The Commentariat -- March 5, 2012

Paul Krugman writes the anti-Olympia Snowe column (he doesn't mention her, but ...): "... we can take a big step toward full employment just by using the federal government’s low borrowing costs to help state and local governments rehire the schoolteachers and police officers they laid off, while restarting the road repair and improvement projects they canceled or put on hold." ...

... Here was Matt Yglesias of Slate last week on Snowe's "feckless" impact on the 2009 stimulus: "She chose to use her influence to trim down the spending side of the package, with a particular focus on reducing federal financial assistance to state and local governments."

Steven Sloan & Kathleen Hunter of Bloomberg News: "Senate Democrats are considering a debate on ending the George W. Bush-era tax cuts for top earners before the November election because they think they’re in a stronger position than in 2010, said Senator Charles Schumer."

President Obama's Ode to Israel speech to AIPAC yesterday contained a fairly blunt warning to his GOP rivals:

     ... Helene Cooper of the New York Tiimes: "As Republicans on the campaign trail ramped up their support for Israel in a possible military strike on Iran, President Obama used a speech before a pro-Israel lobbying group on Sunday to warn against the 'loose talk of war' that could serve to speed Iran toward a nuclear weapon." ...

     ... ** Amir Oren of Haaretz: "After a speech like that, [President Obama's] meeting with [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu on Monday is almost superfluous: It already seems clear that Obama is determined not to grant him anything. Obama sent a complex, multifaceted message. He is a loyal friend of Israel, as evidenced by both the record of his actions over the last three years and the testimony of an eminent witness, President Shimon Peres. He is absolutely and unequivocally opposed to Iran having nuclear weapons. But he is first and foremost the U.S. president, whose commitment to do everything possible to thwart Iran's nuclear program has properly been given to the citizens of his own country -- the ones who will pay the price of any war with their lives and their wallets -- rather than to the impudent leader of a foreign country." Read the whole piece.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: President Transparency is mighty opaque -- a sorry assessment of the administration's so-called efforts to create "the most open and transparent government in history." ...

Obama Administration lawyers are aggressively fighting FOIA requests at the agency level and in court — sometimes on Obama’s direct orders. They’ve also wielded anti-transparency arguments even bolder than those asserted by the Bush administration. -- Josh Gerstein

Sari Horwtiz & Peter Finn of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Monday plans to provide the most detailed account to date of the Obama administration’s legal rationale for killing U.S. citizens abroad, as it did in last year’s airstrike against an alleged al-Qaeda operative in Yemen, officials said. The rationale Holder plans to offer resembles, in its broad strokes, those previously offered by lower-ranking officials. But his speech Monday will mark a new and higher-profile phase of the administration’s campaign to justify lethal action in those rare instances in which U.S. citizens, such as New Mexico-born Anwar al-Awlaki, join terrorist causes devoted to harming their homeland."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Every version of the Supreme Court is different from the one that came before, and the current edition, it has been widely noted, is unusual in many ways."

NEW. Sandra Fluke appears on ABC's "The View":

     ... NEW. Media Matters has some excellent posts on the Limbaugh remarks and his "apology." Here is the post Fluke mentioned in her interview -- Justin Berrier & Eric Schroeck name some of the wingers who rushed to Rush's defense. Here is a roundup of commentators who criticize Limbaugh's "apology"; e.g., conservative David Frum calls it "about the most graceless apology ever": includes videos of commentary. And this one, by Chelsea Rudman, which might be titled, "Explaining Birth Control Methods to Misogynists & Health Insurance to Dummies." ...

Art by David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times.... NEW. David Horsey of the Los Angeles Times: on Limbaugh's attack on Fluke: "But it is nothing new. This is how he has 'entertained' day after day for years. He doesn’t debate. He doesn’t inform. He vilifies, insults, smears, slanders, distorts and misleads. Rush is a schoolyard bully who specializes in picking on girls – or 'feminazis,' as he loves to call them. Limbaugh has led the way in destroying civility in politics. It’s bad enough that his overbearing pseudo-patriotism has been emulated by other right-wing radio and TV commentators; worse is the fact he has become the oracle of the dominant wing of the Republican Party."

Brian Stelter of the New York Times: "On Sunday, a seventh company, ProFlowers, said that it was suspending all of its advertising on 'The Rush Limbaugh Show' despite his apologetic statement a day earlier.... Mr. Limbaugh ... is estimated to make $50 million a year and whose program is a profit center for Premiere Radio Networks, the company that syndicates it. The program makes money both through ads and through fees paid by local radio stations." ...

... Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, DNC Chair, speaks about Limbaugh & contraception coverage:

... Whitehouse.gov has a petition urging Sec. Panetta to take Limbaugh off Armed Forces Radio. You have to establish a White House account to sign the petition. ...

