Morning Briefing for June 26, 2009

JUNE 26, 2009

Sign up to get the morning briefing by email here.

This is an unusual morning briefing today.

There is only one thing you need to know: the Democrats had an emergency meeting last night and will be meeting again this morning because they have not yet rounded up all the votes to pass their anti-growth Cap and Trade legislation.

They are very close.

Here is a list of the Democrats who need pressuring. They are arranged by state.

Here is a list of the Republicans who need pressuring.

As always, you can go to http://www.redstate.com/action to find out your Congressman’s direct phone number.

Call and encourage your Congressman to vote no on H.R. 2454 — the cap and trade “global warming” legislation.

Democrat John Dingell (D-MI) says H.R. 2454 is “a tax and it’s a great big one.”

Democrat Charlie Melancon (D-LA) says, “I believe this bill would create an undue burden on families who are already paying too much in energy bills.”

Democrat Mike Ross (D-AR) says of Cap and Trade, “‘If you don’t like $4-a-gallon gasoline, you’re really not going to like your electric bill sometime between now and 2030.”

That’s what you need to know for today. Now get on the phone and encourage others to get on the phone.

Source: Red State RSS Feed

Imagine if the people of Iran owned guns

This is the gun control debate in a nutshell. Governments don't want citizens to own guns so the people can never stand up to a tyrannical government. How different things would have turned out in Iran if the people had more than stones to fight back with against the government thugs carrying the guns.

Source: Tony Phyrillas RSS Feed

DOI: FDNY & DOB share blame for Deutsche Bank tragedy

From the NY Times:
Though an inspector warned in June 2007 that a breach in a standpipe at the former Deutsche Bank building had to be fixed and tested, the test was never done.
Thus a chance to learn of a much larger break in a pipe in the basement — meant to deliver water in case of a fire — was missed.
That was one problem identified in a report by the city’s Department of Investigation. It paints a scathing portrait of how the Fire Department and the Department of Buildings inspected — or failed to inspect — the bank building in the months before a fatal fire on Aug. 18, 2007.
Two firefighters died battling the blaze in the building, which was being both decontaminated and deconstructed. The building, at the edge of ground zero, was damaged on 9/11.
The report found failures by fire officers, at several levels, to conduct basic inspections of the site every 15 days, as department rules require when high-rise buildings are being built or demolished. The frequency is important because the inner workings of such sites are usually changing.
It also found a “lack of communication up and down the chain of command,” meaning that the importance of compliance with the 15-day rule was not reinforced among the lower ranks.
The report also noted that firefighters had gone into the building in the period before the fire to help injured workers and that, on May 17, 2007, a pipe fell from the building through the roof of an adjacent firehouse, Engine No. 10, but none of that was enough to prompt anyone to ask for inspections.

Source: Queens Crap RSS Feed

Granny pedal power

yes, she can!
Reuters reports that neither age nor gender ... nor chasing down purse snatchers is a barrier to biking! Over in Buerstadt, Germany an 80-year old woman put the pedal to the meddle after her handbag was stolen from her bike basket by a passing biker. Before she could overtake him on her bike, a sympathetic cager stopped the thief and held him for the authorities.
A surprised police spokesman in nearby Darmstadt stated, The woman had the guts to say, 'I'm not taking that'. With the return of her bag, granny is contemplating better ways to secure her bike basket. Now all she needs to find is someone to pedal!

Source: Bicycle Diaries RSS Feed

Arnold isn’t tough, he’s a coward

By Steven T. Jones

I’ve had it with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s action hero bullshit, wherein he masks his cowardly failures with a tough-talking veneer. The latest example is his campaign’s (yes, the termed out governor’s Join Arnold campaign team is still quite active) latest missive on California’s $24 billion budget deficit deadlock titled "Tough Times, Tough Choices."

