Mississippi reviewing license plates that celebrates KKK leader

At least these knuckleheads aren't calling it the "War of Northern Aggression" this time. Christian redemption? Are they really playing that card?

A fight is brewing in Mississippi over a proposal to issue specialty license plates honoring Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Mississippi Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans wants to sponsor a series of state-issued license plates to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which it calls the "War Between the States." The group proposes a different design each year between now and 2015, with Forrest slated for 2014.

"Seriously?" state NAACP president Derrick Johnson said when he was told about the Forrest plate. "Wow."

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Mubarak could walk away with $2-$3 billion

If anyone is trying to figure out where the money went and why food is so expensive, this might offer a few clues. Why does the US and other countries tolerate this kind of theft? Of course, when we have presidents who are worth $100 million within ten years of leaving office we don't have too much room to talk. How do they get their money? NBC News:

If Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak is forced into exile, he is likely to have access to billions in assets. But if Egypt’s successor government tries to recover any of it, it will have a hard time, if history is any judge.

Estimates circulated inside the U.S. government, developed by various agencies, put Mubarak’s wealth at between $2 billion and $3 billion. How much of that total is outside of Egypt, and in what form, is uncertain. How much is recoverable is an even smaller fraction.

AP reported that some in Egypt believed Mubarak controlled $70 billion in assets, but U.S. officials dismissed that number as wildly exaggerated. They noted that Bill Gates, the richest man on the Forbes 400 list, is worth $53 billion.

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Somewhat harsh new Obama statement on Egypt

If you read between the lines, the President appears to be saying, publicly, that:

1. Mubarak lied to the Egyptian people about engaging in a transition of authority.
2. It's not clear Mubarak is serious about negotiating a deal.
3. Current govt proposals aren't credible or concrete, and appear to equivocate.

In diplomatic speak, this appears rather harsh to me (but good, and necessary).

Office of the Press Secretary
____________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 10, 2011
Statement of President Barack Obama on Egypt

The Egyptian people have been told that there was a transition of authority, but it is not yet clear that this transition is immediate, meaningful or sufficient. Too many Egyptians remain unconvinced that the government is serious about a genuine transition to democracy, and it is the responsibility of the government to speak clearly to the Egyptian people and the world. The Egyptian government must put forward a credible, concrete and unequivocal path toward genuine democracy, and they have not yet seized that opportunity.

As we have said from the beginning of this unrest, the future of Egypt will be determined by the Egyptian people. But the United States has also been clear that we stand for a set of core principles. We believe that the universal rights of the Egyptian people must be respected, and their aspirations must be met. We believe that this transition must immediately demonstrate irreversible political change, and a negotiated path to democracy. To that end, we believe that the emergency law should be lifted. We believe that meaningful negotiations with the broad opposition and Egyptian civil society should address the key questions confronting Egypt’s future: protecting the fundamental rights of all citizens; revising the Constitution and other laws to demonstrate irreversible change; and jointly developing a clear roadmap to elections that are free and fair.

We therefore urge the Egyptian government to move swiftly to explain the changes that have been made, and to spell out in clear and unambiguous language the step by step process that will lead to democracy and the representative government that the Egyptian people seek. Going forward, it will be essential that the universal rights of the Egyptian people be respected. There must be restraint by all parties. Violence must be forsaken. It is imperative that the government not respond to the aspirations of their people with repression or brutality. The voices of the Egyptian people must be heard.

The Egyptian people have made it clear that there is no going back to the way things were: Egypt has changed, and its future is in the hands of the people. Those who have exercised their right to peaceful assembly represent the greatness of the Egyptian people, and are broadly representative of Egyptian society. We have seen young and old, rich and poor, Muslim and Christian join together, and earn the respect of the world through their non-violent calls for change. In that effort, young people have been at the forefront, and a new generation has emerged. They have made it clear that Egypt must reflect their hopes, fulfill their highest aspirations, and tap their boundless potential. In these difficult times, I know that the Egyptian people will persevere, and they must know that they will continue to have a friend in the United States of America.

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BREAKING Mubarak not leaving: Mistakes were made; he promises to hold (other) people accountable

UPDATE 6:49 PM: Egyptian US embassy employee dead after being picked up by Egyptian security forces. It seems quite possible that the Obama administration is being tested, or at the very least a clear message may be being sent to any Egyptians who "help" the Americans. We don't know as of yet what exactly happened, but it doesn't look good.

UPDATE 6:06 PM: From CNN.... ElBaradei says Suleiman, Mubarak are "twins" -- "neither acceptable to the people."