... Will Dunham of Reuters: "... Ron Paul expressed doubt on Sunday that conservative radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh truly meant it when he apologized for calling a law student a 'slut' over her support for President Barack Obama's new policy on insurance coverage of contraceptives. 'I don't think he's very apologetic. He's doing it because some people were taking their advertisements off his program. It was his bottom line that he was concerned about,' Paul told the CBS program 'Face the Nation.'"

Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "The wave of incriminating headlines and the surging stock price reflect the cognitive dissonance generated by News Corporation’s phone hacking scandal."

If General Motors, Ford and Chrysler get the bailout that their chief executives asked for yesterday, you can kiss the American automotive industry goodbye. It won’t go overnight, but its demise will be virtually guaranteed. -- Mitt Romney, Oracle of Detroit, in a New York Times op-ed, November 18, 2008. Thanks to Greg Sargent for the Reminder ...

... Yo, Willard! Chris Bury of ABC News: Arthur J. Gonzales, "the federal judge who presided over Chrysler’s bankruptcy, told ABC News ... that the ailing company could not have survived without taxpayer money.... President Obama is taking credit for saving more than a million jobs because of the bailouts, while Republican candidates have voiced their opposition to the government loans.... Mitt Romney insists, 'It was the wrong way to go,' and that General Motors and Chrysler should have gone through 'a private bankruptcy process.' ... The former chief judge also denied that the speedy bankruptcy hearing somehow prevented private investors from stepping up, pointing out that the government and Chrysler’s creditors had been seeking a solution for 18 months, to no avail."

Right Wing World

Prof. Neil Gross in the New York Times: Research indicates that attending college does not actually make you more liberal and less religious. The main reason this idea took hold is that it suited the conservative cause: "... attacking liberal professors as elitists ... helps position the conservative movement as a populist enterprise by identifying a predatory elite to which conservatism stands opposed — an otherwise difficult task for a movement strongly backed by holders of economic power."

Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker provides an historical overview of how extremists took over the Republican party; short version: public participation.

Mark Murray of NBC News: "Four in 10 of all adults say the GOP nominating process has given them a less favorable impression of the Republican Party, versus just slightly more than one in 10 with a more favorable opinion."

Art by Bob Staake.

Steve Holland & Jeremy Pelofsky of Reuters: "Mitt Romney closed in on Rick Santorum in Ohio and picked up a crucial endorsement in Virginia on Sunday as he grows in strength ahead of 'Super Tuesday,' the biggest day yet in the race for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination."

CW: just around to reading this New York Times article by Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Laurie Goodstein on the evolution of Rick Santorum's faith. It's interesting -- and scary, if you think he could be president. ...

... Carrie Budoff Brown of Politico interviews Karen Santorum. ...

A conservative, a liberal, and a moderate walk into a bar. The bartender says, ‘Hi, Mitt.' -- Foster Friess, Rick Santorum's sugar daddy

Ha! Romney Advised Obama to Use the Individual Mandate. Alec Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "... Mitt Romney often ... says his [healthcare] plan was done on a state level, where the central theme to both plans, the individual mandate, was actually a conservative approach. But in a July 2009 op-ed in USA Today Romney thought the President could learn a thing or two from the plan he signed into law in Massachusetts, including using the individual mandate as an incentive for people to buy insurance."

David Brooks explains how Mitt Romney decided to run for president:

There he was a few years ago sitting on the front porch of his fourth summer home innocently wondering why the trees of New England are so unpleasantly tall, and he turns to his buddies, who own Nascar teams, hotel chains, political parties and various small emirates, and he asks them if it would be a good idea if he ran for president. They point out that a presidential campaign would allow him to recite obscure verses of patriotic songs all across America, so he agrees to do it.

News Ledes 

New York Times: "Syria's government made diplomatic gestures on Monday toward seeking an end to the uprising that has convulsed the country, agreeing for the first time to allow visits by the top United Nations relief official and by the newly designated envoy who represents the United Nations and the Arab League."

When One (Afghanistan) or Two (Bomb, Bomb, Bomb Iran) Wars Are Not Enough. Politico: "Arizona Republican John McCain on Monday will become the first U.S. senator to call for U.S.-led air strikes to stop the slaughter of unarmed civilians being carried out by the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad."

New York Times: "With Israel warning that it may mount a military strike against Iran, President Obama welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday to the White House, but signaled that he would press for more time for a campaign of economic sanctions to work on Tehran." Story has been updated.

Guardian: "Al-Qaida militants have launched a surprise attack against army bases in southern Yemen, killing 78 soldiers, military officials say. The scale of Sunday's attack in Abyan province points to the militants' combat readiness as they launch more and more attacks in a region that the US considers a key battleground in the war on al-Qaida."

Haaretz: "Iran has tripled its monthly production of higher-grade enriched uranium and the UN nuclear watchdog has 'serious concerns' about possible military dimensions to Tehran's atomic activities, the agency's chief said on Monday. Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors about the lack of progress in two rounds of talks between the Vienna-based UN agency and Tehran this year."

Reuters: "American International Group (AIG) is selling part of its stake in AIA Group to raise about $6 billion to help the U.S. insurer repay a huge federal government bail-out."

Al Jazeera: "Russia's presidential elections were 'clearly skewed' in favour of Vladimir Putin and 'lacked fairness', international election monitors have reported as Putin celebrated returning to the Kremlin for a third term. In a statement issued on Monday, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, said that voting had been 'assessed positively overall and had produced a clear winner with an absolute majority'. But it said: 'Voter's choice was limited, electoral competition lacked fairness and an impartial referee was missing.'" ...

     ... New York Times Update: "While Mr. Putin was still celebrating his win, thousands of anti-government protesters gathered in a city square to blast his victory as illegitimate, chanting 'Russia without Putin,' and 'Putin is a thief; we are the government!' When riot police demanded the crowd disperse an hour later, dozens of demonstrators encircled the blogger Aleksei Navalny, the most charismatic figure to emerge in this wave of activism, but officers detained him and pushed him into a police van along with most of the movement’s other prominent leaders. Dozens of other arrests were reported, while determined protesters tried to keep regrouping."

The Commentariat -- March 4, 2012

Updated: My column in in the New York Times eXaminer is titled "Joe Nocera's Phony Defense of Bipartisanship." My next column, which I haven't written yet, will be is titled "Frank Bruni's Phony Defense of Bipartisanship." The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.

** "Whitewashing Gay History." Frank Rich: "Liberals applaud themselves for championing gay marriage. But there are ghosts at the wedding."

Ricardo Lopez & Kim Geiger of the Los Angeles Times: "In what was surely a rare move for the conservative radio host, Rush Limbaugh apologized Saturday to the Georgetown University law school student he called a 'slut' and 'prostitute' earlier in the week. The apology, posted to his website, said he did not mean to make a 'personal attack' against Sandra Fluke." The article doesn't mention, nor does Rush's post, that he carried on these denigrating comments for days. Here's a portion of Rush's "apology":

I think it is absolutely absurd that during these very serious political times, we are discussing personal sexual recreational activities before members of Congress. I personally do not agree that American citizens should pay for these social activities. What happened to personal responsibility and accountability? ... My choice of words was not the best, and in the attempt to be humorous, I created a national stir. I sincerely apologize to Ms. Fluke for the insulting word choices.

CW Translation: I'm losing my sponsors, for Christ's sake! And about those word choices -- I just couldn't think of another way to say 'slut,' 'prostitute' and 'round-heels.' Hope you like 'personal sexual recreational activities' better. BTW, Rick Santorum, I'm not the one who's 'absurd'; Ms. Fluke is. She should act more responsibly, the way I do. Never mind my constant lies, intemperate language & vilification of others, the four wives, the Oxycontin habit & the illegal drug deals.

... Maureen Dowd: "Rush and Newt Gingrich can play the studs, marrying again and again until they find the perfect adoring young wife. But women pressing for health care rights are denigrated as sluts."

We kind of got our Irish up when leaders in government seemed to be assigning an authoritative voice to Catholic groups that are not the bishops. If you want an authoritative voice, go to the bishops. They’re the ones that speak for the truths of the faith. -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan

Let us, on both sides, lay aside all arrogance. Let us not, on either side, claim that we have already discovered the truth. -- St. Augustine of Hippo ...

... This Is All We Need. Tim Stelloh & Andy Newman of the New York Times: "Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan told Roman Catholics on Saturday that in an era when the church was fighting the government on several fronts, they needed to make their voices heard more clearly in the political sphere." Read the whole article.

It’s state-sanctioned abuse. It borders on a definition of rape. Many states describe rape as putting any object into an orifice against a person’s will. Well, that’s what this is. A woman is coerced to do this, just as I’m coerced. The state of Texas is waging war on women and their families. The new law is demeaning and disrespectful to the women of Texas, and insulting to the doctors and nurses who care for them. -- Dr. Curtis Boyd, a Texas physician, on the new Texas law requiring women who want abortions to submit to transvaginal ultrasound probe, listen to the fetal heartbeat, view the fetus on an ultrasound screen, go to anti-abortion "crisis" centers, & listen to their doctors read "a politicized list of so-called dangers of abortion" ...

... Nicholas Kristof: "If Texas legislators wanted to reduce abortions, the obvious approach would be to reduce unwanted pregnancies. The small proportion of women and girls who aren’t using contraceptives account for half of all abortions in America.... Yet Texas has some of the weakest sex-education programs in the nation, and last year it cut spending for family planning by 66 percent."

** "Innocence Is Not Enough." In a New York Times op-ed, lawyer & former New York Times reporter Raymond Bonner recounts the case of Edward Lee Elmore, a man who served 30 years in prison, much of the time "under the threat of imminent execution," for a rape and murder he did not commit....

... Naomi Wolf in Al Jazeera: "... while Obama should continue to apologise for the Quran burnings, we must understand that Afghans' rage is a response to an even deeper, rawer wound. Obama should also apologise for kidnapping Afghans; for holding them at Bagram without due process of law; for forcing them into cages, each reportedly holding up to 30 prisoners; for denying them Red Cross/Red Crescent visits; for illegally confiscating family letters; for torturing and sexually abusing them; and for casting a pall of fear over the country. The Quran forbids that kind of injustice and cruelty. So does the Bible." Thanks to reader Victoria for the link.

Right Wing World

Newt & Callista Make Plans for Lent. For those who think all is well with "traditional Republican wives," even among those of the Roman Catholic persuasion, kept barefoot in Manolos and strangely not pregnant, our thanks go to Nicole Belle of Crooks and Liars and my friend Kate M. for setting us straight:

     ... If you need a translation, Belle obliges. Warning: clicking on the audio will throw you to Crooks & Liars, & I can't figure out how to disable that fun feature.

News Ledes

Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Thirty-one women's-rights demonstrators were arrested this afternoon in a protest at the state Capitol that drew hundreds of protesters and Virginia State Police in riot gear.... The demonstration came after the General Assembly approved hotly disputed legislation that requires women to have an ultrasound before getting an abortion."

New York Times: "Russian voters overwhelmingly granted Vladimir V. Putin a six-year term as president on Sunday, a widely expected outcome that set the stage for a far more suspenseful post-election confrontation between the freshly emboldened leader and an opposition movement that has repeatedly rallied tens of thousands of protesters."

Here's the Washington Post's report on President Obama's speech before AIPAC.

Washington Post: "House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R) endorsed Mitt Romney for president on Sunday, becoming the first member of GOP leadership to back the GOP frontrunner."

Haaretz: Israeli "President Shimon Peres will meet with President Barack Obama in the U.S. capital on Sunday. Peres will also tell delegates of pro-Israel lobby AIPAC that Israel is not rushing into a war, but will defend itself if it has to."

AP: "While scattered damage was reported elsewhere, the worst destruction was in Limestone and Madison counties [Alabama], where 190 homes were damaged or destroyed."

Washington Post: "Complaints of vote-rigging were starting to pile up Sunday, even as an intensely watched presidential election is underway across Russia’s nine time zones."

Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot ...

... And Al Franken is a Senator who can subpoena him.

I have some additions to make to the published comments on Rush Limbaugh.

A reader writes that a friend of hers reminded her,

Rush Limpballs was reprimanded immediately after a broadcast of Monday Night Football after making a racist comment about Donovan McNabb, quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles a few years ago. He was immediately fined and taken off the air and very soon afterwards FIRED from his newly hired and long desired position of being a broadcaster for the National Football League and the sweet position of being given MNF. Clearly, one race related comment during one MNF game is worse than the toxic ugly words he has used to once again downgrade women and the strong Georgetown student during the course of this week.

The problem of course is that there is no one to fire Rush from his radio show. His show is syndicated and airs on about 600 radio stations, including the Armed Forces Services Network. Yes, indeed, your tax dollars are supporting Rush's effluvient Santorum. Petitions and letters asking Congress to remove Rush from the AFSN have been unsuccessful. There are only two routes to having him removed: sponsor by sponsor and station by station. This process has been somewhat successful in limiting Glenn Beck's airtime. When sponsors dropped their backing of Beck's Fox "News" show in response to public pressure, Roger Ailes canned him. And he lost his radio audience in several markets -- New York & Philadelphia among them -- when local stations dropped his show.

Another friend of Reality Chex, who is a prominent psychiatrist, tells me that he feels not enough attention has been paid to Rush's suggestion to tape college students having sex and post the videos on the Internet for viewers to "enjoy." This is symptomatic of Rush's objectification of women (ah, those four wives) and a sexual preference for porn (and masturbation?). The doctor describes pornography as "a sexual fetish -- preferring sexual stimulation by inanimate objects." Rush likes his women pixilated and in two dimensions. The psychiatrist also notes that 40 percent of sex addicts have associated chemical addictions. Could that possibly apply to Oxycontin Man? And Rush may be a sick-o, but do his fundamentalist Christian disciples really approve of compulsive masturbation to sexual imagery? How about you, Rick Santorum? Why do "entertainers" get a special pass to have sex "that is counter to how things are supposed to be"?

Finally, this, which is P. D. Pepe's comment come to life on the itty-bitty screen: