Gavin Harrison on Letterman

By Michael J.W. Stickings

What I love about Porcupine Tree isn't just the music, among many other things, but the musicianship. Which is to say, the four regular band members (Steven Wilson - guitar, keyboards, etc.; Colin Edwin - bass; Richard Barbieri - keyboards, programming; and Gavin Harrison - drums, percussion) and one touring member (John Wesley - guitar) are incredible musicians.

Now, other than some piano as a child and some dabbling here and there, I'm not much of a musician myself, but I think I can tell the good from the not so good, and I think I can identify the great as well. And these are some great musicians.

Gavin Harrison is widely regarded as one of the best drummers in the world, and on August 23, 2011 he performed on Letterman as part of that show's Drum Solo Week. (To give a sense of how good he is, other drummers that week included Neil Peart of Rush and Stewart Copeland of The Police, two of the all-time greats.)

It's better when he's propelling Porcupine Tree, to be sure, but this was a fantastic performance. Enjoy!

Economic stimulus

By Mustang Bobby

Apparently the mere idea that President Obama is even thinking about doing something to curb the sale of assault weapons has scattered the pigeons — including the clay ones, I suppose — within the gun community:

Interviews with gun store owners in four states after Obama's speech show that passion among buyers has not decreased over the month since Newtown; if anything, Obama's speech appeared to set off a new frenzy of buying, with some stores running low on guns.

"We were just swamped in here as soon as he got off the news," manager Bill Loane of Pasadena Pawn & Gun in Maryland said of the reaction to Obama's gun proposals. "People were just pouring through the door."

As the first news was breaking in Connecticut a month ago, buyers were having the same reaction. Between 11 a.m. and noon Dec. 14, firearms retailers in the state were busy performing 105 background checks – nearly double the amount logged in the same lunchtime hour a week earlier.

A total of 725 background checks were performed that day, up from 585 a week before. The trend continued in the days ahead, resulting in a 55 percent week-over-week increase in checks.

And they said Barack Obama was doing nothing to stimulate the economy.

A good day for sanity

By Michael J.W. Stickings

It may be that "the House GOP is adopting a minority posture," as The Hill suggests, or it may just be that they finally realized that their hostage-taking strategy was a political loser, but whatever the case it was indeed a good day for sanity in Washington with Republicans backing off debt ceiling armageddon and, while still posturing stupidly (no pay for Congress? -- how unconstitutional), conceding that they won't in fact take the country to the brink of economic meltdown to get their extremist right-wing way on fiscal policy.

And it is a significant victory for President Obama. As Jon Chait wrote yesterday:

The main credit here goes to the Obama administration for recognizing that enmeshing the debt ceiling with policy negotiations was a horrible idea that it had to stop dead in its tracks. To let debt ceiling hikes become contingent on fiscal policy agreements was to set up endless future crises that would eventually trigger default when one party or another held out for a little too much.

The whole key to making Obama's extortion-squelching plan, and saving American government from endless cycles of hostage drama that would eventually end in a default, was to credibly insist that he would not trade anything for a debt ceiling hike. After he moved his red line on tax cuts, I doubted that Obama could really make this stick. But he has. 

Even after the president's repeated concessions to Republicans, even after he showed time and time again that he was willing to give up a great deal to get a deal done, on issue after issue, even after he seemed to give up his post-election leverage to push a bad fiscal cliff deal through the Senate earlier this month, I was hopeful that he would stand firm on the debt ceiling and take a firmer line on fiscal policy going forward, refusing to give in to Republican terrorism on Capitol Hill. We'll see how the budget discussions go, but on the debt ceiling at least he deserves our enthusiastic applause.

Read more »

Gone! The Republicans fold.

By Frank Moraes 

Eric Cantor would like you to know that he isn't giving up. It is just that they can't solve all the country's budget problems in one month. But four months? No problem! And you know that he's serious: he included the new Republican catch phrase, "No budget, no pay." I've got shivers.

For those of you not up on that stuff (And why would you be given all the news about Algeria?), the Republicans came out of their retreat with a great new idea: let's raise the Debt Ceiling for a little while -- three months. They claim that they are only doing this so that they can have time to fix the budget, but this is bullshit. I'm sure there are two factions here. The more reasonable Republicans think this is a way of easing into their inevitable loss. The other Republicans think this is a way to put off the confrontation until the optics are better.