UPDATE 5:36pm: Egypt's ambassador (to the US?) tells CNN that Mubarak has transferred his powers to the VP, who is now the "de facto president." Hmm... apparently Mubarak did make a vague reference to this in his speech. More from Foreign Policy, in an analysis entitled "Responding to the Worst Speech Ever":

It's hard to exaggerate how bad Hosni Mubarak's speech today was for Egypt. In the extended runup to his remarks, every sign indicated that he planned to announce his resignation: the military's announcement that it had taken control, the shift in state television coverage, a steady stream of leaks about the speech. With the whole world watching, Mubarak instead offered a meandering, confused speech promising vague Constitutional changes and defiance of foreign pressure. He offered a vaguely worded delegation of power to Vice President Omar Suleiman, long after everyone in Egypt had stopped listening. It is virtually impossible to conceive of a more poorly conceived or executed speech.

Omar Suleiman's televised address which followed made things even worse, if that's possible, telling the people to go home and blaming al-Jazeera for the problems. It solidified the already deep distrust of his role among most of the opposition and of the protestors, and tied his fate to that of Mubarak. Even potentially positive ideas in their speeches, such as Constitutional amendments, were completely drowned out by their contemptuous treatment of popular demands. Things could get ugly tonight --- and if things don't explode now, then the crowds tomorrow will be absolutely massive. Whatever happens, for better or for worse, the prospects of an orderly, negotiated transition led by Omar Suleiman have just plummeted sharply.

UPDATE 4 (from JOHN): Mubarak's speech on YouTube. He's nuts. Chastising those who sit in squares. The man has single-handedly taken an American people who generally considered Egypt one of the "good" Muslim countries, i.e., "moderate" government, nice place for tourism, and convinced us that he's a despot as bad as the Chinese. Amazingly bad job of handling this crisis. Then again, perhaps Mubarak doesn't care about world opinion, he likely cares more about holding on to power, and not being tried a la Saddam, if he loses power.



UPDATE 3: Suleiman is now speaking, and to my ears, issuing veiled threats. Oh well. I guess it's on.

Al Jazeera's live stream is here.

UPDATE 2: There's some confusion about what "transferring power" to Suleiman means. Clearly Sulieman's being positioned, but we knew that. Is Mubarak actually handing over power, or is this the cover story for "ain't gonna go"? I wouldn't make assumptions at this point.

UPDATE: The BBC story is here.
--------------------

Right. In other words, I ain't leaving.

Hosni Mubarak spoke on Egyptian television, with simulcast on several U.S. networks. He said he is addressing the "youth" of Egypt, expressing respect for their "just demands". He will hold accountable those who made "mistakes" — this, he says, is out of his "conviction" — and promised not to run for another term.

Interesting. This almost guarantees that the pressure will continue. As I wrote earlier, this stubborn obstinacy is probably a good thing. It's less likely that an unacceptable compromise will be achieved if one of the parties is uncompromising.

The next move is the army's (will they continue to crack down on the protesters?); and Wael Ghonim's; and Mohamed ElBaradei's.

Video as it becomes available.

Freedom is a long road, folks. Egypt is providing a lesson to us all.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Enquirer alleges Boehner sex scandal

Before you mock them, they were right about John Edwards. Read the rest of this post...

CNN interview with Ghonim: 'No longer time to negotiate'

As we wait for news from Hosni Mubarak, here's the interview given by Wael Ghonim, the on-leave Google executive and Egyptian activist, on CNN's Parker-Spitzer program. First, the CNN report:

Wael Ghonim, the Egyptian activist hailed by many fellow protesters as a hero, had a message Wednesday for his country's leaders: "If you are true Egyptians, if you are heroic Egyptians, it's time to step down."

Ghonim, who was freed Monday after being held by Egyptian authorities for 10 days, said it is "no longer the time to negotiate" with the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"There's a lot of blood now" that has been spilled, he said. ... Human Rights Watch said Tuesday 302 people had been killed in the Egyptian protests -- 232 in Cairo, 52 in Alexandria and 18 in Suez. "A lot of times, the policeman would stand on the bridge and shoot people down," Ghonim said. "This is a crime. The president need to step down because this is a crime."

Ghonim said the "Facebook revolution" was planned:

Ghonim played a key role in organizing the protests that have convulsed Egypt for more than two weeks. He was the administrator of a Facebook page that is widely credited with calling the first protest January 25. "The plan was to get everyone onto the street," he said. "Number one was that we are going to start from poor areas."

Very smart. At one point, he publicly challenged Omar Suleiman, the Mubarak-installed VP: "Kidnap me, kidnap all my colleagues! Put us in jail! Kill us! Do whatever you want to do. We are getting back our country. You guys have been ruining this country for 30 years. Enough! Enough! Enough!"

