;)
The Commentariat -- April 13, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Eric Levitz of New York: "... it doesn't really matter whether [Donald] Trump has good reason to feel cheated -- what matters is that his supporters think he does. The more Trump can stoke the sense that he's been victimized by a corrupt Establishment, the more politically difficult it will be for the party to deny him the nomination on a first ballot." -- CW
Jonathan Chait: John Kasich schools Talmudic scholars on Old Testament. CW: Maybe Kasich should have studied up on Proverbs 26:12: "Do you see a person wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him."
*****
Burgess Everett of Politico: "Under relentless criticism from his Democratic foes, GOP Sen. Pat Toomey [R] lingered with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland into the evening on Tuesday for a meeting that lasted more than an hour." CW: Toomey emerged from the meeting to make a series of stupid remarks, as was anticipated. ...
... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, played host to Judge Merrick B. Garland, President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court, in the Senate dining room on Tuesday morning. Yogurt parfait was not the point. But what was [the point]?" -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration said a compromise floated by the Supreme Court to resolve objections from religious organizations to providing their employees with contraceptives would work only if it was clear that the women would receive the coverage through other means, and if it ended the controversy. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. told the court ... a modification would be acceptable only if the court ruled that it would satisfy the Religious Freedom Restoration Act and if it halted lawsuits from groups that say providing contraceptive coverage would make them complicit in sin." -- CW
Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "Federal regulators said Wednesday that five of the country's largest banks, including JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, still don't have credible plans for winding down their operations without taxpayer help if they start to fail. These so-called 'living wills' are a critical requirement of the 2010 financial reform package, Dodd-Frank, aimed at a preventing a repeat of the taxpayer bailouts that took place during the financial crisis. The regulators found various problems with the plans submitted by Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, J.P. Morgan Chase, State Street, and Wells Fargo." -- CW ...
... The New York Times story, by Peter Eavis, is here. -- CW
Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "Tens of thousands of Verizon workers on the East Coast walked off the job on Wednesday after the company and two labor unions failed to reach a new agreement by a 6 a.m. deadline set by the unions, more than eight months after their contracts expired. The Verizon strike, involving about 36,000 workers, is one of the largest in recent years. The workers, who are resisting proposed cuts to pension benefits and rule changes that would make it easier for the company to outsource work, are expected to picket hundreds of Verizon facilities from Virginia to Massachusetts." -- CW
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The FBI cracked a San Bernardino terrorist's phone with the help of professional hackers who discovered and brought to the bureau at least one previously unknown software flaw.... The researchers ... were paid a one-time flat fee for the solution." -- CW
Paul Waldman, in the Washington Post: "... no matter which Republican ends up being the presidential nominee, cutting taxes for the wealthy will be at the absolute top of the agenda. Even Donald Trump, who has been happy to buck Republican orthodoxy on a variety of issues, issued a tax plan the greatest benefits of which went to the wealthy -- just like every other candidate.... Meanwhile, media coverage continues to suggest that Paul Ryan represents some kind of sober alternative to the presidential candidates. But he has long advocated slashing the top rate from its current 39.6 percent down to 25 percent, which would represent an enormous giveaway to the wealthy.... In this election, just like in every other election, Democrats will charge that Republicans only want to help the rich. It’s an effective attack, mostly because it's true...." -- CW
"Free Trade" vs. Ordinary People. Daniel Gross, in Fortune: "Why bashing free trade is paying off from Trump and Sanders.... It's not trade itself that is the problem -- it's the indifference to the long-term impacts of trade and an unwillingness to share its benefits [with workers]." Via Paul Waldman. -- CW
Matt Richtel & Fernanda Santos of the New York Times: "Fires, once largely confined to a single season, have become a constant threat in some places, burning earlier and later in the year, in the United States and abroad.... A leading culprit is climate change. Drier winters mean less moisture on the land, and warmer springs are pulling the moisture into the air more quickly.... Decades of aggressive policies that called for fires to be put out as quickly as they started have also aggravated the problem. Today's forests are not just parched; they are overgrown." -- CW
Trudy Ring of Out: "The Vatican is replacing its controversial ambassador to the U.S., who arranged the meeting between Pope Francis and antigay Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis last fall. Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò will leave the position of apostolic nuncio, the equivalent of an ambassador, and will be replaced by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, a French-born clergyman who is currently the nuncio to Mexico, Catholic magazine America reports, citing Sandro Magister, a blogger who covers the Vatican." CW: Another of Francis's not-so-subtle, but diplomatically unspoken, messages. (Also linked yesterday.)
