(noon. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Happy Birthday, Ringo.

Ringo Starr is turning 70 on Wednesday. It feels as though youth itself is now 70 years old.

I wasn’t yet 6 when the Beatles played their last live performance atop the Apple Corps building on Savile Row in London, January 1969. They split four years before I got my first Beatles album. Still, I can keep track of my teenage years by Beatles songs I happened to be enthralled with at the time. Forty years after they broke up, my 6-year-old son is learning to play “Eleanor Rigby” on the piano.

Ever since Ringo Starr  vowed, on a well-known cover of Buck Owens’s hit “Act Naturally,” that he’d become “the biggest fool to ever hit the big time,” the renowned rock ‘n’ roll drummer has done all right for himself. As a member of the Beatles and as a solo artist, Mr. Starr has sold more than a few records, won some Grammy Awards and even had a minor planet named for him. But on Wednesday Mr. Starr will reach a very special milestone: he turns 70 years old.

As you’d expect, he plans to mark the occasion with a little help from his friends, and anyone else he can round up. Finding himself in New York on the big day, he is celebrating with a private event in the morning at the Hard Rock Cafe in Times Square; Hard Rock International is honoring the day at locations around the world. (Details are at ringostarr.com.)

In the evening he will perform a concert at Radio City Music Hall with his All Starr Band, which includes Edgar Winter, Gary Wright and Rick Derringer.

Some advice for Goldman Sachs from William D. Cohan

Let Goldman Be Goldman

Poised as we are for the most comprehensive financial reform in this country since the Great Depression, it is time to fess up to the fact that it likely would not have occurred without a concerted effort by the Obama administration and the Democratic-controlled Congress to demonize Goldman Sachs.

There are good reasons, of course, why politicians have seized on Goldman for easy political gain. Among them are: the perceptions that Goldman figured out a way to benefit from the misery of others; that while many Americans were hurting from a recession partly of Goldman’s making, the firm continued to rake in billions in profits and pay out billions more in bonuses; that Goldman seems unable to recognize that but for an 11th-hour rescue by the American taxpayers, in September 2008, it would have gone the way of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch; and that Goldman has proved repeatedly that it prefers putting its own interests ahead of those of its prized clients and the rest of us. Another likely reason is that the politicians simply looked at the recent public polling data, which put Goldman’s reputation below that of BP and Toyota, and realized that nothing spells political gold these days quite like bashing Goldman Sachs.

With all the important issues in the news that could be addressed in an op-ed, Maureen Dowd chooses to Kicking the Hornet’s Nest to recap Andrew Young’s book about John Edwards’ sordid indiscretion and Young’s roll in the deception. Gawd! I really feel bad for Elizabeth.

Young’s book is an amazingly sordid yarn about a fawning aide and the feckless pol he serves beyond all reason. The unspeakable in pursuit of the inedible, as Oscar Wilde called foxhunting.

We learn that in this era of immersion coverage, we can still end up with a shallow view of our candidates and their real – or Rielle – lives.

A man like Edwards can be extremely close to ascending to the White House and still be camouflaging his true nature. To paraphrase Raymond Chandler, if character were elastic, John Edwards wouldn’t have enough to make suspenders for a parakeet.

In the Washington Post, Sen. John Kerry rebuts Gov. Mitt Romney’s op-ed that opposed ratification of Pres. Obama’s Nuclear Arms Treaty with Russia

Even in these polarized times, anyone seeking the presidency should know that the security of the United States is too important to be treated as fodder for political posturing. Sadly, former governor Mitt Romney failed that test in arguing that ratification of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with Russia would be a mistake [op-ed, July 6]. He disregarded the views of the best foreign policy thinkers of the past half-century, but more important, he ignored the facts.

No threat to our national security is greater than the danger from nuclear weapons. Responsible political figures across the spectrum need to support every step possible to control the spread of nuclear weapons. New START is one of those steps. This view is shared by most who have taken the time to understand the treaty and the international context in which it was negotiated. Rather than pander to politics, we need to ratify this agreement quickly. Every day without its verification regime is a day without a clear view of Russia’s nuclear arsenal.

Someone to clue Ruth Marcus in that the rich are NOT over taxed

Rich Trumka — the AFL-CIO president intercepts any attempted honorific with an easy, “Call me Rich” — comes armed with charts. His first one is, literally, in shades of gray. Its message is anything but.

