;)
The Commentariat -- Feb. 27, 2015
Internal links & defunct video removed.
Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "The Senate on Friday passed a bill to finance the Department of Homeland Security, sending the legislation to the House with just hours to avert a partial shutdown of the agency at midnight. The spending bill, which removed restrictions on President Obama's executive action on immigration that were included in a bill passed by the House, easily passed the Senate, 68 to 31. Democrats also blocked a separate bill to undo the president's action." ...
... At 11:00 am ET, Reuters has a breaking news banner which reads, "House of Representatives approves rule for three-week funding extension of homeland security funding." No link. ...
... Update. Here's the brief, by David Lawder: "A Republican bill to provide a three-week funding extension for the Department of Homeland Security cleared a procedural hurdle in the House of Representatives on Friday, indicating support for final passage in the chamber.The House voted 240-183 along strict party lines...." ...
... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "House Republicans on Thursday presented a plan for a stopgap bill that would fund the Department of Homeland Security for three weeks, raising hopes of averting a looming shutdown of the agency. The plan, which the leaders pitched to rank-and-file Republicans in a closed-door meeting, was the first sign they were willing to pass a new bill after passing another one weeks ago that takes aim at President Obama's executive actions on immigration and has been blocked in the Senate. But the plan faces an uncertain outlook, as House Democratic leadership decided to marshal support against it." ...
... John Boehner really doesn't give a fuck anymore:
... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on Friday doubled down on his promise to block a conference committee with the House on funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). House Republicans on Friday are poised to vote on a short-term bill to fund DHS through March 19, along with a motion to go to conference with the Senate to negotiate a final funding deal. In the conference committee, Republicans could decide whether the bill should reverse President Obama's executive actions on immigration. With the Senate poised to approve a 'clean' bill that funds DHS through September, Reid is vowing that Democrats will filibuster to ensure the conference committee never takes place."
Rebecca Ruiz & Steve Lohr of the New York Times: "The Federal Communications Commission voted on Thursday to regulate broadband Internet service as a public utility, a milestone in regulating high-speed Internet service into American homes. Tom Wheeler, the commission chairman, said the F.C.C. was using 'all the tools in our toolbox to protect innovators and consumers' and preserve the Internet's role as a 'core of free expression and democratic principles.' The new rules, approved 3 to 2 along party lines, are intended to ensure that no content is blocked and that the Internet is not divided into pay-to-play fast lanes...." ...
... Cecilia Kang & Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "Cable and telecommunications companies, as well as GOP lawmakers, quickly condemned the move as an overreach of government intervention into their businesses, and lawsuits are expected to follow." ...
... Jeff Roberts of Gigaon: "It took four million public comments and a pitched political fight invoking everything from civil rights to Presidential power, but the FCC has finally passed new rules on net neutrality."
... Stacey Higgenbotham of Gigaon has a brief take on experts' responses to the FCC move. ...
... CW: Speaking of "experts," I've been reading some right-wing comments about the new FCC ruling. As nearly as I can tell -- because the writers aren't particularly articulate -- they think that the "secret" regulations which will guarantee "net neutrality" are ones that will allow the "liberal media" to steal the airwaves or Internets waves or something from the more popular, free-market Fox "News." So "net neutrality" = "free stuff for liberals." I despair.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), in a Washington Post op-ed, explains why she will not be attending Benjamin Netanyahu's speech before the U.S. Congress.
Chutzpah. If they're [the Obama administration] not looking at some kind of contingency plan, I think that's irresponsible. It's kind of like hostage-taking. Jonathan Adler, an architect of King v. Burwell
The problem with the argument is that Adler [is] both taking and shooting the metaphorical hostages, and ... asking Obama to tell the public that everyone is fine while the hostage-takers look for a getaway car. -- Scott Lemieux, in LG&M
... BTW, law professor Eric Segall does a close (or maybe even a cursory) reading of the ACA & finds that the plain text of the law -- not just a reasonable interpretation -- makes clear that federal insurance exchanges are to be treated just like exchanges established by states. The King plaintiffs' lawyers' interpretation is what's absurd, not the IRS's correct reading. Via Greg Sargent.
