Here is Patterico, taking a day off from the ongoing coordinated smear and personal destruction of Elizabeth Warren:

BREITBART TOLD THE STORY JUST BEFORE HE DIED

In the last radio interview Andrew Breitbart ever gave, on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show, Breitbart talked about a new ruthless tactic used by thugs against political opponents:

[O]ne of the things they’ve done to people who have worked with me in the past, including an L.A. prosecutor, is to “SWAT.” That means that they’re spoofing phones, pretending to be somebody else’s phone, calling 911, and saying “I killed somebody” and then the person’s home is met with the guns drawn, the SWAT and the helicopters, in a horrifying act. It’s happened twice: once in New Jersey, once in Los Angeles, with an L.A. County . . . prosecutor who [is] associated with me.”

I am that L.A. County prosecutor. And in this post, you’ll hear the hoax call that sent police to my house, pointing loaded guns at me.

THE NIGHT I COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED BECAUSE OF MY BLOGGING …

Ah, a coordinated act of personal destruction and blog terrorism claiming the selfsame projected qualities. “I know you are, but what am I?” as the noted pundit P.W. Herman is oft heard to say. And it’s always nice to see the ghoulish hand of Breitbart from beyond the grave …

Each to his own soothsaying says I. Some worship the Dow. Others (far too many) worship at the shrine of “Polls.” Not a day goes by that some new polling of the public (and we all know how painful THAT can be) reveals some grand new truth, or provides fodder for an army of journalists and bloggers who, evidently, don’t actually find anything much newsworthy and spend their long prologue into senescence by dithering about trivialites dug up by the unconscious biases of the pollsters  – because we can only poll on what we KNOW, and never on what we DON’T KNOW, which is where all the action in the news cycle is anyway.

Sadly, the pollsters, dependent on their constant polling commissions (and omissions) even find a way to capitalize (literally) on stunning new news, by polling the public on what they THINK about the twists and turns of history.

It is a form of soothsaying, unless mathematical prediction is any more legitimate a pursuit than the reading of turtle’s entrails or tea leaves.

If we all have free will, of course, polling doesn’t work. Then again, if all is Written by the Hand of Destiny, then we would think like most of the Eastern Hemisphere and our entire approach would be different.

So, allowing the metaphor of soothsaying, not as a belief system, or even as a serious proposition (since neither soothsayers nor scientists can grasp a simple fact in the whole morass, namely, that it either works or doesn’t work, based on an unprovable assumption that you can find in the Lord’s Prayer, an old Western/Middle Eastern notion called “As above, so below,” the basis of all sympathetic magic and skrying), today’s metaphor is Astrology.

In the land of no ears, Vincent van Gogh is king.

First I’ll tell you a fact: Algol is an eclipsing binary, Beta (ß) Perseus, known from time immemorial as the demon star.

Algol, the Demon, the Demon Star, and the Blinking Demon, from the Arabians’ Ra’s al Ghul, the Demon’s Head, is said to have been thus called from its rapid and wonderful variations; but I find no evidence of this [Star Names was published in 1889, it was that year that Algol was discovered to be an eclipsing binary — Wikipedia], and that people probably took the title from the second-century Greek astronomer Ptolemy. Al Ghul literally signifies a Mischief-maker, and the name still appears in the Ghoul of the Arabian Nights and of our day. It degenerated into the Alove often used some centuries ago for this star…

Our modern English word “ghoul” is derived from the Arabic name of the star, and it OUGHT to be a reminder to us that the reason so many of our major stars  carry Arabic names is that astronomy/astrology fell into disuse during the Dark Ages, and the flowering Arabic Civilization was ahead of Western Civilization in the arts and sciences. This is where we get “Algebra,” from the Arabian mathematicians. Nobody’s number one forever, and when the Western “knights” arrived during the Crusades, they were presented with a more technologically advanced civilization … which they stole freely from. But the star Algol has been pretty universally seen as maelevolent, even outside of the old Greek Myth of Perseus:

The Hebrews knew Algol as Rosh ha Satan, Satan’s Head, English writer on globes John Chilmead (circa 1639)’s Rosch hassatan, the Divels head; but also as Lilith, Adam’s legendary first wife, the nocturnal vampyre from the lower world that reappeared in the demonology of the Middle Ages as the witch Lilis, one of the characters in Goethe’s Walpurgis Nacht.

The Chinese gave it the gruesome title Tseih She, the Piled-up Corpses.

Astrologers of course said that it was the most unfortunate, violent, and dangerous star in the heavens, and it certainly has been one of the best observed, as the most noteworthy variable in the northern sky….

(from Star Names, Their Lore and Meaning, Richard Hinckley Allen, 1889.)

