;)
The Commentariat -- June 30, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Tom LoBianco & Ryan Browne of CNN: "A devastating new report by military investigators released Thursday found that the 10 sailors captured by Iranians in January suffered from 'failed leadership' at all levels on a mission that was plagued by mistakes from beginning to end. 'This incident was the result of failed leadership at multiple levels from the tactical to the operational,' investigators wrote in the detailed, partially redacted, report. The report found the crews were poorly prepared, their boats not properly maintained, communication almost entirely lacking, and their conduct after being captured by the Iranians wasn't up to military standards." ...
... Akhilleus: But this incident, at least partially the fault of "failed leadership" on the part of Navy commanders, was used as a screaming point by a horde of right-wingers. Louie Gohmert (R-Texit) wanted to go to war, and without waiting for any clarification or additional information, demanded that we start bombing Iran "immediately". Contrast that and similar childish meltdowns with the measured and adult responses to a vastly more dangerous situation back in 1968, the taking of the USS Pueblo by the North Koreans. Although there was much consternation over the event, no one of either party demanded we start a war in order to assuage their personal picque.
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter repealed the Pentagon's long-held ban on transgender people serving in the military Thursday, ending a year-long process that was bogged down by internal conflict and concerns among senior service officials about how the change could be made. Carter said at a news conference that the policy change will take place over the next 12 months... Beginning Thursday, however, service members can no longer be involuntarily separated from the services solely on the basis of being transgender, he said. Carter said. 'We have to have access to 100 percent of America's population for our all-volunteer forces to be able to recruit from among them the most highly qualified -- and to retain them.'" ...
... Akhilleus: Screaming to start in....3, 2, 1.
Dirty Trickster-in Chief. Joseph Tanfani of the Los Angeles Times on Donald Trump's personal but secretive role in undermining an American Indian tribe's attempt to run a casino in New York, especially through the use of vicious and untrue attack ads. "Hundreds of pages of records from a New York agency's investigation into the ad campaign, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, reveal new details about Trump's covert fight against the tribe. It was unusual not only for how deeply involved he was, but for the sharp tone of the attacks and the elaborate attempt to conceal his role...The ads hit hard, highlighting news about crimes involving Mohawks to question whether the tribe was fit to run a casino. 'Now the Mohawks want state approval of a $500 million casino ... opening the door for organized crime,' said one ad." ...
... Akhilleus: The guy who regularly tries to insult Senator Elizabeth Warren by calling her "Pocahontas" isn't anti-American Indian. He just wanted to make sure that it was his mob guys who got all the gambling money from New York. Such a wonderful president he'll make.
*****
NEW. Justin Jouvenal of the Washington Post: "All personnel have been directed to shelter in place at Joint Base Andrews in Prince George's County as officials investigate a report of an active shooter, according to the base's official Twitter account. The shelter order was posted shortly after 9 a.m. on Thursday. Officials said the incident was occurring at the Malcolm Grow Medical Facility and first responders were at the scene. It was not immediately clear if any shots were fired or anyone was injured." -- CW ...
... NEWER. Never Mind. "A federal official said there was 'not a shooter,' and the confusion is believed to have stemmed from a drill happening at the same time. The official said someone in a different building saw the drill and called 911, and because of that call, authorities treated it as a real incident."(Same link as above.)
Robin King of the Toronto Star: Canadian "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau..., U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto ... signed a comprehensive North American climate, clean energy and environment partnership and committed themselves to better protecting the LGBT community. During a joint press conference, each leader denounced the isolationism of Brexit and the 'demagoguery' of politicians like Donald Trump, although they were careful not to directly challenge his candidacy.... [Later,] Obama addressed the House of Commons.... It clearly went over well with parliamentarians, who gave standing ovation after standing ovation.... When he was finished, the floor erupted into a chorus of 'Four more years! Four more years!'" -- CW ...
... President Obama, at a joint press conference in Ottawa, on what "populism" really is:
... President Obama on the politics of international trade. Here again, he doesn't name That Name:
Mike DeBonis & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "Rescue legislation aimed at helping Puerto Rico address its mounting fiscal crisis cleared Congress Wednesday, two days before the U.S. territory is set to default on roughly $2 billion in debt payments. The bill passed by the Senate on a 68-to-30 vote opens a path for an orderly restructuring of the island's $72 billion in bond debt while creating a new federally appointed fiscal oversight board. It passed the House earlier this month, and President Obama has said he will sign it." -- CW
Robin Wright of the New Yorker interviews Dr. Anne Stevens, the sister of Ambassador Chris Stevens. The family does not blame Hillary Clinton (or Leon Panetta) for the attack on the Benghazi stations. In addition, they say the aftermath has been entirely politicized. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon. And, yes, there is a connection between this piece & the next one. You'll have to read Schecter to see what it is.) ...
It would be horribly tragic if my ability to protect myself or my family were to be taken away, but that's exactly what Democrats are determined to do by banning semi-automatic handguns. -- Christy Sheats, Houston mother of two ...
... ** Cliff Schecter of the Daily Beast: "That trite nonsense -- found in comment sections of right-wing blogs and across social media -- was posted not too long ago on Facebook.... She's the now infamous mother who tragically ended a family meeting in her living room by chasing her two daughters out the front door while shooting them to death, before she herself was shot and killed by police. It's the kind of thing that would lead to emergency hearings in Congress -- if the GOP were not a corrupt, decaying edifice, only interested in political contributions and appeasing its most hardcore base." Read on. -- CW
Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Marine Corps is investigating allegations of hazing, physical abuse and assault against 15 drill instructors at the Parris Island recruit depot, Marine officials said Wednesday, broadening the scope of a probe first disclosed after the death of a Muslim recruit in March.... The growing scandal is likely to rock the service, which considers the training depot in South Carolina to be hallowed ground. All enlisted female recruits undergo initial Marine training there, as well as all male recruits born east of the Mississippi River. Already, at least two Marine officers have been removed from their jobs." -- CW
Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "As head prosecutors in their counties, just five individuals have been responsible for putting no fewer than 440 prisoners onto death row. If you compare that number to the 2,943 who are currently awaiting execution in the US, it is equivalent to one out of every seven.... The five are profiled in a new report from Harvard Law School's Fair Punishment Project. Titled America's Top Five Deadliest Prosecutors, the report highlights the lion-sized role in the modern death penalty of just four men and one woman. They are: Joe Freeman Britt of Robeson County, North Carolina; Donnie Myers of Lexington, South Carolina; Bob Macy of Oklahoma County; Lynne Abraham of Philadelphia County; and Johnny Holmes of Harris County, Texas." -- CW
Jennifer Rankin of the Guardian: "The US secretary of state has raised doubts about whether Brexit will ever happen, suggesting most leave campaigners do not truly believe in Britain's divorce from the EU and do not know how to achieve it. Claiming there were a number of ways in which Thursday's vote could be 'walked back', John Kerry, who visited Downing Street on Monday, said David Cameron was loth [CW: Middle English!] to invoke article 50, the EU exit procedure." -- CW ...
... CW: I've thought since Saturday or Sunday that Great Britain was likely to stay in the EU. Ironically, it may be the Leave "leaders" who push to remain, while Remain "leaders" like Cameron prattle on about "the will of the people." ...
... Jessica Elgot of the Guardian: "Boris Johnson has unexpectedly ruled himself out of the Conservative leadership race after a turbulent morning in the contest, hours after his key ally Michael Gove challenged him for the top job. Speaking at a hotel in central London, Johnson said the agenda for the next prime minister was for the UK to become a more outward-looking nation that resets its relationship with Europe." -- CW
Josh Rogin of the Washington Post: "In the early morning of June 6, a uniformed Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) guard stationed outside the U.S. Embassy in Moscow attacked and beat up a U.S. diplomat who was trying to enter the compound, according to four U.S. officials who were briefed on the incident. This previously unreported attack occurred just steps from the entrance to the U.S. Embassy complex, which is located ... in Moscow's city center. After being tackled by the FSB guard, the diplomat suffered a broken shoulder, among other injuries. He was eventually able to enter the embassy and was then flown out of Russia to receive urgent medical attention.... The attack caused a diplomatic episode behind the scenes that has not surfaced until now." -- CW
Presidential Race
CW: If you readers don't think you're working me too hard, I got 12 out of 12 in Gail Collins' "Patriotic Presidential Quiz." (Okay, I'll admit several answers were educated guesses.)
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch met with former president Bill Clinton at the airport in Phoenix this week -- an encounter that she described as 'primarily social,' but one that drew instant attention because of the Justice Department's ongoing investigation into the email practices of his wife, Hillary, while she was secretary of state. Lynch confirmed the meeting.... 'No discussions were held on any cases or anything of that,' Lynch said, 'and he didn't raise anything about that either.'" CW: Lynch's remarks would be very disappointing to Right Wing World, as the denizens have been somewhat breathless over the news of this meeting; however, I'm sure they'll all just assume Lynch is lying & took a bribe from Bill to drop the pile of criminal charges she certainly has pending against Missus Clinton. ...
