Clem’s Chronicles: GM/Sotomayor/Prince Harry in NYC/Chrysler Ruling Monday

Happy Friday folks-tonight's editorial note for your reading pleasure…..

GENERAL MOTORS, THE U.A.W. AND THE FUTURE-Good news today for General Motors, if not the men and women who build the cars. The UAW agreed to major concessions today ahead of GM’s expected Monday bankruptcy filing. As Chris Bury noted on WORLD NEWS, “at union halls across the country, the ear of gold-plated wages and benefits ended today.” How so? Bury: “(The UAW) agreed to concessions in wages, work rules and health care.  Retirees take an immediate hit, losing vision and dental coverage in July.” Do they get anything in return? Bury: “GM pledged to build new subcompacts at one of its closed U.S. plants…instead of importing the cars from China.” Good news, but more bad news is only a few days away: “On Monday, GM will identify 14 factories it plans to close as it becomes a much smaller company.” Much has been made of the taxpayer’s stake in “Government Motors”-upwards of $50 billion including monies expected to be proffered during bankruptcy-when does that money get returned? Not for awhile-Bury tells us “the government won’t be able to sell its (72%) stake in the new GM until six to eighteen months after the company emerges from bankruptcy-and possibly never. Mark Zadi, chief economist at Moody’s was quoted in Bury’s piece saying “I think there is very little chance that taxpayers will get all their money back. This will be at the end of the day very costly to all of us.” Let’s not forget the automobile dealerships as well. Bury notes that “on Monday another 450 car dealers will be cut loose from the company.”
 
CHRYSLER/BANKRUPTCY PLANS-From Lauren Perle: "Closing arguments just concluded, and U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Arthur Gonzalez said he plans to rule MONDAY whether to approve Chrysler's proposed sale of most of its assets to Italy's Fiat Group SpA.*  Some of Chryslers dealers, bond holders, and former employees have objected to the deal, and might appeal if the judge approves it.
(*technically, assets will be sold to a group led by Fiat, creating a new company.)  Approving the deal could allow Chrysler to speed through bankruptcy, perhaps within weeks.  (As opposed to years, as some had predicted)"

SOTOMAYOR & THAT “RACIST” COMMENT-A change of course for the White House today on Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s alleged “racist” 2001 comments claiming her experience as a Latina women would allow her to make better decisions than a white male. Jake Tapper noted that the White House has suggested for days that a perusal of her entire speech would render the “racist” criticism invalid. Today though, Tapper tells us on WORLD NEWS, “White House spokesman Robert Gibbs insisted Sotomayor would today not say a Latino woman would reach a ‘better’ conclusion than a white male.” Gibbs is quoted saying “she was simply making the point that personal experiences are relevant to the process of judging”  and brought up remarks from conservative Justice Samuel Alito at his 2006 confirmation hearings that seem to tread the same territory, i.e. the relevance of personal experience in the decision-making process. Conservative criticism is unlikely to stop-take Wendy Long’s point that “the bigger issue is her judicial philosophy which is she thinks judges can decide cases based on their personal views and feelings.” One of the cases conservatives cite-Sotomayor’s rebuff of white firefighters alleging discrimination against the city of New Haven while she was on the 2nd Circuit bench-is in the hands of the Supreme Court who MAY issue an opinion on the matter Monday (our SCOTUS folks think it “a tad early for this case to be decided but you never know”).

GEORGE W. BUSH SPEAKS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE LEAVING OFFICE-Former President George W. Bush gave his first paid speech since leaving office in Michigan last night. What’d he talk about? George Stephanopoulos tells us “(Bush) said he wasn’t going to criticize President Obama, but he did defend his own record on enhanced interrogation.” Stephanopoulos continues: “He tried to put the audience in his shoes as he faced the decision to waterboard Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.” And if you have been left with the impression that the decision-making on enhanced interrogation didn’t go all the way to the top, you’d be mistaken. Stephanopoulos: “The president clearly weighed in here on the decision, saying waterboarding was right and that it worked to some degree.” President Bush appeared with former President Bill Clinton this afternoon in Toronto for the first time. There, Stephanopoulos tells us, “he defended himself against the charge made by President Obama many times that we took our eye off the ball in Afghanistan when we invaded Iraq. Here’s what Bush said today. I don’t buy the premise that our attention was diverted. I think it’s false. Matter of fact, I know it’s false. I was there.” Rick Klein attended today’s event in Toronto and reports on it for GMA Saturday. 
 
PRINCE HARRY IN NYC-You probably couldn’t call it “Harrymania” but plenty of New Yorkers were up and about early today to get a look at Britain’s Prince Harry, who was making his first international foray as a representative of the British royal family. His first stop today? “Ground Zero in lower Manhattan,” David Wright told us on WORLD NEWS. “He also met with New York City heroes from 9/11 and wounded veterans at a VA medical center, places with personal significance for the prince, who served briefly in Afghanistan with the British Army.” And automobile executives pay attention-Wright notes that “on his first big trip as a royal ambassador, the young prince isn’t getting all the bells and whistles. He flew in this morning on British Airways, business class. No royal charter for him.” The 24-year-old Harry continues his NYC trip tomorrow.
 
LIES AND VIDEOTAPE:   Army General David Petraeus, whose command includes Afghanistan, says a video of air strikes in western Afghanistan earlier this month supports the U.S. military's belief that most of the casualties were Taliban fighters.  Luis Martinez tells us:  “Centcom’s investigation into the bombing of civilians and Taliban fighters in Farah Province has concluded and the report and gunsight video will be released next week.”   Centcom Commander Petraeus says : "What the video will prove is that the targets of these different strikes were the Taliban." Mike Boettcher is in Afghanistan and explains what the Taliban is up to: “ the Taliban is beginning to engage the U.S. in a different, even more critical battle – a fight for the hearts and minds of Afghans.  The insurgents are using U.S. inflicted civilian casualties as a weapon. The U.S. Military alleges that the Taliban is deliberately trying to bait American forces to attack civilian targets. According to the Army, that scenario happened in this early May airstrike attack against the Taliban, attacking a police patrol in Farah; a region sympathetic to the Taliban. According to US Intelligence, insurgents forced civilians to surround them during the fight. Villagers claim 140 died. But a U.S. General who visited Farah with the district's governor says, many of those reported killed were found, very much alive.” The U.S. military acknowledges as many as 35 civilians they refer to as “human shields”  were among  the Taliban fighters killed in the strikes. (Thanks to Ed Bailey for this entry)

NORTH KOREA MISSILE TEST PREPS-Great note from Luis Martinez as to what the North Koreans might be up to…
Martinez: “Here’s a clarifier about what’s happening with regards to North Korean preps for a long-range missile test.  Nothing is imminent.   There is activity at two North Korean locations: Musudan Ri and Sanum Dong.  
Musudan Ri is the launch facility for the TaepoDong 2 missiles .  There has been activity there for two weeks or so that would indicate a launch is in the works.  That would be vehicle activity and work on the gantry.  There is no missile there and when one arrives it usually takes a few weeks to get prepped for the pad.  (Just a guess here, but given the North Koreans proclivity for events to take place  on US holidays, July 4th looks like a possibility)
Sanum Dong – media outlets are reporting today about recent “satellite photos” showing  “suspicious vehicle activity” at this location.  This is a research and development area for North Korean missiles.  A US official provides a translation, “it’s where they build the missiles.”  This official says the activity has to do with a nearby railhead where any missile components would be shipped to a launch site for assembly.  The loading onto railcars hasn’t happened either, it’s all just preliminary work that would indicate it’s in the offing.
Tong’chang Dong –This is a new missile launch facility that’s been constructed on North Korea’s western coast.  No activity has been seen at this new facility which has a larger launch pad and would be used to launch larger missiles.   No activity here to suggest this would be the new launch site.”

OTHER STUFF-
–CHAINED MELODY– Music producer Phil Spector has been sentenced to 19 years to life in prison for the murder of actress Lana Clarkson. A Los Angeles judge sentenced Spector on Friday to 15 years to life for second-degree murder and four years for personal use of a gun. The judge is also ordering restitution payments. Spector plans to appeal.
–CYBERCZAR—President Obama announced today that he's creating a cyberczar position to safeguard government computer security. No word on who that person might be yet.
–NEW PASSPORT REGS FOR LAND, SEA CROSSINGS—Starting Monday, travelers will be required to show a passport or other valid travel document when entering the US by land and sea (air travelers have been doing this since January 2007). Children under the age of 16 don’t need such documents. (Kirit Radia/Jason Ryan) Rick Klein, in Toronto covering this afternoon’s “conversation with former Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, says “this is big news in Canada”.