What Memorial Day really means

Paul Rieckhoff, of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America:

While people are lighting up their grills, or spending a day off at the beach, it's important to remember the real reason for today's holiday.

Today marks a solemn day of remembrance for the more than 1 million American heroes of all generations who gave the ultimate sacrifice on the battlefields, defending our country.

To me, Memorial Day means paying tribute to heroes like Navy Lt. Michael Murphy, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his selfless bravery. In the mountains of Afghanistan, Lt. Murphy's team was discovered and assaulted by more than 30 Taliban fighters. The ensuing firefight left one member of the team dead, and the other three injured.

Murphy was mortally wounded as he fought his way to an unsheltered position where he could transmit a call for support. But he fought on, requesting immediate support for his team. He gave his life to save his comrades.

There are no words that can adequately express our debt to the men and women of all generations who have paid the ultimate price in service of our nation. But we should take the time to honor their sacrifice today, and every day of the year.

I spent some time in the cemetery yesterday, looking at the red, white and blue flowers, and the tiny American flags gracing the headstones. One I walked past was a veteran of the Spanish-American war. He had been born in 1869, and he passed in 1940. As I pondered his life, it occurred to me that he probably knew men who fought in the Civil War, maybe even at the Alamo. He fought in the army with Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders and the charge up San Juan Hill. He may have avoided WWI, but lived through most of the Great Depression and perhaps read newspaper headlines (generated by that old war mongerer W.R. Hearst) about the rise of the German Reich. He witnessed the transformation of the American economy from agrarian to industrial, the birth of the automobile, the dawn of the petroleum age.

Say a word of thanks to a vet today, and pay some small tribute to their service and their life.

Chub-by lovin'

Just like he promised he would when he was boosted to power, rookie Republican Speaker Joe Straus has let the (Texas) House rule itself for the last five months. Now, the 150-member chamber is coming unraveled.

The House has been stuck in partisan gridlock for three days, and with just a week left in the legislative session, bills are dying by the minute. ...

Straus has been largely absent from the House speaker's rostrum as Democrats have seized control of the agenda. They've done it with a maneuver known as chubbing, which uses the rules to run out the clock.

Their strategy is to block a divisive voter ID bill. So far, it's working.

Start with one House evenly divided, add a weak Speaker, fold in a partisan Voter ID bill, blend on medium-high for about twelve weeks, chill and serve. Progress in these waning days of the legislative session -- such as it usually is -- has ground to a standstill. Which is never a bad thing when it comes to the Lege.

Oh yeah, throw in a dash of Republican whining ...

"It's really unfortunate that (Democrats) have taken these measures," said Rep. Larry Taylor, chairman of the House Republican Caucus. "There are a lot of contentious bills that we deal with, but we never go to this extreme ... It's unfathomable to me the level of effort they've taken to avoid this issue. They've stopped the whole process."

But, the Democrats are playing by the rules, Taylor said, making Straus powerless to end the gridlock. ...

As the Democrats prattled on over a tedious list of local and uncontested bills, they pushed weightier legislation like college tuition relief and insurance reform closer to demise with a Tuesday deadline. The rules could be suspended to take up any legislation out of order, but it would require a two-thirds majority. Republicans have rejected the offer to take up any bill out of order and Straus has refused to facilitate any efforts to do so.

...

The speaker, who began his job in January, made it clear that he is taking a hands-off approach to leading the House. It presents a stark contrast to the long shadow cast by his predecessor, Rep. Tom Craddick, R-Midland, whose iron-fisted approach eventually led to his ouster a few months ago.

Straus "was hired not to cast a long shadow and I don't think he's got any political capital to spend," said Harvey Kronberg, editor of the state politics Web site Quorum Report.

But, with the House narrowly split in a 76-74 Republican majority, Kronberg said it would be difficult for any speaker to avoid such partisan meltdown over the effort to require voters to furnish more identification before being allowed to cast a ballot at election time.

And there you have it. The Republicans, with both the gavel and the threadbare majority but lacking anything resembling a mandate or a will to govern, are powerless to advance any legislation without compromising on Voter ID. But compromise is the stuff of conservative weakness, as we all know. The impasse threatens the, ah, 'agenda' of a certain secessionist:

Perhaps state lawmakers are fatigued by Gov. Rick Perry’s long tenure or maybe they’re just balking at his leadership, but the Republican-led Legislature this year has turned its back repeatedly on the governor’s decisions and policy positions.

The Senate has rejected a Perry appointee to the parole board as incompetent for the job. His nominee for Board of Education chairman is in grave danger. The House last month stripped Perry’s office of most of its funding in the budget debate, and the money had to be restored in a joint conference committee.

House lawmakers also voted to abolish the Texas Department of Transportation, which is chaired by Perry’s former chief of staff, and replace it with an elected commission. Not to mention the controversial $555 million in federal stimulus money that Perry wants to reject and lawmakers seemed poised to accept.

And there's also the death of "Swift Boat" Bob Perry's TRCC, which my blog buddy John Coby and others are celebrating.

Gee, most people would say that's a lousy record. But after decades of governance like this, that pretty much the entire conservative mission has been stopped qualifies as a tremendous victory for working-class Texans.

Sunday Funnies

Perry flack: GOP cannot be "best little whorehouse in Texas"

"You're just a dirty ol' whore, arncha."

Governor Suckseed's political consultant, Rick Carney:

Carney said he agreed the Republican Party needed to attract new voters. But, he added, "that doesn't mean you take your principles and throw them out the door and become a whorehouse and let anybody in who wants to come in, regardless."

Now this is hardly the stuff of legend, especially for a cunning linguist like Rick Perry (remember that he apprenticed for years at Dubya's knee), but as it turns out several "prominent GOP women" -- let me pause to dab the corners of my mouth with my linen napkin and purse my lips tightly -- gasped and fainted at the remark:

"As businesswomen, community leaders and mothers, it is always concerning and disheartening when we see people resort to behavior aimed at belittling women. Therefore, you cannot imagine how appalling it was to see your campaign's chief strategist liken our Senior Senator's primary campaign to 'opening the doors of a whorehouse.'"

Who are these horrified ladies?

Why, glad you asked. They include Denise McNamara of Dallas, Kris Anne Vogelpohl of Galveston, Lisa Nowlin of Lubbock, Rosalind Redfern Grover of Midland, Jacque Allen of Wichita Falls and Betsy Lake and Penny Butler of Houston. Apparently they form the core of the Kay Bailey Resistance Movement. More from Lady McNamara ...

