The Commentariat -- Nov. 28, 2015

Internal links removed.

Julie Turkewitz & Jack Healy of the New York Times: "A gun battle erupted inside a Planned Parenthood center here on Friday when a man armed with an assault-style rifle opened fire and began shooting at officers as they rushed to the scene. The authorities reported that three people were killed, a police officer and two civilians, and nine were wounded before the suspect finally surrendered more than five hours after the first shots were fired. A police official in Colorado Springs, who was not authorized to speak, identified the man in custody as Robert Lewis Dear, 59. No other information about him was available." ...

... President Obama's statement. ...

The Denver Post gathered statements from public & private officials. CW: Nearly every one was "prayers, blah-blah-blah." Here are two exceptions, cited in part:

We need to call the threats of violence and the intimidation of health care providers and patients what it is — domestic terrorism. And more public officials in Colorado and across the country, not just advocacy groups and the people on the front lines, need to take a stand opposing domestic terrorism and supporting women's health. -- Karen Middleton, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado

This clinic is part of the Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains affiliate, which was featured in one of the highly-edited smear videos released this summer. Since that video, the affiliate has seen an increase in protesters and death threats against one of their doctors. -- National Abortion Federation

... Ashley Feinberg of Gawker: "While Colorado police were apprehending the Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Friday night, Fox News was busy ensuring its level of discourse met our most base expectations. Which, of course, amounts to little more than: Thanks, Obama.... Frequent Fox News contributor, former NYPD cop, and professional smear-man Bo Dietl was commenting on the then-active crisis unfolding in Colorado when he had what can best be described as incomprehensible, waking stroke." Dietl's comment or whatever is cited in full. ...

... Steve M.: "Dietl's reply, as the Gawker post notes, is war-porn word salad -- but the point he makes is clear enough. It's also clear that Dietl isn't going off on a rant on his own volition -- the segment is set up to raise this issue.... So the Obama administration expressed some skepticism about police militarization, therefore a Planned Parenthood siege proves that Ialamicists are going to kill us all. In reality, as the Denver Post reports, heavy equipment was used to deal with this situation.... This is what Roger Ailes considers the most important mission of Fox News: to mine every single news story for a real or imagined examples of liberal evil and perfidy." ...

... D. R. Tucker in the Washington Monthly: "This case may prove yet again that in America, we always have to be on guard for heavily armed, self-radicalized religious extremists who believe they have the right to take lives in the name of their faith and who pose a perpetual threat to homeland security — and I’m not talking about ISIS." ...

... CW: There's this headline from Leon Wolf of Red State: "Planned Parenthood Shooter Finally Convinces Leftists that Beliefs Matter." No link. ...

... Nina Liss-Schultz of Mother Jones: "The attack comes amid an exponential increase in threats and violence against abortion providers since the release of a series of viral — and widely debunked — videos.... Since the release of the Center for Medical Progress' videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood selling fetal issue, harassment, threats, and attacks against abortion providers, their staff, and facilities have surged dramatically across the country, according to new numbers from the National Abortion Federation." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 7:30 pm MT, Nov. 27: "UCCS has confirmed Garrett Swasey, 44, a six-year veteran of the UCCS Police, was killed in Friday's shooting." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 7:00 pm MT: "Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department confirms two civilians and a UCCS police officer died in Friday's shooting. Four civilians and five officers were transported to hospitals with gunshot wounds. All are in good condition." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 6:00 pm MT: "Multiple news outlets are reporting fatalities in Friday's shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood building. Gazette news partner KKTV reports that a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs officer was killed; 9News in Denver reported that one officer and one civilian are dead." ...

... Jennifer Shutt & Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, released a statement expressing sympathy for those involved and urging restraint given how much is not yet know about why the shooting took place. 'We don't yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and we don't yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack,' she said. 'We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country.'” ...

... Also from the Politico report: "Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) tweeted "Please join me offering thoughts & prayers to family & friends of the UCCS police officer & civilian killed during the #CentennialBlShooting." CW: Lamborn, who is a lying, reactionary Planned Parenthood foe, can't even bring himself to acknowledge that the massacre took place at a Planned Parenthood clinic. He is as guilty as anyone for spreading the lies that well may have inspired the shooter. So there's Doug, asking you to pray for victims of his own hate speech. ...

... Lindsey Bever, et al., of the Washington Post: "A suspect is in police custody following an hours-long ordeal at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., where at least five police officers and six civilians were injured in a shooting Friday. 'The perpetrator is in custody,” Mayor John Suthers declared just after 5 p.m. local time — more than five hours after an active shooter was first reported at the health-care clinic.... Police described the gunman as a stocky, bearded white male wearing a trench coat and armed with 'a long gun.'... At least 11 people were transported from the scene to local hospitals, officials said. Their conditions were not known, and no fatalities were reported at the time of the suspect’s capture.” ...

... Noel Black & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A gunman inside a Planned Parenthood center [in Colorado Springs, Colorado,] was exchanging gunfire with the police, the authorities said on Friday, after an hours long shooting spree that left at least eight people injured including four officers. People in the surrounding buildings, including the clinic, were told to shelter in place." (Same link as updated NYT story by Turkewitz & Healy above.) ...

... The Denver Post story, by Jesse Paul & others, is here. Includes video report. ...

... The Colorado Springs Gazette is posting live updates. ...

... Sadie Gurman of the AP: "Police were searching for a gunman Friday who opened fire near a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs." ...

... CW: And excuse me while I blame these insane acts of violence on every person who has lied about Planned Parenthood, including the makers of the recent faked videos, the Members of Congress & other politicians who have smeared Planned Parenthood for no reason other than their own political gain. That would include Carly Fiorina. Not fair? I think it is. ...

... News Corpse in Daily Kos: "Once again, the people who watch Fox News are demonstrating their appalling lack of decency and, ironically in this case, respect for human life.... In the heat of this live crisis the Fox News website is hosting some of the most nauseating responses imaginable. They run the gamut of hateful rhetoric from anti-choice extremism ('Too bad the abortion doctor and the nursing staff weren't all killed.') to overt racism ('I know this isn't PC....but n***gers are just plain bad news.'). Never mind that there is little information about the shooter or his motives (he has been identified in one report as a white male), the Fox News audience is focused entirely on their inbred hostilities toward minorities, women, and President Obama, whom some are accusing of setting this up."

Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Republicans are eyeing an upcoming government spending bill as their best leverage for pausing the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Some GOP lawmakers are already saying they'll vote against the catchall spending bill, known as an omnibus, if it doesn't block funds for refugee resettlement for people coming from Syria and nearby regions in the Middle East." ...

By Brian McFadden, published in Daily Kos.

Dana Milbank: Even though the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover mental health issues on parity with physical illnesses, too few mental health professionals are willing to see patients. "... psychiatrists, many of whom stopped taking insurance because of the paltry reimbursements, have yet to rejoin the system.... Thankfully, a bipartisan group in Congress is trying to fix this. The 'Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,' introduced by Rep. (and psychologist) Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Rep. (and psychiatric nurse) Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), attempts, among other things, to reinforce community mental-health programs. It has 165 co-sponsors and has already cleared a commerce subcommittee. Similar legislation by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) attempts to expand the mental-health workforce. 

Alex Byers of Politico: "The National Security Agency will no longer be able to collect phone records in bulk starting Nov. 29, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday. The program's closure was required by the USA Freedom Act, signed by President Barack Obama in early June. The program was allowed to continue since then as part of a six-month wind-down period, in which intelligence officials could create and test a new phone records program where the government can only obtain records connected to a specific entity like a person or device that is associated with a foreign power or terrorist group."

Peter Hermann & Rees Shapiro of the Washington Post: "A Connecticut man who police say draped himself in an American flag and scaled the White House fence on Thanksgiving Day left a suicide note with friends he had been staying with in Virginia, according to court documents unsealed Friday. D.C. Superior Court Judge Errol R. Arthur ordered the suspect, Joseph Anthony Caputo, 23, to undergo an emergency psychiatric evaluation at St. Elizabeths Hospital."

Presidential Race

GOP Candidates Find New Way to Be Racists. Abby Phillip & Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "... many GOP presidential candidates are calling for an end to one of [the 'war on drugs''] central tenets — by agreeing with Democrats to treat low-level drug offenders rather than incarcerating them. The Republicans are selective, however, about who is deserving of their compassion. Several GOP presidential contenders have advocated treating the nation’s growing heroin epidemic as a health crisis, not a criminal one. But most stop short of advocating the same approach to other drug laws, notably those involving marijuana and crack cocaine, which disproportionately affect African Americans.... The heroin epidemic has overwhelmingly hit whites. It has also skyrocketed to the top of voters’ lists of political priorities in the same bands of America — rural states, the suburbs and notably the early voting state of New Hampshire — that track directly with where Republicans must perform well to win back the White House next year."

The Gray Lady Is Shocked (And Cannot Type Those Words that Are the Subject of Her Story). Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A little more than two months before the voting begins, the [Republican] candidates have charged into what appears to be the inaugural profanity primary, wrought by an overstuffed field of competitors vying for attention and the specter of a foul-mouthed Manhattanite perched atop the polls.... The outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race. the outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race. The outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race.... Such frequent, deliberate cursing by presidential candidates addressing campaign audiences in this election cycle seems to be without modern precedent."

Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "The presidential campaign is reigniting the battle over importing prescription drugs from Canada, with all of the leading Democratic candidates endorsing the idea. Calls for allowing people to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies are also intensifying from some Republicans in Congress, including Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa). But the drug industry remains dead-set against allowing importation, and it's unclear whether voter support will translate into legislative action."

Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "A Reuters poll released Friday finds that GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has dropped 12 points in less than a week, his largest single poll-to-poll drop since he took the primary lead in July. Trump was still the favorite among 31 percent of Republicans in a rolling Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27, but down from 43 percent support registered on Nov. 22." ...

I have the world's greatest memory. It's one thing everyone agrees on. -- Donald Trump, October 28

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The New York Daily News released an archived news article on Friday that seemed to contradict a claim by Donald J. Trump that he knew nothing about a reporter whose disability Mr. Trump appeared to mock at a rally earlier this week. The reporter, Serge Kovaleski, said Thursday that he covered Mr. Trump numerous times while he was at The Daily News, including on a daylong maiden voyage of the now-defunct 'Trump Shuttle' in 1989. 'Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,' [Kovaleski] said...." ...

Serge Kovaleski must think a lot of himself if he thinks I remember him from decades ago — if I ever met him at all, which I doubt I did. He should stop using his disability to grandstand and get back to reporting for a paper that is rapidly going down the tubes. -- Donald Trump ...

... Maggie Haberman: "'Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,' Mr. Trump said [at a South Carolina rally], before jerking his arms around and holding his right hand at an angle.... In his statement on Thursday, Mr. Trump maintained that he had never met Mr. Kovaleski. 'I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski [sic], is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence,' Mr. Trump said."

Taylor Luck, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Ben Carson arrived in the Jordanian capital on Friday afternoon with plans to tour two Syrian refu­gee camps over the next day, according to several people familiar with the trip.... The trip comes ... veiled in secrecy and uncertainty about his purpose and his schedule."

Elizabeth Preza of Mediaite: "Former mayor of New York Mike Bloomberg told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz 'says some of the stupidest things' he’s ever heard about climate change. 'Even the right-wing crazies no longer say climate change isn’t real. They say "it’s natural, it’s not business, not man-made,'” Bloomberg told Amanpour....

Beyond the Beltway

Aamer Madhani of USA Today: "Protesters took to the streets in the midst of Black Friday shopping on Chicago's iconic Magnificent Mile as they continue to make their push for broad reforms in the Windy City in the wake of a police video showing a white police officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times.... Friday's protests drew hundreds that crowded North Michigan Avenue, a shopping strip that includes high-end retailers ... on traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year." ...

** American "Justice," Ctd. Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic: "As [Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke] faces murder charges, there remains a need to demand accountability for the Chicagoans complicit in the injustice he perpetrated.... Protestors want accountability for investigators whose inexplicable slowness allowed Van Dyke to remain on desk detail and to collect a paycheck from taxpayers. And the civic derelictions of duty run even deeper. They implicate Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city council, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, rank-and-file cops, Pat Camden, who leads Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, and members of the press who credulously report police-union talking points." Read the full article. ...

... Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "Would body cameras have made justice speedier for Laquan McDonald? Not without new laws.... With the exception of the metropolitan police in Washington, D.C., no major American city — not New York, not Los Angeles, not Houston, Miami, or Baltimore — allows people recorded by body cameras to have access to footage of themselves. These cities prohibit access to footage even if someone on film, or a survivor from their immediate family, is filing a complaint.... The crimes that the city of Chicago committed in the case of Laquan McDonald appear to go much further than its handling of open-records law. But this is not the last time that the city or its civic servants will commit those crimes."

In the Spirit of the Season. David Boroff & Nicole Hensley of the New York Daily News: "Call it Black-eye Friday. Brawls broke out at Walmart retail stores and other shopping centers across the country on Thursday evening, the official start of 'Black Friday.' In Kentucky, Texas and Louisiana, tempers flared among shoppers as law enforcement agencies struggled to keep control." CW: Do read Bob Cesca's piece, linked in yesterday's Commentariat.

A Turkey for Your Vote. Ashley Parker of the New York Times: Libre, a Koch-funded group, handed out turkeys & offered free flu shots to Miami Hispanics in exchange for the recipients giving the group their personal information. "Libre, reflecting the Koch’s views, supports a broad overhaul of the immigration system, including a path to citizenship. It waged a campaign in support of the Senate’s 2013 immigration effort, including airing in excess of $1 million in television ads.... But the group has also ... rais[ed] concerns about some of President Obama’s more sweeping executive actions on immigration, and by pouring money into House races to help defeat two Hispanic lawmakers — Pete P. Gallego of Texas and Joe Garcia of Florida, both Democrats — because they supported the president’s health care plan, among other issues Libre opposes." ...

... CW: Maybe somebody should have told the Koch boyz that under ObamaCare, of which they're so opposed, most insurance plans pay for flu shots with no co-pay.

Allison Manning of the Boston Globe: "A former Millis[, Massachusetts,] police officer who was facing felony charges after police said he lied about a shooting and bomb threat was found dead in his home on Thanksgiving, according to the Norfolk County district attorney’s office. Bryan Johnson, 24, had been indicted last week on charges related to the hoax. Johnson told police on Sept. 2 that he was in his cruiser when a driver in a pickup truck shot at him twice, leading the police officer to drive his cruiser into the woods."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "An enraged Waffle House customer shot and killed a waitress early Friday who asked him not to smoke."

Andrew Husband of Mediaite: "The famous dancing traffic cop of Providence, Rhode Island was fired after he organized a protest against the Black Lives Matter movement. According to the Providence Journal, Tony Lepore organized a protest of a local Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop after a worker there wrote #BlackLivesMatter on a cop’s coffee cup in October. He was terminated as a result."

Way Beyond

Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "The Kremlin on Friday played down the possibility of a grand coalition with the West to strike the Islamic State in Syria, despite personal visits by French President François Hollande to both Washington and Moscow following a spate of horrific terrorist attacks tied to the terrorist group. 'At the moment, unfortunately, our partners are not ready to work as one coalition,' Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s personal spokesman, told reporters during a conference call on Friday." ...

>Ceylan Yeginsu of the New York Times: "Turkey took steps on Friday to calm relations with Russia over the shooting down of a Russian warplane this week, calling for a presidential-level meeting, possibly at the climate talks in Paris next week. 'I would like to meet Putin face to face in Paris,' President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Friday, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. 'I would like to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated.'”

The trouble with naming your daughter after Egypt's most important ancient goddess.

The Commentariat -- Nov. 27, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Ashley Southall of the New York Times: "A man climbed over a fence in front of the White House on Thursday as President Obama and his family were inside celebrating Thanksgiving, the Secret Service said. The breach exposed how vulnerable the White House grounds remain.... The service identified the man who climbed over the fence on Thursday as Joseph Caputo. Agents apprehended him on the North Lawn around 2:45 p.m., moments after he cleared the fence, said Robert Hoback, a spokesman for the Secret Service. Mr. Caputo is facing criminal charges.... He was draped in an American flag and was carrying a binder in his mouth as he scaled the fence. Once inside the perimeter, Mr. Caputo raised his arms and dropped to his knees, before lying on the ground. The White House was placed on lockdown for about three hours...." ...

     ... The Washington Post story, by Lynh Bui & Ashley Halsey, is here. ...

Cheryl Thompson & Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "... at least 48 people ... have died in the United States since January -- about one death a week -- in incidents in which police used Tasers, according to a Washington Post examination of scores of police, court and autopsy records.... More than half of the 48 suffered from mental illness or had illegal drugs in their system at the time. At least 10 were Tasered while handcuffed or shackled. Only one was female. Nearly 55 percent of the people who died were minorities."

Ken Vogel & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Senate Republicans plan to insert a provision into a must-pass government funding bill that would vastly expand the amount of cash that political parties could spend on candidates, multiple sources tell Politico. The provision ... would eliminate caps on the amount of cash that parties may spend in coordination with their candidates.... Campaign finance watchdogs argue that it would allow wealthy donors to exercise even more influence with members of Congress."

Brianna Ehley of Politico: "The spate of mass killings over the past year reignited mental health reform efforts in both chambers of Congress.... But the Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, has been working behind the scenes to drum up support for his own mental health legislation, which includes language endorsed by the National Rifle Association.... His critics say the legislation actually loosens restrictions on gun purchases, under the umbrella of mental health reform.... His push ... is creating a wedge in the bipartisan coalition that had been trying to keep mental health clearly separate from any legislation touching on the politically volatile issue of guns."

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) "is siding with [seafood industry] employers [and against labor advocates & the Obama administration,], spurred by a desire to protect her state's seafood companies at a time when pollution, warming water and competition from companies in Southeast Asia have taken a toll."

