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The Commentariat -- March 11, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Elements of a Con Game -- The Trump "University" Review. Michael Barbaro & Steve Eder of the New York Times: "Interviews and documents show that employees of Trump University at times applied pressure on students to offer favorable reviews, instructed them to fill out the forms in order to obtain their graduation certificates, and ignored standard practices used to ensure that the surveys were filled out objectively. 'It's absolutely a con, said [Robert] Guillo, who spent $36,000 on Trump University classes and later requested a refund. 'The role of the evaluations were a defense against any legal actions. They anticipated those actions.'"
Elements of a Con Game -- Manufacturing VA "Scandals." Martin Longman in the Washington Monthly: "At last night's debate in Miami, the Republican candidates - as they have all primary season - attacked the VA health care system and demanded its radical restructuring. Few viewers were aware, however, that the candidates were following a script written by the Koch brothers." ...
... Alicia Mundy has the full story: "Working through the CVA [Concerned Veterans for America], and in partnership with key Republicans and corporate medical interests, the Koch brothers' web of affiliates has succeeded in manufacturing or vastly exaggerating 'scandals' at the VA as part of a larger campaign to delegitimize publicly provided health care. The Koch-inspired attacks, in turn, have provided the pretext for GOP candidates to rally behind the cause -- only recently seen as fringe -- of imposing free market 'reforms on the federal government's second largest agency."
Brain Surgeon Testifies Trump Has a Brain. Sean Sullivan & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson endorsed Donald Trump on Friday, throwing his support to the GOP front-runner in a 45-minute joint appearance where Trump said he doesn't see a need for any more televised debates. Carson ... said he and Trump have 'buried the hatchet' after trading nasty words during the primary. He also said there are 'two different' Trumps: the one the public sees and a more 'cerebral' Trump in private." ...
... Valerie Strauss, a Washington Post's education reporter: "Donald Trump ... declared that Carson was going to help him with education issues because he knows so much about them." Strauss looks into how much of an education expert Carson is: his Website is full of inaccurate information [CW: no doubt gleaned from other Wingnut Websites] about education programs, testing, school performance, etc., & he has shown such a lack of familiarity with the basic structure of K-12 education that Strauss thinks he has no idea that charter schools are public schools & that Congress has repealed No Child Left Behind. CW: So there's your new Secretary of Education. And don't be thinking, "Oh, well, Ole Doc is smart; he'll learn on the job." This is a guy whose own adviser said he was incapable of grasping any information about American international policy.
Janell Ross of the Washington Post responds to Trump's racially-coded responses regarding violence at his rallies.
*****
Presidential Race
Jonathan Martin & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "After 11 adversarial debates, the two chief antagonists to Donald J. Trump on Thursday night largely abandoned their strategy of brutally attacking him, choosing instead to use their final face-off before next week's round of big Republican primaries to project gravitas and champion conservative positions on trade, jobs and Israel. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, whose candidacy is on the line in his state's primary on Tuesday, passed up easy chances to challenge Mr. Trump on immigration and foreign visas, and he stopped insulting the front-runner after his recent jabs backfired. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who is running second to Mr. Trump in many states, stuck to policy at first but gradually turned tougher against Mr. Trump, eventually saying he would be a disaster as the Republican standard-bearer." ...
... New York Times reporters are liveblogging the debate. CW: I didn't watch the debate, but I followed the liveblog. By failing to bring up Donald Trump's inciting violence against black Americans at his rallies, CNN moderators committed another act of journalistic malpractice. ...
... CW: Update/Correction: Oops! I missed the last part of the liveblog (I thought the debate ended at 10:30, as scheduled. It didn't.) My apologies to Jake Tapper & CNN. ...
... The Washington Post's annotated transcript of the debate is here. CW: I just read the part, near the end, where Tapper questions Trump & the other candidates about the violence at Trump rallies. The responses are really sickening. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "The exchange that captured Thursday night's Republican debate -- possibly the final debate of the primary -- came when Jake Tapper asked about the violence pervading Donald Trump's campaign rallies. Tapper quoted Trump egging his supporters on to attack protestors, and indeed, Trump's own campaign manager just accosted a female reporter the other day. Trump's response was terrifying, a virtual confession of his own authoritarianism. The candidate who had called the peaceful Tiananmen Square protests a 'riot,' and who insisted without evidence that protesters had initiated violence at his speeches, rationalized attacks as a response to his supporters' anger at conditions in the country. This was the chance for Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and John Kasich to make the case ... that Trump is ... a singular danger not only to their party but the country. Instead they simply echoed Trump's message. People are angry. President Obama is a menace to freedom. Police are wonderful. And that was it." ...
