Category: Politics

Latest Phony GOP SH%$ Storm

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They are claiming that the EPA is suppressing climate warming skeptical reports from one of their employees, Al Carlin.

There are, however, a few problems:

  • He’s an economist not a scientist.
  • He was never asked the reports, this is a hobby that he does on the side, and then he writes memos about them.
  • The report has been by a NASA climatologist as, “a ragbag collection of un-peer reviewed web pages, an unhealthy dose of sunstroke, a dash of astrology and more cherries than you can poke a cocktail stick at.”
  • He’s never been a part of the climate change working group.

So basically, he’s the nutcase you ignore on an email listserv.

On Having 60 Democrats

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OK, so Al Franken is finally going to be seated.

The question is two fold, what does this mean, and what should this mean?

Ignoring the health issues of Byrd and Kennedy,* which means that Democrats are theoretically able to get cloture in the event of a Republican filibuster.

The question is, “Will they?”

Obviously, managing Senators is like herding cats, so one cannot expect them, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, to vote for every bit of legislation.

Voting on cloture, however, should a different thing, though I’ve very little confidence in Senate Leader Reid enforcing this.

As voters, and potential campaign contributors, I would suggest not contributing to the DSCC and instead contributing to individual campaigns, with Dem Senators who vote against cloture healthcare or global legislation getting nothing.

*Which is a lot like saying, “Other Than That, Mrs. Lincoln, How Was the Play?”

Financial Products Should be Precertified as Safe and Effective

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That’s what the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) is saying about financial products:

Financial products should be treated like medicines and sold to consumers only when they are certified safe to prevent a repeat of last year’s financial meltdown, the world’s central bankers said on Monday.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which acts as a forum for central banks, said government efforts to revive the global economy might have only a temporary impact because banks are not being pushed hard enough to fix their underlying problems.

…

The BIS was alarmed by how a collapse in the value of opaque and complex securitized products propelled the world’s financial system into crisis. It said in its annual report all financial products should be registered like medicines.

The safest instruments would be available to everyone, a second tier only to people with authorization, like prescription drugs, and a third tier to a limited number of pre-screened individuals and institutions, like experimental drugs are.

It’s a very good idea, but it won’t happen, because it’s what the Masters of the Universe want, so the Masters of the Universe won’t let it happen.

If you require that products be safe and effective, you prevent them from churning money into fees, and reduce their base salaries and bonuses, so they say, and so says Summers and Geithner.

Fundamentally, until financial instruments are completely clear and transparent to regulators, and certified as such, they should be forbidden.

And a Penile Plethysmograph*

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On the by invitation only Stellar Parthenon BBS, a bunch of us were discussing the fact that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s nookie run to Argentina was paid for by the taxpayers of the state, and Pickapeppa wrote, “I think it should be mandatory that all government officials be outfitted with GPS tracking chips.”

I think that the instrumentality suggested is not sufficient for the task envisioned.

*Seriously, just f@#$ing Google it.

Zimbabwe Update

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First off, we have a row between Mugabe and Tsvangerai over the Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, Gideon Gono.

This is a non-trivial row, because the spectacularly corrupt Gono was the architect of Zimbabwe’s hyperinflation, and he did so in order to pay off the various ZANU-PF constituencies to support Mugabe.

It’s gotten heated enough that the (ZANU-PF member) military and security chiefs have said that his removal would be unacceptable.

Members of the MDC have approached the Southern African Development Community asking for an intervention, but non seems forthcoming.

The regional association of governments is sticking with precedent, and being generally useless, so the MDC is moving toward changing the law chartering the Zimbabwean central bank so as to reduce Gono’s authority.

Things are improving a bit though at least in economy, with inflation moderating, though the persecution of civil rights activists continues.

In mining, which will necessarily be a source of much needed foreign currency, you have the good and the bad

On the good side, you have Zimbabwe Zimbabwe moving to ban raw chromium ore exports, and insisting that it be smelted first, which will greatly increase the benefit to society, as there is 10x the profit post smelter. (as an aside, the US and EU have filed a case against against China for doing this at the WTO, because under neocolonialist WTO rules, poor countries are not supposed to develop industries based on their resources)

We also have some gold mines reopening.

