Month: September 2012

Fresh off the griddle, it’s Scrapple TV’s new Piggie of the Week.

This time is it none other than Mitt Romney. Please share widely!

I expected this to be sarcasm, but it wasn’t. The Republicans are at the beginning stages of having a conversation with themselves about why they lost the election. You have one group who will argue that the only problem was the candidate at the top of the ticket. You have another group who will argue that the problem was the influence of the Tea Party. Then we’ll have little subgroups who think they could have won with Romney if only he was more conservative, or if he had moved aggressively to the middle. Some will blame the Establishment for forcing a squishy flip-flopping idiot on the party. But I really doubt that there will ever be any real consensus about what caused the problem. Mitt Romney will be a punching bag, but that won’t sufficiently explain why the GOP blew chances to win Senate seats in Indiana and Wisconsin and Massachusetts and Missouri and North Dakota and Nevada. It won’t help them explain why they lost the House of Representatives (if that happens).

I don’t think anyone can seriously argue that Rick Perry or Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann were going to do a lot better than Mitt Romney. The candidate is badly flawed, but so were all the other Republicans who ran for the nomination this year. And even if the GOP had a more telegenic and skilled politician, they’d still have to deal with the incredibly unpopular ideas that have become mainstream within the party.

That’s the real problem. People don’t want to change how our government operates in any fundamental way. They basically like how it has operated since FDR put the structure in place and Truman and Eisenhower ironed out the details. People just want adults to solve problems as they arise, and they don’t need all the drama the Republicans create about everything, however mundane. The Republicans have become a radical party whose policies are so different from the status quo, and so unsupported by the people, that they don’t really dare speak about their policies openly. That’s why Romney is so vague. But anyone else serious about winning would be vague, too, since no one but their base wants what the GOP is selling.

When the Republicans have this debate with themselves in earnest, after the elections, they’ll also have to figure out how to deal with the problem that they’re a party that is openly hostile to Latinos in a country where that is not a viable thing to be.

Iran nuclear chief reveals sabotage at Fordow facility

TEHRAN, Iran (PressTV) – Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) has revealed sabotage operations at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility in August just ahead of a scheduled visit by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors.

“On Friday August 17, 2012, power lines running from the city of Qom to Fordow facility were cut using explosives. It should be reminded that power outage is a way of damaging centrifuge machines. In the early hours of the following day, [IAEA] inspectors demanded a snap inspection of the facility,” Dr. Fereydoun Abbasi told the IAEA meeting in Vienna.

Abbasi went on to warn the UN nuclear watchdog against the infiltration by “terrorists and saboteurs.” “We must make director-general of IAEA and his colleagues aware of this issue and give the necessary warning [to them].”

 « click for uranium enrichment

Who’s Sabotaging Iran’s Nuclear Program?

Iran: Saboteurs cut power lines to nuclear bunker

(Jerusalem Post) – Explosives were used to cut the electricity power lines to Iran’s Fordow underground enrichment plant last month in an apparent attempt to sabotage Tehran’s atomic advances, its nuclear energy chief said.

He also told the annual member state gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that “the same act” had been carried out on power lines to Iran’s main enrichment plant near the central town of Natanz, without giving a date.

Iran has often accused Israel and Tehran’s Western enemies of being behind the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists and of trying to damage its nuclear program in other ways, such as cyber attacks.

Iran uses the Fordow facility to enrich uranium to a fissile concentration of 20 percent, the part of its work that most worries the West as it takes it significantly closer to the 90 percent level needed for bombs. It built the site some 80 metres below rock and soil to better protect it against enemy strikes.

Abbasi-Davani, in unusually strong language in an international forum, also accused the IAEA of a cynical approach and mismanagement and suggested that “terrorists and saboteurs” might have infiltrated it.

IDF Special Forces Command To Attack Iran – OpEd

US accused of creating three more computer super-viruses

(RT) – Two independent teams of researchers studying the Flame computer virus believe that the maker of the malware — all but certain to be the United States — has architected three additional programs to conduct clandestine cyberwar or espionage.

Both Symantec Corp of the United States and Kaspersky Lab of Russia acknowledged on Monday that their research of Flame has led them to believe that whoever had a role in creating that virus has also put their efforts behind three other similar programs.

A team of engineers at Kaspersky released new information on Monday collected during forensic analysis of Flame command-and-Control servers that were examined with the assistance of Symantec, ITU-IMPACT and CERT-Bund/BSI. Researchers had first disclosed in May that Flame, a sophisticated espionage virus, targeted computer systems in Iran and was likely the product of a nation-state, specifically the US. With this week’s update, however, it appears as if the United States’ endeavors in cyberwar may have stretched past even what researchers had imagined.

