Barack Obama Actually a Secret Muslim

This is flowing at Memeorandum.com, which means lots of people are talking about it:

"AS a schoolboy in Jakarta, Barack Obama attended Muslim prayer sessions with his classmates against the wishes of his mother.

The US President's former grade three teacher said that Mr Obama - who was known as 'Barry' when he attended the Menteng One school in Jakarta - studied the Koran and went to classes on Islam, despite the objections of Ann Dunham, a Catholic."

Wait for it...

Mr Obama moved to Indonesia with his mother and Indonesian stepfather, Lolo Soetoro, when he was 6, and lived there for four years.

I have no idea if this stuff is true, but maybe tracking down what people were doing when they were 6 years old is a horrendous way to do our politics.

Slate's Bogus Trend Story About Fake Domestic Abuse

Slate's well-known for publishing articles that challenge conventional wisdom, sometimes embarrassingly so. I'm not sure if that spirit is behind today's piece that suggests immigrant women are faking spousal abuse in order to qualify for residency in the United States. The problem is that the story is rife with ambiguities that -- if it were published by any other outlet -- would earn it a place on Jack Shafer's "bogus trend" stories list.

How widespread is the fake-abuse problem?

"But the law has a potential flaw, too: A small fraction of the time, it may also provide incentive for immigrant husbands and wives to fake domestic abuse."

And:

No one knows how widespread the fraud might be, though it's probably a small portion of all the spouses who apply for immigration relief saying they've been abused. In 2009, 8,534 people tried to gain permanent residency through VAWA's abuse provision, and 73 percent succeeded. Government databases don't track how many of the 2,000 or so denials were turned down on suspicions of fraud, as opposed to another reason such as lack of evidence.

Nobody would defend false charges of domestic abuse. The problem here is that Frances McInnis uses a single source to provide the anecdotal foundation for her story, but fails to offer any evidence that the fraud is actually a problem and even admits that the government's current practices may be filtering out such fraud -- but then goes on to call for more measures against the fraud.

Still, some immigration and women's rights activists agree that measures should be in place to guard against immigrants looking to exploit the law's permissiveness. "Credibility must be established," says Leni Marin, a senior vice president at the Family Violence Prevention Fund, a nonprofit focused on ending domestic and sexual violence. "By no means do we endorse fraud," she said, adding that both the lawyer representing the case and immigration authorities should make sure that any claims of abuse are legitimate.

So we have a problem that's maybe not a real problem, requiring actions that might already be taken. This is weak, weak stuff. And to what end?

The Times Wants Pelosi Replaced

Today's editorial:

"If Ms. Pelosi had been a more persuasive communicator, she could have batted away the ludicrous caricature of her painted by Republicans across the country as some kind of fur-hatted commissar jamming her diktats down the public’s throat. Both Ms. Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader, are inside players who seem to visibly shrink on camera when defending their policies, rarely connecting with the skeptical independent voters who raged so loudly on Tuesday."

It's possible they thought that selling Democratic achievements to the voters was the president's job. But Pelosi has been minority leader before -- and in that role, led the party to a majority. In any event, the Times doesn't tell us who would be a good replacement.

DADT Survives

(Sigh):

"The drive in Congress to repeal the military's 'don't ask, don't tell' policy appears all but lost for the foreseeable future, with action unlikely this year and even less likely once Republicans take charge of the House in January.

President Barack Obama has repeatedly said he wants to overturn the policy, which bans gays from serving openly in the armed forces. Advocates on both sides believed the issue had a chance of coming up in this month's post-election session of Congress. Now that looks unlikely."

Tell me again what Obama has done for gays? Besides make them wait?

Voter Fraud

Adam Serwer:

"In the modern era, there's never been a proven case of someone stealing an election through the deliberate casting of fraudulent ballots, although in the conservative media it's a given that it happens all the time. That's because conservatives think Democratic victories are inherently illegitimate, if not by the letter of the law at least in the sense that liberals and Democrats aren't genuinely American. But the selective nature of voter fraud claims is another hint at the self-conscious nature of this scam. Voter fraud only 'occurs' when Republicans lose, and even then only as an explanation for why a Republican lost."

Net Neutrality and the Election

From the "correlation does not equal causation" files, we get L. Gordon Crovitz in the Wall Street Journal:

"As a reminder of unpredictability in politics, consider what happened when the Progressive Change Campaign Committee last month announced that 95 candidates for Congress had signed a pledge to support 'net neutrality.' The candidates promised: 'In Congress, I'll fight to protect Net Neutrality for the entire Internet—wired and wireless—and make sure big corporations aren't allowed to take control of free speech online.'

