Sarah Palin and the Lock-Step “Pro-Life” Anti-Choice Army

Guest Post by ProChoiceGrandma

Leading up to the 2010 elections, the Republican Tea Party candidates all echoed the same talking point message: “Jobs Jobs Jobs”. However, since the elections, the only JOBS they have created thus far have been for far-far-right-wing religious nutjobs to write their wacky anti-abortion bills. If and when any of their bizarre anti-abortion legislation passes, (some have already passed), there may be millions of positions available as uterus police to monitor the menstruation cycle of every female over the age of fourteen thirteen twelve. Other employment created by the right-wing anti-abortion movement has been to fund college kids like Lila Rose to dress up as pimps and hookers (yawn) to secretly film Planned Parenthood. I am always amused at the self-anointed hoity-toity Republicans and their extreme fascination with everyone’s sexual life.

The irony of this stepped-up crazed anti-abortion anti-choice movement is that Sarah Palin is considered by her bots as their exalted leader. If you take Sarah Palin at her word (gafaww!), she said in her speeches that she considered an abortion (would that be exercising a choice, Sarah??). In fact, the only reason Sarah Palin would have aborted her faked pregnancy of Trig is if John McCain had lost the Republican nomination on 3-4-08. Instead of announcing she was 7 months pregnant on 3-5-08, Sarah Palin would have had the simplest abortion of all time, as no surgery is required to remove the long scarves:



This scarf-removal-abortion would have been even easier than the Wite-Out abortion Palin had in 1989.

For those who simply worship Sarah Palin because she is so “pretty” or “hot”, put a tiara on this picture.

Jason Linkins at Huffington Post did an admirable job setting forth some of the absolutely outrageous proposed anti-choice legislation nationwide, ranging from justifiable homicide of abortion providers to the death penalty for having a miscarriage:

1. Iowa Bill allows the “Justifiable Use of Deadly Force” to protect the unborn:

Bill Premise: Two bills have been combined into one to essentially define an unborn fetus as a person. In protecting that person, the Iowa legislature wants to allow the use of deadly force against abortion doctors or family-planning practitioners. The far-reaching consequence is that if this bill passes, persons that harm or kill abortion providers would be protected under state law from persecution.

2. Nebraska Bill Revives “Justifiable Homicide”:

Bill's Premise: In an effort to expand a bill that started in South Dakota, Nebraska's bill uses justifiable homicide as a means to curb abortions. In the event that a woman wants to protect her unborn fetus, the bill expands to third parties in addition to the pregnant woman, her husband, parents, and children to protect under the law the use of force against abortion doctors or others that endanger the fetus.

The legislation, LB 232, was introduced by state Sen. Mark Christensen, a devout Christian and die-hard abortion foe who is opposed to the prodedure even in the case of rape. Unlike its South Dakota counterpart, which would have allowed only a pregnant woman, her husband, her parents, or her children to commit "justifiable homicide" in defense of her fetus, the Nebraska bill would apply to any third party.

3. Georgia Moves to Criminalize Miscarriages:

Bill's Premise: A Georgia lawmaker wants to make abortion illegal in the state, but doesn't simply stop there. The way the bill is worded effectively criminalizes miscarriages, and the death penalty looms as a punishment. Mother Jones' Jen Phillips calls this measure "the apex...of woman-hating craziness."

4. South Dakota’s Pioneering Foray into “Justifiable Homicide”:

Bill's Premise: South Dakota has the bill that Nebraska emulated regarding this issue. It altered "the state's legal definition of justifiable homicide by adding language stating that a homicide is permissible if committed by a person "while resisting an attempt to harm" that person's unborn child or the unborn child of that person's spouse, partner, parent, or child." That meant that is theoretically would have allowed "a woman's father, mother, son, daughter, or husband to kill anyone who tried to provide that woman an abortion--even if she wanted one."

