Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Rupert: D'oh!
Classic.0 comments
Rupert Murdoch figured he could respond to this whole (for him) unfortunate, ungainly cartoon flap by easily marginalizing Al Sharpton—by continuing to portray Sharpton as a crackpot gadfly to the New York Post's white readers—as Murdoch's properties have done since the 1970s.
But with the entrance of NAACP head Julian Bond, one of the classiest and most powerful leaders within the African-American community, and a man who has earned one of the purest reputations across the breadth of America itself, this just brought the game to a whole new—and to Rupert's interests—dangerous level.
Time to jump in and take over, Rupert.
So the Chairman and mondo honcho of all things NewsCorp-ish, put his powerful foot down, tossed the Post editors' weaselly non-apology apology out the window, pushed his staff aside and proved to his worldwide minions that he, Rupert, was the big cheese when it comes to delivering the Classic, Hall of Fame-level Non-Apology Apology.
Murdoch Apologizes for Chimp Cartoon
Kinda. But not so much.
He starts off well:“As the chairman of the New York Post, I am ultimately responsible for what is printed in its pages. The buck stops with me.
Last week we made a mistake," he wrote in a statement printed on Page 2 of the Post. "We ran a cartoon that offended many people."
Well played, Rupert. Very direct, yes. Very strong stuff.
But can he restrain himself? Can he maintain that dignified high level over a full editorial????
We hold our breath. Can he do it?
Umm. No."Today I want to personally apologize to any reader who felt offended, and even insulted."
D'oh!
You were soooo close, Rupert! You just can't do it, can you?
Man.
Only IF you were one of those readers who felt offended, or even insulted, we apologize. If this didn't offend or insult you, or if it even got you all kinda wet to go out and shoot down the next stimulus-writing monkey you could find, then, Hey! no prob', we're cool with that.
Rupert still hasn't learned the power of economy, because he kept going, pushing that shovel ever downward."I have had conversations with Post editors about the situation and I can assure you—without a doubt—that the only intent of that cartoon was to mock a badly written piece of legislation. It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such."
"It was not meant to be racist, but unfortunately, it was interpreted by many as such."
NO, Rupert. This is no simple dialog. Whether it was MEANT to be racist or not is moot. It WAS racist! This is no interpretive piffle.
What America needed to hear from you was:
"Wow. We screwed up. This had no place in our paper. I/We're sorry this happened. Heads will roll."
No reading of this can leave one with any interpretation other than that this editorial is designed to blunt and end the entire affair before Bond can follow through with his threatened NewsCorp properties boycott.
Too late, Rupert. This is simply too weak an effort. Obviously, a deliberately weak effort.
So, Gotham Notes tosses its support behind Mr. Bond and Mr. Sharpton.
Call us when you have a better apology, Rupert. A real one. And when heads have actually rolled.BOYCOTT FOX, the New York Post and all NewsCorp properties until Rupert Murdoch
takes the full and proper action of disciplining his staff which is warranted in light
of the Post's despicable Page Six cartoon picturing the Post's racist attitude
toward African Americans in general, and Barack Obama in particular.
Sign up to add your voice with the NAACP here.
posted by Gotham 3:08 PM
Sunday, February 22, 2009
"Yes! No! I AM! I'm NOT! OK, I'll Take This!
I'm Not Taking That! That's Final, Sorta..."
0 commentsLouisiana's governor Bobby Jindal is getting cute with his approach to the economic stimulus bill.
He's using what's laughingly called the "principle" dodge.
He's loudly, publicly trashing one small provision of the stim bill (see Haley Barbour) that will give him street cred with the Loony Red State primary voter, while he's quietly grabbing as much cash as he can stuff into his shirt in order to keep his Third-World citizenry's torchlight / pitchfork processions from storming his door and running his ass out of town on a rail.
That makes him a smart, though thoroughly hypocritical, man. Perfect qualities for a presidential run, we'd say.
Unfortunately, the whole world is watching, Bobby.
Damn those Internets!!!
posted by Gotham 5:28 PM
How Republicans Screwed Things Up So Badly
0 commentsThank you, Haley Barbour, governor of the Third-World State of Mississippi.
You, dear sir, have perfectly encapsulated how the GOPers have fucked things up economically for America and, by extension, the world over the last eight years. You point perfectly to how you and what's left of your "Party" are attempting to extend this damage by insisting we maintain the very policies that allowed you to ruin things in the first place. Your only response is to stand in the way of every legitimate effort to clean up the financial and social toxic dump you have made of America.
Taxes, you say.
Taxes: The word; the concept; the vision; the money; the political stance; the revenue producer; the shared (or not shared) burden; the strategy; the obstacle; the way we pay for things we all use.
Taxes, as in All Roads Lead To Tax Cuts, and never a rise in tax rates. Ever.
Here's your quote, Mr. Barbour:Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, like [Louisiana governor Bobby] Jindal, said that he would reject the money for expanding unemployment insurance.
“There is some we will not take in Mississippi,” Governor Barbour told CNN’s State of the Union on Sunday. “We want more jobs. You don’t get more jobs by putting an extra tax on creating jobs.”
Of course. But that's not the connection. Or the point. This item isn't about creating jobs, it's about covering those at risk. This is a total red herring on Barbour's part. Transparent crap.
No jobs are currently being created in this economy on Barbour's watch. This particular provision of the Stim does not create jobs; it expands the number of those covered by Unemployment Insurance to those not currently covered by UI if they lost their jobs. It speaks to those already employed, so that they will have a safety net when and if they are laid off, which allows them to survive, and keeps their cash flowing through local monetary channels. It also does not affect businesses unless and until they lay off workers. They don't pay out this money if they keep their staff employed. In most states—where a broader swath of jobs is covered by UI—this provision is fairly moot. But, yes, in Third-World states like Barbour's Mississippi, which have taken a narrow, punitive stance on who should be covered by their state's UI, this would mean a small outlay by local businesses whose gravy train would effectively end. But this is hardly the point.
