;)
The Commentariat -- Sept. 21, 2015
Internal links removed.
Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "The Obama administration will increase the number of refugees the United States is willing to accept in 2017 to 100,000, a significant increase over the current annual worldwide cap of 70,000, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday.... Under the new plan, the U.S. limit on annual refugee visas would be increased to 85,000 in 2016. The cap would then rise to 100,000 the following year."
Nahal Toosi of Politico: "The Obama administration has been quietly in touch with the Vatican about ways that Pope Francis can help free three Americans imprisoned in Iran -- a major source of friction as President Barack Obama and Iranian leaders finalize their nuclear deal."
Seung Min Kim & Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "As they rally behind a long-awaited measure that would ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, GOP lawmakers are tying their messaging to the teachings of the Catholic Church, which opposes the practice. And the presence of Pope Francis on Capitol Hill this week shines an even brighter spotlight on the legislation, which has long been a top priority of advocacy groups thatoppose abortion."
Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "President George W. Bush sought to retroactively authorize portions of the National Security Agency's post-9/11 surveillance and data collection program after a now-famous incident in 2004 in which his attorney general refused to certify the program as lawful from his hospital bed, according to newly declassified portions of a government investigation.... Newly disclosed passages of a report by inspectors general of six agencies suggest that the confrontation in the hospital room came after the Justice Department identified several problems, including a 'gap' between what Mr. Bush had authorized the N.S.A. to collect and what the agency was collecting in practice." ...
... BTW, Dubya will be lecturing the intelligence community next month, likely for a generous stipend. CW: I'm sure the spooks will learn a lot.
Margaret Atwood, in the Guardian, on the history & meanings of freedom.
Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times: "Rampant sexual abuse of children has long been a problem in Afghanistan, particularly among armed commanders who dominate much of the rural landscape and can bully the population. The practice is called bacha bazi, literally 'boy play,' and American soldiers and Marines have been instructed not to intervene -- in some cases, not even when their Afghan allies have abused boys on military bases, according to interviews and court records."
David Sedaris in the New Yorker on the right to marry. It's David Sedaris. Laugh. Cry.
Chris Buckley & Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "Often described as the most powerful leader of the Chinese Communist Party in generations, [President] Xi [Jinping] is to arrive in the United States on Tuesday facing economic headwinds and growing doubts about his formula for governing -- a sharp contrast with the image of unruffled control he projected when he hosted President Obama last year.
Capitalism is Awesome, Ctd.
Our Legal Drug Cartels. Andrew Pollack of the New York Times: "Specialists in infectious disease are protesting a gigantic overnight increase in the price of a 62-year-old drug that is the standard of care for treating a life-threatening parasitic infection. The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager [Martin Shkreli]. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.... Turing's price increase is not an isolated example. While most of the attention on pharmaceutical prices has been on new drugs for diseases like cancer, hepatitis C and high cholesterol, there is also growing concern about huge price increases on older drugs, some of them generic, that have long been mainstays of treatment." ...
... CW: Contributor MAG pointed out this story yesterday. As she wrote, "Nah! We don't need no regulations, the free market takes care of things nicely." I wish our socialist, communist dictator president would swoop in today & nationalize every damned drug company, from Pfizer to Granny's Amazing Elixir, Inc.
"It's the Bank Profits, Stupid." Paul Krugman: Banks are pressuring the Fed to raise interest rates. "... when you see ever-changing rationales for never-changing policy demands, it's a good bet that there's an ulterior motive. And the rate rage of the bankers -- combined with the plunge in bank stocks that followed the Fed's decision not to hike -- offers a powerful clue to the nature of that motive. It's the bank profits, stupid.... Low rates are bad for bankers.... It's widely assumed that bankers have special expertise on economic policy, although nothing in the record supports this belief. (The bankers do, however, have excellent tailors.)"
Presidential Race
Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "... Hillary Rodham Clinton, a former secretary of state, said Sunday that U.S. efforts to train and equip Syrian rebels have failed and that many of the threats she foresaw from the Syrian conflict have come to pass.... Clinton, appearing on CBS's 'Face the Nation,' said that the Obama administration's announcement that it will take in 10,000 Syrian refugees is 'a good start' but that the United States should increase the number to 65,000 because of the scale of the refugee crisis after nearly five years of conflict."
Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "'I am very disappointed that Dr. [Ben] Carson would suggest that a Muslim should not become president of the United States,' [Sen. Bernie] Sanders said in a statement released late Sunday. 'It took us too long to overcome the prejudice against electing a Catholic or an African-American president. People should be elected to office based on their ideas, not their religion or the color of their skin.'" See Carson's remarks below. ...
... Colin Powell, October 2008:
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Rand Paul won the straw poll at the Mackinac Island Republican Leadership Conference, a show of organizational strength for a candidate who has seen his presidential hopes fade. Paul led with 22 percent, followed by Carly Fiorina with 15 percent, John Kasich with 13 percent, and Ted Cruzwith 12 percent. Trailing them were Jeb Bush with 9 percent, Marco Rubio with 8 percent, and Donald Trump with 6 percent. Further back: Ben Carson received 5 percent and Scott Walker finished with 2 percent.... The straw poll is electorally meaningless, but it is an exercise in political organizing and several campaigns worked the halls of the Grand Hotel aggressively -- especially Paul’s."
... Tapper sounds like he's calling an actual horse race. ...
... Eric Bradner of CNN: "Carly Fiorina shot into second place in the Republican presidential field on the heels of another strong debate performance, and Donald Trump has lost some support, a new national CNN/ORC poll shows." CW: Even if she is a lying sack of shit. ...
... Carly Fiorina Is an Accomplished Flim-Flam Artiste. Amy Chozick & Quentin Hardy of the New York Times: At last week's debate, "Mrs. Fiorina said a prominent venture capitalist who pushed for her firing at Hewlett-Packard in 2005 had recently taken out a full-page newspaper ad saying that he had been wrong to do so and that she had been 'a terrific C.E.O.' What Mrs. Fiorina did not mention was that the ad -- which cost roughly $140,000 -- was paid for by the 'super PAC' supporting her presidential candidacy." CW: So the "prominent venture capitalist," who happens to be the totally wacko Tom Perkins, did not "take out an ad"; Fiorina's superPAC did. Nice fake endorsement, Carly. ...
... (Sam Gustin of Time [February 2014]: "Tom Perkins..., who ... compar[ed] the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the way rich people are treated in the United States, on Thursday offered a provocative idea about how to 'change the world.' During an interview with a Fortune magazine journalist, Perkins said that only U.S. taxpayers should be able to vote in elections. But that's not all. Perkins went on to say that wealthy people should get more votes than others because they pay more in taxes.") ...
... Ali Elkin of Bloomberg: "Carly Fiorina said Sunday that neither she nor Hewlett-Packard should be faulted for the sales of millions of HP printers in Iran when such business was prohibited by U.S. law. Appearing on Fox's Fox News Sunday, Fiorina said that despite being the CEO of HP when the Iranian sales took place via a third party, she was unaware them."
Ali Elkin: "Donald Trump on Sunday doubled down on last week's controversial comments about Muslims.... 'We have radicals that are doing things,' he said. 'It wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center.' Trump also declined several times during the ABC interview to say that he believed [President] Obama was born in the U.S." ...
... Here's a presidential poll that hasn't received enough attention. Andy Borowitz: "Two days after asserting that President Barack Obama was a foreign-born Muslim, a guy who asked Donald Trump a provocative question at a New Hampshire rally is now the front-runner in the Republican race for President, according to a new poll." CW: Seems realistic. ...
