The Commentariat -- March 1

On Wisconsin
(Yes, UW Badgers, That's a Double Entendre)

Ed Kilgore of The New Republic: Gov. Scott Walker is following the Southern "Moonlight & Magnolias" strategy for attracting business to Wisconsin -- "It is based on a theory of economic growth that is ... aggressively pro-corporate: relentlessly focused on breaking the backs of unions; slashing worker compensation and benefits; and subsidizing businesses in order to attract capital from elsewhere and avoid its flight to even more benighted locales." ...

... Scott Walker Is Not a Constitution-Loving Republican. Clay Barbour & Dee Hall of the Wisconsin State Journal: "Capitol Police kept more than 1,000 protestors at bay Monday, locking down the statehouse and allowing only a few dozen inside to meet with lawmakers.... The decision seemed to run counter to Capitol tradition and the spirit of the state Constitution, which says officials cannot prohibit individuals from entering the Capitol or its grounds." ...

Prohibiting protestors on either side of the debate from entering the Capitol during normal business hours or during legislative hearings or sessions, while allowing others with 'business' in the Capitol to enter, is manifestly content-based and, hence presumptively unconstitutional. -- American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin, in a letter to state administration Secretary Michael Huebsch ...

I’m sure that President Obama simply misunderstands the issues in Wisconsin, and isn’t acting like the union bosses in saying one thing and doing another. -- Scott Walker, Wisconsin governor, in response to President Obama's call for respect for union members

... Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "... if voters in [Wisconsin] could do it over today they'd support defeated Democratic nominee Tom Barrett over Scott Walker by a a 52-45 margin. The difference between how folks would vote now and how they voted in November can almost all be attributed to shifts within union households. Voters who are not part of union households ... [who] report having voted for Walker by 7 points last fall and they still say they would vote for Walker by a 4 point margin. But in households where there is a union member voters now say they'd go for Barrett by a 31 point margin, up quite a bit from the 14 point advantage they report having given him in November.... Walker seems to have severely hurt his party's chances of building on their gains from 2010 next year." ...

     ... Greg Sargent: "The reason this matters is that in the days ahead, Dems and labor are going to intensify pressure on Republican state senators to break with Walker and support some kind of compromise route out of the current impasse. Walker himself seems to recognize this is a potential problem: On his call with the fake Koch, he acknowledged that Republicans in swing areas would need to be propped up by aggressive messaging." ...

... Masquerade. Eric Schroeck of Media Matters: "This morning [Monday], Fox & Friends hosted an 'upset Wisconsin parent' to discuss her objection to Wisconsin public schools' teaching of labor union history. Left unsaid during the segment: The parent, Amber Hahn, is also a local GOP official.... This is now the second time Fox has masqueraded a GOP activist as a concerned parent to attack unions." ...

Jon Stewart on Greedy Teachers. Unfortnately, Comedy Central has changed their video system, & I can no longer embed individual segments, so here's the Whole Show. It's all pretty good up till the Howard Stern interview:

... Bob Herbert: "This most recent assault on labor is part of an anti-worker movement that has been on the march for decades. Jobs have been shipped overseas. Workers have been denied their rightful share of productivity gains. Wages have been depressed and benefits in many, many instances have disappeared." ...

... Michael Cooper & Megan Thee-Brenan of the New York Times: "As labor battles erupt in state capitals around the nation, a majority of Americans say they oppose efforts to weaken the collective bargaining rights of public employee unions and are also against cutting the pay or benefits of public workers to reduce state budget deficits, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll."

Bryan Zepp Jamieson: "If America had a free press at the mainstream level that was worth a damn, then the Republican Party would be finished by now. As it is, the Republicans have to spend millions and millions of dollars on their vast right wing echo chamber. But all that would be for naught if it were not for the complicity of the mainstream media, which obediently adopts their talking points and their framings, and thus presents news as seen from the viewpoint of the GOP – and nobody else." Read on! Thanks to reader Bruce B. for the link.

Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "A Republican plan to sharply cut federal spending this year would destroy 700,000 jobs through 2012, according to an independent economic analysis set for release Monday. The report, by Moody's Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi, offers fresh ammunition to Democrats seeking block the Republican plan.... His report comes on the heels of a similar analysis last week by the investment bank Goldman Sachs, which predicted that the Republican spending cuts would cause even greater damage to the economy." You can read Zandi's report, titled "A Federal Shutdown Could Derail the Recovedry," here.

"Billions in Bloat." Damian Paletta of the Wall Street Journal: "The U.S. government has 15 different agencies overseeing food-safety laws, more than 20 separate programs to help the homeless and 80 programs for economic development. These are a few of the findings in a massive study of overlapping and duplicative programs that cost taxpayers billions of dollars each year, according to the Government Accountability Office.... The report ... recommends merging or consolidating a number of programs to both save money and make the government more efficient."

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: "A group of House Democrats is calling on Republican leaders to investigate a prominent Washington law firm [Hunton & Williams] and three federal technology contractors, who have been shown in hacked e-mails discussing a 'disinformation campaign' against foes of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. In a letter to be released Tuesday, Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and more than a dozen other lawmakers wrote that the e-mails appear 'to reveal a conspiracy to use subversive techniques to target Chamber critics," including "possible illegal actions against citizens engaged in free speech.' ... The e-mails ... show HBGary Federal, Berico Technologies and Palantir Technologies teaming up with a sales pitch to undermine chamber opponents.... The chamber has denied knowledge of the proposals."

It's increasingly imaginable that there would be some kind of international intervention in Libya, and I think the U.S. would be active in shaping that. -- James Dobbins of the Rand Corp.

David Sanger of the New York Times: "Today ... the success of a joint American-British effort to eliminate Libya’s capability to make nuclear and chemical weapons has never, in retrospect, looked more important."

"Zenga, Zenga." Mark Thompson of Time explains:

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors may use victim statements given at the crime scene even if the victim dies before testifying at trial, the Supreme Court ruled Monday.... The 6-to-2 ruling drew a withering dissent from Justice Antonin Scalia, the court's most outspoken advocate for the Sixth Amendment's requirement that the accused 'be confronted with the witnesses against him.' The majority's reasoning, Scalia wrote, 'is so transparently false that professing to believe it demeans this institution.' Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who wrote for the majority, shot back, accusing Scalia of 'misreading' the rules the court set for when statements could be admitted as evidence.... Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sided with Scalia but declined to join his caustic comments. Justice Elena Kagan was recused from the case because she had worked on it as President Obama's solicitor general." You can read the majority opinion & dissent here (pdf). Adam Liptak of the New York Times has a report here.

Kim Severson of the New York Times: "George Holding, the United States attorney in Raleigh..., as well as a Justice Department lawyer and agents from the F.B.I. and the Internal Revenue Service are looking at a number of campaign accounts and the records of a nonprofit group connected to [former Sen. John] Edwards.... Those who have been subpoenaed include dozens of former campaign workers, top aides, friends and [Rielle] Hunter," a woman with whom Edwards had an extramarital affair and a child.

Rep. Darrell Issa, who promised to open a new investigation every week, is now investigating his own aide.  Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "... the congressman will look into 'concerns' raised by Politico's editor-in-chief. In the meantime, press secretary Kurt Bardella remains on staff and is expected to report for work Tuesday...." ...

     ... Update: here's Politico's story -- by Jake Sherman & Marin Cogan -- on Issa's investigation of Bardella. Bear in mind wen you read it that, according to Sonmez, Politico initiated the complaint against Bardella.

News Ledes

Hurrah! New York Times: "In a lively decision that relied as much on dictionaries, grammar and usage as it did on legal analysis, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled unanimously that corporations have no personal privacy rights for purposes of the Freedom of Information Act." Update: here's the ruling (pdf).

Not the Education Governor. New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker, whose push to limit collective bargaining rights and increase health and pension costs for public workers has set off a national debate, proposed a new budget for Wisconsin on Tuesday that called for deep cuts to state aid to schools and local governments, provoking a new wave of fury.... Walker sets aside nearly $200 million for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation, Walker's public-private hybrid replacement for the state Department of Commerce" ...

     ... Wisconsin State Journal: "Education and local government bear the brunt of Gov. Scott Walker's first budget, a reform-minded plan that cuts about $1 billion in state aid and prevents officials from raising taxes to make up the difference." ...

     ... Not the Health Care Governor. Related: "Wisconsin would cut Medicaid spending by $500 million over the next two years, with much of the savings coming from Family Care, under Gov. Scott Walker's budget released Tuesday. But state Medicaid spending still would go up overall because the state must pay $1.3 billion over the two years to replace federal stimulus money that has been supporting the program. That money ends this year." ...

     ... Not the Environmental Governor. Related: "State-mandated recycling, in place in Wisconsin since 1995, would be eliminated under Gov. Scott Walker's budget. And payments to local governments to run those programs — a total of $32 million this year — would be halted." ...

     ... The Tough on Nonviolent Crime Governor. Related: "A program allowing some nonviolent offenders to petition for early release from prison, which some Republican critics had derided as 'catch and release,' would be ended under the budget Gov. Scott Walker introduced Tuesday."

New York Times brief: "An anti-gang dragnet has led to the arrest of 678 gang members and their associates, most of them immigrants, in 168 cities, federal officials announced Tuesday."

Washington Post: "The House on Tuesday approved a stopgap measure that would keep the federal government funded through March 18 and cut $4 billion in spending by targeting programs that President Obama has already marked for elimination."

Reuters: "A state-owned Egyptian newspaper said Wednesday that former President Hosni Mubarak was being treated for cancer in a hospital in Saudi Arabia."

Al Jazeera: "The United Nations general assembly has unanimously suspended Libya's membership of the UN Human Rights Council, citing the government's use of violence against protesters."

... Washington Post: "In a six-hour battle, rebels armed with tanks, anti aircraft guns and automatic weapons repelled an overnight attack by government troops using the same weapons in the town of Zawiya, 30 miles west of Tripoli, the Associated Press reported."

AP: "Republicans controlling the House are moving quickly to pass stopgap legislation to avoid a partial shutdown of the government when temporary funding runs out Friday." ...

... Politico: "Showing the first signs of coming off the sideline, the White House made a late bid Monday to extend the life of a stopgap government funding bill to a full month and thereby allow more time for the administration to become engaged in the House-Senate talks."

AP: "China appears to be rolling back some press freedoms, barring foreign journalists from working near a popular Shanghai park and along a major Beijing shopping street after calls for weekly protests in those spots appeared online."

The Commentariat -- February 28

Vice President Biden & President Obama address the nation's governors this morning. The President's remarks are a good summarization of his policy objectives. He begins speaking at about 6:15 in:

     ... Here's the full text of the Vice President's and President's speeches. Dr. Jill Biden & First Lady Michelle Obama address the governors about their support for military families.

CW: my favorite Oscar moment (no, it wasn't Melissa Leo's F-bomb, tho that was good, too) was actually newsworthy. Los Angeles Times: "Charles Ferguson, director of the winning 'Inside Job...,' began his acceptance speech by noting that three years after the worst financial meltdown in our history, the subject of 'Inside Job,' 'not a single financial executive has gone to jail.'" We linked this article by Joe Nocera yesterday, which outlines the DOJ's excuse for why that is. Here's the trailer for the film; economists gave the film rave reviews:

     ... Here's the full text of Ferguson's remarks:

Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after a horrific financial crisis caused by massive fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail and that's wrong. Thank you, but this is, this is also, this is about the movies, in fact, and that's what this is. So, thank you all for this profound honor. You've made us very, very happy. Thank you all. Let the record show, I'm not wearing jeans

... AND Wally Pfister, who won the award for cinematography, stands up for unions:

"The Texas Miracle" Is a Sham. Paul Krugman: "While low spending may sound good in the abstract, what it amounts to in practice is low spending on children, who account directly or indirectly for a large part of government outlays at the state and local level. And in low-tax, low-spending Texas..., the high school graduation rate, at just 61.3 percent, puts Texas 43rd out of 50 in state rankings. Nationally, the state ranks fifth in child poverty; it leads in the percentage of children without health insurance. And only 78 percent of Texas children are in excellent or very good health, significantly below the national average."

CW: I don't usually link to Politico analyses, but I agree with Jonathan Allen on this one: "Democrats threw in the towel Friday, just two days after delivering a chest-thumping rejection of the GOP plan to forestall a government shutdown for two weeks. In doing so, they handed Republicans a technical knockout in the first in a series of epic budget fights. Democrats agreed to $4 billion in cuts over the first two weeks in March, a concession that may give Republicans the upper hand for the time being...."

Behind the walls where he avoids all critics, [Wisconsin Gov. Scott] Walker may see Ronald Reagan in the mirror. But many of us see a stubborn and incurious reflection of George W. Bush, with a touch less humanity. -- Paul Fanlund, Madison Capital Times

Rick Hertzberg: "Organized labor’s catastrophic decline has paralleled — and, to a disputed but indisputably substantial degree, precipitated — an equally dramatic rise in economic inequality.... If a Republican Party that has lately become rigidly, fanatically 'conservative' can succeed in reducing public-sector unions to the parlous condition of their private-sector brethren, then organized labor — which, for all its failings, all its shortsightedness, all its 'special interest' selfishness, remains the only truly formidable counterweight to the ever-growing political power of that top one-thousandth—will no longer be anything close to a match for organized money." CW: Hertzberg, George Packer & Ryan Lizza discuss this & other issues in the audio in the right column (just above Infotainment); well worth a listen. ...

