Uh oh Ruper

Suddenly other employees of other Murdoch newspapers are getting arrested, along with police who were taking bribes for phone hacking.

British police searched the offices of Rupert Murdoch's British newspapers Saturday after arresting a police officer and four current and former staff of his tabloid The Sun as part of an investigation into police bribery by journalists... Murdoch's News Corp. confirmed that all four were current or former Sun employees.

Our simple non-supported bromides about austerity will save us

How are the British Tories doing with that, Brad DeLong?

The British Economy Is Now Doing Worse than it Did in the Great Depression This many months after the start of the Great Depression, the British economy was rapidly converging back to its pre-depression level of production under Chancellor of the Exchequer Neville Chamberlain's policy of using stimulative policies to restore the price level to its pre-Great Depression trajectory.

By contrast, the Cameron-Osborne policies of expansion-through-austerity have produced a flatline for real GDP, and the odds are high that British real GDP is headed down again.

In less than a year, if current forecasts come true, the Cameron-Osborne Depression will not be the worst depression in Britain since the Great Depression, but the worst depression in Britain… probably ever. That is quite an accomplishment. As Phillip Inman of the Guardian puts it:

the UK's plan for recovery from the financial crisis was based on a full-throttle recovery in 2012... consumer confidence, business investment and general spending would converge to send the economy on a trajectory of above-average growth... the lack of investment will perplex ministers. They have done what the right-wing economists told them to do and moved out of the way – the theory being that public sector spending and investment was ‘crowding out’ the private sector...

It did not work: “Spain is showing the way with its austerity-driven recession. Where the weak tread, we [in Britain] look keen to follow...”

Right now the American economy, because it has been much closer to traditional stimulus models (though not ideally thanks to the GOP taking the House in 2010 with austerity bromides), has produced a recovery though not as strong as it could be (see first parenthetical).

But the GOP continues to push something that will not work -- in large part somewhat successfully through an ignorant populace and a media that isn't much better and which is dominated by stock-market pushers only.

And the sky is blue

No wonder the modern GOP hates science...it makes sense:

There's no gentle way to put it: People who give in to racism and prejudice may simply be dumb, according to a new study that is bound to stir public controversy.

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNND...Rick Santorum comes out against getting a college education. [cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Time to execute some people

Who manage to register lower IQs than him (somehow there are some of them)

Rick Perry’s dismal showing in the presidential contest has plunged his approval among Texans to its lowest level in a decade, and more than half say in a new poll that he should not seek re-election as governor.

Immediate Action Required

As we know child abuse didn't seem to cause much of a reaction within the Vatican. But something things get them to act with great dispatch.

The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official [Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano] had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

Unknown whether or not the names include any Romneys. For many years the papal official dealing with things like abuse claims within the Church was Cardinal Ratzenger, now known as Pope Benedict XVI. Surely he isn't mixed up in this business too?

"Holy Father, my transfer right now would provoke much disorientation and discouragement in those who have believed it was possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and abuse of power that have been rooted in the management of so many departments," Vigano wrote to the pope on March 27, 2011.

Guess who got shipped out of the Vatican?

Despite his appeals to the pope that a transfer, even if it meant a promotion, "would be a defeat difficult for me to accept," Vigano was named ambassador to Washington in October of last year after the sudden death of the previous envoy to the United States.

But David Brooks was probably excited

Oh those endorsements are awesome:

Nate Silver @fivethirtyeight

Newt has surged negative 6 points in the Florida polls since the Fred Thompson endorsement.

Requires this.

Somehow this doesn't sound like a deterrent

To vote Obama.

Barack Obama won't ask Timothy Geithner to stay on as Treasury Secretary if the president wins reelection, Geithner told Bloomberg TV's Trish Regan Wednesday.

Aw, we'll all be crushed. So who will the just as underwhelming replacement be?

Fact-ish

Oh what a surprise, when it comes to a Democrat, "FactCheck" manages to fuck up fact checking.

So long James Madison, hello Robert Heinlein.

Newt Gingrich's political development apparently began with "Space Cadet" and ended with "Starship Troopers"

Yesterday, America's self-proclaimed enemy of the deficit Newt Gingrich emphasized his latest policy plank:

"We will have the first permanent base on the moon and it will be American," Gingrich said.

And now to find the billions of dollars to build it...I guess it will come from more tax cuts for millionaires, as that is his other major platform.

Jobs programs, education, help for the poor, no. Tax Cuts and Moonbases, yes.

All that and a bag of chips (plus a war with Iran).

When it comes to science fiction as policy Newt has a long history of thinking he is Buck Rogers.

