The Commentariat -- February 7

Helene Cooper & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times profile Hosni Mubarak. Most interesting tidbit (to me):

A 2009 cable [part of the WikiLeaks dump] describes Mr. Mubarak telling another visitor from Washington, Senator Mitch McConnell ... that he had warned President George W. Bush not to attack Iraq. Iran, he said, only started to 'breathe' once he United States removed Saddam Hussein> from the scene. 'Removing Saddam from power was the biggest mistake ever committed,' Mr. Mubarak told Mr. McConnell....

... Joby Warrick & Scott Wilson of the Washington Post: "Once it was clear they were stuck with Mubarak, [Obama] administration officials refocused their efforts on encouraging Egyptian government officials and opposition groups to begin work on a blueprint for a transition to a new government.... Administration officials, in interviews, described a diplomatic blitz that targeted scores of Egyptian government and military officials, urging an immediate halt to violent attacks against protesters by pro-Mubarak demonstrators. U.S. officials, with backing from allies in the region, also pushed to encourage opposition groups to agree to negotiations on power-sharing, even as Mubarak continued to cling to the presidency." ...

... Kareem Fahim, et al., of the New York Times: "While hard facts are difficult to come by, Egyptians watching the rise of a moneyed class widely believe that self-dealing, crony capitalism and corruption are endemic, represented in the public eye by a group of rich businessmen aligned with Gamal Mubarak, the president’s son, as well as key government ministers and governing party members." ...

... Marcy Wheeler has what I think is an accurate analysis of the Suleiman "consensus" statement. The full statement is here (at 3:46 pm GMT). Like the protesters, Wheeler is not impressed. ...

... Michael Scherer of Time: "... it is difficult to distinguish Obama's cautious approach from that of his predecessors, who have been forced to compromise the idealistic vision the United States advertises with its pragmatic interests." This sharply contradicts what Obama said during his campaign and in accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.

Stan Collender of Capital Gains & Games takes a cynical view of the Obama Administration's proposed budget cuts, as new OMB Director Jake Lew broadly outlined in a New York Times op-ed. Collender writes, "I suspect the administration wants to force these GOP officials to be seen lobbying against the spending cut proposals.  Look for them to be invited to some high profile meetings at the White House with heavy media coverage."

Paul Wiseman & Derek Kravitz of the AP: businesses are laying off fewer workers, but even those that are hiring tend to hire the already-employed rather than the unemployed.

James Grimaldi of the Washington Post: the White House has again stymied efforts of the ATF to impose an emergency rule to hamper Mexican gunrunners. The proposed rule: "that gun dealers along the Mexican border report anyone who buys two or more assault weapons in five days." Surprise: the NRA opposes the ATF rule, & the Administration is bowing to their whims on the excuse that the rule represents "excessive regulation." CW: maybe this story should go in "Right Wing News," the right wing being the Obama Administration.

Right Wing News

** Tom Hamburger, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "The billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch no longer sit outside Washington's political establishment, isolated by their uncompromising conservatism. Instead, they are now at the center of Republican power, a change most evident in the new makeup of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.... Republicans on the committee have launched an agenda of the sort long backed by the Koch brothers. A top early goal: restricting the reach of the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Kochs' core energy businesses." CW: the article provides an excellent example of how moneyed special interests directly purchase Congressmembers. There are no middlemen. It's strictly cash & carry out. ...

... Louise Radnofsky of the Wall Street Journal: "EPA rules were cited more than those from any other agency in more than 100 letters sent by trade associations, businesses and some conservative groups to House oversight committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) in response to his call for businesses to identify regulations they deemed burdensome...."

Republicans Really Hate Women. Evan McMorris-Santoro of TPM: "The controversy over 'forcible rape' may be over, but now there's a new Republican-sponsored abortion bill in the House that pro-choice folks say may be worse: this time around, the new language would allow hospitals to let a pregnant woman die rather than perform the abortion that would save her life.... New language inserted into the bill just this week would go far beyond Stupak, allowing hospitals that receive federal funds but are opposed to abortions to turn away women in need of emergency pregnancy termination to save their lives."

Russell Berman of The Hill: getting his minions to repeal healthcare & cut Congressional budgets (CW: they didn't cut 'em much) was easy. Now comes the hard part for Speaker John Boehner.

Steve Benen: "Drudge touted a bizarre story that claimed the Texas blackouts were 'a direct consequence of the Obama administration's agenda to lay siege to the coal industry, launch a takeover of infrastructure under the contrived global warming scam, and help usher in the post-industrial collapse of America.' Limbaugh followed up.... On Friday, 'obama triggers blackouts' was the #1 'Hot Search' in America, according to Google.... The story, such as it was, gained enough attention that the White House felt the need to explain that the right had simply made this garbage up out of whole cloth."

