Where's the Outrage?

Perry - Pakistan [ 0:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

In high school, you knew that there were some teachers who were going to call on almost every student in the room and therefore you had to be ready. These debates are exactly the same thing. You have to be ready. Rick Perry simply is not ready. I don’t know if he can remember what he’s been told. It is mind boggling how awful he has been in these debates.

So, you’re on Fox news and you getting softball questions about foreign policy. These are questions that you have been thinking about for the last six months. If you haven’t thought about these questions, why are you running for president? Rick Perry gets a softball question about what to do if a terrorist organization gets a hold of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. This is a nightmare scenario that the intelligence community has been talking about for over a decade. This is easy.

First, the right answer – If a terrorist organization gets a hold of a nuclear weapon, we have to approach the problem from multiple different areas. First of all, I’m on the phone with the director of the CIA and the director of National Intelligence. What do they know and what are our options? Secondly, I’m on the phone with the current president of Pakistan, Asif Ali Zardari. What does he know? While I’m on the phone with him, we are coordinating a conference call with the presidents/Prime Ministers of Britain, France, Germany, India and we’re patching in the NATO commander. There will be several more calls over the next several hours. We need to have a strong, muscular coordinated response that secures the nuclear weapon or destroys it. It is clear that there are some factions within the Pakistani army and the Pakistani special intelligence forces that sympathize with the Taliban/Al Qaeda. We want Pakistan to know that they’re a sovereign country, but we also want them to know that we are going to take a strong and aggressive approach to this problem. There’ll be no negotiating with terrorists. The terrorists who have taken this nuclear weapon will be hunted down and captured or killed. We’ve proven that we have the capability and capacity to do this in Yemen (Anwar al-Awlaki) and with Osama bin Laden.

This is the right answer. This is the answer that plays well both with the Republican and Democratic audience.

What Rick Perry said was the wrong answer. What is he talking about regarding F-16 sales to India? I find it interesting that he mentions that the Obama administration did not sell F-16s to India but somehow he forgets to mention that the Obama administration has negotiated the sale of F-35s, one of our most sophisticated jets. How is the selling F-16 fighters to India going to do anything to secure a loose nuclear weapon in Pakistan? What you saw was Rick Perry in panic mode. Basically, his mind pulled up what ever he could remember about Pakistan. Admiral Mullen said something about a terrorist group. He remembered this and spewed it on stage. He remembered something about fighter jet sales to India. He said whatever came to his mind (unfortunately, nothing that came to his mind) and answered the question anyway. Fail!

Tags: Elections, Military, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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• If you quote Pokémon in your summation speech at a presidential debate does that make you a joke?
• If you put out a tax plan that seems to be based on a computer game (SimCity) does that make you a joke?
• If it seems that you are refusing to learn some of the issues that surround foreign-policy, does that make you a joke?
• If you put out a campaign ad with the main subject is smoking, does that make you a joke?
• When does a candidate become a joke?

Rachel Maddow summarizes Herman Cain’s campaign and asks this question:

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Tags: Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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There seems to be some ATF fallout from a operation called Fast and Furious. I’m still not sure of all the details but the US attorney in Phoenix has resigned and the ATF director has been reassigned. There’s something fishy here.

There’s a nice article in the New York Times about how this recovery missed Main Street. I would add that the problem with our economy is that the last 10-15 years of economic growth have been largely been based on credit and the availability of credit. To quote that old Smith Barney commercial, we have to start making money the old-fashioned way – we have to earn it. America is slowly switching over from a credit-based society back to a cash-based society. This is going to take some time. In spite of this, I will stand up and say again that we need jobs and we need jobs NOW.

On Sunday, Colin Powell was on Face the Nation. In a very nice and diplomatic way he told former Vice President Dick Cheney to stuff it.

There have been several occasions in which Ron Paul has stepped out on the limb only to have the limb break and fall off. As everyone knows Ron Paul is an antigovernment crusader. In the wake of the terrible disaster which struck the East Coast and New England, Ron Paul thought it was wise to highlight that there is simply too much dependency on FEMA and the federal government.

