Morning Christy!

Morning, Elliott. Hope your weather is as gorgeous today as ours is — blue skies, a bit cold but not bitingly so. Lovely day for a school Valentine’s Day party with a herd of wee ones…

You know one thing about which all the Obama people seem to be on the same page:

They really never hesitate to smack down wingnuttery that blamess them for Bushco failures.

I enjoy that.

I only wish they had he same skill when it came to vettting nominees.

BTW, I like you tifffany box blue and white grahpics. Such a classic color combination

aww nothing like a shoebox full of Valentines *s*

Soothing colors, I thought — puts you in a zen frame of mind, which allows for deeper thought instead of shoot from the hip-ness, don’t you think?

If I was going to spend a lot of time on the page, I wanted it to feel like home. This is seriously working for me as a color scheme — took forever to get it just right.

This year’s selection: Tinkerbell valentines. They are so adorable. Gotta love it…

And when Axelrod says the same thing (only more sharply) on every bloody teevee channel available, it will be a brighter day still. It is waaaaaaay past time to start kicking some rethuglican *ss!

Amazing comments by Karl Rove. You know, the last thing that I think we’re looking for at this juncture is advice on fiscal integrity or ethics from Karl Rove. I mean, anyone who’s read the newspapers for the last eight years would laugh at that.

I wish he did the same thing with cheney and national security;

“the last thing cheney should be telling us is how to conduct national sercurity, there is so much damage done to our security I wish I could go into details”

man, disabuse cheney from EVER talking smack

And the ripples in the pool are very zen.

Damn! A Dem with a backbone. Even Billo and Hannity shouldn’t have any trouble understanding plain English.

DiFi opned her trap about predator drones flying out of base in Pakistan

http://www.latimes.com/news/na…..6260.story

Morning Christy and Elliot!
Happy Almost Valentines Day. I’d like it better if we really had some STFU Valentines for those two creepy losers with loose lips. Good on Axlerod, but, I want to hear about how they broke down crying while spilling the actual beans on some actual witness stand.
BTW, I made cookies with red sprinkles to take to work, and there are some left over for folks here.
It’s not too early for cookies, is it?

Ooooooommmmmmm.

Hey! I thought you were off to the capitalistic cesspool.

I chose that specifically — because we all make those ripples outward every time we act one a piece of legislation or an issue or whatever else we try to push forward or back. Each of us is a ripple outward, reaching toward another, and making bigger and bigger waves.

Here’s to many more of those to come…

Of course she did…

A Valentine for Darth, Rove and DiFi

Well, after sitting here most of the mornin’ talkin’ to meself I figured I’d stick around for a little interaction with the thinkers.

Morning all,

DIGG is open.

I like the sort of polite, reasonable, soft-voiced, off-hand way Axelrod uses his rapier to run them through.

Too bad Sean Connery’s a bit long in the tooth to play Axelrod in the movie…

“That’s the Chicago way…”

Good Morning Christy.

For those who remember the Fifth Dimension and their song The Age of Aquarius, tomorrow is the day that

When the moon is in the Seventh house
And Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then peace will guide the planets
And love will steer the stars

Let the sun shine in…

Good morning Christy. Yes, Axelrod’s interview warms the cockles of one’s heart. They are still running a tight ship, just as they did during the campaign.

Oh, and who wouldn’t want to be a fly on the wall when lovely Lynn Cheney watches this? Can you say “high dudgeon”? hehehehehehe

Sounds like Difi has really gotten into the transparency thingee.

I think I saw them live at the Hollywood Bowl when I was in Junior High School.
That song always makes me feel groovy.

Me, too — thought that measured tone was especially effective.

If only Axelrod had prevailed in the debate with Geithner on what should happen to the banks! Obama needs Axelrod to use his elbows more often. OT Patrick Leahy writes on the Huffington Post that it’s time for a truth and reconciliation commission. This is nothing more than a cop out by him and Conyers. Such a commission would be appropriate in a new and fragile democracy with no legal precedents but for an established democracy with an “independent” judiciary to propose such a commission is nothing more than a charade. If crimes were committed they demand legal sanctions. Imho if this approach prevails it’s just another indication of a corrupt and ossified political system abrogating it’s legal responsibilities and moving ever closer to ultimate collapse from within.

Yes I’d have to agree with that, it does make me feel groovy.

Ooopsie. I think your next thread posted a tad prematurely.

Let’s try very hard to ignore Bill O’….his remarks about Helen Thomas, among others of course, so ridiculous.

There’s no next thread now — refresh your screen…it happen sometimes.

I was just letting you know.

