The Commentariat -- February 23

Scott Shane of the New York Times: "As the Qaddafi clan conducts a bloody struggle to hold onto power in Libya, cables obtained by WikiLeaks offer a vivid account of the lavish spending, rampant nepotism and bitter rivalries that have defined what a 2006 cable called 'Qadhafi Incorporated.'”

Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post: "As the Obama administration has boosted economic and development assistance for Pakistan over the past two years, it has deployed U.S. diplomats and aid workers more widely to implement education programs, flood relief and other projects. The apparently growing belief that many Americans work as sinister agents could imperil those efforts or endanger those carrying them out, U.S. and Pakistani officials said." The U.S.'s admission that Raymond Davis, accused of shooting dead two Pakistanis last week, was a CIA contractor, only confirmed Pakistanis' suspicions. The U.S. continues to claim he should have diplomatic immunity. ...

... Tom Raum of the AP: "Some members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, are threatening to cut off funds to Pakistan if Raymond Allen Davis is kept much longer in a Pakistani jail. But turning him over to the U.S. could unleash a torrent of anti-American sentiment across Pakistan, threatening to undercut that country's fragile civilian government."

Ha, ha. Walker Pwned. After he heard Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin refused to take calls from Democratic legislators, Ian Murphy, who runs the Buffalo Beast site (founded by Matt Taiibi), called Walker posing as financier & Walker-backer David Koch. Murphy/Koch not only got through, they had a 20-minute conversation, which you can listen to below. (The Buffalo Beast site is currently down [1:45 pm ET]). Update: the Buffalo Beast site is back up. Give it a hit. Murphy has a partial transcript of the audio. Audio Parts 1 & 2:

     ... Adam Weinstein of Mother Jones -- and Walker's office -- verified the call. ...

     ... Ezra Klein: "The state's Democratic senators can't get Walker on the phone, but someone can call the governor's front desk, identify themselves as David Koch, and then speak with both the governor and his chief of staff? That's where you see the access and power that major corporations and wealthy contributors will have in a Walker administration, and why so many in Wisconsin are reluctant to see the only major interest group representing workers taken out of the game.... Walker ... is not opposed, in principle, to powerful interest groups having the ear of the politicians they depend on, and who depend on them. He just wants those interest groups to be the conservative interest groups that fund him...."

Judith Davidoff of the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times: "The billionaire brothers whose political action committee gave Gov. Scott Walker $43,000 and helped fund a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign against his opponent ... have quietly opened a lobbying office in Madison just off the Capitol Square. Charles and David Koch, who co-own Koch Industries Inc. and whose combined worth is estimated at $43 billion, have been recently tied with Walker's push to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers." ...

** Shawn Doherty of the Cap Times: "The [Walker] bill allows the Walker administration, without approval of the Public Service Commission and without a competitive bidding process, to sell off or lease the state's several dozen energy plants to private companies.... The guy Walker put in charge of the office that will oversee these potential power plant sales — though some people worry they will be more of giveaways than sales — is Jeff Plale.... He is one of the two Democratic senators who at the very last minute defected from the Democratic ranks to vote against state employee contracts last fall. Around a month later, Walker handed the former South Milwaukee Democratic legislator the $90,000 post as the administrator of the Department of Administration's Division of Facilities. And now he is busy defending the administration's move to sell off the state's power plants as no big deal." ...

... Michael Fletcher & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The budget fights initiated by Republican governors represent a multi-state effort by like-minded politicians to solve budgetary problems in part by weakening public employee unions and demanding significant concessions from workers. After the November elections, Republicans now control many more state legislatures and governorships." ...

... Greg Sargent: Gov. Scott Walker refuses to accept the public workers' union concessions & declare victory. "For all of Walker's pieties about how he really, honestly, truly isn't out to bust unions, his own conduct makes it entirely clear what this is really all about." ...

"A Less Perfect Union." Stephen Colbert weighs in on Turmoil in the Middle West:

... In Right Wing World, the story is that Scott Walker campaigned on ending collective bargaining rights for public workers, & the public voted him into office, so its "democratic" to take away their rights. Andrew Sullivan, who thinks it's fine for Walker to restrict union benefits, has searched for evidence that Walker actually campaigned against collective bargaining, and he can't find any. ...

