BIS report: test financial products like drugs

Oh the junkies on Wall Street won't like this. They'll be begging for one last fix before being sent to the methadone clinic for Stimulus Part II. Reuters:

Financial products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe to prevent a repeat of last year's financial meltdown, the world's central bankers said on Monday.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which acts as a forum for central banks, said government efforts to revive the global economy might have only a temporary impact because banks are not being pushed hard enough to fix their underlying problems.

Banks' lending and other practices, including the approval of risky mortgages in the United States, led the global economy into the worst recession in decades.

Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Jared Polis on DOMA and that DOMA brief

Congress is in recess, so Rep. Polis was in his district today, not at the White House party. For those who don't know him yet, Polis is an openly gay, first-term Democrat from Colorado. He's the first openly gay man to run and win a US House seat as an openly gay man right from the start (as opposed to coming out after being elected.) It only took til 2008 for that to happen.

Chuck Todd interviewed Polis on Hardball tonight about Obama and gay issues. I found the DOMA segment particularly interesting. Polis made it quite clear that the problem was the DOMA brief. Polis explained, as we and many others have explained, that the Obama administration didn't have to defend the law and certainly didn't have to respond in the way they did:


Polis is a new generation of gay leader. We need a new generation of gay leaders. We also do need to build the political will to repeal DOMA -- at the White House and on the Hill, starting with our Democratic allies.

Polis was pretty clear. But, this is what confuses me about the Obama administration: Shortly before the President gave another great speech today, his press secretary couldn't seem to give clear information on action being taken by the administration. As Pam put it:

While the VIP LGBTs were waiting for the President to meet and greet, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs was taking a pummeling today at the daily presser about the inaction of the administration regarding several LGBT issues on the back burner. Clearly it's more than just the "whining homos" wondering why the President talks a good game but seems quite passive about doing anything concrete. Gibbs does his usual song and dance saying the Pentagon and Congress have to be involved, but that the President hasn't met with the people in the Pentagon or Congress. Sounds like a circular reference to me.

Read the transcript in Pam's post. Confusing, at best. What we've seen over the past few months is that when the Obama administration wants something, everyone knows they want it -- from the traditional media to the Hill to the Cabinet Departments involved. Read the rest of this post...

Lindsey Graham: The GOP's new 'it' guy?

Please let it be Lindsey. Please let Lindsey be the GOP's new "it" guy. Please. Political Wire reports:

Jonathan Martin and Chris Cilliza rave about "an inspired performance" on Meet the Press by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) yesterday.

From Cillizza:

Does one solid performance on a Sunday show mean that Graham is the new "it" guy for the GOP? No. But the notoriously private Graham seemed to signal on Sunday that he is ready to take more of a leadership role.

"I can be a leader on an issue, quite frankly," Graham told MTP host David Gregory at one point.

Yes, you can, Lindsey. Don't let anyone in the GOP hold you back. You go. Read the rest of this post...

Madoff receives top limit in sentencing - 150 years in prison

Sounds like the judge would have given 500 years if that was an option and rightly so. There still so much more to this story including the possibility of a few "lucky" investors who somehow managed to rake in healthy increases of nearly 1000% in a year when others were receiving the normal 10-12%. Crazy odds...maybe a little too crazy. And the crowd roared.

Cheers erupted as a federal judge sentenced swindler Bernard Madoff to 150 years in prison Monday, calling his claims less than compelling.

U.S. District Judge Denny Chin said Madoff's breach of trust was massive, and that he lied to investors and to the SEC to buy homes, yachts and pay country club fees. He called the maximum sentence symbolic to those who might imitate the fraud and to the victims seeking relief.

"Here the message must be sent that Mr. Madoff's crimes were extraordinarily evil and that this kind of manipulation of the system is not just a bloodless crime that takes place on paper, but one instead that takes a staggering toll," Chin said.

"Not a single letter was submitted in support of Madoff," Chin said. "Not friends, not family. That is telling."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs is talking about the message this sends to the market but hell, how about sending a message from the White House? Obama wants others to get their hands dirty cleaning up this mess but he's too willing to take a pass. How pathetic is it that a judge takes more of a stand against Wall Street than a president who ran on the theme of "change"? Is Obama really that timid and afraid to confront such clear abuse? Read the rest of this post...

