;)
The Commentariat -- June 18, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "The House on Thursday again approved a measure to give President Obama accelerated negotiating authority to pursue a sweeping, legacy-building trade agreement with 11 Pacific Rim nations, part one of a complex legislative strategy devised by Republicans to get a trade package to Mr. Obama's desk. Led by Republicans, with the support of a few Democrats who support the trade deal, the House passed the trade promotion authority measure, 218 to 208. It will now be sent back to the Senate, where a more narrow band of Republicans and Democrats will be asked to approve it after already passing their own bill that included protection for workers, a provision favored by Democrats."
Jason Horowitz, et al., of the New York Times, sort of profile Dylann Roof. ...
... Also see Akhilleus's comments on Fox "News"'s coverage of the massacre.
*****
From the NYT liveblog, @ 11:24 am ET: "The police in Charleston say they will hold a news conference shortly, as reporters in the region report that Dylann Storm Roof has been captured in Shelby, N.C." See related stories below.
*****
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that messages displayed on specialized license plates are a form of government speech, and Texas is free to reject a proposed design that features the Confederate flag. Justice Clarence Thomas, the court's only African American justice, split with fellow conservatives and joined the court's liberals in the 5 to 4 decision. The majority held that the design proposed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) would not simply reflect the views of the motorist who purchased it." ...
... CW: I'm late to this. ScotusBlog is liveblogging decisions coming down today. So far there have been five, none of them the "biggies" we've been waiting for, tho at least a couple that will garner some MSM reporting; e.g., "Holding: Texas's specialty license plate design constitutes government speech, and thus Texas was entitled to refuse to issue plates featuring the proposed Confederate Veterans' design." -- a 5-4 decision, opinion by Breyer. ...
... ScotusBlog Wrapup: "The Court issued six opinions today. That means they have eleven left to issue. We expect them back to issue more opinions on Monday morning, and we'll start the live blog early that day. We don't know which day after Monday will be the next opinion day, but we'll let you know as soon as we hear."
Jason Horowitz, et al., of the New York Times: "A white gunman opened fire Wednesday night at a historic black church in [Charleston, South Carolina’s] downtown, killing nine people before fleeing and setting off an overnight manhunt, the police said. At a news conference with Charleston's mayor early Thursday, the police chief, Greg Mullen, called the shooting a hate crime." ...
... New Lede: "The gunman wanted in the killing of nine people at a prayer meeting at a historic black church in this city's downtown area was taken into custody Thursday morning in North Carolina. Charleston's police chief, Greg Mullen, said the suspect, Dylann Storm Roof, 21, had been caught about 200 miles away, in Shelby, N.C., a town west of Charlotte. His arrest came about 14 hours after the shooting." ...
... The Statesman's story is here. The paper is reporting that the church's pastor is among those killed. "The shooter remained at large Thursday morning and police released photographs from surveillance video of a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle." ...
... The Washington Post now has a liveblog here. AG Loretta Lynch "said that the Justice Department has opened a hate crime investigation and that the FBI and other agencies were participating in the investigation, which is being led by the Charleston Police Department.: ...
... The Guardian is liveblogging developments. The police have released images of the suspect -- a young, slim white guy -- and his vehicle. ...
... Update: The Guardian has a new liveblog here. ...
... Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "The longtime mayor of Charleston [-- Joseph P. Riley, Jr. (D) --] called Thursday for bolstered gun-control laws hours after an assailant opened fire in a historic African American church, killing at least nine people.... ''I personally believe there are far too many guns out there, and access to guns, it's far too easy. Our society has not been able to deal with that yet.'" ...
... ** Robert Costa, et al., of the Post: "Police widened the search Thursday for a gunman who opened fire and killed nine people during a prayer service at a historic African American church here, and the U.S. Justice Department announced it would investigate the attack as a hate crime. A federal law enforcement official identified the gunman as Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old from Columbia, S.C. He was still at large more than 13 hours after the Wednesday night shooting. ...
... Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post on the storied history of the church & its congregation. ...
... CW: I'm sure over on Fox "News," they're emphasizing that this mass murder is "the work of a lone gunman." No, it is not. It is the work of our culture of racism & violence. It plays out in lesser ways a thousand times a day. It is so common that most such incidents don't make the news. Hatred of the other, acceptance & even glorification of violence -- that is who we are. We are a brutal nation. ...
... For instance, the Anniston, Alabama, city manager says there's nothing the city can do about the fact that two of its white police officers are active members of a racist hate group, & the police chief, according to one of racists -- who is a lieutenant on the force -- says the chief "thinks pretty much" as he does. ...
... CW: And people wonder why Rachel Dolezal identifies as black. I believe I'll be black today, too.
