The Commentariat -- June 29, 2015

Internal links removed.

ScotusBlog is liveblogging today's Supreme Court opinions. Amy Howe: "We expect decisions in Glossip v. Gross (the challenge to Oklahoma's lethal injection procedure and in particular its use of midazolam, a sedative); Utility Air Group v. EPA (Clean Air Act and when EPA must consider costs); and Arizona Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission (whether Arizona voters can transfer power over federal congressional districting to an independent commission)." ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday against three death row inmates who had sought to bar the use of an execution drug they said risked causing excruciating pain. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 decision. He was joined by the court's four more conservative justices." CW: Nonetheless, my friends, Alito abhors infliction of excruciating pain on puppies.

5-4 decision in Arizona elections case; Kennedy joins "liberals" in majority opinion. Amy Howe: "The Court has several times refused to address the question whether partisan gerrymandering violates the Constitution. This decision gives the states an opportunity to deal with partisan gerrymandering by giving an independent commission power to draw federal congressional districts." ...

... Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Arizona's voters were entitled to try to make the process of drawing congressional district lines less partisan. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote the majority opinion in the 5-to-4 decision. She was joined by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Stephen G. Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan."

... Amy Howe: Utility Air case, 5-4 in favor of plaintiff, opinion by Scalia. Amy Howe: "The EPA must consider costs before deciding whether regulation is appropriate and necessary; it will up to the agency to decide, within limits of reasonable interpretation, how to account for costs.... Kagan dissents, joined by RBG, Breyer, and Sotomayor." ...

... Adam Liptak: "The Supreme Court on Monday blocked one of the Obama administration's most ambitious environmental initiatives, one meant to limit emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from coal-fired power plants. Industry groups and some 20 states challenged the Environmental Protection Agency's decision to regulate the emissions, saying the agency had failed to take into account the punishing costs its regulations would impose."

The Guardian.

The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? -- Bree Newsome, as she descended the flagpole in front of the South Carolina statehouse, confederate flag in hand

... Karen Attiah of the Washington Post: "By her words, [Bree Newsome] is refusing to fear the hatred behind the symbol, the longstanding system in America of the forced labor of blacks under the threat of the most unspeakable forms of torture, terror, violence and death.... Her words stand as powerful example of defiance in the faces of agents of the state in America, who historically have taken black lives with impunity for generations.... For all of us, Bree Newsome moves beyond the trope of the knee-jerk, saintly forgiveness expected of black Americans subjected to violence. Importantly, she stands for us all as an example of the Bible as blueprint for nonviolent resistance in the face of blatant social injustice around the world."

Supreme Court plaintiff Jim Obergefell rides in San Francisco's gay pride parade.Matt Flegenheimer & Vivian Yee of the New York Times: "Two days after the United States Supreme Court affirmed same-sex marriage as a right, well-timed pride parades on Sunday in the country's twin hubs of gay activism, New York City and San Francisco, promised a sort of social catharsis -- a bicoastal toast to the nation's rapid shift on gay rights and an extended curtain call for the movement that coaxed it." ...

E. J. Dionne: "... the core liberal conviction about jurisprudence, developed during and after the New Deal years, still rings true: that the Supreme Court plays its most constructive role in our national life when it uses its power to vindicate the rights of beleaguered and disadvantaged minorities."

... the Court invalidates the marriage laws of more than half the States and orders the transformation of a social institution that has formed the basis of human society for millennia, for the Kalahari Bushmen and the Han Chinese, the Carthaginians and the Aztecs. Just who do we think we are? -- Chief Justice John Roberts, dissent in Obergefell

It's not quite clear to WorldViews why Roberts decided to implicate these four particular cultures in his opposition to the legalizing of gay marriage. But we can suggest reasons why they are hardly exemplars of 'traditional' unions between men and women. -- Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post, who goes on to decimate Roberts' supposed "traditional marriage" enthusiasts." An excellent read.

Andrew Koppelman of the New Republic: "John Roberts's claims of judicial restraint should be taken with a grain of salt.... Dartmouth professor Brendan Nyhan writes that what may look like a leftward tendency on the Supreme Court is actually the consequence of conservatives' willingness to try out increasingly extreme legal theories in the Court.... Claims that would have been summarily rejected a few years ago are now taken seriously by constitutional lawyers.... The essence of Roberts's restraint is this: He is less of a zealot than his colleagues on his right. That isn't saying much."

Esther Breger of the New Republic: "... Kennedy's florid language, some of which might be more at home at a vow-renewal ceremony, presented a vision of marriage's role in society that's archaic and all too common.... It was hard to shake the suspicion that parts of Justice Kennedy's opinions, like the part where he suggests unmarried people are 'condemned to live in loneliness,' were written with the consultation of my Jewish mother."