Obama and the big gay party

Well, it's over.

The President gave his speech to the big gay A-listers at the White House (well, minus those who were blacklisted). Boy, that crowd was really into it. They clapped wildly when he said the words, "gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender." Just because he said the words. Even though Bill Clinton said those words - what? - 17 years ago?

Also, your president wants you to know that unjust laws must be overturned. Some day. The crowd loved that one too. One might forget that the Obama administration defended the Defense of Marriage Act law recently. They not only defended it, they defended it in a way that demeaned and mocked same-sex marriages by invoking incest and pedophilia. But never mind.

Obama also told us that some would deny us full equality. Um, that would include him. He doesn't support marriage equality -- and his words are being used against our efforts to achieve those rights. But again, never mind.

The President tells us that he's looking for a "practical" solution to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. (We've also heard the solution has to be "durable" or "sustainable.") But, it has to be an Act of Congress. It really really really really has to be an Act of Congress and not a stop-loss order that could achieve the same thing by executive order immediately. It's too bad that in the meantime two gay service men and women are kicked out every day. But hey, we're a nation at war. And, for some reason it means that we should have fewer, and not more, Arabic linguists. See, we're going to continue to ruin the lives of people who want to serve their nation, but, in the long run, that's okay. Because we're perpetually at war. But, someday we'll have a "practical" or "durable" or "sustainable" solution. Although, it is funny how how "practical" and "durable" and "sustainable" weren't talking points on DADT during the campaign. (Search for those terms in Senator Obama's Statement on Don't Ask Don't Tell from November 2007.) They sure are now that Obama is dragging his feet on every major campaign promise to the gay community.

All in all, the president gave a very eloquent speech. But, you know what, we've heard those speeches already. He's the president now, not some candidate. He can do more than talk. And so far, he's chosen not to, and made up some pretty flimsy excuses to justify his action. And, while many of the so-called gay "leaders" in the East Room may be assuaged and bought off by the promise of champagne and a heartfelt "God bless you" from the man who promised much, lots more people are mad as hell and starting to think they're being taken for a ride.

The people are way ahead of their leaders on these issues -- both their gay and their elected leaders.

For some background on why we're in this situation, read my post, Democrats and Political Homophobia, which reads, in part:

Political homophobes aren't gay-hating in the traditional sense. In fact, publicly, most are strong supporters of LGBT equality. But, behind closed doors, many Democratic leaders, consultants, Hill staffers and the rest will vociferously argue that there is no political benefit to actually supporting LGBT rights. Political homophobia is rampant among some Democrats. In some ways, it's worse than blatant homophobia, since we think most Democrats are on our side. And outwardly, they are.

Political homophobia dictates policy in DC more than we'd like to think.

Read the rest of this post...

Today's taste of Sweden

Jane Hamsher and I just went to watch Huff Post editor (and friend) Katharine Zaleski talk at the Swedish political conference we've been invited to attend this week. The moderator was from a conservative paper, and had a bit of an issue with HuffPo being liberal. She also didn't understand why the American press focused on Obama's dog, as if this were a sign of the press' liberal bias. (They focused on Bush's dog too.)

Anyway, our panel is on Thursday, but we're also going to be meeting up with Swedish bloggers and other politicos this week to share what we know about using the Internet for politics. I hope to meet some people involved in gay politics here as well.



A lot of Stockholm is on the water. The city reminds you of so many other European cities - like Amsterdam (the waterfront buildings), Venice (the church silhouettes), Rome (the colors), and even Vienna.



The other thing that Stockholm makes me think of is some of the master European paintings of old. The way the sun hits the buildings, the colors, the shadows, and even the rooftops. This rooftop above made think of this famous painting by Caillebotte.



I mean, look at these colors. This is simply an alleyway.



Swede's taking in that all-important sun along the water in Stockholm.



There's a rather nice town square with a huge fountain in the middle of town, near the culture center - this is where the Iran protest took place (see below).



Iran protest.



Big maritime country.



I love the duck keeping up with the canoe.



Just wonderful light and shadow everywhere.



From really high up, we all look like Swedes.



Same photo, upside down.



