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The Commentariat -- Feb. 22, 2015
Internal links removed.
Phil Stewart of Reuters: "The United States is considering slowing a planned withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan to ensure that 'progress sticks' after more than a decade of war, new Defense Secretary Ash Carter said during an unannounced visit to Kabul on Saturday."
Carol Morello & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration is weighing a new round of sanctions against Russia in response to its continued 'land-grabbing' in eastern Ukraine despite a cease-fire agreement, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Saturday. Speaking to reporters in London, where he met with British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Kerry said he expected that the United States and its European allies would impose some 'very serious' sanctions and other steps to punish Moscow after repeated cease-fire violations by Russian-backed Ukrainian separatists."
** William Saleton of Slate explains President Obama's remarks about terrorism & Islam. "He sees the connections but chooses to be careful in how he talks about them. If his language isn't as blunt as yours, maybe that's not because you're more clearheaded about the threat or more courageous in facing it. Maybe he has good reasons, and you should listen to them." CW: You can use Saleton's careful explanation the next time your Crazy Uncle Rudy starts railing about the POTUS. Try this: "Look, Rudy, what you're doing is giving the terrorists what they want. And you're encouraging more Muslims to become terrorists. Obama isn't the danger here; you are." With any luck, Rudy won't even show up at Thanksgiving this year.
** Nicholas Kristof: "Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, a Duke University sociologist, aptly calls the present situation 'racism without racists'; it could equally be called 'misogyny without misogynists.' Of course, there are die-hard racists and misogynists out there, but the bigger problem seems to be well-meaning people who believe in equal rights yet make decisions that inadvertently transmit both racism and sexism." Read the results of the studies Kristof cites. Life isn't fair.
This Climate Scientist for Hire. Justin Gillis & John Schwartz of the New York Times: One of a handful of climate-denying scientists, who is the go-to guy for confederates & oil companies, has taken cash for the papers -- what he calls "deliverables" -- he writes for the fossil-fuel industry. Documents newly-released under a Greenpeace FOIA request "show that corporate contributions were tied to specific papers and were not disclosed, as required by modern standards of publishing.... Though often described on conservative news programs as a 'Harvard astrophysicist,' Dr. [Willie] Soon is not an astrophysicist and has never been employed by Harvard. He is a part-time employee of the Smithsonian Institution with a doctoral degree in aerospace engineering." CW: The irony here is that perhaps the most common argument from deniers (up there with "God is the culprit") is that greed-for-grants motivates most climate scientists' work. I guess the childish taunt, "It takes one to know one" has teeth.
Democrats: We Need a Bumper Sticker!" Mario Trujillo of the Hill: "The Democratic Party lacks a 'single narrative' and must tighten its pitch to voters in order to compete in future elections, an interim report from the Democratic National Committee found. The report released at the party's winter meeting recommended forming a national project to bring together party leaders, activists and messaging experts to hone in on a theme." ...
... CW: Well, yeah, that's true. But the real problem is that Democrats have been running away from their traditional themes -- which pretty much explains why voters don't know what, if anything, they stand for.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Steve M. is fairly furious that the media seem only now to be noticing that Rudy Giuliani is a bigoted ideologue. Rudy's remarks, & his doubling-down on them, is classic Giuliani; it's not a newly-minted Crazy Uncle Rudy. ...
... Update. Steve has gone from furious to perplexed: "... it always surprises me when people who have power and clout utter pronouncements that are indistinguishable from the crap your right-wing uncle forwards you every few days.... Giuliani ... may have once been a serious candidate for president of the United States and he may now be a globetrotting international security consultant, but he wallows in the same pool of ignorance as your uncle.... That's what are right-wing elites are like now -- they're ignoramuses with money." ...
... Darren Samuelsohn & Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "Rudy Giuliani says he is getting death threats at his office in the wake of controversial comments that President Barack Obama doesn't love America.... Giuliani didn't tell CNN if he had alerted police to those calls...."
... CW: Why would Rudy have to alert the police? He is, after all, a "globetrotting international security expert." He can swat these flies away all by hisself. ...
