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Jamie Lee Curtis: Do You Think I'm Stupid?

2008-09-07T20:23:21Z

Mr. Obama said it.... "They must think you are stupid." Stupid to believe that Mcain/Palin are "change agents." Change is becoming this campaigns' ping pong ball and we are missing the point. Gandhi said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." Be it. Don't talk about it, don't pontificate about it. Be It. Action word. Demonstrative. Maybe Nike just drafted off that great statesman and made us all "Just do it."

Whatever, the call to action is now. Be it.

My favorite quote is from The Princess Bride by William Goldman. In it, a street savvy young man hardened by the realities of the world, tells the princess..." Life is pain and anyone who tells you different is selling something."

Life is pain, hard, unfair and yet also achingly beautiful and transformative when we are walking toward truth.

When the Republicans had their convention and there were signs held high with the monikers...."G.I. John and Superwoman" I knew we were in trouble. They were selling a fantasy!

See, we are not stupid, we are humans, we can think and listen and learn. But if what we are taught is corrupt lies and if we are fed the "family truth" then we are not stupid, we are brainwashed.

G.I. John and Superwoman take them away from being mortal humans and put them in to the comic book hero status, Teflon coated, impenetrable and as we are seeing today, in the case of Mrs. Palin, not even held accountable in an interview.

We are not stupid, but we are gullible, to fear, lies, misinformation and calculated deceit and that is what we are now up against and where we need to demonstrate the real change. More on Sarah Palin

Greg Mitchell: Amazing TV Campaign Spot: 'Man from Illinois' vs. Military Hero--But It's 1952!

2008-09-07T20:15:40Z

You might find amusing, and amazing, and with current relevance, this vintage singsong TV commercial from back-in-the-day (1952) which promoted Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois over Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower -- on the grounds that the Democrat was not a military man (you won't find anyone highlighting that line these days). It goes so far as call Stevenson "Civilianson," and like now, we were then trying to wind up a war, in Korea. Of course, as we all know, the Man from Illinois with no military experience was trounced in November. Here's how the song ends:

From Illinois, whence Lincoln came/His leadership has won him fame

A soldier man is always found/To think in terms of battlegrounds

But Stevenson --Civilianson-- Will lead us till the peace is won.

Steve Almond: Dear Barack: When They Lie, Call Them Liars

2008-09-07T20:12:51Z

Dear Barack,

Next time someone asks what you think of Sarah Palin, please don't just call her a "skilled politician" with a "compelling biography." Call her a liar, too. Here's how that would work:

Reporter: What do you think of Sarah Palin?
You: She's a skilled politician with a compelling biography who lies a great deal.
Reporter: Wow! That's a pretty serious charge.
You: Actually, [insert name of reporter], it's not a charge. It's what certain people in your profession call "a fact."
Reporter (suspiciously): So you're calling her "a liar"?
You: Right. As in someone who lies a lot.
Reporter (gravely): With all due respect, Senator, if you're going to make that kind of accusation, you'd better be specific.
You: Sure. Remember when she said I'd never written a major piece of legislation? That was a lie. And when she said she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere? That was also a lie. And when she said I would raise taxes on American families? Again: a lie. And you know how she talks about opposing earmarks. Given that she hired a Jack Abramhoff-affiliated lobbyist to haul in $27 million in earmarks for her beloved small town, that's a real whopper. So she lies a lot, about my record and her own record. Just as a reminder, though, I'm not running against Sarah Palin. I'm running against John McCain, who is also a liar.
Reporter (even more gravely): Wait a second, so now you're saying --
You: Yes, John McCain is a liar. He routinely lies about my tax plan, which will cut taxes for 95 percent of families with children. He lies about his own tax plan, which will continue the tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires he once called "irresponsible." He lies about his support of renewable energy. He lies about his judgment on the Iraq War, a war he himself declared over five years ago, on national TV. He lies about his vetting of Sarah Palin, which was clearly reckless and inadequate. Virtually every time he opens his mouth he lies.
Reporter (frankly aghast): These are harsh words, Senator.
You: Not really. I'm just tired of listening to the Republican nominees and their surrogates lie with impunity. And the only way these liars are going to stop telling lies is for reporters like you, [insert name of reporter], to report when they lie. I urge you to show the same concern for the truth with us Democrats. Politicians shouldn't be rewarded for lying.

What would happen if you actually said this -- even some toned down version?
1. You completely dominate the news.
2. You force the media to assess your "inflammatory" claims, which, as it turns out, are true.
3. You force McCain/Palin/surrogates to stop lying, or at least risk being held accountable.
4. You reassure those who are worried you're not tough enough to protect the homeland.
5. You show us, your loyal supporters, that you don't plan to pull a Kerry/Gore.
6. Maybe (just maybe) the race starts to become more about real issues, where the Republicans get slaughtered.

Oh, and next time Bill O'Reilly asks you to admit you were wrong about the surge, tell him John McCain needs to admit he was wrong about the entire war, and to stop lying about his failure to support veterans. Honestly, dude, quit making John Stewart do all the heavy lifting.

More concerned than ever,

Steve

Get Your War On: The Cross

2008-09-07T19:59:44Z

Get Your War On is back and let's just say Senator POW's "cross" story just got funnier.

