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New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~
~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~
~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”
New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”
Click on photo to enlarge.
~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI."
Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”
New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”
Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”
Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."
Her Cheatin' Heart. Ben Smith, et al., of BuzzFeed: "Hillary Clinton's campaign for president is instructing its Iowa caucus leaders to -- in certain cases -- throw support to former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, with the goal blocking her main opponent, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, from securing additional delegates. The tactical move is rooted in the complex math of the Iowa caucuses Monday night, where the campaign is looking to defeat Sanders in a state whose caucus-goers have historically backed progressive challengers.... The goal, in the caucuses' complex terms, is to cost Clinton no delegates in the state's 1,681 caucuses while ensuring stray O'Malley supporters don't defect to Sanders." Clinton isn't the first candidate to use this ploy, & her aides were "outraged" when candidates Obama & Bill Richardson pulled a similar stunt in 2008.
Donald Trump, Nouveau Tenther. Elise Viebeck of the Washington Post: "Donald Trumpcriticized the Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage and said he would 'strongly consider' appointing judges inclined to overrule it if he is elected president. 'I don't like the way they ruled,' Trump said on 'Fox News Sunday.' 'I disagree with the Supreme Court from the standpoint that it should be a states' rights issue and that's the way it should have been ruled on ... I would have much preferred that they ruled at a state level and let the states make those rulings themselves.'"
*****
Michelle Boorstein & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama will make the first visit during his presidency to a U.S. mosque, the White House announced Saturday, part of the administration's push to promote religious tolerance at a time when rhetoric linking Islam with terrorism is growing. On Wednesday, the president will visit the Islamic Society of Baltimore, a sprawling community center in the city's western suburbs that serves thousands of people with a place of worship, a housing complex and schools, according to its website."
Craig Whitlock & Adam Goldman of the Washington Post: "Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carterhas decided not to impose any further punishment on David H. Petraeus, the former CIA director and retired Army general who was forced to resign in a sex-and-secrets scandal in 2012." CW: Big surprise.
Presidential Race
CNN: "Caucus meetings for Iowa Democrats and Republicans begin at 7 p.m. Central Time, or 8 p.m. for the East Coast [Monday night]. Anyone who shows up on time can take part. But don't be late. Once the doors close, there is no entry for stragglers."
The New York Times editors endorseHillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Making her final push before the Iowa caucuses, Hillary Clintonstaked out her position as the lone defender of the Affordable Care Act on Saturday night, warning that her Democratic rival, Senator Bernie Sanders, would scrap it and start over and that Republicans [--specifically mentioning Ted Cruz's inability to offer an alternative plan (see Katie Zezima's story, linked below) --)] would hand healthcare back to insurers and drug-makers." ...
... CW: Cedar Rapids is Iowa's second largest city. From the photo accompanying the story, it would appear about 150 people showed up for Clinton's rally.
... Rachel Bade of Politico: "Hillary Clinton told NBC she did not generate any of the 22 newly upgraded 'top secret' emails recently withheld by the State Department and is not concerned about the contents of the messages. 'No, I did not,' she told NBC News' Monica Alba when asked whether she personally wrote any of the emails. She waived [sic.] them off as old news, according to excerpts of the conversation distributed by NBC News. 'I'm really not concerned because it's the same story that has been going on for months now, and I just don't think most people are as concerned about that....'" ...
... Evan McMorris-Santoro & Ruby Cramer of BuzzFeed: "The campaigns of the two major candidates for the Democratic nomination have agreed to hold four more debates, should they be sanctioned, sources from both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns tell BuzzFeed News. The details -- where and when -- remain unresolved, and the Democratic National Committee has not yet agreed to the arrangement...."
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Bernie Sanders held a rally and concert at the University of Iowa tonight with thousands of students, whom he urged to vote for him on Monday and 'make the pundits look dumb.'... Many of the thousands of students also showed up for the musical portion of the evening. (One band sang 'It's nothing to fear, you are a socialist too.') The main attraction, beyond Mr. Sanders, was the indie rock group Vampire Weekend." ...
... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "... Bernie Sanders will receive protection from Secret Service, according to Fox News' Ed Henry. Sanders joins Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton and Republican candidates Donald Trump and Ben Carson as the only White House contenders with details from the agency."
Steven Shepard of Politico: "Both parties' races in Monday's Iowa caucuses are coming down to the wire, with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton slightly ahead, according to the state's most influential poll. Trump ... has a 5-point lead in the Republican race over Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, according to the Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll. Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is in third place at 15 percent, and retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson is at 10 percent. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is at 5 percent, and no other candidate earns more than 3 percent. In the Democratic race, Clinton is running neck-and-neck with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, 45 percent to 42 percent -- though Clinton's support appears more secure. Former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley is at 3 percent and appears unlikely to be viable at most caucus sites on Monday night."
