The Commentariat -- Aug. 19, 2013

Guardian: "The partner of the Guardian journalist who has written a series of stories revealing mass surveillance programmes by the US National Security Agency was held for almost nine hours on Sunday by UK authorities as he passed through London's Heathrow airport on his way home to Rio de Janeiro. David Miranda, who lives with Glenn Greenwald, was returning from a trip to Berlin when he was stopped by officers at 8.05am and informed that he was to be questioned under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000. The controversial law, which applies only at airports, ports and border areas, allows officers to stop, search, question and detain individuals." ...

... Glenn Greenwald comments: worse than the Mafia, puppets of U.S. national security state, despotic, etc. "If the UK and US governments believe that tactics like this are going to deter or intimidate us in any way from continuing to report aggressively on what these documents reveal, they are beyond deluded." ...

... Charlie Savage of the New York Times: Miranda "had spent the previous week in Berlin visiting Laura Poitras, a documentary filmmaker who has also been helping to disseminate Mr. Snowden's leaks, to assist Mr. Greenwald. The Guardian had paid for the trip, Mr. Greenwald said, and Mr. Miranda was on his way home to Rio de Janeiro.... Mr. Miranda was in Berlin to deliver documents related to Mr. Greenwald's investigation into government surveillance to Ms. Poitras, Mr. Greenwald said. Ms. Poitras, in turn, gave Mr. Miranda different documents to pass to Mr. Greenwald. Those documents, which were stored on encrypted thumb drives, were confiscated by airport security, Mr. Greenwald said." ...

... ** The Courier. Driftglass: "But it is also true that if non-journalist David Miranda was detained because he was couriering some portion of a trove of incredibly dangerous, stolen US intelligence secrets across international borders at Mr. Greenwald's behest, Mr. Greenwald owed it to his readers to include that very important fact in his reporting. And so once again we see the problem inherent in advocacy journalism when the advocate in question continues to believe his only obligation to his readers is to share with them only those details of the story that are favorable to his cause."

... CW: contributor P. D. Pepe links to this New Republic piece in which Ben Wittes of the Brookings Institution accuses the Washington Post of sensationalizing the leaked NSA audit report to mislead its readers into believing NSA personnel routinely spied on innocent Americans, while at the same time he skewers the Obama administration: "... if there were a way to botch more completely a public response to these disclosures, I'm not sure I know what it would look like." Wittes composes a graf in which he lays out what the administration should have said. Ya know what? Witte's suggestion is pretty much a copy of what the Obama administration actually said in respose to the WashPo report by Barton Gellman. Right there in the self-same Washington Post,Ellen Nakashima reported on August 16:

The White House said in a statement Friday that the 'NSA documents being reported on today ... demonstrate that the NSA is monitoring, detecting, addressing and reporting compliance incidents.' In a conference call with reporters Friday, NSA Compliance Director John DeLong repeatedly said that the agency takes compliance seriously and that the audit's existence proved that. 'People need to understand there's no willful violations here,' he said. The mistakes are in the 'parts-per-million or parts-per-billion range,' he said. 'We really do look for them, detect them and correct them.' Added DeLong: 'No one at NSA, not me or anyone else, thinks they are okay.' When pressed, he said there have been willful violations, but the number is 'minuscule ... a couple over the past decade.'

      ... Say "Never mind," Ben. (Wittes' criticism of Gellman's piece is still worth reading.) ...

      ... Update: Wittes responded, "Yes, they eventually said some of the same facts, but not in the story--and they did it in a reactive and apologetic fashion. My point is that this is actually a record to be proud of, and they are not reflecting that."

... Good Question, Obvious Answer. David Sirota in Salon: "With the latest major revelation about National Security Agency surveillance, there's a huge taboo question that needs to be put out on the table: Has President Obama been deliberately lying about the NSA, or have his statements just been repeatedly 'wrong'? ... If indeed he hasn't been deliberately lying -- then it means he has been dangerously, irresponsibly and negligently ignorant of not only the government he runs, but also of the news breaking around him."

Paul Krugman: Republican leaders don't understand healthcare reform. Even now. ...

A lot of Republicans seem to believe that if they can gum up the works and make this law fail, they'll somehow be sticking it to me. But they'd just be sticking it to you. -- President Obama, Saturday

I don't think shutting down the government is a good idea, but I do think that we were elected, conservatives were elected, to try to stop this overreach, this government takeover of healthcare. -- Sen. Rand Paul (RTP-Ky.), Sunday

... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A pair of tea party groups is teaming up to pressure key Republicans to support an effort to defund Obamacare. Tea Party Patriots and the grassroots group For America are launching online ads against a dozen GOP senators who either oppose the effort or haven't announced a position."

Kevin Robillard of Politico: "New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says there's "no question" more people would die if the city's next mayor ends the controversial stop-and-frisk policy, which a federal judge has struck down as unconstitutional. 'No question about it, violent crime will go up,' Kelly said Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press: when host David Gregory asked if more people would die." CW: that's right Greggers; feed him his lines. ...

... ** New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in a Washington Post op-ed, writes that stop-&-frisk is not racial profiling. He disses the Post editors & the judge who ruled against the city. CW: He completely undercuts his own argument, however, when he argues that it only makes sense to target young black & Hispanic males since they're the ones who commit the crimes, & calls it "absurd" not to target young minority men. "Unlike many cities, where wealthy areas get special treatment, the NYPD targets its manpower to the areas that suffer the highest crime levels. Ninety percent of all people killed in our city -- and 90 percent of all those who commit the murders and other violent crimes -- are black and Hispanic. It is shameful that so many elected officials and editorial writers have been largely silent on these facts." Read the whole post. You may find yourself agreeing with Bloomberg anyway. ...

... OR, maybe the city could have effectively reduced crime by getting the lead out.

Wherein Fiscal Conservatives Figure out Prisons Are Expensive. Jerry Markon & Frederick Kunkle of the Washington Post: "'There is an expectation that the generic Republican position is tough on crime,' [Virginia Attorney General & candidate for governor Ken] Cuccinelli said in an interview Thursday. 'But even that has budget limits, particularly on the prison side.' Two decades after Republican George Allen charged into the Virginia governorship by vowing to eliminate parole for violent offenders, a rhetorical shift among the state's leading conservatives reflects changing attitudes toward criminal justice nationwide."

Wherein the Chamber of Commerce Figures out the Tea Party Is Not Its BFF. Sabrina Siddiqui & Paul Blumenthal of the Huffington Post: "... the chamber's big spending in 2010 to elect a House GOP majority appears to have backfired. Many of the conservative lawmakers the chamber helped elect are now an impediment to the business lobby's legislative priorities, either by contributing to Congress' dysfunction or by actively opposing chamber-backed measures."

A Scandal of Her Own? Raymond Hernandez of the New York Times examines Huma Abedin's complicated simultaneous employment arrangements -- at the State Department, at a consulting firm called Teneo, for the Clinton Foundation & for Hillary Clinton personally. Abedin & her friends & employers aren't talking, which is vexing Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). CW: how the hell did she figure out her billing?

The Messiah Is a Girl. From Alaska. David Edwards of the Raw Story: "The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol was one of Sarah Palin's earliest supporters to be picked as the 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, and now he says she can 'resurrect herself' by running to be a senator from Alaska." CW: hope nobody tells former Half-Gov. Palin/The One that a Senate term runs for six long years.

Ted Cruz for President/Prime Minister of North America. Todd Gillman of the Dallas Morning News: "Born in Canada to an American mother, Ted Cruz became an instant U.S. citizen. But under Canadian law, he also became a citizen of that country the moment he was born. Unless the Texas Republican senator formally renounces that citizenship, he will remain a citizen of both countries, legal experts say." CW: hey, if you're a citizen of a foreign country where they have socialized medicine & even the police wear red jackets, can you be a "real American"?

Congressional Elections 2014

Brian Beutler of Salon: "... the [Republican] party worries it's so rudderless and unpopular that it might blow what everyone believed to be a rigged game much sooner than expected. In three different stories, four reporters with strong Republican sourcing detected a specter of doubt haunting the GOP. The Washington Examiner's Byron York distilled it most clearly. 'Behind the scenes -- in whispered asides, not for public consumption -- some Republicans are now worried that keeping the House is not such a done deal after all,' he wrote. 'They look back to two elections, 1998 and 2006, in which Republicans seriously underperformed expectations, and they wonder if 2014 might be a little like those two unhappy years.'" CW: I'm not getting my hopes up.

Local News

Back Before Maureen Started Keeping Bob in the Dark. "Look, Honey, Jonnie sent me a big check, too."... Rosalind Helderman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Attorneys for Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, will spend Monday locked in separate hours-long meetings trying to convince federal prosecutors that the first couple should not be charged in the gifts scandal that has dominated state politics. The meetings open a new, critical phase of the investigation, timed to help prosecutors decide over the next few weeks whether to file charges.... The central issues for prosecutors are what precisely McDonnell may have said or offered to [businessman Jonnie] Williams on his own and how much the governor knew about his wife's acceptance of gifts from Williams and her actions to help his company.... As the scandal has shined an uncomfortable spotlight on the governor's marriage, McDonnell's side has conveyed to authorities that his wife often purposely kept him in the dark about the largess she was accepting from Williams...."

Julie Watson of the Washington Post: "The effort to recall San Diego's embattled mayor is kicking off in the nation's eighth-largest city Sunday, one day before Bob Filner is set to return to work after undergoing behavior therapy." Peter Rowe of the San Diego Union-Tribune has more.

Presidential Election 2016

Peter Nicholas, et al., of the Wall Street Journal: "Political allies of Vice President Joe Biden have concluded that he can win the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination -- even if Hillary Clinton enters the contest -- and are considering steps he could take to prepare for a potential candidacy. While Mr. Biden has made no decision about his future, people familiar with his thinking say, he hasn't ruled out a bid for the White House. If he runs, that could set up a titanic battle between two of the party's most prominent figures."

Justin Sink of the Hill: "Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.) unloaded on fellow Republican lawmaker Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.) Sunday, accusing him of providing 'a grab bag of misinformation and distortion' on the National Security Agency's top-secret surveillance programs. In an appearance earlier on 'Fox News Sunday,' Paul accused the spy agency of 'looking at billions of phone calls every day' and said the constitutionality of the programs should be evaluated by the Supreme Court." CW: King has said he is seriously considering a 2016 run, & Li'l Randy knows all the words to "Hail to the Chief."

President Handsome. Hillary Chabot of the Boston Herald: "Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown told the Herald he is looking at a possible 2016 presidential bid today as he hit a well-worn stomping ground for Oval Office hopefuls -- the Iowa State Fair." CW: Tried to learn the words to "Hail to the Chief." Too hard; can hum a few bars. ...

... Nicole Belle of Crooks & Liars: "BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! *wipes tears from eyes*"

Local News

New York Times: "A day after the Egyptian government acknowledged that its security forces had killed 36 Islamists in its custody, suspected militants were reported on Monday to have killed at least 24 police officers in an attack on their minibuses in the restive northern Sinai region." ...

... Welcome Back, Hosni? New York Times: "A court in in Egypt has ordered that former President Hosni Mubarak, who has been detained on a variety of charges since his ouster in 2011, should be set free, according to state media and security officials on Monday, but it remained possible that the authorities would find a way to keep him in detention and his release did not appear imminent."

New York Times: "Oscar Pistorius, the Paralympic and Olympic track star, was indicted Monday in a South African court on a charge of premeditated murder in the death of his girlfriend. Magistrate Desmond Nair set a trial date for March 3, 2014. Mr. Pistorius, who has been out on bail since February, will remain free until then."

The Commentariat -- Aug. 18, 2013

Here's the post by Juan Cole, to which Kate M. refers in the Comments. Cole explains quite well what that military aid is all about. This was key for me: "It is US arms manufacturers like Lockheed-Martin and General Dynamics (and their employees) who would suffer if it were cut off." ...

... In another post, Cole states the obvious: "It seems to me that the preponderance of the evidence suggests that religiously based political movements are almost impossible to eradicate by force." CW: As I've said here before, it is impossible to force people to change their beliefs. Even if a repressive government strips you of all your rights, you still believe what you believe. (And don't bother telling me about forcing mind-altering drugs on the populace; this might work in individual cases, but on a mass scale, it would simply lead to more chaos.) The Egyptian military's brutality and Morsi's brazen tyranny simply reinforce tribalism. For democracy to gain a foothold in countries that lack a democratic tradition, it takes a Mandela. Or two. ...

Between a Rock & a Hard Place. Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: Under municipal "nuisance property" ordinances, "officials "can ... pressure landlords to [evict tenants] if the police have been called to a rental home three times within four months.... Over the last 25 years, in a trend still growing, hundreds of cities and towns across the country have adopted nuisance property or 'crime-free housing' ordinances. But the laws are sometimes forcing victims, especially women facing domestic violence, to choose between calling the police and holding on to their homes, according to legal aid groups and experts on housing and the poor. 'These laws threaten citizens' fundamental right to call on the police for help,' said Matthew Desmond, a sociologist at Harvard.... Legal experts say the laws can give tenants the lasting stain of an eviction record without due process."

MoDo is back in her element: "If Americans are worried about money in politics, there is no larger concern than the Clintons, who are cosseted in a world where rich people endlessly scratch the backs of rich people."

Paul Krugman: "... conservatism ... [is] all about the protection of traditional hierarchy."

Justin Sink of the Hill: Eric Fehrnstrom, "A top adviser to former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said Friday it was a mistake for the Republican National Committee (RNC) to ban NBC and CNN from hosting debates during the 2016 primaries, saying the unanimous vote would create 'bad optics.'" CW: Yo, Eric, "Bad optics" is when you compare your candidate's general election flip-flops to an Etch-a-Sketch. Oh, my aching eyeballs.

CW: Oops, I forgot the President's weekly address yesterday. Here's an ABC New story on it & here's the video:

Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Even as polls show Americans broadly oppose electioneering from the pulpit, a new report by a group of faith leaders working closely with Capitol Hill argues for ending the decades-old ban on explicit clergy endorsements. The report being given Wednesday to Sen. Charles E. Grassley -- the Iowa Republican whose office for years has been probing potential abuses by tax-exempt groups -- comes as the ban has become a culture-war flashpoint. More than 1,100 mostly conservative Christian pastors for the past few springs have been explicitly preaching politics -- they call the annual event 'Pulpit Freedom Sunday' p-- in an effort to lure the Internal Revenue Service into a court showdown. Meanwhile, groups that favor a strong church-state separation are going to court to demand that the IRS more aggressively enforce the ban that dates to 1954." Via Steve Benen. ...

... CW: The obvious way to deal with this & with "not-for-profit" political (and non-political) organizations is simply to subject them all to the same federal taxes the rest of us pay. Everybody -- pastor & Tea Party leader -- has a First Amendment right to express her opinions, but nobody has a First Amendment right to evade taxation. Those charitable organizations that actually do not make a profit will have zero tax liability. So what's the big deal? I get on my soapbox every day, but on April 15, I still have to pay my taxes; the Church of the Latter Day Rednecks should have to pony up, too.

Mark Oppenheimer of the New York Times on naming children after religious figures. CW: nobody mentions it, but after a court overturns a judge's ruling that changed a child's name from "Messiah" to "Martin," that kid is going to get older & his friends will call him "Mess."

Local News

In a tasteful editorial, the New York Post Editors endorse Scott Stringer for city comptroller. Title of the piece: "Vote Stringer and Give 'Client 9' the Hook." "The Post endorses Scott Stringer because in a race between an Upper West Side liberal and a hotheaded, hooker-chasing, office-abusing, self-promoting, lawbreaking, ego-obsessed 'steamroller' who still has trouble admitting he ever did anything wrong, it should be no contest."

Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: " A proposed amendment to Oklahoma's state constitution that would have prevented state courts from considering Sharia and international law was struck down by a federal judge on Thursday. Chief District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange of the Western District of Oklahoma, who issued a temporary restraining order preventing the law from taking effect after it passed in 2010, ruled Thursday that the amendment's references to Sharia, or Islamic law, violated the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Constitution. While Oklahoma officials argued the amendment could be enacted if the reference to Sharia was removed, Miles-LaGrange ruled that wasn't possible." Via Steve Benen.

News Ledes

AP: "As the U.S. renews its effort to close the Guantanamo Bay prison, it will soon begin reconsidering the fate of prisoners ... who a government task force decided were too dangerous to release but who can't be prosecuted, in some cases, because proceedings could reveal sensitive information."

... Washington Post: "Egyptian security forces on Saturday overran a Cairo mosque in which hundreds of supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi had barricaded themselves for nearly 24 hours after a day of gun battles in the heart of the capital. It was unclear by nightfall what had become of the protesters, who had been detained after security forces had escorted them from the scene. Egyptian state television declared that 'the crisis is over.' But Saturday brought demonstrations and clashes in several other cities across the country."