McNamara's letter accused Perry of engaging in "slash and burn rhetoric." And she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that it's not the first time Perry's campaign has resorted to name-calling.

"It just shows, to me, a lack of class," said McNamara. "This kind of remark should ostracize social conservatives and people who appreciate civility in politics."

(guffawing)

McNamara, a former national party committeewoman, said Hutchison has tried to refrain from attacking Perry because of his role as Texas' leader during the five-month legislative session that began in January.

"That's about to wrap up," McNamara said, predicting Hutchison will soon move into full campaign mode.

Which no doubt includes watching her carefully peel off her elbow-length silk gloves, adjust her frozen coiffure, and shake her finger seven times in Suckseed's general direction.

Maybe this Republican primary will eventually be entertaining -- beyond that "civility in politics" sniff, anyway -- but we're not quite there yet.

Let's just give Dick this week's Douchie

... and be done with it. Five deferments and "other priorities during Vietnam" vs. Navy SEAL and SERE school graduate. Think I'm going with the soldier.

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everybody. Don't over-grill the steaks, be sure and thank a veteran (like Jesse Ventura, even) and don't shoot anybody in the face.

Stimulus money to be used to repair Governor's Mansion

At least it's a shovel-ready project:

While Gov. Rick Perry is criticizing Washington bailouts, state lawmakers are planning to use $11 million in federal stimulus money to help rebuild the badly burned Texas Governor's Mansion.

Approximately $10 million in state tax money will also be spent on a renovation, which is expected to cost about $20 million, officials said Thursday. A House-Senate committee agreed on the expenditures late Wednesday night.

The mansion was burned in an arson fire last summer.

Perry has railed against federal bailouts and what he called the free-spending, power-hungry ways of Washington. In January, he said Texas was endangered by Uncle Sam's "audacity."

Perry spokeswoman Allison Castle released a short, written statement late Thursday when asked about using stimulus money to renovate the mansion.

"We are continuing to work with lawmakers on the budget," she said.

Secede much?

The governor has been living in a three-story, limestone home with a heated pool, an outdoor cabana and a guest house.

The state is paying some $9,900-a-month in rent while the Governor's Mansion undergoes renovations, records show.

It's just completely within character for the irony to be lost on this guy.

Tom Tomorrow speaks for me

... as well as many of the torture apologists I seem to encounter (click for a larger image):


I'm getting pretty disgusted with the fact that I cannot seem to hear any honest political dialogue with the exception of cartoonists, comedians, a few people on MSNBC and a handful of bloggers.

The fascination with claptrap like American Idol and Dancing with the Stars serves as nothing but a collective "lalala I can't hear from you" from the hoi polloi, and it makes me sick to my stomach.

Michael Steele: Change the GOP cannot believe in

Michael Steele is presenting the Republican party's make-over in this "change is a teabag douchebag" address:



Sad and yet hilarious. Remember eight years ago when the conservatives were saying Howard Dean might say something untoward?

Michael Steele is so lame he cannot even be a decent douchebag. But because the Cheneys are taking the week off ...

Surely someone on the Right will stand up and claim this week's prize. Who's out there? Hannity? Coulter? Malkin? Don't let your side down now.

Newt? Sarah? Billo? Hello?

Your party needs you. Represent.

While we wait for a response, let's go ahead and put Harry Reid on the "Douchebag of the Week" list for agreeing with his Oklahoma Republican colleague, Jim Inhofe, that we can't close Guantanamo because that would mean we would have to put 'terrorists' in American prisons. And that is unacceptable.

Harry Reid -- like all the Republicans -- is terrified of those terrible 'terrists' in Guantanamo being held in a prison in this country. I'm not sure why; maybe because they might break out, or get out because they haven't committed any crime, or because they might convert our nice American prisoners to Islam and terrorism or maybe because we would have to finally give them those pesky "rights" like due process or free speech or something.

*slaps forehead*

Harry Reid is the weakest Senate majority leader I can ever imagine.

And the Douchie goes to ...

Liz Cheney, for her magnanimous sack of BS accusing the President of the United States of supporting the terrorists, and calling him "un-American":



Somebody take this horribly delusional person outside and shoot her for treason, or just for having a brain that has gone bad. Or something. Anything.

Honorable mention goes to our very own Governor Suckseed, for continuing to milk a dead horse (click on this one; it goes to Steven Colbert):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

If Rick Perry can find a new shtick, he's liable to earn membership in the Douchebag Hall of Fame.

The Weekly Wrangle

Here's this week's edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly blog post round-up.

At Bluedaze, TXsharon asks: What are the chances that an industry in charge of conducting its own testing to determine waste disposal methods will find toxin levels too high if that means disposal of the waste will be more costly? Read Landfarms: Spreading Toxic Drilling Waste on Farmland (with video).

BossKitty at TruthHugger sees lessons never learned ... it is NOT about religion, ya'll! How does it fit that US military crusader evangelists want to save these souls right before we blow them away. How can we justify putting Muslims on death row, by their own people, just because we convinced them to become APOSTATES?! General Order Number One, Forbid Proselytizing -- Evangelists Cannot Protect Murtads. Wars fought using 12th-century religious mentality means that civilization has taken two steps backwards!

Mean Rachel is reminded on Mother's Day of children, the lack thereof and why the pill should be available over the counter.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme wants to know how can Rick Perry brag about how well Texas is doing when over 22% of our children face hunger every day?

Gary at Easter Lemming Liberal News showed a video from the Texas Freedom Network of our own Texas Department of Miseducation in action.

WhosPlayin covered the Denton County Democrats' election of a new county chair, after previous chairman Neil Durrance resigned to run for U.S. Congress in District 26 in 2010.

The bad news is that unemployment keeps rising in Texas. The good news is that means there's more federal stimulus money available for unemployment insurance, if the Lege and Governor Perry take it. Off the Kuff has the details.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the latest stunt by our member of Congress, AusChron asks a question about Rep. John Carter -- is he a nutball?

Neil at Texas Liberal is very glad that the left won a big election victory in India: Strong Victory For Center-Left Congress Party In India --World's Two Largest Democracies Now Firmly Reject Conservatives.

Harry Balczak is a little upset. Come by McBlogger so you to can understand how much he hates the idea of Texas becoming so $%@*$%%^ puritanical.

John Coby at Bay Area Houston says it is time to sunset Bob Perry's Builder Commission.

This week Teddy at Left of College Station covers President Obama's decision to continue to use the Bush administration commissions to prosecute detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Also, Wednesday Teddy will be a co-host of Biased Transmission, a progressive talk radio show on the community radio station 89.1FM KEOS. This week Jim Olson, Texas A&M University senior lecturer and CIA-officer-in-residence, will return to the show to discuss the "enhanced interrogations" used during the Bush Administration.

