The Commentariat -- Nov. 20, 2013

** Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is prepared to move forward with a vote that could severely limit the minority party's ability to filibuster presidential nominees, possibly as early as this week, Democratic officials said Tuesday. Exasperated with a Republican blockade of three of President Obama's nominees to an influential appeals court, Mr. Reid has been speaking individually with Democratic members to gauge the level of support for a change in filibuster rules. If he determines there is enough support, he could schedule a vote this week, an aide who has spoken with him directly said Tuesday." CW: I've already written to my Senator, Bill Nelson, who could be a fence-sitter, urging him to support filibuster reform. ...

... Greg Sargent: "Reid has concluded Senate Republicans have no plausible way of retreating from the position they've adopted in this latest Senate rules standoff, [a senior Democratic leadership] aide says. Republicans have argued that in pushing nominations, Obama is 'packing' the court, and have insisted that Obama is trying to tilt the court's ideological balance in a Democratic direction -- which is to say that the Republican objection isn't to the nominees Obama has chosen, but to the fact that he's trying to nominate anyone at all." ...

... Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: "Senate Democrats who were previously opposed to changing filibuster rules via the 'nuclear option' are so fed up with GOP obstruction of the president's nominees that they now say they want to go nuclear." ...

... David Atkins of Hullabaloo: "The nation, quite frankly, doesn't have time to wait out the next two years watching Republicans obstruct absolutely everything, then sit tight as a Republican president himself gets obstructed by Democrats until 2020. The cost of inaction is far, far too high." ...

... Charles Pierce: "It's time, Harry. Really, it is.... This business with the judges has long passed over the International Fk You Line.... This is mucking around with two of the three branches of the federal government in order to work your will in the third.... It is a blatant defiance of popular sovereignty, and the Republicans have grown so comfortable with it that they're not even trying very hard these days to concoct decent lies about why they're doing it."

Clusterfuck. Robert Pear of the New York Times: Henry Chao, "the chief digital architect for the federal health insurance marketplace, said Tuesday [in a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing] that 30 percent to 40 percent of the [ACA software] project was still being built.... [HHS Secretary Kathleen] Sebelius said last month that the security of the federal website had been tested by the Mitre Corporation and that the company 'did not raise flags about going ahead' on Oct. 1. But Jason Providakes, a senior vice president at Mitre, said at the hearing on Tuesday: 'Mitre is not in charge of security for HealthCare.gov. We were not asked, nor did we perform end-to-end security testing.'" ...

... Philip Rucker & Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "President Obama on Tuesday sought to redirect some of the political blame for the botched rollout of the federal health insurance exchange to Republicans, characterizing GOP lawmakers as rooting for the law's failure. Addressing a gathering of business executives, Obama acknowledged that the health-care rollout 'has been rough, to say the least,' and he lamented the government's archaic information-technology procurement system." Video of the full session is here. The Wall Street Journal has a transcript here. ...

One of the problems we've had is one side of Capitol Hill is invested in failure and -- and that makes, I think, the -- the kind of iterative process of fixing glitches as they come up and fine-tuning the law more challenging. -- President Obama, at yesterday's Wall Street Journal forum

... Katie Thomas, et al., of the New York Times: "Of the 13 states that have so far said they will allow consumers to renew canceled plans, all but four are led by Republican governors and have generally been opposed to the new health care law. Of the eight that have said they will not carry out the policy, six are in Democratic-led states, many of which have actively worked to put the law into effect and have argued that allowing such an extension could undermine its success. They include New York, which announced its decision on Tuesday, and Massachusetts. Many other states, including California and New Jersey, are still weighing their options." ...

... Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Maryland is wrestling with stubborn technological problems with its online insurance exchange, posting weak enrollment even as other states have signed up tens of thousands of consumers for plans under President Obama's new health-care law." ...

... Daniel Chang of the Miami Herald: In a "heavily-orchestrated" visit to Miami, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said, "'Here in Florida, there are 3.5 million uninsured and eligible Floridians who stand to benefit from full implementation of the law.' ... By not expanding Medicaid, Sebelius said, about 1.9 million Floridians will go without some form of health coverage, including '318,000 of whom are right here in the Miami area.'" ...

... The Washington Post has a state-by-state breakdown of ACA enrollees for the period October 1 to November 2. ...

... Some Are More Equal than Others. "A Gold-Plated Insurance Exchange." Robert Pear of the New York Times: "While millions of Americans have been left to fend for themselves and go through the frustrating experience of trying to navigate the federal exchange, members of Congress and their aides have all sorts of assistance to help them sort through their options and enroll." ...

... Dana Milbank: "It was all I could do to keep my knees from knocking as I stood in an alcove in the Capitol basement, listening to Republican leaders describe all the terrible things that Obamacare has produced.... The Republicans’ scary-movie strategy ... is sabotage, plain and simple -- much like the refusal by red-state governors to participate in setting up the exchanges in the first place. But those sabotaging the new law should be careful what they wish for: Instead of killing the law, they are likely to make it more expensive to taxpayers." CW: I hate to tell you, Dana, but that's what they want to do. The more costly it is, the more easily they can justify repeal. ...

... Jonathan Capehart: One reason a majority of Americans say they oppose ObamaCare -- they don't understand it, & they don't understand the insurance market. And of course Republicans have done all they can to confuse people. CW: I'd add, and so have the media. ...

