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The Commentariat -- July 24, 2015
Internal links removed.
Bridie Jabour of the Guardian: "Barack Obama is 'distressed' he has been unable to strengthen gun-safety laws in America, acknowledging it will be the unfinished business of his presidency. Obama's comment went to air on the BBC a few hours before the latest shooting in America which left three people dead, including the gunman, at the Grand Theater in Lafayette, Louisiana." See also today's News Ledes.
... Tim Devaney of the Hill: "Gun production has more than doubled over the course of the Obama administration, according to a new report from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The manufacturing boom has come in the face of the president's push to expand background checks and place new restrictions on guns in the wake of high-profile shootings like the recent mass-killing in Charleston, S.C., and the 2012 massacre at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school. The numbers paint a picture of gun owners who are concerned about new restrictions on their Second Amendment rights, activists say. 'The ATF report confirms what we already know, that Barack Obama deserves the "Gun Salesman of the Decade' award,' said Erich Pratt, spokesman for the Gun Owners of America. 'People have been rushing to buy firearms because they're afraid that Obama will take away their Second Amendment rights.'" CW: BTW, Pratt's group thinks the NRA is squishy on gun rights. ...
... digby comments on the Louisiana theater shooting -- and all the others. And freeedom. ...
... Here's President Obama's full BBC interview, which was conducted prior to his leaving for Kenya. He also discusses his visit to Kenya & Ethopia, the Iran nuclear agreement, the U.K.'s staying in the European Union, & race relations in the U.S. CW: Once again, I defy any of the GOP candidates for president to sit for an interview, facing a broad range of unvetted questions, & answer so ably & thoroughly. See also Jeb!'s remarks on Social Security below:
... Patrick Wintour & Andrew Sparrow of the Guardian: "Downing Street has played down the significance of Barack Obama's comments urging the UK to remain part of the European Union if it did not want to lose influence in the world, stating that the British people would have the final say. The US president made his strongest intervention yet in Britain's nascent referendum campaign in an interview with the BBC, when he said Washington had much greater confidence in the transatlantic union with the UK as part of the EU."
Helene Cooper & Ceylan Yeginsu of the New York Times: "The United States and Turkey have reached an agreement for manned and unmanned American warplanes to carry out aerial attacks on the Islamic State from two Turkish air bases, Obama administration officials said Thursday. The agreement on the bases, Incirlik and Diyarbakir..., came after months of negotiations that culminated on Wednesday with a phone call between President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, and President Obama, another administration official said. The development came as Turkish forces were reported to have engaged in the first direct combat with Islamic State forces on the Syrian side of the border."
Michael Gordon & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday told skeptical lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the recently negotiated accord with Iran is the only chance to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions, and that failure to enact the agreement would isolate the United States internationally.... Mr. Kerry's testimony, along with the testimony of Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, came as the Iran deal architects made their first public appearance before lawmakers since the accord was announced last week." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Senate Republicans opened the first public hearing on the Iranian nuclear agreement Thursday with sharp criticism that made clear they are unlikely to be persuaded to support a deal aimed at preventing Tehran from developing a bomb." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "... the vast majority of Republicans appear to have made up their minds before a single classified briefing, hearing or visit with administration officials. Their view seems born of genuine distaste for the deal's details, inherent distrust of President Obama, intense loyalty to Israel and an expansive view of the role that sanctions have played beyond preventing Iran's nuclear abilities." ... CW: Being a knee-jerk reactionary naysayer, however, is an excellent timesaver & a preservative for brain cells, prudent precautions for those who must expend so much energy rattling their sabers & moving Social Security funds to defense appropriations. ...
... J. J. Goldberg of Forward: "There's a deep crack emerging in the veneer of wall-to-wall support offered by Israel's political leadership to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his war against the Iran nuclear agreement. The crack has a name you might recognize: the Israeli security establishment. You know -- the folks whose job it is to identify and address threats to Israel's safety. A small but growing group of high-power ex-commanders has been speaking out in media interviews and op-ed essays in the past few days, saying that Netanyahu has got the Iran issue wrong.... All agree that undermining Israel's alliance with America is a far greater existential threat than anything Iran does." Via Paul Waldman. ...
... Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: "To a degree that will baffle historians, the political-intellectual complex that made the Iraq War possible remains intact, and powerful. Amnesia is part of the reason why. If Bill Kristol, Charles Krauthammer, and Benjamin Netanyahu knew that before denouncing the Iran deal they’d be required to account for their views on Iraq, they might not show up in the green room. If they did, their television appearances would take a radically different course from the course they generally take today." CW: But they will be in the green rooms, Peter, because Tuck Chodd, John Davidson & Whoever Is Filling in for Stephanopoulos. The consequences of these little "Annals of 'Journalism,' Ctd. stories I link are not so funny.
