Saturday, December 31, 2005
If It Ain't Broke, Break It!
Government Prepares for Next Big Disaster0 comments
Herein is the full reason behind the American people's turning against the president they had just recently re-elected.
Forget all those hideous policies he keeps coming up with, and how he's disemboweling the United States Constitution.
Forget that he and his cronies lied and engaged in the largest land grab since Hitler rolled into the Sudetenland.
Forget that they totally botched up even that invasive heist, and that hundreds of thousands of lives have been lost or maimed forever.
Ho-hum.
None of these made the penny drop.
The flip came when America watched in horror as they saw that this president can't protect them from an oversized cloudburst.
Now, your average American gets it.
If anything serious happens, we're all just basically fucked.
To say the least, this has shaken the public's confidence in the man a wee bit.
posted by Gotham 9:33 PM
Today's Cartoon
Republican: Trump May Run for N.Y. Gov.0 comments
But only if Elliot Spitzer doesn't indict him on something first.
posted by Gotham 9:13 PM
New Year's Greetings from The Ranch
Bush to Pass Quiet New Year's Eve at Ranch0 comments
'The president's New Year's resolution is to continue to work tirelessly for peace abroad and prosperity at home,' White House spokesman Trent Duffy said Saturday.
Of course, that's tirelessly for Pax Americanus abroad and Prosperity at his house.
Yes, take time to relax this weekend George. You've had such a busy year.
And take this time to plan all you'll need to do in this hectic coming year. There are just sooo many lives you've yet to destroy out there. It's all such Hard Work.
I mean, just keeping the American public from visiting you with torches and pitchforks in hand takes up so much of the day!
So, rest up George and Laura. Your work is not done.
And Happy New Year!
posted by Gotham 9:10 PM
Truth In Advertising
NOTE: I've just come out from under an extremely taxing last few months, where I simply haven't had the time to post. Even though there's been plenty that I've yelled at the screen about in that time. But, I'm back and should be posting on a more consistent basis.0 comments
*************************************************
This AP story is a beaut:
DeLay Rep Says Boss Not Swayed by Donors
Then what were they paying ALL THAT CASH for?
Geeeeeeesh...
That's FRAUD, Mr. Bugbasher!
I know that Tom DeLay's flack means well and is trying to keep the boss happy by making him look good over a sad holiday time in the DeLay household and all, but if this release is accurate, soon-to-be-Citizen DeLay stands open to a raft of lawsuits by his slew of money-supplying folks charging bald, blatant fraud. Actually, if true, lawsuits would be his best-case-scenario.
Poor Tom.
Hanging onto his precious skin would seem a harder task than holding onto any last vestige of power within the House of Representatives.
He doesn't quite seem to be noticing this part yet.
Of course, their lawyers will counsel these various groups against filing suit, charging that their bribery dollars did not receive adequate return. But all these folks Tom cavorted with know various and sundry ways to adjudicate disputes.
These people all seem to have paid millions in good faith, fully expecting to receive services rendered. If Tom is now saying he never had any intention of supplying Congressional influence after he took the cash, he may end up with much bigger problems than he's faced so far.
Let's see...
Russian oil men with Russian Mafia connections can most likely be expected to put a hit out on ol' Tom. These guys tend not to miss. Very bad guys to cross, Tom. Think Russian Bear, Cold War, all that.
Dozens of Native American tribes can be counted on to look for revenge on one of the most Forked-Tongued White Men we currently have to offer.
From the Mariana Islands, it's still unclear whether DeLay would face a stiffer threat from either the now-desperate and frantic textile shop owners who paid him all that cash for no return plus a ruinous ton of negative worldwide exposure they never planned on, or from the hundreds of wretched human beings his promises of influence helped to subjugate in sub-human, near-slave conditions.
It's nice to see that you've been able to bring all these people together, Tom, even if it's as ex-friends.
Who knew your International skills were as sharp as your Domestic ones?
But, um... fraud always tends to make people cranky, Tom.
No matter where in the world they're from.
Good luck, buckeroo!
posted by Gotham 8:52 PM
Thursday, October 20, 2005
9/11 Panel Gets Cranky...
9/11 panel: Subway threat shows feds not on right track0 comments
It's now clear that having Republicans in positions of authority is just going to get us all killed.
Michael Bloomberg, George W. Bush or Tom DeLay: trust any of these men with your life at your peril.
posted by Gotham 3:56 PM
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Disgusting Numbers...
Mike Bloomberg touts his revival of New York City.1 comments
He has done some very good things for New York.
But, squabble over spinning these numbers as the two campaigns may, these are still very bad numbers for our CEO / Mayor.
the proportion of minority men who are employed—not unemployed—a statistic known as the employment-to-population ratio. He found that in 2004, 60.7 percent of working-age black men and 67.7 percent of Hispanic men were employed. Both groups trailed behind white men, who had a ratio of 76.6 percent.
Again, that's:
White men: 76.6% employed
Black men: 60.7% employed
Hispanic men: 67.7% employed
The campaigns are geeking over what you can say the inverse of these numbers "really mean," but these numbers are butt-ugly all by themselves.
Because, they are core numbers.
Who wants to do the research into breaking this data down? What income levels do the bulk of those white jobs land on? Or what is their median or average wage/salary or compensation?
What then of the average/median wage/salary level for the Black group or the Hispanic group?
These numbers are ugly all by themselves. But when you consider they're comparing every Bernie Ebbers with every garbage-hauling porter of your corner pizza shop, you start seeing Democrat Freddy Ferrer is definitely onto something.
He just didn't spin it correctly.
Clean up your act, Freddy, and do it again!
posted by Gotham 1:02 PM
Can You Be Bought?
Mike Bloomberg says you can.0 comments
What do YOU say?
Are YOU that easy?
posted by Gotham 12:12 PM
It's Not The Meat,
It's The Motion...
Well, folks, here comes the political Category 5 hurricane everyone was expecting...0 comments
Rival's Largess Meets City Hall Claims in Mayor's Race
Mike's Money has made landfall, and no one should be shocked. We've been tracking this for weeks, if not months, and should be prepared.
But rather, we should all be amazed at just how afraid Mike Bloomberg really is of Freddy Ferrer. And should all just keep pointing to that in "obscene money-spent" terms.
What Would Karl Do?
OK, so Mike has more money than God. And he'll spend every last nickel of it to stay The Mayor.
We knew this. No surprise.
The trick now is fourfold, and right out of the Karl Rove playbook: first, constantly accuse the media of being biased in favor of Mike's Money—make them defend themselves into more balanced coverage; of course, then raise every dollar you can; then wisely maximize EVERY dollar you've got; then make EVERY ONE of Mike's dollars a liability.
Media snippets like this are important (like bulletin-boards clips in football locker rooms):
Next year, the city's budget gap is projected to be $4.5 billion, in part because of rising costs for pensions, health care and debt service, city officials said.
So much for the wise, business-savvy CEO / Mayor.
For his part, Mr. Bloomberg would not promise to spare any city agencies from budget cuts when asked to respond to Mr. Ferrer's comments during a news conference yesterday in Chelsea, where he announced a program to create more low-cost housing.
Instead, Mr. Bloomberg went into detail about his administration's accomplishments in all areas of city life during the last four years.
This is a 3-for-1 quote! It hits three key constituencies.
1.) For Mike's white, well-heeled base, Mike's just told you he's going to chop the hell out of all the services you'll be expecting after paying your $7,000/mo. for your luxury rental or the $1.3 million you've just plunked down on your spacious and/or tacky condo. Even the police, whom you'd expect to keep you safe from all that riff-raff out there, is being chopped to hell. And cops still on the force will be pissed. At you, since they just lost their friends, and none of them can afford to live here anymore. Nor can the teachers in your private schools, or the home nurses for your elderly mother, etc., etc.
All this after the immense tax giveaways he's given to Corporate NY in order to have them bring you all here in the first place. He won't raise corporate taxes, so he'll cut out all the services you'd expect to have already paid for, plus he'll have to raise income and property taxes to cover the shortfall, since there just aren't enough cuts to cover it all.
2.) For those of you in the large civil service employee sector who still live in the city, Mike's just painted a massive target on your backs. No teacher, cop, fireman, librarian, nurse, doctor or white- or blue-collar city employee who work with any of the above should expect to have a job next year under Bloomberg. This is as clear a self-interest vote as you could possibly draw.
3.) For those remaining NYers who make anything UNDER a seven-figure income, you'll notice in rereading the snippet above that decent housing for anyone not increadibly well-heeled comes up only during the sprint for the voting booth—and then gets dumped as soon as a reporter asks a question about The Challenger on another topic. You now clearly see the single, greatest issue currently facing The City of New York, reduced to a sound bite that's easily tossed over. There, folks (if all the luxury high-rise development destroying our neighborhoods haven't already shown you), you have all you need to know about the commitment of one Michael Bloomberg, Rich Guy, towards keeping you in a safe, secure affordable home.
So...
