;)
The Commentariat -- August 31, 2015
Internal links removed.
Elections Matter. Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "With little fanfare, the Obama administration has been pursuing an aggressive campaign to restore protections for workers that have been eroded by business activism, conservative governance and the evolution of the economy in recent decades. In the last two months alone, the administration has introduced a series of regulatory changes. Among them: a rule that would make millions more Americans eligible for extra overtime pay, and a guidance suggesting that many employers are misclassifying workers as contractors and therefore depriving them of basic workplace protections.... A little more than a week ago, a federal appeals panel affirmed an earlier regulation granting nearly 2 million previously exempted home care workers minimum wage and overtime protections. And on Thursday, President Obama's appointees to the National Labor Relations Board issued an important ruling that makes it easier for employees of contractors and franchises to bargain collectively with the corporations that have sway over their operations."
Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "President Obama in Anchorage on Monday will announce the renaming of Mount McKinley, honoring the 25th president, to Mount Denali, an Athabascan name used by generations of Alaska Natives that means 'the great one.' The White House said Obama would rename the continent's tallest peak in order to improve relations with Native Americans. As a central part of the Athabascan creation story, Denali carries cultural importance to many Alaska Natives."...
Maria La Ganga of the Los Angeles Times on Kivalina, Alaska: "This is what climate change looks like, up close and personal. In this town of 403 residents 83 miles above the Arctic Circle, beaches are disappearing, ice is melting, temperatures are rising, and the barrier reef Kivalina calls home gets smaller and smaller with every storm. There is no space left to build homes for the living. The dead are now flown to the mainland so the ocean won't encroach upon their graves. Most here agree that the town should be relocated; where, when and who will pay for it are the big questions. The Army Corps of Engineers figures Kivalina will be underwater in the next decade or so."
Nahal Toosi of Politico: "Dozens of former members of Congress want lawmakers on the job to know they sympathize with the stress they feel over the Iran nuclear deal, but that they should vote for it anyway. The message is contained in the latest in a slew of letters being sent to Congress by both opponents and supporters of the nuclear deal ahead of the mid-September vote. It warns that the risks of scuttling the agreement 'include the increased likelihood of a military confrontation.'... Notable signatories include former Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a Republican who has long been active in promoting nuclear non-proliferation, and former Sen. George Mitchell of Maine, a Democrat who served as a special envoy to the Middle East."
Nick Gass of Politico: "Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley on Sunday announced his support for the Iran nuclear deal, becoming the 31st Democratic senator to back President Barack Obama on the issue. Just two Senate Democrats have come out against the deal -- New York Sen. Chuck Schumer and New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez. Just three more senators are needed in the Senate to sustain any veto of a resolution of disapproval." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Julian Hattem of the Hill: "The father of one of the journalists murdered live on the air in southwest Virginia is pledging to keep up a sustained fight to enact new gun restrictions. 'I am going to be working on this for a long time,' Andy Parker, whose 24-year-old daughter Alison, was shot to death last week while reporting on camera, said on CNN's 'State of the Union.'"
Steve M. notices that two NYT columnists -- Ross Douthat & Maureen Dowd -- look at Donald Trump and see "a reflection of themselves! Funny how that works." CW: It's also evidence of brilliant politics. Voters looked at Barack Obama the same way. Sadly, it took him five or six years to give more than a hint of the guy I thought he was. He wasted all of his first term making nice with the scum on Capitol Hill, & he's still being pretty damned nice to the dirty rats of Wall Street. ...
Presidential Race
** Paul Krugman: "... those predicting Mr. Trump's imminent political demise are ignoring the lessons of recent history, which tell us that poseurs [like Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Scott Walker & Bobby Jindal] with a knack for public relations can con the public for a very long time. Someday The Donald will have his Katrina moment, when voters see him for who he really is. But don't count on it happening any time soon."
George Packer's "Comment" in this week's New Yorker compares & contrasts the populism of Donald Trump & Bernie Sanders. CW: I don't think Packer gets what populism is. How can it be "populist" to pit one large segment of the population against another? Populism must have broad appeal, & that's what Sanders offers; moreover, he has workable ideas on how to achieve some of the public's goals. He is not ashamed to be a politician & he believes popular leaders can undo the influence of wealthy elites on political hacks. Although Trump has some achievable goals -- likely fairly taxing hedge funds -- his appeal is in reinforcing the fears & bigotry of poor & middle-class white people. Trump actually wants to eradicate (deport) one huge group of people. For the most part, he is as naive in his own way as Obama was when he ascended to the presidency & thought he could "reason" with Republicans. Both Trump & Obama think/thought they could persuade kept politicians to repudiate their elite owners. ...
