The Hollywood Liberal

Thank a Republican in Advance!

Quote of the Day
“I will not vote for a single piece of legislation that I can’t reconcile with the text and the original understanding of the U.S. Constitution… I’ll do it every single time regardless of what the precedent says.”

— Sen.-elect Mike Lee (R-UT), quoted by NBC News.

Buffett Says Rich Should Pay More
Billonaire investor Warren Buffett said the Bush-era tax cuts for the rich should be allowed to expire at the end of the year, the Financial Times reports, “adding that, if anything, the wealthiest Americans should pay even more in taxes.”

He also “scotched suggestions, promoted by Republicans, that extending tax cuts for the rich would lead to more investment and have a multiplier effect across the economy at a time when growth remains insipid.”

Said Buffett: “The rich are always going to say that, you know, just give us more money and we’ll go out and spend more and then it will all trickle down to the rest of you. But that has not worked the last 10 years, and I hope the American public is catching on.”

Presented By:

Economic Prison Zones
When a project mixes the feel-good words of jobs, economic development and Israeli- Palestinian cooperation, how can anyone complain? These things are some of what the international community has been promising to deliver through the construction of industrial free trade…

Mullen Rejects Bush?s Claim That NATO To Blame For Afghanistan Decline: ?We Were Heavily Focused On Iraq?
Last week during his book/legacy polishing tour, President Bush tried to absolve himself from responsibility for the downward spiral that became the war in Afghanistan by the end of his presidency. Host Candy Crowley challenged Bush on Afghanistan saying that Americans are “weary” that U.S. troops are still being killed there after nine years and […]

Last week during his book/legacy polishing tour, President Bush tried to absolve himself from responsibility for the downward spiral that became the war in Afghanistan by the end of his presidency. Host Candy Crowley challenged Bush on Afghanistan saying that Americans are “weary” that U.S. troops are still being killed there after nine years and that Bush “ventured off into a war that began at least on one great false premise unknown at the time.” But instead of taking responsibility, Bush blamed NATO:

BUSH: What happened in Afghanistan was that our NATO allies turned out — some of them turned out not to be willing to fight. And therefore, our assumption that we had ample troops, U.S. and NATO troops, turned out to be a not true assumption and so we adjusted. And I completely disagree with the take eye off the ball. I found that to be empty political rhetoric.

Today on CNN, when Crowley asked Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen — whom Bush appointed to in 2007 — about Bush’s version of history Mullen contradicted Bush entirely:

MULLEN: We really, from my perspective fought Afghanistan for years from an economy of force standpoint and I have said for a long time that we didn’t have enough forces there. We didn’t have enough U.S. forces and we didn’t have enough NATO forces that was from my perspective because we were heavily focused on Iraq and I was literally looking at the resources that were headed in both directions and so as we have changed the strategy, focused and gotten the resources right over the course of the last year. This is the first time we really are where we need to be in terms of executing a comprehensive strategy.

CROWLEY: Would you agree with the premise that some NATO forces did not perform in the way you expected them to perform in terms of combat?

MULLEN: I’d actually come at it from a different point of view. We’ve worked with a lot of our NATO forces, our NATO partners over many years now and in fact we have increased forces over the course of the last year, they have also added an additional 10,000 forces. So while it was sort of across the board I think now we have the resources and the unity in NATO that we just didn’t have before.

Watch it:

Indeed, on Dec. 11, 2007, Mullen said that he and Defense Secretary Robert Gates ignored an urgent request from U.S. commanders in Afghanistan for 50,000 more troops. “In Afghanistan, we do what we can. In Iraq, we do what we must,” he said.

But Bush may have to revisit his version of history because the U.S. Army’s official history of the war coincides with Mullen’s view. Reporting on the report, the New York Times noted that American forces were “hamstrung by inadequate resources” and thus “missed opportunities to stabilize Afghanistan during the early years of the war.” The Times added that “the invasion of Iraq was siphoning away resources. After the invasion started in March 2003, the history says, the United States clearly ‘had a very limited ability to increase its forces’ in Afghanistan.”

It’s also quite ironic that Bush would blame NATO for his incompetence seeing that members of the Atlantic Alliance wanted to be more involved in the war at the beginning but Bush rebuffed their offers:

Aside from letting a handful of NATO’s AWACS radar planes come help patrol American skies, Bush’s response was a shockingly terse: Thanks, but no thanks; we’ll handle it by ourselves. Marc Grossman, the undersecretary of state for political affairs, later admitted to the Washington Times that the United States initially “blew off” the allies. Douglas Feith, the undersecretary of defense for policy, said that the United States, in the Times’ words, “was so busy developing its [Afghanistan] war plans that it did not have time to focus on coordinating Europe’s military role.”

The effect, of course, was to alienate the allies just as they were rediscovering their affections. As London’s conservative Financial Times later put it, “A disdainful refusal even to respond to a genuine offer of support from close allies, at the time of America’s most serious crisis in decades, spoke volumes about its attitude to the alliance.”

So it seems Bush has no problem revising history by throwing America’s closest allies under the bus in an effort to make himself look good.

Time to Stop Spending OPM
Jonathan Gurwitz, San Antonio Express-News

Obama Must Stand Strong on Taxes
Robert Reich, San Francisco Chronicle
Let's hope the president holds his ground on not extending the Bush tax cuts to the richest Americans – who don't need it, don't deserve it and won't help the economy if they get it.But instead of limiting his proposed extension to those with incomes of $250,000 or less (the bottom 98 percent of Americans), he should offer it to incomes under $500,000 (essentially the bottom 99 percent) for two years. The real explosion of income and wealth has occurred in the top 1 percent.Between 2002 and 2007, the bottom 99 percent of incomes grew 1.3 percent a year in real terms, while…

Will GOP Get Serious on Spending?
Steve Chapman, Chicago Tribune
WASHINGTON — Barely a week has passed since the thumping Republican victory in congressional elections, and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell is enjoying the chance to reveal how the GOP will use its new power.Speaking to a crowd at the annual convention of the Federalist Society, an influential organization of conservative and libertarian lawyers, McConnell is among friends. They are happy to hear him declare, “Americans want less government, less spending and less debt.” Receive news alertsThen the senator tells them what his party is going to do to bring the runaway…

Kicking the Fed

Bare-Breasted Protesters Heat Up Ukraine
Femen, a feminist group in the Ukraine, is staging topless protests that involve sexually charged gestures, obscene slogans and scuffles with security guards and police. Born out of a girls’ pajama party two years ago, the group has turned into a popular movement. “If sexuality is used to sell cars and cookies, why not use it for social and political projects,” said group leader Anna Hutsul. Event photos (NSFW; contains nudity).

Sunday Talking Heads: November 21, 2010
TSA Administrator John Pistole, America’s surveillance meister, will be on CNN’s State of the Union this morning. In Germany, the Pirate Party organized a protest against porno scanners. Protest here, start by signing the petition demanding Congress investigate the TSA’s porno scanners. Riki Ott hosts FDL’s Book Salon this afternoon. This evening, DDay and Bobblespeak’s Culture of Truth appear on Jay Ackroyd’s Virtually Speaking.

TSA Administrator John Pistole, America’s surveillance meister, will be on CNN’s State of the Union this morning. In Germany, the Pirate Party organized a protest against porno scanners.  Protest here, start by signing the petition demanding Congress investigate the TSA’s porno scanners.

Riki Ott hosts FDL’s Book Salon this afternoon.  This evening, DDay and Bobblespeak’s Culture of Truth appear on Jay Ackroyd’s Virtually Speaking.  To the listings:

Washington Journal: 7:45am – Michael Shear, New York Times, Caucus Blog Lead Writer.  8:30am – Gen. Wesley Clark (Ret.), Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (1997-2000).  9:15am – Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-GA), Author, “Valley Forge.”

ABC’s This Week: Afghanistan with Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. Cholera in Haiti.  Roundtable: George Will, Donna Brazile, Robert Reich, Ed Luce of the Financial Times.

CBS’ Face The Nation: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.  U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Chris Matthews: Gloria Borger, Howard Fineman, Clarence Page, Kelly O’Donnell.  Topics: Which Republican Sees the Best Shot to Run as the Un-Obama in 2012? The House Republican Plan for 280 Hearings in 2011 to Investigate the Obama Administration.

CNN’s State of the Union: Afghanistan, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen. Porno Scanners, TSA Administrator John Pistole. And Rep. John Mica (R-FL), the ranking member on the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, to explain his plan to reform the agency.

Fareed Zakaria’s – GPS: Fareed on the deficit.  Then, Mohammed Javad Larijani, a member of one of Iran’s most powerful political families.  GM. Afghanistan.

