;)
The Commentariat -- January 27, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "... in its swift rise, [the Wounded Warrior Project] has ... embraced aggressive styles of fund-raising, marketing and personnel management that have caused many current and former employees to question whether it has drifted from its original mission. It has spent millions a year on travel, dinners, hotels and conferences that often seemed more lavish than appropriate, more than four dozen current and former employees said in interviews. Former workers recounted buying business-class seats and regularly jetting around the country for minor meetings, or staying in $500-per-night hotel rooms." ...
... CW: This is the charity for which Donald Trump said earlier today he would hold a fundraiser in lieu of attending Fox "News"'s GOP debate. Sounds more like a Ben Carson thing.
Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "The cable set-top box, long a scourge of consumers and a moneymaker for cable companies, appears set for a makeover. The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday announced a proposal that would make it much easier for subscribers of cable and satellite television to pick the boxes they use to watch programming. Nearly all customers now must get their boxes from their cable companies, and they pay an average of $231 a year to lease the devices. The move could have broad implications for the industry, allowing Google, Amazon and Apple, for instance, to expand their footprints in the media industry with devices that would blend Internet and cable programming in a way the television industry has resisted."
Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that domestic economic growth slowed in the final months of 2015 and pointed to increased concern about the weakness of the global economy. In a statement published after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee, the Fed, as expected, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and said it still expected to increase that rate 'gradually' in the coming months as economic conditions improve."
Jim Dwyer of the New York Times: After Jane Mayer of the New Yorker wrote a long piece for the magazine about the Koch brothers' secret financial backing of right-wing groups, she learned that someone was investigating her & falsely accusing her of plagiarism. After three years, she trace the investigators "to a 'boiler room' operation involving several people who have worked closely with Koch business concerns. 'The firm, it appears, was Vigilant Resources International, whose founder and chairman, Howard Safir, had been New York City’s police commissioner under the former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,' she writes in 'Dark Money.' Mr. Safir served as both the fire commissioner and the police commissioner during the Giuliani mayoralty."
Rebecca Woolington of the Oregonian: "Oregon FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing told reporters during a press conference Wednesday morning in Burns that the occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge had 'ample' time to leave peacefully. Bretzing was joined by U.S. Attorney Bill Williams and Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward during the press conference, held on the 26th day of the standoff with occupiers. They expressed disappointment that a traffic stop on protesters had turned deadly Tuesday." ...
... The Oregonian is running a liveblog of the developments related to the hostile takeover of the Malheur Refuge. And there are developments. I must say there are slightly differing accounts of how Finicum was killed. According to the Bundy story, he was lying face down with his hands up when an officer shot him three times. According to a person who claimed to be driving nearby, Finicum charged the officers. At 3:00 pm ET, the liveblog had not been updated for several hours. ...
... Travis Gettys of Raw Story addresses the discrepancies in the accounts of Finicum's death. Two of the militants who claim to have been at or near the scene deny the martyrdom story the group's supporters have spread.
*****
Julie Turkewitz & Kirk Johnson of the New York Times: "Ammon Bundy, the leader of an armed seizure of a federal wildlife refuge in rural eastern Oregon, was arrested and one was person was killed Tuesday afternoon in a traffic stop in rural Oregon, the F.B.I. and the Oregon State Police said. Seven other people, including Mr. Bundy’s brother Ryan Bundy, were arrested, the authorities said. Another person was hospitalized with nonlife-threatening injuries.... Authorities said only that shots were fired during the course of the arrest. Three other people ... were arrested later, authorities said. All of the defendants face a federal felony charge of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats." ...
... Les Zaitz of the Oregonian: "Oregon standoff spokesman Robert 'LaVoy' Finicum was killed and other leaders of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation were arrested Tuesday after the FBI and state police stopped vehicles about 20 miles north of Burns. Authorities did not release the name of the person who died at the highway stop, but Finicum's daughter confirmed it was Finicum, 55, of Cane Beds, Arizona.... Ryan Bundy, 43, of Bunkerville, Nev., suffered a minor gunshot wound in the confrontation about 4:30 p.m. along U.S. 395. He was treated and released from a local hospital and was in FBI custody, authorities said.... Also arrested during the stop were his brother, Ammon Bundy, 40, of Emmett, Idaho, Ryan W. Payne, 32, of Anaconda, Mont., Brian Cavalier, 44, of Bunkerville, Nevada, and Shawna J. Cox, 59, of Kanab, Utah.... In Burns, Oregon State Police also arrested Joseph D. O'Shaughnessy, 45, Cottonwood, Arizona..., and Pete Santilli, 50, of Cincinnati, an independent broadcaster known for his aggressive manner and live streaming refuge events.... Jon Ritzheimer, 32, a key militant leader, surrendered to police in Arizona on the conspiracy charge....