And the old Ghoul has been in the news just this month:

Astronomers discover ancient Egyptian observations of a variable star
Posted by TANN
Ancient, Astronomy, Breakingnews, Egypt, Universe 11:30 AM

The study of the “Demon star”, Algol, made by a research group of the University of Helsinki, Finland, has received both scientific and public attention. The period of the brightness variation of this eclipsing binary star has been connected to good prognoses three millennia ago. This result has raised a lot of discussion and the news has spread widely in the Internet.

“The Demon Star” – Ancient Cairo Calendar Shows Egyptians
Discovered the Binary Algol 3200 Years Ago [Credit: NASA]

The Egyptian papyrus Cairo 86637 calendar is probably the oldest preserved historical document of bare eye observations of a variable star. Each day of one Egyptian year was divided into three parts in this calendar. A good or a bad prognosis was assigned for these parts of a day.

“The texts regarding the prognoses are connected to mythological and astronomical events”, says Master of Science Sebastian Porceddu…

The ancient Egyptians have made accurate measurements that provide useful constraints for modern astronomers.

“It seems that the first observation of a variable star was made 3000 years earlier than was previously thought”, says [docent] Lauri Jetsu. “However, I want to emphasize that our research has only been sent to a scientific journal about two weeks ago. This type of results can raise a lot of controversy before they are accepted.”

Controversy?

You see, in our modern understanding of astrology (which ought to be what astronomy is called, “the study of the stars” instead of “the naming of the stars”)  Algol is actually an eclipsing binary star: two stars engaged in a deadly dance around a gravitational midpoint, an invisible maypole.

And the larger is tearing the smaller one apart, sucking it like a tick, until all its mass has transferred to the larger star.

The ancient Egyptians didn’t know that, of course. All they knew was that there was a star that would grow brighter and darker over a period (currently) of 68.75 hours —  or just under three days — “winking” at them. This was discovered by all great astronomical cultures fairly early, as the 3,000 year old Egyptian observations attest.

from “Astronomy 162″ University of Tennessee

So, the Egyptian records give a differential time of revolution for the Algol binary of (in scienteze) “0.017 days.”

I kid you not. Seventeen thousandths of a day.

What is that in millimeters, I wonder? Gallons? Kilohertz? Puppies?

24 hours multiplied by 0.017 gives us 0.408000 hours, which is a number just as useless as 0.017 days, or 92.7 handshakes, 5.6 milkshakes or 1.0 earthquakes.

How about 60 minutes an hour 24 hours a day? Equals 1440 minutes in a day.

We’re onto something. Now we just multiply those minutes by that fraction of a day, and we’ll have a human number.

Lessee: 1440 times 0.017 gives us 24.48 minutes and rounding that (in engineering math) .48 of a 60 second minute is half, so 24 and a half minutes.

About half an hour in 3,000 years. Thank you Ancient Egyptian trained observers.

Now, we can figure out a lot about the mass and loss of mass of the cosmic duprass (or, perhaps triple star system):

“We can explain why the period of Algol has increased by about 0.017 days”, says Lauri Jetsu. “The period increase during the past three millennia could have been caused by the observed mass transfer between the two members of this binary. In fact, this would be the first observation that confirms the period increase of Algol and it also gives an estimate of the mass transfer rate.”

But isn’t it also interesting that humans all over the Earth, watching that phenomenon, and declared the Ghoul star the evilest star in the sky?

I mean, they’re just burning rocks in the sky in the modern conception, so why aren’t the results more random?

Anyway, the point here is that we will undoubtedly be looked at in 3,000 years as condescendingly as we look at 3,000 year old Egyptians, especially when we had to pay an exorbitant fee to view them. Or, eventually, us.

I like astrology for that reason: the world came up with different systems of interpreting the motion of the stars in the heavens as reflecting here on Earth, that preserved an unquestioned precept of millennia past: “On Earth as it is in Heaven.”

And, in the centuries following the rather acrimonious breakup of astronomy and astrology, the twain have rarely deigned to meet.

I like the old Ptolemaic astrology, and the Arabian Parts and the Lunar Mansions, and the Hindu and Chinese lore. This is the first time in history we’ve ever had a chance to go through everybody’s notes and compare them. It’s a way of getting into the heads of historical figures, remembering that they gave as much credence to their astrological weather as you and I give to polls and the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

So, the soothsaying metaphor, and a coincidence and another metaphor and we’re done. (If it helps, our word “alcohol” also comes from Medusa’s head, the Gorgon star, Algol. Ghoul.)

Medusa by Carvaggio (1595)

The language of astrology is poetic language for psychology, and modern astrology has been thoroughly adulterated with it. Everything is a lovely metaphor and nothing bad ever happens. You are in charge of your destiny, they intone in silky, comforting tone, and find some ‘lucky’ star to make you feel better.