Last week all 95 candidates lost. Opponents of net neutrality chortled, and the advocacy group retreated to the argument that regulation of the Internet wasn't a big issue in the election.

The broader lesson may be that people fear government regulation of what has been a free and open Internet more than they fear what any other institution might do to the Web..."

An even broader lesson might be that almost nobody was thinking about net neutrality when they entered the voting booth last week. Try as I might, I can't find an exit poll where the issue ranked among voters' top concerns last week. And though I favor net neutrality, broadly, it wasn't even really on my mind when I went to vote.

But no mind. It's pretty easy to make election results say what you want them to say -- even if the election results were silent on the issue. At the very least, opponents of net neutrality legislation can take comfort that voters aren't paying enough attention to punish them if they let corporations have their way on the web.

Aren't Tasers Supposed To Be Non-lethal?

Third person in the region to die from Tasering in the last couple of months:

"MOUNT JOY, Pa. - Authorities in central Pennsylvania say an autopsy is planned Monday on the body of a man who died over the weekend after being subdued by police using a stun gun.

State police say officers in Mount Joy were called to a home shortly before 4 a.m. Saturday by a man who said he was being harassed. Police say 61-year-old Robert Neill 'became combative and aggressive,' and officers used stun guns after repeated attempts to calm him failed and he 'moved aggressively' toward an officer."

South Street Bridge Reopens: The Pictures

On Nov. 6, 2010, the South Street Bridge in Philadelphia was reopened after a two-year closure to rebuild the structure. Center City and West Philly are linked again -- and the community celebrated.

Abraham Lincoln's Anniversary

John Miller at The Corner:

"Exactly 150 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was elected president. His Republican ticket received only about 40 percent of the popular vote but it did carry an electoral-college majority."

Starting a grand Republican tradition!

(I kid, I kid.)

Hire Pelosi

The soon-to-be-former speaker is going to run for minority leader, and it doesn't seem a bad thing to me, even -- maybe especially -- in light of this:

"Republicans cheered the move, which is likely to mean that Ms. Pelosi and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, will continue as leaders in their respective chambers despite the party’s midterm election losses."

See, and the Harry Reid example is instructive. His name drips with contempt from the lips of conservative activists -- but Reid is pretty middle-of-the-road for a Democratic leader. Because he's a Democratic leader, he's become polarizing. Same for Pelosi, only she jumps ahead of Reid in the demonized sweepstakes because she's from San Francisco and thus makes good copy for Republicans.

But man, she's been effective. I don't expect that to change with her in the minority. It might be good for Democrats to have a leader who is practiced -- and good -- at throwing elbows at the helm. Keep her around, I say.

Obama Should Hold Steady on Bush Tax Cuts

This seems right to me:

"In his weekly address Saturday, Obama said that Democrats and Republicans not only agree on middle-class tax cuts but the need to rein in spending, and used this to try to drive his position on the tax cuts.

'At a time when we are going to ask folks across the board to make such difficult sacrifices, I don’t see how we can afford to borrow an additional $700 billion from other countries to make all the Bush tax cuts permanent, even for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans,' the president said. 'We’d be digging ourselves into an even deeper fiscal hole and passing the burden on to our children.'"

This seems worth fighting for. The tax cuts are better targeted at the middle class than the rich, even in a down economy, because the middle class will spend the money, doing their part to at least keep growth from bottoming out entirely. Couples making more than $250,000 -- yes, that's rich -- are more likely to save the extra dough. That's a virtue, but it's not the virtue their country needs right now.

And as politics: If Republicans want to hold a tax cut for the middle class hostage to a tax cut for the rich, let 'em. I'm certain voters will be paying attention.

Today in Philly Police Corruption

Inky:

"A high-ranking Philadelphia police officer seen as one of the department's rising stars was arrested Friday on federal charges of extortion and bribery, bringing a stunning end to the career of an ambitious 25-year veteran.

The accusations against 47-year-old Inspector Daniel Castro, detailed in an indictment unsealed Friday, stem from a real estate deal that failed, causing Castro to lose a $90,000 investment. He is accused of asking someone to hire an enforcer to use threats of violence to recoup the money."

Winners and Losers in the Election

Saletan gets it:

"In the national exit poll, voters were split on health care. Unemployment is at nearly 10 percent. Democrats lost a lot of seats that were never really theirs, and those who voted against the bill lost at a higher rate than did those who voted for it. But if health care did cost the party its majority, so what? The bill was more important than the election.

I realize that sounds crazy. We've become so obsessed with who wins or loses in politics that we've forgotten what the winning and losing are about. Partisans fixate on punishing their enemies in the next campaign.

Reporters, in the name of objectivity, refuse to judge anything but the Election Day score card. Politicians rationalize their self-preservation by imagining themselves as dynasty builders. They think this is the big picture.

