Did Bush Administration Have ‘Executive Assassination Ring?’

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Investigative reporter Sy Hersh dropped a bombshell at the University of Minnesota, March 11, 2009.

The Bush administration held that, as commander in chief, the president could authorize almost anything.

By Sherman DeBrosse / The Rag Blog / March 24, 2009

Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh revealed in a speech at the University of Minnesota on March 11, that a hit squad — an “executive assassination ring” in his words — that reported to Vice President Richard Cheney, was plying its trade throughout the world during the administration of George W. Bush. Task Force 121 was especially active in Afghanistan. Even the Joint Chiefs of Staff could not hold them answerable. These executioners were not required to report to station chiefs or ambassadors.

In addition the CIA, after 9/11, was spying on American citizens within the United States. This was a violation of the agency’s charter. There was no legal basis for what they were doing, but they saw their targets as enemies of the state. These people were under the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). It is likely that there was no presidential “finding,” authorizing these activities. The Bush administration held that, as commander in chief, the president could authorize almost anything.

Hersh lamented that the members of the execution squads were idealistic and very capable people, some of whom are now agonizing over what they have been doing. He made these remarks in answer to a question and had not intended to discuss these matters until he had completed his research. Hersh referred to a New York Times article that cited a Lebanese source to the effect that Lebanese Christian leader Elie Hobeika was car bombed in 2002 as part of an Israeli-US effort to prevent him from testifying in Brussels against Ariel Sharon. He later said these matters were “not something I wanted to dwell about in public.”

But to be fair to the US operatives, there is some evidence that rogue Syrian intelligence people were hired to kill Hobeika in 2002 and, later, Elie Hobeika. Some intelligence people think Eliot Abrams and Karl Rove handled the high level foreign assassinations. We’ll have to wait for Hersh’s promised book for better information.

Some find a precedent in the deaths of investigative reporter Danny Caselaro and his NSA source in 1991. Caselero’s death was made to look like a suicide, and there is no evidence that the George H. W. Bush administration was involved. Later, a successor to Caselero was clearly “suicided” after he tried to give evidence of wrong-doing to Attorney General Janet Reno. None of this is evidence of an executive branch assassination team.

The matter of spying on American citizens has a long pedigree. In the Reagan administration, there was an extensive operation to intimidate press people and to keep track of folks who opposed the not-so-secret war in Central America. It is said that Oliver North had something to do with this and that Vice President George H. Walker Bush supervised all of it.

Before that, there was Operation Chaos, begun under Lyndon Johnson and greatly expanded by Richard Nixon. It used the FBI and CIA to spy on dissidents. It became so large that both the FBI and CIA eventually balked.

One would suppose that Hersh’s forthcoming book would deal with software used to spy on dissidents and keep track of various financial transactions. The Reagan administration managed to seize a very sophisticated software program called PROMIS. There was a great deal of litigation initiated by a firm called Inslaw to obtain compensation. Despite the services of ace attorney Eliot Richardson, the firm obtained no relief in federal courts. The software was modified and used and sold by the US and Israel — at least according to a repentant Israeli intelligence officer. This software was repeatedly modified and now exists as what is called Main Frame, which was probably the subject of the famous drama in Attorney General John Ashcroft’s hospital room.

In addition to that, we now know that the NSA has the facilities, equipment and software to scoop up millions of domestic communications on a daily basis. A former NSA officer says that the NSA is mainly interested in the communications of journalists. There is no second source to verify this, but there is enough evidence to demonstrate they have the capabilities to do this. Whether any of this goes on under the Obama administration, is an open question. We hope not.

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Oh Goody : Texas to Offer Masters Degree in Creationism?

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Creationist Texas State Rep. Leo Berman has a bill for you! Berman is shown during the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., Sept. 3, 2008. Photo by AP.

Oh goody doody gumdrops, I think I shall apply to open a branch of Hogwarts here, if this nonsense passes, and start certifying wizards!!!!!

(And you can quote me on that.)

Mariann Wizard / The Rag Blog / March 24, 2009

Bill in Texas would allow creationists to grant Masters of Science degrees

By Joe Byrne / March 21, 2009

If a private college doesn’t receive funds from any governmental organization, should they have to be held to any standards or requirements when they award degrees? No, one Texan lawmaker is insisting.

Texas State Representative Leo Berman has proposed House Bill 2800, which would exempt any private non-profit institution that requires students to complete “substantive course work” from having to acquire a certificate of authority from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board(THECB). “If you don’t take any federal funds, if you don’t take any state funds, you can do a lot more than some business that does take state funding or federal funding,” Berman says. “Why should you be regulated if you don’t take any state or federal funding?”

Because creationism isn’t science, critics argue.

Berman admits that his ‘inspiration’ for the bill was the Institute for Creation Research Graduate School, a Young Earth Creationism institution that has been trying to achieve certification in Texas for two years. Young Earth Creationism, much more popular than the recent Intelligent Design Creationism, is essentially Biblical literalism –- Earth is 10,000 years old, Noah’s Flood occurred, Adam and Eve were real people. ICRGS insists that they teach more than just “Biblical Creationism,” which is based only on the word of the Bible; they also have incorporated tenets of “Scientific Creationism” into their bylaws.

Most of these relate to origins of Earth and the evolution of species. Originally the creationist research branch of Christian Heritage College in San Diego, the ICRGS was forced to split from that college when California regulators threatened to take away its certification. Now, the ICRGS operates mostly online, and its Masters of Science Degree is recognized by California and federal law. According to its website, however, Texas residents cannot receive a degree.

Degree-granting colleges and universities in Texas currently must be issued a certificate of authority by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. The certificate allows the holder to grant a degree that a graduate would need to apply for a teaching position in a Texas public school. If House Bill 2800 was made into law, only state-funded colleges and universities would have to report to THECB; everyone else would be free to design their curriculums without any regulation.

Critics of Berman’s bill are enraged, claiming that it will de-legitimize any degree coming out of Texas. Eugenie Scott, executive director for the National Center for Science Education, told Foxnews.com that “all you have to do…is start a non-profit organization, don’t take any federal or state money, and then offer degrees in any fool subject you want. Teaching that the Earth is only 10,000 years old is a little irregular in modern science.”

In June 2006, the Institute for Creation Research established the Henry M. Morris Center for Christian Leadership in Dallas, Texas. ICR said that the move to Texas occurred because of a more central national location, proximity to a major airport, and a greater suitable population for their ministry. However, accreditation for their graduate program is still not recognized under Texas law. According to their website, “ICR is currently examining its legal options regarding how it can best serve the educational ‘gaps’ of Texas residents.”