... Drip, Drip, Drip, Ctd., Ctd., Ctd. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "... disclosures over the past several weeks have revealed dozens of emails related to [Hillary] Clinton's official duties that crossed her private server and were not included in the 55,000 pages of correspondence she turned over to the State Department when the agency sought her emails in 2014. At least 69 such emails have come to light so far, many of them through public-records lawsuits brought by the conservative group Judicial Watch.... The newly disclosed gaps in Clinton's correspondence raise questions about the process used by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and her lawyers to determine which emails she turned over to the department." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Drippity Drip Drip. Steven Myers & Eric Lichtblau of the New York Times: "Huma Abedin, Hillary Clinton's longtime aide and confidante, acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton's use of a private email server while secretary of state created frustration at times because of computer glitches but said she did not raise concerns about the unusual arrangement, according to a transcript of a deposition made public on Wednesday." -- CW
Sara Jerde of Think Progress: "Donald Trump said Wednesday that he thought his Republican primary opponents who vowed to support the Party's nominee should follow through or be banned from running for public office. Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Bangor, Maine, said..., "But just remember this, they signed a pledge saying they will abide, saying they will back the candidate of the party. And now they sit back.... They broke their word. In my opinion, they should never be allowed to run for public office again. Because what they did is disgraceful.'" -- CW
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "This week, lawyers for Trump began the process of suing the District of Columbia government to reduce Trump's tax bill for the new Trump International Hotel project. The hotel is set to open in September, just two months before the presidential election in which Trump is all but certain to be the Republican nominee." ...
... CW: Don't say Trump isn't a jobs-creator. Look at all the jobs he creates for corporate lawyers. (Never mind that he sometimes stiffs them.) ...
... NEW. Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump vowed on Tuesday that as president he would put an end to policies that send American jobs overseas, threatening to impose tariffs on Chinese imports and promising to punish companies that relocate their manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor.... But such declarations are at odds with Mr. Trump's long history as a businessman, in which he has been heavily -- and proudly -- reliant on foreign labor in the name of putting profits, rather than America, first. From cheap neckties to television sets, Mr. Trump has benefited from some of the trade practices he now scorns." CW: No inconsistency here: Trump lies about everything & scams everybody. It isn't even hypocrisy: see, Trump didn't write that speech, he just read it. ...
... NEW. Greg Sargent: "... if Romney was vulnerable to getting painted as a heartless plutocrat and walking symbol of the cruelties of globalization and outsourcing, Trump is vulnerable to getting painted as a flim flam man who is selling American workers a scam. Trump is basically selling a two part scam, i.e., crude protectionism and nativism." -- CW ...
Trump embodies everything that is wrong with our current trade policies.... He personally profited from NAFTA. He told students at Trump University that outsourcing creates jobs. And he has consistently sent American jobs overseas to line his own pockets. -- Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO president, Tuesday
If you really want a 1950s economy, you need to accept 1950s living standards -- enjoy your 19-inch black-and-white TV, your Studebaker with bias-ply tires and drum brakes and having fresh fruits and vegetables only in season. -- Scott Miller, trade analyst ...
... Ignoramus-in-Chief, Ctd. Adam Behsudi & Doug Palmer of Politico: "Some of Donald Trump's biggest applause lines come when he's threatening to scrap free-trade agreements or block Chinese goods from U.S. markets. But American global economic relationships are now so complicated -- and deeply intertwined -- that many economists insist his goal of saving manufacturing by shutting open markets will backfire." -- CW ...
... NEW. Greg Sargent: AND, no, Trump is not "to the left of" Hillary Clinton on trade. His whole speech was part of the Big Scam.
Donovan Slack of USA Today: "The National Rifle Association's political arm is launching its first ad campaign of the 2016 presidential race, with a survivor of the terror attack in Benghazi urging viewers to vote for Donald Trump. The ad, which the NRA Political Victory Fund is backing with more than $2 million, is one of the larger expenditures by an outside group on behalf of the presumptive Republican nominee." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)
Plagiarist-in-Chief. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "In 2005..., Mr. Trump ... lent his name, and his credibility, to a seminar business he did not own, which was branded the Trump Institute.... As with Trump University, the Trump Institute promised falsely that its teachers would be handpicked by Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump did little ... besides appear in an infomercial -- one that promised customers access to his vast accumulated knowledge.... In fact, the institute was run by a couple who had run afoul of regulators in dozens of states and been dogged by accusations of deceptive business practices and fraud for decades. Similar complaints soon emerged about the Trump Institute. Yet there was an even more fundamental deceit to the business, unreported until now: Extensive portions of the materials that students received after forking over their seminar fees, supposedly containing Mr. Trump's special wisdom, had been plagiarized from an obscure real estate manual published a decade earlier.
