Reid mocks Palin

Well that's not going to win him any friends among the teabaggers :-)

"I was going to give a few remarks on the people who were over here a week ago Saturday," Reid said in a video posted by Fox News anchor Greta Van Susteren, "but I couldn't find it written all over my hands.

"You betcha," Reid added to supporters' laughter, mimicking one of Palin's trademark slogans.

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Vatican cardinal accused of protecting fugitive priest

ABC News:

A Catholic priest who fled Minnesota for India after being accused by two teenage girls of rape continues to serve as a priest in a Catholic school system five years after his case was brought to the attention of the Vatican, according to documents and testimony in a lawsuit against the Church.

The accused cleric, the Rev. Joseph Jeyapual, oversees the hiring of teachers for 40 Catholic schools in the diocese of Ootacamund, India, according to documents in the case.

Authorities in Roseau County, Minnesota have filed an arrest warrant against Jeyapaul and say he is considered a fugitive.

In a phone interview with ABC News Monday, Father Jeyapaul said "there are false allegations against me." He says he will not return to the U.S. to answer the charges, and says his Bishop in India has told reporters he will not force him to return.

Increasingly looking like a criminal conspiracy. Read the rest of this post...

Peepcopalypse: The infamous Dupont Circle snowball fight, in Peeps

(click the photo to see much larger versions)

The Washington Post held a Peeps contest. The semi-finalist was a recreation of the fabulous snowball fight I attended, along with about 2,000 other Washingtonians, on Dupont Circle during the snowpocalypse. Here's the peep.

Dennis Chong of the District and Carolyn Prince Racich of McLean collaborated on their "Peepocalypse 2010: Dupont Circle Snowball Fight" diorama, using cotton, spray snow and modeling clay, plus a photo that Chong took of the scene for the background. The in-flight snowballs are made of mini -marshmallows and wire.

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RNC chief of staff Ken McKay resigns

Lesbians and bondage and girls, oh my!

Republican National Committee chief of staff Ken McKay has resigned in the wake of a controversy over an expenditure at a risque California nightclub, RNC communications director Doug Heye said Monday.

McKay's resignation comes one week after the Daily Caller Web site reported that the RNC's January expenditure report included nearly $2,000 spent at Voyeur in West Hollywood, a topless nightclub.

RNC officials worked to distance Chairman Michael Steele from the controversy -- insisting that not only was he not in attendance but that he had no knowledge of the reimbursement -- and promised changes in the way that people were reimbursed by the committee.

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Krugman: Dodd financial reform bill isn't good enough

Paul Krugman:

The White House is confident that a financial regulatory reform bill will soon pass the Senate. I’m not so sure, given the opposition of Republican leaders to any real reform. But in any case, how good is the legislation on the table, the bill put together by Senator Chris Dodd of Connecticut?

Not good enough. It’s a good-faith effort to do what needs to be done, but it would create a system highly dependent on the wisdom and good intentions of government officials. And as the history of the last decade demonstrates, trusting in the quality of officials can be dangerous to the economy’s health.

I know that getting such things into the bill would be hard politically: as financial reform legislation moves to the floor of the Senate, there will be pressure to make it weaker, not stronger, in the hope of attracting Republican votes. But I would urge Senate leaders and the Obama administration not to settle for a weak bill, just so that they can claim to have passed financial reform. We need reform with a fighting chance of actually working.

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Executive jet expenses on the rise

Here's another group that has no idea how obnoxious they are. I guess cost savings are only for the little people. LA Times:

If you're a business traveler who has been flying coach to save your company money, you may need to sit down to read the following news.

Chief executives of some of the nation's biggest firms have increased spending about 9% on the personal use of corporate jets over the last year, according to a new study of corporate expenses.

The findings, published last week by the Corporate Library, an independent research firm, are based on data from nearly 340 major U.S. companies' expense reports for personal jet use in the last two fiscal years.

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Can the Pope be prosecuted?

From the Daily Beast:

The Vatican says the pope, as a "head of state," is immune from legal action. But U.N. judge Geoffrey Robertson says the Vatican is wrong—and that the pope could be tried for systemic sex crimes.

Well may the pope defy “the petty gossip of dominant opinion.” But the Holy See can no longer ignore international law, which now counts the widespread or systematic sexual abuse of children as a crime against humanity. The anomalous claim of the Vatican to be a state—and of the pope to be a head of state, and hence immune from legal action—cannot stand up to scrutiny.

The truly shocking finding of Judge Murphy’s Commission in Ireland, tasked with investigating child sex abuse in Dublin’s archdiocese, was not merely that “sexual abuse was endemic in boys’ institutions,” but that the church hierarchy protected the perpetrators and, despite knowledge of their propensity to reoffend, allowed them to take up new positions teaching other vulnerable children after their victims had been solemnly sworn to secrecy. This, of course, amounted to the criminal offence of aiding and abetting sex with minors.

If acts of sexual abuse by priests are not isolated or sporadic events but part of a wide practice both known to and unpunished by their de facto authority—i.e. the Catholic Church—then under the command responsibility principle of international law (laid down by the U.S. Supreme Court) the commander can be held criminally liable. He falls within the temporal jurisdiction of the ICC so long as that abusive practice and the policy to tolerate it continued after July 2002, when the court was established.

Wonder what color Prada goes with orange? Read the rest of this post...

GOP consultant Ed Rollins says Steele's tenure has been a disaster

From CNN:

In an interview with CNN American Morning’s John Robert’s today, Republican Strategist and CNN Political Analyst Ed Rollins called Michael Steele’s tenure at the RNC a “disaster.”

“Michael Steele's tenure has been a disaster. There’s no question it’s been a disaster,” Rollins said. “And I think at the end of the day, fortunately, there's other places republicans can give money, to the Governor’s Association, the Congressional Committee and Senate Committee -- and they will. But the problem is fund raising apparatus of the national committee is the backup. And I think people have lost confidence in Steele and lost confidence if you make a donation, your money will not be wasted. That’s a bad place to be.”

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GOP chair Steele says his race is an impediment

This is the second time, that I recall, that GOP chair Michael Steele has invoked his race as an impediment. This time he says it's hurting his popularity, and suggests that Obama has the same problem. The White House responded, quite feistily in fact:

GOP Chairman Michael Steele shouldn’t blame criticism of his actions on race, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

Gibbs called Steele’s remark that criticism of his leadership is motivated by race “silly” during a meeting with reporters.

“I think Michael Steele’s problem isn’t the race card, it’s the credit card,” Gibbs added.

Steele in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America” said he and President Barack Obama are held to a higher and unfair standard because they are black.

“The honest answer is, yes,” Steele said in response to a question about whether he has a slimmer margin for error because than past GOP chairmen because of his race. “Barack Obama has a slimmer margin. A lot of folks do.”

Gibbs is of course talking about last week's lesbian bondage scandal that Steele was embroiled in.

Sucks to be RNC chair.

Sorry, poor word choice.

All jokes aside, this was quite the pointed response from Gibbs, going so far as to jab at the lesbian bondage scandal. In the past, the White House has been more prone to favor nice over nasty, when it comes to taking on Republicans. This comment from Gibbs is a small, but good, sign. Read the rest of this post...

John Ensign is still a US Senator. Indictment coming?

Jon Ralston, Nevada's political guru, has another brutal column today on Senator John Ensign. Ralston's hearing that the DOJ has built a strong case against Ensign, who seems oblivious to the scandal and potential indictment. In fact, GOPers running for Senate in Nevada want his support. Fine. Looks like Ensign is going to be a campaign issue in 2010 -- in Nevada and other Senate races:

The department is being very deliberate in assembling a case against Ensign. But Justice has a mountain of documents and e-mails that, combined with the senator’s own admissions or statements in e-mails, would seem to amount to a formidable case. And last week’s New York Times story, showing how Ensign’s contacts with a local company (similar to several other interactions), show how far the senator was willing to go to get Hampton work, mostly while he was employed by ex-Ensign aides who had formed a lobbying/consulting firm. The structure, so to speak, is becoming more transparent all the time.

This drip-drip-drip of revelation seems to have left Ensign unfazed, like a man who is slowly drowning but believes he can rise above it — or, perhaps, deludes himself into thinking he can walk on water. But as Republicans here and in Washington play the pathetic see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil game vis-a-vis Ensign, it is becoming more obvious that their craven behavior could be self-defeating.

If Ensign gets indicted, he will become a national and state nightmare for the GOP. National Democrats will brandish him as a symbol of corruption (they may anyhow) and local Democrats will wrap the junior senator around the GOP Senate nominee’s neck, especially because Sue Lowden and Danny Tarkanian foolishly have said they would welcome his support. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid directly go after his pal to boost his sagging fortunes. I can hear it now: “Sorry, John. But now you know how Doug Hampton feels — how it feels to be screwed over by your best friend.”

Interesting choice of words since this whole scandal started because Ensign was having an affair with the wife of his best friend, Doug Hampton, when both Hampton and his wife were working for John Ensign. It just deteriorated from there. But, again, John Ensign is still a U.S. Senator. Read the rest of this post...

Karzai: 'I swear that I am going to join the Taliban'

Okay, admittedly, I don't follow foreign policy as closely as I follow national politics. But the words of Afghan President Karzai have been worrisome over the past week, since Obama visited. Today's New York Times reports on Karzai's latest outburst at a meeting of members of the Afghan Parliament:

On Saturday, Mr. Karzai met with about 60 members of Parliament, mostly his supporters, and berated them for having rejected his proposed new election law. Among other things, the proposal would have given him the power to appoint all the members of the Electoral Complaints Commission, who are currently appointed by the United Nations, the Afghan Supreme Court and the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission. The Electoral Complaints Commission, which reviews allegations of voting fraud and irregularities, documented the fraud that deprived Mr. Karzai of an outright victory in the presidential election.

At the meeting, Mr. Karzai stepped up his anti-Western statements, according to a Parliament member who attended but spoke on condition of anonymity.

“If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban,” Mr. Karzai said, according to the Parliament member.

Okay, he's upset. But threatening to join the enemy? Even just saying it. The Taliban are killing U.S. and allied troops who are there to help the Karzai government.

How much more can this situation deteriorate? Read the rest of this post...

Hundreds of thousands lose unemployment benefits today due to obstructionist GOP

We saw last week that there had been an increase in job creation, but the unemployment rate held at 9.7%, which shows the U.S. is still in a bad job situation. Yet, hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose their unemployment benefits today because Senate Republicans blocked passage of an extension of those benefits:

Nearly 400,000 jobless Americans are going to see their long-term unemployment benefits cut off. Congress failed to pass a short-term extension before taking a two-week break.

Members of the House already had voted to extend jobless benefits and went home for the spring break. Everyone knew those benefits would be running out Monday should the Senate fail to act.

On the Senate's last day in session, Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin pleaded with his Republican colleagues on the Senate floor: "Let's have a little heart. Let's have a little compassion. Let's have a little understanding of what these people are going through every day in their lives, the stress that they have. Let's do the right thing, and extend the unemployment benefits for one month."

Oklahoma Republican Tom Coburn objected. He said he was all for extending unemployment benefits as long as they were paid for, which they were not in the measure the House passed.

I'm sure Tom Coburn and the rest of the GOP Senators are living well during their Easter vacation. None of them are worried about losing their homes or not having money to pay for food. But, that's the situation the Republicans have foisted upon almost 400,000 Americans who are already suffering from the economic crisis caused by GOP policies.

I don't know why the Democrats haven't made a bigger issue out of this. Read the rest of this post...

Monday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President has a busy day. This morning, he and Michelle are hosting the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn. It's a day long event, which includes an appearance by the cast of GLEE. My family was in DC during the spring of 1976, our first visit, and we stumbled upon the Easter Egg Roll. It wasn't as tightly controlled back then. So, we all wandered in. I wanted to see the White House grounds and ended up shaking hands with President Ford.

Later today, Obama is throwing out the first pitch at the season opener for the Washington Nationals. Great stadium, not so great baseball team.

Congress is still in recess til next Monday.

And, allergy season has hit with a vengeance.

What do we need to know? Read the rest of this post...

Taiwan asks worshipers to worship online to protect environment

Whether the trend will catch on in Taiwan or spread to other countries sounds a bit iffy. Interesting idea though.

The call came ahead of Monday's Tomb Sweeping Festival, when ethnic Chinese traditionally visit the graves of their ancestors to burn incense and paper offerings.

The practice not only worsens the island's air pollution but could also cause fires, warned the cabinet-level Environmental Protection Administration.

"We can now choose to pay homage to our ancestors in a modern and environmentally friendly way by worshipping online or donating the money meant for the offerings to charities," it said in a statement.

Taiwan has vowed to cut its greenhouse gases to 2008 levels by 2020.

Studies have found that burning paper money releases a large amount of carbon dioxide, one of the main gases held responsible for global climate change.

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China refuses Bob Dylan

Do they realize how silly they appear to the rest of the world when they make decisions like this? The Guardian:

Aged 68 and almost half a century past the zenith of his angry, protest-song youth, Bob Dylan must almost have forgotten what it was like to be deemed a threat to society. But it seems at least one place still sees him as a dangerous radical.

Dylan's planned tour of east Asia later this month has been called off after Chinese officials refused permission for him to play in Beijing and Shanghai, his local promoters said. China's ministry of culture, which vets planned concerts by overseas artists, appeared wary of Dylan's past as an icon of the counterculture movement, said Jeffrey Wu, of the Taiwan-based promoters Brokers Brothers Herald.

Dylan fans denied the chance to see their hero might also blame Björk, who caused consternation among Chinese officials two years ago by shouting pro-Tibet slogans at a concert in Shanghai, Wu told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

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