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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns


Wednesday
Jul062016

The Commentariat -- July 7, 2016

Missy Ryan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama announced revised troop plans for Afghanistan on Wednesday, keeping 8,400 U.S. troops in the country when he steps down early next year, the clearest indication yet of his inability to end the long war there.... He had hoped to leave a force of 5,500 in early 2017." -- CW ...

Mike Lillis of the Hill: "Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) had hoped to move an 'anti-terror' package in response to last month's mass shooting in Orlando -- a package that included legislation designed to make it tougher for suspected terrorists to buy firearms. But Republican leadership is facing opposition from the members of the conservative Freedom Caucus, who deem the measure a violation of constitutional protections. Because Democrats are overwhelmingly opposed to the bill, judging it too lax, Ryan and GOP leaders don't have the 218 votes needed to move the bill through the lower chamber." -- CW

Linda Greenhouse: "The takeaway from the term that ended last week seems to be that by the time the Supreme Court, short-handed and stumbling in the wake of Justice Antonin Scalia's death, finally got its act together at the end of June, it had -- lo and behold -- turned liberal. Count me a skeptic.... To reject a conservative extreme doesn't make the court liberal. Rather, it puts the court -- increasingly over the dissent of the chief justice, it's worth noting -- in the zone of mainstream reasonableness." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum & John Koblin of the New York Times: "Gretchen Carlson, the longtime Fox News anchor, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday saying that Roger Ailes, the powerful chairman of Fox News, fired her from the network last month after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about discriminatory treatment in the newsroom.... The lawsuit ... portrays the Fox chairman as a serial sexual harasser, charging that he ogled Ms. Carlson in his office, called her 'sexy' and frequently made sexually charged comments about her physical appearance. Ms. Carlson ... charges that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns about what she considered ill treatment, Mr. Ailes told her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'" Story includes copy of the complaint. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "Fox News CEO Roger Ailes is denying allegations made in a bombshell lawsuit Wednesday that he sexually harassed a former on-air host for the network, Gretchen Carlson.... Minutes [before Ailes issued a statement -- 'defamatory ... offensive ... wholly without merit ... will be defended vigorously,' etc. --], Fox News' parent company, 21st Century Fox, issued its own statement announcing an internal review into Carlson's allegations -- an unprecedented move that also extended to her former 'Fox & Friends' co-host Steve Doocy, who was not named in the lawsuit." -- CW ...

... Brian Stelter of CNN, in an interview: "I just spoke with one of the attorneys involved in Carlson's suit. They say that ten women have called the law firm today, wanting to speak with the law firm because they say they also have stories to share about treatment by Roger Ailes. I want to be careful with that though because that doesn't mean they are alleging anything, any wrongdoing, and they are not suing, Right now it is only Carlson who is suing." -- CW

Presidential Race

Cristiano Lima of Politico: "Bernie Sanders confirmed on Wednesday night that he is in discussions with the Hillary Clinton campaign about a potential endorsement of her candidacy, adding that he anticipates a 'coming together' of the two campaigns. Appearing on MSNBC's 'All In With Chris Hayes,' Sanders was pointedly asked whether mounting reports that he is finally getting ready to endorse his longstanding Democratic primary rival had any validity. 'You're not denying the report that there are talks about a possible endorsement?' Hayes asked. Sanders replied: 'That's correct.'" -- CW ...

... James Downie of the Washington Post: "... the draft 2016 version [of the Democratic party platform] leaked Friday shifts noticeably leftward from its 2012 counterpart in both policy and language. While not yet set in stone, the change is an encouraging sign that activists' years of work are paying off and that the party is embracing an agenda that speaks to the concerns of millions of Americans who have too often been forgotten in mainstream political debate. From the opening of the 2016 draft platform, one can see the rhetorical fingerprints of progressive movements, especially Black Lives Matter and the insurgent presidential campaign of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)." -- CW

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The investigation into Hillary Clinton's email server is over, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said on Wednesday, issuing a brief written statement that she had accepted the F.B.I.'s recommendation that no one should be charged in the case that has engulfed Mrs. Clinton's presidential ambitions for more than a year." -- CW

"Hillary Clinton's E-mail Was Probably Hacked, Experts Say." David Sanger of the New York Times: FBI Director James "Comey described, in fairly blistering terms, a set of email practices that left Mrs. Clinton's systems wide open to Russian and Chinese hackers, and an array of others.... 'Reading between the lines and following Comey's logic, it does sound as if the F.B.I. believes a compromise of Clinton's email is more likely than not,' said Adam Segal..., who studies cyberissues at the Council on Foreign Relations.... Until Mr. Comey spoke, Mrs. Clinton and her campaign have said that her server -- there were actually several, in succession -- was never hacked." -- CW ...

... C-SPAN is carrying James Comey's testimony live, beginning at 10 am ET, on the CSPAN3 channel & on CSPAN-Radio. The radio page also has links to phone apps. The Washington Post also has a livefeed on its online front page. CW: I almost never watch or listen to CSPAN, but I'll likely make an exception today, if time & circumstance allow. ...

     ... Comey & Elijah Cummings shot down the notion (promulgated by Trump & other Republicans) that Petraeus was prosecuted for "far less" than what Clinton did. I'll get up a video of this later. Uh-oh, Comey called Clinton "negligent." He's a lawyer; he knows what that means. ...

     ... The New York Times is liveblogging the hearing. -- CW ...

... David Herszenhorn & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, will testify before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision to recommend no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton.... If he makes a convincing case for his decision on Thursday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, it could make Republicans look foolish.... Democrats were quick to accuse the Republicans of refusing to accept the F.B.I.'s recommendation, despite past praise for Mr. Comey.

     "... The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky..., focused Wednesday on raising doubts about Mrs. Clinton's trustworthiness. He said Mrs. Clinton's statements to the F.B.I. should be made public to compare with her prior remarks. 'There's no particular penalty for lying to the public, unless the public gets tired of it, but there is a real penalty for lying to the F.B.I.,' Mr. McConnell said at a news conference at the Capitol. Mr. McConnell deflected a question ... about whether he believed Mr. Trump was qualified to handle classified information." -- CW ...

... David Herszenhorn: "... James B. Comey, will go before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision to recommend no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, a House committee chairman announced Wednesday morning.... The House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Mrs. Clinton should be barred from receiving classified information -- an extraordinary recommendation even if it is certain to be ignored by the Obama administration. In addition, Attorney General Loretta Lynch will appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, and that committee's chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, made it clear he would focus on Ms. Lynch's impromptu meeting with former President Bill Clinton, ahead of the F.B.I.'s announcement." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ..." ...

... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The White House on Wednesday brushed aside House Speaker Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) call to block Hillary Clinton from receiving classified intelligence briefings as punishment for the FBI's probe into her use of a private email server while secretary of State. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said it's a 'longstanding tradition' for major party presidential nominees to receive such briefings.... 'What the Office of the Director of National Intelligence [DNI] has indicated is that they expect those briefings to move forward after the party conventions.... We should leave those decisions in the hands of our intelligence professionals and not risk them being sullied by the political debate.'... Earnest noted that he's given a similar response to questions about presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's fitness to receive classified briefings." -- CW

Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Furious congressional Republicans are launching a multipronged attack against the FBI and Hillary Clinton. A total of five congressional committees will either hold hearings with high-profile law enforcement officials over the next week or have already begun inquiries to the FBI about its investigation of the former secretary of State." -- CW ...

... Gail Collins: "In his big press appearance Tuesday, F.B.I. Director James Comey took the now-familiar prosecutorial path of smearing the target he couldn't nail. But the bottom line was that Clinton had used less-than-secure private email servers rather than the State Department system, which was the proper procedure, albeit possibly even less less-than-secure. Worse, she did not tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth when she was cornered. It's a problem for campaign strategists, but not much of a surprise for voters." -- CW

Abby Phillip & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton came [to Atlantic City, New Jersey,] Wednesday in an attempt to turn the spotlight away from her handling of classified emails and back on rival Donald Trump's controversial business practices.... [Clinton] focused intently on everything but the email issue, with a speech bashing Trump and a major policy shift toward the free-college pledge promised by her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Here in this resort town where Trump built casinos that went bankrupt, Clinton pointed to one of the shuttered locations as an example of what she portrayed as a record of selfish and unethical business practices." -- CW ...

... Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's campaign announced plans on Wednesday to eliminate college tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes under $125,000 -- a significant nod to a core position of Senator Bernie Sanders, who had pledged to make tuition at public institutions free for all students." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Scott Wong of the Hill: "Donald Trump will meet with Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill Thursday morning in a last-ditch effort to unify a fractured GOP two weeks before the party's national convention in Cleveland. Trump's back-to-back meetings -- first with House Republicans at the Capitol Hill Club, then with Senate Republicans at their campaign headquarters -- will take place amid growing anxiety among the GOP elite over whether the brash New York billionaire will be a drag on vulnerable down-ballot candidates this fall." -- CW

... Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "Donald Trump blasted Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server in a speech in Ohio Wednesday night but spent almost as much time re-visiting the controversies that have dogged his campaign and distracted from his opponent's legal woes.... He said he regretted removing a tweet that was widely criticized as anti-Semitic.... Appearing with possible vice-presidential pick Newt Gingrich, Trump blamed the media for the uproar. 'When they told me the Star of David I said, "You've got to be kidding, how sick are they?" They're the ones with the bad tendencies when they think that way,' Trump said. 'These people are sick, folks. I'm telling you, they're sick.'" -- CW ...

     ... Update. A "Rambling and Somewhat Manic-Sounding Address." Maggie Haberman, et al., of the New York Times: "Often shouting..., Donald J. Trump on Wednesday offered a defiant defense of his campaign's decision to publish an image widely viewed as anti-Semitic -- saying he regretted deleting it -- and vigorously reaffirmed his praise of Saddam Hussein, the murderous Iraqi dictator.... It was a striking display of self-sabotage from a presumptive presidential nominee and underscored the limitations of Mr. Trump's scattershot approach during the Republican primaries -- not to mention how difficult he often makes it for his campaign team to control him." -- CW

We shouldn't have destabilized -- Saddam Hussein was a bad guy. Right? He was a bad guy. Really bad guy. But you know what, he did well. He killed terrorists. He did that so good. -- Donald Trump, speech in North Carolina, July 5

Hussein was no opponent of terrorists, certainly in the eyes of the West. Perhaps Trump is referring to Hussein's fight against internal religious extremist movements that he viewed as a threat to his regime -- a part of his overall suppression of dissent. But Trump's description -- that Hussein 'killed terrorists,' and did it 'so well' or was 'so good' at it -- is just not credible, especially given the overwhelming evidence of Hussein's long-standing record of supporting (financially and operationally) international terrorist groups. -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post

Margaret Hartmann of New York: "It's time to reconsider the possibility that Donald Trump is a secret Hillary Clinton supporter, as opposed to merely a man whose campaign is a garbage fire." On a day when the story should have been Clinton's 'extremely careless' handling of secret correspondence, Trump took time out to praise Saddam Hussein. Trump's "admiration of Hussein is no secret. He's made the same point many times, dating back to at least 2004, when he told the Dallas Morning News, 'No matter how much you hate Saddam Hussein, and obviously he was a horror show, he kept terrorists out of Iraq.'... Now suddenly Saddam Hussein was trending on Twitter, and replacing headlines about Clinton's email scandal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: For fun, read the tweeted reactions to Trump's Saddam remarks which Hartmann embedded. AND this:

Jonathan Chait: "To watch Donald Trump rant and rave uncontrollably on the stump and on Twitter -- praising Saddam Hussein for his disregard for civil liberties, insisting the anti-Semitic propaganda he inadvertently borrowed from neo-Nazis is as innocent as a Disney poster -- is to ponder the psychology of a party that would entrust supreme executive authority to a racist, nationalistic, power-worshiping demagogue.... [Trump & Adolf Hitler] have certain traits in common relative to the political environments they inhabit.... Whatever norms or bounds that we think limit the damage a president could inflict are likely to be exceeded if that president is Trump." -- CW

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump raisedmore than $26 million through online and mail solicitations in June and another $25 million at events with the Republican National Committee, his campaign announced Wednesday.... The combined $51 million falls short of the $68.5 million that presumptive Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party collected in June, which included $40.5 million she raised directly for her campaign." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Eric Trump, the son of ... Donald Trump, said in an interview Wednesday that his father gives 'millions and millions and millions' of his own money to charity -- including hundreds of thousands to Eric Trump's own charitable foundation. He did not, however, immediately provide new details to help confirm those donations.... [Eric Trump] denounced its reporting -- often in forceful, profane terms. 'I'm just saying, Jesus Christ, why is this guy trying to f[uck]ing kill us?' Eric Trump said at one point." CW: So that settles that. (Also linked yesterday.)