Watch the Video:

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Once again, the mainstream media almost missed the story. On Sunday you could feel the mainstream media almost start to cry that Hurricane Irene was not more powerful and more destructive. They wanted to see devastation and suffering. On Sunday and Monday we began to see stories about how New York City was saved. Then, late Monday we began seeing stories of flooding in Connecticut. This was followed by more stories about devastating flooding in Vermont. This was followed by more stories of millions of people without power. All of a sudden, the mainstream media had the disaster that they were looking for. Although it would be easy for me to bash the mainstream media, I would like to focus on the millions of people who need help. This is a time when we need to quit bickering and help our fellow Americans. We need to pretend, at least for a while, that we paid attention in church/synagogue/temple. Currently the death toll sits at 43. Several cities in Vermont are completely cut off from surrounding communities because roads and bridges have washed away. It’s time for us to help these Americans now. We need to figure out how to pay for the help… Later.

Update: Glenn Beck is receiving mediocre ratings with his new network. What do you do if you have mediocre ratings? Instead of trying to be a better reporter/announcer/guru for conservatism just say outlandish stupid stuff.

The state of Nevada goes after Bank of America/Countrywide for deceptive practices and fraudulent loans. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

PG&E gets excoriated for being a large American corporation. Remember, large American corporations care about profits and nothing else. The explosion outside of San Francisco which killed eight people and damaged 38 homes was basically caused by negligence by PG&E. My question is how many more American homes and lives are at risk because of the large corporations have decided to cut costs at our expense?

Finally, over Nine million views of this video reminds me of how crazy we really are. Nine million views of Taylor Swift and her wardrobe “malfunction.”

Tags: Domestic Issues, Economy, Environment, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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One of the things that I really, really dislike about Washington is stupid stuff like this. I understand that some in Congress don’t like what the President is doing in Libya. Okay, if you don’t like what the President is doing then get some of your friends in Congress to vote to defund the Pentagon. Or you can pass a new law which would stop all military action in Libya. Don’t waste time with a resolution that has no teeth. Don’t waste time. Focus on stuff that isn’t simply symbolic. Focus on the economy. Focus on jobs!!!

Tags: Congress, Military, Obama administration, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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I’m personally sad to see anyone subjected to a ridiculous media frenzy like the one that has surrounded Anthony Weiner. The stupid, insane and pornographic questions that have been shouted at him are revolting. Yes, he was wrong to lie to everyone about his twitter account. Yes, he was right to resign. I understand that Democrats are spineless by nature so they turned on Congressman Weiner like nothing that I have seen in the last 10 – 15 years. Republicans should have simply been quiet. They have embraced John Ensign, who has probably broken the law. They have embraced David Vitter, who should have been thrown out of Congress for hanging out with prostitutes. Now, I understand that neither Ensign or Vitter have been charged with anything. That doesn’t matter. Isn’t there a standard that can be applied to everyone in Congress? If your private cell phone number is found in a Hooter’s Rolodex, you should resign. If you force your best friend’s wife to have sex with you repeatedly because you have their whole family dependent on your generous handouts, you should resign. If you are a “family values” politician and you have been found grossly violating those values, you should resign!

I think that Anthony Weiner was a very strong Democrat. He stood up for what he believed in and explained the liberal viewpoint, extremely well, on national television. This man is very strong. I think that he will be back. He will shake this and come back stronger. I think he should have stepped down for lying to everyone. I know that politicians lie as often as the rest of us breathe air but that doesn’t matter. There should be a bond that exists between the voters and the elected. Weiner broke that bond, not by sending pictures to women, but by lying. In a couple of years, he should run for office again. I know that I’ll support him even though I’m not from NY.

Strong Dems are hard to find.

So, now what? First, the media needs to cover real news. Anthony Weiner texting women isn’t news. The fact that Republicans have actively and proudly stated that the United States of America should default on its debt, now that’s news. This is ridiculous talk that jeopardizes everyone’s standard of living, except the very rich, here in the real world. Why isn’t that being covered with this type of frenzy. What aren’t the media yelling questions like – “Congressman, do want to see America become a 3rd world country?” “Congressman, if we default on our debt and China and Russia simply quit buying American debt, then what? How does that help America today and tomorrow?” “Congressman, are simply too stupid to understand that defaulting on our debt would throw our economy into a depression type tailspin that will take decades for us to recover from, is that what you want?” Can someone send a memo to our 4th branch of government and tell them that they are screwing up, again?

Tags: Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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• Tornadoes in Massachusetts leave four dead. I’m hopeful that state, local and federal officials can get the survivors the resources that they need.
• This is an interesting graphic on the anatomy of a tornado.