... Jim Newell of Slate: "Everyone applauded [Trump's] incredible hybrid of dodging and pandering, because nothing matters." ...
... Elias Isquith of Salon thought the most important moments of the debate came early when moderators asked Trump & the other candidates about Trump's remark -- made Wednesday -- that "Islam hates us." Trump refused twice to walk it back & the other candidates equivocated, although they used the term "radical Islam" instead of "Islam." CW: Anyway, it turns out the real problem is our Muslim President. BTW, reading the transcript of what these jamokes said is just as infuriating as watching them on the teevee. ...
... Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "The Republican presidential candidates will gather in Miami on Thursday for their last debate before voters in Florida, Ohio and three other states go to the polls next week for primary elections that could reshuffle the race. Chances are dwindling for Donald J. Trump's rivals to slow his campaign's momentum. With Gov. John Kasich of Ohio and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida under pressure to hold their home states on Tuesday, this face-off on the debate stage could prove to be decisive.... The debate will begin at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time and will air on CNN. CNN International and CNN en Español will simulcast the event."
If You Comp Me an Overnight at Your Glitzy Club, I'll Endorse You. Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Conservative favorite Ben Carson, who last week suspended his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, plans to endorse Donald Trump on Friday morning, according to two people familiar with his thinking. The endorsement, perhaps the most high-profile nod for Trump since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie backed him, was finalized Thursday morning when Carson met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago, the luxury club owned by the Republican front-runner, the people said." ...
... CW: Maybe you thought Ben Carson was a well-meaning but uninformed dingbat who was overwhelmed by the harsh realities of cutthroat politics. Nope. He's a conniving, hypocritical uninformed dingbat without an ounce of moral fiber. Listen up, Ole Doc, hanging a picture in the front hall of you & Jesus together don't mean you're a "real" Christian. Like the Jesus guy, you went into the wilderness for 40 days & 40 nights (& then some), & in the end, when the Great Satan of the Skyscrapers tempted you, you said, "Thank you, Lord, & pass the caviar." By your deeds shall you be known, Doc Ben.
It's Getting Worse. Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "A black protester [-- Rakeem Jones --] being escorted out of a Donald J. Trump campaign rally on Wednesday in Fayetteville, N.C., was sucker-punched and shoved by a Trump supporter, several videos on social media show.... Mr. Jones stumbled, then could be seen on the floor surrounded by sheriff's deputies. In some of the videos, at least two deputies who were following Mr. Jones up the arena steps could be seen walking past the man who had just punched Mr. Jones. But on Thursday, WRAL, the local NBC television affiliate, reported that a 78-year-old man, John McGraw of Linden, N.C., had been charged with assault and battery and disorderly conduct.... Later in the Fayetteville rally..., when another in a series of demonstrators was being led out, Mr. Trump himself lamented what he called 'the good old days' when someone who acted up would be carried out 'on a stretcher.'" Emphasis added. CW: Local authorities should arrest Trump, too, for inciting violence & for civil rights violations. The guy belongs in an orange jumpsuit. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Trump also complained during the Fayetteville rally that there were too few protesters & they were not troublesome enough: "It's always like one person. Can't we have a little more action than this?"' ...
... Update. Inside Edition: "The [old white guy] Trump supporter [John McGraw] who was filmed sucker punching a [black] protester [Rakeem Jones] during Wednesday's rally in North Carolina said: 'Next time, we might have to kill him.... We don't know who he is. He might be with a terrorist organization.'... On Thursday, officials arrested and charged McGraw with assault and battery and disorderly conduct, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office." CW: Just because Inside Edition covers it, doesn't mean it's entertainment. ...
... CW: The Rules According to Old White Guys: Always suspect black people of being terrorists. It's best to beat them up first & ask questions later. To rekindle the good old days, try to inflict enough bodily harm that the black terrorist suspects have to be carried out on stretchers. Maybe to the morgue. ...
... David Graham of the Atlantic was at the Fayetteville rally: "Just below the surface of a Trump rally runs an undercurrent of violence. There are few overt threats. But there are thousands of people who are deeply angry at the state of the nation, whose anger is being intensified by the speaker on stage.... What is disturbing about Trump's handling of the media at an event like this is that he knows he's playing a game -- but doesn't tell the crowd." ...
