Note that the radical right’s media rhetoric is no longer even political in a partisan sense. Instead, it’s purely revolutionary. It isn’t, “We think taxes should be lower” or “Obama should be more hawkish overseas.” It’s, “There’s an insidious and deadly plot afoot by Democrats and progressives to strip Americans of their freedom and this country of its greatness.” Obama is now the incarnation of evil (the Antichrist?), and his driving hatred for America, as well as for democracy, runs so deep that he ran for president in order to destroy the United States from inside the Oval Office.

Those with the biggest audiences (especially Beck), frame what’s happening as an evil plot to destroy America. It’s no wonder that guys like Byron Williams get drunk, load their truck with guns, and take off to shoot up liberal non-profits.

Rhetoric framing our political leaders as the enemies of America hell-bent on its destruction are irresponsible.

Enjoy TO ruining the Bengals’ chances.

Adam Feser

In other oil news, over 800,000 gallons of oil were spilled from an oil pipeline into a creek in Michigan. The oil has made its way to the Kalamazoo River.

Almost forgot, China had an oil spill of their own. They really do want to be the next superpower. They claim to have kept the 465 square kilometer slick out of international waters. Who knows?

Enjoy ads claiming the companies responsible for spills are shining examples of safety.

Adam Feser

The documents — some 92,000 reports spanning parts of two administrations from January 2004 through December 2009 — illustrate in mosaic detail why, after the United States has spent almost $300 billion on the war in Afghanistan, the Taliban are stronger than at any time since 2001.

As the new American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David H. Petraeus, tries to reverse the lagging war effort, the documents sketch a war hamstrung by an Afghan government, police force and army of questionable loyalty and competence, and by a Pakistani military that appears at best uncooperative and at worst to work from the shadows as an unspoken ally of the very insurgent forces the American-led coalition is trying to defeat.

The fact that Pakistan is suspected of aiding the insurgency is one of the biggest revelations of the documents. Ostensibly an ally in the War on Terror, this could be a crushing blow and lead to more instability in the region.

Another thing made evident in the documents (and something that pretty much everyone already knew) is that Afghanistan took a back seat to Iraq, making progress difficult and helping the Taliban grow.

Reports of civilian deaths that occur are especially devastating. This is because civilian deaths lead to civilians picking up guns, increasing Taliban strength while fewer casualties hurt the insurgency. From the New York Times:

From the war’s outset, airstrikes that killed civilians in large numbers seized international attention, including the aerial bombardment of a convoy on its way to attend President Karzai’s inauguration in 2001. An airstrike in Azizabad, in western Afghanistan, killed as many as 92 people in August 2008. In May 2009, another strike killed 147 Afghan civilians.

SEPT. 3, 2009 | KUNDUZ PROVINCE
Incident Report: Mistaken Airstrike
This report, filed about the activities of a Joint Terminal Attack Controller team, which is responsible for communication from the ground and guiding pilots during surveillance missions and airstrikes, offers a glimpse into one of the bloodiest mistakes in 2009.

It began with a report from the police command saying that “2X FUEL TRUCKS WERE STOLEN BY UNK NUMBER OF INS” and that the insurgents planned to cross the Kunduz River with their prizes. It was nighttime, and the river crossing was not illuminated. Soon, the report noted, the “JTAC OBSERVED KDZ RIVER AND REPORTED THAT IT DISCOVERED THE TRUCKS AS WELL AS UP TO 70 INS” at “THE FORD ON THE RIVER. THE TRUCKS WERE STUCK IN THE MUD.” How the JTAC team was observing the trucks was not clear, but many aircraft have infrared video cameras that can send a live feed to a computer monitor on the ground.

