MotherJones.com | MoJoBlog - Social Issues and Political Commentary: September 16, 2007

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September 22, 2007

MoveOn.org Rakes in the Cash After "Betray Us" Ad

Just got this email from MoveOn.org. Check out how much money they've pulled in after the allegedly disastrous "Betray Us" ad.

Dear MoveOn member,

Yesterday, an amazing thing happened. After the Senate's shameful vote, and after President Bush called MoveOn "disgusting," our email started to fill up with messages like this one:

I'm currently in Iraq. I do not agree with this war, and if I did support this war, it would not matter. You have the RIGHT to speak the truth. We KNOW that you support us. Thank you for speaking out for being our voice. We do not have a voice. We are overshooted by those who say that we soldiers do not support organizations like MoveOn. WE DO.

YOU ARE OUR voice.

And then came the donations. By midnight, over 12,000 people had donated $500,000—more than we've raised any day this year—for our new ad calling out the Republicans who blocked adequate rest for troops headed back to Iraq.

The message from MoveOn members was loud and clear: Don't back down. Take the fight back to the issues that matter.

So today we're shooting for a very ambitious goal: Reach $1 million so we can dramatically expand the campaign we launched yesterday going after politicians who support this awful war. Can you chip in $25 toward our goal?

My thinking on this originally was that the GOP had played it perfectly. They were outraged when it came out. Then they waited a week and President Bush slammed it. Then they waited a little longer and passed a resolution in Congress condemning it. As a result, what should have been a blip on the national radar has become a permanent fixture in the debate over the war and in the 2008 elections.

But maybe it worked out better than anyone thinks. That's a lot of money MoveOn.org can use on Democrats and in ending the war.

Except... there's a movement afoot amongst MoveOn'ers to cut off the Democrats. Drama!

September 21, 2007

Mukasey: A Giuliani Republican?

Attorney General Michael Mukasey isn't a big giver when it comes to politics. He has donated only to a single federal candidate since 1989: his old pal Rudy. Mukasey and his wife have donated $5,600 to Giuliani's presidential campaign, reports the Center for Responsive Politics.

Mukasey and Giuliani have been friends since the 1970s, when the two worked together in the U.S. Attorney's office. When Giuliani became mayor, Mukasey, by then a federal judge, swore him in. Mukasey's son Marc also worked in Giuliani criminal law practice and has donated to Giuliani's campaign, and both Mukaseys have served on Giuliani's campaign advisory committees. No wonder conservatives don't like the guy!

Agreeing with Tom Vilsack...George W. Bush?

As I mentioned in my last post, former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D-Corn) attacked Rudy Giuliani's shoddy family credentials. Turns out George W. Bush might also see them as a problem. Here's Bush on what he thinks the next president should be like:

"He should be comfortable with his family," Bush said. "Should be somebody who'll work hard to make sure there's love in the White House ..."

First, Bush obviously isn't comfortable with the "he or she" construction, as in "He or she should be comfortable with his family."

Second, I'm pretty sure the fact that Giuliani (1) has been married three times, once to a woman who was his cousin and once to a woman he divorced at a press conference; (2) barely, if ever, speaks to his own children, at least one of whom doesn't want him to be president, and (3) has been identified by a repeat adulterer.... well, that would suggest Rudy doesn't meet Bush's criteria. Maybe Bush is a Romney man.

Of course, this is all gossipy and trivial and you wish we would cover more substantive things. I know, I know. Cut me some slack, it's a Friday. Go read Winslow T. Wheeler.

Tom Vilsack Does Hillary Clinton's Dirty Work

There's a delicious lack of self-awareness on display in these comments by former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (D). He suggests, without bringing up specifics, that there is trouble in Rudy Giuliani's personal life — the "number of marriages," the "relationship he has with his children." And then, in the same breath, Vilsack transitions to Hillary Clinton's history of familial problems and says, "We ought to be focused not on scandals. We ought to be focused on the direction of this country."

Let's talk for just one second about the wisdom of a Clinton aide drudging up someone else's sordid personal life. This is either a terrible idea, because it reminds everyone that if Hillary Clinton wins the presidency we're going to have years and years of headlines and TV newscasts filled with psychodrama, or it's a dangerous but marginally okay idea because voters see Hillary as the wronged party in her relationship and don't assign her blame the way they would to Rudy.

Either way, that doesn't seem like a particularly strong political play. How about we cool it, Vilsack?

(H/T PrezVid)

Another Reason to Skip the Muffin-Top Tattoo

Which hurts more, getting a tattoo or giving birth without drugs?

The Wall Street Journal ($) reports this week that there's some evidence to suggest that those ever-so-popular lower-back tattoos may cause complications from spinal epidurals given for pain-relief during childbirth. Unless they plan someday to make do with hee-breathing, young women contemplating the needle might want to forgo the permanent pink butterfly...

French FM Kouchner a Class Act with Anti-War Protesters

It was one of those traditional, staid Washington events: an audience of three or four hundred Washington diplomats, policy people, think tank denizens and journalists gathered in the gilded ballroom at the Capital Hilton for an audience yesterday with French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner, at an event sponsored by the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We had all been offered ear pieces in case we needed translation, but Kouchner, the co-founder of French humanitarian medical relief group Medecins Sans Frontieres, addressed the audience in good if heavily accented English. His speech started with a nod to past tensions in Franco-US relations (remember Freedom Fries?) and was moving onto the Middle East, when a group of women seated towards the front of the huge ballroom started moving to the stage unfurling their pink anti-war banner, and one woman seemed to try to grab Kouchner. The secret service agent could be heard telling Kouchner, 'Sir, we have to take you out," as several other security officers grabbed the women as they began chanting, "No war with Iran, no war with Iran." The audience, the Secret Service, and CSIS president John Hamre, sitting at the raised podium, were all momentarily stunned.

But Kouchner recovered his composure first, and he asked at first it seemed merely perhaps politely, and later fully insisted to his host Hamre, that they let the activists back in. "But they are right. These ladies are right. I don't want war with Iran. Please let them back in." And to my surprise at least, after a couple minutes, the side doors of the large ballroom opened, and the women were escorted back to their seats by suited Secret Service types with the earpieces, not looking fully convinced of the wisdom of the move.

Kouchner directed his remarks at several points to the Code Pink activists during his almost one hour of remarks (video available from C-Span). He said he did not want war with Iran, that he considered it the worst option, and a failure. He told them that an Iran with a nuclear bomb was also a worst case option. He said he advocated "dialogue, dialogue, and dialogue" and sanctions. He engaged them and asked them, what is their solution then. One woman suggested, dialogue with no sanctions. Kouchner responded to her why he felt that was insufficient. A few of the activists, perhaps a bit surprised themselves at the turn of events, offered sheepish thanks from their third row seats to Kouchner for asking that they be allowed back in. Later, one of the women stood on her chair, held up a poster, and let up a lonely chant, "What kind of doctor" blah blah blah. She was removed. The security guard later came back for her bag.

Whatever one thinks of Kouchner and his foreign policy views, one was struck by how hard it is to even imagine any of the current U.S. administration handling such an outburst with anything approaching the willingness to engage shrill critics that Kouchner demonstrated at the scene. This administration and its critics have long operated in entirely different universes, top U.S. leaders have confined themselves to the most staged press and public events purged of critics to the extent possible.

Later, in remarks about Darfur, Kouchner said, "For two years, nobody did anything except the activists. The activists are always right."

Bush's Latest Big Fib

In his press conference yesterday, President Bush let loose some whoppers in defending his plan to veto a popular, bipartisan bill that would extend health insurance to 4 million poor kids. Bush claimed that the bill would allow the program (known as SCHIP) to cover too many rich people, i.e., families earning up to $80,000 a year. Not only would this burden the taxpayers, but, he declared, it would lead all those families to (gasp!) drop private insurance in favor of the public program, making the bill “an incremental step toward the goal of government-run health care for every American.”

Most of this just isn't true. A recent Urban Institute study found that the vast majority of the families covered under the pending bill have incomes less than $42,000 (for a family of four!). And even kids covered by SCHIP get their actual insurance from private companies that contract with the states, so no socialized medicine there.

That's why Bush's veto threat may be pretty irrelevant. Most of his own party is behind expanding the children's insurance program, including stalwart conservative Utah Republican senator Orrin Hatch, who provided perhaps the best quote of the debate so far. When asked by the Washington Post whether he would vote to override a Bush veto, he replied, "You bet your sweet bippy I will."

September 20, 2007

Richardson Courts the Fat Vote

Presidential candidates are famous for promising wars against various social ills—the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, etc.—but Bill Richardson may be the first to launch the "War on Fat." Richardson, who has shed 30 pounds over the past year, bragged yesterday that he was the only person running for president to address The Obesity Society.

In an open appeal to the 66 percent of Americans who now tip the scales as officially overweight, Richardson called for covering the obese under the Americans With Disabilities Act and for federal funding for college PE classes. Future campaign posters to read: "Richardson Fights Freshman 15!"

Wanna Have Breakfast with Turd Blossom?

Well, thanks to dark prince Robert Novak, you can for the low, low price of $595... See Radar Online.

Scooter Needs Your Help!

From a recent Mary Matalin letter written on behalf of Scooter Libby: "Scooter should never have even been put on trial. His conviction was an absolute and total miscarriage of justice." Uh huh, and? "Scooter still has hundreds of thousands of dollars in outstanding legal bills from his trial." Ohhh. "These bills need to be paid immediately." Yikes. Sorry, somehow I think giving to the Red Cross might be a bit more worthwhile. But try me again next year, when this thing is still on appeal.

You'd think this guy would be better at raising Scooter some dough.

How Refreshing: A Secretary of Defense with Common Sense and a Grasp on Reality

Let's see what we were missing by being too cheap to pay for (the now extinct) TimesSelect...

Oh, here's a David Brooks column revealing that the Secretary of Defense rejects several of the main tenets of George W. Bush's foreign policy. Nice. From a recent Robert Gates speech:

Throughout the messy years that followed, Gates explained, we have made deals with tyrants to defeat other tyrants. We've championed human rights while doing business with some of the worst violators of human rights....

Two themes ran through his speech. First, the tragic ironies of history — the need to compromise with evil in order to do good. And second, patience — the need to wait as democratic reforms slowly develop.

Using this logic, Gates would likely argue that we should be actively engaging Iran and Syria, regime's we don't approve of, in order to bring order to Iraq. And he would argue that, since "democratic reforms slowly develop," invading countries unaccustomed to democracy and foisting it upon their people isn't too bright. What else?

"I don't think you invade Iraq to bring liberty. You do it to eliminate an unstable regime and because sanctions are breaking down and you get liberty as a byproduct," he continued. I asked him whether invading Iraq was a good idea, knowing what we know now. He looked at me for a bit and said, "I don’t know."

Well, that's just about the most honest thing a high-level Bush Administration official has ever said in public. You might claim that Bush's best decision in the Iraq War was appointing this guy to be SecDef. You might also claim that Bush's worst decision was waiting so freaking long.

And wait, Gates isn't done.

I asked him if it was a good idea to encourage elections in the Palestinian territories. He didn't directly address the question, but he noted: "Too often elections are equated with democracy and freedom."

I asked about how we can promote freedom in Iran while taking care of security threats. He emphasized soft power.

It's official! He's the anti-Cheney!

Fox's Hypocrisy on Sally Field Revealed

Surely you remember a few days back when Fox censored Sally Field at the Emmy's because she tried to say the line, "If mothers ruled the world, there wouldn't be any goddamned wars in the first place."

At the time, I wondered if it was because Field was making a political statement or if it was because she said the word "goddamned." To censor her for making an anti-war statement that innocuous would reveal their political leanings too blatantly, right? It was probably just the language she used.

Wrong. It turns out, assuming the worst out of Fox is always the right choice. This video by Robert Greenwald shows that not only have Fox commentators used the word "goddam" in the past, they've thrown it around playfully.

Now, admittedly, Field said the word on Fox, a network, and the commentators in this video said it on Fox News, a cable station. But that shouldn't make a difference. According to the FCC, here are the standards for censoring material on any TV channel:

An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.
The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law.
The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.

This situation doesn't fall into any of those three categories. Moreover, there is no list of words that are banned completely, ala George Carlin's seven dirty words, and in this FCC ruling, "goddam" is specifically categorized as "not profane."

(H/T Think Progress)

Mitt Romney and the Formula Makers

Public health officials across the country have been trying to address record-low rates of breastfeeding among American women, a move that threatens the enormous profits of formula companies (pharma giants all). So the formula makers have responded aggressively, lobbying successfully to water down federal breastfeeding promotion campaigns, among other things.

No good lobbying campaign, of course, comes without the creation of an Astroturf group to demonstrate "grassroots" support for the cause. The formula makers have recently launched two of them, with websites, www.momsfeedingfreedom.com and www.babyfeedingchoice.org, both of which proclaim to champion women's "right to choose" formula. Interestingly, MomsFeedingFreedom is the product of the very same web consulting firm that works for presidential contender Mitt Romney, reports Mothering Magazine this month.

Romney and the formula companies have a long history together. Back in 2005, his state became the first in the nation to ban the distribution of formula samples in hospitals, a move backed by the CDC and the American Academy of Pediatrics. But as governor, Romney pressured the Massachusetts Public Health Council to overturn the ban. When it refused, he fired three members of the council and replaced them with members who voted shortly afterwards to allow formula back into the hospitals. Romney clearly won't be the "breast is best" candidate in '08...

(H/T Center for Media and Democracy)

September 19, 2007

Group Sues Pentagon Over First Amendment Religion Issue

Yesterday, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and U.S. Army Major Paul Welborne. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, alleges that Army specialist Jeremy Hall, who is currently serving in Iraq, had his First Amendment rights violated last Thanksgiving when he was threatened and otherwise harrassed because he declined to participate in a Thanksgiving prayer ceremony.

According to Hall, who is an atheist, when he refused to join hands with other soldiers and pray, he was told by a staff sergeant (who first had to ask someone what an atheist was) that he could not eat Thanksgiving dinner with his peers. Hall, however, continued to eat his dinner at the table.

According to the complaint, in August, Hall received permission from a military chaplain to organize a group for atheist soldiers, but when the group met, Major Welborne broke it up, and also threatened to charge Hall with violating the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Hall says that Welborne further threatened him that he would block Hall's re-enlistment in the Army if the atheist group continued to meet. Hall alleges that Welborne disrupted the meeting and confronted those in attendance.

Hall's complaint is not unique. Just last month, the Pentagon's Inspector General responded to a complaint by an MRFF that Defense Department officials violated their own regulations by appearing in a video to promote a fundamentalist Christian organization.

A spokesman for the MRFF has indicated that the Hall lawsuit is just the first of many.

Washington Post Fact Checks Fred Thompson, Two Weeks After MoJoBlog Did the Same

A while back on this blog, I pointed out the ridiculousness of this statement by Fred Thompson: "Our people have shed more blood for the liberty and freedom of other peoples in this country than all the other countries put together." I cited some figures on American dead in various wars, then pointed out that among other massive casualty figures, tens of millions of Russians died in WWII. That dwarfs anything America has experienced. Not to belittle the sacrifices our country has paid, but Thompson's statement was wayyy off base.

As a result, the comments section lit up. The highlights:

- "Stein's unambiguous dislike for the Tennessean has cluttered his mind."

- "Johnathan [sic] Stein hearts Stalin."

- "Mr. Stein is- and has always been- free to relocate to any of the few remaining Stalinist 'paradises' left on Earth."

Well, I'm still here. And it turns out that, empowered by the shouting of our commentors, Fred Thompson decided to ignore my debunking and continued using the statement in his campaign. And so, the new truth-rooting wing of the Washington Post, called Fact Checker, had to take Thompson to task.

It's conclusion?

While heavy, U.S. military casualties are still relatively low in comparison to the military casualties of its World War II and World War I allies. In World War II alone, the Soviet Union suffered at least eight million military deaths, or ten times the number of U.S. deaths in all wars combined....

Even if we exclude the Soviet Union from the calculation, U.S. military deaths in all wars combined remain lower than those of the British Commonwealth ("a combination of nations," in Thompson's phrase) in World War I and World War II.

So please, folks, click over to the Post and tell them to move to the Stalinist 'paradises.' I don't deserve your scorn.

Democrats Rush to Return Lawyer's Money After Guilty Plea

Now that famed securities lawyer Bill Lerach is officially going to prison, Democratic candidates are scrambling to get rid of all the money he's donated to their campaigns, the New York Sun Reports. Fellow trial lawyer John Edwards donated nearly $5,000 he'd taken from Lerach to charity, and Joe Biden's campaign said it had given $2,700 in Lerach funds to a prostate cancer group earlier this year. No word from Hillary Clinton, whose presidential campaign hasn't taken Lerach donations, but whose Senate campaign did...

Men Without Women

Europe's population is in decline. By 2050, the continent is projected to be home to at least 50 million fewer people than it is today. But the Europeans do not plan to go down without a fight.

Three years ago, the governor of Russia's Ulyanovsk region declared an annual "sex day" to give locals the chance to stay home from work and make babies for the Motherland. Women who give birth on June 12 (Russia's national day) can win prizes, such as new cars and televisions. The joy of sex apparently wasn't enough to motivate young Russians to get busy. Prizes, though, seem to have done the trick: the region's birth rate has jumped 4.5 percent over the last year.

The Russians' procreative success may now have inspired the Germans. The former East Germany has been depopulating rapidly ever since the Berlin Wall came down. Women have been leaving in droves. According to a piece in the German magazine Der Spiegel, a local politician has decided to stem the flow. Earlier this year, Klaus Mättig, mayor of the town of Freital in eastern Germany, jokingly suggested the local government should offer $2,791 to any woman who would agree to sign a three-year lease in his town. But when his comments were reported in the local newspaper, the mayor received letters from over 50 women eager to take him up on his offer:

The response was especially unexpected because Mättig's offer was only half serious. Freital, after all, has not been overly hit by the mass movement westwards and, as the mayor says, "it's not like there aren't any women on the streets here or that there are only singles wandering around." It is also unclear whether the Freital electorate would even put up with such an offer. They aren't getting paid to stay, after all...

Even if Mättig's offer never actually comes to pass, he may nevertheless be on to something. Many of the letters he received were from former eastern Germans who were dissatisfied with their new lives in the West. "I want to come back as soon as possible," one wrote. "When one leaves their home, it doesn't automatically mean that everything will be better," penned another.

The letters, though, have also made Mättig take his own idea more seriously. He has responded to every one of the inquiries received, explaining that the initiative has yet to be passed.

"But," he says, "we are going to keep the idea in mind and will take a closer look at it here at city hall."

Mättig's approach, if ever it is implemented, would surely be more effective than another effort to woo women back to the East: Wolfgang Tiefensee, the government minister responsible for economic development in eastern Germany, has suggested that the best way to keep women from leaving would be to establish mobile libraries to drive around the countryside. Nothing says "stay in East Germany and have babies with East German men" quite like a good book.

Evangelical Influence on the Amish

Religion News Service has a great story about Steve Lapp, a former member of the Amish community who became an evangelical healer.

While Lapp himself is an interesting character, the story is bigger than just him: Some members of the Amish community, it seems, have begun to adopt evangelical styles of worship:

With his talk of supernatural healings and events, Lapp seems more at home—at least theologically—in Pentecostal churches than among the Amish. But he is just the most extreme example of an evangelical influence creeping into the Old Order Amish community, according to a number of observers. The trend may be most evident here in Lancaster County, which, with 25,000 members, is one of the world's largest Amish settlements.

The Amish "are realizing that the Great Commission is about going into the world and preaching the gospel and not just having your little community rules and regulations," Lapp said.

More and more Amish talk about "a personal relationship with Jesus," and the "assurance of salvation and forgiveness" while attending Bible studies, singalongs and revival meetings. Alarmed Amish leaders have banned large-group prayer meetings and Bible readings as dozens of Amish families consider joining other churches.

Increasingly, evangelical churches are non-denominational, since many church leaders feel that the differences between Christian sects are arcane and ultimately unimportant. The Amish, though, have long valued their separateness from the rest of society. If evangelical nondenominationalism is beginning to reach all the way into this insular community, its influence must be profound indeed.

