The Commentariat -- Sept. 28, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Julie Pace & Vladimir Isachenkov of the AP: "U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin clashed Monday over their competing visions for Syria, with Obama urging a political transition to replace the Syrian president but Putin warning it would be a mistake to abandon the current government." ...

... Everett Rosenfeld of CNBC: "Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday admonished those who supported democratic revolutions in the Middle East, telling the United Nations they led to the rise of a globally ambitious Islamic State."

Nick Gass of Politico: "Under a President Donald Trump, some Americans will pay no income tax and the corporate income tax will fall to 15 percent, while the Treasury Department will maintain or even increase current revenue. And while Trump emphasized the hit the rich would take under his tax plan unveiled Monday, he pairs the closing of loopholes and deductions with such a large rate reduction that it would likely add up to a substantial tax cut for many of the well-to-do. The tax plan 'is going to cost me a fortune,' the billionaire candidate told a gathering of reporters at Trump Tower on Monday morning."

Rachel Feltman of the Washington Post: "NASA on Monday announced the strongest evidence yet for liquid water on [Mars], increasing the possibility that astronauts journeying to Mars could someday rely on the planet's own water for their drinking needs."

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin's approach to other countries Monday, suggesting in a speech at the U.N. General Assembly that the world's nations must uphold international order in Syria and Ukraine or risk global instability (link missing)":

... Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "The United Nations General Assembly opens on Monday with all eyes on the war in Syria and the twin crises it has helped spawn: the unyielding spread of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and the surge of refugees from the region into Europe. Leaders of the world's most powerful nations are due to speak in the morning at the 70th annual General Assembly debate, including President Obama, followed by Presidents Xi Jinping of China, Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and François Hollande of France.

Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "For the second time this month, Russia moved to expand its political and military influence in the Syria conflict and left the United States scrambling, this time by reaching an understanding, announced on Sunday, with Iraq, Syria and Iran to share intelligence about the Islamic State.Like Russia's earlier move to bolster the government of President Bashar al-Assad by deploying warplanes and tanks to a base near Latakia, Syria, the intelligence-sharing arrangement was sealed without notice to the United States." CW: Hard to believe our good friends in Iraq didn't clue in the U.S. Have they no gratitude for all we did to them?

A brief pause for a message from Earth:

The super moon over the Washington Monument last night. AP photo.

The stages of a 2010 total eclipse.

... Andrew Fazekas of National Geographic: "Everyone with clear skies across the Americas will have a front-row seat Sunday night to a rare total eclipse of the super-harvest moon. On the evening of September 27, three separate lunar events converge. The total eclipse coincides with the full moon nearest the fall equinox, known as the harvest moon. What's more, the moon is at its closest approach to Earth for the year, making it also a supermoon or perigee moon. That's why it's being coined by some as a Super Harvest Blood Moon.... This weekend's blood moon will be the last in a series of four lunar eclipses, dubbed a tetrad, over the last two years. That pattern won't repeat for another 20 years or so." ...

... Chas Danner of New York: "The eclipse will begin at 8:11 pm EST, the total eclipse will start at 10:11 pm, and the peak of the event will happen at 10:47 pm. Those in the Eastern half of the U.S. should be able to see the full event while those in the Western half will be able to see the eclipse at moonrise. If clouds get in the way, NASA will be livestreaming the event as well, because there's nothing like looking at live footage of the moon on the Internet." ...

... MEANWHILE, on A Nearby Planet. Michael Pearson of CNN: "NASA says it has big news for us Monday. "Mars Mystery Solved," the agency's news release touts without offering even a hint as to what mystery they mean." The news may involve water on the planet.

Back to business as usual:

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "In advance of a meeting with President Obama on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin labeled U.S. support for rebels in Syria as illegal, and mocked as ineffective a U.S. program that has been unable to train and arm rebels. In an interview with CBS and PBS that was released by the Kremlin, Putin said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad commanded the only legitimate army fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and deserves support from countries combating terrorist groups." ...

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview broadcast late Sunday that he does not view President Obama as weak. 'I don't think so at all,' the Russian leader said on CBS's '60 Minutes,' chalking up notions that he disrespects Obama to politics. 'You see, here's the thing. In any country -- and in the United States I believe this happens even more often than in any other country -- foreign political factors are used for domestic political battles,' he said. 'There is a presidential campaign coming up, so they're playing either the Russian card or something else.'" CW: I'm just waiting for wingers to glob onto this one: finally, we have proof that Barack Obama is a commie! Back here in the reality-based world, I find it interesting that Putin is wiser about U.S. politics than many Americans are.

David Jackson of USA Today: "President Obama opened a three-day series of meetings at the United Nations on Sunday by calling on all countries to 'step up' efforts to eradicate poverty, and by scheduling a meeting on Tuesday with Cuban counterpart Raul Castro. Addressing a U.N. meeting on sustainable development, Obama said that the world has made progress on reducing hunger, improving the treatment of disease, and lifting people out of poverty, but challenges remain":

... Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping of China, under pressure over the jailing of women's rights activists, promised on Sunday to 'reaffirm our commitment to gender equality and women's development,' as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon of the United Nations gently reminded world leaders to protect 'human rights defenders.' The remarks came at a conference of global leaders on the 20th anniversary of a landmark United Nations summit meeting in Beijing, where world leaders had promised to change their laws and practices to advance gender equality."

