Month: February 2011

Tom Garrett worries about the consequences of the Obama decision not to defend Section 3 of DOMA in the courts. Ilya Somin believes the president's "duty to uphold the Constitution supersedes his obligation to enforce federal statutes when the two come into conflict":

The fact that the administration chooses not to defend a federal law doesn’t mean that it won’t have other able defenders. In practice, virtually any significant federal law is likely to be supported by states and/or private parties who have standing to intervene. For example, any of the 45 states that today forbid gay marriage would probably have standing to defend its constitutionality on the grounds that otherwise they might have to extend tax credits and other government benefits to resident couples who have entered into same-sex marriages in other states. If a future Republican administration chooses not to defend the constitutionality of the individual mandate, both state governments who support it and various private parties who benefit from it materially would have standing to intervene. For example, insurance companies support the mandate because it requires people to buy their products and that financial stake in the law is surely sufficient to give them standing.

Yglesias adds a few wrinkles:

Of course ups and downs in the volume of strikes can mean more than one thing. The strike spike in the 70s seems to me to have been driven primarily by real negative shocks to the economy that forced capital and labor to re-divide the surplus. Either way, the point is that significant labor action hasn’t been an important part of the experience of most people my age.

Which suggests to me that Matt may be vulnerable to misreading those generations like mine who remember all too well the power of the unions in the past. That doesn't mean some corrective may not be needed – as the relative balance of various social forces along with gobalization have made labor much more vulnerable than in the past. But the case for protecting the power of public sector unions must be made, not assumed.

Room For Debate considers it. Lisa Goldman is the most optimistic:

[T]he people of eastern Libya, largely liberated from Qaddafi’s forces, have already formed a provisionary government led by tribal leaders, who willingly share power with the youth who led the revolution. They have also established a radio station, Voice of Free Libya.

For the 42 years he ruled Libya, Qaddafi ruthlessly suppressed political opposition and reduced the vast majority of people to an existence that was spiritually and materially impoverished. Certainly, there was no education in democratic principles. And yet, their first action, post-Qaddafi, has been to establish democratic institutions and express loyalty for a united Libya, rather than to their tribes.

Juan Cole:

Most of the country stretching from the outskirts of Tripoli east toward Egypt is now in the hands of popular committees allied with local security forces that have defected from the dictator. Even to Tripoli’s west, the rebellion had spread to some small towns. Qaddafi is increasingly left only with a sullen and sanguinary Tripoli, about 1 million people, where the streets are ghostly and marauding security forces hotrod it through the streets, sometimes firing indiscriminately.

Ali Elhushi Younis Eljahmi, a Libyan Engineer who lives in Libya:

Gadaffi has fought like a cornered animal, but his end is close. We have struggled knowing that if he defeated our revolution, then the vengeance he would extract would be many times worse than his four-decade long tyranny. Despite our isolation we know that we have better options.

Marget Talbot dusts off an old Qadaffi interview:

What seems most relevant for understanding Qaddafi’s reaction to the protests today … is the concept of “Jamahiriya,” which he invokes, with a vague, insistent mysticism, to say that representative government does not exist in Libya—indeed, government does not exist—because the people’s will is one and the same with his: “The authority of the people is achieved, the dream is realized. The struggle is over.”

Yglesias:

My intuition is that once things take such a violent turn, the odds for even a successful revolution turning out well start to get much worse.

(Photo: Graffiti mocking leader Moammar Khaddafi is seen with the Arabic writing 'leave' in the eastern dissident-held city of Tobruk on February 24, 2011. By Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)

Is it a Dalek or a deputy attorney-general's tweet? Here's the full chilling story of a Coulter-esque Republican fanatic, now ex-deputy attorney-general of Indiana. He was fired for his leaked tweet "Use Live Ammuninition" with respect to pro-union demonstrators. But there's so much more in his Twitter stream. As Radley Balko drily notes,  "For the last 10 years, this guy has had the power to put people in prison."

It's only when you see how Limbaugh-style conservatism can truly corrupt the minds of Republican public officials that you begin to see how dangerous it is for one party to be captured by the rhetoric of total war.

