The Commentariat -- Aug. 18, 2013

Here's the post by Juan Cole, to which Kate M. refers in the Comments. Cole explains quite well what that military aid is all about. This was key for me: "It is US arms manufacturers like Lockheed-Martin and General Dynamics (and their employees) who would suffer if it were cut off." ...

... In another post, Cole states the obvious: "It seems to me that the preponderance of the evidence suggests that religiously based political movements are almost impossible to eradicate by force." CW: As I've said here before, it is impossible to force people to change their beliefs. Even if a repressive government strips you of all your rights, you still believe what you believe. (And don't bother telling me about forcing mind-altering drugs on the populace; this might work in individual cases, but on a mass scale, it would simply lead to more chaos.) The Egyptian military's brutality and Morsi's brazen tyranny simply reinforce tribalism. For democracy to gain a foothold in countries that lack a democratic tradition, it takes a Mandela. Or two. ...

Between a Rock & a Hard Place. Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: Under municipal "nuisance property" ordinances, "officials "can ... pressure landlords to [evict tenants] if the police have been called to a rental home three times within four months.... Over the last 25 years, in a trend still growing, hundreds of cities and towns across the country have adopted nuisance property or 'crime-free housing' ordinances. But the laws are sometimes forcing victims, especially women facing domestic violence, to choose between calling the police and holding on to their homes, according to legal aid groups and experts on housing and the poor. 'These laws threaten citizens' fundamental right to call on the police for help,' said Matthew Desmond, a sociologist at Harvard.... Legal experts say the laws can give tenants the lasting stain of an eviction record without due process."

MoDo is back in her element: "If Americans are worried about money in politics, there is no larger concern than the Clintons, who are cosseted in a world where rich people endlessly scratch the backs of rich people."

Paul Krugman: "... conservatism ... [is] all about the protection of traditional hierarchy."

Justin Sink of the Hill: Eric Fehrnstrom, "A top adviser to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Friday it was a mistake for the Republican National Committee (RNC) to ban NBC and CNN from hosting debates during the 2016 primaries, saying the unanimous vote would create 'bad optics.'" CW: Yo, Eric, "Bad optics" is when you compare your candidate's general election flip-flops to an Etch-a-Sketch. Oh, my aching eyeballs.

CW: Oops, I forgot the President's weekly address yesterday. Here's an ABC New story on it & here's the video:

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Even as polls show Americans broadly oppose electioneering from the pulpit, a new report by a group of faith leaders working closely with Capitol Hill argues for ending the decades-old ban on explicit clergy endorsements. The report being given Wednesday to Sen. Charles E. Grassley -- the Iowa Republican whose office for years has been probing potential abuses by tax-exempt groups -- comes as the ban has become a culture-war flashpoint. More than 1,100 mostly conservative Christian pastors for the past few springs have been explicitly preaching politics -- they call the annual event 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday' p-- in an effort to lure the Internal Revenue Service into a court showdown. Meanwhile, groups that favor a strong church-state separation are going to court to demand that the IRS more aggressively enforce the ban that dates to 1954." Via Steve Benen. ...

... CW: The obvious way to deal with this & with "not-for-profit" political (and non-political) organizations is simply to subject them all to the same federal taxes the rest of us pay. Everybody -- pastor & Tea Party leader -- has a First Amendment right to express her opinions, but nobody has a First Amendment right to evade taxation. Those charitable organizations that actually do not make a profit will have zero tax liability. So what's the big deal? I get on my soapbox every day, but on April 15, I still have to pay my taxes; the Church of the Latter Day Rednecks should have to pony up, too.

Mark Oppenheimer of the New York Times on naming children after religious figures. CW: nobody mentions it, but after a court overturns a judge's ruling that changed a child's name from "Messiah" to "Martin," that kid is going to get older & his friends will call him "Mess."

Local News

In a tasteful editorial, the New York Post Editors endorse Scott Stringer for city comptroller. Title of the piece: "Vote Stringer and Give 'Client 9' the Hook." "The Post endorses Scott Stringer because in a race between an Upper West Side liberal and a hotheaded, hooker-chasing, office-abusing, self-promoting, lawbreaking, ego-obsessed 'steamroller' who still has trouble admitting he ever did anything wrong, it should be no contest."

Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: " A proposed amendment to Oklahoma's state constitution that would have prevented state courts from considering Sharia and international law was struck down by a federal judge on Thursday. Chief District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the Western District of Oklahoma, who issued a temporary restraining order preventing the law from taking effect after it passed in 2010, ruled Thursday that the amendment's references to Sharia, or Islamic law, violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. While Oklahoma officials argued the amendment could be enacted if the reference to Sharia was removed, Miles-LaGrange ruled that wasn't possible." Via Steve Benen.

News Ledes

AP: "As the U.S. renews its effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, it will soon begin reconsidering the fate of prisoners ... who a government task force decided were too dangerous to release but who can't be prosecuted, in some cases, because proceedings could reveal sensitive information."

... Washington Post: "Egyptian security forces on Saturday overran a Cairo mosque in which hundreds of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi had barricaded themselves for nearly 24 hours after a day of gun battles in the heart of the capital. It was unclear by nightfall what had become of the protesters, who had been detained after security forces had escorted them from the scene. Egyptian state television declared that 'the crisis is over.' But Saturday brought demonstrations and clashes in several other cities across the country."

New York Times: "Federal authorities have opened a bribery investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help the bank win lucrative business in the booming nation, according to a confidential United States government document." CW: I'd be shocked, shocked to find out bribery was going on."

The Commentariat -- Aug. 17, 2013

CW: In my link to Barton Gellman's blockbuster story in yesterday Washington Post, I did not include this sentence: "The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance." I didn't notice it, but I should have, and I should have included it. As Charles Pierce writes, "... this story really ought to end the debate over whether or not Snowden is a 'whistleblower' or not. He shared with The Washington Post -- and therefore, with the country that pays the bills for it all -- information proving that the government agency for which he worked regularly violated its own regulations, and that it at best actively deceived the responsible oversight authorities in both the Department Of Justice and in the intelligence community." ...

... David Firestone of the New York Times: "The lack of oversight revealed in The Post's report is staggering.... So much for President Obama's recent assurance that the government is not abusing its authority. And Congress, as usual, is nowhere to be found.... Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall just issued a statement saying the mistakes and rule-breaking reported by the Washington Post are just the 'tip of the iceberg' of a much larger body of classified violations, which they are unable to reveal." ...

... Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post has some officials' reactions to the Post story. Entertaining. ...

... New York Times Editors: "... the Justice Department was in federal court on Thursday defending its refusal to release memos containing information about its policies governing the use of GPS and other potentially invasive technologies.... The public has a right to know the government's policies on these matters. There is very good reason to be concerned about the government's interpretation of its police powers, especially given the Obama administration's insensitivity to privacy in its mass collection of phone data in the national security sphere.... It is distressing that the administration, which claims to welcome a debate over the government's surveillance practices, time and again refuses to be transparent about those practices. Instead of awaiting a court order, the administration should release the tracking memos on its own."

James Hohmann of Politico: "The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday to bar NBC and CNN from hosting GOP primary debates in 2016 if the networks move forward with their Hillary Clinton projects. But the vote was not just about Clinton. But the vote was not just about Clinton. The RNC's very vocal outrage over the projects gave party leaders a perfect excuse to do what they've long wanted to do anyway: get some control over a process that led to 20 grueling primary debates last cycle and gave Mitt Romney many chances to get himself into trouble with comments about self-deportation, contraception and the like." ...

... Dylan Byers of Politico: "While NBC and CNN's competitors stand to benefit from the RNC's decision, there's another potential winner who has gone unmentioned: Univision. On Friday, RNC communications director Sean Spicer told Politico that the boycott would extend to NBC and CNN's Spanish-language channels: Telemundo and CNN Español." ...

... CW: nobody ever mentions ABC. Will Reince let former Clinton guy Snuffolopoulos question the wackos? ...