... Paul Rosenberg in Salon (August 16), does a better job, IMO, of describing the ideological differences between Sanders & Trump: where Sanders is a true populist, Rosenberg argues, Trump bends toward fascism.
Niall Stanage of the Hill: "Donald Trump tops The Hill's rankings of 2016 GOP candidates for the first time, as the race cranks up to a new level of intensity with debate season underway. Trump has utterly transformed the race, challenging conventional wisdom every step of the way. The Hill did not even rank Trump when we first assessed the field in May, and he came in eighth in our most recent version in early July. Ohio Gov. John Kasich has also risen sharply, from tenth place to third. Meanwhile, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee have all slid downward."
Like Democrats in 2007 who looked for their savior in Barack Obama, Republicans in 2015 seem to be looking for their savior in Trump. -- Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register
That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the difference between Democratic & Republican voters. -- Constant Weader
Peter Beinart of the Atlantic (August 28): "Calling Trump a bigot misses the point. It implies that he has genuine convictions. He's an opportunist using bigotry to feed his megalomania." CW: This rings true. It's why it is not a contradiction for Trump to say he'll "deport all the illegals" & at the same time claim, "I love Mexicans." It's why he could simultaneously embrace the ridiculous, racist birther movement & tout his "good relationship with the blacks." In Trump's view, everybody is a pawn to be gamed. If he has to lose some pawns to win his game, so be it.
Once we've secured the border, once we've proven we can do this, once we've stopped the Obama administration's policy of releasing 104,000 violent criminal illegal aliens in one year. -- Sen. Ted Cruz, interview on Fox News, Aug. 25
Cruz is combining two other statistics: convicted criminal aliens from detention who were awaiting the outcome of deportation proceedings, and deportable aliens released under the administration's guidelines for 'prosecutorial discretion.'... [Cruz's numbers] add up to slightly more than 104,000, but it also mixes up two years.... Cruz's statistic falls apart with the emphasis on 'violent criminals.' The percentage of violent criminals among the 68,000 who were released is unclear, but said to be relatively small. The detailed list of 30,000 released from detention turns up relatively few who actually were charged with violent crimes. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
Whatever Happened to Scottie? Dan Balz & Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: Scott "Walker's backers see a campaign discombobulated by Trump's booming popularity and by his provocative language on immigration, China and other issues. They see in Walker a candidate who -- in contrast to the discipline he showed in state races -- continues to commit unforced errors, either out of lack of preparation or in an attempt to grab for part of the flamboyant businessman's following. These supporters say ... there also needs to be a clear acknowledgment inside the campaign that the governor has yet to put to rest questions about his readiness to handle the problems and unexpected challenges that confront every president." CW: Maybe these "backers" should also acknowledge that their candidate is a dunce & a nasty piece of work. ...
... Scott Walker says he's "looking 'em [-- voters, that is --] in the eye & telling 'em what I'm going to do" because that's the kind of "leadership' "Americans want." So it's a little hard to understand why he's too skeert to give a straight "leadership" answer on birthright citizenship. ...
Crazy Immigration Idea o' the Day. Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is open to the idea of building a wall along America's northern border with Canada, he said on Sunday. Given that the northern border poses a potential risk for terrorists to bleed into the U.S., the Republican presidential candidate said that he would not rule out a wall to increase security there. 'That is a legitimate issue for us to look at,' Walker said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.'" CW: Hey, at least it would create a honking-big jobs stimulus for the next 20 years. Meanwhile, can't we just immediately incarcerate anyone who speaks with a suspected Quebecois accent? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Crazy Clinton Slam o' the Day. Mark Hensch of the Hill: "With Hillary Clinton, it just seems to be one scandal after another,' [Bobby Jindal] told host Martha Raddatz on ABC's 'This Week.' 'She's literally one email away from going to jail,' Jindal said. 'What I fear is that maybe we'll have to go to the Chinese and the Russians to actually see her emails.'" CW: Literally one email? I think it must be that one where she did a blast-mailing of the nuclear codes.