-- 1995, “Honeymoons in space will be the vogue by 2020.”

Please fill in your own jokes here....but I do wonder if that is why Calista's hair looks like something Buzz Aldrin designed?

-- 1985 he advocated “a large array of mirrors [that] could affect the earth’s climate,” warming it up so farmers could extend the growing season.

So he not only believes in man-made climate change (disqualifying in today's GOP), he's completely for speeding it up.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Ready for that Southwest Airlines "Want to get away?" commercial

This is about the worst athletic botch I can remember, I could not feel worse for her. It's sort of like putting yourself in a position of nominating either Romney or Gingrich -- either one is an own-goal.

Greatest Interview ever

Maurice Sendak interviewed by Colbert:

The Colbert Report
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This part of last night's show was awesome too. Rick Santorum does, in fact, like making baby soup.

Good thing Republicans are not beholden to facts

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
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If a Republican was President

You'd be hearing this story non-stop on FoxNews and George Bush would have been portrayed as being there personally directing fire:

In a daring nighttime raid Tuesday, U.S. Navy SEALs rescued two hostages, including one American, who were being held by kidnappers in Somalia, U.S. officials tell NBC News. American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and a 60-year-old Dane, Poul Thisted, were working for a Danish relief organization in northern Somalia when they were kidnapped last October. U.S. officials described their kidnappers as heavily armed common criminals with no known ties to any organized militant group.

But as John "Santa Claus" Cole jollily points out this doesn't fit into the "Obama is a Pussy" theme. the GOP wants to portray (like the killing of that Osama fella stuff).

And again, if nothing else Obama has proved he can kill people illegally more cheaply, you'd think the Republicans could at least not begrudge him that (posterity however...).

Still?

The last batch of recordings made under President Kennedy were released yesterday (and again, good job Nixon making sure we won't get the same things under subsequent Presidents).

It has many interesting and mundane things on it...

Conversations with top officials briefing Kennedy on Vietnam were among the most memorable, Porter said.

After hearing vastly different viewpoints from top advisers who had gone on a fact-finding mission to South Vietnam, Kennedy can be heard commenting: "You both went to the same country?"

Porter said the frustration palpable in Kennedy's voice during the conversation was insightful.

But the most vexing part of the release was this:

Of the final hours of recordings released on Tuesday...officials excised about five to 10 minutes of family-related discussions and about 30 minutes because of national security concerns.

These tapes are nearly fifty years old...the cold war is over...what possible "national security" concerns could there be? I bet it involves the origin of 'Bat Boy'!

That speech was okay

But Jerry Ford would have thought it was too conservative... But as usual, Obama benefits from who his opposing critics are. Such as this man, best know for defending endless wars fought for illegitimate reasons with the tactic of implying treason upon their opponents.

Well, that is timely criticism indeed coming as it does upon the heels of record profits for Apple.

Buoyed by holiday spending, the company's revenue hit a sky high $46 billion and net income of $13.1 billion. This amounts to about $133 million of profit per day during the 14 week-long quarter.

And let us not forget the true patriotic "American-Corporate Way" of getting those profits, by having them made overseas in China and treating those workers like dirt.

You'd think Fleischer would be more than satisfied enough with Obama's ability to conduct inappropriate acts of war more inexpensively.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

Nerd post of the day

Return of the Jedi the way it should have gone...

So how much of that went to hating on gays?

Mitt gave $2.6 million to the Mormon Church last year alone:

The couple donated $1.5 million in 2010 to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which also received donations from the family’s foundation. They contributed $2.6 million to the Mormon church in 2011, according to the estimated return.

So how much of that ended up being spent in California to keep gays from marrying?

Sunday's episode was fine

But last night's special episode of Downton Abbey (on NBC for some reason) was just 90 minutes of the dog's ass interlaced with O'Brien and Thomas sniping at each other.

Another drip in the growing puddle

More fun for Mitt, less fun for his victims:

Off a gritty bend in the Miami River, a few miles from a warehouse where he recently touted his job-creation plans, there’s a complex of buildings that bear witness to a time when Mitt Romney’s private equity firm laid off hundreds of workers, shuttered a profitable factory and made out with hundreds of millions of dollars.

It started in 1995, when Romney’s Bain Capital targeted the company that became Dade Behring, which made blood-testing machines and performed animal research at its Miami campus.

Bain borrowed heavily to buy the company and closed a factory in Puerto Rico to improve the bottom line. About 400 lost jobs there. Then in 1997, Bain shuttered Dade Behring’s Miami operations, costing another 850 jobs and a $30 million payroll in the community.

Before growing debt consumed the company, Bain executed its exit strategy and made $242 million.

