The Commentariat -- February 24

Art by Thomas Porostocky.Russ Buettner of the New York Times: "... affidavits filed in a ... lawsuit reveal ... Roger E. Ailes, chairman of Fox News," was accused by his employee Judith Regan of encouraging her to lie to federal investigators who were vetting Bernie Kerik for secretary of Homeland Security. (Kerik, with whom Regan was having an affair, is now in jail, for -- among other things -- lying to White House officials.) "What is more, the documents say that Ms. Regan taped the telephone call from Mr. Ailes in which Mr. Ailes discusses her relationship with Mr. Kerik. It is unclear whether the existence of the tape played a role in News Corporation’s decision to move quickly to settle Ms. Regan’s lawsuit, paying her $10.75 million in a confidential settlement reached two months after she filed it in 2007."

Tom Shanker of the New York Times: Gen. David Petraeus, "the commander of American forces in Afghanistan, will order an investigation into allegations that military personnel were instructed to engage in 'information operations' to convince members of Congress to support the mission, officials said Thursday.... The investigation was prompted by an article released on Thursday by Rolling Stone magazine, which described an 'information operation' or 'psychological operation' ordered by Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, who is in charge of training Afghan security forces." ...

     ... Here's the article by Michael Hastings. Hastings won a George Polk award for his story on Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The upshot of Hastings' report was that President Obama relieved Gen. McChrystal of his command over Afghanistan operations.

Nick Timiraos, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "The Obama administration is trying to push through a settlement over mortgage-servicing breakdowns that could force America's largest banks to pay for reductions in loan principal worth billions of dollars. Terms of the administration's proposal include a commitment from mortgage servicers to reduce the loan balances of troubled borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth...."

Ditching DOMA

Commentary:

... Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: with "Ten Takeaways from Obama's DOMA Reversal": "... the real moving force here is U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro. Last July, the Republican appointee, who is revered among federal judges, simply vitiated Section 3 of the DOMA in a ruling now on appeal to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. When the Defense of Marriage Act finally falls, and it surely will, Judge Tauro's ruling will be seen as the turning point. Here, it gave great cover to the administration." ...

... Adam Serwer of the American Prospect: "This doesn't mean the law is defunct -- if the Supreme Court doesn't overturn it, or Congress doesn't pass legislation doing so, DOMA stays on the books." ...

... Lawrence O'Donnell speaks with Glenn Greenwald about the Administration's reversal:

... Greg Sargent: "After the President did the right thing and threw his weight behind the repeal of don't ask don't tell, many argued that his success on that front would only make his position on DOMA less tenable -- basic consistency would demand that his administration stop defending it in court.... The arc of history is bending -- albeit slowly -- in the right direction." ...

... And now for a word from Fox "News," courtesy of Igor Volsky of the Wonk Room: "Fox News invited the National Organization for Marriage (NOM)’s Maggie Gallagher to discuss the development. Gallagher, who’s organization has been spearheading the fight against marriage equality, chastised the president for declaring that 'gay is like black' and promised to 'push very hard' to urge the House of Representatives to defend the law in the administration’s stead." With video, if you'd really like to hear from Gallagher. ...

... Monica Crowley, also speaking on Fox "News" about the Obama Administration's decision, says the President is practicing "a form of dictatorship." That is "Mubarak Obama," says she. The video is here, wherein Lawrence O'Donnell explains why Crowley is an idiot.

The Backstory: "New York Times story here. AND here's the statement from the Department of Justice. AND here's AG Eric Holder's letter notifying Congress of the DOJ's change of position on DOMA.

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs does a nice job of summarizing billionaires'/Congress's attack on the middle class:

I campaigned on (the proposals in the budget repair bill for Wisconsin) all throughout the election. Anybody who says they are shocked on this has been asleep for the past two years. -- Scott Walker, February 21, 2011

... Walker, who offered many specific proposals during the campaign, did not go public with even the bare-bones of his multi-faceted plans to sharply curb collective bargaining rights. He could not point to any statements where he did. We could find none either. -- Politifact (Read their whole analysis.)