Standard-Issue Clinton Slam: Mark Hensch: Chris "Christie argued on Sunday that [Hillary] Clinton's actions as secretary of State flaunted her disregard for the laws governing transparency and national security. He added that she is now presenting a haughty attitude.... 'The worst part about this is her arrogance,' Christie said.... 'This is not royalty in the United States,' he said, referring to Clinton as 'queen.' 'This is not a familial ascendancy.' 'She's wiped away tens of thousands of emails that have relevant information because she feels entitled to do that,' Christie added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Senator Jeanne Shaheen, the popular Democrat from New Hampshire and the first woman to be elected senator and governor in the state, will publicly endorse Hillary Rodham Clinton next Saturday, Mrs. Clinton's campaign said."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The roiling controversy over Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state looks likely to intensify Monday with the State Department set to release the largest batch of her messages made public thus far."
Julian Hattem: "Sen. Bernie Sanders is arguing that his record makes him the best qualified presidential candidate to push through new limits on guns. Despite criticism that the independent Vermonter has been to the right of many liberals on gun rules, Sanders said on CNN's 'State of the Union' that he is best positioned to negotiate new restrictions preventing mentally ill people from acquiring weapons.... 'In fact, coming from a rural state that has almost no gun control, I think I can get beyond the noise and all of these arguments and people shouting at each other and come up with real constructive gun control legislation which, most significantly, gets guns out of the hands of people who should not have them,' he said."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Former Gov. Marvin Mandel, whose record of modernizing Maryland's state government was overshadowed by a messy divorce and a fraud conviction for helping associates profit from a racetrack deal, died on Sunday in St. Mary's County, Md. He was 95." While in office, he left his wife for another woman. Of the other woman, whom Mandel married, his first wife Bootsie asked, "How can she be a first lady when she isn't a lady first?" ...
... The Washington Post obituary is here. The Baltimore Sun's obituary is here.
NBC News: "Dr. Wayne Dyer, the self-help guru whose best-seller 'Your Erroneous Zones' was adopted by millions as a guide to better living, has died at 75, his family and publisher said Sunday."
New York Times: "Wes Craven, a master of horror cinema and a proponent of the slasher genre best known for creating the Freddy Krueger and 'Scream' franchises, died on Sunday at his home in Los Angeles."
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Reader Comments (18)
"As a central part of the Athabascan creation story, Denali carries cultural importance to many Alaska Natives."...
Is Athabascan Creation Science a mandatory part of the curriculum in Alaskan public schools? What does Sarah Palin have to say about this? Does the Native American population of Texas not have creation stories? Is the Texas Board of Education aware of them?
Will either explain how a Semitic tribe in the Eastern Mediterranean 4000 years ago knew more about Earth's formation than Native American tribes of the same era?
Inquiring minds want to know.
@D.C.Clark: According to the Alaska Daily Dispatch, "Every year, the same story plays out in Washington, D.C.: Alaska legislators sometimes file bills to change the name from Mount McKinley to Denali, and every year, someone in the Ohio congressional delegation -- the home state of the 25th President William McKinley -- files legislation to block a name change.
"Members of Alaska's congressional delegation said they were happy with the action.
"'I’d like to thank the president for working with us to achieve this significant change to show honor, respect, and gratitude to the Athabascan people of Alaska,' Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said in a video statement recorded on the Ruth Glacier below the mountain."
Marie
Hi Marie,
I wonder how many Ohioans know more about the McKinley administration than they do about Athabascan creation stories.
BTW, do you know why Ohio is Rick Perry's favorite State?
It's because he can spell it.
The Denali/McKinley name game points up, albeit in a micro sort of way, an essential hypocrisy of Confederate ideology, namely, the whole states' rights canard.
As with many of their banner issues, states' rights is only dragged onstage when it suits their purpose. If it were as fundamental to a right-wing world view as they claim, a state like Alaska would be able to control the naming of such an important landmark without being stymied by preening pols who live 4,000 miles away and have never so much as touched toe to tundra.
The states' rights gambit is employed ad nauseam whenever wingers wish to gleefully skate around some federal law. What's the difference between some governmental department telling Alaskans what they can and can't do and a gaggle of officious Ohioans?
States only have rights when wingers say they can have them or when they approve of the use of those rights. Taking the name of a white, Republican president from Ohio off the mountain top and giving it instead some funny native name is NOT an approved use of states' rights.
Whiners in Ohio are calling this a "political stunt"GOP as if imposing a nom de montagne of a Republican politician had zero political provenance.
