Fables of the reconstruction

Local Programming: DL Football Sunday 12:30 p.m. at Jose Pistola's

Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
Come watch the Eagles play the hapless Redskins. Join us in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 12:30 p.m., kickoff is at 1:00 p.m.

Happy Thanksgiving

Phil Carter Says He Left Pentagon for "Personal Reasons". Really.

Noah Schachtman at Danger Room says:

Carter served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for detainee policy, handling porcupine-thorny issues like Guantanamo. So when Carter said he was stepping down for “personal and family reasons,” some wondered whether that was Beltway code for unhappiness with the way the Obama administration was dealing with Gitmo. After all, every D.C. official says he or she’s resigning to get in more family time.

I just got off the phone with Carter. “I know this is a Washington cliche, but sometimes the cliches are true,” he tells me. “I made this tough decision for personal reasons, even though I loved the job and the work we were doing. Hopefully I’ll have the chance to serve again.”

Schachtman claims to be a long-time friend of Carter's and believes him. Carter has always seemed like a stand-up guy to me, so I tend to believe this.

Cop Killers

Some guy was sentenced to death yesterday for murdering a Philly cop who walked in on an armed robbery. I've got no special brief for criminals and especially anyone who shoots someone whose job it is to stop knuckleheads like him, but as I get older I have less and less stomach for capital punishment. The local media seemed very eager to see this guy on death row. It just seems bizarre to me to think that killing someone is somehow more just and is going to make the victim's family and the public feel better, and that life in prison with no possibility of parole would be a gift to the murderer.

The jury deliberated for less than an hour before deciding to impose the death penalty. I'm very big on juries' ability to do their jobs in a fair and impartial way, and try to push back against people who criticize juries' decisions. But deciding whether someone lives or dies in less time than it takes some people to eat lunch? This tells me they didn't bother to actually re-read the jury instructions and deliberate. They had, either as a group or individually, decided in advance that the sentence was death.

Of course, in a blue collar town like Philly, you can't expect the decision to come out differently when a cop is murdered. But I do expect people to take the job of juror seriously, and to do it the right way.  They owe that duty to the victim's family, the defendant and his family, and the court.  They also owe it to themselves. In this case, there was no rush. It was mid-day when they went into the room. Either way the jury came out, life or death, it was a decision they would have to live with for the rest of their lives. I do, because I have served on a death penalty jury. If I could have advised them, I would have told them to take their time. I think that they're going to regret that they didn't.

The flip side of the general pro-cop attitude in Philly is that bad cops get away with too much. This past Saturday, an off-duty cop with a history of repeatedly flying off the handle and waving his gun around charged into a fight in the street outside his house to break it up. Witnesses say he was drunk. At some point, the cop claims he was attacked and fired his gun in self-defense. He shot and killed an unarmed 21-year-old neighbor who was also trying to break up the fight. Despite that, the cop is free and, while he's under investigation, I don't expect him to be charged with anything. If a civilian had done what he did, he'd be in jail on a murder charge, no question.  It's double standard in this town, with one law for cops and another for everyone else.

Pennsylvania State Job Cuts Undermine Stimulus Effect on Infrastructure Spending and Environmental Safety

Duncan, talking about the self-defeating focus on the federal budget deficit:

I'm not talking about make work, I'm talking about real projects from basic maintenance to sewers to pothole filling to the demolishing and reclaiming of property with abandoned buildings etc... etc... The fact that the administration is signaling that it's more worried about the deficit than unemployment is incredibly frustrating.

He's also complained, rightly, in the past about the fact that stimulus funds for the states were cut at the behest of people concerned about spending too much.

There's a similar process at work here in Pennsylvania. Recently, the Rendell administration announced it was cutting an additional 319 state jobs:

[T]he Department of Environmental Protection will see the greatest reductions, losing 138 positions, or about 5 percent of its workforce ....

I was talking to a civil engineer last night who is working on several stimulus-funded infrastructure projects. He told me that people don't realize that every project requires the DEP to issue a permit before work begins. The DEP staff is already overworked; now, with the cuts, permits will be delayed even further. The net effect is that the stimulus money that Pennsylvania is getting won't be spent as quickly as it could be.