“To close California's budget gap, the Governor has proposed deep cuts to education, public safety, and health and human services. He has also made clear his commitment to making government more efficient and to finding innovative ways to stretch taxpayer dollars. Tough choices must be made to get the state through this crisis, but if these tough choices are not made, the state will again be on the brink of insolvency,” they write.

Ending public health programs, robbing schools, closing parks, letting infrastructure deteriorate, and weakening the state’s ability to keep citizens safe isn’t tough. It’s the act of a coward, a bully beating up on the weak to appear strong while cowering before the actual tough guys. Taking on his political base and advocating higher taxes on millionaires – which this state desperately needs to do – that would be tough.

Instead, Arnold chooses to push this once great state to the brink of collapse, just as rich conservatives have been trying to do for a generation or more, following the Milton Friedman playbook whose disastrous results Naomi Klein chronicled so thoroughly and chillingly in The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism, which is one of the most important books of this new century.

Arnold is mindlessly following in the tradition of such murderers of civil society as Augusto Pinochet, Boris Yeltsin, Margaret Thatcher, George W. Bush, Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozado, Deng Xiaoping, Paul Bremer, and the countless neocon ideologues from the Chicago School of Economics, USAID, the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other agencies that force radical “structural readjustments” on otherwise functional societies, making the rich richer and the desperately poor more numerous.

Our only hope at this point is a dysfunctional California Legislature, many members of which are trying to do the right thing, but are held hostage by the two-third vote rule and other voter-approved restrictions that big money interests using divisive scare tactics have tricked Californians into approving over the years. That, and the ever-present risk of popular revolt if they push too far and we sink too low. Because neither of these guys is inspiring much hope that there are actual leaders on the horizon.

Source: SFBG Politics RSS Feed

Video of Letterman Apology and Webcam Image of Anti-Letterman Protest Rally

Here is the actual video of David Letterman’s apology to Sarah Palin and her family on last night’s show. Palin later accepted the apology. Unfortunately many Palin supporters have not accepted the apology and still plan protests against Letterman.

We also have the first pictures of the leaders of the anti-Letterman marches being held outside the Ed Sullivan Theater:

Update: Reuters reports on the anti-Letterman protests (emphasis mine):

Still, more than a dozen protesters held up banners outside Letterman’s Times Square studio as Tuesday’s show was being taped, but they were outnumbered by spectators and media.

Sounds like they are having trouble getting attention from anyone other than a handful of right wing kooks.

Update 2: The New York Daily News places the count at about fifty. MTV estimates three dozen.

Searching around the web I also found another comment worth quoting which I had missed in my earlier round ups. Kate Harding writes that Letterman and Palin are both jerks, but she felt compelled to defend Letterman (as I did) because he was the target of false accusations which went way beyond what he actually said. After summarizing what Letterman said and the distortions spread by Palin, Harding wrote:

She and her daughters do not deserve sexist attacks any more than Hillary Clinton, Gloria Steinem or your mom do, and she’s absolutely right that what Letterman said was out of line and indefensible. She’s absolutely right that jokes like that contribute to an oppressive culture for women and young girls. But on this rare occasion when she’s absolutely right about a couple of things, she can’t just stop there. She has to blow straight past reasonable outrage and into disingenuous, over-the-top accusations.

Earlier this week, a Palin spokesperson said in a statement, “It would be wise to keep Willow away from David Letterman.” When Lauer asked her about that, she said, “Hey, take it however you want to take it.” OK, here’s how I take it: You’re implying that Letterman’s a pedophile. Nice. See also: calling the jokes “sexually perverted,” which they weren’t, instead of “sexist and tasteless,” which they were. So now here I am, inspired to defend Letterman from spurious attacks on his character, when I should be reinforcing the accurate attacks on his character in response to his spurious and sexist attacks on yours and your oldest daughter’s. Why do you torment me so, Sarah Palin? Letterman said unequivocally offensive things, and he deserves to be condemned for them. But now, so have you, which complicates the matter of defending you as a fellow woman. Don’t get me wrong; I will always denounce anyone who calls you a slut, or any other misogynistic slur. You don’t deserve it, and that crap hurts all women. But if someone wants to call you a liar and a loon? You’re on your own, lady.