Glenn Greenwald in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "Bodies were still lying in the streets of Paris when CIA operatives began exploiting the resulting fear and anger to advance long-standing political agendas. They and their congressional allies instantly attempted to heap blame for the atrocity not on Islamic State but on several preexisting adversaries: Internet encryption, Silicon Valley's privacy policies and Edward Snowden." CW: Greenwald cites two former CIA directors, but no active CIA officials or spokespeople. Do ex-directors qualify as "CIA operatives"?

Paul Rosenberg, in Salon, psyches out the pathology of the "Daddy party": "Nothing made them feel more like helpless infants than seeing Obama act presidential -- especially when he reached out to them, inviting a mature response, which they were utterly incapable of, boxed in by their own intricate structure of lies about him, prisoners of their own dark projections.... They couldn't govern their way out of a paper bag. In fact, they're really the baby party. All they can do is finger-point and fear-monger. That's it."

Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "The river of ice that hugs Mount Grinnell's high ridges ... may be the most accessible glacier in all of North America.... But if you want to see it, you'd better hurry. Grinnell Glacier is disappearing -- fast. This crescent-shaped glacier in Montana's northern Rockies had been contracting for decades because of warming temperatures. Lately it has been shrinking at a breathtaking clip, losing as much as a 10th of its mass in a single year. As early as 2030, scientists say, it may no longer exist."

Shan Li of the Los Angeles Times: "The holiday shopping season got off to a brisk start Thursday as consumers gobbled their turkey dinners then gorged on Thanksgiving shopping.... Several chains opened Thursday afternoon or evening Many retailers in hopes of luring shoppers with doorbuster deals ahead of Black Friday...." ...

... BUT. Vauhini Vara of the New Yorker: "In the past couple of years..., retailers have tended to take a determinedly pro-frenzied-consumerism approach to Black Friday, beginning their sales earlier and earlier, so that they have eventually impinged on Thanksgiving Day. The phenomenon became so pervasive that it even got a name, Black Friday Creep.... But R.E.I.'s statement this year [video below] is actually part of what appears to be a slowdown in the creep.... This year, it seems, some brick-and-mortar retailers have begun to feel that whatever benefit they get from early openings isn't worth the trouble.... The widespread availability of good deals on the Internet has diminished the appeal of all that sales-bin arm wrestling -- and, in fact, has made it seem a bit unsavory."

Helaine Olen in Slate: "Whether they appealed to lower-, middle-, or upper-income shoppers, department stores once epitomized our seemingly limitless consumer economy. Now they're experiencing what economists call a long-term cyclical decline. According to market researcher IBISWorld, sales across the entire department-store category, which includes everything from high-end retailers like Bergdorf Goodman to lower-end establishments such as Walmart (a place few of us think of as a department store at all) fell by a 4.5-percent annual rate between 2010 and 2015."

Bob Cesca in Salon: "It’s difficult to think of another annual occasion that combines American excess with American indignity more than the day after Thanksgiving.... Rather than building stronger middle- and working-class incomes to keep up, our politics and our corporate culture have collaborated on a humiliating work-around: cheaper crap that you might have to fight for.... Adding insult to injury, The Wall Street Journal and Kiplinger.com discovered that Black Friday deals aren't very good ones."

Josh Harkinson of Mother Jones: "The people who organized the largest-ever Black Friday demonstrations against Walmart last year are leaving their protest signs at home this year. Instead, they're launching a campaign to support 1,000 food drives around the country to help struggling Walmart workers. Making Change at Walmart's 'Give Back Friday' campaign kicked off on Tuesday with the launch of a national TV ad campaign urging people 'to help feed underpaid workers'..."

Adam Chandler of the Atlantic: "Football has never been more popular, but public interest in the concussion epidemic is only growing.... According to a ongoing PBS Frontline project, NFL players have already suffered 108 concussions through 11 weeks of play this season. While the league has instituted new protocols, just this week they were criticized as insufficient after Case Keenum, the quarterback for the St. Louis Rams, failed to be removed from the game after suffering a concussion on Sunday.

Today's History Lesson. Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "The Statue of Liberty was originally designed to be a Muslim woman, the Smithsonian Institution's magazine says. An article on the government-administered museum's blog, Smart News, claims one of the designers of Lady Liberty drew inspiration from monuments in Egypt and originally intended to construct a veiled female peasant on the Suez Canal....The design of the project was eventually altered to the Roman colossus...." ...

... This history lesson should allay Stephen Colbert's concerns. Thanks to Colbert for helping ICE identify terrorists hiding among the refugee applicants (& GOP presidential candidates). Also, thanks to D. C. Clark for the link:

Presidential Race

Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "A day after he was widely rebuked for mocking a reporter with a physical disability..., Donald Trump on Thursday denied that he had done so and accused the reporter of 'using his disability to grandstand.' Trump also demanded an apology from the New York Times, the reporter's employer, which earlier in the week issued a statement condemning Trump for ridiculing 'the appearance of one of our reporters.'" See yesterday's Commentariat for more on this story, including a link to a Guardian video which shows Trump clearly mocking the reporter's disability. Scum. ...

... Judd Legum of Think Progress: To "prove" his claim that "thousands & thousands" of New Jersey "Arabs" were cheering as the Twin Towers fells, Donald Trump linked in a tweet to a page in "Infowars.com, a conspiracy website that pushes the idea that 9/11 was an inside job.... Even Infowars' article doesn't support Trump's claim that thousands of Muslims were celebrating on 9/11. It's simply a woman who claims she saw a 'pocket' of Muslims celebrating." ...

... Tim Egan: "Donald Trump's reign would be a police state. He has now outlined a series of measures that would make the United States an authoritarian nightmare. Trump is no longer entertaining, or diversionary. He's a billionaire brute, his bluster getting more ominous by the day." ...

... Jamelle Bouie: "In the past week..., 'Donald Trump as fascist' has gone from hyperbolic to mainstream.... Alone and disconnected, [Trump's] rhetoric isn't necessarily fascist. Some of it, in fact, is even anodyne. But together and in the person of Donald Trump, it's clear: The rhetoric of fascism is here. And increasingly, the policies are too. The only thing left is the violence." ...

... In seeking to define fascism, Bouie relies on this 1995 New York Review of Books article by Umberto Eco. Eco was a decades-long friend of my husband's, & among those partisani Eco describes in the first grafs of his essay was my husband Aldo Scaglione. And, yes, one can definitely see Trump in many of the elements of "ur-fascism" Eco describes. ...