The state officials downplay it:

[DEP secretary John] Hanger said the layoffs, plus unfilled vacancies totaling an additional 120 jobs, would reduce the agency's overall staff complement from 3,011 to 2,760. He said sparing the inspection and enforcement staff was "the highest priority" but said the reductions might lengthen the permit-granting process for certain construction projects.

Making the unfilled vacancies permanent means that DEP is actually losing 258 staff, which is over 8% of the workforce.

But when it comes to development, they have their priorities:

Cuts to the Department of Environmental Protection will not affect oversight of increased natural gas exploration in the so-called Marcellus Shale reserve, the rich vein of gas that underlies most of the state, agency secretary John Hanger said.

He said the 120 salaried staffers who review applications for permits to drill for gas or oil and inspect drilling sites are covered by fees paid by the industry and aren't affected by the cuts.

The fracing that is required to extract the gas from the shale is also going to dump huge amounts of pollutants into the Susquehanna, which is already making people sick. And guess what? Under a law passed by Congress in 2004, fracing is exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act, which means the federal EPA has no jurisdiction over the practice. That leaves the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which is now down 8% in staff, to regulate the problem.

After Weighing the Evidence Carefully, I'd Say You're Nuts

Gun nut Dave Kopel is becoming my fav Volokhian:

My view is that there is not a scintilla of evidence to suggest that our President is a jihadi.

Just his view, ya understand. Not saying it's not possible Obama is a jihadi bent on destroying the U.S.  Funny stuff then follows in comments: Some say jihadis are more respectable than Obama, the rest of us laugh.

Philly Marathon Sunday - Road Closures

If you're trying to get around tomorrow, read this first:

The closures start in the area of the Art Museum at 6am, both River Drives and the Parkway will be closed for most of the day.

All numbered streets across the Parkway will be opened, but traffic will only be allowed to cross during breaks in the race.

There will closures in Chinatown and Old City along Arch, Race, 4th Streets, and 6th Streets from about 7am to 9am. 

Closures will affect the southbound lanes of Cloumbus Boulevard from Vine St, down to Washington Ave. from 7am to 8:30am.

Chestnut will be closed from 6th to 34th Street for two hours starting at 7:30.  And Main Street in Manayunk will be closed most of the day.

Ramps from I-76 west to 30th Street and Girard will be affected by closures from about 7:30am to around 10am.  And the The Washington Ave exit from I-95 south will be closed from 7:15am to 8:15am.

Even getting around on foot can be tough as crossing during the race is difficult. 

Mass transit is also affected as several bus and trolley routes are affected by the closures. 

From 6:30 a.m. until approximately 11 a.m., SEPTA bus routes C, R, 7, 9, 21, 25, 27, 32, 33, 35, 38, 40, 42, 43, 44, 48,57, 61, 64, 65, 124 and 125 will be detoured in Center City from the area of the Ben Franklin Parkway.

Wake Me When It's Over

It's hard for me to care about events in the Senate when dumbass conservatives from my own party are the ones standing in the way of even a mild kind of reform. What should I do, call Blanche Lincoln's office and scream at her staffer?

Just think, if we had gone all-in on single payer, this never would have happened. All opposition would have been swept away by a tidal wave of public ... wait, why are you laughing?

Local Programming: Drinking Coffee Liberally Mt. Airy + DL Football Sunday

Sunday, November 22nd
12:30 p.m.
Drinking (Coffee) Liberally Mt. Airy
Mt. Airy Drinking Liberally meets every Sunday at Infusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.), from 12:30 until 2:30 PM.

8:00 p.m.
Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
It's Sunday night football with the Eagles for the second time this year. This week they travel to Chicago to play the 4-5 Bears. Join us in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 8:00 p.m., kickoff is at 8:20 p.m.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 343 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

This Protest Sponsored By Your Local Gigantic Health Insurance Company

I drove past the corner of 20th & Market in center city Philadelphia today, and on the southeast corner was a demonstration against the health care reform bill. There were at least six people, one of them had an American flag and another had a Gadsden flag ("Dont Tread on Me"), and there was some kind of sign about "freedom". I then noticed a young man who looked like he had taken his jacket and tie off who was handing out literature. It was then that I twigged to the fact that Blue Cross is on that block.  Subtle, guys.

