The Commentariat -- May 28, 2016
Sometimes a Great Story. Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Since he invented the Heimlich maneuver, Dr. Henry J. Heimlich had spent decades demonstrating the lifesaving technique on people willing to play the role of a choking victim. But this week, Dr. Heimlich, 96, said he got to do the real thing. He used the abdomen-squeezing maneuver on Monday night on an 87-year-old woman who was choking at their senior residence community in Cincinnati, popping a morsel of meat out of her mouth." CW: Previous reports of Dr. Heimlich's using the maneuver have been "murky." I love this story. If it's untrue, I'll choke myself. (No, that's not a promise.)
** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times on how billionaires are using various methods to control the news media, often in secretive ways. -- CW
Presidential Race
Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The Obama administration is trying to prevent former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton from being deposed in an ongoing open records case connected to her use of a private email server. Late Thursday evening, the Justice Department filed a court motion opposing the Clinton deposition request from conservative legal watchdog Judicial Watch, claiming that the organization was trying to dramatically expand the scope of the lawsuit." -- CW ...
... Lisa Lerer & Catherine Lucey of the AP: "Over the months, Hillary Clinton misstated key facts about her use of private email and her own server for her work as secretary of state, the department's inspector general reported this week. According to the findings, she claimed approval she didn't have and declined to be interviewed for the report despite saying 'I'm more than ready to talk to anybody anytime.' Scrutiny of her unusual email practices appeared to be unwelcome, despite her contention those practices were well known and 'fully above board.'" ...
... CW: No one can predict the future, but we can state with some certainty that the next POTUS will be an inveterate liar & an arrogant imperialist. The crucial difference, of course, is that one candidate will be just an irritating, common-variety fibber whose cover-ups & prevarication are reality-based lapses while the other would be a megalomaniacal danger to the entire world. ...
... Natasha Bertrand of Business Insider: "Chuck Todd grilled Hillary Clinton over the scathing inspector general's report released on Wednesday that determined she 'did not comply' with State Department rules in using a personal email address to conduct government business." -- CW ...
... Stonewall Clinton. Dana Milbank: "The report on Hillary Clinton's email by the State Department's inspector general this week was devastating -- not because of how she handled email but because of how she handled investigators.... The Office of the Inspector General said it 'interviewed Secretary Kerry and former Secretaries Albright, Powell, and Rice. Through her counsel, Secretary Clinton declined OIG's request for an interview.... In addition to Secretary Clinton, eight former Department employees [most of them Clinton aides] declined OIG requests for interviews.... OIG sent 26 questionnaires to Secretary Clinton's staff and received 5 responses.'" -- CW
As the Worm Turns. Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed: "A technology investment company has offered to put up the $10 million for charity that Donald Trump said on Thursday would be needed to hold a debate with Bernie Sanders.[Update at 4:38 p.m.: Shortly after the publication of this report, Trump's campaign released a statement that he would not be participating in a debate with Sanders.]" -- CW ...
... Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Friday rejected an offer to debate Bernie Sanders before the June 7 California primary, saying, 'It seems inappropriate that I would debate the second-place finisher' in the Democratic nominating contest." CW: This is the fourth stance Trump has taken on the proposed debate in less than 48 hours. Everything he says is fake. ...
I heard that he was going to debate me and then I heard that he was not going to debate me.... Mr. Trump is known to change his mind many times in a day. Trump goes around he's a bully, he's a big tough guy. Well, Mr. Trump, what are you afraid of? -- Bernie Sanders, in response to Trump's pronouncement that he would not debate Sanders after all
Michael Finnegan & Kurtis Lee of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald Trump waded into California's perennial water wars Friday, taking the side of agriculture and vowing to boost the state's farmers even if it means cutting back environmental protections." -- CW
You two wouldn't know how to write a good story about me if you tried -- dream on. -- Donald Trump, in a "more presidential" e-mail to NYT reporters Ashley Parker & Maggie Haberman when they asked him for comment ...
