;)
The Commentariat -- June 28, 2016
Afternoon Update:
David Herzenhorn of the New York Times: "Ending one of the longest, costliest and most bitterly partisan congressional investigations in history, the House Select Committee on Benghazi issued its final report on Tuesday, finding no new evidence of culpability or wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton in the 2012 attacks in Libya that left four Americans dead."
... Akhilleus: No kidding. But nonetheless...
Trey Gowdy was just doing his job...No, really. Karoun Demirjian of the Washinton Post: "Rep. Trey Gowdy on Tuesday defended his committee's lengthy and expansive Benghazi probe, saying that it was intended to reveal the facts and not to torpedo Hillary Clinton's presidential chances. The South Carolina Republican, a former federal prosecutor, insisted that former House speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and current speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) never 'asked me to do anything about presidential politics.... My job is to report facts,' Gowdy told reporters. 'You can draw whatever conclusions you want to draw.'"
... Akhilleus: Sure. Just the fact, ma'am. So we should pay no attention to all the ripe canards and out and out lies and smears perpetrated by committee Republicans for the last two years, like the time former committee chair "...[Darrell] Issa famously claimed that Clinton had personally issued a 'stand-down' order in which a CIA operative allegedly told his troops not to rush to the rescue of those in danger. That narrative repeatedly has been proven to lack any evidence -- including by the Washington Post's Fact Checker, which awarded the claim 'Four Pinnochios.'"
Was Benghazi the Biggest Scandal in History as many Republicans claim? Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog: "The Republicans have won on Benghazi. To much [sic] America, the incident in which four people died was the worst foreign policy failure imaginable. The investigations may be over now that we have today's two Republican reports -- one report, ostensibly objective, that's offered as the voice of the committee as a whole, plus one extra-tendentious report from two hard-right committee members -- but the stench will linger ... even if Americans are told that other administrations have suffered deaths of diplomatic personnel -- far more deaths, in many cases, I don't think the public can even process that notion. How could anything be worse than Benghazi?
... Akhilleus: Far more Americans stationed abroad died during the Bush II and Reagan administrations: 87 under Bush and over 300 under Saint Ronnie of Reagan. In fact, in Reagan's case, even after a congressional committee (which lasted weeks, not years) issued recommendations for improving security and safety of Americans abroad nothing was done. Three months after 254 Marines were killed by a truck bomb, a CIA station chief was kidnapped, tortured, and killed, and shortly thereafter, another US outpost in Beirut was bombed. Reagan's excuse? Well, it's like having your kitchen redone. Things never get finished on time. Seriously. That's what he said...Just imagine the outrage if Obama had issued a flip response like that. They'd want him flayed alive on national television.
*****
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The leaders of the United States, Canada and Mexico will pledge on Wednesday that by 2025 half of their overall electricity generation will come from clean power sources, according to administration officials. The commitment -- which will be a joint one, rather than an individual commitment by each nation -- represents an aggressive target given the reliance by the United States and Mexico on fossil fuels for much of their electricity supply.... President Obama will travel to Ottawa on Wednesday to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto as part of this year's North American Leaders Summit. The upcoming pledge highlights how collaboration on climate between the United States and Canada has accelerated since Trudeau ... was elected last fall." CW: AND, as much as "remembering the Supremes," this is why U.S. voters should choose Democrats.
** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday struck down parts of a restrictive Texas law that could have reduced the number of abortion clinics in the state to about 10 from what was once a high of roughly 40. The 5-to-3 decision was the court's most sweeping statement on abortion rights since Planned Parenthood v. Casey in 1992. It applied a skeptical and exacting version of that decision's 'undue burden' standard to find that the restrictions in Texas must fall. Monday's decision means that similar restrictions in other states are most likely also unconstitutional, and it imperils many other kinds of restrictions. Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices Anthony M. Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissented." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... ** Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "The task of judging whether a law puts an unconstitutional burden on a woman's right to abortion, the new ruling declared firmly, belongs with the courts, not the legislatures.... A key part of the majority opinion was that it struck down both provisions 'facially' -- that is, the very words of the provisions were invalid, no matter how they might be applied in any practical situation." -- CW
... Tara Culp-Ressler of Think Progress: "The high court reversed two major provisions in Texas' law -- first, a requirement that abortion doctors obtain 'admitting privileges' from local hospitals; second, a requirement that abortion clinics bring their standards in line with 'ambulatory surgical centers' -- siding with the plaintiffs' argument that these policies do nothing to improve patient health and safety. In the majority opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer wrote that these 'unnecessary health regulations' ultimately pose an 'undue burden' on women's right to abortion.... Monday's decision doesn't mean that those state laws will automatically be rolled back.... But it is clear that TRAP laws are now on much, much shakier ground than they were before the high court waded into this issue." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Kevin Drum: "This means that probably the most important thing we've learned today is just how far Kennedy can be pushed. He's voted in favor of several abortion restrictions over the past decade, but this one went too far. In practical terms, that means abortion opponents have tested the limits of what they can get away with, and the Texas law represents the outer boundary." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ann Friedman of New York: "In America, it's gotten surprisingly difficult to tell whether abortion is a right or a luxury. Today's Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt would seem to reinforce that it's a right.... But it also reveals a hard truth about the decades-long effort to deliberately deter women from getting abortions. Thanks to federal restrictions and state-level laws, most low-income women have to pay for an abortion out-of-pocket. " --safari...
... Olga Khazan, in The Atlantic, has a long read on "the myriad legal, financial, and cultural obstacles" faced by abortion providers operating in strongly conservative, Christain towns across America. --safari
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously overturned former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell's public corruption conviction, and made it harder to prosecute public officials for alleged wrongdoing. The court said it had no opinion on whether McDonnell should be retried under the stricter standards the decision imposes, but Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. described the former governor's actions as 'tawdry' in announcing the decision from the bench." CW: So we know what about Bob. But what about Maureen? I'm not sure what this means for Maureen McDonnell, who also was convicted & sentenced to jail. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Rick Hasen: "The Supreme Court's unanimous ruling throwing out the conviction of Gov. McDonnell (while leaving open the possibility of a retrial on a narrower theory of the case) is sensible and courageous, and shows the continuing important influence of Justice Scalia in this area of the law. It is hard to write an opinion letting off the hook someone whose actions were as odious as Gov. McDonnell.... But it was the right thing to do. In an earlier case, Sun-Diamond, Justice Scalia wrote a majority opinion (involving the conviction of Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy on illegal gratuity charges) in which Justice Scalia warned about the criminalization of ordinary politics." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)...
... Betsy Woodruff of The Daily Beast: "The Supreme Court just threw a lifeline to politicians looking to play and get paid -- and perhaps even to some big fish in New York who have already been caught and convicted for doing just that." --safari ...
... Ditto, Say Experts. Josh Gerstein of Politico: "As it unanimously overturned Bob McDonnell's corruption convictions Monday, the Supreme Court may have given a green light to politicians and their allies to trade access for money, according to legal experts and disappointed advocates for government ethics laws." -- CW
Dahlia Lithwick of Slate: "[A] quick thought on the Texas immigration case: The irony of Paul Ryan and his fellowTrump boosters celebrating U.S. v. Texas as a big win for curbing executive excesses cannot be lost on any of you. That same contingent that this week lauded the Supreme Court as a vital check on presidential overreach is also proudly maintaining that a paralyzed court is a terrific idea, all while claiming that Donald Trump -- who has never met a check or balance to which he might someday accede-- is their top choice for the White House." --safari
AP Brief: "The Supreme Court is upholding the broad reach of a federal law that bans people convicted of domestic violence from owning guns. The justices on Monday rejected arguments that the law covers only intentional acts of abuse and not those committed in the heat of an argument." -- CW ...
