;)
The Commentariat -- July 4, 2016
... James Davidson, in Slate, has more on Douglass's speech, delivered July 5, 1852.
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... one of the Obama administration’s most ardent policy initiatives has been a concerted campaign to end the scourge of sexual assault on college campuses.... Already the efforts of this White House have dramatically transformed the way colleges and universities respond to allegations of sexual misconduct.... The administration’s approach — through federal enforcement of civil rights protections and a campus-based advocacy campaign — was spurred in part by an emboldened group of survivors who have gone public... But it also reflects the activism of [Vice President] Biden and President Obama, who became alarmed at the idea of rape as a fixture of college life." ...
... CW: Now ask yourself what a Trump administration would do about campus sexual assault. Still want to sit out this election because you don't trust Hillary? Or because "politicians are all the same"? No, they're not.
Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "Last week’s revelation that the [Obama] administration is proposing increased military cooperation with Russia in Syria, in exchange for Russian agreement to abide by the cease-fire it had already agreed to, was a stark example of how the administration’s theory about how to work with Russia is being misapplied on the ground.... Washington cannot ignore Russia’s increasingly horrendous behavior." -- CW
** "I Dissent." Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice [Sonia] Sotomayor ... [wrote] eight dissents before the term ended last Monday. Read together, they are a remarkable body of work from an increasingly skeptical student of the criminal justice system, one who has concluded that it is clouded by arrogance and machismo and warped by bad faith and racism." -- CW
AP: "Financial inequality became even wider in the United States last year, with average income for the top 1% of households surging 7.7% to $1.36 million. Income for the richest sliver rose twice as fast as it did for the remaining 99% of households, according to an updated analysis of tax data by Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley.... Still, the incomes of households outside the top 1% appear finally to be recovering from the Great Recession.... After accounting for inflation, their average income rose 3.9% last year to $48,768 — the strongest annual gain since 1998." -- CW
Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "At a time when foreigners in Western garb are being singled out for deadly attacks by the Islamic State and other militants, the United Arab Emirates has warned its citizens against wearing traditional Muslim clothing while traveling in the West.... [An Emirati,] Ahmed al-Menhali, was detained at gunpoint last week in Avon, Ohio, after a suspicious hotel clerk alerted relatives, who called 911. Menhali, a 41-year-old businessman, was in the United States for medical treatment and tried to book a hotel in the Cleveland suburb. He was wearing a flowing white headscarf and a full-length white robe at the time. Police accosted and handcuffed him outside the hotel entrance while he was speaking on his phone in Arabic." -- CW
Rarely in the history of the United States has the nation been so ill-served as during the presidency of George W. Bush. -- Jean Smith, opening sentence in "Bush" ...
... Book Review. Peter Baker of the New York Times: "If [George W.] Bush eventually gets a more sympathetic hearing by history, as he hopes, it will not start with Jean Edward Smith’s 'Bush,' a comprehensive and compelling narrative punctuated by searing verdicts of all the places where the author thinks the 43rd president went off track.... The value of Mr. Smith’s account is not original reporting but a thorough assimilation of the existing record." -- CW
** Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "... in a small but significant way, [CNN's hiring of Corey] Lewandowski ... represents a signal moment in political journalism’s evolving embrace of political operatives: A major mainstream news organization is using a commentator who is legally prohibited from sharing the unvarnished truth on the subject — Mr. Trump — he was hired to talk about.... What happens to the balance between truth and falsehood when an important portion of the national news media hands the political debate over to partisan operatives who, as a rule, skew the facts — or abandon them — in the service of their own political ends or business interests?" -- CW
Presidential Race
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Politically turbulent North Carolina, where Barack Obama won in 2008 and then Republicans rose up to engineer a conservative revolution, has suddenly emerged as a focal point in the presidential race. The battle lines will be clear Tuesday in dueling rallies in the state’s two major cities.... Hillary Clinton will appear in Charlotte alongside President Obama, who is making his debut on the campaign trail and will try to reenergize his multiethnic coalition. That night..., Donald Trump will take the stage in Raleigh...." -- CW
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The White House has forbidden members of ’s cabinet to address the Democratic National Convention this month, a stark break from past policy that is intended to avoid the appearance that the administration’s final months are being consumed by the politics of ’s campaign." -- CW
CW: The New York Times has a crystal-ball story -- currently running on the front page -- on what Hillary Clinton's first hundred days as president would be like. Whatever the headline is, Steve M. has a better one: "Hillary Clinton Thinks Republican Lucy Might Let er Kick the Football." He goes on: "She'll learn, just as Obama eventually did. Frankly, I don't even think they intend to let her fill Supreme Court vacancies.... If they control the Senate, they'll block her picks. If they don't, they'll declare any attempt by the Democrats to eliminate the filibuster for Supreme Court picks an assault on the Constitution. No, Hillary -- they won't let you kick the football." -- CW
Kristen East of Politico: "An aide to the former president gave a statement on condition of anonymity to both CNN and The Associated Press, describing the meeting as 'entirely social in nature.'... But recognizing how others could take another view of it, he agrees with the attorney general that he would not do it again,” the aide said." CW: Really? Apology by anonymous aide? Heartfelt, I'm sure. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "For at least the fifth time, Trump’s Twitter account had shared a meme from the racist 'alt-right.”... On white-supremacist forums, Trump was cheered for apparently declaring his solidarity through not-so-subtle code." -- CW ...
