The Commentariat -- October 1
I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square for the weekend.
President Obama's Weekly Address:
Barbara Ehrenreich in a Washington Post op-ed: "Admirers of the rich, led by pundits and politicians on the right — from Laura Ingraham to Larry Kudlow — have long derided the victimization claims of African Americans, women, gays and the unemployed, but now they’re raising their voices to defend the rich against what they see as an ugly tide of 'demonization.' ... You would never guess from all the talk of demonization that the rich enjoy perhaps the strongest PR machine on the planet, far beyond their entourages of agents, publicists and assorted image-makers. The mainstream media, for example.... Evangelical Christianity ... once harbored an ancient biblical bias in favor of the poor, but now, at least in its high-profile megachurch manifestations, it has abandoned the book of Matthew for a 'prosperity gospel' that counts wealth as a mark of God’s favor."
Peter Finn of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department wrote a secret memorandum authorizing the lethal targeting of Anwar al-Aulaqi, the American-born radical cleric who was killed by a U.S. drone strike Friday, according to administration officials. The document was produced following a review of the legal issues raised by striking a U.S. citizen and involved senior lawyers from across the administration. There was no dissent about the legality of killing Aulaqi, the officials said." ...
... Greg Miller of the Washington Post: Anwar "Aulaqi’s death represents the latest, and perhaps most literal, illustration to date of the convergence between the CIA and the nation’s elite military units in the counterterrorism fight.... Traveling from secret bases on opposite sides of Yemen, armed drones from the CIA and the military’s Joint Special Operations Command converged above Anwar al-Aulaqi’s position in northern Yemen early Friday and unleashed a flurry of missiles. US officials said the CIA was in control of all the aircraft, as well as the decisions to fire, and that the operation was so seamless that even hours later, it remained unclear whether a drone supplied by the CIA or the military fired the missile that ended the al-Qaeda leader’s life." ...
... Here are President Obama's full remarks regarding the killing of Awlaki, remarks made yesterday morning during the ceremony for changing of the Joint Chiefs of Staff:
... Scott Shane of the New York Times: "The reported killing of on Friday, an American citizen hit by a missile fired from a drone operated by his own government, instantly reignited a difficult debate over terrorism, civil liberties and the law." ...
... Michael Crowley of Time: "... the Awlaki killing ... is an occasion for Washington to debate some basic questions about our targeted killing campaign." ...
... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "... there are very good reasons that national governments are more constrained in their ability to kill their own citizens than in their ability to kill foreigners, constraints enshrined in both the explicit rules and longstanding traditions of due process. That bright line has grown a lot dimmer today. The hardcore national security hawks in both parties will likely cheer Obama's 'toughness' today, but they shouldn't. Bright lines, once crossed, seldom survive."
Occupy Wall Street
Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake has a good overview of the protest. CW: The organizer's site is here -- it was down when I tried to load it, which could be a good sign. Anyway, Gosztola goes a fine job of reporting on the protesters' goals and messages. ...
... Gosztola is livingblogging today's activities. Here's a Fox "News" chopper-cam scan of yesterday's impressive crowd at One Police Plaza, which I got from Gosztola's liveblog:
... James Downie of the Washington Post: "Media coverage — even on the left — has been minimal, and what coverage has existed has been largely derisive. Cable’s liberal stalwart Rachel Maddow didn’t have a segment on the protest until last night, Mother Jones ran an article entitled 'why #occupywallstreet isn’t working,' and Grist’s Dave Roberts said the occupation was 'designed to discredit leftie protest.' And, yet, the occupation is spreading." ...
... After getting off to a shaky start (see also Karen Garcia on this), the New York Times metro assignment editor seems to be putting actual reporters on the story. N. R. Kleinfield & Cara Buckley of the Times: "The stalwarts seem to range from a relatively modest 100 to 300 people, though the ranks swelled to more than 2,000 on Friday as the protest has begun to attract mainstream attention from those disaffected with the weak economy and to enlist support from well-known liberals. The actress Susan Sarandon stopped by, as did the Princeton professor Cornel West and former Gov. David A. Paterson of New York." ...
... Marie Antoinette & her Wall Street courtiers sip champagne as the common people protest the Wall Street regime. Perhaps Queen Marie is unaware of the possible consequences of the amusing street spectacle:
... Karen Garcia has more on the Marie Antoinette of Wall Street & her entourage. Garcia includes this etching of the original Marie reviewing the unwashed masses from her own balcon (that's the Marquis de Lafayette there kissing the Queen's hand):
... AND Now for a Word from Baron von Bloomberg of the NYC von Bloombergs. Harry Siegel of the Village Voice: "New Yorkers need 'to help the banks' was Mayor Michael Bloomberg's message to the Occupy Wall Street crowd in his weekly radio appearance on the John Gambling show. 'The protesters are protesting against people who make $40-50,000 a year and are struggling to make ends meet. That's the bottom line,' Bloomberg said..., adding that 'we all' share blame for taking on too much risk, not just the financial industry.... Asked if there's an 'end-game' for the protesters and if they will be allowed to stay in Zuccotti Park, which is privately owned but open to the public, Bloomberg said, 'We'll see.'" ...
