The Commentariat -- January 16

Art by Mark Lazenby for the New York Times.Matthew Wald of the New York Times: "The previous Congress failed to pass climate change legislation, and the new House is openly hostile to the idea. But what the government has not mandated, the economy is doing on its own: emissions of global warming gases in the United States are down."

** Hey, Teabaggers, the Founding Fathers Would Have Hated Your Guts:

New York Times Editors outlines the consequences, should House Republicans get their way & repeal of the Affordable Care Act is successful.

Christina Romer, former chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisers, in a New York Times op-ed: "My hope is that the centerpiece of the [State of the Union] speech will be a comprehensive plan for dealing with the long-run budget deficit." She pretty much embraces the Cat Food Commission recommendations, but she does go on to advocate for new revenue sources. ...

... CW: President Obama is going to have a hard time crafting a State of the Union speech that beats his Tucson address. Garry Wills really loved it! In a New York Review of Books column, Wills likens the Tucson speech to -- the Gettysburg Address AND President Lincoln's second inaugural speech. ...

... Dan Balz of the Washington Post makes much of Sen. John McCain's Washington Post op-ed in which McCain praises the President's speech. Balz suggests the op-ed is an olive branch to President Obama. CW: Balz places a lot of the blame for the icy relationship between McCain & Obama on the President; I don't.

TuniLeaks! Scott Shane of the New York Times: "Cables from American diplomats in Tunisia portray a deepening ambivalence toward the rule of President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, expressing alarm about popular resentment of the blatant corruption of the country’s first family but also gratitude for Mr. Ben Ali’s cooperation against terrorism and the stability he long imposed. Those cables, from the cache obtained by the anti-secrecy organization WikiLeaks and made public in recent weeks, helped fuel the anger on the streets that culminated Friday with Mr. Ben Ali’s flight after 23 years in power. Posted on a site created last month called TuniLeaks, the diplomats’ disgusted and lurid accounts of the kleptocratic ways of the president’s extended family helped tip the scales, according to many Tunisian commentators."...

     ... CW: somebody (& I really can't recall who) told me last week or so that she thought the Obama Administration did protest too much about their horror & shock at the WikiLeaks cables. It's beginning to look as if that someone got it right. Are Julian Assange & Bradley Manning just (witting or unwitting) tools of the State Department? I'm just asking. ...

     ... Update: it was a friend who sent me a link to this essay by William Engdahl, writing in VoltaireNet.

Paul Breer, writing in Think Progress, provides a little introduction to Reince Priebus, the new RNC chair. Key point: "While Priebus was chair of the Wisconsin GOP, the state party engaged fomented voter fraud conspiracies and hatched a voter caging plot with well-funded right-wing allies to suppress minority votes."

Annie Groer of Politics Daily: "Michael Reagan blasted as 'falsehoods and lies and conspiracy theories to sell books,' the suggestion by half-brother Ron Reagan that their father may have had Alzheimer's disease while still in the White House. " ...

... Here's the underlying Parade article by Ron Reagan: "My Father, the President," written in recognition of the 100th anniversary of President Reagan's birth.

Michael Shields of Reuters: "Serving as California governor cost Arnold Schwarzenegger at least $200 million, the bodybuilding star turned actor and politician told a newspaper in his native Austria, insisting 'it was more than worth it.'"

Senator Teabag. Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Last week, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) posted a lecture on his YouTube channel where he explains in great detail his views on the Constitution. As part of the lecture, which is essentially a lengthy defense of his radical tenther interpretation of the Constitution, Lee claims that federal child labor laws are unconstitutional." With video, if you care to watch Prof. Teabag's expound on his theory of the Constitution.

Tucson Shootings -- January 15

Washington Post: "Doctors at Tucson's University Medical Center said [Gabrielle] Giffords (D-Ariz.) remained in critical condition.... A ... tracheotomy was performed Saturday morning, they said. The 'tracheotomy tube was placed in her windpipe, protecting her airway and freeing her from the ventilator....' Surgeons also inserted a feeding tube to provide nutritional support. Doctors said these procedures are common among brain-injured patients."

New York Times: "A victim of the [Tucson] shooting ... was taken into custody on Saturday after the police and witnesses said the man spoke threateningly at a televised forum intended to help this stricken city heal. Eric Fuller, 63, a military veteran who was passionate about liberal causes and who had supported Ms. Giffords, was 'involuntarily committed for mental health evaluation.' ... Mr. Fuller, who was shot in the left knee and the back on Jan. 8, was among several victims, medical personnel and others who attended a special forum televised by ABC and hosted by Christiane Amanpour."

"Fanning the Flames." Peter Kramer, a Brown U. psychiatrist who specializes in treating paranoia -- a/k/a "delusional disorder" -- reflects on the factors that may have influenced Jared Loughner:

The public embrace of implausible beliefs creates a context of credulity.... Journalists and politicians who countenance conspiracy theories ... are enablers. They stand as exemplars of a mode of being that scorns doubt, celebrates grievances, and reframes ordinary disagreements as indicators of sinister intent. In the context of demonization and demagoguery, this embrace of paranoia helps to compose a politics of constant rage. It is convenient and convincing to say that no particular public figure is directly implicated in Loughner's actions. But I wonder whether finally the imputation of some responsibility is so easy to shed. -- Dr. Peter Kramer

      ... Read the whole article. Kramer's rebuke of Speaker John Boehner, et al., is telling. Thanks to a friend, who is a mental health professional, for pointing me to Kramer's article.

Melissa McEwan in AlterNet: "The shooting in Tucson was not an anomaly. It was an inevitability, and as long as we play this foolish game of 'both sides are just as bad,' it will be inevitable again." McEwan cites example after example of violent imagery spewed by leading right-wingers, then concludes,

This culture, this habit, of eliminationist rhetoric is not happening in a vacuum. It's happening in a culture of widely-available guns (thanks to conservative policies), of underfunded and unavailable medical care, especially mental health care (thanks to conservative policies), of a widespread belief that government is the enemy of the people (thanks to conservative rhetoric), and of millions of increasingly desperate people (thanks to an economy totally fucked by conservative governance).

** Denise Grady & Jennifer Medina of the New York Times recount the early efforts to save the victims of the Tucson shootings.

CW: Yesterday I linked to this story by Marc Lacey and other New York Times reporters, but it's been substantially altered to describe Jared Loughner's movements prior to the shooting. AND here's a pdf of the timeline, constructed by police, tracing Loughner's activities in the hours before he shot 20 people. The Washington Post translates the police timeline into a graphic, below. Also, see other helpful WashPo graphics here.

... Here's the Washington Post account by David Nakamura & others of Jared Loughner's movements before the shootings.

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "... one public figure has been uncharacteristically silent about one of the worst episodes of violence ever to befall his home state. Sen. John McCain (R) was on a congressional trip to Latin America at the time of the shooting and did not return to Arizona until Wednesday. He has granted no interviews and has not spoken about what happened in Tucson." CW: while I tend to agree with McCain's aide who justifies McCain's continuing his South American schedule, I saw several photos taken at different times during the Tucson memorial service in which McCain appeared to be glaring at President Obama. Here's one:

McCain is to the far left (in the photo, not in his political leanings). The President, First Lady, Mark Kelly & others appear to be praying, while McCain seems to be scowling at President Obama. AP photo.... In a Washington Post op-ed, Sen. McCain commends President Obama for his "comforting, inspiring & encouraging" speech at the Tucson memorial. He also excuses, without naming her, Sarah Palin's "blood libel" video. The overall tone of the piece is positive:

I disagree with many of the president's policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country's cause. I reject accusations that his policies and beliefs make him unworthy to lead America or opposed to its founding ideals.
-- John McCain

Kirk Johnson & Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "As the prosecution phase nears and both federal and state courts pursue the case [against Jared Loughren], complications will inevitably appear — ... magnified by the sometimes sharply different requirements of the two court systems. The complications extend to the rules of evidence. Arizona state and federal rules differ significantly on what defense attorneys are entitled to hear before trial, and the federal and state teams could also head toward very different outcomes as well.... Arizona, unlike federal law, does not allow a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity. A defendant can only be found guilty, not guilty or guilty but insane."

Andrew Martin of the New York Times: "In the 25 years or so since the Glock company, based in Austria, began aggressively marketing firearms in this country, Glocks have become one of the best-selling pistols in America.... The guns are popular with law enforcement, consumers and, apparently, some young men intent on massacre. Seung-Hui Cho, who killed 32 at Virginia Tech University in 2007, and Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five at Northern Illinois University in 2008, were armed with Glocks.... Glock has also benefited from changes in the American gun market. As the number of hunters has declined, so have sales of guns traditionally used for hunting. Sales of military-style rifles have increased and so have sales of handguns, in part, some gun experts say, because more states have passed concealed-weapons laws. The Glock 33, for instance, is a subcompact pistol marketed as a 'pocket rocket.'”

Pop Quiz -- January 15

Who said this? Only correct answers: Jared Loughner, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin

(1) … don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence’isn't American,not fair’). …so watch out Constitutional obstructionists…. [punctuation, spelling as written]

(2) My freedom of speech rights are being taken away.

(3) The revolution has begun…. The people you're up against have buried themselves in our government and they have been wearing masks for a long time, but they're about to take those masks off and understand, they want control of every aspect of your life….

(4) I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks….

(5) Read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.

(6) So the big brother aspect is at work here, and I don’t trust the government.

(7) People don't trust the government, they go out and buy a gun.

(8) Don’t trust the current government.

(9) Don't trust the government.

Answers below:

(1) “Dr.Laura,don't retreat...reload! (Steps aside bc her 1st Amend.rights ceased 2exist thx 2activists trying 2silence’isn't American,not fair’). …so watch out Constitutional obstructionists…. " -- Sarah Palin tweets, August 2010

(2) “My freedom of speech rights are being taken away.” – Jared Loughren, per Pima College Records

(3) The revolution has begun…. The people you're up against have buried themselves in our government and they have been wearing masks for a long time, but they're about to take those masks off and understand, they want control of every aspect of your life….” – Glenn Beck, December 2010

(4) “I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media.” -- Gov. Sarah Palin, October 2008

(5) “…Read the United States of America's Constitution to apprehend all of the current treasonous laws.” – Jared Loughren, video

(6) “So the big brother aspect is at work here, and I don’t trust the government.” -- Glenn Beck, November 12, 2008

(7) “People don't trust the government, they go out and buy a gun.” -- Glenn Beck, July 13, 2009

(8) “Don’t trust the current government.” – Jared Loughren, video 

(9) “Don't trust the government.” Glenn Beck, November 30, 2010, & elsewhere