Sherman's Blog - Political & Social Commentary

ACORN: Guilty of what? Nothing Follow-up that the mainstream media have ignored has established that the vaunted tape was edited, hence fraudulent, and they’ve been absolved of wrongdoing. As the editorial observed, ‘where’s the outrage?’

Patrick Kennedy lambasted the media last week for its ignoring Afghanistan in favor of excessive coverage of another wayward congressman. But, ACORN is just one of many additional examples. We desperately need independent journalism.

Now comes the news that the ACORN video was — not to put too fine a point on it — a malicious manufacture, a hoax, a deception, a vicious pack of lies.

On March 1, Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, after a five-and-a-half month investigation, said with the eloquence so many prosecutors favor that "no criminality has been found." The full tapes that showed what looked like an effort by ACORN to sidestep the law were so heavily edited as to be distorted — in effect falsified.

That raises a simple question: where is the outrage this time around? Where is the media and political anger at being duped by the pimp, James O'Keefe, and the self-described "outcall specialist," Hannah Giles? Perhaps most important of all, where is censure for Andrew Breitbart, the conservative media manipulator who sponsored O'Keefe's adventure — and even suggested at one point that O'Keefe should win a Pulitzer Prize for something or other?

The answer is that the air went out of this particular whoopee cushion when O'Keefe was arrested in New Orleans earlier this year and charged in a plot to tamper with the office phones of Democratic senator Mary Landrieu.

Three weeks ago, in an editorial that wrestled with the phenomena known as Sarah Palin, we suggested that the corporately controlled mass media, whatever its momentary biases, was an essential conservative vehicle more interested in propagating spectacle and fueling controversy than in trying to come to grips with the elusive quality known as reality.

The ACORN incident proves our point. ACORN, by the way, is an acronym for Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. "Reform now" — there is an idea the media big boys and girls should keep in mind when the right-wing attack machine prepares its next assault. http://thephoenix.com/boston/news/97985-wheres-the-outrage /

Typical ACORN coverage, an AP article this week ignores the absolving and notes the stigma / defensiveness of ACORN.

Affiliates of the once mighty liberal activist group ACORN are remaking themselves in a desperate bid to ditch the tarnished name of their parent organization and restore federal grants and other revenue streams that ran dry in the wake of a video scandal.

The letters A, C, O, R and N are coming off office doors from New York to California. Business cards are being reprinted. New signs with new names are popping up in front of offices.

The breakaways are trying to shed the scandal that emerged six months ago when videos showed some ACORN workers giving tax tips to conservative activists posing as a pimp and prostitute. But while their names are different, most groups have kept the same offices and staff.

That, critics say, means the groups really haven't started anew and severed all ties to ACORN, which faced accusations of mismanagement and rampant voter registration fraud well before the video brouhaha sent even longtime Democratic backers scattering.

Even the national office of ACORN, or the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, doesn't blame affiliates for bolting from under its umbrella — conceding its entire 40-state network has been devastated by what backers characterize as right-wing attacks.

"It is true that these range of attacks do damage to your brand and your good name," said Kevin Whelan, ACORN's communication's director. "The other reality is that we are starting to win some vindication on the facts. But vindication doesn't necessarily pay the rent."

ACORN's financial situation and reputation went into free fall within days of the videos' release in September. Congress reacted by yanking ACORN's federal funding, private donors held back cash and scores of ACORN offices closed.

On Wednesday, a U.S. judge reiterated an earlier ruling that the federal law blacklisting ACORN and groups allied with it was unconstitutional because it singled them out. That doesn't mean any money will automatically be restored, however. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gUiGsBtx2MUMlFmLr_mcIQfAZA6AD9EEVUT80

Israel-Palestine: Beyond the Biden Visit Explosive stuff, involving Petraeus. Biden warned Netanyahu that Palestine is connected to Iraq/Iran/Afghanistan, that Israeli actions could endanger Americans as well as prospects for regional peace.