Ellis Weiner: Depress Conference

2008-09-07T19:25:37Z

Days earlier, Marc Ambinder of the Atlantic reported that a McCain aide said it would be a while before the Governor is subjected to direct questions from the press. The campaign, Ambinder wrote, will "effectively deal with the media's complaints, and their on-the-record response to all this will be: 'Sarah Palin needs to spend time with the voters.'"

PRESS: Okay, it's October. Can we speak to Governor Palin now?

GOP SPOKESPERSON: I'm sorry, the Governor needs to spend more time with her family.

P: I thought she needed to spend time with the voters.

GOP S: Her family are the voters, except for her children and almost-baked grandchild. They are the voters of tomorrow, because our children--and I know the Governor feels very strongly about this--are our future.

P: Okay, but--

GOP S: The state slogan of Alaska is, as you may know, "North to the Future." Since our children are our future, and the Governor's children are her (and their father's, whoever he or they is or are) future, then the Governor lives by the motto, "North to Our Children." Of course, at the North Pole there is no further point north, so when Mrs. Palin is ice fishing and whale skinning and polar bear shooting and Eskimo hunting at the North Pole her motto is "Nowhere to Our Children." That is why she is running. Do you have children?

P: What? Me? No, but--

GOP S: Then you have no future. Meanwhile, I will have to insist that you stop asserting this blatant anti-Palin bias. The American people don't want the liberal press to tell them what to think. They want to make up their own minds.

P: Okay, but how can they make up their own minds if everything you people say about the Governor is a lie?

GOP P: The American people are perfectly capable of making up their minds based on lies. That's what you liberal media refuse to recognize.

P: Actually, the media aren't really that liberal--

GOP P: You challenge Sarah Palin's experience as a POW at your peril.

P: Huh? Wait--

GOP P: Where were you when Sarah Palin was giving birth in a Viet Cong prison? Or I suppose you had "other priorities."

P: No, see--

GOP P: Where were you when Ronald Reagan liberated that concentration camp? Where were you when George W. Bush flew combat missions over Alabama? Where were you when John McCain went around being a maverick and his own man and everything?

P: You--

GOP P: This election is not about "the issues." It's not about "the economy." It isn't about "the past eight years" and it isn't about "the future."

P: No, wait, see, you just said...Um (consults notes) "North--"

GOP P: It isn't about what I just said. It's about faith. Simple, honest American faith. Let me tell you something. With all due respect: There is more faith in a hockey mom from the north hunting caribou in the wild precious wilderness resources of five wonderful, pregnant children--all schooled at home and homed at school--from the PTA, belief in Jesus Christ, and a beauty queen making mooseburgers on a Bridge to Nowhere that God created in 6,000 years out of abstinence, patriotism, polar bears, free enterprise, and the Alaskan National Guard, than there is in all of your Hollywood celebrity abortions, global warming, and "community organizers."

P: Are you insane?

GOP P: Ask the American people if they think we're insane.

P: Hm. Good point. Okay, thanks!

Cross-posted at What HE Said

More on Sarah Palin

Report: McCain Pushed Woman In A Wheelchair

2008-09-07T19:20:26Z

On Sunday, McClatchy Newspapers published a story on Sen. John McCain's oft-discussed temper, detailing one incident in which McCain allegedly pushed a woman in a wheelchair.

According to McClatchy's report, in 1996, McCain was met in the Senate office halls by a group of family members of POW-MIAs who had been pressing him to pursue more information on their relatives.

Six people present have written statements describing what they saw. According to the accounts, McCain waved his hand to shoo away Jeannette Jenkins, whose cousin was last seen in South Vietnam in 1970, causing her to hit a wall.

As McCain continued walking, Jane Duke Gaylor, the mother of another missing serviceman, approached the senator. Gaylor, in a wheelchair equipped with portable oxygen, stretched her arms toward McCain.

"McCain stopped, glared at her, raised his left arm ready to strike her, composed himself and pushed the wheelchair away from him," according to Eleanor Apodaca, the sister of an Air Force captain missing since 1967.

McCain's staff wouldn't respond to requests for comment about specific incidents.

It's impossible now to determine whose recollection of these events is accurate. But Democrats clearly continue to see McCain's temperament as a potential electoral liability. Appearing on CNN's Late Edition on Sunday, Sen. Barbara Boxer argued that McCain's hot-streak is a legitimate campaign issue that should dissuade voters from electing him commander in chief.

"Just listen to what some of his Republican friends have said about him," said Boxer. "Thad Cochran, a Republican conservative senator from Mississippi says the thought of John McCain in the White House sends cold chills down his spine. I don't agree with Kay Bailey that everybody loses their temper like that. And I think we've all seen it happen. It's not rational when it happens. And because John McCain raised the issue, he actually raised it and says he has the temperament -- you know, I think it should be on the table. And anyone watching, you know, Barack Obama stay as cool as a cucumber under the most unbelievable scathing attacks can see that."

Boxer's comment, the crux of which had been raised earlier in the segment, came in the midst of what was a heated exchange between her and Senate colleague Kay Bailey Hutchinson. The Texas Republican laughed off the idea that McCain was any more volatile than other senators. "It is just ridiculous to say he doesn't have the temperament," she remarked. "I mean everybody gets upset at some point."

Palin Offers First TV Interview To ABC

2008-09-07T19:12:24Z

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin plans to sit down later this week for her first television interview since John McCain chose her as his running mate more than a week ago.

