"Bloomberg Cracks Down on OWS"

"Protester Brent Schmidt of Brooklyn, N.Y., is arrested by police near the Occupy Wall Street encampment at Zuccotti Park early Nov. 15, 2011."

Booman:

I see that Mayor Bloomberg cleared Zuccotti Park in the middle of the night. They used the excuse that the park had become unsanitary and needed to be cleaned. And now they won't allow any tents, tarps, or sleeping bags. About seventy people were arrested when they either refused to leave or were swept up in the police sweep. David Atkins was awake and covered it as it happened. According to him:

The NYPD cleared Zucotti Park early this morning, using pepper spray, LRAD sonic devices, batons, and ultimately bulldozers. As I write this at 1:30AM pacific time, the situation is still fluid, with protesters gathering and marching in various places around the city as the police corral crowds wherever they appear.

Watching it unfold has had the same surreal feel as watching the early days of Tahrir Square. As big as the story of the clearing of the park is, one of the interesting side stories is also that all the major news networks, cable and otherwise, were silent. They were showing no live video from New York. Only Raw Story had a live stream, still ongoing as of this writing. And as with Egypt, by far the best way to learn about events happening on the ground was via Twitter.

He collected some interesting information via the Twitter Machine, including that they threw the entire OWS library in a dumpster and that they shut down the airspace so that news agencies could not provide aerial coverage. Also, the Brooklyn Bridge was closed during the operation.

Howie P.S.: Here's the story with photos from bloomberg.com: "New York Police Evict Occupy Wall Street Protesters." Glenn Greenwald Tweets:

Bloomberg has broken more laws today by igonring the court order to allow the protesters to return than the arrested protesters have.

Booman: "It's Not the End of the World"

Booman

As the outlines of the deal start to become clearer, I still don't think this is that bad of a deal. If you stop dreaming about stimulus for a moment and look at what is on the table, it's unlikely to result in some fiasco. First, there's the $900 billion in cuts that Biden signed off on during the negotiations. These cuts are probably specifically designed to do little harm to the economy over the next two years, just like the cuts in the spring. Then there's the joint committee, tasked with raising another $1.5 trillion over the next decade. If it fails, automatic cuts will happen that affect Medicare providers and the Pentagon equally on a one-to-one basis. Additionally, programs designed specifically to protect the poor and veterans are protected.
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To me, there are two big downsides. The first is that we've now established a precedent that we will negotiate with terrorists, so we're going to be living with this bullshit for a long time. It's easier to let them shoot the hostage when the result is the National Zoo is closed than when it destroys the global economy, so expect more pushback over the budget.

The second downside is that we couldn't extract any stimulus at all, as far as I can tell. So, this won't hurt the economy much, but it certainly isn't going to help it. MORE...

Howie P.S.: I would like very much to have some "good news" and I HOPE this is it. Unsurprisingly, I see no evidence of "shared sacrifice."

Booman on the Debt Crisis "The Kabuki Dance"

Booman:

It's not a true debt crisis. It's a crisis in the Republican caucus. This whole dance has been for their benefit. MORE...

Booman: "Can I Have My Decade Back?"

Booman:

I think the 9/11 attacks damaged us all. I think we're all walking around with emotional scar tissue. And even those who were not directly affected were wounded by the way this country chose to respond. A friend of mine reacted to the news that bin-Laden is dead by saying, "Great, can I have my decade back?" That might seem like a flip response, but think about it. What if? MORE...

(Updated) Booman: "Thoughts on the Political Landscape"

UPDATE: White House denies giving in on Bush tax cuts" (Greg Sargent).