5. Pennsylvania Wants to Regulate Clinics:

Bill's Premise: A bill showed up in the Pennsylvania state house that would change the classification of abortion clinics. The bill's sponsors want "the state to apply the same regulatory standards to abortion clinics that are applied to other freestanding surgical facilities." This, in turn, would lead to the shuttering of many facilities that perform legal abortions. Restricting the ability of women to have these procedures is the intent of the bill; no one is sincerely concerned about enhancing the safety of these patients.

6. Kansas Considering Two Laws Limiting Abortions:

Bill's Premise: Two bills recently passed the state house. One is an enhanced parental consent bill, that would "require doctors to obtain parents' consent before performing abortions on minors.to limit abortions in the state." The second is a fetal personhood bill that would place "strict limits" on abortions after the 22nd week of gestation, "based on disputed research that fetuses can feel pain at that point of development."

7. Virginia Cracks Down on Clinics:

Bill's Premise: The Virginia Senate approved a measure similar to Pennsylvania's proposed bill, to reclassify abortion clinics. They want them to "meet the same regulatory and architectural requirements as outpatient surgical centers." As with Pennsylvania, the intent here isn't to enhance or improve patient comfort -- it's to shut down clinics. The implications for Virginians is that this law could close "17 of the state's 21 outpatient clinics."

As one of the bills supporters said: "This is about protecting women's health, and you can look at me like that if you want." The reason anyone was looking at him "like that," is that people have a way of looking at people who are disingenuous liars.

Bill's Status: Passed.

8. House Passes Planned Parenthood Defund:

Bill Premise: House Republicans proposed an amendment to H.R. 1, a complete de-funding of Planned Parenthood. The point was to prevent taxpayer money from going to Planned Parenthood that would have been used to fund abortions.

9. GOP Tries to Redefine Rape:

Bill's Premise: H.R. 3, also known as the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act," was an attempt to...well, prevent taxpayer money from going to fund abortions. This is something already enforced by the Hyde Amendment, but anti-abortion forces in Congress prefer to pretend this isn't the case, so that the specter of abortions being funded by Federal dollars can be raised time and again (see also: The Stupak Amendment). What made the language of this bill particularly mental was the way it redefined rape, making abortions only allowable in the case of "forcible rape."

That meant that if you were coerced, drugged or otherwise incapacitated by a rapist, too bad for you. Bizarrely, it also excluded statutory rape, and incest, unless the incest survivor was a minor.

10. South Dakota Tries Again:

Bill's Premise: After their "justifiable homicide" bill got shelved, South Dakota lawmakers set their sights a little lower and are debating House Bill 1217, which would force women into a veritable obstacle course in order to obtain a legal abortion.

Per Jillian Rayfield on TPM, the measure would require women to first meet with a doctor, then consult with a "pregnancy help center" (where she'd be pressured to not have an abortion), then wait 72 hours after this second consultation before having the procedure. The bill is designed to make it as onerous as possible on women seeking these procedures; it falls especially heavy on the poor, who would have to take additional time off work, and make extra long-distance trips in a state where 98% of the counties have no abortion provider at all.

Bill's Status: In debate.

And more recently, 'Ohio Senate committee schedules unborn child as witness.'

If James O’Keefe or Lila Rose are operating the “ultrasound” equipment, you can almost bet the fetus will “testify” under oath.

With all these so-called “Christians” leading the battle against abortion and invoking the word of God or Jesus as justification for their battle, where exactly in the Bible does it condemn abortion? {{crickets}}

In actuality, if you want to take the nearly 2000 year old Bible literally as God speaking, it seems God actually approves of inducing a miscarriage/abortion. Take a look at Numbers 5:11-

31. God says that if a husband suspects his wife has been unfaithful, she is to be given "bitter waters" to induce a miscarriage:

5:27 And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has acted unfaithfully against her husband, the (bitter) water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become an execration (curse or swearword) among her people.

As a follow up on this “bitter waters” and “her thigh shall fall away” from the Bible, I found an interesting article: "History of Contraception (May 2009)", written by Malcolm Potts, MD Bixby Professor of Population & Family Planning, Division of Health & Medical Sciences, UCLA at Berkeley, USA and by Martha Campbell, PhD President, Venture Strategies, Berkeley, California, USA

Is this the “bitter waters” mentioned in Numbers 5:11-31?

