The Ledes

Monday, June 30, 2025

It's summer in our hemisphere, and people across Guns America have nothing to do but shoot other people.

New York Times: “A gunman deliberately started a wildfire in a rugged mountain area of Idaho and then shot at the firefighters who responded, killing two and injuring another on Sunday afternoon in what the local sheriff described as a 'total ambush.' Law enforcement officers exchanged fire with the gunman while the wildfire burned, and officials later found the body of the male suspect on the mountain with a firearm nearby, Sheriff Robert Norris of Kootenai County said at a news conference on Sunday night. The authorities said they believed the suspect had acted alone but did not release any information about his identity or motives.” A KHQ-TV (Spokane) report is here.

New York Times: “The New York City police were investigating a shooting in Manhattan on Sunday night that left two people injured steps from the Stonewall Inn, an icon of the L.G.B.T.Q. rights movement. The shooting occurred outside a nearby building in Greenwich Village at 10:15 p.m., Sgt. Matthew Forsythe of the New York Police Department said. The New York City Pride March had been held in Manhattan earlier on Sunday, and Mayor Eric Adams said on social media that the shooting happened as Pride celebrations were ending. One victim who was shot in the head was in critical condition on Monday morning, a spokeswoman for the Police Department said. A second victim was in stable condition after being shot in the leg, she said. No suspect had been identified. The police said it was unclear if the shooting was connected to the Pride march.”

New York Times: “A dangerous heat wave is gripping large swaths of Europe, driving temperatures far above seasonal norms and prompting widespread health and fire alerts. The extreme heat is forecast to persist into next week, with minimal relief expected overnight. France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are among the nations experiencing the most severe conditions, as meteorologists warn that Europe can expect more and hotter heat waves in the future because of climate change.”

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Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts. 

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”

NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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The Commentariat -- July 23, 2016

One-day Special! Tomorrow Only! Reality Chex will be a Trump-free Zone. -- Constant Weader 

Presidential Race

** Ho-hum. Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton named Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia to be her running mate Friday, selecting a battleground state politician with working-class roots and a fluency in Spanish, traits that she believes can bolster her chances to defeat Donald J. Trump in November. Mrs. Clinton's choice, which she announced via text message to supporters, came after her advisers spent months poring over potential vice-presidential candidates who could lift the Democratic ticket in an unpredictable race against Mr. Trump. In the end, Mrs. Clinton decided Mr. Kaine, 58, a former governor of Virginia who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and speaks fluent Spanish, had the qualifications and background and the personal chemistry with her to make the ticket a success." -- CW ...

... In her profile of Kaine, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times claims, "At heart, Mr. Kaine is an old-fashioned liberal, dyed in the wool." -- CW ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Several organizations, including some with ties to Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)..., sharply questioned Kaine's liberal bona fides, pointing to Kaine's support of trade deals and regulations favorable to big banks.... Kaine's selection was touted by other traditional boosters of the Democratic Party, including several labor union leaders." -- CW ...

... Nora Caplan-Bricker of Slate on the history of Tim Kaine's positions on reproductive rights. -- CW ...

... Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "In selecting Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia as her running mate, Hillary Clinton is sending the clearest signal yet that she is confident she will win the presidential election. If she were worried, she would have chosen Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who could have helped her win that critical Midwestern state.... And Mr. Brown could have energized progressives nationally.... Other picks could have helped her more on Election Day. Former Gov. Tom Vilsack of Iowa, for instance, would have turned out Democrats and independents in his swing state. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey would have galvanized fellow African-Americans in key cities.... Tom Perez, labor secretary, and Julian Castro, housing secretary, might have boosted Hispanic voting in Florida and the West. Mr. Kaine, by contrast, doesn't bring obvious political rewards."

Mrs. Clinton also wants a vice president who would have a good relationship with Mr. Clinton, especially since the two-term president would likely have some sort of policy role and be an outside presence in the White House.... Mr. Kaine is also a relatively low-key person who understands the importance of ceding the spotlight to the Clintons, according to Democrats close to him. CW: In other words, exactly the scenario I dreaded -- Bull Clinton causing mischief again in the White House. Hillary not only expects it; she's encouraging it. ...

... Zaid Jilani of the Intercept: Shortly before Hillary Clinton announced she had chosen Kaine as her running mate, Kaine "praised the [Trans-Pacific Partnership] as an improvement of the status quo, but maintained that he had not yet decided how to vote on final approval of the agreement." -- CW ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Republicans have signaled in recent days that they will use Kaine's acceptance of [gifts from deep-pockets donors] as a line of attack against the newly selected vice presidential candidate, looking to stoke concern among Democrats that Kaine is not the progressive candidate they had hoped for. 'He followed the rules, but it's a question of whether the Democrat Party can stomach that coziness with donors,' said former attorney general Jerry Kilgore, the Republican who Kaine defeated in 2005.... There are stark differences between Kaine's gifts and [those of Gov. Bob] McDonnell's. For one, Kaine's gifts were properly disclosed; McDonnell failed to disclose some of what he received. For another, Kaine has never faced accusations of promising state action in exchange for any of his gifts." -- CW

** Fire Debbie! Michael Shear & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Top officials at the Democratic National Committee criticized and mocked Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont during the primary campaign, even though the organization publicly insisted that it was neutral in the race, according to committee emails made public on Friday by WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks posted almost 20,000 emails sent or received by a handful of top committee officials and provided an online tool to search through them. While WikiLeaks did not reveal the source of the leak, the committee said last month that Russian hackers had penetrated its computer system. Among the emails released on Friday were several embarrassing messages that suggest the committee's chairwoman, Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, and other officials favored Hillary Clinton over Mr. Sanders -- a claim the senator made repeatedly during the primaries." -- CW ...

... Elliot Smilowitz & Joe Uchill of the Hill: "Top officials at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) privately planned how to undermine Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign, according to a trove of emails released by WikiLeaks on Friday." -- CW ...

... Daniel Strauss & Bianca Ocasio of Politico: DNC chair "... Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz once referred to Bernie Sanders' campaign manager Jeff Weaver as a 'damn liar' in an internal email to an aide." In other internal correspondence she called Weaver "particularly scummy" and "an ASS." -- CW ...

... Sam Biddle of the Intercept: "Among the nearly 20,000 internal emails from the Democratic National Committee, released Friday by Wikileaks and presumably provided by the hacker 'Guccifer 2.0,' [who later claimed to be the hacker] is a May 2016 message from DNC CFO Brad Marshall. In it, he suggested that the party should 'get someone to ask' ... Bernie Sanders about his religious beliefs.... It is also unclear why the Democratic National Committee, which isn't supposed to favor one Democratic candidate over another..., would have attempted to subvert the Sanders campaign on the grounds that 'he is an atheist.'" CW: Unbelievably. Marshall denied to Biddle that he was writing about Sanders; he claimed the e-mail must have referred to some other Jewish atheist, a claim for which Marshall should be awarded the Paul Manafort Prize for Today's Biggest Whopper by a Political Operative. ...

... Tom Hamburger & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "The cache of emails also includes communications with journalists and discussions of news organizations, and the emails provide a new perspective on the deference shown to major donors -- and the efforts to carefully calibrate rewards based on a contributor's financial generosity." -- CW ...

... Muzzle Mika! Ben Norton of Salon: "Debbie Wasserman Schultz ... was furious when she was criticized by MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski. Wasserman Schultz called for Brzezinski to 'apologize' and told her co-worker Chuck Todd 'this must stop.' The DNC chair even complained to MSNBC's president. In May, Brzezinski held a segment on the program 'Morning Joe' in which she condemned Wasserman Schultz's 'unfair' treatment of Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary. 'This has been very poorly handled from the start. It has been unfair, and they haven't taken him seriously, and it starts, quite frankly, with the person that we just heard speaking,' Brzezinski said, referring to Wasserman Schultz. 'She should step down,' Brzezinski added." ...

     ... Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: "Chuck, this must stop"? Debbie is just as dismissive of a free & independent press as is Donnie the Dictator. And, Chuck Todd, who is, theoretically at least, a member of the free & independent press, seems happy to discuss "stopping" Brzezinski. [The Intercept's reproduction of the e-mail exchange shows Chuck asking a DNC staffer if an MSNBC-DNC joint call is "a good idea." So Chuck was maybe kinda wondering about journalistic ethics & all, even if he did think a political operative was the person to consult on such matters.] They're all good pals: Debbie mentions "our breakfast"; it's not clear who was breakfasting with whom, but the suggestion is that at least Debbie and MSNBC president Phil Griffin were having pancakes in their PJs. Very Fox "Newsy." Phil & Chuck should explain themselves.


Politico: "Donald Trump was up early on Saturday morning, and he had some thoughts to share about Hillary Clinton's choice of running mate.... On Friday, the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell all attacked Kaine with similar messages, casting him as a continuation of the 'status quo' embodied by President Barack Obama." CW: Yeah, but Mitch didn't call Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" as Chief Tweets-in-the-Night did.

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "After bragging that he had unified the party in one of the most 'love-filled' conventions in political history [Friday morning], Mr. Trump went on an extended diatribe against Mr. Cruz, who declined to endorse him during his own convention speech on Wednesday night and urged people to vote with their conscience. The speech embarrassed Mr. Trump and cast a shadow of discord over the convention." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Dan Spinelli of Politico: "A day after accepting the Republican Party's nomination for president, Donald Trump rehashed a conspiracy theory that claims the man who killed President John F. Kennedy once cavorted with Ted Cruz's father. -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Nick Gass has more on Trump's remarks about Cruz. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Daniel Drezner of the Washington Post: "Trump's acolytes can spin this however they want, but this was a factually incorrect and morally abhorrent speech." ...

... The Marshall Project "truth-tests" Trump on his law-and-order claims. Maybe if they grade on a curve, he could get a D-. Via Paul Waldman, linked below.

Midnight in America. Dana Milbank: "For more than an hour, [Donald Trump] shook his fists, chopped the air, stuck out his chin, bared his bottom teeth, paced behind the lectern, tugged on his lapels -- and delivered the darkest piece of rhetoric spoken by a major political figure in modern American history.... Trump's warnings of imminent catastrophe serve a purpose: In times of panic, the appeal of an authoritarian is greater. And Trump presented himself as the classic strongman." -- CW ...

... Paul Waldman: "Republicans are exploring an election day plan to post someone at every polling place who will shout 'Oh my god look behind you there's a terrorist!!!' at every voter on their way in." CW: Don't worry; Waldman is kidding. But maybe he shouldn't give the Trumpsters any ideas. ...

... CW: On that note, I don't think Apocalypse Now! will work as a campaign strategy. Americans are generally optimists, & most will quickly tire of Trump's "vision" of the U.S. as a third-world country that must turn inward & pledge allegiance to an insane despot to save itself from the savage hordes. ...

... Andrew O'Hehir of Salon, who was in the room, on the contrary thought the dark message resonated well enough to give Trump a victory in November. CW: O'Hehir is an astute observer, so it's worth reading his analysis. ...

... Rick Perlstein, author of Nixonland, in the New Republic, compares Donald Trump's acceptance speech with the one he claims it was modeled on: Richard Nixon's 1968 convention speech: "... last night I sat in person through the whole damned 77-minute hot mess, and I'm here to say: Mr. Trump, I've studied Richard Nixon. And you're no Richard Nixon." -- CW ...

... Philip Bump: "Faced with a real threat, [George W.] Bush appealed to America's strengths. After building a Potemkin crisis, Trump told Americans that only he was good enough to deal with it. The question that lingers for those skeptical of Trump's view of the world is this: What would he have done if he were in Bush's place on September 11?" -- CW ...

Philip Bump of the Washington Post can't figure out who Ivanka Trump was endorsing in her convention speech inasmuch as her claims about her father's support for equal opportunity for women is pretty much nonexistent beyond his claim to be "the best for women" & a promise to "look into [equal pay] very strongly." (CW: whatever that means). (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... ** Washington Post Editors, in a rare full-page editorial: "DONALD J. TRUMP, until now a Republican problem, this week became a challenge the nation must confront and overcome. The real estate tycoon is uniquely unqualified to serve as president, in experience and temperament. He is mounting a campaign of snarl and sneer, not substance. To the extent he has views, they are wrong in their diagnosis of America's problems and dangerous in their proposed solutions. Mr. Trump's politics of denigration and division could strain the bonds that have held a diverse nation together. His contempt for constitutional norms might reveal the nation's two-century-old experiment in checks and balances to be more fragile than we knew." -- CW

Frank Rich on the Republican convention, the Roger Ailes scandal & the future of the Republican party: "... the only defense we have against Trump is his opponent. She must make sure that the other America, the America that is appalled, victimized, and scandalized by Trump and what he represents, goes to the polls to vote "no." Is Hillary Clinton up to it? I don't know." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Other News & Views

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday rejected what he described as Donald J. Trump's vision of America as a nation 'on the verge of collapse.'... During a White House news conference, Mr. Obama said that any 'vision of violence and chaos everywhere doesn't really jibe with the experience of most people.' Countering Mr. Trump's assertion of a crime wave in the country, offered during an acceptance speech..., Mr. Obama said the rate of violent crime had fallen to the lowest levels 'in the last three or four decades.'... Turning to Mr. Trump's assertion that the United States was being inundated with illegal immigrants, Mr. Obama said that 'we have far fewer undocumented workers crossing the border than we did in the '80s, the '90s, or when George Bush was president. That is fact.'" -- CW ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "President Barack Obama wasted no time Friday delivering another implicit rebuke of Donald Trump on Mexico and immigration, hours after the Republican nominee officially claimed the party mantle to take on ... Hillary Clinton in November. 'Let me start by saying something that is too often overlooked, but bears repeating -- especially given some of the heated rhetoric that we sometimes hear. The United States values tremendously our enduring partnership with Mexico and our extraordinary ties of family and friendship with the Mexican people,' Obama said at the start of a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Manuel Roig-Franzia, et al., of the Washington Post: "News of [Gretchen] Carlson's firing [from Fox 'News'], and the lawsuit she filed shortly thereafter, have now prompted 25 women to come forward with what they describe as similar harassment claims against [Fox 'News' chief Roger] Ailes that stretch across five decades..., according to Carlson's attorney, Nancy Erika Smith.... Many of the allegations that have become public ... are clustered in the decades long before Ailes became" CEO of Fox "News" in 1996. BUT, "'It became common knowledge that women did not want to be alone with him,' [a] former [Fox 'News'] staffer said. '... It became a locker room, towel-snapping environment. He would say things like, "She's really got the goods" and "look at the t--s on that one.'" Sometimes, the former staffer said, Ailes made 'jokes that he liked having women on their knees. The tone he set went through the organization.'" ...

     ... CW: My prediction: Ailes will help Trump "News" get up and running in 2017.

Beyond the Beltway

Fenit Nirappil & Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: Virginia "Gov. Terry McAuliffe's decision to restore voting rights to more than 200,000 felons violates Virginia's constitution, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday, dealing a major blow to the Democratic governor with implications for the November presidential race in the crucial swing state. In a 4-to-3 decision, the court ruled that McAuliffe overstepped his clemency powers by issuing a sweeping order in April restoring rights to all ex-offenders who are no longer incarcerated or on probation or parole.... A defiant McAuliffe released a statement late Friday saying that he would pick up his executive pen and restore the rights of those felons on an individual basis, even if it means signing more than 200,000 orders." -- CW

Mark Berman & Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "Authorities in North Miami, Fla., said Friday that they had placed a second police officer on leave as part of the investigation into a police shooting there earlier this week in which an officer shot and wounded an unarmed man. The second officer was placed on unpaid administrative leave because of 'conflicting statements given to the investigators' looking into the shooting,Larry M. Spring Jr., the North Miami city manager, said at a news conference." -- CW

Way Beyond

Rukmini Callimachi, et al., of the New York Times: "A shooting rampage outside a shopping mall in Munich on Friday evening left 10 people dead and at least 21 wounded and sent Germany's third-largest city into lockdown as the police scrambled to find what they initially said were as many as three assailants. By early Saturday, the police said the attack was probably the work of single gunman whose body was found less than a mile from the mall. Officials said he had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. The officials also said the police were using a robot to examine the contents of a backpack belonging to the suspect, who was not identified." -- CW ...

... The Guardian has live updates here. The "gunman was [an] 18-year-old German of Iranian descent." -- CW ...

... Souad Mekhennet, et al., of the Washington Post: "Munich authorities said Saturday that the gunman who went on a rampage at a shopping center Friday, leaving nine people dead, had no ties to the Islamic State or other extremist groups. Instead, police believe he was obsessed with mass killings and may have been mentally ill." -- CW

Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson appeared to distance Britain from Donald Trump on Friday, saying that the country's decision to leave the European Union should not be likened to the Republican presidential candidate's 'America first' isolationist foreign policy. The foreign secretary also claimed European countries had shown a willingness to move quickly to reach a settlement on the terms of Britain's exit from the trade block and insisted that a 'balance can be struck' between free trade and the free movement of workers." -- CW

Comments Off

Reader Comments (8)

Today's local paper: Page one, 9 dead, 16 wounded in a once in a lifetime event in Munich. Page three, 2 dead, 4 wounded in Newark in a 40 times in a day event in America.

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

After all of the noise about the choices for VP, keep in mind the fact that as a practical matter the VP 'job' is the ability to express opinions on the inside. Opinions that can be ignored. However there is talk that on the Republican side history might change. Since the candidate for POTUS can't spell government, there is talk that the VP might actually be POTUS, except, of course, at big public displays.

