The Commentariat -- January 8, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on Ross Douthat's "Sin of Omission," his sneaky skirting of Rick Santorum's exploitation of his wife's terminated pregnancy. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.

There is an Open Thread on Off Times Square this weekend. I am shutting down Off Times Square after this weekend. I am not certain how long I will continue to maintain Reality Chex, but I will definitely stick with it till Willard -- or somebody -- clinches the GOP presidential nomination. I doubt I'll continue all the way to November as that would require me to make an additional financial investment in Reality Chex. In any event, I'm moving in a direction away from public service. I've done my bit.

** Lakhdar Boumediene, a Red Crescent (like the Red Cross) worker whom the U.S. (that's "us," or more properly here, "we") imprisoned in Guantánamo for seven years, without charges, writes a New York Times op-ed about his ordeal and about the continuing imprisonment of 171 men, some 90 of whom have been cleared for transfer but have no place to go (& the U.S. won't have them). ...

... Murat Kurnaz, a German national we held for at Guantánamo for five years, is more forthcoming in his New York Times op-ed about the torture to which we subjected him. According to his account, the U.S. had no evidence whatsoever against him. The German government secured his release.

Thanks to reader Haley S. for directing me to this:

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the conventional wisdom goes, is exceptionally supportive of free speech. Leading scholars and practitioners have called the Roberts court the most pro-First Amendment court in American history. A recent study ... says that a comprehensive look at data from 1953 to 2011 tells a different story, one showing that the court is hearing fewer First Amendment cases and is ruling in favor of free speech at a lower rate than any of the courts led by the three previous chief justices. The study arrives as the Supreme Court prepares to consider two major First Amendment cases. On Tuesday, the court will hear arguments in Federal Communications Commission v. Fox Television Stations.... Next month, the court will consider United States v. Alvarez...."

Motoko Rich of the New York Times: "Caterpillar is one of dozens of companies, many with growing profits and large cash reserves, that have come to expect ... largess from states in return for creating jobs.... Although the sums spent on training are usually small compared with the tax breaks and other credits doled out by states, some critics question the tactic.... Critics suggest the programs may not even be in the best interest of workers if the resulting jobs pay low wages or simply disappear after a few years, leaving employees with narrow skills that do not help them land new positions.... Various studies have long questioned whether states get their money’s worth from incentives for companies that build facilities or expand existing ones. In a report last month, Good Jobs First, a nonprofit research organization that tracks such spending, found that states often attract companies that create few jobs, pay low wages or scrimp on health insurance."

Scott Wilson & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "For a president denounced by Republican rivals as a weak and irresponsible commander in chief, the show of military support [during his announcement of national defense priorities last week] represented a political windfall for [President] Obama as he begins campaigning in earnest for a second term. But it also marked an evolution in Obama’s practice of Washington politics, evidence that after being outmaneuvered by congressional Republicans several times, he does not intend to make the same mistakes in an election year. By enlisting the military’s help in defining its strategic priorities, Obama has sought to ensure that he has the military’s support when his defense budget goes before Congress.... Military leaders, in turn, now have reason to believe that Obama will not agree to further cuts."

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "A nearly two-month lull in American drone strikes in Pakistan has helped embolden Al Qaeda and several Pakistani militant factions to regroup, increase attacks against Pakistani security forces and threaten intensified strikes against allied forces in Afghanistan, American and Pakistani officials say."

Right Wing World

Jeff Zeleny & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "A relaxed and self-assured Mitt Romney sailed above the fray at a crucial debate on Saturday night as his Republican rivals engaged in a spirited fight to determine which of them would emerge as his most formidable opponent when the party’s nominating contest moves past New Hampshire." ...

... Jonathan Bernstein in the Washington Post: 'Short version: nothing happened to derail Mitt Romney tonight, and Republican debates are a lot more entertaining (albeit even less reality-based) with Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann around." ...

... Roger Simon of Politico: "The press, which gives away its insights every day for free, predicted a brawl. Four of the five would attack Romney verbally, while Newt Gingrich might actually sink his teeth into Romney’s leg. But if there is one thing that marks the press, it is our unquenchable optimism. And, once again, our hopes were dashed. The debate seemed old and tired within minutes of its start.... The debate was notable for one thing, however: It was the first time Romney demonstrated he was shockingly uninformed on a serious subject: ABC moderator George Stephanopoulos asked Romney whether he believed states ought to be able to outlaw the sale of contraceptives. It was not a whacky question: Santorum believes each state should have that power to decide for itself. But Romney" had no idea about the issue and was evidently unaware of the landmark 1965 case Griswold v. Connecticut, which went against the state.

