"Progressives Ask: Is It Obama, Or Is It Us?" (with audio/video)

NPR with audio (03:52):

A year and a half into Barack Obama's presidency, some of the people who got him elected are feeling restless. That's one of the dominant themes at this week's conference of progressives here in Washington, D.C. NPR's Andrea Seabrook reports on a conference called America's Future Now.

ANDREA SEABROOK: Left-wing activists describe the year leading up to Barack Obama's election as exhilarating, empowering and exciting. Now ask them about the first year and a half of his presidency and they say...

Mr. NICK WEINER (Union Activist): Frustrating.

Professor DARA STROLOVITCH (University of Minnesota): Sobering.

Mr. STEVE PEHA (Education Consultant): Brutal. FULL TRANSCRIPT...

Howie P.S.: Howard Dean has a more "nuanced" view as he discusses Democratic prospects in the November midterms, video (07:12).

"U.S. liberals: Time to make Obama uncomfortable"

Reuters:

Nineteen months after celebrating President Barack Obama's historic election win, disappointed liberal activists promised on Monday to turn up the political heat on a White House they said is too quick to compromise.

At an annual conference of grassroots progressives, they said the euphoria and high expectations after Obama's victory had lulled them into a false sense of security, and hopes for his success had sometimes limited their criticism.

That has changed, they said, because of what they called Obama's go-easy approach on Wall Street, ineffectual efforts to reduce high unemployment, watered-down healthcare and financial regulation reforms and escalation of the Afghanistan war.

"It is not our job to make this president or this administration comfortable. It is our job to make him do the right thing," said Darcy Burner, head of the Progressive Congress Action Fund.

"There were far too many of us who thought our job was done" after the election, she said. MORE...

NPR: "The Man Bankrolling California's Pot Initiative" (with audio)

Richard Lee has created a multimillion-dollar empire in Oakland, Calif., built largely on medicinal pot. And now, he wants to take it a step further, by turning marijuana into a totally legal, taxable commodity for any Californian age 21 or older.

NPR, with audio (05:41):

In November, California voters will decide whether to make all pot legal, even for recreational use, 14 years after medical marijuana was legalized.

The measure would violate federal drug laws, but that hasn't stopped Oakland, Calif., businessman Richard Lee from spending millions to get the issue passed.

In a revitalized neighborhood on the north side of downtown Oakland where medical marijuana is king, an old storefront throbs with the pulse of rock music. The unmistakable scent of ganja fills the air. Some call the neighborhood "Oaksterdam." MORE...

Howie P.S.: Bruce Ramsey opines in the Seattle Times:

Dawdy's group has had a tough time. At the beginning of the signature drive, a bank refused to process online donations, fearing it was money laundering for a dope business. Later a police bust of a medical-marijuana dispensary seized signed petitions as evidence (of what?). And now the I-1068 people are dumped by our local Left.

The last move does not surprise me too much. I keep telling people that a lot of the lefties in this state, and particularly in this city, are not liberal. They aren't interested in individual rights--at least, not rights to do very many things outside a bedroom. Progressive activists are believers in government. They want to save the Earth by controlling people more, including by banning the use of tobacco outdoors in the public parks. I think the broad group of people who vote leftward are far more tolerant than the activists, and would vote for I-1068 if they could. Maybe now they won't get the chance. MORE...

"Denied Funding And Fighting Mad, I-1068 Will Push Till The End"

Philip Dowdy (Sensible Washington):

Via an Associated Press reporter, Sensible Washington learned earlier this afternoon that the Service Employees International Union and other players in progressive causes in Washington State have declined to financially support paid signature gathering for I-1068. Over the last month, the SEIU and others in state politics have talked with Sensible Washington about steps they could take to ensure that the initiative turned in enough signatures to qualify for this November’s ballot because marijuana legalization being on the ballot would drive extra voter turnout in ways that would benefit progressive causes and candidates in November in what’s shaping up to be a tough year for Democrats and progressive issues. Now after stringing the I-1068 campaign along for four weeks, they’ve walked.

“Politics in this state stink,” said Philip Dawdy, I-1068 campaign director and an initiative co-author. “Marijuana smells better. It’s disappointing that SEIU and others have walked away from us, but this campaign will fight on because the issue is simply too important.”

Dawdy said he’s especially frustrated that the SEIU and others walked away from I-1068 after romancing it for a month because Sensible Washington, sponsors of I-1068, originally approached the state Democratic Party and others in progressive politics back in February, asking for advice and guidance on running a successful initiative campaign. Sensible Washington was ignored until May when it became apparent I-1068 would be a good voter turnout tool. Sensible Washington was told that various political actors in this state felt marijuana law reform was a fringe issue and that people were nervous about potentially being tied to such a campaign. MORE...

Fergus Falls Daily Journal (MN) --Al Franken: "Nation will not drill its way out of energy problems"

Al Franken:

The oil leak in Gulf of Mexico that is spilling an estimated 1 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on a daily basis is an example of why a new energy policy is needed, Franken said..

“We need a new policy and we need it now,” Franken said.

Franken’s promoting Midwest ethanol production — like the product being produced by the Otter Tail Ag ethanol plant in Fergus Falls — because it’s a safe, renewable energy option that is available immediately for our energy consumption.

“You’ve never seen a 45-day ethanol spill,” Franken told The Journal. MORE...

"Worse Than Vietnam?" (video)

bravenewfoundation, video (04:09).

"Is Obama Serious About Breaking Our Catastrophic Oil Addiction?"

Bill McKibben (AlterNet):

Has the President been transformed by the oil spill in the Gulf, or is he merely trying to ride out the public reaction?---Here's the president on March 31st, announcing his plan to lift a longstanding moratorium on offshore drilling: "Given our energy needs, in order to sustain economic growth and produce jobs, and keep our businesses competitive, we are going to need to harness traditional sources of fuel even as we ramp up production of new sources of renewable, homegrown energy."

Here he is on May 26th, as political pressure starts to really build over the hole in the bottom of the sea that BP somehow seems unable to plug: "We're not going to be able to sustain this kind of fossil fuel use. The planet can't sustain it." Still, he added quickly, there's no need for any dramatics: “We’re not going to transition out of oil next year or 10 years from now.”

