Saudi judges do it again

Disgusting.

Arab News, a Saudi English-language daily newspaper based in Riyadh, reported that Judge Hamad Al-Razine said that "if a person gives SR 1,200 [$320] to his wife and she spends 900 riyals [$240] to purchase an abaya [the black cover that women in Saudi Arabia must wear] from a brand shop and if her husband slaps her on the face as a reaction to her action, she deserves that punishment."

Women in the audience immediately and loudly protested Al-Razine's statement, and were shocked to learn the remarks came from a judge, the newspaper reported.

Arab News reported that Al-Razine made his remark as he was attempting to explain why incidents of domestic violence had increased in Saudi Arabia. He said that women and men shared responsibility, but added that "nobody puts even a fraction of blame" on the men, the newspaper said.

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SLDN accuses Obama of caving to religious right on military ban

Harsh words from a gay rights organization. It's a rare gay, or more generally liberal, organization that has the nerve to speak up when they think a Democrat is doing the wrong thing. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network has been rather outspoken in its concerns about the way this administration is approaching the issue of the military's gay ban. This release, below, is one of the harshest I've ever seen from a progressive organization.

WASHINGTON, DC - When asked this morning on This Week with George Stephanopoulos if "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be overturned, the president's national security advisor, General Jones, responded, "I don't know."

" 'I don't know?' The answer should have been a one-word answer ‘Yes,' said Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.

"Jones's answer, along with Secretary Gates's remarks to the Army War College on April 16, make it clear that a calculated political decision has been made that the President is not going to take ‘Don't Ask, Don't Tell' on publicly-himself-and instead his defense team is doing it."

There should be no waffling in this Administration-whether from Jones or Gates, on whether repeal is going to happen. The discussions should be when and how. Recall what Obama said on the campaign trail in 2007:

America is ready to get rid of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. That work should have started long ago. It will start when I take office. America is ready to get rid of the "don't ask, don't tell" policy. All that is required is leadership.(Fall 2007 to Human Rights Campaign)

That was then. This is now. The Center for Military Readiness (CMR)-which wrote in Human Events recently, "Obama administration officials appear equivocal on this issue"- is boasting about "changing the debate" and taking credit for intimidating the White House to back off DADT. Phyllis Schlafly, grandmother of the conservative movement, sits on the CMR Board.

Gay and lesbian soldiers continue to get fired on this President's watch, most recently Arabic linguist Army Lt. Dan Choi and 2nd Army Second Lt. Sandy Tsao. At the end of the day, this is what the debate is about-them and their families.

Also on ‘This Week', Senator John McCain indicated that a study or review should be conducted.

"A protracted study or National Commission is a cop out," notes Sarvis. "It is the way Washington ignores something it doesn't want to deal with. We hope Obama is not going along with this."

There have been almost a dozen studies on the topic. Going back to 1993, RAND did a study on the impact of openly gay and lesbian soldiers on unit cohesion. Their conclusion: no negative impact. Every scientific, credible study since then has come to the same conclusion.

SLDN had hoped this president would offer leadership, not give in to some throw away study or commission. The right approach would be a presidential working group that focuses solely on implementation and reports back to the president with recommendations within 90 days.

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Wash. Post's Sally Quinn proves how painful she is -- again

Sally Quinn imagines herself the doyenne of D.C. Society (kinda like being queen of the Villagers), such as it is. Today, for Mothers Day, Quinn wrote an "essay" for the Post about Michelle Obama's arms. Not kidding. It's a creepy column and such a painful read. But, it's painfully obvious that Quinn's primary reason for writing the "essay" was so she could include this paragraph:

Recently, Teresa Heinz Kerry had a very small ladies' lunch for Michelle Obama and her mother. The first lady was open, friendly, funny, accessible and totally authentic. She talked easily and answered personal questions without hesitation, even joked about all of the commotion about her arms. She was the first first lady I have ever met who did not seem at all wary. She had such a sense of confidence that you were going to like her, and especially that she was going to like you, that it was disarming (if you'll pardon the pun). Her mother was equally friendly, open, cozy and dear, the grandmother to die for. They left in time for Mrs. Robinson to pick up the girls at school.

Note that it was a "very small" lunch. And who actually uses the term "ladies' lunch." How 1950s. But, guess who was there? Essayist Sally Quinn. And, the Washington Post gave her a column so she could let us know just how plugged in she is. How pathetic and embarrassing. Read the rest of this post...

Cheney chooses Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell

80% of voters have a favorable view of Colin Powell.

19% have a favorable view of Rush Limbaugh.