... More Fallout from the Prank Call. Mary Bottari of AlterNet: "... if [Walker] is choosing to lay off workers as a political tactic when he wasn’t otherwise planning to do so then it is not just morally repugnant but legally questionable.  State and federal contract and labor law has protections against this type of abusive behavior and inappropriate quid pro quo." ...

... Faking a Budget Crisis. Tim Fernholz of the National Journal: "... while [Wisconsin Gov. Scott] Walker argues that his budget-repair legislation must be passed soon to avoid job cuts, the most controversial parts of his bill would have no immediate effect. The state’s entire budget shortfall for this year -- the reason that Walker has said he must push through immediate cuts -- would be covered by the governor's relatively uncontroversial proposal to restructure the state’s debt. By contrast..., his call to curtail the collective-bargaining rights of the state's public-employees, wouldn't save any money this year." ...

I spent a good deal of time overnight thinking about Governor Walker's response, during his news conference yesterday (Wednesday), to the suggestion that his administration ‘thought about' planting troublemakers among those who are peacefully protesting his bill. I would like to hear more of an explanation from Governor Walker as to what exactly was being considered, and to what degree it was discussed by his cabinet members. I find it very unsettling and troubling that anyone would consider creating safety risks for our citizens and law enforcement officers. -- Noble Wray, Chief of Police, Madison

... Monica Davey of the New York Times on life on the lam in Illinois for state legislators from Wisconsin & Indiana. ...

... Having It Both Ways. So now that Indiana legislators, at Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' urging, have dropped their draconian bill to curb the bargaining union rights* of the state's public employees, Daniels gives a speech deriding the unions as "the privileged elite." What a shameful little turd.

     * CW: this I didn't understand: six years ago, Daniels did end collective bargaining rights for Indiana public workers. Now he would like to further curb union rights, such as they are.

Andrew Solomon of the New Yorker on Libyan dictator Muammar Qaddifi's mistakes.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: Investigators are trying to determine what happened in the attempted rescue of American hostages whom Somali pirates subsequently murdered. Initial information "raises questions about the crucial decision [by a FBI negotiator] to detain the pirate leaders."

Elizabeth Harris of the New York Times writes an item on Donald Rumsfeld's appearance on "The Daily Show." CW: I can't stand to listen, & I just won't embed Rummy but the extended interview is here. After the interview, Rumsfeld tweeted, “Just wrapped up one of the most thoughtful interviews of book tour with @thedailyshow.”

If you have to take the U.S. citizenship test, give the answers the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services want, not the correct answers. CW: I took the test a while ago & found another incorrect answer which the writer of this piece, Dafna Linzer, doesn't mention.

Right Wing World

Alex Pareene of Salon: "In the parallel media universe of the right-wing blogosphere, this is the single biggest story of the week. Maybe the month, even. A union thug viciously attacked an innocent young woman, in broad daylight. And it's all on camera! Or, like, a guy pushed a camera that was six inches from his face, wielded by someone engaging him in a heated argument." With video of the "vicious thug," whom Freedom Works provoked in Washington, D.C., not Madison, Wisconsin. Pareene adds, "Because these people are completely fucking shameless, the woman from the video has compared herself to Lara Logan." CW: Yup. Provoking someone to push your camera away is just like getting gang-raped in Cairo.

Local News

Marc Lacey of the New York Times: "Arizona lawmakers are proposing a sweeping package of immigration restrictions.... Illegal immigrants would be barred from driving in the state, enrolling in school or receiving most public benefits. Their children would receive special birth certificates that would make clear that the state does not consider them Arizona citizens. Some of the bills, like those restricting immigrants’ access to schooling and right to state citizenship, flout current federal law and are being put forward to draw legal challenges in hopes that the Supreme Court might rule in the state’s favor."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Fighting between Libyan opposition groups and government paramilitary forces moved closer to the capital, Tripoli, on Thursday, as residents braced for a potential push to oust Moammar Gaddafi's regime from the city." ...

... New York Times: "Forces loyal to Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi were reported to be striking back in several cites surrounding Tripoli on Thursday, as rebellion crept closer to the capital and defections of military officers multiplied."

