The Commentariat -- April 16, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon News:

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The leaders of Congress's tax-writing committees reached agreement Thursday on legislation to give President Obama 'fast track' authority to negotiate an ambitious trade accord with 11 other Pacific nations, beginning what is sure to be one of the toughest legislative battles of his last 19 months in office. The 'trade promotion authority' bill -- likely to be unveiled Thursday afternoon -- would give Congress the power to vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership once it is completed, but would deny lawmakers the chance to amend what would be the largest trade deal since the North American Free Trade Agreement." ...

     ... The Washington Post story, by David Nakamura & Paul Kane, is here.

Dylan Stableford of Yahoo! News: "The 73-year-old Oklahoma volunteer sheriff's deputy who accidentally shot and killed an unarmed suspect after confusing his stun gun with his handgun got firearms certification for field training he never received, the Tulsa World newspaper reports. According to Tulsa County Sheriff Stanley Glanz, [Robert] Bates had been certified to use three weapons, including the revolver he fired at Harris. But according to Tulsa World's report, supervisors at the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office 'were ordered to falsify [Bates'] training records, giving him credit for field training he never took and firearms certifications he should not have received.'"

*****

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "President Obama's most far-reaching regulation to slow climate change will have its first day in court on Thursday, the beginning of what is expected to be a multiyear legal battle over the policy that Mr. Obama hopes to leave as his signature environmental achievement. In two separate but related cases to be jointly argued in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, the country's two largest coal companies, along with 14 coal-producing states, have challenged a proposed Environmental Protection Agency regulation, which the agency issued under the authority of the Clean Air Act, to curb planet-warming carbon pollution from coal-fired power plants. If put in effect as E.P.A. officials have proposed, the rule is intended to fundamentally transform the nation's power sector, shuttering hundreds of coal plants and expanding renewable energy sources such as wind and solar."

Washington Post Editors on "the unconscionably shabby treatment the Senate has shown to Loretta Lynch, President Obama's well-qualified nominee for attorney general. The sitting U.S. attorney in Brooklyn, Ms. Lynch was an outstanding choice who should not have had any trouble getting confirmed -- five months ago. Instead, lawmakers have used the opportunity of her nomination to exert legislative leverage and score political points."

Greg Sargent looks at what effects the Corker-Menendez bill could have on a nuclear deal with Iran; Sargent sees problems "at the front end: It risks derailing a deal before it happens. That is a real threat. But if the deal does happen, under the new Corker framework, Congress probably won't be able to stop it."

Charles Blow: As Wayne LaPierre, Bill O'Reilly & a host of winger commentators bemoan the terrible oppression of white men, "One thing that makes this line of reasoning so grating is the degree to which money and power in this country continue to be dominated by white men."

Linda Greenhouse shares a little of what former Justice John Paul Stevens has been doing since he retired. Stevens will be 95 next week. CW: You are reminded anew of what a "moderate Republican" used to be.

Ravi Somaiya, et al., of the New York Times: "NBC News on Wednesday revised its account of the 2012 kidnapping of its chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, saying it was likely that Mr. Engel and his reporting team had been abducted by a Sunni militant group, not forces affiliated with the government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. In a statement posted on the NBC News website Wednesday evening, Mr. Engel said that a review of the episode -- prompted by reporting from The New York Times -- had led him to conclude that 'the group that kidnapped us was Sunni, not Shia.' He also wrote that the abductors had 'put on an elaborate ruse to convince us they were Shiite shabiha militiamen.' Mr. Engel and his team were kidnapped in December 2012 while reporting in Syria. They were held for five days."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "If a reporter and his newspaper know in advance -- months in advance, as it turns out -- that a man intended to undertake a stunt that could sow panic in the nation's capital, are they obligated to alert law-enforcement authorities? And should they be faulted for not doing so until the last minute?" Journalism ethicists see this as a no-brainer. The Tampa Bay Times, however, did not notify authorities of Doug Hughes' intentions -- tho about an hour before Hughes landed on the Capitol lawn they called authorities for comments, had a reporter & a photographer on the scene, & profited from the story. (See also April 15 News Ledes.) ...

