Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion.
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"News that's not known, or not known enough." Helen & Harry Highwater's cranky weblog of news and opinion. |
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We the people are squeezed, squelched, and squashed America — what a terrific idea! Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, separation of church and state, eventually freeing the slaves and figuring out that women are human, liberty and justice for all, fightin' the Nazis, and carving big faces in the side of a mountain. USA, USA, USA! Who wouldn't pledge allegience to such a great idea? And cripes, what a colossal f*ck-up we've made of it.
And "the Obama administration issued a secret rule almost two weeks ago saying it was legal for the FBI to have skirted federal privacy protections." It's OK because the President says it's OK — does that sound familiar?
It is of course unlikely that Eric Holder's Justice Department will investigate this, since in a year on the job he hasn't yet whispered a peep about investigating anything that might make anyone in DC circles uncomfortable. Besides, the President probably said everything's OK. ♦ A task force for the Obama administration has recommended that at least 50 "war on terror" prisoners remain at Guantanamo or elsewhere, in limbo for the rest of their lives. The US government remains unwaveringly convinced that these men pose a danger to the world, but they're "too difficult to prosecute", code lingo for "If we prosecute them, it'll come out that the US had these people tortured". Keeping the evidence hidden is what's imperative here, and for that goal the Obama administration will sacrifice the constitution, and nobody but a few nuts like us will object. A statement of fact: The perpetual imprisonment of these men, without trial, without evidence, without rights, presents an exponentially greater threat to freedom, humanity, and civilization than any dastardly deed they might have or could conceivably commit.
♦ It is again asserted that at least three prisoners at Guantanamo were tortured to death by guards, and again asserted that a cover-up followed. I say again because it's been reported before. And again, nobody at the Obama administration's Justice Department will investigate, because the Obama administration seems to be on board with the cover-up. ♦ Judge Vaughn Walker (appointed by Bush41 in 1989) has dismissed another federal eavesdropping lawsuit using the same illogic that's dismissed previous cases, the Kafkaesque notion that it was not a "particularized injury" but instead a "generalized grievance". What it means, again, is that nobody can sue over widespread eavesdropping unless the plaintiff can prove that he/she was individually spied upon, while the feds and the telecom giants keep secret their massive lists of who's been spied upon. ♦ The ACLU is suing the Brattleboro, Vermont Police Department because, in violation of the First Amendment, cops there arrested four peaceful protesters for holding a banner. ♦ An Iowa woman has been charged with "attempted feticide" after telling a nurse that she took a tumble down a flight of stairs in hopes of aborting her baby. The coverage is ridonkulously thin, so I dunno what to think about this or whether to think about it at all. We're not, for example, told how far along this woman's pregnancy was, which seems to me to be the fact upon which any reader or prosecutor's judgment hinges. ♦ Republicans in the Colorado state legislature have introduced a bill to prohibit abortion after the first trimester. ♦ Cindy McCain, wife of US Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), has come out in support of gay marriage. Which has to be uncomfortable for her husband. It sure seems weird to me. All kidding aside I want to say thank you to Mrs McCain, for whatever her stand might mean among her crowd on the right-wing. But for as long as she's been even borderline newsworthy, everything I've seen about Mrs McCain has seemed freaky and ice cold, and my first reaction to this news is that she's probably misunderstood the issue. ♦ No real surprise here, as Paul Krugman briefly assesses the Obama administration's colossal economic policy mistakes. ♦ We're seeing some serious opposition to another term in office for the inept, incompetent, and possibly criminal Fed Chief Ben Bernanke. Three cheers for Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who's blocking Bernanke's renomination, and a handful of Democrats like Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) and a few others who are rallying peers to give Bernanke the boot.