Together, the exaggerated claims about his own role, the checkered pasts of the people with whom he went into business and the theft of intellectual property at the venture's heart all illustrate the fiction underpinning so many of Mr. Trump's licensing businesses: Putting his name on products and services -- and collecting fees -- was often where his actual involvement began and ended. -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Kevin Drum: "In a nutshell, Trump sought out a couple of late-night hustlers who had already been in trouble with the law, taped an infomercial for them, and then pocketed the licensing fee. (They were the 'best in the business,' said the Trump executive who brokered the deal.) Later, having learned the hustle, Trump ended his contract with [those hucksters] and opened up Trump University. He had learned all he needed and was ready to start pushing the hard-sell conference business on his own. Seven years later, he's perfected the hustle even further, so now he's running for president. You're welcome." -- CW ...
... There's a Sucker Registering to Vote Every Minute. Steve M. "But ... 57% of Americans overall approve of how Trump conducts business, while Trump gets only 41% of the vote (to Clinton's 49%) in SurveyMonkey's latest election poll. I interpret that to mean that many voters are rejecting Trump for other reasons -- they still think his business career is legit. (And that's a couple of weeks after Trump University became a major news story.)... When frauds like Trump talk, too many Americans want to believe. America is a nation with a lot of easy marks." -- CW
Alan Rappeport & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: Donald Trump has reversed "himself -- sometimes within hours -- on hot-button campaign issues like immigration, abortion and economic policy.... We count some of the ways Mr. Trump has vacillated." -- CW ...
... John Harwood of the New York Times: "In theory, Mr. Trump's message of change, iconoclastic background and stances on issues from taxes to trade create the possibility of appealing broadly across a divided electorate. In practice, his tempestuous persona, harsh rhetoric and thin preparation have repelled important segments of his own Republican Party as well as Democratic constituencies." -- CW
digby: "Once more [Donald Trump is] implying that he would behead people. That's on top of the waterboarding and the hostage taking and the torturing and killing of their families. The crowd responded with shouts of 'USA! USA!' I just saw a succession of Republicans on CNN agree that Trump is right about terrorism and that we need a 'strong[man]' leader. I feel sick." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Geoff Bennett & Courtney Pence of NY1 News: "... in an interview with Washington, D.C. bureau reporter Geoff Bennett, [Senate Majority Leader Mitch] McConnell said Trump is not yet a credible presidential candidate.... During the interview, the Kentucky Republican complimented ... Hillary Clinton." CW: McConnell has said he would back Trump. ...
... NEW. Greg Sargent's advice: "Don't get played by this. It's just an effort to put distance between Trump and McConnell's vulnerable Senate GOP incumbents. In reality, McConnell backs Trump all the way." -- CW ...
Caitlin MacNeal of TPM: "Two watchdog groups, the Campaign Legal Center and Democracy 21, said they will file Wednesday a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, arguing that the Donald Trump campaign has broken federal law by sending fundraising emails to foreign elected officials.... The complaint from the two watchdog groups notes that elected officials in Iceland, Scotland, Britain and Australia have received the emails. Members of parliament in Denmark and Finland also say they have received the fundraising pleas." See also yesterday's Commentariat. -- CW
Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "With less than three weeks to go, Donald Trump's Republican National Convention in Cleveland is poised to be the most chaotic GOP gathering of the modern era.... Dozens of well-known Republicans aren't showing up. There's no word yet on who will speak. A growing number of corporate sponsors are taking a pass. Groups of white supremacists and other agitators are on the way, while the official protest routes are frantically being redrawn after being thrown out in court. And then there's the fight to dethrone the big star." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Friend to Rapists-in-Chief. Emily Heil of the Washington Post: "Was former heavyweight champ Mike Tyson going to appear at the Republican National Convention and not speak, or was he not coming at all? Despite a Bloomberg Politics report late Tuesday that the pugilist was among the big names invited to the big political event by aides to presumptive nominee Donald Trump, it seems Tyson is not -- repeat not -- convention-bound. Soon after the Bloomberg report, Trump tweeted what seemed to be a denial of the report. 'Iron Mike Tyson was not asked to speak at the Convention though I'm sure he would do a good job if he was.'"
