The Commentariat -- June 29

Maureen Dowd interviews New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. She covers a lot of ground: gay rights, women's right to choose and the death penalty, the Roman Catholic church, for starters. I've posted a Dowd comments page on Off Times Square, but you can write on any topic. Karen Garcia, Kate Madison & I have commented on Down's column.

Dana Milbank: "At the core of Obama’s stance [on same-sex marriage] is a logical inconsistency: He believes gay Americans should be fully equal under the law, but by opposing gay marriage he supports a system that denies same-sex couples some 1,300 federal rights and benefits that married couples receive. The civil unions Obama favors as an alternative have little meaning in federal law."

John Dean Knows How to Get Rid of Clarence Thomas: "As the associate deputy attorney general in President Richard M. Nixon’s Department of Justice, I was there when Assistant Attorney General William Rehnquist outlined how to remove a Supreme Court justice who had engaged in conduct not quite as troublesome as that of Thomas.... There is absolutely no question in my mind that Thomas lied his way onto the Supreme Court in 1991 when he denied Anita Hill’s charges that he had sexually harassed her and some of his other subordinates.... His behavior as a justice just keeps sinking lower and lower.... With the Rehnquist memo in hand, [Attorney General John] Mitchell arranged a secret meeting with then Chief Justice Earl Warren, and told Warren that if Fortas did not resign from the court the Justice Department was going to launch an investigation of Fortas’ dealing with a financier...." Mitchell also said he would go after Fortas' wife, a tax attorney. Fortas resigned. Dean ultimately says Thomas, who will fight tooth-&-nail to keep his seat, won't go. CW: But it's worth trying, IMHO. ...

... The Reid Report has links to stories about some of Clarence Thomas's ethics lapses. ...

... Dean says even if it passed, The Supremes would rule unconstitutional Chris Murphy's (D-Conn.) Supreme Court transparency bill. You can add your signature of support anyway at this Daily Kos page.

Marc Ambinder of the National Journal writes that President Obama is purposely stalling on debt ceiling talks to get a better deal. CW: I would call this a loony conspiracy theory, but Ambinder has good White House sources. And it would be nice if Obama was playing to get the best deal for the public.

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary." Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post: Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who will retire Thursday, was instrumental in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell."

McKay Coppins & David Graham in the Daily Beast: "Jon Huntsman Sr. is one of the richest men in the world. He’s also been his son’s best ally."

Most judges will tell you that sentencing is the most difficult thing we do. -- Judge Denny Chin ...

... Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: Federal District Judge Denny Chin explains how he decided to impose a 150-year sentence on Bernie Madoff.

Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The stories of the Dodgers and the [Los Angeles] Times can be read as parables of a particularly vicious form of capitalism that America has come to know too well the past few decades: a new owner takes over a venerable firm and extracts what he can for himself, decimating the company and damaging the community in the process."

Prioities USA Action, a Democrat-backed unlimited secret donor organization like Karl Rove's Crossroads GPS, answers Crossroads' ads attacking President Obama on his handling of the economy:

Michael Scherer of Time: Democratic pollster & strategist Stanley Greenberg, who has a succession of big wins under his belt, has focus-group-tested President Obama's economic message. Greenberg says the public isn't buying the President's message that he saved the economy, so Obama should change his message to one that has some credibility. What a concept! Obama strategists like David Axelrod disagree.

Right Wing World *

I'm introducing myself now to the American people so that they can know that I have a strong academic scholarly background, more important I have a real life background. -- Prof. Michele Bachmann

Michele Bachmann, rated by PolitiFact as the most untruthful presidential candidate, sticks with her story that John Quincy Adams was a Founding Father. CW: FYI, Adams was 8 years old when the Declaration of Independence was signed, he was a young teen during the American Revolution & was living in Europe, where his father John was a diplomat. He was attending Harvard, not the Constitutional Convention, in 1787. Print story here.

... AND Michael Isikoff on Bachmann Hypocrisy Watch:

     ... Print story here. Isikoff mentions in the print story (but not in the O'Donnell interview) that the Bachmanns also have received $260,000 in federal farm subsidies.

