What Will CBS Do Without Imus

Perhaps something a little more mainstream? Letterman has an idea:

No Crying Over Wolfowitz

One of the chief neo-cons is in big trouble and it doesn't look like the President can save this loyalist. After George forced Paul Wolfowitz into the top position at the World Bank his actions (that are of a typical neo-con) got him in trouble with the board members and it looks like they want him out of there.

If you had heard that he would teach poor nations that are mired in corruption a lesson by simply withholding their development funds you would be correct. If you think that's the reason for his imminent ouster you would be wrong. It seems like Wolfie is in hot water because of sex and the favor$ that were fostered because of the relationship he had with Shaha Riza .

From the BBC:

Mr Wolfowitz has faced calls for his resignation over the promotion and pay of an ex-colleague with whom he is romantically involved.

He has apologised for his involvement in the negotiations and said he will accept any decision taken by the board.

Mr Wolfowitz's partner, Shaha Riza, was moved to the state department when he took the World Bank's top job in 2005.

The promotion and pay rise that came with her move has attracted strong criticism from staff within the organisation where Mr Wolfowitz is leading an anti-corruption drive.

The most hysterical aspect of this story is the rank hypocrisy of it. Wolfowitz was big on fighting corruption in developing nations. He went so far as to say that democracy can not thrive without a clean government. Then he turns around and does things that would make the thugs in the developing nations proud. Ms. Riza received a $60,000 plus raise for her move from the World Bank to the State Department. That is salary is $7,000 higher than Secretary of State Condi gets.

Well the people at the Bank didn't take the news too lightly. They say that their trust of the man is damaged and they want him out. Too bad for Paul the decision is up to the board and not the President. Loyalty isn't going to save him here. The sad thing is that his policy decisions have also angered many and went against the mission of the World Bank. Though that apparently did not matter until the issue of sex and favors came into play.

Bye Bye Imus

Wow, he is finally gone. No more racial insults parading as comedy, the ridiculous antics shuttered and the Stetson hat is no more. CBS followed MSNBC's example yesterday and fired Don Imus from his popular show. This wasn't about ratings, the guy had 2.25 million listeners a week. So do I take back what I said earlier about the corporate decision being about money? No way.

Here's why: Having millions of listeners is great but the reason why you want them is to get big name advertisers to shell out gobs of cash for listeners to hear their ads on the air. Unfortunately for CBS, big names such as American Express and GM were running away from Imus because of the monstrous public outrage towards the shock jock. Once the big names went, so did the rest of the sponsors. When you can't make money from a show its worthless, despite the value of the content. It really is all about the almighty dollar.

Real World 19: Iraq

Colbert's Word last night covered the idea of a YouTubed Iraq series, titled: Season Pass.

NYC Looking To Get Tough On Derelict Landlords

If you've had a landlord here in New York, chances are you've had problems getting things done. Generally in my building issues get addressed in a 2-4 month timeframe. When we had that frigid coldsnap in mid-February, our boiler went out and had to be replaced, leaving us in the cold. As bad as that is, it doesn't even come close to what some tenants have to deal with. Rats, seriously leaky plumbing, lead paint and many other problems languish all over the city. Thats why the city council is proposing a bill backed by the Mayor to have a stronger hand in dealing with bad landlords.

From The New York Times:

New York City wants to strengthen its hand against recalcitrant landlords by giving itself broad new powers to overhaul entire building systems — like heating, electrical or plumbing — in long-troubled properties, and to force landlords to pay for the work.

A bill to be introduced in the City Council today with the Bloomberg Administration’s support would give the Department of Housing Preservation and Development the right to go into buildings that have dozens of serious housing code violations and a history of emergency repairs, do cellar-to-roof inspections and fix not only immediate problems, but also the underlying systems.

The proposed program, which city officials said would go beyond anything they knew of elsewhere, is intended to bring as many as a thousand severely run-down buildings into compliance with the housing maintenance code over the next five years and to shore up the supply of habitable apartments for lower-income families at a time when the inventory of lower-priced housing is rapidly declining.

Generally I do not like the government getting into matters such as building repair on this level. Yet the problem here in the city with lazy and/or careless landlords is a serious problem and has to be addressed. Normally when I can't get something fixed I threaten them by paying for the repairs myself at a premium and then deducting it from the rent. Many people unfortunately can not do that and when it comes to structural issues neither can I. When the city takes over, they can pay for those major repairs and force the building owners to cough up later.