... ** Frank Rich: "In the short time since Trump declared his candidacy, he has performed a public service by exposing, however crudely and at times inadvertently, the posturings of both the Republicans and the Democrats and the foolishness and obsolescence of much of the political culture they share. He is, as many say, making a mockery of the entire political process with his bull-in-a-china-shop antics. But the mockery in this case may be overdue, highly warranted, and ultimately a spur to reform.... His passport to political stardom has been his uncanny resemblance to a provocative fictional comic archetype.... Trump's ability to reduce the head of his adopted party to a comic functionary out of a Gilbert-and-Sullivan operetta is typical of his remarkable success in exposing Republican weakness and hypocrisy."
... CW: I'd like to know what it is about Islam that Carson imagines is "inconsistent with our Constitution," while Christianity -- including Ben Carson's fundamentalist brand of Christianity -- apparently is "consistent with our Constitution." Of course, Chuck didn't bother to ask. I know journalism is not Chuck's job, but maybe he could have mentioned this: ...
... no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States. -- Article VI, U.S. Constitution
Oh, snap, Ben. What is "not consistent with our Constitution"; i.e., what is unconstitutional, is your dingbat religious test. -- Constant Weader
... Oh, Update. Here's Carson's answer. Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "... Ben Carson is standing by his view that a Muslim should not be president of the United States, telling The Hill in an interview on Sunday that whoever takes the White House should be 'sworn in on a stack of Bibles, not a Koran.'... 'I do not believe Sharia is consistent with the Constitution of this country,' Carson said. 'Muslims feel that their religion is very much a part of your public life and what you do as a public official, and that's inconsistent with our principles and our Constitution.' Carson said that the only exception he'd make would be if the Muslim running for office 'publicly rejected all the tenants of Sharia and lived a life consistent with that.'" CW: Yo, Ben, you know what else is not "consistent with our Constitution?": much of the Mosaic Law; i.e., the first five books of your Bible. By the Theory of Ben, it appears only nontheists are qualified to be president because all religions have rules that are not predicated on or consistent with U.S. Constitutional law. ...
... Ben Carson's campaign says he didn't say what he said. ...
... Steve M.: "Anyone who continues to think that the questioner at Trump's rally was a plant meant to embarrass Trump is nuts. Trump thinks this sort of talk wins him votes -- he's had a couple of days to revise and polish his message, so if he thought this was harmful to him, he'd back down, but he's not doing that. And Trump is almost certainly correct in his assessment of Republican voters. Carson also knows that Islamophobia sells to the GOP voter base, so that's what he's delivering. I don't think Fiorina will be able to keep up. You probably don't know this, but a lot of people on the right do: A few weeks after the 9/11 attacks, Fiorina made a speech that praised Islam." ...
... Christian Nation. To Steve M.'s point: Even John Kasich, the supposed moderate candidate, is afraid to say adherence to an Islamic faith is not a presidential disqualifier. Chuck asks Kasich, "Would you ever have a problem with a Muslim becoming president?" Kasich's response is Walkeresque: "You know, I mean, that's such a hypothetical question.... You've got to go through the rigors, and people will look at everything. But, for me, the most important thing about being president is you have leadership skills.... Those are the qualifications that matter to me." ...
... One More Abortion Restriction. Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "The Ohio governor John Kasich has said he will sign a state bill currently under debate that would ban abortions carried out because a child has Down's syndrome." ...
... John Kasich Doesn't Care if Black Families Have Enough to Eat. Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones: As a Congressman, Kasich tried to restrict food stamp eligibility to three months in any three-year period. When Congress allowed state waivers to that restriction, Kasich manipulated food-stamp eligibility in Ohio so that "urban counties and cities, most of which had high minority populations, did not get waivers.... A USDA study released earlier this month ranked Ohio among the worst states in the nation for food security. The state has the highest rate of food insecurity in the Midwest and the sixth highest rate nationally." ...
... CW: This is one of the bajillion real ways Republicans manage to discriminate against minorities without blatantly calling them names or making accusations against them. I think I'd rather be called a nigger on a full stomach than get a sympathy card from a fellow who let my children starve to death. Hypocrtical prick.