The New York Times editors sort of endorse Ohio Gov. John Kasich for the Republican nomination as the best of a bad lot: "Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, though a distinct underdog, is the only plausible choice for Republicans tired of the extremism and inexperience on display in this race. And Mr. Kasich is no moderate. As governor, he's gone after public-sector unions, fought to limit abortion rights and opposed same-sex marriage."
Maureen DowdinterviewsDonald Trump. CW: Why bother, since he can't even tell the truth about himself. ...
... Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "Five myths Donald Trumptells about Donald Trump.... 1. 'I'm, like, a really smart person.'... 2. 'I have the world's greatest memory.'... 3. I'm proud of my net worth. I've done an amazing job.'... 4. 'I'm self-funding my campaign.'... 5. 'I'm probably the least racist person on Earth.'"
Vampire Weekend, Ctd. Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Iowa's top elections official condemnedTed Cruz's campaign on Saturday for sending mailers to Iowa voters designed to look like official documents that accuse them of a 'VOTING VIOLATION' for failure to turn out in past elections. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement Cruz's mailers, which has the words 'official public record' printed in red at the top, 'misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law.' 'There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting,' said Paul, who was elected statewide as a Republican in 2014.... The controversial Cruz mailers show the name of the person receiving the mail at the top and then give them a grade on an A to F scale. Below, it shows their neighbors and their voting scores. CW: Ted just likes to frighten people. And shame them, while he's at it. ...
... Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: An Iowa voter, who is a Democrat, challengedTed Cruz for his attacks on ObamaCare. The voter said his brother-in-law, who was unable to get coverage until he obtained it through the ACA, died shortly thereafter for previously undiagnosed cancer. The voter "said after the exchange that Cruz hadn't answered his question. The answer, he said, was incomplete." CW: No kidding. ...
... ** digby: "Cruzdoes have a plan. He wants to repeal Obamacare and all the requirement that are in it including the ban on denial of coverage for pre-existing conditions. Then he will make it so people can buy insurance across state lines (in order to avoid state regulations requiring insurers to treat their customers fairly.) He wants to get rid of employer sponsored health care so everyone can 'own' their own insurance policy. And he wants to 'expand' health savings accounts. In other words, he wants to go back to the way it was before and then make it a hundred times worse. Because freedom. Oh, and he even lies about his own insurance."
About That Iowa Poll. Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "A Bloomberg-sponsored poll, made public in extravagant Bloomberg style amid shrimp and champagne, delivered some sour news about Michael R. Bloomberg himself: Few Iowa voters like him as he weighs a third party White House run. A poll of likely caucusgoers conducted for Bloomberg Politics and The Des Moines Register and released on Saturday night found just 17 percent of Democrats and 9 percent of Republicans had a 'favorable' view of Mr. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York.... By comparison, 50 percent of the Republicans polled had a favorable view of another Manhattan billionaire, Donald J. Trump, whose candidacy has offended and baffled Mr. Bloomberg. And 46 percent of the Democrats had a favorable view of Martin O'Malley, who is faring poorly in polls...."
Congressional Race
Worse Than Dick. Karoun Demirjian of the Washington Post: "Liz Cheney, the older daughter of former vice president Richard B. Cheney, is running for Wyoming's sole seat in the House of Representatives, according to federal campaign documents she filed Friday establishing her candidacy."
Beyond the Beltway
Carissa Wolf & Kevin Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Heeding calls for daily protests after Tuesday's shooting death of a man who had been occupying a nearby national wildlife refuge, a 'rolling rally' of dozens of vehicles clogged the streets of this tiny rural town [of Burns, Oregon,] Saturday evening. The cars and trucks, many of them the oversized, rugged models favored in this rough desert terrain, roared around town bearing U.S. flags, Confederate flags and passengers brimming with rage."
Way Beyond
Rick Noack of the Washington Post: "Up to 100 masked men threatened to attack refugee children in central Stockholm on Friday, according to local police accounts. Fredrik Nylén, a spokesman for Stockholm police, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, that several men had been arrested because they may have gathered 'with the purpose of attacking refugee children.'"
Danielle Paquette & Drew Harwell of the Washington Post: "President Obama proposed a new rule Friday that would require every large company in America to report employees' pay based on race and gender, an effort to reduce longstanding pay inequities for women and minorities. The new policy, already drawing criticism from some business leaders, would order companies with at least 100 employees to add salary numbers on a form they already annually submit that reports employees' sex, age and job groups. The new pay information would alert the EEOC to companies with significant wage disparities, which could result in lawsuits." ...