Herbal remedies for bringing on delayed menstruation abound in history and in contemporary folk culture. One ancient method of unusual interest was the use of an herb called silphion exported from the ancient Greek city of Cyrene in North Africa. The plant was said to be worth its weight in silver. It is not clear whether it was an oral contraceptive or oral abortifacient, although extracts of related living species prevent implantation in mice. Efforts were made to grow the plant in other parts of the Mediterranean, but they failed, and the herb was harvested to extinction in classical times. Silphion was portrayed on the Cyrene coins.

Is this the reference in Numbers 5:27 to “her thigh shall fall away”?

Embryotomy to save the mother's life during labor is mentioned in ancient Jewish writings. Rhazes describes such a method:

If … the semen has become lodged, there is no help for it but that she insert into her womb a probe or stick cut into the shape of a probe, especially good being the root of the mallow. One end of the probe should be made fast to the thigh with a thread that it may go no further. Leave it there all night, often all day as well…. Some people screw paper up tight into the shape of a probe and after binding it securely with silk smear over it ginger dissolved in water.

The GOP/TeaParty's most useful rabble-rousing tool is anti-choice rhetoric to win the votes of the churchy-type folks who simply and blindly parrot theocratic babble verses from nearly 2000 years ago when the world was flat. While many say they feel comfort in reading the “Good Book” which contains extreme violence, I personally prefer “Game Change”. We live in the 21st century and I would feel a lot more comfort if all of our government representatives would use real life reason to solve our real life problems, not theocratic hyperbole.

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Friday News Links-Wisconsin;Libya;Egypt, The Middle East and USA; Afghanistan - video of Pech District Children's Funerals + More

WISCONSIN:

Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez of Democracy Now interview David Cay Johnston, author of "Free Lunch: How The Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves At Government Expense (and stick you with the bill) ", who exposes Scott Walker's claim that unionized state workers pensions are subsidised by the state. Johnston writing on the blog Tax.com believes that "economic nonsense is being reported as fact in most of the news reports on the Wisconsin dispute" by journalists who have a "lack of understanding of basic economic principles."

Meanwhile Judge John Albert ruled yesterday that free speech must be allowed to protesters but that no one is allowed access to the Capitol building outside of normal working hours. wisn.com video shows that an altercation took place when Dem. state Rep Nick Milroy tried to collect his belongings from inside the Capitol building.

LIBYA:

Al Jazeera reports that the humanitarian crisis in Libya continues as more than 30,000 migrant workers try to flee the country because they are afraid that they will be targeted by either the government or protesters. Since the beginning of the uprisings more than 200,000 are reported to have fled Libya.

EGYPT, THE MIDDLE EAST AND USA:

Al Jazeera published an opinion article on the 24th February which I missed. It was written by Walter Armbrust a Hourani Fellow and University Lecturer in Modern Middle East Studies at Oxford University. In the article Armbrust makes the case that a reinforcement of neo liberalism policies in Egypt, and similar countries in the Middle East, would be a disaster for the pro-democracy movement whose demands for political and social reform were loud and clear. Armbrust writes:

Mubarak's Egypt degraded schools and hospitals, and guaranteed grossly inadequate wages, particularly in the ever-expanding private sector. This was what turned hundreds of dedicated activists into millions of determined protesters.

He also draws parallels with America:

The political economy of the Mubarak regime was shaped by many currents in Egypt’s own history, but its broad outlines were by no means unique. Similar stories can be told throughout the rest of the Middle East, Latin America, Asia, Europe and Africa. Everywhere neoliberalism has been tried, the results are similar: living up to the utopian ideal is impossible; formal measures of economic activity mask huge disparities in the fortunes of the rich and poor; elites become "masters of the universe," using force to defend their prerogatives, and manipulating the economy to their advantage, but never living in anything resembling the heavily marketised worlds that are imposed on the poor.