... Akhilleus. Got that? Convicted rapist and Trump buddy (just think of the sexual assault stories they could share), Mike Tyson (oh, sorry, "Iron Mike Tyson"), won't be speaking at Donaldo's coronation, but if he did, he'd be great. Amazing, even. And that "denial" doesn't sound iron-clad either. Sounds like Tyson could show up after all. Maybe he can assault an empty chair. ...
... Ben Mathis-Lilley of Slate: Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka also says he hasn't been invited. CW: In the firewalled Chicago Tribune, I read -- before the wall came up -- that Ditka had declined a late-afternoon invitation from Trump. Darn! I was so looking forward to hearing the nice things Tyson & Ditka had to say about Trump. ...
... BUT Wait! Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Ivanka Trump on Wednesday confirmed that athletes and coaches are being lined up to speak at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland. 'We're putting together the line up of speakers now and the interest is incredible,' she told Virginia-based radio host John Fredericks. 'So I think it will be a convention unlike any we've ever seen. It will be substantive. It will be interesting. It will be different. It's not gonna be a ho-hum lineup of the typical politicians.'..." -- CW
Congressional Races
Good Thing They're Not Running in North Carolina (see link below). Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "For the first time in U.S. political history, an openly transgender candidate won a major-party congressional primary. In fact, on Tuesday, two did ... Misty K. Snow is a 30-year-old grocery store cashier. (If you're wondering, the Constitution says you have to be 30 to be a U.S. senator.) According to the Salt Lake Tribune, she jumped into the primary race at the last minute to give voters a progressive alternative to the conservative Democrat expected to win. She won by nearly 20 points. Misty Plowright is a 33-year-old IT worker who similarly beat out her primary opponent -- a single dad and an Iraq combat veteran -- to challenge Rep. Doug Lamborn (R) in one of the most conservative districts in Colorado.'I'm the anti-politician,' she told the Colorado Gazette shortly after getting in the race." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Akhilleus: Ms. Snow will be facing off against 'bagger troglodyte and Ted Cruz BFF, Mike Lee. Think he'll follow her around to see which bathroom she uses?
Gubernatorial Race
Let's See if We Can Be as Evil as ISIS. AP: "Missouri Republican gubernatorial candidate Eric Greitens is selling so-called 'ISIS hunting permits' to raise money.Greitens' campaign distributed an email Wednesday promoting bumper stickers with the words 'ISIS HUNTING PERMIT 2016.' The sticker says it expires when 'we defeat this evil.' The campaign is selling the mock hunting tags for a $10 donation. For $100, donors can get stickers signed by a former Navy SEAL who claims he killed Osama bin Laden. Greitens is a former Navy SEAL officer. He's touting his military background in his campaign for governor." --CW
Beyond the Beltway
North Carolina Finds a New Way to Screw Trans Citizens. Samantha Allen of the Daily Beast: "Facing backlash over the notorious anti-LGBT law they passed this March, which requires transgender people to use the restroom matches their birth certificate, legislators in the Republican-controlled House are working on a new draft of House Bill 2 (HB 2) in an effort to keep the 2017 NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte." Trans individuals wanting to use a rest room would need to show '... special 'certificates of sex reassignment,' [which] would only help about seven percent of transgender people.... Even then, the certificates would only be useful for the subset of that seven percent who have the money or the need for SRS." Pay to pee? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
... Akhilleus: So this idea is so much better than out and out denying everyone. Now you have to show a Special Certificate in order to pee in the right restroom. What's next, the Genital Police?
Way Beyond
Constanze Letsch & Emma Graham-Harrison of the Guardian: "Turkish police carried out raids against suspected Islamic State cells in Istanbul and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir on Thursday, the state-run Anadolu agency said, two days after a shooting and triple suicide bombing killed 42 people at Istanbul's Atatürk airport. Police said 13 people had been detained in raids on 16 locations in Istanbul and at least three were foreign nationals, Turkish officials said. An official ... said the three suicide bombers were of Russian, Uzbek and Kyrgyz nationality." -- CW ...
... Erin Cunningham of the Washington Post: "A brazen assault by three suicide bombers on Istanbul's Ataturk Airport has set the stage for a more violent conflict between Turkey and the Islamic State, a development that would deepen Turkish involvement in the Syrian civil war. There has been no claim of responsibility for Tuesday's carnage, but Turkish officials blamed the Sunni extremists for the attack, which killed 41 people and injured at least 239." -- CW
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