Kentucky Senator Rand Paul today launched an old-fashioned, for-real filibuster of CIA Director-designate John Brennan’s confirmation in the U.S. Senate, citing the Obama Administration’s refusal to rule out a clandestinely-determined drone strike against an American citizen in the US. Paul, who acknowledges that he does not fear such an Obama order actually taking place but is troubled by the expansive powers being claimed in drone policy, of which Brennan has been the principal architect, has been joined by several other conservative senators and by liberal Oregon Senator Ron Wyden.
MIDNIGHT UPDATE: Paul ended his filibuster late this evening.
** NEW COLUMNS COMING UP … CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS: OUT OF STUNTS and THE ALLURE OF ARABIA.
** QUICK HITS. Why hasn’t Senator Rand Paul’s anti-drone policy filibuster on John Brennan’s confirmation as CIA director moved to a cloture vote yet? Because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid didn’t file necessary paperwork prior to an actual talking filibuster taking place. An interesting oversight, with liberal Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon joining Paul and several conservative senators. … At issue, with drones on the verge of being accepted in domestic surveillance culture, is what may be a rather expansive definition of what constitutes an “imminent” threat from an American citizen sufficient to take away the constitutional right of due process prior to execution. … My old LA Weekly colleague Harold Meyerson has a brand new American Prospect cover story on Governor Jerry Brown, “The Once and Future Guv,” saying “Two years into his second go-round as governor, Jerry Brown has — to the surprise of many — turned California around.” More to follow. …
** NEW SURVEY: PRE-SEQUESTER GOVERNMENT HIRING FLAT, NON-GOVERNMENT HIRING UP. A new Gallup Poll survey shows little anticipatory impact on the job market from the fabled budget sequester.
The deep concern the Obama Administration was looking for simply didn’t materialize. It’s either a failure of communication or conceptualization by the White House.
I suggest the latter, leading to the former.
Government job creation in the U.S. was modest at +3 in February, before the sequester — essentially unchanged from +4 in January. At the same time, nongovernment job creation improved slightly to +21 last month from +18 in January. …
Government and nongovernment job creation suffered after the recession and financial crisis. However, the trends began separating in mid-2010 as nongovernment job creation improved and government job creation remained weak. This continues to be the case even though overall government job creation has been trending slightly positive since October 2012.
Federal government net hiring improved to -5 in February from -10 the prior month. State government net hiring was essentially unchanged at +8 compared with +10 in January, while local government net hiring declined to +2 last month from +8 in January. …
With the White House having oversold the immediate impact of the budget sequester, as NWN warned for weeks, Attorney General Eric Holder argued today that there will be long-term effects on national security.
** NEW COLUMNS COMING UP … THE ALLURE OF ARABIA and CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS: OUT OF STUNTS.
** OBAMA TODAY. President Barack Obama is in Washington.
Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received the intelligence and economic briefings in the Oval Office.
Obama then met with senior advisors in the Oval Office.
At 9:30 AM Pacific, Obama and Biden meet for lunch in the Private Dining Room.
At 12 noon Pacific, Obama and Biden meet with Treasury Secretary Jack Lew in the Oval Office.
Washington is semi-paralyzed by a big snow storm which is throwing off a lot of happenings in the nation’s capital, including the planned White House ceremony for the national champion University of Alabama football team.
Obama’s pick to head the CIA, John Brennan, won a 12 to 3 confirmation vote yesterday in the Senate Intelligence Committee. He is having to reveal more on US drone policy, but so far only to senators, in secret.
I suspect more will have to be revealed to Senator John McCain and company on how the Benghazi disaster talking points for UN Ambassador Susan Rice were altered from accurate (terrorist attack) to inaccurate (protest gone sour).
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would like to have the full Senate vote to confirm Brennan this week.
Obama is monitoring several geopolitical crises involving the Arab Awakening, Iran and Israel, Syria, Iraq, AfPak, and the South China Sea.
Military Crisis Zone Times: The Persian/Arabian Gulf is ten hours ahead of Pacific time, and Afghanistan is eleven and a half hours ahead of Pacific time. The time in Manila, on the South China Sea, is fifteen hours ahead of Pacific time.
The regular San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge light show began Tuesday night. It’s part of the run-up to the opening of the new portion of the span, redesigned (with major input from then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown) and rebuilt in the wake of the great earthquake of 1989, in the fall. The “Bay Lights” light sculpture will run every night for the next two years, including during the global coverage of this year’s America’s Cup in San Francisco Bay.
** FROM THE JERRY FILES. Governor Jerry Brown is in Northern California.
He has no scheduled public events as of this morning.
The very desultory Los Angeles municipal elections went through their first round of voting last night.
As expected, LA City Councilman Eric Garcetti and LA City Controller Wendy Greuel led a pack of candidates vying to replace Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. They will face off in a run-off later on May 21st.
In another near record low turnout in a city known for voter apathy in local elections, Garcetti led Greuel in the mayoral race, 32% to 29%.
Brown is neutral in the mayor’s race.
But he is backing veteran state legislator Gil Cedillo for a Los Angeles City Council seat and cut a robocall for him.
Cedillo nearly won last night, with over 49% of the vote. But he seems to be falling just short of the majority needed to avoid the May 21st run-off.
Click here for my compendium of articles laying out the re-emergence of Jerry Brown as governor of California.
Click here for my compendium of articles providing a narrative of his governorship.
** WILL JERRY BROWN BE UNOPPOSED FOR RE-ELECTION? … From my March 4th feature.
** SECRETARY HAGEL AND THE SENATE’S MASSIVE WASTE OF TIME. … From my February 27th essay.
** OSCARMANIA! (OR NOT): A POLITICAL STEW ON LIGHT SIMMER. … From my February 25th essay.
** THE HAILSTORM AROUND HAGEL POINTS UP THE SYSTEM’S DYSFUNCTIONALITY. … From my February 21st essay.
** THE ANTI-HAGEL GAMBITS: CLEVER, BUT NOT REALLY THAT CLEVER. … From my February 15th essay.
** WITH LITTLE POLITICAL OR POLICY IMPACT AND DUMBED DOWN LANGUAGE, DOES THE STATE OF THE UNION EVEN MATTER? … From my February 12th column.
** JERRY BROWN FINDS FUN (IN NEW FOIL RICK PERRY) AND MORE THAN A BIT OF ILLUMINATION. … From my February 7th column.
** FROM GOVERNATOR TO MOONBEAM. … From my January 3rd, 2011 feature.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th, 2009 Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in major military operations in the region, and the Arab awakening underway, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer from the Russia Today channel. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the state-run channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil is trading around $90 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
This is up about $57 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity, and down about $23 per barrel from the price at the time of the Osama bin Laden raid.
Your posts are welcome in the Forum. You can send me a private tip by clicking on the “Contact” button in the upper right.
Read 
| Comments (41) |
Good bad news news video for the White House on sequester.
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
I hope Barack isn’t the President who cried wolf…
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:37 am
Good bad news news video for the White House on sequester.
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
LA local politics, nobody cares much…
Why is that??
BB:In another near record low turnout in a city known for voter apathy in local elections, Garcetti led Greuel in the mayoral race, 32% to 29%.
The sun is shining here!
BB: Washington is semi-paralyzed by a big snow storm which is throwing off a lot of happenings in the nation’s capital, including the planned White House ceremony for the national champion University of Alabama football team.
Thank you for the wonderful article on Gov. Brown. He is making more of a difference than any elected official I can think of in California for a very long time. Congratulations to him, his wonderful wife and you for providing these chronicles of politics in action.
It’s too bad Bill has to put up with crazy commenters on HuffPost, this time the gun nut crowd.
I was afraid of this, also…
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:54 am
I hope Barack isn’t the President who cried wolf…
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:37 am
Good bad news news video for the White House on sequester.
Any crisis video today?
Just a crisis for the drone lobby…
It is awful pretty but I don’t see the Guv.
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:56 am
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
HuffPo carries a big selection of mixed nuts.
Heh.
Requiem says:
March 6, 2013 at 11:35 am
It’s too bad Bill has to put up with crazy commenters on HuffPost, this time the gun nut crowd.
I like Ayn Rand Paull a little better today.
Good good-bad news news video of the drone filibuster.
Hmmm…
JB’s not like Arnold, he doesn’t have to show up everywhere.
Jack Aubrey says:
March 6, 2013 at 3:05 pm
It is awful pretty but I don’t see the Guv.
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:56 am
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
Must read!!
… My old LA Weekly colleague Harold Meyerson has a brand new American Prospect cover story on Governor Jerry Brown, “The Once and Future Guv,” saying “Two years into his second go-round as governor, Jerry Brown has — to the surprise of many — turned California around.” More to follow. …
I only wish it didn’t take Rand Paul to demand answers that all Americans deserve.
I trust President Obama. I don’t trust the secret power the drone policy declares. It is too dangerous to allow.
Mayhaps this is the beginning of an American reckoning with the War on Terror.
Apparently, the Libertarians are good for something, after all.
Who knew?
That reminds. What happened to the liberals?
North Korea crisis video today?
Probably not.
Situational politics, you know.
> Goedel says:
March 7, 2013 at 7:55 am (Edit)
That reminds. What happened to the liberals?
Well, it’s not quite that bad …
> Goedel says:
March 7, 2013 at 7:55 am (Edit)
Apparently, the Libertarians are good for something, after all.
Who knew?
Perhaps.
> axel white says:
March 7, 2013 at 6:42 am (Edit)
Mayhaps this is the beginning of an American reckoning with the War on Terror.
It is quite ironic.
> marcos leon says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:49 pm (Edit)
I only wish it didn’t take Rand Paul to demand answers that all Americans deserve.
I trust President Obama. I don’t trust the secret power the drone policy declares. It is too dangerous to allow.
Indeed.
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 5:55 pm (Edit)
Must read!!
… My old LA Weekly colleague Harold Meyerson has a brand new American Prospect cover story on Governor Jerry Brown, “The Once and Future Guv,” saying “Two years into his second go-round as governor, Jerry Brown has — to the surprise of many — turned California around.” More to follow. …
He shows up a lot of places unannounced …
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 5:54 pm (Edit)
JB’s not like Arnold, he doesn’t have to show up everywhere.
Jack Aubrey says:
March 6, 2013 at 3:05 pm
It is awful pretty but I don’t see the Guv.
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:56 am
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
Quite so.
> Cooper Hawks says:
March 6, 2013 at 3:56 pm (Edit)
I like Ayn Rand Paull a little better today.
Indeed.
> Jack Aubrey says:
March 6, 2013 at 3:06 pm (Edit)
HuffPo carries a big selection of mixed nuts.
Heh.
Requiem says:
March 6, 2013 at 11:35 am
It’s too bad Bill has to put up with crazy commenters on HuffPost, this time the gun nut crowd.
Watching from the shore.
> Jack Aubrey says:
March 6, 2013 at 3:05 pm (Edit)
It is awful pretty but I don’t see the Guv.
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:56 am
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
Heh.
>
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 1:43 pm (Edit)
Any crisis video today?
Jack Aubrey says:
March 6, 2013 at 2:58 pm (Edit)
Just a crisis for the drone lobby…
Not unpredictable.
> Requiem says:
March 6, 2013 at 11:37 am (Edit)
I was afraid of this, also…
Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:54 am
I hope Barack isn’t the President who cried wolf…
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:37 am
Good bad news news video for the White House on sequester.
Thanks. It does get old.
>
Requiem says:
March 6, 2013 at 11:35 am (Edit)
It’s too bad Bill has to put up with crazy commenters on HuffPost, this time the gun nut crowd.
You are very welcome.
This governorship is turning out very well.
> lorena says:
March 6, 2013 at 10:55 am (Edit)
Thank you for the wonderful article on Gov. Brown. He is making more of a difference than any elected official I can think of in California for a very long time. Congratulations to him, his wonderful wife and you for providing these chronicles of politics in action.
Indeed.
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:59 am (Edit)
The sun is shining here!
BB: Washington is semi-paralyzed by a big snow storm which is throwing off a lot of happenings in the nation’s capital, including the planned White House ceremony for the national champion University of Alabama football team.
It’s been that way as long as I can remember.
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:57 am (Edit)
LA local politics, nobody cares much…
Why is that??
BB:In another near record low turnout in a city known for voter apathy in local elections, Garcetti led Greuel in the mayoral race, 32% to 29%.
It does look wonderful.
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:56 am (Edit)
Awesome, I LOVE IT!!!!
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:46 am
Great video of the San Francisco Bay Bridge light show.
Indeed.
> Capitol Boy says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:54 am (Edit)
I hope Barack isn’t the President who cried wolf…
Jonas says:
March 6, 2013 at 9:37 am
Good bad news news video for the White House on sequester.