On the one hand you pummel away at Mike's Money, while continuing to use whatever resources YOU DO HAVE wisely, getting the best bang for your money. Wise and efficient will bring down Goliath.
This is a great start:
Still, the Ferrer campaign began running a new 15-second television advertisement that emphasizes what Mr. Ferrer has called a dropout crisis in the city's public schools. The spot, which has a this-is-your-brain-on-drugs simplicity, shows a hand holding an unsharpened pencil against a black screen.
A male voice says, "This is how many students enter New York City's public schools." The pencil goes into a sharpener and then emerges, short and stubby. "This is how many graduate," the man continues. "A system that fails half our children, fails us all."
Brilliant.
Keep this up, Freddy.
And remember:
Your guys always vote; his don't always.
You want turnout. A threatened citizen votes. Always. Your people come out because they are afraid of changes in their lives, on an acute, personal level. Mike's using 9/11—the vague terror threat that worked so well for George W. Bush. Of all the spots his well paid staff already have in the can, all his ad buys in the weeks after the subway threat have been the fear-mongering "A-BOOGA-BOOGA, I'LL KEEP YOU SAFE! SEE RAY KELLY? SEE ALL THE SWAT GUYS?" spot. If run once or twice during the campaign, it would have been hard to counterpunch that ad. Now that he's used it incessantly, he's dropped the "BLOOMBERG = BUSH" angle right into your lap.
And never doubt: New York HATES George Bush.
So, it's not HOW MUCH you can afford to do, Freddy, it's WHAT you do.
Be wise, be smart, be tough. Be a Democrat! Be a NYer!
posted by Gotham 12:05 PM
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Mike's Money Touts Accomplishments...
Mike Bloomberg for NYC | Accomplishments: Housing0 comments
This is what Mike Bloomberg is running on? Whew...
Lordy...lordy...lordy.
His business acumen is unchallenged. But his political prowess needs a bit of work here, we see. Housing would be the single issue that he should need a Congressional subpoena shoved in his face before he would let anyone close to him talk about.
I guess all the money in the world can't buy you political savvy.
"All politics is local."
And nothing is more local than your home.
The ability to pad down the hallway to the bathroom in the night in a relaxed, secure and private manner moves more mountains than all the explosives on earth.
Mike, of Mike's Money fame, and his well-heeled cronies have overseen an unprecedented housing redistribution here in the city.
"And the rich get richer,
And the poor get poorer --
A-ringy-dingy, cha-cha-cha!
Pa-dap. Dum."
And the middle class just goes away...
Astute business people all, Mike and his friends fully understand the laws of supply and demand.
New York City has a finite land supply. There is only so much land within the five boroughs. So the smart money is always in upping demand. If you can create enough demand, there are untold riches to be gained here.
New York's leaders have been aware of this for centuries. Which is why NYC has always been in the forefront of careful urban management. The pressures of greed, utilizing basic economic theory, have always been enormous here. So historially, the city's leaders have forged basic levels of regulation to keep these outsized pressures in check, in order to maintain core demographic balance and habitability.
A prime case in point: the city's history of regulating its apartment rental stock. Greed has always been a player here, so regulation has always been needed. And always undergone bitter attack. But the tenant lobby is strong. So, New York's unique version of a "Green (money) movement" has only been able to chip away at the regulations, not scuttle them altogether.
Mike and his friends have creatively skirted this roadblock by refueling demand for apartment sales, and have supplied that demand by skimming more and more apartments from the city's rental stock, and throwing them out for sale. As a testament to their collective genius, this approach has creatively propelled runaway inflation in both the sales AND rental markets.
It's created the perception that there's an increased supply for the sales market (which, of course, was never enough to actually supply current demand—although it did work in getting the upscale crowd drooling and spending), while simultaneously fueling an explosion in the price of rental apartments.
Due to decreased supply.
Oh.
D'uh!
Brilliant.
This well-choreographed marketing campaign for the shell game was still far out-stripped by the Mayor's support for white-collar service-sector corporations' bringing in a flood of well-paid, career ladder-climbers who still naively believe that paying overly inflated prices for their apartments is "a sound investment," and that an apartment that drops from $1.7 MILLION to $1.3 MILLION is "a steal!"
[Now, why anyone on God's Green Earth would think that some young, upwardly mobile man or woman who thinks this way is somehow qualified to manage MY MONEY or legal affairs, is totally beyond me. But that's for another post.]
The apartment-for-sale market has now begun to cool a bit. So, it's down to an average price of slightly OVER $1 MILLION to buy an apartment here now.
And this cooling of the bubble has heated up the rental market. The New York Times and the Westside Spirit (the upscale crowd's "hometown paper," founded in the mid-'80s during the Yuppie plague) have both recently run articles touting the rental market as "the smart alternative" to a hopelessly expensive sales picture.
Even the young MBAs among us will note that this has begun fueling more runaway excess in the rental market. Non-regulated apartments now easily top $7,000 a month.
That's $7,000 a month to rent an apartment.
With bad pipes. With roaches. With screaming (although, increasingly well-heeled) neighbors.
Yes, ever the astute businessman, Mike has helped produce these overheated real estate markets. But, ever the inexperienced politician, he's accomplished this by pricing out of the city the preponderance of working class and middle class people who make this city run, and who doggedly vote for Republicans against their better economic interests.
Young starry-eyed, upwardly mobiles tend not to vote as a demographic. Nor do CEOs. But tenants do. Religiously.
And no Bush-like terrorism scare campaign will deter them.
Mike's accomplishments have changed the very idea of New York. They've destroyed most every vestige of uniquely New York character we've had left after enduring the real estate giveaways under Mayors Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani. There's precious little difference left these days between New York City and any mall in Toledo.
And, ladies and gentlemen, THAT is quite an "Accomplishment."
Definitely one worth bragging about on your official web site.
posted by Gotham 2:55 PM
Mike's Money
To this point:0 comments
Bloomberg Spends $46.6 Million on Mayor's Race
Freddie Ferrer may be a hack. But...
It's all about Mike's Money. This race has always been about Mike's Money. Every vote in every machine will be about Mike's Money.
Period.
Look, it's true. Basically, we all like to live in a locale where people tend to look like us, act like us and think like us. That's human nature. The herding instinct. A core underpinning of the States' Rights concept.
Mike just wants what everyone else wants.
Mike simply wants to live in a city of other billionaires, where he can chat with neighbors about things—his dreams, his joys and stresses—and have them easily understand what he's talking about. To simply have buddies whom he can attend galas with.
Is it too much to ask for the ability to wander down to the corner upscale Wine Bar, and raise a flute of Dom Perignon on a given Tuesday night, and chat about life, death and tax cuts with your friends?
I mean, when you live in a tuxedo world, however can you communicate with those..., those... people who insist on shopping at Conway? Or Goodwill?
I mean, really?
posted by Gotham 12:48 PM
Monday, September 19, 2005
Flip-Flop! Flip-Flop!
George W. Bush:0 comments
"Bloomberg loves me...; Bloomberg loves me not... ."
Mike's playing a great game of keeping EVERYONE guessing. Including the Presdent of the United States.
But then, you know, Mike's worth so much more.
NYPD Unplugs Cindy Sheehan
"Bloomberg loves me..."
Mike splits with Bush, GOP; opposes Roberts for Court
Bloomberg loves me not... ."
Man. He really should have returned to being a Democrat. Then he wouldn't have to play these stupid "I'm tight with George" / "I wouldn't piss in his mouth if his guts were on fire" games.
Oh, and has anyone mentioned Mike's Money anytime today yet?
posted by Gotham 11:48 PM
GOP Dragged Into Federal Courts
(Civil AND Criminal!)
Karl Rove is such a happy man today...0 comments
But not nearly as happy as Uncle Sam, Lady Liberty and the hundreds of thousands of good men and women who have died defending this great country.
For as long as there's been a George Bush administration, we've been up to our asses in investigations into GOP crooks and cheats, posing as legitimate congressmen and senators, staff, "senior administration officials" and lobbyists.
Various prosecutors have teased us for months with the spectre of indictments coming down the 'pike at some point. These have slowly begun to actually trickle through now in Texas, where you can piss in any direction and hit someone Tom DeLay owns or bribed.
But I don't know if we were prepared for THIS!
GOP Gets Sued and Screwed
(as in ARRESTED, screwed!)!
First, the Sued part:
FEC Sues Pro-Republican Political Group
The radical right-wing Club for Growth goes DOWN!
And, oh!, the whining...
And now, the Screwed!
Bush Management and Budget Procurement chief arrested after quitting
He's the former Chief of Staff for an anti-gambling(!) Utah Congressman, while he simultaneously was an illegal influence-peddling lobbyist for Indian Gambling Interests along with our beloved friends, Jack Abramoff and Ralph Reed. Later, Bush puts this man in charge of a $300 billion federal shopping list. Does Bush have an eye for talent, OR WHAT?!?!?!?
I love these guys!
posted by Gotham 8:46 PM
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Why There Is No Mayoral Run-Off...