... a leader without followers is simply a man taking a walk.... John Boehner, 2013, on the government shutdown that year

** Paul Krugman: "Bad as [John] Boehner was, he was just a symptom of the underlying malady, the madness that has consumed his party.... The Boehner era has been one in which Republicans have accepted no responsibility for helping to govern the country, in which they have opposed anything and everything the president proposes. What's more, it has been an era of budget blackmail.... Despite all Mr. Boehner's efforts to bring him down, Mr. Obama is looking more and more like a highly successful president.... the controversy over Planned Parenthood that probably triggered the Boehner exit -- shut down the government in response to obviously doctored videos? -- might have been custom-designed to illustrate just how crazy the G.O.P.'s extremists have become, how unrealistic they are about what confrontational politics can accomplish." ...

... ** Be Careful What You Wish for. Norm Ornstein, in the Atlantic, has an excellent summary of What Went Wrong. ...

... CW: I'm sick of this universal meme about how John Boehner could not possibly have controlled his winger caucus. Oh yes he could have. Once he became speaker & the rowdies acted up, all he had to do was work with Democrats. Oh, you say, but he would have lost his speakership. No, not if he had 30 or so votes in his own caucus & Democrats voted for him en masse, a cohesive front Nancy Pelosi, unlike Boehner. can deliver. That's what a statesman & patriot would have done. But Boehner is a self-serving, dimwitted hack. Had Boehner controlled his caucus in this way, he would have isolated teabaggers -- rather than be hostage to them -- & caused some of them to decide they'd like to be inside the tent rather than outside pissing in. Boehner's failure was entirely self-made -- as Krugman points out, from the get-go. BTW, this isn't hindsight. I said this in January 2011, right after Boehner became speaker & the baggers began their assault. So make that boo-fucking-hoo. ...

... Fred Barbash of the Washington Post on the Boehner-Cruz feud. (CW: Barbash couldn't help get in one teeny both-sides-do-it reminder: "...and shifted power to those on the extremes...." Oh, Democratic flamethrowers, wherefore art you?) ...

... Of course Poltico treats all this as a game of politics, with a top article on "Ted Cruz's big moment."; that is, the "big moment" in which he will try to "shut down the government in response to obviously doctored videos." ...

... Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner, in his first one-on-one interview since announcing his resignation last week, compared conservative hard-liners in his party to biblical 'false prophets' who promise more than they can deliver." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Boo Hoo Hoo:

... Bradford Richardson: "Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says there will not be a government shutdown over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. 'No,' Boehner said when asked if there would be a shutdown on CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. 'The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week. The House will take up the Senate bill.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Chas Danner (Sept. 26) on how pundits on the right have reacted to Boehner's resignation.

Theodore Schleifer of CNN: "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi says the group behind the secretly recorded, edited videos that purportedly show Planned Parenthood officials discussing the sale of fetal tissue should be investigated."

Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "In a Sunday speech on racial inequality, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) called for broad policing reform -- including de-escalation training and body cameras for all police officers -- and likened the current Black Lives Matter movement to the civil rights movement that won black Americans the right to vote in the 1960s.... Warren's address, delivered at the Edward Kennedy Institute in Boston, was perhaps the most full-throated endorsement to date by a federal lawmaker for the ongoing protest movement, and it drew immediate praise from some of the most visible activists."

Laurie Goodstein & Daniel Wakin of the New York Times: "Pope Francis turned penitent and pastor Sunday on the final day of a visit to the United States, declaring himself 'overwhelmed by shame' at the sexual violation of children by his clergy, embracing inmates at a local jail, urging young people to leave the loneliness of social media and preparing to bid farewell with a huge downtown Mass." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Laurie Goodstein: "At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised American bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain -- leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish. On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern [in Philadelphia] before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that 'all responsible will be held accountable.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. When Wingers Are Your Sources, Corrections Are Sure to Follow. Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "A document certifying a new employment position for one of Hillary Rodham Clinton's senior aides [Huma Abedin] at the State Department was signed by Mrs. Clinton's then chief of staff, Cheryl D. Mills, according to a copy of the document provided to The New York Times on Sunday. Last week, The Times and other news outlets reported that the document was signed by Mrs. Clinton personally, based on a copy that was obtained by a conservative watchdog group. On the document, Mrs. Clinton's name was printed above the signature in a box intended for the aide's supervisor, but the signature itself was redacted by the State Department, according to the group, Judicial Watch."

Presidential Race

Emily Rauhala of the Washington Post: "Sunday morning, as China president, Xi Jinping, prepared to share his thoughts on women's equality at a U.N. meeting on gender, Hillary Clinton ... re-tweeting a New York Times story about China's record on women's issues, and citing China's arrest of five feminists in March, the presidential candidate called Xi's presence at the summit 'shameless.'... Unsurprisingly, the Internet went bananas, highlighting the gap between how the U.S. and China see rights issues and ironically -- the Internet's remarkable capacity for sexist mud-slinging.... Clinton's comment cut to the heart of a lively debate about what role, if any, China's top leader should have at the UN summit." ...

... Hillary Clinton appeared on "Meet the Press":

... As Kate M. points out in today's thread, so did Carly Fiorina. You can watch that questions-&-lies session here. Of course if you like dystopian fiction, you might really enjoy Carly's stories. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Washington Post Editors (Sept. 26): "Ms. Fiorina may have deeply felt objections to abortion. That doesn't excuse her use of mistruths * to justify her willingness to shut down the government, which by the way she seems to consider no big deal. 'I'm not aware of any hardship to anyone, other than the veterans trying to get to the World War II memorial,' she said of the last shutdown. When it comes to character and capability, that kind of blithe ignorance is another worrying sign." ...

     ... * CW: "Mistruths"? Please, people: lies.

