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The Errington Thompson Show 1-17-09

I start off the show with a high five for pilot Chesley Sullenberger and his crew. Bush has a press conference and an 13-minute primetime self-congratulatory chat with the American public (barf bag please). Bradley Schlozman (what a great name), former head of the Civil Rights office, has been found to have violated civil rights law. With luck, Eric Holder will follow up on this. We tortured Mohammed al-Qahtani. Susan Crawford gave an interview to WaPo (story written by Bob Woodward, so it must be true :-) ), basically saying that she wouldn’t prosecute because he was tortured. This is a problem.

In the Dare to be Stupid portion of the show, I highlight the fact that Karl Rove has asked us to write President Bush a farewell letter. I also highlight Marcus Schrenker, who tried to fake his own plane crash and death.

My guests - Marcy Wheeler of Empty Wheel and Mike Finnigan of Crooks and Liars.

Let’s Rewind (a review of the week’s stories) – Racine mayor Gary Becker is arrested for sexual assault.  Wow, its cold.

Obama weekly Videocast

In his final weekly address before assuming office, President-elect Barack Obama speaks about the upcoming Inauguration activities, a tradition at the heart of our democracy.

Write a Farewell Note to Bush

From TP:

The online community has been atwitter lately over Karl Rove’s decision to join the microblogging site Twitter; the former White House adviser already has more than 4,000 followers. In his latest tweets, Rove revealed that he’s putting together a letter-writing campaign to thank President Bush for his tenure. Yesterday he wrote:

Send a farewell letter to President Bush—Email gwbfarewell@gmail.com [no attachments] and I’ll give him your note.

He later followed up and said that all messages are due by 6:00 p.m. ET on Jan. 19, and he will deliver them to Bush on Jan. 20. TP readers: Get writing!

Man, it is cold!

This morning the temperature is 4 degrees here in Asheville, NC. It is seriously cold.


From MSNBC: Miserable, lung-burning, face-numbing temperatures are one thing in the Midwest and Northeast. But the Deep South?

Temperatures plummeted Friday across the Midwest and eastern U.S., and delivered a stinging slap to Southerners unaccustomed to the frigid weather. Schools were closed in a dozen states and homeless shelters were overcrowded. Those that did venture outside bundled up and made quick trips.

In an odd twist, Alabama was colder than Alaska. (more… )

CNN’s Rick Sanchez calls out Joe

I have really tried NOT to pay attention to Joe the Plumber but he, like Sarah Palin, keeps showing up on my TV. For reasons that are unclear, reporters keep sticking microphones in his face and Samuel J. Wurzelbacher just keeps talking. Well, he said something stupid about war correspondents and Rick Sanchez, who I thought was rather superficial, takes issue with old Joe. This is good. Watch.

Cornyn presses on Waterboarding

I was going to write a long post on Senator John Cornyn of Texas (one of the dumbest people in the Senate in my opinion). Then I read Think Progress‘ post and they really covered everything I wanted to say.

From TP: During his confirmation hearing today, Attorney General nominee Eric Holder unequivocally rejected torture. “No one is above the law,” Holder said repeatedly during the hearing.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) could not fathom that an Attorney General would reject a practice that both is unlawful and endangers Americans. He tried to get Holder to back off his anti-torture stance by presenting an absurd “ticking time bomb” hypothetical in which thousands of American lives are at stake. “You would still refuse to condone aggressive interrogation techniques?” Cornyn asked. When Holder replied that waterboarding is not the only interrogation method, Cornyn insisted, “Assume that it was”:

HOLDER: I think your hypothetical assumes a premise that I’m not willing to concede.

CORNYN: I know you don’t like my hypothetical.

HOLDER: No, the hypothetical’s fine; the premise that underlies it I’m not willing to accept, and that is that waterboarding is the only way that I could get that information from those people.

CORNYN: Assume that it was.

HOLDER: [Laughs] Given the knowledge that I have about other techniques and what I’ve heard from retired admirals and generals and FBI agents, there are other ways in a timely fashion that you can get information out of people that is accurate and will produce useable intelligence. And so it’s hard for me to accept or to answer your hypothetical without accepting your premise. And in fact, I don’t think I can do that.