... The New York Times story, by Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman, is here. CW: I'm glad to see the major media picking up this story. The CNN suits who hired Corey Lewandowski should hang their heads in shame. No teeny improvement in ratings is worth having a staff that condones & excuses anti-Semitism, which is exactly what Lewandowski did when he accused critics of Trump's alt-right tweet as "political correctness run amok." ...
... Anthony Smith of Mic.com: Donald Trump got that anti-Semitic Star of David graphic he tweeted yesterday "from an Internet message board for the alt-right, a digital movement of Neo-Nazis, anti-Semites and white supremacists newly emboldened by the success of Trump's rhetoric." CW: Trump is really plugged in to the hatemonger network. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Kevin Robillard of Politico: "Former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski on Sunday blamed the blowup over his former campaign's use of imagery some saw as anti-Semitic on 'political correctness.'" CW: We really must all stop being so squeamish about a presidential nominee retweeting anti-Semitic, white supremacist messages. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) -- CW ...
... Judd Legum of Think Progress introduces you to three white supremacists "who have inspired Donald Trump." ...
... CW: What's important to see here is that these extreme racists are Donald Trump's people; he identifies with them to the extent that he repeatedly relies on them as a "news source." The only difference between Trump & the swamp is that Trump has the savvy to pretend, albeit sometimes with apparently intentional irony, that he "loves the Mexicans," etc. Underneath that fake mop is an unrepentant skinhead. It's sickening.
Washington Post Editors: "... the shamelessness by which [Donald Trump's] actual giving to worthy causes has trailed his public claims of generosity is stunning.... The issue is not that Mr. Trump has been stingy, although he has made no bequests to his foundation since 2008, and his giving levels before that appear to have been far lower than those of others who have the wealth Mr. Trump insists he enjoys. The issue is the cavernous gulf between his words and deeds.... [Trump's] whoppers come so fast and thick that it’s easy to lose track, and it’s tempting to ignore much of what he says. That would be a mistake. Contempt for the truth is a disqualifying feature in a candidate for the presidency." -- CW ...
... New Word: eleemosynary: "of, relating to, or supported by charity." Thanks, WashPo.
Paul Krugman: "... Trumponomics goes beyond the usual Republican assertions that cutting taxes on corporations and the rich, ending environmental regulation and so on will conjure up the magic of the marketplace and make everyone prosper. It also involves posing as a populist, claiming that getting tough on foreigners and ripping up our trade agreements will bring back the well-paying jobs America has lost.... Adding a bit of China-bashing to a fundamentally anti-labor agenda does no more to make you a friend of workers than eating a taco bowl does to make you a friend of Latinos." -- CW
Ashley Parker & Steve Eder of the New York Times: "In the , Mr. Trump recognized an opportunity to connect with the electorate over an issue many considered taboo: the discomfort, in some quarters of American society, with the election of the nation’s first black president. He harnessed it for political gain.... Mr. Trump ... said repeatedly that he had sent a team of investigators to Hawaii to unearth information about Mr. Obama’s birth records. 'They cannot believe what they are finding,' Mr. Trump told ABC’s 'The View.'... But for all of his fascination with the president’s birth certificate, Mr. Trump apparently never dispatched investigators or made much of an effort to find the documents. Dr. Alvin Onaka, the Hawaii state registrar who handled queries about Mr. Obama, said recently through a spokeswoman that he had no evidence or recollection of Mr. Trump or any of his representatives ever requesting the records from the Hawaii State Department of Health.” ...
... CW: It's worth remembering that Trump's political career is founded on a lie about investigating a debunked conspiracy theory.
Mark Singer of the New Yorker: "Trump often speaks of how much 'fun' he has running his business and running for President, but he plainly is having less of it lately.... Stephanie Cegielski, the former communications director of the Make America Great Again super pac ... told of being informed by colleagues, in March, 2015, that Trump would be running for President, with the goal of polling at, say, twelve per cent, and finishing second in the delegate count.... The poor fellow wanted only to extend the 'Donald Trump' brand, not to impose upon Donald Trump the task of learning the sorts of things that would require self-discipline commensurate with the awe-inspiring responsibilities of the Presidency." -- CW
Jenni Miller of New York: "Ivanka Trump, whose father Donald once suggested that he would date her if they weren't already related, went to bat for her dear old daddy in the Sunday Times of London. The fashion mogul, whose scarves are classified as fire risks and who has been sued numerous times for stealing shoe designs, declared, "My father is a feminist. He's a big reason I am the woman I am today." -- CW ...
Eric Trump.... In Another Tale of Trump Progeny, we learn that the pustule Eric Trump (whose appearance for some reason reminds me of Count Dracula) "attacked a Washington Post article that found his father ... donated only $10,000 to charities over seven years, millions less than he has publicly claimed. Eric Trump dismissed the article as a 'hack job' while calling the media the 'worst part of society.'" -- CW
Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, said on Sunday Donald Trump’s recent comments were 'clearly' racist, a day after ... [Trump] faced accusations of antisemitism and in the same week that he said he would consider firing government employees who wear hijabs. 'He has said 100 things that would disqualify anyone else from running for president but it doesn’t seem to affect him,' Johnson told CNN’s State of the Union. 'The stuff he’s saying is just incendiary. It’s racist.'” -- CW ...
... CW: I missed the hijab story, so here it is, although the brilliant lady who posed the "issue" called hijabs "hibi-jabis." But I'm sure she's not a racist.
Beyond the Beltway
Christal Hayes of the Orlando Sentinel: "The father of the 2-year-old boy who was killed in an alligator attack near Disney's Grand Floridian Resort & Spa told officials a second gator was involved, records show.... In total, five alligators were killed in the 16-hour search for Lane [Graves]. His body was discovered intact about 15 yards from the shore, six feet underwater.... Three days after the tragedy Disney raised fencing around the lake at that and other lakefront resorts and announced signs would be posted reading 'Danger! Alligators and snakes in area. Stay away from the water. Do not feed the wildlife.'" -- CW
Way Beyond
Falih Hassan, et al., of the New York Times: "As celebrations for the Muslim holy month of stretched past midnight into Sunday in central Baghdad, where Iraqis had gathered to eat, shop and just be together, a minivan packed with explosives blew up and killed at least 143 people — the third mass slaughter across three countries in less than a week. The attack was the deadliest in Baghdad in many years — at least since 2009 — and was among the worst Iraq has faced since the American invasion of 2003. The bombing came barely a week after Iraqi security forces, backed by American airstrikes, celebrated the liberation of Falluja from the Islamic State, which almost immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. -- CW (This is an update of a story linked yesterday."
Rowena Mason & Peter Walker of the Guardian: "Nigel Farage is stepping down as leader of [the right-wing] Ukip, saying he has done his bit for the cause of Britain leaving the EU." -- CW
Owen Bowcott of the Guardian: "A prominent law firm is taking pre-emptive legal action against the government, following the EU referendum result, to try to ensure article 50 is not triggered without an act of parliament.... [A partner at the firm bringing the suit] said, '... said: 'The outcome of the referendum itself is not legally binding and for the current or future prime minister to invoke article 50 without the approval of parliament is unlawful.'... Another legal initiative began last week to seek an opinion on whether the advisory status of the referendum means that it should be the prime minister or parliament that ultimately pulls the trigger on article 50." -- CW ...
... ** Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrat & former Deputy Prime Minister, in a Guardian op-ed: A general "election must be held before any attempt is made to activate article 50, the legal mechanism triggering the negotiations for EU exit.... Finally, the definitive, negotiated terms both of our exit from, and our future relationship with, the EU must then be put back to parliament for a vote of consent." CW: Clegg has fun knocking everybody on both sides of the Brexit.
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