;)
The Commentariat -- March 26, 2016
If you are interested in taking over Reality Chex -- that is, owning it to do with as you will -- please contact me. I am looking forward to discontinuing my work on the site but would like to see it continue "under new management." I'll help you get started. Thank you to all who have contributed over the years. If I don't find a suitable "buyer," I'll close down next Friday, April 1. -- Constant Weader
Afternoon Update:
Sarah Posner in the Washington Post: "The South Carolina Senate on Thursday passed a controversial bill targeting refugees in the state, prompting concern that it may portend a wave of anti-refugee legislation around the country, particularly in the tense climate following the terrorist attacks in Brussels. The bill, if passed by the South Carolina House and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley, would require refugees' sponsors to register them in a database maintained by the state's Department of Social Services. It would also impose strict liability on a refugee's sponsor if the refugee, at some point in the future, commits a terrorist or criminal act." ...
... CW: I'd like to be a confederate so I could sit up nights thinking up draconian, repressive bills to punish minorities & women. Still, I'm not sure my best efforts could have dreamed up this one, which aims not to punish any miscreant refuges but the likely kindhearted people who took them in. Of course the idea of the legislation is to intimidate the kindhearted to the point that they fear helping others. Welcome to Right Wing World. Next stop, Trumpsylvania.
Michael Birnbaum & Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Belgian authorities announced Saturday that they had charged a man in connection with this week's suicide bombings, saying they believe he participated in the attacks. Two others were also charged with terrorism-related offenses. The man, identified by a European official as Fayçal Cheffou, appeared before a judge after he was detained Thursday night while sitting in a car in front of the Belgian prosecutor's office.... Prosecutors did not say whether Cheffou -- whom they identified only as 'Fayçal C.' -- was the third man [in the airport surveillance videos circulated after the attacks]. Belgium's Le Soir newspaper reported that he was, citing an unidentified source...."
David Sanger & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times interviewed Donald Trump for 100 minutes about foreign policy issues. They attempt to synthensize Trump's views: "In Donald Trump's worldview, America comes first and everybody else pays.... Mr. Trump explained his thoughts in concrete and easily digestible terms, but they appeared to reflect little consideration for potential consequences around the globe. Much the same way he treats political rivals and interviewers, he personalized how he would engage foreign nations, suggesting his approach would depend partly on 'how friendly they've been toward us,' not just on national interests or alliances." ...
... The reporters provide a summary, or "highlights," of the interview here. The full, edited transcript is here. ...
... CW: Trump has found a clever way to avoid answering questions about international policy where he has no idea whatsoever: "I wouldn't want to say. I wouldn't want them to know what my real thinking is." Well, it beats, "And when they ask me who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan I'm going to say, you know, I don't know. Do you know?" Trump is on his way to winning the nomination, & who knows where Herman Cain is now? Don't tell me Republican voters aren't discerning. BTW, if you think Trump speaks like a 7th-grader because he is aware that's the best way to reach the great unwashed to whom he appeals, forget that. He uses just about the same level of language & lack of nuance when speaking to David Sanger, a highly-knowledgeable international policy reporter.
*****
The President's Weekly Address
White House: "In this week's address, President Obama offered his thoughts and prayers to the people of Belgium and to families of the victims of the terrorist attacks in Brussels, including at least two Americans":
George Lardner & P. S. Ruckman, in a Washington Post op-ed: President Obama "has granted just 70 pardons, the lowest mark for any full-term president since John Adams, and 187 commutations of sentence. Meanwhile, 1,629 pardon petitions have been denied (more than five of the previous six presidents), as well as 8,123 requests for commutations (a new record). An additional 3,444 requests have been 'closed without presidential action.'... If current patterns persist, Obama will go down as one of the most merciless presidents in history." ...
... CW: And remember, the general U.S. population in Adams' time was about 1.5 percent of what it is now, & the prison population was probably one percent or less of today's prison population.
Charles Pierce: "... there's some serious McCarthyite damage being done to medical research by a congressional committee chaired by a member of Congress whose brains are leaking out of her shell-pink ears. You should pay attention if you or any members of your family has been struck by diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's or ALS. I think, at this point, former NFL football players should take special note, too." The anti-choice wackos have "moved on from the people who actually perform abortions to the people who use fetal tissue in medical research." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "Just a few years ago, the U.S. oil industry reveled in a surge of production fueled by new technologies. Now it's bracing for the greatest wave of financial defaults since the subprime mortgage crisis -- and the consequences are far-reaching."
