The Commentariat -- Feb. 16, 2014

** Dana Milbank: As Senate GOP leaders Mitch McConnell & John Cornyn abored desperately to drum up enough Republican votes to overcome a filibuster & save the nation from financial disaster, "Watching the chaos from the side of the chamber was the man who caused it: [Ted] Cruz, his hands in his pants pockets and a satisfied grin on his face. The Texas Republican strolled to the clerk's table to check on the vote count and was met with a look of disgust from Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.). And the feeling was widespread: Moments after Cruz walked into the Republican cloakroom, four senators emerged from it and changed their votes to 'aye.' Cruz reemerged from the cloakroom, chewing gum, his hands again in his pockets. He smirked as his colleagues finally overcame his filibuster after a ­59-minute struggle.... Cruz has put himself before his party and even the nation's solvency. And in this sense his actions are typical of the 2016 GOP presidential field. Cruz, Sen. Marco Rubio and Sen. Rand Paul are mucking up the gears of government in ways that will earn them favorable attention in the primaries."

** Thomas Frank, the author of What's the Matter with Kansas, in Salon: Here's what's the matter; Democratic elites let Kansas happen. ...

... Dan Balz & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post on the divisions in the Democratic party. CW Warning: Anything Dan Balz writes is bound to be peppered with stupid, not to mention he-said/she-said. Nonetheless, since he & Rucker cite a number of he's & she's, you should be able to sift & winnow out something informative from this piece. Moreover, some of these useful tidbits shine some light (hmmm, illuminating tidbits -- good example of a mixed metaphor, that) on Frank's piece, linked above.

Donna Cassata of the AP: "House Democrats are determined to cast an election-year spotlight on Republican opposition to raising the minimum wage and overhauling immigration laws. To try to accomplish that in the GOP-controlled House, Democrats are planning to rely on an infrequently used, rarely successful tactic known as a 'discharge petition.'" CW: Not news; we covered this here a couple of days ago, but I'm always glad to see stories like this make it into newspapers throughout the country.

James Risen of the New York Times & Laura Poitras: "A top-secret document, obtained by the former N.S.A. contractor Edward J. Snowden, shows that an American law firm was monitored while representing a foreign government in trade disputes with the United States. The disclosure offers a rare glimpse of a specific instance in which Americans were ensnared by the eavesdroppers, and is of particular interest because lawyers in the United States with clients overseas have expressed growing concern that their confidential communications could be compromised by such surveillance."

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "... with a coming rush of [50-year] anniversaries of the legislative milestones of the Johnson presidency — [President Johnson's daughter Luci Baines] Johnson and the diminishing circle of family and friends from those White House years ... are seeking a reconsideration of Johnson's legacy as president, arguing that it has been overwhelmed by the tragedy of the Vietnam War, and has failed to take into account the blizzard of domestic legislation enacted in the five years Johnson was in the White House." With video.

AFP: "US secretary of state John Kerry will on Sunday issue a clarion call for the world to do to more to combat climate change, warning the planet is being pushed to 'a tipping point of no return'. In his keynote speech the top US diplomat will highlight the fact that Asian nations, many of them low-lying, are particularly under threat from rising sea levels. 'Kerry will call on the global community, not just countries but individual citizens around the world, to do more now because addressing the threat of climate change will require a global solution,' a senior state department official said." ...

... Jean-Louie Santini of AFP: "A warmer Arctic could permanently affect the pattern of the high-altitude polar jet stream, resulting in longer and colder winters over North America and northern Europe, US scientists say.... According to Jennifer Francis, a climate expert at Rutgers University, the Arctic air has warmed in recent years as a result of melting polar ice caps, meaning there is now less of a difference in temperatures when it hits air from lower latitudes."

... CW: Good luck explaining that to these people ...

... American Exceptionalism, Ctd. AFP: "Americans are enthusiastic about the promise of science but lack basic knowledge of it, with one in four unaware that the Earth revolves around the Sun, said a poll out Friday." ...

... CW: I wonder why Americans are so ignorant of elementary science ...

... Dylan Scott of TPM: "A Missouri lawmaker has proposed what ranks among the most anti-evolution legislation in recent years, which would require school to notify parents if the theory of evolution by natural selection was being taught at their child's school and give them the opportunity to opt out of the class.... 'It's an absolute infringement on people's beliefs,' [State Rep. Rick] Brattin [R] told the Kansas City Star of requiring schools to teach evolution. 'What's being taught is just as much faith and, you know, just as much pulled out of the air as, say, any religion.'" The bill also provides that parent's can remove their children "from any part of the district's or school's evolution instruction." CW: Hey, at least Brattin realizes that religion is "pulled out of the air."

