The Commentariat -- Nov. 16, 2012
Paul Krugman: "... the most dangerous zombie [idea] is probably the claim that rising life expectancy justifies a rise in both the Social Security retirement age and the age of eligibility for Medicare. Even some Democrats -- including, according to reports, the president -- have seemed susceptible to this argument. But it's a cruel, foolish idea -- cruel in the case of Social Security, foolish in the case of Medicare -- and we shouldn't let it eat our brains." Krugman explains why, then writes, "This should be a red line in any budget negotiations, and we can only hope that Mr. Obama doesn't betray his supporters by crossing it." ...
... ** E. J. Dionne takes a clear-eyed view of what the election means for both parties. CW: Read the whole column, but one point I hope President Obama reads: "A longing for balanced budgets is not what drove [Democratic] voters to the polls."
CBS News: "CBS News has obtained the CIA talking points given to U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice on Sept. 15 regarding the fatal attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, four days earlier. CBS News correspondent Margaret Brennan says the talking points, which were also given to members of the House intelligence committee, make no reference to terrorism being a likely factor in the assault, which left U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans dead." CW: as if we ever doubted it, the whole GOP Benghazi hyperventilation factory has been a sham & a scam. ...
... Apparently there are CIA talking points & CIA talking points. CNN: "A source told CNN that Petraeus knew almost immediately that it was the work of a loosely formed militia with members sympathetic to al Qaeda.... The former CIA director also is expected to tell the congressional committees that he did develop unclassified talking points in the days after the attack but had had no direct involvement in developing the ones used by Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."
Josh Rogin of Foreign Policy: "Republicans skip Benghazi hearing; complain about lack of information on Benghazi. This week, a number of Republican senators have strongly criticized the administration for failing to properly explain the circumstances surrounding the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi. Some of those senators failed to show up for a briefing on the attack Wednesday.... Although [Sen. John] McCain [R-Az.] had time to speak on the Senate floor and on television about the lack of information provided to Congress about the attack, he didn't attend the classified briefing for senators Wednesday given to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, of which he is a member.... Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), another Homeland Security committee member who was on television complaining about the lack of Benghazi information, also did not show up for the Wednesday hearing. Paul did a CNN interview from the Capitol building Wednesday in which said he had questions about the anti-Islam video, the lack of Marines in Libya, and diplomatic security. At one point he says, 'I don't know enough of the details.'" ...
... Hunter of Daily Kos: "McCain's response to a reporter asking him why he missed the meeting in order to demand a meeting was to have a considerably impressive meltdown."
... Dan Amira of New York: "Five of eight Republicans on the committee failed to show up, including John McCain.... We guess even McCain is embarrassed by how that turned out, because he was even more crotchety than usual when a CNN reporter asked him about it today.... Yes, being called out on your own bullshit can be quite upsetting":
CW: don't know what all the fuss is about. There are no cameras in secret hearings. Who could possibly expect media hogs McCain & Paul to go to dark in favor of, you know, doing their jobs? ...
... Here's a good post from Alex Pareene of Salon, slugged, "John McCain and his sidekick, Lindsey Graham, are determined to get to the bottom of an entirely made-up scandal."
... Dave Weigel of Slate: "The current round of Benghazi hearings are closed, and senators are not allowed to talk about what occurred inside them. 'You'll have to read the New York Times to find out,' joked Marco Rubio this week. McCain wants public, select committee hearings, which have been accurately described as 'Watergate-style.'" ...
... Paul Waldman of American Prospect: "So what's going on here? I can sum it up in two words: scandal envy. Republicans are indescribably frustrated by the fact that Barack Obama, whom they regard as both illegitimate and corrupt, went through an entire term without a major scandal.... Benghazi may not be an actual scandal, but it's all they have handy."
Nobody died in Iran-Contra. -- John McCain ...
... Dennis G. of Balloon Juice: "We all know that McCain is a bitter, angry old man and perhaps the sorest loser in the history of American politics, but that does not obscure the fact that at his center he is an ignorant, lying asshole. At least 30,000 folks died as a result a direct result of the Contras and their war in Nicaragua. The Iran-Contra funded covert project spilled over into El Salvador where another 75,000 people lost their lives and to Guatemala where CIA funded death squads helped helped to push the body count to over 200,000. The Iraq-Iran war that Team Reagan was funding with the scandal added another 450,000 to the count." ...
... CW: McCain was a Member of Congress during Iran-Contra & actively supported the Contras, including belonging to an organization that "was part of an international organization linked to former Nazi collaborators and ultra-right-wing death squads in Central America" & that illegally supplied the Nicaraquan Contras. Nobody died? McCain busied himself making sure people did die.
CarrollAnn Mears of NBC News: "A House Foreign Affairs hearing on 'Benghazi and Beyond' quickly turned into a shouting and accusations forum." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.
Jillian Rayfield of Salon: "The entire GOP leadership has signed a pledge to 'oppose any legislation relating to climate change that includes a net increase in government revenue.' The Tea Party group Americans for Prosperity, which is backed by the Koch brothers, sent out a press release Thursday marking the election of House GOP leadership with a reminder that they had all signed." CW: President Obama should ram the Koch pledge down the throats of the GOP leadership. There is little downside to batting at billionaires -- or their toadies.
Philip Elliott of the AP: "Less than two weeks after Republican nominee Mitt Romney came up short in his bid to unseat President Barack Obama, the next class of GOP presidential hopefuls is laying the groundwork for bids of their own."
James Hohmann of Politico: Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico (R) "expressed disdain for Romney's claim this week on a conference call that Obama won reelection because he offered 'gifts' to minorities and younger voters. 'That unfortunately is what sets us back as a party -- our comments that are not thought through carefully,' she said."
Scott Lemieux of Lawyers, Guns & Money explains politics -- and human nature -- to Glenn Greenwald: "Ineffectual opposition tends to be ineffectual." Via Jonathan Bernstein.
Hamed Aleaziz: Fox "News," still swiftboating John Kerry. "The Swift Boat claims are no more true now than they were in 2004, when Republicans like like Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) immediately came to Kerry's defense and slammed Swift Boat’s ad." With video. CW: let's see if Grumpy McCain comes to Kerry's defense now that McCain has become the Crotchitiest Man in the Senate. It's been a great couple of days for failed GOP presidential nominees, hasn't it? What an outstanding couple of citizens. ...
... Ah, Steve Kornacki of Salon noticed the Co-Chairs of the Sore Losers Club, too. "McCain's various self-reinventions as a politician are best understood as acts of sore loser-dom.... His reputation took a hit in '08, but he had an opportunity to restore it in defeat. Instead, he's behaved like an embittered partisan warrior. And so far, it's an example that Romney and Ryan are following." Read the whole post.
... Meanwhile, Fox "News"'s resident fake Democratic feminist Kirsten Powers calls President Obama a "sexist" for defending Susan Rice, Ed Kilgore reports. CW: why Powers failed to mention that black people stick together, I don't know. It's very important to reinforce the idea that the whole administration is "foreign" to Real America. John McCain can't do everything, you know.
Ernesto Londoño of the Washington Post: "The Pentagon has launched a sweeping review into misconduct by senior officers, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta announced Thursday, a rare undertaking at the nation's largest bureaucracy, beset by recent high-profile scandals involving the brass.... The effort could shed light on whether the multiple deployments in a decade of war, which have exacted a well-documented toll on an all-volunteer force, also are afflicting those in command." ...
... Jonathan Landay of McClatchy News: "The CIA said Thursday that it had opened an 'exploratory' investigation into the conduct of former director David Petraeus, who resigned after admitting to adultery, on the same day that Defense Secretary Leon Panetta ordered the military services to review ways to strengthen ethics standards 'that keep the military well led and well disciplined.'" ...
... Mark Hosenball & Andy Sullivan of Reuters: "Classified material kept by the woman who conducted an affair with former CIA Director David Petraeus predates their liaison and does not come from the spy agency, sources briefed on the investigation told Reuters on Thursday." ...
... Kathy Finn of Reuters: "Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday defended the Justice Department's decision to hold off informing President Barack Obama of an investigation that eventually caused CIA Director David Petraeus to resign." ...
... Eric Schmitt of the New York Times writes an overview of the most recent developments in the Petraeus Affair & Congressional "investigations" of the Benghazi attack.
Greg Jaffe & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post write a compelling profile of Paula Broadwell, the little engine who couldn't quite. This interview of the reporters in good, too:
Jill Kelley, Sleazier than She Looks. (Who thought that was possible? Meow.) Brian Ross of ABC News: "A New York businessman who discussed a multi-billion-dollar Korean business deal with Jill Kelley said the Tampa woman at the center of the Petraeus scandal told him Gen. Petraeus had arranged for her to become an honorary consul for South Korea and promote free trade, and then asked him for $80 million to complete the deal.... Another source told ABC News that Petraeus had asked Kelley to stop throwing his name around." Thanks to contributor Diane for the link. CW: sorry, Jill. Looks like there will be no big payoff for all your generous "charity" work. Kaching kaput.