... Michael Cooper & Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "As Wisconsin’s governor and public employees square off..., government employees’ unions in a range of states are weighing whether to give ground on wages, benefits and work rules to preserve basic bargaining rights. It is not yet clear whether Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin will succeed in his quest to strip public employee unions of most of their bargaining rights. But by simply pressing the issue, he has already won major concessions that would have been unthinkable just a month ago." ...

... Peter Whoriskey & Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The divide between government worker unions and their opponents ... highlights a critical aspect of the evolving labor movement. Throughout U.S. history, the most prominent union clashes largely involved employees squaring off against big corporate owners over how to share profits. The recent state budget controversies feature union members bargaining against state and local governments over wages and benefits provided by taxpayers."

David Nather of Politico: "The Justice Department asked [U.S. District Judge Roger] Vinson to clarify his ruling that struck down the law as unconstitutional. Justice must file its brief on the motion by Monday, and Vinson has said he would rule quickly after that. At issue is whether Vinson meant to stop reform implementation in the 26 states that brought the suit. The smart money says Vinson will halt implementation, and legal observers are wondering why Justice would take that risk."

Here We Go Again. Eric Dash of the New York Times: "Detroit is crowing that the auto industry is back, but so far, at least, it is a success story built as much on a revival in lending as on the development of desirable cars.... After radically scaling back auto lending during the financial crisis, banks and the lending arms of the automakers have started to issue loans more aggressively. Borrowers of all types are now finding it much easier to obtain a loan compared with a few months ago. Even car buyers with tarnished credit histories are getting financing, in some cases without making a down payment."

Ben Smith of Politico: "The online activist group 'anonymous,' which has used coordinated denial of service attacks -- a crude but effective Internet weapon -- to temporary disable sites belonging to foes ranging from Scientology to WikiLeaks foes -- has turned its firepower on the Koch-backed conservative group Americans for Prosperity, making the group's site intermittently unavailable tonight [Sunday]. CW: I'd think this was funnier if I didn't know it could happen to me.

Scott Shane of the New York Times: "For nearly two decades, the leaders of Al Qaeda have denounced the Arab world’s dictators as heretics and puppets of the West and called for their downfall. Now, people in country after country have risen to topple their leaders — and Al Qaeda has played absolutely no role. In fact, the motley opposition movements that have appeared so suddenly and proved so powerful have shunned the two central tenets of the Qaeda credo: murderous violence and religious fanaticism. The demonstrators have used force defensively, treated Islam as an afterthought and embraced democracy, which is anathema to Osama bin Laden and his followers."

Alchemy 2.0? Jay Lindsay of the AP: "A Massachusetts biotechnology company says it can produce the fuel that runs Jaguars and jet engines using the same ingredients that make grass grow. Joule Unlimited has invented a genetically-engineered organism that it says simply secretes diesel fuel or ethanol wherever it finds sunlight, water and carbon dioxide." Joule says, "Joule's solution has industry-changing potential across multiple markets that derive products from petroleum, replacing a finite, unstable resource with one that can sustain virtually unlimited production." The Joule website is here.

Right Wing World

Justice Clarence Thomas, Conspiracy Theorist? Ken Vogel of Politico: "Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas – his impartiality under attack from liberals because of his attendance at a meeting of conservative donors sponsored by the Koch brothers and his wife’s tea party activism – struck a defiant tone in a Saturday night speech in Charlottesville, Va.... Delivering the keynote speech at an annual symposium for conservative law students, Thomas spoke in vague, but ominous, terms about the direction of the country and urged his listeners to 'redouble your efforts to learn about our country so that you’re in a position to defend it.'”

I Met This Guy in a Bar.... Justin Elliott of Salon looks into the story by blogger Barry Rithotz that Fox "News" CEO Roger Ailes was about to be indicted. The Ritholtz story is, shall we say, rather thinly sourced.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Less than a week after President Obama ordered the Justice Department to no longer defend the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, House Republicans pledged that they will work to protect the law, which bans the recognition of same-sex marriage."

New York Times: "The actress Natalie Portman, who has an endorsement contract with Dior for its Miss Dior Cherie fragrance, has strongly condemned its chief designer, John Galliano, for anti-Semitic remarks after a video surfaced of Mr. Galliano appearing to deliver a tirade in a Paris bar. In a separate incident, he was accused of verbally abusing a French couple last week in the bar. He was suspended Friday from Dior."

New York Times: "The administration of Gov. Scott Walker abruptly locked out protesters from the Capitol on Monday morning.... About 60 demonstrators who had slept in the statehouse overnight remained inside as of noon Monday.... They had access to restrooms and ... appeared to have a decent supply of food." But protesters who had planned to enter the capitol building today were barred from doing so. ...