• Microsoft reveals Windows 8. I’ve just gotten used to Windows 7. Do you feel that Microsoft is running 12 months behind Apple and Google?
• Did China attack Google’s Gmail?
• Anthony Wiener seems to be the latest media darling to hit a huge speedbump. I’ve tried my best not to follow the story but it won’t die. Last night, the New York representative went on the Rachel Maddow Show and did little to clear the air. Over the last several days he’s made several nondenial denials. I would file this in the same envelope as stupid men doing stupid things. He needs to resign. Maybe he can join Eliot Spitzer and have his own TV show.
• Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is open to a vice presidential nod. This is good to know.
• Who does not pay federal income taxes? See graphic below.

• Negotiations on the debt ceiling continue to be deadlocked. Republicans are determined to destroy the social safety net.
• Two years ago when Republicans were arguing against the stimulus package and then trying to limit the amount of the stimulus package, economists were saying the stimulus was not large enough. Now, it appears that economists were right. Our economic recovery is starting to falter. I find it very disheartening that there’s all of this consternation over the debt ceiling, yet Republicans are not willing to do anything about creating more jobs. We need jobs!
• One of the worst movies in recent memory was a Samuel L Jackson movie called Snakes on a Plane. Well, it appears that Qantas has taken that movie to heart with a twist – Rats on the Plane. Coming to your local theater – Yuck!!!

Tags: Economy, Environment, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Here’s what I don’t understand. Is there a policy at MSNBC or not? If there is, then is it being applied to everyone or only to Keith Olbermann?

From Josh Marshall at TPM:

I find the Keith Olbermann story bizarre, on both sides but mainly on MSNBC’s. First, political contribution records are the most public thing in the world for anyone who is even somewhat in the public eye, certainly for someone who courts controversy. So political giving strikes me as something done entirely in the open for someone of Olbermann’s stature. On the one hand that sounds like MSNBC is flipping out about something that must have been all but an open secret. On the other, if this is MSNBC’s policy, why was Olbermann openly flouting it?

Second, MSNBC’s policy forbids employees from making donations to political candidates, unless they ask for permission to do so, in which it seems usually to be granted. That seems to me to undercut the principle behind the policy.

But of course all of this pales behind the larger point which is that Olbermann’s job at MSNBC is to be an extremely opinionated commentator on politics. And he’s the centerpiece (along with Maddow and more equivocally, Matthews) behind the business strategy of making MSNBC the liberal cable news/chat network. (How they square that with simultaneously having a more traditional and by the books NBC News is something they clearly have yet to work out.) But when you take that all into account, seeing him now all but canned over a handful of individual political contributions because he’s compromised the objectivity he’s supposed to bring to the job sounds like a bit of a joke.

Greg Mitchell comments on the media for The Nation. Here’s what he has had to say:

Just hours after Politico dug up the fact that MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, a few days ago, had donated to three Democrats running for office, the cable news network suspended the newsman / commentator without pay indefinitely.  Olbermann has not yet responded and it is unclear when, or if, he will return.

A little later, Rachel Maddow tackled the episode, saying that she understands the NBC rules about asking permission before making a donation–as MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough apparently did at least once.  But she insisted that the “point” had been made and “we need Keith back.” She then profiled the multitude of Fox hosts donating to, fundraising for and outright endorsing Republicans.  ”We are not a political operation,” she said. “Fox is. We are a news operation. And the rules around here are part of how you know that.”  Here’s a transcript.

More from Greg Mitchell:

Liberal bloggers were quick to point out that  Scarborough, once and current MSNBC host, donated $4200 to a House candidate in 2006.   Records also show that Scarborough made a $5000 contribution to a candidate earlier this year.  He claims the records are wrong — the donation was from his wife.

It recently came to light that Fox’s Sean Hannity, and his wife, each gave $5000 to Michele Bachmann.  Neil Cavuto has also donated to candidates.

Greg Sargent at the Washington Post raises the question: Did Olbermann even violate the network’s policy?   Activists are already circulating petitions — more than 100,000 signed by the end of the evening –  and jamming NBC phone lines.

Tags: Countdown, Media, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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So, over the last two or three days, the mainstream media has asked multiple different Republicans, “Are you going to compromise with the president?” Many people tripped over themselves trying to come up with an answer. I think the answer is clear, that there will be no compromise. The Republicans have just been rewarded for being the most obstructionist group in recent memory. They opposed healthcare, they opposed Wall Street reform, they even opposed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. They opposed the rescue plan to save GM and Chrysler. They opposed the stimulus package, which saved or created millions of jobs. The calculus was simple – oppose and obstruct anything that can move the country forward. Success for the president means Democratic votes down the line and we, the Republicans, can’t have that.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday afternoon that he thought that he could work together with the Republicans on energy legislation. I did not fall off my chair laughing, although I almost did. Energy legislation? Maybe, since the president had recently been on The Daily Show, he was joking. There is zero chance that the Republicans are going to “compromise” on energy legislation. The oil companies and their lobbyists have bathed the Republican Party in a sea of money. There will be no compromise on energy legislation.

