The Commentariat -- March 4, 2014

Internal links removed.

Reid Epstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin's defense of his involvement in Ukraine, arguing Tuesday that there is widespread consensus that Russia is violating international law...." ...

... Ian Traynor of the Guardian: "Vladimir Putin ruled out war with Ukraine on Tuesday, but also reserved the right to use force 'as a last resort' days after his forces took control of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Breaking his silence for the first time since the revolution in Ukraine toppled Viktor Yanukovych, Putin denounced the takeover as an unconstitutional coup d'etat, insisted Yanukovych was still the legitimate head of state, although he declared him politically dead, and said he would not recognise presidential elections being held in Ukraine at the end of May." ...

... Here's the Guardian's liveblog. ...

... Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia on Tuesday described the crisis in Ukraine as the result of an 'unconstitutional coup,' throwing his support behind ousted President Viktor F. Yanukovych and reserving the right to use force as 'a last resort.'" CW: Exactly as I wrote yesterday (below) re: Yanukovich's CVA (Cover Vladimir's Ass) letter. ...

     ... CW: I'm having trouble seeing much difference between Putin's invasion of Ukraine & Kennedy's Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. Oh, well this: the Bay of Pigs was a disaster for the U.S., & there was a lot of carnage. And Batista, the dictator Castro overthrew, was a dictator who got the top job by leading a coup, unlike Yanukovych, who was elected. Help me out, please. ...

... Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry brought a pledge of $1 billion in U.S. loan guarantees for Ukraine's new anti-Russian leadership as he arrived in Kiev to show solidarity with former opposition leaders now facing a military standoff with Moscow." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The Obama administration suspended military ties to Russia, including exercises, port visits and planning meetings, just a day after calling off trade talks. If Moscow does not reverse course, officials said they would ban visas and freeze assets of select Russian officials in the chain of command as well as target state-run financial institutions. Congressional leaders signaled that they would follow with sanctions of their own, and quickly approve economic aid for the fragile, new pro-Western government in Ukraine."

William Booth & Will Englund of the Washington Post: "The embattled government in Kiev said Monday night that Russian forces had dramatically escalated the standoff between the two nations by giving Ukraine's army and navy in Crimea a blunt ultimatum: Pledge allegiance to the region's new pro-Russia leadership by morning or be forced by Russia to submit. A spokesman for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, which is berthed in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, denied that a threat had been made, and the Russian Defense Ministry called the accusation 'utter nonsense.' But as Russian troops and warships surrounded Ukrainian security installations throughout the autonomous Crimean Peninsula, it was clear that Ukrainian forces believed they faced an imminent threat even though no shot had been fired." ...

... Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: President "Obama convened a meeting of his National Security Council on Monday evening to consider further actions, while the Defense Department announced that 'in light of recent events in Ukraine,' it had 'put on hold all military-to-military engagements between the United States and Russia. This includes exercises, bilateral meetings, port visits and planning conferences.' ...Obama responded sharply to lawmakers who criticized his actions as weak. 'I've heard a lot of response from Congress about what should be done, what they want to do. One thing they can do right away,' he said, is to join a 'unified position that stands outside of partisan politics' to condemn Russian action and approve an economic and political assistance package for Ukraine's interim government.

     "By early evening, Congress appeared on its way to doing so, as senior lawmakers said after a day of meetings in the snow-bound Capitol that they were set to begin debate next week on an economic aid package expected to cost at least $1 billion, along with possible sanctions against senior Russian officials involved in the ongoing military standoff." ...

... Manu Raju & Burgess Everett of Politico: "In an interview, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Congress should let the situation play out for 'a while' before trying to impose any new sanctions on Russia, which is dispatching military forces into Crimea -- forcing the West to scramble for a response. 'The most important thing is for us -- the United States -- to make sure that we don't go off without the European community,' Reid said Monday in the Capitol. 'We have to work with them. Their interests are really paramount if we are going to do sanctions of some kind. We have to have them on board with us.'" ...

... Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "As the Security Council jousted in an emergency session over Russian military action in Ukraine on Monday, Ukraine's United Nations ambassador sent a three-page letter to every member state, accusing Russian forces of using stun grenades against Ukrainian soldiers, trespassing in Ukrainian airspace and deploying 16,000 troops to the Crimean peninsula. The Security Council's emergency meeting was its third in four days on Ukraine.... The Russian ambassador, Vitaly I. Churkin, who sought the Security Council meeting, told fellow members that 'ultranationalists,' including anti-Semites, had threatened Russians and Russian speakers inside Ukraine, prompting Russia to act." ...