The House leadership is making a big deal of the fact that they have passed a budget but the Senate has not. Of course, the House budget was just Ryan's plan with all its magic asterisks. But note that this is no longer a fight with the President. The House leadership seem to have decided that it can't be won. Why they think they are going to do better with the Senate, I do not know.

Read more »

P.M. Headlines

Ray Nagin

(Reuters): "House Republicans back away from fiscal clash with Obama"

(The Guardian): "American hostages still held by militants in Algeria, US confirms"

(U.S. News and Worlds Report): "New nonprofit to promote Obama agenda"

(Washington Post): "Former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin charged with taking bribes, free travel from city contractors"

(Politico): "Up next for Obama: A looming Democratic divide"

"Dear Abby" died, which made me think of John Prine

By Richard K. Barry 

Pauline Phillips, also known as "Dear Abby" in newspapers everywhere, advice-giver to the masses, has died at the age of 94. She died in Minneapolis on Wednesday after a long battle with Alzheimer's.

As reported by The New York Times: 

Mrs. Phillips began her life as the columnist Abigail Van Buren in 1956. She quickly became known for her astringent, often genteelly risqué, replies to queries that included the marital, the medical and sometimes both at once.

Here are a couple examples of her work:

Dear Abby: Are birth control pills deductible? — Bertie

Dear Bertie: Only if they don't work.

And this one:

Dear Abby: Our son married a girl when he was in the service. They were married in February and she had an 8 1/2-pound baby girl in August. She said the baby was premature. Can an 8 1/2-pound baby be this premature? — Wanting to Know

Dear Wanting: The baby was on time. The wedding was late. Forget it.

Pretty clever, actually. And then I thought of John Prine's song "Dear Abby," also pretty clever. (And a young John Prine, too.)
 

(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)

Most shameful moment on The Daily Show

By Frank Moraes 

The Daily Show annoyed me again Wednesday night with the most shameful deception I have ever seen on the show. My friend Andrea tells me I'm just angry at Jon Stewart over his treatment of the platinum coin idea. This is not true. I am often bothered by how The Daily Show deals with issues and bends over backwards to seem "balanced" when it is anything but. Last night, the show took on Hurricane Sandy relief. I figured they would do a good job of this, but they blew it completely.

They started by noting Republican obstruction in the House. Then they showed a clip that made Chris Christie look good. That's fine, when it comes to this issue, Christie has been okay (although not nearly as good as his press would indicate). Then they showed Representative Mick Mulvaney complaining about pork in the bill. In particular, there is money to help the fishery industry in Alaska and the Gulf Coast. Stewart followed up with a typical, "Can't we all just get along?"

There are two problems here. First, putting pork in a bill is part of getting along. In fact, a lot of the Congressional dysfunction these last few years comes from the fact that Congress has made it much harder to do this kind of horse trading. Second, Congressmen always have some very good reason for not voting for any particular bill. Oh yes, Mulvaney would love to vote for the bill, if only it weren't for this one thing! Stewart is showing himself to be extremely naive about the way politics works.

Read more »

Republican hostage plans going, going...

By Frank Moraes 

More cracks in the Republican hostage plan. The other day, Glenn Kessler destroyed Amy Kremer's claim that "It is pure baloney to say we have to pay the bills for things Congress has already approved." And yesterday, Kremer's group Tea Party Express responded, claiming that they really do think that the Debt Ceiling has to be raised.

Jonathan Chait writes, "Republicans: Okay, Maybe We Can't Shoot the Hostage, But Maybe We Can Slap Him Around or Something." It reports on a Wall Street Journal op-ed by Keith Hennessey. In it, he floats an idea that is doubtless making the rounds at the Republican retreat: just raise the Debt Ceiling every three months or so.

This isn't exactly new. Grover Norquist floated the idea of doing this back in November. He said that Republicans should just raise the Debt Ceiling according the Obama's behavior, "Monthly if he's good, weekly if he's bad." I don't think there has been much coverage of just how offensive such talk is. He is suggesting that the president is a misbehaving child. But that's conservatives: authoritarian followers when they're in power; reactionary revolutionaries when they're not. Anyway...

Read more »

Rick Scott: I knew nothing

By Mustang Bobby

Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) says he had nothing to do with a law he signed:

Facing a highly critical group of black legislators, Gov. Rick Scott largely defended his record Tuesday but distanced himself from a controversial election law that led to fewer early-voting days and long lines.

