The Commentariat -- March 3, 2014

Internal links removed.

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Ukraine crisis.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully. Working the telephone from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama rallied allies, agreed to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Kiev and approved a series of diplomatic and economic moves intended to 'make it hurt' as one administration official put it. But the president found himself besieged by advice to take more assertive action." ...

     ... CW: Here's an example of what I've meant when I've criticized Baker's reporting. The above is supposed to be a news story. Yet after repeating some of the usual GOP whining (plus a remark from Sen. Dick Durbin [D-Ill.], who is 100% supportive of the President), Baker asks, "Is Mr. Obama tough enough to take on the former K.G.B. colonel in the Kremlin?" Tough enough? Huh? What would sufficiently demonstrate "tough"? Invading Siberia? Bombing St. Petersburg? As Marco Rubio suggests, kicking the Russian tourists out of Miami? Or just some mano-a-mano arm-wrestling with "the former K.G.B. colonel"? If only we had the Dick & Dubya back, they would know what to do. ...

... Will Englund, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian forces expanded their control of Ukraine's Crimea region Monday, as the Ukrainian prime minister acknowledged that his country lack's military options in dealing with the takeover. The Russian forces, already in control of much of Crimea, took possession of a ferry terminal in Kerch, in the eastern part of the peninsula just across a strait from Russian territory, according to reports from the area. The terminal serves as a departure point for many ships heading to Russia." ...

... Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "With small military standoffs around Ukrainian bases continuing in Russian-controlled Crimea and deepening anxiety about Russian intentions in eastern Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday called Ukraine 'the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century.' Visiting the new government in Kiev, Mr. Hague urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face 'significant costs,' echoing comments made by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who is due here on Tuesday." ...

... David Jolly of the New York Times: "The growing crisis in Ukraine hit global financial markets on Monday, unsettling investors who had already been nervous about shaky emerging market economies. The biggest impact was felt on Russian markets, as the Moscow benchmark Micex index dropped 9.4 percent, and the ruble fell to a record low against the dollar." ...

     ... CW: Yo, Marco, those Russian tourists in Miami are already feeling the pain. Now how many rubles does it take to buy a Cuban coffee? ...

... Geir Moulson of the AP: "The German government said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accepted a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel to set up a 'contact group' aimed at facilitating dialogue in the Ukraine crisis. Merkel raised the idea in a phone conversation in which she accused Putin of breaking international law with the 'unacceptable Russian intervention in Crimea." ...

... Steve Erlanger: "As Russian security forces consolidated their hold on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Sunday, the Ukrainian government called up its reserves and appealed for international help, while American and European leaders warned of potential political and economic penalties for Moscow. Sunday was a day of messages and mopping up, with Ukrainian and Western leaders trying to dissuade President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from overplaying his hand and ordering an invasion of eastern Ukraine, even as Russian forces and their sympathizers in Crimea worked to disarm or neutralize any Ukrainian resistance there." ...

... Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "The State Department announced Sunday that Secretary of State John F. Kerry will visit Kiev on Tuesday to show support for the new leadership there in the face of Russian military intervention."

... Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Sunday that Russia risked eviction from the Group of 8 industrialized nations if the Kremlin did not reverse its military occupation of Crimea in Ukraine." ...

... Dana Davidsen of CNN: "... U.S. lawmakers are pushing for decisive action against Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the violence in the region and respect Ukraine's independence. Appearing on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, Sens. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, made the case for congressional sanctions and a suspension of Russian membership in the G8 and G20." CW: Predictably, Graham called President Obama "weak and indecisive," blah-blah. As far as I can tell, Obama is skeert of foreign leaders, but at home he's a ruthless dictator. ...

