03/02/2014 archive

AUTHOR’S NOTE: This essay is in part a reply to AoT’s “No, you don’t want another OWS”– I agree we don’t need another, but not entirely with the author’s reasoning why…)

People who were involved with Occupy Wall Street have an understandable emotional attachment to what they experienced within the movement.  In fact, for many in this age of electronica and isolation, it was their first experience in ground level activism and social work.  People cooperated, they exchanged food, medical services and felt unity. By sheer numbers, they managed to enter the concept of the one percent versus the rest of us into the National dialogue. That cannot be underrated.  

In any discussion of what is next, we have to look with an unemotional, analytical eye at whether or not Occupy was or was not a success.

And finally, New Rule: Someone must tell me what is with this new trend of people who have all the power acting like they’re the oppressed ones? Heterosexual Christians under siege from gays. White people complaining that reverse racists are trying to strip them of their right to shoot unarmed black men. And most bizarre, the recent wave of billionaires sobbing that they’re being demonized and under attack. And the thing is, it’s not just having all the money in the world that’s getting them down, it’s that the rest of us don’t often enough look at them and say, “You are the most brilliant industrious person on Earth. Can you teach us how to be more like you while we buff your cock with this fine Sham-Wow?”

You know, I used to think Hollywood egos were the neediest, but these Masters of the Universe? More like babies on a plane. Stock trader Steve Schwarzman – net worth $8 billion – once said that Obama raising his taxes 3% felt like when Hitler invaded Poland. Sounds like something Sarah Palin would tweet after huffing paint thinner. (audience laughter) But with the super-rich it’s becoming a meme. Now we have Tom Perkins – net worth $8 billion – saying the richest 1% are so persecuted in America, they feel like Jews in Nazi Germany. Which is why just to be safe, last week Tom built a panic room inside his mansion that’s a full-size replica of Anne Frank’s house.

h/t to Bruin Kid at Daily Kos for the transcript

This is your morning Open Thread. Pour your favorite beverage and review the past and comment on the future.

Find the past “On This Day in History” here.

March 2 is the 61st day of the year (62nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 304 days remaining until the end of the year.

On this day in 1836, the Republic of Texas declares its independence as in a nation from Mexico.

Formed as a break-away republic from Mexico by the Texas Revolution, the state claimed borders that encompassed an area that included all of the present U.S. state of Texas, as well as parts of present-day New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming based upon the Treaties of Velasco between the newly created Texas Republic and Mexico. The eastern boundary with the United States was defined by the Adams-Onís Treaty between the United States and Spain, in 1819. Its southern and western-most boundary with Mexico was under dispute throughout the existence of the Republic, with Texas claiming that the boundary was the Rio Grande, and Mexico claiming the Nueces River as the boundary. This dispute would later become a trigger for the Mexican-American War, after the annexation of Texas by the United States.

Establishment

The Republic of Texas was created from part of the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. Mexico was in turmoil as leaders attempted to determine an optimal form of government. In 1835, when President Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna abolished the Constitution of 1824, granting himself enormous powers over the government, wary colonists in Texas began forming Committees of Correspondence and Safety. A central committee in San Felipe de Austin coordinated their activities. In the Mexican interior, several states revolted against the new centralist policies. The Texas Revolution officially began on October 2, 1835, in the Battle of Gonzales. Although the Texians originally fought for the reinstatement of the Constitution of 1824, by 1836 the aim of the war had changed. The Convention of 1836 declared independence on March 2, 1836, and officially formed the Republic of Texas.

“Punting the Pundits” is an Open Thread. It is a selection of editorials and opinions from around the news medium and the internet blogs. The intent is to provide a forum for your reactions and opinions, not just to the opinions presented, but to what ever you find important.

Thanks to ek hornbeck, click on the link and you can access all the past “Punting the Pundits”.

Follow us on Twitter @StarsHollowGzt

The Sunday Talking Heads:

This Week with George Stephanopolis: Guests on “This Week” are: Secretary of State John Kerry; actor Ben Affleck and former senator and U.S. Special Envoy Russ Feingold; and FiveThirtyEight.com editor-in-chief and ABC News special contributor Nate Silver.

At the roundtable: Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., CNN “Crossfire” co-host Van Jones, National Review editor Rich Lowry, and ABC News’ Cokie Roberts.

Face the Nation with Bob Schieffer: Mr. Schieffer’s guests are: Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel; Secretary of State John Kerry; and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY).

His panel guests are Michael O’Hanlon of the Brookings Institute; Danielle Pletka of AIE; David Ignatius of the Washington Post; and CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin.

Meet the Press with David Gregory: This Sunday’s guests on MTP are: Secretary of State John Kerry; Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL); and California Governor Jerry Brown (D).

At the roundtable are: Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake; Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker; NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd; Founder of Women in the World Tina Brown; and Bloomberg View columnist Jeffrey Goldberg.

State of the Union with Candy Crowley: Ms. Crowley’s guests are Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Nations Yuriy Sergeyev; Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin and South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham; and the former U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle.

Her panel guests are: former Obama insider Bill Burton, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report.

Kerry condemns Russia’s ‘invasion and occupation’ of Ukrainian territory

 

 By Chelsea J. Carter. Diana Magnay and Victoria Eastwood, CNN

March 2, 2014 — Updated 0429 GMT

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be dismissing warnings from world leaders to avoid military intervention in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, even amid growing evidence that pro-Russian forces were already in control of the region.

The rhetoric escalated Saturday night, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry condemning what he called “the Russian Federation’s invasion and occupation of Ukrainian territory” despite a statement by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev that no decision had been made on whether Moscow would dispatch forces.

Russia has not confirmed it deployed thousands of troops to the region following reports that armed, Russian-speaking forces wearing military unifo

Chris Hayes talks to film critics about an actual Oscar ballot released by an anonymous Academy member

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