Unemployment was a major grievance for millions of Egyptian protesters [EPA]

The story should sound familiar to Americans as well. For example, the vast fortunes of Bush era cabinet members Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, through their involvement with companies like Halliburton and Gilead Sciences, are the product of a political system that allows them — more or less legally — to have one foot planted in "business" and another in "government" to the point that the distinction between them becomes blurred. Politicians move from the office to the boardroom to the lobbying organization and back again.

As neoliberal dogma disallows any legitimate role for government other than guarding the sanctity of free markets, recent American history has been marked by the steady privatization of services and resources formerly supplied or controlled by the government. But it is inevitably those with closest access to the government who are best positioned to profit from government campaigns to sell off the functions it formerly performed. It is not just Republicans who are implicated in this systemic corruption. Clinton-era Secretary of Treasury Robert Rubin’s involvement with Citigroup does not bear close scrutiny.

This article deserves full attention. Read more here.

AFGHANISTAN:

The funerals of the nine young children killed in an air raid whilst collecting firewood have taken place amidst allegations from Afghan officials that "as many as 65 civilians were killed in another raid in February:" General Petraeus has denied these allegations. Warning.The video below includes graphic images of some of the dead children and other disturbing images.

Thursday News Links -Ohio:Tim Ryan Asks Hard Questions; Egypt - Essam Sharaf; USA; Frankfurt Airport Shooting of USA Military,Palin Praises Breitbart

OHIO:

Crooks and Liars reports that Rep. Tim Ryan in a speech against Senate Bill 5 wants to know whether or not US workers who contribute to the wealth of society are going to have their collective bargaining rights respected. Ryan argues that workers collective rights and their pensions should be protected when the State of Ohio wants to push forward estate tax cuts which would benefit the wealthiest people in the state.





LAWRENCE O'DONNELL - THE LAST WORD ON SARAH PALIN:

Mediate writes that Lawrence O'Donnell confirms that he believes that Sarah Palin, who is trailing Tim Pawlenty in some polls, will not run as a possible contender as GOP representative in the 2012 presidency race because she is not willing to give up her million dollar pay check from Fox. My brain says yes, Lawrence is right! But my heart says no, he isn't!




USA:

Justice John G Roberts of the Supreme Court, in a "sticks and stones will break my bones but names can never harm me" decision, ruled yesterday that hate speech is protected if it "addresses matters of public import on public property."

On the otherhand, Justice Alito thinks that "vicious verbal attacks" make "no contribution to the public debate" if they inflict further pain on private individuals who are already suffering. Link to the ruling here.

Palin inserted herself into the Court's decision here.

Wonkette broke down the meaning of her tweet and came to the view that Sarah Palin is a victim. AGAIN.


EGYPT:





BBC has announced that Egypt's Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafiq, who was appointed days before Hosni Mubarack's resignation as President, has resigned. Shafiq has been replaced by Essam Sharaf who has been asked to form a new government. Reuters lists a few facts about Essam Sharaf. A twitter message reveals that Sharaf was recommended for the position by a coalition of revolution groups. The twitter was sent by Ayman Mohyeldin who is a correspondent for Al Jazeera English.


FRANKFURT:

Der Spiegel reports that one US military person and a bus driver were killed, and two military personnel injured, in an incident at Frankfurt airport yesterday. A German born, 21 year old man, of Kosovo Albanian origin is in custody. The shooting took place in an unsecured area of the airport which is open to the public. Whilst German authorities are pursuing the idea that the suspect could have links to Islamist terrorist organisations they also do not rule out the fact that he may have been acting on his own.


PALIN PRAISES BREITBART'S BOOK:





Politico informs that Sarah Palin considers pathological liar and dirty trickster Andrew Breitbart an "invaluable asset to the conservative cause." Click the book cover to read Palin's expressions of approval.

Part 2: A Beginner's Guide to Conservative Politico-Economics

By Blueberry Tart

cartoon by Tom Toles

(See Part 1 for my introduction to the topic of conservative political and economic trends.)