I wish I had gotten a picture, but I was laughing too hard.

Vote to Make Fred Hiatt's Rag a Little Better

Courtney Martin of feministing is a finalist in a competition to become an op-ed columnist at the Washington Post. She's a good writer and a far better thinker than what you usually see on the opinion page. Go vote.

It's Not the Shittiest Week of My Life

But it's pretty fucking close.

I am not superstitious really, but I briefly hesitated to write that. Attention: I am not saying, "Things couldn't get worse." They could. No thanks.

The Definition of Decadence

Coming right after the report on hunger in the U.S. (and around the world), this is particularly revolting:

Philadelphia restaurant Barclay Prime paid $4,100 for a 1.1 pound white Alba truffle, outbidding a New York restaurant in an auction for the fungus. Barclay Prime is a upscale steakhouse that charges an average of $56 for a steak.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Center City Tonight 6-9 p.m.; Ali Eteraz Author Talk

Tuesday, November 17th
6 - 9 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Center City
Center City DL meets from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every Tuesday in the Triumph Brewing Co. upstairs bar, located at 117 Chestnut St. (between Front and 2nd Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. There are $3 beers, $4 wine, $5 well drinks all night as well as happy hour food specials including half-price burgers.

Triumph Brewery is conveniently SEPTA-accessible via the Market-Frankford El (2nd Street station), all the buses that turn around at or near Penn's Landing (12, 17, 21, 33, 42, 48), and a few other buses that pass nearby (5, 25, 47, 57). Driving directions are here.

6-8 p.m.
Ali Eteraz Book Channel Author Appearance Tuesday Night for Children of Dust
Friend of DL Philly and former Philly resident Ali Eteraz has written Children of Dust, a memoir "revealing Islamic fundamentalism and madrassa life in rural Pakistan, the culture shock of moving to the U.S., and a journey of reconciliation to the modern Middle East." On Tuesday night at 6, the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals will host Ali's author appearance at the Brandywine Workshop, 730 S. Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19146. The appearance will be broadcast on C-Span's Book Channel. Some copies of the book will be available for sale at the appearance. RSVP here.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 343 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Sunday, 7:48 a.m., in High Definition

Edelweiss and Anthrax

Over at Volokh, professional gun nut David Kopel looks at a Newsweek cover ("How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah?") and sees a strong likeness between Sarah Palin and -- wait for it - Maria from The Sound of Music:

[The Mother Superior] ships Maria off to a job outside the abbey–a job for which Maria is totally unprepared, and a job at which Maria’s predecessors have failed. After a rough start, Maria becomes a great success, due to her common sense, kind heart, wisdom, and readiness to defy convention. In the process, Maria also stands up to foreign totalitarian aggressors (winning the support of even her staunch critic Berthe), fortifies the nationalist sentiments of her country against those aggressors, and leads the people in her care to safety and freedom.

Ergo, the question “How do you solve a problem like Sarah?’ provides its own answer, at least to people who know the film from which the song comes: Make her the President of the United States.

Ergo, motherfucker! He then disavows actually wanting Palin to become President; he's just saying Newsweek hates her but is accidentally making her look really good.

This from one of the supposedly intellectual rightwing blogs.

Hilarity results in the comments including, among other things, that Kopel totally misunderstands the song.

Camera Makes Truck Driver Stop Blocking the Street

Minor victory; small mystery.

I was trying to get stuff done this afternoon when people started angrily blowing their horns in the street outside my window. This went on for several minutes. Finally, too distracted to work, I walked outside and found some truck driver inexplicably blocking the road, looking at his paperwork. Traffic was backed up for a block and people were incensed, but he could care less.

So I did what I do in this situations, I took pictures:

 

The gentleman driving the truck is shielding his face from the camera. (He then went on to give me the finger and told me to "go suck another man's dick." This wounded me.) Nevertheless, I got the company name and USDOT number in the shot, and the license plate in another, so I just said, "I'm calling your boss" and walked away.