Alan Neuhauser of US News: "Citing 'morally reprehensible conduct on the part of Exxon Mobil,' the Rockefeller Family Foundation -- whose namesake, John D. Rockefeller, founded Exxon's precursor, Standard Oil -- will dump its holdings in America's largest oil conglomerate, plus coal and tar sands companies, the charity announced Wednesday. The nonprofit pointed to both economics and ethics: Amid a huge surplus of oil and sluggish global demand, oil prices are in the middle of a 19-month slump, spurring hundreds of thousands of layoffs from the energy sector worldwide. Climate change, meanwhile, has created a moral imperative to decrease the planet's reliance on fossil fuels like oil, the fund said."
Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "The highest-ranking U.S. Navy officer convicted so far in a massive bribery scandal was sentenced to almost four years in prison Friday for selling military secrets to an Asian defense contractor in exchange for prostitutes, stays at luxury hotel and other favors. Capt. Daniel Dusek, the former commander of the USS Bonhomme Richard, an amphibious assault ship, received a 46-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay $100,000 in fines and restitution during a hearing in federal court in San Diego."
Presidential Race
Alaska, Hawaii & Washington state hold Democratic caucuses today.
Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Without a big win in Washington Saturday, there's no path forward for Bernie Sanders. And that cold political reality has turned this state into an unlikely battleground between the Vermont senator and Hillary Clinton."
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Regardless of the results on the scoreboard, the state on the map, the year or even the decade, [Bernie] Sanders has talked with clockwork consistency about an economy rigged against the working class, a campaign finance system that corrupts politicians and a corporate media that obscures the truth.... While other candidates have been lampooned for robotic redundancies or caricatured as cut-and-paste campaigners, Mr. Sanders has made oratorical consistency his calling card."
Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Bernie Sanders's campaign lashed out at Hillary Clinton on Friday for a lavish fundraising dinner her campaign has planned with actor George Clooney.... Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver said in an email to supporters, '... Hillary Clinton ... is now enlisting the support of George Clooney ... at a dinner event that will cost people up to $353,400 to attend.' Weaver added that the price of admission an 'obscene amount of money. It's a sum that would require an employee making the federal minimum wage to work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, for more than 5 years.'..." ...
... CW: The figure $353,400 seems like an odd number. Why not $350K or $400K? Brendan O'Connor of Gawker has some details on the planned Clinton fundraiser.
In case you were wondering, Ralph Nader is still a narcissistic, unrepentant prick.
Donald Trump's major endorsers are "Catty, Fatty & Batty":
Gail Collins on the GOP candidates: "One thing that all these guys have in common is a desire to put themselves in charge of the reproductive rights of the entire female half of the country."
Amy Chozick & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: Donald "Trump's nasty skirmish with [Ted] Cruz, including his warning to 'spill the beans' about Mrs. Cruz, without offering specifics, and his re-posting of a message that mocked her looks, have played into a crucial Democratic strategy to defeat Mr. Trump in November: to portray him as an unabashed sexist. [Hillary] Clinton's allies hope to sway suburban and independent women, who will play an outsized role in deciding the fall election, to support her candidacy by pushing this theme. These Democrats say the matchup would be historic: one pitting the first female nominee of a major political party against a Republican rival who has repeatedly dismissed and disparaged women and their looks." ...
... CW: Be sure to read Franklin Foer's little history of Trump's misogyny, linked yesterday. Clinton has plenty of material to work with.
Manuel Roig-Franzia of the Washington Post: In 1996, when Donald Trump was trying to take by the home of an Atlantic City widow by eminent domain, he called the woman's lawyer Glenn Zeitz & tried to hire Zeitz to represent him in another case: "Trump, who had been championing the use of eminent domain to take the home of Zeitz's client, Vera Coking, suddenly wanted him to help fight the use of eminent domain for a project that would have benefited one of his rivals." An associate of Zeitz said, 'It's like, if we can't beat you, we'll buy you."
Six months ago, Dana Milbank promised to eat his column if Donald Trump got the Republican nomination. Now Milbank is looking for recipes for newsprint.
Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "An aide to Donald Trump on Friday fulfilled the businessman's threat to 'spill the beans' on Republican presidential rival Ted Cruz's wife, Heidi. Trump spokeswoman Katrina Pierson rattled off a list of attacks three days after Trump first made the threat. 'Spilling the beans is quite simple when it comes to Heidi Cruz,' Pierson said in an interview with MSNBC's Steve Kornacki. 'She is a Bush operative; she worked for the architect of NAFTA, which has killed millions of jobs in this country; she was a member on the Council on Foreign Relations who -- in Sen. Cruz's own words, called a nest of snakes that seeks to undermine national sovereignty; and she's been working for Goldman Sachs, the same global bank that Ted Cruz left off of his financial disclosure,' Pierson said." CW: Some beans. I think all of this is public knowledge.
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Friday accused 'Donald Trump and his henchmen' of planting the seeds behind a 'garbage' National Enquirer report alleging that the Texas senator has had extramarital affairs. 'This National Enquirer story is garbage. It is complete and utter lies,' Cruz said after a campaign event in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. 'It is a tabloid smear, and it is a smear that has come from Donald Trump and his henchmen.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: Earlier today, I seriously considered skipping the reports of the National Enquirer story, but it seemed to be part-and-parcel of the Nasty Boys' Sleaze-Throwing Fight, so I didn't want to deprive readers of the escalation of said fight. If I made an error, Cruz has retroactively justified my error by addressing it. (And I don't think he had a choice.) If it was just crap earlier; it's crap news now. ...
... Donald Trump on Facebook: "I have no idea whether or not the cover story about Ted Cruz in this week's issue of the National Enquirer is true or not, but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, did not know about it, and have not, as yet, read it.... Ted Cruz's problem with the National Enquirer is his and his alone, and while they were right about O.J. Simpson, John Edwards, and many others, I certainly hope they are not right about Lyin' Ted Cruz." ...
.. Asawin Suebsaeng & Betsy Woodruff of the Daily Beast: "A half-dozen GOP operatives and media figures tell The Daily Beast that Cruz's opponents have been pushing charges of adultery for at least six months now -- and that allies of former GOP presidential hopeful Marco Rubio were involved in spreading the smears. For months and months, anti-Cruz operatives have pitched a variety of #CruzSexScandal stories to a host of prominent national publications, according to Republican operatives and media figures. The New York Times, The Washington Post, Bloomberg News, Politico, and ABC News -- reporters at all those outlets heard some version of the Cruz-is-cheating story.... The Cruz campaign team has been aware of the sex-scandal rumors for months." Trump is a friend of the publisher of the National Enquirer, David Pecker. ...
... CW: The other day, I suggested Marsha Blackburn as Trump's running mate. Now I'm liking a Trump Pecker ticket. ...
... Ed Kilgore thinks Trump might make a "unity pick" for veep: "Even if Donald Trump nails down a majority of delegates on June 7 with a solid showing in California and New Jersey, naming a running mate whose characteristics show a conciliatory attitude toward the rest of the GOP could be just what the doctor ordered to head off some party coup to deny him the nomination, via a rules change or some other devilish device." B-o-o-ring.
... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: "A CNN debate between a Donald Trump supporter and former Ted Cruz communications director Amanda Carpenter went off the rails Friday when the Trump supporter suddenly accused Carpenter of having an illicit affair with her former boss.... 'What's out there is tabloid trash. If someone wants to comment on it, they can talk to my lawyer,' [Carpenter] responded. 'It's categorically false,' she continued angrily. 'You should be ashamed for spreading this smut. Donald Trump supporters should be held to account for it.'" Includes video of the segment. CW: Yep, this is what passes for presidential today.
Andrew Kaczynski & Nathan McDermott of BuzzFeed: "Don Black, the founder of the first major white supremacist website Stormfront.com and a former Ku Klux Klan member, said on his radio program earlier this month that he wanted his listeners to vote for and support Donald Trump."
Shootout at the Quicken Arena. Fox8 Cleveland: "Support is growing for an online petition to allow guns inside Quicken Loans Arena during the Republican National Convention. More than 4,000 people have signed the Change.org petition since it was started two days ago." ...
... digby: "... but seriously, these people want the rest of us to be subjected to a bunch of loons and crackpots armed to the teeth everywhere we go, they ought to be forced to do it too. What are they so afraid of? If everyone has a gun, they'll all be ready to fire into the crowd if someone loses their cool, right? Isn't that what they always say will keep everyone safe?" ...
... CW: C'mon, digby. They're not going to shoot each other. They're going to shoot Islamic terrorists. ...
... Bethania Markus of the Raw Story: "The petition claims that 'Cleveland, Ohio is consistently ranked as one of the top ten most dangerous cities in America.' But, 'This doesn't even begin to factor in the possibility of an ISIS terrorist attack on the arena during the convention. Without the right to protect themselves, those at the Quicken Loans Arena will be sitting ducks, utterly helpless against evil-doers, criminals or others who wish to threaten the American way of life.'" CW: digby should be ashamed of herself for suggesting people dedicated to preserving "the American way of life" might be "loons & crackpots."
Beyond the Beltway
Gray Rohrer of the Orlando Sentinel: "Planned Parenthood and other health clinics that provide abortions in Florida will go without taxpayer funds and face increased regulations for the procedure, under a bill signed Friday by Gov. Rick Scott.... A similar law in Texas, which women's health activists say has helped shut down several abortion clinics there, is under review by the U.S. Supreme Court."
Amy Yurkanin of AL.com: "An Alabama judge has permanently stripped from state law a requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges at local hospitals. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued the ruling Friday. He ruled against the state in 2014 in a lawsuit filed by providers, but the latest development extends that decision to all abortion clinics." CW: There are currently 380 comments on this story. I'm not reading a one, but I'll wager there are some real doozies.
Howard Koplowitz of AL.com: "A complaint into possible misuse of state property by Gov. Robert Bentley and potential violations by his alleged mistress and senior political advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason, was filed Friday by State Auditor Jim Zeigler. Both Bentley and Mason have denied an affair, although the governor admitted earlier this week that he made sexually inappropriate remarks to his senior political advisor after audio of Bentley's side of the conversation was leaked." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Al.com has published another audio recording of Bentley declaring his love for, presumably, Rebekah Mason.
New York Times Editors: "Officials in Charlotte, N.C., spent more than a year carefully considering and debating an antidiscrimination ordinance that was passed in February to promote the city's culture of inclusiveness. State lawmakers quashed it on Wednesday by passing an appalling, unconstitutional bill that bars transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity and prohibits cities from passing antidiscrimination ordinances that protect gay and transgender people." Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who signed the bill into law, "is running for re-election.... Voters should reject the candidate who made the state a pioneer in bigotry."
Way Beyond
Reuters: "A third man caught on CCTV footage with two bombers who attacked Brussels airport on Tuesday was named as Faycal Cheffou in Belgian media on Saturday." ...
... Lilia Blaise & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "Counterterrorism officials widened a sweep targeting suspected Islamic State operatives to several European countries on Friday, reporting newly uncovered links between the Brussels and Paris massacres, at least five arrests and the foiling of what France described as an advanced plan for another attack. The actions reflected both new momentum from information uncovered since the Brussels bombings on Tuesday and deep worries about missed opportunities to thwart the attacks. European officials, particularly in Belgium, have come under strong criticism for lapses that might have enabled the Brussels plotters to succeed."
Jon Henley & Angelique Chrisafis of the Guardian: "A veteran Belgian fighter and bomb-maker with Islamic State whose DNA was found on two of the explosive belts used in last November's carnage in Paris has been confirmed as one of the suicide bombers in Tuesday's Brussels attacks. Belgian prosecutors said that DNA evidence had confirmed that Najim Laachraoui, 24, was one of two jihadis who blew themselves up at Brussels airport, killing 11 people."
AP: "A suicide bomber has blown himself up in a football stadium south of the Iraqi capital, killing 29 people and wounding 60, security officials said, as the military announced new gains on the ground against Islamic State. The bombing took place during a match in the small stadium in the city of Iskanderiyah, 30 miles from Baghdad, the officials said. Medical officials confirmed the death toll." CW: Will Republicans urge President Obama to go to Baghdad? Nope. I forgot they don't care about Iraqi civilian deaths. You likely won't hear a peep out of them.
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Reader Comments (23)
Franklin Foer's Slate article on Republican front-runner DT's misogyny linked to another article:
According to Variety, back in 2007 Trump and Fox were developing " Lady or a Tramp " a school of manners for party girls.
"We are all sick and tired of the glamorization of these out-of-control young women, so I have taken it upon myself to do something about it,” Trump said. “I am creating a real-life version of ‘My Fair Lady’ with my company Trump Productions. This show is all about getting a second chance and transforming for the better; the idea is genius and the show will be huge.”
Yep! As in everything he still does will be huge!