Big Break for Billionaire Backers. Stephen Ohlemacher of the AP: "IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said Thursday the tax agency won't adopt any new regulations for the political activities of tax-exempt groups until 2017. He said the IRS doesn't want to be seen as trying to influence the outcome of the election.... Koskinen said new regulations could be unveiled next year, but they wouldn't take effect until after the election."
Congressional GOP Still in Disarray. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: The Senate & House "are headed to a showdown" on transportation funding. Mitch McConnell hopes a bill will pass in the Senate, but the House leadership wants a temporary, five-month fix. ...
... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Two months after the high-speed derailment of an Amtrak train killed eight people and injured hundreds more in Philadelphia, a Senate transportation bill headed for debate this week calls for a three-year delay of the deadline for installing a rail safety system that experts say would have almost certainly prevented the Pennsylvania accident. Lawmakers from the Northeast and train safety experts expressed outrage over the provision...."
Turtles Can Be Slippery. Tamar Hallerman of Roll Call: "Senate appropriators folded into a draft spending bill a provision long sought by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that would relax campaign finance coordination rules between candidates and the political parties. This marks the second time in less than a year that lawmakers have sought major changes to campaign finance regulations through must-pass appropriations measures.... The provision would effectively consolidate power within the national parties.... Democratic appropriators on Wednesday were quick to label the campaign finance provision as objectionable and said it would create a loophole that 'effectively overrides' current spending limits...."
Colby Bermel of the National Journal: "Congressional Republicans continued to put a spotlight on illegal immigration Thursday, as the House passed a bill meant to punish so-called sanctuary cities by withholding federal funds. The vote was 241-179, with only about a half-dozen members of each party crossing the aisle. President Obama on Thursday pledged to veto the bill, which is opposed by the Major County Sheriffs' Association and the Fraternal Order of Police." ...
... Democrats are calling the bill "The Donald Trump Act." ...
... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is throwing cold water on several House Republicans' efforts to immediately defund Planned Parenthood in the wake of the group's undercover video controversy.... 'Facts first,' Boehner said when asked twice about Planned Parenthood funding during his Thursday news conference. Boehner's remarks, which come several days after he ordered a congressional probe into the videos, put him at odds with the 80 House Republicans who have backed a new bill from Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) that would immediately block Planned Parenthood's funding for one year while the government investigates." CW: Notice how the GOP always finds a woman to sponsor anti-woman legislation. Now women of America must rely on well-known feminist John Boehner to defend their healthcare needs. Great.
Sometimes States' Rights Are Inconveeenient. Lydia Wheeler & Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "The House on Thursday passed hotly contested legislation that would keep states from issuing mandatory labeling laws for foods that contain genetically modified organisms, often called GMOs. The Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act of 2015, which passed 275-150, would instead create a federal standard for the voluntary labeling of foods with GMO ingredients."
Paul Krugman: "... being right isn't necessarily enough to [get policymakers to listen]. But it's still better to be right than to be wrong, and M.I.T.-style economics, with its pragmatic openness to evidence, has been very right indeed." ...
... Notes from another noted economist, David Brooks: "Raising the minimum wage will produce winners among job holders from all backgrounds, but it will disproportionately punish those with the lowest skills, who are least likely to be able to justify higher employment costs." CW: Oddly, Brooks never calculates the cost savings to taxpayers, who have been subsidizing companies that pay their workers poverty wages. I'm so surprised. But three cheers for the Waltons & CEOs with multi-million-dollar annual incomes. Nor does he mention that the poor customers -- about whom Brooks is now terribly concerned -- who frequent McDonalds might just opt for homecooked meals & those traditional family dinners.
It's unbelievable to me that liberals, that President Obama, of course he sends his children to private school, as did Al Gore, and Bill Clinton and every other celebrated liberal. They just don't want to let those idiot inner city kids that they purport to be so supportive of ... they don't want to give them the same opportunity their own kids have. It's disgraceful. -- Sen. Ron Johnson, on a Milwaukee radio show
... Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: Johnson later told the Post," 'I was being, that quote is, I'm being very sarcastic in that's how liberals view these underprivileged kids. That is not my viewpoint in any way.' But he said he understood how 'hearing that little snippet' might make one 'go, yikes.'" CW: In fairness, you can't expect the Stupidest Man in the Senate to be articulate. I do think Johnson meant to characterize Democrats' prejudice against inner-city children, not his own.
