New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”
To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.
Link Code: <a href="URL">text</a>
OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, but Akhilleus found this new one that he says is easy to use.
OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.
Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.
Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.
New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”
New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”
Click on photo to enlarge.
~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI."
Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”
New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”
Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”
Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."
Days of Future Past or How Scott Walker, Jeb! Bush and the GOP Prove That the Past is Our Future.
Jeb! wants us all to work longer so that he and his family can have more days off.
Scott Walker wants to banish days off completely including weekends for all working people, except, of course, for himself. He, after all, doesn't actually do any work. Besides, his masters, the Kochs, don't believe in weekends or days off.
Days of Sloth for the riff-raff do not contribute a dime to Koch bank accounts and do not promote the development of a thrifty working class populated by inferiors who will happily work as long as they are told for wages that wouldn't buy the Kochs a hard boiled egg.
I found a short clip that will demonstrate the future--or should I say past--of Wisconsin, and by extension, the rest of the country once Walker/Bush/GOP/Kochs get through with us.
"Turning back the clock" is Republican for "progress".
CW Note: See the commentary linked under Friday's Presidential Race news re: Jeb!'s prescription for national economic growth. It all backs up Akhilleus's thesis.
Put the white men up front, please.Richard Fausset & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "South Carolina, the first state to secede from the union, dispatched with a lasting symbol of the Civil War on Thursday as Gov. Nikki R. Haleysigned a law removing the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the State House." ...
... Fausset & Blinderare wondering how the flag will be removed inasmuch as "The pole to which the flag is attached appears to have no mechanism -- no winch, pulley, or rope -- that a person on the ground might use to bring it down." CW: I suggest Nikki Haley give Bree Newsome a call & ask her to do the honors. Newsome says she won't be attending the ceremony, but Haley could offer her clemency as an incentive.
... Amanda Hopuch & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The battle flag of the former American Confederacy will stop flying at South Carolina's statehouse on Friday..., 150 years after the south lost a civil war fought largely over slavery, and for which the flag's endurance has remained a lasting symbol of racism. Governor Nikki Haley was prepared to sign legislation on Thursday that would require the flag to be removed from government grounds within 24 hours. Her office said it would be taken down from a flagpole near the capitol at 10am the next day, after flying there for nearly 54 years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The battle over the Confederate flag landed with ferocity Thursday in the U.S. Capitol amid an unexpected debate on the display of the southern 'Battle Flag' in federal cemeteries for veterans. House Democrats accused Republicans of catering to the large bloc of southern conservatives in initially promoting an amendment that some viewed as pro-Confederate. Republicans accused Democrats of trying to exploit the tragedy of the mass killing inside a Charleston church last month and the subsequent decision by South Carolina leaders to remove the controversial flag from their state capitol. The recriminations built throughout the day despite House Speaker John A. Boehner's effort to ease the tension. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he would soon create an informal bipartisan group to review all matters related to the display of Confederate memorabilia, likely to include those in the U.S. Capitol." ...
Greg Mlller & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. authorities have arrested more than 10 people over the past four weeks who were suspected of having ties to the Islamic State, including several who may have been planning terrorist attacks to coincide with the July 4 holiday, FBI Director James B. Comey said Thursday. The arrests were part of a flurry of law enforcement activity over the past month amid counterterrorism officials' warnings of a heightened danger of attacks leading up to Independence Day." ...
... CW: Charles Pierceisn't buying Comey's assertions. CW: I had some of the same thoughts Pierce expresses when I read Miller & Nakashima's report. However, I think that over the years federal law enforcement has prevented some attacks, & they may well have prevented one or more this summer. I'd sure rather be reading Comey's assertions than stories about an attack that did take place. Call me gullible, but I'm not ready to discount Comey's claims.
Human Error. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "The more than three-and-a-half hour New York stock exchange shutdown on Wednesday was caused by engineers loading the wrong software on to the system, the NYSE admitted on Thursday. The NYSE said the shutdown, which sent some traders into panic about a possible cyber terrorist attack, was sparked by its systems being 'not loaded with the proper configuration compatible' with new a software upgrade." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management's system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday. That is in addition to a separate hack -- also last year -- of OPM's personnel database that affected 4.2 million people. That number was previously announced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Raya Jalabi of the Guardian: "In a statement, the [Office of Personnel Management] said the number of those affected by the hack included 19.7 million individuals who applied for a background investigation 'and 1.8 million non-applicants, predominantly spouses or co-habitants of applicants'.... Anyone who has undergone a background check through OPM since 2000 'is highly likely' to be affected, the agency said. It is less likely, but still possible, that those who underwent background checks before 2000 would be affected.... In its statement, OPM announced several steps it has taken and will take to 'protect' those impacted by the breach, including providing identity theft insurance; identity monitoring for minor children; credit and fraud monitoring; and 'full service identity restoration support and victim recovery assistance'. These services will only be provided for free for three years." The OPM statement is here.
Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Thursday that federal marriage benefits will be made accessible to same-sex couples across America.... 'I am proud to announce that the critical programs for veterans and elderly and disabled Americans, which previously could not give effect to the marriages of couples living in states that did not recognize those marriages, will now provide federal recognition for all marriages nationwide,' Lynch said. Agencies are currently working to provide guidance to implement the law change, according to Lynch's statement." ...