And here is the president last Wednesday, after yet another gimcrack solution at 5,000 feet under the waters of the Gulf of Mexico had gone awry, and real anger at the administration's lackluster performance crested: "[T]he time has come to aggressively accelerate [the transition from fossil fuels.] The time has come, once and for all, for this nation to fully embrace a clean energy future."

The question is: which one is the real Obama? Has he really been transformed by the oil spill in the Gulf, or is he merely trying to ride out the public reaction with stronger words? I think the answer is as murky as the water off Mobile. We don't know because so far it's all words -- the closest he's come to specifics is that pledge that we won't be off oil in a decade. MORE...

Updated: Arianna and Markos with George and Liz on ABC---"Stopping the Leak" (video)

UPDATE: "Liz Cheney Sticks Up For Halliburton: ‘I Don’t Know What Planet You Live On’" (Think Progress), with video (02:18).


"This Week" (ABC News), video (12:11):

George Will, Liz Cheney, Arianna Huffington and Markos Moulitsas.

Howie P.S.: Liz confirms her role as the interrupting High Princess Of Cheneydom.

Hendrik Hertzberg on Elena Kagan, Socialism and "Wingnut World"

Hendrik Hertzberg (The New Yorker):

If the undergraduate is mother to the Justice as the child is father to the man, then I’m ready to believe that Elena Kagan, Princeton ’81, just might grow up to be a terrific Justice of the Supreme Court. I’ve now had the pleasure of reading the senior thesis Ms. Kagan wrote at Princeton, under the kindly, avuncular eye of the master American historian Sean Wilentz.

“To The Final Conflict: Socialism in New York City, 1900-1933” would be an impressive enough piece of work if its author had been, say, a thirtyish assistant professor publishing in an academic history journal. Coming from a twenty-year-old college kid, it’s a truly remarkable accomplishment, quite out of the ordinary. Either that, or the college thesis-writing standards of the early nineteen-eighties were dramatically higher than I had assumed. MORE...

Howie P.S.: My childhood public school chum manages to cram alot of personal history about himself, about Kagan, about American socialism and the present-day right-wing reaction to the Kagan nomination into this piece of writing.

Updated: "Barack Obama turns storyteller to stem political effect of Deepwater Horizon"

UPDATE: Frank Rich has some serious advice for The President, "Don’t Get Mad, Mr. President. Get Even":

It turns out there is something harder to find than a fix for BP’s leak: Barack Obama’s boiling point. The frantic and fruitless nationwide search for the president’s temper is now our sole dependable comic relief from the tragedy in the gulf. Only The Onion could have imagined the White House briefing last week where a CBS News correspondent asked the press secretary, Robert Gibbs, if he had “really seen rage from the president” and to “describe it.” Gibbs came up with Obama’s “clenched jaw” and his order to “plug the damn hole.” (Thank God he hadn’t settled for “darn.”) This evidence did not persuade anyone, least of all Spike Lee, who could be found on CNN the next night begging the president, “One time, go off!”MORE...

Barack Obama eating shrimp in Grand Isle, Lousiana, on his third visit in a week to the Gulf region affected by the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Photograph: Charles Dharapak/AP

Guardian (UK):

President attempts to rebuild confidence in his leadership with visits to disaster area.---Unlike George W. Bush, whose mishandled response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005 damaged his administration and public image, BP remains the main target of public and political frustration. Its share price has been hit hard and it faces calls for a public boycott. Obama, too, has been increasingly willing to attack BP and has threatened a criminal investigation. "If laws were broken, those responsible will be brought to justice," he said yesterday. "We will make sure they pay every single dime owed to the people along the Gulf coast."

BP CEO Tony Hayward reiterated yesterday on the company Twitter account that BP would pay all "legitimate" claims. The company estimated it would spend $84m through June to compensate for lost wages and profits.

In his radio address, Obama warned against premature optimism that the spill will be contained in its entirety. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Hold the champagne..."New crises engulf Obama White House" (Agence France-Press):

It was left to Paul McCartney to tap into zeitgeist at a private White House concert last week.

"I just want you to know you have billions of us who are rooting for you and we know you are going to come through," he told Obama.

Though he played a medley of Beatles classics, McCartney spared the president "Yesterday" and its doom-laden lyrics, "... all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay."

Bob Herbert is less concerned about the President's feelings:

President Obama has suspended Shell’s Arctic drilling permits and has temporarily halted the so-called Arctic oil rush. What we’ve learned from the BP debacle in the gulf, and from the rainforest, and so many other places, is just how reckless and inept the oil companies can be when it comes to safeguarding life, limb and the environment.

They’re dangerous. They need the most stringent kind of oversight, and swift and severe sanctions for serious wrongdoing. At the same time, we need to be searching with a much, much greater sense of urgency for viable energy alternatives. Treating the Amazon and the gulf and the Arctic as if they were nothing more than toxic waste sites is an affront to the planet and all life-forms that inhabit it.

"Obama's National Security Strategy"

Doyle McManus (LA Times):

The document lays out the president's worldview. Basically, it says on foreign policy, we'll do what we can, as long as it doesn't cost too much.---In the end, what Obama laid out was more a set of premises — a worldview — than it was a strategy. And he will face at least two challenges in making it work.

One, which the deliberately bland National Security Strategy didn't solve, is explaining his approach to the American people. As a nation, we accept that there are limits to what we can and should do abroad, but we don't always like it. We still want to maintain the world's most effective armed forces, defeat terrorism, spread democracy and bring peace to the Middle East, even as we complain about government spending.

"Obama became president the moment after the collapse of a hubris bubble," said Peter Beinart, author of "The Icarus Syndrome," a brilliant new book about the pendulum swings of U.S. foreign policy between excessive ambition and excessive retrenchment. "He needs to convince Americans that we can become stronger even as we retrench militarily. That is incredibly perilous, politically."