Lucia Mutikani of Reuters: "U.S. economic growth braked more sharply than initially thought in the fourth quarter amid a slow pace of stock accumulation by businesses and a wider trade deficit, but the underlying fundamentals remained solid." ...
... CW: Hard to believe. The big political news of the 4th quarter was that Republicans won big in the November elections, as expected. According to Mitch McConnell, speaking on the Senate floor just after the new, improved Congress was sworn in, the new, improved economy "appears to coincide with the biggest political change of the Obama Administration's long tenure in Washington: the expectation of a new Republican Congress." (Brian Beutler: "Parse McConnell carefully, and he's actually selling Republicans a little short. The uptick doesn't just 'appear' to coincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress. It absolutely does coincide with the expectation of a new Republican Congress. Relatedly, things that coincide are called 'coincidences.'") Shall we hold our breaths till McConnell explains that "economic grown braked more sharply" because businesses were reflecting their "expectation of a new Republican Congress"?
Josh Barro of the New York Times: "The big challenge for President Obama -- and for Republicans seeking their own agenda to woo the middle class -- is that middle-income economic fortunes are driven mostly by private employers.... Right now, the best middle-class economic agenda might be to do no harm: Let the positive trends on job growth and gas prices continue, watch them flow through to wages, and hope the Federal Reserve doesn't get in the way and that Congress and the president can keep policy at an approximate status quo...." ...
... CW: Barro is a conservative (but not the usual crazy type). So not a word about, say, passing legislation to empower unions, which would help drive up worker wages; nothing about enacting tax legislation that would make it more financially attractive for businesses to invest in workers as opposed to stockholders, executives & financial instruments; no acknowledgment that driving up the minimum wage will lead to higher wages for better-paid workers; no acknowledgment that infrastructure spending would help middle-class workers, etc. This is a New York Times columnist advocating for Republican do-nothing policies, & you should be aware of that. ...
... New York Times Editors: "In a nation where the long decline in unions has led to a pervasive slump in wages, Republicans' support for anti-union legislation is at odds with their professed commitments to helping the middle class. Right-to-work laws do not attract businesses and create jobs, as proponents claim. Rather, they are linked to lower wages, fewer benefits and higher poverty. They win support among conservative lawmakers not because they are in the public interest but because cutting labor costs is a priority of far-right groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council, which is tied to the Koch brothers. The Wisconsin bill is almost verbatim from a model provided by ALEC."
In case you were wondering, Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) is still stupid:
... Jaime Fuller of New York: "Although Inhofe is not the first lawmaker to question global warming by looking out the window on any given day, many scientists and science journalists have shown that 'polar vortex' conditions may be a result of climate change, not a refutation of it. And although we have had a few unexpected chances to make snowballs in the U.S., the trend has been toward more and more unseasonably warm days."
Randal Archibold of the New York Times: "Cuba's spot on the American list of states that sponsor terrorism is emerging as a major sticking point in the effort to restore diplomatic ties with the United States and reopen embassies that have been closed for nearly five decades. On Friday, Cuban and American officials will meet in Washington for a second round of talks -- the first were in Havana in January -- aimed at carrying out the vow of President Obama and President Raúl Castro to restore diplomatic relations as a prelude to more normal ties. But whether Cuba should be removed from the state terrorism list is a particularly nettlesome issue...."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
** This Is LOL-Funny. Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Former colleagues of Bill O'Reilly ... have disputed his account of surviving a bombardment of bricks and rocks while covering the 1992 riots in Los Angeles. Six people who covered the riots with O'Reilly in California for Inside Edition told the Guardian they did not recall an incident in which, as O'Reilly has claimed, 'concrete was raining down on us' and 'we were attacked by protesters'.... Several members of the team suggested that O'Reilly may instead be overstating a fracas involving one disgruntled Los Angeles resident, who smashed one of their cameras with a piece of rubble. Two of the team said the man was angered specifically by O'Reilly behaving disrespectfully after arriving at the smoking remains of his neighbourhood in a limousine, whose driver at one point began polishing the vehicle. O'Reilly is said to have shouted at the man and asked him: 'Don't you know who I am?'"