... Masha Lipman of the New Yorker: "Vladimir Putin is not interested in mustering a 'coalition of the willing.' ... The West is no longer seen as 'partner,' the word Putin commonly used in the past. The West has become an unequivocal enemy. It is no exaggeration to say that tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine evoke the prolonged division that defined the Cold War. The geopolitical struggles over Iran, Syria, Georgia, and, now, Ukraine do not rise to the apocalyptic potential of the Cuban Missile crisis, but the stakes are enormous.... This is Putin's response to Ukraine's attempt to build a new nationhood that combines a leaning toward the Western world with the nationalism of Ukraine's own west; both 'wests' are regarded by Putin as utterly hostile to Russian interests." ...

... "Russian Exceptionalism." Adam Taylor of the Washington Post revisits Putin's 9/11/2013 letter to the New York Times in which Putin argued against U.S. military intervention in Syria. Putin wrote then that "'decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus,' and that an American-led strike against the Syrian regime 'could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance. ... We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today's complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos,' Putin wrote. 'The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not.'" ...

... Juan Cole contemplates some of the regional implications of Russia's takeover of the Crimea & possible Western sanctions. The situation is, to say the least, complex. ...

... CW: I don't know what to make of this Washington Post editorial, titled "President Obama's Foreign Policy Is Based on Fantasy," since the editors claim they're not warmongering. I think they'd like to see the Pentagon arrange for some goose-stepping military parades on Pennsylvania Avenue. ...

... CW: Since Russia's invasion of the Crimea, many news organizations have run this AP photo of Vladimir Putin, no doubt because he looks insane in the shot. But he also looks to me like a certain American. I wonder if any of you notice a resemblance to another figure often in the U.S. news:

Reid Epstein of Politico: Darrell "Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told 'Fox News Sunday' that [Lois] Lerner, the former head of the IRS tax-exempt division, would testify before his committee Wednesday, which he said he had been told by her attorney. That attorney, William W. Taylor, said Issa is wrong. 'As of now, she intends to continue to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,' Taylor told Politico."

Paul Krugman: "Recently the Federal Reserve released transcripts of its monetary policy meetings during the fateful year of 2008. And boy, are they discouraging reading. Partly that's because Fed officials come across as essentially clueless about the gathering economic storm.... What's really striking is the extent to which they were obsessed with the wrong thing. The economy was plunging, yet all many people at the Fed wanted to talk about was inflation."

Tim Alberta of the National Journal doesn't use the term, but he sure lays out the evidence that John Boehner is a flim-flam man. Actual legislating is not only against the GOP's perceived interests, it's hard, what with the devil being in the details.

Here's a surprise: Netanyahu promises to be obstreperous. Josef Federman of the AP: " Israel's prime minister headed to Washington on Sunday for a high-stakes meeting with President Barack Obama about U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts, vowing to maintain a tough line in the face of heavy international pressure to begin making concessions to the Palestinians."

New Jersey News

Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "Years before they resigned amid a scandal over politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie's top two executives at the Port Authority [-- Bill Baroni & David Wildstein --] led a secretive campaign to quickly push through controversial toll hikes on the Hudson River bridges and tunnels by drowning out criticism, limiting public input and portraying the governors of New York and New Jersey as fiscal hawks who reined in an out-of-control agency."

Elsewhere Beyond the Beltway

** Phillip Longman of the Washington Monthly demythologizes and debunks the "Texas Miracle": Texas "may offer low housing prices compared to California and an unemployment rate below the national average, but it also has low rates of economic mobility, minimal public services, and, unless you are rich, taxes that are as high or higher than most anywhere else in America. And worse, despite all the oil money sloshing around, Texas is no longer gaining on the richest states in its per capita income, but rather getting comparatively poorer and poorer.... The real Texas miracle is that its current leaders get away with bragging about it."

Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Sunday said that he is not ready to legalize marijuana use in the state. 'Well, we have medical marijuana, which gets very close to what they have in Colorado and Washington. I'd really like those two states to show us how it's going to work,' he said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Brown said he was worried about what would happen to the nation if too many people used the drug too often."