Mark Murray of NBC News: "Donald Trump and Ben Carson are running neck and neck in the national Republican presidential horserace, while Carly Fiorina is now tied for third place with Marco Rubio, according to the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. And on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has lost ground to Bernie Sanders -- she leads him by just seven points with Joe Biden in the race, and 15 points without the vice president. That's down from Clinton's 34-point lead over Sanders in July and her whopping 60-point lead in June." ...

... Ed O'Keefe & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush is entering a critical phase of his Republican presidential campaign, with top donors warning that the former Florida governor needs to demonstrate growth in the polls over the next month or face serious defections among supporters. The warnings, expressed by numerous senior GOP fundraisers in recent days, come as Bush and an allied super PAC are in the early stages of an aggressive television ad campaign that they believe will help erase doubts about his viability. But Bush continues to battle against a steady decline in the polls, sinking to fifth place at just 7 percent in a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Sunday and similarly languishing in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire." ...

... Bradford Richardson: "... Jeb Bush on Sunday said he did not mean to insinuate that black voters choose Democrats because they want 'free stuff.' The GOP presidential hopeful said his comments were taken out of context. 'They don't want free stuff, that was my whole point,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" CW: Uh-huh. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

** ... Jamil Smith of the New Republic, relying on Jeb!'s own remarks, pegs Bush's inherent racism & general bigotry against "the other." CW: Chances are, you're "the other," too. ...

... Jeb! Hates Children! Annie Lowrey of New York: "Every year, virtually every non-elderly adult* in America pays federal taxes -- about 95.3 percent of them, to be exact. (The remainder are mostly extremely poor individuals.) And every year, virtually every American gets something back, by way of one government program or another, with the math working out to buoy poor Americans on net. Attacking free stuff and handouts and giveaways is an explicit way of attacking the safety net, then, but also a slippery way of attacking the whole idea of progressivity. The meme treats the poor as undeserving.... And as such, 'free stuff' generally means 'stuff going to groups of people that I don't care about, or groups of people I want to shame for their financial situation.' Never mind that the primary beneficiaries of many safety-net programs are children.... Never mind that people rarely criticize the elderly, the rich, or the powerful for all the 'free stuff' they get. ...

... Published August 2013:

... * CW: I think I qualify as an "elderly adult," & I do pay lots o' federal taxes. Even my husband, who is so elderly he is dead, is still paying federal taxes.

... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The wealthiest Americans would receive sharply higher tax breaks under Jeb Bush's tax proposal, the former Florida governor says, because they pay a disproportionate share of taxes in the first place. 'The simple fact is 1 percent of people pay 40 percent of all the taxes,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'Of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. I mean that's just the way it is.'" CW: What we have in Jeb! is a flat-taxer who's pretending not to be a flat-taxer. (Also linked yesterday.)

Margaret Hartmann of New York: "In some ways, Donald Trump's 60 Minutes interview went down exactly as you'd expect: A bemused and somewhat horrified Scott Pelley repeatedly pressed the front-runner for details on his proposals, without much success. But Trump is a true showman, so he kept things interesting by sharing a few unconventional policy proposals." Includes video of full interview. ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump will release a policy proposal outlining his ideas on tax reform on Monday. Trump will announce the proposed reforms at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City. 'Essentially, the plan is a major tax reduction for almost all citizens and corporations, in particular, those in the middle and lower income classes,' the Trump campaign said in a statement." CW: Let's see if it's more progressive than Jeb!'s. ...

Sara Jerde of TPM: "CNN 'State of the Union' host Jake Tapper grilled Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson on his comments about Muslims in an interview that aired Sunday until his campaign manager off-screen ended the interview." Includes video. ...

... Kyle Cheney: "Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson said on Sunday he'd listen to evidence that religion could provide probable cause to search the emails and calls of Syrian refugees in the United States. 'I personally don't feel that way, but I would certainly be willing to listen to somebody who had evidence to the contrary,' Carson said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'I think that's one of the problems, we get to our little corners, and we don't want to listen to anybody.'" CW: Thanks, Dr. Ben, but we already knew you listen to every wacko out there. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Roberto Robledo of the Salinas Californian: "Vandals defaced statues and gravesites overnight at the Carmel Mission, police said Sunday morning. But almost as swiftly as vandals acted, volunteers showed up to clean the mess and restore the courtyard and cemetery.... Hundreds of visitors who arrived at 11 a.m. for the celebration to commemorate this week's canonization of missionary Junipero Serra by Pope Francis saw only mere hints of paint here and there."

Stupidity Happens. Taryn Asher of Fox 2 Detroit: "A man tried to kill a spider at a gas station using a lighter causing a dangerous fire. Using a lighter to kill the bug, he started a blaze that quickly engulfed the gas pump. He somehow escaped serious injury and the gas station's damage was contained to one pump, which was destroyed.... 'He was sorry,' [station employee] Susan [Adams] said. 'He ... said he didn't know. It is just one of those things that happen - stupidity.' Adams said this serves as a reminder about being careful around gas pumps. Whether it is using a cell phone or static electricity, the smallest spark can cause a gas station fire." CW: Speaking of stupidity, I didn't know a cell phone could start a gas pump fire. So, thanks, Stupid Guy. I learned something, too. And next time, just scooch the spider off your car with a rolled-up newspaper or whatever. Spiders are our friends. Guess you missed reading "Charlotte's Web" as a child. ...

... CW: My little aside above looks a lot like a never-mind. Thanks to D. C. Clark for linking this Snopes investigation. So call me Stupid. Twice.