An extensive article by Steven Schafersman of Texas Citizens for Science detailing the long history of ICRGS and its quest for certification can be found here.

Source / The Raw Story

Thanks to Dr. S. R. Keister / The Rag Blog

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Alice Embree : Remembering Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Mural at the National University of El Salvador depicting the late Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero, assassinated in March 24, 1980. Photo by Alice Embree / The Rag Blog.

Liberation theologian and advocate for the poor, El Salvador’s Romero was assassinated 30 years ago today.

By Alice Embree / The Rag Blog / March 24, 2009

[This article is part of a series on El Salvador being written by Alice Embree. Embree was an official observer during the recent presidential elections there and sent dispatches to The Rag Blog using the byline “Al.”]

Twenty-nine years ago today, on March 24, 1980, Archibishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero was assassinated in El Salvador. He was celebrating mass in a small chapel. As he raised the communion chalice a bullet tore through his heart.

Romero was an advocate for the poor, a defender of human rights and a proponent of liberation theology. His funeral on March 30th drew mourners from around the world. A crowd estimated at 250,000 packed the plaza in front of the Cathedral. During the funeral, the military fired shots into the crowd from the buildings above, killing more than thirty mourners.

Major Roberto D’Aubisson was identified as the man who ordered Romero’s assassination. D’Aubisson organized El Salvador’s infamous death squads, targeting political activists and carrying out civilian massacres. D’Aubisson also founded the Nationalist Republican Alliance Party, ARENA.

A memorial wall in San Salvador bears the names of nearly 30,000 of the dead and disappeared –- names gathered as part of a Truth Commission at the end of El Salvador’s civil war. Romero’s name is there as are those of the four U.S. churchwomen raped and murdered in December 1980. An entire panel lists the places where civilian massacres took place.

1980 was a turning point for El Salvador. Romero’s assassination brought the small Central American country to the attention of the world. It was also the year that the Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) was founded. The five largest guerrilla movements in El Salvador united to form the FMLN as a single political-military force in October of 1980. With the signing of the U.N. Peace Accords in 1992, the FMLN was legalized as a political party.

October 1980 also saw the founding of the Committee in Solidarity With the People of El Salvador (CISPES) in the United States. For nearly three decades CISPES has promoted solidarity with El Salvador and mounted opposition to the U.S. military aid and training, propping up El Salvador’s death squad government. During the 1980s, El Salvador became a Reagan experiment in “low-intensity conflict.”

The ARENA party has held the presidency of El Salvador since 1989, presiding over the signing of CAFTA and economic policies that concentrated wealth and privatized public services. On March 15th the FMLN won the national election. Mauricio Funes was elected president and Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a former guerrilla combatant, was elected vice-president. In his acceptance speech, Funes dedicated his victory to the memory of Archbishop Oscar Romero.

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FILM / Saint Misbehavin’ : The Wavy Gravy Movie

Posted on March 24, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Saint Misbehavin’: The Wavy Gravy Movie, directed by Michelle Esrick was screened in Austin at SXSW.

The Saints Go Marching in Downtown Austin

Wavy Gravy’s evolving persona as poet, storyteller, merry prankster, jester and clown reveals a deeply spiritual and resourceful man who has used his gifts of humor and wit in dangerously charged situations to defuse tension, prevent violence, turn the tables and achieve positive, constructive outcomes.

By Susan Van Haitsma / The Rag Blog / March 23, 2009

This spring break week in Austin, the SXSW music, interactive and film festivals converged to make Austin an absolute epicenter of the creative arts. What a fabulous week! The city literally hummed.

My partner and I gravitated to the documentary films and took in as many of the offerings as we could at the festival. Notable among them was the premiere screening of “Saint Misbehavin’, The Wavy Gravy Movie,” produced and directed by Californian, Michelle Esrick. Making the film was a 10-year project for Esrick, and her commitment has achieved a first-rate visual biography of the 60’s icon, interspersing recent interviews with footage from Wavy Gravy’s Woodstock and Hog Farm bus tour days, including remarkable scenes from the group’s trek across Europe through the Middle East and Asia in 1970.

Wavy Gravy’s evolving persona as poet, storyteller, merry prankster, jester and clown reveals a deeply spiritual and resourceful man who has used his gifts of humor and wit in dangerously charged situations to defuse tension, prevent violence, turn the tables and achieve positive, constructive outcomes. Through his own stories, recollections from his closest family and friends and accompanying film vignettes that show Wavy Gravy in action, we are shown how nonviolence actually works. And, in typical Wavy Gravy fashion, he transforms even this kind of work into play. His long-time projects involve teaching children nonviolence, meditation and performance techniques (at his legendary Camp Winnarainbow in Northern California), and supplying medical services to restore vision to cataract patients in underserved parts of the world (through the SEVA Foundation he co-founded 30 years ago with several colleagues, including his wife, Jahanara Romney and his good friends, Ram Dass and Dr. Larry Brilliant, who are also featured in the film).

My partner and I attended the Saint Misbehavin’ premiere on the first Saturday of the SXSW film festival and were so taken with the story that we returned for the final showing the following Saturday with a friend who was in town to visit. Wavy Gravy was present at each venue, answering questions with characteristic aplomb.

And the compassionate clown gave Austin even more. Earlier in the day of his final film showing, Wavy Gravy became the somewhat impromptu grand marshal of the Million Musician March for Peace that marked the 6th anniversary of the beginning of the invasion of Iraq. Organized by the local musicians’ group, Instruments for Peace, the march was a colorful, family-oriented New Orleans-style parade led by musicians through downtown Austin, past SXSW venues, beginning at the Texas state capitol and winding up at Austin’s City Hall plaza for a concert where some of Austin’s finest musicians performed for the marchers.

At the head of the parade, Wavy Gravy and Michelle Esrick were ensconced in a festively decorated pedicab, the perfect peace convoy, leading us in tye-dyed, bubble-blowing style.

We CodePink folks were also on hand with eye-catching fuzzy peace signs made by our own Heidi Turpin. Heidi presented Wavy Gravy with one of the multi-colored peace signs that matched his attire to a T.

I hope Michelle Esrick’s fine film is distributed and reaches a wide audience. If its warm reception in Austin is an indication, the film will indeed carry the Wavy Gravy message forward: Put your good where it will do the most. Then, you will have fun doing it!

