The Commentariat -- April 16, 2013

President Obama, this morning, on the Boston Marathon explosions:

... Stephen Marche, in Esquire: "Whoever it turns out to be will incur a blame for entire groups of people -- whether Muslims or American gun nuts -- which are entirely accidental to their being. Let us pause, right now, and agree not to make that mistake." ...

... Aristotle comments on the Boston Marathon bombings, via Charles Pierce. ...

... Charles Pierce, a Bostonian, reacts to the Boston Marathon bombings. Pierce was in Boston for the marathon & reports. ...

... Josh Gerstein (one of two Politico analysts worth reading): "Obama's decision to step before cameras despite sketchy information about what happened in Boston just over three hours earlier, clearly reflected lessons learned from the series of terrorist attacks early in his administration: the potential cost of keeping a low profile and waiting is greater than the risk of speaking too soon." ...

... Steve M. of No More Mr. Nice Blog: "In the wake of the Boston bombings, we have Alex Jones claiming it's a 'false flag' designed to drum up support for infringements on civil liberties. In response to an unconfirmed New York Post report claiming that a Saudi suspect is in custody, we have Fox's Erik Rush tweeting that we should kill all Muslims. And we have Pamela Geller declaring the bombers 'Slaughterers in the cause of jihad,' part of nonstop Twitter torrent of anti-Muslim outrage on her part. So, when Dylan Byers of Politico harrumphed a while ago about 'The Boston explosions, politicized,' what struck him as so outrageous? Answer: a tweet from Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times -- since deleted -- that read as follows:

explosion is a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking apptment articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-02-01/wor...

From Harry Reid's office, on the 6th anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, via Greg Sargent:

... Raymond Hernandez of the New York Times: "As a crucial series of gun-control votes approaches in the Senate, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are suddenly preoccupied with one question in particular: when is Frank Lautenberg coming back?" ...

... Dan Friedman of the New York Daily News: "Senate Republican leaders will not push their members to vote against a background check compromise, GOP senators said, in a sign party leaders will duck a public fight against the popular plan and the high-profile gun violence victims supporting it. Republicans senators should 'vote their conscience,' Senate Minority Whip John Cornyn (R-Texas) the second ranking GOP senator, said Monday in explaining that he does not plan to 'whip' against the vote to amend a broader gun control measure to add the background check deal.... The decision by top Republicans not to twist arms to block the measure shows that with public pressure on their side, supporters of the deal have momentum. While far from assured, their victory on the amendment vote looks likely." Also via Sargent. ...

... Juliet Lapidos of the New York Times: From an NRA blog: "'Studies indicate that firearms are used over 2 million times a year for personal protection, and that the presence of a firearm, without a shot being fired, prevents crime in many instances.' In other words, as Wayne LaPierre put it after Newtown, 'the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.' ... The 2 million figure -- often inflated to 2.5 million in N.R.A. literature -- is bogus. Defensive gun use is actually quite rare. A new paper from the Violence Policy Center states that 'for the five-year period 2007 through 2011, the total number of self-protective behaviors involving a firearm by victims of attempted or completed violent crimes or property crimes totaled only 338,700.' That comes to an annual average of 67,740 -- not nothing, but nowhere near the N.R.A.'s 2 million or 2.5 million."

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "A bipartisan group of eight senators plans to unveil legislation [today], drafted largely in secret, that would provide a 13-year path to American citizenship for illegal immigrants who arrived in the country before Dec. 31, 2011, but would demand that tougher border controls be in place first. The legislation is certain to unleash a torrent of attacks from Republican opponents on the immigration overhaul, similar to the kind of criticism that killed an effort supported by President George W. Bush in 2007." ...

     ... AP Update by Erica Werner: "... Senators had planned to formally introduce the bill Tuesday, but after Monday's bombing at the Boston Marathon a planned press event was delayed until later in the week."

** Glenn Greenwald on the New York Times op-ed, linked here yesterday, by Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, a Yemeni imprisoned in Guantanamo for 11 years without charges. He is among the 87 "detainees - roughly half - [who] have been cleared for release, of which 58 are Yemeni. Not even the US government at this point claims they are guilty or pose a threat to anyone." ...

... Jim White of Empty Wheel has more. ...

... Also, read Kevin Gosztola of Firedoglake on "the cruelty of Obama's Gulag." ...