... CW: As far as I can tell, the Tampa Bay Times did not share its "ethical dilemma" with readers.

Presidential Race

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Along with Internet fund-raising, super PACs are helping to form an alternative campaign finance model that is eroding party control over the primary process.... Fifteen years ago, candidates such as [Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee & Chris Christie] would have had virtually no shot of winning the nomination. It took broad support from party donors to build a large war chest -- there was no way around it. Today, all it takes is Internet star power or the right wealthy benefactors. These candidates still don't have a great shot at winning, but they can't be completely ruled out anymore."

"American Gothic." Frank Rich: "Hillary Clinton's opening gambit is to persuade voters that a candidate of wealth and privilege, who has received fat checks for speaking to Goldman Sachs and will have a projected $2.5 billion campaign war chest, is as simple and down-home and as jus' folks as the Iowa farmers in Grant Wood's American Gothic. It is truly delicious to watch.... Unscripted Hillary still feels scripted."

Chris Johnson of the Washington Blade: "Adrienne Elrod, spokesperson for Hillary for America, affirmed [Hillary] Clinton believes same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry in a statement to the Washington Blade. 'Hillary Clinton supports marriage equality and hopes the Supreme Court will come down on the side of same-sex couples being guaranteed that constitutional right,' Elrod said. The response follows uncertainty about Clinton's position on same-sex marriage after she talked about a state-by-state approach to the issue an interview with National Public Radio last year." ...

     ... Sahil Kapur of TPM: "It is a notable shift for Clinton...." ...

... Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "When a reporter asked Clinton about her marriage flip-flop at the end of Wednesday's Norwalk[, Iowa,] event, she ignored the question and walked out of the fruit shed.... After her gathering with small-business owners before the cameras, Clinton held a closed-door meeting with Democratic members of the Iowa general assembly at the state capitol. She gave what one attendee described to the Guardian as 'a very progressive speech', re-emphasizing her liberal talking points on immigration reform and getting money out of politics but also 'listening a lot and being humble'." CW: Ah, the Uriah Heep routine. Fetching, I'm sure. ...

... 'Er 'Umble Roots. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Speaking in Iowa Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that all her grandparents had immigrated to the United States, a story that conflicts with public census and other records related to her maternal and paternal grandparents." Turns out only one of her grandparents, Hugh Rodham, was an immigrant; he came to the U.S. as a child. Maybe while being attacked by snipers. ...

... Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times on how the Democratic presidential primary period could shape the party's policy platform. On a number of policies, Clinton has not taken a position. ...

... Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg: "The Clinton Foundation will continue taking contributions from six foreign governments while barring those from all others and begin disclosing all donations more frequently, it said Wednesday. It's an attempt by the foundation, now led by former President Bill Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton, to tighten its financial policies in response to heightened scrutiny as Hillary Clinton begins her presidential campaign." ...

... Time selected Elizabeth Warren as one of its 100 most influential people & tapped Hillary Clinton to provide the write-up. CW: Whichever Clinton staffer wrote the copy did so pitch-perfectly, I'd say. Via Greg Sargent. ...

... Gail Collins wrote a quiz to help you find out how ready you are for Hillary. There are no wrong answers.

... CW Toljaso. Molly Oswaks of New York: "Cheryl Rios, the Dallas-based CEO of Go Ape Marketing, took to Facebook to express her belief that the only person fit for the presidency is a 'a good, strong, honorable man.... If this [-- Hillary's election --] happens -- I am moving to Canada.'... Let's retire the 'moving to Canada' threat.... Canada elected its first female prime minister over two decades ago." ...

... A Wingnut Faces Reality. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "A conservative video blogger with over a million views on YouTube said this week that he would likely vote for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton because he was terrified that a Republican president would take away his affordable health insurance. James Webb, a 51-year-old YouTube celebrity who devotes his 'Hot Lead' channel to topics like his love of guns and ranting about gay men kissing on The Walking Dead, may have shocked his viewers on Monday.... 'And I'm serious because I asked myself, "Which party has helped me out the most in the last, I don't know, 15 years, 20?" And it was the Democrat [SIC] Party,' Webb lamented. 'If it wasn't for Obama and that Obamacare, I would still be working.'" Includes video. ...

