American Morning
Avlon: 'Wingnut' demonizes the opposition
Editor’s note: John P. Avlon is the author of Independent Nation: How Centrists Can Change American Politics and writes a weekly column for The Daily Beast. Previously, he served as Chief Speechwriter for New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and was a columnist and associate editor for The New York Sun.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/13/wingnuts.waxman.shay2.getty.facebook.cnn.art.jpg caption="Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman (L) chairman of the Young Republicans, Audra Shay (R)."]
Here’s one mistake wingnuts always make: they view political opponents as their enemies, not well-intentioned fellow Americans. They demonize disagreement.
It’s part of the hyper-partisan political cycle – backlashes begin when one party gets arrogant and over-reaches. We saw it with Tom Delay’s Republican Congress post-2004, and we might be seeing the beginning with House Democrats today.
The stimulus spending spree is beginning to attract some Main Street skepticism, just as liberal leaders try to move climate change cap and trade and a trillion dollar health care reform through Congress this summer. There is a sense that momentum must be kept at all costs and that opposition is outright un-American. At least according to influential California Democratic Congressman Henry Waxman, who adopted the kind of rhetoric usually associated with wingnuts on the right while in an interview with NPR’s Diane Rehm, as reported by Politico.
"It appears that the Republican Party leadership in the Congress has made a decision that they want to deny President Obama success — which means, in my mind, they are rooting against the country as well," Waxman said.
“Rooting against the country” – that’s quite a charge. But it’s one he’s repeated in recent days (at one point saying the GOP is “rooting against the world”), while he promotes a new book and his cap and trade bill, which Waxman admits to not have read in detail despite sponsorship: “I certainly don’t claim to know everything that’s in this bill,” he’s said.
But if he doesn’t know what’s in the 1,200 page Waxman-Markey bill, who does? Republicans like John McCain have supported cap and trade in the past – and 8 courageous Republicans in the House voted for the bill while 44 Democrats voted against it. There is a need to build bipartisan support for ambitious bills. Demonizing the opposition – or questioning their commitment to their country – is not the way to achieve it.
Waxman’s comments underscore a problem for Democrats that began creeping into polling numbers this week: The election of 2008 was not a blank check liberal ideological mandate. President Obama is broadly popular, but the Democrat-controlled Congress is not. One of the reasons for this gap is the president’s post-partisan approach to problem-solving. In contrast, hyper-partisans end up being their own side’s worst enemy because they alienate the moderate majority of Americans.
But speaking of calling your opponents anti-American, few can outdo the leading candidate to be the next chairman of the Young Republicans, Audra Shay. “I think that you are ignorant if you believe this man is anything but anti-American,” she wrote about President Obama on her Facebook page.
We Listen – Your comments 7/9/09
Editor’s Note: The economy remained at the forefront of concern for Thursday’s American Morning audience, as most felt the GOP was “playing politics” with the economy instead of working with President Obama and the Democrats to fix the problems. Many blamed the Bush Administration for the country’s poor financial health.
- Chris: How are we to accept the fact that the GOP is the once doing the grilling, let's remember they're the ones who have [put] the world in this place and someone [who] steps up to try and fix the problem is being criticize.
- Scott: I can't believe congress is talking about another "Stimulus Project". They are truly crazy. They haven't really even started to spend this one. Are they trying to see how fast they can bankrupt America.
- Leann: I was enjoying "Roman's Numeral" this morning, following reports on how the stimulus monies have been spent or mis-spent – many states having used stimulus funds for balancing their budgets. Roman's report showed that some states have spent up to 63% on Medicaid. I am blown away that the media and hard working, tax paying citizens are not outraged by this. While I am grateful that there are programs to help the elderly and children who need healthcare coverage, there are so many illegal immigrants sucking our Medicaid program dry, it leaves the states over burdened. I cannot fathom why Medicaid reform hasn't begun by simply removing illegals from the program. It is not that difficult to identify false documents and refuse services. Spend a day in an HR office and see how often jobs are refused until proper documentation is presented. 63%!!!!!!!! that is huge!!!! WAKE UP PEOPLE!!!! ps....love to get my AMFIX!! thanks...
On Wednesday, Congressional Republicans tore into the Obama Administration over its implementation of the economic stimulus plan, arguing that the White House is mishandling the distribution of the money while dramatically overstating the ability of the package to create jobs. What do you think the next steps should be regarding the current stimulus or an additional stimulus package? Is the U.S. acquiring so much debt that we’re headed for our country’s bankruptcy, or is spending the appropriate approach? How do you feel about the stance of the GOP, saying that President Obama’s stimulus package has not created enough jobs? Are they correct in this assertion?
"Kia-ville" the new Motor City
Deep in the middle of a recession, there's a boom town rising 80 miles from Atlanta in West Point, Georgia. Why West Point, Georgia? Because there's a thriving auto industry here. Surprised? So were we. CNN’s Alina Cho went there and found out why.
CIA lies and security breaches
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/09/intv.townsend.cia.art.jpg caption="Townsend says Congress should be careful issuing letters on intelligence matters."]
On Capitol Hill, a scathing letter has gone public. It’s from House Democrats who say the CIA hid intelligence from Congress and misled lawmakers for eight years after 9/11. Shockingly, the source is their boss, CIA Director Leon Panetta. It begs the question, should we expect the nation's top spy agency to keep some secrets?
CNN National Security Contributor and former Homeland Security Advisor to the Bush administration, Fran Townsend spoke to Joe Johns Thursday.
Joe Johns: Let's look at the letter that's been making the rounds so far, it says recently you testified that you've determined that top CIA officials have concealed significant actions from Congress from 2001 to this week. This comes from six democratic members of congress. What do you make of that letter?