Thoughts from Right Wing World

Arthur Brooks, the president of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, explains in a New York Times op-ed why it's a terrible thing to talk about inequality; rather, we should be instituting the winger/Villager agenda. His little essay is a good example of the slick tricks of fake intellectuals, but you will recognize the wind-up & pitch because you've seen exactly the same malarkey, presented in precisely the same format, coming from that other Brooks -- David. ...

... To continue with our Winger's Guide to the New York Times Op-Ed Page, we turn to a very sad Ross Douthat, who has "surrendered" to those of us who think "love and commitment" are "enough to make a marriage," whereas he is among the ever-dwindling minority who believe marriage should "emphasize gender differences and procreation." ...

... Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly: "It sounds like [Douthat] thinks women are only worth marrying so that they can have men's children. Loving them is not necessary. Being committed to them is not necessary. ...

     ... CW: That is what Douthat believes. Sadly, Douthat is a moderate conservative; the views of more perverse wingers are that women have almost no value -- they're merely temporary "hosts" to men's children. Incubators.

The federal government takes sides and hands out spoils based on skin color. -- Tucker Carlson, Fox "News" host & editor of the Daily Caller

Okay, that's enough.

The Commentariat -- March 2, 2014

** Alison Smale & David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military force in response to the deepening instability in Ukraine." ...

     ... Update: Alison Smale & Steve Erlanger of the Times: "Russia's move to seize control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula on Saturday led Ukraine to call up its military reserves on Sunday and warn Moscow against further incursions as Western powers scrambled to find a response to the crisis." ...

     ... Update: William Booth, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian soldiers spread out across the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, taking control of military and civilian installations, after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured authorization to send in more troops as the Kremlin set the stage for a high-stakes international showdown over the future of Ukraine. Ukraine's new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, speaking at a press conference Sunday in Kiev, said 'This is actually a declaration of war to my country.' Yatseniuk urged Putin to pull back his troops. 'If he wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly countries, he is within just a few inches of his target. We are on the brink of disaster.'" CW: This is more than a "declaration." I'd call it an "occupation."

     ... Update. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama spoke for 90 minutes with Russian President Vladmir Putin Saturday in what appeared to have been a testy exchange reflecting an escalating battle of wills and growing international tension over Ukraine.... Putin gave little ground, according to a Kremlin account of the telephone conversation. Calling the Ukraine situation 'extraordinary,' he charged that Ukrainian 'ultranationalists,' supported by the U.S.-backed government in Kiev, were threatening 'the lives and health of Russian citizens' in Crimea.... Both Obama and U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, who had his own phone call with Putin, urged the Russian leader to open an immediate dialogue with Ukraine's new leaders, and permit international monitors to assess the situation on the ground." ...

     ... Readout of President's Obama's call with President Putin: "President Obama spoke for 90 minutes this afternoon with President Putin of Russia about the situation in Ukraine. President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law, including Russia's obligations under the UN Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and which is inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act. The United States condemns Russia's military intervention into Ukrainian territory." There's more. ...

     ... Readout of President Obama's call with Prime Minister Harper & President Hollande. "President Obama spoke separately this afternoon with President Hollande of France and Prime Minister Harper of Canada."

... Here's the Guardian's liveblog (Mostly Saturday's developments. Last entry is at 9:24 am GMT Sunday). ...

     ... Update: Here's the Guardian's liveblog for Sunday.

... Karen DeYoung: "The Obama administration, its top European partners and the U.N. Security Council spent much of Saturday trying to fashion a response to the rapid escalation of the Ukraine crisis as Russian troops took up positions throughout the autonomous republic of Crimea. The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session for the second time in as many days. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was 'gravely concerned' and expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama has warned Russia that 'there will be costs' for a military intervention in Ukraine. But the United States has few palatable options for imposing such costs, and recent history has shown that when it considers its interests at stake, Russia has been willing to absorb any such fallout." ...