“Based on the code from the servers, it can be said that they were working with at least three other programs similar to Flame. The code names of those programs are IP, SP and SPE,” Kaspersky Lab chief security expert Aleks Gostev told RT.

Although the United States government has not gone on the record to take credit for either Flame or Stuxnet, a similar computer worm that targeted Iranian nuclear facilities first discovered in 2010, experts have long maintained that the US is involved in both viruses, perhaps even enlisting Israeli scientists for assistance.

Stuxnet Super Virus – US/Israel Cooperation Cyber Warfare on Iran

During the Republican National Convention, I went to get a haircut because I was going to be appearing on an internet feed the next day and I was looking a little scraggly. When the middle-aged woman who was cutting my hair realized that I was a Democratic consultant, she began telling me stories. She was a registered Republican, she told me, because years ago her mother informed her that she needed to register as a Republican if she ever wanted anything from a politician. I laughed and said, “Yeah, that used to be true.” She admitted that she had ‘dated herself’ by telling me that, and then proceeded to rip on the Republicans and their convention for the remainder of my haircut.

It used to be very true that Republicans ruled the Philly suburbs every bit as much as the Democratic machine ruled the city. Democrats didn’t really break that grip until the 2006 midterms, when we won the 7th and 8th Districts, and almost won the 6th. We also won races for county commissioner and control of numerous town councils. In 2008, that trend continued. And, while we lost everything in the 2010 beat-down, the old ways have not returned. The Philly suburbs remain so solidly pro-Obama that Romney isn’t even contesting the state.

We have two strong challengers running for newly-drawn seats in the Philly suburbs this year. In my home district, the sixth, Dr. Manan Trivedi is taking his second shot at Rep. Jim Gerlach. In Bucks County, Kathy Boockvar is trying to oust Rep. Mike Fitzpatrick. I want to talk a little about these two Republicans.

If you look at Progressive Punch, you see that Mike Fitzpatrick is listed as the 2nd most moderate Republican in the House, and Gerlach is listed as the 9th most moderate. That is in keeping with the pro-Obama nature of their districts. But it is really deceptive.

For example, the people of Pennsylvania’s 6th and 8th districts will probably be surprised to know that both Fitzpatrick and Gerlach have received a zero score from NARAL Pro-Choice America for 2011. That’s indistinguishable from far-right members like Missouri’s Todd Akin. In fact, amazingly, both Gerlach and Fitzpatrick were actually co-sponsors of H.R. 3, a bill which, in its original form, removed the rape exception except for in cases of “forcible” rape. There’s nothing moderate about that. In addition, both voted to allow hospitals to deny women emergency abortions even when their lives are in imminent peril. They both voted (twice) to completely defund Planned Parenthood, which would deny millions of women cancer screenings, access to contraception, and other critical medical care.

These extreme positions are why so many people have accused the Republicans of waging a “War on Women.” And when some of the most supposedly “moderate” Republicans in the House are co-sponsoring bills that redefine rape, there is no moderation left in the modern GOP. I think most voters in Pennsylvania’s 6th and 8th Districts value what Planned Parenthood does and don’t want to see it closed down for lack of federal funding. I don’t personally know anyone who thinks a woman should be denied life-saving medical care just because a hospital has moral objections to abortion. That’s just flat-out crazy.

From now to election day, each week I will be discussing at least one crazy vote that Gerlach and Fitzpatrick have taken. They may look like good fits for the Philly suburbs if you look at some stat sheet, but they’re voting like Deep South Republicans, and it’s time to vote them out of office.

Support Manan Trivedi and Kathy Boockvar.

[The writer is a consultant for Democracy for America].

It’s going to be pretty tough to win back control of the House of Representatives. It’s definitely doable, but we don’t have much cushion. We need to win 25 seats and there are probably no more than about 35 Republican-held districts where we have a well-funded and credible candidate who has a real shot at victory. But John Boehner is doing everything he can think of to convince the American people that he’s terrible at his job and needs to be replaced. The latest fiasco is the Farm Bill. This is a bill that normally passes with absolutely no difficulty every five years. And that’s what happened in the Senate, where 16 Republicans joined with the Democrats to pass a bill back in June.