Source: Liberal Values RSS Feed

Real Time, Real Man: Maher Takes His Shot at Palin

Here we go again. 

During his opening monologue on ‘Real Time’ Friday night, Bill Maher, couldn’t resist piling on to the David Letterman controversy and the sex jokes made by him earlier in the week regarding Sarah Palin’s daughter.

In defending his friend, Maher thought Republicans had over reacted and this was just a case of ‘fake’ outrage. Much ado about nothing. He then went on talking about how Letterman had invited Sarah Palin and her young daughter, Willow, to appear as guests on his show but the Governor declined because she thought it would be wise to keep her daughter away from him. Said Maher, “…that’s right, he’s 62 years old, he’s gonna f*** her right there on stage…it would be very wise to keep her, very wise, yes. You know, I’d worry a little more about the 18-year old hockey players who knock up your daughters.” To which his audience of trained seals laughed and clapped and had a good old time. 

I sat there stunned. Much like his pal Letterman, as far as I was concerned, Maher had crossed the line. Big Time. What is it with these guys? 

For some strange reason, the Palin family continues to be a source of comedic gold despite the fact that Sarah Palin is Governor of Alaska. Can you imagine the side-splitting laughs we would’ve been able to enjoy had she been elected as our first female vice-president? Damn! Maher and Letterman would have ‘killed’ day in, day out. Their adoring audiences would have been carried out of the theatre on stretchers. “Somebody call the comedy ambulance for the love of Mike!  Dave did it again!” 

According to Bill Maher, these jokes are ‘harmless.’ Women of NOW are you listening? 

Remember when Don Imus was canned in 2007 for his comments made in reference to the Rutgers women’s basketball team? The outrage from the usual suspects and others was a bit more ‘real.’ He was called a racist and a sexist. He was forced to apologize for his lame attempt at humor and sent on his merry way by the powers that be. 

No such luck with Bill and Dave. Harmless. Yeah, right. 

Isn’t it interesting?…depending upon who is telling ‘the joke’ and who is the subject of ‘the joke’ there seems to be an inconsistency of just how ‘real’ or how ‘fake’ the outrage is when dealing with those oh so tolerant souls on the left. 

What’s up with that? 

We all know the answer.  For Bill Maher and David Letterman, no harm, no foul because the Palin family deserves it. They asked for it because Sarah Palin is who she is. An authentic, decent woman who became the governor of a state and last year accepted an invitation from Sen. John McCain to join him as his running mate for vice-president. 

The fact that the Palin’s are conservative doesn’t have -a- thing- to- do- with- it.  In the upside/down world which we now live, the Palin’s and their kids seem fair game to some on the left. WTF!?

One man’s free speech is another man’s hate speech. One man’s outrage is another man’s ‘fake’ outrage. At least it is if you worship at the altar of Leftism. 

As a father and a husband, I can tell you this much, my outrage is friggin’ real. For Todd and Sarah Palin. For their daughters, Bristol and Willow. For their family and those who love them. For my  wife. For my  daughter. Nothing fake about it at all, Billy boy. 

Enough is enough. 

Time for action. Saturday, my wife and I canceled our HBO service. A big thank you to Bill Maher. If there are others out there who have had enough of his brand of comedy, I suggest you take some action. Make a phone call to your service provider, let them know how you feel. You need to hit back. Hit ‘em hard where they understand it most, in the wallet. For some odd reason, that seems to get their collective attention. Money. Honey. 

In closing, it’s good to see the National Organization for Women and other women’s groups speaking out on the Letterman issue. As I mentioned earlier, hopefully, feminists are watching, listening and take notice of Maher’s Friday night performance and his stab at humor regarding the Palin girls. Harmless? You be the judge. 