Jim Yardley & Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "Pope Francis on Thursday called for a radical transformation of politics, economics and individual lifestyles to confront environmental degradation and climate change, as his much-awaited papal encyclical blended a biting critique of consumerism and irresponsible development with a plea for swift and unified global action."
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "... the Treasury has announced that a portrait of a woman, to be determined soon, will grace the $10 bill. The note will continue to have some image, also to be determined, of the current $10 honoree, Alexander Hamilton a founding father (there were, of course, no mothers) and Treasury secretary to President George Washington.... Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew, who by law makes the selection of an honoree, will disclose his choice by the end of the year. The new note will appear in 2020 -- the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.... The Treasury has invited the public to use the hashtag #TheNew10 'to spread the word about the redesign.' Also, Mr. Lew and other officials will solicit the public's ideas in round-table discussions and town-hall meetings."
Jake Sherman, et al., of Politico: "The process [to pass legislation authorizing TPP fast-track] is likely to begin in the House on Thursday, when the chamber plans to vote to give Obama fast-track trade authority to negotiate the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade agreement in history. If it passes, [Mitch] McConnell would then take up the measure next week, hoping to win the support of at least a dozen Senate Democrats to send it to the president's desk. The Senate would then amend a separate trade bill with TAA, a program to aid workers who lose their jobs due to trade deals, sending the measure to the White House for final approval.... The entire process hinges on support from Senate and House Democrats who support free trade but insist that the government also provide aid and job training to help workers hurt by foreign trade."
Jaime Fuller of New York: "Loretta Lynch was formally sworn in as attorney general [Wednesday].... Lynch was sworn in by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor -- on a bible owned by Frederick Douglass. When Lynch mentioned this to President Obama on the stage of the Warner Theater in Washington, with friends and family in the audience, he replied, 'That's pretty cool'":
... CW: Obama sure doesn't understand the Constitution the same way Tom DeLay understands the Constitution. Maybe they're working off different editions. (See yesterday's Commentariat.)
Dana Milbank: Once again, Congress -- through no fault of the House leadership -- took up an action to do something ... and chose to do nothing.
Robert Pear of the New York Times: interviews David King, the ignorant, selfish winger who is the "King" in King v. Burwell: "Millions of people are waiting anxiously for the Supreme Court to decide the fate of President Obama's health care law with a ruling this month on health insurance subsidies. But David M. King, a plaintiff in the case, is not among them.... But Mr. King said that he was not really worried about the outcome of the case, King v. Burwell, because as a Vietnam veteran, he has access to medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs." CW: In other words, he likely did not have standing to bring the suit. At least one of the three other plaintiffs may have standing, though. ...
... Sharon Begley & Caroline Humer of Reuters: "As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to rule on whether people in 34 states can continue to receive Obamacare health insurance subsidies, economists are projecting billions of dollars in lost healthcare spending for hospitals, drugstores and drugmakers if the justices say the payments are illegal." ...
... Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "House Republican leaders on Wednesday presented their members with the outlines of a plan that would respond to a Supreme Court decision negating federal subsidies that help people buy ObamaCare plans. The House GOP plan would give block grants to states that want them as a way to replace the subsidies, according to lawmakers leaving the meeting." ...
... digby: "... they are saying that whatever they do it will be to 'protect' the Obamacare recipients. Which sounds good until you hear the next part: from the terrible Obamacare law.... The Republicans, being completely without shame and totally comfortable with hypocrisy, take special delight in such word games. They know it's absurd but that's what makes it so great: they [tie] the Democrats up in knots trying to untangle the absurdity." ...
... Turns out there's a reason Republicans suddenly want to "protect Americans from ObummerCare." Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post: "... a new report suggests the impact [of a win for the plaintiffs in King] would fall disproportionately on their own constituents, rather than those in Democratic districts -- by a margin of 2-to-1.... Some 4.2 million of those who would lose tax credits live in congressional districts with Republican representatives.... Just 2.1 million live in Democratic districts.... It's not at all surprising that Republican districts would have more affected people, since the states where officials wanted nothing to do with Obamacare tend to have more conservative voters. Those are also the states where Republican lawmakers have been able to draw district lines in ways that boost their numbers in Congress." ...
... BUT Jeffrey Young of the Huffington Post explains what the GOP plan really is: "Congressional Republican leaders have promised for months they would be ready if the Supreme Court wipes out Obamacare subsidies for millions of consumers. At separate closed-door meetings in the House and Senate Wednesday, those leaders laid out a framework for their response, and totally repealing the law is the key feature, as it has been for more than five years." Via Greg Sargent.
Holy Moly! Whatever happened to our "Christian nation"? As the confederates line up to diss Pope Francis, Steve Benen notes, "It wasn't long ago Republicans like Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal argued that leaders from the faith community should 'rise up and engage America in the public square with Biblical values.... The time has come for pastors to lead the way and reset the course of American governance.'" ...