According to the report, a German commander of the provincial reconstruction team “LINKED UP WITH JTAC AND, AFTER ENSURING THAT NO CIVILIANS WERE IN THE VICINITY,” he “AUTHORIZED AN AIRSTRIKE.” An F-15 then dropped two 500-pound guided bombs. The initial report said that “56X INS KIA [insurgents killed in action] (CONFIRMED) AND 14X INS FLEEING IN NE DIRECTION. THE 2X FUEL TRUCKS WERE ALSO DESTROYED.”

The initial report was wrong. The trucks had been abandoned, and a crowd of civilians milled around them, removing fuel. How the commander and the JTAC had ensured “that no civilians were in the area,” as the report said, was not explained.

The first sign of the mistake documented in the initial report appeared the next day, when another report said that at “0900 hrs International Media reported that US airstrike had killed 60 civilians in Kunduz. The media are reporting that Taliban did steal the trucks and had invited civilians in the area to take fuel.” Read the Document »

I put that snippet up because it provides an example of why things are going wrong. It isn’t easy to determine which people are civilians, so a lot of them end up being killed. This in turn makes more civilians taking up guns, which only makes it more difficult to differentiate civilians and insurgents, leading to more civilians deaths. And on and on.

The Obama administration, of course, didn’t like the release. They were upset they weren’t contacted (which is silly, since they are trying to find they guy responsible). They claim it harms national security, but also say it isn’t anything new (which doesn’t make any sense). They also say that since the leaks predate Obama’s new direction, the information is no longer salient (again, not sure why it hurts national security if this is the case), but this would just mean we get to see the information he did when making his decision. I don’t think this is a bad thing.

For all the people that want more transparency in government, this should be a win. Wikileaks is a stateless entity that helps reveal the truth, and if there is one thing we should have learned centuries ago it’s that we should not accept lies about war. We should not accept them about the justifications for war or for reports of progress during a war. We are sinking hundreds of billions of dollars into what is looking like a war that cannot be won. Shouldn’t all the deficit hawks look at this information before they start cutting unemployment benefits? Civilian deaths shouldn’t be overlooked. We need to know the consequences of our actions. (For a great defense of Wikileaks, check out Glenn Greenwald’s article.)

This should be huge news, and no doubt the main question the press brings up will be: Should they have published these documents? I hope not. I hope the media takes this opportunity to explore whether or not we are or can succeed, what succeeding means, and whether or not we should continue putting money and lives into this effort.

Enjoy some horrible coverage.

Adam Feser

If it passes, this will go all the way to the Supreme Court. I wish the city luck

O’Malley and others recognize that most of the possible GOP contenders are flawed, but she sees something in Thune that is threatening. I personally think he’s flawed, but when compared to Palin (lying quitter) and Romney (who implemented Obamacare before Obama was near the Oval Office), I guess it’s easy to stand out.

For some reason I think Newt Gingrich is scary, and he seems to want to run. The least scary thing in the world would be Palin winning the Republican Primary. The most scary thing in the world is that she has a chance to win the Republican Primary.

Enjoy the quick ramping up of the 2012 election in mid 2010.

Adam Feser

After months of blocking aid to suffering Americans in the name of deficit reduction, at the expense of both American families and the actual economy, Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine finally joined Democrats in overcoming the filibuster. Now those in need can help both themselves and the economy. Let’s just hope in November when Republicans try and pretend they are there for the average, working man we all remember just how false that is.

Enjoy Inception, it’s amazing.

Adam Feser

Enjoy the Tea Party giving Republicans defeat in the face of victory.

Adam Feser

1. Financial disclosure: Republicans (including Mitch McConnell) once supported transparency as a means of stopping corruption. Now that idea would, according to McConnell, “Shred the Constitution.”

2. Cap-and-trade: It was the idea of free-market conservatives to allow people to buy the right to pollute. The first Bush administration used “emission trading” (cap-and-trade) to curb sulfur dioxide emissions. Now that it is unpopular, all Republicans who have supported it (McCain, Graham, etc.) oppose it.

3. Immigration: W. and Ted Kennedy had a plan. Eleven Republicans supported it and are still in office. Again McCain leads the charge in completely changing his mind. What a maverick.