Barbour's deliberate confusion of what is at issue here is meant to avert attention from the true issue at hand.
Demand. The stimulation of demand. By anybody; on any level; by any amount.
And that incurs spending. A lot of it.
Repeat after me, Gov. Barbour: D-E-M-A-N-D. Demand. That's what is needed. There is none now. Nothing will move again in our lifetimes until there is demand. As most economists have clearly stated, when no one else is spending a dime, the spender of last resort has to be the federal government. Who else has cash to spend? But where is the government's cash to come from? Who knows? Where did six years of Supplemental Spending Bills magically come from to pay for the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions and occupations? Thin air?
When the demand for a business's product or service returns, inventory will disappear, production of replacement items becomes warranted and the business will hire workers to support its orders. Period. Nothing else is in play here.
I challenge Gov. Barbour to explain to us, other than by merely repeating the GOP sound bite, exactly how lower taxes on businesses would improve hiring. Hunh? How does this happen exactly—in any type of real world, other than in Grover Norquist's failed, deluded dreams? How does this happen at any time other than in an economy going full bore, when small actions can have salutary results. Yes, if an owner is weighing adding staff in a booming economy, a tax break may well bump him over the edge into action.
But currently there is no demand for anyone's products or services; inventories are glutted and everyone's cutting staff to stay afloat. How exactly would a tax break help your average businessperson add staff he or she doesn't need? And why would he or she do anything differently from consumers, who will get a tax break now and simply pay off outstanding debt or just bang it into bank accounts to help their overall solvency?
Starting midway through the 2000 campaign, no Republican in memory has offered any response to the status of a changing economy other than to propose tax cuts. Nada. The well seems shallow and dry. Huge surplus? OK, tax cuts. Bubble rumblings? OK, tax cuts. Bubble bursting? OK, tax cuts. Softening economy? OK, tax cuts. Recession? OK, tax cuts. Mild recovery? OK, tax cuts. Narrow economic boom? OK, tax cuts. Worldwide economic financial devastation? OK, tax cuts. Etc., etc., etc.
It's all you've got, Mr. Barbour. It's all you and the GOP have ever had. You've got nothing else.
Has no Republican taken an Econ 101 class in school? Republicans seem clueless about solutions to economic events aside from throwing tax cuts at them. That's not leadership, sir, that's autism.
The most laughable phrase in the English language? "Republican economist." Those who have had their hands on the tiller of financial policy? Rob Portman, Greg Mankiw, Jim Nussle, on and on it goes. Useless, the lot of them. How they have assisted the average American has never been adequately explained. How they have helped swell the upper reaches of income strata is obvious.
The time for tax cuts or resisting raising taxes is long past. It's going to be difficult for those now entrusted with righting the sinking ship to be successful; but when you sit there, continuing to punch holes below the water line, the task can appear hopeless.
So when we hear maroons like you, Gov. Barbour, spouting about killing any cure for GOP malfeasance because it would "raise taxes," we simply respond, "No shit, Sherlock. You broke it. Now, if you don't have any better idea on how to fix it, shut up and step aside. The adults have work to do, cleaning up your mess."
posted by Gotham 4:02 PM
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Coulter Attacks 'Faggots,'
Then Stops By For Dinner
0 commentsJust stumbled upon this 2007 story about famous GOP fluffer Ann Coulter.
Rick Jacobs: Ann Coulter: On the Gay Circuit in West Hollywood
That poor, tattered little black dress. She must have been taking a night off from her constant, futile attempts to keep GOP men aroused while keeping their wandering attentions off of her 10-yr.-old competition. Now, THAT'S a hard life. No wonder she always looks so haggard.
Hanging out with gays and actual, level-headed men who are Democrats must be such the occasional relief for her.
posted by Gotham 6:31 PM
Someone Gets It...
Sadly, it's John Ashcroft.0 comments
Ashcroft is seeing no remarkable difference between George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
He's saying this like it's a good thing.
This should get everybody's attention.
And make everyone's blood run cold.
posted by Gotham 6:04 PM
Dangerous Obama Foot-dragging
Obama administration tries to kill Bush e-mail case0 comments
OK, someone, somewhere needs to get the president's ear, and inform him that, no, reducing the excessive, obscene and illegal expansion of presidential powers created by George W. Bush at Dick Cheney's knee will not be construed by anyone other than former Bushies as "a limiting of presidential powers." It will be seen—and cheered—by all Americans as an effort finally to set things right.
This nation is looking to Barack Obama, former teacher of constitutional law at the University of Chicago, to return the natural and legal relationships among the three bodies of federal government to their rightful and proper levels.
Currently, he is not doing that.
A worry that many had during Bush's reign was how successors would deal with Bush's excessive expansions. Surely, no one (other than a Bushie) would WANT to be a King, but "Hey! if I have full kingly dictatorial powers, and no one is really saying that I HAVE to give them back, why don't I keep them for a while? I'll give 'em back, I promise, but let me take 'em for a spin, let me try 'em out for a while first."
No. It's just toooooooo tempting to simply leave them there. Human beings should never be allowed to just be human. This is why we have laws to cover every conceivable aspect of human life—because human beings cannot be trusted to not be swayed, seduced and corrupted fully by all that sways, seduces and fully corrupts the human spirit.
Obama, like any of the rest of us, must be governed by law, every bit as severely as Bush should have been.
Or our democracy is doomed forever.
posted by Gotham 5:57 PM
Dallas Housing Hit Hard Again...
Bush moves to Dallas home0 comments
There goes the neighborhood.
posted by Gotham 5:35 PM
My Favorite Story...
