The Commentariat -- Sept. 4, 2013

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "Opening a three-day trip overseas at a delicate moment for his presidency, Mr. Obama challenged lawmakers and allies to stand behind his plans for a cruise missile attack on the government of President Bashar al-Assad in retaliation for what the Obama administration has concluded was a chemical attack that killed 1,400 people in the suburbs of the Syrian capital, Damascus, last month." ...

... Mark Landler of the New York Times: "Speaker John A. Boehner said on Tuesday that he would 'support the president's call to action' in Syria after meeting with President Obama, giving the president a crucial ally in the quest for votes in the House. Representative Eric Cantor of Virginia, the No. 2 House Republican, quickly joined Mr. Boehner to say he also backed Mr. Obama." ...

... Jonathan Allen & Jake Sherman of Politico: "While most top congressional leaders have vowed to back President Barack Obama in seeking authority to launch missile strikes, there's little evidence that they can -- or even want to -- help him round up the rank-and file-Republicans he'll need to win a vote in the House. Several lawmakers and aides who have been canvassing support say that nearly 80 percent of the House Republican Conference is, to some degree, opposed to launching strikes in Syria. Informal counts by Obama allies show that support in Congress for Obama's plans is in the low dozens." ...

     ... Here's the Washington Post's whip count. ...

... Tom Shanker & Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "Two cabinet secretaries [John Kerry & Chuck Hagel] who fought during the Vietnam War and a four-star general [Martin Dempsey] whose views on intervention were shaped by command tours in Iraq appeared before the Senate [Foreign Relations Committee] on Tuesday to argue the Obama administration's case for Congressional authorization to attack Syria over chemical weapons use." ...

... Lives hang in the balance, but John McCain found the hearing totally boring:

"Senator John McCain plays poker on his IPhone during a U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations hearing where Secretary of State JohnKerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey testify concerning the use of force in Syria...."

     ... ** UPDATE: Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reached an agreement late Tuesday on wording of a new resolution authorizing U.S. military force against the Syrian government. The resolution would permit up to 90 days of military action against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, beginning with 60 days and the option of 30 more pending President Obama's notification of Congress, according to a copy of the resolution provided by Senate aides." See further terms in story, which is a breaking story at this point (8:45 pm ET).

... The Times is liveblogging "developments in Washington and around the world on the deliberations about a possible military strike on Syria." ...

... Scott Clement of the Washington Post: "Americans widely oppose launching missile strikes against the Syrian government for its alleged use of chemical weapons, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll that finds little appetite for military action across the country despite a growing drumbeat in Washington. Nearly six in 10 oppose missile strikes...." ...

... Ryan Lucas & Lori Hinnant of the AP: "France's government offers a preview Wednesday of what the Obama administration faces next week, as [French] lawmakers debate the wisdom and necessity of a military response to a chemical weapons attack in Syria that killed hundreds." ...

Juan Cole: "Bombs are seldom the answer to geopolitical problems." Thanks to P. D. Pepe for the link. ...

... Damned If He Does; Damned If He Doesn't. Dana Milbank: "Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, is in a spirited debate -- with himself." First, Inhofe was against the President's "inaction," then last week he said the country was too broke for military intervention, now he writes he's against inaction. "As Inhofe's conversion on the road to Damascus indicates, Republicans don't like what Obama is doing in Syria -- whatever it is.... On Tuesday, House Republican leaders took steps to build support for authorizing the use of force. Still, they protected their right to criticize Obama when things go wrong. House Speaker John Boehner said he would support the resolution, but his office issued a statement saying, 'It is the president's responsibility to make his case.'" Majority Leader Eric Cantor: "ditto." ...

... Andy Borowitz (satire): "Appearing on the Fox News Channel, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told host Sean Hannity, 'If we're trying to send a strong message to [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad, I can think of no better way to do that than by defunding Obamacare.'" ...

... Maureen Dowd: "Once more, we see the magnitude of the tragedy of Iraq because the decision on Syria is so colored by the fact that an American president and vice president took us to war in the Middle East on false pretenses and juiced up intelligence, dragging the country into an emotionally and financially exhausting decade of war and an identity crisis about our role in the world.... It's up to President Obama to show Americans that he knows what he's doing, unlike his predecessor."

