PEEK

Buzz, perspectives, insight and news from AlterNet

Senate Negotiations Clear As Mud
Posted by mcjoan, Daily Kos on December 10, 2009 at 5:00 PM.

Well this is as clear as mud. Greg Sargent explains the confusion of the conflicting reports on exactly what is in the compromise in regards to a triggered public option.

Lieberman "Irritated" By Toothless Trigger
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on December 10, 2009 at 4:02 PM.

LIEBERMAN ON 'IRRITANTS'.... Based on the general outline of the Team of Ten's compromise plan, there's a public-option trigger, but it's awfully tough to pull.

The idea is to rely on the OPM plan -- we'd have a national, non-profit health plan along the lines of the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan, administered by the Office of Personnel Management, which oversees the plan for federal employees and has experience negotiating with private plans. The OPM would select non-profit plans that met government standards to participate, and they'd be available for state exchanges for consumers to select.

But what happens if insurers don't step up and the national non-profit plans don't materialize? That probably wouldn't happen, but if it does, then a public option would kick in.

So, the public option aspect of this has all been negotiated away, in exchange for other progressive goals. Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), whose opposition has been based on an evolving, almost-fanatical hatred of public-private competition, has to be thrilled, right?

Wrong.

"I've told them that I can't support a trigger -- no, actually, to be more explicit: If they say that it's unlikely to be [pulled] then it's unnecessary," Lieberman said. "It's an irritant. And I keep saying to my colleagues: the underlying bill, that I would say 60 of us in the caucus support, that is, the parts that we support in the underlying bill, are so full of progress -- let's get that done, and stop trying to squeeze in things that some of us, respectfully, just won't accept."

The trigger being considered would be pulled, according to a Senate aide briefed on the compromise, if private health insurers, managed by the federal government, do not offer nation-wide non-profit plans starting in 2014. If pulled, it would create a national public option. The measure was added to the agreement at the last moment at the insistence of Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI). But it may still prove an obstacle to passage of the health care bill.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Sarah Palin Doesn't Want to Debate Al Gore on Climate Change
Posted by Matt Corley, Think Progress on December 10, 2009 at 2:49 PM.

In an interview with NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell yesterday, former Vice President Al Gore pushed back against Sarah Palin’s anti-Copenhagen conference Washington Post op-ed by saying that “the global warming deniers persist in this air of unreality.” “The scientific community has worked very intensively for 20 years within this international process, and they now say the evidence is unequivocal,” said Gore.

Palin responded to Gore yesterday afternoon on her Facebook page, saying that “he’s wrong in calling me a ‘denier.’” Palin added that she believed “Climategate” proved that the “findings” of “the leading experts” in climate science “are flawed, falsified, or inconclusive.” On Laura Ingraham’s radio show today, Palin continued her attack on Gore. But when Ingraham asked if she would be willing to debate Gore on the issue, Palin demurred, saying that if it was in the wrong “forum” she would “get clobbered”:

INGRAHAM: Would you agree to a debate with Al Gore on this issue?

PALIN: Oh my goodness. You know, it depends on what the venue would be, what the forum. Because Laura, as you know, if it would be some kind of conventional, traditional debate with his friends setting it up or being the commentators I’ll get clobbered because, you know, they don’t want to listen to the facts. They don’t want to listen to some reasonable voices in this. And that was proven with the publication of this op-ed, where they kind of got all we-weed up about it and wanted to call me and others deniers of changing weather patterns and climate conditions. Trying to make the issue into something that it is not.

INGRAHAM: But what if it’s an Oxford-style, proper debate format. I mean, he’s going to chicken out. I mean, if you challenge him to a debate, do you actually think he would accept it?

PALIN: I don’t know, I don’t know. Oh, he wouldn’t want to lower himself, I think, to, you know, my level to debate little old Sarah Palin from Wasilla.

Video: At Last! Rick Warren Finally Condemns Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Law -- A Law Written By His Friends
Posted by Adele Stan, AlterNet on December 10, 2009 at 1:35 PM.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

When Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches called Pastor Rick Warren for comment on Uganda's homicidal anti-gay law, Warren's spokesman issued a statement from the pastor saying that he had no position or comment on the proposed law. But with criticism mounting, Warren recorded a video in which he decries the Ugandan legislation.

