Attempted Domestic Terror Plot Thwarted in Portland

Last night, Portland held their annual downtown lighting of the Christmas tree at Pioneer Courthouse Square.  As usual, I considered going, but didn't bother to cram in with the crowds for no particular reason.  The tree will remain lit up for the next month, and I'll have plenty of opportunity to see it, like I did in the above photo from 2007.  There's no need to jam into the square with thousands of fellow Portlanders to see it turn on.

As most of you have probably heard, the tight crowd also brought an attempted domestic terror attack, as a Corvallis man drove a van bomb to the area and attempted to kill some of the festival-goers.  Luckily, the FBI had foiled his plan and the bomb he tried to ignite was a dud.

I'm glad that nothing came of this, as from what I've read it could have killed some of the people in the area, and certainly would have injured many and traumatized my fair city.  My brother and I passed through the area on a MAX train last night as the festivities were underway, and the crowd was packed shoulder-to-shoulder, filling a block and a half.  I haven't seen any official estimates, but similar crowds are usually estimated at 10,000 or so.



From the details in the story, it doesn't sound like it would have been a particularly effective bombing anyway.  Pioneer Square is somewhat isolated from traffic, with MAX lines running along each side, with limited parking mostly on the opposite side of the street.  The one street with square-adjacent parking was closed off, so that means the van had to have been parked across the street from the square, with a lane of traffic and the MAX line between the square and the bomb, and the majority of the crowd further protected by a thick brick wall separating the sidewalk from the square.  These details a downtown Portlander would know, but a Corvallis resident probably wouldn't.

Either way, thank goodness nothing happened and everything went well at the square.  Congratulations to the FBI for catching this guy and likely saving lives, it's good to see law enforcement keeping people safe.

The details are still unclear at the time, but the story indicates that emails from the suspect to a contact in Pakistan were what tipped the FBI off in the first place.  When the Corvallis man was unable to get assistance from the foreign contact, the FBI stepped in and an undercover agent worked to help the bomber prepare for his attack.  While there may be some question as to whether the bomber could have gotten as far as he did without the FBI informant "assisting," the quotes from the bomber indicate he was determined to carry out the attack and maximize casualties, so it does seem likely that he'd have looked for a way to carry out the attack even if the FBI informant hadn't been involved.

Unfortunately, this attack has brought out the usual hateful anti-Islam commentary in the message boards.  Portland (and Oregon in general) isn't exactly the cultural melting pot you see in other parts of the country, so the modest community of Muslims and/or Africans in our city are probably going to face unwarranted discrimination over the next few weeks and months.  I don't really expect any sort of violence or serious vandalism in their communities, but I'd hate to be a Somali or Muslim reading any online commentary on the Oregon Live website over the next few months.

Cenk Uygur's Plea to President Obama

Sometimes I regret not having cable.  While there's a lot of great television available over the internet, Cenk Uygyr's MSNBC Live is not available in its entirety.  Cenk is passionate and independent-minded, and has had some of the most on-point criticism of our President's reluctance to stand up for Progressives.  Here's an excellent example, really capturing the frustration I have with the current administration.

Rep. Bob Inglis and the Difficulty of Being Reasonable

One of the casualties of the Tea Party craze sweeping the nation was South Carolina Republican Bob Inglis.  Inglis had a moderate/conservative voting record (based on contemporary US politics) but lost a primary challenge to a Tea Party candidate, after a lot of noise regarding his votes on TARP and other "liberal" programs.

Inglis has come out recently criticizing the leadership of the GOP, ridiculing such nonsensical positions as the "birther" issue as well as climate change denial.  I applaud him for being willing to stand up to this portion of his party, rallying behind the basis of scientific consensus and facts.  He said his party is arguing against global warming "(b)ecause 98 of the doctors say, 'Do this thing,' two say, 'Do the other.'"  This is a good thing to hear from someone on the right, even if it is someone who was defeated in his primaries and will be replaced by a farther-right partisan in January.