... Wisconsin State Journal: "As of 2:45 p.m. [3:45 pm ET], the Capitol remained on lockdown, with only employees, officers and members of the media allowed inside. They are joined by the dozens of protesters who spent the night inside the rotunda, despite efforts to push them out the door." ...

... Reuters Update: "Republican Gov. Scott Walker on Monday gave absent Democratic lawmakers an ultimatum to return to Wisconsin within 24 hours and vote on a proposal to reduce the power of public sector unions or the state would miss out on a debt restructuring.... 'Failure to return to work and cast their votes will lead to more painful and aggressive spending cuts in the very near future,' Walker's said in a statement."

AP: U.S. "governors, in town for weekend National Governors Association meetings, planned to return to the White House on Monday to meet with [President] Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their wives. On Friday, Obama met privately with the Democrats; Monday's bipartisan affair will be open to reporters." ...

     ... AP: Here's a post-speech report. New York Times: "Seeking to appease disgruntled governors, President Obama announced Monday that he supported amending the 2010 health care law to allow states to opt out of its most burdensome requirements three years earlier than currently permitted." See video in the left column.

New York Times: "The United States began moving warships toward Libya ... on Monday as the administration declared all options on the table in its diplomatic, economic and military campaign to drive Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi from power." ...

... New York Times: "Street battles raged in two rebel-controlled cities on Monday, as the Libyan government mounted a counterattack aimed at blunting recent gains by the opposition, Libyan and rebel officials said. Rebel commanders reported that Libyan Air Force Migs conducted at least two bombing runs in the east, while government special forces soldiers retook a major oil refinery. The ground assaults were aimed at Misurata and Zawiyah, two important breakaway cities near Tripoli...." ...

... New York Times: "France is moving quickly to side with the forces trying to overthrow the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, sending planes on Monday with aid and doctors to eastern Libya. The French prime minister, François Fillon, said that two French planes were flying on Monday to the eastern city of Benghazi, the revolt’s birthplace, with doctors, nurses, medicines and medical equipment." ...

... New York Times: "The United States has blocked $30 billion in Libyan government assets since President Obama announced his executive order late Friday night imposing unilateral sanctions against Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi and his family, the Treasury Department said Monday. It is the largest amount of foreign assets ever seized in an American sanctions action."

New York Times: "Yemen’s political opposition rejected an invitation from President Ali Abdullah Saleh to form a national unity government and instead threw its support for the first time behind street protests calling for an immediate end to his authoritarian rule."

... Al Jazeera: "Libya's opposition movement has seized control of territory close to the capital, Tripoli, as anti-government protesters gear up for what could be a final battle for leader Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold. Three areas in the east were reported to be under the control of protesters on Monday, a day after pro-democracy demonstrators took control of the city of Az-Zawiyah, just 50km west of Tripoli." ...

... AP: "The West moved to send its first concrete aid to Libya's rebellion in the east of the country, hoping to give it the momentum to oust Moammar Gadhafi. But the Libyan leader's regime clamped down in its stronghold in the capital, where residents said food prices have skyrocketed." ...

... Wall Street Journal: "An oil tanker was expected to depart the port of Tobruk in the northeast corner of Libya sometime Sunday night carrying 700,000 barrels of oil, said ... a member of the management committee of Arabian Gulf Oil Co., Libya's largest oil producer and the only oil company based in the country's opposition-controlled eastern territory.... The Arabian Gulf Oil shipment would be the first oil exported from the eastern territory in more than a week...."

Al Jazeera: "Egypt's general prosecutor has imposed a travel ban on former president Hosni Mubarak and his family pending further investigations. The prosecutor Abdel Magid Mahmud on Monday also ordered the freezing of all of their financial assets inside the country."

New York Times: "Oman, the normally quiet sultanate along the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, joined the wave of two-month-old political protests shaking the Arab orld on Sunday, as hundreds of demonstrators clashed with the riot police in the northeast port city of Sohar. Oman’s state news agency, ONA, said two protesters were killed."

AP: "U.S. Rep. David Wu, who is facing calls for his resignation over reports of erratic behavior, says he was once knocked for loop by the reaction to common mental health drugs and had to be hospitalized."

The Commentariat -- February 27

New York Times Editors: "In defense of their bill to slash federal spending by $61 billion over the next seven months, House Republicans claim they are trying to make the economy grow and create jobs. In truth, such deep and sudden cuts could derail the recovery.... The question is whether the Obama administration and the Senate can prevail against the false rhetoric.... It’s time for leadership." CW: see my comment on this -- a response to Frank Rich's column -- below. ...

... Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns in a Washington Post op-ed: "In the midst of the Great Depression, our government managed to fund some of the most enduring and memorable documentaries, photographs, art and dramatic plays this country has ever produced. Our need for such cultured and civilizing influences is no less urgent now.... Polls consistently show that huge majorities of all Americans support public broadcasting.... Almost an admonishment, [President Ronald Reagan] spoke to me about the responsibility he saw for a private sector-governmental partnership when it came to public broadcasting and the arts and humanities. (His administration was very supportive of these long-standing institutions.)"

... Logrolling. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: how millions of dollars in earmarks led to billions of dollars in spending -- or so earmark opponents argue.

Karen Garcia: "the very same  corporate billionaires sitting on nearly two thirds of the nation's wealth, the plutocrats responsible for the biggest wealth disparity in American history, are now being asked to hang out at the White House and solve the unemployment problem."

Glenn Greenwald on the trashing of Rolling Stone investigative journalist Michael Hastings: ".While Hastings seeks to expose the secret wrongdoing of the powerful, journalists like John Burns, Norah O'Donnell, and Julian Barnes seek to protect it....  Hastings and especially Lt. Col. [Michael] Holmes courageously put their names on their statements; but the powerful military officials who apparently broke the law are able to smear them without any need to identify themselves, thanks to their reporter-servants who serve as government spokespeople masquerading as journalists." CW: read the update, too. ...

... AND I missed this excellent post by Greenwald on "the many steps taken to dramatically expand the war on whistleblowers being waged by the current President, who ran on a platform of 'protecting whistleblowers.'" Greenwald discusses the DOJ's creepy pursuit of New York Times reporter James Risen:

For a President who insists that we must 'Look Forward, Not Backward' -- when it comes to investigating war crimes by high-level Bush officials -- this anti-whistleblower assault reflects not only an obsession on preserving and bolstering the National Security State's secrecy regime, but also an intense fixation on the past.  And increasingly extremist weapons -- now including trolling through reporters' banking and phone records -- are being wielded to achieve it. 

Here MSNBC's Cenk Uygur interviews Greenwald, which covers aspects of both of Greenwald's posts linked above:

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: the National Governors Association, meeting in Washington, D.C., this weekend is "facing what could be one of its most partisan periods in more than a decade.... Obama will host the governors Sunday night for a black-tie dinner and will meet with them Monday for a session that is likely to include some direct give-and-take about some of the policies the Republicans most dislike. But before the NGA meeting started, the president met privately with Democratic governors." ...

This governor has to understand Wisconsin is a stubborn constituency. We fish through ice! -- Bradley Whitford, actor, at yesterday's rally in Madison. Video above Saturday's Ledes.

... Michael O'Brien of The Hill: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is trying to force workers in his state to give up their rights, Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said Saturday. Solis, speaking at the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Winter Meeting, accosted Walker and Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) for their efforts to reform collective bargaining rights for public workers in their states." CW: I have been complaining for weeks now (see Comment #10, for example) about Solis' being AWOL as labor disputes erupt. I hear the White House reads some of my comments, so maybe I helped a little to nudge Solis out of hiding. ...

... Michael Fletcher & Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "With many working Americans financially battered by the recession and the years of economic uncertainty that preceded it..., [Republican governors] are aiming to be seen as friends of the middle class even as they challenge workers who themselves are middle class. Their success may ultimately hinge on whether voters see public employees as another privileged special interest or whether they sympathize with the workers standing up for their rights. In Madison, tens of thousands converged on the state Capitol on Saturday..... Smaller demonstrations were held at other statehouses across the country, including several that brought thousands of protesters to the District, Annapolis and Richmond." ...

Hide Away in Rockford. A unique tourism video:

... CW: we covered this the other day, but the story has developed legs, so it bears repeating in this iteration by Rick Ungar of Forbes: Wisconsin state employees pay for 100 percent of their pensions. The pensions are simply deferred income, which comes out of employees' salaries & goes into the pension fund. What Walker & Wisconsin's Republican legislators "are actually asking is that the employees take a pay cut."

Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: in "Indiana..., Gov. Mitch Daniels eliminated bargaining for state employees six years ago, shows just how much is at stake, both for the government and for workers. His 2005 executive order has had a sweeping impact: no raises for state employees in some years, a weakening of seniority preferences and a far greater freedom to consolidate state operations or outsource them to private companies." ...