New York Times: "After years of fighting for control of a prominent valley in the rugged mountains of eastern Afghanistan, the United States military has begun to pull back most of its forces from ground it once insisted was central to the campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. The withdrawal from the Pech Valley, a remote region in Kunar Province, formally began on Feb. 15.... Afghan units will remain in the valley, a test of their military readiness."

Chickens. Washington Post: "With a political standoff over spending threatening to trigger a federal shutdown next week, Senate Democrats began drafting a plan Thursday to slice billions of dollars from domestic agency budgets over the next seven months, yielding to Republican demands to reduce the size of government this year."

AP: "A small earthquake has hit Hawaii, with a jolt felt across Honolulu." PROBABLY BECAUSE ...

... AP: "Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed same-sex civil unions into law Wednesday, calling it 'a triumph for everyone' that gay and lesbian couples will have the same state rights as married partners."

New York Times: "A 20-year-old Saudi Arabian student living in Texas has been arrested by federal agents, who charged him with planning to build bombs for terror attacks in the United States.... According to an [FBI] affidavit..., the student, Khalid Ali-M Aldawsari, indicated in online research and in a journal that he was considering attacking the Dallas residence of former President George W. Bush as well as hydroelectric dams, nuclear power plants, nightclubs and the homes of soldiers who were formerly stationed at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq."

Guardian: "Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is to be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual assault. Assange will appeal, his legal team confirmed. If this is unsuccessful, he will be extradited to Sweden in 10 days. Delivering his ruling at a hearing at Belmarsh magistrates court in London, the chief magistrate Howard Riddle systematically dismissed each of the defence's arguments against Assange's extradition." New York Times: "A British court on Thursday ordered Julian Assange, the WikiLeaks founder, to be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse. His lawyers have seven days to appeal the ruling and immediately indicated that they would [do] so."

"The Hostage Taker"

Starring John Boehner
In the Title Role

Gail Collins sees the House of Representatives as "the deranged Pomeranian that yelps and throws itself against the window and tears up the upholstery 24/7" in a remake of “The Dog Whisperer,” and the Senate as being "like a narcoleptic Great Dane you can hardly rouse for dinner." It appears my comment has been sent to the back of the bus, so here it is:

Actually, I think the House is acting a little more like the gang of bad guys in all those hostage-taker movies. I just looked at a list of the top-grossing hostage movies for the last 30 years, and I haven't seen one of them. Their hook is to scare you into thinking, "This could happen to me." Evidently the hook works because the movies worry me so much I avoid seeing them. Well, now I have to watch, because the House version has come to the New York Times' front page.

In the House reality movie, Speaker Boehner plays the part of the chief hostage-taker. Boehner tells his hostage -- played by President Obama -- he will only pass a continuing resolution for a whole two weeks IF the President agrees to institute the House's deep cuts on a pro-rated basis. The ransom for the two-week respite then is about $4 billion in cuts.

Meanwhile, hostage negotiator Harry Reid -- who, as you point out, is busy with other things -- sent out a spokesman to say Boehner's "reckless measure ... isn't going to fool anyone." (What? Do we need a reminder that a hostage-taker is a "reckless" person?) So Boehner, not to be outdone by the negotiator's slight, addressed Reid through his own spokesman: "It's up to Senator Reid to tell Americans what — if anything — he's willing to cut."

The plot twist in this nail-biter? It works a lot like the movies. In the movies, you worry it can happen to you. In the House reality movie, it does happen to you. We're all hostages.

I'd say the Hostage-in-Chief is counting on our sympathy. The hostage-taker had better watch out: the newly "beleaguered" Boehner has made himself the villain in this reality show, and the American people/hostages are not likely to take his side.

The Commentariat -- February 23

Scott Shane of the New York Times: "As the Qaddafi clan conducts a bloody struggle to hold onto power in Libya, cables obtained by WikiLeaks offer a vivid account of the lavish spending, rampant nepotism and bitter rivalries that have defined what a 2006 cable called 'Qadhafi Incorporated.'”