... Lily Ledbetter introduces the President. It was the seventh anniversary of President Obama's signing the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law, the first bill he signed into law:
CW: Yesterday, in linking Elizabeth Warren's New York Times op-ed, I forgot to link her report on lax enforcement of corporate criminal lawbreaking. Here it is. As Warren wrote in her op-ed, & documents in the report, "In a single year, in case after case, across many sectors of the economy, federal agencies caught big companies breaking the law -- defrauding taxpayers, covering up deadly safety problems, even precipitating the financial collapse in 2008 -- and let them off the hook with barely a slap on the wrist. Often, companies paid meager fines, which some will try to write off as a tax deduction." ...
... David Dayen in the Intercept: "The Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders camps -- and their allies in the press -- have been arguing increasingly harshly over who has the most perfect or most attainable policies. But the real issue, as Warren sees it, comes in installing the personnel to carry out the laws on the books that protect public safety and the economy." Dayen calls the report "what might have been [Warren's] closing argument had she been a candidate in the presidential race." ...
... CW: BUT I think Steve M. gets closer to Warren's motivation: "Elizabeth Warrenjust semi-endorsed Bernie Sanders -- again.... Warren is clearly saying: This, at the very least, is the point of nominating Sanders. This is a power he'll have. Warren also semi-endorsed Sanders in a speech on the Senate floor last week, as Salon's Sean Illinghas noted."
We are headed into another presidential election and I speak out today because I'm genuinely alarmed for our democracy ... It is time to fight back against a complete capture of our government by the rich and powerful.... A new presidential election is upon us. The first votes will be cast in Iowa in just eleven days. Anyone who shrugs and claims that change is just too hard has crawled into bed with the billionaires who want to run the country like some private club. -- Elizabeth Warren, speaking on the Senate floor, January 21
CW: I also failed to timely embed President Obama's speech at the Israeli Embassy on Holocaust Remembrance Day, which honored four new inductees into the "Righteous Among Nations": gentiles who protected Jews during the Nazi era. Colbert King of the Washington Post reminds me I was remiss. Read his column. It is lovely. And he rightly takes the opportunity to smack his colleague Jennifer Rubin upside the head. It's not the first time she's deserved it.
... Here's the story of my husband's first wife, the extraordinary Jeanne Daman, who also has been honored as a Righteous Among the Nations. At the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C., she is credited with having helped to save 2,000 Belgian children.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Senator John Cornyn, a former Texas judge and attorney general, is a devoted believer in the criminal justice overhaul awaiting its moment in the Senate. Now, he just has to convert doubting Republican colleagues.... 'John has some work to do, big-time work,' to secure enough support to persuade [Mitch] McConnell to go forward, said one Republican senator...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ian Millhiser of Think Progress writes a perceptive analysis of the Texas solicitor general's "devious plan to silently kill Roe v. Wade.... It's an effort to bypass [Justice Anthony] Kennedy's brain and go straight to his gag reflex." CW: Of course this is, generally speaking, tried-and-true anti-abortion propaganda. Most of us who are not medical professionals are put off or even frightened by bloody things. Invoking horror-movie-type imagery surely has helped persuade many a squeamish gentleman that abortion is evil.
CW: While I'm making up for stuff I missed this week, I wondered yesterday when the slow-mo economic news came in if the Fed hadn't made a mistake in raising interest rates last year. Paul Krugman sez yes, it did.
Matt O'Brien of the Washington Post: "The only question now is whether Venezuela's government or economy will completely collapse first.... Both are well into their death throes. Indeed, Venezuela's ruling party just lost congressional elections that gave the opposition a veto-proof majority, and it's hard to see that getting any better for them any time soon -- or ever.... According to the International Monetary Fund, their economy shrinks 10 percent one year, an additional 6 percent the next, and inflation explodes to 720 percent. It's no wonder, then, that markets expect Venezuela to default on its debt in the very near future. The country is basically bankrupt." O'Brien explains why.
Presidential Race
Steven Myers of the New York Times: "The State Department on Friday said for the first time that 'top secret' material had been sent throughHillary Clinton's private computer server, and that it would not make public 22 of her emails because they contained highly classified information. The department announced that 18 emails exchanged between Mrs. Clinton and President Obama would also be withheld, citing the longstanding practice of preserving presidential communications for future release.... The disclosure of the top secret emails ... is certain to fuel the political debate over the unclassified computer server that Mrs. Clinton ... kept in her home. The State Department released another set of her emails on Friday night in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.... The State Department said it had 'upgraded' the classification of the emails at the request of the nation's intelligence agencies. [State Department spokesman John] Kirby said that none of the emails had been marked at any level of classification at the time they were sent through Mrs. Clinton's computer server." ...
... Paul Krugman, who is precluded from endorsing candidates because of NYT rules, implied on explicit, stands up forHillary again, citing first-hand experience that the feds over-classify stuff. Krugman says he was a serial offender when it came to mishandling these so-called secret docs.
