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17 Feb 2011 19:55

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Politics: Wisconsin Dems: “We were left with no choice” but to leave state

  • We were left with no choice … The question is when are the Republicans going to sit down seriously with the other side on this issue and try to work something out.
  • Democrat Wisconsin state Sen. Jon Erpenbach • Explaining why he chose to leave the state, and what it will take to get him back. He and every other Democratic state senator in Wisconsin left in protest of a GOP-backed plan to limit public employees’ abilities to collectively bargain for better wages, in a push to stop a deficit crisis. As a result, the GOP doesn’t have quorum – because 20 state senators need to be there, and there are 19 Republicans. This is the first such incident were an entire party left a state to avoid a vote since Democratic members of the Texas state senate and state house left the state to avoid a vote on redistricting – the same vote, mind you, that led to Tom DeLay’s corruption conviction. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 13:42

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Politics: A quick look at what some right-wing folks think of the WI protests

  • beck “You are about to see this president start embracing the uprisings … the teachers unions and all of the unions that are marching on the streets.”
  • paul ryan “[Gov. Walker] wants public workers to pay half of what our private sector counterparts and he’s getting riots. It’s like Cairo has moved to Madison these days.”
  • malkin “If this brave Republican governor can stand up to the immense amount of power and thuggery, essentially, by these unions, it bodes very well for other states.” source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 11:27

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Politics: Obama backs public employees in Wisconsin union battle royale

  • Some of what I’ve heard coming out of Wisconsin, where you’re just making it harder for public employees to collectively bargain, generally seems like more of an assault on unions. I think it’s very important for us to understand that public employees, they’re our neighbors, they’re our friends.
  • Barack Obama • Coming out in support of public employees currently facing the squeeze in an anti-union fight in Wisconsin. The vote will likely take place today, and it’s clear where Gov. Scott Walker is leaning – he’s budget-minded first, and sounds frustrated by the fact that collective bargaining agreements take so long. “I don’t have 15 months to balance a budget, and I certainly am not going to pass a budget on a hope and a prayer that that might happen,” he said. Hey Scott, based on the protests, it’s clear that a balanced budget is not the top priority for the people who have been flooding Madison the last few days. Consider that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 5 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 10:14

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Politics: Who’s Tom Rooney, and how did he beat John Boehner, anyway?

  • We had to school them quickly. We hit a lot of them very fast, and told them it was a cut in front of them today, versus what may or may not happen in the future.
  • Florida Rep. Tom Rooney • Explaining the process he used to corral freshmen House members to help kill the funding for a competitive engine for a F-35 Joint Strike Fighter – against the plans of John Boehner, who pushed the bill on House leaders largely because the chief beneficiary, GE, is a major employer in Ohio, his home state. The plan, which would’ve cost $450 million, wasn’t to build the engine itself but to have a backup just in case something goes wrong. Rooney, a sophomore congressman, corralled 47 freshman House members to score a 233-198 vote on an amendment that scuttled the program. Not bad, kid. You’re gonna go far. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 23:39

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Politics: On Nir Rosen’s sudden rise to Public Enemy No. 1

  • It’s crazy how fast things move sometimes. Within a day, Nir Rosen went from some relatively low-profile journalist tweeting controversially about Lara Logan to Twitter trending topic who’s on Anderson Cooper. That’s right, he’s become the story as much as Logan has. (Which, considering the nature of the Logan story, is sad.) Nir Rosen has surpassed Kenneth Cole as the worst social media user of the Egypt crisis. But some have suggested that this is a situation where actually-harmless gallows humor met its worst enemy: The internet mob mentality. We disagree, but we’d like to offer our feelings first:
  • Two mobs, two targets Foster Kamer, a journalist we like but don’t always agree with, had a pretty interesting take: “Lara Logan and Nir Rosen were attacked by the same thing. Or more precisely, the same sociological profile.” His correlation? A large online mob ganged up on Rosen, just as a large real-life mob did the same to Logan. While we can see where he’s going, Rosen largely encouraged the attacks by continuing to paint himself in a corner after the comments spiked out of control. He didn’t see the red flags.
  • Tweet at your own peril The thing about Rosen that makes him effective as a journalist is that he’s brash and in-your-face. Problem is, he’s one of those guys with strong views who doesn’t see when he’s gone too far. It’s something he admits to himself: “I’ve often been warned by friends that someone as rash and careless as me should not be on twitter, and clearly they were right.” Rosen didn’t take Twitter seriously. The problem is Twitter takes Twitter seriously, and it’s at a public figure’s peril to ignore that. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 20:59