If Fox "News" Does It..., Homina Homina. Andrew Kirell of Mediate: Rep. Ted Poe (R-Texas) "has been a fierce advocate in encouraging websites like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to police its users posting videos or images that promote or support ISIS actions in any way...."
Aaron Schock's knockoff Downton.
Downton Abyss. Marin Cogan of New York: "How Downton Abbey Office Décor Morphed Into a D.C. Spending Scandal." The accidental story of Aaron Schock's (R-Ill.) lavish spending. A thoroughly enjoyable read about a thoroughly obnoxious little twit who is getting his comeuppance for wasting your money. He's lawyered up! ...
... MEANWHILE, Politico found a new & apropos ethics violation: Schock dined at Buckingham Palace with Prince Charles & Duchess of Cornwall, & attended some other toney London events without paying or receiving the approvals required. He also held a fundraiser last September & failed to pay for the facility or for services that included -- massages & custom-rolled cigars for the guests. ...
... Now, thanks to revelations of Schock's taxpayer-funded hedonistic jaunts, all stemming from the Downton story ...
... Anna Palmer, et al., of Politico: "Rep. Aaron Schock has hired two prominent Washington defense attorneys and a public relations firm to respond to the swirling controversy and a potential ethics probe over how he has financed his lavish lifestyle." CW: Are we paying his lawyers & PR firm, too?
Souad Mekhennet & Adam Goldman of the Washington Post have some sketchy details on the brutal ISIS killer "Jihada John," who is "Mohammed Emwazi, a Briton from a well-to-do family who grew up in West London and graduated from college with a degree in computer programming." ...
... Anne Barnard of the New York Times writes a heartbreaking piece on ISIS's barbaric rampages in Northern Syria & Iraq: "... to residents, it ... seems to be part of the latest effort by the Islamic State militants to eradicate or subordinate anyone and anything that does not comport with their vision of Islamic rule -- whether a minority sect that has survived centuries of conquerors and massacres or, as the world was reminded on Thursday, the archaeological traces of pre-Islamic antiquity." CW: To me, too.
Barbarians Everywhere. AP: "A prominent Bangladeshi-American blogger known for speaking out against religious extremism was hacked to death as he walked through Bangladesh's capital with his wife, police said Friday. The attack Thursday night on Avijit Roy, a Bangladesh-born U.S. citizen, occurred on a crowded sidewalk as he and his wife, Rafida Ahmed, were returning from a book fair at Dhaka University. Ahmed, who is also a blogger, was seriously injured."
Paul Krugman: "Provisionally, at least, Greece seems to have ended the cycle of ever-more-savage austerity. And ... in so doing, Greece has done the rest of Europe a favor."
Scott Kaufman of the Raw Story: Liberals & smartasses take over CPAC's "Ask a Speaker a Question" hashtag." Typical question: "@SenMikeLee In your opinion Senator, who is the laziest minority group?" ...
Presidential Race
I want a commander-in-chief who will do everything in their [sic.] power to ensure that the threat from radical Islamic terrorists do not wash up on American soil.... We need a leader with that kind of confidence. If I can take on a 100,000 protesters, I can do the same across the world. -- Gov. Scott Walker, Thursday
If Scott Walker thinks that it's appropriate to compare working people speaking up for their rights to brutal terrorists, then he is even less qualified to be president than I thought. -- DNC Communications Director Mo Elleithee, Thursday
The protesters in Wisconsin ... earned plenty of legitimate criticism. But they're not ISIS. They're not beheading innocent people.... They don't deserve to be compared to murderous terrorists. -- Jim Geraghty of the National Review, Thursday ...
... Because Schoolteachers Are a Lot Like Terrorists. Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) on Thursday said that his experience with protests over his law eliminating collective bargaining rights for public employees has prepared him to confront terrorists." ...
... Reversal of Fortunes. Jonathan Martin & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "In the early stages of the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin is the hot property, his poll numbers rising and the chatter from activists and contributors growing steadily more positive. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is the mirror opposite, his political stock falling along with his standing in surveys of Republicans." It showed at CPAC. ...