... Greg Sargent: "The Sanders phenomenon raises possible warning signs for Clinton's chances in a general election. His ability to engage, excite and involve younger voters -- his ability to make them feel invested in politics -- throws into sharp relief Clinton's relative failure, at least for now, to do the same." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Bernie Sanders, long-distance runner. Sanders was a high-school track star at Brooklyn's Madison High when distance running was a big deal. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: When you think about it, Bernie Sanders has a better argument against Donald Trump & Ted Cruz, a/k/a Mr. Goldman-Sachs, than does Hillary Clinton. As Bernie says, "Don't underestimate me."
Paul Krugmanpoints out that the GOP's Iowa race is down to this:
... Gail Collinsis looking for a miracle in Iowa. Barring that, she'd be happy if Iowans would knock Ted out of the race. Oh, & Marco, whom she compares to the "Leave It to Beaver" character Eddie Haskell. CW: To me, most or all of the GOP candidates are Eddie Haskells -- smooth-talking, ingratiating & obvious phonies. And let me just add, as Gail implies by citing Marco's debate remark, that any candidate for public office who declares as fact that his faith is the true faith has automatically disqualified himself. A person who makes such statements cannot be president or city councilmember to all the people, as their oaths of office require.
Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "Donald TrumpslammedTed Cruz as a Canadian 'anchor baby' during a Friday rally in New Hampshire as he continues to ratchet up the attacks against his closest polling rival days before the Iowa caucuses. 'Ted Cruz may not be a U.S. citizen,' Trump said at a town hall in New Hampshire.... Trump also threw punches on Cruz's Thursday night debate performance in the event he chose to skip in response to a spat with Fox News. 'I'm glad I wasn't there, he got pummeled,' Trump said at a town hall in New Hampshire Friday. 'And they didn't even mention that he was born in Canada. When you were born in Canada you aren't supposed to be running for president of the United States.'" ...
... CW: On a rational level, I know Trump is a fascistic scumbag who poses a danger to our nation & the world, but on another level, he can seem like a harmless late-night comic. I can't help but laugh when he says outrageous things about his Republican opponents. ...
... Since today's theme seems to be "Stuff I Missed This Week," here's one more item. Watch to the bitter end, which is uncanny:
Contra much of the punditocracy, Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker says Roger Aileswon the battle with Donald Trump. CW: A happy day for journalism? ...
... If you're wondering about the Nielsen ratings for the debate (and the Trump event), Claire Landsbaum of New York has 'em.
Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post: Thursday night, debate moderator Bret Baier asked Ted Cruzwhat he would do about health care. Cruz "knows it sounds cruel to say he'd take away Obamacare without a replacement. And so he did what every other Republican does when pressed on his alternative: He dodged the question entirely." CW: The crowd cheered, according to Cohn, when Cruz "promised to 'repeal every word of ObamaCare.'" What is it exactly these people are applauding? Haven't they noticed they and/or their friends, neighbors & relatives are making themselves vulnerable all over again? Haven't they noticed that Republicans have no plan at all to cover them? As Donald Trump would ask, "How stupid are the people of Iowa?" ...
... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: Possibly the only genuine moment in Thursday's GOP debate came when Sens. Rand Paul & Marco Rubio demonstrated how much they loathed Ted Cruz. Both accused him of lying; in fact, Rubio said Cruz's campaign is built on a lie. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... "Pastor-in-Chief." Benjamin Landy of Vanity FairsummarizesMarco's evolving campaign theme, which is now Jesus-centric. ...
... Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian takes a longer look at Rubio's changing messages. CW: Since he's a master at double-speak, he claims not to be changing his message at all. I'm struck by Marco's lame answer to every argument against his own positions & proposals: "People have a right to believe...." It's another way of saying, "Vote for me even if you disagree with everything I would do as president." It doesn't make a lot of sense.
Putin is a one-horse country: oil & energy. -- Ben Carson, at Thursday's debate
** Paul Waldman, in the Week: "Earlier this week, former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates ... said of the debate between Republican presidential candidates, 'The level of dialogue on national security issues would embarrass a middle schooler.' In Thursday night's GOP debate, those candidates set out to prove his point -- and they didn't even need Donald Trump in order to do it." Waldman runs down & "annotates" some of the candidates' remarks: funny, maddening, frightening, stupid.
Beyond the Beltway
Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "Of all the concerns raised by the contamination of Flint's water supply, and the failure of the state and federal governments to promptly address the crisis after it began nearly two years ago, none is more chilling than the possibility that children in this tattered city may have suffered irreversible damage to their developing brains and nervous systems from exposure to lead." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "A federal judge Friday denied release for five of 10 defendants accused of conspiring in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge -- Ammon Bundy, brother Ryan Bundy, Ryan Payne, Jason Patrick and Dylan Anderson. U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman found they were among the key players who took over the federal property in Harney County with a show of force, breaking the law from 'day one,' and then ignored orders to leave the refuge for nearly a month." The story includes details of related developments. ...