Over at TexasKaos, liberaltexan takes on the Obama administration's decision to continue the military Con-Missions. He seems to believe we should, like, trust our own judicial institutions and not make up new, untested ones with no demonstration of necessity or superiority. See his diary, President Obama to Continue Con-Missions.

Xanthippas at Three Wise Men takes heed of journalist Ahmed Rashid's warnings about Pakistan, which teeters on the brink of chaos.

Good ol' boy Gene Green got real scared by some progressive activists who came to his office this past week. PDiddie recounted the poor Congressman's terror at Brains and Eggs.

And lastly but not leastly, Citizen Sarah over at Texas Vox, one of the newest members of TPA, celebrates a victory for renewable energy as the Senate passes through a non-wind renewable portfolio standard. Translation from green geek speech: Lots more solar power for Texas!

Thanks, Rockets

It was a great run. We knew that Kobe's crew was probably a little too much ...


... but you sure threw a scare into them.

McChrystal and Pelosi (and Obama and Tillman and torture and Afghanistan)

First an introduction if you haven't met:

Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the ascetic who is set to become the new top American commander in Afghanistan, usually eats just one meal a day, in the evening, to avoid sluggishness.

He is known for operating on a few hours’ sleep and for running to and from work while listening to audio books on an iPod. In Iraq, where he oversaw secret commando operations for five years, former intelligence officials say that he had an encyclopedic, even obsessive, knowledge about the lives of terrorists, and that he pushed his ranks aggressively to kill as many of them as possible.

But General McChrystal has also moved easily from the dark world to the light. Fellow officers on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he is director, and former colleagues at the Council on Foreign Relations describe him as a warrior-scholar, comfortable with diplomats, politicians and the military man who would help promote him to his new job.

(snip)

Most of what General McChrystal has done over a 33-year career remains classified, including service between 2003 and 2008 as commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, an elite unit so clandestine that the Pentagon for years refused to acknowledge its existence. But former C.I.A. officials say that General McChrystal was among those who, with the C.I.A., pushed hard for a secret joint operation in the tribal region of Pakistan in 2005 aimed at capturing or killing Ayman al-Zawahri, Osama bin Laden’s deputy.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld canceled the operation at the last minute, saying it was too risky and was based on what he considered questionable intelligence, a move that former intelligence officials say General McChrystal found maddening.

When General McChrystal took over the Joint Special Operations Command in 2003, he inherited an insular, shadowy commando force with a reputation for spurning partnerships with other military and intelligence organizations. But over the next five years he worked hard, his colleagues say, to build close relationships with the C.I.A. and the F.B.I. He won praise from C.I.A. officers, many of whom had stormy relationships with commanders running the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. ...

As head of the command, which oversees the elite Delta Force and units of the Navy Seals, General McChrystal was based at Fort Bragg, N.C. But he spent much of his time in Iraq commanding secret missions. Most of his operations were conducted at night, but General McChrystal, described nearly universally as a driven workaholic, was up for most of the day as well.

Now from another fellow named Stan:

That was a P-4 ("personal for") Memo from General McChrystal passing along to POTUS (President of the United States) that the phony-baloney story about the circumstances of Pat Tillman's death could not hold up. The memo was sent less than a week after Pat was killed; and when you read it carefully -- if you can understand this bastardized legal-military-publicity-speak -- it says not only that the author had been involved in the concealment of the circumstances, that he had himself participated in the fraud as one of the approving-signatories for a Silver Star award with demonstrably false statements about the incident.

(snip)

Obama has his sights on Pakistan -- nuclear Cambodia, for Vietnam-analogy fans -- and the nomination of McChrystal means that Special Operations will run the show (as they did in the early phases of Vietnam).

(snip)

McChrystal ran Task Force 6-26, which became temporarily famous after the killing of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi, a boogyman figure cultivated by the US military and media complex. What made TF 6-26 infamous was their activity in Camp Nama, Iraq: torture. Massive, systematic, sustained torture, by special operators, under the supervision of Stanley McChrystal, this deceptively soft-spoken officer.

The camp in Baghdad was used almost exclusively for the torture of detainees. The torture went on before, during, and after the scandal at Abu Ghraib. Detainees were killed by their torturers, members of the most elite units in the US armed forces. Almost in celebration of the activity of the camp, placards were hung that said, "No Blood, No Foul," meaning if you don't make them bleed, you can't be charged with the crimes you are committing.

What's this about Camp Nama?

... This was Camp Nama, the home of Task Force 121, the Special Ops team that chased Osama bin Laden and caught Saddam Hussein and would ultimately locate and kill Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the self-described leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq. It was Rumsfeld's baby, the Platonic ideal of his fast and mobile army. From its size to its mission, everything about it was and remains an official secret. Except for the concertina wire, Camp Nama was a nondescript cluster of buildings.

The only thing Jeff knew about Camp Nama was that he'd be able to wear civilian clothes and interrogate "high value" prisoners. In order to get to the second step, he had to go through hours of psychological tests to ensure his fitness for the job.

Nama, it is said, stood for Nasty Ass Military Area. Jeff says there was a maverick, high-speed feeling to the place. Some of the interrogators had beards and long hair and everyone used only first names, even the officers. "When you ask somebody their name, they don't offer up the last name," Jeff says. "When they gave you their name it probably wasn't their real name anyway." ...

It was a point of pride that the Red Cross would never be allowed in the door, Jeff says. This is important because it defied the Geneva Conventions, which require that the Red Cross have access to military prisons. "Once, somebody brought it up with the colonel. 'Will they ever be allowed in here?' And he said absolutely not. He had this directly from General McChrystal and the Pentagon that there's no way that the Red Cross could get in — they won't have access and they never will. This facility was completely closed off to anybody investigating, even Army investigators."

Note the date on that article. Here's a bit from Andrew Sullivan. Keep in mind -- if you have read more than just the excerpts I have posted -- that both Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld were big fans of Stan McChrystal and TF 6-26 and 121 and the rest.

Its motto: "If you don't make them bleed, they can't prosecute for it." McChrystal appears to be the anti-Petraeus. No wonder Cheney loves him. But why then did Obama pick him for Afghanistan? In the wake of horrifying news of unintended civilian casualties, in a war where the US is already intensely unpopular, Obama has picked a leader who can be directly linked to the worst images and incidents of prisoner torture and abuse under Bush.

And one can't help but wonder at the same time: is McChrystal the reason for the sudden volte-face on the abuse photos?

