Did he plan it? Did he struggle on life support until after the midnight hour, timing his last breath? Or had he been dead for days, his associates keeping the body on ice for the holiday announcement? Jesse Helms, dead on the 4th of July.
Helms would have appreciated the symbolism, confirming the his own mythic identity as a Proud American, but Helms' other legacy as a big fat bigot is well established. From his racist tirades on the radio and television in North Carolina during the 1950s and 60s, to his vicious homophobic rants of the 1980s and 90s, he left a highly quotable record of hate.
On the civil rights movement: "'Candy' is hardly the word for either the topless swimsuit or the Civil Rights Bill. In our judgment, neither has a place in America--unless we have completely lost our sense of morality."
"The Negro cannot count forever on the kind of restraint that's thus far left him free to clog the streets, disrupt traffic, and interfere with other men's rights."
On sexual politics and public health: "The government should spend less money on people with AIDS because they got sick as a result of deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."
In death it's easy to dismiss Jesse Helms as a colorful buffoon or a relic of the bad old days of segregation and sexism, but that doesn't do Helms' bigotry justice.
Jesse Helms was an important bigot. He didn't just fume and huff. He used the language of cultural politics--called "morality" or "values" or just "freedom"--to shrink the state, reduce the social wage, enhance the interests of ruthless corporate profit mongering, and promote US military interventions around the world. He's the poster boy for how cultural politics works, not as an arena separated from the "real" political economy, but as the site of the language and emotion through which people live politics and economics everyday.
Read The Full Story at The Nation
US News and World Report printed a short piece about GOP fears that the President's relevance is shrinking beyond already dismal levels.
Allies Worry About President's Schedule
Some of President Bush's allies tell the Political Bulletin they are embarrassed and angry that the White House seems to be wasting Bush's time on frivolous events when much of the country is suffering through economic hard times. "Look at the schedule for Monday," says an outside Bush adviser.
"A highlight of his day was witnessing a tee ball game. ... He is being reduced to child's play."
The adviser says Bush also signed a supplemental appropriations bill for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on Monday, but he adds that it didn't get much coverage and that the tee ball game set the wrong tone.
There is growing concern among Bush allies that the Democrats will effectively portray the President and GOP candidate John McCain as out of touch.
Some GOP insiders now predict that the Republicans will lose at least five seats in the Senate and 15 to 20 in the House, and it could get worse if gasoline prices continue to soar and the public remains in a disgruntled mood.
Think you’re worried about the economy? Phillip Swagel is a wreck.
The assistant Treasury secretary for economic policy, Swagel came out for his monthly economic briefing yesterday, 90 minutes after the Labor Department reported that the country had shed jobs in June for the sixth straight month.
It was a hopeless spin assignment — but Swagel, the administration’s sacrificial lamb for the day, had to try. And so Swagel, bookish and bespectacled, entered the Treasury Department’s briefing room with evident trepidation. He nodded and offered smiles every which way. His heavy breathing, picked up by the microphone, could be heard in the back of the room.
Watch It:
President Bush will speak on the Republican convention’s opening night in St. Paul, MN.
The New York Times reports that while details were still being worked out, a joint McCain/Bush appearance is “highly unlikely.”
One GOP representative, however, said that a better plan would involve Bush staying home:
“I don’t think there are a lot of people who want to see him at the convention,” said Mr. Rohrabacher, who is especially irked with Mr. Bush for his stance on immigration.
He said the president “should stay home from the Republican convention, and everybody would be better off.”
Will Obama Accept the Nomination at Invesco Field?
Barack Obama’s campaign is considering moving his nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention from the Pepsi Center to Invesco Field at Mile High to allow tens of thousands to witness the historic moment, sources say.
The move would mark a major departure from tradition, but would be in keeping with the candidate’s desire to build a large grass-roots campaign focused on “change.”
Invesco Field, home of the Denver Broncos, seats 76,125 and presumably several thousand more could fit on the field. The Pepsi Center holds less than 20,000 and is to be restricted to delegates, media, high-dollar donors and guests of the Democratic Party.
BUTTE, Mont. – On presidential campaigns, most visits to cities – no matter how picturesque or steeped in history – are essentially drive-bys. The candidate lands, delivers a speech, meets with a few local politicians and is on to the next town before dinnertime.
Here in Butte, with the Rocky Mountains in the distance and the Continental Divide only a few miles away, that was not the case for Senator Barack Obama. He spent a portion of three days in this city as he concluded a weeklong political swing through five red states.