... Geoff Earle of the New York Post: "Guantanamo Bay detainee Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel penned an anguished op-ed for The New York Times yesterday about his suffering behind bars for 11 years -- but there was no mention that he was allegedly picked up at Tora Bora in Afghanistan and is believed by US intelligence to have been among a group of hardened fighters protecting Osama bin Laden." CW: consider the source here; since I don't know who's right, Earle's POV shouldn't be dismissed out-of-hand.

... Scott Shane of the New York Times: "A nonpartisan, independent review of interrogation and detention programs in the years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks concludes that 'it is indisputable that the United States engaged in the practice of torture' and that the nation's highest officials bore ultimate responsibility for it. The sweeping, 577-page report says that while brutality has occurred in every American war, there never before had been 'the kind of considered and detailed discussions that occurred after 9/11 directly involving a president and his top advisers on the wisdom, propriety and legality of inflicting pain and torment on some detainees in our custody.' The study, by an 11-member panel convened by the Constitution Project, a legal research and advocacy group, is to be released on Tuesday morning."

Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute writes an indictment of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve in a Washington Post column on mortgage servicers. This is the issue Sen. Elizabeth Warren so effectively addressed in a Senate hearing last week. She & Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) are still at it, still demanding answers as to why the OCC & Fed are covering up rampant illegal behavior by the servicers -- at the expense of individual mortgagors, and more broadly, of the U.S. economy.

Robert Reich: "Our political leaders in Washington have for now chosen supply-side austerity economics over Keynesian economics. That's bad enough. Their inability or unwillingness to do much of anything about widening inequality will prove a larger problem."

** Sarah Posner of Religion Dispatches on another right-wing conspiracy theory: "Kermit Gosnell is on trial in Philadelphia, charged with eight counts of murder at his grisly abortion clinic. The Associated Press covered the opening proceedings of a trial expected to last eight weeks. A New York Times reporter was also present when the trial opened. His story appeared on page A17, which apparently wasn't prominent enough for conservatives who are complaining that the media is under-covering the story because, as Charles Krauthammer put it, it places the issue of late-term abortion 'starkly into relief.' Gosnell is charged with illegally performing third trimester abortions, and slitting the spines of the babies, acts that were loudly condemned by pro-choice advocates. It doesn't bring the issue of late-term abortion 'starkly into relief'; it's the story of a monster completely flouting the law and medical standards." ...

... Digby: "This nonsense about there being some pro-abortion media conspiracy to black-out this trial is idiotic, to say the least. It has all the hallmarks of a right wing hissy fit designed to make this macabre psycho the face of Planned Parenthood."

Evan McMorris-Santoro & Andrew Kaczinski of BuzzFeed: "Howard Dean has had it with President Obama's budget proposal, saying the plan put forward by the White House might just drive him from the Democratic Party he once led as DNC chair." ...

... Brett Zongker of the AP: "Budget cuts from Congress will soon reduce the number of free exhibitions on view each day at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. According to written testimony, Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough plans to tell Congress on Tuesday that the museum complex must reduce its security contract for gallery attendants because of the budget cuts. As a result, the Smithsonian plans to begin rolling gallery closures after May 1. Clough says the Smithsonian also will likely have to postpone or cancel exhibits for 2014 and 2015." ...

... Screw Seniors. Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "President Obama's offer to trim Social Security benefits has perplexed and angered Democrats, but GOP leaders are embracing the proposal and rushing to jump-start a debate that will delve even more deeply into the touchy topic of federal spending on the elderly. This week, two House subcommittees plan to hold hearings on 'reforms to protect and preserve' programs for retirees, starting with Obama's proposal to apply a less generous measure of inflation to annual increases in Social Security benefits. Also on the table are higher Medicare premiums and reduced benefits for better-off seniors, and a higher Medicare eligibility age."

Obama 2.0. Sam Hananel of the AP: "In a blistering report, Republican lawmakers [Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley, California Rep. Darrell Issa and Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte] on Sunday sharply criticized Labor secretary nominee Thomas Perez over what they said was a questionable deal he brokered while serving as head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The 63-page report, issued after months of investigation, is certain to provide fodder for Republicans seeking to challenge Perez at his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday."