Let's wrap this up with the moneyshot from Stan Goff ...

Impunity. McChrystal represents a culture of impunity.

Pelosi does, too. Be honest.

(snip)

Obama's support for McChrystal will be matched by Pelosi's support for McChrystal, and they will be mixed up in all this, seeking non-accountability as relentlessly as any Rumsfeld or McChrystal.

Stanley McChrystal is mixed up in all this, and not necessarily as a proselytizer. He's just mixed up in it, because this tendency in the military and his personal career happen to correspond in time and space. What both of them are is killers. They have made professional careers out of killing, and their units were not the little Special Forces A-Detachments with their peculiar linguists and trainers. These guys -- Boykin, McChrystal -- worked in "direct action" units. Rangers. Delta. JSOC. Direct action is another euphemism. It means destroying something, someone, someones.

Now it seems we are training a generation of people to torture; and I wonder if the crazy ideas are leading people to torture others, or if torturing others is the perverted origin of the penchant for male death-cult thinking.

The practice in question here, finally, is torture.

That's where Boykin and McChrystal collaborated in Iraq. A torture camp.

That's what has Pelosi on the spot now, too. Or the CIA. Or both.

Torture.

What does torture say about us; and what does what we say about torture say about us?

I already know the answer to that question, and so does Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama. The real question is why don't they give a damn.

And the answer to that is: impunity.

24-carat stupidity

I think I'll comment on this just because it apparently pisses this ignorant bitch off:

No matter how hard President Obama tries to turn the page on the previous administration, he can’t. Until there is true transparency and true accountability, revelations of that unresolved eight-year nightmare will keep raining down drip by drip, disrupting the new administration’s high ambitions.

That’s why the president’s flip-flop on the release of detainee abuse photos — whatever his motivation — is a fool’s errand. The pictures will eventually emerge anyway, either because of leaks (if they haven’t started already) or because the federal appeals court decision upholding their release remains in force. And here’s a bet: These images will not prove the most shocking evidence of Bush administration sins still to come.

I've been hearing "We did worse things than that at my fraternity initiation" for years. From relatives. Well, obviously those idiots must have missed seeing the photos of the corpses, because even fraternity brothers get prosecuted for murder.

Not sure where Gold-Plated Witch falls on the sodomizing of the children at Abu Ghraib, beyond "it worked".

Don't be stupid like her and stop at the first paragraph; read the entire Rich commentary.

Torturers and supporters blame Pelosi for not stopping them

"There's nothing wrong with torture, but Nancy Pelosi knew about it!"

Never underestimate the ability of conservatives to torture logic. Let's go to the MoDo:

(A) lot of the hoo-ha around Pelosi makes it sound as if she knew stuff that no one else had any inkling of, when in fact the entire world had a pretty good idea of what was happening. The Bushies plied their dark arts in broad daylight. Besides, the question of what Pelosi knew or didn’t, or when she did or didn’t know, is irrelevant to how W. and Cheney broke the law and authorized torture.

B-B-B-But Nancy was briefed. Indeed she was -- though the details of precisely what remain cloudy. The timing isn't in dispute, however: It was 2002. And Nancy Pelosi was the ranking minority member of the House Intelligence committee. Dennis Hastert was Speaker. Porter Goss (he went on to head the CIA, you will recall) was the chairman of that committee. Hastert lobbies for the Turkish government now, and Goss is "an active speaker on the lecture circuit".

Pesky things, them facts.

If we actually had did have a "liberal" media, it wouldn't be necessary for bloggers to point out hypocrisy this vile.

Now let's be clear: I don't like Pelosi. I think she is far too politically calculating and prevaricating for my approval. And I frankly consider her to be a lousy leader of Congressional Democrats. (I'll have a post later today that goes into greater detail about my personal beef with Madam Speaker.)

But that the Republicans have raised their collective voices to a screech about her as the issue is nothing more than the same old shit from them.

"Please stop torturing us, Dick!"

Calvin Borel's Triple Crown

Calvin Borel atop Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, the first female to win the race since 1924.

The last leg of racing's Triple Crown runs in three weeks at New York's Belmont race track. And whether or not he rides Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird -- whose late charge nearly clipped Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness -- Calvin Borel has already won life's race.

“You don’t forget the people who brung you here,” Borel said. “Just cause I’ve gotten on a million-dollar horse doesn’t mean I can’t still get on a $5,000 one.” ...

It has been the rhythm of his life since he began his apprenticeship in Vinton, La., where Cecil had a stable of 60 horses at Delta Downs. Borel remains Boo, short for Boo-Boo, which his parents, Clovis and Ella, thought they had made when their fifth son was born. On the racetrack, he is called Bo-Rail for his insistence on taking the shortest route.

Borel learned the business from the ground up, mucking out stalls, changing horses’ bandages, rubbing their legs, working them out in the mornings and racing them in the afternoons. Fourteen-hour days were the norm, and Cecil was a demanding teacher.

“We didn’t have much book education,” Cecil Borel said. “But we’ve worked very hard. I’m proud that Calvin has earned everything he’s gotten.”

When Borel broke ribs, punctured a lung and had his spleen removed after a spill at Evangeline Downs in Lafayette, La., Cecil was among the first to comfort him. When Borel returned to the track, however, Cecil put him on the same horse, a filly named Miss Touchdown, for his first race.

They won.

Sunday Funnies

Lakers can't play worth a Jack

(Not in Houston, anyway...)

"Douchie" entries: Liz Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, Joe Barton again

Dick's little girl goes to bat for Dad:

Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz told Fox that she believes the Obama administration is only "interested in releasing things that really paint America in a negative light." In Cheney's view, the White House has decided "to side with the terrorists" by putting "information out that hurts American soldiers." Cheney also questioned whether the President really cares about American troops.

The apple fell right next to the tree. You stay classy, little lady.

It almost doesn't seem fair to include Billo the Clown in "Douchebag" competition since he is so overpowering on a daily basis. "Douchies" really ought to be for the occasional ignominious outburst by someone who generally knows precisely what they are prevaricating. But since he invoked Nazis (and thus Godwin's Law) he gets an honorable mention.

Here we link Keith Olbermann with the blow-by-blow smackdown of O'Reilly:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

There is a transcript here.

And finally, inaugural week runner-up Smokey Joe Barton gets in on the "Douchebag"action again this week, with his conflation that CO2 exhaled by people is the same thing as CO2 emitted by chemical plants (via Think Progress):

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), known as “Smokey Joe” for his efforts on behalf of big polluters, is one of Congress’s most aggressive deniers of man-made climate change. For instance, in March, he said that the climate is changing “for natural variation reasons” and that to deal with it, humans should just “get shade.”