... Greg Sargent: "And so, it looks as if one of the recommendations in that RNC autopsy [which determined that the party needed to broaden its base by reaching out to 'alienated' groups] has finally been acted on. Only it just happens to be one that is all about (again) playing to the base and encouraging an insular view -- that outside news sources offering information that counters what is heard inside the conservative entertainment complex are only out to get Republicans -- rather than broadening the party's appeal.... It's [also] possible this could have the effect of minimizing the exposure of GOP outsized rhetoric and policy to a broader audience." ...

... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "As a blogger, I would really look forward to making the GOP clown show even more clownish. I know that hardly seems possible, but think about it. "Governor Jindal, do you think Christian churches should merely be free of all government interference, or do you think that state governments should require the adoption of Christian curricula in our schools?" "Representative Ryan, do you think global warming is a myth, or do you think it's actually a sinister plot by the scientific community to destroy the economy?" Bring it on!" ...

... Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "The problem isn't that the network personalities are liberals, it's that they're just terrible. They try to come up with clever 'gotcha' moments to trap Republicans and Democrats alike, and they ask one inane question after another, like what sporting event they'll be watching this weekend or what kind of pizza they prefer.... Let's not forget that primaries are supposed to be partisan. The point isn't for the country to choose a candidate, it's for a party to choose its representative. Ideological questioners are going to ask the questions to which primary voters want to know the answers." ...

... Bill Carter of the New York Times: "An outlet of Fox Entertainment said on Friday that it would not be involved with the hotly debated Hillary Rodham Clinton mini-series on NBC, after all. And though the decision by the Fox Television Studios production company came on the same day as a vote by the Republican National Committee to ban any presidential debates in the 2016 primary season from NBC because of the proposed movie, an executive involved in the negotiations between the Fox studio and NBC said political pressure was not a factor. Rather, the executive said, the financial terms being offered by NBC simply were not attractive enough to Fox." ...

... Jane Timm of NBC News: "From same-sex marriage to race in America, Republican leaders lack 'the guts to stare down the crazies in their own party,' Joe Scarborough said on Morning Joe today during a conversation that exposed the hypocrisy of GOP officials willing to show compassion in private but not in public.... The Republican Party is sending out signals, Scarborough said: 'If you're not white, you're really not welcome in this party.'" With video. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

... Prince Reibus Never Called Mitt a Racist. Brent Logiurato of Business Insider: "Correction, 12:26 p.m. ET: An original version of this story said that Reince Priebus referred to Mitt Romney's comments as 'racist.' He said it 'hurts us.' Business Insider regrets the error." CW: I had to listen to the tape three times, but on the third time, I decided that Priebus did say "hurts us," not "racist":

"Tell him to stop lying." Sy Mukherjee of Think Progress: "Obamacare critics who have incessantly demonized the reform law and pushed for its repeal have been brushing up against a growing number of people that support its consumer protections." Here's Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) being questioned by constituents who are fearful of not having health coverage. The pushback begins at about 2:10 min. in when Webster claims that both he & the President agree that "ObamaCare is bad for America":

... Steve Benen on the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity misleading/lying ads against ObamaCare: "If Obamacare were really as horrible as right-wing activists and lawmakers claim, shouldn't it be easier to attack the law without making stuff up? Wouldn't conservatives be eager to simply give people the truth, rather than resort to ugly demagoguery? Careful, Kochs, your desperation is showing."

Gubernatorial Race

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, does a pretty good job, in a Washington Post op-ed, of defending his involvement with & investment in GreenTech Automotive.

Local News

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: California Gov. Jerry "Brown -- who at 75 is the oldest governor in the nation and about to become the longest-serving governor in the history of California -- is enjoying a degree of success and authority he and his opponents could scarcely have imagined when he returned to Sacramento to begin a second tour as governor in 2010."

The Hits Just Keep on Coming. Rosalind Helderman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Maureen McDonnell, the first lady of Virginia, twice purchased stock in Star Scientific in the same timeframe she and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) were taking steps to promote the dietary supplement company, a spokesman for McDonnell's legal team confirmed Friday night. Spokesman Rich Galen said the first lady did not inform the governor either time she purchased stock, which he said she bought to assist her and her children.... Evidence that the couple took official acts to indirectly help their own financial stake in a single company would likely increase their legal jeopardy in a potential criminal case."

John Schwartz of the New York Times: "A state judge in Pennsylvania on Friday prohibited enforcement of a strongly contested law requiring voters to show state-approved identification. Enforcement of the law, one of the toughest in the nation, had been blocked by judicial order in two prior elections, and the state had agreed not to require ID to vote in November. But poll officials were required to tell voters that they would have to show ID's in the future or be turned away.... Judge Bernard L. McGinley of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ... said that the ban on enforcing the law should be extended until the matter of whether to issue a permanent injunction on enforcement could be heard in court and decided on the merits of the case." ...

... Charles Pierce on National Review editor Rich Lowry's defense -- in Politico -- of North Carolina's new voter suppression law (yes, I know that's not what they call it, but that's what it is). Pierce dregs up National Review founder Bill Buckley's 1969 column, "On Negro Inferiority." "So Rich Lowry and his little racist fk of a magazine can pretty much bite it. It's been on the wrong side of history since the first issue rolled off the press."

News Ledes

AP: "Egyptian security forces stormed a Cairo mosque Saturday after a heavy exchange of gunfire with armed men shooting down from a minaret, rounding up hundreds of supporters of the country's ousted president who had sought refuge there overnight after violent clashes killed 173 people."

The Commentariat -- Aug. 16, 2013

Mark Landler & Peter Baker of the New York Times: " President Obama announced Thursday that the United States had canceled longstanding joint military exercises with the Egyptian Army set for next month, using one of his few obvious forms of leverage to rebuke Egypt's military-backed government for its brutal crackdown on supporters of the ousted president, Mohamed Morsi. Though the decision is an embarrassment to Egypt's generals, and will deprive Egypt of much-needed revenue, it lays bare both the Obama administration's limited options to curb the military's campaign against Islamists in Egypt and the United States' role as an increasingly frustrated bystander":

... Gene Robinson: "There may be little the United States can do to end the savage bloodletting in Egypt, but at least our nation can be loyal to its ideals by bearing witness and telling the truth. In this, President Obama has failed."

** Oops, Our Bad. Barton Gellman of the Washington Post: "The National Security Agency has broken privacy rules or overstepped its legal authority thousands of times each year since Congress granted the agency broad new powers in 2008, according to an internal audit and other top-secret documents. Most of the infractions involve unauthorized surveillance of Americans or foreign intelligence targets in the United States, both of which are restricted by statute and executive order. They range from significant violations of law to typographical errors that resulted in unintended interception of U.S. e-mails and telephone calls.... The most serious incidents included a violation of a court order and unauthorized use of data about more than 3,000 Americans and green-card holders.... The Obama administration has provided almost no public information about the NSA’s compliance record." ...

We also have federal judges that we've put in place who are not subject to political pressure. They've got lifetime tenure as federal judges, and they're empowered to look over our shoulder at the executive branch to make sure that these programs aren't being abused. -- President Obama, June 2013

... Even the Foxes Aren't Guarding the Henhouse. Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, "the leader of the secret court that is supposed to provide critical oversight of the government's vast spying programs, said that its ability to do so is limited and that it must trust the government to report when it improperly spies on Americans. The chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court said the court lacks the tools to independently verify how often the government's surveillance breaks the court's rules that aim to protect Americans' privacy. Without taking drastic steps, it also cannot check the veracity of the government's assertions that the violations its staff members report are unintentional mistakes." ...

... So, as Casey Chan of Gizmodo writes, "Basically, the NSA gets to do whatever it wants and no one can really check it." ...

... This Is Rich. Marcy Wheeler: as the NSA & Justice Department officials whined to the Washington Post's Walter Pincus that the media weren't publishing "their side of the story," the NSA was refusing to allow the Post's Barton Gellman to publish stuff they told him. ...

... Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "Former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden began downloading documents describing the U.S. government's electronic spying programs while he was working for Dell Inc in April 2012, almost a year earlier than previously reported, according to U.S. officials and other sources familiar with the matter.... Snowden has said he left Dell for a job at Booz Allen Hamilton in Hawaii around March of this year, specifically to gain access to additional top-secret documents that could be leaked to the media." ...

... Michael Calderone of the Huffington Post: Ed Snowden denies that his father or his father's lawyers represent him: "Neither my father, his lawyer Bruce Fein, nor his wife Mattie Fein represent me in any way." Snowden complains that the media have "been misled by individuals associated with my father into printing false claims about my situation." He praises the lawyers & journalists with whom he's worked. CW: as I speculated some while back, Ed has always been a problem child.

Karen McVeigh of the Guardian: "The Pentagon has unveiled a range of initiatives to curb sexual assault in the ranks and tackle what military leaders have described as a "crisis" of confidence which prevents victims coming forward. The new initiatives, to be implemented immediately, include greater protections of victims, including the expansion of an air force initiative to provide victims with a legal advocacy programme. Other changes include ensuring that pretrial investigations are conducted by judge advocate generals and improved tracking and follow-up of sexual assault cases."

Voters R Ingorant. Paul Krugman: A public poll conducted this week found that "a majority of those who replied said the deficit has gone up, with more than 40 percent saying that it has gone up a lot. Only 12 percent answered correctly that it has gone down a lot.... Do people like [Eric] Cantor or [Rand] Paul know that what they're saying isn't true? Do they care? Probably not... We have an ill-informed or misinformed electorate, politicians who gleefully add to the misinformation and watchdogs who are afraid to bark. And to the extent that there are widely respected, not-too-partisan players, they seem to be fostering, not fixing, the public's false impressions." ...

... Caveat Emptor. Well first of all, for a criminal practice there has to be a gun. It's pretty simple. -- Rep. Tom McClintock (RTP-Calif.), arguing that Wall Streeters don't commit crimes & should not be regulated ...

... ** Congressmen R Ingorant. Charles Pierce on "your wingnut congresscritters." Pierce is looking for a successor to Michele Bachmann, & he finds three well-qualified candidates, not counting Louis Gohmert. The citation from Molly Ivins is priceless.

Peter Hamby of CNN: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie planted himself firmly in the Republican Party's establishment wing Thursday with a pugnacious speech calling on his party to focus on pragmatism rather than ideology and crippling internal debates.... Some of Christie's remarks ... were interpreted by many here as another jab at Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a potential rival for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "The critical bulk of Republican caucus and primary voters are only going to tolerate Christie if he's the practical means to the ends defined by people like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan. If he has contempt for those ends, then all the favorable poll numbers in the world won't save him. But you get the sense that contempt is one emotion Chris Christie has a real hard time disguising, and that could be his undoing."

Scott Malone of Reuters: "Delegates to a summer meeting of the Republican National Committee are scheduled to vote Friday on a possible boycott of 2016 presidential debates sponsored by CNN and NBC if the networks go ahead with plans for special programs on Democrat Hillary Clinton." CW: Is this part of their "outreach" program or a wilful effort to keep non-Foxbots from seeing what a bunch of unhinged wingers the GOP contenders are? ...

... Be Careful What You Wish For. Steve M. of No More Mr. Nice Blog: "... there's talk in the Republican Party of bypassing mainstream journalists when selecting debate moderators, in favor of conservative media figures." RNC Communications Director Sean Spicer promoted radio winger Mark Levin as debate moderator. Steve reprises a few of Levin's derogatory remarks about likely 2016 GOP candidates for the presidency & notes that Levin likes Ted Cruz. "Yeah, go ahead, GOP -- try to get a fair, balanced debate with this guy acting as moderator."

Reince Sez Mitt Is a Racist. Brent Logiurato of Business Insider: " In condemning Rep. Steve King's incendiary comments on immigration, RNC chairman Reince Priebus swept in his party's presidential nominee, saying that talk of 'self-deportation' was 'horrific' and even 'racist.' Mitt Romney repeatedly used the term during the Republican primary campaign to talk about how his immigration enforcement policies would lead to unauthorized immigrants leaving the U.S. of their own accord, rather than needing to be deported. 'Using the word 'self-deportation' -- it's a horrific comment to make,' Priebus said, in a forceful rebuke. 'I don't think it has anything to do with our party. When someone makes those comments, obviously, it's racist.'" ...

     ... CW: look for an upcoming quote from Mitt, claiming he never used the term "self-deportation." Also, "I love Mexicans: my father was a Mexican; some of my best gardeners were Mexicans, & I was mighty sorry I had to fire them. I am not a racist."

Philip Bump of the Atlantic: "Now that the tedium of the 2012 campaign is over, President Obama is making good on his 2010 pledge to put solar panels on top of the White House. The panels (American-made, of course) will be the second set the building has ever seen. The first ones were removed when Ronald Reagan was president, which may not surprise you."

Local News

New York Times Editors: In the Detroit bankruptcy case, Detroit is giving bankers who sold the city derivatives precedence over city pensioners, many of whom do not get Social Security. "Detroit's problems are a reminder of broader challenges, identified but still unmet: protecting pensions; protecting municipalities from Wall Street; and, at long last, revoking the obscene privileges of banks that allow them to prosper on the failings of others.

Washington Post Editors: Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell "has said he would propose measures to tighten the state's Swiss-cheese ethics laws but has not yet done so. He has refused to summon lawmakers to Richmond for a special session on ethics reform. And aside from apologizing for embarrassing Virginians, he has not spoken frankly about any of the particulars, what he and his wife did wrong and why they did it. He delivered the apology itself only after enlisting a veteran Washington political image-maker, suggesting that the governor regards the whole affair mainly as a public relations problem rather than what it is: a symptom of shabby and unprincipled governance."

Vogue profiles Texas state senator Wendy Davis. (Clink "Print" to read the whole thing.) CW: I'm glad to see Davis get media attention, & I get that Vogue is a fashion magazine (they picture Davis is designer dress & shoes, neither of which she could afford). But I wish Vogue would also see fit to profile powerful women whose actual profiles are not as svelte as Davis's. As I recall, they've profiled women like Sarah Palin, Kathleen Sebelius, Jill Biden & Michelle Obama, all beautiful women. What about, um, Sonia Sotomayor or Barbara Mikulski, who are very powerful women?

News Ledes

New York Times: Sgt. Kimberly D. Munley , a member of Fort Hood's civilian police force, testified today in the trial of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the admitted Fort Hood killer. "Her testimony came at the end of the second week of Major Hasan's military trial. A jury of 13 senior Army officers has heard testimony from more than 70 witnesses called by the prosecution."

Politicker: Tomorrow New York City will begin its appeal of the judicial ruling that the city's stop-&-frisk practices are unconstitutional, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in an unrelated press conference.

AP: "Egypt is bracing for more violence after the Muslim Brotherhood called for nationwide marches after Friday prayers and a 'day of rage' to denounce this week's unprecedented bloodshed in the security forces' assault on the supporters of the country's ousted Islamist president that left more than 600 dead." ...

     ... Al Jazeera Update: "Scores of people have been killed in Egypt after security forces opened fire on anti-coup protesters staging a "day of rage" against the military-led government. In the worst of the violence on Friday, at least 95 people were killed and hundreds injured in Cairo's Ramses Square as anti-coup protesters were fired on by government forces. A correspondent for Al Jazeera described lines of bodies in a makeshift morgue in the nearby Al-Fath mosque."

Reuters: " India's navy said on Friday divers had found the bodies of three sailors who were on board a submarine badly damaged by a fire and explosions and that it was unlikely any of 15 other missing crew members would be found alive. Eighteen sailors were missing after weapons stored in the forward section of the Russian-built INS Sindhurakshak exploded in the middle of Tuesday night, causing a fire as it lay berthed in Mumbai, the navy's worst losses in more than four decades."