;)
The Commentariat -- Nov. 2, 2013
The President's Weekly Address:
Ben Geman of the Hill: "President Obama on Friday demanded 'new strategies' to boost the nation's resilience to powerful storms, drought, heat waves and other dangerous weather linked to climate change. Obama issued a wide-ranging executive order designed to support 'climate resilient' infrastructure investment in states and communities. It also calls on federal agencies to change their policies and rules 'to make the Nation's watersheds, natural resources, and ecosystems, and the communities and economies that depend on them, more resilient in the face of a changing climate.'"
Sarah Wheaton of the New York Times: "A federal court on Friday ruled that the health care law's mandate that employers provide free coverage for contraception infringed on individual religious liberty. The case, Gilardi v. the Department of Health and Human Services, was the latest setback for the Obama administration as it struggles to fix the crippled insurance enrollment website, HealthCare.gov. However, the fight over the mandate long preceded the law's enactment and will most likely go to the Supreme Court." CW: Here's a surprise: the two judges ruling in favor of the plaintiffs are Republican appointees; the dissenting judge is a Democratic appointee. Now try to guess why Republicans are filibustering President Obama's nominees to the D.C. court. Give 'em hell, Harry. ...
... ** Laura Tillman & John Schwartz of the New York Times: "On Monday, Judge Lee Yeakel of United States District Court in Austin blocked enforcement of the [Texas anti-abortion] law's requirement of physician-admitting privileges, saying it is 'without a rational basis and places a substantial obstacle in the path of a woman seeking an abortion.' On Thursday, three judges on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans -- Priscilla R. Owen, Jennifer Walker Elrod and Catharina Haynes -- allowed enforcement to begin.... [Friday] many clinics across the state said they had stopped providing abortions and were preparing to shut down, leaving women seeking their services distraught." CW: All three of these compassionless judges are George W. Bush appointees. ...
... Charles Blow on federal judicial appointees: "This week we were reminded once again of how much sway federal judges hold as they dealt several setbacks to liberal causes." ...
... ** How did we get these winger judges? Rachel Maddow elaborates on the horrors of Dubya judicial nominations. Thanks to contributor safari for the lead:
... Emily Bazelon & Dahlia Lithwick of Slate have more. Read it all.
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Next week -- soon after the [Supreme C]ourt's marshal announces a new session with the phrase 'God save the United States and this honorable court' -- the justices will once again tackle the role of religion in the public square."
Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times debunks "another ObamaCare horror story.... The sad truth is that [ACA 'victim' Deborah] Cavallaro has been very poorly served by the health insurance industry and the news media.... The reporters who interviewed her without getting all the facts produced inexcusably shoddy work -- from Maria Bartiromo on down. They not only did her a disservice, but failed the rest of us too." ...
... Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "Television news, the medium with the widest audience, has yet to get one of these stories right.... Maybe TV news reporters should just take to reading The LA Times on air." ...
Rich Guy Must Pay Higher Premium! Tommy Christopher: Best-selling author David Frum, who makes more giving one speech than the cost of his annual premium, will have to pay almost $200 more a month under ObamaCare for his family's health policy for approximately the same benefits as he had before. But Frum also has "some pre-existing condition," "so he's getting insurance he couldn't get before." In addition, Frum will be able to keep his adult kids on the policy, & all family members are now covered for "routine preventive care." Christopher calculates that Frum is actually saving out-of-pocket expenses, assuming the family avails itself of some of the routine benefits under ObamaCare. In other words, another crock. Read the whole post. ...
... Fox "News" Stars: Women should pay more for health insurance than do men because women are hypochondriacs or pregnant or something. Anyway, they're always going to the doctor, and they live longer and it isn't fair to be a rich white teevee star. Kat Stoeffel of New York reports. ...
... CW Healthcare.gov Question: If I get sick listening to these ObamaCare sob stories, will my new policy cover my illness? ...
... ** Jonathan Chait of New York: "If you believe the healthy are entitled to keep the financial benefits of their good health, then you must also believe the sick must be denied medical care. Should that principle be the foundation of our health-care system?"
Can the Major TV Media Get Anything Right? Media Matters: "Following the revelation that a key 'witness' featured in this week's CBS 60 Minutes report on Benghazi previously claimed that he never got near the besieged diplomatic compound on the night of the attacks, Media Matters chairman David Brock is calling on CBS to retract its story. On October 27, CBS aired a report on the Benghazi attacks that featured the claims of a supposed eyewitness using the pseudonym 'Morgan Jones.' Today, the Washington Post revealed that Jones, whose real name is Dylan Davies, previously filed a report with his security contractor employer saying that he 'could not get anywhere near' the compound the night of the attack. The flawed CBS report has since been trumpeted by conservative media and Republican politicians." The WashPo report, by Karen DeYoung, is here.