Jonathan Turley has argued passionately and convincingly that we (the Obama administration specifically, or the USA in general) are OBLIGATED by treaty and law to investigate and prosecute war crimes, and that the Bush gang actually admitted that they committed them. Turley has been on Countdown several times, and Leahy has been on Rachel Maddow. I would love to see KO and Rachel arrange a debate between Turley and Leahy on this subject.

It seems like KKKarls reality creation doesn’t work so well when it the light is shined on it.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Who do we need to “push” on the obligation topic?

I would, though, like to hear someone say that the Obama administration only requires coats and ties when bringing paperwork for the signature critically ill cabinet members in the hospital.

It seems we need to push Barack Obama. I’m not sure how we do that. This “let’s move forward” is crap (in this instance, anyway). Turley sez that Obama (and we all) “own” the war crimes if we don’t investigate.

I wrote Rachel’s show about this, but who knows whether it gets read. She says they read all e-mails, but I’m sure they get TONS of them.

I wish I could actually nail down Turley’s statements with more specifics about his claims. I believe them, but specifics might be good to spread around on the blogs.

Leahy is not the sole person who determines what happens with this — he has to contend with the entire Senate Dem caucus, and that means getting DiFi and Reid and others to agree to hold particular hearings as well as seeing whether the DOJ under Holder will prosecute. Which is a pretty big “if” from what I’m hearing at the moment.

By holding public hearings on any particular issue, you sometimes get information out publicly that forces the issue. Perhaps that is what Leahy — and Feingold and Whitehouse who are also supporting this — are hoping for? Can’t say that for certain, but I’m certainly asking around at this point to find out.

Getting the entire Dem caucus going in a single direction together is like herding rather jumpy cats. But getting public support behind you — which they also don’t have in any unified way at the moment — is a sure way to force the hand of some of the wimpier members. I think Leahy deserves a thank you for even pushing it, frankly — more than we’ve gotten out of the bulk of the Dems thus far.

Sometimes, you have to applaud the baby steps if you want them to keep taking them. Otherwise, they will stop taking them altogether in the direction you want them to go and, frankly, I’ve had a belly full of that the last 8 years.

I agree, you said that so well.

Hi Christy,

Just moved from So Cal, to WNC near your neck of woods, .

I’m still learning about road ice, but we are lov’in this part of the world.

DIGG was opened by bluejeanstshirt. This fix may not work.

As I commented in response to MadDog’s Oxdown diary, “This is not America”:

President Barack Obama 2/9/09:

My view is also that nobody is above the law, and if there are clear instances of wrongdoing, that people should be prosecuted just like any ordinary citizen …

This diary presents “clear instances of wrongdoing.” So bring on the prosecution.

As I’ve said in the comments of two other diaries, the Supremacy Clause of Article VI makes ratified treaties binding law, and those ratified treaties require us to prosecute or extradite those accused of torture, no exceptions. Either President Obama is going to fulfill his constitutional obligation to “take care that the laws be faithfully executed” or he is not, in which case, he should be impeached in order to encourage future presidents to read their job description and take it seriously.

Christy, I refreshed screen before each step I took in trying to fix the DIGG link. Just won’t work.

Great article. I think the day will come when both Chaney and Rove run totally off the rails in such a bizarre way that their mental state can no longer be denied.

It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Glad you are happy with your move…

No idea what problem you are having, but here is the digg link for everyone who wants it.

The extent of what has been done is being released now. As the previously redacted and/or withheld info is released the demand for investigation is building.
http://rawstory.com/news/2008/….._0212.html

By holding public hearings on any particular issue, you sometimes get information out publicly that forces the issue.

That’s how the Watergate prosecution ball got rolling, iirc.

It’s how every big investigative anything gets going in the public domain. You get someone who knows something a little panicky and they spill something to you that leads to another person who then gets pressured and sometimes spills and the next thing you know you have a festering mess that’s bubbled over and into the public’s knowledge.

And once the public starts pushing together on something, it snowballs from there. They all start small, though…you pull the threads and sometimes you get lucky and unravel a whole host of things at once.

I think Axelrod is very interesting…very staightforward, alittle low key, but ernest, no one’s fool, and doesn’t blink. How about sexy as well…A very good representative, personna for O…and does not seem to have any sort of hidden/personal agenda that at all gets in the way. (I think I said what I mean;)

the Supremacy Clause of Article VI makes ratified treaties binding law, and those ratified treaties require us to prosecute or extradite those accused of torture, no exceptions.

Thanks, Wigwam, that’s what I was looking for: a reference to the specific clause (and I’d love to know which treaties, too). This is a matter of educating myself.

And Christy, I agree with baby steps, but I don’t agree with the perception Obama is fostering that we are simply going to “move forward.” Shining light on the Bush transgressions isn’t enough to ensure against the same transgressions in the future. And I’m not much in favor of these “blue ribbon commissions” that are mostly sound and fury, signifying nothing.

