Libya's Interior Minister quits post, joins protesters

Wow. From CNN via HuffPost:

Libya's interior minister said Wednesday he has quit the government and is supporting the protesters, who he predicted will achieve victory in "days or hours."

Ex-Interior Minister Abdul Fattah Younis al Abidi told CNN that he resigned Monday after hearing that some 300 unarmed civilians had been killed in Benghazi during the prior two to three days. He accused Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi of planning to attack civilians on a wide scale.

It feels a lot like 1989, when Eastern Europe fell. Though I have greater fears for what comes next in the Middle East than I did for Eastern Europe. Read the rest of this post...

Rahm elected Mayor of Chicago

He's all yours, Chicago. Good luck with that.

Can't wait to watch Mayor Rahm support same-sex marriage, immigration reform and gun control -- all issues he undermined at the White House. Read the rest of this post...

I assume 'abstinence-only education' and 'faith based initiative' are being zeroed out too, right?

Since the GOP is so hell-bent on having a government wide fire sale (everything must go!), including even the President's teleprompter, and the President is offering to cut 50% of LIHEAP (a program used to stop northerners from freezing to death in the middle of winter), we all must surely agree that fringe programs like "abstinence-only education" and the "faith based initiative" should be defunded as well?

After all, freezing to death pretty much assures abstinence, ad infinitum. Read the rest of this post...

GOP billionaire activists Koch Brothers allegedly own nearly every Republican in or from Wisconsin (or, How to play to win)

Chris in Paris has amply documented the Koch Brothers' hand in the election of fierce anti-unionist Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin. (And yes, I'm capitalizing Koch Brothers for a reason; they're now an entity, and I'm treating them like one.)

But wait, there's more. Thanks to this excellent interview with Adele Stan on Sam Seder's new Majority.fm daily podcast, we learn the true extent of the Koch Brothers' hand in Wisconsin politics.



You heard that right — "Nearly every Republican politician in or from Wisconsin is really in the pockets of the Kochs." Or as she says more succinctly, "Wisconsin is the frontier province of Koch-istan."

And the Koch Brothers, like every other member of the Billionaires' Coup, are playing to win. Fancy that.

In this post I asked, "What if we played to win?" Now I'd like to ask, What would playing to win look like?

The meta answer is, it would look like it looks on a championship college football team (college teams, like political movements, are staffed with volunteers). Or, as new coach Brian Kelly of the up-and-seriously-coming Fighting Irish calls it, "the physical and mental toughness" to play the whole game hard.

What would that mean for Progressives? For starters, it would mean not apologizing when someone says we're not "nice". That's like apologizing for winning.

But let's get specific. What would it mean to play the whole game hard?

(1) How about not whining about the Republican Supreme Court's implementation of Citizens United — and instead starting to use it until they start whining? How about rounding up a couple of committed left-wing billionaires (they must exist), and lobbing some of our own big-money grenades over the electoral wall, until they start crying about the rules?

(2) And while we're waiting, how about recalling every Wisconsin Republican state legislator we can get our retributional hands on — there's already a move afoot to do that — and then not stopping until they all drop to the floor.

Not stopping matters. Last I heard, the Wisconsin unions were asking for a seat at the table.

Wrong. We will get a "seat at the table" when the recall move starts making them scared. That's exactly when you "not stop." When they're gone from the legislature — that's when you've won. You stop when you've won.

And that's what playing to win looks like. You stop when you've won.

In my very humble opinion, of course.

GP

Update: More on the Wisconsin recall here. Click through for details. Read the rest of this post...

Eastern part of Libya falls as military refuses to kill citizens

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NBC News is reporting that the eastern part of the country has fallen out of government control as the military and tribal leaders turn against Gaddafi. Read the rest of this post...

Rachel on Wisconsin: Will Democrats defend unions or let them die?

This starts out as a story about the wickedness in Wisconsin — new wingnut governor Scott Walker and his "fierce advocacy" (hmm) of union-busting — and ends up as a story about us.

So let's start. In the following Rachel Maddow Show clip, Rachel discusses how the blot in Wisconsin's milkbowl isn't a fight about money, but about something else — Republicans who are willing to go to the mat for their misguided (there's a kind word) principles; and Democrats who maybe aren't. Listen:



A few gloss-like notes:

At 4:37: "So the last time Scott Walker did something like this in his desperation to get rid of employees who join unions, he improperly fired them, he overstated how much money that would save, and then he allowed a private foreign-based butt-vodka company to put a convicted criminal in charge of security at the Milwaukee County courthouse and city hall. That's Wisconsin's new governor."