Bernanke ought to be investigated by the Justice Department, certainly not reconfirmed by the Senate, and all this will have to come to a head by the end of the month, when Bernanke's term expires. ♦ Bernanke "welcomes" a "full review" of AIG bailouts, says the headline. Bull, says your hostess Helen. Bernanke wants this buried deeper than Atlantis. ♦ A series of darling caricatures and blunt, brief assessments of the facts — what a delightful way to present the apparently willful incompetence of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in "investigating" Bernie Madoff's $65-billion Ponzi scheme. The SEC is content to put Madoff behind bars and look the other way as all his co-conspirators get away with all their crimes and all their stolen money, same as they looked the other way for years while Madoff was running his operation. Of course, the Madoff gang's criminality is rather minor compared to the finance industry's staggering crimes, but it's not like the SEC and various other alleged enforcement agencies are letting Madoff's minions keep their loot because they're so busy prosecuting the real kingpins of crooked finance.
♦ It's occasionally mentioned in the media or by Democrats, but for the most part everyone in DC, left and right, has quietly agreed to let Republicans block numerous Obama appointments and leave high-level governmental offices staffed only by deputies. I'd say about 1/3 of the problem is Republican obstructionism, and about 2/3 of the problem is Democrats' refusal to call Republicans on their obstructionism. And it doesn't help that Obama picks gutless nominees like Erroll Southers, who are always unwilling to make any ruckus, which is the Democratic Party's modus operandi. ♦ President Obama has publicly proposed “giving bank regulators the power to limit the size of the nation’s largest banks and the scope of their risk-taking activities,” which sounds positively orgasmic if you're into common sense. I want to believe it and sure, I've sent a post card to the White House and another to my Congresscritter urging them to mean it this time ... But this is President Obama and the Democratic Party, so the banks aren't exactly worried, and this proposal will probably be compromised and re-compromised, slashed to please the Blue Dogs, slashed further to pleas ethe Republicans, and slashed further still to please the high finance crowd, until it ends up prohibiting banks from charging more than $28 per withdrawal in ATM fees. ♦ And the White House says up front that returning to the Glass-Steagall Act — now-dead legislation which largely protected America from exactly the kind of economic meltdown we're experiencing — is off the table. Of course. ♦ But an effort is underway to run an ad campaign with some as-yet un-named celebrities (Madonna?) urging a small tax on banks. ♦ After several years of having everything in the Senate bollixed up by the Republicans' fake filibusters, the Obama administration says, by golly, we ought to do something about this. Again, fine words, albeit years past due, perhaps even a noble intent, but will anything actually be done? Believe it when you see it, and in the meantime call the White House (202-456-1111), write your Senators, make whatever ruckus you can. Again. ♦ Republicans have balls and Democrats don't. But it's easy being Green. ♦ President Obama has signed up for the boneheaded notion of a "bipartisan" commission to resume cutting Medicare and other "entitlement programs" including Social Security. The quicker this commission gets to work, the quicker the Democrats will go down in flames, and be reduced to even more meaninglessness than they have presently achieved. We're at about the very edge of the cliff, and Obama's jumping. ♦ The folks at the Heritage Foundation, who are as close to purified evil as you're likely to find wearing suits, have some suggestions for the US military as it conducts rescue work in earthquake-ravaged Haiti: "While on the ground in Haiti, the U.S. military can also interrupt the nightly flights of cocaine to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the Venezuelan coast and counter the ongoing efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to destabilize the island of Hispaniola. This U.S. military presence, which should also include a large contingent of U.S. Coast Guard assets, can also prevent any large-scale movement by Haitians to take to the sea in rickety watercraft to try to enter the U.S. illegally." Other people worldwide, like Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, could easily share much the same idea.
But in the interest of fairness, we'll also give Obama and the Democrats a pat on the back when they get something right. This week... * The State Department has changed its position on exactly two Muslim scholars, who had been accused of backing terrorism simply because they criticized the Bush-Cheney administration. Tariq Ramadan of Oxford University in England and Adam Habib of the University of Johannesburg in South Africa will once again be allowed to visit and speak in America. * And that's about it for things Obama and the Dems got right this week.
♦ How much profit is too much profit, when you're in the business of gambling on all aspects of the economy and you'd be out of business if not for government subsidies? $5-billion dollars of profit in three months is too much and ought to not be allowed. Yeah, call me a pinko.