So when does spring planting start around here?

From Glenn Thrush’s Blog at Political:

Congress to governors: Use it or lose it

A devilishly clever last-minute insert to the House version of the stimulus bill has made it through the conference report — a requirement that governors spend their stimulus allocations within 45 days.

The provision isn’t likely to have a real-world impact, but it forces Republican governors who opposed the stimulus (e.g. South Carolina’s Mark Sanford) and many other GOP governors who sat on the fence for fear of bucking their party — to publicly accept or decline the aid.

And when they do accept it — and it’s hard to see a scenario where they wouldn’t given their deficits — Democrats get to call them craven or hypocritical or both.

….

The genesis of the provision: House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn’s war with Sanford over the stimulus.

“Our governor has repeatedly expressed political and philosophical aversion to using federal assistance as we work our way out of the economic conditions that are visiting significant difficulties upon businesses and families throughout our beloved state,” Clyburn said after the House vote.

Here’s hoping one of these days the lesson that you can’t negotiate with the other side unless they are doing so in good faith sink in. Permanently.

Say it again and again.

Well, I certainly didn’t say it was the best case scenario. But politics is the art of making the improbable possible. And maybe, just maybe, by pushing at the edges of the Village, a path gets opened up that wasn’t there before toward real sunlight. We’ll see.

I agree with Turley that there is a legal obligation on a lot of this above and beyond the political considerations and fall-out.

But we are talking apples and oranges when we talk about legal obligation versus a politician’s political calculation, aren’t we? As much as we might not like it to be so, that’s the bare truth of it. And to expect a politician to not act in a politicized fashion is really naive — they all do it, even the best of them, because at the bottom line they have to be re-elected at some point.

I do think, though, that the DOJ folks need to have some time to settle in and sift through the paperwork before we expect them to act at all. You have to know exactly what you have in hand as evidence and what matches up with what you think you know. That they are doing an internal review at DOJ on the various policies put into place by Cheney’s goon squad is a good thing on its own — and will likely yield a lot of information that may lead elsewhere now that it’s outside the man-sized safe. We’ll see…but pushing on this is a good thing, regardless, because they need to see that at least some folks want sunshine on it.

End of March/ mid-April here — but we’re in zone 5. Depends on where you are temperature-wise. I’d call your county extension office and ask…

( I’d love to know which treaties, too). This is a matter of educating myself.

The one that is most direct and explicit is the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT). There are also a bunch of Geneva Conventions, and there is the UN Charter.

for those interested, Jane’s up at the mothership
Social Security Reform: Your Opinion Doesn’t Count

Also, militarily, it was a written provision of the UCMJ at the time a lot of the misconduct was being pushed. And there were internal guidelines at places like FBI and elsewhere that prevented participation.

There are a whole host of things at issue, including psych guidelines that have been argued over a lot in recent years given that there were revelations that psych personnel in the military and outside it did some supervisory work — were they preventing torture or enabling it, for example, are questions that have been asked.

The whole thing is a mess, and we only know a tiny portion of it publicly at this point.

At least there are some polls showing that the public would like investigation and possible prosecution, and that may build. At the moment, despite Obama’s statement that a President has to be able to do more than one thing at a time, I’m sure they’re overwhelmingly consumed by the economy and the stimulus.

I think it was KO who said that the number one concern of any elected official is to be re-elected. True dat.

Mr. ReddHedd and I were talking about that the other night — with so many pots boiling over at once, I honestly don’t know how they can figure out which ones to try and deal with first. It’s a huge mess on so many fronts all at once right now. Beyond frustrating, isn’t it?

I think the economic problems help with the public’s desire for investigations. To say people are pissed is an understatement. They see the failure at all levels, and they see the potential wolf at their door because of it.

Republican stock channel CNBC said they should give stimulus money to get new home buyers and it should not be used to help those home buyers that bought and couldn’t afford them and even mentioned immigrants as if thesed people caused these problems.
What in the world makes them think they have any say in the solution when they were the problem?

And yet somehow Obama had the energy to be totally disarming (that “heh heh” grin when he made the Commerce Secretary comment) and very inspirational at the Lincoln event last night.

I sure don’t agree with everything he’s said or done since he took office, but I’m willing to wait and see — and just enjoy him in the meantime.

And, you know, no matter how bad things get? There are still dishes to be done and meals to be fixed and school parties to be organized and FIL’s to pick up from dialysis and…life continues to turn forward no matter what.

Somehow, today, I find that comforting in an odd way.