...Or, Michael Bloomberg's "Starve the Beast" strategy.0 comments
It's obvious that Andrew Weiner was gotten to. And sat down. And browbeaten thoroughly by the City, State and National Democratic apparatus Tuesday night.
He wanted it badly, and had too good a shot at the nomination in a run-off to ever leave the race of his own accord. He was spoken to. Told to be gracious and a team player.
Sternly.
And most likely, promised something for later.
This morning's events bear this out.
Yesterday was all about Weiner's graciousness.
Today, everybody gets down to work.
I open my e-mailbox this morning. There's Howard Dean with a Weiner's-not-quite-out-the-door-yet, hair-on-fire, fund-raising alarm for Freddy Ferrer.
An hour later—since I'm on John Kerry's mailing list as well—I'm being hit up for Funds for Freddy by the stick-man himself.
I assume more will be forthcoming. A lot more.
Mostly because of this story from Michael Bloomberg's camp, I assume.
Now, c'mon. Think smart here.
This story actually helps the Democrats in two ways.
One, it scares the bejeezus out of Freddy's campaign base, not to mention the national Dem base and gets them moving and giving. And giving big. That replaces some of the money Bloomberg's strategy will squeeze out of Freddy's campaign.
Two (only if they're smart enough to use it), it gives the Dems the perfect ammo with which to bring down Bloomberg. "Just another rich ol' boy in a rich ol' boys' club.—Just like Bush."
Make Mike's Money the issue.
No issues. No attacks on his record.
Mike's Money.
Take Mike's Money—which everyone concedes is Bloomberg's greatest asset—and make it his greatest liability.
That's the red flag waving in front of Ferrer's moderate- and lower-income base. And most of NY's low- and middle-income population. Hang Mike's Money around Bloomberg's neck until it bleeds from the weight. Don't say a word about this race without some allusion to Mike's Money and all the rich guys it attracts and favors, and makes richer ("...and you poorer..."). Anybody seen Woody Johnson or Bruce Ratner, lately?
Everybody here is hurting and/or being forced out of their homes and priced out of their neighborhoods, and NYers are quickly losing much of the quality of life they've relied on for centuries. There is precious little acreage left in New York City that doesn't have a giant, mindless gentrification target painted squarely on it.
In this campaign—as in no other across America—a single clear, stark issue is before the voters:
Class Warfare. Who gets to own New York City?
Don't shy away from it, Democrats. Embrace it. Own it. It's think tank stuff in D.C. perhaps, but it's where we NYers live. We're on the front lines of the new class warfare. Rich vs. poor, with the middle class entirely wiped out.
It's what every NYer knows and feels in their gut. If you actually want NYC, Dems, embrace this issue or go worry about Kansas or Utah, or some other hick burg.
New York City 2005 is the petrie dish for America 2006. Barbara Bush is our poster girl. She becomes as much an issue here as Bloomberg's ties to her rich ol' baby boy George W. Bush will ever be.
The referendum before the citizens of New York:
"Should New York City continue its rapid descent into being the exclusive enclave of the upwardly mobile, the well-connected and the well-off, as well as the ultra-rich, or should a wave of populist regulation thwart runaway development and salvage what is left of any remaining vestige of New York's rich heritage, its livability and its core humanity?"
This is the Democrats' issue. Period.
They should hit this ceaselessly until it seeps from the ears of every voter in this city. Make our brains hurt with it. "Rich boys' club" should be all we hear until November.
If it means temporarily tossing overboard these usual Dem money guys, so be it. They'll be back. That's Howard Dean's job, anyway. Keeping them happy nationally, and primed for 2006.
This is what the Democratic Party needs to do to re-take New York City.
Otherwise, Bloomberg wins in a landslide.
Period.
Let us know if you're up for this fight, Howard and John and all the rest of you who'll jump into my inbox over the next few weeks.
If so, let's give 'em hell. If not, then I'll just clean out a closet or something.
posted by Gotham 3:13 PM
Equal Distribution of Resources a la Bush
The Bush Recovery Plan for New Orleans will be outlined in George W. Bush's speech tonight.0 comments
Gotham Notes has obtained an early look at what is in the president's plan.
"One for the black guy; one for the white guy; 414 million for Halliburton.
Two for the black guy; one, two for the white guy; 872 million for Halliburton.
Three for the black guy; one, two, three for the white guy; 2.3 billion for Halliburton..."
There! That should help everybody!
posted by Gotham 3:01 PM
WMDs Found!
...In Newark!0 comments
Bio-warfare screw-ups. Great. Just great.
Of course, this begs the question: since it's NJ, how could anyone tell?
(Hey! I'm allowed. I grew up there.)
Just proves we probably have more to fear from George Bush's Army than we ever did from Saddam Hussein's Army.
And these are the guys who were going "to keep us safe," hunh?
Can't run a war; can't run an economy; can't run a bio-weapons program; can't run a swindle without getting caught; can't run a hurricane. Lord.
Useless.
So, it seems to be time to stock up on the ol' anibiotics in the Tri-State Region, eh?
I guess a little Hartz Mountain flea & tick collar action might be an idea, too.
Here's the CDC site on it. So, we can actually eliminate the fear angle right now.
But, as the New GOP leadership constantly tells us, it's every man, woman and mouse for themselves.
posted by Gotham 2:41 PM
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Thoughts on the NYC Mayoralty Primary...
Weiner concedes primary to Ferrer0 comments
Andrew Weiner was my dog in this hunt.
He's bright, thinks on his feet well and isn't afraid of taking on the whole Bush/Rove apparatus, which I saw him do exceptionally well on CNN's Crossfire during the Republican Convention coverage. He was articulate, fearless and rabid. Three qualities I especially like in a Democrat these days.
That all made me want to support him in the mayoralty race.
He lost. OK. He'll still serve us well in the House in Chuck Schumer's old seat.
Now we have Freddie Ferrer as the Democratic mayoralty standard-bearer, who may be listed in some encyclopedia somewhere as the example given for "hack."
Not a bad man; just a hack. Actually, an ambitious, unexciting and perhaps mildly incompetent hack.
But that's OK. I'll vote for him anyway. I may even campaign for him.
Because Michael Bloomberg made a politically fatal mistake.
He forgot to re-register as a Democrat.
For good or for ill, Michael Bloomberg now equals George W. Bush.
For those of you just tuning in, Bloomberg had been a fairly non-political Democrat for most, if not all, of his life. A rich man with nothing else to prove in the business world, he caught the office-holder bug. But the Democratic field for mayor that year was too crowded, since that's usually the main election in this heavily Democratic town. Michael, moderate-to-liberal, but basically apolitical, saw a hole open on the Republican side, saw that he could get on the ballot on the Republican line, so he easily swung over and Voila!—he's a Republican! And Voila!, Part II, he's Mayor!
He didn't believe anything that the Republicans thought; it was just an open line. Cool.
So, he threw some $47 million of his own money at the race, even got ol' Fuckin' Rudy Giuliani's endorcement, and bang, he's Mayor.
If he had only switched back this year when there was no overly strong Democratic candidate for mayor, he would own half the world instead of just half of Manhattan.
He would essentially run unopposed.
As mayors go, he's been OK. Half good/half bad. Which half on which issue depends on your personal perspective and politics.
He screwed up the whole N.Y. Jets stadium mess something awful. He's made other mistakes. But he was an exceedingly good CEO when we desperately needed a firm business hand at the helm of our shattered economy as Bush bent NYC over and forgot the K-Y after September 11th.
But Michael foolishly stayed a Republican.
And as a Republican, he has been forced into defending the indefensible. While he has stood up to the Bush group on many issues, he still has been forced into defending these heinous morons at turn after turn.
While it is obvious that he doesn't think like these vermin, and has made it clear he doesn't particularly like them, the sheer fact of being a GOP icon in the bluest of the blue territory gives comfort and succor to legions of frothing hate-mongers across the country.
Whether Bloomberg likes it or not, he made his choice, and he is now fully aligned with the most corrupt, divisive and incompetent administration in American political history and must be held accountable.
And as such, he must be put down, politically. As must every Republican.
Unfortunately for Michael, his greatest weapon is also his greatest vulnerability.
The New GOP has given an horrifically bad name to being a rich white man these days. And if Bloomberg's record is only 50-50, then his bank account is his ticket to success in a normal year, as it was when he won four years ago.
But these days, far too many people think in terms of "Follow the Money." Money now equates with corruption. So, just how corrupt must Micheal Bloomberg be? How much more must he want?
Because as we all know, there's no such thing as too rich, just like there's no such thing as too young or too thin.
Poor Michael. He's the mink coat in a cloth coat election year.
posted by Gotham 7:22 PM
Lest We Forget Our Favorites...
We've gotten so caught up with the GOP's incompetence and hubris, that we forgot all about the GOP's greed and corruption and hubris!0 comments
Silly us!
With everything going on post-Katrina, and while we've been ducking all those pigs flying around since Karl Rove had George W. Bush take "responsibility" for his limp-dick administration's fatal handling of The Great New Orleans Flood of 2005, it may have been easy to miss the other big news coming out of Houston, TX.