     ... Thanks, Brian Williams. Excellent reporting! What? Is David Gregory writing your copy?

Today's Munch Prize goes to Sarah Dutton, et al., of CBS "News": "President Obama's job approval rating has plunged to the lowest of his presidency, according to a new CBS News poll released Wednesday, and Americans' approval of the Affordable Care Act has dropped it's lowest since CBS News started polling on the law. Thirty-seven percent now approve of the job Mr. Obama is doing as president, down from 46 percent in October -- a nine point drop in just a month. Mr. Obama's disapproval rating is 57 percent -- the highest level for this president in CBS News Polls." ...

... "The Party of Zilch." Ron Fournier, longstanding reliable Democrat-basher, now of the National Journal: "The Republican Party stands for nothing. As Barack Obama threatens to fumble away his presidency along with the Democratic Party's reasons for existence -- championing an active, efficient government -- the GOP lurches into the leadership breach with ... zilch."

How to Nullify Roe v. Wade. Adam Liptak of the New York Times: " The Supreme Court on Tuesday turned away an emergency application asking it to block a Texas law that requires doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. The decision was effectively 5 to 4 and split along ideological lines, though only seven justices noted their votes. The effect of the ruling, Justice Stephen G. Breyer wrote for the four dissenters, was to leave 24 counties in the Rio Grande Valley without abortion clinics. 'It may,' he added, 'substantially reduce access to safe abortions elsewhere in Texas.'"

Dave Jamieson of the Huffington Post: "According to officials at the National Labor Relations Board, the agency's general counsel investigated and 'found merit' in workers' claims that Walmart 'unlawfully threatened' employees for taking part in walkouts surrounding last year's Black Friday shopping season. The agency said that Walmart intimidated, surveilled or punished workers in 14 different states, violating U.S. labor law. The agency also said that Walmart illegally threatened workers in statements made in two news broadcasts.... The general counsel's charge amounts to an allegation by a prosecutor -- not a ruling by the board. Such cases are often resolved before the board actually moves to prosecute a company." ...

... McScrooge. Adam Peck of Think Progress: "McDonald's McResource Line, a dedicated website run by the world's largest fast-food chain to provide its 1.8 million employees with financial and health-related tips, offers a full page of advice for 'Digging Out From Holiday Debt.' Among their helpful holiday tips: 'Selling some of your unwanted possessions on eBay or Craigslist could bring in some quick cash.' Elsewhere on the site, McDonald's encourages its employees to break apart food when they eat meals, as 'breaking food into pieces often results in eating less and still feeling full.' And if they are struggling to stock their shelves with food in the first place, the company offers assistance for workers applying for food stamps." ...

... Wait, Wait, Nancy. Paul Ryan is fighting for you.

... Oh, Shucks. Maybe Not. Kevin Drum on Paul Ryan's alleged anti-poverty initiative (WashPo story linked in yesterday's Commentariat) "... everything he's ever done -- everything -- boils down to a single sentence: reduce taxes on the rich and reduce spending on the poor. That's it. There's literally nothing else he's ever seriously proposed.... How is it that so many people seem so willing to pretend otherwise?" ...

Okay. Definitely Not. You cure poverty eye to eye, soul to soul. Spiritual redemption: That's what saves people. -- Paul Ryan

... Jonathan Chait: "Paul Ryan: Poor people need Jesus, not food stamps." Sorry, Nancy. Get back to your fry station. And pray.

Blow. Aaron Blake, et al., of the Washington Post: "Freshman Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) has been charged with possession of a controlled substance. According to court charging documents, on Oct. 29, Radel 'unlawfully, knowingly and intentionally possessed' a quantity of cocaine. The charges are as a result of a D.C. Superior Court Grand Jury indictment. Radel was charged Tuesday and will be arraigned Wednesday. In a statement, he said problems with alcohol led to an 'extremely irresponsible choice' and said he will seek treatment. CW: Ah, yes, the Rob Ford defense. That should work. Radel is my Congressman & a flaming winger who used to have a local Limbaugh-type radio show. I just got a letter from him today, which I promptly tossed in the recycling, without reading it. It was printed on card stock of the type Rydel might use to cut lines. ...

... Trey Has a Habit. Catalina Camia & Donna Leger of USA Today: A DEA official "said several federal agencies working as part of a task force arrested a dealer who told them one of his cocaine customers was a congressman. The dealer, working with federal agents, set up a buy on Oct. 29, and Radel ... purchased the cocaine...." ...

... John Bresnahan & Jake Sherman of Politico: "Radel has missed all four votes in the House this week." ...

... Also, one of Family Guy Trey's entrepreneurial efforts was to register sexually-charged Spanish-language Web addresses. "I, as a business guy, as an entrepreneur, have bought all sorts of domain names," Radel said. Yes, all sorts. Like "www.mamadita.com," slang for "little blow job."

Ben Protess & Jessica Silver-Greenberg of the New York Times: "JPMorgan Chase and the Justice Department finalized a $13 billion settlement on Tuesday, punctuating a long legal battle over the risky mortgage practices that became synonymous with the financial crisis." CW: This story has been updated since I linked it Tuesday evening. ...

... ** Joe Coscarelli of New York: "It's like Rob Ford meets Florida Man meets Rep. Peter Russo from House of Cards.... This, from an interview with Roll Coll, you couldn't make up if you tried: Q: What's your favorite vacation spot outside Florida? A: Cartagena, Colombia."