... "At the refuge Tuesday evening, occupier Jason Patrick reported no unusual activity. 'It's pretty quiet here,' Patrick said. He said no one was leaving as of 6 p.m. Hours later, Patrick said the refuge remained quiet but 'we're all standing here ready to defend our peaceful resolution.'... In the meantime, Operation Mutual Defense, a network of militias and patriot sympathizers, issued a call on its website for help at the refuge. The post was written by Gary Hunt, a board member from California who has expressed support for Timothy McVeigh, who bombed a federal building in Oklahoma City and had ties to the patriot movement.... The highway was blocked for a 40-mile stretch between Burns and John Day. Police were stationed near Seneca, a small city of 200 south of John Day, with long guns." ...
... Les Zaitz: "Law enforcement officers set up roadblocks Tuesday night around the headquarters of the occupied Malheur National Wildlife Refuge hours after one of the takeover's top spokesmen was killed and other leaders were arrested on a highway out of town. FBI officials told those still at the compound, about 30 miles southeast of Burns, that they were free to leave and should do so. By midnight, few people appeared to have taken up the offer and the lights were still on."
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "A grand jury’s indictment on Monday of two abortion opponents who covertly recorded Planned Parenthood officials is the latest, most startling sign that a Republican campaign against the group has run into trouble. In a dozen states including Texas..., various investigations have concluded without finding any wrongdoing by affiliates of the group. Eight states have declined to investigate since videos began surfacing in June alleging that Planned Parenthood illegally sells tissue from aborted fetuses. In the Republican-led Congress, Speaker John A. Boehner resigned last fall rather than lead a government shutdown to force an end to federal funds for Planned Parenthood." ...
... CW: Once in a great while, there is a price to be paid for running a perpetual campaign against women & their health needs. ...
Alex Zielinski of Think Progress: "After a Texas-based grand jury declined to indict Planned Parenthood on Monday, clearing an Austin-based clinic of any wrongdoing, GOP presidential candidates are simply doubling down on their opposition to the national women’s health organization":
Here’s what I know: Planned Parenthood has been trafficking in body parts. Planned Parenthood has been altering late-term abortion techniques to this specific purpose of harvesting body parts. In President Fiorina budget, there will not be a single dime for Planned Parenthood. -- Carly Fiorina
I’m disturbed. We’ll need to learn more, but I’m disturbed that while Planned Parenthood, who are the ones that were actually selling off these (body) parts were found having done nothing wrong, the people who tried to expose them are the ones that are now facing criminal charges. -- Marco Rubio
... Here's Rubio indicting the prosecutor, via the Guardian: “'I think it’s pretty outrageous that Planned Parenthood was investigated by some lawyer or district attorney who apparently, according to some news reports, has actually been a board member of Planned Parenthood and donated to them,' Rubio said, responding to a voter question about abortion at an Iowa town hall." ...
... Oh, and here are the facts, from the same Guardian story, by Molly Redden & Sabrina Siddiqui: "Rubio’s attack was likely referring to a Harris County prosecutor in the criminal family law division, Lauren Reeder. Reeder was a member of the Planned Parenthood of the Gulf Coast board of directors at the time of the county’s investigation.... But Reeder was not, as Rubio stated, the district attorney who handed down Monday’s indictments, nor was she involved in the broader investigation. According to news reports from the time, Reeder disclosed that she was a Planned Parenthood board member shortly after Harris County began its investigation in August. The district attorney, Devon Anderson, made Reeder’s affiliation public and stated that Reeder would not have any involvement in the investigation." CW: But what are facts when it's so easy to make your case by lying to Iowa voters. ...
... New York Times Editors: "... despite all the evidence [that Planned Parenthood is not guilty of any wrongdoing], Texas’ Republican governor, Greg Abbott, said on Monday that the state attorney general’s office and the State Health and Human Services Commission would continue investigating Planned Parenthood. This is a purely political campaign of intimidation and persecution meant to destroy an organization whose mission to serve women’s health care needs the governor abhors." ...