Nicole Winfield of the Huffington Post: "Pope Francis named eight cardinals from around the globe Saturday to advise him on running the Catholic Church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, marking his first month as pope with a major initiative to reflect the universal nature of the church in key governing decisions. The advisory panel includes only one current Vatican official. The rest are cardinals from North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. Many have been outspoken in calling for a shake-up of the Vatican bureaucracy, which was last reformed 25 years ago, while others have tried to clean up the church from sexually abusive priests." ...

... BUT. Tom Kington of the Los Angeles Times: "Pope Francis has backed the Vatican's doctrinal crackdown on a major group of American nuns, reasserting the Roman Catholic Church's conservative approach to various social issues in a move that could cool the warm reception he has received from some liberal Catholics since taking office last month.... The assessment accused the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an organization that represents most U.S. female Catholic orders, of promoting 'radical feminist themes' and ignoring the Vatican's hard line on same-sex marriage and abortion."

"David Brooks on Stilts." Driftglass reveals a quirk of Brooks' prose style. Funny.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, confirmed that an envelope addressed to Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi, a Republican, had been tested twice for ricin in a mail facility away from the Capitol with positive results both times.... Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, told reporters ... that the letter had come from someone who frequently writes lawmakers. She said the person had been identified, but she declined to divulge the name."

New York Times: "American Airlines was forced to ground all of its flights for several hours on Tuesday after a nationwide problem with its computer systems. By late afternoon, its computers were back up and its operation were slowly coming back to life."

Dallas Morning News: "Pat Summerall died Tuesday. He was 82. That's exactly how [NFL sportscaster] Summerall once told a writer he would craft the first sentences of his own obituary -- short and to the point."

New York Times: "The explosives that killed three people and injured more than 170 during the Boston Marathon on Monday were most likely rudimentary devices made from ordinary kitchen pressure cookers, except they were rigged to shoot sharp bits of shrapnel into anyone within reach of their blast and maim them severely, law enforcement officials said Tuesday. The pressure cookers were filled with nails, ball bearings and black powder, and the devices were triggered by 'kitchen-type' egg timers, one official said." ...

... Washington Post: "The devices' design was immediately recognized by counterterrorism experts as a type touted by al-Qaeda for use by its operatives around the world. Similar devices have been used by terrorists in mass-casualty bombings in numerous countries, from the Middle East to South Asia to North Africa.Yet the bomb's simplicity and garden-variety ingredients complicate the task of determining whether the maker was an international terrorist, a homegrown extremist or a local citizen with a grudge."...

... The New York Times' "The Lede" has updates here. ...

... Boston Globe: one of those killed in the Boston Marathon bombing was Krystle Campbell, aged 29, of Arlington, Massachusetts. She had attended Boston Marathons since she was a child. ...

... Boston Globe/B.U.: "The Chinese Consulate in New York said this evening that the latest fatality of the Boston Marathon explosion was a Chinese national. The consulate's statement came a few hours after Boston University said that the victim was a BU graduate student." ...

... The front page of boston.com has numerous links to stories about the Boston Marathon explosions. BostonGlobe.com, a subscriber-firewalled site, also has numerous stories on its front page (some of which are republished in boston.com), and the paper seems to have lifted its paywall for today. The main story is here. "... 8-year-old Martin Richard ... was killed in the attack, and his mother and sister ... suffered grievous injuries. Martin's father, Bill, is a community leader in the Ashmont section of Dorchester. A third child was reportedly uninjured.... Authorities were talking to at least one person at Brigham and Women's Hospital.... The person questioned ... was a Saudi national, who was reportedly tackled and held by a bystander after he was seen running from near the scene of the explosion.... The Saudi man, believed to be a university student in Boston, is cooperating with the FBI and told agents that he was not involved in the explosions, and that he ran only because he was frightened. Investigators did not characterize the man as a suspect. No one had been arrested or charged as of late Monday night." CW: hundreds of people were "seen running from near the scene." I wonder why the "bystander ... tackled and held" the Saudi man? ...

... Dorchester Reporter on the Richard family. Martin's sister & mother were severely injured in the blast. ...

... New York Daily News: "The explosions that rocked the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding more than 140, opened fresh wounds for the town of Newtown, Conn., which was represented by a team of marathoners and attendees, some reportedly sitting in a VIP section near the first blast. None of the Newtown runners or supporters was injured in Monday's horrific bombing, according to the running team's Facebook page." ...

... AP: "The FBI took charge of the investigation into the bombings, serving a warrant late Monday on a home in suburban Boston and appealing for any video, audio and still images taken by marathon spectators." ...

... Time: "The hunt for the killer behind Monday's Boston Marathon bombings began within minutes of the attacks."

Reuters: "North Korea issued new threats against South Korea on Tuesday, vowing 'sledge-hammer blows' of retaliation if South Korea did not apologize for anti-North Korean protests the previous day when the North was celebrating the birth of its founding leader. But despite the new ultimatum, the North Korean leadership was looking for a way to cool down its rhetoric after weeks of warnings of war, a senior U.S. military official in South Korea said."

AP: "Texas authorities investigating the killing of a district attorney and his wife are working to build a case against a former justice of the peace prosecuted last year by the slain official's office, a law enforcement official said Monday. Eric Lyle Williams, 46, was arrested over the weekend and remains jailed on a charge of making a terroristic threat. He is being held on $3 million bond."

AP: "An Alaska-based military policeman will serve 16 years in prison and will be dishonorably discharged for selling secrets to an FBI undercover agent who he believed was a Russian spy, a panel of eight military members decided Monday. Spec. William Colton Millay of Owensboro, Ky., pleaded guilty last month to attempted espionage and other counts. Military prosecutors painted him as a white supremacist who was fed up with the Army and the United States, and was willing to sell secrets to an enemy agent, even if that would cost fellow soldiers their lives."

AP: "Israel is celebrating 65 years of independence with barbeques, air force flyovers, and an international bible quiz."

The Commentariat -- April 15, 2013

Jennifer Steinhauer & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "In spite of a vote last Thursday in favor of debating new gun measures, some Democrats who are facing re-election next year in conservative states have already said they will not vote for the background check measure offered by Senators Patrick J. Toomey, Republican of Pennsylvania, and Joe Manchin III, Democrat of West Virginia, forcing Democrats to look desperately across the aisle to fill the gaps. Republicans, in the meantime, are bitterly torn between moderates who feel pressure to respond to polls showing a majority of Americans in support of some new gun regulations and conservatives who are deeply opposed to them. Further, an impending immigration bill may force Republicans to choose between softening their stance on either immigration or guns, but not both." ...

... Meghashyam Mali of the Hill: "Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Sunday defended his bipartisan proposal with Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to expand background checks, saying that lawful gun owners had nothing to fear. 'If you are a law-abiding gun-owner, you're gonna like this bill,' said Manchin, appearing with Toomey, on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' ... But the two senators acknowledged that their bill still faced an uphill climb to passage. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) has publicly backed the bill and reports said Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) would be the second Republican to support expanding background checks." ...

... Kelly O'Donnell of NBC News: "Speaking exclusively to NBC News, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is the first GOP senator to say publicly she will vote for the bipartisan compromise on expanded background checks for the sale of guns online and at gun shows."...

... Kevin Liptak of CNN: "Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, said he was 'very favorably disposed' to the compromise measure that could come up for a vote as early as this week." ...

... Tom Hamburger & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "In anticipation of Senate votes this week on a proposed expansion of criminal background checks for firearms sales, one gun rights organization broke with the powerful National Rifle Association on Sunday to urge support for a compromise drafted by Sens. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Patrick J. Toomey (R-Pa.). The endorsement by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms -- which calls itself the second-largest gun rights organization in the country, behind the NRA, claiming 650,000 members and supporters -- is one of several moves over the past few days that have provided a boost to the hopes of proponents of background checks." ...

... E. J. Dionne: "Because the accounts from the Sandy Hook families have been so moving and so wrenching, it is common to say that a gun bill is being carried along 'on a wave of emotion.' ... This has it exactly backward. The truth is that the Newtown slaughter has finally moved the gun debate away from irrational emotions, ridiculous assumptions, manipulative rhetoric -- and, on the part of politicians, debilitating terror at the alleged electoral reach of those who see any new gun regulations as a step into totalitarianism. These bills are being taken seriously precisely because we are finally putting emotion aside. We are riding a wave of reason.... Consider this gem from the NRA's Wayne LaPierre: 'Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Riots. Terrorists. Gangs. Lone criminals. These are perils we are sure to face -- not just maybe. It's not paranoia to buy a gun. It's survival.' The only thing the gun lobby has to sell is fear itself."

Brian Bennett & Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. admits about 1 million legal immigrants per year, more than any other country. That number could jump by more than 50% over the next decade under the terms of the immigration reform bill that a bipartisan group of senators expects to unveil as early as Tuesday.... The immigration package includes at least four major provisions that would increase the number of legal immigrants, according to people familiar with it."

Zeke Miller of Time: "The Republican National Committee voted unanimously Friday to reaffirm the party's commitment to upholding the definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, upending party efforts to grow support among younger voters. A resolution introduced Wednesday by Michigan committeeman Dave Agema, who came under fire last month for posting an article describing gays as 'filthy' on his Facebook page, passed the full RNC by a voice vote and without debate. A second resolution reaffirming 'core values' of the party -- including opposition to same-sex marriage -- was also passed." CW: never mind that Dave, IMHO, is fighting his essential gayness.

Larry Summers, in a Washington Post op-ed, looks at Washington gridlock through rose-colored glasses.

"Gitmo Is Killing Me." Samir Naji al Hasan Moqbel, in a New York Times op-ed: "I've been on a hunger strike since Feb. 10 and have lost well over 30 pounds. I will not eat until they restore my dignity. I've been detained at Guantánamo for 11 years and three months. I have never been charged with any crime. I have never received a trial."

Bill Keller: "... by turning [the CIA] into a killing machine, we may have paid a price in national vigilance."

Paul Krugman doesn't like bitcoin. I don't understand bitcoin. Krugman links to this explanation in the Economist, but I still don't understand bitcoin.

... Today is tax day, & I owe the fed. Maybe I can pay in bitcoins. ...

... Andre Tartar of New York highlights some great state tax exemptions, and a few from other countries, like the Netherlands, where you can deduct the cost of training to become a witch. ...

... Apropos of Krugman's column -- Clara Denina of Reuters: "Gold dropped as much as 6.3 percent on Monday to below $1,400 per ounce for the first time since March 2011 as the market's downward momentum gained speed after more than four months of investor selling. Investors ditched gold along with other commodities from oil to copper after a less-than-forecast growth in China's gross domestic product in the first quarter stoked doubts about the health of the global economy. This added to last week's fears of central bank sales from Europe, prompted by a proposed sale of Cyprus bullion holdings, and concerns about a reduction in monetary stimulus. Adding to selling pressure, exchange-traded funds hit their lowest in more than a year on Friday." ...

... James Surowiecki of the New Yorker critiques the David Stockman School of Economics, which apparently is a division of the Harvard Divinity School. CW: short piece, good read.

"Look How Quickly the U.S. Got Fat." Via James Hamblin of the Atlantic:

Right Wing World *

If babies had guns they wouldn't be aborted. -- Texas Rep. Steve Stockman's campaign bumper sticker

* Where you can't make up this stuff.

News Ledes

President Obama speaks about the explosions in Boston:

Video via Boston Globe:

AP: "Police say at least three people have been killed in the explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Police commissioner Ed Davis confirmed the three deaths but provided no details." ...

... Boston Globe: "Two people were killed and at least 125 others were injured this afternoon as two powerful explosions detonated in quick succession near the Boston Marathon finish line in Boston's Back Bay section, transforming a scene of athletic celebration into bloody chaos." ...

... AP: "Police in Los Angeles, New York City, London and other cities worldwide stepped up security Monday following explosions at the Boston Marathon." ...

... NBC News: "Two explosions went off near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday as runners completed the race and thousands of people cheered them on. Witnesses told NBC News that there were widespread injuries, some severe. Video from the finish line showed screams and an enormous cloud of white smoke, and about 20 seconds between the blasts. The Associated Press reported that bloody spectators were being carried to a medical tent that had been set up to care for tired runners. Jackie Bruno, a reporter for New England Cable News, said on Twitter that she saw people's legs blown off." The AP story is here. The Boston Globe is liveblogging developments. ...

     ... The New York Times has a map showing where the explosions occurred. ...

     ... The Times has updates on its blog the Lede.

Atlantic: "The winners of this year's Pulitzer Prizes were announced this afternoon, in all 21 categories.... Here's the list via Pulitzer's website, where you can also see the finalists.

CBS News 11 Dallas-Fort Worth: "Sources tell CBS 11 that Former Justice of the Peace Eric Williams will be charged with capital murder in the deaths of Mike and Cynthia McLelland, and Mark Hasse. Williams was booked into Kaufman County Jail early Saturday morning for making terroristic threats and 'insufficient bond.' He's being held on a $3 million bond.... Williams had a history with both Mike McLelland and Mark Hasse. The two prosecuted and secured a conviction against him back in 2012 for Burglary and Theft By A Public Servant. Surveillance cameras caught Williams taking computer equipment from a county building." ...

... AP: "A medical examiner says a man who died in the infield during the NRA 500 at Texas Motor Speedway shot himself in the head. The Tarrant County (Texas) medical examiner's office on Sunday said the death of 42-year-old Kirk Franklin of Saginaw, Texas, was a suicide. Fort Worth police have said a man who was camping in the infield died of a 'self-inflicted injury' after getting into an argument with other campers. The incident happened late in the Sprint Cup race."

AP: "Hugo Chavez's hand-picked successor, Nicolas Maduro, has won Venezuela's presidential election by a stunningly narrow margin that highlights rising discontent over problems ranging from crime to power blackouts. His rival demanded a recount, portending more headaches for a country shaken by the death of its dominating leader."

Reuters: "Dish Network Corp on Monday offered to buy Sprint Nextel Corp for $25.5 billion in cash and stock.... Sprint shares jumped about 13 percent before the U.S. market open on Monday."

AP: "Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has been increasing for a third year in a row and is heading for a record high, the U.N. said in a report released Monday. The boom in poppy cultivation is at its most pronounced in the Taliban's heartland in the south, the report showed, especially in regions where troops of the U.S.-led coalition have been withdrawn or are in the process of departing. The report suggests that ... international efforts ... to wean local farmers off the crop ... are having little success."

The Commentariat -- April 14, 2013

Jon Chait of New York on how "the mysterious inner workings of [John] Boehner's mind" determine whether or not a bill becomes a law. CW: And, as I noted months ago, it becomes law only if Boehner decides to let the House minority push the bill through. "What makes this process especially perverse is that it not only removes House Republicans from the negotiations -- it eliminates all transparency. All the decision-making power rests on Boehner's control of the voting schedule."

Maureen Dowd profiles Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who has unexpectedly found himself leading the fight for gun safety legislation. ...

... Karen Tumulty & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "As the Senate prepares to begin debate next week on the biggest gun-control bill in nearly two decades, the gun rights lobby and its Senate allies are working on a series of amendments that could have the opposite effect -- loosening many of the restrictions that exist in current law. Most worrisome to those who advocate new gun limits is an expected amendment that would achieve one of the National Rifle Association's biggest goals: a 'national reciprocity' arrangement, in which a gun owner who receives a permit to carry a concealed weapon in any one state would then be allowed to do that anywhere in the country." ...

... WBUR Boston: "... Team NewtownSTRONG ... is running [in the Boston Marathon tomorrow] to support NewtownSTRONG, a charitable foundation raising scholarship money for the siblings of children lost in the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn...." With audio. Thanks to contributor Julie for the link. ...

... Steve Benen: according to Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, if the Congress passes a bill requiring universal background checks, pretty soon the feds will be rounding up Christians. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's the plan. And a right good reason to support the bill. But Benen is not convinced: "I can understand the appeal of silly arguments like these -- they combine paranoia, fear of government, and a persecution complex, all staples of the religious right's political identity -- but the fact that conservatives are relying on them suggests they can't think of legitimate arguments based on reality. When one can't win a policy debate by sticking to the facts, it suggests the debate itself is already over." ...

... Which brings to mind Wayne LaPierre, whom Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Jodi Cantor profile in the New York Times.

Jim Kuhnhenn & Julie Pace of the AP: "By voluntarily putting entitlement cuts on the table, particularly a proposal to slow the rise of Social Security benefits, [President] Obama has no other gambit to win tax increases from Republicans. With many Democrats balking at what he's already offering, it's not politically feasible for him to offer the GOP anything more. Puzzled Democrats maintain that Obama not only has given away his leverage, he also has threatened the very identity of his party, which sees the Social Security Act of 1935 as one of its signature achievements."

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times: "Here's hoping that one priority [of new S.E.C. chief Mary Jo White] is to determine, and ramp up, investigations and whistle-blower complaints that are approaching their five-year statute of limitations. For a lot of cases involving questionable practices and disclosures arising from the mortgage bust of 2008, time is running out." One of those whistle-blower cases in against SunTrust Banks, which allegedly sold a boatload of "liar loans" to Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac.

Tom Shanker of the New York Times: "After a series of scandals involving high-ranking officers, the American military for the first time will require generals and admirals to be evaluated by their peers and the people they command on qualities including personal character. The new effort is being led by Gen.Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as part of a broad overhaul of training and development programs for generals and admirals.... It is likely that the review will lead to a reduction in the overall number of generals and admirals, and the size of personal staffs, communications teams and security details. The review also looked at whether administrative staff members assigned to commanders had been used to run personal errands for officers and their spouses." CW: Surprise! The brass don't like it.

Prof. T. M. Luhrmann, in a New York Times op-ed: Some evangelical churches "implicitly invited people to treat God like an actual therapist. In many evangelical churches, prayer is understood as a back-and-forth conversation with God -- a daydream in which you talk with a wise, good, fatherly friend. Indeed, when congregants talk about their relationship with God, they often sound as if they think of God as some benign, complacent therapist who will listen to their concerns and help them to handle them.... For them, God is a relationship, not an explanation." CW: Or as a character in the 2004 screen version of Elmore Leonard's The Big Bounce said, "God is just an imaginary friend for grownups." (I couldn't find this citation in the novel; the line appears in the film twice.)

Cameron Joseph of the Hill: "The Democrat who said the leaders of the liberal group Progress Kentucky told him they bugged Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's (R-Ky.) campaign office is backing off a key part of his earlier account. Jefferson County Democratic Executive Committee member Jacob Conway originally said the two cofounders of the small liberal super-PAC told him they had bugged McConnell's office. Now, Conway says he may not have talked to Shawn Reilly, one of the men he identified."

Local News

Danielle Dreilinger of the Times-Picayune: Louisiana "Gov. Bobby Jindal defended his school voucher program in a whirlwind interview Friday with NBC-TV newswoman Hoda Kotb.... Jindal also said he has no problem with creationism being taught in public schools as long as a local school board OK's it." ...

... Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs: "despite his talk about 'moderation,' Bobby Jindal is just as much of a religious fanatic reactionary as any other Republican.... I believe this is the first time Jindal has come right out and said he's in favor of teaching creationism in public schools, although it's been obvious from his political agenda. This is the GOP 'reformer' -- just another anti-science caveman."

"Courage in Kansas." New York Times Editors: "Nearly four years after an anti-abortion extremist opened fire and killed a Wichita abortion provider, Dr. George Tiller, as he stood in the foyer of his church, a new medical clinic offering comprehensive reproductive health services -- including abortions through the first trimester of pregnancy -- opened on April 3. It is in the building that once housed Dr. Tiller's clinic.... The fact that it has opened at all is remarkable, and is a tribute to the perseverance and courage of those involved in the project, especially Julie Burkhart, a former colleague of Dr. Tiller who directs the Trust Women Foundation, which owns the clinic."

... Chas Sisk of the Tennessean: "After a confrontation with an 8-year-old girl and other activists, along with mounting opposition from fellow Republicans, state Sen. Stacey Campfield dropped his effort to tie welfare benefits to grades, asking that the legislation be held for further study."

News Ledes

AP: "Months of increased tension at the Guantanamo Bay prison boiled over into a clash between guards and detainees Saturday as the military closed a communal section of the facility and moved its inmates into single cells. The violence erupted during an early morning raid that military officials said was necessary because prisoners had covered up security cameras and windows as part of a weekslong protest and hunger strike over their indefinite confinement...."

AP: "Dr. Hilary Koprowski, a pioneering virologist who developed the first successful oral vaccination for polio, died this week at his suburban Philadelphia home. He was 96. Although not as well-known as fellow researchers Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin, Koprowski's 1950 clinical trial was the first to show it was possible to vaccinate against polio, the crippling and sometimes fatal disease that's now all but eradicated."

AP: today is election day in Venezuela.

AP: " The United States says it's committed to defending Japan and opposes any coercive action by China to seize territory under Japanese control in the East China Sea. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. isn't taking a position in the dispute over the islands, known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China."