... Ann Marimow of the Washington Post has a more detailed report on the ruling. [Link fixed.] -- CW
Elijah Cummings Has Had Enough of Trey Gowdy. David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "House Democrats on Monday moved to pre-empt the findings of a two-year Republican-led investigation into the attacks in Benghazi, Libya, in which four Americans were killed, by issuing their own 339-page report that cast the inquiry as a politically motivated crusade that wasted time and money. The release of the Democrats' report came amid signs that the House Select Committee on Benghazi, led by its chairman, Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, was nearing the release of its official findings." -- CW ...
... Update. Rachel Bade of Politico: "In their long-awaited final report, Republicans on the House Benghazi Committee have concluded that the Obama administration -- including then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- failed across multiple agencies and levels to protect American diplomats in the 2012 Benghazi terrorist attack. The 800-page report, to be released Tuesday, is the culmination of a two-year investigation that has haunted the 2016 Democratic front-runner on the campaign trail, even as Clinton's campaign has consistently slammed the probe as a political vendetta." -- CW
Alison Smale & Sewell Chan of the New York Times: "... leaders of the [European Union] member states began converging in Brussels on Tuesday to respond to what is arguably the greatest challenge ever to confront the 28-nation bloc. Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain will join his counterparts to discuss the aftershocks from the British referendum on Thursday, but he will then return to London -- leaving the other leaders to ponder their response to Britain's decision. Before departing for Brussels, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said she would use 'all her strength' to prevent the European Union from drifting apart in the wake of Britain's decision." -- CW ...
... Here's the latest hoohah via the Guardian's liveblog. -- CW ...
... A Rudderless Ship of State. Steven Erlanger, et al., of the New York Times: "Leaders on both sides of the Channel said there was no viable option but to move gradually toward the withdrawal process. Yet the day's developments did little to dispel the possibility that the crisis could drag on for a long time, possibly generating enough economic and political damage to encourage negotiation of a new arrangement between Europe and Britain that would sidestep the need for a formal withdrawal or at least minimize its effects.... Leaders of the Leave campaign, including Boris Johnson, the former London mayor who is now a leading candidate to succeed Mr. Cameron, notably modulated their tone and some positions on Europe, leaving unclear exactly what issues they want to address through a withdrawal." -- CW ...
... Cameron to Spend More Time with Family Sooner than Planned. Heather Stewart & Rowena Mason of the Guardian: "Britain will have a new prime minister by 2 September, after the executive of the Conservative party's backbench 1922 Committee set a tighter than expected timetable for selecting a new leader. David Cameron announced last Friday that he would step down following the historic EU referendum result, paving the way for a new prime minister to be appointed by the time of the party's conference in October. But the 1922 executive, chaired by the MP Graham Brady, which met on Monday lunchtime, said it would recommend a more rapid process.... [Brady] added that if a new prime minister presses ahead with the crucial renegotiations, they could then call a general election to allow the public to give their verdict on Britain's new relationship with the EU.... Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson and the home secretary, Theresa May, are seen as the frontrunners...." -- CW ...
... Griff Witte & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "By picking a new leader in September rather than October, the country could be free to move faster with its departure from the 28-member club. Outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron insisted on Monday that the country will delay the triggering of exit talks -- a point from which there will be no turning back -- until his successor is in place. The move came as markets tumbled worldwide, the pound hit a 31-year low and a respected financial agency cut Britain's credit rating. Amid the growing tumult, President François Hollande of France said his country's island neighbor needs to get out quickly to end the uncertainty." -- CW ...
... Tom McTague of Politico: David Cameron washes his hands of the international crisis he created. -- CW ...
... Simon Denyer & Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "U.S. and European stock markets stumbled again Monday as investors digested the implications of Britain's historic vote to leave the European Union." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
...Jill Treanor & Katie Allen of the Guardian: "The UK has been stripped of its last AAA rating as credit agency Standard & Poor's warned of the economic, fiscal and constitutional risks the country now faces as a result of the result. The two-notch downgrade came with a warning that S&P could slash its rating again...That downgrade was swiftly followed by a cut to the UK's credit score from rival agency Fitch." --safari...
