The Commentariat -- March 16, 2015

Internal links removed.

Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "Three months into the expanded Republican majorities on the Hill, White House aides see a landscape in which President Barack Obama is more in charge now than he was before the midterms. Rather than moving forward on their own priorities as Republican leaders promised after their midterm sweep, the House and Senate find themselves reacting to Obama. So far, most legislation hasn't moved at all, and the most prominent votes have been on bills they already know Obama won't sign." ...

... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The congressional push this week to secure the first Republican budget plan in nearly a decade is revealing a chasm between fiscal hawks determined to maintain strict spending caps and defense hawks who are threatening to derail any budget that does not ensure an increase for the military. 'This is a war within the Republican Party,' said Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, who has vowed to oppose a final budget that does not ensure more military spending. 'You can shade it any way you want, but this is war.' The divisions will be laid bare Tuesday when congressional leaders unveil blueprints that hew to spending limits imposed by the budget battles of 2011." ...

... HOWEVER, as Jennifer Steinhauer wrote in yesterday's New York Times, "... when it comes to what is left of his viable policy agenda on Capitol Hill, Mr. Obama’s biggest problems are now often with Democrats. The administration's most pressing goal, expansive trade legislation, is adamantly opposed by scores of Democrats in the House and Senate even as most Republicans support it. Mr. Obama's formal request for congressional authorization to fight the Islamic State is deeply imperiled, in no small measure because Senate Democrats find it wanting."

Michelle Lee of the Washington Post: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Sunday that the confirmation of Loretta Lynch as attorney general may hinge on whether Congress works out its gridlock over a human trafficking bill. 'It's not a threat. We need to finish this human trafficking bill that came out of the Judiciary Committee unanimously . . . because the next week we'll be doing the budget and the next two weeks after that Congress is not in session,' McConnell said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'" ...

... CW: Funny, both Dana Bash & reporter Jeremy Diamond took your stance as a threat, Mitch.

Jennifer Haberkorn & David Rogers of Politico: "In a rare display of bipartisanship, House leaders are actively pursuing a deal to permanently change the way Medicare pays doctors and extend a children's health program for two years. The estimated $200 billion package could be introduced as soon as this week by House committees responsible for health care policy. Both Speaker John Boehner and Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi are personally involved...."

Bradley Klapper of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he would be willing to talk with Syrian President Bashar Assad to help broker a political resolution to the country's civil war. Kerry said in an interview with CBS News that the U.S. is pushing for Assad to seriously discuss a transition strategy to help end Syria's four-year conflict, which has killed more than 220,000 people, given rise to the Islamic State group and destabilized the wider Middle East. 'We have to negotiate in the end,' Kerry said. 'What we're pushing for is to get him to come and do that, and it may require that there be increased pressure on him of various kinds.'" ...

... Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Secretary of State John Kerry said in an interview broadcast Sunday that a letter to Iranian leaders signed by 47 Republican senators was 'absolutely calculated directly to interfere with these negotiations.' 'It specifically inserts itself directly to the leader of another country saying, 'Don't negotiate with these guys because we're going to change this,' which by the way, is not only contrary to the Constitution with respect to the executive's right to negotiate, but it is incorrect because they cannot change an executive agreement,' Kerry said on CBS's 'Face the Nation.' 'So it's false information and directly calculated to interfere and basically say, "Don't negotiate with them. You've got to negotiate with 535 members of Congress,' he added." ...

... Sam Stein & Jessica Schulberg of the Huffington Post: "... the White House penned a letter Saturday night warning senators to hold back on legislation that would detract from the president's ability to affect and approve a final agreement with Iran. The letter, written by White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough to Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), reiterates a veto threat of the bill, while insisting that Congress will have a say in reviewing and affecting the ultimate outcome. But in far more detailed and foreboding terms than normal, McDonough lays out the administration's concerns should Corker's Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015 end up becoming law." ...

     ... The full text of McDonough's letter to Corker is here. ...

** Susan Glasser of Politico interviews William Burns, former career ambassador & ambassador to Russia under Bush II, who has served under several U.S. presidents, & who began the negotiations with Iran. (This is probably news to Tom Cotton.) As Burns says (are you listening, John McCain?), "The reality is that the Iranians have developed over the course of the last decade or more the know-how to enrich, they know their way around basic enrichment technology, and you can't wish that away, you can't dismantle it away, you can't bomb it away." CW: If the Senate's 47 Percent read this interview, they might get a little insight into why we don't have 535 members of Congress conducting negotiations with foreign powers, especially when the majority of them are as ignorant as Tom Cotton. ...

... CW: Probably just a bit of garbled syntax, but Tom Cotton seemed a little confused Sunday as to what country Tehran was in. Maybe he sent that "open letter" to the Iranian leaders because he couldn't find their address. ...