This is a trick known to palmists and portfolio advisors alike, never give bad news, since, if you’re wrong, they’ll despise you. But, if you only give good news (or “buy” advice), they will only remember the pleasure of the gains and never the pain of the losses. It is a problem in soothsaying from astrologers to the business press, that never tell you the bad news in direct proportion to when you need it most.

Thus it was, when the eclipse occurred last Sunday, I noted the old Fixed Stars that were mainstays from before old Ptolemy (diviner of the Epicycles, that strange explanation of the wanderers — planets — suddenly reversing themselves and traveling backwards over many nights) until after Sir Isaac Newton (who cast and constructed horoscopes, there being as yet no bill of divorcement between astronomy and astrology).

After all, a “horoscope” is nothing more or less than a map of the sky dome (above the horizon) and the unseen sky dome below the horizon. If you know the night sky, and know to factor in a full thirty degrees* (the precession of equinoxes that most modern astrology has failed to note) , you could generate a “horoscope” for that hour and walk outside and know where to find all the stars and planets. It’s just a simplified sky map for a point in time.

[* thirty degrees equals, in human terms, three widths of your fist held at arm's length from your eye. Straight up is 90 degrees. The width of your little finger is two degrees, and the width of its fingernail is one. ]

Almost all cultures have taken this VERY seriously, however — as the careful Egyptians measured the blinking of the demon star three thousand years ago — and as comets were said to presage the fall of a king, or a plague, so, too everyone was sure that the stars moving in the sky meant something. And we have projected our mythology and our psychic history onto the night sky, and that’s why I enjoy it without necessarily subscribing to it: the rich tapestry of human poetic history is writ there, and guided the minds of our recent forebears.

When the Spanish Influenza struck the World during World War I, many all over the world (and right here in the Good Ol’ USA) were absolutely convinced that the Influenza came from the tail of Halley’s Comet, which we passed through when it returned in 1910.

The Head of Medusa, by Peter Paul Rubens (1618)

Or consider the origins of the word “Influenza,” which comes from Italian by way of the Latin root that creates our own word “influence.”

The word Influenza comes from the Italian language meaning “influence” and refers to the cause of the disease; initially, this ascribed illness to unfavorable astrological influences.^[155] *

[* Wikipedia Footnote source = "Influenza, The Oxford English Dictionary, second edition."]

 You see? That old thought system is woven into the warp and woof of our culture, just like the Bible, and it is foolish to be culturally illiterate in either — whether one believes or not.

Which brings us to the eclipse. Now, in the old reckoning, eclipses are bad things. And the “ruler” of “ruling planet” of the eclipse is an indicator of how bad it will be. I am not an astrologer, nor a deep practitioner, but even I could look at it and see that the “ring of fire” eclipse took place over the Plieades, specifically Alcyone, and that Mercury (the “ruler”) and Jupiter were in tight conjunction over Algol at the time.

So, I checked the various web sites and online astrology sites to SEE how this was interpreted.

All New Agey “have a nice day” nothing to see here and suchlike. Virtually no modern astrologer noticing the Algol connection, and most saying that “in the olden days, the Plieades and Alcyon were considered bad/malefic, but, really, there’s no bad stuff and everything’s fine.”

Wood carving (door) by Thomas Regnaudin circa 1660

Even in the older branch of astrology, very little acknowledgement of the event. The older branch is called “mundane” or worldly astrology. It deals with the fate of nations and the world stage. It’s older because kings and potentates were concerned with it, and could pay court astrologers salaries, while the newer branch “horary” or hourly astrology deals with your personalhoroscope, and if you’ll meet your soulmate, etcetera. Not a big dollar market draw, and until recently, historically, the lesser focus of astrologers. Even old  J.P. Morgan, he of the invisible dirk and father of the modern bank that just lost $3 billion in derivatives trading, said  “Millionaires don’t have astrologers, billionaires do.”

(One wonders whether their current astrologer saw that coming.)

I finally found ONE more traditional astrologer who said this:

I don’t think I’ve ever done a chart where there were so many negative stars and I hope to never have to write about one again.

Now, my point isn’t whether astrology works, remember. My point is that, IF it did work, then virtually all astrologers should have noticed this really bad omen in the “heavens.”*

[* "Heavens" because most astrologers nowadays rely on computer software to tell them where the stars are, or old ephemerides books to do the same, and virtually NOT ONE of them could actually go outside and SHOW you the constellation of Gemini, or Taurus or Capricorn, and would have no idea that the bright star in the evening sky was Venus, nor that Mars is prominent in the constellation of Leo, or that Saturn is just two fingers' width from Spica, or "Arista" in the night sky. They claim to read the stars that they only know from books and not from the simple and traditional "looking up at the sky."]