He finally drove off. 

It turns out, the DOT website has a search tool that let you look up truck numbers. Turns out that McDaniel Trucking Enterprises is almost three years late in filing the paperwork for this truck, although it has undergone roadside inspection times in the past two years. How does the truck pass inspection if the company hasn't renewed the DOT license? And what recourse is there for me to complain to the company if the management clearly doesn't even bother to obey the law themselves?

Now I can get back to work.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Football and Mt. Airy Coffee Tomorrow

Sunday, November 15th
12:30 p.m.
Drinking (Coffee) Liberally Mt. Airy
Mt. Airy Drinking Liberally meets every Sunday at Infusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.), from 12:30 until 2:30 PM.

4:00 p.m.
Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
Want to watch the game? This week the Eagles play the Chargers. Join us in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 4:00 p.m., kickoff is at 4:15 p.m.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Orly Taitz Refuses to Pay $20,000 Fine

Chief birther whackjob Orly Taitz was sanctioned $20,000 by a federal judge for filing repeated frivolous lawsuits against President Obama. Today was the deadline for her to pay, but:

“Absolutely not,” Taitz said Thursday afternoon when asked whether she would pay. “I have filed an appeal. It was a complete abuse of power.”

The original order says "if Taitz doesn’t pay by the deadline, the U.S. Attorney 'will be authorized to commence collection proceedings.' Taitz has appealed the sanction."

Pass the popcorn.

PA State Rep Perzel Indicted

Good news:

Rep. John M. Perzel, the former speaker of the state House, was charged today with 82 criminal counts in a sweeping scandal involving a sophisticated, multi-million software programs paid for by taxpayers but allegedly used for political campaigning. ...

Nine others with ties to the House Republican Caucus were also charged, including five former top Perzel aides and former Rep. Brett Feese of Lycoming County, who once headed the powerful House Appropriations Committee.

Couldn't happen to a nicer guy. Perzel is one of the many Republican state legislators who have repeatedly screwed over the city of Philadelphia and benefited Harrisburg, most notably via the money vacuum known as the Parking Authority.

Also, this:

The Philadelphia Republican is the most prominent political figure thus far to be charged in Attorney General Tom Corbett's long-running investigation unofficially known as Bonusgate. ...

The charges, laid out in a 188-page presentment, come 17 months after Corbett brought charges against a dozen House Democratic insiders - including former House Minority Whip Mike Veon - accusing them of misusing public funds for political purposes

Corbett is a Republican running for Governor and is going to be able to trade on these criminal cases as part of his campaign. In a statement, Perzel said:

"This investigation has lasted for nearly three years, and it's only now, on the eve of his gubernatorial campaign and in response to claims that he was unfairly pursuing only Democrats, that Attorney General Corbett has decided to bring charges against 10 Republicans, including me," said Perzel. "It smacks of political opportunism at the expense of my reputation, and I am going to fight very aggressively to prove my innocence.

Clearly, the timing is politically opportune for Corbett. Whether that means the case against Perzel is any good or not, I don't know.

Catholic Church Attempting to Blackmail D.C. Over Gay Marriage

Typical of the hateful bigots:

The Catholic Archdiocese of Washington said Wednesday that it will be unable to continue the social service programs it runs for the District if the city doesn't change a proposed same-sex marriage law, a threat that could affect tens of thousands of people the church helps with adoption, homelessness and health care.

Fortunately, D.C. City Council doesn't want to negotiate with terrorists:

[City council member David A.] Catania, who said he has been the biggest supporter of Catholic Charities on the council, said he is baffled by the church's stance. From 2006 through 2008, Catania said, Catholic Charities received about $8.2 million in city contracts, as well as several hundred thousand dollars' worth this year through his committee.

"If they find living under our laws so oppressive that they can no longer take city resources, the city will have to find an alternative partner to step in to fill the shoes," Catania said. He also said Catholic Charities was involved in only six of the 102 city-sponsored adoptions last year.

So, over $2 million per year for the past three years. If the international pedophile ring that calls itself a religion bails on D.C., I am sure other service providers would love to have that money.

