;)
The Commentariat -- Feb. 16, 2014
** Dana Milbank: As Senate GOP leaders Mitch McConnell & John Cornyn abored desperately to drum up enough Republican votes to overcome a filibuster & save the nation from financial disaster, "Watching the chaos from the side of the chamber was the man who caused it: [Ted] Cruz, his hands in his pants pockets and a satisfied grin on his face. The Texas Republican strolled to the clerk's table to check on the vote count and was met with a look of disgust from Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). And the feeling was widespread: Moments after Cruz walked into the Republican cloakroom, four senators emerged from it and changed their votes to 'aye.' Cruz reemerged from the cloakroom, chewing gum, his hands again in his pockets. He smirked as his colleagues finally overcame his filibuster after a 59-minute struggle.... Cruz has put himself before his party and even the nation's solvency. And in this sense his actions are typical of the 2016 GOP presidential field. Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rand Paul are mucking up the gears of government in ways that will earn them favorable attention in the primaries."
** Thomas Frank, the author of What's the Matter with Kansas, in Salon: Here's what's the matter; Democratic elites let Kansas happen. ...
... Dan Balz & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post on the divisions in the Democratic party. CW Warning: Anything Dan Balz writes is bound to be peppered with stupid, not to mention he-said/she-said. Nonetheless, since he & Rucker cite a number of he's & she's, you should be able to sift & winnow out something informative from this piece. Moreover, some of these useful tidbits shine some light (hmmm, illuminating tidbits -- good example of a mixed metaphor, that) on Frank's piece, linked above.
Donna Cassata of the AP: "House Democrats are determined to cast an election-year spotlight on Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage and overhauling immigration laws. To try to accomplish that in the GOP-controlled House, Democrats are planning to rely on an infrequently used, rarely successful tactic known as a 'discharge petition.'" CW: Not news; we covered this here a couple of days ago, but I'm always glad to see stories like this make it into newspapers throughout the country.
James Risen of the New York Times & Laura Poitras: "A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance."
Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "... with a coming rush of [50-year] anniversaries of the legislative milestones of the Johnson presidency — [President Johnson's daughter Luci Baines] Johnson and the diminishing circle of family and friends from those White House years ... are seeking a reconsideration of Johnson's legacy as president, arguing that it has been overwhelmed by the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and has failed to take into account the blizzard of domestic legislation enacted in the five years Johnson was in the White House." With video.
AFP: "US secretary of state John Kerry will on Sunday issue a clarion call for the world to do to more to combat climate change, warning the planet is being pushed to 'a tipping point of no return'. In his keynote speech the top US diplomat will highlight the fact that Asian nations, many of them low-lying, are particularly under threat from rising sea levels. 'Kerry will call on the global community, not just countries but individual citizens around the world, to do more now because addressing the threat of climate change will require a global solution,' a senior state department official said." ...
... Jean-Louie Santini of AFP: "A warmer Arctic could permanently affect the pattern of the high-altitude polar jet stream, resulting in longer and colder winters over North America and northern Europe, US scientists say.... According to Jennifer Francis, a climate expert at Rutgers University, the Arctic air has warmed in recent years as a result of melting polar ice caps, meaning there is now less of a difference in temperatures when it hits air from lower latitudes."
... CW: Good luck explaining that to these people ...
... American Exceptionalism, Ctd. AFP: "Americans are enthusiastic about the promise of science but lack basic knowledge of it, with one in four unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun, said a poll out Friday." ...
... CW: I wonder why Americans are so ignorant of elementary science ...
... Dylan Scott of TPM: "A Missouri lawmaker has proposed what ranks among the most anti-evolution legislation in recent years, which would require school to notify parents if the theory of evolution by natural selection was being taught at their child's school and give them the opportunity to opt out of the class.... 'It's an absolute infringement on people's beliefs,' [State Rep. Rick] Brattin [R] told the Kansas City Star of requiring schools to teach evolution. 'What's being taught is just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion.'" The bill also provides that parent's can remove their children "from any part of the district's or school's evolution instruction." CW: Hey, at least Brattin realizes that religion is "pulled out of the air."
Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action: "Stand Your Ground laws put our children, families, and communities at risk because they give everyday, untrained citizens more leeway to shoot than the United States military gives soldiers in war zones. Children -- like Jordan Davis -- who may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time are now more likely to die at the hands of the armed and angry.... Research indicates that Stand Your Ground laws embolden people to shoot.... After Florida passed its Stand Your Ground law, its justifiable homicide rate tripled. Over the same time period, the justifiable homicide rate decreased in states that did not pass Stand Your Ground laws. This increase in homicides due to Stand Your Ground laws disproportionately affects communities of color. The Urban Institute found that when white shooters kill black victims, the resulting homicides are 11 times more likely to be deemed justifiable than when the shooter is black and the victim is white.... Texas A&M researchers found no evidence that Stand Your Ground laws deter crime." ...
Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic: "I wish I had something more to say about the fact that Michael Dunn was not convicted for killing a black boy. Except I said it after George Zimmerman was not convicted of killing a black boy. Except the parents of black boys already know this. Except the parents of black boys have long said this, and they have been answered with mockery." ...
... If you believe Michael Dunn's long-time neighbor, & his account sounds credible, then you will get some insight into the type of person who is disposed to murder a teenager for playing loud music. Via Susie Madrak of Crooks & Liars:
... AND there's this. Nicolle Flatow of Think Progress (February 4): "Letters by Dunn from jail released this week by the State's Attorney's Office reveal disturbing racial animus." ...
... Flatow: "The letters did not come into play during trial. But they reveal the sort of racial undertones that have been prominent in many Stand Your Ground cases. One study found that white defendants with black victims are far more likely to have their killings deem 'justified' under the Stand Your Ground law." ...
... Paresh Dave of the Los Angeles Times: "George Zimmerman, the 30-year-old Floridian acquitted last year of murdering Trayvon Martin, says he's homeless, jobless and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Zimmerman made these comments in an interview with Spanish-language television network Univision that's scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Sunday...."
New Jersey News
Steve Kornacki & Brian Murphy of NBC News: "A Port Authority police officer with personal ties to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was at the George Washington Bridge when access lanes were closed last September and personally drove David Wildstein, the Christie appointee who supervised the closings, on a tour of the area as traffic brought it to a standstill. Documents submitted to a New Jersey legislative committee by Wildstein also show that the officer, Lieutenant Thomas 'Chip' Michaels, appears to have sent periodic text messages to Wildstein updating him on the effects of the lane closures and their crippling impact on the town of Fort Lee.... In 2010, a Newark Star-Ledger article described the Christie-Michaels family friendship as one that has endured for decades." Michaels' brother Jeffrey Michaels is a lobbyist with an extensive web of ties to Christie. ...
... Erin O'Neill of the Star-Ledger: "Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said on [Kornacki's MSNBC] program that what this speaks of is the growing number of people who had some knowledge of the lane closures 'that have some tie to the governor's office or the governor himself. It really increases the number of people that seem to have some knowledge and it certainly fuels the skepticism that many have had about the governor's timeline and when he knew.' Wisniewski is leading the legislative probe into the lane closures." ...
... Mike Kelly of the Bergen Record: "Why were some frustrated motorists trapped in gridlock near the bridge last September told by Port Authority police to take their complaints to the mayor of Fort Lee? ... In numerous cases, say drivers, Fort Lee officials and others familiar with the situation, aggravated motorists were told by Port Authority police officers at the scene that they should call the mayor or borough officials.... A special state legislative committee examining the scandal now plans to investigate whether the call-the-mayor instructions were really a way of getting the message to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.... 'It appears that someone issued instructions or talking points,' said Assemblyman John Wisniewski.... 'Someone orchestrated that.'"
Tom Sherman of the Star-Ledger: "Millions of dollars in federal housing aid meant for victims of Hurricane Sandy went to projects in counties far removed from those areas most impacted by the storm, an analysis of state data shows. Nearly a third of the money -- $47.6 million, earmarked for new affordable housing projects -- landed in Essex and Middlesex counties, while many hard-hit Jersey Shore communities in Ocean saw relatively little of it."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender former member of the Italian Parliament, was detained by Russian authorities Sunday after holding up a sign that read, 'Gay is OK,' in the Olympic Park, the leader of an Italian gay-rights group said. Luxuria, who is also a television host, had said she was attending the Olympics with the intention of challenging a Russian law banning 'propaganda' on nontraditional sexual relationships, and she was detained after holding up the sign, which was written in Russian."
New York Times: "President Obama on Sunday condemned a measure to criminalize homosexuality in Uganda, publicly warning the country's president that such discrimination could harm its relationship with the United States. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda signaled on Friday that he was likely to sign a bill that would punish the 'the promotion or recognition' of same-sex relations with as much as life in prison."
AP: "Defence lawyers in the trial of the ousted Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi have walked out of court in protest over the soundproof glass cage in which defendants are placed, Egypt's state television reported."
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Reader Comments (9)
God's just an enlisted bully for tyrants.
Re: What makes the earth go round...? Turns out it doesn't. I've always wanted to get close to the edge to see where the sun goes at night. I've got a neighbor, Mr. Galileo Galilei; another crazy Italian, who believes differently but my pastor and I'm proud to say, my elected state representative; Bobby Lee Bumfuck, tells me to follow the teachings of the Bible. Rev. Rep. Bumfuck says the Italians never contributed much to our Western culture anyways; ice cream being the solo exception, so I'm sticking to God's honest truth.
Besides, if the Earth moved around the Sun, wouldn't we all fall off?
CW: I wonder why Americans are so ignorant of elementary science ...
It is so easy to pig pile on top of the South sometimes; there's plenty to go around: When I was an exchange student at UMass I heard one of my dorm-mates ask which state Montana was in. If you think about basic geography and then think about how to describe the difference between RNA and DNA or the difference between Elizabeth Warren and Ted Cruz, there is a lot of learning to be done in this world. But only if you are moved to want to learn.
I know people who use religion as an excuse to not learn anything new; I guess that new information might impinge on the sacrosanct religious info. Sometimes you have the snotty left who are kissing cousins of the snotty right who begrudge anybody lacking in the wise, worldly views they hold. And they are just as insulting and as condescending as the religious right and their blind certitude to their dogma. And no I don't hold fast to false equivalency, but classist, Brahmin Boston bullshit sometimes reveals itself as shallow as any stupid bible thumping. To want to learn new things implies a sense a wonder about what is and what can be; snotty certitude is the wet-blanket of education.
@Michael Dunn: he won't have to worry about that 9 mm any more. Felons like him can't possess them, and he can kiss his right to vote goodbye. And he can look forward to another murder trial. Plea bargaining?
Maybe this will teach other cowboys out there that human beings are NOT targets on the range. This "right to carry" has gone too far--way too far. This episode and others like it make me sick.
@Citizen625: Quite right. Thomas Frank, in the article linked above, addresses at least some aspect of the problems created -- or not addressed -- by "liberal elites." If you remember, during the 2004 primaries, said liberal elites pilloried Howard Dean for saying Democrats needed to figure out how to reach poor & lower-middle-class disaffected whites. In 2008, Obama made his "clinging to their guns & religion" remark (albeit he thought he was off-the-record), & he has since been more than willing to throw in his lot with careless meritocrats & captains of finance & industry. And as Frank points out, in the wees hours of the morning after the 2012 election, Paul Krugman -- normally a champion of the underdog -- wrote, "Who cares what's the matter with Kansas?" (I think Frank somewhat mischaracterizes Krugman's remark. Krugman didn't just write "Who cares...?" He said it was time for us to ask "Who cares?")
Marie
@Barbarossa: The piece by Shannon Watts, which I linked above after you commented, speaks to the issues you raise. As Watts implies, racial prejudice figures into the equation.
I should say all kinds of prejudice & even pet peeves add to the danger: if you devalue a group or resent a behavior pattern -- say, using cellphones in public places -- you may decide that any person belonging to that group is "less worthy" than you are. We all have prejudices & pet peeves, though I doubt most of us translate those biases in the way, say, Tom Perkins does, into believing "those people" are not entitled to the same rights as we are.
At the same time, research shows that in times of stress we are more apt to stereotype people than we are in normal times, so at least momentarily many of us may devalue an individual simply because s/he belongs (or we perceive s/he belongs) to a group we dislike. So maybe Michael Dunn wouldn't kill a cute little blond white child for turning up the volume on her iPod, but, hey, a black kid playing "thug music"? ...
As for how to decide who should be able to waltz around in public places with a loaded firearm, well, I would have said one of the few groups of people who would be trustworthy enough to carry with care would be retired police captains. Ergo, the answer is, people should leave their weapons in their "castles" except when going hunting with their single-shot rifles or going to the target range.
Marie
My Kansas edumacation teached me that the universe revolves around the Earth because God wanted the celestial heavens to encircle his greatest creation, me. And to answer JJG's question, Lord knows we wouldn't fall off even if the Earth DID circle the sun because Yesus Christ made America so exceptional that when our planet rotates, our country always stays on top! How else to explain the fact we don't just fly off into space during different intervals of the day? Even a dummie knows that!
And another note, poor little Georgie Zimmermann, all alone on the cold, hard streets of America. A condition of which he bears full responsibility. If only that cold barrel of steel he cozies up with each night really could bring him solace to opportunities lost. Or those feelings of satisfaction and self-fulfillment we humans crave. If only it could fill in that void of contempt for the Other.Yet his always faithful companion is the very cause of his cancerous rot. If you don't put it to use, it's wasting away.
The subservient power of the pistol.
@safari. Better pistol than pistil. Otherwise Georgie might be roaming the countryside sticking his dick in flowers, which would scare the children and the horses.
Marie: Thanks for the great article by Thomas Frank.