And there is our metaphor. The astrologers of today are so much filled with their “have a nice day” and psychological nonsense that what would have been a clear sign to any astrologer of, say, the past 3,000 years is invisible to them, even assuming that astrology worked.

So, too, the liberal blogs and news media.

The sign of a concerted, coordinated blog swarm to destroy one person hasn’t been seen as clearly as when Billy launched HIS Kristolnacht against one Private Scott Thomas Beauchamp and the New Republic magazine in 2007, which they later tacitly ADMITTED*. Then, the left wing blogs remained comatose. Today, as something far bigger, and far uglier takes place, the leftie blogosphere remains as comatose about the omen in the bloggy heavens as our modern astrologers are blind to the very sort of sign that their astrology exists to see and interpret.

[* Note that old "Butt Plug Bob" is part of today's smearandsmash. See The Columbia Journalism Review's post-mortem on L'Affaire Beauchamp.]

That is the metaphor. Both groups OUGHT to have the perspicacity to read the handwriting on the wall. Neither does.

Here, by the by, is the old interpretation of the influence of Algol [Wikipedia]:

In the Tetrabiblos, the 2nd century astrological text of the Alexandrian astronomer Ptolemy, Algol is referred to as “the Gorgon of Perseus” and associated with death by decapitation: a theme which mirrors the myth of the hero Perseus’ victory over the snake-headed Gorgon Medusa. Astrologically, Algol is considered the most unfortunate star in the sky, and was listed as one of the 15 Behenian stars. Historically, the star has received a strong association with bloody violence across a wide variety of cultures.

Modern “psychological” astrologers throw out the 4,000 years of observation and cross-cultural interpretation and just go with the “Perseus” myth about Medusa and say it’s about “angry women.“ (Not because it makes sense, but because it’s convenient to their archetypal/Jungian interepretations.)

Modern “psychological” astrologers discount the literal, and emphasize the tendency to “lose one’s head” in a paroxysm of rage. Today’s blogswarm is certainly an interesting coincidence of that interpretation, but we must, needs, pooh-pooh any correlation for the purposes of our Metaphor, today. Just an interesting coincidence.

Perseus gave Medusa’s head to Athena
who placed it on her Aegis, her shield,
where it was last heard of. (Seeing it is
somewhat difficult for mortal observers) 

And here is sleazebag Michael Barone in Real Clear Politics (on another matter, but double apropos here, like Algol):

Cocooned Liberals Are Unprepared for Political Debate
By Michael Barone
May 24, 2012

It’s comfortable living in a cocoon — associating only with those who share your views, reading journalism and watching news that only reinforces them, avoiding those on the other side of the cultural divide.

Liberals have been doing this for a long time. In 1972, the movie critic Pauline Kael said it was odd that Richard Nixon was winning the election, because everyone she knew was for George McGovern….

Women earn just 77 cents to every $1 earned by men, proponents of new legislation say.

With a new poll may may have women once again moving toward Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, the Senate’s Democratic majority leader is reminding female voters that the GOP hasn’t ended its “war on women.”

Although President Obama had opened up a huge 19-point advantage among women just weeks ago in the midst of the debates over birth control and other women’s issues, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that gap has shrunk to just 7 percent.

The “war on women” has been a potent rallying cry to attract more women voters to the Democratic side.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada took to the Senate floor Wednesday to remind voters about the earlier Republican battles against women’s health care and access to contraception, and to challenge GOP senators to support the Paycheck Fairness Act.

Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) reintroduced the legislation Tuesday.

“Although women make up nearly half of today’s workforce, they still earn only 77 cents on the dollar compared to their male colleagues,” Reid says. “And with an increasing number of women heading American households, this is a problem that affects children and families across the country.”

Reid calls the Senate Paycheck Fairness Act  “a logical extension of protections under the Equal Pay Act” which he says would help close the pay gap by helping women negotiate for equal pay and “creating strong incentives for employers to obey the laws already in place.”

Supporters of the Paycheck Fairness Act complain that despite current law, women are still blocked from knowing what their colleagues make. And when they fight for fair pay, they can lose their jobs.

In 19 of the 20 most common occupations for men or women, women earn less for the same work, those supporters say. In 264 of 265 major occupations, women’s median earnings are less than men, they add. And the pay gap costs women an average of $434,000 over their career, they say.

Mikulski, other Democratic senators, and independent advocates also held a separate press conference Wednesday to press for passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act. Mikulski made state-by-state data on the wage gap available online here.

Mikulski and others say her bill would build on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act signed into law by Obama in 2009, which overturned the 180-day statute of limitations for women to contest pay discrimination. The Ledbetter law was the first legislation that Obama signed into law once in office as president. The Paycheck Fairness Act will close the loopholes that allow pay discrimination to continue in the first place, they say.