The Republicans for the last 30 years have undergone a significant transformation. There was a time when you could find liberal and moderate Republicans walking around Congress. Unfortunately, they have gone the way of the dodo bird. There are no moderate Republicans anymore, at least not in Congress. Let’s think about how congressmen and senators get elected. They start in the local neighborhoods. They talk about issues and ask for donations. If you’re talking to a conservative group and you want to get them fired up so that they will reach deep into their pockets, you need to touch on those hot button items. The more you talk about the need for tax cuts, immigration reform and more defense spending, the more money will be thrown your way. Before you know it, your platform is extremely conservative. There is no room for moderation. This is what we have in Congress. We have conservatives and ultraconservatives. Both varieties of the conservative movement look at compromise as a sign of weakness. It is a sign of a complete lack of moral character, no conviction. Therefore, the only compromise that we’ve seen over the last 15 or 20 years is when progressives move further to the right.

Remember the words of Rush Limbaugh, “I hope Obama fails.”

Tags: Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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I just hope that this appointment will not silence the strong voice of Elizabeth Warren. She makes sense and is extremely thoughtful on the economy.

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Tags: Economy, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Remember the auto bailout? This happened a lifetime ago, back in 2008. Americans were uneasy. We were losing jobs at the rate over 500,000 per month. We shouldn’t, we couldn’t get into the auto industry. Well, that was then. Now, what’s it looking like in the auto industry?

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From Political Animal:

As we’ve been talking about over the last couple of days, President Obama’s decision to rescue American auto manufacturers looks awfully good with the benefit of hindsight. Republicans were apoplectic at the time, but more than a year later, we now know the GOP was wrong and the Obama White House was right.

The more amusing angle, however, is watching Republicans scramble to justify their enormous mistake. At a moment of crisis, and with the GOP’s credibility on the line, Republicans made the wrong call — but with a little revisionist history, they’re hoping you won’t notice.

Early last year, as this clip helps make clear, the GOP saw the bailout of the auto industry as a policy that wouldn’t, and quite literally couldn’t, work. It was deemed wholly unacceptable for practical reasons (it would waste money and the industry would fail anyway) and for ideological reasons (it was “Marxism” in practice). Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) proclaimed Obama’s actions “truly breathtaking” and said the government ownership roles at Chrysler and GM “should send a chill through all Americans who believe in free enterprise.”

Now that this same policy has been deemed an unqualified success, most Republicans are biting their tongue, embarrassed about having been wrong once again. But some GOP officials are nevertheless still talking — and taking partial credit for the policy they perceived as the end of American capitalism.

“The ideas [Republicans] laid out there were followed through,” Corker told the Washington Post. “I take some pleasure out of helping make that contribution.”

Got that? Corker hated the policy last year — it offended his notion of how the government should operate on a fundamental level — but now that it worked, and the evidence is clear that Obama was right, he wants the public to think the president succeeded thanks to the Republican “contributions” to the policy.

This is not only a reminder of just how shameless this crowd really is, it’s a reminder how fortunate America was that Republicans weren’t calling the shots when the pressure was on.

Tags: Business, Economy, Obama administration, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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This may be just a personal thing. It may not translate to others, but I think Rachel Maddow is one of the best television news personalities in the last 20 years. Personally, I love smart women. I especially love smart women who don’t mind letting you know that they are smart. Rachel is a geek. She knows she’s a geek and she’ll happily tell you that she is a geek. She is extremely well-educated in political science. It was her major in college.

On Wednesday night, Rachel Maddow had an extremely thoughtful piece on the Shirley Sherrod ordeal. She connected the right wing propaganda machine to several phony stories, including the ACORN story, the new Black Panther story and the smear campaign on Van Jones. Bill O’Reilly, in his typically bombastic way, could not let some minor, inconsequential journalist point out that Fox News does not really deliver the news. So, he took the time to point out that his ratings are bigger.

