The Commentariat -- June 18, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday again approved a measure to give President Obama accelerated negotiating authority to pursue a sweeping, legacy-building trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim nations, part one of a complex legislative strategy devised by Republicans to get a trade package to Mr. Obama's desk. Led by Republicans, with the support of a few Democrats who support the trade deal, the House passed the trade promotion authority measure, 218 to 208. It will now be sent back to the Senate, where a more narrow band of Republicans and Democrats will be asked to approve it after already passing their own bill that included protection for workers, a provision favored by Democrats."
Jason Horowitz, et al., of the New York Times, sort of profile Dylann Roof. ...
... Also see Akhilleus's comments on Fox "News"'s coverage of the massacre.
*****
From the NYT liveblog, @ 11:24 am ET: "The police in Charleston say they will hold a news conference shortly, as reporters in the region report that Dylann Storm Roof has been captured in Shelby, N.C." See related stories below.
*****
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that messages displayed on specialized license plates are a form of government speech, and Texas is free to reject a proposed design that features the Confederate flag. Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's only African American justice, split with fellow conservatives and joined the court's liberals in the 5 to 4 decision. The majority held that the design proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) would not simply reflect the views of the motorist who purchased it." ...
... CW: I'm late to this. ScotusBlog is liveblogging decisions coming down today. So far there have been five, none of them the "biggies" we've been waiting for, tho at least a couple that will garner some MSM reporting; e.g., "Holding: Texas's specialty license plate design constitutes government speech, and thus Texas was entitled to refuse to issue plates featuring the proposed Confederate Veterans' design." -- a 5-4 decision, opinion by Breyer. ...
... ScotusBlog Wrapup: "The Court issued six opinions today. That means they have eleven left to issue. We expect them back to issue more opinions on Monday morning, and we'll start the live blog early that day. We don't know which day after Monday will be the next opinion day, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear."
Jason Horowitz, et al., of the New York Times: "A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in [Charleston, South Carolina’s] downtown, killing nine people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt, the police said. At a news conference with Charleston's mayor early Thursday, the police chief, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime." ...
... New Lede: "The gunman wanted in the killing of nine people at a prayer meeting at a historic black church in this city's downtown area was taken into custody Thursday morning in North Carolina. Charleston's police chief, Greg Mullen, said the suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, 21, had been caught about 200 miles away, in Shelby, N.C., a town west of Charlotte. His arrest came about 14 hours after the shooting." ...
... The Statesman's story is here. The paper is reporting that the church's pastor is among those killed. "The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle." ...
... The Washington Post now has a liveblog here. AG Loretta Lynch "said that the Justice Department has opened a hate crime investigation and that the FBI and other agencies were participating in the investigation, which is being led by the Charleston Police Department.: ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments. The police have released images of the suspect -- a young, slim white guy -- and his vehicle. ...
... Update: The Guardian has a new liveblog here. ...
... Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "The longtime mayor of Charleston [-- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (D) --] called Thursday for bolstered gun-control laws hours after an assailant opened fire in a historic African American church, killing at least nine people.... ''I personally believe there are far too many guns out there, and access to guns, it's far too easy. Our society has not been able to deal with that yet.'" ...
... ** Robert Costa, et al., of the Post: "Police widened the search Thursday for a gunman who opened fire and killed nine people during a prayer service at a historic African American church here, and the U.S. Justice Department announced it would investigate the attack as a hate crime. A federal law enforcement official identified the gunman as Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old from Columbia, S.C. He was still at large more than 13 hours after the Wednesday night shooting. ...
... Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post on the storied history of the church & its congregation. ...
... CW: I'm sure over on Fox "News," they're emphasizing that this mass murder is "the work of a lone gunman." No, it is not. It is the work of our culture of racism & violence. It plays out in lesser ways a thousand times a day. It is so common that most such incidents don't make the news. Hatred of the other, acceptance & even glorification of violence -- that is who we are. We are a brutal nation. ...
