Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 193

New Charges Now Possible in Maryville Case

In something of a surprise, Robert Rice, the prosecutor in the original Maryville, Mo. sexual assault case that's received so much attention this past week changed course late yesterday and announced he would seek a special prosecutor.   He had been claiming that he had dropped the case last year only because the mother of the girl, Daisy Coleman, then 14, had indicated she would not testify.   Since the mom and Daisy have said for several days now, on CNN and elsewhere,  that they had never stated that clearly (Rice disagrees) and are certainly willing to testify, the prosecutor wants to clear the way for that to happen.  The state's Lt. Gov. had urged this course and the local authorities had been under pressure from social media and Anonymous attention.  Stay tuned. 

The News Is Out, All Over Town: You Win Again

The Nation breaks with what it calls the Beltway "consensus" in declaring in an editorial that the GOP actually, on important levels, "won" the showdown, even if not in the polls.  Or as I tweeted: "Can kicked down road hits boy on way to Head Start this morning."

Surrender? Any more “victories” like this and Democrats will end up paying tribute into the GOP’s coffers.

This debate started in 2011 when the president accepted that he couldn’t get support for jobs programs and instead called for “balanced” deficit reduction that included tax increases on corporations and the wealthy and spending cuts. In response, Republicans threatened to default on America’s debts, forcing through the Budget Control Act, which cut nearly $1 trillion in spending over ten years with no tax increases and exacted another trillion in cuts either by agreement of a “supercommittee” or, failing that, automatic across-the-board cuts of $1.2 trillion over ten years. Now the Republicans’ “surrender” locks in that sequester while pushing for further reductions to basic safety net programs—all while tax increases remain off the table and the threat of default is still pointed at the country’s head. Tea Party zealots may have lost their bid to torpedo healthcare reform, but the right continues to set the terms of the debate.

Bizarre Episode After Historic Vote

After the House finally voted to end the shutdown tonight, a longtime staffer, who had been acting as a stenographer of the proceedings, tooks to the dais an started shouting into the microphone about this not being a nation under God, and never was, and something about he Freemasons, and so on, before being dragged away.  This link has text, video and audio.  Her name is Dianne Reidy and she is now being interviewed by police.  Vid and audio below.

Friedman's Wurst

I was going to take my own rip at Tom Friedman's horrid (is that redundant?) column today but never got around to it and now Bob Kuttner has done it, and better.  In fact, he calls it Friedman's worst ever--as if such a thing is possible.  There are so many points to contest but just one:  I had to laugh with Friedman blaming us senior or near-senior Boomers for mooching off young folks with super-generous Social Security payments.   Funny, I remember contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars to SS over the past 40 years.  My son, age 26, to mention one example, has contributed a few thousand.  And he's funding me in years to come?

Anyway, something from Kuttner, on Friedman's friend and billionaire star of his column:

Some seniors, of course—Mr. Drukenmiller’s cohort—are making out like bandits. Here’s a variant on a Bill Gates joke: Stanley Druckenmiller and I walk into a bar. On average, we’re billionaires. But the average retired American is not the one described in the Friedman column.

Contrary to this sort of propaganda, the economic-injustice problem in America is not about generations. It’s about class. Specifically, Stanley Druckenmiller’s class. But Druckenmiller, approvingly quoted by Friedman, blames the diminished horizons of the young on “current spending on my generation” as if he had anything whatever in common with the people reliant on Social Security.

Four Beethoven

The wonderful New York pianist Lisa Yui is featured in DVD/Blu-Ray playing three of Beethoven's most famous piano sonatas (plus one from earlier in his career) that's coming in December, and she's just posted a trailer (below) plus, even, a behind-the-scenes video including "bloopers."  I can vouch that the DVD, which includes commentary,  will be terrific because I hosted her playing the same program here in Nyack a few months back.

Throw the Bums Out (Except My Rep)

Another laughable Rasmussen poll "finds" that 78% of American favor getting rid of the entire Congress right now.  Of course they do--except, if tradition holds, their own pathetic congress member, who they will (again) re-elect, perhaps by a wide margin.  In other words:  They mainly want to get rid of the guys they don't like.   Their own fella of gal? Not so much.

Vote the Rock

Nominees announced for next year's induction into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame (with several no-brainers for a change, including Nirvana).  Fans can vote, probably fruitlessly.  I don't really care but its fun to hear the arguments so go for it.  

Tea Party Drafting Palin to Run for Senate

They claim she's just crazy enough for Alaska to do it.  Just got this email from the Tea Party Leadership Fund, with as usual the accent on Fund.

Today, we're another step closer to drafting Sarah Palin to run for US Senate!

A brand new poll released today by your Tea Party Leadership Fund shows Palin with a clear path to the Republican nomination.

It has been a busy week for our strategists at The Tea Party Leadership Fund.

We just received the results, and I wanted to make sure you would be the first to hear about it.

So, what did we find? Sarah leads the field of potential Republican nominees, but her advantage is small.

According to the memo drafted by our pollsters, Sarah's lead is not quite two percent over the others in the GOP field--good news, but a clear sign that we have lots of work to do.

Ted Fucking Yoho

An epic Charles P. Pierce rant today over the utter absurdity and evil in the shutdown/debt ceiling debate, in which his targets range from Tea Partiers to Blue Dog Dems to Chris Matthews and Andrew Sullivan, and more.  Concludes with this:  "This means all of you who went along for the ride on torture, and on Iraq, and who hid under the bed after 9/11. This is how the power came to rest with Ted Yoho, who is a fool and a know-nothing. This is how historical inevitability is created. This is how its momentum becomes unstoppable. This is how the wreckage piles up."

"Government is the problem," said Saint Reagan in his first inaugural. And everybody, all of you sorry bastards, cheered, and made completely predictable the moment in which the power of the government would come to reside in...

Ted fking Yoho.

A guy who should be a minor annoyance at zoning board meetings in Florida is suddenly capable of helping to bring down the financial stability of the world. A guy who should be railing at his local drive-time talk-jock is giving quotes to The New York Times about the essential dismantling of the institutions of self-government.

Ted fking Yoho.

It's his world now. We just live in it.

Two Girls Charged With Felonies in Bullying Case

Even as we focus on the Maryville, Mo. sexual assaults, comes word that two girls, 12 and 14, have been charged with felonies related to the suicide of classmate after a year of bullying.  One girl has taken "credit" for the suicide on Facebook and laughed about it.

The Facebook post, Sheriff Grady Judd of Polk County said, was so offensive that he decided to move forward with the arrest immediately rather than continue to gather evidence. With a probable cause affidavit in hand, he sent his deputies Monday night to arrest two girls, calling them the “primary harassers.” The first, a 14-year-old, is the one who posted the comment Saturday, he said. The second is her friend, and Rebecca’s former best friend, a 12-year-old.

Both were charged with aggravated stalking, a third-degree felony and will be processed through the juvenile court system. Neither had an arrest record. The older girl was taken into custody in the juvenile wing of the Polk County Jail. The younger girl, who the police said expressed remorse, was released to her parents under house arrest.