Let’s start with Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize winning economist and prolific author who has a gift for saying complex things in terms that regular people can grasp. With no apologies, he is a dyed-in-the-wool liberal. In addition to his many books and scholarly papers, he has written extensively about some of these economic themes on the NYT opinion pages and blog. I thought his first blog post (pre-economic meltdown) set the tone well for the topics I am exploring:

Because of movement conservative political dominance, taxes on the rich have fallen, and the holes in the safety net have gotten bigger, even as inequality has soared. And the rise of movement conservatism is also at the heart of the bitter partisanship that characterizes politics today.

This post speaks to my overall topic -- the conservative movement's "long game" which is reshaping core assumptions about the role of government, fair labor practices, the social safety net and other key politico-economic factors -- and rewriting history (successfully, to some extent) about Social Security and the role of deregulation in fomenting the financial crisis, for example.

Krugman has written several articles and blog posts about the role deregulation played in getting us into the economic meltdown; this began with Reagan and accelerated on GWBush’s watch. He has also written on the importance of more government spending to get us out of the mess and debunked what he says are myths about government spending. He is especially concerned that cutting government spending threatens to repeat a mistake that stalled recovery during the Great Depression; here is more on that topic.

Supporting this premise, here is a recent piece from Bloomberg on how cutbacks in state government spending have slowed the recovery.

Income/wealth inequality and the shifting burden of taxation: Next, Mother Jones had a post just this past week, with excellent graphs illustrating points 1 and 2 from my Part 1 post. I am reproducing several here; I encourage you to take a look at the whole series, as they are very informative. (Apologies to those who struggle to understand graphs; some of this information is hard to present otherwise.)

The DailyKos posted several times last year on income inequality and disproportionate benefits of proposed tax cuts, and here is a piece they linked to on income inequality. DailyKos also posted an excellent graph illustrating the deficit with and without tax cuts:

Source: Congressional Budget Office/DailyKos

They also posted this graph on the proportion of the deficit attributed to wars, tax cuts, TARP/recovery measures and the economic downturn itself.

Here is a WaPo graph from last year comparing who receives the benefits from the Bush tax cuts as compared with those originally proposed by Obama. Notably, this wasn’t a new topic in 2010; for example, the NYT wrote this in 2007 on tax cuts benefiting the wealthy. Bloomberg covered Warren Buffet on the wealthy paying more taxes and Newsweek wrote this a year ago on the topic. There is more on this subject from AmericanProgress.org.

Here’s another earlier article from Bloomberg on wealth inequity.

While on the subject of wealth inequity, I will add a note from my own personal experience. Early in my career, I worked on housing for the poor, and I remember it being a revelation to understand that many low-income people pay more for (often substandard) housing over the course of their lifetime than those who are much better-off and are able to own their own homes. This is because the poor have to pay rent every month of their life, and never build any equity. As onerous as 20-30 year mortgages can seem, there is an endpoint at which many mortgage holders will own their houses and the loan payments are done. If you are poor, rent is never done, until you die.

Corporate taxation: While these articles focus on individuals, the role of corporations in the shift of wealth and tax burdens is even more important. This recent Reuters article is about the number of corporations that don’t pay income taxes:

The Government Accountability Office said 72 percent of all foreign corporations and about 57 percent of U.S. companies doing business in the United States paid no federal income taxes for at least one year between 1998 and 2005.

More than half of foreign companies and about 42 percent of U.S. companies paid no U.S.income taxes for two or more years in that period, the report said…

Here are some other reports from truth-out.org and dailykos on this topic. I found that the trend was not new; there were very similar report findings from 2008, for example. Here is more information on the decline of corporate tax revenue and on the percent of federal revenue that comes from corporations.

graph: nationalpriorities.org

Unemployment: Shifting to unemployment, The Atlantic wrote about the “jobless economy.” I also found this reference to a WaPo article positing that a jobless recovery may not be bad. (This is what I mean by things being said that, a generation ago, would have been labeled as extremist positions, but now barely elicit a reaction.)

I also want to refer to Patrick’s excellent post on economic factors, including unemployment and long-term unemployment. This stubborn unemployment provides fertile ground to sow discord and to blame President Obama for not solving problems that he did not create and that have become structurally embedded in the “new economy.”

