Leveraging Laureen: Part 2

So, how's that "leveraging Laureen" strategy going for the heartless, soulless CONservative government of Canada?

Judging from this piece from APTN (video), not well.

Herr Harper made his annual pilgrimage to the North, taking the First Cat Lady with him, and while he declined to answer any questions atall atall, Laureen deigned to answer a question about hungry children in the North with a word salad on corporate wonderfulness.

Really, watch the video at the APTN link, and more importantly, listen to the tone of it.

Wouldn't it be grand if other media outlets turned a similar critical eye on the hypocrisy of the Harper regime?

I know, I know. Too much to hope for. . .

h/t Jennifer McMackon who said: "Let them eat hockey equipment."

Restoring *morality* to Britain - PM's double standard.

David Cameron has promised to “restore a sense of morality” to Britain [...] announcing stronger police powers to ensure that offenders are caught and made to pay for their crimes.

From here.

Ooooh. Let's have some fun with the perorations emanating from that self-righteous, pompous dickhead, shall we? It's just a matter of changing the focus from alleged criminals (awaiting charges) to a different alleged criminal, still at large in spite of mountains of evidence and one dead - how convenient, that! - whistleblower and witness.

Addressing MPs recalled from their summer break, the Prime Minister cast News Corp's repeated illegal phone hacking incidents as a “deep moral failure”, and laid much of the blame at the door of *captains of industry* whose staff took part in illicit activies.

Managers and employees alike must be made to take greater responsibility for their actions, Mr Cameron said. “This is a time for the country to pull together,” he said. “We will restore a sense of stronger sense of morality and responsibility – in every town, in every street and in every estate.”

Rejecting claims that greed fuelled the law-breaking, Mr Cameron said the root causes of this criminality were cultural, not economic. “This is not about greed, this is about culture.” He also said that illegal phone hacking must be seen as nothing less than ordinary crime. “Employees were told to engage in these criminal activities and to corrupt police officials; it wasn't about freedom of the press, it was about unchecked thuggery,” he said.

Turning to the deeper causes of these events, Mr Cameron said that abusive exploitation of workers and poor corporate management had played significant role. “In too many cases, the owners of these corporations don’t care what their managers do, as long as profits grow and their competitors are destroyed," he said.

“The potential consequences of neglect and immorality on this scale have been clear for too long, without enough action being taken.” Conservative MPs are demanding tough punishments for offenders, and Mr Cameron insisted that severe penalties will be imposed.

“These people were all volunteers. They didn’t have to do what they did. They will suffer the consequences,” he said. Addressing offenders directly, he said: “We will track you down, we will find you, we will charge you, we will punish you. You will pay for what you have done.”

Yes! More robust policing! Oh. Wait.

In the interim however, how about cutting off Rupert Murdoch's News Corp generous subsidies aka *Corporate Welfare*, which he enjoys thanks to an intricate scheme of deferred tax payments, off-shore holdings and exploitation of elaborate legal loopholes generously available to corporations but not to ordinary citizens?

In the spirit of Cameron's words, when he backed a call Friday to withdraw welfare benefits from rioters ...

People who flout the letter of the law and abuse their own readers should no longer be allowed to benefit from *Corporate Welfare* - reflecting the tough line [Cameron] has taken over weeks of revelations that News Corp managers and employers broke laws. "Obviously, that will mean they'll have to finance themselves in the private sector - and that will be tougher for them, but they should have thought of that before they started breaking laws," he said.

"If you are a corporation receiving benefits, you're getting a break from the taxes ordinary people have to pay and with that should come some responsibility," Cameron told BBC television.

"For too long we've taken a too-soft attitude towards corporations that loot and pillage in the name of commerce. If you do that you should lose your right to the sort of advantages that the public has been subsidizing."

Wisconsin Recall and Mike Harris Jr.

DJ!, like all good democracy lovers, has taken an interest in Wisconsin.

Yesterday, six recall elections were held. There haven't been many successful such political moves in the US.

Democrats needed to beat three ReThuglican incumbents to regain the majority and help thwart Scott Walker's Koch-funded corporate feudalist agenda.

Hopes were high. Democrats worked their asses off.

In the end, Dems won just two seats.

Rather than feel crestfallen, Alternet says:

Last night's recall elections were the Republicans' to lose. And they lost two seats, while Democrats lost nothing.

Not only did they lose nothing, they've gained some important push-back momentum.

But, on the other hand, the big money came out too.

If, as some pundits declared, last night's recall elections for Wisconsin state Senate offer a preview of what the 2012 presidential elections will look like, we can look forward to millions of dollars of uncertain provenance spent on sneering TV ads to arrive at a result to be determined by a few thousand votes counted by an unreliable official, under inevitable accusations of vote tampering.

Have a look at what Corporate Murka is prepared to spend to destroy democracy.

Mike McCabe has never seen anything like it.

He runs the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign, a nonpartisan group tracking the flow of money in Badger State politics—though, presently, "torrent" may be the best way to describe the state's campaign finance environment. In the run-up to next week's recall elections targeting six Republican state senators, outside advocacy groups have flooded Wisconsin with millions in campaign spending. McCabe estimates that nearly $31 million has been spent on the recalls in about four months' time. It's a staggering sum considering $3.75 million was spent on the entire slate of state races in 2010. Recall spending "is totally off the charts," he says. "This is so out of whack from everything we've ever seen."

Catch that? Nearly ten times as much as for a regular statewide election.

Both sides were spending. But.

While the spending is more or less even, here's the big difference between the two sides: The left-leaning groups usually disclose their donors, while the right-leaning groups mostly don't. For McCabe, the geyser of dark money is the big story of the recalls. He says two-thirds of the recall spending derives from undisclosed sources, and he blames the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision for allowing so much anonymous spending.

I hope USians are waking up.

Next week, Sconnies get to do it again. Two Democrat incumbents are facing recall votes of their own.

And in October, Ontarians will have a chance to stand up against the corporations. We've run this vid before, but we like it.



Today, I saw this editorial, which starts: 'It’s no surprise that Mike Harris Jr. — excuse us, make that Tim Hudak —'.

I like that. Think I'll steal it.

Corporate greed

A joke for my virtual roomie and our dear readers, by way of Bouphonia:

A public union employee, a tea party activist, and a ceo are sitting at a table with a plate in the middle that holds a dozen cookies. The ceo grabs 11 of the cookies, turns to the tea partier and says, "Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie."

Michael Moore in Madison, WI, March 5/11

Michael Moore's whole speech. Really worth listening to.

Bonus: MM is interviewed on Grit TV, which I'd never heard of. Now I have.

Bagpipes! (Wisconsin March 5/11)

More later when Michael Moore's speech -- he was on fire! -- is posted. (I tried to watch the live feed but it kept crapping out.)

There's something very BIG going on here. Very big and very hopeful.

Wisconsin Update (March 4/11)

A lot has happened in Wisconsin. I'll try to catch interested readers up but first, an emblematic moment of what has to be the most civil civil uprising in history.

Back here I reported on Fux News's hilarious lie about 'union thuggery' -- with the oopsie! of palm trees in the background. (Watch video here.)

Almost instantly, palm trees did sprout in Madison, captured by matt_is_a_nerdj.



To recap a little: the Capitol building was occupied -- perfectly peacefully -- for about two weeks. Before Scott Wanker Walker's budget speech on March 1, the building was mostly cleared -- again perfectly peacefully -- and cops were letting people in on a one-for-one basis. One out, one in. People had to show ID, get searched, be accompanied at all times, etc. Much confusion about which entrances were open to whom, what the new rules were.

The state Constitution has a bit in it about the Capitol and its grounds being open to the people. So, one of the big unions filed an injunction to get it open again. A judge who heard the initial pleadings ordered the building opened.

Which was promptly ignored.

Another judge took up the matter more fully. There were a lot of witnesses so the hearing continued the next day.

The proceedings were live-tweeted by two observers: Analiese Eicher and ACLU Madison.

On the open-'er-up side, witnesses said stuff like: no damage, no mischief, no problems.

On the keep-'er-shut side, witnesses had horrifying tales of intimidation (too many Dem reps wearing orange t-shirts!), debauchery (women and men using the same bathroom!!), imminent danger (buncha live bullets found on the grounds somewhere!!!), and wanton destruction (blue painter's tape holding signs on marble walls!!!!).

That witness claimed that clean-up was going to cost $7.5 million!!!!!!

Hilarity ensued on Twitter. Several people quipped that it would cost that much only if the evil Koch Industries did it on a no-bid basis. Others said that demonstrators had consulted with officials about what kind of tape to use and were told that blue painter's tape was fine.

In other words, totally typical lying bullshit.

Meanwhile, in another lovely piece of political theatre, some Dem representatives moved their office furniture out windows so they could meet constituents who couldn't get in to see them. Remember, this is March in Wisconsin.

Back at the hearings, the lawyers were getting all constitutional in their final arguments. First amendment rights vs. safety and health, blahblahblah.

The lawyer for the union, Peg Lautenschlager, herself a former Attorney General, was quite splendid.

The judge made a sensible decision that the union and demonstrators were able to accept. Building to be open during the same hours as before the ruckus, with some security measures to be negotiated. No more camping out. But reasonable access.

This was yesterday. The remaining occupying demonstrators left last night.

The big drama this morning was whether or not the building would be open and under what circumstances at 8 a.m.

It was!

Watch live-feed from a volunteer here.

No more drums or vuvuzelas though.

The 'Wisconsin 14' (the Dem senators who are denying the ReThugs a quorum on the supposedly minor bill that set this all off) remain on the lam. They've been found in contempt by the remaining senators.

The Senate resolution calls for the Senate sergeant at arms to, with or without force, and with or without the help of any law enforcement officers, take missing members into custody and bring them to the Capitol - any time of the day or night.

Beside the point of how the hell this can be done, there are questions of the very legality of the order.

Gov. Wanker has threatened 1,500 state workers with layoff notices as early as today if the delinquent senators don't return. One tweep pointed out that this is classic spousal abuse strategy: 'Look what you've made me do'.

Today there's going to be a rally with Jesse Jackson in attendance. That'll get up the Tea Baggers' noses.

More demonstrations are planned for tomorrow. No doubt with out-of-state union goons.

Speeches! Drums! Lawyers! Palm trees!

Meanwhile, the corporate feudalist agenda continues to be advanced elsewhere, including Ohio, where the Tea Baggers also have an unstoppable majority.

Excellent piece from Mother Jones on how the Wisconsin Pizza Revolution was organized.

And previous DJ! reports: here, here, here, here, and here.

Wisconsin Update (March 2/11)

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker delivered his much anticipated/dreaded budget yesterday amidst huge controversy about who was allowed into the chamber to hear it. (There were rumours -- yet to be confirmed -- that Tea Bagger supporters were being spirited into the building through tunnels.)

Canadians will not be surprised to read the Democratic reaction, including the petty bit about where it took place (bold mine).

The location for the Democratic Assembly leaders' response to Gov. Scott Walker’s budget address was symbolic of how little regard their Republican colleagues must have for them.

They were forced to use the office of the minority leader, Rep. Peter Barca (D-Kenosha). It’s not a small office, but with about a dozen news outlets present -- half of them setting up TV cameras -- it was extremely cramped and stuffy. Several reporters sat on the floor, and others had to listen in from the next room.

Rep. Tamara Grigsby (D-Milwaukee) apologized for the small quarters and then added, "We weren’t allowed access to a larger room."

With such little power, what chance do the Democrats have in beating back against Walker’s budget, which calls for severe cuts to education and human services?

"It’s a very perilous time," agrees Rep. Kelda Helen Roys (D-Madison). But, she added, "Walker has managed to do in one fell swoop probably what no Democratic politician could have, which is awaken the voices of the people."

The main strategy -- or hope -- Democrats are banking on is that the already historic mobilization against Walker’s agenda will continue and grow. Rep. Jennifer Shilling (D-La Crosse) said: "This budget is so overreaching there are going to be many more citizen groups outraged. These are such deep cuts in health care and education.... This is not a Wisconsin people will recognize."

He's slashing funds for education and health care, increasing funds for prisons. As one tweep put it: 'He wants us poor, sick, ignorant, and scared.'

In typical NeoCon double-speak, Walker claimed that cutting money for cities and municipalities gives them the 'tools' to get their budgets under control.

In a 'take-that-you-pinko-commie' fit of juvenile pique, he also cut the state's recycling program.

To which, tweep FreyaFoust replied:

WI kills recycling program. Please send all used toilet paper to Koch Industries corporate office for recycling.

Koch Industries owns Georgia Pacific, huge manufacturer of paper products including Dixie cups. Good background on them in The New Yorker.

And in a move the so-conned won't like, he plans to close the female juvenile detention centre and mix the bad boys with the bad girls. Given that he's also axed funding for contraception, that oughta go well.

Other sorta random observations from your obsessed humble observer:

In a show of balls, solidarity, and disgust: Dane County Sheriff David Mahoney said he pulled his officers from barring the Capitol's entrances because he didn't want to put them in the 'position of being palace guards'.

Fucked News is doing its usual sterling job of making shit up reporting. First, a reporter who first claimed he had been 'punched' by a demonstrator, had to recant a little when the video demonstrated that the punch was, at worst, 'a pat'.

Same reporter was on the air when Fux aired footage of 'union thuggery' -- except, whoopsie! -- there were palm trees in the background.

Other Fux claims that 'union thugs' were bussed in are neatly spiked by zinovy08, who said: 'The bused in union thugs brought palm trees with them to Madison, WI.'

And, of course it continues. The hearing yesterday to open the Capitol to its people, as stipulated in the state constitution, is continuing today. It is being live-tweeted by two people: Analiese Eicher and ACLUMadison, who's having twitter problems at the moment. I'm following and will update.

In the meantime, watch working people and unions fight back.



Like Cons everywhere, these ReThugs are simply bullies. And pretty quick with the 'thug' word, all things considered.

UPPERDATE: BoingBoing confirms: Tea Bagging ringers snuck in through civil defense tunnels.

Corporate Feudalism Is on Its Way

As if we need any more proof how fucking useless the MSM is, have a look at Wisconsin.

Millions of Americans were out in the streets this past Saturday, participating in the largest flare-up of labor protests the nation has seen in decades -- yet images like these were conspicuously missing from the major television news networks.

At the rallies' epicenter was Madison, Wisconsin, where over 100,000 gathered in below-freezing temperatures to show solidarity with American workers' right to organize.

The state's newly elected Republican governor, Scott Walker, has proposed legislation that would effectively destroy the public sector unions.

The photos below come from places like Green Bay, Wisconsin; New York, New York; Washington, DC; Springfield, Illinois; Boston, Massachusetts; Tallahassee, Florida; Sacramento, California; Salt Lake City, Utah and many more.

Or, as a tweep put it: 83,000 fat asses on lawn chairs in August v. 100,000 peaceful protesters in February in a snow storm.

Oh, yeah, the media is all over anything to do with TeaDoucheBaggery, but totally ignores hundreds of thousands of people who have a righteous reason to be very angry and scared.

And, as Politicus USA points out, it is NOT just Fux News. It's all the networks and cable channels covering their ears and going lalalalalalala. (If you need to have it explained why, Politicus does a good job on that.)

And it's not much better up here in Canada. Our 'State TV' ran a shortish AP story on Saturday's protests. CTV ran a longer piece, but still from AP.

Global? Don't make me laugh. Two stories -- at least not AP -- from Feb. 18 and Feb. 22. Zip on the nationwide protests on Feb. 26.

Print media is doing a bit better, but with the exception of Mother Jones and Paul Krugman, they're getting the story wrong or at least wildly distorted.

Here's Krugman yesterday.

That Iraq Feeling

I don’t watch cable news, or actually any kind of TV news. But I gather that there’s a virtual blackout on the huge demonstrations in Wisconsin, except on Fox, which portrays them as thuggish and violent.

What that makes me think of is January-February 2003, when anyone watching cable news would have believed that only a few kooks were opposed to the imminent invasion of Iraq. It was quite spooky, realizing that hundreds of thousands of people could march through New York, and by tacit agreement be ignored by news networks whose headquarters were just a few blocks away.

And it’s even more spooky to see it happening all over again.

Spooky? You betcha.

It is NOT just about union-busting. Though that is definitely included as a key ploy to defund Democrats and strip the rest of us from the only organized force standing between us and corporate feudalism.

Also included are corporate goodies like executive powers to sell state assets on a no-bid basis with no legislative input.

It is a naked corporate power grab by TeaBagging pols, bought and paid for by corrupt billionaires like the Koch brothers, who are also major forces in Americans for Properity, the astroturf org behind the TeaBaggers.

How conveeeeeenient.

Lies from the Right are flying fast and furious and from the comments sections at most 'centrist' news sites, they're sticking.

Daily Kos debunks the top ten lying lies.

Michael Moore, who is not in Wisconsin, but in Thompson, Manitoba, calls it a 'global war on the middle class'.

That's why people everywhere need to support Thompson. As Niki Ashton - the MP who represents Thompson and the second-youngest woman ever elected to the Canadian Parliament - says: "It Was Flint Yesterday, It's Us and Wisconsin Today, and Tomorrow It's Going to Be Everyone."

I just went to CBC's contact page and left this message:

Why Isn't CBC Covering Wisconsin?
What's going on there is a war on democracy and the middle class. The US media is virtually ignoring the largest protests since the Viet Nam war. I expected Canadian media to have more balls. Especially our 'state' media.

AND there is a Canadian connection. See Michael Moore (link included). CUPE sent a delegation too.

Go to Twitter and see for yourself.

Tons of video! Great signs! Singing! People power! Energy! Firefighters! Bagpipes! Pizza donated from bloody Egypt!! Great television, in short. And Madison is not far away.

Get some reporters down there. Don't rely on US news wires.

Do I sound pissed off? I am.

By the way, the Wisconsin state legislature building is still occupied, albeit by far fewer protesters and the cops aren't letting any more in. They've bolted the bathroom windows shut and removed the tops of the bolts, so food can't get in as it did on Saturday. There are people outside trying to get in but they need appointments and have to show ID. Earlier today, 150 off-duty firefighters tried to get in and were not allowed, but seven lobbyists waltzed through.

See where this is going?

There's a call for a rally outside today at 6 p.m.

Here's a (pretty shitty) live traffic cam feed* of the people outside the building.

Sure, Merkin rightwingnutz are nuttier than ours and there are more of them. But isn't what Stevie Peevie's been doing for five fucking years merely a slow-motion version of exactly the same thing?


Previous DJ! posts on the matter here and here.

ADDED: I forgot this bit. In a fit of spectacular pettiness, the GOP House Leader is denying access to photocopiers by the absent Dems' staff.

*Sorry about link. It seems not to be on Capitol anymore.