The Commentariat -- October 6, 2014

Internal links, defunct tweet & related text removed.

Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd.

Evan McMurry of AlterNet, in Salon: "Since Edmund Burke conservatism has been the defense of the distressed elite disguised as populism. [Ayn] Rand was a perfect iteration of this. Born into wealth in St. Petersburg, she formed an early sense of disenfranchisement when her father's chemistry shop was seized by the Soviets and her family was plunked into the proletariat.... Burke had the Jacobins; Rand had the Democrats. The philosophy she forged was a counterattack on behalf of an aristocracy she thought threatened, first by Lenin, later by LBJ.... Almost seventy years after she first became involved in the American political process, Rand has finally made it into the halls of power. She has the extreme right wing to thank.... Paul Ryan (R-WI) ... has labored the hardest to legitimize Rand ... [in furtherance of] his strategy to preserve the conservative elite.... Thanks to the Supreme Court, it's also now a legal theory of corporate personhood that includes religious rights, showing just how far Rand's theory of wealth as morality has spread."

Economist Jeff Madrick in the New York Times: "Starting in the 1970s..., under the influence of free-market enthusiasts like Milton Friedman, economists urged further removal of barriers to trade and capital flows, hoping to turn the world into one highly efficient market, unobstructed by government. The results were often disastrous.... Every free-trade agreement should come with a plan to strengthen the social safety net, through job training, help for displaced workers, and longer-term and higher unemployment benefits. Free-trade deals must also be accompanied by policies to stimulate growth through infrastructure investments, subsidies for clean energy and, perhaps, other industries, as well as loans to small businesses, and even wage subsidies."

Paul Krugman: If Republicans take control of the Senate, they'll be able to "impose their will on the Congressional Budget Office, heretofore a nonpartisan referee on policy proposals. As a result, we may soon find ourselves in deep voodoo.... Paul Ryan, the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is dropping broad hints that after the election he and his colleagues will ... try to push the budget office into adopting 'dynamic scoring,' that is, assuming a big economic payoff from tax cuts."

MEANWHILE, Fred Hiatt -- Washington Post editorial-page editor & deficit-hawk extraordinaire, the same guy who saw fit to run an op-ed suggesting that Obama-hater & scary wingnut Allen West be appointed to run the Secret Service & "protect" the President & his family -- has written a column chastising President Obama for falsely declaring "victory over the deficit" because the deficit will rise again, beginning a few years after Obama leaves office. Hiatt is right about this, assuming the Congress does not make the tax structure more progressive, & especially if Republicans take charge & make the tax code even more regressive, as they are wont to do, god bless the "jobs-creators."

Cops as Capitalists. John Oliver follows up on a three-part Washington Post investigation titled "Stop & Seize." Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, which I linked here at time of publication. Thanks to Victoria D. for the link to the Oliver video:

Supremes Finally End Long Summer Vacation. During which we learned that Ruth Ginsburg doesn't think Obama can appoint anybody as great as she is & Nino Scalia believes the framers wanted everybody to go to church. ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday returns to work to face a rich and varied docket, including cases on First Amendment rights in the digital age, religious freedom behind bars and the status of Jerusalem.... In the coming weeks, the justices will most likely agree to decide whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, a question they ducked in 2013. They will also soon consider whether to hear a fresh and potent challenge to the Affordable Care Act, which barely survived its last encounter with the court in 2012." ...

... Ben Goad of the Hill lists five cases to watch. ...

... Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: The federal government filed a brief late Friday urging the Supremes not to get involved in the latest ObummerCare challenge until the full D.C. Appeals Court has reheard Halbig v. Burwell, a case in which the full court set aside a three-judge panel decision favoring the plaintiffs. ...

... Garrett Epps of the Atlantic, who can make the mundane exciting, on the case of Heien v. North Carolina, which is being argued before the Supreme Court today. The question: is there a "Barney Fife Loophole" to the 4th Amendment; that is, if an officer pulls over someone for what turns out not to be unlawful, can the "poisonous fruit" found as a result of that stop be used against the driver or vehicle occupants?North Carolina law requires only that a vehicle have one "stop lamp." The cop pulled the vehicle over because one of two brake lights didn't work. He'd been following the car because he thought the driver looked "suspicious." That is, the driver's name was Vasquez. ...