And then I got flak for appearing on a video for BuzzFeed, trying to reach younger voters. What nonsense. You know, you don't diminish your office by taking a selfie. You do it by sending a poorly written letter to Iran. (Laughter and applause.) Really, that wasn't a joke. -- President Obama at the Gridiron Club dinner Saturday

... Ben Terris of the Washington Post has President Obama's full remarks at the dinner. There are some LOL moments.

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The plea deal given to retired Gen. David H. Petraeus, which spares him prison time even though he gave military secrets to his mistress, reveals a 'profound double standard' in the way the Obama administration treats people who leak classified information, [Abbe Lowell,] a lawyer for an imprisoned government contractor, wrote in a letter to prosecutors. The sharply worded letter calls for the Justice Department to immediately release from prison Stephen J. Kim, an arms expert and former State Department contractor who is serving a 13-month sentence for disclosing classified information about North Korea to Fox News. Mr. Kim has said he was trying to call public attention to the threat posed by that country.... Mr. Lowell ... has previously highlighted the fact that top government officials disclose classified information for political purposes while prosecuting others for the same activity."

Karyn Bruggeman of the National Journal: "Campaign-style spending ... is becoming increasingly common for sitting governors, mayors, and other holders of high office. It's a spillover from a recipe for election success that has become pervasive since the Supreme Court struck down campaign-finance rules: Raise mass quantities of outside money, often from undisclosed donors.... Now, after winning, officials across the country are applying the same strategy to governing, relying on outside money -- and advocacy groups funded by that money -- to push their legislative agenda."

Election 2016

Onward, Christian Soldiers. Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Evangelicals aim to mobilize an army for Republicans in 2016."

The Huckster. It's kinda hard to tell if Mike Huckabee would rather be POTUS or king of the late-nite infomercial realm. Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: In one ad, Huckabee "tells viewers to ignore 'Big Pharma' and instead points them to a 'weird spice, kitchen-cabinet cure,' [for diabetes] consisting of dietary supplements.... The American Diabetes Association and the Canadian Diabetes Association caution against treatments like the one peddled by the company Mr. Huckabee represents." Huckabee's spokesperson says his quack contract has expired, but the company's CEO "seemed to dispute that." Ads that appear on his newsletter include a "cure for cancer hidden in the Bible" & survival food kits.

... CW: Sure, the Huckster may be a charlatan preying on the gullible, but bear in mind he's just the most obvious one in a field of fraudsters. Viewed from the GOP gutter, Hillary looks like a dream candidate.

Marc Caputo of Politico: A problem for Marco Rubio: his longterm, close relationship with "David Rivera: Scandal-plagued former congressman under investigation in a federal campaign-finance probe."

"Yes, Your World Is on Fire!" David Edwards of the Raw Story: Ted Cruz frightens a child. With video. Exchange starts at about 1:40 min. in. ...

     ... The first video here is better; you can see that the child is just past toddler-stage & you can hear her ask the question. Cruz should come with a child-safety warning label.

... Whatever Works. Steve M.: "... as soon as it was clear that the kid was upset, Cruz switched off the 'America under the Democrats is dooooomed!' tape in his head and switched on the 'America is the greatest country in the world! Woo! Woo! Woo! U-S-A! U-S-A!" tape, as if they're interchangeable."

Beyond the Beltway

Manny Fernandez & John Eligon of the New York Times: "A 20-year-old man was charged with first-degree assault in the shooting of two police officers in front of the Ferguson Police Department early Thursday morning, according to Robert P. McCulloch, the prosecuting attorney for St. Louis County, who announced the charges in Clayton on Sunday. The man, Jeffrey Williams, acknowledged firing the shots, Mr. McCulloch said. He said that Mr. Williams, who is from north St. Louis County, was inside a car 'at least for some of the shots.'... The suspect was found through information provided by community members.... 'He is a demonstrator,' Mr. McCulloch said. 'He was out there earlier that evening as part of the demonstration. He's been out there on other occasions, part of the demonstrations.'" CW: The racial animus inherent in that statement is sickening. McCulloch wants to exploit racial tensions. He's the Rudy Giuliani of St. Louis. ...

... Matt Pearce of the Los Angeles Times: "McCulloch said Williams had previously attended demonstrations and had been at the demonstration on the night of the shooting. But local activists, organizers and journalists largely said they didn't know Williams or recognize him from his mugshot." ...

... Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the Los Angeles Times: "Despite an effort being mounted to recall him, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles hopes to keep his job. Other former Ferguson leaders have resigned in the wake of a DOJ report exposing rampant racism & corruption in the town.