In the House Agriculture Committee, a version of the Farm Bill passed 35-11 in July. That’s the definition of bipartisan. Yet, Speaker Boehner says he doesn’t have the votes to pass the bill so he doesn’t want to have a vote at all. Since the five-year Farm Bill expires on September 30th, it’s kind of important that the House gets something done, so they’re talking about a 3-month or 1-year extension. Farmers are starting to freak out, which is why some Republicans have signed onto something called a ‘discharge petition.’ Basically, if a majority of congresspeople sign it, it forces a vote on the Farm Bill. It is not normal for members of the majority party to sign discharge petitions. It’s an open act of defiance. There’s no risk that a majority will sign the petition and force a vote, but it makes Speaker Boehner look bad.

And why shouldn’t he look bad? This is a Speaker who couldn’t convince his own caucus to pay our bills on time until a credit rating agency downgraded our nation’s AAA credit rating. Now he can’t pass a farm bill that sailed through the Senate and his own Agriculture Committee. You can’t blame the president for this. You can’t blame the Democrats. All the blame lies with the lunatic Republicans in the House. They need to be voted out so that we can have a government that works again. Period.

Who Filmed and Leaked the Mitt Romney Fund-raiser Video? [Updated]

(NY Magazine) – Here’s what we know about the covert video taken of Mitt Romney in which he admits to rich donors in plain terms that he’s given up on 47 percent of America: It was filmed on May 17, in the Florida home of private equity manager Marc Leder; portions of it have been floating around on YouTube for at least three months, uploaded by users named “RomneyExposed,” “Rachel Maddow,” and “Anne Onymous”; and eventually, the full version was obtained by Mother Jones reporter David Corn, with Jimmy Carter’s researcher grandson acting as a liaison. What we don’t know is who at the $50,000-per-plate fund-raiser set up a hidden camera, pressed record, and started the clip’s viral spread. But we have some clues.

As an addendum to the video, Mother Jones has published a list of potential Romney donors from in and around Boca Raton that may have been present that night, but it seems unlikely that anyone dropping 50 grand to meet the candidate would have any interest in sharing his comments with a liberal magazine. (Although a disgruntled date can’t be ruled out.) What about the event’s caterers and various other staff employed at Leder’s home? At similar Obama events, all cell phones are confiscated [dated May 15, 2012] regardless.

Mitt Romney entertains the 1% with views on Chinese slave labor and Bain Capital

Romney Tapes Give Way To The Not-So-Calm After The Storm

• Republican Inside Job? The website RomneyExposed

My birthday is almost over, but I have to say that the best gift I received was delivered by David Corn. Thanks, David, you made my day!! The most remarkable thing about what has happened in the presidential campaign is how the right has peeled away from Romney and started attacking him. The only comfort Romney is getting is from folks who actually like what he said at that May fundraiser and want him to double or triple down on those remarks. In other words, the Tea Party racists are the only people still in Romney’s camp. And that means that the Tea Party is going to own this defeat. The GOP Establishment will line up behind Jeb Bush on Nov. 7. But they will discover that they no longer control the Grand Old Party at all.

According to WAPO Election Blog Team Mitt was at least eleven million dollars short in primary campaign funds.  So, they just took out a $20 million loan to get them to the General Election monies.

In campaign financing terms that eleven million dollars will not be considered a big deal.  But how many Romney donors didn’t chip in the maximum?  The not wealthy GOP donors that Mitt insulted this week?

The Weekly Standard continues to lambaste Mitt Romney:

Plenty of conservatives are pushing back against the worldview espoused by Mitt Romney in his “arrogant and stupid’ remarks at a private fundraiser earlier this year.

The conservative case against Romney’s analysis is multi-pronged. His description of the 47 percent who don’t pay income taxes as “dependents” flies in the face of the conservative view that Americans should be paying fewer, not more, taxes. And historically, most Americans have not paid income taxes. Moreover, most of those who don’t pay income taxes still contribute to the federal government in the form of payroll taxes and other federal taxes and fees. The political argument, that those who are “dependents” won’t be voting for Romney anyway, is demonstrably wrong, and the content and tone of Romney’s remarks don’t strike many conservatives (and others) as particularly presidential.

Has anyone seen a party implode like this since 1972?

Bill Kristol thinks that Mitt Romney is stupid and arrogant. I think that that means that the sentiment is universal. Probably more damaging is Romney’s lack of faith in a two-state solution in Palestine. If Romney became president, he’d immediately make America the enemy of virtually every country in the world not named Israel. Yes, even countries like England, France, Germany, Japan, and South Korea would feel compelled to keep their distance from a Romney presidency. That’s how toxic his position on the Palestinians is.