Live Free...and Get Married

New Hampshire passes a marriage equality bill.

New Hampshire's Senate passed a bill on Wednesday that would legalize same-sex marriage after an amendment was added that allows clergy to decline to marry gay couples.

The bill, which passed in a 13-11 vote, needs to be signed by Governor John Lynch to make New Hampshire the fifth U.S. state where gay marriage is legal. The Democrat has not indicated whether he will sign or veto the bill, but has expressed opposition to the measure.

The bill passed the state's House of Representatives on March 26 but looked set for near certain defeat in the Senate before the amendment, which appeared to mollify some critics in the Democratic-controlled chamber.

The last-minute changes to the legislation would allow clergy to decline to marry homosexual couples and give couples the freedom to either keep the words "bride" and "groom" on marriage licenses, or use the word "spouse" instead.

If it survives, that will make five states -- 10% of the states in the union -- that have legalized same-sex marriage.

Onward.

HT to Melissa.
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But Who's Counting?

Byron York of the National Review says that President Obama's high poll numbers are only because he's very popular among the African-American community.

On his 100th day in office, Barack Obama enjoys high job approval ratings, no matter what poll you consult. But if a new survey by the New York Times is accurate, the president and some of his policies are significantly less popular with white Americans than with black Americans, and his sky-high ratings among African-Americans make some of his positions appear a bit more popular overall than they actually are.

Mr. York's contention is that if you don't count the black voters, Mr. Obama would be just your average president. The assumption is that African-Americans support Mr. Obama simply because he's "one of them," not because they might agree with his policies -- they're too stupid to know anything about complicated issues like health care, education, and unemployment -- and therefore their opinion shouldn't really count.

And the GOP wonders why they can't get any traction with the African-American community.
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100 Days Presser

For those of you who were watching Fox broadcast "Lie to Me," (oh irony, where is thy sting?) and skipped the president's prime time news conference, Josh Marshall has the tick-tock on it.

My impression was that here's a man with a hell of a lot coming at him and he's handling it well, at least on the outside -- calm, cool, occasionally able to make a joke, and still able to manage a lot of detail. The guy is Wonk Personified but not too narrowly focused that he can't grasp the overall picture. He has a deft touch, and if he can make self-deprecating remarks and yet come across as completely in control, that says he's not in over his head. It's no wonder that the GOP is in full-tilt freak mode, throwing everything they can at him and blaming him for all their woes. But the president isn't buying it --

"To my Republican friends, I want them to realize that me reaching out to them has been genuine," he said. "If I'm taking some of your ideas and giving you credit for good ideas, the fact that you didn't get 100 percent can't be a reason every single time to oppose my position. And if that is how bipartisanship is defined, a situation in which basically, wherever there are philosophical differences, I have to simply go along with ideas that have been rejected by the American people in a historic election, you know, we're probably not going to make progress."

It's a good bet the 61% of the electorate that give him their approval aren't buying it, either.
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What a Hoot

There are intentionally cruel people like Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and then there are just plain stupid people, a point that Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) continues to prove.

On Monday night [...] Bachmann took to the House floor and paid tribute to the economic policies of Calvin Coolidge and the "Roaring 20s" (the era that ended with a massive monetary contraction and the Great Depression). One particular line really does stand out, though -- saying Franklin Roosevelt turned a recession into a depression through the "Hoot-Smalley" tariffs.

Here's what really happened: When Franklin Roosevelt took office, unemployment was already about 25%. And the tariff referred to here was actually the Smoot-Hawley bill, co-authored by Republicans Sen. Reed Smoot of Utah and Rep. Willis Hawley of Oregon, and signed into law by President Herbert Hoover.

Or was it Hoobert Heever?

It should also be noted that Smoot-Hawley was passed in 1930, three years before FDR took office and was repealed in 1934, a year after he was sworn in.

On top of her mistaking who was president in 1976 when she noted the "coincidence" of a swine flu outbreak when a Democrat was in the White House, it sounds like someone should slip her a copy of the New Big Book of U.S. Presidents - A Young Reader's Guide to the Presidency; it's got awesome pictures and simple words so she can understand it. Better yet, there's the American Presidents Coloring Book so she can keep busy and out of trouble.

Is it any wonder that conservatives think Stephen Colbert is serious when you have lunatics like Ms. Bachmann running around?
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Evil, Wicked, and Cruel

Nothing the right wing says surprises or shocks me anymore, especially when it comes to things like gay rights or marriage equality. That's why when I saw this clip of Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) say that labeling the murder of Matthew Shephard a hate crime was a "hoax" doesn't shock me.

Rep. Foxx: "The bill was named after a very unfortunate incident that happened, where a young man was killed, but we know that that young man was killed in the commitment of robbery. It wasn't because he was gay. The bill was named for him, the hate crimes bill was named for him, but it's, it's really a hoax, that that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills."[House Floor Speech, 4/29/09]

All the evidence, including a sworn statement by one of the killers of Mr. Shephard, says that of course it was a hate crime; he was singled out and killed because he was gay. That's not the issue. The right-wing and anti-gay lobby has used this line of attack before; Matthew Shephard was "asking for it," or the "gay panic" defense, used when a man beats the crap out of another man because he thought he was being approached for sex. Underlying it all is that being gay is not worth protecting against being lynched, and the LGBT community is asking for "special rights" when they have the temerity to ask that sexual orientation be included in the decades-old law that allows federal investigation and prosecution of hate crimes based on race, religion, and national origin.

Again, that's nothing new, and again, that's not the issue. What is the issue is that Ms. Foxx and her like-minded right-wingers can get up on the floor of the House of Representatives and make these claims and say that it's an attempt to legislate against hate speech -- it's not, as Glenn Greenwald points out -- and do it in the presence of Matthew Shephard's mother and get nothing in response. No one stood up on the floor of the House to demand that Ms. Foxx both get her facts right and apologize for her cruelty to the mother of a murder victim who was sitting in the House gallery watching the debate. There was no one standing in Statuary Hall coming to the defense of both the law and the millions of people who have the same right to be protected against hate crimes as everyone else. Ms. Foxx knew that she could get away with her banal evil, and if confronted, play the victim of hate herself from those icky gays with their Radical Homosexual Agenda. That would probably play very well in her district back in North Carolina.

It should be noted that Ms. Foxx tried to backtrack on her comments, but her contrition isn't about what she said; it was about a "poor choice of words." That means that she hasn't changed her mind -- she still believes the lie -- but she learned a little about P.R.

The good news is that the bill she was speaking against passed the hate crimes bill 249-175 with 18 Republicans voting Yes. But it still means that there are 175 members of Congress, including Democrats, who think it's okay to deny equal protection to people based on the fact that they're gay. That's the banality of evil for you.
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Short Takes

WHO raised the pandemic level to 5 because of the flu.

20 "suspect" cases of flu in Miami-Dade.

Baghdad bombings -- a series of explosions rattles the city.

Budget passes Senate; House passes it with no GOP votes.

The Fed says the recession may be easing, but the GDP still sucks.

Car dealers in South Florida feel the pain.

No deal -- Florida legislature can't work out gambling pact.

Buckle up or $30 -- Gov. Crist will sign Florida seat belt law.

Let it rain -- forecasters predict a wetter than normal rainy season.

Tigers lose to Yankees 8-6.
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Quote of the Day #2

From Ed Rogers, former staffer for President Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush:

Notice to Republicans: Arlen Specter changing parties is good for the Democrats and President Obama and bad for us. If you think otherwise, put down the Ann Coulter book and go get some fresh air.