Shannon Watts of Moms Demand Action: "Stand Your Ground laws put our children, families, and communities at risk because they give everyday, untrained citizens more leeway to shoot than the United States military gives soldiers in war zones. Children -- like Jordan Davis -- who may simply be in the wrong place at the wrong time are now more likely to die at the hands of the armed and angry.... Research indicates that Stand Your Ground laws embolden people to shoot.... After Florida passed its Stand Your Ground law, its justifiable homicide rate tripled. Over the same time period, the justifiable homicide rate decreased in states that did not pass Stand Your Ground laws. This increase in homicides due to Stand Your Ground laws disproportionately affects communities of color. The Urban Institute found that when white shooters kill black victims, the resulting homicides are 11 times more likely to be deemed justifiable than when the shooter is black and the victim is white.... Texas A&M researchers found no evidence that Stand Your Ground laws deter crime." ...

Ta-Nehisi Coates of the Atlantic: "I wish I had something more to say about the fact that Michael Dunn was not convicted for killing a black boy. Except I said it after George Zimmerman was not convicted of killing a black boy. Except the parents of black boys already know this. Except the parents of black boys have long said this, and they have been answered with mockery." ...

... If you believe Michael Dunn's long-time neighbor, & his account sounds credible, then you will get some insight into the type of person who is disposed to murder a teenager for playing loud music. Via Susie Madrak of Crooks & Liars:

... AND there's this. Nicolle Flatow of Think Progress (February 4): "Letters by Dunn from jail released this week by the State's Attorney's Office reveal disturbing racial animus." ...

... Flatow: "The letters did not come into play during trial. But they reveal the sort of racial undertones that have been prominent in many Stand Your Ground cases. One study found that white defendants with black victims are far more likely to have their killings deem 'justified' under the Stand Your Ground law." ...

... Paresh Dave of the Los Angeles Times: "George Zimmerman, the 30-year-old Floridian acquitted last year of murdering Trayvon Martin, says he's homeless, jobless and struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder. Zimmerman made these comments in an interview with Spanish-language television network Univision that's scheduled to air at 7 p.m. Sunday...."

New Jersey News

Steve Kornacki & Brian Murphy of NBC News: "A Port Authority police officer with personal ties to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was at the George Washington Bridge when access lanes were closed last September and personally drove David Wildstein, the Christie appointee who supervised the closings, on a tour of the area as traffic brought it to a standstill. Documents submitted to a New Jersey legislative committee by Wildstein also show that the officer, Lieutenant Thomas 'Chip' Michaels, appears to have sent periodic text messages to Wildstein updating him on the effects of the lane closures and their crippling impact on the town of Fort Lee.... In 2010, a Newark Star-Ledger article described the Christie-Michaels family friendship as one that has endured for decades." Michaels' brother Jeffrey Michaels is a lobbyist with an extensive web of ties to Christie. ...

... Erin O'Neill of the Star-Ledger: "Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) said on [Kornacki's MSNBC] program that what this speaks of is the growing number of people who had some knowledge of the lane closures 'that have some tie to the governor's office or the governor himself. It really increases the number of people that seem to have some knowledge and it certainly fuels the skepticism that many have had about the governor's timeline and when he knew.' Wisniewski is leading the legislative probe into the lane closures." ...

... Mike Kelly of the Bergen Record: "Why were some frustrated motorists trapped in gridlock near the bridge last September told by Port Authority police to take their complaints to the mayor of Fort Lee? ... In numerous cases, say drivers, Fort Lee officials and others familiar with the situation, aggravated motorists were told by Port Authority police officers at the scene that they should call the mayor or borough officials.... A special state legislative committee examining the scandal now plans to investigate whether the call-the-mayor instructions were really a way of getting the message to Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich.... 'It appears that someone issued instructions or talking points,' said Assemblyman John Wisniewski.... 'Someone orchestrated that.'"

Tom Sherman of the Star-Ledger: "Millions of dollars in federal housing aid meant for victims of Hurricane Sandy went to projects in counties far removed from those areas most impacted by the storm, an analysis of state data shows. Nearly a third of the money -- $47.6 million, earmarked for new affordable housing projects -- landed in Essex and Middlesex counties, while many hard-hit Jersey Shore communities in Ocean saw relatively little of it."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender former member of the Italian Parliament, was detained by Russian authorities Sunday after holding up a sign that read, 'Gay is OK,' in the Olympic Park, the leader of an Italian gay-rights group said. Luxuria, who is also a television host, had said she was attending the Olympics with the intention of challenging a Russian law banning 'propaganda' on nontraditional sexual relationships, and she was detained after holding up the sign, which was written in Russian."