A few thoughts come to mind after reading about Rep. Inglis.  First off, why is it that only Republicans are covered in the press discussing the nonsensical nature of climate change denial?  Is it that they are the only ones standing up to say these things?  Or is it a matter of the press only wanting to report those who go against the grain?  I suspect it's the latter... there's no "news" in a Democrat standing up and defending the science of climate change, but when a politician stands against his party, even in the defense of overwhelming scientific consensus, it's more newsworthy.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, why do we feel that reasonable discussion and debate will change the mind of those so strongly opposed to our positions?  When someone like Rep. Inglis stands up against the partisan nonsense that has come to control the Republicans, he is shouted down as a sore loser by those on his side.  On the few issues that Inglis worked with Democrats, he is reviled by his fellow party members for being weak.

How do we liberals expect to have our voiced heard when even conservatives such as Inglis can't get their message across to those who mistrust science so badly?

McConnell, Maddow, and Capitulating with Fox's Game Plan

In my previous post, I took some umbrage with what I felt was Jon Stewart's evasion of the toughest questions in his interview with Rachel Maddow. Whenever an interviewee fails to answer the tough questions in an interview, I feel his message is diluted, and the post-rally analysis of Stewart has had that result. Although I know my blog is new and doesn't really command much attention (certainly not anyone who can influence the media or government policy... no offense, dear reader) I would like to take a moment to point out an example of where Jon was right about the left mirroring Fox's game plan.

On Friday, the following segment was the top story on Maddow's show.



To summarize:

1. According to George Bush's memoir, Sen McConnell (R-KY) privately urged Pres. Bush in Sep 2006 to bring troops home from Iraq in order to boost the Republican's chances in the '06 elections. That is to say, he suggested drawing down troops for political benefit. Sen McConnell in Decision Points "Your unpopularity is going to cost us control of the congress."

2. Bush declined his request, saying he "...set troop levels to achieve victory in Iraq, not victory at the polls."*

3. Sen McConnell, on Sep 4-6, 2006, repeatedly publicly decried the Democrat's calls for troop withdrawal. "Cutting and running is not a strategy for protecting the American people," was the basic (and most polite) jist of his condemnation.

4. When Maddow's team asked for comment on this hypocrisy, Sen McConnell's team responded with a standard "No comment on advising the president" line, stating that "the public record is clear on his unwavering support" for the war.  He pointedly did not deny the President's recollection.


This "incredible story" of McConnell's "trouble on a grand scale" and "contemptible hypocrisy" makes up the first eleven minutes of Maddow's 46 minute show. I understand that hypocrisy is shameful, and McConnell has been caught red-handed. My question is, what difference does it make? Is this going to change anything? What makes this Kentucky story an "incredible" and "grand" national story?**

What I see is, McConnell supported his President publicly while disagreeing with him privately. I believe many of us have been upset with Reid and any number of our elected officials for not backing up President Obama publicly. I know I've written about how disappointed I am that Democrats haven't stood up for Obama's policies.*** McConnell did what the Republicans always do, he stayed in line and played ball. That's why they win elections and get things done when they're in power.

More importantly, why was this the most important thing to report on yesterday? Where was the reporting on supposedly impartial Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito's serving as the keynote speaker at the Nov 9, 2010 conservative American Spectator event?  How about the reporting of Debt Reduction Committee co-chair Erskin Bowle's job on the board of financial giant Morgan Stanley? There are two great conflict of interest stories, both occurring right now and not four years ago, both very relevant to issues facing Americans today.

Is the McConnell story interesting? I suppose so. Is it a more factual version of sort of thing Fox News does to democrats on a daily basis? No doubt. However, it's nowhere near as relevant as the Bowles or Alito conflict of interest stories.  If Maddow or Olbermann were to cover them, they'd add a lot of legitimacy to them. The facts are out there, but if you search Google the links I've provided are the most legitimate media sources available. No matter how many links Think Progress, Truth Out, or I provide none of us have the legitimacy of MSNBC.

So while I agree that unilateral disarmament is a bad idea, Maddow and Olbermann and the rest of the media could take an important lesson from Mr. Stewart. Stop the sniping. There is plenty of fact-based information out there to take down the right. Let the right lie and name-call all they want, put the damning evidence we have out there, rather than letting it fester on the backrooms of the internet.


