Will the DOJ's manslaughter charges for the five Blackwater guards accused of killing Iraqi civilians in the 2007 Nisour Square shooting actually stick? 

As I watched this video of Danny Schertler, a lawyer for one of the guards, speak after yesterday's arraignment at a DC Circuit Court, I initially thought Schertler was all swagger and little substance.  After all, Schertler's notion that the Blackwater guards are innocent because they were merely "defending themselves on a battlefield in a war zone" seemed preposterous.  17 innocent people died in that shooting, including a medical student and his mother who were out running errands.  Then, I read Daphne Eviatar's recent piece in The Washington Independent and realized Blackwater's defense is stronger than I originally thought.

Yesterday saw two important opinion pieces go up regarding Obama and Afghanistan. Bob Herbert and Tom Hayden agree that Obama will own Afghanistan from day one.

Herbert says that with pressing domestic problems looming, Obama can’t afford to escalate in Afghanistan. Herbert calls Afghanistan a quagmire.

What’s the upside to the U.S., a nation in dire economic distress, of an escalation in Afghanistan? If we send 20,000, or 30,000, or however many thousand more troops in there, what will their mission be?

[snip]

Our interest in Afghanistan is to prevent it from becoming a haven for terrorists bent on attacking us. That does not require the scale of military operations that the incoming administration is contemplating. It does not require a wholesale occupation. It does not require the endless funneling of human treasure and countless billions of taxpayer dollars to the Afghan government at the expense of rebuilding the United States, which is falling apart before our very eyes.

Herbert speculates that Obama wants escalation in order to prove his toughness. Tom Hayden expands on that point, reminding us that Democrats have been calling Afghanistan the “good war” since at least 2004. But what good is hawkishness in a conflict that has no definitive military solution?

The financial crisis seems as if it emerged from nowhere and struck as hard and fast as lightening. How did so many financial institutions crumble with so little warning? There are many reasons, but one that has not been given much attention is how tax havens helped enable the mess and how several of the big companies that have received billions of bailout dollars were also the most active in the shady world of offshore finance.

The Forum for Education and Democracy wants to turn 'Yes We Can' into 'Yes We Will,' channeling the momentum and energy of the election of Barack Obama into building a stronger public education system.  They're calling for the President-elect to commit to providing every child with free, high-quality education and health care, every community with equal access to education, every teacher with vital support, and every school with much needed resources.

As the child of two public school teachers, I was raised in the Philly public school system.  I can't begin to describe the woeful state of our schools.  Nor can I start to tell you just how upsetting it's been to watch my mother's frustration grow exponentially over the years as her classes have swelled from 30 to upwards of 40 students.  It's frustration that stems from the increasing inability to provide her students with the individual attention they deserve, especially considering the time and curriculum constraints requiring educators to teach toward the next round of standardized tests.  How can anyone possibly teach or learn in such an overcrowded, underfunded, disregarded environment?

Watch this video to see how Obama inspired students and teachers alike during the election, and then take a minute to sign the petition to the Obama administration.    

Israel has faced the new Obama administration with a fait accompli making diplomacy in the region difficult if not impossible. You can see the full interview at www.GRITtv.org.

Former marine Josh Rushing reports on how the US prisons in Iraq are turning into big business. He visits the world's biggest arms exposition and travels to Iraq to see how one prison is attempting a new strategy with its inmates.

Watch part 2 of this special here.

As hard as it is to believe Chip Saltsman is still a candidate for RNC chair after releasing a Christmas CD containing "Barack the Magic Negro," it's even harder to believe Fox still has any producers that haven't been fired for some racist blunder.  Here's what Fox allowed to appear on their New Year's Eve crawl:

"HAPPY NEW YEAR AND LET’S HOPE THE MAGIC NEGRO DOES A GOOD JOB. LOVE JEN AND JOHN C." 

And here's how Fox's VP of programming Suzanne Scott explained this egregriousness:

"We received tens of thousands of text message submissions during our New Years Eve special, and this particular viewer submission was inadvertently cleared for air. At FOX we recognize our error as opposed to networks who allow their hosts to utter crude vulgarities to the public."

Did you hear anything remotely close to an apology in there?  Neither did I.  All I heard was a lame excuse reminiscent of the "poor judgment" exercised by a Fox producer last year when the network referred to Michelle Obama as "Obama's baby mama." 

It looks like President-elect Obama is picking up President Clinton's promise to end welfare as we know it. Back in those pre-welfare reform days, welfare checks went to poor families. Welfare as we know it now seems to involve giving taxpayer dollars to Citigroup and other banks.

The media seem to have largely overlooked the Citigroup tax credit in their discussion of the latest items in President Obama's stimulus proposal. According to the Washington Post, the proposal will allow companies to write off current losses against taxes paid over the last 4-5 years, not just 2 years, as in current law.

There are relatively few companies that could benefit from this tax break since most companies will not have losses so large that they would need more than two years of tax payments to balance them against. But, really big losers, like Robert Rubin's Citigroup, and other badly failing financial institutions, are losing much more money in 2008 and 2009 than they earned in 2006 and 2007.

Did the political connections of Robert Rubin and others in the financial industry have anything to do with the decision of Obama's economic team to be so generous to them? I don't have an answer to that question, but the media should be asking it.

I do not believe that NATO will achieve a decisive and permanent military victory over the Taliban.

That means that barring unforeseen circumstances, the Taliban will likely remain a feature of life and governance in many areas of Afghanistan. Even under occupation, the Taliban have established shadow governments in certain provinces. They collect taxes, act as a police force, and settle community disputes in religious courts.

Taliban rule brings severe consequences for women: sometimes a codification of strict rural customs already in place, and sometimes the imposition of harsh rules for women accustomed to greater freedom.