[Susan Van Haitsma also blogs as makingpeace at Statesman.com and at makingpeace.]

Aso see Thorne Dreyer : Wavy Gravy Leads Austin Musicians in March for Peace by Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog / March 23, 2009

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Colonial Afghanistan to Receive New Leader

Posted on March 24, 2009 by RagBlog

Afghan President Hamid Karzai speaks during a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul. Photo: Shah Marai/AFP.

US will appoint Afghan ‘prime minister’ to bypass Hamid Karzai
By Julian Borger in Brussels and Ewen MacAskill / March 22, 2009

White House plans new executive role to challenge corrupt government in Kabul

WASHINGTON — The US and its European allies are ­preparing to plant a high-profile figure in the heart of the Kabul government in a direct challenge to the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, the Guardian has learned.

The creation of a new chief executive or prime ministerial role is aimed at bypassing Karzai. In a further dilution of his power, it is proposed that money be diverted from the Kabul government to the provinces. Many US and European officials have become disillusioned with the extent of the corruption and incompetence in the Karzai government, but most now believe there are no credible alternatives, and predict the Afghan president will win re-election in August.
President Karzai has failed to root out corruption and government incompetence Link to this audio

A revised role for Karzai has emerged from the White House review of Afghanistan and Pakistan ordered by Barack Obama when he became president. It isto be unveiled at a special conference on Afghanistan at The Hague on March 31.

As well as watering down Karzai’s personal authority by installing a senior official at the president’s side capable of playing a more efficient executive role, the US and Europeans are seeking to channel resources to the provinces rather than to central government in Kabul.

A diplomat with knowledge of the review said: “Karzai is not delivering. If we are going to support his government, it has to be run properly to ensure the levels of corruption decrease, not increase. The levels of corruption are frightening.”

Another diplomat said alternatives to Karzai had been explored and discarded: “No one could be sure that someone else would not turn out to be 10 times worse. It is not a great position.”

The idea of a more dependable figure working alongside Karzai is one of the proposals to emerge from the White House review, completed last week. Obama, locked away at the presidental retreat Camp David, was due to make a final decision this weekend.

Obama is expected to focus in public on overall strategy rather than the details, and, given its sensitivity, to skate over ­Karzai’s new role. The main recommendation is for the Afghanistan objectives to be scaled back, and for Obama to sell the war to the US public as one to ensure the country cannot again be a base for al-Qaida and the Taliban, rather than the more ambitious aim of the Bush administration of trying to create a European-style democracy in Central Asia.

Other recommendations include: increasing the number of Afghan troops from 65,000 to 230,000 as well as expanding the 80,000-strong police force; ­sending more US and European civilians to build up Afghanistan’s infrastructure; and increased aid to Pakistan as part of a policy of trying to persuade it to tackle al-Qaida and Taliban elements.

The proposal for an alternative chief executive, which originated with the US, is backed by Europeans. “There needs to be a deconcentration of power,” said one senior European official. “We need someone next to Karzai, a sort of chief executive, who can get things done, who will be reliable for us and accountable to the Afghan people.”

Money and power will flow less to the ministries in Kabul and far more to the officials who run Afghanistan outside the capital – the 34 provincial governors and 396 district governors. “The point on which we insist is that the time is now for a new division of responsibilities, between central power and local power,” the senior European official said.

No names have emerged for the new role but the US holds in high regard the reformist interior minister appointed in October, Mohammed Hanif Atmar.

The risk for the US is that the imposition of a technocrat alongside Karzai would be viewed as colonialism, even though that figure would be an Afghan. Karzai declared his intention last week to resist a dilution of his power. Last week he accused an unnamed foreign government of trying to weaken central government in Kabul.

“That is not their job,” the Afghan president said. “Afghanistan will never be a puppet state.”

The UK government has since 2007 advocated dropping plans to turn Afghanistan into a model, European-style state.

Richard Holbrooke, the US envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who will implement the new policy, said it would represent a “vastly restructured effort”. At the weekend in Brussels, he was scathing about the Bush administration’s conduct of the counter-insurgency. “The failures in the civilian side … are so enormous we can at least hope that if we get our act together … we can do a lot better,” he said.

Source / The Guardian

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Greening Up the Co-operative Movement

Posted on March 24, 2009 by RagBlog

The River Arts co-op development is considering solar panels. The building’s energy committee includes Julie Ruben, top, and from left, Jack Fogle, Frank Gary and Paul Kittas. Photo: Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times.

It’s Not Easy Turning Co-op Boards Green
By Mireya Navarro / March 22, 2009

Seated at an oval table with spreadsheets and calculators at the ready, the six-member board of River Arts, a 244-unit co-op development in Washington Heights, mulled over the pros and cons of investing in solar power.

Ed Lloyd, the board president, was not convinced that the co-op would get its initial investment back.

“I don’t want us to be all caught up in green and end up in the red,” he said. “I’m as environmentally conscious as the next person but we can’t base it all on that.”

Jack Fogle, a resident who had worked for more than a year with the co-op’s energy committee to sell the idea, pressed on.

“If we take the risk, that money will pay us back for the next 30 years,” said Mr. Fogle, who is also the building’s manager.

The politics at residential buildings, which are notoriously contentious, have become even more so as environmental issues have entered the fray. At many co-ops and condominiums, the members of energy and green committees lobby and cajole their neighbors to embrace projects that sometimes require upfront money, like solar panels, but more often just demand interest and effort on the part of residents, like recycling correctly.

It can be a thankless job that sometimes is met with indifference, skepticism and even outright hostility. But environmentally motivated residents say they operate on the theory of, “If I don’t do it, who will?” as it was put by Sharon Lee Ritchie, who started a green committee in her co-op in Harlem.

While more fervent advocates can gravitate toward weighty projects — a green roof or solar panels, for example — mundane measures can make more of an impact, experts say. But no matter what the investment, environmental consciousness can be a tough sell in a bad economy, especially when it can takes years to recoup the initial cost for some projects.

At River Arts, one argument that was used to sell the board on the idea of solar energy was the savings achieved by Cabrini Terrace, another co-op in Washington Heights, which went solar in 2007 and shared its figures with the River Arts board.

Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for Community Associations Institute, a national group that represents homeowner associations, said that if co-op boards “can show savings, the homeowners are going to be a lot more receptive.”

That has been the case at River Arts, which overlooks the Hudson River on Riverside Drive. In 2007, members of an energy committee had pushed to install solar panels to produce part of the building’s electricity, but the board balked because it would take 10 years to recover the investment through energy savings, Mr. Fogle said.