As for Bill and his friend Dave, if they want to get back to the high road and make amends for the hurt they’ve caused the Palin family, I have a few suggestions: 

Apologize. Sincerely apologize. Stop with the jokes concerning the Palin’s daughters. Millions of young women and their families will be watching; listening. 

And if by some slim chance our pseudo heroes punk out, I suggest women and the men who love them, petition our state department to send Bill and Dave on an excellent adventure. Swap these two clown kings for American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee currently being held prisoners on some BS charge of illegally entering the armpit which is, North Korea.

That way, everybody wins.

Originally posted June 15 on Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood blog.

Source: NewsBusters RSS Feed

Let's Make a Baby

From the latest issue of h+ magazine, a look at why people are cool with eliminating diseases, but not cool with choosing eye color for their designer babies:

A January 2009 study by researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center found that an overwhelming 75% of parents would be in favor of trait selection using PGD – as long as that trait is the absence of mental retardation. A further 54% would screen their embryos for deafness, 56% for blindness, 52% for a propensity to heart disease, and 51% for a propensity to cancer. Only 10% would be willing to select embryos for better athletic ability, and 12.6% would select for greater intelligence. 52.2% of respondents said that there were no conditions for which genetic testing should never be offered, indicating widespread support for [pre-implantation genetic diagnosis]—as long as it’s for averting disease and not engineering human enhancement.

Of course, a lot of this stuff is already a done deed:

You may not know it, but gender selection based on pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has been available to paying couples since at least 2001. One of the world leaders in providing this service is the Fertility Institutes, with branches in Los Angeles, New York, and Guadalajara in Mexico. According to their website, they’ve had over 3,800 cases of gender selection with a 100% success rate. Besides offering gender selection, they screen embryos for genetic defects such as breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, and over 70 other diseases. The Institutes are directed by Dr. Jeff Steinberg, a pioneer of IVF (in vitro fertilization) in the 1970s, and a successful scientist-businessman today.

In early February, the Fertility Institutes created enormous controversy by announcing that they planned to offer PGD services allowing for the selection of eye and hair color for children. Steinberg was quoted by the BBC as saying, “I would not say this is a dangerous road. It’s an uncharted road.” As a scientist experienced in PGD/IVF techniques, Steinberg was aware that the technology to select physical traits in humans has been available for years, but no one would touch it. “It’s time for everyone to pull their heads out of the sand,” Steinberg said.

Of course, people are also getting used to selecting traits like eye color on their Miis. It's only a matter of time before they come around on doing the same for flesh and blood babies.

Read more about designer babies here.

Source: Reason Magazine - Hit Run RSS Feed

They Shoot People. Don't They? (But it's for a good cause).

In all the coverage of the recent uptick in shootings carried out by right-wing fringe lunatics in the past few weeks, the blood curdling dual murder carried out in the Arizona borderland town of Arivaca two weeks ago has gotten little notice in the press.

Raul Flores, 29, and his 9 year-old daughter were shot in cold blood during a home invasion conducted by self-proclaimed members of the "Minuteman American Defense" who had vowed to cleanse the area of what they said were Mexican drug dealers. This particular shooting, apparently, was carried out as a robbery to help finance their patriotic goals. Here are the details on the suspects who have been charged with first degree murder.  Don't you love how CBS News puts the word "extremists" in quotes? Courageous journalism, no?

Today, the Pima County Sheriff's Department has released the audio of the 911 call that took place during the shooting. It's not for those of weak stomach, but it's worth listening to. It's a stark reminder of what you get when you mix firearms with deranged people and deranged ideologies.

It's also a direct chilling, bloody manifestation of the sort of extremist violence that was predicted at the beginning of the year by a DHS report -- a report withdrawn under protest from conservatives.

----------------------------

Please subscribe to my Twitter feed at http://twitter.com/marc_cooper

Watch my regular Video Blogs by subscribing at http://www.youtube.com/McooperTube

P.S. As threatened, we will soon be relaunching a souped-up and redesigned blog site.

Source: Marc Cooper RSS Feed