♦ Exiled Haitian dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier says he's sending $8-million of his massive plundered booty for earthquake relief. ♦ I can't stand to watch the TV coverage from Haiti, not so much because of the images of suffering but because whenever I'm watching the images seem to be interrupted by TV reporters offering the most inane narration and sticking microphones in survivors' faces to ask utterly imbecilic questions. It subconsciously sends the message that it's all as phony as the rest of what's onteevee news, or that the rescue missions to Haiti are all just a big bureaucratic clusterf*ck. But it hasn't stopped me from donating, and I hope you've given what you can as well.
♦ Much of the rescue in Haiti is being run by people who seem to have a severe shortage of GiveADamn, people like the aid official quoted here who says he won't send trucks and doctors out in Haiti because they might be "macheted to death on the way down". ♦ Is it "looting", as the media seems eager to label it, when starving Haitians obtain desperately-needed nourishment off the shelves of abandoned or ruined grocery stores? The word has stark criminal overtones, and seems to me an inappropriate piece of journalistic vocabulary when it's used in such a clear, inarguable emergency. This ain't a criminal act, it's heroism. This ain't "looting", it's heroism and survival. A lot of the fear and delay in the rescue mission is hesitation we wouldn't see if the victims were white. ♦ It ain't hard to understand that when the world sees US Marines arriving by the thousands, people expect the worst. The US military is usually used as a toxic tool of intimidation, murder, and domination, so it would seem less confusing to simply not use the US military for peaceful or humanitarian purposes. Instead we should have, shades of Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), a Department of Peace. They're the agency which should be running this kind of mission.
Which means, I don't think Chavez could buy life insurance, and I'll wager twenty bucks the United States will invade Venezuela by 2020. Stealing oil is the primary mission of the US military.
♦ Sir Michael Wood, who was the top lawyer at Britain's Foreign Office as the conspiracy to attack Iraq came to fruition, will testify that the attack was obviously illegal and he knew it at the time.
The agreement, though, only applies in California, and only applies to Californians who have health insurance. ♦ There's been lots of blather from PunditLand that health care reform will fail, because of a Senate election in Massachusetts last week. It's a handy excuse, for the many Democrats in Congress who want no reform and would be delighted to see it scuttled. They never wanted health care reform in the first place. Take the typical response of Senator Evan Bayh (D-Indiana), who says Democrats should repudiate the furthest left elements of the Dem party. Oh puhlease, girlfriend — as if the left, let alone the "furthest left", is welcome in any way in the Democratic Party. Or observe the illustriously yellow-bellied Senator Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut), who thinks Dems should take a 6-week break from even discussing health care reform. ♦ Here's a good antidote to this week's frustration: 5 jokes about Democrats. ♦ Federal officials have told state leaders in Nebraska that federal law prohibits Medicaid coverage for people who are not documented except for emergency care. That means no prenatal care for pregnant immigrants, no sireebob, not unless they've got a green card. I'm generally ambivalent about God, but sometimes I dearly hope He exists, He's watching, and He's preparing for Judgment Day, because really, wouldn't you love to see gavel-to-gavel coverage when the people responsible for this (and responsible for so much more) meet their maker.
♦ Every day, three million pounds of explosives are used to blow the tops off ancient mountain ridges in southern West Virginia to access thin seams of coal underneath.
Also, Olbermann does a surprisingly good Stewart. ♦ The Washington Post continues to let columnist George Will lie about global climate change, which he's done in perhaps half a dozen different columns already. I know I'm hopelessly old and out of touch, but by the standards or journalism from back when journalism had standards, serious newspapers don't knowingly publish lies. ♦ Mr Will is a despicible bastard, of course, but you knew that already. ♦ Apparently it's a new era for advertising on America's most watched television event, the Super Bowl. In the past, there's been an almost annual controversy as some left-wing group tries to buy an ad during the game, and is rebuffed by the television networks' rules against "advocacy ads". But this year CBS has approved an advocacy ad that'll run during the mind-numbingly boring game. And curiously, it's a right-wing advocacy ad, an anti-abortion spot sponsored by Focus on the Family.
The rule that used to ban advocacy ads will no doubt be restored as soon as another left-wing group steps up with an ad they want to run. ♦ We all heard the feel-good story of the New York cabbie who found a purse with a huge wad of money in it, left behind by a passenger, and tracked down the passenger to return her money, refusing all reward. I'm able to Google up plenty of coverage reporting that the cabbie's name is Mukul Asaduzzaman, but in real life and in the original Associated Press coverage his name is Mohammad and he's a Muslim. This editing seems curious and fascinating — consciously or subconsciously, newsroom editors don't want us to have even a moment's kind thought about a Muslim? The good guy's name sounds Muslim even without Mohammad, but when I heard the story on the radio he didn't have a name at all, and when I saw the news from the New York Post Mohammad wasn't there... ♦ The New York Times will start charging for on-line access later this Spring. We might pay, if we can afford the asking price, and if we do we'll either share our password or excerpt fat chunks of the Times' better pieces. ♦ Air America, the radio network that once carried a slate of liberal talk shows, has ceased operations. The network's good guys deserve a serious pat on the back, for providing a progressive voice at a time when speaking out in the slightest against then-President George W Bush was widely perceived as treasonous. Of course, that was years ago. Air America has always been ineptly managed, and over the past few years it did the same dance as the Democratic Party, backing away from genuine liberalism in favor of a bland programming mush that just wasn't worth listening to. Yeah, I'm talking to you, Montel Williams. There's been nothing but crap on Air America for a long, long while, with the exception of the once-weekly Ring of Fire, with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Mike Papantonio — but that show has its own website and my impression is that Kennedy and Papantonio, not Air America, produce and own Ring of Fire. ♦ A new biography of heavy thinker Friedrich Nietzsche claims that his anti-Semitism was his sister's creation.
For all I know he's right about the "nothing illegal" part, but the whole concept is creepy as hell, astoundingly stupid, and an abomination to anyone who thinks of Jesus as the Prince of Peace. And of course, there's zero chance that the military supply chain was unaware of this, and pretty dang close to zero chance that the company did this extra work without someone high up in the military command asking for it. And after a few days of public pressure, Trijicon issued a press release promising to stop the practice, and even offered to provide modification kits to scratch the etchings off the machinery. ♦ British Airways has a company policy that forbids adult males from sitting next to children they're unrelated to. It's to prevent in-flight pedophilia. That's absurd, of course, an assumption that all men are child molesters. It's so stupid that what do you want to bet BA got the idea from an American airline. ♦ American Christians are rushing Haitians hundreds of solar-powered audio-Bibles, so they can hear the Gospel even as they rebuild their society or die in agony waiting for real aid. Bibles, fer Christ's sake. And OK, let's waste a few inches babbling about last week's Supreme Court decision, which erased of large chunk of the minimal restrictions on campaign funding, giving corporations even more freedom to trumpet their Board of Directors' position on any issue or candidate. Of course, corporations have had effective control of elections for years, but now they'll have more. It's further evidence that America has become a fascist nation, by the definition of the word. This seems an appropriate time to conduct a brief but honest inventory of where we are, America. I'll keep it quick, because broad strokes are all we really need; the details are visible everywhere you look. First and most obviously, an informed electorate is the cornerstone of democracy. But how does an electorate get informed? Not by watching the news, that's for sure. Corporate control of journalism has made "the news" a product no different from cars and deodorant. Real news doesn't sell so it's been canceled like any other product and replaced with Fox, Katie Couric, and TMZ. Without real journalism the electorate is informed only with whatever information sells cars and deodorant. Voters know what Big Money interests want voters to know, so everyone knows about death panels and Conan O'Brien, but what Big Money doesn't want mentioned or analyzed won't be. With this Supreme Court ruling, the far-too-light restrictions on Big Money in elections have been pretty much wiped away, which means that voters will be even more "informed" by ads, which means that much less informed. Imagine for a moment a candidate who might challenge corporate control of everything in America. Think about the things that candidate would say, and think about how Goldman Sachs and General Electric would feel about such a candidate. That imaginary candidate has always been a hell of a long shot to get elected, but now he or she has pretty