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* I do find this hilarious. Either GW Bush spoke in talking points even in private conversations, or he completely fabricated the quotes of his own speech to match up to the talking points he was making at the time. I don't know which is a more ridiculous option.

** I remember in the '08 election, when Biden was chosen as Obama's running mate, there was a rehashing of how one time he forgot to attribute a quote in a speech. I got into an argument with a conservative acquaintance of mine about how silly this issue was. This McConnell thing has about as much national relevance in my opinion.

*** Forget that Bush's team was out there pushing the same policies as McConnell, while Obama hasn't made much of an effort to get out there and push anything. Sending out a YouTube video a week before the election is hardly an effort to equal Bush's six year non-stop fear machine.

A Quick Bit of Frustration

I've been sort of reluctant to post in the last few days, partly because I've just been frustrated with the news coming out of Washington, primarily the ridiculous National Debt Commission chair recommendations, which were released to the press behind the President's back earlier this week.*  The press coverage has focused primarily on Social Security reductions (fueled by the oft-repeated lie that Social Security will be bankrupt in our lifetimes) and really didn't mention the 500,000 jobs that are suggested to be cut under the proposal.  Yeah, that's what we need right now, to cut half a million jobs.  All non-defense, of course.

On top of this is the "will they or won't they?" game the media is playing with the Administration's capitulation on the Bush tax cuts.  It's all pretty clever, as they have now moved the discussion from whether they will temporarily keep the tax cuts to whether they will permanently keep the tax cuts.  I'd like to see ALL of the the Bush tax cuts expire... including those on the middle and lower classes.  I'm more than willing to take the $10-14 a week in tax increases that will hit me if they expire... it's a very small price to pay to help get our country back in shape.  Realistically, I hope the true Democrats do stand up and prevent any extension of the cuts for $250k+.

Of course the headlines are almost all leading to the more tax cut, benefit cut philosophy.  I'm tired of seeing CNN opinion piece headlines such as "Is American Losing It's Influence?" which then suggests that our current path is what has lead us down this road to ruin.  That article particularly upsets me, as it is super light on specifics of how we've run into trouble, but very heavy on how tax cuts and benefit reductions will save us.  As usual, no talk of jobs or investment in our crumbling infrastructure.

Then again, it's no surprise that the media is aligned against us.  Rachel Maddow had Jon Stewart on as a guest last night and they discussed his false equivalencies between the right and left and their influence in the media.  Although I agree with Stewart's message of thoughtful discussion and maintaining a fact-based dialogue, I was pretty disappointed with some of the things he had to say to Maddow.  I felt he made a lot of excuses for the right and evaded more pointed questions about the differences.**

Almost seeming to be emboldened by the infighting on the left (and those who've taken Stewart's message to heart in some way) Glenn Beck is on a rampage this week with his nonsensical claims that George Soros controls the progressive movement and is building up to some violent revolution to conquer the US.  In reality, Beck is a more visible and manipulative puppeteer, and the calls for violence have been far more prominent on the right... but of course they want to frame the narrative that it's the left who are the bad guys.  It's all very scary... especially when you see the right wing corporate backed movement placing ads like this:



If this is what is being advertised on the centrist Huffington Post, I shudder to consider what lies and hatred are on the conservative websites.***

So it's been a little frustrating over the last week.  I've been kind of busy too, but it's the continued daily assault on my sensibilities that have kept me from trying to make a difference here.  It hasn't taken me long to remember why it is I stopped being involved two years ago... it's really hard when you keep getting hit in the face over and over again.****

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* Notice the leading headline in that article.  "Panel Seeks Social Security Cuts and Higher Taxes."  The "higher taxes" bit is ridiculous, aside from the adjustment of a few fees and a modest increase in the national gas tax, there are few revenue increases.  No surprise, it recommends keeping the Bush tax cuts for the rich and suggests a corporate tax cut from 35 to 26% - that's about 1/3.  You have to read through 3/4 of the article to get to that point, of course... the headline would be far more accurate to read "...Additional Tax Cuts" rather than "Higher Taxes."

** Sam Seder did a good analysis of Stewart's interview on his Majority Report podcast today.  He discussed a few things I thought stood out from Stewart's interview... among them, the way he made excuses for Bush and his "Weapons of Mass Distruction" claim, equating it to a six year-old desiring car ownership.  If we invaded every country who "sought out" WMDs in such a broad, long-term sense, we'd have to invade every country on the planet.  He also failed to address the idea that claiming Bush is a war criminal (which he admitted was technically true) is the same as claiming Obama is a secret Muslim Socialist born outside the US.  Tsk tsk.

*** And how many lies are in that simple ad?  Unconstitutional?  Just because you disagree with something doesn't make it unconstitutional, despite how many times people repeat it.  Government Run?  There's nothing in our watered down health care legislation causing it to be government run, any more than regulations run every aspect of our lives.  Of course in an ad like that, you can just say whatever you want, and put it on a news site...

*** Having to provide these links to back up my arguments doesn't help.  Nor my inability to keep it short or to-the-point.  I should start writing outlines rather than just rambling on like I do...

Rising From the Ashes

It's my hope that the losses of last Tuesday will spur progressives across the country to stand up for our values and get our voices out. There's some sign that this might be the case, the blogs I've been reading have been pretty consistent on that tone. I think Keith Olbermann's suspension (and hasty reinstatement) will serve as a reminder to the power of the true left, and how we are capable of rallying together. Let's hope we can do so for our country which, no offense to Mr. Olbermann, is a much larger issue than an influential news personality.

One voice I am glad to see return to the national dialogue is Sam Seder. Sam was one of the original Air America radio hosts (hard to believe that was 6 years ago!) and has been sort of hard to hear from in the last couple of years. He has started a new daily podcast, "The Majority Report," which can be downloaded from Majority.FM, or subscribed to through iTunes or any RSS reader. He's only done a couple of episodes so far, he's calling these first shows their beta, but they're already well worth listening to.

If you're not familiar with Sam, he's funny and smart. While he is unhappy with the weak-kneed policies of the outgoing congress, he does realize that the Democrats are the best chance we have to improve our lot in the current system. Since he's also a pretty funny guy, I think his voice is one that could really help shape the dialogue over the next few years. If nothing else, he'll make it easier to get through the difficulties of the 112th Congress.

Right Wing Media's $200 Million Field Day

I'm constantly surprised by the ability of the right wing media to make up crazy stories out of thin air, and how quickly they can spread across the public consciousness via the conservative Echo Chamber. The most recent wild accusation coming from the right is that the Obama administration is engaging in a $200 million per day trip to India. That link will take you to a Fox News clip where they list a number of fictional allegations against the President.

Snopes.com has quickly put up a response to this nonsense, disputing nearly every point made by Fox and other media outlets. There is also a great dispelling of the points over on Talking Points Memo. The compelling TPM article really makes me wonder how the right is able to come up with such a crazy narrative in such a short period of time.

I won't go into dispelling them here, as it's been done by people smarter than me, but I would like to comment on how these fabrications are even possible. The security of the President has been increasingly amped up over the last few decades, presumably starting with the assassination of JFK and accelerated by the attempt on Regan in '81. Due to these security concerns, the government is unable to reveal specifics on the number of people being sent in the President's entourage, as well as the number of vehicles/rooms/meals, etc. being purchased in the destination.  It seems like overkill, if you ask me, but I can understand it; it's just part of our modern times.

Since no clear figures can be provided by the government, it leaves the window open completely for people to speculate and point fingers. Needless to say, commentators such as Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh who are not beholden to truth can just make stuff up without any clear facts available to refute them. Since this is the only information out there, it is repeated and taken by many as reality.

Most people don't have time to research information for themselves (and who can blame them? It's taken me an hour just to research the links provided in this post) and have no way of instantly debunking this nonsense. For example, I had no idea that the "34 warships" claim represents 10% of the navy. Looking at the information in the TPM article, most of the claims from the right are obviously ridiculous, but difficult to respond to because they are not commonly understood.

Hopefully, the mainstream media will dispute the lies and try to set the record straight. Unfortunately, as is evidenced by the presistent birther and Muslim lies about Obama, I imagine the $2 Billion India trip meme will be repeated endlessly from the far right and take a "Weapons of Mass Destruction" level place in the American consciousness.