;)
The Commentariat -- April 28, 2019
Afternoon Update:
Barr Dictates Terms of His Testimony. Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Attorney General William P. Barr and congressional Democrats clashed on Sunday over the terms of Mr. Barr' scheduled testimony before the House Judiciary Committee this week, with Mr. Barr threatening to skip the session and the panel's chairman threatening to subpoena him. The dispute, which spilled out into the public..., revolves around Mr. Barr's objections to the Democrats' proposed format for questioning him about the special counsel's report. And it throws Thursday's hearing into doubt. 'The witness is not going to tell the committee how to conduct its hearing, period,' the committee chairman, Representative Jerrold Nadler, Democrat of New York, told CNN. If Mr. Barr does not show up, Mr. Nadler added, 'then we will have to subpoena him, and we will have to use whatever means we can to enforce the subpoena.'... A senior Justice Department official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said on Sunday that the attorney general had agreed to appear before Congress, not its staff, and therefore should be questioned only by members of Congress. Mr. Nadler's plan also calls for the committee to go into closed session to discuss the redacted sections of the special counsel's report. But Mr. Barr and the Justice Department object to questioning behind closed doors." ...
... Josh Marshall: "Attorney General Bill Barr ... is refusing to show up to testify this week before the House Judiciary Committee unless he is accorded a veto right over the questioning format.... It's been increasingly clear that the committees should either designate one or two committee members experienced in questioning or have a committee counsel do the questioning. Absent that approach, you get what we've seen in other recent hearings.... For really effective questioning you need a solid and knowledg[e]able questioner who has a sustained period of time to pursue lines of questioning. The other approach is fine for garden variety testimony where there's some degree of good faith give and take. It doesn't work here.... Barr's antics are part of President Trump's strategy of massive resistance to any congressional oversight whatsoever."
I have been a prosecutor for nearly 30 years.... I have prosecuted obstruction cases on far, far less evidence than this. And yes, I believe if he were not the president of the United States, he would likely be indicted on obstruction. -- Former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, on "Meet the Press" Sunday
Rebecca Leber of Mother Jones: "The president ... called into Maria Bartiromo’s Fox News show to complain ... that his administration can no longer separate children from their family.... 'The problem is you have 10 times more people coming up with their families. It's like Disneyland now. You know, before you'd get separated so people would say, "Let's not go up." Now you don't get separated and, you know, while that sounds nice and all, what happens is you have -- literally you have 10 times more families coming up because they're not going to be separated from their children.'... Trump alluded that his problems stem from the laws that require processing and court dates for asylum seekers.... 'The problem is we have to register them, we have to bring them to court,' he told Fox. '... You have to have Perry Mason involved. I mean, you know, it's all legal." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: It makes me sick to hear of Trump, as he sits comfortably in the White House, comparing a trip to Disneyland with the suffering these families endured at home & then on the trek from their home countries to the U.S. He is one sadistic SOB.
Robert Barnes & Josh Dawsey of the Washington Post examine how Trump views the Supreme Court as part of his team of lackeys.
Neil Lewis of the New York Times: "Richard G. Lugar, who represented Indiana in the Senate for 36 years and whose mastery of foreign affairs made him one of only a handful of senators in modern history to exercise substantial influence on the nation's international relations, died on Sunday in Annandale, Va. He was 87." ...
... Zack Budryk of the Hill: "Former President Obama paid tribute to ex-Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) on Sunday, saying the late senator 'exhibited the truth that common courtesy can speak across cultures.' In a lengthy statement on the death of Lugar..., Obama noted his work with the former Hoosier in the Senate to expand Lugar's 1991 nuclear nonproliferation plan."
Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "In a popular Washington bookstore, at virtually the same time as the latest synagogue shooting occurred, a crowd of so-called 'white identitarians' with a bullhorn showed up to disrupt the author of a book on racial resentment called Dying of Whiteness, chanting 'this land is our land.'... Christopher Hasson, a 50-year-old Maryland man who was a high-ranking U.S. Coast Guard officer with a security clearance, may walk out of jail in a few days, maybe less.... The failure of AG Bill Barr's Justice Department to move heaven and earth to keep Hasson in custody or even issue a press release alerting the public is symbolic of a giant blind spot in our nation's capital when it comes to the deadly threat posed by white supremacy. And that giant buck stops at the desk of President Trump.... This president -- with his vainglorious refusal to admit that an immoral strain of white nationalism helped elect him in 2016 -- and his administration are making the problem much, much worse.... Trump has repeatedly made clear his opinion that violent white extremism is not a problem in his America.... Terror attacks by far-right extremists more than quadrupled in the year that Trump became president, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. That dramatized the fact that after spending billions on a vast infrastructure that primarily targeted Islamic extremism, the much greater threat in this country has a white face." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: Say, remember how horrified everyone was when Hillary Clinton said some of Trump's supporters were "deplorables"? Sounds fairly quaint now, doesn't it?
~~~~~~~~~~
David Smith of the Guardian: "As Donald Trump flailed his arms and railed against the media at a raucous campaign rally on Saturday night, a Pulitzer prize-winning historian delivered an elegantly scathing rebuke at the White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) annual dinner. America the split screen nation -- so evident in polarised reactions to special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian election interference -- was on vivid display again in two speeches. In Green Bay, Wisconsin, the US president raged that journalists are 'fakers', exulted in crowd chants of 'CNN sucks!' and lavished praise on Sarah Sanders, his press secretary caught by Mueller lying to the media. In Washington, [Ron] Chernow, biographer of founding father Alexander Hamilton and former president Ulysses S Grant, delivered an eloquent and erudite defence of the freedom of the press with some subtle barbs, winning a standing ovation from an audience that quickly forgot any disappointment over the lack of a comedian this year." ...
... Brooke Seipel of the Hill pulls some humorous remarks from Chernow's speech. ...
... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: 'As the media prepared to gather for an annual glitzy dinner that once brought together the media, the administration and Hollywood, Trump rallied thousands of supporters in Green Bay, Wis. And he wasted little time ... bashing the news media as' fakers' and calling his press secretary on stage to join him in the flogging.... Back in D.C., an unusually staid rendition of the White House Correspondents dinner was getting underway. Instead of a comedian, historian Ron Chernow was summoned to regale the crowd, and journalism awards and scholarships were handed out. Nonetheless, Trump spurned the event again, as he's done since he was elected. He escalated his disdain for the dinner this year, directing administration officials to join him in boycotting it.... Earlier this month, Trump told reporters he would 'hold a very positive rally instead' of attending the 'so boring' and 'so negative' dinner. Yet on Saturday, that wasn't the case, as the president mocked Democratic primary candidates, invoked a deceased Republican senator over his vote on health care legislation, ridiculed a 'third-rate actor in Chicago' and referred to top government officials as 'scum.'"
Our White Supremacist-in-Chief, Ctd. Tara Law of Time: "Heisman Trophy winner Kyler Murray was the first overall pick in the NFL draft on Thursday, but on Saturday morning..., Donald Trump decided to congratulate the number two pick instead. Former University of Oklahoma quarterback Murray, who is black, was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals and reportedly offered a $35 million contact. He's also an accomplished baseball player, and was ninth in the 2018 MLB draft. However, on Twitter the President congratulated Nick Bosa, the second pick, who was chosen by the San Francisco 49ers. 'Congratulations to Nick Bosa on being picked number two in the NFL Draft,' Trump tweeted. 'You will be a great player for years to come, maybe one of the best. Big Talent! San Francisco will embrace you but most importantly, always stay true to yourself. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' Bosa, who is white, has been criticized for releasing a number oftweets some have seen as racially charged. The tweets, which have since been deleted, describe Black Panther as the 'worst Marvel movie'; describe Beyonce's music as 'trash,' and call former 49ers player Colin Kaepernick a 'clown.' He was also criticized for 'liking' many Instagram posts with racist and homophobic slurs. Bosa, who is white, has been criticized for releasing a number of tweets some have seen as racially charged." ...
... Mr. McCrabbie: Nice to read that Trump even knows who the racist college football players are.