... Louis Charbonneau of Reuters: "Ukraine's ousted leader Viktor Yanukovich has sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin requesting that he use Russia's military to restore law and order in Ukraine, Moscow's U.N. envoy told a stormy meeting of the Security Council on Monday." CW: Yanukovich is giving Putin plausible cover: mobs deposed a democratically-elected president, so we intervened to restore the rightful government. This rationale, of course, would justify Russian troops going all the way to Kiev. ...

... G-7 Leaders Statement. "We, the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States and the President of the European Council and President of the European Commission, join together today to condemn the Russian Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, in contravention of Russia's obligations under the UN Charter and its 1997 basing agreement with Ukraine." There's more. ...

... BUT. EU Not Too-Too Upset by Russian Invasion of Ukraine. Ian Traynor, et al., of the Guardian: "A rift appeared to be opening up on Monday night between the US and Europe on how to punish Vladimir Putin for his occupation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula, with European capitals resisting Washington's push towards tough sanctions. With the Americans, supported by parts of eastern Europe and Sweden, pushing for punitive measures against Moscow, EU foreign ministers divided into hawks and doves, preferring instead to pursue mediation and monitoring of the situation in Ukraine and to resist a strong sanctions package against Russia. On the ground in Crimea, Russian forces continued to tighten their stranglehold, intimidating and surrounding Ukrainian marines in an attempt to force them to surrender without shots being fired. There were further ominous developments in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian crowds forced their way into a number of government buildings." ...

... Embarrassing! Nicholas Watt of the Guardian: "Britain is drawing up plans to ensure that any EU action against Russia over Ukraine will exempt the City of London, according to a secret government document photographed in Downing Street. As [British PM] David Cameron said Britain and its EU partners would put pressure on Moscow after it assumed control of Crimea, a government document drawn up for a meeting of senior ministers said that 'London's financial centre' should not be closed to Russians. It did say that visa restrictions and travel bans could be imposed on Russian officials. The picture of the document was taken by the freelance photographer Steve Back, who specialises in spotting secret documents carried openly by officials entering Downing Street." ...

... David Jolly & Elizabeth Alderman of the New York Times: "The escalating crisis in Ukraine created turmoil in global markets on Monday, hitting stocks from Wall Street to Ukraine and causing a spike in oil and natural gas prices that could reach into consumers' wallets. But despite fears that the conflict between Russia and the West over Ukraine could shift into a military confrontation, analysts said there was little risk of global financial contagion or of major blowback to Western economies." ...

... ** John Judis of the New Republic interviews an actual expert on the region, Dmitri Simes. Very enlightening. ...

... In a New York Times op-ed, Ukrainian novelist and journalist Natalka Sniadanko argues that "Thanks to Mr. Putin, Ukraine has seen a rise not only in Russian-speaking Ukrainian patriots, but also 'Russian-speaking Russophobes,' who identify as Russian but want nothing to do with him." ...

... Gene Robinson: "... the United States, frankly, has limited standing to insist on absolute respect for the territorial integrity of sovereign states. Before Iraq there was Afghanistan, there was the Persian Gulf War, there was Panama, there was Grenada. And even as we condemn Moscow for its outrageous aggression, we reserve the right to fire deadly missiles into Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia and who knows where else." ...

... Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: "from where Putin sits, American power hardly seems in retreat. From his perspective, in fact, the reverse is likely much closer to the truth." ...

... "Operation Oxymoron." Dana Milbank: With Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Obama's critics pivoted seamlessly from complaining about his overreach to fretting that he is being too cautious.... Last Wednesday, I sat in a House hearing and listened to Republicans describe Obama exercising 'unparalleled use of executive power' and operating an 'uber-presidency.' They accused him of acting like a 'king' and a 'monarch,' of making the United States like a 'dictatorship' or a 'totalitarian government' by exercising 'imperial' and 'magisterial power.' But after events in Ukraine, this very tyrant was said to be so weak that it's 'shocking.'" ...

... Mika's dad, Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor during the Carter administration, calls Putin a thug, offers some retaliatory suggestions, then concludes, "... such efforts to avert miscalculations that could lead to a war should be matched by a reaffirmation of the West's desire for a peaceful accommodation with Russia regarding a joint effort to help Ukraine recover economically and stabilize politically. The West should reassure Russia that it is not seeking to draw Ukraine into NATO or to turn it against Russia." CW: So a policy of fake saber-rattling? ...

... Michael Cohen of the Guardian: "... the sea of foreign policy punditry -- already shark-infested -- has reached new lows in fear-mongering, exaggerated doom-saying and a stunning inability to place global events in any rational historical context.... The most bizarre element of watching the Crimean situation unfold through a US-centric lens: the iron-clad certainty of the pundit class that Putin is winning and Obama is losing. The exact opposite is true.... You don't have to listen to the 'do something' crowd. These are the same people who brought you the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other greatest hits." Cohen provides a nice rundown of the lunatic remarks coming form the usual suspects. ...

... Simon Shuster of Time: "It is already clear ... that [Putin] cannot emerge as the winner of this conflict, at least not when the damage is weighed against the gains. It will at best be a Pyrrhic victory, and at worst an utter catastrophe.... At home, this intervention looks to be one of the most unpopular decisions Putin has ever made.... The economic impact on Russia is already staggering.... Even Russia's closest allies want no part of this.... Russia's isolation from the West will deepen dramatically."...

... CW: In answer to yesterday's burning question (which didn't burn very brightly), here's the American guy who most reminds me of Vladimir:

... Mark Landler & Anne Barnard of the New York Times: "President Obama welcomed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to the White House on Monday to discuss a litany of familiar problems and confront a new one: the Ukraine crisis, which threatens American policies throughout the Middle East. The West's standoff with Russia over its seizure of Crimea, analysts and former administration officials said, could complicate American efforts to curb Iran's nuclear program, resolve Syria's civil war and, even in the short run, broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians." ...

... Terry Atlas of Bloomberg News: "President Barack Obama urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to 'seize the moment' to make peace, saying time is running out to negotiate an Israeli-Palestinian agreement."

Zachary Goldfarb & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration budget to be released Tuesday will set the stage for an election-year debate over government's role in creating economic opportunity, with President Obama calling for more federal spending to help the poor and Republicans charging that such programs waste money and foster dependency." ...

... Zeke Miller of Time: "President Barack Obama's proposed 2015 budget would raise taxes on many wealthy individuals while providing an estimated 13.5 million Americans a tax break, the White House announced Monday, in the latest manifestation of Democrats' midterm-election agenda.... Meanwhile, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (Wis.) is at work on a GOP budget plan that aims to overhaul the nation's welfare system, in part by cutting spending on programs that Ryan argues have locked people into poverty." ...

... New York Times Editors: Paul Ryan (RCreepy-Wisc.) produced a 204-page piece-of-crap report "that finds flaws with almost every attempt the government has made to relieve poverty and its effects since the 1960s." The purpose of the the report is to provide an "intellectual" underpinning for Republicans' dream of eliminating programs that help the poor. CW: No, the poobahs at the Gray Lady did not precisely use the term "piece of crap." But that's what they meant.

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: Sen. Rand Paul (RTP-Ky.) & Attorney General Eric Holder "have found common cause: eliminating mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders.... While a range of judges, prosecutors and public defenders have for years raised concerns about disparities in punishment, it is this alliance that may make politically possible the most significant liberalization of sentencing laws since President Richard M. Nixon declared war on drugs.... Mr. Paul is backing a sentencing overhaul bill, also supported by Mr. Holder and the Obama administration, that he predicts will pass the Senate with support from up to half of its Republicans.... Similar legislation is pending in the House...."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether prison officials in Arkansas may prohibit inmates from growing beards in accordance with their religious beliefs. The policy was challenged by Gregory H. Holt, who is serving a life sentence for burglary and domestic battery. Mr. Holt said his Muslim faith required him to grow a beard." CW: Given the character of this Court, I'd be glad to see it stick to deliberating such trivial matters.

The Jersey Way

Big-Time Crooks. Russ Buettner of the New York Times: "A comprehensive examination of [Port Authority Chair David] Samson's dealings with Governor Christie and his administration, both inside the Port Authority and out, shows the extent to which their ambitions and successes became intertwined. Mr. Samson and his law firm benefited financially. Mr. Christie benefited politically."

Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "Court papers filed by a lawyer for Gov. Chris Christie's former campaign manager indicate that federal prosecutors are moving aggressively to investigate the role of the governor's aides in the George Washington Bridge lane closing scandal." ...

... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "Governor Christie's former campaign manager Bill Stepien appears to be a target of a federal criminal investigation, his lawyer said in a court filing on Monday, describing recent unannounced visits and phone calls by federal agents who went so far as to ask Stepien's landlord if he was a rowdy tenant and paid rent on time."

Star-Ledger Editors: "Gov. Chris Christie has another Port Authority scam to explain, this time over the killer toll hikes at the Hudson River crossings that he approved in the summer of 2011. At the time, the governor expressed shock that the Port Authority would dare to propose roughly doubling the tolls over a few years. Now we learn it was all an act.... Christie knew about the toll hikes in advance.... Christie is refusing to discuss it. But the legislative committee investigating the Port Authority has issued subpoenas, so we will eventually hear the grisly details."

Brent Johnson of the Star-Ledger: "U.S. Sen. John McCain says Gov. Chris Christie's presidential chances are still strong despite the recent controversies he is entangled in, according to a new interview with Time magazine." CW: This is the same fellow who said during the 2008 economic freefall that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." (In fairness to McCain, the same day he issued this bromide, his campaign released an ad announcing, "Our economy is in crisis.") So, Chris, as I see it, you're still a loaf of toast.

Elsewhere Beyond the Beltway

The New York Times Editors on "Florida's unconstitutional death penalty." The Supreme Court is hearing the case of Freddie Lee Hall, a Florida death-row inmate who is severely mentally retarded, though the state is claiming he isn't really because he scored as high as 80 on some IQ tests. "... the Supreme Court categorically banned the execution of people with intellectual disabilities as unconstitutional in 2002."

Travis Loller of the AP: "A former Tennessee magistrate who changed a baby's first name from Messiah to Martin was censured Monday. Lu Ann Ballew said at the time that Messiah was a title held only by Jesus Christ.... Board of Judicial Conduct Disciplinary Counsel Tim Discenza said ... that a panel of the board voted unanimously in Dandridge for a public censure. Discenza said public censure is the probably most serious sanction the board could take against Ballew, given that she already lost her position as a magistrate."

The Commentariat -- March 3, 2014

Internal links removed.

The New York Times is liveblogging developments in the Ukraine crisis.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully. Working the telephone from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama rallied allies, agreed to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Kiev and approved a series of diplomatic and economic moves intended to 'make it hurt' as one administration official put it. But the president found himself besieged by advice to take more assertive action." ...

     ... CW: Here's an example of what I've meant when I've criticized Baker's reporting. The above is supposed to be a news story. Yet after repeating some of the usual GOP whining (plus a remark from Sen. Dick Durbin [D-Ill.], who is 100% supportive of the President), Baker asks, "Is Mr. Obama tough enough to take on the former K.G.B. colonel in the Kremlin?" Tough enough? Huh? What would sufficiently demonstrate "tough"? Invading Siberia? Bombing St. Petersburg? As Marco Rubio suggests, kicking the Russian tourists out of Miami? Or just some mano-a-mano arm-wrestling with "the former K.G.B. colonel"? If only we had the Dick & Dubya back, they would know what to do. ...

... Will Englund, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian forces expanded their control of Ukraine's Crimea region Monday, as the Ukrainian prime minister acknowledged that his country lack's military options in dealing with the takeover. The Russian forces, already in control of much of Crimea, took possession of a ferry terminal in Kerch, in the eastern part of the peninsula just across a strait from Russian territory, according to reports from the area. The terminal serves as a departure point for many ships heading to Russia." ...

... Steve Erlanger of the New York Times: "With small military standoffs around Ukrainian bases continuing in Russian-controlled Crimea and deepening anxiety about Russian intentions in eastern Ukraine, British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday called Ukraine 'the biggest crisis in Europe in the 21st century.' Visiting the new government in Kiev, Mr. Hague urged Russia to pull back its forces in Crimea or face 'significant costs,' echoing comments made by President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, who is due here on Tuesday." ...

... David Jolly of the New York Times: "The growing crisis in Ukraine hit global financial markets on Monday, unsettling investors who had already been nervous about shaky emerging market economies. The biggest impact was felt on Russian markets, as the Moscow benchmark Micex index dropped 9.4 percent, and the ruble fell to a record low against the dollar." ...

     ... CW: Yo, Marco, those Russian tourists in Miami are already feeling the pain. Now how many rubles does it take to buy a Cuban coffee? ...

... Geir Moulson of the AP: "The German government said Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accepted a proposal by Chancellor Angela Merkel to set up a 'contact group' aimed at facilitating dialogue in the Ukraine crisis. Merkel raised the idea in a phone conversation in which she accused Putin of breaking international law with the 'unacceptable Russian intervention in Crimea." ...

... Steve Erlanger: "As Russian security forces consolidated their hold on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Sunday, the Ukrainian government called up its reserves and appealed for international help, while American and European leaders warned of potential political and economic penalties for Moscow. Sunday was a day of messages and mopping up, with Ukrainian and Western leaders trying to dissuade President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia from overplaying his hand and ordering an invasion of eastern Ukraine, even as Russian forces and their sympathizers in Crimea worked to disarm or neutralize any Ukrainian resistance there." ...

... Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "The State Department announced Sunday that Secretary of State John F. Kerry will visit Kiev on Tuesday to show support for the new leadership there in the face of Russian military intervention."

... Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry warned on Sunday that Russia risked eviction from the Group of 8 industrialized nations if the Kremlin did not reverse its military occupation of Crimea in Ukraine." ...

... Dana Davidsen of CNN: "... U.S. lawmakers are pushing for decisive action against Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the violence in the region and respect Ukraine's independence. Appearing on CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday, Sens. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat, and Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, made the case for congressional sanctions and a suspension of Russian membership in the G8 and G20." CW: Predictably, Graham called President Obama "weak and indecisive," blah-blah. As far as I can tell, Obama is skeert of foreign leaders, but at home he's a ruthless dictator. ...

... Masha Lipman of the New Yorker: "Vladimir Putin is not interested in mustering a 'coalition of the willing.' ... The West is no longer seen as 'partner,' the word Putin commonly used in the past. The West has become an unequivocal enemy. It is no exaggeration to say that tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine evoke the prolonged division that defined the Cold War. The geopolitical struggles over Iran, Syria, Georgia, and, now, Ukraine do not rise to the apocalyptic potential of the Cuban Missile crisis, but the stakes are enormous.... This is Putin's response to Ukraine's attempt to build a new nationhood that combines a leaning toward the Western world with the nationalism of Ukraine's own west; both 'wests' are regarded by Putin as utterly hostile to Russian interests." ...

... "Russian Exceptionalism." Adam Taylor of the Washington Post revisits Putin's 9/11/2013 letter to the New York Times in which Putin argued against U.S. military intervention in Syria. Putin wrote then that "'decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus,' and that an American-led strike against the Syrian regime 'could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance. ... We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today's complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos,' Putin wrote. 'The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not.'" ...

... Juan Cole contemplates some of the regional implications of Russia's takeover of the Crimea & possible Western sanctions. The situation is, to say the least, complex. ...

... CW: I don't know what to make of this Washington Post editorial, titled "President Obama's Foreign Policy Is Based on Fantasy," since the editors claim they're not warmongering. I think they'd like to see the Pentagon arrange for some goose-stepping military parades on Pennsylvania Avenue. ...

... CW: Since Russia's invasion of the Crimea, many news organizations have run this AP photo of Vladimir Putin, no doubt because he looks insane in the shot. But he also looks to me like a certain American. I wonder if any of you notice a resemblance to another figure often in the U.S. news:

Reid Epstein of Politico: Darrell "Issa, the California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Reform Committee, told 'Fox News Sunday' that [Lois] Lerner, the former head of the IRS tax-exempt division, would testify before his committee Wednesday, which he said he had been told by her attorney. That attorney, William W. Taylor, said Issa is wrong. 'As of now, she intends to continue to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,' Taylor told Politico."

Paul Krugman: "Recently the Federal Reserve released transcripts of its monetary policy meetings during the fateful year of 2008. And boy, are they discouraging reading. Partly that's because Fed officials come across as essentially clueless about the gathering economic storm.... What's really striking is the extent to which they were obsessed with the wrong thing. The economy was plunging, yet all many people at the Fed wanted to talk about was inflation."

Tim Alberta of the National Journal doesn't use the term, but he sure lays out the evidence that John Boehner is a flim-flam man. Actual legislating is not only against the GOP's perceived interests, it's hard, what with the devil being in the details.

Here's a surprise: Netanyahu promises to be obstreperous. Josef Federman of the AP: " Israel's prime minister headed to Washington on Sunday for a high-stakes meeting with President Barack Obama about U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts, vowing to maintain a tough line in the face of heavy international pressure to begin making concessions to the Palestinians."

New Jersey News

Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "Years before they resigned amid a scandal over politically motivated lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, Governor Christie's top two executives at the Port Authority [-- Bill Baroni & David Wildstein --] led a secretive campaign to quickly push through controversial toll hikes on the Hudson River bridges and tunnels by drowning out criticism, limiting public input and portraying the governors of New York and New Jersey as fiscal hawks who reined in an out-of-control agency."

Elsewhere Beyond the Beltway

** Phillip Longman of the Washington Monthly demythologizes and debunks the "Texas Miracle": Texas "may offer low housing prices compared to California and an unemployment rate below the national average, but it also has low rates of economic mobility, minimal public services, and, unless you are rich, taxes that are as high or higher than most anywhere else in America. And worse, despite all the oil money sloshing around, Texas is no longer gaining on the richest states in its per capita income, but rather getting comparatively poorer and poorer.... The real Texas miracle is that its current leaders get away with bragging about it."

Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) on Sunday said that he is not ready to legalize marijuana use in the state. 'Well, we have medical marijuana, which gets very close to what they have in Colorado and Washington. I'd really like those two states to show us how it's going to work,' he said on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' Brown said he was worried about what would happen to the nation if too many people used the drug too often."

Thoughts from Right Wing World

Arthur Brooks, the president of the right-wing American Enterprise Institute, explains in a New York Times op-ed why it's a terrible thing to talk about inequality; rather, we should be instituting the winger/Villager agenda. His little essay is a good example of the slick tricks of fake intellectuals, but you will recognize the wind-up & pitch because you've seen exactly the same malarkey, presented in precisely the same format, coming from that other Brooks -- David. ...

... To continue with our Winger's Guide to the New York Times Op-Ed Page, we turn to a very sad Ross Douthat, who has "surrendered" to those of us who think "love and commitment" are "enough to make a marriage," whereas he is among the ever-dwindling minority who believe marriage should "emphasize gender differences and procreation." ...

... Martin Longman of the Washington Monthly: "It sounds like [Douthat] thinks women are only worth marrying so that they can have men's children. Loving them is not necessary. Being committed to them is not necessary. ...

     ... CW: That is what Douthat believes. Sadly, Douthat is a moderate conservative; the views of more perverse wingers are that women have almost no value -- they're merely temporary "hosts" to men's children. Incubators.

The federal government takes sides and hands out spoils based on skin color. -- Tucker Carlson, Fox "News" host & editor of the Daily Caller

Okay, that's enough.

The Commentariat -- March 2, 2014

** Alison Smale & David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "As Russian armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine's Crimean peninsula on Saturday, the Russian Parliament granted President Vladimir V. Putin the authority he sought to use military force in response to the deepening instability in Ukraine." ...

     ... Update: Alison Smale & Steve Erlanger of the Times: "Russia's move to seize control of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula on Saturday led Ukraine to call up its military reserves on Sunday and warn Moscow against further incursions as Western powers scrambled to find a response to the crisis." ...

     ... Update: William Booth, et al., of the Washington Post: "Russian soldiers spread out across the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, taking control of military and civilian installations, after Russian President Vladimir Putin secured authorization to send in more troops as the Kremlin set the stage for a high-stakes international showdown over the future of Ukraine. Ukraine's new Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, speaking at a press conference Sunday in Kiev, said 'This is actually a declaration of war to my country.' Yatseniuk urged Putin to pull back his troops. 'If he wants to be the president who started the war between two neighboring and friendly countries, he is within just a few inches of his target. We are on the brink of disaster.'" CW: This is more than a "declaration." I'd call it an "occupation."

     ... Update. Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "President Obama spoke for 90 minutes with Russian President Vladmir Putin Saturday in what appeared to have been a testy exchange reflecting an escalating battle of wills and growing international tension over Ukraine.... Putin gave little ground, according to a Kremlin account of the telephone conversation. Calling the Ukraine situation 'extraordinary,' he charged that Ukrainian 'ultranationalists,' supported by the U.S.-backed government in Kiev, were threatening 'the lives and health of Russian citizens' in Crimea.... Both Obama and U.N. Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, who had his own phone call with Putin, urged the Russian leader to open an immediate dialogue with Ukraine's new leaders, and permit international monitors to assess the situation on the ground." ...

     ... Readout of President's Obama's call with President Putin: "President Obama spoke for 90 minutes this afternoon with President Putin of Russia about the situation in Ukraine. President Obama expressed his deep concern over Russia's clear violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is a breach of international law, including Russia's obligations under the UN Charter, and of its 1997 military basing agreement with Ukraine, and which is inconsistent with the 1994 Budapest Memorandum and the Helsinki Final Act. The United States condemns Russia's military intervention into Ukrainian territory." There's more. ...

     ... Readout of President Obama's call with Prime Minister Harper & President Hollande. "President Obama spoke separately this afternoon with President Hollande of France and Prime Minister Harper of Canada."

... Here's the Guardian's liveblog (Mostly Saturday's developments. Last entry is at 9:24 am GMT Sunday). ...

     ... Update: Here's the Guardian's liveblog for Sunday.

... Karen DeYoung: "The Obama administration, its top European partners and the U.N. Security Council spent much of Saturday trying to fashion a response to the rapid escalation of the Ukraine crisis as Russian troops took up positions throughout the autonomous republic of Crimea. The U.N. Security Council met in emergency session for the second time in as many days. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was 'gravely concerned' and expected to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin later in the day." ...

... Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama has warned Russia that 'there will be costs' for a military intervention in Ukraine. But the United States has few palatable options for imposing such costs, and recent history has shown that when it considers its interests at stake, Russia has been willing to absorb any such fallout." ...

... ** David Remnick of the New Yorker: "... the military incursion is unlikely to stop in Crimea: nearly all of eastern Ukraine is Russian-speaking. Russia defines its interests far beyond its Black Sea fleet and the Crimean peninsula." ...

... Julie Ioffe of the New Republic: "Putin's war in Crimea could soon spread to Eastern Ukraine. And nobody ...can stop him." ...

... Oxana Shevel in the Washington Post: "Russia may be planning to take over Crimea, but several factors make it harder to believe that Russia will be able to establish control and to effectively annex Crimea as it did with [the Georgian regions of] South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Transnistria." ...

... This piece by Patrick Smith in Salon, as Barbarossa notes, "the US and EU aren't exactly innocent bystanders in Ukraine." Also, Tom Friedman is a "shameless toady." ...

... (BTW, Steve M. Wrote a fine takedown of the Oracle of Alaska.) ...

... Oh, stop worrying, people. President Obama may be naive, as John McCain sez, but fortunately he has Eastern European expert Marco Rubio (RTP-Fla.), who has provided the President with a list of eight things he must do to "punish Russia." Marco may not be able to see Russia from his house a la Palin, but he has seen real, live Russians in Miami. Spending money. Marco sez that's got to stop. (No rebuttal yet from the Florida Tourists Bureau.) ...

... CW: In a piece linked yesterday, we learned that Sen. Jim Inhofe (RNuts-Okla.) longed for the happy days of the Cold War. Well, Lucky Jim. It's baaaaack! ...

... CW: I see Sam Tanenhaus, in a New York Times op-ed, agrees: "SUDDENLY the specter of the Cold War is back.... The Cold War was less a carefully structured game between masters than a frightening high-wire act, with leaders on both sides aware that a single misstep could plunge them into the abyss." The piece is "a history lesson" worth reading. AND a reminder of how fortunate we are that we're not living under a McCain administration.

** Fred Kaplan in Politico Magazine: "More than five years into Obama's presidency, the single word that best sums up his foreign policy is 'realist' -- in some cases, as one former adviser told me, 'hard-nosed,' even 'cold' realist. Like all postwar presidents, Obama speaks in hallowed terms about America's global mission. But his actions reveal an aversion to missionary zeal."

Helena Evich & Tarini Parti of Politico: "The food industry appears poised to one-up the Obama administration with the launch of a national media blitz to promote its own nutrition labels on the front of food packages. The Grocery Manufacturers Association and the Food Marketing Institute, which represent the biggest food companies and retailers, will roll out a coordinated marketing campaign ... on Monday to promote their 'Facts Up Front,' the industry's own voluntary program for providing nutrition information on the front of food and beverage packages."

Annie-Rose Strasser of Think Progress: Apple CEO Tim Cook tells climate-change deniers to invest their money elsewhere. CW: Cook presents Apple's sustainability effort as a purely moral decision -- "We do a lot of things for reasons besides profit motive" -- but as profit-motive denier, Cook is unconvincing: most Apple customers, & potential customers, are climate-change-aware. Apple's green energy policy is a sound business practice. Also, cheaper than paying its employees a living wage. ...

     ... Update. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "Last year Apple announced it would build one of the world's largest solar arrays. Despite what [a conservative think tank] may believe about best business practices, the project is projected to generate about $11 million in annual revenue, and add 7,400 jobs in Cupertino, California."

CW: I missed this, but it's worth reading today: Rick Hertzberg's line-by-line analysis of Gov. Jan Brewer's "surprisingly good speech" announcing her veto of Arizona's so-called "religious freedom" bill.

Senate Races

New York Times: "Dozens of states will hold Senate primaries this year, beginning with Texas on Tuesday. [The page provides] a look at the key races in every state. The outlook of each contest is based on an analysis of data from the Cook Political Report and from Larry Sabato, a professor of politics...."

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "The ascension of [new White House political director David] Simas -- driven, data-obsessed and a relentless salesman -- is meant as a message to anxiety-prone Democrats that the White House is serious about mitigating losses in the Republican House and defending the party's control of the Senate." ...

... MEANWHILE, the Times piece -- by Nicholas Confessore -- that balances Shear's focus on Democratic strategy is all about Bucks from Billionaires: "Donors like Paul Singer, the billionaire Republican investor, have expanded their in-house political shops, building teams of loyal advisers and researchers to guide and coordinate their giving. And some of the biggest contributors to Republican outside groups in 2012 are now gravitating toward the more donor-centric political and philanthropic network overseen by Charles and David Koch, who have wooed them in part by promising more accountability over how money is spent."

... CW: As carefully as the Times may exercise its dubious balancing act, sometimes the he-said/he-said stories can't help but highlight the truth: the GOP is the political arm of Big Money. Nothing more.

Presidential Election 2016

Maureen Dowd: "By the time the Bushes and Clintons are finished, they are going to make the Tudors and the Plantagenets look like pikers.... Our meritocratic society seems increasingly nepotistic and dynastic." But enough of Jeb. What I really want to do here is bash Hillary.

News Ledes

AP: "Police arrested hundreds of people who strapped themselves to the White House fence on Sunday to protest the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.... Protesters were passionate but quite orderly."

CBS Baltimore: "Annapolis Police arrest two people for an armed robbery of a pregnant woman in labor."

Reuters: " A massive winter storm system packing cold air, snow and freezing rain was pummeling the central United States on Sunday and headed for the East Coast, sending temperatures plummeting and causing major delays for weekend travelers."

Guardian: "Twelve prisoners with links to the Taliban walked out of Kandahar's Sarposa prison on Saturday after forging a letter from the attorney general ordering their release. It was the third time prisoners have escaped from their cells in southern Afghanistan's main jail, and the most audaciously simple."

Los Angeles Times: "China's state media called Saturday night's knifing attack at a train station in Kunming 'China's 9-11' and called for a crackdown on terrorism. The death toll from the attack rose to 33 with four of the perpetrators among the dead. One suspect is in custody, a woman, who was reported to be hospitalized. The perpetrators were said to be Uighurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from northwestern China's Xinjiang region. Chinese authorities showed on a television station a black flag recovered at the scene which they said was calling for independence for the region that some Uighurs refer to as East Turkestan." ...

Los Angeles Times: "... a string of televised confessions that have raised alarm among Chinese attorneys as well as media watchers who say police, prosecutors and reporters are convicting people in the court of public opinion for political ends."