... Shushannah Walshe of ABC News: "New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie continued to bash the media [Thursday] at the Conservative Political Action Conference, playing into a popular topic among the activists in the crowd, saying 'elite folks from the media' cover him 'every day.'... This is the second day in a row Christie has taken on the media, specifically The New York Times, possibly laying out a theme that tends to be popular with the conservative primary voting base and something he can return to in a 2016 stump speech. On his monthly radio call-in show, 'Ask the Governor,' he ... blamed the bad headlines on 'the national media following you around trying to justify their air fare going over there.'" ...
... Paul Krugman: "Gail [Collins (column linked here yesterday)] thinks [the New Jersey pension brouhaha] is the end of [Chris] Christie’s presidential ambitions; I think this gives his party too much credit for caring about reality. Christie probably is toast ... because ... he apparently doesn't know when to stop bellowing -- you do need to make nice to the big money, and he hasn't.... The Christie affair is yet another demonstration that there are no true fiscal hawks on the right, only deficit peacocks who strut around and preen themselves on their supposed fiscal virtue, but never show themselves willing to make any sacrifices for the cause."
Olivia Nuzzi of the Daily Beast: "Ted Cruz, CPAC's favorite travelling salesman, was back and selling his favorite product: himself." With an assist from ruthless interrogator sidekick Sean Hannity.
Jonathan Topaz of Politico: "On Friday..., [Jeb Bush ]will appear at the Conservative Political Action Conference, taking part in a Q&A with Fox News host Sean Hannity. How the crowd reacts could indicate just how steep a challenge Bush will face in winning over the GOP grass roots, especially during the primary. CW: I wonder of Hannity will ask him why he loves America.
McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "To an extent that would have been unthinkable in past elections, one of the leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination has stocked his inner circle with advisers who are vocal proponents of gay rights. And while the Bush camp says his platform will not be shaped by his lieutenants' personal beliefs, many in the monied, moderate, corporate wing of the GOP -- including pragmatic donors, secular politicos, and other members of the establishment -- are cheering the early hires as a sign that Bush will position himself as the gay-friendly Republican in the 2016 field."
Nick Gass of Politico: "Ben Carson kicked off the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference with a speech that laid out his vision for the economy, foreign policy and domestic issues. The retired Johns Hopkins neurosurgeon offered up red meat to the early-morning crowd...."
Beyond the Beltway
There is no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you. -- Will Rogers
... Tim Egan: "Oklahoma ... is facing a $611 million budget shortfall. So, of course, the politicians who run this fine piece of the prairie are busy with legislation to keep children ignorant, and to protect gay conversion therapy -- the emotionally abusive and psychologically unsound attempt to, you know, fix the homosexuals. The push against professional educators is part of a larger national effort by conservatives to get rid of the history they don't like.... The party of science denial is now getting into history denial.... If you believe in American exceptionalism, then empower students with critical thinking skills so they can defend it. Don't give them a Bible lesson."
Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "A long-fought legal battle to recover $8.9 billion in damages from Exxon Mobil Corporation for the contamination and loss of use of more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes, meadows and waters in New Jersey has been quietly settled by the state for around $250 million.... Richard B. Stewart, a New York University law professor and a former head of the Justice Department's environmental division, noted the 'striking disparity between the damages claimed, which have been exhaustively litigated, and the settlement amount,' particularly with a judicial ruling expected soon." ...
... CW: Exxon always wins. Big.
Missouri state Auditor Tom Schweich, a leading Republican candidate for governor in 2016, died Thursday in 'an apparent suicide,' police said. Schweich, 54, was hospitalized earlier Thursday following a single self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in suburban St. Louis. He was pronounced dead at Barnes Trauma Center, according to Clayton, Mo., Police chief Kevin Murphy."
News Ledes -- R.I.P.
Guardian: "Prominent Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov has been shot dead in Moscow. Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister and a sharp critic of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was reportedly shot four times in the chest by a killer in a passing car. The killing took place in the very centre of Moscow late on Friday evening on a bridge near St Basil's Cathedral and the Kremlin, two days before Nemtsov was due to lead a major opposition rally in Moscow."
New York Times: "Leonard Nimoy, the sonorous, gaunt-faced actor who won a worshipful global following as Mr. Spock, the resolutely logical human-alien first officer of the Starship Enterprise in the television and movie juggernaut 'Star Trek,' died on Friday morning at his home in the Bel Air section of Los Angeles. He was 83."