... CW: Seems obvious that any marriage benefits that any government entity provides must be afforded to all married couples. Maybe what she's talking about here is benefits that require a specified length of marriage to accrue; for instance, to get the "Social Security survivor's benefit, a widow or widower must have been married to the deceased worker at the time of his or her death and for at least nine months immediately prior to the day in which the worker died."
New York TimesEditors: "... public employees [who refuse to serve same-sex couples] seem to forget that taxpayers pay them to do their job. If doing that job violates his or her religious beliefs, the best solution is to find another job, as several have done in the days since the Obergefell ruling.Some same-sex marriage opponents argue that under state religious-freedom laws, a government employee's beliefs should be accommodated so long as another official is available to carry out the task. But government employees do not have a constitutionally protected right to pick and choose which members of the public they will serve, no matter their religious beliefs.... The Constitution's protection of religious freedom simply does not include the right to discriminate against others in the public sphere." ...
... ** Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Same-sex marriage opponents like to claim that public officials are entitled to reasonable accommodation of their religious beliefs. But that fundamentally misunderstands the legal history of religious accommodations. Courts have said, again and again, that accommodations may be granted only if they do not injure or substantially burden a third party (which includes injuring the dignity of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses) or otherwise wreak havoc on the legal system."
Damon Linker of the Week: "The GOP doesn't have a Donald Trump problem. It has an angry conservative base problem.... [The] ragtag conglomeration of ideological radicals... of the postwar John Birch Society and similar groups ... had no natural political home in the major parties. But they've been drawn to the Republican Party ever since Barry Goldwater became their champion.... It was Ronald Reagan who truly brought them en masse into the Republican Party.... More than 30 years later, they've grown and spread like a fungus (thanks to the fertilization efforts of Rush Limbaugh and Roger Ailes). The populists are the now base of the party -- its most loyal and devoted members, surpassed only by super-rich donors for influence.... What the Republican Party needs isn't more courageous candidates and elites. It's a new electorate."
Tim Egan: It's the mother of all ironies that a nation where all but about 2 percent (the Native Americans) of the population can trace its lineage to some distant land is now going through another of its anti-immigrant moments. But good news: The 2015 version is a weak strain of the earlier tea."
Linda Greenhouse finds more ways of demonstrating that the Roberts Court is not a liberal court. Expect it to look more like the "Alito court" next year. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
How Congress Helped Create Puerto Rico's Debt Crisis. Michael Fletcher & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "A generous series of tax breaks enacted by Congress shielded the profits of U.S. corporations operating [in Puerto Rico] and helped transform Puerto Rico from a largely agrarian society to a manufacturing powerhouse.... When Congress decided to phase out a crucial tax credit that ended in 2005, it helped plunge Puerto Rico into a recession that began a decade ago and has yet to end.... Now, it's again at the mercy of Washington, as [Gov. Alejandro] García Padilla asks Congress and the president to allow the island and its public corporations -- which provide basic services including electricity and water -- to file for bankruptcy, a process that would give Puerto Rico and its creditors an orderly way to restructure the territory's staggering debt." CW: An American horror story worth reading in full.
Liz Alderman & James Kanter of the New York Times: "Only a day after grim predictions of financial and social collapse in Greece, a scramble appeared underway to work out the details of a new bailout package to bring the country back from the brink.... [Greek] Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ... seemed to have gained ground on debt relief, his one bedrock demand. Germany's truculent finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, finally gave a little on that Thursday, admitting that 'debt sustainability is not feasible without a haircut,' or writedown of debt, even if he then appeared to backtrack.... What was breathtaking ... was how in a matter of hours the entire dynamic in the Greek crisis seemed to shift, from apocalyptic warnings of a Zimbabwe in the Balkans, to a fresh optimism that the basics of a deal could be worked out." ...
... David Jolly & Liz Alderman of the New York Times: "Investor optimism surged on Friday for a second day after Greece took a big step toward reaching a deal with its creditors." ...
... Paul Krugman: "... the people most likely to deliver a Greek-style economic disaster here in America are the very people who love to use Greece as a boogeyman.... If you really worry that the U.S. might turn into Greece, you should focus your concern on America's right. Because if the right gets its way on economic policy -- slashing spending while blocking any offsetting monetary easing -- it will, in effect, bring the policies behind the Greek disaster to America."
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that the United States and its negotiating partners 'will not rush, and we will not be rushed' into finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran, but warned they will abandon talks soon if Iran doesn't make the 'tough decisions' needed for an agreement. 'This is not open-ended,' he said after walking on crutches to a podium outside the Coburg Palace hotel...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.
Jim Yardley & William Neuman of the New York Times: In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, "Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a 'new colonialism' that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor. Speaking to a hall filled with social activists, farmers, garbage workers and Bolivian indigenous people, Francis offered the most ambitious, and biting, address of his South American tour. He repeated familiar themes in sharply critiquing the global economic order and warning of environmental catastrophe -- but also added a twist with his apology."
Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Russia's aggressive behavior and its nuclear arsenal make it the single greatest national security threat faced by the United States, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said Thursday at a Senate hearing on his nomination as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dunford, the Marine commandant, appeared far more confident that the military could step in if necessary if negotiations on a nuclear deal with Tehran fail. Asked whether the military has the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear program, General Dunford was unequivocal. 'My understanding is that we do, Senator,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dylan Byers of Politico has wingers in a tizzy because the New York Times has kept Ted Cruz's book off its best-seller list even though, according to Byers, "the book has sold more copies in its first week than all but two of the Times' bestselling titles." ...
... CW: What Byers doesn't bother to explain to readers, & which he almost certainly knows, is that political books often don't make the list because the Times, as its spokesperson hints, tries to count only "real" sales. Big political donors often buy up thousands of copies of politicians' books -- at deep discounts -- then distribute the books to likely voters, campaign workers, etc. I don't know it for a fact, but that's probably what happened here, not some East-Coast-liberal-elite plot to sabotage Ted's excellent writing career. ...
... Update. Oh, Snap! Byers' updates his post: "'In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases,' [the Times spokesperson] wrote." ...
... Update 2: Margaret Hartmannon the winger wingout & on the Times' "secret formula" for rating book sales....
... CW: Now, class, we will compare & contrast Dylan Byers' "reporting" with Hartmann's reporting. (For more on Byers' reporting methods, you may consult Dana Milbank's 2014 rebuttal to a Byers column trashing Milbank.)
Presidential Race
Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "Bernie Sanderscemented his appeal to older voters on Thursday with renewed calls for an expansion of social security and protection of Medicare from alleged assaults by Republicans.... 'The momentum is with us and not with them,' said the Vermont senator to chants of 'Bernie, Bernie' at the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference in Washington." ...
... Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's strategist in 2012, in the Daily Beast, on how Clinton could lose the nomination to Sanders. Take Stevens' commentary with a grain of salt, but here's a reminder of Hillary's record:
Hillary Clinton has supported every U.S. war since Vietnam. She supported not only DOMA, which her husband signed, but a travel ban on those who were HIV positive. She supported welfare cuts (remember her husband's efforts toward 'ending welfare as we know it'?). She supports the death penalty and campaigned in her husband's place during the 1992 New Hampshire primary when he left to oversee the execution of an African-American man whose suicide attempt left him brain damaged.
And if 'mass incarceration' is a problem today, keep in mind she has long advocated for the criminal justice policies that called for locking up more people for longer periods. She supports -- and, as Secretary of State, participated in -- the U.S. policy of targeted assassinations, including when the targets were American citizens.
In a political environment in which income inequality is a rallying cry, she makes $300K plus expenses an hour. In fact, she would be the wealthiest person elected president in the modern era.
Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush and his allies announced on Thursday that they had amassed more than $114 million in campaign cash over the last six months, dwarfing the combined fund-raising of his Republican rivals for the party's presidential nomination. The announcements, made as many of his donors were gathering at his family's compound [in Kennebunkport, Maine,] to celebrate their success, established Mr. Bush as his party's financial powerhouse. They also underscored how the Supreme Court's five-year-old Citizens United decision continues to remake the way presidential campaigns are waged. Almost all of the money was raised before Mr. Bush formally declared his candidacy last month, collected by a 'super PAC' that Mr. Bush’s aides helped set up." CW: They also underscore what selfish rich people want in a president. See stories that follow re: "people need to work longer hours" & Akhilleus's comments above. ...
... Jeb! Ed O'Keefe & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush's presidential campaign raised $11.4 million in the second quarter, and his allied super PAC brought in more than $103 million in the first six months of the year, giving the Republican presidential contender an unprecedented war chest as he heads into the highly competitive 2016 primary contest. The massive sum raised by the super PAC, Right to Rise USA, instantly makes it one of the most potent forces in the White House race. The group has $98 million in cash on hand." ...
... Paul Waldman: "This is truly an inspiring demonstration of the American people's enthusiasm for Jeb's forward-looking message of blah blah blah ... or, that a bunch of the super-rich think it would be great if he were president. Can't figure out which." ...
... The Cold Truth Behind the Gaffe. Brian Beutler: Jeb!'s remark that "people need to work longer hours" & "his equally muddled attempt to clarify them ... betray a shaky grasp of basic economic terms.... The real controversy arises not from the bloodlessness of the words he chose, but from the tactics he would use to extract the necessary labor.... When he said 'people need to work longer hours' he meant our policies should leave people little choice but to do so." ...
... "The Doofus." Josh Marshall of TPM: "It goes without saying that it's probably not good politics to say your plan to move the country forward is that everyone needs to work longer hours. It approaches 47% level toxicity. Even more damning is that it makes zero sense in policy terms. Indeed, Jeb's 'work harder' prescription provides harrowing look at the level of derp that can be produced when you take a guy who isn't all that bright and push him to the head of the national leadership line without ever having put in an honest day's work or support himself in his life.... It's unclear to me whether Bush doesn't even fully understand the policies his advisors are trying to explain to him or whether this is just standard patrician work ethic morality." ...