     ... Via Driftglass.

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Louisiana will comply with the Supreme Court's order legalizing same-sex marriage, Gov. Bobby Jindal said Sunday. 'We don't have a choice. Our agencies will comply with the court order,' the Republican presidential contender said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' after being asked why his state is the only one that has not yet issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Appearing from the state capital, Baton Rouge, the governor explained his state is waiting on a 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision to reverse a previous ruling upholding traditional marriage and implement the high court's ruling. On Friday, the state's attorney general's office issued a statement saying it found nothing in the Supreme Court's decision that made it a legal requirement for officials to comply immediately." CW: Following his interview of Jindal, "MTP" host Chuck Todd introduced a video celebrating June weddings. All of the featured couples were opposite-sex. Todd said the video had been prepared prior to Friday's Supreme Court decision & added that he hoped viewers would see the video as "gender-neutral." ...

... Nullification, Texas-Style. Austin American-Statesman: "County clerks can refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples based on religious objections to gay marriage, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said Sunday. Paxton noted that clerks who refuse to issue licenses can expect to be sued, but added that 'numerous lawyers stand ready to assist clerks defending their religious beliefs,' in many cases without charge.... Paxton's opinion also noted that judges and justices of the peace can refuse to perform same-sex marriages.... Paxton said Friday's 'flawed' opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, which overturned bans against same-sex marriage in Texas and other states, placed religious people in conflict between following their faith and the U.S. Constitution." ...

... Mark Oppenheimer in a Time opinion essay: "Rather than try to rescue tax-exempt status for organizations that dissent from settled public policy on matters of race or sexuality, we need to take a more radical step. It's time to abolish, or greatly diminish, their tax-exempt statuses." CW: Too bad that's not going to happen.

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "On Sunday afternoon, hours after the weekly worship service, the pews of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church filled again, and [Charleston, S.C.,] turned anew to the rite, now sadly familiar, of mourning another victim of a massacre. This time ... the congregation memorialized the Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, a mother of four who was an admissions coordinator at Southern Wesleyan University, one of her alma maters. Earlier on Sunday, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. visited the church and, less than a month after the death of one of his sons, invoked his own battles with grief during a stirring and brief speech to the congregation." ...

... Dan Morse of the Washington Post: "Vice President Biden paid a surprise visit to Sunday morning services at Emanuel AME Church [in Charleston], telling congregants that he came to support them and to help get through his own mourning. 'My family and I wanted to show our solidarity,' Biden said during five minutes of remarks.... The vice president arrived with his son Hunter and his daughter-in-law Kathleen. He spoke about his anguish since the death of his son Beau from brain cancer last month." ...

... Bryce Covert of Think Progress: "According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least six predominantly black churches in four Southern states have been damaged or destroyed by fire in the past week. While some may have been accidental, at least three have been determined to be the result of arson." ...

... Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he totally 'disregarded' a New York Times report, based on findings from the New America Foundation, that white supremacists, anti-government extremists and others have killed nearly twice as many people as radical Muslims since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.... 'Everything should be investigated, everything should be stopped,' King said. 'But to compare these deranged white supremacists with an organized international terrorist movement, that's The New York Times at its worst.'" ...

... CW: If Peter King were not such an ideological ignoramus, he would know that Charleston assassin Dylann Roof, among many other American white supremacists, have been heavily influenced by the international white supremacy movement which encourages such so-called "lone wolf" attacks. BTW, Petey, wouldn't the Irish Republican Army -- whose violent actions you reportedly aided & abetted -- be a white international terrorist organization? Look in the mirror, you jerk. You used to be a card-carrying white member of the international terrorist movement. And shame on George Stephanopoulos for not calling you out on your hypocrisy. ...

... Jim Fallows analyzes President Obama's eulogy to the Rev. Clementa Pinckney.

Robert Reich: "Almost lost by the wave of responses to the Supreme Court's decisions last week upholding the Affordable Care Act and allowing gays and lesbians to marry was the significance of the Court's third decision -- on housing discrimination. In a 5-4 ruling, the Court found that the Fair Housing Act of 1968 requires plaintiffs to show only that the effect of a policy is discriminatory, not that defendants intended to discriminate. The decision is important in the fight against economic apartheid in America -- racial segregation on a much larger geographic scale than ever before."

Paul Krugman: "... next week [the Greek government] will hold a referendum on whether to accept the demands of the 'troika' -- the institutions representing creditor interests -- for yet more austerity. Greece should vote 'no,' and the Greek government should be ready, if necessary, to leave the euro.... These supposed technocrats [of the troika] are in fact fantasists who have disregarded everything we know about macroeconomics, and have been wrong every step of the way. This isn't about analysis, it's about power -- the power of the creditors to pull the plug on the Greek economy...." ...