“Republicans deny they’re waging a war on women, yet they’ve launched a series of attacks on women’s access to health care and contraception this year,” Reid says. “Now they have an opportunity to back up their excuses with action.

“I hope they take that opportunity, and join Democrats as we send a clear message that America values the incredible contributions women make every day,” he adds.

Vermont's trio of progressive lawmakers helped prevent deportation of a Japanese-born woman legally wed in a same-sex marriage in the Green Mountain State.

Although it thrilled progressives and other supporters of marriage equality — and maybe even changed a few minds on the issue – President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage earlier this month didn’t, in-and-of-itself, change any policy. Obama’s words don’t allow any new same-sex unions which had previously been outlawed, or even alleviate any discrimination against those already married.

But that’s just what some largely anonymous officials at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) were able to accomplish Tuesday for a lesbian couple legally wed in Vermont.

Agency officials had previously denied Japanese-born Takako Ueda a spousal permanent resident card – also known as a green card – because, under the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), her nuptials to an American citizen, Frances Herbert, are not recognized at the federal level. The couple live in Dummerston, Vt.

However, Tuesday, the Green Mountain State’s trio of left-leaning federal lawmakers announced that USCIS officials reversed themselves by using the agency’s discretion to grant “deferred action” to Ueda, in effect suspending any potential deportation for now. 

Earlier the lawmakers also had sent a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano urging that USCIS reconsider its December 2011 decision to deny a spousal green card for Ueda, who has been with Herbert for a decade and married last year.  The lawmakers asked that the agency re-evaluate its policy on marriage-based immigration petitions for same-sex spouses, and particularly for the Dummerston couple.

In a joint statement on Tuesday’s breakthrough, Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, independent Sen. Bernie Sanders and Democratic Rep. Peter Welch say:  “We welcome this remedy that for now will offer a measure of common sense and compassion for this Vermont couple.  Ms. Ueda now will be able to apply to USCIS for authorization to work, and to the Vermont Department of Motor Vehicles for a driver’s license.  All three of our offices have worked hard to support this loving and committed couple who have been unfairly prevented by DOMA from enjoying the rights and benefits that all lawfully married couples deserve.”

Whether you believe in my ontogeny, the phylogeny is the same: This will be a national race, run from central command and control, using stealth cash. All well and good to debate how wrong this is, and to wonder how the Obama campaign can fare against the hidden Sith Lords of the GOP.

But what about poor Congresswoman Jane Doe, Anytown U.S.A.?

How does SHE compete against the Rovian Hand and near-infinite supplies of cash?

Here is a strategy that will work, and allows Democrats to run a national campaign, while letting local candidates focus on local issues.

Once, a few years ago, when I was still known in Democratic circles, I was at the annual Bish Bash, local journalist Don Bischoff’s fifty-year tradition of a Christmas party that drew the local politicians and the local media folk and movers and shakers and remained bipartisan and communitarian to the end.

And a local politician asked me about his race for the state house of representatives.

He was going up against an incumbent (bad) and a popular woman (bad in Eugene) and yet, as the challenger he was going to have to attack her record and qualification for re-election. (Bad.)

And we were talking about it, and I told him this:

You don’t HAVE to run against her, I said. Because of the iron discipline of the Republican caucus in Salem,

All remembered the recent history of a prominent long-serving Oregon Republican, loved on both sides of the aisle, voted his “conscience” a few years ago on an education bill, and was summarily stripped of his committee assignments and chairmanships, and was left in political Siberia for the remainder of his tenure, able to vote and not much more. When the next election came, he did not run again. And, since then, no Republican legislator is allowed to vote contrary to the Leadership’s position.

So, I went on, instead of running against HER, run against the incredibly unpopular Speaker of the House.

Say, “My opponent is a person of quality,” and ladle on as many honorifics as you want. Kill her with your kindness and consideration. And then say, “But it doesn’t MATTER what she believes. When she gets to the legislature, she will vote exactly as she’s been told to vote by the Speaker, and her record proves that. Well over 90% of the time, she votes the party line. So, if you elect her, you’re ACTUALLY just giving the Speaker her vote.”

Almost impossibly, he actually took my advice, and was elected the following fall.

That is the winning issue for Democrats. Kill your opponents with kindness and run against the Republican congressional leadership, who poll BELOW the miserable approval rating of Congress as a whole. Use their iron discipline as a truncheon to bash them over the head with from now until election day, and the DNC and other out of state groups can provide all the coop and parallel advertising in the world.

That ONE message will focus the election on its national implications, and allow local candidates to run against the National Machine that thinks it far more important to take the Congress than the White House.