The Trump Scandals, Ctd.
Last week, Fox "News" legal analyst Andrew Napolitano argued in a digital video & Fox opinion piece that Trump had obstructed justice. So ...
... John Bowden of the Hill: "President Trump tweeted Saturday that Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano met with him and urged the president to nominate Napolitano to the Supreme Court, as well as grant a pardon to one of the judge's friends.... In a pair of tweets Saturday evening following his campaign rally in Green Bay, the president accused the commentator of becoming 'very hostile' after Trump supposedly turned him down for the nation's highest court. 'Thank you to brilliant and highly respected attorney Alan Dershowitz for destroying the very dumb legal argument of "Judge" Andrew Napolitano,' Trump wrote. 'Ever since Andrew came to my office to ask that I appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court, and I said NO, he has been very hostile! Also asked for pardon for his friend. A good 'pal' of low ratings Shepard Smith,' the president added...."
Matt Ford of the New Republic: "Trump is building his own case for impeachment. Rather than weigh the validity of each request for information from House Democrats, he's refusing to abide by any of them. 'We're fighting all the subpoenas,' Trump told reporters on Wednesday. 'These aren't, like, impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020.' Trump isn't just chafing against the elementary idea of checks and balances; he's rejecting the concept itself.... The Justice Department is stonewalling House Democrats, too.... Trump's hunger for a fawning press was already bad; his authoritarian craving for the same treatment from Congress is worse.... Democrats have spent the past two years arguing that Trump's authoritarian tendencies and disinterest in the rule of law would endanger American democracy. The president ... seems almost eager to prove them right." ...
... Sam Brodey & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump's declaration this week that his administration will stonewall 'all the subpoenas' from Congress has pushed House Democrats to rethink their impeachment calculus.... 'I think the combination of the chilling depictions in the Mueller Report and Trump's opacity is moving some members into the impeachment camp,' said one Democratic lawmaker. 'Translation: it's always the cover-up that gets 'em.' Contempt of Congress was the third article of impeachment against Nixon -- a piece of history that has been front-of-mind for congressional Democrats over the last few days.... [Oversight Committee Chair Elijah] Cummings' rhetoric sounded markedly impeachment-friendly in an interview with MSNBC's Joy Reid on Tuesday. When she asked if Trump deserved to be impeached, Cummings responded, 'I think he does.'"
BUT. Jim Jordan Seems to Have Noticed. Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "Carl Kline, the official who green-lit Jared Kushner's security clearance, has agreed to attend a voluntary interview next week with staff for the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, according to a letter from White House Counsel Pat Cipollone. The letter ... comes at the end of a week of fervid clashes between Chairman Elijah Cummings; Carl Kline...; and the White House Counsel's office. Cummings subpoenaed Kline on April 2 for an interview with his committee staff. Kline and the White House agreed that he would not attend if he couldn't bring lawyers from the White House Counsel's office, arguing that the interview could involve material potentially covered by executive privilege. Cummings' team told Kline he could not bring lawyers from that office, so Kline and the White House decided he would not go to the interview. Cummings subsequently moved to hold Kline in contempt, paving the way to make him the first official held in contempt under the newly Democratic-controlled Congress. That's when [Jim] Jordan, the top Republican on the committee and a White House ally, stepped in. Earlier on Friday, he wrote a letter to Kline inviting him to come in for a voluntary interview, with White House lawyers on hand. Jordan said the invitation was meant to 'avoid unnecessary conflict' and 'de-escalate Chairman Cummings' orchestrated interbranch confrontation.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: People are not paying attention. In the past week, Trump not only has refused to recognize Congress as a co-equal branch of government with oversight duties, he also has suggested the Supreme Court is not a co-equal branch but a subsidiary that will bend to his wishes. He's going for it. It's interesting that with all the guards having left the White House, the snarling wrestler Jim Jordan has taken on the job of trying to stave off this coup de Trump. It seems possible that the Hand of Mitch is guiding the Blind Coach. Nobody knows better than Mitch that it's important to maintain a pretext of acting within the Constitution even as one defies it. And nobody is more likely to want to preserve the power of the Congress than is Mitch.
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The White House indicated late Friday it would make former security clearance boss Carl Kline available to interview with the House Oversight Committee on May 1, but only if his testimony is limited to 'policies and practices' of the security clearance process, a restriction that Democrats have previously complained is too narrow." (Mrs. McC: IOW, no questions about Jared & Ivanka.) "... if lawmakers opt to interview Kline and find his answers overly restricted, the committee could still seek to depose him, according to a source familiar with the process."
Frances Robles of the New York Times: "Slipped into the ... special counsel report on Russian interference in the 2016 election last week was a single sentence that caused a stir throughout the state [of Florida] and raised new questions about the vulnerability of the nation's electoral systems. Although the spearphishing attempt in Florida had first been brought to light nearly two years ago when The Intercept cited a secret National Security Agency report, state officials said they were certain no elections computers had been compromised. The Mueller report turned that assertion on its head. 'The F.B.I.,' it said, 'believes that this operation enabled the G.R.U. to gain access to the network of at least one Florida county government.'... In an interview on Friday, Senator Marco Rubio of Florida took it one step further, saying that Russian hackers not only accessed a Florida voting system, but were 'in a position' to change voter roll data.... Mr. Rubio said in the interview that there was, in fact, an intrusion, but the target or targets were never notified." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Thanks, YouTube! Drew Harwell & Craig Timberg of the Washington Post: "When the report by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III came out last week, offering the most authoritative account yet of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, YouTube recommended one video source hundreds of thousands of times to viewers seeking information, a watchdog says: RT, the global media operation funded by the Russian government. AlgoTransparency, founded by former YouTube engineer Guillaume Chaslot, analyzed the recommendations made by the 1,000 YouTube channels it tracks daily. The group found that 236 of those collectively recommended RT's 'On Contact: Russiagate & Mueller Report w/ Aaron Mate' more than 400,000 times. 'So YouTube's algorithm massively recommends Russia's take on the investigation into Russia';s interference in the 2016 election,' Chaslot tweeted Thursday night." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: The social networks & "free" public media like YouTube are far more irresponsible than we can ever know.
The No-Education President*. Kimberly Hefling of Politico: "... Donald Trump is expected to take a pass on handing out this year's National Teacher of the Year award honors -- forgoing a tradition that dates to President Harry Truman."
Marina Fang of the Huffington Post: "A Massachusetts judge was charged with obstruction of justice Thursday by federal prosecutors, who alleged she helped an undocumented immigrant escape an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent during a court hearing a year ago. Massachusetts District Judge Shelley Richmond Joseph allowed the unnamed immigrant to sneak out the Newton District Courthouse back door after she learned a plainclothes ICE agent was in the courthouse to arrest him, according to an indictment. Court officer Wesley MacGregor, who was accused of leading the man to the back door, also was charged with obstructing justice and with lying to a grand jury about whether he knew the ICE agent was there. The charges, brought by a U.S. attorney appointed by ... Donald Trump, show the Trump administration's continued war with local and state officials who resist the federal immigration crackdown. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey (D) was among those who condemned the charges, criticizing what she said was a 'radical and politically motivated attack on our state and the independence of our courts.' The charges violate 'a bedrock principle of our constitutional system that federal prosecutors should not recklessly interfere with the operation of state courts and their administration of justice,' Healey said in a statement." ...
... Mrs. McCrabbie: In an opinion piece so poorly-written it required a substantial rewrite I didn't have time to do, Leah Litman, writing in Slate, argues that the Massachusetts indictments show how, under Bill Barr, the DOJ "has become a political arm of the Trump administration.... All of the reasons Barr has previously cited for opposing an obstruction investigation against the president suggest the Department of Justice should not have brought obstruction charges against Joseph and MacGregor either."
