I’m always harsh on Jake Tapper when I think he is chumming the waters with nonsense, so here is a shout-out for two really solid pieces in regards to the duplicity from the Obama administration over State Secrets.
How About a Moment of Clarity, NY Times
Look, the housing crisis is a disaster, and it really sucks that millions are out of work and at risk of losing their homes or have already lost their job or their home or both, but when I read this story, it really pissed me off:
When the woman who calls herself Queen Omega moved into a three-bedroom house here last December, she introduced herself to the neighbors, signed contracts for electricity and water and ordered an Internet connection.
What she did not tell anyone was that she had no legal right to be in the home.
Ms. Omega, 48, is one of the beneficiaries of the foreclosure crisis. Through a small advocacy group of local volunteers called Take Back the Land, she moved from a friend’s couch into a newly empty house that sold just a few years ago for more than $400,000.
Michael Stoops, executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said about a dozen advocacy groups around the country were actively moving homeless people into vacant homes — some working in secret, others, like Take Back the Land, operating openly.
In addition to squatting, some advocacy groups have organized civil disobedience actions in which borrowers or renters refuse to leave homes after foreclosure.
These people aren’t just “squatting” or engaging in “civil disobedience” or striking a blow against tyranny or whatever the hell else you want to call it. They are stealing, they are trespassing, and they are breaking the damned law. And while the NY times may think it is glamorous or sexy or a real power to the people moment, they should be clear about what is going on here and what a mess this sort of behavior causes for the authorities. If they can’t figure out why this is problematic, maybe they should read their own damned NY Times magazine about the problems squatters and illegals and looters cause in Cleveland. Give Tom Brancatelli a call and ask what he thinks about this.
How About a Moment of Clarity, NY TimesPost + Comments (109)
Up from Broderism
David Broder is off to quite a start in today’s WaPo chat:
Broder:….But I think the imperative now is for him (Obama) to show strength and willpower, especially after the North Koreans and the Pirates have shown they don’t put much stock in his strong words.
[….]New York, NY: Regarding the many and unvarying reasons given by American pundits, press and pols for not investigating torture and other war crimes during the Bush Administration, I just want to raise the fact that Britain also has a financial crisis to deal with. They also have a “future,” not just a past, to address. They also have faced, and still face, terrorist threats. Criminal investigations and prosecution would also be controversial for them and create partisan divisions. But they’re still proceeding to investigate credible allegations of serious crimes on the part of their government officials. That’s what the “rule of law” means. So what the heck happened to that quaint concept here in the good old U.S.A.?
David S. Broder: I’m not familiar with what the Brits are doing or if they have their own Abu Ghraibs to investigate. But I understand the reluctance to open a wide-ranging probe of past practices. It seems to me we are better off focusing on cleaning up the policies and practices for the future than trying to settle scores for past actions.
Update. He seems to have gone full neocon:
What I’m saying is that when you say as he has said, “there must be consequences” for aggressive acts, there must be consequences. You remember the boy who cried “Wolf”
[….]But you saw what happened when the North Korean missile test was taken to the United Nations. Wimps.
The Rats Turn On Each Other
This was fun to read:
Former Bush adviser Karl Rove was verbally accosted Thursday evening by an ex-chief of staff to former Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.).
Rove was quietly having dinner at the tony restaurant Charlie Palmer Steak on Capitol Hill when he was aggressively approached by Jason Roe, the former Feeney staffer. Roe, now of Federal Strategy Group, was “loud and boisterous” toward Rove. He was apparently (still) upset over the following comments Rove made on Fox News, the day after the election, in which Feeney — along with many other Republicans — went down in flames.
Democrats should remember that it wasn’t too long ago that they were busy shooting at each other and spending much of their time coming up with the best Bob Shrum insult.
Cheaper than a discount tea bag
This just came in from Human Events:
———————————
In 1773, a handful of men dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. That one act set in motion a chain of events that birthed the greatest nation on earth. But today, many Americans feel helpless as they watch an imperialistic government destroy our Constitution and 237 years of liberty.
The first American Tea Party birthed a nation. The second American Tea Party could help save it!
Just like our Founding Fathers, we’re tired of the way our government is behaving. And lawmakers are refusing to listen. It’s time to exercise our first amendment right and make a statement. The Patriot Depot is helping our friends at Reagan.org raise funds to take 1,000,000 tea bags to the nation’s capital.
We’re also offering FREE T.E.A. Bumper sticker (87 cents shipping and handling). Check out our yard signs, picket signs, T-shirts, and more for a local Tax Day Tea Party near you!
SEND A TEA BAG TO WASHINGTON! • FOR ONLY $1.00!
RETAIL $5.95 • ONLY $.87 Shipping & Handling • ORDER FREE T.E.A. Sticker!
RETAIL $25.00 • ONLY $19.95!
ORDER YARD SIGN!
RETAIL $25.00 • ONLY $19.95!
ORDER PICKET SIGN!
RETAIL $94.95 • ONLY $39.95!
ORDER COMPLETE T.E.A. PARTY PACK! (3 Bumper Stickers, 1 Yard Sign, 2 Picket Signs)
Open Thread
Sorry for the lack of real posts this week- just a lot going on and it is getting nice out, so I have been spending a bit more time out and about.
I did spend an hour at AAA today getting some titles and license plate stuff taken care of, and it was really weird. It was like being transported back in time to 1982. It was staffed by a bunch of plump and elderly women, and there was only one old IBM computer in the entire joint. I was the only client this side of 70 at the place, and they filled everything out by hand and I even got a hand written receipt, and I can’t remember the last time that happened. There was no music playing, an old fashioned clock on the wall like I have not seen since middle school, and all the old industrial strength furniture that was modern in the 80’s. I guess everyone just goes to the DMV to do this stuff, but I always went to AAA in the past and see no reason why I should change. I have no idea if the AAA is dying off, not that everyone can google maps and there are satellites directions in cars and whatnot, so the triptik is not that valuable anymore, but for some reason I found it oddly comforting that the AAA office was still there, still in the mall where no one else is anymore next to the Super K-Mart, and still doing things just the way they have for the last 40 years.
Alright, off to the couch to test drive that new cop show on NBC- Southland, I think.
*** Update ***
There are a lot of “I’s” in this post. ME ME ME ME ME ME ME.
*** Update #2 ***
Southland looks really promising. They have the guy who played Bull Randell in Band of Brothers in one of the roles- always like him in these kinds of parts. I still have never forgiven NBC for canceling Boomtown.
Smackdown on Hardball
Wow. I honestly don’t think you would have seen something like this just a few years ago, but Lawrence O’Donnell is all up in Pat Buchanan’s grill in this Hardball segment about the right-wing fauxtrage the past few weeks about Obama visiting Notre Dame:
Buchanan was left sputtering, and you don’t see that too often. Democrats are definitely feeling as if they are in charge now.