The other challenge is the certainty of unexpected events. When Obama came to office, he knew he faced an economic crisis and two wars. But he didn't know that a BP oil well would explode, that Israel would clash with Turkey or that a Nigerian student would fly to Detroit last Christmas with a bomb in his pants — an event that, had luck not intervened, could have vaulted terrorism back to its old status as the all-consuming focus of American policy. As U.S. Marines like to note, the enemy has a vote too. MORE...

Hightower: "Who the Hell's in Charge Here? BP Disaster Caused by a Nasty Mix of Government Impotence and Corporate Rule"

Jim Hightower (AlterNet):

Many news reports about the Gulf oil catastrophe refer to it as a "spill." Wrong. A spill is a minor "oops" — one accidentally spills milks, for example, and from childhood, we're taught the old aphorism: "Don't cry over spilt milk." What's in the Gulf isn't milk and it wasn't spilt. The explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon well was the inevitable result of deliberate decisions made by avaricious corporate executives, laissez faire politicians and obsequious regulators. MORE...

"Obama’s Oil Opportunity"

Eleanor Clift (Newsweek):

In a speech Wednesday that the administration touted as a major policy declaration, Obama pledged to spend the coming months finding the votes for the bill, and making the case for a clean-energy future. “The next generation will not be held hostage to energy sources from the last century,” he said. Of all the responses to the BP oil spill, the legislative route is the least promising in terms of its immediacy and its theatrical attributes. It’s also where the long-term structural changes must be made, and where Obama, if he sets his mind to it, could salvage something positive and equally history-making from the environmental crisis threatening his presidency. MORE...

Obama: "BP didn't fully account for risks" (video)

MSNBC, video (06:37).

"Demand transparency in Wall Street reform"

CREDOaction:

Now that the House and the Senate have passed versions of financial reform legislation, the fate of Wall Street reform is in the hands of members of the conference committee that will merge the two versions into a final package.

If members of the conference committee can cut deals behind closed doors, free from public scrutiny, the resulting legislation will be pathetically weak.

That is why CREDO, Open Left and the Campaign for America's Future are joining MoveOn in calling for full transparency in the conference committee.

Tell Congress to broadcast the proceedings on C-SPAN and to put the text of the bill online well in advance of the vote. MORE...

"Computer Model Shows Oil Likely to Spread to Atlantic" (with video)

PBS, with video (00:34):

The oil from the BP leak could reach far beyond the Gulf of Mexico, according to a new computer model released Thursday that shows currents could carry some of the slick up the Atlantic coast.

The creators of the model, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said oil could reach the open Atlantic Ocean as early as this summer.

The model shows the Gulf of Mexico's Loop Current carrying oil to Florida's Atlantic Coast, where it could be carried north in the Gulf Stream as far as North Carolina, and then be pulled east out into the Atlantic.

Synte Peacock, an NCAR scientist who worked on the model, said it is nearly impossible to predict when the Loop Current will start picking up oil, but that once it does, oil could make it to the Atlantic within days.

"We can say with a high degree of likelihood that oil will get out to the Gulf Stream," Peacock said. "What we can't say is when." MORE...

Seattle "Folk balladeer & activist Earl Robinson honored"

Steve Shay (West Seattle Herald-WA):

Thanks to the inspiration of professional documentarian, college professor, and West Seattle resident B.J. Bullert, and her colleague, civil rights and peace activist, Seattle icon Kay Bullitt, Friday, May 28, has been officially proclaimed "Earl Robinson Day" by Mayor Mike McGinn and the City of Seattle. The late Earl Robinson will be honored and remembered during two events at Northwest Folklife Festival Friday and Sunday evening.

Earl Robinson was himself a civil rights and peace and labor activist, and folk balladeer, blacklisted during the McCarthy era. (He was a proud member of the Communist Party, then became disillusioned with it.) He also happened to be raised in West Seattle where he returned before he died. He sang at Folklife Fest two months before his passing, in May, 1991. He was born 100 years ago.

Many who do not recognize his name will recognize two of his famous compositions, "Black and White," popularized by the pop group Three Dog Night, and "Joe Hill," a Joan Baez standard. Robinson co-wrote "Black and White" in 1954 with actor Alan Arkin's father, David.

Bullert produced and directed the documentary Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American, in 1994. It runs on the Seattle Channel, channel 21. Bullert's work also include Alki: Birthplace of Seattle (1997), Chief Seattle (2000), Duwamish Life with Prof. Kenneth Tollefson (2000), Space Needle at 40 (2002), and Fishermen's Terminal. She is working on the sequel to Fishermen's Terminal. Her films air nationally on PBS, and locally on KCTS as well as the Seattle Channel. Bullert began working in film with Seattle filmmaker John DeGraaf.

Bullert's documentary on Robinson is narrated by folk singer Judy Collins, with interviews by Pete Seeger and the late Alan Lomax, the well-known American folklorist and ethnomusicologist.

"I grew up at 2640 Walnut Avenue Southwest, and the house Earl live in was next door," said Bullert. "He moved back to West Seattle in 1989, on 41st and Manning.

"My documentary was not a conventional story of 'the tortured victimized artist of the Blacklist Era destroyed by the system,'" Bullert said. "This was definitely about a live wire, a consistent theme throughout the film. Earl took the social movements of his day and wrapped songs around them. He gave social movements voice. He was a composer more than a lyricist. He collaborated with Paul Robeson, who sang his song, 'Ballad For Americans,' and Yip Harburg."

Harburg wrote the lyrics to "Brother Can You Spare a Dime," "It's Only a Paper Moon," and all the songs in The Wizard of Oz, including "Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Robinson embraced New Age philosophy toward the end of his life, which, according to Bullert in her documentary, was thought to be off-beat by some of his fans and colleagues.

"There was this concert he gave at the Olympia Capitol Rotunda in the spring of '89," Bullert recalled. "We went for a walk and had a cup of coffee. Earl told me about how he had written 'Joe Hill' in a communist summer camp in upstate New York and his work with Paul Robeson and Joan Baez. Earl said 'Joe Hill' was a very important song because of the line, 'I never died said he.' Earl told me that (lyric) was his link to the New Age. He then told me tales about his conversations with dolphins."