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Politics: Scott Walker masters art of political self-destruction in Wisconsin

  • Not bad, Scott Walker. You’ve been Wisconsin’s governor for like two months, and you have half of Madison aiming for your throat because you made a power play to take away public employees’ collective bargaining rights. And you threatened to get the National Guard involved if union members tried to walk out in protest. Dude, this is Wisconsin, Union Central! You’re screwing with the teachers, not the bureaucrats! And Madison is like the hippie mecca of the Midwest! What did you think was going to happen? Not everyone is this hardcore about budget deficits. The Green Bay Packers (!!) have turned against you, and now you have people comparing you to Hosni Mubarak. A tad overwrought, yes, but the point is pretty clear. By going for the jugular a little too harshly, you’re making your political bed, Scott. Why can’t you be cool like this Scott Walker? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 15:39

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Politics: Sen. Scott Brown revisits childhood physical, sexual abuse

  • Hats off to Scott Brown: Discussing traumatic events from one’s life is never easy, especially to a large, disparate public. Massachusetts Senator Scott Brown is doing just that. An upcoming 60 Minutes interview will touch on his sexual abuse at the hands of a camp counselor when he was ten, as well as physical abuse by multiple stepfathers. Brown, a moderate GOP senator who has earned much respect during his year in office, deserves an immense amount of credit for this, hopefully giving an example to youth in the same position to report abuse. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

16 Feb 2011 15:01

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Politics: Lara Logan released from hospital, in “remarkably good spirits”

  • good news on the lara logan front. It’s being reported that Logan has been dismissed from the hospital following her “brutal and sustained sexual assault” in Cairo. While an unnamed source claims that, fortunately, Logan’s assault was “not a rape,” we can hardly imagine of the terror of it, especially in the context of a wild, tumultuous scene in Tahrir Square. Logan is reportedly in surprisingly good spirits, and is home with her family. Best wishes for her, and for her recovery. Relatedly, though, film critic Roger Ebert had this to say: “The attack on Lara Logan brings Middle East attitudes toward women into sad focus.” We’re all for somberly analyzing the broad implications of specific events, but really? Unless you can’t imagine a woman in America being sexually assaulted in a chaotic mob, it seems a little cheap and easy to paint a whole part of the world with the brush of this horrible event. Still, better than Nir Rosen’s analysis was. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 11:12

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Politics: Nir Rosen loses NYU job, really sorry for Lara Logan comments

  • Mr. Rosen tells me that he misunderstood the severity of the attack on her in Cairo. He has apologized, withdrawn his remarks, and submitted his resignation as a fellow, which I have accepted. However, this in no way compensates for the harm his comments have inflicted.
  • NYU Center on Law and Security Executive Director Karen J. Greenberg • In accepting Nir Rosen’s resignation over his comments on Twitter criticizing Lara Logan in the wake of reports of her sexual assault in Egypt. “I am deeply distressed by what he wrote about Ms. Logan and strongly denounce his comments,” Greenberg wrote in a statement. “They were cruel and insensitive and completely unacceptable.” Rosen, a journalist who has been featured in a number of publications in the past and is noted for his Iraq War coverage, profusely apologized for what he said on Twitter: “There is no point following me, i am done tweeting. Too ashamed of how i have hurt others and the false impression i gave of who i am.” source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2011 15:43

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Politics: Another day, another call to compromise from President Obama

  • I expect that all sides will have to do a little bit of posturing on television and speak to their constituencies, and rally the troops and so forth. But ultimately, what we need is a reasonable, responsible, and initially, probably, somewhat quiet and toned-down conversation about… ‘where can we compromise and get something done?’
  • President Barack Obama • Setting the stage for the looming budget kerfuffle breaking out in Washington, the President urged measured and bipartisan conversation with the ultimate goal of compromise. If this ends up looking anything like his previous calls for bipartisan rigor, though, you’re likely to see Republicans get a pretty generous compromise that liberals will be asked to stomach, followed by the Republicans insisting that President Obama is a far-left Spendocrat who didn’t really compromise on anything. Which, it bears mentioning, is infuriating to watch once, let alone over and over again. source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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