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The Commentariat -- March 31, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Timothy Cama of the Hill: "The United States and China are pledging to sign last year's Paris climate change agreement as early as possible. President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed Thursday that their representatives will approve the deal on April 22, Earth Day. It's also the earliest date on which countries can sign it. Though the agreement was crafted in December, it does not enter into force until 55 countries with at least 55 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions are on board."
Nahal Toosi of Politico: "Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy [D] and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are in a war of words over the Democrat's request that the State Department investigate alleged human rights violations by Israeli and Egyptian security forces. Leahy and 10 House members sent a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry on Feb. 17 that lists several examples of alleged Egyptian and Israeli 'gross violations of human rights,' including extrajudicial killings, that should be examined.... Leahy's signature drew special attention because his name is on a law that conditions U.S. military aid to foreign countries on those countries' human rights records. 'In light of these reports (of suspected abuses) we request that you act promptly to determine their credibility and whether they trigger the Leahy Law and, if so, take appropriate action called for under the law,' the letter states."
AP: "Ted Cruz's presidential campaign is trying to knock opponent John Kasich off Montana's primary by questioning signatures the Ohio governor's campaign submitted to qualify for the ballot - another subplot in the unfolding political drama to derail Donald Trump's presidential bid."
** The Banana Republic of Trump. Brian Beutler muses on the various ways a Trump presidency might play out. Well-worth reading. CW: What struck me, though Beutler doesn't directly mention it, is how our governmental institutions offer little protection against a single unstable individual -- if the electorate first gives him/her the means to do so -- could take over & destroy the entire system. It's a flawed system, one that's easily exploited by people of bad faith. This isn't a surprise; it's been evident at least since Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House.
Back to the Future. Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Bookended by advertisements for Trojan condoms and Malibu Ultra Light cigarettes, [a 1990] interview in Playboy magazine is a remarkably prophetic document.... Donald J. Trump sat down with Glenn Plaskin, a celebrity columnist, and ... enumerated a grievance-filled economic agenda, a searing denunciation of weak-kneed American leadership and a keen understanding of his appeal to blue-collar Americans that uncannily resemble the White House campaign he is waging today...."
We're Still Checking. Toby Eckert of Politico: "Donald Trump's campaign released a letter from his tax attorneys Wednesday night saying Trump's personal tax returns 'have been under continuous examination by the Internal Revenue Service since 2002,' a reason the GOP presidential candidate has cited for not releasing his returns. The March 7 letter from Sheri A. Dillon and William F. Nelson says audits of Trump's returns for 2009 'and forward' are ongoing and says all of the audits are 'consistent with the IRS' practice for large and complex businesses.'" ...
... CW: What is "consistent with IRS practices" is that the agency will repeatedly audit an individual whose earlier audits have found the taxpayer had underpaid his taxes. This letter doesn't help Trump except with his base; rather, it suggests he consistently cheats on his taxes. Big surprise.
... CW: The dramatic doomsday music is awful, even if we are in for a dramatic doomsday. Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Priorities USA Action, the main 'super PAC' bolstering Mrs. Clinton's bid, worked with Planned Parenthood, whose political action arm has also endorsed Mrs. Clinton, on the ad.... The 30-second online spot, directed at female women voters in Florida, Ohio and Washington, D.C., uses Mr. Trump's remark to MSNBC, which he later backed away from, as an impetus to attack his longer history of comments about women."
Daniel Strauss of Politico: "In a statement, the Sanders campaign said it expected to get on the ballot [in the June 14 Washington, D.C. primary]. 'We did what the D.C. law requires in order to get Bernie on the ballot and we are confident he will be on the ballot,' communications director Michael Briggs said." See related stories under Presidential Race.
*****
David Nakamura & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "President Obama welcomes world leaders to Washington on Thursday for a two-day summit on nuclear security that aims to refocus global attention on an issue he has called a top priority but on which his administration has had limited success." ...
... President Obama, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Of all the threats to global security and peace, the most dangerous is the proliferation and potential use of nuclear weapons. That's why, seven years ago in Prague, I committed the United States to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and to seeking a world without them. This vision builds on the policies of presidents before me, Democrat and Republican, including Ronald Reagan, who said 'we seek the total elimination one day of nuclear weapons from the face of the Earth.'"
