Saturday Morning Reads
Posted: June 16, 2012 Filed under: Austerity, Barack Obama, executive orders, immigration, legislation, Mitt Romney, morning reads, U.S. Economy, U.S. Politics | Tags: Affordable Care Act, Angela Merkel, Daily Caller, Egypt, eurozone crisis, Germany, Goodfellas, Greece, Henry Hill, Neil Munro, respect for the office of President, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, SCOTUS, the Euro, Tucker Carlson, White House press corps, wingnuts, wise guys, world economy 24 Comments
Good Morning!!
Yesterday was a pretty busy news day for a Friday. So if you’ve had your sugar bombs and coffee, let me fill you in on the latest before you head outside to enjoy a beautiful June day. The weather folks are saying this will be a nice weekend around the country.
Yesterday the President announced an executive order telling the Department of Homeland Security not to deport children who were brought to the U.S. illegally and have grown up here and gone to school here. These are the young people who would be eligible to stay here and have a path to citizenship under the “Dream Act” if Republicans in Congress would stop blocking the legislation.
In a move that seemed to be aimed at Hispanics whose enthusiasm for voting in the November 6 election could be crucial to Obama’s re-election chances, the president acted to potentially protect 800,000 people from deportation proceedings for at least two years.
Obama, who previously was reluctant to impose such an order even as Republicans in Congress blocked immigration reform bills he supported, called his action “the right thing to do.”
His announcement was on the 30th anniversary of a Supreme Court decision that said children of illegal-immigrant parents were entitled to public education in the United States.
Right wingers–including Mitt Romney–are of course calling the move “political,” but so what? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Politicians make political decisions. Duh! But if they’re doing the right thing, I don’t care what their motivation is. The LA Times published some basic information for people who want to know what this change means to them.
During the President’s announcement of the policy change at a press availability in the Rose Garden, a wingnut blogger from The Daily Caller, rudely broke into Obama’s speech with an offensive question. David Graham at the Atlantic:
An extremely unusual occurrence happened today as President Obama spoke at the White House. The president was offering a statement on his executive order suspending deportations for certain illegal immigrants brought here as children….when a reporter started heckling him and shouting questions.
The reporter has been identified as Neil Munro of the Daily Caller, a conservative online news outlet run by Tucker Carlson….
Interrupting the president mid-speech is considered a serious breach of etiquette, and Obama’s reaction shows how peeved (and probably taken aback) he was. Munro, and the Daily Caller, have immediately come in for harsh criticism by a wide range of journalists, including conservative ones. The problem isn’t that Munro was asking tough questions; it’s that he interrupted the commander-in-chief to ask them and in doing so guaranteed that none of the assembled press would be able to ask any serious questions — since it’s fairly clear that Munro’s query was intended as provocation.
I have video of the confrontation, but youtube seems to be down at the moment. I’ll put it up again later if I can. Munro yelled “Why do you favor foreigners over Americans?” Then when Obama responded, he proceed to argue and then yell while Obama was speaking. Pretty unprofessional for a so-called “journalist.”
Even Bill O’Reilly condemned the wingnut hack’s behavior, along with Fox News talkers Shep Smith and Chris Wallace.
At CNN, Dean Obeidallah says this type of behavior by wingnuts is part of an overall effort to “delegitimize” Obama’s presidency.
A reporter from a right-wing media outlet heckled President Obama — not once, but twice — on Friday as he was unveiling a new immigration policy. If this shocks you, you haven’t been paying attention. This is simply the latest page from the right’s playbook to delegitimize Barack Obama’s presidency.
Some may dismiss it as an isolated incident, but it’s not. It goes much deeper. Believe me, I know hecklers — I’m a stand-up comedian. If someone heckles me once, it can be a mistake: too many drinks, overcome by emotion, etc. But when you heckle twice, you have an agenda.
BTW, Munro is an Irish immigrant. So what is his problem?
A quick perusal of Munro’s Twitter feed reveals he does not hide his contempt for President Obama. His tweets range from claims that Obama is using NASCAR and country music to attract “white non-college voters,” to slams of Michelle Obama, to allegations that Obama is racially discriminating against blacks in his White House hiring practices.
But this is all not about Munro — he is just a small cog in the right’s campaign to diminish the legitimacy of Obama’s presidency. I’m not talking about people disagreeing with policies. I mean specifically the campaign to paint Barack Obama as less than American — as an “other”–as someone whose presidency is not entitled to the same respect as that of the presidents who came before him.