... Jeet Heer of the New Republic has a fascinating article on how conservative Roman Catholics of the William Buckley era dealt with a papal encyclical they didn't like. It did not go well. Blood was shed. Even now, "Anticipating a rout in the cultural wars, traditionalist Catholics are toying with the idea of secession.... It would mean foreswearing attempts to influence politics, disassociating oneself from engagement with mainstream culture as much as possible, and creating intentional communities that try to abide by strict church teachings." CW: Okay then, buh-bye.
Sarah Soper, in a New York Times op-ed, on "what it's like to be a 'girl' in the lab. "A 2014 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that on average, male scientists train fewer women than female scientists do. This trend is exaggerated for elite male scientists.... So as long as the scientific enterprise continues to be populated by people who might find it amusing to hold forth on the 'trouble with girls,' women will receive inferior mentoring, compared with their male colleagues, which will lead directly to inferior career outcomes. That is the real trouble."
You Are Entitled to Unlimited Crappy Service. Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "The Federal Communications Commission slapped AT&T with a $100 million fine Wednesday, accusing the country's second-largest cellular carrier of improperly slowing down Internet speeds for customers who had signed up for 'unlimited' data plans. The FCC found that when customers used up a certain amount of data watching movies or browsing the Web, AT&T 'throttled' their Internet speeds so that they were much slower than normal. Millions of AT&T customers were affected by the practice.... AT&T implemented the practice in 2011, prompting thousands of customers to complain to the FCC, according to an agency statement.... AT&T disputed the charges." (Also linked yesterday.)
Mike Isaac & Natasha Singer of the New York Times: "In what could prove to be a ruling with serious implications for the on-demand economy, the California Labor Commission has ruled that an Uber driver should be classified as an employee, not an independent contractor." (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Alison Griswold of Slate explains how the ruling could be "Uber's worst nightmare."
Housing Prices Stabilize. Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "Now, by a wide range of measures, nationwide home prices look relatively normal when compared with incomes, rents and other fundamentals -- and are rising at similar low, single-digit rates. In contrast to the periods of irrational optimism and pessimism, the market is settling into a balance in which buyers are comfortable spending what they can afford given their income and savings, but aren't willing (or able to persuade lenders) to stretch beyond that." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Lori Aratani of the Washington Post: Washington D.C.'s Metro "central train control center -- tasked with ensuring the safety of thousands of passengers moving through the nation's second busiest rail system -- is chronically understaffed, chaotic and filled with distractions, according to a federal report released Wednesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Brian Stelter of CNN: "NBC and [Brian] Williams have come to a tentative agreement that will keep Williams at the network after his six-month suspension ends in August.... Williams will not be returning to the "NBC Nightly News" anchor chair, the people said. Instead he will have a new role; the details of it are unknown to all but a very small number of executives.... Lester Holt, Williams' fill-in for the past 4 months, will become the permanent anchor of 'Nightly News.'" ...
... Emily Steel, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Williams is expected to move to a new role primarily at the cable news network MSNBC, probably in a breaking-news capacity in the beginning...."
Presidential Race
Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "... as she pursues the Democratic presidential nomination, Mrs. Clinton is confronting a stark reality: Building support for her candidacy must sometimes come at the expense of Mr. Obama, and sometimes even at the expense of the policies they had both pursued in the White House." ...
... They're a'Going Fishing, Too. Ken Vogel & Rachel Bade of Politico: "A particular focus during Tuesday's closed-door deposition [of Clinton pal Sidney Blumenthal] was a network of groups founded by Clinton enforcer David Brock that -- Politico has learned -- paid Blumenthal more than $10,000 a month as they defended Hillary Clinton against conservative attacks, first while she was secretary of state and then as she prepared for and ultimately entered the presidential campaign.... 'The Republicans asked more about what our groups do to debunk their false claims about Benghazi than about the attacks in Benghazi? That sounds like a bizarre waste of time,' Brock said. 'All our work is made public.'"
... Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico on how Democrats' & labor's positive views of Bernie Sanders are shaping Hillary Clinton's campaign. ...
... CW: We may never know, but there certainly could be a connection between Hillary's visit to North Charleston Tuesday & the mass murder of members of a black Charleston church.
Frank Rich: "The Bush candidacy seems like an artificial conceit, a summer franchise sequel that ...
... Andrew Kaczynski & Ilan Ben-Meir of BuzzFeed: "Mike Murphy, the longtime Jeb Bush confidant and consultant who is heading the Right to Rise super PAC, told a group of donors on a conference call Wednesday that they had so far raised $17 million in the Tri-State [New York] area to support Bush's campaign for the presidency.... Murphy said the number the SuperPAC would be filing by the next July reporting deadline would give opponents 'heart attacks' and discourage their rivals' donors from opening their wallets."