Presidential Race
Michael Schmidt & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "Two inspectors general have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into whether sensitive government information was mishandled in connection with the personal email account Hillary Rodham Clinton used as secretary of state, senior government officials said Thursday. The request follows an assessment in a June 29 memo by the inspectors general for the State Department and the intelligence agencies that Mrs. Clinton's private account contained 'hundreds of potentially classified emails.'" ...
... CW: Around this great land of ours, wherever they may be -- in the cornfields of Iowa or in the ancient mountains of New Hampshire -- there are presidential candidates singing. Turns out "crim-i-nal in-ves-ti-ga-tion" can be set to music. ...
... Eric Tucker of the AP: "One U.S. official said it was unclear whether classified information was mishandled and the referral doesn't suggest wrongdoing by Clinton herself." CW: Oh, so what? There's a sentence out there -- writ by members of the librul media -- with "Hillary Clinton" & "criminal investigation" in it. That's enough for the Red Team. ...
... Conor Friedersdorf of the Atlantic: "Whatever the endgame of this legal matter, changing the underlying laws is long overdue. Outcomes would be less uneven and capricious if being charged criminally for mishandling state secrets required a review of whether the secrets were properly classified, evidence of willful misbehavior, and plausible harm to national security. Without such reforms, these laws will continue to be abused with impunity." ...
... Dylan Byers: "The New York Times made small but significant changes to an exclusive report about a potential criminal investigation into Hillary Clinton's State Department email account late Thursday night.... The paper initially reported that two inspectors general have asked the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation 'into whether Hillary Rodham Clinton mishandled sensitive government information on a private email account she used as secretary of state.' That clause, which cast Clinton as the target of the potential criminal probe, was later changed:... 'into whether sensitive government information was mishandled in connection with the personal email account Hillary Rodham Clinton used as secretary of state.' The Times also changed the headline of the story.... One of the reporters of the story, Michael Schmidt, [said the change] 'was a response to complaints we received from the Clinton camp that we thought were reasonable, and we made them.'" ...
... Bill & Hillary's Excellent Vacation. Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "After much hand-wringing over their vacation plans, Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton will return to the Hamptons this summer...." She's planning a fundraiser during the family vacation, but not "in an opulent private home, which could strike an elitist tone." CW: Should definitely help your populist creds, Hil.
... Kevin Cirilli of the Hill: "... Hillary Clinton on Thursday declined to endorse legislation championed by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) that would break up big banks. Warren and other liberals -- including Clinton's 2016 primary opponents Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley -- are pushing to reinstate legislation that President Bill Clinton repealed in 1999 called Glass-Steagall.... 'I think this is a much more complicated issue than to just point at any one piece of legislation and say, if we just pass that, everything would be fine,' Clinton said when asked about it while campaigning South Carolina.... 'We have a too-big-to-fail problem still and we have to figure out the best way to address it, and I will be talking more about that. But I am not going to be pointing at any one change and saying, you know, "that'll solve all our problems."'" ...
... Tom Dart of the Guardian: "Hillary Clinton said that the death of Sandra Bland is an example of the 'hard truths about race and justice' that America needs to face as uncertainty and anger over the circumstances of the 28-year-old's death continued on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Doofus Plan, Ctd. I think we need to be vigilant about this and persuade people that our, when your volunteers go door to door, and they talk to people, people understand this. They know, and I think a lot of people recognize that we need to make sure we fulfill the commitment to people that have already received the benefits, that are receiving the benefits. But that we need to figure out a way to phase out this program for others and move to a new system that allows them to have something -- because they're not going to have anything. -- Jeb Bush, Wednesday evening, on eliminating Medicare
... Steve Benen: "It says something important about Republican politics in 2015 when the most mainstream candidate is also the candidate who wants to scrap Medicare altogether.... [Bush] is convinced that 'people understand' the need to get rid of Medicare. He's mistaken.... While Republicans fight to eliminate the Medicare program, Democrats have had great success in strengthening Medicare finances and extending its fiscal health for many years to come. The secret, apparently, was passing the Affordable Care Act."
Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump's visit to the U.S.-Mexico border dominated the airwaves on Thursday -- in English and Spanish. While the national newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC covered Trump's visit to Laredo, Tex., coverage of the GOP presidential candidate dominated the national news broadcasts on Univision and Telemundo. Republicans fearful of how Trump is hurting the party's image with the nation's fast-growing Latino voting population need only play back Thursday night's broadcasts as proof." ...
... Kevin Cirilli & Bob Cusack of the Hill: "Donald Trump says the chances that he will launch a third-party White House run will 'absolutely' increase if the Republican National Committee is unfair to him during the 2016 primary season. 'The RNC has not been supportive. They were always supportive when I was a contributor. I was their fair-haired boy,' the business mogul told The Hill in a 40-minute interview from his Manhattan office at Trump Tower on Wednesday. 'The RNC has been, I think, very foolish.'... 'I'll have to see how I'm being treated by the Republicans,' Trump said. 'Absolutely, if they're not fair, that would be a factor.'"
Tim Egan: "Somewhere, we crossed a line -- from our mothers' modesty to strutting braggadocio, from dutiful decorum to smashing all the china in the room, from respecting a base set of facts to a trumpeting of willful ignorance.... [Donald] Trump is the [Republican] brand, to a sizable degree.... And now that the party can't control him, Trump threatens to destroy its chances if he doesn't get his way, running as an independent with unlimited wealth -- a political suicide bomb.... Trump has forced party leaders to decry something they have not only tolerated, but encouraged." ...
... Brian Beutler: "In years past, Republicans didn't think of Trumpism as a liability so long as Trump was outside the tent pissing further out. When Trump was busily whipping up reactionary sentiment, indulging birther conspiracies, Republicans didn't see a'jackass' -- they saw an opportunity.... They didn't call him a media creation back then -- they sought his endorsement. Trump is now inside the tent, pissing everywhere.... By condemning him so vocally, his Republican critics are reminding Trump's supporters of everything they don;t like about the Republican party." In a three-way general-election race, with Trump running as a third-party candidate, the GOP candidate would not stand a chance. ...
... Ed Kilgore: According to the latest WashPo/ABC News poll, "In a hypothetical three-way general election contest against Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump would basically run even with them among non-college educated white voters (Bush: 34%; Clinton: 31%; Trump: 31%). These numbers ... show why Trump might pose an existential threat to the Republican Party if he runs as an independent candidate. Mitt Romney won 61% of the non-college educated white vote in 2012. He still lost, and the percentage in this demographic needed by a Republican is gradually going up as its comparative size continues to shrink.... The emergence of Trump as a white working class hero is the latest twist in the discussion of this demographic...." ...
... CBN winger David Brody writes that evangelicals are attracted to Trump because both think & speak in absolutes. The entire post is, well, entertaining, especially the part about their resentment at being played by a ho-mo-sex-u-al. ...
... Steve M.: "... the source of all this is the obsession with an absolute sense of right and wrong. Other Christians acknowledge Christianity's strict moral code but regard all human beings as sinners; the religious right seems to spend far more time tallying lists of the righteous and the infidels, with themselves firmly in the former category. And then they apply that vision to politics, in as self-righteous and mean-spirited a way as possible."
Dana Milbank: Scott Walker is a dangerous demagogue who is scapegoating unions the way Joe McCarthy frightened people about communist infiltrators.
Dumbest Presidential Candidate Quote of the Day, First Runner-up. We accepted 60,000 people from Iraq as refugees. What I don’t get about it is, I thought asylum would be when you lost the war. We won the Iraq War! We put in place a democratic government. Why would there be any people seeking asylum from Iraq after the war? -- Sen. Rand Paul
CW: Contributor P. D. Pepe mentioned Rachel Maddow's interview of Rick Santorum, but I just did not get to it. Arturo Garcia of the Raw Story has the short version here, along with embedded video of the exchange. It seems Santorum has a remarkable view of Constitutional balance of powers. He disagrees that the Supreme Court is the body that, as Rachel dumbed it down for him, "decide[s] what’s constitutional," because, according to Santorum, "it’s not a superior branch of government," so Congress & the president can get together & pass a law that overrides any Supreme decision. Two-to-one, I guess. Supermajority. Congress + President > Supreme Court.
Beyond the Beltway
of the Washington Post: "Waller County Assistant District Attorney Warren Diepraam told reporters that medical examiners didn’t find marks or injuries on Sandra Bland’s neck and head that are usually consistent with a violent struggle. There were also no defensive injuries on Bland’s hands, he said. '... I have not seen any evidence to indicate that this is a homicide,' Diepraam said. Bland’s death has been classified by the Harris County Medical Examiner’s Office as suicide by hanging." ...
... ** Orin Kerr in the Washington Post: "The Bland video brings up an overlooked problem with the law of police-citizen encounters. The police can back up their orders with force because it’s often a crime to disobey a lawful order from a police officer. But from a citizen’s perspective, it’s often impossible to know what is a lawful order. As a result, it’s often impossible for citizens to know what they can and can’t do during a police encounter.... It’s hard to know if the officer is following the law or violating your rights." Kerr cites the Oregon Supreme Court's contradictory findings. ...