... ** UPDATE. Mark Sherman of the AP: "The Supreme Court has turned away appeals from five states seeking to prohibit same-sex marriages, paving the way for an immediate expansion of gay and lesbian unions. The justices on Monday did not comment in rejecting appeals from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The court's order immediately ends delays on marriage in those states. Couples in six other states should be able to get married in short order." ...

     ... Adam Liptak: "The move was a major surprise and suggests that the justices are not going to intercede in the wave of decisions in favor of same-sex marriage at least until a federal appeals court upholds a state ban." ...

     ... CW: It takes only four justices to agree to hear a case; i.e., issue a writ of certiorari. This means that at least two, count'em two, of the conservative justices voted against hearing each of these cases. This makes me think Anthony Kennedy told his buddies he would decide against state gay marriage bans.

Driftglass reviews the Sunday shows. Ferinstance, "Peggy Noonan expressed her fluttery, merlot-glazed concern that something untoward may be happening to her friend's maid's health insurance." ...

... David of Crooks & Liars: Republican party chair Prince Rebus explains to Tuck Chodd that Republicans -- the deregulation party -- regulated most of Texas's abortion-providing clinics out of business because the party believes "women deserve compassion, respect, counselling." Also, taxpayer-funded abortions. (The clinics don't get "taxpayer funds" for providing abortions, but never mind.) Also ""Obamacare, jobs, the economy, Keystone pipeline." Yeah.

Sean McElwee in Salon on "Why the GOP hates U.S. history." Because, um, facts. Worth reading, if only for McElwee's inclusion of this astonishing citation:

Slavery Was Swell. No free workers enjoyed a comparable social security system from birth until death.... Masters ... encouraged the family unit which basically remained intact.... Slavery appears such a relatively mild business that one begins to wonder why Frederick Douglass and so many other ever tried to escape.... In summary, the American slave was treated like property, which is to say, pretty well. -- Dinesh D'Souza, The End of Racism, an actual book

... David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Miles O'Brien, the science correspondent for PBS Newshour, lamented on Sunday that he was embarrassed at some of the coverage of Ebola on Fox News that had a 'racial component,' and seemed intended to scare viewers." CW: "Racial component," you say? Oh, come now: "... Fox News host Andrea Tantaros ... had warned viewers that West Africans might come to the U.S. infected with Ebola, and then go to a 'witch doctor' instead of the hospital." Includes video. ...

... Caitlan MacNeal of TPM: "Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Sunday cast doubt on concerns that undocumented immigrants will cross the southern border into the United States with Ebola or that terrorists will use the disease as a weapon. Lawmakers, candidates and pundits have expressed concern that the disease will enter the U.S. either from immigrants or due to terrorism, prompting 'Fox News Sunday- host Chris Wallace to ask Fauci about potential threats." ...

... CW: I am pretty sure if you vote for members of the party of the African-American President, they will make sure you get Ebola & die. Oh, wait. It was the Republican-led House that cut hundreds of millions from the CDC & NIH budgets. Sam Stein of the Huffington Post (October 1): The CDC's "current budget, in fact, is nearly $600 million lower than it was in 2010" the year Republicans won the House.... And a memo the CDC released on sequestration highlighted a number of areas that would suffer with less funding. At the top of the list: 'Reduced ability to ensure global disease protection.'"

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Steve M.: "I'll save you the trouble of reading Mark Halperin's 2,228-word article [titled "The Truth about Jeb Bush's Presidential Ambitions"] addressing the question of whether Jeb Bush will really run for president in 2016: Um, Halperin's not sure.... Wow, thanks, Mark! I'll definitely keep returning to the new Bloomberg Politics site if it continues to deliver breaking news like this! ... Halperin's claiming insider knowledge when he hasn't even bothered to Google the relevant polls. But he's being exactly what you'd expect him to be: a cheerleader for the pre-Tea Party GOP establishment."

Senate Races

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "The fight for control of the Senate is stable and tight, with Republicans maintaining the inside track to a majority in the latest round of data from the New York Times/CBS News/YouGov online panel of more than 100,000 respondents."

Extreme GOTV, Alaska Edition. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is running "an expensive, sophisticated political field operation that reaches into tiny villages along rivers and in mountain ranges throughout the vast Last Frontier. The Begich ground game -- which the senator and his campaign detailed for the first time to The Washington Post -- is on a scale far beyond anything that has been tried here before."