On the down side, mines minister is still one of Mugabe’s cronies, which means that he is still on the EU’s sanction list, and was denied a visa to enter the UK, and all indications are that this was well justified, as civil rights violations at the mines seem to be pretty horrific.

Specifically it appears that the Zimbabwe army is using slave labor to operate diamond mines in the east of the country, as a way for Mugabe to continue to pay off the military for its support. (See also here)

We are starting to see some aid resuming to Zimbabwe, with Norway being among the first western nations to do so, though most nations are taking steps to ensure that the aid does not pass through government agencies, which are still compromised.

Note to Self: Read Murray Waas

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Seriously, this guy is the best investigative reporter of my generation.

This time, he shows how the Bush administration leaked the fact that there was an investigation of Republican Congressman Rick Renzi the day after a wiretap warrant was approved:

In the fall of 2006, one day after the Justice Department granted permission to a U.S. attorney to place a wiretap on a Republican congressman suspected of corruption, existence of the investigation was leaked to the press — not only compromising the sensitive criminal probe but tipping the lawmaker off to the wiretap.

Career federal law enforcement officials who worked directly on a probe of former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) said they believe that word of the investigation was leaked by senior Bush administration political appointees in the Justice Department in an improper and perhaps illegal effort to affect the outcome of an election.

At the time of the leak, Renzi was locked in a razor-thin bid for reelection and unconfirmed reports of a criminal probe could have become politically damaging. The leaked stories — appearing 10 days before the election — falsely suggested that the investigation of Renzi was in its initial stages and unlikely to lead to criminal charges.

Note that if they had gotten permission to wire tap a Congressman, criminal charges are nearly a slam dunk, and the US attorney pursuing the investigation of the now-indicted Renzi was one of those purged by Bush and His Evil Minions™ for insufficient political loyalty.

BTW, it appear that the leaker may have been Alice Fisher, who was a recess appointment by President Bush as Assistant Attorney General in charge the Criminal Division of the DoJ.

She is the only assistant AG in that position who has never tried a criminal case.

Un-dirtyword-believable.

The Next Conservative Hissy Fit

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John Kerry made a joke again

[Kerry] was telling a group of business and civic leaders in town at his invitation about the “bizarre’’ tale of how South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford had “disappeared for four days’’ and claimed to be hiking along the Appalachian Trail, but no one was really certain of his whereabouts.

“Too bad,’’ Kerry said, “if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.’’

(emphasis mine)

I figure that after about 72 hours or so of faux outrage from the right, John Kerry will call a press conference to apologize.

He shouldn’t though, it was damn funny.

We Are Seeing a Real Change in Politics Here

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We now have a second threatened Democratic pol coming out in favor of gay marriage, the 1st was Chris Dodd, New Jersey Governor John Corzine, who currently trails his challenger significantly.

What this represents is a change in the politics of gay rights and gay marriage.

Democratic politicians are now seeing this position as a political asset rather than a political liability.

Barack Obama should note this when dealing with DOMA and DADT.

Why I Love Barney Frank*

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In describing the defense budget, the distinguished gentleman from Massachusetts correctly describes the folks pushing for more defense spending, who normally oppose all spending because of deficit issues, as thinking thinking that, “the Pentagon is funded with Monopoly money that somehow doesn’t count.

It gets better when he talks about F-22 supporters:

These arguments will come from the very people who denied that the economic recovery plan created any jobs. We have a very odd economic philosophy in Washington: It’s called weaponized Keynesianism. It is the view that the government does not create jobs when it funds the building of bridges or important research or retrains workers, but when it builds airplanes that are never going to be used in combat, that is of course economic salvation.

Heh.

Here is a recording of the interview.

*In a 110% purely heterosexual kind of way, of course, as the General would say.

Mark Sanford Returns from Narnia*

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My bad, he was in Argentina, not hiking in Appalachia.

Oh, and while he was there, he was screwing some chippie, as he admitted at his press conference.

Real classy guy. He apologized to his girl friend and the press before he apologized to his wife, see video below.

He’s resigning as chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, which means that he’s suffered enough, so <Chris Crocker>leave Sanford alone!!!</Chris Crocker>

Meanwhile, the emails between the two of them have been leaked, and the late night comics will have a field day with this.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

*Not my joke, I got it from Cthulhu.†
†No, not the unspeakably malevolent super-being, the contributor to the Shortskoolbus BBS.‡
‡OK, I’ve never seen the two of them together, so Cthulhu might actually be the Cthulu, but the mere fact that he is on a BBS, interacting with humans§ would seem to mitigate against this.
§Yes, I know, this is the internet, where no one knows if you are a dog.

David Paterson May Not Be the Chief Clown in the New York State Politics Clown Show

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In fact, he may not even be number 2…or number 3, or even number 31, or for that matter, he may not even be number 62

You see, the New York Senate Democrats have locked themselves in the Senate chambers to prevent the Republicans from holding their own special session, which they did anyway, and claimed to have passed everything by 62-0, and that the session is over.

Of course with 31 people on each side, there is no quorum, so neither side of the aisle is acting with anything resembling sanity.

Only there was nothing to pass, because David Paterson had not bothered to finish the bills and send them to the legislature for the emergency session called by one David Paterson.

That being said, I think that NY State Senator Pedro Espada is the chief clown.

It appears now that he’s trying to extort money from the Democratic caucus, asking for $2 million for his “not-for-profit” health clinic chainwhen jumped to the other side over not getting $75 thousand for his little scam.

What’s more after weeks of claiming that thieves had broken into his “second” home in tony Mamaronack, he represents the Bronx, and stolen only those papers, the documents have turned up:

Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. now says thieves didn’t get the key documents he suggested might have been swiped during a reported burglary at his “second home” in Westchester County.

Espada, under investigation for living outside his Bronx district, raised eyebrows last week when he said that whoever broke into his Mamaroneck home stole files and documents – but no other valuables.

(emphasis mine)

How the hell this guy stays out of jail, I’ll never know.

Additionally, he had to be threatened with criminal charges before he was willing turn over his campaign donation information to state campaign finance authorities, though it appears that he still hasn’t paid the fines.

Meanwhile, a grand jury has been convened, and is investigating whether Espada committed fraud by misstating his true residence, and the Bronx DA is now going back further, looking at his earlier campaigns.

You know, relative to this crap, I live in a good government state, and I live in Maryland.

I never ever thought that I would put the phrase “good government” and “Maryland” in the same sentence.

Sounds to Me Like Another Republican Spending a Few Days In the Closet

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One of the odd bit of news right now is that South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford has gone missing.

He ditched his security detail, he’s turned off his cell phones, and no one can find him.

The interesting quote in the above story is from his wife:

Neither his wife, nor the state’s lieutenant governor, nor police officials know where he is, South Carolina newspapers reported.

But Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press she wasn’t worried.

“He was writing something and wanted some space to get away from the kids,” she said while vacationing with the couple’s four sons.

(emphasis mine)

She sounds to me like someone who is studiously avoiding trying to find the answer to this.

The real issue here is not Mark Sandford’s personal life. It’s the concern that self-hating individuals, and the closet does imply self-loathing, do not make good decisions on the public policy.

Here is a question, how many straight Republicans who practice marital fidelity does it take to screw in a light bulb?

A: Either one can do it themselves.

Update:
The governor has been located.

He has been hiking along the Appalachian Trail….Yeah, sure, I believe that.

A commenter on the 2nd link nails it:

brads77 Jun 23, 2009 7:28:12 AM
The only reason this guy would have hiked the Appalachian Trail is because he wanted to visit the Home of Deliverance–thinking that the movie was a love story.

Brads77 owes me a screen wipe.

New York Senate Goes Kafka

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Because turncoat State Senator Sen. Pedro Espada, he’s the one who runs the phony charity that he pays himself from while he breaks campaign finance laws, not the one who slashed his girl friend’s face, is now claiming that he actually gets two votes in the State Senate, because when the Republicans elected him president pro tempore of the Senate it gave him the “duties of the Lieutenant Governor” when there is no Lieutenant Governor.

I seriously think that this won’t end until some Senator goes Preston Brooks on another Senator on the floor.