Gentle justice (too bad it works)

Yes, that's irony in the headline, for all the Dirty Harry's among us. From the New York Times, this story of justice in modern Finland. It's not very harsh, but then, they don't need much of it. (Coincidence? Hmm.)

The [Finnish police] force is the smallest in per capita terms in Europe, but it has a corruption-free reputation and it solves 90 percent of its serious crimes.

''I know this system sounds like a curiosity,'' said Markku Salminen, a former beat patrolman and homicide detective who is now the director general of the prison service in charge of punishments. ''But if you visit our prisons and walk our streets, you will see that this very mild version of law enforcement works. I don't blame other countries for having harsher systems because they have different histories and politics, but this model works for us.''

Finland, a relatively classless culture with a Scandinavian belief in the benevolence of the state and a trust in its civic institutions, is something of a laboratory for gentle justice. The kinds of economic and social disparities that can produce violence don't exist in Finland's welfare state society, street crime is low, and law enforcement officials can count on support from an uncynical public.

I think you could argue that class war breeds heavy-handed policing (though a profit opportunity for some).

Or, as I explained elsewhere, "When you break the social contract from above, it breaks from below as well." (Thanks for the tip to Griffon in the comments to this Taser-riddled post.)

GP Read the rest of this post...

Kathleen Parker on why the mosque must be built

She's a conservative, and she's making sense.

This is why plans for the mosque near Ground Zero should be allowed to proceed, if that's what these Muslims want. We teach tolerance by being tolerant. We can't insist that our freedom of speech allows us to draw cartoons or produce plays that Muslims find offensive and then demand that they be more sensitive to our feelings.

More to the point, the tolerance we urge the Muslim world to embrace as we exercise our right to free expression, and revel in the glory and the gift of irreverence, is the same we must embrace when Muslims seek to express themselves peacefully.

Nobody ever said freedom would be easy. We are challenged every day to reconcile what is allowable and what is acceptable. Compromise, though sometimes maddening, is part of the bargain. We let the Ku Klux Klan march, not because we agree with them but because they have a right to display their hideous ignorance.

Ultimately, when sensitivity becomes a cudgel against lawful expressions of speech or religious belief -- or disbelief -- we all lose.

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Some Republican figures urge candidates not to focus on Ground Zero mosque issue

Interesting twist, considering Republicans are behind the effort to make the mosque a story.

Pollster David Winston, who advises GOP congressional leaders, worries that the mosque controversy could overshadow the issues voters care about most. "While this is certainly an issue that has generated a lot of emotion, when it comes to voting, the election is going to be about the economy and jobs," he said.

Others fear that the party risks appearing intolerant of religious differences.

"One of the biggest dangers in politics is to overplay an issue," said former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie, who warned that voters could conclude that Republicans who oppose the New York mosque are taking a stand against Islam in general. "It's very important that, as Republicans talk about this issue, we be thoughtful and careful about making those distinctions," he said.

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Google chief warns of Internet imperiling privacy

Very interesting.

"But Mr Schmidt is completely right on how much information we are giving away online. Right now there are millions of young kids and teenagers who, when they apply for jobs in 10 years' time, will find that there is so much embarrassing stuff about them online that they cannot take down."

Those who wish to delete what they have put up online, meanwhile, may find it next to impossible to entirely erase their cyber past.

"What many people do not realise is that as soon as you put something up online you lose possession and control of that information immediately," said Rik Fergusson, a cyber security expert at Trend Micro. "Anyone can download, store and distribute that information, it's out of your hands."

Ms Snyder, a trainee teacher, had passed all her exams and completed her training. Her academic record was unblemished. That is, until her final summer, when her teachers – out of the blue – deemed that the behaviour she had displayed in her personal life was unbecoming of a teacher.

Her crime? She had uploaded an image of herself, wearing a pirate costume and drinking from a plastic cup on to a social networking site with the caption: "drunken pirate."

Ms Snyder never got the certificate she needed to teach and an attempt to sue the university for it was unsuccessful.

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All US 'Combat' troops have now left Iraq

It's been seven years, three months and 16 days since May 2, 2003. That's when George W. Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq. That was a lie -- just like every reason Bush gave for the war itself.

Since then, there have been too many deaths and untold carnage. But, today, the last U.S. combat troops left Iraq:

The last U.S. combat troops were crossing the border into Kuwait on Thursday morning, bringing to a close the active combat phase of a 7½-year war that overthrew the dictatorial regime of Saddam Hussein, forever defined the presidency of George W. Bush and left more than 4,400 American service members and tens of thousands of Iraqis dead.

The final convoy of the Army’s 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., were about to enter Kuwait shortly after 1:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. Wednesday ET), carrying the last of the 14,000 U.S. combat forces in Iraq, said NBC’s Richard Engel, who has been traveling with the brigade as it moved out this week.

The operative word here is "combat." The U.S. will still have tens of thousands of soldiers in the country. But, they're now called "advisers." Read the rest of this post...

Another bad poll about the economy:

AP/Gfk poll:

Democrats are keenly aware that they face strong headwinds; 60 percent of people say the country's headed in the wrong direction. And it's hard to overstate the importance of the economy to voters; 91 percent of Americans say it's a top problem, with unemployment close behind.

A whopping 81 percent of people now call the economy poor or very poor, up from 72 percent in June, and just 12 percent say it has improved in the past month, compared with 19 percent in June. Both are record measurements since AP-GfK started asking those questions.

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Only 25% of American kids who took the ACTs are qualified for college

We're number one! Now back to the mosque.

New data show that fewer than 25% of 2010 graduates who took the ACT college-entrance exam possessed the academic skills necessary to pass entry-level courses, despite modest gains in college-readiness among U.S high-school students in the last few years.

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It's not a mosque, it's a Prayer Room

And so it explodes into dust. Gene Robinson on Countdown, saying in effect: "It's not a mosque, it's a community center with Prayer Room" (about 1:30 into the clip below).



A Prayer Room. If Park51 is a Mosque, then the Intel office in Cairo is a Mosque, and the Motorola office, and the Audi office. They all have "prayer rooms" so that devout Muslims can . . . pray. It's what Muslims do, several times a day. They usually look like offices. They're usually labeled "Prayer Room."

Every Western company in a Muslim country has a Prayer Room. Are all of these offices really Mosques?

And that's the central lie, both obvious and invisible.

There's an Action Opportunity in here. We could push to get corporate offices with prayer rooms labeled "Mosque". I'm serious; the campaign could start now.

Rule 14: Use their lizard brains against them. It's money in the bank.

Someday I'll give the whole list. This one is powerful though, and one that can be applied now.

(Hint: When there are many, start with one and stick with it. That's Rule 17. I stole it from Walter Reuther. So who — Intel? Moto? Nike? Pick one and just do it.)

GP

(Yes, I named "Harry Reid" in the tags. Fourth-and-goal and you threw an interception, sir.)

UPDATE: And as Briann points out in the comments, the Pentagon may be a Mosque as well. (Gasp!) Read the rest of this post...

'Yes we can, but should we?'

This is too good not to pass on. If you haven't seen it yet, click and learn. Jon Stewart on the Little Mosque That Shouldn't:



My fave part? The trip to Beckistan. The phrase I'm gonna steal honor by remembering? Team Yes we can; but should we?

GP Read the rest of this post...

FOX News parent corp gives $1m to GOP

Big surprise there. But should a company called "News Corp" really be giving partisan donations? When its business is supposedly producing objective news? Granted, it's business is NOT producing objective news. Rather, it's a propaganda organ of the GOP. But still, pretty tacky move, even for FOX. Read the rest of this post...

Dr. Laura to quit radio over criticism of her use of n-word

Interesting story. I suspect Dr. Laura's past, and her present tendency to channel Judge Judy on steroids - i.e., way too forward, pushy and just downright mean with people - caught up with her on this one. Regardless of what she meant, she said it all the wrong way on a topic that obviously demanded care. Read the rest of this post...

8 out of 10 Democrats who the Cook report just downgraded are Blue Dogs

It seems the Cook Report has just downgrade the election chances of 10 Democrats. Eight of them are conservative Blue Dogs. Adam Green of PCCC thinks he knows why.

"The big lesson of 2010 for Democrats will be that if you govern like a Blue Dog and put corporate contributors ahead of your constituents, you lose. If you listen to what progressives have been telling you all along and stand up to corporations on issues like the public option and Wall Street reform, you win -- especially among Independent voters." -- Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC)

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Glenn Beck to host 'non-political' rally featuring Sarah Palin

Wash Post:

Social activists and civil rights leaders, among them the Rev. Al Sharpton, are planning marches and demonstrations -- including the unveiling of a nearly four-story-tall original sculpture on the Mall -- on Aug. 28 to coincide with a rally organized by Fox News personality Glenn Beck.

Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, with former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin among the scheduled speakers, will take place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 47 years to the day after Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech there.

"There will be absolutely no politics involved," [Beck] said.