0 comments
... Of the Week:
Cornyn Gives Back (One-Fifth of) Allen Stanford's Money
Does that mean that Texas Sen. (and head of the 2010 GOP Senate Campaign) John Cornyn is only 4/5th Corrupt? Whew, that's better then.
That is better than being 100% Corrupt, how?
posted by Gotham 5:13 PM
Not Been Paying Attention, Hunh?
This is funny.0 comments
What's left of the loony right has been so busy snarling about all the efforts to fix the crap they left behind them, that they've never looked long enough to see what has been there to see.
Many on the right have bought into the echo-chamber concept that Barack Obama is some scary Leftie bomb-thrower.
Um, sorry guys, but no. He's not.
During the campaign, he started out to the right of Hillary Clinton, then only shifted left when she didn't shift quickly enough. One of his very first announcements on the campaign trail when few were listening was that re-doing Social Security was a great idea.
That, my friends, is no Leftie bomb, no matter who is doing the throwing. He caught a decent amount of flack for those comments, so he dropped the issue faster than a Non-Person in Russia.
Why the Left chose to embrace him, especially when he never set out to court the Progressive Left, rather than John Edwards, who did indeed court the Left, and whose proposals are aimed for the Left, remains a mystery.
But if our friends on the Right would calm down a bit and listen a tad more, rather than yowling at the moon so often, they'd most likely hear a lot more from Obama that's to their liking. And the adoring throngs on the Left would actually hear a bit more, like this Detainee issue, that fills them with dread.
posted by Gotham 4:33 PM
Jindal: Death By Stimulus
Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal just committed career suicide by lethal rejection.0 comments
Jindal Rejects $90 Million In Recovery Funding That Would Have Benefited 25,000 Louisiana Residents
Those poor folks didn't need that money, the principle is much more important. If they die in the streets or in the swamps, no big deal. They're only serfs, anyway.
posted by Gotham 3:33 PM
Help Save Red Curtain Children
0 commentsWe may have been wrong about this all along. Perhaps the GOP doesn't really want full intrusion into the Web habits of Americans for political reasons. Maybe, just maybe, it's a cry for help.
Stories of the GOP during the Bush years were rife with tales of both high and low politicians and GOP functionaries, and their predilection for underage boys and girls. And of their amazing ability for getting caught at it. Especially those souls whose GOP-awarded jobs specifically were aimed at protecting children!
Perhaps, the modern GOPer just can't bring himself to click away from his favorite kiddie porn sites. And hates himself for his addiction.
So, voila!
GOP: ISPs, Wi-Fi Must Keep Logs For Police
More wackiness from behind the Loony Red Curtain: Three GOPers from Texas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Rep. Lamar Smith and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott are desperate for help since GOPers cannot keep their hands off of their own, or their neighbor's, children.
So they want the adults in the rest of America to monitor their behavior for them, even if it means creating a police state for everybody else.
A small price to pay, mirror-looking GOPers say, if it helps keep their children safe from post-teen GOPers in good, Christian, Red Curtain towns like theirs.
These people are sick.
But, alas, free mental health services are among the first things cut in Red State budgets.
Perhaps we need to begin an Underground Railroad for Texas children to ferry them to safe havens elsewhere.
Oh. And BTW, while we're keeping America's children safe, keep the GOP's hands off of the Web. They'll just have to learn to deal with its use like everyone else. A bit of self-restraint will do them wonders.
posted by Gotham 3:23 PM
From Behind The Loony Red Curtain
Justice Department gives 'political prisoner' 3 hours to visit dying wife in hospice0 comments
Vile.
posted by Gotham 2:54 PM
Wow.
When the Going gets Unstable, the Unstable get Going.0 comments
Is there ANY Republican left today who is NOT butt-ass crazy?
No longer just a nut-job standing on the fringe of a fringe of a fringe, Alan Keyes is the voice of the modern Republican Party.
Remember, these are the people who took away your savings, sent your job overseas, stole your house, bankrupted your children's future and destroyed the American way of life—all in a tidy eight years—until you wisely took all the power away from them.
Now they want it all back again. And they clearly will continue to howl at the moon until you give it all back.
Stay strong.
posted by Gotham 2:34 PM
Status Quo We Can Believe In
0 comments
Same as it ever was...
Obama continues Bush policy on detainees
Barack Obama studied, and taught, Constitutional Law in great universities. So he gets much less leeway on issues such as this than, say, George W. Bush, who studied bar stools in country clubs.
"Yesterday's announcement that the Obama administration has not even considered departing from the very same unjust and inhumane policies of his predecessor, is an ominous sign that human rights and the rule of law are simply not a priority of this administration," the International Justice Network, who is counsel in all the cases under review, said to Raw Story in a statement. "We expected more from this President when he promised that we would not trade our fundamental values for false promises of security. Unless there is a serious reconsideration of this issue at the highest levels of the Obama government, America will not be able to put this dark chapter of our history behind us."
Obama simply knows better than that.
This does not bode well.
posted by Gotham 2:20 PM
The Party Of 'NO' Should
Just Say 'NO'!
It would make their hero, The Gipper, and Nancy soooo proud.0 comments
This has been rolling around my head for months now, although I haven't as yet said it. Bob Cesca says it better than I: Go Ahead, make your day! Turn it all down! Show them who's boss.Therefore, I'm calling upon Sean Hannity to use his prime time television program as a platform to rally Republican politicians, cable news hacks and citizens alike to refuse delivery of not just recovery bill spending, but all so-called "socialist" government programs. Send it all back. End American socialism now! All of it.
Yes. All of it. Every bit. The GOPers and the NOPErs should absolutely stand on moral purity, and refuse every last damn cent that those evil Federales attempt to shove down their throats.What red-blooded, real-man American doesn't already know that any fire will just burn itself out at some point? Besides, if necessary, that's why the good Lord invented buckets. Who needs police if my kids can just sling Uzis over their shoulders on their way to gym class in their private school, or if I can simply take out a Blackwater rent-a-thug contract to look after them? Real Americans are rich and/or smart enough to have heliports on their property because they don't need no stinkin' roads.
The fact that rejection of any and all monies from the stimulus bill comes from the governors of five states (Alaska, Idaho, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas), four of which GOPers have long-since turned into impoverished Third-World Countries, and from the loony right-wing media sources (the fools at FOX, Rush, AEI, Cato) is emblematic of what is wrong with Republican taste makers and leadership today. The fact that three of those governors have presidential ambitions, so they can help lead the rest of the country into Third-World status, is lost on no one, especially the poor residents of those states who unfortunately are merely rats locked in some giant nobles/serfs social experiment. Ironically, no state in the Union is in more dire need of stim money than those locked tightly behind the Loony Red Curtain of the South and Alaska.
So, let these leaders cry out against "socialist" stimulus measures—just as long as they put their impoverished states where their political mouths are and turn down all stim money.
Then, we can simply sit back and watch.
Now, I don't know if folks in those Loony Red states will cotton much to seeing the rest of the country eventually go back to work and begin to enjoy the fruits of any new prosperity while they're having to eat their young just to survive. I don't know if they'd be all that partial to being left behind because their governor wants to make political points with loony fringe voters while their babies and spouses are left to die.We may be approaching torch and pitchfork territory here. Seeing a fleshy porker like Mississippi's Haley Barbour roasting on an open spit, then parceled out to his hungry constituents may give other Loony Red leaders pause about the wisdom of their position. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Mark Sanford of South Carolina probably aren't in danger of being eaten by their citizenry—but only because there really is no meat on either of their bones. But those fundraiser dinners and cocktail receptions may be just enough to fatten up Rick Perry of Texas to be dinner, he's that close. Also, now that the price of oil has fallen through the floor, cutting off most of the cash that has kept Alaskans afloat, that state's population may well begin to look hungrily at Sarah Palin's prodigious array of kinder before they start to eye their own.
Just sayin', is all.
posted by Gotham 1:11 PM
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
More GOP Hard Times...
During the next year or so, watch all the functionaries of the American Taliban run crying to Barack Obama, "Please help us, Barack! Has anyone noticed there's a bad economy???? I'm not as rich as I was! Is anyone paying attention??? Help us save our humble abodes!!!!!"0 comments
Mitt Romney is the latest to have the anvil of reality drop on his head, and is looking to unload two of his mansions (mansi?).
Just the little ones, mind you. Gee, what a trooper. One of those now on the market is in his former quasi-home state of Massachusetts (worth $3.5 million before the market tanked).
Another, a tiny petite cabin, a lean-to maybe, on the ski slopes of Utah is priced to move at $4 million, down from $5 million.
Maybe even Mitt couldn't stand to hang out in such a still-Red State.
In any event, showing that Mitt Still Believes In America, he's steadfastly holding onto the slightly bigger domiciles, which curiously also happen to be in states that would be heavily contested in 2012.
This one is in New Hampshire (worth $10 million), Mitt has been quoted as being thrilled to hear the sounds of the lake water through their bedroom window.
Romney also has shown the courage to hang onto their brand new digs in La Jolla, California (worth $12 million).(click to enlarge)
Just to show he still has hope!
That all of home-owning America has hope!
What a leader that Mitt is!
Now, if that Barack guy can just bail us all out now...
posted by Gotham 3:22 PM
The Foreclosure Cavalry Is On The Way!
President Barack Obama is going to Phoenix to announce his new home-salvage plans.0 comments
Phoenix, hunh?John McCain must be in jeopardy of losing one of those seven-to-ten houses he (OK..., Cindy) owns.
posted by Gotham 2:17 PM
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Wednesday Is The Day...
...When Barack Obama's fledgling administration weighs in on the case of Congress v. Harriet Miers & Josh Bolten over the issue of "How long does Executive Privilege last, anyway? And just who does it cover, and for what purposes?"0 comments
That this has direct implications for Karl Rove and all the others who passed through the White House of George W. Bush is obvious.
Either the Obama administration agrees with the Bush administration that Executive Privilege extends to every member of an administration at all times in every matter into perpetuity, or its original purpose stands—where only direct conversations between an adviser and the sitting president on specific state topics where the president needs counsel within the term of his or her presidency are covered.
The current administration is scheduled to file an appeal brief in the case in federal court that day.
Where it lands on this issue should be a clear indication of where we are going in the next four years, as the new administration shows its hand, and intentions, clearly for the first time.
As per usual, we find out whether we are a nation of laws, or that, simply, Might makes Right.
And that Power Corrupts.
UPDATE: John Byrne of The Raw Story has further developments on where the Obama administration seems to be going with this. Karl Rove may yet get his chance to declare, "Ah dunno" repeatedly on the World Stage. We'll see on Wednesday.
posted by Gotham 12:40 PM
Something To Keep An Eye On...
...Not in order to sweep it under the rug, but in order to maintain our efforts in policing ourselves as Democrats and/or progressives—something the GOP had been pathologically incapable of doing during their orgiastic uni-party rule earlier this decade. The GOP would deny any and every possibility of malfeasance, whether the GOPer in question was caught in bed with either the proverbial dead girl or live boy.0 comments
If Rep. Jack Murtha or any other Democrat is found to be guilty of misusing his or her office, they should face the proper penalties—and if it's warranted, out they go.
Either we teach proper-thinking Republicans how its done so they can pressure their own, or we slide into the swamp with them.