Karin Brulliard of the Washington Post: "As the Obama administration has boosted economic and development assistance for Pakistan over the past two years, it has deployed U.S. diplomats and aid workers more widely to implement education programs, flood relief and other projects. The apparently growing belief that many Americans work as sinister agents could imperil those efforts or endanger those carrying them out, U.S. and Pakistani officials said." The U.S.'s admission that Raymond Davis, accused of shooting dead two Pakistanis last week, was a CIA contractor, only confirmed Pakistanis' suspicions. The U.S. continues to claim he should have diplomatic immunity. ...

... Tom Raum of the AP: "Some members of Congress, Democrats and Republicans alike, are threatening to cut off funds to Pakistan if Raymond Allen Davis is kept much longer in a Pakistani jail. But turning him over to the U.S. could unleash a torrent of anti-American sentiment across Pakistan, threatening to undercut that country's fragile civilian government."

Ha, ha. Walker Pwned. After he heard Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin refused to take calls from Democratic legislators, Ian Murphy, who runs the Buffalo Beast site (founded by Matt Taiibi), called Walker posing as financier & Walker-backer David Koch. Murphy/Koch not only got through, they had a 20-minute conversation, which you can listen to below. (The Buffalo Beast site is currently down [1:45 pm ET]). Update: the Buffalo Beast site is back up. Give it a hit. Murphy has a partial transcript of the audio. Audio Parts 1 & 2:

     ... Adam Weinstein of Mother Jones -- and Walker's office -- verified the call. ...

     ... Ezra Klein: "The state's Democratic senators can't get Walker on the phone, but someone can call the governor's front desk, identify themselves as David Koch, and then speak with both the governor and his chief of staff? That's where you see the access and power that major corporations and wealthy contributors will have in a Walker administration, and why so many in Wisconsin are reluctant to see the only major interest group representing workers taken out of the game.... Walker ... is not opposed, in principle, to powerful interest groups having the ear of the politicians they depend on, and who depend on them. He just wants those interest groups to be the conservative interest groups that fund him...."

Judith Davidoff of the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times: "The billionaire brothers whose political action committee gave Gov. Scott Walker $43,000 and helped fund a multi-million dollar attack ad campaign against his opponent ... have quietly opened a lobbying office in Madison just off the Capitol Square. Charles and David Koch, who co-own Koch Industries Inc. and whose combined worth is estimated at $43 billion, have been recently tied with Walker's push to eliminate collective bargaining rights for public workers." ...

** Shawn Doherty of the Cap Times: "The [Walker] bill allows the Walker administration, without approval of the Public Service Commission and without a competitive bidding process, to sell off or lease the state's several dozen energy plants to private companies.... The guy Walker put in charge of the office that will oversee these potential power plant sales — though some people worry they will be more of giveaways than sales — is Jeff Plale.... He is one of the two Democratic senators who at the very last minute defected from the Democratic ranks to vote against state employee contracts last fall. Around a month later, Walker handed the former South Milwaukee Democratic legislator the $90,000 post as the administrator of the Department of Administration's Division of Facilities. And now he is busy defending the administration's move to sell off the state's power plants as no big deal." ...

... Michael Fletcher & Brady Dennis of the Washington Post: "The budget fights initiated by Republican governors represent a multi-state effort by like-minded politicians to solve budgetary problems in part by weakening public employee unions and demanding significant concessions from workers. After the November elections, Republicans now control many more state legislatures and governorships." ...

... Greg Sargent: Gov. Scott Walker refuses to accept the public workers' union concessions & declare victory. "For all of Walker's pieties about how he really, honestly, truly isn't out to bust unions, his own conduct makes it entirely clear what this is really all about." ...

"A Less Perfect Union." Stephen Colbert weighs in on Turmoil in the Middle West:

... In Right Wing World, the story is that Scott Walker campaigned on ending collective bargaining rights for public workers, & the public voted him into office, so its "democratic" to take away their rights. Andrew Sullivan, who thinks it's fine for Walker to restrict union benefits, has searched for evidence that Walker actually campaigned against collective bargaining, and he can't find any. ...