... CW: If you go back to mid-January & follow Rudy's logic, as he expressed it to fellow-theologian & philosopher Sean Hannity, you will kinda have to conclude that Giuliani thinks President Obama is a Muslim. ...
... Dave Weigel tries to put the Rudy Giuliani media frenzy in context. CW: Weigel is missing one element: by concentrating on Rudy (i.e., beating a dead horse), the media can pretend they're way too busy to pursue Bill O'Reilly's tall-tale reportage. ...
... Lloyd Grove of the Daily Beast tries to explain why O'Reilly gets away with his fake claims. ...
... BUT, Thank You, Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "The apparent goal of O'Reilly's frenzy was to keep the story from breaking into the next week. A Facebook posting by a former CBS News correspondent, however, appears likely to keep the questions flowing toward the O'Reilly camp. An extensive rant by Eric Jon Engberg, who served as a CBS News correspondent for 27 years, calls into question several of O'Reilly's statements about the reporting -- and O'Reilly's subsequent recollections of it.... Now that a nearly three-decade CBS News correspondent has spoken up, O'Reilly will have to find a new defense." CW: Too bad Wemple's blog doesn't appear in print. ...
... CW: Both Engberg & Wemple conclude that O'Reilly's fabrications don't rise to the level of Williams' "claim[ing] to be the target of an enemy attack." But for some odd reason, Engberg & Wemple ignore O'Reilly's multiple claims & implications that he was reporting in the Falkland Islands, not in Buenos Aires. At least Williams was in the vicinity of where he "claimed to be the target," not 1,000+ miles away.
God News
Where was the Bible written, again? -- Jon Stewart, on Alabama's anti-Sharia Law state constitutional amendment, which, because of a little quirk of the U.S. Constitution, was written to exclude judicial consideration of "foreign law" ...
... CW: Brian Tashman:'s post, linked below, is a bit old, but I think it's helpful in understanding not just where the confederates are going, but whence they come:
... Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch: "Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore threw his state into turmoil ... when he ordered probate judges to defy a federal judge's ruling striking down the state's ban on same-sex marriage.... Moore, who has a history of making extreme anti-gay statements, insists that the federal judge is the one who is really breaking the law since she violated divine law by ruling for marriage equality. Moore's call for statewide defiance of the federal judiciary's 'tyranny' stems from a belief that the Constitution was made to protect biblical commandments, so that anything that goes against his personal interpretation of the Bible is therefore in violation of the Constitution. Moore shares that belief with a powerful ally: Michael Peroutka, a neo-Confederate activist who is also one of the most influential behind-the-scenes figures in the Religious Right's reimagining of American law." ...
... CW: I found Tashman's piece via Paul Rosenberg, who covers the same topic -- though more extensively -- in Salon. Rosenberg's piece is rather first-drafty, so you'll have to do your own editing. ...
... In case you still think Christian Reconstructionism is just a far-out, fringey thing, here's more evidence of its pervasiveness:
... Dave Boucher of the Tennessean: "That reference to life, liberty and pursuit of happiness in the Declaration of Independence isn't enough for Rep. James VanHuss, R-Jonesborough. He wants to change the Tennessee constitution so that it includes the phrase: 'We recognize that our liberties do not come from governments, but from Almighty God, our Creator and Savior.' That's in addition to Rep. Jerry Sexton's bill that would make the Bible the official book of Tennessee."
Jim Yardley of the New York Times: Recent news that James Foley, an American whom ISIS murdered, had converted from Roman Catholicism to Islam, has discomfited some Roman Catholics who viewed him as a Christian martyr.
Presidential Race
Redeemer Boy. Maureen Dowd: "Jeb ... wanted to bolster his negligible foreign policy cred, so the day of his speech, his aide released a list of 21 advisers, 19 of whom had worked in the administrations of his father and his brother. The list starts with the estimable James Baker. But then it shockingly veers into warmongers. It's mind-boggling.... If he wants to reclaim the Bush honor, Jeb should be holding accountable those who inflicted deep scars on America, not holding court with them. Where's the shame?"
Scott Walker still has no idea if President Obama loves the U.S., & he isn't sure if Obama is a Christian, either. As to MSM reporters asking him these questions, he objects. CW: I think he has a point, but it's a weak one. ...
... Here's the story, by Dan Balz & Robert Costa, where the reporters ask him if President Obama is a Christian. "Told that Obama has frequently spoken publicly about his Christian faith, Walker maintained that he was not aware of the president's religion.... Walker suggested that he is being held to a different standard than some Democrats." Later on, Walker's spokesperson Jocelyn Webster changed the story: "Of course the governor thinks the president is a Christian." ...
... CW: So (a) the liberal media are picking on me; (b) ask my spokeslady. This guy should definitely quit doing Q&As because he has no As. ...
... David Atkins in the Washington Monthly: "Conservative media mouthpieces have spent so much time not only denigrating any social policy to the left of Attila the Hun but questioning the President's very allegiance and faith, that conservative candidates looking to win a GOP primary can't help but engage on these most ridiculous of questions. All of which buoys the conventional wisdom that any Republican candidate to emerge from the GOP primary clown car is going to wind up weakened and battered by the process rather than strengthened. Republican primary voters wouldn't have it any other way."
Beyond the Beltway
Today in Responsible Gun Ownership. Chris Michaud of Reuters: "A recently retired suburban New York police office[r] shot and killed his two daughters before killing himself at the family's home.... Glen Hochman, 52, who retired from the White Plains police force last month, killed two daughters, ages 17 and 13, before killing himself in Harrison, an affluent town about 15 miles northeast of New York City.... Hochman's wife and an older daughter were not home at the time." ...
... Steve Barnes of Reuters: "A university professor, his wife and his sister were found shot to death on Friday night in the family's burning home in a prosperous Little Rock suburb, Arkansas authorities said. 'The initial indication is murder-suicide, but it's an open investigation so I can't comment beyond that,' Captain Jim Hansard of the Maumelle, Arkansas police department, said on Saturday."
Today in Stupid. Nicole Garcia of KSAZ Phoenix, Arizona: A prank caller, posing as Circle K corporate security, urged Circle K employees to discharge fire extinguishers inside the store, although there was no fire, then throw the extinguishers through the store's plate glass windows. So they did. "Circle K Corporate asked FOX 10, not to run this story." CW: Oh, thank the Founders for freedom of the press. ...
... CW Sunday Sermon: It would be more fun to laugh at the employees for stupid if I didn't have a powerful suspicion that their corporate controllers had frightened these minimum-wage serfs into unquestioning submission. So the stupid is probably corporate scare tactics imposed by the same yahoos who tried to quash the story. As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
News Ledes
New York Times: "The Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization were found liable on Monday by a jury in Manhattan for their role in knowingly supporting six terrorist attacks in Israel between 2002 and 2004 in which Americans were killed and injured. The damages are to be $655.5 million, under a special terrorism law that provides for tripling the $218.5 million awarded by the jury in Federal District Court."
AP: "A river ferry carrying about 100 passengers capsized in central Bangladesh on Sunday after being hit by a cargo vessel, killing at least 31 people, officials said. A rescue operation was underway, but it was not clear how many people were missing."
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Reader Comments (8)
So 'Dr. Soon has no expertise on the subject, accepts money from the fossil fuel industry, neglects to mention any of this. That should get everyone's attention! Oh wait, that is the same life occupied by Sen. Inhofe and everyone seems to ignore that story.
P.S. So these clowns are destroying the human race and they get 1/1000,000 of the attention of Giuliani's bullshit mouth. And the best part is Soon's relationship to Harvard, which doesn't exit. Journalism in America.
Maybe time to re-recommend "Merchants of Doubt" by Oreskes and Conway, a detailed account of how a relative handful of "scientists" and scientists have done a lucrative business creating doubt about the demonstrably harmful effects of everything from tobacco to careless and over-application of pesticides to climate change....Pure evil. Cheneys in lab coats...