... Presenting President Jeb! of the United Serfs of America. Joan Walsh of Salon: "Unbelievably, in an economy in which workers have grown ever more productive over the last three decades, but productivity has not resulted in higher wages, Bush said Wednesday that they should work even longer hours.... Back in March..., Bush came out against the federal minimum wage.... And he's on record saying the Social Security retirement age needs to be raised to 70.... He also seemed to back his brother's failed push to at least partially privatize Social Security.... Finally, on the same day as his 'work longer hours' comment, Bush dismissed the debt-free college plan unveiled by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley as an example of Democrats providing 'more free stuff.'... We'll see if the Bush approach brings in the white working class voters who were cool to Mitt Romney." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "This casual slip in usage reveals an important assumption. Bush not only prefers higher productivity in its technical meaning (higher output per hours of work), which both conservative and liberal economists consider axiomatic; he likewise considers higher levels of work implicitly preferable. Liberals do not share that assumption. And the division over this question turns out to be buried within many of the economic fights of our time.... Much of the dispute centers not on incentives but on whether workers should have the freedom to choose more leisure time.... Opposition to laws and customs that enforce periods of rest, and a culture where workers can comfortably balance their jobs against family life and leisure, sets American conservatives apart from American liberals and the rest of the Western world." ...
... Matt Ygesias of Vox: "... the last time the United States regularly saw episodes of 4 percent growth [-- Jeb!'s goal --] was back when Bill Clinton was president, and part of the story then was an increase in average annual hours worked. The more time people put in on the job, the higher GDP gets. At the time this was typically offered as a critique of the 1990s economy (see Juliet Schor's books The Overworked American and The Overspent American) on the theory that economic growth obtained through more toil rather than higher hourly pay is illusory."
** A Week to Remember. Kathy Frankovic of YouGov.com: "The Republican horserace continues to be a contest of multiple candidates -- with frontrunners sometimes ahead by only a few points, and no one dominating the race. In this week's Economist/YouGov Poll, businessman Donald Trumpleads among Republicans, ahead of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Trump looks even better as a candidate this week when Republicans are asked for their second choice. When they are, Trump extends his lead. One in four Republicans who are registered to vote say he is their first or second choice." (Emphasis added.) ...
... Paul Campos in Lawyers, Guns & Money finds similarities between Trump's campaign & Ronald Reagan's: "In a GOP presidential field that isn't exactly stacked with political talent, the notion that Trump can't win the nomination is at least premature. As is the idea that he can't be elected president." ...
... Steve M. "... whether Trump is being phony or sincere, much of the political world doesn't realize that he's speaking the well-established language of modern conservatism rather than expressing prejudices that are strictly personal.... When Trump is finally out of the race..., the mainstream press will continue to insist that the real Republican Party is polite and civil and works well with others. But Trumpism will still be its underpinnings, long after Trump's 2016 campaign is forgotten." ...
... Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump ... call[ed] The Post to dispute some details reported Wednesday night about a private phone call with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee.... Trump said the call from Priebus 'was meant, in my opinion, to be a congratulatory call.... It wasn't a lecturing-type call. He's going to lecture me? Give me a break.'... Trump said that the Wednesday call with Priebus lasted between 10 and 15 minutes and ... that, near the end of their discussion, Priebus asked him to speak in a more measured way about immigration.... Priebus's outreach to Trump came after days of talks with GOP officials about how best to manage Trump's seemingly nonstop appearances on cable news programs and his unrelenting commentary on illegal immigration. Donors familiar with the exchange told The Post about the call on Wednesday and said it lasted for about 45 minutes." ...
... Karen Schwartz of the New York Times: "Three navigation coordination points above Palm Beach International Airport that had been named in honor of Donald J. Trumpwill be renamed, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. 'In general, the F.A.A. chooses names that are noncontroversial,' said an agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown.... In 2010, an air traffic controller who was a fan of Mr. Trump's reality show and its catchphrase, 'You're fired,' named some of the navigation points that pilots use for takeoff from the airport DONLD, TRMMP and UFIRD." ...
Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "The Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would ban women from seeking non-emergency abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Wisconsin assembly passed the bill 61 to 34 after two hours of emotional testimony from lawmakers on both sides of the debate. The state senate had approved the legislation in June. The bill now goes to Governor Scott Walker. Eager to burnish his conservative credentials ahead of his anticipated campaign for president, Walker specifically asked the legislature to send him the bill and has said repeatedly that he will sign it."
"The Daily Cruz." Hadas Gold, et al., of Politico: "Ted Cruz has a media strategy. It's called Breitbart.com.... Breitbart.com, which boasts of having 18.7 million unique users per month -- almost all of them conservative firebrands — is funded in part by New York hedge fund managerRobert Mercer, whose family is bankrolling a pro-Cruz super PAC as well as a political data company called Cambridge Analytica that is working with Cruz's presidential campaign. Breitbart.com insists it's independent, though proudly conservative, and attributes its often-favorable assessments of Cruz to the fact that his independent brand of conservatism is appealing to its readers. But no one disputes the site's enthusiasm for Cruz."
Congressional Races
Alex Jaffe of NBC News: "Rep. Alan Grayson's reputation as a progressive bomb-thrower is exactly what's made national Democrats fearful that his bid for Senate in Florida could cost them a top pickup opportunity. But when he launched his bid on Thursday, he showed no signs of changing his tune. 'Frankly, one reason why Democrats are willing to crawl over hot coals naked to vote for me is because I'm willing to tell the truth,' he told NBC in an interview.... [Rep. Patrick] Murphy, a second-term Democrat with a proven ability to win tough races and raise huge sums, has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee."
