The Commentariat -- July 20, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Influential Republicans called it 'inappropriate' and an 'affront' to Americans that President Barack Obama took his nuclear accord with Iran to the United Nations before a congressional vote, with Sen. Marco Rubio dubbing July 20 as 'Obama's Capitulation Monday.' On Monday morning, the U.N. Security Council unanimously backed the pact to scale back Iran's nuclear ambitions and begin loosening some sanctions, the same day that the 60-day congressional review clock began ticking on Capitol Hill. Though Congress has the ability to block lifting congressional sanctions on Iran that are a key portion of the deal, members of both parties are frustrated that the vote for international economic relief for Iran comes two months before a pivotal congressional vote.... Asked Sunday on 'Meet the Press' if this move jams Congress, [Secretary of State John] Kerry responded: 'Absolutely not. We specifically, to protect the Congress, put in a 90-day period before [the U.N. resolution] takes effect. So nothing will change,' Kerry said." See also Akhilleus's comment in today's thread.

Josel DelReal of the Washington Post: "Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to apologize to military families Monday during his first public comments since the flamboyant real estate mogul mocked his military record in a campaign event Saturday. 'I think he may owe an apology to the families of those who have sacrificed in conflict and those who have undergone the prison experience in serving their country,' McCain said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' Monday, stressing that prisoners of war serve honorably. 'Somehow to denigrate that in any way, their service, I think is offensive to most of our veterans.'"

Russell Contreras of the AP: "Citing sprawl development and a need for more Mexican-American elected officials, 'Breaking Bad' actor Steven Michael Quezada said he is jumping in a heated race for county commissioner in Albuquerque, New Mexico." Quezada is a Democrat.

*****

Nick Gass of Politico: "The United Nations Security Council unanimously agreed to the nuclear deal between Iran and six world powers on Monday. The resolution, which will expire in 10 years, also allows for a 'snap back' mechanism for U.N. sanctions to go back in place in case Iran reneges on the agreement." ...

... Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, in a round of interviews that aired Sunday, defended the deal they negotiated with Iran, saying that it leaves the Middle East safer and that there is no viable alternative. 'The real fear of that region should be that you don't have the deal,' Kerry said in an interview on CNN's 'State of the Union.'"

Martin Pengelly of the Guardian: "Three days after four marines and a sailor were killed by a gunman with Middle Eastern roots and a father who was once on the terrorism watch list, the chairman of the House homeland security committee heralded US successes against 'over 60' would-be terrorist attacks by 'Isis followers' in the last year. Of the attack in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Michael McCaul said: 'What keeps us up at night are really the ones that we don't know about and I'm afraid that this case really falls into that category.'" ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "In an America held hostage by the gun lobby, radicalized lone-wolf terrorists can get their hands on deadly weapons and mountains of ammunition just as easily as disturbed post-adolescents, delusional military subcontractors, virulent racists, and anybody else.... According to officials, at least some of the weapons in Abdulazeez's possession were obtained legally.... In an era of domestic terrorism, gun laws are turning into a national-security issue." ...

... Alan Zarembo of the Los Angeles Times: "Seeking tighter controls over firearm purchases, the Obama administration is pushing to ban Social Security beneficiaries from owning guns if they lack the mental capacity to manage their own affairs, a move that could affect millions whose monthly disability payments are handled by others.The push is intended to bring the Social Security Administration in line with laws regulating who gets reported to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.... About 4.2 million adults receive monthly benefits that are managed by 'representative payees.'" The VA uses such a system.

Kiss the Ring, Ignore the Message. Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "When Pope Francis comes to Capitol Hill in September, he will be the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of Congress, where more than 30 percent of the members are Catholic. The visit will fulfill a long-held dream of [Speaker John] Boehner, who says only his working-class roots as a bar owner's son are more essential to his core than his Catholic upbringing. He has extended offers to popes for the last 20 years, and Francis, after taking nearly a year to consider, was the first to accept. The pope's visit comes with inherent tension for many Republicans, including those who are Catholic."

Paul Krugman: "How did things go so wrong [with the European economy]? The answer is that this is what happens when self-indulgent politicians ignore arithmetic and the lessons of history.... I'm talking about ultra-respectable men in Berlin, Paris, and Brussels, who have spent a quarter-century trying to run Europe on the basis of fantasy economics.... Europe is paying a terrible price for this monstrous self-indulgence." ...

... CW: I know European politicians are not nearly as dependent upon their richy-rich friends as are American pols, but it appears to me Europe's wealthy creditors have many friends in the grand halls of government. I don't believe Merkel, Cameron, et al., & their ministers are too damned dumb to understand rudimentary macroeconomics. Neither are they clueless about the contrasting results of post-WWI & -WWII economic policies. Instead, I think they're doing what their creditor friends say & making convenient excuses about it, in the same way the few intelligent Republicans do here. If Barack Obama could buy into "belt-tightening" rhetoric & policies during a deep recession, why expect better of Europe's political hacks?

Azam Ahmed of the New York Times: "After more than a half-century defined by mistrust and rancor, the United States officially reopened its six-story embassy in the Cuban capital on Monday, the culmination of many months of negotiations to overcome decades of historical enmity and to restore diplomatic relations between the two nations.... The official celebration to inaugurate the American Embassy will not take place until later in the summer, when Secretary of State John Kerry plans to visit, to formally raise the flag and install the new signage." ...

... Paul Lewis of the Guardian: "Diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba have been officially restored, with Cuba's foreign minister set to take the hugely symbolic step of raising his country's flag at a newly designated embassy in Washington later on Monday. Bruno Rodríguez, visiting the US capital for the first time in his life, will conduct the ceremony at the mansion which has not functioned as an embassy for more than 50 years."

Manuel Roig-Franzia & Karen Heller of the Washington Post: Bill Cosby's "strategy of ­suppressing coverage of ­sexual-assault accusations has unraveled in stunning fashion. The comedian's own words, included in hundreds of pages of his recently disclosed deposition in a civil lawsuit filed against Cosby by one of his accusers, are being pored over by lawyers who say his admission under oath to supplying drugs to possible sexual partners will bolster efforts to sue him for tens of millions of dollars. They also might be used by law enforcement officials to prosecute the comedy icon, who has not been tried in criminal court, although that possibility could be more remote because of statutes of limitations."

Annals of Journalism. Dawn Ennis of the Advocate: "NBC News pulled out its Nightly News anchor chair Saturday night for Thomas Roberts, the rugged and dashing MSNBC host who came out when it was still considered career suicide. With millions watching, Roberts made history, as the first out anchor of an evening newscast on any of the major TV networks."

Presidential Race

Annie Linskey of the Boston Globe: "Through some combination of political skill, fortuitous timing, well-tuned messaging, and sheer luck this has become the Summer of Sanders -- in which an unkempt 73-year-old man who isn't even a member of the Democratic Party is mounting the strongest challenge to the Democratic establishment. He's gone from being dismissed as a fringe candidate to having a huge early impact on the primary." ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Bernie Sanders drew more than 11,000 people to a rally Saturday night in downtown Phoenix -- the largest crowd to date for a presidential candidate whose audiences have been swelling in recent months. The Vermont senator ... got a rock-star-like reception from supporters who streamed into a cavernous lower-level room of the city's convention center." ...

... David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: Bernie Sanders went to Congress in 1990 in large part because the NRA backed him. ...

... Martin Pegelly: "Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders returned to the issue of police brutality against African Americans on Saturday, after their appearances at a presidential forum at Netroots Nation in Phoenix were disrupted by angry protesters." ...

... Chris Moody of CNN: "Democratic presidential candidate Martin O'Malley apologized on Saturday for saying 'All lives matter' while discussing police violence against African-Americans with liberal demonstrators." ...

... ** Driftglass: "For the organizers [of the Netroots Nation meeting,] this was stepping-on-their-own-dick failure of historic proportions. Honestly, I have never understood why the Netroots crew cannot seem to learn a single damn thing from outfits like CPAC, which draws huge crowds, big-time press coverage and which no first-tier (or second-tier... or third-tier...) Republican candidate would dare miss. But for whatever reason, each year the Netroots' crew manages to make themselves less influential than the year before. And this time -- as the moderator abandoned his duties entirely and turned the proceedings over to the protesters -- they may have hit Peak Irrelevance." Driftglass goes on to weave the Netroots story into his Sunday showz takedown. CW: An excellent piece for our never-ending "Annals of 'Journalism' Ctd. feature.

Free Market Fail. Gabriel Sherman of New York: "What this year's primary shows is that -- at least when it comes to presidential elections -- the GOP is at risk of becoming less of a political party and more like a talent agency for the conservative media industry. Jumping into the race provides a (pseudo)candidate with a national platform to profit from becoming a political celebrity.... With her 2008 breakout, Sarah Palin ... made being a potential primary contender a full-time job.... As this year's ballooning GOP field shows, there are many long-shot candidates who are seeking to follow her path.... These candidates have made six- and seven-figure paydays even before the first ballot is cast.... It's ironic that Republicans are now fretting that their media-driven primary is damaging the party's electoral prospects. They are, after all, the party of the free market. What is more free than a candidate earning millions from the primary process?"

Dana Bash of CNN: "In a weekend interview with Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker about whether the Boy Scouts should allow gay troop leaders, CNN's Dana Bash asked Walker, 'Do you think being gay is a choice?' 'I don't have an opinion on every single issue out there. To me, that's, I don't know,' Walker answered. 'I don't know the answer to that question.'... Reminded that presidents of the United States are actually honorary presidents of Boy Scouts of America, Walker responded that he would have 'plenty much more significant issues to deal with as president.'" CW Reminder: Walker is not a scientist. ...

... Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Walker also said his campaign was doing well because, 'I actually answer questions,' to which the CNN host quickly replied, 'But you're not answering this one.'"

I believe that scouting would be better off if they didn't have openly gay scoutmasters. -- Rick Perry, on "Meet the Press" yesterday

Donald Trump doubles down on his anti-McCain meme in a USA Today op-ed: "Thanks to McCain and his Senate colleague Bernie Sanders, their legislation to cover up the VA scandal, in which 1,000+ veterans died waiting for medical care, made sure no one has been punished, charged, jailed, fined or held responsible. McCain has abandoned our veterans. I will fight for them. The reality is that John McCain the politician has made America less safe, sent our brave soldiers into wrong-headed foreign adventures, covered up for President Obama with the VA scandal and has spent most of his time in the Senate pushing amnesty. He would rather protect the Iraqi border than Arizona's. He even voted for the Iran Nuclear Review Act of 2015, which allows Obama, who McCain lost to in a record defeat, to push his dangerous Iran nuclear agreement through the Senate without a supermajority of votes. A number of my competitors for the Republican nomination have no business running for president." ...

... Maggie Haberman & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump refused to apologize on Sunday for ridiculing Senator John McCain's war record in Vietnam and accused Mr. McCain of stoking outrage, even as Mr. Trump's comments continued to draw anger and calls from some Republicans for him to quit the 2016 presidential race." ...

... Margaret Hartmann of New York has a fine roundup of the "anger" of Trump's GOP adversaries. According to Jeb!, the Donald is a lot like that divisive fellow Barack Obama, whereas Jeb! welcomes everybody with open arms & hugs & kisses. ...

... CW: For a peek into the hypocrisy of suddenly "outraged" Republicans, see yesterday's Comments. ...

... Juan Cole: "Trump is a one-man advertisement for campaign finance reform, socialism and banning casinos. Whatever circumstances made him a plausible candidate for president should be immediately changed to make sure that kind of thing never happens to our country again. But in addition, I think all the Republicans who say they are outraged at Trump's comments need to step up and apologize to John Kerry if they didn't, as McCain did, defend him from the swiftboaters." ...

... What Were They Doing Then? Michael Miller & Fred Barbash of the Washington Post: "Christmas [1967], as Donald Trump was celebrating the holiday with his family, McCain was starving in a prison camp called 'The Plantation.'" The only violence Trump faced was at the hands of angry tenants of his father's rental properties. Ah, the heroics of rent-collecting. "As Trump made plans to buy and refurbish bankrupt hotels, McCain was staving off death in a prison dubbed 'The Hanoi Hilton.' And as McCain continued to refuse special treatment, The Donald actively courted it." ...

... Maggie Haberman & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "It was an improvised fit of pique, roundly and vigorously denounced by his rivals all weekend, that exposed the biggest vulnerability of Mr. Trump's campaign for president: It is built entirely around the instincts and grievances of its unpredictable candidate -- and does not rely on a conventional political operation that protects presidential hopefuls from themselves." ...

... Andy Borowitz (satire): "Presidential candidate Donald Trump revealed a little-known episode of personal heroism from his youth on Saturday, telling an Iowa audience that he narrowly avoided capture in Vietnam by remaining in the United States for the duration of the war." Thanks to D. C. Clark for the link.

Beyond the Beltway

Sharon McCloskey of NC Policy Watch: "Attorneys and parties in the voting rights trial return to federal court in Winston-Salem this morning to continue presenting testimony and other evidence to U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder. During week one of what's expected to be a multi-week trial, attorneys for the parties challenging the sweeping voting restrictions adopted in 2013 unfolded their case with personal stories from voters who struggled to vote as a result, along with testimony from experts about the intent and the impact of the election law changes."

"America's Craziest Governor Goes off the Rails." Colin Woodard in Politico Magazine: Maine Gov. Paul "LePage [R] -- a pugnacious, hot-headed, sometimes vulgar Tea Party-style conservative -- is facing a bipartisan investigation into potential abuse of power, a nascent impeachment effort by opponents in the lower State House chamber, and a federal lawsuit by the outgoing Democratic House speaker, who has accused the governor of blackmailing a non-profit school into revoking their job offer to him. Meanwhile, leaders of the Republican-controlled state Senate and many Republicans in the House have turned on the governor, helping overturn hundreds of his vetoes and line-item vetoes in lightning-paced voting sessions, sometimes at a rate of one every 25 seconds. His veto of the bipartisan budget was overturned, narrowly avoiding a state government shutdown. An aggressive attempt to appropriate wider veto authority for his office has been rebuffed by lawmakers and legal experts, but still threatens to plunge the state into a constitutional crisis."

"I love my country. It's the government I'm afraid of." Be sure to read Elizabeth's comment in today's thread.

Way Beyond

We Are Not Amused. Josh Halliday & Louise Osborne of the Guardian: "Buckingham Palace has refused to be drawn into the debate over the royal family's private archives amid mounting pressure to release historical documents following the publication of a video showing the Queen performing a Nazi salute in the 1930s.... Palace aides launched an inquiry on Sunday into the leak of the 17-second home movie.... Respected historians said that releasing some of the material, which stretches back over 250 years, would add to the country's knowledge of the Queen and provide important historical context to the links between some leading royals and the Third Reich before the second world war.... The black-and-white footage is believed to have been filmed by the Queen's father, the future King George VI, on the family's Balmoral estate in Scotland in 1933 or 1934. It shows the future Queen -- then aged six or seven raising her right hand in the air as the Queen Mother does the same. The group were apparently being encouraged by the future King Edward VIII."

... Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "I's a reminder of how many viewed Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party throughout the 1930s -- as amusing, even admirable, but not yet the abhorrent force we now know them to be."

News Ledes

Guardian: "Fifa has fired the starting gun on the race to succeed Sepp Blatter as president of the scandal hit organisation, setting the election for 26 February next year. The announcement came as it emerged that it was increasingly likely that Uefa's president, Michel Platini, would stand for the role."

Reuters: "Construction company Mitsubishi Materials Corp ... became the first major Japanese company to apologize for using captured American soldiers as slave laborers during World War Two, offering remorse on Sunday for 'the tragic events in our past.' A company representative offered the apology on behalf of its predecessor, Mitsubishi Mining Co, at a special ceremony at a Los Angeles museum."

The Commentariat -- July 19, 2015

Defunct videos removed.

Eric Tucker of the AP: "The deadly shootings at military sites in Tennessee illustrate the threat that FBI officials have warned about: violence directed against a vulnerable government target by a lone gunman with apparent terrorist aspirations.... Law enforcement officials describe an ongoing challenge in distinguishing those who merely consume and share messages and those actually motivated to commit violence.... It can be easy for those who read messages, but do not post their own thoughts, to avoid law enforcement scrutiny." ...

... Timothy Williams, et al., of the New York Times: The FBI is still looking for clues to determine Abdulazeez's motivations. Richard Fausset & Manny Fernandez of the Times look into Abdulazeez's family's life. ...

... Greg Jaffe, et al., of the Washington Post gather info about Abdulazeez's "lifestyle." ...

... William Saletan of Slate compares Abdulazeez's attack on a U.S. Marine recruiting center with U.S. drone attacks on similar facilities in Iraq, Syria & Afghanistan. Satetan dubs Abdulazeez's attack"an act of war" by an "enemy combatant" rather than an act of terrorism, which the U.S. code describes "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets."

Thomas Sugrue, in a Washington Post op-ed: "... many of the racial injustices we associate with the South are actually worse in the North. Housing segregation between black and white residents, for instance, is most pervasive above the Mason-Dixon line.... The division between black and white neighborhoods in the North is a result of a poisonous mix of racist public policies and real estate practices that reigned unchecked for decades.... Education remains separate and unequal nearly everywhere in the United States." New York state has the most segregated schools.

Maureen Dowd: "Time to dismiss the Anger Translator. The president is far more energized than a couple years ago.... He clearly enjoys settling into his favorite role -- the man alone in the arena, disdaining the flattering rituals and back-scratching of politics, the dread drinks with Senator McConnell and stupid golf with Speaker Boehner."

Accidents Waiting to Happen. Jeff Donn of the AP: "Five years after the Obama administration promised to move swiftly to permanently plug unused oil and gas wells in the Gulf of Mexico, even more shafts are lingering for longer periods with only temporary sealing, an investigation by The Associated Press shows. It is not clear how many incompletely sealed wells may have leaked -- they generally are not monitored as carefully as active wells -- but they contain fewer barriers to pent-up petroleum and rupture more easily. The threat to the environment increases with time."

Graham Bowley & Sydney Ember of the New York Times: In a four-day deposition taken a decade ago, "Even as [entertainer Bill] Cosby denied he was a sexual predator who assaulted many women, he presented himself in the deposition as an unapologetic, cavalier playboy, someone who used a combination of fame, apparent concern and powerful sedatives in a calculated pursuit of young women -- a profile at odds with the popular image he so long enjoyed, that of father figure and public moralist.... Through it all, his manner was largely one of casual indifference."

Presidential Race

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "The first gathering of the Democratic presidential candidates played almost according to script here Friday night. Hillary Rodham Clinton stood above the field but did not dominate. Bernie Sanders displayed the passion that has made him such a favorite of the left. And Martin O'Malley's speech got a reception that belied his anemic poll numbers."

S. V. Date of the National Journal: "Black Lives Matter" protesters shut down Bernie Sanders & Martin O'Malley events at the Netroots Nation convention in Phoenix, Arizona. "Netroots declined to criticize the protest." CW: Another lovely example of liberals being as stupid & rude as conservatives.

Jeb! Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Politically, Jeb Bush wants voters to focus on his first name and his own political record. But when it comes to fundraising, he's still banking on the success of his last name. He hosted wealthy donors, many of whom backed his father and brother's presidential bids, at his parents' coastal estate in Maine this month. And on Friday night, he headlined a raucous dinner hosted by a PAC led in part by his two sons."

Let's honor Marco Rubio as Liar of the Day: He blames President Obama & Harry Reid for failing to pass immigration reform legislation. For some reason, Marco forgot to mention GOP senators' opposition -- the last Senate did eventually pass a bill, with only 14 GOP votes -- & House Republicans, who steadfastly refused even to bring the Senate bill to the floor for a vote (which Democrats would have passed with minimal GOP support).

Alan Rappeport & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump upended a Republican presidential forum [in Ames, Iowa,] Saturday with incendiary comments about Senator John McCain's war record, drawing widespread condemnation.... Asked about Mr. McCain during an event on Saturday sponsored by an Iowa Christian conservative group, Mr. Trump said of Mr. McCain, a prisoner of war in Vietnam: 'He's not a war hero. He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people who weren't captured.'" ...

... Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "Donald Trump opened his mouth and let slip forth a word salad in trying to clarify why he attacked John McCain's war hero status." ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Trump managed to avoid serving in the Vietnam war because of a series of draft deferments. Asked why he didn't serve, Trump said, 'I had student deferments and ultimately had a medical deferment because of my feet. I had a bone spur.' But Trump said he did not recall which foot was injured and instructed reporters to look up his records. Trump added, 'I was not a big fan of the Vietnam War. I wasn't a protester, but the Vietnam War was a disaster for our country. What did we get out of the Vietnam War other than death? We got nothing.' After meeting with the news media, Trump took to Twitter, where he did not back down from his criticism of McCain." ...

... Adios, Donaldo. Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's candidacy probably reached an inflection point on Saturday after he essentially criticized John McCain for being captured during the Vietnam War. Republican campaigns and elites quickly moved to condemn his comments -- a shift that will probably mark the moment when Trump's candidacy went from boom to bust.... His comments were nothing less than an invitation for the rest of the Republican Party to begin their long-awaited offensive. So far, the Republican National Committee, Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker have already criticized him for his comments." ...

... Steve M.: Trump has given "all his pants-wetting Republican opponents a golden opportunity. Now they can sanctimoniously attack Trump for besmirching the honor of a great American who suffered torture at the hands of brutal communists -- and they don't have to say a word about every other obnoxious thing Trump has said recently." ...

... Colbert King of the Washington Post: "That a decorated Vietnam War veteran would be sarcastically put down by a loudmouth celebrity presidential wannabe who never wore the uniform, but escaped military service with a series of draft deferments, is one of the most disgusting turns of events in national politics."

CW: Mike Huckabee, the Christian Family Values candidate, seems to have had some trouble directing his own sons' values, as Ophelia M. pointed out yesterday. Here's Huck's boy John Mark in an unreleased film. Johnny-Boy posted the clip on YouTube, but took it down for some odd reason, maybe around the time his daddy criticized President & Michelle Obama for allowing their daughters to listen to Beyoncé recordings:

... Worse. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: Huck's younger son David "was fired as a Boy Scout counselor at age 17 for allegedly hanging a stray dog from a tree after it wandered into the camp where he worked." The full story (linked second here) by the Huffington Post is screw-loose depraved. CW: Repubicans -- George W. Bush (blowing up frogs), Paul Ryan (catfish noodling). Mitt Romney (dog on the roof of the car) -- seem to find animal cruelty amusing, "exhilarating," or at least acceptable. David Huckabee seems to have the right stuff to run for POTUS or VPOTUS on the GOP ticket.

Beyond the Beltway

Jeremy Borden of the Washington Post: "The Loyal White Knights of the KKK, which calls itself the largest chapter in the United States, held a rally in Columbia, S.C., on Saturday afternoon to protest the removal of the [Confederate] flag.... The New Black Panther Party showed up earlier in the day to protest, on the north side of the statehouse. Members encouraged the hundreds who came to keep things peaceful, while also encouraging African Americans to take ownership of their problems and fight back when necessary. When Klansmen arrived later, the groups clashed intermittently."

News Ledes

AP: "A Kuwait-born man who shot and killed five service members in Tennessee suffered from depression since his early teen years and also fought drug and alcohol abuse, spending time in Jordan last year to help him clean himself up, a family spokesman said Sunday. The representative, who spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid unwanted publicity, said relatives of 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez believe those personal struggles are at the heart of last week's killings at a pair of military sites in Chattanooga."

Washington Post: "Former president George H.W. Bush has been discharged from a Maine hospital following a recent fall."

The Commentariat -- July 18, 2015

Internal links removed.

** Reliving the Past, Southern-Style. Harold Meyerson in the American Prospect: "... The South's current drive to impose on the rest of the nation its opposition to worker and minority rights -- through the vehicle of a Southernized Republican Party -- resembles nothing so much as the efforts of antebellum Southern political leaders to blunt the North's opposition to the slave labor system. Correspondingly, in the recent actions of West Coast and Northeastern cities and states to raise labor standards and protect minority rights, there are echoes of the pre-Civil War frustrations that many Northerners felt at the failure of the federal government to defend and promote a free labor system.... The South's aversion to both minimum-wage standards and unions is rooted deep within the DNA of white Southern elites, whose primary impulse has always been to keep African Americans down.... Never before have Northern-state governments (all of them Republican) sought so successfully to emulate policies of racial suppression and anti-working-class economics that the South originated."

If we keep taking steps toward a more perfect union, and close the gaps between who we are and who we want to be, America will move forward. -- Barack Obama, this week

** It's the perfect response to the Confederate flag wavers. -- Dana Milbank

White House: The President explains the comprehensive, long-term deal announced earlier this week that will prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon":

Arlette Saenz of ABC News: "President Obama welcomed the nation's oldest known veteran to the White House -- hosting the barrier-breaking 110-year Emma Didlake in the Oval Office Friday afternoon. The president lauded Didlake, an African American World War II veteran, for her service...."

NSA Summer Camp. Nicholas Fandos the New York Times: "Like the C.I.A. and other elite intelligence agencies, the N.S.A. has for decades recruited on college campuses and run collegiate programs, but this summer the agency is making sure that middle- and high-school-age students -- and some teachers, too -- are learning how to hack, crack and defend in cyberspace."

Richard Fausset, et al., of the New York Times: "The 24-year-old gunman who killed four Marines in an attack on two military sites here traveled to Jordan last year for about seven months, a senior intelligence official said Friday, one of several trips to the country in recent years. The official said that investigators were combing through the computer, cellphone and social media contacts of the gunman, identified as Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez, to determine whether he was in touch with any extremist groups in Jordan before or during this trip." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...

... This is slightly disturbing. WKYC (Knoxville): "FirstEnergy confirmed ... that [Abdulazeez] also worked at Perry Nuclear Power Plant from May 20 to May 30 of 2013. FirstEnergy[,which owns the plant,] said he left because he didn't meet the minimum requirements to remain employed. He worked as a electrical engineer right outside the nuclear reactor, which they say he did not have access."

Republican Men Find New Way to Punish Young Women Who Won't Have Sex with Them. Rachel Bade & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Republicans on Capitol Hill are betting the secretly filmed Planned Parenthood video -- depicting an executive allegedly discussing the sale of fetal organs from terminated pregnancies -- will give them cover to more aggressively push abortion issues without the political ramifications that have haunted the party in the past." ...

... Amanda Marcotte in Rolling Stone: "... the ... allegation in the video -- that Planned Parenthood was caught selling fetal body parts -- was utter nonsense, plain and simple. Still, that didn't stop the right from acting like this was the greatest scandal since Monica Lewinsky's blue dress." Marcotte highlights some winger reactions. Via Paul Waldman. ...

... CW Note to Republicans: For many people who are not medical professionals, surgery of any kind -- from pimple removal to quadruple bypass -- seems "gross." You boys probably pass out when a technician takes a blood sample. Get over it. ...

... Heather Caygle of Politico: "Sen. Rand Paul is the latest lawmaker to throw a wrench into delicate transportation bill negotiations, suggesting he might hold up the legislation over the controversial Planned Parenthood video that surfaced this week.... [Paul] released multiple statements Friday promising to use 'all legislative vehicles' to 'defeat and defund Planned Parenthood' next week. The statements on his Senate and campaign websites don't directly mention the pending highway and transit legislation, but it is the next big-ticket item on the Senate's to-do list...." CW: True to his usual MO, Li'l Randy is pleased as punch to spew another lie: "The recent revelation that this taxpayer-funded organization is selling body parts of the unborn [blah-blah]...."

CW: I give up. I don't know what Steve King means here. As far as I can tell, Julian Castro's heritage is somewhere around 100 percent Hispanic/Latino. According to his Wiki-bio, King "has Irish, German, Welsh, and English ancestry." (The Wiki-link to this factoid is dead.) If the info is correct, none of King's recent ancestors is Hispanic or Latino. Usually even loons make some kind of sense, even if it's twisted. Steve King is the exception, as far as I can tell.

Philip Klein of the right-wing Washington Examiner may employ some over-the-top rhetoric, but his underlying premise is right: "On Wednesday, America's Health Insurance Plans, the insurance industry's largest lobbying group, announced that it had elected Marilyn Tavenner as its chief executive officer. Before joining AHIP, Tavenner led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services under [President] Obama, where she was tasked with overseeing the implementation of Obamacare -- writing the rules regulating the same insurance companies that she'll now be representing as a lobbyist. Tavenner could be a poster child for the corrupting influences of the revolving door between industry and government that Obama once decried. A former hospital executive and lobbyist, she was appointed in 2006 by then Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to serve as the state's health secretary before entering the Obama administration.

There's a reason why Tavenner is so valuable to AHIP -- and it's not for her role in the disastrous rollout of Obamacare's healthcare.gov website. She has a web of connections within the Obama administration and an intimate knowledge of how it works. But her being at AHIP is also valuable for the administration, because it means that the insurance industry's main lobbying group will now be headed by a cheerleader for Obamacare.

     ... Also via Waldman.

Timothy Cama of the Hill: "A federal judge on Friday dismissed Oklahoma's second lawsuit against the Obama administration's climate rule for power plants. Judge Claire Eagan of the District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma ruled that the state's attorney general cannot challenge the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulation until it is made final. It is the second case in as many months in which a federal court has dropped lawsuits against the Obama administration's signature climate change initiative, which is due to be made final next month."

Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times: "Michael G. Grimm, a former New York congressman who resigned from office after pleading guilty to tax fraud, was given an eight-month sentence on Friday. A federal investigation that initially focused on Mr. Grimm's campaign fund-raising turned into a 20-count indictment related to his running of a restaurant in Manhattan, Healthalicious. Prosecutors said he underreported wages and revenue to the government and filed false tax documents as a result.... [Now for a hilarious side-note:] He is now working as a consultant to start-up businesses." (Also linked yesterday afternoon) ...

... CW: What's your advice to start-ups, Mikey? To cut costs, pay employees under the table. AND If the building inspector gives you grief, tell him you want to show him something on the roof, then threaten to toss him off -- especially if you're way bigger than the inspector.

Former Fed chair Ben Bernanke, in a Brookings Institute post, explains how Europe -- i.e., Germany -- is fundamentally failing the Eurozone by not "delivering the broad-based economic recovery that is needed to give stressed countries like Greece a reasonable chance to meet their growth, employment, and fiscal objectives." [Bernanke asks this as a question, but his answer is "nope."] Germany's large trade surplus puts all the burden of adjustment on countries with trade deficits, who must undergo painful deflation of wages and other costs to become more competitive. Germany could help restore balance within the euro zone and raise the currency area's overall pace of growth by increasing spending at home...."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Danny Shea, Editorial Director of the Huffington Post: "After watching and listening to Donald Trump since he announced his candidacy for president, we have decided we won't report on Trump's campaign as part of The Huffington Post's political coverage. Instead, we will cover his campaign as part of our Entertainment section. Our reason is simple: Trump's campaign is a sideshow." ...

... CW: That's a lovely, principled idea, & I tried it myself for awhile. Until it quit working. As long as the GOP accepts Trump as a "legitimate" candidate, as long as other presidential candidates are responding to him & as long as pollsters are including him in their surveys, I think the media have to cover the Trump sideshow, too. Once these factors subside, then the rest of us can faggedaboud him.

Michael Calderone of the Huffington Post: "Gawker on Friday removed a controversial story about a media executive soliciting a male escort who later attempted to extort him, after the decision to post the piece received widespread condemnation on social media." ...

     ... The Gawker staff is upset about this. ...

... Mark Stern of Slate explains why removing the story was a good move legally, altho it might be too late to undo the damage. CW: I'm with Gawker CEO Nick Denton. The story was not newsworthy unless part of a piece on Excesses of the Rich & Unfamous.

Presidential Race

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "The full field of candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination assembled for the first time [in Cedar Rapids, Iowa,] Friday night, with a trio of them giving fiery speeches sounding populist economic themes. Much of the focus was on Hillary Rodham Clinton, the dominant front-runner for the Democratic nomination, and two underdog candidates challenging her from the left, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley.... In a tough, partisan speech, Clinton looked past her primary opponents to go after the leading Republican candidates and brought Democrats to their feet.... Former Virginia senator Jim Webb and former Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee also spoke at the dinner." ...

... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont edged closer on Friday to directly attacking Hillary Rodham Clinton, pointedly asking whether the Democratic presidential front-runner would support measures to break up the country's largest financial institutions and reinstate a firewall between commercial and investment banking.... He boasted that he had not received financial contributions from Goldman Sachs, which he said sought 'undue influence' in American politics, but stopped short of calling on Mrs. Clinton to reject the nearly $50,000 in donations she has received from employees of the Wall Street firm. 'That's her decision,' Mr. Sanders said, after pausing for a moment to consider the question." ...

     ... CW: Sorry, Jonathan, that's no attack; not even "edging close." We know you're itching for a knock-down/drag-out, NYT, but this is not your both-sides-do-it moment. Pretending "Ask her" is an attack is both untrue & defamatory. See Trump: "McCain is a dummy" below. That would be an attack. ...

     ... Martin, Ctd.: Clinton "added [a Cedar Rapids, Iowa, rally] to her schedule.... These gatherings ... represent an effort to show that Mrs. Clinton is herself capable of luring big audiences. But the rally served to highlight her inability for now to attract crowds on the same scale as Mr. Sanders, whose Iowa events have drawn more people than any other presidential candidate has in either party. Mrs. Clinton drew a few hundred people to her event here -- her campaign pegged it at 500 -- while Mr. Sanders was met by about 2,500 at an event in Council Bluffs this month."

Daniel Strauss of Politico: Speaking at the Netroots Nation convention Friday in Phoenix, Arizona, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sets out Warren's Rules for Presidential Candidates. "Clinton's decision to skip the convention did not go unnoticed.... Both Bernie Sanders & Martin O'Malley will address the group.

digby: In his column (linked here yesterday) Paul Krugman "hit upon something important in political coverage: when a politician takes a different position on policy from earlier positions (or, in [Hillary Clinton's] case, from her husband's positions) the press assumes that she's flip-flopped for political reasons. But it's always possible that she has changed her mind based upon new evidence. If reporters spent some time probing these differences instead of doing Trey Gowdy's wet work for him, they might learn something.... It's perfectly legitimate to ask what changed someone's mind --- and letting them explain it." ...

... CW: As both digby & Krugman point out, Republicans should try occasionally looking at evidence. The reason they don't, of course, is that facts usually prove inconvenient to the GOP. See, for instance, Li'l Randy's Lie o'the Day, linked above. How can a needy candidate fundraise off Planned Parenthood atrocities if the atrocities don't exist? Necessity is the mother of invention.

Tony Romm of Poltico: "Despite Republican candidates' high-profile outreach to the Bay Area, most tech industry bigwigs are throwing cash at Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Ken Vogel & Tarini Parti of Politico: "Republicans could barely contain their glee when the Supreme Court's 2010 Citizens United decision cleared the way for unlimited spending in political campaigns. But now -- headed into a crowded presidential primary that promises to be longer, nastier and more expensive as a result of the ruling -- some are having buyers' remorse. Concerns are mounting among top donors and party elites that an influx of huge checks into the GOP primary will hurt the party's chances of retaking the White House. Long-shot candidates propped up by super PACs and other big-money groups will be able to linger for months throwing damaging barbs at establishment favorites who offer a better chance of victory."

Wherein Jeb! casts himself as the only presidential candidate wearing big-boy pants. Eli Stokols of Politico reports.

Mark Hensch of the Hill: "Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) said on Friday that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R-) is 'vile' for using a speech earlier this week to talk about the violent death of one of Himes's former interns. Himes argued in a statement that Christie was politicizing the death of Kevin Sutherland to fit talking points on criminal justice reform, and that it was unethical of him to do so.... Sutherland was stabbed to death on D.C.'s Metro system in what police have described as a botched robbery.Christie referenced Sutherland's death during a campaign speech on Thursday in Camden, N.J. On Friday afternoon, Sutherland's parents, Douglas and Terry Sutherland, issued a statement protesting Christie's remarks."

Katie Glueck of Politico: "Donald Trump's turn in the national spotlight is mainly taking a toll on Ted Cruz.... That's the assessment of this week's Politico Caucus, our weekly survey of the leading strategists, activists and political operatives in Iowa and New Hampshire.... In New Hampshire, where Chris Christie's hopes are riding on a strong finish, roughly a quarter of Republicans believe the brash and straight-talking New Jersey governor is also put at risk by Trump's emergence in the field." CW: See, HuffPost, Trump isn't all bad. ...

... CW: Also, too, how could you call Trump a "sideshow," HuffPost? Why, just yesterday Trump called John McCain a "dummy," said Rick Perry "should be forced to take an IQ test before being allowed to enter the GOP debate," & backed off a feud with MSNBC host Lawrence O'Donnell. All very important to the future of the nation.

Beyond the Beltway

Alice Barr of KHOU-TV, in USA Today: "A trooper who pulled over and later arrested a woman found dead in her jail cell was put on desk duty Friday for violating procedures, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. Sandra Bland, 28, was arrested July 10, and after spending the weekend in the Waller County jail, she was found hanged in her cell Monday. Harris County's medical examiner said the death was a suicide, but Bland's family disputes the finding. The FBI has joined the Texas Rangers in investigating the circumstances surrounding her death. The state Public Safety Department and Waller County district attorney have requested that the FBI conduct a forensic analysis on video footage from the incident." ...

... St. John Barned-Smith of the Houston Chronicle has more on the Bland story.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, voiced support on Saturday for his country's nuclear deal with world powers while emphasizing that the agreement did not signal an end to Iran's hostility toward the United States and its allies, especially Israel."

New York Times: "A petty officer wounded in Thursday's attacks at two military facilities [in Chattanooga] succumbed to his injuries on Saturday, according to members of his family and the Navy. Petty Officer Second Class Randall Smith of the Navy, 26, became the fifth service member to die as a result of the shootings at a military reserve center and a nearby recruiting center."

Washington Post: "Three U.S. admirals were censured for dining at 'extravagant' banquets in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore and accepting other gifts from an Asian defense contractor at the center of a bribery scandal that continues to rattle the highest ranks of the Navy, according to documents released late Friday.... The incidents occurred nearly a decade ago, while all three officers -- Vice Adm. Michael H. Miller, Rear Adm. Terry B. Kraft and Rear Adm. David R. Pimpo -- were assigned to the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier strike group. Each was forced to retire this summer."