Bullert attended Lafayette, Madison, and West Seattle High School before moving to Pakistan where her father worked in the Army Corps of Engineers. She attended Boston University and studied with author, historian and activist Howard Zinn, who passed away last January. She earned her Masters at Oxford in England where she studied the history of ideas. She is a professor offering an interdisciplinary master's program at Antioch University, Seattle.

She said she was heavily influenced by Zinn.

"Howard was just an incredible guy," she said. "He was great at bringing music into his classes and making us aware how culture was something we could use at changing the way people can see the world. He said we have to end all war and that there is nothing humane about war. We stayed in touch throughout the years. I took history and American politics from him.

"I never thought I'd be a film maker," she said. "I always thought people who made movies were kind of flaky. I grew up with stereotypes in my head of the nutty 'Hollywood-esque' filmmakers. I was much too serious. I was going to be a philosopher. The power of using media, television and film, that was what I wanted to do."

Northwest Folklife Fest's website schedule lists the two Earl Robinson events. However, Bullert offered these details:

Friday, May 28, 7pm-9pm, Seattle Center, Center House Theatre:
Bullert's hour-long documentary, Earl Robinson: Ballad of an American is shown, then music performed by Earl's son, clarinetist Perry Robinson, his nephew Gregg Robinson of Jump Ensamble, singer Nancy Nolan, and Rev. Pat Wright and The Total Experience Gospel Chorus performs "Ballad of an American" that Paul Robeson once performed.

Howie P.S.: I was fortunate to get to know Earl after he became my mother's second husband, some years after my father died. He was very generous and friendly with me, taking me to a Jimi Hendrix concert, as well as many other notable events and gatherings where I met many of the musical legends of the sixties and seventies.

"The Oil Spill as Metaphor for Our Times" (with video)

Micah Sifry (techPresident):

Depending on your perspective, the Gulf oil spill is many things: a reminder of human fallibility, an indictment of corporate greed, a painful example of government regulatory failure, a portrait of the power of big money in politics, a wake-up call about our continuing addiction to cheap oil. Arguably, it is proof that America has become very good at making what we once imagined as rare accidents, "black swans" in the parlance of Wall Street, into high probability events. Assuming you've been paying attention to the news, by now you probably think it is some combination of all of those things.

But it is also a quintessentially 21st century spectacle, and the way we are experiencing it is yet another warning of something that is deeply broken about how we use information today: we consume shocking images almost entirely without taking meaningful action in response.

To give you an example of what I mean, just go watch a few minutes of the BP oil spill video:

Tell me, did you do anything after watching the spill for a while? I'm betting the answer is no. And how did you feel, as you watched it? Transfixed and dazed, right? Like rubbernecking past a car accident. Did you get out of your car to offer help? Probably not. MORE...

Updated: "Snohomish County prosecutor candidate supports marijuana legalization"

UPDATE: "Fiscal Sanity in the Criminal Justice System"---Lee makes the $$ argument.

Everett Herald (WA):

The man who would be Snohomish County's next prosecuting attorney wants to legalize marijuana for adults.

Jim Kenny today endorsed Initiative 1068, which would legalize marijuana use, possession and cultivation. He'd previously made clear his support for decriminalization of possession of small amounts of marijuana, and recently supported a broader call for decriminalization of pot on his campaign Website. MORE...

I-1068 @ Seattle Folklife: "12,000 signatures and registered over 500 new voters."

Sensible Washington:

Folklife went well for us despite horrible weather almost the entire weekend. We got about 12,000 signatures and registered over 500 new voters. Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard on our behalf in trying conditions. More big events coming. Stay tuned. -Philip

Support the Northwest Progressive Institute--June 9th

NPI:

What: A special event to benefit the work of the Northwest Progressive Institute

When: June 9th, 2010
Check in at 6:30 PM, main program at 7:30 PM

Where: Community Center at Mercer View
8236 SE 24th Street, Mercer Island, 98040

Who: Speakers include John de Graaf, Dow Constantine, Suzan DelBene, Hans Dunshee, and Gael Tarleton...

BUY TICKETS AND MORE DETAILS HERE.

Howie P.S.: I'll be there and I hope you can also attend.

Robert Reich: "Why Obama Should Put BP Under Temporary Receivership"

Robert Reich:

It’s time for the federal government to put BP under temporary receivership, which gives the government authority to take over BP’s operations in the Gulf of Mexico until the gusher is stopped. This is the only way the public know what’s going on, be confident enough resources are being put to stopping the gusher, ensure BP’s strategy is correct, know the government has enough clout to force BP to use a different one if necessary, and be sure the President is ultimately in charge.

If the government can take over giant global insurer AIG and the auto giant General Motors and replace their CEOs, in order to keep them financially solvent, it should be able to put BP’s north American operations into temporary receivership in order to stop one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

The Obama administration keeps saying BP is in charge because BP has the equipment and expertise necessary to do what’s necessary. But under temporary receivership, BP would continue to have the equipment and expertise. The only difference: the firm would unambiguously be working in the public’s interest. As it is now, BP continues to be responsible primarily to its shareholders, not to the American public. As a result, the public continues to worry that a private for-profit corporation is responsible for stopping a public tragedy.

Five reasons for taking such action...(scroll down)

Memorial Day and "A Trillion Dollar Turning Point?"

John Conyers:

As of 10:06 a.m., Sunday, May 30th, the United States will have spent $1 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

As we approach this milestone, Americans of all political stripes should take a moment to consider what war spending on this scale means, not just in dollars spent, but in terms of opportunities lost to strengthen, invest in, and improve our country. While each of us intrinsically knows that wars have consequences, we are rarely presented with such a stark example of how the choice to pursue war at the expense of priorities at home impacts each of us.

What could we have purchased with this $1 trillion? Today, we might be enjoying the fruits of a green economy, spurred by New Deal-like investments in wind and solar. Perhaps we would have created a single-payer health care system and used this $1 trillion to provide health security to every man, woman, and child in the United States for an entire year. Or, we might have made the smart investments in our domestic law enforcement capabilities and homeland security apparatus to provide true protection from Al Qaeda and others who would wish us harm. Sadly, we'll never know, because our political leadership never explored alternative means of achieving peace, such as emphasizing rigorous regional diplomacy, and instead overextended our military forces abroad. MORE...

