The Commentariat -- May 18

Maureen Dowd: "According to the claims of the 32-year-old West African maid, what took place in the $3,000-a-day Sofitel suite had nothing to do with seduction. If the allegation is true, [Dominique] Strauss-Kahn’s behavior, boorish and primitive, is rape." ...

     ... I've opened a page for comments on Dowd's column on Off Times Square. I've posted my comment. ...

... Landon Thomas & Steven Erlanger of the New York Times profile Dominique Strauss-Kahn. ...

... MEANWHILE ... Liz Alderman of the New York Times: "As Dominique Strauss-Kahn was left to spend another day behind bars in New York, a pack of would-be successors wasted little time Tuesday maneuvering for his job as managing director of the International Monetary Fund, one of the most powerful positions in global finance." ...

... AND. Stephen Fidler, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "The Obama administration strongly signaled it was time for the International Monetary Fund to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn as its chief, indicating that he can no longer be effective in his job. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, responding to a question in New York Tuesday night, said Mr. Strauss-Kahn — jailed since Saturday on sexual-assault charges — is 'obviously not in the position to run the IMF.'" ...

... BUT then you have the Strauss-Kahn apologists. Felix Salmon of Reuters has been on "Ben Stein Watch, DSK Edition," and posts "the top ten lines from Ben Stein’s article on Dominique Strauss-Kahn." Here's one: "This is a case about the hatred of the have-nots for the haves, and that’s what it’s all about." It's worth reading the rest.

Rachel Maddow takes on the myths, misperceptions and misrepresentations surrounding the killing of Osama bin Laden, especially those by torture advocates who claim there was "a waterboarding trial to bin Laden":

     ... Update: here's the AP story Maddow cites.

Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "The CIA employed sophisticated new stealth drone aircraft to fly dozens of secret missions deep into Pakistani airspace and monitor the compound where Osama bin Laden was killed, current and former U.S. officials said. Using unmanned planes designed to evade radar detection and operate at high altitudes, the agency conducted clandestine flights over the compound for months before the May 2 assault in an effort to capture high-resolution video that satellites could not provide." CW: if they can fly them there, they can fly them anywhere.

"Blame Woodstock." Laurie Goldstein of the New York Times: "A five-year study commissioned by the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops to provide a definitive answer to what caused the church’s sexual abuse crisis has concluded that ... the abuse occurred because priests who were poorly prepared and monitored, and were under stress, landed amid the social and sexual turmoil of the 1960s and ’70s. Known occurrences of sexual abuse of minors by priests rose sharply during those decades, the report found, and the problem grew worse when the church’s hierarchy responded by showing more care for the perpetrators than the victims." The study is to be released today (Wednesday).

The excellent post by Lee Fang of Think Progress that accompanies the video below really belongs in Right Wing World because Fang exposes Rep. Ben Quayle's "laughable" claim that oil company "tax deductions that corporations across all sorts of sectors take in terms of R&D, in terms of equipment deductions, the life of the equipment, those were the deductions that they were talking about and it’s not specific to the oil industry." As Fang clarifies, "Quayle and his Republican colleagues in the House ... voted in lockstep to extend billions in ... special tax breaks only available to oil and gas companies. For instance, there is the 'Intangible Drilling Costs' tax break ($7.8 billion over ten years); a deduction for 'tertiary,' or enhanced oil recovery methods ($67 million over ten years); and the percentage depletion allowance for owners of oil wells ($10 billion over ten years)." But what I want to highlight here is not Quayle but the citizens who showed up at his meeting, grilled him and laughed at his outright lie. These active citizens, who take "citizenship" seriously, are doing what is necessary to make democracy work again:

One Way to Reduce the Federal Deficit: Sell Utah! The federal government owns 70 per cent of Utah, for example. There are federal buildings. If you need cash, let's start liquidating.
-- Rep. Dennis Ross (R-Florida)

Right Wing World *

A Morality Tale:
How George W. Bush Killed Osama Bin Laden

Prologue

Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. -- John McCain, in his 1973 account of his imprisonment and torture in Viet Nam 

Chapter and Verse

Everything I’ve read shows that we would not have gotten this information as to who this man was if it had not been gotten information from people who were subject to enhanced interrogation. And so this idea that we didn’t ask that question while Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was being waterboarded, he [McCain] doesn’t understand how enhanced interrogation works. I mean, you break somebody, and after they’re broken, they become cooperative. And that’s when we got this information. And one thing led to another, and led to another, and that’s how we ended up with bin Laden. -- Rick Santorum, presidential candidate

Epilogue

Who? -- Brooke Buchanan, McCain's spokesperson, full e-mailed reply to a request for a response to Santorum

Paul Ryan gives his "big speech" defending his budget plan and theory of economics. ...

