The Commentariat -- Oct. 24, 2012
** Charles Pierce ties Chuck Todd to the cult of American Exceptionalism. But forget Chuck Todd. Pierce's lesson is something that American men & women smarter than Chuckie need to learn. It's a hard lesson to learn, perhaps because we learned it as "fact" in grade school in the same way & at a proximate time so many of us learned about God & Jesus (or whichever of God's purported sidekicks your mentors preferred). God Bless America.
Presidential Race
Nielsen: "An estimated 59.2 million people tuned in to watch the third and final debate between President Barack Obama and ... Mitt Romney on Monday, October 22."
Jon Cohen of the Washington Post: "The new Washington Post-ABC News national tracking poll has 49 percent of likely voters supporting Republican Mitt Romney, and 48 percent President Obama, a seesawing result that shows the continued narrowness of the contest." ...
... Gallup daily tracking now has Romney up by five, a one-point drop from yesterday. ...
... Nate Silver writes that there's a 50-50 chance Ohio will decide the election. ...
David Jackson of USA Today: "In blasting what he calls 'Romnesia' -- his opponent's habit of changing positions -- Obama told backers Tuesday in Ohio: "Now, we joke about Governor Romney being all over the map, but it speaks to something important -- it speaks of trust. There's no more serious issue in a presidential campaign than trust,' Obama said during a rally in Dayton. 'Trust matters. You want to know that the person who's applying to be your President and Commander-in-Chief is trustworthy, that he means what he says, that he's not just making stuff up depending on whether it's convenient or not.'" The Romney campaign responded by saying Obama broke "virtually every [campaign] promise" he made in 2008.
... President Obama, in Ohio, pretty much calls Mitt Romney a liar. Obama is hoarse already:
Jillian Hughes of CBS News: "... the Obama campaign is feeling good: the president's advisers insist they are winning nationally and in battleground states. And they say this is the race they have always prepared for. 'This is a race we believe we're leading,' said senior strategist David Axelrod on a conference call with reporters, 'We believe we're leading nationally and we're leading in these battleground states.'" ...
... Jonathan Chait of New York: "Despite a lack of any evident positive momentum over the last week -- indeed, in the face of a slight decline from its post-Denver high -- the Romney camp is suddenly bursting with talk that it will not only win but win handily.... This is a bluff. Romney is carefully attempting to project an atmosphere of momentum, in the hopes of winning positive media coverage and, thus, creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.... Obama's lead is narrow -- narrow enough that the polling might well be wrong and Romney could win. But he is leading, his lead is not declining, and the widespread perception that Romney is pulling ahead is Romney's campaign suckering the press corps with a confidence game." ...
... Michael Tomasky of Newsweek concurs: creating alternate realities is what conservatives do. ...
... Alec MacGillis of The New Republic: the so-called "liberal media," bored with an election it appeared Obama would win, picked up on the Romney comeback story half-way through the Denver debate, & even though Romney-Ryan have lost every debate since then, the "liberal media" are not letting go of their story. ...
... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "The press mostly seems to be stuck in its post-first-debate groove of insisting that Mitt Romney has all the momentum and is closing fast on President Obama. And maybe so. But that's not what our best forecasters think. Models from both Sam Wang and Nate Silver show the same thing: Romney surged after the first debate, but by October 12 that started to turn around. Since then, the momentum has mostly been Obama's."
** Rick Green, editor of the Des Moines Register, on Obama's "informative, passionate, genuine insightful" bid for re-election -- the one you will never hear. CW: very stupid move on the part of the Obama campaign. The POTUS should never be off the record when he speaks to journalists.
President Obama in Delray Beach, Florida, on Tuesday. "You might have Romnesia if ..." riff begins about 3:30 in:
Igor Volsky of Think Progress: in 41 minutes of debate speaking time, Romney told 24 lies myths. CW: Oh, Igor, that's nothing. His campaign told 5 lies in one 30-second ad. ...
... Joe Conason of the National Memo points out a whopper: "'... I like American cars,' said Mitt Romney [during the presidential debate].... 'And I would do nothing to hurt the U.S. auto industry.' That might be considered true -- unless moving the most important American auto parts manufacturer to China counts as hurting the U.S. auto industry.... Those words now stand as one of Romney's most glaring falsehoods in the final debate." ...