... Scott Kaufman of Salon has more on Webb.

I don't really care. I think they're all losers. -- Harry Reid, when asked to "assess the prospects of the Republican presidential field" ...

... John Harwood of CNBC interviews Harry Reid. Mitch McConnell ... is a lump of coal," says Reid. The whole interview is hilarious:

Marco, the Fresh-Faced Boy of Yesteryear. Steve Peoples of the AP fact-checks Marco, & it isn't pretty. "Florida Sen. Marco Rubio launched a Republican presidential campaign this week with a promise to reject 'the leaders and ideas of the past.' It was a not-so-subtle jab from a 43-year-old fresh-faced, senator at his likely 2016 competitors, Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton.... A closer look at Rubio's early priorities, however, suggests that many of his policy prescriptions were born in the same era he's vowing to leave behind." CW: Here's hoping many local papers carry Peoples' analysis.

Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "As his rivals declare their candidacies for the White House with flashy events from Florida to Virginia, [Chris] Christie is pursuing a humbling and painful path of rehabilitation: huddling with aides to plot a comeback, churning through a thick reading list to burnish his shaky command of foreign policy and showing up at intimate venues to convey the message that he is still alive. With the possibility of imminent and embarrassing indictments hanging over his administration, Mr. Christie is turning to a political format, the town hall meeting, that has propelled him through rough patches in the past, and to a state, New Hampshire, whose forgiving and independent-minded voters are known for reviving once-moribund presidential campaigns.... On Wednesday, Mr. Christie showcased the new tone that he plans to strike: hyper-detailed and highly prepared; full of piercing wit, a Christie hallmark, but infused with a deeper level of compassion. He was, by his own admission, 'on my best behavior.'... No bullying, less bluster, and, all things considered, it was a deft performance." But it seems he is best-known for Bridgegate. ...

     ... Barbaro, on Christie's visit to a New Hampshire diner: "It started with a 'Sopranos' joke. And it went downhill from there." ...

... Matt Arco of NJ.com: "Gov. Chris Christie struck a much different tone on vaccinations Wednesday after sparking controversy on the subject a few months ago. The governor, speaking to New Hampshire residents during a town hall meeting here, declared he would not support a 'voluntary vaccination' policy [in response to a question from an anti-vacciner].... Christie added: 'I favor vaccines.' Christie's comments in February were made on the heels of a national conversation about vaccination following a measles outbreak traced to California's Disneyland theme park that spread to more than 100 people. At the time, Christie said: "All I can say is that we vaccinate (our children).... But I also understand that parents need to have some measure of choice in things as well. So that's the balance that the government has to decide.'"

Beyond the Beltway

Dave Boucher of the Tennessean: "The Holy Bible is the official book of Tennessee in the view of the Tennessee House of Representatives. Despite questions of constitutionality, lawmakers beat back an attempt to make Andrew Jackson's Bible the official book and voted 55-38 in favor of Rep. Jerry Sexton's original bill." The Senate has already passed the bill, but "Gov. Bill Haslam [R] and Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey [R] have said they have concerns with the bill."

William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury considering a case against the leader of the New York State Senate, Dean G. Skelos of Long Island, and his son...."

The Door Has Revolved. Andrew Sorkin & Alexandra Stevenson of the New York Times: Former Fed Chair Ben "Bernanke will become a senior adviser to Citadel, the $25 billion hedge fund founded by the billionaire Kenneth C. Griffin."

Nuns Off the Hook. AP: "The Vatican has announced the unexpected conclusion of its crackdown of the main umbrella group of US nuns, ending a controversial takeover of a liberal group and signalling a major shift in tone and treatment of US sisters under the social-justice-minded Pope Francis. The Vatican said it had accepted a final report on its overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious and declared that the 'implementation of the mandate has been accomplished'. In a final joint report, the congregation and the LCWR said the group's statutes had been revised to show its focus on Christ and being faithful to church teaching."

