The Commentariat -- Nov. 30, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "President Obama told world leaders who gathered northeast of Paris on Monday for a climate conference that the United States is at least partly to blame for the life-threatening damage that environmental change has wrought, and he urged world leaders to join him in fixing the problem.... Mr. Obama also repeated an argument, lampooned by some Republicans, that the climate conference was a fitting response to the terrorist attacks that cost the lives of 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13. 'What greater rejection of those who would tear down our world than marshaling our best efforts to save it,' he said." CW: Can hardly wait for the GOP response to Obama's admitting U.S. culpability on climate change: "Weak!" "Hates America!" _______Fill in______

... The Times has a running commentary on the Paris talks.

Keith Bradsher of the New York Times: "The International Monetary Fund on Monday designated the Chinese renminbi as one of the world's elite currencies, a major milestone that underscores the country's rising financial and economic heft. The decision will help pave the way for broader use of the renminbi in trade and finance, securing China's standing as a global economic power. Just four other currencies -- the dollar, the euro, the pound and the yen -- have the I.M.F. designation."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders stepped off the campaign trail on Monday to have a procedure to repair a hernia. Mr. Sanders, the independent from Vermont and Democratic presidential candidate, had an outpatient procedure at George Washington University Hospital and was expected return to his Senate duties on Tuesday."

Maggie Haberman & John Corrales of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump met privately on Monday with black pastors and religious figures at Trump Tower in Manhattan, where he was expected to hold preliminary discussions to seek their endorsements." See links to related news under Presidential Race below.

Nicky Woolf of the Guardian: "Officials have filed charges today against four men accused of shooting into a crowd of protesters in Minneapolis a week ago. Protests have been ongoing outside the precinct building since police shot Jamar Clark, an unarmed black man, just a few hundred yards down the road on 15 November. He died in hospital a day later."

*****

Maria St. Louis-Sanchez & Michelle Karas of the Colorado Springs Gazette: "Family members have confirmed to the Gazette's news partner KKTV that a man named Ke'Arre Stewart was one of the victims killed in Friday's Planned Parenthood shooting. On Facebook his sister, Leyonte Chandler, wrote that Stewart was an Army veteran who served a tour in Iraq. He leaves behind two young daughters." ...

... Jakob Rodgers of the Gazette: "Another civilian victim killed Friday in the attack at a Planned Parenthood clinic in west Colorado Springs has been identified as Jennifer Markovsky of Colorado Springs, her father confirmed to The Gazette. Markovsky was married and had a son and a daughter, said John Ah-King, Markovsky's father in a telephone conversation from his home in Honolulu, Hi." CW: Probably just a coincidence that both victims are racial minorities. ...

... Ashley Southall of the New York Times: "The governor of Colorado [John Hickenlooper (D)], where a gunman killed three people and wounded nine others in a rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic last week, called the shooting a 'form of terrorism' on Sunday and said that the country needed to ask why such shootings were happening so frequently.... 'I think as a state, but as a country, we have got a lot more thinking about this,' Mr. Hickenlooper said, 'of how to make sure we keep guns out of the hands of people that are unstable.' Colorado has been the site of two other mass shootings.... Several other guests on Sunday talk shows called the shootings domestic terrorism, including Mike Huckabee...; the mayor of Colorado Springs; and the head of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. Many, including Mr. Hickenlooper, also suggested that it was time to begin discussing how to tone down rhetoric that 'is inflaming people to the point where they can't stand it, and they go out and they lose connection with reality in some way and commit these acts of unthinkable violence.'" ...

This is so typical of the left to immediately begin demonizing a messenger because they don't agree with the message. The vast majority of Americans agree what Planned Parenthood is doing is wrong. -- Carly Fiorina ...

... Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "During his arrest, Dear referred to 'baby parts,' a law enforcement official said. Abortion rights advocates say the connection is clear. Over the summer, a little-known antiabortion group called the Center for Medical Progress released a series of covertly filmed videos purporting to show that Planned Parenthood illegally sells fetal tissue, or 'baby parts,' as abortion foes refer to it, for research.... State and congressional investigations have so far failed to produce proof supporting the allegations.... On 'Fox News Sunday'..., Carly Fiorina [said,] 'nothing justifies this.' In the past, she has accused Planned Parenthood of 'butchering babies for body parts.'... 'Politicians need to stop escalating the rhetoric against Planned Parenthood, and that means by and large the Republican Party," said Laura Chapin, a pro-abortion rights ... consultant and former press secretary to former Colorado governor Bill Ritter (D). 'Right-wing politicians need to back off.'" CW: Thanks for the she-said/she-said report, WashPo! ...

... Still, we might want to give Jackie Calmes of the New York Times First Prize in Both-Siderism: "Congressional supporters and opponents of Planned Parenthood were uncharacteristically subdued over the weekend." And so forth. "On Saturday, one Democrat, Senator Barbara Boxer of California, called on Mr. Ryan to disband the special House committee investigating Planned Parenthood. 'It is time to stop the demonizing and witch hunts against Planned Parenthood, its staff and patients, and the lifesaving health care it provides to millions every day,' she said." Cue Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), chair of the "Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives": Boxer "should stop 'playing politics with this tragedy.'" You have to read Calmes' report with a fine-toothed-comb & a commitment to Planned Parenthood to find any suggestion -- other than the organizations own denials -- that Planned Parenthood is not guilty of "selling baby parts for profit." ...

     ... Calmes does manage to illustrate why Foxbots & their ilk are ready to kill anyone associated with Planned Parenthood: "Representative Trey Gowdy ... on Fox News in July said the videos showed Planned Parenthood to be 'barbaric,' 'depraved' and 'right on the precipice of discussing homicide.'"

... Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "... Donald Trump said the shooting was 'terrible' but focused on the mental state of the alleged gunman. Ben Carson deplored the killings but said, when asked if the attack was a form of domestic terrorism, as a Planned Parenthood official has claimed, 'there is no saint in this equation'." CW: That is, Planned Parenthood is partially (or equally?) at fault. ...

... Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The Republican presidential field, which for much of the year has been full-throated in its denunciations of Planned Parenthood, has been nearly silent about the shooting in Colorado at one of its facilities that left a police officer and two others dead.... It was suspected, according to a law enforcement official, that heated rhetoric surrounding the issue of abortion influenced Dear's actions.... Many Republicans have also accused Planned Parenthood of selling such tissue, which would be illegal and which the organization vehemently denies.... Republican [Sen.] Cory Gardner [Colorado] -- who defeated incumbent Mark Udall last year in an election that Democrats tried to make a referendum on reproductive rights -- issued a statement Saturday night that did not mention the site of the killings." (Published prior to airing of the Sunday showz.) ...

... Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune: Ted "Cruz rejected a potential connection between anti-abortion activism and the shooting, instead taking issue with 'some vicious rhetoric on the left blaming those who are pro-life.'... When a reporter reminded Cruz it has been reported Dear made a comment about 'baby parts' while being apprehended, Cruz retorted, 'It's also been reported that he was registered as an independent and a woman and a transgendered leftist activist. If that's what he is, I don't think it's fair to blame on the rhetoric on the left. This is a murderer.'"

... Steve M.: "There was an ever-thinning line between the GOP and the lunatic fringe, and Ted Cruz just erased it." ...

... Steve has a nice catch, too, on how Fox "News" is covering the "no more body parts" remark by the (alleged) killer. Instead of attributing the leaked quote to officials, their headline is "Planned Parenthood Official Claims Colo. Gunman Opposed Abortion." Way down in the story, Foxbots who read that far will find that an official relayed to media that Dear had made the "no more body parts statement." More careless readers, quite naturally, will assume that Planned Parenthood is offering up an unfounded opinion.

Joe Davidson of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration is preparing an executive order designed to bolster the government's Senior Executive Service (SES) with increased compensation, a streamlined hiring process and greater diversity in assignments."

Curt Stager in a New York Times op-ed: "Roughly one-eighth of the carbon in your flesh, hair and bones recently emerged from smokestacks and tailpipes. We are not only a source of air pollution -- we are air pollution, and our waste fumes will henceforth be woven into the bodies of our descendants, too.... By running our civilization on fossil fuels, we are both creating and destroying climates that our descendants will live in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of years from now."

Paul Krugman: "... in this age of [urban] gentrification, housing policy has become much more important than most people realize.... New York City can't do much if anything about soaring inequality of incomes, but it could do a lot to increase the supply of housing, and thereby ensure that the inward migration of the elite doesn't drive out everyone else."

Presidential Race

Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "To unionized workers, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is one of their own. And so his endorsement of ... Hillary Clinton on Sunday at a rally in his city's historic Faneuil Hall served as a call to action for union members nationwide who are the foot soldiers of the Democratic Party.

Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "After prematurely announcing the endorsements of 100 black pastors -- prompting several to protest they were not, in fact, supporters -- Donald Trump's campaign abruptly cancelled a press conference with the group scheduled for Monday afternoon at Trump Tower.... Some of those listed as invitees quickly took to social media to condemn the billionaire businessman. Detroit pastor Corletta Vaughn called Trump 'an insult and embarrassment' in a Wednesday Facebook post. On Friday, Los Angeles-based Bishop Clarence McClendon announced that he would not attend the meeting, writing on Facebook, 'The meeting was presented not as a meeting to endorse but as a meeting to engage in dialogue.'" ...

... Reuters: "Donald Trump insisted on Sunday he was '100% right' when he said he saw Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheering the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center -- even though fact-checkers have debunked his claim.... He quickly rejected NBC anchor Chuck Todd's assertion that 'this didn't happen in New Jersey'. 'It did happen in New Jersey,' Trump said. 'I have hundreds of people that agree with me.'" ...