Speaker Christine Quinn is one of the sponsors and she knows the territory here after being an advocate for tenants in the past. I have my qualms with her leadership in the council but on this I am fully behind her efforts. Don't expect immediate improvements though, the bill wouldn't take effect for at least five months and only for buildings with a certain number of violations. Nevertheless, I am glad it is being pursued.

Leahy Uses The "L" Word On The White House

I am proud to say that Senator Patrick Leahy is fighting on our side. Today on the floor of the Senate he slammed the Bush Administration over 'lost' emails and made it crystal clear what Bush and his friends are up to at 1600 Pennsylvania.

From RawStory:

The top Senate Democrat leading investigations into the dismissal of 8 U.S. Attorneys by the Justice Department is comparing e-mails lost by the Republican National Committee to President Richard Nixon's famous "18-minute gap" in White House tape recordings.

"Now we are learning that the 'off book' communications they were having about these actions, by using Republican political email addresses, have not been preserved," Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, said on the Senate floor.

He added, "Like the famous 18-minute gap in the Nixon White House tapes, it appears likely that key documentation has been erased or misplaced. This sounds like the Administration's version of 'the dog ate my homework.'

Too bad Barney the dog wasn't around to eat all those emails. He couldn't chew on that vile taste of lies and decceipt regardless. So here we have another stark comparison to Richard Nixon. As tricky Dick oversaw the last half of the Vietnam War, Bush is presiding over the disastrous mess in Iraq. Nixon lied and covered up many things and so does George. As Nixon went, so must George Bush.

The C.A.P.

In case you haven't heard, the Center for American Progress is one of the most respected think tanks on the left side of the political spectrum. It took awhile to catch up to the Republicans on building an apparatus that can get the views of the progressive community out to the masses. Though CAP is doing it along with many others. Listen to what a few of these Presidential contenders had to say about them:

Congressman Dan Burton The Hypocrite

Republicans are widely known to have done certain things while Bill Clinton was President. Things like subpoenas issued over the Monica Lewinsky scandal, pursuing impeachment and generally abusing their powers from 1995 to 2000. Then when Bush came in Congress became a giant rubber stamp for their new Commander in Chief. Now that the Democratic party is in power Congress is beginning to clean up the gigantic mess that the previous sessions ( 104-109th) left in their wake.

Of course there are still roughly 200 Republican congressman are left and plenty are complaining about the new style of governing. Issues such as oversight, working longer hours and passing legislation for the people over the corporations are stressing the Republicans and they are starting to whine over it. Dan Burton is the latest crybaby, particularly about Henry Waxman who replaced him as Chairman of the House Oversight Committee.

Check this out from Roll Call via Crooks and Liars:

Rep. Dan Burton — the Indiana Republican who showered subpoenas on the Clinton White House as chairman of the House Government Reform Committee — is joining other Republicans in warning that the committee under its new Democratic leadership may be abusing its subpoena powers.

At the end of March … Burton, along with committee ranking member Tom Davis (R-Va.) and most of the other Republican members warned that the Democrats are straying close to the line of what is appropriate in oversight.

“Effective, constructive oversight is much more a matter of due diligence and digging than depositions and sensational disclosures,” the Republicans wrote.

Awww isn't that cute. Dan Burton thinks he can forget about his past transgressions, namely the 141 subpoenas he issued to the Clintons (guess how many went to the Bush Administration) on anything he could think of. He even subpoenaed the wrong guy because of a similar name situation. Dan really should just shut the hell up, he has absolutely no authority or high ground to stand on to preach about abusing subpoena powers.

RIP Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut mentioned in his last book, "Man Without A Country" that he loved his life in old age, going to the corner store for cigarettes and what not on his block here in the city on 48th between 2nd and 3rd Avenue. It always amused me that when I looked north through my window, the amazing Kurt Vonnegut lived straight uptown from by a few blocks. In some strange way it made me feel a little more special to be living here in Manhattan.

Besides location, his books and stories are beyond compare. The man was a satirical genius and always captured his readers with incredilble wit. "Slaughterhouse V," "Cats Cradle," and so many more of his books are literary icons for our society and around the world.

To think positively at a sad time like this, it is good to remember that he lived a rich and full life, making it to the ripe old age of 84. Hello, goodbye, hello goodbye my dear friend.