... The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Greek crisis.

Michael Corkery & Mary Walsh of the New York Times: "Puerto Rico's governor, saying he needs to pull the island out of a 'death spiral,' has concluded that the commonwealth cannot pay its roughly $72 billion in debts, an admission that will probably have wide-reaching financial repercussions."

Presidential Race

John Wagner & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: Sen. Bernie "Sanders -- a self-described democratic socialist -- has seen his crowds swell and is gaining ground in the polls on the formidable Democratic front-runner, Hillary Rodham Clinton. In New Hampshire, where Sanders was on yet another weekend swing, one survey last week showed him within 8 percentage points of Clinton. Sanders's emerging strength has exposed continued misgivings among the party's progressive base about Clinton, whose team is treading carefully in its public statements. Supporters have acknowledged privately the potential for Sanders to damage her -- perhaps winning an early state or two -- even if he can't win the nomination." ...

... Mark Hensch of the Hill: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Saturday he has been waiting for the nation to catch up to his support for same-sex marriage.... He argued he was well ahead of the historic decision, unlike Hillary Clinton.... 'Back in 1996, that was a tough vote, Sanders said of his opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)....Sanders at the time served in the House of Representatives, which voted 342-67 in favor of DOMA. The Senate voted 85-14 in favor, before former President Bill Clinton signed it into law. 'That was an anti-gay marriage piece of legislation,' he added of the law that defined marriage at the federal level as the coupling of one man and one woman."

I believe marriage is not just a bond but a sacred bond between a man and a woman.... The fundamental bedrock principle that [marriage] exists between a man and a woman, going back into the midst of history as one of the founding, foundational institutions of history and humanity and civilization, and that its primary, principal role during those millennia has been the raising and socializing of children for the society into which they are to become adults. -- Sen. Hillary Clinton, in a 2004 Senate speech ...

... Sam Biddle of Gawker: "A decade prior, she stood by her husband as he signed the Defense of Marriage Act, a piece of legislation that codified gay America's second-class status.... Only in 2013, as a presumptive 2016 presidential contender, did Clinton reverse her stance."

Tales of a Sleazy Scion. Robert O'Harrow & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post on Jeb Bush: "... records, lawsuits, interviews and newspaper accounts stretching back more than three decades present a picture of a man who, before he was elected Florida governor in 1998, often benefited from his family connections and repeatedly put himself in situations that raised questions about his judgment and exposed him to reputational risk."

Class president and an athlete who did not hang out with nerds.James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Chris Christie will use his Tuesday announcement, at the high school where he graduated, to present himself as the candidate in the 2016 field with the biggest and boldest ideas. The New Jersey governor plans to continue unveiling a steady stream of provocative policy plans in the coming months aimed at generating free media coverage and forcing Republican rivals to say whether or note they agree." As the Wall Street Journal also noted, Christie's venue of choice is "risky," since it will bring to mind Christie's old schoolmate David Wildstein, who pled guilty to charges related to the closing of the George Washington Bridge. Christie attempted to distance himself from Wildstein by boasting, "We were not even acquaintances in high school ... We didn't travel in the same circles in high school. I was class president and an athlete, I don't know what David was doing."

Relying in part on Justice Clarence Thomas's dissent in Obergefell, Rand Paul, in a Time opinion piece, makes the libertarian argument for governments' getting out of the marriage business. CW: Perhaps the right conclusion; definitely for many of the wrong reasons. ...

... Elizabeth Bruenig of the New Republic: "Senator Rand Paul ... remained conspicuously silent until yesterday, when he published a rambling op-ed in Time that's insightful in only one unintended way: It demonstrates how he plans to capitalize on conservatives' concerns about the future of marriage by pushing calamitous economic projects."

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Republican presidential hopeful Lindsey O. Graham (S.C.) warned in an interview broadcast Sunday that if his party embraces the idea of pursuing a constitutional amendment defining marriage as between a man and a woman, it will damage the Republican Party's chances of winning the 2016 election. 'I don't believe there is any chance for a constitutional amendment defining marriage between one man and one woman to get a two-thirds vote in the House or the Senate and be ratified by three-fourths of the states,' he said on NBC's 'Meet The Press.'"

David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Although [Donald Trump] has said his views are 'evolving,' his campaign position is that only 'traditional marriage' between 'a man and a woman' should be legal.... After the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized same-sex marriage on Friday, Trump accused Chief Justice John Roberts of letting the country down.... [Um, Donald, Roberts dissented in the Obergefell case.] CNN host Jake Tapper [asked] ... Trump about how his three marriages were morally justified if he only believed in so-called 'traditional marriage' values.... 'Well, they have a very good point,' Trump admitted."