... Freedom of the Press. Lloyd Grove of the Daily Beast on how Trump & his, ah, news organ Breitbart, handle the press. Nixon kept his enemies list a secret. Trump is right out there in the open, beating them up & screwing them around. And, yeah, Breitbart, that paragon of journalistic excellence is willing to throw its "girl reporter" under the bus. Ben Terris of the Washington Post has a bit more: After finding out that Terris had witnessed Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski rough up Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, Lewandowski made Terris wait for his scheduled interview, then cancelled the interview. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... It's Okay to Rough up MSM Reporters. CW: Steve M. on a point in Grove's report that jumped out at me, too: "The Daily Beast tells us, 'Lewandowski's explanation ... was that he and Fields had never met before and ... he didn't recognize her as a Breitbart reporter, instead mistaking her for an adversarial member of the mainstream media.' If she'd been from the 'adversarial' media, I guess roughing her up would have been just fine, according to Team Trump." ...
... Update. Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: "When a protester was kicked and punched at a Donald Trump rally in November, the candidate's excuse was that the activist deserved it. Now that a reporter has been grabbed -- hard enough to leave bruises -- by Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, the Republican presidential front-runner is trying an even more audacious defense: Saying it never even happened.... Fort Trump is accusing Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields -- and Washington Post reporter Ben Terris, who saw Lewandowski grab her roughly after a Tuesday-night press conference -- of fabricating the whole thing. After remaining silent on the incident for almost two days, the campaign issued a statement on Thursday afternoon, declaring Fields's accusation to be 'entirely false.'" ...
... Update Update. Hadas Gold of Politico: "A roughly two and a half minute audio recording of the incident obtained by Politico -- while not definitive -- supports the reporter's version of the events, which were witnessed by Washington Post reporter Ben Terris." ...
... AND More. Claire Landsbaum of New York: "Following the millionth GOP debate Friday night, Donald Trump told reporters he didn't believe the incident had taken place at all. 'I wasn't involved in it,' he said. 'The Secret Service was surrounding everybody, they said nothing happened, everybody said nothing happened -- perhaps she made the story up. I think that's what happened.'... Trump has taken the opportunity to turn the assault into a punch line": Trump told a female reporter, "If you go down, it's not my fault." CW: Because assaulting women is hilarious. ...
... CW: Maybe we shouldn't worry so much about Hillary's losing to the Donald. During the general election campaign, he won't be able to keep himself from making "jokes" like this about Hillary herself. He's already done it. All but the worst misogynists will be appalled.
Otto Von Drumpf XIV. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's blistering critique of American trade policy boils down to a simple equation: Foreigners are 'killing us on trade' because Americans spend much more on imports than the rest of the world spends on American exports. China's unbalanced trade with the United States, he said Tuesday night, is 'the greatest theft in the history of the world.' Add a few 'whereins' and 'whences' and that sentiment would conform nicely to the worldview of the first Queen Elizabeth of 16th-century England, to the 17th-century court of Louis XIV, or to Prussia's Iron Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, in the 19th century.... Mr. Trump is bringing mercantilism back. The New York billionaire is challenging the last 200 years of economic orthodoxy that trade among nations is good, and that more is better." CW: You'll have to read Appelbaum's full report to find out why Von Drumpf -- who tells us he is very, very smart -- is so wrong. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Michael Gerson: "Trump is the guy your Founding Fathers warned you about.... We have reached the culmination of the founders’ fears: Democracy is producing a genuine threat to the American form of self-government.... The founders may not have imagined political parties as a check on public passions, but that is the role the GOP must now play -- as important as any in its long history. It is late, but not too late." ...
... CW: If you've watched 5 minutes of any political convention of either party in your lifetime, you'll find Gerson's argument laughable. Gerson describes the delegates as the "chosen body of citizens," a la James Madison's Federalist 10: "a chosen body of citizens, whose wisdom may best discern the true interest of their country." While it's likely that some of the GOP delegates will be wearing their tricorns in the convention hall, that is where the likeness to the Founders ends. There is not an ounce of wisdom beneath the hats of the delegates. Delegates are parochial poobahs come to party hard in the Big City, not to ponder & debate delicate determinants of our national future. They will be unable & unwilling to save the country from the grip of a demagogue.
Repulsive Senator Endorses Repulsive Senator. McKay Coppins & Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "Utah Sen. Mike Lee endorsed Ted Cruz for president on Thursday afternoon."
Amanda Marcotte of Salon: "Overall, the [Democratic] debate was a bummer.... But insofar as it demonstrated how well [the candidates] hold up under ... attempts to trip them up, it suggested Clinton's simply better at it. She got a lot more questions in that vein and never really stumbled. Sanders got only one such question and ended up proving some of the worst concerns about his readiness for prime time." ...
