;)
The Commentariat -- July 6, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Missy Ryan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama announced revised troop plans for Afghanistan on Wednesday, keeping 8,400 U.S. troops in the country when he steps down early next year, the clearest indication yet of his inability to end the long war there.... He had hoped to leave a force of 5,500 in early 2017." -- CW ...
Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump raised more than $26 million through online and mail solicitations in June and another $25 million at events with the Republican National Committee, his campaign announced Wednesday.... The combined $51 million falls short of the $68.5 million that presumptive Democratic contender Hillary Clinton and the Democratic party collected in June, which included $40.5 million she raised directly for her campaign." -- CW
David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Eric Trump, the son of ... Donald Trump, said in an interview Wednesday that his father gives 'millions and millions and millions' of his own money to charity -- including hundreds of thousands to Eric Trump's own charitable foundation. He did not, however, immediately provide new details to help confirm those donations.... [Eric Trump] denounced its reporting -- often in forceful, profane terms. 'I'm just saying, Jesus Christ, why is this guy trying to f[uck]ing kill us?' Eric Trump said at one point." CW: So that settles that.
Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), the chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee who has recently emerged as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, told The Washington Post in an interview Wednesday that he has taken himself out of consideration for the position. Corker said that he informed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee of his decision during their day together on Tuesday...." -- CW ...
... Burgess Everett of Politico: "Joni Ernst all but removed herself from Donald Trump's vice presidential search, telling Politico in an interview that she wants to help Trump become president but that she's focused on Iowa and the Senate, where the freshman senator said she's 'just getting started.' The GOP senator met with Trump on Monday and received effusive praise afterward, with Trump predicting he will 'see her again.'" -- CW
... Steve M.: "Well, I'm relieved.... I don't think I could have endured a Trump-Corker ticket -- if only because the media narrative would be: Bob Corker? Wow, what a serious, respectable choice! Trump really is pivoting! He's so presidential now, just because he's chosen this person we like so much! Trump will never change, but a Corker pick would have allowed Beltway journalists to continuing fooling themselves into thinking that he might. (Of course, some of them will anyway.)" -- CW
David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "... James B. Comey, will go before Congress on Thursday to explain his decision to recommend no criminal charges against Hillary Clinton, a House committee chairman announced Wednesday morning.... The F.B.I. did not immediately confirm that Mr. Comey would comply, but the announcement by Representative Jason Chaffetz of Utah, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, came after the House speaker, Paul D. Ryan, said that Mrs. Clinton should be barred from receiving classified information -- an extraordinary recommendation even if it is certain to be ignored by the Obama administration. In addition, Attorney General Loretta Lynch will appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, and that committee's chairman, Bob Goodlatte of Virginia, made it clear he would focus on Ms. Lynch's impromptu meeting with former President Bill Clinton, ahead of the F.B.I.'s announcement." -- CW
Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's campaign announced plans on Wednesday to eliminate college tuition at in-state public colleges and universities for families with annual incomes under $125,000 -- a significant nod to a core position of Senator Bernie Sanders, who had pledged to make tuition at public institutions free for all students." -- CW
Margaret Hartmann of New York: "It's time to reconsider the possibility that Donald Trump is a secret Hillary Clinton supporter, as opposed to merely a man whose campaign is a garbage fire." On a day when the story should have been Clinton's "extremely careless" handling of secret correspondence, Trump took time out to praise Saddam Hussein. Trump's "admiration of Hussein is no secret. He's made the same point many times, dating back to at least 2004, when he told the Dallas Morning News, 'No matter how much you hate Saddam Hussein, and obviously he was a horror show, he kept terrorists out of Iraq.'... Now suddenly Saddam Hussein was trending on Twitter, and replacing headlines about Clinton's email scandal."...
... CW: For fun, read the tweeted reactions to Trump's Saddam remarks which Hartmann embedded. AND this:
Paul Ryan's face as Megyn Kelly tells him about Donald Trump's remark about Saddam Hussein. h/t @Aaron_RS pic.twitter.com/WWxWnUL6E2
Caleb Howe (@CalebHowe) July 6, 2016
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Michael Grynbaum & John Koblin of the New York Times: "Gretchen Carlson, the longtime Fox News anchor, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday saying that Roger Ailes, the powerful chairman of Fox News, fired her from the network last month after she refused his sexual advances and complained to him about discriminatory treatment in the newsroom.... The lawsuit ... portrays the Fox chairman as a serial sexual harasser, charging that he ogled Ms. Carlson in his office, called her 'sexy' and frequently made sexually charged comments about her physical appearance. Ms. Carlson ... charges that during a meeting last fall to discuss her concerns about what she considered ill treatment, Mr. Ailes told her: 'I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago and then you'd be good and better and I'd be good and better.'" Story includes copy of the complaint. -- CW
AP: "A Louisiana police officer shot and killed a man following a confrontation outside a Baton Rouge convenience store, authorities said. An autopsy shows Alton Sterling, 37, of Baton Rouge, died Tuesday of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, said East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr. William Clark.... The owner [of the store] said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting." -- CW ...
