How Larry Summers Nixed Derivative Regulation in 1998 'Cause It Threatened Profits

Conficker C may attack computers on April Fool's. Zombie banks, Zombie Democrats, Obama is a zombie, even I was a zombie. Timothy Geithner and the corporate Democrats' role in the floundering mortgage-bank recovery. New book on gays in the military. Latest shocking revelations on Israel's "holy war" in Gaza. Growing threat of a Mideast War as Netanyahoo comes to power bent on bombing Iran and Obama too compromised to stop him.

Solar Cells, Terrorist Sympathizer, Challenging Dem Incumbents, Israeli War Crimes, Jewish Dems Kill National Intelligence Appointment

Guest Jeff Hauser of new Accountability Now PAC supporting leftish challengers in Democratic primaries. Now there's an idea. Rooftop solar cells and distributed grid green electricity. Gainesville is first city in U.S. to pay over-market for renewable energy. Why Florida House Republican leader Adam Hasner is a demagogic terrorist sympathizer as Amnesty Int'l documents Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Jewish Democrats trash Obama's truth-telling national intelligence council appointment.

Charles Schumer and Steve Israel (NY), among many others, forced the Obama Administration to withdraw the nomination of Charles Freeman as Chair of the National Intelligence Council for talking truthfully about the Israeli government's foreign policies. Freeman would have been in charge of the administration's all-important National Intelligence Estimates. Freeman says "the tactics of the Israel Lobby plumb the depths of dishonor and indecency and include character assasination, selective misquotation, the willful distortion of the record, the fabrication of falsehoods and an utter disregard for the truth."

Watch for cooked intelligence regarding the Mid East coming from his successor nominee. What's so outrageous about this is that the Israeli government apologists consistently use these tactics against anyone who challenges their distorted worldview -- including me and you if we ever get their attention. I keep hearing this stuff time and again as I follow these issues. This is what they do to Jimmy Carter even. Be prepared to fight back!

Adam Hasner is a Terrorist Sympathizer

We know that Florida House Majority Leader Adam Hasner’s logic is wingnut sick and he must be denounced for his McCarthyite attacks on Adam Bedier and United Voices for America, but if you apply his own logic to himself, one has to say that, by his own definition, he is probably a terrorist sympathizer. He condones, justifies, even applauds Israel’s assault on Gaza, which killed 1300 Palestinians, about half of them civilians, women, children. You watched it on TV. You ought to know. Bill Moyers rightfully called it “state terrorism”. Amnesty International just came out with a report documenting numerous war crimes committed by the Israel Defense Forces. Check it out. The IDF dropped white phosphorous on civilians. They bombed UN schools, even the headquarters. They killed children with Hellfire missiles “Made in Orlando”. Adam Hasner is a terrorist sympathizer. Prove me wrong. But don’t prove to me that he is justified being a terrorist sympathizer. There’s a big difference. Every editorial board in this state ought to be denouncing him for the obvious. He is a terrorist sympathizer.

Hasner calls Adam Bedier a “known terrorist sympathizer” because Adam has defended University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, who was coerced into plea bargaining guilty and is now serving five years on charges related to his making donations to charities related to Hamas. From the press accounts at the time it sure looked to me like al-Arian was convicted of a political “crime”. I think he’s the classic example of a political prisoner. Yes, it does happen here in the U.S. in-denial police state.

Now let’s assume for a moment, I’m sure Hasner would verify this if you ask him, that Hasner donates to Jewish charities in Israel. I would hope he does. By his own logic, and the logic of the U.S. police state prosecutors, such money may work its way to families with members serving in the Israel Defense Forces, or replace money that is used such. I’m sure Hasner would love it if it did and would tell you so. “Support the troops,” you know. That aside, Hasner supports U.S. military aid to the Israel Defense Forces that finances the wanton attacks on civilians. So Hasner provides “material support for state terrorism” doesn’t he? Doesn’t he? Say yes. You need to break through the rightwing brainwashing you are under and it helps by verbalizing the new modes of thinking. Out loud.

We all have to start denouncing the disingenuous hypocritical distorted demonizations of Hamas as a terrorist organization. Hamas is a complex political party with a military wing and a political wing. Like our political parties it has moderates and radicals (like Hasner). Hamas provides social services, education, garbage pickup, etc., which al-Arian was probably contributing to. Hamas won the majority of seats in the 2006 parliamentary elections in what international observers called free and fair. Some of Hamas’ leaders and members engage in isolated attacks on Israeli civilians as part of their war to stop Israel’s land confiscations of their land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. (Just last week Israel demolished 88 Palestininan homes in Arab Jerusalem, which can be construed as more state terrorism only using bulldozers instead of bombs.) But Hamas is no more a terrorist organization than the Israeli government is. If I were a radical, I would get down in the radical mud with Hasner and call ISRAEL the terrorist organization. But being a moderate, I know that it’s not constructive to solutions. Israel is no more a terrorist organization than Hamas is.

People, you can’t let the rightwingers, even those in the Democratic Party who keep repeating and reinforcing the demonizations of Hamas, keep clubbing you into submission with their intimidation and use of fear. Every time someone reduces Hamas to a terrorist organization you must interrupt the conversation and correct them. Every time you see it in print or on TV, you must get on the horn and demand that the media stop spreading rightwing distortions as if they were facts.

Matt Damon for U.S. Senate

Segment I: Matt Damon for U.S. Senate (D-FL)? With Meek and Gelber running neocon echo chamber debate in Florida senate race, we need a progressive in the race. Demand hearings on Obama's Afpakistan escalation. Blogtalk server dumps me off air.

Segment Two: It's time to stop using the neocon construct of "terrorism." The Depression intensifies and Obama muddles. (Show picks up after blogtalk server dump).

We Need Hearings on Obama's Afpakistan Escalation!

Quick, make a phone call today to your Congressmember (and Dan Gelber), particularly our Senate candidates Meek and Gelber (and heck, Matt Damon while you’re at it). Get them on the record on this. Get your DEC to pass a resolution. With President Obama escalating drone attacks into Pakistan, which are further destabilizing the country, and in the process of DOUBLING the number of our troops in Afghanistan, and his “envoy” Richard Holbrooke talking paranoid neocon nonsense about how our Reagan-era-funded Taliban allies are now a “threat” to Washington and Islamabad, and the U.S. slowly wading deeper into a $trillion dollar$ Vietnam style quagmire (kind of makes you long for Bush’s relative neglect, huh?) while our nation sinks into a Depression, why are there no Congressional hearings on the next Iraq?

We need hearings on what we’re getting into. Televised.

Demand hearings. Why aren’t there any hearings????????????????????????????????????

Post their responses, or get them to post their position on hearings on the FPC.

We need to know so we know who Accountability Now needs to run anti-war candidates against in the primaries.

Next, and quickly, we need them to sponsor resolutions calling upon Obama to halt troop escalations and deployments into Afpakistan. Me, I don’t need to wait for hearings. I’m already up on this stuff. But the nation needs hearings.

Matt Damon for U.S. Senate

With Democratic Party career politicians Gelber and Meek repeating the same tired old imperial foreign policy platitudes as the Republicans on the Middle East that will keep us in perpetual war that is draining our economy at the very time we are sinking into another Depression, the Democratic nomination race for U.S. Senate is shaping up as just another right wing echo chamber that shuts out any discussion of an alternative foreign policy and will deny Florida voters a fundamental choice that is at stake in next year’s election.

Matt Damon has the potential to add that voice to the debate, and actually be electable. He’s smarter (Harvard) than Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarnegger (and to my knowledge does not have a naked picture published in a body building magazine with his body all oiled up) and has been involved in numerous humanitarian civic causes. He knows public policy. If potty mouth Al Franken (another pro-war Democrat unfortunately) can win in Minnesota …. I rest my case.

From the point of view of us on the True Left, there are two major questions surrounding a Damon candidacy.

One is if he believes this country needs to turn away from the militaristic Bush-Obama-Gelber-Meek-McCain foreign policy (escalating war in Afpakistan, overarming Israel with no constraints and condoning its Gaza slaughter and war crimes (see last week’s Amnesty International report), threatening the bombing of Iran, ever engorging Pentagon budgets, the futile pursuit of a phoney war on “terror”, and on and on). His political sensibilities indicate he may, although he will have to do some crash coursework on foreign policy, just as Dan Gelber is no doubt doing).

Matt, if you believe in a new foreign policy, call me. I will brief you and point you to resources. And most importantly I will guide you to people who will help you frame and advocate a new foreign policy in a way that is electable. 305 893-1566. You can also email me at mwshow@bellsouth.net. You might want to wade through the archive of the Mark Weaver Show, indexed by topics.

The second question is how Matt Damon can win. Matt, I can give you some (partial) advice on this too. You will need a team of consultants more expert than I on campaign strategy, but there is some uber-advice I can give you: be careful who you pick. There are many Democratic Party consultants who view winning above ALL ELSE. Avoid them. You need to win, but you can do that while holding true to your values and principles. Too many consultants will trick you into selling out. There are consultants out there (in and out of the party) who truly want to make politics more progressive rather than just hitching themselves to the candidate they think is going to win and add to their resume. Obviously they are not on the Meek and Gelber teams. Also, there are many powerful interests out there who will try to use you as a vehicle to advance their interests, just like I am, except I’m not powerful. Some of these groups have worthwhile agendas, others don’t. I only hope that you too want a new foreign policy for the U.S. If not, I hope you don’t run. A Senator Matt Damon advocating the same policies as Gelber and Meek is pointless.

Domestic policy will be easier for you since you seem to be within the generic Democratic Party consensus on domestic issues. I can advise you on some tweaking on that to refine more True Progressive positions that address the populist issues of the Florida lower and middle classes AND how to message these.

You will have to neutralize the anti-celebrity reaction to your candidacy, but that will be easy if you study the issues, are serious and meet the editorial boards of all the newspapers in the state in addition to the leadership and meetings of the major interest groups.

One concern I have about Matt’s electability (although something like this did not stop Al Franken or Arnold), is this video. It’s not going to go over well in Ocala, but then again he’d probably pull more votes there than Gelber or Meek in the general, even with the video circulating).

This video is hilarious. And it shows what a great sense of humor and how charismatic candidate Damon would be. He could be our Ronald Reagan, our Schwarznegger.

If any of you know anybody who knows Matt Damon, please get this to him.

Matt, I live near you. Let’s take a four hour walk up Miami Beach and talk about this stuff.

Matt Damon for U.S. Senate. Maybe.