The Commentariat -- May 5, 2014

Internal links removed.

NPR: Cinco de Mayo is mostly a U.S. production. Except in the village of Puebla, Mexico, the holiday in not celebrated by Mexicans.

Christian Nation, Ctd. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that a town in upstate New York may begin its public meetings with a prayer from a 'chaplain of the month.' Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for the majority in the 5-to-4 decision, said 'ceremonial prayer is but a recognition that, since this nation was founded and until the present day, many Americans deem that their own existence must be understood by precepts far beyond that authority of government to alter or define.' In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said the town's practices could not be reconciled 'with the First Amendment’s promise that every citizen, irrespective of her religion, owns an equal share of her government.'"

Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "A group of wealthy liberal donors who helped bankroll the Center for American Progress and other major advocacy groups on the left is developing a new big-money strategy that could boost state-level Democratic candidates and mobilize core party voters. The plan, being crafted in private by a group of about 100 donors that includes billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros and San Francisco venture capitalist Rob McKay, seeks to give Democrats a stronger hand in the redrawing of district lines for state legislatures and the U.S. House."

E. J. Dionne: "The roughly one-eighth of voters who disapprove of [President] Obama but nonetheless support [Hillary] Clinton for 2016 may be the most important group in the electorate. If Democratic candidates can collectively manage to corral Clinton's share of the national electorate this fall, the party would likely keep control of the Senate and might take over the House of Representatives."

Paul Krugman: " On Thursday, House Republicans released a deliberately misleading report on the status of health reform, crudely rigging the numbers to sustain the illusion of failure in the face of unexpected success.... Mainstream politicians didn't always try to advance their agenda through lies, damned lies and — in this case -- bogus statistics. And the fact that this has become standard operating procedure for a major party bodes ill for America's future."

Digby, in Salon: "Benghazi!™ is about portraying the Obama administration as being wimpy on terrorism, of course. But ... the Obama administration is the one that killed bin Laden and is taking down terrorists -- and anyone who might accidentally look like one, which is a whole other story -- with drone strikes all over the Middle East and Africa. (It's true that he's failed to invade a random country just to prove America's manhood, but he's still got a couple of years.) ... The Obama administration has made not one single move on terrorism with which the right would normally quarrel. But they simply cannot admit that this or one of their most important organizing principles is off the table: National security is as fundamental to them as low taxes and gun rights.... So they're ... making a national security scandal up out of whole cloth. But this isn't about Obama, not really. They have another Clinton to kick around and her involvement in Benghazi!™ as secretary of state gave them a perfect opportunity to dust off the old scandal sheet music and brush up on those old songs." ...

... Michael Hirsh of Politico: "The Benghazi-Industrial Complex is here to stay, fueled by a mania on the right to somehow, in some way, validate Issa's declaration that Obama is the 'one of the most corrupt presidents of modern times' and, above all, to tarnish Clinton ahead of 2016 by linking the former secretary of state directly to the deaths of [Ambassador Chris] Stevens and the others." ...

... John Bresnahan, et al., of Politico explain what-all the House "select committee" on Benghaaaazi! will be doing. Nancy Pelosi may not even name Democrats to the committee. CW: Even Politico writers seem to regard this latest "investigative" effort as a joke.

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "David G. Blanchflower, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, and Adam S. Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, argue in a new paper that the slow pace of wage growth is the best indicator of an incomplete economic recovery. Until wages start rising more quickly, the economy remains far from healthy. The two men also argue that the federal Reserve should focus on wage growth in calibrating its stimulus campaign because wage growth effectively summarizes other measures like unemployment and participation."