And no, I don't mean that racist Queen Mother-turn from Barbara Bush at the Astrodome.
No, I'm referring to the fact that more of Tom DeLay's cronies and friends are GOING DOWN!
And the indictment clock is ticking on Citizen Tom, as we speak.
The massive amounts of Democratic money that will be flowing into DeLay's Sugar Land congressional district for 2006 will be just plain stupid. So, start saving for your donation today!
Let us just hope that the Houston District Attorney can nail ol' Tom before the election cycle gets into full swing, thereby saving all of us a helluva lot of money.
posted by Gotham 7:01 PM
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Police State in New Orleans
As bodies recovered, reporters are told 'no photos, no stories'0 comments
Hah! And you thought this issue was resolved last week.
Au contaire, mes amis.
More and more, the 2006 midterm elections become a referrendum on the impeachment of George W. Bush on High Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Today, no one understands this better than Karl Rove.
And we all know what Karl is capable of, when cornered.
So, hold onto your hats, boys and girls, it's going to be a bumpy ride!
posted by Gotham 7:47 PM
Monday, September 12, 2005
The Nameless Undead
via Atrios0 comments
Talking about Spencer Hsu's declaration that he'd never burn a non-attributable source—period—in his article in WaPo:Hsu's comments only prove what we have known for a long, long time now.
Period
[snip]
Perhaps Hsu didn't mean to say that, but taking his statement at face value he's saying that even if he knew for certain that an administration official had lied to him, he still wouldn't burn the source.
The only possible punishment for lying to the press is that they tell the public that, indeed, you lied to them. Hsu says this is off the table. So, our press feels that it's ok to let public officials lie to the public, under the cover of anonymity, with complete and total impunity provided by the information launderers at the Washington Post.
ALL WaPo unattributed sources are lies. But the WaPo editors include them to maintain favor with, and access to, the White House.
If you can't believe one of these quotes, then you can't believe ANY of these quotes.
Like it or not, that's the way WaPo set this up, and they must live with it.
Henceforth, all WaPo source quotes are to be read as follows:
"...blah, blah, blah, a Senior administration official lied today."
Or,
"A Senior administration official, who has knowledge of the specific lies and talking points the White House has decided to use on this issue, said today..."
Or simply put,
"Karl Rove said today..."
posted by Gotham 1:46 PM
The Morally Undead
Simply put, a 38% approval rating is unacceptably high for this administration.0 comments
It may be time for the torches and pitchforks.
New York Times: Gulf Coast Isn't the Only Thing Left in Tatters; Bush's Status With Blacks Takes Hit
This whole New Orleans flap is upsetting Karl Rove's "Pax Republicanus," and we simply cannot have that.
Here is the best article on race I've seen lately: From Digby, who has it about right.
You'll notice in the Times article above that the White House's emphasis isn't on how to ease or eradicate the very ugly reality of America's long-ignored race relations, which has floated to the surface along with the black corpses of New Orleans.
It isn't on securing a future where people across the country can take steps up the ladder towards financial freedom and security.
Silly Rabbit. Of course not. George Bush (both of them, actually, Daddy's been ALL OVER TV) and Karl Rove—and the black preachers who love them—are only worried about votes, power and money. And not necessarily in that order. As is usual.
Their approach to Racism in America, like it is with every other issue confronting the country, is to set up a massive CYA publicity campaign to convince every black American, and every white American who has a brain, a soul and/or a heart left, that what they see with their very own eyes is simply not true. As it's been said, "Who you gonna believe? Me? Or your lyin' eyes?"
Their effort, as always, goes to convincing America that the GOP party line is The Truth.
One Bush supporter, the Rev. Eugene F. Rivers III, the president of the National Ten Point Leadership Foundation, a coalition that represents primarily black churches, said last week that something positive might come out of the crisis. "This is a moral and intellectual opportunity for the Bush administration to clearly articulate a policy agenda for the black poor," Mr. Rivers said in an interview.
Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, who has made reaching out to black voters a priority, put it simply. "We're going to work with them," Mr. Mehlman said. "This disaster showed how important it is that we do these things."
The "George W. Bush Loves Black People" PR machinery is swinging into full motion.
"Forget about those bloated, darkie corpses floating around on TV. In fact, we won't let the press show them to you anymore. We're saving people. We're building democracy. Uh..., oops, wrong war. Uh..., what's that Karl? Oh. OK... We're building lives."
It's often been said that the dissembling members of this administration are masters at telling America that black is white. On every issue. For over five years now—while enough citizens keep buying into it to prevent its missing moral foundation from causing the Bush White House to topple completely.
That's not entirely accurate, though. No one in this administration uses the word "black." And they sure wouldn't use it in the same sentence with the word "white." And there's no way these people would ever say, "Black IS WHITE!" The base might get the wrong idea.
So, who does Bush reach out to within the broad African-American community in this time of crisis and peril?
Why, all those toady pentecostal preachers he's bought and paid for over the last few years.
One of Mr. Bush's prominent African-American supporters called the White House to say he was aghast at the images from the president's first trip to the region, on Sept. 2, when Mr. Bush stood next to Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Gov. Bob Riley of Alabama, both white Republicans, and praised them for a job well done. Mr. Bush did not go into the heart of New Orleans to meet with black victims.
"I said, 'Grab some black people who look like they might be preachers,' " said the supporter, who asked not to be named because he did not want to be identified as criticizing the White House.
Or as working against the interests of those very people he purportedly represents.
But happily here, we see that our President George doesn't need to be told twice! No, sir!
Three days later, on Mr. Bush's next trip to the region, the president appeared in Baton Rouge at the side of T. D. Jakes, the conservative African-American television evangelist and the founder of a 30,000-member megachurch in southwest Dallas.
Bishop Jakes, a multimillionaire and best-selling author, is to deliver the sermon this Friday at the Washington National Cathedral, his office said, where Mr. Bush will mark a national day of prayer for Hurricane Katrina's victims. The bishop's style of preaching is black Pentecostal—he roars and rumbles in performances that got him on the cover of Time magazine as "America's best preacher" in 2001. More important to Mr. Rove, he has become a vital partner in the White House effort to court the black vote.
Last week, the White House continued its political recovery effort among African-Americans through its network of conservative black preachers like Bishop Jakes. Many of them have received millions of dollars for their churches through Mr. Bush's initiative to support religious-based social services—a factor, Republicans say, in Mr. Bush's small increase in support among black voters, from 9 percent in 2000 to 11 percent in 2004.
I guess the late Rev. Ike wasn't available.
"Money talks; nobody walks..."
Rove and Mehlman and all their people never change. Ever. Never have; never will.
You knew what you were getting with them a decade ago. At least five years ago. And you know now.
Same shit, different day.
Anyone who thinks that any of these people might have a conscience or a soul is sadly mistaken.
Any Democrat who thinks there is an opening for a "bi-partisan" effort at compromise with this White House and all their surrogates on ANY issue is unfit for public office. They might as well wear a "KICK ME!" sign around their necks.
The New GOP will never care for people. Not in the ways the Old GOP did. It's not that they don't want to. No, they're not capable of it. They're totally clueless. They actually believe this shit. They only seem able to focus on the mindless political power which support from average people represents for them.
Period.
Kinda like the girls in Heathers. Or Mean Girls.
Or think of this White House as a George Romero movie. These are the Morally Undead. They just keep coming, no mater how fully you've stopped them. Just when you think it's all over, and all of you are safe now, that they've been neutralized, they pop up and just keep coming, to rip out more of your brains. With zombies, the only way to stop them, usually, is a bullet to the frontal lobe.
I honestly don't know if it would have any effect on these guys, though.
But remember, no matter what you do:
There IS ALWAYS a sequel.
posted by Gotham 11:22 AM
Thursday, August 18, 2005
They Only Eat Their Young...
Big Bob Novak takes time out from his busy schedule managing all his various scandals to take a chomp out of ol' Bill Frist's leg.0 comments
Can't all the crooks just get along?
posted by Gotham 8:40 PM
It Begins...
Wow.1 comments
Whoever thought that moderate Ohio Gov. Bob Taft, so hated and reviled by the wingnuts for not being pure on taxes, would be the first major GOP player to go down on the corruption madness that will certainly wash so many away in 2006?
If the various investigations across the country which are looking into GOP corruption start rolling in with indictments from here on in, then the resounding THUD heard from Republican campaign honchos' flop-sweat hitting the floor should begin to grow deafening.
Back to Taft:
His is the ultimate non-apology apology.The judge ordered him to apologize.
''From the shores of Lake Erie to the banks of the Ohio River, I want them to know that you are sorry for what you have done...''
But not for our Bob. Oh, no... His apology barely made it across the room.Taft's voice cracked as he spoke later at a news conference.
''There are no words to express the deep remorse that I feel over the embarrassment that I have caused for my administration and the people of the state of Ohio,'' Taft said.
What garbage.
He doesn't apologize; he feels "remorse."
