;)
The Commentariat -- Sept. 27, 2015
Internal links & defunct videos removed.
(Slightly Early) Afternoon Update:
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "Outgoing House Speaker John A. Boehner, in his first one-on-one interview since announcing his resignation last week, compared conservative hard-liners in his party to biblical 'false prophets' who promise more than they can deliver":
... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) says there will not be a government shutdown over federal funding for Planned Parenthood. 'No,' Boehner said when asked if there would be a shutdown on CBS's 'Face the Nation' on Sunday. 'The Senate is expected to pass a continuing resolution next week. The House will take up the Senate bill.'"
Laurie Goodstein& Daniel Wakin of the New York Times: "Pope Francis turned penitent and pastor Sunday on the final day of a visit to the United States, declaring himself 'overwhelmed by shame' at the sexual violation of children by his clergy, embracing inmates at a local jail, urging young people to leave the loneliness of social media and preparing to bid farewell with a huge downtown Mass." ...
... Laurie Goodstein: "At the start of an otherwise joyous and well-received trip to the United States, Pope Francis hit one seriously sour note: He praised American bishops for their handling of the sexual abuse scandal and told priests he felt their pain -- leaving abuse victims stunned and infuriated, asking why he neglected to even acknowledge their anguish. On the last day of his journey, Francis stepped to a lectern [in Philadelphia] before hundreds of seminarians and bishops from around the world and tried to salve the open wound. He said that he had met in private with a group of victims and pledged that 'all responsible will be held accountable.'"
Hillary Clinton appeared on "Meet the Press":
... As Kate M. points out in today's thread, so did Carly Fiorina. You can watch that questions-&-lies session here.
Bradford Richardson: "... Jeb Bush on Sunday said he did not mean to insinuate that black voters choose Democrats because they want 'free stuff.' The GOP presidential hopeful said his comments were taken out of context. 'They don't want free stuff, that was my whole point,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.'" CW: Uh-huh. ...
... Kyle Cheney of Politico: "The wealthiest Americans would receive sharply higher tax breaks under Jeb Bush's tax proposal, the former Florida governor says, because they pay a disproportionate share of taxes in the first place. 'The simple fact is 1 percent of people pay 40 percent of all the taxes,' Bush said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'Of course, tax cuts for everybody is going to generate more for people that are paying a lot more. I mean that's just the way it is.'" CW: What we have in Jeb! is a flat-taxer who's pretending not to be a flat-taxer.
Kyle Cheney: "Republican presidential hopeful Ben Carson said on Sunday he'd listen to evidence that religion could provide probable cause to search the emails and calls of Syrian refugees in the United States. 'I personally don't feel that way, but I would certainly be willing to listen to somebody who had evidence to the contrary,' Carson said on ABC's 'This Week.' 'I think that's one of the problems, we get to our little corners, and we don't want to listen to anybody.'" CW: Thanks, Dr. Ben, but we already knew you listen to every wacko out there.
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry and the Iranian foreign minister on Saturday discussed steps each country is taking to implement the nuclear deal as Kerry again pressed for the release of three Americans imprisoned in Tehran. In a meeting with Mohammad Javad Zarif at the U.N. General Assembly underway in New York, Kerry 'conveyed the urgency of seeing our detained and missing U.S. citizens come home to be reunited with their families,' said State Department spokesman John Kirby." ...
... Juan Cole: "Ted Cruz said Friday at the Value Voters Summit conference in Washington, D.C., 'If you vote for me, under no circumstances will Iran be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. And if the ayatollah doesn't understand that, we may have to help introduce him to his 72 virgins.'" That is, kill him. AND a few other reasons "Khamenei is risking so much in making a deal with the United States, which has seldom honored international law or even basic human decency when dealing with that country."
Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "Russia's expanding military intervention in Syria has the potential to tilt the course of the war in favor of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, leaving U.S. policies aimed at securing his departure in tatters and setting the stage for a new phase in the four-year-old conflict. Exactly what Russia intends with its rapidly growing deployment of troops, tanks and combat aircraft in the Assad family heartland on Syria's northern coast is difficult to discern, according to military experts and U.S. officials, who say they were not consulted on the Russian moves and were caught off guard by the intervention." ...
... AP: "Iraqi will begin sharing 'security and intelligence' information with Russia, Syria and Iran to help combat the advances of the Islamic State group, the Iraqi military announced Sunday. A statement issued by the Iraqi Joint Operations Command said the countries will 'help and cooperate in collecting information about the terrorist Daesh group,' using the Arabic acronym for the Islamic State group." ...
... Angela Charlton of the AP: "France has fired its first airstrikes in Syria as it expands military operations against Islamic State extremists, President Francois Hollande's office announced Sunday." ...
... Eric Schmitt & Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Nearly 30,000 foreign recruits have now poured into Syria, many to join the Islamic State, a doubling of volunteers in just the past 12 months and stark evidence that an international effort to tighten borders, share intelligence and enforce antiterrorism laws is not diminishing the ranks of new militant fighters." ...
Jonathan Weisman & Michael Shear of the New York Times: John "Boehner's sudden announcement on Friday that he will step down from the speakership and leave the House on Oct. 30 has thrown Washington into deep uncertainty. His resignation is likely to herald an even more combative stretch in the nation's capital, emboldening conservatives to defy [President] Obama on looming decisions regarding spending, debt and taxes.... [There is] is a sense of dread that an already bitter and divisive political atmosphere is about to get even worse.... Uncompromising conservatives on and off Capitol Hill are demanding the elevation of one of their own to confront the president at every turn." ...
... Mike DeBonis & Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "House Speaker John A. Boehner's stunning resignation throws the congressional agenda into disarray.... By defusing a conservative revolt that threatened to end his speakership, Boehner's announcement effectively ended the immediate threat of a government shutdown. And because he is not leaving Congress until Oct. 30, some Republicans and many Democrats are hoping the speaker finds the resolve to push through legislation that enjoys bipartisan support but has been stalled by conservative objections. Yet any progress may be hampered by the internal politics of the House Republican Conference and the leadership races to replace Boehner and his lieutenants." ...
... "The Cannibal Party." Todd Purdum in Politico Magazine: "Boehner's fall was just the latest example of the self-consuming culture that has bedeviled the House GOP conference for nearly 60 years.... The party;s deep ideological fissures -- including balancing the moderate wing's desire to govern the country effectively with the wing of the party that believes the GOP should be trying to get rid of all but the most minimal government entirely -- have roiled the caucus for years.... 'Eric Cantor was the first casualty of the monster he helped build,' [Norm] Ornstein says...." ...
... Hoist with His Own Petard. Jamelle Bouie: John Boehner "helped craft the Contract With America with Newt Gingrich, and stood on the right flank of the House Republican caucus for most of his career. After Barack Obama took office, Boehner immediately moved to opposition, accusing him of 'snuffing out' the America he knew and comparing politics in 2010 to America's fight against Great Britain. 'There's a political rebellion brewing,' he said, 'and I don't think we've seen anything like it since 1776.'... But then the revolution spiraled out of control."
Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "House Republicans will launch a select committee to investigate the controversial Planned Parenthood videos, Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said .... in the weekly Republican address. CW: You can see how House Republicans are really getting down to the business of governance now that Boehner is gone. ...
The Speaker's resignation has not yet broken Republicans' fevered obsession with shutting down government at the expense of women's health.... With this Committee, Republicans are trying to make it easier to shut down the government and harder for millions of women to access the lifesaving health care they need.. -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi
** Heather Richardson in Salon: "Extremists [and] authoritarians now run the GOP.... The fantasy world of Movement Conservatives is no longer fringe talk. The leading candidates for the Republican presidential nomination embrace it. They are playing to a chorus of true believers, and they are preaching what that choir wants to hear. They are following the same pattern Eric Hoffer identified as the path to authoritarianism. Last week, 43 percent of Republicans polled said they could imagine a scenario in which they would back a military coup. This week, Movement Conservatives in Congress knocked off a conservative speaker because he refused to sacrifice the American government to their demands." Richardson argues that crazy has always been the plan.
Pope Francis's scheduled events today, via Time:
9:15 a.m.: Pope will meet with Bishops at St. Martin's Chapel, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
11 a.m.: Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, the city's largest jail.
4 p.m.: Mass at World Meeting of the Families.
7 p.m.: Meeting with World Meeting organizers, benefactors and volunteers.
8 p.m.: Official departure.
... More on the planned events from Daniel Wakin of the New York Times. ...
... Jim Yardley & Daniel Wakin of the New York Times: "Standing near Independence Hall..., Pope Francis on Saturday called religious freedom a 'fundamental right' and laid out a broad and tolerant vision of what it should be, but also warned about its perversion 'as a pretext for hatred and brutality.'... Francis emerged from Independence Hall to the strains of Aaron Copland's 'Fanfare for the Common Man.' He stood at the lectern used by Abraham Lincoln to deliver the Gettysburg Address, and in his own address, Francis extolled the principles of the country's founding fathers embodied by the Declaration of Independence signed in the building behind him." ...
... Here's an English translation of Francis's remarks at Independence Hall, as prepared. ...
... Maureen Dowd: "Pope Francis would be the perfect pontiff -- if he lived in the 19th century. But how, in 2015, can he continue to condone the idea that women should have no voice in church decisions?... Francis preaches against the elites while keeping the church an elite boys' club.... If only the pope could apply this Golden Rule: Do unto women as you would have them do unto you."
Joseph Mayton of the Guardian: "Narendra Modi touched down in San Jose around noon on Saturday, to begin a two-day visit to Silicon Valley. The Indian prime minister's whirlwind tour of the world's top technology companies had much of the San Francisco Bay Area excited about the tech sector's role in an increasingly influential country."
Cara Anna of the AP: "China's president on Saturday pledged billions in aid and said Beijing will forgive debts due this year in an effort to help the world's poorest nations, as world leaders begin to seek the trillions of dollars needed to help achieve sweeping new development goals."
Presidential Race
Amy Chozik of the New York Times: "Former President Bill Clinton blamed Republicans who hope to undercut his wife's presidential chances and a voracious political news media uninterested in substance for the furor surrounding Hillary Rodham Clinton's use of a private email account and server while she was secretary of state. 'I have never seen so much expended on so little,' Mr. Clinton said in a taped interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria that will be shown on Sunday."
Reuters: "Family Research Council Action, a Christian lobbying group, said on Saturday that more attendees polled at the Values Voter Summit said [Ted] Cruz ... should be the party's presidential nominee for the November 2016 election. Cruz, who also won the group's so-called 'straw poll' the previous two years, took 35 percent of the support among the nearly 2,700 summit-goers, followed by [Ben] Carson with 18 percent, the group said in a statement. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee got 14 percent and U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida 13 percent. Business tycoon Donald Trump ... came in fifth place with 5 percent. Carson led among attendees for the vice presidential nod with 25 percent support among those polled, followed by former business executive Carly Fiorina with 21 percent and Cruz with 14 percent, the group said." ...
... Steve Peoples & Jill Colvin of the AP: "Religious activists in the Republican Party, bolstered by House Speaker John Boehner's sudden exit, say the next GOP presidential nominee must share their uncompromising stance on abortion rights, gay marriage and other priorities to get to the White House. 'You cannot win a primary and then succeed in the general election without having strength within the ranks of social conservative voters,' said Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council Action." ...
... CW: So when I took that online test which showed I agreed with Bernie Sanders on the issues only 99 percent of the time, it proved he wasn't good enough for me. It isn't Jesus who's inspiring these self-described Christians; it's egocentrism. In fact, the Jesus of the Gospel of Luke would not be nearly good enough for them. Our theological question of the day: Are you a Christian if you wouldn't vote for Jesus?
Does Not Play Well with Others. Drew Harwell & Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "... [Carly] Fiorina, 61, has pointed to her leadership of [Hewlett-Packard] to showcase her corporate savvy and courage under fire. She has blamed the dot-com bust, sexism and an ineffective board of directors for helping sink what was then a global juggernaut. But in interviews with more than two dozen former HP senior directors and employees, many remember Fiorina's legacy as troubling and divisive: A high-energy marketer, she nevertheless failed to deliver on lofty promises, alienated her workforce and presided over a disastrous reign at what was once a Silicon Valley pioneer."
Beyond the Beltway
Elahi Izadi of the Washington Post: "If you receive government assistance in the state of Maine, Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonald thinks the public has a right to know about it. In a Thursday column for the Twin City Times, Macdonald said a bill will be submitted during Maine's next legislative session "asking that a Web site be created containing the names, addresses, length of time on assistance and the benefits being collected by every individual on the dole." Lewiston is the second-largest city in Maine. CW: I guess Old Macdonald there was so busy writing his hate screed against the poor, he didn't have time to listen to Pope Francis. Macdonald is a Roman Catholic:
Being Catholic, I find it annoying when pseudo-intellectual eggheads launch into a vitriol rant condemning church doctrine because it offends them. Well, boo hoo. -- Lewiston Mayor Robert Macdonad, April 2013
Not being Catholic, I find it annoying when hateful wingnuts make concerted efforts to shame the poor. -- Constant Weader, September 2015
Share Article
Reader Comments (7)
I think it's perfectly clear why Russia would do what it's doing with Syria: they have established territory on the Black Sea, and now they are trying to establish a foothold on the Mediterranean. If they can do this, they have access to the west. No other country in the area could do this for Russia.
Be prepared to "lose your lunch" as you watch this Press the Meat tape of Tuck Chodd interviewing Cary Fiorina. To Tuck's credit, he made a stab at confronting The Iron Crazy, but she stuck to her story. In case you have not seen the tape, to which she refers as ("a live, fully formed fetus kicking on a table about to have his brain removed,") I have. It is obviously doctored and badly narrated by an angry, inarticulate former short time lab employee of the company to whom Planned Parenthood sold fetal tissue. You can Google it, if you want to be more disgusted--and know more about how crazy is The Iron Crazy. But I think this is enough to see. I get a stomach ache just watching her. What a horrible, lying piece of shit! She makes Hillary look like Mother Theresa.
http://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/carly-fiorina-disputed-abortion-clip-absolutely-does-exist-n434446
The repugnant filth that composes the cabal of GOP candidates would be ever so easier to take if they didn't profess to base their entire ideology and actions on a divine being. After declaring their souls for God, they cloth themselves in a cheap shiny suit fit for a sleazy reality TV show. The proof is their inability to be humble or to show any mercy and love for humanity while they storm forward as hateful maniacs. Hello????Pope Francis means YOU!
O.K. boys and girls. Don't forget to watch 60 minutes tonite (90
minutes). Two of our faves: The Donald and The Vlad. Two guys
I'd most like not to have a beer with, or split a bottle of Vodka.
On another subject... Putin is taking a hard line on not getting rid of Assad in Syria--says the Syrians themselves must decide. Gotta say, after talking with a Syrian-born friend here, I agree. Just look at what happened when we invaded Iraq and overthrew Iraq.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/09/putin-overthrowing-assad-lead-failed-state-150927151816200.html
Of course, Israel will never agree to "let go." Which means the U.S. will not either. I fear there is more, much more, war in our future. We should listen to Pope Frankie!
Sorry..... I meant to say, of course, "when we invaded Iraq and overthrew SADDAM!"
I'm with Kate. We should have learned a lesson when Saddam and Kadaffi fell. Voids are very dangerous things.