"How Much Oil Has Leaked Into the Gulf of Mexico? " (with video)

PBS (News Hour) with widget:

Nobody knows for certain how much oil has leaked into the Gulf of Mexico since last month's oil rig explosion. What we do have are estimates -- from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, from outside experts, from British Petroleum -- of how fast crude is flowing out of two remaining leaks (a third was plugged Wednesday). MORE...

Howie P.S.: More from News Hour pundits Shields and Brooks on "President Obama's Response to Oil Leak," video (11:09). Long story short from Brooks, "sh$t happens" and from Shields, a "Waterloo" moment?

Ralph Nader @ Evergeen State College on Health Care in the Corporatized USA (video)

TVW, video (82:00):

Consumer advocate and presidential candidate Ralph Nader speaks on the issue of health care on the campus of The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

I-1068 @ Seattle Folklife: "Volunteer footage from Saturday" (video)

Sensible Washington, with video.

Howie P.S.: Meet six volunteer signature gatherers (video).

"BP Agrees To Pay $69,200 Safety Fine For WA Refinery"

"The Deepwater Horizon rig last month.""
nasdaq.com:

BP PLC (BP) agreed to pay a $69,200 fine for safety violations found at its Cherry Point refinery in Washington, the state's labor department said Friday.

The 225,000-barrel-a-day plant located near Blaine, Wash., received citations on May 5 for 13 serious safety violations for insufficient process-safety management issues following state inspections. BP also had the option to appeal the citations or request a meeting to discuss them.

Such safety violations are commonly found across the U.S. refining industry, which is the most frequent source of accidents or explosions related to chemical hazards.

"While it is good that BP has decided to correct the hazards without an appeal, we are disturbed that more than 10 years after the explosion that killed six workers at the Equilon refinery, our inspectors are still finding significant safety violations every time we inspect one of the refineries in the state of Washington," said Michael Silverstein, assistant director for the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries' Division of Occupational Safety and Health. MORE...

Howie P.S.: More light reading for your holiday weekend: "Documents Show Early Worries About Safety of Rig" (NY Times). In the Wall Street Journal: "Frustration, Fury Greet Obama in Gulf." From the AP:

A Washington-based research group says two BP refineries in the U.S. account for 97 percent of "egregious willful" violations given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab says BP has a "systemic safety problem." He told The Associated Press BP has not adequately addressed the issues, despite being fined more than $87 million.

Prosecute BP, Protect the Environment, Develop Green Energy

"Ex-EPA Officials: Why Isn't BP Under Criminal Investigation?" (Jason Leopold-truthout):

Why hasn't the government launched a criminal investigation into BP?

That's the question several former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials have been asking in the aftermath of the catastrophic explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig last month that killed 11 employees and ruptured a newly drilled well 5,000 feet below the surface and has spewed tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf if Mexico, which now stands as the largest spill in US history.

Like previous BP-related disasters in Alaska and Texas, evidence has emerged that appears to show BP knowingly cut corners on maintenance and safety on Deepwater Horizon's operations, which, according to blogger bmaz, who writes about legal issues at Emptywheel, could amount to criminal violations of the Clean Water Act. Additionally, because people were killed, BP and company officials could also face prosecution for negligent and reckless homicide.

Scott West, the former special agent-in-charge at the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, who spent more than a year probing allegations that BP committed crimes in connection with a massive oil spill on Alaska's North Slope in 2006, said the company's prior felony and misdemeanor convictions should have immediately "raised red flags" and resulted in a federal criminal investigation. MORE...

Gallup Poll: "Americans Shift From Pro-Energy To Pro-Environment During Gulf Spill" (TPM):

When it comes to making environmental policy in the wake of the massive oil spill in the Gulf, Americans appear ready to embrace that old political adage, "let no crisis go to waste."

According to a new poll from Gallup out this afternoon, "preferences for prioritizing between environmental protection and energy production have shifted from a somewhat pro-energy stance to an even stronger pro-environment stance" during the period of the oil spill.

In the new poll, 55% of respondents say "protection of the environment" should be given priority over energy production. Thirty-nine percent say the opposite. Back in March, the split went the other way -- 50% prioritized energy production while 43% said environmental protection should come first.

The shift is good news for progressives, who of late have called on Democrats to use rising public wariness toward offshore oil drilling to push conservation-focused energy legislation through Congress. MORE...

"Hitler Was Not Gay!" Dan Savage on Countdown (video)

MoxNewsDotCom, video (07:22).

H/t to Darryl.

Report: "I-1068 at NW Folklife" (video)

sensiblewashington, video (01:09):

I-1068 volunteers stole the show at NW Folklife -- we had dozens of people out getting signatures for sensible marijuana reform in Washington state.

"22-MILE OIL PLUME HEADED INLAND"

Houma Today:

A thick, 22-mile plume of oil discovered by researchers off the BP spill site was nearing an underwater canyon, where it could poison the foodchain for sealife in the waters off Florida.

The discovery by researchers on the University of South Florida College of Marine Science's Weatherbird II vessel is the second significant undersea plume reported since the Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20. The plume is more than 6 miles wide and its presence was reported Thursday. MORE...

"Senate rejects exit timetable for Afghanistan"--Cantwell and Murray Voted "YEA"

Reuters:

The Senate rejected a proposal on Thursday to require President Barack Obama to submit a timetable for pulling U.S. forces out of Afghanistan, despite unease among some members of his own party over the nine-year-old war.

The 80-18 vote nixed a bid by liberal Democrat Russ Feingold for a detailed troop timetable, which he argued would avoid future "emergency" war spending bills such as the $33 billion one now before the Senate.

Most members of the Democratic-majority Senate proved unwilling to dictate to the president, with a buildup of 30,000 additional troops still underway that Obama ordered to Afghanistan and a new military push in the Kandahar area.

Adopting Feingold's plan would "reinforce the fear ... that the United States will abandon the region," Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, said.

Levin said this was unwise as the Taliban is "doing everything it can" to convince Afghans that U.S., NATO and Afghan forces cannot protect them.

