;)
The Commentariat -- Dec. 27, 2012
Cliff Notes
Lori Montgomery & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "... President Obama and members of the Senate are headed back to Washington on Thursday to take one last shot at a deal to protect taxpayers and the gathering economic recovery.... The Republican-controlled House last week abdicated responsibility for resolving the crisis, leaving all eyes on the Senate. But senior aides in both parties said Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have not met or even spoken since leaving town for the weekend.... House GOP leaders ... vowed Wednesday to call the House into session and stage a vote on anything the Democratic-controlled Senate approved."
Annie Lowrey of the New York Times (at 4:28 pm ET): "On Wednesday, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner wrote a letter to Congress informing it that the United States would hit its $16.4 trillion borrowing limit on Dec. 31."
Mark Felsenthal of Reuters: "As President Barack Obama cut short a Christmas vacation to resume talks to avoid the 'fiscal cliff' of automatic year-end tax hikes and spending cuts, the White House on Wednesday called on congressional Republicans not to stand in the way of a resolution in the U.S. Congress."
** Dean Baker in Al Jazeera: "Why are we debating cuts to Social Security?"
That Norm Ornstein really knows how to think outside the box. In a Washington Post op-ed, he suggests that should Speaker Boehner not be re-elected to his post, the House should go outside Congress to find a speaker. "Article I, Section 2: The Constitution does not say that the speaker of the House has to be a member of the House. In fact, the House can choose anybody a majority wants to fill the post." Ornstein suggests Jon Huntsman. Yeah. Any other suggestions? I'd pick Dick Armey; he used to the House Majority Leader AND when he busts into places, he brings a guy with a gun. Other than that, he a sweetheart. ...
... Speaking of Armed-and-Dangerous Armey, I missed Paul Krugman's take on Armey's bizarre coup at FreedomWorks: "The problem, clearly, is that despite its Tea Party status, FreedomWorks had failed to implement the security measures libertarians have been recommending for schools. If only the staff had been carrying concealed weapons, and those not armed had been trained to launch human wave attacks on gunmen, none of this would have happened, right?"
Becky Bohrer of the AP: "Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz of Hawaii was appointed Wednesday to succeed the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. Gov. Neil Abercrombie announced the appointment after receiving a list of three candidates from the state Democratic Party earlier in the day. The other candidates were U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa and Esther Kiaaina, a deputy director in the state Department of Land and Natural Resources. Inouye died Dec. 17 of respiratory complications at the age of 88. He had sent Abercrombie a letter that day, saying he would like Hanabusa, 61, to succeed him." ...
... Jeremy Peters has the New York Times story here.
James Besser in a New York Times op-ed: the type of extremism we see in the Republican party & in the NRA "is once again on display as the pro-Israel right, including groups like the Emergency Committee for Israel, mounts a furious campaign against the potential nomination of the former Republican senator Chuck Hagel to be secretary of defense.... Mainstream Jewish groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the American Jewish Committee..., have been driven into silence and submission by a radical fringe that in no way represents the American Jewish mainstream.... With wealthy, far-right contributors calling the shots, Jewish groups are constantly lowering the bar for what is considered 'Israel-bashing,' risking turning supporters of the Jewish state into adversaries.... And, in the long run, that can only damage the interests of a vulnerable Israel." ...
... Connie Bruck of the New Yorker has a rundown of some of Hagel's enemies. Like, um, the Republican party.
New York Times Editors: "In its bizarre response last week to the shootings in Newtown, Conn., the National Rifle Association heaped blame on 'vicious, violent video games' for corrupting young Americans and called them the 'filthiest form of pornography.' As it turns out, many of those very games have marketing relationships with the makers of firearms and ammunition, which are also big financial supporters of the N.R.A., through deals that appear to be designed to increase sales of their deadly wares." ...
... Here's the backstory by New York Times reporters Barry Meier & Andrew Martin. ...
... Paul Rosenberg, in an Al Jazeera op-ed, employs John Locke to demonstrate how the NRA misunderstands "freedom" -- which it equates with guns -- and the utility of government and the social contract. CW: philosophical discussions aside, what really drives the NRA is money from gun manufacturers. Thanks to Victoria R. for the link.
... Paul Foy of the AP: "More than 200 Utah teachers are expected to pack a convention hall on Thursday for six hours of concealed-weapons training as organizers seek to arm more educators in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting. The Utah Shooting Sports Council said it normally gathers a dozen teachers every year for instruction that's required to legally carry a concealed weapon in public places. The state's leading gun lobby decided to offer teachers the training at no charge to encourage turnout, and it worked." ...
... Jonathan Lloyd & Ted Chen of KNBC-TV Los Angeles: "So many Angelenos turned in their handguns, rifles and assault weapons on Wednesday as part of a buyback program that offered gift cards in exchange for firearms that the LAPD had to replenish its supply of gift cards by $25,000. The city has conducted the gun buybacks since 2009. Nearly 8,000 guns have been surrendered through the program, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Since 2009, violent crimes, gang crimes, and the number of people shot have all gone down by a third, according to the LAPD.... The buyback usually occurs in May, but the event was rescheduled in the wake of the shooting deaths of 20 schoolchildren and six adult staffmembers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn." ...
... David Goodman of the New York Times: "A newspaper's interactive map listing the names and addresses of gun permit holders in two New York counties has drawn a gathering avalanche of outrage this week. As word spread across social media, thousands left comments expressing disbelief and anger at the map, compiled from publicly available information on handgun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland Counties and published online over the weekend by The Journal News, a newspaper based in White Plains and owned by the Gannett Company." ...
... Linda Greenhouse: Since Mitch McConnell asked the NRA to oppose her nomination & score the Senate's votes on Sonia Sotomayor's confirmation to the Supreme Court, Republican support for Democratic nominees has "melted away." Sotomayor got only 7 GOP votes; Elena Kagan got only 5. Neither had any record of opposing gun use. "... the N.R.A. has begun to involve itself in lower court nominations as well, where it can work its will in the shadows.... It is totally unacceptable for the N.R.A. ... to be calling the tune on judicial nominations for an entire political party."
AP: "Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor on Wednesday denied a request to block part of the federal health care law that requires employee health-care plans to provide insurance coverage for the morning-after pill and similar emergency contraception pills. Hobby Lobby Stores and a sister company, Mardel Inc., sued the government, claiming the mandate violates the religious beliefs of its owners.... Sotomayor said the stores fail to satisfy the demanding legal standard for blocking the requirement on an emergency basis. She said the companies may continue their challenge to the regulations in the lower courts."
Greg Miller & Julie Tate of the Washington Post: "... the CIA's Global Response Staff, an innocuously named organization that has recruited hundreds of former U.S. Special Forces operatives to serve as armed guards for the agency's spies..., is designed to stay in the shadows, training teams to work undercover and provide an unobtrusive layer of security for CIA officers in high-risk outposts."
Keith Bradsher & Charles Duhigg of the Washington Post: pressed by Apple, "Foxconn, China's largest private employer, pledged to sharply curtail workers' hours and significantly increase wages -- reforms that, if fully carried out next year as planned, could create a ripple effect that benefits tens of millions of workers across the electronics industry, employment experts say.... The changes also extend to California, where Apple is based.... Despite those reforms, however, worker advocates inside Apple and with outside groups say the electronics industry's problems will not genuinely diminish until Apple -- the world's most valuable company -- starts filling a public leadership role...." CW: These reforms came about largely because of a series of damning reports Bradsher & Duhigg wrote last year.
Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post has an informative piece on what changes will take place under ObamaCare in 2013.
Greggers' Arsenel. Katie Glueck of Politico: "NBC was told by the Washington police that it was 'not permissible' to show a high-capacity gun magazine on air before Sunday's 'Meet the Press,' according to a statement Wednesday from the cops." ...
... TMZ: "An official from the D.C. police told a member of the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that David Gregory COULD display a high capacity magazine on "Meet the Press" Sunday.... It appears "Meet the Press" may have gotten 2 different answers from law enforcement." ...
... "Free David Gregory." Dylan Byers of Politico: "The Wall Street Journal [right-wing] editorial board is dismissing right-wing calls for David Gregory's indictment as 'entirely nonsensical,' reflecting the widely-held belief that the investigation involving the 'Meet The Press' is not a legitimate use of law enforcement's time."