If Mitt wins, so much the better, but control of Congress stops pesky investigations and undoes pesky rules. And it allows their investment to pay off in profitable terms. If you doubt this, think of the investment versus gain ratio for those who financed George W. Bush and what each PERSONALLY received in tax cuts over the past eleven years.

No: this is a national cabal and a national conspiracy, partially if not totally run by “The Architect” and paid for by The Usual Suspects.

When we find out who they are, it will be too late, electorially.

But this strategy will win. It makes rational sense, and, as I said, it’s already got a proven track record.

Now, just because I’m not going to charge the DNC and the DSCC and whoever else a $50,000 consulting fee for this bit of political advice, do not for a moment think that it isn’t worth any more than you’ve paid for it.

A word to the wise is sufficient and ten thousand to a fool will not suffice.

But think about it in the terms it’s given to you: sincere advice, based on facts from a citizen who is sincerely concerned about our march to plutocracy and the health of our democracy.

Courage.

====================

A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog

Booker, the mayor of Newark, N.J., stirred up a firestorm Sunday by appearing on national TV to seemingly undercut President Obama’s attacks on the way Romney handled his time at the head of private-equity firm Bain Capital.

However, Robert Reich, the Clinton-era Labor secretary and noted liberal economist, teamed up with MoveOn.org to create a lively and clever Web video which describes just why a political critique of private equity firms is entirely valid — “in eight simple steps.”

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:

Click here to view the embedded video.

President Obama first promised the creation of the task force in his 2012 State of the Union address, as a way “to expand our investigations into the abusive lending and packaging of risky mortgages that led to the housing crisis.”

“This new unit will hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans,” Obama vowed at the time.

Although it’s been several months since Obama announced the formation of the federal investigation, there has been little to no significant progress to date, activists with National People’s Action (NPA) and The New Bottom Line complain. Donovan revealed the existence of a task force director while addressing an NPA conference in Washington.

“The director of the Mortgage Fraud Task Force has the power to help 11 million underwater homeowners and help the economy recover. We need to start working with him or her without further delay,” says George Goehl, executive director of National People’s Action, a network of grassroots organizations that works to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda.

NPA, in turn, is a member of The New Bottom Line, a growing movement fueled by a coalition of community organizations, congregations, and individuals working together to challenge established big bank interests on behalf of struggling and middle-class communities.

“Every day another 6,296 homes get a foreclosure notice in the mail. We can’t wait to fix the housing crisis,” says Tracy Van Slyke, co-director of The New Bottom Line.

WATCH A VIDEO OF SECRETARY DONOVAN’S REMARKS HERE:

Click here to view the embedded video.

So: Are the Republicans crazy? Perhaps. But then again, perhaps not at all. Madness, Day Two:

TPMMuckraker  —  Arizona Goes Birther: Secretary Of State Says It’s ‘Possible’ Obama Won’t Be On Ballot  —  The man in charge of running Arizona’s elections has gone to the birthers.  Secretary of State Ken Bennett now says he’s not convinced Barack Obama was really born in the United States …

They resurrected the old “Obama is a CELEBRITY!” meme last week (Ronald Reagan was a Movie Star, but I guess that’s different). They resurrected the “Birther” controversy yesterday. And the Reverend Wright controversy, but in a particularly telling manner. Weirdest damned thing. All day yesterday, the GOPs pushed the Breitbartian meme (Obama born in KENYA!) while pooh-poohing it at the SAME TIME. Same thing with Reverend Wright (as throughly libeled a Black minister as has been seen since Dr. King) as everyone screamed WRIGHT IS OUT OF BOUNDS!

(Oh, and the Obama campaign is engaged in “character assassination” and Willard (not the rat guy) wants a “civil” debate about the issues, perhaps the most lunatic reversal/projection of reality since Baghdad Bob paused in his denial of any American troop advances towards Baghdad, so that the sound of the tank shells exploding wouldn’t overwhelm his sound bite.

A character that wasn’t assassinated 

When your *entire political history* since Joe McCarthy is based on mindless hate of the “Other” (Commies, hippies, Ay-rabs, Al Qaeda, Democrats, then Liberals, now “Leftists” – a term formerly interchangeable with Commies, as in “Leftist Guerillas”) sooner or later the only one left to hate is your own citizens. We have reached that point. Like I say: we burned Atlanta once. We can do it again. (And don’t be fooled by the team jerseys, the “old South” is now the strongest “Red” voting bloc in the USA.)