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday commuted the sentences of 61 federal prisoners convicted of drug and firearm crimes, extending his efforts to reshape a criminal justice sentencing system he has said is unduly harsh, unfair to minorities and outdated. More than a third of the prisoners who will soon be released were serving life in prison as a result of federal sentencing laws that imposed severe punishments for the distribution of cocaine and other drugs." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... ** New York Times Editors: "While that's better than nothing, it is nowhere near the action needed to rectify the injustice suffered by thousands of low-level, nonviolent inmates who still languish in federal prison, serving sentences far longer than what would be imposed under today's laws. Keeping people like this locked up for years costs not only taxpayers, but society as a whole.... If Attorney General Loretta Lynch is interested in meaningful pardon reform, she should support moving the process out of the Justice Department." ...
... Gregory Korte of USA Today (March 28): "The Obama administration instructed Justice Department attorneys to neglect applications for presidential pardons to give priority to the Justice Department's initiative to release low-level offenders from prison, the former pardon attorney said in her resignation letter early this year. That inaction was one of several issues that former Pardon Attorney Deborah Leff cited in her letter, which was obtained by USA TODAY after making a Freedom of Information Act request. Leff resigned in January after less than two years as the official responsible for making clemency recommendations for the president."
Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration ... relax[ed] the requirements for taking a medication that induces abortion, a move that is expected to expand access to the procedure. The move was a victory for abortion rights advocates who had been fighting laws in states like Texas, North Dakota and Ohio that required providers to follow the requirements on the original F.D.A. labels for the drug when conducting abortions by medication." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Washington Post Editors: "Tuesday's news ... showed why keeping the court understaffed for any significant length of time would be bad for the law, the court and the country. Even if we might agree with some of the results, a quarter of a presidential term is a long time to go without a full Supreme Court. Senate Republicans should consider Merrick Garland's nomination immediately." ...
... Linda Greenhouse: "At its core..., Zubik v. Burwell, is a case about religion's role in civil society. The plaintiffs are betting on an expansive interpretation of a federal statute, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. And here's where hijacking comes in. What's being hijacked is not the religious objectors' insurance plans, but the Religious Freedom Restoration Act itself."
James Queally & Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times: "The FBI has agreed to help prosecutors gain access to an iPhone 6 and an iPod that might hold evidence in an Arkansas murder trial, just days after the agency managed to hack an iPhone linked to the San Bernardino terror attacks, a local prosecutor said Wednesday." CW: If you thought the feds would limit their knowledge of de-encryption technology -- whether obtained from the manufacturer, from hackers or from their own techies -- to terrorism cases or suspected terrorist activity, you can now put that thought in your deep memory bank of "Things I Once Believed." ...
... Rich McCormick of the Verge: "The FBI originally argued that if Apple complied and helped it access Farook's phone, it would not use the method again, but in figuring out another way into the device the FBI can now theoretically help unlock other iPhones of the same family, up to and including the 5s."
James Downie of the Washington Post: "... even if Obamacare were the train wreck that Republicans claim it has been, their failure to unite around a replacement would then be all the more incredible. Two thousand and two hundred days after Obamacare became law, there have been zero Republican votes on a replacement."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. E.J. Dionne: "... the demography of [President] Obama's support explains why a relentless media focus on Trump and the Republican primaries entirely warps the message coming from Americans as a whole. Obama's approval rating is at 89 percent with Democrats and 50 percent among independents. But it stands at only 12 percent with Republicans and 9 percent among conservative Republicans. Yet the voices of conservative Republicans are being amplified beyond all reason by the obsession with Trump and the GOP's struggles."
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Al Jazeera America is closing down. Tony Karon delivers the network's valedictory address. CW: the layout of the Website was part of the problem. Early on, I tried to patronize the site & seldom found any timely stories. They later changed the layout format, but they didn't make articles or videos more accessible. In fact, this morning I was looking for an Al Jazeera story I knew about from another source, & absolutely couldn't find the story on Al Jazeera's site.
Presidential Race
The Republican party is coming apart at the seams, & Dan Balz of the Washington Post is here to tell you all about it. CW: "Boo-hoo," says Balz; "Boo-fucking-hoo," say I. (Actually, this is a pretty good summary of where the party is -- or are, since they're all over the place. ...
... Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "Instead of helping to unify the GOP behind a candidate, as the primary process typically does, the race has instead created deep wounds between the candidates that are unlikely to heal." CW: Yeah, we're all having a sad.
** Arden Farhi of CBS News tracked down the originator of the petition to allow attendees to carry arms into the Republican convention. His name is Jim, and he's "a self-described liberal Democrat who intends to vote for Hillary Clinton should she become the Democratic nominee. He isn't affiliated with a campaign or any advocacy group.... Jim says he wrote the petition knowing it was somewhat preposterous -- that law enforcement would never allow the Republican presidential candidates inside an arena with potentially thousands of armed individuals." CW: Do read the petition if you haven't already, & you'll see what 52,000+ Americans think is logical. Well, no wonder; it's what politicians & the NRA have been telling them for decades. Jim's original goal was 50,000 signatories; I see he's upped it to 75,000. ...
... Update: Nora Kelly of the Atlantic has more on the petition & the originator of the petition, whose name is Jim Ryan. "He got some rave reviews: One commenter called it 'one of the best satirical pieces since "A Modest Proposal,"' the seminal Jonathan Swift work that criticizes anti-Irish sentiment in Great Britain." CW: It is impossible to forget that we're dealing in the politics of the absurd, & no group is more absurd than the NRA, though many of its supporters try to match or best them; to-wit: ...
You know what? If I'm in that room and let's say we have two or five or 40 people with guns, we're going to do a lot better because there's going to be a shootout. -- Donald Trump ...
... Gail Collins: "Two important points here: Even in the confines of Second Amendment aficionados, you don't normally hear the term 'we’re going to do a lot better because there's going to be a shootout.' Plus, note the suggestion that people would be safer with an armed Donald Trump in the building.... If you want to know where [Ted] Cruz stands on a reasoned approach to handling weapons, I suggest you take a look at the video in which he demonstrates how to cook bacon by wrapping it around the barrel of an assault rifle. ('Mmmm, machine gun bacon.')
Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "The danger signs are mounting for Donald J. Trump in Wisconsin: Right-wing radio hosts are flaying him, Gov. Scott Walker and other elected Republicans have endorsed Senator Ted Cruz, and a new poll showed Mr. Cruz with a 10 percentage-point lead in the state before Tuesday's primary. The Stop Trump movement may never have another opportunity like the one here, where resistance to Mr. Trump was running high even before his campaign became consumed by a new round of controversies, from his mocking of Mr. Cruz's wife to the arrest of his campaign manager to his comments in favor of punishing women who get abortions."
Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "If Donald Trump secures the Republican presidential nomination, he would start the general election campaign as the least-popular candidate to represent either party in modern times. Three-quarters of women view him unfavorably. So do nearly two-thirds of independents, 80 percent of young adults, 85 percent of Hispanics and nearly half of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.... His success among a segment of the Republican electorate stands in contrast to his weaknesses in a general election decided by all voters."
"Dangerous Donald." Dana Milbank: "Trump is accustomed to steamrolling bankers, employees and reality-show contestants alike. But what explosion might result if this unpredictable man were president and world leaders, or Congress, told him 'No'?" ...
... Freedom of the Press. CW: Milbank adds a tidbit I missed: "Trump defended Lewandowski by saying the reporter's pen could have been 'a little bomb' or a knife." The next thing you know those reporters Trump likes to keep in a pen will be deprived of their writing & recording devices, any one of which might contain "a little bomb." ...
... Here's another disturbing tidbit that's fallout from the Lewandowski case. Margaret Hartmann: "Former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields ... tells the Blaze that she's moved out of her apartment because she's been receiving threats and no longer feels safe. Fox News and BuzzFeed inadvertently published her address and phone number along with Lewandowski's arrest report, and while the outlets have redacted her personal information she's still getting disturbing messages on her phone. It's like a real-life version of a pro-Trump comments section, but scarier and harder to ignore." Emphasis added.
Michael Finnegan of the Los Angeles Times: "Donald Trump was merciless Wednesday in his portrayal of how poorly Wisconsin has fared under its Republican governor, Scott Walker.... It was an unlikely approach for Trump to take just as Marquette Law School was releasing a poll that found 80% of likely voters in Wisconsin's Republican presidential primary on Tuesday approve of Walker's job performance. 'I wouldn't do this, except that he endorsed this guy Cruz, and Cruz would be a terrible president,' Trump told the crowd in a theater at St. Norbert College.... Trump recalled Walker visiting him at his Manhattan office and giving him a plaque to show gratitude for giving him at least $50,000 in campaign contributions. 'We're trying to find it; it's on the bottom of a pile of plaques.'..."
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday condemned ... Donald Trump for standing by his campaign manager after he was charged with battery.... 'I am confident that neither President Obama nor President Bush would tolerate someone on their staff being accused of physically assaulting a reporter, lying about it and then blaming the victim,' Earnest told reporters.Earnest said Trump's response to the Lewandowski incident, as well his other controversial actions, is 'completely outside the realm of acceptable behavior.... I am also confident in telling you nobody is particularly surprised that that's behavior that Mr. Trump doesn't just seem to tolerate, he seems to encourage,' he added." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Karl Rove, David Axelrod and David Plouffe are not taking kindly to Donald Trump's speculation that they roughed up reporters worse than his own campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The three former strategists told Politico Wednesday morning that Trump is not only flat-out wrong, he's also irresponsible.... During a telephone interview with 'Fox and Friends,' co-anchor Brian Kilmeade asserted that campaign managers "should not be putting their hands on reporters," remarking, "Karl Rove didn’t do it. David Plouffe didn't do it, David Axelrod didn't do it. That's why you have Secret Service and that's why you have your own security.' 'OK and you don't know that they didn't do it, because I guarantee you they did, probably did stuff that was more physical than this,' Trump replied. 'More physical, because this is not even physical. And frankly, she shouldn't have her hands on me. Nobody says that. But she shouldn't have her hands on me.'" Emphasis added. ...
... CW: No, Nick, that wasn't "speculation" on Trump's part. That was an out-and-out accusation that Rove, Plouffe & Axelrod physically, severely abused reporters. Even though those guys are public figures, they have grounds to sue Trump. Since Trump likes lawsuits so much, they should sue his ass for defamation. ...
** Dara Lind of Vox writes an excellent piece on how Trump's handling of the Lewandowski case demonstrates why he would be a terrible -- or as Dana Milbank writes, "dangerous" -- president. CW: BTW, Lind includes a Trump tweet with a photo I hadn't seen before: a close-up of Michelle Fields' hand that is holding that pen-bomb. In the photo, it appears the side of her pen-bomb hand may be grazing Trump's suit sleeve. Trump later said she "grabbed" him, & after that said she "hit" him.
... Peter King for Feminist of the Year. Christopher Massie of BuzzFeed: "Republican Rep. Peter King of New York defended Corey Lewandowski on Tuesday after new video emerged from the incident showing Lewandowski grabbing a reporter's arm and pulling her backwards at a Donald Trump event in early March.... 'This thing with Corey Lewandowski,' King said on Imus in the Morning. '... You know, before I saw the video yesterday, I thought he had hit her with a baseball bat or something. I haven't practiced law in a while but I never heard of somebody being charged for touching someone on the arm, unless you're talking about some kind of a sexual thing.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... No, No, Donald Trump for Feminist of the Year. Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that women should be punished for seeking abortions if the procedure is outlawed." CW: I can't tell from the reporting (here or elsewhere) whether or not Trump said abortion would be illegal, but he seems to imply it. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update 1: Becca Andrews of Mother Jones: "Donald Trump said Wednesday that he wants to ban abortions, and that women who get abortions illegally should be punished. At a taping of an MSNBC town hall that will air later, host Chris Matthews pressed the Republican presidential front-runner Trump for his thoughts on abortion policy. Trump said he's in favor of an abortion ban, explaining, 'Well, you go back to a position like they had where they would perhaps go to illegal places, but we have to ban it,' according to a partial transcript from Bloomberg Politics."
... Update 2: Matt Flegenheimer & Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "The comment, which Mr. Trump later recanted, attracted instant, bipartisan criticism -- the latest in a series of high-profile episodes that have shined a light on Mr. Trump's feeble approval ratings among women nationally. In this case, Mr. Trump also ran afoul of conservative doctrine, with opponents of abortion rights immediately castigating him for suggesting that those who receive abortions -- and not merely those who perform them -- should be punished if the practice is outlawed." ...
... An amazing turnabout for someone who's never wrong because he "talks mostly with himself" & "has a very good brain." Ed Kilgore recounts & explains the instant evolution of Trump's position on "punishing women." Worth a read. ...
... AND this is humorous. Margaret Hartmann: "Two Trump surrogates rallied to the candidates' defense. Chris Christie said Trump 'obviously misspoke,' though it's unclear how he knew this since he claimed he didn't see the ubiquitous video of Trump's remark. Dr. Ben Carson, who's been too honest for his own good recently, explained that Trump was just caught off guard and forgot to dodge the question. 'What you develop with experience is how to answer that in a way that is not definitive,' he told CNN's Erin Burnett."
... Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: Donald Trump's Muslim ban "just got worse." He told Chris Matthews of MSNBC that he'd allow exceptions for his rich Muslim friends. ...
... Wherein Donald Trump tells Chris Matthews the U.S. might have to nuke Paris or London or Berlin or some other European place(s). Hey, he already dislikes Angela Merkel -- but not because she's a woman! -- so what the hell? Ka-boom!
Priscilla Alvarez of the Atlantic: "In an unprecedented move Wednesday, the National Border Patrol Council announced that it is endorsing Donald Trump, a candidate it touts as 'bold and outspoken as other world leaders who put their country's interests ahead of all else.' The National Border Patrol Council, a labor union representing 16,500 agents, has refrained in the past from making such endorsements, but cited the 'lives and security of the American people' as reason enough to break with precedent." CW: Lunkheads. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
John Rollert, for the Atlantic, reads Trump's 1987 book The Art of the Deal: "For almost nine months now, the national negotiation for 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue has been underway, and it bears the signal traits of so many of Trump's commercial endeavors: It is long on instincts, short on details, and subject to a remarkable amount of turmoil." Thanks to P.D. Pepe for the link.
Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: Protesters try to outmaneuver the Trump camp, so far with minimal success. In Janesville, Wisconsin, one "group was photographed and aggressively questioned by supporters in the line, who then tipped security off about their presence. The fact the group had a single black member, who stuck out in the overwhelmingly white crowd, appeared to have alerted suspicions, [a protester] said. 'It's like people are little vigilantes.'"
T. A. Frank writes an amusing piece for Vanity Fair on Paul Ryan's non-candidacy for the nomination. ...
... Just how could the Reluctant Ryan -- or any Not-Trump -- become the nominee? Sasha Issenberg of Bloomberg explains "how to steal a nomination from Donald Trump. Donald Trump has spent much of his campaign selling himself as a maker of great deals. But in the next phase of the campaign, the author of The Art of the Deal may be confronted with the ultimate dealmaking challenge, gaming the rulebook and horse-trading for delegates at what could be a contested convention. And if that situation comes to pass, it's one in which his opponents have a distinct advantage going in." CW: Paul Ryan is running the convention. How conveeeenient.
Victor Morton of the (right-wing) Washington Times story: "Because of an error by the D.C. Democratic Party, Sen. Bernard Sanders' name is not on the ballot, according to a report by WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate." Thanks to Ophelia M. for the lead. I don't know if Morton got his facts straight, but he has definitely done some reporting on it. ...
... A blogpost by Hannah Wise in the Dallas Morning News tells the same story.
Eric Levitz of New York: Hillary Clinton kicked off her New York primary campaign at the "live at the Apollo.... New York offers Clinton a chance to effectively end Sanders's hopes in April.... She then outlined her case against Sanders, or as she insisted on calling him throughout her speech, 'my opponent.'... Clinton doesn't have a better platform for combating bigotry than her opponent. But she has a rhetorical dexterity that Sanders has often lacked. Her elucidation of bigotry's evils spurred some tears and much cheering at the Apollo. Sanders has three weeks to gin up an enthusiasm gap in the Empire State. He's going to need all the time he can get."
Senate Race
Lisa Hagen of the Hill: "President Obama and Vice President Biden on Wednesday endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty, another sign that the party's establishment is coalescing behind her in a contentious Pennsylvania primary battle. The endorsements give the former gubernatorial chief of staff a huge boost ahead of the April 26 primary, where the candidates will vie for the chance to take on Republican Sen. Pat Toomey." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Beyond the Beltway
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "'I have no intentions of resigning,' said [Alabama Gov. Robert] Bentley, a Republican in his second term.... Within hours, Rebekah C. Mason, the governor's senior political adviser and the woman with whom he engaged in suggestive conversations, captured on tape, said she had quit. And by day's end, it was uncertain whether it would be politically feasible for Mr. Bentley, 73, to remain in office in this state, which has a gaudy history of scandal but has been in something of a morals-driven meltdown since the governor's admission last Wednesday. Some lawmakers are talking of impeaching Mr. Bentley. The governor's former pastor spoke of 'church discipline' and said that Mr. Bentley was no longer a member of the Tuscaloosa congregation where he was once a deacon."
WGN-TV: "She could have reached out and touched it. That's how close Tina Dorschel was to the Florida panther that nearly brushed her leg as it charged past, speeding down a boardwalk in Florida's 13,000-acre Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary."
... CW: I've embedded this video only because (a) it made the news & got lots of hits after Dorschel posted it to her Facebook page, (b) it happened close to my home -- Corkscrew Swamp is east of Naples, Florida, (c) nature walks frighten me because nature; (d) I'm a short-timer here. The new editorial staff could rightly delete it. It wouldn't hurt my feelings any.
... CW: Ha ha. The video itself was deleted by the user. Serves me right.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Dame Zaha Hadid, the Iraqi-born British architect whose soaring structures left a mark on skylines and imaginations around the world and in the process reshaped architecture for the modern age, died in Miami on Thursday. She was 65."
Washington Post: "Five key members of the U.S. women's soccer team have filed a federal complaint against the U.S. Soccer Federation to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging wage discrimination. In the complaint, the players cite USSF figures from last year showing that they were paid nearly four times less than men's players despite generating much more revenue."
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