... SO Paul Krugman rebuts: "... he’s out there denouncing the way 'the budget debate has degenerated into a game of green-eyeshade arithmetic' — in other words, enough with all these numbers. And his answer to the deficit now is that we have to grow our way out. There’s a name for that: voodoo economics."

Callista Gingrich. Is that Tiffany's you're wearing with your pretty Republican retro suit, Mrs. Newt? Bling Ding. CW: a number of cynics have charged that Newt Gingrich is running for president largely for the purpose of promoting himself & his publishing business. Turns out, he may need the money. Jake Sherman of Politico reports that in 2006 -- the last year for which disclosure reports are available -- the "fiscally conservative" Newtster was carrying up to a half-million-dollar debt at Tiffany's. ...

... Newt Gingrich: the candidate forever cursed to be 'the smartest man in the room': ...Maybe he only felt truly comfortable when he was surrounded by diamonds, one of the few things in the universe as brilliant as Newt Gingrich. -- Alex Pareene of Salon ...

... No. -- Newt, in response to a WashPo inquiry on whether he would be willing to disclose what he bought at Tiffany's ...

... Amy Gardner & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Newt Gingrich’s first outing as a 2012 presidential candidate has confirmed and even deepened Republicans’ doubts that the former House speaker has the discipline it will take to be a credible contender. The second day of his 17-city swing through Iowa once again saw Gingrich in full damage-control mode and seeking to tamp down the backlash that he generated with inflammatory remarks Sunday on NBC’s 'Meet the Press,' in which he criticized a GOP plan to overhaul Medicare and defended a central tenet of the Democrats’ health-care reform." ...

... To demonstrate how willing I am to pile on to the Newt's troubles, here I am letting Charles Krauthammer have a say:

... Judd Lequm of Think Progress: Newt Gingrich complains the right is excoriating him for his criticisms of Paul Ryan's budget because "the gotcha press ... took dramatically out of context what I said." CW: Yeah, by running extended clips of his remarks and stuff. Unfortunately, "context" only makes his remarks looks worse, because the "context" includes his multiple flip-flops. ...

     ... Update. Hahahahaha. Warning to Democrats: any ad you run that accurately quotes me is a lie. -- Paraphrasing Newt:

     ... Benjy Sarlin of TPM: and Newt personally apologizes to Paul Ryan for calling the Ryan budget "right-wing social engineering." CW: because in Right Wing World, the truth is always a gaffe. A terrible gaffe. ...

... Dana Milbank on Dinosaur Watch: "Gingrich didn't change; his party did." And, year, Paul Ryan's plan is radical.

.... ** NEW. From-the-Heartland writes: "I listened to Morning Joe this morning and caught their session on Gingrich.  What troubles me about the coverage and commentary is that it all leaves a flavor which intimates that Ryan's plan relative to Medicare/Medicaid is a decent proposal which needs to be worked with.  I fear that a huge number of people will feel that to be the message of the coverage afforded to Gingrich's criticism of Ryan's plan rather than the fact that Gingrich is a two timing conniving opportunist with no real moral compass."

NEW. Are You Going to Believe Me or Your Lying Ears? Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: Darrell Issa's (R-Calif.) staff lies about his lies. No, the Mexican government did not accuse the U.S. of  committing an "act of war," even if Darrell Issa says it's so -- twice, and on tape-- and his staff says that isn't what he said.

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned Wednesday as head of the International Monetary Fund after explosive accusations that he had sexually attacked a housekeeper in a Midtown Manhattan hotel room."

President Obama spoke at two DNC events in Boston this evening. ...

     ... Update: Here's the text of the President's remarks at one of the events. Here are his remarks at the other event.

New York Times: "President Obama imposed sanctions on Syria’s leader, President Bashar al-Assad, and six other senior Syrian officials on Wednesday, ratcheting up American pressure in the wake of a bloody crackdown on political protests in the country."

