The Commentariat -- February 8, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Could you let go of my breast, please? -- WCBS reporter Marcia Kramer, to a Secret Service agent protecting Donald Trump, at a Manchester, New Hampshire, hotel
Ashley Parker & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: Oooh! Marco Rubio & MSNBC host Joe Scarborough are having a feud! "In an election season marked by animosity, egos and insults, this feud ... follows two men from the swamps of Florida politics to a presidential cycle in which Mr. Rubio, 44, has emerged as a leading candidate, and Mr. Scarborough, 52, as one of his fiercest critics.... In an interview Saturday, Mr. Scarborough could not hide his disapproval of Mr. Rubio, describing him as 'programmed' and 'risk averse.' And after Mr. Rubio's debate performance on Saturday appeared to validate his critique, Mr. Scarborough took something of a victory lap. 'I've been criticized for saying Marco looks too robotic, too prepackaged, and too young,' he wrote in a text message. 'But everything I've said alone for months is now being repeated this morning by everyone else in the political world. My critiques weren't personal: they were right.'"
*****
Presidential Race
Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Bill Clinton =uncorked an extended attack on Senator Bernie Sanders on Sunday, harshly criticizing Mr. Sanders and his supporters for what he described as inaccurate and 'sexist' attacks on Hillary Clinton.... What began as a testimonial to Mrs. Clinton's leadership and a statesmanlike lecture on her approach to issues evolved into an angrier recitation of grievances against Mr. Sanders and his fervent supporters." ...
... Annie Karni of Politico has more on Bill Clinton's attack on Sanders. ...
... Greg Sargent: "... one has to hope this latest episode is not a harbinger of more to come along the lines of what we saw in 2008. Hillary and her campaign have worked hard to avoid being tagged as the establishment candidate who believes she's entitled to a coronation.... But if the goal is to dispel that narrative, it won't be helpful to have an ex-president who also happens to be your husband angrily ridiculing and belittling the appeal of a spirited challenger who has engaged millions of young voters into the political process in a way you haven't." ...
... Steve Friess of the Washington Post: "... Hillary Clinton made a quick detour Sunday afternoon from the campaign trail in New Hampshire to express her outrage directly to the residents of ... [Flint, Michigan,] over the scandal that poisoned their municipal water supply.... She takes credit for goading the Republican governor to accept federal help...." ...
... Chas Danner of New York: "The Democratic National Committee and host CNN announced on Sunday that the March 6 Democratic debate between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders will be held in Flint, Michigan. The choice is meant to draw attention to the plight of the city...."
... Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The feminist writer Gloria Steinem apologized on Sunday for remarks about young women who support Bernie Sanders, not long after Hillary Clinton defended Madeleine Albright over her comment that there is 'a special place in hell' for women who do not support Clinton. Steinem posted her apology to Facebook, writing that she 'misspoke' on Friday when ... [she] said women 'get more activist as they grow older. And when you're younger, you think: "Where are the boys? The boys are with Bernie."'... 'Madeline has been saying this for many, many years,' Clinton said [on "Meet the Press" Sunday]. 'She believes it firmly, in part because she knows what a struggle it has been, and she understands the struggle is not over.'" ...
... Greg Grandin of the Nation on Hillary Clinton's long, friendly relationship with Henry Kissinger, the architect of policies that led to "3, maybe 4 million deaths." One thing to bear in mind is that diplomats, including secretaries of state, are obliged to say nice thing about people they hold in contempt. Look at Grandin's piece for evidence of a continuation of Kissinger's policies & philosophy, not for the nice things Clinton & Kissinger have said to & about one another.
Andy Borowitz: "Scandal rocked Bernie Sanders's Presidential campaign on Friday as the candidate was forced to admit that he received free checking from several big banks."
Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "The Iowa Democratic Party on Sunday updated the results of the Iowa caucuses after discovering discrepancies in the tallies at five precincts, but the final outcome remains unchanged.... Hillary Clinton still places first in the caucuses with 700.47 state delegate equivalents, or 49.84 percent, the party said in a statement. Primary rival Bernie Sanders comes in second with 696.92 state delegate equivalents, or 49.59 percent. The total net change gives Sanders an additional 0.1053 state delegate equivalents and strips Clinton of 0.122 state delegate equivalents. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who dropped out of the race after the caucuses, also received an additional 0.0167 state equivalent delegates."
