The Commentariat -- May 14, 2015

Internal links removed.

NEW. Missed this, but Charles Pierce brought me up to speed:

     ... Paul Lewis & Adam Federman of the Guardian: "The FBI breached its own internal rules when it spied on campaigners against the Keystone XL pipeline, failing to get approval before it cultivated informants and opened files on individuals protesting against the construction of the pipeline in Texas, documents reveal." CW: The Guardian's report is shocking. As Pierce writes, "... an FBI office acting as a private security force for a foreign energy giant ... seems to me to be a waste of taxpayer's money...to say nothing of a couple of amendments to the Constitution. I guess this is what cooperation within a dynamic global economy looks like."

NEW. Yes! Scott Bauer of the AP: "Russ Feingold announced Thursday he will run to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat he lost five years ago to Republican Ron Johnson, fulfilling the hopes of Democrats who have been pushing for the liberal to return to political office." ...

Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved legislation to end the federal government's bulk collection of phone records, exerting enormous pressure on Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Senate majority leader, who insists that dragnet sweeps continue in defiance of many of those in his Republican Party. Under the bipartisan bill, which passed 338 to 88, the Patriot Act would be changed to prohibit bulk collection by the National Security Agency of metadata charting telephone calls made by Americans. However, while the House version of the bill would take the government out of the collection business, it would not deny it access to the information. It would be in the hands of the private sector -- almost certainly the telecommunications firms like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint -- that already keep the records for billing purposes and hold on to them from 18 months to five years." ...

... The Washington Post story, by Mike DeBonis & Ellen Nakashima, is here. The Guardian story, by Dan Roberts, et al., is here.

A Short-Lived Victory. Mike DeBonis & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "Senate leaders announced Wednesday that they reached an agreement to consider and likely approve fast-track authority for President Obama to reach trade deals, a day after an unusual filibuster by Democrats of their party's presidential agenda. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell(R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) announced a plan that allows for a controversial provision that Democrats have been demanding -- legislation targeting China's alleged manipulation of its currency to make its exports cheaper -- a separate vote Thursday afternoon. Not a part of the broader trade package, the China currency legislation has been opposed by the Obama administration but favored by many senators from Midwest states hit hard by manufacturing job losses in the last two decades. This legislation, which also contains other measures for enforcing trade deals, is likely to pass the Senate but its ultimate fate remains in doubt in the House, with a potential presidential veto awaiting it." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "In other words, [Sen. Ron] Wyden's [D-Ore.] tactics worked, and [Mitch] McConnell blinked. Even if fast-track fails -- which may happen in the House even if it doesn't happen in the Senate -- Democrats may wind up with a broader non-TPP trade agenda with greater unity."

The New York Times Editors react to the DOJ's prosecution of & sentencing recommendation for Jeffrey Sterling, who was convicted to leaking classified information to James Risen of the paper (whom the feds threatened for years with jail time for his refusal to reveal his sources): "The government enjoys great flexibility from courts and the American public in deciding how best to protect national security. When it abuses that flexibility -- by going after journalists and their sources with a century-old law intended for Communist spies, or by to failing to hold torturers accountable -- the nation is made less safe." CW: I hope you listened to Marcy Wheeler's commentary, embedded in yesterday's Commentariat.

Murder on the Amtrak Express. Jon Hurdle, et al., of the New York Times: "The Amtrak train that derailed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, killing at least seven, was barreling into a sharp turn at 106 miles an hour — more than twice the speed limit on that stretch -- when the engineer slammed on the emergency brakes, seconds before the train jumped the tracks, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.... Experts said the derailment might have been averted by a safety system called positive train control, that can, among other features, automatically reduce the speed of a train that is going too fast. To do that, the system must be installed on both the train and the route. The Amtrak train had it, but that stretch of track did not." ...

... The Incredible Callousness of the GOP. Heather Caygle of Politico: "House Republicans voted Wednesday to chop about a fifth of Amtrak's budget, less than a day after a deadly train crash that Democrats pointed to as a prime example of the dangers of shortchanging the nation's transportation needs. They also rebuffed Democrats' attempts to provide money for an advanced speed-control technology that federal investigators later said would have prevented the crash.... But the House proposal may face tougher sledding in the Senate, where transportation appropriations Chairwoman Susan Collins (R-Maine) said she hopes to set aside extra money for rail safety in her version of the funding bill. 'We have had a lot of derailments,' she said. 'We've had a lot of accidents.... So there are a lot of reasons for us to take a look at this.'" ...

... Trains Are for Democrats. Philip Bump of the Washington Post explains the callousness: "Trains are more cost effective in more densely populated areas, and more densely populated areas in the United States tend to vote Democratic. There's another level of politics at play, of course; many conservatives consider the idea of a federally funded transportation program to be anathema. And since so few of their constituents actually use the system, there's little incentive to want to offer political support." CW: Apparently it's okay if Democrats die. To be fair, Republican peoples do use roads & bridges out there in the Heartland, & Republicans are no more anxious to fund those than they are to fund public transportation. ...

... It seems Sen. Bob Corker noticed this, too. Jordain Carney of the Hill: “'I will be stunned if the Republicans deal with the Highway Trust Fund responsibly. It's not going to happen,' he told reporters at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast.... The Tennessee Republican slammed Republicans... 'The first step to showing that we [Republicans] can responsibly deal with, you know, the fiscal issues that matter is the highway bill, and yet it very much appears to me that there will be a kick the can down the road,' he [said,] adding that it's 'incredibly irresponsible, total failure, [and a] abdication of leadership.'" ...

... Paul Nussbaum of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "The train's engineer, who has not been identified, declined to give a statement to police investigators and left the East Detectives Division with an attorney, police commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said Wednesday." ...

     ... ABC News UPDATE: "The engineer of the Amtrak train that crashed in Philadelphia 'has absolutely no recollection of the incident or anything unusual' and 'no explanation' for what caused the crash, his attorney told ABC News. The engineer, Brandon Bostian, 32, of Queens, New York, was 'very distraught' to learn that the crash killed at least seven people, the attorney, Robert Goggin, told ABC News. He added that Bostian voluntarily turned over a blood sample and his cell phone and is cooperating with authorities."

Emmarie Huetteman of the New York Times: "The House on Wednesday voted to ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, approving a revised version of a bill that Republican leaders had abruptly pulled in January amid objections from some of their own members. The measure passed in a 242-to-184 vote, with one member voting present. The bill dropped a provision in the original version that would have required women who became pregnant through rape to report their assault to law enforcement authorities to be eligible for an abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.... The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, has expressed support for the legislation, but with pressing issues like trade and surveillance on the docket, it was not expected to get immediate consideration in the Senate.... But it is a near certainty that Senate Democrats would block an abortion ban...." ...

... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "The Obama administration on Wednesday said it was 'disgraceful' for House Republicans to push a late-term abortion ban bill that also puts up barriers for rape and sexual assault victims.... [Press Secretary Josh] Earnest said the White House's previous veto threat still stands despite 'some rather cursory changes' made to appease Republicans."

Ben Protess & Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "The Justice Department is preparing to announce that Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and the Royal Bank of Scotland will collectively pay several billion dollars and plead guilty to criminal antitrust violations for rigging the price of foreign currencies, according to people briefed on the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity. Most if not all of the pleas are expected to come from the banks' holding companies, the people said -- a first for Wall Street giants that until now have had only subsidiaries or their biggest banking units plead guilty. The Justice Department is also preparing to resolve accusations of foreign currency misconduct at UBS.... In reality, [the government's] accommodations [to the banks] render the plea deals, at least in part, an exercise in stagecraft." CW: Yup. And absolutely Too Big to Jail.

Scott Higham, et al., of the Washington Post: "The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference in Baku, on the Caspian Sea, in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report.... Three former top aides to President Obama [-- Robert Gibbs, Jim Messina & David Plouffe --] appeared as speakers at the event. Lawmakers and their staff members received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of travel expenses ... [and gift] valued at $2,500 to $10,000, according to the ethics report.... The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, known as SOCAR, allegedly funneled $750,000 through nonprofit corporations based in the United States to conceal the source of the funding.... The lawmakers who took the trip were Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.), Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Rubén Hinojosa (D-Tex.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Tex.), Leonard Lance (R-N.J.), Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-N.M.), Gregory W. Meeks (D-N.Y.) and Ted Poe (R-Tex.) and then-Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.)."

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "A top member of President Obama's Secret Service detail under investigation for his conduct during a White House bomb threat probe notified the agency this week that he plans to retire, according to officials familiar with his decision. The decision by Marc Connolly comes ahead of the public release of a report concluding that he and a colleague were likely impaired by alcohol on the night of March 4 as they drove into a temporary barricade and into an active crime scene, according to government officials briefed on the matter. The findings of the report, scheduled to be released Thursday, prompted Secret Service Director Joseph P. Clancy to place both men on administrative leave pending further punishments, the officials said."

Wherein Mitch McConnell Puts to Rest (One Would Hope) a Pervasive Village Meme

Steve Benen: A wide variety of Beltway media types have ... argued repeatedly that Obama's reluctance to schmooze is an impediment to policymaking progress.

John Harwood of CNBC to Mitch McConnell: President Obama's gotten some grief for not being more sociable with members of Congress. Had he had a bourbon with you once or 10 times, would that make any difference to how you guys actually relate?

McConnell: No. I think it's all good stuff for you all to write. But it has no effect on policy. The reason we haven't done more things together is 'cause we don't agree on much. It's nice to have social occasions, but we don't all hate each other anyway. It wouldn't make any difference. Look, it's a business.

More on the Extraordinary Effort to Cure ObamaCare Cooties. Peter Sullivan of the Hill: After Florida Gov. Rick Scott went to Washington Tuesday to complain to members of Congress that the Obama administration was trying to "coerce" Florida into accepting the Medicaid expansion, "the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced it will hold a hearing into the alleged coercion this summer." CW: As we know, this is all about Scott & his allies wanting gobs of federal heathcare aid that is not part of ObamaCare.

Adam Smith of the Tampa Bay Times: "U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the outspoken, populist Democrat who thunders against Wall Street fat cats, and used to to joke about Mitt Romney's low tax bill, incorporated a couple hedge funds in the Cayman Islands so investors could avoid taxes. Grayson Fund Ltd. and Grayson Master Fund were incorporated in 2011 in the Cayman Islands, a well known tax Haven that Romney used as well, records show. That was the same year he wrote in the Huffington Post that the IRS should audit every Fortune 500 company because so many appear to be 'evading taxes through transfer pricing and offshore tax havens.'... 'When I set up my investment funds I set it up like everyone else,' Grayson said, complaining about the Tampa Bay Times looking for 'some stupid, bull---- story. ... You want to write sh-- about it, and you can't because not a single dollar of taxes has been avoided,' he snapped."

The Breasts of Human Kindness. Jessica Roy of New York: "The House GOP's Twitter account became the victim of an embarrassing Twitter photo-cropping issue on Wednesday when it accompanied a quote by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers with a photo of the Congresswoman's boobs.... The tweet has since been deleted."

Presidential Race

Reagan Lives! Jonathan Chait: "Yesterday, Chris Moody [of CNN] asked several Republican presidential candidates one of the most revealing questions of the presidential campaign so far: Who is the greatest president alive today? Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, and Donald Trump all named Ronald Reagan, notwithstanding the fact that Reagan, at least according to the liberal media, is no longer alive.... The Reagan answer was not a mistake -- it was the reflection of a party lacking a usable past.... Republicans today embrace George W. Bush's ideas but not the man himself. This leaves them with no living model of a successful presidency they can publicly identify. The question of which president they would choose is not a trick but a reflection of a stark reality: They have no evidence the demands of conservative ideology and practical governing success can be reconciled." ...

... Another Accidental Candidate. Emily Stephenson & Emily Flitter of Reuters: "Republican Jeb Bush appears to have unintentionally announced his candidacy for president in 2016 in a conversation with reporters on Wednesday that was caught on video. Speaking in Nevada..., [Bush said,] 'I'm running for president in 2016....'" ...

... Ed O'Keefe & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Asked repeatedly in recent days whether he would have supported an Iraq invasion based on what is known now, [Jeb Bush] has replied 'Yes' or 'I don't know,' or has refused to answer, depending on the venue. The stumbles mark the toughest period yet for Bush's still-undeclared campaign and have lit a fire under his likely GOP opponents, many of whom have happily proclaimed that they would not have authorized the Iraq invasion under those conditions. Many conservative leaders and pundits are also lacerating Bush as appearing unprepared to address an obvious topic and are casting him as a tone-deaf relic of the GOP elite.... In addition to [New Jersey Gov. Chris] Christie, at least five other potential Bush rivals have said in recent days that they would not have backed the invasion if they knew in 2003 that the intelligence on Iraqi weapons was inaccurate: Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.), plus Ohio Gov. John Kasich." And John Bolton! ...

... O'Keefe recounts Jeb's extensive comments -- in response to hostile audience questions -- on Iraq. ...

... Paul Waldman summarizes: "George W. did the right thing, and everything that went wrong was somebody else's fault." ...

... Marc Caputo of Politico Magazine: "Jeb Bush has never publicly resolved the conflict between the Bush family code of loyalty and the imperative he now faces -- as a possible GOP front-runner -- of making the case that he's his own man.... Jeb's lack of clarity on a life-or-death topic like war has spooked longtime supporters and some otherwise-loyal donors. 'It's true we want to raise $100 million by the end of the month,' one Bush donor told Politico Magazine, refusing to speak on record for fear of appearing disloyal. 'But if he doesn't give a clear answer about something so simple and figure out how to deal with the issue of his brother, we're going to have to spend every penny of that cleaning up his mess.'" ...