He didn't commit a crime; he "caused embarrassment."
The GOP obviously won't lose in the upcoming elections; they'll "underrepresent their base numbers."
posted by Gotham 12:55 PM
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Gary Who?
Manuel reads the GOP their Miranda Wrongs:0 comments
Marginal Cost:
The risk of running up the score on the Roberts confirmation vote.
I do admit to loving the sound of Republican squabbling in the morning...
I also love the WSJ's attempts to rehabilitate the ever-popular Gary Bauer.
Here is their description of Bauer, before offering a quote of his decrying the political correctness of the White House's approach to handling Supreme Court nominations:"former GOP presidential candidate Gary Bauer"
While technically true, his seeming 48 hrs. of running for high office ended not at all well—humping a young campaign staffer, and having the rest of his staff turn on him for it. Here's leadership for you.Despite his evangelical crusades, Bauer's personal behavior has been the subject of sharp criticism from his employees and political allies. He was accused of adultery by his 2000 presidential campaign staff, who "charged Bauer with ill-advised private meetings with a 27-year-old female campaign aide. In October, campaign manager Charles Jarvis and almost half the campaign staff left Bauer over the charges of impropriety."
When Bauer called his own press conference to combat the rumors of adultery, he refused to answer questions about which campaign he thought was spreading the rumors (although he had claimed a rival campaign was doing it), and whether or not any of his former colleagues had approached him about his seemingly inappropriate behavior with the female aide.
According to the People for the American Way, after Bauer dropped out of the 2000 presidential race, The Family Research Council's [which he co-founded] "Board of Directors quickly confirmed that [Bauer] would not be back—no surprise, as FRC had previously given Bauer a thinly veiled notice of expulsion when it released the results of a poll conducted among their staffers. . . In addition, Bauer had reportedly angered James Dobson, founder and head of Focus on the Family, mentor to Bauer, and underwriter of much of the FRC, when he decided to run for president."
Plus, this pleased the wingnut leadership no end:When Bauer dropped out of the presidential race, he endorsed the campaign of Sen. John McCain, which drew criticism from conservative leaders: "On his 700 Club television show, Pat Robertson, who himself sought the GOP's presidential nomination in 1988, said, 'I don't think the Bauer thing makes one hill of difference. He didn't do anything anywhere all over the country... I would think, frankly, that his political activity is pretty much over."
Despite his attempts to become a leading member of the religious right, he has been known for "scaring the hell out of the Republican establishment... Bauer is leading his flock toward a moralist economic philosophy that often seems more Democratic than Republican...The China debate drew Bauer into an open alliance with liberals. He coordinated strategy with House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), attended a Kennedy family dinner, staged a press conference with the AFL-CIO, and dined with Richard Gere after they shared the same stage at a rally."
Just so we don't overlook Bauer's long-held worldview:Bauer is currently the president of another organization named American Values. He was also a signatory on the Project for the New American Century's letter to Bill Clinton advocating an overthrow of the Iraqi government.
So, this allusion in the WSJ to "his constituents" becomes laughable. And slimey on the Journal's part. Bauer has never held office, so has no constituency—only followers, and even those he's had trouble hanging onto.
So, Bauer's comments on the internal conflicts within the GOP are enlightening to everyone in the congregation, I'm certain.
Plus, anyone having lunch with Richard Gere is icky just on general principles.
posted by Gotham 3:08 PM
An Oil Well In Every Pot
It's nice to see those times when The Wall St. Journal actually comes up with an idea that is worth exploring.0 comments
But anything that's connected to the name Chalabi is automatically suspect on its face.
posted by Gotham 1:48 PM
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Today's "GOP Crook of the Day"
"All Graft Is Local..."0 comments
via Buzz Flash:
Effort to recall Alaska Senate President Ben Stevens finds support in police
It's just not good when you've got the local constabulary on your corrupt butt.
posted by Gotham 3:29 AM
Legal Advice
2 Lobbyists Are Charged in Pentagon Information Leak0 comments
The indictment said that Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman disclosed information on such issues as American policy in Iran, terrorism in central Asia and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar Towers apartment in Saudi Arabia, which killed 19 American military airmen.
My. Such meager, meat-and-potato classified drivel.
Accused spymasters/lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, formerly senior staff members at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, would be well advised to simply say the classified info that THEY passed on to reporters was just the names of a bunch of covert CIA agents in charge of moles buried deep within Osama bin Ladin's main hideout.
It acts as a "Get Out of Jail, Free" Card.
posted by Gotham 2:52 AM
Needed:
Gun Control?
Or War Control?
The war comes home.0 comments
Two "friends" stage High Noon over Bush's Folly .
Slaying in dispute over war might be a first
posted by Gotham 2:40 AM
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Harris: 'Republicans Colorized My Brain'
GOP Laughing Stock:0 comments
Katherine Harris: 'Newspapers colorized my photograph'
She should have no problems with the black & white supermarket tabloids, then.
Can the eventual "I mated with aliens!--K. Harris" be far behind?
Or even "Florida Senate Candidate and Bat Boy in Love Tryst?"
posted by Gotham 6:42 PM
Wednesday, August 03, 2005
GOP Shell Game?
via Talking Points Memo:0 comments
Feds Search Homes, Car Of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Julian Murray was more forthcoming.
"This is astounding," he said. "You can't say it's unprecedented, but it certainly is quite a move. I mean, a man's home and his car -- to get any magistrate or judge to issue a search warrant for a United States congressman, you can pretty much imagine there has to have been alot of probable cause would have gone into that."
A lot of probable cause?
Or a lot of Patriot Act abuse?
With the massive corruption on the GOP side of the aisle, sitting, waiting to find a courtroom, I get very suspicious of any federal agency investigating anyone on the Democratic side of the aisle.
This better be good.
This is something to keep an eye on.
posted by Gotham 8:56 PM
Yet Another Class for Bush to Cut...
...And fail.0 comments
Bush: Schools should teach 'intelligent design'
posted by Gotham 8:17 PM
Chaos
Blood in the sand.0 comments
American troops, and now reporters, are increasingly caught in the cross-fire of this U.S.-sponsored Iraqi Civil War.
On Monday, in Sunni-controlled Haditha near the Syrian border:
6 Marine Snipers Are Slain in Ambush in Western Iraq; Another Dies in Suicide Attack
The deaths on Monday took the American toll in Iraq past 1,800, The A.P. reported.
Violence continued in other parts of Iraq as well. A group calling itself the Supporters of the Sunni People said its members had killed 15 Shiites at a fake checkpoint it had set up on a highway south of Baghdad. The Web site posting said the insurgents had stopped cars and pulled out Iraqis who appeared to be members of Shiite militias.
"More than 15 Shia who were proven to be related to the parties who support the crusaders in Iraq were killed," the posting said.
On Tuesday night, in Shiite-controlled Basra:
New York Journalist Is Executed in Iraq
[Steven] Vincent was particularly incensed about the sharp divide between men and women in the Islamic world, and about the increasingly religious mores in Basra that forced women to wear full-length black robes in public. He said he fully supported the Iraq war, believing it was part of a much larger campaign being waged by the United States against "Islamo-fascism." But Mr. Vincent said he was also disappointed by the failure of the United States and Great Britain to enforce their visions of democracy here in Iraq, instead allowing religious politicians to seize power across the south.
Conservative Shiite parties have strengthened their hold on Basra since the January elections. They include the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which was founded in Iran and wields enormous power in Baghdad, and the Fadilah Party, started by Ayatollah Muhammad Yacoubi, a hard-line cleric. The organization of Moktada al-Sadr, the young cleric who has led two rebellions against the Americans, also has great influence in Basra.
In his op-ed in The New York Times, Mr. Vincent wrote that "it is particularly troubling that sectarian tensions are increasing in Basra, which has long been held up as the brightest spot of the liberated Iraq."
Policemen, he said, were responsible for carrying out many of the assassinations of former Baath Party officials, in revenge for the oppression of the Shiites under Saddam Hussein.
"Unless the British include in their security sector reform strategy some basic lessons in democratic principles, Basra risks falling further under the sway of Islamic extremists and their Western-trained police enforcers," he wrote.
On Wednesday, again in Sunni-controlled Haditha:
14 U.S. Marines Killed in Iraq When Vehicle Hits a Huge Bomb
And this madness we've unleashed is still waiting to explode in the north, where the Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds are waiting for the first salvo to be tossed in order to wage war among themselves over control of the Kurdish territory, especially oil-rich Kirkuk. Of course, this has the potential to embroil all the warring factions within Iraq, along with Iran, Turkey and Russia, all of whom have large Kurdish populations in their territories bordering Iraq. This fight could become regional with a few well-placed bombs or assassinations.
Faoud Masoon, the deputy chairman of Iraq's constitutional committee, said two of the most contentious points in the new charter—the future of the contested city of Kirkuk and the control of a number of Kurdish-populated enclaves in the north—would be largely put off for a future government to resolve.