News Ledes

New York Times: "After months of besieging the northern Afghan provincial capital of Kunduz, Taliban fighters took over the city on Monday just hours after advancing, officials said, as government security forces fully retreated to the city's outlying airport.The Taliban victory, coming suddenly after what had appeared to be a stalemate through the summer, gave the insurgents a military and political prize -- the capture of a major Afghan city -- that has eluded them since 2001."

Bloomberg News: "Investors struggled to assess the repercussions from a rout in Glencore Plc's shares and the scandal at Volkswagen AG, as losses swept through global equity markets and stocks headed for their worst quarter since 2011. Government bonds and the yen jumped as demand for havens rose."

AP: "German prosecutors on Monday opened an investigation against former Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn to establish what his role was in the emissions-rigging scandal that has shaken the world's largest automaker. The investigation will concentrate on the suspicion of fraud committed through the sale of vehicles with manipulated emissions data...."

New York Times: "Even as Germany is assembling an efficient infrastructure to welcome hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing conflict, it has begun installing an equally efficient system for sending home people who have come from poor but safe countries to seek jobs. About 10,000 were repatriated between January and July, more than all of last year, and the pace is quickening."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 27, 2015

Internal links & defunct videos removed.

(Slightly Early) Afternoon Update:

Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner, in his first one-on-one interview since announcing his resignation last week, compared conservative hard-liners in his party to biblical 'false prophets' who promise more than they can deliver":

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says there will not be a government shutdown over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. 'No,' Boehner said when asked if there would be a shutdown on CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. 'The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week. The House will take up the Senate bill.'"

Laurie Goodstein& Daniel Wakin of the New York Times: "Pope Francis turned penitent and pastor Sunday on the final day of a visit to the United States, declaring himself 'overwhelmed by shame' at the sexual violation of children by his clergy, embracing inmates at a local jail, urging young people to leave the loneliness of social media and preparing to bid farewell with a huge downtown Mass." ...

... Laurie Goodstein: "At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised American bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain -- leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish. On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern [in Philadelphia] before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that 'all responsible will be held accountable.'"

Hillary Clinton appeared on "Meet the Press":

... As Kate M. points out in today's thread, so did Carly Fiorina. You can watch that questions-&-lies session here.

Bradford Richardson: "... Jeb Bush on Sunday said he did not mean to insinuate that black voters choose Democrats because they want 'free stuff.' The GOP presidential hopeful said his comments were taken out of context. 'They don't want free stuff, that was my whole point,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" CW: Uh-huh. ...

... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The wealthiest Americans would receive sharply higher tax breaks under Jeb Bush's tax proposal, the former Florida governor says, because they pay a disproportionate share of taxes in the first place. 'The simple fact is 1 percent of people pay 40 percent of all the taxes,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'Of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. I mean that's just the way it is.'" CW: What we have in Jeb! is a flat-taxer who's pretending not to be a flat-taxer.

Kyle Cheney: "Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson said on Sunday he'd listen to evidence that religion could provide probable cause to search the emails and calls of Syrian refugees in the United States. 'I personally don't feel that way, but I would certainly be willing to listen to somebody who had evidence to the contrary,' Carson said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'I think that's one of the problems, we get to our little corners, and we don't want to listen to anybody.'" CW: Thanks, Dr. Ben, but we already knew you listen to every wacko out there.

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry and the Iranian foreign minister on Saturday discussed steps each country is taking to implement the nuclear deal as Kerry again pressed for the release of three Americans imprisoned in Tehran. In a meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif at the U.N. General Assembly underway in New York, Kerry 'conveyed the urgency of seeing our detained and missing U.S. citizens come home to be reunited with their families,' said State Department spokesman John Kirby." ...

... Juan Cole: "Ted Cruz said Friday at the Value Voters Summit conference in Washington, D.C., 'If you vote for me, under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. And if the ayatollah doesn't understand that, we may have to help introduce him to his 72 virgins.'" That is, kill him. AND a few other reasons "Khamenei is risking so much in making a deal with the United States, which has seldom honored international law or even basic human decency when dealing with that country."

Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "Russia's expanding military intervention in Syria has the potential to tilt the course of the war in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, leaving U.S. policies aimed at securing his departure in tatters and setting the stage for a new phase in the four-year-old conflict. Exactly what Russia intends with its rapidly growing deployment of troops, tanks and combat aircraft in the Assad family heartland on Syria's northern coast is difficult to discern, according to military experts and U.S. officials, who say they were not consulted on the Russian moves and were caught off guard by the intervention." ...

... AP: "Iraqi will begin sharing 'security and intelligence' information with Russia, Syria and Iran to help combat the advances of the Islamic State group, the Iraqi military announced Sunday. A statement issued by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the countries will 'help and cooperate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group,' using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group." ...

... Angela Charlton of the AP: "France has fired its first airstrikes in Syria as it expands military operations against Islamic State extremists, President Francois Hollande's office announced Sunday." ...

... Eric Schmitt & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters." ...

Jonathan Weisman & Michael Shear of the New York Times: John "Boehner's sudden announcement on Friday that he will step down from the speakership and leave the House on Oct. 30 has thrown Washington into deep uncertainty. His resignation is likely to herald an even more combative stretch in the nation's capital, emboldening conservatives to defy [President] Obama on looming decisions regarding spending, debt and taxes.... [There is] is a sense of dread that an already bitter and divisive political atmosphere is about to get even worse.... Uncompromising conservatives on and off Capitol Hill are demanding the elevation of one of their own to confront the president at every turn." ...