... Latest Jeb Feint. Michael Bender of Bloomberg: "... Jeb Bush said Wednesday that questioning about how he would have handled Iraq War authorization 'does a disservice' to military service members killed in action." CW: It's hard to be more craven than hiding behind the bodies of soldiers. ...

... Not Necessarily His Own Man. Maggie Haberman & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "As he strains to win over Republican activists, particularly in crucial early-voting states like Iowa and South Carolina, [Jeb] Bush is being confronted with a distressing realization: He may now need to lean on his brother to survive the Republican primary, despite the damage that could do to Mr. Bush in a general election. In private conversations, Mr. Bush's allies have often taken note that his brother's approval ratings among likely primary and caucus voters are sky high." ...

... Gail Collins: "If the version of Jeb Bush we've been seeing lately is the one we're going to be stuck with, then one of the other Republican contenders is going to win. Maybe the guy who thinks Obamacare is the worst thing since slavery. Or the guy who once linked vaccines to children with mental disorders. The guy who used to peddle a 'Diabetes Solution Kit.' The guy with the bridge traffic jam! Right now, you know, it's all hypothetical." ...

... Or this little snot. ... Marco Flip-Flops on Iraq. Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Wednesday that he would not have authorized the invasion of Iraq given what he knows today, becoming the latest candidate to weigh in on a question that has tripped up likely GOP rival Jeb Bush.... But Rubio ... in an interview with Fox News in March..., said he didn't think it was a mistake to go to war in Iraq. 'I don't believe it was. The world is a better place because Saddam Hussein doesn't run Iraq,' said Rubio." CW: Pretty hasty reversal for someone who sells himself as a "foreign policy savant" & a mighty ambitious stab in the back to his longtime mentor.

Carly Fiorina, Deadbeat Millionaire. Sam Brodey of Mother Jones: "Carly Fiorina, the Republican presidential candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO, is marketing herself as a pragmatic, fiscally responsible businesswoman -- the only GOP candidate who knows, as she says, 'how the economy actually works.'... Until late last year, Fiorina was close to $500,000 in debt from her 2010 run, nearly all of it in unpaid compensation to campaign staffers and outside consultants, according to Federal Election Commission filings.... In January, Fiorina -- whose own wealth is estimated up to $120 million -- personally donated $487,000 to her Senate campaign, and then she made good on the back pay...."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley, who has been ramping up for a potential White House bid, plans to make an announcement about his political future on May 30 in Baltimore, aides said Wednesday."

Annie Karni of Politico: Clinton Cash author Peter Schweizer has made seven or eight "significant" corrections to his book; the corrections will appear in the Kindle version, Amazon has announced. A HarperCollins spokesperson says the changes are "minor," not "significant."

Beyond the Beltway

Oliver Laughland & Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "The Baltimore police lieutenant charged with the manslaughter of Freddie Gray was accused of threatening to kill an ex-girlfriend.... Brian Rice ... [also was] accused of threatening to kill the husband of another ex-girlfriend, having that man wrongfully arrested, and warning that he was preparing to kill himself, as part of an intense dispute that saw him twice disciplined by chiefs and stripped of his guns. Experts on policing have expressed dismay that Rice was permitted to stay in his job after his supervisors were repeatedly informed of his actions, which extended to trying once again to have the man arrested on 29 March this year. Two weeks later he initiated the arrest of Gray...."

Spencer Hsu & Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) on Wednesday granted an absolute pardon to a convicted sex offender, ending a decades-long campaign by an imprisoned man whose claims of innocence were eventually joined by prosecutors and police. Final proof that Michael Kenneth McAlister, 58, was wrongfully convicted came when another man -- a serial rapist who bore an uncanny resemblance to McAlister -- recently confessed to the 1986 attempted rape and kidnapping in Richmond, the governor said."

Jason Hancock of the Kansas City Star: "Text messages obtained by The Star reveal a sexually charged relationship between House Speaker John Diehl [R] and a college freshman in a Missouri Capitol internship program that shut down abruptly last month. The conversations unveil a flirty rapport and suggest an intimacy between arguably the state's most influential lawmaker and a young woman.... Diehl lives with his wife and three sons in Town and Country, Mo." CW: The Star publishes the context of the text messages, which are predictably banal; e.g., "God I want you right now." Via Daily Kos. ...

... Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch: "Earlier this year, Diehl and the president pro-tempore of the state Senate filed an amicus brief in defense of the state's anti-gay-marriage amendment, leading the Missouri Family Policy Council, the state affiliate of the Family Research Council, to praise the speaker 'for demonstrating moral leadership and true integrity in standing up for the sacred institution of marriage and the family values of the people of Missouri.' The state affiliate of the Southern Baptist Convention thanked him for 'fighting to defend biblical marriage.'"

Way Beyond

Letters from a Prince. Robert Booth & Matthew Taylor of the Guardian: "A cache of secret memos between Prince Charles and senior government ministers has been released after a 10-year legal battle, offering the clearest picture yet of the breadth and depth of the heir to the throne's lobbying at the highest level of politics. The 27 memos, sent in 2004 and 2005 and released only after the Guardian won its long freedom of information fight with the government, show the Prince of Wales making direct and persistent policy demands to the then prime minister Tony Blair and several key figures in his Labour government. From Blair, Charles demanded everything from urgent action to improve equipment for troops fighting in Iraq to the availability of alternative herbal medicines in the UK, a pet cause of the prince.... The letters revealed not only that ministers often responded actively to his suggestions but they appeared to hold his interventions in high regard.... Since the beginning of 2010, the prince held 87 meetings with ministers, opposition party leaders and top government officials.... The letters emerged amid growing signs that Prince Charles is planning to rule in a far more outspoken way than the taciturn Queen."

News Ledes

Palmyra's Roman theater.AFP: "Islamic State group fighters have advanced to the gates of ancient Palmyra on Thursday, raising fears the Syrian world heritage site could face destruction of the kind the jihadis have already wreaked in Iraq. Isis fighters were battling Syrian troops less than two kilometres (barely a mile) from the remains of one of the most important cultural centres of the ancient world, Syria's director of antiquities said.... The jihadi advance on the well-preserved remains came as an international conference was under way in Cairo to address the destruction already wreaked by Isis on the ancient sites of Nimrud and Hatra in Iraq.

ABC News: "Irish police have arrested four individuals on terror charges after bomb components were found in an unspecified location near the border with Northern Ireland, only five days before an official visit by Prince Charles and Camilla."

The Commentariat -- May 13, 2015

Internal links removed.