New York Times: "President Obama on Sunday condemned a measure to criminalize homosexuality in Uganda, publicly warning the country's president that such discrimination could harm its relationship with the United States. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda signaled on Friday that he was likely to sign a bill that would punish the 'the promotion or recognition' of same-sex relations with as much as life in prison."

AP: "Defence lawyers in the trial of the ousted Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi have walked out of court in protest over the soundproof glass cage in which defendants are placed, Egypt's state television reported."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 15, 2014

In his Weekly Address, President Obama urges Congress to raise the minimum wage:

Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "In a defeat for organized labor in the South, employees at the Volkswagen plant here voted 712 to 626 against joining the United Automobile Workers, even though the company did not oppose the unionization drive." ...

... Working at McDonalds. Terran Lyons, as told to Kj Dell'Antonia: "I work the night shift. It’s a good job, except they pay us so little. It would be easier except right now, it takes me about two hours on buses to drop my kids off and get to work." Lyons, a crew trainer, earns $9.85/hour. CW: The Times quite often runs short pieces on the stories of minimum- & near-minimum-wage workers. I've got news for billionaire assholes Sam Zell and Tom Perkins: Terran Lyons, & millions of other Americans, work at least as hard as do you sick old farts, their lives are much more challenging than yours, they are not persecuting you, & they have as much right to participate in the so-called democratic process as you do.

Danielle Douglas of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration on Friday gave the banking industry the green light to finance and do business with legal marijuana sellers, a move that could further legitimize the burgeoning industry. For the first time, legal distributors will be able to secure loans and set up checking and savings accounts with major banks that have largely steered clear of those businesses. The decision eliminates a key hurdle facing marijuana sellers, who can now legally conduct business in 20 states and the District."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "A sweeping decision on Thursday night struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage and continued a remarkable winning streak for gay rights advocates, putting new pressure on the Supreme Court to decide the momentous question it ducked last summer: whether there is a constitutional right to same-sex marriage." ...

... Robert Barnes & David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post profile U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen, who declared unconstitutional Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage. Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), co-author of the ban, called for her impeachment. Ted Olsen, one of the two principal advocates who successfully challenged California's anti-gay marriage Prop 8, called Allen's decision "a beautiful opinion" & said everyone should read Allen's decision. So here it is. (Barnes & Fahrenthold call the ruling "forceful and sometimes grandiose.") ...

... David Cohen & Dahlia Lithwick in Slate: "Insofar as there was confusion about what Windsor[, last year's Supreme Court decision striking down the Defense of Marriage Act,] meant at the time it was decided, the lower courts across the country have now effectively settled it. A survey of publicly available opinions shows that in the eight months since Windsor, 18 court decisions have addressed an issue of equality based on sexual orientation. And in those 18 cases, equality has won every single time. In other words, not a single court has agreed with Chief Justice Roberts that Windsor is merely about state versus federal power. Instead, each has used Windsor exactly as Justice Scalia warned' -- as a powerful precedent for equality." ...

... Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "Same-sex marriage opponents refer to themselves as advocates of 'traditional marriage,' but they backed themselves into a corner by assuming we'd all agree that because something is 'traditional,' it has an inherently superior moral value." ...

... Ron Brownstein of the National Journal: "To understand the rolling demographic and cultural trends threatening the GOP in presidential elections, a good place to start might be with the polychromatic ads Chevrolet is running during the Olympics. First, consider the source. Chevrolet is not a company that equates buying its product with saving the planet.... In the past, its ads have linked the company, without apparent irony, to 'baseball, hot dogs, [and] apple pie.' But Chevy's latest ads, under the title 'The New Us,' celebrate the transformation of the American family into a kaleidoscopic array of new forms. In cascading images, one ad warmly portrays couples of every race and ethnicity, interracial couples, gay male couples, gay female couples -- all raising what appear to be happy, well-adjusted children. Not only does Heather have two mommies; in the world Chevrolet evokes, she's perfectly fine with it.... The 'new us' bears more than a passing resemblance to the new coalition that has allowed Democrats to win the popular vote in five of the past six presidential elections." ...