In a new interview with Newsmax, Barton continued his nonsensical approach to the issue, claiming that the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate carbon dioxide would potentially “close down the New York and Boston marathons“:

Barton says the average healthy adult exhales between four-tenths of a ton and seven-tenths of a ton of CO2 a year.

“So if you put 20,000 marathoners into a confined area, you could consider that a single source of pollution, and you could regulate it,” Barton says. “The key would be whether the EPA said that 20,000 people running the same route was one source or not.”

One indication that the EPA likely would consider 20,000 runners a single source of pollution is that the agency is trying to regulate waste-water runoff and emissions of drilling rigs in oil fields by attempting to define entire areas as a single source of pollution, Barton says.

A common conservative attack against addressing greenhouse gas emissions is to say that there are natural sources of CO2, so if we regulate industry we would have to regulate those sources as well. But this is straw man argument. As the the EPA notes, it is industrial sources of CO2, not natural sources, that “have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere“:

Natural sources of CO2 occur within the carbon cycle where billions of tons of atmospheric CO2 are removed from the atmosphere by oceans and growing plants, also known as ‘sinks,’ and are emitted back into the atmosphere annually through natural processes also known as ‘sources.’ When in balance, the total carbon dioxide emissions and removals from the entire carbon cycle are roughly equal.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the 1700’s, human activities, such as the burning of oil, coal and gas, and deforestation, have increased CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere. In 2005, global atmospheric concentrations of CO2 were 35% higher than they were before the Industrial Revolution.

In the interview, Barton mocked the EPA’s recent declaration that carbon dioxide was a pollutant that endangers public health and welfare. “There’s never been anybody who’s been treated in an emergency room for CO2 poisoning. It doesn’t cause asthma; it doesn’t cause your eyes to water; it doesn’t cause cancer.”

Of course, the EPA declared CO2 a threat to public health because of the catastrophic consequences of climate change, not because it is a carcinogen.

Who's your favorite Douchebag so far this week? Remember: no votes for Liz Cheney's pop; we want him to keep running his mouth.

Quackery in Obama's health care proposal

President Obama on Monday praised health care industry groups for coming together to try and cut $2 trillion in expenses over the next decade to slow the rising cost of medical care.

At a White House news conference flanked by industry officials, Obama called the meeting of officials "who often fought with each other" a "historic day, a watershed event in the long quest for health care reform."

Bullshit. $2 trillion can be "saved" in healthcare costs? What is being lost? Healthcare profits? Research?

"If these savings are truly achieved, this may be the most significant development on the path to health care reform," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, which advocates for expanded health care coverage. "It would cut health costs for families and businesses, and it would enable adequate subsidies to be offered so that everyone has access to quality affordable health care."

Six medical trade groups, including the American Medical Association and America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents health insurance companies, have agreed to the cost-cutting. Health care costs would continue to rise, just not as quickly.

That last sentence still isn't a satisfactory explanation. Jeffrey Young at The Atlantic shares my skepticism:

Organizations representing the biggest players in the health care market promised President Obama on Monday that they'd find ways to cut national health spending by an astonishing $2 trillion over the next 10 years. Later that day, executives from these industries told the press that their companies' bottom lines would not suffer as a result. Whatever happened to Alfred E. Neuman's Cosmic Health Care Equation?

Among other things, this seems to be the latest example of health care industry lobbyists and executives trying to reassure investors that the sweeping reform plan being assembled by the Obama administration and the Democratically controlled Congress isn't going to put them out of business.

I'm still a great deal less concerned about the impact of this on the companies' stock prices, but that's just me.

At a press briefing in Washington Monday, health care executives were asked to explain how, for example, physicians and hospitals could maintain their incomes if spending were $2 trillion less over 10 years.

"I do believe that these savings can be achieved without detrimental impact on all of the groups that you described," Thomas Priselac, the president and CEO of Cedars-Sinai Health System said. "It will be important as we go through this reform that the payments that are provided be adequate for people to do what it is we're talking about in a new and different system."

Here's what Jay Gellert, President and CEO of the insurance company Health Net said: "I think we believe that we can do it without undermining the viability" private health care companies, he said. "The unique opportunity that we have now is to provide care to 40 or 50 million people if we successfully do this."

"I think that overall, that the efficiencies we'll bring will more than make up for the cuts, for the savings that we gain," Gellert said.

There's that smell of feces again. Besides the two corporate titans listed above, the assembled participants included PhRMA President (and former Congressman) Billy Tauzin, the heads of Merck, Kaiser, and the AMA, and SEIU chief Andy Stern.

I'm almost as disappointed in Stern helping peddle this crock as I am Obama.

Gene Green: still scared of progressives

Every time I start to like ol' Gene, he screws it up:

Representatives from a number of Houston organizations held a press conference and rally near Congressman Gene Green's east Houston office, after being prevented from doing so on the property where his office is located.

The group at the press conference today included religious, community, educational, and labor leaders, teachers and students, environmentalists, scientists, health professionals, and small business owners. ...

Following the event, one of the attendees tried to deliver a letter to Rep. Green's office stating her concerns, but was prevented from even going up to the office by the building security guard.

The group had tried to meet with Green or his chief of staff on March 2, when Green was in town, but he told the group something had come up and he had to leave town the morning of the meeting, and a substitute meeting with his chief of staff was canceled because that person was not available either.

Before the press conference yesterday, Bill Crosier and Ron Hayden went up to Green's office on the 4th floor at 11811 East Freeway to let his staff know they were here and invite them to attend, but found the door locked. Rep. Green had been previously invited to join the group at the press conference. A note on the door said the office was closed today because the staff was at a senior activity.

Crosier and Hayden were met by a security guard who asked if they were there for the "protest". They replied they were there for a press conference, not a protest, and hoped representatives of Rep. Green's office would be in attendance because his constituents wanted him to know how they felt about impending climate change legislation. They asked if the press conference could be held in the atrium of the building and were told no. They then asked if it could be held outside the building on the east or west sides, and were told no. The guard said the building management had been contacted by Green's office and the management said they could not hold the press conference anywhere on the property, not even on the parking lot.

Once outside, the guard and Officer Joseph C. Cram, with the Criminal Intelligence Division of the Houston Police Department, both told the group that they could not hold the press conference or any event anywhere on the property. Other police also arrived, apparently concerned about the event as well.

The group then moved to the parking lot of an adjacent property.

Good ol' boy Gene is on the House Energy and Commerce committee (chaired by Henry Waxman of California). The committee is holding hearings regarding climate change legislation under consideration by Congress.