Quote of the Day: There is something bizarre about Republican commentators who cheered on Tea Party protests against a clear Obama campaign pledge -- health insurance reform -- suddenly decrying public protests against something a politician didn't campaign on. -- Andrew Sullivan

... Dennis Cauchon of USA Today: "Americans strongly oppose laws taking away the collective bargaining power of public employee unions, according to a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll. The poll found 61% would oppose a law in their state similar to such a proposal in Wisconsin, compared with 33% who would favor such a law." ...

... There are conflicting news stories out of Indianapolis on Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' position on public employee collective bargaining rights, so I'm going with this Politico story by Maggie Haberman: "Mitch Daniels suggested Tuesday that Republicans drop their push for the right-to-work legislation.... The Republican governor and presidential hopeful also said he won't send out state police to round up absent Democratic state [House] lawmakers, who fled the state to stall Republican action on the bill."

... Meanwhile, the AP reports that "The Indiana Senate has approved a bill to limit teachers' collective bargaining rights despite objections from minority Democrats and hundreds of union members protesting in the Statehouse.The Republican-ruled Senate voted 30-19 Tuesday to approve the bill, which is part of Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels' aggressive education agenda." CW: so was this Daniels' idea or not? Has he changed his mind? I can't tell. ...

... CW: AND pardon me while I fall out of my chair. Peter Schorsch of Saint Petersblog: "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, reports the News Service of Florida." Heretofore America's Worst Governor, Scott may be falling into Second Worst Governor place, behind Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

What You Should Know about Raising the Debt Limit. Even though the federal government will hit the national debt ceiling in a few months, Republicans have been threatening for some time to refuse to raises the debt limit. They characterize their threats as demonstrations of "fiscal responsibility." The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report titled "Delays Create Debt Managment Challenges & Increase Uncertainty in the Treasury Market." The first two sentences of the report should (but won't) blow the wind out of Republican sails:

The debt limit does not control or limit the ability of the federal government to run deficits or incur obligations. Rather, it is a limit on the ability to pay obligations already incurred.

Andrew Cohen of The Atlantic: "U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler didn't just endorse the constitutional legitimacy of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act on Tuesday evening. She used her 64-page ruling to answer some of the most basic criticisms of the new federal health care law. AP story here. TPM has a copy of Judge Kessler's ruling here. From a footnote in the ruling:

In short, those who choose not to purchase health insurance will ultimately get a 'free ride' on the backs of those Americans who have made responsible choices to provide for the illness we all must face at some point in our lives.

     Cohen writes, "The quote ... speaks ... to all the Americans out there who refuse to buy health insurance in the name of federalism and the 10th Amendment."

Andrew Cuomo with "concubine" Sandra Lee, after attending mass on Sunday, January 2, 2011. AP photo.Oh, No! "Public Concubinage." Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "A consultant to the Vatican’s highest court is calling for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo to be denied holy communion because he lives with his girlfriend without being married to her. Edward N. Peters, a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, who last year was named by Pope Benedict XVI as a consultant to the Vatican court, the Apostolic Signatura, called the governor’s living situation 'public concubinage' in his blog on Jan. 4, and said in a recent interview that Mr. Cuomo, who is Roman Catholic, must refrain from taking communion under canon law. CW: I love having stupid stories like this pop up for mental health breaks.

Here's a story we like even better. Jeff Gelles of the Philadelphia Inquirer: when Well-Fargo slapped a huge, extra-legal new insurance premium onto Patrick Rodgers' home mortgage loan, Rodgers tried to get the bank to drop the excessive coverage, but -- surprise! -- Wells-Fargo personnel wouldn't even return his phone calls. So Rodgers took the bank to court & obtained a judgment against it -- and a court-ordered sheriff's levy against a local branch of Wells-Fargo to enforce the judgment. With a little help from Rodgers, the story gained national media attention, & Wells Fargo settled with Rodgers. CW: you see what lengths you have to go to to get a bank to return a fucking phone call.

Right Wing World

Another Winger implies Michelle Obama is fat. This time it's the svelte Rush Limbaugh. Really. Max Read of Gawker has the audio & a transcript.