News Ledes

AP: "Italy's migration crisis took on a deadly new twist Thursday as police in Sicily reported that Muslim migrants had thrown 12 Christians overboard during a recent crossing from Libya, and an aid group said another 41 were feared drowned in a separate incident. Palermo police said they had detained 15 people suspected in the high seas assault, which they learned of while interviewing tearful survivors from Nigeria and Ghana who had arrived in Palermo Wednesday morning after being rescued at sea by the ship Ellensborg. The 15 were accused of multiple homicide aggravated by religious hatred, police said in a statement."

Reuters: "A Columbus, Ohio man who trained with the Islamic State militant group in Syria has been arrested and charged with supporting terrorism and making false statements, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday. Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud, 23, a naturalized American, had been instructed by an Islamic State cleric to return to the United States and carry out an act of terrorism, the indictment said. Mohamud's brother was killed fighting with Islamic State in Syria, the Justice Department said."

The Commentariat -- April 15, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon News:

Disqualified! Robert Barnes & Dan Morse of the Washington Post: "John G. Roberts Jr. showed up for jury duty in Rockville[, Maryland].... [He did not mention] his own line of work, which would be listed on a questionnaire. He then talked with attorneys and the judge privately at the bench. Roberts was not selected, and left court without comment.... Justices are often called for jury duty ... but rarely chosen."

CW: Sorry, I kept meaning to run this NYT story by Patricia Cohen, which is now two days old: "The idea began percolating, said Dan Price, the founder of Gravity Payments, after he read an article on happiness. It showed that, for people who earn less than about $70,000, extra money makes a big difference in their lives. His idea bubbled into reality on Monday afternoon, when Mr. Price surprised his 120-person staff by announcing that he planned over the next three years to raise the salary of even the lowest-paid clerk, customer service representative and salesman to a minimum of $70,000."

*****

Jonathan Weisman & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee unanimously approved legislation granting Congress a voice in negotiations on the Iran nuclear accord, sending the once-controversial legislation to the full Senate after President Obama withdrew his opposition rather than face a bipartisan rebuke. Republican opponents of the nuclear agreement on the committee sided with Mr. Obama's strongest Democratic supporters in demanding a congressional role as international negotiators work to turn this month's nuclear framework into a final deal by June 30. The bill would mandate that the administration send the text of a final accord, along with classified material, to Congress as soon as it it completed. It also halts any lifting of sanctions during a congressional review and culminates in a possible vote to allow or forbid the lifting of congressionally imposed sanctions in exchange for the dismantling of much of Iran's nuclear infrastructure. It passed 19 to 0." ...

... Mke DeBonis & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "A Senate committee, with tentative White House support, unanimously advanced legislation Tuesday that would give Congress the power to review a potential nuclear deal with Iran but only after negotiations are completed by a June 30 deadline." ...

... Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Democratic leaders are quickly jumping aboard legislation empowering Congress to review an emerging nuclear deal with Iran. House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) endorsed the Senate bill on Tuesday, shortly after it passed unanimously through the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. And House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who had rejected an earlier version of the Senate proposal, said she'll also back the measure." ...

... Karen DeYoung, et al.: "Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Tehran was negotiating a comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers, not the U.S. Congress, and called a Senate committee's vote to give Congress the power to review any potential deal a domestic U.S. matter. The Iranian leader, speaking in a televised speech in the northern Iranian city of Rasht, also repeated earlier statements that his country will not accept any comprehensive nuclear deal with world powers unless all sanctions imposed against it are lifted." ...

... The New York Times Editors call the Senate panel's move "reckless": "Congress has formally muscled its way into President Obamas negotiations with Iran, creating new and potentially dangerous uncertainties for an agreement that offers the best chance of restraining that country's nuclear program. ...

... Greg Sargent tries to explain why the White House is tentatively supporting the bill. ...

... Dana Milbank: "There are plenty of good reasons to be suspicious about the tentative deal the Obama administration and international partners negotiated with Tehran. But as Secretary of State John Kerry gives classified briefings on the deal to lawmakers on Capitol Hill this week, the criticism coming from Republicans and from Benjamin Netanyahu's government in Israel is tangled by inconsistencies and logic discrepancies. The one constant: They are opposed to what Obama is doing -- whatever it is.... [For example,] in criticizing Obama's agreement last week, Netanyahu said sanctions -- sanctions he had said weren't working -- had 'proven effective' against Iran."