Here's the video, courtesy of CNN. It's a stunning interview:



Meanwhile, there are reports that the military is moving against the protesters. This doesn't mean they are pro-Mubarak — just that they may be asserting their own control.

The Egyptian military is complicated (our analysis is here). The lower ranks are strongly populist; the upper ranks are among the greatest beneficiaries of the current organization of the country (though not the greatest friends of the rulers). Did you know the military owns shopping malls?

It will be interesting to see what Ghonim and ElBaradei do if the military moves into a post-Mubarak vacuum. More as it develops.

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Strikes in Egypt spread to transportation workers

The government is showing no signs of leaving but the protesters aren't either.

Strikes also have erupted in a breadth of sectors — among railway and bus workers, state electricity staff and service technicians at the Suez Canal, in factories manufacturing textiles, steel and beverages and hospitals. Protest organizers have made a concerted effort to bring labor movements into the protests.

On Thursday, hundreds of doctors in white coats marched down a street from the Qasr el-Aini hospital to Tahrir, chanting "Join us, O Egyptian," witnesses said.

From another direction, crowds of lawyers in black robes marched from their union to the square, waving Egyptian flags and chanting "Mubarak, you pilot, how did you get $70 billion?" — a referring to the president's past as the air force commander.

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Report: Egyptian military 'involved in detention and torture'

We heard as much the other day from the Al Jazeera reporter as well as from the Google exec who was released. At this point it's not possible for the US government to speak out against such practices due to recent events. The Guardian:

The Egyptian military has secretly detained hundreds and possibly thousands of suspected government opponents since mass protests against President Hosni Mubarak began, and at least some of these detainees have been tortured, according to testimony gathered by the Guardian.

The military has claimed to be neutral, merely keeping anti-Mubarak protesters and loyalists apart. But human rights campaigners say this is clearly no longer the case, accusing the army of involvement in both disappearances and torture – abuses Egyptians have for years associated with the notorious state security intelligence (SSI) but not the army.

The Guardian has spoken to detainees who say they have suffered extensive beatings and other abuses at the hands of the military in what appears to be an organised campaign of intimidation. Human rights groups have documented the use of electric shocks on some of those held by the army.

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VIDEO: Very young girl explains Egypt (very cool)

From Nina's dad:

We never expected this video to become so popular. This was just our latest video of Nina in her day to day life. We are not political pundits. The information Nina is sharing here comes from an Asahi Shimbun Newspaper article about the situation in Egypt. Nina saw the picture in the newspaper and asked about it and her mother explained the content of the article to her in Japanese. Then, the next day, Nina saw a similar picture in my English newspaper and started to explain what she had learned in English, so I grabbed my video camera.

We are flattered by all the kind comments, but just wanted to set that record straight.

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BBC: Mubarak may step down today

First Jon Kyle, now Mubarak. What's next, Michele Bachmann? Read the rest of this post...

Politico: GOP Sen. Kyl (R-AZ) to announce retirement

He's uber-conservative. No more details yet. He's going to have a press conference. Read the rest of this post...

Robert Reich: Stop kidding yourself, Mr. President

Agreed, but Democrats also need to stop kidding themselves into thinking Obama has any interest in changing this dysfunctional corporatist system. With the revolving door between Washington and Wall Street as active as it's ever been, there's no sign of reforming our broken system. Whether it's White House economists departing for million dollar Wall Street jobs, members of Congress and their staff jumping ship to make more money as lobbyists or generals retiring and then stepping into lucrative jobs with defense contractors, there's not much hope of finding enough people to vote for and deliver the changes required. Americans all too often like to point the finger overseas when they talk about corruption, but we needn't look beyond our own border. We are the new banana republic.

Robert Reich:

He said his administration will "help lay the foundation for you to grow and innovate," by eliminating "barriers that make it harder for you to compete - from the tax code to the regulatory system," and by completing more trade deals.

In return, the president said he wants businesses to hire more Americans. "Many of your own economists and salespeople are now forecasting a healthy increase in demand. So I want to encourage you to get in the game," he said. "And as you hire, you know that more Americans working means more sales, greater demand and higher profits for your companies. We can create a virtuous cycle."

Virtuous cycle? American businesses are doing quite nicely as it is. Their profits are soaring. And one reason they're doing so well is they're holding down costs, especially payrolls. So why would they ever agree to add more workers now?

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Egyptian government: protests are the fault of Al Jazeera

So rampant corruption, high unemployment and staggering inflation that makes buying food increasingly difficult has nothing to do with the protests. Uh huh. And the US is going to support this regime for how much longer?