... Ashley Parker & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A constant stream of changes and scuffles are roiling Donald J. Trump's campaign team, including the abrupt dismissal this week of his national political director. A sense of paranoia is growing among his campaign staff members, including some who have told associates they believe that their Trump Tower offices in New York may be bugged. And there is confusion among his donors, who want to give money to a 'super PAC' supporting Mr. Trump, but have received conflicting signals from top aides about which one to support.... Two months after assurances that the candidate would become 'more presidential'..., Mr. Trump continues to act as if the primary is still underway. His team has struggled to fill top positions, such as communications director, and Mr. Trump has made clear he still sees himself as his own chief adviser." -- CW ...
... digby: "Trump is firing seasoned presidential campaign operatives in favor of the little friends he made during the primaries and is telling everyone that he doesn't think he needs a ground operation and has no intention of spending 500 million on the general election campaign. This is the businessman who's supposedly going to 'make America great again.' I guess if you think bankrupt casinos is a definition of greatness, he's your man." -- CW
** David Roberts of Vox: "Pretty much everything [Donald Trump's energy speech] revealed was terrifying." Read why. CW: It's part hilarious & 100 percent scary.
Drew Griffin, et al., of CNN Money: "... a CNN investigation finds that [Donald] Trump and others involved in ["Trump University"] admitted under oath that some promises made to students just didn't happen. In Trump's own deposition this past December, Trump failed to recognize the name of a single presenter or teacher at his real estate seminars. He also confirmed he had nothing to do with the selection process of instructors ... or mentors.... A review of Trump University presenters and so-called real estate experts found many with questionable credentials and inflated resumes. Court documents show background-checks conducted during the hiring process could not determine whether some instructors even graduated high school." CW: Because everything about Trump is fake.
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "When Donald Trump publicly floated the idea of running for president in 1999, his ex-wife Marla Maples made it clear she would spill the beans on her ex-husband if he were to make it to the general election. 'If he is really serious about being president and runs in the general election next year, I will not be silent,' Maples told London Telegraph. 'I will feel it is my duty as an American citizen to tell the people what he is really like.' The reaction from Trump and his attorney was swift and brutal. They launched a full-court effort in the press to discredit Maples and withheld an alimony payment to 'send a message.' The episode illustrates how Trump uses character assassination and threats to quash any opposition. Maples has largely remained silent on Trump's 2016 candidacy." -- CW
** Jonathan Weisman, in a New York Times op-ed, on some of the shocking anti-Semitic, extremist tweets he has received from Donald Trump supporters since he tweeted about "an essay by Robert Kagan on the emergence of fascism in the United States." Here's one: "a photo of my disembodied head held aloft, long Orthodox hair locks called payot photoshopped on my sideburns and a skullcap placed as a crown." Another: "the image of a smiling Mr. Trump in Nazi uniform flicking the switch on a gas chamber containing my Photoshopped face.... Julia Ioffe was served up on social media in concentration camp garb and worse after Trump supporters took umbrage with her profile of Melania Trump in GQ magazine. The would-be first lady later told an interviewer that Ms. Ioffe had provoked it." ...
... CW: If, like me, you don't care for Hillary Clinton, bear in mind that her base is nothing like the scum who support Donald Trump & whom Donald refuses to denounce & Melania Trump excuses.
Senate Race
Patricia Mazzei of the Miami Herald: "on Thursday, [Sen. Marco] Rubio acknowledged that GOP colleagues in the Senate and some Florida activists have prodded him in previous days to run [for re-election]. It's part of a last-ditch, coordinated effort from Republicans worried they could lose Rubio's seat -- and perhaps Senate control.... Rubio left himself a tiny opening, saying Thursday he might consider re-election if his friend, Lt. Gov. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, weren't running for his seat." The filing deadline is June 24. -- CW ...
... Marco, Man of Principles. Ledyard King of USA Today: "In March, Marco Rubio dismissed Donald Trump as a 'con artist' and 'the most vulgar person ever to aspire to the presidency.' This past week, the Florida senator told reporters he'll not only vote for Trump, he'd be willing to speak on his behalf at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this summer. And he didn't rule out the possibility of serving in a Trump administration." -- CW ...
