Daily Chatterings: Sunday, March 22nd 2009

THE BIG CHATTER:
The Working Families Party, the group that taught me almost everything I know about grassroots organizing and the group that David Sirota called,

The one uprising model with the most potential to convert all the populist anger and frustration into functioning political and legislative authority.

They put together one heck of a demonstration in CT. It got all kinds of press, and ran on the MSM networks a ton. Well done fellas.

SOME OTHER CHATTERINGS:
As I had predicted, Karl Rove was unable to talk about anything that doesn't involve the word deficit. And rather than just ignoring the blatant hypocrisy of talking down to anyone on fiscal irresponsibility, he actually attempted to defend the Bush Administration's record on the economy.

You gotta love CNN for this. Here are two titles for stories, labeled one after the next under CNN's latest news column:

Obama aide sees economy growing by 2010
Ticker: Ex-Obama pick warns of fiscal 'crash

So, either the economy is about to pick up again, or it's about to crash even worse. Flippin' fantastic, thanks for the help guys.

THIS AIN'T NO CHATTER:
(This was written on March 21st)
I just got back from the anti-war march on the Pentagon. I have lots and lots of pictures. But first, I need to do a little rant.

To preface this rant, my parents met while organizing against the Vietnam war. I grew up with stories of foots soldiers in the streets, armed with nothing but their voices. And stories of protests breaking out into riots. My father was even arrested a couple times. However, one of those times, a civilian clothed cop came up to a line and started grabbing people. He never revealed himself as a cop, so the protesters obviously resisted. Cops came out of the woodworks, beat the crap out of a lot of them, and arrested a lot of them. He also told me stories of civilian clothed cops throwing rocks at the police line to start a disturbance. And when those ridiculous yellow hard hat thugs viciously attacked protesters, cops were not there to protect them. All of this is to say, that I have no problem whatsoever with standing up to authority figures when they are in the wrong.

Today was a different story. I did not take kindly to people yelling at the officers at today's march, as if they were our enemy. I have found, through many protests these days, that the vast, vast, vast, vast majority of police officers are decent people. And when these decent people show up to control a protest, they are there to protect the protesters just as much as anyone or anything else. I have never feared an incident like the yellow hard hats at any protest I have been to, because of the police officers there.

Anywho, my rant is done. For the most part, this was a well intentioned, peaceful demonstration against war and war profiteering. There were moving speakers, passionate attendees, and beautiful weather.

YOUR DAILY VIDEO TO CHAT ABOUT:


Anything I'm missing?

Pics: Saturday Anti-War March on Pentagon

Saturday, March 21st 2009, Anti-war march to the Pentagon and war profiteer offices:

Video to come shortly... Hopefully tomorrow, if I can get a little sleep tonight.

(click to enlarge)

VIDEO: The Anti-Anti-War Protest - WARNING: EXPLICIT LANGUAGE, USE DISCRETION

Wow.

That is all.

VIDEO: (D-MA) Rep Lynch's Lifeboats Moment

Daily Chatterings: Saturday, March 21st 2009

THE BIG CHATTER:
Once again, three days in a row, the AIG bonuses are going to be on the tip of everyone's tongue. Especially considering this development. Looks like citizen outrage is turning into action. We'll be waiting on the edge of our seats for something to happen next week, and chatting about it all weekend long.

SOME OTHER CHATTERINGS:
Sarah Palin has been all over the news. First, she's refusing federal stimulus funds, following suit with fellow ditto-head Governors. Then she played politics with President Obama's slip up on Letterman. I have a feeling there will be a lot of talk of her fake support for special needs people.

A wrench has been thrown in President Obama's budget plans. Karl Rove is surely glad to hear it, and will go on and on about this tomorrow while neglecting to ever mention that the only reason this spending is necessary is because he and his buddies destroyed our economy.

Treasury Secretary Geithner is still in the hot seat. He's got some work to do to fish himself out of this one. But we're going to do a little bit of work to help him out later.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, under fire for his handling of the bonuses paid to AIG executives, faces a critical weekend as he fights to remain as the Obama administration's lead economic spokesman.

Something good is actually coming out of President Obama's slip on Leno:

March 31 is being billed a "national day of awareness," a call to Americans to recognize and rethink their use of the word "retard," or as the organization would prefer, the "R-word."

Obviously, this new campaign was not a result of President Obama's slip, but coincidentally launches only two weeks after it. And the President's mistake is sure to bring far more attention to this campaign then the organizers were expecting.

There was also a big update on the tragic death of Natasha Richardson. I would not say there is enough to go on yet, but this is a very serious update.

YOUR DAILY VIDEO TO CHAT ABOUT:
This actually hurts to watch.



Am I missing anything?

Sarah Palin: The Definition of Hypocrisy

cross-posted at dailykos

Sarah Palin was real quick to play politics with President Obama's slip on Leno. She ran to a camera to put her two cents in on this one.

This was a degrading remark about our world's most precious and unique people coming from the most powerful position in the world... I hope President Obama's comments do not reflect how he truly feels about the special needs community.

