Rep. Joe Walsh, who owes $100,000 in child support, receives ‘Pro-Family’ Award from Family Research Council

Think Progress has the story (there's more in it about the FRC), but as far as Republican "pro-family" deadbeat-dad Joe Walsh is concerned, the headline says it all.

Paul Krugman, who's been writing about hypocrisy lately, has the best comment. Krugman talks about the differences between left and right on this issue and notes (my emphasis):

Now that’s real hypocrisy — and if the past is any indication, it won’t matter at all for Rep. Walsh’s career. ... [I]f a conservative politician who preaches stern traditional morality is caught engaging in actions that are at odds with what he preaches — buying sex, taking wide stances in restrooms, or, in this case, stiffing his family even while preaching family values — he may well ride right through the scandal. Witness what’s going on now with Herman Cain.

How can this be? Here’s what I understand: on the right, “moral values” are considered to be, literally, God-given principles. And a politician is well-regarded for advocating those values, no matter what he does personally. Instead of his personal behavior devaluing his political position, his political position excuses his personal behavior; a philandering politician who preaches the sacred bond of marriage is considered a good man because of what he says, no matter what he does.

Nice setup.

For me the explanation is a combination of (1) the Cause being so God-given, that all operatives are pre-forgiven by nature of their participation ... and (2) that funky, hypocrisy-ridden mess called faith-based religion.

In faith-based religions — to my knowledge, all born-again types are among them — you're good based on what you believe, not based on what you do. Deeds-based religions say, "Show me what someone does, and I'll tell you if he's good or bad." Faith-based religions are just the reverse.

What better way to cover slime in glory — pre-crime indulgences, sold only to Movement operatives, based only on what they advocate. No bad deed goes unrewarded. Again, nice setup.

GP Read the rest of this post...

First recall effort against WI Gov. Walker launched—by Walker supporter

One of the quirks of the Wisconsin recall laws is that unlimited funds can be raised by the target of a recall in order to defend against it.

From the Janesville Gazette (h/t Amanda Terkel):

Wisconsin elections officials received paperwork Friday to recall Republican Gov. Scott Walker, but in a surprise move, it was filed by a donor to Walker’s gubernatorial campaign and not one of his opponents.

Democrats cried foul, saying the donor filed the paperwork so that Walker could begin raising unlimited political donations. The money can be used only for certain things, such as a recall election.

“The only reason this was filed was to open the dirty rain shower of unlimited corporate cash,” Graeme Zielinski, a spokesman with the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, told The Capital Times.

Walker's opponents (his real ones) had planned to file on Nov 15. But Nov 5 was the first day they could have filed, and hey, time's a-wasting. By having Walker-recall papers filed on the 5th, Scott Walker has 10 more days to soak up more of that good Koch-Brotherly love.

This is just the start of this story. We'll stay on it. There's an opportunity here. Not only might we unseat Mr. Scott ("Reporting for duty") Walker, but we just might get a very public test case for the hubristic use of money in a high-profile race. They have no fear, it seems, of making themselves look ugly.

As always, stay tuned.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Mexican drug lords blink in the face of "Anonymous" threat

Amazing story.  NY Daily News:

The hacktavist collective Anonymous has cancelled Operation Cartel after a member that was allegedly abducted by a Mexican drug cartel was released Thursday, the group's longtime public face announced in an online post.

Barrett Brown claimed the organization had 25,000 emails stolen from the Mexican government that proved collusion with the Zetas cartel, blamed for dozens of deaths in the drug war gripping the Veracruz region of Mexico, Gawker reported Thursday. From those e-mails, the group says it compiled a list of 75 Zetas accomplices, which Anonymous threatened to expose.

However, after the unidentified member reportedly had been freed, Brown claimed that the e-mails would be handed over to him instead and the hackers would back down.

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Remember, remember, the 5th of November... and the origin of the word "guy"

"Remember, remember
The fifth of November
The gunpowder treason and plot.
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot."

Okay that's fascinating.  According to wikipedia, the word "guy" in American English comes from Guy Fawkes, who tried to blow up the British parliament on November 5, 1605 in an effort to re-install a Catholic monarch.  The British have marked this day since that time with a fireworks display and more.  The day, and the man, became more known internationally after a book, and then film, "V for Vendetta" came out (a wonderful film, by the way), with the signature Guy Fawkes mask that a number of you might recognize.

What's interesting about V, the movie, is that it takes a "heinous act" in British history and turns it on its head.  V in the movie is fighting back against a new totalitarian London that, in some ways, or perhaps many ways, is not quite the society we live in, but it could be some day.  As V says in the movie, "Truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it, you were afraid."  This is a classic clip from the movie, where V gives a speech to the nation on the national airwaves that he's hijacked.  And here's another great clip from the movie, from the beginning where V meets the lead female character (it's not really a spoiler at all, so don't worry, but check out the quality of the writing, it's really wonderful).