Eric Holder did a great job in standing up to Senator Cornyn and not giving into the senator’s premise. President Clinton on NPR about two years ago said you can get Congress to pass special legislation if you knock someone around to get information. We don’t need laws that support torture. We must get away from saying to ourselves that torture is okay. It is un-American.

155 passengers survive crash into Hudson

Some are calling the survival of 155 passengers a miracle. Maybe. I think that a well-trained pilot with a well-trained crew flying a well-designed airplane should be able to safely land a damaged plane. This is why we train. We train for emergencies. I’m glad that everyone is safe.

More from NYT:

All 150 passengers and 5 crew members aboard a US Airways flight bound for Charlotte, N.C., escaped safely minutes after the plane took off from LaGuardia Airport and then plunged into the icy Hudson River.

Moments after the pilot of the plane, a twin jet Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., glided the aircraft to an emergency landing on the river, a veritable flotilla of small craft converged on the crippled plane and began rescuing the freezing passengers who had gathered on the wings.

“It would appear the pilot did a masterful job of landing in the river and making sure everybody got out,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said at an early evening news conference. “I had a long conversation with the pilot, he walked the plane twice and made sure that everybody was out.”

The pilot was identified as Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger, III, 57, of Danville, Calif.

Some of the passengers were taken to hospitals in New York and New Jersey. Several were treated for hypothermia and a variety of mior injuries. It was one of the coldest days of the year in New York City, with the air temperature in the 20s, the wind chill making it feel like 11 degrees, and the water temperature in the Hudson about 40 degrees. (more… )

Bush’s final address

Yes, it was nauseating. It was like taking a bottle of ipecac. Yet I felt I had to watch President George W. Bush’s last public address. The funny thing is I could’ve written that for him. Everyone who has followed his presidency knew what he was going to say. Bush has always tried to paint himself as a poorly understood tough guy who was never afraid to make decisions, which is exactly what he said in his address. He also had to tell us that the world is a different and dangerous place. Finally, somewhere in the speech, he had to give advice to the incoming president. He had to say something about not losing one’s nerve because this has been a theme of his presidency for the last five long years.

I wish I could tell you that President Bush said something new, but he didn’t. I might go so far as to say he wouldn’t. For the last three years Bush has been on autopilot. He stayed the course. Now was no time for him to change his rhetoric and he didn’t. Tonight ends an eight-week media blitz that President Bush and his administration clumsily performed. It was their attempt to rewrite history. Almost everyone was involved, including former officials like Karl Rove, Ari Fleischer and Andy Card.

For some reason, I don’t think that George Bush and his top administration officials will fade off into the sunset. These neoconservatives understand that history is written by the winners. Therefore, I would not be surprised if we continue to see George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Karl Rove and a few others continue this “charm” offensive. They’re going to continue to talk up the “great” things that George W. Bush has accomplished. Look for one or two of the Bush insiders to become regulars on a Sunday morning talk show.

From the New York Times:

President Bush defended his two terms in office during a farewell address from the White House on Thursday evening and conceded that he “experienced setbacks” over a tumultuous eight years. But he argued that he kept the country safe following Sept. 11, 2001.

“There is legitimate debate about many of these decisions, but there can be little debate about the results,” Mr. Bush said. “America has gone more than seven years without another terrorist attack on our soil.”

The president spoke to the nation from the East Room of the White House before an audience of nearly 200 people, including family, friends and members of the Cabinet. He also invited about 50 people whom he had met at some point in his presidency, many of whom were parents of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan or families members of victims of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (more… )

Some Pro Football News

It appears that Plaxico Burress is in court again. Seems a dealer lent him a car in exchange for his making public appearances for that dealer. While Plaxico had the car, he got arrested in the shooting and the car was impounded. The dealer is asking for $19,000 in damages. Plaxico Burress and his attorney only believe that the New York Giants star wide receiver owes $1700. Yesterday, the jury sided with Plaxico Burress.