... ** David Remnick of the New Yorker: "... the military incursion is unlikely to stop in Crimea: nearly all of eastern Ukraine is Russian-speaking. Russia defines its interests far beyond its Black Sea fleet and the Crimean peninsula." ...

... Julie Ioffe of the New Republic: "Putin's war in Crimea could soon spread to Eastern Ukraine. And nobody ...can stop him." ...

... Oxana Shevel in the Washington Post: "Russia may be planning to take over Crimea, but several factors make it harder to believe that Russia will be able to establish control and to effectively annex Crimea as it did with [the Georgian regions of] South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transnistria." ...

... This piece by Patrick Smith in Salon, as Barbarossa notes, "the US and EU aren't exactly innocent bystanders in Ukraine." Also, Tom Friedman is a "shameless toady." ...

... (BTW, Steve M. Wrote a fine takedown of the Oracle of Alaska.) ...

... Oh, stop worrying, people. President Obama may be naive, as John McCain sez, but fortunately he has Eastern European expert Marco Rubio (RTP-Fla.), who has provided the President with a list of eight things he must do to "punish Russia." Marco may not be able to see Russia from his house a la Palin, but he has seen real, live Russians in Miami. Spending money. Marco sez that's got to stop. (No rebuttal yet from the Florida Tourists Bureau.) ...

... CW: In a piece linked yesterday, we learned that Sen. Jim Inhofe (RNuts-Okla.) longed for the happy days of the Cold War. Well, Lucky Jim. It's baaaaack! ...

... CW: I see Sam Tanenhaus, in a New York Times op-ed, agrees: "SUDDENLY the specter of the Cold War is back.... The Cold War was less a carefully structured game between masters than a frightening high-wire act, with leaders on both sides aware that a single misstep could plunge them into the abyss." The piece is "a history lesson" worth reading. AND a reminder of how fortunate we are that we're not living under a McCain administration.

** Fred Kaplan in Politico Magazine: "More than five years into Obama's presidency, the single word that best sums up his foreign policy is 'realist' -- in some cases, as one former adviser told me, 'hard-nosed,' even 'cold' realist. Like all postwar presidents, Obama speaks in hallowed terms about America's global mission. But his actions reveal an aversion to missionary zeal."

Helena Evich & Tarini Parti of Politico: "The food industry appears poised to one-up the Obama administration with the launch of a national media blitz to promote its own nutrition labels on the front of food packages. The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, which represent the biggest food companies and retailers, will roll out a coordinated marketing campaign ... on Monday to promote their 'Facts Up Front,' the industry's own voluntary program for providing nutrition information on the front of food and beverage packages."

Annie-Rose Strasser of Think Progress: Apple CEO Tim Cook tells climate-change deniers to invest their money elsewhere. CW: Cook presents Apple's sustainability effort as a purely moral decision -- "We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive" -- but as profit-motive denier, Cook is unconvincing: most Apple customers, & potential customers, are climate-change-aware. Apple's green energy policy is a sound business practice. Also, cheaper than paying its employees a living wage. ...

     ... Update. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Last year Apple announced it would build one of the world's largest solar arrays. Despite what [a conservative think tank] may believe about best business practices, the project is projected to generate about $11 million in annual revenue, and add 7,400 jobs in Cupertino, California."

CW: I missed this, but it's worth reading today: Rick Hertzberg's line-by-line analysis of Gov. Jan Brewer's "surprisingly good speech" announcing her veto of Arizona's so-called "religious freedom" bill.

Senate Races

New York Times: "Dozens of states will hold Senate primaries this year, beginning with Texas on Tuesday. [The page provides] a look at the key races in every state. The outlook of each contest is based on an analysis of data from the Cook Political Report and from Larry Sabato, a professor of politics...."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The ascension of [new White House political director David] Simas -- driven, data-obsessed and a relentless salesman -- is meant as a message to anxiety-prone Democrats that the White House is serious about mitigating losses in the Republican House and defending the party's control of the Senate." ...

