The Commentariat -- Sept. 22, 2016

... Natasha Geiling of Think Progress on how climate change is ruining fall. -- CW

Afternoonish Update:

This Is Quaint. William Rashbaum, et al., of the New York Times: "Federal corruption charges were announced on Thursday against two former close aides to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a senior state official and six other people, in a devastating blow to the governor's innermost circle and a repudiation of how his prized upstate economic development programs were managed.... The charges against the former aides, Joseph Percoco and Todd R. Howe, and the state official Alain Kaloyeros..., stemmed from 'two overlapping criminal schemes involving bribery, corruption and fraud in the award of hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts and other official state benefits,' federal prosecutors said in the complaint." CW: Maybe not up to par with bundles of cash in the freezer, but good, old-fashioned, Supreme Court-approved bribery: "In emails and other correspondence, Mr. Percoco and Mr. Howe referred to the bribes as 'ziti,' according to the complaint."

It's All Obama's Fault. Philip Bump of the Washington Post reports that, in a not so surprising interview with a Trump campaign chair in an Ohio county, Kathy Miller, "... she doesn't think 'there was any racism until [Barack] Obama got elected' and that black Americans 'have an advantage' over whites because they 'got into schools without the same grades as white kids.' If black Americans haven't been successful in the last 50 years, she said, 'it's [their] own fault.'" Akhilleus: Well, whadaya know? I never realized that there was NO racism until Obama came along. Damn that Kenyan guy! He ruined it for all of us....so what does the boss say?...

It IS Obama's Fault! Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump on Thursday pinned the blame for the turmoil in Charlotte, North Carolina, on President Barack Obama, suggesting that the violent protests there show a 'wounded country' that 'looks bad to the world.' Pausing for roughly 10 minutes during an energy speech in Pittsburgh at the Shale Insight Conference to address the Charlotte unrest, Trump also presented himself as the man to heal America's racial divides. Akhilleus: I can see it now, President KKK will be the guy to fix all those racial problems caused by that divisive creep Obama. Whadda guy. Will "Stop and Frisk" be a big part of the fix?

Freedom of Speech in Trump's Amerika: Protesters piss you off? Kill them. Elizabeth Preza of Alternet: "What should peace-loving citizens do if they encounter protesters blocking a highway in Charlotte, NC? Well, if you're USA Today columnist and University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, you should 'run them down.' Reynolds, who produces a website called 'Instapundit' and whose Twitter account presumably doesn't constitute legal advice, quickly deleted the tweet -- but this is the internet, and there's nothing like Instashaming to remind a person that advocating for the death of innocent people is really never a good idea." Akhilleus: Only in an Amerika where millions of morons are lining up to vote for a racist demagogue could you find a professor of law from a major university suggesting the cold-blooded murder of citizens for daring to exercise their first amendment rights. Trump must be sending this guy a lot of love.

*****

Richard Fausset & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "A second night of protests sparked by the police killing of a black man spiraled into chaos and violence after nightfall on Wednesday when a demonstration was interrupted by gunfire that killed a man in the crowd and law enforcement authorities fired tear gas in a desperate bid to restore order. Within an hour, officials used the city's Twitter account to confirm the death of the unidentified man, which they attributed to a 'civilian on civilian' confrontation." -- CW ...

... The Charlotte Observer story by Ely Portillo & others, is here. The Observer is updating developments here.

Presidential Race

Matt Flegenheimer & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Of all the attacks that Hillary Clinton and her fellow Democrats have tried against Donald J. Trump..., one has stood out...: No one, it seems, can abide Mr. Trump's mockery last year of a reporter's physical disability. And as Mrs. Clinton strains to make a more forceful case for her own candidacy..., her campaign believes that a focus on an often-overlooked constituency -- voters with disabilities -- can accomplish both goals at once. On Wednesday, without mentioning the Trump episode, Mrs. Clinton discussed her vision for an 'inclusive economy' with expanded job opportunities for what she called 'a group of Americans who are, too often, invisible, overlooked and undervalued -- who have so much to offer, but are given far too few chances to prove it.'" -- CW

Hillary Clinton, in a New York Times op-ed, outlines her plans to help the poor: "The best way to help families lift themselves out of poverty is to make it easier to find good-paying jobs.... I will work with Democrats and Republicans to make a historic investment in good-paying jobs.... And we need to make sure that hard work is rewarded by raising the minimum wage and finally guaranteeing equal pay for women.... We also need a national commitment to create more affordable housing.... My plan would expand Low Income Housing Tax Credits in high-cost areas.... Tim Kaine and I will model our anti-poverty strategy on Congressman Jim Clyburn's 10-20-30 plan.... Donald J. Trump has a different approach. He divides America into winners and losers.... His economic plans would overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans, and would include an estimated $4 billion tax cut for his own family just by eliminating the estate tax.... One independent economic analysis revealed that with Mr. Trump's proposals in place, our economy would fall back into recession and inevitably push more families into poverty." -- CW

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton gave voice Wednesday to a question on the minds of many of her fiercest advocates in her race against the controversy-prone Donald Trump: Why isn't she way, way ahead? The Democratic nominee raised the issue here during an address via video conference to a gathering in Las Vegas of the Laborers' International Union of North America.... [Clinton] The former secretary of state ticked off her pro-union positions, including investing in infrastructure, raising the minimum wage and supporting collective bargaining. 'Having said all this, "Why aren't I 50 points ahead?" you might ask?' Clinton said.... 'If you do know somebody who might be voting for Trump, stage an intervention.... Try to talk some sense into them. Lay out the facts. The facts are on our side, about what I've done versus what he's done. Remember, friends don't let friends vote for Trump.'" -- CW

Ed Kilgore: "[O]ne aspect of [Clinton's] debate prep is much more of a crapshoot: anticipating what Donald Trump might do and how she can parry it. Therein lies the mystery: Trump is unpredictable and unconventional enough that counting on any one approach from him might be an unfortunate gamble. He has no history of general-election debates to consult...Only he and perhaps his handlers know what he's going to do. And so, methodical to a fault, it seems Team Clinton is planning for every contingency." --safari

Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump "is making high-income voters Democrats again. A new poll from Bloomberg Politics shows Hillary Clinton besting Trump among voters with annual household incomes of $100,000 or more by a margin of 46 to 42 percent. If Clinton maintains that advantage through Election Day, it would mark a new milestone on the Democratic Party's long path to conquering the upscale electorate ... no Democratic nominee has won that demographic since Bill Clinton's reelection in 1996." --safari

Issie Lapowsky of Wired: "As the Clintons move to disentangle themselves from their philanthropic group ahead of Hillary Clinton potentially clinching the presidency, the Clinton Foundation is winding down the [Clinton Global Initiative's annual meeting] that has served as a victory lap for global do-gooders.... Just last week, Guidestar, an independent organization that keeps records on non-profit work, released a report comparing the Trump Foundation with Clinton's, and while Guidestar didn't come out and say it outright, there was no comparison. For starters, it found that the Clinton family has done the majority of its charitable giving through its foundation.... And while the Clinton Foundation has provided Guidestar with enough data to receive the organization’s top transparency seal, the report shows, 'the Trump Foundation provides no such metrics,' and thus, has not received a seal." -- CW

Do the Wrong Thing. Daily Beast Editors: "During a pre-taped 'core black issues' town-hall interview with Sean Hannity on Fox News..., Donald Trump revealed Wednesday that he would like to see 'stop-and-frisk' policing enacted nationwide as a way to end violence in black communities. 'I would do stop-and-frisk. I think you have to,' he reportedly said in response to an audience member's question about stopping 'black-on-black' crime." --safari ...

... The New York Times story, by Michael Barbaro & others, is here. Trump's "support for the polarizing crime-fighting policy -- which involves officers' questioning and searching pedestrians -- collides with his highly visible courtship of African-Americans, who have been disproportionately singled out by the tactic, data show. It also came as police shootings were once again drawing scrutiny and protest. For Mr. Trump, the timing was especially inauspicious.... As [Don] King, the retired boxing promoter, sought to explain how society unfairly categorizes African-Americans, he referred to a 'dancing and sliding and gliding nigger,' before quickly correcting himself. 'I mean Negro,' he said as Mr. Trump looked on a few feet behind him, grinning." -- CW ...

