Matt Taibbi: "Mike Bloomberg's New York: Cops in Your Hallways"

Matt Taibbi:

An amazing lawsuit was filed in New York last week. It seems Mike Bloomberg’s notorious "stop-and-frisk" policy – known colloquially in these parts by silently-cheering white voters as the "Let’s have cops feel up any nonwhite person caught walking in the wrong neighborhood” policy – isn’t even the most repressive search policy in the NYPD arsenal.

Bloomberg, that great crossover Republican, has long been celebrated by the Upper West Side bourgeoisie for his enlightened views on gay rights and the environment, but also targeted for criticism by civil rights activists because of stop-and-frisk, a program that led to a record 684,330 street searches just last year.

Now he’s under fire for a program he inherited, which goes by the darkly Bushian name of the "Clean Halls program." In effect since 1991, it allows police to execute so-called "vertical patrols" by going up into private buildings and conducting stop-and-frisk searches in hallways – with the landlord’s permission.

According to the NYCLU, which filed the suit, "virtually every private apartment building [in the Bronx] is enrolled in the program," and "in Manhattan alone, there are at least 3,895 Clean Halls Buildings." Referring to the NYPD’s own data, the complaint says police conducted 240,000 "vertical patrols" in the year 2003 alone.

If you live in a Clean Halls building, you can’t even go out to take out the trash without carrying an ID – and even that might not be enough. If you go out for any reason, there may be police in the hallways, demanding that you explain yourself, and insisting, in brazenly illegal and unconstitutional fashion, on searches of your person.

The easiest way to convey the full insanity of this program is to simply read stories from the complaint. MORE...

"Maddow relays censored memo on CIA ‘war crimes’ during Bush Administration" (with video)

RAW STORY with video (08:44) from MSNBC-Rachel Maddow:

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night explained a legal memo that advised the Bush Administration that so-called enhanced interrogation techniques were torture and therefore illegal.

Wired reporter Spencer Ackerman obtained the memo, written by State Department counselor Philip Zelikow, through a Freedom on Information Act request.

Bush told NBC’s Matt Lauer in 2010 that he authorized the use of enhanced interrogation techniques like waterboarding because his “lawyer said it was legal, said it did not fall within the Anti-Torture Act.” But Zelikow’s memo warned the Bush Administration in 2006 that the interrogation techniques used on terror suspects by the CIA were “a felony war crime.”

“As a top lawyer at the Bush State Department, Philip Zelikow circulated the memo within the Administration that said, essentially, that the Administration was kidding itself in trying to say that there was some way around the law,” Maddow explained. “They were trying to give a legal green light to CIA interrogator to torture people, but that green light, he said, was a sham.”

In 2009, Zelikow said that the Bush Administration attempted to collect and destroy all copies of the memo.

“If the Republican Party were the still the party of John McCain, this would open up a whole new can of political worms,” Maddow said, “because the Obama Administration, remember, looked into Bush Administration ordered torture and they decided not to prosecute any of it.”

Upon taking office in 2009, President Barack Obama abolished CIA secret prisons, banned the use of torture and promised to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. In doing so, he vowed not to prosecute former Bush Administration officials, saying it was a “time for reflection, not retribution.”

Ari Melber on The Dylan Ratigan Show on "Ryan's Budget Comes Up Short" (video)

MSNBC-The Dylan Ratigan Show (03:24).

Jen Sorensen on Daily Kos: "If buying broccoli were like buying health insurance." (with cartoon)

(CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE)

Jen Sorensen (Daily Kos);

Congratulations, America! Decades upon decades of struggle for a more civilized health insurance system now rest in the hands of your smug, Newsmax-reading uncle. Or his highly-trained, yet no less ignorant equivalents.

A report from 2010 suggests that 275,000 will die due to lack of health insurance over the following decade. That's far, far greater than the number who perished on September 11. And the judges who will be deciding the fate of those hundreds of thousands of lives -- most of whom I suspect have never had to deal with the incredible cruelties faced by those whose jobs do not provide insurance -- cannot distinguish a health insurance policy from a cruciferous vegetable. I didn't have room to go into the more complex economic issues about risk-sharing which make broccoli an especially poor analogy, but hey, you can only do so much in a cartoon.

Get a signed print of this cartoon from the artist.

"White privilege is never being frightened for my son’s life, simply because of the color of his skin."

Emily L. Hauser (RAW STORY):

When my husband and I came to Chicago from Israel so that I could go to graduate school, we had no intention of staying here permanently.

But then the second Palestinian intifada happened, and the Israeli government’s entirely irresponsible and deadly response to same, and we came to a conclusion: We no longer wanted to raise children in Israel.

At the time, we only had the one child, a round-cheeked toddler boy, but the fact of his boy-ness sharpened the point. Our choice came mostly out of a desire to educate him differently, to not sacrifice his up-bringing and our values on the altar of occupation and settlement, but there was an unavoidable sense of having also snatched our son from the jaws of war — because in Israel, of course, every 18 year old boy is drafted into the military. Girls go, too, but they don’t see combat. They don’t die.

I bring this up now because I’ve been thinking a lot about all the parents of African American boys who are holding their sons a little closer today in the wake of the horrible, heartbreaking Trayvon Martin case.

My aunt is one of those moms — white as me, but mom to a black man who was once young, a young black man who was stopped for jogging in his own neighborhood, a young black man for whom she would tremble a little whenever he went into the city.

Like every other parent of a young black man, my aunt knew that my cousin could be frisked, arrested, and even killed for little but his youth, gender, and skin.

Like Trayvon Martin.

Like Travares McGill.

Like Sean Bell.

Like Timothy Stansbury, Jr.

Like Amadou Diallo.

Like Oscar Grant.

Like Orlando Barlow.

Like Aaron Campbell.

Like Steven Eugene Washington.

Like Kiwane Carrington.

Kiwane Carrington was 15 when he was killed. Steven Eugene Washington was autistic. Orlando Barlow “was surrendering and on his knees.”

All were killed by people charged with protecting them, whether as law enforcement or law enforcement support of one kind or another. None were armed.

When I look at my boy — on the cusp of adolescence, at the brink of a teenager’s certainty and stupidity, about to try on the world in the guise of a boy-man — I can imagine what might have been: We might have sent him to the Israeli military, he might have worn that uniform, we might have sat by the phone and trembled in fear.

But we removed him and ourselves from those might-haves. We stayed in a place where just being a young man did not by definition mean offering yourself up to die.

For Trayvon Martin, Travares McGill, Sean Bell, Timothy Stansbury, Jr., Amadou Diallo, Oscar Grant, Orlando Barlow, Aaron Campbell, Steven Eugene Washington, Kiwane Carrington, and countless others, however, there was never a choice.

These days, Americans spent a lot of time arguing about “white privilege” — if it exists, what it means, what its consequences might be.

But I think I know what white privilege is.

White privilege is never being frightened for my son’s life, simply because of the color of his skin.

"MLK Remembered: John Nichols on Martin Luther King’s Commitment to Labor Rights As Human Rights" (with video)

Democracy Now! with video:

On the 44th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., we look his history of activism in Wisconsin, a state that has been central to the history of labor organizing, and beyond. Near the end of his life, King was helping to organize members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), which was founded in Wisconsin in 1932. King argued that labor rights were human rights and civil rights, a message that resonated in Wisconsin during last year’s protests against Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s effort to eliminate almost all collective bargaining rights for most public workers, as well as slash their pay and benefits.

How Hillary Rolls (photo)

H/t to Unjin Lee.

Howie P.S.: Not a photoshopped image.

MSNBC: Joan Walsh on “The Ed Show” (video)

MSNBC-ED Show, with video (13:11):

On Monday, Salon editor-at-large Joan Walsh joined Ed Shultz to discuss the GOP’s continued denigration of Planned Parenthood. She argued that the organization “enjoys esteem and respect from most Americans… [ its employees and volunteers] have a health mission, and they carry it out well.”

