The Commentariat -- August 5, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "President Obama took sharp aim at critics of the Iran nuclear deal on Wednesday, saying many of those who backed the U.S. invasion of Iraq now want to reject an accord that showed America's ability to work with partners rather than push ahead with potentially dangerous unilateral action."
*****
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "President Obama will call for the restoration of the Voting Rights Act on its 50th anniversary Thursday, the White House said. Obama will hold a teleconference to commemorate the landmark legislation and call for its renewal, following a 2013 Supreme Court ruling that voided one of its central provisions. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who rose to prominence in the 1960s as a civil rights leader, will participate.... Asked about the timing of the event, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said that 'one person's irony is another person's serendipity. Maybe there will be an opportunity for Republican candidates to discuss the right for every American to cast a vote.'...".
... Ed Kilgore: "It will tell you a lot about the GOP and about Fox News if the subject is not mentioned on Thursday night." ...
... CW: If we were a normal country, we'd be having parades to celebrate the anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, just as we would have had last week to celebrate 50 years of Medicare & Medicaid, programs that have saved hundreds of thousands of lives. Instead, millions of Americans will be glued to Fox "News" listening to a panel of preening jerks who not only oppose voting rights but also will tell us how we have to phase out Medicare & Medicaid "entitlements," leaving Americans with "nothing," as Jeb! puts it. ...
... A Glimmer of Hope in Oklahoma. Oklahoma! Russell Berman of the Atlantic: "Nearly a year ago, a coalition of voter-advocacy groups wrote ... to Oklahom's top elections official to deliver a stark, but not uncommon, message: The state ... was not giving citizens receiving public assistance an opportunity to register to vote, which is a requirement of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act." Then a surprising thing happened: "Last week, the coalition and Oklahoma's election board announced an agreement in which the state committed to asking any person who interacts with welfare agencies whether they want to register to vote and then to helping them through the process. That includes assistance with helping them register online."
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama is rolling out a campaign of private entreaties and public advocacy over the next several weeks to build support in Congress for the nuclear deal with Iran, an effort to counter a well-financed onslaught from critics who have promised to use a monthlong congressional recess to pressure lawmakers to oppose the accord. In a speech at American University in Washington on Wednesday, Mr. Obama will seek to explain and defend the international agreement reached last month, which would lift some sanctions in exchange for restrictions on Iran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon." ...
... Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The highest-ranking Jewish Democrat in the House [Steve Israel (NY)], announced his opposition to the nuclear accord with Iran on Tuesday, in a blow to the Obama administration's lobbying efforts.... In addition to Rep. Israel, Reps. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.) and Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) also came out against the deal on Tuesday...."
New Rule. Drew Harwell & Jena McGregor of the Washington Post: "The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday is expected to finalize a long-delayed rule forcing businesses to share their 'pay ratio.'... Once the pay-ratio rule is in place, millions of workers will know exactly how their top boss's payday compares to their own, revealing a potentially embarrassing disparity in corporate riches that many companies have long fought to keep hidden. While the average American's pay and benefits have been growing at the slowest pace in 33 years, executive wages have soared. Fifty years ago, the typical chief executive made $20 for every $1 a worker made; now, that gap is more than $300-to-$1, and growing."
Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "The anti-abortion activist group Center for Medical Progress have released a fifth undercover video of Planned Parenthood employees discussing fetal tissue donation. The videos purport to show employees of the women's healthcare organization illegally trafficking in fetal tissue, though, like previous videos, there is no apparent evidence of such activity." See also news re: Jeb! under Presidential Race. ...
... ** Callie Beusman of Vice (Aug. 2): "... the Center for Medical Progress is a flimsy front set up by three anti-abortion extremists, one of whom has ties to violent radicals -- including the man convicted of murdering abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. And, since the Center's founding in 2013, it has potentially violated numerous federal and state laws in its single-minded quest to malign Planned Parenthood." Thanks to Victoria D. for the link. Also, read Victoria's comment in today's thread. ...
... CW: Yesterday, I misstated the Senate's Planned Parenthood vote. Two Democrats, not one, voted to defund Planned Parenthood: Joe Donnelly (Ind.) & Joe Manchin (W.Va.) Republican Mark Kirk (Ill.) voted with Democrats against the defunding measure. ...
... CW: A couple of commenters have mentioned this disgusting diatribe by Joe Scarborough, so here it is (Joe begins about 36 sec. in). Mika is no Elizabeth Warren:. We've discussed elsewhere the distortions & outright lies Joe embeds in his holier-than-thou remarks:
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel intensified his campaign against the nuclear agreement between Iran and six world powers on Tuesday, denouncing it as a fatally flawed and dangerous accord and charging that proponents are trying to muzzle criticism of it with deceitful claims. 'As a result of this deal, there will be more terrorism, there will be more attacks, and more people will die,' Mr. Netanyahu said in a webcast viewed by thousands of American Jews. 'This is a very dangerous deal, and it threatens all of us.'"
Presidential Race
Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "The FBI has begun looking into the security of Hillary Rodham Clinton's private e-mail setup, contacting in the past week a Denver-based technology firm that helped manage the unusual system, according to two government officials. Also last week, the FBI contacted Clinton's lawyer,David Kendall, with questions about the security of a thumb drive in his possession that contains copies of work e-mails Clinton sent during her time as secretary of state." ...
... CW: At first blush, this story seems to be well-reported, albeit, like so many reports of this nature, it relies in part on anonymous sources. All those "declined to comment"s suggest the gist of the story is accurate. One would think that the administration would have had a handle on how all sensitive material was being transmitted electronically. Either it did not -- as it appears -- or Clinton & other officials who had access to her e-mail account knowingly evaded the "known" system.
Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Gov. John Kasich of Ohio is in and former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is out of Fox News's Republican debate on Thursday night in Cleveland, officials with the network said Tuesday, resolving the mystery of which lower-polling candidates will make the cut for the first debate of the 2016 presidential contest.... The others included in the lineup are Donald J. Trump, former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ben Carson, former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey." I just love that this is the Times' top story (at 7:30 pm Tuesday). ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Fox added a 5 p.m. candidate forum that will air prior to the main debate. Derisively referred to as the 'kiddie table' debate, it will include former Texas governor Rick Perry (at 1.8 percent), former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum (1.4), Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (1.4), businesswoman Carly Fiorina (1.3), Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C., 0.7), former New York governor George Pataki (0.6) and former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore (0.2). Former IRS commissioner Mark Everson, who filed a complaint about the selection process with the FEC, will not be included." ...
... Harry Enten of 538: "National surveys haven't been great at predicting the results of primary elections. In fact, the candidate leading in a February to July polling average has become the nominee just seven of 12 times in open primaries since 1980.... It turns out the best individual predictor of the eventual results has been early New Hampshire polling...." (Footnotes deleted.)
I look forward to being FoxNews 5pm debate for what will be a serious exchange of ideas & positive solutions to get America back on track. -- A Sarcastic Commenter Rick Perry
The Doofus, Ctd. Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "Jeb Bush on Tuesday questioned the need for the federal government to spend $500m on women's health annually.... 'You could take dollar for dollar -- although I'm not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women's health issues -- but if you took dollar for dollar, there are many extraordinarily fine, federally sponsored community health organizations to provide quality care for women on a wide variety of health issues. But abortions should not be funded by the government -- any government, in my mind.'... Bush's comments sparked instant backlash from Democrats and pro-choice advocates, including Hillary Clinton, who responded on Twitter by calling her Republican opponent 'absolutely, unequivocally wrong.'... Bush attempted to walk back the comments in a statement issued shortly after his appearance at the convention, saying he 'misspoke' and intended to question the funding specifically for Planned Parenthood and not women's health in general." In his "correction," he said, "I was referring to the hard-to-fathom $500m in federal funding that goes to Planned Parenthood -- an organization that was callously participating in the unthinkable practice of selling fetal organs." ...
... CW: (a) Planned Parenthood is not "participating in the unthinkable practice of selling fetal organs," so his "correction" is predicated on a big fat lie. (b) As we know, the federal government doesn't fund most abortions, but they do pay for abortions in the case of rape, incest or the health of the mother. So whether or not Jeb! knows that Planned Parenthood does not receive federal funding for most abortions -- and it's not at all clear he does know that -- he is going beyond current federal law in opining that "abortions should not be funded by the government." ...
... Worse than Mitt. Margaret Hartmann of New York: "Bush's speedy response actually shows some progress, since it took him days to come up with the correct answer after he suggested in May that he would have invaded Iraq in 2003 even 'knowing what we know now.'... In the past three months, Bush declared 'immigrants are more fertile,' said Americans 'need to work longer hours,' and discussed a Medicare 'phase out.'... The severity and regularity of Bush's flubs have drawn comparisons to the last GOP presidential nominee.... Bush is one of the few candidates with a background in finance, but unlike Romney's long and successful career at Bain Capital..., Bush spent seven years advising Lehman Brothers and Barclays [which took over what was left of Lehman], and was present as the former collapsed in 2008." Also, Bush is faring worse in polls than Romney did at a comparable point in his campaign. ...
... BTW, for word-salad fans, here's how Jeb! led into his pronouncement that the federal government is overspending on women's health care: "The argument against this is, well, women's health issues are going to be -- you're attacking, it's a war on women, and you're attacking women's health issues." I defy anyone to definitively tell me what that means.
... For a rundown of how Planned Parenthood is funding & how they spend those funds, Janell Ross of the Washington Post has the numbers. Apparently it is too much to ask of presidential candidates that they be familiar with issues their own parties is raising. ...
... In another post, Ross points out that women's healthcare costs typically exceed men's costs: "... these costs are so significant that in the years before the Affordable Care Act outlawed the practice in 2014, health insurance companies regularly charged women more for coverage, anticipating both more frequent use of their health-care benefits than ... men...." CW: Ross doesn't mention it, but one reason for this disparity is that "women bear the majority of the social, economic, and health-related burdens associated with contraception." Obviously, Jeb!, you lying, ignorant doofus, when it comes to contraception, men & women both benefit from Planned Parenthood's services for women. ...
... Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post thinks Jeb! raises an important issue: "How many dollars are too many dollars for women's health issues?"
... Fortunately, some men do take responsibility for contraception. ...
... Too Much Information. Isabelle Taft of Politico: "... at a town hall meeting in Manchester, New Hampshire Tuesday morning ... [Chris Christie] explained to a diner full of voters, 'I'm a Catholic, but I've used birth control, and not just the rhythm method'":
... CW: Christie was not discussing his view on Planned Parenthood here. Instead, "Near the two-hour mark of the event, a man cited three Bible verses to raise arguments in support of environmental conservation and ending wars abroad." So his justification for his anti-environmental, pro-war stances is his sex life. Excellent.
** Jonathan Chait: "It must be galling for the party regulars to prostrate themselves helplessly before the base, purging any hint of independent thought, only to watch [Donald Trump,] a formerly pro-choice, libertine if not liberal, Democratic donor, waltz into the lead.... His affect supplies his appeal -- he is strong, mad, and, above all, unapologetic in a world that demands he apologize. Trump is not the spokesman for an idea at all, but the representation of undifferentiated resentment."
After Gawker published one of Donald Trump's cellphone numbers as payback for Trump's releasing Sen. Lindsey Graham's phone number, he recorded a new voicemail message for the phone:
When Lindsey Graham's cell number was released to the public, his response was to set the cell phone on fire and destroy it with a bat, an ax and a cinder block ... which is actually not good for the environment. Donald Trump turns the number into a campaign announcement that has received within the first few hours tens of thousands of calls. Now do you see the difference between Donald Trump and the rest of the field? -- Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who apparently is not too busy boning up on marital law or suing the Daily Beast
Copy of Lindsey Graham tweet:
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Ted Cruz Anti-Iran Deal Site Accidentally Links To Big Photo Of Ass Instead Of Senator [Maria Cantwell]'s Twitter Account." CW: Yeah, maybe "accidentally."
In yesterday's Comments thread, Akhilleus wrote, "American presidential politics truly has become a cheap carny sideshow." CW: I can't imagine why he would say such a thing.
Beyond the Beltway
AP: "A sheriff in Mississippi says authorities are searching for two men who fired gunshots from a vehicle at soldiers at a military facility. No injuries were reported.... The soldiers were training at Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center in Hattiesburg.... U.S. Special Forces Command designated Camp Shelby as one of the sites where a multi-state military training exercise, 'Jade Helm 15', was expected to take place, according to The Army Times.... Authorities say they are still looking for two white males who allegedly fired from [a red Ford Ranger] and fled in the vehicle." CW: The revolution has begun. The shots heard 'round the world, & all.
Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "A [white] police officer in Alabama proposed murdering a black resident and creating bogus evidence to suggest the killing was in self-defence.... Officer Troy Middlebrooks kept his job and continues to patrol Alexander City after authorities there paid the man $35,000 to avoid being publicly sued over the incident." The city attorney claimed the city's insurance company made the decision to settle. CW: You may want to read this. The police chief said it was all okay because Middlebrooks wasn't going to kill the man himself; he was just urging the man's brother to kill him & telling the brother how to cover up the murder.
Michael Cooper of the New York Times: "The Metropolitan Opera said on Tuesday that the new production of Verdi's 'Otello' that will open its season next month will not use blackface makeup on the white tenor singing the title role, breaking with a performance tradition of more than a century.... Long after most theater companies stopped using dark makeup for their Othellos -- seeing it as an uncomfortable vestige of minstrelsy -- leading opera companies around the world continued to use dark makeup for their Otellos."
Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "Shipments of hunting trophies are still allowed by United Parcel Service, a UPS spokeswoman told The Washington Post on Tuesday, noting that the global shipping giant follows U.S. and international laws, not public opinion, in determining what it will and won't ship." ...
... AP: "An American doctor accused of killing a lion in an illegal hunt in Zimbabwe said on Tuesday that he had complied with all rules and regulations, filled out all the necessary paperwork and obtained the correct permits."
News Ledes
New York Times: "There are 'very strong presumptions' that the airplane part that washed ashore last week on the French island of Réunion in the western Indian Ocean came from the missing [Malaysian Airlines Flight 370] Boeing 777, an official said on Wednesday at a Paris news conference after experts inspected the object."
Bloomberg: "The trade deficit in the U.S. widened in June as the strong dollar lifted imports and hobbled exports, representing a hurdle for economic growth. The gap grew by 7.1 percent to $43.8 billion, the largest in three months, Commerce Department figures showed Wednesday...."
Guardian: "Radical cleric Anjem Choudary has been charged with encouraging support for Islamic State, Scotland Yard has said. Choudary, 48, of Ilford, faces a charge of inviting support for a proscribed organisation, namely Isis."
BBC News: "Russian freediving champion Natalia Molchanova is feared dead after going missing on Sunday. The 53-year-old was diving for fun off Formentera, a Spanish island near Ibiza, when she failed to surface. Search efforts have been continuing but it is feared she may have been caught up in strong underwater currents." The Washington Post story is here.