In a video message addressed to "the pastors of the churches of Uganda," Warren says of the law, that he "completely oppose[s]" and "vigorously condemn[s]" it. He goes on to say, "[T]he potential law before your parliament is unjust, it's extreme, and it's un-Christian toward homosexuals..."

Warren is pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical megachurch in California, and author of the best-selling book, The Purpose-Driven Life.

As Bruce Wilson reported for AlterNet, the Ugandan proposal calls for the execution of people engaged in certain acts of gay sex, as well as for anyone with HIV who has sex of any kind. The bill also calls for life imprisonment for "homosexuals" -- a punishment already available to prosecutors under current Ugandan law.

Advocates of the legislation include Anglican Archbishop Henry Orombi, who, Posner reports, was instrumental in bringing Warren to Uganda to anoint the African country as a "purpose-driven nation," and Pastor Martin Ssempa, a former ally of Warren's with whom the California preacher says he severed ties two years ago.

Warren associate C. Peter Wagner, who served as Warren's advisor on the latter's doctoral thesis, is also affiliated with the Ugandan churchmen pushing for the law, according to a report by Political Research Associates, a watchdog group. And Warren himself has been involved in pushing California's anti-gay Proposition 8 ballot measure, which he later denied doing, despite the video evidence.

While mainstream media soft-pedaled or ignored Warren's connection to the Ugandans pushing the "kill the gays" law, Posner, Wilson, PRA and Truth Wins Out, an LGBT group that seeks to bust the "ex-gay" myth, stayed on the story, apparently causing Warren to relent and issue today's video.

However, Warren couldn't help but take a swipe at Posner, PRA, Rachel Maddow and others who have been badgering him to make what could be life-saving statement about the law. "[B]ecause I didn't rush to make a public statement, some erroneously concluded that I supported this terrible bill," Warren tells the Ugandan pastors. "And some even claimed that I was a sponsor of the bill." In opening sentences of the video, Warren complains of "lies and errors and false reports" by those who linked his name to the Ugandan clerics who have advanced the bill.

At RD, Posner notes that it took Warren more than a month after the first reports of the anti-gay bill circulated in the U.S. to get around to condemning the bill. (On Thanksgiving weekend, Warren appeared on NBC's "Meet the Press," and neither spoke about the bill -- nor was he asked about it.)

VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT AFTER THE JUMP

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Daybreak for Marijuana: Most Americans Support Legalization
Posted by Jan Frel, AlterNet on December 10, 2009 at 1:26 PM.

Public opinion on marijuana is changing at warp speed. The latest:

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many adults in the United States are willing to legalize marijuana, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. 53 per cent of respondents support this notion, while 43 per cent are opposed.

Less than 10 per cent of respondents support the legalization of other drugs, such as ecstasy, powder cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine or "crystal meth" and crack cocaine.

The use of marijuana is illegal in the U.S. except in some regulated cases of medical use. The amount allowed for such purposes varies depending on the state. Some states have passed laws to reduce law enforcement for possession of small amounts of the substance.

In May, Gil Kerlikowske, Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, ruled out a push to legalize marijuana, adding, "I've never advocated legalization and certainly the president has made it clear that's his position."

Polling Data

Do you support or oppose the legalization of each of the following drugs?

Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,004 American voters, conducted on Dec. 3 and Dec. 4, 2009. Margin of error is 3.1 per cent.

Complete Poll (PDF)

h/t Raw Story for the link.

"Shock'n Y'all" Country Singer Toby Keith to Perform at Nobel Peace Concert
Posted by Liliana Segura, AlterNet on December 10, 2009 at 1:00 PM.

In what is perhaps a perfect signature to Obama's Nobel acceptance speech this morning -- in which he reasserted his right as Commander in Chief to act unilaterally and said that the United States must be a "standard bearer in the conduct of war" -- that country music singer Toby Keith will be among the performers at tomorrow's Nobel "peace" concert in Oslo, hosted by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith.

This is the man whose artistic response to the attacks of September 11th was to pen a revenge anthem called "Courtesy of the Red White and Blue" that included the lines: Oh, justice will be served and the battle will rage / This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage / An' you'll be sorry that you messed with the U.S. of A. / 'Cos we'll put a boot in your ass, it's the American way.