Quote of the Day: There is something bizarre about Republican commentators who cheered on Tea Party protests against a clear Obama campaign pledge -- health insurance reform -- suddenly decrying public protests against something a politician didn't campaign on. -- Andrew Sullivan

... Dennis Cauchon of USA Today: "Americans strongly oppose laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. The poll found 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to such a proposal in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law." ...

... There are conflicting news stories out of Indianapolis on Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' position on public employee collective bargaining rights, so I'm going with this Politico story by Maggie Haberman: "Mitch Daniels suggested Tuesday that Republicans drop their push for the right-to-work legislation.... The Republican governor and presidential hopeful also said he won't send out state police to round up absent Democratic state [House] lawmakers, who fled the state to stall Republican action on the bill."

... Meanwhile, the AP reports that "The Indiana Senate has approved a bill to limit teachers' collective bargaining rights despite objections from minority Democrats and hundreds of union members protesting in the Statehouse.The Republican-ruled Senate voted 30-19 Tuesday to approve the bill, which is part of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' aggressive education agenda." CW: so was this Daniels' idea or not? Has he changed his mind? I can't tell. ...

... CW: AND pardon me while I fall out of my chair. Peter Schorsch of Saint Petersblog: "Gov. Rick Scott said during a radio interview Tuesday that Florida shouldn’t move to take away public employees’ collective bargaining rights as the Republican governor of Wisconsin has proposed, reports the News Service of Florida." Heretofore America's Worst Governor, Scott may be falling into Second Worst Governor place, behind Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

What You Should Know about Raising the Debt Limit. Even though the federal government will hit the national debt ceiling in a few months, Republicans have been threatening for some time to refuse to raises the debt limit. They characterize their threats as demonstrations of "fiscal responsibility." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report titled "Delays Create Debt Managment Challenges & Increase Uncertainty in the Treasury Market." The first two sentences of the report should (but won't) blow the wind out of Republican sails:

The debt limit does not control or limit the ability of the federal government to run deficits or incur obligations. Rather, it is a limit on the ability to pay obligations already incurred.

Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: "U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler didn't just endorse the constitutional legitimacy of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Tuesday evening. She used her 64-page ruling to answer some of the most basic criticisms of the new federal health care law. AP story here. TPM has a copy of Judge Kessler's ruling here. From a footnote in the ruling:

In short, those who choose not to purchase health insurance will ultimately get a 'free ride' on the backs of those Americans who have made responsible choices to provide for the illness we all must face at some point in our lives.

     Cohen writes, "The quote ... speaks ... to all the Americans out there who refuse to buy health insurance in the name of federalism and the 10th Amendment."

Andrew Cuomo with "concubine" Sandra Lee, after attending mass on Sunday, January 2, 2011. AP photo.Oh, No! "Public Concubinage." Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "A consultant to the Vatican’s highest court is calling for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to be denied holy communion because he lives with his girlfriend without being married to her. Edward N. Peters, a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, who last year was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a consultant to the Vatican court, the Apostolic Signatura, called the governor’s living situation 'public concubinage' in his blog on Jan. 4, and said in a recent interview that Mr. Cuomo, who is Roman Catholic, must refrain from taking communion under canon law. CW: I love having stupid stories like this pop up for mental health breaks.

Here's a story we like even better. Jeff Gelles of the Philadelphia Inquirer: when Well-Fargo slapped a huge, extra-legal new insurance premium onto Patrick Rodgers' home mortgage loan, Rodgers tried to get the bank to drop the excessive coverage, but -- surprise! -- Wells-Fargo personnel wouldn't even return his phone calls. So Rodgers took the bank to court & obtained a judgment against it -- and a court-ordered sheriff's levy against a local branch of Wells-Fargo to enforce the judgment. With a little help from Rodgers, the story gained national media attention, & Wells Fargo settled with Rodgers. CW: you see what lengths you have to go to to get a bank to return a fucking phone call.

Right Wing World

Another Winger implies Michelle Obama is fat. This time it's the svelte Rush Limbaugh. Really. Max Read of Gawker has the audio & a transcript.

Should this man be calling this woman "fat"?     ... OR, as Jimmy Kimmel asked, "Isn't that the morbidly-obese pot calling the kettle African-American?"