... Hortense Goulard of Politico: "Brussels should avoid the temptation to embrace 'revengeful premises' after British voters chose to leave the European Union in last week's referendum, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday. EU leaders need to ensure that during the exit negotiation with the U.K., 'nobody loses their head, nobody goes off half-cocked, people don't start ginning up scattered-brained or revengeful premises,' Kerry said, after a meeting with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in Brussels." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)...
... Jennifer Rankin & Philip Oltermann of the Guardian: "European diplomats have dismissed claims from Boris Johnson that the UK could negotiate access to the EU single market without obeying any of the rules. 'You cannot have your cake and eat it,' said an EU diplomat, echoing a phrase the former mayor of London used during the campaign and which looks set to come back to haunt him...EU diplomats are slowly groping towards a consensus on a Brexit timetable, following crisis talks between 27 senior diplomats on Sunday that excluded the UK. The increasingly dominant view is that Britain should trigger article 50 by the end of the year, starting the clock on two years of divorce negotiations. This would allow the UK to leave the EU before European parliament elections and the appointment of a new European commission in 2019." --safari
...Tina Brown of The Daily Beast: "There were ritual denials from the Palace last week after the Queen's (pro-EU) biographer Robert Lacey, writing in the Daily Beast, quoted the monarch as having issued this icy challenge to her dinner guests: 'Give me three good reasons why Britain should be part of Europe.' [T]here is little doubt that Her Maj was a keen Brexiteer.... Brexit has added new gradations to the class divide.... In further gradations of the new class divide, there is the now deeply divisive figure of Boris Johnson, the man who led the Brexit movement to victory...Boris, I fear, belongs to a peculiarly dangerous British type a type that in my days as the editor of Tatler in the 1980s, I christened the Gentleman Hack.... All hail the next prime minister of the United (though maybe not for long) Kingdom." --safari...
... Harriet Sherwood, et al., of the Guardian: "David Cameron has condemned 'despicable' xenophobic abuse after the EU referendum& as figures suggested a 57% increase in reported incidents. The country would not stand for hate crime, the prime minister told MPs.... Senior police chiefs have discussed how to respond amid concerns the continuing heated debate may contribute to heightened tensions. Cameron's condemnation came amid a growing chorus of concern over intolerance and hostility." --safari...
... Juan Cole: "The oil-rich Gulf Cooperation countries may see additional buying opportunities in the British market after Brexit.... In general, former British colonies often feel they have a special opportunity for trade and investment with the UK, with which EU commitments sometimes interfered. They now hope to step in to fill the vacuum left by UK departure from the EU...Meanwhile Turkey seems to be offering itself to the European Union as a substitute for the UK." --safari...
... Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "If Boris Johnson could, with a squint, be seen as Britain's answer to Donald Trump,then Jeremy Corbyn -- the opposition leader at heart of a post-Brexit revolt in the Labour party -- is best explained in an American context by comparison to Bernie Sanders.... Opinion polls suggest a Trump presidency is even more unlikely than Britain leaving the European Union once seemed. But Sanders will now be under more pressure to join Clinton and make sure the US does not follow the UK down the path of nationalism." --safari...