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Senate on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved sweeping changes in the way Medicare pays doctors, clearing the bill for President Obama and resolving an issue that has bedeviled Congress and the Medicare program for more than a decade. The 92-to-8 vote in the Senate, following passage in the House last month by a vote of 392 to 37, was a major success for Republicans, who devised a solution to a complex policy problem that had frustrated lawmakers of both parties. Mr. Obama has endorsed the bill, saying it 'could help slow health care cost growth.' The bill, drafted in the House in negotiations between Speaker John A. Boehner and Representative Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, also extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program for two years, through 2017."

Karen DeYoung: "President Obama has decided to lift the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, a decision that removes a principal impediment to establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and accepts that Havana's role as an agent of revolution has long since slipped into history. The long-awaited action, which was announced by the White House in a message to Congress on Tuesday, follows a pledge made by Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro last December to move toward normalized relations." ...

... The Miami Herald story, by Mimi Whitefield, is here.

Happy Tax Day! Your Tax Dollars at Work. AP: "US Drug Enforcement Administration agents attended sex parties with prostitutes while stationed overseas as far back as 2001, according to a report released Tuesday. Money to pay prostitutes at a farewell party for a high-ranking DEA official was included in an 'operational budget' that used government funds for the party, the report said. DEA agents also rented undercover apartments in Colombia and used them for parties with prostitutes, the DEA said in an internal report. Excerpts of the DEA report were released by the House Oversight committee.... Representative Trey Gowdy, a Republican, called it 'stunning' that no one had been fired in the wake of the allegations. [MIchele] Leonhart, who has been the DEA's top official since 2007 and was deputy for three years before that, responded that civil service protections make it difficult to fire DEA agents." ...

... Happy Tax Day! The House GOP Bill to Ensure a Permanent American Aristocracy. Dana Milbank: "On Tuesday afternoon, the House Rules Committee took up H.R. 1105, the 'Death Tax Repeal Act of 2015,' with plans to bring it to a vote on the chamber floor Wednesday -- Tax Day. It is an extraordinarily candid expression of the majority's priorities: A tax cut costing the treasury $269 billion over a decade that would exclusively benefit individuals with wealth of more than $5.4 million and couples with wealth of more than $10.9 million.... This is the ultimate perversion of the tea party movement, which began as a populist revolt in 2009 but has since been hijacked by wealthy and corporate interests.... Never in the history of plutocracy has so much been given away to so few who need it so little." See also safari's & Patrick's comments in today's thread. CW: Democrats should get every GOP candidate for any federal office on the record on this. Then hammer each & every one of them who favors it, either by vote or declaration.

Max Ehrenfreund of the Washington Post: The Bureau of Labor Statistics provides data on how Americans spend their money, by economic class. Sadly for Republicans, "... the bureau doesn't have data on lobster and filet mignon...."

Jay Weaver of the Miami Herald: "Charged just weeks ago in a political corruption case with a U.S. senator[, Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)], West Palm Beach eye doctor Salomon Melgen was arrested late Tuesday on new Medicare fraud offenses involving more than $190 million in billing to the taxpayer-funded program. Melgen, recognized as one of Medicare's top billers in the nation, collected more than $105 million in reimbursements based on substantial 'fraudulent' claims for eye injections and other treatments between 2008 and 2013, according to an indictment."

Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Charles Pierce: "Something has gone permanently squirrelly with law-enforcement in this country. There is the change in attitude by which police increasingly feel and behave like an occupying army in American cities. There is the preposterous increase in available armament. On a wider scale, there is the triumph at all levels of government of an attitude that we will not tax ourselves, ever, for anything, even our own safety. So we wind up with traffic cops who look on, ahem, certain citizens as resources to be pillaged, or we wind up with septuagenarian insurance salesmen empowered to shoot people in the street under color of law, because they were willing to buy guns and ammo privately for a public purpose. This is Kafka rewritten by Grover Norquist and Bozo The Clown. You get what you pay for, and we're not willing to pay for anything any more." ...

... CW: Actually, Charles, U.S. law enforcement has always been "squirrelly." And much worse. ...