In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, new Sen. Rand Paul roughly outlines (very roughly) his proposal to cut the federal budget by $500 billion. One cut: the entire Department of Education. 

News Ledes

President Obama spoke at the National Chamber of Commerce this morning. New York Times story here. Video above. Transcript of speech, as delivered, via the White House. Washington Post post-speech story.

AP: "President Barack Obama says the United States intends to formally recognize Southern Sudan as a sovereign, independent state in July.Obama made the announcement Monday in a statement congratulating the people of Southern Sudan for 'a successful and inspiring' referendum." Read the President's statement here. ...

... Reuters: "Sudan's president Monday said he accepted a southern vote for independence in a referendum that is set to create Africa's newest state."

Los Angeles Times: "U.S. Rep. Jane Harman (D-Venice), a leading congressional voice on anti-terrorism issues, plans to resign from Congress to head up the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a senior congressional source confirmed Monday, setting up a special election to choose her successor in a coastal district that stretches from Venice into the South Bay."

Guardian: "The last Labour government did 'all it could' to help release the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to secure a BP oil deal and strengthen its political ties with Libya, an official review has found.The study of hundreds of confidential government papers by the Cabinet Office concluded that there was an 'underlying desire' by the UK government to see Abdelbaset al-Megrahi released early from his life sentence to further UK-Libyan relations."

Reuters: "President Barack Obama said on Monday talks to resolve Egypt's crisis were making progress, but the main Islamist opposition in Cairo said it could quit the process if protesters' demands were not met. Obama's comments seemed to contradict those by Egyptian opposition figures who reported little progress in talks over demands including the immediate exit of President Hosni Mubarak."

New York Times: "Leaders of the Egyptian democracy movement vowed Sunday to escalate their pressure for the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak, even as his government portrayed itself as already in the midst of American-approved negotiations to end the uprising." ...

... New York Times: "After disappearing in Egypt more than a week ago, leaving an ominous message on his Twitter account, Wael Ghonim, who leads Google’s marketing efforts for the Middle East and North Africa, is expected to be released by Egyptian authorities to his family on Monday afternoon, a friend of the Ghonim family said Sunday night." ...

    Los Angeles Times Update: "Wael Ghonim, the Google executive who has been missing since participating in the first few anti-government protests in Egypt, was released on Monday, according to reports from Al Jazeera."

... Clever Ploy. AP: "Egypt's embattled regime has decided to give government employees a 15 percent raise in salaries and pensions as it seeks to bolster support amid mass protests demanding President Hosni Mubarak's ouster. Monday's decision came during the first Cabinet meeting since the crisis erupted two weeks ago."

New York Times: "Facing his most crucial legal battle so far, Julian Assange, the founder of the antisecrecy organization WikiLeaks, appeared on Monday at a hearing to decide whether he will be extradited to Sweden to face accusations of sexual abuse." ...

     ... Guardian Update: "The prosecutor leading the rape and sexual assault case against Julian Assange is a 'malicious' radical feminist who is 'biased against men', a retired senior Swedish judge has told the hearing into Assange's extradition to Sweden."

Best Super Bowl Ads

If you couldn't stand to watch the Super Bowl but want to see the ads, AdBlitz seems to have them all.

In the meantime, there's this from Stuart Elliott of the New York Times: "The advertising bowl that took place inside Super Bowl XLV on Sunday offered a wild — and somewhat welcome — ride through six decades of popular culture.... It would also have been difficult to figure out most of the 60-plus commercials without a working knowledge of Americana....  The spots dished up a dizzying — and at times ditzy — mélange of celebrity star turns, movie references, homages to television shows, snippets of songs and even hat-tips to other spots."

Bruce Horovitz of USA Today: "For the first time, two ads tied for the top Super Bowl commercial as selected by consumer panelists rating the ads as they aired in the game for USA TODAY'S 23rd annual exclusive Ad Meter. Both starred dogs acting like, well, people." Here they are:

Fox Sports says this Bridgestone ad got the most viewer votes. If you're into irony, as I am, you'll like it, too:

This VW ad is the big favorite with the kids. It already has more than 15 millions views on YouTube:

AND this two-minute Chrysler ad, starring Eminem, is pretty fine:

Not an ad, BUT, Christiana Aguilera, besides singing the most grating rendition of the National Anthem I've ever heard, decided to abridge it:

... CBS News: "Faced with widespread criticism over her flub in singing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl Sunday evening in Dallas, pop star Christina Aguilera has issued an apology saying she lost her place.... Just three lines into her performance , Aguilera mixed up the words. Instead of singing the song's fourth line with the correct words - 'O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?' -- Aguilera sang, 'What so proudly we watched at the twilight's last gleaming?'"

The Commentariat -- February 6

Egyptian Vice President Omar Suleiman, center back, meeting with leaders of Egyptian parties and the Muslim Brotherhood in Cairo today. AP photo. 

Quote of the Day: President Mubarak needs to be treated as he deserved over the years, because he has been a good friend. -- Dick Cheney ...

"Our Son of a Bitch." Scott Shane of the New York Times on our long history of propping up repressive dictators. ...

... CW: Benedict Moran of Al Jazeera asks the same questions I've been asking for more than a week: where the hell is the United Nations Security Council? Video & print stories. ...

... David Sanger of the New York Times: "... the Obama administration is struggling to determine if a democratic revolution can succeed while President Hosni Mubarak remains in office, even if his powers are neutered and he is sidelined from negotiations over the country’s future." ...

     ... Jake Tapper has the backstory: "The Obama administration on Saturday distanced itself from comments about Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak made by a man the president had used as an envoy to Mubarak just days before. Saying he was speaking for himself, former U.S. Ambassador to Egypt Frank Wisner said at a security conference in Munich, Germany, that 'President Mubarak remains utterly critical in the days ahead as we sort our way toward the future.'" CW: Wisner is a diplomat??? WTF? ...

... "A Neo-Sultanistic Regime." Will Englund & Samuel Sockol of the Washington Post do a fair job of explaining how President Mubarak maintained power and the dynamic that caught him off guard: "Hosni Mubarak kept Egypt under total control for nearly three decades, not through charisma or inspiration, but by building a system of patronage and brutality that was beyond challenge.... Change here has been pushed by a new generation that refuses to accept the rationalizations of its parents. When the economy began to sour two years ago, young people discovered that a system built on nepotism and bribery was shutting them out of university slots and jobs." ...

... Nichols Kristof interviewed protesters in Tahrir Square, and is optimistic about Egypt's ability to self-govern. Also, see the rationale put forward by the insufferable snob David Brooks in the post below. What a contrast! ...

... Frank Rich disputes "the default assumption that the Egyptian uprising, like every other paroxysm in the region since the Green Revolution in Iran 18 months ago, must be powered by the twin American-born phenomena of Twitter and Facebook."

Bryan Bender of the Boston Globe: "Once a key supporter of President Obama’s surge of troops in Afghanistan, [Massachusetts Sen. John] Kerry said he has concluded that the US strategy in Afghanistan has to be revised. He is calling for a more limited focus and fewer American troops.... In the coming weeks, Kerry [who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee] said he will hold a series of oversight hearings" on the progress of & prospects for the war effort.

Budget Director Jacob Lew in a New York Times op-ed, describes a few of the painful budget cuts President Obama is proposing to make in programs he supports, but he says these cuts won't be nearly enough to address the deficit in any significant way. The President urges Congress to reform the tax code.

Eric Dash of the New York Times: "... lawmakers and regulators pushed Wall Street to overhaul its pay practices. Big banks responded by shifting more compensation into stock, a move intended to align employees’ interests more closely with those of investors and discourage excessive risk-taking. But it turns out that executives have ... [used] complex investment transactions ... [to] limit the downside on their holdings, or even profit, as other shareholders are suffering. More than a quarter of oldman Sachs’s partners ... used these hedging strategies from July 2007 through November 2010.... One prominent Goldman investment banker avoided more than $7 million in losses over a four-month period. Such transactions are at the center of a debate over whether Wall Street executives should be allowed to hedge their stock holdings."

Here's a video by Russia Today on last week's protest of the billionaire Koch brothers' appropriately named Rancho Mirage retreat for rich right-wing political movers & shakers. Thanks to Gilda S. for forwarding the video.

... I hate to get my U.S. news from Russia Today, but the content of the video is accurate, as far as I know. Here's a transcript of the video's text. AND here's the New York Times story on the protest, to which I linked last week.

Ed Connolly & Michael Luo of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of gun owners ... bought their weapons legally but under the law should no longer have them because of subsequent mental health or criminal issues.... Policing these prohibitions is difficult, however, in most states.... California is unique in the country ... because of its computerized database.... It was created, in part, to enable law enforcement officials to handle the issue pre-emptively.... The list had 18,374 names on it as of the beginning of this month — 15 to 20 are added a day — swamping law enforcement’s ability to keep up. Some police departments admitted that they had not even tried."

