It's Their Money

Yesterday in a Comment, contributor Ken W. wrote,

Collecting signatures for Washington State's counter to Citizens United, our own initiative, I-1329, I met a young man, I'd guess about 23, who wanted to set me straight. He described himself as a libertarian, told me that everyone had the right to spend his money the way he wished, that the word liberal was purloined from the good, right-thinking people of his own persuasion and said that the current Democrats were in fact Communists. Signature gathering is not a time to engage.

While I agree that a signature-gatherer doesn't have time to argue with every loon who disagrees with his purpose, there are often short, nonconfrontational answers to the usual right-wing bullshit.

So let's address the young man's main objection to Ken's effort: that "everyone has the right to spend his money the way he wishes."

Short response:

(1). To get the little fucker on your side, you agree with him. Up to a point. "Well, yes, you're right. At least for most people."

(2) Appeal to his self-interest & vanity. "But don't you think the government should treat you as well as it treats super-rich people? In a democracy, you're as good as they are. But you sure as hell are not getting equal treatment today."

(3) Wrap up. "That isn't fair. It violates the bedrock principles of American democracy. And it violates your rights as an American." (Whip out tiny American flag & wave it vigorously.)

Longer response:

Explain that the rich are not just buying access to politicians with their campaign contributions.  They're buying the politicians themselves. They're buying the people who write the laws that govern us all. The politicians who get big contributions from the rich are passing the laws those rich contributors want them to pass. They're passing laws that specifically benefit the rich -- at the expense of the rest of us. The rich are making themselves richer -- and they're making you poorer.

"Think about it," you say. "Suppose you write a check to your favorite candidate -- for whatever you can afford -- say, $100. Do you think your $100 would buy you a law that specifically profited you? Of course not. But that's what happens when rich people get to corrupt the system by financing politicians. They get special favors -- big favors that hurt the rest of us. That's why I'm supporting this initiative -- that's why everyone who believes he too should get a fair shake will want to support it. This initiative isn't Democratic with a big 'D.' It's Democratic with a small 'd.' It's American." (Flag.)

If he gives you the line about how we're not really "created equal," again you can agree. Up to a point. "Sure, you & I might not be able to buy all the Rolls & Rolexes the rich can. And that's all right. Maybe we didn't inherit as much as they did. We didn't make as much money as they did, however they made it. But there's a big difference between some people having more to spend & some people getting a better shake from the government. We expect people to have unequal wealth. That's cool. But we all deserve equal protection under the law. It's in the Constitution. And we won't get it as long as the rich are writing the laws, as they can & do today. It's not fair. It's anti-American. (Flag.)

This is all pretty simplistic, but not any more simplistic than that stupid kid's stupid "political philosophy." I find that most people who preach the stock right-wing talking points '-- i. e., "it's their money" -- have never thought past the Fox-supplied talking points.

A few days ago a young man told me that he thought everyone who "gets welfare" should have to pass a drug test. I said that "sounded sensible," but it wasn't always that easy. "Are you going to deny food or medical care to the children of a mother who flunks the pee test?" Uh, well, no. Sometimes that's all it takes. I have these little Setting Strangers Straight sessions quite often without noticeably pissing off the other party.

The Commentariat -- June 9, 2014

Photos & related text removed.

Try to Explain Away This One, Wingers (assuming initial reports are somewhat accurate). Brian Nordli, et al., of the Las Vegas Sun News: "Hours after a man and woman killed two police officers at an east Las Vegas pizza restaurant and then gunned down another victim at a nearby Wal-Mart before killing themselves, a picture of the shooters began to emerge. Residents at an apartment complex where it appeared the two lived together said they had a reputation for spouting racist, anti-government views, bragging about their gun collection and boasting that they'd spent time at Cliven Bundy's ranch during a recent standoff there between armed militia members and federal government agents.... 'They were handing out white-power propaganda and were talking about doing the next Columbine, [Brandon] Moore[, a resident of the complex,] said."

It would have been offensive and incomprehensible to consciously leave an American behind, no matter what. -- Secretary of State John Kerry ...

... Brian Knowlton of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that he felt confident the five Taliban detainees freed in a swap for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl posed little risk to Americans, adding that Qatari officials were not the only ones monitoring them -- and that while the five might be able to return to the battlefield, 'they also have the ability to get killed doing that.' Mr. Kerry, in some of his first public remarks on the exchange, struck a decidedly tough tone, dismissing as 'baloney' the suggestion that terrorists would have new incentive to kidnap Americans. He also hinted, without offering details, that the United States had the means to monitor the Taliban members...." ...