So Long, Scottie. From Eric Bradner's CNN report, linked above: "Five other candidates received less than one-half of 1 percentage point support: former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former New York Gov. George Pataki and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker."
Way Beyond the Beltway
Jim Yardley & Azam Ahmed of the New York Times: "Standing in the symbolic heart of political Cuba, Pope Francis on Sunday began his first full day in the island nation with an outdoor Mass at Revolution Plaza attended by President Raúl Castro and other leaders, and later met with the country's former leader, Fidel Castro." ...
... The AP has "the latest" on Pope Francis's visit to Cuba. "The latest," at this time is 6:30 pm ET Sunday. I don't know whether or not the report will be updated.
Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "The radical leftist party that stormed to a historic victory in January and then governed Greece through a tumultuous seven months won a convincing new mandate in elections on Sunday, giving it another chance to lead a country still mired in economic ruin." ...
... Suzanne Daly of the New York Times: "Alexis Tsipras, who won election as Greece's prime minister in January on an anti-austerity platform that he was later forced to abandon, was returned to power by Greek voters on Sunday, many of them saying that he had fought hard to get them a better deal from the country's creditors and deserved a second chance at governing."
William Booth & Anna Fifield of the Washington Post: "Asylum seekers whose journey had been slowed by bickering among Balkan countries began to arrive in Austria en masse Sunday, just one border away from the ultimate destination for many refugees, Germany. Thousands of economic migrants and war refugees walked across the border from Hungary into Austria on Sunday, while hundreds more crossed from Slovenia."
News Lede
New York Times: "Two Americans held hostage for months by rebels in Yemen were freed on Sunday and quickly flown to safety in nearby Oman, which helped the United States secure the release of the men, American officials said. Along with the Americans, a British citizen and three Saudis were also freed by the Houthi rebels, who ousted the government of Yemen this year and are now facing a campaign of airstrikes led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States."
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Reader Comments (26)
"Anyone who continues to think that the questioner at Trump's rally was a plant meant to embarrass Trump is nuts."
Okey Dokey--I admit it. I am nuts! Not for the first time either. I will not even stoop to defend myself, since I still think my thesis was interesting. I guess I really did believe that the Republican Dirty Tricks Team had finally found a way (at last) to frustrate The Donald. This was not to be. The man is not incapable only of shame, he is incapable of being frustrated and upset by such statements as: "Of course, Obama is a Muslim...and he is setting up re-education camps." All of this time, I thought TD was just shitting around about that. He may have been, but he obviously is committed to continue.
About the Dirty Tricksters? What da f*ck has happened to these turd blossoms? I thought they were full-time trolls. Maybe Trumpster is more trollish than they, huh? Bottom line though, this craziness is beyond my capacity to comprehend, and I usually do understand insanity quite thoroughly and intelligently.
Sigh.....
Oh, Kate, not to worry––one man's nuttiness is another's brave speculation/ innovation.
The person to watch here is the demon sheep gal who is hiding behind a whole lot of hedge rows. Given that fake endorsement by Tom Perkins is just the beginning of some sly maneuvering by this botox babe who knows how to plant plants, sound intelligent while spouting nonsense, and use her gender to gain center stage. I put her right in the middle of Carson and Cruz as the Tumescent Threesome who together signify absolute terror whenever I visualize them running our country.
I thought it plausible, Kate, and actually saw it posted elsewhere as a possibility, probably because no thinking person can believe the idiot would stand up and say those things loudly and confidently. I am also tired of the saintly John McCain reply to Bad Hair Lady being played over and over, supposedly touting how kind and firm he was, when he said the bare minimum, and has illustrated since then how he despises Obama. And with regards to Carly, do these people working for her know she, the fabulous business person, didn't pay her employees of the last campaign? Why isn't that being said?? PD, I share your shuddering over these mole people, as Charlie calls them...
@Jeanne: From my readings on C.F. I understand that she neglected to pay her employees from her last campaign (the one against Boxer) for many, many months, but finally came around to it. The one employee comment that sticks in my mind is the guy who said,"I'd rather go on another tour in Iraq than work for Fiorina again."