The first-term Alaska governor has given speeches, alongside McCain and at the Republican National Convention, since McCain introduced her as his surprise vice presidential pick on Aug. 29.

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis said Sunday that Palin would be made available "when we think it's time and when she feels comfortable doing it."

Later, a McCain-Palin adviser said Sunday that an interview was offered several days ago to Charles Gibson of ABC News. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity because an official announcement had not been made.

The adviser said the interview was expected to take place later this week in Alaska. Palin is expected to return to her state at midweek after more joint appearances with McCain.

An ABC News spokeswoman said the network had no comment.

McCain, who appeared on CBS' "Face the Nation," said he expected Palin to start doing interviews "in the next few days."

Davis complained that the media has focused too much on the 44-year-old Palin's personal life. Many of those stories came after McCain's campaign announced that Palin's 17-year-old daughter was pregnant. News reports also have questioned her record as a reformer in Alaska.

"She's not scared to answer questions," Davis said on "Fox News Sunday." "But you know what? We run our campaign, not the news media. And we'll do things on our timetable."

Palin won over GOP loyalists with her speech last week at the Republican convention in St. Paul, Minn. But Democrats and even some Republicans have questioned whether she is ready to answer unscripted questions about national and international issues.

"Why would we want to throw Sarah Palin into a cycle of piranhas called the news media that have nothing better to ask questions about than her personal life and her children?" Davis said. "So until at which point in time we feel like the news media is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference, I think it would be foolhardy to put her out into that kind of environment."

Palin's Democratic counterpart, Sen. Joe Biden, a veteran of the Sunday talk show circuit, challenged Palin to sit for interviews.

"Eventually she's going to have to sit in front of you like I'm doing and have done," Biden said on "Meet the Press" on NBC. "Eventually she's going to have to answer questions and not be sequestered. Eventually she's going to have to answer questions about her record."

More on Sarah Palin

Hale "Bonddad" Stewart: The Fannie/Freddie Bail-Out: The Plan and Why Now?

2008-09-07T19:07:37Z

It's official: the US government is bailing out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Over the last 24 hours there have been a lot of stories and a lot of analysis of the situation. I would encourage everyone to read as much of this as possible; this is one of the most important developments in the financial markets in the last 30 years (if not the most important).

Here is a link to Paulson's complete statement.

Let's go through some of the points in detail.

To promote stability in the secondary mortgage market and lower the cost of funding, the GSEs will modestly increase their MBS portfolios through the end of 2009. Then, to address systemic risk, in 2010 their portfolios will begin to be gradually reduced at the rate of 10 percent per year, largely through natural run off, eventually stabilizing at a lower, less risky size.

In short, Fannie and Freddie will grow a bit and then become far more manageable from a size perspective. This is a very sound policy, if only to prevent a bail-out of mammoth proportions from having to occur again. It's important to note there is no mention of where the downsizing will end - that is, will Fannie and Freddie decrease the size of their respective portfolios for two years or ten? There is no firm answer to that. I suspect that no one really knows. Instead, the players will use a "wait and see" attitude regarding this whole mess.

Treasury has taken three additional steps to complement FHFA's decision to place both enterprises in conservatorship. First, Treasury and FHFA have established Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, contractual agreements between the Treasury and the conserved entities. Under these agreements, Treasury will ensure that each company maintains a positive net worth. These agreements support market stability by providing additional security and clarity to GSE debt holders - senior and subordinated - and support mortgage availability by providing additional confidence to investors in GSE mortgage backed securities. This commitment will eliminate any mandatory triggering of receivership and will ensure that the conserved entities have the ability to fulfill their financial obligations. It is more efficient than a one-time equity injection, because it will be used only as needed and on terms that Treasury has set. With this agreement, Treasury receives senior preferred equity shares and warrants that protect taxpayers. Additionally, under the terms of the agreement, common and preferred shareholders bear losses ahead of the new government senior preferred shares.
These Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements were made necessary by the ambiguities in the GSE Congressional charters, which have been perceived to indicate government support for agency debt and guaranteed MBS. Our nation has tolerated these ambiguities for too long, and as a result GSE debt and MBS are held by central banks and investors throughout the United States and around the world who believe them to be virtually risk-free. Because the U.S. Government created these ambiguities, we have a responsibility to both avert and ultimately address the systemic risk now posed by the scale and breadth of the holdings of GSE debt and MBS.

All this means is both institutions will issue a special type of security that will be sold only to the US Treasury. In return, the US Treasury will provide funding to keep Fannie and Freddie's net worth positive. In accounting parlance, this means both will have always have more assets then liabilities. This will prevent Fannie and Freddie from having to raise capital in the financial markets. Instead, they will simply go to th Treasury.

The implied understanding with this arrangement is the currently existing common and preferred shareholders will bear the brunt of the losses because the Treasury will have a superior claim on Fannie's and Freddie's assets. In short, common and preferred shareholders are left holding the bag at this point.

Back to the plan:

The second step Treasury is taking today is the establishment of a new secured lending credit facility which will be available to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks. Given the combination of actions we are taking, including the Preferred Share Purchase Agreements, we expect the GSEs to be in a stronger position to fund their regular business activities in the capital markets. This facility is intended to serve as an ultimate liquidity backstop, in essence, implementing the temporary liquidity backstop authority granted by Congress in July, and will be available until those authorities expire in December 2009.

