Noontime News Roundup – June 19, 2011
Noontime News is a snapshot of our RSS feeds from the noon (Eastern time) hour.
Al Franken: Congress Needs To Vote On Libya War
“Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) told TPM this morning that if the President Obama wants to keep bombing Libya, he’ll need to ask Congress’ permission.
“We’re going to have to vote,” Franken said shortly after his speech to the Netroots Nation crowd gathered here in his home state Saturday.
In an explosive article Friday, the New York Times reported that Obama overruled Justice Department advice that continuing the war in Libya without congressional authority was illegal. Asked about the story, Franken said he rejected the president’s reported reasoning behind overruling his own legal team.”
Read More: At 90 Days, Libya Conflict Has Washington Divided
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Aides To Former Maryland Gov Indicted For Ordering Calls To Suppress Votes
“Two aides to former Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich (R) have been indicted for ordering what officials claim were deceptive robocalls intended to suppress Democratic turnout during Ehrlich’s second run for the office last November.
Voters in Maryland started getting mysterious phone calls on election day last year, that told them to “relax” and not bother going to the polls because President Barack Obama and Gov. Martin O’Malley “have been successful.”"
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Gov. Chris Christie Claims Fox News Chief As Confidential Adviser
“The office of Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is claiming that Fox News chairman Roger Ailes is a confidential adviser whose interactions with the governor should remain secret under New Jersey’s executive privilege.
Last month, after New York magazine reported that Ailes met with Christie last summer and called him this year to urge him to run for president, Gawker filed a request under New Jersey’s Open Records Act seeking any correspondence between the two men, as well as any records of meetings or phone calls with Ailes from Christie’s schedule or call logs.”
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GOP 2012 Presidential Candidates
http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/06/herman-cain-tangled-up-by-rhetoric-about-muslims.php?ref=fpa
Bachmann Doubts Evolution, Wants Schools To Teach Intelligent Design
Rick Perry tipped as Republican favourite
Michele Bachmann: crusader electrifying the US right
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Paul Ryan, 60 Plus Defend Medicare Phase Out Plan In New Ad (VIDEO)
“The 60 Plus Association — a well-moneyed group that advocates for conservative safety net policies — is running a new ad, starring House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI), to defend the GOP plan to phase out Medicare and replace it with private insurance.
“The Democrats and Obama are destroying Medicare,” said Jim Martin, chairman of the 60 Plus Association in a prepared statement, before pivoting unironically. “It’s time to put an end to their ‘mediscare’ tactics.”"
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Van Jones Calls End Of Glenn Beck’s Fox Show A ‘Triumph Of American Capitalism’
“Van Jones, the Saturday keynote speaker at the Netroots Nation conference here, has a special relationship with Glenn Beck.
Asked to ponder the end of Beck’s Fox News show on June 30, Jones pointed to what regular Beck viewers might see as an unlikely ally: capitalism.
Jones praised the free market system for ridding the airwaves of Beck.
“Good American businesses make a decision about who they want to associate their brands with,” he said. “And if you violate the principles of good discourse and fair play in America, good American businesses will not stay with you and you won’t stay in the public square very long.
“So it’s not just a triumph of American capitalism,” Jones said. “It’s a triumph of American values.”"
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VIDEO: At Republican Leadership Conference, Obama Impersonator Tells Racist Jokes; Audience Laughs
“The nation’s GOP elite gathered in New Orleans this weekend for the Republican Leadership Conference. In attendance were presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and potential candidate Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
Prior to a speech by RNC Chair Reince Preibus, an Obama impersonator took the stage and told a series of racist jokes. “
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Justice Thomas Caught Up In Yet Another Ethical Tangle
“The New York Times reports on Justice Clarence Thomas’ longstanding — and highly fruitful — relationship with a leading conservative donor named Harlan Crow. Crow has donated nearly $5 million to Republican candidates and conservative organizations, including $100,000 to the anti-John Kerry Swift Boat Veterans for Truth — and he has also been very generous to the Thomas family.”