... Washington Post Editors: "By adhering to the facts, prosecutors and grand jurors set a model of behavior that puts them at odds with the politicians — in Congress, in statehouses and on the Republican presidential campaign trail — who have tried to advance their agendas by falsely demonizing an organization that provides critical health care to women. In their evidence-free crusade, they have put vital health services at risk and wasted millions of taxpayer dollars." ...
... Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "... it’s hard to avoid observing that all of the new CMP drama is unfolding in Texas, just as the Supreme Court prepares to hear the biggest abortion case in years, from Texas. It’s never clear how much current events of this kind impact the justices’ thinking, but it’s difficult even for justices to avoid the fact that after myriad exacting investigations, hearings, and searches, the only criminal conduct allegedly connected to Planned Parenthood is now affixed to the people who attempted to smear them."
The Women's Hour. Emily Heil of the Washington Post: Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) "was one of only a few lawmakers in the Capitol building following the weekend blizzard, and it was her job to handle the formalities of delaying Senate business until her colleagues could get back to work.... 'As we convene this morning, you look around the chamber, the presiding officer is female. All of our parliamentarians are female. Our floor managers are female. All of our pages are female.'... 'Something is genuinely different — and something is genuinely fabulous,' Murkowski said.... 'Perhaps it speaks to the hardiness of women,” she added, “that put on your boots and put your hat on and get out and slog through the mess that’s out there.'”
Republicans Do Something Useful, for a Change. Abbie VanSickle of the Washington Post:Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) has demanded a response from the Obama administration to whistleblower claims that thousands of [immigrant] children have been released to sponsors with criminal records that include homicide, child molestation and human trafficking. Legal advocates for the children say many have wound up in abusive situations, where they have been forced to work to repay debts or living expenses.... Alarmed by the case [of a teenager released to human traffickers who imprisoned the Guatemalan youth, with others, at an Ohio egg farm], Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), chairman of the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, opened an inquiry into the government’s system for processing unaccompanied minors. The results are scheduled to be made public Thursday, when Portman plans to chair a hearing on the matter."
Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: It appears Flint could have saved money [CW: and lives] by not switching to Flint River water "as part of a long-term move to a new pipeline intended to save a destitute government millions of dollars each year.... The Detroit water system, which had supplied Flint for a half-century, fought fiercely until 2013 to keep the city as a customer. It ultimately offered rates that it claimed would cost 20 percent less than Flint’s share of the $600 million plan to build the pipeline from Lake Huron, according to documents, interviews and media coverage of those events." As Bernstein writes, however, Flint's choices were complicated. CW: What isn't even a little bit complicated, however, is that -- whatever the source -- Flint residents are entitled to safe water. ...
... American Hero. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: Marc Edwards, the Virginia Tech professor who found & exposed high lead levels in Flint, Michigan's water, has been this route before. "It was Edwards, 51, who more than a decade earlier discovered corrosion in the nation’s capital’s pipes that caused lead to seep into the water supply and pass through kitchen faucets and shower heads. After exposing that water crisis in 2004, he spent six years challenging the Centers for Disease Control to admit they weren’t being honest about the extent of the damage the lead had on children." Edwards has largely self-funded both efforts. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Bill Pennington of the New York Times: "When the former Giants safety Tyler Sash was found dead at age 27 of an accidental overdose of pain medications at his Iowa home on Sept. 8, his grieving family remained consumed by a host of unanswered questions about the final, perplexing years of Sash’s life. Cut by the Giants in 2013 after what was at least his fifth concussion, Sash had returned to Iowa and increasingly displayed surprising and irregular behavior, family members said this week.... Last week, representatives from Boston University and the Concussion Legacy Foundation notified the Sash family that C.T.E. had been diagnosed in Tyler’s brain and that the disease, which can be confirmed only posthumously, had advanced to a stage rarely seen in someone his age."