HT to Alex Koppelman.
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Question of the Day

Following up on the FC's suggestion...

What's your most notable case of missing a chance, to your everlasting regret, of buying something when you had the chance?

Ignoring a family member's advice to buy a ton of Microsoft stock when it first went public. I waited until 1997, and while it split a bunch after that, it still never took off like it did back in the early 90's. (I have terrible luck with the stock market; people look at my portfolio for guidance on what not to buy.) By the way, the question doesn't just apply to a purchase; it could be anything... like passing on a trip to Europe or something like that.
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Quote of the Day

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) on the "coincidence" of a flu epidemic under Democratic administrations.

I find it interesting that it was back in the 1970s that the swine flu broke out then under another Democrat president Jimmy Carter. And I'm not blaming this on President Obama, I just think it's an interesting coincidence.

Except Gerald Ford was president at the time of the swine flu epidemic in 1976.

Don't you just hate it when reality ruins a perfectly good conspiracy theory?
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Dismissive Panic

Watching the GOP reaction to Sen. Arlen Specter's party switch is a study in contrasts. It's both dismissive and panic-stricken. Some Republicans waved it off as just a political tactic aimed at the Pennsylvania electorate while others saw it as a threat to national security.

As I noted yesterday, the degree to which they trash Mr. Specter will be a measure of how much consternation this is causing in their ranks. Apparently it's a lot: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell claims it represents a "threat to the country", and Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says that it gives Americans the choice of "potentially unbridled Democrat super-majority versus the system of checks-and-balances that Americans deserve." Oddly enough, neither of them said that when then-Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado switched from the Democrats to the Republicans or when the Republicans had the majority in the House, the Senate, and held the White House. And of course the Republicans are sending out a fund-raising letter that says "Good Riddance!" to Mr. Specter. These folks are as predictable as a rooster at sunrise.

Contrary to Mr. Cornyn, William Kristol predicts that this will ultimately be good for the Republicans.

I wonder if today’s Arlen Specter party switch, this time to the president’s party, won’t end up being bad for President Obama and the Democrats. With the likely seating of Al Franken from Minnesota, Democrats will have 60 seats in the Senate, giving Obama unambiguous governing majorities in both bodies. He’ll be responsible for everything. GOP obstructionism will go away as an issue, and Democratic defections will become the constant worry and story line. This will make it easier for GOP candidates in 2010 to ask to be elected to help restore some checks and balance in Washington -- and, meanwhile, Specter’s party change won’t likely have made much difference in getting key legislation passed or not. So, losing Specter may help produce greater GOP gains in November 2010, and a brighter Republican future.

Plus, now the Democrats have to put up with him.

However hypocritical the Senator from Texas may be, at least his concern is based on a principle of governing -- checks and balances -- rather than Mr. Kristol's purely partisan electoral outlook. He doesn't care what the Republicans do in office, he wants them in power. I suppose that's to be expected from someone who views governing on the same level as a high school locker room pecker contest, including his rather juvenile sour-grape-flavored "neener neener" punch line. (Glenn Greenwald writes that in one respect Mr. Kristol might be right: "Arlen Specter is one of the worst, most soul-less, most belief-free individuals in politics. The moment most vividly illustrating what Specter is: prior to the vote on the Military Commissions Act of 2006, he went to the floor of the Senate and said what the bill "seeks to do is set back basic rights by some 900 years" and is "patently unconstitutional on its face." He then proceeded to vote YES on the bill's passage.")

As is usually the case when something like this happens, regardless of party, the people caught off-guard come up with the most outrageous excuses for something they inflicted on themselves. To be fair, some in the Republican ranks are acknowledging that the hard right turn the party has taken is causing the damage, including, of all people, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John McCain's BFF during the 2008 campaign. (I have a notion to call up Williams-Sonoma and send him a pot/kettle set.) But to listen to Rush Limbaugh and his kind, Republicans such as Ms. Snowe and Mr. Graham are just as bad as Mr. Specter, and he wants them purged. It's classic traumatic denial, and when events like this keep happening -- as they undoubtedly will -- they will still keep looking for the reasons outside of their own little circle when, of course, they have no one to blame but themselves.

On the upside, watching the meltdown of the right-wing commentariat has been a hoot.
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Tough Room

There's a term in stand-up comedy: "tough room." That means a venue where the audience doesn't get the jokes and sits there in stony silence as the comedian at the mike goes through his routine. According to a study at Ohio State, the average conservative audience who watches The Colbert Report would qualify as a tough room.

This study investigated biased message processing of political satire in The Colbert Report and the influence of political ideology on perceptions of Stephen Colbert. Results indicate that political ideology influences biased processing of ambiguous political messages and source in late-night comedy. Using data from an experiment (N = 332), we found that individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology.

Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements. Conservatism also significantly predicted perceptions that Colbert disliked liberalism.

If Stephen Colbert is only pretending to be a right-wing nutball and the conservative audience can't tell the difference between him and someone like Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly, that tells you something: either Mr. Colbert is a comic genius, or the conservative audience is too stupid to know the difference. Tough choice.
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Short Takes

Patient Zero - The kid who started it all. (Why is it called "swine flu" anyway?)

Flu vaccine is months away.

Senate confirms Sebelius as Secretary of HHS -- About time, too.

Car Buying -- the U.S. Treasury will become a major stakeholder in the auto companies.

42% of Americans support marriage equality.

Fly-over -- President orders an investigation of the incident over lower Manhattan.

Selenium overdose killed the 21 polo horses.

Tigers get shut out by the Yankees. But they still lead the division.
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The Spectre of Arlen Specter

Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter announced this morning that he his switching parties and will run in the 2010 Pennsylvania as a Democrat.

Specter's decision would give Democrats a 60 seat filibuster proof majority in the Senate assuming Democrat Al Franken is eventually sworn in as the next senator from Minnesota. (Former senator Norm Coleman is appealing Franken's victory in the state Supreme Court.)

"I have decided to run for re-election in 2010 in the Democratic primary," said Specter in a statement. "I am ready, willing and anxious to take on all comers and have my candidacy for re-election determined in a general election."

He added: "Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans."

To be sure, there will be plenty of "Good riddance!" posts from conservatives and Republicans who have been exasperated by Mr. Specter's pro-choice stand and his vote for the stimulus package (not to mention that a lot of Republicans find him to be personally abrasive; one of my Republican friends who works on Capitol Hill refers to him as "Snarlin' Arlen"). What they will fail to see is that Mr. Specter's decision is based not only on the fact that Pennsylvania is trending to the Democrats and that he faced a daunting challenger in the Republican primary from former Rep. Pat Toomey who is a hard-right-winger, but that the Republican Party, both in Pennsylvania and nationally, is pushing the moderates out. It's the party of Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, and people who casually throw around words like "secession" and "Fascist" because it has a nice ring to it.

While President Obama said he was "thrilled" to have Mr. Specter join the party, it will be interesting to see how warm the welcome truly is from the Democrats on the Hill and in Pennsylvania. I suspect a lot of people will be thinking he's an opportunist and hitching along on President Obama's high approval ratings to stay in office. Given the fact that Mr. Specter is not known for his humility, he may be irksome in that he'll book a heavy guilt trip the first time he tangles with the Democratic leadership: "Hey, I gave you the 60th vote, you lucky people."

