense of their people, now that the tough love medicine is hitting too close to home, suddenly it's time to revisit the notion that there's no such thing as too much, or ill-timed, austerity.

Fareed Zakaria at CNN:

Consider that data we started with. The U.S. economy, which received monetary and fiscal stimulus, will grow at well over 2% this year. European economies that have followed the path of cutting spending and raising taxes to reduce deficits are finding themselves in a downward spiral: cutting spending means laying off people, which means less demand for good and services, which means the economy shrinks, which - ironically - means lower tax revenues and thus larger budget deficits.
Take a look at Britain. Britain has followed a brave austerity plan, cutting government spending across the board and raising taxes. The result, British growth has stalled; the economy will grow barely 0.8% this year. And while its budget deficit was predicted to be under 13 billion dollars in February, it was in fact 24 billion dollars for that month alone.
After its austerity programs, Spain has hit 20% unemployment - 50% youth unemployment - and now has a much larger budget deficit than projected.

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Video: Buster's box FAIL

This is quite adorable.

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TV Ads begin in campaign against NC's anti-gay Amendment 1

On May 8th, voters in North Carolina will decide the fate of Amendment One, a viciously anti-gay measure put on the ballot by the GOP nut jobs in the legislature. It's so poorly written that it will have an impact beyond same-sex couples. We've been writing about this campaign extensively at AMERICAblog Gay.

Actually, North Carolinians are already going to the polls. Early voting began last Thursday.

There's a broad, very active coalition of over 100 organizations, including the NAACP, fighting the amendment. And, here's been a groundswell of opposition to Amendment One, from unlikely sources. The CEO of Duke Energy, a fortune 500 company, blasted it -- as did the former GOP mayor of Charlotte, Richard Vinroot, who did a video against Amendment One with a former Democratic mayor of Charlotte, Harvey Gantt.

Last night, the campaign to defeat Amendment One held a conference call to discuss its t.v. ads, which began airing today.  On the call to discuss the ads and the strategy for the next two weeks were the media consultants, Mark Amour and Chad Griffin (who will soon be President of HRC), producer Dustin Lance Black and the pollster, Josh Ulibarri from Lake Research. Our side did some pretty intense research to figure out the messages that moved voters. And, these ads, according to testing, worked. One other thing, Dustin Lance Black said, with which I agree, is that before major donors go the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte and spend $100,000 on VIP parties and functions, they need to donate to defeat discrimination in NC now. After all, even President Obama is against Amendment One. 

Here are the ads from Protect All NC Families:

And:

The other side start airing its ads today, too. They are using the same consultant, Frank Schubert, from Prop. 8 and the Maine marriage campaign. So, we're expecting the usual lies (in fact, the leader of the anti-marriage side in Maine, who works for the Catholic Bishop, basically admitted his campaign lied in 2009, "We use a lot of hyperbole and I think that's always dangerous.")

The campaign against Amendment one is Protect All NC Families and the website is here. Already, the campaign has raised $600,000 online -- far more than expected. Thanks to everyone who made that happen. And, you can still donate to buy more air time here. 

The campaign is also running an aggressive field program, focusing on get-out-the-vote. And, there are lots of other allies doing their own outreach via radio and mail. More from North Carolinian Pam Spaulding on some of the grassroots efforts here.

If you family or friends there, urge them to vote early AGAINST Amendment One. And, if you live there, vote now.

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Romney spokesman made sexist and homophobic remarks about Mrs. Obama, Hillary Clinton

Would you expect anything less from the Republican nominee?

Interesting that we haven't heard boo from Mitt or Ann Romney.  You'll recall two weeks ago they were more than happy to talk non-stop about how they felt Democratic consultant Hilary Rosen had shown disrespect to women.  But when the Romney campaign's own spokesman - and mind you, Hilary Rosen doesn't even work for the Obama campaign, this guy does work for Romney - is found to have tried to cover up a series of sexist and homophobic comments about First Lady Michelle Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, and the wife of Romney's remaining serious (well, somewhat serious) opponent in the GOP primary, you don't hear boo from Mr. or Mrs. Romney.

Wonder why that is?  Maybe Mitt and Ann Romney don't care about women at all. We'll find out if they keep this spokesman on staff. Read the rest of this post...

Romney, flip flopper or "severe conservative"?

President Clinton is urging the Obama campaign to label Romney a "severe conservative," as Romney recently described himself, rather than focusing as much on the flip-flopper label.  The thought is that Romney is going to redefine himself to the middle for the general election, and this preempts him from doing that.

I've always been concerned that Romney's flip-flop nature would help him in the general election.  I've heard more than one Democrat or Independent say that Romney wouldn't be that bad a President since we all know he's "really" a liberal who's just pretending to be a conservative.  The thing is, how do we know that Romney wasn't simply pretending to be a liberal all those years he was in Massachusetts?  After all, what better beard for someone who wants to rise in Massachusetts politics?

And ultimately, that's the great danger of a Romney presidency.  It's not entirely clear whether he'd govern as a liberal Democrat or a "severe conservative," as he oddly, and comically, put it.  And while President Obama hasn't always been as wedded to his convictions as we'd like, Romney makes Obama look downright mono-maniacal.


More here. Read the rest of this post...

Trayvon, Zimmerman and a word about photos

By now we're probably all familiar with the iconic photos of Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman.  The one, undated, dressed in Hollister and looking all of 12 years old.  The other, just as undated, dressed in Gitmo orange, unshaven, wearing an earring, and looking a bit like an immigrant.

Then I saw another photo of Zimmerman leaving the courthouse this past weekend, and he looks nothing like goofy Gitmo guy.

It's interesting how photos influence our judgment.

Have we even seen a photo of what Travyon Martin looked like this year?

Why does it matter, you ask?  It mattered when everyone thought Trayvon looked like he was 12 in that ubiquitous undated photo. By looking 12, he looked all the more innocent, and the crime become all the more outrageous.  The sense of loss and outrage was greater.  But we never did find out when that undated photo was taken (I never could figure out why no one in the media simply asked his family).  And don't tell me that the Gitmo-esque faux mug-shot of Zimmerman didn't influence a few minds either.

Photos are magical.  But they don't always tell a truth. Read the rest of this post...

Lieberman declines to endorse in presidential race

We're supposed to be thankful that Senator Joe Lieberman is being less jerkish than usual.

Yeah, kind of like the way you're thankful your most recent flare up of herpes is milder than usual. It doesn't change your opinion of the underlying problem.

Lieberman is pompous, and worse, an ingrate. President Obama saved his behind when Democrats were ready to jettison Lieberman from the Dem caucus after his betrayal of endorsing McCain over Obama. And what thanks did President Obama get in return? Lieberman scuttled a last minute deal to improve health care reform.

Thanks Joe!

So this time, as thanks to Obama, Lieberman isn't endorsing the President's re-election, but rather sitting this one out.

Lieberman has been helpful on gay issues, and I'm thankful for that.  But on so much more, he's just so smug and arrogant.  I'm glad he helped us on Don't Ask, Don't Tell, but for the sake of the party, it'll be good to see him go. Read the rest of this post...

Flight of the Conchords: "It's Business Time"

With all this "sexytime" talk that icks out the Right, I want put a stake in the ground.

Here's what icks me out, and Flight of the Conchords puts a very fine point on it. Listen:



No plaid-shoed golfers were harmed in the making of that song.

The lyrics are a hoot. For example:

Oh yeah, that's right baby.
Tonight we're gonna make love.
You know how I know, baby?
Cause it's Wednesday.

And:

You know it's time for business
when I'm down to just my socks.
That's why they call it
business socks.

You don't want to miss the ending. Thanks, guys; nicely done.

GP

To follow on Twitter or to send links: @Gaius_Publius
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Usual two parties pass first round in French elections

In recent weeks there was a lot of talk about the left and the hard right making progress, but in the end it was the usual center-right and center-left who moved into the second (and final) round in France. The left did not fair as well as expected though the extreme right National Front gathered 20% of the vote, trailing the center-left and the center-right on Sunday. Some have suggested that Sarkozy will push to the right with the anti-immigration voters who strongly supported the extreme right though others believe his moves to the far right have done more harm than good. The Guardian:

Partial results from the beginning of the count showed Hollande Рa former Socialist party leader, rural MP and self-styled Mr Normal Рwith a clear lead at more than 28%, compared with Sarkozy on about 26%. Hollande's is one of the left's best ever results and will raise momentum for next month's final run-off. The Socialist party is seeking to return to the presidency for the first time since Fran̤ois Mitterrand's re-election in 1988. But Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum. The final runoff vote between Hollande and Sarkozy now depends on a delicate balance of how France's total of rightwing and leftwing voters line up.

A key point to note from Sunday's vote is that this was the first time since 1958 that the incumbent did not receive the most votes in the first round. Even though Sarkozy was not far behind Hollande, many consider the first round a defeat for the current president. Read the rest of this post...