Howard Fineman: "For all of the valid concern about reining in state spending..., the underlying strategic Wisconsin story is this: Gov. Scott Walker, a Tea Party-tinged Republican, is the advance guard of a new GOP push to dismantle public-sector unions as an electoral force. Last fall, GOP operatives hoped and expected to take away as many as 20 governorships from the Democrats. They ended up nabbing 12. What happened? Well, according to postgame analysis by GOP strategists and Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi -- who chaired the Republican Governors Association in 2010 -- the power and money of public-employee unions was the reason."

Joe Nocera of the New York Times writes an entertaining -- and informative -- piece on why the biggest banksters won't do any hard time.

New York Times graphic.Clifford Levy of the New York Times: "Nearly two decades ago, the collapse of Soviet Communism offered the promise ... the newly independent former Soviet republics, sprung from the shackles of totalitarianism, would embrace free elections, multiple political parties and a vigorously independent media. But those hopes now seem premature, or perhaps naïve. In the 1990’s, the Soviet breakup sowed chaos — most notably in Russia — and a corps of autocrats arose in response, pledging stability and economic growth."

Nicholas Kristof: the idea that the Middle East is "unfit for democracy ... is insulting to the unfree world." ...

... Borzou Daragahi and Garrett Therolf of the Los Angeles Times report on some horrifying stories of murder & beatings by Libyan "security" forces, as related by people who have escaped the country.

Mark Sherman of the AP: Abdullah al-Kidd, a U.S. citizen, recalls his 2003 arrest and detention: over a 16-day period, he was "strip-searched repeatedly, left naked in a jail cell and shower for more than 90 minutes in view of other men and women, routinely transported in handcuffs and leg irons, and kept with people who had been convicted of violent crimes.... In the midst of al-Kidd's detention, FBI Director Robert Mueller testified to Congress about recent major successes against terrorism. No. 1 on Mueller's list was the capture of professed Sept. 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. No. 2 was the arrest of al-Kidd, a Kansas-born convert to Islam who was not charged with a crime.... The Supreme Court is weighing whether al-Kidd's arrest and detention violated the Fourth Amendment's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures. The court, which will hear argument Wednesday, also is being asked to decide whether former Attorney General John Ashcroft can be held personally liable...."

Local News

CW: a few days ago, I linked to this story reporting that Florida "Gov. Rick Scott said during a radio interview Tuesday that Florida shouldn’t move to take away public employees’ collective bargaining rights as the Republican governor of Wisconsin has proposed." I thought Scott was about to lose his status as Worst Governor in America. But no. It turns out Scott "opposes" rescinding collective bargaining rights because he likely can't easily rescind them -- they're written into the state's constitution. Here's a report from Julie Hirschfeld-Davis: of Bloomberg News: "While Florida’s constitution grants state workers the right to unionize and bargain for workplace rights, Scott said, 'It’d be great to be able to change it.'” Soott further says, “Our state workers don’t pay for anything into their pension plan. And we can’t afford that -- it’s not fair to taxpayers. If you didn’t have collective bargaining, would it be better for the state? Absolutely.'”

Fox "News," Orlando: "A woman who was the former president of the Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter in Gainesville has been arrested for drunk driving."

CW: there's so little U.S. news this morning that Yahoo News made this report one of its top five stories: "Todd Palin had trouble with his snowmobile skis toward the end of the world's longest snowmobile race as a rival team to surged to victory Saturday." I didn't read it. Palin probably blames President Obama's environmental policy for his loss.

News Ledes

New York Times: "... the Capitol authorities [in Madison, Wisconsin] announced on Sunday that demonstrators could continue their all-night sleepovers in the building and would not be forcibly ejected or arrested. Just one day earlier, the state agency that oversees the Capitol police had said that the overnight protests, which have occurred continuously for almost two weeks..., would cease on Sunday. The agency is led by an appointee of Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican.... Said Jim Palmer, the executive director of the 11,000-member Wisconsin Professional Police Association: 'Now it’s clear that law enforcement professionals are running the show.'”

New York Times: "In [Zawiya, Libya,] 30 miles west of Tripoli, hundreds of people rejoiced in a central square on Sunday, waving the red, black and green flag that has come to signify a free Libya and shouting the chants that foretold the downfall of governments in Tunisia and Egypt.... Rebels, in control of the city, had reinforced its boundaries with informal barricades, and military units that had defected stood guard with rifles, six tanks and anti-aircraft guns mounted on the backs of trucks. In the central square here, a mosque was riddled with enormous holes, evidence of the government’s failed attempt to take back this city on Thursday.”

... New York Times: "Tunisia’s prime minister, a holdover from the government that was toppled last month, resigned Sunday after a weekend of violent protests that left five people dead in the capital, Tunis. The prime minister, Mohamed Ghannouchi, had been the target of weeks of demonstrations by protesters who felt that he was tainted by his links to the old government."