When in doubt, blame the media.

Egypt's newly appointed vice president, Omar Suleiman, told Egyptian newspaper editors on Tuesday that "certain satellite channels" are provoking the protesters and insulting Egypt.

A week earlier, Suleiman said: "I blame some friendly countries who own unfriendly channels that have fueled the youth against the country by lying and showing the situation as worse than it is."

While he hasn't named Al-Jazeera outright, it is clear to Egyptians whom Suleiman has in mind, and such comments have served as a clear signal to the regime and its supporters to hit back at the network.

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French far right praises British PM for attacking multiculturalism and immigration

If you put aside the posh accent and better manners, the differences are not that great. The UK has a much greater problem with xenophobia than France yet somehow they think that more criticism of immigrants is the answer. The Guardian:

Marine Le Pen was elected to lead the National Front last month. She claimed the prime minister's speech on the failures of multiculturalism showed he was taking Britain's Conservatives towards her stance on the issue. "It is exactly this type of statement that has barred us from public life [in France] for 30 years," she told the Financial Times. "I sense an evolution at European level, even in classic governments. I can only congratulate him."

Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, was among European leaders listening to Cameron's speech in Munich at the weekend. He is accused of having played into the hands of rightwing extremists by talking of the failings of multiculturalism within hours of one of the biggest anti-Islam rallies ever staged in Britain.

Cameron called for a new "muscular liberalism", promoting British values and national identity. A policy of "passive tolerance" had only served to encourage Islamist extremism, he argued.

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UK coalition showing signs of stress as banker bonus plan falters

For months there was a lot of talk among the Tory-Lib Dem government about taking action against the outrageous bonuses for bankers. In the end, the Tories realized who owned their 2010 campaign success and they backed off. One leading Lib Dem spoke out yesterday against the failure and stood down in disgust. Will others follow or will it be business as usual for politicians? The banks are counting on business as usual, which is probably a good bet.

George Osborne's efforts to end the war on bankers are crumbling as Vince Cable, the business secretary, said he was still determined to end "unjustified and outrageous" salaries in the sector and his Liberal Democrat ally Lord Oakeshott left his party's frontbench after damning the government's attempts to curb bonuses.

Oakeshott, who was not in the government but spoke for the junior coalition partner on Treasury matters in the Lords, stood down shortly after he criticised officials working on the government's deal with the bankers and said: "If this is robust action on bank bonuses, my name's Bob Diamond."

Bob Diamond is of course the American banker who is now the official CEO of Barclays Bank. Diamond has proven himself to be perhaps the most arrogant of all bankers, dismissing all criticism and proclaiming the time for "remorse and apology" was over for the banks. Diamond is rumored to have pocketed over $12 million in bonus money this year and well over $90 million in the past five years. Barclays, you might remember, borrowed heavily from the US Federal Reserve to help keep itself afloat during the crisis. Read the rest of this post...

Should Obama be giving a rescue plan to states in trouble?

If you look at how easy Obama went on Wall Street and then how they responded with millions in cash to the GOP, this move doesn't look good. Then consider how Texas used the federal stimulus cash to cover 97% of the state deficit and how Perry and the state GOP bashed the stimulus. It's hard not to feel compassion for those suffering in states run by complete goons but at the same time, this feels like another loser for Obama. Without concessions from the GOP governors for supporting his agenda or even getting them to scream "uncle" in public, it's hard to see this as anything other than a winner for the GOP governors.

Obama needs to learn how to play hardball with the Republicans but it's doubtful he ever will. At this point it's obvious that he doesn't have the stomach for confrontation. Meanwhile, it's almost as though he has a sign on his back that says "kick me" and the GOP (who put it there) are happy to oblige. If those states bounce back, the governor takes credit. It's important that those states do bounce back though it's also important that any policies from Obama are given proper credit. It doesn't seem likely that that would happen with any Republican. This doesn't pass the smell test.

President Obama is proposing to ride to the rescue of states that have borrowed billions of dollars from the federal government to continue paying unemployment benefits during the economic downturn. His plan would give the states a two-year breather before automatic tax increases would hit employers, and before states would have to start paying interest on the loans.

The proposal, which administration officials said would be included in the 2012 budget that the president is scheduled to unveil next week, was greeted coolly by Republicans on Capitol Hill, who warned that the plan would ultimately force many states to raise their unemployment taxes in the years to come.

But the White House is calculating that the proposal will ultimately appeal to Republicans because it involves a tax moratorium right now for hard-hit states during a still-fragile economic recovery.

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