Mr. Masoon said the committee members had reached a tentative agreement to include language in an "annex" to the constitution that would call for a reversal of the ethnic cleansing of Kirkuk, then the conducting of a census and a plebiscite to determine whether the city would revert to Kurdish control.
In a campaign known as Arabization, agents of Saddam Hussein's government evicted tens of thousands from Kirkuk and the surrounding region in the 1980's, and imported thousands of Arab families from the south to take their place. Since the fall of Mr. Hussein, Kirkuk has become a violent metropolis, contested by Arabs, Turkomens and Kurds, while tens of thousands of Kurds trying to return to their homes have piled into squalid shantytowns outside the city.
Still, Mr. Masoon said the annex calling for the reversal of Arabization in Kirkuk included no timetable for the policy.
Likewise, he said, the annex contained no timetable for determining the status of a number of smaller Kurdish enclaves in northern Iraq that Kurdish leaders want to bring under the control of the Kurdish regional government.
"We are not discussing the territorial issue in the constitution," said Mr. Masoon, who is also a leader in the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the main Kurdish political parties.
A bomb, sitting on an explosive, sitting on a powderkeg.
With coalition forces sitting right in the middle.
Support The Troops.
posted by Gotham 2:24 PM
Why Ken Melman Is Soiling His Sheets Tonight...
First, Democrats drew blood:0 comments
OH-02 Election Results
Now, they smell blood:
Tidal
OH-02: Hackett Concession Speech
[Hackett] sounds like a candidate who is kicking off a campaign, not ending one.
Newly elected Congresswoman-For-A-While Jean Schmidt probably shouldn't get too comfy in her new D.C. digs. She's now facing any number of ethics violations and will be spending her time with those, along with doing the business of merely 52% of the good folks of OH-02.
She has to run for the seat outright again next year. Which means she'll spend her year in Congress begging House Majority Leader and Ethics Consultant Tom DeLay for all the taxpayer money he can steal for her.
Paul Hackett will most likely be waiting. Battle-toughened, prepared and hungry.
Wow. What a night!
This was a VERY GOOD NIGHT if you were Howard Dean.
NOT A GOOD NIGHT if you were sitting in the closet with the rest of the folks at the RNC.
Hmmmmm...a thought:
They've run out of SCOTUS appointments.
... BushRove is sure to attack Iran if this election thing keeps up.
posted by Gotham 12:22 AM
Monday, July 25, 2005
The Heart of the Wilson / RoveBush Scandal
via AMERICAblog:0 comments
The Wilsons' lawyer, Christopher Wolf, shows a humanity missing from way too many lawyers in this country. Especially from those in D.C.
He then gets to the core issue in this entire slimy and sordid GOP affair:
Two years following the Wilson op-ed and the [Robert] Novak column, we know that Joe was right—there was no basis for the administration's claims regarding Iraq's nuclear plans. After Joe's op-ed appeared, White House officials admitted they were wrong to include the claim in the president's State of the Union. The White House has never retracted that retraction. We know that but for Joe's whistle-blowing, the administration would not have admitted that it was wrong to use the nuclear scare as a ground for war.
And we also now know that the only reason Valerie Wilson was mentioned was because, as Time magazine put it, the administration had declared "war on Wilson" for his whistle-blowing. The outing of Valerie seemed intended to send a not-so-subtle message to other potential critics, "Mess with us, and we'll mess with your family."
This is not really about who said what to whom, when. That's merely the peg on how all the secrets slowly become public.
This is about how people entrusted with the highest offices of the United States government systematically abused the trust they've been given, using political privilege to further a long-cherished ideological ideal that has nothing whatsoever to do with the best security or economic interests of the United States: the invasion of Iraq, and later the invasion of Iran.
Whatever distortions and flat out lies were necessary to achieve this aim were sanctioned at the highest levels. Everyone within the administration willingly jumped onto the same page. Those who didn't, like former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, were slimed and forced out.
Anyone who dared interfere with the RoveBush administration's plans was to be politically eliminated.
Aside from his receiving a full-frontal Family Values assassination for his Times Op-ed piece, Joe Wilson should have been given the very Medal of Freedom that rightfully will get stripped from George Tenet one day.
posted by Gotham 11:37 AM
Today's Dope of the Day: John Fund
John Fund in today's WSJ, explains just how tenacious the Right's stranglehold on Victimhood is.0 comments
America doesn't need any 5 cent cigar! It needs Term Limits for SCOTUS seats, so we can keep rotating the stock. Most justices are named by GOP presidents anyway, so let's have the ability to bounce out the ones we don't like when their terms are up.
That way we can continue to politically polarize the one place we haven't fully politically polarized yet!
Yipppppeeeeeeee!
And this is all because liberals hate us and hate America.
This is true because John Fund told us so.
posted by Gotham 10:51 AM
BooHooHooHoo...Poor WSJ...
The poor Wall Street Journal.0 comments
Sniff. Forced to do the bidding of that evil corporate world. Sniff, sniff. Anyone have a tissue?
I love this editorial. It starts out great: Many good, good Americans are being screwed by the healthcare debacle in this country. OK, great start.
But instead of shining its sizeable media spotlight on the greed and avarice of the health insurance companies or the healthcare delivery system, WSJ turns its focus on the real culprit: state legislatures!
AHA!
A bit of background. One of the reasons that the health insurance industry is so difficult to attack is that a few years ago, they got their friends in the Congress to pass legislation exempting them from the federal court system (and thereby, federal regulation), placing them under the jurisdiction of each of the different states and their laws.
Basically you can see the benefit. If they lose on the federal level, they're stuck. But if they can play on the state level, they can happily work on your underpaid, underloved, thoroughly unknown state assemblyperson to vote their way. And if they lose in New York, say, well there's always Missouri. If they lose in New Jersey, there's always Delaware.
Sweet racket.
In the '40s and '50s, that just what they called this type of thing: The Rackets.
It's what the FBI spent their time on. They were called, "Racketbusters."
But without any visible "Racketbuster" around the ol' FBI compound these days, the health insurance crowd are now happily putting pressure through their official party organ, the WSJ, on the state legislatures that have had the courage to stand up to the industry and force them to offer services that residents of the state demand.
This is an opening salvo in the frontal attack on the hardline regulatory legislatures around the country. Those which appear interested in doing the people's business rather than the company's.
BooHooHooHoo.
posted by Gotham 10:35 AM
From AMERICAblog:0 comments
With every passing day and every exploding scandal, we're seeing the CEO Bush and exactly how it was that he was able to run any number of business concerns into the ground when he was a younger man.
Now, he's doing the same from the Oval Office.
The stock analysts would be suggesting you sell right about now.
Many in the GOP are starting to look more closely at their political portfolio.
posted by Gotham 3:46 AM
Let Them Eat... Yellowcake!
Hundreds of Children Starving in Niger0 comments
3.6 people in Niger are facing the prospect of starving to death.
A third of them, children.
And as most of the cable TV punditocracy laughingly trip over themselves trying to pronounce the name of the place, the Bush administration only knows that it's a place—out there, somewhere—which, handily, they can use to punch former Ambassador Joseph Wilson IV bloody over his having the temerity to truthfully point out to Americans that their leaders cooked the books and lied to them after September 11, in order to gain their backing for an Iraq invasion, which had been the cherished Neo-Con dream for well over a decade.
Phyllis Schafly and Sen. Rick (Man-on-Dog) Santorum want you to care about "the child."
As long as it's not yet alive.
And not, god forbid, black.
posted by Gotham 2:11 AM
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Losing the Genius Label...
To quote a dear friend's line on current events:0 comments
Turd Blossom Circles the Bowl.
From Raw Story:
L.A. TIMES MOVES PERJURY WITH ROVE TO FRONT PAGE
posted by Gotham 2:52 AM
The War for the GOP
This is bad for the GOP. Really bad.0 comments
GOP candidate calls for impeachment
Watch for more of this kind of headline in the months ahead.
posted by Gotham 2:36 AM
Friday, July 22, 2005
0 comments
It's important to remember why this ongoing D.C. scandal is such a big deal.
Yes, it may well point at Karl Rove. But Karl Rove is George W. Bush is Karl Rove is George W. Bush, etc., etc.
The two are intrinsically, utterly aligned. They are intertwined to the point of being emmeshed.
This is why the step Bush has taken to fully back Rove with every photo op of every day is so foolhardy. This way, yes, he won't have said something stupid which would get him in hot water with the investigation. And will still have gotten his message across.
But he is also lashing himself and his presidency to the most ruthlessly vicious political operative in, perhaps, the country's entire history. And as with most other "ruthlessly vicious political operatives," Rove has made many enemies and is apt to trip over his overwhelming hubris and end up in flames.
So all that is left to the president is prayer. Pray that Rove isn't indicted and possibly/probably convicted of any of an array of possible crimes. Because the math is so simple:
If Rove goes down, Bush goes down.
Period.
Especially if Bush were to be stupid enough to pardon a thoroughly disgraced villian like Rove. Americans would storm the White House with torches.
For now, their hands are tied. So, all they can do is lash out.