NFL Fines: Tax Deductible?

Ok, sports fans. Here's a question: Should New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick get to write off his $500,000 fine as a business expense? (In case you hadn't heard, Belichick was recently assessed the biggest fine in NFL history for secretly videotaping the New York Jets' defensive signals.)

After much debate over the deductibility issue, a dozen tax law professors say yes...

California Won't Be Suing its Way to Cleaner Air

Last year, the California attorney general made headlines by suing most of the nation's leading automakers for contributing to global warming. The AG's office used a novel interpretation of the state's "public nuisance" laws to bring the suit and had corporate America in fits. Well, they can rest easier now. A federal judge tossed the suit yesterday, saying that it would be inappropriate for the court to wade into this sort of foreign policy and interstate commerce issue, and that global warming would be better addressed in the political system.

Worm Poop Threatens Corporate Profits

Some of the nation's biggest corporations have found that baseless lawsuits are often a useful tool for squashing upstart competition. The latest example of this kind of noxious behavior comes from Scotts Miracle-Gro, a $2 billion company that claims 60 percent of the nation's garden-care market. Earlier this year, Scotts sued the tiny New Jersey start-up TerraCycle, which sells fertilizer made from all-natural worm poop, packaged in recycled soda bottles. Scotts alleges that TerraCycle has copied its packaging design and engaged in false advertising.

TerraCycle was started by college students and has never made a profit, but has made in-roads into some of the bigger retail outlets. Apparently Scotts sees the worm poop as a threat. TerraCycle has fought back mainly with PR. They've put up a cheeky website that notes that the Scotts CEO gets a half-million dollars worth of "personal aircraft use" each year, while TerraCycle's CEO's biggest perk is unlimited free worm poop. The website also has some funny photos comparing the two companies' headquarters.

The PR has helped boost sales, but it's not likely to pay TerraCycle's legal bills. Scotts has demanded every last piece of paper from the company in discovery--everything from plans for future product development to the worm's dinner menu--as a way of driving up the costs of litigation. In the meantime, TerraCycle is asking its customers to write letters to the Scotts board asking the company to drop the lawsuit--and also is taking donations.

(H/T Law and More)

One Language Disappears Every 14 Days

This is astounding news.

One of the world's 7,000 distinct languages disappears every 14 days, an extinction rate exceeding that of birds, mammals or plants, researchers said Tuesday.

At least 20% of the world's languages are in imminent danger of becoming extinct as their last speakers die off, compared with about 18% of mammals, 8% of plants and 5% of birds....

Half of the world's languages have disappeared in the last 500 years, and half of the remainder are likely to vanish during this century...

Fantastic quote from K. David Harrison, the expert on languages that is cited in the article: "When we lose a language, we lose centuries of thinking about time, seasons, sea creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, mathematics, landscapes, myths, music, the unknown and the everyday." Harrison works at something called the "Institute for Endangered Languages." Check that out here.

The folks there have identified the areas in the world where the most languages are going extinct, and it turns out one such hotspot is in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Click the link for more.

Update: Should have linked this earlier. Here's Mother Jones' recent cover story on animal extinction.

September 18, 2007

DC Representation Fails in Senate, Mitch McConnell Explains Himself to Space Aliens

A cloture vote in the Senate just moments ago on whether or not D.C. residents will get congressional representation ended up with 57 Ayes and 42 Nos, meaning Democrats and moderate Republicans weren't able to find the 60 votes needed to overcome a filibuster organized by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The citizens of DC will go without representation in Congress for another year, possibly two. For background, see my piece that published yesterday.

Here's my rendition of Mitch McConnell explaining this situation to a space alien.