Scott agreed with black lawmakers that the 2011 election law contributed to the chaos at the polls in November, including long lines all over the state and up to seven-hour waits in Miami-Dade. But Scott, who is seeking re-election in 2014, said it was largely a decision of the Legislature.

"It was not my bill," Scott said. "We've got to make changes, I agree... The Legislature passed it. I didn't have anything to do with passing it."

Scott signed the bill into law in 2011. His administration spent more than $500,000 in legal fees in a largely successful defense of the law, though a federal judge struck down new restrictions on groups that register voters.

So that's how he's going to run his re-election campaign: "I'm not responsible for the all the bad stuff that happened under my watch. Elect me again."

Yeah, that seems to be working.

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

GOP plan: If you can't win, cheat

By Mustang Bobby 

The last two presidential elections showed the Republicans that their ideas and candidates are having a tough time winning a majority of the American electorate. The simple solution would be to come up with better ideas and more palatable candidates. So far, though, their solution has make it harder for people to vote with phony scare tactics about voter fraud and gerrymandering districts, sometimes house by house, so that even if the Democrats win the majority of the votes in the state, the GOP still wins the Congressional district.

Now they're working on a way to fix it so that even the presidential election is rigged in their favor: 

The RNC chair is encouraging Republican governors and legislators -- who, thanks to the "Republican wave" election of 2010, still control many battleground states that backed Obama and the Democrats in 2012 -- to game the system.

"I think it's something that a lot of states that have been consistently blue [Democratic in presidential politics] that are fully controlled red [Republican in the statehouse] ought to be considering," [Reince] Priebus says with regard to the schemes for distributing electoral votes by district rather than the traditional awarding of the votes of each state (except Nebraska and Maine, which have historically used narrowly defined district plans) to the winner.

Pennsylvania -- the state that has already been to court over its voter ID law that was supposed to "guarantee the election for Mitt Romney" -- is thinking about it, as are several other states like Ohio and Virginia, both of which were won by Barack Obama in the last two elections. (It goes without saying that something will be in the works here in Florida. They've got nothing better to do.)

Democracy: it was fun while it lasted. 

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Gov. Andrew Cuomo, on top of the world

By Richard K. Barry

I'm still betting that Hillary Clinton will make a run for the White House in 2016, but, if she doesn't, Andrew Cuomo certainly might.

A new Sienna College poll has him with impressive approval numbers at the start of his third year in office:

As he starts his third year as Governor, Andrew Cuomo continues to enjoy strong support from voters, with a 71-24 percent favorability rating (down slightly from 72-21 percent last month) and 60-38 percent job performance rating (unchanged), according to a new Siena College Research Institute poll of New York voters released today.

Wow, those are Chris Christie-like numbers.

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(USA Today): "Britain: Algerian crisis still not over"

(New York Times): "Democrats are split over how to shape approach to gun bills"

(AP): "GOP eyes new election laws"

(Washington Post): "House Republicans using retreat as chance for self-reflection"

(Los Angeles Times): "Seeking to harness Obama's campaign resources for a second term"

(CNN): "China's growth points to gradual recovery"

Lance Armstrong tells the truth, states the obvious

By Michael J.W. Stickings 

CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) tweeted at 9:17 PM on Thu, Jan 17, 2013: 

Lance Armstrong tells Oprah he couldn’t have won 7 Tour de France titles without doping. (link)

No, really?

He was either the greatest athlete of all time or the greatest cheat of all time.

We finally know the truth.

P.M. Headlines

(Reuters): "Thirty hostages reported killed in Algeria assault"

(New York Times): "Some hostages killed, but raid rescues many, Algeria says"

(Bloomberg): "Christie slaps NRA over 'reprehensible' Obama girls spot"

(Reuters): "Marco Rubio: Obama lacks 'courage' on guns"

(Politico): "Fox renews Karl Rove contract through 2016"

(Reuters): "Prosecutor defends actions after Internet activist suicide"

Listening to Now: Le Vent Du Nord - "Elise"

By Richard K. Barry

One of the really great things about having moved to Canada over 30 years ago is that I get to enjoy the very broad range of cultures that make up the country. One of the most important cultures, of course, is Quebec. And one of the most important groups performing traditional Quebecois music is Le Vent Du Nord.

The group plays a number of instruments not typically heard in more popular music such as the hurdy gurdy and the piano accordion, not to mention foot-tapping, which is an essential part of the experience. 

They have been nominated for and received a number of awards in both Quebec and the rest of Canada. 

I have been privileged to see them live. It's all very high energy and very lovely music.

Here is something called "Elise":


(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)

Pity the rich

By Frank Moraes 

This image comes via Matt Yglesias. Apparently, The Wall Street Journal is highlighting the plight of those poor souls with six-figure incomes. Because of the Fiscal Cliff deal, they are paying more in taxes. Here is their infographic:

Note here that the single woman and the single mother ("a typical single mom trying to raise two kids on merely quintuple the median household income," writes Yglesias) are paying 1.3% extra in federal taxes. But people making $35,000 are paying 1.4% extra in federal taxes. But you have to put this information in the Wall Street Journal context: those with six-figure incomes matter.

Pity the rich, for in this world they have no voice. Except, you know, every fucking politician and media figure in America.

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)

Charlie Crist spanking Florida Gov. Rick Scott in early polling

By Richard K. Barry

Charlie Crist used to be a Republican but then hugged Presient Obama, which pretty much made it impossible for him to continue being a Republican in that strange world known as GOP politics. He is now hoping to exact a measure of revenge on his old party by returning to the Governor's mansion, which he previously occupied from 2006-2011, this time as a Democrat. To do that he would have to oust the current Republican governor Rick Scott. 

According to Public Policy Polling, it looks like he's got a good shot at getting it done in 2014: 

Crist would start out as the favorite in a showdown with Scott. He leads 53-39, most notably taking a whooping 29% of the Republican vote. He still has some residual appeal to Republican voters. 

Scott's overall approval rating is just 33%, with 57% of voters giving him a thumbs down. Crist, on the other hand, is starting to gain traction among Democrats who give him a favourability rating of 70/16. He is also far out in front of other potential Democratic candidates.
Read more »

Debt ceiling crashing down

By Frank Moraes 

As I posted the other night, the House voted to fund Hurricane Sandy relief with only 49 Republicans. The Fiscal Cliff deal passed the House with only 85 Republicans. Both of these votes violated the "Hastert Rule," which says that the Speaker of the House should only bring a vote to the floor if a majority of his caucus is in favor. That should mean that for a vote to come to the floor, there should be at least 122 Republican votes. But twice in one month, this has not been the case.

This is good news, and it makes me kind of hopeful about the Debt Ceiling crisis. It suggests that the Republican leadership is not going to allow its extremist caucus to destroy the United States and thereby the Republican Party. Hopefully. But there really is cause to be hopeful. It isn't just this recent abandonment of the "let the crazies block all legislation" rule.

The whole Republican Party seems to be splitting in half over the issue. Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins have said that the Debt Ceiling must be raised. Admittedly, both of these Senators are of the "not quite so crazy" variety of Republican, but it is always the weakest joists in the ceiling that crack first. 

Read more »

Take the money

By Mustang Bobby

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) does her best to exemplify the Marxist maxim of "Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others":

Although Brewer has been a consistent opponent of Obamacare, she acknowledged Monday that the law is now an unavoidable reality and that Arizona would be worse off turning down the federal dollars that will come with broadening Medicaid. "Try as we might, the law was upheld by the United States Supreme Court," Brewer said. "The Affordable Care Act is not going anywhere, at least not for the time being." The Arizona governor said the federal funding would help pay for some individuals already covered by the state's Medicaid program and provide some protection for the state's rural hospitals.

Gov. Brewer is refusing to set up a health-care exchange in her state, which means the federal government will do it, and she'll get free money to boot. In other words, socialized medicine.

Why stand on political principle when there's a shitload of money to be had?

Read more »

Dennis Kucinich to be Fox News contributor

By Richard K. Barry

If I had any hair, I would not
want it to look like that. 

AP is reporting that noted liberal Dennis Kucinich has signed with Fox News to be a regular contributor: 

Kucinich, a presidential candidate in 2004 and 2008 who ended 16 years in Congress two weeks ago, will make his debut as a Fox contributor on Thursday's edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," the network said Wednesday. 

Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes has been going around saying nice things about Kucinich, the kind of things employers typically say about those they have recently hired, things like that he has always been impressed with Kucinich's "fearlessness and thoughtfulness" and his "willingness to take a stand from his point of view."