Of course, everyone knows that Sarah Palin has a special needs child, which automatically makes her right on anything related to special needs (snark). I was especially irritated by her "innocent" statement at the end. Now, of course that was not meant to imply that those comments do reflect President Obama's view of special needs (more snark).

But what about how she "truly feels about the special needs community."

Palin actually slashed funding for schools for special needs kids by 62%.

Typical. Shall we dig further?

How about this gem, during her first major policy address. This is when she was asked about how she planned on funding special needs programs while simultaneously cutting the budget.

Palin claimed that the amount that Congress spends on earmarks “is more than the shortfall to fully fund IDEA.” She then ridiculed some of the projects — such as “fruit fly research” — saying they have little or no value: "Where does a lot of that earmark money end up anyway? […] You’ve heard about some of these pet projects they really don’t make a whole lot of sense and sometimes these dollars go to projects that have little or nothing to do with the public good. Things like fruit fly research in Paris, France. I kid you not."

Sounds all good, right? Except that:

The discovery, made in Drosophila fruit flies may lead to advances in understanding autism spectrum disorders, as recently, human neurexins have been identified as a genetic risk factor for autism.

"I kid you not." That's what happens when you get all high and mighty about an issue you only have fake concern for and have neglected to research.

So spare me the passive aggressive bull sh*t.

We NEED Your Help

One of the funniest videos I've seen in a long while.

What Opposition to Gay Marriage is Doing

I am a fervent supporter of gay rights, including gay marriage. Whether it is intentional or not, the denial of rights have the left the gay community as a lesser population. Their relationships are seen as less important, and their struggles are seen as insignificant, self-inflicted. This is just one example of the consequences of treating homosexuals like a lesser class:

Genesio "Junior" Oliveira has been separated from his husband, Tim Coco, since August 2007, when he left the country after his request for asylum and an appeal were denied.

Oliveira asked for asylum in 2002, saying he was raped and attacked by a physician as a teenager in Brazil and feared persecution because of his sexuality.

Kudos to Sen. Kerry. If gay marriage was legal, this man's sincere request for asylum would never be a topic for discussion. This should be a no-brainer, and hopefully President Obama's administration views it that way.

Sen. Jon Kyl Holds Up Tax-Away-Solution

The AP is reporting that:

Sen. Jon Kyl, the Republican's vote counter, blocked Democratic efforts Thursday evening to bring up the Senate version of the tax bill to recoup most of the $165 million paid out by AIG last weekend and other bonuses in 2009... By rushing, Kyl said, Democrats were letting populist outrage trump informed decision making.

Well played. Friday dump, hope the outrage dies down enough over the weekend that a vote against the bill next week doesn't do as much damage. Democrats lose a point on this one. Can't say I'm that shocked, I did say yesterday that:

It will be interesting to see if the more reserved Senate does anything on this.

Being more reserved is not always bad, but the people want something done, and they want it done quickly.

Definitely keep an eye on this one next week.

Daily Chatterings: Friday, March 20th 2009

THE BIG CHATTER:
It would appear that, barring some unforeseen outrageousness, the big issue today will be the AIG bonuses. Now that the House passed a bill to tax the bonuses almost out of existence, watch out for the similar legislation that has been introduced in the Senate. I also expect a lot more fighting over who is to blame for letting the bonuses happen.

SOME OTHER CHATTERINGS:
March 20th marks the six year anniversary of the Iraq war. If you asked me seven years ago whether or not we would be stuck in a war in Iraq today, I would have found the question ridiculous.

The AP is reporting that:

At least 13 firms receiving billions of dollars in bailout money owe a total of more than $220 million in unpaid federal taxes, a key lawmaker said Thursday. Rep. John Lewis , D-GA., said two firms owe more than $100 million apiece.

I'm guessing that $220 million will get some chatter time from the talking heads.

There's definitely going to be a lot of talk about President Obama's appearance on the Tonight Show last night. And I kind of doubt it will be about this being the first President to go on the Tonight Show. Big slip.

UPDATE:
Special Olympics Chairman, Tim Shriver, nephew of Sen. Ted Kennedy, has been making the rounds. Apparently, President Obama called him before getting on Air Force One, before the show aired.

"He expressed his disappointment and he apologized in a way that was very moving. He expressed that he did not intend to humiliate this population."

Senator Chuck Graham joins in with this facebook status update:

wonders if Biden will make fun of Obama for pulling a "Biden" last night on Leno

For those of you that are unaware, that is this Senator Chuck Graham.

END OF UPDATE

This is a really depressing story. I often focus so strongly on our economy, that I forget the global economy is hurting.

Aokigahara Forest is known for two things in Japan: breathtaking views of Mount Fuji and suicides. Also called the Sea of Trees, this destination for the desperate is a place where the suicidal disappear, often never to be found in the dense forest.

How is this news?

Lastly, I'm guessing that Republican talking point #1 today will be that President Obama should fire Geithner. And by talking point #1, I mean I expect to see the ditto heads united and spouting the exact same phrases. These Republicans completely support the bonuses, but will be more than happy to criticize Geithner.

YOUR DAILY VIDEO TO CHAT ABOUT:
It is going to be fun to see how good President Obama is at picking his March Madness bracket.


Anything I'm missing?

They're Taking Our Lifeboats

cross-posted over at dailykos

I watched some of the AIG testimony on the hill yesterday. I commented on one particular metaphor that was made by Representative Stephen Lynch (D-MA).

This is like the captain and the crew of the ship reserving the lifeboats. They are saying, to hell with the passengers, we are going to take the lifeboats for ourselves.

I was shocked that the MSM completely missed this metaphor, well, not that shocked. It so perfectly sums up the standard operating procedure at Wall Street for, at least, the last decade. A standard of greed. Rep. Lynch may have only been talking about the bonuses, but this applies to a much larger swath of this issue. These bonuses were not given out to people that failed (at least, not as we're thinking of it).

We state the obvious in the letter, bonuses should not be given for failure.

I say, these bonuses were given out to people that completely "succeeded" in the eyes of their bosses.

How else can you explain selling derivatives and handing out predatory loans? The fact is, these people made a killing off killing our economy. They made a killing for themselves, and their bosses. That was their only goal.

Let's expand Rep. Lynch's metaphor:

This is like the captain and the crew of the ship reserving the lifeboats. They are saying, to hell with the passengers, we are going to take the lifeboats for ourselves.

These people were steering our ship, and they even knew exactly where the iceberg was, yet they barreled ahead at full speed. As we neared the iceberg, they quietly began sequestering lifeboats. When we finally slammed into that iceberg, they turned to outright tearing lifeboats away from the women and children. Then they left us on the sinking ship, though there was plenty of room for everyone to fit on a raft. They left us to swim for ourselves. These bonuses, we're merely a few of the lifeboats they reserved for themselves.

The captains and crews never saw themselves as steering a ship, with the responsibility of safely landing their passengers at their destination. So in their eyes, they succeeded. We need to fundamentally change the definition of success on Wall Street.

Daily Chatterings: Thursday, March 19th 2009

THE BIG CHATTER:
Yesterday, everyone was focused squarely on the AIG testimony on the hill. The night ended with a powerful speech by President Obama. I imagine it will be chatted about a good amount today. As I noted in one of my posts yesterday, I was struck by the comparison of the AIG bonuses to the captain of a ship and the crew stealing life rafts from the passengers. I feel that this truly explains the Wall Street mentality over at least the last decade. I will spend today combing through C-Span footage of the hearing to find the Representative that made that comparison. Hopefully, I can post a video of his comments later today, but I will definitely have an expanded analysis of that comparison coming shortly.

UPDATE: I found the House Financial Services Subcommittee video footage. Sadly, the format sucks (exactly what I expect from a government run website, other than President Obama's of course). I'm combing through it, the printed version would be a lot easier, but that still isn't up.

SOME OTHER CHATTERINGS:
Surely, there will be chatter about the tragic death of Natasha Richardson.

There have been plenty of people blaming Senator Chris Dodd for the AIG bonuses slip in the last bailout bill.

Jon Stewart is having Bruce Springsteen on the Daily Show tonight, and we will probably see Jon drooling as much as when Tom Waits was on.

This one will be really interesting to watch;

"Rep. Charles Rangel says the House plans to take up a bill Thursday that would impose a 90 percent tax on bonuses paid to top-earning employees at AIG and other companies receiving big government bailouts."

You can read the entire bill here (it's a pdf that will download when you click the link).

UPDATE: The house passed the bill. It was a pretty overwhelming vote, 328-93, bringing a lot of Republicans into our realm of socialism. It will be interesting to see if the more reserved Senate does anything on this.

A sort of cool chattering, today is C-Span's 30th birthday! I, for one, am very thankful for everything the good folks at C-Span do.

YOUR DAILY VIDEO TO CHAT ABOUT:


Anything big I'm missing?

Taking the Life Raft

In the whole time that I watched this, CNN never put up this Representative's name, so I'll have to give him credit for this later. The quote, however, is perfect:

'This is like the captain of the ship and the crew taking the life raft from the passengers.'

That is such a perfect description of how Wall Street has worked over the last decade, at least. It has been operated on a standard of short term profits. The people that sold derivatives and bad loans had understandable short term goals that they were after. There was no thought process on what these actions would do to others down the road. And so, when the ship did finally hit a block of ice, when we started going down, that same standard operating procedure applied.

As the ship has been going down, over the last several years, they have looted all the life rafts and left us to swim for ourselves.

AIG Bonuses and Republican Hypocrisy

I cannot understand Republicans rushing to the defense of these AIG bonuses. These were the same guys that blamed the auto business failures on overpaid union workers. They wanted to abolish the contracts that the UAW had with management.

Apparently in Rush Limbaugh's world: Union worker=overpaid, destroying business, and AIG bonuses=paying for talent. I guess talent requires wearing a suit and scamming other people out of their savings.

Hmmmm......

Joe

Just in case the embed code does not work here, here's the address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaStSGeyEzg&feature=channel_page