And finally, this is kind of a cliché, as photos go, but I still always like it. Read the rest of this post...

Are you a good coup or a bad coup?

I found myself reading the International Herald Tribune over breakfast, saw "Coup in Honduras," and thought "that can't be good." Then I read the article and started having a different point of view.

Yes, coups are bad. Bad coup, BAD coup. Except in this case, where the president of Honduras was an ally of Hugo Chavez, and was trying to set himself up for an illegal second term, in violation of a court order and ruling by the country's congress. The military refused to go along with the president's plans to, in essence, have his own coup, so they staged their own.

That's a lot messier than "coup in Honduras" might suggest.

Obama's reaction has been carefully pro-democracy, and understandably. It's not like we want to support a Chavez ally, but at the same time, we really don't want Latin America to start adopting the coup solution that was so prevalent over the last half century.

So what do you do? Read the rest of this post...

DC political fundraiser for former ThinkProgress blogger & Hillary staffer Judd Legum

Judd Legum (MD-HD-30)
$

From Judd:

Just wanted to remind you that there is an event this Monday with John Podesta in support of my campaign for Maryland State Delegate.

This is an absolutely critical event for our campaign. This campaign is about bringing new energy and new progressive ideas to Annapolis. But my likely Republican opponent, Ron George, sells diamonds for a living and self-financed a good portion of his last campaign. So it's essential that we have a strong financial position to compete.

(You can read my likely GOP opponent's latest fundraising missive -- featuring yours truly -- on the Republican Women of Anne Arundel County website, a group that has recently been the national news for comparing Obama to Hitler. Several local Republicans have had their names to be removed from the website but George's remains.)

I really hope you can make it to Monday's event. Tickets start at just $50.
When: Monday, June 29 from 6:30PM to 8:30PM.

Where: Local 16. 1602 U St. NW, Washington, DC 20009

The best thing to do is to buy your tickets in advance at http://www.actblue.com/page/podesta629. (Alternatively, you can purchase your ticket at the door by cash or check.)

You can also help by blogging, tweeting or Facebooking the info about the event.

If you aren't in the area or can't make it, I hope you'll still consider purchasing a ticket to support the campaign. I promise I'll make these the hardest working dollars you've ever spent.

Also, feel free to donate to Judd's campaign via our ActBlue page we set up for him - all the money goes to Judd's campaign. Read the rest of this post...

Obama team hints at second stimulus

Will it be needed? Probably. Will Americans or Congress who runs for reelection support it? Not so sure. If the Obama administration had focused more on getting a fair deal out of Wall Street it might not be as much of a struggle but they didn't. They caved too often and then Wall Street didn't know when to stop thumbing their nose at the public as they lavished rich bonuses and pay on themselves. A collective "go to hell" from voters is waiting ahead and Obama along with Wall Street have only themselves to blame.

NOTE FROM JOHN: Let me add another point. We're seeing in recent polls that support for the initial stimulus is sinking. As I've written previously, that is due, in part, to the administration's know-it-all hubris. They didn't need friends and allies to pass the stimulus plan initially, so they thought, and they don't need to justify that plan to anyone after the fact. Unless, of course, they want to have a second plan, then they might just want to actually defend the first one at some point before it's all too late.

Reuters:

U.S. officials and private economists forecast a gradual resumption of growth in the second half of the year. But they warn that unemployment will continue to climb for a while, even after the recession has ended.

This has generated talk about a second stimulus package. Obama said during a press conference last week that it was too soon to say if this was the case.

Investors are wary of more government aid on top of a record U.S. budget deficit, and Republicans slam Democrat Obama for what they say is typical liberal tax and spending.

Too soon, perhaps, but that hasn't stopped them from floating this idea. Clearly they are preparing the ground for this next intervention yet they won't have any friends left by the time it's necessary. Republican protests are a joke since they didn't even think their economy needed help nor was in a recession. Even so, they will control the discussion when the economy softens again in the second half. It's unfortunate that Obama has done so poorly with reaching out to those within his own party because if they need to push a second stimulus, he's going to struggle finding friends out there. Read the rest of this post...

A note to our dear gay leaders

I'm so proud of our gay leaders today. Getting all spiffed up to go to the White House and "deliver our president a message."