McConnell: Wow, an alien.
Space alien: Mitch, we have abducted you because you are the most powerful man in the most powerful legislative body of the most robust democracy on Planet Earth.
McConnell: Oh, news must travel slow through outer space. You want Harry Reid.
Space alien: What?
McConnell: Forget it. Can I help you with something?
Space alien: Yes. We want an explanation of how your government works. Does everyone get representation in your national body?
McConnell: Um, no.
Space alien: Ah, only land-owning males of the dominant tribe or race are allowed to vote for their representatives.
McConnell: No.
Space alien: Any male of the dominant tribe or race, regardless of property ownership?
McConnell: No.
Space alien: Any male, regardless of tribe?
McConnell: No.
Space alien: Any male or female?
McConnell: No.
Space alien: Quite admirable, Mitch. Everyone of legal age can have a representative in your Congress?
McConnell: Everyone except the citizens of one city.
Space alien: Which city?
McConnell: Our capital city.
Space alien: Heavens to murgatroid! Surely they don't pay taxes in this arrangement.
McConnell: They do.
Space alien: Surely they do not fight in your wars.
McConnell: They do.
Space alien: And how do you justify this?
McConnell: ...
Space alien: Mitch?
McConnell: ...
Space alien: Surely you are doing something to end this unjust and obviously undemocratic arrangement.
McConnell: Actually, I just filibustered to maintain the status quo.
Space alien: ...

Updates: Here's your roll call. Republicans who voted with the Dems: Hatch (UT), Bennett (UT), Collins (ME), Snowe (ME), Coleman (MN), Lugar (IN), and Specter (PA). Democrat Max Baucus of Montana voted with the Republicans.

Update Update: The Plank slaps Baucus around for his incredibly stupid rational for voting against.

Survey Reveals Mixed Feelings about Brown v. Board of Ed

It's been 50 years since Pulaski County, Arkansas's Central High integrated, and believe it or not, some people still aren't so sure it was a good idea.

Researchers at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock called 1,666 people in Pulaski County and asked them about race relations in the community since the Central High crisis.

The majority of respondents (69 percent) said integration was a change for the better, but the demographic breakdown was pretty interesting: While 77 percent of African Americans surveyed said the crisis had a positive effect on the community, just 61 percent of whites did.

And some of the negative comments were real gems:

The black culture is different in a negative way and I don’t want this influencing the white culture. - White female, 79 years old

Sometimes black teachers give special treatment to the black students, that affects the quality of education the white students receive. - White female, 55 years old

Oy.

CREW Releases Dossiers on 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress

Our buddies at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are doing what they do best: exposing and explaining the misdeeds, corruption, and ethical lapses of those in power. Their latest effort is their third annual "Most Corrupt Members of Congress" report. If you want in-depth info on 22 evildoers and two dishonorable mentions, click the link.

Eighteen of the twenty-two (and both dishonorable mentions) are Republicans, one of whom is actually running for president. The Senate Minority Leader (currently busy slapping democracy in the face) made the list, as did all three members of Alaska's delegation. Perhaps Alaska should consider electing a Democrat once in a while.

HillaryCare, Version 2.0, Gets Positive Reviews

Hillary Clinton's plan for universal health care was just released (you can find an in-depth summary here), and it looks like it gets an A+ from health care expert Jonathan Cohn. The Sick author also likes Obama's and Edwards's plans. Have a look at Cohn's thoughts at TNR.

Ezra Klein is also a fan.

Another Big Democratic Funder Headed to the Big House

Looks like the Democratic presidential candidate, whomever it is, will be running without the deep pockets of famed plaintiff lawyer Bill Lerach. Lerach is a California securities class action lawyer whose name has struck fear in the hearts of corporate executives for years thanks to his success winning some enormous cases, including a $7 billion settlement from companies that helped Enron hide its wrongdoing.

His crusades against corporate wrongdoing have made Lerach something of a folk hero in certain quarters, and he's won friends in high places for plowing his winnings into Democratic politics. Just in 2004, Lerach's law firm donated more than $1.5 million to 527 groups like the AFL-CIO's Coalition to Defend the American Dream that worked to defeat President Bush. Before the ban on soft money, Lerach and his partner, Melvyn Weiss, donated millions of dollars to Democratic Party entities.

That reliable spigot of campaign funding is likely to dry up now that Lerach has agreed to plead guilty to a criminal conspiracy charge stemming from a seven-year federal investigation. Prosecutors charge that Lerach and his firm paid more than $11 million to people to be plaintiffs in their shareholder lawsuits. Lerach could spend up to two years in prison as a result of his plea. Even if he gets to hang on to most of his money, it's unlikely that many candidates are going to want to take it...