Funny you should say that, because I just popped up a copy of the transcript from that speech last night…

The temp job I’m doing right now involves calling community business owners and recruiting folks to attend a charity luncheon which raises funds to send kids with Muscular Dystropy to summer camps. It’s an interesting economy to be doing this fund raising. I’ve heard a lot of sad stories. Businesses shutting down, struggling to make payroll. Lots of just plainly pissed off people. Still, we’ve gotten nearly 70 recruits this weeks so far. The ones who say Yes make my heart soar. The ones who actually are honest and say I really don’t care, well, I tell them to have a nice day and move on to the next name and number on the list.

we need to have people hired to follow these folks around and remind them ..each time they bray .. “hey .. if you’re so knowledgable .. how did we get to this point in the first place??”

i’ve got a paraphrase from churchill i use to describe all the republicans and the neocons : “never have so few been so wrong about so much ..so often .. for so long” .. we need to print it on these doofuses foreheads so everytime they step in front of a camera .. it’s the first thing the public sees …

If I read the article correctly she wasn’t saying anything that isn’t already in the public domain through the WaPo.

Of course, Hannity and the organ grinders will try to make it appear that the Dems are giving away secrets, but it’s nothing that isn’t already known.

Life goes on. It is comforting in its way.

Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water.

Great post, Redd.

Kinda hard to negotiate when you are not even invited

Conyers has issued another subpoena to Karl Rove. That’s the sixth if not mistaken. The world’s longest running kabuki performance.

Mornin’ Red..

anyone else here think Rove will ever STFU if he isn’t wearing an orange jumpsuit and some iron bracelets?

Cheney, too. These guys are so incapable of contrition and sincere introspection, it will take the FULL weight of the law, not a handslapping, to get them to ever ponder their guilt.

Axelrod should have a blog, he’s one of those soft-spoken authorities who doesn’t need a bullhorn to make people listen.

Kinda hard to claim your not invited when the GOP leadership and others have already been over to the WH on numerous occasion in an administration that’s barely hit it’s first month in length and when the president went all the way over to the Hill to meet with the GOP caucus in both the House and Senate.

Nice try at launching a talking point, though. Do try to inform yourself fully before launching another…

Trolls don’t need no stinkin facts!

Not to mention Obama was willing to bring in Judd Gregg as commerce secretary, knowing that his views were not exactly the norm in liberal circles precisely to add another dimension to the budget discussions — and look where that got him?

If people are going to try and make arguments, the very least they can do is be factually accurate. Otherwise it’s just a waste of everyone’s time.

btw, I have more on the false bipartisanship conundrum here, if folks want another read…

Much like the Republican Party is a waste of everyone’s time.

I haven’t heard this mentioned, but if the Obama administration is/was so willing to trust Republicans, how does this bode for foreign leaders like those of Iran, Syria, China, etc.

Will he trust them like he did the GOP. Oh, you might say that is apples and oranges, since the GOPers are Americans. But if you think about it, it isn’t much of a stretch. No matter what happens, the GOP will be against Obama. Think if there is another 9/11. Can you see the GOP lining up behind Obama? hahahahaha No way! They would be as cut throat as ever.

I wonder if Sen Judd wanted Commerce so that he would own the Bureau of the Census? That would have allowed him to f*** with the 2010 Census like the Rethuglodytes did the 2000 Census. Then President Obama (I love typing those words) pulled Census out of Commerce and into the White House, so no skullduggery would be possible.

I’m also sure that Rahm Emmanuel called Greggie after the stimulus bill to ask him WTF do you think you’re doing?

Maybe the two things together caused Greggie to rethink whether he really wanted that job after all.

Christy “Oooh Snap! Love it when Axelrod decides to throws an elbow”

It seems like Axelrod has to be pushed quite a bit to “throw an elbow” and he does it so graciously. Never thought I would agree that Bush was “gracious” about anything. He has been gracious during this transition.

Really appreciated Axelrod knocking Cheney, Rove and Andrew Card in the head with his elbow. Sure wish someone would give them all a solid kick in the ass by playing the justice card.

Interesting watching C-Span while the discussion of stimulus package has been taking place and the vote for the package with a bunch of older Union gents here in Dayton Ohio at Maria Joseph;s nursing home. Bob 92 who was with GM for 45 years, Dick 86, with GM for 40 some, Jerry 87 with postal service and my pops with Teamsters for 40 some years. A few of the comments ” have never seen it this bad, they need to create jobs, we need folks to join unions again, we ended up in this situation because of the last eight years”. One of my favorites so far came out of my pops about Obama and how quickly he is moving on issues “no moss growing under his feet” All of these union gents love Obama really love him although I do hear a fair amount of discussion about the lack of holding the Bush administration accountable