Walter Dellinger rejects Kerr's analysis:

Orin Kerr's post on Volokh Conspiracy comparing what the Justice Department has announced it will do in DOMA cases to some of John Yoo's theories of presidential power doesn't give proper weight to the enormous difference between refusing to obey a law (which the Bush administration did — and secretly!) and obeying the law which the Obama administration will continue to do with DOMA. Informing the courts of the administration's view that a law is unconstitutional, while facilitating the participation of amicus who will argue in defense of the law, is respectful of the role of the other branches, both Congress and the judiciary. 

In response, Kerr narrows his point. But this rather judicious use of executive power – in stark contrast with the last president's astonishing claims about his limitless and lawless powers in the war on terror – will still be described by the hard right as "dictatorship." When you watch this clip from Fox, you see pure untruth from the get-go.

Megyn Kelly reports that the Obama administration will no longer enforce DOMA – which is untrue – and that this means that states will now be immediately forced to recognize civil marriages from other states – which is also untrue. This is not some opinion; it is a news story read by an alleged news anchor. It's untrue.

And the only opinion in this segment comes from Maggie Gallagher. Gallagher even says that this has never happened in history before, even as the DOJ's letter cites obvious precedents, and specifically invites the House to defend the law in the courts. Kelly asks her if this means that one state's marriages will have to be recognized by others – and Gallagher doesn't say what she must know to be true – that this move does no such thing.

Fair and balanced? Just lies and propaganda.

The NYT reports:

Libya produces less than 2 percent of the world’s oil, and exports little to the United States. But the high quality of its reserves magnifies its importance in world markets.

James Hamilton looks at the economic consequences:

My bottom line is that events as they have unfolded so far are not in the same ballpark as the major historical oil supply disruptions, and are unlikely to produce big enough economic multipliers that they could precipitate a new economic downturn. They might shave a half percent off annual GDP growth, but I don't anticipate a whole lot worse than that.

Ryan Avent agrees. Tom Whipple differs:

The conditions that created the current upheavals can only worsen. Rising oil prices are bound to stifle tourism and foreign investment in the Middle East and a looming global food shortage seems likely to make life even tougher for the growing ranks of un- or underemployed poor. Governments that have massive oil revenues can afford to buy, or try to buy, the acquiescence of their peoples, but adequate food supplies could turn out to be a different matter. As we saw with Russia last summer, massive crop failures can easily shut down food exports as governments become more concerned about domestic food riots than the wellbeing of other countries. The bottom line is that it seems likely we shall be seeing disruptions, perhaps serious ones, in other oil producing states in the not too distant future.

Robert Baer provides more reasons to be worried: 

There's been virtually no reliable information coming out of Tripoli, but a source close to the Gaddafi regime I did manage to get hold of told me the already terrible situation in Libya will get much worse. Among other things, Gaddafi has ordered security services to start sabotaging oil facilities. They will start by blowing up several oil pipelines, cutting off flow to Mediterranean ports. The sabotage, according to the insider, is meant to serve as a message to Libya's rebellious tribes: It's either me or chaos.

(Photo: A Libyan policeman who defected mans a checkpoint in the eastern dissident-held Libyan city of Tobruk on February 24, 2011 amid political turmoil and an insurrection against Moamer Kadhafi's regime. By Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images)

You know you want it. Some juicy detail from the Bailey book here; strange refusal of the Anchorage Police Department to investigate the National Enquirer's claims:

Officer Parker said that there is currently no plan of the Police Department to issue a “retraction” of the previous press release to clarify the “MINOR”  issues that were misstated in the previous press release.  There is currently also no plan to review the cell phones or computer in their possession to determine the names or identity of the phone numbers on the evidence in their possession.  Thus if there is evidence on the cell phone or computer in the possession of the police, of a connection between Todd Palin and Shailey Tripp, the Anchorage Police Department has no current plan to investigate  that connection.

Taegan Goddard catches a classic precedent for Wisconsin's Dems:

On December 5, 1840, Democrats "proposed an early adjournment, knowing this would bring a speedy end to the State Bank. The Whigs tried to counter by leaving the capitol building before the vote, but the doors were locked. That's when Lincoln made his move. He headed for the second story, opened a window and jumped to the ground!"