... Ed Kilgore: Marco is an experienced flip-flopper. -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "The Kansas Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state Legislature had failed to equitably fund public schools, once again giving the state until June 30 to fix its financing system or face a court-ordered shutdown of schools. The ruling was the latest volley in a long battle over public education in Kansas. A lawsuit from a coalition of school districts led the Kansas Supreme Court to order the Legislature in 2014 to increase funding to poorer districts." -- CW
News Ledes
Washington Post: "Bryce Dejean-Jones, a guard for the New Orleans Pelicans, died after being shot in the abdomen early Saturday morning in Dallas, according to Dallas police. Dejean-Jones, 23, was found shot in an apartment breezeway. He died after being taken to a hospital." According to the manager of the apartment complex, Dejean-Jones "was attempting to enter the apartment of an 'estranged acquaintance' but instead entered a different unit and was shot." -- CW
Washington Post: "A World War II-era fighter plane crashed into the Hudson River on Friday night, killing the pilot, according to New York authorities. Officials said William Gordon, the 56-year-old pilot from Key West, Fla., died in the crash, the Associated Press reported." -- CW
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Reader Comments (14)
Regarding the debate thing, trump really is giving a good impression of the dog from "Up!" who could be distracted from anything by a passing "Squirrel!" Bernie can ride that bit of popular culture into the hearts of at least some trump fans.
I cannot shake the horror I felt reading Jonathan Weisman's op-ed. In my lifetime, I've heard more than one boneheaded anti-Semitic remark, but most -- or all -- of these ran to numbskull, Nixonian stereotypes. Yes, they were plenty objectionable, but they didn't promote violence against Jews. Recall Jessie Jackson's "Hymietown" remark (for which he eventually apologized, under widespread pressure). It effectively -- and deservedly -- ended his presidential candidacy. I also don't recall any first ladies publicly claiming these comparatively innocuous slurs to have been "earned."
Trumpism, which invokes every type of racism, plus misogyny, is by far the scariest national movement in my lifetime.
Marie
Excellent point, Marie, that Trumpism is scary. Some might call it terrorism.
Reagan made it okay to be racist. Bush 41 found it necessary to be racist. Bush 43 and his supporters tried to pretend that racism didn't exist even while upping the ante. Trump has made racism the in thing for wingers. He has empowered racism, he trucks in hatred. He's given the most virulent racists hope to entertain the kind of world they fervently wish for.
He is not just the apotheosis of the hatred and animosity promoted by Fox and Confederate pols for decades, he also brings his personal belief that he is the one ("I'm the only one!") who can capitalize on that hatred and give the racists everything they want. You want to attack a young black girl who dares show up at one of Trump's bund rallies? Go right ahead. He'll even pay your legal fees. That is, until his Supreme Court legalizes such attacks.
Here is a dispassionate examination of a young, college educated married man (wife is Asian, he is white) Trump supporter. Read it and weep.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/a-dialogue-with-a-22-year-old-donald-trump-supporter/484232/
Marie and Ak,
You need to update your vocabulary. We're done with racism. Now it is just a matter of contesting political correctness. (See Atlantic article)
When Norman Lear gave us Archie Bunker (last name here perhaps connected to the old saying, "Don't believe it, it's a whole lot of bunk!) a character that was homophobic, anti-semitic, racist, and misogynistic, he ran into trouble with the network executives who kept saying––"Oh, you can't say this or you can't show that (even the flushing of a toilet caused concern)––but Lear persevered and got his way. Granted Archie had his lovable side, but he was created by Lear to be emblematic of an ignorant bloke who needed to be brought around to seeing the light––the left light, not the right. How surprised Lear was to discover how many Archies were out there relating to this character–– who identified with him and were angry when Archie was made to look like a fool. They didn't want him to change.
I, too, was surprised to learn my brother's deep seated racism, homophobic tenancies along with a definite lean to the right after Obama was elected. Similar to Weisman's disgusting twitter crowd I received ugly stuff that not only made me furious, but saddened me greatly. Many here on R.C. similarly complained about their siblings during that time.
Was I, like many, forgetting how divided this country is––did I not live through the sixties whose decade was rife with rages that was accompanied by the crumbling of this myth of consensus? Perhaps I, like many who grew up in the fifties, harbored in our bosoms that old false rhetoric of American unity that had been so glibly enforced. Now, of course, the curtain has been ripped to shreds and I, like all of you, despair.
HOWEVER–––glimmers––grab them! Yesterday my mister asked me when the debate between Sanders and Trump would take place. I said, there will be no debate––Trump will backpedal––sure enough there (at least of this writing) will be no debate.