More than 81,000 anti-First Amendment people have signed a petition to the White House, asking the government to "immediately deport" CNN host Piers Morgan, who is British, for his pro-gun control remarks. Now Prachi Gupta of Salon reports, "A new petition called 'Keep Piers Morgan in the USA' has emerged:
We want to keep Piers Morgan in the USA. There are two very good reasons for this. Firstly, the first amendment. Second and the more important point. No one in the UK wants him back. Actually there is a third. It will be hilarious to see how loads of angry Americans react.
Local News
Neil DeMause in Slate: "Fewer than 4,000 adults in [Georgia] receive welfare, even as poverty is soaring. How Georgia declared war on its poorest citizens -- leaving them to fight for themselves."
Jillian Rayfield of Salon: "Arizona's Attorney General Tom Horne, R, has proposed a program to train and arm one school employee as a way to prevent another shooting like the one in Newtown, Conn. In a statement Wednesday, Horne said that the 'ideal solution' would be to have an armed police officer in each school, but 'budget considerations' make that unfeasible."
Jonathan Martin: Kate Madison's little friend Ken Cuccinelli, who was a jerk as a child, is now a big jerk & the right-wing's transvaginal attorney general of Virginia. Luckily for little Kenny, in his upcoming race for governor, he'll likely be running against another big jerk, Democrat Terry McAuliffe. CW: are these losers really the best Virginians can do?
Right Wing World
Steve Kornacki of Salon: "... think of the Tea Party less as a movement and more as a mindset, it's as strong and relevant as ever.... The Tea Party essentially gave a name to a phenomenon we've seen before in American politics -- fierce, over-the-top resentment of and resistance to Democratic presidents by the right.... the Tea Party movement [now] represent[s] a two-front war -- one a conventional one against the Democratic president, and the other a new one against any 'impure' Republicans." By performing a purity test on all Republican candidates, the Tea Party "spirit now rules the Republican Party."
Charles Blow: statistically, Republicans think their lives suck. CW Solution: become a Democrat.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Gen. H. Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the American-led forces that crushed Iraq in the 1991 Persian Gulf war and became the nation's most acclaimed military hero since the midcentury exploits of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Douglas MacArthur, died on Thursday in Tampa, Fla. He was 78."
New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin said Thursday that he would sign into law a bill banning adoptions of Russian children by American citizens, retaliating against a new American law that seeks to punish human rights abuses in Russia and dealing a serious blow to bilateral relations after a year in which ties have become increasingly strained."
AP: "The death toll from a powerful winter storm that pushed through the nation's midsection into the Northeast has risen to 9.... The storm is expected to drop one to two feet of snow on parts of the Northeast, a day after it dumped a record snowfall in Arkansas and ruined holiday travel plans around the region."
New York Times: "... dockworkers are ... threatening a strike beginning Sunday that would shut seaports from Massachusetts to Texas. It would be the first such coastwide strike since a two-month walkout in 1977 paralyzed the flow of tens of billions of dollars of imports -- and the nation's retailers and other businesses fear a painful replay if the 14,500 dockworkers make good on their threats."
New York Times: "The international envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, on a mission to Damascus seeking an end to the escalating civil conflict in Syria, said Thursday that a transitional government should be granted full executive powers until President Bashar al-Assad's term ends in 2014."
New York Times: "Appealing for unity after the bitter debate over the charter, which was finalized by his Islamist allies over the objections of opposition parties and the Coptic Christian Church, [Egyptian President Mohamed] Morsi pledged in a televised address to respect the one-third of voters who cast ballots against it.... But Mr. Morsi offered no concrete concessions, and he did not acknowledge any specific errors...."
Reuters: "The Pakistani Taliban have outlined conditions for a ceasefire, including the adoption of Islamic law and a break with the United States, a spokesman said Thursday, an offer a senior government official described as 'preposterous'. The Taliban, in a letter sent to the Pakistan daily The News, also demanded that Pakistan stop its involvement in the war pitting Afghan insurgents against the Kabul government and refocus on a war of 'revenge' against India."