Was quite moved by Viola Davis's words last night at the Emmy's (see Infotainment).
Some of these yahoos running for POTUS on the Republican or
Teaparty or whatever ticket they're running on, make even Sarah
Palin seem somewhat coherent (but only somewhat). At least she
was good for a few laughs; this new crop is nothing to laugh at
if they are at all serious in some of the things they are saying.
@Jeanne & P.D.Pepe: According to Mother Jones, "Until late last year, Fiorina was close to $500,000 in debt from her 2010 run, nearly all of it in unpaid compensation to campaign staffers and outside consultants, according to Federal Election Commission filings."
I doubt she had any intention of paying them, & technically, it's possible she would not have been obligated to. It was the campaign -- no doubt a separate, incorporated entity (a deadbeat person! in Romney's book, I guess) -- not Fiorina personally, who owed them. However, it is customary that when campaigns run short (not sure if Carly drained her campaign to the last penny or not -- maybe it was bankrupt!), politicians find means to pay their workers' back pay, whether by dipping into their own funds, by dialing for dollars from former backers, by finding some other slush fund -- like a dormant superPAC -- or whatever. That multimillionaire Carly decided to pay from her own deep pockets right before she began "exploring" a presidential run is pretty bad optics. What this late payment -- to people who probably worked grueling hours & needed the money -- says about her is that she's a narcissistic chiseler & a phony.
Marie
RE: Carly. As Marie said, she's a lying sack of shit. A female version of Romney.
I'm sticking with the conspiracy theory. Sure, such exchanges actually garner some support for Le Donald. But only among the totally loony. The hope is that anyone on the right with even an occasional moment of sanity, who might consider supporting him, will be dissuaded. It's the swing vote that swings elections.
The Dirty Tricksters know that their eventual candidate must not have irrecoverably offended every minority, along with anyone harboring a glimmer of empathy for them. Whoever is nominated will be able to say how bravely they stood up to Donny.
Suggested campaign slogan:
"Not the Most Egregious Asshole in the Pack"
But, most importantly, its the Oligarchs and Plutocrats in GOP who are determined to control the nomination. They can't control Donald, because they can't buy him. Therefore they've got to find some way to defeat him. Let the dirty tricks continue.
While Tom Cotton is busy sending love letters to Ayatollahs, it might be helpful for him to know that the Iran nuclear program was started by one Republican president (Eisenhower) and moved along significantly by a couple of other Republican presidents (Nixon and Ford) who offered Iran "...the chance to buy and operate a U.S.-built reprocessing facility for extracting plutonium from nuclear reactor fuel."
I was not aware of this backstory and likely neither are any of the Confederates lining up to call the current president--who is trying to put some kind of limits on the nuclear power given to Iran by Republicans--Hitler or Stalin or both.
Of course the US-Iranian nuclear engagement came to a halt after the US embassy takeover, but Uncle Ron didn't want to leave the Ayatollahs completely out in the cold so he sent them a few thousand TOW missiles to keep their enemies warm. Illegally, of course. Unconstitutionally, as Confederates are always describing things they don't like (things that often are completely constitutional).
History, at least not actual history, is not a subject given much thought by Confederates. Let's not even bother talking about where truth stands in their estimation.
It doesn't even register.
@D.C.Clark: C'mon now. Nobody tricked Ben Carson into saying that a Muslim could not be president because Islamic beliefs are "inconsistent with our Constitution." He came up with that all on his own. Or are you suggesting Chuck Todd is a Reince Priebus plant? And that the makeup lady in the green room secretly injected Carson with a crazy shot?
Marie
Post-Logic America.
I'm not so sure about the conspiracy theory, re: Trumpy. Logic might suggest that making Trumpy look like the irrational hater he seems to be would make voters sit up and take notice of how crazy he is. The problem? Confederate voters, at least a substantial number of them, are even crazier and even more irrational than he is.
