kpete
kpete's JournalAnd credit for the nuclear option goes to...............Dirty Bloggers
Dirty Bloggers
by BooMan
Sat Nov 23rd, 2013 at 09:18:19 AM EST
Waldman and his co-conspirators formed a strategy referred to as an inside-outside coalition. The outside consisted of the grassroots, charged with motivating progressives to sign petitions and call their senators.
The inside, Waldman said, needed to sway senators. It would need to consist of people senators knew and trusted.
He had to convince a diverse group of advocates that climate change, immigration, the judiciary, and the economy all had one thing in common: The filibuster blocked their legislative goals. "Getting them to recognize outside their issue silo there's this one issue frustrating all of you" was key to success, Waldman said. That's when Fix the Senate Coalition formed. The Sierra Club joined on. So did the NAACP and the Communications Workers of America, just to name a few.
CWA President Larry Cohen said it was clear something needed to be done.
caveat: There is no proof that, in accomplishing this, Waldman ever removed his pajamas or left his parents' basement.
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/11/23/91819/834
Pretty significant NYTimes piece on NSA written by James Risen
N.S.A. Report Outlined Goals for More Power
By JAMES RISEN (who faces jail for refusing to disclose a source's identity) and Laura Poitras, the documentary filmmaker who has worked with GG.
Published: November 22, 201
Written as an agency mission statement with broad goals, the five-page document said that existing American laws were not adequate to meet the needs of the N.S.A. to conduct broad surveillance in what it cited as “the golden age of Sigint,” or signals intelligence. “The interpretation and guidelines for applying our authorities, and in some cases the authorities themselves, have not kept pace with the complexity of the technology and target environments, or the operational expectations levied on N.S.A.’s mission,” the document concluded.
Using sweeping language, the paper also outlined some of the agency’s other ambitions. They included defeating the cybersecurity practices of adversaries in order to acquire the data the agency needs from “anyone, anytime, anywhere.” The agency also said it would try to decrypt or bypass codes that keep communications secret by influencing “the global commercial encryption market through commercial relationships,” human spies and intelligence partners in other countries. It also talked of the need to “revolutionize” analysis of its vast collections of data to “radically increase operational impact.”
Above all, the strategy paper suggests the N.S.A.’s vast view of its mission: nothing less than to “dramatically increase mastery of the global network.”
Other N.S.A. documents offer hints of how the agency is trying to do just that. One program, code-named Treasure Map, provides what a secret N.S.A. PowerPoint presentation describes as “a near real-time, interactive map of the global Internet.” According to the undated PowerPoint presentation, disclosed by Mr. Snowden, Treasure Map gives the N.S.A. “a 300,000 foot view of the Internet.”
Relying on Internet routing data, commercial and Sigint information, Treasure Map is a sophisticated tool, one that the PowerPoint presentation describes as a “massive Internet mapping, analysis and exploration engine.” It collects Wi-Fi network and geolocation data, and between 30 million and 50 million unique Internet provider addresses — code that can reveal the location and owner of a computer, mobile device or router — are represented each day on Treasure Map, according to the document. It boasts that the program can map “any device, anywhere, all the time.”
way more:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/us/politics/nsa-report-outlined-goals-for-more-power.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
LA Times: The "Elizabeth Warren Wing" of The Democratic Party On The Ascendancy
When was the last time you heard about any Democratic Senator or Representative other than Harry Reid making the national news? While Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and the entire Tea Party caucus in the House have all transformed themselves into political Kardashians, constantly mugging for the cameras with their latest outrage du jour-- the Democrats--particularly those in the Senate who wield actual majority power--have for the most part sat quietly by for the last five years and endured this nonsense. Many of them, Jeff Merkley, Sherrod Brown, Tom Udall, were elected in 2006 and 2008; Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy, in 2012. By 2015 half of the Democratic caucus will have been in place since 2008. They represent a generational shift in the Senate that has known nothing but Tea Party intransigence--and ignorance--from the other side.They're fed up and they're taking over the Party:
Next on their agenda is extending the filibuster rule change from presidential appointments to legislation, which would enable the Senate to move on issues including gun control and climate change.
The changing Democratic tactics may reflect a generational shift occurring in the Senate. It's almost certain that by the start of the next Congress in 2015, more than half of the Democratic caucus will have been elected since 2008, when gridlock reached new heights. But nine of the new Senate Democrats are former Congress members, all of whom served at least part of their time under Republican majorities. Three were governors who served with Republican legislatures.
..................
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-senate-newdems-20131123,0,385097.story#ixzz2lTxJLuCu
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/23/1257832/-LA-Times-The-Elizabeth-Warren-Wing-of-The-Democratic-Party-On-The-Ascendancy
Senate Nuke-ening
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2013/11/21/open-thread-todays-senate-nuke-ening/
Yecch... the smell of burning fat saturated with Oxy and cheap cologne.
Limbaugh Has A Meltdown Over The "Nuclear Option"On his November 21 show, Limbaugh inaccurately stated that President Obama could now increase the number of seats on the D.C. Circuit, and accused Democrats of seeking "total statist authoritarianism":
..........