President Obama's handwritten tribute to President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.

Senate Race

Emily Schultheis of Politico: The National Republican Senatorial Committee came under fire Tuesday for tweeting a photo that superimposed Kentucky Senate candidate Alison Lundergan Grimes's head on the body of 'Obama Girl,' the model who starred in a series of 2007 music videos about her crush on President Obama.... NRSC spokeswoman Brook Hougesen called the tweet a mistake. 'We agree, it's extremely offensive. It was a mistake made by a junior staffer and disciplinary action has been taken,' she said." CW: Yeah, junior staffers do the darndest things. Sadly, the NRSC has absolutely no control over their sexist, tasteless antics.

Local News

Rene Stutzman & Jeff Weiner of the Orlando Sentinel: Admitted killer & acclaimed right-wing folk hero "George Zimmerman left the Seminole County jail this afternoon, the day after he was accused of pointing a gun at his girlfriend during a domestic dispute and arrested on domestic violence charges. Zimmerman's bail was set at $9,000 during today's hearing. News crews later spotted him as he walked out of the jail about 4:30 p.m.... The judge said he was setting the bond higher than normal because of the reported strangulation attempt. He also ordered Zimmerman to wear a satellite monitor, to give up and stay away from guns and ammunition and to stay away from his girlfriend, Samantha Scheibe."

Canadian News

Another typical day at the office for Toronto Mayor & prime minister hopeful Rob Ford:

News Ledes

Caroline Kennedy arrives at the Japanese Imperial Palace. AFP/Getty Image.

Bloomberg News: "Caroline Kennedy was greeted by thousands of cheering Japanese as she passed through the streets of Tokyo to present her credentials to Emperor Akihito as the U.S.'s first female ambassador to Japan. Spectators, many of them elderly, lined the streets snapping photos of Kennedy, 55, as she passed in a century-old horse-drawn carriage."

New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the United States and Afghanistan had completed a bilateral security agreement that will be submitted to a grand council of elders in Kabul the next day, but he stated emphatically that there had been no discussion of an American apology to President Hamid Karzai or to his nation as part of the deal."

Washington Post: "The [Virginia] state inspector general's office has opened an investigation into why the son of Virginia state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds was released from custody the day before he apparently stabbed his father and then shot himself to death." Three nearby hospitals said they had open beds available for Austin Deeds.

Washington Post: "Rep. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), a freshman lawmaker from the New York City area, was attacked and robbed Tuesday evening in the Eastern Market area" of Washington, D.C.

The Commentariat -- Nov. 19, 2013

... CW P.S.: Don't blame me for David Gregory, Marco Rubio, et al.

     ... You can share your own rendition of President Lincoln's address at the dedication of the Soldiers' National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Today is the 150th anniversary of the address. ...

     ... Update: Akhilleus is right. Charles Laughton gets the inflections just right:

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Monday denied President Obama his third nominee in recent weeks to the nation's most powerful and prestigious appeals court and insisted they would not back down, inflaming a bitter debate over a president's right to shape the judiciary.... Republicans have raised few objections to any of the candidates' qualifications or political leanings. Rather, Republicans are trying to prevent Mr. Obama from filling any slots on the court, fearing that he will alter its conservative tilt. Democrats accused Republicans of exercising a nakedly political double standard for confirming presidential nominees.... Judge [Robert] Wilkins became the fourth of Mr. Obama's choices for the powerful court blocked by Republicans this year." ...

I am deeply disappointed that Senate Republicans have once again refused to do their job and give well-qualified nominees to the federal bench the yes-or-no votes they deserve. The D.C. Circuit, considered the Nation's second-highest court, has three vacancies. These are judgeships created by Congress. Chief Justice John Roberts and the Judicial Conference of the United States believe that these vacancies should be filled, not removed. And my constitutional duty as President is to nominate highly qualified individuals to fill these vacancies. -- President Obama, in a statement

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "White House officials said Monday that the administration was considering allowing people to sign up for health care coverage directly with insurance companies as a way to work around the struggling HealthCare.gov website." ...

... Sharon LaFraniere & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The pace of enrollment in health plans through the troubled federal insurance marketplace has nearly doubled since the end of October as software engineers have resolved some 200 of the more than 600 initial defects that had rendered the site all but unusable, according to people familiar with the repair effort. As of mid-November, the number of enrollees, which the Obama administration defines as people who have selected a marketplace plan, was more than 50,000 -- up from 27,000 in the entire month of October, but still a fraction of the number the administration once hoped for. Despite the progress, specialists are worried about whether they can meet the administration's goal of enabling four in five users to enroll through the online federal exchange, HealthCare.gov, by the end of the month." ...

... Noam Levy of the Los Angeles Times: "Despite the disastrous rollout of the federal government's healthcare website, enrollment is surging in many states as tens of thousands of consumers sign up for insurance plans made available by President Obama's health law. A number of states that use their own systems, including California, are on track to hit enrollment targets for 2014 because of a sharp increase in November, according to state officials." ...

... Jamelle Bouie in the Daily Beast: "... what's frustrating about the current conversation over Obamacare is the extent to which there's been collective amnesia regarding the GOP's categorical opposition to the law. Pundits who see the problems with Healthcare.gov as an indictment of 'big government liberalism' ... neglect to grapple with the concrete consequences of the GOP's monomaniacal crusade against the Affordable Care Act.... In this alternate world where conservatives care about governing, Obamacare has its issues, but -- with working state exchanges and a full Medicaid expansion -- it's more stable and popular than it is now." ...