CW: Somewhere in this great land, possibly in New Hampshire corner of it, the Marco puppetmaster, whoever he may be, is kicking himself for telling Marco, "Whatever happens in the debate, stay on message." ...
... Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: Marco Rubio's "GOP rivals argued Sunday that the debate undercut the central case for Rubio's candidacy -- that his political agility and youthful, charismatic persona make him best positioned to challenge the Democratic nominee. And they claimed a renewed -- and seemingly justifiable -- rationale to soldier on past New Hampshire, which would mean that the mainstream Republican vote would probably continue to splinter among several candidates."
Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "Marco Rubio on Sunday defended his performance in Saturday night's Republican presidential debate, in which he was widely panned for coming off as scripted in a tense exchange with Chris Christie.... 'Actually, I would pay them to keep running that clip, because that's what I believe passionately,' Rubio said, reiterating once more his point about Obama deliberately harming the country." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... There's No There There There. CW: Here's what Marco Marco Marco doesn't get or is pretending he doesn't get): if your schtick is to accuse the POTUS of subversive activity or whatever, then you have to find more than one way to say it; you have do say he did this & he wants to do that. You have to have some facts or at least some made-up crap to back up your assertion. All MMM has is a couple of canned applause lines asserting that President Obama is a malevolent force. A not-too-bright child can handle that (and be just as cute spouting his lines). There's no evidence that Marco even knows, beyond his prepared material, what awful things Obama is supposed to have done. ...
... "Software Glitch." Paul Krugman: "While Mr. Rubio did indeed make a fool of himself on Saturday, he wasn't the only person on that stage spouting canned talking points that are divorced from reality. They all were, even if the other candidates managed to avoid repeating themselves word for word.... The truth is that the whole G.O.P. seems stuck in a time loop, saying and doing the same things over and over. And unlike Bill Murray's character in the movie 'Groundhog Day,' Republicans show no sign of learning anything from experience.... The whole G.O.P. seems stuck in a time loop, saying and doing the same things over and over. And unlike Bill Murray's character in the movie 'Groundhog Day,' Republicans show no sign of learning anything from experience." ...
... CW: While he's at it, Krugman manages to praise Hillary & get in a dig at Bernie. ...
... Kevin Drum thinks Marco Marco Marco's debate performance may have ended his career. CW: He sure got a long way on platitudes & attacking absent opponents. ...
... "... Maybe His Ventriloquist Was Stuttering." Charles Pierce: "The general hilarity has tended to obscure what Rubio actually was saying. (And saying, and saying, and saying...) He was accusing the president of monumental and deliberate acts of subversion in office. This is a stunning charge, especially from a one-term pipsqueak whose memory banks jam whenever he steps an inch beyond his actual depth." CW: Haven't read that point elsewhere, & it is well-taken. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: One thing Marco Marco Marco reminds us of is, if not the low intelligence quotient of our billionaire class, then the low IQ that class of greedy bastards is willing to put into the White House to endanger all Americans & everybody else who gets in our way. This isn't the first time we've been provided a stark reminder that many a billionaire is a numbskull or worse -- for some reason the 2000 election comes to mind -- but when the billionaire who has been leading the GOP presidential race has been exposed as a featherweight fascist, the favored candidate of the uber-rich has proved to be a Doofus! & big money geniuses' second runner-up is poor Johnny Johnny Johnny One-Note, it's impossible not to notice that many of those billionaires & multi-millionaires need assistants to help them put their pants on one leg at a time. ...
... AND, Once Again, the GOP Establishment Bets on a Lame Horse. Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "At Saturday night's debate, Republicans wanted Marco Rubio to soar and Donald Trump to stumble. The opposite happened."
The Apogee of the Bully. Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: Chris "Christie was gleeful on Sunday. In the morning, he appeared on CNN's 'State of the Union' from Manchester, New Hampshire. He bumped into Hillary Clinton in the green room. They shook hands and she congratulated him on his debate performance. 'I'll see you in the fall,' Christie told her as she departed.... During a swing around [New Hampshire], Christie was throwing punches in every direction. During his ninety-minute event in Hampton, he ridiculed Donald Trump, John Kasich, Jeb Bush, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio." ...
I think that the anointment [of Rubio] is now over, so that changes the entire race.... I am ready to roll right into South Carolina. -- Chris Christie, yesterday ...