... AND Jon Stewart fact-checks Romney's debate performance:
Romney Endorses Obama. Video by the Huffington Post:
Liz Goodwin of Yahoo! News: "Mitt Romney's 2008 op-ed 'Let Detroit Go Bankrupt' soared to the top of The New York Times' online 'Most Viewed' list Tuesday, following a testy exchange between the former governor and President Barack Obama over the auto bailout at Monday night's debate." Romney's op-ed is here. CW: His prescription sucked for a number of reasons: (1) it was completely unworkable, as no private financiers would lend money to the automakers; (2) his first & lengthiest suggestion was to stick it to autoworkers; & (3) he expects the government to fund R&D to help U.S. automakers. We can argue about (3), but -- with some exceptions -- I'm opposed to the government's spending my tax dollars to enrich the titans of industry. This is something that happens too often at the federal, state & even local levels.
Ben Adler of the Nation: in exchange for their endorsement, Mitt Romney secretly promised the Log Cabin Republicans -- the most prominent Republican gay rights organization -- he would support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), a major piece of gay rights legislation. ...
... John Aravosis of AmericaBlog: "Let's all count down together to how long it will take for Romney to issue a statement revoking his secret pact to support ENDA: 3, 2, 1...." In an update, Aravosis reports that the American Family Association is not amused: "ENDA will be the official end of religious freedom in America." Blah blah.
Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: Clint Eastwood has cut a 30-second ad for American CrossRove's in support of Mitt Romney. In the scripted ad, Eastwood says the U.S. can't survive another four years of Obama. Blah blah.
Michael Cieply & Brian Stetler of the New York Times: "President Obama will have a starring role in a television drama about one of his biggest accomplishments -- the killing of Osama bin Laden -- that will be shown just two nights before the presidential election.... Set for a prime-time debut on Nov. 4 on the National Geographic Channel, and a release the next day on Netflix, the film -- 'SEAL Team Six: The Raid on Osama bin Laden' -- is being backed by Harvey Weinstein, a longtime Democratic contributor and one of the Obama campaign's most vigorous backers." Here's the trailer:
Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The radicals who dominate the Republican Party have entertained Romney's turn to the center as a necessary electoral expedient. The day after a Romney victory, their blitzkrieg will begin -- leaving the moderate Mitt of the general election to historians specializing in short-lived phenomena."
Myles Tanzer of Gawker: "... Donald Trump has been parading around this week alleging that he had a bombshell so big that it was 'bordering on gigantic.' A story so big that it would 'possibly' change the state of the election.... It seems Trump has found some long lost divorce papers drawn up by Michelle Obama." ...
... A few excited tweets from the media about Trump's gigantic announcement, via Politico:
That is not Obama's real hair. #Trumpsurprise -- David Corn, Mother Jones
If a blowhard moron spouts bile about a president and EVERYONE ignores it, does he make a sound? #trump -- Matt Spence, Times of London Washington bureau
I don't want to be too judgmental, but Donald Trump couldn't be dumber if you cut his head off. -- Roger Simon, Politico
AND Welcome to the World of Right-Wing "Fact-Checkers." David Martosko of The Daily Caller has a SCOOP: "In a response to Romney's barb that Obama has allowed the U.S. Navy's inventory of battleships to approach a historic low mark, Obama snarked that 'we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military's changed.' But horses and bayonets both remain vital parts of the U.S. arsenal." (Emphasis added, because it's such a BIG SCOOP.) Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs awards Martosko the "Stupidest Wingnut Article of the Day" prize.
Congressional Races
Rape Is Part of God's Plan. Life is that gift from God that I think even if life begins in that horrible situation of rape, that it is something that God intended to happen. -- Richard Mourdock (RTP), Indiana U.S. Senate candidate, during a televised debate
... Ian Millhiser & Travis Waldron of Think Progress have more. They also note that Mitt Romney cut a TV ad for Moredick -- the only ad Romney has made for another GOP candidate this year. Moderate Mitt? Not so much. ...
... Update. Chris Good of ABC News: "Democrats wasted no time linking ... Mitt Romney to Mourdock. Earlier this week, Romney personally appeared in a TV ad for the Indiana state treasurer, offering his endorsement. 'Richard Mourdock's rape comments ... have become part and parcel of the modern Republican Party's platform toward women's health, as Congressional Republicans like Paul Ryan have worked to outlaw all abortions and even narrow the definition of rape,' Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement released to press." She called on Romney to denounce Mourdock & request that the ad be taken down. The Romney camp "distanced itself" from Moredick's remarks. ...
... The Indianapolis Star story, by Mary Beth Schneider & Carrie Ritchie, is here.
Charlie Mahtesian of Politico: In Connecticut, Republican wrestler lady/U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon tries to ride the coattails of -- Barack Obama.