... MEANWHILE, the Times piece -- by Nicholas Confessore -- that balances Shear's focus on Democratic strategy is all about Bucks from Billionaires: "Donors like Paul Singer, the billionaire Republican investor, have expanded their in-house political shops, building teams of loyal advisers and researchers to guide and coordinate their giving. And some of the biggest contributors to Republican outside groups in 2012 are now gravitating toward the more donor-centric political and philanthropic network overseen by Charles and David Koch, who have wooed them in part by promising more accountability over how money is spent."

... CW: As carefully as the Times may exercise its dubious balancing act, sometimes the he-said/he-said stories can't help but highlight the truth: the GOP is the political arm of Big Money. Nothing more.

Presidential Election 2016

Maureen Dowd: "By the time the Bushes and Clintons are finished, they are going to make the Tudors and the Plantagenets look like pikers.... Our meritocratic society seems increasingly nepotistic and dynastic." But enough of Jeb. What I really want to do here is bash Hillary.

News Ledes

AP: "Police arrested hundreds of people who strapped themselves to the White House fence on Sunday to protest the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.... Protesters were passionate but quite orderly."

CBS Baltimore: "Annapolis Police arrest two people for an armed robbery of a pregnant woman in labor."

Reuters: " A massive winter storm system packing cold air, snow and freezing rain was pummeling the central United States on Sunday and headed for the East Coast, sending temperatures plummeting and causing major delays for weekend travelers."

Guardian: "Twelve prisoners with links to the Taliban walked out of Kandahar's Sarposa prison on Saturday after forging a letter from the attorney general ordering their release. It was the third time prisoners have escaped from their cells in southern Afghanistan's main jail, and the most audaciously simple."

Los Angeles Times: "China's state media called Saturday night's knifing attack at a train station in Kunming 'China's 9-11' and called for a crackdown on terrorism. The death toll from the attack rose to 33 with four of the perpetrators among the dead. One suspect is in custody, a woman, who was reported to be hospitalized. The perpetrators were said to be Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from northwestern China's Xinjiang region. Chinese authorities showed on a television station a black flag recovered at the scene which they said was calling for independence for the region that some Uighurs refer to as East Turkestan." ...

Los Angeles Times: "... a string of televised confessions that have raised alarm among Chinese attorneys as well as media watchers who say police, prosecutors and reporters are convicting people in the court of public opinion for political ends."

The Commentariat -- March 1, 2014

Michael Shear & Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "As Ukrainian leaders accused Russia of carrying out an armed invasion in the Crimea region, President Obama on Friday warned Russia not to intervene militarily, saying the United States would stand with the world to condemn a violation of Ukraine's sovereignty":

... Here's a transcript of President Obama's remarks....

... The New York Times is liveblogging events. ...

... Julie Pace & Matthew Lee of the AP: "U.S. officials said Friday that President Barack Obama may scrap plans to attend an international summit in Russia this summer and could also halt discussions on deepening trade ties with Moscow, raising specific possible consequences if Russia should intervene in Ukraine.... The administration's warning that trade talks could be halted came as Russian officials were in Washington for economic discussions with Obama advisers.... Separately, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said he would not address specific U.S. options, "but this could be a very dangerous situation if this continues in a provocative way.' Asked about options in a CBS News interview, he said that 'we're trying to deal with a diplomatic focus, that's the appropriate, responsible approach.'" ...

... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times provides background: "Crimea, a multiethnic region populated by Russians, Ukrainians and Tatars, has been the focus of territorial disputes for centuries, and in recent decades it has frequently been a source of tension between Ukraine and Russia." ...