Not only is there a preferred share program in place, the Treasury is also backstopping each agency with a secured lending facility. In other words, Fannie and Freddie can either issue equity which the Treasury will buy or get a loan from the Treasury. Either way, ample funding is available.

Finally:

Finally, to further support the availability of mortgage financing for millions of Americans, Treasury is initiating a temporary program to purchase GSE MBS. During this ongoing housing correction, the GSE portfolios have been constrained, both by their own capital situation and by regulatory efforts to address systemic risk. As the GSEs have grappled with their difficulties, we've seen mortgage rate spreads to Treasuries widen, making mortgages less affordable for homebuyers. While the GSEs are expected to moderately increase the size of their portfolios over the next 15 months through prudent mortgage purchases, complementary government efforts can aid mortgage affordability. Treasury will begin this new program later this month, investing in new GSE MBS. Additional purchases will be made as deemed appropriate. Given that Treasury can hold these securities to maturity, the spreads between Treasury issuances and GSE MBS indicate that there is no reason to expect taxpayer losses from this program, and, in fact, it could produce gains. This program will also expire with the Treasury's temporary authorities in December 2009.

So, the US Treasury will now buy agency MBS securities.
So, to review the plan, there are four parts.

1.) Shrink the size of Fannie and Freddie, largely through natural attrition of the mortgage portfolio
2.) Purchase special equity positions from Fannie and Freddie
3.) Offer a special line of credit to Fannie and Freddie
4.) Buy - on a temporary basis - agency MBS from Fannie and Freddie

Points 2 and 3 were specifically granted to the Treasury in the housing bill passed about a month and a half ago. At the time, Paulson said he had no intention of using either. I have not seen point number one mentioned at any time, but it does not surprise me. And point number 4 is merely an extension or enlargement of the current Federal Reserve lending program (one of the alphabet soups they initiated over the last year).

Why is this happening now?

There is also an interesting point mentioned in the Treasury statement: "as a result GSE debt and MBS are held by central banks and investors throughout the United States and around the world who believe them to be virtually risk-free." Consider this in light of the following points from the blog, Angry Bear:

Now consider the following from MarketWatch,
"The top five foreign holders of Freddie and Fannie long-term debt are China, Japan, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg, and Belgium. In total foreign investors hold over $1.3 trillion in these agency bonds, according to the U.S. Treasury's most recent "Report on Foreign Portfolio Holdings of U.S. Securities.""

China alone holds $376 billion in bond holdings.

Unless I am misreading something, foreign central banks will be protected, including China's...and the America taxpayer will foot that bill.

Secretary Paulson has been busy of late reassuring foreign central banks that they will be protected.

"In recent weeks, Treasury officials have been reaching out to foreign central banks and other overseas buyers of securities or debt sold by the two companies, to reassure them of the creditworthiness of these instruments.

In one such conversation, at the end of August, the Treasury sought to reassure the Bank of Mexico, according to a person familiar with the matter, of the soundness of agency securities held by the bank. Treasury officials have also had similar conversations with Japanese investors who are buyers and holders of agency debt."

Let me place this in perspective with the words of my friend New Deal Democrat over at Economic Populist:

6. Our new Chinese creditors have demanded their first payment. Several times in the last week, Chinese officials have stated in no unceertain terms that they would be VERY UNHAPPY if their Fannie and Freddie bonds weren't honored in full. Forget the Fed: US economic conditions are now dictated by the People's Bank of China.

The point of all this is clear. Over the last 8 years, the US has become extremely dependent on foreign financing for our way of life. Should this fall apart, we are in a world of hurt. As Angry Bear noted (same citation as above):

Yu Yongding, former advisor to China's central bank, put the matter bluntly:
`If the U.S. government allows Fannie and Freddie to fail and international investors are not compensated adequately, the consequences will be catastrophic,'' Yu said in e-mailed answers to questions yesterday. ``If it is not the end of the world, it is the end of the current international financial system.''

Foreign central banks have been propping up the U.S. economy:

Foreign central banks have financed the United States to keep their export sectors -- heavily dependent on U.S. consumer spending -- humming. But they now must weigh the benefits of providing the United States with such "vendor financing" against the rising costs of keeping the current system going.

The bottom line as to why this is happening is pretty clear: out creditors are getting nervous about the US's financial condition. They want to make sure they get paid. So Paulson and everybody else involved is making sure that happens.

Michelle Goldberg: Palin, Mencken and Us

2008-09-07T19:03:54Z

Much has been made in recent days about Sarah Palin's astonishing refusal to face the press. I suspect McCain's aids tried to prepare her by asking some of the questions she would likely get from reporters, were horrified by her ignorance, and sequestered her as a result. It's worth noticing that this is not the first time Palin has hidden from scrutiny on a campaign trail in order to cover up her lack of knowledge. Here, for example, is a quote from an Anchorage Daily News editorial written during the 2006 governor's race: "Ms. Palin has undeniable charisma and outsider appeal, but she has little statewide experience and a weak command of the issues she would need to master as governor -- a flaw she conceals by routinely skipping campaign forums with her opponents." Another story from the same paper reported, "Palin missed a few scheduled events and, at others, came off as unprepared or over her head. After an education forum last week, she was mocked by her opponents for submitting a folksy three-year-old essay about her schoolteacher father instead of a plan for improving schools."