That'll be the day.

Oh, I'm sure, in the 8 minutes or so that a small select handful of those present will be shuffled into a private ante-room to meet the president, they'll tell him things like "people were hurt" or "people were disappointed." (The overwhelming rest of the invitees will get a whopping 0.5 seconds to deliver their "stern" message to the president as he's shaking their hand and looking to the next person).

Obama knows we're hurt and disappointed. Telling him that we have families too, with him nodding, Clinton-like, perhaps even biting his lip to show that he too feels our pain, will accomplish absolutely nothing. The message that our leaders need to send President Obama is that we're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore.

If any of our leaders want to deliver a real message to the president, try asking him any of these questions - you can say it's from one of our leaders who was a big Obama supporter during the campaign, raised $50,000 for the president, and then was banned from attending:

1. Our lawyers say you didn't have to support DOMA in court at all, you could have opposed it if you actually felt that our civil rights were important enough. When are you going to oppose DOMA in court and start following through on your promise to push for its repeal?

or

2. Comparing our marriages to pedophilia and incest? Our community expects an apology, why have you refused to give one?

or

3. Two gay service members are being discharged a day under Don't Ask Don't Tell. You could stop the discharges right now by issuing a stop-loss order. You refuse to, giving some BS explanation about wanting a legislative fix. Yeah, we all want a legislative fix. What does that have to do with the fact that you have the power to stop this travesty now, as you promised, and you refuse to?

4. You didn't include health benefits in that memo for federal employees you signed last week. You claimed DOMA wouldn't let you. Our lawyers say that's BS. You can provide health benefits to, for example, domestic partners. Tell us the real reason that you're treating gay federal employees as separate but unequal to straight federal employees?

Yes, if you ask my questions you might not get an invite back for more canapé next year. But you might just actually make a difference. That is why you're all going, right? Read the rest of this post...

South Carolina GOPers want Sanford to quit

I do love reading The State these days. One of the updates from the Sanford scandal is that some prominent South Carolina Republicans want the Governor to quit -- and they're already planning the succession:

Some Republican state lawmakers are privately saying they want Republican Gov. Mark Sanford to step down — of his own volition — this week.

Meanwhile, Sanford has spent portions of the last few days phoning key lawmakers and Republican Party activists, apologizing for his affair with an Argentinian woman that left him out of touch with his staff and other state leaders for the better part of a week.

On another note, a source close to Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer said Sunday that Bauer has approached members of the Senate to discuss the possibility that, if Sanford resigns, Bauer would only serve the remainder of the governor’s term, focusing on job creation, and would not run for governor in 2010 as Bauer had originally intended.

“(Lawmakers) have given (Sanford) 72 hours of breathing room,” said Katon Dawson, immediate past chairman of the state Republican Party, who said he has spent the last few days playing referee between lawmakers who want the governor out and those who want to give him another chance. “But I think, early next week, their patience will run out.”

I hope the patience doesn't run out too soon. And, I hope Mark Sanford won't give in. Let it drag out. This is too much. Read the rest of this post...

Supreme Court finds white firefighters were "unfairly denied promotions" in New Haven case

A major, but not completely unexpected decision, in an employment case today from the Supreme Court. Judge Sotomayor was on the Circuit Court panel whose decision was overturned, which means we'll hear endless discussion about this decision:

The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said Monday in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.

The ruling could alter employment practices nationwide, potentially limiting the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities.

"Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer's reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions," Justice Anthony Kennedy said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

This decision will be the focus of a lot of spin today and for the next several weeks. Republicans have been looking for a line of attack on Sotomayor -- and may try to make this case a bigger issue. As far as I can tell, Sotomayor and her colleagues on the Court of Appeals were following precedence in their decision. Today, the Supreme Court changed the precedent and the interpretation of federal employment law. Read the rest of this post...

A message for those LGBT "leaders" going to the Big Gay White House Party

For any gay A-lister who may be going to the White House party on Monday; Get a good look at the picture below. The man's name is Victor Fehrenbach. He's being kicked out of the military because of Don't Ask, Don't Tell -- under Commander-in-chief Barack Obama (who promised to end Don't Ask, Don't Tell.) Fehrenbach wasn't invited by the White House directly. Servicemebers Legal Defense Network is bringing him as its guest to the party on Monday. (SLDN had the protest in front of the White House on Saturday.)