... Juliet Eilperin & Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration brought in a private consulting team to independently assess how the federal online health-care enrollment system was developing, according to a newly disclosed document, and in late March received a clear warning that its Oct. 1 launch was fraught with risks. The analysis by McKinsey & Co. foreshadowed many of the problems that have dogged HealthCare.gov since its rollout, including the fact that the call-in centers would not work properly if the online system was malfunctioning and that insufficient testing would make it difficult to fix problems after the launch. The report was provided to The Washington Post by the House Energy and Commerce Committee." ...

Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic on six things the media don't get about the ACA: "... lots of people losing coverage are losing policies they never liked much, that they would have dropped soon anyway, and that would have left them facing potential financial ruin if they got sick. Even those with truly good policies had no guarantees that in one year, let alone two or three, they'd still be able to pay for them." CW: Most of this is review material for Reality Chex readers, but Cohn provides some charts that quantify his assertions. ...

... ** Jonathan Chait of New York: "The most common fallacy of journalism, and one of the most common fallacies of the human brain in general, is the assumption that whatever is happening at the moment will continue to happen forever." Read the whole post. ...

... Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "You think some news stories about people in the individual market having to pay more for a new insurance plan tug at lawmakers' heartstrings? Wait until you see the stories about the 5-year-old girl with leukemia who'll get kicked off her coverage if Republicans in Congress have their way. Right now we're talking about a few people who are supposedly the 'losers' in the ACA, but the most they've lost is some money they'll have to pay for a more comprehensive plan. If you repeal the law, the country would be overflowing with people whose losses are genuinely catastrophic." ...

... AND today's Munch Award goes to Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair, writing in Politico: "... the fiasco of the launch of Obama's sweeping health care overhaul has put the reputation of Big Government progressivism at risk for at least this generation. And its future now rests on the president's ability to reverse that debacle and to demonstrate that his approach to covering millions of uninsured Americans is not only an enlightened -- but workable -- policy."

Adam Liptak & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Congressional critics of the National Security Agency program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans stepped up their efforts as the Supreme Court on Monday turned away an unusual challenge to the scope of the surveillance."

Lyndsey Layton of the Washington Post: "Education Secretary Arne Duncan tried Monday to quell the outrage sparked by his recent comments that injected race and class into the debate about the new Common Core academic standards taking root in classrooms across the country. Duncan said Friday that he was fascinated by the fact that some opposition to the standards was coming from 'white suburban moms' who fear that 'their child isn't as brilliant as they thought they were.' [CW: Also, ungrammatical.] The comment lit up social media sites, prompting pointed responses from bloggers, an open letter from a school superintendent, digital images of Duncan's official federal portrait with the word 'bigot' emblazoned across it and one congressman's* call for Duncan's firing. Duncan, whose office declined interview requests Monday, posted a statement late in the day on his agency's Web site."

     * The congressman calling for Duncan's firing is Steve Stockman (RTP-Texas). Stockman is "the nuttiest freshman in Congress." He has repeated threatened to file articles of impeachment against President Obama & has called for special prosecutors to investigate Obama for whatever. So, big whup.

Via the Cleveland Plain Dealer.... Olivera Perkins of the Plain Dealer: "This isn't a merchandise display. It's a food drive - not for the community, but for needy workers [in a Canton, Ohio, WalMart].... While Walmart officials and many employees see the food drive bins as a symbol of generosity, others see it differently. 'That captures Walmart right there,' said Kate Bronfenbrenner, director of labor education research at Cornell University's labor school. 'Walmart is setting up bins because its employees don't make enough to feed themselves and their families.'" ...

... "The Walton Family is by far the richest family in the world." CW: I hope some of you got a chance to read Edward McClelland's piece on Washingtonomics v. Lincolnomics, linked in yesterday's Commentariat. The article discusses Sam Walton's Washingtonian business model, which is sickening. ...

... "What WalMart Can Learn from Henry Ford." Robert Reich, in Salon: "Walmart just reported shrinking sales for a third straight quarter.... What Walmart's CEO doesn’t get is that a large portion of Walmart's customers are lower-wage workers who are working at places like ... Walmart. And Walmart, not incidentally, refuses to raise its median wage (including its army of part-timers) of $8.80 an hour.... If Walmart were to boost its wages, other employers of low-wage workers would have to follow suit in order to attract the employees they need.... Walmart is so huge that a wage boost at Walmart would ripple through the entire economy, putting more money in the pockets of low-wage workers. This would help boost the entire economy -- including Walmart's own sales. (This is also an argument for a substantial hike in the minimum wage.)" ...

... Josh Eidelson of Salon makes the case that Boeing's impending exit from Seattle is the work of the Tea Party. CW: I don't disagree with any of Eidelson's analysis, but here again you can blame Washingtonomics.

Expand Social Security!