Fox News Sunday: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  Then, Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX).  Roundtable: Bill Kristol, A.B. Stoddard, Kevin Madden, Juan Williams.

NBC’s Meet The Press: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA).  Roundtable: Robert Draper, Paul Gigot, Rep.-elect Allen West (R-FL), Richard Wolffe.

Newsmakers: Fresh off his win to become the new assistant minority leader in the 112th Congress, Majority Whip Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC) joined C-SPAN’s Newsmakers to explain how his new role will allow him to “significantly add to leadership discussions” to push the Democrats’ political approach in a new direction.

Q & A: Edmund Morris, author of “Colonel Roosevelt.” This is the final in his series of three books on Theodore Roosevelt. In this program Morris will discuss Roosevelt’s years after the presidency up to his death at age 60.

Religion & Ethics: Brother David Steindl-Rast on Gratitude.  Raising Ethical Children.  Museum of American Jewish History.  Three Faiths Exhibition.

60 Minutes: Merchant of Death – The Drug Enforcement Administration agents who caught the alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout explain how they lured and then captured the suspect one of them calls “one of the most dangerous men on the face of the Earth.”  Designing Life – Microbiologist J. Craig Venter, whose scientists have already mapped the human genome and created what he calls “the first synthetic species.”  Mark Wahlberg – From street thug, to rapper to actor and now producer, Mark Wahlberg has reinvented himself to the top of the Hollywood heap.

To The Contrary: Topics: 1- Airport scans vs. personal privacy; 2- Immigration maelstrom redux: Should Congress grant citizenship to children of adults here illegally? 3- Surviving in a down economy.  Panelists: Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tara Setmayer, Mercy Viana Schlapp, Irene Natividad.

Virtually Speaking: David Dayen and Culture of Truth will discuss the developments of the week, and how they were presented on the Sunday news shows.

C-SPAN’s Book TV.

FDL’s Book Salon: Disaster on the Horizon High Stakes, High Risks, and the Story Behind the Deepwater Well Blowout. Chat with author Bob Cavnar, hosted by Riki Ott, 5pm ET.

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USPS Losses

By Mike Keefe, Cagle Cartoons, The Denver Post

NATO Sets 2014 Afghan Deadline
NATO’s 28 member states have unanimously backed a strategy to shift leadership of the near decade-long Afghanistan war to local forces by the end of 2014. But, lest the Taliban think they can wait it out, the NATO chief declared that the alliance’s commitment is open-ended. —JCL The BBC: Leaders of Nato’s 28 states have backed a strategy to transfer leadership for the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was in Lisbon, where he signed a long-term security partnership with Nato. Nato’s secretary general said the Taliban would not be allowed simply to wait for foreign forces to leave, saying Nato would remain committed. Read more  

NATO’s 28 member states have unanimously backed a strategy to shift leadership of the near decade-long Afghanistan war to local forces by the end of 2014. But, lest the Taliban think they can wait it out, the NATO chief declared that the alliance’s commitment is open-ended. —JCL

The BBC:

Leaders of Nato’s 28 states have backed a strategy to transfer leadership for the fight against the Taliban to Afghan forces by the end of 2014.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai was in Lisbon, where he signed a long-term security partnership with Nato.

Nato’s secretary general said the Taliban would not be allowed simply to wait for foreign forces to leave, saying Nato would remain committed.

Read more

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Alaska Senate Race Divides GOP As Political Fight Continues
Joe Miller’s refusal to concede the Alaska Senate election has Republicans divided over how to respond to an awkward political standoff between a GOP incumbent…

Barbara Bush Jabs Sarah Palin: ‘I Hope She Stays’ In Alaska
Barbara Bush has shared her thoughts on Sarah Palin, and it sounds as if she hopes the former Alaska governor decides against running for president….

Andrew Kreig: Terror, TSA and the Sheeple
Last week’s public protests against the new, full-body scanning procedures at airports should restrict the procedures to serious security suspects — so long as there’s…

After Emotional Final Plea From Rangel, Ethics Panel Deliberates (VIDEO)
The House ethics committee is now deliberating in executive session on whether to recommend that the full House punish Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) for his 11 ethics violations, and how.

Charlie Rangel Wouldn’t Comment As Ethics Panel Met To Decide Punishment (VIDEO)
Rep. Charlie Rangel didn’t have much to say to reporters today following his appearance before the House Ethics panel, where the chief counsel of the ethics committee recommended his censure.