Alec MacGillis of the New Republic on what a stupendously lackadaisical regulator SEC chair Mary Jo White is. Not too surprising:

I believe there is too much bias toward Wall Street among regulators. At the time, I said I hoped she would prove me wrong. But I'm still waiting for the S.E.C. to break from the status quo and demand accountability from the financial institutions it oversees. It's time we find watchdogs outside of the very industry that they are meant to police. -- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), after voting against White's confirmation

... CW: White & her husband got super-rich defending Wall Street muckamucks. Her husband is still working his day job, as far as I know. White was a horrible choice, but I think Obama knew just what he was doing. Thanks to P. D. Pepe for the link to MacGillis's piece.

Gene Robinson, the former Episcopalian Bishop of New Hampshire, announces his pending divorce in the Daily Beast.

Katie McDonough of Salon tries to explain racism to a privileged white racist Princeton freshman. Good luck with that: "... like many white people he doesn't want to confront racism and white privilege because those things have -- and will continue to -- really, really help him out in life. And the reality is that he doesn't have to confront this stuff, either.... That's exactly how white privilege works."

Elizabeth Barber of Reuters: "Former U.S. President George H.W. Bush showed courage in breaking his 'read my lips: no new taxes' campaign pledge to broker a 1990 budget compromise that may have cost him re-election two years later, the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation said on Sunday. The organization honored the 41st U.S. president with its 2014 Profile in Courage Award, praising the Republican leader's 'decision to put country above party and political prospects' in the deal with congressional Democrats."

Must-Not-Read "Journalism." Ravi Somaiya of the New York Times: "John Heilemann and Mark Halperin, political journalists known for their detailed, gossip-filled books on the past two presidential campaigns, will join Bloomberg in the coming days to start a new site that will focus on American politics and policy." ...

... Speaking of lousy journalists, Joe Hagan has a profile in New York of Lara Logan. Numerous "Friends of Lara" at CBS "News" diss her -- anonymously, of course. Profiles in courage -- not. ...

... Driftglass sums up the excellent journalism evident on the Sunday shows in one sentence: "It was a Benghaaaazi-fest, with breadcrumb filler." ...

     ... AND he links to this post by Emily Smith, no doubt an excellent gossip journalist at the New York Post's Page Six: "David Gregory's tenure at 'Meet the Press' has suffered another blow after the show's long-standing producer, Chris Donovan, quit after 12 years and defected to work for ABC rival George Stephanopoulos at 'This Week.' Donovan, who started at ABC last week, was fed up with embattled Gregory and the direction of 'Meet the Press,' sources tell Page Six, which has sunk to third place in the ratings, behind CBS' 'Face the Nation' and ABC's 'This Week.'" ...

... Charles Pierce has a much longer review of "Sunday Showz" "journalism." He wants to see more entertainers & sports figures on the shows. His fave this week:

I did a little bit of research, more whites believe in ghosts than believe in racism. That's why ... why we have shows like Ghostbusters and don't have shows like Racistbuster. You know, it's something that's still part of our culture and people hold on to some of these ideas and practices just out of habit and saying that well that's the way it always was. But things have to change. -- Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, on "This Week"

I totally would watch Racistbusters. If the first episode was a two-parter at the Bundy Ranch, the ratings would be through the roof. -- Charles Pierce

... CW: Maybe Driftglass & Pierce should have watched Univision's Sunday show, where Jorge Ramos repeatedly pressed Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.), chair of the House Judiciary Committee on Republicans' immigration policy. As Greg Sargent reads Goodlatte's evasive, but still telling, answers, "Republicans have effectively defined their policy stance as follows: Obama is not deporting enough low level offenders with lives here, so therefore we won't embrace any form of legal status for them."

Beyond the Beltway

Tim Devaney of the Hill: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Sunday blamed the state of Oklahoma for a 'botched' execution of a death row inmate last week, but said his state will proceed with the death penalty without pause.... Texas currently has 273 people on death row. The Lone Star State has executed more than 500 people -- the most of any state -- since the Supreme Court reaffirmed the death penalty in 1976."

Congressional Races

Susan Page & Kendall Breitman of USA Today: "A nationwide USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll shows the strongest tilt to Republican candidates at this point in a midterm year in at least two decades, including before partisan 'waves' in 1994 and 2010 that swept the GOP into power."

Presidential Election

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: Rand Paul's Very Special Guest at the Kentucky Derby: Rupert Murdoch. "There is a great tradition of political theater and back-room dealing at the Kentucky Derby, and the pageant involving Mr. Murdoch fit right in."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Pro-Russian insurgents shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter as heavy fighting re-erupted around a key rebel stronghold on Monday, leaving at least eight people dead and dozens wounded. The fierce fighting in Slovyansk, a separatist stronghold, broke out as the Ukrainian government sought to regain control of the key Black Sea port of Odessa, dispatching a special police unit to that city after deadly clashes there between rival mobs supporting Ukraine and Russia." ...

... Reuters: "Switzerland's federal prosecutor has frozen 170 million Swiss francs ($193.34 million) of assets in Swiss bank accounts belonging to former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich and people close to him, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday."

Reuters: "The trustee liquidating Bernard Madoff's firm on Monday began distributing another $351.6 million to the swindler's former customers, boosting the amount recouped to nearly $6 billion."

Chicago Tribune: "Gary Becker, a Nobel Prize-winning professor of economics and sociology at the University of Chicago whom colleagues called one of the most influential economists of the 20th century, died over the weekend. He was 83." ...

     ... Becker's New York Times obituary is here.

The Commentariat -- May 4, 2014

President Obama, speaking at the White House Correspondents' dinner last night:

... AND the runners-up:

... New York Times bans David Brooks from White House Correspondents' dinner. (CW: Okay, the fastidious Gray Lady doesn't let any of her staff attend the dinner, but that's not as satisfying a headline. If Joe Biden can write his own headlines -- see video above -- so can I.)

CW: As Hillary goes, so goes MoDo. I don't think Dowd can survive at the Times without the aid of elixir of Clinton. ...

... The New York Times Editors review President Obama's foreign policy performance, & find it isn't nearly as bad as MoDo claims. ...

... Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Sen. Timothy M. Kaine (Va.), a close ally of President Obama's who chaired the Democratic National Committee during the president's first term, threw his support behind Hillary Rodham Clinton's prospective presidential campaign on Saturday. Addressing a breakfast meeting of Democratic women in South Carolina, Kaine called Clinton 'the right person for the job' and pledged to do what he can to draft the former secretary of state into the 2016 presidential contest."

Mike Lux of American Family Voices compiles a video of Elizabeth Warren's greatest hits. Thanks to Barbarossa for the link:

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker reviews Warren's book for the New York Review of Books.

Nick Anderson of the Washington Post: By framing sexual assault as a civil rights issue, the Obama administration has forced educational institutions to address sexual violence on campus. ...

... Richard Perez-Pena & Kate Taylor of the New York Times: "Increasingly..., at colleges across the country..., more victims [are going] public, more of them [are filing] formal federal complaints, a new network of activists [is making] shrewd use of the law and the media, and the Obama administration [is stepping] up pressure on colleges."

Beyond the Beltway

The Price for Warmongering: $35,000. Kelly Heyboer of the Star-Ledger: "Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed out of giving Rutgers University's commencement speech today amid growing opposition among the school's students and faculty.... Earlier this week, about 50 Rutgers students staged a sit-in inside the campus administration building to protest the selection of Rice to speak. She was scheduled to receive $35,000 for her speech and an honorary Rutgers doctoral degree." ...

... Kathleen Geier of Washington Monthly on why Rice never should have been invited nor given a hefty speaker's fee. ...

... Mob Rule! Wingers are predictably wigged-out. This post by William Jaconbson of Legal Insurrection is a case in point. However, Jacobson's exchange with Eric Boehlert of Media Matters is interesting, including Jacobson's last response -- Hillary's "mushroom cloud appearance."

Eleanor Clift of the Daily Beast: Now the Koch brothers -- along with right-wing impresario Art Pope -- are pumping money in to a North Carolina supreme court race in a move toward take control of the state's judiciary.

Niraj Chokshi of the Washington Post: "Georgia's Catholic and Episcopal churches are opting out of the state's new expanded gun law. Among other things, the expansive legislation signed by Gov. Nathan Deal (R) last week bans weapons from places of worship but gives religious leaders the authority to make exceptions to that ban for licensed gun owners. In the days since it was signed, senior religious leaders in the Catholic and Episcopal communities in Georgia have vowed not to allow such exceptions." Via Steve Benen.

More from Right Wing World

I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions. -- Oklahoma state Rep. Michael Christian (apparently his real name), who "spearheaded an effort to impeach Oklahoma state Supreme Court justices who were aiming to delay" the execution of Clayton Lockett

Scott Kaufman of the Raw Story: "Speaking at the Pastor for Life Luncheon, which was sponsored by Pro-Life Mississippi, Chief Justice Roy Moore of the Alabama Supreme Court declared that the First Amendment only applies to Christians because 'Buddha didn't create us, Mohammed didn't create us, it was the God of the Holy Scriptures' who created us." ...

... CW: The federal government should grant free transit & a moving stipend to anyone who lives in Alabama, is not a white male fundamentalist Christian, and wishes to move to a state that embraces equal protection. ...

... Meanwhile, in Oklahoma, where the First Amendment also applies only to Christians, a Satanist group is putting the finishing touches on a statue they propose to mount on the steps of the Oklahoma State Capitol, next to the Ten Commandments monolith approved by the state legislature & placed there in 2012. There's evah so slight a chance the state will not approve the Satanist installation. Steve Benen notes that the Satanist's case is strong: "There are, after all, no second-class Americans citizens when it comes to the First Amendment. If one group has the right to erect a monument, so does everyone else."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Gerry Adams, the leader of the Irish political party Sinn Fein, was released from police custody without charges on Sunday after four days of questioning into a gruesome 1972 Irish Republican Army murder of a widow with 10 children. But the police will hand over a file of potential evidence against him to prosecutors, police officials said."

Washington Post: "A trio of new studies has discovered that the blood of young mice appears to reverse some of the effects of aging when put into the circulatory systems of elderly mice."

Washington Post: "Ukrainian ­authorities vowed Saturday to restore control over the roiling eastern part of their nation, slowly advancing on two key breakaway cities even as the Kremlin and its supporters in Ukraine said the violence demanded a response. The military operations Saturday claimed at least 10 lives, medical officials said, a day after a conflagration in a trade union building killed dozens of pro-Russian activists in the port city of Odessa in the bloodiest day in Ukraine in nearly three months." ...

     ... Update: "Divisions deepened in Ukraine's third-largest city Sunday as pro-Russian militants attacked a police station in Odessa and freed 67 of their allies, while pro-Ukrainian activists gathered with sticks and clubs and vowed to defend the southern city from the kind of takeovers that have occurred in the eastern part of the country. The spread of the violence to Odessa has raised the stakes dramatically in the Ukraine crisis...."

AP: "The doomed ferry Sewol exceeded its cargo limit on 246 trips -- nearly every voyage it made in which it reported cargo -- in the 13 months before it sank, according to documents that reveal the regulatory failures that allowed passengers by the hundreds to set off on an unsafe vessel. And it may have been more overloaded than ever on its final journey."

The Commentariat -- May 3, 2014

Internal links, graphic removed.

CW: A reminder that the White House Correspondents' dinner is tonight. I'll carry it live here beginning at 8:00 pm.

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany said Friday that there were still significant differences between Germany and the United States over the issue of surveillance, and warned that it was too soon to return to 'business as usual' between the two allies. At a joint news conference at the White House, both Ms. Merkel and President Obama addressed the tensions between the two countries caused by the disclosure last October that the National Security Agency had eavesdropped on Ms. Merkel’s phone calls":

David Sanger of the New York Times: Silicon Valley "was the subject of a new White House report about how technology and the crunching of big data about the lives of Americans -- from which websites they visit to where they drive their newly networked cars -- are enlarging the problem. At their core, the questions about the N.S.A. are strikingly similar to those about how Google, Yahoo, Facebook and thousands of application makers crunch their numbers. The difference is over the question of how far the government will go to restrain the growth of its own post-Sept. 11 capabilities, and whether it will decide the time has come to intrude on what private industry collects, in the name of protecting privacy or preventing new forms of discrimination." ...

... An earlier Times report on the White House paper, by Sanger & Steve Lohr, is here. ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama declared this week's botched execution in Oklahoma 'deeply disturbing' and directed the attorney general on Friday to review how the death penalty is applied in the United States at a time when it has become increasingly debated.... Within hours, the Justice Department outlined a relatively narrow review focused on how executions are carried out rather assessing the entire system. But given Mr. Obama's broader comments, supporters and opponents wondered whether he might be foreshadowing an eventual shift in position by the time he leaves office, much as he dropped his opposition to same-sex marriage in 2012."

Upending Webster's. Benghaaazi! Wesley Lowrey of the Washington Post: "The House Republican leadership will form a select committee, likely to be led by Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), to investigate the State Department's handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic outpost in Libya." ...

se·lect: adjective \sə-ˈlekt\: of the highest quality -- Merriam-Webster

There is no way the House GOP can put together a 'select committee,' in the standard definition of the word 'select.' So form the git-go, the committee is bogus. -- Constant Weader

... Charles Pierce comments. ...

... Jed Lewison gets you up-to-date on the leadership's "reasons" for replacing Darrell Issa with Trey Gowdy. as Chief Benghazi Prosecutor. One possible motivation: Gowdy's "amazing hair." CW: Gowdy looks like a serial killer to me.

American "Justice," Ctd. Marc Bookman in Mother Jones on a Georgia case in which a mentally-disabled man is likely to be executed because his drunken, criminal, racist, deadbeat, lawyer failed to present mitigating evidence in the sentencing phase. And quite a number of Georgia judges are fine with that.

Hannity Supports Vigilante Double Murderer. Timothy Johnson of Media Matters: "Fox host Sean Hannity dismissed the murder convictions of a Minnesota homeowner[, Byron Smith,] who used excessive force in killing two teenagers who broke into his home, claiming with exasperation, 'They broke into the guy's house.' ... After spotting a neighbor he believed had previously burglarized his house, Smith moved his car to make his home seem unoccupied and then waited in his basement 'with a book, energy bars, a bottle of water and two guns.'" Johnson relates the horrifying details of the executions, which Smith audio-recorded. With video. ...

The guy should get a Medal of Freedom for what he did. -- Bernard McGurk, Imus producer & on-air personality, a Hannity guest for the segment

... CW: For those of you with strong stomachs, the New York Daily News has the audio of the executions here. I won't be listening. ...

... Digby, in Salon: "And to think it was the conservative movement that once fetishized 'law and order.' Of course it was always self-serving.... But it's still startling to see television anchors lauding a man who is clearly a murderous fiend and then sharing a good chuckle over the whole thing. Thanks to Barbarossa for the link. ...

... Nicole Flatow of Think Progress: "Seventeen-year-old Diren Dede lost his life Sunday, while in Missoula, Montana on a high school exchange program from Germany. He was shot dead at the home of Markus Kaarma, after Kaarma set a trap for intruders by intentionally leaving the garage open and placing a purse in clear view. After motion sensors detected someone in the garage, Kaarma shot Dede. And while he has since been charged with first degree murder, he is already invoking a Stand Your Ground-like defense.... Since the shooting Sunday, state lawmaker Ellie Hill (D) has already proposed a bill to repeal some provisions of [Montana's NRA-backed gun] law. More than two years after the shooting of Trayvon [Martin] made these laws famous, not a single state has successfully repealed a provision." ...

... CW: Hannity's producers are likely trying to book Kaarma now. This is what you get with permissive stand-your-ground/castle-doctrine laws: they encourage nuts -- like Hannity -- to believe they have a right to shoot anybody who enters their homes or steps in their yards uninvited. If no prey conveniently appear, just set a trap. The "moral majority" is murderously immoral. ...

     ... Too bad Montana's attractive-nuisance laws didn't get as much press attention as its permissive gun laws. Kaarma not only created an attractive nuisance to lure children to his home, he did so purposely.

... As Digby writes, "Looking for some really fun 21st century style 'hunting'? Set up a deer blind, only for people, and wait for a dumb teenager to wander into it. Then kill him, claiming you're 'standing your ground.' Premeditated murder is now legal in a whole bunch of states."

The Conspirator. James Stewart of the New York Times: Steve Jobs "was the driving force in a conspiracy to prevent competitors from poaching employees.... The anti-poaching pact was hardly Mr. Jobs[s only post-mortem brush with the law. His behavior was at the center of an e-book price-fixing conspiracy with major publishers. After a lengthy trial, a federal judge ruled last summer that 'Apple played a central role in facilitating and executing that conspiracy.' (Apple has appealed the decision. The publishers all settled the case.) ... In an email to James Murdoch, then an executive at News Corporation, which owned the publisher HarperCollins, Mr. Jobs offered what amounted to a classic case in price fixing.... Mr. Jobs also figured prominently in the options backdating scandal that rocked Silicon Valley eight years ago.... Five executives of other companies went to prison for backdating options, but Mr. Jobs was never charged."

A "Wall of Separation" Crumbles. Harold French in the Columbia Journalism Review. For Bloomberg "News," the motto is "All the news that fits our business interests." The business division kills its news division's investigative stories when they displease the Chinese government. Thanks to Safari for the link.

Congressional Race

Rod Meloni, et al., of WDIV Detroit: "Veteran U.S. Congressman John Conyers does not have enough signatures to get on the Aug. 5 primary ballot, according to Wayne County Clerk Cathy Garrett.... However, she said this is not the final decision on the issue. That will come by May 7, following an investigation into a formal challenge of Conyers' signatures. If he doesn't get on the ballot, Conyers will have to run as a write-in candidate for his 26th term.... At issue are two of Conyers' petition gatherers who apparently were not registered voters, as required by Michigan law, when they canvassed voters for signatures. That means any signatures they collected would be declared invalid...." ...

... CW: That may be Michigan law, but a reasonable judge will consider the intent of the signators & validate their signatures. In fairness, Conyers' staff is incompetent for outsourcing the petition-gathering to unqualified canvassers.

Beyond the Beltway

David Freedlander of the Daily Beast: "Wisconsin Republicans are set to vote on a measure this weekend that would affirm the state's right to secede from the union. Goodbye, U.S. of A., Hello U.S. of Cheese."

The President's Weekly Address

White House: "In this week's address, the President provides an update on the work his Administration has done to strengthen the economy and expand opportunity for hardworking Americans in this Year of Action":

News Ledes

New York Times: "Ukraine's security forces pressed their assault on pro-Russia militants in and around the separatist stronghold of Slovyansk on Saturday, even as the rebels freed seven European military observers and the Kremlin cited the deaths of dozens of people in Odessa as proof that Ukraine could no longer protect its citizens."

Reuters: "A U.S. bankruptcy judge on Friday urged settlement talks in a dispute between General Motors Co and plaintiffs seeking compensation for the lost value of their cars stemming from a massive recall over a faulty ignition switch, though neither side seemed ready to negotiate quite yet. Judge Robert Gerber, of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan, said he would welcome the prospect of a resolution that avoided a 'monstrous battle.'"