Marc Caputo of Politico: "Former Florida Gov. Charlie Cristis strongly considering a political comeback in 2016 now that a new state Supreme Court ruling nearly guarantees that a swing congressional seat will be redrawn to rope in his home along with a gaggle of Democrats.... The court ruling could also force Rep. David Jolly, the incumbent Republican of the district in question, to forgo a reelection bid and instead try his luck with an open Senate seat." (See Florida redistricting stories below.)
Beyond the Beltway
Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau: "The Florida Supreme Court took a wrecking ball to Florida's political landscape Thursday, throwing out the state's carefully crafted congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordering a new map within 100 days. In the historic 5-2 ruling, the court not only ruled the maps were the product of an unconstitutional political gerrymandering, it signaled its deep distrust of lawmakers and provided detailed instructions on how to repair the flawed map in time for the 2016 election.... The new maps are likely to reconfigure nearly all of the state's 27 congressional districts, open the door to new candidates, and threaten incumbents, who will now face a new set of boundary lines and constituents close to the 2016 election." ...
... CW: Alrighty, then. Time for the U.S. Supremes to step in & overrule the Florida state supreme court 5-4. They're right good at that. ...
... Michael Miller & Nick Kirkpatrick of the Washington Post have more on the shady history of the redistricting: "Destroyed records. Shadowy projects with names like 'Sputnik' and 'Frankenstein.' And a college student whose identity was stolen to provide cover for political operatives." All the crooked tricks were crooked Republican tricks.
News Lede
New York Times: "Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the desert in the 1962 screen epic 'Lawrence of Arabia' into a glamorous if brief reign as an international star in films like 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'The Night of the Generals,' died on Friday in Cairo. He was 83."
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management's system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday. That is in addition to a separate hack -- also last year -- of OPM's personnel database that affected 4.2 million people."
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that the United States and its negotiating partners 'will not rush, and we will not be rushed' into finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran, but warned they will abandon talks soon if Iran doesn't make the 'tough decisions' needed for an agreement. 'This is not open-ended,' he said after walking on crutches to a podium outside the Coburg Palace hotel here where the talks are being held."
Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Russia's aggressive behavior and its nuclear arsenal make it the single greatest national security threat faced by the United States, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said Thursday at a Senate hearing on his nomination as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dunford, the Marine commandant, appeared far more confident that the military could step in if necessary if negotiations on a nuclear deal with Tehran fail. Asked whether the military has the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear program, General Dunford was unequivocal. 'My understanding is that we do, Senator,' he said."
Human Error. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "The more than three-and-a-half hour New York stock exchange shutdown on Wednesday was caused by engineers loading the wrong software on to the system, the NYSE admitted on Thursday. The NYSE said the shutdown, which sent some traders into panic about a possible cyber terrorist attack, was sparked by its systems being 'not loaded with the proper configuration compatible' with new a software upgrade."
Amanda Hopuch & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The battle flag of the former American Confederacy will stop flying at South Carolina's statehouse on Friday..., 150 years after the south lost a civil war fought largely over slavery, and for which the flag's endurance has remained a lasting symbol of racism. Governor Nikki Haley was prepared to sign legislation on Thursday that would require the flag to be removed from government grounds within 24 hours. Her office said it would be taken down from a flagpole near the capitol at 10am the next day, after flying there for nearly 54 years."
Linda Greenhouse finds more ways of demonstrating that the Roberts Court is not a liberal court. Expect it to look more like the "Alito court" next year.
*****
Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Medicare, the federal program that insures 55 million older and disabled Americans, announced plans on Wednesday to reimburse doctors for conversations with patients about whether and how they would want to be kept alive if they became too sick to speak for themselves. The proposal would settle a debate that raged before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, when Sarah Palin labeled a similar plan as tantamount to setting up 'death panels' that could cut off care for the sick. The new plan is expected to be approved and to take effect in January, although it will be open to public comment for 60 days." ...
... CW: When my husband was dying in 2013, doctors & other staff had a number of consultations with him and me regarding end-of-life care. I don't know how the hospital characterized these meetings in their billing reports, but Medicare paid for them. The "new rule" just seems to be formalizing what is already routinely happening.
Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Democrats and the White House are hammering Senate Republicans for failing to act on a nominee who is charged with snipping the purse strings of Islamic extremists. Adam Szubin was nominated to be the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes nearly three months ago but has yet to receive a hearing from the Senate Banking Committee responsible for vetting him. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) chastised Republicans for the delay, arguing that 'it is threatening our nation's ability to combat terrorism' and groups such as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS)."
Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate approved its first circuit judge nomination of the year on Tuesday. Senators voted 95-0 on Kara Stoll's nomination to be a U.S. circuit court judge for the federal circuit, making her the first Hispanic woman to be approved for the court. Speaking ahead of the Senate's vote, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called Stoll 'superbly qualified.'" CW: Hey, it's only mid-July.
Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal: "For Republicans, [ObamaCare] has been the political gift that keeps on giving. Yet even though public opinion remains unfavorable towards the law, Democrats remain in denial about its political standing.... The law will likely remain a pivotal element of the GOP's argument against Hillary Clinton in 2016 -- and for Republicans in the battleground congressional contests."
Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg: "The 2016 Republican nominee for president will almost certainly not make a fuss about deportation policy, regardless of past positions. In all likelihood, facing a difficult road with Hispanic and Asian voters, he will support legalization of long-settled undocumented immigrants. Citizenship remains an unsettled question. But the era of deportation is coming to an end." Wilkinson explains how we got here. CW: Wilkinson likely doesn't think Walker or Trump will be that nominee. ...
... John Boehner's European Vacation Congressional Mission. Al Kamen of the Washington Post: "The rule is never to make news on these government-paid vacations trips, but, in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Boehner" said he would overcome his party's resistance to immigration reform, something Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny has urged him to do. The speech created went over well at Breitbart: "Boehner goes overseas, vows immigration reform, amnesty..." the headline read. Also in Ireland, a person mistook Boehner for Bill Clinton. ...
... Good luck with immigration reform, Orange Man ...
... Jake Sherman & Anna Palmer of Politico: "... [Congressional] Republicans are clashing in private -- and, at times, openly -- over their entire agenda. The broad disagreement on so many fronts lately is striking. Congress is almost certain, again, to fail to come to a timely agreement on a long-term highway bill. Republican leaders had to abruptly pull the emergency brake on a sweeping reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, amid a tiff about privatizing air traffic controllers. As if all that wasn't enough, a showdown over government funding is fast approaching."
Megan Chuchmach & Brian Ross of ABC News: "Former President George W. Bushcharged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former First Lady Laura Bush collected $50,000 to appear a year earlier.... The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000.... One of the wounded vets who served on the charity's board told ABC News he was outraged that his former commander in chief would charge any fee to speak on behalf of men and women he ordered into harm's way.... A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton said he 'has never received' a speaking fee for addressing a veterans' group. A spokesperson for ... George Herbert Walker Bush, said ... that he did not recall a fee being requested for charity events.... According to the charity's yearly reports to the IRS, it raised about $2,450,000, after expenses, from the 2012 gala where President [George W.] Bush spoke." ...
... CW: You may recall that a few weeks ago, I linked to a Wash Po story that included this graf: "'I'm comfortable in my life,' [George W.] Bush told the crowd. 'There is one thing I miss, looking in the eyes of the people who serve this country and saluting them.' And so, he said he decided to 'dedicate the rest of his life' to helping veterans." But only if he can make it pay. Words fail me.
Sarah Wheaton & Burgess Everett of Politico: "President Barack Obamapegged the chances of a nuclear agreement with Iran at 'less than 50-50,' even as he worked to reassure Senate Democrats that he won't accept a bad deal, according to a U.S. senator who attended a gathering at the White House. During something of a working cocktail party Tuesday night, the president sounded a fresh note of pessimism as the nuclear talks in Vienna missed yet another self-imposed deadline -- and as his administration has sought to refute accusations that it is desperate for a deal."
Anthony Faiola & Ylan Mui of the Washington Post: "Facing a midnight deadline from European creditors, Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras huddled with government and political leaders Thursday to finalize details of the debt-laden country's last-ditch request for a fresh bailout. The proposal filed Wednesday asked for a three-year loan package, with vague promises to 'strengthen and modernize' Greece's economy and implement reforms of its patchwork tax system and generous pensions as soon as next week. But the one-page document was short on specifics, and it was unclear how big of a bailout package Athens would need." ...
... Anthony Faiola & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Greece asked European partners Wednesday for a new three-year bailout, pledging to make reforms but leaving blank how far it was willing to go to meet cost-cutting demands as the country flirts with bankruptcy. In a one-page letter, obtained by The Washington Post, Greece proposed to take steps on key issues such as taxes and pension payouts as early as next week. It also pledged to take unspecified 'additional actions' to 'strengthen and modernize' its economy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
AFP: "Charges against five bloggers and journalists held in Ethiopia for more than a year have been dropped, weeks before Barack Obama's planned visit to the country. Five others also arrested in April 2014 remain in jail, accused of planning terrorist attacks and collaborating with the US-based opposition group Ginbot 7, labelled a terrorist organisation by Ethiopia."
Reuters: "Russia is the biggest threat to US national security and America must boost its military presence throughout Europe even as Nato allies face budget challenges and scale back spending, the US air force secretary, Deborah James, said on Wednesday."
Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team's federal trademark registrations, which have been opposed for decades by many Native Americans who feel the moniker disparages their race. The cancellation doesn't go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Guardian: "The disgraced former Fifa executive Chuck Blazerhas been handed a life ban from all football-related activity by Fifa's ethics committee for bribery and other corruption."
Presidential Race
Brent Budowsky of the Hill: "The surge in support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 is the latest evidence of a progressive populist wave growing across America that has the potential to create a new political majority in the tradition of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy.... The miracle of Occupy Wall Street is that this movement of idealists and patriots that was reviled by the right and ridiculed by insider pundits was victorious in the first great battle of ideas of the 21st century on behalf of the 99 percent.... The prospect of this new era of new thinking from a new populism of a new left, following the Gilded Age corruptions of the last financial crash and the revolving door corruptions of Washington, is driving the surprise surge for Sanders and posing the dramatic test for Clinton." ..
