The value of the blogosphere above all else is that it has allowed other political minds to widely distribute articles that can serve as a preferable option to Maureen Dowd’s psycho-babble and Thomas Friedman’s oblivious world of false equivalency.

Yassiin Bey (formerly Mos Def) and Talib Kweli are Black Star performing “Fix Up” on the Colbert Report

Dan Savage on gay black teens forming gangs in D.C. to strike back at bullies:

They’re bashing back. Good for them… so long as they’re just bashing bashers.

via The Gangs of D.C. | Slog.

Nothing can be worse for these teens future than being a party to gang violence with deadly weapons. (and damn the list of weapons that doesn’t include guns. I would bet that for the 20 or 50 in this gang, straw sale guns are not out of the question).

They are still young, they are still people of color and they are still black and still mostly male. They can and will be tried as adults (and once DCPD get’s wind of this, they will have a higher chance of being tried as adults).

A Political reason to reject this nonsense is that the US Congress can make laws for D.C. and the Republican controlled house bolstered by “law and order” Democrats can make targeted no tolerance, anti-gang laws that would turn more of these kids into prison residents. I am sure the Tea Party/Republican party would love to get a 2fer: create a zero tolerance policy that penalizes young black gays.

Also, these bullies may not be the captain of the football team at Bayside High. The people bullying them may not be so easy to beat and even if they can be beaten, they may be able to call in some “go gets”: as in going to get their own crew, get their relatives to strike back or “go get” their firearm.

Should they come together? yes. Should they protect themselves? Absolutely.Will violence stop at “just the bashers”, I highly doubt it, therefore this is just something that is unsupportable.

The caveat “good for them….so long as they’re just bashing bashers” is completely invalid. It’s like declaring war on Afghanistan and thinking our “smart bombs” will only kill terrorists. Violence doesn’t work that way, once you scale it up it’s hard to scale down.

It’s final, extremely personal and the coldness and depressing rage that drives violence isn’t discrete or discerning.

Kottke links to a Gothamist interview of a “Rape Cop” Juror:

Gothamist is trying something new: long-form articles available for a small fee ($2-3) on the Kindle or as a PDF. The first one in the series is a real corker…Confessions of a “Rape Cop” Juror, a piece written by a member of the jury that acquitted two NYPD officers charged with raping a young woman in her East Village apartment.

via Confessions of a “Rape Cop” Juror.

First : The one thing that bugs me out about the article is that the juror went to meet the defendant after the trial. I don’t think I could or would have done that with the plaintiff or defendant for the criminal or civil trials I was a juror for. I just wanted to be out of the dispute, the civil one not so serious insurance liability case and the criminal one a gravely serious juvenile murder case. Being on a jury makes a dispute, between two parties the most important problem in your life for as along as you sit on that jury. Either way, I wanted out of their dispute once our charge was fulfilled.

Second: Your most important vote is your vote as a juror. In the rape cop trial, the overwhelming majority of the jurors seemed to lean towards not guilty on the most serious charges from he beginning of the deliberations. Often, it may be one or two jurors who sway the group to one verdict or another (or deadlock a jury). When you see a trial on TV or some punitive measure you dislike (whether too harsh or lenient in your opinion) and shake your head at the outcome, just consider that next time you get the jury duty notice for your community.

Three: I think the Gothamist new purchase model for long form articles is a pretty decent idea, not sure if the price is right, but it’s a step in figuring out how good journalism can be paid for and I’m generally for that.

But this is the ground where the Republicans are fully prepared to fight this tax rate battle: millionaires just don’t make enough to be considered rich. Unbelievable.

Been swamped professionally and personally lately, so my blogging and news reading has been sporadic and behind the “news cycle” which is good.

But just a quick anecdote. A acquaintance of mine from college is a Conservative Republican and posted to his facebook feed: “Great job Obama: DJIA 10,998.30 -297.51.” on the 9th of this month. Liberal bloggers picked up the echo chamber of this nonsense Fox Nation headline declaring that the stock market tumble was Obama’s fault disregarding the true story: Greece’s economic issues and the Euro-Zone’s austerity measures have continued to keep sending shock waves through the markets. These awful news headlines will always be have two fold impact on the reader: first by over hyping some imagined error committed by the President to a shocking world altering crisis the idea of Obama is a “wrong track” president takes hold, second by burying the real crises, the reader is never informed.

A lot of people watch Fox News or Fox News shows. People that aren’t necessarily staunch conservatives. Until Democrats develop political presence and personalities (Beyond Obama and the Clintons) take the air out of the room, this type of lie by headline will continue to take hold in the national conversation. It’s not about arguing with Fox News logic, it’s about getting people to focus on other sources. I’m not saying I know how, or that I get paid to figure that out, I just hope that the people that do get paid are figuring it out.

Boehner boasts to Biden about golf ’round of the decade’ – The Hill’s Video.

-This is like when pro sports coaches share friendly banter before the game. I like it better when the sound’s off.

I just watched this yesterday. I tend to be less upset about Obama or his performance. I give him a B+ to A- depending on what news I hear about MMS or the EPA this week.

Politically, it was a good speech in the fact that:

• Stopped negative “caving” beltway press narrative and gave them one liners that most of the beltway insiders enjoy like: “It’s simple math” and “Pass this bill”
• Laid out some basic, understandable policy initiatives related to things we can touch/feel/see: bridges, roads, labor, payroll tax cut, unemployment extension, etc.
• Was “a jobs plan” that makes the Republicans play on Democrats home turf (unlike the debt ceiling mess which hinged on GOP’s fraudulent deficit concerns)
• Was watched by 31m+ viewers in 23m+ households. That means a lot of people are concerned enough about the future, but still trusting of the president to listen to what he has to say. (also they aren’t wrong headed, backwards priority having jerks like me who went to get a seat at the bar at 6:50 to watch the beginning of Fantasy Football Season)
• Helped to stem liberal criticism of Obama’s priorities and Democratic criticism of Obama’s alleged neglect of the bully pulpit

I always think summers have been disastrous and the fall to Spring months have been the best times for the Democratic Party under the Obama Administration. So now is the time when for some reason, the Dems tend to get their ducks in a row.

Either way, for his administration, this is crunch time, the “4th quarter”: capital injection, job programs and state aid needs to come from the Federal Government and/or The Federal Reserve to have time to work through the economy.

Anyone who is rooting for 44 should all just hope he’s less like Lebron and more like say Hank Aaron.

Ben Nelson for a Scott Brown & Bob Corker.

This is a poll tax, pure and simple:

Wisconsin Republicans recently passed a controversial bill requiring that voters provide valid photo identification at the polls. Those IDs are free, if you ask—if you don’t, they’re $28. And that Department of Transportation memo recommending that staffers not tell applicants that state IDs are free? Just a coincidence that it was authored by a former Republican staffer!

Wisc. Official Tells Staff to Keep Quiet About Free Voter IDs.

 

I am not one who is upset about the extreme caution and warning from FEMA, DHS, PEMA and Philadelphia’s OEM. Millions are without power. Rivers are flooding. Unsecured property has been destroyed. Thousands of trees f ell. What they did was make sure that anyone who didn’t have to be hurt or lose property didn’t so that resources could be used for those who are most at risk.

That’s the point.