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has recently emerged as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday that he has taken himself out of consideration for the position. Corker said that he informed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of his decision during their day together on Tuesday...." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: "Joni Ernst all but removed herself from Donald Trump's vice presidential search, telling Politico in an interview that she wants to help Trump become president but that she's focused on Iowa and the Senate, where the freshman senator said she's 'just getting started.' The GOP senator met with Trump on Monday and received effusive praise afterward, with Trump predicting he will 'see her again.'" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Jonathan Chait: "Trump's intent use of the period leading up to his convention as a reality-television-style audition where he appears with a series of potential running mates and selects the most desirable is giving way to a reality in which the field is considering, and then rejecting, Trump, until he is left with no other decent options." -- CW

... Steve M.: "Well, I'm relieved.... I don't think I could have endured a Trump-Corker ticket -- if only because the media narrative would be: Bob Corker? Wow, what a serious, respectable choice! Trump really is pivoting! He's so presidential now, just because he's chosen this person we like so much! Trump will never change, but a Corker pick would have allowed Beltway journalists to continuing fooling themselves into thinking that he might. (Of course, some of them will anyway.)" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

How to Put a Positive Light on a Selfish, Greedy, Narcissistic Bastard:

Mr. Trump believes in putting your oxygen mask on first before helping others. -- Katrina Pierson, spokesperson for Donald Trump

Senate Race

Another Rat Leaves Ship. Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "First he reversed his decision to leave the Senate. Now, Marco Rubio has changed his mind about attending the Republican convention. The Florida senator will stay home to campaign for reelection in one of the country's hottest Senate races, a Rubio official confirmed Wednesday." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Michael Miller & Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "A Minnesota traffic stop turned deadly Wednesday evening as a police officer opened fire on a driver.... The bloody aftermath of the confrontation was broadcast live on Facebook by a female passenger in the car.... In the video, she says [Philando] Castile was legally licensed to carry a firearm and was reaching for his identification when the officer opened fire. 'He let the officer know that he had a firearm and he was reaching for his wallet and the officer just shot him in his arm,' [Lavish] Reynolds says in the video." -- CW

... CW: Here's the rule: In many states and municipalities it is legal to carry a firearm. Unless you are a minority. Especially black. In which case, it's a capital offense. With no appeal.

AP: "A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a man following a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said. An autopsy shows Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, died Tuesday of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark.... The owner [of the store] said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Radley Balko of the Washington Post: "The witness to the shooting -- the owner of the convenience store -- said the cops seemed aggressive from the start. The witness also said that Sterling was complying with the officers, and that he wasn't holding the gun, nor did he have a hand near the gun when he was shot.... From what we know right now, this appears to be another case of police officers deploying lethal force that was likely legal, but was also unnecessary.... Was it legal? is the question we ask when deciding whether or not to prosecute. Was it preventable? is the question we need to ask to save lives." -- CW ...

... Jarvis DeBerry of the New Orleans Times-Picayune: "The Baton Rouge Police Department -- like so many other departments across the country -- is notorious for its brutal treatment of black people." -- CW ...

... Brandon Patterson of Mother Jones: "Louisiana Governor John Bel-Edwards announced Wednesday morning that the Department of Justice's civil rights division will open an investigation into the police shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man shot multiple times by a Baton Rouge police officer early Tuesday morning. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Middle District of Louisiana will assist the investigation, Bel-Edwards said." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Update. Zack Kopplin & Justin Miller of the Daily Beast embed a second video, provided by Abdullah Muflahti, the owner of the convenience store in front of which he police shot & killed Alton Sterling: "Muflahi's video does not appear to support the officer's claim that Sterling's gun represented an active threat: it appears to have been in a pocket and never reached his hand. Instead, the video shows Sterling pinned down, shot twice in the chest, and then shot four more times. After mortally wounding him, one of the officers removes an object from Sterling's right pants pocket. (Police during a Wednesday press conference refused to comment on whether Sterling had a gun.)" -- CW

Emma Ockerman of Time: "A 37-year-old man who had previously been charged with providing support to Al-Qaeda was handed a three-count indictment in Toledo, Ohio on Wednesday for soliciting the murder of the federal judge presiding over his case. Yahya Farooq Mohammad was charged with attempted first-degree murder of a federal officer, solicitation to commit a crime of violence and use of interstate commerce facilities in commission of murder for hire, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice. He was accused of soliciting someone to kidnap and murder U.S. District Court Judge Jack Zouhary after he told an inmate at a county jail in April that he was willing to pay $15,000 to carry out the act, the Toledo Blade reports." -- CW

Way Beyond

Luke Harding of the Guardian: "A defiant Tony Blair [-- the former British PM --] defended his decision to go to war in Iraq in 2003 following the publication of a devastating report by Sir John Chilcot, which mauled the ex-prime minister's reputation and said that at the time of the 2003 invasion Saddam Hussein 'posed no imminent threat'. Looking tired, his voice sometimes croaking with emotion, Blair described his decision to join the US attack as 'the hardest, most momentous, most agonising decision I took in 10 years as British prime minister'." CW: The Guardian is updating developments & analyses here.

Comments Off
Tuesday
Jul052016

The Commentariat -- July 6, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Missy Ryan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama announced revised troop plans for Afghanistan on Wednesday, keeping 8,400 U.S. troops in the country when he steps down early next year, the clearest indication yet of his inability to end the long war there.... He had hoped to leave a force of 5,500 in early 2017." -- CW ...

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump raised more than $26 million through online and mail solicitations in June and another $25 million at events with the Republican National Committee, his campaign announced Wednesday.... The combined $51 million falls short of the $68.5 million that presumptive Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party collected in June, which included $40.5 million she raised directly for her campaign." -- CW

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Eric Trump, the son of ... Donald Trump, said in an interview Wednesday that his father gives 'millions and millions and millions' of his own money to charity -- including hundreds of thousands to Eric Trump's own charitable foundation. He did not, however, immediately provide new details to help confirm those donations.... [Eric Trump] denounced its reporting -- often in forceful, profane terms. 'I'm just saying, Jesus Christ, why is this guy trying to f[uck]ing kill us?' Eric Trump said at one point." CW: So that settles that.

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has recently emerged as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday that he has taken himself out of consideration for the position. Corker said that he informed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of his decision during their day together on Tuesday...." -- CW ...

