Check Who's Sleeping Next To You

The NSA data collection story has created some strange bedfellows, as the HuffPo notes.  Expressing opposition to the NSA's efforts are:

Glenn Beck, Michael Moore, Rush Limbaugh, The Huffington Post Media Group president and Editor-in-Chief Arianna Huffington, Al Gore, and Van Jones.

Not to mention Sen. Rand "Aqua Buddha" Paul.  Of course, the motivations are different between, say, Michael Moore and Rush Limpballs, but it's a mixed group.  Here's a half-nut that blind squirrel Joe "Joke Line" Klein is nibbling on:

"Those who see the federal government as a vast corporate conspiracy or a criminal enterprise — in other words, paranoids of the left and right — are concerned about this. More moderate sorts should also have cause for concern — especially if a rogue government, like Nixon’s, were in power.  {snip}

Far too many people get their notions of what our government is all about from Hollywood; the paranoid thriller is a wonderful form of entertainment, but it’s a fantasy. The idea that our government is some sort of conspiracy, that it’s a somehow foreign body intent on robbing us of our freedoms, is corrosive and dangerous to our democracy."

Welll...there's far, far more clinical paranoia on the far right -- it's part of their DNA -- and the "left" has been consistent on surveillance issues from the Bush/Cheney Assministration to the current one.  Can't say that about wing nuts like Beck and Limpballs, who use "civil liberties" very selectively.  And you can't honestly imply here that this is a case of "both sides do it."

I Can't Hear You

John Oliver's subbing for Jon Stewart this summer at The Daily Show, and he took on the NSA data collection story last night.  The winners in all of this?  The Amish.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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Franken-ly Speaking

Sen. Al Franken provides his perspective (and common sense) on the NSA data collection story:

"There are certain things that are appropriate for me to know that’s not appropriate for the bad guys to know.  Anything that quote the American people know, the bad guys know so there's a line here, right? And there's a balance that has to be struck between the responsibility of the federal government to protect the American people and then people’s right to privacy."

The first order of business should be to reevaluate the Patriot Act's sweeping authority for signal intelligence gathering, albeit under the eye of a special court.  If improvements can be made, make them without hamstringing our counter-terrorism efforts.

(h/t Little Green Footballs)

Best. Twitter. Bio. Evah.

Hillary Clinton, you rock (click to enlarge):

Meanwhile, In The Real World

(click to enlarge)

(Dan Wasserman, via gocomics.com)

From the National Bureau of Economic Research, via HuffPo:

The rich just keep getting richer -- not only by gobbling up more income, but also by paying less in taxes. That means less support for the poor, who are getting increasingly poorer relative to the top one percent.

One chart in a new study of income inequality in developed nations, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, puts this in stark relief. It shows that the more top tax rates are cut, the greater the share of national income that is mopped up by the wealthiest citizens.

Of course, the United States is at the most extreme in terms of income inequality and tax cuts for the rich.  The next worst?  The United Kingdom, still suffering from Thatcherism (see also:  austerity for thee, tax cuts for me).

A Question Worth Asking

"[Ed] Snowden and many others have now said that these leaks are important and justified because the public needs to decide whether this is done in their name. Basically I disagree with that (the justification for the leak). But it does raise a basic point that it is inherently difficult for the public to make fully informed decisions about intelligence work done in its name. Yet, who gets to do this? Snowden says it’s up to the public. But it’s really more like Snowden and Greenwald have made that decision on the public’s behalf." -- Josh Marshall in Talking Points Memo, reflecting on the NSA leak controversy.

With the identity of the NSA leaker and his statements justifying his actions made public, we have to reflect on the question that Marshall raises.  A free press is essential to keeping Government honest, and yet there are secrets that must be kept out of the public domain.  Actions at the intersection of the public's right to know and national security have consequences, often beyond the vision of the actors involved -- unelected and unappointed actors at that.  It's a worrisome issue, but having the debate is necessary.

BONUS:  Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly weighs in.

NSA: The Bombshells That Were Duds

The Daily Banter's Bob Cesca has a useful timeline on the NSA data-mining story and the "shoddy and misleading," speculative journamalism that blew it up:

But the [Glenn] Greenwald and Washington Post stories are somehow bombshells, taken at face value. Has our collective attention span become so ridiculously short that we’re suddenly shocked by news of the NSA attaining data about Americans as a means of fighting evildoers? Has everyone been asleep for the last 12 years?

To summarize, yes, the NSA routinely requests information from the tech giants. But the NSA doesn’t have “direct access” to servers nor is it randomly collecting information about you personally. Yet rending of garments and general apoplexy has ruled the day, complete with predictable invective about the president being “worse than Bush” and that anyone who reported on the new information debunking the initial report was and is an Obamabot apologist.

Indeed, as Cesca points out, anyone with a pulse since 2005 would have been exposed to these stories:

Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts, New York Times, December 2005
NSA has massive database of Americans’ phone calls, USA Today, May 2006
The NSA Is Building the Country’s Biggest Spy Center (Watch What You Say), Wired, March 2012
U.S. Terrorism Agency to Tap a Vast Database of Citizens, The Wall Street Journal, December 2012

In other words:  Duh.