Washington Post: "Air Force One with President Barack Obama aboard made an aborted landing attempt at the Windsor Locks, Conn., airport Wednesday before trying again and landing safely, officials said. The White House and Federal Aviation Administration say it was a routine maneuver where the pilot was in the process of landing, but because of weather conditions decided to circle the runway before trying again and landing safely." ...

... Washington Post: "Confusion after Vice President Biden landed in Chicago on Monday almost resulted in a collision between two passenger planes just above the tarmac at O’Hare International Airport , according to federal officials and air traffic recordings. The near-collision involved a pair of 50-seat, twin-engine commuter jets, one inbound from Muskegon, Mich., and the other taking off for Buffalo. Biden’s plane was not involved in the incident."

President Obama delivered the commencement address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New Longdon, Connecticut early this afternoon. ...

     ... Update: Here's the text of the President's commencement address.

I've brought this link forward from yesterday's Ledes. Washington Post: "Pakistani paramilitary troops shot at NATO helicopters that crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan early Tuesday, triggering a firefight that left two soldiers wounded, military officials here said. The incident, which coalition officials in Afghanistan said they were investigating, served as a new threat to U.S.-Pakistani relations...."

New York Times: "... there were suggestions that [Dominique] Strauss-Kahn, a powerful, wealthy politician who was widely regarded as a strong candidate to run against the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, next year, would put forward a defense that any sex would have been consensual.... Tthe defense may acknowledge that a sexual encounter had occurred." ...

... The AP has more on the Strauss-Kahn case. ...

     ... New York Times Update: "The housekeeper, 32, whose name has not been publicly released by the authorities in New York, testified before the grand jury Wednesday, people briefed on the case said. The panel is expected to vote on whether to indict Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, a prominent French Socialist, by Friday, when he is due back in court."

The Commentariat -- May 17

I've posted an Open Thread for today on Off Times Square. I'll slap up my comment on Brooks' Nonsense Column du Jour. Update: comments on the Brooks-Gingrich photo are pretty hilarious -- add your own.

How to write about Republicans. Read Rick Hertzberg. Read Rick Hertzberg again.

Tim Egan: "Republicans ... hate Medicare because it represents everything they are philosophically opposed to: a government-run program that works and is popular across the political board. It’s tough to shout about the dangers of universal health care when the two greatest protectors (if not creators) of the elderly middle class are those pillars of 20th-century progressive change, Social Security and Medicare."... Paul Ryan tried to divide and conquer by insulating today's seniors from his plan to end Medicare. "Ryan himself has made a naked play for greed in defending the plan. 'Seniors, as soon as they realize this doesn’t affect them, they are not so opposed,' he has said." But his little ploy didn't work: "seniors are opposed." 

In a New York Times op-ed, Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority, makes a compelling case for United Nations recognition of Palestine. In September, Palestinians will ask the U.N. General Assembly to admit Palestine as a full member.

"The Secret Sharer." Jane Mayer of the New Yorker on Thomas Drake, whom the DOJ has charged and will try under the 1917 Espionage Act. CW: I haven't finished reading Mayer's article, but I will; and I've read enough to know Mayer tells you more about the workings of the federal government than Thomas Drake has. ...

... Glenn Greenwald: "Mayer's article is what I'd describe as the must-read magazine article of the month, and I encourage everyone to read it in its entirety...."

Robert Kuttner of American Progress writes a long, compelling article on Obama's "theory of power" & why it doesn't work. "As late as the 1990s, there were still moderate Republicans -- and no economic catastrophe. Today, we live in drastically different times, ill-suited to Barack Obama's operating theory of a conciliatory, above-the-fray presidency."

Adam Serwer: thanks to the Supremes' refusal to hear the Mohamed, et al., v. Jettesen Dataplan appeal, the federal government can now invoke the "state secrets doctrine" on any case. Read the update, too, which might be significant, tho there's no way to know. ...

... Meanwhile, Torture Advocates Parade their Stuff. Ariane de Vogue of ABC News: former Bush AG Mike Mukasey and others can't let it go: really, really, really Obama didn't stand a chance of nabbing bin Laden if Bushies hadn't tortured KSM. ...

... Lawrence O'Donnell elaborates:

Like most of us, Jon Stewart is having a hard time keeping up with the news, but he still can't give up headlines like "Weapons of Mass Turbation":

Chris Hedges & Cornel West are always over the top, but Hedges' interview of West contains some essential truths about deep disappointment in President Obama that many of us recognize & share. And, no, I don't feel sorry for West that Obama didn't return his phone calls any more than I feel sorry for Newt Gingrich that President Clinton put him on the back of the plane.