(Watch the clip)

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Rachel correctly points out that this fact, that Fox news gets bigger ratings, does not change the fact that Fox news has an agenda. The agenda is to make people afraid. This is why Rachel Maddow is great. She calmly and thoughtfully points out that Bill O’Reilly does in fact have bigger ratings. She also points out that he did not address her accusation. Instead of addressing the substance, that Fox news pushed the acorn story which destroyed an organization that did not have a shred of truth in it, Bill O’Reilly asks, “What planet are you from?” Anyone who’s taken a course in debate knows how to avoid a question or issue. By posing this rhetorical question Bill O’Reilly is telling his audience that the answer is obvious when in fact the answer to his Fox audience was not obvious.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the fact that Rachel approaches the news from an intellectual standpoint. This does not mean that she doesn’t get some things wrong. She does. As far as I know, she is gone out of her way to correct her mistakes on the air. To me, this reinforces the fact that she is thoughtful and different than 99% of the TV personalities, journalists that are out there.

Congratulations Rachel. Keep up the great work.

Tags: Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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This morning I watched the Rachel Maddow Show on-line. She was talking about the connection between ACORN, Van Jones, the New Black Panthers and Shirley Sherrod. I thought it was Brilliant.

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I talked about this today on Local Edge Radio. Many people never evolve. Some you do change never talk about it because in today’s world it is showing weakness. Shirley Sherrod changed her world view and had the nerve to talk about it. She should be bronzed.

From Glen Greenwald:

Everyone is presumably aware by now of the facts surrounding the disgusting fraud perpetrated on Shirley Sherrod, engineered by Andrew Breitbart, amplified by Fox News, and meekly submitted to by the Obama administration.  Those who aren’t can read excellent commentary from Jamelle Bouie, Joan Walsh, and Chris Martinez.  Much has been written about the incomparable sleaze of Breitbart, the standard propaganda boost from Fox News, and the typical cowardice of the administration in the face of such attacks.  All of that is well established by now and quite unsurprising, so I want to focus on what ought to be the enduring lesson from this ugly episode:  the courage of Shirley Sherrod.

Just as CNN fired Octavia Nasr for one of the few insightful and interesting observations she ever voiced about the Middle East, Sherrod’s speech — which caused her to be fired — is simply inspiring in its uncommon candor, courage and wisdom.  Few people are willing so publicly to confess to tribal biases and detail how they struggle to overcome them, even though that’s a challenge whichany person who evolves at some point must confront.  That process — far more than the pretense of having always been bias-free — requires difficult self-examination, and its public discussion offers vitally needed lessons for everyone.  Many people are unwilling ever to engage that process privately, let alone candidly describe it publicly.  Those with the courage to do so, like Sherrod, should be heralded for that candor.  Instead, she was slandered, falsely disparaged, and fired.

Contrary to the excuse being offered by those who did all of that, her actual message — that she was plagued by racial biases decades ago and overcame them with the recognition that it is poverty that unites people in need — was clearly evident even from the deceitfully edited Breitbart video.  This is part of what she said on that edited video:

That’s when it was revealed to me that it’s about poor versus those who have.  And not so much about white. It is about white and black, but you know — it opened my eyes.

But – just as happened with Octavia Nasr and so many before her,including the now-destroyed ACORN — the blinding, lying,depressingly common right-wing hysteria churned out by Brietbart/Fox meant that no nuances were permitted, no reason could breathe, and few people had the courage to defend Sherrod or even demand that she be allowed to speak before being thrown to the trash heap. (more…)

Tags: Civil Rights, Party Politics, Race, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Now, I don’t agree with Rachel Maddow on everything. I think that she can be a little over the top at times. I also think that she is very smart and thoughtful. I think she tries hard to be accurate and fair.

She decided that President Obama’s speech needed some help, so she basically rewrote it for him. I like what she’s done here. She has stuck to the core beliefs of the progressive movement. We are addicted to oil and we have to stop using oil. This is key. The other tenet of the progressive movement is that government can be an instrument for good (government cannot solve all of our problems, but it can solve some of our problems).

Watch the video:

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Tags: Big Oil, Obama administration, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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As a trauma surgeon, I find Monday to be a relief. By Monday afternoon, you have an opportunity to look around and see how bad the weekend truly was. So, unlike most Americans, I like Mondays.

• 15 years ago, I was working at LSU Medical Center in Shreveport. The bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people lost their lives, continues to be shocking. I remember wanting to help, but not knowing exactly what to do.