Firedoglake had this interesting post on the GOP's budget cuts being a "war on jobs" -- predicting the loss of 700,000 jobs. This is the information that Cantor is studiously ignoring.

Krugman worries about the unemployed.

Weakening worker protections, unions and regulations: The Repubs are very openly using the economic crisis as an excuse to weaken environmental and other regulations, and to challenge unions.

Representative Issa has extended an invitation to business to let him know what regulations they want to get rid of; this is also playing out at the state level.

Robert Reich criticized the Republican attack on regulations on HuffPo, and here is a piece on the Republican attack on carbon emission regulations.

Alternet (also here) and many other blogs are covering the attempt to weaken labor. Here is an article from Bloomberg disputing Scott Walker's claims about the public worker unions in Wisconsin.

The attempt to take away hard-won workers' rights is so highly charged, so publicized and so brazen that I am sure all our readers are well aware of it; I will leave more on this subject to other posts.

Weakening Social Security and other programs:

Krugman criticizes proposals to weaken Social Security.

“And having invented a crisis, what do Social Security's attackers want to do? They don't propose cutting benefits to current retirees; invariably the plan is, instead, to cut benefits many years in the future. So think about it this way: In order to avoid the possibility of future benefit cuts, we must cut future benefits. OK.”

Talkingpointsmemo also posted on the current efforts to weaken Social Security.

DailyKos posted this on a new proposal to change federal Medicaid reimbursements into block grants, which would "inevitably" result in reduced coverage and services.

Government spending priorities: Here is a link to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities on the overall federal spending breakdown, and some basic information from Wikipedia on the U.S. military budget.

Privatization of profit and socialization of risk: Here and here are links on the privatization of profit and the socialization of risk. In this article, the same theme is specifically connected to Big Oil and energy. (I plan to write a post on “Big Oil,” including who gets the profits and who absorbs the risks, in the coming months.) I will go a step further, and suggest that the issue is not only the privatization of profit from private enterprise, but the privatization of profit derived from public dollars; think Halliburton.

Corporate control and consolidation of the media: Patrick and others have written on corporate control of the media, and specifically about the growing influence of the Koch Brothers and Murdoch’s News Corporation; I will not include links now on this topic here, but I expect it will be explored further on PoliticalGates. However, here is a reminder of legislation (1996 Telecommunications Act) that made this possible by weakening anti-trust legislation that had prevented monopolization of media markets, and some basics on the consolidation of the media; another overview on this topic, with links. MediaMatters is an excellent source on this topic, and has a page on financial issues as well.

A different model: I appreciated the NYTimes interactive feature where people could submit their own suggestions for reducing the deficit; based on my own attempts, it is quite feasible to do so through cutting military expenditures and raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy, while maintaining the funding needed to support social, environmental and other programs that benefit this country and its citizens. There is no need to cut Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare to balance the budget.

I thought I would also add to the "conversation" a positive alternative to an economy based on boom and bust cycles, externalization of costs and weakening of worker and citizen protections; this website promotes a different economic model that challenges many economic assumptions.

Conservative voices: As you can see, the sources I’ve referenced range from liberal to non-partisan. To hear directly from conservatives on this subject, I am also linking to a “Conservative Economics 101” piece from The American Spectator. Here is another of their articles, calling for eliminating the corporate income tax.

Of course, I am aware that many PoliticalGaters are fans of Andrew Sullivan, who has a different take on many of these issues as well. While I do not always agree with Andrew on economic issues, I respect his intellect and devotion to facts, and I welcome learning more about his and other reasoned positions backed by data. I agree that running up huge deficits is not good fiscal policy; however, I am more Krugmanian in regards to the need for economic stimuli to get the economy on solid ground before cutting spending; I am also strongly supportive of the wealthy and corporations paying a larger share of the total tax revenue. And, I cannot help but remember that we were running surpluses during Clinton's second term, and the so-called conservatives couldn't wait to get rid of those surpluses through both tax cuts and unaccounted-for-wars. That's why I tend toward a more cynical interpretation of their motives, that they are really more intent on bankrupting the government so that it cannot fund programs that benefit the lower- and middle-class.