Democrats abruptly changed the Senate's balance of power by reducing from 60 to 51 the number of votes needed to end procedural roadblocks known as filibusters against all presidential nominees. Folks, this is part and parcel of why the Democrats are so hell-bent on winning the House in 2014. This -- winning the House would give them total authoritarian non-challengeable control over the US government. Quite literally there would be no way to stop them. None whatsoever.
...............
When the minority is Republicans, they don't even exist. And they're not due any respect, constitutional or otherwise. Constitutional or human. And so basically what this means, with a president like Obama, is there's no stopping -- he can nominate anybody for anything in the judiciary ... cabinet, whatever. There's no way he can be stopped.
..............
Democrats have made it plain they're not interested in democracy. And that really is what this means. Not interested in democracy at all. Total statist authoritarianism. And frankly, I'm being kind with that terminology.
THE REST:
http://mediamatters.org/blog/2013/11/21/limbaugh-has-a-meltdown-over-the-nuclear-option/197012
Boehner Successfully Enrolls In Obamacare Only 45 Minutes After He Blogs About Frustrating Exchange
Speaker Boehner's office confirms he has successfully enrolled in Obamacare, 45 mins. after critical blog post - @jparkABC
FAVORITES Loves2Read alazar slytherinSteve KarolELAMARBarbara INerdy WonkaMary
2:55 PM - 21 Nov 13 · Details
https://twitter.com/ABCPolitics
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker John Boehner says he is signed up for "Obamacare," but only after receiving the same error message experienced by other Americans. The Ohio Republican says the process worked after he tweeted his frustration with the delay.
Boehner said Thursday he re-started the process several times, tweeted about it, and about 45 minutes later, received an email from DC Health Link confirming he was signed up.
Boehner's experience came about nine days before a deadline by which the Obama administration says the web site will improve. President Barack Obama has apologized to the nation for the problems implementing his signature law. Many Democrats are squirming over the difficulties on the eve of a midterm election year. Republicans, led by Boehner, already are aggressively campaigning against the law's congressional supporters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/john-boehner-enroll-obamacare_n_4319933.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
"Charlie Brown just said 'fuck it' and kicked Lucy."
http://inagist.com/all/403619191212617728/http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/harry-reid-nuclear-option-senate
RUSH GETS PUNKED!!!
Rush gets punked
Nov 20th, 2013 at 2:47 pm by susie
You’ll really enjoy this. Activist Mark Stark http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/20/1257103/-I-m-a-bully
gets through to Rush Limbaugh:
via:
http://susiemadrak.com/2013/11/20/rush-gets-punked/
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/12536446/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/limbaugh-reaches-settlement-drugs-case/#.Uo1JQdLBPHQ
Rush: That's a bust of me in the Hall of Famous Missourians at the State House in Jefferson City, Missouri. Which, by the way, the left is still trying to get removed.
Caller: Well, what I'm thinking is, that, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, came after you exchanged shoe boxes of cash for narcotics in Florida--something that most people go to jail for decades for mandatory minimums. They gave you a statue. I mean, you imported drugs into America with the Viagra deal down in Florida. And they still gave you a statue.
Rush: No sir, you are a victim of once again totally distorted media reporting. The first half of your call is exactly right. But the last half of your call is just filled with the usual leftist bigotry, hatred, and gibberish, and you haven't the slightest idea what you are talking about.
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/20/1257107/-Limbaugh-Caller-Brings-up-Rush-Exchanging-Shoe-Boxes-of-Cash-for-Narcotics
Cry Me A River!!!: Bob Woodward: Edward Snowden Should Have Come To Me Instead
Bob Woodward: Edward Snowden Should Have Come To Me Instead
Edward Snowden may have helped blow the lid on the NSA's secret surveillance programs, but Bob Woodward has one complaint: that Snowden should have come to him with the leaks.
"I wish [Snowden] had come to me instead of others, particularly The Guardian,” Woodward told King in an interview that airs Thursday on Hulu. "I would have said to him ‘let’s not reveal who you are. Let’s make you a protected source and give me time with this data and let’s sort it out and present it in a coherent way.'"
Woodward didn't say why he felt so "particular" about the Guardian's having obtained the Snowden documents, or how he would but he might have had a hard time convincing the whistleblower to be his new Deep Throat. Snowden has said in the past that he always intended to reveal himself as the source of the leaks.
Ironically, Woodward's newspaper, the Washington Post, has been a chief recipient of Snowden's leaks — but his colleague Barton Gellman has led the paper's coverage, leaving Woodward completely on the sidelines.
MORE:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/20/bob-woodward-edward-snowden-guardian_n_4311354.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003
by digby
He does have a reputation for protecting his sources --- but then his sources are all very high level government officials who are leaking to him to advance an agenda. It's unsurprising that someone in Snowden's position might not think Bob Woodward (or one of the dozens of other journalists who specialize in publishing "authorized leaks"would be the best person to approach.
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/qotd-bob-woodward.html
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