Presidential Race
Gail Collins has a new conservative Brooks partner for "The Conversation": Arthur Brooks, president of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute. Arthur is as annoying & smug as David (No Relation) Brooks. In their inaugural conversation, Collins & A. Brooks discuss the presidential race. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Hadas Gold & Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "The Democratic debate schedule appeared to be upended on Tuesday by the addition of an unsanctioned MSNBC and New Hampshire Union Leader debate scheduled for February, but the Democratic National Committee responded hours later by saying it had no plans to sanction it — throwing into question whether Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders would attend. The debate, moderated by ... Chuck Todd and ... Rachel Maddow is set to take place Feb. 4 and would be the only debate between the Iowa caucus and before primary voting in New Hampshire on Feb. 9, the newspaper announced." CW: Thanks, Debbie. Because what Democrats need right now is a debate about a debate, & the closer they can get to mimicking a Donald Trump-prima donna performance, the better.
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Bernie Sanders drew more than 20,000 people to a pair of a campaign stops in Minnesota on Tuesday, offering a timely reminder of his drawing power among progressive voters across the country.... A crowd of more than 14,539 people packed an exhibit hall and overflow room in [St. Paul], according to the venue, gathering just hours after an estimated 6,000 people turned out to hear the Vermont senator about two hours away in Duluth." ...
... Juliet Eilperin & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "... in [Sen. Bernie] Sanders’s more than 40 visits to the White House since Obama was sworn in as president, visitor logs show that they have had a private meeting in the Oval Office only once: on Dec. 15, 2014. Now, the White House has confirmed that two will meet Wednesday, a tacit acknowledgment that the senator’s popularity ... has unleashed a potent political movement that could influence not only the race to succeed Obama but also the president’s legacy.... The meeting, which White House press secretary Josh Earnest said would have 'no formal agenda,' could draw attention to a slightly awkward reality about the Obama-Sanders relationship: There really isn’t one." ...
... Dana Milbank: "I adore Bernie Sanders. I agree with his message of fairness and I share his outrage over inequality and corporate abuses. I think his righteous populism has captured the moment perfectly. I respect the uplifting campaign he has run. I admire his authenticity. And I am convinced Democrats would be insane to nominate him. Hillary Clinton, by contrast, is a dreary candidate. She has, again, failed to connect with voters. Her policy positions are cautious and uninspiring. Her reflexive secrecy causes a whiff of scandal to follow her everywhere. She seems calculating and phony. And yet if Democrats hope to hold the presidency in November, they’ll need to hold their noses and nominate Clinton." ...
... Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed: "In the early days of her husband’s administration, Hillary Clinton tried to start a national conversation about basic human decency, only to be mocked. In the midst of the most mean-spirited presidential campaign in memory, she talks with BuzzFeed News about the unchanged way she sees herself — and if she’ll ever be able to communicate it." ...
... John Cassidy of the New Yorker on President Obama's non-endorsement endorsement of Hillary Clinton: "... the President was sending a supportive message to an embattled candidate whom he sees as the best option to replace him, in order to safeguard the electoral position of the Democratic Party and preserve his legacy as a center-left reformer. For all the differences they had in 2008, some of which lingered, Obama and Clinton both represent the centrist, pragmatic approach to politics that has dominated the Democratic Party since the nineteen-eighties.... Obama ... was trying to persuade Democrats to back his preferred candidate. And he was also acknowledging an uncomfortable reality: Sanders doesn’t merely represent a threat to billionaires and multi-millionaires. The Vermont senator is challenging the entire Democratic Party establishment, of which Obama, the President, is a part."
David Smith of the Guardian: "Robert Gates, a Republican stalwart and former US defence secretary who served under eight presidents, has derided the party’s election candidates for a grasp of national security issues that 'would embarrass a middle schooler'.... Gates joked that if frontrunner Donald Trump wins the presidency, he would emigrate to Canada. He condemned the media for failing to challenge candidates from both parties on promises he believes are unaffordable, illegal or unconstitutional."
Will He or Won't He? Maggie Haberman & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: Donald J. Trump and Fox News ... stared each other down on Tuesday over his demand that the news anchor Megyn Kelly be dumped from moderating Thursday’s debate, the last before Monday’s caucuses. Mr. Trump’s announcement [in Marshalltown, Iowa,] that he would 'probably,' or would 'most likely,' or was 'pretty close to' irrevocably planning to skip the [upcoming GOP] debate — an aide put it more directly — created a gaping uncertainty at the center of the Republican nominating contest.... In his news conference..., Mr. Trump left open the possibility that he might still attend, and allowed that it could fairly be called a flip-flop by critics.... Instead of attending the debate, [Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski] said, Mr. Trump would hold a fund-raiser in Iowa for wounded war veterans." ...
... Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Trump’s assertion, which his campaign manager insisted was irreversible, came less than one week before the kickoff Iowa caucuses. He once again defied the conventional rules of politics, and used his power and prominence to shape the campaign agenda and conversation.... Trump also said that a 'wise-guy press release' that the network issued earlier on Tuesday belittling him was inappropriately antagonistic and childish.... After reading it, Trump said: 'I said, "Bye-bye." Fox is playing games.... They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else. Let them have the debate. Let’s see how they do with the ratings.'” ...
... CW: I find this hilarious. Trump is like some 1950s high-school football star who threatens not to go to the sockhop because the head cheerleader said he had cooties. Of course one can't help but suspect this "feud" is a made-for-teevee script, & both Trump & Ailes are just reading their lines. ...
... Luckily, MSNBC still has the antediluvian Chris Matthews to weigh in on the consequences of a Trump-free debate: “Who is going to watch a debate between the two Cuban guys? Who is going to watch a debate between Rubio, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Who cares?” There is evidence Matthews said this right on the teevee. CW: At least he didn't try a Desi Arnaz imitation. ...
... Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz challenged Donald Trump to a one-on-one debate after the real estate mogul said he doesn't plan to attend Thursday's Fox News debate in Des Moines. 'I’m happy to go an hour and a half mano a mano, me and Donald with no moderators any time before the Iowa caucuses,' Cruz said on The Mark Levin Show Tuesday. Cruz said Trump can name his own moderator and Levin offered up his airwaves." ...
... Matthew Patane & Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register: "Donald Trump took to Twitter Tuesday to attack one of rival Ted Cruz’s more influential Iowa endorsers, Christian conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats.... Trump ... unleashed multiple tweets critical of Vander Plaats, calling the CEO of the Family Leader 'phony' and a 'bad guy.'” CW: Looks as if Trump's claim in one tweet was a lie (big surprise, I know); he says Vander Plaats wanted $100K for an Iowa appearance last January, but it was Trump, according to the Register, who took the $100K fee, not Vander Plaats. When you're as wealthy as Trump, even if you have the world's greatest memory, it's easy to forget who demanded that $100K speaking fee. ...
... CW: Also, I don't like to accuse Trump of understatement, but Vander Plaats is worse than a "bad guy," even if he & Trump used to be buddies on account of their shared interest in the birther thing. Vander Plaats is a disgraceful loon. The whole GOP presidential campaign is a vaudeville show where all the actors are villains; to wit, ...
... Maeve Reston of CNN: "Arizona's tough-talking 'Sheriff Joe' Arpaio endorsed Donald Trump for president on Tuesday, lending his support as an outspoken opponent of illegal immigration to the GOP front-runner six days before Iowa's caucuses." You may want to listen to the accompanying video, where Jake Tapper interviews Sheriff Joe, who is still a birther. ...
... ** Steve M.: "... Trumpism didn't come out of nowhere. It's been around for a long time -- and it's been tolerated for a long time within the Republican Party. Actually, tolerated isn't the right word -- in the GOP, a neo-fascist like Joe Arpaio can become a power broker who's regularly courted by 'respectable' Republicans.... Trump isn't new. Joe Arpaio has been talking like Trump for years, but he's also acted on the beliefs that Trump, so far, has only talked about. If you have a party in which Joe Arpaio has been a star and power broker for years, and you've done nothing to challenge him, then you have no reason to be surprised when Donald Trump is your all-but-official presidential nominee." Read the whole post. ...
... AND speaking of xenophobes, Greg Sargent culls CNN interviews of Trump supporters. Not pretty. ...
... Bad News for the Tailgunner. Eliza Collins of Politico: "Jerry Falwell Jr., the evangelical leader of Liberty University, has endorsed Donald Trump for president." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... New Lede: "Jerry Falwell Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump on Tuesday was swiftly met with a backlash from other Christian conservatives sounding the alarm about what they see as a dangerous candidate with questionable morals." ...