Do-Nothing Congress Decides to Do Less. Rachel Maddow reports. Next year's schedule isn't going to give the House much time to pass laws against lazy poor people:
CW: I've occasionally called Ted Cruz the Republican Party Leader. I've done so to be snide, but I didn't think the characterization was necessarily wrong. Turns out Republicans are happy with my snark. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "PPP's newest national survey finds that in the wake of the shutdown, Republican voters now view Ted Cruz as their party's leader.... 21% picked Cruz to 17% for Chris Christie, and 15% for John Boehner."
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "In a warning shot to outside conservative groups, the National Republican Senatorial Committee this week informed a prominent Republican advertising firm that it would not receive any contracts with the campaign committee because of its work with a group that targets incumbent Senate Republicans. Even more striking, a senior official at the committee called individual Republican Senate campaigns and other party organizations this week and urged them not to hire the firm, Jamestown Associates, in an effort to punish them for working for the Senate Conservatives Fund, a group founded by Jim DeMint...." ...
... Bill Barrow: The GOP civil war plays out in an Alabama primary race for the Congressional seat vacated by Rep. Jo Bonner.
The Plagiarist, Ctd. Alexander Burns of Politico: "A top adviser to Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday night that the Kentucky Republican would be 'more cautious in presenting and attributing sources' in the future, after Politico confronted the senator's office with fresh examples of Paul speeches that borrowed language from news reports without citing the original source." In one speech, Paul borrowed word-for-word from an AP report; in another, he spoke verbatim from a Focus on the Family publication. In neither case, did he attribute his source. "And even as Paul's chief adviser promised greater caution in the future, the senator's political operation also disputed the idea that he had done anything wrong.... 'Only in Washington is something this trivial a source for liberal media angst,' said Paul adviser Doug Stafford, the senator's former chief of staff." CW: Yes, Politico is part of the "liberal media." Ha!
Alison Smale of the New York Times: "Edward J. Snowden ... has appealed to Washington to stop treating him like a traitor for revealing that the United States has been eavesdropping on its allies, a German politician who met with Mr. Snowden said on Friday." ...
... Dorothy Wickenden of the New Yorker speaks with Ryan Lizza & Steve Coll about the NSA spying:
Frank Rich talks about things.
Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "The Federal Communications Commission, seeking to revive the sagging fortunes of AM radio, has proposed removing or updating regulations that station owners believe have left many AM channels on the precipice of death. The commission is seeking public comment on numerous changes, required before it adopts its final rules."
Presidential Election 2012
Jonathan Allen of Politico: "President Barack Obama 'never considered' replacing Vice President Joe Biden on the 2012 ticket with then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Friday in response to a report in the forthcoming book 'Double Down: Game Change 2012.' ... 'The president never considered that,' Carney said, adding that if it had been brought to Obama, 'he would have laughed it out of the room.'"
Gubernatorial Races
Dana Milbank: "If Ken Cuccinelli II loses his bid to be the next governor of Virginia on Tuesday..., the date of the Republican defeat will be traced back to May 18.... Supporters of Cuccinelli, the state attorney general, had scrapped the GOP gubernatorial primary, which probably would have resulted in the nomination of Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, a mainstream conservative who likely would have cruised to victory. But Cuccinelli's supporters forced the party to cut the electorate out of the process, replacing the primary with a convention. There, a smaller number of tea party activists handed the nomination to Cuccinelli...." ...
... Washington Post Editors: "... Mr. Cuccinelli's interest in jobs and the economy is an 11th-hour political makeover, developed for electoral purposes, that bears no resemblance to the agenda he has pursued aggressively in public office for more than a decade. Mr. Cuccinelli did not become a hero to the tea party by accident; he earned that distinction with a sustained focus on conservative social issues. As a state senator, his motivating passions were God, guns, gays and abortion; as attorney general, he won notoriety mainly by fighting the Obama administration over health care and climate change.... There's no reason to be fooled now."
... CW: I absolutely love that this ad, which liken Cuccinelli to Rick Santorum, centers on Google searches ... because you know what you get when you Google Santorum.com
Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: Charlie Crist, the former Republican governor of Florida turned-Democrat, has officially filed as a Democratic candidate for governor. He will make an announcement Monday morning in St. Petersburg, Florida.
News Ledes
Guardian: "Pakistan's security forces have been put on high alert after a CIA drone attack killed the leader of the country's Taliban, Hakimullah Mehsud, in the lawless tribal areas. A Pakistani government minister said the strike by an unmanned aircraft on Friday had destroyed attempts to hold peace talks with the militants which began this week."
Los Angeles Times: Witnesses recount their close encounters with the LAX gunman
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Reader Comments (10)
More evidence the GOP is rotten to the core.
Bravo Charles Blow. Obama's successful judicial appointments should be a focus of his administration for the remainder of his term. The effect of previous Republican appointments, as far back as Reagan, have been made as clear as being blasted between the eyes with a 2 X 4 hard and repeatedly. If the fear of a majority vote on confirmations in the Senate (I'm talking to you Harry) doesn't happen soon, the long term story will be a nightmare for years to come. Harry, you must realize by now that McConnell lied and he will continue to lie for his own gain. I know there's a lot of shit going on at once, but Jeebus Harry, don't take your eyes off the long game, because you are royally screwing the country going forward.
Snowden has officially transcended dickhead to monumental shit stain. The global outrage about spying on allies is just plain blatant in its hypocrisy. Snowden is providing a perfect beard for the Angela Merkels of the world while he polishes his reputation and/or his knob. I fail to see how offering his stories, i.e. testimony based on stolen documents, to Germany is "patriotic". Personally, I'd like to send his next Christmas card to a small province somewhere in Siberia where the main food source is anything you can dig up under the snow, the only heat source is fire, there is a shortage of wood, no phones, cell towers or cable and the train stops every 2 two years only if the engineer is inclined to do so. Oh and the only book in the whole place is Doctor Zhivago in Russian.
The lights have barely stopped flashing in front of my eyes after a few days in Las Vegas. Sadly, nothing happened in Vegas that rose to the level of having to stay in Vegas.
Rachel Maddow gives great historical context to the two winger judges that are doing their darndest to limit women's reproduction rights. Silly, naïve old me used to think that judges weren't allowed to impose their personal views on judicial rulings. I had a rather rosy world view there for a couple of years.What I find very interesting is how they dug up these two WOMEN who are dedicated to reducing women's rights. Clearly there's no shortage of old white men trying to impose their shackles and chains on women in this country, but to get women to do it to themselves gives the old farts even more political cover claiming you women WANT these restrictions, don't ya?
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/women-pay-price-for-compromise-on-bush-judges-59615299823
@safari: "Clearly there's no shortage of old white men trying to impose their shackles and chains on women in this country, but to get women to do it to themselves gives the old farts even more political cover claiming you women WANT these restrictions, don't ya?"
Kind of explains why ANY woman would vote for the Cooch for Governor in VA. There clearly are women and judges whose mindset corresponds to those "old farts" which is a sad state of affairs and something I feel flummoxed and frustrated about.
Answer to CW's Healthcare.gov Question: If I get sick listening to these ObamaCare sob stories, will my new policy cover my illness?
You betcha, CW, your new policy will cover what we call the Sob Stories Succor part D which provides coverage for any malady suffered from listening to said sob stories but with the proviso that you stop watching all the news that's fit to blab about. If that doesn't do the trick then we just throw up our healthy hands and say, "the hell with you."
And here's a reason to have a Rob Roy and toast Bill Gross, the billionaire founder and chief investment officer of Pimco, who says wealthy people need to stop whining and pay higher taxes:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/31/investing/bill-gross-pimco/
First, the Mother Jones (perhaps already linked on RC?) take on the sins of the father's (in this case Ted Cruz') being visited on the sons:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/10/ted-cruz-rafael-father-video-christian-tea-party
which my son sent and my wife termed this morning's downer. But he later added the morning's good news: actual numbers for the ACA signups...
http://obamacaresignups.net/
which are interesting in aggregate, state by state, and in detail and not all bad.
BTW, pleased to see Michael Hiltzik linked here. He has been making sense down there in Wonderland for a long time.
Have a nice weekend, all.
@Rachel vv CW: while it seems deplorable that the do nothing congress has gone over the top by reducing their number of legislative "work" days on the hill, their "free time" may be spent interacting with constituents in their home states (both parties benefit here), or even getting some research done to help them legislate more effectively. Were you stirring that Rob Roy with the knife of cynicism or am I just too naïve?
http://www.slate.com/blogs/business_insider/2013/11/01/edward_snowden_is_supervised_by_russian_intelligence.html
Well, now, maybe Russia isn't Paradise? Maybe that's why Eddie wants to come home. I feel for him, but I can't quite reach him. GG got what he wanted and "moved on," leaving Snowden to "twist slowly in the wind" a la John Erlichman.
I'm waiting for the next Church Committee, this article has an interesting take on things.
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/10/breaking-bad-america-has-used-walter-white-logic-since-9-11/281029/.
@625, Interesting take, indeed. "Church" committee is well named. Is our exceptionalism a religion per se, rather than just so justified? I think I copied this quote from a CW thread quite a while back, but still have it on my wall:
With or without religion, good people can behave well and bad people can do evil; but for good people to do evil — that takes religion.
Steven Weinberg