The Commentariat -- March 24, 2013
Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone predicts a confrontation between the public and the government over its secrets: "It's all coming out. And when it isn't Julian Assange the next time but The New York Times, Der Spiegel and The Guardian standing in the line of fire, the state will probably lose, just as it lost in the Pentagon Papers case, because those organizations will be careful to only publish materials clearly in the public interest -- there's no conceivable legal justification for keeping us from knowing the policies of our own country (although stranger things have happened)." ...
... CW: curiously, in his list of secret-tellers, Taibbi ignores the case of James Risen, a New York Times reporter whom the government repeatedly subpoenaed to obtain the identities of his sources for a book he wrote. While it's true that the Risen subpoenas do not directly involve the NYT, they are mighty close. It appears the Obama administration is being very careful not to directly challenge the MSM, which are clearly covered by the First Amendment, but are instead going after individual whistleblowers, who have no institutional support.
Obama 2.0. Justin Elliot of ProPublica: "When President Obama nominated Ernest Moniz to be energy secretary earlier this month, he hailed the nuclear physicist as a 'brilliant scientist' who, among his many talents, had effectively brought together 'prominent thinkers and energy companies.' ... But beyond his job in academia, Moniz has also spent the last decade serving on a range of boards and advisory councils for energy industry heavyweights, including some that do business with the Department of Energy. That includes a six-year paid stint on BP's Technology Advisory Council as well as similar positions at a uranium enrichment company and a pair of energy investment firms." CW: if you think the deck is always stacked against ordinary Americans, you might not be paranoid.
Obama 2.0, Ctd. Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "The resignation on Friday of Julius Genachowski after four years as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission again raises a thorny issue for President Obama: whether it will be possible to get the F.C.C. or Congress to help him fulfill a campaign promise to guarantee that the Internet remains free and open to businesses and users. Mr. Genachowski, who said on Friday that he would leave the commission 'in the near future,' pushed it in the direction of embracing rules against discrimination by Internet service providers in what content they carry or how fast they transmit it, an issue known as net neutrality."
There is no leadership. There is nobody you can sit across the table from and shake hands, make a deal with.... [They call me] to say 'what we agreed to Joe, we can't do.' The reason this is so dysfunctional now -- with whom do you make a deal? With whom do you speak to get something done? The problem is we have the tail wagging the dog in the Republican Party. -- Vice President Biden, on the Republican party
New York Times cartoonist Brian McFadden finds a D+ engineer who has some D+ solutions for the U.S.'s D+-rated infrastructure. I would note that McFadden's sub-par engineer isn't as stupid as Washington's Very Serious People -- he understands Krugmanomics.
Jeff Sommer: a money manager says it is in the self-interest, and the public interest, for major American companies to quit stashing their cash in foreign entities to avoid paying taxes. They should bring the money home & pay their taxes, as the rest of us do.
Garance Franke-Ruta of The Atlantic on the basics the public doesn't know about U.S. fiscal facts. Franke-Ruta doesn't say so, but this particular ignorance is both a product of the Republicans' successful disinformation campaign and why they get away with continuing their draconian policies. AND it is also partially, I suppose, a product of this ...
... Paul Krugman on the psychological roots of austerity. ...
... The post by Simon Wren-Louis, whom Krugman cites, is excellent, too.
The Good News. Erik Wasson of The Hill: "The Senate voted Friday night to oppose cutting entitlement benefits for veterans using a new method of calculating inflation [i.e., chained CPI].... The vote on the amendment was by voice vote, so its usefulness in quantifying Senate opposition to the proposal is minimal. The amendment is non-binding because it is attached to the budget resolution, which does not have the force of law." ...
The Bad News. Zack Colman of The Hill: "The Senate on Friday voted 62-37 to approve the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline in an amendment to Senate budget." Ditto on the non-binding part.