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Marvin,

Yes, and yes again to context.

My daughter-in-law sent this corrective to our warped perspective on violence.

The absolute number of police deaths from violence has steadily declined from 101 per year during Reagan's reign to a low of 62 during the first seven Obama years. (Washington Post Wonkblog)

And think that VEEP business has already happened, as recently as Darth Vader and his feckless boss.

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

A WHITER SHADE OF PALE:

In working class America an elite-resenting identity politics has emerged in which whiteness spells dispossession. This article from the New Yorker is a fascinating read.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/07/25/the-new-meaning-of-whiteness

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

<< ... In her profile of Kaine, Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times claims, "At heart, Mr. Kaine is an old-fashioned liberal ... -- CW >>

'liberal' - Really?
'old-fashioned' - Indeed:
Anti-Choice & Pro-Death Penalty.

Enticements for coaxing the Sanders-Folk on board?

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterOphelia M.

@OpheliaM: This excerpt from BuzzFeed, but easy enought to find more on Google about Kaine's position(s): "Although Kaine carried out 11 executions, his stance on the death penalty is much more complicated than that. Before he became governor in 2006, Kaine served as a civil rights lawyer, and represented several capital defendants.

In 1987, he told the Washington Post that “[m]urder is wrong in the gulag, in Afghanistan, in Soweto, in the mountains of Guatemala, in Fairfax County … and even the Spring Street Penitentiary.”

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

MAG (thanks) provided some of my intended response to Ophelia (glad to see your name again) re: my respectful disagreement about Kaine.

Maybe an "old fashioned" liberal is one who maintains sufficient intellectual distance and enough reverence for the messiness of democracy to separate one's personal beliefs from the manner in which one governs. As I understand it, Kaine is personally pro-life and against capital punishment, but believes his own beliefs on these difficult issues should not trump (perhaps need a new word here) those of others and certainly not the democratically determined law of the land.

Whether Kaine turns out to be the right pick or not, and whether or not I share his personal beliefs, I support his right to have them--as long as he does not use his position to foist them on me. That's where I would draw the line.

Guess that makes me an old-fashioned liberal, too. If so, fearing I know the answer, I wonder what a new-fashioned one is.

So...a Trumpless day, calloh callay, I chortle in my joy.....and am already fashioning a Sunday sermon to take its place.

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Thank you, MAG, for the BuzzFeed piece. I welcomed the second read at your suggestion in case I missed something & would be moved toward a change of heart. (BTW: I respect & applaud the legal representation Kaine has provided.)

And . . .

Greetings, Ken, and thank you for your eloquent POV's. Like yourself, I have given consideration to the integrity of << one who maintains sufficient intellectual distance and enough reverence for the messiness of democracy to separate one's personal beliefs from the manner in which one governs. >> And yet . . .

I still cannot align myself with - or respect - Kaine's rationales: How such strong, moral (faith-based) belief in the sanctity of life would, nonetheless, uphold an opposing State law. Yes - Of course - 'oath of office'. But if his fundamental convictions (unexpected puns) opposed Death Row, why not leave office? Or (this, from one sadly uninformed of a governor's capabilities) lobby to change 'the law'? For me, I see these inconsistencies as hypocritical and false. And those impressions dovetail with my other Thumbs Down . . .

While Kaine presents himself as Pro-Choice, he does so with underlying restrictions: He is also Pro-Parental Approval & Pro-Informed Consent. (I won't address his "Partial Birth" position now.)

Both are strategies (one need only glance the Pro-Life "literature") designed to prolong a termination date (Oops! Too late for you, Dearie), subject patients to vaginal sonography (Ouch!) & color pix of aborted fetuses, along with other humiliating, brain-washing, threatening & painful tactics. Basically, they're efforts to terminate termination.

As for instances mandating Parental Approval: These (some? many?) have resulted in forcing underage females to carry (and deliver, *if* their bodies & pregnancies have endured) full-term: Medically ravaging. Psychologically damaging. Not to mention - 'though i will ;) . . .

When the newborn is to be placed for adoption, even though the pregnancy was originally intended/wanted to be stopped (by the young girl or teen), the physiological & emotional trauma of experiencing childbirth, and then seeing/feeling one's newborn ushered away - -

Kaine is against the Death Penalty, but . . .
Kaine is Pro-Choice, but . . .

These are some of the bits that give me pause.

Cheers -

July 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterOphelia M.
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