... Mike DeBonis & Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "House Speaker John A. Boehner's stunning resignation throws the congressional agenda into disarray.... By defusing a conservative revolt that threatened to end his speakership, Boehner's announcement effectively ended the immediate threat of a government shutdown. And because he is not leaving Congress until Oct. 30, some Republicans and many Democrats are hoping the speaker finds the resolve to push through legislation that enjoys bipartisan support but has been stalled by conservative objections. Yet any progress may be hampered by the internal politics of the House Republican Conference and the leadership races to replace Boehner and his lieutenants." ...

... "The Cannibal Party." Todd Purdum in Politico Magazine: "Boehner's fall was just the latest example of the self-consuming culture that has bedeviled the House GOP conference for nearly 60 years.... The party;s deep ideological fissures -- including balancing the moderate wing's desire to govern the country effectively with the wing of the party that believes the GOP should be trying to get rid of all but the most minimal government entirely -- have roiled the caucus for years.... 'Eric Cantor was the first casualty of the monster he helped build,' [Norm] Ornstein says...." ...

... Hoist with His Own Petard. Jamelle Bouie: John Boehner "helped craft the Contract With America with Newt Gingrich, and stood on the right flank of the House Republican caucus for most of his career. After Barack Obama took office, Boehner immediately moved to opposition, accusing him of 'snuffing out' the America he knew and comparing politics in 2010 to America's fight against Great Britain. 'There's a political rebellion brewing,' he said, 'and I don't think we've seen anything like it since 1776.'... But then the revolution spiraled out of control."

Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "House Republicans will launch a select committee to investigate the controversial Planned Parenthood videos, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said .... in the weekly Republican address. CW: You can see how House Republicans are really getting down to the business of governance now that Boehner is gone. ...

The Speaker's resignation has not yet broken Republicans' fevered obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women's health.... With this Committee, Republicans are trying to make it easier to shut down the government and harder for millions of women to access the lifesaving health care they need.. -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi

** Heather Richardson in Salon: "Extremists [and] authoritarians now run the GOP.... The fantasy world of Movement Conservatives is no longer fringe talk. The leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination embrace it. They are playing to a chorus of true believers, and they are preaching what that choir wants to hear. They are following the same pattern Eric Hoffer identified as the path to authoritarianism. Last week, 43 percent of Republicans polled said they could imagine a scenario in which they would back a military coup. This week, Movement Conservatives in Congress knocked off a conservative speaker because he refused to sacrifice the American government to their demands." Richardson argues that crazy has always been the plan.

Pope Francis's scheduled events today, via Time:

9:15 a.m.: Pope will meet with Bishops at St. Martin's Chapel, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

11 a.m.: Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the city's largest jail.

4 p.m.: Mass at World Meeting of the Families.

7 p.m.: Meeting with World Meeting organizers, benefactors and volunteers.

8 p.m.: Official departure.

... More on the planned events from Daniel Wakin of the New York Times. ...

... Jim Yardley & Daniel Wakin of the New York Times: "Standing near Independence Hall..., Pope Francis on Saturday called religious freedom a 'fundamental right' and laid out a broad and tolerant vision of what it should be, but also warned about its perversion 'as a pretext for hatred and brutality.'... Francis emerged from Independence Hall to the strains of Aaron Copland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man.' He stood at the lectern used by Abraham Lincoln to deliver the Gettysburg Address, and in his own address, Francis extolled the principles of the country's founding fathers embodied by the Declaration of Independence signed in the building behind him." ...

     ... Here's an English translation of Francis's remarks at Independence Hall, as prepared. ...

... Maureen Dowd: "Pope Francis would be the perfect pontiff -- if he lived in the 19th century. But how, in 2015, can he continue to condone the idea that women should have no voice in church decisions?... Francis preaches against the elites while keeping the church an elite boys' club.... If only the pope could apply this Golden Rule: Do unto women as you would have them do unto you."

Joseph Mayton of the Guardian: "Narendra Modi touched down in San Jose around noon on Saturday, to begin a two-day visit to Silicon Valley. The Indian prime minister's whirlwind tour of the world's top technology companies had much of the San Francisco Bay Area excited about the tech sector's role in an increasingly influential country."

Cara Anna of the AP: "China's president on Saturday pledged billions in aid and said Beijing will forgive debts due this year in an effort to help the world's poorest nations, as world leaders begin to seek the trillions of dollars needed to help achieve sweeping new development goals."

Presidential Race

Amy Chozik of the New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton blamed Republicans who hope to undercut his wife's presidential chances and a voracious political news media uninterested in substance for the furor surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. 'I have never seen so much expended on so little,' Mr. Clinton said in a taped interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that will be shown on Sunday."

Reuters: "Family Research Council Action, a Christian lobbying group, said on Saturday that more attendees polled at the Values Voter Summit said [Ted] Cruz ... should be the party's presidential nominee for the November 2016 election. Cruz, who also won the group's so-called 'straw poll' the previous two years, took 35 percent of the support among the nearly 2,700 summit-goers, followed by [Ben] Carson with 18 percent, the group said in a statement. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee got 14 percent and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida 13 percent. Business tycoon Donald Trump ... came in fifth place with 5 percent. Carson led among attendees for the vice presidential nod with 25 percent support among those polled, followed by former business executive Carly Fiorina with 21 percent and Cruz with 14 percent, the group said." ...

... Steve Peoples & Jill Colvin of the AP: "Religious activists in the Republican Party, bolstered by House Speaker John Boehner's sudden exit, say the next GOP presidential nominee must share their uncompromising stance on abortion rights, gay marriage and other priorities to get to the White House. 'You cannot win a primary and then succeed in the general election without having strength within the ranks of social conservative voters,' said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council Action." ...

... CW: So when I took that online test which showed I agreed with Bernie Sanders on the issues only 99 percent of the time, it proved he wasn't good enough for me. It isn't Jesus who's inspiring these self-described Christians; it's egocentrism. In fact, the Jesus of the Gospel of Luke would not be nearly good enough for them. Our theological question of the day: Are you a Christian if you wouldn't vote for Jesus?

Does Not Play Well with Others. Drew Harwell & Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "... [Carly] Fiorina, 61, has pointed to her leadership of [Hewlett-Packard] to showcase her corporate savvy and courage under fire. She has blamed the dot-com bust, sexism and an ineffective board of directors for helping sink what was then a global juggernaut. But in interviews with more than two dozen former HP senior directors and employees, many remember Fiorina's legacy as troubling and divisive: A high-energy marketer, she nevertheless failed to deliver on lofty promises, alienated her workforce and presided over a disastrous reign at what was once a Silicon Valley pioneer."

Beyond the Beltway

Elahi Izadi of the Washington Post: "If you receive government assistance in the state of Maine, Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know about it. In a Thursday column for the Twin City Times, Macdonald said a bill will be submitted during Maine's next legislative session "asking that a Web site be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole." Lewiston is the second-largest city in Maine. CW: I guess Old Macdonald there was so busy writing his hate screed against the poor, he didn't have time to listen to Pope Francis. Macdonald is a Roman Catholic:

Being Catholic, I find it annoying when pseudo-intellectual eggheads launch into a vitriol rant condemning church doctrine because it offends them. Well, boo hoo. -- Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonad, April 2013

Not being Catholic, I find it annoying when hateful wingnuts make concerted efforts to shame the poor. -- Constant Weader, September 2015

The Commentariat -- Sept. 26, 2015

Internal links removed.

Julie Davis, et al., of the New York Times: "President Obama said Friday that he had reached a 'common understanding' with President Xi Jinping of China to combat 'cyber-enabled theft of intellectual property,' but made it clear that wide areas of disagreement remained over how to stop an escalation of Chinese cyberthefts and the possibility of an American response. With Mr. Xi standing beside him at a Rose Garden news conference, Mr. Obama referred to the cyberattacks against American targets and said, 'I indicated it has to stop.' But he also hailed progress with China on climate change and the nuclear accord with Iran, and said that both he and Mr. Xi were committed to pressing ahead against the North Korean nuclear problem, which has defied solution for more than 20 years." ...

... Ellen Nakashima & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "President Obama and Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged Friday that neither of their governments would conduct or condone economic espionage in cyberspace.... But U.S. officials and experts said that it was uncertain whether the accord would lead to concrete action against cybercriminals. The agreement, reached in talks Thursday night and Friday morning between Obama and Xi, has the potential -- if enforced -- to confront one of the most significant threats to U.S. economic and national security and an irritant for American corporations trying to protect their intellectual property. The pact also calls for a ministerial or Cabinet-level process aimed at ensuring compliance." ...

... CW: Who knows whether or not either side will wholly comply with this agreement? But it bears repeating that Republicans like Marco Rubio & Scott Walker accused President Obama of "appeasement" for even trying to reach an accord. Donald Trump criticized the state dinner, saying Xi deserved nothing more than "a double size Big Mac" because he was ruining our economy. The GOP, not surprisingly, confuses insults with diplomacy. ...

... Brad Plumer of Vox: "Here in Washington, DC, you'll often hear conservatives argue that there's little point in the United States acting on global warming, because China is the world's largest polluter and will never do anything to rein in its carbon emissions. But that line's looking increasingly silly. On Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping announced that his country would enact a national cap-and-trade system to limit carbon emissions, starting in 2017." ...

... Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker: "It was hard to avoid the irony. The leader of China -- nominally, at least, a Communist country — came to Washington and announced that his government was adopting a market-based approach to curbing carbon emissions. Meanwhile, to reduce its carbon emissions, the unreservedly capitalist U.S. of A. is relying on regulations issued by a centralized bureaucracy." Wait, wait, more irony: Saint Ronald of Reagan first adopted cap-&-trade in the 1980s, but his devoted acolytes have turned against the concept & have blocked all U.S. attempts to implement a program here. Kolbert suggests that if it works in China -- which it may not -- Republicans may embrace cap-&-trade once again. Right. Because Republican policy is so reality-based. ...

... The Washington Post's Reliable Source: "Gatekeepers of the silver screen and Silicon Valley were out in full force at the state dinner in honor of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Giants of the industry, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook, rubbed elbows with Robert Iger, CEO of the Walt Disney Company, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation.... The president's head table was packed with boardroom elites -- the coveted seats were filled exclusively with CEOs and their spouses, making for a group whose combined net worth tops $49 billion...."

Julie Pace of the AP: "The Obama administration is announcing a $300 million program to drastically reduce HIV infections in girls and young woman in 10 sub-Saharan African nations hard hit by the virus. Administration officials are aiming for a 25 percent infection reduction in females between ages 15-24 by the end of next year and a 40 percent reduction by the end of 2017."

Zippity Doo Dah:

... Anna Palmer, et al., of Politico: "Speaker John Boehner's resignation has set off an intense round of jockeying for all four House leadership slots, setting up what's expected to be a hypercompetitive internal party battle in the middle of a key stretch of the legislative session this fall. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is expected to run for speaker, and no other Republican has come forward to challenge him yet.... It's unlikely he'll be unopposed.... Among those who are expected to run for majority leader, or are at least thinking about it, include Georgia Rep. Tom Price, chairman of the Budget Committee; Steve Scalise of Louisiana, the current majority whip; House Republican Conference Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington; and Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas, who runs the Rules Committee and is former chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee."...

... Lauren French of Politico: on "conservatives' plan to expolit Boehner's exit:... The members of the House Freedom Caucus have the broad outlines of a plan -- unify behind their fellow conservatives who have the best shot of securing a leadership position, and, in a sign that headaches over a potential government shutdown are not over, keep up the fight to defund Planned Parenthood." ...

... Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Movement leaders and activists see the downfall of the House speaker as a coup that's been years in the making -- and one whose momentum they hope will now yield not only more rigidly conservative leadership in Congress but a Republican presidential nominee that is one of their own. The GOP civil war, in other words, is raging as much on the 2016 stage as it is in Washington." ...

... "The Inmates Are Officially Running the Asylum." Charles Pierce: "So, Trey, Louie, Darrell, Mark Meadows, Virginia Foxx, and de facto Speaker Cruz, congratulations. You got him. You're the dog that caught the car. Your entire congressional party is now a third-rate evening drive-time talk show. Have fun. Try to leave a little of the country intact for the rest of us." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "Conservatives are already brandishing Boehner's scalp. Marco Rubio was supremely lucky to be speaking at the Value Voters Summit when word of the Speaker's resignation came out, and so he got to announce it to the assembled Christian Right activists as though it was some sort of joint accomplishment in which he shared. And Ted Cruz, who really did have something to do with the development, gloated openly the minute he could." ...

... Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "Conservatives rush to dance on John Boehner's grave" -- five weeks before the interment. ...

... In an extraordinary late-day encounter Thursday, Speaker John Boehner re-creates for Robert Costa of the Washington Post & Jake Sherman of Politico the moment he met Pope Francis earlier in the day. Boehner of course began sobbing when he saw the Pope: "'So. So, the pope puts his arm around my left arm,' he said as he pulled my arm up to his shoulder. Boehner was now fully committed to acting it out. "'Hold on, hold on," he said as I pulled my arm away. "Let me finish. The pope says to me, "Please pray for me. Please pray for me," Boehner repeated as he dipped his head. 'He said, "Please pray for me."'" CW: Three sheets to the wind, no doubt. ...

... Jake Sherman & others at Politico have more on what was behind Boehner's decision to retire from the speakership & his House seat. ...

... Eric Cantor, in a New York Times op-ed, writes that John Boehner & conservatives are great patriots but Tea Party hardliners are insane: "... a number of voices on the right began demanding that the Republican Congress not only block Mr. Obama's agenda but enact a reversal of his policies. They ... pronounced that congressional Republicans could undo the president's agenda -- with him still in office, mind you -- and enact into law a conservative vision for government, without compromise. Strangely, according to these voices, the only reason that was not occurring had nothing to do with the fact that the president was unlikely to repeal his own laws, or that under the Constitution, absent the assent of the president or two-thirds of both houses of Congress, you cannot make law. The problem was a lack of will on the part of congressional Republican leaders." CW: Not recommended, because the rest of the essay is about how great Boehner & conservatives are. See also Nisky Guy's commentary in today's thread. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Boehner had the misfortune of leading, or attempting to lead, his party in an era when it had run up to the limits of crazy, where the only unexplored frontiers of extremism lay beyond the reach of its Constitutional powers." CW: It is pretty hilarious that people who boast about their fealty to the Constitution, and never go outside without a copy of it in their breastpockets, have done all that they can to undermine its core structure. ...

... Dana Milbank: "... it was [Pope] Francis who, in his address to Congress, gave deeper meaning to why Boehner could no longer be the public servant he wanted to be with the no-compromise caucus over which he presided. Francis advised lawmakers to 'guard against the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil,' and he said the world 'demands that we confront every form of polarization which would divide it into these two camps.'... I watched Republicans join in the applause of this sentiment. But they have practiced the very opposite of what the pope preached. Theirs has been a reign of no compromise -- and of no confidence in Boehner when he tried to sacrifice for the common good." ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker writes a balanced post mortem to Boehner's career. (CW: If Carly Fiorina wants to know what an actual rags-to-riches story is, she should read Boehner's bio & quit pretending her fake secretary-to-CEO story is equally compelling.) ...

... Gail Collins bids farewell to John Boehner, but she saved her best material for Marco Rubio: "The right-wing Value Voters Summit burst into applause when Senator Marco Rubio announced the resignation news. 'I'm not here today to bash anyone,' Rubio said, slightly inaccurately. 'But the time has come to turn the page ... and allow a new generation of leadership in this country.' Rubio is always promising to usher in an era of fresh new ideas, which appear to involve lowering taxes on the wealthy."

White House: "In this week's address, on "National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day," the President spoke about the importance of preventing and treating substance use disorders":

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Francis, who will address thousands of Spanish-speaking families at Independence Mall here on Saturday, has in his visit to the United States become a virtual patron saint of suffering migrants. He hugged immigrant children in New York, and in Washington accepted a letter from a young girl seeking legalization for her parents.... Since 2014, Philadelphia has refused to comply with requests from the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to detain undocumented offenders, unless the government presents a judicial warrant and the person in question has been convicted of a first- or second-degree offense involving violence.... At Old St. Joseph's Church, the Rev. Philip Florio said he expected the pope to preach 'welcome the stranger at your door' and reject the round-them-up and ship-them-out approach of Mr. Trump, at the mention of whose name the priest theatrically slid away on the pew." ...