Since then, new federal, state and city tax credits have become available, reducing River Arts’ net cost of a $400,000 system to $10,000 — meaning it would take about one year for the co-op to recover the investment, Mr. Fogle said. The co-op expects its solar power to eventually reduce energy costs by $7,000 a year. At a committee meeting in January to plan the presentation for board members and shareholders, tensions rose as discussions stalled on details like how much information shareholders needed to hear about the timeline for the project.

“People! People!” Mr. Fogle shouted. “You don’t need to give people more than is necessary.” He walked out of the room, returning a few minutes later in a calmer state.

Finally, at a meeting in February, the hard work seemed to be paying off.

“Financially, it sounds like the numbers are reasonable,” conceded Mr. Lloyd, the board president.

There is little question that the green movement has gained significant traction in recent years.

In New York, city officials say residential buildings produce more carbon dioxide emissions — 30 percent — than any other large sources of emissions, such as commercial buildings or transportation. Nearly two-thirds of those emissions come from the use of electricity and natural gas.

Scott M. Stringer, the Manhattan borough president, said he knew interest in greening buildings was high when he called a conference on the topic in late 2007 and a standing-room-only crowd of 500 people came.

“The green-building movement is now commonplace,” he said. “It’s a combination of economics, saving the environment and this whole notion that the measures we take enhance the quality of life,” he said.

Yet there are still battles to be fought, and not all of them related to money. At River Arts, part of the challenge is to win over apathetic residents.

One member of the energy committee, Julie Ruben, said that an informational meeting on the idea for solar in December drew barely a dozen people. The co-op residents will ultimately have to vote to approve the plan.

And at another co-op building in Washington Heights, the residents’ input was nearly avoided altogether at first. Yonah Zur, 31, a musician who lives with his wife and young son, got a compost pile going in his co-op’s backyard with the knowledge of only the few members of the building’s garden committee. He said that compost bins are often mistakenly assumed to smell and attract rodents, and he worried about the reaction from the rest of the owners.

“I wanted to make it work and then show the neighbors,” Mr. Zur said.

After eight months of composting food scraps and leaves by himself in a spot not visible from most of the building’s 120 units, Mr. Zur put up signs in the elevator last May, announcing a garden clean-up and a compost lesson. Now as many as 10 apartments use four compost bins. But one neighbor did not like the aesthetics of a tall bin that held a pile of leaves outside her window.

“She was complaining about the look of it,” Mr. Zur said. The problem was solved by moving the bin eight feet away from the neighbor’s apartment.

Many of those pushing for greening buildings argue that any step, no matter how small, helps create a commitment that can lead to more ambitious undertakings.

Ms. Ritchie, the co-op owner in Harlem, said that she did not feel it was realistic to go for big energy projects when her 241-unit co-op in Harlem already has a list of must-do capital projects. So she turned her attention to “doable” things like a clothing and fabric recycling program, partnering with Wearable Collections, a local business that does curbside pickups.

At her 241-unit co-op in Harlem, Sharon Lee Ritchie pushed smaller environmental projects, like using eco-friendly cleaning products. Photo: Jennifer S. Altman for The New York Times.

Experts from the U.S. Green Building Council, a nonprofit group that certifies buildings for energy efficiency and other environmental features, say that it is the unglamorous measures that are beneficial but often overlooked. Those include insulating steam pipes, sealing leaks around windows, weather-stripping doors, investing in a gas-fired boiler or co-generation, sub-metering electricity so owners pay for their own consumption, or even making sure lights are not left on all the time.

Ms. Ritchie, who owns an event planning and design business, said she convinced a skeptical building superintendent — “just humor me for a week,” she told him — to try out eco-friendly cleaning products, which come in such highly concentrated formulas, she said, that they now save the building $500 a month in cleaning supplies.

Still, for almost two years, her building’s green committee had only one member: Ms. Ritchie. “I just think people are busy and they’re happy to participate without spending any of their time,” she said of her rewarding but lonely greening experience.

She was overjoyed this month when seven new volunteers agreed to join her committee.

Source / New York Times

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Thorne Dreyer : Wavy Gravy Leads Austin Musicians in March for Peace

Posted on March 23, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Hippie legend Wavy Gravy leads the Million Musicians March in Austin, March 21, 2009. Photo by Mara Eurich / The Rag Blog.

Austin musicians and activists decide to be “instruments for peace.” Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

“Of all the events worldwide in remembrance of the sixth anniversary of the Iraq disaster, the Million Musicians March for Peace was the only one led by musicians.” — Richard Bowden, Instruments for Peace

By Thorne Dreyer / The Rag Blog / March 23, 2009

See gallery of photos from the Million Musicians March, by Alan Pogue and Myra Eurich, Below.

AUSTIN — They weren’t quite a million, but they sure made some beautiful music.

As hundreds of locals, tourists, musicians and industry types attending South by Southwest — the massive technology, film and music fest — packed the streets of downtown Austin Saturday afternoon, March 21, the Million Musicians March for Peace — with hippie legend Wavy Gravy leading the way — snaked by in a rhythmic procession, creating its own lively soundtrack as it passed.

[SXSW is the largest event of its kind in the world, focusing the attention of the music industry on Austin for several days in March. In the face of a down economy, this year’s event was a rousing success. It featured 2,000 musical acts from over 50 countries and drew hundreds of industry reps. It was highlighted by unannounced performances by Metallica, Kanye West, Devo and others.]

Marching behind a banner that said, “Be an Instrument for Peace,” more than 200 singing, chanting and dancing marchers followed a second-line type brass band from the Texas State Capitol through the busy streets of downtown Austin — up Congress Ave. past the crowds queued up for a premiere at the Paramount Theater, then delighting the throngs along Sixth Street’s music row, and on to City Hall for a rally and concert.

Wavy Gravy, aka Hugh Romney, wore a tie-dyed peace symbol-adorned t-shirt with matching baggy pants, a sideways beanie, a red clown’s nose and a beaming smile.

Riding a yellow pedicab, he was the Grand Marshal. Gravy, of Hog Farm and Woodstock fame, was in town for SXSW, promoting a documentary about his looney life called “Saint Misbehavin’.”

Also in the parade was Jim Fouratt, New York-based activist and cultural critic who was a founder of the theatrical Sixties new left group, the Yippies.