That sure answers the "who coulda known?" question, doesn't it.

At 5:05: "The unions at the center of this fight offered ... to give the governor all the financial concessions he wanted."

Really? In other words, they offered to lay flat on the ground so he could walk on them, and he said, Sorry, not flat enough. Really.

At 5:52: "The governor supported adding about $140 million to the state's deficit when he passed a bunch of tax cuts without paying for them." Paraphrasing Amy Winehouse, what kind of fiscal hawkery is this?

At 7:00: Note that chart, which Maddow has shown before. A picture of Republican money, and Democratic money. The Republican money sources are all corporate-funded. (That's where your Target and Best Buy dollars go to, folks. Just keep shopping; nothing to see here.)

In fact, as Chris in Paris has pointed out, Scott Walker's election itself was a Koch-fueled production. Just in case you're wondering how that happened.

At 7:20: "The question is whether or not Democrats understand the sources of their political power well enough to defend those institutions." (Her emphasis.)

That certainly is the question. And the answer seems to be something I've said a million times: Money enables Republicans and neuters Democrats. That's its job, and it does it well.

But I don't want to end there. I want to end here. It's obvious we're facing a revolutionary force using Leninist tactics to commandeer and subvert existing institutions. (The Republicans have fallen. The Baptists have fallen. The courts have fallen. Who's next?)

They're playing to win. Maybe that would work for us as well. What's the natural offset to the national Republican party? Why, the national Democratic party. How about we start there?

Would it be so deadly to take our eyes off the Republicans for a while? After all, how effective has it been for Progressives to fight them from, ahem, left field?

What if we targeted the Democrats for a change, relentlessly? What if we turned the Democratic party into their counter-posing force? What if we played to win? (Unlike, for example, those unions who couldn't prostrate themselves flat enough for the right-wing daddy to say Thank you.)

I just raise the question. After all, there's an in-my-face group that seems to be showing the way.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Former top aide says Palin broke law as governor, new book alleges

Anchorage Daily News:

One chapter asserts Palin broke election law by coordinating with the Republican Governors Association during her 2006 campaign for governor. State candidates can't team up with soft-money groups such as the Republican Governors Association, which paid for TV commercials and mailers in Alaska during the election in a purported "independent" effort.

At the time, the Alaska Democratic Party had accused the RGA and Palin of working together on an ad that included Palin striding from the Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage.

In his book, Bailey says the allegation was true. Palin and her aides marched along the block in front of the hotel again and again in order to allow a camera operator to capture footage for the ad, he said. "(Palin aide) Kris Perry, when orchestrating that nutty- parade at the hotel, was following the directions of the RGA cameraman and/or whomever he was working for," Bailey wrote.

"Far worse, Sarah conducted multiple takes and knew exactly what was happening. She had, I suddenly believed, broken the law," Bailey wrote.

Read the rest of this post...

New polls show falling support for GOP Gov. Walker, increased support for Wisconsin unions

This does not look like good news for Walker and the Teabaggers. Huffington Post:

Both surveys began with questions about Walker's performance as governor and more general popularity ratings of Walker, Senate Democrats and other players on both sides of the controversy. The results of the two surveys on these questions were within sampling error of each other: Walker's approval rating is now net negative, with the disapproval rating reaching or slightly exceeding 50%. Meanwhile, the favorable ratings of "Democrats in the State Legislature" are slightly better and net positive (47% favorable, 38% unfavorable on the Saturday-Sunday sample).

The second survey proceeded next to questions focused more directly on the ongoing controversy. Respondents heard a list of people and groups involved in the controversy and were asked, for each one, if they agreed "with the positions they are taking in the current situation in the state capitol." The results presented in the following chart prepared by the pollsters show large majorities agreeing with "public employees" (67%), "protestors at the state capitol" (62%) and "unions" (59%) but far fewer agreeing with "Republicans in the Legislature" (48%) or Scott Walker (43% agree and 53% disagree).

Note from Joe: Over at DailyKos, Jed Lewison pointed out that Walker isn't even doing all that well in the latest biased survey from Rasmussen:

No, the real shock is that despite the heavy bias of the poll, less than half the poll's respondent's backed Walker's position. If Walker were actually on solid ground, a biased instrument like the one employed by Rasmussen should have yielded support in the 70 percent range. Instead, it was just 48 percent. And when you're only getting 48 percent in a poll as heavily biased in your favor was was this one, you're in some serious trouble.

Read the rest of this post...

Sen. Scott Brown to Tea Partiers: Now, I'm not one of you, so bring on a primary

For many, the election of Senator Scott Brown in January of 2010 began the political ascendancy of the teabaggers. The Tea Party sure claimed him as their first victory. But, Brown must have seen a poll that shows being too close to the right-wing ideologues could be costly, because he's openly dissing them. Via The Hill:

"You're talking about being an ideologue? If you're looking for one, I'm not it," said Sen. Scott Brown.

Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.) said he doesn't consider himself a member of the Tea Party movement and would welcome any primary challenger.

Brown, the Republican senator from deep-blue Massachusetts whose win in a special election last year in part catalyzed the Tea Party movement, said he considers himself just a Republican, though one with sympathies toward some Tea Party issues.

"Hey, nothing wrong with a primary. I welcome all challengers," Brown said Tuesday morning on MSNBC.

Sure sounds like a defiant challenge to the Tea Party. Be interesting to see how this plays out. From a quick check of the comments at The Hill's article, it doesn't seem like the teabaggers are taking this well.

And, there is nothing wrong with a primary. There should be more of them -- on both sides of the aisle. Read the rest of this post...

Follow the Libya uprising at Al Jazeera's Live Blog

It's being updated often and includes a lot of interesting information. One post includes a link to Robert Fisk's article about the extended rule by Gadaffi. As he mentions, he would be enlightening to sift through the Libyan archives including information related to the Lockerbie bombing including the release of al-Megrahi in exchange for oil drilling rights. Big Oil has to be concerned, though we know how they manage to skate by trouble time after time. Read the rest of this post...

Koch brothers behind anti-union attacks in Wisconsin

Just like the Teabagger movement, the theater in Wisconsin is heavily funded by the extreme right wing and deep pocketed Koch brothers. Wisconsin GOP governor Scott Walker owes the Koch brothers for his victory in the elections. The phony "Americans for Prosperity" is another far right group in the mix that watched their budget grow substantially thanks to Koch funding. The Koch brothers are clearly not impacted by the decline of the middle class, so of course they can't relate to the financial disruptions of recent years. Now that they have helped start the fiasco in Wisconsin, they intend to take their big money on the road to Pennsylvania, Ohio and Indiana.

Again, why do these far right extremists keep blaming the unions for what we know was a Wall Street caused recession? NY Times:

What Mr. Phillips did not mention was that his Virginia-based nonprofit group, whose budget surged to $40 million in 2010 from $7 million three years ago, was created and financed in part by the secretive billionaire brothers Charles G. and David H. Koch.

State records also show that Koch Industries, their energy and consumer products conglomerate based in Wichita, Kan., was one of the biggest contributors to the election campaign of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican who has championed the proposed cuts.

Even before the new governor was sworn in last month, executives from the Koch-backed group had worked behind the scenes to try to encourage a union showdown, Mr. Phillips said in an interview on Monday.

Read the rest of this post...

Libyan pilots refuse orders to bomb civilians, defect to Malta

Yet another truly amazing day in north Africa. Who ever could have imagined such a radical turn of events in a country such as Libya? Al Jazeera:

Two Libyan air force jets landed in Malta on Monday and their pilots have asked for political asylum.

The pilots claimed to have defected after refusing to follow orders to attack civilians protesting in Benghazi in Libya.

The pilots, who said they were colonels in the Libyan air force, were being questioned by authorities in an attempt to verify their identities.

Meanwhile, a group of Libyan army officers have issued a statement urging fellow soldiers to "join the people" and help remove Muammar Gaddafi.

The officers urged the rest of the Libyan army to march to Tripoli.

Read the rest of this post...

Deadly earthquake strikes in New Zealand

In all likelihood, the death toll will rise above the current count of 65 people. CNN:

The New Zealand Herald reported that the quake knocked out phone lines, including the city's emergency 111 service. The temblor cracked roads and broke water mains, flooding several streets. About 80 percent of the city lost power, TVNZ reported.

Witness Philip Gregan said he was attending a joint U.S.- New Zealand conference when the earthquake struck.

"I'm seeing a lot of damage in buildings. I've seen one collapsed bridge and there's a lot of water from broken water mains," he said. "I saw one (injured) person in the back of a police car and one of our colleagues saw a person crushed by falling debris."

Read the rest of this post...