Season premiere now streaming online.
San Diego mayor reverses position, supports gay marriage.
After two weeks of deadlock, the City Council of San Diego yesterday voted 5-3 to pass a resolution supporting marriage equality for gays and lesbians. San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, a Republican, initially indicated that he would veto the measure, but in an emotional about face, Sanders announced today that he would “take a stand on behalf of equality and social justice” by supporting the measure. In his press conference announcing his decision, Sanders acknowledged publicly for the first time that his daughter, Lisa, is a lesbian.
(HT: Down With Tyranny!)
Climate News Recap
The renewable energy future – LA Times. “As Los Angeles creaks through its driest year on record and nervously awaits its next explosive wildfire, many wonder if global warming is already taking a toll.” Duh. Anyway, a pretty good article on the prospects for renewables in California.
Evidence of global warming surrounds a skeptic – Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Another good dissing of Lomborg, focusing on forest loss in the West. No matter what Steve says, I say you can’t have too many!
Forest nations want billions for not logging – The Sydney Morning Herald. A multibillion-dollar plan to protect forests and reduce global warming is to be backed by an alliance of nations that are home to more than 80 per cent of the world’s tropical rainforest.
Be Afraid
The dangers of flair bartending. I’d never heard of it either.
Senators Who Forced Debate On MoveOn Ad Earlier Complained Of ‘Wasting Time On Empty Resolutions’
Today, the Senate voted 72-25 to approve Sen. John Cornyn’s (R-TX) bill criticizing MoveOn.org’s Gen. David Petraeus ad in the New York Times. The “sense of the Senate” resolution “strongly” condemns the “personal attacks on the honor and integrity of General Petraeus.”
Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) has now called for an investigation into “possible elections violations by the New York Times for selling an advertisement to the liberal group MoveOn.org at a reduced rate.”
Neither Cornyn’s resolution nor Davis’s investigation have any bearing on the course in Iraq. The senators who today voted for Cornyn’s bill have previously chastised the Senate for engaging in “a colossal waste of time” on “empty” and “meaningless resolutions.” Some examples:
On Iraq debates/resolutions:
“Mr. President, we have nearly finished this little exhibition, which was staged, I assume, for the benefit of a briefly amused press corps and in deference to political activists opposed to the war.” [Sen. John McCain, 7/18/07]
“We have just seen a procedure in the last 24 hours that was a colossal waste of time.” [Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), 7/18/07]
“I want an open and honest debate, and not political posturing. I was sent here to take action, not waste time on non-binding and empty resolutions.” [Sen. Craig Thomas (R-WY), 2/23/07]
On the Gonzales vote of no confidence:
“[W]e ended up…spending our time on a meaningless resolution giving the president advice about who the attorney general ought to be.” [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 6/12/07]
“This is a very disappointing spectacle here today.” [Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), 6/12/07]
On general partisanship:
“They’ve wasted the first seven months by being excessively partisan and creating unnecessary, in my view, disputes with a pretty robust minority of 49.” [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 7/25/07]
“The way that they have proceeded, I am not sure that you can count on anything getting done, even those things that look like a fairly certain bet.” [Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), 7/25/07]
Evidently, it’s not a partisan waste of time to condemn an advocacy group for a New York Times ad.
No Big Deal?
A correspondent writes in apropos of my criticism of Paul Krugman’s take on the contrast between press coverage of 1994 and 2006 to suggest that it was objectively a bigger deal for the GOP to take control of the House for the first time in decades than it was for Democrats to return to the majority after a twelve year absence. That may well be right.
Much more persuasive than any of this, it seems to me, is Krugman’s next post, slamming political journalism as theater criticism. I think this is right on. What’s more, I think it’s this — the superficiality and trivial nature of contemporary press coverage of political — that explains the “so-called liberal media” phenomenon. The dominant approach has an overarching reactionary valence that far outweights the political views of any particular person or set of persons who participate in the system.
Pentagon delays security handover in Iraq.
For the second time this year, “the target date for putting Iraqi authorities in charge of security in all 18 provinces has slipped yet again, to at least next July.” The delay highlights “the difficulties in developing Iraqi police forces and the slow pace of economic and political progress.”
Things You Never Read
Tyler Cowen passes on a “defense of employer-linked health insurance,” remarking “On net, I do not agree with this opinion, but this perspective is too often neglected in health care debates.” It seems to me that this perspective is mostly neglected because it’s wrong . . . the argument more-or-less depends on the idea of long-term employment by large firms which, of course, really is the classic model of a workable employer-sponsored health care system but which doesn’t fit the reality of a large and growing number of people’s lives.
Malkin: Sally Field Is The Type Of Mom Who ‘Buys Her Teenager Beer And Condoms On Prom Night’
Since actress Sally Field won an Emmy and spoke out against the Iraq war in her acceptance speech, the right wing has been on the attack. In addition to Fox censoring her speech, conservatives continue to criticize Field for speaking out.
Taking the slander to a very personal level, right-wing blogger Michelle Malkin attacked Field’s parenting skills with a column in the National Review entitled “Sally Field Does Not Speak For Me.” In it, she writes:
Sally Field is the mom who looks the other way when the brat on the elementary-school slide pushes your son to the ground or throws dirt in your daughter’s face.
She’s the mom who holds her tongue at the mall when thugs spew profanities and make crude gestures in front of her brood.
She’s the mom who tells her child never to point out when a teacher gets her facts wrong.
She’s the mom who buys her teenager beer, condoms, and a hotel room on prom night, because she’d rather give in than assert her parental authority and do battle.
Fox and Friends hosted Malkin this morning to promote her hate-filled column. On the show, Malkin — a mother herself — posited her theory of parenting: “motherhood should bring a ferocity, and dare I say, make us more violent.”
Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/09/malkinfield.320.240.flv]
Fox was overjoyed to have Malkin on the air. Co-host Gretchen Carlson said Malkin’s “best line in the article” was about the condoms and beer. Malkin responded, “as a Mom, I know, I’ve dealt with moms like [Fields], who look the other way.”
After a few more exchanges of laughter and contempt, co-host Steve Doocy closed the segment stating, “Hollywood probably thinks you are dangerous and offensive.” So do many others.
Bush: Condi is smarter, but ‘look at who’s the president.’
At his press briefing today, President Bush poked fun of Condoleezza Rice, his Secretary of State, pointing out that while she may have a PhD, she’s still not President of the United States. Instead, Bush, who was a “C student,” is:
I remind people that, like when I’m with, Condi, I say she’s the Ph.D. and I’m the C student and just look at who’s the president and who’s the adviser.
Watch it:
[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/09/bushgpa.320.240.flv]
When Bush spoke to Yale University in 2001, he told the graduating students, “And to you ‘C’ students, you too can be president of the United States.”