Local Programming: PA Innocence Project Fundraiser Tonight

Thursday, November 12th
7:30 p.m.
Fundraiser for The Pennsylvania Innocence Project
Arcadia University in Glenside, PA will stage a performance of The Exonerated on Thursday, November 12th at 7:30 pm to benefit the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. Tickets for this special benefit performance can be reserved with a minimum donation of $100 each and can be purchased using a major credit card. Seating is limited, and tickets are expected to sell out, so please purchase tickets soon!

The Excitement of a Military Career

In video game form:

Ultra-Realistic Modern Warfare Game Features Awaiting Orders, Repairing Trucks

In other news, Mikhail Kalashikov turned 90 yesterday. If he got royalties for the gun he invented, he'd be a very wealthy man. Instead, he had the bad luck to create the AK-47 in the Soviet Union, which was notoriously bad at protecting intellectual property rights.

Happy Armistice Day.

Second-Most Senior RNC Member Resigns After Stalking Ex

Whoa:

Blake Hall, a leading figure in Idaho and national politics for 25 years, was fired Monday as a deputy prosecuting attorney in eastern Idaho and has resigned from the Republican National Committee. ...

Idaho Falls police reported that witnesses said Hall disposed of used condoms on the lawn of the woman's house. Nineteen condoms were turned over to police, collected on 10 different dates, according to a police report. Both Hall and his lawyer acknowledged the condoms belonged to him, according to a police report.

Wow. How crazy do you have to be?

Also, between March and August, Hall repeatedly followed the woman to restaurants, the movies and her home, and he ignored her repeated requests that he leave her alone, according to police and court records.

The victim testified Friday that Hall once followed her to a Walmart and took her car keys and would not return them until she agreed to "hear him out" concerning her marriage, the Idaho Falls Post Register reported.

"I was so tired of being victimized," the woman said. "It is unimaginable that a 56-year-old would be so deviant."

Hey, remember that Kentucky state official who shot his girlfriend to death in September? He was 56 years old. Good thing Hall was "just" obsessive, not violent.

Just like the attorney for that guy in Kentucky blaming the victim for her own death, some people in Idaho have some wacky ideas, too:

Hall, 56, will keep his $31,000-a-year job as the civil attorney in nearby Fremont County, according to Prosecutor Joette Lookabaugh, a Republican who hired Hall in January.

Lookabaugh said she told Hall he would keep his job "unless or until his ability to do an outstanding job for Fremont County citizens is compromised."

In a news release, Lookabaugh suggested Hall was singled out because of his notoriety.

"I understand that political figures are held to a higher standard," she said. "What is disturbing is the fact that often people who have devoted their lives to public service are not given the same benefits, or are treated more harshly, than the public at large. There seems to be a certain amount of political glee in striking down the well-known for any real or perceived foible."

Hall admits throwing used condoms on a woman's lawn. Does Prosecutor Lookabaugh really believe someone who does that should retain a position of trust?

Hall continues to accumulate pension benefits from Fremont County. Hall's law firm gets about $600,000 worth of business from the state, but that is being looked at.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Center City Tonight 6-9 p.m.

Tuesday, November 10th
6 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Center City
Center City DL meets from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every Tuesday in the Triumph Brewing Co. upstairs bar, located at 117 Chestnut St. (between Front and 2nd Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. There are $3 beers, $4 wine, $5 well drinks all night as well as happy hour food specials including half-price burgers.

Triumph Brewery is conveniently SEPTA-accessible via the Market-Frankford El (2nd Street station), all the buses that turn around at or near Penn's Landing (12, 17, 21, 33, 42, 48), and a few other buses that pass nearby (5, 25, 47, 57). Driving directions are here.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Six Words in the Whole Song

Local Programming: SEPTA Strike Ends

Apparently.

Everything will be running in the morning. Not that people who need to know that will know, because once again, things happen in the middle of the night.

I have no idea who won or lost in this battle. Whatever.

Trader Joe's Ongoing Nutrition Mislabeling Problem

Two otherwise identical packages of a product available at Trader Joe's in Center City Philadelphia:

 

With wildly different nutrition information on the back:

 

Based on comparison to similar products, I believe the label with the higher calories is correct. This is not the first time I have encountered this problem with Trader Joe's brand items. It's happened to others, too. If you shop there and read labels, watch out.

