The Commentariat -- Feb. 16, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Wowza! President Obama has two middle fingers: one for Senate Republicans & one for all the GOP presidential candidates. CW: I understand the tactical reasons for his reticence to criticize Republicans during his first term, but I surely wish he had spoken like this back in 2009 & '10. ...
Here's the President on the Republican presidential candidates:
... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama on Tuesday vowed to nominate a Supreme Court justice who is 'indisputably qualified for the seat,' and he scoffed at Republican suggestions that the process should be halted until after the November presidential election and a new administration takes office." ...
... Coming Soon -- An American Show Trial. Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he had not ruled out holding hearings on President Obama's eventual nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. 'I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions,' Mr. Grassley said, according to Radio Iowa. 'This is a very serious position to fill and it should be filled and debated during the campaign and filled by either Hillary Clinton, Senator Sanders or whoever's nominated by the Republicans.'" ...
... This story has been updated with a shared byline: Steinhauer & Mark Landler. New Lede: "President Obama on Tuesday challenged Republicans to offer any plausible rationale for refusing to consider a Supreme Court candidate to replace Justice Antonin Scalia..., and he pledged to nominate someone with an 'outstanding legal mind' who cares about democracy and the rule of law. 'The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now,' Mr. Obama said during a news conference after a meeting in California with leaders of Southeast Asia. He said the Constitution demands that a president nominate someone for the court and the Senate either confirms or rejects. 'There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off years,' Mr. Obama said. 'That's not in the Constitutional text.'" ...
... Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "Justice Antonin Scalia's body will lie in repose at the Supreme Court before his funeral is held, offering the public a chance to pay their respects, court officials said Tuesday."
David Sanger & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "In the early years of the Obama administration, the United States developed an elaborate plan for a cyberattack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict, according to a forthcoming documentary film and interviews with military and intelligence officials involved in the effort. The plan, code named Nitro Zeus, was designed to disable Iran's air defenses, communications systems and key parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was fulfilled." CW: Just remember, people, President Obama is a total wimp.
Adding Insult to Injury. Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "Flint residents were paying more for their [poisonous] water than just about anyone else in the country.... In January 2015, the Flint water system charged more for its services than any other of the 500 water utilities in [a] survey [conducted by the non-profit Food & Water Watch]."
Have We Mentioned that Republicans Don't Care about Deficits? Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: ... Ted Cruz's plan to impose a flat 10 percent tax on all personal income and greatly lower the corporate tax rate would cost the federal government at least $8.6 trillion over a decade, according to a new analysis. The plan would be the second most expensive tax proposal in the GOP presidential field, with only businessman Donald Trump offering a proposal that would add more in government debt over the next 10 years, according to data released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center." ...
... CW: Gosh, however will Tailgunner Ted make up for that honking big deficit? Oh, I know, cut programs for the needy & the deserving. Luckily for me, That Damned Cat has turned up her nose at the catfood pate', so I've got enough to keep me in kitty-canapes for quite some time. Always look on the bright side of life. ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Ted Cruz's campaign sent a letter to TV stations across South Carolina and Georgia on Tuesday, demanding that they stop airing what it calls 'a false attack ad' from the conservative super PAC American Future Fund that goes after the Texas senator on national security. 'The ad falsely claims "Cruz proposed mass legalization of illegal immigrants." Ted Cruz has never introduced, outlined, or supported any policy that would give legal status to illegal immigrants,' wrote Eric Brown, general counsel to the campaign, in the letter shared with the media."
Azi Paybarah of Politico: "Hillary Clinton took her campaign to shore up African-American support to Manhattan on Tuesday, meeting with civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, in the offices of the National Urban League on Wall Street....Speaking briefly after the event, Sharpton said ... the meeting with Clinton ... was 'very candid.'" ...
... Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "State Sen. Vincent Fort, the No. 2 Democrat in the Georgia Senate, flipped his endorsement on Tuesday from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. He instantly becomes one of the Vermont senator's top surrogates in the South, where his campaign has picked up support from only a handful of black elected officials. The Atlanta Democrat made his decision public just hours before Sanders is set to speak at a Morehouse College rally aimed at enticing black voters to give his campaign a second look."
Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "An embattled University of Missouri professor has again found herself to be the subject of public scrutiny, after a video surfaced that shows her engaged in a verbal confrontation with police. Melissa Click, an assistant professor in MU's communication department, was suspended last month, in the wake of an encounter she had with a student journalist during protests on the Columbia, Mo., campus in the fall." Includes video. CW: I read that she told an officer "to get your fucking hands off me."
*****
Michael Shear & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "On Monday, Senate Republicans -- including some who are up for re-election in swing states -- appeared to be closing ranks with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who has vowed to block any nominee from Mr. Obama and has said that he should not even suggest one, leaving the choice to the next president." ...
... James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Mitch McConnell has decided to wager the Republican majority in the Senate on blocking Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court. It's a bold and understandable gambit designed to prevent a leftward lurch in jurisprudence after Antonin Scalia's unexpected death this weekend, but it could backfire badly." CW: This seems a pretty solid analysis. ...
... Jeff Stein of Vox runs through the "strongest" confederate arguments for blocking any Obama nominee to the court. CW: By some of this logic, we had better hope the current federal judges & justices live forever, because no Senate will ever have to allow any president to fill a vacancy: "'The Senate can structure its own rules to govern the advice-and-consent process,' says Adam J. White in the Weekly Standard. 'Nowhere does the Constitution say that the Senate is required to act on the president's nominations.'" ...
... Wait, Wait! Here's one Stein missed. Emily Atkin of Think Progress: According to Constitutional scholar Rand Paul, President Obama can't appoint a justice to the Supreme Court because Obama has a "conflict of interest"; to-wit, the Supremes will be ruling on matters of interest to Obama. ...
... CW: By that logic, not only can the president never propose a nominee, the Senate can never consent to a nomination because the Supremes regularly make decisions regarding laws the Senate has passed; ergo, the Senate, too, has a conflict of interest. Looks like Li'l Randy just eliminated Article III from the Constitution. Well, good, as every libertarian knows, there's just too damned much government anyway. The upside to being a dimwit is that you never have any idea you're a dimwit. ...
... ** Sen. Harry Reid, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Having gridlocked the Senate for years, Republicans now want to gridlock the Supreme Court with a campaign of partisan sabotage aimed at denying the president's constitutional duty to pick nominees.... By ignoring its constitutional mandate, the Senate would sabotage the highest court in the United States and aim a procedural missile at the foundation of our system of checks and balances.... This Republican Senate would be the first in history to abdicate that vital duty." Read the whole essay. ...
... Steve Benen: "In every possible way, Senate Republicans have handled this about as poorly as they possibly could have. While much of the country was still learning of the news [of Justice Scalia's death], GOP senators, from the leadership to the rank and file, announced in no uncertain terms that President Obama shouldn't even try to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. If he does, Republicans declared that they will not act in good faith: no nominee will be considered or confirmed, regardless of merit or qualifications, because the party says so.... To further their obviously ridiculous case, GOP senators have even begun making up rules that didn't exist before the weekend." Read the whole post, especially the P.S. ...
... CW: If voters want the federal government to function ever again, they had better vote out every Republican candidate for national office. These nuts could make me vote for Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). ...
... Greg Sargent: "Republicans may be courting a pretty serious risk: if Obama doesn't end up getting his pick through, there is a real possibility that President Hillary Clinton could nominate a more liberal replacement than Obama did -- and she might also enjoy a Dem Senate majority, making it easier to get that more liberal replacement confirmed.... McConnell may also be calculating that if Republicans do lose the White House, they could then quickly confirm Obama’s nominee." ...
... CW: My thoughts exactly. Republicans could also move to confirm a moderate Obama nominee before the election, in hopes the move would help retain their majority, if the polls indicated a Democratic would likely win the presidency & GOP senators were about to get trounced. Not an October surprise exactly, but an October calculation. Mitch does what's best for Mitch. ...
... Richard Hasen, in the Washington Post: "Think of the Scalia battle not as a hurricane, but as the first in a series of storms that will come through our increasingly polarized Congress.... The series of storms will put great stress on our system of separation of powers when we are so divided." ...
... CW: Il Nino has already "put Congress stress on our system of separation of powers." This is the first time I can recall that the leader of the majority party has stated outright that the portion of the branch of government he leads refuses to fulfill its Constitutional obligations. ...
