Should employers have full access to your Facebook account?

In Soviet Russia, perhaps. There is no way this should be legal in the US.

Employers and colleges find the treasure-trove of personal information hiding behind password-protected accounts and privacy walls just too tempting, and some are demanding full access from job applicants and student athletes. In Maryland, job seekers applying to the state's Department of Corrections have been asked during interviews to log into their accounts and let an interviewer watch while the potential employee clicks through wall posts, friends, photos and anything else that might be found behind the privacy wall. Previously, applicants were asked to surrender their user name and password, but a complaint from the ACLU stopped that practice last year. While submitting to a Facebook review is voluntary, virtually all applicants agree to it out of a desire to score well in the interview, according Maryland ACLU legislative director Melissa Coretz Goemann.

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When the Super Tuesday polls close tonight

7pm ET
GA - Gingrich wins
VT - Romney wins
VA - Romney wins (he was only running against Ron Paul)

730pm ET
OH - Too close to call

8pm ET
TN - Santorum expected to win. This was not entirely expected
OK - too early, Santorum ahead
MA - Romney expected to win

10pm ET
ID

11pm ET
ND

AK

Huff Post's Mark Blumenthal tells us what to look out for:

"With all eyes focused on the closest Super Tuesday Republican primaries, such as those in Ohio and Tennessee, the most critical states for the all-important race for delegates may instead be Virginia, Massachusetts and Idaho -- states that receive relatively little attention but could provide Mitt Romney with a huge boost in convention delegates. Although much of the news coverage has focused until now on the symbolic importance of victories in early primary and caucus states, the Republican nomination battle now becomes mostly a fight to win the 1,144 convention delegates necessary to secure the Republican nomination."

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2 more advertisers drop Limbaugh, think we're up to 35 now

The complete list is in the next column over to this post. Read the rest of this post...

CNN on Limbaugh advertiser boycott (with a cameo by me)

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JC Penney drops Limbaugh now up to 33

The updated list is in the right column. Read the rest of this post...

2 more drop Limbaugh, Capital One and Downeast Energy

ThinkProgress has it. Read the rest of this post...

Netflix is 30th advertiser to drop Limbaugh

Via ThinkProgress. Read the rest of this post...

29 advertisers now have dropped Limbaugh

I'm searching for a definitive list.  It's a difficult thing to find.  I'm not entirely sure why.  But the latest reports are that 29 advertisers have now dropped Rush Limbaugh. Read the rest of this post...

Krugman on Cato integrity—they were "insufficiently hackish" for the Koch Bros

I can't resist: Schadenfreude, c'est moi. The Professor delivers the shiv:

Via Brad DeLong, I see that the Kochs are trying to take over Cato, which they view as insufficiently hackish.

They must have high standards in this regard; after all, Cato is, among other things, a place that had something called the Project on Social Security Privatization, which it renamed the Project on Social Security Choice when it turned out that “privatization” polled badly — and tried to purge its records, to make it look as if they had never used the word privatization.

There's more, of course, but why bother?

Is Cato a client state that sometimes does good work, and only sometimes?

Do you still need to ask?

GP Read the rest of this post...

Why is Rush Limbaugh still on Armed Forces Radio?

From VoteVets by email:

Yesterday, we sent this statement out from four female veterans who are members of VoteVets.org, regarding Rush Limbaugh’s recent statement that women who use birth control are “sl-ts”, calling for the American Forces Network to stop broadcasting him:

"Rush Limbaugh has a freedom of speech and can say what he wants, but in light of his horribly misogynistic comments, American Forces Network should no longer give him a platform. Our entire military depends on troops respecting each other - women and men. There simply can be no place on military airwaves for sentiments that would undermine that respect. When many of our female troops use birth control, for Limbaugh to say they are "sl-ts" and "prostitutes" is beyond the pale. It isn't just disrespectful to our women serving our country, but it's language that goes against everything that makes our military work. Again, we swore to uphold our Constitution, including the freedom of speech, and would not take that away from anyone - even Limbaugh. But that does not mean AFN should broadcast him. In fact, it shouldn't."

If Armed Forces Radio is such a believer in Free Speech do they permit David Duke a radio show too? Or is this just a free speech smokescreen? Read the rest of this post...