Ann Coulter genuflects at Joe McCarthy’s grave

If we keep our gaze fixed on their dog and pony show, they’ll steal every available legislature, governorship, congressional and senate race. Obama will defeat the lame Mittster, and they’ll cry all the way to the bank. And then it’ll pretty much be kabuki theater thereafter, as our hand slipped from the levers of power because they greased ‘em. Yeah. I think there’s too scary a chance that they’ll win to go back to sleep with Dancing With the Stars, the Kardassians and other bread and circuses.

That’s the whole point. It is when Proteus is trapped that he becomes most dangerous.

Thus, Morphing Mitt.

There IS no rational reason to vote for the Republicans. Seriously:

So, they HAVE to rely on conditioning and reptile brain arguments.

When Upton Sinclair wrote that seminal muckraking novel The Jungle, published in 1906, he later reflected on its national impact thusly:

“I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.”

And woe betide any “smart” Democrat/Liberal/Leftist/Socialist who keeps making the same old mistake of thinking that this election has ANYthing to do with the heart … or the head.

It’s the gut, and unless progressives address that, they are surely sunk. And it is NOT by accident. And it shows the Rovian hand: the viciously racist attack on Elizabeth Warren in Massachusetts, which grows more absurd by the day, the absurdist revanching of the “birther” ploy, the “reverse racist” Jeremiah Wright meme (because, you know, the whole history of America is rife with Black racism against Whites from the South), the “Celebrity” meme (and the implication that all celebrities are, like Ronald Reagan, clueless ditherers who commit treason to obtain office), and all the other lunacy that can hit the stomach, bypassing the head, reinforcing Pavlovian themes (and not political memes).

And the pundits, in pointing out the absurdity of the latest lunacy only HELP to reinforce it, by taking it intellectually seriously without ever addressing the REAL appeal of the unreal: to steal the deal and make us squeal.

My friends, it ends. Else …

And Thurston Howell IV and his yawping Band of Hatemeisters rule an age of darkness, poverty and disease.

Fun.

Don’t think of an elephant.

Ganesh with invisible Sarod

An elephant.

An elephant.

Courage.

====================

A writer, published author, novelist, literary critic and political observer for a quarter of a quarter-century more than a quarter-century, Hart Williams has lived in the American West for his entire life. Having grown up in Wyoming, Kansas and New Mexico, a survivor of Texas and a veteran of Hollywood, Mr. Williams currently lives in Oregon, along with an astonishing amount of pollen. He has a lively blog His Vorpal Sword. This is cross-posted from his blog

Democrats and other advocates complain that these laws, such those which require only certain forms of ID — but don’t allow others – for instance, were crafted specifically to keep Democratic-leaning voters away from polling places this fall. Up until now, the fight against these initiatives largely has been about trying to overturn them where possible — but mostly about getting the word out, registering voters and helping those affected cope with the new requirements.

A number of high-ranking Democrats on Thursday introduced the Voter Empowerment Act, which they describe as comprehensive voting rights legislation to modernize the nation’s voter registration system, ensure equal access to the ballot box for all Americans, and combat state-level attempts to restrict the ability of Americans to vote.

“All Americans have a fundamental right to participate in our electoral process.  Far too often, however, voices are silenced with discriminatory barriers, and many across the country are not only enforcing those barriers but enacting new restrictive measures,” says Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, leader of the House Democrats. “That is why House Democrats took action today, rolling out the Voter Empowerment Act to protect and promote voting rights.  Rooted in the simple, basic principle that we must ensure the right of every citizen to vote and every vote to be counted, this critical legislation achieves three key goals: improving access, protecting integrity, and ensuring accountability.”

The flurry of statutes enacted over the last year or so, usually at the direction of Republican governors and state legislators in states as farflung as Alabama, Florida and Wisconsin, will have a direct impact on the ability of 21 million American citizens who do not have a government-issued photo ID, voters to cast their ballots this year, critics of these laws contend. The majority of those people are young would-be voters, the elderly, African Americans, Hispanics, and those earning $35,000 per year or less, they add.

The Voter Empowerment Act aims to open voting through a number of means, its sponsors say, including authorizing an online registration option and same-day registration and permitting voters to update their registration data on-site — while also protecting against deceptive practices and intimidation.

“We’re proud of the fact that we’re the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. One of our responsibilities – moral, ethical, legal – ought to be to make sure we facilitate, not impede, a person’s ability to vote,” Rep. Steny Hoyer, the second-highest ranking House Democrat, says in an interview with MSNBC. “Facilitate access, facilitate ease of registration, facilitate getting on the rolls, and being able to cast your vote. And America has a responsibility as I said – moral, ethical, and legal – to make sure every American can exercise that.”

Democrats, however, face steep hurdles in approving this legislation in a House currently controlled by Republicans.

WATCH A VIDEO OF HOYER’S INTERVIEW ON MSNBC HERE:

Click here to view the embedded video.