The exchange between Trumpy and the hater he described as "a guy he likes", reveals a couple of other things, neither of which will have any effect on Confederate voters.
First, it demonstrates how low he is willing to go to appease the bug eyed whackos, what a sniveling jackal he is. Even if it's a strategy, it highlights his proclivity for obsequious pandering to the most disreputable, mendacious, and despicable Confederate storylines.
Second, his explanation for why he didn't challenge his good buddy hater, was simply jaw dropping in its stupidity and demonstrable irrationality.
According to Trumpy's busted trumpet, if you challenge anyone, no matter how crazy their assertion, you're in violation of the Constitution (First Amendment).
How then does he square this ridiculous stance (obvious to the more astute fourth grade constitutional scholars is the fact that challenging what someone says in no way violates their right to say it. We challenge each other all the time without worrying about a knock on the door from Nino Scalia and the Constitutional Police) square with Trumpy's standard operational mode of attacking anyone who questions him about anything? Often he doesn't even let them get their say (which IS a Constitutional problem) before blasting them as stupid or traitorous or worse.
But logic matters not a whit. Not anymore. At least not to Confederates who are likely gleefully sharing Trumpy's Constitutional Defense with friends who are equally uninformed about what the Constitution allows and does not allow.
Trumpy will maintain his core of whackos, at least until he says something that really pisses them off or comes up with another illogical defense too stupid even for the blockheads.
It's a post-logic world we live in. Just listen to Upchuck Todd for more than three minutes. Hear any hint of logic? And he's considered one of the smarter ones.
I did hear a strategy floated last week by a GOP apparatchik, regarding ways to deflate Trump. One involved a move by the money men (the Kochs, Adelsons, et. al.) who, if they feel they can't control Trumpy, may decide to run their chosen weasel as a third party candidate (probably Romney). I think this is a GREAT idea, as it should split the vote and make life bee-you-tee-ful for the Democratic candidate, but it shows just how desperate the GOP establishment (whatever and whoever that refers to now) is growing.
Trump knows this, and as Marie has suggested, like The Decider, he has decided that he is never wrong, never makes mistakes, and will never apologize for anything. He is a good judge of at least a certain part of his audience who would rather shoot a candidate than ever hear him (or her) apologize or back down. This is not The Confederate Way. There are still plenty of them who say the South did not lose the Civil War. They just ran out of time.
I guess we've been post-logic for a long time.
I dunno. I'm not ready to jump on the conspiracy bandwagon yet, but I do kinda like the "Not the Most Egregious Asshole in the Pack" campaign slogan.
The only problem is that most Confederate voters don't want that guy. They want the guy who actually IS the most egregious asshole in the pack.
Still and all, a good slogan, a kind of "Not the Worst Snake in the Shit-hole."
@AK, I'm forgetting the title, but years ago I read one of Robert Fisk's books that included quite the eye-opener re how Iran; i.e, the Shah was provided with materials, equipment, etc.
Later, I came upon this video tells even more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmAL4SaGA0s
Marie,
So, sometimes you get a freebie. And they all really are assholes. But the point of any conspiracy theory is that there must be a conspiratorial mastermind behind it. And the only plausible explanation is "The Oligarchy". At least if we reject the Illuminati, Rosicrucians, Space Aliens, etc.... Well hell, maybe they're all in on it. Anyway, it's just too damn much fun not to have. And why should the right wing whackos have all the fun?
The beauty of conspiracy theories is that, like religion, they generate no testable hypotheses.
But I am serious about the big spenders. They're looking past the nomination -- to the general election, the congressional elections, state legislative elections and future governance including cabinet, judicial, military, and diplomatic appointments. They are not stupid, and must certainly prefer candidates who are. (That theory goes a long way toward explaining the GOP in Congress.) Assholishness is irrelevant, except to the extent that it sells. Control is everything.