But those with a libertarian, anti-government agenda see this as a time to pile on, whether the facts follow or not.  It's good to see some push-back.

UPDATE:  Now Greenwald is saying there are more revelations duds to come.  As long as the media gives him camera time, he's happy.

UPDATE II:  The person who leaked the story to Greenwald has revealed himself as Edward Snowden, a man so tuned in and dedicated to transparency, free speech and civil liberties that he fled to...China!  Genius!

UPDATE III:  Oh, and apparently Snowden is a Paultard.  Perhaps asylum in the libertarian paradise of Somalia is in order?

China / U.S. Talks End on Positive Note

Their two-day summit in California over, President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached agreement on at least two significant issues:  constraining North Korea's nuclear ambitions, and steps to reduce greenhouse gases -- specifically hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).  Both Presidents agreed that North Korea's brinksmanship and pursuit of nuclear weapons was unacceptable.  China is North Korea's most important ally and trading partner.  With China's booming economy, by agreeing to work on reducing HFC emissions, they can make a big impact on limiting greenhouse gases worldwide.

While the talks didn't produce any positive results on the issues of cyber hacking and trade practices, the summit's objective of having the two leaders develop a good, open working relationship was apparently achieved.

(White House photo by Pete Souza)

Weekend Photo - What a Coup!

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera "takes over" the President's desk during a visit to the Oval Office, June 4 (WH photo)

Booker Announces Candidacy

Newark Mayor Cory "Snooker" Booker has announced his candidacy to fill the Senate seat vacated by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg.  Booker is likely to be challenged by Reps. Frank Pallone and Rush Holt for the Democratic nomination.  Booker is certainly the odds-on favorite to win both the Dem nomination and the special election, and that would be OK given any Rethug alternative.

However, we still have a sour taste from his "both sides do it," self-aggrandizing performance on national TV last year, when he criticized Dem ads that targeted Bain Capital and Willard "Corporations Are People" Romney.  Whether he would be a reliable presence supporting the Dem agenda, or whether he would be freelancing for his own political benefit, is what has us concerned.

Obamacare: $2 Billion in Premium Savings for Consumers in 2012

From the Kaiser Family Foundation, via Think Progress, another reason to stand up for health care reform Obamacare:

Americans who bought individual health plans in 2012 saved $2.1 billion thanks to Obamacare consumer protections that limit how much insurers can profit off of Americans’ premiums, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF). The vast majority of those savings stem from individual health plan providers lowering the premiums they charge Americans in an effort to comply with the reform law.  (our emphasis)

There's growing evidence, even prior to full implementation, that Obamacare is affecting the lives and pocketbooks of average Americans -- whether through consumer protections, lower premiums, affordable policies through State exchanges, or expanding Medicaid -- and that this should be a winning issue for Democrats in 2014, should they wisely choose to embrace it and fight through the Rethug/ right-wing noise clutter.

BONUS:  Never ones to let a little hypocrisy get in the way, even some Obamacare-disparaging  Rethugs are lining up at the "trough of socialism."

Headline of the Day

"NSA Wiretap Reveals Subject May Be Paying Too Much For Long-Distance" -- The Onion, June 6.

Bwahahaha.

As we note in the post below, there is glaring political hypocrisy over the NSA data collection news, and some sloppy journalism that more resembles a feeding frenzy than competent analysis.  Anyway, we know we're paying too much for long distance....

Shocking!

(click to enlarge)

David Simon posted an illuminating piece on the NSA data gathering (we've tried to go back to link to it several times, but it looks like his website server has shut down).  LGF has a partial summary here, worth the read, and you might find other snippets elsewhere.   

UPDATE:  Link to the Simon piece is working now.

UPDATE II:  Driftglass has this interesting take on NSA story-weaver Glenn Greenwald's need for an editor.

UPDATE III:  See also  Oliver Willis.

(Rob Rogers, via gocomics.com)

Obama(care) Derangement Syndrome

Here are some recent posts concerning Obamacare implementation that bear reading in their entirety.

First, Noam Scheiber on the Rethuglican/ New Confederate/ Stupid Party's Obamacare derangement/ obsession:

If you want to appreciate how truly incorrigible conservatives are on the subject [of Obamacare], I recommend watching them grapple with the early news about Obamacare implementation, which has suggested the program could work better than anticipated. It’s a bit like watching a speculator learn he’s bet his life savings on a failing company—which is to say, chock full of denial and elaborate self-delusion.

Ed Kilgore at Washington Monthly has a good follow-up to Scheiber's piece, with his own reading of the motivations of wingnuts' Obamacare derangement/ obsession.

And, over at Daily Kos, Sanchez has a first-hand account of how Obamacare is winning (coverage at a lower cost).  That's what it's all about.

Weekend Song - Rainy Day in Maryland

We're getting rain up and down the Eastern seaboard today, so we're going with this classic song from Brook Benton.  Enjoy the weather where you are!