New York Times: "Federal authorities have opened a bribery investigation into whether JPMorgan Chase hired the children of powerful Chinese officials to help the bank win lucrative business in the booming nation, according to a confidential United States government document." CW: I'd be shocked, shocked to find out bribery was going on."

The Commentariat -- Aug. 17, 2013

CW: In my link to Barton Gellman's blockbuster story in yesterday Washington Post, I did not include this sentence: "The documents, provided earlier this summer to The Washington Post by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, include a level of detail and analysis that is not routinely shared with Congress or the special court that oversees surveillance." I didn't notice it, but I should have, and I should have included it. As Charles Pierce writes, "... this story really ought to end the debate over whether or not Snowden is a 'whistleblower' or not. He shared with The Washington Post -- and therefore, with the country that pays the bills for it all -- information proving that the government agency for which he worked regularly violated its own regulations, and that it at best actively deceived the responsible oversight authorities in both the Department Of Justice and in the intelligence community." ...

... David Firestone of the New York Times: "The lack of oversight revealed in The Post's report is staggering.... So much for President Obama's recent assurance that the government is not abusing its authority. And Congress, as usual, is nowhere to be found.... Senators Ron Wyden and Mark Udall just issued a statement saying the mistakes and rule-breaking reported by the Washington Post are just the 'tip of the iceberg' of a much larger body of classified violations, which they are unable to reveal." ...

... Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post has some officials' reactions to the Post story. Entertaining. ...

... New York Times Editors: "... the Justice Department was in federal court on Thursday defending its refusal to release memos containing information about its policies governing the use of GPS and other potentially invasive technologies.... The public has a right to know the government's policies on these matters. There is very good reason to be concerned about the government's interpretation of its police powers, especially given the Obama administration's insensitivity to privacy in its mass collection of phone data in the national security sphere.... It is distressing that the administration, which claims to welcome a debate over the government's surveillance practices, time and again refuses to be transparent about those practices. Instead of awaiting a court order, the administration should release the tracking memos on its own."

James Hohmann of Politico: "The Republican National Committee passed a resolution Friday to bar NBC and CNN from hosting GOP primary debates in 2016 if the networks move forward with their Hillary Clinton projects. But the vote was not just about Clinton. But the vote was not just about Clinton. The RNC's very vocal outrage over the projects gave party leaders a perfect excuse to do what they've long wanted to do anyway: get some control over a process that led to 20 grueling primary debates last cycle and gave Mitt Romney many chances to get himself into trouble with comments about self-deportation, contraception and the like." ...

... Dylan Byers of Politico: "While NBC and CNN's competitors stand to benefit from the RNC's decision, there's another potential winner who has gone unmentioned: Univision. On Friday, RNC communications director Sean Spicer told Politico that the boycott would extend to NBC and CNN's Spanish-language channels: Telemundo and CNN Español." ...

... CW: nobody ever mentions ABC. Will Reince let former Clinton guy Snuffolopoulos question the wackos? ...

... Greg Sargent: "And so, it looks as if one of the recommendations in that RNC autopsy [which determined that the party needed to broaden its base by reaching out to 'alienated' groups] has finally been acted on. Only it just happens to be one that is all about (again) playing to the base and encouraging an insular view -- that outside news sources offering information that counters what is heard inside the conservative entertainment complex are only out to get Republicans -- rather than broadening the party's appeal.... It's [also] possible this could have the effect of minimizing the exposure of GOP outsized rhetoric and policy to a broader audience." ...

... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "As a blogger, I would really look forward to making the GOP clown show even more clownish. I know that hardly seems possible, but think about it. "Governor Jindal, do you think Christian churches should merely be free of all government interference, or do you think that state governments should require the adoption of Christian curricula in our schools?" "Representative Ryan, do you think global warming is a myth, or do you think it's actually a sinister plot by the scientific community to destroy the economy?" Bring it on!" ...

... Paul Waldman of the American Prospect: "The problem isn't that the network personalities are liberals, it's that they're just terrible. They try to come up with clever 'gotcha' moments to trap Republicans and Democrats alike, and they ask one inane question after another, like what sporting event they'll be watching this weekend or what kind of pizza they prefer.... Let's not forget that primaries are supposed to be partisan. The point isn't for the country to choose a candidate, it's for a party to choose its representative. Ideological questioners are going to ask the questions to which primary voters want to know the answers." ...

... Bill Carter of the New York Times: "An outlet of Fox Entertainment said on Friday that it would not be involved with the hotly debated Hillary Rodham Clinton mini-series on NBC, after all. And though the decision by the Fox Television Studios production company came on the same day as a vote by the Republican National Committee to ban any presidential debates in the 2016 primary season from NBC because of the proposed movie, an executive involved in the negotiations between the Fox studio and NBC said political pressure was not a factor. Rather, the executive said, the financial terms being offered by NBC simply were not attractive enough to Fox." ...

... Jane Timm of NBC News: "From same-sex marriage to race in America, Republican leaders lack 'the guts to stare down the crazies in their own party,' Joe Scarborough said on Morning Joe today during a conversation that exposed the hypocrisy of GOP officials willing to show compassion in private but not in public.... The Republican Party is sending out signals, Scarborough said: 'If you're not white, you're really not welcome in this party.'" With video. Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...

... Prince Reibus Never Called Mitt a Racist. Brent Logiurato of Business Insider: "Correction, 12:26 p.m. ET: An original version of this story said that Reince Priebus referred to Mitt Romney's comments as 'racist.' He said it 'hurts us.' Business Insider regrets the error." CW: I had to listen to the tape three times, but on the third time, I decided that Priebus did say "hurts us," not "racist":

"Tell him to stop lying." Sy Mukherjee of Think Progress: "Obamacare critics who have incessantly demonized the reform law and pushed for its repeal have been brushing up against a growing number of people that support its consumer protections." Here's Rep. Daniel Webster (R-Fla.) being questioned by constituents who are fearful of not having health coverage. The pushback begins at about 2:10 min. in when Webster claims that both he & the President agree that "ObamaCare is bad for America":

... Steve Benen on the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity misleading/lying ads against ObamaCare: "If Obamacare were really as horrible as right-wing activists and lawmakers claim, shouldn't it be easier to attack the law without making stuff up? Wouldn't conservatives be eager to simply give people the truth, rather than resort to ugly demagoguery? Careful, Kochs, your desperation is showing."

Gubernatorial Race

Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia, does a pretty good job, in a Washington Post op-ed, of defending his involvement with & investment in GreenTech Automotive.

Local News

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: California Gov. Jerry "Brown -- who at 75 is the oldest governor in the nation and about to become the longest-serving governor in the history of California -- is enjoying a degree of success and authority he and his opponents could scarcely have imagined when he returned to Sacramento to begin a second tour as governor in 2010."

The Hits Just Keep on Coming. Rosalind Helderman & Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Maureen McDonnell, the first lady of Virginia, twice purchased stock in Star Scientific in the same timeframe she and Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) were taking steps to promote the dietary supplement company, a spokesman for McDonnell's legal team confirmed Friday night. Spokesman Rich Galen said the first lady did not inform the governor either time she purchased stock, which he said she bought to assist her and her children.... Evidence that the couple took official acts to indirectly help their own financial stake in a single company would likely increase their legal jeopardy in a potential criminal case."

John Schwartz of the New York Times: "A state judge in Pennsylvania on Friday prohibited enforcement of a strongly contested law requiring voters to show state-approved identification. Enforcement of the law, one of the toughest in the nation, had been blocked by judicial order in two prior elections, and the state had agreed not to require ID to vote in November. But poll officials were required to tell voters that they would have to show ID's in the future or be turned away.... Judge Bernard L. McGinley of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ... said that the ban on enforcing the law should be extended until the matter of whether to issue a permanent injunction on enforcement could be heard in court and decided on the merits of the case." ...

... Charles Pierce on National Review editor Rich Lowry's defense -- in Politico -- of North Carolina's new voter suppression law (yes, I know that's not what they call it, but that's what it is). Pierce dregs up National Review founder Bill Buckley's 1969 column, "On Negro Inferiority." "So Rich Lowry and his little racist fk of a magazine can pretty much bite it. It's been on the wrong side of history since the first issue rolled off the press."

News Ledes

AP: "Egyptian security forces stormed a Cairo mosque Saturday after a heavy exchange of gunfire with armed men shooting down from a minaret, rounding up hundreds of supporters of the country's ousted president who had sought refuge there overnight after violent clashes killed 173 people."