Lori Montgomery, reliable GOP ally at the Washington Post, has a long feature on anti-poverty crusader Paul Ryan: "Since February, Ryan (R-Wis.) has been quietly visiting inner-city neighborhoods with another old [Jack] Kemp ally, Bob Woodson, the 76-year-old civil rights activist and anti-poverty crusader, to talk to ex-convicts and recovering addicts about the means of their salvation. Ryan's staff, meanwhile, has been trolling center-right think tanks and intellectuals for ideas to replace the 'bureaucratic, top-down anti-poverty programs' that Ryan blames for 'wrecking families and communities' since Lyndon B. Johnson declared a war on poverty in 1964. Next year, for the 50th anniversary of that crusade, Ryan hopes to roll out an anti-poverty plan to rival his budgetary Roadmap for America's Future in scope and ambition.... His idea of a war on poverty so far relies heavily on promoting volunteerism and encouraging work through existing federal programs, including the tax code. That's a skewed version of Kempism, which recognizes that 'millions of Americans look to government as a lifeline,' said Bruce Bartlett, a historian who worked for Kemp and has become an acerbic critic of the modern GOP."

Robed Barbarians. New York Times Editors: "In nearly all of the 32 states that permit capital punishment, a jury makes the final decision on whether a defendant will live or die. Not so in Alabama, where elected judges may override a jury verdict of life in prison and unilaterally impose a death sentence. Since 1982, Alabama judges have overridden 95 such verdicts, sentencing defendants to death even though the jury voted for life -- many times by a vote of 12 to 0.... On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear a challenge to this law, which appears to violate a 2002 ruling that capital defendants 'are entitled to a jury determination of any fact' necessary to sentence them to death. Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote a 12-page opinion, joined partly by Justice Stephen Breyer, dissenting from the court's decision not to hear the current case.... The death penalty should have no legitimate mooring at all in modern American society, and it certainly should not be imposed by a judge who is worried about keeping his job."

Andrew Tangel of the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. Department of Justice and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are close to finalizing an agreement over a $13-billion settlement stemming from faulty mortgage investments that fueled the financial crisis of 2008, a person close to the negotiations said late Monday. The final deal, which has been in the works for weeks, could be announced as soon as Tuesday...."

Kim Barker of ProPublica: "The dark money giant Crossroads GPS, launched by Republican strategist Karl Rove, told the IRS it raised almost $180 million in 2012, including one donation of $22.5 million, another of $18 million and another of $10 million. Fifty donations were for $1 million or more. Because the group is a social welfare nonprofit, none of the donors have to be made public.... 'There is no way in the world that $20 million-plus contributions, $10 million-plus contributions, that are funding campaign ads should be kept secret from the American people,' said Fred Wertheimer, the president of Democracy 21...." CW: Even Justice Scalia would agree with Wertheimer on that. Thanks to contributor Diane for the link.

AP: "Google is paying $17 million to 37 states and the District of Columbia to make amends for the Internet search leader's snooping on millions of people using Safari Web browsers in 2011 and 2012. The settlement announced Monday stems from a technological loophole that enabled Google's DoubleClick advertising network to shadow unwitting Safari users, even though the browser's maker, Apple Inc., prohibited the tracking without obtaining a person's permission."

Senate Race

Frank Bruni: "If Liz Cheney, whose bid for the Senate has always had a stench of extreme opportunism, wants to discuss traditions and values, I'm all for it. Let's start here: Isn't there a tradition of close-knit family members' taking care not to wound one another? Is there not value in that?" ...

... Gene Robinson: "... the tension between the Cheney sisters reflects the larger struggle within the Republican Party to keep pace with a changing America." ...

... Ditto. Matea Gold & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Former vice president Richard B. Cheney and his wife, Lynne, on Monday jumped into a bitter public clash between their two daughters over gay marriage, an anguished personal fight that reflects a broader debate within the Republican Party over allowing same-sex couples to marry." ...

... Charles Pierce: "I could care less if Liz and Mary fight over the human-blood punch at Thanksgiving this year. What I care about is the fact that Liz Cheney has all of her father's geopolitical bloodlust and none of his obvious charm, and that she belongs in the United States Senate as much as does a gaboon viper. What makes me happy is that the Republican voters of Wyoming appear to have caught on to the cut-rate Borgia family act that Liz is trying to pull out there, and she is apparently being ratfked by the opposition. Republicans are eating their own! In this particular instance, I'm sending the barbecue sauce." Thanks to Diane for the link.

Local News

Rene Stutzman of the Orlando Sentinel: Conservative & gun-rights hero "George Zimmerman was arrested Monday after he cocked and pointed a shotgun at his girlfriend, shattered a glass-top table then pushed her out of the house and barricaded himself inside after she ordered him to move out, according to the Seminole County Sheriff's Office. He surrendered peacefully a few minutes later and was hauled off to jail, where he was being held without bail on domestic violence and aggravated assault charges.... In addition to the aggravated assault with a weapon, a felony, he's accused of domestic violence battery and criminal mischief -- for breaking the table and damaging other property belonging to Scheibe." Includes audio of Zimmerman's 911 call. Amusing. ...

     ... Update: "After spending the night in the Seminole County Jail, accused of pointing a shotgun at his girlfriend, George Zimmerman is due in court this afternoon." Includes audio of (former) girlfriend Samantha Scheibe's 911 call.

Canadian News

Rob Ford.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Afghan officials said Tuesday that President Hamid Karzai would clear the way for a long-term security pact with the United States after receiving assurances that President Obama would issue a contrite letter acknowledging American military mistakes in Afghanistan and vowing not to repeat them."

New York Times: "Unable to find a country willing to dispose of Syria's chemical weapons, the United States is considering plans to place the chemical components of the weapons on an barge where they would be dissolved or incinerated, according to senior American officials."

