The Commentariat -- September 14

CW: I confess. I didn't know the Boner had a "budget plan." He does, and -- no surprise -- it's extremely simple-minded, extremely radical & extremely loopy. Edmund Andrews of the Fiscal Times reports, "House Republican Leader John Boehner’s plan for rolling back nonsecurity government spending to 2008 levels as part of an overall economic strategy would force cuts in many domestic programs far deeper than Republicans and Democrats have been able to agree on in decades.... If the Republicans' proposed domestic spending cuts were spread evenly through all the affected programs, they would require deep cuts in basic services and big projects, according to budget policy experts."

It became very apparent to me shortly after crossing the border that the government and many of my superiors had no idea what they were doing.... We turned up, took away a country's infrastructure and its law and order with absolutely nothing to put in its place. -- Col. Tim Collins, Irish Brigade

The Guardian: Col. Tim Collins, "a prominent veteran of the Iraq war," said "Britain's government and military leaders had 'absolutely no idea' what to do in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq.... Tony Blair, and US president, George Bush, had given Saddam Hussein 'an offer he couldn't understand' and even the Iraqi dictator probably did not know what he was required to do to avoid war, said Collins."

Maybe Happiness Is the Best Revenge. David Leonhardt of the New York Times: although black Americans have not made significant economic progress in the past decades, they are -- unlike whites -- much happier with their lives today than were black Americans in the 1970s.

Martin Luther King, Jr., arrives at Memphis Airport April 3, 1968. He was assassinated the next day. CW: many believe the FBI was involved. Photo by Ernest C. Withers.

I had access to Martin Luther King because we grew up together, came up together in the same social setting. He was comfortable with me.... As a photographer, you've got to be trusted by the people that you come in contact with. One thing I had was a level of moral life of honesty and integrity. -- Ernest C. Withers

New York Times: "Ernest C. Withers, one of the most celebrated photographers of the civil rights era ... was a paid F.B.I. informer." AND here's the Memphis Commercial Appeal story, well worth a read.

Almost all of these confessions looked uncannily reliable. I had known that in a couple of these cases, contamination could have occurred. I didn’t expect to see that almost all of them had been contaminated. -- Brandon Garrett

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "In the primaries, Republicans have borne the brunt of the anti-establishment fervor that has swept the country. But come Election Day on Nov. 2, say strategists in both parties, Democrats will probably bear the brunt of that anger." ...

... Update. Charles Mahtesian of Politico on what to watch for in Tuesday's primaries.

Jim Tankersley in the National Journal: "Americans offer tepid support for much of the Republican Party's domestic agenda, including repealing the new healthcare law and extending tax cuts for the wealthy, according to the latest Society for Human Resource Management/National Journal Congressional Connection Poll, conducted with the Pew Research Center."

"I Did It." John Schwartz of the New York Times: Prof. Brandon Garrett of the University of Virginia uncovers how non-guilty subjects confess crimes to interrogators.

We did not learn the larger lesson of the 1930s: that when the distribution of income gets too far out of whack, the economy needs to be reorganized so the broad middle class has enough buying power to rejuvenate the economy over the longer term. -- Robert Reich

New York Times graphic.Michael Luo of the New York Times: "Outside groups supporting Republican candidates in House and Senate races across the country have been swamping their Democratic-leaning counterparts on television since early August.... Driving the disparity in the ad wars has been an array of Republican-oriented organizations that are set up so they can accept donations of unlimited size from individuals and corporations without having to disclose them. The situation raises the possibility that a relatively small cadre of deep-pocketed donors, unknown to the general public, is shaping the battle for Congress...."

Bob Herbert reviews some of the bad news in Robert Reich's new book Aftershock on the effects the economy's downturn has on ordinary Americans.

Michael Fletcher of the Washington Post: "The number of former workers seeking Social Security disability benefits has spiked with the nation's economic problems.... Policymakers ... suspect the current surge has less to do with any worsening in the health of the workforce than with the poor health of the economy."

Habiba Nosheen of NPR: "Some Jews, Muslims and Christians are abandoning Yahoo and Google and turning to search engines with results that meet their religious standards. Shea Houdmann runs SeekFind, a Colorado Springs-based Christian search engine that only returns results from websites that are consistent with the Bible. He says SeekFind is designed 'to promote what we believe to be biblical truth' and excludes sites that don't meet that standard." CW: my friend Ned writes, "Since the NPR story ran the poor little dears have had to close their SeekFind site. It got broke. Or something. But I'm sure it will make its return if only to, you know, keep satan away from spreading lies to impressionable Christian children about the real world." Here's the audio:

The Commentariat -- September 13

We are in this wrestling match with John Boehner and Mitch McConnell. -- Barack Obama, on the economy

Lawrence Wright, in The New Yorker, on the wages of intolerance: look to the Danish model.

Factoid of the Day. America’s Muslim community is more ethnically diverse than that of any other major religion in the country. Its members hold more college and graduate degrees than the national average. They also have a higher employment rate and more jobs in the professional sector. (Compare that with England and France, where education and employment rates among Muslims fall below the national averages.) These factors have allowed American Muslims and non-Muslims to live together with a degree of harmony that any other Western nation would envy. -- Lawrence Wright

The Age of Unreason. George Packer of The New Yorker: "Evidence, knowledge, argument, proportionality, nuance, complexity, and the other indispensable tools of the liberal mind don’t stand a chance these days against the actual image of a mob burning an effigy, or the imagined image of a man burning a mound of books." ...

... Fareed Zakaria in the Washington Post: "... across the Muslim world, militant Islam's appeal has plunged. In the half of the Muslim world that holds elections, parties that are in any way associated with Islamic jihad tend to fare miserably, even in Pakistan.... Over the past few years, imams and Muslim leaders across the world have been denouncing suicide bombings, terrorism and al-Qaeda with regularity." In the U.S., the right-wing's "campaign to spread a sense of imminent danger" is unjustified.

"The Year of No Inflation." David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "... the Fed has a dual mission: keep inflation contained and maximize employment. By any measure, inflation is contained, and the economy is millions of job shy of maximum employment." ...

... Former federal agent Robert Mazur in a New York Times op-ed: "Bankers are escaping prosecution because law enforcement is failing to expose the evidence that some bankers market dirty money.... What’s needed is a small but elite multi-agency task force, including representatives of the intelligence community and accomplished members of law enforcement agencies from other nations, that could identify the institutions and businesses that handle the bulk of the dirty money flowing around the globe."

Paul Krugman writes that by manipulating its currency policy, "China is taxing imports while subsidizing exports, feeding a huge trade surplus.... Time and again, U.S. officials have announced progress on the currency issue; each time, it turns out that they’ve been had." ...

... Deborah Solomon of the Wall Street Journal: and Tim Geithner says, yeah, that's right. ...

... AND the Constant Weader (#4) is skeptical of Geithner's sincerity. ...

... In a Wall Street Journal interview, "Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Washington is at risk of undercutting an already sluggish economic recovery if it fails to provide quick, additional support to business and individuals. Mr. Geithner said the biggest challenge facing the economy right now was Washington paralysis.... Mr. Geithner's comments are part of a White House campaign to convince a nervous public that the administration understands what ails the economy...." Here are excerpts of the interview.

The Democratic National Committee introduces the Boehner Economic Plan:

     ... Here's a related Wall Street Journal post by Laura Meckler.

John Boehner on extending middle-class tax cuts:

... We welcome John Boehner's change in position and support for the middle class tax cuts, but time will tell if his actions will be anything but continued support for the failed policies that got us into this mess. -- Robert Gibbs

... Andrew Leonard of Salon: "Since four Democratic senators and Connecticut independent Joe Lieberman have already expressed doubt about raising taxes on the wealthy, Senate Republicans are sitting in a very strong position. So Boehner can say whatever he wants, and theoretically neutralize Obama's recent push on the tax cut issue -- in which the president has relentlessly portrayed the Ohio Republican as Chief Apologist For the Rich." BUT Leonard points to this Bloomberg news article & wonders if Mitch McConnell will really throw all his muscle behind making sure rich people can buy new BMW convertibles. ...

... Bloomberg: "Wealthy Americans have the price of a BMW convertible riding on the outcome of the Congressional battle over tax cuts set to expire this year."

     ... No Surprise Here from Sen. BMW -- Bitchy Moaning Whiner. New York Times Update: "With the focus now shifting to the Senate over a potential compromise on the expiring Bush-era income-tax cuts, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman ... said on Monday that he favored maintaining the lower rates for everyone, including the wealthiest Americans, for at least one more year." ...

     ... Update 2. Michael Crowley of Time: the Boner's spokesman effectively admits Boehner's stance is a stunt:

Boehner's words were calculated [emphasis mine] to deprive Obama of the ability to continue making those false claims, and as a result we are in a better position rhetorically to pressure more Democrats to support a full freeze.

Robert Gibbs responds to Newt Gingrich's far-out appeal to far-out crazies:

... Even Andy Card, Dubya's Chief-of-Staff who was irked that President Obama sometimes went jacketless in the Oval Office, is "disappointed" in the Newt:

CW: several states hold primaries tomorrow, & the Delaware Republican contest is a doozy. You might want to read some of the Delaware stories linked on the Campaign 2010-General page.

John Leland of the New York Times: as Congress threatens to raise the age for Social Security eligibility, "a new analysis by the Center for Economic and Policy Research found that one in three workers over age 58 does a physically demanding job ... that can be radically different at age 69 than at age 62. Still others work under difficult conditions ... for long stretches. In all, the researchers found that 45 percent of older workers, or 8.5 million, held such difficult jobs. For janitors, nurses’ aides, plumbers, cashiers, waiters, cooks, carpenters, maintenance workers and others, raising the retirement age may mean squeezing more out of a declining body." ...

... AND Speaking of Hard Labor, Susan Craig of the Times writes that as many as 60 Goldman Sachs partners could become, boo-hoo, "de-partnered" this year.

A Bomb in the Attic. Hugh Sidey for Time: President John F. Kennedy & the Defense Intelligence Agency believed Russians had used inspection-free diplomatic pounches to smuggle atomic bomb parts into their Washington, D.C. embassy, & had then assembled the bomb on the third floor of the embassy.

After California's Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman runs this ad, which includes a 1992 cliip of Bill Clinton falsely accusing Jerry Brown of raising California taxes when he was governor ...

... Jerry Brown responds:

     ... Update: Brown apologizes to President Clinton, bashes Whitman. His statement is here.

     ... New York Times Update, September 14: "President Bill Clinton endorsed his long-ago rival Jerry Brown for governor of California, brushing aside Mr. Brown’s recent snippy joke about the Monica Lewinsky scandal."

A High-Toned Young Christian* Man**

Maureen Dowd's sister Peggy believed that Barack Obama, "the dazzling young newcomer, could change Washington."

The Constant Weader does not share Peggy's concern:

Can we all concede now that no one can "change Washington" as long as K Street is King & the sole project of nearly every elected official is self-aggrandizement, seeded with self-preservation? Let's get over it, people. And that includes you, Mr. President.

The "tone" in Washington may be of concern to your sister Peggy, but it isn't to me or to most other Americans. I don't much care if those smarmy little creeps we call "Senator" & "Congressman" tear at each other in the most vile of terms ever heard under the Capitol dome as long as they'll work together to put the country back to work & get us the heck out of Afghanistan.

Oh, sure, the level of decorum & gentility the late Sen. Robert Byrd demanded would be ever-so-sublime. But how much good does it do? The Justices of the Supreme Court are – or so they claim – supremely cordial to one another, yet cordiality & fellowship haven’t made, for instance, Justice Scalia less of an idiot. Maybe if Justice Stevens had throttled that pompous, thoughtless dope a few decades ago, the Constitution would have been better served.

In the Congress, most Republicans & quite a few Democrats have no plans whatsoever to do what is even close to right for the people who gave them their jobs & pay them their unearned wages. And they have learned to be very, very good at talking the Peggys of the nation into believing that what's good for their K Street benefactors & the Koch brothers is good for Peggy, too. Why, one day she might become super-rich & then she'll appreciate that tidy tax break they're reserving for the rich! And when she's super-rich, the fact that they've whacked the guts out of Social Security & Medicare won't mean so much to her! AND she'll be glad to know she saved us from socialism just in the nick of time.

I'd like to see President Obama, since he's already going down for the count, really take off the gloves, & you can tell Peggy I don't care if he does it on the White House lawn or in Peoria. I'd like to hear him say, "If redistributing the wealth from the super-rich to the middle class makes me a socialist, then -- yes, I am a socialist." He can elaborate: "If trying to see that everybody has affordable health care makes me a socialist, then -- yes, I am a socialist. If ensuring that women have a right to equal pay is socialistic, then you betcha, I’m a socialist. If raising the minimum wage – which does indeed redistribute the wealth – makes me a socialist, then I’m a socialist. And I’m proud of it.”

Then he might add, "Yes, folks, I am black. Take a look at this skin. Take a look at my census form. Right there next to 'race' it says 'black.' Now, get over it." Then, in a fit of super-candor, he might say, "No, I'm not a Muslim. But then I'm not much of a Christian, either. Since I know how to think for myself, organized religion doesn't do all much for me. Oh sure, I tried out Christianity to please the public & look where that got me -- Jeremiah Wright. (Hey, how did I know he was a nut job? I hardly went to church.)"

And then he could say, "You know, when I got this gig I tried getting along with Republicans, but they don't play well with others. Never have. Never will. They are not motivated to help you. They want government to fail. They don't care what happens to you. And they sure don't want me sending you a little more cash & a little better job & a lot better future for your children. Because every time I help you, it hurts their special interests. And that is all they care about it.

"So there you have it, my fellow Americans. I'm a black, halfhearted Christian socialist who believes his job is working for you. Your alternative is some white Christian guys who only work for themselves and want government to fail you. Take your pick."

Honesty may not be the best policy. But pandering has not worked out all that well for the President & real Democrats. Perhaps a shot of truthiness would set them free.

Huh. Frank Rich pretty much agrees with me. Except for the Christian bit.

AND/BUT, as Cenk Uygur notes, the Obama Administration's facile deals with the devil(s) will likely cause many of us "fucking retards" to stay home.

* Or not.

** With apologies to Wallace Stevens, & a hat-tip to my friend Ned.