"Van Jones on Trayvon Martin, Racial Violence and Why Obama Ignored Race Issues for Two Years" (with video)

Democracy Now! with video:

As thousands of people across the country call for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin, we’re joined by Van Jones, longtime anti-police brutality activist and co-founder of ColorOfChange.org, which aims to strengthen Black America’s political voice. He describes fearing for his own safety while wearing a hoodie and discusses the state of race relations under President Obama. "This kind of hits close to home for me. I’m an African-American father. I’ve got two little black boys," Jones says. "How am I going to protect these young guys? I mean, do you have to dress your kid in a tuxedo now to send them down the street?" Jones says the moral voice of the black community on race went silent after Obama was attacked for his response to the 2009 unlawful arrest of Harvard University Professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr., and hopes the Trayvon Martin case "opens the door for the kind of grown folks’ conversation we thought he was going to be able to lead when he was a candidate—well, that he did lead when he was a candidate, that hopefully we can see now going forward." [includes rush transcript] Part II, ""Rebuild the Dream": Ex-Obama Adviser Van Jones on Life Inside White House, Right-Wing Smear Attack" is here with links the rest of his appearance on Democracy Now! today.

WA: Maria and Jay To Star in Exciting Caucus Video (with photo)

@MariaCantwell & @JayInslee are shooting a video you'll see at #WACaucus on April 15th! http://pic.twitter.com/c6hQgn7W

"YOU DON'T USE A GUN TO WATCH" (PHOTO)

H/t to Linda Lax Jacobs..

"Obama Campaign Goes Left -- on YouTube" (with videos)

Ari Melber (The Nation), with videos:

If you glance at President Obama's official schedule, or his recent campaign activities, you see a busy president focused on governing and fundraising. But online, Barack Obama has begun to look more like a liberal candidate -- or at least like an incumbent with lots of liberal friends.

While the 2012 race is filled with talk of Super PACs and TV ads, the Obama Campaign is buoyed by an online video operation that remains unparalleled in American politics. The campaign generates more videos and, more importantly, more viewers than any other candidate. At 178 million total views, for example, Obama's YouTube channel currently has 30 times that of Gov. Romney. And lately it has become a key avenue for Obama to make distinctly liberal appeals. MORE...

"Obama’s harsh attack on Ryan-Romney radicalism"

Greg Sargent:

Here’s something both sides can agree upon: Paul Ryan’s budget — whose broad strokes have been endorsed by presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney — represents the GOP’s main offering in the big ideological argument that will decide this election and frame the big choice Americans face about the future of the country.

Whether you call it “radical,” or “bold and courageous” (the terms favored by conservatives), the Ryan plan is more than a budget. It’s a set of priorities, and a vision — of the rightful distribution of wealth and the tax burden, and of government’s proper role in guarding against the excesses of unfettered free market capitalism — that will constitute the foundation of the GOP case this fall.

In a speech today, President Obama will treat it as exactly that. And he’ll attack it pretty aggressively, describing it as “radical” and “thinly-veiled social Darwinism.” MORE...

My "1968 Reunion"

museumca.org:

March 31, 2012 - August 19, 2012 Experience one of the most powerful years in recent history in this unforgettable exhibition exploring the social, political, and economic events of 1968. A turning point for a generation coming of age and a nation engaged in war, 1968 saw the peak of the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, riots at the Democratic National Convention, Black Power demonstrations at the Summer Olympics, Feminist demonstrations at the Miss America pageant, and much more. Throughout it all, the Bay Area was at the forefront with an emerging California counterculture. Presented as an ongoing collective of historical and personal stories, the exhibition is for those who lived through it, those who’ve heard about it, and those who wonder why it matters. For more information about The 1968 Exhibit, visit www.1968exhibit.org.

Howie P.S.: I have just returned home from the SF East Bay where I reunited with some friends who lived on the same block in 1968 in Venice, California. I don't know if it was time or the place (fate?) but we bonded and have kept in touch. Coincidentally (fate again?) "The 1968 Exhibit" opened this last weekend. So in addition to hours spend reviewing our love affairs, marriages, concert highlights and our medical and employment histories we "experienced" the "exhibit." Oh and we hung out and shared our meals and hotel rooms together. If any of my fellow aging hippies have something to add, please comment!