Of course, this tactic seems to have worked two years ago, and the GOP clearly hopes it will again. It remains to be seen whether Americans will be satisfied with the same kind of cursory vetting that McCain found sufficient. After the debacle of the last few years, it seemed that the country might have finally figured out that there are more important qualities in a leader than the appearance of glib conviviality. One of the things that has been so thrilling about Obama's high-toned approach to politics has been the way he has begun to disprove the axiom often attributed to H.L. Mencken: "No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public." Obama's campaign has been a gamble that Mencken was wrong. McCain's has been a bet that he was right.

More on Sarah Palin

Nicholas Brown: Speculations on 'Partisan Rancor'

2008-09-07T19:00:20Z

Saturday, September 6th

3:55 pm CDT - If you ever really need to remind yourself that September is not July, jump in a lake in northern Minnesota. If your brain does not immediately enter a state of shock, then you will feel the enlightened joy that comes when nature gives you a firm reminder that there are some things that people are just not meant to do.

I grew up coming to this lake every summer and it's been my end-of-summer ritual for some time now to take a quick swim before retreating back to reality. Normally, my end-of-summer ritual takes place at the end of summer. This is the first year that it's taken place at the beginning of autumn and - now that my anatomy has unshrunk and I have verified that my vitals are normal - I can say with certainty that there are certain rituals and traditions that simply ought to be abandoned.

Let me use that sentence to make a clumsy transition: traditions abandoned is essentially change. Change seems to be a big theme these days... screw it. I want to talk about a line in McCain's speech.

"The constant partisan rancor that keeps us from solving these problems isn't a cause, it's a symptom. It's what happens when people go to Washington to work for themselves and not you."

Here's the line of the speech that has struck me as most absurd in these past few days. I keep running it through my brain and it gets no better with repetition. The theory is that Joe Representative (from your district) is actively and nefariously out to further his own financial, personal, or career interests and thus pisses off his legislative opponents by demanding earmarks, kickbacks, or personal favors (let us not speculate).

Apart from being insulting to his fellow congresspeople, the line grossly understates the importance of differing ideologies. Sure, money plays a part. There is no question that there are politicians who can be bought (Louisiana's William Jefferson, the congressman caught with $90,00 in ill-gotten cash in his fridge, springs to mind). There is also no question that money buys access to a candidate. The freshman West Virginia congressman who receives a huge sum of money from flunkies of the coal industry, will probably set aside some of his schedule to hear what they have to say.

But kickbacks don't cause partisan rancor. Republicans don't oppose welfare-to-work programs because their corporate sponsors tell them to, and Democrats don't support civil unions and gay marriage because the union bosses say so. Partisan rancor occurs when the leadership of one party or both chooses to emphasize a legislative agenda upon which there can be no compromise at the expense of bringing to the floor more agreeable initiatives. And that happens when your governing strategy is to beat the opposing party out of office rather than to take their objections into account... when you seek to appeal to your base rather than capture the middle.

Sunday, September 7th
1:51 pm - After a harrowing flight back to New York through the remnants of a hurricane, I am at home and rethinking things. There is a second, more charitable interpretation of that line in McCain's speech. Perhaps congressman Joe (first names only please, he's a man of the people) refuses to compromise on any of his own principles. The self-righteous bastard blocks any legislation that doesn't fit letter-perfect to his own ludicrously exacting standards. Joe will not compromise and he thus fails his constituency by his mindless adherence to his Snow-White-pure idealism. Rep. Joe's purism serves none but himself, so he is working for himself and not you. And he's a real dick about it. Ergo partisan rancor. QED.

McCain does have a record of reaching across party lines, particularly on good government issues. And he isn't the insane, values-over-evidence conservative that Bush was. Let's hope he and his speech writers had this second meaning in mind.

Tim Giago: The Fight for an Independent Police Force

2008-09-07T18:51:00Z

By Tim Giago (Nanwica Kciji)
Â© 2008 Native American Journalists Foundation, Inc.

September 8, 2008

Many years ago when the Indian monthly newspaper Wassaja was in vogue an article appeared in the paper that named Oglala Lakota businessman Gerald Clifford as an "Indian expert."

Needless to say, Clifford was infuriated. He said, "It's like trying to name someone as a White expert. There ain't no such animal." An articulate speaker, Clifford resorted to the vernacular to make a point.

Clifford, who passed away a couple of years ago at an early age from cancer, came to my mind this week because of the problems experienced by the Public Safety Commission on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. It was Clifford who fought the establishment in an effort to tear the police force away from the Bureau of Indian Affairs and make it an independent force that contracted to the BIA.

Against a lot of opposition he succeeded. But there is always the possibility of politics entering through the back door when an agency extricates itself from the bureaucracy and attempts to become independent. Some of the young police officers on the Pine Ridge Reservation resigned over the past couple of years simply because they felt that there was too much politics interjected between themselves and the job they were trying to do to serve the people. When individual personalities become larger than the project there is always the danger of losing control and that appears to be one of the problems.

When I was young the police department at Pine Ridge was operated by the BIA. It seems that problems were much smaller then and a policeman like "Sunshine" Janis could patrol his beat around Kyle not only as an officer of the law, but as a very good friend to members of that community. There were no gangs back then or political factions out for blood. The biggest problems confronting "Sunshine" were bootleggers and drunks which usually led to cases of domestic violence.