But several senators in Democratic leadership positions did back Feingold's call for an exit strategy. Supporters included Assistant Majority Leader Dick Durbin and senators Patty Murray, Byron Dorgan and Chuck Schumer.

Majority Leader Harry Reid, however, opposed the proposal. Reid, who is in a tight race for re-election in a western state, said this week that "I've felt no impatience about Afghanistan in my caucus." MORE...

Howie P.S.: I spoke to Maria Cantwell's DC office this morning and was assured she voted YEA, as well.

"Obama Needs To Stop Deferring To Foreign Oil Giant BP And Start Calling The Shots"

The Wonk Room (Think Progress):

The catastrophic explosion of the Deepwater Horizon exploratory rig off the coast of Louisiana one month ago cost eleven lives and now threatens the entire Gulf of Mexico with ecological devastation. BP, the foreign oil giant responsible for the disaster, has claimed it was unforeseeable and inconceivable, despite an industry history of similar accidents and years of warnings.

There are obvious limits to how much control the federal government can exert over the frantic and so far hapless effort to stem the catastrophic oil eruption that threatens the entire Gulf of Mexico with ecological devastation. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar has recognized the sobering reality the government does not have the equipment or technical expertise to simply shove aside BP and its industry partners:

This administration has done everything we can possibly do to make sure that we push BP to stop the spill and to contain the impact. We have also been very clear that there are areas where BP and the private sector are the ones who must continue to lead the efforts with government oversight, such as the deployment of private sector technology 5,000 feet below the ocean’s surface to kill the well.

But if government has little choice but to keep the perpetrator on the job at the immediate crime scene, it does have a choice when it comes to operations beyond the urgent task of quelling the erupting well. In addition to the efforts to stop the leaks, BP now controls claims processing, environmental contractors on land and sea, volunteer assistance, access to the disaster site, and data collection.

Federal and state governments in the gulf must take greater charge of containing the ecological impacts and coordinating the response, as the President has full authority to do. This requires a greater mobilization than exists today, and Washington needs to send the message that it is in full command of the disaster response with the following actions: MORE...

"Gulf oil spill live feed" and Carville goes off on Obama again (with video)

The Washington Pust links to BP's camera and offers these tips for viewing:

Breaking News Live Video Editor's Note: You may receive an error message or color bars and a tone in between live feeds. Due to the nature of live events, you may need to reload this page, press the play button to start the video feed or wait a few moments until the video begins.

Howie P.S.: You can also click on the "live feed" screen to be directed to the camera link. James Carville goes off, again, on Obama's lack of response this morning on GMA, with video (05:14).

Mike Papantonio: "Gulf Leak Can't Be Stopped" (with video)

Heather (Crooks and Liars) with video (04:49):

Chris Matthews talked to Mike Papantonio about the rhetoric coming from the administration and BP on whether this volcano of oil gushing into the Gulf is going to actually be able to stopped or not and Pap is not so optimistic.

I'm so disgusted by this I'm beyond words. Why they didn't let Louisiana start putting up the berms to keep this oil out two weeks ago is beyond me and these dispersants they're allowing to be used are doing nothing but helping BP cover up how bad the oil spill is along with poisoning the waters of the Gulf.

The Obama administration has dropped the ball on this one and that's putting it mildly. All I've seen from BP is them trying to minimize how much oil is coming to the surface so no one knows how bad the leak is with these dispersants and thus minimizing how badly they might be sued and worrying about how much oil they can still pull from the reserve. MORE...

UW's Washington Poll on Marijuana Law Reform (I-1068): 52% YES

YES 52%
NO 35%

-from page 13 (scroll down).

Fmr. EPA Investigator Scott West: US Has Told BP "It Can Do Whatever It Wants and Won’t Be Held Accountable" (with video)

michaelmoore.com with video and transcript from Democracy Now!---Pt 1 (09:17) and Pt. 2 (08:47):

To talk more about BP, we’re joined by a former top investigator at the Environmental Protection Agency. Up until his retirement in 2008, Scott West was a special agent in charge for the Criminal Investigation Division at the EPA.

In 2006, Scott West led an investigation of BP following a major oil pipeline leak in Alaska’s North Slope that spilled 250,000 gallons of oil on the Alaskan tundra. Before West finished his investigation, the Bush Justice Department reached a settlement with BP, and the oil company agreed to pay $20 million. At the same time, BP managed to avoid prosecution for the Texas City refinery explosion that killed fifteen workers by paying a $50 million settlement.

Scott West joins us from Seattle, where he now works for the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Thank you very much for joining us, Scott West. Lay out that previous investigation that was shut down by the Bush Justice Department that you did. MORE...

Sensible Washington: "Update On Seized I-1068 Petitions"

Philip Dawdy (Sensible Washington):

I wanted to give you all an update on the status of the signed I-1068 petitions which were seized by federally-funded WestNET personnel in a raid of the North End 420 Club in Tacoma two weeks ago. The 420 Club is operating as a medical marijuana dispensary.

Two of the seized petitions will be returned to us promptly, according to a WestNET detective I spoke with earlier this morning. They will be picked up by our Bremerton coordinator from the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office evidence room, likely before the end of today.

These two petitions have been photocopied and I have asked WestNET to destroy those photocopies. They tell me they cannot without an agreement between the prosecution and defense because, well, that’s the way these things work. We will be working to make that agreement happen, but it will take some time. My sense of things, from talking with the WestNET detective, is that no one on the law enforcement side will oppose the destruction of those photocopies.

Why were they seized as evidence in the place? The WestNET detective I spoke with said their search warrant authorized them to take any kind of list or ledger they encountered during their search. That’s their explanation. I simply wish the officers who conducted the raid would’ve used a bit more discretion when they were grabbing lists and ledgers because I-1068 petitions are clearly marked as an initiative to the people and even have formal language directed to Secretary of State Sam Reed. Not exactly evidence of criminal activity.

The remaining problem is that the 420 Club people insist that there were 10 signed petitions seized in the raid and WestNET tells me they only have two and that they have gone through their evidence boxes from the raid and there are no other copies of the petition. So we’ve got a discrepancy here that I cannot account for. Neither can WestNET or the 420 Club. My hope is that these missing eight petitions will turn up later somewhere in the chain of evidence and be returned to us before July 2, our deadline to submit signed petitions to the Secretary of State.

My fingers are officially crossed both for the missing petitions and for the 420 Club people as they begin to defend themselves against charges all because our state’s medical marijuana law is vague–even the WestNET detective agrees with me on this–and offers slim protection to people providing physician-authorized medicine to legitimate patients.

The 420 Club raid is another example of why it is imperative to get I-1068 on the ballot, so if you haven’t signed the initiative please do so. If you’d like to volunteer to help gather signatures, please fill out our volunteer form right here and we’ll be in touch promptly. We only have until the end of June to get this done, so let’s all get this done.

Howie P.S.: Meanwhile,

Philip is "battling Live Nation, the people who operate the Gorge, for access for our volunteers at the Sasquatch Festival. They are denying us access and I am so mad I cannot see straight. Only about 99.9 percent of their audience and performers approve of our cause, so why the denial is beyond me."

Firedoglake on WA I-1068: "Feds seize 200 legalization petition signatures‏"

Jane Hamsher (Firedoglake):

A federally funded drug task force seized as evidence up to 200 petition signatures for marijuana legalization in Washington State in a series of early-morning raids this week. Seizing the petition signatures is bad enough. What's worse is what the task force did on its raids of a legal marijuana dispensary and its owner's home.

Drug agents handcuffed a 14-year-old boy and pointed a gun at his head. Then they took $80 from a 9-year-old girl's Minnie Mouse wallet that she earned for straight A's on her report card.

Now the drug agents - funded by the US Department of Justice - say they can only find two pages of the petition. But they had time to make photocopies of the petition, keeping the names and addresses of residents who signed.

We started our own petition demanding the release of the seized signatures that we'll deliver to the task force headquarters next week.

Sign our petition to demand the federally funded drug task force release all 200 petition signatures and destroy any other copies.

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/WApetition?source=email52410

Ironically, it's this kind of reckless waste of time and money that makes marijuana legalization a safer, smarter alternative than the failed war on drugs.

Sensible Washington is the group whose marijuana legalization petitions were seized by the federally funded agents. The group is well on its way to let Washington State residents vote on legalization on the November ballot, but this raid can put it in jeopardy.

The intended effect of this raid is to put a chill on other citizens from signing the petition, who will fear having their names and addresses exposed to a drug task force. It's intimidation, pure and simple. And your tax dollars are paying for it.

That's why it's important we speak out about this gross violation of first amendment rights. We need to make sure that not only is every petition signature returned, but any other copies must be destroyed.

Demand the drug agents give back all of the seized petition signatures and destroy any copies they made. Sign our petition here:

http://action.firedoglake.com/page/s/WApetition?source=email52410

The only thing these petition signatures are evidence of is an exercise in democracy. Thanks for standing with us,

Jane Hamsher
Firedoglake.com

Chuck Todd Grills Axelrod on Obama and the BP Spill (video)

MSNBC, video (08:41).

Howie P.S.: Meanwhile, Jefferson Parish (LA) "officials commandeer BP's hired boats in Grand Isle."

WA I-1068: We "have now done more with less than any other organization in initiative history"

Photo by Hannah Winters

Sensible Washington:

We as a campaign have now done more with less than any other organization in initiative history, and this is your achievement. We continue to try to raise money for the campaign and are hoping for help as we have been contacted recently by a couple of coalitions that may help us. I had hoped to be able to augment our volunteeer effort with some help from paid signature gatherers and to be able to offer anyone currently with the campaign the option of working with the paid group. This has not happened and we cannot count on it happening. We must continue on with or without hope of help.

I believe that the campaign currently has 100,000 signatures or so. We need to get everything coming in on a continuous basis now so we can get accurate running counts so we really know what we have to do. Right now, I think we have about 220,000 signatures to go to hit our overall goal of 320,000. If we get help, great, then maybe we get to 420,000!

We have to go go go with a maximum effort and push or all we have already done will be wasted. We must get this on the ballot! There is no other way. If you believe in polls I will tell you something else: those same donors ran one, and it shows us winning if we can get I-1068 on the ballot! Let’s do it. Let’s go crazy and show em’ how its done! MORE...

Updated: Crude awakening---"Mr. President: Now Is the Time For Clean Energy" (with video)

Update: Peter Daou:"The Great Shame: America's Pathetic Response to the Gulf Catastrophe."

Robert Redford, with video (00:30):

I am glad that President Obama announced that he would appoint an independent commission to look at the causes of the blow out and determine what we must do to prevent this from ever happening again. This is an important first step in addressing the national tragedy and coming up with real solutions to prevent future drilling disasters.

But it is not enough.

Right now, the Senate has legislation on the table that would help move us in a new direction and put America back in control of its energy future. The American Power Act, drafted by Senators Kerry and Lieberman, is not perfect-- but it is a significant step toward cutting our dependence on fossil fuels, limiting carbon pollution, and encouraging businesses to shift to clean energy sources.

Unfortunately, the full Senate continues to stall -- weighed down by too much infighting and too many special interests. That's why we need the president to assert his voice and leadership by letting the Senate -- and the American people -- know that he is serious about getting clean energy and climate legislation passed this year.

Americans want action (PDF). It is time for President Obama to use the power of his office to make sure we clean up this mess, and get America on a path to cleaner, safer energy. MORE...

Howie P.S.: Until we approach this with the resources and focus we put into the "Man on the Moon" project or any of our various "wars" (military or not)---it'll be just more talk, smoke and mirrors. Or to put it another way: "THE FIERCE URGENCY OF NOW."

Carville on Obama's Oil Spill Response: 'LACKADAISICAL AND NAIVE'

Laura Bassett (HuffPo):

Democratic strategist James Carville and MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews, two reliable supporters of President Barack Obama, have issued withering critiques of the administration's handling of the Gulf oil spill.

Carville, the famously outspoken Louisianian who was a chief political aide to Bill and Hillary Clinton, told CNN's Anderson Cooper on Thursday that the administration's response to the spill has been "lackadaisical" and that Obama was "naive" to trust BP to manage the massive clean-up effort.