Presidential Race
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton pulled out a tight victory over Senator Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary in Missouri, officially sweeping the states that held primary contests on March 15, while Donald J. Trump was declared the winner in a close race with Senator Ted Cruz on the Republican side. Both candidates appeared to score narrow victories in Missouri, but under the state's elections laws, the vote totals were not official until now." -- CW
Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), in a New York Times op-ed: "... I have decided to become the first member of the Senate to support my colleague Bernie Sanders for president." -- CW
Anne Gearan, et al., of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders and his boosters are intensifying their courtship of convention delegates who could determine the winner of the Democratic presidential nomination this year, prompting some party leaders and supporters of front-runner Hillary Clinton to claim harassment.... The Sanders campaign says it has no connection to the efforts of outside supporters to lean on superdelegates...." -- CW
The New York Daily News Editors endorse Hillary Clinton. -- CW
Tom Hayden of The Nation: Anti-war and civil rights activist and ex-Sanders supporter Tom Hayden thoroughly highlights the pros and cons of both candidates in his explanation for why he changed his support in the California Democratic primary to Hillary Clinton. "I have a variety of concerns about both candidates' campaigns. But I intend to vote for Hillary Clinton... for one fundamental reason - race." -- LT
Hillary Clinton's Clever Math Trick. [Bernie Sanders] frequently says, 'We're a small, rural state, we have no gun laws.' Here's what I want you to know. Most of the guns that are used in crimes and violence and killings in New York come from out of state. And the state that has the highest per capita number of those guns that end up committing crimes in New York come from Vermont. -- Hillary Clinton, April 11
Vermont does provide the highest per capita number of guns tied to crimes in New York.... [But] the per capita calculation is skewed by Vermont's small population.... The number of crime guns in New York from Vermont is so small that it could even be attributed to one or two bad actors.... Clinton has carefully crafted her talking point to find the particular government data that support her point, which gives a wildly different view than how trafficking flows are tracked.... The difference between this point using per capita calculation and the raw number (1 percent of crime guns with source states identified in 2014 came from Vermont) is so stark that it creates a significantly misleading impression to the public. -- Michelle Yee of the Washington Post -- CW
CW: If, like me, you were waiting for Hillary Clinton to apologize or something for participating in the "colored people's time" skit, here's the or-something. Eliza Collins of Politico: "In an interview with Cosmopolitan magazine published on Tuesday, Clinton was asked if the skit was 'inappropriate,' or whether critics were indeed 'missing the point,' as De Blasio had put it. 'Well, look, it was Mayor de Blasio's skit,' she responded. 'He has addressed it, and I will really defer to him because it is something that he's already talked about.'" ...
... Update. Brendan O'Connor of Gawker: Hillary Clinton wasted no time at all throwing Bill de Blasio under the bus for that 'C.P.T.' joke." -- CW
Elizabeth Hinton, Julilly Kohler-Hausmann & Vesla Weaver in a New York Times op-ed: "When confronted about her husband's pivotal support for the [1994 crime] bill, Hillary Clinton argued, even as she admitted the legislation's shortcomings, that the bill was a response to 'great demand, not just from America writ large, but from the black community, to get tougher on crime.' Yet the historical record reveals a different story.... Punitive crime policy is a result of a process of selectively hearing black voices.... It's not just that those demands were ignored completely. It's that some elements were elevated and others were diminished.... When blacks ask for better policing, legislators tend to hear more instead." -- CW
Jeremy Peters & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump and his allies are engaged in an aggressive effort to undermine the Republican nominating process by framing it as rigged and corrupt, hoping to compensate for organizational deficiencies that have left Mr. Trump with an increasingly precarious path to the nomination. Their message: The election is being stolen from him. On Tuesday, Mr. Trump berated the politicians he said were trying to stop his nomination and denounced the Republican Party, which he cast as complicit in the theft." -- CW
Bob Cusack of the Hill: "Donald Trump on Tuesday slammed the chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), claiming the party's system for selecting its presidential nominee is a 'scam' and a 'disgrace.' During an exclusive interview with The Hill at Trump Tower, Trump said, 'It's a disgrace for the party. And Reince Priebus should be ashamed of himself. He should be ashamed of himself because he knows what's going on.'" ...
... CW BTW: Trump's whining about the delegate process is all part of his teevee schtick. Because his staff is so incompetent, it is possible that Trump didn't know how the system worked until Priebus laid it out for him a couple of weeks ago. But, if he didn't know then, he knows now. And he's had ample opportunity & certainly the wherewithal to go out & hustle his own delegates. (He can make more "charitable contributions"/free golf outings -- this time to convention delegates.) Trump is shedding crocodile tears designed to rile his base of know-nothings. Yes, the game is "rigged," as Trump claims. It's supposed to be. Its very purpose is to avoid having a nominee like Trump. ...