... For instance, the Anniston, Alabama, city manager says there's nothing the city can do about the fact that two of its white police officers are active members of a racist hate group, & the police chief, according to one of racists -- who is a lieutenant on the force -- says the chief "thinks pretty much" as he does. ...
... CW: And people wonder why Rachel Dolezal identifies as black. I believe I'll be black today, too.
Jim Yardley & Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action."
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "... the Treasury has announced that a portrait of a woman, to be determined soon, will grace the $10 bill. The note will continue to have some image, also to be determined, of the current $10 honoree, Alexander Hamilton a founding father (there were, of course, no mothers) and Treasury secretary to President George Washington.... Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, who by law makes the selection of an honoree, will disclose his choice by the end of the year. The new note will appear in 2020 -- the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.... The Treasury has invited the public to use the hashtag #TheNew10 'to spread the word about the redesign.' Also, Mr. Lew and other officials will solicit the public's ideas in round-table discussions and town-hall meetings."
Jake Sherman, et al., of Politico: "The process [to pass legislation authorizing TPP fast-track] is likely to begin in the House on Thursday, when the chamber plans to vote to give Obama fast-track trade authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade agreement in history. If it passes, [Mitch] McConnell would then take up the measure next week, hoping to win the support of at least a dozen Senate Democrats to send it to the president's desk. The Senate would then amend a separate trade bill with TAA, a program to aid workers who lose their jobs due to trade deals, sending the measure to the White House for final approval.... The entire process hinges on support from Senate and House Democrats who support free trade but insist that the government also provide aid and job training to help workers hurt by foreign trade."
Jaime Fuller of New York: "Loretta Lynch was formally sworn in as attorney general [Wednesday].... Lynch was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- on a bible owned by Frederick Douglass. When Lynch mentioned this to President Obama on the stage of the Warner Theater in Washington, with friends and family in the audience, he replied, 'That's pretty cool'":
... CW: Obama sure doesn't understand the Constitution the same way Tom DeLay understands the Constitution. Maybe they're working off different editions. (See yesterday's Commentariat.)
Dana Milbank: Once again, Congress -- through no fault of the House leadership -- took up an action to do something ... and chose to do nothing.
Robert Pear of the New York Times: interviews David King, the ignorant, selfish winger who is the "King" in King v. Burwell: "Millions of people are waiting anxiously for the Supreme Court to decide the fate of President Obama's health care law with a ruling this month on health insurance subsidies. But David M. King, a plaintiff in the case, is not among them.... But Mr. King said that he was not really worried about the outcome of the case, King v. Burwell, because as a Vietnam veteran, he has access to medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs." CW: In other words, he likely did not have standing to bring the suit. At least one of the three other plaintiffs may have standing, though. ...
... Sharon Begley & Caroline Humer of Reuters: "As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on whether people in 34 states can continue to receive Obamacare health insurance subsidies, economists are projecting billions of dollars in lost healthcare spending for hospitals, drugstores and drugmakers if the justices say the payments are illegal." ...
... Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "House Republican leaders on Wednesday presented their members with the outlines of a plan that would respond to a Supreme Court decision negating federal subsidies that help people buy ObamaCare plans. The House GOP plan would give block grants to states that want them as a way to replace the subsidies, according to lawmakers leaving the meeting." ...
... digby: "... they are saying that whatever they do it will be to 'protect' the Obamacare recipients. Which sounds good until you hear the next part: from the terrible Obamacare law.... The Republicans, being completely without shame and totally comfortable with hypocrisy, take special delight in such word games. They know it's absurd but that's what makes it so great: they [tie] the Democrats up in knots trying to untangle the absurdity." ...
... Turns out there's a reason Republicans suddenly want to "protect Americans from ObummerCare." Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post: "... a new report suggests the impact [of a win for the plaintiffs in King] would fall disproportionately on their own constituents, rather than those in Democratic districts -- by a margin of 2-to-1.... Some 4.2 million of those who would lose tax credits live in congressional districts with Republican representatives.... Just 2.1 million live in Democratic districts.... It's not at all surprising that Republican districts would have more affected people, since the states where officials wanted nothing to do with Obamacare tend to have more conservative voters. Those are also the states where Republican lawmakers have been able to draw district lines in ways that boost their numbers in Congress." ...