... Nate Silver: "Sanderscould win Iowa. He's up to 30 percent of the vote there, according to Huffington Post Pollster's estimate. What's more, Sanders could also win New Hampshire, where he's at 32 percent of the vote. Nationally, by contrast, Sanders has just 15 percent of the vote and has been gaining ground on Clinton only slowly.... Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa and Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire are really liberal and really white, and that's the core of Sanders's support.... Sanders has so far made very little traction with non-white Democrats.... It just so happens that the idiosyncrasies of the first two states match Sanders's strengths and Clinton's relative weaknesses.... Just as was the case throughout the 2008 campaign, the media will misconstrue voting patterns that occur because of demographics and attribute them to 'momentum' instead." ...
... NEW. Patrick Healy & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Nearly 20 years after President Bill Clinton declared that 'the era of big government is over,' Hillary Rodham Clintonis proposing muscular federal policies that would require hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending and markedly expand Washington's influence in a host of areas, from universal prekindergarten to Alzheimer's disease research."
... CW: I watched only the clip I posted yesterday, but according to Steve M., the consensus is that Hillary Clinton's CNN interview was a dud. In the clip, she seemed fine to me. (Of course, that might be because Hillary speaks almost exactly as I do, to a point that kind of creeps me out.) I think Hillary's real speaking problem -- and nobody talks about this -- is that she doesn't have a man's voice. I know it's 2015 & we should all be so over the males-only rule, but Americans still think a man's voice conveys authority & a woman's does not. Ask yourself this: who is the greatest female orator you can think of? Ah, you probably can't think of anyone. If you're old enough, you might pick the late Barbara Jordan, who had a very deep, nearly masculine voice. She spoke with authority. ...
... Charles Pierce: "We now have an entire generation of political reporters whose formative experience in American politics was the Great Penis Chase of the 1990s. This is something that the HRC is going to have to live with, but it's something all of us can safely dismiss. There are reasons not to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton; for me, so far, her blithe dismissal of the populist energy within her party is reason enough to give her a pass in the primaries."
Candace Smith of ABC News: "During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope, [Jeb] Bush told New Hampshire's The Union Leader that to grow the economy, 'people should work longer hours.'... In a statement, a Bush aide clarified that he was referring to the underemployed and part-time workers.... US workers work more hours than workers in any other large, industrialized country, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." CW: Jeb! may be able to string together words better than the Dumber Brother, but he is just as gaffe-prone. ...
... Greg Sargent: Whatever Jeb! meant to say, "what's really important here is Bush's apparent overall economic diagnosis: the grand answer is lowering taxes -- including at the top -- which will trigger runaway growth that will solve those problems, including the gap between productivity and wages."
Dana Milbank: "It has been amusing to watch the brands ... flee Donald Trump after his xenophobic remarks. But there is one entity that can't dump Trump, no matter how hard it tries: the GOP. The Republican Party can't dump Trump because Trump is the Republican Party.... His views show that, far from being an outlier, he is hitting all the erogenous zones of the GOP electorate.... Anti-immigrant? Against Common Core education standards? For repealing Obamacare? Against same-sex marriage? Antiabortion? Anti-tax? Anti-China? Virulent in questioning President Obama's legitimacy? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check." ...
Not So Fast, Milbank, Comes Now Reince Priebus to the Rescue. Karen Tumulty, et al., of the Washington Post: Reince Priebus, "The head of the Republican National Committee, responding to demands from increasingly worried party leaders, spent nearly an hour Wednesday on the phone withDonald Trump, urging the presidential candidate to tone down his inflammatory comments about immigration that have infuriated a key election constituency.... Priebus told Trump that making inroads with Hispanics is one of his central missions as chairman. He told Trump that tone matters greatly and that Trump's comments are more offensive than he might imagine with that bloc." ...
... Emily Heil of the Washington Post: "Jose Andres, the D.C.-based super-chef with a growing national brand, is backing out of a deal to open the flagship restaurant in Donald Trump's forthcoming Washington hotel -- the latest on a growing list of high-profile partners to sever ties with the presidential candidate over his anti-immigrant comments. ...
... CW Aside: Don't you worry, Donnie Boy. I'm sure Paula Deen will be happy to cook up some of her famous fried mac & cheese for your upscale clientele. ...
... Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Paula Deen, the Southern celebrity chef who faced a public scandal in 2013 after she admitted using racist language, is facing new criticism after an image was posted to her Twitter account that showed her son in skin-darkening makeup. The image, which was from a 2011 Halloween-themed episode of one of Ms. Deen's cooking shows, was posted on Tuesday. Ms. Deen is dressed as Lucille Ball from 'I Love Lucy,' and her son Bobby is dressed as Ms. Ball's TV husband, Ricky Ricardo, who was played by the Cuban-born actor Desi Arnaz. The image was quickly removed...." Deen fired her social media manager for posting the picture. ...
