Impeachment Duties

Connecticut State Rep. Mike Lawlor has penned an op-ed in the Chicago Tribune, advising his peers in the Illinois legislature on how to think about the prospect of impeaching Governor Rod Blagojevich. Lawlor and the CT legislature impeached criminal governor John Rowland a number of years ago and Lawlor’s experience and thoughtfulness shines through in his piece in the Tribune. Here’s an excerpt from Lawlor’s piece:

Your state constitution, and that of all the other states and the federal government, provides this extraordinary procedure designed to protect the integrity and legitimacy of government in a time of crisis.

It is, in effect, the undoing of a democratic election. By design, it is and should be extremely difficult to undertake. There may come a time when it is both appropriate and necessary. You must decide if this is such an occasion.

This is a political remedy to a political problem. It is a process that frustrates and confounds the best criminal defense attorneys. It is not court. You must not be distracted by legal arguments that assume trial-like procedures and standards.

Your governor will have his day in court. What you are contemplating now is uniquely legislative, not judicial. If you feel that your state’s government is at risk due to the actions of your governor, you should exercise the extraordinary power your constitution gives to you: Remove him from office.

The Butt of A Joke

Per Markos, it’s clear that the joke is and has always been on us.The question remains how we respond to being the butt of a joke before we pick up our marbles and go home.

Just to be clear, here’s the Way Things Work, as listed by kos but previously observed by anyone who has spent upwards of three years blogging:

  1. Republicans ask for the absurd, threaten nuclear/economic armageddon if there’s no action.
  1. Democrats cower in fear.
  1. We try to talk some sense into them.
  1. We get scolded for being unserious, and wanting the terrorists to win/people to lose their jobs.
  1. Democrats promise oversight!
  1. We roll our eyes.
  1. Democrats cave on every single point, but pretend to win anyway.
  1. We wonder what we ever did to deserve this sorry bunch of representatives.
  1. Republicans do whatever the hell they want.
  1. Democrats pretend that no one could’ve ever predicted Republican outrages and express “outrage”. Sometimes, they even write a sternly worded letter!
  1. We make “no one could have foreseen” jokes and wonder what we ever did to deserve this sorry bunch of representatives.
  1. Rinse, lather, repeat.

In all seriousness, one of the online progressive movements greatest risks is that because our hopes rest on timid Democrats who cannot get out of their own way, we are likely to disillusion and burnout the talented people who are fighting for change every day. At a certain point, you can’t help but be cynical about our prospects and the lack of impact our efforts are having on the course of our nation. Continuing in the face of this ongoing joke is hard. Most people still do it, but there will undoubtedly be a point where each individual feels they cannot continue to proceed. I don’t know where that will be for us as a movement, but I don’t doubt that more people will reach it under a Democratic administration than under the previous Republican one.

Bush Auto Deal to Break Unions

Marcy Wheeler lays it out:

Yet then Bush throws in the demands that Republicans made–without noting that this was basically an ideological ploy to break the union, all the while demanding that employees of American-owned companies make significantly less than the employees of Japanese-owned companies.

Targets: The terms and conditions established by Treasury will include additional targets that were the subject of Congressional negotiations but did not come to a vote, including:

  • Reduce debts by 2/3 via a debt for equity exchange.
  • Make one-half of VEBA payments in the form of stock.
  • Eliminate the jobs bank. Work rules that are competitive with transplant auto manufacturers by 12/31/09.
  • Wages that are competitive with those of transplant auto manufacturers by 12/31/09.

These terms and conditions would be non-binding in the sense that negotiations can deviate from the quantitative targets above, providing that the firm reports the reasons for these deviations and makes the business case to achieve long-term viability in spite of the deviations.

In addition, the firm will be required to conclude new agreements with its other major stakeholders, including dealers and suppliers, by March 31, 2009.

Remember, the measure the Republicans were using to measure “wages that are competitive with those of transplant auto manufacturers” was the lizard lie number–the $73/hour, the number that includes legacy costs, the payments to retiree pensions. Otherwise, there would be no reason to make this stipulation–because if you use the real wage number, and not the lizard lie number, American manufacturer wages are already competitive with the transplants!!

So what Bush is demanding is that the UAW lower wages plus pensions to the level of Japanese wages plus pension (though since they have very few retirees, their pension number is basically zero). Alternately, they could lower this number by basically picking the pocket of a bunch of seniors, by taking away pension money those seniors already earned while they were still working. But one or the other will have to happen.