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune has decided not to run for president in 2012, saying he wants to remain in the Senate to fight for conservative principles." CW: Thune's main qualification is that he looks like a president:

John Thune shows House twerps Eric Cantor & Paul Ryan how to look presidenty. Life photo. NEW: the likeness between Thune in this shot & the real President, pictured below, is striking. Why, even their outfits are identical.

News Ledes

President Obama on the situation in Libya:

New York Times: "House Republicans told Senate Democrats on Wednesday that they would agree to a temporary spending bill to avert a government shutdown next week only if the measure began instituting House-passed cuts on a pro-rated basis."

New York Daily News: "Libya's former justice minister, one of several senior officials to defect since Khadafy ordered a military crackdown on protesters Sunday, told a Swedish tabloid that he has proof Khadafy personally ordered the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. That Libya was behind the bombing is not new, but Mustafa Abdel-Jalil's claims suggest Khadafy could face an international criminal trial if he survives his revolution." ...

... Al Jazeera: "Muammar Gaddafi ... clings to power in the face of mass protests demanding  his resignation, as parts of the country's state structure appear to be disintegrating around him. Fears are growing that Libya's state apparatus, once seen as a powerful and coherent entity, is facing collapse as key officials quit the government, with some joining the protesters, and as international isolation mounts. Fresh gunfire was reported in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday, after Gaddafi called on his supporters to take back the streets from anti-government protesters." New York Times story here. ...

... Reuters: "Egypt's new cabinet met for the first time on Wednesday with security high on its agenda and under attack from the Muslim Brotherhood and others who want it purged of ministers appointed by ousted president Hosni Mubarak. In preparation for polls that military rulers have promised to hand over power to civilian rule in six months, activists announced the forming of a new political party on Wednesday."

New York Times: "After a week of upheaval in Madison, Wis...., the [union] battle moved to Ohio, where the Legislature held hearings on a bill that would effectively end collective bargaining for state workers and drastically reduce it for local government employees like police officers and firefighters.... In Indiana, nearly all of the Democratic members of the state’s House of Representatives stayed away from a legislative session on Tuesday in an effort to stymie a bill that they say would weaken collective bargaining. By late Tuesday, they seemed to have succeeded in running down a clock on the bill, which was to expire at midnight. Representative Brian Bosma, the speaker of the Indiana House, said the bill would die when the deadline passed." ...

     ... Indianapolis Star Update: "Republicans have killed a controversial labor bill that has sparked a Democrat work-stoppage and large union protests at the Statehouse. But Democrats say that isn’t enough to get them back to the Statehouse. Rep. Dale Grubb, D-Covington, the House Democratic caucus chairman who was with the Democrats at an Illinois hotel, said House Democrats are going to stand strong and won’t return to the state until Gov. Mitch Daniels and House Speaker Brian Bosma assure them they won’t resurrect four additional labor measures and six education bills." ...

... AP: "Democrats kept the Wisconsin Assembly up overnight with a droning filibuster in another desperate attempt to block the Republican governor's bold plan to strip public sector workers of nearly all of their bargaining rights.... Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on the state Capitol in monumental protests that entered their ninth day Wednesday."

AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit claiming that President Barack Obama's requirement that all Americans have health insurance violates the religious freedom of those who rely on God to protect them. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a Christian legal group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, on behalf of five Americans who can afford health insurance but have chosen for years not to buy it." President Clinton appointed Kessler to the court.

New York Times: "Rescue workers struggled to find survivors on Wednesday as much of New Zealand’s second largest city remained silent and dark a day after an earthquake killed scores of people."

AP: "A renewed call for Middle East-style democracy protests in China urged citizens to take strolls at specific locations on weekend afternoons and demanded authorities release activists apparently still in custody Wednesday."

The Commentariat -- February 22

** Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "State records also show that Koch Industries, their energy and consumer products conglomerate based in Wichita, Kan., was one of the biggest contributors to the election campaign of Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, a Republican who has championed the proposed cuts. Even before the new governor was sworn in last month, executives from the Koch-backed group had worked behind the scenes to try to encourage a union showdown...." ...

... Dee Hall of the Madison, Wisconsin State Journal: "The state constitution prohibits lawmakers from being arrested while the Legislature is in session, unless they're accused of serious crimes. That raises questions about whether Wisconsin's runaway senators, on the lam since Thursday, can be forcibly hauled back to the Senate.... Laura Rose, deputy director of the state's Legislative Council, and two private attorneys who have handled cases involving legislative immunity, said the lawmakers are probably protected by a clause in the constitution barring arrest during a legislative session for all but 'treason, felony and breach of the peace.'" ...

... ** Kevin Drum of Mother Jones writes a comprehensive article on "how screwing unions is screwing the entire middle class." CW: it's Econ 101 all on one page.

... A Rasmussen poll found that 48 percent of "likely voters" around the country agreed with Gov. Walker & 38 percent agreed with “the union for teachers and other state employees.” But Nate Silver shows how Rasmussen, a Republican-friendly pollster, skewed the questions to get the answer it wanted. CW: this looks close to push-polling to me. ...

... Patience John, writing in DailyKos, points to a suspicious subsection of Gov. Walker's proposed "austerity"/union-busting bill that would allow Walker to unilaterally

sell any state-owned heating, cooling, and power plant or ... contract with a private entity for the operation of any such plant, with or without solicitation of bids, for any amount that the department [of energy, I presume] determines to be in the best interest of the state.

     ... John asserts that this is the groundwork for Walker's plan to turn state-owned power plants over to the Koch brothers, who were Walker's second-biggest (or biggest if you count the money they funneled to him thru the Republican Governors' Association) donors to Walker's campaign & whose company, Koch Industries, own multiple energy operations in Wisconsin. CW: John goes over the top rhetorically, and is wrong, I think, in her assertion that the union-busting part of the bill is just a cover. Still, the language in Walker's bill is ominous, and it didn't get there by accident. I'd say John is onto something big.

As the events in Cairo, and now Wisconsin, show us, this is a moment of extraordinary possibility. It is a time for global, nonviolent challenge to anti-democratic forces, wherever they may be -- forces that have enriched themselves while promising stability based on coercion, suppression of rights and profound corruption. -- Katrina Vanden Heuvel of The Nation

Julie Mason of Politico: everybody is waiting for President Obama to make a statement about Libya. ...

... Mary Beth Sheridan & Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "... American appeals are likely to have little effect on Gaddafi.... Although the United States has been able to leverage its deep ties with Egypt's armed forces, it has no significant military-to-military relationship with Libya. It also has little economic leverage: For the past fiscal year, U.S. aid to Libya has been less than $1 million, and most of that has gone toward helping the country's disarmament program. There is not even a U.S. ambassador at the moment."

Michael Slackman of the New York Times: "The United States military undermined efforts to improve relations with Bahrain’s Shiite majority and understated abuses by the Sunni royal family, according to one present and one former American government adviser and a Bahraini human rights advocate."

Damien Paletta of the Wall Street Journal: the White House, led by the OMB, is doing "due diligence" in preparing for a government shutdown if Congress fails to pass a temporary funding bill by March 4.

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: today the Supreme Court will hear a soap opera-like case -- love, betrayal & lots of poison -- that invokes the "Tenther" defense.

Right Wing World

CW: I did not know about this, but it's pretty clever & pretty funny:

     ... Here's more on the backstory from Carlos Santostoy of On Top. ...

     ... AND if you'd like to help ensure that the new definition of "santorum" stays, well, on top, here's the link to Savage's site SpreadingSantorum.com. OR you can just Google "santorum," then click on Savage's site.

Kasie Hunt of Politico: "Haley Barbour said on Monday for the first time that he wouldn’t sign legislation in Mississippi to honor a former Ku Klux Klan leader with a state-issued license plate." This is "a change from when he had earlier declined to take a position against the measure.... Barbour had previously come under fire for refusing to condemn the bill — 'I don't go around denouncing people,' he said — after the Mississippi NAACP called the plate 'absurd' and opposed honoring such a 'racially divisive' figure." CW: this is at least the third time within the last year that Barbour has had to walk back his pro-racism remarks. Can we now just state as fact? -- Haley Barbour is a racist.

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post: "Indiana state Treasurer Richard Mourdock will launch his primary challenge to Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) on Tuesday with the support of a majority of both the state's 92 Republican county chairmen and its state party executive committee.... 'I feel bad that he's going to be humiliated by this list,' Murdock said." CW: yeah, I'll bet. Cillizza notes "That such a large contingent of the party establishment should come out against or withhold support from an incumbent senator is highly unusual...."