Read more »

Republicans versus reality: Obama is no dictator

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Long before he announced his wide-ranging, if hardly radical by the standards of the civilized world, effort to curb gun violence, conservatives were freaking out over what they shriekingly claimed was President Obama's autocratic rule. He was some newfangled combination of fascist and socialist, the bringer of un-American anti-values, the destroyer of freedom, the face of evil itself.

But then -- gasp! -- he won re-election, and surely four more years would mean the end of America as we know it. Republicans were planning yet more party-before-country obstructionism on Capitol Hill, but that wasn't going to be enough to stop this runaway train. Short of violent insurrection, which we know is on the degraded minds of many on the right, there was only route left: impeachment.

And it's coming. You know it's coming. Because these "patriots" really have nothing but comtempt for democracy. It's their extremist right-wing way or... nothing.

As Dan Amira notes at New York, Republicans were upping the rhetoric recently on Obama's alleged assault on all things holy to the "freedom"-loving right in anticipation of his gun control plan, including the executive orders he plans to issue alongside legislative action. Basically, what's happening is that Republicans' general Obama-as-fascist sentiment has been magnified by their pro-gun insanity. It's not just that the president is a dictator trying to destroy freedom, it's that he now wants to take away their beloved guns. When it comes to the right's anti-Obama craziness, this is a lethal combination.

But it isn't just about the guns -- or, rather, about the right's gun paranoia (because Obama is actually not trying to take away people's gun rights -- not even close). As Amira writes, it's also "the use of executive orders in particular that's getting critics all riled up." Which is to say, some conservatives really do seem to think that Obama is ruling America with an iron fist.

Read more »

Denial Nondenials

By Carl

 

Here's a pretty interesting twist on the long-standing policy of governments everywhere to deny stories without denying them: confirming a story by denying it:

The State Department is publicly discounting claims made by its own diplomats about a chemical weapons attack in Syria.

On Tuesday, Foreign Policy detailed a secret and previously unknown cable from the U.S. consulate in Istanbul which came to the explosive conclusion that Syrian government forces dropped a hallucinogen known as "Agent 15″ on rebels in the town of Homs on December 23.

But less than a day later, State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland has denied the report, saying that the Foreign Policy story "did not accurately convey the anecdotal information that we had received from a third party regarding an alleged incident in Syria in December."

"At the time we looked into the allegations that were made and the information that we had received, and we found no credible evidence to corroborate or to confirm that chemical weapons were used," she added. That's a major deal, because the international community has repeatedly told the Assad Regime in Syria that the use of chemical weapons is beyond unacceptable. The White House issued a statement along similar lines.

Let's dig a little deeper into this story and click on that "dropped a hallucinogen" link...

The Syrian military used an exotic chemical weapon on rebels during an attack in the city of Homs, some U.S. diplomats now believe.

That conclusion — first reported by Foreign Policy's Josh Rogin and laid out in a secret cable from the U.S. consul general in Istanbul — contradicts preliminary estimates made by American officials in the hours after the December 23 strike. But after interviews with Syrian activists, doctors, and defectors, American diplomats in Turkey have apparently rendered a different verdict. It's important to note, however, that this was the conclusion of a single consulate within the State Department, and there is still wide disagreement within the U.S. government over whether the Homs attack should be characterized as a chemical weapons incident.

"We can't definitely say 100 percent, but Syrian contacts made a compelling case that Agent 15 was used in Homs on Dec. 23," an unnamed U.S. official tells Rogin.

Said "compelling case" was made by a contractor who monitors rebel communications and discovered some YouTube videos.

What has been confirmed is that Syria used some sort of tactical weapon on its own citizens on December 23, and said weapon consisted of a "riot control agent."

In other words, it could be tear gas, it could just be smoke, or it could be Agent 15, which is employed in such a fashion and is roughly as dangerous as tear gas, in that with normal use, it's an irritant; in concentrated doses, it can be fatal.

CNN investigated the story and uncovered that doctors who treated those rebels employed atropine, which would actually enhance the effects of a hallucinogen. Those who were closest to the weapons strikes had more severe reactions to the agent than those farther away.

Atropine is used to treat sarin gas exposure. Hence, a denial nondenial.