Now, Bush did give the Obama Administration an escape hatch: the ability to deviate from the quantitative targets provided that the companies report why they did so.

But as written, Bush’s last major act as President is to demand that workers for American-owned companies work less than workers for foreign owned companies. American capitalism, at its finest.

The Republicans have consistently sought to use a Detroit bailout to break the UAW. Blue collar factory workers have always been held to a different (read: lower) standard for bailouts than the white collar compatriots of the GOP on Wall Street. The parts of the bill that explicitly require workers at American companies make less than workers at foreign companies should be enough for Congress to oppose it.

The GOP has spent much of the last eight years preaching about the existence of people who hate America as a political attack on Democrats. While those narratives were always bunk, it is apparent that there are people in our government and ruling political class who hate most of America and want American workers to fail. Clearly now we see that it’s Bush and the Republican Party. This is sickening.

Rep. Solis to Labor Dept. – A Win for Workers

President-elect Barack Obama has nominated California Democrat Hilda Solis to be Labor secretary. This is a great pick for working Americans, the labor movement, and progressives.

I have a post of on SEIU’s blog that goes into Solis’s labor record in some depth, especially her forceful advocacy for the Employee Free Choice Act. You can read the post here. It’s worth noting that though I’ve been working at SEIU for three months, this is the first opportunity I’ve had to contribute to the blog. I’m glad to do it in such an exciting moment.

Torture

The New York Times editorial board gets shrill:

We can understand that Americans may be eager to put these dark chapters behind them, but it would be irresponsible for the nation and a new administration to ignore what has happened — and may still be happening in secret C.I.A. prisons that are not covered by the military’s current ban on activities like waterboarding.

A prosecutor should be appointed to consider criminal charges against top officials at the Pentagon and others involved in planning the abuse.

I hope that the editors of the Times keep these words in mind as the Obama administration starts. If Obama and AG Eric Holder decide to pursue investigation and prosecution into Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Haynes, Addington, Cheney, and Bush, the Times must remember that they were in favor of it at a time not long ago. And if the Obama administration ends up not having the courage and patriotism to investigate how Bush administration officials strayed so far from the law and the rule of law to do such great damage to our nation, our security, and our reputation abroad, then I hope the Times ed board calls them out for that failure.

You can’t just move past torture policies that originated under the direction of the White House. We cannot let this rotting cut into the American character continue to fester under the bandage of willed ignorance.

New Yorkers Deserve Better Than the Palin Treatment

As if aristocracy wasn’t enough of an insult to voters, Caroline Kennedy is giving New Yorkers the Sarah Palin treatment.

In a carefully controlled strategy reminiscent of the vice-presidential hopeful Sarah Palin, aides to Caroline Kennedy interrupted her on Wednesday and whisked her away when she was asked what her qualifications are to be a United States senator.

In her first public appearance since letting it be known that she wants to succeed Hillary Rodham Clinton, Ms. Kennedy emerged from a closed-door meeting with Matthew J. Driscoll, the mayor of Syracuse, where about a dozen reporters were waiting.

She offered a 30-second statement saying that she would respect the process undertaken by Gov. David A. Paterson to fill the vacancy.

Then, as reporters asked why Ms. Kennedy was seeking the Senate seat and whether she was ready, she did not answer, then walked away, heading toward a waiting black sport-utility vehicle.

When one reporter asked what she would tell New Yorkers who question whether she has the qualifications for the job, Ms. Kennedy, 51, started to respond. But then an aide stopped her from saying more, and led her to the waiting vehicle.

“Hopefully I can come back and answer all those questions,” she called out as she got into the S.U.V.

I’m sure her handlers, lead by former Lieberman consultant Josh Isay, think not saying anything to anyone in public about her qualifications or aspirations for New York’s Senate seat is a great idea. But sweet merciful jeebus it’s offensive.

Voters don’t get to have a say in Governor Paterson’s selection. But Kennedy should at least treat New Yorkers with enough respect to answer questions, speak in public, and make a case to the people she seeks to represent. Maybe she hasn’t realized it yet, but that extends beyond the Empire State’s political power brokers (no matter what part of the state she’s in).

I don’t live in New York anymore, but this stuff is really getting me angry.

China Renews Censorship Post-Olympics

No one could have predicted…

China said it has the right to block Web sites its says break its laws after being accused of restarting the practice it halted during the August Olympic Games as part of a promise to widen media freedom.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Tuesday that certain Web sites had breached Chinese law by recognizing “two Chinas” — a reference to the self-ruled island Taiwan.

Liu, however, wouldn’t say whether any Web sites had been censored.

“Undeniably, on some Web sites, there are some issues that go against Chinese law. For example, some Web sites are actually creating two countries — that is one China, one Taiwan. They treat Taiwan as an independent country, which is against our law of anti-secessionism,” he said during a regularly scheduled press conference, without naming the organizations.

Censorship actually existed in China at a much higher level than Beijing and the I.O.C. had promised foreign journalists. There was a consistent and loud outcry against the blockage of controversial sites during the Olympics that was basically met by China saying “Shut the f*** up.” That they would step even farther away from the Olympics-timed levels of access should not be shocking to anyone.

Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists has a good quote in the AP piece:

“It’s clear that China has no intention of fulfilling the hopes it raised when it was awarded the 2008 Olympic Games that the Chinese media universe would enter a period of expansion,” said Bob Dietz, the group’s Asia program coordinator, in a statement.

“Instead, all we have seen is a continuation of the same narrow policies of official resistance and restriction of foreign and local media,” he said.

The net result is that Beijing’s ruling party leaders exploited the symbol of the Olympics to bring in billions of dollars to their economy, put forward an image of a respectable (if not respected) partner in the global community, and then immediately flicked a switch and returned to how they were. Let’s be clear — China’s brutal behavior before and during the Olympics in Tibet, East Turkestan, towards dissidents and those displaced by Olympics construction was reprehensible. One of the only areas which even approached actual improvement – though as I pointed out above, did not reach their promised goals – was internet access for special groups of foreign journalists. Yet it’s clear that there has been no prolonged or sustained media and information freedom inside China. Just as we predicted.

Via Chris in Paris.

Aristocracy vs Democracy

I was born in Brooklyn and have lived about half my life in New York. As a result, I find statements like this, on Caroline Kennedy’s pursuit of New York’s Senate vacancy, even more offensive than I might were I merely an American citizen.

“It’s a tough thing — you can’t run against the little girl at the funeral,” said an adviser to one of Kennedy’s main rivals, referring to the image of young Caroline at JFK’s interment.

“If she wants it, I don’t see how anyone will stop her.”

I would hope that anyone would stop an aristocrat who has never held nor sought public office from being handed a Senate seat. She is not entitled to it, any more than I am entitled to a date with Angelina Jolie.

America is a democracy that has a very troubled relationship with aristocracies. But recent events make clear that we have a great deal of trouble with the concept of elections. At this moment, four Senate seats will be filled in non-democratic and unaccountable fashions: New York, Illinois, Delaware and Colorado.  It’s possible that more will emerge as President-elect Obama fills his cabinet. In the case of Illinois, there is a real problem as to how the process played out. Corruption emerged as a force precisely because the succession process was not democratic. It may be a well-trod phrase, but there isn’t a problem in a democracy that can’t be solved with more democracy.

Senate seats are too important and too special to be passed around like chips in a poker-patronage game. I think it’s high time that Congress pursue a constitutional amendment requiring special elections to fill all vacated federal elected offices. Enough of the aristocracy’s entitlement. Enough of the corruption. Enough of elite horse trading as a substitute for democratic elections. Let’s have a constitutional amendment that will sort this all out, once and for all.

Shorter Google

Shorter Google:

Hey we can afford tiered service in a non-net neutrality world. What, can’t you?

Google isn’t a partner with the progressive movement. They will sometimes line up with us, but at the end of the day they will choose to act on behalf of their corporate bottom line and not their motto of “Don’t Be Evil.” Of course, that’s what they are — a giant corporation. The best way to ensure progressives aren’t disappointed when companies like Google stop being good partners is to not go out of the way to praise them for the moments when they happen to do the right thing. They will always have their eyes on the scale and can’t be expected to do things that are good for anyone other than Google and their shareholders. We saw this with the launch of the censor engine Google.cn and the company’s flailing (and failing) defense of itself for buoying a fascist government like China’s. That we see it again with net neutrality should come as no surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention.