Monday - Tall in the saddle

Monday June 20-whatever, 2009

. . . .Been off the airwaves and out of the net for a few days, a well-deserved break, but it's been long enough and there's enough folks now asking where it is, so it and I am back.

. . . . .So, anyone other than me notice that Neil Patrick Harris has actually turned into a rather cool caricature of himself as he's grown older as an actor? Kind of an anti-Doogie Howser?

. . . .Iran - OK, let's do the catch-up. Millions protesting, they won't go away, the military now is opening fire and killing civilians. More outrageous is the fact that the military is now charging a "bullet fee" to families of protesters killed or wounded by the police.
- Internal to Iran, and of vital interest to the entire region, this one from Eurasianet, a project of George Soros' Open Society Institute:

Looking past their fiery rhetoric and apparent determination to cling to power using all available means, Iran's hardliners are not a confident bunch. While hardliners still believe they possess enough force to stifle popular protests, they are worried that they are losing a behind-the-scenes battle within Iran's religious establishment.

A source familiar with the thinking of decision-makers in state agencies that have strong ties to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said there is a sense among hardliners that a shoe is about to drop. Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani -- Iran's savviest political operator and an arch-enemy of Ayatollah Khamenei's -- has kept out of the public spotlight since the rigged June 12 presidential election triggered the political crisis. The widespread belief is that Rafsanjani has been in the holy city of Qom, working to assemble a religious and political coalition to topple the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"There is great apprehension among people in the supreme leader's [camp] about what Rafsanjani may pull," said a source in Tehran who is familiar with hardliner thinking. "They [the supreme leader and his supporters] are much more concerned about Rafsanjani than the mass movement on the streets."

. . . . .That same opinion is being expressed here on the Daily Beast by Reza Aslan, one of the savviest Middle Eastern analysts around.

. . . .Remember, this is a revolution being fueled by Twitter, which is important in and of itself. It's the true worth of social networking software, truly a virus in it's actions, but being used to build and fuel a community with up to minute news and updates. More on that later this week, and we'll spend some time exploring exactly how vital Facebook and Twitter are and will be in the future towards building community.

. . . .Just as well, this is a revolution that is being fueled by YouTube. I urge you to click the link and watch the death of Neda, the young woman shot to death by the Iranian paramilitary while she was protesting. Not for the shock value of watching someone being shot, but for the understanding of what a young woman was willing to give to have a voice for freedom for her people. Click the link here.

. . . .Remind me, next winter, when it's 20 below and I'm bitching about it, that I complained about working in and traveling around in this 100 degree heat.

. . . .I'm still trying to figure out what the morons on the Right are doing when criticizing the President and the Administration for not "doing more" in Iran. What lunacy! Stepping into Iranian internal politics or the revolution occurring right now would only reinforce the stereotypes of America that the Taliban and Al-Queada consistently push down people's throats as they spread their own propaganda. Staying out and letting them settle it, while keeping a watchful eye on who the power eventually shifts to, and it's effect on their nuclear program is the way to go at present.
. . .In that same vein, Joe Scarborough, a former Republican senator took Republican Senators McCain and Graham to the woodshed on his show Monday morning, calling them "outrageous and stunning" for expressing those very sentiments and laid it out plainly for people that staying out and destroying those stereotypes are in out best long-term interest.

. . . .Leslie Gelb, over on the Daily Beast on "Leave Iran to the Iranians":

Iranian hardliners just can’t wait for President Barack Obama to raise high the protesters’ green banner so they can turn it red, white, and blue and unleash a bloodbath against “American agents.” And American hardliners and foreign-policy gurus just keep pushing Obama toward precisely that rhetorical abyss, hoping either to topple the mullah dictatorship—which they know to be a very long shot—or to ensure what they see as the benefits of an American-Iranian confrontation.
The hardliners and gurus might, for once, trouble to inquire as to the wishes of the Iranians who are risking their lives in the streets of Tehran. They might have noticed that these brave people have not been clamoring for Obama’s open support. Iranians know the consequences of that support. They also know that Obama and all Americans are with them. They are quite sophisticated and are much more aware of American politics than even the learned gurus are of Tehran’s. For many years now, virtually every Iranian who talks to an American says we should stay out of their affairs, that when we try to help them, we hurt them. Do you hear Iranians twittering their thanks to Charles Krauthammer, Paul Wolfowitz, Joe Lieberman, and John McCain? Does that silence mean anything to those Americans urging them on to spill their blood for freedom and democracy? Oh, of course, our moralists and seers of “a historical turning point” are not so crude as to blatantly call the protesters to freedom’s barricades or for Obama to urge a bloodbath for democracy. But they walk right up to that line.

Charles Krauthammer doesn’t hesitate to proclaim his real goal: “regime change” as the only way to solve future nuclear threats. “Our fundamental values demand that America stand with demonstrators opposing a regime that is the antithesis of all we believe.” He then asks, “Where is our president? Afraid of meddling.” And how does this brilliant pen of the right propose to meddle effectively? Like his neoconservative brethren, he offers nothing besides moral condemnation.

A large number of Iranians, quite sophisticated people, are struggling to loosen the bonds of a terrible dictatorship. The dictators have a monopoly of force on their side. So far, there have been no cracks in Iran’s army and police, and until there is, only death awaits the protesters. The protesters have unhappiness and contempt of the government on their side, and their numbers are growing well beyond students and businessmen in Tehran. Iran will never be the same after the last weeks. Most likely, the near-term effects will be greater repression and government control. But the genie of discontent is now out of the bottle, and time and politics will be on the side of the dissidents. Let us give them that chance—and look and listen very carefully for their voice for what Washington can do that will help them more than harm them.

. . . .Read the entire piece at the jump here.

. . . .Eric Alterman sees much of this as a sign that finally, finally, the neoconservative movement and it's experts and pundits might finally be on their way out.

One characteristics that ideologues of both the left and right share is a commitment to what might be termed the “Great Leap Forward.” In the Marxist case, the GLF always implied a transformation in the fundamental character of humankind. Just as soon as we get rid of capitalist exploitation by virtue of a communist revolution and a “new man” would emerge who would cease the selfish, self-destructive behavior that had characterized every state’s behavior since the end of feudalism.

Revolutions notwithstanding, the right wing’s version of the GLF is not so different, except that it is much easier to put in place. What is needed to transform tyranny into freedom, according to the arguments of its most esteemed ideologues, is the American-inspired overthrow of this or that Islamic regime, usually, it turns out, whose country’s name begins with letters “Ira…”.

Perhaps I’m an inveterate optimist, but I think we are finally seeing the neocons pass into history just as the Marxists did. After all, do you know anyone who does not have a regular column in The Washington Post or Wall Street Journal editorial page—not including crazy cable hosts—who is clamoring for American intervention in Iran? Can they really expect us to believe that a) the Iranian protesters don’t know that America supports them and b) that our president’s saying so would not provide the Iranian regime with exactly the excuse they need to stamp the opposition as disloyal pawns of enemies and infidels? Do these people really not know the difference between words and deeds?

. . .God, I hope that the day of the Neocons is passing. Let's see . . .we have Michelle Malkin calling Michelle Obama "First Crony"??? Yup, she did. I don't know that the First Lady has done ot raise Malkin's ire, other than being married to a President she loathes, so I guess Ms. Malkin figured she'd start her Monday out by insulting the President's wife for unknown reasons.

. . . .And yet another of my favorite Right wing fear mongering media lunatics, Glenn Beck, whose razor sharp focus now appears to be on ACORN showed a chart on his show of "the really big people in ACORN". Only one problem, the chart also included a picture of Silas from the movie "The DaVinci Code".

. . . .Don't get too excited about health care reform yet. This is one that both parties appear to be working in concert on, however appearances can be deceiving. The health care lobbyists, the pharmaceutical lobbyists and the medical association lobbyists have been laying plenty of money out to ensure that the voting goes the way they want it too. The boys over at FiveThirtyEight have done the odds on the possibility of the public option surviving. Hint: it's a long shot.

. . . The folks over at Open Secrets are keeping track of the lobbying money, and it's painting an ugly picture. Click the link to see what kind of money your Senator and/or Representative is getting and from whom it's coming.

. . . .Froma Harrop urging the President to strike now, on health care, at least while there is still some momentum.

. . . Well, at least he got some push on prescription drug pricing today.

. . . .More on upgrading the national electrical grid, the smartest, cheapest, best thing we can do in a hurry to get more energy efficient and greener, from Wired magazine:

Problem Regional brokers are responsible for getting enough electrons to their designated areas. At times of peak usage, that means firing up an old, dirty generator (not exactly green) or importing more juice from outside the region (not exactly cheap). Eventually, someone has to build more power plants and infrastructure (wickedly expensive).

Solution Treat electricity like a commodity—something for which you can gauge demand and set a price in advance. That's what New England's independent system operator started doing last year. In its Forward Capacity Market, the ISO projects how much power the region will need three years ahead and then runs a descending-clock auction for the right to provide it. The ISO doesn't care whether it gets its power from increased production of megawatts or from efficiencies added to the system, so-called negawatts. The agency simply sets the starting price. Result: money saved in power plants and wires, more stable electricity bills, and a homegrown incubator for getting bright green ideas off the drawing board.

$15 The independent system operator announces its need for 32,305 megawatts. Hundreds of wannabe providers—generators and conservers—offer 6,850 MW more than the ISO wants. The auction opens at $15/kW-month.

$9With excess supply, the ISO brings the price down to $9/kW-month, then $8, and so on, shedding bidders—and surplus power—with every round.

$4.50 End of the auction: The ISO reaches $4.50 ... and still has excess electricity, which it offers to take off the providers' hands as well.

. . . Ah well, back into the groove, upcoming this week; more on the Iran, Faux News, the Right Wing neocon's attempts to destroy this country, the culture wars, more on the grid, a whole lot on global climate change, the fact that it's already too late and the efforts we need to make now to be able to live with it.

. . .Kiss your kids, tell the ones you love out loud that you do, this rodeo is a one-way ticket and no one gets out alive, so it's not about yesterday or tomorrow, it's about right here, right now. Go change your life, and change the world in doing so.

The Desolation Angel