The Million Musicians March was organized by Instruments for Peace and sponsors included MDS/Austin, Texans for Peace, CodePink Austin, Texas Labor Against the War, Iraq Veterans Against the War, and The Rag Blog.

One banner shouted “Rich Man’s War, Poor People’s Fight.” Demonstrators carried signs saying “Prosecute War Criminals” and “Truth is the First Casualty.”

According to writer and graphic designer Jim Retherford, the event, which is an Austin tradition, “may not have been as large as in some years past, but it had a wonderful energy. There were affinity groups of musicians throughout the parade and it was great to see the ethnic mix and the kids with parents and grandparents laughing and dancing together along the way.”

Jim Fouratt told The Rag Blog, “I was impressed that Austin Music Award winner Carolyn Wonderland was front and center. She warmed my heart. And I was proud to march beside Wavy Gravy. It will be artists and musicians who lead us out of the chaos.”

Wonderland, a consistent activist for peace and other issues, joined noted musicians like Guy Forsyth, Leeann Atherton and Shelley King, the first woman to be named official Texas State Musician, in the concert at City Hall.

“It was great to see all my grey-haired colleagues alongside multi-generational families, all decked out in the costumes of old Austin like it was before the high-tech incursion,” Jim Fouratt added.

The theme of this year’s Million Musician March was to oppose the continuing occupation of Iraq and it also saluted the alternative media and its role in getting out the word.

Musician Richard Bowden of Instruments for Peace, the moving force behind MMM, said, “Of all the events worldwide in remembrance of the sixth anniversary of the Iraq disaster, the Million Musicians March for Peace was the only one led by musicians.” He added, “I am so glad to be in Austin where we can do something like this.”

[Thorne Dreyer, a sixties activist and underground journalist, lives in Austin, Texas. He is a director of the New Journalism Project, a contributing editor to Next Left Notes and is co-editor of The Rag Blog.]

Carolyn Wonderland, double winner at the recent Austin Music Awards, plays for peace at Austin City Hall. Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

Shelley King, 2008’s Texas State Musician, on the stage at MMM.
Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

Austin’s Guy Forsyth is an instrument for peace. Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

Demonstrator tells it like it is. Photo by Mara Eurich / The Rag Blog.

Members of Austin Against War join the MMM. Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

Multi-generational protest of the continuing occupation of Iraq. Photo by Alan Pogue / The Rag Blog.

Dude’s another instrument for peace. Photo by Mara Eurich / The Rag Blog.

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Swingin’ on Sunday – the Branford Marsalis Quartet

Posted on March 23, 2009 by RagBlog

Eric Revis, Branford Marsalis, Justin Faulkner, l. to r., playing at
Jazz Alley, 20 March 2009. Photos by the author.

Branford Marsalis Quartet Plays Seattle
By Richard Jehn / The Rag Blog / March 22, 2009

Man, can these guys swing !!! The Branford Marsalis Quartet played a four-night gig in Seattle at Jazz Alley, and I was fortunate to hear about it early enough to get a seat for Friday night. First a small disclaimer – technically, it was not the Branford Marsalis Quartet, since drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts stayed at home taking a break. The great news, though, is that the quartet and their audience suffered not one whit for this personnel change. The sub-ing drummer was 18-year-old Justin Faulkner, a Philadelphia native who rendered a couple of awesome solos in the course of the evening.

The ‘regular’ musicians in this band are among the preeminent in their field. Eric Revis is a virtuoso with his bass, and his bald head glistened with the perspiration of his effort. Very fast, very precise, and an awe-inspiring soloist.

“Jack Baker,” from the album Braggtown

Pianist Joey Calderazzo had a hard time sitting still during his first solo effort. I feared he might become one with the audience on more than one occasion he was so engrossed in his dynamic artistry with the keyboard.

Joey Calderazzo.

But the quiet star was the Marsalis of the mix. I have seen three of this Family play in my travels. Wynton played Benaroya Hall in Seattle with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra several years ago and I had the pleasure of being there. It was pure luck that I saw Delfeayo’s quintet in 1996 at Snug Harbor on the east side of the French Quarter in New Orleans. And now I have the privilege to witness Branford weaving his musical story with Friends he has played with for 10 years (well, not Justin).

The reason I said all that about the various Marsalis Brothers is that it is virtually impossible to convey their ‘presence’ in words. It is as though I forgot how humble and sincere the Marsalis Family are. So unassuming … But in Branford’s case on Friday night, his music was brilliant. He alternated tenor and soprano sax all evening, displaying complete facility with each. Awesome musician, there is no more I can say.

If ever you hear that these guys are coming to your town, don’t even think about it – buy tickets !! You won’t regret a moment of the experience, ever …

For another review, see Hugo Kugiya’s Branford Marsalis’ quartet is at the forefront in Jazz Alley show in the Seattle Times.

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Resolving the Housing and Immigration Crises – Simultaneously

Posted on March 23, 2009 by RagBlog


Two Birds – One Stone
By Sid Eschenbach / The Rag Blog / March 22, 2009

Arguably the two biggest, most urgent and most complicated problems facing the Obama administration are those related to the general meltdown of the financial structure, and those presented by finding a long term solution to the problem posed by illegal immigration and its relationship to the rebuilding or the destruction of the American middle class. While seemingly unrelated, they both have a very simple, effective, and long term solution: immediately open a citizenship window not only to all those now in the U.S. illegally, but to anyone else on the planet who would purchase a home or other real estate in the normal market (not in a repo auction), including a cash down payment of at least 25% of the value of the property and suitable guarantees for payment of the balance.

If it wasn’t clear before, it is now clearer than ever; the financial problems facing the nation and the world have their roots in the collapse of the U.S. real estate market following the widespread misuse (not to say abuse) of the normal real estate credit markets. That being the case, until a genuine market floor is built under the real estate valuations that are at the bottom of the financial pile, there are no fiscally tenable solutions to the related, highly leveraged and extremely dangerous problems at the top of the pile. If a “bottom of the pile” fix could be pulled off, the health of the balance sheets of the major banks of the world and the threat posed to them by continued mortgage defaults would evaporate as quickly as they appeared.

The Migration Policy Institute estimates that there are an average of 1.8 million people who migrate to the U.S. every year, 500,000 of whom are illegal. Does anyone doubt that if the United States opened a temporary immigration window during which time any person who purchased a home in the U.S. would be granted citizenship, there would not be more than 10,000,000 applicants from all countries of the world in short order? Contrast those numbers against what is estimated to be roughly 2,000,000 surplus housing units at the end of 2008, and add to that the total number of subprime loans outstanding that are in trouble, another 2,000,000, and it’s easy to see that both the housing overhang AND the threatened outstanding sub-prime mortgage markets could be easily, quickly and privately redressed.

The strange thing is that this solution has been before us all along, because as difficult as the situation in the United States may be, it is still far and away the preferred migrant destination. As to the ethics of turning “Give me your tired, your poor,” into “Give me your ambitious, your investors,” many nations around the world put a price upon citizenship, with a variety of rules allowing immigrants to pay, invest or guarantee spending in the country in exchange for being given the right to live, work and live there lives there.

Just as the British used subsidized voyages like the famous “Ten Pound Passage” to New Zealand in the mid 20th century to solve their own particular settlement problems, citizenship in the United States could be sold to any and all who were able to purchase a home or other property. What better way to demonstrate your desire to become part of a country and a culture than to purchase the right through investment, helping yourself while you help your new home country?

Obviously, regarding the “how,” the rules would need to be clear and the politics surrounding the issue would dominate any discussion: are all houses included, or only particular economic sectors; all regions, or only the hardest hit; is there a minimum investment required, or is any property fair game; would those who have lived and worked in the U.S. illegally be at the head, the middle, or the end of the line; should there be quotas by country, or should they be selected by size of potential investment; would there be a minimum time to any resale?

Regarding the “who,” there would have to be special security vetting, including normal visa background checks, heightened security reviews, verification of sales, review of the origin of the funds, etc., but neither the administrative nor the political challenges are too difficult to overcome, and it’s certainly nothing that couldn’t be set up quickly and effectively by any number of federal or private agencies.

Most important, using this immigration “trick” to reestablish a balance in supply and demand would also provide the necessary breathing space needed for the creation of new, permanent regulatory measures so clearly lacking in both areas, regulations that would insure that the U.S. doesn’t face these very serious structural problems again.

In sum, there are no reasons — legal, ethical, structural, administrative, or political — why this could not be done and done quickly. And I believe that the implementation of this program, starting with it’s mere mention, would stabilize the housing markets and give real hope for the first time in nearly a year, from Wall Street to Main Street, that “normal” life is once again with our grasp. It would also give real hope to millions of “Americans” who currently live in the shadows, allowing them to take a proper and dignified place in the North American sun.

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The World After AIG : Obama and the Economy

Posted on March 22, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Gorilla. Still in room. Graphic from Wunder Blog.

It is not unreasonable to expect that the AIG Bonuses scandal will win some converts for the Republicans’ take-no-action philosophy. Democrats need to wake up and start reminding the public who created this crisis in the first place.

By Sherman DeBrosse / The Rag Blog / March 22, 2009

The furor over AIG’s $165 million in bonuses has killed off any possibility that a new TARP would pass. The elimination of the “Shovel Option,” just pushing money into banks, reduces the ranges of choices available to the administration in dealing with the banking crisis.

It probably removes the possibility that the Democrats could be persuaded to vote to pass a new TARP for the Obama administration. Now there are revelations that someone in the Treasury Department, with the help of Senator Chris Dodd changed legislation affecting bonuses so that these could be issued. The Democrats have again shot themselves in the foot, lending ammunition to the GOP claim that the Democrats are the defenders of Wall Street. All this makes it impossible for the Democrats to sponsor or back another TARP. It would be political suicide.

As Secretary Geithner’s options are narrowed, it is even more important that we progressives not join those demanding that he show his cards while navigating this banking crisis. We know he was dealt a bad hand and must give him room to maneuver.

It is important that progressive journalists and politicians begin explaining how narrow options really are for President Barack Obama, Timothy Geithner and the administration. For example, all the foolish talk about overload and focusing only on the economy overlooks the fact that many non-economic matters have a great bearing on generating recovery. The same natural and political obstacles most likely will prevent us from using this recession/depression from reconstructing the productive elements of our economy so we can better compete in the future. While we dither, the Chinese are preparing to move quickly into higher end types of productivity, challenging even more American jobs when this crisis finally ends.

The political and natural obstacles will naturally increase, so we need to start developing more realistic projections of what reasonable people can expect in four years.

Wall Street Fears

The AIG Bonuses Scandal should have dissipated some of the fears on Wall Street.

There has been a lot of irrational fear, fanned by Republican politicians and conservative pundits, that the “nationalization” of the banking system was imminent. In fact, the Obama administration has gone to great lengths to avoid this. Now, with the public being almost totally adverse to more taxpayer bailouts of the banks, this fear should subside.

There was one legitimate fear that now can dissipate. Large banks that compete with those likely to have had massive federal help had legitimate worries about effectively competing with those in the federal ER.

The Geithner Plan and Obama Administration Strategies

Presently, Timothy Geithner is trying to negotiate federal-private partnerships to take the bad assets off bank books. The idea is to get private investors to buy those securities in return for the federal government guaranteeing them against excessive losses. The main participants will be hedge funds, which have substantial experience assigning value to assets and marketing. If there are profits, the taxpayers will participate in them. The Obama Administration must be vague about its bank rescue plans so as not to risk giving away too much information as it negotiates.

The Treasury is also subjecting the big banks to a stress test. The results will reveal the weaknesses of those institutions. After the federal-private partnership has done what it could, the choice seems to be to move bad assets to an aggregator bank, structured as the Reconstruction Finance Corporation or the Resolution Trust Corporation.

The “bad bank” could scoop up all the doubtful assets and hold them on a consignment basis. That takes them off the books of the Big 8 and gets around the problem of giving them a value. Given a little time, many of them could appreciate some in value. It most likely will turn out that some of that paper will cancel itself out because those banks do a lot of dealing with one another.

For dealing with bad assets, we have the 1930s examples of the Reconstruction Finance Corporation — actually created under Hoover and used by Roosevelt — and the more recent example of the Resolution Trust Corporation, which performed so well in marketing assets of doubtful value after the S and L crisis. If some of the banking corporations need restructuring, the FDIC has proven that it has the expertise to make this go smoothly. In the process, it should divide some of them.

Some argue that the huge banks will need cash after disgorging most of their bad assets. If any cash comes, it will have to be FED funds in return for preferred stock. Given the ability of the GOP to block action in the Senate and the unpopularity of cash bailouts for banks, the amount of FED assistance should be limited.

FED funding is a tool that might be better used down the road if another stimulus does not pass or fails. Fed money could then be gotten to local banks through an enlarged Small Business Administration and the credit-providing institutions that grew out of New Deal initiatives. Under some scenarios, GOP-induced gridlock — so long as it is indirect, could well do real damage to the Democrats. In that case, only FED initiatives could be used to reduce promote recovery.

A certain amount of vagueness is necessary in dealing with the banking crisis, and we progressives should not join the chorus of those demanding exact details. We note in the cases of Bank of America and Citi that an important element of the plan is to buy enough time so institutions can slowly write off some bad assets, while perhaps some questionable ones appreciate. Both were restored to enough health that they can clear the books at a rate of about 2% per year. It seems likely that banks tied to the big eight bank holding corporations might not be able to do a great deal of lending if they are as weak as Bank of America and Citi. They account for 64% of all deposits, so we need to find a way of pumping out credit through their member banks, while assuring that those funds do not move upward to cover for bad assets.

This would be a good time to resurrect a Republican suggestion and require that all banks and financial institutions purchase federal insurance on their assets. The near-impossibility of another TARP makes the creation of this safety net necessary. The administration should also see that the FDIC resume collecting fees from member banks — a practice that was neglected in recent years.

Given that possibility, the administration acted wisely to provide more cash to the Small Business Administration to get out money for loans. SBA has been scaled back in recent years, so it will need to ramp up quickly.

President Obama announced that the House Financial Services Committee is preparing legislation so that some sort of resolution corporation can deal with firms not now covered by banking legislation. He said it could deal with future efforts to pay out outrageous bonuses, but the legislation will clearly make contingency plans for restructuring AIG and other non-banking entities should they face failures that could disrupt the economy.

We can expect two new steps to quiet the financial waters. There soon will be restrictions on short selling in the form of the restoration of the up-tick rule. That means speculators will be less successful in driving down bank stocks. The SEC might also change an evaluation rule — the market to market rule — that forces banks to immediately accept the lowest valuation of some assets and then to sell off good assets at low prices to meet capitalization requirements. For that reason, we need to experiment with higher debt to capital ratios in hard times. To we ordinary folks, alterations like these seem counter-intuitive, but there are sound economic models that suggest we give these changes a try.

Political Considerations

The AIG Bonuses scandal could also make it tougher for the Republicans to play the economic populist card, posing as the enemy of the banks and Wall Street, their historic constituents. On the other hand, there is a danger that opposition to bank bailouts will extend to future stimulus packages, a development that would pay massive dividends to the practitioners of obstruction and demonization. Only four and five months ago, Republican leaders and pundits were insisting that government not interfere with the compensation of bankers; today the ever-tanned John Boehner was demanding to know what Democrats knew about the AIG bonuses and when they knew it.

Days ago, on March 6, minority leader Boehner led 156 House Republicans in voting for a spending freeze during this recession/depression. It was barely reported in the MSM, which reminds us of a potent weapon ever at the disposal of the folks who brought us into this valley of economic despair.

Thomas Friedman is suggesting that President Obama spend political capital to persuade the nation that another taxpayer bailout for the banks is necessary. That would almost certainly spell political suicide for the Democrats. They — unlike the Republicans, who almost always place themselves first — have consistently been the party of government, willing to vote for unpopular measures that seem necessary. Another TARP would so weaken the president — now down to 59% policy approval according to Pew — that he would be unable to fulfill his promise of health care reform. It is vital for recovery, for the well-being of our citizenry, and for the continued popularity and support of that good and well-intentioned man in the White House.

It remains to be seen if public opposition to more bank bailout legislation will have a spill-over effect, creating insurmountable opposition to future stimulus legislation. If so, this sorry episode will have produced a political bonanza for the GOP. If not, the Democrats should limit the next package to extending unemployment, efforts to get even more credit to small business, and popular shovel-ready projects. Repugnant as it is to me, I would include a provision making it possible to repatriate foreign corporate earnings at an advantageous tax rate. In return, Democrats could demand some provisions to alleviate human suffering. Failing another stimulus package, Democrats could borrow a page from some Republicans and suggest a fourth month payroll tax holiday.

It is not unreasonable to expect that the AIG Bonuses scandal will win some converts for the Republicans’ take-no-action philosophy. Democrats need to wake up and start reminding the public who created this crisis in the first place. Last Sunday, Dick Cheney told a CNN interviewer that the Bush administration had nothing to do with it, and there was no uproar over his clueless remark.

Democrats also need to realize that their success in 2010 and 2012 will depend upon whether then can come together among themselves and pass a straightforward health care program. If the AIG Bonuses Scandal has strengthened the GOP hand even a little, the Democrats should see the necessity of passing health care as part of the budget reconciliation process, where filibusters are supposed to be ruled out. The GOP says that would poison the well. However they have not been cooperative thus far, have denied Obama a honeymoon, and are threatening many filibusters on judicial matters. It should also be remembered that the tax cuts for the rich were passed in 2001 as part of the budget process.

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Horns of a Dilemma : The Buck Stops Here

Posted on March 22, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Political cartoon by Ralph Solonitz / The Rag Blog. [Ralph Solonitz’ cartoons also appear at MadasHellClub.net.]

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Larry Ray : Congressional Kabuki and the Constitution

Posted on March 22, 2009 by Thorne Dreyer

Graphic by Larry Ray / The Rag Blog.

Though none of our elected officials actually got made up in classical white face, their outraged and out sized exaggerations, both facial and verbal would have qualified them for a Kabuki casting call in Tokyo.

By Larry Ray / The Rag Blog / March 22, 2009

Iowa Republican Senator Charles Grassley’s call for AIG bonus recipients to, ” . . .follow the Japanese example and come before the American people and take that deep bow and say I’m sorry, and then either do one of two things — resign, or go commit suicide” was so over the top and insane that it reminded me of a Japanese Kabuki Theater plot.

Kabuki is classical ancient Japanese folk theater performed broadly and loudly for the general public. I became familiar with it when I lived in Tokyo years ago. Kabuki on the Potomac this week fit Kabuki’s theatrical definition with lawmakers wailing loudly, uttering angry threats, and rhythmically pounding podiums in a performance of mangled metaphors and fantasy.

Though none of our elected officials actually got made up in classical white face, their outraged and out sized exaggerations, both facial and verbal would have qualified them for a Kabuki casting call in Tokyo. But they were playing to Americans . . . American voters. Let’s review this week’s performances.