William Booth & Ruth Eglash of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned supporters at a rally [in Tel Aviv] Sunday that he and his Likud party may not win Tuesday's election, a potentially dramatic fall for a consummate political survivor whose nine years in office transformed him into the public face of contemporary Israel. A loss by Netanyahu -- or a razor-thin win and the prospect that he would be forced to enter into an unwieldy 'government of national unity' with his rivals -- would mark a sobering reversal for Israel's security hawks, in a country where the electorate has been moving steadily rightward for the past 15 years." ...

... Diaa Hadid of the New York Times: "Now, polls cited by the Israeli media suggest the Arab alliance is likely to become the third-largest faction in [Israel's] Parliament with 13 of its 120 seats, potentially preventing Mr. Netanyahu from cobbling together the 61 seats he needs to form a coalition and stay in power." ...

... Paul Krugman: "Once upon a time, Israel was a country of egalitarian ideals.... Since then..., however, key measures of inequality have soared; Israel is now right up there with America as one of the most unequal societies in the advanced world.... Roughly 20 families control companies that account for half the total value of Israel's stock market.... The political economy of the promised land is now characterized by harshness at the bottom and at least soft corruption at the top.... And Israel's experience shows that this matters, that extreme inequality has a corrosive effect on social and political life.... Many Israelis see Mr. Netanyahu as part of the problem. He's an advocate of free-market policies; he has a Chris Christie-like penchant for living large at taxpayers' expense, while clumsily pretending otherwise."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Iran has deployed advanced rockets and missiles to Iraq to help fight the Islamic State in Tikrit, a significant escalation of firepower and another sign of Iran's growing influence in Iraq."

New York Times: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said Monday that as long as he is the leader, a Palestinian state would not be established, reversing his support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Mr. Netanyahu made the assertion on the eve of an election in which he is trailing in the polls."

Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first public appearance in more than 10 days on Monday, following intense speculation about his health or other reasons he was out of view. 'It would be boring without gossip,' Putin told reporters outside St. Petersburg in his first public event since March 5. But he offered no other immediate details on why he missed a series of meetings and postponed one state visit during the period."

The Commentariat -- Ides of March 2015

Internal links & defunct removed.

Mitt Romney has an op-ed in USA Today urging the Obama administration to show some "courage" & walk away from negotiations with Iran because "agreements with tyrants & fanatics" always fall apart.

Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "... the United States, largely because of poor oversight and loose financial controls, has sometimes inadvertently financed the very militants it is fighting. While refusing to pay ransoms for Americans kidnapped by Al Qaeda, the Taliban or, more recently, the Islamic State, the United States has spent hundreds of billions of dollars over the last decade at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, some of which has been siphoned off to enemy fighters."

I really do have a lot of close friends who are Democrats. I even have Hillary's private e-mail. . . It's HillaryClinton@Wallstreet.com. You know the best part of that joke, Elizabeth Warren wrote it for me. -- Scott Walker, at the Gridiron dinner

[Walker] punted on the question of evolution, which I do think is a problem. I absolutely believe in the theory of evolution -- when it comes to gay marriage. -- President Obama, Gridiron dinner

Ben Terris of the Washington Post: President Obama & other politicos cracked wise as the Gridiron Club's off-the-record annual dinner last night. ...

... The AP reports more jokes.

God News

** Kevin Kruse, in a fascinating New York Times op-ed, explains -- as a reaction to the New Deal -- "how corporate America invented Christian America," which is the subtitle of his recent book. Thanks to Victoria D. for the link.

Elizabeth Barber of Reuters: "Two homosexual rights groups will march in Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade on Sunday after organizers lifted a longtime ban on lesbian, gay and transgender (LGBT) organizations joining the annual Irish-American march.... The Massachusetts contingent of Knights of Columbus, an organization of Catholic men, pulled out of the parade on Friday, calling the event 'politicized and divisive.' [CW: Also, gay people frighten them.]... In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he will boycott the city's St. Patrick's Day Parade again this year, with its organizers refusing to admit more than one gay rights group."

NBC News: "Pope Francis has said he will probably remain pope for only a few years, adding that his predecessor was very brave for retiring." Also, he misses being able to go out & get a pizza. CW: It's true that in Rome, where the pizza is delicious. that's a hardship.

Brendan James of TPM: "A group of Catholic nuns condemned Fox News host Bill O'Reilly [last] Sunday for saying that he had 'seen' the murders of their sisters in El Salvador in 1980.... 'Maryknoll Sisters were deeply saddened when our Sisters were killed in El Salvador, and shocked when we learned of Mr. O'Reilly's statement inferring he witnessed their murder,' the statement said.... The Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland also offered a statement, calling for reporters covering the tragedy to do so with a spirit of 'integrity and honesty.'" Via Steve Benen.