On Jan. 16, two days after a killer earthquake hit Haiti, a team of senior military officers from the U.S. Central Command (responsible for overseeing American security interests in the Middle East), arrived at the Pentagon to brief Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The team had been dispatched by CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus to underline his growing worries at the lack of progress in resolving the issue. The 33-slide, 45-minute PowerPoint briefing stunned Mullen. The briefers reported that there was a growing perception among Arab leaders that the U.S. was incapable of standing up to Israel, that CENTCOM's mostly Arab constituency was losing faith in American promises, that Israeli intransigence on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was jeopardizing U.S. standing in the region, and that Mitchell himself was (as a senior Pentagon officer later bluntly described it) "too old, too slow ... and too late."

The January Mullen briefing was unprecedented. No previous CENTCOM commander had ever expressed himself on what is essentially a political issue; which is why the briefers were careful to tell Mullen that their conclusions followed from a December 2009 tour of the region where, on Petraeus's instructions, they spoke to senior Arab leaders. "Everywhere they went, the message was pretty humbling," a Pentagon officer familiar with the briefing says. "America was not only viewed as weak, but its military posture in the region was eroding." But Petraeus wasn't finished: two days after the Mullen briefing, Petraeus sent a paper to the White House requesting that the West Bank and Gaza (which, with Israel, is a part of the European Command -- or EUCOM), be made a part of his area of operations. Petraeus's reason was straightforward: with U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military had to be perceived by Arab leaders as engaged in the region's most troublesome conflict.

UPDATE: A senior military officer denied Sunday that Petraeus sent a paper to the White House.

"CENTCOM did have a team brief the CJCS on concerns revolving around the Palestinian issue, and CENTCOM did propose a UCP change, but to CJCS, not to the WH," the officer said via email. "GEN Petraeus was not certain what might have been conveyed to the WH (if anything) from that brief to CJCS."

(UCP means "unified combatant command," like CENTCOM; CJCS refers to Mullen; and WH is the White House.)]

The Mullen briefing and Petraeus's request hit the White House like a bombshell. While Petraeus's request that CENTCOM be expanded to include the Palestinians was denied ("it was dead on arrival," a Pentagon officer confirms), the Obama administration decided it would redouble its efforts -- pressing Israel once again on the settlements issue, sending Mitchell on a visit to a number of Arab capitals and dispatching Mullen for a carefully arranged meeting with the chief of the Israeli General Staff, Lt. General Gabi Ashkenazi. While the American press speculated that Mullen's trip focused on Iran, the JCS Chairman actually carried a blunt, and tough, message on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: that Israel had to see its conflict with the Palestinians "in a larger, regional, context" -- as having a direct impact on America's status in the region. Certainly, it was thought, Israel would get the message.

Israel didn't. When Vice President Joe Biden was embarrassed by an Israeli announcement that the Netanyahu government was building 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, the administration reacted. But no one was more outraged than Biden who, according to the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, engaged in a private, and angry, exchange with the Israeli Prime Minister. Not surprisingly, what Biden told Netanyahu reflected the importance the administration attached to Petraeus's Mullen briefing: "This is starting to get dangerous for us," Biden reportedly told Netanyahu. "What you're doing here undermines the security of our troops who are fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That endangers us and it endangers regional peace." Yedioth Ahronoth went on to report: "The vice president told his Israeli hosts that since many people in the Muslim world perceived a connection between Israel's actions and US policy, any decision about construction that undermines Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem could have an impact on the personal safety of American troops fighting against Islamic terrorism." The message couldn't be plainer: Israel's intransigence could cost American lives. http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2010/03/14/the_petraeus_briefing_biden_s_embarrassment_is_not_the_whole_story

Israeli- U.S. Tension Deepens

The discord between the United States and Israel over Jewish building in East Jerusalem deepened Tuesday with Israeli officials rejecting demands by Washington and expressing anger over the public upbraiding of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the Obama administration. On a day of scattered - although, in spots, fierce - disturbances by Palestinians in East Jerusalem, news emerged that Israel was moving ahead with a second building project there. A notice on the Web site of the Israel Lands Authority invited developers to bid on construction of 309 new homes in the Jewish suburb of Neve Yaakov, in northeast Jerusalem.

A spokesman for the Jerusalem municipality said building and planning across the city were moving ahead. "For us, it is business as usual," the spokesman, Stephan Miller, said.

