Headlines - Sunday May 23

Taibbi: Bush Apologizes: The Farewell Interview We Wish He'd Give.

 

###

 

The Embrace of Unreality as Public Policy.

 

###

 

Obama Fail: Month After Oil Gusher, Why is BP Still In Charge?

WASHINGTON - Days after the Gulf Coast oil spill, the Obama administration pledged to keep its "boot on the throat" of BP to make sure the company did all it could to cap the gushing leak and clean up the spill.

OBAMA SOLUTION? A BIPARTISAN COMMISSION -- A graphic showing how the Gulf current could spread the oil spill to the coast of Florida. A bipartisan presidential commission has been set up to probe the huge oil spill from a wrecked BP-leased rig in the Gulf of Mexico, US President Barack Obama said. (AFP/Graphic)

But a month after the April 20 explosion, anger is growing about why BP PLC is still in charge of the response.

"I'm tired of being nice. I'm tired of working as a team," said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish in Louisiana.

"The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word," declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.

That sense of frustration is shared by an increasing number of Gulf Coast residents, elected officials and environmental groups who have called for the government to simply take over.

Keep reading here.

You can give Hopey a piece of your mind on his Facebook page. I understand Barry probably doesn't even know he has a page, let alone look at it, but it's somehow satisfying to vent at the man in charge.

###

Jobless Claims Rise As GOP Blocks Jobs Bill; Oil Spill Continues While BP Fiddles: http://casadelogo.typepad.com/factesque/2010/05/jobless-claims-rise-as-gop-blocks-jobs-bill-oil-spill-continues-while-bp-fiddles.html

###

Another one skates free:

Federal prosecutors won't bring charges against former American International Group Inc. executive Joseph Cassano related to the insurer's collapse, according to a person familiar with the investigation.

The Justice Department found after a two-year investigation that there was insufficient evidence to charge Cassano, who was the former chief executive officer of AIG's Financial Products division, the person said.

The Justice Department and civil investigators from the Securities and Exchange Commission were examining comments made in 2007 by Cassano and other AIG executives. They were probing whether executives misrepresented the value of AIG's portfolio of "super senior" credit-default swaps, which insured bond losses tied to the U.S. housing market.

***

Cassano's London-based unit managed $2 trillion in derivative trades tied to bonds, currencies, commodities and stocks. He told investors in December 2007 that "it is very difficult to see how there can be any losses in these portfolios."

By Feb. 28, 2008, AIG posted what was then its biggest quarterly loss, writing down $11.1 billion on the swaps. AIG announced Cassano's resignation as president and chief executive officer of AIG Financial Products a day later.

Blah blah blah moral hazard blah blah blah mistakes were made blah blah blah blah hoodcoodanode.

This guy won't even have to give back the $315 million he "earned" in bonuses for the shit deals he peddled that cost you and me billions to bail out AIG. Crime pays.

###

Mooselini lost her luggage flying into Idaho on a private plane¹. Jeebus, can that freak even feed herself?

1. As you may recall, Palin's speaking contract requires that she flies on a private plane, especially if she is travelling with her family.

###

Environmental disaster with Ken Salazar as the Secretary of the Interior? Who could have known?

 

###

 

God's Gentle People, Part 87

 

###

The evil bastards have gone and done it. The right-wing dbags on the Texas board of education have approved their decrepit curriculum — you know, the one that has decided that Thomas Jefferson was persona non grata, while Joe McCarthy is a true American hero. It's a tragedy for the nation, because, as we always point out, Texas clout is going to warp schoolbooks all around the country, but the worst thing is that there are 5 million kids in Texas who are now going to get a substandard education. OK, an even more substandard education.

There's not much we can do at this point, except keep up the pressure, keep making noise about this disgrace, keep working in your states to fund education and make it better. You can also support the Texas Freedom Network, which has been trying to fight the extremists.

And if you just want to vent, the Wall Street Journal has a poll. Let's destroy it.

Do you support the Texas Board of Education's plan for social studies curriculum changes that portray America as a nation rooted in Biblical values?

Yes 64.9%
No 35.1%

Call it the Glenn Beck Syndrome.  History conflicts with your beliefs?  No problem.  Simply state what your historical preference is and – presto! – instant history rewrite.  You now have a perfect match for your whacked out conservative beliefs.  The only caveat is that you need to preface your rewrite with, "The Founding Fathers intent was…".

###

 

Tell your Congress Critter to join the Out of Afghanistan Caucus

 

Not a day goes by without yet more bad news out of Afghanistan: American deaths now over 1,000, massive corruption among our putative "allies," Pakistan using our own money to pay Taliban terrorists who kill U.S. military, suicide bombs and attacks on NATO headquarters .... http://www.theygaveusarepublic.com/diary/5711/tell-your-congress-critter-to-join-the-out-of-iraq-caucus

 

###

 

Another effing sellout?

Not content with taking away a large chunk of my medical coverage and turning a bunch of Wall Street dogs loose to savage my basic income, it looks like they're going to be coming for my little HUD subsidized apartment next.  And I'm gonna be double screwed because I gave away the old Ford truck I was living in before I got this place.

Mr Obama's administration has dealt and/or instigated more direct injury and insult in 16 months to yours truly than the the Smirky Chimp gang ever managed in eight years... all in the name of "change" and "reform".  Well, I'm sorry folks, but I've enjoyed about as much of this DINO administration's "help" as I can stand or afford.  

Keep reading: http://www.theygaveusarepublic.com/diary/5712/another-effing-sellout

###

We call this kidnapping, hostage taking and extortion "According to two surviving crew members of the Deepwater Horizon, oil workers from the rig were held in seclusion on the open water for up to two days after the April 20 explosion, while attorneys attempted to convince them to sign legal documents stating that they were unharmed by the incident. The men claim that they were forbidden from having any contact with concerned loved ones during that time, and were told they would not be able to go home until they signed the documents they were presented with."

###

From here.