News Ledes

Guardian: "Three neuroscientists, including a married couple from Norway, have won the 2014 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine for their discovery of the brain's internal GPS. Their work, which collectively spans four decades, revealed the existence of nerve cells that build up a map of the space around us and then track our progress as we move around." Norwegians May-Britt & Edvard Moser shared the prize with John O'Keefe, a U.S.-British citizen.

Guardian: "Warships from the rival Koreas exchanged warning shots after a North Korean ship briefly violated the disputed western sea boundary, the South has announced. The shots were fired into the sea and there were no reports of injuries or damage on either side, a defence official said."

Washington Post: "President Obama said Monday the U.S. government would increase passenger screenings in the United States and Africa to detect the Ebola virus, even as he resisted calls to impose a ban on those traveling from the three countries most affected by the outbreak."

Guardian: "A nurse in Spain has tested positive for the Ebola virus after treating a patient repatriated to Madrid from Sierra Leone, the country's health authorities said on Monday. The nurse is thought to be the first person to have contracted the virus outside west Africa."

Guardian: "... Hong Kong democracy protests ... dwindled [today] and exhaustion began to set in. Schools reopened and government employees returned to work - one or two wearing yellow ribbons, a symbol of support for the movement - as the number of demonstrators dropped to the hundreds. At its peak, the movement saw more than 100,000 people take to the streets of the city."

The Commentariat -- October 5, 2014

Defunct video & related text removed.

Andrew Bacevich in the Washington Post: "... Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that's just since 1980.... Even if we win, we lose. Defeating the Islamic State would only commit the United States more deeply to a decades-old enterprise that has proved costly and counterproductive.... By inadvertently sowing instability, the United States has played directly into the hands of anti-Western radical Islamists intent on supplanting the European-imposed post-Ottoman order...." ...

... Don't worry, Andrew. The "war against ISIS" will be over in a month. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) argued on Sunday that President Obama has declared war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in order to help Democrats win the midterm elections in November and expressed concern that he would abandon the fight in the new year."

Matthew Dallek, in the Washington Post, on the history of high security at the White House. "It was after Dec. 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor, that the White House truly ceased to be the 'people's house.'" ...

... Maureen Dowd: Julia Pierson "earned her abrupt exit fair and square. It's no blot on the copybook of women. She withheld crucial information and helped paper over fiascos at an agency where mismanagement and denial put the president's life (and his family's lives) in jeopardy."

God News

Shadee Ashtari of the Huffington Post: "The separation of church and state doesn't mean 'the government cannot favor religion over non-religion,' Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued during a speech at Colorado Christian University on Wednesday.... Defending his strict adherence to the plain text of the Constitution, Scalia knocked secular qualms over the role of religion in the public sphere as 'utterly absurd,' arguing that the Constitution is only obligated to protect freedom of religion -- not freedom from it." ...

... Steve Benen: "If U.S. policymakers passed a law that deliberately treated American atheists as second-class citizens, Scalia seems to believe that's perfectly permissible under the Constitution. Of course, there is nothing in the Constitution that empowers the state to favor religion over irreligion, but Scalia has apparently morphed the document to comport with his preferred vision of a government that blurs the church-state line.... The strict constructionist just made up his own rules, based on what he wishes the Constitution says, but doesn't. It's what happens when someone starts with an answer, then works backwards in the hopes of reaching an agreed upon conclusion." ...

... ** Rob Boston, in the American Constitution Society: "... for all this bluster, Scalia isn't really harkening back to the founding document of the Constitution. Nothing there provides comfort for his view of a religion-tinged government. In fact, Scalia is endorsing a much more modern theory of church-state relations: It's what scholars call 'ceremonial deism.' The idea behind ceremonial deism seems to be that government can endorse religion as long as it's not terribly serious about it and no one faith is endorsed over others." Via Benen.

Jack Jenkins of Think Progress: "Pope Francis had some harsh words for religious extremists this weekend, voicing his strongest condemnation yet for those who use religion to justify violence. Speaking on Sunday to an audience that included the President, governmental authorities, and diplomatic corps of Albania, where he is spending a one-day apostolic visit, the first Argentinean pope directly addressed the growing issue of religious violence. Francis first praised the 'climate of respect' in Albania -- which is a Muslim-majority country -- between Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, saying the culture of tolerance was a 'precious gift.' He then expressed firm criticism for those who cite faith as grounds for killing others."

AP: "An American nun credited with curing a boy's eye disease moved a step closer to sainthood Saturday in what church officials said was the first beatification Mass held in the United States. A beatification Mass for Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, who died in 1927, was led by Cardinal Angelo Amato at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Beatification is the third in a four-step process toward sainthood."