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats handed President Obama a stinging rebuke on Tuesday, blocking consideration of legislation granting their own president accelerated power to complete a major trade accord with Asia. The Senate voted 52-45 on a procedural motion to begin debating the bill to give the president 'trade promotion authority,' eight votes short of the 60 needed to proceed. Republicans and pro-trade Democrats said they would try to negotiate a trade package that could clear that threshold. But the vote Tuesday presented Mr. Obama what might be a no-win situation. He may have to accept trade enforcement provisions he does not want in order to propel the trade legislation through the Senate, but those same provisions might doom the Pacific trade negotiations that legislation is supposed to lift." ...

... The Washington Post story, by Mike DeBonis, is here. ...

... Greg Sargent: "... it's way premature to suggest that this means the TPP is in deep trouble.... There is still a sizable bloc of pro-TPP Democrats in the Senate who will vote Yes, if their demands are met.... Democrats want votes on four provisions at once -- fast track (which would ensure a Congressional up-or-down vote on a final deal), Trade Adjustment Assistance (which helps workers displaced by trade), a provision cracking down on currency manipulation by other countries, and a measure that would stiffen enforcement of the terms of the trade deal. [Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell only allowed a vote on the first two of these. A sizable bloc of Dems who voted No today could well vote Yes if McConnell relents...." ...

... Dana Milbank: Elizabeth "Warren masterfully undermined the trade bill, by highlighting the administration's obsessive secrecy (the details of the proposed agreement are classified) and the role of corporate interests in drafting the deal (500 non-government advisors participated, she said, 85 percent of them industry executives or lobbyists).... Senate free-traders will likely find a way to revive the bill, but Tuesday's defeat will embolden opponents in the House, where the free-trade package already faced trouble. However the trade debate is resolved, Tuesday's defeat in the Senate is likely to be a turning point, because it shows that the populists are now firmly in control of the Democratic Party.... Hillary Clinton, was not courageous enough to take a position on the trade legislation, but her silence gave Democrats more freedom to oppose it. And Democrats in Congress bristled at Obama's disparagement of opponents of the trade bill as emotional, illogical and dishonest." ...

... AND thanks again to Unwashed for highlighting the Roosevelt Institute program, which Milbank cites. ...

... "Trade Show." Charles Pierce: "... I would have to say that this afternoon's events in the Senate justify the president's snark about Senator Professor Warren's being 'a politician.' He's right. She is. And, today, she was a better one than he was.... (As far as our future leaders go, Marco Rubio skipped the vote and both of those Tea Party populist heroes, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, voted to give the tyrannical president this power.) The TPP looks like a big enough turkey all on its own, and why the president has chosen this particular issue on which to go to knives so vigorously with his progressive supporters leads me to wonder if it isn't just a way to guarantee him some nice sinecures when he leaves office in 2017." ...

... CW: I would pause to point out that President Obama has been securing his post-presidential future from Day One. When he told imperious bankers in April 2009, "My administration is the only thing between you and the pitchforks," I wondered why he was holding the pitchforks at bay. It didn't take long to figure it out, as again & again, he & then-Treasury Secretary Tim Geitner did Wall Street's bidding at the expense of Main Street. ...

... Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown threw a grenade into the ongoing war of words between Sen. Elizabeth Warren and President Barack Obama, a war that reached new heights with Tuesday's dramatic setback of Obama's trade agenda in the Senate. When asked how Obama was being disrespectful of Warren, Brown replied: 'I think by just calling her 'another politician.' He continued, 'I'm not going to get into more details. I think referring to her as first name, when he might not have done that for a male senator, perhaps?'" ...

... Kevin Cirilli of the Hill: "National Organization for Women (NOW) president Terry O'Neill on Wednesday called President Obama's critique of Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sexist.... 'The truth of the matter is that Elizabeth is, you know, a politician like everybody else. And you know, she's got a voice that she wants to get out there. And I understand that,' Obama told Yahoo. O'Neill said Obama's 'clear subtext is that the little lady just doesn't know what she's talking about.'"

... Not to throw cold water on the Warren party, but ... Laura Barron-Lopez, et al., of the Huffington Post: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been the public face of the Democratic Party's feud with President Barack Obama over his trade agenda. But behind the scenes, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) quietly united his party behind a strategy that resulted in a major defeat Tuesday for the president. Brown's weeks of work came to fruition when Democrats voted to block legislation that would have given Obama so-called fast-track trade authority." ...

... AND. Russell Berman of the Atlantic: "... it turns out that the president's most difficult obstacle is not Warren but Harry Reid, his erstwhile ally and the Democratic leader in the Senate." ...

... Burgess Everett & Manu Raju of Politico: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who rallied his caucus to reject the fast-track measure on a procedural vote, has already floated a plan to find a way out of the impasse by offering to drop a customs bill, which includes anti-currency manipulation language,from his party's list of demands.... 'I suggest the way we move forward is to have a program where we have all of these bills discussed at the same time,' Reid said. 'Everybody should just take a deep breath. I think there's probably a way we can move forward with this.' But with little more than a week before the Memorial Day recess and several expiring laws still to be addressed, the immediate future of Obama's trade agenda is uncertain."

Kathryn Wolfe of Politico: "An Amtrak train from Washington, D.C., to New York City derailed Tuesday night in Philadelphia, killing at least six people and injuring dozens -- on the eve of a House markup of a bill that would slash the passenger rail service's budget.... The version approved earlier by [the] appropriations subcommittee contains language that would slash Amtrak's funding to $1.13 billion, less than the roughly $1.4 billion it typically receives annually. Democrats had already been expected to take a run at boosting the bill's funding for Amtrak, but the debate at Wednesday's markup is sure to take on more urgency in light of the crash.... Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), a critic of the FRA's oversight of train safety, tweeted that he and others 'will need a quick, thorough investigation to determine the cause.'" See also yesterday's & today's News Ledes.

Bill McKibben in the New York Times: "THE Obama administration's decision to give Shell Oil the go-ahead to drill in the Arctic shows why we may never win the fight against climate change. Even in this most extreme circumstance, no one seems able to stand up to the power of the fossil fuel industry. No one ever says no.... A quarter century ago, scientists warned that if we kept burning fossil fuel at current rates we'd melt the Arctic. The fossil fuel industry (and most everyone else in power) ignored those warnings, and what do you know: The Arctic is melting.... If we're to have any chance of meeting even Mr. Obama's weak goal of holding temperature rise to 2 degrees Celsius, we have to leave most carbon underground."

David Gelles & Brian Chen of the New York Times: "Verizon Communications agreed on Tuesday to buy AOL for $4.4 billion in an all-cash deal that will see today's king of mobile acquire the one-time king of media.... Verizon and AOL want to put content and new advertising technology on today's most ubiquitous computing device, the mobile phone. In AOL, Verizon acquires a company that has developed valuable technology for serving mobile video and advertising." ...