... Louis Nelson of Politico: "In a pre-taped interview on Fox News scheduled to air Wednesday night, Trump was asked by an audience member what he would do to address 'violence in the black community' and 'black-on-black crime.' Trump responded by proposing that 'stop-and-frisk' policing, in which an officer is empowered to stop an individual and frisk them for weapons or any other illegal contraband, be adopted nationwide. 'We did it in New York, it worked incredibly well and you have to be proactive and, you know, you really help people sort of change their mind automatically,' Trump told the questioner. '... In New York City it was so incredible, the way it worked.'" ...

... CW: It's incredible, all right. It makes a crime of walking while black or Hispanic. And the manner in which police forces employ it is unconstitutional. And, yeah, it "really helps people sort of change their minds automatically." Imagine you were walking down the street minding your own business & an aggressive cop thought you needed some frisking. If you thought stop-and-frisk was a good idea before, you would "automatically" change your mind. ...

... White Man's World. Eric Levitz points out numerous reasons stop-and-frisk is bad policy. "Beyond the weak substantive case for Trump's proposal, there's the audacity of a candidate who rails against moderate gun-safety reforms as civil-liberties violations -- but suggests that racially discriminatory police searches are an acceptable means of promoting public safety." -- CW ...

Ben Jacobs & Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: At the event, Trump "also addressed the police shooting of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed African American, on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 'I don't know if she choked,' Trump said of the policewoman who allegedly killed Crutcher. 'He was walking, his hands were high, he was walking to the car, he put the hands on the car -- now maybe she choked, something really bad happened.'" CW: Of course she choked. She's a girl trying to do a "man's job." She doesn't even look like a police officer.

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: Using American Express points, Univision's late-nite anchor Enrique Acevedo, tipped off by WashPo readers, checked into the Trump National Doral hotel & resort in Miami, then snooped around, talking to cleaning staff, till he found one of Donald Trump's "philanthropic" portraits. "In 2014, the painting had been auctioned off during a charity gala at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump himself was the winning bidder, buying the painting for $10,000. Then, later, Trump actually paid for the painting with a check from his charity, the Donald J. Trump Foundation.... A portrait paid for by a charity [funded by other people's money] was decorating the wall of Trump's for-profit business." -- CW ...

... "Trump's Slimy, Shameless Approach to Philanthropy." Washington Post Editors: "Sometimes charities associated with wealthy families or businesses tiptoe near ethical lines -- but charity experts say Mr. Trump's activity appears to be brazen.... Though the campaign insisted that The Post's reporting 'is peppered with inaccuracies and omissions,' it pointed to none and has offered no evidence telling a different story. In fact, Mr. Trump has a secret trove of documents that could help to clarify how much he has really given to charity in recent years, what his business dealings look like and potential conflicts of interest should he be elected president. These documents are his tax returns.... Mr. Trump is the least transparent major-party presidential nominee in recent memory -- and the one who Americans have the most reason to fear is hiding something." -- CW ...

... CW: If you are wondering how Donald Trump will perform in next week's debate, Judd Legum of Think Progress has a preview, not that we haven't seen this kind of evasion before: "Trump has not held a press conference since July. But he was finally asked about the misuse of his foundation's cash by a local reporter in Columbus, Ohio.... Trump was asked to 'explain to people why you may have used some charitable donations for personal uses.' 'The foundation is really rare. It gives money to vets. It's really been doing a good job, Trump replied. He added that 'we put that to sleep just by putting out the last report.' It's unclear what 'report' Trump is referencing and how it put the controversy 'to sleep.'" -- CW

No, Donald, Immigrants Don't Take Americans' Jobs. Julia Preston of the New York Times: "... according to a report published on Wednesday by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine..., immigrants do not take American jobs -- but with some caveats.... Donald J. Trump ... has called for a crackdown on illegal immigrants, saying they 'compete directly against vulnerable American workers.'... Do immigrants burden government budgets? That answer is 'more mixed,' Professor [Francine] Blau[, who led the study,] said.... The report called immigration 'integral to the nation's economic growth.'" -- CW: Yeah, but the study is just another scam propagated by left-wing elite eggheads who have no common sense & even if they have very good brains & have said a lot of things, they don't speak with themselves, number one.

Jelani Cobb of the New Yorker: "The Model for Donald Trump's Media Relations Is Joseph McCarthy." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CNN's Puppet Boy. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post contends that, by its hefty monthly "severage" payments -- and a possible balloon payment -- to former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, the Trump campaign is "controlling every word" Lewandowsky utters in his other paid job: CNN "contributor." -- CW

** Meet Your Trump Supporters. David Neiwert & Sarah Posner, in Mother Jones: "According to an investigation by Mother Jones and the Investigative Fund at The Nation Institute, since Trump officially announced his bid in June 2015 he has drawn effusive praise and formal backing from some of the country's most virulent neo-Nazis, white supremacists, militia supporters, and other extremist leaders. They include the head of the American Nazi Party, three former Ku Klux Klansmen, four people involved in a recent armed standoff against federal authorities at an Oregon wildlife refuge, and at least 15 individuals affiliated with organizations described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups. Trump has disavowed none of them." -- CW ...

... Then There's Alan. McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "Evan McMullin's presidential campaign has taken a racist tirade recently left in a staffer's voicemail inbox and turned it into a political ad highlighting the dangers of 'Donald Trump's America.' The ad, which will air online in select markets, features a recording of a personal cell phone message campaign spokeswoman Rina Shah received after appearing on Fox News last Friday. 'You frothing, libtard piece of shit Islamic dog,' the caller, identified only as 'Alan,' is heard saying in the ad.... 'Vote for the pathological lying criminal you fucking piece of shit ... and get out of our country ... while you're at it, got back and get fucked by your dirtbag Islamic terror scum friends. Slut.'... Shah was born in West Virginia. She is also not a Muslim. But in an interview with BuzzFeed News, she said Alan's voicemail was just a small sample of the abuse she has endured from Trump supporters.... Alan, who is Alan Pryce, told BuzzFeed he was a Trump supporter. "He claimed he had been disabled by an undocumented immigrant, and said he was supporting Trump as a consequence...." -- CW

Senate Races

Manu Raju of CNN: "Sen. Mark Kirk's campaign falsely asserted on its website that the Illinois Republican was a veteran of the Iraq war, a misstatement that comes six years after exaggerations over his military record nearly cost him his state's Senate seat.... Moreover, Kirk is now running for reelection against Democratic Rep. Tammy Duckworth, a military veteran who lost both of her legs during combat in Iraq.... Kirk campaign officials said the webpage was not meant to be made public, saying that it was supposed to be a private site while edits were being made to the page." -- CW

MEANWHILE in Missouri. Guns of November. Gail Collins: "Jason Kander, who served a tour of duty in Afghanistan, assembles an assault rifle blindfolded while saying that he believes 'in background checks so the terrorists can't get their hands on one of these.' His opponent, Senator Roy Blunt, had been lambasting Kander for his failure to toe the straight National Rifle Association line.... The race is close and Kander cites polls that show most voters are fine with background checks. (The people he talks to, he added, are more worried about college debt, which Blunt once blamed on the students' 'personal living standard.') Still, it would be amazing if Missouri elected a candidate who's middle-of-the-road on guns, right after the State Legislature just set a record in the extremely competitive category of Loopiest N.R.A. Cave-In.... The N.R.A. went much, much further, and wiped out the permits entirely.... The new law also includes one of those 'stand your ground' provisions. Now people walking around after dark could reasonably presume that anybody they ran into might have a concealed weapon, and would have a right to fire first if they felt physically threatened." -- CW ...

Other News & Views

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama signed a presidential memorandum Wednesday establishing that climate-change impacts must be factored into the development of all national security-related doctrine, policies and plans. The move signals Obama's determination to exercise his executive authority during his final months in office to elevate the issue of climate in federal decision-making, even though it remains unclear whether his successor will embrace this approach....John Holdren, the president's top science and technology adviser, said changing weather patterns and other climate impacts -- including drought, more-intense storms and rising sea levels -- are already exacerbating regional conflicts and 'straining the capacity of the United States and allied armed forces to deliver humanitarian and disaster relief.'" -- CW

Vanity Fair: "... Barack Obama recently invited the presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin to the White House for a long, personal, open-ended conversation. The meeting, arranged by Vanity Fair, took place in the president's private dining room, just off the Oval Office." A transcript of their conversation follows. -- CW

Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "A divided Federal Reserve, struggling to decide how soon to prune its economic stimulus campaign, said on Wednesday that it would wait at least a little longer. The Fed left its benchmark interest rate unchanged after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee, although most of its officials said they expected to raise rates by the end of the year. Janet L. Yellen, the Fed's chairwoman, said she saw no reason to rush.... Even the decision to wait, however, exposes the Fed to continued attack by Donald J. Trump..., who has repeatedly charged that Ms. Yellen is delaying necessary action to help Democrats." -- CW

** Dana Milbank: "Impeachment is among the most severe and solemn powers Congress has, right up there with declaring war. Not since 1876 has an executive-branch appointee been impeached, and not in the history of the republic has Congress impeached an executive-branch official below the Cabinet level. Now, Republicans in Congress would change that. On Wednesday, they wheeled out the sacred tool of impeachment -- weeks before an election -- for the purpose of smearing an honorable public servant, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, in service of a lie.... To say this impeachment inquiry is a kangaroo court would be an insult to marsupials." Read on. -- CW ...

... Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans have said they will not take up a House impeachment resolution. It would be up to the Senate to try Mr. Koskinen on any charges leveled by the House. But senators have instead praised him for his varied government career going back decades." -- CW

Carolyn Johnson of the Washington Post: "Lawmakers chastised Mylan's chief executive [Heather Bresch] for amassing an $18 million salary at a contentious congressional hearing Wednesday afternoon, as she evaded questions about how much profit the pharmaceutical company made off the lifesaving allergy drug EpiPen. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, held up an EpiPen to punctuate his point that epinephrine - 'the juice' inside the device - costs about $1. The list price for a two-pack of the pens is $608, up about 500 percent in a decade. The hearing was the latest drug-pricing outrage to unite politicians from both sides of the aisle." -- CW ...

... New York Times Editors: "Meanwhile, Mylan has been lobbying to have the EpiPen included on a federal list of preventive medical services, which would require employers and insurers to pay the cost, without a patient share. Mylan, which controls nearly 90 percent of the market for epinephrine injectors, can raise the price so readily because it faces little competition.... Mylan's price gouging is only the latest example of a disturbing trend.... To have a real impact on drug prices, Congress will need to do a lot more than browbeat pharmaceutical executives in the hopes of shaming them into reducing their prices." -- CW ...

... Capitalism is Awesome, Ctd. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "A US drug company has increased the price of an acne cream by more than 3,900% to $9,561 in less than 18 months in the latest example of drug 'price gouging', which has enraged the American public and become a central topic of debate in the presidential election campaign. Novum Pharma, a recently formed privately held Chicago-based company, bought the rights to drug Aloquin in May 2015. The 60g cream, which contains two cheap ingredients, was sold by its previous owner, Primus Pharmaceuticals, for $241.50." --safari

Tim Berners-Lee & Daniel Weitzner in a Washington Post op-ed explain to Ted Cruz that he does not own the internet. "Sen. Ted Cruz wants to engineer a United States takeover of a key Internet organization, ICANN, in the name of protecting freedom of expression. Cruz's proposal is one of the key sticking points in finalizing the government spending bill necessary to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30.... ICANN, in fact, has no power whatsoever over individual speech online. ICANN -- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- supervises domain names on the Internet. The actual flow of traffic, and therefore speech, is up to individual network and platform operators." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Akhilleus: Cruz's contention comes from the mistaken, not to say ignorant, belief that somehow the US owns the internet. It does not. In fact, Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited with inventing the modern internet, is an Englishman who was working in Geneva when he came up with the original programming for internet protocols. Once again, Cruz is trying to shut down the government based on lies. Lying has become the most essential item in the Confederate tool box. Oh, and by the way, since when has Ted Cruz been a proponent of free speech for anyone who isn't a far right Confederate asshole?

Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "When Ahmad Khan Rahami returned in March 2014 from a nearly yearlong trip to Pakistan, he was flagged by customs officials, who pulled him out for a secondary screening. Still concerned about his travel, they notified the National Targeting Center, a federal agency that assesses potential threats, two law enforcement officials said. It was one of thousands of such notifications every year, and a report on Mr. Rahami was passed along to the F.B.I. and other intelligence agencies, according to the law enforcement officials. Five months later, when Mr. Rahami's father told the police that he was concerned about his son having terrorist sympathies, federal agents again examined his travel history. And again..., the concerns were not found to warrant a deeper inquiry. Ahmad Rahami was not interviewed by federal agents." -- CW

Frank Rich on the recent terrorist attacks & coverage of them, the presidential race, & NBC Entertainment's Trump toadying.

Benjamin Wallace-Wells of the New Yorker: "Arlie Russell Hochschild, a sociologist at the University of California, Berkeley, has just published a book, 'Strangers in their Own Land,' that tries to understand the emotional roots of the Tea Party movement and the Trump phenomenon.... Hochschild noticed that Tea Party enthusiasts and traditional conservatives gave her accounts of American society that boiled down to a single 'deep story.' This story was that America, which was once characterized by hard work, was now characterized by cheating; the image that Hochschild chose was that of people cutting in line." An interesting sociological study of rural America's decay. --safari

Cafeteria Catholics. Emma Green of The Atlantic: "There are lots of ways to be a Catholic public leader in the United States. But the only path that's impossible, it seems, is to advocate policies that fully follow the Church's teachings on Jesus. Politicians of both parties have to pick and choose their theology, sticking to party lines that defy the United States Conference on Catholic Bishops' guide to faithful citizenship.... Far from taking positions that are distinctive to their faith, many hold views that reflect their partisan allegiances." --safari

Natasha Geiling of ThinkProgress: "On Wednesday morning, 31 countries officially ratified the Paris climate agreement, pushing it over one of the required thresholds needed for the agreement to enter into force. Sixty parties, representing 48 percent of the world's emissions, have now officially joined. For the Paris agreement to enter into force, at least 55 nations, representing at least 55 percent of global emissions, must formally ratify. That means that the agreement needs just 7 percent more greenhouse gas emissions before the agreement can enter into force." --safari...

... BUT Capitalism is Too Awesome, Ctd. Arthur Nelson of the Guardian, "A far-reaching global trade deal being negotiated in secret could threaten the goals of the Paris climate deal by making it harder for governments to favour clean energy over fossil fuels, a leak of the latest negotiating text shows. The controversial Trade in Services Agreement (Tisa) aims to liberalise trade between the EU and 22 countries across the global services sector, which employs tens of millions in Europe alone...But a new EU text seen by the Guardian would oblige signatories to work towards 'energy neutrality' between renewable energy and fossil fuel power...but governments would first have to prove the necessity for regulations that legally constrain multinationals. The same clause was used in the World Trade Organisation's Gatt and Gats treaties which entered into force in 1995, and led to 44 complaints by multinationals via their governments. Of these, 43 were upheld." --safari

If this [whistleblower] was supposed to be at the branch at 8:30 a.m. and they showed up at 8:32 a.m, they would fire them. -- Former Wells Fargo human resources official ...

... Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Adam Raymond of New York: "On Tuesday, Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf told the Senate Banking Committee that bank employees are 'encouraged to raise their hands' if they see illegal activity taking place. Turns out, that's so they can be fired. That's allegedly what happened to a handful of employees, who told CNN that they were let go after blowing the whistle on the fraudulent practices that resulted in $185 million in fines for the bank.... In addition to the fired employees, CNN spoke to someone who used to work in Wells Fargo HR. This official confirmed that the bank's strategy for dealing with whistle-blowers was to find ways to fire them 'in retaliation for shining light.'" -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Kate Zernike & Noah Remnick of the New York Times: "On the morning that Patrick J. Foye ordered the reversal of the mysterious lane closings near the George Washington Bridge in September 2013, Bill Baroni, [now on trial] appeared in his office, visibly on edge. Mr. Baroni, Gov. Chris Christie's top appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the bridge, beseeched Mr. Foye, the agency's executive director [appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York], to reclose the lanes. He kept pressing even after Mr. Foye reminded him that ambulances had been caught in the gridlock caused by the lane closings.... 'He said the issue was important to Trenton,' Mr. Foye recalled on Wednesday during testimony in United States District Court. 'I took that to be the governor's office.'" -- CW

Republicans demand hands off by big government and reduced spending. Oops...unless they're the ones who want it. Rich Perry of Saint Peter's Blog: Florida governor Rick Scott is incensed that President Obama won't open the door to the money room for him to mooch off. 'But in a letter directed to the President on Tuesday, the governor lays out the case that it's beyond time for the feds to help out the nation's third-biggest state, following the damages incurred from Hurricane Hermine.... The governor states there has been more than $36 million in damages due to the hurricane. A presidential disaster declaration would provide federal resources to support recovery efforts in Florida." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Akhilleus: Funny that wingers in Florida are demanding help from the government for events caused largely by climate change, something they claim doesn't exist. Then they want government money for the Pulse nightclub slayings, this in a state that celebrates gun ownership to the point of rampant idiocy. The reporter suggests that denial of assistance is due to Scott's repeated attempts to undermine the president's programs such as the ACA but offers no proof. Typical.

From Lovely Farm-to-Table Dinner to "Bloody Brawl." Nick Miller of the (Sacramento) East Bay Express: "Multiple sources have confirmed that Sacramento Mayor, former NBA star, and UC Berkeley standout Kevin Johnson was hit in the face with a pie [Wednesday] night at a farm-to-table dinner event -- then he tackled and assaulted the protester in a 'bloody' brawl.... After [throwing the pie], the protester reportedly said something to Johnson. This prompted the mayor to allegedly tackle the protester and punch him in the face "repeatedly," more than half a dozen times, landing 'five to 10' blows.... witnesses say that the pie-thrower was hit multiple times in the face and will definitely need stitches, and that there was visible blood.... Police said that the there was a cut above the suspect's eye, but that he did not know the size. However, Thompson was transported to a local hospital after the incident, police confirmed.... [The pie-thrower' Sean Thompson was arrested for felony assault of a public official." Apparently Johnson was not. ...

... CW: Mayor Johnson, who attended the high school where the event was held, is married to education wingnut Michelle Rhee, who also was at the dinner. Johnson turned the school into a charter school. I'd say a pie-in-the-face was warranted. Note the difference in tone & content of the SacBee's coverage, linked here, & the Express's report. ...

... Last year Dave McKenna of Deadspin wrote an extremely negative account of Kevin Johnson's "civic" career. -- CW

Way Beyond

Barbara Starr of CNN: "ISIS is suspected of firing a shell with mustard agent that landed at the Qayyara air base in Iraq Tuesday where US and Iraqi troops are operating, according to several US officials. The shell was categorized by officials as either a rocket or artillery shell. After it landed on the base, just south of Mosul, US troops tested it and received an initial reading for a chemical agent they believe is mustard.No US troops were hurt or have displayed symptoms of exposure to mustard agent." -- CW

The Commentariat -- Sept. 21, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Republicans demand hands off by big government and reduced spending. Oops...unless they're the ones who want it. Rich Perry of Saint Peter's Blog: Florida governor Rick Scott is incensed that President Obama won't open the door to the money room for him to mooch off. 'But in a letter directed to the President on Tuesday, the governor lays out the case that it's beyond time for the feds to help out the nation's third-biggest state, following the damages incurred from Hurricane Hermine.... The governor states there has been more than $36 million in damages due to the hurricane. A presidential disaster declaration would provide federal resources to support recovery efforts in Florida."...

... Akhilleus: Funny that wingers in Florida are demanding help from the government for events caused largely by climate change, something they claim doesn't exist. Then they want government money for the Pulse nightclub slayings, this in a state that celebrates gun ownership to the point of rampant idiocy. The reporter suggests that denial of assistance is due to Scott's repeated attempts to undermine the president's programs such as the ACA but offers no proof. Typical.

Tim Berners-Lee & Daniel Weitzner in a Washinton Post op-ed explain to Ted Cruz that he does not own the internet. "Sen. Ted Cruz wants to engineer a United States takeover of a key Internet organization, ICANN, in the name of protecting freedom of expression. Cruz's proposal is one of the key sticking points in finalizing the government spending bill necessary to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30.... ICANN, in fact, has no power whatsoever over individual speech online. ICANN -- the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers -- supervises domain names on the Internet. The actual flow of traffic, and therefore speech, is up to individual network and platform operators." ...

... Akhilleus: Cruz's contention comes from the mistaken, not to say ignorant, belief that somehow the US owns the internet. It does not. In fact, Tim Berners-Lee, widely credited with inventing the modern internet, is an Englishman who was working in Geneva when he came up with the original programming for internet protocols. Once again, Cruz is trying to shut down the government based on lies. Lying has become the most essential item in the Confederate tool box. Oh, and by the way, since when has Ted Cruz been a proponent of free speech for anyone who isn't a far right Confederate asshole?

*****

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama on Tuesday called for a 'course correction' in the march to an integrated world, saying the gains made in recent decades were threatened by 'uncertainty and unease and strife.' Mr. Obama, making his valedictory address before the United Nations General Assembly in New York, painted a picture of nations struggling with economic inequality, sectarian conflict and rising nationalism. 'We cannot dismiss these visions,' he said. 'They are powerful. They reflect dissatisfaction among too many of our citizens.'" -- CW ...

Eric Schmitt, et al., of the New York Times: "The Obama administration thinks there is a high probability that Russian airstrikes were responsible for the deadly bombing of a United Nations humanitarian aid convoy, United States officials said Tuesday. The officials said that the administration wanted to allow Moscow the time and space to investigate and announce its own conclusions about the bombing on Monday, which destroyed much of a 31-truck convoy that had been authorized to travel to a rebel-held area in northern Syria. Aghast at the attack, United Nations officials on Tuesday suspended all aid convoys in the war-ravaged country, describing the bombing as a possible war crime and calling the bombers cowards. The attack threatened to completely unravel a fragile agreement between Russia and the United States...." -- CW

Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "The chief executive of Wells Fargo where bankers opened secret and unauthorized credit card and deposit accounts for customers for at least five years in an attempt to meet sales goals -- told a Senate panel Tuesday morning that the illegal activity might have gone on even longer and that no senior executives had been fired as a result. Senators on both sides of the aisle expressed anger and indignation at the chief executive, John G. Stumpf, with several lawmakers calling for him to give back some of his rich compensation.... The executive who oversaw the retail bank, Carrie Tolstedt, was permitted to retire in July rather than be held accountable for the problems, Mr. Stumpf acknowledged.... Senator Elizabeth Warren ... called on Mr. Stumpf to resign and for him to be criminally investigated." -- CW ...

... CW: Warren has never been a prosecutor, but she tried & convicted Stumpf on Tuesday in less than 10 minutes. ...

... David Dayen in the New Republic: "Yesterday's Senate Banking Committee hearing on Wells Fargo should have ended with CEO John Stumpf hauled off in handcuffs. In a little over two hours, Stumpf revealed enough information, combined with what was already known in public records and filings, to make a powerful case for securities fraud. Specifically, that he touted fraudulent sales figures to investors as evidence of the bank's growth, boosting the stock price and personally benefiting by $200 million. Worst of all, Stumpf used low-paid workers as the raw materials for this scheme, and as the scapegoats when it unraveled.... Will President Barack Obama's administration end its tenure as it began, by refusing to prosecute systemic fraud in the financial markets? That's the unavoidable conclusion so far." -- CW ...

... Dana Milbank: "When Wells Fargo chairman and chief executive John Stumpf sat before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday, he represented a bank too big to fail, too sprawling to manage and too arrogant to own up to its failures.... If high-level bankers didn't go to prison for the subprime hijinks that caused the 2008 crash, it's a safe bet that none will in the Wells Fargo scandal, either. But if arrogance were a criminal offense, Stumpf would be looking at a life sentence. The bank's fraud, and the executive's insolence, may have one salutary result: It takes off the agenda any plan to dismantle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau...." -- CW

Lee Fang of the Intercept: "Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, the author of the 2010 Citizens United decision that unraveled almost a century of campaign finance law, doesn't seem to care that the central premise of his historic decision has quickly unraveled. I spoke briefly to Kennedy during his visit to the U.S. Courthouse in Sacramento, before his security detail escorted me out of the room.... Kennedy, after listening to my question about the false crux of his decision, waved his hand and shrugged off the issue:... 'Well, I don't comment ... on my cases.... That's for the bar and the lower bench to figure out.'... Despite his claim that he does not comment on cases, Kennedy often discusses his decisions." Kennedy's security people would only let Fang back into the room if they could screen his questions, an offer he declined. -- CW

Guardian: "Federal prosecutors have charged Ahmad Khan Rahami with planting a series of bombs in New York and New Jersey, including one that injured 31 people when it blew up on a busy street. Rahami is charged with using weapons of mass destruction, and several other charges related to the use of explosives in 'furtherance of a crime of violence'. The criminal complaint was unsealed Tuesday at a federal court in Manhattan." -- CW ...

... Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "Two years before the bombings that Ahmad Khan Rahami is suspected of carrying out in New York and New Jersey, his father told the police that he suspected his son might be involved in terrorism, prompting a review by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the agency said on Tuesday. The father, Mohammad Rahami, in a brief interview, said that at the time he told agents from the F.B.I. about his concern, his son had just had a fight with another of his sons and stabbed the man, leading to a criminal investigation.... 'In August 2014, the F.B.I. initiated an assessment of Ahmad Rahami based upon comments made by his father after a domestic dispute that were subsequently reported to authorities,' the agency said in a statement. 'The F.B.I. conducted internal database reviews, interagency checks, and multiple interviews, none of which revealed ties to terrorism.'" -- CW

Olivia Solon of the Guardian: "The FBI paid more than $1.3m to unlock the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone 5C, but one computer scientist from Cambridge University has shown that the passcodes can be hacked using a store-bought kit worth less than $100. Sergei Skorobogatov demonstrated a technique known as NAND mirroring -- dismissed by the FBI director, James Comey, as being unworkable -- to break into any model of iPhone up to the iPhone 6, including the iPhone 5C. He outlined the attack in a paper published last week as well as a YouTube video." -- CW

We don't know where these people come from. We don't know if they have love or hate in their heart, and there's no way to tell. -- Donald Trump, on displaced Syrians, speaking at a campaign rally in Canton, Ohio ...

... Louisa Loveluck of the Washington Post outlines for Trump the rigorous vetting process Syrian refugees go through before the are admitted to the U.S.

Yet Another Charity Scammer. Spencer Hsu of the Washington Post: "Federal prosecutors announced an eight-count indictment Tuesday against Patricia P. Driscoll, charging her with a fraud and tax-evasion scheme as president of the Armed Forces Foundation, a Washington-based charity that assists veterans. Driscoll resigned July 12 after 12 years at the military charity following an ESPN 'Outside the Lines' report on her alleged mishandling of funds. In a December tax filing, the foundation reported it had 'become aware of suspected misappropriations' by Driscoll totaling about $600,000 from 2006 to 2014." -- CW ...

... CW: Also, too, Driscoll might be a "trained assassin"! If Driscoll is looking for one of those work-from-home/prison jobs, she should send her resume' to Donald Trump. She's a perfect fit right for the Trump Org.

Presidential Race

Paul Waldman contrasts Hillary Clinton's approach to terrorism -- keep calm, be vigilant -- and Donald Trump's -- be petrified, vote for a big-mouthed jerk. CW: I know there are millions of Americans who see a terrorist lurking around every corner, but it seems to me that "normal" people would intuitively find Clinton's realistic approach much more sensible & comforting. Moreover, Clinton's approach implies that individual citizens have the power to be part of the solution, whereas Trump is arguing -- without having any workable, Constitutional plan -- that when he's in charge terrorists will turn to pixie dust. That is, Trump is pitching a non-plan that would reduce people to helpless babies. Clinton's response to terrorism is the right one -- and, I think, a winner. (See also Skittles Math! linked below) ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "... Hillary Clinton sought Tuesday to present herself as a model of 'steady leadership' in the face of terrorist attacks and took a shot at Republican Donald Trump's temperament and preparation for handling such moments. 'We know what it takes,' Clinton said at the outset of a call with a team of national security and counterterrorism advisers. 'We can't lose our cool and start ranting and waving our arms. We shouldn't toss around extreme proposals that won't be effective and lose sight of who we are. That's what the terrorists are aiming for.'" -- CW

Burgess Everett of Politico: "... Sen. Harry Reid declared Tuesday on the Senate floor that Donald Trump is a 'swindler' who is 'not as rich as he would have us believe.... Simply put, Trump is faking his net worth because he doesn't want us to know that he's not a good businessman,' Reid said. 'Since 2008, Trump has not donated a single penny to his own charity ... does he have money to donate? He says he does, but he doesn't.'... With just a handful of congressional days in session before the election, Reid is unleashing increasingly heated attacks on Trump and Senate Republicans supporting him. Last week, he called Trump a 'human leech' and suggested the business mogul is overweight.... And Republicans aren't exactly rushing to shield Trump from Reid's attacks; many, in fact, have said that Trump should release his tax returns in accordance with presidential tradition." -- CW

Deportation Don. Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "With less than a week until the first general election debate, Donald J. Trump has used his recent rallies to sharpen the nationalist message he has embraced throughout the campaign.... In a typical campaign, nominees of both parties modulate positions to appeal to independent voters.... Mr. Trump, on the other hand.... ha heightened his incendiary comments in recent days, striking notes of nationalism as he continues to call for drastic changes to the immigration system.... Mr. Trump's calls for large-scale deportations are opposed by a majority of national voters. And his comments are more familiar to a brand of nationalism seen in France, by figures like Marine Le Pen." -- CW ...

... I do think one reason Trump says outrageous things is to try to hide substantive stories about his shady escapades & (allegedly) criminal acts, like these:

** David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump spent more than a quarter-million dollars from his charitable foundation to settle lawsuits that involved [his] ... for-profit businesses, according to interviews and a review of legal documents. Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump's charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against 'self-dealing' -- which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses.... More broadly, these cases­ [which Fahrenthold lists, including Trump's using his foundation to buy yet another portrait of himself] also provide new evidence that Trump ran his charity in a way that may have violated U.S. tax law and gone against the moral conventions of philanthropy.... The four new cases of possible self-dealing were discovered in the Trump Foundation's tax filings. While Trump has refused to release his personal tax returns, the foundation's filings are required to be public." CW: So just imagine what-all the tax returns would reveal. ...

... Charles Pierce figures out the gist of the second case ["Pulitzer vacuuum"] Fahrenthold cites: "Call me cynical, but doesn't this sound very much like Trump's people arranged a million-dollar hole-in-one contest that they knew nobody could win because they knew the hole was short? And then, when they got caught, El Caudillo del Mar-A-Lago tapped the foundation to cover his ass. Please, by all means, hand this guy the federal treasury to play with." -- CW ...

... CW: When Trump boasts that he "I don't settle," he means, "I settle, but with other people's money." ...

... Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Donald Trump bragged Tuesday there's 'nothing like' using other people's money, hours after a report said he used more than $250,000 from his charitable organization to litigate lawsuits against his business interests. Trump, while calling for building safe zones in Syria financed by Gulf states, vaunted the benefits of doing business with 'OPM.' 'It's called OPM. I do it all the time in business. It's called other people's money,' Trump said. 'There's nothing like doing things with other people's money because it takes the risk -- you get a good chunk out of it and it takes the risk.'" -- CW ...

... CW: Now, let's imagine if the news was that Hillary Clinton had used the Clinton Foundation to pay off her personal legal debts. Would it be a one-day story, after which Republicans & the media would move on to her latest hair-do or forensic examinations of photos of her earpiece cheat?

     ... Update: Or something funny about Clinton's eyes?

By the way, Lester is a Democrat. It's a phony system. They are all Democrats. It's a very unfair system. -- Donald Trump, complaining to Bill O'Reilly about NBC News anchor Lester Holt, who will moderate the first presidential debate ...

... Zeke Miller of Time: "New York State voter registration documents show that Holt has been a registered Republican in the state since 2003." -- CW ...

... Paul Waldman: "Perhaps Trump was confused by the fact that Holt is black, and ignored the fact that he's also really rich." -- CW

Matea Gold & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: "A late infusion of big money is allowing congressional super PACs to ratchet up their spending in the final weeks before Election Day, financing an air war that will inundate voters in key states, according to campaign finance reports filed Tuesday. On the right, Las Vegas Sands chief executive Sheldon Adelson and other wealthy Republican contributors swelled the coffers of the Senate Leadership Fund, a GOP-allied super PAC that raised more in August than it had in the entire 2016 election cycle.... On the left, the pro-Democratic Senate Majority PAC raised $11.6 million in August, the group's largest monthly take this cycle. The biggest donor was Alexander Soros, a son of investor George Soros, who contributed $1.25 million." -- CW ...

... Nicholas Confessor & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon G. Adelson is shifting tens of millions of dollars into groups backing congressional Republicans despite months of entreaties from allies of Donald J. Trump, according to several Republicans with knowledge of Mr. Adelson's giving, dealing a major setback to Mr. Trump's efforts to rally deep-pocketed Republican givers." -- CW ...

... Andrew Sorkin of the New York Times: "In conversations over the last several months with chief executives and other business leaders..., with few exceptions, at some point, most of the executives say something critical, even derogatory, about Donald Trump -- but it is quickly followed by, 'I could never say that on the record.' Almost as quickly, I ask why. The answer is almost universal: fear." This includes fear of retaliation from Trump and fear of losing pro-Trump customers. -- CW

David Graham of the Atlantic: "Donald Trump Jr. isn't just his father's namesake or dark-haired doppelgänger. He is increasingly emerging as his father's id -- or perhaps simply his father's emissary to the alt-right. Over the last few weeks, Trump has made an effort to tone down his rhetoric and try to avoid the most outrageous comments, the ones that endeared him to the racists, misogynists, and xenophobes who gather in darker corners of the internet.... But it's still important to maintain the base, and that role seems to have fallen to Donald Trump Jr. Trump fils has been increasingly catering to the fringe right in his social-media statements and interviews.... Even as the Skittles controversy bubbled Tuesday morning, Trump Jr. tweeted a link to a [race-baiting] Breitbart story.... The outstanding question now is whether Trump Jr. is a true believer in white genocide or is simply playing one for cynical political purposes...." -- CW ...

... Patrick Evans of BBC News: "Donald Trump Jr's tweet comparing Skittles to refugees has caused a furore on social media. In a new development, the man who took the photo of the Skittles has revealed himself to be a former refugee. David Kittos, 48, from Guildford, UK, [told the BBC], 'This was not done with my permission, I don't support Trump's politics and I would never take his money to use it..... In 1974, when I was six-years old, I was a refugee from the Turkish occupation of Cyprus so I would never approve the use of this image against refugees.'" ...

... How is Donald Trump's Skittles tweet flawed? Judd Legum of Think Progress counts the ways. ...

Yes, my child! Just as a single poisonous mushrooms can kill a whole family, so a solitary Jew can destroy a whole village, a whole city, even an entire Volk. -- Nazi Julius Streicher, in his "children's book" Der Giftpilz, 1938 ...

... Naomi LaChance of the Intercept: "Donald Trump Jr.'s tweet comparing Syrian refugees to Skittles has deep roots. The concept dates back at least to 1938 and a children's book called Der Giftpilz, or The Toadstool, in which a mother explains to her son that it only takes one Jew to destroy an entire people.... The book's author, Julius Streicher, also published a newspaper that Adolf Hitler loved to read, Der Stürmer. The newspaper published anti-Semitic, anti-Catholic, anti-communist, and anti-capitalist propaganda. In 1933, soon after Hitler took power, Streicher used his newspaper to call for the extermination of the Jews.... Streicher was hanged at Nuremburg in 1946 for crimes against humanity." -- CW: Not surprising at all that another of Junior Drumpf's "ideas" has its roots in Nazi propaganda. ...

... Skittles Math! Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "The libertarian (and Koch brothers-backed) think tank Cato Institute published a report last week assessing the risk posed by refugees. That report stated that, each year, the risk to an American of being killed by a refugee in a terror attack is 1 in 3.64 billion.... We're talking about one-and-a-half Olympic swimming pools of Skittles[, not a little bowlful].... There's another layer of complexity. The 200 million Skittles a day that end up in the pool have all passed through Wrigley's stringent quality control system. To continue the analogy in an increasingly awkward way, the United States already screens refugees that arrive in the United States through a multilevel process.... Americans born in America commit hundreds of murders a year. In 2014, there were 4.5 murders for every 100,000 Americans. That's a rate thousands of times higher than what's under consideration here." ...

     ... Trump's Ark. CW: Marvin S. has a great idea in today's Comments, but I'll one-up him: looks like the only sure cure for domestic terrorism is to (a) vote for Trump; (b) he'll deport every person living in the U.S.A. (to someplace), except himself & his family. (No exceptions, Sean Hannity!) Trump is kinda like God & Noah rolled into one.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "CNN commentator and former Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was paid $20,000 in August by the campaign for what it described as 'strategy consulting,' raising anew the conflict of interest issue that has dogged the cable network's hiring of Lewandowski. CNN has said previously that Trump's payments to Lewandowski and his consulting firm were 'severance' for his employment by Trump. It began introducing his appearances on the air last month by mentioning that he receives severance from Trump.... [The 'strategy consulting'] would put CNN in the position of employing a person who is also compensated by the campaign and the candidate he comments on -- conflict that most journalistic organizations prohibit.... CNN chairman Jeff Zucker has repeatedly defended the hiring of Lewandowski...." -- CW ...

... MEANWHILE... Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: Sean Hannity is endorsing Donald Trump in a video by Trump's campaign. And today "Hannity will host Trump for a town-hall discussion in Cleveland focusing on 'African-American concerns.'... 'We had no knowledge that Sean Hannity was participating in this [ad],' says a Fox News spokesperson, 'and he will not be doing anything along these lines for the remainder of the election.'" CW: I had no knowledge that either Trump or Hannity had "African-American concerns."

Dave Itzkoff of the New York Times: On her Monday night show, Samantha Bee wentfull frontal on Jimmy Fallon for cuddling up with Donald Trump -- on the same day Trump refused to tell WashPo reporter Robert Costa whether or not he believe President Obama was an American. "'If [Fallon] thinks that a race-baiting demagogue is O.K., that gives permission to millions of Americans to also think that,' she continued." Read the whole post; Itzkoff reminds us of NBC's culpability in promoting Trump. CW: Does Fallon's chummy performance put any pressure on NBC News star Lester Holt not to grin & ruffle Trump's hair? Or does he have his marching orders from NBC suits who are planning to add "Political Apprentice" to next fall's schedule? ...

Aww, Trump can be a total sweetheart with someone who has no reason to be terrified of him. I notice there were no cutaway shots to The Roots. I wonder why. -- Samantha Bee, on Fallon's "interview" of Donald Trump ...

... Speaking of late-nite comedy hosts, contributor unwashed links Stephen Colbert's assessment of Donald Trump's birther announcement & Trump's history of charitable giving (profanity bleeped):

... AND here's Seth Meyers -- NBC's late-late-nite anti-Fallon -- on Birther Trump & Bridgegate Christie, also via unwashed:

... AND I thought Trump ended Hillary Clinton's birther obsession long ago. Period. Richard Ruelas of the Arizona Republic in USA Today: "Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio [CW: and Trump backer] on Tuesday vowed to the Surprise Tea Party Patriots, the group that five years ago petitioned him to investigate President Obama's birth certificate, that he was continuing the inquiry. 'I don't care where he's from,' Arpaio [said].... 'We are looking at a forged document. Period.'" ...

... CW: Um, exactly how long does it take to examine "a forged document"? It took researchers less than a year to determine the age of the Shroud of Turin (although, admittedly, the faithful have spent years questioning the findings).

Beyond the Beltway

Joe Marusak & Ely Portillo of the Charlotte (North Carolina) Observer: "A dozen police officers were injured Tuesday night in clashes with several hundred people protesting an officer-involved fatal shooting in the University City area.... In Charlotte, a crowd of several hundred shouting protesters continued to block streets well after midnight, despite the use of tear gas by police in riot gear.... By shortly before 3 a.m., the demonstrators had shut down all lanes of Interstate 85 northbound and started a fire on the highway, before being dispersed by police with nightsticks.... The man who died was identified late Tuesday as Keith Lamont Scott, 43, and the officer who fired the fatal shot was CMPD Officer Brentley Vinson, a police statement said. Both men were African-American, a police source confirmed." -- CW

Peter Holley, et al., of the Washington Post: "A day after police in Oklahoma released video that shows a white Tulsa police officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man, attorneys representing the slain man's family released photos that they said contradict a key claim in authorities' version of events. At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Benjamin Crump -- a civil rights lawyer who has represented many families of those killed in high-profile police shootings -- said Terence Crutcher never reached his hands into the driver's side window of his stalled sport-utility vehicle [as the police have claimed] before he was shot by police. Crutcher couldn't have reached into the vehicle, Crump said, because enhanced photos of the vehicle taken from police video show that the window was rolled up." -- CW

The Commentariat -- Sept. 20, 2016

Edgar Sandoval & Jason Silverstein of the New York Daily News: "Authorities nabbed the man wanted in connection with the weekend bombings in New York City and New Jersey after he shot a police officer Monday morning, according to reports. Ahmad Khan Rahami, 28, was the first person identified in connection with the bombings. NBC New York and CNN reported that Rahami was in custody after shooting an officer in Linden, N.J. around 11 a.m. Details about the shooting were not immediately released." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Marc Santora, et al., of the New York Times: "The man believed to be responsible for the explosion in Manhattan on Saturday night and an earlier bombing in New Jersey, Ahmad Khan Rahami, was taken into custody on Monday after he was wounded by gunfire in an encounter with the police, according to law enforcement officials. The dramatic episode on a rain-soaked street in Linden, N.J., came after the police issued a cellphone alert to millions of residents in the area telling them to be on the lookout for the suspect, who was described as 'armed and dangerous.'... Mr. Rahami, 28, was identified on surveillance video planting the bombs in Chelsea, both the device that exploded and another that did not detonate a few blocks away. He was described as a naturalized citizen of Afghan descent who had been living with his family in Elizabeth, N.J.... Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who said on Sunday that the attack did not appear to have a link to international terrorism, said new evidence might change that thinking." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... The story has been updated several times. "The showdown [in Linden, N.J.,] started around 10:30 a.m. when a resident spotted a man sleeping in the doorway of a bar, officials said.... The officer ordered Mr. Rahami to show hands, [Capt. James Sarnicki of the Linden Police Department] said, but instead, he pulled out a handgun. He shot the officer in the abdomen..., but the bullet struck his vest.... 'The officer returned fire,' he said. Mr. Rahami fled, 'indiscriminantly firing his weapon at passing vehicles.' By sundown, Mr. Rahami had been charged with seven counts, including five counts of attempted murder of a law enforcement officer, with bail set at $5.2 million." ...