... Chrisco Made the Snowplows Run on Time. Steve M.: "But what was Christie saying here? He was saying that being required to deal with strictly domestic problems makes him more qualified to be president that a U.S. senator, even though senators deal with foreign as well as domestic policy. He was saying that getting the streets plowed is all the job experience a potential president needs." CW: Read the whole post. I haven't seen this point made elsewhere, either. But I do think Steve is right to compare Christie's "qualification" for POTUS with Scott Walker's (remember him?) well-covered gaffe in which he claimed he could handle ISIS terrorists because he had "taken on 100,000 protesters" (mostly schoolteachers!). (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... E. J. Dionne has quite a different take: "It's not clear what Christie did for his own candidacy, but he performed a service by reminding his party that running a government is serious work and ought to be respected. That this was revelatory shows how far contemporary conservatism has strayed from the essential tasks of politics."
Bradford Richardson: "Following attacks from primary rival Jeb Bush about his past use of eminent domain..., Donald Trump on Sunday accused the Bush family of using the practice to build a baseball stadium in Texas. 'Eminent domain is a very important thing,' Trump said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'Jeb Bush doesn't understand what it means, and if you look into the Bush family -- I found this five minutes ago -- they used eminent domain for the stadium in Texas, where they own, I guess, a piece of the Texas Rangers.'" ...
... CW: Here's a little history on that, from Dan McGraw of Reason (May 2005): "
One of the most famous eminent domain cases involved ... baseball's Texas Rangers, at the time owned by George W. Bush. [The Rangers] convinced local voters to approve a 1991 tax increase that helped build a new $191 million stadium. The city of Arlington used eminent domain to acquire the property from hundreds of private owners, claiming that the stadium was a 'public use.'.... Several property owners were lowballed, and court decisions increased their take. (The city, not the team, was responsible for the larger payments. The compensation for one 13-acre plot was increased from $877,000 to $5 million, for example.)
The stadium clearly benefited the Rangers' owners more than anyone else: Bush turned his initial $600,000 investment into $15 million when the team was sold in 1999. But it has produced little of the promised economic benefit to Arlington, and there has never been a real 'public use' factor aside from baseball fans' paying their money to see games.
Katie Glueck of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Sunday said he opposes requiring women to register for a potential draft, breaking with Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie, all of whom indicated support for opening up the Selective Service to women during Saturday night's debate." ...
... the idea that their government would forcibly put them in a foxhole with a 220-pound psychopath trying to kill them doesn't make any sense at all. -- Ted Cruz, on forcing women, specifically his daughters, to register for a draft
CW Translation: U.S. soldiers are fat psychopaths who routinely kill American women.
CW: If you suspect a racist subtext here, I'm with you.
Other News & Opinion
AP: "President Barack Obama is asking Congress for more than $1.8 billion in emergency funding to help fight the Zika virus. In an announcement Monday, the White House said the money would be used to expand mosquito control programs, speed development of a vaccine, develop diagnostic tests and improve support for low-income pregnant women."
Michael Wines & John Schwartz of the New York Times: "The crisis in Flint, Mich., where as many as 8,000 children under age 6 were exposed to unsafe levels of lead after a budget-cutting decision to switch drinking-water sources, may be the most serious contamination threat facing the country's water supplies. But it is hardly the only one. Unsafe levels of lead have turned up in tap water in city after city -- in Durham and Greenville, N.C., in 2006; in Columbia, S.C., in 2005; and last July in Jackson, Miss., where officials waited six months to disclose the contamination -- as well as in scores of other places in recent years."
Beyond the Beltway
Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "Five top officials in Crystal City, Tex., were arrested Thursday under a federal indictment accusing them of taking tens of thousands of dollars in bribes and helping the operator of an illegal gambling operation.... The indictment swept up the city's mayor, mayor pro tempore (who both have city council votes) and a council member, as well as the city manager, a former city council member and the alleged gambling operator, Ngoc Tri Nguyen.... A fourth person on the city council, Marco Rodriguez, was arrested last month on human smuggling charges."
Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Chicago police officer who fatally shot a black 19-year-old and an unarmed bystander in December has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $10 million in damages from the teenager's estate, an unusual legal approach based on a claim that the young man's actions leading up to the gunfire were 'atrocious' and have caused the officer 'extreme emotional trauma.'"