... Farhad Manjoo of the New York Times explains the rationale behind the deal: it is "... just the latest corporate reaction to a staggering shift in the way people across the globe get their news and entertainment. Over the last couple of years, we have collectively decided to use our phones to reach the Internet more than we ever used our computers to do."

Jessica Roy of New York: "The Environmental Protection Agency has partnered with several other federal agencies to address the public-health concerns at nail salons. Along with the Food and Drug Administration, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the Small Business Administration, the EPA will 'develop a plan to assess and improve regulations, programs, and outreach strategies to ensure nail salon worker health and safety,' according to a statement from the agency. The news comes a week after the New York Times ran an explosive story detailing the dangerous and exploitative conditions of many nail salons in New York."

Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: "With her commencement address at Tuskegee University, first lady Michelle Obama showed that her husband isn't the only one in the White House with a facility for searing and soaring speeches. In word and tone, Obama gave voice to the frustrations and hopes of African Americans in this country. Her words were powerful and forcefully delivered without apology. Coming after what we have witnessed in Ferguson and Baltimore, Obama's speech at the historically black institution has added resonance. Of course, Obama's truth-telling was met with the usual and predictable harangues from the reactionary right." ...

... Here's the transcript of Michelle Obama's speech. ...

Yes, Republicans Are Stupid. Anne Helms of the Charlotte Observer: Irresponsible Republican guy who is going blind blames President Obama for his own irresponsibility & for South Carolina's failure to accept the Medicaid expansion. Via Josh Marshall. CW: BTW, liberals are giving the irresponsible Republican guy the what-for on his GoFundMe page. However, as one commenter points out, he can't see to read the comments. Maybe his wife, who is as stupid as he is, will read them aloud to him.

Presidential Race

Nate Silver: "The Electoral College just isn't worth worrying about much. If you see analysts talking about the 'blue wall,' all they're really saying is that Democrats have won a bunch of presidential elections lately -- an obvious fact that probably doesn't have much predictive power for what will happen this time around. I'm not saying Clinton is doomed. Rather, I think the 'fundamentals' point toward her chances being about 50-50."

An Audience of One. Jaime Fuller of New York: At the Roosevelt Institute event mentioned above, "... Hillary Clinton was rarely mentioned during either of these rollouts, but as she is the one presidential candidate progressives are most determined to move to the left, it was obvious she was the intended audience."

Ed O'Keefe & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "A nonprofit group allied with former Florida governor Jeb Bush is playing a more expansive role in his current political operation than previously known, housing several top policy advisers who are expected to join his eventual campaign.... Bush's reliance on the non­profit as he prepares for a likely presidential bid puts him on untested legal ground, cloaking who is paying the salaries of his expected advisers.... A landmark 2002 law bans a candidate from directly or indirectly establishing an organization that is not subject to federal contribution limits.... But a polarized Federal Election Commission is unlikely to scrutinize the maneuver, campaign finance experts said.... 'This is another example of how he is running roughshod over campaign finance law,' said Larry Noble, senior counsel at the Campaign Legal Center." ...

... Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register: "No Iowa Straw Poll for Jeb Bush. The likely Republican presidential candidate will instead attend a competing event, the RedState Gathering in Atlanta, the day of the Iowa event.... Bush ... is the first well-known Republican in the 2016 presidential field to officially opt out of the straw poll, a nationally renowned event that has drawn significant criticism over the years." ...

... Roger Simon of Politico: "... to fully appreciate the importance of Jeb's revelation that George W. will be his chief adviser when it comes to the Mideast, you've got to keep in mind that Jeb's entire campaign is built around one selling point: Jeb is the smart one in the family." ...

... Confederate Byron York of the Washington Examiner:"If Jeb Bush sticks to his position -- that he would still authorize war knowing what we know today -- it will represent a step backward for the Republican Party.... As for whether Hillary Clinton would have authorized the invasion 'knowing what we know now' -- it's hard to believe that Jeb Bush is serious when he says she would. Of course she wouldn't. Nor would others involved in the decision [including Karl Rove].... Congress would not have authorized war if lawmakers knew there were no WMDs.... Jeb's statement is likely to resonate until he either changes his position or loses the race for the Republican nomination. Should he become the nominee, the issue will dog him into the general election campaign." ...

... Say Wha'? So already we're getting the "misheard-the-question" defense. CW: See if you have trouble understanding the question: Megyn Kelly of Fox "News": "Knowing what we know now, would you have authorized the invasion?" Jeb: "I would." ...

... And here's Kelly giving Jeb cover, suggesting "knowing what you know now" was a concept too difficult for Jeb to grasp. ...

... Wait, Wait, There's More Backpedalling. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush on Tuesday sought to arrest a chorus of criticism from Democrats and some conservatives after he told an interviewer that, knowing what history has since shown about intelligence failures, he still would have authorized the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Calling in to Sean Hannity's syndicated radio show, Mr. Bush said he had misunderstood a question that one of Mr. Hannity’s Fox News colleagues, Megyn Kelly, had asked him in an interview shown on Sunday and Monday nights. 'I interpreted the question wrong, I guess,' Mr. Bush said. 'I was talking about, given what people knew then.'... When Mr. Hannity asked about the 2003 Iraq invasion again, in yes-or-no fashion, Mr. Bush said he did not know what the answer would have been, saying, 'That's a hypothetical.' Then, he seemed to go out of his way to absolve his brother, former President George W. Bush, who ordered the invasion: 'Mistakes were made, as they always are in life,' Mr. Bush said."

So, not too bright, but no hearing loss. I think I'd have stuck with "say what?" -- Constant Weader

I want to directly answer your question, because that's what I do. If we knew then what we know now and I were the president of the United States, I wouldn't have gone to war. But you don't get to replay history. -- Chris Christie, to CNN's Jake Tapper yesterday

... Jonathan Chait: "Chris Christie, attempting to convince Republicans that his presidential campaign remains alive, has released his economic plan to 'raise growth and incomes.' The centerpiece is to stimulate spending in the snack sector. Ha, not really -- that would make more sense than Christie's actual plan, which is to give rich people an enormous tax cut."

We will look for you, we will find you, and we will kill you. -- Liam Neeson character Marco Rubio, on U.S. enemies, 2014

... Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: Today Marco Rubio will make his "first major foreign policy speech of his presidential campaign, where he is expected to complete a dramatic shift from moderate to ultra-hawk."

Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: "How depressing is it that, out of the more than a dozen announced or prospective Republican candidates for president in 2016, only one, Carly Fiorina, is a woman. Even more depressing: that Fiorina, as long-shot as her candidacy is, would not be taken even semi-seriously were it not for her gender.... It is the height of chutzpah to imagine that she is remotely qualified to be president. Or, since it's the more likely endgame, for vice president either."

