The Commentariat -- July 10, 2015

Internal links removed.

Put the white men up front, please.Richard Fausset & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "South Carolina, the first state to secede from the union, dispatched with a lasting symbol of the Civil War on Thursday as Gov. Nikki R. Haley signed a law removing the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the State House." ...

... Fausset & Blinder are wondering how the flag will be removed inasmuch as "The pole to which the flag is attached appears to have no mechanism -- no winch, pulley, or rope -- that a person on the ground might use to bring it down." CW: I suggest Nikki Haley give Bree Newsome a call & ask her to do the honors. Newsome says she won't be attending the ceremony, but Haley could offer her clemency as an incentive.

... Amanda Hopuch & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The battle flag of the former American Confederacy will stop flying at South Carolina's statehouse on Friday..., 150 years after the south lost a civil war fought largely over slavery, and for which the flag's endurance has remained a lasting symbol of racism. Governor Nikki Haley was prepared to sign legislation on Thursday that would require the flag to be removed from government grounds within 24 hours. Her office said it would be taken down from a flagpole near the capitol at 10am the next day, after flying there for nearly 54 years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Gene Robinson, a South carolina native, on why taking down the flag matters. ...

... Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The battle over the Confederate flag landed with ferocity Thursday in the U.S. Capitol amid an unexpected debate on the display of the southern 'Battle Flag' in federal cemeteries for veterans. House Democrats accused Republicans of catering to the large bloc of southern conservatives in initially promoting an amendment that some viewed as pro-Confederate. Republicans accused Democrats of trying to exploit the tragedy of the mass killing inside a Charleston church last month and the subsequent decision by South Carolina leaders to remove the controversial flag from their state capitol. The recriminations built throughout the day despite House Speaker John A. Boehner's effort to ease the tension. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he would soon create an informal bipartisan group to review all matters related to the display of Confederate memorabilia, likely to include those in the U.S. Capitol." ...

... Sandra Pedicini of the Orlando Sentinel: "Walt Disney World has joined the list of businesses and governments distancing themselves from the Confederate flag. The resort has removed a version of the Confederate banner from a flag display in Epcot's American Adventure. Disney acknowledged it took down the flag recently but would not comment further."

Greg Mlller & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. authorities have arrested more than 10 people over the past four weeks who were suspected of having ties to the Islamic State, including several who may have been planning terrorist attacks to coincide with the July 4 holiday, FBI Director James B. Comey said Thursday. The arrests were part of a flurry of law enforcement activity over the past month amid counterterrorism officials' warnings of a heightened danger of attacks leading up to Independence Day." ...

... CW: Charles Pierce isn't buying Comey's assertions. CW: I had some of the same thoughts Pierce expresses when I read Miller & Nakashima's report. However, I think that over the years federal law enforcement has prevented some attacks, & they may well have prevented one or more this summer. I'd sure rather be reading Comey's assertions than stories about an attack that did take place. Call me gullible, but I'm not ready to discount Comey's claims.

Human Error. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "The more than three-and-a-half hour New York stock exchange shutdown on Wednesday was caused by engineers loading the wrong software on to the system, the NYSE admitted on Thursday. The NYSE said the shutdown, which sent some traders into panic about a possible cyber terrorist attack, was sparked by its systems being 'not loaded with the proper configuration compatible' with new a software upgrade." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management's system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday. That is in addition to a separate hack -- also last year -- of OPM's personnel database that affected 4.2 million people. That number was previously announced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Raya Jalabi of the Guardian: "In a statement, the [Office of Personnel Management] said the number of those affected by the hack included 19.7 million individuals who applied for a background investigation 'and 1.8 million non-applicants, predominantly spouses or co-habitants of applicants'.... Anyone who has undergone a background check through OPM since 2000 'is highly likely' to be affected, the agency said. It is less likely, but still possible, that those who underwent background checks before 2000 would be affected.... In its statement, OPM announced several steps it has taken and will take to 'protect' those impacted by the breach, including providing identity theft insurance; identity monitoring for minor children; credit and fraud monitoring; and 'full service identity restoration support and victim recovery assistance'. These services will only be provided for free for three years." The OPM statement is here.

Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Thursday that federal marriage benefits will be made accessible to same-sex couples across America.... 'I am proud to announce that the critical programs for veterans and elderly and disabled Americans, which previously could not give effect to the marriages of couples living in states that did not recognize those marriages, will now provide federal recognition for all marriages nationwide,' Lynch said. Agencies are currently working to provide guidance to implement the law change, according to Lynch's statement." ...

     ... CW: Seems obvious that any marriage benefits that any government entity provides must be afforded to all married couples. Maybe what she's talking about here is benefits that require a specified length of marriage to accrue; for instance, to get the "Social Security survivor's benefit, a widow or widower must have been married to the deceased worker at the time of his or her death and for at least nine months immediately prior to the day in which the worker died."

New York Times Editors: "... public employees [who refuse to serve same-sex couples] seem to forget that taxpayers pay them to do their job. If doing that job violates his or her religious beliefs, the best solution is to find another job, as several have done in the days since the Obergefell ruling.Some same-sex marriage opponents argue that under state religious-freedom laws, a government employee's beliefs should be accommodated so long as another official is available to carry out the task. But government employees do not have a constitutionally protected right to pick and choose which members of the public they will serve, no matter their religious beliefs.... The Constitution's protection of religious freedom simply does not include the right to discriminate against others in the public sphere." ...

... ** Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Same-sex marriage opponents like to claim that public officials are entitled to reasonable accommodation of their religious beliefs. But that fundamentally misunderstands the legal history of religious accommodations. Courts have said, again and again, that accommodations may be granted only if they do not injure or substantially burden a third party (which includes injuring the dignity of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses) or otherwise wreak havoc on the legal system."

Frank Rich on the presidential race & racism. Rich really does not care for Hillary Clinton.

Damon Linker of the Week: "The GOP doesn't have a Donald Trump problem. It has an angry conservative base problem.... [The] ragtag conglomeration of ideological radicals... of the postwar John Birch Society and similar groups ... had no natural political home in the major parties. But they've been drawn to the Republican Party ever since Barry Goldwater became their champion.... It was Ronald Reagan who truly brought them en masse into the Republican Party.... More than 30 years later, they've grown and spread like a fungus (thanks to the fertilization efforts of Rush Limbaugh and Roger Ailes). The populists are the now base of the party -- its most loyal and devoted members, surpassed only by super-rich donors for influence.... What the Republican Party needs isn't more courageous candidates and elites. It's a new electorate."

Tim Egan: It's the mother of all ironies that a nation where all but about 2 percent (the Native Americans) of the population can trace its lineage to some distant land is now going through another of its anti-immigrant moments. But good news: The 2015 version is a weak strain of the earlier tea."

Linda Greenhouse finds more ways of demonstrating that the Roberts Court is not a liberal court. Expect it to look more like the "Alito court" next year. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

How Congress Helped Create Puerto Rico's Debt Crisis. Michael Fletcher & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "A generous series of tax breaks enacted by Congress shielded the profits of U.S. corporations operating [in Puerto Rico] and helped transform Puerto Rico from a largely agrarian society to a manufacturing powerhouse.... When Congress decided to phase out a crucial tax credit that ended in 2005, it helped plunge Puerto Rico into a recession that began a decade ago and has yet to end.... Now, it's again at the mercy of Washington, as [Gov. Alejandro] García Padilla asks Congress and the president to allow the island and its public corporations -- which provide basic services including electricity and water -- to file for bankruptcy, a process that would give Puerto Rico and its creditors an orderly way to restructure the territory's staggering debt." CW: An American horror story worth reading in full.

Liz Alderman & James Kanter of the New York Times: "Only a day after grim predictions of financial and social collapse in Greece, a scramble appeared underway to work out the details of a new bailout package to bring the country back from the brink.... [Greek] Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ... seemed to have gained ground on debt relief, his one bedrock demand. Germany's truculent finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, finally gave a little on that Thursday, admitting that 'debt sustainability is not feasible without a haircut,' or writedown of debt, even if he then appeared to backtrack.... What was breathtaking ... was how in a matter of hours the entire dynamic in the Greek crisis seemed to shift, from apocalyptic warnings of a Zimbabwe in the Balkans, to a fresh optimism that the basics of a deal could be worked out." ...

... David Jolly & Liz Alderman of the New York Times: "Investor optimism surged on Friday for a second day after Greece took a big step toward reaching a deal with its creditors." ...

... Paul Krugman: "... the people most likely to deliver a Greek-style economic disaster here in America are the very people who love to use Greece as a boogeyman.... If you really worry that the U.S. might turn into Greece, you should focus your concern on America's right. Because if the right gets its way on economic policy -- slashing spending while blocking any offsetting monetary easing -- it will, in effect, bring the policies behind the Greek disaster to America."

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that the United States and its negotiating partners 'will not rush, and we will not be rushed' into finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran, but warned they will abandon talks soon if Iran doesn't make the 'tough decisions' needed for an agreement. 'This is not open-ended,' he said after walking on crutches to a podium outside the Coburg Palace hotel...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.

Jim Yardley & William Neuman of the New York Times: In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, "Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a 'new colonialism' that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor. Speaking to a hall filled with social activists, farmers, garbage workers and Bolivian indigenous people, Francis offered the most ambitious, and biting, address of his South American tour. He repeated familiar themes in sharply critiquing the global economic order and warning of environmental catastrophe -- but also added a twist with his apology."

Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Russia's aggressive behavior and its nuclear arsenal make it the single greatest national security threat faced by the United States, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said Thursday at a Senate hearing on his nomination as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dunford, the Marine commandant, appeared far more confident that the military could step in if necessary if negotiations on a nuclear deal with Tehran fail. Asked whether the military has the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear program, General Dunford was unequivocal. 'My understanding is that we do, Senator,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dylan Byers of Politico has wingers in a tizzy because the New York Times has kept Ted Cruz's book off its best-seller list even though, according to Byers, "the book has sold more copies in its first week than all but two of the Times' bestselling titles." ...

     ... CW: What Byers doesn't bother to explain to readers, & which he almost certainly knows, is that political books often don't make the list because the Times, as its spokesperson hints, tries to count only "real" sales. Big political donors often buy up thousands of copies of politicians' books -- at deep discounts -- then distribute the books to likely voters, campaign workers, etc. I don't know it for a fact, but that's probably what happened here, not some East-Coast-liberal-elite plot to sabotage Ted's excellent writing career. ...

     ... Update. Oh, Snap! Byers' updates his post: "'In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases,' [the Times spokesperson] wrote." ...

     ... Update 2: Margaret Hartmann on the winger wingout & on the Times' "secret formula" for rating book sales....

... CW: Now, class, we will compare & contrast Dylan Byers' "reporting" with Hartmann's reporting. (For more on Byers' reporting methods, you may consult Dana Milbank's 2014 rebuttal to a Byers column trashing Milbank.)

Presidential Race

Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "Bernie Sanders cemented his appeal to older voters on Thursday with renewed calls for an expansion of social security and protection of Medicare from alleged assaults by Republicans.... 'The momentum is with us and not with them,' said the Vermont senator to chants of 'Bernie, Bernie' at the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference in Washington." ...

... Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's strategist in 2012, in the Daily Beast, on how Clinton could lose the nomination to Sanders. Take Stevens' commentary with a grain of salt, but here's a reminder of Hillary's record:

Hillary Clinton has supported every U.S. war since Vietnam. She supported not only DOMA, which her husband signed, but a travel ban on those who were HIV positive. She supported welfare cuts (remember her husband's efforts toward 'ending welfare as we know it'?). She supports the death penalty and campaigned in her husband's place during the 1992 New Hampshire primary when he left to oversee the execution of an African-American man whose suicide attempt left him brain damaged.

And if 'mass incarceration' is a problem today, keep in mind she has long advocated for the criminal justice policies that called for locking up more people for longer periods. She supports -- and, as Secretary of State, participated in -- the U.S. policy of targeted assassinations, including when the targets were American citizens.

In a political environment in which income inequality is a rallying cry, she makes $300K plus expenses an hour. In fact, she would be the wealthiest person elected president in the modern era.

Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush and his allies announced on Thursday that they had amassed more than $114 million in campaign cash over the last six months, dwarfing the combined fund-raising of his Republican rivals for the party's presidential nomination. The announcements, made as many of his donors were gathering at his family's compound [in Kennebunkport, Maine,] to celebrate their success, established Mr. Bush as his party's financial powerhouse. They also underscored how the Supreme Court's five-year-old Citizens United decision continues to remake the way presidential campaigns are waged. Almost all of the money was raised before Mr. Bush formally declared his candidacy last month, collected by a 'super PAC' that Mr. Bush’s aides helped set up." CW: They also underscore what selfish rich people want in a president. See stories that follow re: "people need to work longer hours" & Akhilleus's comments above. ...

... Jeb! Ed O'Keefe & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush's presidential campaign raised $11.4 million in the second quarter, and his allied super PAC brought in more than $103 million in the first six months of the year, giving the Republican presidential contender an unprecedented war chest as he heads into the highly competitive 2016 primary contest. The massive sum raised by the super PAC, Right to Rise USA, instantly makes it one of the most potent forces in the White House race. The group has $98 million in cash on hand." ...

     ... Paul Waldman: "This is truly an inspiring demonstration of the American people's enthusiasm for Jeb's forward-looking message of blah blah blah ... or, that a bunch of the super-rich think it would be great if he were president. Can't figure out which." ...

... The Cold Truth Behind the Gaffe. Brian Beutler: Jeb!'s remark that "people need to work longer hours" & "his equally muddled attempt to clarify them ... betray a shaky grasp of basic economic terms.... The real controversy arises not from the bloodlessness of the words he chose, but from the tactics he would use to extract the necessary labor.... When he said 'people need to work longer hours' he meant our policies should leave people little choice but to do so." ...

... "The Doofus." Josh Marshall of TPM: "It goes without saying that it's probably not good politics to say your plan to move the country forward is that everyone needs to work longer hours. It approaches 47% level toxicity. Even more damning is that it makes zero sense in policy terms. Indeed, Jeb's 'work harder' prescription provides harrowing look at the level of derp that can be produced when you take a guy who isn't all that bright and push him to the head of the national leadership line without ever having put in an honest day's work or support himself in his life.... It's unclear to me whether Bush doesn't even fully understand the policies his advisors are trying to explain to him or whether this is just standard patrician work ethic morality." ...

... Presenting President Jeb! of the United Serfs of America. Joan Walsh of Salon: "Unbelievably, in an economy in which workers have grown ever more productive over the last three decades, but productivity has not resulted in higher wages, Bush said Wednesday that they should work even longer hours.... Back in March..., Bush came out against the federal minimum wage.... And he's on record saying the Social Security retirement age needs to be raised to 70.... He also seemed to back his brother's failed push to at least partially privatize Social Security.... Finally, on the same day as his 'work longer hours' comment, Bush dismissed the debt-free college plan unveiled by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley as an example of Democrats providing 'more free stuff.'... We'll see if the Bush approach brings in the white working class voters who were cool to Mitt Romney." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "This casual slip in usage reveals an important assumption. Bush not only prefers higher productivity in its technical meaning (higher output per hours of work), which both conservative and liberal economists consider axiomatic; he likewise considers higher levels of work implicitly preferable. Liberals do not share that assumption. And the division over this question turns out to be buried within many of the economic fights of our time.... Much of the dispute centers not on incentives but on whether workers should have the freedom to choose more leisure time.... Opposition to laws and customs that enforce periods of rest, and a culture where workers can comfortably balance their jobs against family life and leisure, sets American conservatives apart from American liberals and the rest of the Western world." ...

... Matt Ygesias of Vox: "... the last time the United States regularly saw episodes of 4 percent growth [-- Jeb!'s goal --] was back when Bill Clinton was president, and part of the story then was an increase in average annual hours worked. The more time people put in on the job, the higher GDP gets. At the time this was typically offered as a critique of the 1990s economy (see Juliet Schor's books The Overworked American and The Overspent American) on the theory that economic growth obtained through more toil rather than higher hourly pay is illusory."

** A Week to Remember. Kathy Frankovic of YouGov.com: "The Republican horserace continues to be a contest of multiple candidates -- with frontrunners sometimes ahead by only a few points, and no one dominating the race. In this week's Economist/YouGov Poll, businessman Donald Trump leads among Republicans, ahead of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Trump looks even better as a candidate this week when Republicans are asked for their second choice. When they are, Trump extends his lead. One in four Republicans who are registered to vote say he is their first or second choice." (Emphasis added.) ...

... Paul Campos in Lawyers, Guns & Money finds similarities between Trump's campaign & Ronald Reagan's: "In a GOP presidential field that isn't exactly stacked with political talent, the notion that Trump can't win the nomination is at least premature. As is the idea that he can't be elected president." ...

... Steve M. "... whether Trump is being phony or sincere, much of the political world doesn't realize that he's speaking the well-established language of modern conservatism rather than expressing prejudices that are strictly personal.... When Trump is finally out of the race..., the mainstream press will continue to insist that the real Republican Party is polite and civil and works well with others. But Trumpism will still be its underpinnings, long after Trump's 2016 campaign is forgotten." ...

... Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump ... call[ed] The Post to dispute some details reported Wednesday night about a private phone call with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee.... Trump said the call from Priebus 'was meant, in my opinion, to be a congratulatory call.... It wasn't a lecturing-type call. He's going to lecture me? Give me a break.'... Trump said that the Wednesday call with Priebus lasted between 10 and 15 minutes and ... that, near the end of their discussion, Priebus asked him to speak in a more measured way about immigration.... Priebus's outreach to Trump came after days of talks with GOP officials about how best to manage Trump's seemingly nonstop appearances on cable news programs and his unrelenting commentary on illegal immigration. Donors familiar with the exchange told The Post about the call on Wednesday and said it lasted for about 45 minutes." ...

... Karen Schwartz of the New York Times: "Three navigation coordination points above Palm Beach International Airport that had been named in honor of Donald J. Trump will be renamed, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. 'In general, the F.A.A. chooses names that are noncontroversial,' said an agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown.... In 2010, an air traffic controller who was a fan of Mr. Trump's reality show and its catchphrase, 'You're fired,' named some of the navigation points that pilots use for takeoff from the airport DONLD, TRMMP and UFIRD." ...

... Daniel Strauss of Politico: "The Clinton Foundation has no plans to return tens of thousands of dollars in donations it received from Donald Trump - or at least none that it's willing to share."

Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "The Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would ban women from seeking non-emergency abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Wisconsin assembly passed the bill 61 to 34 after two hours of emotional testimony from lawmakers on both sides of the debate. The state senate had approved the legislation in June. The bill now goes to Governor Scott Walker. Eager to burnish his conservative credentials ahead of his anticipated campaign for president, Walker specifically asked the legislature to send him the bill and has said repeatedly that he will sign it."

"The Daily Cruz." Hadas Gold, et al., of Politico: "Ted Cruz has a media strategy. It's called Breitbart.com.... Breitbart.com, which boasts of having 18.7 million unique users per month -- almost all of them conservative firebrands — is funded in part by New York hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, whose family is bankrolling a pro-Cruz super PAC as well as a political data company called Cambridge Analytica that is working with Cruz's presidential campaign. Breitbart.com insists it's independent, though proudly conservative, and attributes its often-favorable assessments of Cruz to the fact that his independent brand of conservatism is appealing to its readers. But no one disputes the site's enthusiasm for Cruz."

Congressional Races

Alex Jaffe of NBC News: "Rep. Alan Grayson's reputation as a progressive bomb-thrower is exactly what's made national Democrats fearful that his bid for Senate in Florida could cost them a top pickup opportunity. But when he launched his bid on Thursday, he showed no signs of changing his tune. 'Frankly, one reason why Democrats are willing to crawl over hot coals naked to vote for me is because I'm willing to tell the truth,' he told NBC in an interview.... [Rep. Patrick] Murphy, a second-term Democrat with a proven ability to win tough races and raise huge sums, has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee."

Marc Caputo of Politico: "Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is strongly considering a political comeback in 2016 now that a new state Supreme Court ruling nearly guarantees that a swing congressional seat will be redrawn to rope in his home along with a gaggle of Democrats.... The court ruling could also force Rep. David Jolly, the incumbent Republican of the district in question, to forgo a reelection bid and instead try his luck with an open Senate seat." (See Florida redistricting stories below.)

Beyond the Beltway

Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau: "The Florida Supreme Court took a wrecking ball to Florida's political landscape Thursday, throwing out the state's carefully crafted congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordering a new map within 100 days. In the historic 5-2 ruling, the court not only ruled the maps were the product of an unconstitutional political gerrymandering, it signaled its deep distrust of lawmakers and provided detailed instructions on how to repair the flawed map in time for the 2016 election.... The new maps are likely to reconfigure nearly all of the state's 27 congressional districts, open the door to new candidates, and threaten incumbents, who will now face a new set of boundary lines and constituents close to the 2016 election." ...

     ... CW: Alrighty, then. Time for the U.S. Supremes to step in & overrule the Florida state supreme court 5-4. They're right good at that. ...

... Michael Miller & Nick Kirkpatrick of the Washington Post have more on the shady history of the redistricting: "Destroyed records. Shadowy projects with names like 'Sputnik' and 'Frankenstein.' And a college student whose identity was stolen to provide cover for political operatives." All the crooked tricks were crooked Republican tricks.

News Lede

New York Times: "Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the desert in the 1962 screen epic 'Lawrence of Arabia' into a glamorous if brief reign as an international star in films like 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'The Night of the Generals,' died on Friday in Cairo. He was 83."

The Commentariat -- July 9, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management's system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday. That is in addition to a separate hack -- also last year -- of OPM's personnel database that affected 4.2 million people."

Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that the United States and its negotiating partners 'will not rush, and we will not be rushed' into finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran, but warned they will abandon talks soon if Iran doesn't make the 'tough decisions' needed for an agreement. 'This is not open-ended,' he said after walking on crutches to a podium outside the Coburg Palace hotel here where the talks are being held."

Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Russia's aggressive behavior and its nuclear arsenal make it the single greatest national security threat faced by the United States, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said Thursday at a Senate hearing on his nomination as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dunford, the Marine commandant, appeared far more confident that the military could step in if necessary if negotiations on a nuclear deal with Tehran fail. Asked whether the military has the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear program, General Dunford was unequivocal. 'My understanding is that we do, Senator,' he said."

Human Error. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "The more than three-and-a-half hour New York stock exchange shutdown on Wednesday was caused by engineers loading the wrong software on to the system, the NYSE admitted on Thursday. The NYSE said the shutdown, which sent some traders into panic about a possible cyber terrorist attack, was sparked by its systems being 'not loaded with the proper configuration compatible' with new a software upgrade."

Amanda Hopuch & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The battle flag of the former American Confederacy will stop flying at South Carolina's statehouse on Friday..., 150 years after the south lost a civil war fought largely over slavery, and for which the flag's endurance has remained a lasting symbol of racism. Governor Nikki Haley was prepared to sign legislation on Thursday that would require the flag to be removed from government grounds within 24 hours. Her office said it would be taken down from a flagpole near the capitol at 10am the next day, after flying there for nearly 54 years."

Linda Greenhouse finds more ways of demonstrating that the Roberts Court is not a liberal court. Expect it to look more like the "Alito court" next year.

*****

Pam Belluck of the New York Times: "Medicare, the federal program that insures 55 million older and disabled Americans, announced plans on Wednesday to reimburse doctors for conversations with patients about whether and how they would want to be kept alive if they became too sick to speak for themselves. The proposal would settle a debate that raged before the passage of the Affordable Care Act, when Sarah Palin labeled a similar plan as tantamount to setting up 'death panels' that could cut off care for the sick. The new plan is expected to be approved and to take effect in January, although it will be open to public comment for 60 days." ...

... CW: When my husband was dying in 2013, doctors & other staff had a number of consultations with him and me regarding end-of-life care. I don't know how the hospital characterized these meetings in their billing reports, but Medicare paid for them. The "new rule" just seems to be formalizing what is already routinely happening.

Julian Hattem of the Hill: "Democrats and the White House are hammering Senate Republicans for failing to act on a nominee who is charged with snipping the purse strings of Islamic extremists. Adam Szubin was nominated to be the Treasury Department's undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes nearly three months ago but has yet to receive a hearing from the Senate Banking Committee responsible for vetting him. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) chastised Republicans for the delay, arguing that 'it is threatening our nation's ability to combat terrorism' and groups such as the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIS)."

Jordain Carney of the Hill: "The Senate approved its first circuit judge nomination of the year on Tuesday. Senators voted 95-0 on Kara Stoll's nomination to be a U.S. circuit court judge for the federal circuit, making her the first Hispanic woman to be approved for the court. Speaking ahead of the Senate's vote, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called Stoll 'superbly qualified.'" CW: Hey, it's only mid-July.

Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal: "For Republicans, [ObamaCare] has been the political gift that keeps on giving. Yet even though public opinion remains unfavorable towards the law, Democrats remain in denial about its political standing.... The law will likely remain a pivotal element of the GOP's argument against Hillary Clinton in 2016 -- and for Republicans in the battleground congressional contests."

Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg: "The 2016 Republican nominee for president will almost certainly not make a fuss about deportation policy, regardless of past positions. In all likelihood, facing a difficult road with Hispanic and Asian voters, he will support legalization of long-settled undocumented immigrants. Citizenship remains an unsettled question. But the era of deportation is coming to an end." Wilkinson explains how we got here. CW: Wilkinson likely doesn't think Walker or Trump will be that nominee. ...

... John Boehner's European Vacation Congressional Mission. Al Kamen of the Washington Post: "The rule is never to make news on these government-paid vacations trips, but, in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland, Boehner" said he would overcome his party's resistance to immigration reform, something Irish Taoiseach Enda Kenny has urged him to do. The speech created went over well at Breitbart: "Boehner goes overseas, vows immigration reform, amnesty..." the headline read. Also in Ireland, a person mistook Boehner for Bill Clinton. ...

... Good luck with immigration reform, Orange Man ...

... Jake Sherman & Anna Palmer of Politico: "... [Congressional] Republicans are clashing in private -- and, at times, openly -- over their entire agenda. The broad disagreement on so many fronts lately is striking. Congress is almost certain, again, to fail to come to a timely agreement on a long-term highway bill. Republican leaders had to abruptly pull the emergency brake on a sweeping reauthorization of the Federal Aviation Administration, amid a tiff about privatizing air traffic controllers. As if all that wasn't enough, a showdown over government funding is fast approaching."

Megan Chuchmach & Brian Ross of ABC News: "Former President George W. Bush charged $100,000 to speak at a charity fundraiser for U.S. military veterans severely wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan, and former First Lady Laura Bush collected $50,000 to appear a year earlier.... The former President was also provided with a private jet to travel to Houston at a cost of $20,000.... One of the wounded vets who served on the charity's board told ABC News he was outraged that his former commander in chief would charge any fee to speak on behalf of men and women he ordered into harm's way.... A spokesperson for former President Bill Clinton said he 'has never received' a speaking fee for addressing a veterans' group. A spokesperson for ... George Herbert Walker Bush, said ... that he did not recall a fee being requested for charity events.... According to the charity's yearly reports to the IRS, it raised about $2,450,000, after expenses, from the 2012 gala where President [George W.] Bush spoke." ...

... CW: You may recall that a few weeks ago, I linked to a Wash Po story that included this graf: "'I'm comfortable in my life,' [George W.] Bush told the crowd. 'There is one thing I miss, looking in the eyes of the people who serve this country and saluting them.' And so, he said he decided to 'dedicate the rest of his life' to helping veterans." But only if he can make it pay. Words fail me.

Sarah Wheaton & Burgess Everett of Politico: "President Barack Obama pegged the chances of a nuclear agreement with Iran at 'less than 50-50,' even as he worked to reassure Senate Democrats that he won't accept a bad deal, according to a U.S. senator who attended a gathering at the White House. During something of a working cocktail party Tuesday night, the president sounded a fresh note of pessimism as the nuclear talks in Vienna missed yet another self-imposed deadline -- and as his administration has sought to refute accusations that it is desperate for a deal."

Anthony Faiola & Ylan Mui of the Washington Post: "Facing a midnight deadline from European creditors, Greece's Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras huddled with government and political leaders Thursday to finalize details of the debt-laden country's last-ditch request for a fresh bailout. The proposal filed Wednesday asked for a three-year loan package, with vague promises to 'strengthen and modernize' Greece's economy and implement reforms of its patchwork tax system and generous pensions as soon as next week. But the one-page document was short on specifics, and it was unclear how big of a bailout package Athens would need." ...

... Anthony Faiola & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Greece asked European partners Wednesday for a new three-year bailout, pledging to make reforms but leaving blank how far it was willing to go to meet cost-cutting demands as the country flirts with bankruptcy. In a one-page letter, obtained by The Washington Post, Greece proposed to take steps on key issues such as taxes and pension payouts as early as next week. It also pledged to take unspecified 'additional actions' to 'strengthen and modernize' its economy." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

AFP: "Charges against five bloggers and journalists held in Ethiopia for more than a year have been dropped, weeks before Barack Obama's planned visit to the country. Five others also arrested in April 2014 remain in jail, accused of planning terrorist attacks and collaborating with the US-based opposition group Ginbot 7, labelled a terrorist organisation by Ethiopia."

Reuters: "Russia is the biggest threat to US national security and America must boost its military presence throughout Europe even as Nato allies face budget challenges and scale back spending, the US air force secretary, Deborah James, said on Wednesday."

American "Justice," Ctd. Dana Liebelson of the Huffington Post: "How A Teenage Girl Who Gave An 'Intimidating Look' Was Sentenced To Up To 5 Years In Prison."

Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team's federal trademark registrations, which have been opposed for decades by many Native Americans who feel the moniker disparages their race. The cancellation doesn't go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Guardian: "The disgraced former Fifa executive Chuck Blazer has been handed a life ban from all football-related activity by Fifa's ethics committee for bribery and other corruption."

Presidential Race

Brent Budowsky of the Hill: "The surge in support for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) in 2016 is the latest evidence of a progressive populist wave growing across America that has the potential to create a new political majority in the tradition of Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy.... The miracle of Occupy Wall Street is that this movement of idealists and patriots that was reviled by the right and ridiculed by insider pundits was victorious in the first great battle of ideas of the 21st century on behalf of the 99 percent.... The prospect of this new era of new thinking from a new populism of a new left, following the Gilded Age corruptions of the last financial crash and the revolving door corruptions of Washington, is driving the surprise surge for Sanders and posing the dramatic test for Clinton." ..

... Nate Silver: "Sanders could win Iowa. He's up to 30 percent of the vote there, according to Huffington Post Pollster's estimate. What's more, Sanders could also win New Hampshire, where he's at 32 percent of the vote. Nationally, by contrast, Sanders has just 15 percent of the vote and has been gaining ground on Clinton only slowly.... Democratic caucus-goers in Iowa and Democratic primary voters in New Hampshire are really liberal and really white, and that's the core of Sanders's support.... Sanders has so far made very little traction with non-white Democrats.... It just so happens that the idiosyncrasies of the first two states match Sanders's strengths and Clinton's relative weaknesses.... Just as was the case throughout the 2008 campaign, the media will misconstrue voting patterns that occur because of demographics and attribute them to 'momentum' instead." ...

... NEW. Patrick Healy & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Nearly 20 years after President Bill Clinton declared that 'the era of big government is over,' Hillary Rodham Clinton is proposing muscular federal policies that would require hundreds of billions of dollars in new spending and markedly expand Washington's influence in a host of areas, from universal prekindergarten to Alzheimer's disease research."

... CW: I watched only the clip I posted yesterday, but according to Steve M., the consensus is that Hillary Clinton's CNN interview was a dud. In the clip, she seemed fine to me. (Of course, that might be because Hillary speaks almost exactly as I do, to a point that kind of creeps me out.) I think Hillary's real speaking problem -- and nobody talks about this -- is that she doesn't have a man's voice. I know it's 2015 & we should all be so over the males-only rule, but Americans still think a man's voice conveys authority & a woman's does not. Ask yourself this: who is the greatest female orator you can think of? Ah, you probably can't think of anyone. If you're old enough, you might pick the late Barbara Jordan, who had a very deep, nearly masculine voice. She spoke with authority. ...

... Charles Pierce: "We now have an entire generation of political reporters whose formative experience in American politics was the Great Penis Chase of the 1990s. This is something that the HRC is going to have to live with, but it's something all of us can safely dismiss. There are reasons not to vote for Hillary Rodham Clinton; for me, so far, her blithe dismissal of the populist energy within her party is reason enough to give her a pass in the primaries."

Candace Smith of ABC News: "During an interview that was live-streamed on the app Periscope, [Jeb] Bush told New Hampshire's The Union Leader that to grow the economy, 'people should work longer hours.'... In a statement, a Bush aide clarified that he was referring to the underemployed and part-time workers.... US workers work more hours than workers in any other large, industrialized country, according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development." CW: Jeb! may be able to string together words better than the Dumber Brother, but he is just as gaffe-prone. ...

... Greg Sargent: Whatever Jeb! meant to say, "what's really important here is Bush's apparent overall economic diagnosis: the grand answer is lowering taxes -- including at the top -- which will trigger runaway growth that will solve those problems, including the gap between productivity and wages."

Dana Milbank: "It has been amusing to watch the brands ... flee Donald Trump after his xenophobic remarks. But there is one entity that can't dump Trump, no matter how hard it tries: the GOP. The Republican Party can't dump Trump because Trump is the Republican Party.... His views show that, far from being an outlier, he is hitting all the erogenous zones of the GOP electorate.... Anti-immigrant? Against Common Core education standards? For repealing Obamacare? Against same-sex marriage? Antiabortion? Anti-tax? Anti-China? Virulent in questioning President Obama's legitimacy? Check, check, check, check, check, check, check and check." ...

Not So Fast, Milbank, Comes Now Reince Priebus to the Rescue. Karen Tumulty, et al., of the Washington Post: Reince Priebus, "The head of the Republican National Committee, responding to demands from increasingly worried party leaders, spent nearly an hour Wednesday on the phone with Donald Trump, urging the presidential candidate to tone down his inflammatory comments about immigration that have infuriated a key election constituency.... Priebus told Trump that making inroads with Hispanics is one of his central missions as chairman. He told Trump that tone matters greatly and that Trump's comments are more offensive than he might imagine with that bloc." ...

... Emily Heil of the Washington Post: "Jose Andres, the D.C.-based super-chef with a growing national brand, is backing out of a deal to open the flagship restaurant in Donald Trump's forthcoming Washington hotel -- the latest on a growing list of high-profile partners to sever ties with the presidential candidate over his anti-immigrant comments. ...

     ... CW Aside: Don't you worry, Donnie Boy. I'm sure Paula Deen will be happy to cook up some of her famous fried mac & cheese for your upscale clientele. ...

     ... Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Paula Deen, the Southern celebrity chef who faced a public scandal in 2013 after she admitted using racist language, is facing new criticism after an image was posted to her Twitter account that showed her son in skin-darkening makeup. The image, which was from a 2011 Halloween-themed episode of one of Ms. Deen's cooking shows, was posted on Tuesday. Ms. Deen is dressed as Lucille Ball from 'I Love Lucy,' and her son Bobby is dressed as Ms. Ball's TV husband, Ricky Ricardo, who was played by the Cuban-born actor Desi Arnaz. The image was quickly removed...." Deen fired her social media manager for posting the picture. ...

     ... CW: By coincidence, Trump himself will appear next week on Deen's show. In the pre-taped episode -- titled "Hail to the Chief" -- both Trump & Deen wear brown makeup & stereotypical Native American buckskin. Trump sports a full eaglefeather war bonnet while Deen teaches him to make Tomahawk-Chop Tomato Salsa & Deep-Fried Redskin Potatoes. As they banter, Trump reminds viewers that Indian casinos do not pay taxes. He says that even though they compete unfairly with his own businesses, "I have a great relationship with the Indians." Deen has not decided whom to fire for this episode, but she plans to get Trump's advice on this. ...

... CW: So after making up that stuff, I read this actual news story. Antonio Olivo of the Washington Post: "In an interview with NBC News, Trump ... cited a hotel construction site in Washington featured recently in The Washington Post as an example of how he has 'a great relationship with the Mexican people.'... 'And I'll tell you something, if I get the nomination, I'll win the Latino vote,' Trump added." CW: The man is impossible to parody. If only he'd worn a sombrero for the interview. ...

... This too is real. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "PPP's newest North Carolina poll finds that Donald Trump's momentum just keeps on building. He's the top choice of Republican primary voters in the state, getting 16% to 12% for Jeb Bush and Scott Walker...." Via Greg Sargent.

Trump Trap. Ed Kilgore: Although Trump insists his "sole focus" is to run as a Republican, he won't rule out running as a third-party candidate should he lose the GOP nomination. "... Trump has the four ingredients necessary for converting an unsuccessful primary campaign into an indie general election bid: (1) a huge ego; (2) a gigantic personal fortune; (3) total disdain for his GOP presidential rivals; and (4) a rationale for candidacy: namely, the fact that he holds views outside the mainstream of the ... two-party system.... The possibility that he might will force Republicans to be a lot nicer to the man than would normally be the case, and that, too, could be damaging to the 'brand.'" ...

... CW: If Trump makes it a three-way, Democrats could win with a Nadir-Chomsky ticket. Whoever.

Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio said Wednesday he would oppose a constitutional amendment allowing states to ban same-sex marriage after the Supreme legalized it nationwide, even though he disagrees with the landmark 5-4 decision. 'I don't support a constitutional amendment. I don't believe the federal government should be in the marriage regulation business,' the Florida senator told reporters after a speech the Cedar Rapids Country Club in Iowa."

Beyond the Beltway

Alan Blinder & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "The Confederate battle flag that has flown at the South Carolina State House for more than 50 years will soon be gone after lawmakers capped a tension-filled session early on Thursday and voted to remove it from the grounds of the State Capitol.The final vote in the State House of Representatives, 94 to 20...." ...

... Michael Miller of the Washington Post: The pivotal moment in the House debate came when Jenny Horne (R), a descendant of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, spoke:

... Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "The South Carolina House opened debate over the future of the Confederate flag Wednesday, deliberating a proposal that could remove the banner from the Capitol grounds, possibly before the end of the week." (Yesterday afternoon.)

Yvonne Wenger of the Baltimore Sun: Baltimore "Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she has replaced Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts, citing 'utmost urgency' to stop a recent surge in violence.... Rawlings-Blake named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis interim commissioner, effective immediately. Rawlings-Blake's decision came hours after she lashed out at the city's police union for its highly critical report of the Police Department leadership during last month's rioting. She did not respond to a call for Batts' resignation from faith coalition Baltimoreans United in Leadership Development. She said the Fraternal Order of Police report did not play a role in her decision...."

"Chaos in Maine." Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The office of Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) and the clerk in the Maine House are in disagreement over the fate of 19 bills that the governor apparently did not veto in time to prevent them from becoming law. One of the bills grants welfare benefits to some immigrants, which LePage vehemently campaigned against in 2014.... LePage appeared to be attempting to use the parliamentary procedure known as the pocket veto.... But the pocket veto only works if the legislature has adjourned after the end of the second regular session.... The clerk of the Maine House told TPM Wednesday morning that the legislature, which is nearing the end of the first regular session, has not adjourned. By not vetoing the bills within the required 10-day period, LePage allowed the bills he opposed -- some ferociously -- to become law."

Go Down, Moses. Nullification, Oklahoma-Style. Jack Jenkins of Think Progress: Despite a 7-2 decision by the state's supreme court ordering that a Ten Commandments statue be removed from statehouse grounds the because its presence violated the Oklahoma constitution, Gov. Mary Fallin (R) refuses to have the religious monument removed. Because the court is wrong. ...

... CW: So now what? As constitutional scholar Tom DeLay has pointed out (never mind that he thinks the U.S. Supreme Court has ten justices), courts don't have armies to enforce their decisions. They rely on, um, the executive branch to do that where action is required. Maybe the state supremes could hold Fallin in contempt & throw her in jail. I have no idea.

Amanda Covarrubias & Matt Hamilton of the Los Angeles Times: The Calleguas, California Municipal Water District filed a complaint against actor Tom Selleck for stealing "huge amounts of water from a public hydrant" & having the water "delivered to his sprawling Hidden Valley ranch, according to court documents.... The ... complaint ... [charged] that on more than a dozen occasions since 2013, a white truck filled up at a Thousand Oaks hydrant and hauled the water to Selleck's 60-acre ranch in Westlake Village."

Kevin Maillard of the Atlantic: A young father fights for his paternal rights after his partner gives up their newborn for adoption. A compelling story. Moral: (1) Know your rights. (1) Keep evidence. ...

... Amanda Marcotte comments in Slate.

The Commentariat -- July 8, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

Nathaniel Popper of the New York Times: "The New York Stock Exchange unexpectedly shut down trading in all of its listed stocks late Wednesday morning.... A trader on the floor of the exchange in lower Manhattan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that after the suspension began, traders were told that the problem was related to updated software that was rolled out before markets opened on Wednesday."

Anthony Faiola & Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post: "Greece asked European partners Wednesday for a new three-year bailout, pledging to make reforms but leaving blank how far it was willing to go to meet cost-cutting demands as the country flirts with bankruptcy. In a one-page letter, obtained by The Washington Post, Greece proposed to take steps on key issues such as taxes and pension payouts as early as next week. It also pledged to take unspecified 'additional actions' to 'strengthen and modernize' its economy."

Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "The Washington Redskins lost their biggest legal and public relations battle yet in the war over their name after a federal judge in Northern Virginia on Wednesday ordered the cancellation of the NFL team's federal trademark registrations, which have been opposed for decades by many Native Americans who feel the moniker disparages their race. The cancellation doesn't go into effect until the Redskins have exhausted the appeals process in the federal court system."

Jeffrey Collins of the AP: "The South Carolina House opened debate over the future of the Confederate flag Wednesday, deliberating a proposal that could remove the banner from the Capitol grounds, possibly before the end of the week."

*****

West German representative Hermann Josef Abs signs an international agreement effectively halving West Germany's post-World War II debt. AP Photo, 1953. Niki Kitsantonis & James Kanter of the New York Times: "In a defiant speech before the European Parliament, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras of Greece said on Wednesday that his government was determined to reach a 'viable agreement' with the country's creditors. But he also insisted that any deal should include debt relief, and emphasized that the Greek crisis was essentially a European problem." ...

... (Andrew Higgins &) James Kanter of the New York Times: "Greece's newly installed finance minister arrived [in Brussels] at a crucial meeting of his eurozone peers on Tuesday without the new bailout proposal the group had expected to receive." CW: Not sure why the balance of Europe depends on a guy who's been on the job for half a day. Couldn't the other ministers come up with a less draconian plan & present that? ...

     ... New Lede: "European leaders, angered after Greece's new finance minister showed up for an emergency meeting in Brussels without a new proposal to resolve the nation's huge debt crisis, late Tuesday gave the Athens government until Sunday to reach an agreement to save its battered economy from a meltdown." CW: So, no, apparently these "European leaders" cannot behave like adults. They were angry???? ...

... The Times has live updates of events here. ...

... Eduardo Porter of the New York Times: "Major debt overhangs are only solved after deep write-downs of the debt's face value. The longer it takes for the debt to be cut, the bigger the necessary write-down will turn out to be. Nobody should understand this better than the Germans. It's not just that they benefited from the deal in 1953, which underpinned Germany's postwar economic miracle. Twenty years earlier, Germany defaulted on its debts from World War I, after undergoing a bout of hyperinflation and economic depression that helped usher Hitler to power."

Peter Müller & René Pfister of Der Speigel: "The Greek crisis required leadership and a plan, but Merkel was unwilling to provide either. Although she likes power, when push comes to shove, she doesn't know what to do with it. And now she faces the wreckage of her European policy." Thanks to Unwashed for the link. ...

... Scott Kaufman of Salon: "A group of prominent economists -- Thomas Piketty, Heiner Flassbeck, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Dani Rodrik, and Simon Wren-Lewis -- published a scorching open letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, warning her that if she doesn't 'provide the bold and generous steps towards Greece that will serve Europe for generations to come,' there could be 'far-reaching economic consequences across the world.'..." The letter, republished by the Nation (in English), is here. According to the Nation, "Global campaign group Avaaz organized this open letter to Angela Merkel on the back of a petition, signed by over half a million Europeans, demanding an end to the failed austerity program in Greece."

... Paul Krugman: "However things play out from here -- I find it hard to see a path other than Grexit -- the troika's program for Greece represents one of history's epic policy failures." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "From environmental and work force regulations to health care and contraception, congressional Republicans are using spending bills to try to dismantle President Obama's policies, setting up a fiscal feud this fall that could lead to a government shutdown. Even Pope Francis' planned visit to Congress in late September ... has added to the intrigue.... The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are churning out annual spending bills, dropping the bipartisanship that has long characterized the committees. The bills adhere to strict overall spending limits imposed in 2011 that Mr. Obama has already said he will not accept."

Emily Badger of the Washington Post: "... on Wednesday, the Obama administration will announce long-awaited rules designed to repair the [Fair Housing Act]'s unfulfilled promise and promote the kind of racially integrated neighborhoods that have long eluded deeply segregated cities like Chicago and Baltimore. The new rules, a top demand of civil-rights groups, will require cities and towns all over the country to scrutinize their housing patterns for racial bias and to publicly report, every three to five years, the results. Communities will also have to set goals, which will be tracked over time, for how they will further reduce segregation."

Dan Utech of the White House: "... [Tuesday], senior Administration officials were joined [link fixed] by Congressman [Elijah] Cummings [D-Md.] and Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in Baltimore to announce a new initiative to increase access to solar for all Americans, including low- and moderate- income communities, and expand opportunities join the solar workforce."

Let Them Eat Cake. Lydia Wheeler of the Hill: "First lady Michelle Obama's signature school lunch regulations are coming under fresh fire from GOP lawmakers, who view impending reauthorization legislation as their best chance yet to dial back the controversial nutrition standards. Republicans are convening a series of hearings to highlight criticism of the regulations, a pillar of the first lady's initiative to curb childhood obesity in the United States. School officials say students are turning their noses up to the meals that cap calories and limit sodium. Republicans also assail the standards as executive overreach."

Robert Chalmers of Newsweek: Thomas Buergenthal, "the most distinguished living specialist in international human rights law, [who] served as a judge at the International Court of Justice for 10 years..., and [is now] Professor of Law at George Washington University: '... some of us have long thought that [Dick] Cheney, and a number of CIA agents who did what they did in those so-called black holes [overseas torture centres] should appear before the ICC. We [in the USA] could have tried them ourselves. I voted for Obama but I think he made a great mistake when he decided not to instigate legal proceedings against some of these people. I think -- yes -- that it will happen.'"

Campbell Robertson of the New York Times profiles Caddo Parish acting DA Dale Cox, who has come to believe "that capital punishment is primarily and rightly about revenge and that the state needs to 'kill more people.'... From 2010 to 2014, more people were sentenced to death per capita [in Caddo Parish] than in any other county in the United States, among counties with four or more death sentences in that time period." For more on how Cox exercises his philosophy of killing more people, see this New Yorker story by Rachel Aviv, which I linked a week or so ago.

Glass Houses. Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: "Bill Cosby etched his legacy in stone with a speech in 2004 that took black parents to task. It became famous as the 'Pound Cake' speech.... The Pound Cake speech ... was cited by a U.S. district judge as a legal justification for unsealing a deposition that was deeply damaging to Cosby.... Judge Eduardo C. Robreno said the speech, and Cosby's general posture as a 'public moralist,' made the deposition a legitimate subject of public interest.... 'The stark contrast between Bill Cosby, the public moralist and Bill Cosby, the subject of serious allegations concerning improper (and perhaps criminal) conduct, is a matter as to which the AP -- and by extension the public -- has a significant interest,' the judge wrote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Sandra Peticini of the Orlando Sentinel: "A Bill Cosby statue is being removed from Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park, a Walt Disney World spokeswoman said Tuesday evening. The statue was to come down Tuesday night after the park closed. Disney did not have further comment."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. In Salon, digby pulls together some journalists' recent observations to show how reporters feed off GOP oppo research & baseless accusations to paint Hillary Clinton as the devil incarnate.

Presidential Race

Nial Stanage & Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton slammed Donald Trump for his comments on Mexican immigrants in the first national interview of her presidential campaign. 'I'm very disappointed in those comments, and I feel very bad and very disappointed with him and with the Republican Party for not responding immediately and saying, "Enough, stop," Clinton said in the interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar.... Clinton sought to link Trump, a GOP White House hopeful, to the Republican Party as a whole on immigration, saying 'They are all in the same general area on immigration.'" ...

... "Just Thinkin' about Tomorrow." Singing Backup -- Barack Obama. Brian Beutler of the New Republic: President "Obama is using his first-mover advantage not just to shore up his own legacy, but to set the terms of the coming presidential campaign favorably for the Democratic nominee.... Across the board, Republican candidates are committed to adjusting the status quo backward. They oppose the Iran negotiations, the normalization of relations with Cuba, and the very notion of an international agreement to curb global warming; they oppose administrative policies, like deferred action and overtime pay rules, that improve the lives of minorities and workers; and they oppose social legislation like the Affordable Care Act. Of the leading GOP presidential candidates, [Scott] Walker holds the most extreme view that the Supreme Court's decision to legalize same-sex marriage should be reversed and returned to the states. But all of these candidates oppose same-sex marriage... Taken as a whole, these issue positions will make it difficult for Republicans to cast themselves as forward-looking candidates." ...

... Hundreds of Ordinary Americans Join the Chorus. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Presidential campaigns have for decades fed talking points to surrogates who appear on national television or introduce candidates on the stump. But the [Clinton campaign's] effort to script and train local supporters is unusually ambitious and illustrates the extent to which the Clinton campaign and its web of sanctioned, allied super PACs are leaving nothing to chance.... But asking local supporters to use talking points could undermine the organic nature of grass-roots political interactions." ...

... Peter Beinart of the Atlantic does a good job of explaining Hillary's Bernie problem: she's tacking left this campaign & can't afford to alienate Sanders' liberal supporters, on whom she's counting to win in the general election. It's a quandary.

Charles Pierce: "... there is no institutional Republican party worth discussion anymore." Fox "News" is running the winger show in service of vanity candidates like Donald Trump & Ben Carson. ...

     ... CW: Pierce's view raises the question, does a political party's candidate have to be a professional politician? I don't think so (Dwight Eisenhower). No, I'm not comparing Donald to Ike. Pierce laments that two-term Gov. John Kasich (R-Ohio) won't make the cut for the first Fox "News" debate, & maybe that is terribly sad, but some of Kasich's sincerely-held beliefs (balanced budget amendment) are just as wackadoodle as Trump's incendiary & possibly fake ones (Mexican immigrants are criminals).

Claude Brodesser-Akner of NJ.com: "Democratic state lawmakers will soon introduce legislation that would force Gov. Chris Christie to resign from office because he is running for president.... State Sens. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) and Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), who are expected to co-sponsor the bill, said they are fed up with Christie's frequent absences from New Jersey this year in the run-up to last week's announcement that he's running for the White House. The bill would require Christie and any future governor to resign in order to run for president.... Christie has been out of state for more than a third of his second term and more than half of this year."

In a New York Times op-ed, Marco Rubio criticizes President Obama's normalizing relations with Cuba as a "Faustian bargain." CW: Marco doesn't outline what personal gains Obama was going for here; or he doesn't know what "Faustian bargain" means. ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) on Tuesday pledged to bust the higher education 'cartel' in an economic speech laying out his vision for the country. Rubio promised to cut the corporate tax rate, shift the U.S. to a territorial tax system and curtail costly regulations that impair business. He vowed to enact immigration reform based on getting skilled workers into the country while protecting U.S. jobs and called for an overhaul to a higher education system controlled by 'a cartel of existing colleges and universities.'... The sum of Rubio's remarks were meant to cast him as a new voice in Washington, ready to challenge an old guard."

Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul, speaking last week in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, said he believes a 50% tax rate leaves individuals 'half-slave, half-free.'... Paul said he believes that 'you have to give up some of your liberty to have government,' saying he was 'for some government.'" CW: So, not an anarchist. Excellent presidential qualification, Randy. ...

... ** Ed Kilgore explains why Paul's "philosophy" is so profoundly dumb: "Now obviously if you assume the very existence of a minimal government represents a grudging surrender of liberty, there's not a whole lot to 'debate' other than the point of which the 'slaves' are justified in revolting. What Paul is excluding by definition is the possibility that liberty requires government; that anarchy is not some ideal state of nature and that the untrammeled exercise of 'liberty' by some is in fact slavery for others. Thus Paul really does help us to understand the essence of 'constitutional conservatism.'...”

Dan Snierson of Entertainment Weekly: "Simpsons fans will find this turn of events nothing short of excellent: Seven weeks after tweeting that he was exiting the animated comedy, EW has learned that Harry Shearer -- the voice of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Smithers and a flurry of other memorable characters -- has agreed to rejoin Fox's forever-running animated comedy." CW: Good news for Simpsons fans but bad news for the USA.

... Totally unrelated to Snierson's story:

... Brendan Prunty of the New York Times: "The P.G.A. Grand Slam of Golf -- a year-end exhibition among the winners of the four men's major championships -- was scheduled for October at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles. Instead, it will be moved to a yet-to-be-determined location." ...

What can be simpler or more accurately stated? The Mexican Government is forcing their most unwanted people into the United States. They are, in many cases, criminals, drug dealers, rapists, etc. -- Donald Trump, July 6

Trump's repeated statements about immigrants and crime underscore a common public perception that crime is correlated with immigration, especially illegal immigration. But that is a misperception; no solid data support it, and the data that do exist negate it. Trump can defend himself all he wants, but the facts just are not there. -- Michelle Lee of the Washington Post

Beyond The Beltway

Bill Chappell of NPR: "In a required third vote, South Carolina's state senators voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from its prominent place flying on the Statehouse grounds. The final tally was 36-3. The House will now take up the issue, perhaps as early as Wednesday. In both the Senate and the House, a vote on removing the flag will require a two-thirds majority." ...

... Florida Crackers. News 13 Orlando: "Marion County[, Florida] commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to put the Confederate flag back up at the county's government complex. The flag was removed Thursday and temporarily replaced with a flag with the seal of Marion County.... Within minutes of Tuesday morning's vote, the Civil War-era flag was seen flying once again outside the government complex as one of the five national flags which have flown over Florida since European explorers first landed on its shores more than 500 years ago. The other four are Spanish, French, British and American flags.... Reaction by Marion County residents who spoke with us Tuesday was overwhelmingly against the decision to remove the flag in the first place." ...

... Iowa Crackers. Josh Hafner of the Des Moines Register: "Three Confederate flags flew from a truck pulling a Marion County[, Iowa,] Republicans' parade float in Independence Day parades in Pleasantville and Pella on Saturday, leading to harsh criticism from the party's state chairman and resignation of two Marion County central committee members who owned the truck." Worth a read. ...

... Gun-Rights Leader Blames "Liberals" for Massacre. Miranda Blue of Right Wing Watch: "Immediately after a white gunman killed nine worshippers at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina, last month, Larry Pratt of Gun Owners of America started laying blame on the church's slain pastor, who was also a state senator, for supporting gun control and not allowing concealed weapons in his church. In an interview with Armed America Radio that was posted online last week, Pratt doubled down, claiming that the shooter, Dylann Roof, targeted a church 'populated by liberals' and pastored by 'Mr. Anti-Gun' because he knew his victims would be unarmed."

Bryan Lowry of the Wichita Eagle: Kansas "Gov. Sam Brownback issued an executive order Tuesday prohibiting state government from taking action against clergy members or religious organizations that deny services to couples based on religious beliefs. Among other things, the order is intended to protect religious organizations that provide adoption services for the state from having to place children with gay couples if that conflicts with their beliefs.... The order explicitly protects religious organizations that provide 'social services or charitable services,' meaning that it extends beyond the wedding ceremony." Via TPM.

Jack Healy of the New York Times: "At issue [in a case argued Tuesday before the Colorado Court of Appeals] was whether Jack Phillips, a Colorado bakery owner, had broken state antidiscrimination laws when he refused to make a cake for a gay couple's wedding reception, citing his religious beliefs. With same-sex marriage now legal everywhere nationally in the wake of the United States Supreme Court ruling in June, his case is being closely watched as a test of the boundary between personal religious objections and legal discrimination."

CBS/AP: "A federal grand jury has indicted a former Tennessee congressional candidate for allegedly soliciting others in a plan to burn down a mosque in Islamberg, a predominantly Muslim hamlet in Hancock, New York. Robert Doggart, 63, allegedly planned to burn a mosque, as well as a school and a cafeteria in the community. Investigators said he sought others to join the plan through Facebook posts and in telephone conversations.... According to court documents, Doggart is a member of several 'private militia groups.' He ran as an independent candidate for Congress in Tennessee's fourth congressional district in 2014. The Department of Justice pressed charges in Tennessee, where Doggart still lives." ...

... CW: You may remember this story about Doggart, linked here last week.

News Ledes

New York Times: Bonard Fowler, the Alabama policeman whose killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson provoked the hstoric march from Selma to Montgomery, died July 5 at age 81.

New York Times: "The New York Stock Exchange unexpectedly shut down trading in all of its listed stocks late Wednesday morning.... A trader on the floor of the exchange in lower Manhattan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that after the suspension began, traders were told that the problem was related to updated software that was rolled out before markets opened on Wednesday." ...

     ... Update: "Trading resumed late Wednesday afternoon, almost four hours after the shutdown began, less than an hour before the 4 p.m. closing bell." ...

... Politico: "The Wall Street Journal's homepage experienced an outage on Wednesday amid similar troubles at the New York Stock Exchange and United Airlines. The newspaper's homepage displayed a 504 outage, though other sections of the newspaper's website, such as its Markets page, continued to function. The outage came at a curious time, just hours after United Airlines grounded all their flights across the country due to computer problems, and mere minutes after trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange. NBC News' Pete Williams reported that officials do not think the glitches at United and the NYSE are connected, and it's possible that with the NYSE news, The Wall Street Journal's homepage is crashing under intense traffic."

New York Times: "As diplomats [at the Iran nuclear talks] declared they were entering yet another overtime period on Tuesday -- the second since negotiators blew past the supposedly final June 30 deadline for concluding the accord -- they sidestepped any talk of a firm date for reaching one of the hardest but potentially most consequential accords in recent diplomatic history."

Palestinian Live Matter. Guardian: "A teenage Palestinian killed by a senior Israeli army officer last week was shot in the back and side while apparently fleeing, according to medical evidence and multiple Palestinian witness reports. Mohammed Kasbeh, 17, was among a group of stone-throwers near a major Ramallah checkpoint when they broke the windscreen of a passing brigade commander's car with a rock. He died after being shot several times in his upper body by the officer."

Japan Times: "Former Toyota Motor Corp. executive Julie Hamp will not be charged with illegally importing a controlled painkiller, investigative sources said Tuesday. Prosecutors decided not to indict the 55-year-old American after concluding that her action was not ill-intended and considering the fact that she has already resigned from her job."

AFP: "US President Barack Obama welcomed the leader of Vietnam's Communist Party on Tuesday to the White House for historic but 'candid' talks marking two decades of rapprochement between the former enemies. Nguyen Phu Trong is the first general secretary of the Vietnamese Communist Party to visit the United States and the White House, and was given the rare honor of an Oval Office meeting -- usually reserved for heads of state and government."