... Burgess Everett of Politico: "Joni Ernst all but removed herself from Donald Trump's vice presidential search, telling Politico in an interview that she wants to help Trump become president but that she's focused on Iowa and the Senate, where the freshman senator said she's 'just getting started.' The GOP senator met with Trump on Monday and received effusive praise afterward, with Trump predicting he will 'see her again.'" -- CW

... Steve M.: "Well, I'm relieved.... I don't think I could have endured a Trump-Corker ticket -- if only because the media narrative would be: Bob Corker? Wow, what a serious, respectable choice! Trump really is pivoting! He's so presidential now, just because he's chosen this person we like so much! Trump will never change, but a Corker pick would have allowed Beltway journalists to continuing fooling themselves into thinking that he might. (Of course, some of them will anyway.)" -- CW

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "... James B. Comey, will go before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision to recommend no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, a House committee chairman announced Wednesday morning.... The F.B.I. did not immediately confirm that Mr. Comey would comply, but the announcement by Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, came after the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Mrs. Clinton should be barred from receiving classified information -- an extraordinary recommendation even if it is certain to be ignored by the Obama administration. In addition, Attorney General Loretta Lynch will appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, and that committee's chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, made it clear he would focus on Ms. Lynch's impromptu meeting with former President Bill Clinton, ahead of the F.B.I.'s announcement." -- CW

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's campaign announced plans on Wednesday to eliminate college tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes under $125,000 -- a significant nod to a core position of Senator Bernie Sanders, who had pledged to make tuition at public institutions free for all students." -- CW

Margaret Hartmann of New York: "It's time to reconsider the possibility that Donald Trump is a secret Hillary Clinton supporter, as opposed to merely a man whose campaign is a garbage fire." On a day when the story should have been Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of secret correspondence, Trump took time out to praise Saddam Hussein. Trump's "admiration of Hussein is no secret. He's made the same point many times, dating back to at least 2004, when he told the Dallas Morning News, 'No matter how much you hate Saddam Hussein, and obviously he was a horror show, he kept terrorists out of Iraq.'... Now suddenly Saddam Hussein was trending on Twitter, and replacing headlines about Clinton's email scandal."...

     ... CW: For fun, read the tweeted reactions to Trump's Saddam remarks which Hartmann embedded. AND this:

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum & John Koblin of the New York Times: "Gretchen Carlson, the longtime Fox News anchor, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday saying that Roger Ailes, the powerful chairman of Fox News, fired her from the network last month after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about discriminatory treatment in the newsroom.... The lawsuit ... portrays the Fox chairman as a serial sexual harasser, charging that he ogled Ms. Carlson in his office, called her 'sexy' and frequently made sexually charged comments about her physical appearance. Ms. Carlson ... charges that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns about what she considered ill treatment, Mr. Ailes told her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'" Story includes copy of the complaint. -- CW

AP: "A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a man following a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said. An autopsy shows Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, died Tuesday of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark.... The owner [of the store] said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting." -- CW ...

... Brandon Patterson of Mother Jones: "Louisiana Governor John Bel-Edwards announced Wednesday morning that the Department of Justice's civil rights division will open an investigation into the police shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man shot multiple times by a Baton Rouge police officer early Tuesday morning. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Middle District of Louisiana will assist the investigation, Bel-Edwards said." -- CW

*****

Peter Markowitz in a New York Times op-ed: "President Obama can still act to bring humanity and justice to an immigration system notoriously lacking in both. He can do so by using the power the Constitution grants him -- and only him -- to pardon individuals for 'offenses against the United States.'... Such pardons have been used by presidents including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Most recently, Jimmy Carter issued a pardon to around half a million men who had violated draft laws to avoid military service in Vietnam." -- CW

Your Government at Work. Christine Grimaldi of Rewire: "Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating questionable reproductive health-care allegations [i.e., Planned Parenthood] have sought an additional $490,000 in funding -- even as Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) publicly indicated that their activities may halt by the end of the year.... All told, the investigation is well on its way to totaling $790,000, using nearly 80 percent of the House;s available supplemental funding.... Administration Committee Democrats protested the original funding request and raised similar objections again this time, to no avail. The current action marks the second time the committee 'decided without a public hearing or a proper vote to pay for the political attack on Planned Parenthood,' they said in a statement...." -- CW

... Charles Pierce: "It came as no surprise that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Zygote) of Tennessee has had her name bruited about as a possible running mate for He, Trump. (Also, hello again to my new friend, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa! I'm so proud.) After all, Blackburn was in charge of the second biggest waste of time and money in the House of Representatives this year behind only Trey Gowdy's masterful pursuit of The Truth -- which is Out There -- behind Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! (CW: Bear in mind that Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! did bring to light Hillary Clinton's "extremely careless" disregard for the security of her correspondence.) ...

... CW: House Republicans' waste of money on this kangaroo court is a pittance compared to the costs to Planned Parenthood and to women across the nation who need access to reproductive health care. ...

... Hey, Let's Waste More Millions! Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) became the first Republican to call for a new, independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of email during her years at the State Department, saying in a statement that the defunct independent counsel statute should be revived to 'make an independent and impartial decision' about whether Clinton should be charged.... '[blah-blah] political bias ... [blah-blah] Bill Clinton ... Loretta Lynch [blah-blah].'... Not an hour later, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), who is retiring this year, made a similar request." -- CW ...

     ... Update. In Case You Were Thinking "End of Story." Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Republicans will hold hearings to learn more about the FBI's decision to not recommend criminal charges for ... Hillary Clinton, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday night. 'People have been convicted for far less," Ryan said during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News's "The Kelly File.'... Ryan said Clinton 'clearly lives above the law,' saying Comey has 'shredded' Clinton's defense of her email practices while serving as secretary of State. Ryan described Clinton as 'grossly negligent.... Ryan said the FBI should release its findings regarding the Clinton email investigation. He also called for the director of National Intelligence to 'block' Clinton from accessing classified information as a presidential candidate, given her handling of government secrets over her private email server.... Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) ... indicated hours earlier on Fox that he was considering calling Comey to Capitol Hill to testify about the FBI's probe and conclusion not to recommend charges." -- CW ...

... Greg Sargent: "As we've already seen with Benghazi, Republicans don't ever stop, no matter how many investigations fail to turn up that single devastating piece of evidence of Clinton perfidy and lawbreaking they are looking for. The same may prove true in the case of the emails. As Bloomberg Politics puts it, [Paul] Ryan is basically helping Trump 'whip up conspiracy theories over the FBI process' in a manner designed mainly to 'rally the base,' but which 'may do little to convince general election voters' that the fix was in.'" -- CW

Brian Beutler writes an elegant piece on why the Republican party will not change as a result of Trump's exposing its raw underbelly. CW: But his thinking is flawed, in my view, by an assumption that there's something more to modern conservatism than promoting the interests of the well-to-do. Back in the day, there were conservatives like George Romney & Nelson Rockefeller who strove for smarter, not meaner, government, but the remainder of those gentler, kindlier Republicans are now living in assisted living homes in the bucolic recesses of New England. The so-called Party of Lincoln is now the anti-American center of naked tribalism & exclusionary greed.

Good Lord! Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Catholics in Philadelphia who are divorced and civilly remarried will be welcome to accept Holy Communion -- as long as they abstain from sex and live out their relationships like 'brother and sister'. New guidelines published by the conservative archbishop of Philadelphia this month also called on priests within the archdiocese to help Catholics who are attracted to people of the same sex and 'find chastity very difficult', saying such individuals should be advised to frequently seek penance." -- CW

Presidential Race

Hillary Clinton will speak in Atlantic City, New Jersey, today to argue that Donald Trump's business practices there make him unfit to be president. (Sorry if this video, produced for the Clinton campaign, repeats. Just pause it, if necessary.):

Amy Chozick & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday delivered a full-throated stemwinder on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, making his debut on the campaign trail this year just hours after federal officials criticized Mrs. Clinton's 'careless' handling of emails but said no charges should be filed":

... Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "No president has campaigned strongly for his chosen successor in at least 100 years. Tuesday's event, with President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton..., is remarkable for that reason." -- CW

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud from her presidential campaign.... But Mr. Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being 'extremely careless' in using a personal email address and server for sensitive information, declaring that an ordinary government official could have faced administrative sanction for such conduct. To warrant a criminal charge, Mr. Comey said, there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally sent or received classified information -- something that the F.B.I. did not find. 'Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,' he said at a news conference." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... The full transcript of Comey's remarks, as prepared, via the Washington Post, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... NEW. John Cassidy of the New Yorker has quite a good synthesis of Comey's presentation: "... while Comey's decision didn't come as a shock, the manner in which he couched and explained it was startling. Far from saying that Clinton and her aides hadn't done anything wrong, or pooh-poohing the e-mail investigation as a minor matter, the F.B.I. director confirmed that Clinton sent and received numerous e-mails on her private server which contained top-secret information, and he described the decision not to recommend criminal charges only as a professional judgement." -- CW

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress with "what you need to know about why ... charges [against Clinton] were never a realistic possibility." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Liar, Liar. Stephen Braun & Jack Gillum of the AP: "Key assertions by Hillary Clinton in defense of her email practices have collapsed under FBI scrutiny. The agency's yearlong investigation found that she did not, as she claimed, turn over all her work-related messages for release. It found that her private email server did carry classified emails, also contrary to her past statements. And it made clear that Clinton used many devices to send and receive email despite her statements that she set up her email system so that she only needed to carry one. FBI Director James Comey's announcement Tuesday ... left much of [Clinton's] account in tatters and may have aggravated questions of trust...." The reporters fact-check specific claims Clinton made, which according to the FBI investigation, are untrue. -- CW ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post does a similar fact-check, comparing Clinton's claims to Comey's remarks. -- CW ...

... ** Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, all but indicted [Hillary Clinton's] judgment and competence on Tuesday -- two vital pillars of her presidential candidacy -- and in the kind of terms that would be politically devastating in a normal election year.... In just a few minutes of remarks, Mr. Comey called into question Mrs. Clinton's claims of superiority more memorably, mightily and effectively than Mr. Trump has over the entire past year.... She is running as a supremely competent candidate and portraying Mr. Trump, in essence, as irresponsible and dangerous. Yet the director of the F.B.I. basically just called her out for having committed one of the most irresponsible moves in the modern history of the State Department." -- CW ...

... Ditto. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton may avoid criminal charges, but the searing rebuke of her 'extremely careless' email practices Tuesday by FBI Director James B. Comey is likely to reverberate through the November election and, if she wins, well into her presidency.... Although he said the FBI was referring the decision to the Justice Department, Comey added that 'our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.' It would be highly unusual for federal prosecutors not to follow the bureau's counsel.... The Clinton campaign had no advance warning of the precise timing or contents of Comey's announcement...." -- CW

... CW: You have to suspect that the reason Hillary Clinton used the private server instead of following federal regulations is that he has a habit of keeping around her an entourage of sycophants. None of them had the guts or the inclination to say, "Madame Secretary, you'll have to learn to use the government system." So what kind of advisors would she have in the White House? The same kind of yes-men & women she's employed all her public life. They won't have the guts to say, "Madame President, we must not invade Iraq (or wherever)." ...

... Charles Pierce: "... what Comey is describing above is a more than legitimate issue in the presidential campaign, and that 'Hoorah! I'm Not Indicted!' isn't exactly an inspiring Message Of The Day for your first appearance on the stump with the president.... However, the apparently inexhaustible ability of the Clintons to prompt Republicans to hysterical overreaction is working to HRC's advantage. Of course, He, Trump hit the electric Twitter machine with his hair on fire.... If He, Trump will get the hell out of his own way, the elite political press will do a lot of pretty good work for him." ...

     ... CW: On Pierce's last point, see, e.g., analyses by Patrick Healy & WashPo writers & the AP fact-check above. As for "I'm Not Indicted!" I'm looking for an adaptation of "I'm So Excited":

... New York Times Editors: "James Comey ... may have relieved Hillary Clinton of a legal burden on Tuesday, but he left her with a substantial political one. While announcing that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton for her handling of classified material on nonsecure personal email servers, Mr. Comey issued a strong rebuke of her practices, which he called 'extremely careless' -- and for which she has never given the public a full explanation. He was right on both points." -- CW ...

... Mark Berman of the New York Times: "... for [James] Comey, stepping into a political debate is not new territory. During his years at the Justice Department -- as a prosecutor, an assistant attorney general and, since 2013, the seventh director of the FBI -- Comey has commented on some of the most knotty issues, leaning into arguments and topics that have brought him into conflict with two presidential administrations. Most famously, Comey was involved in a dramatic confrontation inside a hospital room during his time as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration." -- CW ...

     ... Michael Schmidt & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times have a similar story here. -- CW ...

... Sara Jerde of TPM: "A spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reportedly told media outlets Tuesday that the FBI's findings on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's server use wouldn't impact Sanders' decision to stay in the race for the White House." -- CW

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump weighed in on the FBI's announcement that it would not recommend charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.... 'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.... Trump reiterated his claims of a rigged system in a subsequent tweet." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: Really? Petraeus gave classified material to his girlfriend, who was not a federal employee, not cleared to receive classified material, & who carried the stuff around on an unsecured laptop &, I imagine, on flashdrives or other devices. ...

     ... Update. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "In the wake of FBI Director James B. Comey's decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton..., Donald Trump again compared the matter to the criminal case against former CIA director David Petraeus.... But Petraeus had some key differences -- perhaps most notably, he denied ever giving classified information to [Paula] Broadwell, and investigators would later come to believe he had lied to them in asserting that." -- CW

NEW. Jenna Johnson & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Hillary Clinton of trying to 'bribe' Attorney General Loretta Lynch by raising the possibility that she might keep Lynch in her position if she's elected president.... The claim of a potential job offer, apparently based on a news report and erroneously attributed to Clinton herself, marked an extraordinary escalation in Trump's rhetoric against his Democratic rival...." ...

     ... CW: Well, at least Trump's fans are keeping it classy. From the same report:

As Trump spoke at his rally [in Raleigh, North Carolina,] Tuesday, the crowd of about 2,000 frequently jumped to their feet to cheer and shout out their own opinions. His attacks on Clinton were especially popular, and one man in the crowd repeatedly shouted: "Hang that b[itch]!' A reporter for the local News and Observer tweeted that as Trump criticized President Obama, someone near him shouted: 'He's a monkey!'" -- CW ...

... Another Dictator Trump Admires. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Tuesday once again expressed his preference for keeping dictators in power in the Middle East.... Trump praised ... [Saddam Hussein]'s efficient killing of 'terrorists' -- despite the fact that Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism during Hussein's time in power.... 'He was a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what? He did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were terrorists. Over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism,' Trump said." -- CW

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is emerging as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, met privately with the presumptive GOP nominee on Tuesday in New York and was scheduled to later fly with the candidate to Raleigh, N.C.... The day of conversation and travel with Trump comes as Corker is being formally vetted for the vice-presidential nomination by Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse Jr." -- CW ...

... As Paul Waldman points out, "Corker is a strange anomaly among Trump's potential running mates, in that he's generally thought of as a reasonable, non-crazy person with no appalling character flaws. Which suggests Trump won't pick him...."

** Jonathan Chait: Hillary Clinton "is the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' [Trump] claims. Corruption is indeed a plausible line of attack against Clinton — or, at least, it would be, if the opposing candidate was anybody other than Donald Trump, who may actually be the most corrupt presidential candidate ever. It should be conceded that the evidence against Clinton is fairly damning.... ... The case against Hillary Clinton is that her administration might be corrupted around the margins.... Trump is flamboyantly corrupt in ways that run to the very core of his identity and prospective governing choices.... Trump has not merely intermingled campaigning with his business interests; the two are one and the same." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Putin's Puppet. Franklin Foer in Slate: "Vladimir Putin has a plan for destroying the West -- and that plan looks a lot like Donald Trump. Over the past decade, Russia has boosted right-wing populists across Europe.... There's a clear pattern: Putin runs stealth efforts on behalf of politicians who rail against the European Union and want to push away from NATO... Donald Trump is like the Kremlin's favored candidates, only more so.... Donald Trump's interest in Russia dates back to Soviet times.... After his 2004 bankruptcy and his long streak of lawsuits, the big banks decided [Trump] wasn't worth the effort.... This sent him chasing less conventional sources of cash [-- Russian oligarchs & other foreign strongmen & mobsters].... The [trump] campaign isn't just one man with an aesthetic affinity for Putin and commercial interests in Russia; his sentiments are reinforced and amplified by an organization rife with financial ties to the Kremlin." ...

     ... CW: Surely this is the first time in modern history that the two major parties have both nominated presidential candidates with extensive histories of currying favor from despots & shady entrepreneurs/racketeers the world over, Trump through his business dealings & Clinton through her association with the Clinton Global Initiative.

From the Horseass's Mouth. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Prominent white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke on Tuesday dismissed Donald Trump's explanation of his controversial tweet featuring Hillary Clinton next to a pile of money, a Star of David, and the words the 'most corrupt candidate ever.'... 'Let's go to the tweet. The tweet again shows Clinton, it shows a Star of David. Of course later the campaign made the excuse, "Well, no, that's like a sheriff's badge." Well, no way, folks...,' said Duke.... Duke said all the 'Jewish extremists' were supporting Clinton." -- CW

Nick Gass: "Donald Trump's campaign has at various times banned publications like Politico, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed News and others from covering its events. But when journalists convene in Cleveland in less than two weeks, none of those outlets will be shut out of Quicken Loans Arena, the director of the House Daily Press Gallery told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday." CW: I wonder if Trump will be able to keep the press in a pen, which would be a first at any modern-day major-party convention. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

John Hanna of the AP: "Kansas cannot cut off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas, issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and the organization's St. Louis regional affiliate. Robinson wrote that Medicaid patients have 'the explicit right to seek family planning services from the qualified provider of their choice.' The court also noted that Planned Parenthood is likely to succeed on their claim that the state violated a free-choice provider provision in the Medicaid Act." CW: Robinson is a Bush II appointee.

John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by refusing to produce documents related to her legal battle last year against same-sex marriage, the state Office of the Attorney General said in an opinion released Tuesday." -- CW

Way Beyond

Erlanger and Castle of the New York Times: "The long-awaited report by the Iraq Inquiry Committee, led by John Chilcot, takes up 12 volumes covering 2.6 million words, four times longer than 'War and Peace,' and took seven years to complete, longer than Britain's combat operations in Iraq. It concluded that Mr. [Tony] Blair and the British government underestimated the difficulties and consequences of the war and overestimated the influence he would have over President George W. Bush." -- unwashed It looks like they took longer than Trey Gowdy to determine what we already knew. ...

... The Guardian report, by Luke Harding, is here. ...

... Heather Stewart of The Guardian: "Tony Blair deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime as he sought to make the case for military action to MPs and the public in the buildup to the invasion in 2002 and 2003... --unwashed ...

... Patrick Wintour of The Guardian: "The [George W.] Bush administration repeatedly overrode advice from the UK on how to oversee Iraq after the invasion, including the involvement of the United Nations, the control of Iraqi oil money and the extent to which better security should be put at the heart of the military operation.... The inquiry criticises the way in which the US dismantled the security apparatus of the Saddam Hussein army and describes the whole invasion as a strategic failure." --unwashed

Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: "Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee who dazzled the world by running in the 2012 Olympics on blade-like prosthetic legs, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp. Fifteen years is the minimum sentence for murder under South African law unless the judge finds mitigating circumstances justifying a lesser penalty. Judge Thokozile Masipa said she had indeed found reason for a lighter sentence, in particular, remorse." -- CW

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Monday
Jul042016

The Commentariat -- July 5, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud from her presidential campaign.... But Mr. Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being 'extremely careless' in using a personal email address and server for sensitive information, declaring that an ordinary government official could have faced administrative sanction for such conduct. To warrant a criminal charge, Mr. Comey said, there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally sent or received classified information -- something that the F.B.I. did not find. 'Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,' he said at a news conference."-- CW ...

... The full transcript of Comey's remarks, as prepared, via the Washington Post, is here. ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress with "what you need to know about why ... charges [against Clinton] were never a realistic possibility." -- CW ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump weighed in on the FBI's announcement that it would not recommend charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.... 'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.... Trump reiterated his claims of a rigged system in a subsequent tweet." ...

     ... CW: Really? Petraeus gave classified material to his girlfriend, who was not a federal employee, not cleared to receive classified matierial, & who carried the stuff around on an unsecured laptop &, I imagine, on flashdrives or other devices.

** Jonathan Chait: Hillary Clinton "is the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' [Trump] claims. Corruption is indeed a plausible line of attack against Clinton -- or, at least, it would be, if the opposing candidate was anybody other than Donald Trump, who may actually be the most corrupt presidential candidate ever. It should be conceded that the evidence against Clinton is fairly damning.... ... The case against Hillary Clinton is that her administration might be corrupted around the margins.... Trump is flamboyantly corrupt in ways that run to the very core of his identity and prospective governing choices.... Trump has not merely intermingled campaigning with his business interests; the two are one and the same." -- CW

Nick Gass: "Donald Trump's campaign has at various times banned publications like Politico, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed News and others from covering its events. But when journalists convene in Cleveland in less than two weeks, none of those outlets will be shut out of Quicken Loans Arena, the director of the House Daily Press Gallery told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday." CW: I wonder if Trump will be able to keep the press in a pen, which would be a first at any modern-day major-party convention.

*****

Fourth of July, 2016, Washington, D.C., "1812 Overture":

     ... Update. Or Not. Scandal on Capitol Hill! Emily Yahr of the Washington Post: "If you were watching Washington's Fourth of July fireworks outside on Monday night and also happened to catch PBS's broadcast of 'A Capitol Fourth,' you might have noticed something looked … a little off. The actual weather in Washington was cloudy and misty.... But on 'A Capitol Fourth,' the annual concert special that airs live from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, many of the fireworks (primarily in the second half of the display) looked glorious in a clear sky.... Another giveaway? On TV, you couldn't see the construction scaffolding on the Capitol building, which has been there for many months.... As soon as the show ended, producers from Capital Concerts owned up to the fact that not all of its footage was from the live fireworks show.... 'We showed a combination of the best fireworks from this year and previous years. It was the patriotic thing to do,' the 'Capitol Fourth' account tweeted." ...

     ... The Management regrets it inadvertently foisted a hoax upon Reality Chex readers. No word yet if that's really the National Symphony Orchestra, et al., performing the "1812 Overture."

President Obama celebrates the 4th at the White House, winding up with an off-key rendition of "Happy Birthday" to daughter Malia:

     ... Update. If you thought this video of President Obama and Malia Obama looked ... a little off, the White House has owned up to the fact that the Obamas always visit Kenya on the 4th of July weekend and staff substituted footage from a 2007 birthday party for Jenna Bush. "It was the patriotic thing to do," the White House account tweeted.

If you are wondering why Confederates/Trumpbots think they are the "true patriots" & the rest of us are "politically-correct" rabble, here's your answer. It's hardwired into our history. ...

... The American Stain. Robert Parkinson, in a New York Times op-ed: "The Declaration [of Independence]'s beautiful preamble distracts us from the heart of the document, the 27 accusations against King George III over which its authors wrangled and debated.... The very last one '' the ultimate deal-breaker -- was the most important...: 'He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.' In the context of the 18th century, 'domestic insurrections' refers to rebellious slaves.... In fact, Jefferson had originally included an extended attack on the king for forcing slavery upon unwitting colonists.... [But] the Continental Congress cut out [Jefferson's argument against slavery].... This idea -- that some people belong as proper Americans and others do not -- has marked American history ever since.... This notion comes from the very founders we revere this weekend. It haunts us still." ...

... CW: Here is the portion of Jefferson's "original Rough draught" to which Parkinson refers. It is remarkable:

he [George III] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating it's most sacred rights of life & liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. this piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the CHRISTIAN king of Great Britain. determined to keep open a market where MEN should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce: and that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, & murdering the people upon whom he also obtruded them; thus paying off former crimes committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another.

... MEANWHILE. Clare Foran of the Atlantic: "The United Kingdom's historic vote to leave the European Union ... has sparked interest in the far-fetched idea that U.S. states might win independence from Washington, D.C. Separatist groups are especially optimistic that Americans will be open to the idea of secession amid a presidential election that has witnessed a groundswell of populist discontent.... The improbable dream of secession is alive and well across the country and across the political spectrum. In the wake of the Brexit referendum, calls for secession everywhere from Alaska to New Hampshire have cropped up on social media." -- CW ...

... AND, in Washington, D.C. ... Lois Beckett of the Guardian: "Nearly two weeks after House Democrats staged a historic sit-in to demand action on gun control legislation, the Republican speaker of the House has agreed to hold a vote on a single gun-related bill: a measure to allow the attorney general to delay the sale of a gun to a suspected terrorist for three days, similar to a Senate measure backed by the National Rifle Association.... Nancy Pelosi slammed the legislation on Friday as 'a toothless NRA bill that will do nothing to keep our communities safe', and promised that Democrats would continue to fight for tougher gun control laws, including expanded background checks on gun sales." -- CW ...

... Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) is planning to disrupt the House when members return as part of a push for more action to stop gun violence, according to a memo obtained by the Washington Examiner." -- CW

Bernard Avishai in the New Yorker, on Elie Wiesel, whose moral authority, Avishai poses, was marred by his support for Israeli aggression. -- CW

Washington Post Editors: Tesla's "Autopilot" system is not really an autopilot. "... the model [in which a Florida driver was killed by a semi the system did not detect] was not designed to be and should not have been considered to be fully self-driving. The car's semi-autonomous systems, which use onboard sensors to guide it away from hazards, were not advanced enough to steer and brake the car without the driver paying continuous attention and correcting when necessary." -- CW

Presidential Race

... Thanks to Patrick for the link. These ads seldom make me feel warm & fuzzy, though I'll have to admit I loved Bernie Sanders' "America" ads, if mostly for Simon & Garfunkel. But did they affect my vote? Nah.

Wherein David Brooks Casts a Vote for Bernie Sanders. (Well, Not Really): "The big historical context [of current British & American politics] is this: Something fundamental is shifting in our politics. The insiders can't see it. Outsiders get thrown up amid the tumult, but they are too marginal, eccentric and inexperienced to lead effectively. Without much enthusiasm, many voters seem to be flocking to tough, no-nonsense women who at least seem sensible: Angela Merkel, Hillary Clinton and, now, the Conservative Party front-runner, Theresa May. We probably need a political Pope Francis-type figure, who comes up from the bottom and understands life there, but who can still make the case for an open dynamic world, with free-flowing goods, ideas, capital and people." ...