Washington Post: "The day before he stabbed his father at the family's home, the son of Virginia state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds (D) underwent a psychiatric evaluation but was not admitted to a hospital because no bed was available. Deeds was listed in fair condition late Tuesday after his son, Austin, stabbed him in the face and chest, then shot himself in what investigators described as an apparent attempted murder and suicide. The incident thrust the senator back into the spotlight after several years of quiet. Deeds vaulted to the statewide political stage in 2009 as the Democratic nominee for governor, only to lose to Republican Robert F. McDonnell (R)."

The Commentariat -- Nov. 18, 2013

** Gov. Jay Inslee (D-Wash.), Gov. Steve Beshear (D-Ky.) & Gov. Dannel Malloy (D-Conn.), in a Washington Post op-ed: "In our states ... the Affordable Care Act, or 'Obamacare,' is working. Tens of thousands of our residents have enrolled in affordable health-care coverage. Many of them could not get insurance before the law was enacted. People keep asking us why our states have been successful. Here's a hint: It's not about our Web sites.... The Affordable Care Act has been successful in our states because our political and community leaders grasped the importance of expanding health-care coverage and have avoided the temptation to use health-care reform as a political football." ...

... The Best Health Care in the World. Is Someplace Else. New York Times Editors: "Even as Americans struggle with the changes required by health care reform, an international survey released last week by the Commonwealth Fund..., shows why change is so necessary. The report found that by virtually all measures of cost, access to care and ease of dealing with insurance problems, Americans fared poorly compared with people in other advanced countries.... The [ACA], however imperfect, is needed to bring the dysfunctional American health care system up to levels already achieved in other advanced nations." CW: This isn't news to Reality Chex readers, but it bears repeating. ...

... ** NEW. T. R. Reid of "Frontline" on the four basic healthcare systems established in various nations around the world. If you were wondering why ours is such a mess, Reid's brief post addresses that. Thanks to contributor Whyte O. for this illuminating link.

Julie Pace of the AP: "... the president is fighting to regain trust and credibility with the American people. Those are the same qualities that helped keep him afloat during those earlier battles.... As bad as things are for Obama, they may be worse for many members of Congress. Democrats in both the House and Senate worry the health care problems could dim their re-election chances next year. Republicans are saddled with historically low approval ratings and an internal debate over the direction of their party, though the heath law woes have proved a lifeline following the GOP's much-criticized handling of the government shutdown." ...

... Ed O'Keefe & Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The recent debacle over HealthCare.gov's rollout may have narrowed whatever perceived advantages Democratic candidates may have had over Republican opponents. In some minds, the health-care law's flubs have merged with the government shutdown to render an unfavorable verdict on all of Washington." ...

... Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "New Hampshire may be ground zero in the political war over the Affordable Care Act, a state where the three Democratic members of the congressional delegation are under serious threat because of the fumbled rollout of the health care law. Suddenly they must balance their loyalty to the White House with the needs of an angry constituency that has had to absorb some of the worst problems with the new law. The problems are many." ...

... Evan McMurry of Mediate: "'The political notion that next year's election, or 2016, the Republican platform is going to be getting rid of health care?' [David] Plouffe[, a former advisor to President Obama, said on ABC News's 'This Week.'] 'Millions of people will be signed up. It's an impossibility.'" ...

... David Morgan & Deborah Zabarenko of Reuters: "Two days after 39 House Democrats joined Republicans on a bill aimed at undermining the law known as Obamacare, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi denied that Democrats have lost confidence in Obama's ability to overcome a botched rollout of his signature domestic policy achievement." ...

... Greg Clary of CNN: "House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Sunday neither she nor President Barack Obama misled the American people when they said, during the run-up to the passage of Obamacare, that people could keep their health insurance plans. Pelosi clarified their remarks, saying they only meant people could keep their plans if they had already signed up before Obama signed the bill in 2010." ...

... Ashley Killough of CNN: Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.), "the No. 3 House Democrat, on Sunday blamed a culture of sound bites for President Barack Obama's reneged promise that Americans would be able to keep their existing health insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act.... Clyburn, the House assistant Democratic leader, said Obama relied too heavily on a sound bite-friendly selling point, rather than spelling out that he was only referring to plans in place before the Affordable Care Act became law in 2010 and hadn't changed since." ...

... Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "A day after he questioned President Obama's decision to unwind a major tenet of the health-care law and said the nation's capital might not go along, D.C. insurance commissioner William P. White was fired. White was called into a meeting Friday afternoon with one of Mayor Vincent C. Gray's (D) top deputies and told that the mayor 'wants to go in a different direction,' White told The Washington Post on Saturday.... White's statement was removed from the department's Web site sometime before Friday morning." ...

     ... The New York Times "The story is here. "Mr. White's statement took direct issue with Mr. Obama's decision, saying the president's policy reversal to allow the continuation of canceled policies 'undercuts the purpose of the exchanges, including the District's DC Health Link, by creating exceptions that make it more difficult for them to operate.'" ...

     ... Update. Aaron Davis: "A fuller accounting of D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray's (D) firing of the city's insurance commissioner is coming into view. Documents and interviews show that criticism of William P. White was immediate and fierce inside Gray's office last week when White issued a statement critical of President Obama's proposed fix to part of the botched rollout of the Affordable Care Act.... White spent Sunday polishing his résumé."

... A Cautionary Tale. Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Angry Americans voice outrage at being asked to pay more for health coverage. Lawmakers and the White House say the public just doesn't appreciate the benefits of the new health law. Opponents clamor for repeal before the program fully kicks in. The year was 1989, and the law was the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act, which was supposed to protect older Americans from bankruptcy due to medical bills. Instead it became a catastrophe for Democratic and Republican lawmakers, who learned the hard way that many older Americans did not want to be helped in that particular way. Seventeen months after President Ronald Reagan signed the measure with Rose Garden fanfare..., it was unceremoniously stricken from the books by lawmakers who could not see its demise come quickly enough." ...

... Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "... there ... appears to be little factual basis to make the hair-raising claim that, by launching the Web site on Oct. 1, the administration as putting the 'millions of Americans' personal information at risk,' as [Rep. Jim] Jordan [R-Ohio] put it, or that [R-Calif.] 'people who knew or should have known, in fact, just simply ignored it,' as [Rep. Darrell] Issa asserted.... Issa and Jordan certainly have the right to express opinions, but they can't tie their opinions to information that has already been disproved. ...

... Today's Munch Prize goes to Josh Kraushaar of the National Journal: "Obamacare is on life support. Democrats may begin calling for repeal if the law's problems don't get resolved soon.... Would President Obama sign a death warrant on his own signature legislation? That's almost impossible to imagine, but it's entirely reasonable that he may not have a choice in the matter." Kraushaar argues that there may soon be enough votes in Congress to override a presidential veto. ...

What are we here for? Did we come here to just put our approval ratings up on a shelf and admire them? Or are we here to try to make a difference -- to actually start solving some of the problems we've talked about for so long? -- President Obama, November 2010, after his advisors told him not to pursue healthcare reform because it could hurt his re-election chances ...

... Jon Favreau of the Daily Beast writes a full-throated defense of President Obama's efforts to reform the healthcare system. Since it's Favreau, Obama's former speechwriter, it's beautifully wrought. ...

... Elizabeth Bradley & Lauren Taylor, in the New Yorker, on yet another, more effective way, to save some lives & healthcare costs. They met a man who had no shoes, and soon he'll have no feet.

** Voter Suppression, Now & Forevah. The New Juan Williams in the Hill: "Last week, 20 House Republicans, including Louie Gohmert (Texas), Ted Yoho (Fla.) and Michele Bachmann (Minn.), took the first step to impeach Attorney General Eric Holder. They introduced articles of impeachment that target Holder for failing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and other sins, including not enforcing federal marijuana laws.... But there is a bigger story here. Having twice failed to defeat President Obama, the GOP persists in defying the will of the voters by making it difficult for this president to lead the government. That strategy includes blocking nominees to the cabinet, blocking nominees to the judiciary, shutting down the government and endless charges of scandal that result in hyper-political oversight hearings."

** Paul Krugman: "... the case for 'secular stagnation' -- a persistent state in which a depressed economy is the norm, with episodes of full employment few and far between -- was made forcefully recently at the most ultrarespectable of venues, the I.M.F.'s big annual research conference. And the person making that case was none other than Larry Summers.... If Mr. Summers is right, everything respectable people have been saying about economic policy is wrong, and will keep being wrong for a long time." ...

     ... CW: See Julie Pace's AP story above. If you want to know why Americans are disgusted with Washington politicians, Krugman describes the real reason: it's the economy, stupid. When people are doing everything they can, are "playing by the rules," yet still can't make ends meet, they looks elsewhere for the reason. And Washington is a good place to find the culprits. ...

... Another Plan to Sabotage the Economy. Annie Lowrey of the New York Times: "Congressional Democrats and the White House, pointing to the sluggish recovery and the still-high jobless rate, are pushing once again to extend the period covered by the unemployment insurance program. But with Congress still far from a budget deal and still struggling to find alternatives to the $1 trillion in long-term cuts known as sequestration, lawmakers say the chances of an extension before Congress adjourns in two weeks are slim. As a result, one of the largest stimulus measures passed during the recession is likely to come to an end, and jobless workers in many states are likely to receive considerably fewer weeks of benefits." ...

... Peter Eavis & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "The push to reshape financial oversight hinges on negotiations in the coming weeks over the so-called Volcker Rule, a regulation that strikes at the heart of Wall Street risk-taking. The rule, which bans banks from trading for their own gain, has become synonymous with the Dodd-Frank overhaul law that Congress adopted after the financial crisis. Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew has strongly urged federal agencies to finish writing the Volcker Rule by the end of the year -- more than a year after they had been expected to do so -- and President Obama recently stressed the importance of the deadline."

Jay Newton-Small of Time: "The first congressional hearing on how to regulate virtual currencies will take place on Monday afternoon before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. Called 'Beyond Silk Road: Potential Risks, Threats and Promises of Virtual Currencies,' the hearing comes six weeks after federal authorities took down the Silk Road, known as the 'Amazon for drugs,' and arrested its alleged founder, 29-year-old Ross Ulbricht.... Though the session promises to look at all virtual currencies, it will primarily focus on bitcoin, the cryptocurrency used by the Silk Web, according to advance testimony given to Time."

Peter Wallsten & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Billionaire casino magnate Shel­don Adelson, whose record-breaking campaign spending in 2012 made him an icon of the new super-donor era, is leveraging that newfound status in an escalating feud with industry rivals over the future of gambling. Adelson, best known for building upscale casino resorts in Nevada and more recently in Asia, wants to persuade Congress to ban Internet betting. He says the practice is a danger to society and could tarnish the industry's traditional business model. Nearly all of his competitors ... disagree. They say regulated Internet gambling can be done safely and can boost the industry."

Ed O'Keefe: "Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) are leading opposing sides of a months-long disagreement over how the Defense Department should handle the reported rise of sexual assault in the ranks. An emotionally-charged debate is expected to play out on the Senate floor in the coming days as the Senate begins considering the annual defense authorization bill that sets military policy and pay levels." ...

... Darren Samuelsohn of Politico: "Brass slow-walk President Obama's marching orders on sex assault. President Barack Obama set a high bar for the Pentagon's civilian and military leaders in May when he delivered marching orders on sexual assault.... [Secretary of Defense Chuck] Hagel and [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Martin] Dempsey have been ... writing new rules on troop harassment, checking in on progress every week and pretty much prodding everyone, civilian and enlisted, to pick up their game. But privately, military officials also are trying to be realistic about what they can do -- and the rhetoric they're using and the policy prescriptions they're advocating fall well below the goals set for them by their commander in chief."

Chris Geidner of BuzzFeed profiles attorney Mary Bonauto, who has been instrumental in bringing about marriage equality.

** Edward McClelland, in Salon: "George Washington ... and Abraham Lincoln ... are the twin icons of [the American presidency].... Yet they represent different visions of an American economic order, differences that persist to this day. Washington stood for a system in which one man enriches himself by skimming off the excess value of his underlings' work. Lincoln stood for the principle that every worker is entitled to the full value of his own labor. Call it the battle between Washingtonomics and Lincolnomics. From the founding of this country up until the Civil War, Washington's order was dominant. It's been dominant in our era, too, ever since Washington's native South regained control of the federal government in the 1970s." CW: if there are any American historians among you who think McClelland's thesis is bull, please share.

Congressional Races

What amazes me is that she says she's running to be a new generation of leader. I'm not sure how sticking to the positions of the last 20 or 30 years is the best way to do that. -- Mary Cheney, on sister Liz Cheney's U.S. Senate campaign slogan ...

... All in the Family. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Mary Cheney, a daughter of the former vice president, and her wife, Heather Poe, sharply criticized on Sunday a comment by by Ms. Cheney's sister, Liz Cheney, a candidate for the Senate in Wyoming, that they disagreed on the issue of same-sex marriage. 'Liz -- this isn't just an issue on which we disagree, you're just wrong -- and on the wrong side of history,' Mary Cheney, who is gay, wrote on her Facebook page." Update: Martin has expanded his story. ...

... Mark Stern of Slate: "This sleazy, rotten mess is the race that Wyoming GOP voters deserve.... In an intensely homophobic state like Wyoming, where the vast majority of GOP voters oppose marriage equality, any Republican primary is fated to be a grotesque pissing contest of anti-gay animus. That's why pro-Enzi SuperPAC ads slamming Cheney as a covert gay rights supporter are inundating Wyoming's airwaves: They work, appealing to voters' basest bigotries and helping Enzi open up a 52-point lead over his opponent."

Steve M. of NMMNB reflects on the election of Vance McAllister, a Republican who bested a crazier "establishment" Republican in a Louisiana special Congressional election. McAllister said that the ACA could not be repealed & that the state should accept Medicaid funds. See also yesterday's Commentariat.

The Assassination of President Kennedy

** James McCauley, in a New York Times essay: "... without question..., the remnants of the environment of extreme hatred the city's elite actively cultivated before the president's visit -- have left an indelible mark on Dallas, the kind of mark that would never be left on Memphis or Los Angeles, which were stages rather than actors in the 1968 assassinations of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy. For the last 50 years, a collective culpability has quietly propelled the city to outshine its troubled past without ever actually engaging with it.... [There have been] transient triumphs in the face of what has always been left unsaid, what the now-defunct Dallas Times Herald once called the 'dark night of the soul,' on which the bright Texas sun has yet to rise."

More on the "Wanted for Treason" flyers from Slate's Rebecca Onion.

Canadian News

Rob Ford.

News Ledes

AP: "The unusually powerful late-season wave of thunderstorms brought damaging winds and tornadoes to 12 states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and western New York.... Illinois was the hardest struck with at least six people killed and dozens more injured." The Chicago Tribune's main story is here.

Reuters: "Russian President Vladimir Putin told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Monday there was a 'real chance' to resolve the international standoff over Tehran's nuclear program. The Kremlin said Putin and Rouhani had spoken by telephone at the Russian leader's request, two days before negotiators from Iran and six global powers hold their next talks."

AFP: "Nelson Mandela remains in a 'stable but critical' condition, but 'continues to respond to treatment', the South African government said in its first update on his health since September."

AP: "A retired Minnesota carpenter, shown in a June investigation to be a former commander in a Nazi SS-led unit, ordered his men to attack a Polish village that was razed to the ground, according to testimony newly uncovered by The Associated Press. The account of the massacre that killed dozens of women and children contradicts statements by the man's family that he was never at the scene of the 1944 bloodshed.... On Monday, the prosecutor leading Germany's probe revealed to the AP that he has decided to recommend that state prosecutors pursue murder charges against 94-year-old Michael Karkoc."