My other favorite whine is this:
"'Mount McKinley ... has held the name of our nation's 25th President for over 100 years,' Rep. Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio, said in a statement. 'This landmark is a testament to his countless years of service to our country.'"
First, I'm pretty sure the number of years of William McKinley's service are not "countless". Even Methuselah didn't make it to "countless". Second, as with so many other things, Confederate solipsism carries the day. So the mountain has borne the McKinley name for 100 years? And how about the several thousand years it was known as "Denali" by the region's natives before ol' Bill met his untimely demise? I guess that doesn't count.
But then again, it never does.
But the biggest problem they have with this whole affair is another funny name:
Obama. Which, in some native tongue or other, means he who sticks large objects up Confederate asses.
Trump will keep telling them as long as the media reports his nonsense with a straight face, Given the laughter and ridicule he deserves, Trump will join Huey Long in the history books. We should be making fun of Trump, not considering him for a minute as a possible President.
Two and a half million bus loads of undocumented immigrants if they only have carry on luggage will get them home. I can only guess what the impact of three or four million jobs going with them. Of course, ten million people spend a lot of money staying alive. Does the Donald have a plan to bail out the banks again?
There should be some punishment for making inane statements that ridicule all but Trump.
Scott Walker's Wall; All Scott needs to do is watch for anyone who
asks for gravy on their french fries and he'll know they've spent
some time in Canada. Also we share a border through the middle
of 4 of the Great Lakes. Floating walls? I think we need a wall
around Scott Walker and a few other dummies.
@Forrest Morris: Don't forget Alaska! Definitely need to build a wall along the Canadian-Alaskan border to keep those Canadian terrorists off Mount
McKinleyDenali. This wall thing is going to be the greatest jobs project since the Interstate highways. Think what it will do for Detroit!Marie
@Akhilleus: Ohioans should just name the highest point in Ohio after President McKinley if they're so all-fond of him. It's called Campbell Hill, according to the Googles, & its elevation is 1,550 feet.
It's named after a guy named Charles Campbell who sold it off, so he couldn't have cared for it that much. Conveeeniently, it's now owned by the U.S. government, so there should be no problem. Unless Lisa Murkowski puts a hold on renaming it.
Thanks for pointing out how that ass of an Ohio congressman felt perfectly comfortable in dismissing the thousand-plus years the Native Americans called it Denali on accounta a white guy named it Mount McKinley a little over a hundred years ago. The name, BTW, was somewhat accidental. "In 1896, a gold prospector named it McKinley as political support for then-presidential candidate William McKinley, who became president the following year. The United States formally recognized the name Mount McKinley after President Wilson signed the Mount McKinley National Park Act of February 26, 1917." -- Wikipedia
Marie
Forrest,
Floatin' walls? Dern toot'n. And don't fergit the submarine nets. Dem Canucks is crafty divils.
Like Donald sez: "It's just management." Git 'er done! We's Amerkin's by Gawd.
Let's wall off Canada.
Brilliant. Just fucking brilliant. This is the sort of "solution" stoner kids would come up between hits. "Hey man, we could like put up a big wall and shit. It'd be awesome dude!"
Instead, we find that it's the brainchild of a candidate for high office. President, no less.
Marie, comparing supporters of opportunistic confidence man Donald Trump and Barack Obama writes: "That pretty much tells you all you need to know about the difference between Democratic & Republican voters."
But the ascendancy of Trumpy the Trumpet also says a lot about the astonishing weakness of all the other candidates. In truth, there is no one of any substance, not a single one is worth the powder to blow them to hell as my mother used to say.
We have idiots, posers, fakers, frauds, fools, religious nutjobs, con men, and then there's Scott Walker. A charlatan, a dimwit, and a coward.
This is the best Confederates have? I suppose an illegitimate, fraudulent, and hypocritical ideology is not going to guarantee outstanding candidates with serious intellectual chops and a grounding in moral and ethical behavior, but Christ, this bunch isn't the bottom of the barrel. They're the slugs underneath the barrel.
And the fact that most of them are so opposed to education is no surprise. Scott Walker who just took $150 million away from the state's education system and handed it to buddies who want him to build them a basketball court, is a perfect example of an uneducated boob. He wants to build a wall, eh? To keep out the Mexicans and now the Canadians? Let's see, how 'bout a little history?
Now who else built a great wall to keep people out?
Oh, yeah. China. Did it work? Not really. It never stopped a variety of serious invaders. Others simply went around it. And once, a Chinese general weighed the odds on an imminent attack, switched sides, opened the door and in walked the invading hordes. So much for the Great Wall. "Oh", say Scott Walker's supporters, the few who finished high school, "...but that was a looooong time ago." Okay then. How about the Maginot Line?
I think it took the Nazis all of half an hour to roll over that speed bump. I think the French also forgot about planes. Yeah. Walls aren't much good with those things. Maybe Scotty hasn't thought about that either.
But hey, it sounds good. Let's try it again. We'll give it the old college try. Besides, there no other vital issues before the public right now. Let's build walls everywhere! Walls, guns, racism, and misogyny.
A veritable Confederate paradise.
No problem with the Denali name change (as has been said, climbers and many Left Coast folks have been calling it that for years) but do think McKinley was a better President for his time than many today give him credit for. He was certainly no Harding, and tho' remembered for his association with Mark Hanna, the Big Money man of his time, he was admired by many who knew him, and as I remember, launched the U.S. on its imperialist course only reluctantly.
It was his vice-President who liked to brag about his own big stick. Have often wondered if he had not been assassinated (for which, if nothing else, he deserves some distinct and honorable mention in the history books, if not not on our landscape) how that whole Panama Canal thing would have worked out.
I would guess we'd have had a Nicaragua canal instead.
@Marie and @Akhilleus Any hope that the "countless" Reagan names might eventually be removed? For example, with all due respect for the late President Reagan, I have always liked the simple airport name, Washington National. The website of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, indicates that on February 6, 1998 President Clinton signed into law a bill changing this simple, national, and rational, name to its current five word long handle.
As for the north and south walls, I have not yet read anything about naming these walls. Fortunately Andy Borowitz is tracking developments.
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report)—"As the United States’ bridges, roads, and other infrastructure dangerously deteriorate from decades of neglect, there is a mounting sense of urgency that it is time to build a giant wall."
NewYorker@newsletter.newyorker.com
Islander,
I think we have a pretty good idea what the Great Wall of Mexico might look like:
http://a57.foxnews.com/global.fncstatic.com/static/managed/img/876/493/trump-tower-cropped-internal.jpg?ve=1&tl=1
BTW, as a native and lifelong resident of the area, I can tell you that NOBODY calls DCA Reagan. To us it's always 'National'.
Walker had to do something short of naked mud wrestling on Oprah to bring some attention to himself. When I heard about the Canadian wall, I knew he was a fan of "Escape from Alcatraz" and Snake Plissken. Lord knows, bad movies and the Saturday morning cartoons are his primary source of ideas. He's Scooby Doo's doppleganger and a true mow-Ron. Wow, can you imagine being one of his offspring.
Islander,
I've always marveled at the irony of renaming an airport, in the nation's capital of all places, after a guy who made air travel eminently more dangerous.
Why not name a few law schools after Nixon or an institute of higher learning after The Decider (aka Doofus I)? Maybe rename some religious orders as well. How about changing the Little Sisters of the Poor to Little Sisters of the Kochs?
As for naming opportunities for the walls, I think you're on to something. I can see corporate logos plastering the walls like NASCAR vehicles. I'm guessing that Trump would put the logos on the non-American side to let those people know all the great stuff they could have if only they weren't rapists and terrorists.
Another international coup.
Diane,
Watch yourself. Only his friends call him Snake.
Oh, and hey, I hadn't thought of this, but has Walker said whether the Keystone XL pipeline will go through the wall, over the wall, or under the wall? OR....he could have the pipeline go around the wall. Yeah, that might work. It could run alongside the Walker Wall all the way to the Pacific (or the Atlantic, whatever) then go out into the ocean a few miles, then back again and all the way back along the Walker Wall on the other side, take another turn and continue its run down to Texas or the Kochs' cellar or wherever the hell it's supposed to go.
It's a real responsibility being that smart. Not just anyone can do it, that's for sure.
Akhilleus,
Since you had to bring up the irony of Reagan's name on an airport -- I'm afraid it's story time again:
My cousin Dan was one of the Air Traffic Controllers fired by the RayGun. He was later one of the first to be re-hired by the FAA, where he eventually rose to a Senior Executive Service position. It was Dan who, standing in his office in L'Enfant Plaza, looking across the river at the Pentagon on 9/11, transmitted the order to ground every non-military aircraft in North America.
Irony abounds.