Congressional Races

Carrie Dann of NBC News: "Independent candidate Greg Orman is leading incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas by 10 points, while Democrats have a slim lead in North Carolina's contest and both candidates are in a dead heat in Iowa's Senate race, new NBC News/Marist polls find."

Don't you ever touch me. Don't ever touch me. The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead. -- Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), to Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar, when, just prior to a debate, Dunbar lightly touched Young on the arm during a conversation

Gubernatorial Race

Jason Salzman of the Huffington Post (October 2): "During a debate Tuesday against Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said he thinks intrauterine devices (IUDs) cause abortions, and he would not use public funds on them.... 'These comments illustrate how little Bob Beauprez really understands about women's health,' said Cathy Alderman of Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado, in a news release issued after the debate." CW: Sorry I missed this earlier. Beauprez's view isn't about opposition to abortion; it's about opposition to women, especially poor women -- women who would benefit from receiving "public funds" to obtain IUDs. ...

... Today's Rant. Pardon my paranoia, but I have long thought that a fundamental reason for opposition to abortion is to maintain income & "class" inequality. Higher-income women can afford to practice family planning. If they accidentally get pregnant at an inconvenient time in their lives or under other undesirable circumstances, they can obtain abortions even if they live in Texas 150 miles from the nearest abortion provider. Not so for poorer women & families, who may find themselves saddled with child-rearing responsibilities when they are financially &/or otherwise ill-equipped to do so. Unplanned children may prove to be joys to their parents, but the expense & time it takes to rear them necessarily limit the mothers' or families' opportunities for upward mobility. I think there are many abortion opponents who are right pleased with that disparity. They probably see family planning as one of the perks of wealth -- another way to distinguish themselves from "those people," & to make sure "those people" remain in the underclass. -- Constant Weader

Presidential Race

Dana Milbank: The GOP presidential primary lineup is beginning to look like a police lineup, so many of the potential candidates are under investigation for criminal activities.

When "Madame President" Was Unthinkable

A man must be protected while he is the President of the United States. -- Eleanor Roosevelt, in her autobiography, published 1961

If all of us except Frances were killed we would have a woman president. -- Franklin Roosevelt, ca. 1942, on how a White House dinner with his Cabinet could have an absurd result (Both citations from Matthew Dallek's article, linked above)

News Ledes

Guardian: "The parents of Peter Kassig, an American aid worker held hostage by Islamic State (Isis) militants, have appealed for his release in a statement and video message that highlighted his aid work and mentioned his conversion to Islam."

Guardian: "Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have vowed to keep up their occupation as a Monday deadline fast approaches, but are seeking compromise by offering to open access lanes."

Guardian: "The condition of Thomas Duncan, the first patient ever to be diagnosed with Ebola outside Africa, was reported to have worsened on Saturday as health officials in Texas said they were closely monitoring nine people who had close contact with him before he was admitted to hospital."

New York Times: "Jerrie Mock, who as a relatively untested pilot accomplished in 1964 what Amelia Earhart could not -- becoming the first woman to fly solo around the world -- died on Tuesday at her home in Quincy, Fla., near Tallahassee. She was 88."

The Commentariat -- October 4, 2014

Internal links, illustration removed.

An Inconvenient Protest. Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama is scheduled to visit China next month, and with tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters on the streets of Hong Kong, human rights could force itself onto the agenda between the United States and the Chinese in a way not seen in many years."

Steve Benen: In his speech at Northwestern Thursday, President Obama veered from his prepared text to marvel that a "top Republican in Congress said that tax cuts for those at the top are -- and I'm quoting here -- 'even more pressing now' than they were 30 years ago. More pressing. When nearly all the gains of the recovery have gone to the top 1 percent, when income inequality is at as high a rate as we've seen in decades, I find that a little hard to swallow that they really desperately need a tax cut right now, it's 'urgent.'" That "top Republican"? -- Paul Ryan, currently chief House budget guru/writer & soon-to-be chair of the Ways & Means Committee. Read the whole post. CW: Is there anyone on the right who understands that Ryan is a dunce?

Josh Rogin of the Daily Beast: "In a forthcoming book, obtained by The Daily Beast, former spy director and Pentagon leader Leon Panetta blames the White House for screwups from Syria to Afghanistan." CW: It's pretty nice of Panetta to time his rant to election season. What a dick. ...