Once, its bar graphs report, the middle class and the wealthy prospered in tandem. Between 1947 and 1973, the rich got richer, but the not-so-rich actually prospered more. The household income of the middle 20 percent of Americans nearly doubled, while the income of the top 20 percent of Americans rose the least of any group, 85 percent.

After 1973, the story changes dramatically. Income for the middle group inched up, rising 24 percent through 2006. But the top 20 percent grew at nearly three times that rate.

This graphic depiction of income inequality is, understandably enough, at the center of Trumka’s worldview, a perspective that became clear when he came to lunch last week at The Post. Growing income inequality is troubling. It would be troubling in the absence of a budget crisis. But that does not mean, as Trumka would have it, that the solution to the nation’s fiscal woes is always, or only, reducing income inequality.

In short, soaking the rich gets you only so far.

“Soaking the rich”? Really, Ruth, how elitist.

Tougher than usual tonight.  I will actually be watching Warehouse 13.

Keith AND Rachel.  Letterman repeats, Leno has new content.

• Turner Classics– It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
• FX– AVPR: Aliens vs Predator—Requiem.
• ESPN– World Cup Primetime.

There should be Mets Baseball for me and Le Tour repeats if you haven’t already beaten your eyeballs bloody.

Later-

Jon has Julianne Moore pitching The Kids Are All Right, Stephen- Garret Keizer.  The always reliable Alton is covering mayonnaise (Miracle Whip guy myself).

Repeat of a new Chopped @ 1, might be worth watching at 10 pm.

Evening Edition is an Open Thread

1 Oil comes ashore in Texas as BP dismisses money worries

AFP

Tue Jul 6, 12:52 pm ET

2 BP chief executive ‘on visits to important partners’

AFP

1 hr 30 mins ago

3 Sarkozy caught up in L’Oreal heiress cash scandal

by Thibauld Malterre, AFP

1 hr 8 mins ago

4 Britain outlines secret service torture probe

by Katherine Haddon, AFP

1 hr 15 mins ago

5 Celebrations and sadness as Dalai Lama turns 75

by Adam Plowright, AFP

55 mins ago

6 Cancellara back in in Tour de France lead

by Justin Davis, AFP

28 mins ago

7 Netherlands storm into World Cup final

by Martin Parry, AFP

16 mins ago

8 Thailand extends emergency rule

by Boonradom Chitradon, AFP

Tue Jul 6, 8:09 am ET

9 BP shares rise on denial of plan to issue stock

By Kristen Hays, Reuters

Tue Jul 6, 12:50 pm ET

10 Obama administration sues Arizona over immigration law

By Jeremy Pelofsky and James Vicini, Reuters

46 mins ago

11 Service sector grows more slowly, employment weak

By Ed Krudy, Reuters

46 mins ago

12 Special Report: U.S. data dogs on quest for sexier statistics

By Emily Kaiser, Reuters

44 mins ago

13 Viagra-popping seniors lead the pack for STDs

By Frederik Joelving, Reuters

Tue Jul 6, 12:04 pm ET

14 Sri Lanka hardliners protest U.N. war crimes probe

By Ranga Sirilal and C. Bryson Hull, Reuters

Tue Jul 6, 8:42 am ET

15 Oil seeps into New Orleans’ Lake Pontchartrain

By CAIN BURDEAU, Associated Press Writer

15 mins ago

16 Gov’t files suit to throw out AZ immigration law

By BOB CHRISTIE, Associated Press Writer

10 mins ago

17 Netherlands into WCup final, 3-2 over Uruguay

By BARRY WILNER, AP Sports Writer

27 mins ago

18 EPA: Clean-air rule would overturn Bush-era plan

By MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 42 mins ago

19 Spain shrugs off bad economy, launches bull runs

By ALAN CLENDENNING, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 59 mins ago

20 French parliament debates ban on burqa-style veils

By ANGELA DOLAND, Associated Press Writer

35 mins ago

21 Stamp prices going up again – 46-cent rate asked

By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer

41 mins ago

22 CIA and Pakistan locked in aggressive spy battles

By ADAM GOLDMAN and MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writers

Tue Jul 6, 1:45 pm ET

23 Australia: East Timor could process asylum seekers

By ROHAN SULLIVAN, Associated Press Writer

Tue Jul 6, 10:45 am ET

24 Feingold faces unexpectedly tough race

By LIZ “Sprinkles” SIDOTI, AP National Political Writer

Tue Jul 6, 12:07 pm ET

25 First health overhaul provisions start to kick in

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer

Tue Jul 6, 3:03 am ET

26 Police: Conn. priest stole $1M for male escorts

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press Writer

1 hr 25 mins ago

27 Empty Nest 101: College orientation for parents

By BETH J. HARPAZ, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 28 mins ago

28 Alleged Army whistleblower felt angry and alone

By DAVID DISHNEAU, Associated Press Writer

2 hrs 39 mins ago

(4 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

An Alternet story from yesterday contemplates the reason for women dominating the rank of the Tea Party movement. According to a Quinipiac poll the the TP is 55% women and Slate 6 of the 8 Tea Party Patriots are women and 15 of the 25 state coordinators are women. Like the men, they are predominantly white, Christian and “middle class”. It ain’t just angry white men.

July 5, 2010 Why have American women become so active in the right wing Tea Party movement? Could it be that they are drawn to the new conservative Christian feminism publicized by Sarah Palin? Without its grassroots female supporters, the Tea Party would have far less appeal to voters who are frightened by economic insecurity, threats to moral purity and the gradual disappearance of a national white Christian culture.

Most Americans are not quite sure what to make of the sprawling right-wing Tea Party, which gradually emerged in 2009 and became a household name after it held nationwide Tea Party rallies on April 15th 2010, to protest paying taxes. Throwing tea overboard, as you may remember, is an important symbolic image of the colonial anger at Britain’s policy of “taxation without representation.”

Many liberals and Democrats initial dismissed the Tea Party’s emergence on the political scene as a flash in the pan reactionary group to the state of the economy and an African American President’s intervention that helped the banks, Wall St. and the auto industry.

But they haven’t “flamed out” yet and, as E. J. Dionne points out, they are a threat to the “internal unity of the Republican Party.

The rise of the tea party movement is a throwback to an old form of libertarianism that sees most of the domestic policies that government has undertaken since the New Deal as unconstitutional. It typically perceives the most dangerous threats to freedom as the design of well-educated elitists out of touch with “American values.”

So what is the attraction for women, especially white women? Do they see this as a conservative version of the Feminist movement?

Some are angry-mom-activist types who, like their heroine Sarah Palin, outgrew the PTA. But some would surprise you with their straightforward feminist rage. For the last few years Anna Barone, a Tea Party leader from Mount Vernon, N.Y., has used the e-mail handle annaforhillary.com: “The way they treated Hillary is unforgiveable, and then they did it to Sarah Palin,” she said. “I’ve been to 15 Tea Party meetings and never heard a woman called a name just because she’s powerful. I guess you could say the Tea Party is where I truly became a feminist.”

snip

Rebecca Wales (spokesperson for Smart Girl Politics describes it as a group made up of “a lot of mama bears worried about their families.” The Tea Party, she says, is a natural home for women because “for a long time people have seen the parties as good-ole’-boy, male-run institutions. In the Tea Party, women have finally found their voice.”

Oddly they have even embraced some of the early Feminist movement slogans and mantras. One Delaware Senate candidate, Christine O’Donnell, has used Germaine Greer’s phrase “Lords of the back room” to describe her reasons for running for office. These women idolize Republican women like Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and Nevada Senate candidate, Sharron Angler and are eager to support them, against their own self interests.

(T)here’s something else in David’s column, which I see a lot: the argument that because a lot of important people believe something, it must make sense:

… Are you sure your theorists are right and theirs are wrong?

Yes, I am. It’s called looking at the evidence. I’ve looked hard at the arguments the Pain Caucus is making, the evidence that supposedly supports their case – and there’s no there there.

And you just have to wonder how it’s possible to have lived through the last ten years and still imagine that because a lot of Serious People believe something, you should believe it too. Iraq? Housing bubble? Inflation?

…

The moral I’ve taken from recent years isn’t Be Humble – it’s Question Authority. And you should too.

NASCAR in the Ardennes!

Well, it appears the major effect of yesterday’s crash fest in the rain is to let Chavanel take a 3 minute lead in Yellow and he is a major contender who could easily use this to put on an early move.

Garmin loses Vande Velde, is the most injured team by far, since the Schlecks don’t seem as badly hurt as early indications.

Most people will be starting bruised and sore.

There’s evidently some controversy about a ‘riders strike’ that resulted in that 3 minute gap.  I don’t think it’s necessarily that big a deal.  Lance is 6th overall and is part of the pack with all the other contenders who settled for the same time.

This happens all the time at the Tour and is generally held to indicate good sportsmanship.

To hear statements like–

“They put on a dangerous stage and so when they put it on like that that’s the results they’ll get,” said Horner.

