;)
The Commentariat -- May 6, 2015
All internal links removed.
Afternoon News
Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post: "Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she plans to put in place police body cameras by the end of the year and to have the Justice Department review whether the city's police department has a pattern of excessive force..... Also Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lifted Baltimore's state of emergency, which was imposed April 27 after violence erupted...." The New York Times story, by Stephen Babcock & Richard Perez-Pena, is here.
Fenit Nirappil of the AP: "California water regulators adopted sweeping, unprecedented restrictions Tuesday on how people, governments and businesses can use water amid the state's ongoing drought, hoping to push reluctant residents to deeper conservation."
Jodi Rudoren of the New York Times: "Facing a midnight deadline to form a government or step aside, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was under intense pressure on Wednesday from the conservative Jewish Home party over powerful ministerial posts and contentious policy positions. Mr. Netanyahu, who exulted in what looked like a strong mandate for a fourth term after the March 17 elections, instead was scrambling to form a coalition with the slimmest possible majority in Parliament. Many analysts said such a coalition would be able to do little and would be unlikely to last long."
*****
Dear Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, David Brooks & Other Ignorant Charlatans. Arloc Sherman & Danilo Trisi of the Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: "Previous analysis of Census data showed that safety net programs cut the poverty rate nearly in half. Recently released data from the Urban Institute, which correct for underreporting of key government benefits in the Census survey, reveal an even stronger impact: the safety net reduced the poverty rate from 29.1 percent to 13.8 percent in 2012 and lifted 48 million people above the poverty line, including 12 million children.... Correcting for underreporting reveals that the safety net also did more to reduce deep poverty than previously shown, although 11.2 million Americans remained below half the poverty line." Via Greg Sargent. ...
After a 50-year war on poverty and trillions of dollars spent, we still have the same poverty rates -- 45 million people in poverty. -- Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), on "Face the Nation," May 3
... it seems odd to rely on a measure that does not include some of the most effective anti-poverty programs around, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit. (In fact, Ryan has called for expanding the EITC.)... It's a bit slick for Ryan to suggest the war on poverty has been a failure while touting an improvement in an anti-poverty program that is not captured in the statistic he cites. -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post
Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker: Republicans carry their "I am not a scientist" meme into the budget, gutting NASA's earth science bill (which includes climate change research), the National Science Foundation's geoscience budget & the Department of Energy's energy research program. "The 'I'm not a scientist' line is basically a declaration of willed ignorance. You might think people entrusted by voters to craft public policy would be embarrassed to acknowledge ... that they have no idea what they're talking about, and don't want to."...
... Michael Hiltzik of the Los Angeles Times (May 1): "Living down to our worst expectations, the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology voted Thursday to cut deeply into NASA's budget for Earth science, in a clear swipe at the study of climate change."
Sari Horwitz & Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "The heavily armed gunmen who attacked a cartoon contest near Dallas over the weekend were probably inspired by the Islamic State, according to U.S. officials, who cautioned that they have so far seen no indication that the assailants were directed by the group."
Brendan James of TPM: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is not a linguist. 'Everything that starts with "Al" in the Middle East is bad news,' Graham said at a dinner in Boston on Monday with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, according to investigative journalist Uri Blau. Graham was referencing the Arabic word for 'the.'" ...
... The It-Was-a-Joke Excuse. Elahe Izadi of the Washington Post: "Graham spokesman Kevin Bishop ... said the al-being-bad-news line is a joke that's part of Graham's regular stump speech -- and one that he's told for many years."
Your Louie Gohmert News. Catherine Thompson of TPM: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) on Tuesday demanded that the U.S. military alter a planned training exercise that some conspiracy theorists believe is cover for a possible takeover of the Lone Star state. Gohmert said in a statement that he understands Texans' concerns that the exercise, dubbed 'Jade Helm 15,' may be a precursor for martial law. He directed his criticism specifically at what has been reported to be a map of the training exercise, which labels Texas, among other states, as 'hostile' territory." See today's Beyond the Beltway section for more crazy.
Presidential Race
Ed Kilgore: Palin-style victimization, self-pity & resentment have become widespread GOP tactics. "For a while there, she could do no wrong, since every misstep turned into an opportunity for a fresh grievance against the mockery of snooty elitists.... To a dangerous extent the whole party has absorbed some of the poison." Palin's best student: Mike Huckabee. ...
... Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Mike Huckabee, who excited evangelical voters in his first presidential race in 2008 and retains much of their good will, announced on Tuesday that he will again seek the Republican nomination, despite a crowded field of rivals for his natural base in the party." ...
... Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: Huckabee's "biggest challenge will be trying to break through in a GOP field that is likely to include a dozen or more credible, well-financed contenders. Among them are some young, fresh faces, including Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Ted Cruz (Tex.) and Rand Paul (Ky.)." ...
... For that reason, Dana Milbank says that Huckabee doesn't have a chance. CW: Nobody except Huck thinks he does, but if he is allowed to debate, his relatively populist message should skewer other GOP candidates. ...
... As Maggie Haberman writes in today's New York Times, "... [Huckabee's] stark language [supporting Social Security & Medicare] signals that the issue could become a politically delicate flash point at coming Republican debates, putting his opponents on the defensive on a bread-and-butter issue." ...
... Roger Simon of Politico says Mike Huckabee has gone from Mr. Nice Guy (2008) to a guy "who will eat nails and spit out tacks." Also, too, Simon notes that Huckabee's poor-mouthing is a tad hypocritical: "He did not mention, however, a New York Times story from last month that revealed that a well-known Iowa political operative had formed a Huckabee super PAC 'with the ability to raise unlimited donations to support the former Arkansas governor.'” So maybe we don't have to worry, a la Milbank & Tumulty, that Poor Huck will come up short. ...
... Which candidates will be invited to the debate is up in the air, as the Republican National Committee, Fox "News" & CNN are all trying to figure out a seating arrangement & the length of the first debates, according to Zeke Miller of Time. ...
... Elena Schneider of Politico: "The Democratic National Committee announced Tuesday that they will sanction six presidential debates beginning this fall, giving Hillary Clinton's challengers a limited number of chances to confront the former secretary of state on the debate stage." ...
... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "At a campaign event [in Las Vegas, Nevada], Mrs. Clinton, surrounded by children whose parents faced deportation, called for a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.... She also sharply criticized Republican presidential candidates who favor granting legal status for some undocumented immigrants, but oppose citizenship. 'When they talk about "legal status," that is code for "second-class status,"' Mrs. Clinton said." ...
... Slick Willie. Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: "How much money does Bill Clinton need?" Davidson has some suggestions on how Bill should reduce his ethical lapses. CW: My guess is that he won't follow Davidson's prescription.
Congressional Election
Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "The Staten Island district attorney, Daniel M. Donovan Jr., whose office investigated the chokehold death of Eric Garner in a struggle with the police last year, easily won a special election for the House of Representatives on Tuesday, according to unofficial results."
Beyond the Beltway
Jon Swaine & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The Baltimore police lieutenant charged with the manslaughter of Freddie Gray allegedly threatened to kill himself and the husband of his former partner, during incidents that led to him being disciplined and twice having his guns confiscated. Brian Rice, who pursued and arrested Gray after the 25-year-old 'caught his eye' on 12 April, was reportedly given an administrative suspension after being hospitalised for a mental health evaluation when he warned he was preparing to shoot himself in April 2012." ...
... Juliet Linderman of the AP: "One of the Baltimore police officers who arrested Freddie Gray wants the police department and prosecutor to produce a knife that was the reason for the arrest, saying in court papers that it is an illegal weapon. The city's top prosecutor, Marilyn Mosby, said Friday in charging the officer and five others that the knife was legal under Maryland law, meaning they had arrested Gray illegally. The motion was filed Monday by attorneys for Officer Edward Nero in Baltimore District Court."
Catherine Thompson of TPM runs down the set of conspiracy theories swirling around what is a routine military exercise. CW: Liberals really must stop arguing that confederates are stuck in the mud because they lack imagination. ...
By Jan Sorensen for Daily Kos.... Jan Sorensen: "Fears are so widespread that Wal-Mart literally just issued a statement denying involvement in a U.S. military invasion of Texas."
Kate Irby of the Bradenton (Florida) Herald: "After only 15 minutes of deliberation, a jury Monday found a couple guilty of having sex on Bradenton Beach. The convictions carry maximum prison sentences of 15 years." Prosecutors are seeking the maximum penalty against Jose Caballero because he "spent almost eight years in prison for a cocaine-trafficking conviction.... Caballero and [Elissa] Alvarez will now have to register as sex offenders." The defense attorney "said the judge would have no discretion" to reduce the sentence. ...
... CW: Okay, it's in bad taste to have sex in a public place, but 15 years? That's not only a stupid waste of taxpayer money, it's far more morally reprehensible than the crime itself. In addition, I'll bet most people have been "guilty" of this particular crime. Why, here's a list of 15 celebrities who reportedly had sex in various public places. Somehow, they managed to avoid jail time.