The choice is as clear as it is simple.
posted by Gotham 12:17 PM
Finally, Some Movement... And From Inside BushWorld, Surprisingly
There's a bowl of hot, steaming stuff waiting for new Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., left over from some of the few decent Americans who actually existed and attempted to work within the Bush White House.3 comments
Isikoff: A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush LawyersAn internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.
Side question: Shouldn't all Bush-era officials—lawyers, or not—be suffering anxiety while waiting for all the various shoes to start falling? With two-thirds of the nation already on-board with either outright prosecution or investigation-then-prosecution-if-warranted, it would seem that the swelling tide of justice is heading in the GOP's direction, despite Barack Obama's footdragging. [One would think that a new, Recession/Depression-proof industry is emerging in selling clean undies to Republican former officials.]
The fact that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) within the Department of Justice submitted their report damning the torture memos written by former White House counsel John Yoo and [former head of the White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)] Jay Bybee just as the Bushies were getting ready to take one final walk out the door appears to be classic Greek-tragedy justice. "Oh, by the way, John and Jay, thanks for all your help during the Bush years, and BTW, you're screwed. Have a nice day."Another nugget in Michael Isikoff's piece:
If Holder accepts the OPR findings, the report could be forwarded to state bar associations for possible disciplinary action.
Question: Would Boalt Hall, the law school of UC-Berkeley, still stand steadfastly by their employment of John Yoo, if that meant they were employing a law professor who'd just been disbarred? Can't see many young wannabe lawyers signing up for THAT class... Just sayin'.
I love this bit from Isikoff's story:[Former Attorney General Michael] Mukasey, in speeches before he left, decried the second-guessing of Justice lawyers who, acting under "almost unimaginable pressure" after 9/11, offered "their best judgment of what the law required."
That Mukasey—he's such a kidder.
Of course, it can be safely assumed that the "almost unimaginable pressure" after 9/11 came directly from Vice President Dick Cheney for them to give "their best judgment of what the [VP] required."OPR investigators focused on whether the memo's authors deliberately slanted their legal advice to provide the White House with the conclusions it wanted, according to three former Bush lawyers who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing probe.
Another interesting tidbit we just spotted:...according to three former Bush lawyers who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing probe
I wonder how the Right's going to react to anonymously sourced material headed in their direction for a change. This coming, of course, after we've suffered through eight years of "according to a Senior Administration Official" and other high-level leakers among the Bushies and their toadies on the Hill and in the military running almost daily to selected pre-approved reporters to offer that day's smears and talking points.
We continue to be surprised by the number of actual professionals who got past the Bush radar, and tried to do the best job they could for the nation, while spending every workday ass-deep in Bush apparatchiks.But the OPR probe began after Jack Goldsmith, a Bush appointee who took over OLC in 2003, protested the legal arguments made in the memos. Goldsmith resigned the following year after withdrawing the memos, and later wrote that he was "astonished" by the "deeply flawed" and "sloppily reasoned" legal analysis in the memos by Yoo and Bybee, including their assertion (challenged by many scholars) that the president could unilaterally disregard a law passed by Congress banning torture.
America thanks you, Mr. Goldsmith.
posted by Gotham 10:17 AM
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Here's The Stimulus Hit List...
0 commentsWhat got cut from the stimulus bill
Basically, some of it seems a bit porky perhaps, but the bulk of what got whacked looks awfully spiteful, short-sighted, inhumane and just plain stupid when you're trying to create jobs—in classic Republican style.
Almost all of the items cut would necessitate that someone be hired to make, ship, install, repair, protect or sell something. You know, jobs.
Just what the country needs. A massive jobs bill that doesn't create jobs.
I'm still kicking myself for not sending more money last fall to defeat Susan Collins.
posted by Gotham 7:10 PM
Hey, One Can Only Hope...
1 dead, 150 rescued off ice floe in Lake Erie0 comments
What a tragedy.
Any chance they left Rush Limbaugh, leader of Rich White Guy Nation, out there?
posted by Gotham 6:57 PM
Blogger Acting Up...
Blogger is acting out this afternoon, so we're not able to upload any photos at the moment.0 comments
Hang with us, we'll hopefully return to photo-land soon.
Apologies for the plain text.
Update (6:45pm):
Things are back to normal.
posted by Gotham 5:33 PM
Putting The Twit In Twitter...
0 comments
Think Progress: Hoekstra leaks unauthorized intelligence information via Twitter.Rep. Pete Hoeksra (R-MI), [above, right] the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, revealed classified intelligence information on Twitter when he reported on his “congressional trip to Iraq this weekend that was supposed to be a secret.” “Just landed in Baghdad,” messaged Hoekstra, who was part of a delegation led by John Boehner (R-OH). CQ reports, “Before the delegation left Washington, they were advised to keep the trip to themselves for security reasons.”
Then he threw in their itinerary, for good measure. Do we really want as Intel honcho in Congress someone who goes around painting a giant target on his chest—and those of the rest of the delegation—because he simply doesn't know any better?
Think Progress tosses in one of Peter's earlier insane rants at anyone who's not Peter, which appeared in the LA Times:But every time classified national security information is leaked, our ability to gather information on those who would do us harm is eroded. … I regret that I see little sign of intolerance for unauthorized disclosures of intelligence to the media from some of my Democratic colleagues today. … We are a nation at war. Unauthorized disclosures of classified information only help terrorists and our enemies – and put American lives at risk.Here's a
littlelarge sign of intolerance for unauthorized disclosures of intelligence for ya, Peter.
From now on, moron, keep your mouth shut, and stay off the electronic gear until you get your staff to both teach you how to work it, and tell you where its vulnerabilities are. Second-graders around this great country know this about Twitter—and every other gadget and social communication network.