"A Shitty Bill Passed, And It's a Miracle"

Booman:

There is no way anyone could pass a single-payer system through this Congress, even if we won oodles of new seats. It just won't happen. It's not a matter of leadership. Why does the entire South oppose even this lukewarm reform? Look at how far we had to go to get to the point that we could pass something with no support from Republicans and almost no support from Southern Democrats? We just did it, and it's a minor miracle. A shitty bill passed, and it's a miracle.

We could have gone all out for single payer and we'd never even have gotten ... this. We'd have gotten nothing for another 15 years.

As it is, what the fuck is wrong with southern Democrats? Are they really that pathetic?

Health Care Reform Passes on the Backs of Women

Cheers on the floor of the House from Democrats as HR3962, the fucked-up, stupid, compromised health care reform bill passes. This moment brought to you by the assholes in the United States Catholic Church, who demanded that the plan punish poor women who need abortions. Motherfuckers.

Joseph Cao of Louisiana the sole Republican who gives a shit about Americans.

Revoke these motherfuckers tax exemption right now:

The representatives of the nation’s bishops made clear they would fight the bill if there were not restrictions on abortion. In an extraordinary effort over the last 10 days, the bishops conference told priests across the country to talk about the legislation in church, mobilizing parishioners to contact Congress and to pray for the success of anti-abortion amendments.

The bishops sent out information to be “announced at all Masses” and included in parish bulletins, and urged priests and parishioners to tell House members: “Please support the Stupak Amendment that addresses essential pro-life concerns.” They added: “If these serious concerns are not addressed, the final bill should be opposed.”

Catholic Church Waging War on Women and Gays

Vote on the Stupak Anti-Abortion Amendment at 7:15 p.m.; Please Call Your Rep

If you haven't heard, Democratic member of Congress Bart Stupak has introduced an amendment to the health care reform bill which will not only prevent the public option plan from covering abortion, but will require any health insurance plan that participates in the exchange to not cover it, either.  Most health insurance plans now cover abortion, and this amendment would have the effect of eliminating that benefit for everyone, whether you buy insurance through the exchange or not.

The vote for the amendment is scheduled for around 6 7:15 p.m. Please see here for a list of members of Congress who need to be called to get them to vote no on the amendment.

Also, send Rep. Stupak a postcard here.

10:08: 34 Dems vote for Stupak amendment. Per Chris Bowers's math, that's not enough.

10:09: Goddamnit. Up to 44 now.

10:26: Amendment passes with a big chunk of Democratic votes (>60). Unfuckingbelievable. Question now becomes if it survives conference, and in what form.

A lot of men hate women.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Football and Mt. Airy Coffee Tomorrow

Sunday, November 8th
12:30 p.m.
Drinking (Coffee) Liberally Mt. Airy
Mt. Airy Drinking Liberally meets every Sunday at Infusion Coffee + Tea (7133 Germantown Ave.), from 12:30 until 2:30 PM.

8:00 p.m.
Football Sunday with Drinking Liberally Philly at Jose Pistola's
It's the Eagles v. Dallas in Sunday night football. DL Center City regulars been having a good time watching the Eagles on Sunday afternoons; this will be the first evening game. Come out and be liberal football fans with us in the upstairs bar at Jose Pistola's, 263 S. 15th Street (between Locust and Spruce), Philadelphia, PA 19102. We'll start around 8:00 p.m., kickoff is at 8:20 p.m.

Send In Your Event Suggestions
Like all civic-minded liberals, we're here to promote democracy and citizen engagement in the political process, especially if there is beer involved. Whether it is or not, forward any area events for the week to the Philly DL organizer by Sunday to have them included in the weekly email.

Help Us Promote DL
Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us
Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.

Way to Go, Habibi

According to witnesses, Hasan shouted "Allāhu Akbar" before opening fire.

Sergeant Kimberly Munley shot Hasan four times. He is paralyzed and on a vent. He shot her once; the round passed through both her legs. She is stable and well enough to call her friends.

Half the wounded have been operated on and are in stable condition.