Presidential Race 2020
Shira Tarlo of Salon, republished in the Raw Story: "Bills requiring prospective presidential candidates to disclose recent tax returns as a condition to appear on the ballot are currently pending in the following fourteen states: Arizona, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Similar legislation, introduced this year, failed in Maryland, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia. Despite a few exceptions, nearly all of the state bills that have been introduced would require candidates to post at least five years of their individual tax returns. In addition, virtually every state bill has been introduced by a Democratic lawmaker, an apparent reaction to Trump's decision to buck decades of tradition during the 2016 election cycle when he refused to release his tax returns."
Jane Mayer of the New Yorker, who with Jill Abramson wrote a book on Clarence Thomas's confirmation, recounts some of Joe Biden's failures during the hearings.
Ollie in Another Nice Mess. Michael Brice-Saddler of the Washington Post: "National Rifle Association president Oliver North has been ousted by the organization's board after an alleged extortion scheme within the group's highest-ranking officials came to light on Friday. The NRA's chief executive, Wayne LaPierre, wrote a letter to the board Thursday accusing North of plotting to remove him from the group by threatening to release to the board 'damaging' information about LaPierre. He claimed North, a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel perhaps best known for his role in the Iran-contra affair, was pressuring LaPierre to resign over alleged financial transgressions." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Betsy Woodruff: "Steve Hart, the longtime lawyer for the National Rifle Association board, has been suspended from that role, two people with knowledge of the move [said].... Hart represented the board for years, and his suspension came before [Oliver] North announced that he is stepping away from his leadership role at the organization after only six months on the job. The lawyer's ouster represents the departure of another senior, long-time NRA insider with detailed knowledge of the organization's troubles. And it comes as internal turmoil and sniping rocks the gun-rights group."
Medlar's Sport's Report, Ctd. Mike Barber of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "After winning the national championship, the Virginia basketball team won't be following the tradition of visiting the White House. 'We have received inquiries about a visit to the White House,' UVA coach Tony Bennett said in a statement the school released Friday. 'With several players either pursuing pro opportunities or moving on from UVA. it would be difficult, if not impossible to get everyone back together. We would have to respectfully decline an invitation.'... Sophomore forward De'Andre Hunter... retweeted the school's announcement, adding the words 'No Thanks Trump,' followed by two laughing emojis." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
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Reader Comments (9)
The story about YouTube's recommending an RT site to analyze the Mueller report reminds me of an incident I experience a couple of years ago.
I was in the process of packing up my Florida house. My neighbor called & said he was ready to come over to help. I was working on Reality Chex when he called, so naturally I had up several news sites. I shut down my work & went down to meet him, carrying my new smartphone, as I had cut the cord to my landlines.
He had his iPhone & asked me if I'd heard Queen Elizabeth had died. I said that didn't seem possible, as I'd just been reviewing the news & none of the media was reporting her death. But he showed me his Google search, & there were a bunch of sites, none of which I'd ever heard of, that said Elizabeth was dead. I thought he must frequent a bunch of crackpot sites to have those phony stories come up at the top of his search, so I Googled "Queen Elizabeth II" on my phone. It was probably the first time I'd used the phone to do a search. Sure enough, up popped three sites announcing the death of Elizabeth.
I was shocked, not by Elizabeth's death, which of course I didn't believe, but that Google used an algorithm that brought up fake news first.
Of course, anyone more credulous than I -- like my neighbor -- would believe the "news." So you can bet many of those 400K people who went to the RT site to find out what-all was in the Mueller report accepted the RT-sponsored "analysis."
If you never want to sit thru any part of Richard He's-Not-as-Bad-as-He-Sounds Wagner's Ring Cycle (or even if you do & can't figure out WTF is going on), Akhilleus has a great synopsis of the storyline at the end of yesterday's thread -- probably the first time the term "incel" was ever used to explain a Scandanavian myth. But apt.
Looks like yesterday I mixed up up Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan when writing about the the Cumming's-Kline affair, but as Reagan or someone once said, if you've seen one nut job, you've seen 'em all..
On to Sunday and the obligatory LTTE (again in lieu of a sermon), tried out here on RC first. (and which I see now needs a revision it won't get, since it looks like Kline will appear...but what the heck!)
"When Mr. Trump calls the press "the enemy of the people" I'm reminded of the Ibsen play of the same name.