Ernie Chambers, Nebraska's Leading Hellraiser, Sues God

In early 2006, Mother Jones profiled Nebraska state lawmaker Ernie Chambers, the sole black member of Nebraska's unicameral legislature and one heck of a cool dude. Sara Catania wrote at the time:

He wears sweatshirts and jeans amid a forest of suits and ties; his gray beard contrasts with the clean chins of most of his brethren. He's been described as "left of San Francisco" in a state that for decades has been tightly tucked under the blanket of conservative Republicanism....

Because of Chambers, the Legislature routinely backs bills its members wouldn't otherwise have dreamed of supporting. He cajoled his colleagues into abolishing corporal punishment in schools, correcting the state pension system so that women would be treated equally with men, and backing a switch from at-large municipal elections to district-based voting so that nonwhites would have a chance to serve. Under his sway, Nebraska led the nation in the 1980s in divesting in companies that did business with apartheid-era South Africa.

I can't do Ernie Chambers justice in block quote form — read Sara's article in full for a better picture of the man.

Here's why I bring him up: he's suing God. For real.

Chambers lawsuit, which was filed on Friday in Douglas County Court, seeks a permanent injunction ordering God to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats.

The lawsuit admits God goes by all sorts of alias, names, titles and designations and it also recognizes the fact that the defendant is omnipresent.

In the lawsuit, Chambers said he's tried to contact God numerous times...

[The lawsuit] says God has caused "fearsome floods, egregious earthquakes, horrendous hurricanes, terrifying tornadoes, pestilential plagues, ferocious famines, devastating droughts, genocidal wars, birth defects and the like."

The suit also says God has caused "calamitous catastrophes resulting in the wide-spread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earth’s inhabitants including innocent babes, infants, children, the aged and infirm without mercy or distinction."

Chambers also says God "has manifested neither compassion nor remorse, proclaiming that defendant will laugh" when calamity comes.

Chambers is reportedly making a point about frivolous lawsuits, but I think he's making a point about being awesome.

Update: Looks like Ernie Chambers reeeally chose the wrong situation to make his point, whatever it is. Read below to see the comments of Lundy, TheSoyMilkConspiracy, and elm.

Gonzales Could be Investigated in Texas, Disbarred

From Michael Roston at Huffington Post:

The woman who literally wrote the book on legal ethics in Texas says it's likely that the Texas State Bar is probing the professional conduct of former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

"Given the publicity regarding the allegations concerning Mr. Gonzales, I would be surprised if the [Office of the Chief Disciplinary Counsel of the Texas State Bar] is not currently investigating a complaint," said Lillian Hardwick, co-author of the Handbook of Texas Lawyer and Judicial Ethics.

The Disciplinary Counsel wouldn't confirm if an investigation is under way. Frankly I find it unlikely that a local office in Texas would take it upon itself to finally resolve the questions of Gonzales' culpability in scandals that such august bodies as the Senate Judiciary Committee are investigating, and have been investigating for many months. Seems a little above their pay grade, so to speak.

AOL Sucks

When AOL built its new corporate headquarters outside Washington D.C. a decade ago, the company set off an explosion of poorly planned exurban sprawl. By plopping its campus in the middle of nowhere and miles from any public transportation, AOL helped overwhelm local highways with commuter traffic that's now among the worst in the nation and spurred the overdevelopment of the formerly bucolic horse country of Loudoun County, Virginia.

County officials offered AOL lots of tax breaks to come and create this smog-choked mess, but now, the company's top executives have decided that they'd rather be somewhere more interesting. The tech company announced yesterday that AOL's senior management would be fleeing its dreary Dulles office park for the better bagels, pizza and public transportation of New York City. Of course, the execs say that it's because they need to be closer to the advertising business. But I think the rich guys at the top simply hate the very life-sucking suburbs they helped create as much as the rest of us do. Before AOL's entire upper tax bracket decamps to Madison Avenue, Loudoun County should ask for its money back.