In the big picture, I keep coming back to this realization: imagine that, 30 years ago, someone openly proposed such dramatic shifts in wealth, tax burden, weakening of unions and safety net programs. That would have been considered lunatic-fringe extreme (well, think Ayn Rand). Now, it’s mainstream extreme (and, I guess, so is she).

I also find myself asking what allows the Republicans to be so brazen. There’s a psychological aspect, I think – tied to authoritarianism, which I suppose makes it easier to wield power without concern for “the little guy” or the damage done to people’s lives. There’s dogma espoused by Ayn Rand and her followers. Obviously, the Koch Brothers’ funded Tea Party is part of the story, as Patrick has illuminated in prior posts. FOX distortions of the news is another part. The Citizens United decision is a new factor that has tilted the playing field even more than before, allowing more manipulation of public perceptions and dissemination of disinformation than was possible before. These are topics for another day.

As you see, I have just scratched the surface. There is much drilling to be done. But, as a starting point, have at it – what do you think of these ideas? It seems that it should be possible to pull the curtain away from these conservative strategies so that everyone can see what is happening; I really hope that the progressives, liberals, and the middle can work together more effectively to advance a more constructive economic and political agenda.

Update: I just found this new post on Mother Jones, with an excellent graph that is very relevant to this topic.

Wednesday News Links - Nine boys killed in Pech District Afghanistan By Nato Forces : Petraeus Apologises + More

AMERICA'S REAL MAMMA GRIZZLIES:

Despite Sarah Palin's plummeting poll figures and, hopefully, her lack of a political future her name and brand image still continues to draw attention. One group, however, wants to take back part of Palin's carefully crafted image, her Mamma Grizzly title. As Palin's big oil agenda is at odds with the claim to be a "Real Mamma Grizzly" the conservation group The Wilderness Society has launched a March campaign to "celebrate women of conservation" by "showing the world what Real Mamma Grizzlies stand for -- protecting the wild!" Take the pledge here and show the world what being a Real Mamma Grizzly means.


IVORY COAST:

CNN reports that threats and harrasment of newspaper officials have led to the closing down of eight newspapers on the Ivory coast. The threats are said to have been made by President Laurent Gbagbo's officials and the police. Gbagbo is still holding on to power despite having been defeated last November by Alassane Ouattara. Attacks on the media have come from both sides in the struggle which has left "scores dead" amidst "concerns that the country is headed for a civil war."


LIBYA:

BBC reporter, John Simpson, reveals that tension is increasing in Libya as air forces loyal to Gaddafi fight to take control of an oilfield in Brega and are engaged in bombing a munitions dump in Adjabiya. Meanwhile Arab league ministers will draft a resolution which rejects foreign military intervention in Libya. The General Assembly of the UN suspended Libya from membership yesterday. Watch the video.





KABUL AND THE KUNAR PROVINCE:

It's been snowing in Kabul. From Reuters Pictures: Young Afghan boys wait for the bus on a roadside in the snow in Kabul March 2, 2011.

Meanwhile General Petraeus has apologised for the killing yesterday by NATO troops of nine boys all aged 12 and under in the Pech district of Kunar province. The boys were collecting firewood. President Hamid Karzai condemned the killings and his office issued a statement. "Innocent children who were collecting fire wood for their families during this cold winter were killed. Is this the way to fight terrorism and maintain stability in Afghanistan?"

Part 1: A Beginner's Guide to Conservative Politico-Economics

By Blueberry Tart

cartoon: Tom Toles, Washington Post

I preface this post with the admission that I am not an economist, so this is by no means an “expert” post. In fact, my limited knowledge of this subject is exactly what has spurred my interest in exploring it. This is my first, meager attempt to make sense of what is going on in this country politico-economically. You are entirely free to take or leave these ideas – or better yet, improve them!