So the only real contest here is between Le Donald and the Plutocrats. At least the Plutocrats, are smart and nominally sane. If it happens that their self interests occasionally coincide with those of us Plebeians, some us may not do too badly. So I find myself preferring The Plutocracy to The Donald. And hoping against hope for Bernie.
MAG,
I'm betting it was Fisk's "The Great War for Civilization". I've been dipping into it now and then (it's a voluminous history) for some time, but I hadn't come across that section. There is a pretty hair-raising recounting of a meeting Fisk had with Bin Laden and there's some excellent backstory about the various British and US intelligence cockups related especially to Iran. Since you mentioned that, I'll have to dig into it tonight. It just goes to show that even people who try to stay on top of things have an incredible amount to learn, which makes it even more frightening to think that people who don't know shit from Shin-Ola (George Bush, eg) either think they know it all or don't have to know anything to make decisions of great moment.
Thanks for the tip, and the video.
Ak. That's the book. Have my copy somewhere amidst the stacks! A name I recalled as someone quite involved was: Kermit "Kim" Roosevelt, Jr. (February 16, 1916 – June 8, 2000), a grandson of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt, was a Harvard-educated career intelligence officer who served in the Office of Strategic Services, forerunner to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), during and following the second world war, went on to found Arabist organizations such as the American Friends of the Middle East, and then to play a critical role in the CIA's operation to return Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran, to power in August 1953."
(in quotes from Wikipedia).
Had to look it up quickly, because I was thinking Kevin, not Kermit.
Remembering more, I came upon Fisk after reading John Perkins' book: "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man"....which led to the Brit.
And speaking of videos, yesterday D.C. posted a video related to a Latin mishap. I couldn't see it but I was pretty sure I knew what it was.
Funny thing, the John Cleese centurion in that "Life of Brian" scene always reminds me of a sophomore Latin teacher I once had, Sister Mary Conjugation we called her, and she'd strike fear into the heart of the staunchest Legionary. "But "Romans go home" is an order so you must use....c'mon, c'mon.. the imperative, naturally....which is....c'mon, c'mon." Whew. If you did your homework you were okay, otherwise you might feel like Caesar on his terrible, horrible, very bad, no good day in the Senate.
And while thinking of John Cleese....
Here he explains (partially) the mystery of Sarah Palin. The answer: she's not really human.
She's a parrot.
And she's not pining for the fjords.
Unfortunately.
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/ben-carson-shattering-stereotype-about-brain-surgeons-being-smart?mon 4)&CNDID=32493085&spMailingID=8086003&spUserID=ODk5MzU4MDUzMjIS1&spJobID=762270619&spReportId=NzYyMjcwNjE5S0
Andy Borowitz on Ben Carson disproving that brain surgeons must be smart.
Intelligence qua Intelligence, or...something else...
Still trying to wrap my head around the news of The Decider addressing a conference of intelligence experts. Rather like inviting Dick Cheney to speak at an Amnesty International gathering.
It appears that ex-president Idiot will be speaking at a conference at which attendees will be considering, among other topics: "...'closing the human vulnerability gap around cyber,' 'empowering the analyst to exploit and integrate multi-source intelligence at the speed of the mission,' and 'extending insight from the analyst workstation to the tactical edge via the cloud.'"
I want to know who will be explaining those things to Bush. Those crossed eyes will glaze in seconds.
He may be collecting a pretty penny to get up in front of intelligence analysts and do his Jiminy Cricket impressions. I'm sure he'll be a gas. But over and above that, it appears, according to the David Corn story in Mother Jones, linked above, that the group sponsoring this Bush and Pony show is SAP National Security Services, a company involved in the development of cloud services for the federal government, cyber security, "US Government needs for real-time situational awareness", infrastructure protection, and a lot more.
And the best thing? SAP is owned by a German company. So Bush might be taking money from a group owned by a foreign company to support vital security systems for the US government.
I do realize we live in an international world, especially where businesses are concerned. Capitalism has few borders. But just imagine the uproar were it Bill Clinton lending his presence to promote security products created by a foreign owned business.
IOKIYAR. In spades. Oh, and here's your check for $150K. Danke.
P.S. I was able to find a bit of Bush's opening statement to the intelligence community. It's a pip.
Oh, Kate. Republican Dirty Tricks Teams have not been put out to pasture. They're busy fixing election tabulation equipment, making sure Democrats can't vote, especially blah Democrats, ensuring that there will be no paper trail after elections are stolen, reducing times for voting in Democratic precincts to between 2:35 PM and 2:37 PM on election day, and pouring money into states that have not already been Gerrymandered to shit.
Those evil pricks are still hard at work. They make the original CREEPs look like Boy Scouts (the pre-gay kind, natch).
Damn, forgot the SAP links for an earlier comment.
Here's the group inviting (paying?) Bush to support the services being created for the US Government, and here's information on the company in Germany that owns it. And here's what will be on Bush's mind while he's mouthing intelligency stuff.
Re Borowitz on Brain Surgeons:
Us Rocket Scientists are going to have to be more careful.
Forget everything I've written about conspiracies.
What Oligarchy?
Left side of mouth, meet right side of mouth. Or not.
Noted constitooshunul skolah Teddy Cruz weighs in on Ben (Mooslims? No way!) Carson's latest Islamophobic declaration.
Says the Cruz Man, "It would be unconstitutional to disqualify a Muslim from the presidency" (can you hear that barely audible "Damn!" after that admission?). But in the next breath he says but that doesn't mean we have to let those dirty Mooslims into our country. That is a no-go.
So, international chaos started by Republican president, refugee crisis in largely Muslim countries? According to Cruz we'll only take Christians, because, of course, they're always the only ones being persecuted. Because someone who refuses to do her job because she hates gay people, but is allowed to remain in that job? Persecuted. People we've dropped bombs on or have allowed to slip into life threatening bedlam because of our insane penchant for war? Not persecuted.
So, the long and short is, sure you can be president if you're a Muslim, but Muslims are not allowed into the country.
This must be an example of his expertise as a jurist. I'm always hearing about it but I've never actually seen it in action. I guess this must be it.
A regular Solomon, that Cruz.
@ Marie RE:
<< The Times should stop giving Dowd these difficult war-correspondenty assignments. Why isn't she in New York, checking out the runways during Fashion Week? >>
We have long recommended that MoDo transfer her self-referential office souvenirs from The Times to the likes of TMZ or Perez Hilton. She is - at the very least - an embarrassment to (the comparatively few women in) Journalism.
(She was in attendance at February's Fashion Week.)
Sounds like Walker is waving the white flag of surrender already. Good riddance you nasty little turd. I had somehow convinced myself that with his Koch endorsement and steadfast fidelity to the plutocratic agenda that he'd be trusted upon us as the nominee. Boy am I glad to be wrong, although his competition is just as worthless.
That said, the complete lack of fight in him and his running home with his rat tail between his legs is a surprising turnaround. I thought he could stand up to "death threats" and poster-waving citizens and ISIS? This is exemplerary of the entirely empty suit that pathetic little man is. Hopefully after showing he's a complete deadbolt nationally, Wisconites will wake up and throw his ass in the gutter where he belongs.
Good Riddance Sir! I will sleep a little better tonight knowing he's simultaneously crying a little on the inside.
Safari,
I think the moment of truth for Scottie Walker came when someone (probably not any of his campaign dweebs, the idea being that if they have associated themselves with him, their brightness is of the 10 watt bulb variety; probably a red 10 watt bulb) made it clear to him that his double secret plan for beating ISIS would never work, for three reasons. First, they don't have a union for him to break. Second, even if they did, he's not the boss of them; and finally, ISIS is probably not scared of the fact that he shines the Kochs' boots, and a few other things too.
He'll just have to slink back to Wisconsin and look for a gravedigger union to bust. They in turn will have a nice plot ready for his political career.
RI fucking P, you douchebag.