Congrats to all DREAMIEs for getting our idea into the second round of voting at Change.org. Voting starts on Monday, Jan 5 so get your contacts, facebook groups, friends and family ready to vote again.

Lets throw our support squarely behind all three ideas.

Fox is kicking off 2009 the only way it knows how, by continuing to serve as the GOP's mouthpiece.  That's just what Chris Wallace did yesterday on Fox News Sunday while pretending to hold a "fair and balanced" discussion about the Employee Free Choice Act with House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer. 

Wallace referred to the Employee Free Choice as "Big Labor's top priority," repeatedly dubbing it "union card check."  Wallace also continued to push the false notion that Employee Free Choice would do away with secret ballots.  Fox's overt use of Republican talking points to fearmonger about Employee Free Choice is certainly nothing new, but what happened on Fox News Sunday is alarming for two reasons.

First, Hoyer wasn't nearly clear enough in explaining that the Employee Free Choice will NOT deny anyone the right to a secret ballot; all the act does is give workers the alternative of forming a union by signing union cards.  I repeat, Employee Free Choice means just what its name implies: workers can either hold a secret ballot election or form a union if a majority of employees sign up for one.

Second, Hoyer's failure to articulate this point enables Fox and the Republicans to control the false frame, which suddenly gives credence to the GOP's otherwise ludicrous Save Our Secret Ballot initiative.  This movement, backed by Big Business, is attempting to amend state constitutions to "guarantee" the secret ballot under the guise of protecting workers' rights.  Consider it a preemptive shot across the bow of Employee Free Choice, which would be federal legislation once Congress passes it this spring (as Hoyer suggested).

The United States has effectively blocked the UN Security Council from issuing a formal statement calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, alleging that there was no indication Hamas would abide by any agreement. More than 500 Palestinians have been killed, humanitarian aid is in short supply, and Israel has refused to allow reporters to enter the region. There are many reasons why Israel decided to attack Gaza now. An outgoing and completely ineffectual U.S. administration; upcoming Israeli elections; the Israeli desire to remove Hamas from power; and the inability of the international community to mount an effective response to Israel's actions. The war now enters its 9th day. 

Moustafa Barghouti writing in Al-Ahram Weekly notes that, "there is another reason -- beyond the internal politics of Israel -- why this attack has been allowed to occur: the complicity and silence of the international community.

Israel cannot and would not act against the will of its economic allies in Europe or its military allies in the US. Israel may be pulling the trigger and ending hundreds, perhaps even thousands of lives this week, but it is the apathy of the world and the inhumane tolerance of Palestinian suffering that allows this to occur."

It's not easy to get the runaround when you have a traumatic brain injury from George's war.

Take a load off at www.michaelmoore.com

Nine days. 507 Palestinians killed. More than 2,400 injured. And a quarter of those killed are civilians, according to the United Nations. Those are the figures. Hospitals at breaking point, families devastated, people forced from their homes with nowhere to go. That is the reality of Israel's war on Gaza. Al Jazeera is the only international broadcaster with a presence there. Sherine Tadros is on our team in Gaza. This is her latest report, from the epicentre of Gaza's struggle to survive: its main hospital.

From our friend Jason Rosenbaum:

The New York Times has a in-depth look at the corruption in the Afghan government, and it’s a stark reminder of how closely we’re repeating history on many fronts.

As Dexter Filkins explains, almost anything in Afghanistan is for sale:

When it comes to governing this violent, fractious land, everything, it seems, has its price.

Want to be a provincial police chief? It will cost you $100,000.

Want to drive a convoy of trucks loaded with fuel across the country? Be prepared to pay $6,000 per truck, so the police will not tip off the Taliban.

Need to settle a lawsuit over the ownership of your house? About $25,000, depending on the judge.

“It is very shameful, but probably I will pay the bribe,” Mohammed Naim, a young English teacher, said as he stood in front of the Secondary Courthouse in Kabul. His brother had been arrested a week before, and the police were demanding $4,000 for his release. “Everything is possible in this country now. Everything.”

Guess where all that money is coming from? Bribes and drug trafficking.

 

The brazenness of the corruption is astounding. You can rent a mansion owned by Kabul’s police chief, Mohammed Ayob Salangi, for $11,000 a month. President Karzai’s salary is only $600 a month, making it clear that the mansion is maintained through ill-gotten wealth.

 For more, go here.

The heavy Israeli aerial bombardment and threat of a ground offensive has forced Gazans to remain indoors for safety.   Al Jazeera's Sherine Tadros spent the evening with one family in Gaza City to see how they're coping.

The "enhanced interrogation tactics " used in Guantanamo under orders from the Pentagon and the White House have been the subject of numerous hearings on Capitol Hill recently. The lawyers who approved the policies - which many call torture -- are under increasing pressure to explain how it was possible for such methods to be ordered by the United States government. More hearings are on the way.

Israel's aerial assault on Gaza continues for a seventh day.

news.yahoo.com KABUL, Afghanistan The number of roadside bombs and kidnappings doubled in Afghanistan in 2008 from the year previous, the U.S. ambassador said Tuesday, grim statistics that underscore the country's deteriorating security situation. The number of roadside bombs rose from roughly 1,000 in 2007 to 2,000 in 2008, while the number of kidnappings jumped from about 150 to 300, said Ambassador William Wood. Compiling accurate data for roadside bombs and kidnappings is difficult, he said, and the numbers were approximate. Glad to be alive for 2009 at www.michaelmoore.com

On Saturday, Israel began airstrikes over Gaza, killing over 300 people.  The attack violates U.S. and international law including the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, and several international humantarian laws. You can read more here.