He is also the man who celebrated the invasion of Iraq with an album titled "Shock'n Y'all."

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Obama Invokes 'Just War' as Nobel Chairman Compares Him to MLK
Posted by Daniela Perdomo, AlterNet on December 10, 2009 at 11:56 AM.

Yesterday I was reeling in advance of Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, because the press had gotten wind that he would use his time at the podium to explain that Afghanistan is part of his larger plan for peace. Not surprisingly, the Orwellian slogan, WAR IS PEACE, flashed in my mind.

I was embarrassed for the committee that had awarded him the prize, as they'd made clear they were honoring him in hopes of reinforcing the international community's hopes that Obama's administration would not follow in the Bush cadre's warring footsteps. And now they were going to have to sit and hear him speak of war as a medium for its antonym -- peace. How excruciating.

My empathy seems to have been misplaced, however, because the Nobel chairman opened the Oslo ceremony with a speech in which he declared that "Dr. King's dream has come true."

Really?

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Comcast-NBC Behemoth: What Will Obama Do About Media Consolidation?
Posted by David Sirota, Open Left on December 10, 2009 at 11:18 AM.

Last week on my weekday radio show on AM760 here in Colorado, I discussed the Comcast-NBC merger with Free Press executive director Josh Silver. As you can hear here, Josh makes clear that the Obama administration will now have to put up or shut up on its progressive rhetoric about media consolidation. And the question - as it always is - will be which side is the administration on - its corporate donors or its campaign promises?

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Dems, Stop Dithering on the Health Bill
Posted by Booman, Booman Tribune on December 10, 2009 at 9:46 AM.

Maybe it is just a fantasy but at some point I hope that the Democrats in the Senate might be motivated by shit like this to drop the hand-wringing and vote as a caucus to pass a health care bill.

RNC Chairman Mike Steele, who has been calling for a delay in the health care bill process, told members in a strategy memo today that he wants them to stall using every possible tactic.

Steele writes:

But people with a broad range of health reform ideas should be able to come together and realize we need to delay the trillion dollar Obama-Pelosi-Reid health care experiment until next year when we see what the shape of the economy will be. He tells members to "spend every bit of capital and energy you have to stop this health care reform."

"The Democrats have accused us of trying to delay, stall, slow down, and stop this bill," Steele wrote. "They are right. We do want to delay, stall, slow down, and ultimately stop them from experimenting on our nation's health care. And guess what, so do a majority of Americans."

When people are out to cut your throat, you do yourself no favors by showing indecision in your choice of a defensive weapon. In this case, the bill needs to pass so that Congress can move on to what is really concerning Americans right now, which is the lack of jobs. It's far past time for the Senate Democrats to reach a compromise.

Sen. Jim DeMint Outraged at GOP's Shift to the Left?
Posted by Steve Benen, Washington Monthly on December 10, 2009 at 9:00 AM.

THE ALTERNATE REALITY.... By most measures, congressional Republicans have spent 2009 executing a scorched-earth strategy. The GOP has moved sharply to the right, has abandoned even the pretense of bipartisan cooperation, has embraced and elevated some of the more radical elements of the party's coalition, and recommended policy proposals that even some conservatives described as "insane."

And yet, there are still some Republican officials who are outraged by their party's moderation.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Poll: Strong Majority of Americans Still 'Favor' a Public Option
Posted by Matt Corley on December 10, 2009 at 8:17 AM.

On Tuesday night, reports trickled out that Senate Democrats had “reached a deal to replace the opt-out public option in the Senate health care bill with a network of nonprofit insurers administered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM).” Though the compromise is reportedly gaining support, a poll released today by the New York Times and CBS News serves as a reminder that the full-blown public option that has been abandoned by the Senate is still quite popular with the American public as 59 percent would favor a public option:

Last night, Rachel Maddow said that the stable popularity of the public option suggests that Americans may want the expansion of existing public programs. The numbers imply that “what people really like — and are attached to — is just the idea of having an option for health coverage that’s public,” she said.

Right-Wing Junior Sleuth Discovers Climate Science Skulduggery!
Posted by Tintin, Sadly, No! on December 10, 2009 at 7:39 AM.

The announcement at Copenhagen by the World Meteorological Organization that the current decade will be the warmest on record and that 2009 will be the fifth hottest year since 1850 has been met by, well, deafening silence in Wingnutlandia. Jonah the Whale and some of the other Cornerdomites are busy speculating on the geopolitical significance of a black golfer schtupping white, blonde women. Mark Steyn is, naturally, still complaining about the excessive number of brown people in Europe. Poor Mona Charen, bless her heart, having apparently decided to completely ignore the dispatches from Copenhagen, is still declaring that global warming is over.

So it truly takes a brave wingnut to stride directly into the coliseum and take on the lions with his bare Funyun-encrusted hands. Sadlynauts, meet Terry Trippany, who, when he’s not out on a Geek Squad call, keeps himself busy as a super-duper NewsBuster.

The media that couldn’t bring themselves to report on the growing scandal surrounding falsified data is all on board with reporting this latest news. Yet it is clear that the Huffington Post, CBS News, the New York Times and others didn’t even bother to check the data that was released from the the UK MET (UK Government Department of Climate and Weather Change).

Uh oh. It looks like little Terry has whipped out his Captain Bozell’s Funtime Sleuthing Set, complete with kerning scale, decoder ring, magnifying glass, snub-nosed junior detective scissors, invisible ink revealer, mini-flashlight and rear-view glasses.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »

Peak Wingnuttia: Far-Right "News" Site Accuses Obama of Targetting the Baby Jesus
Posted by Terry Krepel, Media Matters for America on December 10, 2009 at 5:55 AM.

A December 4 New York Times article on White House social secretary Desirée Rogers reported that the Obama administration had apparently considered a "non-religious Christmas" celebration in the White House as a way to reach out to other faiths and that, according to the Times, there was a debate about whether to display the traditional nativity scene. In the end, the article added, "tradition won out; the executive mansion is now decorated for the Christmas holiday, and the crèche is in its usual East Room spot."

Run that story through WorldNetDaily's looking glass -- heavily distorted by right-wing partisanship and sheer, unreasonable hatred of Barack Obama -- and you get a December 8 WND article by Chelsea Schilling, headlined "Obama's latest target: Ousting baby Jesus" and carrying this lede:

The Obama administration sought to ban baby Jesus from the executive mansion as part of its plans for a "non-religious Christmas," according to a participant at a White House luncheon.

Briefly considering not erecting a nativity scene means you "sought to ban baby Jesus"? Really?

Does the WorldNetDaily store sell these looking glasses so the rest of us can take part in this same mind-bending distortion? Or is the experience open only to those who hate Obama with a burning passion like Joseph Farah and Co. do?

Alan Grayson to Dick Cheney: STFU
Posted by Joshua Holland, AlterNet on December 10, 2009 at 4:29 AM.

Entertaining political theater, courtesy of Tweety and Alan Grayson. Enjoy [ht: Oliver Willis] ...

Not Satire: Obama to Invoke Aghanistan in His Nobel Speech
Posted by Daniela Perdomo, AlterNet on December 9, 2009 at 6:22 PM.

On the October morning Barack Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, I informed a friend who hadn't yet heard the news that our greenhorn president was now a Nobel laureate. "I hope it's not for literature," he replied.

The Nobel Prize for Literature would have been a stretch, but in just as many ways -- or more -- so is the Nobel Peace Prize. And the only way I've been able to rationalize the honor, two months later, is by swallowing the committee's explanation that it wasn't so much commending Obama for peace-making accomplishments as it was trying to encourage him to live up to the prize's tenets, by being a more considerate, less bellicose friend to the international community than his predecessor.

Obama was clearly as uncomfortable as the rest of us with the premature honor and so I've often wondered what he would say during his acceptance speech in Oslo. I'd assumed he would probably return to the rhetorical hope-and-change flourishes that bolstered his presidential campaign, because that's safe territory he's honed and owned in the past.

But as it turns out, reality is much more wondrous than my imagination. Timing matters, too, and tomorrow's speech comes just one week after announcing the escalation of war in Afghanistan. As a result, official word is that in his address, Obama plans to frame the war in Afghanistan as part of his wider plan for peace.

Read the rest of the post on the flip side »