"I think they actually believe that BP has some kind of a good motivation here," he said. "They're naive! BP is trying to save money, save everything they can... They won't tell us anything, and oddly enough, the government seems to be going along with it! Somebody has got to, like shake them and say, 'These people don't wish you well! They're going to take you down!'"

Carville also accused the White House of going along with what he called the "let BP handle it" strategy. MORE...

"Questions about Sen. Maria Cantwell" (with video)

AMERICAblog, with video (03:25):

So Sen. Cantwell (D-WA) was willing to filibuster the FinReg bill (along with Russ Feingold) to make sure all derivatives were traded through a clearinghouse, but at the same time she wants to protect the stunning tax give-away to some of the highest income earners in the country. MORE...

mcjoan (Daily Kos): "Cantwell, Kerry protecting tax breaks for wealthy at expense of unemployed"

mcjoan (Daily Kos):

Maria Cantwell was a bit of a hero yesterday for making the Senate continue to work on Wall Street reform, but news that she is fighting efforts to close a tax loophole that benefits money managers--a necessary revenue raiser for the upcoming unemployment extension and jobs bill--brings her right back down to regular politician status.

She's not alone, John Kerry and Patty Murray have joined her. Here's the deal...

Cantwell votes "No" as "Senate Passes Financial Reform Bill, 59-39"

HuffPo:

Cantwell echoed Feingold's concerns in a separate statement after the vote:

"While this bill takes much needed steps to help prevent a crisis of this magnitude from ever happening again, it fails to close the very same loopholes in derivatives trading that led to the biggest economic implosion since the Great Depression," Senator Cantwell said. "Throughout this debate I have fought hard against efforts to weaken this legislation as well as to pass language to strengthen it further. But the fact of the matter is, without key reforms in derivatives trading, this bill does not safeguard America's economy from a repeat of this crisis.

It sets up a process for responding the next time we have a financial crisis, but it doesn't prevent this kind of thing from ever happening again. We have to stop these kinds of dangerous activities. We need stronger bans on banks gambling with depositors' money. We need bright lines - like Glass-Steagall - that separate risky activities from the traditional banking system. We need to refocus our financial system away from synthetic bets and get more capital into the hands of job creators and Main Street businesses. There are good, strong provisions in this bill, and I'm proud of the work we did to get them in there, but I fear that without closing the loopholes primarily responsible for this economic meltdown, we are missing the entire heart of the matter." MORE....

"Seattle Speaks: Marijuana Policy" (video)

Seattle Channel, video (89:52):

Should marijuana be legalized in our state? Medical marijuana has been allowed for years but now the debate is changing. Join host C.R. Douglas as he moderates a live interactive community conversation about this controversial topic. With a group of panelists and a passionate audience, hear their stories and weigh in with your thoughts. Both live and online audience members can take a poll to gauge what people think about the possibility of legalizing pot.

Howie P.S.: Meanwhile, the War on Drugs continues.

"Democrats want criminal inquiry into BP"

Jake Sherman (Politico):

Eight Democratic senators asked the Obama administration Tuesday to open a criminal investigation into BP for allegedly making false statements to authorities about the ability to stop a massive oil spill.

Democrats on the Environment and Public Works Committee are taking aim at a BP statement in a Feb. 23, 2009, document submitted to the Minerals Management Service, in which the oil company claimed that “in the event of an unanticipated blowout resulting in an oil spill, it is unlikely to have an impact based on the industrywide standards for using proven equipment and technology for such responses.”

In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, the Democratic senators contrast the 2009 statement with BP’s May 10, 2010, press release, in which the company claims “uncertainties” with the methods used to stop the oil leak because “they have not been tested in these conditions before.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the EPW committee, is hosting Environmental Protection Agency chief Lisa Jackson, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Nancy Helen Sutley, chairwoman of the Council on Environmental Quality, at a hearing Tuesday afternoon.

Boxer is joined in sending the letter to Holder by Democratic Sens. Amy Klobuchar (Minn.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Ben Cardin (Md.), Frank Lautenberg (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.) and Tom Carper (Del.). Vermont’s independent Sen. Bernie Sanders also signed the letter.

Howie P.S.: Feel better yet?

WA: "Bill Gates’s Dad Says the Rich ‘Aren’t Paying Enough’ in Taxes"--"Initiative 1098: Signature drive begins"

"Bill Gates’s Dad Says the Rich ‘Aren’t Paying Enough’ in Taxes" (Bloomberg):

Bill Gates’ father wants the Microsoft Corp. co-founder to pay more in income taxes.

Bill Gates Sr., a retired Washington state lawyer, supports a proposed ballot initiative that would require the state’s highest earners including himself and his son to pay an income tax. Washington now collects no personal income taxes.

“Poor people and middle-income people are paying too much to support the state and rich people aren’t paying enough,” Gates Sr. said in an interview yesterday in Seattle. “That’s the starting point for me.” MORE...

"Initiative 1098: Signature drive begins" (Joel Connelly-seattlepi.com):

A state income tax has for years been the "third rail" of Washington politics, but a broad activist coalition on Wednesday night launched a signature drive to put Initiative 1098 onto the November ballot.

It would be the first time a tax reform measure, including an income tax, has been put to a public vote in nearly 40 years.

"It's been around the block several times," said former Seattle City Councilwoman Phyllis Lamphere, who held office in the early 1970s when popular Republican Gov. Dan Evans tried to reform the state tax system. Voters handed Evans his head, and then a year later re-elected him.

Even though unemployment was down in figures released Tuesday, the state is still hurting. Painful cuts have hit education and government services, and Washington is burdened with what Bill Gates Sr. told supporters is "the 50th -- the last -- state in terms of the regressivity (sic) of its tax system. MORE...

"Memo to Tim Eyman: Ballot title changes to I-1098 don't hurt the measure's chances" (Andrew-NPI Advocate):

Over at The Olympian's Politics blog, reporter Brad Shannon has a recap of yesterday's happenings in Thurston County Superior Court, where Judge Richard Hicks ruled on the final ballot title language for Initiative 1098, the new version of the high-earners income tax proposal championed by William Gates Sr. MORE...