;)
The Commentariat -- June 22, 2016
Lauren Fox of TPM: "A new, bipartisan proposal to keep guns out of the hands of suspected terrorists got a major boost Tuesday after Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) agreed to allow it to come to a vote on the Senate floor as early as this week. Early indications are that the measure has redrawn the normal contours of the gun control debate, with some vulnerable GOP senators getting onboard with centrist Democrats. It's not clear that the the bill will have sufficient support ... to pass, but it does suggest more moderate GOP senators are feeling political pressure to act after the attack in Orlando...." -- CW
Matthew Nusbaum of Politico: "The House will not vote to block the inclusion of Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill, dodging a politically charged vote for GOP lawmakers. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) had filed an amendment to a bill funding the Treasury Department to prohibit the department from redesigning any currency to showcase the abolitionist icon, but the Rules Committee denied floor consideration of the proposal Tuesday night." --safari
Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "A new study predicts that the federal forecast of national health care spending under President Obama's signature health law was a big overestimate -- by $2.6 trillion over a five-year period." ...
... CW: But Who Cares? Because Guess What? Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "Speaker Paul Ryan on Wednesday will lay out the House's plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in a paper designed to show voters the GOP isn't just a party of no. But the paper -- which paints a conservative health policy agenda in broad strokes but doesn't get into details like dollar amounts, who would be covered or how much financial help they might get -- underscores the political and policy problems facing Republicans as they seek to unite around a plan to unravel a social safety net program that is already used by 20 million people." -- CW
Jeremy Roebuck of Philly.com: "U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah (D., Pa.) was convicted Tuesday on federal racketeering and bribery charges, putting an ignominious stamp on the career of one of the region's longest-serving members of Congress and all but ensuring that his public life will be capped with a prison sentence.... The verdict came after four weeks of testimony in which prosecutors painted the congressman as an arrogant lawbreaker who repeatedly turned to the money of others - taxpayers, charities, wealthy fund-raisers - to cover his personal and political debts. His lawyers did not say whether they planned to appeal." Fattah, who was defeated in the primary, wouldn't say whether he would resign his Congressional seat. -- CW
Jonathan Rauch of The Atlantic: "It's 2020, four years from now. The campaign is under way to succeed the president, who is retiring after a single wretched term. Voters are angrier than ever -- at politicians, at compromisers, at the establishment...As the presidential primaries unfold, Kanye West is leading a fractured field of Democrats. The Republican front-runner is Phil Robertson, of Duck Dynasty fame...Yes, the political future I've described is unreal. But it is also a linear extrapolation of several trends on vivid display right now...Trump, however, didn't cause the chaos. The chaos caused Trump. What we are seeing is not a temporary spasm of chaos but a chaos syndrome. Chaos syndrome is a chronic decline in the political system's capacity for self-organization." --safari
Fred Kaplan of Slate: "David Petraeus is back...[D]espite this harrowing path of self-destruction, he is now, 3½ years later, a public figure once more, speaking out on the issues of the day to generally respectful audiences. And some of the things he's saying are raising eyebrows. In short, and to the disturbance of some conservatives who might have thought he was on their side, Petraeus has been sounding a lot like a Democrat." --safari
Presidential Race
Anne Gearan & Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "The Hillary Clinton campaign has begun checking into the positions, backgrounds and financial dealings of at least three potential vice presidential candidates, Democrats familiar with the process said Tuesday: Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Timothy M. Kaine of Virginia. Clinton has also begun to winnow a list of more than a dozen potential choices, another senior Democrat said." -- CW
CW: Paul Waldman is not impressed with Bernie Sanders' demands for "reforms" of the Democratic party's presidential nominating system. Me, either.
Rory Carroll of the Guardian: "He was a one-man media hurricane dominating the news with insults and provocations, promises and policy pronouncements. He would tweet at all hours, phone TV chat shows, stage rollicking rallies. He could be funny and coarse and buffoonish and broke all the rules about presidential conduct...This may sound familiar as Donald Trump marches towards the Republican presidential nomination. But actually it describes Venezuela from 1999 to 2013 under the reign of Hugo Chávez...having reported on both ... I am struck by the similarities in character and style." --safari
Matt Flegenheimer & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton pounded away on Tuesday at Donald J. Trump's business record and economic proposals.... Though she leveled predictable blows against various Trump-branded products, noting that many items ... were made outside the United States, Mrs. Clinton's most pointed refrains sought to depict Mr. Trump ... as an enemy to the very people he had claimed to champion in the primary. She checked off the stumbles of his casino business in Atlantic City; disparaged his companies' bankruptcies (Mr. Trump's many books about business 'all seem to end at Chapter 11,' she joked); and insisted that his 'one move' in business and politics was to make 'over-the-top promises' and then let people down." -- CW ...
... Anne Gearan: "... Donald Trump has swindled investors while stiffing and stepping on employees, contractors and others throughout a business career that should disqualify him as president..., Hillary Clinton charged Tuesday. Exactly the thing that Trump claims is his main qualification -- his business background -- is proof of values and practices that should trouble voters, Clinton said. Her speech blended criticism of Trump's stated positions on the economy with warnings that the mogul is a big talker who has always been out for only himself." -- CW
Alexander Burns & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The situation has grown so dire for Mr. Trump that on Tuesday, he suggested that he might tap his personal fortune to keep the campaign afloat.... In a defiant statement, Mr. Trump said that he was just getting started as a competitor against Mrs. Clinton, and that there had been a 'tremendous outpouring of support' from donors since the beginning of June. But he has mused publicly in recent days about funding the race himself, and on Tuesday opened the door wider to that possibility." -- CW ...
... Dana Milbank: "... Trump is doing to the Republican Party what he did to Atlantic City.... Once he gained full ownership of the Taj, he quickly failed in his vow to secure prime lending, just as he quickly abandoned his fundraising goals after locking down the nomination. Then, as now, he made sure the Taj generated money for other Trump businesses. Then, as now, he alienated many who had supported him, and regulators suspected deception -- but they continued to support his ownership of the floundering casino (much as GOP leaders support his nomination) because they were already in too deep." -- CW
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Speaking to a group of top social conservative evangelical Christian leaders at a gathering in New York City, Trump said, 'We don't know anything about Hillary in terms of religion. Now, she's been in the public eye for years and years, and yet there's no -- there's nothing out there,' Trump said. 'There's like nothing out there. It's going to be an extension of Obama but it's going to be worse, because with Obama you had your guard up. With Hillary you don't, and it's going to be worse.'" ...
... CW: Really? Hillary Clinton is a believing Methodist, & has said so time & again. She even went so far as to join a right-wing Bible study group. And exactly how did Obama cause us to "have our guards up"? He has long expressed a belief in a Niebuhresque Christian faith, and he seems to have a strong grasp of it, so -- unlike Trump -- he is unlikely to cite either of the Two Corinthians. ...
... Ed Kilgore is appalled by Trump's ignorant remark about Clinton & by his view of Christianity. -- CW ...
... Michelle Boorstein & Julie Zauzmer of the Washington Post: "In his comments [to Christian conservatives in New York City, Donald Trump] said he would end the decades-old ban on tax-exempt groups' -- including churches -- politicking, called religious liberty 'the No. 1 question,' and promised to appoint antiabortion Supreme Court justices. 'I think maybe that will be my greatest contribution to Christianity -- and other religions -- is to allow you, when you talk religious liberty, to go and speak openly, and if you like somebody or want somebody to represent you, you should have the right to do it,' Trump said. A ban was put in place by President Lyndon Johnson on tax-exempt groups making explicit political endorsements." ...
... CW: In case you're thinking Trump's "greatest contribution to Christianity -- and other religions" is a sign of his deep religious faith, then you missed the report by Tim Mak & Andrew Desiderio, linked here a few days ago. As usual, Donald Trump's sudden interest in championing "religious liberty" is another scheme to benefit Donald Trump:
The Trump Foundation, Donald Trump's nonprofit organization, is under fire for allegedly operating as more of a political slush fund than a charity. The foundation is accused of violating rules prohibiting it from engaging in politics -- prompting ethics watchdogs to call for public investigations.