Greg Horton of Religion News Service: "In an effort to block the state's involvement with gay marriage, the Oklahoma House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday (March 10) to abolish marriage licenses in the state.... [The bill's sponsor, Todd] Russ [R,] said the intent of the bill is to protect court clerks caught between the federal and state governments.... The bill would require court clerks to issue certificates of marriage signed by ordained clergy or affidavits of common-law marriage. The Senate has not yet voted on the measure. Nor has Gov. [Mary] Fallin [R] indicated what she will do if the bill passes the Senate."

Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch: Evangelical leader Franklin Graham says the reason President Obama won't fight ISIS is that he wants to protect Islam because "His mother must have been a Muslim." Via Benen. CW: Never mind that Obama is fighting ISIS & his mother was not a Muslim & neither is he. It is never, never necessary to say anything even vaguely factual if you believe in Jesus. So let that be a lesson to those nuns who are ragging Bill O'Reilly for making up stuff. It's the Christian thing to do, Sisters.

Ben Hooper of UPI: "Authorities in Florida said a church has lost its tax-exempt status after it was found to be hosting nude paint events and slumber parties with the 'sexiest ladies.'... The events hosted at the facility included an 'anything but clothes' body painting party and a slumber party billed as 'a pajama and lingerie party hosted by the sexiest ladies on the beach.'"

Presidential Race

Jonathan Karl, et al., of ABC News: "House Speaker John Boehner is expected to announce this week a new investigation into Hillary Clinton's email practices as Secretary of State, including her admission that more than 31,000 emails were destroyed because she determined them to be personal, top House Republicans told ABC News today." CW: What a surprise! ...

Gohmert! I suspect she didn't want Louie Gohmert rifling though her e-mails, which seems to me to be a kind of reasonable position for someone to take. -- James Carville, on ABC News's "This Week," today

... The "Little Woman" Excuse. David Remnick of the New Yorker: At her press conference, Hillary Clinton should have been returning to those feminist themes [she expressed in her U.N. speech], but she used the opportunity to claim that she was only trying to protect the sanctity of her communications about her 'yoga routines,' her daughter's wedding, and her mother's funeral. This was a notably transparent exploitation of gender. It's one thing for a politician to be stupid; it is quite another for her to assume that we are. And what to make of a politician who protested the war in Vietnam and investigated the Watergate scandals but now writes a valentine to Henry Kissinger in the Washington Post -- a book review in which Clinton calls Kissinger 'surprisingly idealistic'? The peoples of Chile, Cambodia, Argentina, Bangladesh, and East Timor surely want to know more." ...

... Maureen Dowd writes a pretty good "Open Letter to hdr22@clintonemail.com". ...

... Just So You'll Know. Ed Klein of the New York Post: "It's the vast left-wing conspiracy. Obama senior adviser Valerie Jarrett leaked to the press details of Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail address during her time as secretary of state, sources tell me. But she did so through people outside the administration.... In addition, at Jarrett's behest, the State Department was ordered to launch a series of investigations into Hillary's conduct [as Secretary of State].... I'm told that the e-mail scandal was timed to come out just as Hillary was on the verge of formally announcing that she was running for president.... Members of Bill Clinton's camp say the former president suspects the White House is the source of the leak and is furious.... According to this source, Bill added: 'The Obamas are out to get us any way they can.'" CW: Klein's "sources," BTW, are notoriously unreliable. But that's okay; the Post made this its cover story....

Worse Than Hillary ...

... CW: Yesterday, I linked an NYT story on how "Jeb Bush has rebuked Hillary Rodham Clinton for her use of a private email account as secretary of state, holding up his own conduct as an example of transparency in government. But it took Mr. Bush seven years after leaving office to comply fully with a Florida public records statute requiring him to turn over emails he sent and received as governor." ...

...Way Worse Than Hillary ...

... Today, Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post piles on: "Jeb Bush used his private e-mail account as Florida governor to discuss security and military issues such as troop deployments to the Middle East and the protection of nuclear plants, according to a review of publicly released records. The e-mails include two series of exchanges involving details of Florida National Guard troop deployments after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the review by The Washington Post found.... Bush ... has sharply criticized ... Hillary Rodham Clinton for her use of a private e-mail account...." A Bush aide called O'Keefe's story a "Democrat opposition research dump."

Where's Scottie? Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "For more than a week, aides to Gov. Scott Walker have declined to say whether he's in Wisconsin on those days that have no public events scheduled.... In many cases in recent months, the first indication that Walker has left the state comes when news outlets at his destination report on his trips, which have taken him to Iowa, California, New Hampshire and New York in the past week alone. On five of the past eight days, Walker has been out of Wisconsin for at least part of the day. On one of those days, it was unclear in what state the governor was located." CW: Maybe he's meeting in an undisclosed location with Putin.

An illustration in "Southern Partisan," 1999.Vote Lindsey Graham for President of the CSA. Andrew Kaczynski & Ilan Ben-Mier of BuzzFeed: Richard Quinn, "one of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham's longtime advisers, was the editor-in-chief of [Southern Partisan,] a neo-Confederate magazine -- a magazine Graham gave an interview to in 1999." Quinn claims to have rejected his long-held racist views, evidently because it was politically expedient for him to do so: "The issue of Quinn's past came up while serving as an adviser to John McCain's presidential campaign.... McCain stood by Quinn and said he had never read his writing. He cited Quinn's work for Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond, and others." Thanks to safari for the link. ...

... David Firestone of the New York Times, Jan. 12, 2000: "Over the last three days, Senator John McCain has made three conflicting statements on the Confederate battle flag issue raging in the key primary state of South Carolina, and with each statement, his position has become less clear.... His top South Carolina strategist, Richard M. Quinn, said ... that Mr. McCain had called the flag a symbol of heritage 'at least 150 times in the past.'... [McCain's] characterization of the flag's symbolism makes him the only major presidential contender to empathize with the flag's supporters." In late April, more than a month after he had withdrawn from the presidential race, McCain apologized for his support for the racist symbol.

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: New Hampshire could be crucial for GOP presidential candidates this year, especially the so-called "moderates," & the candidates are giving the state a lot of attention. There is no clear frontrunner.

Beyond the Beltway

Jack Healy & John Eligon of the New York Times: "On April 7, Ferguson will cast its first votes for local leaders since [Michael] Brown's death in August.... For years, local leaders in Ferguson ran unopposed in elections that drew 12 percent of registered voters, only single-digit percentages of black residents and almost exclusively white candidates.... Four African-Americans are running this year, compared with a total of three in Ferguson's previous 120 years."

Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post: "... pistol and rifle teams, which, like other college shooting teams, have benefited from the largesse of gun industry money [have] become so popular that they often turn students away. Teams are thriving at a diverse range of schools: Yale, Harvard, the University of Maryland, George Mason University, and even smaller schools.... Once they fire a gun, students say they find shooting relaxing -- at MIT, students call it 'very Zen' -- and that it teaches focusing skills that help in class.... And that's precisely what the gun industry hoped it would hear after spending the past few years pouring millions of dollars into collegiate shooting...."

Way Beyond the Beltway

Where's Vlad, Ctd. Julia Ioffe, in a Washington Post piece, on Vladimir Putin's strange disappearance. The Kremlin doesn't have a cover story, & even if it did, no one would believe the tale.

News Ledes

AP: "Secretary of State John Kerry, returning to talks with Iran on its nuclear program, said Sunday that most of the differences still barring an agreement are political rather than technical."

New York Times: "Robert A. Durst, the scion of a New York real estate family, was arrested on Saturday in New Orleans on a warrant issued in a homicide investigation by Los Angeles County, law enforcement officials said. For years, questions have swirled around Mr. Durst about the unsolved killing of a close friend and confidante in Los Angeles 15 years ago, and about his first wife's disappearance in 1982 and the shooting and dismemberment of a Texas neighbor in 2001. HBO has been airing a documentary about Mr. Durst, called 'The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,' and the final episode is scheduled to be shown Sunday night." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "On Sunday night, in the final moments of the final episode of a six-part HBO documentary about him, 'The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,' Mr. Durst seemed to veer toward a confession that could lift the shroud of mystery that surrounds the deaths of three people over the course of three decades. 'What the hell did I do?' Mr. Durst whispers to himself in an unguarded moment caught on a microphone he wore during filming. 'Killed them all, of course.'"

The Commentariat -- March 14, 2015

Internal links removed.

Michael Shear & Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "Nine months after President Obama concluded that a 'corrosive culture' had led to systemic problems at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the nation’s largest hospital system has made only halting progress toward hiring new doctors, replacing incompetent supervisors, upgrading outdated computers and rebuilding trust with veterans.... In a highly stage-managed appearance at the Phoenix hospital on Friday, Mr. Obama acknowledged the need for more improvement." ...

... The Los Angeles Times story, by Christi Parsons & Michael Memoli, is here.

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has turned aside the Obama Administration's proposal to accelerate its request for a stay of a lower judge's order blocking President Barack Obama's plan to give quasi-legal status and work permits to millions more illegal immigrants.... A few days delay is not likely to have much direct impact... However, the 5th Circuit's move could be an early sign that the appeals court -- viewed as the most conservative in the country -- isn't favorably inclined to the Obama Administration's view that [Judge Andrew] Hanen's order needs to be overturned quickly."

Nick Gass of Politico: "President Barack Obama said he's 'embarrassed' for the 47 Republican senators who signed a letter to Iranian leaders earlier this week":

... Jaime Fuller of New York: Ministers from other P5+1 countries are not amused. "Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council has begun to discuss whether it might lift sanctions on Iran if a deal on nuclear weapons were reached. One diplomat told Reuters, "There is an interesting question about whether, if the Security Council endorses the deal, that stops Congress undermining the deal." Luckily, we have John McCain to compare the German minister to Neville Chamberlain & Ted Cruz to invoke "Munich in 1938." ...

     ... Here's the Washington Post's report, by Karen DeYoung. ...

... CW: John Boehner must be enjoying the break. For once, the news is all about how embarrassing the Senate is instead of how embarrassing the House is. ...

... Argumentum ad Hitlerum, Ctd. Simon Maloy of Salon: "'Obama is an appeaser like Chamberlain' ... [ha]s actually become the go-to argument for conservatives looking to get a quick dig in at Obama's foreign policy. If you look back over the years, the historical record is littered with instances of conservatives claiming that Barack Obama just ceded the Sudetenland to Hitler." Maloy produces a parade of horribles. "... conservatives see a world that is just jammed full of Hitlers. Cuba, the Islamic State, the Muslim Brotherhood, Russia, Iran -- Hitlers all. And once you've reduced every single international conflict into 'us versus Hitler,' well, anything less than full-on, guns-blazing, hard-line, World War II-type swagger starts to sound weak and unreasonable. If only Obama would get serious and realize that literally everyone is Hitler, he wouldn't be such a Chamberlain." ...

... James Hohmann of Politico: "One-third of Republican insiders [as defined by Politico!] believe that Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and his GOP colleagues -- including several potential presidential candidates -- crossed the line when they published an open letter to Iranian leaders warning about a possible nuclear deal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Dumbest Guy in Senate Says "Oops!" Heidi Przybyla of Bloomberg : "The letter 47 Republicans sent earlier this week warning against a nuclear deal President Barack Obama is negotiating with Iran probably shouldn't have been addressed to the regime's leaders, said Senator Ron Johnson, who signed the letter." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

I do believe [Senate Republicans] defied the chain of command in what could be construed as an illegal act. What Senator Cotton did is a gross breach of discipline, and especially as a veteran of the Army, he should know better. I have no issue with Senator Cotton, or others, voicing their opinion in opposition to any deal to halt Iran's nuclear progress. Speaking out on these issues is clearly part of his job. But to directly engage a foreign entity, in this way, undermining the strategy and work of our diplomats and our Commander in Chief, strains the very discipline and structure that our foreign relations depend on, to succeed.... The breach of discipline is extremely dangerous, because undermining our diplomatic efforts, at this moment, brings us another step closer to a very costly and perilous war with Iran. I think Senator Cotton recognizes this, and he simply does not care. That's what disappoints me the most. -- Army Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton

... CW: A few days ago Philip Weiss of MondoWeiss speculated that neoconservative, invariably-wrong Bill Kristol likely had a hand in the drafting the Senate's 47 Percent letter. ...

... SO ... Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "The letter, which was conceived of by freshman GOP Sen. Tom Cotton, was influenced in part by prominent national security hawk and Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol. Kristol said he had no part in drafting or editing the letter, but did consult with the senator about it. 'I did discuss it with Tom as he was conceiving it and pondering whether and how to do it. I know he consulted with others as well with some government and foreign policy experience, as you'd expect,' Kristol told The Daily Beast." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: These people sit together in little puddles of stupid. When they are not saying stupid things to each other, they are congratulating each other for the stupid things they say. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "The letter episode contains all the characteristic traits of a neoconservative project. First, of course, is the wild confrontationalism, which in this case was directed not against Iran but against the Obama administration.... Second, the letter was drafted and signed with maximum haste and a total contempt for planning or serious thought of any kind.... Third, the ploy has failed even by the standards of its own logic.... And, then, finally, there is the stubborn refusal to concede the plan has backfired even in the face of overwhelming evidence." ...

... Historian Josh Zeitz, in Politico Magazine on the history of the Logan Act: "Two hundred years from now, historians will ponder the [Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Ron] Dermer and Cotton affairs. Only time will tell whether this newfound repudiation of executive authority in foreign affairs will apply to all presidents, or only to presidents who, by virtue of their politics and provenance, excite the anxieties of people in the throes of great economic and demographic change." ...

... CREDO is circulating a petition to "Tell Democratic leaders in the Senate to put forward a resolution condemning the 47 Republican senators who are endangering national security to damage the presidency." Via Paul Waldman.

Dana Milbank highlights the plight of Washington Post reporter & Iran bureau chief Jason Rezaian, who has been imprisoned in Iran for eight months & whose "only crime is being an American journalist."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Here is the headline of an op-ed in one of the country's top newspapers: "War with Iran is probably our best option." The author is Joshua Muravchik, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Institute of Johns Hopkins University;s School of Advanced International Studies. The newspaper is the Washington Post. ...

... Jim Fallows: "The Post's owners ... have traditionally had a free hand in choosing the paper's editorial-page policy and leaders.... Jeff Bezos, behold your newspaper.... This is appalling." ...

... CW: Maybe Bezos just got bored with his sweatshop operations & playing with drones & decided it would be more fun to become a major player in the military-industrial complex. ...

... Scott Lemieux in LG&M: "Wherever there's a non-ally of the United States not being invaded by the United States, Fred Hiatt[, the Post's op-ed editor,] is there to find a crackpot to advocate that the problem of non-invasion be solved immediately.... I must, however, subtract 5 points because he invokes Hitler without mentioning Chamberlain."

White House: "In this week's address, President Obama laid out his vision for quality, affordable higher education for all Americans":

Scott Wong of the Hill: "What began a month ago with questions about [Aaron Schock]'s [R-Ill.] unusual 'Downton Abbey' inspired office decorations has quickly become a slow drip of more damaging stories by the day.... Conservative critics are now calling for his ouster.... Already, attorney Mark Zalcman, a self-described 'pro-union, Christian conservative' from Normal, Ill., said this week he'll try to unseat Schock next year. His campaign slogan: 'Because Washington needs the Gospel.'" CW: How can something "quickly" become a "slow" drip?

Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The Koch brothers' conglomerate Koch Industries has refused to comply with an investigation by three Senate Democrats into whether the company has funded groups or researchers who deny or cast doubt on climate change. In response to a request from senators Barbara Boxer, Edward Markey and Sheldon Whitehouse for information about Koch Industries' support for scientific research, Koch general counsel Mark Holden invoked the company's first amendment rights.... On 25 February, the three Democratic senators -- each a ranking member of committees that oversee environmental affairs -- sent letters to 100 fossil fuel companies and thinktanks.... The senators' investigation was prompted by documents obtained through a freedom of information request by Greenpeace...." Holden cited First-Amendment free-speech rights as the basis for the companies' refusal to comply.

...everything Barack Obama does domestically and in foreign policy is designed to humble the arrogant crackers who have always run the United States. -- Winger Erick Erickson, filling in for Rush Limbaugh

... Paul Waldman: "... it is simply impossible to overstate the ubiquity of this particular theme in conservative media: Barack Obama hates not just America but white people in general, and all of his policies are meant to exact racial vengeance upon them. This is the rancid stew of fantasy, hatred, and yes, racism in which millions upon millions of conservatives have spent the last six years marinating."

Presidential Race

Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "Jerry Brown ran against Bill Clinton in the 1992 Democratic primaries. Now he doesn't think anyone should run against Hillary Clinton when she seeks the nomination next year." ...

... Ezra Klein: "The question for the Democratic Party is whether Clinton is going to be as strong in the visible primary [[ and the visible election -- as she is in the invisible one. The skills necessary to win over Democratic Party elites may not be the skills necessary to win the election -- and if Hillary doesn't face serious opposition in the visible primary, Democrats may not find that out until too late." ...

... Josh Gerstein: "Hillary Clinton's claim that most work-related emails sent from her personal account were preserved in the electronic files of other State Department officials fell apart Friday. After a week of deflecting questions about how emails were handled during Clinton's tenure as secretary of state, the agency finally acknowledged that the email traffic of other senior officials was not automatically or routinely archived." ...

     ... Here's the New York Times story, by Michael Schmidt & Julie Davis. ...

... Jaime Fuller: "The last time we saw a politician doing this workout was an hour before Biden debated vice-presidential candidate Representative Paul Ryan in 2012. Time magazine published photos of Biden's opponent doing the exact same pose. However, Ryan only used 25-pound dumbbells.... The White House made the Vine to publicize Michelle Obama's #GimmeFive challenge and the fifth anniversary of the First Lady's 'Let's Move' campaign."

Jeb Breaks Law, Faults Hillary for Not Breaking Law. Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush has rebuked Hillary Rodham Clinton for her use of a private email account as secretary of state, holding up his own conduct as an example of transparency in government. But it took Mr. Bush seven years after leaving office to comply fully with a Florida public records statute requiring him to turn over emails he sent and received as governor, according to records released Friday. Mr. Bush delivered the latest batch of 25,000 emails in May 2014, seven and a half years after leaving the Statehouse and just as he started to contemplate a potential run for the White House, according to a newly disclosed letter written by his lawyer. A Florida statute governing the preservation of public records requires elected officials, including the governor, to turn over records pertaining to official business 'at the expiration of his or her term of office.' ...