WA: "The Bullshit Budget Debate"

Goldy (The Stranger):

Two quick comments on the Seattle Times editorial board's latest call for legislators to balance the state budget by slashing pension benefits for state workers: 1) The Blethens can't manage their own fucking pension, let alone advise others; and 2) The editors' insistence that slashing pensions sets our state on a "sustainable path" suggests that they are either idiots or liars.

The only reform that can possibly set our state budget on a sustainable path is tax reform. We've been slashing spending for years, and still the budget gap grows. Not even an economic recovery can set things right again, because in the long run we have a tax structure that over-relies on taxing a base—the sale of goods—that has been steadily shrinking as a portion of the overall economy for more than a half-century. And as state revenue shrinks as a portion of the state economy, so does its ability to meet demand for state services at a constant level. It's simple math.

I'm not suggesting that we shouldn't have a debate over pensions and other priorities and reform, but until we're willing to put revenue back on the table, the entire budget debate is bullshit.

Howie P.S.: Sometimes political issues are just this simple to understand.

"The Melodians performing the Rivers of Babylon - live at the Ashkenaz" (video)

rieb, video (04:24).

Howie P.S.: I will be mostly offline until Tuesday visiting with friends in the SF East Bay, very near where this performance was recorded. If the song sounds familiar, it may be because it was featured on the soundtrack of the movie, "The Harder They Fall."

"Fault Lines: Occupy Wall Street: Surviving the Winter" (video from Al Jazeera)

AlJazeeraEnglish, video (24:39):

Fault Lines follows key Occupy organisers through the winter as they continue to build a movement even after violent evictions across the country.

Greg Sargent: "SCOTUS’s judicial activism"

Greg Sargent:

If the Supreme Court does strike down the individual mandate, the ultimate irony will be this: The very thing that reformers had hoped would make the quest for universal health care palatable to Republicans and conservatives will have proven its undoing. MORE...

"Bruce and Trayvon: American Skin" (with video)

David Remnick (The New Yorker) with video (08:40):

Last night, I bolted work to catch the first show of two by Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in Philadelphia. I first saw Springsteen when he was the opening act for Chicago, in 1973 (which means I saw him even before Jon Landau branded him, indelibly, as “rock and roll’s future”). The Philly show was tight, exuberant, soulful, furious, joyful, even goofy, with the revival of the old “Seaside Bar Song” and Springsteen’s trip into the stands to give a kiss to the mother of the drummer, Max Weinberg.

But the most memorable moment, the one that demands immediate distribution, came after the “Apollo Medley”—a medley of Smokey Robinson a cappella and a rafter-raising version of “634-5789.” Suddenly, the mood went sombre and Springsteen said, “This is for Trayvon.” I first heard “American Skin (41 Shots),” at Madison Square Garden a dozen years ago, but now the lament, as the circumstances changed from the shooting of Amadou Diallo, in New York, to Trayvon Martin, in Florida, was less subdued, far tougher, as if to underline the outrage. Like “Born in the U.S.A.” and the new “We Take Care of Our Own,” “American Skin” belies its easy reading; it attempts to get at the complexity as well as the grief and fury of its subject. But better to just let you experience the song. Here it is, performed in Tampa, last week (see above).

"Break Up The Big Banks, Says the Dallas Fed"

Robert Reich:

Taxpayers will be on the hook for another giant Wall Street bailout, and the economy won’t be mended, unless the nation’s biggest banks are broken up.

That’s not just me talking, or the Occupier movement, or that wayward executive who resigned from Goldman Sachs a few weeks ago. It’s the conclusion of the Dallas Federal Reserve, one of the most conservative of the Fed’s regional banks.

The lead essay in its just released annual report says a cartel of giant banks continues to hobble the recovery and poses an ongoing danger to the economy. MORE...