New York Times: "The Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, the scrappy former president of the University of Notre Dame who stood up to both the White House and the Vatican as he transformed Catholic higher education in America and raised a powerful moral voice in national affairs, died late Thursday. He was 97."
New York Times: "Earl Lloyd, who became the first black player to appear in an N.B.A. game when he took the court for the Washington Capitols in October 1950, three and a half years after Jackie Robinson broke modern major league baseball's color barrier, died on Thursday in Tennessee. He was 86."
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Reader Comments (24)
I'll try to link a photo of Scott Walker bravely standing up to the teachers, kids and grannies protesting:
solidarity singers image
If it doesn't work it can be googled.
At least Scotty is admitting the size of the protests now. Note that he NEVER faced any ptotesters, instead sneaking into the capitol through underground tunnels with his massive security detail.
Anybody interested in the imminent decline of the state of Kansas can look to a few musings going on in the state capital last week.
" The Kansas Senate on Tuesday advanced without debate a bill that would make teachers criminally liable for displaying sex education material deemed inappropriate for children."
http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2015/feb/24/bill-limiting-sex-education-material-advances-no-d/
Notice that it passed with "no debate." Apparently the Kansas Democrats were too busy fucking around (pun intended) to organize an argument against Medieval sex education. Letting the kids dabble in their sexual desires with no prior knowledge to consequences seems to be the best way to avoid unwanted pregnancies and potential abortions, right?
And to make things worse (I don't know if I'm going back if this one passes the Brownback...)
"Kansas appears on the verge of becoming among the most welcoming states to people who want to pack heat."
http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article11185862.html#storylink=cpy
"A bill promising Kansans the ability to carry concealed firearms — without taking safety training or weathering the background checks required in most of the country — won initial approval in the state Senate on Wednesday."
One neanderthal Republican quipped... "He also contended that Kansans should have the right to protect themselves with a firearm without getting a permit.
“We need to trust the people of Kansas,” LaTurner said. “I don’t think we can ever go wrong if we do that.”
Bring on the crime wave and Wayne LaPierre's arrival in Topeka warning of Armageddon and the need for all citizens to arm up against the gangsters who don't follow the law and just walk around with guns without permits because they're criminals......
I have to remind myself again and again, that Kansans voted for the crazy, and GOP Inc. is just bringing the crazy. Nothing abnormal these days...
Marie, I don't think Inhofe is stupid. The problem is that the International Assoc. of Polar Bears doesn't have enough money to bribe him.
Well, I guess I'm not alone.
When this whole Aaron Schock thing started with his Abbeyesque office decorations, I thought at the time that I was hearing the pinging of bells in the background. Looking at his buff images online and choice of colorful attire, besides his decorating style, I asked the missus if Aaron could really be a Log Cabin Republican who hasn't found the closet door yet. She agreed.
Wonkette and Slate appear to agree as well.
Not that it's a bad thing, other than being another situation of Republican anti-gay and fiscal-responsibility hypocrisy.
@safari: Kansas seems to be going down that ole black hole faster than we thought. The gun bill, if passed, is crazy and scary and STUPID. The fact that those people LaTurner says he can trust are probably the same folks that voted for Brownback after he ruined the state financially. Are you seriously thinking of not going back?
It appears that today when Jeb Bush speaks at the CPAC conference his handlers have rounded up bus loads of supporters to fill the seats in the auditorium; Bush speaks at 1.00 pm––these busloads arrive at 7.30 A.M. The reason for this maneuver is that those against Jeb, from his own party, plan to stage a walk-out when Bush begins his speech.
I watched some of the CPAC preening last night but could only stomach it in drips and drabs. That little prick Hannity was in his element–-back slapping, lapping up the milk of all that human kindness that turned sour as soon as these guys opened their traps. Cruz is something to behold––he moves about the stage as if he's playing some Shakespearean character–––is very dramatic and forceful––yet that beady-eyed snake-like persona perseveres.
In John Oliver's brilliant piece on Net Neutrality, Tom Wheeler, the now Chairman of the FCC, was put forward as a former cable industry lobbyist, with the clear implication that all was lost. I think Wheeler deserves both our thanks and an apology.
On this morning'ss commute I listened to a re-broadcast of a press conference held by the two Republican FCC Commissioners, following the Net Neutrality decision. They were the two votes "against." They spoke very reasonably, as if saddened by the fact that the decision was inappropriate and will lead to lots of lawsuits. They noted that they wished the comment period had been extended so that more of the public could have expressed their views, as if the comment period and the number of comments received had not been remarkably long and high, respectively. And one of them, Ajit Pai, in response to a question, said that the President's clear and short communication of his preferred outcome, last fall, was "unprecedented," and clearly sought to influence the decision of the independent commission. As if that was a bad thing.
I could not help hear echoes of Speaker Boehner's, and other GOP leaders', tired refrain of "where's the leadership?" Clearly, here was a case where the President led, after a long period of confusion and muddied waters, and the FCC responded to provide what the bulk of the people wanted (and, as Akhilleus noted, what John Oliver so ably illuminated). And the commissioners (Ajit Pai and Michael O'Rielly(sic)) characterized that leadership as unprecedented influence over an independent entity.
They are right that there will be lawsuits. This issue will become clearer and clearer as the money men, and their congressional hirelings, show their true colors in the next several months. If the press covers it well, it will be a case study in how money works to influence policy, in courts and legislatures. Let's hope the press meets the challenge (ROTFLMAO, y'all).
Also, an interesting divide:
-- yesterday afternoon's car radio news shows (CBS, NPR) characterized the Net Neutrality decision as increasing consumer costs and providers' regulatory burden
-- yesterday evening's local TV news (NBC local) characterized it as protecting the interests of consumers and leveling the playing field for providers.
Where you stand on NN is going to become another shibboleth, like whether you believe in evolution, global warming, etc., to define which tribe you belong to.
And one of the commissioners (O'Rielly) can't even spell his name right.
" If I can take on a 100,000 protesters..." -- Scott Walker
What did he do exactly to 'take on' these protesters? I don't remember seeing him out there beating them back with a club. Do you? My recollection is that he sent his goons out to bully the citizens of Wisconsin while he sat protected in his office.
Putz.
@Unwashed: I've thought that the media had done a commendable job in not emphasizing Schock's sexual orientation, even tho Schock has done society in general & gays in particular a disservice by hiding in the closet he has redecorated at taxpayer expense. However, Mark Joseph Stern of Slate -- excellent link -- makes clear that reporters in fact are zeroing in on Schock's gayness, without actually screaming, "He's gay! He's gay! He's gay-diddy-gay-diddy-gay."
Both Evan Hurst, who wrote the Wonkette post, & Stern are gay and are happy to say so, & I don't fault them one bit for outing Schock's hypocrisy.
The beauty of the Schock revelations is that it is a reminder that gay people are just like straight people & gay Republicans are just like straight Republicans -- corrupt. Writers like Stern & Hurst -- and Wonkette in general -- do a public service by repeating this theme when the occasions arise.
Also, too, many straight men like nice decor, fine clothes, world travel, etc.
Marie
@Nisky Guy: Oliver was right. As Shawn Drury noted in this piece, Wheeler has changed his position on net neutrality: " He originally appeared sympathetic to ISPs’ commercial concerns, but recent public comments indicate that he’s come around to the realization that an open and fair Internet serves far more people than just a few special interests."
While it's a very good thing that Wheeler is flexible & changed his position, credit should go to activists, the 4mm people who bombarded the FCC with comments & President Obama, who came out for net neutrality, prompting Wheeler's epiphany. So, yes, thank you, Tom Wheeler, but mostly, thank you, everybody who twisted Wheeler's arm.
Marie
@safari: Thanks for the Kansas news. Re: the prosecute-teachers bill, Bryan Lowry writes in the Kansas City Star, "Democrats had planned to fight the bill Tuesday when it was up for debate, but because of confusion and the absence of a few key members from the Senate chamber, – one of whom was in the bathroom – no Democrat spoke against the bill or posed questions about when it could be amended."
Good grief.
On the guns-for-everyone bill, we must all bear in mind that Congressional Republicans would make the Kansas concealed-carry law -- & every other NRA-writ state concealed-carry law -- the law of the land by forcing every state to treat other state's concealed-carry laws "like drivers' licenses."
Marie
PD,
Your observation of Cruz's thespian antics and footlight braggadocio as he treads the boards at CPAC (this guy is always "On Stage"), makes me wonder which of the Bard's characters would best suit his particular, er....shall we say, qualities.
I'm thinking Angelo from Measure for Measure, the hypocritical judge, a master manipulator and smug creep who employs the law and his own power as acting duke to bend others to his will. He really doesn't much care if others' lives are forfeited or ruined as long as he gets what he wants. A real prick. How's a government shutdown sound?
But maybe Malvolio, the uber religious, puritanical prig in Twelfth Night, who considers himself far above everyone else because of his own personal perfection and regular Bible thumping. He's the guy who utters the line about having greatness thrust upon him. But he's also depicted as a clown when given the opportunity to demonstrate his inner idiot. (And I don't wanna hear a word from anyone who feels sorry for this guy--there's always a few; you know who you are.) Crossed garters and yellow stockings, anyone?
Then again, the opportunity for this oleaginous conniver to play the ultimate mind fucker is too good to pass up. Iago, contemptuous of the praise rained down upon his noble general, Othello, pours enough poison in his ears to make Union Carbide sit up straight, and destroys multiple lives--pretty much everyone else in the play--purely for his own amusement.
I'll go with Iago. Cruz's smooth, oily, unctuous, and mendacious speechifying makes him the perfect foil for the Lion of Venice. The Stratford Man's biggest lying asshole.
Re: the Tom Wheeler epiphany, if such was the case.
John Oliver compared putting Wheeler, formerly a powerful lobbyist for the same cable companies who were pushing for the downfall of net neutrality, in charge of overseeing that debate, with someone looking for a babysitter who instead hired a dingo, hoping that the baby would not be eaten while they were gone.
Wheeler didn't eat the baby after all. And I agree completely with Marie's assessment that he did the right thing but may have been (should have been!) swayed by the public furor in favor of not allowing corporations full reign over the internet.
And here's a big difference between the Democratic mindset and the Republican. Wheeler, despite his background as a cable lobbyist, a position which paid him a shitpile of money, came down on the side of what was right because he was receptive to the the passionate opinions of the public who use this service every day. So if he ever comes out and says (he may already have done) that his decision was partially, or largely affected by millions of Americans who took the time to comment, he will be in complete accord with the wishes of a broad swath of citizens.
In stark contrast to Republicans who, even after hearing from millions of Americans about the ACA, still demand it's repeal, even though they have no ideas for its replacement, but still insist that they are doing what the public wants.
Iago Cruz tweeted in his customary deceitful and snide tone, that net neutrality was "Obamacare for the internet" and that we should not allow the internet to "operate at the speed of government". This, of course, without acknowledging that there would be no internet without government in the first place (idiot) and that the government is not going to change the speed at which the internet operates, except insofar as it will not allow cable brigands to demand a toll for passage that only the biggest corporate users could afford, meaning, while the rich cable operators are given speed boats, everyone else is handed an oar and told to start rowing.
These people live in their own bubble world.
And good for Tom Wheeler, whether epiphany or common sense triumphed, we all will be better for it. It's a new day. The good guys need a win every now and then.
Iago can go suck it now.
Remember the guy at the Cliven Bundy standoff who announced the strategy to put women at the front of a firing line? Here's a refresher:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZd61_9hofE
He also ardently opposes Obamacare so naturally he has no health insurance. Guess what happened next?
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sheriff-mack-gofundme-medical-bills
Pray for my black soul that finds some measure of pleasure in this outcome.
Haley,
Was that ex-sheriff's website called GoFuckMe? Maybe it should be GoFuckYourself.
The really sad thing about this situation is that now that Sheriff Oath Keeper Cliven Bundy Ball Licker is in dire need of healthcare, he likely won't budge an inch in making sure that this doesn't happen to others.
This is, as I mentioned in an earlier comment, a hallmark difference between Democrats and most Republicans. Or I suppose that should be Rational People and Wingnuts. A rational person, when shown conclusive evidence of the rightness of a certain position, can say "Gee, I made a mistake." But wingnuts are never wrong. Ever. And would rather stick needled in their eyes than admit that a progressive program had merit and could make their life much easier. Certainly less stressful.