Booman:

The president will now make his decision on what fork to take in the road. I do not expect him to take Clinton's path. His victories will be much smaller, and idealists' patience will be challenged as never before. They will write 'recommended diaries' about how the president is, and always has been, a Blue Dog. They'll fulminate against him and stomp. But, I bet he just follows that logic tree. He won't decide that deregulation is the best way to triangulate. He'll take what he can get and tell us why morally we need to do more. But, this is not the safer road. He'll get no credit for it. Yet, maybe doing the best he can and appealing to our better angels in a time of hatred and fear will earn him the respect he deserves in the history books, even if it means his reelection is far from assured. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Some "landscaping" to consider:

"White House Gives In On Bush Tax Cuts" (Howard Fineman/Sam Stein).
"$65 Million Spent on Election Ads Targeting Nancy Pelosi."

And here's a thought from Kathleen Reardon:

All the talk about Democrats and Republicans reaching across the aisle to compromise is really quite meaningless until we know what subjects are involved as well as how much of which valuable items or principles are being sacrificed.

Booman on the 2010 Midterm Election

Booman:

This midterm election could still go a couple of different ways, but it's already clear that people like Powell, Hagel, Crist, and Castle are more at home in the Democratic Party. Yes, that means that the party moves to the right, which progressives like myself will find immensely frustrating. But it also is our final bulwark against the tide of xenophobic, ultra-nationalist, know-nothing radicalism of the Tea Party movement.

And this is how I've seen things since at least August 2009. We're dealing with a real danger now. We don't have two governing parties anymore. We have a party filled with people who want to dismantle the post-war structures of the government, overturn the rulings of the post-war Courts, and tear up sacrosanct legislation and amendments to the Constitution. And then we have the Democrats for everyone else. We make a mistake, perhaps a perilous and deadly mistake, if we let our frustration with the condition of our party get in the way of opposing this new incarnation of the Republican Party.

That doesn't mean that the progressive project needs to be put on hold. I see no problem with supporting more progressive candidates against less progressive candidates. There's no reason not to lobby your elected officials for more progressive policies. But we have to keep our eye on the enemy and not sow needless division among ourselves. We should be able to see how the massive divisions in the Republican Party are hurting their chances in the midterms. We often delude ourselves that we achieve progressive change by doing something similar to the Tea Partiers. We think we can win legislative battles if only we make our party purer. The truth is that we have won our legislative battles precisely because our party grew to majority-size through the simultaneous incorporation of the reasonable (Establishment) right and the newly-engaged left.

Only half of that equation makes progressive change easier. The other half makes it harder. As we wind down to the midterms, success hinges on keeping the center-right in our camp, which is actually made easier with every outburst of craziness from the Beck/Palin/Gingrich crowd. We also have to prevent apathy and disillusionment among those newly-engaged voters who came out in 2008 or are newly-eligible to vote in 2010.

As I've said for a while, I don't think the progressive blogosphere has been, in the main, engaged in the right battle. I hope that this changes over the next month and a half. Our country's future depends on the left getting this campaign right. MORE...

Howie P.S.: As you might imagine, this post drew many comments and they make interesting reading.

Booman: "Read Alterman"

Booman:

If you have the stamina, you should read Eric Alterman's long opus on the state of progressive politics in this county. It's actually about the state of all politics in this country, but it seeks to explain why progressive policies cannot be enacted despite large Democratic majorities in Congress and a president that is (or has been) rhetorically committed to them.

I have a few quibbles with Alterman's recitation of the facts, but I want to praise his overall effort. My biggest criticism is that he fails to critique progressives. Everyone else comes in for harsh treatment, but progressives are given a pass. I think that is a mistake, but it's interesting to think about why progressives deserve criticism. It's largely because progressives are not familiar enough with the obstacles to progressive change that Alterman exhaustively lays out.
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If you thought electing Obama would guarantee that all of his promises would become law inside of two years, you are going to be disappointed. I'm not. I'm extremely happy with the president and nearly at my wit's end with pretty much everyone else in this country. No faction frustrates me more than my own, and I'm grateful for Alterman for starting this conversation. I just wish he'd shine a mirror on himself and our movement. We need to hear about our shortcomings, too. Our biggest shortcoming is not understanding what Alterman has written and what it means for how we should feel about this administration. As I've said, this present Congress is the most productive and progressive Congress since 1965-66 and this president is the most successful and progressive since LBJ, and too many of us are focused on our disappointments and not focused on the right-wing threat that lurks out there with all its institutional advantages, just waiting to destroy this country, for good. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Earlier in this century I was invited to be a front-pager on Booman's site and posted there for short time.

Booman challenges Jane who challenged Bernie

Booman:

Bernie Sanders isn't a Democrat, he's an independent who caucuses with the Democrats in the Senate. He calls himself a socialist. According to Progressive Punch, he's the 12th most progressive member of the Upper Body. They rank him as first or tied for first on health care, opposing corporate subsidies, education and the arts, fair taxation, family planning, housing, labor rights, and issues of war and peace. The rankings at Progressive Punch favor senators who have been elected in the last two election cycles because they never had to serve under Bill Frist and cast deliberately difficult votes, but among the group of senators that have been in office since before 2007 only Jack Reed of Rhode Island has a better progressive score than Bernie Sanders (you might remember that I lobbied hard for Reed to get the VP nomination).

It was Bernie Sanders who introduced a single-payer amendment to the Senate health care reform bill. I don't think it is controversial at all to say that on health care, at least, Sanders is the best of the 100 members of the Senate. So, naturally, FDL Action is threatening him with a primary from his left because he is voting for the president's number one domestic agenda, the Senate health care reform bill. This is on a day when Jane Hamsher appeared on Fox & Friends and teamed up with Grover Norquist in some kind of conspiracy-laden pogrom against the president's chief of staff.

I was polite for a while. Anyone still left in the employ of FDL ought to consider heading for exits now. It ain't gonna get any prettier.

Howie P.S.: Lots of back and forth in the comments.

Booman: "Getting to Conference"

Booman:

I guess Harry Reid reached 60 votes for cloture late last night. I haven't had a chance to look at the abortion language yet. Meanwhile, the Republicans are forcing the Senate clerk to read Reid's manager's amendment aloud on the floor. Despite that, it looks like the Senate will pass something before Christmas after all. I hope so. I have been wanting to get this bill to the Conference Committee for a long time. Once we are there, the pressure switches in favor of progressives. Yes, we're very limited in what we can get without losing Nelson or Lieberman, or other 'centrists.' But we can make improvements and the centrists can no longer take those improvements out. Their choice will be to pass or kill the bill. No more stomping of feet, no more negotiating for pork or concessions. Yes or No. And that means we will have leverage for really the first time in this whole process.

Howie P.S. Al Giordano is by his computer posting "Live Blog: Countdown to a Health Care Christmas."

"Sestak and Specter in Pittsburgh"

Booman may have begun a whole new format for blogging by putting his observations in the comments section. A reader helpfully posts full invitation details on the after party @ The Shadow Lounge. That's my kind of coverage.

"Sen. Reid Weighs In"

Booman:

Here's a fascinating tidbit from the Las Vegas Review Journal.

While Democrats across the country are anguished about the bitter fight for their presidential nomination, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid doesn't appear to be losing any sleep over it.

Asked about it last week, Reid said he remains convinced the nominee will be decided well before the August national convention. He wore a serene and mysterious smile.

But Reid isn't one for lengthy explanations. The conversation went like this:

Question: Do you still think the Democratic race can be resolved before the convention?

Reid: Easy.

Q: How is that?

Reid: It will be done.

Q: It just will?

Reid: Yep.

Q: Magically?

Reid: No, it will be done. I had a conversation with Governor Dean (Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean) today. Things are being done.

That's all the Nevada Democrat would say about it.

[Hat tip to Hope08]

I'd like to see a little more evidence that something is being done, but it's encouraging to see Sen. Reid join Speaker Pelosi and Governor Richardson in suggesting we wrap this slugfest up.

Howie P.S.: Don't tarry, Harry. On a related issue Markos and Booman are pissed at Jerome Armstrong for his "Willful Stupidity (Booman's phrase)." Personally, I think he's a.....oh, never mind.