Trust me, this is a big hit against the Republicans, and you will be able to gauge that by how much they'll say they're glad to get rid of him: the louder the dissing the more they admit that it hurts. But the Democrats shouldn't go all giddy, either; Mr. Specter has already proved he can be a thorn in the side of both parties.

---

It's not a surprise to see Mr. Specter switch; the next question is who's next? The two senators from Maine -- Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe -- are moderate Republicans, too. However, they're probably more in line with the politics of the state, and since neither of them have faced serious challengers in recent primaries, they can probably be counted on to remain where they are... and vote with the Democrats when, in true Mainer common sense, it is good for their state.
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Question of the Day

What was I thinking...?

What's your most notable case of buyer's remorse?

Mine was probably my 1984 Subaru station wagon. Underpowered, not especially attractive, and ultimately expensive to fix (extended warranty service contracts -- feh!), I sold it after 70,000 miles and got the Pontiac.
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Running Dick Cheney

Ross Douthat makes his debut as the welcome replacement for William Kristol on the op-ed page of the New York Times with a bit of speculation of what it would have been like had Dick Cheney run for president in 2008 instead of John McCain.

At the very least, a Cheney-Obama contest would have clarified conservatism’s present political predicament. In the wake of two straight drubbings at the polls, much of the American right has comforted itself with the idea that conservatives lost the country primarily because the Bush-era Republican Party spent too much money on social programs. And John McCain’s defeat has been taken as the vindication of this premise.

We tried running the maverick reformer, the argument goes, and look what it got us. What Americans want is real conservatism, not some crypto-liberal imitation.

“Real conservatism,” in this narrative, means a particular strain of right-wingery: a conservatism of supply-side economics and stress positions, uninterested in social policy and dismissive of libertarian qualms about the national-security state. And Dick Cheney happens to be its diamond-hard distillation. The former vice-president kept his distance from the Bush administration’s attempts at domestic reform, and he had little time for the idealistic, religiously infused side of his boss’s policy agenda. He was for tax cuts at home and pre-emptive warfare overseas; anything else he seemed to disdain as sentimentalism.

This is precisely the sort of conservatism that’s ascendant in today’s much-reduced Republican Party, from the talk radio dials to the party’s grassroots. And a Cheney-for-President campaign would have been an instructive test of its political viability.

As a candidate, Cheney would have doubtless been as disciplined and ideologically consistent as McCain was feckless. In debates with Barack Obama, he would have been as cuttingly effective as he was in his encounters with Joe Lieberman and John Edwards in 2000 and 2004 respectively. And when he went down to a landslide loss, the conservative movement might – might! – have been jolted into the kind of rethinking that’s necessary if it hopes to regain power.

He goes on to argue that a Cheney campaign would have been good for the country. True; it would have put to rest once and for all where the majority of voters in America stand on not just the policies but the politics of the Bush era; slash, burn, disdain, all with a smug self-assurance that people like Mr. Cheney and his allies know better how to do everything. As for transparency and openness in the process; well, that would be for them to know and us to find out... much later. Mr. Douthat's prediction that Mr. Cheney would have lost in a landslide also makes it clear that there would be no doubt in any reasonable person's mind that those in favor of ruling the country from undisclosed locations and using talk-radio as the Oracle would have been discredited and relegated to the oblivion they so richly deserved. I think he's a tad optimistic that the GOP might - might! - have taken the opportunity to re-evaluate their platform and methods. As was noted in this post, the True Believers are not only not willing to learn from their mistakes, they're sure that if they just get the chance, they can come back and win in 2010 and 2012 by being even more right-wing and reactionary than before.

As for the aftermath of the release of the torture memos, the chips -- and Dick -- would have fallen where they may, according to Mr. Douthat.

A large swath of the political class wants to avoid the torture debate. The Obama administration backed into it last week, and obviously wants to back right out again.

But the argument isn’t going away. It will be with us as long as the threat of terrorism endures. And where the Bush administration’s interrogation programs are concerned, we’ve heard too much to just “look forward,” as the president would have us do. We need to hear more: What was done and who approved it, and what intelligence we really gleaned from it. Not so that we can prosecute – unless the Democratic Party has taken leave of its senses – but so that we can learn, and pass judgment, and struggle toward consensus.

Here Dick Cheney, prodded by the ironies of history into demanding greater disclosure about programs he once sought to keep completely secret, has an important role to play. He wants to defend his record; let him defend it. And let the country judge.

Finally; a conservative columnist who at least makes the effort to make sense. I have no doubt that there will be times -- more often than not -- that I will disagree with Mr. Douthat, but if this column is any guide, at long last we now have a conservative voice that speaks in reasoned tones, avoids the knee-jerk labels, and encourages thoughtful discourse. Granted, compared to the prior occupant of the space who made mockery of his work almost too easy, Mr. Douthat's task isn't all that hard. I think, however, he's going to draw a bit of fire from the True Believers who will be sure that he's sold out to the liberals.
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Annals of Wingnuttery

Swine flu as a political weapon --

I was just talking to Wendy Wright, the president of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, about the nomination of Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D-Kans.) to run the Department of Health and Human Services. The group opposes the nomination, and Wright is raising some questions about the timing of the swine flu crackdown so close to tomorrow’s cloture vote.

“Some people think that declaring a state of emergency about the flu was a political thing to push the Sebelius nomination through,” said Wright. She pointed to news stories that ask whether the slow-walking of the Sebelius choice will hurt the response to the flu. “If there’s even a hint that [Department of Homeland Security] is manipulating the health situation to push a political appointee through, well, it almost defies imagination that they’d be willing to that.”

Wright said that she’d heard the speculation “on talk radio,” and wanted to be skeptical, but “there’s too much of a basis in that argument to easily dismiss it.”

You can't make this stuff up.
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Gas Price Survey

Oil dropped below $50 a barrel this morning, but it's still over $2 a gallon here in South Florida. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that prices are creeping up but aren't as high as they were a year ago. Yesterday I saw it ranging from $2.17 on US 1 in Coral Gables to $2.09 in Coconut Grove.

When I was traveling last weekend, it was $1.99 at most stations in Independence, Kansas, and in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, it was $1.77. (Hertz's per gallon price for the pay-for-a-tank option was $1.69.) I'm not sure what bumped the price 20 cents a gallon between Kansas and Oklahoma, but it was probably the usual culprit: state and local taxes.

On the mileage front, the Mustang is averaging around 20 to 21 mpg in city driving.

What's it going for in your part of the world?
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Short Takes

Swine Flu -- How to take the proper precautions.

Stopped at the border -- One way to control the flu.

South Florida health officials say they're ready for the swine flu.

Iowa Equality -- Same-sex couples begin to get married in the Hawkeye State.

Florida declines stimulus money to help the unemployed.

Charlie Crist nears Senate decision to run for Mel Martinez's seat from Florida.

Still Closed -- Alligator Alley is still plagued by smoke from wildfires.

Tigers beat Yankees 4-2 at Comerica.
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Buzz Off

It's tough to find a job in this economy. I have a feeling Louis Caldera will be finding that out pretty soon.

An Air Force One lookalike, the backup plane for the one regularly used by the president, flew low over parts of New York and New Jersey on Monday morning, accompanied by two F-16 fighters, so Air Force photographers could take pictures high above the New York harbor.

But the exercise — conducted without any notification to the public — caused momentary panic in some quarters and led to the evacuation of several buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City. By the afternoon, the situation had turned into a political fuse box, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg saying that he was “furious” that he had not been told in advance about the flyover.