Ann Romney doesn't consider herself rich

This would probably be a good time to avoid talking about whether she's rich or not rich. Especially during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, pretending as though a $200+ million fortune isn't among the super elite of the US is obnoxious. How tone deaf are the Romneys? ABC News:

“We can be poor in spirit, and I don’t even consider myself wealthy, which is an interesting thing,” Ann Romney said in an interview on Fox News. “It can be here today and gone tomorrow.” Romney’s comment came during a discussion about her battle with Multiple Sclerosis, and specifically in response to a question from Fox’s Neal Cavuto about whether the Romneys are “oblivious, given your wealth, to the everyday concerns of average folks.” “How I measure riches,” Romney continued, “is by the friends I have and the loved ones I have and the people that I care about in my life, and that’s where my values are and that’s where my riches are.”

So is she also saying that she has no friends or loved ones? Read the rest of this post...

Crossing lines of conscience—Masaccio's open letter to the Obama Campaign

This will be the first of several posts — the start of a series — mapping out what I personally consider reasonable and unreasonable positions on the re-election of Barack Obama. Three things to note:

■ My goal is to help head off the intra-left tribal wars that marred the last campaign. We do not need a repeat, in my opinion.

■ I don't expect everyone who reads these posts to agree with all positions. Many positions will be mutually exclusive. But let's be smart about who we disagree with, and on what grounds. It's not just the position, it's the reason, that characterizes the reasoner.

■ I think the 2012 presidential campaign is probably over, so the Left Wars may be moot in any case. As soon as Romney secures the field, Movement Conservative Billionaires will likely see greater leverage in putting their big-money buys (sorry, campaign donations) into House and Senate races. If so, watch for a monumental flood, as presidential Super PAC dollars are freed up to overwhelm democracy in legislative contests. Goal: House & Senate in 2012.

Bottom line — Even if the presidential race is closely contested, not everyone who disagrees with you is evil, a bot-like beast. Only some of them are. Your humble correspondent (moi) would like to help you figure out who you might comfortably disagree with, and who you shouldn't. (I know: "Mommy, that man didn't say whom.")

So much for the meta; now the substance. There are a bunch of groups in the "Can't vote for Obama" camp; and a bunch in the "Must vote for Obama" camp. This post considers one group in one camp only. Other camps will get their due shortly.

Group 1 No — Crossing lines of conscience

Group 1 in the "Can't vote for Obama" crowd — no matter the other reasons for pulling that trigger — are those whose lines of conscience have been crossed.

I aim this at the people who say, "But President Santorum would take marching orders from Koch Bros Central." That's true; President Santorum would rule from Wichita (via its Wisconsin field office).

But there are those whose consciences are so offended (that's a war crimes link) that they cannot let themselves do one good thing for the perpetrator. Not one.

Unlike phony "consciences", these genuine cries of integrity must be honored, in my view, even if you tactically disagreed. You can fight a war, in other words, and still respect the Quakers.

Case in point, consider this cri de cœur from the writer Masaccio, addressed to Rufus Gifford, Obama Campaign Finance Director, who has been inundating our author with Hamburger-Today form letters. Masaccio finally writes back (my emphasis and some reparagraphing):

Rufus –

You and I have been carrying on an e-mail correspondence for some time now. You ask for money to help re-elect President Obama and hold out the possibility I might be selected to have dinner with the President. I e-mail back politely declining, usually with a brief explanation. ... [Then] Last Sunday, I got an e-mail noting that I haven’t donated, and asking me to answer a couple of questions about why. ...

[So] Let’s be clear. This isn’t 2008.

1. I won’t give any money.
2. I won’t make phone calls or travel to another state at my expense on election day to help out.
3. I haven’t decided how or whether to vote this November.*

Here’s the polite explanation. ...

Can you see where this is headed? Because Masaccio has a real-life background in securities fraud prosecution, he launches immediately into one of my favorite topics — Barack Obama, banking prosecutions, and the rule of law. After a sharp and brutal rundown of the banking crisis' history, Masaccio dryly notes:

Once we realized that legislators from both both parties in Congress were in bed with banksters and their sleazy lobbyists, it was hard to imagine decent legislation.

But I absolutely expected Obama to enforce the law. He didn’t. ... That’s a failure I can’t accept.

So, you see, I’d make a lousy dinner companion. ...

(About the last, by the way, I beg to differ.)

It seems for this writer, who was himself an Assistant Attorney General in Tennessee, the fact that Obama's Attorney General (note, not the nation's; Obama's) "can't find anyone to prosecute" despite "all the evidence collected by the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations" — well, for Masaccio that's one bridge too far, in another country, on Mars.

Masaccio remembers Rule of Law, and may not be able to vote for its opposite. So who is evil — Masaccio, or paid-off politicians who destroy this country by letting banksters skate?

As Hamlet once said, "Oft tis seen, the wicked prize itself buys out the law." And so here.

What did we learn today?

I offer for your consideration, Rule 1 in our soon-to-be-several rules list — People who can't vote for war criminals, or paid subverters of the rule of law, are not evil. Even when they disagree with your voting recommendation.

The evil lies somewhere else.

Bonus video

Because the world should be fun, I want to repost the video that Masaccio attached to his post. It's short, it's funny, and it's apropos of, oh, you-guess. The great Tom Lehrer:



"A man whose allegiance / Is ruled by expedience." Wonder what that could mean?

GP Read the rest of this post...

Sizable numbers of GOP voters in TN, GA, OH think Obama born abroad

This is the Limbaugh/Fox News factor at work. The slow dumbing down of the GOP. From PPP:

-In Tennessee only 33% of GOP primary voters think Barack Obama was born in the United States, while 45% do not.
-In Georgia 40% of Republican primary voters think Obama was born in the United States, while 38% do not.
-In Ohio 42% of Republican primary voters think Obama was born in the United States, while 37% do not.

PPP also reports that Limbaugh is dropping in popularity with GOP voters, especially women.

Here are the Twitter handles for some of yesterday's advertisers on Limbaugh's radio show. Please contact them and ask them if they agree with Limbaugh's depiction of women. Read the rest of this post...

Trial for former Iceland PM begins

Wouldn't it be interesting to see a member of the political class held accountable for the 2008 economic crisis? It's pathetic that not even a single banker in the US has been prosecuted. BBC News:

The trial of former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde, on charges of negligence over the 2008 financial crisis, has begun in Reykjavik. Mr Haarde is thought to be the first world leader to face criminal charges over the crisis. He rejects the charges as "political persecution" and has said he will be vindicated during the trial. The country's three main banks collapsed during economic turmoil and the failure of Icesave hit thousands.

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Is oil the new Greece?

That's what the latest report from HSBC claims. Clearly the impact of high oil prices will be damaging, especially in the US. With the recovery still very fragile, high gas prices will pinch consumers not to mention drive up shipping expenses. While much of this issue is beyond Obama's control, Bernanke's easy money (quantitative easing) policy is not helping. That program is keeping the dollar weak against other currencies and that translates into high oil prices. CNBC:

Rising oil prices have displaced Greece as a source of investor anxiety, a new HSBC report says, warning that if the trend of rising oil prices persists, a fragile economic recovery in the developed world could quickly be derailed, and inflation could return to emerging markets. Oil prices have risen to all-time highs in euro and sterling terms in recent days and are edging close to the $147 per barrel high seen in 2008, mainly as a result of rising tensions over Iran. HSBC Chief Economist Stephen King said in the report that sanctions against Iran have already led to supply shortages which have doubtless lifted oil prices.

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McCain wants war with Syria

Of course, he was also for war in Libya until Obama went along with the NATO plan. Then, he was against it. Give it another day and let's see where he stands.

Saying "the time has come for a new policy" in Syria, veteran Republican Senator John McCain called Monday for U.S.-led airstrikes on President Bashar al-Assad's forces in an effort to protect civilians from a bloody year-long crackdown by the regime. "The United States should lead an international effort to protect key population centers in Syria, especially in the north, through airstrikes on Assad's forces," McCain, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a speech on the Senate floor. "To be clear: This will require the United States to suppress enemy air defense in at least part of the country," said McCain, who has repeatedly called in recent weeks and months for a stepped-up U.S. effort to protect Syrian civilians.

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