With all due respect for the office he holds, what an asshole.
Hoekstra's yet another GOP mental-lightweight braggart who should be dragged out into the street by regular citizens and pummeled with large sticks.
These clowns were protected when they held all the levers of power, and repeatedly caught each other's backs.
But now, in a supposedly Democratic world, decent Americans cannot allow these GOP lowlifes to get away with this crap anymore.
posted by Gotham 5:16 PM
Too Funny...
1 commentsAlex Rodriguez tested positive for steroids in '03, sources tell SI
Four different sources, eh? Uh-oh.
You can just feel that wiggle room shrinking for NYC's poster boy for the Bush Tax Cuts.
Along with his testicles.
posted by Gotham 4:18 PM
James Whitmore, R.I.P.
1 commentsJames Whitmore, Versatile Character Actor of Flinty Integrity, Is Dead at 87
As an example to prove that the venerable New York Times can't always be relied upon to get it right, I offer their obit of the beloved actor James Whitmore, who passed yesterday.
Any paper that can print an obit of this stunning, acting Everyman, and never once mention one of his most impressive stints in film, the early creature feature THEM!, is not to be trusted.
At a time when films in the Sci-Fi genre were little more than a bad script, cardboard sets and props and really atrocious performances, THEM! collected all the proper adult elements—focusing on talent and film experience as criteria.Written by Ted Sherdeman—whose credits in the '50s and '60s included Scandal Sheet; The Eddie Cantor Story; St. Louis Blues; The Big Show, along with the war films, Breakthrough; Retreat, Hell!; Away All Boats and Hell To Eternity. THEM! was directed and produced by long-time Hollywood veterans Gordon Douglas and David Weisbart, respectively. The eerie music was written by film score icon Bronislau Kaper, of Green Dolphin Street fame. The gorgeous B&W photography was shot by film pioneer Sid Hickox, who came to THEM! having already lensed To Have And Have Not, The Big Sleep, Dark Passage, White Heat, Along The Great Divide and Distant Drums, among over 150 assignments starting in 1916.
Whitmore, already an Oscar-nominee, played the strong, heroic good-guy cop, within a steller lead cast that included a young, pre-Gunsmoke James Arness as the romantic lead and the estimable Edmund Gwenn—towards the end of his storied career—as the sage scientist who alone grasps the import of those strange, deadly goings-on in the Arizona desert.
Ahead of its time, THEM! also casts the female lead, played by Joan Weldon, as a serious, trained scientist who's more intent on solving the riddle of the radioactive impact of nuclear testing than responding to Arness' goofy romantic advances. Indeed, they portrayed a woman in "the girl part."
Staying consistent, this team assembled a superb supporting cast of character actors, both young and old—and mostly uncredited—which included such as Fess Parker, John Bernadino, Richard Deacon, Leonard Nimoy, William Schallert, Dub Taylor and, especially, Olin Howland's indelible near-star turn as the alcoholic rummy who actually came face-to-face with the deadly, mutated ants early on and survived.All of this firepower combined to create a high-level exploration of the impact of an already increasingly out-of-control military-industrial complex in a brand new—and thoroughly not yet understood—nuclear age. The fact that they chose a mutated-creepy crawly flick as a frame to present these questions and warnings, served to entertain their audiences while scaring the bejeesus out of them, both psychologically and politically.
A stunning film. It changed the discussion on our nuclear prospects; it changed the science-fiction genre utterly. Career-wise, it served as a spring board for some of those involved, while providing a fitting cap for the careers of others.
The fact that The New York Times would miss all this is stunning. Like the ants, it's kinda big.
The fact that this is one of Gotham's favorite films of all time, and the piece that introduced us to Whitmore and made us a fan forever, is, of course, self-evident.
Thank you for all the amazing and always human-scale work, Mr. Whitmore.
We fear your type of performer will not pass our way anytime soon.
You will be sorely missed.
posted by Gotham 3:18 PM
Monday, February 02, 2009
Addendum, Supe Edition
2 commentsA few other impressions from last night's great Super Bowl brawl in Tampa that I was too tired to remember to put into the last post.
***Whose bright idea within the NFL leadership was it to leave poor, frail, 65-yr-old NY Jets icon Joe Willie Namath on his own with no support to get through that long, ungainly scrum of ecstatic, frantic 300-pound Steeler behemoths, while trying desperately to get the Vince Lombardi championship trophy to the post-game podium? I know he was laughing a lot, but it still looked like he was yelling, "Ow, not the knees! Ow, not the hips! Please, not the knees!" Joe Willie must have thought he was playing again against those old Oakland Raider teams that beat him up so badly. It should take him at least until Sunday to recover and be ready to go again. Although which Sunday, and in what year, is open to question. Scary moment, actually. The happy players seemed on the verge of spinning out of control.
***Ummmm, it's a performer's ego thing, I know. And this is VERY touchy. But someone close to Bruce Springsteen in the E Street Band needs to have coffee with the Boss and gently let him know that, at 59 years of age, it might be time to drop the keys of a couple of his songs down a half step or a step, so that he can still sing them. They could use the same great arrangements, same great feel. There just wouldn't be notes he can't get to anymore. It's a natural part of the aging process for every singer. The adoring crowds will never know. It was a fabulous show, but it was interesting that he wasn't close to being able to sing "Born To Run" from eons ago. But as soon as he shifted into the title tune of his new album (which he's obviously written recently for his voice as it stands now), he fell right into pitch and could hit every note comfortably. At a lower key, it still proved to be a great tune. BTR was just sad. On the other hand, he looks great for 59, and those knee bends and knee slides from back when he was 29, were just inhuman at his age—although I have a hunch that America can do without him sliding his aging crotch into the camera. I do believe that with everything else he's been blessed with, though, he's simply a freak of nature. Perhaps Bruce will be the Satchel Paige of rock & roll. So, you run, Bruce. Or limp. But just do it in tune.
***If NBC was going to promo the beejeesus out of their upcoming halftime 3-D experiment throughout the entire first half, was it asking too much for them to tell viewers just tuning in, either where to get these glasses or that it was too late to grab one, so go get a sandwich?
***It also looks as if The 3rd Bush Family Recession has now dragged even the Super Bowl into its sink hole. Even the sports guys are jumping into the economic reporting pool, since it's impossible now to ignore all the money that is just not being spent—even on splashy, obscene All-American testimonials to Wretched Excess, like the Super Bowl. This does not bode well. I may not have been a Barack Obama fan early on. But now we're all Obama fans on this bus. We have no choice. Also, logic dictates that there's a nice, comfy ice flow somewhere with Rush Limbaugh's name on it.
***In stark contrast to the gutless, classless Steeler posturing after their victory, here's Arizona's quarterback Kurt Warner after the game, speaking in defeat:"They won this game. We didn't lose it," Warner said. "They are world champs."Classy.
To all of Pittsburgh: This is how the Game is played.
posted by Gotham 11:42 AM
Random Thoughts On Super Bowl XXXJRQOIII
For you sports fans out there...1 comments
Just a few things that have crossed my mind tonight.
***I blissfully missed every second of the overly saturated Pre-Super Bowl coverage. Because I just didn't care, obviously.***Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a well- and hard-fought game. And to the Arizona Cardinals on an heroic effort that unfortunately fell just short—you were truly valiant.
***Out of the what seems like hundreds of Super Bowl games that have been played, IMHO this one is in the top ten. Close, exciting throughout, not the dull, lop-sided, anticlimactic blowouts most of them have been.
***John Madden is still the best there is at what he does.
***The Steelers—to a man—produced one of the most classless, amateurish post-game celebrations I've seen to date: From Dan Rooney, the owner, on down through the coach, Mike Timlin, to Santonio Holmes, the MVP receiver and on through to the star QB, Ben Roethlisberger, this is the first post-championship game award ceremony I've ever seen in any sport where the victors never—not once—showed the sportsmanship and the simple good taste and breeding to acknowledge and tip their hats to the losing team. This usually starts with the owner. But not once did these gloating Rust Belt warriors offer what respect they had for their worthy opponent, note how valiantly their opponent fought, say the Cardinals gave them "all we could handle," etc., etc., along with any other cliché proper for these occasions. So, obviously it wasn't true; they had no respect for Arizona. It was all-Steelers; all-the-time on that podium: How great they were; how much they loved each other and were proud of each other. All of those are fine, after a quick hat tip. After such an incredibly close game, that they had every right to have lost, against an opponent who wasn't supposed to even be on the same field with them and was only 2:31 from snatching this game away, this snub was incredibly bush, and ten times worse than what Joe Torre has caught crap for all week from the sports world. Torre's was just lousy judgement; this was bush, and unprofessional.***Even the coverage caught the fever. The Arizona coach was caught for a moment after the game for a few, understandably depressed words. The next sight we got of anyone from this valiant team on either NBC or ESPN was QB Kurt Warner at the 12:09 am mark.
***I want to applaud Steeler linebacker James Harrison on his amazing TD run. I was gassed just watching him.
***Kudos to the Cardinals on that play, for not having any of 11 guys on the field—each of which we can assume is in shape and capable of catching the big load of James Harrison—be able to catch the lumbering, 280-odd pound load during his fateful rumble down the length of the field. I don't get that no one could tackle him over the course of 100 yards, as slowly as he was running or, at least, push him and his protectors out of bounds.
***Harrison, later in the game, however, proved to be a punk and a goon, forfeiting any good will aimed at him from his classic run when he was spotted repeatedly belting a Cardinal player in the back with a closed fist when the play was away from them, the play was over and the Arizona player was down on his knees on the ground, and helpless. John Madden called it correctly—Harrison should have been ejected immediately. That he wasn't is disgusting. What horrible officiating throughout the game.
***My favorite commercials were two: the Get A Dog one at the beginning (mostly for the elderly lady chasing her ostrich out the door, calling "Bruno, come back here!" as the bird is chasing the mailman. The second is the CareerBuilder ad towards the end, where you got to identify with sitting next to "that guy." Both for content and execution, this was my favorite. Very, very funny.
Career Most Thoroughly Shredded and Trashed During The Super Bowl:
***John Turturro—for those insipid, worst-commercial-ever-made Heineken ads. Stupid, pompous and lame with the absolute worst script I've ever seen in a commercial, dating all the way from early B&W TV. Then, John mumbles half the rotten text, until it's gibberish, then keeps a straight face while saying your beer (?) is a SWORD (???). WTF, may I ask? The only real problem John faces aside from obviously being broke enough in this recession to sign on to appear in this piece of crap, is that THIS IS A SUPER BOWL AD!!!!! As such it will only be seen by, what? ... a few BILLION people worldwide? "No reason to worry, John; no one will ever know, it'll just be shown locally..." I guess John is about to add the kindly, old "Helen Hayes" parts in his films now, because his storied career is toast. The only upside possible in this crap is a good payday for the Village Vanguard, which acts as the set for this thing, with fully visible logo, awning text, and bandstand. That'll help the venerable joint stay open for a while longer, we can assume.
***Do you think Calvin Pace is rethinking that contract he signed with the Jets, jumping from the Arizona Cardinals this year?
***J-E-T-S! J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! ... oh..., never mind...
Next year in Jerusalem, as they say.
posted by Gotham 12:46 AM
Sunday, February 01, 2009
The Rich Guy's Tax:
The Sales Tax.0 comments
Now, this is a tax a rich guy can really get behind and support.