Mark Hensch: "Ben Carson won the 2015 Western Conservative Summit straw poll, organizers announced on Sunday. Colorado Christian University's Centennial Institute said in a statement that Carson took 224 of the 871 votes cast during the weekend event. The Centennial Institute said that Carson is its first back-to-back winner since the straw poll started in 2011. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won in 2013, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) took the top spot in 2012 and former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain was the winner in 2011.Former Hewlett Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina captured 201 votes for second place in the latest straw poll." CW: Apparently the poll is an excellent predictor of who will win the nomination.

Mike Allen of Politico: "Ohio Gov. John Kasich will jump into the crowded Republican presidential field on July 21 at the student union at his alma mater, The Ohio State University, in Columbus...." Apparently God sent the signal.

American "Justice," Ctd. Rachel Aviv of the New Yorker: "Caddo Parish[, Louisiana] issues more death sentences per capita than anywhere else in the nation, and three-quarters of the people on death row are black." The story of one young black man's death-sentence conviction for a "crime" he most likely did not commit.

Beyond the Beltway

"Party of One." Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "In the last few weeks, [Maine Gov. Paul] LePage's pugnaciousness has surprised even his critics, and prompted some to raise the specter of impeachment. In a standoff that began with differences over tax policy, Mr. LePage has alienated just about the entire Legislature, including his fellow Republicans and erstwhile allies. He has called them names and gone on a veto spree, canceling a record number of bills...; in turn, the Legislature has responded with an override spree, reviving many bills unanimously. On Monday, Mr. LePage is expected to veto the $6.7 billion, two-year state budget; the Legislature will return Tuesday, when it is expected to override the veto."

Michael Miller of the Washington Post: Dr. James Bradstreet, a prominent anti-vaccine doctor who claimed vaccinations caused autism, was found dead in a river in Chimney Rock, North Carolina, a bullet wound in his chest. Authorities have ruled his death a suicide, buth is family & supporters see a conspiracy to murder him."

The Commentariat -- June 28, 2015

Judge Richard Posner in Slate: "John Stuart Mill in On Liberty drew an important distinction between what he called 'self-regarding acts' and 'other-regarding acts.' The former involves doing things to yourself that don't harm other people, though they may be self-destructive. The latter involves doing things that do harm other people. He thought that government had no business with the former.... Unless it can be shown that same-sex marriage harms people who are not gay (or who are gay but don't want to marry), there is no compelling reason for state intervention, and specifically for banning same-sex marriage. The dissenters in Obergefell missed this rather obvious point." CW: As Akhilleus would tell us, Posner's thesis has a long history, beginning with the Greeks, & expressed more recently in Isaiah Berlin's positive & negative liberties. Viewed in this light, marriage equality is mighty conservative. See also freeeedom.

Sally Kohn of the Daily Beast: "... the fight over gay marriage is far from over. Now we enter the Republican temper tantrum phase.... Even before the Supreme Court's ruling, several prominent Republicans had pledged to disobey any high court ruling in favor of marriage equality -- and had called on their fellow Republican leaders to do the same. For instance, Republican presidential candidates Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee have both signed a pledge that reads, 'We will not honor any decision by the Supreme Court which will force us to violate a clear biblical understanding of marriage as solely the union of one man and one woman.'... Here we have Republicans ... actually pledging to violate their duties and break the law.... The modern Republican Party is operating less like a responsible partner in governance and more and more like an underground crime network -- continually abusing and threatening the otherwise democratic process if it doesn't get its way." ...

... Tim Egan: The Republican party is a "refuge for racists." ...

... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: Some GOP strategists are urging candidates to get over that & other winger 'tudes; the candidates are struggling, at best. ...

... Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post write on the same theme. ...

... CW: I'm afraid stories like these may fool liberals into thinking that the majority of Americans are suddenly turning left. I don't believe it. Even out-and-out racists watch their tongues in public. That's what dog whistles are all about. From Lee Atwater to Rick Santorum to Paul Krugman, people who understand what Republican "small government" policies are about understand that they are based in, or at least sold as, economic & social racism. So-called conservatives may cite philosophical sources, but their appeal is to the baser instincts of human nature.