But after the occupation of Wounded Knee in 1973 Gerald Clifford believed that the BIA Law Enforcement did not do enough to address the myriad problems that occurred during and after the occupation. He believed that a police force operated under the auspices of the Oglala Sioux Tribal government would have been much more effective than one operated by the bureaucracy. He believed that the BIA police force was much too impersonal and many of the officers brought to the reservation from other tribes did not fully understand the complexities of the traditional Lakota people.

Long before the advent of the white man's law the Oglala Lakota people had a strict yet comprehensive form of law enforcement headed by the Akicita, now called soldiers. The Akicita were responsible to the tribal leaders and to the people. They were present at any event where there was a large gathering and each tiospaye (extended family or camp) could rely on their own Akicita to maintain order. This was the kind of Indian law enforcement envisioned by Clifford.

Clifford had helped form a corporation he called ACKO, Inc., an acronym for its founders, "Butch" Artichoker, Clifford and Francis Killer. By taking on some of the different contracts offered by the United States government, Clifford and his group began to see how terribly stifling and unfair the bureaucracy could be. He and his associates not only challenged the way the government did business, but also tried, oftentimes in frustration, to educate the bureaucrats to the realities of Indian life and law.

It would be a shame to see the independent law enforcement agenda sidetracked or deconstructed because of a conflict between some police officers, police leaders and the tribal government. During the current ruckus, Pat Ragsdale, Director of the BIA, has brought in 25 police officers from throughout the nation to maintain law and order on this huge reservation.

Senator Byron Dorgan, (D-ND) along with co-sponsor John Thune (R-SD), introduced the Tribal Law and Order Act, a bill supported by both political parties that would improve the coordination between law enforcement agencies. Sen. Thune said that many Indians are distrustful of the federal government, but he believes that trust can be improved greatly if police officers get out into the communities and show the people they are there to help.

The influx of BIA officers to the Pine Ridge and Standing Rock Reservations has become known as the "surge" in Indian country. Ragsdale said the "surge" is expected to last about a month and at the end of that time the BIA will determine whether to allow the Oglala Sioux Tribe to continue handling its own law enforcement of if the BIA will take it over.

At this point in time most Oglala Lakota only want to see law and order restored to their communities and the feelings amongst the people is equally divided as to how and what form that enforcement policy should take. As always, a lot depends on their leaders.

Gerald Clifford detested being labeled an "Indian expert," but he had the right idea when it came to law enforcement and it would be a shame to see his vision of a Lakota Akicita diminished or destroyed.

(Tim Giago, an Oglala Lakota, was born, raised and educated on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He was the founder and first president of the Native American Journalists Association and the founder and publisher of Indian Country Today, the Lakota Times, and the Dakota/Lakota Journal. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard in the Class of 1991. He can be reached at najournalist@msn.com)

Palin's Absence Becomes Focus Of Sunday Talk

2008-09-07T18:35:26Z

UPDATE: "Republican vice presidential running mate Sarah Palin is offering her first televised interview to ABC News in the coming week in Alaska," AP reports.

"A McCain-Palin adviser says an interview was offered to ABC's Charlie Gibson several days ago and that they expect it to happen in the latter part of the week in Alaska. Palin is the governor of Alaska and is expected to return home at midweek after more joint appearances with McCain."

ORIGINAL POST: It's been nine days since Gov. Sarah Palin was tapped to be John McCain's vice president, and the Alaska Republican has given nary an interview since then. Her absence was acutely felt this Sunday, as both presidential candidates and Sen. Joseph Biden took to the morning shows to plead their cases for election day.

Palin came up primarily in the context of her refusal to appear.

On NBC's Meet the Press, Biden told Tom Brokaw, "Eventually, she's going to have to sit in front of you like I'm doing and have done. Eventually, she's going to have to answer questions and not be sequestered. Eventually, she's going to have to answer on the record." Later, Brokaw told viewers he had reached out to the Delaware Democrat's Republican counterpart to no avail.

McCain, appearing on CBS's Face The Nation, was asked about Palin's absence as well. He hinted that his number two would be taking questions soon, but dismissed the inquiry with a humorous dig at the number of times he himself has gone on the show,

"We just finished the convention but within the next few days and I am strongly recommending that she come on Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer and that will be the first of her 65 appearances," said the Senator.

Meanwhile, Barack Obama, appearing on ABC's This Week, made a sly joke about Palin's eagerness to throw a political punch but shyness about taking press questions.

And then there was Rick Davis. McCain's campaign manager, appearing on the Fox New Channel, told Chris Wallace that Palin would not be subjected to reporters questions "until the point in time when she'll be treated with respect and deference."

Ripping the fourth estate for a perceived bias towards the Alaska Governor, Davis went on.

"She's not scared to answer questions," he said, "but you know what? We run our campaign not the news media... Sarah Palin will have the opportunity to speak to the American people. She will do interviews, but she'll do them on the terms and conditions" the campaign decides.

Said David Chalian, political director for ABC News, in a Politico story on the matter: "There's no doubt in my mind that the McCain campaign would like to run out on the clock on this."

Already, members of the press and Democratic activists are irked by the absence and trying to make political hay from it. Moveon.org has even started a clock tracking how long it has been since Palin fielded a question.