... ABC News fact-checks 10 assertions candidates made during Saturday's debate. No, Willard, you did not create 100,000 jobs at Bain Capital, and no, Rick [Perry, that is], President Obama is not "waging a war on religion." ...

... AND the righty-right New Hampshire Union Leader is still behind the Newt. In a front-page editorial, publisher Joe McQuaid writes, "Romney is a nice, rich man with a tin ear...."

** Maureen Dowd writes an excellent take-down of Rick Santorum. ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "At a campaign stop Thursday, [Rick Santorum] got into a verbal sparring match with a college student about same-sex marriage, after suggesting an equivalence between same-sex relationships and polygamy. Ever since, Santorum has faced a series of confrontations — and some heckling — over his opposition to same-sex relationships and abortion. And there are some signs this reception in a state where same-sex marriage is legal is taking some of the spring out of the momentum Santorum picked up by nearly winning the Iowa caucuses Tuesday. A new Suffolk University/7News tracking poll of voters likely to take part in Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary showed that following the widely televised exchange with the college student, Santorum’s support, which had been rising, had appeared to plateau."

Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "An early favorite of the pundit classes in Washington and New York — invited for cameos on 'The Colbert Report' and 'Saturday Night Live' — [former Utah Gov. Jon] Huntsman, Jr., out of other options, has bet it all on New Hampshire."

Local News

Tom Tolan of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A judge ruled Thursday that the state Government Accountability Board needs to take more aggressive action to vet recall signatures that are expected to be submitted in two weeks against Gov. Scott Walker and other Republican office holders. The ruling by Waukesha County Circuit Judge J. Mac Davis came in a case filed Dec. 15 by Walker's campaign committee and Stephan Thompson, executive director of the state Republican Party, asking Davis to order the accountability board to seek out and eliminate duplicate and fictitious signatures and illegible addresses in recall petitions." ...

... CW: a friend told me Judge Davis was a bit of a partisan. There's this from Eric Kleefeld of TPM: "Judge J. Mac Davis. As for his own background, Davis was a Republican state Senator over 20 years ago, and during the final years of the Bush administration, he was nominated for a federal circuit judgeship, but the nomination was never taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate."

News Ledes

Reuters: "Global regulators vowed on Sunday to press ahead with tough new liquidity rules for banks from 2015, but in a move to head off opposition from industry, also said lenders can tap into safety buffers in times of stress."

Reuters: "Defense Secretary Leon Panetta cautioned global rivals on Sunday not to misjudge U.S. plans to slash military spending over the next decade, saying America would still field the world's strongest military and nobody should 'mess with that.' Panetta, speaking on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' also reiterated the tough U.S. stance toward Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, which is vital for oil shipping in the Gulf, saying the United States would not 'tolerate' it."

New York Times: "Here come the scathing attacks on Mitt Romney by Newt Gingrich and his outside supporters. A flier that Mr. Gingrich’s campaign created called 'Not Romney!' hammers the message that 'Romney is not a conservative' and 'Romney is not electable.' Meanwhile a super PAC supporting Mr. Gingrich has acquired a blistering 30-minute film about Mr. Romney’s career at Bain Capital, which it portrays as fabulously enriching for him but devastating for hundreds of workers who lost jobs at companies he shrank and resold."

Politico: "Center stage on this Sunday’s television talk shows is a special edition of NBC’s 'Meet the Press,' which is joining Facebook to host the last Republican presidential debate before Tuesday’s New Hampshire primary. It will be the second encounter for the six contenders in 12 hours, following an ABC News/Yahoo/WMUR-TV debate Saturday night. Both are originating from New Hampshire." CW: And you can watch it here, too! Ugh!

Washington Post: "Advocates for unfettered access to the 'morning-after pill' Plan B One-Step took their case to President Obama’s chief science adviser [John Holdren] Friday, asking him to find out the basis for the administration’s controversial decision last month to continue requiring that young teens get the drug only by prescription. In brief presentations wedged into a meeting of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, five experts decried Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius’s rejection of the Food and Drug Administration’s move to make Plan B available over the counter."

Reuters: "Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords made a surprise return to the Tucson grocery store where she was wounded in a deadly mass shooting on January 8 last year, as the city braced on Saturday for the event's somber anniversary.... In another unannounced visit earlier in the day, Giffords hiked outside Tucson on a desert trail named for her slain aide Gabe Zimmerman, her office said, stopping briefly to talk to hikers." The Tucson Arizona Daily Star lists activities planned for today to commemorate the lives of the shooting victims. ...

     ... Washington Post update here. ...

     ... Arizona Daily Star Update: "President Obama telephoned U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today, marking the one-year anniversary of the Tucson shooting spree." ...

     ... New York Times update story of the day's events in Tucson here.