... BUT Jeffrey Young of the Huffington Post explains what the GOP plan really is: "Congressional Republican leaders have promised for months they would be ready if the Supreme Court wipes out Obamacare subsidies for millions of consumers. At separate closed-door meetings in the House and Senate Wednesday, those leaders laid out a framework for their response, and totally repealing the law is the key feature, as it has been for more than five years." Via Greg Sargent.
Holy Moly! Whatever happened to our "Christian nation"? As the confederates line up to diss Pope Francis, Steve Benen notes, "It wasn't long ago Republicans like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal argued that leaders from the faith community should 'rise up and engage America in the public square with Biblical values.... The time has come for pastors to lead the way and reset the course of American governance.'" ...
... Jeet Heer of the New Republic has a fascinating article on how conservative Roman Catholics of the William Buckley era dealt with a papal encyclical they didn't like. It did not go well. Blood was shed. Even now, "Anticipating a rout in the cultural wars, traditionalist Catholics are toying with the idea of secession.... It would mean foreswearing attempts to influence politics, disassociating oneself from engagement with mainstream culture as much as possible, and creating intentional communities that try to abide by strict church teachings." CW: Okay then, buh-bye.
Sarah Soper, in a New York Times op-ed, on "what it's like to be a 'girl' in the lab. "A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that on average, male scientists train fewer women than female scientists do. This trend is exaggerated for elite male scientists.... So as long as the scientific enterprise continues to be populated by people who might find it amusing to hold forth on the 'trouble with girls,' women will receive inferior mentoring, compared with their male colleagues, which will lead directly to inferior career outcomes. That is the real trouble."
You Are Entitled to Unlimited Crappy Service. Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "The Federal Communications Commission slapped AT&T with a $100 million fine Wednesday, accusing the country's second-largest cellular carrier of improperly slowing down Internet speeds for customers who had signed up for 'unlimited' data plans. The FCC found that when customers used up a certain amount of data watching movies or browsing the Web, AT&T 'throttled' their Internet speeds so that they were much slower than normal. Millions of AT&T customers were affected by the practice.... AT&T implemented the practice in 2011, prompting thousands of customers to complain to the FCC, according to an agency statement.... AT&T disputed the charges." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Isaac & Natasha Singer of the New York Times: "In what could prove to be a ruling with serious implications for the on-demand economy, the California Labor Commission has ruled that an Uber driver should be classified as an employee, not an independent contractor." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Alison Griswold of Slate explains how the ruling could be "Uber's worst nightmare."
Housing Prices Stabilize. Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "Now, by a wide range of measures, nationwide home prices look relatively normal when compared with incomes, rents and other fundamentals -- and are rising at similar low, single-digit rates. In contrast to the periods of irrational optimism and pessimism, the market is settling into a balance in which buyers are comfortable spending what they can afford given their income and savings, but aren't willing (or able to persuade lenders) to stretch beyond that." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: Washington D.C.'s Metro "central train control center -- tasked with ensuring the safety of thousands of passengers moving through the nation's second busiest rail system -- is chronically understaffed, chaotic and filled with distractions, according to a federal report released Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Brian Stelter of CNN: "NBC and [Brian] Williams have come to a tentative agreement that will keep Williams at the network after his six-month suspension ends in August.... Williams will not be returning to the "NBC Nightly News" anchor chair, the people said. Instead he will have a new role; the details of it are unknown to all but a very small number of executives.... Lester Holt, Williams' fill-in for the past 4 months, will become the permanent anchor of 'Nightly News.'" ...
... Emily Steel, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Williams is expected to move to a new role primarily at the cable news network MSNBC, probably in a breaking-news capacity in the beginning...."
Presidential Race
Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "... as she pursues the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton is confronting a stark reality: Building support for her candidacy must sometimes come at the expense of Mr. Obama, and sometimes even at the expense of the policies they had both pursued in the White House." ...
... They're a'Going Fishing, Too. Ken Vogel & Rachel Bade of Politico: "A particular focus during Tuesday's closed-door deposition [of Clinton pal Sidney Blumenthal] was a network of groups founded by Clinton enforcer David Brock that -- Politico has learned -- paid Blumenthal more than $10,000 a month as they defended Hillary Clinton against conservative attacks, first while she was secretary of state and then as she prepared for and ultimately entered the presidential campaign.... 'The Republicans asked more about what our groups do to debunk their false claims about Benghazi than about the attacks in Benghazi? That sounds like a bizarre waste of time,' Brock said. 'All our work is made public.'"
... Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico on how Democrats' & labor's positive views of Bernie Sanders are shaping Hillary Clinton's campaign. ...
... CW: We may never know, but there certainly could be a connection between Hillary's visit to North Charleston Tuesday & the mass murder of members of a black Charleston church.
Frank Rich: "The Bush candidacy seems like an artificial conceit, a summer franchise sequel that ...
... Andrew Kaczynski & Ilan Ben-Meir of BuzzFeed: "Mike Murphy, the longtime Jeb Bush confidant and consultant who is heading the Right to Rise super PAC, told a group of donors on a conference call Wednesday that they had so far raised $17 million in the Tri-State [New York] area to support Bush's campaign for the presidency.... Murphy said the number the SuperPAC would be filing by the next July reporting deadline would give opponents 'heart attacks' and discourage their rivals' donors from opening their wallets."
The Ugly American. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: As a budget crisis looms in Wisconsin, Scott Walker takes a taxpayer-funded six-day del>vacation trade mission to Quebec. "Walker's four foreign trips in five months stand out. He now sprinkles details of his world travels into his stump speeches. While in Canada, Walker suggested that he had qualms about drinking the water in other countries he had visited." CW: Yeah, that's really showing your foreign policy creds, Scottie, & demonstrating what a great diplomat you are, too. The other countries he's visited were Britain, Germany, France & Spain, none of which is likely to serve up non-potable water, & certainly not in the fancy hotels where he stays. Oh, and he lies about his meetings with foreign leaders, too:
At a donor retreat hosted by Mitt Romney last week, Walker said in a speech that British Minister David Cameron told him that he was dissatisfied with President Obama's leadership. Cameron's staff quickly denied Walker's account, telling Time that Cameron did not make such a remark and does not feel that way. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... CW: I've been trying to think who Scottie reminds me of. Now I remember: George W. Bush. Same dull intellect. Same lack of curiosity. Same expression -- simultaneously dimwitted and smug. Same penchant for saying really stupid things. (At least Bush had competent speechwriters, so he didn't weave the really stupid things into his prepared texts.) If you wonder what kind of a president Scottie would be, you need look no further than Dubya. Kinda funny that there's a candidate in the race who is more like Dubya than the candidate who is Dubya's brother.
Trump's Fake Campaign. Even His Supporters Are Fake. Aaron Couch & Emmet McDermott of the Hollywood Reporter: "Donald Trump's big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors -- at $50 a pop. New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump's event."
Beyond the Beltway
Flying While Black. German Lopez of Vox: "The Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit that runs EndForfeiture.com ... is helping [a young college student, Charles] Clarke, get his money back from law enforcement, after officers seized his life's savings -- $11,000 -- in the Cincinnati airport last February under "civil forfeiture" laws. Clarke broke no laws. It is not illegal to carry large sums of cash. A law enforcement official claimed in an affidavit that Clarke's checked luggage smelled of marijuana, though they turned up no drugs or evidence of drug-related activity in Clarke's luggage. Clarke appears to be a person of color. CW: I know that last bit surprises you.
The Three Little Grinches. Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: Three USPS workers used schemes to obtain Christmas gifts destined for underprivileged children. "Terry Jackson, Mahogany Strickland and Nickyeves Saintalbord all worked at the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, which served as headquarters for Operation Santa...."