... CW: By coincidence, Trump himself will appear next week on Deen's show. In the pre-taped episode -- titled "Hail to the Chief" -- both Trump & Deen wear brown makeup & stereotypical Native American buckskin. Trump sports a full eaglefeather war bonnet while Deen teaches him to make Tomahawk-Chop Tomato Salsa & Deep-Fried Redskin Potatoes. As they banter, Trump reminds viewers that Indian casinos do not pay taxes. He says that even though they compete unfairly with his own businesses, "I have a great relationship with the Indians." Deen has not decided whom to fire for this episode, but she plans to get Trump's advice on this. ...
... CW: So after making up that stuff, I read this actual news story. Antonio Olivo of the Washington Post: "In an interview with NBC News, Trump ... cited a hotel construction site in Washington featured recently in The Washington Post as an example of how he has 'a great relationship with the Mexican people.'... 'And I'll tell you something, if I get the nomination, I'll win the Latino vote,' Trump added." CW: The man is impossible to parody. If only he'd worn a sombrero for the interview. ...
... This too is real. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump's momentum just keeps on building. He's the top choice of Republican primary voters in the state, getting 16% to 12% for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker...." ViaGreg Sargent.
Trump Trap. Ed Kilgore: Although Trump insists his "sole focus" is to run as a Republican, he won't rule out running as a third-party candidate should he lose the GOP nomination. "... Trump has the four ingredients necessary for converting an unsuccessful primary campaign into an indie general election bid: (1) a huge ego; (2) a gigantic personal fortune; (3) total disdain for his GOP presidential rivals; and (4) a rationale for candidacy: namely, the fact that he holds views outside the mainstream of the ... two-party system.... The possibility that he might will force Republicans to be a lot nicer to the man than would normally be the case, and that, too, could be damaging to the 'brand.'" ...
... CW: If Trump makes it a three-way, Democrats could win with a Nadir-Chomsky ticket. Whoever.
Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Wednesday he would oppose a constitutional amendment allowing states to ban same-sex marriage after the Supreme legalized it nationwide, even though he disagrees with the landmark 5-4 decision. 'I don't support a constitutional amendment. I don't believe the federal government should be in the marriage regulation business,' the Florida senator told reporters after a speech the Cedar Rapids Country Club in Iowa."
Beyond the Beltway
Alan Blinder & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "The Confederate battle flag that has flown at the South Carolina State House for more than 50 years will soon be gone after lawmakers capped a tension-filled session early on Thursday and voted to remove it from the grounds of the State Capitol.The final vote in the State House of Representatives, 94 to 20...." ...
... Michael Miller of the Washington Post: The pivotal moment in the House debate came when Jenny Horne (R), a descendant of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, spoke:
... Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "The South Carolina House opened debate over the future of the Confederate flag Wednesday, deliberating a proposal that could remove the banner from the Capitol grounds, possibly before the end of the week." (Yesterday afternoon.)
Yvonne Wenger of the Baltimore Sun: Baltimore "Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she has replaced Police CommissionerAnthony W. Batts, citing 'utmost urgency' to stop a recent surge in violence.... Rawlings-Blake named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis interim commissioner, effective immediately. Rawlings-Blake's decision came hours after she lashed out at the city's police union for its highly critical report of the Police Department leadership during last month's rioting. She did not respond to a call for Batts' resignation from faith coalition Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development. She said the Fraternal Order of Police report did not play a role in her decision...."
"Chaos in Maine." Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the clerk in the Maine House are in disagreement over the fate of 19 bills that the governor apparently did not veto in time to prevent them from becoming law. One of the bills grants welfare benefits to some immigrants, which LePage vehemently campaigned against in 2014.... LePage appeared to be attempting to use the parliamentary procedure known as the pocket veto.... But the pocket veto only works if the legislature has adjourned after the end of the second regular session.... The clerk of the Maine House told TPM Wednesday morning that the legislature, which is nearing the end of the first regular session, has not adjourned. By not vetoing the bills within the required 10-day period, LePage allowed the bills he opposed -- some ferociously -- to become law."
Go Down, Moses. Nullification, Oklahoma-Style. Jack Jenkins of Think Progress: Despite a 7-2 decision by the state's supreme court ordering that a Ten Commandments statue be removed from statehouse grounds the because its presence violated the Oklahoma constitution, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) refuses to have the religious monument removed. Because the court is wrong. ...
... CW: So now what? As constitutional scholar Tom DeLayhas pointed out (never mind that he thinks the U.S. Supreme Court has ten justices), courts don't have armies to enforce their decisions. They rely on, um, the executive branch to do that where action is required. Maybe the state supremes could hold Fallin in contempt & throw her in jail. I have no idea.
Amanda Covarrubias & Matt Hamilton of the Los Angeles Times: The Calleguas, California Municipal Water District filed a complaint against actorTom Selleck for stealing "huge amounts of water from a public hydrant" & having the water "delivered to his sprawling Hidden Valley ranch, according to court documents.... The ... complaint ... [charged] that on more than a dozen occasions since 2013, a white truck filled up at a Thousand Oaks hydrant and hauled the water to Selleck's 60-acre ranch in Westlake Village."
Kevin Maillard of the Atlantic: A young father fights for his paternal rights after his partner gives up their newborn for adoption. A compelling story. Moral: (1) Know your rights. (1) Keep evidence. ...
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