The post has been at the back of my mind for some time, but I was finally motivated to put pen to paper (so to speak) by how blatant the Republicans’ economic strategies seem. I think the Wisconsin showdown, in particular, helped clarify my thoughts and spurred me to action. The fact that the Republicans are saying and doing things openly about which, a decade or two ago, they were much more circumspect seems a topic worth exploring.

From my vantage point, there seems to be a number of key trends that suggest long-term strategies at work. While predominantly conservative Republican, some of these strategies have been advanced by both Republicans and Democrats, reflecting conservative ideological gains in government that have shifted the overall debate toward the right. These trends include the following:

1) Shifting wealth to a very small segment of the population, as is typical of economic/corporate oligarchies (think banana republic)

2) Making tax increases politically impossible and shifting more of the tax burden from the wealthy and corporations to the middle class and working poor

3) Increasing spending on the military, and running up the deficit with expensive wars (benefitting defense contractors)

4) Using the deficit so-created as an excuse to dismantle the social safety net and other government programs that benefit society

5) Increasing corporate control of or influence over the government

6) Providing tax benefits to corporations even when they eliminate jobs or send them oversees (making a jobless economy even more profitable)

7) Privatizing profits and benefits by providing ways for corporations, and even individuals, to tap into public money (see #1) and insulating some of these gains from taxation (see #2)

8) Externalizing costs and socializing risk by having the public assume the economic (and health, environmental and other) costs of risky decisions

9) Weakening consumer protection, financial and environmental regulation, and social programs (see #5)

10) Weakening organized labor and programs to protect workers and the unemployed, at the same time setting the stage for “jobless recoveries”

11) Facilitating corporate takeover of the media and legalizing monopolization of media markets, thus limiting information and muting voices that support the people’s interests

12) Taking advantage of the unsettling aspects of boom and bust economic cycles to foster crisis- and fear-based decision-making

It may be that some, or all, of these topics warrant their own posts. To begin, rather than expounding on these topics myself, I am putting together a sampling of articles on these subjects, which I'll put up in a new post soon. There are many more, and probably better ones out there, and I’ll bet that Aview999 will lead a “cyber-posse” of our able PoliticalGates readers in collecting them – at least I hope so!

To be continued...

Tuesday News Links - Sarah Palin beaten by Ron Paul; Yemen; Iran Opposition Arrests; Texas Wildfires; Charles Koch; Madison; Libya + More

TEXAS:

CNN reports that wildfires which started on Sunday afternoon burned across more than 130,000 acres in Texas yesterday. More than 60 homes were destroyed and 1 five year old child is dead.





CHARLES KOCH:

In the Opinion Journal section of The Wall Street Journal Charles Koch defends his right to "contribute and stand up for politicians like Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker."


INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION:

Steven Bowen and Alvin Drew spent around six and a half hours in space performing some scheduled tasks. Read more here.


IRAN:

According to a report by the BBC Iranian opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, and their wives, have been taken from their homes ahead of planned demonstrations that are to take place today in Iran. Government officials have denied the reports.


MADISON:

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes that public access to the Wisconsin State Capital will be restricted today whilst the Governor, Scott Walker, gives his speech.


YEMEN:

Opposition groups in Yemen have turned down offers of a united government and will take to the streets today to protest against the continuation of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. More at CNN.

LIBYA:

Reuters writes that as the conflict in Libya enters its third week Muammar Gaddafi shows no signs of stepping down, even as the US repositions its air forces and gunships closer to Libya. Susan Rice, UN ambassador to the United Nations says that "Gaddafi is unfit to lead" and "disconnected from reality."

Al Jazeera reports on the humanitarian crisis in Libya





THE OTHER GERMAN BLOGGER:

A pro Ron Paul German blogger reports that Ron Paul beat Sarah Palin to third place in a test poll for leader conducted at the Tea Party Summit held in Phoenix, Arizona at the weekend. The test poll established Ron Paul as the clear winner with 581 votes to the 149 cast for Sarah Palin who came in at a measley third place. Radio host, Herman Cain received 256 votes. It seems that the Tea Party loves Ron and see him as their leader! The German blogger definitely has the hots for Ron as he is running a moneybomb for him. Just in case you wondered we won't be donating.