... AP: "Hundreds of armed anti-government forces backed by rebel troops who control the city closest to the capital Tripoli appeared to be readying Sunday to repel an expected offensive by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi who have surrounded Zawiya. An Associated Press reporter who reached Zawiya, 30 miles (50 kilometers) west of Tripoli, confirmed the anti-government rebels are in control of the center of the city of 200,000. They have army tanks and anti-aircraft guns mounted on pickup trucks deployed. But on the outskirts, they are surrounded by pro-Gadhafi forces."

... Washington Post: the Obama Administration held back in its comments about the situation in Libya because "... diplomats in Tripoli told them that, in the words of one official, 'certain kinds of messaging from the American government could endanger the security of American citizens.' There were fears that Americans could be taken hostage."

AP: "North Korea threatened Sunday to enlarge its nuclear arsenal and mercilessly attack South Korea and the United States, as the allies prepared to start annual joint military drills which the North says are a rehearsal for an invasion."

Full House Fold

Art by Barry Blitt for the New York Times.Frank Rich: "Still heady with hubris from the midterms — and having persuaded themselves that Gingrich’s 1995 history can’t possibly repeat itself — radical Republicans are convinced that deficit-addled voters are on their side no matter what.... Let’s hope [the President] knows that he, not the speaker, is the player holding a full house, and that he will tell the country in no uncertain terms that much more than money is on the table."

CW: I'm not sure when or if the Times is going to get around to posting my comment on Rich's column, so here it is:

President Obama will not tell the American people what's at stake in the budget. None of us knows what his true ideology is. None of us knows how he would govern if we had a parliamentary system in which the leader of the government can pretty much govern as he wishes.

But we do know this: Prime Minister Obama would not govern as a progressive. All that progressive talk during the campaign was a vote-currying deception. Mr. Obama campaigned the way Republicans always campaign: by pretending his goals were markedly different from what they really were.

Obama perfectly followed the Republican playbook in 2008: he pretended to be a progressive who would right the wrongs of eight years of Republican rule. But when he got into the White House, he suddenly turned into a conservative who engineered a "stimulus" package that was largely Republican-style tax cuts, a healthcare law that was nearly identical to one Republicans proposed in the 20th century (& which also included the individual mandate, BTW), & a financial reform package that lets the banksters do what they want.

If you think I'm exaggerating, let's look at something that's more simple and straightforward than a complex budget or those huge bills that Obama signed into law during his first two years in office. Let's look at something over which Mr. Obama has complete control and for which he cannot claim the Congress forced him to "compromise": Here's what President Obama said in a campaign stump speech he made in the fall of 2007 in South Carolina:

 If American workers are being denied their right to organize & collectively bargain, when I'm in the White House, I'll put on a pair of comfortable shoes myself, I'll walk on that picket line with you....

Here's the video, which I first posted a couple of days ago:

Today, Republican governors in several states are attacking collective bargaining rights. Obama made one statement -- and then only in response to a reporter's question -- in which he said of the Wisconsin bill, "it appears to be an assault on unions." President Obama's comfortable shoes are nowhere to be seen. Reporters have repeatedly questioned Obama's press secretary Jay Carney about Obama's campaign promise, and Carney has dutifully obfuscated with responses like (this is not an exact quote) "People know where the President stands." Yeah, we know this: he's not standing in Wisconsin or Ohio or Indiana in those comfortable shoes.

Similarly, ever since budget season has come upon us, President Obama has been playing the part of a reliably Republican president. He has repeatedly told the American people that the government must live within its means. That's a line straight out of the Contract on America. Never mind that politicians since Alexander Hamilton -- you know, one of the fathers of the Constitution -- have said that federal deficits are a good thing. And where has President Obama been campaigning? At corporation after corporation where he has said we can "win the future" (or as Sarah Palin calls it, "WTF") by giving tax breaks to small businesses so they can innovate.

Not Word One about funding prenatal care or healthcare legislation or the EPA. Not Word One. Instead, Obama has given government workers an effective five-year pay cut by freezing their wages even as the prices of essential commodities (like grain & cotton) have soared, guaranteeing that prices of food and clothing will rise. He has also presented a budget that will cut home-heating assistance to poor families & Pell grants to college students. Hope you're not too cold while you're staying home from college.

Scott Walker made a "fireside" address the other day in which he expressed his respect for unions. ("I really do" respect unions, he emphasized.) Relying on President Obama to tell the American people the truth about what's in that noxious House budget is like relying on Scott Walker to tell the truth about how he feels about unions:

Not. Going. to. Happen.