McClellan 'Thanks' Roving Reporters for Conducting Plame Probe 'From This Room'
While Scotty McClellan is doing the "No comment" meltdown during press briefings, someone as savvy as ol' Karl usually is should tell the president that Karl Rove is going down.
And that he is taking the national GOP down with him.
But mostly, that he's taking the president of the United States down with him.
Even if there is no specific proof of any wrongdoing on Rove's part as of this date, the American people are following this story in shockingly high numbers. And with every day, middle-of-the-road GOPers are turning on the president. In increasing numbers.
Ironically, because of his decades-long friendship with Rove, the president will find that his best friend and political guru is the very man responsible for destroying Bush's otherwise fully incompetent-but-powerful administration.
Henceforth, we will see RoveBush. Or BushRove.
One person: each part who cannot, and does not, function or exist without the other part.
One name. One presidency. One ideology. One career left in tatters.
One world left in flames.
One nation left in tears.
RoveBush.
posted by Gotham 2:15 AM
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
As Karl Rove Morphs Into Susan Smith...
Well, after a brief, but well-earned respite from BushRove-gate for the nomination of conservative Judge Orange Alert to a SCOTUS seat, we return to our happy warriors.0 comments
From The American Prospect:
An Unlikely Story: Karl Rove's alibi would be easier to believe if he hadn't hidden it from FBI investigators in 2003.
By Murray Waas
White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove did not disclose that he had ever discussed CIA officer Valerie Plame with Time magazine reporter Matthew Cooper during Rove’s first interview with the FBI, according to legal sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter.
Oops... . I hate when I forget things I meant to say, too.
The omission by Rove created doubt for federal investigators, almost from the inception of their criminal probe into who leaked Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak, as to whether Rove was withholding crucial information from them, and perhaps even misleading or lying to them, the sources said.
Also leading to the early skepticism of Rove's accounts was the claim that although he first heard that Plame worked for the CIA from a journalist, he said could not recall the name of the journalist. Later, the sources said, Rove wavered even further, saying he was not sure at all where he first heard the information.
Next, BushRove will be leaking that the journalist was a black man, whoever he was. Or maybe, "it was an Hispanic man...Yeah, it was an Hispanic guy. No...Actually, it was a black guy after all. Can't recall, the light wasn't great in that parking garage, y'know?"
posted by Gotham 6:59 PM
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Well, Here You Have It, Then...
Nancy Benac of AP (with an assist from Donna Cassata) lays it out about as clearly as you need:0 comments
Bush's Judges Already Making Their Mark
Along with this sidebar:
A Look at Judges Appointed by Dems, GOP
So this is where we find ourselves:
Our nation, once strong and revered, is the Alamo.
The Bush administration, with its array of thousands of troops of hungry, corrupt, greedy, un-American zealots and crackpots, is Santa Ana.
Basically, as a country and as a society, we fight or we die.
posted by Gotham 11:49 AM
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
It's A New York Thing...
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington:0 comments
Dean slam at GOP puts Democrats in tricky spot
By SCOTT SHEPARD, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party responsible for the "culture of corruption" he sees in Washington, but Dean is getting virtually no help from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives.
In the year since then-Rep. Chris Bell (D-Texas) filed a complaint that triggered the current ethics investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), not one Democrat has initiated another complaint despite the pleas of outside watchdog groups.
House Democrats are victims of "a kind of mindset that too often creeps in in Washington —to get along, go along," Bell said in a telephone interview from his law office in Houston. "There's not a more adversarial act you can take in the House than an ethics complaint, and some people just don't have the stomach for it."
Here's something we NYers can actually do to help. We've sat for too long, crying the there's nothing for us to do, sitting in the bluest of the blue states. We've got the most liberal, progressive House and Senate representation in the country. So, picketing our Congressman is useless - he already agrees with us, and is in the leadership of fighting whatever it is that the right is cramming down our throats on any given day.
So, again, here's something we can actually do. Call your NY Representative and send a strongly worded request to have them file an ethics complaint against Reps. Bob Ney of Ohio and Duke Cunningham of California, for all the crap they've put this country through and all the money they've stolen.
posted by Gotham 3:02 AM
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Sir Duke-Stir
Ahhh...the fragrant, cesspool that envelops the esteemed Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham's (R-CA; San Diego) understanding of the legality of sharing fiscal engrandizements has just landed in our fair city.0 comments
This from Josh Marshall at TPM.
I remember this Celestine Miller / William Harris story. The NY Post loved it. As I recall, it was front page all the way: blacks who dared to rise in the educational system, wanting to run for office as a member of the Party of Lincoln, taking bribes and kickbacks. Graft that rightfully belonged to good, Christian white folk.
How dare they?
posted by Gotham 8:03 PM
Negroponte's Calling Card
Now that "Death Squad John" Negroponte has left Iraq, it's no wonder that folks now find a well-running, brutal Shiite-controlled, secret police contingent working for the new Iraqi govenment.0 comments
You know, the newly elected democratic one?
In Negroponte's past, they've normally been called "Death Squads."
You may have been referring to them lately as "Iraqi police."
From The Observer: UK aid funds Iraqi torture units
Now that "Death Squad John" has moved on to the top intelligence spot here in the U.S., the Takrit unit is fully functional.
So, when do the Tacoma, Tucson and Toledo units gear up?
posted by Gotham 2:06 AM
Monday, July 04, 2005
Civil War, Part II
Milbank: Word From O'Connor Sets Off Pre-Fourth Fireworks0 comments
posted by Gotham 3:01 PM
Gosh, is there a problem with our news coverage?0 comments
Pliant American press behaving like Pravda in coverage of the U.S. president
posted by Gotham 3:52 AM
Gee, Go Figure...
FAUXNew: Democratic Ranks Pleased by Dean Performance0 comments
Who'da thunk it?
Howard Dean is the true Democrat. He, in fact, speaks for the rank and file Democrats who you in D.C. will have to face come election time. Whether we be Progressive or DLCer, out here, outside the Beltway, we like him just fine.
The nauseating sight of the pampered, heavily bronzed Sen. Joe Visa from Delaware, complete with laser-bleached day-glo teeth, who's never worked a day in his life, blasting Dean for insulting Republicans for being pampered, heavily bronzed, and never having worked a day in their lives was the capper that shows the world that Sen. Joe is presidential material.
Note to all $3,000 suit Democrats: Shut up and get out of the way!
This is what primaries are for. To take away your cushy spot because you couldn't/wouldn't do your job the way we wanted you to do it.
Either jump on the bus, or be doomed to fall under it.
posted by Gotham 3:44 AM
The Rove Decoy
Joe at AMERICAblog is heading in the same direction I've been going down since Friday.0 comments
Only four or five key members of the executive branch have a need-to-know clearance to know who covert operatives are.
I'm sorry, but the president's chief political advisor doesn't qualify and isn't on the list.
So, if it indeed WAS Rove who leaked the info on Plame, who at the HIGHEST reaches of our government TOLD HIM? There's your leaker!
posted by Gotham 2:14 AM
Sunday, July 03, 2005
What's Behind the Iranian Election?
Before you fall for FauxNews and the Bush administration's echo chamber starting to beat war drums over Iran, let's take a look at what's ACTUALLY going on in Iran with the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as president.0 comments
NYTimes: For the Poor in Iran, Voting Was About Making Ends Meet
Iran today actually sounds more like America in the Thirties, with its agrarian population pushed into poverty and forced to migrate to the cities in the fruitless search of work.
And just like in every other country in the world's history, politicians who espouse a populist view of economic relief to the swelling masses of poor citizens (in Iran's case, pushing 30% of the country living below the poverty line) wins the day.
It's odd that the poor and the rich are both extremely adept at voting their own economic self-interests. It's the middle. and upper-middle classes that have such a hard time mastering that basic principle.
Mr. Ahmadinejad, who catapulted to president-elect from near obscurity as the appointed mayor of Tehran, campaigned on a populist message, promising to redistribute the nation's wealth, hold down prices, raise salaries and lift state-supported benefits for the poor. He infused those pledges with the theme of social justice, which resonated in a society where aiding the poor is considered an obligation for the faithful.
His message came at the right time. In 1997 and again in 2001, voters focused their political will on social and democratic freedoms in electing Mohammad Khatami to the presidency. But his promised reforms were hardly carried out, and in the election last week voters appeared to have shifted focus to their pocketbooks. One candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of Parliament, just missed making it to the runoff election for president after promising to pay each family the equivalent of $60 a month if elected.
Average salaries run about $200 a month in Iran, with a salary of $300 to $500 considered generous. But costs are fast outstripping the ability to pay—government figures put annual inflation at about 15 percent, though on some products, merchants say prices rise far faster than that.
But since Ahmadinezhad has a decent record of religious fundamentalism, the brilliant lights in the White House are taking some well needed time off from helping their cronies steal from the U.S. Treasury to whip up a frenzy in the corporate media about Ahmadinezhad being Satan, and the next big threat and all that.
I was surprised to see Wikipedia all over this so early.