Beyond the Beltway

Everett Rosenfeld of CNBC: "Moody's downgraded Chicago's credit rating down to junk level 'Ba1' from 'Baa2.' The announcement, which the ratings agency released Tuesday afternoon, cited a recent Illinois court ruling voiding state pension reforms. Moody's said it saw a negative outlook for the city's credit."

AP: "A Texas inmate has been executed for the killings of his 15-year-old girlfriend, her mother and her grandfather nearly 13 years ago in Houston. Derrick Dewayne Charles received a lethal injection on Tuesday after the US supreme court rejected last-day appeals and wouldn't stop his execution. He's the seventh prisoner put to death this year in the nation's busiest capital punishment state."

Mary Spicuzza & Bill Glauber of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne said Tuesday that Madison Police Officer Matt Kenny won't face criminal charges in a fatal shooting [of Tony Robinson] that sparked protests in Madison and drew national attention as the country grapples with police shootings of unarmed black men."

Way Beyond

Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Members of Russi's political opposition published a posthumous report by the politician Boris Y. Nemtsov on Tuesday that documented the deaths of 220 Russian soldiers in the fighting in southeastern Ukraine, even though the Kremlin denies being involved in the war there. The report, which goes into various clandestine aspects of the war in Ukraine, became particularly noteworthy after Mr. Nemtsov, an opponent of President Vladimir V. Putin, was assassinated in February.... After the fatal shooting of Mr. Nemtsov in central Moscow, the police detained five ethnic Chechens as suspects. But the investigation stalled there, as is the case in almost every politically tinged killing in Russia, and quickly dropped out of the headlines."

Ian Traynor of the Guardian: "European plans for a military campaign to smash the migrant smuggling networks operating out of Libya include options for ground forces on Libyan territory."

News Ledes

Philadelphia Inquirer: "At least five people were killed and dozens injured, six critically, when a northbound Amtrak train derailed Tuesday night in Port Richmond[, a Philadelphia neighborhood]. In the moments after the derailment, scores of emergency personnel swarmed over more than a half-dozen toppled train cars, trying to reach the dazed, the injured, the dying.Some people were reported trapped in the train, and crews were cutting into the cars to try to free the injured.... At a briefing early Wednesday morning, with [Pennsylvania Gov. Tom] Wolf at his side, [Philadelphia] Mayor [Michael] Nutter gave the grim numbers: In addition to the five dead, 65 people were taken to area hospitals, primarily Temple University Hospital. Six were in critical condition." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "At least six people were killed and 50 or more were injured Tuesday night when an Amtrak train that originated in Washington derailed in Philadelphia."

... Philadelphia Inquirer: "A National Transportation Safety Board 'Go Team' is scheduled to arrive at the crash scene later Wednesday morning. The Federal Railroad Administration said it also was sending at least eight investigators to the scene of what is believed to be the deadliest crash on the Northeast Corridor since 16 were killed when an Amtrak train collided with a freight train near Baltimore in 1987." ...

... Washington Post: What it was like inside the train.

Reuters [May 8]: "International inspectors have found traces of sarin and VX nerve agent at a military research site in Syria that had not been declared to the global chemical weapons watchdog, diplomatic sources said on Friday.... 'This is a pretty strong indication they have been lying about what they did with sarin,' one diplomatic source said. 'They have so far been unable to give a satisfactory explanation about this finding.'" Via the New York Times, which covers the story today.

The Commentariat -- May 12, 2015

Internal links removed.

Contributor Unwashed points us to a Roosevelt Institute panel discussion going on now (9: 15 am ET) about how government rules & laws could lower income inequality. "Speakers include: Senator Elizabeth Warren, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Nobel Laureate Joseph E. Stiglitz and panel of expert economists and strategists." You can listen in here. Stiglitz says the TPP is another move to increase corporate power & income inequality. He whacks the President for his "nasty" remarks about TPP opponents.

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Obama administration gave conditional approval on Monday for Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to start drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic Ocean this summer. The approval is a major victory for Shell and the rest of the petroleum industry, which has sought for years to drill in the remote waters of the Chukchi seas, which are believed to hold vast reserves of oil and gas.... The Interior Department decision is a devastating blow to environmentalists, who have pressed the Obama administration to reject proposals for offshore Arctic drilling. Environmentalists say that a drilling accident in the icy and treacherous Arctic waters could have far more devastating consequences than the deadly Gulf of Mexico oil spill of 2010...."

Dana Milbank: "The vast majority of lawmakers in [President Obama's] own party oppose him on trade legislation. Yet rather than accept that they have a legitimate beef, he shows public contempt for them -- as he did in an interview with Matt Bai of Yahoo News released over the weekend.... The fast-track legislation faces its first test Tuesday with a vote in the Senate, and it looks to be a squeaker.... If Obama loses on trade, blame should go to the twin pillars of detachment that have underpinned his presidency: insularity and secrecy." ...

... Greg Sargent interviews Sen. Elizabeth Warren about the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. ...

... Jared Bernstein & Dean Baker in the Washington Post: "... the TPP contains no currency provisions, meaning there are no enforceable rules in the deal that would prevent our trading partners from managing their currency so that it stays low relative to the dollar.... Previous research has found that a few of the countries in the TPP have a history of managing their currency to subsidize their exports. We estimate that currency interventions by Japan, Malaysia and Singapore have cost us 250,000 to 320,000 jobs annually over the past few years.... Although we strongly disagree, the administration has quite clearly argued that we are helpless in the face of these interventions." ...

... ** David Dayen in Salon: "It's beneath the dignity of the Presidency to so aggressively paint opponents as not just wrong on the facts, but hiding the truth on purpose. Warren has responded without using the same indecorous tactics. Unfortunately, I don't have the same self-control. So by way of response, here are ten moments where the Presidentor his subordinates have lied -- call it 'misled' or 'offered half-truths' or whatever; but I'm in an ornery mood so let's just say lied -- about his trade agenda." CW: Read 'em all.

Andrea Peterson of the Washington Post: "The USA Patriot Act has been at the nexus of the debate over privacy and civil liberties since it was passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. But a looming legislative deadline, a recent court ruling against a controversial program that collects the details of millions of Americans' phone calls and a filibuster threat mean that the government's spying abilities face an uncertain future.... Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is advocating for an extension of Section 215 through 2020. But that would likely push the issue to the Supreme Court to settle. On the other side of the debate, long-time government surveillance critic Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) threatened in an interview with MSNBC to filibuster a short-term extension of the law 'unless there are major reforms like getting rid of this bulk phone record collections.'" ...

... David McCabe of the Hill: "Seven tech groups are backing a bill that would reform provisions of the Patriot Act some say are responsible for unreasonable government surveillance. 'Public trust in the technology sector is critical, and that trust has declined measurably among both U.S. citizens and citizens of our foreign allies since the revelations regarding the U.S. surveillance programs began 2 years ago,' the groups say in the letter written to House leaders endorsing the USA Freedom Act.... The letter was signed by the Information Technology Industry Council, the Internet Association, the Computer & Communications Industry Association, BSA|The Software Alliance, TechNet, Reform Government Surveillance and the Software & Information Industry Association." ...

... Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The National Security Agency isn't making any policy changes following a sweeping federal court ruling against its bulk collection of Americans' phone records last week. Instead, NSA Director Adm. Michael Rogers said in his first public comments since Thursday's ruling by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals that the ball was back in Congress's court, and it was up to lawmakers to consider how the agency should proceed."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Obama administration on Monday put health insurance companies on notice that they must cover all forms of female contraception, including the patch and intrauterine devices, without imposing co-payments or other charges. In the last month, the National Women's Law Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation issued separate reports that found that insurers often flouted a federal requirement to provide free coverage of birth control for women under President Obama's health care law."

Simon Miloy of Salon makes fun of "Wall Street tycoons advis[ing] Democrats that the UK elections show people hate it when you say mean things about banks." ...

... Scammers R Us. Peter Eavis of the New York Times: "... on Monday, in the starkest of terms, a federal judge ... ruled that two banks misled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in selling them mortgage bonds that contained numerous errors and misrepresentations. 'The magnitude of falsity, conservatively measured, is enormous,' Judge Denise L. Cote of Federal District Court in Manhattan wrote in a scathing 361-page decision. The ruling came in a closely watched case brought by the government against the Japanese bank Nomura Holdings and Royal Bank of Scotland. They were the only two of 18 financial firms that took their case to trial, arguing that it was the housing crash, and not deceptive loan documents, that caused the bonds to collapse. The other firms -- including Goldman Sachs and Bank of America -- settled, together paying nearly $18 billion in penalties but avoiding a detailed public airing of their conduct."

"Swindle Our Troops!" -- GOP. Zach Carter of the Huffington Post: "House Republicans are again attacking measures aimed at protecting U.S. troops from predatory lending practices, two weeks after a similar GOP effort failed." Via Paul Waldman.

Sarah Wheaton of Politico: "The Barack Obama presidential library will be built in his adopted hometown of Chicago, the Barack Obama Foundation announced in a video message posted online Tuesday. A bid by the University of Chicago, where Obama taught constitutional law before turning to politics, beat out rival proposals from Hawaii and New York to host the location of Obama's presidential archives and museum." ...

Diaper Boy Not Feeling the Love. Manu Raju of Politico: "Within the chummy confines of the U.S. Senate, [Sen. David] Vitter [R-La.] has emerged as one of the most disliked members. The second-term senator's effort to kill the federal health care contribution [to Members of Congress & their staffs], worth several thousand dollars [each] to lawmakers and their staffers, is a big part of it. But the two-year drive, his [Senate] critics say, symbolizes an operating style that Vitter's critics complain is consumed with public relations, even for an ambitious member of Congress: speeding in and out of meetings, railing about issues on the Senate floor but doing little to execute behind the scenes, firing off news releases left and right. In an institution in which the inside game is critical, Vitter doesn't even pretend to bother with it.... His unpopularity in the Senate hasn't translated to his poll numbers: One survey in December showed four in five Republicans viewed him favorably." He's likely to win his bid for governor of Louisiana.

American "Justice," Ctd. Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "A former Central Intelligence Agency officer on Monday was sentenced to three and a half years in prison on espionage charges for telling a journalist for The New York Times about a secret operation to disrupt Iran's nuclear program. The sentence was far less than the Justice Department had wanted. The former officer, Jeffrey A. Sterling, argued that the Espionage Act, which was passed during World War I, was intended to prosecute spies, not officials who talked to journalists. He asked for the kind of leniency that prosecutors showed to David H. Petraeus, the retired general who last month received probation for providing his highly classified journals to his biographer." ...

... Marcy Wheeler talks to the Real News about the Sterling case. Pretty fascinating. Thanks to Victoria D. for the lead:

Pew Research Center: "The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive new survey by the Pew Research Center. Moreover, these changes are taking place across the religious landscape, affecting all regions of the country and many demographic groups. While the drop in Christian affiliation is particularly pronounced among young adults, it is occurring among Americans of all ages. The same trends are seen among whites, blacks and Latinos; among both college graduates and adults with only a high school education; and among women as well as men." ...

... Emma Green of the Atlantic: However, 44 percent of those who don't identify with a particular religion still say that religion is very or somewhat important to them.

Andrew Kirell of Mediaite: "In response to anti-Islam activist Pamela Geller's controversial 'Draw Muhammad' cartoon contest, liberal comedian and commentator Dean Obeidallah announced a 'Draw Your Favorite Islamophobe' contest this Saturday on his Sirius XM radio show.... 'You pick, draw it, take a photo of it and send it to me at submissions@thedeansreport.com. The winner will be announced on my show this coming Saturday and receive a tasty falafel (or a gift certificate up to $10 to a restaurant in your area that serves falafels),' the website read."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Investigative journalist Seymour Hersh alleged in a long-rumored 10,000-word story published Sunday [and linked in yesterday's Commentariat] that the United States and Pakistan lied about major details about the 2011 raid that killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but the CIA and White House are both rejecting his account.... A CIA official told The Washington Post that Hersh's story is 'utter nonsense.' White House spokesman Ned Price said it had 'too many inaccuracies and baseless assertions' to fact-check each one, and added that the premise that bin Laden was killed in 'anything but a unilateral U.S. mission is patently false.'" ...

... Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "The former Navy SEAL who says he killed Osama bin Laden is slamming a new report that challenges the White House's account of the mission, calling it 'garbage.' 'The story that I read, the part from [Seymour] Hersh, was full of lies,' Rob O'Neill said on Fox News's 'Shepard Smith Reporting.'" ...

... Max Fisher of Vox: Hersh's "allegations are largely supported only by two sources, neither of whom has direct knowledge of what happened, both of whom are retired, and one of whom is anonymous. The story is riven with internal contradictions and inconsistencies. The story simply does not hold up to scrutiny.... Hersh produces no supporting documents or proof, nor is the authority of either source established." ...

... Jon Schwarz & Ryan Devereaux of the Intercept: "R.J. Hillhouse, a former professor, Fulbright fellow and novelist whose writing on intelligence and military outsourcing has appeared in the Washington Post and New York Times, made the same main assertions in 2011 about the death of Osama bin Laden as Seymour Hersh's new story in the London Review of Books -- apparently based on different sources than those used by Hersh.... The Intercept cannot corroborate the reporting of either Hillhouse or Hersh..., nor can we rule out the possibility that Hersh's sources based their beliefs on Hillhouse's writing. In reporting that appears to back up major elements of that of Hillhouse and Hersh, NBC today asserted that a Pakistani intelligence officer 'walk in' told the CIA about bin Laden's location in the year before the raid on his compound." ...

     ... Hillhouse called Hersh's piece is "either plagiarism or unoriginal."

... Matthew Cole, et al., of NBC News: "Two intelligence sources tell NBC News that the year before the U.S. raid that killed Osama bin Laden, a 'walk in' asset from Pakistani intelligence told the CIA where the most wanted man in the world was hiding - and these two sources plus a third say that the Pakistani government knew where bin Laden was hiding all along." ...

... Dylan Byers of Politico: "Seymour Hersh's alternative history about the killing of Osama bin Laden was offered to and declined by The New Yorker, where Hersh is a regular contributor, years before its publication in the London Review of Books...." ...

... Steve M. on why the right won't want to defend Seymour Hersh: "One reason the story is unsatisfying to the right is obvious right away: If Hersh's version of how the U.S. learned about bin Laden's whereabouts were to prove true, it would end forever the discussion of whether torture had anything to do with bin Laden's death, and not in the right's favor."

Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: Pseudojournalist Mark Halperin apologizes for using an interview to pelt Ted Cruz with Cuban-stereotype questions. And it wasn't just Ricky Ricardo-type questions: "... Halperin requested that the senator do his 'very good and very respectful imitation' of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), another presidential candidate. Cruz declined. He also declined to welcome Sanders to the race 'en Español.'" CW: How bad does a major-media "journalist" have to be to actually victimize Ted Cruz? Halperin-bad. ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The prize for the most racist interview of a 2016 candidate goes to Bloomberg's Mark Halperin."

Presidential Race

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton, who helped write the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, is now keeping mum on the agreement. ...

Whatever the merits of the TPP, this issue has become a surrogate within the party for a larger debate about corporate power and fairness, which puts her in a difficult spot. She was the [secretary of state] when these negotiations began, and the previous Clinton administration was closely identified with trade. But it is a volatile issue, and supporting it could add to fears on the left that she is too oriented toward big business and give additional impetus to a potential primary challenger. -- David Axelrod

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Bill Clinton does not intend to participate -- much -- in Hillary Clinton's campaign, but he'll still be in the public limelight, giving speeches for the Clinton Foundation & to other groups "to pay the bills," etc.

Michael Bender of Bloomberg: "He may be a staunch critic of President Obama's executive orders on immigration, but Jeb Bush wouldn't rush to repeal them if he's the next White House resident. In an interview scheduled to air Monday night on Fox News, Bush suggested that he would wait until a new law was in place before overturning Obama's actions." ...

In response, Bobby Jindal promised to hold an exorcism in the Oval Office to drive out any hints of Barack Obama that might remain. -- Paul Waldman

Mark Halperin isn't interested in any of that. He is trying to get commitments from Bush & Ted Cruz to participate in a Latin-American cookoff. -- Constant Weader

... Alex Isenstadt & Ken Vogel of Politico: Jeb Bush & Karl Rove have long disliked each other. Now, they're involved in a clash for cash: "As Bush intensifies fundraising for his Right to Rise super PAC, expected to reach $100 million by the end of this month, he finds himself approaching many of the same contributors as Rove, whose American Crossroads super PAC is also financially dependent on many of the givers who have long supported the political causes and campaigns of the extended Bush family network." CW: I'd really like to see a fistfight.

"Christie's Big Appetite." Mark Lagerkvist of New Jersey Watchdog: Gov. Chris "Christie spent $360,000 from his state allowance during his five years in office. More than 80 percent of that money, or $300,000, was used to buy food, alcohol and desserts, according to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records released by the governor's office.... On 58 occasions, Christie used a debit card to pay a total of $82,594 to Delaware North Sportservice, which operates the concessions at MetLife [Stadium, where the New York's Giants and Jets play their home games].... To avoid a potential scandal that could embarrass their rising political star, the New Jersey Republican State Committee reimbursed the Treasury in March 2012 for Christie's purchases from 'DNS Sports.'" Christie halved his grocery store expenditures after he had Lap-Band surgery.

Republicans Are Weird. Adam Lerner of Politico: "No candidate likes being hounded by opposition researchers, but one member of Rand Paul's team has a peculiar way of expressing his distaste. At a townhall event Monday for Rand Paul in Londonderry, New Hampshire, the Kentucky senator's political director for the state, David Chesley, licked the camera of a tracker sent by American Bridge, a left-leaning opposition research group."

... So peculiar, yes, but definitely not as scary as the naked Michigan Democratic state senator who took several rifle shots at his ex-wife -- see Beyond the Beltway below.

Senate Race

On, Wisconsin! Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) is A-okay with a constituent's repeatedly calling the POTUS "a Muslim terrorist."

Beyond the Beltway

Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Dean G. Skelos, the majority leader of the New York State Senate, agreed on Monday to step down from his leadership post after his arrest last week on federal corruption charges. The move followed days of escalating pressure on Senator Skelos, 67, who has proclaimed his innocence and sought to stay on as the chamber's leader."

Ann O'Neill of CNN: Sister Helene Prejean, "a Roman Catholic nun famous for counseling the condemned on death row took the witness stand in federal court Monday and vouched for" Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev [in his death penalty trial].... Prejean ... said she believed Tsarnaev was 'genuinely sorry' for the pain and suffering he inflicted on his victims." Prejean opposes the death penalty.

The Naked Gunman. George Hunter of the Detroit News: "State Sen. Virgil Smith [D] told police his ex-wife stormed into his house and assaulted his girlfriend before he did 'the most stupid thing in his life' -- opening fire at the ex-wife's Mercedes Benz with a rifle -- according to a police report obtained by The Detroit News. He was naked when he met her at the front door, the senator's ex-wife claims in a second police report, beat her with his fists, chased her outside and shot at her four or five times." ...

... Update. Gina Damron & Robert Allen of the Detroit Free Press: "Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Smith was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault with a gun and malicious destruction of property following the incident outside of his east side Detroit home at about 1 a.m. Sunday."

Jeff Weiner & Stephanie Allen of the Orlando Sentinel: "George Zimmerman, the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer who shot and killed Trayvon Martin in 2012, suffered facial injuries in a roadside shooting Monday near a busy intersection in Lake Mary, police said. Lake Mary Police Department Chief Steve Bracknell said the shooter is believed to be Matthew Apperson of Winter Springs -- a man who accused Zimmerman of making threats during a road-rage incident last year. No one had yet been arrested in the shooting late Monday. Zimmerman, 31, was released from a hospital in Sanford after a brief stay to treat his injuries, which were likely caused by flying glass or some other type of debris, according to his attorney, Don West.... A police spokeswoman, Officer Bianca Gillette, described Zimmerman's wounds as 'minor.'"

News Lede

New York: "An Amtrak train heading from Washington, D.C. to New York crashed in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, and at least 50 people are injured, said the front 'looks pretty bad.'"