... Brandon Patterson of Mother Jones: "Louisiana Governor John Bel-Edwards announced Wednesday morning that the Department of Justice's civil rights division will open an investigation into the police shooting death of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man shot multiple times by a Baton Rouge police officer early Tuesday morning. The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office for the Middle District of Louisiana will assist the investigation, Bel-Edwards said." -- CW
*****
Peter Markowitz in a New York Times op-ed: "President Obama can still act to bring humanity and justice to an immigration system notoriously lacking in both. He can do so by using the power the Constitution grants him -- and only him -- to pardon individuals for 'offenses against the United States.'... Such pardons have been used by presidents including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson. Most recently, Jimmy Carter issued a pardon to around half a million men who had violated draft laws to avoid military service in Vietnam." -- CW
Your Government at Work. Christine Grimaldi of Rewire: "Republicans on the U.S. House of Representatives panel investigating questionable reproductive health-care allegations [i.e., Planned Parenthood] have sought an additional $490,000 in funding -- even as Chair Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) publicly indicated that their activities may halt by the end of the year.... All told, the investigation is well on its way to totaling $790,000, using nearly 80 percent of the House;s available supplemental funding.... Administration Committee Democrats protested the original funding request and raised similar objections again this time, to no avail. The current action marks the second time the committee 'decided without a public hearing or a proper vote to pay for the political attack on Planned Parenthood,' they said in a statement...." -- CW
... Charles Pierce: "It came as no surprise that Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-Zygote) of Tennessee has had her name bruited about as a possible running mate for He, Trump. (Also, hello again to my new friend, Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa! I'm so proud.) After all, Blackburn was in charge of the second biggest waste of time and money in the House of Representatives this year behind only Trey Gowdy's masterful pursuit of The Truth -- which is Out There -- behind Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! (CW: Bear in mind that Benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI! did bring to light Hillary Clinton's "extremely careless" disregard for the security of her correspondence.) ...
... CW: House Republicans' waste of money on this kangaroo court is a pittance compared to the costs to Planned Parenthood and to women across the nation who need access to reproductive health care. ...
... Hey, Let's Waste More Millions! Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) became the first Republican to call for a new, independent investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of email during her years at the State Department, saying in a statement that the defunct independent counsel statute should be revived to 'make an independent and impartial decision' about whether Clinton should be charged.... '[blah-blah] political bias ... [blah-blah] Bill Clinton ... Loretta Lynch [blah-blah].'... Not an hour later, Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), who is retiring this year, made a similar request." -- CW ...
... Update. In Case You Were Thinking "End of Story." Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Republicans will hold hearings to learn more about the FBI's decision to not recommend criminal charges for ... Hillary Clinton, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Tuesday night. 'People have been convicted for far less," Ryan said during an interview with Megyn Kelly on Fox News's "The Kelly File.'... Ryan said Clinton 'clearly lives above the law,' saying Comey has 'shredded' Clinton's defense of her email practices while serving as secretary of State. Ryan described Clinton as 'grossly negligent.... Ryan said the FBI should release its findings regarding the Clinton email investigation. He also called for the director of National Intelligence to 'block' Clinton from accessing classified information as a presidential candidate, given her handling of government secrets over her private email server.... Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) ... indicated hours earlier on Fox that he was considering calling Comey to Capitol Hill to testify about the FBI's probe and conclusion not to recommend charges." -- CW ...
... Greg Sargent: "As we've already seen with Benghazi, Republicans don't ever stop, no matter how many investigations fail to turn up that single devastating piece of evidence of Clinton perfidy and lawbreaking they are looking for. The same may prove true in the case of the emails. As Bloomberg Politics puts it, [Paul] Ryan is basically helping Trump 'whip up conspiracy theories over the FBI process' in a manner designed mainly to 'rally the base,' but which 'may do little to convince general election voters' that the fix was in.'" -- CW
Brian Beutler writes an elegant piece on why the Republican party will not change as a result of Trump's exposing its raw underbelly. CW: But his thinking is flawed, in my view, by an assumption that there's something more to modern conservatism than promoting the interests of the well-to-do. Back in the day, there were conservatives like George Romney & Nelson Rockefeller who strove for smarter, not meaner, government, but the remainder of those gentler, kindlier Republicans are now living in assisted living homes in the bucolic recesses of New England. The so-called Party of Lincoln is now the anti-American center of naked tribalism & exclusionary greed.