Highlights From MoveOn's Virtual Townhall

Want to hear from the Democratic candidates for President? Spend about ten minutes out of your day and listen to this:

NYU Shun Minuteman Chris Simcox

Minutemen, or should I say Minuteklan members are somewhat popular in the desert Southwest among certain parts of the population down there. Yet when their ilk come to the liberal bastion of the Northeast, and more specifically the campus of NYU, things are a bit different. The College Republicans invited the group's leader Chris Simcox to a panel discussion on immigration today. The crowd did not take it lightly, in fact they vehemently jeered and taunted the racist bastard.

From NYC Indymedia:

NEW YORK, NY – The last time a representative of the Minuteman Project came to speak at a New York college campus, he was chased out of town by students who did not want him there. Jim Gilchrist received a lot of press because of his Columbia University appearance, courtesy of the conservative press. Since then he lost his position as head of the Minuteklan, but the person who he co-founded the organization with, Chris Simcox, is still a part of the group, and it was his turn to visit the Big Apple. In his case it was New York University, and he was invited to speak by NYU’s College Republicans, the same ones who in February held a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day” on campus. Like that event, the Simcox appearance did not go over well, as students vocally protested and shouted him down.

Simcox was part of a panel discussion at NYU’s Kimmel Center that also featured Jan Ting, a recent Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in Delaware and a frequent commentator on immigration and national security; Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, a group that provides water and aid to people trying to cross the U.S.-Mexican border; and professor Guillermina Jasso, a sociology professor at NYU. Bob Buckler, NYU's student activities director, will moderate the panel. The audience was quiet when Jasso and Ting gave their remarks, but became energized once Morones took the microphone. Morones first admonished the College Republicans for their “Find an Illegal Immigrant Day”. He then went after Simcox and his lack of character, noting past accusations of child abuse from his second ex-wife. When Morones talked of the anti-immigration campaigns going on in the country, he made note of the racism that has been more than apparent among the ranks, citing the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League as sources. Touching on the fact that some anti-immigration activists were Black and Latino, he simply said that the ascension of the Minutemen has shown the nation two things, “Racism is alive and well in America, and racism knows no color.”

Although the event wasn't as chaotic as when former Minutemen head Jim Gilchrist was thrown off the campus uptown at Columbia, the students certainly made their opinions heard. NYU is a center for free speech and Simcox got to speak (albeit with interruptions) but so did the crowd and the others on the panel that see through the racism that the Minutemen hold in their core.

The outburst was created by Sarah Chambers, the President of the College Republican chapter. She is known for leading the "Catch an illegal immigrant game" a few months back that got her deserved derision from the students, faculty and even Keith Olbermann. She has earned the disgust of the University, which might serve her well when applying for a job with the Republican party in the future. Who knows, she might even be the next Monica Goodling.

Gated Communities To Be Introduced In Baghdad

Congressman Mike Pence's comment about how al-Shorja market was like something in Indiana was an absolutely ridiculous comment. The military's plan to divide Baghdad into secure zones goes beyond the empty rhetoric of a deluded Republican from Indiana. The excellent reporting of Robert Fisk exposes the plan that has failed in the past for our military among others, and what the new troop placements mean for our foreign policy in the region.

From The UK Independent:

The campaign of "gated communities" - whose genesis was in the Vietnam War - will involve up to 30 of the city's 89 official districts and will be the most ambitious counter-insurgency programme yet mounted by the US in Iraq.

The system has been used - and has spectacularly failed - in the past, and its inauguration in Iraq is as much a sign of American desperation at the country's continued descent into civil conflict as it is of US determination to "win" the war against an Iraqi insurgency that has cost the lives of more than 3,200 American troops. The system of "gating" areas under foreign occupation failed during the French war against FLN insurgents in Algeria and again during the American war in Vietnam. Israel has employed similar practices during its occupation of Palestinian territory - again, with little success.

But the campaign has far wider military ambitions than the pacification of Baghdad. It now appears that the US military intends to place as many as five mechanised brigades - comprising about 40,000 men - south and east of Baghdad, at least three of them positioned between the capital and the Iranian border. This would present Iran with a powerful - and potentially aggressive - American military force close to its border in the event of a US or Israeli military strike against its nuclear facilities later this year.

The "genius" behind this plan is none other than General David Petraeus. Why the general would implement this experiment in Baghdad is beyond me. The 'divide and conquer' tactic has never worked in the past and it will not here in the present. The common sense approach would be to pull out and deal with the situation diplomatically, but common sense has no place in the Bush Administration and those that serve at the President's pleasure.