A Treasury Department decision to not risk lawsuits and to allow payment of last year’s Bush-approved retention contract bonuses by failing insurance giant AIG, set off a firestorm of anger and self-righteous rhetoric. The specter of AIG employees receiving bonuses while AIG is propped up by billions in taxpayer money opened the floodgates of rhetorical rage.

It also inadvertently created a bizarre moment of bipartisan participation on both sides of the aisle as the House reacted to steamed emails from their districts. It was time to affix blame. Names and faces were needed as a focus for threats and epithets

The populist Kabuki’s first act centered upon Edward Liddy, who has been untangling AIG’s myriad problems as a government appointed CEO of AIG. Liddy, former CEO of Allstate Insurance, who is working for a dollar a year, became a carnival punching bag as he testified before the House Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises subcommittee last Wednesday.

Liddy quickly defused rumors and misinformation about the “bonuses” making it clear that after earlier executive housecleaning of AIG’s top management, no performance bonuses were being paid at all to anyone. But, clearly going over the heads of many sub-intelligent members of the subcommittee, was his explanation of “retention bonuses” and how they worked.

The retention bonuses were contractual arrangements made with market specialists to defuse toxic financial bombs in AIG’s failed ‘Financial Products’ division. “Wind down,” it the term used. But while being neutralized to get them off AIG books, the potentially explosive complex credit default swap securities were still being actively traded. De-fusing the complicated potential bombs requires experts intimately familiar with how they worked. Mishandled or ignored, the securities could blow up and cause further potentially ruinous damage to AIG if not carefully and slowly sold off and neutralized. Picture McGuyver locating the red wire on the bomb’s timer.

Firing the AIG FP division specialists and not paying them for the work they were legally contracted to do could invite disaster for AIG. Folks seemed to think managers were being paid huge bonuses to keep them as employees. In fact, it seems the promise of a bonus after they completed specific difficult contracted tasks was what “retained” them to complete the complex and difficult work . . . then they were free to go.

Highway contractors routinely contract to get a new bridge built as quickly as possible, and they accept promises of so many millions as a bonus if it is finished on time and even more if it is finished ahead of time. After the evil lords of AIG’s Financial Products Division were fired and sent packing with no bonuses, AIG’s remaining Financial Products specialists stayed on, working long hours to get the toxic trades off the books, and had money coming when they got the bad stuff off the books for good. That was the deal. This is essential for AIG to quickly return profitability and pay back the federal money propping it up. But no one wanted to hear all this. Folks back home wanted a pound of flesh, not clear reason. It was time to be mad and indignant!

The red faced representatives heard only the word BONUS in Liddy’s explanation. And each used up his or her five minutes for the folks back home who were watching on TV to let the rude, accusing rhetoric fly at Mr. Liddy.

Subcommittee member, Judy Biggert, R-IL, was typical of the befuddled, yet angry, representatives to have a go at Mr. Liddy. Biggert, represents Illinois 13th district, and since her election in 1999, she has sponsored 92 bills of which 81 haven’t made it out of committee and two were successfully enacted. She looked disheveled and confused, and after Mr. Liddy’s complete explanation of the bonus situation he inherited, she, nonetheless, read from her rambling prepared remarks anyway. The general, simplistic image of bonuses and rich executives slurping umbrella drinks on their private jets was just too big a target.

“Give me three good reasons why the taxpayers should be paying, umm, . . . all those bonuses, with, you know, that taxpayer money . . . .?” Had she been listening, and not simply waiting to grandstand with her pre-prepared anger, she could have answered all three of her own questions from Mr. Liddy’s explanation. Biggert’s own net worth in 2007 was estimated at just under $7 million from her financial disclosure statements, so she should be able to explain what rich folks do to her unemployed constituents back home.

Democratic Congressman, Barney Frank, came on stage as an early plot changer, and in sputtering rage demanded the names of all those getting bonuses. A Kabuki Western where the sheriff sends out a posse for a possible mass trial of those pre-judged as guilty. And if Black Hat Liddy didn’t cough them up, Frantic Frank would issue subpoenas! Never mind New York Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo had already made such a request.

Mr. Liddy exhibited impressive control and just let the madness about him rage while responding quickly and politely in the face of rude and shameless behaviour by his inquisitors. When Barney ended his threats and demand for names and addresses, Liddy read him a typical email from those being whipped up by misinformation and fear over the failing economy. The threatening email called for AIG employees to be garroted by piano wire. Liddy suggested that Mr. Frank might want to reconsider his demand simply based upon personal security reasons for his fellow Americans.

Just like in Kabuki theatre, those in the audience came and went. There was an intermission, during which MSNBC afternoon news reader, Nora O’Donnell, perhaps better known for co-hosting the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade than her on air news work, warmed up. “Liddy is really getting bombarded,” she snarled, and then shoving aside any journalistic credentials she may possess, she joined in the outrage demanding, “Why?” “When?” “Who?” instead of applying the journalistic challenge of finding answers to those basic questions herself as the reporter she is supposed to be.

As the weekend approaches, all this theater and angst has but one central schwerpunkt. The House frantically cobbled together a bill to “get back our taxpayer money.” They voted 328-93 to impose a 90% tax on any bonuses paid by AIG. This populist mob, responding to impulse and mass hysteria, mostly caused within their own ranks, are supposed to be lawmakers. Legislators.

Over the weekend, hopefully both our esteemed Congressmen and Senators will drop by for a thoughtful look over the Constitution of the United States of America. Wiser heads, going back to the days of English King, James II, have stepped in to restore law and prevent mob rule such as has been proposed in this week’s Kabuki theater at the Nation’s Capitol.

They can even simply drop by WikipediA and type in “Bill of attainder.” Their bill instituting a 90% tax on AIG bonuses should never even be considered in the Senate. You can’t pass a law like they have just passed in the House. And you cannot ratify it in the Senate. The proposed law is against the law. Ex post facto.

Here it is plain and simple:

“A bill of attainder (also known as an act or writ of attainder) is an act of legislature declaring a person or group of persons guilty of some crime and punishing them without benefit of a trial.

Bills of attainder are forbidden by Article I, section 9, clause 3 of the United States Constitution.”

Period. Curtain closed.

Next act: Less hysterical and more responsible legislators go the the real root of the problem and reinstate governmental financial regulatory oversight removed by Regan, which has allowed AIG, and dozens of other big players to run rampant during the recent Bush administration. Madly chasing horses already out of the barn will do nothing at all to fix the terribly broken world of high finance and banking.

[Retired journalist Larry Ray is a Texas native and former Austin television news anchor. He also posts at The iHandbill.]

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