Greg Mitchell's Blog, page 201

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Badges

UPDATE Full story now posted.  Opens: "Wheelchair-bound elderly veterans knocked over barricades to tour the World War II Memorial Tuesday morning in defiance of the government shutdown...."

UPDATE from Stars & Stripes reporter on Twitter: "Official word from Park Police on the WWII memorial: 'We're seeking guidance on how to respond.' No effort to block any vets."

Photo of Day:   World War II flight vets from Mississippi storm memorial in D.C. closed by shutdown, knock over barriers.  Almost expected to see Iwo Jima type flag raising. Stars & Stripes reporter on the scene--says they continue to "hold" the ground.  Politicians now there.  The scene via Vine.

New Nitwitz Series

NY Daily News even tops the Post.

No Biggie: Just Airline Safety Inspectors Sent Home

(Associated Press) Nearly 3,000 aviation safety inspectors are being furloughed by the Federal Aviation Administration as part of the government shutdown, the union representing the inspectors said Monday.

The inspectors check to make sure airlines are maintaining their planes safely, conduct inspections at airports of planes and pilots, and visit domestic and foreign repair stations where airlines send planes for major overhauls, among other safety jobs, said Kori Blalock Keller, a spokeswoman for the union, Professional Aviation Safety Specialists.

Union officials initially thought the FAA had made a mistake when they received word of the furloughs, Blalock Keller said. But FAA Administrator Michael Huerta confirmed the inspector furloughs in a phone call with union officials Monday, she said.

Mike Perrone, the union's national president, said he is "outraged that the FAA would consider aviation safety inspectors as playing anything but a pivotal role in protecting the safety of the American public. Furloughing this critical workforce is neither in the best interest of the economy nor the oversight of this country's aviation system."

We Welcome Their Hatred

Another good night for the classic FDR excerpts.   Audio for one here ("Government by organized mob") video for another below.

Buddy, Gonna Shut You Down

GOP theme song?  "Shut it off, shut it off, buddy gonna shut you down."  A warning on the current crisis from the Beach Boys with early hit "Shut Down."

Hollywood Exploits the Bomb

Interesting piece today at the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists on how, in contrast to movies of olde, present day "action" flicks merely exploit nuclear danger and don't make it palpable or thought-provoking.  Frankly, I did not know that The Wolverine with Hugh Jackman had a key scene set during the Nagasaki blast--and I am usually up on all that.   I've written two books about The Bomb and film:  Atomic Cover-up on the U.S. suppression of historic film footage from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Hollywood Bomb , about the censorship of the film movie epic (right up to Truman), from MGM, in 1947.

In the Wolverine clip note:  Nagasaki bomb did NOT go off over its target, the harbor, but up one of its valleys.  This cut the death toll in half--to about 75,000.   Also: There were only a couple hundred Japanese troops in the city at the time...

Rosa's Cantina

Here's full Marty Robbins version of "El Paso" which not only was featured in "Breaking Bad" last night but also provided "Felina" title.  It was a #1 hit for like six weeks when it came out--and at Crawdaddy writer Tom Miller found Rosa's Cantina for us.

Hillary Film Axed

Charles Ferguson announces that the much-debated CNN film on Ms. Clinton has been shelved.  It's quite a tale, and here's the conclusion.  Also, in update, NYT has big piece now.  Ferguson 

After approaching well over a hundred people, only two persons who had ever dealt with Mrs. Clinton would agree to an on-camera interview, and I suspected that even they would back out.

This, of course, was the real consequence, and probably the real intent, of the announcements by the RNC, Philippe Reines, and David Brock. Neither political party wanted the film made. After painful reflection, I decided that I couldn't make a film of which I would be proud. And so I'm cancelling. (Not because of any pressure from CNN -- quite the contrary.) It's a victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have now become. But I don't think that it's a victory for the media, or for the American people. I still believe that Mrs. Clinton has many virtues including great intelligence, fortitude, and a deep commitment to bettering the lives of women and children worldwide. But this is not her finest hour.

Journalistic 'Disgrace' in Shutdown Coverage

My new piece at The Nation.

Plus: Dave Weigel debunks GOP claims that Democrats have been just as bad as holding them "hostage" in previous debt ceiling debates. 

Raising the debt limit always been unpopular, and tough to explain to voters. A few times, Democrats balked at raising it for a few days to make a point, then caved in. Many more times, they've just voted for the damn thing. John Boehner's Republicans have only ever agreed to raise the debt limit if they won major policy concessions from the president. Both parties don't do it. One party does it.

'NYT': McClatchy Worse Than Snowden?

Top story at NYT site now is on U.S. analysts feeling that early August leak to media of how al-Qaeda communications has done more to harm our anti-terrorism effort than anything revealed by Edward Snowden.  And the Times quickly recounts how it refused to publish the names that were key in the information, at the request of the government, and only did so after given clearance--after McClatchy went with it. 

The communication intercepts between Mr. Zawahri and Mr. Wuhayshi revealed what American intelligence officials and lawmakers have described as one of the most serious plots against American and other Western interests since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. It prompted the closing of 19 United States Embassies and consulates for a week, when the authorities ultimately concluded that the plot focused on the embassy in Yemen.

McClatchy Newspapers first reported on the conversations between Mr. Zawahri and Mr. Wuhayshi on Aug. 4. Two days before that, The New York Times agreed to withhold the identities of the Qaeda leaders after senior American intelligence officials said the information could jeopardize their operations. After the government became aware of the McClatchy article, it dropped its objections to The Times’s publishing the same information, and the newspaper did so on Aug. 5.