“They got all their drama on the descent and they lost it all at the finish and they got what they deserved.

There?s no place in the Tour de France for a stage like this.”

seems a little strident.

I’m more with Lance on this one- “These hills around here and the Ardennes are legendary, it’s part of cycling. Liege-Bastogne-Liege has been around for a hundred years and they do that on the snow.”

Cobblestone Carnage today.  Seven slippery rutted stages in the sun, not quite so much fun in the damp.

(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

Browsing the op-ed pages of the print media  and an open thread to vent. Pour a cup of coffee or brew some tea and contemplate the day.

Paul Krugman came down on Republicans who think they will get elected by punishing the unemployed by blocking Unemployment benefits.

By the heartless, I mean Republicans who have made the cynical calculation that blocking anything President Obama tries to do – including, or perhaps especially, anything that might alleviate the nation’s economic pain – improves their chances in the midterm elections. Don’t pretend to be shocked: you know they’re out there, and make up a large share of the G.O.P. caucus.

By the clueless I mean people like Sharron Angle, the Republican candidate for senator from Nevada, who has repeatedly insisted that the unemployed are deliberately choosing to stay jobless, so that they can keep collecting benefits. A sample remark: “You can make more money on unemployment than you can going down and getting one of those jobs that is an honest job but it doesn’t pay as much. We’ve put in so much entitlement into our government that we really have spoiled our citizenry.”

I’m with Atrios who tweeted that the White House must be listening to David Brooks

The Demand Siders don’t have a good explanation for the past two years. There is no way to know for sure how well the last stimulus worked because we don’t know what would have happened without it. But it is certainly true that the fiscal spigots have been wide open. The U.S. and most other countries have run up huge, historic deficits. And while this has helped save public-sector jobs, we certainly haven’t seen much private-sector job growth. It could be that government spending is a weak lever to counter economic cycles. Maybe monetary policy is the only strong tool we have.

(emphasis mine)

Heh. We also don’t know what would have happened if the stimulus bill had been bigger. David, the fiscal spigots have been barely dripping except for funding two wars. Sheesh

Mitt Romney, the man who hopes to be the Republican savior that saves the country, decrying President Obama’s worst foreign policy mistake

the president’s New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New-START) with Russia  could be his worst foreign policy mistake yet. The treaty as submitted to the Senate should not be ratified.

New-START impedes missile defense, our protection from nuclear-proliferating rogue states such as Iran and North Korea. Its preamble links strategic defense with strategic arsenal. It explicitly forbids the United States from converting intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) silos into missile defense sites. And Russia has expressly reserved the right to walk away from the treaty if it believes that the United States has significantly increased its missile defense capability.

Boston Globe columnist H. D. L. Greenway compares the doomed Afghanistan war strategy of Generals Petraeus and McChrytal to the titans Prometheus and Epimetheus

(Like the) mythical Titans, the brothers Prometheus and Epimetheus, much was expected of Generals David Petraeus and Stanley McChrystal. It was hoped they would provide coherent answers to why their country was doing so badly in its never-ending wars in Muslim lands. As Prometheus had stolen fire from the gods, had not Petraeus snatched, if not victory, at least something better than defeat from the anarchy, insurrection, and civil war that was Iraq? Hadn’t Petraeus provided the gift of light at the end of that particular tunnel?

snip

So it is that the gods have punished Petraeus, too, for his new job will find him, like Prometheus, tied to a rock tortured by the pecking birds of Afghan reality. He and Obama can always hope that something will change for the better, of course. Hope was the last thing left in Pandora’s box that didn’t escape.

(10 pm. – promoted by ek hornbeck)

There are two very big games coming up.  They are semi-finals.  That means that the winners meet to decide who takes home the World Cup.  The final final is on July 11, 2010.

The two games that are semi finals:

Tuesday, 2:30 pm EDT Uruguay v. Netherlands

Wednesday, 2:30 pm EDT Germany v. Spain

Join me below for El Prognostico.

The conventional experts pick the Netherlands  to beat Uruguay.  Almost everybody agrees with some caution thrown in.

The experts, including the venerable Marcelo Balboa think Germany will stomp on Spain because Spain’s offense isn’t working (that’s you they’re talking about, Sr. Torres).

There.  Now you know everything you need to know about this. And you have some good data.  Go ahead and vote in the poll (you get three votes in this poll, two, one for each of the the semis, and one for the final).  I assure you you know as much as any of the experts.  Just don’t bet the ranch on the results.

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