Good Lord! Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Catholics in Philadelphia who are divorced and civilly remarried will be welcome to accept Holy Communion -- as long as they abstain from sex and live out their relationships like 'brother and sister'. New guidelines published by the conservative archbishop of Philadelphia this month also called on priests within the archdiocese to help Catholics who are attracted to people of the same sex and 'find chastity very difficult', saying such individuals should be advised to frequently seek penance." -- CW
Presidential Race
Hillary Clinton will speak in Atlantic City, New Jersey, today to argue that Donald Trump's business practices there make him unfit to be president. (Sorry if this video, produced for the Clinton campaign, repeats. Just pause it, if necessary.):
Amy Chozick & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday delivered a full-throated stemwinder on behalf of Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, making his debut on the campaign trail this year just hours after federal officials criticized Mrs. Clinton's 'careless' handling of emails but said no charges should be filed":
... Domenico Montanaro of NPR: "No president has campaigned strongly for his chosen successor in at least 100 years. Tuesday's event, with President Obama campaigning for Hillary Clinton..., is remarkable for that reason." -- CW
Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, said on Tuesday that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges in Hillary Clinton's handling of classified information, lifting an enormous legal cloud from her presidential campaign.... But Mr. Comey rebuked Mrs. Clinton as being 'extremely careless' in using a personal email address and server for sensitive information, declaring that an ordinary government official could have faced administrative sanction for such conduct. To warrant a criminal charge, Mr. Comey said, there had to be evidence that Mrs. Clinton intentionally sent or received classified information -- something that the F.B.I. did not find. 'Our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case,' he said at a news conference." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... The full transcript of Comey's remarks, as prepared, via the Washington Post, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... NEW. John Cassidy of the New Yorker has quite a good synthesis of Comey's presentation: "... while Comey's decision didn't come as a shock, the manner in which he couched and explained it was startling. Far from saying that Clinton and her aides hadn't done anything wrong, or pooh-poohing the e-mail investigation as a minor matter, the F.B.I. director confirmed that Clinton sent and received numerous e-mails on her private server which contained top-secret information, and he described the decision not to recommend criminal charges only as a professional judgement." -- CW
... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress with "what you need to know about why ... charges [against Clinton] were never a realistic possibility." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Liar, Liar. Stephen Braun & Jack Gillum of the AP: "Key assertions by Hillary Clinton in defense of her email practices have collapsed under FBI scrutiny. The agency's yearlong investigation found that she did not, as she claimed, turn over all her work-related messages for release. It found that her private email server did carry classified emails, also contrary to her past statements. And it made clear that Clinton used many devices to send and receive email despite her statements that she set up her email system so that she only needed to carry one. FBI Director James Comey's announcement Tuesday ... left much of [Clinton's] account in tatters and may have aggravated questions of trust...." The reporters fact-check specific claims Clinton made, which according to the FBI investigation, are untrue. -- CW ...
... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post does a similar fact-check, comparing Clinton's claims to Comey's remarks. -- CW ...
... ** Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, all but indicted [Hillary Clinton's] judgment and competence on Tuesday -- two vital pillars of her presidential candidacy -- and in the kind of terms that would be politically devastating in a normal election year.... In just a few minutes of remarks, Mr. Comey called into question Mrs. Clinton's claims of superiority more memorably, mightily and effectively than Mr. Trump has over the entire past year.... She is running as a supremely competent candidate and portraying Mr. Trump, in essence, as irresponsible and dangerous. Yet the director of the F.B.I. basically just called her out for having committed one of the most irresponsible moves in the modern history of the State Department." -- CW ...
... Ditto. Philip Rucker, et al., of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton may avoid criminal charges, but the searing rebuke of her 'extremely careless' email practices Tuesday by FBI Director James B. Comey is likely to reverberate through the November election and, if she wins, well into her presidency.... Although he said the FBI was referring the decision to the Justice Department, Comey added that 'our judgment is that no reasonable prosecutor would bring such a case.' It would be highly unusual for federal prosecutors not to follow the bureau's counsel.... The Clinton campaign had no advance warning of the precise timing or contents of Comey's announcement...." -- CW
... CW: You have to suspect that the reason Hillary Clinton used the private server instead of following federal regulations is that he has a habit of keeping around her an entourage of sycophants. None of them had the guts or the inclination to say, "Madame Secretary, you'll have to learn to use the government system." So what kind of advisors would she have in the White House? The same kind of yes-men & women she's employed all her public life. They won't have the guts to say, "Madame President, we must not invade Iraq (or wherever)." ...
... Charles Pierce: "... what Comey is describing above is a more than legitimate issue in the presidential campaign, and that 'Hoorah! I'm Not Indicted!' isn't exactly an inspiring Message Of The Day for your first appearance on the stump with the president.... However, the apparently inexhaustible ability of the Clintons to prompt Republicans to hysterical overreaction is working to HRC's advantage. Of course, He, Trump hit the electric Twitter machine with his hair on fire.... If He, Trump will get the hell out of his own way, the elite political press will do a lot of pretty good work for him." ...
... CW: On Pierce's last point, see, e.g., analyses by Patrick Healy & WashPo writers & the AP fact-check above. As for "I'm Not Indicted!" I'm looking for an adaptation of "I'm So Excited":
... New York Times Editors: "James Comey ... may have relieved Hillary Clinton of a legal burden on Tuesday, but he left her with a substantial political one. While announcing that the bureau would not recommend criminal charges against Mrs. Clinton for her handling of classified material on nonsecure personal email servers, Mr. Comey issued a strong rebuke of her practices, which he called 'extremely careless' -- and for which she has never given the public a full explanation. He was right on both points." -- CW ...
... Mark Berman of the New York Times: "... for [James] Comey, stepping into a political debate is not new territory. During his years at the Justice Department -- as a prosecutor, an assistant attorney general and, since 2013, the seventh director of the FBI -- Comey has commented on some of the most knotty issues, leaning into arguments and topics that have brought him into conflict with two presidential administrations. Most famously, Comey was involved in a dramatic confrontation inside a hospital room during his time as deputy attorney general in the George W. Bush administration." -- CW ...
... Michael Schmidt & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times have a similar story here. -- CW ...
... Sara Jerde of TPM: "A spokesperson for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) reportedly told media outlets Tuesday that the FBI's findings on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's server use wouldn't impact Sanders' decision to stay in the race for the White House." -- CW
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump weighed in on the FBI's announcement that it would not recommend charges be brought against Hillary Clinton.... 'The system is rigged. General Petraeus got in trouble for far less. Very very unfair! As usual, bad judgment,' Trump tweeted Tuesday morning.... Trump reiterated his claims of a rigged system in a subsequent tweet." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: Really? Petraeus gave classified material to his girlfriend, who was not a federal employee, not cleared to receive classified material, & who carried the stuff around on an unsecured laptop &, I imagine, on flashdrives or other devices. ...
... Update. Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "In the wake of FBI Director James B. Comey's decision not to recommend charges against Hillary Clinton..., Donald Trump again compared the matter to the criminal case against former CIA director David Petraeus.... But Petraeus had some key differences -- perhaps most notably, he denied ever giving classified information to [Paula] Broadwell, and investigators would later come to believe he had lied to them in asserting that." -- CW
NEW. Jenna Johnson & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump on Tuesday accused Hillary Clinton of trying to 'bribe' Attorney General Loretta Lynch by raising the possibility that she might keep Lynch in her position if she's elected president.... The claim of a potential job offer, apparently based on a news report and erroneously attributed to Clinton herself, marked an extraordinary escalation in Trump's rhetoric against his Democratic rival...." ...
... CW: Well, at least Trump's fans are keeping it classy. From the same report:
As Trump spoke at his rally [in Raleigh, North Carolina,] Tuesday, the crowd of about 2,000 frequently jumped to their feet to cheer and shout out their own opinions. His attacks on Clinton were especially popular, and one man in the crowd repeatedly shouted: "Hang that b[itch]!' A reporter for the local News and Observer tweeted that as Trump criticized President Obama, someone near him shouted: 'He's a monkey!'" -- CW ...
... Another Dictator Trump Admires. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump on Tuesday once again expressed his preference for keeping dictators in power in the Middle East.... Trump praised ... [Saddam Hussein]'s efficient killing of 'terrorists' -- despite the fact that Iraq was listed as a state sponsor of terrorism during Hussein's time in power.... 'He was a bad guy -- really bad guy. But you know what? He did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. They didn't read them the rights. They didn't talk. They were terrorists. Over. Today, Iraq is Harvard for terrorism,' Trump said." -- CW
Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who is emerging as a finalist in the search for Donald Trump's running mate, met privately with the presumptive GOP nominee on Tuesday in New York and was scheduled to later fly with the candidate to Raleigh, N.C.... The day of conversation and travel with Trump comes as Corker is being formally vetted for the vice-presidential nomination by Washington lawyer A.B. Culvahouse Jr." -- CW ...
... As Paul Waldman points out, "Corker is a strange anomaly among Trump's potential running mates, in that he's generally thought of as a reasonable, non-crazy person with no appalling character flaws. Which suggests Trump won't pick him...."
** Jonathan Chait: Hillary Clinton "is the 'most corrupt candidate ever,' [Trump] claims. Corruption is indeed a plausible line of attack against Clinton — or, at least, it would be, if the opposing candidate was anybody other than Donald Trump, who may actually be the most corrupt presidential candidate ever. It should be conceded that the evidence against Clinton is fairly damning.... ... The case against Hillary Clinton is that her administration might be corrupted around the margins.... Trump is flamboyantly corrupt in ways that run to the very core of his identity and prospective governing choices.... Trump has not merely intermingled campaigning with his business interests; the two are one and the same." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Putin's Puppet. Franklin Foer in Slate: "Vladimir Putin has a plan for destroying the West -- and that plan looks a lot like Donald Trump. Over the past decade, Russia has boosted right-wing populists across Europe.... There's a clear pattern: Putin runs stealth efforts on behalf of politicians who rail against the European Union and want to push away from NATO... Donald Trump is like the Kremlin's favored candidates, only more so.... Donald Trump's interest in Russia dates back to Soviet times.... After his 2004 bankruptcy and his long streak of lawsuits, the big banks decided [Trump] wasn't worth the effort.... This sent him chasing less conventional sources of cash [-- Russian oligarchs & other foreign strongmen & mobsters].... The [trump] campaign isn't just one man with an aesthetic affinity for Putin and commercial interests in Russia; his sentiments are reinforced and amplified by an organization rife with financial ties to the Kremlin." ...
... CW: Surely this is the first time in modern history that the two major parties have both nominated presidential candidates with extensive histories of currying favor from despots & shady entrepreneurs/racketeers the world over, Trump through his business dealings & Clinton through her association with the Clinton Global Initiative.
From the Horseass's Mouth. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Prominent white nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke on Tuesday dismissed Donald Trump's explanation of his controversial tweet featuring Hillary Clinton next to a pile of money, a Star of David, and the words the 'most corrupt candidate ever.'... 'Let's go to the tweet. The tweet again shows Clinton, it shows a Star of David. Of course later the campaign made the excuse, "Well, no, that's like a sheriff's badge." Well, no way, folks...,' said Duke.... Duke said all the 'Jewish extremists' were supporting Clinton." -- CW
Nick Gass: "Donald Trump's campaign has at various times banned publications like Politico, The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed News and others from covering its events. But when journalists convene in Cleveland in less than two weeks, none of those outlets will be shut out of Quicken Loans Arena, the director of the House Daily Press Gallery told the Washington Examiner in an interview published Tuesday." CW: I wonder if Trump will be able to keep the press in a pen, which would be a first at any modern-day major-party convention. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
John Hanna of the AP: "Kansas cannot cut off Medicaid funding for two Planned Parenthood affiliates, a federal judge said Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson in Kansas City, Kansas, issued the temporary ruling in a lawsuit filed by Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri and the organization's St. Louis regional affiliate. Robinson wrote that Medicaid patients have 'the explicit right to seek family planning services from the qualified provider of their choice.' The court also noted that Planned Parenthood is likely to succeed on their claim that the state violated a free-choice provider provision in the Medicaid Act." CW: Robinson is a Bush II appointee.
John Cheves of the Lexington Herald-Leader: "Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis violated the Kentucky Open Records Act by refusing to produce documents related to her legal battle last year against same-sex marriage, the state Office of the Attorney General said in an opinion released Tuesday." -- CW
Way Beyond
Erlanger and Castle of the New York Times: "The long-awaited report by the Iraq Inquiry Committee, led by John Chilcot, takes up 12 volumes covering 2.6 million words, four times longer than 'War and Peace,' and took seven years to complete, longer than Britain's combat operations in Iraq. It concluded that Mr. [Tony] Blair and the British government underestimated the difficulties and consequences of the war and overestimated the influence he would have over President George W. Bush." -- unwashed It looks like they took longer than Trey Gowdy to determine what we already knew. ...
... The Guardian report, by Luke Harding, is here. ...
... Heather Stewart of The Guardian: "Tony Blair deliberately exaggerated the threat posed by the Iraqi regime as he sought to make the case for military action to MPs and the public in the buildup to the invasion in 2002 and 2003... --unwashed ...
... Patrick Wintour of The Guardian: "The [George W.] Bush administration repeatedly overrode advice from the UK on how to oversee Iraq after the invasion, including the involvement of the United Nations, the control of Iraqi oil money and the extent to which better security should be put at the heart of the military operation.... The inquiry criticises the way in which the US dismantled the security apparatus of the Saddam Hussein army and describes the whole invasion as a strategic failure." --unwashed
Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: "Oscar Pistorius, the double-amputee who dazzled the world by running in the 2012 Olympics on blade-like prosthetic legs, was sentenced to 6 years in prison for the 2013 murder of his girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp. Fifteen years is the minimum sentence for murder under South African law unless the judge finds mitigating circumstances justifying a lesser penalty. Judge Thokozile Masipa said she had indeed found reason for a lighter sentence, in particular, remorse." -- CW
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Reader Comments (16)
So we have a Republican wannabe president advocating for terroristic actions like dispensation of all civil rights and summary executions. "Today Iraq is Harvard for terrorists." Exactly. And Iraq's very own John Harvard is another Republican wannabe president, George W. Bush. And his dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences is Dick Cheney. You'd have to have a Yale for terrorists with a faculty of Himmler, Pol Pot, and Stalin to compete with their success rate in matriculation of accomplished students into the ranks of terrorist men and women of the world. Donaldo would represent a giant step forward in terror trading and recruiting. Hey, he already is.
Arghhh... Training not trading. And anyone wondering why I labeled the Decider a wannabe need only look at his record.
In the "Hill" article linked above, Speaker Ryan told Fox's Ms. Kelly that "... the FBI "should give us all of their findings" in the Clinton investigation."
This sounds sort of reasonable, but it is seriously scary. Putting raw Law Enforcement information (which is protected like classified information) into the hands of politicians for them to act upon is a serious infringement of a subject's privacy. LE info is protected in the executive branch ... but not if it gets into congressional hands. Worse, the end result is that investigative agencies can become the instrument of partisan witch hunts.
Comey and Co. should go up and testify for Rep Chaffetz, fine ... but not "give ... all their findings." Just the summaries.
And ... we will probably not get it, but I would love to see HRC testify to Rep. Chaffetz. She would eat that puppy for lunch.
Akhilleus: how can you say such things on The Decider's 70th birthday?
How can I grab the headlines today?
Trump must wonder each morning. Trump Lauds Saddam Hussein Versus Terrorists "
Here is today's Trump blast: "Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right? ... But you know what he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good," Trump told a campaign rally Tuesday night in Raleigh, North Carolina. "They didn't read 'em the rights, they didn't talk. They were a terrorist, it was over."
Oh, screw grammar—and he speaks perfect Palinese.
@Patrick: I think Comey also would munch on Chaffetz. Whoever he may be in his heart-of-hearts, Comey presents himself as a crusader for truth, justice & the American way. I don't think he'll enjoy getting called on the carpet & made a political football by Chaffetz & his Wrong-Way Gang. I'd say the House Republicans can force Comey to testify at their peril.
I'm certain you're right about letting those dudes get their hands on raw FBI files, which are, by definition, bound to be full of unverified speculation as well as personal information about State Department employees & others.
Marie
If the candidates name was Harold Clinton, this email crap would have been no issue.
Ah, gee, just when we thought that finally we were through with Hillary's "damn emails" the buzz from the buzzards are we have just begun. Those hungry buggers on the right side of the road have been salivating for just this delectable piece of roadkill. So–– we are in for more investigations, more recriminations, and more money spent on trying to discredit a candidate so far superior than their own that it is almost laughable if it wasn't so pathetic.
If we can find a positive here it might be that Hillary has had to face up to the fact that she fucked up. She has said she made a mistake in the way she dealt with Whitewater and apologized for voting for the Iraq War. She has egg on her face that isn't going to be wiped away so easily. I see this as a good thing. It's called learning from experience and perhaps what she has learned will help her steer a safer passage during her presidency.
"It appears part of the reason she set up a personal email account in the first place was that she did not want her exchanges to wind up as fodder for political operations."
So says Sam Stein who tells us how old scandals shaped Clinton's email mess from start to finish.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hillary-clinton-emails-whitewater_us_577c2f8ee4b0a629c1ab2517?section=
Marsha Blackburn: She of the lover of all things fetal would never be a good pick for the King. Her southern honey would drip all over His crown and spoil his bespoke suits and spiffy ties from China. Nor would Pierce's new best friend, the hog castrator be someone to stand beside––besides her aggressive ways and means, Jody would likely eat HIM for breakfast. Newt still looms large––is knocking loudly at the vice presidential door––at least here his bulk would correspond to the Donald's where as Corker looks like a wee wizard without a wand.
Oh, woe betide!
PD,
I doubt that chicken hawk Drumpf will pick Ernst or Cotton. Both have military service, and not the kind that entailed prancing around a parade ground in shiny boots wearing a War of 1812 looking headress and fancy uniforms with the Napoleon era braiding and big brass buttons. Although now that I think of it, he did win a medal for making his bed. That has to count for something, right? Wonder what that one looks like. Oak leaf cluster attached to the mitred corner of a sheet?
No, he'll pick another angry white male chicken hawk lying sack of shit like himself. Gingrich or Christie most likely.
Most Corrupt Candidate Sweepstakes
Yes, yes, Clinton has trust issues but she is far and away NOT the most corrupt candidate in history. Trump, on the other hand, is more than just a corrupt candidate. He's a corrupt human being. His caterwauling about the system being rigged for Hillary is laughable when one considers that life has been rigged for Trump.
Anyone who watched that eye popping video linked here last week of an interview with investigative reporter Wayne Barrett will appreciate this truth. Every difficult path has been smoothed for Trump. Every "impossible" made "likely". Every closed door flung open. His daddy's wealth and political connections, and his own pervasive, cavalier amorality have provided him a world view that eclipses the merely corrupt. His iniquitous, knavish double dealing with most everyone, business partners, wives, the media, the public, and now voters, sets a new standard for shameless dishonesty.
This isn't the kettle calling the pot black, this is fucking Dorian Gray complaining that someone's portrait looks a bit off.
Hard to know another's heart, but regardless of how deep the well of Obama's empathy for the millions of broken families that will result from our draconian deportation rules may be, I don't see him issuing a general pardon for those migrants caught in the jaws of our broken immigration policies.
The suggested equivalent of Carter's general pardon of draft dodgers just doesn't fit. First, the Vietnam war was over, and while emotions it aroused were (and in some quarters, remain) still hot, the nation was mostly sick and tired of it all and wanted to put it behind. The fight over immigration and all the emotions that fight arouses is far from finished. We are in its midst. Much of this election cycle is obviously about it and the paranoia and racism it generates.
Second, most of those Carter pardoned were white, many of them the sons of relatively privileged with university educations. Another contrast.
Then there are the immediate political consequences. Such a pardon before the election would arouse mountainous outrage, bring thousands of wingers to the polls who might otherwise sit this one out and significantly tilt the election in Trump's favor.
And a midnight pardon issued as Obama was leaving office would make compromise on immigration absolutely impossible and dig a political hole for President HRC that she could never crawl out of.
We'll see.
Here's another suggested link, an article on North Dakota's Non Partisan League which is illuminating in many ways.
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/07/the-sanders-revolution-north-dakota-as-an-example-of-the-long-tail-of-grass-roots-activism.html
If we are ever able to avert our eyes from the catastrophe our national politics has become, we may want to try looking around closer to home.
And speaking of The Other...
The other day Marie posted a link to a Times op-ed piece that unveiled some of the uglier (to our modern eyes, but hopefully to at least a few nascent United States citizens at the time) aspects of our declaration that independence was required from George III and his nefarious agents.
The current and ongoing war(s) against The Other continues unabated, events and contemporary declarations in one direction or another precipitating a waxing and waning of national sentiment. The Republican Party and their media paracletes seem to have a deep well of Others on whom to ladle their opprobrium and serve up to the masses as the minders of the engines of their destruction. As Ken suggests, the immigration issue is about as far from a reasonable resolution as one could hope. Any ground gained, even ephemeral ground, seems lost in the hype surrounding the prevailing Trumpotheosis of hatred and fear.
And as the D of I story relates, intense feelings of mistrust, suspicion, paranoia, and hatred of The Other abide.
During WWII, the great modernist composer Igor Stravinsky sought to do his bit, if you will, by creating a new arrangement of the Star Spangled Banner. It did not turn out well. It was performed for an audience at Harvard's Sanders Theater by the Boston Symphony Orchestra in 1944 to little notice. But then an AP reporter spread the news across the war stricken nation that a Russian--a dirty Red--was screwing with the National Anthem.
Outrage ensued.
It wasn't the kind of wild panic and riotous behavior that accompanied the Paris premiere of his Rite of Spring, but in some ways, it was worse. For Parisians, the ROS was an assault on traditional musical taste. In wartime Boston, Stravinsky's "new" anthem was tantamount to an attack on America itself. And by a foreigner with a funny name, to boot. I mean, Igor. Why is some guy named Igor--from RUSSIA, fer crissakes--fucking with the National Anthem?
The cops showed up and threatened to arrest him on the spot if a single note of this contemptible, un-American arrangement fled the stage (even though only a few hundred had actually heard it at this point). The crowd at Symphony Hall hoping to hear what all the fuss was about departed, disappointed. Stravinsky was forced to back down.
Read it for yourself.
Then listen to it. After reading this piece, I was hoping, like those music fans at Symphony Hall, to hear STRAVINSKY, the modernist master of cacophony. Considering the jangling, dissonant, rhythmic jump-up of Rite (here's a bit of it if you haven't heard it in a while), I was looking forward to an immoderate harmonic assault, a raucous Rite of Spring cleaning of the old British drinking song.
And it's good. Well, it's okay. But nothing that should get anyone arrested. A few modified chords, a negligible whoop-de-do in the melodic line, but it ain't riot material. Or an attack on America.
Even in a place like Boston, a city that championed Stravinsky as a younger man, officialdom was not immune to fear of The Other Fucking With Our Stuff. But then Sacco and Vanzetti were not very far in the rear view mirror. In fact, they're still there.
And so it goes. Land of the free, home of the brave. But only if you're the right sort.
(By the way, Stravinsky became a citizen in 1945. I'm betting they didn't play his arrangement of the anthem at his naturalization ceremony.)
The Party of Responsibility
I see where Confederates in the House are asking for a mere $490,000 to continue their attack on women's health. I fully expected them to request the same kind of unlimited budget the Benghazi Nothing Burger Fishing Expedition Committee demanded (and got). Must be that sense of responsibility to the taxpayers at work.
Yeah, right. That must be it.
Calling FBI Director Comey before congress seems like a HYUGE mistake. As soon as they ask him to start explaining himself, he's going to have to say that previous Secretaries of State (the R kind) were also fast and loose with email.
Clearly, the congress critters have never been in a choral recording session, where you let that last glorious chord ring in the room until it's all gone, a perfect lasting impression.
Business as Usual in America
Man shot for being black in Louisiana. Multiple, say again, multiple gunshot wounds. At point blank range while the guy was pinned to the ground with no weapon in sight.
That's it. No investigation needed. But, oooooh, there will be an investigation. A Very Serious Investigation at the end of which all white officers will be found innocent of all charges.
Why? Because black guy doing stuff. That's why. Black guy breathing, that's why. Black guy. That's why.
On the video you can hear someone sobbing "Why?" after realizing that yet another black man has been murdered.
Why? We know the fuck why. Black guy, that's why.
Does anyone believe for an instant that had this been a white guy standing outside a convenience store, shot by someone not white that there wouldn't be an instantaneous investigation in which the shooter, his mom and dad, his aunts and uncles, friends, distant cousins, and pets, would all be held accountable and sentenced to 350 years in prison after which they would all be hung?
Can't wait to hear Donald (The "Blacks" Love Me) Trump weigh in on this one. High praise for the officers of the "law", no doubt, and the back of his hand to Alton Sterling for trying to grab a piece of Trump's capitalist pie before he steppinfetched it and asked permission, please, boss, can I sell some CD's ?
Why even bother with news reports? Just replay the same shit we've been seeing for decades. Black guy. White cops. Black guy, often unarmed, murdered. White cops exonerated and given medals. Black guy buried. Family told to eat shit and die.
Multiple gunshot wounds in the chest while the guy was HELD DOWN!!!!! FUUUUUUCKKKKK!!!
When does this shit stop!?!? Now we have a presidential candidate declaring that people who seem suspicious should be executed--just like this!!--on the spot. No Miranda warning. No rights. No chance to explain themselves. Murdered. Outright.
And the really, seriously fucking insane, rat-bastard crazy thing is that 45% of the American public is gonna vote for more of this shit!