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "I've been puzzled by how much of the should-Obama-get-to-choose-a-judge debate has been framed as a last-year-of-presidency issue Republicans' strategy of blocking everything this president wants to do, and everyone he wants to appoint, did not exactly begin when we rang in the recent new year.... Republicans were just as dedicated to Confirmationus Interruptus in 2015. Last year, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed just 11 federal judges, the fewest in any year since 1960. Only one appeals court judge was confirmed, the lowest number since 1953."
Sam Hananel & David Warren of the AP: "The Texas county judge who decided no autopsy was needed following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has disclosed new details about Scalia's health.... Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Monday she spoke with Scalia's doctor on the day he was found dead.... She said the doctor told her that Scalia had a history of heart trouble, high blood pressure and was considered too weak to undergo surgery for a recent shoulder injury.... Guevara said [Rear Adm. Brian] Monahan[, the attending physician for members of Congress and the Supreme Court,] told her Scalia had gone to the doctor's office on both Wednesday and Thursday before traveling to Texas, and had an MRI on his shoulder. She said Monahan told her surgery was needed, but that Scalia wasn't strong enough to endure surgery so rehabilitation was recommended instead." ...
... Toljaso. Lena Sun & Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Conspiracy theories swirl around the death of Antonin Scalia.... 'As a former homicide commander, I am stunned that no autopsy was ordered for Justice Scalia,' William O. Ritchie, former head of criminal investigations for D.C. police, wrote in a post on Facebook on Sunday.... 'You have a Supreme Court Justice who died, not in attendance of a physician,' he wrote. 'You have a non-homicide trained US Marshal tell the justice of peace that no foul play was observed. You have a justice of the peace pronounce death while not being on the scene and without any medical training opining that the justice died of a heart attack....'" ...
... CW: I stand corrected on the source of the "pillow over his head" story, which I wrote in a comment yesterday was an invention of a right-wing fake news site. However, John McCormack of the San Antonio Express-News did cite ranch owner John Poindexter: "We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled." ...
... Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story fills us in on some of the best conspiracy theories. ...
... Tommy Christopher of Mediaite shows how the theorists connect the dots to President Obama. ...
... Even some wingers, like Leon Wolf of Red State, think the conspiracy nuts are over the top.
What About Bob(s)? Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell could wind up one of the biggest losers as a result of Justice Antonin Scalia's unexpected death.... Last August, McDonnell was perhaps weeks away from being required to report to prison when the Supreme Court stepped in, granting him a stay that remains in effect today. Just one month ago, the high court formally agreed to hear McDonnell's appeal, which argues that his convictions relied -- at least in part -- on 'routine political courtesies'.... Scalia was considered among the most receptive justices to McDonnell's argument.... If the court can't muster five votes ... to overturn McDonnell's conviction, the appeals court ruling upholding his sentence is likely to kick in...." The Court's ruling in the McDonnell case could also have an impact on the corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).
... Michael Ruane of the Washngton Post: "The National Park Service announced Monday that the Lincoln Memorial will undergo a major renovation over the next four years, thanks largely to an $18.5 million donation by billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein. The project is probably the biggest overhaul of the building since the structure was dedicated in 1922, officials said."
Presidential Race
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "With his expansive plans to increase the size and role of government, Senator Bernie Sanders has provoked a debate not only with his Democratic rival for president, Hillary Clinton, but also with liberal-leaning economists who share his goals but question his numbers and political realism. The reviews of some of these economists, especially on Mr. Sanders's health care plans, suggest that Mrs. Clinton could have been too conservative in their debate last week when she said that his agenda in total would increase the size of the federal government by 40 percent. That level would surpass any government expansion since the buildup in World War II. The increase could exceed 50 percent, some experts suggest...." ...
... CW: It's worth noting that of the economists whose names I recognize, all are likely supporters of Hillary Clinton: Jared Bernstein & Austan Goolsbee, for instance, both served in the Obama administration, & Paul Krugman has devoted numerous columns to running down Sanders' proposals and extolling Clinton's. This doesn't mean they're all wrong, but it's important to take their criticisms of Sanders' plans with a grain of salt. Besides, as Ive said, Sanders' proposals are aspirational. There's no chance Congress -- even a Congress dominated by liberals -- would enact legislation to increase the size of the federal government by more than 50 percent. ...
... Thomas Frank in the Guardian: "... focusing on the money being mustered behind Hillary Clinton by various lobbyists and Wall Street figures misses this point. The problem with establishment Democrats is not that they have been bribed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the rest; it's that many years ago they determined to supplant the GOP as the party of Wall Street -- and also to bid for the favor the tech industry, and big pharma, and the telecoms, and the affluent professionals who toil in such places.... Changing what the Democratic party stands for may ultimately require nothing less than what a certain Vermonter is calling a 'political revolution'." ...
... CW: What we need is a president with Bernie Sanders' ideals & a chief-of-staff with Hillary Clinton's know-how. ...
... Hillary Cares About Black People. Annie Karni of Politico: "In a high-profile speech in Harlem on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is expected to address the issue of systemic racism, and offer solutions for how to break down the barriers that hold back African American families. The speech is part of Clinton's effort in recent days -- as she closes in on the South Carolina primary and turns her attention toward more diverse March states -- to show that she views racism and discrimination as stand-alone problems in American in need of their own solutions. Her approach appears designed to highlight the contrast with her chief rival Bernie Sanders, who so far in his campaign has mainly addressed racism through the lens of economic inequality." ...
... Jon Ralston of the Ralston Report in the Washington Post: "Nevada is no longer a 'lock' for Hillary Clinton. CW: Frankly, I'll be shocked if Sanders prevails in Nevada. The caucuses are this coming Saturday. ...
... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Women serving in the Senate say Hillary Clinton is being subjected to an unfair, sexist double standard on the campaign trail. Criticisms of Clinton's tone of voice have become prominent in recent weeks, stirring strong feelings among Senate Democratic women who say they too have had to battle the stereotype of the shrill female.... Female lawmakers were particularly galled by recent statements by Washington Post columnist Bob Woodward, one of the nation's most respected journalists, characterizing Clinton's tone as 'screaming.' 'She shouts. There's something unrelaxed about the way she is communicating,' he said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' The comment prompted the show's host, Joe Scarborough, to interject, 'I was watching her and I said to myself, "Has nobody told her how the microphone works?"'... The New York Times reported that Clinton received additional media training after Woodward aired his critique." ...
... CW: So that's why Clinton spoke like a normal person in the last debate. Now somebody please get Sanders a voice coach.
Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz divide up the first primaries and center-right Republicans tear one another apart in a race to be the mainstream alternative, Republicans are waging a shadow primary for control of delegates in anticipation of ... a contested national convention."
The Art of Breaking the Deal. Andrew Shain of the (South Carolina) State: "... Donald Trump did not close the door Monday on a possible third-party run after accusing the Republican party of breaking its pledge to stay neutral in the race. 'The (Republican National Committee) is in default,' Trump said during a news conference at the Hanahan Town Hall on Monday. 'When somebody is in default, that means the other side can what they have to do.'... In his fight against the RNC, Trump said he is upset that tickets to GOP presidential debates, including one held Saturday in Greenville, have gone to what he calls special interests and big donors." While he was at it, Trump accused S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley (R) of not doing enough to protect South Carolinians from Syrian refuges & Guantanamo prisoners.
In a statement, Donald Trump says Ted Cruz is crazy: "Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar I've ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous. It is hard to believe a person who proclaims to be a Christian could be so dishonest and lie so much." He also suggests a couple of wingnuts as his possible Supreme Court nominees. ...
... Yo' Sistah. Katie Glueck of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Monday pledged to make the presidential election a 'referendum' on the U.S. Supreme Court, ramping up efforts to make that issue one more increasingly personal point of contention with Donald Trump, his biggest rival here ahead of the South Carolina primary. 'The one person Donald has pointed to as a potential Supreme Court nominee is his sister,' Cruz told reporters here Monday, though Trump opened Saturday night's debate by name-checking federal judges Bill Pryor and Diane Sykes. 'Now, it's good to stand with your sister. But Donald's sister was a Bill Clinton-appointed federal appellate judge who's a radical pro-abortion extremist.'"
Ed O'Keefe & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "George W. and Laura Bush returned to the campaign trail Monday to campaign for Jeb Bush.... The former president and first lady took the stage at a convention center [in North Charleston, S.C.,] alongside the former Florida governor."...