When not on his iPhone, John McCain chews up Fox "News" anchor-bigots like Brian Kilmeade. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link:

New York Times Editors: " The [federal government's] move to recognize all same-sex couples' marriages ... makes state bans on same-sex marriage look even more discriminatory." For instance, "Now that same-sex married couples are eligible for federal benefits under rules that don't apply to civil unions, New Jersey's insistence that civil unions are equivalent to marriage is plainly wrong."

"Summers the Shiftless." Paul Krugman: As Binyamin Appelbaum reported in yesterday's Times [linked in yesterday's Commentariat], "the rising odds of a Summers appointment to the Fed is already having a chilling effect on the economy. A Yellen appointment would clearly have represented something new at the Fed -- not just because she is, as Garrison Keillor used to say, a person of gender, but also because she has been a strong and consistent monetary dove, and took that position before it was fashionable. Summers, on the other hand, while he often expresses unconventional views when not in office, has a strong tendency to revert to conventionality when in office. And leaving Summers the person on one side, just think of the historical connections: can you imagine a stronger signal that the same old regime is staying in place than choosing a Robert Rubin protege at this late date? So the apparent decision to appoint Summers is a strong anti-regime-shift signal on Obama's part...." ...

     ... CW: the one thing we have learned about Obama is that he is a very conventional guy. When he says or does something that appears "liberal," it is only because that something is a policy liberals have been advocating since he was in knee-pants -- or before. When he was running for office, we could tell ourselves that his retro policies were political moves designed to win re-election. Guess what? He's still a retro kinda guy. Ergo, Fed Chair Larry. P.S. I don't think Summers the Shiftless will be feting Krugman the Wise any time soon.

Robert Levy, chairman of the libertarian Cato Institute, formerly known as the Charles Koch Foundation & still controlled by the Koch brothers, in a New York Times op-ed, argues that states' attempts to nullify federal regulations -- like federal gun laws -- violate the Constitution. "I fully support those who see risks in the expansion of federal power, particularly when it comes to intrusions on basic rights like gun ownership. However, to defend those rights, we can't begin by flouting the very document that inspires that fight in the first place: the Constitution." CW: Levy's piece surely will upset fellow libertarian Li'l Randy.

Craig Whitlock & Barton Gellman of the Washington Post: "Al-Qaeda's leadership has assigned cells of engineers to find ways to shoot down, jam or remotely hijack U.S. drones, hoping to exploit the technological vulnerabilities of a weapons system that has inflicted huge losses against the terrorist network, according to top-secret U.S. intelligence documents."

News Ledes

Cleveland Plain Dealer: "Ariel Castro, the man sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the abductions of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, is dead. Castro was found hanging in his cell at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at the Correctional Reception Center in Orient, south of Columbus, said ... a spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction." ...

... AP: Castro "is believed to have committed suicide, a prison official said."

AP: "The family of World War II hero Raoul Wallenberg will ask President Barack Obama for help in their quest to find out what happened to the Swedish diplomat who vanished after being arrested by Soviet forces in 1945. Wallenberg's niece, Marie Dupuy, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the family will present a letter to Obama at a memorial ceremony for Wallenberg that the president is set to attend Wednesday in Stockholm."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 3, 2013

In Search of a Third Musketeer, McCain & Graham Tap Obama. Jackie Calmes, et al., of the New York Times: "The White House pushed forward aggressively on Monday for Congressional approval of an attack on Syria as President Obama got tentative support from one of his most hawkish Republican critics, Senator John McCain of Arizona, for a 'limited' strike -- as long, Mr. McCain said, as the president did more to arm the Syrian opposition. After an hourlong meeting with Mr. Obama at the White House, Mr. McCain emerged with Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, to say that the two senators' discussions with Mr. Obama in the Oval Office had been 'encouraging'" ...

... Evidently, the lonesome duo needed a Constitutional scholar in their coterie. ...

On CNN just now, McCain says Congress overruling Prez on a national security matter would set dangerous precedent. -- Greg Sargent, tweet today ...

... Jonathan Bernstein, in the Washington Post: "The 'McCain Doctrine Is Nonsense.... To remind Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) of the basics of the Constitution: Congress and the president are co-equal. That's true in general, and it's true of 'national security matters' in particular. The president is commander-in-chief, but Congress not only has the power to declare war, but also the responsibility for funding the armed forces, the diplomats and, well, everything else in the government." ...

