Ed Schultz: I was WRONG about KXL pipeline!

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Thursday March 06, 2014 · 10:54 AM PST

2014/03/06 · 10:54

Good to see this change of heart and mind. I was very disappointed when Ed first came out so strongly in favor, but better late than never. Keystone XL is a benefit to its and the horrendous tar sands operations owners only. Everyone else loses big time.

Ed's previous position seemed like he'd swallowed every drill-baby-drill position of the White House and the fossil fuels industry and its backers.

Hyperliberal MSNBC host Ed Schultz rejected the conventional left-wing wisdom this week when he embraced construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline, and boy is he paying for it. On Thursday, seeking to mollify his outraged liberal viewership, Schultz brought two environmental activists onto his program for a debate that seemed right out of “The Twilight Zone.”
Schultz outlined the reasons behind his support of the Keystone Pipeline — held up for five years by the Obama administration — by emphasizing American energy independence and the safety of people living near rail lines carrying crude oil. He also dismissed environmentalist arguments that the pipeline will lead to more climate-alterning emissions.

His new position stated last night on his show

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

Schultz last month came out in favor of the controversial project, which would connect Alberta's tar sands oil to Gulf refineries. He called the pipeline "a step in the right direction when it comes to energy independence."
On Wednesday night, however, Schultz said that he changed his mind after hearing from people who would be affected by the pipeline. He said it would be "disastrous" if the pipeline "does leak, because it is irreversible."

"Mr. President, say no to this project," Schultz said. "I turn this night on this program. I was wrong. But after researching both sides and listening to all the experts, I don't think America needs to take this risk."

"Mr. President, it seems like you'll have to go talk to these people in Nebraska," Schultz added. "You won't have all the information, Mr. President, unless you do what I did. It's an eye opener."

FishOutofWater has an outstanding refutation of all the bullshit arguments in favor of KXL in this diary: Whereas I Prove* That Keystone XL Pipeline Will Have No Environmental Impacts Read More

NOLA Danziger Bridge Katrina verdict overturned: Horrendous prosecutorial misconduct

Kombema

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Tuesday September 17, 2013 · 7:44 PM PDT

2013/09/17 · 19:44

I'm shocked and angry that the federal conviction of the police officers who shot at least five innocent people on the Danziger Bridge during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have been overturned, based on extensive federal (DoJ) prosecutor misconduct. You have to read the judge's 129 page decision to get the full, horrifying scope of what four federal prosecutors -- two from Louisiana, and two from Main Justice -- did to taint that trial.

Thus, a new trial, and the suffering of the victims' families will continue anew.

Danziger Bridge Convictions Overturned
A federal judge on Tuesday overturned the convictions of five New Orleans police officers tied to the shooting of unarmed civilians during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, finding that prosecutors in the case had engaged in “grotesque” misconduct.
In a blistering and meticulously detailed 129-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt found that federal prosecutors in New Orleans had anonymously posted damning online critiques of the accused officers and the New Orleans Police Department before and during the 2011 trial, a breach of professional ethics that had the effect of depriving the officers of their rights to a fair trial. The judge granted the officers’ request for a new trial.

“Re-trying this case is a very small price to pay in order to protect the validity of the verdict in this case, the institutional integrity of the Court, and the criminal justice system as a whole,” Judge Engelhardt wrote.

The judge's ruling here (WARNING: PDF).

p.s. I have to head to bed, and apologize for not being able to interact in the comments. Just had not seen this, and wanted to post it.

NYPD Worse Than the Feds/NSA? No: Just Ahead of the Curve...

Kombema

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Monday August 26, 2013 · 3:30 PM PDT

2013/08/26 · 15:30

If ever there were a glaring example of why NSA-type spying programs inevitably lead to oppressive violation of minority rights, in addition to peaceful First Amendment protest, it is Ray Kelly's New York City Police Department. These guys are desperately in need of having their sails trimmed by a Justice Department federal consent decree. The only issue after that is what to do with the NSA's, FBI's, and state and local police departments overreach?