... Look at Me. Now I'm an Anarchist, Too. Tim Devaney of the Hill: "... Jeb Bush in an interview Monday morning urged Senate Republicans to block President Obama from nominating a Supreme Court justice, taking a harder stance than during the latest GOP debate."
Megan Apper of BuzzFeed: "'It's morning again in America,' a calm narrator says as an idyllic scene of a boat crossing a harbor plays in Marco Rubio's latest ad -- a darker riff on the classic Ronald Reagan ad. Based on a quick internet search, though, the boat scene in the 'Morning Again' ad appears to be Vancouver, Canada.... And the flag on the boat appears to be Canadian." CW: What's terribly sad about the ad is that Ted Cruz's team didn't produce it. But, hey, the stock footage is still out there. Try it, Ted. ...
... Anyhow, Ted & Marco both might as well be a couple of Canadians. Or Cubanos. Whatever. Caitlin Cruz of TPM: "A Republican National committeewoman from Nevada said Monday that she believes both Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) are ineligible to run for President." Her theory on Marco is that he was born before his parents became American citizens, so to hell with the Constitution; the guy's a foreigner. The Nevada woman, Dianna Orrock, is supporting the guy in the orange rug whom she believes will make America great again. ...
... "Latino Outreach." digby: "Wouldn't you know it? The only two Hispanic candidates in the race are not American enough to run for president. Talk about bad luck, huh? (Because you know that Republicans don't have an racist bone in their bodies. They all love Taco Bell, amirite?)" ...
... Leading from His Behind. Steve Benen: How hard is it for Marco's backers to come up with examples of his "accomplishments"? Impossible. Rick Santorum couldn't think of one. Jim Inhofe [R-Denial] made up one that (a) was just a vote rather than an "accomplishment," & (b) Marco didn't actually, um, vote on it. Rubio can't think of one either: Sunday his best answer to Chris Wallace of Fox "News" was, "'Foreign policy experience is doing as I did, leading the effort to impose additional sanctions on Hezbollah.' That at least sounds like an accomplishment, except (1) the Hezbollah sanctions bill passed without opposition, so this was hardly a heavy lift; and (2) when it came time for the Senate to vote on the Hezbollah sanctions bill, Rubio again didn't show up for work." ...
... Kiss of Death. Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star: "Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has become the first sitting governor to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for president. The Rubio campaign announced the endorsement Monday. 'Just like Governor Brownback, Marco has consistently defended life, small government and free enterprise throughout his career in public service,' Rubio midwest spokesman Jeremy Adler said in a statement. Kansas Republicans will caucus Mar. 5." CW: Yep. And their economic policies are identical, too. As Kansas went, so goes the nation.
AND Jonathan Chait makes the case for a Michael Bloomberg run. Thanks, Jon!
Senate Race
America's Stupidest Senator Retains Title. Following is what Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's tweeted upon learning of Justice Scalia's death. Sophia Tesfaye of Salon: "The picture Johnson tweeted was of Edward Gero, an actor who portrayed Scalia in 'The Originalist'...." But no disrespect intended: Johnson later blamed his staff for the error & took down the tweet. Anyway, thanks, Wisconsin! Vote Feingold.
... For anyone who has wiped the real Antonin Scalia from her memory bank, here he is, explaining textualism, or in this case, I guess you might call it "hypertextualism":
CW BTW: Textualism, I would add, doesn't make much sense. As any lit critic will tell you, all reading is interpretive. Of course there are innumerable symbols, words, phrases & sentences which 99.9 percent of us would "interpret" in precisely the same way, to the point that we're not even aware we're interpreting them. But in more complex writings, where words may have shades of meanings & parts of the whole may be in conflict -- as they are in, say, the U.S. Constitution -- we become aware that we have to work to affix some meaning to them; their ambiguity may cause reasonable people to differ on what their meaning is or what the writer(s) intended us to infer.
News Lede
New York Times: "Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian diplomat who led the United Nations in a chaotic 1990s tenure that began with hopes for peace after the Cold War, but failed to cope with genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia and ended in angry recriminations with Washington, died on Tuesday in an Egyptian hospital. He was 93."