Some of the victims may have been shot accidentally by responding police officers. (This initially struck me as likely, because I was trying to figure how someone shot 41 people with handguns while under fire himself.) It would be really stupid for the Army to cover up another friendly fire incident, so I am glad it's come out so quickly. However, base officials say Sgt. Munley was the first armed person on the scene and she put Hasan down, so (assuming that's true) unless her shots also hit others, it seems less likely there was friendly fire.

Also, I have seen the ridiculous argument that friendly fire is somehow a data point in favor of gun control. It's not, unless you're suggesting the police officers who respond to shootings should be unarmed. (The non-police soldiers in the room were not armed, per the commanding officer.) When gunfights break out, even trained shooters miss.

Mortification

Regrets, now you have more than a few:

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the 39-year-old man accused of Thursday’s mass shooting at Fort Hood, Tex., started having second thoughts about his military career a few years ago after other soldiers harassed him for being a Muslim, he told relatives in Virginia.

He had also more recently expressed deep concerns about being sent to Iraq or Afghanistan. Having counseled scores of returning soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder, first at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and more recently at Fort Hood, he knew all too well the terrifying realities of war, said a cousin, Nader Hasan.

“He was mortified by the idea of having to deploy,” Mr. Hasan said. “He had people telling him on a daily basis the horrors they saw over there.”

I doubt this is intentional wordplay, but the original meaning of the root of "mortify" is "put to death." I believe both that Hasan was harassed and that he was deeply affected by the soldiers he had to treat. I understand not wanting to deploy, although "tough shit, they paid for your medical degree" is also an acceptable answer. But assuming you don't want to go to war, how do you get from there to shooting scores of people? Probably he was just flipped out and not thinking straight. But I can't rule out the possibility that he connected the dots between being harassed for being Muslim and what he was afraid of in Iraq and decided he needed to kill some soldiers, intending to go out guns blazing. In effect, he decided to take up arms against his country, albeit in a half-assed way. 

For these reasons, I think his commanding officer's remark that Hasan's "death is not imminent" is both a statement of fact and a prediction of mortification to come. The U.S. military has not had an execution for some time, but has several men on death row, including Sgt. Akbar - who also claimed harassment and then fragged his officers while in Kuwait. I think Maj. Hasan is destined to join them.

Hasan is Alive and in Custody

Per press briefing by Ft. Hood CO. "His death is not imminent," he said, in reply to a question about Hasan's condition.

A female, civilian Department of Defense police officer who had been wounded by Hasan shot him and stopped the attack.

Hasan Didn't Want to Go to Iraq; Total Dead is 13

Says MSNBC:

Hasan was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq on Nov. 28, officials said. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said military officials had told her that Hasan was “pretty upset” about his deployment orders.

The Associated Press, quoting military officials, said Hasan received a poor performance evaluation at Walter Reed. The officials would reveal no further details, citing the confidentiality of military records.

A 12th victim has died, bringing the total dead to 13.

Hoof It: SEPTA Stays on Strike

Rendell met with the head of the transport workers' union and nothing came of it. Strike day 4 tomorrow.

Shooting at Ft. Hood

The radio tells me that U.S. Army Col. Maj. Malik Hassan Hasan and two accomplices have killed 12 10 soldiers and a civilian contractor. Hassan was shot and killed by MPs. The others have been apprehended.

Update: Hasan is said to have used pistols, which suggests a lack of a plan. Also, this: "Fort Hood is home to the Warrior Combat Stress Reset Program, which is designed to help soldiers overcome combat stress issues." It doesn't say if Col. Hasan had seen combat. This could be a PTSD-related incident, if the accomplices prove to be innocent.

On TV, CNN says that there is also known gang activity at Hood.

Update 6:08: Sen. Hutchinson went out of her way on CNN to note that the troops killed were on their way to Iraq. Let the politicization begin!

Update 6:19: Hasan was a doctor.

Update 6:23: Suspected accomplices have been cleared and released. I say PTSD.

Update 6:30: Hasan was a psychiatrist licensed in Virginia.

Update 6:50: Hasan worked at the stress management center.

