;)
The Commentariat -- Sept. 25, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
Marc Santora & Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "After standing alone and taking in the vast void where thousands of people lost their lives in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, Pope Francis on Friday lamented 'a mind-set which knows only violence, hatred and revenge' and warned against the kind of 'rigid uniformity' of belief that leads to fanaticism":
Also, there are a number of links to stories (marked NEW), which I added fairly late in the morning.
*****
** Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner, under intense pressure from conservatives in his party, will resign one of the most powerful positions in government and give up his House seat at the end of October, throwing Congress into chaos as it tries to avert a government shutdown. Mr. Boehner made the announcement in an emotional meeting with his fellow Republicans on Friday morning." CW: Thanks to Victoria D. for the link. As Victoria points out, Boehner made this announcement just as Pope Francis was at the U.N. & President Obama was welcoming China's President Xi. Maybe Boehner saw this timing as his best hope of burying a bombshell. ...
... Mike DeBonis & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The shocking move means there's unlikely to be a government shutdown next week. Following Boehner's announcement, House Republicans said there was agreement to pass a clean spending bill to avert a government shutdown. Several members of the Freedom Caucus, the conservative group which led the revolt against Boehner's leadership, said they will now support the spending bill without demands to defund Planned Parenthood attached to it.... [Boehner's] likely successor is House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), the No. 2 GOP leader who has been in office less than 10 years.... Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Friday he didn't want the job."
NEW. Julie Davis & Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday rolled out an elaborate White House welcome for President Xi Jinping of China, projecting a strong partnership between the world's two largest economies even as the leaders prepared to hash out a range of contentious disputes." ...
... China's Authoritarian Regime More Responsible than U.S. GOP. Julie Davis & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping of China will make a landmark commitment on Friday to start a national program in 2017 that will limit and put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, Obama administration officials said on Thursday. The move to create a so-called cap-and-trade system would be a substantial step by the world's largest polluter to reduce emissions from major industries, including steel, cement, paper and electric power. The announcement, to come during a White House summit meeting with President Obama, is part of an ambitious effort by China and the United States to use their leverage internationally to tackle climate change and to pressure other nations to do the same." ...
... Michael Greenstone of the New York Times: "Since [1970], the Clean Air Act has repeatedly been challenged as costly and unnecessary. As a fight brews over President Obama's new use of the law to address global warming, it's worth re-examining the vast difference the law has already made in the quality of the air we breathe, and in the length of our lives. Numerous studies have found that the Clean Air Act has substantially improved air quality and averted tens of thousands of premature deaths from heart and respiratory disease."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The White House plans to announce on Thursday that President Obama will meet next week with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, ending a long period in which the American leader refused to meet with his counterpart from the Kremlin, a senior administration official said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
NEW. Somini Sengupta & Jim Yardley of the New York Times: "A day after making history as the first pontiff to address Congress, Pope Francis on Friday morning issued a sweeping call to the United Nations for peace and environmental justice, as he placed blame for the exploitation of natural resources on 'a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity.' Standing before the General Assembly in his first speech here, Francis endorsed United Nations efforts to reach a global compact to fight poverty and climate change. He also chided world powers for putting political interests ahead of human suffering in the Middle East." ...
... Here's the English translation of Francis's speech to the U.N., as prepared for delivery. ...
... Pope Francis's schedule for today, via USA Today:
8:30 a.m. -- Pope Francis meets with the United Nations General Assembly. It's the 70th anniversary of the U.N.
11:30 a.m. -- A multireligious service is held at the 9/11 Memorial Museum.
4 p.m. -- The pope visits Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem.
5 p.m. -- He will lead a procession through Central Park. About 80,000 tickets were awarded by the city in a lottery pick.
6 p.m. -- Mass is held in Madison Square Garden. The chair he will sit on was built by mostly immigrant day laborers. Young men at Lincoln Hall Boys Haven in Lincolndale built the altar.
Marc Santora & Sharon Otterman of the New York Times: "In his first visit to New York City, the center of global finance and capitalism, Pope Francis used his remarks on Thursday evening to encourage the hundreds of clergy members, brothers and nuns gathered in St. Patrick's Cathedral to live humbly and resist the temptation to treat their ministries as businesses, with success measured strictly by the bottom line.... They were pointed, if fatherly, remarks that echoed the themes he has stressed in his papacy but ones that resonated all the more in a newly renovated cathedral surrounded by the luxurious shops of Fifth Avenue." ...
... Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post: "Less than an hour after Francis made the first papal address to the U.S. Congress, in which he urged some of the nation's most powerful residents to break their political paralysis and accept immigrants as their own children, Francis arrived at St. Patrick's [in downtown Washington, D.C.,] to greet some of the nation's least powerful at a ceremony involving hundreds of homeless people.... Francis grinned when the crowd of nearly 300 homeless roared their pleasure at his arrival to bless their meal...." ...
Gary Emerling of US News: "Toward the beginning of his address, Francis alluded to religious extremism, noting that 'no religion is immune' from it.... '... We must be especially attentive to every type of fundamentalism, whether religious or of any other kind,' [Francis said].... The remarks echo those delivered -- albeit with more explicit historical references – by President Barack Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast in February.... Obama's comments were criticized as 'offensive,' 'wrongheaded' and detached from present-day reality." ...
... digby: "The idea that all religions have the capacity to be barbaric in the name of God is indisputable. Not that right wingers care. In fact, they don't even care about religion, unless it's a useful tool for their ideology. That point has become obvious over the past few days as we've seen them trashing the Pope like he was the fourth Dixie Chick." ...
... ** Lisa Miller of New York: "Pope Francis is the Barack Obama of the Papacy." ...
... ** Molly Ball of the Atlantic on "why Pope Francis sounds like a Democrat.... There are plenty of progressive priests, just as there are plenty of conservative ones.... (And unlike a rank-and-file priest, Francis is a head of state who conducts foreign policy.)... But what makes Francis different is really a matter of which Catholic beliefs he has elevated to the level of communal concerns -- public policy -- and which he has framed as individual choices. To Francis, sharing wealth and fixing global warming are matters that governments should address, while not committing homosexual acts or having abortions are individual choices he endorses. (As he famously put it: 'Who am I to judge?') This is quite different from the American Catholic church, which has poured its political energy into laws banning gay marriage and restricting abortion." ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: The only members of the Supreme Court to attend Pope Francis's address to Congress were "Chief Justice John Roberts..., justices Anthony Kennedy, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor. Roberts, Kennedy and Sotomayor are all Catholics, while Ginsburg is Jewish." CW: Kinda makes you think Nino, Sam & Clarence are cafeteria Catholics, even tho Francis is totally with them on denying women reproductive rights, one of their favorite things. I'd guess all that helping the poor & the immigrants Jesus stuff was too much for them. ...
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in. -- Jesus (Matthew 25:35
... David Ignatius of the Washington Post: "What's fascinating, watching Xi, Obama and Putin on the same global stage with Francis, is that the political leaders seem to crave the authenticity that the religious leader commands so effortlessly.... [Francis] is teaching us about the nature of power in a world where social media can create an intimate bond with even the grandest figure. This bishop of Rome has unusual impact because he disdains the throne." ...
... ** Charles Pierce writes an excellent piece on the Pope's address to Congress.
Jakes Sherman, et al., of Politico: "House Republican leaders will move next week to approve a 'clean' government spending bill -- and avert a shutdown -- but only after they hold a vote on a measure to bar federal funding for Planned Parenthood, according to multiple sources familiar with the GOP's plan. The move, which comes as conservatives are weighing whether to try to remove John Boehner as House speaker, was discussed at a closed GOP leadership meeting Thursday. It involves a legislative tactic called an 'enrollment correction,' which essentially changes the text of a bill that has passed the House and the Senate. But it would ultimately be a meaningless exercise: The Senate would reject the measure, and President Barack Obama has said he will veto any spending bill that tries to defund Planned Parenthood." ...
... Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "The Senate will start voting Monday to avert a government shutdown, leaving the House to either accept it or force federal agencies in Washington to shutter their doors. After a government spending bill that would also defund Planned Parenthood went down in flames on the Senate floor on Thursday afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ... and set up votes for next week that would keep the government open through Dec. 11 without touching Planned Parenthood.... It was clear by the disastrous result for a conservative-backed plan, devised by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), that there is scant Senate support for a government spending bill that would also defund Planned Parenthood. Eight Republicans voted against the Cruz plan, including presidential rival Rand Paul..., who called the bill 'business as usual' while reiterating that he supports defunding Planned Parenthood." ...
... Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Democrats, and even some Republicans, slammed Thursday's vote, suggesting it was a waste of time with less than a week left before government funding expires and federal workers are furloughed.... Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Thursday's vote was the latest in a line of Republican 'publicity stunts.'"
... Ted's Stunt o'the Day. Jordain Carney: "Democrats on Thursday blocked a push by Sen. Ted Cruz to rename the street in front of the Chinese Embassy in Washington after a Chinese dissident. The Texas Republican ... tried to get unanimous consent to pass a resolution that would name the street in front of the embassy 'Liu Xiaobo Plaza' after Liu Xiaobo, a human rights activist currently imprisoned in China. It would also make the embassy's address '1 Liu Xiaobo Plaza.'... 'I can only infer it has political implications because the president of China is due to arrive here tomorrow,' [Sen. Dianne Feinstein said]. The California Democrat added, 'Maybe people don't believe diplomacy makes a difference, but I do.'"
... Ted's Stunt o'the Week. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz is gearing up for another showdown with Republican leaders in Congress.... [Cruz] is deploying arguments similar to those he used two years ago in rallying Tea Party lawmakers to block a government funding measure. Back then, the focus was on ObamaCare. Now, it's on Planned Parenthood. Cruz has invited House conservatives to meet in his Dirksen Building office while ratcheting up criticism of GOP leaders in recent days.... He published an op-ed in Politico on Wednesday calling on leaders to pass piecemeal bills funding parts of the federal government but not Planned Parenthood, similar to a strategy the GOP tried in 2013."
Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve still intends to raise its benchmark interest rate this year, barring unpleasant surprises, the Fed chairwoman, Janet L. Yellen, said on Thursday."
Jeffrey Fisher in a New York Times op-ed: "ON Monday, the Supreme Court will meet in private to perform one of its most consequential -- yet least appreciated -- functions: choosing the cases it will hear.... An explanation for the court's decision is almost never given, nor is it customary to indicate how the individual justices voted.... The justices should lift the veil of secrecy that shrouds this power.... In light of the Supreme Court's significant role in shaping so much of our national policy, it does not seem too much to ask to know which justices are putting which issues on the court's docket. Indeed, these votes are more consequential than anything said at oral argument.
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Paul Krugman: "There are, it turns out, people in the corporate world who will do whatever it takes, including fraud that kills people, in order to make a buck. And we need effective regulation to police that kind of bad behavior, not least so that ethical businesspeople aren't at a disadvantage when competing with less scrupulous types.... We used to know it, thanks to the muckrakers and reformers of the Progressive Era. But Ronald Reagan insisted that government is always the problem, never the solution, and this has become dogma on the right.... This week Jeb Bush, who has an uncanny talent for bad timing, chose to publish an op-ed article in The Wall Street Journal denouncing the Obama administration for issuing 'a flood of creativity-crushing and job-killing rules.' Never mind his misuse of cherry-picked statistics, or the fact that private-sector employment has grown much faster under President Obama's 'job killing' policies than it did under Mr. Bush's brother's administration." ...
... NEW. New York Times: "Government regulators said Friday that they planned to step up the testing requirements of cars in the wake of the Volkswagen scandal. The Environmental Protection Agency, which disclosed last week that it had learned that Volkswagen diesel cars had equipment to evade smog-testing standards, said it had sent a letter to manufacturers of gasoline and diesel cars saying that regulators would be looking for so-called defeat devices in all vehicles." ...
... Peter Whorisky of the Washington Post: "Volkswagen has admitted it designed cars to cheat pollution tests, but the trouble with diesel emissions probably goes beyond just one automaker, according to tests of other manufacturers. Road tests of more than a dozen popular models from several manufacturers showed that the raw nitrogen oxide emissions from the cars were on average seven times European standards, according to a little-noticed October report from the same outfit that flagged the VW problems. Most of the models in the October report have not been publicly identified. One of the cars tested is the BMW X3, which had emissions calculated at 11 times the European limit, according to the testing company."
Sophia Kishkovsky of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia telephoned the singer-songwriter Elton John, who had asked for a meeting with him to discuss the status of gay rights in Russia. Mr. John announced in an Instagram post last week that Mr. Putin had called him. But the story that circulated on social media turned out to be a hoax: Mr. John had been the victim of a prank call by two satirists, Vladimir Krasnov and Alexey Stolyarov, who posed as Mr. Putin and an interpreter. Evidently, the Kremlin decided it was a good idea after all."
Presidential Race
Andrew Prokop of Vox: Does "the party decide" who its presidential nominee will be? Well, yeah, usually, when there's an obvious choice.
Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was the lone Democratic presidential hopeful -- and the only Jewish contender -- in the House chamber for Pope Francis's speech. When he left, he was beaming, as the pope had cited an American Catholic whom Sanders had plenty of praise for." Dorothy Day, Sanders said, "was a valiant fighter for workers, was very strong in her belief for social justice, and I think it was extraordinary that he cited her as one of the most important people in recent American history. This would be one of the very, very few times that somebody as radical as Dorothy Day was mentioned." For more on Sanders' reaction to Francis's address, see Charles Pierce's post linked above.
Reuters: "During a hearing on the NSA, Republican Senator Tom Cotton asked [NSA chief Admiral Mike] Rogers a series of questions related to [Hillary] Clinton's use of a private email server at her home for communications as secretary of state. Rogers said he did not want to be dragged into the issue, but Cotton said he wanted the NSA director's 'professional opinion.' Cotton asked whether Rogers considered the communications of top advisers to the president, even those that are unclassified, a top priority for foreign spy agencies. 'Yes,' Rogers responded." ...
... Tim Stark of Politico: "... Rogers had tried to duck the subject when Cotton asked what he would do if the U.S. secretary of state had asked him about setting up a private server. 'You really want to drag me into this?' Rogers answered. Then he said he would advise the secretary to comply with any applicable regulations."
"Empty Chairs." Artwork by Mic Smith of the AP.Trump Temper Tantrums, Ctd. Eliza Collins of Politico: "Donald Trump is not happy with the Associated Press photographer who took a picture showing a significant number of empty chairs at a South Carolina event on Wednesday -- so unhappy he called him a 'f***ing thief,' according to the Daily Mail. Trump's remarks about wire photographer Mic Smith follow a rough couple of days for his relationship with the press. On Wednesday, he said he would no longer appear on Fox News, which responded that Trump 'doesn't seem to grasp that candidates telling journalists what to ask is not how the media works in this country.' Later, he agreed to a meeting with Fox News CEO Roger Ailes to discuss 'differences of opinion,' the network said in a statement." ...
Ironies Never Cease. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: Donald Trump wants the FCC to fine Rich Lowry for making a "politically incorrect" comment on Fox "News": "Let's be honest: Carly cut his balls off with the precision of a surgeon -- and he knows it." "Trump won't have much luck getting Lowry to pay up for his anatomical comment, as the Federal Communications Commission only polices indecent programming on terrestrial radio and broadcast television -- not cable television...." ...
... Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Marco Rubio struck back at Donald Trump on Thursday, labeling Trump as a 'touchy and insecure guy' who's not informed on the issues.... Trump singled out Rubio in two campaign stops in South Carolina this week, labeling him a 'lightweight,' sweaty, and financially unsuccessful." CW: You might want to pause to think about how Democratic presidential candidates make schoolyard personal attacks against each other. Oh, they don't.
Charles Blow: Ben "Carson says in low register what others shout in anger, and he gets a bit of a pass because of the discordant message and method of delivery. Just because a person is soft-spoken doesn't mean that he is well-spoken.... Carson knows that his outrageous antics in his role as the anti-Obama are a most profitable enterprise. He mixes political critique with Christian theological messaging to rake in quite a bit of money on the lecture circuit.... As a political figure, his stature is diminished as he reveals himself to be intolerant, bordering on soft bigotry, and also reckless and needlessly inflammatory. No one can discount what Carson accomplished professionally, but those accomplishments must now stand shoulder to shoulder with this new persona: whisper-soft purveyor of hyperbolic hucksterism."
Eli Stokols of Politico: "Carly Fiorina is doubling down on her controversial[*] claim that videos show 'babies are being butchered' by Planned Parenthood, writing off anyone who challenges her on the point as part of the 'liberal media.'... 'Interestingly, no one has denied that babies are being butchered for their body parts at Planned Parenthood clinics and elsewhere,' she said as supporters clapped. 'They're trying to have a conversation about a technicality about a video tape. The character of this nation cannot be about butchery of babies for body parts.'"
* CW Note to Eli: Replace "controversial" with "disproved." Note to Carly: No, a "lie" is not a "technicality." And there's nothing in the record anywhere that Planned Parenthood is involved in "butchery of babies for body parts," you lying sack of shit.
My story, from secretary to CEO, is only possible in this nation, and proves that everyone of us has potential. -- Carly Fiorina, second GOP debate, Sept. 16
A free Stanford education -- her father was dean of the law school -- led to Fiorina's subsequent opportunities. That "secretary" job was a typical college-student summer job. "In telling her only-in-America story, she conveniently glosses over the only-for-Fiorina opportunities and options beyond what the proverbial mailroom worker has." -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post
Fiorina's "Horatio Alger" story began at birth. Her father was a law school professor then, & later dean of prestigious law schools. He became friendly with Richard Nixon, who later appointed him deputy attorney general & appellate court judge. He had an undergraduate business degree, & his specialty was tax law. (He was on the three-judge panel that appointed Ken Starr as Whitewater special prosecutor.) Fiorina also benefited from timing. She came up through the business ranks at exactly the time most major businesses were making particular efforts to put women in managerial & executive positions. Fiorina was successful in her own right, but within the subset of people with unique advantages. Being a recipient of numerous breaks that eventually led to her trashing a successful tech company is not all that impressive or unique a resume.
** Jonathan Chait: "Like all of the non-Trump Republican candidates, Jeb Bush's economic strategy is built around a program of regressive, debt-financed tax cuts, just as it was under the last Republican administration. In a very clever interview, John Harwood repeatedly asks Bush why he is pursuing this course despite its repeated failure. Bush's attempts to respond reveal the tangle of denial, non-falsifiability, and cant that undergird the party's unshakable commitment to voodoo economics." CW: Harwood eats Jeb! alive, & Chait provides the relish. ...
... Jeb!, Professional Retread. Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush said here Thursday night that Republicans can win more African American voters by emphasizing a positive message that does not involve promising 'free stuff,' a remark that bore echoes of comments by Mitt Romney that drew criticism in 2012." CW: Jeb! is so lacking in originality & so clueless that he copies even his predecessors' gaffes. ...
... Jaime Fuller of New York: "Jeb Bush showed that not only is he determined to defend and honor the foreign-policy record of his brother, he is also so adamant on being the 2016 Establishment presidential pick that he is willing to bring back the campaign strategies that Mitt Romney, who is not president, used in 2012. And by 'strategies' we of course mean, 'off-the-cuff remarks that were widely condemned.'"
Mark Hensch of the Hill: Rick Santorum, a Roman Catholic, says Pope Francis's stated interest in combatting climate change is just a means of scoring new converts who might like that kind of stuff. "'The Vatican and the Pope are not climate scientists,' Santorum said." ...
... CW: Actually, Rick, you ignorant blowhard, they are. Jeff Nesbitt of US News: "A team of leading scientists and Nobel laureates at the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences provided the underpinning for [Pope Francis's climate encycical] based on the very latest research and scientific reasoning. It's world-class science and more than enough justification for any papal policy work." Francis himself has a master's degree in chemistry. And you don't.
Beyond the Beltway
Murder for Hire. AP: "A former German army sniper was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday after he was caught in a sting operation that tested whether ex-soldiers would kill a federal agent. Dennis Gogel, 29, was sentenced by US District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in Manhattan, who said a long prison sentence was necessary to deter other soldiers from thinking they could use specialized skills they learned in the military to commit crimes once they were civilians.... The judge ... said she doubted his claim that he did not know he was signing up to commit assassinations when he agreed to join a crew protecting a drug organization."
Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The witness, Robert 'Bob' Vandervoort, appeared at a hearing Monday on a bill to make English the official state language, the Patriot-News reported, prompting state Rep. Leslie Acosta (D) to allege that the committee had invited a white supremacist.... The Southern Poverty Law Center has described Vandervoort as being tied 'to white nationalist groups.' But, as the Patriot-News noted, the center characterizes white nationalist groups as espousing 'white supremacist or white separatist ideologies.'" CW: However you label Vandervoort, he's the kind of racist Republican legislators hang with.
News Ledes
USA Today: "Stocks jumped at the open Friday after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said improving economic conditions should allow policymakers to begin raising interest rates this year."
Bloomberg News: "The world's largest economy expanded more than previously forecast in the second quarter, boosted by gains in consumer spending and construction that may help the U.S. withstand a global slowdown. Gross domestic product rose at a 3.9 percent annualized rate, compared with a prior estimate of 3.7 percent, Commerce Department figures showed Friday in Washington."
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Reader Comments (29)
Q. What's the difference between a physicist and a brain surgeon?
A. Most physicists are smart enough not to talk about brain surgery when they don't know anything about it.
For a pretty good explanation of why Carson's Cosmology is fallacious, see:
http://www.factcheck.org/2015/09/carson-rewrites-the-laws-of-thermodynamics/
A little Googling will find many more.
For deeper reading I recommend:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Very-First-Light-Scientific/dp/0465005292
but I'm prejudiced. The author, John Mather of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and George Smoot of UC Berkeley, were the Principal Investigators on the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) spacecraft project. For this they shared the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics.
COBE was the first project I worked on at Goddard. In the appendix to his book, John lists all of our names. There were about 800 of us. I think of this as my 1/800th of a Nobel Prize.
Stephan Hawking has called COBE: "the most important experiment in the history of science." Personally, I'd vote for Ernest Rutherford's scattering experiment, but it's a nice thought.
The Pope's visit was something to behold––his every move was televised, choreographed ("now he's moving away from the door and coming down the steps...", his words discussed and chewed over and over, streets were closed in D.C. and in New York city, and the whole spectacle was spectacular. When was the last time we opened the gates of America so lovingly, so openly to a visitor from another country? But I couldn't help thinking that his messages were progressive messages–––we have heard them from our President, from some in Congress, from a few that are running for President as Democrats, and even from certain journalists and political writers. Yet, these same messages coming from this Pope have a power, evidently, that others don't. So it was gratifying to read this morning Gary Emerling's piece reminding us that Obama's messages are in tune with the Pope's. Someone noticed.
@ P.D.Pepe: Agree wholeheartedly. I just linked a post by Lisa Miller of New York mag that greatly expands on Emerling's observation. I realize one can get carried away with comparisons, but I think Miller makes a good case that the Pope & the President often have similar messages, framed in similar rhetorical arguments. Molly Ball's commentary fits right in, too.
Marie
The NY Times is reporting that John Boehner has announced his immediate resignation fro the Speakership, and from Congress. While some are cheering, I personally do not see how those who want government to actually work will see an improvement from any likely successor to Boehner. I do feel that the timing of this move - still in the middle of the Pope's and Chinese visits - is extremely odd. The exit date is the end of October, according to the Times.
More in Stoopid Doofus:
(HuffPost) "WASHINGTON -- Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) said he disagrees with Pope Francis' call to fight climate change and thinks the pope should not delve into the issue because he "is not a scientist."
"He's not a scientist, he's a religious leader," Bush said, according to a video posted by the Democratic opposition research group American Bridge."
Me about Jeb!: You're not a leader, you're not Presidential material, you're not informed, aware, knowledgeable, capable, able, ready, et al— but, clearly you are a doofus.
After reading about Cheeto Man's imminent departure, I saw a headline for the site Real Clear Politics: "Trump Hides the Left's Own Crazies". Well, I thought, I really must look at this to see who this person, Heather Wilhelm, apparently a lifelong resident of the wingnut echo chamber, considers "crazy" on the left.
You'll never guess.
Here are the crazies whose insane antics are being given cover by Trumpy's presidential perambulations: Hillary Clinton (natch), Joe Biden (of course), and Bernie Sanders (yawn).
These are the craziest people she can think of on the left? The "Left's Own Crazies". But then there's that word "own". At first I thought perhaps there might be some potential for perspicacity in Ms. Wilhelm's tawdry talking points straight out of Confederate Central. But no, she means Trump. You see, there are no crazies on the right. Not by their lights at any rate. Louie Gohmert, Scott Walker, Palin, Steve King, Huckabee, Santorum? All upstanding citizens.
But Hillary Clinton is crazy. How do we know? Wilhelm reveals that while on one of the Sunday morning Gasbag Extravaganzas, Clinton "...let loose her signature wild, unnatural, over-the-top cackle, then shouted like she’d suddenly lost her hearing..." So much for the right's supposed distaste for personal attacks. No effort is made to support the claims for why Biden and Sanders should be considered beyond the pale except name calling.
And how this Wilhelm person can possibly call these people crazy while the pols she reveres, people who haven't done a shred of work, except for obfuscation and obstruction, for YEARS, and are planning to shut down the government for the second time in two years all because women are getting healthcare is far beyond my poor powers to explain or understand.
Which brings us back to Cheeto Man. Yes he's been craven, he's been a liar, he's been a hack, and he's been a largely impotent punching bag for both sides, but he's not certifiably crazy. He's been doing his Mickey the Dunce routine to keep the "Right's Own Crazies" a group which is legion despite what incompetent hacks like Wilhelm believe, at bay. But now he's gone. One can just imagine the whooping and hollering in the monkey cages about who will now be top chimp. Kevin McCarthy? He's the majority leader and 'baggers aren't crazy about him but, according to the ever reliable Digby, he's close to the big money guys and he has a strong organization about him. Next in line is party whip and KKK lover Steve Scalise. That alone would make him a shoo-in for the crazies. But who knows? We may end up with a Speaker Gohmert.
If I thought more of him than I do a drying puddle of spittle on the sidewalk, I'd almost feel bad for Turtle Man McConnell. He's had to get down on his knees to get the House to work with him on anything. Now he'll likely be required to provide sexual services as well (ewwww), probably from a men's room stall.
But mostly, I feel bad for us, the American citizens. We're dealing with a group of whackos so out of touch they describe moderate politcians on the left as insane crazy and support the truly certifiable nuts on the right, whom they believe to be the greatest thing since indoor toilets (how ya doin' in there Mitch? Comfortable?).
The Reign of Stupid is about to crank into overdrive.
Rachel Maddow is right at this moment commenting on the "surprising" timing of Boehner's exit. She also seems to showing a little veiled sympathy for Boehner, something I detected in Akhileus's comment as well. Boehner may not have had the greatest leadership skills, but he had an unenviable job trying to stitch together any coherence from the band of crazies in the House Republican caucus. And to quote Akhileus, Boehner is not "certifiably crazy." A fine left-handed compliment!
Chuck Todd is reporting that the conservative caucus does not have enough members to elect a Speaker, but can keep hectoring whoever is the Speaker. And they want a speaker who is "tougher" toward Democrats. To what end? Anything they could achieve would face a veto from the President.
It seems to me that Boehner's Bolting will most certainly mean a government shutdown -- probably a long one.
Congress is paralyzed already. Now we will have the spectacle of a leadership battle, as the stack of assholes that calls itself the Republican Caucus struggles to elect a new Asshole in Chief.
@D.C.Clark: It appears -- maybe -- that Boehner made a deal to quit if the Crazy Caucus would vote for a clean bill. Stay tuned. You never know what the loons will do.
Marie
Marie,
The loons are also not notorious for honoring agreements.
Just a follow up on that last post because the Wilhelm piece is so irritating.
It's irritating because she, and a long line (pretty much everyone) of "pundits" on the right, never feels the need to back up her opinions. Proof is not needed. The received wisdom is all that's necessary to ensure that their opinions are not just opinions but irrefutable gospel.
Some of us out here (me?) often disparage idiots on the right (there I go again) but if anyone wants proof for why I consider people like Louie Gohmert and Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee stupider than a drilled out tree stump, I can give them chapter and verse, and oh, by the way, how much time do ya have? 'Cause we be here for hours.
But the declaration that Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are "crazies" needs the same sort of support. So whadaya got?
Well, they're for women's rights, healthcare for everyone, livable wages, good jobs, decent education.
That makes them crazy?
And this sort of thing extends far beyond Ms.Wilhelm. When was the last time you heard Ann Coulter provide a single shred of evidence (I mean something verifiable, not some bullshit she just pulled out of her ass, or out and out lies) for any of her outrageous insults. Never. O'Reilly the same way. Same thing for Krauthammer and Kristol and on and on. They don't even bother with proof anymore. There's no effort made to provide some sort of support for their opinions.
The other day I read a piece in the Daily Kos about Ronald Reagan's position on Planned Parenthood. Saint Ronald of Reagan's language differs markedly from the hysterical hyperbolic insults on the right today.
"...An organization of citizens, sincerely motivated and deeply concerned about the increase in illegitimate births and abortions involving girls well below the age of consent, sometime ago established a nationwide network of clinics to offer help to these girls and, hopefully, alleviate this situation."
He goes on to reiterate that their efforts are all well-intentioned and even though he doesn't agree with everything they do, he's not calling them devils from the pit of hell like pretty much everyone on the right today.
I'm not bemoaning the loss of civility in public discourse. I suppose I could, but that boat sailed, hit one of Roger Ailes' mines, blew up and sank like a stone, year ago.
So don't be civil, but at least present your arguments in a well reasoned, well argued manner with citations to back up your most outrageous claims.
And while I'm waiting for that, I'll be learning Mesopotamian Aramaic off ancient stone tablets so I can do my own translation of Hammurabi's Code.
D.C.,
I think Rutherford would get my vote as well. Which is not to say that the cosmic background project isn't one of the cooler things science has had to offer in the last few thousand years.
Marie,
Now that (a deal to nix the Planned Parenthood defunding if Boehner saddles up and rides out of town) would be something.
But--and not to be overly distrustful of the ability of Confederates in the House to stick to such a deal, as D.C. suggests--this sort of agreement requires some kind of organized structure and leadership to ensure that such a compromise would be followed through on. What we have in the House today, is a wild eyed, raggedy-assed bunch of self-centered, power hungry, ignorant zealots who never learned the rules of governance and see no reason why they should now. Who will keep this thing intact? Who now is the Alpha Chimp?
And who will make sure Cruz doesn't come calling on the Crazy Caucus in the House to give them the "Rah-rah-rah-sis-bah-boom, let's bring the gu'mint to the edge of doom" cheer? Like he did last time. Who? McCarthy? He's been a non-entity and Cruz will steamroll him, as will the other crazies in the House. Scalise? He doesn't want a deal to keep Planned Parenthood in place. And there has been little evidence of maturity in the monkey cage.
I'd love to believe that they could act like adults for once, but as I say that, I'm looking at my Babylonian clay tablets and thinking I could achieve fluency before the realization of such an implausible outcome.
Boehner has mainly been a shaky barrier holding back the extremist wing. He's neither a great (or even good) statesman nor a brilliant mind. His kind of back door, influence and money politics never required those skills. Hearing Boehner's name always conjures the image of him distributing tobacco money checks on the floor. Thinking about alternatives for Speaker, the old saw "the devil you know etc..." seems appropriate.
Although Cruz may not have the votes, he will maniacally pursue the Speakership. It's the closest he will ever get to the Presidency. I would say that President Obama has managed to completely flummox the GOP dirtbags with his perserverence and temperament. They never expected the current anti lame duck term. Soon they will be a teaming mass of slimy lizards clawing and climbing over each other. Boehner's resignation foreshadows even more chaos among the GOP candidates.
Interesting that Lyin' Ryan didn't want the speakership. Too hard for him? Too much to ask for him to come to the aid of the country that footed the bill for his education and has given him a cushy living ever since?
I suppose accepting that job would mean he couldn't sit on the sidelines sniping and issuing meaningless budgets the success of which is based on forcing indigent elderly Americans to subsist on cat food and tap water. But then again, responsibility has never been a hallmark for 'baggers and most definitely never one for Ryan.
Besides, picking up the gavel would mean he'd have to lay down the pretense of him being a Big Thinker who can Get Things Done.
Fraud.
Diane,
Apologies. My earlier post about Cruz riling up the imbeciles in the House referred to him coming there from his seat in the Senate, which he has done before, to the chagrin of House leaders. I have no doubt that you're right about Cruz's chances for ultimate power, but the best he can hope for, if he stays in the Senate, is a leadership role in that chamber.
And not for nothin' but I was also struck at the relatively short time most Republican power players have been in office. Cruz hasn't been in office one full term. McCarthy has only been in around 10 years which, if he becomes the next speaker, would mean he'd have one of the lightest (or at least shortest) resumes for someone attaining that position.
It used to be, back in the days of Sam Rayburn, Tip O'Neil, and John McCormack, that the speaker had many years of experience, the better to round up the troops, learn all the legislative maneuvers, and know where the bodies are buried. Boehner was in the House about 17 years before becoming speaker, Gingrich about 15. Pretty soon we'll see freshmen 'baggers demanding the gavel after a few weeks.
Akhilleus,
On occasions when I have addressed high school science classes, I've often used the "most important experiment..." question as a conversation starter. One very bright young woman suggested the Sacrifice of Abraham.
If we expand 'science' to include evolutionary psychology, apply the principal of 'vox populi, vox dei' and view the story as a metaphor on what sacrifice is owed to the common good, it's a damn good answer. As humans evolved in small close kinship groups, self sacrifice and altruism would have been strongly selected for, at least within the local gene pool.
It has relevance today: if there is a one in a thousand chance of your child having an adverse reaction to a vaccine, but universal vaccination will save millions of children, where is your moral duty? What sacrifice can a just society demand of an individual?
We certainly expect to sacrifice individuals on the altar of war. We sing their praises and honor their parents. What sacrifice are we prepared to make in the war on disease?
Try to get any of this through the head of your favorite anti-vaxer fundy.
@Akhilleus. Yup that's what you get when you try to multi task ( baking and posting). I always forget Cruz is in the upper chamber, because I think of him, as well, much lower. We'll have to see what horse he backs.
Akhilleus -
<< And while I'm waiting for that, I'll be learning Mesopotamian Aramaic off ancient stone tablets so I can do my own translation of Hammurabi's Code (!LOL!) . . . thinking I could achieve fluency before the realization of such an implausible outcome. >>
Should you falter, or have overestimated the wait . . .
User-Friendly Hammurabi:
http://www.phillipmartin.info/hammurabi/hammurabi_codeindex.htm
(The translations do come - truly - by way of a Yale scholar.)
@Akhilleus: Just to be clear, there's no reason Cruz couldn't run for the speakership. Who knows? Maybe he will! Legally, one need not be a member of the House to become its speaker, although all speakers in the past have been members.
It would be a great way for him to become president since the speaker is third in line to the presidency. He could become speaker, then the House could impeach Obama & Biden, then all Ted's many friends in the Senate could convict them. Voila! President Ted.
It's just as plausible as his becoming president the old-fashioned way, because the majority in this country is not that crazy. Yet.
Marie
@Diane: You can bake & post simultaneously. See my comment above.
Marie
@Marie:
Your theory of how Cruz could attain the presidency was sending chills up my spine (because it seemed almost plausible) until the last step: his ..."friends in the Senate could convict [Obama and Biden]" My reaction was, Wait a minute, Cruz has no friends. Then I noticed that you referred to Cruz's "many" friends and realized you were being snarky. But what if you substitute another Republican, one less hated into this scenario? I guess I won't worry too much about that, since Republicans can't seem to agree on anyone or anything. But I hope anyway that none of them read your post, so they won't get any ideas.
As Marie points out, you don't have to be a member to be elected Speaker. And as I've suggested here before; they may as well elect Sheldon Adelson and not have to walk so far to kiss his ass.
AK, there's another image for you. Smooooch. Where's that hammer?
D.C.,
Oh c'mon now. You're gonna have to cut that shit out. I'm already on heroin. Any more of this and I'll be sucking down laudanum by the end of the day.
Something I meant to comment on earlier, the knee-slappingly hie-larious argument by Rick Assjuice (sorry, Santorum), about how he wasn't gonna abide by anything that popey dude had to say about climate change, a-cause he isn't a scientist. You many be thinking, well, the joke is that Francis IS a scientist (and Assjuice isn't), but no, the funniest thing about such torpid swill is the fact that neither Assjuice nor any of the lolling-tongued invertebrates he pals around with give a tinker's drunken fart about what any scientist has to say, so what's the fucking point, jerk wad? If you knew, were you not so fucking stoneheaded ignorant, that he WAS a scientist you'd have been convinced? Slap that knee, boy.
I know earlier today I stated that anyone making claims of jerk-waddiness, etc., should be prepared to back up such statements. So, anyone desiring proof of intellectual indolence and assiduous amorality on the part of former Senator Assjuice, who was throttled by PA voters unconvinced that such defective mental machinery might be able to maintain involuntary breathing, please let me know and I will provide a freaking Domesday Book of evidence to that effect.
Lolling-tongued invertebrates. That's the truth.
Ophelia,
Many thanks for the link to the Hammurabi Code code.
As useful as that may be, I believe I'll have more than enough time to learn the language and do it myself, and while I'm at it, learn a dozen other Indo-European tongues, before anyone in Right wing World garners enough wherewithal to tie their own fucking shoes.
But thank you kindly.
I'm a little late to the game here, but I want to point out that Cruz doesn't just come calling to the crazies in the House, he brings Free Pizza! When he puts _that_ much effort into it, he _must_ be worth following down the rat hole.
Kim Davis is changing her party affiliation to Republican. Ha, ha!
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/kentucky-clerk-in-gay-marriage-dispute-kim-davis-joining-gop.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad
Will wonders never cease...I believe Boehner when he says the Pope sealed the deal for him. He woke up this morning and said to himself - I'm done. His plan had been to announce his retirement in November - but might as well get it over with now. Better than fighting for and winning the Speakership now (over a shutdown), just to announce his retirement in November.
The Right now feels it has a victory under its belt so no shutdown at the end of this month. Time to look 'governmental' and all. They'll pass a continuing resolution that's good until December. Then everything will be riding on the NEW Speaker.
Lord help us. Also Obama. This is not going to make his life easier.