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• I’ve been working on a small research project. One of my readers challenged my assumption that Senator Charles Schumer did not cause the failure of IndyMac. I contend that there was a run on the bank but that the bank was failing long before that run started. I should have a post ready by tomorrow at this time.
• One of the reasons that I did not believe that IndyMac was solvent had to do with the fact that they were handing out these loans like free candy. Something just smelled rotten. And it’s not just with this particular institution. The more you read about the financial industry in the mid-2000s, the more you get this foul stench. Look at Countrywide. Look at AIG. Look at Bear Stearns. Now look at what we’re learning about Goldman Sachs. Several people have pointed out that there was a extremely cozy relationship between the rating agencies (Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s) and some of the big financial institutions like Goldman Sachs. The Senate is investigating. The California Attorney General has been looking into this for a year or so. He held a press conference today announcing that he was going to court to force Moody’s to comply with a subpoena. The SEC, which seems to have been dormant for over a decade, has now been awakened. They charged Goldman with fraud. This is starting to get good.
• BTW, leading economic indicators seem to be heading in the right direction.
• It appears that Europe will be flying again, starting tomorrow.

• Interesting accounting practices seem to be popping up. It appears that in 2008 Lehman Brothers may have been cooking the books.
• I guess Representative Darrell Issa never heard about living in glass houses.
• A top Al Qaeda leader in Iraq has been killed. Yet again, top American official in Iraq stated this could’ve been a potentially “significant blow” to the insurgents. Where we heard that before? Where’s Bin Laden?
• There appears to be a huge scandal brewing in India that involves cricket and politics.

Tags: Al Qaeda, Bin Laden, Economy, Iraq, Rachel Maddow Show, Senate, Sports by ecthompson md
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Over the next several days I’m going to try and talk about what’s next after healthcare reform.

Rachel Maddow had to take out a full page ad in the Boston Globe to combat rumors that she was running for Senate in Massachusetts. It seems that former model and newly minted Senator Scott Brown thought would be a great idea to say that somebody liberal and famous was gunning for his position. I guess he thought would be a great way to rake in campaign funds. Of course, the other thing he could do would be to shout at the president during a joint session of Congress. That seemed to work for Joe Wilson.

Since I didn’t post a music video last night, I thought that I would post one this morning.

Artist: Al Jarreau
Tune: Morrnin’

From PA:

• Election results in Iraq: “The former interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, a secular Shiite once derided as an American puppet, galvanized the votes of Sunnis who sat out Iraq’s first national elections and clawed his way back from political obscurity. But his wafer-thin edge of 91 to 89 over his nearest rival, the incumbent prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, falls far short of the majority of 163 of the 325 seats in parliament that he needs to form a government.” (Ed. I think that it is interesting that Sunnis are coming back to the table.)
• Uh oh: “A South Korean naval ship sank early Saturday after an explosion tore a hole in its bottom near a disputed sea border with North Korea. The cause of the explosion was not clear, and the Seoul government did not blame North Korea for the incident.”
• Campaign-finance ruling: “A federal appeals court on Friday handed another victory to conservative opponents of campaign-finance restrictions, striking down limits on individual contributions to independent groups who want to use the money for or against candidates in federal elections.”
• Welcome changes to the Home Affordable Modification Program and the Federal Housing Administration program: “The Obama administration announced new ways Friday to tackle the foreclosure crisis, in part by requiring lenders to temporarily slash or eliminate monthly mortgage payments for many borrowers who are unemployed.”
• Senate Republicans did what they do best: they blocked an extension of unemployment benefits.
• House Minority Whip Eric Cantor’s (R-Va.) spokesperson tries to explain why the GOP leader got the story of the magic bullet so very, very wrong this week. [Read more →]

Tags: Elections, Iraq, North Korea, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show, Senate by ecthompson md
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I am not the first (and hopefully not the last) to express my own outrage over the recent violence toward many some members of Congress. The violence has been directed at their offices for the most part. I am deeply saddened by the fact that we cannot have a reasoned and thoughtful discussion in this country without its deteriorating into name-calling, finger-pointing and then violence. We have some significantly serious problems facing us today. The solutions to these problems will require us to change something — our habits, our consumption, our work environment, etc. We have been sitting on our ever-expanding rear ends and simply watching problems with our electrical grid, our crumbling infrastructure, our deteriorating educational system, our need for election reform while they get worse and worse. So, we can ignore the middle class, which should be the largest segment and the backbone of our society, as it continues to shrink. Millions of Americans slide into the lower-class category as wages stagnate and benefits are cut. We can ignore all the warning signs or we can confront our problems. We can sit down and have thoughtful, vigorous and reasonable discussions. We can come up with solutions and then try and implement them, understanding that we will not agree on everything. Yet, our disagreement should never deteriorate into violence. We will lose some discussions. We will win some discussions. That is the way our democracy works. That’s the way our democracy should work.

Watch the video:

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From Political Animal:

• Done deal? “President Obama and his Russian counterpart, President Dmitri A. Medvedev, have broken through a logjam in their arms control negotiations and expect to sign a new treaty in Prague next month that would slash American and Russian nuclear arsenals, officials from both nations said Wednesday.”
• U.S. housing market still struggling.
• Not helpful: “With strains still high between Israel and the United States over the issue of Jewish settlements, construction of a contentious Jewish housing project in a predominantly Arab neighborhood of East Jerusalem could start at any time, Israeli officials and experts said Wednesday.”
• Improved prospects for financial industry reform?
• As promised, President Obama signed that executive order today on abortion funding.
• Today’s must-read: “For all the political and economic uncertainties about health reform, at least one thing seems clear: The bill that President Obama signed on Tuesday is the federal government’s biggest attack on economic inequality since inequality began rising more than three decades ago.”
• Funny, I didn’t realize Republicans would be able to parse “full repeal.”
• What’s in the new health care law? The White House puts together a compelling list.
• Brian Beutler puts together a wild list of the 10 most ridiculous GOP-proposed health care amendments.
• Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli (R) should probably offer taxpayers a hint as to how much of their money he’ll waste challenging health care reform. (Ed. I talked about the constitutionality of healthcare reform a couple weeks ago.)
• The Wall Street Journal makes very odd editorial decisions.
• Winners in the fight over student loan reform.
• And Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wants everyone to know, “I am pleased to report that, contrary to Sen. Bunning’s prediction, I am alive and in good health.”

Tags: Healthcare, Legal, Obama administration, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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He is trying to stop all abortions with his bill; at least abortions that aren’t paid for in cash.

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From C&L:

The Rachel Maddow Show did some digging and it appears that Bart Stupak may not actually have all the votes he’s claiming he has to stop the health care bill from being passed in the House. As Rachel also notes, since Stupak’s requests for changes to the bill are either impossible to get passed under reconciliation or just based on lies about what’s even in the bill, it’s pretty obvious that he’s just doing his best to get himself on the television for some face time so he can demagogue the abortion issue and it has nothing to do with the health care debate.

Bart Stupak might come to regret that if Rachel doesn’t let up on the reporting she has done on the C-Street House and The Family. And as Susie noted, he’s now got himself a primary challenger.

You can Send The Democrats A Message They Can Understand and make a donation at Blue America to help Bart Stupak’s challenger Connie Saltonstall among others.

Tags: Healthcare, House of Representatives, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Bart Stupak, Democratic representative from Michigan, has been single-handedly holding up health care legislation. The question is why? This has nothing to do with integrity. It has nothing to do with standing up for his beliefs. Instead, I think this has everything to do with ego. As a representative, he has been mostly ignored by the national media. (I have no idea how well he has received in his home state of Michigan.) He has not sponsored legislation of any significance. He is on the Energy and Commerce Committee. During his eight terms in Congress, I know of no significant legislation that he is sponsored. Now, he can grab the spotlight and maybe, just maybe, it will propel him into the Governor’s mansion.

Rachel Maddow may have an idea:

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Political Animal has more:

Arguably the single biggest threat to health care reform is Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) and his dozen Democratic allies, who are threatening to kill the legislation over indirect, circuitous funding of abortion.

Efforts to work with Stupak are ongoing, but it’s worth emphasizing a relevant detail: Stupak is just wrong about the underlying policy dispute. Whether he knows he’s wrong, and he’s just hoping to kill health care reform, is unclear. But the accuracy of Stupak’s claims aren’t in dispute: the facts aren’t on his side.

ABC News did a nice job fact-checking Stupak’s argument this week, and Slate’s Tim Noah (a Monthly alum) published the definitive takedown a couple of days ago, explaining that some areas of the debate are open to interpretation and debate, but this isn’t one of them: “Stupak happens to be wrong.”

Ideally, this would be enough. Democratic leaders would explain the truth to Stupak and his allies, making the case on the merits — the Senate compromise language, endorsed by center-right Dems who oppose abortion rights, already does what Stupak & Co. want, which is to prevent public funding of abortion.