David Seifman of the New York Post: Howard Koeppel, "the gay car dealer who opened his home to Rudy Giuliani in 2001 during his humiliating divorce battle, says the former mayor offered to preside at his wedding if same-sex marriage were ever legalized -- but is now ducking his calls to make good on the offer.... Mayors of New York City retain the right to conduct weddings even after leaving office."

* Where people don't make history; they make up history, even if they're, like, scholarly.

Local News

Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "Wisconsin Democrats got a bit of good luck ... that increased their chances of taking over the state Senate.... On Monday, Wisconsin’s Government Accountability Board voted unanimously to keep state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) off the ballot in a recall election against state Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay), saying that the GOP lawmaker fell short of the 400 valid signatures required to qualify.... Now Hansen will face David VanderLeest, (R) a weaker opponent with a long court record. He’s been accused of domestic and child abuse by his ex-wife, and been taken to court for code violations in the buildings he owns." ...

... Meanwhile, in Paul Ryan's district, Sean Sullivan of the National Journal reports, "Highly touted 1st District Democratic recruit Rob Zerban said Tuesday that he will be posting 'a big number' when he reports his 2nd quarter fundraising figures to the Federal Election Commission."

St. Pete Times: Florida "Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Tuesday what his staff had refused to disclose: He flew to Colorado over the weekend to attend a secretive policy retreat hosted by powerful conservative donors Charles and David Koch.... Also attending the retreat near Vail were Republican Govs. Rick Perry of Texas and Bob McDonnell of Virginia, and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli." ...

... Adam Smith of the St. Pete Times: "Political robocalls are nothing new in the final weeks of a campaign season, but for the first time anyone can recall, [Florida Gov. Rick] Scott has the state GOP paying for regular recorded calls touting his day-to-day accomplishments. It's part of his continuing effort to bypass the traditional media and communicate directly with voters." ...

We are all used to getting robocalls during campaign season, but to continue to get them AFTER the election is unprecedented and extremely disturbing! … Funny how a guy that preaches limiting government intrusion in our private lives is DOING JUST THAT with this harassing robo-phone campaign. -- Republican Steve Allbitron of Palm Harbor

Margot Roosevelt of the Los Angeles Times: "An emotional battle over a traditional soup has split California's Chinese American community as environmental and animal welfare groups push the Legislature to ban the sale and possession of shark fins. The bill passed the Assembly last month, 65-8, but is running into trouble in the Senate."

News Ledes

President Obama on LGBT Pride Month:

     ... Here's the transcript.

President Obama spoke at an event observing LGBT Pride month this afternoon. New York Times: could be awkward! ...

     ... Update: "After months of saying his position on same-sex marriage is 'evolving,' President Obama on Wednesday traded that language for comments that stopped just short of endorsing the notion that gay people have the right to marry."

The President's Press Conference:

... President Obama held a press conference this morning. New York Times post-presser report: "President Obama said Wednesday that he believed Republicans would concede to tax increases as part of a deficit reduction package in time to avoid a default on the nation’s debt. 'Call me naive.... But my expectation is that leaders are going to lead.' Mr. Obama repeatedly mocked tax breaks that he said were for 'millionaires and billionaires, oil companies and corporate jet owners,' saying that voters would not look kindly on Republican lawmakers who defended them at the cost of cuts in popular programs like health care, education and food safety." ...

     ... The transcript of the President's remarks, including the Q&A, is here.

New York Times: "Less than a week after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York, the Rhode Island State Senate on Wednesday evening approved a bill allowing not marriage, but civil unions for gay couples, despite fierce opposition from gay rights advocates who called the legislation discriminatory. The bill, which already passed in the state’s House of Representatives and which the governor [Independent Lincoln Chafee] said he was likely to sign, grants gay and lesbian couples most of the rights and benefits that Rhode Island provides married couples."

WLS Chicago: now that the Blagojevich trial is over, the House Ethics Committee may begin its investigation into whether or not Rep. Jessie Jackson, Jr., offered to raise campaign funds for then-Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich in exchange for Blagojevich's appointing Jackson to fill Barack Obama's Senate seat.

Politico: "A current and a retired Supreme Court justice on Wednesday declined to criticize Justice Clarence Thomas for not recusing himself from cases critics say he has a personal interest in because of his wife’s employment. Justice Stephen Breyer and Sandra Day O’Connor, who stepped down in 2006, defended the high court’s deliberate vagueness regarding ethical matters when asked about spousal conflicts of interest by an audience member during a forum at the Aspen Ideas Festival in Colorado."

Politico: "The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the health reform law’s requirement that nearly all Americans buy insurance, the first appeals court to rule on the constitutionality of the law. The panel of three judges — two nominated by Republican presidents — upheld the mandate 2-1, with one GOP-nominated judge ruling in favor of the mandate and the other dissenting. The ruling marks the first time a Republican-nominated judge has ruled in favor of upholding the mandate."

New York Times: "France confirmed on Wednesday that it has provided weapons to the Libyan rebels, the first instance of a NATO country providing direct military aid to the forces seeking to oust Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi."

AP: "Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed. The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in the form of bonds." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "Bank of America announced plans on Wednesday to set aside $14 billion to pay investors who bought securities it assembled from mortgages that later soured, an agreement that the company expected would lead to a second-quarter loss of $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion."

Washington Post: "Leading congressional Democrats immediately recoiled Tuesday from a new proposal to cut $600 billion in Medicare spending over the next decade — in part by raising the eligibility age. Sens. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) unveiled the proposal as part of a bipartisan effort." CW: bipartisan, my ass. Note these two jokers are ending their illustrious Senate careers in January 2013.

Los Angeles Times: "The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a resolution Tuesday authorizing U.S. involvement in the NATO-led mission in Libya, a small step forward in a stubborn legal stalemate between Congress and the White House over the war. If adopted by both chambers of Congress, the resolution would permit U.S. involvement for up to one year, but would restrict any expansion of the nation's role. Four Republican members of the committee joined the Democratic majority to pass the measure on a 14-5 vote."

Los Angeles Times: "The [California] Legislature passed an austerity budget Tuesday night that would cut from universities, courts and the poor, shutter 70 parks and threaten schools but would not — by officials' own admission — restore California's long-term financial health. The UC and Cal State systems would face about a 23% funding cut, among the steepest in the proposal. Cash grants for the needy would fall, a program to help thousands of teen mothers get an education would be suspended and hundreds of millions of dollars would be siphoned from mental health programs.... Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed the first one but is expected to sign the new package before a fresh budget year begins Friday."

New York Times: "Nine suicide bombers managed to elude several rings of security and reach one of the capital’s premier hotels, which was busy with guests, many of whom had come from the provinces to the city for a conference on the transition of security responsibility to Afghan control.... By Wednesday morning, the nearly six-hour attack at the hilltop Intercontinental Hotel had ended, leaving at least 21 people dead, including two police officers, nine Afghan civilians and one foreigner, a Spaniard, according to the Interior Ministry. At least five of the suicide bombers blew themselves up and three were shot dead from helicopter gunships by NATO troops."

AP: "Greek lawmakers began voting Wednesday on new austerity measures needed to secure crucial bailout funds as protesters opposed to the bill clashed with riot police outside Parliament." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "The Greek parliament on Wednesday approved a controversial package of tax hikes and spending cuts, clearing the way for $17 billion in international emergency loans needed to stave off a possible default."

AP: "Thousands of British schools will close and travelers will face long lines at airport immigration this week when three quarters of a million workers go on strike — the first blast in what unions hope will be a summer of discontent against the cost-cutting government's austerity plans."

AP: "A federal judge on Tuesday scheduled an emergency hearing about whether prison authorities should stop forcing the Tucson shooting rampage suspect [Jared Loughner] to take anti-psychotic medication, as a new filing provided more details about his bizarre behavior behind bars."