Right Wing News

Maureen Dowd reviews Don Rumsfeld's memoir which is to hit the bookstores this week. Dowd liked it as much as Dana Milbank did. AND here's a more serious review by Michiko Kakutani. You won't want to rush out a buy a copy.

The Family Plot. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Ginni Thomas’ new career advising clients on how to donate money to political causes" appears to be a direct result of her husband Clarence's siding with the 5-4 majority in the Citizens United v. FEC case. "Clarence Thomas released countless amounts of corporate spending on U.S. elections, and Ginni Thomas can get rich advising those corporate clients on how to direct that spending."

David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network (Pat Robertson's outfit) interviews Sarah Palin: "In an exclusive interview with The Brody File, Sarah Palin criticized President Obama for his handling of the situation in Egypt saying that this was his, '3am White House phone call' and, 'that call went right to the answering machine.' Her answers about Egypt are the first time she’s talked publicly about the situation." Includes a partial transcript of the interview, which you know is authentic because it's in classic Palin-speak -- an incoherent, syntactically-challenged, non-specific criticism that in the end says nothing more than "Obama, Muslims bad." ...

... Jeremy Meyer of the Denver Post: "Saying it received an 'onslaught of personal attacks,' a Colorado nonprofit announced in a news release today that it was canceling a scheduled May appearance ... by former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin."

Happy Hundredth Birthday, Mr. President. Alex Seitz-Wald of Think Progress: "ten things conservatives don't want you to know about Ronald Reagan." Actually, the post should probably be titled "ten things conservatives don't know about Reagan," because most really seem to be completely ignorant of Reagan's careless policies and his unpopularity during his presidency.

Local News

Karen Garcia on the draconian, Tea Party-friendly measures of New York's"Democrat-in-Nane-Only" Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

News Ledes

Fox "News": "The United States can't force out Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, but the Egyptian people will no longer allow unresponsive government without representation or free and fair elections, President Obama said in an interview Sunday with Fox News' Bill O'Reilly." See video above.

New York Times: "Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned on Sunday that removing President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt too hastily could threaten the country’s transition to democracy. Her remarks were the Obama administration’s most explicit sign yet of its growing emphasis on averting instability in Egypt, even at the expense of the key demand from the Egyptian protest movement: Mr. Mubarak’s immediate removal."

... New York Times: "As the United States and leading European nations threw their weight behind the Egyptian vice president’s attempt to defuse a popular uprising, the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood said it would meet with him for the first time on Sunday in what seemed a significant departure in the nation’s uprising and political history." The Times story has been updated to reflect the results of the meeting: "The opposition groups ... said that there were no new agreements or concessions." -- CW: which is to say that HuffPost banner headline "Protesters Win Major Concessions" just ain't true. ...

     ... AP Update: "Representatives from a wide range of Egypt's major opposition groups met Sunday with Vice President Omar Suleiman to discuss a blueprint for reforms.... The opposition groups represented included the youthful supporters of leading democracy advocate Mohamed ElBaradei, who are one of the main forces behind nearly two weeks of mass protests." ...

     ... ** AP Update 2: "Egypt's vice president met a broad representation of major opposition groups ... and agreed to allow freedom of the press, to release those detained since anti-government protests began nearly two weeks and ago and to lift the country's hated emergency laws when security permits. Vice President Omar Suleiman endorsed a plan with the opposition to set up a committee of judiciary and political figures to study proposed constitutional reforms.... The regime also pledged not to harass those participating in anti-government protests.... The government agreed not to hamper freedom of press and not to interfere with text messaging and Internet." ...

 ... The Guardian has the full text of the statement on today's meetings from Suleiman's office (English trans.) on their liveblog @ 3:46 pm GMT.

... Politico: "The White House is now openly pushing for replacing Egypt President Hosni Mubarak with a temporary caretaker government that includes the military and is applauding a decision by Mubarak’s son to step down as head of the country’s ruling party. But a senior administration official said those steps weren’t enough -- and suggested that Mubarak needs to take 'additional steps' to quell the chaos in the streets of Cairo, which is threatening to sink Egypt’s already foundering economy."

AP: "An Iranian court began closed-door proceedings Sunday in the espionage trial of three Americans — two still in custody and one freed on bail — whose detention has been the subject of impassioned family appeals and backdoor outreach by Washington through an Arab ally in the Gulf. The case also highlights the power of Iran's judiciary, which is controlled directly by the nation's ruling clerics and has rejected apparent efforts by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to urge for some leniency."