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Comments RCool...(most of the time)
...love the site, 1st thing I see in the morning, almost the last thing I check @ night! Please don't quit us!
And have a supergreat new years, y'all!
Pretty good short film depicting Man's time on Earth. Not far from reality, minus the invading aliens....
http://vimeo.com/56093731
Re: We've got your back; pocket, that is. Dean Baker spells it out for those that need simple explanations for serious matters like myself. Congress is looking out for Congress. Que surprise!
The Greenhouse piece this morning offers further proof of the cowardly depths to which the gutless poltroons in the Republican Party will bow in order to escape the wrath of the NRA.
But just who the hell are these people anyway? The only real power the NRA has is the power they are handed by such cowards as Mitch McConnell. They're like gangsters running a protection racket and like criminal enterprises who operate off the fear and cowardice, they can be broken by a small group of aggressive insurgents who decide enough is enough. It would only take a few who can stand undaunted by the threats and smears of this particular protection racket to break its death grip on American politics. They have decided that their rights, their greed, and their need for power trumps those of all other Americans.
The only problem is we're talking about the Republican Party, a party to which you can't be elected anymore UNLESS you're already a gutless sack of shit.
Some smart political operator out there should see that an entire career could be built around standing up to these creeps.
Of course that would take a certain amount of courage even if weren't altruistically motivated, and courage is a quality long since vanished from the GOP. Anyone with the guts to stand by themselves on a matter of principle has been banished by the party "leaders". The Modern GOP simply cannot have free thinkers running around talking about principle. What a state the place would be in!
And now they're letting the NRA choose federal judges. What's next? Foreign policy? Transportation? Education? The GOP continues down the road of scorched earth extremism to the dimunition of the American experiment and the atrophying of democracy. Nice job, there, Republicans.
"Senator McConnell? Have a seat. Mr. LaPierre will see you when he takes a bathroom break in about three hours. Make yourself comfortable. Here's a list of our selected candidates for open seats on the federal bench."
"Oh thank you. May I sit in the comfy chair?"
"No. That's reserved for gun company executives. You can sit on this stool. And here's your dunce cap."
In light of all the frothing at the mouth declarations of "more guns for everyone!!" from the NRA and its acolytes, the assumption being that if everyone were armed to the teeth, there would be no more shootings, or at the very least, as soon as the next would-be mass murderer pulled out a weapon, hordes of passersby (or maybe 5th graders and their teacher) would draw down and hose his ass in a hail of bullets, we might try examining how this work in the real world.
So let's look at facts for a change. I know it's a huuuuuuge stretch for some, but let's take the shootings in Colorado and Arizona, two very big gun rights states, especially Arizona. So, one would expect that at a public location like the Safeway store, there would be at least a few people packing heat. How come none of them shot or at least attempted to shoot at, the killer? How come no one in that Aurora, Colorado theater shot at the killer? Has there ever, in fact, been an instance in which any of these killers have been stopped by civilian gun owners? I don't mean home invasion situations. I mean the kind of public mass murders that the NRA claim will be stopped by civilians with weapons.
I don't know of any.
Does that mean an armed population, say, at a college or high school or elementary school, or bar or airport won't have any impact? No. Of course not. If we actually do see Wayne LaPierre's wet dream come to life, there may be some very immediate impacts. Just imagine 15 or 20 people in Aurora all drawing weapons and shooting. A fucking bloodbath might very well ensue. Why? It's not easy to shoot another human and it's even harder in the heat of the moment when even trained combatants, police and military personnel, can have a hard time of it, to hit a moving target. Very likely you end up shooting innocents. Many of them.
We don't need stupid solutions for serious problems.
Although this isn't nearly as stupid as the suggestion that at the moment a gunman opens fire, everyone gather together in a rugby scrum and charge him.
Very smart idea.
Whoever thought of that idea gets to be at the head of the pack when the shooting starts.
The whole point here is that these people are not serious. Oh, they're dead serious about selling more guns. Marie is right about that. The NRA is a shill for gun manufacturers. Everyone owning dozens of weapons each would be a huge windfall for that group. What they're not serious about is saving lives and attempting even the tiniest solutions that might keep assault weapons out of circulation.
Why? Because in the climate fostered by the Modern GOP and its associates, there is never a reason to compromise. Even to save a life. It's hardcore all the way. No discussion, no compromise, no rationality.
It's this way with guns, with Israel, with climate change, with health care, with torture, with taxes, with union jobs, with corporations, with just about everything. A total bollix. And such an atmosphere emboldens the crazies and the extremists who believe they can set the agenda for the rest of us. And in large part, they have been.
@Akhilleus. Actually, there was an armed citizen in the vicinity of the Tucson shooting. William Saletan of Slate told the story:
"Joe Zamudio ... was in a nearby drug store when the shooting began, and he was armed.... 'I came out of that store, I clicked the safety off, and I was ready,' he explained on Fox and Friends. 'I had my hand on my gun. I had it in my jacket pocket here. And I came around the corner like this.' Zamudio demonstrated how his shooting hand was wrapped around the weapon, poised to draw and fire. As he rounded the corner, he saw a man holding a gun. 'And that's who I at first thought was the shooter,' Zamudio recalled. 'I told him to 'Drop it, drop it!'
"But the man with the gun wasn't the shooter. He had wrested the gun away from the shooter....
"The Arizona Daily Star, based on its interview with Zamudio, adds two details to the story. First, upon seeing the [innocent] man with the gun, Zamudio 'grabbed his arm and shoved him into a wall' before realizing he wasn't the shooter. And second, one reason why Zamudio didn't pull out his own weapon was that 'he didn't want to be confused as a second gunman.'"
All of which proves your point, Akhilleus. If Zamudio had been a little more of a cowboy, he would have shot the wrong guy.
Marie
Marie,
Thanks for the backfill on that story. I hadn't heard about Zamudio, but his experience establishes just how difficult it can be to quickly figure out what's going on and do exactly the right thing when hell is being served up hot and spicy with a big bowl of crazy on the side.
No wonder lawmen in the Old West used to demand that citizens come into town unarmed or spend the night in jail.
Can't you hear it now? Wayne LaPierre calling Wyatt and Virgil Earp gun hating liberal crazies and demanding their removal for not allowing the citizens of Tombstone their FREEEDDDOMM!!
The Christian Right has decided we nonbelievers are to blame for Sandy Hook.
http://www.salon.com/2012/12/27/christian_right_blames_atheists_for_sandy_hook_shootings/
@Akhilleus: i made the same point as you here some time ago about the Aurora shootings. The story at the time stated that the shooter was dressed in black, wore body armor including a helmet, and was wearing a gas mask as he had released some sort of gas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Aurora_shooting
So, even if someone had fired at him and hit him, unless they were extraordinarily lucky, it's doubtful that a pistol round would have done much. Many soldiers are reluctant at first to fire their weapons, for fear of becoming a target. If I shoot at a bad guy, who's he most likely to fire at first?
The "chained CPI" that the Congress is pushing for social security benifits, does it also effect "automatic congressional cost of living raises"? I don't know, just curious.
Barbarossa,
Quite right.
I've never been in combat myself but I have plenty of friends on police forces who can testify to the difficulty of shooting with accuracy and confidence. Maybe the NRA thinks soccer moms and 5th grade science teachers would be more like Bruce Willis in Die Hard but people who do this for a living, as you maintain, disagree. With good reason.
Barbarossa that is why religion is so popular. If you are a true believer you never have to accept responsibility for anything. There is always a god story to fit the bill. What pisses me off the most is that these fools don't notice all those really religious followers who also die, you know from some auto accident on the way to church or whatever. Somehow they always manage to come up with a another story.
On a personal note, my brother who somehow managed to never mention to me that for the last ten years of his life he was an evangelical christian, had a memorial service at his church. The preacher told us so many wonderful things, the incredible care that Jesus provided for him. At one point I turned to my wife and said 'Does he know Bruce is dead'? I will never be able to understand how so many human live in this delusional world.
@Marvin. Must be one of god's eternal mysteries.
As an antidote, I suggest the current Doonesbury series on the atheists' war on christmas.