Paul Krugman had an outstanding column which posted on Thursday. He discussed the engine that may be driving all of this violent extremism which has resulted in the shooting at the Holocaust Museum and the cold-blooded murder of Dr. George Tiller. Krugman said, “Conservatives were outraged (at the Department of Homeland security report). The chairman of the Republican national committee denounced the report as an attempt to ‘segment out conservatives in this country who have a different philosophy or view from this administration’ and label them as terrorists.” He went on to say, “Today, as in the early days of the Clinton administration but to an even greater extent, right wing extremism is being systematically fed by the conservative media and political establishment.” Krugman hit the nail on the head.
One of the tactics that the conservatives use is what I’ll call the Diana Ross Doctrine — Upside Down. Hopefully, some you are old enough to remember Diana Ross’ hit single Upside Down. It is a nice tune in which she describes being disoriented by her lover. She is in fact turned — upside down. Conservatives have taken what is obviously a right wing extremist and applied the Diana Ross doctrine. Now, magically we’re supposed to believe that a white supremacist who hated Jews and Blacks was a left-wing extremist. I thought left-wing extremists were like ecoterrorists?
What the hell is going on in Iran? Both sides have claimed victory. Extremely confusing.
Great Healthcare summary here. BTW, the Swine Flu is still here and doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. There are now over 17,000 cases and 45 deaths. The World Health Organization has declared a pandemic and the MSM yawned.
EmptyWheel has an excellent post on the Senate Select Committee On Intelligence. Both she and I shared a skepticism over Senator Dianne Feinstein‘s ability to truly investigate torture. She seemed to be somewhat of a Bush administration cheerleader. Yet, it appears that she is slowly but surely performing a thorough investigation. In a separate post Marcy, who loves lists, sets out the chronology that led up to the May 10, 2005 memos on torture. Marcy is incredibly detail oriented. She compiles information that can’t be found almost anywhere else. (By the way, why is Senator Dianne Feinstein chairman of the Senate select committee on intelligence? Why isn’t Senator Rockefeller? What happened? I’m just asking.)
I saw a snippet of the report that President Obama had fired the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service (whatever that is). Well, Talking Points Memo has the background story. It appears that the Inspector General, Gerald Walpin, was doggedly pursuing Kevin Johnson, a big Obama supporter, who is also the mayor of Sacramento, for misappropriation of funds through a charity that he runs called St. Hope Academy. The whole story is rather intricate, but it appears that the US Attorney General thought there was no case, yet Gerald Walpin continued to pursue Johnson.
Glenn Greenwald has had a series of posts which relate to one of the basic tenants of conservatism, at least conservatism as it is practiced in the United States. Conservatives like to say that their ideals are being prosecuted. They like to protect themselves as a persecuted minority instead of the most prosperous and privileged among us. Glenn has more.
Finally, there’s some good criticism about President Obama’s economic plans. As in any democracy, there is supposed to be and give-and-take. At the beginning of the economic stimulus discussion there seem to be a lot of excellent ideas on spending. These would have been long-term investments into our infrastructure. Many of these great ideas, including high-speed rail, which in my opinion would have paid dividends down the line, were tossed out in the sake of fiscal responsibility, party unity or whatever. Von of Obsidian Wings has a great post on how we are missing our economic targets. I fear that we may be looking at another jobless recovery. The jobless rate for new graduates is ridiculously high. We have to figure out a way to produce jobs or Obama will be a one-term president.
Oh, by the way, a new painting by Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered… sort of. The painting appears to be a copy of the long-lost original which many have been based on a nude Mona Lisa.
Updates: I forgot that the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup yesterday. I’m sorry. I grew up in Dallas. I still don’t get hockey and I have this problem with Pittsburgh. Still.
The shuttle was scheduled to takeoff today (Saturday), but there appears to be a hydrogen leak. This is a problem.