And I wonder how many more of these stories will surface on Mitt's serial killing victory tour?

Drip prefers the "drip,drip,drip" method

Oh how politically savvy:

Romney advisers stressed that the holdings in the Caymans — along with those in a Swiss bank account that was closed in 2010 after an investment adviser decided it could be politically embarrassing to Romney — were reported on tax returns and were not vehicles to avoid taxes.

Okay, first...this occurred to them for the first time in 2010...after he had already run for President?

Second, a Swiss bank account too? Oh Mitt and his money right next to Nazi Gold!

Third, just how bad are those prior years?

Fourth, how long does he think he'll get away with not returning those...and how does he think this is going to close the matter?

That shit may work on FoxNews but not anywhere else.

I missed the debate...(again) last night

So I missed the talent portion:

Let us put them in…the Octagon!

It seems just like yesterday some guy stated here that Mitt Romney as Republican nominee was going to happen. And then this happens.

Newt Gingrich has all but erased Mitt Romney's 23-percentage-point lead of a week ago among Republican voters nationally, and the two candidates are now essentially tied

And thanks to the Supreme Court time for the "Chubb Group" of the Gingrich Campaign to continue the underwriting:

Gingrich pal and wealthy businessman Sheldon Adelson will offer up another $5 million in funding for Gingrich’s super PAC, Winning Our Future.

And to think of all the episodes of NOVA that could make. I still think in the long run, Romney will be "settled" for, not because he is loved but because he'll do...but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to see this:

Veteran GOP Operative Steve Schmidt: Look, I think, not only are we not moving towards a coalescing of support by the Republican establishment for Newt Gingrich, we're probably moving toward the declaration of war on Newt Gingrich by the Republican establishment. And if Newt Gingrich is able to win the Florida primary, you will see a panic and a meltdown of the Republican establishment that is beyond my ability to articulate in the English language.

To the Octagon.

[cross-posted at Firedoglake]

On the other hand...

If Romney loses Florida...

Newt Gingrich leads Mitt Romney by eight points in Florida, according to a poll conducted the day after the former House speaker won the South Carolina primary. According to the Insider Advantage poll, Gingrich has 34 percent support, Romney has 26 percent, Texas Rep. Ron Paul has 13 percent, and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum garners 11 percent.

There may be no settling at all, the base may just decide they want to burn that SOB to the ground.

And they probably think that's a good plan.

And speaking of quality journalism

Good to see David Gregory's nine (or ten?) figure salary hasn't prevented him from questioning right-wing memes...because he doesn't want to bother.

GREGORY: Can you have a Republican nominee who can play into the class warfare argument that the president wants to play in general?

Who's a good boy? Who's a good boy?

Quality

Oh that HuffPo front page continues to be of the highest caliber:

Oh no.

It will soon be time to settle

There comes a time, if you are in a mood to marry, that you are more than aware of your potential mates foibles. They chew strangely, they occasionally smell, they don't like the same shows you like, etc.

But all-in-all they'll do because after all you aren't exactly perfect.  

And if marrying is the most important thing of all, you'll sadly take what you can get. Newt Gingrich may have won South Carolina, and Mitt Romney may be a terrible politician, but of the GOP's potential suitors he's the best remaining option. And Republicans seem to agree, in their inimitable manner:

In a January 14-17 YouGov poll, 66% of Gingrich supporters said they had a “very” or “somewhat favorable” opinion of Romney. About 15% were neutral. The remaining 19% were unfavorable, but only 2% were said “very unfavorable”—which is how I would translate “deep dissatisfaction.” The same thing is true of Santorum supporters: 57% had a favorable view of Romney.

So they are going to settle (and since Andrew Sullivan is predicting otherwise...they'll settle) for Romney...for the least bad of a series of bad choices. All before the likely divorce on November 7, 2012.

Which is unfortunate in a way because Gingrich can definitely handle divorce.

And now PANIC!

It used to be sometime in March or so that there was a traditional freak-out in whatever Party was the challengers in the upcoming election as the almost certain nominee suffers a temporary setback. But this year the GOP decided to get it started early.

As fun as this all is, and as someone who certainly isn't a Republican it is quite fun...once I get my jaw back in place, I just do not think Gingrich is going to get the nomination. Now that he's having his little run the powers-that-be in the Party are going to step up and make sure Mitt gets it.

However the caveat to the normal course of business is that the GOP has done everything in its power to let the crazies run free, the only real question is whether they can get them back in the bottle? It won't be easy.

We're riding this SOB to the gates of hell ...

Because once they are there, they'll just let Newt in as an honored guest.

Nice job Republicans.