http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ An outside-the-Beltway perspective on current events, politics, media, and the arts. We are proud to be part of the Reality-Based Community. en-us mratclif@aracnet.com 2009-11-22T00:00:22-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014582.php Wired discusses the latest attempt of the global deniers to stop the world from dealing with global climate change. Joe Romm also wrote about the stolen emails and asks and then answers the question: "Where the heck is global warming? Just where you’d expect it." One wishes the deniers could stop the melting Arctic sheet. Or perhaps the disappearing glaciers are a fantasy and the world is experiencing a massive cooling trend? So, what should you believe? The physical evidence of the mountains without ice caps or the deniers who believe that climate scientists are committing a massive fraud?... 14582@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-22T00:00:22-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014581.php Harry Reid achieved a minor miracle a half-hour ago when he got 60 votes to begin the health care debate in the Senate right after the Thanksgiving recess. No sooner had he done that, with the help of alleged Democrats Blanche Lincoln and Mary Landrieu, did Lincoln make it clear she would never vote for any final bill that allows cash-strapped middle class families to choose a public plan instead of being forced to buy from the pimps who bankroll her campaigns. Landrieu needed to be bought with $100 million for her state just to allow a vote. And Joe Lieberman, despite a CBO report that shows the flawed Senate Finanace Committee plan actually reduces the deficit, swore that he would fight health care reform because it adds to the deficit, showing once again that he is wholly-owned by Aetna and other industry pimps. I look forward to someone, anyone, running commercials in Lieberman, Lincoln, and Landrieu's states showing how willing they were to deficit spend a trillion dollars for the war in Iraq, but now cannot stomach a paid-for bill that helps Main Street.... 14581@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Healthcare 2009-11-21T17:55:05-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014580.php Glenn Greenwald offers a devastating comparison. Jeralyn explains that the fall of Greg Craig was the triumph of politics over the law. The Hill has some good news, for which we owe some thanks to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR). Digby does what digby does.... 14580@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-21T12:00:17-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014579.php Dave Johnson makes a very smart case for taxing the rich. As he said, in the hey-day of steep taxes on the rich, America did a much better job of living up to its billing as a land of opportunity for all and everyone was better off then. Great piece, Dave. So glad to see that the Merc was willing to publish it.... 14579@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-21T00:00:15-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014578.php Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi today unloaded on Afghan "President" Hamid Karzai, and made clear that the House will not go along with a major troop buildup in Afghanistan. Reuters: Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi, a skeptic on sending more troops to Afghanistan, also said in an interview with National Public Radio aired on Friday that there was not strong support among her fellow Democrats in Congress for "any big ramp-up of troops" to oppose resurgent Taliban forces. She told NPR she had asked fellow Democrats to give President Barack Obama room to decide his Afghan strategy, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks. Once Obama, also a Democrat, announces his decision, lawmakers would "not be shy" about responding, she said. "The president of Afghanistan has proven to be an unworthy partner. We cannot fund a mission where we don't have a reliable partner and where whatever civilian investments we want to make, which are so necessary, will be diverted for a corrupt purpose," Pelosi told NPR News' Morning Edition. A stolen election, a lack of clear purpose, an ambassador opposed to the buildup, and a skeptical president. Let's hope the president decides against the escalation, but even if he doesn't, it's clear that the Democratic House won't support one. (h/t T2)... 14578@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Foreign Policy/War 2009-11-20T16:11:07-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014577.php The re-emergence of Sarah Palin has provided a stark and depressing message about the way our media cover politics. Because Sarah Palin is a politician, yet she is treated as a pop culture celebrity. And then some in the media defend her, by saying it's unfair that she is treated as a pop culture celebrity. Arguments about whether or not she is responsible for the coverage are irrelevant, because no matter how she presents herself and behaves, it's still up to the media to decide how they react to her presentation and behavior. If she sells herself the way most celebrities sell themselves, the media ought to make that their focus: that whatever she is, she is not someone who focuses on what should be a politician's focus. Instead, too many supposedly serious media outlets also fail to focus on what should be a politician's focus. I've subscribed to Salon.com since it became a subscription website. Salon publishes some of the best political commentary, anywhere. Its reporters often prove themselves among the best, anywhere. Its coverage of Bush administration crimes, the Walter Reed scandals, and the still emerging Arlington National Cemetery scandal have been invaluable. So, it is painful to read Salon's puerile coverage of the re-emergence of Sarah Palin. Salon's coverage is a lesson in how not to cover Sarah Palin. First, Sandra Tsing-Loh writes a mind-numbingly inane puff piece, that starts off with an attempt at folksy cutesy humor, before taking a weak stab at exposition:... 14577@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Media 2009-11-20T11:48:30-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014576.php It will come as a great surprise to our erstwhile members of Congress, I’m sure, but there’s a growing awareness within the electorate that after successive generations of television and sanctioned bribery Congress has become worthless, unable to effectively respond to any emerging problem and merely exacerbating current ones, precisely as it did with prescription drug prices. Ruthless capitalist sharks are enabled more as the campaign cash flows in, the sick system somehow demanding citizens accept the phenomena as a “doughnut hole.” That was the Republican then, fine, after ten Democratic months of Congress are matters demonstrably different? Okay okay, the Republicans blew the place up, that’s why the little people swamped their losing ludicrous asses out of office, how are the fixes going? We have economy/finance, healthcare, energy/climate, war, civil liberties and infrastructure on the Total Critical list. What has Congress tangibly done with the list this year? 1... 14576@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Democratic Congress 2009-11-20T06:30:05-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014575.php Instead of building trust for the government, Obama's economic team has made it worse. It's too bad, because it didn't have to be this way. Will he have a second chance? Not very likely. And that means some continuing and even growing hard times for Americans. (But the bankers are doing right nicely, thank you very much.)... 14575@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-20T00:00:22-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014574.php In Salon, Gene Lyons summarizes the stupid that is pressuring President Obama to escalate the war in Afghanistan: Hurry, hurry. There's no time for thinking; it's time to act. Washington's permanent war lobby has worked itself into a veritable lather. The proper Pentagon press leaks have been made, Op-Eds written, talk show commandos deployed. No less influential a military mind than the Washington Post's David Broder declares that even a bad decision about Afghanistan would be better than a postponed decision. Conceding that "a flood of leaks" has shown that "the perfect course of action does not exist," Broder nevertheless counsels haste. "[T]he urgent necessity," he writes, "is to make a decision -- whether or not it is right." Read that again. Better to do something stupid, the man says, than for President Obama to ask too many tough questions. Shorter Broder: when in doubt, panic. After all, it's only lives, our national security, and our strategic interests that are at stake.... 14574@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Foreign Policy/War 2009-11-19T08:03:35-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014573.php California once again takes the lead in energy efficiency by setting standards on how much energy a flat screen TV can use. By using our resources more wisely, we won't have to build lots of new, bigger and more expensive power plants. This is good policy and good news for Californians.... 14573@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-19T00:00:54-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014572.php A funny thing is happening on the way to economic recovery: certain economists are warning that things are going to get worse; that these include some of the very few economists who warned about this economic implosion before it happened ought to make them among the very few economists to whom we actually pay attention. If we care about credibility. And about the direction of the economy. NYU Professor Nouriel Roubini was so singled out for his dire predictions about the direction of the economy, during the housing bubble, that he was given the moniker "Dr. Doom." People don't like hearing what he has to say. But given the record, we all need to. For months, he has been warning about rising unemployment. As Mary pointed out, on Tuesday, Roubini's warnings now are taking on a more urgent tone. Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. While the official unemployment rate is already 10.2% and another 200,000 jobs were lost in October, when you include discouraged workers and partially employed workers the figure is a whopping 17.5%. While losing 200,000 jobs per month is better than the 700,000 jobs lost in January, current job losses still average more than the per month rate of 150,000 during the last recession. And he warns that after both the 2001 and 1990-1991 recessions had ended, unemployment continued to rise for another year and a half! Which, in the present case, means rising unemployment through next summer! When we will be in the midst of an election which will largely determine the ability of President Obama to implement his agenda for the rest of his first term! Frightened yet?... 14572@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Economy/Finance 2009-11-18T13:32:58-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014571.php As things stand now, my earlier optimism about getting a good health care reform bill out of this Congress is now gone. Part of that I blame on the inept leadership Democrats suffer from in each chamber. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are exactly the wrong people to be charged with strategic thinking and agenda management, and yet Barack Obama and Rahm Emanuel banked the farm on them, and let the Democratic caucuses in each house translate an electoral mandate into significant losses in 2010. Part of it I blame on what Bush left behind. Just like he left Texas in a mess, Bush left this country in shambles, and had already started on a course of indebtedness and Wall Street bailouts that poisoned the well for the next president’s agenda. However, it’s also too easy to blame the problems facing Democrats right now on their leadership and the Republicans. A healthy dose of looking in the mirror would help the White House right about now, not that they ever will. Barack Obama owns the paltry and misguided stimulus package, and the fact that we will not get another shot at one before 2010. Barack Obama owns the lack of financial reform to date, and the fact that his own administration is conspiring to work against real reform and continues to this day to be more interested in helping out Goldman Sachs than they are in holding Wall Street accountable. And Barack Obama owns the blown health care debate and legislative approach, which has evolved to a point where a necessary debate about the morality of letting big insurance companies destroy the lives of everyday Americans has been diverted into a debate about abortion, which should have been foreseen months ago as a red state poison pill.... 14571@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Obama Disappointments 2009-11-18T07:20:15-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014570.php Digby highlights an interview with Rick Perlstein putting the Obama presidency in historical perspective. Definitely a must read.... 14570@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-18T00:00:17-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014569.php From Joan Walsh: So while I'm not worried about President Palin, I remain worried about President Obama. I'm particularly concerned that his increasingly triangulating, anti-deficit administration will do the wrong thing, morally and politically, and move to the right, without understanding that some right-wing rage could be rechanneled by acknowledging its roots: That the economic system seems rigged for the have-a-lots v. the have-a-littles, and despite their promises, the Democrats haven't done enough to change that. Palin can't change any of that, but Obama can. There's still time for him to do so, but the clock is ticking.... 14569@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Obama Disappointments 2009-11-17T10:24:14-08:00 http://www.theleftcoaster.com/archives/014568.php Dr Doom declares the green shoots dead. Time to come up with another plan to get Americans working again because bailing out the banks didn't get the job done.... 14568@http://www.theleftcoaster.com/ Miscellaneous 2009-11-17T00:00:39-08:00