... NEW. Kevin Gosztola has more on Baron von Bloomberg's radio daze. ...
... Matt Stoller in Naked Capitalism: "What these people are doing is building, for lack of a better word, a church of dissent. It’s not a march, though marches are spinning off of the campground. It’s not even a protest, really. It is a group of people, gathered together, to create a public space seeking meaning in their culture. They are asserting, together, to each other and to themselves, 'we matter'”.
Right Wing World *
Gov. Rick Perry, who's had government jobs most of his life, says billionaire investor Warren Buffett understand the private sector. Via Jed Lewison of Daily Kos:
Ha Ha Ha Ha. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post notes that, according to the Daily Caller story (which the editor stands by), the EPA is seeking to add 230,000 employees at an additional cost of $21 billion. That would be a 244 percent increase over their previous year's budget, by Wemple's calculation. You'd think somebody besides the Daily Caller would have noticed. Oh, and the Daily Caller didn't bother to ask the EPA how they could justify this extraordinary expansion. Well, no, because the quote from the EPA spokesperson would have been, "Ha ha ha ha."
* Where capitalists don't understand capitalism but career bureaucrats do.
Local News
We are at war with these people ["these people" being Ohio public employees]. -- Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) ...
... CW: the first part of this post of Kathie Bracy's blog authenticates a letter from Dr. Michael Shreffler, an Ohio schools superintendent. The letter, which appears in full in the blogpost, is well-worth a read, especially if you live in Ohio. If Ohioans think John Kasich is on their side, they have another think coming. (And next time, Gov. Kasich should be more careful whom he invites to his rant parties.) Thanks to reader Wayne M. for the link.
This boy is not a rapist ...... BUT. Jill of Brilliant at Breakfast: "In response to a string of at least 10 unsolved sexual assaults in Brooklyn, New York police are reportedly stopping women on the street who are wearing clothing they say is revealing and advising them to cover up if they don’t want to be raped." Jill goes on to point out the error of the cops' logic. CW: Somehow I don't think the cops will get Jill's "nuanced" advice.
News Ledes
Al Jazeera: "NATO-led forces have captured Haji Mali Khan, a senior commander for the Haqqani network in Afghanistan, during an operation in eastern Paktia province earlier in the week. Khan is 'the uncle of Siraj and Badruddin Haqqani ... one of the highest ranking members of the Haqqani network and a revered elder of the Haqqani clan,' the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said in a statement on Saturday. The Haqqani network, which attacked the US emabssy in Kabul earlier this month, is based on the Afghan-Pakistan border." With video.
NYPD officers arrest & cuff a child on the Brooklyn Bridge:
... Al Jazeera: "New York City police say about 500 protesters have been arrested after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours. Police say some demonstrators spilled onto the roadway Saturday night after being told to stay on the pedestrian pathway. Officers cut the marchers off, plunged into the crowd, and began making arrests as marchers chanted, 'Shame! Shame!'" ...
... AP Update: "More than 700 protesters demonstrating against corporate greed, global warming and social inequality, among other grievances, were arrested Saturday after they swarmed the Brooklyn Bridge and shut down a lane of traffic for several hours in a tense confrontation with police.... The majority of those arrested were given citations for disorderly conduct and were released, police said."
... NBC News: "Police confronted protesters in a heated exchange on the Brooklyn Bridge, where thousands of Occupy Wall Street marchers snarled traffic and blocked both sides of the expanse Saturday. Police made arrests but would not release the number because the protest is continuing, NBC New York reported." ...
... Gawker (yes, sometimes the best source for news): "... NYPD spent Saturday allowing Occupy Wall Street protesters to halfway-cross the Brooklyn Bridge before cutting the marchers off and arresting several people, a controversial crowd-control tactic known as 'kettling.'"
Washington Post: "The Energy Department defied Republican critics Friday by announcing that it had committed an additional $4.7 billion in loan guarantees toward four big-dollar clean technology projects just hours before the program’s funding expired. The announcement marked a dramatic ending for the $18 billion loan guarantee program, which has been central to the administration’s push to create jobs and promote green technology. Simultaneously, the program has come under fire for its handling of a half-billion-dollar loan to Solyndra, a solar company that collapsed in August."
AP: "President Barack Obama and his House Republican adversaries feuded over how to best create jobs in the weakened U.S. economy Saturday, with Obama demanding Congress pass his $447 billion jobs bill and the GOP countering with a call for less government red tape." Video of the President's weekly address in the left column.
Reuters: "Florida defied national Republican Party leaders on Friday and set its U.S. presidential primary election for January 31, a move likely to push forward the 2012 election schedule as other states jockey to keep their influence."
Share Article