Open thread

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Mukasey's Nomination Runs Into Trouble

From the Post:

Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination for attorney general ran into trouble Thursday when two top Senate Democrats said their votes hinge on whether he will say on the record that an interrogation technique that simulates drowning is torture.

"It's fair to say my vote would depend on him answering that question," Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told reporters late Thursday.

"This to me is the seminal issue," said Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois, another member of Leahy's panel. Asked if his vote depends on whether Mukasey equates waterboarding with torture, Durbin answered: "It does."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said his support could be in doubt over the same issue.

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Gay preacher that Obama invited to educate blacks about homophobia is white

UPDATE: Pam Spaulding has weighed in now as well.

I have no comment, I'll leave it to African-American bloggers like Keith Boykin.

This move is sure to piss off almost everybody, except HRC [the Human Rights Campaign], who apparently brokered the deal. Obama won't win any new black votes by getting a white gay guy to speak at a black event. Especially when there are plenty of black straight people, black gay people, families of black gay people, and friends of black gay people who could have been chosen to speak.

I have been following the reaction in the black gay community, and many but not all of the commenters are outraged by the decision. It was bad enough that McClurkin was invited in the first place, but it only adds insult to injury to ignore the longstanding concerns of the black gay community by not talking to people in the black gay community themselves. And if someone had to be invited, why not invite someone in the black gay community? Or why not invite a black mother of a gay or lesbian child? Or a local black pastor who supports the full inclusion of gays and lesbians?

And Alvin McEwen, of Holy Bullies and Headless Monsters, who has been doing a great job tracking, and battling, the religious right:

Obama's clumsy invitation to Pastor Sidden only perpetuates the myth that being black and being gay are two separate identities that don't overlap.

Furthermore, it means that folks like myself (lgbts of color) are once again shown how invisible we are.

No. More than that.

We have been given the hook, pushed to the side, had the trapdoor to the alligator pit released under our feet.

LGBTs of color haven't been just pushed to the back of the bus in this controversy. We have been kicked off of the bus and told to find our own way home.

And Jasmyne Cannick, who I'd not heard of before, but after reading this, I want to know this woman (and then avoid ever ticking her off):

Let’s get straight to it. What the hell were Obama’s people thinking when they invited a white openly gay minister to open for his South Carolina gospel concert with Donnie McClurkin?

I’ll repeat it once more.

I said, what the hell were Obama’s people thinking when they invited a white openly gay minister to open for his South Carolina gospel concert with Donnie McClurkin?

Is he trying to lose the race? That’s all I want to know.

It was bad enough that Obama’s people, and I say people because I eloquently explained on Tuesday how these types of things can happen, invited and announced a gospel concert tour through South Carolina with openly homophobic singers Mary Mary and the ex-gay Donnie McClurkin which sparked accusations of Obama running a homophobic campaign. But keepin’ hope alive, I tried to make the best of it hoping that the protests would be used as a teachable moment for Obama and his campaign advisers. No such luck....

Oh and please save your energy and mine too from having to press delete. I already know that what I am saying is harsh. Harsh not racist. Harsh but true. It’s already been established that using white gay folks to explain to Blacks have the gay civil rights movement is the same as the 60’s Civil Right Movement doesn’t work. In fact, it’s an automatic turn off for most Blacks, including this Black lesbian. With a sensitive issue like this, it’s important that Blacks talk to Blacks. Our community needs to see us and hear from us and no one but us. And if we sit up here and allow this to go down, we have no one but ourselves to blame for our invisibility....

Decisions like inviting Rev. Sidden, a white openly gay pastor to address a mostly African-American audience further push the idea among Blacks that gay is white. The belief that whites are trying to push gay issues onto Blacks further divides the African-American community from their same-gender loving counterparts who continue to remain invisible.

And here's Pam Spaulding's take:

The last thing a crowd of black folks who have a problem with homosexuality needs is: 1) to be "told" by the Obama campaign that a message about tolerance must be delivered from a white voice of faith, and 2) to have their beliefs confirmed that being gay is "a white man's perversion." Coming from a white pastor under these circumstances, can only be seen as paternalistic and patronizing; the shields of defensiveness will go up, the message will be ignored.

The most stinging message that the Obama campaign has sent is that they apparently didn't see the relevance or necessity of removing the ability of religious blacks to stay in denial, that somehow there is not an intersection of being black and gay. This move renders us invisible yet again, as politically expendable, because it telegraphs that it's too politically volatile to address the division in the community by having them confront one of their own -- black gay and gay-affirming ministers -- when it comes to looking at bigotry.

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Obama: A great many African-Americans agree that homosexuality is "a curse" and that gays are "trying to kill our children"

Keep digging, Senator.

Obama is now trying to get gays and black religious leaders to sign a letter that's basically supporting Obama's position that he should have homophobes and bigots on stage with him. A few problems. Let me quote the letter:

Pastor McClurkin believes and has stated things about sexual orientation that are deeply hurtful and offensive to many Americans, most especially to gay Americans. This cannot and should not be denied.

At the same time, a great many African Americans share Pastor McClurkin's beliefs. This also cannot be ignored.

Really? I'm aware that some people claim that there's a lot of homophobia in the black community - frankly, I wouldn't know - but Obama is now saying that a great many African-Americans agree with McClurkin? Meaning, they agree that gays are trying to kill our children, that America is at war with the gays, and that homosexuality is a "curse"? I'm willing to believe that we may have to do some educating of a lot of Americans of all races and creeds, but I'm having a hard time believing that a "great many" of them believe the kind of wacky stuff that McClurkin does.

If we are to end homophobia and secure full civil rights for gay Americans, then we need an advocate within the Black community like Barack Obama.

You can advocate just fine even if you lose the presidency.

But this line is the most important:

At the same time, while Obama has said that he "strongly disagrees" with Pastor McClurkin's comments, he will not exclude from his campaign the many Americans including many in the African American community who believe the same as Pastor McClurkin.

Great, so we're to believe Obama would not exclude anti-Semites or racists from his campaign either? Well, would he? Someone needs to ask him that question - Senator, are you saying that you would welcome anti-Semites and racists into your campaign, even though you strongly disagree with them, because you believe in some kind of big tent of bigotry?

I simply don't believe that Obama would have the same reaction, be just as welcoming, if we were talking about racists or anti-Semites. He wouldn't say that we're all one big tent. He would kick the racist or the anti-Semite to the curb. Not to mention, "the big tent" concept traditionally means people who have differing political views, even differing political loyalties (Republican and Democrat). I've never heard a politician invoke the big tent to mean racists and their victims. This is new. And it's terribly unnerving. I mean, we're to believe that the fact that Obama, alone among Democratic candidates, is willing to openly welcome bigots into his campaign, and that fact makes him the best candidate for voters concerned about civil rights. And the corollary, the worst candidate for someone who cares about civil rights is the candidate who actually stands up against the bigots. So the best way to promote tolerance is to tolerate and embrace intolerance. And I suppose the best way to tackle the issue of domestic violence is to not exclude wife beaters from your campaign either? That's just wacked.

Rather than writing letters, Senator, why don't you just fire the bigot and be done with it? Read the rest of this post...

Fred Thompson: Iraq insurgency is simply "a bunch of kids"

Well, it's nice to know that Thompson thinks the greatest fighting force in the history of the world isn't even good enough to take out "a bunch of kids." $2.4 trillion, nearly 4,000 American lives, and we still can't stop "a bunch of kids." Call me crazy, but I think Thompson just impugned General Petraeus and the troops, n'est-ce pas? Read the rest of this post...

ENDA vote delayed

There are a lot of rumors as to why today's House floor vote on the GLB ENDA has been postponed. You'll recall that a deal was worked out where we would hold two votes this week, one on the GLB ENDA, and another on an amendment to add transgender to that bill, thus giving the transgender community and their supporters the chance to prove that there is not a groundswell of opposition to their cause in the US Congress (opposition that would then take down ENDA totally). The Hill newspaper reported earlier (and I can't find the link now found it here) that freshmen members are none too pleased about having to vote on the transgender amendment that openly-gay congresswomen Tammy Baldwin is planning to offer (i.e., they think they're going to face damning "you love cross-dressers" ads come the next election), and I hear that disagreement over her amendment is now holding everything up (though the story gets murkier, in that it's not even clear if Baldwin still WANTS her trans amendment to be voted on now at all, because she may fear that the GLB ENDA crowd was right, that her amendment will go down in flames and that such a stunning defeat will set the trans community back years). Anyway, no one official is saying boo about what's going on, which is rather annoying. More here, but only a little bit. Read the rest of this post...

Obama to support filibuster of telecom immunity bill; Hillary, not so clear

Putting aside for a moment Obama's splitting of the civil rights baby in half, something he wouldn't do to any other minority, in the "good" Obama news category, he announced that he's supporting Senator Dodd's filibuster of the telecom immunity bill (the bill that would give Verizon, AT&T; and other companies immunity for having helped the government illegally spy on innocent Americans). And that's good. Hillary, on the other hand, is being less good, and folks are being urged to contact her and urge her support for the filibuster. More on that here. Read the rest of this post...

"Ghost Plane" author hits the blogs

Rendition is one of the most pernicious abuses of this administration, a kind of perfect storm of immorality, counter-productive national security effort, foreign policy disaster, and executive power over-reach. Stephen Grey, who did amazing work to put together "Ghost Plane," the story of international prisons sanctioned by the U.S. Government and used by the CIA to hold and torture people suspected of terrorism.

Especially in the wake of false confessions (which is what torture was historically designed to elicit) this issue is even more important. More background here.

Grey is doing a chat right now over at FDL, which really deserves just a ton of credit for their Book Salon efforts, so go check it out. Read the rest of this post...

Is the planet in peril or not? Depends if you watch CNN or CNN Headline News.

Jonathan Klein, the inept President of CNN, is doing it again.

On the one hand, CNN has been promoting this week's special, "Planet in Peril" almost non-stop. CNN actually changed its on-screen logo color to green to mark the occasion.

Yet, on his other network, CNN Headline News, Klein continues to give prime-time billing to global warming denier Glenn Beck. Think Progress has video of Beck's show from Tuesday night -- the very night Planet in Peril was airing.

So, Mr. Klein, is the planet in peril or not? On CNN, the planet is in peril. On CNN's Headline News, it's not. CNN is green. CNN's Headline News is not. How come Anderson Cooper, Dr. Sanjay Gupta and that animal planet guy aren't on Glenn Beck's show to explain why CNN thinks the planet is in peril? Maybe you could force Glenn Beck to watch "Planet in Peril" and hope he'll learn something.

Anderson, I hate to say this, but this is another example of Jon Klein letting Glenn Beck make a mockery of your work. Klein did it on Katrina, too. It's wrong, Anderson -- and, you know I'm on your side. Read the rest of this post...

Rep. Henry Waxman: "The Bush administration's worst nightmare"

Henry Waxman -- The name that strikes fear into the hearts of the Bush administration:

Waxman has become the Bush administration's worst nightmare: a Democrat in the majority with subpoena power and the inclination to overturn rocks. But in Waxman the White House also faces an indefatigable capital veteran -- with a staff renowned for its depth and experience -- who has been waiting for this for 14 years.

These days, the 16-term congressman is always ready with a hearing, a fresh crop of internal administration e-mails or a new explosive report. And he has more than two dozen investigations underway, on such issues as the politicization of the entire federal government, formaldehyde in Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers, global warming, and safety concerns about the diabetes drug Avandia.

"We have to let people know they have someone watching them after six years with no oversight at all," said Waxman, 68. "And we've got a lot of low-hanging fruit to pick."

And the former chair of the Oversight Committee, Tom Davis (R-VA), admitted he didn't do any oversight of Bush:

"For the administration, and for a lot of others, people need to be careful now," said Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), the ranking Republican on the committee. "Someone is looking over their shoulder."

Yes, be careful now. Because Davis and the GOP let Bush do whatever he wanted. Look where that's gotten us. Read the rest of this post...

Thursday Morning Open Thread

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

Real estate bubble burst cost - up to $400 billion

Crikey! No wonder Wall Street has started giving the boot to employees. Considering the depth of the troubles, how can Mr. Bubble honestly say that this could have happened to anyone? A few billion, ehhh, maybe, but hundreds of billions down the drain? Keep watching Paulson, a former Wall Street guy, to see if his tone changes on the government reaching out to help his old pals.

Every time economists and Wall Street executives think they have acknowledged the full extent of the losses from the meltdown in real estate mortgages, more bad news turns up.

Merrill Lynch said yesterday that it would take a charge for mortgage-related securities on its books that is $3 billion more than the $5 billion it expected just two weeks ago. And a report from the National Association of Realtors showed that sales of existing homes in September fell twice as much as economists had expected, to their lowest level in nearly 10 years.

Stocks fell sharply early yesterday on the news, with the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index falling 1.8 percent before recovering in the afternoon. Investors also bid up Treasuries as they sought the safety of government-backed debt.

At this juncture, economists say the troubles in the mortgage market could, all told, cost financial firms and investors up to $400 billion.

How many more expensive failures will Bush leave after his eight years? What a costly experiment with Republican control in Washington. Read the rest of this post...

Blair really was a wolf in sheeps clothing

I can only imagine how many more stories like this will be hitting the press. Labour really sold out to have Blair running the show. I would expect such anti-consumer/pro-business actions from a Tory (or a Republican in the US) but to have the Labour party acting so harshly against consumers is revolting. I think "revolting" pretty much sums up Tony Blair though.

Britain lobbied against European Union plans to impose price caps on mobile phone roaming rates which were put into place earlier this year, The Times reported on Thursday.

Citing government e-mails and minutes of meetings it obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, the newspaper said that the British negotiator regularly communicated with Britain's major mobile phone networks to keep them abreast of developments, and to discuss Britain's stance on the proposals.

Fortunately consumers won the battle and mobile roaming charges have plummeted since a new law kicked in, despite the efforts of the Blair government. Read the rest of this post...

Open thread

Busy day. At least it's no longer a bazillion degrees outside. But, as a reminder of the last week and a half of open windows without screens to try to get my apartment below 80 degrees, Matt Stoller just had to kill the hugest grasshopper EVER in my bathroom. I gave Matt a shoe, shut the door on him, and told him not to come out until one of them was dead. He killed it, with no less than ten shoe strikes ("geez this thing is big, it won't die"). God bless his soul. I hate bugs. I really really hate bugs. I think this makes me gay. Discuss amongst yourselves. Read the rest of this post...