Dday On Daschle

Shorter dday: Bush gutted out the IRS so badly, especially the parts of it tasked with auditing rich people’s taxes, that the only time a rich person ever gets nailed for not paying taxes is when he’s a Democratic nominee under Republican scrutiny.

See also: Johnston, David Cay.

Saturday Afternoon News Roundup

– Journalists in Russia keep getting killed, and newspapers harrassed, as part of Putin’s planned return to the Soviet Union of Stalin and Andropov. But there are a few brave souls still pressing on.

– GOP governors urge their fellow Republicans in Congress to pass the stimulus bill. Obama must have had this in reserve to spring on Mitch and Boehner to counter their stonewalling; now Boehner gets to look bad, siding with Rush Limbaugh while the governors side with Obama.

– Speaking of Obama and Congressional Republicans: He’s planning on nominating Judd Gregg, a moderate Republican from New Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary. Oh, and New Hampshire just happens to have a Democratic governor — who will be picking Gregg’s successor in the Senate. 60 seats, here we come!

Buck fudget cuts!

That’s a sign at massive protests against Governor Gibbons at the University of Nevada Las Vegas that was featured on Rachel last night. Michael Winship, Truthout:

That was quite a crowd at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, last week. Thousands of students took to the streets in protest. But it wasn’t an antiwar march – the campus has a reputation for a lack of activism. It wasn’t even a pep rally for UNLV’s beloved championship basketball team, the Runnin’ Rebels. No, they came out to raise hell as they never have before because Jim Gibbons, the governor of Nevada, just proposed state budget cuts to higher education of a whopping 36 percent. At UNLV, that could mean a budget slash of as much as 52 percent and possible tuition increases of 225 percent.

Governor Gibbons was apparently not able to obtain enough money from bribes to fund the higher education system. And, no, he certainly didn’t accept briefcases full of money for his personal use. And no he didn’t sexually assault a woman in a parking garage. And no the Republican Party isn’t full of thieves and sex addicts.

Anyway, it’s good to see people on the streets, peacefully taking back their rights.

Do justice, love mercy

Thanks to Ruth for this alert

The Honorable Janet Napolitano, Secretary
Department of Homeland Security
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, DC 20528

Dear Secretary Napolitano: 1/30/09

I am writing to urge you to provide political asylum to journalist Emilio Gutierrez Soto, who fled Mexico after his writing about official corruption and violence led to death threats. His case was described by the Los Angeles Times on January 30, 2009 by James Rainey and Ari B. Bloomekatz.

I am deeply concerned by how the intensification and militarization of the drug war, paid for in large measure by US taxpayer money, has led to a silencing of the press, rising violence in the countryside, and little to show for it. Despite the repression, enough has emerged in the Mexican newspapers to make it clear that the government is largely in the hands of the drug lords. Military force is largely misdirected and turned against political opponents of the government.

Journalists who report on official misconduct are heroes and deserve our support. I urge you to intervene in this case to prevent a miscarriage of justice. I also urge you to review how our money is being used in Mexico to ensure that it is not being used against our national interest.

Solution to Congressional Gridlock: Replace Republicans with Women

From the BBC, a report on the effect of women in Welsh politics:

The report’s lead researcher Professor Nickie Charles from the University of Warwick’s department of sociology said this gender balance had an effect on the style of interactions between politicians, both cross-party and within party.

“According to many AMs, women tend to do politics differently from men and this is often described as being more consensual than adversarial,” she said.

“The assembly is a new political institution associated with a consensual political style, an inclusive politics, and working arrangements which recognise the caring responsibilities of those working within it.”

The report quotes an anonymous male Labour AM who says: “It makes a difference to the culture in which group meetings are conducted, as I’ve said we have fierce disagreement in group meetings but it is conducted with the complete absence of chest thumping and table thumping.”

Granted, replacing Mitch McConnell with Ann Coulter or Tom Coburn with Michelle Malkin would not be an improvement. But replacing McConnell and Coburn with the average Republican woman would be a massive improvement.

Another Thing Republicans Oppose

Republicans are against healthy children.

The Senate passed the S-CHIP bill 66-32. All 32 votes against it were from Republicans.

Full credit to the Republican Senators who voted for it: Alexander (TN), Collins (ME), Corker (TN), Hutchison (TX), Lugar (IN), Martinez (FL), Murkowski (AK), Snowe (ME), and Specter (PA).

The rest? They can afford to be opposed to health care being paid for by the government. They have premium health benefits for themselves and their family.

Oh, wait. Their health care is paid for by the government. What’s wrong with this picture?

Military to Obama: “How do you like our middle finger?”

I heard this on Rachel last night, but CNN has the story:

A military judge Thursday refused to delay proceedings against the accused mastermind of the bombing of the destroyer USS Cole despite President Obama’s call for a temporary halt to trials of suspected terrorists.

Obama ordered a 120-day delay of pending cases at the U.S. prison camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on his first day in office, requiring prosecutors to seek delays in the 14 active cases before military commissions there.

But the judge, Col. James Pohl, refused the government’s request for a delay and ordered arraignment for Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri to go ahead as scheduled February 9.

So, here are the reasons why this is a bad idea:

al-Nashiri was waterboarded (the tapes were destroyed)

the case uses military commissions which are unconstitutional and inconsistent with the Geneva accords

Obama issued an Executive Order, and Col. Pohl is giving him the middle finger

I hope Colonel Pohl gets a promotion to Captain for this bit of insubordination. But something tells me this has approval at high levels in the military, which is not content with botching occupations and wants to get into the judicial business.

Friday Cat Blogging

Why I Call Them “The GOP/Media Complex”, 01/29/09 Edition

Digby and Jane are both wondering why we’re still seeing far more Republicans than Democrats on TV even after Obama won the White House and the Dems increased their control of both Houses of Congress.

Dday helps explain: It’s the Villagers.. They’ve been gleefully serving the GOP by marinating people’s brains in right-wing frames for so long that many if not most Americans don’t know how to think other than in right-wing frames.

Here’s an example from Mellow Velo, one of the blogs in my sidebar:

Disloyal Democrats

Here are the Democrats who joined the Republicans in opposing HR-1, the economic stimulus package. This was such a key issue that I hope it will encourage people to run against them.

Boyd, Allan (FL-2)
Bright, Bobby (AL-2)
Cooper, Jim (TN-5)
Ellsworth, Brad (IN-8)
Griffith, Parker (AL-5)
Kanjorski, Paul (PA-11)
Kratovil, Frank (MD-1)
Minnick, Walt (ID-1)
Peterson, Collin (MN-7)
Shuler, Heath (NC-11)
Taylor, Gene (MS-4)

McJoan suggests that Jim Cooper is the number one person who should be encouraged to retire. Considering how he stabbed Clinton in the back on health care, I agree.