The Ugly American. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: As a budget crisis looms in Wisconsin, Scott Walker takes a taxpayer-funded six-day del>vacation trade mission to Quebec. "Walker's four foreign trips in five months stand out. He now sprinkles details of his world travels into his stump speeches. While in Canada, Walker suggested that he had qualms about drinking the water in other countries he had visited." CW: Yeah, that's really showing your foreign policy creds, Scottie, & demonstrating what a great diplomat you are, too. The other countries he's visited were Britain, Germany, France & Spain, none of which is likely to serve up non-potable water, & certainly not in the fancy hotels where he stays. Oh, and he lies about his meetings with foreign leaders, too:
At a donor retreat hosted by Mitt Romney last week, Walker said in a speech that British Minister David Cameron told him that he was dissatisfied with President Obama's leadership. Cameron's staff quickly denied Walker's account, telling Time that Cameron did not make such a remark and does not feel that way. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... CW: I've been trying to think who Scottie reminds me of. Now I remember: George W. Bush. Same dull intellect. Same lack of curiosity. Same expression -- simultaneously dimwitted and smug. Same penchant for saying really stupid things. (At least Bush had competent speechwriters, so he didn't weave the really stupid things into his prepared texts.) If you wonder what kind of a president Scottie would be, you need look no further than Dubya. Kinda funny that there's a candidate in the race who is more like Dubya than the candidate who is Dubya's brother.
Trump's Fake Campaign. Even His Supporters Are Fake. Aaron Couch & Emmet McDermott of the Hollywood Reporter: "Donald Trump's big presidential announcement Tuesday was made a little bigger with help from paid actors -- at $50 a pop. New York-based Extra Mile Casting sent an email last Friday to its client list of background actors, seeking extras to beef up attendance at Trump's event."
Beyond the Beltway
Flying While Black. German Lopez of Vox: "The Institute for Justice, a national nonprofit that runs EndForfeiture.com ... is helping [a young college student, Charles] Clarke, get his money back from law enforcement, after officers seized his life's savings -- $11,000 -- in the Cincinnati airport last February under "civil forfeiture" laws. Clarke broke no laws. It is not illegal to carry large sums of cash. A law enforcement official claimed in an affidavit that Clarke's checked luggage smelled of marijuana, though they turned up no drugs or evidence of drug-related activity in Clarke's luggage. Clarke appears to be a person of color. CW: I know that last bit surprises you.
The Three Little Grinches. Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: Three USPS workers used schemes to obtain Christmas gifts destined for underprivileged children. "Terry Jackson, Mahogany Strickland and Nickyeves Saintalbord all worked at the James A. Farley Post Office on Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, which served as headquarters for Operation Santa...."
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Reader Comments (27)
. "CW: I've been trying to think who Scottie reminds me of. Now I remember: George W. Bush. Same dull intellect. Same lack of curiosity. Same expression -- simultaneously dimwitted and smug."
Exactly! You nailed it Marie. I have been puzzling who that obnoxious little troll, Scotty Walkster, reminds me of. Then I read your comment and realized it is Dubya. He, like Dubya, lies with a sideways (Ya know ya love me) smile, and without shame. He smirks obsessively. He acts like a big macho guy, when (in truth) he is a greasy little turd. He brags about not finishing college because he met Tonette, and God told him it was more important to marry her and move on to do the most important things in life. (He did not say what those were, but I am sure they were "family values" and squirting his sperm to create a few dim-witted, unfortunate progeny. I still cannot believe when a Democratic prankster (forget who) called him in Madison after he won the recall and said he was David Koch calling to congratulate him for his victory. Scotty grabbed the bait and guffawing loudly said (paraphrasing) that he had a wonderful time making bacon out of all of those pigs feeding at the public trough and couldn't wait for the next round.
He, like Dubya, is a thoroughly despicable and insufficient human being. And he, like Dubya, will likely get the nod as the Republican Presidential nominee and will use the Dirty Tricks Republican Playbook. I hope he is repeatedly challenged in a responsible, non-sycophantic fashion by members of the MSM--asked hard questions, and confronted when he dodges and evades. Won't happen, but a girl can dream, can't she?
Still, I gotta give Cruz top marks for the smug, condescending, self-satisfied, smirk. He even tops Duh-bya in that category.
Just for the record: Yesterday I was accused of plagiarism which upset me very much. I had copied and pasted the list of republicans who voted against the torture ban along with some information about them from an article in the Atlantic. Because that information is public knowledge, and not something original the author of the article wrote himself, I didn't think it needed quotes. My mistake––obviously anything taken from a piece written by someone else even though the circumstances are the same as described above needs citations. I apologize. I do hope, however, unlike Brian Williams, I can resume my position here as a long standing commenter and not be thrown to the back of the bus. Evidently reputations are as fragile here as they are in the big wide world.