And that's why Sarah Palin is speaking. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is in Columbus, Ohio today. He'll be at a fundraiser for Ohio's Governor Ted Strickland. Then, Obama is flying to Miami where he'll headline a fundraiser for the Florida Democratic Party. After that, back to DC. (It's good to have one's own airplane. Avoiding airport lines also makes this kind of travel a lot easier.)

Good riddance to Dr. Laura. She's leaving her radio show. And, hat tip to Media Matters for keeping up the pressure. On Larry King Live last night, Dr. Laura blamed Media Matter for her demise -- although it was all her fault. John has a long history with Dr. Laura. He helped launc StopDrLaura.com, a campaign that prevented her from having a t.v. show back in 2000. The woman is a hate-filled menace.

And, how about Blago? He beat Patrick Fitzgerald on all but one count.

We're getting a torrential rain storm in DC. And, we're under a flood warning. Local news keeps telling me that there are floods around the city and in the suburbs.

I've got jury duty again today. Read the rest of this post...

White House stands firm on tax cut expiration (for now)

We are grateful for stories like these. Mark Zandi is floating a tax cut "compromise" that "temporarily" extends the Big Boy tax cuts (those on the $250,000+/year crowd).

Jared Bernstein, Biden's economics adviser, just shot that down in an interview with the Huffington Post. Sam Stein (h/t David Dayen):

A key member of the White House economic team is throwing cold water on a leading compromise proposal in the debate over the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

"There are many good reasons not to extend the high-end parts of the Bush tax cuts having to do with the fear that a temporary extension could be made permanent," Bernstein said. "What you are talking about -- a $30 to 40 billion range in terms of adding to the deficit by extending the high end -- could easily become $700 billion over a ten-year budget window." . . .

The White House has favored letting the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy expire as they are set to do under the law. But administration officials haven't been pressed about the middle-ground proposal. Bernstein's comments are the closest that White House aides have come to fully rejecting the idea and they portend an even more dramatic and heated political fight once the issue of the Bush tax cuts re-emerges following Congress' August recess.

Dear Team Matching Words to Deeds — more of this please. Thanks.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Is this the run-up to war with Iran?

Back when dino's ruled the earth and Dick Cheney's heartbeat was a heartbeat away, I privately predicted war with Iran.

Then Adm. Fallon's opposition was revealed (good for peace); then Fallon was resigned (good for war; and yes, you read that right); then the bankers' house of cards stole the show, by falling (good for peace); then Obama was elected (seemed good for peace at the time). And then . . . we had a lull. Whew.

No longer. The drums are beating again. The September 2010 Atlantic features a cover story by Jeffrey Goldberg on Iran. The title: "The Point of No Return" (my emphasis throughout).

For the Obama administration, the prospect of a nuclearized Iran is dismal to contemplate— it would create major new national-security challenges and crush the president’s dream of ending nuclear proliferation. But the view from Jerusalem is still more dire: a nuclearized Iran represents, among other things, a threat to Israel’s very existence. In the gap between Washington’s and Jerusalem’s views of Iran lies the question: who, if anyone, will stop Iran before it goes nuclear, and how? As Washington and Jerusalem study each other intensely, here’s an inside look at the strategic calculations on both sides—and at how, if things remain on the current course, an Israeli air strike will unfold.

No less than James Fallows, writing for the Atlantic website, defends The Atlantic and excuses the article as "a strictly reportorial perspective."

Why is Fallows defending The Atlantic? Because Jeffrey Goldberg is one of the go-to guys when the neo-cons want to "prepare the battlefield" of public opinion, prior to putting their guns where the U.S. government's money is. And this article makes The Atlantic look complicit in a full-on move to back Israeli bombing.

Ken Silverstein writing in his Harpers digs, "Washington Babylon":

[I]f the article had been written by anyone else I might agree. But Goldberg’s past work as a dishonest advocate for the Iraq War and his long service in support of the Israeli military (literally for a time, when he served in the Israeli Defense Force) makes Fallows’s argument harder to accept. Goldberg has never seen an Israeli military action that he didn’t approve of. . . . If Israel does attack Iran, its supporters will surely point to Goldberg’s piece as evidence for why such a strike was necessary, just as President Bush cited Goldberg’s work in making the case for war in Iraq.

What should we make of this? By that I mean, who's the target of this "strictly reportorial" assault?

Is the current administration (whose motto seems to be "I brake for right-wing talking points") being played by the pro-IDF lobby? Or are we being played instead, by someone else — say, an admin insider whose mind is already made up?

Jeffrey Goldberg is clearly carrying someone else's water. Are we being prepared for war with Iran?

GP Read the rest of this post...