News Ledes

This is Gaddafi's address in which he supposedly proves he has not fled Libya. It's the damnest "speech" I've ever seen & should hasten his departure if he hasn't already departed. He claims he is standing in front of his palace:

Da Mayor. AP: "Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel was elected mayor of Chicago on Tuesday, easily overwhelming five rivals to take the helm of the nation's third-largest city as it prepares to chart a new course without the retiring Richard M. Daley. With 89 percent of the precincts reporting, Emanuel was trouncing five opponents with 55 percent of the vote — a margin that allowed him to avoid an April runoff. He needed more than 50 percent of the vote to win outright." Chicago Tribune story here. The Trib's election results summary is here.

AP: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker warns that state employees could start receiving layoff notices as early as next week if a bill eliminating collective bargaining rights isn't passed soon." ...

... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Gov. Scott Walker will address Wisconsin residents at 6 p.m.[7 pm ET]  Tuesday.... Walker is taking the action on the same day the Assembly is expected to debate his budget-repair bill."

AP: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker says failing to pass a bill stripping union rights for Wisconsin public workers would have 'dire consequences.' Walker said in a speech broadcast live statewide Tuesday evening that if lawmakers don't pass the bill up to 1,500 state workers could be laid off by July with another 6,000 forced out of work over the next two years."

... Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch: "The State Highway Patrol limited access to the Statehouse today as thousands of protesters stood outside in the cold, many angry they could not get inside to register their opposition to a bill that would eliminate collective bargaining for state employees." ...

     ... Cleveland Plain Dealer Update: "Moments before a hearing on Senate Bill 5 was scheduled to start at 4 p.m., the Statehouse doors were opened to thousands of protesting union workers who had waited outside all afternoon. A short time earlier, Democratic legislative leaders said they were prepared to head to Franklin County Common Pleas Court to get an order opening the doors."

Washington Post: "Democratic state legislators in Indiana have fled the statehouse in an effort to stall anti-union legislation being pushed by Republicans, and they are saying they won't come back until the offending provisions are taken off the table...."

AP: "Four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates off East Africa were shot and killed by their captors Tuesday, the U.S. military said, marking the first time U.S. citizens have been killed in a wave of pirate attacks plaguing the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean for years."

New York Times: "Trying to calm turbulent oil markets, Saudi Arabia’s oil minister said on Tuesday that the OPEC cartel was ready to pump more oil to compensate for any dropoff caused by unrest in the Middle East."

New York Times: "More than 100,000 demonstrators packed the central Pearl Square [in Manama, Bahrain] on Tuesday in what organizers called the largest pro-democracy demonstration this tiny Gulf nation has ever seen, as the monarchy struggled to hold onto its monopoly on power."

Al Jazeera: "Libyan forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are waging a bloody operation to keep him in power, with residents reporting gunfire in parts of the capital Tripoli and other cities, while other citizens, including the country's former ambassador to India, are saying that warplanes were used to 'bomb' protesters. Nearly 300 people are reported to have been killed in continuing violence in the capital and across the North African country as demonstrations enter their second week."

AP: "One of New Zealand's biggest cities lay in ruins Tuesday after a powerful earthquake toppled tall buildings and churches on a busy weekday, killing at least 65 people in the country's worst natural disaster in decades." ...

... New Zealand Herald: "At least 100 people remain trapped in the ruins of Christchurch tonight following a devastating earthquake which claimed at least 65 lives."

Washington Post: "Egypt's top prosecutor on Monday asked the Foreign Ministry to seek help from foreign governments to seize ousted president Hosni Mubarak's assets, Egyptian state media reported."

This video has little to do with politics & nothing to do with Presidents' Day, but it's so enjoyable, I'm sharing it anyway. If you love language, you'll love linguist Steven Pinker's, well, animated lecture on veiled language:

... AND, since we're fooling around with language today, here's Irish novelist & short-fiction writer Anne Enright reading John Cheever's "The Swimmer." Enright also talks with New Yorker fiction editor Deborah Treisman about the Cheever story:

... Here's the trailer for the 1968 film "The Swimmer":

... And here's Cheever himself in an Alfred Hitchcock-style cameo in the film (this clip is dubbed in Italian):

Okay, here's something about language and Presidents' Day. Clyde Haberman of the New York Times: "The apostrophe is accustomed to abuse, since long before there was a holiday called Presidents’ Day or President’s Day or Presidents Day."