... AND the Petraeus Affair brings to mind this explanation of the Theory of American War by the late, great Freudian military analyst George Carlin. Thanks to contributor Jack Mahoney for the link:
... And that brings to mind the story of Ali Abbas, a then-12-year-old Iraqi, who, as Joan Walsh of Salon wrote, "lost 15 relatives, including his parents and three siblings, as well as both of his arms, in an errant missile strike on a Baghdad suburb.... He's got burns all over his body, some of them are infected, he's in constant pain, and he's had to be moved from hospital to hospital thanks to looters.... When [CNN] anchor Kyra Phillips interviewed Ali's doctor in Kuwait..., [he] explained that ... Ali told reporters he ... he hopes no other 'children in the war will suffer like what he suffered.' Phillips seemed shocked by Ali's apparent inability to understand we were only trying to help him. 'Doctor, does he understand why this war took place? Has he talked about Operation Iraqi Freedom and the meaning?'" It's easy to forget or ignore the warmongering media. Luckily, we get constant reminders, like Andrea Mitchell last week, hyperventilating over the fall from grace of the god Petraeus. (In fairness, I have to admit, I'm not entirely into Carlin's explanation. It doesn't for instance, explain Phillips' & Mitchell's cheerleading.)
Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar of the AP: "After two years of political battles and a Supreme Court case, many if not most states are expected to tell the federal government Friday if they're willing carry out a key part of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul. [Since Republican governors sat on their hands in hopes of an Obama defeat,] Thursday evening, the Obama administration responded to a request for more time from Republican governors by granting states a month's extension, until Dec. 14." The article includes a map to let you know where your state stands.
Local News
Jillian Rayfield of Salon has the story of a pink-colored man named Charlie Webster, who is "the outgoing Chairman of the Maine Republican Party." Webster is sleuthing for "possible instances of voter fraud on Election Day, because 'dozens' of black people voted in some precincts, but 'nobody in (these) towns knows anyone who's black.'" Webster went on to say, "I'm not talking about 15 or 20. I'm talking hundreds. I'm not politically correct and maybe I shouldn't have said these voters were black, but anyone who suggests I have a bias toward any race or group, frankly, that's sleazy."...
... CW: it's not clear to me how Webster determined these mystery voters were black because I don't think you have to put your race on voter registration forms. Well, maybe in Maine. BTW, President Obama won the state of Maine 387,794 to 290,437, give or take a few, so by 97,000-odd votes. I'm just thinking those alleged "hundreds" of blacks "nobody knows" couldn't have tilted the election either way. In fairness, math is not a GOP thing.
News Ledes
Louie, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. (Actually, President Obama is wishing Speaker Boehner a happy birthday.)Washington Post: "In a display of bipartisanship unseen since the GOP captured the House in 2010, Republican and Democratic leaders met for more than an hour with President Obama at the White House. They emerged unified, with a message of reassurance for nervous taxpayers and investors -- though intense haggling over the shape of a deal is yet to come."
Politico: "Former CIA Director David Petraeus testified Friday morning that the CIA knew that the Benghazi attacks were a terrorist attack and not a spontaneous demonstration, and he denied that his sensational extramarital affair had any impact on his testimony." The Washington Post story, which relies largely on an interview of Peter King (R-N.Y.), is substantially different from the Politico report. According to King's interpretation, Petraeus testified he gave Susan Rice different information than what she told the American people. ...
... The AP found a staffer more reliable than King: "Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus has told Congress that references to militant groups Ansar al-Shariah and al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb were removed from the agency's draft talking points of what sparked the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. Consulate in Libya. A congressional staffer says Petraeus testified in a closed-door hearing Friday that the CIA's talking points did name those groups. Petraeus told lawmakers he wasn't sure which agency replaced the groups' names with the word 'extremist; in the final draft. But he said he allowed other agencies to alter the talking points as they saw fit without asking for final review, to get them out quickly." ...
... Finally, the New York Times report, published several hours after the other reports, reads to me as most accurate (though the Politico report, published earliest, is fairly consistent with the Times report).
New York Times: "President Obama opens a new round of deficit-reduction negotiations with Congressional leaders of both parties Friday morning at the White House, his bargaining hand strengthened by re-election but with time running out for a deal to avoid economy-rattling tax increases and spending cuts at the turn of the year."
New York Times: "Egypt launched a remarkable diplomatic initiative on Friday after a night of ferocious Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and militant rocket fire toward Israel, sending its prime minister to show support for Palestinians in the beleaguered enclave. The move prompted Israel to agree to a temporary, though flawed, cease-fire even as it sent armored vehicles toward Gaza and called up reservists for a possible invasion." ...
... Reuters: "Egypt opened a tiny window to emergency peace diplomacy in Gaza on Friday, but hopes for even a brief ceasefire while its prime minister was inside the bombarded enclave to talk to leaders of the Islamist Hamas movement were immediately dashed." ...
... Washington Post: "A temporary truce between Israel and Gaza militants during a Friday morning visit by Egyptian Prime Minister Hesham Kandil quickly crumbled as Palestinians continued to lob rockets across the border and Israeli aircraft responded with renewed airstrikes." Update. New lede: "... lobbed rockets as far north as Jerusalem...."
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