... Nadia Khomani of the Guardian: "Donald Trump has predicted the breakup of the European Union and warned Scotland against the risks of a second independence referendum. During a visit to Scotland hours after Britain opted to leave the EU in a historic referendum..., [Trump] said that without strict migration controls Europe would be unrecognisable within a decade." --safari
Hiroko Tabuchi & Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Volkswagen has agreed to pay up to $14.7 billion to settle claims stemming from its diesel emissions cheating scandal, in what would be one of the largest consumer class-action settlements ever in the United States. The proposed settlement involving the federal government and lawyers for the owners of about 475,000 Volkswagen vehicles, includes a maximum of $10.03 billion to buy back affected cars at their pre-scandal values, and additional cash compensation for the owners, according to two people briefed on the settlement's terms. The cash compensation offered to each car owner will range from $5,100 to $10,000." -- CW
Bethone Butler & Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: Actor Jesse Williams, who costars in the television show "Gray's Anatomy," gave a powerful speech, which has gone viral, when accepting BET's Humanitarian Award Sunday night. Williams "has been a consistent presence in the Black Lives Matter movement since its beginning." -- CW Here's the audio:
Presidential Race
Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Hillary Clinton & Elizabeth Warren, "who built rival power centers on the political left but this spring gradually became allies, together electrified a crowd of thousands [in Cincinnati, Ohio,] by locking their arms, punching the air and excoriating Donald Trump. Clinton may be the one running for president, but Warren, her new surrogate and possibly future running mate, stole the show with her eviscerating takedown of Trump -- and her enthusiastic endorsement of Clinton." -- CW
Kylie Atwood of CBS News reprises the highs & lows of Bernie Sanders' campaign. ...
... CW: Is the "system" "rigged"? Well, yeah: "At one point shortly before the caucuses, [Sanders' Nevada director Joan Kato] instructed staff to buy double-sided coins -- in case coin-flips were needed to decide any of the caucuses in the event of a tie, according to staffers." ...
... Which also was evidence of not just dishonesty but also incompetence. Eric Levitz of New York: According to Jon Ralston, Nevada political guru, "ties were not decided by coin flip but by cutting cards!" -- CW
The good thing is, we have a candidate who doesn't need to figure out what's going on in order to say what he wants to do. -- Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort, Sunday on 'Meet the Press'
MEANWHILE. John Amato of Crooks & Liars: "Donald Trump was interviewed by NBC News' Hallie Jackson on the telephone today and he responded to remarks made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren at a campaign event in Cincinnati with Hillary Clinton by calling her a 'racist' and a fraud.' Apparently Donald Trump believes the same failed strategy that was used by Scott Brown to undermine her senatorial campaign will suddenly turn into a pot of gold for him." ...
She made up her heritage, which I think is racist. I think she's a racist, actually because what she did was very racist. -- Donald Trump, Monday
This dimwit could not think his way out of a paper bag: "I'm stuck in a paper bag, which I think means I'm stuck in a paper bag. I think I'm stuck in a paper bag, actually because where I am is stuck in a paper bag." -- Constant Weader ...
... CW: Trump repeated his charges against Warren quite a few times. AND of course he had to call her "Pochahontas," using it as a perjorative, because there's nothing racist about that. ...
... Speaking of Dreamboat Scottie. "Fauxchahontas." Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "As Donald Trump continues to call Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas" for claiming Native American heritage, former Massachusetts senator Scott Brown -- who lost to her in 2012 -- is defending that line of attack.... 'Harvard can release the records, she can authorize the release of those records, or she can take a DNA test,' he said, insisting that Warren took a job that might have rightly gone to a nonwhite applicant. 'It's a reverse form of racism, quite frankly,'" [Brown said.] CW: BTW, I suspect that blue-haired Smurf standing next to Brown in the photo accompanying the article is Scottie's alterego. Either that, or it's his Picture of Dorian Gray.
Fredreka Schouten & Christopher Schnaars of USA Today: "Thousands of wealthy donors who helped fuel Republicans' presidential ambitions in the last two election cycles have not donated to Donald Trump's campaign or to other committees supporting his bid, underscoring the challenge the real-estate magnate faces in securing the hundreds of millions he needs to finance his general-election campaign." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: This appears to me to be a place where Hillary has a real advantage over Bernie. Establishment Republicans are not afraid of President Hillary MOR Clinton; they might be digging deep if the alternative was President Bernie Socialist Sanders. ...
...Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "After releasing fundraising reports that were anemic at best, Donald Trump's campaign announced in one single email blast he had raised at least $3.3 million. If that figure seems impossible, that's because it is.... Digital marketing experts are viewing Trump's current claims with deep skepticism." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "A slot at the Republican National Convention used to be a career-maker.... In the year of Trump: Not so much.... Politico contacted more than 50 prominent governors, senators and House members to gauge their interest in speaking. Only a few said they were open to it, and everyone else said they weren't planning on it, didn't want to, or weren't going to Cleveland at all -- or simply didn't respond." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Nick Gass of Politico: "Less than half -- 45 percent -- of Republican voters say they are satisfied with Donald Trump as their party's presidential nominee, according to the latest results from an NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released Monday. Another 52 percent said they would have preferred someone else as the GOP standard bearer, while the levels of satisfaction are reversed among Democratic voters, 52 percent of which said they are satisfied with Hillary Clinton as their party's nominee in November. The results break down ideological and educational lines." --safari
Bianco Padró Ocasio of Politico: "More than nine hours after the Supreme Court ruled to overturn two provisions of a Texas anti-abortion law on Monday, the Republican Party's presumptive nominee has yet to comment.... Donald Trump, who has said in the past that he is 'very pro-choice,' has struggled to clearly explain his position on abortion during the 2016 campaign." --safari
Beyond the Beltway
Bryce Covert of ThinkProgress: "In the eight months that Michigan has been running a pilot program to drug test applicants and recipients of its welfare program, not a single person has tested positive, according to preliminary results. The program began in October in three different counties. As of May, 303 people who applied for benefits or were already receiving them participated, but they turned up zero positive drug test results. An applicant can refuse a test, forfeiting benefits if he or she does, and some argue that low positive testing rates can be due to those who abuse drugs simply declining to get tested. But no one in Michigan's pilot program refused to take a test." --safari
AP, Via RawStory: "A federal bankruptcy judge in Texas on Monday ordered former billionaire Sam Wyly to pay $1.11 billion in back taxes, interest and penalties after finding he committed tax fraud by shielding much of his family's wealth in offshore trusts...Sam Wyly, now 81, appeared on Forbes magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans as recently as 2010." --safari
Way Beyond
Juan Cole: "As Shakir Jawdat, Chief of the Iraqi Federal Police, announced the complete liberation of the last, northern neighborhoods of Fallujah from Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), [Prime Minister Haydar al-Abadi, the commander in chief of the Iraqi armed forces, called on all Iraqis to issue from their homes into the streets and to celebrate the liberation of Fallujah...That al-Abadi and his American allies were able to have Shiite militias and Sunni al-Anbar tribesmen fight on the same side was a substantial victory of its own sort..... But al-Abadi is the head of a Shiite religious party that no Sunni believes includes them. That has to change if Iraq is to survive." --safari
Krishnadev Calamur of The Atlantic: "Israel and Turkey have ended their six-year-long diplomatic disputesparked by the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla that killed 10 Turkish nationals." --safari
News Lede
New York Times: "Pat Summitt, who was at the forefront of a broad ascendance of women's sports, winning eight national basketball championships at the University of Tennessee and more games than any other Division I college coach, male or female, died on Tuesday. She was 64.... Ms. Summitt stepped down after 38 seasons and 1,098 victories at Tennessee in April 2012, at 59, less than a year after she learned she had early-onset Alzheimer's disease." -- CW
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Reader Comments (11)
Why I wonder is the song about two little gals from Little Rock that Marylyn and Jane sang in "Gentlemen Prefer Blonds"going through my head after watching Hillary and Elizabeth take to the stage together, holding hands up high, looking for all the world like a rock solid duo. It's quite a sight, really, if the two become one on that ticket to ride. This is new territory and when asked, Hillary said, well, of course this country is ready for two women. Diamonds might have been a girl's best friend for that other duo, but an embrace by the voters is the sparkle needed here.
Oh, speaking of sparkle: Our gal from the Tundra and Wolves territory managed to give us her advice to the King about whom he should pick for a running mate. More than most, she has the ability to take the English language and twist it into meaningless mush, much like the person she is addressing. Think of them as a team––like a bad dream, fer sure.
"When choosing a running mate, I would tell him to find someone who understands who the boss will be, someone who is not running too, someone who he could serve with who he wouldn’t need a taste test, a food taste-tester around him, you know? You know what I mean?”
P.S. The S.C. decision on theTexas abortion issue is the best and one of the most important mandates for women in this country. It renews my faith in wise judicial decisions–––roses for the five––week old fish for the three.
I think that Donald will soon be famous forever. My bet is that the words stupid, dumb and idiot will be replaced by the word TRUMP.
And yes, he has no clue what the word 'racist' means. Just a very loud mouth trying to cover a tiny brain.
What a Difference One Less Dwarf Makes
Little Johnny has been minus a dwarf--the head dwarf, as it turns out--and suddenly, mirabile dictu, sanity, or something approaching it.
The McDonnell decision notwithstanding (although that one could come back to bite us in the freshly unprotected posterior of the body politic), and the non-decision on immigration, the result of the McConnell/Grassley Lie Back in the Hammock and Do Nothing Pact, the long hoped for return of judiciousness to the court is both welcome and a direct result of the court's missing the highly politicized, polarizing, and baleful figure of the Dark Lord.
There must be such terrible pangs of withdrawal on the right. For decades things have been moving expeditiously and unrelentingly in their direction. Now that moderation has returned, it must be a shock in many quarters. The McConnell/Grassley LBITHADN Pact has paid off with the immigration stalemate, but unless Herr Drumpf is installed in the Oval Office, the chance of a return to right-wing Happy Hunting Grounds is pretty slim.
Part of me wishes Clinton, if she gets the chance, would appoint a raging liberal judge (or two or three) to begin to ameliorate the rightward tsunami of recent years, but that'll never happen (besides, I doubt any such animal exists anymore: eight years of Bush appointees and eight years of hardly any Obama appointees have left us with a vast majority of far-right, right, right of center, and a few centrist jurists.) But we don't need a raging anything or anyone at this point. I'll be happy with a sane, reasonable, experienced and moderate jurist. You know, someone like, oh....let's see...Merrick Garland! Yeah, that's the ticket.
But we've dodged a very big howitzer blast, boys and girls. Had Dark Lord Nino been present, this year's SCOTUS docket (you may recall the disconsolate divinations) would very likely have prompted right-wing jubilation for decades.
The return to sanity also points the way forward for a revival of prudence and stability across the board, starting with retaking the senate and kicking malicious malingers to the rear.
But congratulations are far from in order. Little Johnny and his dwarfs may have been reduced, but they're still there, without Justice Svengali, it's true, but there is much to do. Elections matter.
Speaking of Supreme Court decisions, it's nice to know that the opinions are actually read.
Breezing through the Meriam Webster site (Word of the Day and the trending words features are favorites), I spied a reference to Notorious RBG and noticed that a line in her Texas opinion had become a source of interest:
"When a State severely limits access to safe and legal procedures, women in desperate circumstances may resort to unlicensed rogue practitioners, faute de mieux, at great risk to their health and safety."
According to the word mavens at M-W, the phrase "faute de mieux" "...spiked in lookups in an extremely dramatic fashion on the morning of June 27th (a 495,000% increase!)"
And thus this post, faute de mieux.
And speaking of "faute de mieux", House Republicans, searching desperately for something, anything, with which to hit Hillary Clinton upside the head have decided that it's time, once again, for benghazi, Benghazi, BENGHAZI!!
And do they have anything?
Nope. Same ol, same ol.
Almost a year ago, in September of 2015, the Benghazi nothing-burger investigation was already one of the four longest congressional hearings ever convened. And here we are 10, almost 11 months later and it's still going on. What committees met for a longer period? One to investigate the assassinations of Martin Luther King and JFK and two to look into various aspects of ongoing wars, during the Civil War and WWII. And right up there Darrell Issa (remember him?), Trey Gowdy and House Republicans have inserted, as one of the most momentous events in American history.....Benghazi.
Let's run the numbers, as they say on financial shows:
Budget Republicans granted themselves to "investigate" Benghazi Nothing-Burger: Unlimited.
Number of Congressional committees participating in Benghazi Nothing-Burger fishing expedition "investigation": 10
Number of witnesses called: 252
Number of published reports: 11
Number of published reports that found any evidence of wrongdoing: 0
The committee send a letter to Sec'y Clinton with questions. 156 questions. Number of questions actually about Benghazi? Eight.
Republican committee members grilled Sidney Blumenthal for nine hours during a deposition. They asked him 550 questions. Number of questions about Benghazi? 20.
This farce has never been about Benghazi. These charlatans have spent two years trying to score political points off the blood of dead Americans. Another shameful exposition by House Republicans.
And do you recall, two years ago, when this bullshit started, how long it was thought it might take these geniuses to issue a report and when it might come out? Just before the 2016 election, right?
Well, congratulations, Benghazi Nothing-Burger Fishing Expedition Committee guys! Good job.
Oh, and one final number for all those budget conscious Republicans:
Amount of taxpayer money spent on an extra-large Nothing-Burger with nothing on it, no bun, no napkin, no fries, and no drink, to go, after two years in the oven?
+$23 million.
Faute de mieux, indeed. Mon dieu.
Best headline of the day:
"Britannia Waives the Rules"
Man, as a headline writer you could wait years for a chance like that, but it was actually a quote from Martina Anderson, MEP for Irish republican party Sinn Fein, speaking at the European parliament.
Leave it to the Irish.
@Akhilleus: Make that the Welsh. MEP Martina Anderson must be a fan of the Welsh hard rock group Budgie.
Marie
I'd just like to take this opportunity to remind everyone what a dickheaded misogynist Clarence Thomas is. In yesterday's decision Voisine v. United States, the case that decided that a state may prohibit domestic abusers (who don't use guns during the abuse), he whined in his dissent that “In construing the statute before us expansively so that causing a single minor reckless injury or offensive touching can lead someone to lose his right to bear arms forever, the Court continues to “relegat[e] the Second Amendment to a second-class right.”
On the very same day, in his dissent on the Texas abortion case, which struck down laws that severely limited a Texas woman's ability to obtain an abortion, which is also a Constitutional right, “That decision exemplifies the Court’s troubling tendency ‘to bend the rules when any effort to limit abortion, or even to speak in opposition to abortion, is at issue.’”
So the “right” of a domestic abuser – usually a male, and often a repeat offender – to obtain the means to kill a woman – yes, definitely. The right of that same woman to control her own body – no, definitely.
Marie
Marie,
If Thomas were thinking of throwing in the towel, he couldn't do better than to do it now. Just think, he could cap his career by bookending it between Long Dong Silver and Coke cans decorated with pubic hairs and his staunch protection of misogynistic creeps who might not get to keep deadly weapons in the house just because of a "single instance of intentional nonconsensual touching".
Dickhead is too nice a word.
Cleaving to ideology is one thing. This is raging assholeism taken to the extreme.
@ Marie: Was going to comment on your words about Thomas (a person that has been a thorn in my flesh for years) but Akhilleus took care of it for me. The only thing I could add is this man is a prime example of someone who, with the help of blind and deaf white Senators and one especially tall, Christian one, (Danforth), sanctioned the liar from Pin Point, Georgia to the higher court of the land who has ruled against almost everything he struggled with back in those Pin Point dark days––evidently long forgotten. By playing the race card––the game of ethic advantage that Thomas has built a career opposing––he then was able to win the victim sweepstakes.
Final vote for Thomas was 52-48–-most negative votes ever cast for a successful SC nominee.
Comment by one of the senators on the committee:
"He's not a light skinned Negro like Thurgood Marshall. He knows what it's like to be black."
@AK: Thanks for breaking down the facts re: the bullshit Benghazi business. That $23 million –––all for naught and THEY say they are concerned about spending.
My head is so sore from scratching/