The Commentariat -- March 9, 2012
NEW. By popular request (see today's Comments), I've written a column for the New York Times eXaminer, incorporating the wisdom of Gemli. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here. ...
The threats to women’s health care are very real, and they are only growing. We saw it on a panel on birth control in the House -- that didn’t include any women. We saw it in a young woman being called horrible names for telling the story of a friend in need. We see it in Republican efforts to allow a woman’s employer to dictate her access to birth control, and we are seeing it in state laws all across the country aimed at stripping women of their rights and so much more. On this International Women’s Day we celebrate our gains with the clear understanding that they must always be defended. We join with women everywhere to ensure that progress is not reversed. -- Patty Murray (D-Wash.), on the Senate floor yesterday ...
... Michelle Obama honors International Women of Courage:
... George Zornick of The Nation: "With most major media outlets covering International Women’s Day, Republicans on one House Judiciary subcommittee ... are holding a hearing on the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act, which would make it a crime for anyone other than a parent to accompany a young woman across state lines for abortion care. Anti-choice groups have already been very successful in limiting abortion clinics to select geographic areas, and this bill would make it harder for young women to access the services that do exist. NARAL Pro-Choice America is strongly opposed to the bill.... This bill, or some version of it, has been introduced in each Congress for the past fifteen years. The American Medical Association and many other major health care groups oppose the measure, because they view it as a roadblock to confidential access to physicians. House Republicans have picked a pretty bad day to make the push again." ...
... Proud to Be Misogynists! Steve Benen: "Rank-and-file House Republicans still want a vote on their own version of the Blunt Amendment, called the 'Respect for Rights of Conscience Act,' championed by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R) of Nebraska. Most of the House GOP is already co-sponsoring the bill, and many still expect a floor vote, Senate opposition, and Republican leaders' squeamishness, notwithstanding."
The Tennessean: "Former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Davis said he and his wife Lynda were denied the right to vote Tuesday in his Fentress County hometown." Davis was not offered a provisional ballot, but later "someone" called him at home & told him he [and presumably, his wife] could cast a provisional ballot." Davis said, "I’m a former member of Congress, state senator, House member, mayor and all my life, I’ve been involved in the community, coaching Little League, participating in Boy Scouts and serving on boards here, and I’m denied the right to vote. It just doesn’t make sense.” CW: That's funny; the board of elections can find his phone number but they don't know where he lives??? The article doesn't say so, but Davis is a Democrat. Are we all surprised? Thanks to Dave S. for the link. ...
... AP Update: some elections official apologized to Davis. "it was a clerical error." CW: Gosh, I wonder how many "clerical errors" will be made November 6? ...
... Keith Olbermann interviews Lincoln Davis:
This is a disguise -- smoke and mirrors for a poll tax for the elderly and the disabled, regardless of the race, and for those who are dependent on public transportation. We're going back to the Jim Crow days. -- Texas State Sen. Mario Gallegos (D) on the new Texas voter ID law ...
... Lisa Olsen of the Houston Chronicle: "The state's contested voter ID law could provoke widespread complications in the upcoming presidential elections, with as many as 18 percent of all registered voters across Texas apparently lacking state government-issued photo IDs to match their voter registration cards.... The findings come from documents submitted by the state to the U.S. Department of Justice as part of an ongoing review of the new voter ID law.... The law appears to most heavily impact voters in 20 of Texas' majority Hispanic counties. In nine of those counties, 40 percent or more of registered voters did not perfectly match 2012 DPS data...." CW: Gov. Rick Perry (RTP) & AG Greg Abbott (R) say the law is necessary to prevent voter fraud. How much voter fraud has been detected? The article doesn't say, but assuming Texas is typical -- the answer is next to none. And for this, 40 percent of registered voters in some counties may be denied the right to vote. ...
... Rachel Maddow has a good wrap-up of the GOP's nationwide effort to suppress the vote:
** Andrew Delbanco of Columbia University writes a terrific op-ed in the New York Times on what "elite" colleges should be doing not just to improve their images but to improve their curricula.
Zachary Goldfarb of the Washington Post: "President Obama has begun embracing housing policies that administration officials earlier thought unwise or unworkable as he embarks on his most aggressive push to address the nation’s foreclosure crisis and depressed real estate market since the first months of his tenure.... By addressing housing with such force lately, Obama has been able to draw a contrast with his Republican presidential rivals, who generally have favored a hands-off approach to the foreclosure crisis. He has also been able to salve wounds in his relationship with liberals." CW: Obama is not doing all that well with cynics who see this as an election-year ploy.
Amanda Beadle of Think Progress: Rush Limbaugh has scrubbed the transcripts of his shows in which he disparaged Sandra Fluke. ...
... Mark Judkis of the Washington Post: "The 'Hall of Famous Missourians' may not be the only place that will soon be decorated with a Rush Limbaugh sculpture: ... the sculpture will be available in an edition of six.... Collectors will be able to purchase one of the six Limbaugh sculptures cast in the same mold, for approximately $15,000."
Mary Clare Jalonick of the AP: "E-mails obtained by The Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act don't contradict Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's assertion that he alone made the decision to oust [Shirley] Sherrod over a speech initially determined to have been racist. But they do show that White House officials were closely involved in the process from the first minutes the scandal began to emerge, offering advice and counsel to Agriculture officials." CW: from what I read, the White House looks better than the USDA; at least somebody in the WH said, "Hey, maybe we should look at the whole tape before we whack this woman."
Charlie Savage & the New York Times keep on keeping on trying to get hold of the memo authorizing the killing of Anwar al-Awlaki.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) -- who surely has national ambitions -- on why it's a big mistake to vote for guys like the one sitting right next to him:
Ilyse Hogue of The Nation on Rep. Chellie Pingree's (D-Maine) decision not to run for the Senate because an "Independent" man decided to make it a three-way race. "... forcing [women's] issues out of the women’s ghetto into the light of priority evidently requires more female leadership, which means that maybe it is someone else’s turn to step aside."
Right Wing World
** Paul Krugman: A "new hostility to education is shared by the social conservative and economic conservative wings of the Republican coalition, now embodied in the persons of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. And this comes at a time when American education is already in deep trouble.... Whenever you hear Republicans say that they are the party of traditional values, bear in mind that they have actually made a radical break with America’s tradition of valuing education. And they have made this break because they believe that what you don’t know can’t hurt them."
Unless there’s a valid, legitimate and compelling public purpose, I don’t know why the government owns so much of this land. -- Mitt Romney
Is there any long-held, much-cherished American principle that Republicans and their media outlets will not renounce? -- Tim Egan
... CW: Egan explains the "legitimate & compelling purpose," but I don't think Romney is real enough to get it. One need not be a tree-hugger to see why this man should not be put in charge of the United States. He says it all in one sentence. He does not accept the idea that serve to ordinary people is a legitimate & compelling purpose.
E. J. Dionne: "... Nixon, rival to Romney’s father in 1968..., may best explain how Mitt Romney is managing his way toward a tepid triumph.... Nixon’s political resurrection came after a period of great ideological enthusiasm ... that led to Barry Goldwater’s historically significant but electorally disastrous nomination in 1964. Nixon knew that he needed the right wing but had no illusions about how its loyalists felt about him. 'They don’t like me,' Nixon said, 'but they tolerate me.' That is the best Romney is likely to do with the Tea Partyers and the Christian conservatives and the Southerners.... But as it was for Nixon, this may be enough."
Steve Benen: Republicans' vow to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act "appears to have been rebuffed and rejected.... For one thing, repeal can't pass. For another, a vote for repeal is a vote for higher taxes on small businesses, higher prescription drug prices for seniors, fewer protections for consumers, a larger deficit, and taking health care coverage away from millions of Americans. It's not exactly a smart election-year move." ...
... AND Besides That ... Jake Sherman & John Bresnahan of Politico: Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is continuing his long losing streak; he is a "leader" with few followers.
News Ledes
Bloomberg News: "Employers in the U.S. boosted payrolls more than forecast in February, indicating companies are growing more optimistic about the expansion. The jobless rate held at 8.3 percent. The 227,000 increase in payrolls followed a revised 284,000 gain in January.... Job growth over the last six months was the strongest since 2006."
AP: "The U.S. military signed a last-minute agreement Friday to transfer its main detention center in the country to Afghan control in six months — a key step toward a long-term pact on U.S. military presence in Afghanistan.... Friday’s agreement extends a deadline set by Afghan President Hamid Karzai for the transfer of some 3,000 Afghan detainees at the Parwan facility, a U.S.-run prison adjoining its Bagram military base...."
Reuters: "Israel has asked the United States for advanced 'bunker-buster' bombs and refueling planes that could improve its ability to attack Iran's underground nuclear sites, an Israeli official said on Thursday."
New York Times: "Greece said Friday that it had clinched a landmark debt restructuring deal with its private sector lenders. The deal clears the way for the release of bailout funds from Europe and the International Monetary Fund that will save the country from imminent default."
New York Times: "An international diplomatic effort to nudge Syria’s president toward peace talks ran into difficulties on Friday even before it got under way when the leader of the main exile opposition group was quoted as rejecting the initiative." Al Jazeera story here. Al Jazeera's liveblog on Syria is here.
Reuters: Italian "President Giorgio Napolitano led a chorus of condemnation on Friday of Britain's failure to inform the Italian government before launching a botched rescue mission with Nigerian forces that led to the deaths of British and Italian hostages held by a militant Islamist group. Briton Chris McManus and Italian Franco Lamolinara, who were kidnapped in May while working for a construction company in northwest Nigeria, were killed by their captors during the raid, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday." Guardian story here, with links to related stories.
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