Caitlin Huey-Burns of Real Clear Politics: "Republicans face an uphill climb in claiming the [Senate] majority. Of the 33 Senate races across the country, 10 are truly competitive. Democrats have 23 seats to defend. Republicans have 10 of their own to protect, but have to gain four additional seats -- three if Romney is elected -- to gain the upper hand. With Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson's retirement, Nebraska is likely to turn red. But Republicans hold four of the tossup seats -- two of which are in states where the president could help down-ballot candidates. 'Democrats are cautiously optimistic we will hold the majority,' said Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Communications Director Matt Canter."
Other Stuff
Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Women are attending college at higher rates than men, graduating in greater numbers and earning higher grades. Yet one year after graduation, women were making only 82 percent of what their male colleagues were paid, according to a report by the American Association of University Women set to be released Wednesday." CW: this helps explain the gender gap for both presidential candidates. An awful lot of men think women should earn less than men because women are just not as competent. Men know Mitt Romney will help ensure gender inequality, & they think that's great, even if they won't say so. The basis for my assertion? I've known quite a few men who were willing to say as much back in the day. Now they mostly know not to say it, just as they know not to use sexist & racist slurs. Richard Moredick's God-sanctioned rape is a product of this line of thinking. ...
... Update. Along those lines, Prof. Christina Wolbrecht writes a fascinating piece attributing the electoral gender gap to -- men! She's done the research to prove it.
Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "Debt collection agencies, whose sometimes aggressive tactics have earned them scrutiny from consumer protection groups and state regulators, will come under federal supervision for the first time beginning Jan. 2, when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau begins oversight."
Christine Haughney & David Carr of the New York Times: "Mark Thompson, the former head of the British Broadcasting Corporation who has been drawn into the scandal involving allegations of sexual abuse against the former television personality Jimmy Savile, reiterated in an interview on Tuesday that he was not aware of an investigative report prepared for the BBC program 'Newsnight' into Mr. Savile's behavior until after the investigation was canceled."
News Ledes
** New York Times: "Betty Binns Fletcher, a federal appeals court judge whose liberal record inspired conservative opposition in the Senate when her son was named to serve alongside her on the same Western court, died on Monday in Seattle. She was 89."
New York Times: "The Federal Reserve held its course on Wednesday, announcing no changes in its campaign to stimulate the economy after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee. The Fed issued an appraisal of the economy almost identical to the one it released six weeks ago. The economy is growing 'at a moderate pace,' it said. Job growth is slow. Housing is doing a little better. Inflation remains under control."
Reuters: "Palestinians fired dozens of rockets into Israel from Gaza on Wednesday and an Israeli air strike killed a militant, a day after the Emir of Qatar made a rare visit to the enclave's Hamas leadership. Hamas claimed responsibility for some of the rocket and mortar bomb attacks...."
Reuters: "April Pettit, an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University..., who ordered 'extra tests' on the spinal fluid of a patient is credited by colleagues with unlocking the mystery of a devastating fungal meningitis outbreak and prompting a national alert that may have saved lives."
New York Times: "Rajat K. Gupta, the former Goldman Sachs director, was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay a $5 million fine on Wednesday for leaking boardroom secrets to the former hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam. Mr. Gupta, 63, who ran the consulting firm McKinsey & Company and served as a major adviser to the philanthropic efforts of Bill Gates and Bill Clinton, is the most prominent figure to face prison in the government's sweeping crackdown on insider trading."
AP: "The Paris appeals court has upheld former Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel's conviction for covering up massive losses, sentencing him to three years in prison and ordering him to pay back a staggering €4.9 billion (about $7 billion) in damages."
New York Times: "European regulators on Wednesday charged Microsoft with an antitrust violation for failing to live up to a prior agreement to give users of its Windows software better access to rival Internet browsers."
AP: "The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria says the Syrian government and some rebel leaders have agreed to a ceasefire during the upcoming Muslim four-day holiday."
Reuters: "Officials at the White House and State Department were advised two hours after attackers assaulted the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, on September 11 that an Islamic militant group had claimed credit for the attack, official emails show. The emails, obtained by Reuters from government sources not connected with U.S. spy agencies or the State Department and who requested anonymity, specifically mention that the Libyan group called Ansar al-Sharia had asserted responsibility for the attacks." ...
... Update: "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday a Facebook post in which an Islamic militant group claimed credit for a recent attack on the U.S. mission in Benghazi, Libya did not constitute hard evidence of who was responsible."