Rumors are flying that the Cowboys are going to release Terrell Owens. I think the Dallas Cowboys have more important things to figure out. Strong safety Roy Williams and outside linebacker Greg Ellis are each counting approximately $6 million against the salary cap. Are they still worth that? The Cowboys need to fix their offensive line so that Tony Romo has time to find receivers that maybe open like Terrell Owens. My advice is to keep Owens and draft a young receiver. Figure out whether Miles Austin, Sam Herd, Isiah Stanback can play. If they can, play them. If not, cut them. Cut Zach Thomas. He really didn’t make a big play all year.

Michael Irvin was the victim of an attempted carjacking in North Dallas. Kind of an odd story… the exact kind of crazy thing that would happen to Michael Irvin.

News misleads again

Maybe it’s the 24-hour mentality of news or that these news websites feel as if they have to fill every square inch of the page with something. MSNBC has several links on their front page which include — How Big Will the Crowd Be?, Waterboarding Is Torture, AG Pick Says, Israel Says It Hit UN Mission after Taking Fire. All of these seem like good, solid news items. Then, when you dig down a little farther you get to this article — Some Blacks Choose Inauguration OverworkWhy is this news? Aren’t some Whites chosing the inauguration overwork? Aren’t there going to be hundreds if not thousands of Americans to want to stay home and watch the inauguration? The insinuation that Blacks will be the only ones celebrating Obama’s inauguration it’s simply wrong. The article is infuriating.

Political Leaders As Gods—Effective Strategy Or Not?

What if recently deposed Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick had announced himself a god? Would this have kept him from losing his post? Is declaring himself a god an option to save the career of politically troubled Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich? (above)

Let’s review the record from antiquity.  

In his History of Government from the Earliest Times–Volume I, Ancient Monarchies and Empires, the late Oxford political scientist S.E. Finer addressed the subject of rulers as gods or as chosen by heaven.

In ancient Egypt, the Pharaoh asserted divinity. Professor Finer wrote that these claims held the most weight in the early years of the Egyptian kingdom. But in time, as Pharaohs lasted for only brief stretches before dying or being usurped, the claim to divininty must have been nearly impossible for anyone to really believe.

In this era of 24 hour cable news and irreverent coverage by political blogs, it would seem, at best, that only some of the public would believe a claim by a leader that he or she was a god. If rulers had a hard time maintaining the fiction back in ancient Egypt, imagine convincing people today.

Professor Finer also wrote that the Egyptians responded to the diminished stature of the Pharaoh’s person by giving the throne divinity more so than the individaul holding the throne.

From Finer—

 ”In my view…originally the (pharaohs) person was a sacred person, because, in accordance with certain rules or portents, he was, uniquely, indicated as the rightful possessor of the throne. But later it was the throne that made the king..irrespective of a particular individuals personal history or qualities.”

By this logic, the holder of the office of Speaker of the Texas House or the Governorship of Illinois would be a god by definition. It would not make any difference if  Mr. Craddick or Mr. Blagojevich were gods because their successors would be gods as well.  This, in my view, would limit the value of declaring yourself a god.  No matter what, you’re going to get a god in the position.

[Read more →]

How Tuna Is “Farmed”

The following is from a series of articles about the oceans prepared by The Economist magazine 

“Perhaps the most grotesque form of fish farming is the ranching of bluefin tuna, a delicacy that may sell for as much as $860 a kilo. Bluefins are sensitive creatures that hate being cooped up so much that, if confined, they tend to throw themselves against their cages and break their necks. Australian “ranchers” have now adopted a technique that involves catching young bluefins, enveloping them in a huge net and dragging it slowly round the south seas for months while feeding them pilchards imported from west Africa.”

I eat tuna and I don’t ask many questions about how it reaches my plate. But is this how we want to proceed? We’ve overfished the seas and now this is how we are getting our fish to eat. How can this be sustainable? We’re seeing in our economy what happens when we proceed in a way that is not sustainable. How many times do we need to learn (or not learn) the same lessons?     