... Molly Ball of the Atlantic: "Four months into his crazed foray into presidential politics, Trump is still winning this thing. And what could once be dismissed as a larkish piece of political performance art has seemingly turned into something darker. Pundits, even conservative ones, say that Trump resembles a fascist. The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, which some hoped would expose Trump's shallowness, have instead strengthened him by intensifying people's anger and fear.... This is the thing Trump knows: You can stand around fretting about truth and propriety and the danger of pandering to baser instincts. Or you can give the people what they want." ...

... Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "As much as they've awakened to the threat that Trumpism poses to their party, Republicans and the conservative intelligentsia lack the self-awareness -- or perhaps the temerity -- to acknowledge that though they now resent it, they've been courting it all along."

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Ben Carson, who is facing increasing scrutiny over his grasp of foreign policy, is traveling to Jordan on Friday to visit Syrian refugees, in order to gain an understanding of the pressing issue and to polish his candidacy.

Beyond the Beltway

Elizabeth Bruenig of the New Republic: The state of "Texas is demanding that Christian groups stop taking in Syrian refugees. The groups say that's a violation of the Constitution." CW: Huh. Turns out freeedom of religion (or freeedom of Christianity) is important to Texas's Christianist officials only when conveeenient.

Tom Jackman of the Washington Post: "While the trend in much of the United States is moving toward decriminalization or legalization of marijuana, Virginia is heading in the opposite direction: sharply rising arrest totals for possession of pot, and a disproportionate number of black people arrested in the commonwealth, according to a new study based on state data reported to the FBI."

Way Beyond

Nicole Winfield & Tom Odula of the AP: "Visiting one of Nairobi's many shantytowns on Friday, Pope Francis denounced conditions slum-dwellers are forced to live in, saying access to safe water is a basic human right and that everyone should have dignified, adequate housing."

Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin told French President Francois Hollande in the Kremlin on Thursday that Russia is 'prepared to work with you' in combatting the Islamist militants who have inflicted devastating attacks on both countries. Hollande flew to Moscow to enlist Putin in a joint campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, but the prospects for close coordination between wary nations are problematic." ...

... Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "The downing of a Russian warplane by Turkey threatened to lead to a wholesale breach in the countries' relations on Thursday, with the Kremlin preparing to sever economic ties and Turkish officials saying they had no reason to apologize."

Annie Gowen of the Washington Post: "... life in Bangladesh’s crowded capital has changed significantly since a string of terrorist attacks this year, including shootings claimed by the Islamic State that left two foreigners dead and a third, an Italian missionary, seriously wounded. Many have stopped walking or bicycling to work in favor of company cars. An international AIDS conference was postponed and other events canceled."

Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "In his first full day in Africa, Pope Francis spoke to the many millions reeling from a string of terrorist attacks, condemning the way young people have been 'radicalized in the name of religion to sow discord and fear.' That message -- like the rest of his comments [in Nairobi, Kenya.] on Thursday -- spoke to both global and local concerns, shifting between lamentations for a perilous time, globally, in history and the threats facing Kenya as its economic and geopolitical strength grows."

Andrew Jacobs of the New York Times: "Miss Canada, otherwise known as Anastasia Lin, a 25-year-old actress and classically trained pianist ... has been denied a Chinese visa to attend the monthlong [Missi World] pageant, presumably because of her outspoken advocacy for human rights and religious freedom in China."

AP: "The French national anthem played by a military band has closed the ceremony honoring those killed in the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris.... The tightly secured ceremony paid homage to the 130 people, overwhelmingly young adults, killed when Islamic extremists struck the national stadium, bars, restaurants and a concert hall."

"Europe the Unready." Paul Krugman: There is a "slow-motion disaster now overtaking the European project on multiple fronts."

News Ledes

BBC News: "The Democratic Action party [of Venezuela] says Luis Manuel Diaz[, a regional leader of the party.] was killed by a man who approached the stage after a public meeting in central Guarico state. Opposition leaders blamed militias supporting the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). President Nicolas Maduro denied this and said an inquiry had been launched."

AP: "Malian special forces have arrested two men over last week's attack on a luxury hotel in the capital that killed 19 people, according to a statement distributed Friday morning. The statement identified the two Malians, both arrested in Bamako, but provided no other details on their background or their potential roles in the attack."

The Commentariat -- Nov. 26, 2015

Internal links removed.

Nearly four centuries after the Mayflower set sail, the world is still full of pilgrims -- men and women who want nothing more than the chance for a safer, better future for themselves and their families, What makes America America is that we offer that chance. -- President Obama

White House: "In this week's address, the President wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving, and reflected on America's history of welcoming men and women seeking a safer, better future for themselves and their families":

Afternoon Update:

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Linda Johnson of the AP: "After weeks of criticism from patients, doctors and other drugmakers for hiking a life-saving medicine to more than 50 times its former price, Turing Pharmaceuticals is reneging on its pledge to cut the $750-per-pill price. Instead, the small biotech company is reducing what it charges hospitals, by up to 50 percent, for its parasitic infection treatment Daraprim. Most patients' co-payments will be capped at $10 or less a month. But insurers will be stuck with the bulk of the $750 tab. That drives up future treatment and insurance costs."

*****

** Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "Thanksgiving is our holiday of refugee commemoration.... For today's Republicans -- including [Donald] Trump's rival candidates afraid to call him out for what he is -- celebrating Thanksgiving is an act of high hypocrisy.... To find Trump's antecedents, you have to go back to the Southern segregationist demagogues who whooped up their crowds by affirming the rightness and necessity not merely of their racism but of racist violence as well.... Trump, the Republicans' Southern Strategy -- pioneered by Barry Goldwater and perfected by strong> Ronald Reagan -- has hit bottom.... Trump's distinctive contribution to this decades-long process has been the rawness of his racism, the thuggish tone of his speech and the huge growth of anti-minority police powers that he has championed." Thanks to Janice for the link.

The First Thanksgiving:

... Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg: "Thanksgiving is a political holiday. It honors and mythologizes the comity -- based on a formal treaty -- between two peoples who needed what the other had to offer at a particular point in time. Delighted not to be starving, the Puritans of what is now Massachusetts feasted for three days in 1621, and entertained the local Wampanoags as their guests.... What brought them together was not shared identity but shared interests: Trade. Protection from common enemies. Mutually valued exchanges of technology and skills."

Just Another Brooklyn Thanksgiving:

Thanks, Adele:

"As God Is My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly":

... The turkey drop was actually a real incident. It was at a shopping center in Atlanta; I think it was Broadview Plaza, which no longer exists. It was a Thanksgiving promotion. We thought that we could throw these live turkeys out into the crowd for their Thanksgiving dinners. All of us, naïve and uneducated, thought that turkeys could fly. Of course, they went just fuckin' splat. -- Clarke Brown of WQZI Atlanta (CW: You may want to read the linked group interview, conducted in 2012.)

President Obama pardons two turkeys. Unlike WKRP station manager Arthur Carlson (and real-person Clarke Brown), Obama is aware turkeys can't fly:

As you may have heard, for months there has been a fierce competition between a bunch of turkeys trying to win their way into the White House. -- President Obama, at the turkey-pardoning ceremony, clearly alluding to a different flock of turkeys

The First Family serves Thanksgiving dinner (Wednesday) at Friendship Place, a Washington, D.C., organization that helps homeless people:

Hiroko Tabuchi & Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "In 1939, the nation's largest retailers sent Franklin D. Roosevelt an urgent plea. Thanksgiving fell on the last day of November that year, giving merchants too few days before Christmas to unleash the season's sales.... Wouldn't Mr. Roosevelt consider moving the day up by a week? The president's acquiescence to retailers helped cement the pre-eminence of the post-Thanksgiving sales rush, now known as Black Friday.... Seven decades later, Black Friday has lost its distinctive edge.... The relentless race for holiday dollars has blunted the day's oomph, as stores offer deep discounts weeks before Thanksgiving and year-round deals in stores and online are breeding sales fatigue.... The history of Black Friday tracks the history of modern American retailing, and of personal consumption in the United States, which makes up a bigger part of the economy than in almost any other industrialized country."

Real News

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama reassured Americans on Wednesday that there was no known terrorist plot against the United States at the moment and urged them to go about their Thanksgiving holiday weekend activities without undue fear":

Rod Nordland of the New York Times: "The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John F. Campbell, said Wednesday that several service members had been suspended from duty after an internal military investigation of the American airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Kunduz last month. Calling the airstrike a 'tragic mistake,' General Campbell read a statement announcing the findings of the investigation, which he said concluded that 'avoidable human error' was to blame, compounded by technical, mechanical and procedural failures. He said that another contributing factor was that the Special Forces members in Kunduz had been fighting continuously for days and were fatigued."

Cindy Boren of the Washington Post: "Frank Gifford, the Hall of Fame NFL player turned broadcaster, was suffering from 'the debilitating effects of head trauma' from playing football when he died last summer at the age of 84, his family said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.... 'While Frank passed away from natural causes..., our suspicions that he was suffering from the debilitating effects of head trauma were confirmed when a team of pathologists recently diagnosed his condition as that of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) -- a progressive degenerative brain disease.' [his family said.]"

The Palinization of the GOP. Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly: "... something broke on the right when they were forced to spend September and October of 2008 pretending that it would be okay if Sarah Palin were elected vice-president. The only way to maintain that stance was to jettison all the normal standards we have for holding such a high office. But it also entailed simply insisting that the truth doesn't matter. And so, now..., it's gotten to the point that Republicans have realized that they can say anything they want and just blame media bias if anyone calls them on their lies. Palin basically invented this is a survival strategy after she fell on her face in her first big interview with Katie Couric. It's now more than a survival strategy. It's the Republican Party's modus operandi."

Linda Greenhouse: The Supreme Court will take up two cases this year where sex & religion collide (CW: as they so often do). Greenhouse cites a 1989 opinion by John Paul Stevens: "Our jurisprudence ... has consistently required a secular basis for valid legislation." Greenhouse: "... what the Supreme Court may or may not grasp is that it has on its hands something deeper yet: a struggle over modernity, a battle for the secular state in which women can make their choices and design what Justice Ginsburg calls their life course, free of obstacles erected by those who would impose their religious views on others and who find in recent Supreme Court decisions encouragement that this time they might get their way."

In today's commentary, Marvin S. puts his finger on the real motivation behind the GOP's overweaned "fear of terrorism."

Wes Enzinna, in the New York Times Magazine, on the Kurdish quasi-state of Rojava, in which "women had been championed as leaders, defense of the environment enshrined in law and radical direct democracy enacted in the streets." Thanks to Victoria D. for the link.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Clueless Press Corps Stars in Futile Search for Clue. Citations (from Sunday's "Meet the Press") & identifiers by Driftglass:

There's no consequence for them to say anything that they want to. They can make things up, they can go out and say flat out untruths and nobody's challenging them.... -- Helene Cooper, actual, grown-up professional American journalist

... And Donald Trump says that he saw in Jersey City thousands of people cheering when the Twin Trade Towers came down, it's completely wrong. It did not happen. He did not see it. But who's there to challenge him on that? -- Tom Brokaw, famous teevee person, dean of NBC network news and, ironically, the revered, rose-colored-glasses chronicler of America's battle against fascism during World War II

Who, yes, who? If only there were some kind of job where the workers were tasked with confronting the lying liars, then telling all the rest of us the lying liars were lying. -- Constant Weader

P. S. Leave us not forget these gems:

We all sit there because we know the first time we bark, it's the last time we do the show.... All the sudden nobody will come on your show. -- Chuck Todd, "Meet the Press" star, explaining why the media don't challenge politicians' lies, November 2014. Chuck goes on to suggest that political satirists are responsible for "creating a more cynical public citizen."

What I always love is people say, 'Well, it's you folks' fault in the media.' No, it's the President of the United States' fault for not selling it. -- Chuck Todd, then-NBC White House correspondent, explaining why the media are not responsible to call out Republican lies about ObamaCare, September 2013

Matt Taiibi of Rolling Stone: "America is now too dumb for TV news. It's our fault. We in the media have spent decades turning the news into a consumer business that's basically indistinguishable from selling cheeseburgers or video games.... What we call right-wing and liberal media in this country are really just two different strategies of the same kind of nihilistic lizard-brain sensationalism. The ideal CNN story is a baby down a well, while the ideal Fox story is probably a baby thrown down a well by a Muslim terrorist or an ACORN activist.... What this 9/11 celebrations story shows is that American news audiences have had their fantasies stroked for so long that they can't even remember stuff that happened not that long ago."

Presidential Race

New York Times Editors: "Senator Bernie Sanders released his immigration plan on Tuesday.... Since the immigration reform bill was killed, in 2013, the party that killed it -- the Republicans -- has dragged the immigration debate to grotesque depths that go well beyond the usual nativist bigotry.... Mr. Sanders ... starts with the right premise: that immigrants should be welcomed and assimilated.... His proposals seek to uphold American values, bolster the rule of law, bolster the economy and protect and honor families.... Mr. Sanders's immigration plan is ... reality-based, moderate, practical and hopeful." ...

... Sanders' immigration plan is here. As the Times editors write, every citizen should read it. ...

** Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "As Mayor, Bernie Sanders Was More Pragmatist Than Socialist."

Paul Krugman: With many GOP leaders espousing ridiculous conspiracy theories, "how are base voters supposed to know that Trump's claims that the media suppressed films of Muslims cheering on 9/11 mark him as crazy, while all the other conspiracy theories on the right are OK?... Sorry, guys, you created this monster, and now he's coming for you." ...

Possible Photoshop, by Driftglass.Let the National Witch Hunt Begin. Mark Hensch of the Hill: "... Donald Trump said late Tuesday that everyday Americans should monitor their neighbors for questionable behavior. 'The real greatest resource is all of you, because you have all those eyes and you see what's happening,' he told listeners in Myrtle Beach, S.C. 'People move into a house a block down the road, you know who's going in,' Trump continued. 'You can see and you report them to the local police. You're pretty smart, right?' he asked his audience. 'We know if there's something going on, report them. Most likely you'll be wrong, but that's OK.'" ...

"The New Colussus" -- Emma Lazarus

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

"The Newer Colussus" -- Donald Trump, for the Republican Party

"Turn in your tired, your poor,
You may be wrong, but that's okay.
They're wretched refuse, that's for sure.
Turn in the neighbors down the way,
Lift up your lamp to peek inside their door!"

... Greg Sargent: "Trump and his campaign are actively charging the liberal media with covering up evidence that American Muslims did in fact celebrate the 9/11 attacks in great numbers." ...

... In that context, Donald Trump mocks a New York Times reporter's physical disability. CW: There is no low where Trump won't go. The Guardian has video. ...

     ... The Politico story, by Ben Schreckinger, is here. ...

... MJ Lee of CNN: "Conservative warnings about Donald Trump have grown increasingly somber. At first he was just an entertainer; then he became a worrisome distraction, and soon, there was fear that he would permanently scar the reputation of the Republican Party. But it was after Trump started calling for stronger surveillance of Muslim-Americans ... that a handful of conservatives ventured to call Trump's rhetoric something much more dangerous: fascism.... Conservative Iowa radio host Steve Deace ... [tweeted] last week: 'If Obama proposed the same religion registry as Trump every conservative in the country would call it what it is -- creeping fascism.'... Historians say they see other characteristics of fascism in Trump in addition to his propensity for racial and ethnic stereotyping. Among them: nativist undertones, attempts to control the media; and even condoning violence against his critics." ...

... CW: Bearing in mind that Trump's penthouse is four miles from the site of the World Trade Center, see Ophelia M.'s comment in yesterday's thread. If you still believe Trump saw with his own eyes people jumping from the World Trade Towers on 9/11, you'll have to conclude that Ophelia is, like, Mrs. Magoo. We all have horrible memories of that day & its aftermath, but Trump, like many people, exaggerates his own "participation" in this terrible event. ...

... Paul Campos in Lawyers, Guns & Money: "For a generation now, America has been bombarded by the message that the market is the proper measure of all things, and that pretty much everything ought to be sold to the highest bidder. The result is the disgusting spectacle of Trump campaign, which probably started out as a shameless publicity stunt, but is now getting such great ratings that there's a non-trivial chance he could become president of the United States." ...

... Matea Gold & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Plan A for GOP donors: Wait for Trump to fall. (There is no Plan B.)... The absence of a big-money response to Trump is especially striking, given the mounting anxiety among GOP leaders about his lasting dominance in the race and his accumulation of incendiary statements." ...

... Driftglass: "It turns out that however often the donor and brain caste of the GOP meet in quiet rooms and strategize about assembling an acceptable Establishment Candidate out of snips from old Jerry Ford speeches and dollops of Ronald Reagan's hair dye and Third Way/No Labels Both Siderist soft-core pornspeak, it turns out the Base of their party doesn't really give a shit about their schemes anymore.... The Base wants torch-lit rallies full of spellbinding speeches about their surpassing awesomeness and moral superiority. They want to make a bonfire of the Enlightenment and dance around the flames, armed to the teeth, braying about Freedumb and Murrica. And EstaBushment Fix It Man Jeb! ain't that guy."

In essence, if we are ever ordered by a government authority to personally violate and sin -- violate God's law and sin -- if we're ordered to stop preaching the Gospel, if we're ordered to perform a same-sex marriage as someone presiding over it, we are called to ignore that. So when those two come into conflict, God's rules always win. -- Marco Rubio, in a Christian Broadcasting Network interview, vowing to violate the Constitution & the law, if God says so

Marco should become a professional conscientious objector, not POTUS. He cannot agree to the terms of his oath of office. It is notable that he has taken similar oaths more than once. -- Constant Weader

Looks as if the end of Carly Fiorina's campaign is in sight. The New York Times just dumped a pile of research in the form of a story.

Beyond the Beltway

Jesse Wegman of the New York Times: "Gov. Steven L. Beshear [D] of Kentucky did a good thing on Tuesday when he issued an executive order making about 140,000 residents of his state with a nonviolent felony conviction immediately eligible to register to vote.... Nationwide, nearly six million Americans are unable to take part in the defining feature of a democracy. Naturally, the effects of these laws are as racially discriminatory as the criminal justice system from which they spring. In Kentucky, an estimated one in five African-Americans is barred from voting."

Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times: "Pennsylvania lawmakers took a significant step Wednesday toward removing from office the state attorney general, Kathleen G. Kane, who faces criminal charges. And Ms. Kane vowed a wide-ranging investigation into embarrassing emails from state officials, raising the stakes in a drama that has transfixed the state government for months. A bipartisan special committee of the State Senate found 'a sufficient basis for the Senate to move forward' with hearings on whether to force out Ms. Kane, a Democrat, because her law license has been suspended, limiting her ability to do her job."

Julie Fancher & Avi Selk of the Dallas Morning News: "The organizer of a recent armed anti-Muslim protest at an Irving mosque published the names and addresses of dozens of Muslims and 'Muslim sympathizers' online Wednesday. David Wright III copied an Irving city document that included the personal information of people who signed up to speak before the City Council voted in March to support a state bill aimed at blocking Muslim influence. Wright, who organized Saturday's armed protest against the 'Islamization of America' outside the Irving Islamic Center, posted on Facebook the name and address of every Muslim and Muslim sympathizer that stood up for .. Sharia tribunals in Irving.'... Shortly before Wright posted the list online, he wrote on Facebook: '...We like to have guns designed to kill people that pose a threat in a very efficient manner.'" CW: In the accompanying photo three of the six "protesters" are wearing masks. ...

... Yo, Marco. You want a "clash of civilizations"? Go to Irving, Texas, where it's in full view. Here is a photo of a member of Wright's group stalking a Muslim woman this past Sunday. No cops around, I guess, because this is a town where the idiotic mayor & council endorsed a proposal for a state law barring (nonexistent) Sharia courts of law. Would you fear for your life if you were this woman? I would. Apparently masked gunmen menacing women is all nice & legal in Texas. Via Raw Story:

The Assholes of Irvine are not the only ones troubled by people wearing exotic outfits. We turn now to Lowndes County, Georgia:

Juanita Jean sez, "I think this is the deal: You can be wildly racist or you can spell. Apparently you cannot do both." ...

... CW: That's one way of looking at it, Juanita Jean, but I think the Georgia Concerned Citizens are right -- if we assume the Muslin Invasion is where all the KKK freaks turn up of an evening in their specially-tailored white sheets. Maybe it will turn out that all of our outrage has been over a yuuuuge Emily Litella sort of misunderstanding -- perhaps the GOP is not a national hate organization but a vast support group for oddballs with a peculiar cotton phobia. Maybe we should be helping them out by supporting flax farm subsidies & public sheep-grazing lands.

AFP: "Multiple arrests were made overnight in Chicago and New York during protests over police shootings of two black males."

** American "Justice," Ctd. Curtis Black of the Chicago Reporter on "how Chicago tried to cover up a police execution. It was just about a year ago that a city whistleblower came to journalist Jamie Kalven and attorney Craig Futterman out of concern that Laquan McDonald's shooting a few weeks earlier 'wasn't being vigorously investigated,' as Kalven recalls. The source told them 'that there was a video and that it was horrific,' he said. Without that whistleblower -- and without that video -- it's highly unlikely that Chicago Police officer Jason Van Dyke would be facing first-degree murder charges today.'" ...

... Paul Campos: Chicago Mayor Rahm "Emanuel's attempt to cover up the city's cover up by turning a story of systemic legal and political corruption into a banal tale of one trigger-happy cop is just a continuation of an ongoing crime." ...

... David Graham of the Atlantic: The Chicago protests are about more than just one vicious killer-cop. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel doesn't get it. (CW: Or doesn't care.)

... Chris Thompson of Gawker contrasts the police version of the killing of McDonald (all lies) & civilian accounts of the McDonald's murder (consistent with forensic & videotape evidence). ...

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "President Obama was 'deeply disturbed' by the footage showing the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, he said Wednesday evening." Here's President Obama's full statement on his Facebook account.

Peter Holley of the Washington Post interviews a man named Tim Foley who leads an armed vigilante group that patrols the U.S.-Mexican border looking for ISIS terrorists & drug-runners. Foley is a bitter out-of-work former construction foreman who says he has given up on the American dream. "His goal, he noted, is to eventually buy a dude ranch where military veterans with PTSD can heal their minds by patrolling the border, getting outside and enjoying the company of people they can relate to." CW: That sounds safe. There are many ways to volunteer ones services to make the U.S. a safer, more hospitable nation. Suiting up in camo, guns & ammo & going hunting for terrorists & drug mules is not one of them.

More News from Georgia's Finest: Y'all (well, some of y'all) Come on Down. Thanks to Unwashed for the link:

... Lindsey Bever of the Washington Post: "Harris County Sheriff Mike Jolley put up the sign because, he said, over the years he has seen 'the silent majority' grow even 'more silent.'" CW: Would that "silent majority" include, say, folks at Donald Trump rallies, reproductive-rights foes & Christianist "religious freeedom" champions? Yeah, they're all cowering in their hovels, afraid to speak their minds lest Obama's politically-correct enforcers whisk them away & cart them off to re-education camps where they implant a liberal chip in everybody's brain.

Way Beyond

Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday called for tough sanctions against Turkey that could bite into more than $30 billion in trade ties between the two countries, as police here began seizing Turkish products and deporting Turkish businessmen."

News Ledes

Guardian: "Sex abuse allegations against priests at St John's Abbey in Minnesota were revealed in stark detail on Tuesday with the release of confidential documents concerning five priests accused of child sex abuse."

Reuters: "A 23-year-old Indiana man has pleaded guilty to breaking into a medical museum and stealing preserved human brains that he then sold online. David Charles, of Indianapolis, pleaded guilty to six charges including receiving stolen property and burglary in a Marion county court. Magistrate Amy Barbar sentenced him to one year of home detention and two years of probation, county prosecutor spokesman Anthony Deer said."