Recently in National Politics Category

Of the various efforts being undertaken to rebuild New Orleans, few are as vocal as activists opposing the demolition of public housing projects. Their passion is strong, and their cause just. I wrote about my problems with this movement yesterday. I'm a firm believer in the notion that you can't bring back people who live in poverty to New Orleans at this stage in the city's reconstruction. It's easy for folks who have homes, jobs, health insurance, and schools for their children to advocate a course of action that will almost certainly have no direct impact on their lives, even if that course of action worsens the quality of life for those directly impacted.

It makes more sense to restore the governmental services necessary to lift those living in poverty to a living-wage level.

Easier said than done, of course. City government is still a mess, two years post-storm. State government hasn't been much more help, with its focus on home owners (Road Home Program). The involvement of state government in New Orleans' return is going to be even worse with the election of an unsympathetic ultra-conservative as governor.

Somebody must take ownership of New Orleans, accept the situation we have here, and work with us to make it better. There are three people in a position to do something about New Orleans, assuming we can hang on until January 20, 2009. Those three people are the leading Democratic candidates for President.

Taking them in order of their current popularity, let's look at whether or not they will step up and take ownership of New Orleans.

Hillary Clinton - If you go to www.hillary.com, there's a button for "Issues" that drops down a number of choices:

• Strengthing the Middle Class


• Providing Affordable and Accessible Health Care


• Promoting Energy Independence and Fighting Global Warming


• Fulfilling Our Promises to Veterans


• Supporting Parents and Caring for Children


• Restoring America's Standing in the World


• A Champion for Women


• Comprehensive Government Reform


• Strengthening Our Democracy


• Reforming Our Immigration System


• An Innovation Agenda

Hmm...worthy topics all. Why no mention of New Orleans, or the Gulf Coast in general? Have the consultants advising Sen. Clinton told her to blow us off? After all, Mississippi and Alabama were too red for her to be bothered with pre-storm, and Louisiana is viewed as turning redder post-storm. Certainly one could argue that some of these meta-topics listed above can include support of New Orleans, but not seeing the re-building of a city destroyed by a federal flood and ignored by uncaring Republicans would be on the radar. No doubt Bill Clinton would be more concerned with the future of New Orleans. Perhaps some of you Hillary supporters can clarify this seeming lack of interest in New Orleans.

Barack Obama - Sen. Obama's got one of those neat "Issuse" buttons, too:

• Strengthening America Overseas


• Plan to End the Iraq War


• Creating a Healthcare System that Works


• Fighting Poverty


• Environment


• Energy


• Technology and Innovation for a New Generation


• Fulfilling Our Covenant with Seniors


• Improving Our Schools


• Immigration and the Border


• Protecting the Right to Vote


• Honoring Our Veterans


• Cleaning Up Washington's Culture of Corruption


• Strengthening Families and Communities


• Reconciling Faith and Politics

Nice list. Maybe if I didn't get a food of water in my house and things here were going smoothly, I'd look at this and see a candidate who could improve things. What I see from this is someone who is talking in generalities when a 300-year old city dies. Oh yeah, and those public housing residents who are about to have their apartments demolished? They're 99% African-American.

John Edwards - Sen. Edwards has an entire page of proposals to deal with New Orleans:

• Addressing the nursing shortage and supporting the proposed biomedical corridor


• Providing new resources to make the city's streets safe


• Fully funding the "Road Home"


• Putting someone in charge


• Appointing a Special Gulf Coast Inspector General


• Passing "Brownie's Law," so agencies like FEMA get the job done.

So, we've got two candidates who make no mention of New Orleans and a third who actually talks about fully funding Road Home.

At least Edwards and his consultants aren't suffering from "Katrina Fatigue."

I challenege every Clinton and Obama supporter to ask those in your campaign organizations, what is your candidate's position on New Orleans?

I know where my candidate stands.

I'm also confident that things would not be as screwed up right now here if "Vice President Edwards" was running right now rather than former-Senator Edwards.

No big surprise. Even though he's from Pascagoula, Northrup Grumman's new hero is Mary Mary, since she's in the majority. Trent's brother-in-law is one of the biggest trial lawyers on the gulf coast, and he's suing State Farm on behalf of Trent because the company screwed him on storm damage like they're doing all too many people. Add all that up and it was likely he wasn't going to run. Faced with another year of carrying water for the Worst President Evah, I'd consider quitting, too.

My first memory of Trent Lott was back in high school, when Lott served on the House Judiciary Committee. He was the first "no" vote against the Nixon impeachment resolution that was sent to the full House. Tool then, tool now.

(h/t Karen)

Sometimes news items from El Reg are poignant, sometimes they're goofy, and sometimes they have something to say that's spot-on and scary on more than one level. Here's one of those, from India:

Police in India wrongfully arrested and detained a Bangalore man for 50 days after internet service provider Airtel mis-identified him as the person who posted images on Orkut that insulted a revered historical figure.