More on Sarah Palin

Palin's Appeal To Working Class Women May Be Limited

2008-09-07T18:35:16Z

Trish Heckman, a 49-year-old restaurant cook and disappointed Hillary Rodham Clinton supporter, watched last week as the country's newest political star made her explosive debut.

She followed the news when John McCain introduced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, paid attention to the raging debate over her qualifications, even tuned in to watch her dramatic speech at the Republican convention.

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Bruce Wilson: Sarah Palin's Churches and The Third Wave: New Video Documentary

2008-09-07T17:22:01Z

Sarah Palin's churches are actively involved in a resurgent movement that was declared heretical by the Assemblies of God in 1949. This is the same 'Spiritual Warfare' movement that was featured in the award winning movie, "Jesus Camp," which showed young children being trained to do battle for the Lord. At least three of four of Palin's churches are involved with major organizations and leaders of this movement, which is referred to as The Third Wave of the Holy Spirit or the New Apostolic Reformation. The movement is training a young "Joel's Army" to take dominion over the United States and the world.

Along with her entire family, Sarah Palin was re-baptized at twelve at the Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska and she attended the church from the time she was ten until 2002: over two and 1/2 decades. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate. Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday." At the latter event, Palin and Alaska LT Governor Scott Parnell were publicly blessed, onstage before an estimated crowd of 6,000, through the "laying on of hands" by Wasilla Assembly of God's Head Pastor Ed Kalnins whose sermons espouse such theological concepts as the possession of geographic territories by demonic spirits and the inter-generational transmission of family "curses". Palin has also been blessed, or "anointed," by an African cleric, prominent in the Third Wave movement, who has repeatedly visited the Wasilla Assembly of God and claims to have effected positive, dramatic social change in a Kenyan town by driving out a "spirit of witchcraft."

The Wasilla Assembly of God church is deeply involved with both Third Wave activities and theology. Their Master's Commission program is part of an three year post-high school international training program with studies in prophecy, intercessory prayer, Biblical exegesis, authority and leadership. The pastor, Ed Kalnins, and Masters Commission students have traveled to South Carolina to participate in a "prophetic conference" at Morningstar Ministries, one of the major ministries of the Third Wave movement. Becky Fischer was a pastor at Morningstar prior to being featured in the movie "Jesus Camp." The head of prophecy at Morningstar, Steve Thompson, is currently scheduled to do a prophecy seminar at the Wasilla Assembly of God. Other major leaders in the movement have also traveled to Wasilla to visit and speak at the church.

The Third Wave is a revival of the theology of the Latter Rain tent revivals of the 1950s and 1960s led by William Branham and others. It is based on the idea that in the end times there will be an outpouring of supernatural powers on a group of Christians that will take authority over the existing church and the world. The believing Christians of the world will be reorganized under the Fivefold Ministry and the church restructured under the authority of Prophets and Apostles and others anointed by God. The young generation will form "Joel's Army" to rise up and battle evil and retake the earth for God.

While segments of this belief system have been a part of Pentecostalism and charismatic beliefs for decades, the excesses of this movement were declared a heresy in 1949 by the General Council of the Assemblies of God, and again condemned through Resolution 16 in 2000. The beliefs and manifestations of the movement include the use of 'strategic level spiritual warfare' to expel territorial demons from American and world cities. Worship includes excessive charismatic manifestations such as hundreds of people falling, 'slain in the spirit,' and congregations laughing, jerking, and shrieking uncontrollably.

In early 2008 an outbreak of those phenomena commenced at the palatial former ministry estate of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, recently bought up and restored by prominent Third Wave author and leader Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries. The (spiritual) "breakout" lasted for many weeks and was publicized in an extensive collection of video footage available on YouTube. Healing services in the Third Wave movement claim to heal the sick and injured through methods that in some cases can appear bizarre - including, as in recent cases involving Todd Bentley, the patient being head butted or kicked by the anointed healer. Recipients of such "spiritual" or miraculous healing make a wide range of astonishing claims - to have been cured of life-threatening illnesses, had joints repaired or replaced, been given gold teeth or gold fillings, regrown stunted limbs and even had deformed skeletal structures straightened and reshaped. Worldwide mission efforts of the movement are built around the idea of combating witches, warlocks, and generational curses, which prevent churches from being able to take root.

Mike Rose, senior pastor of Juneau Christian Center has a long relationship with Rodney Howard -Browne, credited with being the instigator of the outbreak of 'Holy Laughter' around the world, including the Toronto Airport Revival. Thomas Muthee visited Wasilla Assembly of God and gave 10 consecutive sermons at the church, from October 11-16 2005. As both Palin and Wasilla AoG Head Pastor Ed Kalnins have attested, Thomas Muthee 'prayed over' Sarah Palin and entreated God to "make a way" prior to Palin's successful bid for the Alaska governorship. Muthee made a return visit to the Wasilla Assembly of God in late 2008. Thomas Muthee's Word of Faith Church is featured in the "Transformations" video which details an account on how Muthee drove "the spirit of witchcraft" out of Kiambu, Kenya, liberating the town from its territorial demonic possession and enabling a miraculous societal transformation. The "Transformations" video set is used as an argument for social improvement through spiritual instead of human means, and as the best method for fighting corruption, crime, drugs and even environmental degradation.

