The Commentariat -- Dec. 29, 2015
Internal links removed.
Be sure to read today's Comments section. It's 5 am here, & the comments already are packed with wisdom (as they are most days). BTW, I may lose power today, so if Reality Chex looks stunted, it's only because I'm sitting in the dark. -- Marie
Paul Krugman: "Obama the Job Killer":
Walter Mondale, in a New York Times op-ed: "American diplomats have made remarkable progress across a number of fronts, from climate change to checking Iran's nuclear ambitions. Such success depends on making common cause with our allies, an effort led by America's ambassadors. And yet, thanks to Senate politics, dozens of ambassadorial nominations have been delayed unnecessarily.... When it comes to security, an ambassador acts as a sort of general, coordinating diplomatic and intelligence activities. Without someone in that post, lapses are likely.... Despite the vital national interest in working with Norway and Sweden, the Senate has failed to take a vote on nominees for the ambassadorships to either country, nominees who were unanimously approved by the Foreign Relations Committee this summer.... This is an unconscionable abuse of senatorial power...." Oh, and Marco Rubio is an idiot (paraphrase). CW: Mondale is, of course, a former senator, former vice president, & former ambassador to Japan & respected expert on international relations. No one is better qualified to speak out on this issue.
Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "The F.A.A. said it was in charge of anything in the air. The agency took the position as part of an introduction of new recreational drone rules, which included requiring users to register in a national database starting this month. The F.A.A.'s new stance sets up potential clashes across the country. Local and state lawmakers, concerned about the safety and privacy risks that drones pose, have been passing rules about the machines at a rapid pace."
"Democracy" for the Few. Digby, in Salon, on the many ways Republicans are trying -- as they long have done -- to suppress the minority vote. ...
... THESE People Think That's a Right Good Idea. Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: The success of Donald Trump's candidacy has encouraged a disparate group of white nationalists who call themselves the "alt right," an alternative to conservative (or "cuckservative," in their incarnation) policies. They're kind of confused about what their movement represents: secession, bashing Jews & other minorities, or just making what they think are clever or ironical derogatory comments on Websites they populate. While they claim not to be white supremacists (they say they don't care that Trump has a Jewish daughter), immediately after Gray interviewed a prominent alt right guy for this piece, "... a stream of anti-Semitic tweets came my way, without a word of this story having yet been written or published." CW: As far as I can tell, the main difference between the alt right & the Klan is that the alt right (a) doesn't have outfits, & (b) is less sociable, working mostly out of the isolated anonymity of their basements.
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian (Dec. 26): "Lawyers representing Guantánamo Bay detainees who have been held at the camp in Cuba for up to 14 years without charge or trial have accused President Obama of stalling on his promise to close the military prison."
David Sanger & Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "A Russian ship left Iran on Monday carrying almost all of Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium, fulfilling a major step in the nuclear deal struck last summer and, for the first time in nearly a decade, apparently leaving Iran with too little fuel to manufacture a nuclear weapon. The shipment was announced by Secretary of State John Kerry and confirmed by a spokesman for Russia's civilian nuclear company, Rosatom. Mr. Kerry called it 'one of the most significant steps Iran has taken toward fulfilling its commitment' and American officials say that it may now be only weeks before the deal reached in July will go into effect."
New York Times Editors: "... the [qualified] victory [of Iraqi forces in Ramadi] is the clearest sign yet that the Islamic State, after laying claim to huge parts of Iraq and Syria in 2014, is losing momentum and in retreat.... It is estimated that the group's control of Iraqi territory has shrunk by 40 percent since last year.... Iraq's leaders will need a political and military strategy for holding Ramadi permanently before they can move on to retake Mosul."
Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "Tashfeen Malik apparently claimed she was pregnant when she was interviewed by a visa officer after she had applied for permanent U.S. residence in the fall of 2014.... It appears that Malik, who was born in Pakistan, became pregnant shortly after she arrived in the U.S. on July 27, 2014, on a K-1 fiancee visa. The couple had previously married in Saudi Arabia, and then obtained a marriage license from Riverside County on Aug. 16, 2014.... Malik's pregnancy may have been noted as evidence to show her marriage was legitimate."
Jim Fallows: President "Obama doesn't watch TV news. Good."
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "President Barack Obama will host Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in March, the White House announced Monday. Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will hold a state dinner with Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, on March 10."
Beyond the Beltway
Cory Shaffer of Cleveland.com: "A Cuyahoga County grand jury on Monday elected not to bring criminal charges against the two Cleveland police officers involved in last year's fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The decision not to indict officers Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback brings to an end a months-long criminal investigation into the high-profile shooting. Monday's decision comes more than 13 months after the shooting, which catapulted Cleveland into the national debate about police use of force." ...
... Leilla Atassi of Cleveland.com: "On the heels of a grand jury's decision Monday not to indict the Cleveland police officers involved in the shooting death of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, [Cleveland] Mayor Frank Jackson pledged a thorough administrative review of the events surrounding the shooting last November." ...
Tamir Rice's death was a heartbreaking tragedy and I understand how this decision will leave many people asking themselves if justice was served. We all lose, however, if we give in to anger and frustration and let it divide us. -- Ohio Gov. John Kasich, in a statement
... Sara Dorn of Cleveland.com: "Supporters of the 12-year-old boy shot to death by a Cleveland police officer gathered at the site of the shooting Monday afternoon after Cuyahoga County prosecutors announced the officers involved will not face criminal charges." ...
... The New York Times story, by Mitch Smith, is here. ...
... ** Leon Neyfakh of Slate: "The [grand jury's] decision was influenced by [prosecutor Timothy] McGinty's belief -- presented to the grand jury as a formal recommendation -- that there was no probable cause to conclude that [Tamir] Rice's shooting had been a crime, as well as by testimony from witnesses and experts who appeared before the jurors in closed-door hearings.... The central concept in the case ... is known in law enforcement circles as 'officer-created jeopardy': situations in which police officers are responsible for needlessly putting themselves in danger, committing an unforced tactical error that makes them vulnerable -- and then using deadly force to protect themselves.... Questions arise because of a 1989 Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor, which established the constitutional test by which all use of force cases involving the police must be evaluated in court." ...
... Jamelle Bouie of Slate: "Strip away the rhetoric, and McGinty has made a clear statement about police conduct: If police perceive a threat to their lives then they've de facto justified their actions regardless of context, even if it ends with taking the life of a child. That includes situations like the Rice shooting, where police chose to create a confrontation, rather than manage an encounter.... What we see with Tamir Rice -- and what we've seen in shootings across the country -- is what happens when the officer's safety supercedes the obligation to accept risk."
Danica Coto of the AP: "A Puerto Rico policeman fatally shot two high-ranking officers and a policewoman on Monday following an argument and hostage taking at work that temporarily shut down the station in the U.S. territory's second largest city, authorities said. The suspect was immediately placed under arrest. The suspect, Guarionex Candelario Rivera, held a female lieutenant, a male commander and a policewoman hostage in an office before he killed them, police spokeswoman Mayra Ayala told The Associated Press. She said authorities were about to start negotiations with the 50-year-old suspect when the victims were killed."
Natasha Korecki of Politico: "In the midst of a police crisis that has drawn national scrutiny and calls for his resignation, [Chicago] Mayor Rahm Emanuel is returning early from a Cuban vacation that was to span about 16 days, his office confirmed Monday." CW: Perhaps worth noting: it's illegal for U.S. citizens to vacation in Cuba; Rahm took his whole family on the unlawful jaunt.
** Chico Harlan of the Washington Post: "In the metropolitan areas of the Deep South, government policies and rising real estate prices have pushed the poor out of urban centers and farther from jobs. Low-income people have, in turn, grown more reliant on public transit networks that are among the weakest of quality in the country. When they search for work, they step into a region where pay tends to be low and unemployment tends to be high.... The safety net has expanded for those who can hold down jobs, but it has shrunk for those who cannot." ...
... Joe Mozingo of the Los Angeles Times: "With the lowest median income of any city its size in the state, San Bernardino has become one of the cheapest places to live in urban Southern California. That has given immigrant families ... an affordable place they hope will launch their children into America's middle class. The terror attack this month drew the president and throngs of national media to a city well known for its failings. Some residents took that tragedy as a cue to remind one another on social media that run-of-the-mill shootings and robberies continue at an alarming rate."
Our Ignorant, Violent Bigots. Peter Holley of the Washington Post: "White Americans continue to attack American Sikhs, often because the white ignoramuses think the Sikhs are Muslims. "'Over the last few weeks, the level of intimidation is worse than it was after Sept. 11th,' Harsimran Kaur, the Sikh Coalition's legal director, told The Post. 'Then, people were angry at the terrorists and now they're angry at Muslims, anyone who is seen as Muslim, or anyone who is perceived as being "other."'"
Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times: "... two private bankers who worked at a Bedford-Stuyvesant branch of JPMorgan Chase, Jonathan Francis and Dion Allison..., and their accomplices withdrew about $400,000 from the accounts [of elderly or dead bank clients] over two years, according to [a New York state] indictment.... JPMorgan Chase has already faced accusations of fraud among staff members this year. In April, an investment adviser, Michael Oppenheim, was charged in Federal District Court in Manhattan with stealing $20 million from seven of the bank's clients. Also in April, another employee, Peter Persaud, who worked at a Chase branch in Brooklyn, was accused of selling customer data ... to an informant and an undercover officer."
Evan Perez of CNN: "Mexican authorities have detained so-called 'affluenza' teen Ethan Couch and his mother near the popular Mexican Pacific beach resort town of Puerto Vallarta, officials briefed on the matter told CNN. Couch, 18, went missing earlier this month, two years after he made national news when he was sentenced to probation for a drunken driving crash that killed four people.... The case ... drew widespread attention after a psychologist testified that Couch, who was 16 at the time, suffered from 'affluenza,' describing him as a rich kid whose parents didn't set limits for him."
Presidential Race
Being called wacko by a pathological liar like Mr. Trump makes me think he is getting nervous that the American people are catching on to his pathetic policies, which include giving hundreds of billions of dollars in tax breaks to billionaires like himself while refusing to raise the $7.25 an hour minimum wage. -- Bernie Sanders, in a statement ...
... Jana Kasperkevic & Edward Helmore of the Guardian: "Donald Trump ... has changed his mind about wages: Americans aren't earning enough.... 'Wages in are [sic] country are too low, good jobs are too few, and people have lost faith in our leaders. We need smart and strong leadership now!' Trump tweeted on Monday. The opinion appeared to reverse what [Trump] ... said in November during the fourth Republican debate.... '[T]axes too high, wages too high, we're not going to be able to compete against the world. I hate to say it, but we have to leave [the minimum wage] the way it is,' Trump said at the time.... [Sen. Bernie] Sanders ... [said] on CBS Face the Nation on Sunday, 'This is a guy who does not want to raise minimum wage,' he said of Trump. 'In fact, he has said that wages in America are too high.' Trump lashed back at Sanders, tweeting: '[Bernie Sanders] -- who blew his campaign when he gave Hillary a pass on her e-mail crime, said that I feel wages in America are too high. Lie!'" ...
... CW: It would appear that the guy who claims to have "the world's greatest memory" is suffering from senile dementia. Some may call his charge that Sanders lied to be clever obfuscation. I call it demented. ...
... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump unleashed a torrent of criticism at the publisher of an influential New Hampshire newspaper on Monday and at the paper's preferred candidate, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey. The double-barreled attack came after the publisher, Joseph W. McQuaid of The Union Leader, wrote an editorial comparing Mr. Trump to 'Biff,' the egomaniacal entrepreneur in the 'Back to the Future' movies. Mr. Trump responded by giving an interview to WMUR, a local television station with a deep rivalry with The Union Leader, in which he called Mr. McQuaid 'a real lowlife' who had repeatedly asked him for personal favors." ...
... CW: You'll have to read Haberman's full post to get the gist of Trump's tirade. It would be difficult to write a daily feature called "Who Did Trump Insult Today?" because he insults so many people every day. He's a real sicko. ...
... Katherine Krueger of TPM: "After months of free buzz around his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump is planning a substantial television advertising blitz that could cost upwards of $2 million a week ahead of the Iowa caucuses, according to a Fox News report."
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: Rick Santorum wants you to know that it wasn't Donald Trump who has been featured in ISIS anti-American propaganda; it was he, "Catholic crusader and American politician" Rick Santorum. Kaczynski provides the proof.
Josh Barro of the New York Times explains Ted Cruz's "simple, radical tax plan," which consists primarily of a 10 percent flat tax & a 16 percent value-added tax (VAT). CW: Barro discusses the inflationary effect of the plan & how the Fed would likely try to control it, but he doesn't mention how Ted's retro plan to return to the gold standard (no, I'm not kidding) might constrain the Fed's ability to react to Ted's radical plan. Maybe Barro, like Wall Street, thinks Ted is kidding about the gold standard.
... CW: Nor does Barro, who is a conservative, note, as James Kwak does, that "60% of the tax cut goes to the top 1%.... The only policies we have that limit the transmission of wealth from generation to generation are the estate tax and taxes on investment income. Eliminating one and slashing the other, as Ted Cruz proposes, is the single biggest step we can take toward becoming an aristocracy of inherited wealth."
Jim Newell of Slate has a kind of funny post titled "Ben Carson needs to get over himself." It's accompanied by a funny video of Ben Carson closing his eyes.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Daniela Deane of the Washington Post: "Belgian police arrested two people over the weekend suspected of planning a New Year's Eve attack on 'symbolic places' in Brussels, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.... Islamic State propaganda, military-type clothing and computer material was also seized in the raids [in several cities], prosecutors announced, but no weapons or explosives."
Angus Hervey of Medium finds "11 reasons why 2015 was a great year for humanity."
News Ledes
Weather Channel: "... floods have already been responsible for at least 17 deaths in the Plains and Midwest. In Missouri, Gov. Jay Nixon activated the National Guard to support emergency personnel and protect communities affected by the floods."
AP: "Israel's former prime minister Ehud Olmert is to go to prison in February for his role in a bribery scandal after the country's supreme court reduced his sentence from six years to 18 months. The court partially accepted his appeal and cleared the ex-premier of the main bribery charge but upheld part of his conviction for taking a lesser bribe."
NBC News: "Country singer Craig Strickland has been declared missing following a duck-hunting trip in stormy conditions with a friend who turned up dead. Officials began searching for Strickland -- lead singer of country-rock group Backroad Anthem -- and his 22-year-old friend Chase Morland on Sunday after they failed to return from duck-hunting on Kaw Lake, according to NBC affiliate KFOR. Morland's body was found in the lake on Monday, according to a statement from the Oklahoma Highway Patrol."