... Shashank Bengali & Hashmat Baktash of the Los Angeles Times: "... not all [the Taliban exchanged for Bergdahl] were hard-core militants. Three held political positions in the Taliban government that ruled Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001 and were considered relative moderates. A fourth was a mid-level police official, experts say. The fifth, however..., Mohammed Fazl, was chief of staff of the Taliban army and is accused of commanding forces that massacred hundreds of civilians in the final years of Taliban rule before the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.... 'Fazl is the only one of the five to face accusations of explicit war crimes and they are, indeed, extremely serious,' Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network,a Kabul-based research group, wrote in a commentary published Wednesday." Also, John McCain doesn't know WTF he's talking about. ...

... Something McCain Didn't Consider. Jeremy Herb of Politico: "Retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, the former chief of the U.S. Central Command, said on Sunday the prisoner swap for Army Sgt. Bowe Berdgahl will give the U.S. military more freedom to carry out missions against the Taliban and Haqqani Network. Appearing on CNN's 'State of the Union,' Mattis said U.S. commanders in Afghanistan always lived with the concern that Bergdahl would be killed in retaliation for a U.S. offensive against the Taliban." More military missions. That should thrill McCain.

New York Times: Waaah, Waaah, Waaah. CW: These critics might have a point if they hadn't spent the last several years making an agreement more difficult. ...

... Greg Sargent lets Sen. Chambliss explain why the Obama administration accidentally forgot to notify Congress of the impending prisoner swap:

It's kind of puzzling as to why they did not let us know in advance that this was going to happen. -- Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), yesterday

Chambliss said he 'absolutely' would have raised 'holy Hell' publicly had he gotten wind of the proposed released of five Taliban officials in a prisoner swap. -- Chambliss, last week

Puzzle solved. -- Constant Weader

[President Obama] broke the law, but I believe that the law itself is unconstitutional. Article II [of the Constitution] makes him the commander in chief of the armed forces. These people were in the custody of the armed forces. -- Former Bush II Attorney General Michael Mukasey, on "Fox 'News' Sunday"

... Zachary Warmbrodt of Politico: "A law requiring the president to notify Congress 30 days before freeing detainees from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is unconstitutional, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Sunday.... Mukasey, who served in the George W. Bush administration, has been critical of the deal, calling it 'ghastly,' and in the interview that aired Sunday said the military should 'act swiftly' to investigate Bergdahl's actions after he left his base in Afghanistan." ...

... Andy Sullivan, et al., of Reuters: "... accounts by two Taliban sources as well as several U.S. officials and fellow soldiers raise doubt over media reports that [Bergdahl] had sought to join the Taliban, and over suggestions that the deaths later that year of six soldiers in his battalion were related to the search for him.... A Reuters reconstruction of his disappearance indicates that at the time when Bergdahl's six comrades in the 1st Battalion of the 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment were killed in August and September 2009, his fallen comrades were on other missions like securing the Afghan elections and, according to one U.S. military official, the period of intensive ground searches had already ended."

... Trial by Fox "News." Elias Isquith of Salon: "While speaking with former Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Fox News Sunday, host Chris Wallace asked if executing Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl should be 'at least on the table' once the former POW returns home." ...

We as a nation, instead of politicizing something like this, we as a nation, should look at it and say: Okay, [it's a] complex problem, how do we handle this in a way that brings us together? Because it actually makes us look weaker to our allies, it makes us look confused to our foes, and if we were very united on something like this and we just said: 'America doesn't leave its people but we do have a high standard,' then I think we'd come out better. -- Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Ret.

... Phil Stewart & Doina Chiacu of Reuters: "U.S. Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl ... [is] struggling emotionally and ha[s] not yet called his parents." ...

     ... CW: I hope the medics aren't letting that poor messed-up kid watch Fox "News."

Jonathan Chait: "Obama Promised to Do 4 Big Things As President. Now He's Done Them All."

** Paul Krugman: "What makes rational action on climate so hard is [not vested economic interest but] -- a toxic mix of ideology and anti-intellectualism."

Larry Summers in the Washington Post: "If American society is to become more just and inclusive, it will be necessary to craft policies that address the rapidly increasing share of income going to the rich. But it is crucial to recognize that measures to support the rest of the population in other ways are at least equally important."

Charles Blow: "One Gallup report issued last week found that 42 percent of Americans believe 'God created humans in their present form 10,000 years ago.' ... How does America remain a world leader in an increasingly technological, science-based world, when so many of our citizens -- and even our leaders, including Republicans who might run for president -- deny basic science?" ...

