OMG Bomb Syria 2.0

If at first you don't succeed, try try again. Last year it was dubious sarin attacks. This year ISIS is coming to kill us all in our beds. And once again the media is complicit in hyping a threat and amplifying the war drums. 

Unfortunately, this time Anericans seem to be buying it.  We never learn, do we?

"Let's Bomb Syria" Version 2 Is Working; Why Did Version 1 Fail?

Polls taken almost exactly one year apart show a remarkable reversal in US opinion regarding the prospect of air strikes on Syria. Last year, in a poll conducted September 6-8, (pdf) there were a number of questions regarding action in Syria. By a margin of 59% to 39%, Americans overwhelmingly said they thought Congress should not pass the then pending resolution authorizing "military action for 60 to 90 days" that also banned use of US troops in a combat role. Further, 55% of those polled stated that even if Congress passed the resolution, they opposed US air strikes in Syria while only 43% favored them. In the hypothetical of no Congressional authorization, opposition to the air strikes rose to 71% with only 27% favoring them. Just one year later, those numbers have reversed. In a poll conducted September 4-7, 65% of Americans now say they support expanding US air strikes against the Sunni insurgents into Syria, while only 28% oppose them. Checking the crosstabs, support for the strikes jumps to 74% for Republicans but still is 60% for Democrats.

http://www.emptywheel.net/2014/09/10/lets-bomb-syria-version-2-is-working-why-did-version-1-fail/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=lets-bomb-syria-version-2-is-working-why-did-version-1-fail

Jo Anne Simon Wins Assembly District 52 (That's Us) Primary

Congratulations to Jo Anne Simon (and campaign manager Paul Nelson) on last night's victory after a hard fought campaign.

Jo Anne will be a terrific advocate for our neighborhoods in Albany and continue to provide the sort of constituent attention we've come to expect from our retiring Assemblywoman Joan Millman and Eileen Dugan before her.

I also want to congratulate Pete Sikora for running a campaign on issues that are near to my heart like income inequality, early childhood education and livable streets.  This was a race where we had two excellent candidates to choose from.

At the state level, I'm glad we were able to send Governor Cuomo a message.  Teachout/Wu ran a shoestring campaign and still picked up more than 35% of the vote.  In AD52, Teachout trounced Governor Cuomo by 6,629 to 3,587 (hat tip to Gatemouth).

Primary season is now history.  I will gladly vote for Jo Anne Simon in November, and grudgingly cast a vote for Cuomo/Hochul as well.  Let's hope that Governor Cuomo takes the right lesson from this primary.

Democratic Primary Endorsements!

A reminder to vote today in the NY democratic primary! I'll be voting for Pete Sikora for Assembly and the Teachout/Wu ticket for statewide office. I hope you'll join me. See the link below for a longer version including links to candidate websites.


http://firstandcourt.blogspot.com/2014/09/democratic-primary-endorsements.html?m=1


Typos courtesy of my iPhone

Foreign Powers Buy Influence at Think Tanks - NYTimes.com

Here's a crazy thought. How about enforcing the law?

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/09/07/us/politics/foreign-powers-buy-influence-at-think-tanks.html?referrer=&_r=0

"The money is increasingly transforming the once-staid think-tank world into a muscular arm of foreign governments' lobbying in Washington. And it has set off troubling questions about intellectual freedom: Some scholars say they have been pressured to reach conclusions friendly to the government financing the research.The think tanks do not disclose the terms of the agreements they have reached with foreign governments. And they have not registered with the United States government as representatives of the donor countries, an omission that appears, in some cases, to be a violation of federal law, according to several legal specialists who examined the agreements at the request of The Times.As a result, policy makers who rely on think tanks are often unaware of the role of foreign governments in funding the research."

My favorite trick is when the hawks in Congress appropriate money to foreign groups, such as the Iraqi National Congress, or shady opposition groups in Iran, who then funnel the money back into lobbying the US government and propagandizing in the US.  Like a perpetual motion machine for foreign adventurism.

Clinton Street: New Paint Going In

Intersection of 1st Place and Clinton received highly visible crosswalks this morning.

I've read a lot of complaints about the slow pace or road re-striping after recent milling and paving operations.  Clinton Street of course is one of them, and today we saw evidence that the process is moving along.  New thermoplast at 1st and Clinton was installed sometime between 9:00 and 12:00 today.

Democratic Primary Endorsements!

If it's a year that ends in a number, we have democratic primaries (September 9th is our second one of 2014!).  One of these was easy.   The other was a harder choice, but a choice still must be made.

Governor/Lt. Governor:  Zephyr Teachout and Tim Wu

This was the easy choice.  Governor Cuomo has had plenty of opportunity to embrace the leftward shift of the Democratic party and has not.  He is ultimately responsible for the SUNY's outrageous bad faith behavior and mismanagement of Long Island College Hospital.  We might still have a full hospital if we had a negotiating partner in Albany.  Unfortunately, Cuomo stood by while his appointees repeatedly acted in bad faith over the course of 2013 and 2014.  Cuomo has repeatedly raided dedicated transit funds to artificially depress marginal income tax rates.  He summarily stripped transit provisions from the Tappan Zee Bridge after years of work . . . and has attempted to raid environmental cleanup funds to help pay for it.  Cuomo single-handedly killed the millionaire's tax that would have provided reliable funding for universal pre-k . . . while embracing elements of the charter school "movement" that seek to undermine public education and destroy teacher's unions.  His decision not to hold special elections has left many Brooklynites without representation in Albany.

I'm willing to take a chance that two very, very smart professors can do better.  At the very least, Governor Cuomo needs a wake-up call from Democrats in NYC.  I'll be voting Teachout-Wu on Tuesday.

Assembly District 52:  Pete Sikora

This was the tougher choice, as we have two well-qualified candidates for the position, and I've known both candidates for at least six years.  I was as surprised as anyone when Joan Millman's retirement was announced just a few months ago, and I assumed I would support Jo Anne Simon, who announced her candidacy almost immediately.  But then another friend, Pete Sikora, announced his candidacy.  I decided to sit out the campaign as best I could for the summer, and I told both candidates that was my intention.

But there comes a time when you actually have to pull the lever, and that time is almost upon us.  I've been following the campaign, of course, and over time Pete has persuaded me that he is the best candidate for the job.  I first met Pete when we were both working to elect progressive candidates in 2008 and I was impressed by his energetic and engaging approach to voters.  I was even more impressed by Pete's creative efforts to persuade a recalcitrant Cuomo administration to keep our hospital open.  As it turns out, Cuomo and his SUNY people had no interest in working with anybody.  But a lot of people worked very hard to make him see the light, and Pete in particular played a central role in that effort.  Pete has an extensive history as an advocate for progressive causes and after a couple of good conversations on transportation and economic issues, I am convinced Pete is the best candidate for the job.  Pete Sikora is someone who will make waves in Albany, and  I will be casting my vote for him on Tuesday.

St. Patrick's Day Parade Enters 21st Century Next Year

Better late than never!  Excellent news and kudos to Mayor de Blasio and the city council for doing the right thing.   It looks like Guinness and NBC added pressure after the pols took a stand this year, and in a couple of years even the opponents will wonder why the hell gays were ever excluded in the first place.

Since 1762, the Irish in New York have gathered on March 17 to celebrate their heritage and maybe drink some beer. Not welcome in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade down Fifth Avenue, however, were groups identifying as gay, because Catholics aren’t traditionally into that kind of thing. But following Bill de Blasio’s decision to sit out the parade this year — the first mayor to do so in two decades — to protest the organizers’ exclusionary practices, the next parade will finally enter the 21st century, allowing an LGBT group to march. It’s a step forward, sure, but it also appears to be about the money. Isn’t it always?

It's great day for for everybody, even spittle-flecked outrage machine Bill Donohue.