Should this man be calling this woman "fat"?     ... OR, as Jimmy Kimmel asked, "Isn't that the morbidly-obese pot calling the kettle African-American?"

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post: "South Dakota Republican Sen. John Thune has decided not to run for president in 2012, saying he wants to remain in the Senate to fight for conservative principles." CW: Thune's main qualification is that he looks like a president:

John Thune shows House twerps Eric Cantor & Paul Ryan how to look presidenty. Life photo. NEW: the likeness between Thune in this shot & the real President, pictured below, is striking. Why, even their outfits are identical.

News Ledes

President Obama on the situation in Libya:

New York Times: "House Republicans told Senate Democrats on Wednesday that they would agree to a temporary spending bill to avert a government shutdown next week only if the measure began instituting House-passed cuts on a pro-rated basis."

New York Daily News: "Libya's former justice minister, one of several senior officials to defect since Khadafy ordered a military crackdown on protesters Sunday, told a Swedish tabloid that he has proof Khadafy personally ordered the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. That Libya was behind the bombing is not new, but Mustafa Abdel-Jalil's claims suggest Khadafy could face an international criminal trial if he survives his revolution." ...

... Al Jazeera: "Muammar Gaddafi ... clings to power in the face of mass protests demanding  his resignation, as parts of the country's state structure appear to be disintegrating around him. Fears are growing that Libya's state apparatus, once seen as a powerful and coherent entity, is facing collapse as key officials quit the government, with some joining the protesters, and as international isolation mounts. Fresh gunfire was reported in the capital Tripoli on Wednesday, after Gaddafi called on his supporters to take back the streets from anti-government protesters." New York Times story here. ...

... Reuters: "Egypt's new cabinet met for the first time on Wednesday with security high on its agenda and under attack from the Muslim Brotherhood and others who want it purged of ministers appointed by ousted president Hosni Mubarak. In preparation for polls that military rulers have promised to hand over power to civilian rule in six months, activists announced the forming of a new political party on Wednesday."

New York Times: "After a week of upheaval in Madison, Wis...., the [union] battle moved to Ohio, where the Legislature held hearings on a bill that would effectively end collective bargaining for state workers and drastically reduce it for local government employees like police officers and firefighters.... In Indiana, nearly all of the Democratic members of the state’s House of Representatives stayed away from a legislative session on Tuesday in an effort to stymie a bill that they say would weaken collective bargaining. By late Tuesday, they seemed to have succeeded in running down a clock on the bill, which was to expire at midnight. Representative Brian Bosma, the speaker of the Indiana House, said the bill would die when the deadline passed." ...

     ... Indianapolis Star Update: "Republicans have killed a controversial labor bill that has sparked a Democrat work-stoppage and large union protests at the Statehouse. But Democrats say that isn’t enough to get them back to the Statehouse. Rep. Dale Grubb, D-Covington, the House Democratic caucus chairman who was with the Democrats at an Illinois hotel, said House Democrats are going to stand strong and won’t return to the state until Gov. Mitch Daniels and House Speaker Brian Bosma assure them they won’t resurrect four additional labor measures and six education bills." ...

... AP: "Democrats kept the Wisconsin Assembly up overnight with a droning filibuster in another desperate attempt to block the Republican governor's bold plan to strip public sector workers of nearly all of their bargaining rights.... Meanwhile, tens of thousands of demonstrators have descended on the state Capitol in monumental protests that entered their ninth day Wednesday."

AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit claiming that President Barack Obama's requirement that all Americans have health insurance violates the religious freedom of those who rely on God to protect them. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler in Washington dismissed a lawsuit filed by the American Center for Law and Justice, a Christian legal group founded by evangelist Pat Robertson, on behalf of five Americans who can afford health insurance but have chosen for years not to buy it." President Clinton appointed Kessler to the court.

New York Times: "Rescue workers struggled to find survivors on Wednesday as much of New Zealand’s second largest city remained silent and dark a day after an earthquake killed scores of people."

AP: "A renewed call for Middle East-style democracy protests in China urged citizens to take strolls at specific locations on weekend afternoons and demanded authorities release activists apparently still in custody Wednesday."