     ... CW Answer: it doesn't. Part of the solution should come from the point of origin of the problem. Ministers & priests should regularly devote sermons to explaining to their dimwitted congregations that Bible stories are STORIES.

Thomas Frank in Salon on the ever-spiraling cost of college tuition. Frank explains the cost rise in socioeconomic terms, & he blames the Reagan philosophy for starting the cost trend. But Frank doesn't suggest a solution. CW: I'm still unclear on who gets the money, though apparently too many college administrators do. (He doesn't mention that college presidents & other top administrators are wa-a-a-y overpaid.)

All Hillary All the Time, Ctd.

Chris Good of ABC News: Hillary Clinton talked to Diane Sawyer & said stuff that won't surprise you. You can watch Sawyer's Clinton special at 9 pm ET today (Monday), if you don't like surprises. Also, she'll be speaking live with Robin Roberts on ABC's "Good Morning, America" on Tuesday, so if you hate surprises in the morning, tune in. ...

... Zeke Miller has more on Clinton's book tour schedule. ...

... Other Presidential Election News

John Reynolds of the Texas Tribune: "U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz easily won the presidential preference straw poll held at the Texas GOP's state convention Saturday, crushing outgoing Gov. Rick Perry and several other early contenders for the 2016 nomination." ...

... BUT. Jay Newton-Small of Time: Big money & Washington Republicans don't like Ted Cruz.

Senate Races

Nate Silver is still predicting Republicans will take the Senate.

Beyond the Beltway

Democrat for Sale, Purchase Pending. Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Republicans appear to have outmaneuvered Gov. Terry McAuliffe in a state budget standoff by persuading a Democratic senator to resign his seat, at least temporarily giving the GOP control of the chamber and possibly dooming the governor's push to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. Sen. Phillip P. Puckett (D-Russell) will announce his resignation Monday, effective immediately, paving the way to appoint his daughter to a judgeship and Puckett to the job of deputy director of the state tobacco commission, three people familiar with the plan said Sunday." ...

     ... CW: I'm sure Puckett will make a great tobacco commissioner, because he obviously doesn't give a flying fuck how many people get sick & die in service of his self-interest. Politicans quit their so-called public service jobs all the time to get better gigs for themselves, but this is beyond outrageous.

The Commentariat -- June 8, 2014

Internal links removed.

All Hillary All the Time, Ctd.

Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Are you ready for Hillary? If not, this is a week to turn off the television, put aside your morning paper, get off the Internet, never look at your Twitter feed, avoid Facebook and stay out of bookstores. Even then you probably won't be able to avoid the former secretary of state/senator/first lady. On Tuesday, Hillary Rodham Clinton's new book, 'Hard Choices,' will be published amid a flurry of publicity worthy of, well, the opening of a major presidential campaign."

Michiko Likes It! Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times, probably the toughest book critic around, reviews Hillary Clinton's Hard Choices: "The book ... turns out to be a subtle, finely calibrated work that provides a portrait of the former secretary of state and former first lady as a heavy-duty policy wonk.... 'Hard Choices' is a statesmanlike document intended to attest to Mrs. Clinton's wide-ranging experience on national security and on foreign policy.... Unlike former Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates's rawly candid memoir 'Duty,' this volume is very much the work of someone who is keeping all her political options open -- and who would like to be known not only for mastering the art of diplomacy, but also for having the policy chops to become chooser-in-chief."

Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "The billionaire industrialist Koch brothers, known best for shepherding big money to conservative causes and candidates, have given a $25 million grant to the United Negro College Fund, the organization announced Friday." P.S. "As of last week, the Koch-backed group Americans for Prosperity had spent at least $44 million on 2014 congressional races since August, according to a person familiar with the total." CW: Everything is relative, people.

Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl has told medical officials that his captors locked him in a metal cage in total darkness for weeks at a time as punishment for trying to escape, and while military doctors say he now is physically able to travel he is not yet emotionally ready for the pressures of reuniting with his family, according to American officials who have been briefed on his condition." ...

... A Troubled Platoon. Richard Oppel & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "On their tiny, remote base, in a restive sector of eastern Afghanistan at an increasingly violent time of the war, the [soldiers in Bowe Bergdahl's platoon] were known to wear bandannas and cutoff T-shirts. Their crude observation post was inadequately secured, a military review later found. Their first platoon leader, and then their first platoon sergeant, were replaced relatively early in the deployment because of problems." ...

... Josh Halliday of the Guardian: "US authorities are investigating death threats sent to the parents of Bowe Bergdahl, the American soldier released by the Taliban last week after five years in captivity. The FBI is examining four threatening emails sent to Bob Bergdahl and his wife Jani." ...

... Michael Semple in the Washington Post on myths about "talking to terrorists." Also, Ted Cruz doesn't know WTF he's talking about.

A Reward for Heroism. Caroline Bankoff of New York: Strangers fulfill the wedding registries & pay for the honeymoon of Jon Meis, the young man who tackled & pepper-sprayed the Seattle shooter.

MoDo implies her column on her Colorado OD was a great public service -- bringing to the world awareness of the need for regulation of pot. She never addresses the claim that published in the Denver Post by her budista that he gave her dosage instructions.

Antonia Blumberg of the Huffington Post: "A revised teachers' contract in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati has forced some teachers to leave their positions even after years of service. First-grade teacher Molly Shumate and high school English teacher Robert Hague are among the veteran teachers choosing to leave the diocese over a 'morality clause' included in the new contracts. The clause reportedly prohibits teachers, whether Catholic or not, from having sex or living with a partner outside of marriage, using in-vitro fertilization, leading a gay 'lifestyle,' or publicly supporting any of the above. For teachers like Shumate, whose son is gay, the clause threatens to pit teachers against friends and family in order to keep their jobs." Via Steve Benen.

... Benen: "Ohio is one of several states that allow private school religious vouchers, which means taxpayers can subsidize the same parochial schools that are imposing 'morality clauses' on their employees."

Congressional Races

Adam Green & Stephanie Taylor of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee in the American Prospect: "This week's Democratic congressional primaries amounted to Progressive Super Tuesday. And it is the latest chapter in a larger story we've seen play out in American politics since the Wall Street economic wreck." ...

... Ed Kilgore disagrees.

Beyond the Beltway

Brian Tashman of Right Wing Watch: "Family Research Council President Tony Perkins is urging parents across the country to pull their children out of public schools in response to a Washington, D.C., principal's decision to come out to his students and school staff." Also via Benen. ...

... CW: Could this be a bit of overreach? You live in Nebraska & you're opposed to the gay "lifestyle" (see "morality clause" above). Your child goes to a good public school which you support with your tax dollars. Well, pull him out of there, Lady, because if there's a gay teacher in Washington, D.C., your Nebraska school is tainted or something.

News Ledes

New York Times: "The actor and comedian Tracy Morgan remained in critical condition on Sunday after he was injured in a crash in New Jersey.... Mr. Morgan ... had several serious injuries, including a broken leg, a broken femur, a broken nose and several broken ribs, his publicist Lewis Kay said on Sunday.... Walmart confirmed on Sunday that the driver of the tractor-trailer, Kevin Roper, 35, of Jonesboro, Ga., [who caused the accident] was a Walmart employee." ...

     ... CW: I read elsewhere that the driver fell asleep at the wheel. I wonder if WalMart gives its drivers necessary turnaround & break time.

Los Angeles Times: "As many as five people were dead Sunday afternoon after police said a pair of people shot two police officers at a Las Vegas pizzeria and then stormed a nearby Wal-Mart, where they killed another victim in the store, then themselves. 'This is a revolution,' the suspects said during the attack, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Kevin C. McMahill told reporters."

Guardian: "Heavy fighting has broken out at Pakistan's busiest airport after armed gunmen penetrated the security cordon, hurling grenades and exchanging gunfire with Pakistani security forces." The Guardian is liveblogging developments at the linked page.

Guardian: "Egypt's ex-army chief, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, was officially sworn in on Sunday morning as Egypt's fifth head of state since 2011, nearly a year after he ousted his predecessor Mohamed Morsi."

Reuters: "Pope Francis hopes an unprecedented meeting of the Israeli and Palestinian presidents at the Vatican on Sunday can help end 'eternal negotiations' and lead to peace but he has no wish to meddle in Middle East politics, the Vatican said on Friday." ...

     ... New York Times Update: "In a richly symbolic ceremony, Pope Francis oversaw a carefully orchestrated 'prayer summit' with the Israeli and Palestinian presidents on Sunday as Jews, Christians and Muslims offered invocations for peace in the Vatican gardens."

Reuters: "Ukraine's newly-installed President Petro Poroshenko is set to remake a governing team which will handle the crisis with Russia, with talks on gas prices on Monday providing an early test of his new relationship with Russia's Vladimir Putin.... Poroshenko's blunt refusal to accept the loss of Crimea in a combative inaugural speech puts him further at odds with Putin." ...

... AP: "The United States pledged millions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia on Saturday, deepening American support to the Western-leaning countries on Russia's border. Vice-president Joe Biden announced the extra aid, which must be approved by Congress, during a visit to Kiev for the inauguration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko."