Monthly Archives: January 2010

What Is KBR Hiding?

We are all familiar with the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, the KBR contract worker who was brutally raped on her first day in Iraq. She was then held hostage in a shipping container until she was able to get a cell phone to call her father. She was denied a day in court against KBR and her attackers because of an arbitration clause in her employment contract. Senator Al Franken (Awesome D-MN) sponsored an amendment to invalidate such clauses in defense contracts (and tied 30 Republican Senators in knots while doing it – double win). Well, KBR was not content with the bad publicity and they’re fighting back, by trashing Ms. Jones, of course:

But having lost at the trial court, again at the appeals court and then in the Senate as the Franken amendment was signed into law, KBR/Halliburton, in its petition to the Supreme Court last week, wasted no time at all in trashing her. While advancing its legal theory that Jones’s claim is unquestionably “related to” her employment, it also promises, in a footnote, that “The KBR Defendants intend to vigorously contest Jones’s allegations and show that her claims against the KBR Defendants are factually and legally untenable.” Er, where do they plan to show all that? In the secret underground arbitration lair of KBR?

In addition to going after her truthfulness in its court pleadings, KBR has mounted a zealous public campaign to “correct the facts” about the Jones litigation—urging, for instance, that “Ms. Jones’ allegation of rape remains unsubstantiated” and that she wasn’t locked in a shipping container but rather “provided with a secure living trailer.” Apparently KBR fails to appreciate the irony of demanding that all of its counter-facts come to light despite its love for secret arbitration.

I asked Franken what he thought of KBR’s latest efforts to trash Jones in public for her refusal to be trashed by them in private. Here’s what he had to say: “You know where a great place to try arguments is? In court. But they’ve spent five years fighting against her attempts to have her day there. It seems odd that they wouldn’t want to explain their side in the courtroom, since they’re willing to in the media.”

So I guess KBR is well on it’s way to be America’s most-hated company. Congrats, KBR, I’m sure you’ll pass Blackwater soon. BTW, the arbitration clause was written when Dick Cheney was Halliburton CEO (KBR is a Halliburton subsidiary). It’s amazing how many tentacles Dick Cheney has into wrongdoing isn’t it?

Weekend Open Thread

Helloooo weekend! I’m planning on staying inside today since it’s cold outside. What’s up with everyone else this weekend? Let’s open this thread!

The bizarre shoe thief case in Newark has been solved and a man arrested. Police think his thefts may go back 20 years.

Newark police say Walter J. Rubincan, 46, is responsible for the well-publicized series of thefts of shoes and photographs of men from university students’ houses last month, as well as dozens of other burglaries.

Rubincan has been charged with 77 counts of theft, 25 counts of second-degree burglary and 15 counts of criminal mischief in 25 separate break-ins, some as recent as Jan. 12 and as early as December 2005.

…

Police found more than 150 boxes of shoes and photographs in Rubincan’s house in the 100 block of W. Cobblefield Court, located in a neighborhood off of W. Chestnut Hill Road, about a mile south of Delaware Stadium.

The Republican purity test failed. The RNC passed a watered-down version instead. My question – will this help the Republicans or hurt them?

The Republican Party steered clear of passing a so-called “purity test” proposed by a handful of conservative members of the Republican National Committee and instead passed a toothless watered-down resolution that “urges” Republican Party leadership to consider a candidate’s record and statements and fidelity to the party platform before providing financial support or an endorsement.

In the wake of the special House race in upstate New York last November where the Republican Party candidate DeDe Scozzafava found her campaign derailed by conservatives, several RNC members proposed the idea of passing a resolution where GOP candidates would have to agree to eight out of 10 stated policy positions before being eligible for support from the RNC.

The proposal, initially drafted by Indiana national committeeman James Bopp, was met with strong resistance by state party chairs concerned about such a one-size-fits-all approach. This week, RNC Chairman Michael Steele made clear that he, too, opposed the proposed resolution.

That sent members of the RNC scrambling to come up with an alternate proposal that could win the support of the full national committee. At a time when Republicans are feeling bullish about capitalizing on their victories in Virginia, New Jersey, and Massachusetts at the start of this midterm election year, nobody seemed interested in putting the intra-party rift on full display.

I think some Republicans realize that the recent winning candidates: Christie in NJ, McDonnell in VA and Brown in MA didn’t run as hard right conservatives but more as moderates. Brown even announced that he may vote with Democrats sometimes (playing the Mike Castle game).

Cutting And Running – FOX Style

If you want to know exactly how damaging yesterday’s Q&A between Obama and House Republicans really was, look no further than FOX who yanked the coverage when it became apparent what was happening wouldn’t jive with its propaganda.

In the end, by pulling coverage of a historic event, FOX added a million exclamation marks to Obama’s win, emphasizing it in a way Democrats could only dream.  Talk about making a bad situation for Republicans worse.

Can Republicans Work With Obama After Everything They’ve Said?

Out of everything said yesterday this one passage stood out to me:

So all I’m saying is we’ve got to close the gap a little bit between the rhetoric and the reality.

I’m not suggesting that we’re going to agree on everything, whether it’s on health care or energy or what have you, but if the way these issues are being presented by the Republicans is that this is some wild-eyed plot to impose huge government in every aspect of our lives, what happens is you guys then don’t have a lot of room to negotiate with me.

I mean, the fact of the matter is is that many of you, if you voted with the administration on something, are politically vulnerable in your own base, in your own party. You’ve given yourselves very little room to work in a bipartisan fashion because what you’ve been telling your constituents is, “This guy’s doing all kinds of crazy stuff that’s going to destroy America.”

So true.  And the biggest problem is that Republicans have turned rhetoric into GOP reality.  Seriously, how would they justify compromising and working with a man their base considers Hitler?  That’s a pretty big about-face, and one that can only be achieved if Republicans tell their base that they were, well… wrong.  How do you take someone you painted as a threat to everything you believe and then say “just kidding.”

Whoever came up with the “party of no” platform did the GOP no favors.  They are boxed in – to the point where voting with the President will be viewed as making a deal with the devil.  Of course, they have no one to blame but themselves.  They limited their own options.  Keep voting “no” and keep the base with you in November, compromise and lose the base in the hope of wooing Independents.  Truth is, Republicans, like Democrats, need both groups.  Actually, the GOP has an added burden in the form of tea partiers, who wallow in rhetoric and hyperbole.  Attempting to take away the Tea Party’s favorite Hitler action figure without causing a major temper tantrum strikes me as political suicide.  But so does the path they’ve chosen – mainly because Obama, during his SOTU and again yesterday, dragged the Republicans out of the bleachers and onto the field of governing.

I admit I was upset when Dems lost that 60th vote, but lately I’m wondering if that wasn’t good thing.  60 votes allowed the “party of no” to obstruct without consequences.  After all, with 60 votes Dems shouldn’t need their votes.  I’m also beginning to think that if Democrats had no plan B for a Massachusetts loss, the Republicans didn’t have one for the win.

Frankly, I don’t see the GOP changing their “no” strategy, mainly because there’s no way to change it to their political advantage.  And while moderate Republicans may want to reach across the aisle, the fear of being primaried by a Tea Party candidate or having their base sit at home on election day, should be enough to make them think twice.  Of course, all or nothing stances tend to result in all or nothing.

What I do see changing is the lack of consequences to obstruction.  Suit up, guys, you’re now off the bench and in the game.

You Can Count On Sarah…

…to show up to cash in on her payday, that is. The high profile Tea Party convention in Nashville is falling apart, with sponsors pulling out as well as crazy Congresswomen Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and Marsha Blackburn (R-TN). Sarah Palin still plans on attending. It’s been reported that she’s being paid between $100,000 – $150,000 for her hour-long speech.

The former Alaska governor still plans to speak at the much-maligned National Tea Party Convention next month in Nashville. “You betcha I’m going to be there,” she told Fox News last night.

That pledge comes despite the fact that in recent weeks, other planned speakers and sponsors have rushed to the exits amid concerns that the event’s organizer, Nashvillle lawyer Judson Phillips, intends to profit financially from the venture.

Yesterday brought the latest mass exodus. First, as we reported, the convention’s two other Republican speakers, Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee backed out in quick succession, with Blackburn declaring: “It’s a ‘We the people’ event and I think sometimes it’s become about ‘I the organizer,’ for the organizer.”

The tickets for the event haven’t sold out, so Sarah may be speaking to a half-empty room. But hey, what does that matter, she still gets the same fee, right?

Friday Afternoon Bacon Blogging — You’re Doing It All Wrong Edition

Cooking your bacon, that is, according to this video from Chowhound (there is a quick commercial at the beginning):

But there’s lots of ways to cook bacon and lots of partisans for those methods too. I’ve cooked LOTS of bacon for events in the oven — you get uniformly flat and crispy bacon (think of the bacon in the warming pans at a buffet) with little work. But my favorite way is via a cast iron pan on top of the stove. And no pouring off the bacon fat in between batches, either. Sprinkling a few grains of brown sugar on the bacon just before it is done seems to really help make the flavor of certain bacon really bloom.

So what is your favorite way to cook bacon? And for extra bonus points, what is your favorite bacon?

President Obama at the Republican House Conference

I had no idea that this was going to be televised, but this is my only day in the office today so I wouldn’t have seen it anyway. But this video is from CSPAN for everyone who could not watch it live:

This is pretty long, about an hour and 20 mins or so. I gather that this appearance was CHOICE, and that President Obama really acquitted himself well here. More comments after I have a chance to see it.

EDIT — A snippet from dKos calling out a bit of hypocrisy:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8f77VVeFEI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Legislative Post-Game Wrap-Up: Session of Jan. 28, 2010

As expected, it was a busy day in Dover. The entire Session Activity record here.

In the Senate, as reported yesterday, HB 310, which legalizes table games in Delaware was passed and subsequently signed into law by Governor Markell. It was really the only notable bill passed in the Senate yesterday.

The House was a whole ‘nother story. It enacted SS1/SB 202, which provides the funding for the US 301 project and, in a completely unrelated matter in the same bill, enables Del-Tech to bypass normal permitting procedures for a construction project. Both Speaker Gilligan and Rep. Mitchell, who have notable jobs at Del-Tech, voted yes despite the apparent conflict-of interest, implying that ethics are a sometime thing in Dover. No doubt they can cite some ruling from the House Ethics Committee which gives them fig-leaf justification for their votes. However, for the record, it should be noted that the Delaware General Assembly gave Del-Tech a gift that it would not deign nor dare to give to others. And, speaking of fast-tracking, since the Speaker of the House sets the House agenda, it was the Speaker of the House who facilitated this vote without the bill going through committee. It would have been easy to remove the offending section via amendment and to have it considered in a separate bill, but that would’ve exposed the ‘Delaware Way’ backscratching that went on here. There may well be a legitimate reason for helping out Del-Tech in this manner. Accordingly, I renew my offer to have someone in the know come over here and explain that reason to us. So far, crickets.

The House also enacted SB 188, which establishes criminal penalties relating to table games. The bill goes to the Governor for his signature.

Plenty of new bills were introduced. Among the more interesting are:

HB 316 (Kowalko)-Designates the red fox as Delaware’s official wildlife animal. Can the official state sentence be far behind? My nominee: “The  quick red fox jumped over the Delaware State Seal.”

HB 317 (B. Short)-Places restrictions and requirements on door-to-door salespersons. If this bill doesn’t include the Jehovah’s Witnesses or the Mormons, then it ain’t worth bleep. The only other solicitors I get are those magazine subscription kids. And at least they aren’t skilled at keeping you from ending the conversation.

SB 194 (Marshall)-This legislation carries out Gov. Markell’s job creation proposals, and provides incentives for companies that create jobs to expand and diversify Delaware’s economy. The funding source for this initiative would come from state Abandoned Properties revenues.

And, of course, most notable are SB 196, the FY ’11 Budget proposal; and HB 311, the FY ’11 Bond and Capital Improvements proposal. For the next six weeks, this’ll be where the action is.