Healthcare doesn't appear to be a big deal until you need it, as Sheriff GoFuckMe is finding out. Things can get very expensive very quickly. This is why, if this guy and Fox and all the other Obama haters could get over calling this Obamacare, they'd realize that the program's actual name is the Affordable Care Act.
Idiots.
Poor Fox. Poor Loofah Boy.
He was too at those riots in LA and people attacked him because jealousy of his wonderfulness and manliness, and concrete rained down on him because....who the fuck knows?
But now Fox, for the second week in a row, now going into week three of the O'Reilly:Truth is Not My Friend Tour, will probably have to put up a permanent notice that it backs Bill no matter what kind of bullshit lies become apparent.
But here's the question you have to ask yourself about the latest lie. Could you, in your wildest fever dream fantasy, imagine Loofah Boy pulling up in a limo to a riot area, getting out and screaming at someone on the street "Don't you know who I am??"
You could?
That's what I thought.
Waiting for the next lie(s)...
An interesting twist in the King v Burwell kerfuffle may offer Supreme Court federalists a way to kill the ACA while stating that they are all about states' rights. Even though, according to Abbe Gluck, a Yale Law School specialist in healthcare and federal law, writing in a piece on Politico, they'll be doing anything but.
The federalism interpretation gets dicey according to Gluck, who writes "In the end, King is about whether an invented narrative that only emerged for purposes of this case should be permitted to work the greatest bait and switch on state governments in history."
Her point is that the challengers in King are espousing a solution that would be at odds with previous decisions by the conservative Supremes and their longstanding stated interest in protecting states from the big bad guv'mint.
Still, it might be the out Little Johnny has been looking for to finally drive a stake into the heart of the ACA while still pretending to be a defender of the states.
See what you think.
P.S. Gluck also offers up a very useful distinction in the types of legal structures currently in use for the purpose of making room for states' rights, one being the Medicaid model, the other being the Clean Air Act model. Each allows certain flexibility for states concerned about their federalist rights but do it in different ways. Under the Medicaid model, states can opt in our out. If they're out, they get nothing. But the Clean Air Act model is meant, as the ACA is, to be a national program. You opt out, the federal government is going to do it for you. That's the only way it works. It's a handy way to think about these problems, especially since we're likely stuck with advancing federalist bullshit (like advancing coronary disease) for the foreseeable future. Typically these federalist claims have zippo to do with what's best for the country and its citizens and everything to do with ideological posturing and hitting your marks in the latest wingnut Kabuki.
Re: @AK; you know and I know who's going to pay for Sheriff of Nod-off-ham treatment. Yep, we are! Sooner or later the tab will come back on the dumb chumps that play team ball. I guess we just keep on pushing the ball up court hoping like fuck people will evolve to the point where they we grasp the concept of "good for all". If the Sheriff walked off into the desert and died like he claimed he lived I would understand his position better.
JJG,
Man, you are so right. These ruff n tuff, two fisted, guv'mint bashing Marlboro Men all love to portray themselves as go it alone, rugged Ayn Rand individualists until they get that collect call from the real world. Then it's all "Oh, please, please help me. Pay my bills . Take care of me cuz I deserve it. I'm a Real American. I watch Fox religiously!!"
Fuck them. This asshole wouldn't drag someone he didn't consider a "deserving American" out of a roaring fire if it meant smoke damage to his cowboy hat.
It's way beyond time to make these preening pretenders who would stick it to the rest of us understand that they are about as far from the true species Americanus as the fucking Ebola virus.
Noteworthy tale of the day: Wingnut ACA denier in deep shit.
I seem to have screwed up the inbed. Sorry: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/27/1367431/-Uninsured-wing-nut-anti-Obamacare-ex-sheriff-raising-money-for-medical-nbsp-bills?showAll=yes
@James Singer: See comments thread.
Marie
Republicans in the house - what a bunch of nitwits:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/28/us/senate-house-homeland-security.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad
God help us if a crisis requiring serious action should emerge.
Sorry. h/t HS.