Here is information about the Atlantic Bluefin Tuna. (above)

Here is information about various types of seafood and to what extent they are overfished.

Here is information about overfishing in the United States from Mother Jones magazine.

What’s going on – Wednesday Evening News Roundup

Wednesday Evening News Roundup

Note to MSNBC: upgrade your servers!!!  From 7 p.m. to midnight Eastern Standard Time, it is nearly impossible to watch any of the videos (Countdown with Keith Olbermann , The Rachel Maddow Show). You need more bandwidth!

  • Peter Bergen, counterterrorism expert, has a few comments on why Osama bin Laden has raised his ugly head. I’m not sure that Mr. Bergen adds anything new to the discussion. He does believe that recent air strikes by US predator drones in western Pakistan may be having some effect on the Al Qaeda leadership. It should be clear to all Americans that Al Qaeda and Bin Laden are linked to the Palestinian cause.
  • One of the things puzzling me over the last several years is why Motorola has been struggling. Three years ago, everybody had a Motorola Razr phone. The latest Motorola phones pale to the iPhone or a new Blackberry. Motorola has announced today that they’re cutting 4000 jobs. Why don’t they keep most of those folks and put them into R & D? (Fire the folks currently in R & D, because they aren’t getting the job done!)
  • There’s an interesting story that has been circulating over the last several days which truly points out how ineffective Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has been. Remember that UN resolution that called for both sides to cease aggression in Gaza? Well it appears that Condoleezza Rice had a big part in drafting that resolution. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert went around Condoleezza Rice and spoke with President Bush directly asking for the US to abstain from the vote. So the Secretary of State had been working on a resolution that basically asked Israel to stop. Then the Israeli prime minister called Bush and we completely changed course. Does that make any sense to you?
  • Dick Cheney believes the deaths of 4500 Americans and over 100,000 Iraqis was clearly worth it.
  • For the most part, I usually agree with Thomas Friedman. Yes, I know that he continually tried to justify the Iraq war which really has no practical justification. Of course, the premise of his wildly successful book, The World Is Flat, that globalization is good, was overly simplistic and really overlooked the terrible suffering that globalization has brought to some developing countries. Well, now that I think about it, I guess I don’t agree with him all that often. In today’s column, he pretty much glosses over the negative consequences of war again. He tries to justify Israel’s incursion into southern Lebanon and appears to be as delusional as President Bush in stating that this incursion was successful. Collateral damage (aka civilian deaths) was not a bad thing as everyone else in the world thinks, but instead is a good thing. I’m not sure that killing civilians in Lebanon or Gaza (or anywhere) can ever be thought of as a good thing. It is obvious to me that the politics in the region are extremely complex. With Hamas in the south and Hezbollah in the north, it is hard for Israel ever to get a good night’s sleep. Some solution needs to be found. Thomas Friedman does not have the answers. Glenn Greenwald has an excellent post on Friedman’s column.

Ricardo Montalban has died

Veteran actor Ricardo Montalban has died at the age of 88. Although many people will remember him from the hit TV show Fantasy Island, I will always remember him for his unforgettable role in Star Trek II — The Wrath of Khan.

Fantasy Island was a interesting show. The concept was that rich folks could go to this island and live out their lifelong fantasy. Mr. Roarke, Ricardo Montalban, was the master of ceremonies. He would welcome these guests to the island, inviting them to have a good time, but invariably one person or couple would have their fantasy go terribly wrong. They would learn some important moral point and would be forever grateful that their fantasy was over. The show was clearly different for its time. There wasn’t always a happy ending. Yet, Mr. Roarke was always charming.

The Wrath of Khan was one of the best Star Trek movies of all time. The first movie was all about special effects and really disappointed many Star Trek fans, myself included. The second movie resurrected a character from the TV series, Khan. The script had that famous banter among McCoy, Spock and Captain Kirk and it had great special effects (for its time). Ricardo Montalban played the perfect villain to Captain Kirk. If you have a chance, pick up the movie.

I’m not coming close to doing this man or his career justice.  You can read more here and here.

Bush defends Katrina response (updated)

Old saying — quit while you’re ahead. (Maybe Bush doesn’t know this saying.)

In what was billed as President Bush‘s last press conference, he said a lot of amazing things. What really jumped out at me was his defense to Hurricane Katrina. I am guessing that Dana Perino and others in the press office got together with President Bush and worked on his answers to many expected questions. I think this response was rehearsed. The fact that the Coast Guard rescued hundreds, if not thousands, of people off of rooftops does not excuse the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency was completely inept. (I readily admit that Louisiana is a completely dysfunctional state. Louisiana and Illinois should probably arm-wrestle for the distinction of being the most corrupt state in the union. The local and state response were completely inadequate, but that does not excuse the federal response.)

The New Orleans Times Picayune has more here and here.

The federal report that was written by a Republican lead Congress. Surprise.

Keith Olbermann takes Bush to the wood shed (see clip).

An Editorial from the Times-Picayune really encapsulates my Outrage over Bush’s comments (here’s a portion):

In his last scheduled press conference, the president vigorously dismissed criticism of the government’s performance.

“Don’t tell me the federal response was slow when there was 30,000 people pulled off roofs right after the storm passed,” the president said, pounding the lectern. “That’s a pretty quick response. . . . Could things have been done better? Absolutely, absolutely. But when I hear people say the federal response was slow, what are they going to say to those chopper drivers or the 30,000 who got pulled off the roof?”

The U.S. Coast Guard, indeed, performed thousands of heroic rescues after the storm. But it’s indisputable that the rest of the federal bureaucracy failed miserably in aiding tens of thousands of people who waited days for water, food and evacuation. Even reports by the White House and Congress faulted the federal performance.

So did President Bush a few days after Katrina. “The results are not acceptable,” the president said Sept. 2, 2005, referring to the federal failure to timely deliver food and medicines to survivors. (more… )

C&L to host inaugural party

From C&L:

I’ll be in DC, hanging for the inauguration and I’ll be co-hosting the Netroots Nation “Yes We Can” gala event. It should be a blast.

Netroots Nation Yes We Can Party
An evening of celebration, carousing, eating and drinking with fellow members of the progressive community, with music by Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band

Monday, January 19, 2009
7 p.m. to midnight
The Clarendon Ballroom
3185 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington VA
Just 3 miles from downtown DC // Accessible by the Metro (Orange line)

Tickets are $90 (includes hors d’oeuvres and four drink tickets). Get yours at netrootsnation.com/yeswecanparty.

And I’ll be joined by my pals too:

An evening of celebrating, carousing, eating and drinking with the progressive community, with live music by Chopteeth Afrofunk Big Band!

Blog co-hosts: AmericaBlog, Blue Commonwealth, Congress Matters, Crooks & Liars, Democratic GAIN, Firedoglake, Fivethirtyeight.com, Frameshop, The Great Schlep, Jack & Jill Politics, Living Liberally and myDD

What’s going on – Tuesday Night News Roundup

Tuesday Night News Roundup

  • I watched portions of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s confirmation hearing. From what I saw, I thought she performed well. I thought she reflected Obama’s foreign-policy positions extremely well. Senator David Vitter from Louisiana, connected with prostitution both in Washington, DC and in Louisiana, began a lengthy discussion about the Clinton Global Initiative and the Clinton Foundation. Republicans are worried about a conflict of interest. No, seriously. It couldn’t be that Republicans are enjoying the fact that they can kick around Bill Clinton again. Instead, they’re worried about ethics. A few names just popped into my head – Blackwater, Halliburton, Representative Mark Foley, Senator Larry Craig, Alberto Gonzales, John Ashcroft, Guantánamo Bay, Fallujah, Harriet Myers, Scott McClellan, aluminum tubes, the Downing Street memo – and now Republicans are worried about ethics!? Yeah, right (watch the video).
  • I’m still floored by the fact that multimillionaires want people who are making an average $40,000 a year to finance their stadiums. I don’t understand it. To go one step further, I don’t understand why citizens in New York and Irving, Texas would agree to finance a stadium for two of the richest franchises in pro sports — the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys. Mind-boggling.
  • New research presented at the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggest that humans are having a greater impact on evolution than we originally thought. In the wild, it is the young and weak that are killed off before they can reproduce. Humans target the larger adults, therefore, removing the biggest and the best from the reproductive population. Interesting study.
  • Carol Bartz, former CEO of Autodesk, has been named as the new CEO of Yahoo. I don’t know if she will be able to save Yahoo from a slow and painful death.
  • Steven Chu, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, and Barack Obama’s nominee for Energy Secretary, testified on Capitol Hill today. He maneuvered the land mines that were set out by several Republicans. As a scientist, he criticized the idea of clean coal and the cap and trade system for limiting greenhouse gases.
  • On the other hand, Barack Obama’s nominee for Treasury Secretary,Tim Geithner, seems to be laying out his own land mines. He has just paid over $40,000 in back taxes, covering 2001 through 2004. It appears that he had some domestic help whose working papers expired in Geithner’s employ (see the above video).
  • Arne Duncan had smooth sailing in his confirmation hearing.  He has been nominated to be the next Secretary of Education.
  • Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard received the presidential medal of freedom today at the White House. Official guests of the White House stay across the street at the plush Blair House. Barack Obama had asked to stay at the Blair House but was denied because John Howard had agreed to stay there. Barack Obama and his family can move into the Blair House on the 15th of January. Other recipients in today’s ceremony were former Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain and Colombian president Alvaro Uribe.  These were all ardent supporters of George W. Bush’s war on terror and his invasion of Iraq.

Obama pick called socialist

Carol Browner was chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to be the White House Energy and Environment Adviser. The right wing has figured out that she was a member of the Socialist International Commission For a Sustainable World Society. Now they’re losing their minds.

General Kinnard dies

General Kinnard

I never knew the whole story about Anthony C. McAuliffe‘s response to the Germans when he and the 101st Airborne were surrounded in the Ardennes. The famous response was “Nuts.” It appears that there was more to the story than that pithy retort. Harry W. O. Kinnard helped “craft” the response. The New York Times has more. (The more I learn about WWII the more I admire those that fought in that war.)

General Kinnard died a few days ago at the age of 93.

What’s going on – Monday News Roundup

Monday Evening News Roundup

My five-year-old grandson learned today about Martin Luther King. He asked his mom to call me so that we could talk. You see, my grandson is white and I’m black. It has been the topic of a few conversations because not much gets by five-year-olds. As a grandfather, it is my duty to buy Legos, Transformers, a super train set and Ironman for the Xbox 360. So how do you explain racial discrimination to a five-year-old who admires his grandfather?

  • Ann Coulter went on The View today and ran into a group of women who don’t cower when she gets loud and boisterous.

  • Barack Obama has formally asked President George Bush to release the rest of the financial bailout money. George Bush must request this money from Congress. It’s not clear to me what happens if Congress says no. Larry Summers has sent a three-paged proposal of what the Obama administration plans to do with the money and (this is important) how to track the money to make sure that it is being spent as intended.
  • There’s been a lot of speculation and handwringing among progressives over Guantánamo Bay. Barack Obama has been intentionally vague. Today, the New York Times reports that Barack Obama will issue an executive order closing Guantánamo Bay in his first week in office. I suspect that the handwringing will continue until Barack Obama decides what he’s going to do about torture, renditions and legal domestic spying.
  • According to magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis, super-crook Bernard Madoff is not a security or flight risk. He therefore remains free on bail. This is the same guy who wrote $173 million in checks to friends and family. It sure seemed like he could have been trying to stash money to get out of the country. Maybe he just felt like his friends and family needed money.
  • Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan Chase all finished lower today. They helped drag the stock market down approximately 2%.
  • The Washington Post has finally gotten around to saying what economists and I have been saying for over three years. From an economic standpoint, the Bush administration has done very little to help the economy.  “President Bush has presided over the weakest eight-year span for the US economy in decades.”
  • Hackers tried to take down Soapblox as I mentioned earlier. Jeffery Tobin has the story