In the disturbances, several hundred Palestinian youths protesting Israeli control and construction in East Jerusalem set tires and garbage ablaze. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem for their future capital. The police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. About 10 people were seriously injured and about 60 arrested, the police said.

Israeli officials were also grappling with a storm of American anger. The Obama administration's Middle East envoy, George J. Mitchell, said Tuesday that he would not come here this week as originally scheduled, meaning indirect peace talks with the Palestinians are now officially on hold. In Washington, pro-Israel activists were seeking help from friends in Congress and elsewhere. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/world/middleeast/17mideast.html

And, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah (mosque) in Bethlehem are "Jewish Heritage sites"

In a move that appears to be a celebration of the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 29 worshippers by the terrorist Baruch Goldstein, the Israeli government has proclaimed that the Ibrahimi Mosque in Khalil (Hebron) and Masjid Bilal ibn Rabah (mosque) in Bethlehem are "Jewish Heritage sites".

Goldstein, an American-born Israeli settler who served as a medic in the military, opened fire on worshippers at a mosque in Hebron on February 25, 1994, killing 29 and wounding more than 150, before being subdued and beaten to death.

The announcement by the government of Binyamin Netanyahu, though not surprising, is the latest in a series of Israeli attacks on Islamic historical and religious sites in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

It is consistent with the Israelis' long-standing ambition to dispose of all non-Jewish religious symbols and presence in Palestine. http://english.aljazeera.net:80/focus/2010/02/2010225111933403649.html

The Debt Bomb: More scary talk, grounded in reality, as to a possible economic problem for two years hence.

2012 also is the beginning of a three-year period in which more than $700 billion in risky, high-yield corporate debt begins to come due, an extraordinary surge that some analysts fear could overload the debt markets.

With huge bills about to hit corporations and the federal government around the same time, the worry is that some companies will have trouble getting new loans, spurring defaults and a wave of bankruptcies.

The United States government alone will need to borrow nearly $2 trillion in 2012, to bridge the projected budget deficit for that year and to refinance existing debt.

Indeed, worries about the growth of national, or sovereign, debt prompted Moody’s Investors Service to warn on Monday that the United States and other Western nations were moving “substantially” closer to losing their top-notch Aaa credit ratings.

Sovereign debt aside, the approaching scramble for corporate financing could strain the broader economy as jobs are cut, consumer spending is scaled back and credit is tightened for both consumers and businesses.

The apocalyptic talk is not limited to perpetual bears and the rest of the doom-and-gloom crowd.

Even Moody’s, which is known for its sober public statements, is sounding the alarm.

“An avalanche is brewing in 2012 and beyond if companies don’t get out in front of this,” said Kevin Cassidy, a senior credit officer at Moody’s. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/business/16debt.html?pagewanted=print

Feingold Endangered There are few liberals in the Senate. Feingold, stellar, has a potential opponent who has been quite popular, Tommy Thompson.

A new poll shows Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) trailing former Gov. Tommy Thompson (R) by 12 points, 51-39.

As Thompson wieghs whether to enter the race against Feingold, the polling has largely been encouraging. The latest poll, from the conservative Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, is his biggest lead yet.

Rasmussen had Thompson ahead 47-43.

Whether the polls are accurate or not, it seems pretty apparent Thompson would make this race something along the lines of a toss-up. He appears to be getting closer to running, and a significant challenge to Feingold would be a big coup for the NRSC. http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/polls/86625-another-lead-for-thompson-ove-feingold

Chomsky: ‘Anti-war movement stronger now than 1965’ Outlier take that reminds that the Viet Nam protests didn’t flower until the war was several years old.

The antiwar movement is far stronger now than it was in the ’60s. In the 1960s, there was a point, 1968, ’69, when there was a very strong antiwar movement against the war in Vietnam. But it’s worth remembering that the war in Vietnam started—an outright war started in 1962. By then, maybe 70,000 or 80,000 people had already been killed under the US client regime. But in 1962, Kennedy really opened an outright war, you know, sent the American Air Force to start bombing South Vietnam—under South Vietnamese markings, but everybody knew, it was even reported—authorized napalm, authorized chemical warfare to destroy crops and ground cover, started open—started the programs which drove ultimately millions of people from the countryside into what amounted to concentration camps, to try to—the words were “to protect them from the guerrillas,” who the government knew perfectly well they were supporting. Same kind of things you read now in Afghanistan, if you bother to read the fine print about the conquest of Marjah. But we had to drive them into concentration camps to protect them from the people, the guerrillas, they were supporting. That’s a war. You know, it’s a serious war.