And speaking of Sanders: He's demanding the removal of the two key democratic CMTE chairs––my governor Malloy, and Barney Frank. What's that all about?
It continues to amaze me that as long as Hillary has been in the public eye, she has not learned that if you come right out and admit an error and show some remorse, the damage generally is less and blows over more quickly (a la David Letterman). Coverups, stonewalling or prevarication do nothing but add to the original sin.
@HaleySimon: Good link, a many thoughts-provoking article. In fact, I'm going to pick up an actual copy of The Atlantic...to focus on this further. Interesting views expressed by the 22-something individual. Alarming in many ways, but certain points bear our consideration—has PC gone too far? Of course, that isn't the only issue discussed. The young man seems totally naive and impractical re handling 'illegal' immigration/deportation.
We see so much resistance to immigrants these days. Remembering when this country seemed involved and caring...and most of all, proud—that was back in the early 80's with the restoration of the Statue of Liberty that was celebrated in 1986. From school children (collecting pennies in support) to adults whose parents/grandparents arrived in this country for a better life and opportunities and the many corporate sponsors...everyone was proud of how the United Stated welcomed one and all.
Sad. How much has been forgotten in the past 30 years.!
@joynone: Strange isn't it, how slow Hillary is to getting out ahead of things? Doing so, is practically Rule #1 in the PR Handbook!
MAG
I was amazed that his wife also supports trump. Isn't she first or second generation? How can anyone with such a recent history of family immigration be won over by trump?
http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/04/men-read-abusive-tweets-to-female-sportswriters.html
Poor,poor Mr.Weisman. He's just receiving the kind of email that any woman expressing an opinion in print or the net can expect. Threats far more believable than being hung or gassed by a nazis. If he doesn't know how to respond he should Google Mary Beard.
@ PD Pepe: Not sure about Malloy but Bernie Frank is outspoken in his opinion of Sanders. It's mostly negative so obviously he must be corrupt. Freedom of speech in Bernie S world.
Re the Sanders debate - How much you wanna bet that trump will also wiggle out of debating Hillary? Oh he'll say (repeatedly) that he looks forward to it but will have one excuse after another for not being able to do it.
Re: Trump's debate yellow streak. I think it's instructive to recall that the Great Donaldo did best when sharing the stage with 16 other wingers with frighteningly inadequate debating chops. He could toss out colorful insults and make irritating faces like a smart ass 12 year old forced to sit through a three act opera. As the crowd began to dwindle and he was expected to do more than shoot spitballs and sneak up behind candidates to make faces behind their backs, playing to the groundlings and white supremacists, he became increasingly flustered and testy.
Just imagine this low rent, off brand shock jock wannabe having to stand up to the withering and intellectually unassailable barrage of an Elizabeth Warren or a Barack Obama. There's only so many times he could get away with calling her names in place of returning fire. He'd be lunch meat. Now Hillary isn't a great debater, but she does live in the world of facts and logic, regions terra incognito for an egocentric fantasist like Trump. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if he, as Rockygirl suggests, discovers, right before a big prime time debate that the dog ate his homework.
Or maybe he could use the excuse Limbaugh used to save his bloated belly from having to go to Vietnam: "I have a pimple on my ass. And it hurts wicked bad!"
Joynone, I second that amazement. This, and more, was so obviously coming, I am incredulous that HRC didn't have a plan of attack to launch a year ago, as in shrub taking his greatest weakness and twisting it to swamp his opponent. She was wrong, she was above the rules, she showed poor judgement, so get out ahead of it. Dems snatching defeat.
PD, Archie Bunker was a very whitewashed Alf Garnett, a totally unlikeable pig of a character. The original British show, "Till Death us do Part" was hard to watch. Mike was a benefits bum and belligerent socialist, not a sweet leftie bringing his father-in-law to the light. I think it was a reflection of a real part of society at the time, and examined unlikeable characters taking unworkable positions that could never compromise. It feels more prescient than "All in the Family".
Haley, first generation immigrants are often opposed to new immigration in my experience. Everyone hated the Irish, then they hated the southern Europeans, who hated the Vietnamese, who resented the Balkan refugees, who now speak out against the ME refugees.