OK, maybe I’m spending too much time on this, but I guess I’m a bit old fashioned. I believe in respecting the office of the President. I think it’s very important for the White House press corps to behave respectfully, while at the same time asking tough questions. In this case, Munro’s behavior led to the press conference being cut off before more responsible reporters could ask questions.
I have some other news for you, and I’ll give it to you quickly so you can get out an enjoy your day.
The send-off for Mitt Romney’s bus tour of “small-town America” was overshadowed by Obama’s announcement.
After weeks of gaining momentum amid a spate of bad economic news that has shaken Obama’s reelection campaign, Romney was faced with a classic demonstration of how the White House can use its power to reset the agenda.
For hours, Romney tried to ignore the news. Finally, after a rally here with a ragtime band playing “Yankee Doodle Dandy” in a town-square gazebo, Romney made a statement that struck a radically different tone from the hard-line approach he took on illegal immigration during the Republican primaries.
“I believe the status of young people who come here through no fault of their own is an important matter to be considered and should be solved on a long-term basis so they know what their future would be in this country,” he told reporters outside of his campaign bus.
“I think the action that the president took today makes it more difficult to reach that long-term solution, because an executive order is of course just a short-term matter. It could be reversed by subsequent presidents. I’d like to see legislation that deals with this issue.”
But he made no commitment to supporting any particular option.
Of course not. Just more meaningless huffing and puffing from an old stuffed suit.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg expects “sharp disagreement” in the Supreme Court over the Affordable Care Act.
The LA Times reports: Egypt revolution losing steam as military asserts power
Germany could be in trouble if Greece opts out of the Euro.
Why can’t the Euro nations agree on a plan? In Germany, the situation is being compared to Titanic, one of the greatest disasters in history.
Since Euro Zone is like the Titanic heading for an iceberg called Greece, there’s plenty of concern on the first-class deck called Germany. If Greece goes down, it can take even Europe’s biggest economy with it.
“I believe Europe is right in a crossroads right now,” Gerhard Hofmann, director of the German Cooperative Bank Group, told CBS News.
How the shock waves will hit the U.S. if it happens.
The NYT says Obama is “looking to Merkel” for aid and comfort.
A collapse of the euro could derail America’s fragile recovery and doom Mr. Obama’s re-election hopes. So the president finds himself in the strange position of having forged a relationship with Ms. Merkel that is perhaps the best he has with any foreign leader, but that has not yet resulted in the chancellor’s agreeing to what Mr. Obama thinks must be done in Europe: an American-style bailout and fiscal stimulus.
Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel will meet again Monday at a Group of 20 summit meeting in Mexico, with the stakes for Europe even higher than they were last month. With Greece holding elections on Sunday that could precipitate its exit from the European currency union — the nightmare feared by the financial markets — Mr. Obama may be running out of time to make his case.
And there is no indication Ms. Merkel is any more inclined to heed his advice. In a speech to the German Parliament on Thursday, she said the world should not expect Berlin to be Europe’s savior, rejecting calls to create euro bonds to share the debt burden of the Mediterranean countries.
Boy is she ever stubborn. And she seems determined to bring the entire world economy crashing down. Mitt Romney must love her.
A new study suggests that Gay Men Have Evolutionary Benefit For Their Families.
Henry Hill with Goodfellas star Ray Liotta
Finally, Henry Hill has died. He was the “wise guy” who was the inspiration for Martin Scorcese’s “Goodfellas.” Hill was only 69, and died from health problems related to smoking.
Henry Hill, the infamous mob informant whose life of crime was chronicled in the film classic “GoodFellas,” was the first to admit that he did “a lot of bad things back then.”
“I shot at people. I busted a lot of heads, and I buried a lot of bodies,” he told the London-based Daily Telegraph in 2010. “You can try to justify it by saying they deserved it, that they had it coming, but some just got whacked for absolutely no reason at all.”
….
Henry Hill, the infamous mob informant whose life of crime was chronicled in the film classic “GoodFellas,” was the first to admit that he did “a lot of bad things back then.”
“I shot at people. I busted a lot of heads, and I buried a lot of bodies,” he told the London-based Daily Telegraph in 2010. “You can try to justify it by saying they deserved it, that they had it coming, but some just got whacked for absolutely no reason at all.”
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Thanks for the video link to Obama’s Rose Garden press conference. I had heard snippets of the incident on NPR yesterday. BTW, when the video ends a page of other videos appear. One says Munro should be awarded Journalist of the Year, put up by a Libertarian apparently. This reminded me of the shoe throwing incident during Bush’s Reign of Horror – al-Zaidi was sentenced to 3 years in prison in Iraq: http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-12/world/iraq.shoe.thrower_1_zaidi-al-maliki-and-bush-shoes?_s=PM:WORLD
Have to share this story from The Nation about the Vagina Story in Michigan: http://www.thenation.com/blog/168429/vagina-vagina-vagina Here’s just one quote that really hit home:
“I wished this latest GOP gaffe surprised me, but Republicans feeling squirmy about women’s “down-theres” while desperately trying to keep said “hoo-hoos” in check is pretty standard these days. We live in a country where it’s fine to legislate vaginas, but saying the actual word is forbidden.” I feel a bumper sticker coming on……….I HAVE A VAGINA & I VOTE.
I had to delete the video, because nothing on Youtube is working right now. I’m glad you got to see it. I’ll put it back up if possible.
bb, did you read Pierce’s take on the announcement? http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/obama-dream-act-9750199 When Pierce is good, he’s GREAT! I love how her characterizes the looney tooners on the Right.
Yes, I read it this morning. He had it just right.
A little off topic but what caught my eye when reading an account of what the FBI found in Whitey’s hideaway was a comment made by a manager of one of the complexes both he and Greig had lived at.
It seems that Whitey gave some small gifts to the manager who was quoted as saying that he was under the impression that Whitey may have had other “designs” on him thus bolstering the rumors that perhaps Whitey may “swing both ways” after all. There was some hints of that in one or two of the unauthorized bios that were written over the past 10 years.
Shades of “The Sopranos” where a character with the same appetites was discovered and ultimately “killed off” by the Mob when his secret was uncovered at a gay bar. A man struggling with his own sexuality may have very well led to a life of crime as a means to dispel the rumors that he may not be as “macho” as he appears.
Either way, Whitey is as despicable a human being as one can get with the number of murders, drug trafficing, and extortion attempts he used to maintain control.
The movie “The Departed” is as close to illustrating the grip Whitey exerted over the Boston crime activities with the aid of a few rogue FBI agents enamored of the mystique of this monster.
His upcoming trial set to start in the Fall should be interesting if he doesn’t plead out beforehand.
That’s fascinating, Pat. I haven’t really been following the Whitey case as much as I should. I really appreciate the updates.
Like you, I have always been fascinated by the criminal mind. How easy it seems for some to step outside the boundaries of normal behavior when most of us do not.
We have learned that we all share the ability to commit the most horrendous crimes but most of us have learned to exert the “self control” needed to live within society.
I do not believe for a minute that a person does so because of the influence of a “devil” or that “the voice of god” dictates.
I had 4 kids. I laid down rules, one being when they were small that they could not go any farther then the boundaries I laid out, using the sidewalk as a demarcation of how far they could travel. They were not to go around the corner and out of my sight.
One kid repeatedly broke that rule. Even knowing the consequences of doing so, he chose to meander purposely away to satisfy his own curiosity. He was 4 yrs old. Even at that age he was willing to risk the punishment by breaking the rules. The other 3 did not.
I don’t mean my son was a “criminal” by any means, he wasn’t, only that knowing what the rules were, knowing what the punishment awaited breaking these rules, he chose to repeatedly “take his chances” to exercise his free will in doing what he wanted when he wanted while the other 3 chose to obey.
There may be such a thing as a “risk taker” gene in all of us which leads us to take that one step over the line thinking we can get away with something that prevents most of the rest of society from acting out on the impulse.
That “risk taker” gene if it does exist has been used to good advantage by those willing to travel across huge oceans to discover the New World while others put that gene to work in a willingness to break the laws of society in a more nefarious fashion. I give you the Wall Stree bankers as one example.
Risk taking is a personality trait that is associated with extraversion. Extraversion is highly genetic. Babies are born with distinct temperaments that are the basis for personality development. Risk taking can be a positive or negative. If it goes too far, it can obviously lead to trouble–like gambling, or serious accidents. Most wall street traders are probably high in that characteristic.
bb, thought you might find this interesting: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120531145726.htm
OT – while interesting, this seems rather intuitive to me: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120613102132.htm
“Dogs can sometimes suffer sudden episodes of aggression without their owners understanding why. But, in many cases, the cause of these attacks can be pain that has never been diagnosed or treated.”
It makes sense, but do dogs try to communicate their needs in other ways before getting aggressive? They need someone like Jason Galaxy to step in.
This is my anecdotal opinion – if you know your dog, you will notice if they are in pain, whether it is a change in behavior, their body language or how they are eating or walking. However, most people ignore these signs because, after all, It’s just a dog. Sorry, but I’ve been exposed to too many lousy pet owners, so I’m jaded. For years, as a manager, I’ve used the example of stopping your car to help an injured dog. Most folks who would do this would anticipate that the dog, who is frightened & possibly in pain, might snap and/or bite. You aren’t going to get angry at the dog for reacting like that in those circumstances. I’ve used this to compare how a co-worker might snap at them for an “unknown” reason. Usually it’s a matter of being focused on self – what is bothering one person – and not observing the expressions and or body language of the other person. It’s about awareness. Cats, since they don’t naturally live in social groups, haven’t developed the social skills of animals who live in groups so they can lash out without a typical warning more so than dogs. Dogs have a variety of signals to communicate with their pack. Unfortunately most people aren’t aware of them and, frankly, aren’t interested. We want our dogs to understand what we say to them, but we don’t listen to what they are saying.
Cats are normally raised in social groups, and if all goes well, will pick up appropriate manners from their mother. Many kittens (and puppies) are taken away when still too young and adopted into their homes with humans, and may not yet be fully socialized with usual kitty manners. They may be more likely to play roughly, or have other behavior problems.
I’ve had a couple of adopted adult cats who were easy biters, but over a few months of consistent re-training, they longer bit unless extremely provoked. Such as getting more than 10 claws trimmed at one sitting, for example.
As a long-time cat owner (companion person?), I find cats do send body-language signals. Those signals can be too subtle — or too short — for many persons to notice. An example is the cat who is calmly being petted, then “suddenly” lashes out with claws and teeth at the petting hand. Most likely the cat has sent “Stop” and “I’m getting irritable” signals with turn of head, and twitch of tail, before chomping on the hand which irritates.
Cats, however, usually chomp, scratch, and run, and don’t present the danger that a dog does, with continued aggression.
Agreed. I guess I should have said felines vs canines, because I was talking about dogs/wolves/coyotes vs domestic cats/tigers/leopards in general. But, most house cats do give signals but are likely different than the signals dogs give and are more subtle. I also think that pain/illness in cats is harder to detect, primarily because “deep down” they are loners and exhibiting any weakness, in the wild, can be deadly. When dogs hurt, they seem to want comfort/attention more often than not, while cats generally hide or avoid being touched. Hope that makes a bit more sense of my previous comment.
Cats can do quite a bit of damage if they are provoked. I’ve had the experience of trying to get corral a sick and resistant to take him to the vet. I had a cat who just wasn’t going into that carrier. He was wild! And somewhat scary!
I’ve never had a dog, but I’ve had a number of cats, and I’ve found that they do give signs of being irritated or not feeling well.
Each cat is unique in the ways they like to be touched, and if you’re paying attention they will let you know. That’s one reason I like Jason Galaxy so much. He explains that to the people he works with.
BB, this is for you – livestreams of ospreys on their nests: http://news.discovery.com/earth/osprey-eggs-ready-to-hatch-live-on-the-web-120606.html Click on the link below the first paragraph, then the names of the 2 sites.
Oh wow. Thanks!
Eggs haven’t hatched in either nest yet. Enjoy!
Bank of England unveils stimulus to parry Eurozone threat. They are putting pressure on banks to lend.
Time for Bernanke to do something like this? I’m still not sure what Krugman and others are saying Bernanke can do.
But, once again, it’s not for public sector jobs or rebuilding/shoring up infrastructure. At least it looks like there will be conditions with the loans, unlike what happened here. All the American banks did was buy treasury bonds that had higher interest than they had to pay – so they used the loans to make money instead of lending the money to businesses or individuals. Are all these folks around the world who control the $$$$ too young to remember FDR’s jobs plans or were they never taught “recent” history? Austerity = take $$ from those who don’t have any, take away their homes & ability to buy goods (you know, like FOOD!) and give that money to the 1% who already are sitting on piles of money. It hasn’t worked – it isn’t going to work. Don’t you think it’s time to try something different that might produce different – functional – results?
BTW – my last question is directed at Economic Geniuses who are destroying the world’s economies – not at you.
“Right wingers–including Mitt Romney–are of course calling the move “political,” but so what? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Politicians make political decisions. Duh! But if they’re doing the right thing, I don’t care what their motivation is.”
I completely agree, BB. It’s the right move, who cares about the motivation. If not for the GD GOP Senators abuse of the cloture vote, effectively filibustering the Dream Act, it would have been signed into law 2 years ago. These young people, like all young people, deserve a chance at a decent life.
Sam Donaldson ‘Resents’ Tucker Carlson Comparing Him To Daily Caller Obama Heckler
http://www.mediaite.com/online/sam-donaldson-resents-tucker-carlson-comparing-him-to-daily-caller-obama-heckler/
Respect the POTUS. 🙂