Lakshmana Kailash K., a 26-year-old techie, was arrested at his home on August 31 and transported to Pune, more than 10 hours away, according to news reports. He was held for 50 days and was released three weeks after police claimed to have apprehended the real people responsible for the posting.

OK, shit happens, right? Stories of mistaken identity can come from all corners of the earth these days. But here's the part of the article that struck home for me:

Google has said repeatedly it has no option but to cooperate with official law enforcement inquiries - such as this case. Indian police are saying it's not their fault for wrongly detaining a man for 50 days. And an Airtel representative was quoted saying the company is "distressed by the severe inconvenience" caused to their customer.

Translation: if you live in a country where freedom of speech is not protected, you can be imprisoned for weeks at a time for no other reason than you use the net. Sure, Google and your ISP may feel bad about your plight, but they certainly won't be standing behind you.

In these days of rendition, the various incarnations of the PATRIOT Act, and Vice President Cheney, the foul-mouthed Dick, we're not talking run-of-the-mill banana republic here. The above two paragraphs apply not only to India, but the United States of America as well.

I know the current administration likes Muslims about as much as they like the Eebil Coloreds, but c'mon, guys:

The UK's first Muslim Minister has chalked up his second detention at the hands of the US Department of Homeland Security - with exquisite irony, at Dulles Airport in Washington DC on his way back from talks with, er, the DHS on tackling terrorism.

Shahid Malik, who was also recently identified as Britain's most expensive MP, was detained by DHS officials, and he and his hand luggage were searched. He reports that he and two others, both black Muslims, were taken aside for further questioning.

OK, so they're Eebil Coloreds and they're Muslims, they must be bad, right? Even if they're holding diplomatic passports from H.M. Goverment. But it gets better:

Malik was previously held by staff at JFK in New York, last year while returning from an event where he'd been a keynote speaker on defeating extremism. Then, he claims, he was subjected to an "abusive attitude" from DHS staff.

Let it not be said that our government isn't thorough--it wasn't enough that we pissed this guy off last year, we had to do it again! And he's not the only British government official that DHS has pulled this stunt on:

The DHS' terrorist detection systems do seem to have an unfortunate knack when it comes to impressing relevant British Parliamentarians. Three years ago it contrived to demonstrate the efficacy of no-fly lists, in a negative sort of way, to a delegation from the UK's Transport Committee, headed by chair Gwyneth Dunwoody. As the impressed Dunwoody commented on the regime at the time, "it's a sort of general level of arrogant incompetence." Malik is no doubt similarly onside in the war on terror.

What's interesting is that the Right Honorable Ms. Dunwoody appears to be neither Muslim nor Colored:

"arrogant incompetence?"

nah...

"fucking morons"

(h/t El Reg)

Not just Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson, but anyone who is willing to take a job at CIA and live their lives by their rules, all to defend this country. Rebecca Trasiter's review of Plame's book in Salon today is good, but this paragraph struck me:

It's a shocking vision of what a life can look like when its narration is taken out of the hands of the person living it. Plame's love life, her marriage, her personal chronology ... apparently, these do not belong to her but to her former employer. Without their permission, she has no rights to them.

And she volunteered to do this. Chickenhawks and the 101st Fighting Keyboarders should be bitch-slapped with her book until they bleed.

I now officially declare a moratorium on Godwin's Law with respect to the Bush Administration, thanks to this tidbit from Frank Rich of the NYT today:

By any legal standards except those rubber-stamped by Alberto Gonzales, we are practicing torture, and we have known we are doing so ever since photographic proof emerged from Abu Ghraib more than three years ago. As Andrew Sullivan, once a Bush cheerleader, observed last weekend in The Sunday Times of London, America’s “enhanced interrogation” techniques have a grotesque provenance: “Verschärfte Vernehmung, enhanced or intensified interrogation, was the exact term innovated by the Gestapo to describe what became known as the ‘third degree.’ It left no marks. It included hypothermia, stress positions and long-time sleep deprivation.”

Some parallels to the Nazis are just extreme, like using "Lebensraum" to describe Israeli settlements on the West Bank, but what scares me about things like the reference above is that I don't think that these guys are smart enough to be students of the Gestapo. They came up with this shit on their own.

Dear Senator Landrieu:

I'm a bit disappointed that we have not heard any comment from you on Rep. Boehner's very insulting remarks to our troops. Given that so many Louisianians have given life and limb in Iraq, and given the extent to which LA National Guard deployments in Iraq hobbled rescue efforts in the wake of the two hurricanes of 2005, I find your silence at this point rather disturbing.

Senator, there is no reason for you to be silent on the subject of the war, unless you are part of the less-than-one-third of the country who support this President and his war plans. There is noone else who will speak for Louisiana at this point. Our other senator is a national laughingstock whose party would gladly throw him under the same bus they're throwing Sen. Craig, were it not for the fact that Gov. Blanco is a Democrat. I'd like to think that, after eleven years in the Senate, you've grown weary of being rolled by these people. They're not your friends. They opened up on you with both barrels in 2002, and will do so again next year. Laying low and hoping they'll go away isn't a very sensible option at this point.

It's been difficult over the last eleven years to defend you and the positions you take when confronted with them by more liberal members of our party. Many wonder why you just don't switch party affiliations, that way the Democratic party can begin the discussion of who would be a good candidate that would truly represent our interests. My standard response has always been that it's tough for you to be as progressive as they would like in a state with such a strong conservative electorate.

The catch is, even that electorate rejects this President and his war. They know it's a bad idea to continue occupying Iraq. They want our troops to come home. In particular, Louisianians want their National Guard in place to support the state in times of emergency and national disaster. Nobody in metro New Orleans wants to wait again for the Wisconson and Pennsylvania National Guards to get here for assistance. It's time for you to take a very public stand on these issues. It's time you stood toe-to-toe with Senator Liebermann and demand that his committee seriously review FEMA and other DHS policies that impact Louisiana. We, the voters of this state need you speaking for us.

But taking a strong stance on the Iraq occupation isn't about politics, it's about Louisiana lives. You've been in the Senate almost as long as my 13-year old has been alive. If you and the rest of the Senate majority allow the Republicans to establish a permanent presence in Iraq, you are assisting them in placing my son and his friends into harm's way as well as all the men and women who are already risking their lives for a failed policy.

Please, Senator Landrieu, join other Democratic senators who have taken a strong public stance against the Iraq occupation. Stand up to men like Rep. Boehener and do not let their offensive remarks go unchallenged.

Either that or let us elect someone who will.

Sincerely,
YatPundit

(the virus, not the blonde pundit)

While pointing out CNN's stupiditiy in saying that there have been no terorist attacks in the US since 9-11, Atrios reminds the Atlanta Idiots of the anthrax-related deaths. But then he makes this comment:

*People object when I suggest this, but while the 9/11 attacks were of course The Big Ones, anthrax was this creepy shit which was KILLING US THROUGH THE MAIL. While most people didn't expect a plane to fly into their building, the anthrax attacks created a heightened sense of OMIGOD THIS COULD HAPPEN TO ME. 9/11 was terrible, but the anthrax attacks were terrifying to people.

I think the reason Dr. Black sees anthrax as a more serious threat than I do is a north-south thing. He's your basic Philly yankee who doesn't live in a hotbed of anti-abortion sentiment. All too many people in the South in particular look past the initial envelopes that were actually filled with the virus to all the hoaxes and false alarms which were attributed to anti-choice activists. In spite of the deaths caused by whatever madman actually put the virus into the postal system, most folks here don't see it happening to them because they don't work at an abortion clinic.

"Even a Republican audience in New Hampshire is divided on Iraq."

on NPR's Morning Edition today, Fox's Mara Liasson made this comment while reporting on the Fox News-sponsored Republican debate last night.

You should hear the applause for the only anti-war Republican Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, when he points out that 5000 Americans have died in Iraq, then wonders how many more will have to die.

If there are that many NH Republicans who agree with Paul, the GOP is well and truly screwed.

Troll repellant: Yes, it's safe to assume that the audience at that debate was Republicans. Most Democrats don't have the stomach for all those douchebags on the stage at the same time. It was also moderated by Brit Hume. If the candidates weren't enough, that idiot would scare away any other non-Republicans.

I'm amazed at the extent that the Blogosphere thinks the status of some of the more perverted members of the US Senate has to do with morality. It's about simple addition:

If Larry Craig resigns, Idaho's governor appoints a Repug. The Senate remains 50 Dem, 1 Indpendent (Caucusing with dems), 49 Repug.

If Vitty-cent resigns, Blanco appoints a Democrat. The Senate becomes 51 Dem, 1 Independent (caucusing with Dems), 48 Repug.

Now, keep in mind that the Independent is Joe Lieberman (I-Bagdhad). If Blanco is able to replace Vitty-cent with a Dem, it gives Majority Leader Reid the opportunity to be well rid of Surgin' Joe. That has HUGE consequences:

Liebermann's national pulpit shrinks dramatically. He goes from CNN's A-list to doing Sarah Silverman's show on Comedy Central. The last totally pro-war "democrat" is effectively silenced.

The Senate Homeland Security committee will get a new chair, when the Dems suggest to Liebermann that, if he wants a leadership position, he take one in the Israeli cabinet. That means real investigation into FEMA, real investigation on airport security, port security, and a myriad number of topics that BushCo would just as soon not let you hear about.

The Senate Judiciary Committee can either be re-structured (one less repug, one more dem), or "That Liberal Arlen Specter" can be squeezed to play ball more. The senior Senator from PA is a lying, waffling turd who needs to be slapped back in line.

This isn't about bathroom blowjobs or diaper fetishes. The world is crumbling before the eyes of Senate Republicans, and they're trying to deal with it. If Craig refuses to go quietly into the night, it could get ugly for Vitty-cent. If Craig stays, Repugs shut up. They can't afford to do anything else.