So you would think ol' Gene might be interested in some input from some of his constituents. Well, he is, it's just that he thinks his only constituents are five refineries and "more chemical plants than (he) can count":

"I’d like to vote for a bill,” Green said. “But I’m not going to vote for one unless I think it’s going to be good for the area I represent.”...

Green has told congressional leaders and President Barack Obama that some carbon dioxide emission allowances will have to be given for free to refiners in order to win his support.

Green has become the main lawmaker pushing for free allowances for refiners, as one of just four Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee representing states with big refining operations. The others are Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., Charlie Gonzalez, D-Texas, and Jim Matheson, D-Utah.

Maybe we should let ol' Gene know that there are some concerned citizens who have to breathe the air that comes out of his district.

Ol' Gene is just one of those old-timers who's a little bit scared of "libruls". It's a mild, moderate case of fear and loathing, the kind you see more often in acute and chronic conservatism.

Maybe a dose of contested primary could cure that.

Showdown looming on voter ID bill

The bill requiring personal identification at Texas polls in order to be able to cast a ballot was passed out of its legislative committee today with the Republican chairman predicting its defeat.

Capitol Annex reports that a Democrat -- Joe Heflin -- helped vote the bill onto the floor. But Todd Smith still doesn't think it will pass:

"I just don't think the votes are there."

"It's pretty clear you can pass a bill like the Senate passed out when you have a 19-12 majority. It's not clear that you can pass that or anything else on this subject with a 76-74 majority in which we have some very independently minded people who make up those marginal votes," said Smith.

So far, Smith's efforts to find a bipartisan compromise have failed.

"You have to have significant numbers of people on both sides of the aisle accept the notion that it's going to be something other than a partisan cram-down," Smith said.

Many Republicans have said they will support the bill only if it contains tough photo identification requirements, while Democrats have said they want additional voter identification documents as well as expanded voter registration efforts. The Democrats control the field because several moderate Republicans are likely to vote against the bill, giving the Democrats a majority to kill it.

"Unless we develop a more pragmatic approach member by member and a stronger desire to reach some bipartisan compromise, then my guess is it's somewhat less than 50 percent to pass a bill," Smith said. "It's clear some members are interested in making a statement. They're not interested in passing a bill."

Lots of others have covered this in the run-up to next week's showdown. See also Rep. Aaron Pena's blog, Elise Hu at Political Junkie, DMN's Trail Blazers, and Gardner Selby's Postcards from the Lege. Update: And Burnt Orange.

Update II: The TDP press release lines up both Smith and Speaker Joe Straus in its sights:

... Smith had stated that the Voter ID bill should expand access and not take effect immediately, while the Senate bill does nothing to expand access and would take effect immediately.

A look at Chairman Smith’s statements:

· "It is my intent to have a part of the legislation that is intended to assure that the net effect of the legislation is to expand access and not restrict it." [Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4/22/09].

· "It's not something that's going to take effect immediately." [San Angelo Standard-Times, 3/29/09].

“Todd Smith may talk a good game, but when pressured by the right-wing of his party, he allowed a bill to move forward even though it failed the standards he set in committee hearings and public statements,” observed Texas Democratic Party Executive Director Ruben Hernandez. “Smith has punted his principles and soon Texans will see if Speaker Straus will fumble his opportunity to prove that he is a leader who will not allow the priorities of the Texas House to be dictated by a narrow partisan agenda.”

Update III: And Kuffner ...

The alleged "problem" that this bill is supposed to address is rarer than getting hit by lightning while being eaten by a shark, yet it's been deemed the single most important issue facing Texas today by those who fear for their electoral future if those damn voters can't be stopped. One certainly could have put forth a bill that would have genuinely addressed legitimate issues, ranging from verifiable audit trails to obstacles to getting registered to actual fraud involving absentee ballots, but Smith's Republican colleagues have never been interested in passing such a bill, as they have made perfectly clear. Given all this, the most sensible thing to do would have been to conclude that there are many more pressing issues that require the Lege's attention, but that wasn't gonna happen, either. So from the GOP's perspective, they either get a half a loaf, ot they get what they think will be a juicy campaign issue, or possibly both. You have to give them credit for keeping on with the wedge issues in the age of Obama, for however much longer that will work. I suppose if your piano only has one key, you play that note for all it's worth and hope nobody notices how monotonic you are.

Update IV: From Harvey Kronberg, on Heflin's aye ...

In the wake of today’s committee vote on Voter ID, some members of the Democratic caucus are expressing dismay with Joe Heflin’s vote to kick out the bill. One Democratic lawmaker, who asked that he not be named, said the caucus was unhappy with the Crosbyton Democrat for giving Republicans the opportunity to say that Voter ID had bipartisan support in committee.

Democrats acknowledge that Heflin could not have stopped the bill, because Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) presumably would have voted aye if he became the deciding vote. As it was, Heflin’s aye vote gave Bonnen the cover to vote against a bill that he considered not strong enough.

For his part, Heflin disagreed with his colleague’s assessment, saying that he made plain his disappointment with the bill when he voted today. He said that people in his district want a Voter ID bill so he was voting his district by supporting the Senate version of the Voter ID bill today.

Classic Wanda

Not over the top at all.

WANDA SYKES' OFFENSIVE ROUTINE.

Wanda Sykes' comedy routine at the White House Correspondent's Dinner was really offensive. In it, Sykes suggested that conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is supported by Hamas, and that Islamists are "constantly issuing Limbaugh talking points." She joked about terrorists supporting conservatives in general, suggesting that recent violent events in Iraq are attempts by terrorists to swing the upcoming midterm elections in favor of Republicans.

Then she got really personal. She joked that Limbaugh was a racist who doesn't want black people to "escap[e] the underclass." She accused him of being responsible for killing "a million babies a year," and aired her friend's theory that Limbaugh himself was a terrorist attack," a followup to 9/11. She also, most disgustingly, said that if conservatives kept apologizing to Limbaugh, they'd eventually contract "anal poisoning." She wondered when Republicans would finally stop "bending over and grabbing their ankles" for Limbaugh, and finally concluded that Limbaugh was just a "bad guy."

Oh wait. Wanda Sykes didn't say any of these things. These are things Rush Limbaugh has said about Obama or other Democrats in the past year, the kind of statements few reporters found offensive enough to write about, despite the fact that most of them were said with the utmost seriousness. And while Sykes is a mere comedian whose influence on the Democratic Party is negligible, Limbaugh's influence in the party is so great that Republican leaders can't even criticize him without having to issue apologies after the fact.