... CW: If it's fair to question Hillary Clinton about what she said during her husband's 1990s administration or even to question her about her husband's decisions, then it's fair to question Bernie Sanders about his support for totalitarian governments in the 1980s. His equivocations aren't going to cut it. Some of his views back then were disturbing, even in the context of the times. He should acknowledge that he was a radical, naive jerk in 1985, & try to demonstrate he isn't a naive jerk any more. Anyway, I'm going downtown to vote for the naive jerk today.
Adam Gopnik of the New Yorker: "Fascism may have appealed to the economically insecure, but it did not appeal by giving them an economic answer. It appealed by giving them an enemy. As in France, or throughout Europe now, the extreme right flourishes not because there is insecurity but because they have an answer for insecurity: blame the Muslims (they've also blamed the Jews, though they're quieter about that right now). Or: blame the Muslims and the Mexicans. They work, in the classic manner, not by providing answers to insecurity but by blurring the lines between genuine anxieties and imaginary fears and then by offering an imaginary solution -- the Jews/Muslims/terrorists/Commies who are coming -- to the imaginary fears as though that would alleviate the real anxieties." ...
... CW: I'd like to point out that it isn't only fascists whose appeal centers on creating "enemies." Bernie Sanders can barely utter a sentence that doesn't include the words "Wall Street billionaires." He's not stupid. He does this on purpose. A difference of course is that Bernie is essentially right, although our economic problems, as he readily acknowledges, are not caused solely by financial titans. Moreover, many of Bernie's solutions not only address real economic problems; they are workable.
... For instance, one of his proposals that makes people roll their eyes is "free" college tuition. To two generations of Americans who never experienced such a thing & went into debt because of the high cost of college, Bernie's plan -- which he would partially finance on the backs of "Wall Street billionaires"! -- sounds like a pipe dream. But up thru the 1960s, many or most state colleges & universities charged little or no tuition to in-state residents. If we could do it then, we can do it now. Hillary Clinton, BTW, has pooh-poohed the idea, arguing, for one thing, that it isn't "fair" for taxpayers to fund the college educations of the children of the rich. But they did it back then, & nobody squawked (or even thought about squawking), so, again, we can do it now. College entrance that is merit-based rather than means-based makes a lot of sense. Besides, the wealthy, who pay more in taxes than others, would in fact be paying more for their kids' "free" tuition than would poor & middle-class parents.
Other News & Views
BBC News: "US President Barack Obama and Canada's new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have lavished praise on each other during the first official visit by a Canadian leader in nearly 20 years. At the official state dinner Mr Trudeau toasted the two nations as 'siblings'. Mr Obama raised his glass to the 'great alliance', and made several jokes about Mr Trudeau and his previous careers. 'If things get out of hand, remember the prime minister used to work as a bouncer,' said Mr Obama. In a joking reference to Canadian-born presidential candidate Ted Cruz, Mr Obama laughed 'Where else could a boy born in Calgary run for president of the United States?'"
Steven Mufson & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama said Thursday he is not responsible for the Republican Party's 'crackup' even though some GOP leaders have blamed him for Donald Trump's divisive but effective campaign for the party's presidential nomination." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Here's the full press conference:
... digby & President Obama agree on who's responsible for extreme political polarization.
President Obama welcomes Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada to the White House:
Andrew Dugan & Frank Newport of Gallup: "President Barack Obama earned a 50% job approval rating for the week ending March 6, his highest weekly average since May 2013." CW: Gosh, why is that? Because he's friends with Justin Trudeau? Probably not. "While it's hard to pinpoint precisely why Obama's approval rating has risen among Democrats recently, there are a number of plausible explanations. The unusual status of the Republican primary race -- exemplified in particular by front-runner Donald Trump's campaign style and rhetoric -- may serve to make Obama look statesmanlike in comparison."
KXAN Austin, Texas: "The South by Southwest Interactive Festival is kicking off on Friday. Perhaps the most anticipated event is President Obama's appearance at a Keynote Conversation. He will be talking with Evan Smith, CEO and Editor in Chief of the Texas Tribune."
New York Times Editors: "On Monday, John Cornyn, the senior Republican senator from Texas, warned President Obama that if he dares to name a successor to Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court, the nominee 'will bear some resemblance to a piñata.'... It is disgraceful for a senator to play the thug, threatening harm to someone simply for appearing before Congress to answer questions about professional accomplishments and constitutional philosophy. On Thursday, during the first Senate Judiciary Committee hearing since Justice Scalia's death last month, Mr. Cornyn and his fellow Republicans ... look[ed] like deranged obstructionists." ...
... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Senators on the Judiciary Committee clashed openly on Thursday over filling a Supreme Court vacancy during an election year, with Republicans insisting that they were doing the right thing by refusing to consider any nominee put forward by President Obama and Democrats accusing them of shirking their constitutional duty. The Judiciary Committee chairman, Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, denounced Democrats for the pressure they have brought in recent days in pushing him to convene confirmation hearings once Mr. Obama picks a nominee, which could happen as soon as next week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Michael McAuliff & Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "... [Sen.] Lindsey Graham (S.C.), admitted Thursday a stark fact that the rest of his colleagues have tried their best to avoid: that their blockade of any Supreme Court nominee by President Barack Obama is unprecedented. And he insisted that he was going to go along with it, even though he predicted it would worsen relations between the parties and the functioning of the Senate.... 'We're headed to changing the rules, probably in a permanent fashion,' he said."
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Responding to a drug crisis that has contributed to more American deaths than car crashes, the Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly passed a broad drug treatment and prevention bill, the largest of its kind since a law in 2008 that mandated insurance coverage for addiction treatment.... The bill was threatened by Democrats who were angered that Republicans turned away an accompanying measure to provide $600 million in extra funding to pay for some of the programs that the bill authorizes.... The fate of the legislation in the House is uncertain. A companion bill there does not have strong Republican support...." ...
... Empty Suits. CW: If Republicans won't fund the bill, the vote today was just a campaign ploy, giving senators an I-Care talking point while not mentioning they won't spend a dime on prevention or treatment. Maybe they can come up with a few thousand bucks to print up & distribute some Nancy Reagan Just Say No posters. That should help. Thanks, Republicans!
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department said Thursday that Apple's attempts at linking an ongoing fight over a locked iPhone to broader questions about encryption are 'a diversion,' pushing back against an argument repeatedly made by the company and its supporters in Silicon Valley. Federal prosecutors argued in a court filing that this fight is one of Apple's own making, accusing the company of having 'deliberately raised technological barriers' that are keeping the iPhone locked." ...
... Radley Balko of the Washington Post: "... the 'sneak-and-peek' provision of the Patriot Act that was alleged to be used only in national security and terrorism investigations has overwhelmingly been used in narcotics cases.... National Security Agency data will be shared with other intelligence agencies like the FBI without first applying any screens for privacy. The ACLU of Massachusetts blog Privacy SOS explains why this is important: '... In short, domestic law enforcement officials now have access to huge troves of American communications, obtained without warrants, that they can use to put people in cages. FBI agents ... can simply poke around in your private information in the course of totally routine investigations.... And we don't have to guess who's going to suffer this unconstitutional indignity the most brutally. It'll be Black, Brown, poor, immigrant, Muslim, and dissident Americans: the same people who are always targeted by law enforcement for extra 'special' attention.'"
Thomas Gibbons-Neff of the Washington Post: "The board of the Wounded Warrior Project, one of the largest veteran support organizations in the country, has fired the nonprofit's chief executive officer and the chief operating officer.... The departure of two top executives, CEO Steven Nardizzi and COO Al Giordano, comes at a time when the wounded veteran-focused organization is awash in controversy amid news reports accusing the group of wasteful spending.... According to Wounded Warrior Project tax forms obtained by a CBS News investigation, the organization spent $26 million on conferences and meetings in 2014, up from $1.7 million in 2010.... According to the charity watchdog, 'Charity Navigator,' Wounded Warrior Project only spends 60 percent of its budget on veterans.... The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation, on the other hand, provides more than 98 percent to veterans."
Paul Krugman writes that politicians should be honest about trade deals. CW: That is never going to happen. There is so much at stake, so many potential winners & losers, there are few honest analysts. Economists like Krugman can shed light on the realities &, well, tradeoffs of international trade & trade agreements (see Binyamin Appelbaum's piece on mercantilism, linked yesterday, for what was an eye-opener to me), but even their work suffers from various biases & preconceptions, & because there are so many moving parts subject to so many fluctiations, some of them unforeseen, what economists might agree is a "good" trade deal one year may prove to be a bad deal the next. Politicians really don't know what they're talking about; they all start from a particular slant -- sometimes toward something as parochial as a particular business in a particular Congressional district -- and work backwards from there. The fact that they understand almost nothing about macroeconomics renders their views meaningless, except for the fact that those vews are among the ones that will prevail; some politicians, like Bernie Sanders, hold honest views, but they're based on nonsensical or fantasy-based premises. Add to that that even a "good" trade agreement is probably unenforceable & subject to myriad variables, most notably corruption, & the average citizen doesn't know what to think.
News Lede
Washington Post: "A former aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin who was found dead in a Dupont Circle hotel room in November died of blunt force trauma to the head, the D.C. medical examiner's office said Thursday."
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