... Told Ya So, Part 1. McCain Reprises His Brilliant 2008 Performance. Jay Newton-Small of Time: "In response to reports of a Russian takeover in parts of Crimea, Arizona Senator John McCain said on Friday, 'We are all Ukrainians,' before calling for swift U.S. economic aid to Ukraine, condemnation of Russia at the United Nations, sanctions against Russian officials and the installation of U.S. missiles in the nearby Czech Republic.... McCain made his declaration in response to a question from TIME about his famous 2008 statement, 'We are all Georgians.' ... In the interview Friday, McCain said President Obama has 'been incredibly naïve' about Putin's goals. 'Putin wants to restore the Russian empire, that's his ambition, he's stated it many times. Therefore no one should be surprised,' McCain said. 'I predicted it and I'm not a genius. But I know Putin.'" ...

     ... CW: I'm trying to remember. Was it President Obama who said of Putin, "I looked the man in the eye. I found him to be very straightforward and trustworthy and we had a very good dialogue. I was able to get a sense of his soul"? Well, whoever it was, he surely was "incredibly naive."

... Told Ya So, Part 2. CNN: "In 2008, when she was the GOP vice presidential nominee, [Sarah] Palin questioned in a speech whether then-Sen. Barack Obama would have the foreign policy credentials to handle a scenario in which Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine. 'After the Russian army invaded the nation of Georgia, Senator Obama's reaction was one of indecision and moral equivalence -- the kind of response that would only encourage Russia's Putin to invade Ukraine next,' she said in Reno, Nevada on October 21, 2008." Palin wrote Friday on Facebook, "Yes, I could see this one from Alaska.... I'm usually not one to Told-Ya-So, but I did, despite my accurate prediction being derided as 'an extremely far-fetched scenario' by the 'high-brow' Foreign Policy magazine." "In October 2008, Foreign Policy labeled Palin's prediction as 'strange.'" ...

     ... CW: Palin usually is "not one to say say Told Ya So" because Palin seldom gets anything right. And if you think she wrote that speech in October 2008 (or if she could find Georgia & Ukraine on a map), I have a bridge to nowhere to sell you. (At least she would know they're not in Africa, because she thought Africa was a country.) ...

... Josh Rogin of the Daily Beast: "Top [Republican] lawmakers on the House and Senate Armed Services said Thursday that the world would be better off if the Cold War was still on -- and if Obama wasn't cutting the defense budget." ...

I look back wistfully at the Cold War. There were two superpowers, they knew what we had, we knew what they had, mutually assured destruction meant something. It doesn't mean anything anymore. Now we have these people who are not rational, not logical, they're nuts. -- Sen. Jim Inhofe (RNuts-Okla.)

Your Official Friday Afternoon News Dump. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Obama administration said Friday that it would allow some people to receive federal subsidies for health insurance purchased in the private market outside of health insurance exchanges. The sudden shift was the latest in a series of policy changes, extensions and clarifications by federal officials trying to help beneficiaries and minimize political damage to Democrats in this election year. Federal officials said they had agreed to provide such assistance retroactively because technical problems had prevented consumers from using online exchanges to obtain insurance and financial aid in some states. Gov. John Kitzhaber of Oregon, a Democrat, had specifically asked the federal government to allow financial assistance, in the form of tax credits, for people buying insurance outside the state's troubled exchange." ...

... Dylan Scott of TPM: "More than a decade ago, Arkansas Rep. Josh Miller (R) was in a catastrophic car accident that broke his neck and left him paralyzed. Medicare and Medicaid paid the $1 million bill for his hospitalization and rehabilitation. But this week, as the Arkansas legislature has debated continuing its privatized Medicaid expansion..., Miller has remained steadfast in his opposition.... The difference, he said, is that some of the 100,000 people who have gained coverage through Arkansas's Medicaid expansion don't work hard enough or just want access to the program so they can purchase and abuse prescription drugs." (In the accident that critically injured Miller, "He was driving with a friend, alcohol was involved, but Miller said he couldn't remember who was driving.to the point that he does not know who was driving.... He was uninsured.") ...