... Rachel Zoll & Michael Sisak of the AP: "... Pope Francis headed to Philadelphia on Saturday for a visit expected to focus more heavily on ordinary Catholics and their families. The pope took off from New York's Kennedy Airport for the City of Brotherly Love, where he will take part in a weekend of activities, including a Vatican-organized rally that will culminate in an outdoor Mass for 1 million people." ...

... philly.com is liveblogging Pope Francis's visit today to Philadelphia. ...

... NBC New York: "Pope Francis celebrated Mass at Madison Square Garden Friday evening, offering a challenge to urban dwellers to care for the disenfranchised who live in "deafening anonymity" amid the wealth and bustle of 'our great avenues.'... The pope's sermon capped off a whirlwind day that included a speech before the United Nations, a multi-faith service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, a visit with Harlem school children and a ride through Central Park before adoring and emotional crowds. As he did in many part of his visit, Pope Francis stopped to bless children with special needs at the Garden." Includes video. ...

... Not Exactly a Walk in the Park. Joe DeLessio of New York: "After visiting a Catholic elementary school in East Harlem, Pope Francis rode through Central Park in his Popemobile [Friday] afternoon in a procession that was expected to draw some 80,000 people." Includes snapshots taken by people in the crowd. ...

... Marc Santora & Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "After standing alone and taking in the vast void where thousands of people lost their lives in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, Pope Francis on Friday lamented 'a mind-set which knows only violence, hatred and revenge' and warned against the kind of 'rigid uniformity' of belief that leads to fanaticism." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker argues that all popes, including Francis, are anti-liberal. "He appears to be genuinely and, on his own terms, understandably more concerned about protecting the continuities of his organization than with getting absolute justice for its victims."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Matthew Dickinson: "... by focusing on ... 'Trump's blowhard improvisation', and failing to place polls in their historical context, the media has [sic!] both contributed to his polling support and made it far easier for Trump to avoid answering the difficult questions regarding the specifics of his policy beliefs, and how he proposes to implement them. This does a disservice to voters and, I think, to Trump himself." Via Greg Sargent.

Presidential Race

The Petraeus Connection. Bradley Klapper of the AP: "The Obama administration has discovered a chain of emails that Hillary Rodham Clinton failed to turn over when she provided what she said was the full record of work-related correspondence as secretary of state, officials told The Associated Press Friday.... The messages were exchanged with retired Gen. David Petraeus when he headed the military's U.S. Central Command.... They began before Clinton entered office and continued into her first days at the State Department. They largely pertained to personnel matters and don't appear to deal with highly classified material, officials said, but their existence challenges Clinton's claim that she has handed over the entirety of her work emails from the account."

Clown v. Clown. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "After training his fire for much of the summer on former Gov. Jeb Bush, Donald J. Trump has found a new favorite Republican rival to taunt: Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. But Mr. Rubio is proving capable of giving it back. And Mr. Trump also discovered on Friday that some conservatives do not respond as kindly when the insults are directed toward Mr. Rubio.... 'You have this clown, Marco Rubio,' Mr. Trump began, in a speech to the Family Research Council's Values Voter Summit [in Washington, D.C]. 'And I've been so nice to him.' Before he could go further, though, the audience of social conservatives let out a cascade of boos."

Ed Kilgore on Jeb!'s "free stuff" for black people: "... this is the old 'Plantation' meme, according to which Democrats have ensnared people by the diabolical means of helping them stay alive and make ends meet, as opposed to 'empowering' them with benign neglect. This sort of rap coming from the scion of a rich and powerful family might go over better if he were preceded by some commitments to letting African-Americans vote and abandoning mass incarceration as a social control mechanism and taking seriously complaints about police misconduct. As it is, it's just free rhetoric."

Senatorial Election

Hadas Gold & Elena Schneider of Politico: "Illinois GOP Sen. Mark Kirk's campaign is pushing back and getting ahead of a supposed, yet-to-be published report from the Chicago Tribune that alleges Kirk verbally and physically abused staffers. The campaign sent a dossier of information, emails and screenshots to the in-state political blog Capitol Fax to refute the story."

Beyond the Beltway

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who went to jail this month for refusing to follow the law and issue a marriage license to a gay couple, was given an award at Friday night's conservative Values Voter Summit. Tony Perkins, of the Family Research Council, presented Davis with a 'Cost of Discipleship Award' that compared her with Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks and Abraham Lincoln because, like them, she 'pursued justice at great personal cost.'" ...

My first link of the day, which comes courtesy of Victoria D., because it made us both laugh out loud, is this:

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Kim Davis, the clerk of Rowan County, Ky., who was embraced by Christian conservatives because of her resistance to same-sex marriage, said Friday that she would shun her Democratic Party roots and become a Republican." CW: Mrs. Kentucky Republican 2015 was scheduled to speak before the Values Voters Summit, an organization of, by & for the kind of extremists Pope Francis warned about. I believe the inspiration behind Mrs. Davis's miraculous conversion is what is known in the religious biz as an epiphany. Hallelujah, Sister! It's a Grand Old Party.

Excuse me now, while I see what's going on in the world.

News Lede

AP: "A New Jersey high school star quarterback died after suffering an injury on the field, school officials said on Saturday. Evan Murray of Warren Hills Regional High School, a three-sport athlete, died after he was hurt in a game against Summit High School on Friday night. Murray had been the football team's starting quarterback for three years."