Of course, it never got off the ground, or on the air! So surprising, ain't it? Trump, the "paragon of good taste and tact" so well-suited for the role of a Ms. Manners/Emily Post.
Ed Kilgore thinks Trump should make a "unity pick" for VP?
Joe Lieberman: pasty, rested and as ready as he ever was!
@MAG: And proof that Trump has no idea he's a boor.
The disaster he would present "representing" the U.S. on the world stage is horrifying to contemplate. Not only would he insult other world leaders & entire nations -- purposely & inadvertently, because he's so clueless -- he would think that was a good thing. For Trump, his own rude bullying is evidence of his power. Conversely, he's so thin-skinned, you could flay him with a plastic knife.
For all of Trump's assertions of how smart he is, one of the many pieces of evidence that disproves it is his inability to even recognize his shortcomings, much less try to mitigate them.
Marie
Marie - I want to echo some of the comments I have read the past few days....... you will be MISSED! Seriously, one of the first things I do everyday is open up RealityChex. So, thanks so much for your expert insight and wit. You made me laugh out loud many days. I guess all good things must come to an end (sigh.) I am just hoping that maybe this is your idea of an April Fools joke.
Since we are still talking about Trump––will it never end?–––I took up the suggestion from C.W. that I read Foer's piece––something I missed yesterday. The pattern we get from Trump's youthful antics is troubling. His bellicosity along with all the other negative characteristics was on full display early on. This child needed professional help big time, but obviously never received it. We make fun of his bat shit craziness, but we have a man with serious psychological issues and I wonder if Hillary or Bernie could tap into that in a way that people could take seriously.
And then we have another contender whose early beginnings were fraught with both parents alcoholics, paternal abandonment, sister dying from drug overdose, extreme religiosity ... and now is being smeared by a limp rag regarding a sex scandal.
And they call this Good Friday.
Please don't go!
You know what I like best about Marie and the commenters on RC?
Not one of you ever said "I threw up in my mouth a little."
Thank you for that.
Kathleen Parker (conservative WaPo Op Ed) writes that she used to dismiss the idea that GOP is engaged in a "War On Women" as a Democratic political ploy.
But Trump, and GOP embrace of Trumpism, has changed her mind. She now sees the battlefield more clearly.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/donald-trumps-war-on-women-is-officially-in-full-swing/2016/03/25/5704d33e-f2c7-11e5-85a6-2132cf446d0a_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
If DJT (Digit?) gets the nomination, it will be REALLY interesting to see how the gender vote shakes out in the general.
Greetings, One & All!
I am hoping it will be "kosher" to interject some humor, just received from one of my (mega-politically-active) friends: This friend worked tirelessly alongside the Late-Great Pete Seeger and his Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. She also possesses ample smarts & funny bones.
While some nuance may be lost, one needn't align with this particular culture, its religion or *any* faith for that matter to grasp (at least) some of the references, and - hopefully - locate the humor . . . along with its message.
Okay.
Here Goes . . .
"Yiddish Curses For Jews Who Will Be Voting Republican"
May you be reunited in the world to come with your ancestors, who were all socialist garment workers.
May you have a large store, and have it all dismantled by vulture capitalists.
May you grow so rich that your widow’s second husband is thrilled they repealed the estate tax.
May you feast every day on chopped liver with onions, chicken soup with dumplings, baked carp with horseradish, braised meat with vegetable stew & latkes, and may every bite of it be contaminated with E. Coli, because the government gutted the E.P.A.
May you sell everything and retire to Florida just as global warming makes it uninhabitable. [But definitely not near you, Marie!]
May you have a rare disease and need an operation that only one surgeon in the world, the winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine, is able to perform. And may he be unable to perform it because he doesn’t take your insurance. And may that Nobel Laureate be your son.
May your state outlaw the morning-after pill the day before your daughter returns home from the NFTY (North American Federation of Temple Youth) convention.
May your son be elected President, and may you have no idea what you did with his goddamn birth certificate.
May the state of Arizona expand their definition of "suspected illegal immigrants" to "anyone who doesn't hunt."
May you live to a hundred and twenty without Social Security or Medicare.
May you grow like an onion with your head in the ground, and then may that ground be fracked.
May you make a fortune, and lose it all in one of Sheldon Adelson's casinos.
May your child give his Bar Mitzvah speech on the genius of Ayn Rand.
May your insurance company decide constipation is a pre-existing condition.
