Via Yglesias, Andrew Sabl calling the seniors opposed to health care reform (what I have termed Laffer-ism, but "Selfish Socialism" works for me too) selfish socialists:

Some of the most virulent opponents of health reform are the elderly, who already have government-provided health insurance. While some may be too silly to know that that's what they have, a great many assuredly do know it, and are happy to pull up the ladder behind them. Medicare is already very successful and very generous. Under universal coverage, it's unlikely to get much better (except for prescription drug coverage, but not all the elderly take a huge number of pills). And it could, for all one knows, get worse. To avoid that risk, better that some youngsters go without.

This reasoning, though, is brutal--too brutal to acknowledge. While we're a pretty selfish country, "I'm all right, Jack" is not an argument people comfortably make when others' lives are at stake. But "if this passes, they'll euthanize me and my friends" is another kind of argument altogether. It's false, but easy to seize on as a morally comfortable pretext for opposing a bill that threatens one's self-interest.

Let the generational pie fight begin.

Speaking for me only

Remember the bombings last month at the Ritz-Carlton and JW Marriott in Indonesia? Police now say a mild-mannered hotel florist was a key plotter.

Police on Wednesday disclosed that Ibrohim — Suhandi's roommate and friend of three years, whom he described as a "polite" man who used to give flowers to their neighbors on Valentine's Day — had smuggled in the explosives used in the bombings. He allegedly orchestrated the attacks with Southeast Asia's most wanted terrorism suspect, Noordin Muhammad Top.

The florist was killed in a police raid last weekend. It was initially thought that the raid killed a top-level al-Qaida person, but DNA tests showed it was the florist, now described as a "planner and arranger" of the bomb plot.

Federal officials are in Michigan today touring the Standish maximum security prison scheduled to close in October:

The officials are from the departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security. The prison is the only employer in the town. But the prison guards think their jobs would still be toast because the feds would bring in their own guards. There's also fear that the feds would seize some homes near the prison to expand the prison's perimeter.

From the comments, this excellent post on the NYTimes web site is pointed out to us. I recommend it be read by all. It makes some good points about "the question" brouhaha and gets the facts straight - something the Media does not do very well. But just as importantly, it links to this video, which, unfortunately, will not make the evening news or be the subject of a Maureen Dowd column.

Speaking for me only

The latest Gallup poll demonstrates, for the umpteenth time, that political analysts and reporters do no understand polling:

In a survey of 1,000 adults taken Tuesday, 34% say demonstrations at the hometown sessions have made them more sympathetic to the protesters' views; 21% say they are less sympathetic. Independents by 2-to-1, 35%-16%, say they are more sympathetic to the protesters now.

The findings are unwelcome news for President Obama and Democratic congressional leaders, who have scrambled to respond to the protests and in some cases even to be heard. . .

The reporter who wrote this, Susan Page, is a classic CW type who basically spouts whatever her colleagues are saying. This is another example. My reaction to the poll is this - only 34%? That's great news for Obama. These type of polling questions are simply restating the basic question - do you oppose health care reform? Only 34% say they do? That's not bad at all. As for the "independents" nonsense - it is important to realize that true independents are a small percentage of "independents." 75% of "independents" are weak Dems or Republicans. This silly trope is trotted out all the time. Anything else worth noting in this Gallup poll? Let's see on the flip.

Sometimes cooperating with the Government doesn't pan out the way you thought it would. Bernie Madoff's CFO Frank DiPascali, Jr. learned that the hard way Tuesday.

After pleading guilty to an Information containing ten counts (pdf), carrying a possible sentence of 125 years in prison for which his sentencing guideline range would be life in prison, and agreeing to forfeit $170 billion (with a "b" as the judge pointed out) plus another $250 million, the issue of bail pending sentencing came up. The transcript of Tuesday's hearing is here (pdf).

DiPascali, 52, is cooperating, in hopes of avoiding a life sentence. He worked for Madoff for 30 years and admitted participating in the fraudulent scheme and cooking the books for 20 of them and lying to the SEC in 2006. He saw the light in December, 2008 -- 8 months ago. Since then, he's been a model citizen, reporting almost daily to meet with FBI agents and help them unravel what he and Bernie did. The Government agreed to recommend bail (pdf).

The Judge was having none of it. Not because he wanted to punish DiPascali, but because he doesn't trust the fraudster or his recent conversion to Truth, Justice and the American Way. [More...]

Like Jeralyn, and unlike apparently most every other Democratic blogger, I am not in Pittsburgh. I would like to have seen how Bill Clinton and some of those bloggers get along tonight.

I may watch it here.

This is an Open Thread.

NYTimes' Judith Warner:

[A] peculiarly gendered form of trivializing scorn still tags our secretary of state. Just two weeks ago, The Washington Post had to remove from its Web site an ostensibly humorous video sketch by two of its prominent political journalists that juxtaposed a picture of Clinton’s face with a bottle of derogatorily named beer. This sort of thing bodes badly for the country’s ability to treat her — and the issues she most passionately champions — with appropriate respect.

“We have our own work to do at home,” [Melanne Verveer, the State Department’s new ambassador at large for global women’s issues,] told me. “We trivialize the importance too often of these issues: the ‘women’s issue’ — you put it in quotes, that little category over there, the box you check. What we have to do is realize these are the issues; if we want societies to prosper and if we want our own security, we have to raise the status of women.” . . . Can all this complexity attract — much less sustain — the attention of the public?

Maybe — if we stop viewing everything Clinton does as entertainment.

This piece seems directed at Maureen Dowd.

Speaking for me only

I'm fixated on crime today, so here's an open thread for those of you with other things on your mind. All topics welcome.

Virginia must have a secret stash of money somewhere. The Republican candidate for Governor, Bob McDonnell, along with the Republican candidate for Attorney General, Ken Cuccinelli, are proposing new mandatory minimums for second time drug offenders and lifetime GPS monitoring for violent sex offenders.

Their goal: to make Virginia “one of the most hostile environments in America” for drug dealers.

They also want to speed up the process of terminating parental rights for abusive parents.

McConnell is the current Attorney General in Virginia and a former prosecutor. The Washington Post has more on his plan, including the Democrats' opposition because it doesn't have enough funding for police.

Via NORML, which is encouraging people to contact their legislators about marijuana reform, here's the e-mail that a constituent received back from GA Rep. Tommy Benton (31st House District). He says he favors caning for minor pot offenders and execution for those that sell marijuana:

Thanks for the email. We will have to agree to disagree on this and whether or not money is wasted. I am opposed to the legalization of marijuana. I think we should go to caning for people caught using and maybe execute dealers. That would solve the problem as well. That is what they do in Singapore and they don’t have a drug problem, but then they have less liberty than we do here.

Rep. Tommy Benton
tommy.benton@house.ga.gov

In a follow-up e-mail, Benton threatened: [More...]

How did Cameron Douglas, charged with trafficking in multi-pound quantities of crystal meth, carrying penalties of 10 years to life, get released on a bond the conditions of which were home detention at his mother's New York apartment where he would be watched by a private security guard company?

It may not matter now. He's been transferred to the Metropolitan Correction Center for violating the terms of his bond.

His girlfriend, Kelly Sott, brought Cameron an electric toothbrush filled with heroin to his mother's apartment. Cameron had requested the toothbrush.

Sott is now charged with multiple offenses and has been ordered detained without bond. She has a court-appointed lawyer. The judge also ordered medical treatment for her as her lawyer advised she's a heroin user. The complaint against Sott is here (pdf). [More...]