     ... CW: Brownstein is right. And the Chevy ad is an amazing, surprising & delightful bit of evidence that "traditional marriage" comes in many forms. So hooray for the new us. When even Chevy & Madison Avenue gets it, we are kinda there.

Christi Parsons & Diana Markum of the Los Angeles Times: In Fresno, California, "President Obama on Friday warned against thinking of water as a 'zero-sum game' and urged regional players to push beyond politics in solving supply problems. On a dusty afternoon spent with politicians and farmers, Obama argued against pitting agricultural interests against urban ones, or north against south. 'We're going to have to figure out how to play a different game,' Obama told participants in a round table Friday afternoon. 'We can't afford years of litigation and no real action.' Still, he said, he had no intent of wading into water politics, joking that he wanted to 'get out alive.' While in town, Obama promised more than $200 million in aid to those affected by the drought."

President Obama spoke at the House Democratic Issues Conference yesterday:

GOP's Dr. Frankensteins Can't Control Their Monsters. Kathleen Hunter of Bloomberg News: Republican leaders have no effective way of punishing Ted Cruz for his wrecking-ball tactics.

... Carol Gentry of WUSF finds some Tampa Bay-area Republicans who love the ACA. Here's one:

Peggy Arvanitas of Seminole has been a Republican for decades. In fact, she helps get GOP voters out to the polls. And yet, on her car there's a bumper sticker that says 'I Heart Obamacare.' Here's why: She lost her coverage last year when the company she worked for went under; she had to take a part-time job with no benefits. Then the health law kicked in. Since Jan. 1, she's had a Humana plan she likes. Because her income is low, she pays just $10 a month. When Arvanitas finishes her business degree and passes the CPA exam, she says, her income will go up, and the premium will, too. She sees that as sensible and fair. 'It isn't a Democrat or Republican issue,' she said. 'It's a health care issue.'

     ... CW: Arvanitas' coda is unfortunate. On the one hand, she realizes Republicans are wrong; on the other hand, she ignores it. So she's saying, "Thanks, Democrats, for improving my life despite unrelenting Republican obstructionism; now I'm going out to work to elect Republicans." Stooo-pid.

** Tim Egan: "The sickness that infects news and politics, and its commensurate cynicism, can be directly traced to the creation of Fox News -- 'a political operation that employs journalists,' in the words of Gabriel Sherman, author of the new book on Roger Ailes, 'The Loudest Voice in the Room.' There is no bigger media story in the last 50 years than the creation of a news network run by political hacks, says Sherman. I'm inclined to agree. But just as important, civility itself took a dive with the rise of Fox, and has never recovered." Egan goes on to give Bill O'Reilly his just desserts. CW: Sorry, missed this one when the Times published it two days ago.

New Yorker: "On this week's Political Scene Podcast, Hendrick Hertzberg and Ryan Lizza join Dorothy Wickenden to discuss Hillary Clinton's political career":

Beyond the Beltway

A Miracle in Kansas. Kevin Murphy & Carey Gillham of Reuters: "Opposition grew on Friday in Kansas to a bill that would allow businesses and other groups to refuse certain services and benefits to same-sex couples on the basis of 'sincerely held religious beliefs.' The Kansas Senate will likely reject the bill, which the Kansas House approved on Wednesday, the Senate's president said. Meanwhile, a newly formed statewide business coalition said it would oppose the measure. Senator Susan Wagle, a Republican, said the majority of her caucus does not support the bill on the grounds that it may encourage bias.... The measure passed the House 72-49. Republicans outnumber Democrats 32-8 in the Senate and 92-33 in the House." CW: Also, thanks to Kansas businesses, many of which probably did not want to be targeted by bigots for serving gay people.

Chuck Bartels of the AP: "A group of death row inmates won a court judgment Friday that temporarily blocks executions in Arkansas and says the state Legislature gave too much authority to the Correction Department when it designated the agency director as the person who picks the drug for lethal injections. A law passed last year specified that the state kill inmates by using a barbiturate but did not specify which one."

Peter Hamby of CNN: "On the heels of a major winter storm that blanketed his state with snow, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spent Friday at a resort in Puerto Rico with his family." ...

... So then there's this Bergen Record story of all these roofs collapsing across several North Jersey communities. AND forecasts are calling for more snow today.

News Ledes

AP: "Another round of snow made its way into the Northeast on Saturday as the region continues to dig out from the previous storm. New England is expected to be hit hardest by the latest blast of winter weather. The National Weather Service says 10 to 14 inches of snow is expected in eastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island. Connecticut could see 8 to 10 inches along its Rhode Island border."

New York Times: "After four days of deliberation, the jury in the trial of Michael Dunn, a Florida man who shot a teenager to death in a parking lot during a dispute over loud music, said it could not agree on whether Mr. Dunn had acted in self-defense or was guilty of murder. The jurors did find Mr. Dunn guilty of three counts of second-degree attempted murder for getting out of his car and firing 10 times at the Dodge Durango sport utility vehicle in which Jordan Davis, 17, was killed. Three other teenagers, the subjects of the attempted murder charges, were in the car but were not struck. Mr. Dunn continued to fire at the car even as it pulled away. On the attempted murder convictions, he could be sentenced to 20 to 60 years in prison."

New York Times: The United Nations mediator for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, wrapped up the second round of peace talks [in Geneva] on Saturday without breaking a longstanding deadlock or setting a date for a third round, and urged the parties to think seriously about their commitment to the negotiations. Mr. Brahimi said the talks had broken down primarily because the Syrian government balked at his suggestion that the negotiators discuss both sides' top demands in the first two days of negotiations, rather than spending days on the government's priorities."

The Hill: "The government of Cuba announced late Friday that it will no longer process visas for U.S. travel to Cuba. Cuba said travel will end until a new U.S. bank can be found to process visa fees that are collected and routed to Cuba.Cuba's decision means only humanitarian travel will be permitted to the island nation from the United States, and that the 'people-to-people' visas and other educational travel will be shut off.... The decision is a blow to the goals of the Obama administration, which sought to expand travel opportunities to the island. It will also have an immediate impact on Cuba's access to hard currency, on which many of its citizens rely."

The Commentariat -- Feb. 14, 2014

Internal links removed.

Politico has a Valentine's Day gift for you: a look into the romance of Dick & Pat Nixon, excerpted from a book by Will Swift.

Ashley Parker & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: " Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, offered a long-shot option on Thursday to revive the moribund effort to overhaul the nation's immigration laws that would require the support of more than a dozen House Republicans -- and, if nothing else, pressure others to act on an election-year issue that Tea Party-aligned members strongly oppose. The legislative maneuver, known as a discharge petition, would allow supporters of overhauling the nation's immigration laws to circumvent the Republican majority in the House by bringing the measure directly to the House floor, bypassing the regular committee process. It is a rarely successful tactic, though it was used in 2002 to eventually win passage of a major campaign finance law." ...

... Speaking of Discharge Petitions.... Michael Memoli of the Los Angeles Times: "Democrats will seek to force a House vote on raising the federal minimum wage, party leaders said Thursday, but even getting the proposal to a vote will be an uphill fight. As the minority party in the House, Democrats cannot set the agenda for when bills are brought to the floor. So they will use a procedural tool known as a discharge petition to bring up their proposal to raise the minimum hourly pay to $10.10. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), who announced the move at a three-day policy retreat for House Democrats, said the party decided to push the issue after President Obama signed an executive order this week setting a new minimum wage for workers employed by federal contractors." ...

... ** "A Valentine for Restaurant Workers." Mark Bittman of the New York Times: "... among generally mistreated minimum wage workers there's a subgroup of those whose wage experience is even more miserable and unfair. The group is tipped workers, the majority of whom are restaurant servers. There is a minimum wage for tipped workers, called by those who know the 'tipped minimum wage': ... $2.13.... The National Restaurant Association -- the other N.R.A., the Herman Cain gang..., has fought to preserve the $2.13 tipped minimum wage.... As a result, the tipped minimum wage has remained at the same level for more than 20 years." ...

... ** Paul Krugman: "Now that the Congressional Budget Office has explicitly denied saying that Obamacare destroys jobs, some (though by no means all) Republicans have stopped lying about that issue and turned to a different argument. O.K., they concede, any reduction in working hours because of health reform will be a voluntary choice by the workers themselves -- but it's still a bad thing because, as Representative Paul Ryan puts it, they'll lose 'the dignity of work.' ... If you really care about the dignity and freedom of American workers, you should favor more, not fewer, entitlements, a stronger, not weaker, social safety net. And you should, in particular, support and celebrate health reform. Never mind all those claims that Obamacare is slavery; the reality is that the Affordable Care Act will empower millions of Americans, giving them exactly the kind of dignity and freedom politicians only pretend to love."

Ed Kilgore: The Wall Street Journal editors ... aren't mad at [Sen. Ted] Cruz for opposing a debt limit increase. They're mad at him for forcing a vote which revealed the double-dealing GOP effort to ensure the debt limit increased passed without Republican votes. 'Democrats had enough votes to pass the increase with a simple majority, which means they would have owned the debt increase.'" ...

... They Were For It Before They Were Against It (a Few Minutes Later). Kilgore again: "As you will be shocked to learn, all twelve Senate Republicans who supported cloture on the debt limit bill yesterday voted against the actual bill. That was appropriate given the happy celebration of Republican hypocrisy we've been witnessing in most of the MSM this week.... Anyone pleased that we have dodged the debt limit bullet and perhaps ended debt default threats for good should praise the Democrats from the White House on down who forced Republicans into a Hypocrite's Corner instead of praising the hypocrites themselves."

Lydia Depillis of the Washington Post: "Employees at the Volkswagen auto plant [in Chattanooga, Tennessee] will vote Friday on whether to join the United Auto Workers union, marking the end of a fevered battle between national conservative groups and labor leaders over the future of the right-to-work South. If a majority of Volkswagen's 1,570 hourly workers vote yes, it would mark the first time in nearly three decades of trying that the UAW has successfully organized a plant for a foreign brand in the U.S. This time, the union has a powerful ally: Volkswagen itself, which is hoping the union will collaborate in a German-style "works council" and help manage plant operations." ...

     ... CW: I guess that makes Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) a Big Fat Liar. Besides being a dick on general principles -- like protecting workers.

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "Comcast's proposed acquisition of Time Warner Cable comes at a moment of seismic change in the television industry, with consumers increasingly cutting their cable cords and instead streaming their favorite shows via the Internet through services like Netflix, YouTube, Amazon and Hulu. This shifting landscape may aid Comcast as it seeks to persuade government officials -- and deploy its prodigious army of lobbyists -- to win [regulatory] approval for its $45 billion takeover.... Still, the combination of the two companies, creating a cable and broadband behemoth serving 30 million customers across 42 states, is expected to come under intense scrutiny from the Obama administration, which has toughened its enforcement of federal antitrust laws." ...

... That's Not What John Cassidy Sez: "Comcast Corporation is ... the largest media company in the world." With its planned purchase of Time Warner Cable, it will get even bigger. People living in the U.S. "pay far more for broadband Internet access, cable television, and home phone lines than people in many other advanced countries, even though the services we get aren't any better. All too often, they are worse.... This sorry situation ... is the predictable outcome of Congress bowing to the monopolists, or quasi-monopolists, and allowing them to squelch potential competitors.... What we need is a new competition policy that puts the interests of consumers first, seeks to replicate what other countries have done, and treats with extreme skepticism the arguments of monopoly incumbents such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable.... Under President Obama, the anti-trust division of the Justice Department has nodded through a number of dubious mergers.... The new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Tom Wheeler, is a former lobbyist for two sets of vested interests: the cell-phone operators and, you guessed it, the cable companies." ...

New York Times Editors: "This deal ... would give Comcast greater power over media companies like CBS and Disney and Internet services like Netflix and Amazon. And that would ultimately give it more control over American consumers."

Haya el Nasser of Al Jazeera: President "Obama is visiting the agricultural heart of [California] and the nation, where farmers are making the tough decision to forgo cultivating seasonal crops and use the little water they have to save permanent crops. Fewer crops will mean fewer workers. It's a dire situation, one the White House will address with an expected $100 million in disaster assistance for California livestock producers, with relief going to other states facing similar problems. An additional $1 billion will help those who lost cattle during the 2012 drought that browned several states and the snow that hit the Dakotas in the fall of 2013. The Department of Agriculture will accelerate the application process for disaster aid."

Jennifer Medina & Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: Enrollment of Latinos in insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act is lagging for a number of reasons.

(1)The Can Kicks Back the Bucket. Byron Tau of Politico: "A year and a half after launching with much fanfare, a group affiliated with fiscal watchdogs Erskine Bowles and former Sen. Alan Simpson is nearly broke. The Can Kicks Back -- which targets millennials and was conceived as a partner and affiliate of the group Fix the Debt -- is running low on cash, according to emails and documents reviewed by Politico." ...

... Alex Pareene of Salon: "One fundraising problem The Can Kicks Back has faced is the entirely accurate perception that it is not actually a grass-roots organization of young people deeply concerned with reckless entitlement spending and unsustainable long-term debt, but rather yet another front group -- and in this case a particularly ineffective one -- for the small network of billionaires who have spent decades advocating tax cuts and the rolling back of Social Security and Medicare benefits, in the name of fiscal responsibility." ...

(2) Jordyn Phelps of ABC News: "A new political attack ad from the Koch brothers-funded group Americans for Prosperity calls on Louisianans to tell Sen. Mary Landrieu that Obamacare is hurting their families. The ad shows a number of people, who appear to be Louisianans, opening their mail to find a letter stating that their health care policy has been cancelled because of the Affordable Care Act.... But the people in the emotion-evoking ad are not Louisianans at all; they are paid actors." ...

(3) Jim Romenesko: "The conservative Media Research Center often urges liberal news outlets to TELL THE TRUTH, but the Reston, VA-based press watchdog isn't telling the truth about its own leader: Brent Bozell doesn't write the syndicated column that appears under his byline. It is longtime MRC media analysis director Tim Graham who writes 'almost everything published under [Bozell's] name,' a former MRC employee tells me in an email. 'That includes his weekly column. Same goes for his books, which at least carry Graham's name in a secondary billing, but also aren't written by Bozell (but Bozell keeps 80-90% of the advance and all profits!)' Two other people with ties to MRC confirmed that Graham is Bozell's ghostwriter -- and that Graham is not happy with the assignment." ...

... Paul Krugman: "What these stories have in common is that they show how much of what passes for genuine expression of public concern is really just a bought and paid-for (or, in the case of The Can, not sufficiently paid-for) front for plutocratic priorities."

Obama 2.0. Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "A century-old debate over whether presidents should reward political donors and allies by making them ambassadors has flared again following a string of embarrassing gaffes by President Obama's picks.... The stumbles have highlighted the perils of rewarding well-heeled donors and well-connected politicos with plum overseas assignments, and have provided political fodder for Republicans eager to attack the White House. The cases also underscore how a president who once infuriated donors by denying them perks has now come into line with his predecessors, doling out prominent diplomatic jobs by the dozens to supporters."

The Person I'd Most Like to Deck Today: Bobby Jindal, who made a major speech Thursday night at the Reagan Library arguing that that "liberal elites," including of course President Obama, are waging a "silent war" on religious freedom that would "transform the country from a land sustained by faith into a land where faith is silenced, privatized and circumscribed." Yeah, Bobby, you obnoxious, self-righteous, ignorant shmuck, this liberal elite person would definitely like to see religion "privatized." Pick up a copy of the Constitution you've sworn to uphold, where you'll find that the establishment clause of the First Amendment makes "privatization" of religion compulsory. Oh, and your concern that "liberals will use the mantra of anti-discrimination to force people to violate their religious beliefs"? Check out the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment whilst you've got the Constitution handy. ...

... First Runner-Up: Ted Cruz. Apparently every obnoxious/stupid/harmful thing Cruz or his compatriots say or do gets a pass. Stewart Powell of the San Francisco Chronicle: "Cruz dismissed reporters' questioning his role in sidetracking the House proposal on immigration reform. 'I understand that a lot of folks in the press want to focus on the Washington politics of it all,' Cruz said. 'I think most Americans could not care less about a bunch of politicians in Washington.'" ...

... Update. Extra Points for Cruz. Luke Johnson of the Huffington Post: "Amid a wave of court decisions striking down anti-gay marriage laws in states, the Texas Republican introduced a bill to the Senate Wednesday to amend U.S. law 'with regard to the definition of "marriage" and "spouse" for Federal purposes and to ensure respect for State regulation of marriage." Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) is the bill's only co-sponsor so far."

... Still, the Biggest Asshole of the Week Award should go to zillionaire Tom Perkins. One Person, One Vote? Hell, No. Charles Riley of CNN: "Tom Perkins suggested Thursday that only taxpayers should have the right to vote -- and that wealthy Americans who pay more in taxes should get more votes. The venture capitalist offered the unorthodox proposal when asked to name one idea that would 'change the world' at a speaking engagement in San Francisco.... Perkins offered no immediate indication that he was joking. Asked offstage if the proposal was serious, Perkins said: "I intended to be outrageous, and it was.'"

Margaret Hartmann of New York has a point: Looks as if the only people being "held accountable" for the Snowden clusterfuck -- besides Snowden himself -- are two contractors & a member of the military attached to the NSA. CW: No actual NSA employees. And none of the geniuses who installed a system of protocols which practically invited someone like Snowden to compromise NSA data. The "S" in NSA guarantees top-tier job security, too. Great! ...

... RT: "Former Texas congressman Ron Paul has announced a petition aiming to secure clemency for Edward Snowden, the National Security Agency whistleblower who revealed extensive US surveillance programs and ignited a national debate on Americans' privacy."

Beyond the Beltway

** "It's Not Just the Bridge." Alec MacGillis of the New Republic: "The problem with Christie isn't merely that he is a bully. It's that his political career is built on a rotten foundation. Christie owes his rise to some of the most toxic forces in his state -- powerful bosses who ensure that his vow to clean up New Jersey will never come to pass. He has allowed them to escape scrutiny, rewarded them for their support, and punished their enemies. All along, even as it looked like Christie was attacking the machine, he was really just mastering it." CW: A fascinating read.

Anne Blythe of the Raleigh News & Observer: "The U.S. Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation into the state environmental agency tasked with regulating Duke Energy after a coal ash spill left the Dan River so polluted that people were advised to avoid contact with the water. The probe, environmentalists say, might also open a window into the relationship that state regulators have with the country's largest electricity provider, a company that also was a 28-year employer of Gov. Pat McCrory [R]." ...

... Michael Biesecker & Mitch Weiss of the AP: "Over the last year, environmental groups have tried three times to use the federal Clean Water Act to force Duke Energy to clear out leaky coal ash dumps like the one that ruptured last week, spewing enough toxic sludge into a North Carolina river to fill 73 Olympic-sized pools. Each time, they say, their efforts have been stymied -- by the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The state agency has blocked the citizen lawsuits by intervening at the last minute to assert its own authority.... After negotiating with Duke, the state proposed settlements where the nation's largest electricity provider pays modest fines but is under no requirement to actually clean up its coal ash ponds.... The environmentalists suggest [Gov. Pat McCrory's] administration's real goal has been to shield the governor's former employer from far more severe and expensive penalties it might face if the cases ever made it to a federal courtroom."

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "A federal judge in Norfolk struck down Virginia's ban on same-sex marriage Thursday night, saying it violates the constitution's guarantee of equal protection. U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen stayed her decision so that it can be appealed, and so same-sex marriages in the commonwealth will not begin immediately. Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D), who had switched the state's legal position on the issue and joined two gay couples in asking that the ban be struck down, has said the state will continue to enforce the ban until the legal process is over." CW: Allen is an Obama appointee.

Mark Stern in Slate: "In addition to barring all anti-discrimination lawsuits against private employers, [a bill passed by the Kansas State House would] permit government employees to deny service to gays in the name of 'religious liberty.' ... If a gay couple calls the police, an officer may refuse to help them if interacting with a gay couple violates his religious principles. State hospitals can turn away gay couples...." ...

     ... CW: For what it's worth, I think there's a bit too much hyperventilation over this bill, even though it is likely to become Kansas law. But not for long. It is clearly unconstitutional, and the first challenge should be upheld. I would expect a judge to order a stay as it moves through the courts.

Chrissie Thompson of the Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio "State Rep. Peter Beck, R-Mason, now faces a total of 69 felony counts and is under pressure to resign his General Assembly seat. A Hamilton County indictment alleges Beck helped bilk investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars as chief financial officer of an insolvent West Chester software startup owned by the late Cincinnati money manager Thomas M. Lysaght. Beck also is accused of taking some of the money intended for the startup ... and diverting it to his campaign fund. Ark by the River Fellowship Ministry, a secretive Linwood church investigated by The Enquirer in September, also received much of the money from the fraud, according to the indictment issued Thursday. So the church -- a 'cult,' according to the felony indictment -- and Pastor Janet Combs, who is Lysaght's widow, also face felony charges for corruption, money laundering and receiving stolen property."

News Ledes

Reuters: "A 120-car Norfolk Southern Corp train carrying heavy Canadian crude oil derailed and spilled in western Pennsylvania on Thursday, adding to a string of recent accidents that have prompted calls for stronger safety standards. There were no reports of injury or fire after 21 tank cars came off the track and crashed into a nearby industrial building at a bend by the Kiskiminetas River in the town of Vandergrift."

AP: "A windy stretch of the Mojave Desert once roamed by tortoises and coyotes has been transformed by hundreds of thousands of mirrors into the largest solar power plant of its type in the world, a milestone for a growing industry that is testing the balance between wilderness conservation and the pursuit of green energy across the American West. The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System, sprawling across roughly 5 square miles (13 sq. kilometers) of federal land near the California-Nevada border, formally opened Thursday after years of regulatory and legal tangles ranging from relocating protected tortoises to assessing the impact on Mojave milkweed and other plants."