Protest was zero, literally. I mean, it was years before you could get any sign of protest. I mean, those of you who are old enough may remember that in Boston, liberal city, in October 1965—that’s three years after that, hundreds of thousands of American troops rampaging the country, you know, war spread to North Vietnam and so on—we tried to have our first public demonstration against the war on the Boston Common, usual demonstration place. This is October 1965. I was supposed to be one of the speakers. I couldn’t say a word. It was broken up, you know, violently. A lot of students marched over trying to break it up, hundreds of state police there. The next day, the Boston Globe, most liberal paper in the country, you know, devoted its whole front page to denouncing the demonstrators, not the ones who were breaking it up. http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/15/noam_chomsky_on_obamas_foreign_policy

GOP Obstructionism I’m no fan of the Democrats, but the Republican strategy has been to simply stall everything: 290 bills that cleared the House await action in the Senate. And, nominations get held up with regularity, often for insignificant, if not nutty reasons.

Case in point: Jim Bunning strikes again:

The Kentucky Republican battled Democrats on the Senate floor Tuesday to block two nominations to relatively backbench positions -- because he is opposed to a tobacco-related law passed by the Canadian Parliament (that's right, the Canadian Parliament). The use of such delaying tactics is not unprecedented in Senate history, but holding up such minor business stretches the purpose of the Senate's open debate rules to the breaking point.

"This is a perversion of the filibuster and a perversion of the role of the Senate. It used to be that the filibuster was reserved for matters of great principle," said Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) from the well of the Senate. "Some of my colleagues seem more interested in using every procedural method possible to keep the Senate from doing anything than they are in creating jobs or helping Americans struggling in a difficult economy." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/16/jim-bunnings-back-blockin_n_500973.html

Plus, blowhard hypocrisy (sic): The ‘feigned indignation’ of Republicans over the latest parliamentary maneuver the Democrats have considered using to pass health care- “deem and pass.”

Norman Orenstein:

In the last Congress that Republicans controlled, from 2005 to 2006, Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier used the self-executing rule more than 35 times, and was no stranger to the concept of “deem and pass.” That strategy, then decried by the House Democrats who are now using it, and now being called unconstitutional by WSJ editorialists, was defended by House Republicans in court (and upheld). Dreier used it for a $40 billion deficit reduction package so that his fellow GOPers could avoid an embarrassing vote on immigration. I don’t like self-executing rules by either party—I prefer the “regular order”—so I am not going to say this is a great idea by the Democrats. But even so—is there no shame anymore? http://blog.american.com/?p=11467

Too Much Rielle Hunter [& “Johnny” Edwards] A smidgen is too much for me.

Andy Borowitz:

In a move that many in the magazine world called unprecedented, GQ today recalled the entire print run of its new issue after a photo spread featuring John Edwards mistress Rielle Hunter was found to cause nausea and in some cases projectile vomiting.

“We at GQ want our readers to know that we are doing everything in our power to avert a public health catastrophe,” said magazine spokesperson Carol Foyler. “And if that means tracking down every last copy of those Rielle Hunter pictures and destroying them, that’s what we’re going to do.”

As emergency rooms across the country overflowed with people who had unwittingly opened the latest GQ and seen the Hunter photos, fresh concerns were raised over the existence of a John Edwards-Rielle Hunter sex tape.

Rand Deckle, press spokesman for the National Institutes of Health, issued this statement on the matter: “Given the health crisis that the Rielle Hunter photos have created, it is imperative that every copy of that sex tape be secured and buried in the center of the Earth.” http://www.borowitzreport.com/2010/03/15/gq-recalls-new-issue-after-rielle-hunter-photo-spread-causes-nausea/

-R