They're wrong. The big picture isn't about winning or keeping power. It's about using it."

I wish the health care bill were better, frankly. (Single-payer or a public option, I think, would be both better policy and better politics.) But on the other hand, you don't govern so you can keep governing. You govern to get stuff done. Dems got stuff done, and if it means they lose out on power for a couple of years, that'll have to be the case. From that standpoint, I wouldn't change anything.

Wait. The Republicans Didn't Run on Cutting Social Security Did They?

Because that's the Republican agenda now that the election is over. Eric Cantor writes his fellow Republicans:

"Getting our long-term deficit under control will require that we address major entitlement reform.� It is a conversation that we must have, but one that is easier said than done. President Obama, congressional Democrats, and their liberal allies have made it abundantly clear that they will attack anyone who puts forward a plan that even tries to begin a conversation about the tough choices that are needed."

Entitlements being, of course, Social Security and Medicare. The Economist and Kevin Drum point out that Republicans spent the campaign season savaging Dems for reining in Medicare in the health bill -- but now that the election's over, things have changed.

My problem isn't the hypocrisy -- well, ok, my problem is partly the hypocrisy. Instead, I hate it when people run for office with big plans they don't tell the public about. That's deceiving the voters -- if only by omission -- and it's a lousy way to make a democracy. One reason George W. Bush started sinking so quickly after the 2004 election isn't just that he tried to privatize Social Security; it's that he didn't raise it as an issue until after the election was over. It's bait-and-switch, and it shouldn't be rewarded.

About The 'My Son Is Gay' Lady

I love my son. If he turns out to be gay: Awesome. If he wants to dress up someday as Daphne from 'Scooby Doo,' I'll buy him the wig. So I'm down with the Nerdy Apple Bottom blogger who did just that for her son. I'm just not quite as down with what happened next:

"Then as we got closer to the actual day, he stared to hem and haw about it. After some discussion it comes out that he is afraid people will laugh at him. I pointed out that some people will because it is a cute and clever costume. He insists their laughter would be of the ‘making fun’ kind. I blow it off. Seriously, who would make fun of a child in costume?"

Good lord. How about most of the other kids? And maybe even many of their parents? Unfortunately, that's what happened.

I'm not one to criticize another person's parenting: It's a friggin' hard job, we all make mistakes, and we all generally do them out of love. I have no reason to believe that Nerdy Apple had any other intent in her own actions.

But like I say: If my son wants to dress up like Daphne, that's how we'll play it. If he decides to reverse course because he's not sure he can handle the ridicule at school, well, I won't blow it off. Is it fair that he was ridiculed? No. Was it predictable? Absolutely. And while it's fine to support your child if he wants to challenge conventions, it's probably also important to support your kid if they'd rather not fight that particular battle in that particular manner. I'm going to instill values in my son as best I can, among them a dedication to standing up for the rights and feelings of less-powerful people. My job, however, is primarily to protect him -- and nudging him gently to let his freak flag fly might end up being more a demonstration of my own open-mindedness than his. It's a tough balance, to be sure, but I don't think the Nerdy Apple blogger found the right side of it.

Nerdy Apple meant well, I'm certain. She clearly loves her son. I agree with her values. But I think she made a mistake.

What The Eff Has Obama Done So Far?

Lots of my friends have been posting links to whatthefuckhasobamadonesofar.com in recent days. I'm not sure if the site is intended to buck up dispirited liberals or convince skeptical independents -- but either way I'm not terribly impressed. A lot of what's listed on the site is either bureaucratic paper-pushing that, while important, stands a fair distance from the heart of the liberal agenda. Other stuff is empty gesturing that deserves no better than a slow golf clap.

I'm pulling up the site now and running through a few items. What the eff has Obama done so far?

* Appointed nation's first Chief Technology Officer.

Um. Great. I know that's why I voted for him.

* Signed financial reform law establishing a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to look out for the interests of everyday Americans.

Better, actually.

* Signed financial reform law requiring lenders to verify applicants' credit history, income, and employment status.

Reasonable, but very "campaign in poetry, govern in prose" type stuff. And I suspect this particular item might have come out of a McCain presidency, actually.

* Appointed more openly gay officials than any other president in US history.

Nice, but we're veering pretty close to the "empty gesture" territory. (Rick Santorum has gay employees, too!) It's taken Obama so long to get the ball rolling on "Don't Ask Don't Tell," for example, that he's about to lose the Democratic congressional majority likely to pass a repeal. And of course, he remains opposed to same-sex marriage. Obama's not been a disaster, I suppose -- unlike George W. Bush, he didn't try to win a presidential campaign by putting gays on the defensive -- but the inaction on this front might explain why gay voters doubled their support for Republicans in Tuesday's election from two years ago.

* Created more private sector jobs in 2010 than during entire Bush years.

That might be true, but only as a niggling technicality. As Atrios pointed out this week, unemployment has consistently been much higher under Obama than it was under Bush. I don't think that's Obama's fault: I do believe the unemployment rate and slow growth of the economy are the result forces that came to a head during the Bush years. But as a political matter, that doesn't matter: We're feeling the pain right now, and the voters are going to punish anybody who isn't making it better quickly.

I could go on, but won't. And maybe liberals need a reminder that the last two years haven't been as pointless as Tuesday's election made them feel. But there's something about the WTF site that strikes me as out-of-touch with the wants and needs of the average American voter -- and disconnected from the bigger picture of good liberal governance, as though the accumulation of small acts of governance is somehow good governance. That's not necessarily the case.

Rick Perry For President?

It certainly seems so. As always, it's intriguing to me that Republicans spend a fair amount of time casting their rivals as "un-American," but tend to get a free pass when it comes to things like publicly (and favorably) musing about secession. I guess I should be used to the double-standards by now.

The South Street Bridge Opens Saturday!

And I'm really looking forward to it -- the bridge is just a few blocks from my home and has been closed for most of the two years we've lived here. West Philly, you're not going to keep me out!

The Inky reports:

"The South Street Bridge will allow people to move between two neighborhoods without feeling as if they had made a wrong turn on an interstate. At their narrowest, the sidewalks are nine feet, and broaden to 15 on the Center City side.

For bicyclists, there will be direct connections to the Schuylkill Banks path and new cycling lanes on South and Lombard Streets between the bridge and 21st Street. Though they run only a few blocks, those lanes make it possible to travel from, say, Northern Liberties to the University of Pennsylvania exclusively on the city's bicycle network."

Read the whole piece, as they say. Inky architecture critic Inga Saffron does a wonderful job of explaining the importance of a bridge -- not just as a way to move traffic, but as a public space -- in the life of a city. Fascinating reading.

More About the ACLU's Suit Against Philly Police

The Daily news profiles Mahari Bailey, an African-American attorney who has joined the suit against Philly PD's "stop and frisk" tactics:

"The following August, Bailey and some friends were standing near 53rd and Euclid streets in Wynnefield when officers, without cause or justification, the suit says, ordered Bailey and his friends to stand against a wall to be searched.

When Bailey told the officers that he was a lawyer and refused to consent to a search, one officer 'raised his fists in a threatening manner,' and told Bailey that he didn't 'give a f--- who you are,' the lawsuit says. Bailey was again released with no criminal charges being filed against him.

In May, Bailey was pulled over at 59th and Master streets in West Philadelphia. When Bailey asked why he had been stopped, one of the officers told him to 'shut up' and that he 'was in the wrong neighborhood,' according to the suit."

I'm dubious those tactics would ever be attempted in my Center City neighborhood. I know Philly's tough to police, but treating everybody like a criminal is a crappy -- and unconstitutional -- way to try and fix things. And probably ineffective: If even innocent and accomplished people like Mahari Bailey become angry and alienated from the police, is it any wonder a "don't snitch" ethos prevails in the city?

After The Tidal Wave

Ben and I tackle the question of "what's next after the election?" in our Scripps Howard column. My take:

On Wednesday morning, while most of her friends and flock were still hung over in despair of the election results, a liberal Kansas pastor sent a short note to the newly elected ultraconservative governor of her state, Sam Brownback.

"Dear Sam Brownback, I am pleased that Kansas has a governor who respects the sacred nature of life," the pastor wrote. "In the upcoming legislative session, I urge you to apply your pro-life principles to all people and support the repeal of the death penalty in the state of Kansas."

The pastor gives a fine sermon, but this act may have constituted her greatest lesson. Yes, liberals and their allies were defeated at the polls on Tuesday. But their causes endure -- providing aid and comfort to the needy; expanding the rights of gay and lesbian Americans; resisting the siren call of militarism in a violent age. A day or two of post-electoral bellyaching is understandable, but there is still work to be done. Republican victories don't change that.

Liberals can spend the next few years griping about their GOP rivals --or the folly of voters who elected them -- or they can accept their beating and begin work on rebuilding their coalitions, all while looking opportunities for to advance their agenda in the meantime.

Those advances may be smaller than desired, but doesn't make them unimportant.

Such advances may be more difficult at the federal level. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has plainly said the objective of the GOP during the next two years is to deny President Obama a second term. Also true: In some debates there is little or no room for common ground. But liberals might find opportunities at the local and state levels. And they might take a lesson from the Kansas pastor: there's no time for despair.