@PD Pepe wrote, "... that information is public knowledge, and not something original the author of the article wrote himself, I didn't think it needed quotes."
Many a news report -- perhaps a majority -- contains nothing that is not already public knowledge. When a reporter writes an account of a presidential speech, for instance, the report may contain nothing that you couldn't find out yourself by watching or hearing the speech or reading a transcript. But the words framing the speech belong to the reporter or his publisher, even if they're nothing more enlightening than "he said." Stories on the same speech are likely to present the same speech in radically different ways, even if both reports are "straight" reporting & not opinion pieces: a report in the Washington Post is apt to emphasize different aspects of the speech than does a report in the Washington Times or one in the Des Moines Register, which might lead with, say, the president's remarks on farm subsidies.
Friedersdorf made choices on what he wrote about each of the senators who voted against the anti-terror rider. Although most of his choices were Wiki-general knowledge, his choices in what to emphasize constitute original work. Those words belong to him.
If you had reworded his work, if you added or subtracted from his work, then your part would be yours. If you had started with his list, absent his commentary, & written your own commentary on each senator, that would be your original work.
For instance, yesterday Akhilleus listed the same group of torture-loving senators, & he didn't credit any source. I have no idea where he got the list: from the NYT, from the Congressional record, from the Senate's Website, from Roll Call. It doesn't matter, because this is information that's in the public domain & is widely published in exactly the form in which Akhilleus repeated it. It contained no original commentary. Akhilleus added his own, originally commentary, before & after publishing the list.
Friedersdorf, however, took the same information from some source or the other & embedded copyrighted commentary within it. He had to do some "research" -- that is, some work -- however cursory, to do that. The result is his work product. If you had decided to take the same list Akhilleus & Friedersdorf did but then comment on each of the senators in your own words, you would certainly have done different research & written something different from what Friedersdorf did. That would constitute your original work, even if you included only information that was already general public knowledge. That's what I thought you did, because you presented it in a form that appeared to be your own work.
Marie
@PD Pepe:
Maybe this will help. Rand Paul got in hot water some while back for plagiarizing from a number of other people's writings.
One of the instances involved his (or his speechwriter's) plagiarizing from a Wiki synopsis of a film called "Gattaca." Why was that plagiarism when anybody could see the film & come up with a similar synopsis? That is, when what he said was "common public knowledge"? Because Paul used almost exactly the same words as the Wikipedia entry. He lifted somebody else's (or maybe a number of somebody's because Wiki is a collaborative project) work product & presented it as his own.
Read the linked story by Aaron Blake of the WashPo. He has a good explanation of when it's plagiarism & when it's not.
Marie
@ Yes, Marie, I remember Rand's snitching other's works and if I'm not mistaken this was not the first time. I wrote a comment about Chris Hedges some time ago re: his alleged plagiarizing. Thanks for doing all this clarifying–-I get it. It's just so embarrassing to make this mistake myself, but certainly one that I won't forget or repeat in more ways than one.
PD,
"Stay" ~ Frankie Valli
"... I still love you." ~ James Taylor
DC
Regarding the source of my list of Confederate lovers of inflicting deadly pain and torment on helpless human beings, I checked two sites because the first had an annotated listing, so I went to senate.gov for the list I used ( I like to make sure of my sources).
Interestingly, after reading the Friedersdorf piece, I realized that the first spot I checked (which I cannot now recall for love nor money) had--I'm almost positive--the exact same annotations from the Atlantic article, which means that someone on some website (and I tend to give the whackos a wide berth, which means it was likely a site generally understood, by me at least, to be legitimate, whatever that means these days) cut and pasted the Friedersdorf work. And...
I don't recall any attribution either because I've become hyper-vigilant about sources. I like to know if there might be some hidden or not so hidden agenda behind thoughts and opinions foisted on unsuspecting readers. I'm the kind of guy who starts reading a column or op-ed, hits a speed bump, and scans down to the bottom to find out about the author. I do the same at bookstores when checking out interesting titles (so far, 90% of books I come across with the words "patriot" or "freedom" in the title have winger authors. That percentage goes up 9 points if both words appear together). Even if I do see that the writer is Chief Mucky-muck in Charge of Making Shit Up at the Heritage Foundation, I'll still read it (if only to see what the Confederates are on about) but I'll file that information under "extremely-highly-wicked-questionable".
Had I seen Friedersdorf's name attached to the list on that site, I would have taken notice. I don't always agree with him (he being a proponent of a political theory that is not operational in a natural state anywhere in the known world), but he's a good writer and I've never regarded his stuff as coming straight out of his ass like most articles supporting the Modern Confederacy.