... Michael Miller of the Washington Post: "... as many as 120 African-American men on Chicago's South Side ... were allegedly tortured by [Chicago Police Commander Jon] Burge between 1972 and 1991.... On Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced the establishment of a $5.5. million fund for these victims. The compensation would 'close this book, the Burge book on the city's history,' Emanuel said according to the Chicago Tribune."

Todd Frankel of the Washington Post: "Europe's top antitrust czar on Wednesday is expected to formally accuse Google of violating antitrust rules by directing users of its Web search to the company's own products." ...

     ... Update: James Kanter & Mark Scott of the New York Times: "The European Union's antitrust chief on Wednesday formally accused Google of abusing its dominance in web searches to the detriment of competitors and began official proceedings into whether its Android smartphone software forces phone makers to favor the company's own service and applications."

On the 150th anniversary of the death of Abraham Lincoln, if you want to know more, Jaime Fuller of New York provides numerous sources. Oddly enough, Fuller does not include Marco Rubio's op-ed, referenced below.

Presidential Race

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Hillary Rodham Clinton is calling for changes to the nation's campaign finance system, saying here Tuesday that she would support a constitutional amendment if that's what it takes to fix what she called a 'dysfunctional' system." ...

... Paul Lewis of the Guardian: "Hillary Clinton said campaign finance reform would be a central plank of her presidential bid on Tuesday, revealing a determination to reinvent her political profile as a more humble, populist figure for the 2016 election.... In a sign her advisers want to break with the past, and win over progressives on the left of the party, Clinton incorporated campaign finance reform into what is a solidly populist economic platform." ...

     ... Fun tidbit about Hillary's "road trip" to Iowa, via Lewis: "The former first lady, it turns out, has not driven her own vehicle since 1996." Anne Gearan of the WashPo describes her travel mode as "a chauffeured van." CW: In view of Hillary's long-held preference for "chauffeurs," it's just as well she didn't take my advice to drive the van.

... More Fun & Games. Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "On Monday, graphic designer Rick Wolff created a typeface he calls 'Hillary Bold' or 'Hillvetica.' It uses the same (weird) look and feel of the logo from the Hillary Clinton campaign for president, which became (in)famous shortly after her campaign went public on Sunday.... Wolff ... was kind enough to let us use his typeface (plus a few extra characters) for a little tool that will allow you -- yes, you! -- to make your own Hillary Clinton-style campaign slogan." Fill in the blank near the bottom of the post. ...

... You Are about to Witness a New Brand of Journalism -- Scooby Chasers. Or Maybe Scoobirazzi:

HILLARious. Brian Beutler of the New Republic, who seems at least half-serious: "Because Hillary Clinton is white and no longer young, a strain of political thought holds that she might lack Barack Obama's inherent appeal to new and minority voters.... The challenge, then, is to make sure Clinton's age and ethnicity don't discourage Obamais youthful, diverse supporters from turning out in November 2016. Fortunately, there's an easy way to make sure that doesn't happen. Clinton simply has to select Barack Obama as her running mate." Beutler argues -- along with the aid of some legal scholars -- that it's totally Constitutional. CW: I'm pretty sure this would go down well. ...

... CW: Of course, this could work, and it would be unquestionably Constitutional....

     ... Caveat: I don't doubt there's a contingent in the GOP who would argue that since the founders had men in mind for every elected office, girls are not qualified to run in any contest, save beauty pageants. After all, under Article II of the Constitution, "The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years...." If Hillary is elected president, look forward to suits challenging her chromosomal qualifications. The litigants will accomplish one thing: making birthers appear comparatively rational. ...

... Not That Wingers Are Sexists: "Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch: Don Feder of the World Congress of Families is out today [Tuesday] with a column [link fixed ]titled 'Top Ten Reasons Why Hitlery Will Never Be President,' in which he calls the former secretary of state 'a frustrated, middle-aged feminist who's perpetually incensed.' Feder, decrying Clinton as an elitist and a radical ideologue, ends his piece by asserting that Clinton will be brought down by 'the hideousness factor.' The 'pro-family' activist writes that 'Lyndon Baines Johnson was the last profoundly ugly candidate to be elected president,' adding that 'voters don't want a leader who looks frazzled or frumpy.'" See Dreamboat on left. ...

... Eli Stokols of Politico: "... interviews with GOP consultants, party officials and the largest conservative super PACs point to an emerging narrative [portraying Hillary Clinton as] a wealthy, out-of-touch candidate who plays by her own set of rules and lives in a world of private planes, chauffeured vehicles and million-dollar homes. The out-of-touch plutocrat template is a familiar one: Democrats used it to devastating effect against Republican Mitt Romney in 2012. While Hillary Clinton's residences in New York and Washington may not have car elevators, there's still a lengthy trail of paid speeches, tone-deaf statements about the family finances and questions about Clinton family foundation fundraising practices that will serve as cornerstones of the anti-Clinton messaging effort." ...

... Paul Waldman argues this likely won't work: "When you have a rich candidate advocating policies that benefit the rich, the personal details and the policy arguments complement and enhance one another. When there's a dissonance between the two, it isn't quite as compelling.... What Republicans can do, though, is enlist the news media to help them in their task. If they establish this now as one of their key arguments against her, reporters will be on the lookout for events and moments that reinforce it...." (See Anne Gearan's WashPo piece linked above: "She visited a small coffee shop ... in the city of Le Claire.... After greeting the shop owners, Clinton ordered a Masala Chai tea, plus a Caramellow latte and a glass of water.") CW: Masala Chai? Tea? Really? Next time, Hillary, ask for "coffee, regular," even if that might mean with cream (in NYC) because "coffee, black" might seem overly-ethnic. Already, you can see how much Hillary needs me to advise her campaign, my failure to consider road safety in my van-driving advice notwithstanding. ...

... Andy Borowitz: "With a stop in Iowa on Tuesday, the Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton officially embarked on a nineteen-month marathon of looking concerned. Sitting with patrons at Jones Street Java House, in Le Claire, the former Secretary of State listened intently, sipped from a cup of coffee, and nodded her head at appropriate junctures, flawlessly reënacting a brief scene from her first campaign video." ...

(... CW: As we now know, a bit of misreporting on Andy's part. That's not coffee; that's chai tea.) ...

... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times, who is obsessed with has been covering the Benghaaaazi! e-mail story: "Hillary Rodham Clinton was directly asked by congressional investigators in a December 2012 letter whether she had used a private email account while serving as secretary of state, according to letters obtained by The New York Times. But Mrs. Clinton did not reply to the letter. And when the State Department answered in March 2013, nearly two months after she left office, it ignored the question and provided no response." ...

Scranton Times-Tribune: "The grave- stone of Hugh Rodham, Hillary Clinton's father, was found toppled over in the Washburn Street Cemetery, police said."

MEANWHILE, in the Biggest Liar Contest:

And so our leaders put us at a disadvantage by taxing and borrowing and regulating like it was 1999. -- Marco Rubio, campaign announcement speech, Monday

The problem with the senator's statement is that the government is neither taxing, nor borrowing, nor regulating like it did in 1999. In fact, in 1999 there was a surplus, shrinking the debt owned by the public. Taxes were much higher in 1999 -- 19.2 percent of gross domestic product, versus 16.7 percent in 2013, with President Barack Obama agreeing to permanently extend the Bush-era tax cuts for 99 percent of taxpayers at the end of 2012. As for regulating, 1999 was notable in part for repealing key sections of the Glass-Steagall Act. -- Steven Dennis, Roll Call

... Jonathan Chait, who covers the same territory Dennis does: In his latest economic plan, "Rubio's elimination of the estate, interest, dividends, and capital gains taxes would go far beyond the Bush administration's most plutocratic dreams. It is also true that Rubio plans to cut taxes for some middle-class families. But obviously that lost revenue has trade-offs, which he has failed to specify. The massive revenue hit would require very large cuts to existing programs. Given his party's propensity to aim the bulk of its tax-cutting at the programs that direct their biggest benefits to Americans of modest incomes, there is no plausible way to imagine Rubio's plan would do anything but engineer a massive upward redistribution of resources.... Paradoxically, the incoherence of Rubio's plan is an asset. Because its effects cannot be precisely measured, reporters and pundits describe it in vague and frequently positive terms that flatly contradict its actual features. This reality is ... is a feature [of Rubio's plan]. His full, unapologetic embrace of tax cuts for the rich has allowed him to surge back into contention." ...