(crossposted to Simply Left Behind)

A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "NRA's success shows challenges facing Obama"

(Politico): "Gun control passion fuels 2016 hopefuls"

(The Hill): "Republicans worry they'll lose House if they botch debt talks"

(Reuters): "As 'Roe v. Wade' turns 40, most oppose reversing abortion ruling"

(AP): "U.S. helping but hesitant on Mali intervention"

NRA attacks Obama for having Secret Service protect his daughters

By Michael J.W. Stickings and Mustang Bobby 

MJWS:

This really is despicable, if hardly surprising coming from such a loathsome organization.

First, shouldn't the president's children be off-limits even for the NRA's propaganda campaign?

Second, Secret Service protection for the president's family is much different than armed guards at schools.

Third, there are some pretty good reasons for providing such protection to the president's children. I can only assume that there are significant threats to their safety given who they are, and of course the country's security would be compromised if anything happened to them.

Simply, they must be protected. And not just Obama's children but the children (and spouses) of all presidents. The NRA surely gets this but has decided regardless to make this ridiculous argument about hypocrisy. And to do it by dragging Malia and Sasha into it is simply inexcusable.

"Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney. "But to go so far as to make the safety of the president's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly."

That pretty much describes the NRA.

Read more »

P.M. Headlines

(New York Times): "Obama unveils proposals for toughening laws on guns"

(Talking Points Memo): "Obama's 23 planned executive actions on guns"

(ABC News): "NRA president defends ad attacking Obama, vows 'battle' ahead"

(Bloomberg): "U.S. business executives call for raising retirement age to 70"

(Reuters): "FAA grounds Boeing 787 over battery concerns"

(CNN): "State Department: Americans taken during attack on Algerian gas field"

Listening to Now: Mary Chapin Carpenter - "This Shirt"

By Richard K. Barry

Mary Chapin Carpenter's song "This Shirt" has always been one of my favourites. I first heard Ms. Carpenter at the Philadelphia Folk Festival in the late '80s. She was giving away a promotional record on site. Yes, a piece of vinyl. It contained a handful of tunes from her first release, Hometown Girl.

At the time she was a folk act but went on, of course, to have considerable success as a country performer. Perhaps the instrumentation changed a bit, but it really was all the same music. Funny thing about great folk acts that cross over and enjoy popular success is that you wish then well but you feel sad that they are no longer your little secret. Of course being anyone's little secret doesn't do a performer much good. 

She has something like 8 or 9 albums (not counting compilations). I remember the early ones best, but I'm sure they're all great. You can find her full discography here.

"This Shirt" is from her second album, State of the Heart (1989).

 

(Cross-posted at Hogtown Hipster.)

Never give up, never surrender

By Mustang Bobby

In spite of the fact that Barack Obama has been elected twice and over 100 judges have tossed out every challenge to his tenure, the birthers and the loons keep on keeping on:

Most Americans have moved on from earlier dalliances with denials of the president's biography. National opinion polls have shown increases over the past three years in the percentage of Americans who agree that Obama was born in the United States and that he is a Christian. But a persistent minority — between a tenth and a fifth in most polls — still believe he is Muslim, foreign-born or a socialist.

Those voters tend to be vehement opponents of Obama, and on Inauguration Day, they will not be at the party — and they're still searching for ways to have the president declared illegitimate.

I really feel sorry for these poor souls. Their lives must really suck if this is all they have to live for.

By the way, what is wrong with being a Muslim, foreign-born, or a socialist?

(Cross-posted at Bark Bark Woof Woof.)

Apple?

By Frank Moraes

The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple is cutting back production of the new iPhone due to lower than expected sales. Apple stock prices plummeted. And then all the Apple people went crazy. Impossible! Stock manipulation!

As Matt Yglesias notes: maybe! Who knows? And frankly, who cares? I've been very critical of Apple over the years. But this is not due to their products; it is due to their business practices. They are exhibit A in the case against software patents and look-and-feel lawsuits.

But there is another side of this. Apple products are good, but they aren't really any better than any of their competitors. Certainly it is the case that Microsoft kept the PC in the dark ages for a good decade. But I've long been a huge critic of Bill Gates. The fact that PCs really sucked 20 years ago is no reason to claim that Apple has a better smart phone than Samsung. So yeah, I am a little more inclined to joined the chorus against Apple. But that doesn't mean I don't have my own Mac at home (I use it in the kitchen and it is a wonderful machine, even though it is a few years old.)