AND There's This. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "When Nebraska started the process of picking delegates, Trump's campaign was nowhere to be found.... Party officials say they saw virtually no organization by the mogul's campaign last week when Republicans in all 93 Nebraska counties held local conventions.... Party officials say they saw virtually no organization by the mogul's campaign last week when Republicans in all 93 Nebraska counties held local conventions.... Because there was little resistance, many county conventions became Cruz pep rallies, according to interviews with party insiders and convention attendees." -- CW
Tony Cook of the Indy Star: "After expressing reservations about Donald Trump, some of Indiana's delegates to the Republican national convention say they've received threatening messages from a few of the GOP front-runner's supporters.... 'Wrong side Kyle,' said one email [to delegate Kyle Babcock, who said he didn't think Trump would be a good general-election candidate]. 'Hope the families well. Your name and info was sent to me on a list that is going public. Think before you take a step down the wrong path, the American people want to have faith in your but it looks like a future in hiding is more appealing.' The email was signed, 'The American.'" -- CW ...
... Steve M.: "... it's quite possible that there'll be little to no bloodshed [from Trump supporters]. I suspect the contempt is going to be expressed the modern, cowardly way -- doxxing, threats, maybe a swatting attack or two. Female Trump opponents will probably receive very specific threats of brutal sexual violence. But it'll all be done from the comfort of Mom's basement, or wherever else these people use their laptops and phones. A number of politically angry right-wingers have engaged in genuine violence in this century, but it's much more common for conservatives -- and white male louts in general -- to try to be risk-averse intimidators." -- CW
... BUT there was this. Kenneth Wagner & Meg Wagner of the New York Daily News: "A fiery Donald Trump supporter slapped a [CW: black] protester in the face during a rambunctious rally in Albany on Monday -- and the blowhard billionaire did nothing to stop the brawl, choosing instead to compare demonstrators at the event to ISIS.... After a tense standoff, [a man who self-identified as] Mike lunged at the protester and smacked him in the face twice. The protester was eventually removed from the rally... 'I have my personal rights and my personal space,' Mike told the Albany Times-Union after the rally. 'They're going to start yelling about some bulls[hi]t, I'll snatch your ass up.'" -- CW
Salvatore Colleluori of Media Matters: On Monday, "New York radio host Mark Simone and ... Donald Trump questioned whether Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) is eligible to run for president because 'he was born in Canada.'... Simone brought up a hearing by the New Jersey secretary of state to determine Cruz's eligibility...." CW: It would be hilarious if Republicans went thru all these machinations to nominate Cruz, after which a court somewhere ruled that he was ineligible to be POTUS. ...
... Well, That Pipe Dream Didn't Last Long. Brent Johnson & Jonathan Salant of NJ.com: "... Ted Cruz is a 'natural-born citizen' under the U.S. Constitution and therefore can run in the June 7 New Jersey primary, a [New Jersey] state administrative law judge said Tuesday.... A group of New Jersey residents and a Catholic University of America law professor insisted that Cruz, born in Canada to an American mother and a Cuban father, did& not meet the constitutional requirements to be president." -- CW
Ben White of Politico: "On the campaign trail, [Ted Cruz] has railed against Wall Street 'crony capitalism,' ripped giant banks as 'too big to fail' and wrapped himself in populist garb.... But now he's desperate: Cruz, who has already received $12 million in support from the financial industry, needs Wall Street money more than ever.... So Cruz and his wife Heidi, currently on unpaid leave from her Goldman Sachs executive position, will gather with donors in New York next week to refill the coffers.... 'Anybody who is really politically aware knows that it's ultimately better to have Cruz go down in flames than for Trump to go down in flames. People are coming around to that. Cruz probably won't take down the House and Senate with him.'... said a senior banker...." -- CW
Karoli Kuns of Crooks and Liars: David Barton, dominionist and Ted Cruz Super PAC head, wants Christians to 'take control of government.' This is why Ted Cruz is, in many ways, more terrifying than Donald Trump. Trump is a secular fascist. Cruz is a religious zealot as well as a fascist who thinks the United States government should be a theocracy." -- LT
...Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones: Ted Cruz's dominionist minions, a preacher and two real estate entrepreneurs, offer a glimpse of how far the candidate could go in rolling back LGBT protections. -- LT
"Onerous rules" trip up more Trumps. Why is life so unfair to these people? -- CW
Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "... Ted Cruz is close to ensuring that Donald Trump cannot win the GOP nomination on a second ballot at the party's July convention in Cleveland, scooping up scores of delegates who have pledged to vote for him instead of the front-runner if given the chance.... The GOP race now rests on two cliffhangers: Can Trump lock up the nomination before Cleveland? And if not, can Cruz cobble together enough delegates to win a second convention vote if Trump fails in the first?" -- CW
Priscilla Alvarez of the Atlantic: John Kasich keeps on keepin' on. -- CW
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "In an attempt to silence those who keep insisting he should be the next Republican nominee for president, Speaker Paul D. Ryan will hold an unusually formal news conference Tuesday afternoon to once again rule out his candidacy, an aide to Mr. Ryan said." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... New Lede: "After a month of speculation and pleas ranging from the comic to the mildly desperate, Speaker Paul D. Ryan held an unusually formal news conference Tuesday afternoon to rule out once and for all, he said, his candidacy for the Republican nomination for president. 'Let me be clear,' Mr. Ryan said. 'I do not want nor will I accept the nomination of our party.' He added that he had a message for convention delegates: 'If no candidate has the majority on the first ballot, I believe you should only turn to a person who has participated in the primary. Count me out.'" ...