... Orin Kerr: "... in short: Bland did not have to put out her cigarette. She likely had to exit the car, although it’s possible to that she didn’t have to because the officer was ordering her out of the car for reasons of retaliation — a possibility that might have been raised later in court, but wouldn’t persuade the officer." ...
... Leon Neyfakh of Slate: "How a bail system the Justice Department has called unconstitutional may have contributed to [Sandra Bland's] death." Thanks to contributor carlyle for raising the issue of bail in today's Comments. ...
Kevin Rector of the Baltimore Sun: "A Glen Burnie venue on Wednesday abruptly canceled a planned fundraiser for the six Baltimore police officers charged in the arrest and death of Freddie Gray after the scheduled entertainment — a former Baltimore officer singing in blackface — drew sharp criticism. Bobby Berger, 67, who was fired from the city police force in the 1980s after his off-duty performances in blackface drew the ire of the NAACP, had said he wanted to revive the act to help the families of the officers. He said he had sold 600 tickets at $45 each to the bull roast scheduled for Nov. 1..., where he and several singers planned to perform.... [Berger] said he organized the fundraiser because he knows how it feels to be suddenly without a paycheck from the department." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ...
... CW: Apparently Bobby, who has has some three decades to think about why he was fired, has not figured it out yet. As you know, cops are not all that smart.
Adam Raymond of New York: "Richard Matt, one half of the duo who escaped prison last month and led police on a two-week manhunt, was more concerned with getting drunk in a secluded cabin than finding a more permanent hiding place, according to the state trooper who led the search. That's what led to his downfall. In an interview with upstate paper The Press-Republican, Major Charles Guess said Matt and fellow escapee David Sweat argued about staying in a cabin, which was well stocked with booze, after they'd already spent a few nights there.... Another successful marriage torn asunder by alcohol."
Julia Marsh & Laura Italiano of the New York Post: “'60 Minutes' correspondent Bob Simon was responsible for his own death, the limousine company being sued for the crash that killed him insists in galling new court papers. Simon ... 'assumed the risk' when he climbed into the back seat of a Lincoln Town Car last February, Skyline Credit Ride says in the Manhattan Supreme Court filing.... The driver, Abdul Reshad Fedahi, 44, had nine license suspensions and two speeding convictions on his record — and was driving with one hand because his right arm had been rendered useless due to a suicide attempt. Eyewitnesses have told The Post that Simon’s Lincoln was veering erratically as it traveled southbound on the West Side Highway near West 30th Street, just before the 7 p.m. crash on Feb. 11. The Lincoln grazed a Mercedes, then accelerated before slamming into barriers along the median, one witness said...."
Odd News. Nick Gass of Politico: "Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was seen at a Northern California marijuana farm during a raid last weekend, where the former captive of the Taliban-linked Haqqani network in Afghanistan was reportedly visiting friends.... Authorities from the county sheriff’s department confirmed to NBC Bay Area that Bergdahl did not face any charges and was not arrested during the raid.... Bergdahl is currently awaiting a court martial on charges of desertion, after being returned to the United States last May as part of a prisoner swap in exchange for the release of five Taliban detainees at Guantanamo Bay."
News Ledes
Washington Post: "A gunman opened fire on a movie theater in Lafayette, La. Thursday night, killing at least two people and injuring nine others before killing himself, police said.... The suspect is a 58-year-old white male with a criminal history, Craft said. He seemed to be sitting alone in the theater and fired a semi-automatic handgun." ...
... ABC News: "The gunman who opened fire inside a packed movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, Thursday night, was John Russel Houser, police said at a news conference this morning.... Houser was described as a drifter by police, who said he had likely been in Lafayette since early July." ...
... New York: "The two victims who died are 21-year-old Mayci Breaux, who died at the theater, and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson, who died at a nearby hospital. One of those injured is in critical condition.... The gunman ... John Russell Houser from Alabama ... had been staying in a Motel 6 in the area for a few weeks; police found wigs and disguises inside his room, and a car with switched plates parked out front." ...
... AP: "The White House says President Barack Obama has been briefed on the shooting at a Louisiana movie theater that left three people dead, including the gunman." There are links to more stories about the shooting on the linked Times-Picayune page. ...
... CNN: "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal spoke from just outside a Lafayette movie theater after a deadly shooting took place there Thursday, saying he was 'horrified and shocked.'"
A(ustralian)BC: "A US air strike in Afghanistan has killed a senior Al Qaeda commander in charge of the group's suicide bombings, the Pentagon says."
Guardian: "Turkish fighter jets have struck Islamic State targets in Syria and the government has rounded up hundreds of suspected militants in a coordinated crackdown as the country deployed military force for the first time against the terror group."
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