... The Big News, Charles Pierce Translation: "The president had Senator Angry Grampy and Senator Huckleberry, the presiding geopolitical thinkers in the World's Greatest Deliberative Body, over today to discuss Syria, and to give them the opportunity to stand on the White House lawn afterwards and call him a dithering dilettante whom they will support if he stops his dithering and his dilettanting and give them the Great Big Boom Boom in Syria that they want." Also, Abyssinia. ...

... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: Tea Party Republicans & neocon-hawky Republicans split over the use-of-force against Syria. "'Right now, the easy Republican vote looks like the vote against Obama,' said Michael Goldfarb, a neoconservative lobbyist and writer. 'Ten days from now, a vote against Obama could look like a vote for Assad, especially if Republicans succeed in blocking U.S. action, and Assad goes on to prevail, having used chemical weapons, with Iran at his side.'" ...

... Gerald Seib of the Wall Street Journal: "The formula for legislative victory [on a use-of-force resolution] starts ... with [Obama's] own Democrats, runs through the still-powerful pro-Israel caucus and ends with a band of Republican hawks who have been far more eager for action in Syria than has the president now seeking their help." ...

... E. J. Dionne elaborates on why President Obama had to go to Congress in this instance. ...

... Fred Kaplan of Slate: " Those who have long urged Obama to do something about Syria, and then criticized him in recent days for doing something (just because it’s Obama who’s doing it), will now have to step up and take a stand.... Who knows? Maybe we will learn -- contrary to the experience of the past decade -- that a democracy can go to war in a full and open vote without deceit." ...

... ** Garance Franke-Ruta of the Atlantic provides a list of all the times Congress has passed a declaration of war or authorization to use military force. Franke-Ruta also links to the Congressional Research Service reports from which she cribbed. ...

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post whips the House & Senate for members' likely votes on the resolution to use force in Syria. The Post provides an interactive feature that lets you see where MOCs stand. Post staff will update the feature as members weigh in &/or change their positions. ...

... Alex Seitz-Wald of the Washington Post: "After spending much of the past four years decrying President Obama's alleged overreach in circumventing Congress, neoconservatives are furious with the president for ... deciding to consult Congress before attacking Syria."

... Kim Willsher of the Guardian: "The French government has published an intelligence dossier that it says shows the forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, carried out a 'massive and co-ordinated' chemical attack that is believed to have killed hundreds of people. A nine-page document, published at around 7pm French time on Monday, stated the information had come from "France's own sources" and was based on a detailed technical analysis of evidence supplemented by "additional elements gathered in co-operation with our principal partners'." Le dossier est ici. ...

... Elliot Hannon of Slate: "In a letter to U.N. leaders, Syria has called on the international organization to protect it from 'any aggression' directed at the country following the regime's alleged use of chemical weapons. The letter, from Syrian ambassador to the U.N., Bashar Ja'afari, is addressed to U.N. secretary general Ban Ki-moon and President of the Security Council Maria Cristina Perceval." ...

... Former NATO commander James Stavridis, in a New York Times op-ed: "The North Atlantic Treaty Organization must be part of an international effort to respond to the crisis in Syria, beginning immediately with punitive strikes following the highly probable use of chemical weapons by President Bashar Al-Assad's regime. The president, the secretaries of defense and state, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff should all approach their counterparts to secure NATO action. Such action could be justified based on self-defense, owing to the threat posed to Turkey, a NATO member that has backed Mr. Obama's call for an American-led intervention; the overall threat posed by weapons of mass destruction; and, more controversially, on the evolving international doctrine of a 'responsibility to protect.'" ...

... Julie Pace of the AP: "For President Barack Obama's new foreign policy advisers, the first test of their willingness to undertake military action wound up being a stark lesson in the president's ability to overrule them all.... As Obama grappled with putting military action to a vote in Congress, he didn't consult his foreign policy team. Instead, he sought out Denis McDonough, a longtime adviser who now serves as his chief of staff."

Greg Miller, et al., of the Washington Post: "A 178-page summary of the U.S. intelligence community's 'black budget' shows that the United States has ramped up its surveillance of Pakistan’s nuclear arms, cites previously undisclosed concerns about biological and chemical sites there, and details efforts to assess the loyalties of counter­terrorism sources recruited by the CIA. Pakistan appears at the top of charts listing critical U.S. intelligence gaps. It is named as a target of newly formed analytic cells. And fears about the security of its nuclear program are so pervasive that a budget section on containing the spread of illicit weapons divides the world into two categories: Pakistan and everybody else."

Max Seddon of BuzzFeed: "Following his cancellation of a bilateral meeting with President Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Barack Obama may infuriate the Kremlin further by meeting Russian human rights activists, including LGBT rights groups, during his upcoming trip to St Petersburg for the G20 summit."

Just Thinking about Larry Summers Terrifies Wall Street. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The spreading expectation that President Obama will name Lawrence H. Summers to lead the Federal Reserve Board appears to be working against the central bank's efforts to stimulate the economy. The jitters even have some analysts betting that a Summers nomination could lead to slower economic growth, less job creation and higher interest rates than if the president named Janet L. Yellen, the Fed's vice chairwoman." CW Note: this is a straight news report, not an opinion piece. Hope President Obama can take a few moments out of his busy schedule cajoling the massive coalition of the unwilling to read the Times this morning.

Fernanda Santos & Heath Haussamen of the New York Times: "The decision by clerks in six of New Mexico's most populous counties to start issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples has added a sense of urgency to a fight that some of the state's top political leaders had seemed in no hurry to join." New Mexico is the only state that has no law sanctioning or forbidding same-sex marriage.

Washington Post Editors: "Congress enacted the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court found most of its provisions to be constitutional. Republicans, having opposed the bill and supported the legal challenge to it, are entitled to be unhappy about the outcome, though in our view they are wrong on the merits. They are not entitled to obstruct and flout the laws of the United States. On the contrary, they have an obligation to cooperate in good faith with wholly legitimate laws duly passed and reviewed by all three branches of government." ...

Much to everyone's surprise, Ted Cruz has videotaped a TV ad the purpose of which is to lie about ObamaCare.

... Kevin Bogardus of the Hill: "Labor has watched with growing annoyance as the White House has backed ObamaCare changes in response to concerns from business groups, religious organizations and even lawmakers and their staffs. They ... don't understand why their concerns so far have fallen of deaf ears.... The key issue are union members who are among the roughly 20 million people who use non-profit multi-employer 'Taft-Hartley' health plans. Unions want the administration to change ObamaCare so that those plans are treated as qualified health plans that can earn tax subsidies.... Without those subsidies, employers may have the incentive to drop the plans and force workers onto the insurance exchanges."

Lobbyists Kill People. Margaret Clapp, et al., in a New York Times op-ed: a "legal" drug cartel is causing life-threatening & deadly shortages in generic drugs. Congress has allowed this to continue "because of the enormous political clout of the industry's lobby, which includes the Healthcare Supply Chain Association and the American Hospital Association." CW: another example of why we need a Constitutional Amendment reforming campaign financing.

Slow Gnus Day

Here's a Reuters report linked especially for contributor James S. who complains Monday was a slow news day: "A motorist said intense sunlight reflected from the 'Walkie Talkie' -- one of several flashy towers under construction in The City, London's historic financial district -- warped his Jaguar which he had parked across the road. The skyscraper's developers said they were seeking to rectify the problem which they blamed on the position of the sun at certain times of day." CW: Yes, evidently their engineers were unaware of the rotation of the earth & all that astrology stuff. Spin, Galileo, spin.

Right Wing World v. "Family Guy"

The National Memo: "At the Right Online conference this weekend -- where conservative activists were treated to a free night at Universal Studios thanks to the Koch brothers -- [conservative blogger Bill] Whittle explained how Hollywood is systematically destroying the Republican Party:

... if you're a young person out there today and you can finish the theme song from Family Guy, then all the anti-American, anti-capitalist, anti-Christian, anti-morality messages of Family Guy are in your head as completely and thoroughly as that theme song is. -- Bill Whittle ...

The show's dad once described the two symbols of the Republican Party as 'an elephant, and a big fat white guy who is threatened by change.' ... The best part of the accusation that Family Guy is destroying the GOP is that the network that airs the show, of course, is Rupert Murdoch's Fox Broadcasting Company. -- The National Memo

      ... The post includes a portion of an episode of "Family Guy" that illustrates the utility of government. Thanks to Barbarossa for the link.