Abby Rapoport of the American Prospect: Senate Republicans finally found a program they wanted to cut, & Democrats let them get away with it -- defunding political science research. CW: when you're the ignorance party & promoting ignorance is in your self-interest, you sure as hell don't want political scientists pointing out the flaws in your ignorant policy positions.
Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Determined to persuade Congress to act in response to [the Sandy Hook] shooting, [New York City Mayor Michael] Bloomberg on Monday will begin bankrolling a $12 million national advertising campaign that focuses on senators who he believes might be persuaded to support a pending package of federal regulations to curb gun violence. The ads, in 13 states, will blanket those senators' districts during an Easter Congressional recess.... In a telling sign of how much the white-hot demands for gun control have been tempered by political reality, Mr. Bloomberg's commercials make no mention of an assault weapons ban once sought by the White House and its allies, instead focusing on the more achievable goal of universal background checks." ...
... Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "During a heated debate about gun regulations on Sunday morning, ABC News’ Terry Moran accused Karl Rove of using 'Orwellian' language to scare people about background checks, noting that the federal government is not seeking to confiscate guns but rather keep them out of the hands of criminals and people who are mentally ill":
Paul Fahri of the Washington Post: "There's no doubt that many news organizations, including this one, missed important stories, underplayed others that were skeptical of the administration's case and acted too deferentially to those in power.... But 'failure' grossly oversimplifies what the media did and didn't do before the war, and it ignores important reasons the reporting turned out the way it did.... Thousands of news stories and columns published before the war described and debated the administration's plans and statements, and not all of them were supportive." Thanks to contributor Barbarossa for the link. ...
... Daniel Drezner on what he got wrong about "Operation Iraqi Freedom." And why.
Obama "Completely Conquers" Israel. Noga Tarnopolsky of Salon: "President Barack Obama's address to the Israeli people ... may herald a new direction for American foreign policy. Clearly aware of first term missed opportunities in the relationship with America's closest Mideast ally, Obama chose to crown his two day trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority with a passionate, forceful speech addressed to a group of more than 2,000 Israelis." Here's the speech, delivered Thursday:
If you still think NAFTA was a good idea because it was Bill Clinton's project, read this excerpt from a book by David Neiwert, republished in Salon. What Neiwert writes about the effects of NAFTA is consistent with more detailed accounts I have read elsewhere.
Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: "... what began in Cyprus as just another episode in a now-familiar narrative of stingy, rich Northern Europeans versus put-upon, poor southerners has escalated into a bigger drama tinged with cold war-style language and strategic calculations involving not just money but also energy and even military power.... The Republic of Cyprus makes an unlikely strategic prize. But it sits atop a web of overlapping and potentially volatile fault lines -- between East and West, the European Union and Russia, and Greece and Turkey, whose troops occupy the northern part of the island. It also has natural gas in the waters off its coast toward Israel."
Papal Pals. Pope Francis went to Castel Gandolfo to visit Benedict XVI. ...
... Tracy Connor of NBC News: "Pope Francis suggested in an interview last year that the Catholic Church's rule that priests be celibate 'can change' and admitted he was tempted by a woman as a young seminarian." CW: Francis's (or rather Bergoglio's) theological reasoning is telling: "It is a matter of discipline, not of faith. It can change."
Right Wing World
Jonathan Chait of New York: right-wing world is a-Twitter and a-postin' the shocking news that Matt Yglesias, a semi-liberal columnist for Slate, purchased a pricey condo. "Some of our brightest conservative minds believe that this is hypocrisy, because liberals don't believe anybody should have anything nice. Or something. I'll let them explain." ...
... Paul Krugman: "The lesson here is never to take right-wing huffiness about the process of politics and political debate seriously. These guys don't actually believe in any rules at all; whatever rule they may lay down in one case, they'll break in an instant if they think they see an advantage."
Joshua Green of Bloomberg BusinessWeek: "As Mitt Romney struggled in the weeks leading up to the Michigan primary, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum nearly agreed to form a joint 'Unity Ticket' to consolidate conservative support and topple Romney.... But the negotiations collapsed in acrimony because Gingrich and Santorum could not agree on who would get to be president."
... Daniel Larison of the American Conservative: "Gingrich and Santorum were and are even less likable politicians than Romney, so they wouldn't have been more competitive in the general election. After all, nothing says victory like a scandal-ridden, eccentric former Congressman teaming up with an ex-Senator who lost his last election by 18 points." ...
... Jon Chait: "... given our current primitive gene-splicing technology, it would not have been possible to actually merge the two figures into one unstoppable helmet-haired, sweater-vested, world historical political giant with an epic Tiffany's account and a gross sexual neologism. ('Gingrum?' That's probably already the name for something disgusting.) ... If Santorum were really clever, he would have accepted the vice-presidential spot and waited for the inevitable Gingrich impeachment -- misappropriating funds for jewelry? starting a war with Mars without Senate approval? declaring himself president for life? all the above? -- and taken over then as a comparatively reassuring figure."
Blake Zeff of Salon: "... political reality -- and sheer math (over 46 million people now live below the poverty line) -- is now forcing a major political party [-- the GOP --] to speak to poor Americans." CW: one reason that Zeff doesn't really mention: Republican policies have guaranteed that poor people would make up a significantly larger & larger percentage of the nation's population; despite GOP efforts to stop them, millions of those poor people vote. ...
... AND then there is Roger Ailes -- the actual leader of the Republican party (negotiate with Ailes, Joe Biden) -- who is still bashing the usual suspects, as is his tawdry network, Fox "News." Eric Boehlert of Media Matters (republished in Salon) reports.
Paranoid Plot of the Day
Brought to You by Right Wing WorldWinner. Apocalyse Soon. Americans need assault weapons to protect themselves from the coming Iranian invasion. Also, it's all Obama's fault (which I suppose goes without saying).
Runner-up: Patrick Gavin of Politico reports that conservatives/Fox "News" analysts, etc., see Jay Leno's reported ouster from NBC as a liberal plot to purge NBC of Obama detractors. CW: perhaps the humorless right should consider this: Jay Leno isn't funny.
News Ledes
New York Daily News: "Online reports of Syrian President Bashar Assad's death appeared greatly exaggerated Sunday. Arab media said Assad was purportedly shot by one of his Iranian bodyguards Saturday night and was in serious condition. He was supposedly taken to Al-Shami Hospital in Damascus, where surrounding roads were closed off.... But online updates said the Syrian leader's shooting was false and that he was alive and in high spirits. The conflicting reports highlight the chaos that continues to engulf the country...."
AP: "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on an unannounced visit Sunday to Baghdad urged Iraq's leaders to halt Iranian overflights of weapons and fighters heading to Syria and to overcome sectarian differences that still threaten Iraqi stability 10 years after the American-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein." ...
... Reuters: "The head of Syria's main opposition group resigned on Sunday, saying he had taken the step so he could work with more freedom. Moaz Alkhatib, a former imam of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus, was picked to head the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces in November after leaving Syria due to President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on rebels." Al Jazeera report here. ...
... AP: "Israel's army said it fired a guided missile into Syria on Sunday, destroying a military post after gunfire flew across the border and struck an Israeli vehicle. The shooting along the frontier in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights was one of the most serious incidents between the countries since Syria's civil war erupted two years ago."
Reuters: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai will travel to Qatar within days to discuss peace negotiations with the Taliban, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said on Sunday, as efforts intensify to find a negotiated solution to the twelve year war. Karzai's trip to Qatar would represent the first time the Afghan president has discussed the Taliban peace process in Qatar, and comes after years of stalled discussions with the United States, Pakistan and the Taliban."
New York Times: "Eight days after hashing out a bailout deal that the financial world reviled and the Cypriot Parliament unanimously rejected, the Eurogroup of finance ministers and Cyprus officials plan to meet [in Brussels] Sunday night.... They face a deadline of Monday, when the European Central Bank has said that it will cut off the financing that is keeping Cyprus's teetering banks from collapsing." ...
Update: "Struggling into the early morning hours to avoid a collapse of Cyprus's banking system, European Union leaders early Monday agreed on the outlines of a bailout package intended to keep Cyprus in the euro zone and rebuild its devastated economy. The emerging deal, struck after hours of meetings in Brussels, still needs to be approved by the 17 finance ministers from countries using the euro. It would drastically prune the size of the country's banking sector, whose size, largely built on the deposits of wealthy Russians, dwarfs the size of the tiny island nation's economy. The deal would scrap the highly controversial idea of a tax on bank deposits, although it would still require forced losses for depositors and bondholders."
Reuters: "Rebels in Central African Republic seized control of the country's riverside capital Bangui on Sunday, forcing President Francois Bozize to flee into neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, government officials said. At least six South African soldiers were killed in clashes with the rebels, a Reuters witness said. A United Nations source said the force, in the country to train the army along with hundreds of regional peacekeepers, was preparing to leave."
Washington Post: "The Defense Department said Thursday that it is delaying planned furlough notices to almost 800,000 civilian employees while officials analyze whether the stopgap budget Congress passed Thursday can avert some days of unpaid leave."
AP: "Former President Pervez Musharraf returned to Pakistan on Sunday after more than four years in exile, seeking a possible political comeback in defiance of judicial probes and death threats from Taliban militants." CW: and Dubya still doesn't know his name.
Washington Post: "A judge filed preliminary charges against former French president Nicolas Sarkozy on Thursday, accusing him of abusing the confidence of an heiress during fundraising for his 2007 election campaign. The action by an investigating magistrate in Bordeaux was seen as a suggestion that Sarkozy sought to obtain illegal funds to finance his successful presidential run from [L'Oreal heiress] Lilianne Bettencourt, who is ranked as France's richest woman."
Share Article
Reader Comments (5)
Just had a discussion with an amigo about Wannabe Tucker. He likely got rid of his bowtie because someone told him it made him look like a fag. Which Fred Phelps jumped on until reminded it was really figs that god hated. Which covered the whole thing in fog, or as Mailer would have said, fug.
Bravo James. It seems we need to define "fegg" as perhaps a cross between a ferret and a yegg.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/on-iraq-journalists-didnt-fail-they-just-didnt-succeed/2013/03/22/0ca6cee6-9186-11e2-9abd-e4c5c9dc5e90_story.html?hpid=z3
This article is worth a read. I remember being surrounded by sheep where I worked who believed all of the Bushies bullshit, so the media weren't completely to blame. Those of us who were skeptical were shouted down.
Dick (what an appropriate name) Cheney, Richard Perle, G W Bush should read this, but they won't and if they did, they wouldn't care.
http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/continue-because-sheemary.html
"We will never learn until we stop seeing people and countries as strategic plans, a means to an end, as valueless and unknown." she writes.
Here's how Iraquis see American soldiers: "For many, they symbolize freedom, nobility, and honor. To Iraqis, they are the physical manifestation of terror, supremacism and occupation."
Two voices opposing the Iraq War that were front and center during those days, but have not been mentioned were: Tony Judt and Mark Danner, besides the Knight Ridder duo that have been cited. I recall the symposiums with Judt and Danner debating with Hitchens and Michael Ignatieff who supported the war (the latter changed his mind later, but I was stunned that the biographer of Isaiah Berlin would take this view).
A mention here of our Cardinal in residence at the Times––Ross D. His column today is one of simplistic chicanery but I'm sure his Christian heart is in the RIGHT place. It appears after doing a quick reading of the comments from not only Ross, but Brooks and Freidman that these Times' opinonators aren't doing so well with most readers––a mild rebuke here–––a lot of readers are fed up and furious. So what's the story? The Times can't find anybody else? Tim Noah just got fired from The New Republic and he still doesn't know why––"You're not a good fit here," the boss man said. Tim Noah not a good fit? Really? Tis a puzzlement.