... The WashPo reporters should have made the connection. ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "... Michele Bachmann leads an alphabetical list of names announced by Donald Trump's campaign on Tuesday as the presumptive Republican nominee's evangelical executive advisory board. Along with Bachmann, the campaign announced the additions radio host and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr, Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed, among more than two dozen names." -- CW
Dara Lind of Vox: "On Monday, the Republican-led Senate didn't just hand a defeat to gun control supporters. It handed a defeat to its own party's presumptive presidential nominee. Donald Trump supports prohibiting suspected terrorists from buying guns. He even tried to flex some muscle last week to get the National Rifle Association on board. (After all, Trump pointed out, the NRA has endorsed him -- and if his treatment of Chris Christie is any indication, he sees endorsement as something like indentured servitude.)... There's every indication Trump overplayed his hand here. He thought that as his party's standard-bearer he'd have more clout than the NRA, and he was wrong." ...
... CW: The senators' motives are obvious. Donald Trump is broke; he isn't going to contribute to their campaigns. The NRA, on the other hand....
Eli Stokols of Politico: "... many Republicans, both supporters and skeptics of Trump's campaign, note that the consolidation of power by [Paul] Manafort and the [Trump] children does not guarantee any change in the candidate himself, whose undisciplined past few weeks -- from his racially tinged criticism of a federal judge to his off-key, self-congratulatory response to the Orlando terrorist attack -- have discouraged donors and leery Republicans who'd still been trying to give him the benefit of the doubt." -- CW
Darren Sands of BuzzFeed: "A Georgia Republican Party official was thrown out of a Donald Trump event last week, according to two sources. Michael McNeely, the first vice chair of the Georgia Republicans, was escorted out of Atlanta's Fox Theatre by Secret Service after being told there was 'no more room for you' by Trump campaign state director Brandon Phillips, according to a party official briefed on the incident.... Reached by phone regarding the incident, McNeely told BuzzFeed News, 'I'll have to get back to you' before hanging up." ...
Michael McNeely.... CW: I just can't figure out why that happened. According to Sands, McNeely is a Trump supporter. McNeely looks like an upstanding fellow to me.
Beyond the Beltway
Jack Jenkins of ThinkProgress: "An Oklahoma lawmaker [Pat Ownbey R-duh] personally propagated an article over the weekend calling for a 'final solution' regarding 'radical Islam,' arguing that the 1,400-year-old faith is not a religion and should not be protected under the first amendment of the Constitution. On Sunday..., Ownbey re-published an article to his Facebook page entitled 'Radical Islam -- The Final Solution.' The article was originally published on the personal blog of Paul R. Hollrah, an Oklahoman who touts himself as a 'retired government relations executive,' but Ownbey appears to have copy-pasted the piece and reposted it in its entirety, citing Hollrah." --safari
Brad Reed of RawStory: "Baptist pastor Roger Jimenezof the California-based Verity Baptist Church drew widespread condemnation when he praised Omar Mateen's terror attack on a gay Orlando nightclub -- and now he's getting some much-deserved comeuppance.... Harsch Investment Properties, the company that owns the building where Jimenez's church now resides, says that it will not renew the church's lease and is even asking Jimenez to consider moving immediately." --safari
Way Beyond the Beltway
Loveday Morris of the Washington Post: "Families fleeing the combat in the Iraqi city of Fallujah have been forced to sleep in the open desert for almost a week, with aid agencies warning that people are at risk of dying as supplies of tents and water run dangerously low. More than 85,000 people have escaped the city and its surroundings in recent weeks as Iraqi security forces battle to recapture the city from the Islamic State. About 4.4 million people in the country are now internally displaced, one of the highest totals of any country." -- CW
Share Article
Reader Comments (10)
Looks like there be a fissiparousness in the King's kingdom, but never you mind, the Evangelical advisor , Ken Copeland, has joined the regime and will bring God's blessing on the candidate and his rotten candidacy. This is the same fruitcake that was front and center for Ted Cruz who spent six months seeking the word of God as to whether he should run for President. The Lord finally spoke to Ted. Below is the skinny mit video illustrating the weird world of Evangelical happy talky talk. By the time Ken gets through indoctrinating the King, he will have Hillary and Obama be demon children of the corn.
Personally I find religious fanaticism more frightening and more corrosive than almost anything when it applies to political matters.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/donald-trump-kenneth-copeland_us_5769880de4b065534f47fb24?section=
P.S.Am I right in assuming that someone like Chaka Fattah can decide whether he will continue serving until his time is up? Shouldn't he be ousted straightaway? Speakers of the House resigned straightaway after being caught with their pants down. Is this some kind of pride goeth before the fall kind of thing?