... Luckily for Panetta, he has some dickish friends to back him up. Alexandrea Boguhn of Media Matters: "During an October 2 interview on Fox Friends, co-host Brian Kilmeade ... asked [former President George W.] Bush whether he agreed with Gen. Martin Dempsey's assessment that [President] Obama should have left a residual military force in Iraq. And though Bush acknowledged that having a former president 'second guessing' is not 'good for the presidency or the country,' he said that he agreed with Dempsey's assessment." ...

... CW: Bush is saying here that Obama should not have honored the "Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which provided that U.S. troops pull out of Iraq by 2011." Bush himself signed the SOFA, an agreement/treaty which his own administration negotiated with Iraq. Maybe SOFA was a mistake, & maybe it wasn't, but it most certainly was an international agreement which both countries were bound to honor. Let's be clear: Bush says Obama should have broken the treaty Bush signed. Now let's ask ourselves if breaking the agreement would have prevented radical groups from challenging the U.S-imposed Iraqi government. And let's try to figure out how many Iraqis would have been thrilled to have a continued American military presence forced upon their country. Perhaps I should ask some AmerIndians what they think about the U.S.'s failure to honor its treaties with their forebears. ...

... CW: A more charitable reading of Bush's remarks is that he is admitting a mistake, something he is rather infamous for being unable to do. Maybe he's saying in the interview that he made a bad deal with Iraq. But you can't honestly read his remarks that way. He says, "I'm not gonna second-guess our President." That is, it was Obama, not he, who made the "choice" to withdraw troops in 2011. ...

... I tell people all the time -- off the record, by the way -- that, ah, you know, Condi Rice's relatives were enslaved in the greatest democracy ever for a hundred years. Democracy takes time to take hold. And yet there's an impatience with that process. -- Former President George W. Bush, October 2, in a Fox "News" interview

... So, black Americans -- don't be so impatient??? -- Constant Weader

Drip, Drip, Drip. Jonathan Allen of Bloomberg News: "An unidentified man posing as a member of Congress made it into a secure area backstage at President Barack Obama's appearance at a Congressional Black Caucus Foundation awards dinner in Washington Sept. 27, according to a White House official.... The unidentified man said he was Representative Donald Payne Jr., a Democrat from New Jersey, the official said. One member of the White House staff determined that the man wasn't Payne, and another asked him to leave, the official said. He did so without incident and wasn't detained." The Secret Service says they screened the man -- and everyone allowed in the area -- for weapons.

Joe Nocera: "In truth, most [corporate] tax subsidies don't make much sense -- not for countries and certainly not for states. 'There is a lot of work that shows that tax subsidies vastly overpay for the jobs they create,' said Edward Kleinbard, a law professor at the University of Southern California.... It's a good thing that the E.U. is trying to curb unjustified tax breaks. Maybe it's time to do the same here." CW: Once in awhile, Nocera shares a good idea. This is one of those times.

Ian Millhiser of Think Progress on the 5th Circuit's decision against Texas abortion rights, which conflicts with many other Appeals Courts' decisions. "By calling attention to disagreement among circuit court judges regarding the proper way to resolve abortion cases, [5th Circuit Judge Jennifer] Elrod[, who wrote the opinion,] sent a blood-red howler to the Supreme Court telling them to 'TAKE THIS CASE!' Elrod, it should be noted, is not wrong to be confident her decision will be affirmed if it is heard by the justices. Justice Anthony Kennedy, the closest thing the Supreme Court has to a swing vote on abortion, hasn't cast a pro-choice vote since 1992. As a justice, Kennedy's considered 21 different abortion restrictions and upheld 20 of them." ...

... Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post writes a good column on "undue burden." ...

... Charles Pierce: "... we now know what percentage of an affected population can have its constitutionally protected rights curtailed before that percentage can be considered 'significant' enough to have those rights protected from meddling by the government. The percentage is one-in-six:

The three-judge panel agreed with the state's lawyers that there was insufficient evidence that a 'large fraction' of women seeking abortions would face an unconstitutional burden because of the surgical-center requirements and clinic closings. They wrote that the data provided by one of the plaintiffs' experts, Dr. Daniel Grossman, suggested that about one out of six Texas women seeking an abortion would live more than 150 miles from the nearest clinic if the surgical-center rules went into effect. 'This is nowhere near a "large fraction,"' the panel wrote. -- New York Times

... CW: Well, no, according to the court, many more than one-in-six can face an "undue burden" before the undue burden becomes unconstitutional. One-sixth is "nowhere near a 'large fraction,'" say the judges. So what is it: 1/5, or 2/7 or 5/8? We don't know yet what constitutes "a large fraction." By this logic, as Pierce suggests, any time you are subjected to an "undue burden," it's okay as long as a "large fraction" of other people are not. Note: as Marcus points out, the right to an abortion is not a constitutionally-guaranteed right (as Pierce claims), as a result of Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Rather what the decision guarantees is "a woman's right to choose to have an abortion before fetal viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State." (Emphasis added.)

An undue burden exists, and therefore a provision of law is invalid, if its purpose or effect is to place substantial obstacles in the path of a woman seeking an abortion before the fetus attains viability. -- Planned Parenthood v. Casey, plurality opinion

... CW: Oddly enough, the Planned Parenthood v. Casey plurality opinion (which governed the decision) repeatedly refers to "a woman," rather than "most women" or "a large fraction of women." A novice such as I would interpret that to mean "any woman," or at least "any woman, within reason." Justice Kennedy was one of the three justices joining in the plurality opinion. The 5th Circuit would like him to rethink that opinion. There is every reason to think he will oblige.

Gail Collins: "You'd think that the people in charge of the states where climate change was wreaking the most havoc would be in the forefront of the battle to push it back. But no." Includes an extensive cast of Republican characters, with a juicy role for Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, seemingly the only one of the lot who has not proclaimed, "I am not a scientist," possibly because he has a degree in biology. ...

... The lyrics to "I Am the Walrus" are purposely nonsensical. As such, they are ironically prescient of Republican pronouncements re: climate change, one incidental result of which is the dramatic shrinking of walrus habitat. As Collins writes, "We are the walrus."

November Elections

Brian Beutler: "The GOP's 2014 midterms strategy is a lot like "Seinfeld." It's a campaign about nothing -- but way less funny."

Maggie Haberman of Politico: Hillary Clinton is coming to a Senate race near you. "Hillary Clinton has mapped out much of her political schedule through Election Day, an itinerary that focuses on helping Senate candidates and includes trips to a half-dozen states, including Kentucky and presidential early states Iowa and New Hampshire...."

Daniel Strauss of TPM: "(No link.) State Sen. Joni Ernst, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Iowa, once said she would support legislation that would allow 'local law enforcement to arrest federal officials attempting to implement' Obamacare. Ernst voiced her support for that, as well as supporting legislation that would 'nullify' Obamacare in a Iowa State Legislative Candidates survey for Ron Paul's libertarian-aligned Campaign for Liberty in 2012. It can be viewed here." CW: Never mind that both of those brilliant proposals obviously would violate federal law. Naw, Joni isn't an extremist. ...

... As Paul Waldman remarks, "... okay, so Ernst is advocating something that sounds a lot like insurrection against the federal government. But at least if your chickens crap on her lawn, she'll be totally cool with it." ...

... Waldman strikes a more serious tone here, but it boils down to the same thing: "You can put words like 'liberty' in the name of your organization all you want, but what Ernst was agreeing to here isn't liberty, it's insurrection against the Constitution of the United States."

A few weeks ago, Monica Wehby, a medical doctor & Oregon's GOP nominee for Senate, scrubbed her published health care plan when Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed revealed that she had cribbed her own "plan" from the plan of former GOP candidates & of famed healthcare expert Karl Rove. Now, Wehby has a new plan. Kaczynski: "In a weird twist, Monica Wehby's new health care is also plagiarized -- but even stranger, it's plagiarized from her primary opponent Oregon Rep. Jason Conger, whom she criticized repeatedly during the primary on health care." Oh, and she's kept some of the language from Dr. StrangeRove's plan, too. ...

... Sen. Jeff Merkley (D), whom Wehby is challenging, put out this Webvid late last month in response to Kackzynski's original revelation:

... Merkley also ran this ad, which leads with the earlier plagiarism report. Jeff Mapes of the Oregonian (Sept. 30): "The new ad comes as Freedom Partners, a group connected with conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch, is halting its advertised attacks against Merkley in Oregon. The group said three weeks ago that it had canceled its October advertising campaign against Merkley and the group on Tuesday confirmed that it has not bought any additional time at this point." As Mapes reported in early August, the Koch boys had planned to spend $3.6 million to oust Merkeley. ...