At 4:39 p.m. Monday, the White House issued an apology for the flyover. Louis E. Caldera, director of the White House Military Office, who served in the Clinton administration as secretary of the Army, said in a statement:

Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision. While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it’s clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.

The mission on Monday, officials said, was set up to create an iconic shot of Air Force One, similar to one that was taken in recent years over the Grand Canyon.

Wow, what an idiot.
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Orphan

Pontiac Motor Division
1926-2010
It's official: General Motors will eliminate the Pontiac Motor Division by 2010.

GM Chief Executive Officer Fritz Henderson said the Pontiac brand would be closed by 2010, calling it an “extremely personal decision.” In addition to speeding up decisions on Saturn, Saab and Hummer, GM will be left with four brands – Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac.

The corporation is also planning to cut 21,000 jobs and get rid of 2,600 dealers in that time frame. This is all a part of their reorganization plan to stave off bankruptcy, which could conceivably still happen.

So my faithful 1988 Pontiac 6000 LE station wagon in the garage is an orphan. I can't say I'm surprised; GM has really been unsure of what to do with the division for the last ten years or so, trying different ways of redefining it in the marketplace since it got out of the muscle car ("We build excitement") niche and foisting things like the Aztek on an unsuspecting and resentful public. I suppose it had to happen, and while I'm sorry to see the brand go, 83 years is a good long run. My only regret is that true to the corporate mentality, GM did to Pontiac what they did to Oldsmobile in 2001; they slowly starved it to death and then wept over the grave.

Well, no matter what; I still have my Pontiac, and it has a good home.

By the way, lest you think I am being callous about the thousands of people who will be hurt by the loss of the Pontiac brand -- the autoworkers at the plants and their families, the parts suppliers, the dealers and the people who work for them -- I am all too aware of their situation and have spoken of it before, especially when there were those who were saying that it was fine with them if GM went out of business. I think it goes without saying that the management at General Motors owes the people at PMD and all the people touched by this all of the support they can muster to help them through this. It's much more than just the loss of a brand; it's lives and fortunes that will be lost as well, and the company has a duty -- both legal and moral -- to leave these people and their families and their towns with a sense of dignity and gratitude for the years they put in to make the cars and make the lives they had. There's more than just a car nameplate being orphaned here.

The Faithful Correspondent reminded me in the comments (using the alias of "Guest") that we had a 1954 Pontiac station wagon when I was a kid. Here's a picture of a 1954 Pontiac, although ours was a mint green with dark green trim.

1954 Pontiac
This is from the gallery of Memory Lane Classic Cars in Portland, Oregon. What I remember most about the car was sitting in the front seat and pretending that the circular grille on the radio speaker was the steering wheel.
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Go Lemmings Go!

I saw the bumper sticker in the title on a bulletin board in a classroom at Independence Community College in Independence, Kansas, where the Inge Festival is held. I think that pretty much sums up the attitude of the grassroots Republicans as depicted in this post at Politico. They are not ready to compromise on such issues as marriage equality, reproductive choice, or other hot buttons that get the talk-show phone lines going and the wingnuts like Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. Steve King (R-IA) on TV.

Rank-and-file Republicans remain, by all indications, staunchly conservative, and they appear to have no desire to moderate their views. GOP activists and operatives say they hear intense anger at the White House and at the party’s own leaders on familiar issues – taxes, homosexuality, and immigration. Within the party, conservative groups have grown stronger absent the emergence of any organized moderate faction.

There is little appetite for compromise on what many see as core issues, and the road to the presidential nomination lies – as always – through a series of states where the conservative base holds sway, and where the anger appears to be, if anything, particularly intense.

It's not just the issues, either. As the Tea Parties demonstrated very clearly, the right-wing animosity towards President Obama is behind it all, and their logic is following a similar pattern to one that they've used before.

Rick Wilson, a consultant to the [National Republican Trust PAC], explained the outlook of “real Republicans” when it comes to Obama.

“They think this guy has grabbed the reins of power and that he is racing as fast as he can first off to reshape the economy and the culture in his image – they are mortified at that and they are terrified of it.”

That's how they viewed Bill Clinton in 1992; he and his Arkansas hillbillies came into the White House and trashed the joint, and they never viewed him as a legitimate president (see Impeachment, Clinton). The same thing is happening here with President Obama, who in spite of his high approval ratings, is seen as a usurper, and they're doing very little to tamp down the unsubtle racism that goes along with their disagreements over policy.

The reason is simple: the Republicans view anyone in the White House who isn't one of them as illegitimate, regardless of qualifications or competence, and as a matter of principle they will oppose anything put forth by a president from the Democratic Party without regard to merit or reasonableness. They don't care. As long as it's not one of them, they won't have it. This gets them into some interesting twists of logic and turning on their own to shoot down anyone in the party who might be suggesting that moderation might at least keep them in the picture.

Far be it from me to give helpful advice to the Republicans; if they wish to keep alienating minorities, including Hispanics, African-Americans, the gay community, and test-marketing "Fascist" as the new label for the majority party, go right ahead. As Matthew Ygleisas notes, "if you don’t moderate on anything, then you’re basically leaving the fate of the Republican Party entirely in Barack Obama’s hands. If he screws up in an utterly spectacular way (see Bush, George W.) then there’s no telling what kind of agenda can win. But if not, then this’ll let Democrats win by default."

The grassroots are pushing the Republicans to the right.... Right over the cliff.
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What Is Torture?

For all the dust raised about the release of the Bush administration memos that defined torture, there seems to be a question about whether or not what it actually is. A lot of wingers are saying that the techniques we used -- waterboarding, humiliation, forced lack of sleep -- aren't really torture; Rush Limbaugh, the head of the Republican Party, once dismissed them as "fraternity pranks." This past weekend, Newt Gingrich, who would like to be president some day, couldn't really define it. He was interviewed by Greta Van Sustren on Fox News.

VAN SUSTEREN: But you said a minute ago that it was torture, waterboarding...

GINGRICH: No, I said it's not something we should do.

VAN SUSTEREN: OK. Is it torture or not?

GINGRICH: I -- I -- I think it's -- I can't tell you.

VAN SUSTEREN: Does it violate the Geneva Convention?

GINGRICH: I honestly don't know.

Well, let's help Mr. Gingrich out, then. Torture has been defined by the United Nations as:

[A]ny act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession...

That makes it pretty clear, doesn't it? Waterboarding, for the which we tried Japnese war criminals after World War II, is torture. So was what went on at Abu Ghraib and at Gitmo.

But, the wingers counter, we're at war; Jack Bauer, 24, the ticking time bomb, yada yada. No, that's not an excuse.

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

Oh, well, this was just some convention put forth by the UN, and you know what a bunch of panty-waists they are; this convention was probably dreamed up by Jimmy Carter and ratified by those bleeding hearts in Congress.

The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention. It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.

That's from the signing statement by President Ronald Reagan in 1984.

So that should pretty much settle the question.

HT to Andrew Sullivan.
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Short Takes

Health Emergency -- The US declares a public health emergency because of swine flu.

Cerrado -- Mexico City basically shuts down because of swine flu.

UAW reaches tentative deal with Chrysler to keep it running.

General Motors is planning to announce its restructuring plans today. It sounds like Pontiac is going to be put to sleep after 83 years.

Call It Quits, Norm -- Minnesotans want their former Senator to stay that way: former.

Florida wildfires keep Alligator Alley -- Interstate 75 -- shut for the fifth day.

Back in Black -- Wall Street firms are paying handsomely.

Tigers win 3-2 in Kansas City.
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Home Again

We made it back to Miami a bit late. Our plane had come in from an international destination so they had to do a "security check" on it before they would let us board it at DFW. At any rate, we arrived about half an hour behind schedule, so I finally got home around midnight.

As much fun as I have every year at Inge, it's always nice to get back to my own bed.
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Greetings from D-27

We're on a two-hour layover in DFW. The Old Professor has stepped outside to have a cigarette or two before we get on the plane to Miami. I've already finished the left-over Saturday crossword puzzle, and T-Moble wifi is $5.99 for a day pass, so what the heck.

As is always the case, the longer the layover at DFW, the closer your gates are; the shorter the connection, the longer the run -- usually via the Skylink train -- and the clumsier your luggage is. We arrived at D-20, so it took us all of three minutes to get from our arrival gate to the next stop.

DFW gets a bad rap as an airport to pass through, but compared to some places I've had to spend a useless hour, the D terminal here is nice and comfortable. The only improvements I would recommend are a smoking lounge inside security -- Miami International has that -- and a similar soundproof room where parents could take their children who insist on screaming at the exact pitch that sets off car alarms and makes the welkin ring. I know travel is stressful for infants, and I know that parents suffer all the more with cranky children and the hassles of travel. I'd be willing to pay a little extra in airfare to provide those spaces for them -- and us.

Okay, we're off to find something to eat that doesn't cost more than a flight to Bermuda.
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Try to Remember -- Inge Festival 2009

The 28th annual William Inge Festival wrapped up last night with a tribute to Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt for their work on The Fantsticks, Celebration, I Do! I Do!, and one of the most memorable songs in the American songbook -- "Try to Remember."


The late Jerry Orbach created the role of El Gallo in the original production of The Fantasticks that opened 50 years ago next month ... and ran for 42 years. It's since been revived and is still running, making it the longest-running musical in the world. One of the artists who contributed to the tribute last night was Rita Gardner, who created the role of Luisa in the play.

The Old Professor and I have had a great time renewing friendships -- it's his second trip to Independence -- and attending workshops for playwriting, where we both learned new things and networked with fellow playwrights. (You'll remember that it was at Inge in 2007 that one table reading of my play got it produced in New York. Here's hoping....) The weather has been great, and even the thunderstorms last night were short and gentle.

We head back to Tulsa later this morning, then on to Dallas, then Miami. Until then....
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Short Takes

Swine Flu -- Killing people in Mexico and sickening people in New York. And there's no vaccine for it.

So far so good -- A Washington Post/ABC News poll gives the president high marks from the public; the Congress...enh.

Hillary Clinton in Beirut.

North Korea -- at it again.

Still No -- Presbyterians vote down gay clergy.

Local Boy Makes Good -- Burke Badenhop of Perrysburg, Ohio (my home town) plays for the Florida Marlins.

Tigers win 9-1 against the Royals.
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Sunday Reading

The First 100 Days -- How President Obama is doing so far in South Florida.

It's nearly 100 days into his presidency, and Barack Obama has yet to disappoint Jean Acevedo, a small-business owner who ardently cast her vote for the Democrat in November.

Acevedo praises Obama's juggling of big issues. In her estimation, the president has made all the right moves in redirecting environmental policy and revitalizing foreign relations, and in aggressively tackling the economic trouble he inherited -- although like many people she is wary of massive bailouts and ballooning federal deficits.

''I can't believe how much he is trying to handle and how well he is doing it,'' said Acevedo, 61, who lives in Delray Beach and describes herself as a fiscally conservative Democrat who also voted for Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.

The president's policies have yet to make a significant mark on South Florida. Economic stimulus money is just starting to wend its way here, and Obama has not tackled broad healthcare reform, a critical campaign promise for a region with one of the highest rates of uninsured people in the country.

And Obama's aggressive deployment of the government purse has solidified an apparently small but determined opposition across the region.

But Acevedo's faith in the president's ability to steer the best course remains firm -- a confidence shared by a solid majority of Floridians at this early but symbolically important juncture in Obama's presidency, surveys suggest.

''Obama has a team of smart, competent people that's allowing him to multitask, and he's shown the courage to try and do what he has,'' Acevedo said. ''No one would argue this man is very smart, whether you agree or disagree with his positions.''

The Historians Compare Notes

For three months, five presidential historians have been writing online columns comparing Barack Obama's initial 100 days in office with those of some of his modern predecessors'. These are their final installments. The full series, along with an interactive timeline of presidential history can be found in the 100 Days blog.

Frank Rich -- The Original Sin.

Five years after the Abu Ghraib revelations, we must acknowledge that our government methodically authorized torture and lied about it. But we also must contemplate the possibility that it did so not just out of a sincere, if criminally misguided, desire to “protect” us but also to promote an unnecessary and catastrophic war. Instead of saving us from “another 9/11,” torture was a tool in the campaign to falsify and exploit 9/11 so that fearful Americans would be bamboozled into a mission that had nothing to do with Al Qaeda. The lying about Iraq remains the original sin from which flows much of the Bush White House’s illegality.

[...]

President Obama can talk all he wants about not looking back, but this grotesque past is bigger than even he is. It won’t vanish into a memory hole any more than Andersonville, World War II internment camps or My Lai. The White House, Congress and politicians of both parties should get out of the way. We don’t need another commission. We don’t need any Capitol Hill witch hunts. What we must have are fair trials that at long last uphold and reclaim our nation’s commitment to the rule of law.

Doonesbury -- Tweet Bird of Youth.
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Beatrice Arthur - 1922-2009

Another one of the Golden Girls has left us.

Beatrice Arthur, the tall, deep-voiced actress whose razor-sharp delivery of comedy lines made her a TV star in the hit shows ''Maude'' and ''The Golden Girls'' and who won a Tony Award for the musical ''Mame,'' died Saturday. She was 86.

Arthur died peacefully at her Los Angeles home with her family at her side, family spokesman Dan Watt said. She had cancer, Watt said, declining to give further details.

''She was a brilliant and witty woman,'' said Watt, who was Arthur's personal assistant for six years. ''Bea will always have a special place in my heart.''

Arthur first appeared in the landmark comedy series ''All in the Family'' as Edith Bunker's loudly outspoken, liberal cousin, Maude Finley. She proved a perfect foil for blue-collar bigot Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor), and their blistering exchanges were so entertaining that producer Norman Lear fashioned Arthur's own series.

I saw her in Mame in 1967 and loved her then as Vera Charles, the boozy and acid-tongue best friend who stole the show with her "Bosom Buddies" duet with Angela Lansbury. I'm glad the younger generations loved her as Dorothy Zbornak, the powerful and vulnerable divorcee who made feminism a part of prime-time TV with grace and great wit.

Thank you for being a friend.
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Inge Festival: A Picnic and Picnic

Reporting from the 28th annual William Inge Festival....

Yesterday was a combination of workshops and performances, including a wonderful session with Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt. Mr. Schmidt is ill, so he literally phoned it in from his home in Texas. Then last night we had the big gala dinner and silent auction.

Today will include a workshop on how to sell your play once you've written it -- or even had a New York production. Then there's the noon picnic at the park, just like in the the play that won William Inge the Pulitzer Prize.

Here's a clip from the 1955 movie version of Picnic. It stars William Holden (a bit long in the tooth to be playing a twenty-something roughneck) and Kim Novak.


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Jesus Christ On a Plate

The Florida legislature has given preliminary approval to two new specialty license plates.

If you want Jesus on your license plate, the Florida Senate is looking out for you.

Religious specialty plates offered by Sen. Ronda Storms, R-Valrico, and Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, made it onto a bill Friday even though many members had not seen images of those plates and none were produced for the debate.

Siplin didn't mince words when asked what his ''Trinity'' plate looks like, saying: ''It has a picture of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.''

It, along with a ''Preserving the Past'' plate offered by Siplin, would benefit the Toomey Foundation for the Natural Sciences.

Storms' ''I Believe'' plate would benefit Faith in Teaching, an Orlando company that funds faith-based programs at schools. The design features a cross over a stained-glass window.

Several members had concerns about approving plates they had not seen. And one questioned using religious symbols at all.

''The issue is whether the state of Florida ought to be producing license plates with religious images on them,'' said Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Boca Raton, ''and I don't believe that we should.''

Before the day was over, the Anti-Defamation League and the ACLU registered opposition, and across the hall in the House, proposals for the same plates were withdrawn from legislation.

It's no surprise that Ronda Storms, who has made the news with her anti-gay tirades and other crazy-ass antics, is behind this patently unconstitutional stunt; she's probably jealous that Michele Bachmann is getting all of the national attention as the current right-wing nutball and she wants to get in on the action. As for Mr. Siplin -- a Democrat -- he's resurrecting a plate image that was tried a year ago and was crucified by the rest of the legislature. (South Carolina pinched the idea and now they've got it, proving that they may believe in blatant state support of Christianity if not the Ten Commandments.)

So let me see if I have this straight: the state of Florida has rising unemployment, a crumbling infrastructure, teachers are being threatened with layoffs and school districts are cutting back on classes and support staff, the real estate market is in the crapper, millions of Floridians can't get decent health care, along with any number of other problems that a state faces in the middle of one of the worst recessions in memory. The annual legislation session ends next week with a ton of bills unpassed and unconsidered, but these geniuses have the time to consider adding two specialty license plates to the list of over 100 plates already available and which will most certainly draw lawsuits that will cost the state even more money to defend against... and will most certainly lose, assuming there's a judge out there with the sense that God gave a goose.

What the hell is wrong with these people?

PS: Go here to see a picture of the sample license plate. Michelangelo it ain't.
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Short Takes

Torture Doesn't Work -- The Washington Post reports that a 2002 military memo called extreme duress "torture" and an unreliable interrogation tool.

Meanwhile, the CIA inspector general noted in 2004 that there was no proof that torture prevented any further attacks.

A Little Late -- Judge Jay Bybee tells friends now that he's sorry he signed off on the memo that narrowed the definition of torture for the Bush administration.

Reconcile This -- President Obama will get the health care bill through on a filibuster-proof budget plan.

Chrysler and Fiat have a tentative deal. GM is rushing to wrap up their deal and rumors swirl about the fate of Pontiac.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) needs to take a good high school earth science class.

Democrat wins special election in New York.

Tigers lose in Kansas City.
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Have a Banana...

The latest Republican meme against President Obama -- and I've lost count which one this is -- is that he's running a "banana republic." (No, not the clothing store.) This was created by -- who else -- Karl Rove, and now it's being repeated on the floor of the Senate.

McCain: "In Banana Republics they prosecute people for actions they didn't agree with under previous administrations."

Bond: "This whole thing about punishing people in past administrations reminds me more of a Banana Republic than the United States of America. We don't criminally prosecute people we disagree with when we change office. There are lots of questions that could have been asked of the Clinton administration failing to recognize the war on terror. They did not. The Bush administration went forward, and that's the way our country should. The President said he was going to be forward looking and now he has opened up the stab in the back."

As Steve Benen explains,

One of the distinguishing characteristics of a "Banana Republic" is an accountable chief executive who ignores the rule of law when it suits his/her purposes. The ruling junta in a "Banana Republic" eschews accountability, commits heinous acts in secret, tolerates widespread corruption, and generally embraces a totalitarian attitude in which the leader can break laws whenever he/she feels it's justified to protect the state.

Does any of this sound familiar?

Yes.
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Work and Plays

Reporting on Day Two of the 2009 William Inge Theatre Festival in Independence, Kansas...

I spent yesterday morning deep in the world of writing plays and creating characters. I participated in a workshop on writing from the senses with Lynne Kaufman, who has a good sense of what helps a writer get in touch -- literally and figuratively -- with what surrounds us, and then had a fun time watching Daniel Tatar, who makes a very comfortable living working in TV and films in Los Angeles, coach students on how to pull off that killer audition that will get you a part on a TV series, even if it's only as an extra or a walk-on. Hey, it beats not working at all.

I also attended a session where Barbara Dana -- actor, writer, and gentle soul -- spoke about her ten-year mission to write a novel about the early life of Emily Dickinson. I bought the book -- A Voice of Her Own -- and I'm thoroughly enthralled by it after reading only thirty pages of it. (By the way, she will be taking the stage as Emily Dickinson later this summer in The Belle of Amherst, the play based on the life of Dickinson made famous by the astounding performance of Julie Harris in the original Broadway production.)

Last night we saw a staged reading of Diagram of a Paper Airplane by Carlos Murillo, the winner of this year's Otis Guernsey New Voices award.

Today will be another round of workshops and a conversation with Tom Jones, one of the honorees this year, followed by a memorial to Robert Anderson, and then tonight the big gala dinner and silent auction.

So far the weather has been great; highs in the 80's and sunny. Over the last 19 years I have memories of springtime in Kansas, including a close encounter with a tornado in 1991 that left us all a little shaken, (they didn't particularly care for my comment, "Look, there's a dead witch under the house and everything's in color!"), and four days of rain in 1993, and one particular festival were it was looking like snow every day. There's no rain in the forecast this week, which means I can forgo my annual visit to Wal-Mart to replace leaking shoes.

Ironically, I remembered this morning that I forgot that yesterday, April 24, was the 445th anniversary of the birth of William Shakespeare. Well, that's okay; I'm going to Stratford, Ontario, in August. I'll make it up to the Bard then.
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Friday Blogaround

Even when I'm on the road I check what others in the LC are writing about.

- A Blog Around The Clock: DHS goes paperless.
- All Facts and Opinions: Connecticut defines religious exemptions in marriage equality.
- archy: sticks and stones.
- Bark Bark Woof Woof: shock the conscience.
- Bloggg: Nevada covers special-needs families.
- Collective Sigh: The party of new ideas?
- Dohiyi Mir: Think/twitter?
- Echidne Of The Snakes enjoys a good smackdown.
- Florida Progressive Coalition Blog: Constituent services in Florida.
- Left Is Right: Friday fun.
- Pen-Elayne on the Web: Talk like Shakespeare.
- Rook's Rant: Someone thinks 10 million people marching in Washington is a good idea.
- rubber hose: rightwingoverse.
- Scrutiny Hooligans looks at green alternatives.
- Speedkill: George F. Will wonders if these jeans make him look pompous.
- Steve Bates, The Yellow Doggerel Democrat: tortured logic.
- Stupid Enough Unexplanation: Evidence that Brent Bozell is an idiot.
- The Invisible Library: Socialism is just fine with us, apparently.
- WTF Is It Now?? Jon Stewart on Dick Cheney.
- ...I Am A Tree: New name, new look.

I think we're still in Kansas, Toto.
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Friday Catblogging

Snowball is not here with me in Kansas, so I'm borrowing a photo from Melissa....


Matilda looks a lot like Snowball, don't you think, except she has two eyes and intact ears. And she's not stuffed or is 45 years old.
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Short Takes

Auto Bankruptcy -- Chrysler is being told to get ready to file next week.

No, Thanks -- President Obama does not want interrogation panels. "According to a presidential aide, "His whole thing is, 'I banned all this. This chapter is over. What we don't need now is to become a sort of feeding frenzy where we go back and re-litigate all this.'"

Say What? -- House Minority Leader John Boehner criticizes release of the "torture memos." Hey, I thought we didn't do torture.

The Other McCain -- Steve Benen notes that Meghan McCain is becoming a voice in the Republican party, much to the chagrin of "creepy" Karl Rove and Rush Limbaugh.

Even Microsoft isn't immune to the recession.

Si, claro -- Cuban-Americans are supporting President Obama's Cuba strategy.

Brushfires close Alligator Alley in Florida.

Don't Ask/Don't Tell will probably not get attention until 2010.

Tigers lose 10-5 in Anaheim.
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"A Complex Evening"

Last night we had our first official William Inge Festival event: a production of six short plays by Inge that had never been staged or even published. Interlacing all of them was a play called "Love-Death," which was a series of one-man scenes that mirrored Inge's eventual suicide in 1973, and if you knew of Inge's background and his professional history, the play was very prescient. It was, in a sense, a staged suicide note. At times funny, at times heartbreaking, it was probably his truest work, at least in terms of dialogue and character. As I watched it, I could imagine Inge's niece and my dear friend, the late Jo Ann Kirchmaier, smiling sadly and saying, "Oh, Uncle Bill...."

The other plays were a mix of farce -- a piece called "Bad Breath" was a string of sketches that mocked TV commercials from the 1960's, skewering everyone from Mrs. Olsen shilling coffee to teenage angst about using the right soap in order to get laid -- to one piece that seemed like a combination of Harold Pinter and Sam Shepherd. I never knew that Inge had this side to his writing, and while it wasn't SNL, it was refreshing.

The last piece, "Morning at the Beach," was more a collection of character studies for people who would populate his other plays, including Dr. Lyman from Bus Stop who has a penchant for underage girls, Mrs. Potts and Madge from Picnic, and, of course, this being Inge, a stage full of well-built men with their shirts off preening their maleness.

My only complaint was that the scripts could have used some judicious editing; I suppose that's one reason they never saw the stage. But overall it was an insight -- good or otherwise -- into a man and his writing that we didn't know about.
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Mrs. Coulter

Ann Coulter's mother passed away last week.

I hope that other members of the blogosphere do not seize this moment to attack Ann Coulter personally. I may not agree with anything she writes, but that's her, not her family. We're better than that.

I hold her and her family in the Light.
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Short Takes

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton takes it to wingnuts Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) and Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) on the Hill.

Dick Cheney won't STFU.

CFO of Freddie Mac commits suicide. (PS: Fox News nutsery thinks there are "alternative explanations.")

FDA relaxes rules on morning-after pill for 17-year-olds.

"Where Were You?" -- "Former Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski expresses her frustration to Keith Olbermann over Bush apologists who are defending "hard interrogation techniques" now but were silent about accountability for torture at Abu Ghraib."

Betting on the Tribe -- Florida Gov. Charlie Crist offers a deal to the Seminoles.

Yeah, Right -- A group called the "Ohio Militia" wants to have a Million Armed Militia Members March on Washington. "The organizers hasten to point out that this will be a 'peaceful demonstration. No shooting, no one gets hurt. Just a demonstration. The only difference from any typical demonstration is we will all be armed.'"

Hot Enough For You? -- 2010 South Florida Firefighters Calendar competition. Just because.

Tigers beat Anaheim 12-10.
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Welcome to Independence

Greetings from the heartland; Independence, Kansas. The flights were smooth, uneventful, on time, and crowded. I was able to get a Mustang -- naturally -- at the Tulsa airport, and the drive through the open country of Oklahoma and Kansas in the beautiful spring weather was great.

The OP and I are off for dinner then an evening of one-acts by William Inge.

No signs of Dorothy, but we did pass by the Little House on the Prairie.
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Off to Kansas

As regular readers here are aware, every year in April I head off to the William Inge Theatre Festival for four days of theatre and celebration in America's heartland -- Independence, Kansas -- as we honor great American playwrights in the hometown of William Inge, author of Picnic, Bus Stop, Dark at the Top of the Stairs, and Come Back, Little Sheba. And joining me, as he did a few years ago, is my friend and mentor back when I was a callow youth in 1971, the Old Professor.

This year we are honoring Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt, creators of the longest-running musical ever, The Fantasticks.

"Simplicity" is a supreme compliment that applies to Jones and Schmidt musicals. They broadened the scale of the Broadway musical with their engaging and innovative approach.

"This legendary writing team is bold and adventurous in their work; funny and touching, enormously romantic and sentimental without being cloying," said Inge Center Artistic Director Peter Ellenstein. "They have a long line of marvelous, innovative musicals, and I'm excited to have the public gain greater knowledge of the breadth of shows by these phenomenal talents."

The Jones and Schmidt style is bold: the musicals are characterized as "minimal," with small casts and modest sets, but are inspiring and audacious.

"The Fantasticks" exemplifies that simple yet limitless style. Inspired by an Edmond Rostand play, this love story of a young couple and their conniving parents opened in 1960 at an off-Broadway theater—and ran 42 years, counting 16,875 performances through nine presidencies. It has since been revived off-Broadway.

Jones and Schmidt followed with their first Broadway show, "110 in the Shade." This adaption of the N. Richard Nash story "The Rainmaker" is celebrated for a glorious score and was revived on Broadway in 2007, starring multiple Tony-Winner, Audra Macdonald.

Broadway was again their next stop in "I Do! I Do!" a two-character musical, starring Mary Martin and Robert Preston in an adaptation of the Jan de Hartog comedy "The Fourposter."

What that means for what goes on here at the blog is that the focus will shift somewhat to my secret identity as a theatre scholar and playwright, plus observations of life in the arts today... at least until I get back to Miami. I hope you'll stick around, and if you're in the neighborhood -- Independence is 70 miles north of Tulsa and a hundred miles east of Wichita -- stop by and enjoy the shows.

If I see Dorothy and Toto, I'll put up pictures.
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Shock the Conscience

There are a couple of stories out this morning in both the New York Times and the Washington Post about what led to the harsh interrogation of terror suspects.

First, Joby Warrick and Peter Finn at the Post report that the Bush administration was straining at the leash to use harsh tactics on suspects even before we had any.

Intelligence and military officials under the Bush administration began preparing to conduct harsh interrogations long before they were granted legal approval to use such methods -- and weeks before the CIA captured its first high-ranking terrorism suspect, Senate investigators have concluded.

Previously secret memos and interviews show CIA and Pentagon officials exploring ways to break Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees in early 2002, up to eight months before Justice Department lawyers approved the use of waterboarding and nine other harsh methods, investigators found.

The findings are contained in a Senate Armed Services Committee report scheduled for release today that also documents multiple warnings -- from legal and trained interrogation experts -- that the techniques could backfire and might violate U.S. and international law.

One Army lieutenant colonel who reviewed the program warned in 2002 that coercion "usually decreases the reliability of the information because the person will say whatever he believes will stop the pain," according to the Senate report. A second official, briefed on plans to use aggressive techniques on detainees, was quoted the same year as asking: "Wouldn't that be illegal?"

But according to an article in the Times, the Bush administration didn't know the answer to that question because they adopted the methods without inquiring into their past use, and they assumed that since the U.S. military had used them in training, they must be okay.

In a series of high-level meetings in 2002, without a single dissent from cabinet members or lawmakers, the United States for the first time officially embraced the brutal methods of interrogation it had always condemned.

This extraordinary consensus was possible, an examination by The New York Times shows, largely because no one involved — not the top two C.I.A. officials who were pushing the program, not the senior aides to President George W. Bush, not the leaders of the Senate and House Intelligence Committees — investigated the gruesome origins of the techniques they were approving with little debate.

According to several former top officials involved in the discussions seven years ago, they did not know that the military training program, called SERE, for Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape, had been created decades earlier to give American pilots and soldiers a sample of the torture methods used by Communists in the Korean War, methods that had wrung false confessions from Americans.

Even George J. Tenet, the C.I.A. director who insisted that the agency had thoroughly researched its proposal and pressed it on other officials, did not examine the history of the most shocking method, the near-drowning technique known as waterboarding.

The top officials he briefed did not learn that waterboarding had been prosecuted by the United States in war-crimes trials after World War II and was a well-documented favorite of despotic governments since the Spanish Inquisition; one waterboard used under Pol Pot was even on display at the genocide museum in Cambodia.

They did not know that some veteran trainers from the SERE program itself had warned in internal memorandums that, morality aside, the methods were ineffective. Nor were most of the officials aware that the former military psychologist who played a central role in persuading C.I.A. officials to use the harsh methods had never conducted a real interrogation, or that the Justice Department lawyer most responsible for declaring the methods legal had idiosyncratic ideas that even the Bush Justice Department would later renounce.

The process was “a perfect storm of ignorance and enthusiasm,” a former C.I.A. official said.

Call me picky, but I think that when you're the top officials in the government of the United States and you're devising policies that could possibly endanger human life, be it directly on prisoners in your custody or indirectly on your own soldiers or civilians -- not just in terms of how they might be treated if they're made prisoners or how we'll have to conduct ourselves in the future -- you'd at least bother to use the Google to find out whether or not the techniques in question have been used by other people like Torquemada or Pol Pot.

But, as Hilzoy notes, it's not really a surprise that the Bush administration wouldn't bother to check. Why should they? They knew everything.

Philip Zelikow, a former Bush administration adviser and now dissenter, says that once we're heading down that road, what's next?

The underlying absurdity of the [Bush] administration's position can be summarized this way. Once you get to a substantive compliance analysis for "cruel, inhuman, and degrading" you get the position that the substantive standard is the same as it is in analogous U.S. constitutional law. So the OLC must argue, in effect, that the methods and the conditions of confinement in the CIA program could constitutionally be inflicted on American citizens in a county jail.

In other words, Americans in any town of this country could constitutionally be hung from the ceiling naked, sleep deprived, water-boarded, and all the rest -- if the alleged national security justification was compelling. I did not believe our federal courts could reasonably be expected to agree with such a reading of the Constitution.

David Welna at NPR said that the techniques were designed to "shock the conscience." Of whom? Certainly not those who came up with this, or those who supported them. That assumes they have a conscience in the first place, and if the last eight years have taught us anything, very few of them did.
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Earth Day

Today is the 39th observance of Earth Day.


So what do you do to minimize your impact?

Personally I have switched out all the incandescent light bulbs for CFL's, I recycle as much as possible (although we could do better at work), I have switched to a programmable thermostat, and I try to cut back on my use of excess energy. I'm sure there are other ways that I've changed my ways to be more eco-friendly over the last 40 years or so, but they're so much a part of my life I don't even think about them when I do them.

Meanwhile, the Florida legislature is working to approve a bill to open up state waters to oil drilling, some as close as three miles from shore. Way to celebrate, guys.
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4/22/84

Twenty-five years ago today I met someone who changed my life, and I have a lot of good memories of the fifteen years we were together.
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Short Takes

Service -- AmeriCorps is tripled as President Obama signs a new national service bill.

Strip-Search -- the Supremes wonder what is reasonable or not in searching high school students.

Almost Complete -- Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius is about to become the last Cabinet member confirmed by the Senate.

¿Que Dice? -- Fidel says President Obama "misinterpreted" what Raul said. (That's Fidel's way of saying, "Hey, I'm still here!")

Cuban-Americans Support Thaw -- "A majority of Cuban Americans support President Barack Obama and back his moves to improve relations with Cuba, according to a new poll that suggests the community's staunch support for a tough U.S. stance against the Castro government may be eroding." (HT to Generation Miami.)

Still a Mystery as to what killed 21 horses in Palm Beach.

Earth II? -- Astronomers find planets that are close to the size of Earth and within the "habitable" zone of their solar system. (And they're only 20 light years away. Right around the corner.)

Tigers lose in Anaheim.
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The Giant Sucking Sound...

Another Republican has had to supplicate to Rush Limbaugh.

Last week in an interview with the Kansas City Star editorial board, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) risked alienating thousands of ditto-heads by giving his honest opinion of whether Rush Limbaugh was the "de facto leader of the GOP." "No, no, he's just an entertainer," Tiahrt said.

According to the Wichita Eagle (via Kansas Jackass), Tiahrt's office is now also rushing to apologize:

Asked about the episode and resulting Web buzz, Tiahrt spokesman Sam Sackett said Tiahrt was not speaking negatively about Limbaugh but was trying to defend him against the suggestion that Limbaugh could be blamed for the GOP’s woes. "The congressman believes Rush is a great leader of the conservative movement in America -- not a party leader responsible for election losses," Sackett told The Eagle editorial board. "Nothing the congressman said diminished the role Rush has played and continues to play in the conservative movement."

According to Steve Benen, that makes five -- that we know of -- members of the GOP that have had to grovel before the Man in the Glass Booth.

And the latest Republican meme is that President Obama is weak and kowtows to bullies. Huh.
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That Was Then -- A Continuing Saga

In 2003 Sen. James Inhofe made an impassioned argument against the Senate filibustering a judicial nominee, going so far as to say that it was unconstitutional for the Democrats to threaten to do so against Miguel A. Estrada, one of President Bush's nominees for the federal courts.

By sustaining this filibuster, they are asserting that 60 votes, not 50, will be required to approve Mr. Estrada. If successful, their effort will amount to a de facto amendment to the Constitution. This outrageous grab for power by the Senate minority is wrong and contrary to our oath to support and defend the Constitution.

Today, Mr. Inhofe spoke out against Judge David Hamilton of Indiana who has been nominated by President Obama for the 7th Circuit Court.

I understand that Judge Hamilton's nomination is still pending before the Judiciary Committee, but I had to come to the floor to speak so that the American people, who are very concerned about this nomination, will know that I and my Republican colleagues on the Judiciary Committee are taking interest and are not just going to let this nomination sail through. In fact I will filibuster David Hamilton.

Steve Benen hazards a guess: "I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Inhofe doesn't remember his own record on the issue." I'm sure he does. But everything is different now, y'see, and....

Oh, the hell with it. Who am I trying to kid? The man's an idiot and that's all there is to it.
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