So, of course, Cheney picks Limbaugh, who is about as popular as the Republican party right now. From ThinkProgress:

CHENEY: Well, if I had to choose — in terms of being a Republican — I’d go with Rush Limbaugh, I think. My take on it was that Colin had already left the party. I didn’t know he was still a Republican.

And that's why we want Cheney on television as much as possible. Keep digging the GOP's own grave, Dick. Keep telegraphing to the country just how conservative and far to the right today's Republican party really is. Read the rest of this post...

Obama National Security Adviser "doesn't know" if Obama will overturn "Don't Ask Don't Tell"

Stephanopoulos asked Obama's National Security Adviser, General Jim Jones, if Obama will overturn the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy during his term - something Obama has repeatedly, vehemently, promised.

STEPHANOPOULOS: But it will be overturned.

JONES: I don't know. We'll have to - the president has said that he is in favor of that. We'll just wait - we'll have to wait and see - as a result of the deliberations and as a result of the - in the months and weeks ahead. We have a lot on our plate right now. It has to be teed up at the right time so - to do this the right way.

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. To be fair, Jones is being careful, as he should be, and Stephanopoulos pushed Jones hard on this, and Jones did a pretty good job. But. He sure didn't sound like someone convinced that the policy should be overturned, or that Obama would overturn it, or that they'd be successful. Jones sounded weak. And I don't like my generals sounding weak. The appropriate answer is "yes," general. Not, I don't know.

George then asked an excellent question that we asked earlier this week:

STEPHANOPOULOS: But if the president is against the policy, why not suspend prosecutions and investigations while that review continues?

JONES: Well, maybe that's an option that eventually we'll get to but we're not there now.

We're not there now. What does that mean? You're not quite there yet, in terms of not aiding and abetting discrimination? Why not? Because you're afraid. When won't you be afraid? When won't Obama have too much on his plate? When won't the Republicans attack you for lifting the ban - hell, for breathing?

Not exactly a resounding display of confidence. And if Obama's advisers don't sound confident, don't sound committed, how do they expect Congress to step up and repeal the ban? Read the rest of this post...

Frank Rich: Someone needs to pay to keep journalism alive

Frank Rich writes a very interesting piece today about the future of journalism, and all the financial troubles papers are facing today. Frank's essential point is that, sure, we mock the media for going to the Correspondents' Dinner (well, Frank and Joe mock, I kind of enjoyed it when I went a few years ago), but the media serves an important role in American democracy, and that role is in jeopardy.

I'm not sure what the answer is. I'd hate to see newspapers make all of their content "for pay." And while folks like the Associated Press think all we do is steal their content, the reality is more nuanced. As much as we criticize the traditional media, we rely on them as bloggers, and as citizens. Our anger at the media during the Bush years wasn't that they exist (which is why the conservatives don't like them), but rather, as I think Atrios once said, that they aren't doing their job.

Almost every post we write on this blog is based on a story in the traditional media. Usually there's some value-added, sometimes, as in this post, there's a lot of value-added. We use the traditional media's story as a starting point to discuss a larger idea. We excerpt the story, link to it, then add our own unique, original analysis. Rather than stealing the news, I believe we enhance it, and help it by linking back, sending our readers to, and overall promoting the big stories of the big media. That's why many journalists today SEND US their stories, hoping for a link. And we send our stories, and even our tips, back to them.

Sometimes, we take a traditional media story that isn't getting attention, like the cell phone privacy issue, and blow it up nationally so it gets the attention it deserves. And other times, we create news without relying on the traditional media at all, such as when we revealed that the Mormons had baptized Obama's deceased mother, or when we uncovered that conservative White House "reporter" Jeff Gannon was really a gay male prostitute.

The relationship is, and can be, incredibly symbiotic. But that doesn't necessarily equal money. I didn't make enough writing this blog to have it be anything other than a hobby the first few years. Then our readership got high enough, and the ad revenues followed, for me to make this my full-time job AND at the same time pay my writers a decent stipend. Now with the economic downturn, that's changing. Ad revenues are down, my income is down, as I'm sure is the income of every blogger out there. In a very real way, we are in the same position as the traditional media, in terms of keeping a watchful eye on our pocketbook and our future.

I have no idea how to solve the problem of the traditional media, or the blogs. We've written before about how large organizations, the Democratic party, and even the White House, don't even think of trying to help the blogs financially, even though we help them far more than we nip at their heels, and we are the first people they come to when they're in trouble and need a friend. But it does seem that both the blogs and the traditional media need some kind of sugar daddy to step in when times are lean, when ad revenues are down, or else the best of citizen journalism, and the dead tree kind, may end up being a passing fancy.

And if you want to donate to the blog, to help support our work, please do. You'll see the big red donation box at the top of the next column to the right. You can donate one-time, or set up a recurring donation where each month you donate X amount of money automatically (like, say, $5 a month, totaling $60 a year). Donations are not tax-deductible, and the system we use is PayPal, so it's secure.

Here's Frank:

What can’t be reinvented is the wheel of commerce. Just because information wants to be free on the Internet doesn’t mean it can always be free. Web advertising will never be profitable enough to support ambitious news gathering. If a public that thinks nothing of spending money on texting or pornography doesn’t foot the bill for such reportage, it won’t happen.

That’s why the debate among journalists about possible forms of payment (subscriptions, NPR-style donations, iTunes-style micropayments, foundation grants) is inside baseball. So is the acrimonious sniping between old media and new. The real question is for the public, not journalists: Does it want to pony up for news, whatever the media that prevail?

It’s all a matter of priorities. Not long ago, we laughed at the idea of pay TV. Free television was considered an inalienable American right (as long as it was paid for by advertisers). Then cable and satellite became the national standard.

By all means let’s mock the old mainstream media as they preen and party on in a Washington ballroom. Let’s deplore the tabloid journalism that, like the cockroach, will always be with us. But if a comprehensive array of real news is to be part of the picture as well, the time will soon arrive for us to put up or shut up. Whatever shape journalism ultimately takes in America, make no mistake that in the end we will get what we pay for.

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Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

First and foremost, Happy Mothers Day to all the mothers out there -- including mine, Rita Madonna (also a regular reader of AMERICAblog.)

The theme for this Sunday: Washed up Republicans. Back from the past are Cheney, McCain and Gingrich. Or as the DNC's Hari Sevugan put it, "1996 Called. They Want Their GOP Sunday Show Lineup Back." What's old is new again with the Republican party.

Besides the back to the future Republicans, there's lots of foreign policy talk.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" _ Retired Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, the president's national security adviser; Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" _ Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" _ Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai; Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" _ Gen. David Petraeus, head of the U.S. Central Command; Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Bob Casey, D-Pa.

___

"Fox News Sunday" _ Petraeus; former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga.

Notice the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan opted for the softball show. Read the rest of this post...

Star Trek flashback

We saw the new Star Trek last night and absolutely loved it. Lots of action and plenty of old stories were answered. The new Kirk is excellent - brash, arrogant, and goes with his hunch, as always - as is the new Spock though I was hoping for a bit more of the grumpiness of the old Bones, though he was still fine. And then there's Uhura...loved her. Read the rest of this post...

More signs that stress test was a joke

If you thought accounting was just numbers, think again. In the Geithner Treasury, numbers are merely suggestions. The troubled banks "haggled" to get the bad figures reduced so they did not have to report even worse numbers. This continues to show how much power and influence those most responsible for our economic crisis hold even today. No change, just more of the same. Reuters:

At least half of the banks pushed back against the preliminary findings of the tests, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people with direct knowledge of the process.

Citigroup's capital shortfall was reduced to $5.5 billion from about $35 billion after bank executives persuaded the Fed to include future capital-boosting impacts of pending transactions, the paper said.

Wells Fargo's shortfall was cut to $13.7 billion from from $17.3 billion and Fifth Third's was reduced to $1.1 billion from $2.6 billion.

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United Arab Emirates orders house arrest in torture case

Wow, how arrest for a member of the royal family. How tough that must be. The video tapes showing brutal beatings and torture only became public six weeks ago so glad to see they're not rushing or being too severe. Anyone still want to share nuclear knowledge with this kingdom? How about moving the family and kids to soak up its full glory while working in a climate where the government stays out of your business? CNN:

A member of the royal family of Abu Dhabi who was captured on videotape torturing an Afghan grain dealer has reportedly been detained, a senior U.S. State Department official told CNN Saturday.

The official said the government of the United Arab Emirates, which includes Abu Dhabi as one of its seven emirates, told the State Department that Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al Nahyan is under house arrest pending an investigation, but that the United States has not independently confirmed the development.

The videotape emerged last month in a federal civil lawsuit filed in Houston, Texas, by Bassam Nabulsi, a U.S. citizen, against the sheikh. Former business partners, the men had a falling out, in part over the tape. In a statement to CNN, the sheikh's U.S. attorney said Nabulsi is using the videotape to influence the court over a business dispute.

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Wanda Sykes abused Rush and Hannity at the WH Correspondents Dinner

Rush and Hannity do make themselves easy targets. And, Wanda Sykes let them have it.

You know that both of these guys are going to be in a frenzy about this over the next couple days...the hard core right-wingers are very thin-skinned and have no sense of humor:



If I had to guess, I'd bet Wanda Sykes really doesn't care what Rush and Hannity say. It'll just give her more material and opportunities to respond... Read the rest of this post...