Way Beyond
A Tar Sands Eruption. Ian Austen of the New York Times: "With an economy dominated by the oil industry and a conservative, free-market political tradition, Alberta has long been cast as the Texas of Canada. But on Tuesday night, not only did the province's voters put the Progressive Conservative Party out of power after 43 years, they elected a government from the far left of Canada's mainstream political spectrum.... The defeat of the Conservatives followed a budget crisis brought on by declining oil prices. Six months ago, the party brought in Jim Prentice, a former member of [Prime Minister Stephen] Harper's federal cabinet, to replace a leader who had been accused of profligate personal spending."
Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "... in the final days of an unexpectedly tight contest with Labor Party leader Ed Miliband, [Britain's Prime Minister David] Cameron has been letting it rip.... Polls suggest the Tories are likely to win more seats than Labor but may not have the support needed from smaller parties to form a government in a year when the British electorate has fractured as never before." ...
... Alex Massie & Rebecca Hendin in Politico Magazine: "On Thursday, British voters will go to the polls to elect a new prime minister. Most Americans don't have a clue that a British election is underway, much less who the candidates are or what they represent. Thankfully, illustrator Rebecca Hendin, an American living in Britain, and Alex Massie, a British writer, have created a handy guide to the current crop of British candidates, translating the British election into convenient American terms." CW: Yes indeedy, cartoons are the appropriate means to explain things to us ignorant Americans. Thanks, Politico!
News Ledes
New York Times: "Jim Wright, a driven Texas Democrat who rose to the pinnacle of congressional power before ethics charges forced his resignation as speaker of the House in 1989, died on Wednesday in Fort Worth. He was 92." Wright's Washington Post obituary is here.
Reuters: "The return of passenger ferry services between the United States and Cuba took a major step forward on Tuesday when the Treasury Department issued licenses to at least two U.S. companies."
Guardian: "The Germanwings co-pilot who deliberately crashed a plane in the French Alps in March, killing all 150 people on board, put the aircraft into a descent on the previous flight, according to the German newspaper Bild."
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Reader Comments (14)
But, Louie, you should not be surprise or outraged. In many obvious ways Texas, or at least its government, IS hostile territory...hostile to both sense and common humanity, anyway.
Should we count some of the ways and send you a list?
(Your name would be on it.)
This morning's local paper has syndicated columnist David Harsanyi spouting the "Of course Democrats deserve the blame for Baltimore" line (no link, don't want to spoil your breakfast).
A few pages later, Dilbert today has a much more concise explanation of the problem: http://dilbert.com/strip/2015-05-06
Final para, from Greg Sargent's article on Poverty Study: "To be fair, because this is one year, it doesn’t really go to the question of whether the War on Poverty has worked over decades (though the CBPP thinks it has). It doesn’t go to other objections Republicans have to the safety net — that it traps people in dependency. But this study suggests once again that government engineered downward redistribution of resources — so decried by many Republicans — actually can succeed in lifting a whole lot of people out of poverty."
I think Sargent is misunderstanding what (I think) Republicans mean when they say that the WOP has not "solved" poverty. I believe the traditional GOP concept is that "getting out of poverty" means EARNING an income that exceeds the poverty-minimum, not HAVING income and unearned benefits that exceed the poverty line. So the CBPP says that assistance programs lift people up above poverty, and the GOP folks say "So what?, it doesn't make them not poor."
So when the GOP says that the WOP has failed despite $trillions (sic), they are really just saying that we've spent a lot and we still have poor people. To which I say "So what?" By definition, we will always have people at the bottom, and they will always need help, and we will always need to help them.
The real issue, as both liberals and conservatives will agree, is how to give people a chance to get off the bottom. In general, conservatives think that is achieved by self-motivated people working hard unburdened by regs and taxes; liberals think those same people need directed help provided by funded programs.
The history of the world, and of this country, shows that people do better when they are helped.
And also shows that there will always be poor people. So what?
Paul Ryan is not the person to be decrying the effectiveness of government programs for improving the lives of American citizens.
If it wasn't for the government, Ryan wouldn't have a job (not that he does much for the money we pay him) and wouldn't have had the monetary support necessary to get a decent education and leg up on his career of mooching off taxpayers, a professional governmental moocher you might say.
In fact, if it wasn't for government programs, there's a good chance he'd be shoveling shit in Janesville.
Unfortunately for us, because he took advantage of one of those programs, he's now shoveling shit in Washington.
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Wisconsin's Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimates that, contrary to Gov Walker's "hopes", there will be no extra revenue coming into the state:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/statepolitics/no-hike-in-revenue-estimates-forces-tough-budget-decisions-b99495357z1-302763911.html?ipad=y
Therefore, probably no reduction in cuts to public education or the UW. Of course, expanding Medicaid would bring in enough to eliminate most of the cuts, but Walker is running for president, so he has to keep trashing Wisconsin to build up his conservative credentials.
It'so not working, Gov Walker!
Gov. Rick Snyder (R-Michigan) must also be planning to run for
POTUS, as he recently tried to stick it to the poor and middle class
with an increase in gasoline tax from 19 to 41.7 cents per gallon, and
an increase in sales tax to 7%. He's sad that now the roads won't
be fixed (haven't been for years) and school funding, food stamps
and no funding for Planned Parenthood (even though it hasn't been
funded here for 2 years). He'll have to meet with those other R
governors to see how they sneak in higher taxes on the poor and
middle class without taxing the uber rich and corporations.
Sorry, kids, but Wal-Mart DOES have tunnels to China. Where do you think all those $4 T-shirts come from?
But it sure was nice of them to issue press releases to the loonies to let them know that, no, those tunnels are not filled with hordes of Red Army special ops ready to help Herr Obama's US Army false flag schemes to take over the sovereign state of Texas, USA.
We can expect the Both Siders like Upchuck Todd this weekend to let everyone know that Democrats are just as bad at believing in conspiracy theories. And I'm sure there are some who do. But here's the difference. Democratic leaders tend not to go along with the crazy. And wondering whether shadowy billionaires are trying to take over the country isn't so much a conspiracy theory as a recognition of what's actually going on. It's been said that we wouldn't have conspiracy theories without actual conspiracies, but there again, the biggest and the best (or worst, depending on how you look at it) have all been from the right. Not even Chuck Todd can convince himself or anyone else that a guy covering up a blow job is just as bad as Watergate and Iran-Contra.
And, as I mentioned, the larger problem is that Republican "leaders" happily dance the tarantella with the whackos. The governor of Texas, a Texas congressman, most of the GOP candidates for president all hold on to at least a few conspiracy theories (Li'l Randy by hisself has a half dozen doozies). Name me a single major Democrat who holds--publicly--to whack job theories?
On the other hand, during the Ebola crisis, wingnuts and Confederate pols were beside themselves to one up each other on who had the most creative version of "Obama is introducing Ebola on purpose!!"
Death panels, concentration camps, world governments, mass graves, civil war, plans to make himself president for life, banning Christianity, conspiring with Hollywood to release lesbian indoctrination movies like "Frozen"....it never ends on the right. And as we've discussed before, no one is ever held accountable for this loony bird babbling.
There appear to be certain characteristics that are found in the most virulent conspiracy theorists. The biggest are cynicism, distrust, paranoia, and hatred of government (the source of nearly all winger theories) and a questioning of self worth (the self-pitying victimization thing). Add to this the fact that one who believes in one conspiracy theory is likely to hop on board with others. Most of these traits fit Confederates to a T.
It's not even really worth trying to throw facts at them because of something sociologists call the "backfire effect". Bringing up facts that disprove their illogical assumptions makes many of these types sure that they were right in the first place (you can't fool me; gay Nazi super soldiers ARE coming for our kids!).
A big part of the attraction for these theories, no matter how crazy (sometimes the crazier the better) is the need for a sense of closure, filling in holes of the unknown and unknowable (or unacceptable) with a reassuring sense of a complete narrative that passes ideological muster. It doesn't matter if the premises don't hold up, as long as the conclusion is one that will support a narrative and fit the ideology, logic doesn't matter. So stories like Obama sending the army in to take over Texas, which sounds to all of us like the kind of thing you'd hear from the unshaven guy who wanders subway stations with his fly down talking about aliens, is picked up and accepted--ACCEPTED--by a governor and a congressman, among many others.
It really does demonstrate just how dangerously unstable these people are.
Run the country? They shouldn't even be trusted to select the proper settings for the dishwasher.
I wonder what would happen if one of the R's running for POTUS who stir up the crazies with "We may need armed insurrection to protect ourselves from the government" got elected (shudder). They might get testy toward people who take their previous advice. I'm looking at you Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Mike Huckabee.
When considering the current GOP budget proposals, I am reminded of the late writer Ray Bradbury who, in his story, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" has the narrator say: "The stuff of nightmare is their common bread; they butter it with pain."
And just like that....Sha-Zam!...another conspiracy theory, out of whole....well I was gonna say cloth but I think the essential ingredient looks more, er, turd like.
So, anyway, here is World Renowned and Highly Regarded "author" Peter Schweizer, talking to the town clerk of CrazyVille, Dana Loesch, about the dangers that await him now that he has bravely uncovered the evils of Chez Clinton:
"...I know you don’t want to talk too much about it, but there is that, there is always that concern for anyone who goes up against the Clinton machine that they could be Vince Fostered"
In other words, Peter the Brave could be murdered by the Clintons, like everyone else who "goes up against" them. I seem to recall that all those people are still, like, alive, but what the hell, it's so much more fun to claim that Bill and Hill off anyone who gets on their wrong side.
But the set up is almost as good as the payoff. Loesch starts off by admiring hater and sister conspiracy loon Pam Geller for having the foresight to arrange for a small army of highly armed security for her "Mohammed Cartoon Contest" (isn't that a bit like making sure the fire department is on call for when you're about to torch a building?) and in a segue as slick as the pus from Rush Limbaugh's anal cyst, she then suggests that Ol' Petey better get himself some big-ass body guards if he doesn't want bad guys just as evil as ISIS (ie, the Clintons) to slit his throat while he sleeps.
I wanna know where I can find a job getting paid a boatload of money for making up crazy shit. I'd be good at it. Really! Listen to this: Dick Cheney started a war based on lies so his company could make billions and no one would be able to question why he and his pet tarantula were asleep at the switch after being warned of an attack that killed thousands. Millions were killed or displaced, thousands of Americans soldiers dead! Dead I tells ya, and trillions lost!
How 'bout that, eh? What? You say that really happened?
Crap. There goes that job.
“Just like male speakers don’t make it a male conference, this is not a woman’s conference,” "Signe Krogstrup, deputy head of analysis at the Swiss National Bank, said Wednesday morning at the “Finance and Society” conference. “We’re not going to be discussing gender or diversity or the role of women in finance. We’re here to discuss the role of finance in society.”
On the other hand it certainly is interesting that lead off conference speaker was Elizabeth Warren calling for more restrictions in the financial industry. In fact, 18 scheduled speakers are women.
Today, the Fed's Janet Yellen noted, '...that stock prices were “quite high,” ' as in the bull appears to be overdoing it again! Then Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, topped off her remarks with " “I believe that more women leaders would also help,” she added. “What would have happened if it hadn’t been Lehman Brothers but Lehman Sisters?”
Right on, sisters!
Mick,
Your reference to Something Wicked is entirely appropriate. Winger snake oil salesmen put on the "regular guy" mask and endeavor to indenture all of us into Confederate bondage.
Bradbury realized that the Everyman visage is the perfect affectation for oleaginous charlatans and vicious mountebanks, a cornucopia of which has descended upon us from the right.
Their duplicitous budgetary nonsense gives us, as Wallace Stevens might have put it, the sense of the sleight of hand man.
Disorientation and flummery presented as the sturdy stuff of truthfulness by cheap carny barkers.
“Just like male speakers don’t make it a male conference, this is not a woman’s conference,” "Signe Krogstrup, deputy head of analysis at the Swiss National Bank, said Wednesday morning (at the “Finance and Society” conference with 18 scheduled speakers who are women). “We’re not going to be discussing gender or diversity or the role of women in finance. We’re here to discuss the role of finance in society.”
On the other hand, it certainly is interesting that lead off conference speaker was Elizabeth Warren who called for more restrictions in the financial industry.
Today, the Fed's Janet Yellen notes, '...that stock prices were “quite high,” ' as in it appears the bull is overdoing it again. Then Christine Lagarde, head of the IMF, topped off her remarks with " “I believe that more women leaders would also help,” she added. “What would have happened if it hadn’t been Lehman Brothers but Lehman Sisters?”
Right on, sisters!
". . . not only did the province’s voters put the Progressive Conservative Party out of power after 43 years, they elected a government from the far left of Canada’s mainstream political spectrum...."
Marie: I'm sorry but that is a wildly hyperbolic description of the NDP, which was formed in 1961 of the amalgamation of the old Commonwealth Cooperative Federation and the Canadian Labor Congress, which is would be like an amalgamation of the Progressive Party and the AFofL and CIO. True, the CCF introduced single payer health insurance in Saskatchewan in 1958, which was the model for Canada's single payer health insurance plan a little more than a decade later. But our own Bernie Sanders is probably more "far left" than the NDP now or then.