Read more »

What a shock

By Mustang Bobby

A right-wing Republican congressman from Texas (redundant, I know) is threatening impeachment if President Obama does anything about guns by executive order:

Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) is threatening to file articles of impeachment against President Barack Obama if he moves to change gun regulations through executive order.

"I will seek to thwart this action by any means necessary, including but not limited to eliminating funding for implementation, defunding the White House, and even filing articles of impeachment," Stockman said.

In a statement, Stockman didn't hold back, saying Obama is launching an "attack on the very founding principles of this republic."

"The President's actions are an existential threat to this nation," Stockman said in a statement. "The right of the people to keep and bear arms is what has kept this nation free and secure for over 200 years. The very purpose of the Second Amendment is to stop the government from disallowing people the means to defend themselves against tyranny. Any proposal to abuse executive power and infringe upon gun rights must be repelled with the stiffest legislative force possible."

Oh, yawn. It wouldn't be worth doing if some gun nut didn't get his dander up every time Barack Obama scratched his ass because that constitutes a high crime and misdemeanor.

Read more »

Obama's next chief of staff

By Richard K. Barry

Bloomberg is reporting that President Obama is close to naming Denis McDonough, the deputy national security advisory, as his fifth chief of staff. They say the announcement could come as early as next week. 

If true, McDonough would replace Jack Lew, who Obama tapped to be his next Treasury secretary. 

According to Bill Burton, Obama's former deputy press secretary:

Denis has been one of the people the president has most trusted and depended on. He is extraordinarily talented, extremely intelligent and unbelievably loyal in a town where loyalty is not always rewarded.

The word "trust" comes up prominently in a profile of McDonough in This Week. They say that one of the most important things to know about him is "that the president trusts him more than just about any advisor."

Read more »

A.M. Headlines

(Washington Post): "Most see Obama as 'strong leader,' say deal on debt ceiling does not require cuts"

(Associated Press): "Obama to unveil gun violence measures Wednesday"

(Politico): "House shows little appetite for gun reform"

(USA Today): "NRA attacks Obama in video"

(Washington Post): "House approves Hurricane Sandy relief package"

P.M. Headlines

(Reuters): "New York enacts gun-control law, first since Newtown attack"

(New York Times): "Obama poised to back comprehensive plan to curb gun violence"

(Washington Post): "Inauguration will cement ties between Obama, Martin Luther King Jr."

(Talking Points Memo): "How Hagel won Schumer's support for Defense"

(New York Times): "Dozens killed as explosions hit Syrian university"

(Reuters): "Lance Armstrong confronts doping charges in interview"

Illness

With both Richard and me suffering through the flu, or a flu-like cold, or whatever the hell this nasty bug is, blogging has been light.

But stay tuned. We'll be back soon.

-- Michael

FreeLance

By Carl

 

I'm in a quandry.

 

See, I like Lance Armstrong. I admire his accomplishments (wait for it) and his charity work in keeping a spotlight focused on cancer has been even more admirable.

 

But it's all been built on a house of cards, and I'm a little angry about that.

 

Let's get the climax of the Armstrong story out of the way so I can focus on the real issue as I see it: No matter what, Lance Armstrong won seven Tour De France titles, the most grueling athletic competition in the world. A man (or woman, as they do race a woman's race too) rides for three full weeks with precisely two days off, circumnavigating an entire nation and then some, covering roughly the distance from New York to Salt Lake City.

 

Steroids don't help all that much in the grand scheme of things, but even a half a percent boost is enough to propel you a lot further faster over 21 race days.

 

Armstrong beat at least six riders who themselves were found guilty of doping contemporaneously to these Tours. That the UCI (the governing body ofr professional cycling) and Tour de France officials have not seen fit to award any of the forfeit jerseys speaks to me that they have doubts about even the seventh.

 

He beat cheaters at their own game. Indeed, he cheated better than they did since he was never caught but they all were. In fact, the one race he actually lost, his "unretirement' in 2009, saw him place behind two other riders who themselves have either been proven or accused of doping.

 

In short, I can hold the notion in my head that Armstrong is a great athlete and that on any level playing field, he wins seven titles.

 

Also, I can hold the notion that he's a shit of a person. After all, this is a man who abandoned his wife and kids, shacked up with Sheryl Crowe and then dumped her just after she revealed her breast cancer (ironic, right?) By all accounts, he's a pretty mean motherfucker and a terrible teammate, as has been documented in the thousands of pages of testimony the USADA has released from former teammates who talk of being bullied and extorted into silence about doping.