“I’m trying to think if there’s a better setting anywhere in America to celebrate the Fourth of July than this view right here,” Mr. Obama told supporters who were sitting on a grassy field against a backdrop of rugged mountains and an endless sky.
Payday lenders are pursuing two different ballot issues that would overturn a recent law eliminating the short-term, high interest loans.
After Attorney General Nancy Rogers rejected the committee's first submission of summary language for the proposed referendum, the Reject H.B. 545 Committee submitted a revised version last week. Then, two days later, the committee proposed another issue that would repeal only language pertaining to payday loans. . . .
Consumer advocates reacted angrily and sent a letter to Attorney General Rogers asking her to reject both referendum petition summaries.
Bill Faith, executive director of Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio, said the latest referendum attempts to mislead voters by not explaining that it would increase the interest that lenders could charge.
"The summary does not mention either the 28% rate cap or note that voter approval of this referendum would result in lenders being permitted to charge 391% APR," he said in the letter.
Sen. Jeff Jacobson (R-Dayton) added support for the opponents' arguments."The clear intent of the petitioners is to create a potential choice of law scheme that will effectively exempt them from the most important element of HB 545, the 28 percent rate cap on payday loans, and other reform measures, including those designed to curb repeat borrowing," the senator wrote to Ms. Rogers. "This basic omission will invariably deceive potential signers."
Gongwer News Service Ohio (Sub req'd)
Consumers Call On AG To Reject Latest Payday Petition Summaries
Consumers Laud AG's Rejection of Payday Petitions; Offer Lenders Help Drafting Accurate Language
WASHINGTON — A federal judge in California said Wednesday that the wiretapping law established by Congress was the “exclusive” means for the president to eavesdrop on Americans, and he rejected the government’s claim that the president’s constitutional authority as commander in chief trumped that law.
. . .
“Congress appears clearly to have intended to — and did — establish the exclusive means for foreign intelligence activities to be conducted,” the judge wrote. “Whatever power the executive may otherwise have had in this regard, FISA limits the power of the executive branch to conduct such activities and it limits the executive branch’s authority to assert the state secrets privilege in response to challenges to the legality of its foreign intelligence surveillance activities.”
Judge Walker’s voice carries extra weight because all the lawsuits involving telephone companies that took part in the N.S.A. program have been consolidated and are being heard in his court.
Jon Eisenberg, a lawyer for Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, the plaintiff in the case, said the legal issues Judge Walker’s ruling raised were significant. “He’s saying FISA makes the rules and the president is bound by those rules,” Mr. Eisenberg said.
A Justice Department official said the department was reviewing the opinion late Wednesday and would consider its options.
With the recent shakeup at Team McCain, Rove's acolytes are now running the next Republican presidential campaign, and their following Rove’s playbook exactly.
And true to form, news outlets are scooping up what Rove’s team is shoveling.
In this sense, John McCain isn’t running for Bush’s third term, he’s running for Rove’s third term.
Paul Krugman in the NY Times Rove’s Third Term (reg. req’d)
Al Gore never claimed that he invented the Internet. Howard Dean didn’t scream. Hillary Clinton didn’t say she was staying in the race because Barack Obama might be assassinated. And Wesley Clark didn’t impugn John McCain’s military service.
Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary, titled his tell-all memoir “What Happened.” But a true account of modern American politics should be titled “What Didn’t Happen.” Again and again we’ve had media firestorms over supposedly revealing incidents that never actually took place.
The latest fake scandal fit the usual pattern as an awkwardly phrased remark, lifted out of context and willfully misinterpreted, exploded across the airwaves.
What General Clark actually said was that Mr. McCain’s war service, though heroic, didn’t necessarily constitute a qualification for the presidency. It was a blunt but truthful remark, and not at all outrageous - especially given the fact that General Clark is himself a bona fide war hero.
Yet the Clark affair did reveal something important - not about General Clark, but about Mr. McCain. Now we know what a McCain administration would represent: namely, a third term for Karl Rove.
It was predictable that the McCain campaign would go wild over the Clark remarks. Mr. McCain’s run for the White House has always been based on persona rather than policy: he doesn’t have ideas that voters agree with, but he does have an inspiring life story - which, contrary to the myth of the modest maverick, he talks about all the time. The suggestion that this life story isn’t relevant to his quest for office was bound to provoke a violent reaction.
But the McCain campaign went beyond condemning General Clark’s remarks; it went out of its way to distort them.[..]
The willingness of the McCain campaign to engage in these tactics, employing such tainted spokesmen, tells us that the campaign has decided to go negative - specifically, to apply the strategy Karl Rove used so effectively in 2002 and 2004 (but not so effectively in 2006), that of portraying Democrats as unpatriotic.
And sure enough, Adam Nagourney of The New York Times reports signs of the “increasing influence of veterans of Mr. Rove’s shop in the McCain operation.”
Will Rovian tactics work this year?
It’s certainly not Krugman’s fault that his deadline was probably mid-day yesterday, but the “latest fake scandal” actually happened shortly after he submitted his column, when the McCain campaign and the political media establishment decided that Barack Obama had changed his Iraq policy, reality notwithstanding.
What’s interesting, of course, are the similarities. Republicans/reporters twisted Clark’s words, and manufactured a huge story out of thin air. Soon after, Republicans/reporters twisted Obama’s words, and manufactured a huge story out of thin air. The facts were readily available to anyone who cared to notice, so Republicans/reporters decided to look the other way.
In both instances, there was a real story to cover. In Clark’s case, maybe reporters could have taken a moment to consider the substance of whether McCain’s military service during Vietnam makes him qualified to be president now. In Obama’s case, maybe news outlets could use this opportunity to let voters know the practical, fundamental differences between Obama’s and McCain’s Iraq policies.
But, no. A Rovian style of politics is geared towards eliminating the substance, which is just the way major news outlets like it. The feeding frenzy is easier than actual journalism anyway.
Krugman concluded, “[M]y sense, though it’s hard to prove, is that the press is feeling a bit ashamed about the way it piled on General Clark. If so, news organizations may think twice before buying into the next fake scandal.”
And within hours of Krugman turning in his column, the press that should have been ashamed started the whole thing over again, highlighting Obama’s Iraq policy, and pointing to an inconsistency that doesn’t exist.
McCain and his campaign, in other words, are following Rovian politics to a T, and as of now, it’s working.
Candidates' Vices: Craps and Poker
McCain's passion for gambling and taking other risks has never been a secret. He was a Navy flyer, trained in the art of controlled crash landings on aircraft carriers. He spent his youth sneaking booze behind the backs of his schoolmasters and reveling in his stack of demerits. He came of age on shore leave in the casinos of Monte Carlo, in a Navy culture that had long embraced dice in the officers' clubs.The moral code of McCain's youth always distinguished between sins of honor and sins of pleasure. "Don't lie, cheat or steal — anything else is fair game," McCain told his son Jack when the boy left for the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Md. In his memoir, McCain recalls that by his mid-20s, he "had begun to aspire to a reputation for more commendable achievements than long nights of drinking and gambling."
Over time he gave up the drinking bouts, but he never quite kicked the periodic yen for dice. In the past decade, he has played on Mississippi riverboats, on Indian land, in Caribbean craps pits and along the length of the Las Vegas Strip. Back in 2005 he joined a group of journalists at a magazine-industry conference in Puerto Rico, offering betting strategy on request.
"Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in John's life," says John Weaver, McCain's former chief strategist, who followed him to many a casino. "Taking a chance, playing against the odds."
Liposuction: The Key to Energy Independence
The idea came to me from reports of the growing crime of French fry oil theft: certain desperate individuals are stealing restaurants' discarded cooking oil, which can then be used to fuel cars.
So the idea is, Why not could skip the French fry phase and harvest high-energy hydrocarbons right from ourselves?
I'm talking about liposuction, of course, and it's a mystery to me why it hasn't occurred to any of those geniuses who are constantly opining about fuel prices on MSNBC.
The average liposuction removes about half a gallon of liquid fat, which may not seem like much. But think of the vast reserves our nation is literally sitting on!
Thirty percent of Americans are obese, or about 90 million individuals or 45 million gallons of easily available fat--not from dead diatoms but from our very own bellies and butts.
This is the humane alternative to biofuels derived directly from erstwhile foodstuffs like corn. Biofuels, as you might have noticed, are exacerbating the global food crisis by turning edible plants into gasoline.
But we could put humans back in the loop by first turning the corn into Doritos and hence into liposuctionable body fat.
''If bin Laden takes over and becomes king of Saudi Arabia, he'd turn off the tap,'' said Roger Diwan, a managing director of the Petroleum Finance Company, a consulting firm in Washington. ''He said at one point that he wants oil to be $144 a barrel'' -- about six times what it sells for now.
Oil prices leapt $144 dollars a barrel on Wednesday after data revealed a drop in stockpiles of US crude.
US economy loses jobs for sixth straight month
"Unemployment is still on a rising trend, payrolls are falling, and there's no light at the end of the tunnel here, so the tax rebates may have pushed up consumer spending, but it doesn't seem to have improved the labor market yet," said Ian Morris, chief US economist at HSBC North America.
Serioualy folks . . .
When Bush took office in January 2001:
The unemployment rate was 4.2%, now it is 5.5%.
The inflation rate was 3.7%, now it is 4.1%.
Gasoline was around $1.45, now it is over $4.00.
The S&P 500 was 1,342 and now it is 1,261.
The trade weighted dollar was 122.7, now it is 96.0.
Somehow I just don't think we'll be hearing chants of "Four More Years" at the Republican convention.
Payday Lenders "Will Stop at Nothing" to Avoid Rate Cap
Payday lenders are now pursuing two separate referendums, each with the goal of allowing them to charge customers up to 391 percent annual interest on a typical two-week loan. Consumers decried the industry's tactics and called on Ohio's attorney general to reject the misleading and deceptive petition summaries the lenders are using as they try and qualify both measures for the November ballot.
In a letter dated today, Bill Faith, executive director of the Coalition on Homeless and Housing in Ohio, asked Attorney General Nancy Rogers to reject both summaries, saying, "The payday lenders will stop at nothing. It's no surprise that they are attempting to subvert democracy on the eve of July Fourth. Democracy thrives on openness and truth, not deception."
On June 19, Rogers rejected the summary used on the industry's first referendum because it was not a fair and truthful explanation of the legislation. The lenders responded by drafting a new summary, and by launching a second referendum.
The industry's well-documented abuses prompted state legislators in May to adopt House Bill 545. Considered among the nation's most comprehensive payday lending reform measure, the measure was signed into law June 2nd. Along with the 28 percent rate cap, it included provisions to curb repeat borrowing and crack down on abusive collection tactics.
Payday lenders have mounted a well-financed campaign against the law that now includes two efforts to avoid the rate cap.
The first petition asks voters to overturn the new law entirely - including the 28 percent rate cap -- while the second seeks to overturn only the portion of the law that ended the industry's exemption from usury laws. Specifically, it attempts to delete just that part of House Bill 545 that repealed Ohio's Check-Cashing Lender Law, a statute that exempted the industry from the state's usury law and permitted payday lenders to charge up to 391 percent annual APR.
If the industry's latest referendum is successful, that exemption would remain in effect and the industry could continue to gouge those in need of short-term cash.
The petition summary used in the latest referendum "misleads voters by not explaining the impact passage would have on the rate cap,'' Faith wrote in his letter to Rogers. "The summary does not mention either the 28 percent rate cap or note that voter approval of this referendum would result in lenders being permitted to charge 391 percent APR.''
The 28 percent cap is the cornerstone of the new reforms, and Rogers cited the lenders' failure to include the rate cap on the first petition summary among the reasons she rejected it. Her decision forced the lenders to circulate new petitions with a new summary, but Faith called on Rogers to reject the latest effort because its summary is unfair and unclear.
"It is not a summary; it is a soliloquy,'' Faith said, noting that the "summary'' contains a 15-page technical analysis borrowed from the state's bill-drafting agency. The rate cap is not even mentioned until page six.
An Indiana teacher who used a much lauded bestseller, The Freedom Writers Diary, to try to inspire under-performing high-school students has been suspended from her job without pay for 18 months.
The effective book ban by the school authorities in Perry Township has outraged teachers and education reformers.
The Writers Diary, a series of true stories written by inner-city teenagers, was put together by a teacher, Erin Gruwell, and has been celebrated as a model for transforming young lives. It was made into a film with Hilary Swank last year.
Q: You have admitted that you’re not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy and many have said –
McCAIN: I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not. I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military. I’m very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.
Watch it at Think Progress.
It's ceratinly not the first time McCain has blatantly tried to deny previous statements he's made .
He continues to demonstrate his basic lack of understanding of the internet and the fact that now almost eveything he says or has said is available to fact check.
I mean Senator there's this new fangled thing called YouTube:
This is called the "Terrorist Fist Jab". When you see this you should report it immeadiately to the appropriate authorities as suspicious activity.
Here's a particularly scary example.
The root of this evil? Click here
Peace to Darcy Burner, below, whose house burnt down yesterday.
IN THEIR BOOTS is a compelling new magazine show about the dramatic impact the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are having on us - the people here at home. The show will feature our Iraq and Afghanistan service men and women, and their families, in stories that have universal appeal.
Funded by a grant from the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact fund (IADIF) and produced by Brave New Foundation, IN THEIR BOOTS will be streamed exclusively online.
In Their Boots will be hosted by Jan Bender, a veteran of the war in Iraq who served as a rifleman/combat correspondent in Iraq with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines from 2004 to 2005.
Every week a live episode will be built around a dramatic and emotional IN THEIR BOOTS "Real Story," a non-fiction narrative about how our servicepeople, their families, and their communities have been profoundly changed by the nation's campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Then, in a live forum, Jan Bender, our host, will interview the participants and lead a discussion that includes experts, service-providers and individual viewers in an interactive discussion of the issues raised.
Segment 1: IN THEIR BOOTS "Real Story" is a powerful and compelling, character-driven, non-fiction story about a brave individual, a family or a community confronting and overcoming the consequences of deployment. Shot on location throughout the country, stories will stress optimism, the courage of our characters, and the valor of the people and organizations that help our heroes on their journey.
Segment 2: Join The Live Discussion where our host conducts live, remote interviews of the people featured in the "Real Story." Our host will moderate a discussion among the participants and the people from the organizations that help them. Next we will raise the interactive bar when we take viewer's web-cam questions live on the air. Our host will also alert viewers as to how they can join the movement to help our service men, women and their families here on the home front.
Segment 3: ISSUES AND ANALYSIS is an in depth analysis of the most pressing issues affecting our service members, their families, and by extension - all Americans. Accessing veterans benefits, living with Post-Traumatic Stress, and grappling with the economic challenges of reintegrating into civilian society are just of few issues that our host and guest experts will address. The focus of this segment is to raise awareness and offer solutions for our service-members, military families, and veterans.
Trailer For In Their Boots:
Over the past month, Ohio Senate Democrats have held several Listening Tour events focused on economic security issues. Each event has been convened by a member of the Senate Democratic Caucus.
“The Listening Tour is a statewide series of public forums designed to build awareness of and support for the legislative vision of the Senate Democratic Caucus through a comprehensive Economic Security Agenda. These public forums will serve as a catalyst to develop specific legislation to spur job creation, provide quality health care, advance clean-coal technology, reduce crime, invest in our urban neighborhoods, end foreclosure and promote affordable housing. The Listening Tour is an opportunity for the public to inform the Senate Democratic Caucus as it develops legislative solutions for issues relevant to local communities throughout the state of Ohio.”
The last scheduled event will be held from 1-4 PM on Friday, July 18 at the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus. This session, focused on affordable housing, will be convened by Senator Ray Miller.
"During the various Listening Tours that will take place throughout Ohio, Senate Democrats will share our vision for creating a more vibrant economic future through legislation that addresses the relevant needs of the communities that make our state great," said Senator Ray Miller, who will hold an event in Columbus July 18. "We look forward to better serving the public through informed, compassionate policies that will invest in our economic infrastructure to generate prosperity and opportunity for all Ohioans."
Complete list of Listening Tour events:
- Friday, May 30, 1-4 p.m.: Lorain County Community College (Health care) – Senator Sue Morano (D-Lorain)
- Monday, June 2, 1-4 p.m.: St. Clairsville (Clean-coal, energy) – Senator Jason Wilson (D-Columbiana)
- Friday, June 13, 2-5 p.m.: Akron, University of Akron – Martin Center (Transforming a local economy: The Akron Experience) – Senator Tom Sawyer (D-Akron)
- Friday, June 20, 1-4 p.m.: Kent State University-Trumbull (Home foreclosures and economic security) – Senator Capri Cafaro (D-Hubbard)
- Wednesday, June 25, 5:30-7 p.m.: Cincinnati (Community-based strategies for confronting urban crime) – Senator Eric Kearney (D-Cincinnati)
- Friday, June 27, 1-4 p.m.: Cleveland, City Council chambers (Urban solutions for urban problems) – Senators Shirley Smith (D-Cleveland), Lance Mason (D-Cleveland) and Dale Miller (D-Cleveland)
- Friday, July 18, 1-4 p.m.: Columbus, Center of Science and Industry (Affordable housing) – Senator Ray Miller (D-Columbus)
Posts
Jesse Helms, American BigotDid he plan it? Did he struggle o...
US News and World Report printed a short piece about GOP fea...
The Washington Post: Think you’re worried about the ...
President Bush will speak on the Republican convention&rsqu...
Will Obama Accept the Nomination at Invesco Field?Barack Oba...