... Reid Epstein of the Wall Street Journal: "Jeb Bush said he would be open to allowing illegal immigrants a path to citizenship and said his position on immigration is 'the grown-up plan.'" ...

... Steve M.: "When you describe a position of yours that's unpopular with the voters as 'the grown-up choice,' what you're saying is that those who disagree with you are children.... Look, I understand -- GOP voters are stupid children. But you're not supposed to say that to them if you want their votes."

Christie Lays Out Reasons Not to Vote for Him. Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R)told leading GOP policy analysts this week that he will make overhauling Medicare, Social Security and other long-term entitlement programs a centerpiece of his likely presidential campaign, according to participants in the talks. Christie's decision to embrace a politically risky campaign theme is central to an attempt to revive his wilting national prospects, according to people familiar with his plans."

Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Sen. Marco Rubio has been cultivating a relationship with Mitt Romney and his intimates, landing some of the 2012 Republican nominee's top advisers and donors and persistently courting others as he readies an expected 2016 presidential campaign."

Well, I was a Boy Scout, and I always thought maybe campsites should be cleaner. -- Scott Walker, responding to a second-grader who asked him what he would do about climate change

Absolute proof there is no business lobby opposed to clean Boy Scout campsites.* -- Constant Weader

*As long as the campsites are not in the way of loggers, frackers or miners. Anyway, making Boy Scout clean up their campsites is an excellent overall strategy to fight climate change. ...

... Gail Collins on GOP candidates positions on climate change: "Have you ever heard anybody say he couldn't comment on tax policy because he wasn't an accountant?"

Beyond the Beltway

Kelly Weill of Capital New York: "Computers operating on the New York Police Department's computer network at its 1 Police Plaza headquarters have been used to alter Wikipedia pages containing details of alleged police brutality, a review by Capital has revealed.... The edits and changes were linked to the NYPD through a series of Internet Protocol addresses, or IP addresses, which can be publicly tracked by various websites.... Computer users identified by Capital as working on the NYPD headquarters' network have edited and attempted to delete Wikipedia entries for several well-known victims of police altercations, including entries for Eric Garner, Sean Bell, and Amadou Diallo.... NYPD IP addresses have also been used to edit entries on stop-and-frisk, NYPD scandals, and prominent figures in the city’s political and police leadership." ...

... Jessica Roy of New York: "The NYPD told Capital the editing incident is under 'internal review,' so look out for future edits to the entry 'NYPD Wikipedia Scandal.'"

Abby Ohlheiser of the Washington Post: "The former members of Oklahoma University's disbanded Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter are considering a lawsuit against the school, according to statements from the fraternity's newly retained attorney, Stephen Jones.... Jones, who served as Timothy McVeigh's lead defense attorney during the Oklahoma City Bombing trial, told KFOR that the fraternity members objected to statements from the school's president that, they say, painted all of the fraternity members as racists and bigots." CW: Jones sure gets the worst clients: a mass-murdering terrorist & frat-boy racists. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Dan Williams of Reuters: "Flagging in opinion polls before Tuesday's election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally Israeli rightists by casting his centre-left challengers as tools of a global campaign to usurp power. Over social media and broadcast interviews, the three-term leader has accused unspecified foreign governments and tycoons of funneling 'tens of millions of dollars' to opposition activists working to undermine his Likud party and boost the Zionist Union joint list led by Isaac Herzog and Tzipi Livni."

Barbie Nadeau of the Daily Beast: "Russian president Vladimir Putin appears to be back at the Kremlin after a mysterious disappearance that had people wondering if the Russian leader might be seriously ill or at risk of a coup. But a Swiss newspaper says the Russian playboy was just in Lugano for the birth of his lovechild. In an article titled Es ist ein Mädchen! or 'It's a Girl,' the paper Bilk claims that Putin and his alleged 32-year-old lover, Olympic gymnast Alina Kabayeva, welcomed their daughter at the private Santa Anna di Sorgeno clinic in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino on the Italian border -- a favorite playground for wealthy Russians." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... In a report filed after lovechild story broke, Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times writes that Putin is still MIA. The report does not mention the Italian theory.

News Lede

Hill: "At least 10 Americans potentially exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone will be flown to the United States for observation, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and reports Saturday. CDC and the State Department are working to fly the U.S. citizens via private planes to the United States, where they will be monitored for 21 days, the maximum incubation period for Ebola, near either the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the National Institutes of Health or Emory University Hospital."