Tags: Healthcare, Party Politics, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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Four years later, New Orleans is still a shadow of its former self. The Ninth Ward and other areas remain sparsely populated if at all. Many residents continue to live somewhere else as they were bused out of the area. I applaud Rachel Maddow for talking about Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans.

Former Secretary Tom Ridge does take some responsibility for the horrific government response and for this he is to be commended. On the other hand, he does fall back onto some of the clichés that we’ve heard over the last four years. No one could’ve anticipated… state and local officials bear some responsibility and blame… while it is clear that Louisiana is a dysfunctional state and New Orleans functions only slightly better, the leadership had to come from the federal government. They had to coordinate the response.

It is a lie to say that no one could have anticipated the breach of the levees. Two years earlier, more than 250 emergency preparedness officials for more than 50 federal, state and local agencies worked on a tabletop exercise called Hurricane Pam. Pam was specifically developed to flood New Orleans. It was a slow moving category three hurricane. The lack of leadership from a federal level can be clearly seen in this tabletop exercise. Two years after the conclusion of the exercise, the final report was incomplete because the federal government had not filled in key sections.

I do not want to belabor the point, but Hurricane Katrina should be remembered. We need to look back and learn from our mistakes. The lesson is not that we cannot trust the federal government. Instead, the lesson is that we have to put competent people in the federal government. We need to look forward and be prepared for the next disaster. We also need to look backward and help those on the Gulf Coast truly recover and heal a wound that is over four years old. What is the Obama administration doing about this? (I know that the president has a lot on his plate but this, like so many other things that are on his agenda, is critical.)

Tags: Environment, FEMA, Obama administration, Rachel Maddow Show by ecthompson md
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I was going to post something on this lady last week, but I never got around to it. She is even looking for the wrong page. The section starts at page 434. Rachel Maddow has the summary.

From Daily Kos: I am sitting here watching Jon Stewart interview Betsy McCaughey.  I have never seen anyone lie so much in my life.  As she told everyone to do, she told them to read the bill, especially the section that she was talking about.  In fact, Jon Stewart read that section aloud to his audience.  And I took the time to read it myself online.

So here’s the section, H.R. 3200 Section 1233, that she seems to think leads to “death panels”.  (I know she didn’t use that phrase, but that’s what she’s been driving at.)

(b) Expansion of Physician Quality Reporting Initiative for End of Life Care- 
(1) Physician’S QUALITY REPORTING INITIATIVE- Section 1848(k)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4(k)(2)) is amended by adding at the end the following new paragraphs: 
`(3) Physician’S QUALITY REPORTING INITIATIVE- 
`(A) IN GENERAL- For purposes of reporting data on quality measures for covered professional services furnished during 2011 and any subsequent year, to the extent that measures are available, the Secretary shall include quality measures on end of life care and advanced care planning that have been adopted or endorsed by a consensus-based organization, if appropriate. Such measures shall measure both the creation of and adherence to orders for life-sustaining treatment. 
`(B) PROPOSED SET OF MEASURES- The Secretary shall publish in the Federal Register proposed quality measures on end of life care and advanced care planning that the Secretary determines are described in subparagraph (A) and would be appropriate for eligible professionals to use to submit data to the Secretary. The Secretary shall provide for a period of public comment on such set of measures before finalizing such proposed measures.’.

She seems to think that this measure will lead to incentivizing doctors to go through a whole huge long list of choices regarding end of life decisions, encouraging patients to refuse treatments, and then penalizing doctors if patients try to change their minds.  Given she doesn’t have any legal training whatsoever (although she is apparently good at throwing parties for wealthy Wall Street elites), I’d rather not hold it against her that she can’t read and interpret legislation to save her life.  But if she’s going to imply that she’s some sort of expert, I’m going to have to take her to task.

First, there is nothing in here that specifies any long list of choices that doctors must force their patients to make.  First, the bill says that if patients want to, Medicare will pay for a consultation every five years.  And there is no long list specified either, if the patient should choose to have that consultation.

Second, there is no incentive to encourage patients to refuse treatments.  During the consultation, patients are free to say that they want the doctor to do anything and everything to save their life and resuscitate them.  (Even including, if you go to Jon Stewart’s doctor, gold plated enemas.)  If you want to refuse treatment, you can.  If you don’t want to refuse treatment, you don’t have to. (more…)

Tags: Healthcare, Rachel Maddow Show, The Daily Show by ecthompson md
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