In Ibsen’s ironically titled “Enemy of the People,” when its hero, Dr. Stockmann, threatens to reveal the contamination in the local spa, which is the centerpiece of the town’s economy, his determination to do what is right makes him an enemy of the local people.
Dr. Stockmann learned that expediency often speaks with a louder voice than truth, morality or justice. Nonetheless, he persisted.
Mr. Trump is Dr. Stockmann inside-out. Instead of valuing the truth, he hates it.
If the thousands of Trump lies weren’t enough evidence, his administration’s elimination from government documents of any fact or scientific finding that might interfere with corporate profits eerily mirrors Ibsen's plot (motherjones.com).
How about orders hidden from public view, like the family separation practice that continued until the press, Trump’s enemy number one, brought it to light?
Or the policy reversals occurring behind the scenes that cost the nation millions (hcn.org), weaken environmental regulations, and harm workers (vox.com) that we learn about only when affected states or citizens have their day in court?
Now Mr. Trump, who repeatedly misled the nation about how cooperative he was with the Mueller investigation (politifact.com), has said he will not comply with any subpoenas seeking information on his finances or business dealings. Nor will he turn over his tax returns.
He has also prohibited present and former staffers from testifying at any hearing the House conducts, most recently the official who set aside genuine security concerns to grant security clearances to Jared Kushner and more than twenty others.
Could it be that Mr. Trump is hiding something?
In Ibsen’s play Dr. Stockmann was not the enemy.
In the national tragedy Trump is writing, truth and truthtellers are."
Other than the news, a beaufiful day here in the Northwest.
@Ken Winkes: Great minds think alike, as we know. Ron Chernow, in his speech to the White House correspondents, mentioned Ibsen's play in more-or-less the same context you did.
Enjoyed thoroughly Chernow's speech–-as a stand-in for a comedian, he soared above. Ron must have read Ken's piece the other day when he wrote about "The Enemy of the People."
Last night watched "Vice"–-the Adam McKay film about Cheney. It brought back all the gut churning during that period. I came away not entirely satisfied with how the film depicted some of the history during that time and found the narrator thing unnecessary and distracting but overall found it worth watching. Here is an interview Isacc Chotiner has with McKay that is most interesting and so well done. There is a very funny bit when McKay uses "i.e." incorrectly and is cleverly corrected by Chotiner and is then brought up again later in an even funnier finish.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/adam-mckay-on-the-veracity-of-vice
And something else that's even funnier if one can look at it that way is at the same time Chernow was lifting reportage up where it belongs, Trump was in Greenbay ( a place I lived in for a few years) tearing this same reportage down in the ground, then stomping on it with his fascist boot.
"America has always been a work in progress."
Nice to hear I'm now in elevated company, I guess.
After this morning's revelations I do feel compelled to listen to Winkes whisperer Chernow's address, though up to now I have deliberately kept a skeptical distance from him since his whitewash of Hamilton.
From what I understand, for those who like accurate history his Grant bio was better.
'Translation: it’s always the cover-up that gets ‘em.'
Unless you are Trump and commit most of your crimes in broad daylight with numerous witnesses.
Whatever happened to all the "adults" in the room. I haven't heard a peep out of McMaster, Mattis, or Kelly since they left the Trump administration. I can't think of a single official who worked for Trump and saw what it was like first hand come out and say that Trump needs to be stopped. A few have called him a moron, but that's it. The Mueller report said that the Trump campaign was warned about the Russians. They met with the Russians. They encouraged the Russians. And they used the Russian's dirt to win the election. This is on top of Trump telling everyone around him to ignore the law. Being accused by the federal government of directing a felony. Taking money from foreign governments. But not one of these guys has the balls or patriotism to come out and call for Trump's impeachment. It would have a little more force coming from someone who was on the inside. They see him trampling the constitution, but remain silent. I thought the military guys were all about protecting our freedoms, not enabling their demise.
Not all falling cranes and random death in WA State.
Some good news:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/4/15/1850402/-So-Washington-State-just-passed-a-full-blown-Public-Option-while-no-one-was-watching
Go thou and do likewise...