Ken, just to note that while in most cases it is the money, for a few it is the opportunity to know more than all other scientists on the planet. I mean how can you miss the opportunity to be soooo special.
Ken––There was a piece in the New Yorker last year about Syngenta, one of the largest agribusinesses in the world, and how they tried to silence and intimidate one Tyrone Hayes, a biological researcher who discovered that one of Syngenta's pesticides was toxic to humans and animals. The article stressed the practice of biotech companies "buying up universities"––industry funding, of course, would compromise the objectivity of their research. They featured a Steven Milloy, a freelance science columnist who runs a nonprofit organization to which Syngenta has given tens of thousands of dollars, and who wrote an article for Fox News (and has appeared on the program) debunking Haye's paper on the toxicity of the pesticide and had the audacity to call Hayes a junk scientist. The long story about all this is chilling given that the EPA seemed to be snookered ( the argument was that if this pesticide, atrazine, was banned it would devastate the economies of rural regions) much lobbying was done in Congress and so the EPA found themselves increasingly isolated. One of the points this piece makes is that it's important to keep in mind that the major players in Washington DO NOT UNDERSTAND SCIENCE.
It sounds as if we are going to have a Bush redux: The Bush's family consigliere, James Baker III once again will be granting his expertise and wise council to Jeb along with the rest of the WMD dolts. I'm actually amused at this strategy since it seems to imply a complete lack of common sense or a cunning plot SO cunning that the average mind cannot fathom its cunningness. I'm guessing the the former.
@PD Pepe: Here's the New Yorker story on Hayes & Syngenta.
Marie
Marvin---
Ah, the siren song of the contrarian! You're so right. For some personalities, the lure of being smarter than everyone else leads to positions that no sane, that is normal, that is average person would adopt.
The attraction understandable. First, it's easy. The contrarian's modus vivendi is akin to professing religious belief, which has proved to be humankind's favorite short cut to superiority, both ways to be smarter or better than anyone else without doing any work.
And second, since my generation learned that forty million Frenchmen can be wrong (an inversion of a now obscure Renault TV ad from the 1950's), we know that being popular does always make one correct. The majority is wrong often enough (witness polling of political positions and election results) to empty any claim that numbers always have right as well as might on their side. The contrarian, goofy as he or she most often is, can always stand firmly on the ground of selective history.
I'd guess, too, the amateur and professional contrarian often possesses a gene for credulousness and True Belief and filters all the world's complexity. Certainly for these folks purportedly objective considerations are brightly colored by political belief, which makes it impossible for them to see anything clearly, and once they see politics in everything, there is no safe harbor for fact.
In a sense, as recent discussions of everything from climate change to government accounting--just harmless numbers for goodness' sake, employed to represent truth--to immunizations little remains that is simply scientific.
@Marie “…greed-for-grants drives most climate scientists’ work”…
@Ken “…little remains that is simply scientific”.
I have witnessed from the inside, what may appear from the outside like scientists selfishly suspending disbelief in the feasibility of potential solutions to a problem to gain access to the Kool-Aid of a federally funded project. But underlying the appearance is a belief system learned by experience that informs the majority of truth seekers (scientists and journalists alike) that science is a flawed human endeavor. Knowledge gaps exist, and should they become known, might change the way we perceive the problem. It is a human attribute to embrace partially informed optimism, and carry a belief that if you work long and hard enough at a problem that you can fill the knowledge gaps that could make a difference. Both grantors and grant recipients are aware of the risks and promise. Yes, there will be crooks that take advantage of funding process. To those who want to be glib about science and scientists I ask…whada-you-got? “Simply scientific” does not exist.
In contrast to all of the political speech promoting STEM education from the bottom up (K-12), there is also a lot of pruning going on from the top down. From my perspective over the past 3 decades, it seems like a career in science has become less secure. This creates a lot of interest around the Kool-Aid isle.
Keep in mind: Soon is no scientist, but an engineer. BIG difference.