... OR, as the headline writer at TPM put it, "Paul Ryan To GOP: I Know I'm Awesome, But I Can't Be Your President." -- CW
Manu Raju & Deirdre Walsh of CNN: "A number of high-profile Republicans, fearful of a potential melee in Cleveland this summer, are considering skipping the Republican National Convention and campaigning back home instead." -- CW ...
... Alex Leary of the Tampa Bay Times: "Jeb Bush will not attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, his spokeswoman said Tuesday." -- CW
Senate Race
Edward-Isaac Dovere & Kevin Robillard of Politico: "In an unprecedented and forceful move, President Barack Obama's administration is slamming a new gun control-themed ad from a super PAC backing Rep. Donna Edwards for Senate in Maryland, calling it 'misleading' and demanding it be pulled down.... Wednesday morning, Working for US PAC spokesman Joshua Henne followed up with a statement saying the group would delete Obama from the ad -- but not pull the ad itself." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Ha! Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Gov. Pat McCrory [R] of North Carolina, whose state has been the subject of withering criticism since its legislature passed a law limiting bathroom use by transgender people and eliminating anti-discrimination protections for gay and transgender people, on Tuesday retreated from his full-throated defense of the measure.... Mr. McCrory signed the bill immediately after it was passed. But on Tuesday, he signed an executive order altering the equal employment policy for state workers to cover discrimination claims related to sexual orientation and gender identity. He said he would urge lawmakers to reverse course and allow people to bring discrimination cases in state court.... Mr. McCrory ... is seeking re-election this fall.... The effects of Mr. McCrory's order are modest. The most disputed provision of the law, which limited bathroom access for transgender people, will stand." -- CW ...
... The Raleigh News & Observer story, by Craig Jarvis, is here. With video. -- CW ...
Bruce Schreiner & Adam Beam of the AP: "Kentucky's Democratic attorney general sued the state's Republican governor on Monday, arguing he overstepped his authority when he ordered budget cuts for state colleges and universities without the approval of the state legislature. Attorney General Andy Beshear, the son of a former governor, followed through on his threat to file a lawsuit challenging [Gov. Matt] Bevin's 'blatant violations' of law by unilaterally cutting 4.5 percent, or $41 million, from the state's colleges and universities in the last three months of the fiscal year." -- CW
David Montgomery of the New York Times: "A panel reviewing the Texas jail where a 28-year-old black woman, Sandra Bland, was found dead three days after being arrested last July has called for major changes in the treatment and medical screening of inmates." -- CW
Joe Heim of the Washington Post: Meet Matthew Heimbach, a 25-year-old white nationalist & Trump supporter who was the main guy pushing Kashiya Nwanguma, 21, a black student, out of a Trump rally in March. "Heimbach's supporters cheered his actions, praising him for standing up to the protesters. But for those who have been tracking his rise, the video raised new worries about Heimbach. Some compare him to David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard and the country's best known white nationalist.... Heimbach foresees the United States being divided into autonomous racial states with white Christians free to live apart and outside the control of any federal authority." -- CW
Way Beyond
AP: "Organized crime prosecutors raided the offices of the Mossack Fonseca law firm Tuesday looking for evidence of money laundering and financing terrorism following a leak of documents about tax havens it set up for wealthy international clients." -- CW
Megan Messerly & Daniel Rothberg of the Las Vegas Sun: "Electric car company Faraday Future is scheduled to break ground this afternoon on its Southern Nevada [3.4 million-square-foot] production plant...Faraday Future executives, Gov. Brian Sandoval, North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee and Clark County commissioners Steve Sisolak and Marilyn Kirkpatrick are expected to attend... the state's economic development board approved $215.9 million in tax incentives for the company [that includes] a series of protective measures for the state in case Faraday should go belly up." -- unwashed. The facility will be located about 60 miles from the notorious Bundy Ranch.
News Lede
ABC News: "The Texas teenager who was at the center of an international manhunt was ordered to stay in jail for nearly two years after his first appearance in adult court today. Ethan Couch, who allegedly violated the terms of his probation from a deadly 2013 drunken-driving case by missing a court-mandated check-in, was sentenced to 180 days in jail for each of the four charges he faces. The jail time is set to be served consecutively, meaning he will be in jail for 720 days."
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