In any event, PD, you need not feel relegated to the back of the bus. I've come out with some pretty far out comments in the past and have been brought back to earth by kindly RCers concerned, no doubt, for my mental health. You have contributed much to the site and I've learned a lot from your positions and links, so don't worry about that.
I, for one, take great pleasure in daily visitations to Chez Marie and occasional colloquys with RC denizens, and hope to for as long as there are wonders to exalt and imbeciles to excoriate. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.
@Akhilleus: I Googled a portion of Friedersdorf's piece & found half-a-dozen sites that reproduced it, and they all credited Friedersdorf in one fashion on another. I did find one comment to a post that simply reprinted the list without attribution.
Marie
Marie,
I may have simply not noticed the attribution or it may have been buried in text I didn't read fully.
@Akhilleus: Yeah, most mentioned Friedersdorf &/or the Atlantic; a few just posted a link embedded in their own commentary.
Marie
One reason I like RealityChex is you can learn something here. Go read the comments on yahoo stories - waste of time. From the Google dictionary: plagiarism - the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Derived from the Latin kidnapping, kidnapper and before that Greek plagion. I'm thinking Marie's class wasn't a gut course and there were no 'easy A's'.
I've been checking winger sites to see if I could find the classic and ubiquitous "lone gunman" description of the killer in the South Carolina murder case (I have no doubt it will turn up, couched in some wise, thoughtful comment from Steve Doucy, Loofah Boy, or Sean Hannity). I haven't found exactly those words yet, but I have noticed, on Foxnews.com, reports in which there was no mention of the race of the killer and only a single mention, in a quote from Christopher Carson, a community organizer, that the possible motivation was racial. Because Fox is color blind, right?
Oh, wait. What about all those reports that begin "Three black males..." "A single black male, of medium height..." " A car full of black males..."
Here's Fox's information on the killer:
"Police described the suspect as wearing a gray sweatshirt with blue jeans and Timberland boots."
Not "...the suspect is a white male wearing..." just "...the suspect".
Oh, but a Fox opinion piece did make quite clear the network's thoughts on the reason these black parishioners were murdered. One John Lott, described as an "economist" and an "expert on guns", completely ignores the possibility that race played even the most tangential of roles in the killings. Why were these nine black South Carolinians murdered? Because, stupidly, they weren't packing heat:
"Churches, like the one in Charleston, preach peace, but the killer there probably chose that target because he knew the victims were defenseless."
So, in Fox's opinion, they're dead and it's their own fault.
Speechless. That's what I am.
Sorry, but I just can't let this go.
We've all become almost inured to the deranged and dangerous idiocy the is Fox "News" but the idea that they are using the racially motivated murder of nine innocent black churchgoers to push for zero gun control and to blame the victims for not going to church armed to the gills, while completely turning a blind eye to the real reason for the murder is probably the lowest point these snakes have ever visited in the shit hole that is Fox.
What they're advocating is a world in which everyone is armed to the teeth and will, at the drop of a hat, open fire in any situation, even misunderstandings just on the chance that someone at the scene might be a bad actor. Guns for everyone.
Well, what the hell, Tom DeLay has already declared that Confederates can take the law as they please, might as well extend that out to the use of deadly weapons. "He looked at me the wrong way so I shot him." "Well, you voted Republican last time around, so your case is dismissed."
And to top it off, and I'm not even kidding about this, go to the foxnews site to see how they're treating this horror. A couple of stories about the killing, then "JEB COMPASSIONATELY CALLS OFF HIS SCHEDULED EVENT IN CHARLESTON TODAY!"
Not "Jeb Bush" or "Gov. Bush" or even "Presidential candidate Jeb Bush". Just "Jeb".
And whaddaguy for calling off his event.
Push those darkies below the fold. We'll lead with Jeb being a stand up guy.
Goddam, I hate these fucking people.
Oh my god, I'm gonna have to consider my own second amendment rights.
It appears now that Fox has updated the reason for the South Carolina mass murder.
Not only were those people killed because weren't carrying guns, as Fox demands, they were killed because, according to Steve Doucy, it's all about "...hostility towards Christians...".
Nothing about the fact that the killer appears in a Facebook picture wearing symbols of apartheid and white supremacy, that's all incidental. Nothing about the fact that, according to the Times, he said, before the killing began, "I have to do it...You rape our women and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go."
"Taking over our country"....hmmmm let's see....where have I heard that before? Oh, I remember. Pretty much every Fox guest and host has said something like this at one time or other. Even former almost second in line to be president Sarah Palin still goes on about "taking back our country"....from whom, you all know.
I wonder where the murderer, Dylann Roof, hears stuff like that all the time?
And I'm sure, when they check this kid's computer, no mention will be made of the fact that Fox is his first bookmark and he reads the diatribes and consumes the hate spitting out of its bowels on a daily basis.
So nothing about race. These people were murdered because they were on the front lines in the war against Christianity but, because they had no guns, they deserved it.
Ailes, Murdoch, and their immoral trolls really do have a lot to answer for.
@Akhilleus: And, yeah, nothing about the right's very own latest war on Christianity -- or at least on Catholicism -- the Pope should butt out of discussions of climate change. It seems that government officials should adhere to only certain Christian teachings, ones that have the Rush Limbaugh stamp of approval.
It's true that liberal & moderate Catholic politicians are also cafeteria Catholics, but they're not usually as hypocritical about it: they say outright that they are secular leaders & whatever their personal beliefs & practices, they legislate or administer as secularists. They don't argue that we live in a "Christian nation" & must therefore follow the teachings of the church of their choice. They don't ignore the separation of church & state.
Marie
Oh PD - Please don't worry about "plagiarizing!" You are not the first one who quite innocently made this mistake and heard about it. About five to seven years ago I read a comment in the NYT (can't even remember what it was about) and wrote my own version--but definitely "borrowed" the idea from what I had read. A sharp RCer noticed and rebuked me. CW gave me (all of us, actually) a sharp lesson on what is and is not plagiarism. I must say, I have never made the same mistake again--and, I can say truly, never will. I feel for you though. It is embarrassing and you probably feel shameful. I know I did. But what can one say when one is so humble?
@Akhilleus: "Goddam, I hate these fucking people."
Just read this comment of yours and want to call YOU on possible plagiarism! I know I have read those exact same words before from a prominent RC commenter.
Oops....sorry--I'm quite sure it was you. :-)
@Ak: I watched "Boogie Nights" awhile back. In one scene at a doughnut shop, a gunman holds up the place. A good old boy in a booth toward the back pulls out a gun and shoots the robber. Unfortunately for the good old boy, the gunman shoots him before the gunman dies. Why is it the armed to the teeth bloviators never seem to think they will be shot. I think of that scene whenever someone like the man on Fox who suggested the Charleston church people got shot because they weren't carrying heat.
What kind of a country do we want? A place like Somalia? As Ak opined, where people get shot for looking at someone the wrong way?
That's not kind of country I want.
@AK et al., Pet peeve of mine that took me a long time (many decades) to reckon: A Somali and a Namibian are as distant genetically as an Mayan and a Swede. All are of the same race. Neanderthals perhaps not. Noting Faux News not mentioning the race of the shooter would be much better, and more accurately, framed as not mentioning his ancestry, the latter a real attribute, the former a faux construct contrived by racists (a truly legitimate term). I, and many others, have made this point in comments to articles in the NYTimes, and other media - - with even a trivial impact? Who knows, but I'll keep trying.
Whyte,
The distinction between race and ethnicity is a useful one, as are the differences between cultures.
A friend of mine in college, a high school champion in jiu jitsu, went to Japan for an international competition. He happened to be Japanese American but was about as conversant with the language and customs of Japan as I was at that age, meaning hardly at all. During sparring, he was knocked out. Medical personnel came into the ring, took a look at him and immediately hustled him off to the Japanese medical tent. When he woke up he had no idea what was going on or what anyone was saying. So, yeah, culture and ethnicity and race are all separate things.
My point in noting the lack of accuracy in the Fox reporting had to do with the all encompassing hypocrisy and racism that that organization demonstrates. Black suspects are repeatedly denoted by their race first, with all the baggage they mean to imply. White people in the news are treated as individual actors, not as members of a race or culture, unless, of course, they've converted to Islam, and they mostly are not treated as guilty right off the bat as are almost all blacks.
I doubt we'll ever get to just being able to consider people as members of the same species. The other stuff is just too handy as a way of telling your story, with social subtexts and prejudices intact.
But going out of your way to describe one set of people by their race but not another is one of the worst examples of unexamined racism.
And Fox is world headquarters for Proponents of the Unexamined Life.
Marie,
Quite so about (most) Catholic politicians. The ones who are also part time fundamentalist Christians, like Santorum and Rubio and Bush, not so much.
It's funny, but that is perhaps one reason (a recognition of the separation of church and state) that many fundamentalists don't trust Catholics. I was brought up a Catholic and at one point, soon after moving to this very red state, I was asked my religion. Upon hearing about my Catholic origin, I was told, with a face both straight and a little cautious, body language that seemed to indicate that my questioner thought I might have a communicable disease, "CATHOLIC? You're a Catholic? Why, you ain't even Christian!"
I declined to point out that the dominant Christian sect for about 1000 years or so was Catholicism. I didn't want to upset the guy anymore than I already had.
Life in the bubble must be exhausting. So many realities and facts to have to block out every day.
Barbarossa,
Excellent point.
I'm so fucking tired of hearing about how if everyone was packing heat, all the bad guys would run away, or no mass killings would be possible because all those Doc Hollidays would get 'em good.
I've never shot at someone, but, as you can probably attest, it can't be an easy thing to do, never mind do it right. Cops, who ARE taught to shoot at people, sometimes shoot off ten, twenty, thirty rounds before hitting the target. What makes these idiots think that Uncle Bob, who just happens to have a conceal carry permit and a .38 down his pants, will be able to pull it out and hit the bad guy without A. shooting a bystander, B. shooting himself, or C. missing altogether and getting killed by return fire?
The answer is so simple and it's not a fantasy to say that gun control works. Just look at the homicides by guns in countries with strict gun control vs. here in the US. Of course, another problem we have is that the gun nuts have immense caches of stockpiled weapons. At this point, the country is awash in guns.
Thanks again, NRA.
What will you bet me that every one of those 21 senators who gave a big thumbs up to torture--every one of them--is a huge supporter of the right to shoot someone in the face if they piss you off?
Interesting discussion about today's atrocity. To me, though, I see something deeper than blatant racism and murder with some parallels to the Sandy Hook massacre perpetrated by Adam Lanza.
I believe that this is another situation where a severely mentally disturbed person was given access to a gun. From what I've read, this kid Roof was extremely introverted; didn't have a job, didn't have a driver's license, and spent most of his time cooped up in his room (probably on the computer reading up on white supremacy and other racist bullshit before posting it on his Facefuck page. Or, he lived in an extremely racist household where he learned this vile attitude and behavior.)
Both Lanza and Roof were given firearms by their parents. In Lanza's case it was an AR-15 from his mother. For Roof it was a .45 handgun for his 21st birthday from his father.
Lanza killed 20-some kids and teachers in a grade school. Roof killed 9 parishioners in a church during services. Both places are considered to be safe havens by normal people, but not by crazy ones. All of the victims were innocent, their only transgression was being in the wrong place at the wrong time, when their murderers decided to take vengeance against them for some perceived slight in their addled minds.
In both cases the parents appear to be culpable by providing the means for their kids to commit such crimes, regardless that both Lanza and Roof were of "legal" age.
The only difference is the Lanza killed himself rather than getting caught. Roof survived and ran away until he was apprehended and apparently unharmed despite being armed and dangerous. If he had been black, the cops probably would have plugged him with a couple hundred rounds.
And god bless the great state of South Carolina where mentally disturbed people from all walks of life, and plain ol' everyday racist pigs can buy weapons unmolested by horrible things like regulations.
And to show you exactly how gun friendly SC is for the whackos and the average nuts, here is this morning's Charleston Post and Courier newspaper. See? There's the headline, in large type, "Church Attack Kills 9". But wait, what's that sticker just above the headline? It looks like.....a coupon for a GUN RANGE!!!
$30 gets you everything! Pistol or revolver, 50 rounds of ammo (you can wipe out most of the congregation!), range pass, ear protection (the better not to have to listen to screams and moans. So annoying.), instruction AND a T-shirt! A T-shirt. Well, shit. I'm there, bro.
Are you fucking kidding me? But check out the comment by one of the idiots on Twitter... some moron names Justin, who sniffs that "sticker is poor taste, but this isn't a gun issue". Really? What is it then?
This is an absolute victory for the kind of dangerous propaganda pushed by Fox, by gun rubbers in Congress, by the NRA, and by all the weapon humpers out there. Nine people murdered but guns are not a factor. I guess he used harsh language to kill them.
Why the Pope will never convince Rick Santorum he is wrong about climate change, and why saying "I am not a scientist" demonstrates not craven cowardice but the heart of a mighty soldier of god. At least to some.
Garry Wills explains the nature of Holy Ignorance.
The gist of why neither a phalanx of scientists, nor mountains of scientific evidence, nor a papal encyclical will ever sway the Holy Rollers or their Catholic counterparts is this:
"Other popes have denounced war, nuclear weapons, and the death penalty without budging the stony Catholic Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia...fundamentalists are quick to sniff out incipient godlessness even in their own ranks. They will think Pope Francis nice but naive, and suspect the Devil fooled him."
I give thanks for thinkers and writers like Garry Wills, especially on days like today. His books are among my most dog-eared.
Via a Daily Kos petition, just sent a note to the Democratic Representatives (mine own included) who voted today for TPP fast track authority. In it I suggested if they think their action will lessen the growing and ultimately democrcy-destroying gap between the rich and the rest, they are both mathematically and economically challenged and obviously have not even glanced at a newspaper for the last twenty years. (Did not say they were too busy consulting their donor lists).
Won't do any good, but I felt a little better, and after all isn't that some of what we do (here and elsewhere) every day?
Cheers!
In case anyone doesn't know, you can find complete Congressional voting records here:
https://www.govtrack.us