... The Arkansas Times report, by Max Brantley, is well-worth reading, too, as it provides more detail. And this thought from Brantley:

A coldly rational person might say a cook in a fast-food restaurant, working long hours at low pay to feed a family, looks more deserving than an uninsured person injured on a drunken joy ride. I would not. No one should be pre-judged on a subjective merit test for health care.

     ... CW: What defines a Republican is his sociopathic certainty that he is uniquely "deserving" while others are unworthy.

Gail Collins: "The biggest difference between the fortunes of gay rights and abortion rights ... is that politicians who vote to limit women's rights to control their own bodies know that, for the most part, they're only hurting poor people. Low-income women are five times as likely to have an unintended pregnancy as their most affluent sisters. And the lawmakers who busy themselves throwing up barriers to abortion in their own states realize, deep in their hearts, that if their middle-class constituents want to end a pregnancy, they can get on a plane and go where it's easy to take care of the problem."

Dana Milbank performs a post-mortem on Dave Camp's tax reform proposal. The takeaway: Camp didn't do the politics right. ...

     ... A Congress Crammed with Mini-Cruzes. CW: In Partisan World, too many politicians don't do the politics right. Although officially as well as in their heart-of-hearts, they're politicians, they are inexperienced pols. They come from gerrymandered districts, so they don't really have to run for office; the only people they are required to cajole are fatcat donor-lobbyists. Then, if they're Republicans, their usual goal is to do nothing; John Boehner recently defined legislative "success" as repealing old laws, not creating new ones. Add to that mix hackery, hubris, & fear & loathing of the other, and it's little wonder we have a catatonic Congress. They simply don't know how to legislate. Ted Cruz is an exemplar, not an anomaly.

Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "We're still combing through the thousands of pages of previously withheld documents released Friday by the Clinton Library." Blake runs down "some of the most interesting things we have found. It will continue to be updated." ...

... Philip Rucker of the Post homes in on correspondence that shows how Hillary Clinton's aides worked to polish her image. I find these memos both amusing & baffling: For instance, in 1999, after Clinton had been in politics for decades, did she really need to be told -- in writing -- to "be real," along with other "style pointers," in advance of a meeting with Sen. Moynihan?

... Here's the Clinton Library page with links to the documents.

White House: "In his weekly address, President Obama said he took action this week to launch new manufacturing hubs and expand a competition to fund transformative infrastructure projects":

Gubernatorial Election

Reid Wilson of the Washington Post: "Gov. Jerry Brown (D), who on Thursday said he will run for an unprecedented fourth term in office, wants to challenge the notion that the state is unmanageable." ...

... CW: Sorry, I plumb forgot to link this yesterday. Anthony York of the Los Angeles Times: "Jerry Brown finally made it official Thursday: He's running for an unprecedented fourth and final term as governor. The announcement, widely expected, was made in minimalist Brown style, with a post on Twitter."

News Ledes

AP: "A group of knife-wielding men attacked a train station in southwestern China on Saturday, leaving at least 27 people dead and another 109 injured, the official Xinhua News Agency said, making it one of the deadliest attacks in China in recent years."

Guardian: "Iran's president said on Saturday the Islamic Republic has decided not to develop nuclear weapons out of principle, not only because it is prevented from doing so by treaties. President Hassan Rouhani also urged Iran's military leaders to let diplomacy prevail in dealing with potential foreign threats, in a clear reference to efforts to end the nuclear dispute and decades of hostile relations with the west."

Guardian: "Lawyers for the Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev are seeking to have multiple charges against him dismissed. In a court filing late on Friday his lawyers said some charges were repetitive and that the number could sway jurors weighing whether to find him guilty and sentence him to death."

New York Times: "The newly installed, pro-Russia prime minister of Crimea declared on Saturday that he had sole control over the military and the police in the disputed peninsula and he appealed to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for help in safeguarding the region."