(Odd linguistic aside - note at the end of the clip, above, where V says "we shall give them a fifth of November that shall never, ever, be forgot."  In American English, we'd say "forgotten."  I'd read an interesting book about the history of English a while back, and it said that the "-ten" ending - as in "gotten" or "forgotten" comes from English that was used at the time America was colonized, but it's passed out of modern UK English, even though we still use it in America.  I'm not sure if it's 100% gone from the UK - again, maybe Gilbert and some of you "over there" can help us out on this, I just thought it was interesting.)

I remember being in London on Guy Fawkes Day back in 1983.  I was visiting a friend who was studying abroad there, I was studying in Paris, and I remember walking down the street and little kids kept coming up to me asking "a penny for the Guy?"  The Guardian has a nice write up of this "holiday."  Apparently, kids don't do the "penny for the Guy" thing any more.  I'll have to ask Gilbert, our resident Englishman co-blogger, about this.

From the Guardian:

This is the face of protest in 2011. At Occupy demonstrations from Wall Street to St Paul's people choose to wear the same mask, an eerie phantom face of a diabolical musketeer, a cheerfully sinister underground d'Artagnan. The mask started its revolutionary career as the public face of the Anonymous movement. All in all it marks a massive change of fortune for one of British history's greatest villains.

For this is the face of Guy Fawkes, transformed into the mask of a modern avenger by artist David Lloyd and writer Alan Moore in their 1980s graphic novel V for Vendetta and popularised by the 2006 film of the comic book – not to mention merchandised; the mask is an official movie byproduct licensed by Time Warner, which has thus found a way to profit from the Crisis of Capitalism. A man demonised for centuries in British culture has become an icon of dissidence and defiance.

Guy Fawkes has taken to the streets, just as he disappears from his traditional starring role on Bonfire Night, 5 November. When Moore and Lloyd started their comic serial V for Vendetta in 1981 in a magazine called Warrior, British children still made rude effigies of the great inflammable Catholic and wheeled their lumpen creations around demanding "a penny for the Guy": today Halloween has taken over in children's culture and, in many parts of Britain, Guy Fawkes Night is merely Bonfire Night, with fireworks but no effigy.

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Friday jobs report, under forecast

Heading into the day, most were expecting around 100,000 new jobs which was already bad. Unfortunately the number came in at 80,000. The good news was that previous two months were bumped up. We're still a long way away from anything resembling a strong recovery.

The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly fell in October while employers added the fewest workers in four months, reinforcing Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s prediction of a “frustratingly slow” recovery.

The unemployment rate dropped to a six-month low of 9 percent from 9.1 percent, even as more people entered the labor force. Payrolls rose by a less-than-forecast 80,000, following increases in the prior two months that were revised up by 102,000, Labor Department data showed yesterday in Washington.

The figures indicate the world’s largest economy will be able to weather risks such as the European debt crisis and political wrangling on cutting the U.S. budget deficit. Fed policy makers are forecasting “moderate” growth that won’t push unemployment below 8 percent until 2013, one reason why they are considering further stimulus to spur demand.

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It’s Bank Transfer Day

Thanks to the brilliant minds at Bank of America who thought slapping a $5 debit card fee made sense, many Americans have started to shift money out of their expensive and TARP-loving banks over to credit unions. Who really wants to prop up the obscene bonuses at the too-big-to-fail banks?

The spirit behind "Bank Transfer Day" caught fire with the Occupy Wall Street protests around the country and had more than 79,000 supporters on its Facebook page as of Friday. The movement has already helped beat back Bank of America's plan to start charging a $5 debit card fee.

It's not clear to what extent the banking industry's about-face on debit card fees will extinguish the anger driving the movement. But many supporters say their actions are about far more than any single complaint.

"It's too little, too late," said Kristen Christian, the 27-year-old Los Angeles small business owner who started "Bank Transfer Day." She already opened accounts at two credit unions in preparation for cutting ties with Bank of America this weekend.

And again, a special thanks to Bank of America for helping make this day possible. Love you! Read the rest of this post...

Reuters: Obama advisers fret over Keystone XL pipeline’s political risks

UPDATE: Yep, they were lying about the jobs too. (Ignore the misleading headline and read the first few paragraphs.)
________

Finally. There's a lot that's right about this Reuters story, and some stuff that's wrong. First the link and their lede:

Reeling from months of protests, President Barack Obama's advisers are worried that administration approval for a planned oil pipeline from Canada could cost him political support from Democrats in 2012.

Finally. Environmentalists always seem to have a back seat in the progressive coalition, as do population concerns.

Not now; the protest over the planet-killing Keystone XL pipeline has changed that. And that protest has finally provoked a much-needed (by him) response from President Obama. (By the way, the Koch Bros are deeply involved in this; don't forget that, Mr. Prez. Your friends on the right, right?)

Reuter's political analysis is dead on. For example (my emphasis):

Obama's re-election plans depend partially on his ability to energize his base of supporters, many of whom are disillusioned with his progress in fighting climate change and attaining other environmental goals.

The pipeline has galvanized that discontent, leading to protests in Washington and across the country. More than 6,000 opponents have signed up to form a human ring around the White House on Sunday in what they hope will be a dramatic signal to keep the pressure on Obama[.] ... Obama advisers fear that a decision in favor of the project could dampen enthusiasm among volunteers needed for door-to-door campaigning in battleground states that are critical to Obama's re-election.

There's more like this in the article. And they're right. There's a good chance that Obama's target of $1 billion for his 2012 ad campaign is designed to offset an anticipated lack of willing volunteers — you know, those among the dewy-eyed who were offered hope and wanted change. Caving to the Koch Bros before the election won't be likely to help.

But there's misinformation in the article as well. For example, this anonymously sourced — and unchallenged — assertion: "Some administration policy advisers expect the pipeline will be approved because of the energy security and jobs it would create."

Or this: "Saying no would mean turning down a chance to substantially increase oil imports from a friendly neighbor" as if Canadian oil was somehow better than ... what? Iraqi oil? Saudi oil?

One more time, this is the dream that no one wants the nostalgia-driven Happy Motoring public to awaken from: The U.S. somehow has oil.

The U.S. does not have oil. Exxon has oil. The Koch Bros have oil. When the oil is in our ground, Exxon (or whoever) owns it. That gives them the right to spend some of their billions to bribe (sorry, campaign-contribute, lobby) our public officials to let them drill it out.

Then they put it on the open market, where we have the right to bid against the entire rest of the planet to poison ourselves with it.

And that doesn't begin to touch the jobs hypocrisy. Other than that, the article is dead on (and I mean that in a good way).

What you can do — Join the DC protest on Sunday, November 6.



I'm sure your president hopes that you care, and is open to change. Details here.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Van Morrison - St Dominic's Preview

It's my first weekend back home after a few months on the road for work. With the exception of the bad storms in Philly around Labor Day, I've had almost all sunshine and blue skies while in LA and Texas. Back here in Paris, it's of course gray, rainy and a bit chilly so Van Morrison seemed to be in order. Read the rest of this post...

Greek PM resigns following vote

As he said he would, George Papandreou resigned as Greek PM and will make way for a unity government.

Greece's embattled prime minister George Papandreou has agreed to step aside to make way for a government "of broad acceptance" that will be led by his long-time political foe, finance minister Evangelos Venizelos.

Ahead of winning a crucial vote of confidence in parliament by 153-145, Papandreou, who has steered the country through its worst crisis in recent history said he would visit the Greek president, Karolos Papoulias, who is head of state, to ask him to form a coalition government.

"It's a done deal," a well-placed source told the Guardian. "Papandreou will propose that Venizelos becomes prime minister and he will go home."

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Bank of America customers 'least satisfied'

When the too big to fail banks were slapping together ridiculously large and unnecessary mega deals before the crash, the banks had no interest in the small retail clients. They were an annoying flea that was a pathetic little joke compared to their billion and trillion dollar deals. Now that the real world showed them how false those mega deals were, the too big to fail banks need the retail clients. And guess who has years of displeasure at this point? Yes, customers from traditional banks are moving over in a big way to credit unions, leaving the arrogant banks with fewer retail customers.

How important is customer service? Maybe it's time to ask Bank of America this question since they clearly haven't cared about it right up until recently when they tried jamming through a new $5 monthly fee. Who needs customer satisfaction anyway?

Nine percent of people with Bank of America accounts were “not at all likely” to continue to use the Charlotte, North Carolina-based lender, the survey, scheduled to be released today, shows. That is triple the rate of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) customers and 50 percent more than Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC)

Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender by deposits, angered some customers when it announced plans to charge $5 a month for debit-card use. The firm dropped the fee this week after JPMorgan, the biggest bank, and No. 3 Wells Fargo abandoned the tactic. Other new fees, including those for checking accounts, may push clients to credit unions, said Carol Gstalder, an executive vice president at Harris Interactive.

“Our data says that banks absolutely should be worried,” Gstalder said yesterday in an interview. “People know banks are looking for new ways to make up the revenue gap. This may be the start of a tipping point where long term, we may see numbers of people making a move.”

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