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."