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said Donald Trump's divisive rhetoric is only serving to turn the international Muslim community against the U.S. 'Oh, I think it has an interesting effect of turning Muslims all over the world against the United States of America, which is 99.44 percent people who practice an honorable religion,' the Arizona senator said of Trump on CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday."

A Nice Place to Visit.... Sabrina Siddiqui: "After spending Thanksgiving weekend visiting refugees in Jordan, Ben Carson called on the US to support Syrians displaced by the war there, where he said facilities in the camps were 'really quite nice', rather than bring them to America." CW: I wonder how much Doc Ben would enjoy living there, what with their being few walls to on which to hang his plaques & Jesus-Loves-Ben pictures. ...

AP photo, September 2015.

... Omar Akour & Steve Peoples of the AP: "'I did not detect any great desire for them to come to the United States,' Carson told The Associated Press in a phone interview from Jordan. 'You've got these refugee camps that aren't completely full. And all you need is the resources to be able to run them. Why do you need to create something else?'"

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian (via the Raw Story): "Jeb Bush would support Donald Trump if the real-estate billionaire were to win the Republican presidential nomination, 'because anybody is better than Hillary Clinton'."

Beyond the Beltway

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "Lawyers for the family of Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old boy fatally shot last year by the Cleveland police, have presented Ohio prosecutors with two outside reports that call an officer's decision to shoot the boy 'unreasonable.' The reports, made public on Saturday night, are at odds with three previous investigations commissioned by the prosecutor's office that labeled the shooting as tragic but reasonable. Grand jurors are expected to consider all those reports in deciding whether the police should face criminal charges."

Way Beyond

Karia Adam of the Washington Post: "... tens of thousands of people worldwide hit the streets [of London, England,] this weekend for a global climate march, pressing world leaders to push for a bold international agreement at the upcoming climate summit in Paris. The center for the demonstrations was supposed to be Paris, where nearly 150 world leaders are gathering for a U.N. global summit on climate change that kicks off Monday. But after the terrorist attacks there more than two weeks ago that killed at least 130 people, French police banned large protests.... On Sunday, they sought to enforce that ban, firing tear gas in the afternoon on an unauthorized gathering at Place de la Republique, a focal point for protests, and detaining about 100 people."

James Kanter & Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "Under heavy pressure from Germany to get a grip on the migrant crisis in the Continent after months of dithering, the European Union agreed to a deal on Sunday with Turkey that aims to slow the chaotic flood of asylum seekers into the 28-nation bloc. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, speaking to reporters late Sunday, acknowledged that the agreement, under which Europe will provide 3 billion euros, about $3.2 billion, and other inducements in return for Turkish help on migrants, would not immediately halt the flow of asylum seekers from the Middle East and elsewhere. But Ms. Merkel said it would help 'keep people in the region' and out of Europe."

David Kirkpatrick, et al., of the New York Times: "When the Libyan arm of the Islamic State first raised the group's black flag over the coastal city of Surt[, Libya,] almost one year ago, it was just a bunch of local militants trying to look tough. Today Surt is an actively managed colony of the central Islamic State, crowded with foreign fighters from around the region, according to residents, local militia leaders and hostages recently released from the city's main prison."

The Commentariat -- Nov. 29, 2015

Internal links removed.

CW: My postings will probably be rather sketchy over the next couple of days, but I'm hoping to be back in the saddle by early Tuesday.

Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Colorado Springs, Colo., Mayor John Suthers said in an interview Sunday [on ABC's 'This Week'] that the fatal shooting spree at a Planned Parenthood clinic in his town appears to be an act of domestic terrorism." CW: That's a fairly gutsy admission for a Republican. (Suthers is a former Colorado attorney general & U.S. attorney who headed up the state's anti-terrorism unit after 9/11.) Maybe he didn't get the memo that he was just supposed to talk about the guy's mental illness & too bad the Planned Parenthood ladies weren't all armed with pretty pearl-handled pistols to shoot the killer. ...

... Alleged Colorado Gunman Cites Republican Talking Points,
Sources Say ...

... ** Pete Williams & Andrew Blankstein of NBC News: "In one statement, made after the suspect was taken in for questioning, Dear said 'no more baby parts' in reference to Planned Parenthood, two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the case told NBC News. But the sources stressed that Dear said many things to law enforcement and the extent to which the 'baby parts' remark played into any decision to target the Planned Parenthood office was not yet clear. He also mentioned President Barack Obama in statements." CW: (A neighbor of Dear's has said, according to several reports, Dear approached him with anti-Obama literature. CW: What we need now is for national news outlets to print headlines like the one above. But of course they won't. ...

... AP: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch is calling the shootings in Colorado Springs a crime against women receiving health care services at Planned Parenthood." ...

... ** Valerie Tarico: "On November 27, a mass shooting left three dead and nine wounded at a Planned Parenthood clinic just miles from the headquarters of the Religious Right flagship, Focus on the Family. Was the shooting exactly what conservative Christian presidential candidates and members of congress wanted? Maybe, maybe not. But it is what they asked for. Republican members of the Religious Right incited violence as predictably as if they had issued a call for Christian abortion foes to take up arms. Inciting violence this way is called stochastic terrorism: 'Stochastic terrorism is the use of mass communications to incite random actors to carry out violent or terrorist acts that are statistically predictable but individually unpredictable. In short, remote-control murder by lone wolf.'” Thanks to asa watcher for the link. Also see commentary in yesterday's Comments thread. ...

... The Ultimate Inequality. Peter Holley of the Washington Post: Another white (alleged) murderer emerges alive after a shootout with police, while police gun down innocent black people like 12-year-old Tamir Rice & John Crawford III (shot by police in a WalMart while not pointing a toy gun at anybody). ...

... Emily Atkin of Think Progress: "Approximately 10 hours after a gunman went on a shooting rampage at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, only two presidential candidates have issued statements expressing support for either the three victims or the women’s health organization. Of the 17 candidates, only former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have put out public statements in response to the massacre, which lasted approximately five hours and resulted in the deaths of one police officer and two civilians." Meanwhile, at 8 pm ET Friday, hours into the siege, Marco Rubio sent a tweet that read, "Stay warm this winter with our new cold-weather bundle. Shop now and save!"In an update, Atkin notes that Ted Cruz sent out a "prayers" tweet Saturday morning. Meanwhile, at 8 pm ET, Marco Rubio sent a tweet that reads, "Stay warm this winter with our new cold-weather bundle. Shop now and save!" ...

... Yeah BUT, at least one Republican spoke out. Daniel Politi of Slate: "While police officers were still engaging with the shooter at the Planned Parenthood in Colorado Springs on Friday, one Republican lawmaker apparently thought the best thing to do was criticize the organization during an interview on CNN. 'We saw these barbaric videos, and that was something that many of us have a legitimate concern about,' Rep. Adam Kinzinger [Illinois] said. He was, of course, referring to the widely discredited videos that claim to show Planned Parenthood executives profiting from harvesting fetal tissue. Kinzinger also criticized Planned Parenthood for issuing a statement on the incident that broadly criticized 'extremists' and 'a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism.'" He also demanded an apology from Planned Parenthood if it turned out the shooter was not targeting the organization. "Many were quick to blast not only Kinzinger but also CNN for inviting a known Planned Parenthood critic while police were still trying to apprehend the gunman." ...

... Kevin Sullivan, et al., of the Washington Post: Robert Lewis "Dear, 57, the man in custody in connection with Friday’s shooting at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, appears to have been a malcontent who drifted from place to place. In the past couple of years, in addition to [a] shack [in Black Mountain, North Carolina], he also lived in a mobile home in another town in North Carolina and a camper in Colorado, which he shared with a woman who moved with him from the East Coast.... He had a history of run-ins with neighbors and police, including arrests for cruelty to animals and being a 'peeping Tom.' He was not convicted in either case." ...

... Kevin Mitchell of the Denver Post has more on Dear's background. The New York Times story, by Julie Turkewitz & Benjamin Mueller, is here. The Times story also has reactions from residents who were in the vicinity of the shooting & stand-off. ...

... Josiah Hesse & Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "On Saturday, Colorado Springs mayor John Suthers told reporters authorities were not ready to discuss a possible motive for the shooting, but said people could make 'inferences from where it took place'.” ...

... The Colorado Springs Gazette: "Robert Lewis Dear ... is in jail on a no-bond hold. Dear’s first court appearance scheduled for Monday at 1:30...."

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "... on Sunday night [President Obama] arrives in Paris, hoping to make climate policy the signature environmental achievement of his, and perhaps any, presidency.... In Paris, Mr. Obama will join more than 120 world leaders to kick off two weeks of negotiations aimed at forging a new climate change accord that would, for the first time, commit almost every country on Earth to lowering its greenhouse gas pollution. All year, Mr. Obama’s negotiators have worked behind the scenes to fashion a Paris deal.... During the course of the Paris talks, Republicans in Congress are planning a series of votes to fight Mr. Obama’s climate agenda. More than half the states are suing the administration on the legality of his climate plan. And all the Republican presidential candidates have said that they would undo the regulations if elected."

Katie Williams of the Hill: "President Obama and his daughters on Saturday visited an independent Washington bookstore as the first family marked Small Business Saturday...."

Presidential Race

Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton will unveil the largest plank of her economic agenda in the coming weeks, proposing hundreds of billions of dollars in spending, primarily on infrastructure projects, according to campaign aides."

Politico: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's campaign for the Republican nomination gained some traction late Saturday with an endorsement from New Hampshire's Union Leader, traditionally the most respected newspaper voice in the first-in-the-nation primary state.... The Union Leader endorsed Newt Gingrich in 2012, and John McCain in 2008."

The New, "Diplomatic Donald." Reuters: "... Donald Trump on Saturday reframed his claim that he saw Muslims in Jersey City, New Jersey, cheering the attacks on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001 by asserting the sentiment was shared worldwide. 'Worldwide, the Muslims were absolutely going wild,' the real estate mogul said at a campaign rally in Sarasota, Florida.... 'I would never mock a person that has a disability,' Trump told the cheering crowd.... [He] urged his audience to be polite to a heckler who briefly brought the Sarasota event to a halt. 'Be nice to the person. Don’t hurt the person,' he instructed the crowd, which cheered him loudly when he told security personnel to escort the heckler from the room. 'Do you see how diplomatic I’ve become?'... In the past five days, he dropped 12 points from 43 percent to 31 percent [in a Reuters/Ipsos], although he continues to hold a wide lead over his competitors.”

CarsonCare! Doc Ben's Excellent Plan. Isaac Arnsdorf & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Long before he considered a presidential bid..., [Ben Carson] envisioned building [a charity] into an endowment that would generate enough interest income to cover uninsured patients expenses for neurological surgeries and other medical costs. He even pitched the idea to a congressional subcommittee in 2006.... But ... the national fund did not materialize, and over nine years of operation, Angels of the OR [Operating Room] generated less than $150,000 for patient care.... Angels of the OR spent $1.03 million during its life span, and at least 53 percent of its funds went to salaries and fundraising costs, according to Politico’s review of its records.... Experts in nonprofit management ... said Angels of the OR never developed a sound business plan and spent much of its early income on fundraising and personnel rather than patients." CW: So another Ben Carson scam.

Beyond the Beltway

Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "... a small group of rich [people] — not just from Chicago, but also from New York City and Los Angeles, southern Florida and Texas — have poured tens of millions of dollars into the state [of Illinois], a concentration of political money without precedent in Illinois history. Their wealth has forcefully shifted the state’s balance of power. Last year, the families helped elect as governor Bruce Rauner..., who estimates his own fortune at more than $500 million. Now they are rallying behind Mr. Rauner’s agenda: to cut spending and overhaul the state’s pension system, impose term limits and weaken public employee unions.... The families remaking Illinois are among a small group around the country who have channeled their extraordinary wealth into political power, taking advantage of regulatory, legal and cultural shifts that have carved new paths for infusing money into campaigns. Economic winners in an age of rising inequality, operating largely out of public view, they are reshaping government with fortunes so large as to defy the ordinary financial scale of politics."

The Commentariat -- Nov. 28, 2015

Internal links removed.

Julie Turkewitz & Jack Healy of the New York Times: "A gun battle erupted inside a Planned Parenthood center here on Friday when a man armed with an assault-style rifle opened fire and began shooting at officers as they rushed to the scene. The authorities reported that three people were killed, a police officer and two civilians, and nine were wounded before the suspect finally surrendered more than five hours after the first shots were fired. A police official in Colorado Springs, who was not authorized to speak, identified the man in custody as Robert Lewis Dear, 59. No other information about him was available." ...

... President Obama's statement. ...

The Denver Post gathered statements from public & private officials. CW: Nearly every one was "prayers, blah-blah-blah." Here are two exceptions, cited in part:

We need to call the threats of violence and the intimidation of health care providers and patients what it is — domestic terrorism. And more public officials in Colorado and across the country, not just advocacy groups and the people on the front lines, need to take a stand opposing domestic terrorism and supporting women's health. -- Karen Middleton, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Colorado

This clinic is part of the Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains affiliate, which was featured in one of the highly-edited smear videos released this summer. Since that video, the affiliate has seen an increase in protesters and death threats against one of their doctors. -- National Abortion Federation

... Ashley Feinberg of Gawker: "While Colorado police were apprehending the Planned Parenthood shooting suspect Friday night, Fox News was busy ensuring its level of discourse met our most base expectations. Which, of course, amounts to little more than: Thanks, Obama.... Frequent Fox News contributor, former NYPD cop, and professional smear-man Bo Dietl was commenting on the then-active crisis unfolding in Colorado when he had what can best be described as incomprehensible, waking stroke." Dietl's comment or whatever is cited in full. ...

... Steve M.: "Dietl's reply, as the Gawker post notes, is war-porn word salad -- but the point he makes is clear enough. It's also clear that Dietl isn't going off on a rant on his own volition -- the segment is set up to raise this issue.... So the Obama administration expressed some skepticism about police militarization, therefore a Planned Parenthood siege proves that Ialamicists are going to kill us all. In reality, as the Denver Post reports, heavy equipment was used to deal with this situation.... This is what Roger Ailes considers the most important mission of Fox News: to mine every single news story for a real or imagined examples of liberal evil and perfidy." ...

... D. R. Tucker in the Washington Monthly: "This case may prove yet again that in America, we always have to be on guard for heavily armed, self-radicalized religious extremists who believe they have the right to take lives in the name of their faith and who pose a perpetual threat to homeland security — and I’m not talking about ISIS." ...