News Ledes

Reuters: "Russia raised the alarm on Tuesday after detecting the launch of two ballistic 'objects' in the Mediterranean Sea but Israel later said it had carried out a joint missile test with the United States. There were no reports of missile strikes on Syria. Syrian state sources said the missiles had fallen harmlessly into the sea...."

AP: "Egyptian helicopter gunships fired rockets early Tuesday at militants in the northern Sinai Peninsula, killing at least eight and injuring 15 others in an ongoing campaign to put down Islamic radicals who have escalated attacks in the largely lawless region, Egypt's official news agency said."

AFP: "Tokyo on Tuesday unveiled a half-billion dollar plan to stem radioactive water leaks at Fukushima, creating a wall of ice underneath the stricken plant, as the government elbowed the operator aside. Acknowledging global concerns over the 'haphazard' management of the crisis by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his administration will step in with public money to get the job done."

Reuters: "The Philippines accused China on Tuesday of violating an informal code of conduct in the South China Sea by planning new structures on a disputed shoal, as China's premier told Southeast Asian leaders Beijing was serious about peace. Friction over the South China Sea, one of the world's most important waterways, has surged as China uses its growing naval might to assert its vast claims over the oil- and gas-rich sea more forcefully, raising fears of a military clash."

AP: "Microsoft is buying Nokia's line-up of smartphones and a portfolio of patents and services in an attempt to mount a more formidable challenge to Apple and Google as more people pursue their lives on mobile devices. The 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion) deal announced late Monday marks a major step in Microsoft's push to transform itself from a software maker focused on making operating systems and applications for desktop and laptop computers into a more versatile and nimble company that delivers services on any kind of Internet-connected gadget."

AP: "Verizon will own its wireless business outright after agreeing Monday to pay $130 billion for the 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless owned by British cellphone carrier Vodafone."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 2, 2013

Carl Morris, 1942. Eugene, Oregon Post Office.... Paul Krugman: "... believe it or not, Labor Day actually had something to do with showing respect for labor.... Many of today's politicians can't even bring themselves to fake respect for ordinary working Americans.... There are evidently a lot of wealthy people in America who consider anyone who isn't wealthy a loser -- an attitude that has clearly gotten stronger as the gap between the 1 percent and everyone else has widened. And such people have a lot of friends in Washington." ...

... Pre-distribution: if the law required incomes to be distributed more evenly before taxes, fewer Americans would need the programs Krugman mentions. E. J. Dionne: "The genius of the labor movement has always been its insistence that if the law genuinely empowered workers to defend their own interests, the result would be a more just society requiring fewer direct interventions by government. This Labor Day could be remembered as the moment when that idea rose again."

AP: "The information the U.S. showed Moscow trying to prove that the Syrian regime was behind an alleged chemical weapons attack is 'absolutely unconvincing,' Russia's foreign minister said Monday." ...

... Steve Gutterman of Reuters: "Russia is sending a reconnaissance ship to the eastern Mediterranean, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, as the United States prepares for a possible military strike in Syria." ...

... Michael Gordon & Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "The Obama administration launched a full-press campaign on Sunday for Congressional approval of its plan to carry out a punitive strike against the Syrian government." ...

... Bradley Klapper of the AP: "President Barack Obama is inviting former foe Sen. John McCain to the White House, hoping one of Congress' most intractable foreign policy hawks will help sell the idea of a U.S. military intervention in Syria to a nation deeply scarred by more than a decade of war." ...

... Paul Kane & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Leading lawmakers dealt bipartisan rejection Sunday to President Obama's request to strike Syrian military targets, saying the best hope for congressional approval would be to narrow the scope of the resolution. From the Democratic dean of the Senate [Patrick Leahy] to tea party Republicans in their second terms, lawmakers said the White House's initial request to use force against Syria will be rewritten in the coming days to try to shore up support in a skeptical Congress. But some veteran lawmakers expressed doubt that even the new use-of-force resolution would win approval, particularly in the House." ...

... Ben Geman of the Hill: "Members of the Senate plan to narrow President Obama's authorization request for military action in Syria, Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said Sunday. Leahy told reporters about the planned rewrite of the resolution after attending a classified intelligence briefing on Sunday at the Capitol." ...

... Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters: "The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and other ships in its strike group are heading west toward the Red Sea to help support a limited U.S. strike on Syria, if needed, defense officials said on Sunday." ...

... Steve Coll of the New Yorker: "President Obama, in fashioning a response [to the Syrian chemical attack], has been burdened by the United States' recent history with Iraq. The Administration of Ronald Reagan stood by as 'Chemical Ali' waged his campaign against the Kurds.... The Administration of George W. Bush infamously claimed that Saddam Hussein still possessed chemical and biological arms. It soon became apparent that Saddam had abandoned them.... Last Thursday Britain's Parliament, citing the West's failures in Iraq, voted to reject an attack on Syria for now, because a majority did not judge the available evidence of Assad's guilt to be definitive.... The Reagan Administration's decision to tolerate Saddam's depravities proved to be a colossal moral failure and strategic mistake; it encouraged Saddam's aggression and internal repression, and it allowed Iraq to demonstrate to future dictators the tactical value of chemical warfare. The consequences of similar passivity in Syria now are unknowable."

Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government suspects that individuals with connections to al-Qaeda and other hostile groups have repeatedly sought to obtain jobs in the intelligence community, and it reinvestigates thousands of employees a year to reduce the threat that one of its own may be trying to compromise closely held secrets, according to a classified budget document. The CIA found that among a subset of job seekers whose backgrounds raised questions, roughly one out of every five had 'significant terrorist and/or hostile intelligence connections,' according to the document, which was provided to The Washington Post by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden."

Scott Shane & Colin Moynihan of the New York Times: "For at least six years, law enforcement officials working on a counternarcotics program have had routine access, using subpoenas, to an enormous AT&T database that contains the records of decades of Americans' phone calls -- parallel to but covering a far longer time than the National Security Agency's hotly disputed collection of phone call logs.... The government pays AT&T to place its employees in drug-fighting units around the country. Those employees sit alongside Drug Enforcement Administration agents and local detectives and supply them with the phone data from as far back as 1987."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Justice [Anthony] Kennedy has emerged as the most important judicial champion of gay rights in the nation's history, having written three landmark opinions on the subject, including this summer's Windsor decision, which overturned a ban on federal benefits for married same-sex couples. Those rulings collectively represent a new chapter in the nation's civil rights law, and they have cemented his legacy as a hero to the gay rights movement." CW: Evidently Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor & Kagan, not to mention gay rights advocates, don't count.

Jeffry Rosen in the New Republic: "Eric Holder's Suit Against Texas Gives the Supreme Court a Chance to Gut Even More of the Voting Rights Act."

Local News

Florida -- Home of America's Worst Mayors! Nick Madigan of the New York Times: "On Wednesday, Steven C. Bateman, 58, the mayor of Homestead, was arrested. He is accused of accepting under-the-table payments from a health care company that sought to build a clinic in town, the state attorney's office for Miami-Dade County said. Mr. Bateman was turned in by City Council members and staff, said employees interviewed Friday at City Hall. On Aug. 6, Manuel L. Maroño, 41, the mayor of Sweetwater and president of the Florida League of Cities, and Michael A. Pizzi, 51, the Miami Lakes mayor, were picked up along with two lobbyists. The United States attorney's office has accused them of involvement in kickback and bribery schemes concerning federal grants." CW: Yeah, I know, it's hard for three crooks to make up for one Bob Filner, but we're trying.

News Ledes

Wall Street Journal: "A collection of pro-Syrian government hackers apparently defaced a Marine Corps recruitment website Monday. The Syrian Electronic Army, which has hacked a series of websites, posted a letter on the Marines.com website arguing the Syrian government is 'fighting a vile common enemy.'"

AFP: "US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday the evidence for climate change was beyond dispute but it was not too late for international action to prevent its worst impacts.... [Kerry] was addressing climate experts meeting on the eve of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in the Marshall Islands, a low-lying nation where rising seas threaten to swamp many atolls."

AP: "Germany put a 92-year-old former member of the Nazi Waffen SS on trial Monday on charges that he executed a Dutch resistance fighter in 1944. Dutch-born Siert Bruins, who is now German, volunteered for the SS after the Nazis conquered the Netherlands in 1941. Bruins served as a member of the Sicherheitspolizei, or Security Police, in a unit looking for resistance fighters and Jews."