     I don't believe for a minute the polling that shows a majority of the country favors marriage equality. Why is ObamaCare less "popular" than marriage rights? Because racists can get away with pretending they're against ACA policy, when they're really against anything that disproportionately helps "those people" & was the product, at least in part, of the black guy in the White House. Sam Alito was onto something when he wrote in his dissent to the Obergefell opinion, "I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers and schools. By imposing its own views on the entire country, the majority facilitates the marginalization of the many Americans who have traditional ideas." He's not just talking about himself -- though that, too -- he's talking about how bigots are going to have to invent & adhere to a new set of dog whistles & keep their gay jokes & hatred in "quiet places." Officials & ordinary people have already learned to couch their bigotry against both women & gays in terms of "religious freedom," a safe, Constitutionally-protected advocacy with which liberals cannot disagree. Ditto Second Amendment freeeedom. The right to bear arms was born of racism -- a guarantee that Southerners could protect themselves against slave rebellions -- and it has once again been repurposed as a means of protecting whites against "lawless" blacks. Meanwhile, if the confederates must abandon their flag, they will wave the U.S. flag with even greater fervor. The symbol of our nation has been for a long time a dog whistle for the right; it's about to become an outright embarrassment. ...

... Paul Rosenberg, in Salon, on the false equivalency South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley applied to feelings about the confederate flag. Rosenberg contrasts Haley's speech with the remarks of Paul Thurmond, son of Strom, who completely rejected the flag & the white supremacy it represents. Rosenberg delves into how supremacists rework their magic to fit time & circumstance.

Jenny Kutner of Salon sees a nugget of hope for reproductive rights in Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion on marriage equality. From the opinion:

A first premise of the Court's relevant precedents is that the right to personal choice regarding marriage is inherent in the concept of individual autonomy.... Like choices concerning contraception, family relationships, procreation, and childrearing, all of which are protected by the Constitution, decisions concerning marriage are among the most intimate that an individual can make.

     ... CW: Kutner doesn't say so, but it's useful to remember that Kennedy joined the plurality decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), a decision that upheld, but modified, Roe v. Wade. The decision acknowledged the state's interest in the life of the fetus & changed the definition of fetus viability, both of which have been the bases of anti-abortion legislation.

David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "Ted Cruz' solution to 'judicial tyranny'? Direct election of SCOTUS judges.... Making judges fearful of the public whim negates much of the entire purpose of having a judicial branch to check the legislative. But even from a purely conservative utilitarian standpoint, that strategy tends to work best in more conservative states and where judges are elected in non-presidential cycles. Also, much has changed in the last decade in terms of popular opinion.... There's no evidence that a serious public opinion backlash will arise against the Court over marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act.... Indeed, by far the most unpopular of the SCOTUS' recent decisions was its stand on Citizens United.... All of which is to say, Ted Cruz should probably be careful what he wishes for."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Willa Paskin of Slate: Fox "News" personalities could not figure out how to deal with the Supreme Court's Obergefell decision. "As if today hasn't already proved how far gay rights has come, know, also, that no one on Fox News wants to be seen as anti-gay anymore either."

Presidential Race

The Trouble with Being Bush (or Why One Candidate Calls Himself Jeb!) Eli Stokols of Policito: "With conservatives up in arms over [Chief Justice John] Roberts' role in preserving Obamacare, Jeb Bush suddenly finds himself called to answer for the chief justice appointed by his brother, George W. Bush. And not just Roberts -- Jeb is also taking flak for David Souter, the liberal justice appointed by his father, George H.W. Bush." CW: Yo, Eli, Souter is not a liberal. He's an old-fashioned New England Republican. If you'd ever read one of his opinions, you'd get that. P.S. Roberts' opinion on the ACA isn't even close to liberal; in fact, there's a good change he was one of the justices who agreed to hear the King case, albeit he may have decided from the get-go to use the case as a warning to ideological litigants on both sides: don't clutter up my courts with attempts to nix legislation on frivolous grounds.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Iran's top nuclear negotiator was heading back to Tehran on Sunday to consult with his nation's leadership, as negotiators remained divided over how to limit and monitor Tehran's nuclear program and even on how to interpret the preliminary agreement they reached two months ago. With all sides now acknowledging that the talks would need to continue beyond Tuesday, once considered the absolute deadline for a final deal, officials from several nations said some of the politically difficult questions ... are still just as vexing as they were when the 18-month negotiation odyssey began."

New York Times: "David Sweat, the remaining prison escapee on the run in northern New York for three weeks, was shot by a state trooper on Sunday, according to the authorities. Mr. Sweat, 35, was shot twice in the torso and was taken to Alice Hyde Medical Center in Malone, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Sunday night at a news conference here. Mr. Sweat was in stable condition. 'The nightmare is finally over,' Mr. Cuomo said. The shooting occurred about 3:20 p.m. after Sgt. Jay Cook saw a suspicious man walking down a roadway in the Town of Constable, according to the state police. The sergeant ordered Mr. Sweat to stop, but he broke into a run and the sergeant, a firearms instructor, opened fire...." ...

... AP: Sweat "has been transported to an Albany hospital, where he is listed in critical condition."

Washington Post: "An unmanned SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket bound for the International Space Station exploded a couple of minutes after liftoff Sunday morning. It was the third cargo mission to the space station to be lost in recent months."

Guardian: "A solar plane took off for what could be the longest solo flight in history on Monday, with its Swiss pilot confronting the 'moment of truth' of a journey around the Pacific Ocean and around the world. The Solar Impulse 2 set off about 3am from Nagoya, Japan, en route to Hawaii, a trip expected to take five days and nights of continuous flight."

New York Times: "Greece will keep its banks closed on Monday and place restrictions on the withdrawal and transfer of money, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in a televised address on Sunday night, as Athens tries to avert a financial collapse."

AP: Law enforcement officials are confident they are closing in on New York state prison escapee David Sweat.

The Commentariat -- June 27, 2015

Internal links removed.

The White House, last night.... Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "On Friday morning, President Obama stood in the Rose Garden exalting the 'thunderbolt' of justice that had come from the Supreme Court, which guaranteed the right of marriage to gay and lesbian couples after many spent decades in often lonely, perilous activism. About five hours later, leaning into the microphone at the memorial for the late South Carolina state senator and pastor Clementa Pinckney, Obama sang alone the opening lines of 'Amazing Grace,' before a crowd of nearly 6,000 rose to its feet to join him in an extraordinary ending to a eulogy that lamented racial hatred but drew on what Obama called the grace of God to predict its eventual defeat. Rarely has a single day so completely encapsulated the emotional peaks and troughs of the presidency of Barack Obama." ...

... ** David Remnick of the New Yorker: "Ten days in June." ...

... David Love of the Grio: "With victories for Obamacare, the Fair Housing Act and marriage equality in the U.S. Supreme Court, it was a tremendous week for the commander in chief. And yet, in the midst of tragedy and soul searching -- forced to grapple with its centuries' old curse of slavery and a virulent symbol of racial oppression in the form of the Confederate flag -- South Carolina may have had its finest hour when President Obama honored the fallen Rev. Pinckney. If you have not viewed the eulogy, please do so, for it was a proud time to be black, and to be American. Never in recent history, or in any part of history for that matter, have we witnessed a president say what Barack Obama said that day." ...

... As several commenters also mentioned yesterday, you'll want to watch this, right to the end:

Photo via Ferguson Action.Some Kind of Hero. AP: "The Confederate flag has been temporarily removed from in front of the South Carolina Statehouse. An unidentified black woman was about halfway up the more than 30-foot steel flagpole just after dawn Saturday when State Capitol police told her to come down. Instead, she continued up and removed the flag before returning to the ground. The woman and another man who had entered the wrought-iron fence surrounding the flag were arrested." ...

... Dion Rabouin of International Business Times: "The woman, who has not been named by local authorities, was identified on social media as Brittany 'Bree' Newsome, an activist from North Carolina. Her actions inspired the hashtag #keepitdown, which was a one of the top trending topics in the United States on Twitter Saturday. Later in the day the hashtag #FreeBree was also trending in the United States.... Newsome is an activist and graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts." ...

... According to Ferguson Action, Newsome took down the flag "in time for the funerals." More photos & video at the linked Twitter page. ...

... Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "A woman identified by a protest organizer as Bree Newsome, a 30-year-old youth organizer from Charlotte, North Carolina, climbed the flagpole before 6am [Saturday] and took down the controversial emblem of the antebellum, slaveholding south, with the assistance of another activist."

Gail Collins: "The Roberts Supreme Court is on a roll. Gay marriage, national health care and a surprising vote of support for the Fair Housing Act, all in a couple of days. Great job, guys! We are totally over the fact that you destroyed the nation's campaign finance laws, limited workers' rights to challenge wage discrimination and women's rights to control their bodies. And basically disemboweled a 50-year-old Voting Rights Act that Congress had renewed by increasingly large margins on four different occasions."

Paul Lewis of the Guardian: "Justice Samuel Alito said the ruling could leave the country suffering from 'bitter and lasting wounds' in a dissenting opinion that veered away from legal argument, and head-first into political and cultural commentary. 'I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers and schools,' he wrote. 'By imposing its own views on the entire country, the majority facilitates the marginalization of the many Americans who have traditional ideas.' The stark warning from Alito stood apart from the opinions of the three other dissenting judges, who mostly avoided discussing the merits of gay marriage itself, opting for more legalistic complaints about what they believe should have been the limits of judicial power." ...