Lt. Col. Fehrenbach better meet the President.

Now, we keep hearing that the noble people who are going on Monday are planning to talk about issues and really let the White House know we've got problems. That's BS. Many of them had a chance two weeks ago in the Oval Office to tell the president what they thought, and how many of those groups let him have it? This is a show-off event for the star-f*ckers, and it's a chance for the Obama administration to use our community's "leaders" for some much-needed CYA. They'll show the world how much they really do love the gays, after all, they gave them champagne! The White House is taking full advantage of this.

But, Lt. Col. Fehrenbach isn't a star-f*cker, and he's probably not somebody the White House wants to see at all.

Lt. Col. Fehrenbach actually has a message for the President about Don't Ask, Don't Tell. It's a message the President needs to hear -- so Fehrenbach better be able to deliver it. When Obama enters the room, everyone else clear away. Our "leaders" need to make sure Fehrenbach meets Obama. It'll be very ugly if the A-list gays all swarm Obama and the one person who actually has a message for the president, the one person who isn't there to suck up and sell out our community, isn't able to deliver it. That would be a big problem and will tarnish the reputations of everyone who prevents it from happening. Got that, A-list gays?

We're watching.

Read the rest of this post...

Hugo Chavez suggests invading Honduras after coup

That ought to help a bad situation improve quickly. There's nothing quite like the loony Chavez getting involved in a problem. He's about as calming as George Bush. The Independent:

Honduras was plunged into a political crisis that threatened to spill across the region hours after President Manuel Zelaya was thrown out by the army and exiled to Costa Rica prompting his leftist ally in Venezuela, President Hugo Chavez, to threaten military intervention.

In the first successful military coup in Central America since the end of the Cold War, the army sent masked soldiers into the presidential palace before dawn. The President, who was in dispute with his military about a planned constitutional referendum, was then escorted to a military plane which took him into exile.

Mr Chavez went on state television later in the day claiming that the coup leaders had taken away the Cuban ambassador to Honduras and left the Venezuelan ambassador by the road in the capital, Tegucigalpa, after beating him. He said that if troops enter his embassy "that military junta would be entering a de facto state of war," and "we would have to act militarily".

Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

Congress is in recess until July 6. If you have anything to say to your member of Congress, do it over the next week. When Senators and Representatives are here in DC, they are treated like royalty. People fawn over them. But, when they're back home, they're just retail politicians -- and they need your votes. So, for example, if you want the public option in health care reform, tell them this week. Call the local offices. Attend a town hall meeting if there is one. Show up at the Fourth of July parade. Almost nothing freaks out Capitol Hill staffers more than the boss coming back to Washington after a trip home with a report on what constituents are saying. It's one of the few things that can trump the high-powered lobbyists.

Today is the big gay party at the White House to celebrate Stonewall. LGBT "leaders" have been tripping over themselves to get invited. But, no worries. Everyone who is going is really going so they can tell the President that he really needs to address LGBT issues. Yes, that's why everyone is going. More on this later...

Let's get it started.... Read the rest of this post...

Property bubble building in China

So far during this global recession, Beijing has moved quickly to pump billions into the economy to keep it flowing. Their rescue plan was focused on modifying the export based economy into an inward looking economy while the global recession passes. To a large degree it's worked. Exports are down, obviously, but the government has managed to keep growth at a relatively high level though maybe not as high as required to keep up with the always heavy influx of new workers. Their own stimulus may be running out of gas and it's highly probably they will need to act again because it's wishful thinking to believe Western consumers will come back in the near term. China has the money to invest internally but still, it's a stress and a radical change from the export bubble economy.

With that background, now China may be looking at yet another bubble. A real estate bubble which of course, means problems for banks as well. Facing one bubble is challenging enough but another?

Wei Jianing, a senior researcher at the State Council Development & Research Centre, was quoted as saying that nearly half of China's newly created liquidity has been circulating in the financial system instead of flowing into the real economy to support growth, thus pushing up asset prices.

"There have already appeared some new early indications of asset price bubbles in China," Wei was quoted as telling a conference.