... CW: There's this headline from Leon Wolf of Red State: "Planned Parenthood Shooter Finally Convinces Leftists that Beliefs Matter." No link. ...

... Nina Liss-Schultz of Mother Jones: "The attack comes amid an exponential increase in threats and violence against abortion providers since the release of a series of viral — and widely debunked — videos.... Since the release of the Center for Medical Progress' videos that purport to show Planned Parenthood selling fetal issue, harassment, threats, and attacks against abortion providers, their staff, and facilities have surged dramatically across the country, according to new numbers from the National Abortion Federation." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 7:30 pm MT, Nov. 27: "UCCS has confirmed Garrett Swasey, 44, a six-year veteran of the UCCS Police, was killed in Friday's shooting." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 7:00 pm MT: "Lt. Catherine Buckley of the Colorado Springs Police Department confirms two civilians and a UCCS police officer died in Friday's shooting. Four civilians and five officers were transported to hospitals with gunshot wounds. All are in good condition." ...

... From the Colorado Springs Gazette, linked below: 6:00 pm MT: "Multiple news outlets are reporting fatalities in Friday's shooting at a Colorado Springs Planned Parenthood building. Gazette news partner KKTV reports that a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs officer was killed; 9News in Denver reported that one officer and one civilian are dead." ...

... Jennifer Shutt & Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Vicki Cowart, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Rocky Mountains, released a statement expressing sympathy for those involved and urging restraint given how much is not yet know about why the shooting took place. 'We don't yet know the full circumstances and motives behind this criminal action, and we don't yet know if Planned Parenthood was in fact the target of this attack,' she said. 'We share the concerns of many Americans that extremists are creating a poisonous environment that feeds domestic terrorism in this country.'” ...

... Also from the Politico report: "Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) tweeted "Please join me offering thoughts & prayers to family & friends of the UCCS police officer & civilian killed during the #CentennialBlShooting." CW: Lamborn, who is a lying, reactionary Planned Parenthood foe, can't even bring himself to acknowledge that the massacre took place at a Planned Parenthood clinic. He is as guilty as anyone for spreading the lies that well may have inspired the shooter. So there's Doug, asking you to pray for victims of his own hate speech. ...

... Lindsey Bever, et al., of the Washington Post: "A suspect is in police custody following an hours-long ordeal at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colo., where at least five police officers and six civilians were injured in a shooting Friday. 'The perpetrator is in custody,” Mayor John Suthers declared just after 5 p.m. local time — more than five hours after an active shooter was first reported at the health-care clinic.... Police described the gunman as a stocky, bearded white male wearing a trench coat and armed with 'a long gun.'... At least 11 people were transported from the scene to local hospitals, officials said. Their conditions were not known, and no fatalities were reported at the time of the suspect’s capture.” ...

... Noel Black & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "A gunman inside a Planned Parenthood center [in Colorado Springs, Colorado,] was exchanging gunfire with the police, the authorities said on Friday, after an hours long shooting spree that left at least eight people injured including four officers. People in the surrounding buildings, including the clinic, were told to shelter in place." (Same link as updated NYT story by Turkewitz & Healy above.) ...

... The Denver Post story, by Jesse Paul & others, is here. Includes video report. ...

... The Colorado Springs Gazette is posting live updates. ...

... Sadie Gurman of the AP: "Police were searching for a gunman Friday who opened fire near a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs." ...

... CW: And excuse me while I blame these insane acts of violence on every person who has lied about Planned Parenthood, including the makers of the recent faked videos, the Members of Congress & other politicians who have smeared Planned Parenthood for no reason other than their own political gain. That would include Carly Fiorina. Not fair? I think it is. ...

... News Corpse in Daily Kos: "Once again, the people who watch Fox News are demonstrating their appalling lack of decency and, ironically in this case, respect for human life.... In the heat of this live crisis the Fox News website is hosting some of the most nauseating responses imaginable. They run the gamut of hateful rhetoric from anti-choice extremism ('Too bad the abortion doctor and the nursing staff weren't all killed.') to overt racism ('I know this isn't PC....but n***gers are just plain bad news.'). Never mind that there is little information about the shooter or his motives (he has been identified in one report as a white male), the Fox News audience is focused entirely on their inbred hostilities toward minorities, women, and President Obama, whom some are accusing of setting this up."

Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Republicans are eyeing an upcoming government spending bill as their best leverage for pausing the Obama administration’s refugee resettlement program in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris. Some GOP lawmakers are already saying they'll vote against the catchall spending bill, known as an omnibus, if it doesn't block funds for refugee resettlement for people coming from Syria and nearby regions in the Middle East." ...

By Brian McFadden, published in Daily Kos.

Dana Milbank: Even though the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover mental health issues on parity with physical illnesses, too few mental health professionals are willing to see patients. "... psychiatrists, many of whom stopped taking insurance because of the paltry reimbursements, have yet to rejoin the system.... Thankfully, a bipartisan group in Congress is trying to fix this. The 'Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act,' introduced by Rep. (and psychologist) Tim Murphy (R-Pa.) and Rep. (and psychiatric nurse) Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), attempts, among other things, to reinforce community mental-health programs. It has 165 co-sponsors and has already cleared a commerce subcommittee. Similar legislation by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) attempts to expand the mental-health workforce. 

Alex Byers of Politico: "The National Security Agency will no longer be able to collect phone records in bulk starting Nov. 29, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a statement Friday. The program's closure was required by the USA Freedom Act, signed by President Barack Obama in early June. The program was allowed to continue since then as part of a six-month wind-down period, in which intelligence officials could create and test a new phone records program where the government can only obtain records connected to a specific entity like a person or device that is associated with a foreign power or terrorist group."

Peter Hermann & Rees Shapiro of the Washington Post: "A Connecticut man who police say draped himself in an American flag and scaled the White House fence on Thanksgiving Day left a suicide note with friends he had been staying with in Virginia, according to court documents unsealed Friday. D.C. Superior Court Judge Errol R. Arthur ordered the suspect, Joseph Anthony Caputo, 23, to undergo an emergency psychiatric evaluation at St. Elizabeths Hospital."

Presidential Race

GOP Candidates Find New Way to Be Racists. Abby Phillip & Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "... many GOP presidential candidates are calling for an end to one of [the 'war on drugs''] central tenets — by agreeing with Democrats to treat low-level drug offenders rather than incarcerating them. The Republicans are selective, however, about who is deserving of their compassion. Several GOP presidential contenders have advocated treating the nation’s growing heroin epidemic as a health crisis, not a criminal one. But most stop short of advocating the same approach to other drug laws, notably those involving marijuana and crack cocaine, which disproportionately affect African Americans.... The heroin epidemic has overwhelmingly hit whites. It has also skyrocketed to the top of voters’ lists of political priorities in the same bands of America — rural states, the suburbs and notably the early voting state of New Hampshire — that track directly with where Republicans must perform well to win back the White House next year."

The Gray Lady Is Shocked (And Cannot Type Those Words that Are the Subject of Her Story). Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "A little more than two months before the voting begins, the [Republican] candidates have charged into what appears to be the inaugural profanity primary, wrought by an overstuffed field of competitors vying for attention and the specter of a foul-mouthed Manhattanite perched atop the polls.... The outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race. the outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race. The outbursts make clear the extent to which Mr. Trump, the election’s clear pacesetter in vulgarity, continues to dictate the tenor of the race.... Such frequent, deliberate cursing by presidential candidates addressing campaign audiences in this election cycle seems to be without modern precedent."

Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "The presidential campaign is reigniting the battle over importing prescription drugs from Canada, with all of the leading Democratic candidates endorsing the idea. Calls for allowing people to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies are also intensifying from some Republicans in Congress, including Sens. John McCain (Ariz.) and Chuck Grassley (Iowa). But the drug industry remains dead-set against allowing importation, and it's unclear whether voter support will translate into legislative action."

Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "A Reuters poll released Friday finds that GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump has dropped 12 points in less than a week, his largest single poll-to-poll drop since he took the primary lead in July. Trump was still the favorite among 31 percent of Republicans in a rolling Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted from Nov. 23 to Nov. 27, but down from 43 percent support registered on Nov. 22." ...

I have the world's greatest memory. It's one thing everyone agrees on. -- Donald Trump, October 28

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The New York Daily News released an archived news article on Friday that seemed to contradict a claim by Donald J. Trump that he knew nothing about a reporter whose disability Mr. Trump appeared to mock at a rally earlier this week. The reporter, Serge Kovaleski, said Thursday that he covered Mr. Trump numerous times while he was at The Daily News, including on a daylong maiden voyage of the now-defunct 'Trump Shuttle' in 1989. 'Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years,' [Kovaleski] said...." ...

Serge Kovaleski must think a lot of himself if he thinks I remember him from decades ago — if I ever met him at all, which I doubt I did. He should stop using his disability to grandstand and get back to reporting for a paper that is rapidly going down the tubes. -- Donald Trump ...

... Maggie Haberman: "'Now the poor guy, you ought to see this guy,' Mr. Trump said [at a South Carolina rally], before jerking his arms around and holding his right hand at an angle.... In his statement on Thursday, Mr. Trump maintained that he had never met Mr. Kovaleski. 'I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski [sic], is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence,' Mr. Trump said."

Taylor Luck, et al., of the Washington Post: "... Ben Carson arrived in the Jordanian capital on Friday afternoon with plans to tour two Syrian refu­gee camps over the next day, according to several people familiar with the trip.... The trip comes ... veiled in secrecy and uncertainty about his purpose and his schedule."

Elizabeth Preza of Mediaite: "Former mayor of New York Mike Bloomberg told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz 'says some of the stupidest things' he’s ever heard about climate change. 'Even the right-wing crazies no longer say climate change isn’t real. They say "it’s natural, it’s not business, not man-made,'” Bloomberg told Amanpour....

Beyond the Beltway

Aamer Madhani of USA Today: "Protesters took to the streets in the midst of Black Friday shopping on Chicago's iconic Magnificent Mile as they continue to make their push for broad reforms in the Windy City in the wake of a police video showing a white police officer fatally shooting a black teenager 16 times.... Friday's protests drew hundreds that crowded North Michigan Avenue, a shopping strip that includes high-end retailers ... on traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year." ...

** American "Justice," Ctd. Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic: "As [Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke] faces murder charges, there remains a need to demand accountability for the Chicagoans complicit in the injustice he perpetrated.... Protestors want accountability for investigators whose inexplicable slowness allowed Van Dyke to remain on desk detail and to collect a paycheck from taxpayers. And the civic derelictions of duty run even deeper. They implicate Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the city council, Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy, rank-and-file cops, Pat Camden, who leads Chicago’s Fraternal Order of Police, and members of the press who credulously report police-union talking points." Read the full article. ...

... Robinson Meyer of the Atlantic: "Would body cameras have made justice speedier for Laquan McDonald? Not without new laws.... With the exception of the metropolitan police in Washington, D.C., no major American city — not New York, not Los Angeles, not Houston, Miami, or Baltimore — allows people recorded by body cameras to have access to footage of themselves. These cities prohibit access to footage even if someone on film, or a survivor from their immediate family, is filing a complaint.... The crimes that the city of Chicago committed in the case of Laquan McDonald appear to go much further than its handling of open-records law. But this is not the last time that the city or its civic servants will commit those crimes."

In the Spirit of the Season. David Boroff & Nicole Hensley of the New York Daily News: "Call it Black-eye Friday. Brawls broke out at Walmart retail stores and other shopping centers across the country on Thursday evening, the official start of 'Black Friday.' In Kentucky, Texas and Louisiana, tempers flared among shoppers as law enforcement agencies struggled to keep control." CW: Do read Bob Cesca's piece, linked in yesterday's Commentariat.

A Turkey for Your Vote. Ashley Parker of the New York Times: Libre, a Koch-funded group, handed out turkeys & offered free flu shots to Miami Hispanics in exchange for the recipients giving the group their personal information. "Libre, reflecting the Koch’s views, supports a broad overhaul of the immigration system, including a path to citizenship. It waged a campaign in support of the Senate’s 2013 immigration effort, including airing in excess of $1 million in television ads.... But the group has also ... rais[ed] concerns about some of President Obama’s more sweeping executive actions on immigration, and by pouring money into House races to help defeat two Hispanic lawmakers — Pete P. Gallego of Texas and Joe Garcia of Florida, both Democrats — because they supported the president’s health care plan, among other issues Libre opposes." ...

... CW: Maybe somebody should have told the Koch boyz that under ObamaCare, of which they're so opposed, most insurance plans pay for flu shots with no co-pay.

Allison Manning of the Boston Globe: "A former Millis[, Massachusetts,] police officer who was facing felony charges after police said he lied about a shooting and bomb threat was found dead in his home on Thanksgiving, according to the Norfolk County district attorney’s office. Bryan Johnson, 24, had been indicted last week on charges related to the hoax. Johnson told police on Sept. 2 that he was in his cruiser when a driver in a pickup truck shot at him twice, leading the police officer to drive his cruiser into the woods."

Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "An enraged Waffle House customer shot and killed a waitress early Friday who asked him not to smoke."

Andrew Husband of Mediaite: "The famous dancing traffic cop of Providence, Rhode Island was fired after he organized a protest against the Black Lives Matter movement. According to the Providence Journal, Tony Lepore organized a protest of a local Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop after a worker there wrote #BlackLivesMatter on a cop’s coffee cup in October. He was terminated as a result."

Way Beyond

Andrew Roth of the Washington Post: "The Kremlin on Friday played down the possibility of a grand coalition with the West to strike the Islamic State in Syria, despite personal visits by French President François Hollande to both Washington and Moscow following a spate of horrific terrorist attacks tied to the terrorist group. 'At the moment, unfortunately, our partners are not ready to work as one coalition,' Dmitry Peskov, President Vladimir Putin’s personal spokesman, told reporters during a conference call on Friday." ...

>Ceylan Yeginsu of the New York Times: "Turkey took steps on Friday to calm relations with Russia over the shooting down of a Russian warplane this week, calling for a presidential-level meeting, possibly at the climate talks in Paris next week. 'I would like to meet Putin face to face in Paris,' President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a speech on Friday, referring to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. 'I would like to bring the issue to a reasonable point. We are disturbed that the issue has been escalated.'”

The trouble with naming your daughter after Egypt's most important ancient goddess.