Platform
Ahmadinejad has generally sent mixed signals about his plans for his presidency, which some U.S.-based analysts consider to have been designed to attract both the religious conservative and the socially and economically poorer people. The following is based on what is not known to have been denied later by him or his supporters. The main slogan for his campaign was "It's possible and we can do it."
In his presidential campaign, Ahmadinejad had taken a populist approach, with emphasis on his own simple life, and had compared himself with Mohammad Ali Rajai, the second President of Iran—a claim that raised objections from Rajai's family. Ahmadinejad plans to create an "exemplary government for the world people" in Iran. He is a self-described principlist; that is, acting politically based on Islamic and revolutionary principles. One of his goals were "putting the petroleum income on people's tables," referring to Iran's oil profits being distributed amongst the poorer classes.
"Uh-oh. Can't have that. Obviously, another one of those "take our profits to feed the poor" clowns. Mr. Secretary, what do we have on this moron?"
Wikipedia should be given credit for pushing this even to the extent of debunking the wild charges of the Swift Boat Hostages that Ahmadinejad was a nasty, hot-headed leader among their captors. Mr. Ahmadinejad may well have been involved; we can safely assume he was, given his resume. But that's akin to slamming a fifty-plus-year-old American for attending anti-Vietnam rallies or shutting down their campus in 1968. It's what most everyone did in that place and tiime. We can also safely assume that an in-depth story on "Where Are They Now," will show that the individuals involved in the hostage taking have moved into various places of high and low estate within Iranian society, including the Iranian government.
In any event, the photos which the echo chamber has been using to extort Americans to demand we "Nuke'em High Now" have a few flaws in them, to say the least. As in, they're wrong.
Wikipedia also gets this classic shot in:
Allegations
Since he has won the presidential elections a number of unsubstantiated allegations have surfaced on the major Western news media about Ahmadinejad. All this seems to be deliberate and calculated to associate Iran with "terrorism" which has been going on for a quite a long time in the Western media about Iran. Initially a photo of an MKO hostage taker was published, claiming it to be Ahmadinejad (it is interesting, by the way, that Washington now supports the MKO). Later claims were made that Ahmadinjead was involved in assassination of Kurdish leaders in Europe. Again, all major Western news agencies were quick to publish this news with big headers, without any evidence or reasonable investigation into the veracity of the claim. It is likely that more such allegations will start to show up in Western news media. It is interesting that nobody in the West starts questioning the integrity and authority of these news agencies despite numerous such false reports.
So, yes, "Heeeey, wait a minute, here..." is the proper response when you hear ANY story in the Corporate Media about Iran.
Now, if the U.S. took a page from President Bill Clinton's playbook and decided to wage covert economic warfare against the new Iranian leadership, and "felt the Iranian people's pain," and flooded the country with new money, people on the brink of starvation would see us as saviors, not as The Devil we normally portray.
posted by Gotham 11:29 AM
Saturday, July 02, 2005
Free Katie Holmes!
Brooke Shields answers Tom Cruise.0 comments
Um, let's see...
Brook Shields went to Princeton.
Tom Cruise went to Spago's.
OK, I get it.
posted by Gotham 5:02 PM
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Trade-Offs
Thanks to the National Priorities Project for maintaining the Iraq Invasion cost clock.0 comments
As of 6/26/05 at 3:30 p.m., EDT, the cost to the American treasury for this rich-guy folly is $179,277,500,000.00. Of course, the numbers flew higher even as I was trying to type it in. It's gone up approximately $250,000 in the last two minutes.
Cost of War
The worst part of this web site is the listing of all the positive, life-affirming things all that money could have purchased for us.
Basically, which would you rather have?
Your son and daughter—along with 8,690,673 of their classmates—getting a full four-year scholarship to the public university of their choice, so that they have access to a better life in these changing economic times, or your neighbor having his boy come home in a body bag?
Would you choose to flood the American educational system with 3,106,801 qualifed new K-12 teachers for your son and daughter—and millions of their classmates—so that they have the smaller classes that help them attain the life you dream for them, or would you rather see your neighbor have a couple of military guys show up and hand her "The Letter"?
See?
It's all just a series of choices.
Your call...
I said, It's your call...
"Hmmmmmm..., I'm thinking, I'm thinking...!"
posted by Gotham 3:48 PM
Can Anyone Here Play This (War) Game?
To see clear points as to just how we are losing the occupation of Iraq and why it is that growing numbers of the American people have turned their backs on Bush's Folly, read this article from the L.A. Times:0 comments
U.S. Plans Expansion of Crowded Iraq Prisons
There are lots of little, telling nuggets of information scatterered throughout this piece. [Note: My emphasis throughout.]
Such as:
Faced with a ballooning prison population, U.S. commanders in Iraq are building new detention facilities at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison and Camp Bucca near the Kuwaiti border and are developing a third major prison, in northern Iraq.
Mission Incarcerated.
It's now a race to see if Halliburton can build more permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq, or more prisons.
After the scandal over abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. soldiers, President Bush had advocated demolishing Abu Ghraib "as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning."
And since at all times, this misdirection administration does EXACTLY the opposite of what it tells you it's going to do, we all knew this quote was the go-ahead for putting that spiffy new wing on that sorry-ass structure.
Following are three separate, but intertwined graphs from this story which are particularly harsh to the administration's echo-chamber rhetoric.
First:
Aggressive operations against insurgents over the last six months have brought a flood of prisoners to U.S.-run facilities—including many believed to be hard-line rebels who have attacked American troops.
Then,
As of June 20, Bucca's population stood at 6,450 prisoners, just 50 below its limit. [Maj. Gen. William] Brandenburg[, who oversees U.S.-run prisons in Iraq] plans to add space for 1,400 more prisoners by November.
Followed up by this:
The crunch has led to a constant state of alert at Camp Bucca, where guards have struggled to contain repeated escape attempts and what Brown called "several large-scale uprisings." The camp is a grid of fenced-in indoor enclosures, each housing up to 800 prisoners. As the population rises, commanders plan to gradually shift to smaller, easier-to-control compounds. Captured foreign fighters are kept in a separate compound, but [Army spokesman Lt. Col. Guy] Rudisill said they numbered fewer than 400.
Ummmm... 6,450 "prisoners" PLUS 1,400 "more prisoners" EQUALS 7,850 prisoners MINUS 400 "foreign fighters" EQUALS 7,450 Iraqi citizens who are fighting to repel invading foreign armies from their country. That's just at ONE prison. We can most likely assume this holds at the others as well. And if that's still a small percentage, then you've got a situation where millions of Iraqis thank us for toppling their dictator, and now want us to get the hell out. Sounds like they already ARE fighting for freedom and liberty, Mr. President.
Now, you parlay all of these with this graph:
Efforts to relieve the prison crowding by speeding up releases have been frustrated, officials say, by an increase in detainees deemed a high risk to commit acts of violence if set free. A Combined Review and Release Board of three U.S. officials and six Iraqis—two each from the ministries of interior, justice and human rights—reviews each prisoner within 90 days of arrival.
The board decides which prisoners can be released and which pose an immediate threat and must be detained. Rudisill, the Army spokesman, said the criteria include: the quality of the evidence against the prisoner; capabilities such as military training or electrical skills that could be put toward making bombs; suspected connections to insurgent cells; and "expressed philosophy."
So, what we see from all this is that the numbers of foreign fighters is still fairly small albeit growing; basically, this is still Iraqis trying to throw the American and British armies out of their country, as the bulk of the armed resistance is Iraqi; and that the U.S. military and the puppet Shiite government in Baghdad are rounding up just about every Iraqi who looks at them cross-eyed. As well as just about every Sunni in the country.
This makes sense short-term for survival purposes. Arrest them all and let the Blackwater Company and Titan Company special ops guys sort them out.
However, when you've taken every taxi driver off the streets of the country, and hauled in every angry, drunken loudmouth from the cafes, you thereby take men who pose no immediate threat, have no quality evidence against them, have no military training or electrical skills that could be put toward making bombs, no connections to insurgent cells, and who have "expressed philosophy" by shouting "Death to the Infidels!" at a rally or drunkenly at a cafe, and toss them into disgusting, overcrowed conditions with Wahabiist radicals, where morality-free Blackwater private-army, mercenary interrogators perform inhumane, unspeakable acts on them and their countrymen, until you soon have men who do pose an immediate threat; who will soon be creating lots of quality evidence against themselves; who have gained clandestine military training and electrical skills that could be put toward making bombs; who now have clear connections to insurgent cells and who now swell with an "expressed philosophy" of killing every American (and every Iraqi who aids them) within a thousand miles of the Persian Gulf.
Give these hard-working guys in this administration a hand!
These are your tax dollars at work, folks.
GO TEAM!!
ePop Quiz:
When's the last time that your representative in Congress,
or your Senator represented YOUR interests?
Get Angry! Have your say.
Write your elected officials now!
Here's the Realtime Iraq Invasion Cost Clock!
posted by Gotham 3:18 PM