In the video, producer George Otis declares that after Thomas Muthee and his followers banished the "spirit of witchcraft" from the town, the crime rate in Kiambu dropped almost to zero, along with the rate of alcoholism, and according to Otis most of the residents of the town joined churches. The "Transformations" video has helped spark a network of 'Transformation' ministries and mission organizations and 'transformation' has become a buzz word for change based on supernatural instead of human efforts.

The Third Wave, also known as the New Apostolic Reformation, is a network of Apostles, many of them grouped around C. Peter Wagner, founder of the World Prayer Center. This center, which was built in coordination with Ted Haggard and his New Life Church in Colorado Springs, was featured in an article by Jeff Sharlet in Harpers, May 2005, "Soldiers of Christ." Sharlet was one of the first to write in the secular press about the World Prayer Center which is often referred to by those familiar with the Third Wave as the 'Pentagon for Spiritual Warfare.' It features computer systems that store the data of communities around the world, mapping out unsaved peoples' groups and spiritual mapping information for spiritual warfare. Wagner has his own group of about 500 Apostles in his council and each of these Apostles has ministries under their authority, sometimes hundreds or thousands. Recently various networks of Apostles came together to form the Revival Alliance. Leaders of the Revival Alliance including Rick Joyner of Morningstar anointed Todd Bentley whose Lakeland Healing Revival has recently been a controversial topic in the Evangelical world.

Wagner's top leaders often conduct spiritual warfare campaigns against the demons that block the acceptance of their brand of Christian belief, such as 'Operation Ice Castle' in the Himalayas in 1997. Several of their top prophets and generals of intercession spent weeks in intensive prayer to "confront the Queen of Heaven." This queen is considered by them to be one of the most powerful demons over the earth and is the Great Harlot of Mystery Babylon in Revelation. (The "Great Harlot [or 'whore'] of Mystery Babylon" theme also figures prominently in the sermons of Texas megachurch pastor and Christians United For Israel founder John Hagee, former endorser of John McCain's 2008 presidential bid.) Wagner and his group also claim that the Queen of Heaven is Diana, the pagan god of the biblical book Ephesians and the god of Mary veneration in the Roman Catholic Church. Following the 'Operation Ice Castle' prayer excursion which included planting a flag for Jesus on Mt. Everest, one of the lead prayer intercessors from the excursion, Ana Mendez, reported that there had been dramatic results including, "millions have come to faith in Asia... and other things happened which I believe are also connected...an earthquake had destroyed the basilica of Assisi, where the Pope had called a meeting of all world religions; a hurricane destroyed the infamous temple 'Baal-Christ' in Acapulco, Mexico; the Princes Diana died... and Mother Theresa died in India, one of the most famous advocates of Mary as Co-Redeemer."

Church of the Rock, led by Senior Pastor David Pepper, has taken their youth to participate in 'The Call, Nashville.' This event is held at various locations around the country under the leadership of Lou Engle, also featured in the movie "Jesus Camp." At these events youth are worked into a frenzy of anger and consternation at supposed national moral corruption. Engle, who shuffles while he preaches in imitation of Jewish prayer, is featured toward the end of the "Jesus Camp" video documentary.

The Third Wave movement is cross-denomination and is not synonymous with any specific denomination, nor is it synonymous with Evangelical or Fundamentalist. Although the movement emerged from Pentecostalism, it draws its support from a variety of denominations and religious streams. They believe they are forming a post-denominational church to take the world for the end times. To date, all of the writing and objections to this movement have emerged from other Evangelicals and Fundamentalists who believe the movement to be unbiblical. Also, it is other conservative churches that refuse to embrace the 'outpouring of the Spirit' that are targets of much of the anger of the movement.

You can find more information on the Third Wave movement and additional links to the activities of Palin's churches on www.Talk2action.org in the following articles:

Sarah Palin's Churches and the Third Wave, Part One

Sarah Palin's Churches and the Third Wave, Part Two (with embedded video.)

The video is also posted here.

More on Sarah Palin

Barry Yourgrau: Hey Obama: Knock Off the Zen/Dukakis Stuff

2008-09-07T17:21:52Z

Hey Obama,

When George Stephanopolous asks you, as he just did on his show, What do you think of Sarah Palin's dig against community organizing in her convention speech?--for the love of everything precious, please do not just smile and say it's "curious..." and recount in a reasonable voice what you did.

That reply, on such a topic as this, is for wimps and losers.

Reply how you regard Palin's dig as offensive--an offense to the out-of-work steel workers whose lives you, as a community organizer, helped put back together.

Reply that Palin's sneering dig, and Rudy Giuliani's sneering dig, just show the same old Republican disrespect and cluelessness of the misery working people are suffering in this country.

Reply that it shows how Palin and the GOP (get the linkage?) have no answers on how to improve the hard times for working people brought on by the catastrophic enrich-the-wealthy policies of this administration.

Reply how the gap between the rich and working folk in this country is a yawning abyss--highest in a century. An outrage.

Reply how Palin and the GOP just don't get it, don't get how working people are being crushed by Republicans' ignorance and hostile policies.

Damn it all Obama, HAMMER BACK. Cut the cool zen smiling on such topics You're in a fight with people who are wrecking this country--it's not a policy chat. (These are people will actually try to hide their VP candidate from public scutiny. These are people who will use Big Lie tactics--what else can you call repeating a lie over and over, even when after it's been exposed?)

All the might of real suffering life is on your side, Obama--all the outrage. Use it.