Townsend: You know, Joe, I think because of the controversy over the Nancy Pelosi briefings, people are going to put these things together. This morning I spoke to both White House and CIA senior officials who confirm to me that these two issues, the Pelosi briefings, which Panetta made perfectly clear she had been briefed honestly and fully and this issue are completely unrelated. These are two separate issues. What happens is oftentimes the CIA and other agencies will go up and do briefings. They'll go back and realize they inadvertently left information out. Things they were unaware of that they didn't tell Congress. You want them to come back up. I suspect what happened here is, they realized there was something that was not included in the briefing and they did the right thing – they notified the Congress. We got to be careful with Congress issuing letters on intelligence matters and playing politics with the intelligence community. It may have just the opposite effect of what they want, which is full and complete information.
Johns: Let’s dig a little deeper on that. If you step away, back away from it, you know one thing, Pelosi challenged the veracity of the CIA. She challenged the fact that they were being truthful. Now you look at this letter that comes out. Even though we don't know all of the between-the-lines information, does it look like she is vindicated? Should she be vindicated? Or does it just look like her colleagues in the House are trying to make it look like she's vindicated.
Townsend: I think it's the latter, Joe. I think her colleagues are playing politics with this to try to make her look vindicated. CIA issued a statement through a spokesman yesterday making clear that Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, stood by his statement issued in May related to the Nancy Pelosi briefing. That's done. It's clear that she was briefed. It is clear CIA fulfilled their obligations there. This is a separate matter. That’s why I say it's very dangerous for the House of Democrats to be playing politics with the intelligence community; when you want them to do, if they’ve made a mistake as an oversight matter, is come up and tell you about it. I really think this is a pretty dangerous game they're playing.
Johns: There’s also a behind-the-scenes fight going on right now on Capitol Hill as to whether more people on the Hill should be privy to certain information that comes out of the intelligence community or whether just that gang of eight, certain specific individuals on Capitol Hill who get to see this stuff, should continue to see the stuff. Do you think that’s part of the politics of this letter coming out?
Townsend: I think you're right to raise it. I suspect it is. We should tell our viewers that the administration has issued a statement that the president’s senior advisor will recommend he veto the legislation if the briefing numbers are expanded. The reason for that is, we understand the more people that know, the more likely it is that critical information and classified information will leak. It's very dangerous. What you want is an effective oversight by the people who know the most and have responsibility in the area. That’s why there's the gang of eight. But you don't need 40 members all knowing this critical and classified information that may put lives at risk if it leaks.
FDNY's newest training tool: high-rise simulator
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/09/signage.simulator.randall.island.art.jpg caption="The sign upon entering the subway component."]
From CNN Associate Producer Erica Fink
FDNY firefighters are now training on the world’s first high rise fire simulator, and they took us along for a morning of drills at the Fire Academy, or as they call it, “The Rock.”
The building simulates conditions unique to high rise fires: a person stuck in an elevator shaft; people stuck in the windowsills of burning rooms, many floors high; rooms with old or poor ventilation; apartments and offices illegally divided into very small rooms. And while the building itself is only five stories tall, the drills require engine companies to react as if they are 40 or 50 stories off the ground (there’s a trampoline on the side of the building, but they’re not allowed to jump off the roof.)
As many as fifteen times a day, they set the building on fire with a remote control. Deb got to play victim as one squad company practiced a rope rescue from the fourth floor.
Until the simulator was built, firefighters practiced on unused portions of working office buildings (imagine sitting at your desk and seeing a firefighter repelling from the roof past your window). Worse yet, they only got to do it a couple of times a year and it wasn’t real fire - they would practice without smoke or water.
The academy looks like something out of Hollywood. They have fake street scenes, burnt down busses, and a full-fledged subway station for firefighters to practice rescuing people stuck beneath subway trains (I crawled under one of the subway cars and there really is headroom if you get stuck under one…but I’m glad the FDNY is practiced on getting folks out of there.) Check out the videos and our exclusive behind the scenes photos.
Actor Denis Leary and the Leary Firefighters Foundation partly backed the project, with the rest of the funding coming from the Department of Homeland Security. Watch our one-on-one interview with Leary.
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/09/simulator.smoke.building.art.jpg caption="Simulated building fire"]
Every day, all day, different ladder and engine companies come through the facility to train on simulated fires.
The FDNY took us through a drill with a ladder company to see them in action: we saw them combat flames over head, kick doors down, do a gurney rescue down an elevator shaft, and climb through windows.
The facility was the subject of an international symposium in March, where fire fighters from around the country came to learn about the facility to replicate in their own cities, easily applicable to Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Study: Night owls may benefit from evening strength
[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/09/woman.sick.bed.art.jpg caption="Some people who appear to have insomnia are biologically night owls, one expert says."]
(CNN) - If you have a hard time crawling out of bed in the morning, it could be that your body is biologically programmed to start the day later.
Experts say a spectrum of natural sleeping and waking rhythms exists, ranging from extreme morning people to extreme "night owls."
A new study examines how morning people compare with night owls on a strength test and looks at what other physiological processes may contribute to their performance.
Researchers tested participants' leg muscle strength at various points in the day. They looked at nine "early birds" and nine "night owls," who were classified as such based on a questionnaire.
Surprisingly, morning people's strength tends to remain constant throughout the day, but night owls have peak performance in the evening, said researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada.
"We thought that morning people would be better at this in the morning, but they never changed," said study co-author Olle Lagerquist, a Ph.D. candidate in neurophysiology at the University of Alberta.
That may be because evening people show increased motor cortex and spinal cord excitability in the evening, about 9 p.m., meaning they had maximal central nervous system drive at that time, Lagerquist said.
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