     ... CW: Actually, Brooks, this isn't a shift; it's an expression of what's been visible all along & you -- being a proud insider -- couldn't see it.

El Pilkington & Mona Chalabi of the Guardian: "A Guardian call-out to online readers in the US asking them to reflect on the race so far was met by a barrage of criticism on the tone and substance of the world's most important election.... Resoundingly, the largest group of participants pointed to climate change ... [as] the 'one issue ... you wish the presidential candidates were discussing more'.... They noted that much of the Republican debate has either focused on blatant denial that climate change even exists or on how to unpick Barack Obama's attempts to fight global warming, while on the Democratic side both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have raised the issue but have rarely pushed it to the top of the political agenda." -- CW

Tim Devaney of the Hill: "WikiLeaks on Monday published more than 1,000 emails from Hillary Clinton's private server during her time as secretary of State about the Iraq War.... WikiLeaks combed through the emails to find all the messages that reference the Iraq War.... The development comes after WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said last month the website had gathered 'enough evidence' for the FBI to indict Clinton." Assange said that would never happen as long as Loretta Lynch was AG. -- CW

Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign is attacking Donald Trump for ... [his] response to a tweet that critics say included anti-Semitic imagery. 'Donald Trump's use of blatantly anti-Semitic image from racist websites to promote his campaign would be disturbing enough, but the fact that it's part of a pattern should give voters major cause for concern,' Sara Bard, the campaign's director for Jewish outreach, said in a statement on Monday. 'Now, not only won't he apologize for it, he's peddling lies and blaming others,' she added." -- CW

Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: Donald Trump attempted to defend his use of a six-sided star superimposed upon $100 bills to criticize Hillary Clinton as corrupt. He tweeted, "Dishonest media is trying their absolute best to depict a star in a tweet as the Star of David rather than a Sheriff's Star, or plain star!'" CW: Except the original tweet was undoubtedly a copy of a graphic that appeared on white supremacists' sites. Also too, sheriff's badges, unlike the Star of David Trump tweeted, usually have circles at the ends of the points. So, not surprisingly, Trump is the Biggest 4th of Ju-Liar. ...

... Paul Waldman: The tweet isn't the problem. It's a symptom of the problem. "Donald Trump appeals directly to the worst in us, and the worst of us." -- CW

We are going to be so tough, we are going to be so smart and so vigilant, and we're going to get it so that people turn in people when they know there's something going on.... People have to turn people in. And if they don't turn them in, we are going to have more of these things. -- Donald Trump, in Denver last week, complaining about how "political correctness" prevents people from ratting on their terrorist neighbors

Palin Redux. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump met in New Jersey on Monday with Senator Joni Ernst, Republican of Iowa, as he screens potential running mates in a series of meetings.... According to a source briefed on the meeting, both Paul Manafort, Mr. Trump's chief strategist who is handling much of the vice presidential search, and Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman, also attended.... In a post on Twitter on Monday, Mr. Trump praised Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, another military veteran who some Republicans hope will be chosen by Mr. Trump." -- CW

President Envy. Kyle Balluck: "Donald Trump is criticizing President Obama's use of Air Force One to travel to a campaign event in North Carolina on Tuesday with Hillary Clinton.... 'Why is President Obama allowed to use Air Force One on the campaign trail with Crooked Hillary? She is flying with him tomorrow. Who pays?'... A White House official told a Time magazine reporter that the Obama administration, like previous administrations, follows 'all rules and regulations to ensure that the [Democratic National Committee] or other relevant political committee pays what is required for the President to travel to political events.'" CW: Gee, I wonder why Trump doesn't have an ex-president or two to campaign for him.

The Übermensch. Conservative writer Peter Wehner in a New York Times op-ed: "This fulsome embrace of Mr. Trump [by evangelicals] is rather problematic, since he embodies a worldview that is incompatible with Christianity.... Time and again Mr. Trump has shown contempt for those he perceives as weak and vulnerable -- 'losers,' in his vernacular.... Mr. Trump embodies a Nietzschean morality rather than a Christian one.... Evangelical Christians who are enthusiastically supporting Donald Trump are signaling, even if unintentionally, that this calling has no place in politics and that Christians bring nothing distinctive to it -- that their past moral proclamations were all for show and that power is the name of the game." Thanks to Marvin S. for the link. -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Amanda Marcotte, in Salon: "Pulling back the curtain, one finds that the movement to transfer federal lands to state ownership is being funded and driven by conservative business groups that want that land to be turned over to corporate interests to be exploited for profit, even if doing so destroys the environment.... [The plan:] First, get the lands out of federal hands into state hands. Then, wait for the inevitable state budget crisis. Then, buy the resource-rich land, turning it from a beautiful, publicly accessible slice of nature into a resource extraction site.... The amount of sleaze and dishonesty in the propaganda effort is truly stunning. [The perps produce] the kind of propaganda that snakes its way down to people like the Bundys and their supporters, convincing them that the existence of national forests is somehow hurting them." -- CW

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: Those "cheap political tricks" are getting expensive. "Lately..., the ammo required in ... culture wars has proved costlier than politicians, or their constituents, may have counted on. In North Carolina, legislators last week voted to transfer $500,000 from the state's emergency response and disaster relief fund to pay for litigation of the so-called bathroom bill.... Legal fees are likewise mounting in states that have attempted to bar Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds (which often turns out to violate federal Medicaid law), to implement constitutionally dicey restrictions on abortion access, or both.... In some cases, such legal expenses are peanuts compared with the broader economic costs of these culture-war laws.... Any time legislators pass a law already facing a major legal challenge in another state, they should have to set aside funding for its defense." -- CW

Way Beyond

Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "A parliamentary inquiry has identified multiple failures by the French intelligence services before the two devastating terrorist attacks that struck the country in 2015, lawmakers said on Tuesday. At a news conference in Paris, the lawmakers who took part in the inquiry urged the French authorities to overhaul the organization of its intelligence services by replacing the overlapping and sometimes competing agencies with a unified structure that could share intelligence more efficiently." -- CW

News Lede

Washington Post: Mohamed Bailor Jalloh, "a former member of the Virginia National Guard, was arrested Sunday and accused in federal court of plotting a domestic terrorist attack on behalf of the Islamic State, authorities announced Tuesday." ...

     ... CW: This actually is your government at work. Not only that, according to the report, Jalloh "had told someone close to him" about his plans, & it was that person who informed authorities. Tho it ain't necessarily so, there's a fair chance that person was a Muslim. So to whoever that person is & whatever his beliefs, thank you for savings the lives of strangers. And to Donald Trump, STFU.

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