... Rick Hasen: "In his dissent in Obergefell v. Hodges CJ Roberts writes: 'Stealing this issue from the people will for many cast a cloud over same-sex marriage, making a dramatic social change that much more difficult to accept.' That seems quite unlikely. Think of Loving v. Va, striking down bans on interracial marriage, and laws barring de jure discrimination generally. This has not led to more discrimination. It has led to less. By the next generation, same sex marriage will be no big deal for almost everyone in the country. Legality brings normalization, not the other way around." ...

... Cass Sustein in Bloomberg: "Contrary to appearances, the court usually pays attention to an actual or emerging moral consensus, certainly with respect to fundamental rights. It follows public opinion; it does not lead it. When Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote that the Constitution protects 'the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning,' he didn't mean the justices consult philosophical texts or make things up. He meant to refer instead to an emphatically social process, in which the justices learn from their fellow citizens."

This Supreme Court decision overturns the will of the people of Louisiana, and it takes away a right that should have been left to the states.... There is not yet a legal requirement for officials to issue marriage licenses or perform marriages for same-sex couples in Louisiana. -- Louisiana Attorney General James D. "Buddy" Caldwell (R)

... David Fahrenthold, et al., of the Washington Post: "When Friday began, there were 14 states where same-sex couples still could not legally marry. By the afternoon -- after a confusing day of orders and counter-orders by governors, attorneys general and county clerks -- couples had married in all of them but one.... Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) ... criticized the justices' decision but said his state will comply with it once an appeals court officially gives the order.... Mississippi ... blocked almost all same-sex marriages, saying it needed a lower court's permission to proceed. A few same-sex couples in Mississippi did get married in the window between the Supreme Court's ruling and the state's order to stop.... In Alabama, two officials announced ... they said they would no longer issue marriage licenses to anyone, gay or straight, ever again.... And then there was Texas, where confusion reigned." ...

... CW: Turns out all this confederate consternation, these calls to abandon or amend the Constitution (see Presidential Race below) & incidences of official civil disobedience are nothing compared to left-wing radicalism:

We see a French Revolution-like tendency to move with the speed of light from a reasonable and perhaps overdue change (taking down the Confederate flag over state buildings) to an all-out determination to expunge from our history any recognition or respect for that which doesn't fully comport with contemporary progressive sentiment. -- Bill Kristol, via Steve M.

I am just now constructing a guilliotine out of scrap wood. Wanted: spare blade. -- Constant Weader

Laurel Raymond of Think Progress: "Instead of the classic 'Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough,' Ben & Jerry's consumers this summer can enjoy spoonfuls of equality by choosing 'I Dough, I Dough.' The flavor was renamed by the company on Friday in celebration of the Supreme Court's historic ruling legalizing same-sex marriage throughout the United States."

Pete Souza, White House photographer: "The President was in the middle of his daily briefing on Thursday when Brian Mosteller, the director of Oval Office operations, abruptly opened the door at 10:10AM.... Brian told the President that, in a 6-3 decision, the Court upheld a critical part of the Affordable Care Act, preserving affordable coverage for millions of Americans.For one split second, the President's face was blank as if he was trying to comprehend the news. He then reacted in jubilation:

CW: Click of Souza's blog page, which includes other great photos of the moment. ...

White House: "In this week's address, the President called the Supreme Court's decision on the Affordable Care Act a victory for hardworking Americans across the country, whose lives are more secure because of this law":

... Dylan Matthews of Vox: "After Thursday's Supreme Court ruling, there's no longer any doubt: Barack Obama is one of the most consequential presidents in American history -- and he will be a particularly towering figure in the history of American progressivism." CW: There will be statues. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "Yes, Obamacare haters may dismiss the experience of virtually every other wealthy country by intoning 'American exceptionalism', as though we have some long-cherished right to die young that's as essential to the national character as unlimited possession of guns. But this has been a constant issue in our own country, too, and it's a token of how far our political system has drifted to the right that redeeming the vision of Teddy Roosevelt and Harry Truman and Richard Nixon strikes so many people as a horrifying lurch into socialism." ...

... Digby explains the reaction to the ACA ruling of an Obama-hating ObamaCare beneficiary. ...

... CW: In fairness to that jerk, I must say that I take advantage of every unfair GOP-writ tax deduction I get.

Presidential Race

Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Hillary Clinton looked to draw a red line for her Republican rivals on LGBT rights in her first large swing-state [-- Virginia --] rally outside of the early-voting states on Friday night.... While the event was not intended to be a Clinton rally, it quickly turned into one as speaker after speaker praised the [f]ormer secretary of state in front of the crowd of around 2,000.... 'Today's [Obergefell] decision confirms we've been working toward equality as a nation step by step, case by case, court by court, and that equality has been right there in the Constitution all along,' said the former first lady and senator, who didn't support marriage equality when she first ran for president in 2008.... Coming straight to the rally from the Charleston funeral of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney..., Clinton also promised to fight for a 'better, smarter, safer, approach to getting the gun violence in this country under control.'... 'Across the board, [Republicans] are the party of the past,' she said to applause."

Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The dilemma presented by the same-sex marriage ruling expressed itself almost immediately in the reactions from the party's enormous field of declared and presumed 2016 presidential candidates. They ranged from defiant to pragmatic, apocalyptic to philosophical.... 'I will not acquiesce to an imperial court any more than our Founders acquiesced to an imperial British monarch,' former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said. 'We must resist and reject judicial tyranny, not retreat.'... Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.) ... told a rally in northwestern Iowa on Friday that the court decision was 'the very definition of lawlessness.'... 'While I disagree with this decision, we live in a republic and must abide by the law,' said Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.).... Jeb[! ... said,] 'I believe the Supreme Court should have allowed the states to make this decision. I also believe that we should love our neighbor and respect others, including those making lifetime commitments. In a country as diverse as ours, good people who have opposing views should be able to live side by side.'"...

... Jennifer Rubin, the Wash Po's official GOP head cheerleader, is surprisingly good in assessing the responses of her team's candidates to the Obergefell ruling. ...

... Brendan James of TPM: "Presidential candidate Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Friday called opposition to the Supreme Court's decision to uphold same sex marriages 'a divisive effort that would be doomed to fail.' 'I am a proud defender of traditional marriage and believe the people of each state should have the right to determine their marriage laws,' he said in a statement on Friday, before adding 'I will respect the Court's decision.'"

... Bobby J. Condemns Constitution. Mark Hensch of the Hill: "'The Supreme Court is completely out of control, making laws on their own, and has become a public opinion poll instead of a judicial body,' the 2016 contender said in a statement. 'If we want to save some money, let's just get rid of the court,' Jindal added." CW: Hey, less radical than secession.

I fundamentally disagree with the court rewriting the law and assaulting the 10th Amendment. Our founding fathers did not intend for the judicial branch to legislate from the bench, and as president, I would appoint strict Constitutional conservatives who will apply the law as written. -- Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry

Hey, less radical than secession. Also, too, the states have always promoted equal rights for minority groups & women. -- Constant Weader

Mollie Reilly of the Huffington Post: "After calling the last day 'some of the darkest 24 hours in our nation's history,' Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is now calling for Supreme Court justices to face elections.... To challenge ... 'judicial activism,' Cruz said he is proposing a constitutional amendment to require Supreme Court justices to face retention elections every eight years." CW: Not so radical.

Terrence Dopp of Bloomberg: "New Jersey Governor Chris Christie will join the crowded Republican 2016 field Tuesday, two people with knowledge of his plans said." CW: Christie plans to make his announcement on the New Jersey side of the iconic George Washington Bridge. To accommodate the anticipated rally of supporters, Christie has ordered the closing of the bridge shortly before morning rush hour; reopening TBA.

Trump Trumps His Own Customary Assholery. Dylan Byers of Politico: "Donald Trump published a photograph of a handwritten letter from Univision's Jorge Ramos on Friday that included the anchor's personal cellphone number.... In the letter, sent Thursday, Ramos asks if Trump will sit with him for an interview. Ramos then provides his cellphone number, in the event that Trump 'would like to talk first over the phone.' Trump published the photo to his personal Instagram account on Friday, noting that Univision was 'begging' him for interviews even after publicly severing business ties with him."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Richard W. Matt, one of the two convicted murderers who engineered an elaborate escape from New York's largest prison, was shot and killed on Friday by a federal agent.... A team of agents from the federal Customs and Border Protection agency found Mr. Matt in the woods in Malone, N.Y., after he fired a shot at the back of a camping trailer, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said at a news conference. Officers heard him cough as he fled on foot, and a federal agent killed him when Mr. Matt, still armed with a 20-gauge shotgun, refused orders to put up his hands, the authorities said. On Friday night, officers closed in on the other inmate, David Sweat, 35, who was believed to be penned inside a perimeter of law enforcement officers...."

Cradle of Democracy. New York Times: "In an unexpected move, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras went on national television early Saturday to call for a referendum on July 5, so that Greek citizens can decide whether to accept or reject the terms of a bailout deal proposed by the country's creditors."

Guardian: "In what is becoming a regular pattern, Fifa has been forced to insist hurriedly that Sepp Blatter will not stand again for the presidency and will 'lay down his mandate' as promised. Blatter sparked a fresh wave of speculation when a Swiss newspaper reported him as saying: 'I have not resigned, I put my mandate in the hands of an extraordinary congress.'”