... CW: Not only is Rubio a fraud, as Brian Beutler outlined the other day, Chait asserts reporters are falling for the scam. ...

... It matters not what century he's reminiscing about, Marco gets his American history assbackwards. Apparently, he penned an op-ed for Monday's USA Today, misremembering Abe Lincoln. Ed Kilgore responds: "Aside from the obvious mischaracterization of Obama;s 'ideas,' it takes a lot of damn gall to lecture an African-American about Lincoln's legacy, which was one of an 'united America' achieved by violent suppression of a rebellion by people who sounded uncomfortably like many of today's Republicans in their conceptions of liberty, states rights and Constitutional originalism." ...

... ** Steve M. The Rubio/Bush Sword Story: Preppiness Made More Ridiculous (and Vaguely Homoerotic)." CW: Once again, Rubio gets "an F in post-World War II history." So does Rubio's secret-society sponsor Jeb Bush. You'll have to read Steve's post. I cannot do justice in a brief graf to the ignorance, vapidity & "vaguely homoerotic tendencies" of these jackasses. Steve, however, has it down. The story would be -hilarious if not for the possibility that one of these clueless ideologues could become POTUS. ...

... Charles Pierce insists that the musical accompaniment here is mandatory. So we'll oblige:

... With unintended irony, Rubio says he is running for president "grounded by the lessons of our history." (See video clip in linked story.)

... Steve M. digs up more startling news about Marco. "Marco Rubio, who defines himself as a Catholic, nevertheless has regularly attended a Protestant Miami megachurch, Christ Fellowship," a virulently anti-gay church where Pastor Rick Blackwood preaches that the theory of "Evolution is fundamentally an attack by Satan on the glory of God." Steve wants to know: "Does Marco Rubio think evolution is satanic? Jeremiah Wright's most intemperate language got hung around Barack Obama's neck -- will anyone ask Rubio if he repudiates the more extreme things Blackwood and his colleagues say? And if not, press corps, why not?" ...

... CW: It's true that Marco is not a scientist, man, & one need not be a scientist to qualify for the Top Job. But the POTUS does have to accept established scientific theory (and have at least a vague grasp of American history). ...

... AND if Rubio ever understood anything about macroeconomics, he used that knowledge to oppress the poor. Perry Bacon of MSNBC: "Marco Rubio aggressively tried to push Florida to the political right during his two-year stint as speaker of the state's House, often warring with the more moderate Republicans who ran the Florida Senate and then-Gov. Charlie Crist, a centrist Republican." His big "legacy" agenda was to abolish Florida's progressive property tax & replace it with a regressive sales tax hike.

Beyond the Beltway

Marc Santora & Nate Schweber of the New York Times: "More than two decades after Rosean S. Hargrave was convicted of murdering an off-duty correction officer in Brooklyn, a judge on Tuesday afternoon ordered him released from prison, saying that his trial was deeply flawed and unfair. The case against Mr. Hargrave was built, in part, on the work of Detective Louis Scarcella and his partner, Stephen W. Chmil, and it is one of dozens of cases that have come under review since accusations emerged that Mr. Scarcella once framed an innocent man."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "U.S. Capitol Police said that a small gyrocopter with one occupant landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol on Wednesday afternoon. One person has been detained, Capitol Police spokeswoman Kimberly Schneider said in an e-mail.... The Tampa Bay Times wrote about Doug Hughes, a 61-year-old mailman from Florida, who planned to fly to the Capitol." Includes Hughes' own video. ...

... Here's more from the WashPo on Hughes' brilliant plan. ...

     ... CW: If this is the kind of mail carrier we have in Florida, no wonder the USPS can't seem to get all my mail to me.

New York Times: "A jury in Fall River, Mass., found Aaron Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday after seven days of deliberation. Mr. Hernandez was sentenced by Judge E. Susan Garsh to the mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole." ...

... The boston.com story is here.

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