... Sorry, confederate Christians. Paul Krugman: "What’s really going on, I’d argue, is (justified) fear over the erosion of white patriarchy. (That’s what the attack on Planned Parenthood is really about too.) That is, it’s about authority, not virtue. And so Trump’s lifestyle, his personal New York values, don’t matter, as long as he’s seen as someone who will keep Others in their place. What used to happen was that the conservative movement could basically serve the plutocracy, while mobilizing voters with racial/gender anxiety, all the while maintaining a facade of serious-minded libertarian philosophy. But now it’s broken down, and the real motives are out in the open." ...
... Digby, in Salon: Conservative movement ideologues "thought their years of carefully growing and indoctrinating the right wing of the Republican Party had resulted in a common belief in a certain conservative ideology, strategic vision and commitment to a specific agenda. It turns out that a good number of the people they thought had signed on to their program just wanted someone to stick it to ethnic and racial minorities and make sure America is the biggest bad ass on the planet — authoritarian, white nationalism. If you’ve got a man who will deliver that you don’t need ideology. And he doesn’t need democracy." ...
... Sarah Posner in Rolling Stone: "... there's a simple explanation for the evangelical embrace of Trump: Having not succeeded in making America Christian, evangelicals coalescing around Trump have decided to settle for making it great (or 'great,' as the case may be)." ...
... CW: This is similar, then, to the original evangelicals, who embraced the Roman Emperor Constantine to advance their goals (and ensure their safety from real persecutions, not the fake ones we hear about today). Like Trump's, Constantine's devotion to Christianity was questionable. Although he supposedly converted, he always maintained his connection to the Roman god Sol Invictus. Today's evangelicals should be careful what they wish for: Constantine changed Christianity much more than Christianity changed Constantine. So as Donald Invictus would say, Merry Christmas.
... Ted's Consolation Prize. Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Tony Perkins, the evangelical president of the Family Research Council, has endorsed Ted Cruz for president." CW: As I noted, a cast of scoundrels.
For those of you who have been missing Li'l Randy, Politico reports, "Sen. Rand Paul is poised to make his return to the main-stage Republican presidential debate on Thursday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update: Steve Shepard & Daniel Strauss of Politico: "The field of candidates invited to Thursday’s debate in Des Moines, Iowa, is comprised of the same seven candidates who participated in the previous debate – Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie and John Kasich – plus [Rand] Paul, who qualified because of his standing in the most recent polls in Iowa." CW: what with the Donald's snit-fit, looks like we're back to Snow White, in the person of Megyn Kelly, & the Seven Dwarfs, in the persons aforementioned.
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "The husband of Terri Schiavo is slamming a pro-Jeb Bush super PAC for invoking her in an ad touting the former Florida governor's record as a social conservative.... A dozen seconds into the 30-second spot, as the narrator touts Bush’s faith, the video shows an image of [Terri] Schiavo.... 'Using his disgraceful intervention in our family’s private trauma to advance his political career shows that he has learned nothing,' Mike Schiavo ...[said]. 'He’s proud of the fact that he used the machinery of government to keep a person alive through extraordinary artificial means — contrary to the orders of the court.... What the campaign video shows is that if he ever got his hands on the power of government again, he would do the same thing again, maybe next time to your family.'” ...
... Margaret Hartmann: "A year ago both Scott Walker and Rick Santorum got in trouble for questioning President Obama's religious beliefs, and now Jeb Bush is reviving the tacky trend. On Tuesday, reporters asked Bush to weigh in on the strength of Trump's Christian beliefs in light of Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsing the front-runner rather than Bush. 'I don’t know what he is,' Bush answered. 'I don’t think he has the kind of relationship he says he has if he can’t explain it any way that shows he is serious about it.'... We just don't think he has the kind of relationship he says he has with his dad if he can't stop stooping to sleazy political attacks."
Senate Race
Adam Beam of the AP: "Lexington Mayor Jim Gray filed to run for Rand Paul's U.S. Senate seat on Tuesday, giving Paul a viable challenger and complicating his bid for re-election as he lags in the polls in his presidential campaign.... Five other Democrats also filed for the seat: Rory Houlihan, Jeff Kender, Ron Leach, Tom Recktenwald and Grant T. Short. Kentucky Democrats have been in disarray since losing four of the state's six statewide constitutional offices in November. The state party chairman resigned, and party leaders still not chosen a replacement." Akhilleus mentioned this in yesterday's thread.