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United Recovering From Canceled And Delayed Flights
“A five-hour computer outage that virtually shut down United Airlines Friday night and early Saturday is a stark reminder of how dependent airlines have become on technology.”
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Who Gets Flooded: A By-The-Book Decision
“The Army Corps of Engineers is taking unprecedented measures to keep the Missouri River under control. It’s hard enough to choose who gets wet and who stays dry, yet harder still, some say, are bureaucratic rules that require the Corps to consider priorities other than flood control.”
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Karzai Says U.S. In Peace Talks With Taliban
“Afghan President Hamid Karzai confirmed Saturday that Afghanistan and the U.S. are engaged in peace talks with the Taliban. Also on Saturday, there was a suicide bomber attack near the presidential palace that cost two policemen their lives. Host Scott Simon gets the latest from NPR’s Quil Lawrence in Kabul.”
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Satire: Man With Broken Foot Plunged Into World Of Human Kindness, Caring
“MINNEAPOLIS—After an accident this past weekend in which he tripped down a flight of stairs and fractured a metatarsal in his left foot, sales analyst Tim Morris was suddenly thrown into a strange and unfamiliar world pervaded by human generosity and kindness”
“What is this place?” added Morris, gazing around in confusion.
While Morris confirmed that the people of this unusual new world look and sound exactly as they did in the world he hails from, he noted that their displays of unselfish kindness are completely unlike those he is accustomed to experiencing on a day-to-day basis.”
Good News: Twins’ Cure A First Victory For Genome Testing
“For years, scientists have predicted that knowing the whole human genetic code would pay off huge dividends in diagnosing and treating disease. The promise has largely remained just that. Now, a pair of 14-year-old twins has become among the first to benefit from a whole-genome test. NPR health and science correspondent Richard Knox talks to host Scott Simon about the breakthrough that essentially cured the twins’ disease within days.”
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United Airlines computer issues and the spate of hackings make me wonder about how my desire to live in a paperless world is going to turn out. I hope that computer security people are very busy trying to ensure things stay secure and operational. I am personally guilty of perhaps taking technology for granted.
The story on Obama and Libya is sorely troubling to me. I know we have only parts of the story, but I recall a couple of weeks ago that the US sternly told NATO there was no way we could continue our support and that they had to step up and take over.
So this is not just a matter of Obama deciding. One of our strongest treaties and alliances is in the balance here. I have to keep telling myself that.
We pulled our initial participation after just a little over a week. We got drawn back in because our allies were having trouble continuing the raids.
Imagine Republicans having a chance to vote down a war. Too bad they didn’t do that ten years ago.
Keith Olbermann is back, and Countdown resumes Monday night on Current TV.
Here’s a special comment he made last week on Weinergate:
http://current.com/shows/countdown/videos/embarrassing-behavior-over-the-weiner-controversy
The news about the voter fraud from Maryland is very troubling to me. The votes lost by these types of activities cannot be regained by people being fined and sent to jail. Voter fraud is one of those crimes where crime quite literally pays. If you keep enough voters away from the polls, your guy wins and a few bucks or a few years in prison are nothing compared to what having the wrong governor can do to your state. Maryland was just lucky that enough people did go to the polls.
And I hope to heck that if Clarence Thomas is finally being investigated by the NY Times that calls for his removal start heating up. He is an example of what is wrong with our country: a person with a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land not seeing anything wrong with trading favors. Antonin Scalia once said he would never compromise his integrity for a hunting trip (when he refused to recuse himself from a Cheney case) and maybe that is true. But Clarence Thomas’ family is not just benefiting from his position they are cashing in on his position and thumbing their nose at the rest of us. It just adds to the stench arising from the Supreme Court ever since they appointed George W. Bush president. From that to Citizens United the court is just another partisan political body to be bought and paid for.