 

That Lance Armstrong is willing to fess up now and come clean is about one thing, and one thing only: Lance Armstrong. His ego got way ahead of his common sense. After all, he wasn't born an "Armstrong." This is a guy who has a very...I'll be polite...healthy self-image. Confessing to the High Priestess of Confessional Television is one of the first steps in rehabbing a shattered and shabby image.

 

To what ends? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...that's the right question!

 

Let's talk about the underlying issue here: money.

 

Steroids in sports. Ponzi schemes. Subprime lending. What two things do they all have in common?

 

Blatant illegality and money.

 

Armstrong's entire cycling legend focuses on his accomplishments on the bike, but its the rewards he got off the bike that speak louder.

 

Armstrong took a sport that was barely a blip on most Americans' radar and turned it into a phenomenon, through a combination of compelling story (cancer survivor comes back to LiveStronger) and accomplishment. Either would have had little impact on driving the sport of bicycling in the country (can you even name the last American before Armstrong to win the Tour? HINT: He was the first and won it three times in some of the most exciting Tours ever staged.)

 

The combination of the two would rocket cycling into the nation's psyche. Suddenly, the Tour went from something for geeks, with fifteen minutes of summary coverage on ABC's Wide World Of Sports, to live coverage of actual stages. Cycling became a sport one could regularly find on cable.

 

In tandem with this, Armstrong formed a national dialogue on cancer and healthcare through his LiveStrong Foundation. Those ubiquitous yellow wristbands started showing up everywhere. I still wear mine proudly as a cancer survivor. I can still be proud of Lance for that work.

 

In return, Armstrong was lionized around the world (mostly...remember, he's still a prick.) In an age when superheroes stopped existing, Armstrong towered above us all, like the Colossus of Rhodes. Those of us who biked reverted to our childhood tropes of playing in the pros, and we'd ride against or alongside Lance in our imaginations. He drove us farther, higher, faster, stronger.

 

In return, the Armstrong brand -- LiveStrong -- became a commodity. Clothing, equipment, the websites, endorsement deals abounded, and Lance raked it in. Maybe he was not as greedy as Madoff, but he made a nice living.

 

Fame, fortune, titles, beautiful women...I've actually "spoken" to Lance (online, a brief discussion when he was making his comeback) and you could sense his giddiness at it all. When you're ego is being fed well, you can't help but be happy.

 

See, here's the thing: there's a flipside to all this acquisitive behavior. You end up destroying people and lives. For instance, Armstrong sued a British tabloid for a story they published about his then-alleged doping, and won a substantial judgement. The reporter who wrote that suffered professional consequences that no amount of rehabbing by Armstrong will restore.

 

Frankie Andreu, a former teammate of Armstrong, and his wife Betty have been pariahs in the cycling community for years for suggesting that Andreu knew Lance doped.

 

Life can be a zero sum game if you play it badly. What you win, be it money or power or fame or fortune, comes out of someone else's pocket. It's rarely a collaborative, cooperative triumph.

 

Armstrong will have to do much more than publicly confess his sins against cycling, against the cycling community, and against the American people and people of the world who followed him, if he wants to even begin to restore balance to the world, if he truly wants redemption.

 

For instance, he can name names. Armstrong was the greatest athlete of his generation, in any sport, but he's still small potatoes on the totem pole of sport. There's officials and owners and promoters, the people who made real money off his exploits, and turned a blind eye or even encouraged his cheating.

 

He can volunteer to help form new doping guidelines and protocols that will catch other people cheating. To this day, Lance has still not ever tested positive for PEDs. How he got around those tests is important knowledge for the governing body of all sports to have. With the kind of money teams and sponsors throw into sports...I'll get to that in a minute...they can easily stay ahead of the doping cops.

 

And he can talk frankly about the pressures we put on athletes to cheat. He can talk about how sport is so glamourized worldwide, that games played by children have mutated into competitions where sums of money the size of the GDP of a small nation are at stake, that there is a clear "win at any cost" mentality.

 

And how we can mitigate this. Like politics, so long as their is big money to be made, there is big money to be spent trying to get an edge.

 

And maybe in the course of that discussion, you and I can look at ourselves and realize we are the problem. And we have it within ourselves to fix it, and easily.

 

(crossposted to Simply Left Behind)