Beyond the Beltway
John Diedrich of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A terrorist-style plot intended to kill dozens of people with automatic weapons at a Masonic center in Milwaukee was foiled this week by FBI agents, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Samy Mohamed Hamzeh discussed his plan to attack the center with two others, detailing how they would quickly and quietly kill the first people they saw and then methodically move through the building, 'eliminating everyone' they encountered, according to a federal criminal complaint.... Acting U.S. Attorney Gregory J. Haanstad called it a 'detailed plan to commit a mass shooting intended to kill dozens of people.'"
Evan MacDonald of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Six Cleveland officers have been fired and six others suspended for their roles in a police chase and shooting that ended with the deaths of two unarmed people, city officials announced Tuesday. The announcement came more than three years after the officers were involved in a 22-mile chase that began near the downtown Justice Center and ended in a middle school parking lot in East Cleveland on Nov. 29, 2012. Thirteen officers then fired a total of 137 shots at a Chevrolet Malibu, killing Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams."
Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The state of Kentucky must give millions of dollars in tax subsidies to a Noah’s Ark theme park owned by a creationist ministry, even though that ministry refuses to comply with the state’s request not to engage in hiring discrimination, according to an opinion by a George W. Bush appointee to the federal bench. Under Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove’s opinion, the creationist group Answers in Genesis (AiG) stands to gain up to $18 million.... AiG is probably best known for its Creation Museum, a Kentucky attraction.... Judge Van Tatenhove’s opinion ... rests on the extraordinary proposition that the state of Kentucky is required to subsidize discrimination. That is not what the [U.S.] Constitution provides." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jessica Lee & Steve Miletich of the Seattle Times: "Three women and two men were shot — two fatally — at a Sodo homeless encampment Tuesday night in what a police source said appeared to be a dispute among people who knew each other. Police searched for two men in connection with the shooting..., but were unsuccessful...."
Jeff Manning of the Oregonian: "The former CEO of a major healthcare provider in Roseburg[, Oregon,] filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit Tuesday claiming he was fired and blacklisted after reporting $10 million in fraudulent Medicare payments to Douglas County doctors. Dr. Robert Dannenhoffer, a long-time Roseburg pediatrician, claims the board of Architrave Health LLC terminated him last February after he insisted the company self-report improper Medicare payments to the Umpqua Medical Group. Umpqua is a subsidiary of Architrave."
Paul LePage Is Still the Governor of Maine. AP: "In a radio interview expressing his support for the death penalty, Maine Gov. Paul LePage said with a laugh that he wants to use the guillotine to execute drug traffickers.... During the interview, LePage laughed when he talked about using the guillotine to chop off the heads of drug dealers at public executions.... LePage in the past has voiced his support for the death penalty for drug dealers. The Legislature, however, has a long history of rejecting capital punishment, which was abolished in 1887 in response to a botched hanging." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eliza Collins of Politico: LePage "said he was 'appalled' at critics, such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, who are angry over his comments, saying they are protecting drug traffickers. 'What we ought to do is bring the guillotine back,' he said, interrupting the hosts. 'We could have public executions and we could even have which hole it falls in.'” CW: Anyway, nice to see him show some real appreciation for his French heritage. (Also linked yesterday.)
Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times: "In a state where fights over public beach access are not uncommon, Daytona Beach, a place with a long history of beachfront driving, is mired again in a particularly polarizing battle over whether to restrict cars on more stretches of sand. Since the 1980s, beach driving has been curtailed piecemeal by local laws: Where once beachgoers could drive along any strand of Volusia County’s 47 miles of hard-packed sand, they are now down to 17 miles.... Once billed as the world’s most famous beach, Daytona earned that label in large part through its beach driving, a tradition that began with the horse-and-buggy era, progressed to car racing on the sand and later settled into simple cruising and parking. Nascar stock car racing, which takes place at Daytona International Speedway a few miles away, has its roots in beach racing here." ...
... CW: When I was a preschooler, my grandparents lived in Daytona Beach. Bathers set up near the water, where the sand was good for digging. But the better part of the wide beach was for driving. My parents had maybe a 1946 Chevy (it looked like a good deal like this, anyway), & we drove in it along the beach. There was a sense of freedom to it. And a feeling of wonderment. You could see as far as the horizon in three directions. Now it's a parking lot. People will have to find their wonder & freedom elsewhere -- like in the national parks the Kochs & the Bundys, et al., would steal from us.
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