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times: "The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses. Officials in Eric T. Schneiderman’s, office have also requested meetings with representatives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. The inquiry appears to be quite broad.... Early in the financial crisis, Andrew M. Cuomo, the governor of New York who preceded Mr. Schneiderman as attorney general, began investigating Wall Street’s role in the debacle. But those inquiries did not result in any cases filed against the major banks. CW: because how can you collect campaign money from a guy you put in jail? ...

... David Dayen of Firedoglake: meanwhile, the Inspector General at HUD finds evidence of fraud at the top five banks that for some strange reason the "federal foreclosure task force" couldn't find. AND read Dayen's earlier post on the same subject.

Philip Gourevitch of the New Yorker on the French reaction to the news of IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn's arrest. Gourevitch's take is way funnier than the Times' account. If you can read & understand French, Gourevitch links to this Rue89 story that recounts a (disputed) story about Strauss-Kahn's attack on young French journalist Tristane Banon. ...

... Elaine Sciolino of the New York Times: "the arrest of Dominique Strauss-Kahn is once again challenging the assumption that the private lives of the rich, famous and powerful are off limits to public scrutiny. That the most serious accusation against Mr. Strauss-Kahn is attempted rape, and not just an indiscretion involving a consensual sexual relationship, only adds to a sense on the part of some people in France that the curtain of privacy needs to be lifted." CW: note how the author treats rape as some sort of "advanced sex" or "naughty sex escalated." No, it's an act of violence. ...

Yesterday, President Obama delivered the commencement address at Booker T. Washington in Memphis, which won the President's 2011 Commencement Challenge:

Right Wing World *

Joan Walsh of Salon does a nice job of toting up Newt Gingrich's racist dog-whistle slurs of the week. It's amazing (and would be comical if it weren't so disgusting) how many ways Newt can dream up to point out what his base may not have noticed: the President is black. Thanks to reader Doug R. for the link. ...

... AND Big Ideas Man Gingrich reverses his position on the Ryan End Medicare budget YET AGAIN. Steve Benen: "Two weeks ago, Newt Gingrich endorsed the House Republican budget plan, including provisions to end Medicare. Over the weekend, he reversed course, calling the Paul Ryan agenda 'radical change' and 'too big a jump' for Americans. A day later, he reversed course again, saying the media misunderstood and there’s actually 'little daylight between Ryan and Gingrich.' And then Gingrich reversed course once more, telling the Wall Street Journal the Ryan plan is the wrong way to go.... Remember, all of this is unfolding just a few days after the disgraced former House Speaker launched his campaign." CW: sorry if this is outdated. Gingrich probably changed his position again this morning.

Jon Stewart on Friend-of-Jesus Mike Huckabee's decision not to run for president. Stewart's piece is much more than funny; it's a condemnation of the jaw-dropping double standards of Huckabee and the whole Fox "News" crowd:

Greg Sargent: Donald "Trump exits the race with a major accomplishment under his belt: He single-handedly did more damage to the right’s ongoing campaign to paint Obama as culturally suspect and vaguely alien than anyone else in American politics today.... Thank you, Mr. Trump, for your service to this country."

Paul Krugman is going to Yurp this week, but he's left us with some thoughts on Wise Man/Enema Man Alan Simpson: "It turns out that Simpson has been telling us how to fix Social Security, yet he doesn’t know the most basic facts about the program, and when confronted with data from the Social Security Administration, he insists that they’re left-wing talking points." Here's what Krugman means. And here's the best screenshot I could get of Simpson, the leader of the "adult conversation," giving the fuck-you gesture to the head of the AARP. V-e-e-r-y adult:

     ... You can watch the C-SPAN video here. The excerpt Krugman mentions has been isolated. The gesture comes in at about 44 min.

When Is a Cut Not a Cut? When It's an Increase. Brian Beutler of TPM: Oops! That "historic spending cuts" bill Republicans played down to the wire in April turns out to increase federal outlays this year by about $3 billion. (It's a little more complicated than that, but the CBO report says the bill cost most this year than if Republicans had just passed no-change continuing resolutions. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. CW: Hate to think what this does to those die-hard deficit hawks.