Post Cinco de Mom-o Wrangle

Time for another edition of the Texas Progressive Alliance's weekly round-up.

The city of DISH, TX is one of several municipalities that have already adopted a resolution calling for the repeal of Big Oil's exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act. TXsharon gives DISH a high-five and hopes your group, organization, club, city or county will do the same, at Bluedaze.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is glad the internets have Texas Progressive Alliance! The Republicans have their house of cards and a batsh*t crazy base.

BossKitty at TruthHugger sees danger in the watered down, dumbed down attempt to educate students by committee. Sanitized History, Truth or Consequences is an example of why education needs serious attention.

Houston political reporter Jane Ely passed away this week. PDiddie collected some recollections of her life at Brains and Eggs.

WhosPlayin was totally absorbed in the municipal elections in Lewisville, and was glad to see conservative radio talk host Winston Edmondson soundly defeated by 30 points in his bid to turn Lewisville into the next Farmers Branch.

Is it a good idea to give TXDOT it's own taxpayer funded investment bank? Yeah, McBlogger doesn't think so, either.

Over at TexasKaos, lightseeker thinks it is time to reconsider moral absolutism in politics. He talks about how Obama made progress on this issue nationally and how his tactics may apply in Texas. Check out his posting:Moral Absolutism and Politics - What Obama's Victory Has to Say to Texas Progressives

Off the Kuff takes a look at the latest polls in the GOP gubernatorial primary.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson has a wrap-up of the action taken on the TxDOT Sunset bill in the House last week: CDA/PPP’s kicked to House Transportation Committee.

Neil at Texas Liberal writes that using Twitter in politics may well have the effect of further isolating a narrow elite from the larger mass of folks.

Vince at Capitol Annex discusses the right wing's e-mail lobbying campaign against legislation that would have subjected the State Board of Education to sunset review provisions.

And Teddy (aka Liberal Texan) at Left of College Station is back after a month-long hiatus and blogging as one of the newest members of the Texas Progressive Alliance. This past week he covered the Bryan city council election (despite being uncontested) and the College Station city council election campaign for Place 4 and Place 6.

Lazarus has nothing on the Rockets

Aaron Brooks danced about the middle of the floor, his red-hot right hand raised and held above his head as the 18,313 at Toyota Center roared at levels they have rarely reached before.

Brooks had just thrown himself hard to the court in pursuit of a loose ball, tearing it away from Trevor Ariza before getting up to nail a 3-pointer for a 27-point Rockets lead that inspired even Phil Jackson to halt things with a timeout, the only way the Lakers could stop the Rockets all afternoon.

Reeling hours earlier from the loss of center Yao Ming for the season, the Rockets took it out on the Lakers, dominating the game from the start to take a stunning 99-87 win to send the Western Conference semifinals back to Los Angeles tied two games apiece.

Whatever else they do or don't accomplish this season, the Rockets have already earned -- with their Game 1 upset in LA, and this win without Yao today -- an A-plus in determination, heart, and guts.

The Irrelephants

I don't think Mike Huckabee is going to be earning Deadeye Dick Cheney's endorsement, either:

Days after national Republicans launched a new campaign to broaden the party's outreach, former upstart presidential candidate Mike Huckabee says the GOP is at risk of becoming "irrelevant as the Whigs."

In an interview with the California newspaper The Visalia Times-Delta, Huckabee said the GOP would only further decline in influence should it alienate social conservatives — largely considered the most energetic and loyal faction of the party.

"Throw the social conservatives the pro-life, pro-family people overboard and the Republican party will be as irrelevant as the Whigs," he said in reference to the American political party that largely disbanded in the mid 1800s.

"They'll basically be a party of gray-haired old men sitting around the country club puffing cigars, sipping brandy and wondering whatever happened to the country. That will be the end of the party," he said in the interview published Thursday.

Then again, who the hell said the evangelicals were getting thrown overboard, anyway? What teabag is Huck steeping?


It's just amazing to me that the voices of the GOP at the moment are literally Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney. And Limbaugh is still pimping Sarah Palin.

Yeah, that's the ticket in 2012. Run with that.

Cantor wins the "Douchie" over Cheney, Steele, and Baucus

Runners-up Michael "Empathize on your behind" Steele and Dick "No need to moderate" Cheney had valiant efforts, but the Douchebag of the Week goes to Eric Cantor.

Democratic Senator Max Baucus submitted a late -- and very nearly winning -- entry, laughing at the protestors in his healthcare reform hearing:



And Cheney made a last-minute, Mine-That-Bird-like charge this morning on Deface the Nation, favoring Rush Limbaugh over Colin Powell as the kind of Republican that can best lead the party "forward":



But that's less douchebaggery than it is precisely the kind of strategy that brought the GOP to its present state. And that isn't all bad (for anybody but Republicans, naturally).

Congrats, Congressman Cantor. Cowardice and spinelessness carries you to victory.

Belated Sunday Funnies

RIP, Pontiac. So long, Chrysler.

A little late responding to these developments.

It could crash through burning buildings, make a fool of any number of small-town Southern sheriffs, help save the world from giant robots, even take criminals off to jail while engaging in witty repartee with its driver.

In the end, about the only thing a Pontiac automobile couldn't do anymore was persuade enough people to keep buying it.

So General Motors announced this past week that it is killing off the Pontiac brand, maker of muscular, noisy, gas-guzzling V-8-powered vehicles immortalized in song and movies for the way they seemed to shout to every other car on the block: "Out of the way, pipsqueak!"

When Burt Reynolds needed to outrun Jackie Gleason's bumbling Sheriff Buford T. Justice across the South in the 1977 movie "Smokey and the Bandit," he chose a black Pontiac Trans Am. When he needed a car to crash through burning buildings in "Hooper," it was a red Trans Am.

On TV, the star of the hit 1980s series "Knight Rider" wasn't really David Hasselhoff, it was his talking Pontiac. When Jim Garner's private eye Jim Rockford needed to hit the road to solve a crime, he didn't get behind the wheel of a Ford Mustang or a Chevrolet Camaro. He chose a Pontiac Firebird.

And when a bored high school senior from Nashville, Tenn., decided to tune out his physics teacher's lecture one day and check out a copy of Car and Driver magazine, it was a picture of a hot new Pontiac he saw on the cover. By the end of class, John Wilkin had written the 1964 pop classic "GTO."

Soon after, he would become known as Ronny Wilkin, frontman for a Beach Boys-soundalike group called Ronny and the Daytonas, and he would have the country singing: "Little GTO, you're really lookin' fine. Three deuces and a four-speed and a 389. Listen to her tachin' up now, listen to her whine. Come on and turn it on, wind it up, blow it out GTO."

I never owned one, but they were the shiznet among my late '70's generation of speed racer/stoners. A small handful of classmates got killed or very nearly driving TAs and Firebirds into houses, into other cars. I did own a few Chryslers, though, and all of them were excellent cars. One, a '92 Dodge Dynasty, got me safely through Alicia despite going through water so high that its headlights were submerged. My mom owned a Chrysler Concorde that she proclaimed was still her favorite even when she was driving a Lexus.

After months of struggling to stay alive on government loans, Chrysler finally succumbed to bankruptcy (April 30), pinning its future on a top-to-bottom reorganization and plans to build cleaner cars through an alliance with Italian automaker Fiat.

The nation's third-largest car manufacturer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York after a group of creditors defied government pressure to wipe out Chrysler's debt. The company plans to emerge in as little as 30 days as a leaner, more nimble company, probably with Fiat as the majority owner. In return, the federal government agreed to give Chrysler up to $8 billion in additional aid and to back its warranties.

"It's a partnership that will give Chrysler a chance not only to survive, but to thrive in a global auto industry," President Barack Obama said from the White House.

Chrysler said it will close all its plants starting Monday and they will stay closed until the company comes out of bankruptcy. At least three Detroit-area factories sent workers home Thursday after suppliers stopped shipping parts over fears they would not be paid.

The UAW members employed by the company will own 55% of a reborn Chrysler, the US government has an 8 percent stake, Canada 2%, and Fiat the rest. Recall, as the article notes, that BK was crammed down the automaker's throat because of the recalcitrance of a few hedge fund managers that refused to restructure Chrysler's debt:

Four of the largest banks holding 70 percent of Chrysler's debt agreed (last) week to a deal that would give them $2 billion. But a collection of hedge funds refused to budge, saying the deal was unfair and would only return a small fraction of their holdings.

When the hedge funds refused a sweetened offer (April 29), Chrysler and the government resorted to bankruptcy.

Obama chastised the funds for seeking an "unjustified taxpayer-funded bailout."

One lender, OppenheimerFunds Inc., said it rejected the government offer because it "unfairly asked our fund shareholders to make financial sacrifices greater than the sacrifices being made by unsecured creditors."

Later (April 30), one of the hedge funds that had been a holdout issued a statement agreeing to the offer.

"We believe that this is in the best interests of all Chrysler stakeholders, and our own investors and partners," said the statement from Perella Weinberg Partners. The fund said it was working "to encourage broad participation in the settlement."

That wasn't enough however so the company went into receivership. Some call it socialism, of course.

The Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company lost $8 billion last year and its sales through March were down 46 percent compared with the same period last year, leading some auto industry analysts to question whether Chrysler can survive even in bankruptcy.

But company executives told reporters Thursday that Chrysler vehicles with Fiat's fuel-efficient technology should reach showrooms in 18 months.

Vice Chairman Jim Press said Chrysler has cut expenses to operate profitably at a lower sales volume, and he said it would be able to take advantage of Fiat's distribution network to sell more vehicles globally.

Also, the company has new products coming out such as the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, which debuts in early 2011.

Press said the company predicts that small-car sales will rise dramatically around the time the Fiat products hit the U.S. market.

"The real volume pickup opportunity for smaller cars is going to start to ramp up about two years from now," he said.

I really hope Chrysler makes it, and not because of any political told-you-sos, but because the American economy has very few options -- all of them bitter -- if it doesn't.

David Simon on the future of newspapers

It's bleak, unless someone comes up with an economic model breakthrough, and fast.

Simon, creator of "Homicide" and "The Wire" on HBO, was also once a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. In his testimony to a Senate hearing chaired by John Kerry last Wednesday, he skewered corporate newspaper executives for their greed and hubris as well as those of us in the so-called New Media for our cheekiness and scavenger-like use of the work done by the gumshoes. He also dismisses the idea of a non-profit status for newspapers, one I thought had some merit.

Read the entire thing, but here's a snip:

My name is David Simon, and I used to be a newspaperman in Baltimore. What I say will likely conflict with what representatives of the newspaper industry will claim, and I can imagine little agreement with those who speak for new media. From the captains of the newspaper industry, you may hear a certain "martyrology", a claim that they were heroically serving democracy, only to be undone by a cataclysmic shift in technology. From those speaking on behalf of new media, weblogs and that which goes “twitter,” you will be treated to assurances that American journalism has a perfectly fine future online and that a great democratization is taking place. Well, a plague on both their houses.

High-end journalism is dying in America. And unless a new economic model is achieved, it will not be reborn on the web or anywhere else. The internet is a marvelous tool, and clearly it is the information delivery system of our future. But thus far, it does not deliver much first-generation reporting. Instead, it leeches that reporting from mainstream news publications, whereupon aggregating websites and bloggers contribute little more than repetition, commentary and froth. Meanwhile, readers acquire news from aggregators and abandon its point of origin, namely the newspapers themselves. In short, the parasite is slowly killing the host.

It’s nice to get stuff for free, of course, and it’s nice that more people can have their say in new media. And while some of our internet community is rampantly ideological, ridiculously inaccurate and occasionally juvenile, some of it’s also quite good, even original. Understand, I’m not making a Luddite argument against the internet and all that it offers. But you do not, in my city, run into bloggers or so-called citizen journalists at City Hall or in the courthouse hallways or at the bars where police officers gather. You don’t see them consistently nurturing and then pressing others—pressing sources. You don’t see them holding institutions accountable on a daily basis.

Why? Because high-end journalism is a profession. It requires daily full-time commitment by trained men and women who return to the same beats day in and day out. Reporting was the hardest and, in some ways, most gratifying job I ever had. I’m offended to think that anyone anywhere believes American monoliths, as insulated, self-preserving and self-justifying as police departments, school systems, legislatures and chief executives, can be held to gathered facts by amateurs presenting the task—pursuing the task without compensation, training or, for that matter, sufficient standing to make public officials even care who it is they’re lying to or who they’re withholding information from.

Indeed, the very phrase “citizen journalist” strikes my ear as Orwellian. A neighbor who is a good listener and cares about people is a good neighbor; he is not in any sense a citizen social worker, just as a neighbor with a garden hose and good intentions is not a citizen firefighter. To say so is a heedless insult to trained social workers and firefighters.

Much more, all of it cogent, here.

Update: The Salon of Somervell County has a rejoinder to Simon in the comments. (I promise to work on commenting here much easier very soon.)