President Obama spoke Monday morning about the attacks in New York, New Jersey & Minnesota:

... Tom Haydon of NJ.com: "Two homeless men found the backpack with the five pipe bombs in the city Sunday and saved lives by reporting it to police, Mayor Christian Bollwage said." -- CW

Presidential Race

Alexander Burns & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton accused Donald J. Trump on Monday of imperiling American national security with his campaign messages as Mr. Trump called for a crackdown on immigration and for unrestrained police profiling of people from the Muslim world after bombings in New York and New Jersey.... Both candidates reached for the mantle of toughness, in starkly different ways. Mrs. Clinton stressed her national security credentials, measuring her words carefully and charging Mr. Trump with recklessness.... At a morning news conference inside an airport hangar in rainy Westchester County, [Clinton] urged Americans to show 'courage and vigilance,' and not to demonize Muslims or Americans of foreign origin. And describing herself as the only candidate in the race with experience fighting terrorism, Mrs. Clinton charged that Mr. Trump had helped the Islamic State and other terror groups with his campaign oratory broadly denouncing Muslims." -- CW ...

... CW: This is a unique New York Times story in that it focuses on Clinton's accurate &/or reasonable accusations against Trump, but relegates Trump's bluster to the latter part of a story (Para. 13, in the story's current [8:30 pm ET Monday] configuration). Most of the Times' stories focus on Trump's saying something nutty, then way down the page mention whatever normal thing Clinton said about the matter. Here's a good part of the reason for the reversal of coverage: Clinton got out on front on this one. Clinton's remarks about the bombings were measured, forceful, and, you know, "presidential." And, no, Reince, you misogynist prick, she wasn't smiling while discussing terrorism. ...

By Driftglass.... MEANWHILE, at the Washington Post, the front-page headline puts Trump before Clinton, but the headline on the story page puts Clinton before Trump. The WashPo story, by Anne Gearan & others, gives more prominence than does the Times to Trump, who says the usual alpha-boy, unconstitutional stuff: "... the United States is too tentative in its efforts against terrorism overseas. The better approach would be to 'knock the hell out of them' and possibly introduce profiling as a counterterrorism tactic, he added. 'Our local police, they know who a lot of these people are,' Trump said in the Fox interview. 'They are afraid to do anything about it, because they don't want to be accused of profiling. And they don't want to be accused of all sorts of things.' He concluded: 'Do we have a choice? Look what's going on. Do we really have a choice? We're trying to be so politically correct in our country.'" -- CW ...

... Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: At a rally in Estero, Florida, "Trump also bemoaned what he said was the plush treatment that would be accorded to Rahami. 'The bad part,' he said, 'now we will give him amazing hospitalization. He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world. He will be given a fully modern and updated hospital room. And he'll probably even have room service, knowing the way our country is. And, on top of that, he will be represented by an outstanding lawyer. Trump concluded by noting 'and his punishment will not be what it once would have been. What a sad situation.'" -- CW

Jonah Bromwich of the New York Times: "Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the eldest child of Robert F. Kennedy, said in a Facebook post on Monday that the elder President George Bush told her that he planned to vote for Hillary Clinton. The former president, however, is not talking." CW: Hillary's husband, of course, made Bush I a one-term president. But the old man has some integrity: he's one of the few GOP leaders to put principle before party.

CW: So somebody found a two-year-old Reddit post that might imply that somebody who might be connected to Hillary Clinton might have been asking how to scrub Clinton's e-mail account, so naturally the House of Representatives is INVESTIGATING! They just can't stop.

Donald Trump: Newscaster. Also, Something New -- Media Unfair to Trump. Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump on Monday morning claimed credit for accurately calling the weekend's explosion in Manhattan a bombing, even before full details were in, as the Republican presidential nominee attempts to exploit the latest terror threats to boost his campaign. Trump slammed the media for attacking him over his early use of the bomb term and accused them of editing out clips of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton using a similar term.... The real estate mogul suggested the media were attacking him not because he cited the explosion as a bombing before it was confirmed but because polls are tightening." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Akhilleus: Trump seems to think that the term newscaster is the same as earliest guesser. Another example of how little factual information penetrates, or matters inside the cramped quarters of  the orange dome. ...

... Washington Post Editors: "In commending law enforcement and counterterrorism officials, President Obama on Monday stressed the importance of letting them do their jobs so as to prevent false reports or incomplete information. The obvious need for such prudence sadly -- but not surprisingly -- did not seem to matter to ... Donald Trump. Before there was any determination of the Chelsea explosion's source, Mr. Trump nonetheless proclaimed at a campaign stop in Colorado that a bomb had gone off. He may have guessed right, but that would be a reckless way to do business in the Oval Office. Equally disturbing was Mr. Trump's bombast about how he would approach terrorism -- 'knock the hell out of 'em' -- and maybe use racial profiling. By contrast, Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton wanted to know the facts, and called for the support of first responders and prayers for the injured. It was the kind of calm and caution one naturally expects from a leader." -- CW

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Despite the news that the Bridgegate trial will produce evidence, possibly from both the prosecutor & the defense, that New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie knew about the unlawful closing of George Washington Bridge traffic lanes during the period the lanes were closed (see links under Beyond the Beltway), Donald "Trump, in a statement made to The New York Times through an adviser, said he was sticking with Mr. Christie.... When ... Trump campaigned in South Carolina in December..., he [told supporters]..., He totally knew about it....They're with him all the time, the people that did it.'" ...

... CW: How surprising is Trump's "loyalty"? As long as Christie remains a useful idiot -- he's running Trump's transition team & lying on the teevee for the Trumpster -- Trump will fake-BFF him. Haberman points out that Trump did the same for serial sexual abuser Roger Ailes, who continues to work on the Trump campaign. Besides, Trump seems far more comfortable with crooks, liars & other shady characters than with uppity elites. But don't, worry, just as he whacked his friend of 15 years during the primary campaign, he won't give it a second thought to throwing Christie under the bridge against if it benefits Trump.

Peter Eavis of the New York Times: When Donald Trump boycotted a primary debate in January, he held a competing charity event for veterans in Iowa, soliciting donations from across the U.S. But the Trump Foundation, the organization through which many of the donations were made, did not bother to register itself as a charity in most of the 40 states that require such registration. Hope Hicks, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign but not for the foundation, claimed the foundation was in compliance with the law because "'a one-time online donation option for the event ... does not require advance registration.' Charity law specialists said they were not aware of any such sweeping exemption.... The Clinton Foundation ... appears to be registered in nearly all the states, according to a search of state charity records. And the failure of ... the Trump Foundation to register could raise questions about the efficiency of its operations." CW: Thanks, Hope, for making up some crazy shit. As for questions about "the efficiency of the foundation," we all know it's pretty efficient at making illegal political contributions, then hiding them by pretending the money went to charities.

Gene Robinson: "Anyone who takes climate change seriously had better do everything possible to keep Donald Trump out of the White House.... Trump ... is a bald-faced denier. 'Obama's talking about all of this with the global warming and ... a lot of it's a hoax,' he said at a December rally in South Carolina. 'It's a hoax. I mean, it's a moneymaking industry, okay? It's a hoax, a lot of it.' He tweeted in 2012 that 'the concept of global warming was created by and for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.' He later said this was a joke, but during the campaign he has again said he does not believe in climate change and claimed that action to limit carbon emissions 'is done for the benefit of China.'" ...

... CW: That's fine as far as Robinson goes, but commentators need to bring home the point that when it comes to climate policy, Gary Johnson is nearly as bad. He's not a climate-change denier, but he believes that U.S. efforts to try to abate climate change do not justify the cost. So, in effect, there's a difference without a distinction. A vote for Johnson instead of Clinton is a vote for environmental catastrophe.

Brian Beutler: "Trump used birtherism and other forms of racist agitation to build a political base for himself, and now that these defining crusades are impeding his pursuit of political power, he is trying to discard them in the most contemptuous and brazen possible way. Rather than disavow and apologize for his birtherism, he fabricated a new history in which Clinton had given life to the birther movement and he had merely settled the issue by forcing Obama to produce his birth certificate.... Even if the effort fails as it should, it has shown us just how widespread this abusive and contemptuous form of misinformation and racism apologetics has become in Republican politics." -- CW

Dana Milbank: "There was a time when fantasizing aloud about the murder of your opponent would have been beyond the pale -- but not anymore.... If Trump's 'let's see what happens to her' [if her Secret Service detail were disarmed] suggestion were a one-off, there might be an argument for giving Trump the benefit of the doubt. The tendency to regard each Trump outrage in isolation is what allows him to become normalized. But look at the comprehensive output of Trump -- who freely admitted to the Post that 'I bring rage out' in people -- there's no escaping the conclusion that he winks, and sometimes smiles, at political violence.... What's more troubling than what his backers do is how Trump backs them when they do it. He said of protesters: 'maybe he should have been roughed up' and 'I'd like to punch him in the face.'" -- CW

Academics David Dagan, Harold Pollack & Steven Teles in a Washington Post op-ed: "In the past decade, two major movements for criminal justice reform have arisen: the push against mass incarceration and Black Lives Matter's mobilization against police brutality.... Donald Trump has attacked both, arguing that the movements would touch off a new crime epidemic. He's wrong. The research we have shows that we know how to fight crime without using more handcuffs and prison cells.... Trump wants us to ignore all we have learned since the 1990s and to turn our backs on the political progress that both liberals and conservatives have made in the past few years." -- CW ...

... CW: I think we should stipulate that at least since Richard Nixon exploited crime as a campaign issue, many GOP politicians have actually favored high crime, especially as it could be presented as a race-specific problem. Donald Trump likes it so much that he repeatedly lies about the crime rate -- in general, it's been falling for decades, not rising, as Trump claims -- and he loves to drag victims of heinous crimes up on stage as anecdotal "proof" that there's an "illegal" Mexican lurking at every corner with murder in mind.

Junior StormTrumper, still entirely informed by the Racist Daily News:

... CW: Junior retweeted the punctuation-challenged graphic on the right. Winger-racist Joe Walsh retweeted it next to a tweet he sent last month. Meanwhile, the Mars Corp., which makes Skittles, tweeted, "Skittles are candy; refugees are people. It's an inappropriate analogy. We respectfully refrain from further comment, as that could be misinterpreted as marketing" Thanks to MAG for the link. Junior, BTW, who loves to shoot animals for the fun of it, would not apply the same analogy to gun owners. I don't know what percentage of gun owners use their firearms in perpetration of crimes, but Junior sure isn't urging the government to confiscate all guns so as to quash the "bad ones."

Katie Rogers of the New York Times: "Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party presidential candidate, who has struggled in recent weeks to recover from a gaffe in which he was unable to identify Aleppo, in war-torn Syria, appeared to fumble once more on Sunday when he said no one had been injured in two violent events in New York City and Minnesota over the weekend. 'Well, first of all, just grateful that nobody got hurt,' Mr. Johnson told CNN's Brian Stelter in an appearance on the network's 'Reliable Sources.' In fact, 29 people were injured in an explosion in New York's Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday, and nine people were stabbed in St. Cloud, Minn." -- CW

Other News & Views

Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "In long-awaited guidelines for the booming industry of automated vehicles, the Obama administration promised strong safety oversight, but sent a clear signal to automakers that the door was wide open for driverless cars. 'We envision in the future, you can take your hands off the wheel, and your commute becomes restful or productive instead of frustrating and exhausting,' said Jeffrey Zients, director of the National Economic Council, adding that highly automated vehicles 'will save time, money and lives.' The statements were the most aggressive signal yet by federal regulators that they see automated car technology as a win for auto safety." -- CW

Meetings in Jesus Land, D.C. Francine Kiefer of the Christian Science Monitor on the growing influence of congressional prayer meetings: "The Senate breakfast and its companion in the House are invisible to the public. Yet that is exactly what makes them so beneficial, say attendees. The confidentiality of the breakfasts allows lawmakers to get to know each other as human beings. They hear about each other's personal struggles and joys, about concern for family members, friends, and staff. That builds trust and friendship. It can even lead to bipartisan legislation. One participant says that it's the only time when a senator is speaking and others are really listening.... The meetings have their share of critics, who see them as too clubby, too secretive, and too much religious talk under the rotunda." Akhilleus: Because religion and religious nutjobs in congress, not to mention secret meetings, have been so helpful in solving the problems of the republic. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Stumpf Very, Very Sorry He Got Caught Running Massive Criminal Enterprise. Michael Corkery of the New York Times: "The chief executive of Wells Fargo, John G. Stumpf, will say in testimony Tuesday morning that he is 'deeply sorry' for selling customers unauthorized bank accounts and credit cards and that he takes 'full responsibility' for the unethical activity, according to a copy of the remarks prepared for a Senate Banking Committee hearing." -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Christie and the Bridge of Damocles: David Porter of the Washington Post. "A federal prosecutor told jurors Monday that a witness will testify that Republican Gov. Chris Christie was told about a plan to close traffic lanes near the George Washington Bridge as the shutdown was happening, a claim he has contested for years.... Prosecutors said Bill Baroni and Bridget Kelly, two former Christie allies, had sought political revenge against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. Baroni was a top Christie appointee to Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Kelly was Christie's former chief of staff. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna told jurors that David Wildstein, another Port Authority official, will testify he and Baroni made Christie aware of the plan during a 9/11 memorial in New York City in 2013, three days after the gridlock started. 'The evidence will show that ... they bragged about the fact that there were traffic problems in Fort Lee and that Mayor Sokolich was not getting his calls returned,' Khanna said." -- Akhilleus (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Kate Zernike of the New York Times: "It was the first time Mr. Christie, a Republican, has been accused of knowing about the scheme as it unfolded.... Mr. Christie has insisted that he had no knowledge of the plot to close the lanes, and said that he did not recall being told about the closings while they were happening. Defense lawyers have also said that Mr. Christie knew. But the statement on Monday was striking in that it was prosecutors confirming that assertion." -- CW ...

... Ted Sherman & Matt Arco of NJ.com provide many details of Monday's opening statements.

Peter Holley, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tulsa, Okla., police released video footage Monday that shows a white police officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man -- footage that the city's police chief [Chuck Jordan] called 'very disturbing.'... Video shows [Terence Crutcher] walking toward his vehicle with his hands above his head while several officers follow closely behind him with weapons raised. He lingers at his vehicle's driver's side window, his body facing the SUV, before slumping to the ground a second later. 'Shots fired!' a female voice can be heard yelling.... Jordan said investigators never found a weapon on Terence Crutcher or in his vehicle after the 40-year-old was shot and killed Friday as he stood beside his stalled SUV.... U.S. Attorney Danny Williams has announced that the Justice Department has opened an independent investigation into the shooting." Includes video. -- CW ...

... The Tulsa World story is here.

Way Beyond

Meanwhile, in Putin Land. Sarah Rainsford of the BBC Considers the Russian "Elections": "The party founded by Vladimir Putin now controls over three quarters of the seats in parliament, giving it the power to change any law or the constitution.... As [Vladimir Putin's] 'party of power', United Russia is a constant presence on state television - and not just in the run up to elections. That has a huge influence on voters. But a change to the electoral system has also been key. Single-mandate constituencies were reintroduced for half of the seats in parliament and United Russia had a major 'systemic' advantage there." Nonetheless "... significant figures [were] barred from the democratic process. They include Alexei Navalny, seen by many as Mr Putin's most formidable opponent, who is denied access to the main TV channels." Akhilleus: Wouldn't Trump love being able to bar people he hated and feared from the electoral process? One more reason he loves Putin. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)