Update I quit: CNN is interviewing some dude from Facebook. "Are there memorial pages that have been set up?" Um, okay, news over.

Former NM Chief Justice Dies Giving a Speech to One Ls

Imagine the judge's poor wife (who was in attendance) and students who had to go through this:

Former state Supreme Court Chief Justice Gene Franchini died Wednesday afternoon while addressing first-year law students at the University of New Mexico. 

... Franchini was giving his annual speech on ethics and the role of a judge Wednesday evening when he collapsed.

Faculty members said Franchini apparently suffered a heart attack. Students tried to perform CPR until emergency crews arrived.

Local Programming: Meet Death Row Exoneree Harold Wilson This Afternoon

Thursday, November 5th

4:30-6:00 p.m.
Meet Death Row Exoneree Harold Wilson at Temple Law
Meet Harold Wilson, who was wrongly sentenced to death for murder and then subsequently exonerated. The event is sponsored by the American Constitution Society, Witness to Innocence, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. The program will be held at Temple University Beasley School of Law, 1719 North Broad St. (southeast corner of Broad and Montgomery Ave.), Philadelphia, PA 19122, Room K2B, from 4:30-6 p.m. Contact Chris Wickman for more information.

Can't Blame Black People For Gay-Rights Defeat This Time

Maine voters decisively rejected same-sex marriage yesterday, 53% to 47%. Last November, when California voters overturned gay marriage there, the exit polls indicated that out of the Obama constituencies, overwhelming opposition from African-American (and, to a lesser extent, Hispanic) voters helped tip the balance. This was controversial, to put it mildly. Well, Maine is 97% white, and Obama won it in a landslide, 58%-42%. 

Something else I hadn't realized: the Christie win in New Jersey means the gay marriage bill expected to have come out of the legislature soon is now dead.

Fear wins again.

Local Programming: Philly for Change Monthly Meeting Tonight at 7 p.m.

Wednesday, November 4th

7 p.m.
Philly for Change Monthly Meetup at Tritone
Come out to the Philly for Change monthly meeting at Tritone, 1508 South St.. If you can volunteer for PFC's election-day canvass, email Sam Durso at [email protected] or call 267-307-8821. At the meetup, proud progressive State Rep of North/Northeast Philly's 202nd District Mark Cohen will discuss House Bill 1393, which would legalize medical marijuana in Pennsylvania.

Say Goodnight

Dems lose in VA and NJ governor's race, maybe pick up that weird NY congressional seat, probably win lose on gay rights in Maine. Good time for me to go to bed.

Philly: Go Vote

Polls open at 7. Please see Michele Grant on who to vote for.

Philly Surprise: SEPTA On Strike

The radio tells me that SEPTA operators of buses, trolleys, subways and the El are on strike. Regional rail is running. 

This move is sure to endear them to commuters and parents of private school kids, given that they went out without warning at 3 a.m.  Public schools are closed today, so at least those parents aren't totally hosed.

Good luck.

Local Programming: Drinking Liberally Center City Tonight 6-9 p.m.

Tuesday, November 3rd
6 p.m.
Drinking Liberally Center City
Center City DL meets from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. every Tuesday in the Triumph Brewing Co. upstairs bar, located at 117 Chestnut St. (between Front and 2nd Streets), Philadelphia, PA 19106. There are $3 beers, $4 wine, $5 well drinks all night as well as happy hour food specials including half-price burgers.

Triumph Brewery is conveniently SEPTA-accessible via the Market-Frankford El (2nd Street station), all the buses that turn around at or near Penn's Landing (12, 17, 21, 33, 42, 48), and a few other buses that pass nearby (5, 25, 47, 57). Driving directions are here.

Help Us Promote DL

Spread the word to your liberal friends to sign up for a group of like-minded people who get together every week to have fun and talk about what's happening in progressive politics right now. Please forward this email to those who might be interested in coming out and Drinking Liberally.

About Us

Drinking Liberally is a project of Living Liberally, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization which builds progressive community through social networks and events. Founded in 2003, Living Liberally has 340 chapters across the country. The Center City Philadelphia chapter of DL was started during the 2004 election and has met every Tuesday night since.