Just learned that the owner of the company that makes AR-15s will attend a Trump fund raiser. Maybe they will have a door prize of one of these suckers––give more, get more––guns for hire, guns for free, guns galore for you and me. Only in America are there more guns than people––and if that doesn't give one pause...
To the Christian right audience Trump thrilled:
Please read Dana Milbank's column.
It's a pattern. Follow the pattern and you can predict his every move and the outcome. Why anyone, especially the GOP (and those two WashPo reporters), cannot see this is beyond me.
Thanks for the links, Marie.
Note to Ken re: his Father's Day post: I think you are wrong about the Mother's status or place in the family saga. It certainly seems like they get more of the flowers, presents and attention, but the men I have known actually and in literature have a deep connection to their fathers, whether they liked them or not. And don't you have a daughter who has followed in your footsteps in the humanities? Perhaps I read your post incorrectly––it's been on my mind––coming in second in a race satisfies; your children's connection to you lasts a lifetime.
Feel free to tell me I'm barking up the wrong tree here.
Nancy, thanks for the recommendation of the Dana Milbank column. I surely hope Republican voters read it.
Mr. T's financial troubles may have an upside for the rest of us.
Consider this latest "report" from Andy Borowitz about T's auction of CC on E Bay..... to raise money.
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/cash-strapped-trump-campaign-auctions-chris-christie-on-ebay?intcid=mod-latest
At yesterday's Trump meeting with Evangelicals, "Franklin Graham made a compelling case on the character issue, arguing that nobody is perfect, citing the fact that Abraham lied, Moses disobeyed God and David committed adultery and murder."
http://www1.cbn.com/thebrodyfile/archive/2016/06/21/a-positive-pivotal-moment-inside-donald-trumps-evangelical-meeting
So, is Franklin telling us it's OK to do those things, so Trump is OK? In the context of talking about "character", as opposed to the standard preacher's context of God's infinite capacity for forgiveness, is Franklin saying that we can ignore those character flaws because God loves us? Well, I suppose we've got that going for us, then, so that's nice.
Apologies, PD.
Thanks for musing about what I wrote. I even thought a little about it as I wrote it, but confess you caught me with tongue partially--the woe is me part, certainly-- stuck into cheek. Once again, I thought I was being funny and by now should know that often gets me into trouble.
Seriously, I did not expect the largesse I mentioned, so really didn't anticipate disappointment; rather as my family learned long ago, I would have reacted negatively to the kind of tawdry gimcrackery that marks the way too many in our consumer culture celebrate those red calendar dates.
I have no daughter to prompt Electra mulling, but my two sons and I are firmly bonded, tho', as one would expect, the two in slightly different ways, but both more positive than my own strong ties to my long-deceased father, and I believe maybe stronger. I am a very fortunate man.
But the numbers I referred to did intrigue me, because they hint at real differences between the way we view mothers and fathers. Tho' I suggested that much, I did not get specific about how those differences affect our legal system and political predilections.
Still don't have time to say much on the subject, but aside from the predominant legal assumption that following a divorce, the "natural" place for a child is with his mother, we have an entire political party (well, maybe not the entire but damn near) that enshrines male dominance in all its manifestations, everything from saber-rattling to the sexual politics of anti-abortion crusaders, that loves tough talk and feats of strength (regardless of his past utterances, the Trumpster really does belong to that party), and then compensates by sentimentalizing womanhood, sentimentality being an attitude that always carries with it an implication of weakness, into political irrelevance.
That's the kind of stuff I would have suggested, but didn't get that far.
You made me go a little farther.
Thanks.
So Marco is going to chow down on all those vows to leave the senate and Join Ted in posing for the full frontal shot in the illustrated dictionary definition of "naked ambition." Those two will be head to head in four years if Rubio wins re-election. He's not a shoo in.
This is a disturbing essay:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/06/22/how-voters-personal-suffering-overtook-reason-and-brought-us-donald-trump/?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-f%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
@Ken: thanks for responding. Looks like my bark was pretty puny and got only a tad up that tree, but I was concerned. The daughter you don't have belongs to Jack Mahoney I think–-and this was years ago––he was questioning the influence he might have had on her and yet she went into his field of academia so you can see how I connected this with you. Anyway–– your clarification was interesting and yes, it's a subject of further discussion.