dang close to no chance whatsoever. Ah, but as Whitney Houston taught us, the children are the future. In public schools, though, any classes that encourage critical thinking have been expunged and teachers who teach are generally encouraged to sell real estate instead, so the next generation is going to be even dumber than their parents. And what about the overhyped and hysterical hyperventillation over the election of a Republican, Scott Brown, as a US Senator from Massachusetts? This election apparently gives Republicans an insurmountible 41-59 majority in the Senate, and scuttles health care reform, and sinks any hope the Democrats might have had for accomplishing diddlysquat. Are you aware, dear reader, that during George W Bush's eight years in the White House, Republicans never had more than 55 seats in the Senate? For Bush's first four years, there were never more than 51 Republicans Senators. Did that perceptibly slow the Republican agenda? Nope. Republicans wanted to accomplish some things so they did. Democrats don't so they won't. No amount of pundit-talk can ever convince me that the subtraction of one dead senator's seat is of any more than the slightest consequence in all this. It barely matters at all who's sitting in the chair where Ted Kennedy farted and drank for decades. The Democrats had huge majorities in both houses before last Tuesday's election, and they still have huge majorities in both houses. All that matters is what always matters: Money. All the money is on one side of health care reform, and both political parties are on the money side — opposed to health, opposed to caring, and opposed to reform. President Obama responded to Brown's election in his typical Neville Chamberlain fashion, by signaling that health care reform will wait until the newest obstructionist is sworn in. "Here's one thing I know and I just want to make sure that this is off the table", said the President of the United States. "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process." A long sigh and a few loud obscenities. Obama will now probably invite Senator Brown to the White House for cocoa and marshmallows, and offer the health and lives of more Americans in exchange for maybe getting a Republican's unnecessary vote for some watery piss the Democrats will call "health care reform". And there we are. The battle to save America isn't over but it sure is rigged, ain't it? Republicans and giant corporations control political dialogue and the political process, and the same Republicans and giant corporations control Democrats, regardless of who wins elections. After eight years of disastrous rule and almost daily lawbreaking by George W Bush and Dick Cheney et al, common sense and common decency calls for investigations and prosecutions, which won't happen. At the very least, a litany of staggeringly stupid Republican policies must be reversed, but haven't been and won't be. The odds are against real rights for real people — corporations hoard the rights, and this week's Supreme Court ruling only stacks those odds further. Odds are against an economic recovery too — America's manufacturing strength has been decimated on purpose and by design, leaving war this nation's leading export. Virtually everything about Republi-crat policy has been written and enforced for the benefit of corporations, not we the people. It's been that way for years, for generations, and it's only getting worse, and the alleged Democrat in the White House isn't doing a damned thing to change any of the above. To all this and so much more I haven't mentioned, the proper and patriotic reaction is to stand bolder and fight fiercer, and lordy I hope you do... But not me. I'm all out of bold and fierce. For all my adult life I've been an active participant in the political process, and what that's gotten me is very, very tired. So I'm going to try a little of that "change" Barack Obama used to talk about, for myself. My change is, I'm going to mellow, ease up on the bad news and perpetual frustration, protest and post here less and live more, and try to enjoy whatever time remains for me. I'm going to spend more time kissing the love of my life, and less time pretending there's a democracy to be part of, here in America. ♦ Unknown News is updated once weekly, usually on Mondays. It's our attempt to spotlight news that was underplayed, ignored, or simply lost in the non-stop news cycle. Have a seat and some cheese puffs but please, no smoking. A tip o' the hat to Daniel D., the letter Z, AK for CSS help, Right Wing Watch, Progressive Review, Arthur D.Hlavaty, Custodian at Platypus Maximus Media Filter, Bad Attitudes, Photography is Not a Crime, JR Mooneyham, Jim B., Sherri B., Cassandra, Joseph D., Joe G., Lon Garm, J.S. (not the Watergate felon) Magruder at Eat the Blog, Andrea O., Alexander Shaumyan, SirJ, Bill T., wlgriffi, our first web-home at pitas.com (1999-2003, and still a great place for publishing your blog), and the love of my life (who prefers to remain anonymous).
Recommended sites for gathering unknown or underreported news: Media Matters Pro Publica ThinkProgress Washington Monthly TruthOut
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