It works like this: the Senate approves some key piece of legislation on a bipartisan basis, but House Republicans simply ignore the bill and pass a version of their own. The GOP then demands the Senate discard its own bill and pass the House version instead. It becomes a political game of chicken to see which side blinks first.

That’s what happened last month with a new federal transportation bill. With one of its most liberal members, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), working hand-in-hand with one of its most conservative, Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the Senate produced a truly bipartisan bill on an overwhelming vote of 74 to 22.

With the clock ticking down on an expiration of federal transportation funds, the House GOP ignored the Senate bill and approved its own, much more short-term version, and dared the Senate not to pass it. In that case, Republicans won. Senate Democrats caved and went ahead and agreed, over deep objections, to the Republican bill.

Now it’s happening again, this time with the needed re-authorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).

The Senate approved a new VAWA bill which expanded access to help for more victims of domestic violence, rape and other crimes, regardless of where they live, or their race, religion, gender, or sexual orientation. The Senate bill overcame a filibuster, and all of the female senators — including the Republican women –voted for the bill.

However, rather than consider the Senate legislation, the Republican-led House this week approved its own version of VAWA  which excludes many of the additional protections included in the Senate bill.

“I am disappointed that the House Republican leadership refused to consider the bipartisan Senate bill and insisted on ramming through an ill-conceived measure that would leave victims unprotected,” says Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a chief architect of the Senate VAWA bill.  “I am encouraged by those members of the House, Democrats and Republicans, who stood with the victims and rejected the destructive approach to roll back protections for victims of violence.”

However, Leahy’s counterpart in the House, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), responds by trying to accuse Democrats of being the ones guilty of partisan posturing and says that if they care about the issue of violence against women then Senate Democrats should give up their bill and approve the GOP version instead.

“If Members choose to oppose this bill for political reasons, that’s their decision.  A vote against this bill is a vote against common sense and a vote against helping abused women,” says Smith, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

Once again, as with the transportation bill, re-authorization of VAWA will come down on which side wins this game of brinksmanship and which side blinks first.

Watch a video here of Democratic senators, joined by women’s advocacy groups, urge House Republicans to stand up for women and pass the Senate’s bipartisan bill to protect all female victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Bob Kerrey is trying to once again win election as senator from Nebraska.

Acknowledging that his old colleague “faces a tough road,” Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts has tapped the base of supporters he built during his 2004 presidential campaign to boost former senator Bob Kerrey’s bid to return to the Senate.

In an email fired off to supporters Thursday, Kerry solicited funds for Kerrey’s campaign to once again represent the red state of Nebraska.

“More than ever, at this make or break time in our history, the Senate needs leaders who are willing to step up and put love of country first, like Bob Kerrey,” Kerry says. “My friend and former colleague has shown a lot of guts and grit in running once again for the United States Senate from Nebraska.”

Kerrey, who retired from the Senate in 2001 after two terms, earlier this year announced that he would run to try to hold the seat for Democrats, currently held by Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.). Nelson, perhaps the most conservative Democratic senator, is not running for re-election this year.

Nebraska state Rep. Deb Fischer this week won an upset victory for the Republican nomination to be the GOP Senate candidate, which gives her  ”a lot of momentum … right now,” Kerry says, seeking contributions of $25 or more to fill Kerrey’s coffers.

Kerrey faces a decidedly uphill climb to regain his old Senate seat. After retiring from the Senate, he left Nebraska behind entirely to live in New York City as a university president. Several years ago Kerrey even flirted with the idea of becoming a Democratic candidate for mayor of New York.

American Crossroads, the deep-pocketed GOP influence organization associated with Republican strategist Karl Rove, has been running ads in the Cornhusker State attacking Kerrey for his time in the Big Apple. Kerrey responded by pointing out he still owns businesses in the state.

Like his friend with the sound-alike name, Kerrey also is decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, and lost part of a leg in that conflict.

“In 1996, Bob was one of a small minority of senators who stood with me in voting against the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) — and he was certainly the only senator from Nebraska who opposed it,” Kerry says of Kerrey. “And now Bob’s facing a candidate who, when she was asked, couldn’t name a single Democrat she would ever be willing to work with once in office.  That’s not how we will ever solve America’s challenges.”

Although he took such liberal positions on matters such as DOMA, Kerrey took more-conservative stances on other issues, such as free trade and taxes.

Since few before recent days expected Fischer to win the nomination, there’s been no reported polling testing her in a head-to-head match-up with Kerrey. However, polls consistently showed him behind the other, better-known Republican contenders for the contest.

Furthermore, a poll released in March found Kerrey’s overall favorability had taken a nosedive.

Democrats this year are struggling to maintain their Senate majority while defending twice as many seats as the Republicans. A loss of just four seats would hand control to the GOP.