May God give you a daughter-in-law who is as kind as she is beautiful, as patient as she is rich, as wise as she is devoted: a virtuous woman in every way. And then may a ballot initiative invalidate her marriage to your Rebecca.
May the secretary you're schtupping depend on Planned Parenthood for her birth control.
Cheers -
I would slightly modify Bill Maher's quip about DT's endorsers. Christie's weight isn't what I object to, it's the fact that he's an arrogant bully. Make it: "Catty, Fratty, and Batty."
Diversion to Nader: I don't see the narcissism/prickishness side of him so much as another phenomenon we see out here in Sonoma/Mendocino, where there is very little bothsiderism but lots of allornothingism. A large majority of bumpers out here, from beaters to Priuses to Teslas and beyond, bear Feel the Bern stickers, but if written and spoken comments are representative, they will either stay home or vote Green or for other fringe candidate rather than for HRC. Fortunately, CA will send its electors for whatever Democrat is running, but there are other states where allornothingism might swing it the other way. Mr. Nader is an example of the consequence of not understanding that progress(ivism) is built one tile at a time.
Patrick,
Thanks for the Parker link.
Will take advantage of this brief internet window to say I've enjoyed (schadenfreude at work?) watching K. Parker's range of op-ed possibility close over the years as the party she would like to (is paid to?) support has squeezed their willingness to engage in rational discourse to pin prick size, now to the point of near non-existence.
It must be a huge problem for anyone who would make a living defending the Right, while still wishing to or at least appearing to make sense.
Whyte,
And the consequence of Ralph Nader was eight years of Bush and Cheney, hundreds of thousands of deaths, a trillion dollar tab for their wars, a teabagging, ignorant, do-nothing congress, ISIS, a far-right Supreme Court, Citizens United, the gutting of voting rights, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump.
That's some legacy for an extended jag of self regard.
Regarding North Carolina's latest legislative atrocity, it's clear that Confederates are not merely content to brandish fear as a weapon against morality, decency, and common sense; now they feel compelled to enshrine it into law. It used to be "be afraid: be very afraid" and now it's "be afraid or we'll put you in jail".
Good job, Confederates. For a group that's always going on about manliness and strutting around with the macho bluster, I doubt you could find a more rattled, more thoroughly fearful bunch amidst a group of high strung fifth graders watching a " Nightmare on Elm Street" marathon.
Be afraid, y'all, or you're under arrest!
@CW,
You're being a bit gracious in stating that D. Drumpf is speaking as well as a 7th-grader. According to an analysis by the Boston Globe, he wouldn't even be qualified to be on "Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?"
Back in October the Globe evaluated the announcement speeches of all 19 presidential candidate using the Flesch-Kincaid readability test. Drumpf was scored lowest at a 4.1 grade level, Gilmore was highest at 10.5. Clinton and Sanders scored 7.7 and 10.1, respectively.
I have yet to hear from this campaign any mention of GMOs . . . a matter of great importance to many of us.
I have read - true?/false? - that The Clinton Foundation has ties with - is it Monsanto? - re: GMO crops "charitably" planted in Third World Countries.
We have our very own GMO contaminants proliferating right here in the US, as well as heated controversy over the labeling of food products & produce that have been genetically modified.
Here's a (rather long) article from Truthout, if of interest:
"What Bill Gates Isn't Telling You About GMOs"
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/35366-what-bill-gates-isn-t-telling-you-about-gmos
@Whyte Owen: I'm with you. I find those self-righteous, holier-than-I lefties as insufferable & inexcusable as the Trumpbots. Sure, I probably agree with the allornothingists 90 percent of the time, & I'll concede that sometimes they're right & I'm wrong. But part of righteousness is recognizing that the lesser-of-evils is better than evil.
This year righteousness will probably mean voting for Hillary to save ObamaCare & the rest of the social safety net, make the U.S. better for people of every persuasion, ensure a rational -- if not a liberal -- Supreme Court, maintain the respect of other nations, etc.
Marie
The GMO issue is hot-button here out in western liberalandia, no surprise and unfortunately is never treated in public forums with clear science. Like vaccination hysteria. The first problem is conflation of health issues, which are trivial, and environmental and socioeconomic issues, which can be catastrophic. And it then depends on the purpose of the GM: herbicide resistance, pesticidal gene products, shelf life or nutritional content. Herbicides may have a small carcinogenic activity, but Roundup resistance, combined with fuel ethanol production, has contributed to massive over-tillage of our prairies (and former forests), which in turn is contributing the acceleration of the mass extinction event our planet is suffering. That in my view is the critical GMO issue, but it does not sell well in political sound bites and the mainstream media are incapable of such nuance. In addition, it favors industrial agriculture, and promotes nefarious economic pressures (Monsanto IP lawsuits, for instance). And never mind that fuel ethanol is a scam. Pesticidal genes might be useful, if they were made specific, which is difficult, and are in any case transient as resistance develops rapidly in invertebrates. Shelf life is on the other hand a useful GM, as it decreases food wastage, which at present is more than 30%, and cannot have health consequences, unless bacteria grow in the aging veggies. Introducing genes for nutritional content likewise has clear benefits, yellow rice for example, but that is at present a minor player.
So how do our politicos, even those with a brain, air this issue with a public that denies organic evolution (37%), global warming (37%) or thinks "The Martian" was based on a true story? It's worse out here: half of Marin County children have been opted out of vaccinations,
Copied from Marie's link to the NYT Trump interview highlights:
"On whether to allow Japan and South Korea to build their own nuclear arsenal:
“It’s a position that at some point is something that we have to talk about, and if the United States keeps on its path, its current path of weakness, they’re going to want to have that anyway with or without me discussing it, because I don’t think they feel very secure in what’s going on with our country.”
He clearly is unaware that we (US, Japan, Korea) DID talk about it 40 years ago, and then some, and that part of the reason that we have such strong military presence and commitments to Japan and Korea is BECAUSE we persuaded them to forego any nuclear weapons path because we would cover them. And now he says that we pay too much and should renegotiate our commitment.
We (the US) "renegotiate" with Japan and Korea all the time. It is what partners do. But Digit clearly does not get the concept of the U.S. strategic umbrella and it's relationship to nonproliferation, has never even perceived its existence much less thought about it. What an idjit is Digit.
Regarding those liberals who will vote for some pie in the sky candidate so as not to sully their own sense of progressive perfection, Voltaire has a few words for their consideration ( especially those who voted for Nader back in '00):
"Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien."
Perfect is the enemy of the good.
Need we say more?
Hello, Whyte Owen.
And thank you for your in-depth post regarding GMOs.
I was wishing that my Dad were still around - - in general, to be sure, but as it relates here - - since, as a Microbiologist, he could assist at those points where your insights flew past my gray matter . . . chuckling as they went.
I will notice containers of "Round-Up" (the product's lettering is shamefully Yuuge - then again, the makers have no shame) right here in NYC: We, thankfully, have some areas of lovely flora, offsetting the over-abundant concrete & macadam, and many gardens (not in my 'hood, so far) are sprayed - or drenched - with such poisons. And the workers are bare-handed, with eyes & noses uncovered, while at their task. (!!!)
Although I understand (appreciate) and support the need to provide food for all those who have little (or none), I remain - thus far - unconvinced as to the safety of ingesting GMs. But hey - That's me.
(Perhaps in my next life - if there is such - I'll bypass The Arts and head straight for Science & Medicine.)
From a Very Thin Slice of This 'Brave New World' -
Peace
Ophelia
My plate is heaped with things about which I worry - I confess GMOs are not one of them. However, there is also a notable lack of humor. Your list of Jewish curses fixed that. Many thanks!
@CW-
I am about to enter Day #2 of my "pre-grieving" for you and your wonderful creation, Reality Chex--as well as for the many brilliant commenters I have "known" here over these many years (at least 15 if I can still count). And, as well, what I consider a respectful, honest and caring relationship with you.
Last night I had a rather hallucinogenic dream in which I was struggling to copy a link to insert in a comment, and could not do it. Not only that, but when I went back to my "Marie Burns" file, the instructions had disappeared. I awoke and realized, happily, that it was a dream. Almost simultaneously, I realized that in a week you really will be gone! I think I need post haste to find a good grief counselor.
I will not beg you to reconsider, because I know that "when you are done you are done!" It was that way for me in my career as a therapist--for 40 years. I did some phone and Skype supervision with therapists back on the East Coast after moving to Oregon 11 years ago, but realized last year that I was done. Fini. No specific reason, in my case, except knowing myself and my strong feeling of needing my long career to come to a necessary end. It has troubled me that I have been unable to be more concrete about it, and I have no desire to make up reasons. So... there you have it!
I will miss you terribly!