The newspaper also quoted Cheng Siwei, an influential former Chinese lawmaker, as saying that about 2.4 trillion yuan ($351 billion) of new lending in the first quarter of this year was used for investment purposes, including stock and property investment.

Read the rest of this post...

World central bankers report: bank debt will slow recovery

The problems in the banking world are not over quite yet. In reality that doesn't really mean the banks themselves are in trouble - they remain untouchable - but the taxpayers who saved their sorry asses from ruin are in trouble. The bankers have made sure they win regardless of performance and aren't very interested in the "we're all in this together" spirit that others had when they rescued them. Other than total failure like Lehman, what does it take for them to understand? Even at Lehman, the top few people walked away with millions in bonus money even after going bust. It's unfortunate but there's no reason why any of the banks should be helped when they run into trouble next time.

In their latest quarterly financial services survey, the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) say many parts of the sector expect business volumes to rise in the next quarter after 21 months of falls. But despite these early signs of optimism, Ian McCafferty, the CBI's chief economic adviser, cautioned that banking remains "under pressure".

"Conditions remain challenging, particularly for the banks. Although demand looks like it is beginning to recover, it is doing so from a very low base. We can still expect lower profitability, significant job losses and cuts to investment in the coming months. The rising levels of bad debt are a further worry for the industry," he said.

His note of caution chimed with the warning from the BIS. As one of the few bodies consistently sounding the alarm about the build-up of risky financial assets and under-capitalised banks in the run-up to the credit crisis, the BIS's assessment will carry weight with governments. It says: "The lack of progress threatens to prolong the crisis and delay the recovery because a dysfunctional financial system reduces the ability of monetary and fiscal actions to stimulate the economy."

Read the rest of this post...

British MP report: besides a few public beatings and a death, G20 was good policing

That's telling 'em. Now the Metropolitan police surely won't ever do that again. The MPs did provide criticism but it almost sounds as though they were more bothered with police hiding their identity than they were with protecting peaceful protesters. The report on the G20 policing did not mention the specifics of Ian Tomlinson (who died) nor Nicola Fisher who was hit hard and caught on video. The Guardian:

The conclusion from the Commons home affairs select committee inquiry into the G20 protests of April 1 follows admissions from senior Metropolitan police officers that some inexperienced officers, who were clearly quite scared, used "inappropriate force".

The report by the cross-party group of MPs says they "cannot condone the use of untrained, inexperienced officers on the frontline of a public protest under any circumstances".

Their inquiry also calls for the police to seriously consider whether they can continue with the use of tactics such as kettling – containing protesters behind cordons for a sustained period of time – and the controlled use of force against those who appear hostile without first holding a public debate over the future of policing public protests.

During the G20 protests the Met repeatedly attempted to "kettle" thousands of mainly peaceful demonstrators.

Read the rest of this post...

A coup in Honduras ousted the President

A coup:

President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras was ousted by the army on Sunday, capping months of tensions over his efforts to lift presidential term limits, in the first military coup in Central America since the end of the cold war.

Soldiers stormed the presidential palace in the capital, Tegucigalpa, early Sunday, disarming the presidential guard, seizing Mr. Zelaya and putting him on a plane to Costa Rica.

Mr. Zelaya, a leftist aligned with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, angrily denounced the coup as illegal. “I am the president of Honduras,” he insisted at a news conference at the San José airport in Costa Rica, still wearing his pajamas.

Later Sunday the Honduran Congress voted him out of office, replacing him with the president of Congress, Roberto Micheletti.

The Honduran military offered no public explanation for its actions but the Supreme Court issued a statement saying that the military had acted to defend the law against “those who had publicly spoken out and acted against the Constitution’s provisions.”

Now, admittedly, I'm no expert on the Honduran constitution. But, it seems like the document would have a way of dealing this in a way short of arresting, deporting and replacing the president. Bad precedent. Read the rest of this post...

Doing more HAARM

SEIU and Living Liberally have skewered the opponents of health care reform. Unfortunately, too many Democrats on the Hill are inclined to believe those who will do us harm. Visit HAARM.org to meet the HAARM-ful heros who hold too much sway on Capitol Hill.

Here's another HAARM video:
Read the rest of this post...