     ... CW: Glad to see Mapes also picked up Kaczynski's latest scoop. ...

... According to Real Clear Politics' most recent survey of surveys, Merkley is up by more than 13 points.

Beyond the Beltway

Bill Draper of the AP: "A judge struck down part of Missouri's gay marriage ban for the first time on Friday by ordering the state to recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other states, saying state laws banning the unions single out gay couples 'for no logical reason.' The order means such couples will be eligible to sign up for a wide range of tax, health insurance, veterans and other benefits now afforded to opposite-sex married couples. Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, who has defended the state's ban on gay marriage, said his office was reviewing the ruling."

Rachel Kleinman of NBC News: Citing a lack of police resources in Ferguson, "beginning Friday and until further notice, the St. Louis County Police Department will take over control from the Ferguson P.D. for security detail related to ongoing protests in the city in the aftermath of Michael Brown's death, the county said in a release issued late Friday. Additionally, the St. Louis County Police Department's media relations staff will assume responsibility for relaying all pertinent information to the press."

I note our slavery history. Yes, we practiced slavery. But we also ended it voluntarily, at great sacrifice, while the practice continues in many countries still today! Shouldn't our students be provided that viewpoint? This is part of the argument that America is exceptional. -- Colorado State School Board Member Pam Mazanec

When Only an Argumentum ad Hitlerum Will Do. I note Germany's World War II history. Yes, Hitler slaughtered millions of innocent men, women & children. But he also committed suicide, the ultimate sacrifice, thus voluntarily ending the Holocaust AND the European war, while ethnic cleansing & the waging of wars continue among many countries still today! Shouldn't students be provided that viewpoint? This is part of the argument that Germany is exceptional. -- Hialeah High School Graduate Marie Burns, with apologies to Mr. Koos, her 11th-grade history teacher

CW: Here's something I missed but Charles Pierce caught: Jim Puzzanghera of the Los Angeles Times: "Economists said the August [jobs] figure appeared to be an aberration driven by a New England grocery store strike and a shift in when automakers shut their factories for annual summer retooling.... Part of the reason for September's stronger job growth was ... an increase of 20,000 jobs in food and beverage stores, largely reflecting the return of workers at the Market Basket grocery store chain in New England, the Labor Department said." ... CW: I shopped at my local Market Basket yesterday, & it was packed with customers.

The President's Weekly Address

White House: "In this week's address, the President highlighted that six years after the Great Recession, thanks to the hard work of the American people and the President's policies, our economy has come back further and faster than any other nation on Earth":

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Jean-Claude Duvalier, the second-generation 'president for life' who plunged one of the world's poorest countries [-- Haiti --] into further despair by presiding over widespread killing, torture and plunder, died Oct. 4 at his home in Port-au-Prince. He was 63. He had a heart attack, his lawyer, Reynold George, told the Associated Press." ...

     ... here's the New York Times obit.

Guardian: "US-led war planes attacked Islamic State (Isis) targets around the Syrian border town of Kobani overnight as the insurgents pressed their assault against its Kurdish defenders, a monitoring group and witnesses said.... In Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demanded an apology from the US vice-president, Joe Biden, and warned he would become 'history for me' over comments in which Biden said the Turkish leader had admitted Turkey had made mistakes by allowing foreign fighters to cross into Syria."

Washington Post: "North and South Korea have agreed to hold another round of high-level talks after a top-level Northern delegation, including the men thought to be second and third in command behind Kim Jong Un, paid a surprise visit to the South on Saturday."

New York Times: "The huge cyberattack on JPMorgan Chase that touched more than 83 million households and businesses was one of the most serious computer intrusions into an American corporation.... Also troubling is that about nine other financial institutions -- a number that has not been previously reported -- were also infiltrated by the same group of overseas hackers...."

Guardian: "Pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong must be cleared by Monday morning, its chief executive has announced following further violent clashes. Hours after he spoke, however, tens of thousands of people flooded into the Admiralty area of the city centre in the biggest gathering for days. The Saturday night rally was called to oppose attacks on protesters by opponents of the movement on Friday, and came six days after police used pepper spray and teargas in failed attempts to disperse the crowds."

New York Times: Hospital changes its story. "Health officials' handling of the first Ebola patient diagnosed in the United States continued to raise questions Friday, after the hospital that is treating the patient and that mistakenly sent him home when he first came to its emergency room acknowledged that both the nurses and the doctors in that initial visit had access to the fact that he had arrived from Liberia."