4. Deficit Spending: Deficit spending was okay to support W.’s agenda, but not for the suffering unemployed.

5. Bipartisan deficit-reduction commission: Six Republicans who proposed the bill to create the commission voted against it. Purportedly because it might recommend raising taxes. Because we don’t need to raise funds if we want to reduce the deficit. Obama formed it anyway.

6. Individual insurance mandate: I’ve written before how this was a Republican idea. It was originally conceived of by free-market conservatives as a way to protect the private sector. Imagine that! The huge socialist plot to destroy our country was thought of by conservatives as a way to protect private industry. (I wonder if Dr will read this or just revert to socialist fear mongering.)

7. Medicare spending curbs: This is a fun one. The same Republicans that spread fear to the elderly (about this and death panels) wanted to do the same thing. McCain’s actually had a plan to cut $1.3 trillion from Medicare and Medicaid as a part of his 2008 campaign. But they saw the opportunity to scare old people (who vote) and jumped at it. What’s especially funny is that many conservatives originally opposed the entire notion of Medicare because, you know, it’s socialized medicine. But as soon as it became a good way to score points they had to defend it as though it were their only child. “Keep your government hands off my Medicare!”

This is an interesting list because many of this issues are still salient. As long as they think it is politically beneficial to vote no, they will continue to do so, regardless of what they believe the effect of a policy will actually be.

Enjoy Papi winning the Home Run Derby.

Adam Feser

I’m no fan of Noem and this is troubling for Herseth-Sandlin supporters. If Noem is a rising star on a national level it means she’s gaining steam. November is still very distant, but I’m nervous.

Enjoy Dan Gilbert’s meltdown.

Adam Feser

Blue Dog Democrats have been a strong part of the Republicans’ opposition to any legislation Obama was elected to pass. Stephanie voted against health care reform, for instance (though that apparently doesn’t matter to my fellow blogger because she isn’t farther right than most Republicans). The new thing she and Republicans are on about is reducing the deficit.

What is incredibly disconcerting for people with a heart is that reducing the deficit is more important to many on the Hill than making sure those that have lost their jobs aren’t without help. They continue to hold up legislation to help the millions of unemployed. As Alex Pereene notes, this is a new type of Democrat. The old rifts were easier to understand. As Alex puts it:

Throughout the entire post-New Deal era there have been massive divisions in the Democratic coalition, but they usually break down more like “people who think we shouldn’t let Americans starve on the streets vs. people who agree with that but hate black people” or “people who understand that a strong social safety net is vital for the health of the entire nation vs. people who agree with that but who also want to nuke commies.” This new brand of Democrat, I am unfamiliar with.

The important part of being a Democrat was concern for the well being of people. Republicans talk about bootstraps and sink or swim while Democrats realize our system will always leave some at the bottom and those people deserve help. There were the divisions of Democrats that had less-than-savory beliefs, such as Dixiecrats, who eventually became Republicans. But the overall concern has been and should be about the people. But this new group apparently cares more about the deficit, which makes them hard to understand.

This is in the face of economists, including Congressional Budget Office Director Doug Elmendorf, who say benefits for the jobless are one of the best means of stimulating the economy. Elmendorf specifically says that cutting the deficit while economic activity and employment remain low will slow economic recovery. Again, he’s the director of the CBO, which all those people on the Hill look to to gauge what impact legislation will have.

What a great time to take a stand! Let’s screw over the unemployed while also slowing our economy’s recovery! Brilliant!

Anyone moron who insists Herseth-Sandlin simply follows Pelosi’s lead is willfully ignorant. She’s pretty muchdeclared war on Pelosi. Worse than that, she’s more or less declaring war on what we should stand for.

But those struggling to make payments and feed their families can be comforted by the fact that they and our economy will be worse off in service of cutting the deficit.

Enjoy ads painting Stephanie as a liberal.

Adam Feser