From the mid-Sixties, when this aberration first appeared in state budgets around the country, it's been a favorite of personally well heeled and connected governors for raising a ton of cash from the populace quickly.
Since then, it's been an unbearable hammer on people of weak to moderate means. It simply is the most regressive tax we Americans pay. Poor people and those who consider themselves to be "OK," foot the bulk of the bill. The affluent and mega-rich never even feel the pin prick.
And of course—in a time of short-fall created by the rich trying to be richer, aided and abetted by the greed of those grasping to climb up to "rich"—the richest mayor in America decides that the poor and the remaining vestige of middle-class folk must pay to repair the catastrophe his peers have saddled us with.Bloomberg calls for job cuts & sales tax hike
As we've said before, it's hard enough to watch billionaire Michael Bloomberg cavalierly lopping off of the city payroll thousands of jobs that, even in lush times, max out at what passes for subsistence wages for an expensive locale like NYC. Mayor Wallet says: Take that $40,000 job, and shove it!
But then for him to propose ravaging these people further by raising the most onerous tax on the books—the Sales Tax—from 8.375% to 8.75% is unconscionable.
Doesn't sound like a lot, does it? Hey, what's 0.375% among friends, hunh? It raises that bunch of cash quickly, and doesn't hurt anyone particularly hard, does it, right?
Wrong.
Example
Take a mythical Alex Smith, the cop, the fireman, the teacher, the functionary in City Hall, making $40,000-$60,000 a year.
Compare him to the very alive Alex Rodriguez, the Yankee, the rich guy, the model of massive NYC money, making $25,000,000 a year. Yes, that's $25 million a year.
Let's go shopping!
Alex-@-40K needs a suit (for his kid's christening or Bar Mitsvah, whatever), so let's say he decides to splurge on a good one (how many suits do most guys buy these days, after all?) and spends $500 on a suit. The sales tax on that suit currently comes to $41.87, for a total cost to Alex-@-40K of $541.87. (What else Alex-@-40K could use that $41.87 on is for another discussion.)Alex-@-25M wants another suit for his closet, since he's in the public eye often, and needs to look good for business reasons. So, he spends $6,000 on a beautiful suit that makes him look and feel like a million bucks, which is a number he can certainly understand. The sales tax on this suit comes to $502.50, bringing the total paid to $6,502.50.
The first, easy thought—and one the rich pols who push this tax point out—is that Alex-@-25M's $502.50 is so much higher than Alex-@-40K's paltry and affordable $41.87, that the system MUST, by definition, be fair to all, both high- and low-estate. Richer folk can afford a higher sales tax hit on the expensive luxury items they buy; the simple folk pay a much lower amount since they buy cheaper crap, um, items—so it must be fair.
Mayor Wallet proposes a sales tax hike from 8.375% to 8.75%. So, the same principle should hold, right? The rich pay much more; the rest pay more, but less?
Not so fast. Let's look at some numbers...
Under Bloomberg's new budget, Alex-@-40K's tax on his $500 suit rises $1.88 to $43.75. Alex-@-25M's bite jumps $22.50 to $525.00.
Let's look at impact.
Alex-@-40K's $1.88 comprises .00376% of his $40,000 salary (much higher, obviously, if he's among the laid off on unemployment).
Alex-@-25M's $22.50 amounts to .00009% of his $25,000,000 salary (a guaranteed contract, so they pay him whether he works or sits home).
So, Alex-@-40K ends up receiving 42X the negative impact on his income from Bloomberg's increase than sexy, rich A-Rod-@-25M endures.This is nothing new. It has been always thus: The rich of the city slide all of the downside of city living onto others while they fully enjoy the benefits of the urban landscape.
But this isn't onerous simply because of the unfair bite to the incomes of a city full of Alex-@-40Ks. It goes directly to the buying power of the general populace of an entire city. And here's where the short-sightedness comes in. This hurts businesses across the board, and directly deducts from the economic lifeblood of Gotham.
The extra bite of the sales tax, and increases thereof, digs into the finite total that any of the Alex-@-40Ks of the city can afford to spend. These are the "kitchen table" Americans you hear pols bloviating about and pandering to recently. These are the people sitting at the kitchen table, scratching their heads, swallowing hard, staring at the numbers in front of them as if they'll change somehow, wondering who they'll put off this month to get themselves to next month.This sales tax rise alone may mean someone may or may not make a purchase at all, or scale back the level of item they purchase. At some point, Alex-@-40K thinks hard about that $500 suit; maybe he grabs one at $200 on sale, and hopes he can get by with it for a while, as the city's engine loses $300. Or maybe he doesn't buy the suit at all, throws the money on his rent or mortgage payment and dry cleans his sports jacket. The city ends up $500 poorer—multiplied by every transaction all day long that 7.5 million people out of a city of 8 million people don't end up making, or end up downgrading. Serious change, that.
Further, the Alex-@-25Ms of this city spend more that $22.50 to whiten their teeth in the morning. Whether any particular drop in the ocean is $502.50 or $525.00, it's still a drop in the ocean.
Now..., again, a plan.Close every conceivable loophole in the tax code. Then by raising Alex-@-25M's taxes to a level commensurate to the impact of what Alex-@-40K pays to the city (and state and feds), that budget deficit closes to a small enough number so that just a few of Mayor Wallet's richest friends, those whom he bumps into at all of the city's fine charity balls, can simply write a check or two, and the city would be fine. [As an addendum, the Mayor could/should really get his pen warmed up, as well.]
In a crisis, NYers band together like nowhere else in the world. At least, most of us do. This time, that civic responsibility is going to have to include those city residents who "have someone on my staff who handles all that for me."
Then, we would have a city we can all be proud of.
posted by Gotham 4:22 PM