Recent pieces in the The Atlantic, "Is the NYPD Worse Than the NSA?," and New York Magazine's "The NYPD Division of Un-American Activities," outline well the extent of NYPD abuse of the Constitution.

Poll

22 votes Show Results

NYPD is:

22 votes Vote Now!

NYPD is:

Exception to the rule: DoJ can whip them into line and all will be well

0 votes

Emblematic of the rising militarization of policing, and an unhealthy fusion of the "War on Drugs" with the "War on Terrorism", among MANY other problems!

22 votes

Just the way things are. Mature people should just accept the new reality

0 votes

UPDATE: GOTV --> GOT-ID? New Civil Rights Rallying Point Against Voter Suppressn, new Jim Crow

Kombema

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Thursday June 27, 2013 · 4:46 PM PDT

2013/06/27 · 16:46

GOT I.D.? Now that the racist activist GOP SCOTUS majority have turned back time toward a new Jim Crow era, we need a new civil rights movement in response. Much as Get Out The Vote (GOTV) was used so successfully in 2012, it's time to Get Out The I.D. (GOT-ID, or #GotID) -- except in this case, year-round.

Much as the Freedom Riders rode the segregated buses and countless other civil rights activists helped get African Americans registered and voting in Jim Crow South in the years after the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision, and before the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA), it's time to energize a new generation of civil rights activists of all stripes.

This campaign will both shut down one of the most wide-spread and virulent racist Republican voter suppression tactics, and act as a rallying point -- a mobilizing and educational effort for to put a stop to these and other atrocities against democracy, and help build a year-round activist network in the process.

FYI, this diary came out of StellaRay's outstanding and currently rec-listed diary,
Beware Texas Democrats. Wisconsin was there once too., and a discussion she, high uintas, I, and others had in it about how to get people motivated in places where the GOP is marching with hob-nailed jack boots all over democracy, women's and minority rights, and civilization in general. Below is a brief list of reasons this could work.

We need to mobilize Democrats around the country to contribute money, resources, and their time to get those would-be voters without state photo identification, in GOP-run states that enact such laws, to the appropriate locations to get the I.D.s. This is exactly the type of backlash that made possible the tremendous minority voter turnout in 2012 in response to the Republican voter suppression. Now we need to use that momentum, and the new VRA gutting SCOTUS gambit, to say fuck you to the Republican Party once and for all. Let's drive home the last nails in their coffins, folks!

No, this is not the only issue/problem, but its a big one, and rallying around it would have benefits well beyond the specific voter I.D. effort

Poll

140 votes Show Results

Get Out The I.D. (GOT-ID):

140 votes Vote Now!

Get Out The I.D. (GOT-ID):

Meh: Lots of other stuff to do, would likely not work

0 votes

Possibilities if there's enough momentum around the issue

10 votes

Great way to tell the GOP to go frack themselves

27 votes

Possible method for mobilizing a new generation and movement for Civil Rights and Liberties.

103 votes

David Gregory, Traitor (and future Greenwald co-defendant)

Kombema

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Monday June 24, 2013 · 4:55 PM PDT

2013/06/24 · 16:55

David Gregory is both a mush headed, lazy Beltway MSM courtesan, as well as a hypocrite and potential future accused (cough) journalist traitor co-defendant of Glenn Greenwald -- since both have reported on classified state secrets gotten from government informants.

We're all familiar with the now-famous (and deliciously disdainful Greenwald pwn of Gregory) exchange:

Turns out, however, that in the SAME DAMN SEGMENT, Gregory discussed still-classified FISA Court information himself, gotten from a confidential government informant!

Poll

96 votes Show Results

David Gregory is a...

96 votes Vote Now!

David Gregory is a...

Principled professional journalist

5 votes

Hardworking Beltway prostitute for the rich and powerful

44 votes

Moron who shouldn't be allowed around sharp objects, let alone allowed to host a nationally syndicated television show

34 votes

Traitor to the United States, and soon to be frog-marched into solitary confinement to await execution

13 votes

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