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

President Obama & King Abdullah of Jordan make statements to the press:

Washington Post: "Pakistani paramilitary troops shot at NATO helicopters that crossed from Afghanistan into Pakistan early Tuesday, triggering a firefight that left two soldiers wounded, military officials here said. The incident, which coalition officials in Afghanistan said they were investigating, served as a new threat to U.S.-Pakistani relations...."

New York Times: "The already weak prospects for a bipartisan debt-reduction deal this year dimmed further on Tuesday when a Republican member of the Senate’s 'Gang of Six,' Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, withdrew after months of private negotiations amid differences over changes to Medicare." CW: I see this as good news.

New York Times: "Condé Nast Publications ... has reached an agreement to lease one million square feet at 1 World Trade Center, giving ground zero a much-needed corporate anchor with a proven ability to attract other businesses."

National Journal: "Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is staying in the House, and won't run for the U.S. Senate, two well-placed GOP sources tell National Journal." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Representative Paul D. Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican and the chairman of the House Budget Committee, made it clear on Tuesday that he would not run for the Senate seat being vacated by Herb Kohl...."

President Obama hosted a White House reception honoring Jewish American Heritage Month this afternoon.

After meeting, President Obama & King Abdullah of Jordan made statements to the press this afternoon. See video above.

Washington Post: "A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers is calling on Congress to probe the nation’s housing-construction program for the poor, citing years-long delays and other breakdowns that have thwarted the production of hundreds of affordable-housing projects."

Politico: "Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, one of the leading critics of the Obama administration’s response to last year’s Gulf oil spill, says things are going much better as his state deals with flooding along the Mississippi river. 'This has been a joint collaborative effort,' Jindal said [apparently unaware of the redundancy of his remark]."

AP: "Harmon Killebrew, the Minnesota Twins slugger known for his tape-measure home runs, has died at his home in Scottsdale, Ariz., after battling esophageal cancer. He was 74."

Al Jazeera: "A security services building and the headquarters of Libya's anti-corruption agency in Tripoli have been set ablaze after being hit by apparent NATO air strikes. The two buildings on Al-Jumhuriya Avenue are close to the residence of leader Muammar Gaddafi, in an area where two explosions were heard at around 1.30am on Tuesday (1130 GMT)."

Washington Post: "The [Obama] administration has accelerated direct talks with the Taliban, initiated several months ago, that U.S. officials say they hope will enable President Obama to report progress toward a settlement of the Afghanistan war when he announces troop withdrawals in July. A senior Afghan official said a U.S. representative attended at least three meetings in Qatar and Germany ... with a Taliban official considered close to Mohammad Omar, the group’s leader."

Washington Post: "Queen Elizabeth II began her first-in-a-century royal visit to Ireland on Tuesday, just hours after Irish police discovered a bomb in the luggage compartment of a bus traveling to Dublin. The British monarch’s visit is seen as a dramatic symbol of the improved relations between Ireland and its former colonial master. But now the historic nature of the four-day tour threatens to be overshadowed by security jitters." The Irish Times story is here, with links to related stories.

Los Angeles Times: "Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff. Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January." 

CW: Missed this one in yesterday's news. AP: "The Supreme Court on Monday refused to revive a lawsuit [Mohamed, et al., v. Jeppesen Dataplan] challenging a controversial post-Sept. 11 CIA program that flew terrorism suspects to secret prisons. The appeal asked the court to examine two controversial aspects of the U.S. response to the 9/11 attacks, 'the extraordinary rendition' program that sent the suspects to secret prisons and the 'state secrets privilege.'"

The Commentariat -- May 16

I've posted a Krugman comments page on Off Times Square, but you can comment on Douthat's tear-stained adieu to Mike Huckabee -- or whatever else is bugging you. ...

... Paul Krugman urges President Obama to stand up to Republican hostage-takers who want deep spending cuts in exchange for condescending to raise the debt limit. Here's Krugman on yesterday's edition of "This Week." As From-the-Heartland said in yesterday's Off Times Square comments, Krugman is the only one at the table who makes sense:

... Digby: "It's a wonder Paul Krugman didn't just resort to banging his head on the table at the obtuseness of the discussion [above].... It has come to my attention that some Democrats* have joined the kabuki conga line. It makes no difference. They are not going to let the country default on the debt either. They are just vying to join the 'Very Serious People' caucus. And the president knows this too."

... * See this WashPo story by Peter Wallsten: "A growing number of Democrats are threatening to defy the White House over the national debt, joining Republican calls for deficit cuts as a requirement for consenting to lift the country’s borrowing limit." ...

... Damian Paletta & Carol Lee of the Wall Street Journal: "People familiar with the [debt ceiling] negotiations led by Mr. Biden say they are looking at cuts to agriculture subsidies and federal retirement programs, stepped-up antifraud efforts, increased premiums for pension plans backed by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation and the sale of wireless spectrum and government properties."

I worked for a lot of these guys. And this is one of the most courageous calls – decisions — that I think I’ve ever seen a president make. -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a Republican, on President Obama's decision to send Navy SEALs into Pakistan to go after Osama bin Laden



What's next for Dennis Kucinich? Erica Lovely of Politico: even Kucinich isn't sure. As a result of the 2010 Census, Ohio has lost two Congressional districts. As Republicans redraw district lines, Kucinich's Cleveland district is likely to be eliminated.

Debbie Cenziper of the Washington Post writes Part 2 of the Post's investigation of HUD's outrageous failure to do any oversight of federally-funded housing projects for the poor, a failure that has left poor families without housing & taxpayers paying millions to speculators who build nothing. Today Cenziper concentrates on a Washington, D.C. project that is a case study in how to reward crooks for ripping off taxpayers.

New York 26th Congressional District candidates Jane Corwin & Kathy Hochul are required to wear matching outfits for a televised debate. But note that Hochul, evidently a radical anti-American socialist like President Obama, refuses to wear a flag pin. Where was that woman born? AP photo.Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: New York's 26th Congressional District special election is a test of the Ryan/Republican Tea Party budget. Election day is May 24. The district is heavily Republican, but ... Democratic candidate Kathy Hochul, who has emphasized the Republican plan to gut Medicare, is currently leading in the polls. And check out Right Wing World, where the Newt accidentally gives Hochul a boost.

Right Wing World *

With allies like that, who needs the left? -- Paul Ryan, on Newt Gingrich’s repudiation of the Ryan budget  ...

... Laura Meckler of the Wall Street Journal: "White House hopeful Newt Gingrich called the House Republican plan for Medicare 'right-wing social engineering,' injecting a discordant GOP voice into the party's efforts to reshape both entitlements and the broader budget debate. In the same interview Sunday, on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' Mr. Gingrich backed a requirement that all Americans buy health insurance, complicating a Republican line of attack on President Barack Obama's health law." CW: either Newt is trying to emerge as the Sane One in a field of nutjobs, or he's planning to back Mitt Romney when he concludes his presidential pirouette. he's just blowing wind. See update below. Here's Newt slamming the Republican plan to dump Medicare, after which he promises not to raise taxes because he knows how to "rethink the federal government":

... BUT He Was For It Before He Was Against It. Jay Newton-Small of Time reports that Gingrich told her a mere two weeks ago that he would have voted for the Ryan/Republican Tea Party bill because it was "a first step" to saving the healthcare system. Newton-Small asks, "How does one go from praising a plan as 'the first step' to criticizing it as 'too big a jump' and 'radical change'?" ...

... New York Times UPDATE: AND 24 Hours Later, Newt Is For It Again. CW: can anyone think of any reason to listen to that blowhard? Ever? If he cried "Fire!" in a crowded theater, would you get caught in a stampede? Or would everyone just keep watching the show?

... Carrie Dann of NBC News has a good synopsis of all the other stuff Newt told David Gregory, but if you want to watch the full Lie-o-Rama, here's the video (sorry, I was going to just link to it, but there doesn't appear to be a link to isolate the video):

Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: legal scholar Ron Paul says Medicare and Social Security are unconstitutional. With video. CW: Paul needs to read Article I, Sec. 8, a/k/a the "broad powers" clause. He seems to think if a law isn't spelled out in the Constitution, it's unconstitutional. The Constitution begs to differ."

Tortured Republican Rhetoric. Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "It’s a rare sight to see a Republican senator and a former Republican attorney general trading charges of dishonesty and falsehood. But this is exactly what Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) and Michael Mukasey have been doing in recent days regarding the use of harsh interrogations -- what McCain and other critics call torture — and their role in discovering the location of Osama bin Laden.... We do not have enough information to make a definitive judgment. But it appears that Mukasey is straining to make a connection between the killing of bin Laden and the harsh interrogation techniques that appears, at best, tangential. Otherwise, he would not have had to resort to verbal sleight of hand to make his case. McCain, by contrast, appears to clearly connect the dots from the courier to bin Laden, citing information derived from conventional techniques."

* Where facts never intrude.

News Ledes

Hairball Announcement:

I maintain the strong conviction that if I were to run, I would be able to win the primary and ultimately, the general election.... -- Donald Trump ...

... BUT tabby-toned hairball will not run for U.S. President.

AP: "The last drive to recall Wisconsin state senators over their support of or opposition to a bill curtailing collective bargaining rights fell well short of its goal today.... Scott Noble, organizer of the effort to recall Democratic Sen. Julie Lassa of Stevens Point, said the group collected a little over 6,000 signatures by Monday's deadline. It needed 15,879 signatures to trigger a recall election. That leaves six Republican and three Democratic senators in line for recalls.... The scope and success of the recall petitions is unprecedented in U.S. history."

New York Times: "Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the leader of the International Monetary Fund, was ordered on Monday to be held without bail over allegations that he had sexually assaulted a maid in a $3,000-a-night suite at a Midtown hotel. Prosecutors had asked the judge, Melissa C. Jackson, supervising judge of Manhattan Criminal Court, to remand Mr. Strauss-Kahn, 62, contending that he was a flight risk. They also indicated that a similar attack may have occurred. 'Some of this information include reports that he has in fact engaged in conduct similar to the conduct alleged in this complaint on at least one other occasion,' said John McConnell, an assistant district attorney, adding that the district attorney’s office was still investigating the other occasion, which occurred outside the United States." ...

     ... Update: "Piroska M. Nagy, a blond Hungarian-born economist...," has said Strauss-Kahn coerced her into having a brief affair with him. because he was "so forceful" in his pursuit and because he abused his position which was very senior to hers at the IMF. CW: is it really necessary to describe an economist as a blonde?

** ABC News: the final launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor is scheduled for this morning at 9 am ET. Cdr. Mark Kelly will captain the ship; his wife Rep. Gabrielle Giffords will watch the launch. With video. Update: "Endeavour blasted off on NASA's next-to-last shuttle flight, thundering through clouds into orbit Monday morning as the mission commander's wounded wife, Gabrielle Giffords, watched along with an exhilarated crowd well into the thousands." See video above.

At 11:30 am ET. President Obama will meet with families in Memphis who have been affected by the flooding of the Mississippi River. CNN story here, includes video of flooding.

New York Times: "Around 10 a.m. on Sunday, according to officials from the Army Corps of Engineers, the river broke the record elevation set [in Vicksburg, Mississippi] during the flood of 1927, rising to 56.3 feet, 13 feet above flood stage and 1.2 feet below the predicted crest on Thursday. It was flowing by at a rate of nearly 17 million gallons a second, which is the highest rate it is likely to reach in its entire race down to the Gulf of Mexico." ...

... The New Orleans Times-Picayune has flood-related news here.

Chicago Tribune: "Rahm Emanuel will be sworn in as Chicago's 46th mayor today. The inauguration is scheduled to get underway at 10:30 a.m. [11:30 am ET] at Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, with political Chicago in attendance to witness history as the city gets its first new mayor in 22 years. Vice President Joe Biden and outgoing Mayor Richard Daley are expected to attend." ...

     ... Update: "Rahm Emanuel took the oath of office today to become Chicago's 46th mayor. The city's new mayor then laid out the challenges ahead: Improving schools, ending gun violence and downsizing a city government taxpayers can no longer afford. And he asked Chicagoans, the City Council and the business community to help him."

AP: "The head of the International Monetary Fund was examined for evidence that could incriminate him in the alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid, charges that stunned the global financial world and upended French presidential politics. Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a married father of four whose reputation with women earned him the nickname 'the great seducer,' faced arraignment Monday...."

Los Angeles Times: "The International Criminal Court prosecutor at The Hague on Monday requested arrest warrants for Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, his son Seif Islam Kadafi and his intelligence chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity." Al Jazeera story here.

NBC News: "Assailants killed at least 29 people — decapitating most of the victims — in one of Guatemala's worst mass killings in a generation. The massacre took place early Sunday on a ranch in a part of the country plagued by drug cartels. Many of the victims were shot and beheaded, police said."