... The Confederacy Lives. Fedor Zarkhin of the Oregonian: "The 154-year-old law under which Ammon Bundy and others were arrested this week was created to deal with ... Confederate sympathizers ... plotting to overthrow the government or impeding the work of federal officers.... The new anti-conspiracy law [which President Lincoln signed] also explicitly barred people from taking control of federal property, which state forces and armed groups in the seceded states had done."
My Emily Litella Moment. CW : This Oregonian headline confused me: "Black customer accuses Lake Oswego Safeway worker of lobbing racial slurs in $100K suit." How can a Safeway worker afford a $100K suit?, I wondered. Does anybody own a $100K suit? And if you did own a $100K suit, would you bother insulting Safeway customers? Doesn't a person who parades around in a $100K suit have better things to do?
The Princess Melania Story:
News Ledes
Los Angeles Times: "The two Orange County jail escapees who remained at large after a daring escape eight days ago were arrested in San Francisco after a citizen noticed a van matching the description of the one they had allegedly stolen parked in a lot near a Whole Foods Market, officials said Saturday.... A third escapee, Bac Duong, surrendered to authorities in Santa Ana on Friday, a week after the three broke out of the Santa Ana lockup. The arrests ended a massive manhunt for the men, who all were charged with violent crimes."
New York Times: "China on Saturday accused the United States Navy of violating its laws by sending a warship within the 12-mile territorial zone of an island it claims in the South China Sea after the Pentagon said a Navy vessel had conducted a freedom of navigation operation. The United States vessel, the missile destroyer Curtis Wilbur, entered the waters off Triton Island in the Paracel Islands chain on Saturday without giving China notice in an exercise intended to challenge 'excessive maritime claims' by China and two other countries, said ... a Pentagon spokesman. Vietnam and Taiwan also claim Triton Island, though the Navy operation appeared to be aimed at China."
Abby Goodnough of the New York Times: "Of all the concerns raised by the contamination of Flint's water supply, and the failure of the state and federal governments to promptly address the crisis after it began nearly two years ago, none is more chilling than the possibility that children in this tattered city may have suffered irreversible damage to their developing brains and nervous systems from exposure to lead."
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Senator John Cornyn, a former Texas judge and attorney general, is a devoted believer in the criminal justice overhaul awaiting its moment in the Senate. Now, he just has to convert doubting Republican colleagues.... 'John has some work to do, big-time work,' to secure enough support to persuade [Mitch] McConnell to go forward, said one Republican senator...."
Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: Possibly the only genuine moment in Thursday's GOP debate came when Rand Paul & Marco Rubio demonstrated how much they loathed Ted Cruz. Both accused him of lying; Rubio said Cruz's campaign is built on a lie.
... Greg Sargent: "The Sanders phenomenon raises possible warning signs for Clinton's chances in a general election. His ability to engage, excite and involve younger voters -- his ability to make them feel invested in politics -- throws into sharp relief Clinton';s relative failure, at least for now, to do the same." ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Bernie Sanders, long-distance runner. Sanders was a high-school track star at Brooklyn's Madison High when distance running was a big deal.
*****
Presidential Race
Nasty Boys. Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The Republican presidential candidates competed vigorously to fill the vacuum created by Donald J. Trump's boycott of Thursday night's debate, with Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and Senator Marco Rubio of Florida trading ferocious attacks on immigration and taking fire from rivals seeking advantage in the Iowa caucuses on Monday." ...
... The New York Times' liveblog of the debate is pretty good; it's more of a live chat: the reporters talk to each other rather than just repeating the candidates' bull. ...
Gosh, if you guys ask one more mean question I may have to leave the stage. -- Ted Cruz, to Fox "News" debate moderators ...
... Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery. Hunter Walker of Yahoo News: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) ... threat[ened] to leave the stage ... after he accused Fox News' questioners of encouraging his rivals to attack him. 'I would note that the last four questions have been, "Rand, please attack Ted. Marco, please attack Ted. Chris, please attack Ted. Jeb, please attack Ted."' Cruz's comment provoked loud boos from the audience." With video. ...
... Brian Beutler: Ted "Cruz is the most seasoned debater of all the Republican candidates, and Trump's absence created a vacuum that Cruz could have filled with his typical brio. Instead, at a moment that presented Cruz as much opportunity and peril as any in his political career, he offered up his worst performance of the cycle." ...
... Elizabeth Bruenig of the New Republic: "Donald Trumpwon the debate he didn't attend." ...
... Michael Barbaro & Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "It was supposed to be about the veterans. It was not really about the veterans. Donald J. Trumpwas putting on a show -- and it was entirely about him: his hurt, his feelings, his vanity and his revenge. Separated from the Republican debate here by three miles and enough chutzpah to fill his own auditorium, Mr. Trump taunted, derided and laughed off the candidates who showed up to the Fox News forum that he so theatrically snubbed Thursday evening." ...
... Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "In an old theater with red velvet curtains and folding wooden seats, Donald Trumptrotted out his own unique variety show for a crowd of roughly 700 in the theater and millions more watching on cable news. It was an attempt to resurrect the long-dead genre of vaudeville only replacing acrobats with Rick Santorum and tenors with veterans." CW: It didn't take Trump long to go full-vaudeville after I suggested it a few days ago. ...
... Jonathan Chait: "Last night's split-screen image, of front-runner Donald Trump in his own venue and the non-Trump Republicans clustered together elsewhere, is the starkest representation yet of a party that is cleft in two. But there is something puzzling and ethereal about this schism. The opposing factions are not divided over a policy question.... At the same time, Trump is offering something genuinely transformational. His candidacy would reshape the Republican Party as more of a European-style white-identity party, rather than a party rooted in opposition to big government.... What makes the distinction difficult to identify is that Republicans have been using versions of this nationalist appeal for decades." What worries the GOP establishment is a justifiable fear that Trump isn't sufficiently dedicated to their top priorities of "reducing the top tax rate and deregulating business."
Alan Rappeport of the New York Timeslists the venues for watching or listening to Thursday's GOP debate. ...
... Tom McCarthy & Scott Bixby of the Guardian are liveblogging the GOP debate AND Trump's concurrent event. @17:29 GMT: "The Donald has scheduled a simultaneous event in Des Moines, billed as a benefit for military veterans -- which means it's Republican fight night on the plains of Iowa and in the streets of Des Moines. His fellow candidates Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum have promised to join him -- but only after they have competed in the consolation-prize undercard debate for Fox." CW: Wow! I could watch Huckleberry & Santorumtwice if only I'd turn on the teevee, which I won't. Not sure who will cover Trump's hoo-hah, but CNN is a likely suspect. ...
... Update. Tom Kludt of CNN: "MSNBC declined to comment on its prime time plans. CNN said it will coverTrump as a live news event. C-Span will carry it live in full."
** Dana Milbank: "This year's Holocaust remembrance comes at a time when Donald Trump, the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination, retweets to his nearly 6 million followers a message from @WhiteGenocideTM based in 'Jewmerica,' and a time when his nearest challenger, Ted Cruz, brandishes the endorsement of a minister who says Hitler was a 'hunter' sent after the Jews by God. There has never been a more important time for Americans to heed the moral authority of the Holocaust survivors still among us." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "Donald Trump's attempt at a hostile takeover of the G.O.P. is astonishing in its breadth. He is not just competing against a large field of candidates for votes in the primaries; he is at war with nearly every power center in the Republican Party -- and he is winning." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... ** Josh Marshall: "Pundits and political obsessives tend to get distracted by process and policy literalism. But politics generally and especially intra-Republican political battlesare really about demonstrating dominance - not policy mastery or polling leads but a series of symbols and actions that mark the dominating from the dominated.... This driving force of Republican politics has only become more salient and central as the GOP has become increasingly dominated by core constituencies animated by anger and resentment that things to which they believe they are entitled are being taken away from them.... It's Trump's native language. I still believe it's rooted in the mix of the hyper-aggressive New York real estate world, his decades of immersion in the city's febrile tabloid culture and just being, at the most basic level, a bully." ...
... Eliza Collins of Politico: "Donald Trumpcontinued his onslaught on Fox News hostMegyn Kelly on Thursday, retweeting a follower who criticized a photo shoot she did for GQ Magazine. 'And this is the bimbo that's asking presidential questions?', the tweet said. It included two photos of Kelly posing provocatively and the following text: 'Criticizes Trump for objectifying women ... Poses like this in GQ Magazine.'" CW: The photos of Kelly are embarrassing. Most adult women would strike these poses only for their lovers. ...
... Nancy LeTourneau of the Washington Monthly isn't afraid to call Donald Trumpa sociopath, and she demonstrates with one example why the diagnosis applies. "Donald Trump calling Megyn Kelly a 'bimbo' for a sexually suggestive photo shoot she did for GQ Magazine.... I's actually hard to come up with a link to demonstrate what that means because most of them range from tabloids to soft-porn. But here's a headline for you: Melania Trump would be the only First Lady to pose in the NUDE and talk about her 'incredible' sex life." ...
... AP: "... Donald Trumphas launched a new website for collecting donations to veterans ahead of his event on Thursday evening. The link, which Trump posted on Twitter, includes the seal of the Donald J. Trump Foundation, and a form for contributions. It says that 100 percent of donations will go directly to veterans' needs." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Bethania Markus of the Raw Story: "Conservative CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson slammed ... Donald Trump, accusing him of cynically taking advantage of veterans because it is 'politically advantageous' to do so as the controversial primary debate loomed Thursday.... Trump wrote in a 1991 letter to the then-chairman of the state Assembly's Committee on Cities, obtained by the Daily News[:] 'Do we allow Fifth Ave., one of the world's finest and most luxurious shopping districts, to be turned into an outdoor flea market, clogging and seriously downgrading the area?'":
... Christopher Massie of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on Thursday that his candidate would be 'happy' to debate Ted Cruz once the Texas senator gets a federal judge to rule him eligible to run for president." ...
... "Trumped." Paul Campos in LG&$: "... the real significance of all this is that the Trump campaign merely needs to keep raising doubts in voters' minds over the next few weeks regarding the -- again, legitimate, incredibly enough -- question of whether Cruz is legally eligible for the presidency, in order to accomplish Trump's practical goal of undermining Cruz's campaign at the margin." ...
... Patricia Murphy of the Daily Beast: Ted Cruzwas for legalization of undocumented immigrants before he was against it.
... As the WashPo/ABC analysts note, "Of the candidates tested, only Sanders comes out ahead in terms of comfort vs. anxiety." ...
... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Bernie Sandersis 'in overall very good health,' the attending Senate physician said in a letter released Thursday summarizing the Vermont senator's medical evaluation. 'You are in overall very good health and active in your professional work, and recreational lifestyle without limitation,' Senate attending physician Dr. Brian P. Monahan wrote in a letter dated Jan. 20. The Senate office has treated Sanders for more than two decades." ...
... CW: This last bit does not seem likely; Sanders has been in the Senate for only ten years. He served in the House for 16 years prior to that. Oh, and the final graf of the story is complete bullshit: "Republican poll leader Donald Trump released his records last month. Trump would 'be the healthiest individual elected to the presidency,' his doctor asserted." Why can't Politico get better reporters? ...
... CW: Maybe McCaskill was having a sad day because he'd just learned that Jim VandeHei, one of the founders of Politico, will be leaving the building. Oh, & Mike Allen is leaving, too. ...
... Yo, Fred Hiatt, Bernie Is Not Taking Any of Your Crap. Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Bernie Sandersunloads on the Washington Post" after its editors wrote a scathing editorial (CW: which I chose not to link) "headlined: 'A campaign full of fiction.' The print edition sub-headline contended, 'Sen. Sanders is not a brave truth-teller. He's just telling progressives what they want to hear.'" ...
... Charles Pierce unloads on the Washington Post: "Because of the way our politics is conducted these days, and because of the unprecedented use of the institutional choke-points in Washington, every presidential campaign is necessarily aspirational. The idea that this is a phenomenon unique to the Sanders campaign is an indication of a very large thumb on the scale." ...
... CW: Here's another thing the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton & most of the leftish punditocracy doesn't get: its' not good enough to be able to get your objectives passed into law if your objectives suck. You have to start with righteous aspirations. It isn't Clinton's competence I question; it's her goals. Some people move left as they grow older & become less self-obsessed. Clinton, as she became part of & benefited from the elite-determined system, moved right. As a result, her platitudes & shout-outs to a 20th-century liberal agenda seem contrived, as if she was dipping into her rich memory bank & paying out a bit of the interest earned early-on, without touching any of the huge principal she accumulated later.
... Impersonating a Sous Chef. Jon Ralston: "Operatives from Bernie Sanders' campaign have donned Culinary union pins and secured access to employee areas inside [Las Vegas, Nevada,] Strip hotels to try to secure garner voes for the Feb. 20 caucus, sources confirm." They've since agreed to cut that out. ...
... Hunter of Daily Kos: "The Sanders campaign says it's a misunderstanding and nobody was attempting to mislead workers." ...
... CW: When I watched Sanders' ad, it was followed by a paid ad by Marco Rubio that made me want to punch him in the face. Here it is. He's more obnoxious than Trump. Do not punch your computer:
Michael Cohen of the Boston Globe: "What happens in Iowa ... doesn't matter.... It's not that what happens in Iowa won't affect the trajectory of the race; it very well might. But more likely than not, Iowa's caucus results will only hasten -- or delay -- outcomes that appear already baked into the race."
Actual News, etc.
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "The Obama administration will move on Friday to require companies to report to the federal government what they pay employees by race, gender and ethnicity, part of a push by President Obama to crack down on firms that pay women less for doing the same work as men. The new rules, Mr. Obama's latest bid to use his executive power to address a priority of his that Congress has resisted acting on, would mandate that companies with 100 employees or more include salary information on a form they already submit annually that reports employees' sex, age and job groups."
Lauren French of Politico: "President Barack Obamatook a victory lap Thursday evening. During a short speech to House Democrats at their policy retreat here, Obama counted off his biggest policy achievements as president while predicting that Democrats would win the White House next November. The partisan speech was designed to excite Democrats already squarely behind Obama." ...
... CSPAN has the speech here. President strong> Obama's appearance begins at 8 min. in.
Michael Schmidt & Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Pentagon officials have concluded that hundreds more trainers, advisers and commandos from the United States and its allies will need to be sent to Iraq and Syria in the coming months as the campaign to isolate the Islamic State intensifies."
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Thursday threw cold water on the idea President Obama would accept an appointment to the Supreme Court after he leaves office."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday creating a White House task force on cancer, the first step in what Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has called a 'moonshot' to cure the disease, administration officials said. The president appointed Mr. Biden to lead the panel, which will include representatives from at least 13 government agencies. The group's first meeting will be on Monday, officials said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, in a New York Times op-ed: "The Obama administration has a substantial track record on agency rules and executive actions. It has used these tools to protect retirement savings, expand overtime pay, prohibit discrimination against L.G.B.T. employees who work for the government and federal contractors, and rein in carbon pollution. These accomplishments matter. Whether the next president will build on them, or reverse them, is a central issue in the 2016 election. But the administration's record on enforcement falls short -- and federal enforcement of laws that already exist has received far too little attention on the campaign trail."
Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Volkswagen may buy back some diesel cars in the United States if it can't make them compliant with air quality rules fast enough, a lawyer for the company says."
CW: Well, I'm just going to link to Paul Krugman's column so you can read it. Not one of his better days, IMO. I'm skipping Tim Egan today; there's just so much Bernie-bashing I can manage in a day. But you know where to find him.
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.
Peter Sterne of Politico: "The Huffington Post has started appending an editor's note to the bottom of posts about ... Donald Trump.... 'Note to our readers: Donald Trump is a serial liar, rampant xenophobe, racist, birther and bully who has repeatedly pledged to ban all Muslims -- 1.6 billion members of an entire religion -- from entering the U.S.,' reads the note, which was added to an article about Trump's feud with Fox News published last night. The note also includes links to prior coverage of Trump's comments. A Huffington Post spokesperson told Politico that the note will be added to all future stories about Trump." ...
... CW: The HuffPost, ever proving it is just as dignified & serious-minded as Donald Trump. ...
... Josh Israel of Think Progress: "Trump is in good company in the GOP primary field when it comes to xenophobia." Israel points to xenophobic statements made by Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul & Marco Rubio. But these guys don't rate an editor's note.
Navel-Gazing. Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "In what can be described only as a cataclysm in Beltway media, CEO Jim VandeHeiis leaving Politico, the eight-year-old politics website that shook up Washington journalism...." CW: Somehow, we'll survive the "cataclysm."
Senate Race, 2014
Ken Vogel of Politico: "A pair of left-leaning watchdog groups on Thursday asked for federal investigations into whether a Koch brothers-backed nonprofit outfit broke the law by spending more than $250,000 in untraceable money boosting Joni Ernst's 2014 Senate campaign. The watchdog groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the Center for Media and Democracy, allege that a nonprofit called Trees of Liberty violated the tax code and possibly criminal law by spending most of its cash on political purposes, while claiming otherwise in its tax filings."
Beyond the Beltway
Kirk Johnson, et al., of the New York Times: "The F.B.I. took the extraordinary step of releasing surveillance video on Thursday showing the shooting death of LaVoy Finicum.... Mr. Finicum, 54, was killed Tuesday by Oregon State Police troopers, said Greg Bretzing, the special agent in charge for the F.B.I in Oregon, after he tried to run through a police barricade on a wooded road, then climbed from his truck and, Mr. Bretzing said, reached for a weapon in his jacket pocket.... He said the total number of shots fired was 'in the single digits.'... In the video, Mr. Finicum is shown with his hands raised at one point, but Mr. Bretzing said it also showed him reaching for a weapon. 'On at least two occasions, Finicum reaches his right hand toward a pocket on the left inside portion of his jacket. He did have a loaded 9 mm semiautomatic handgun in that pocket,' Mr. Bretzing said." Includes video, which has no sound. ...
... Les Zaitz of the Oregonian reports that there appear to be only four occupiers left at the Malheur Refuge. They claim they are negotiating with the FBI to leave, but want to be assured that the Feds will drop felony charges against one of them. No word on whether or not they're still drunk. Zaitz has updated his story several times. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
** Yanan Wang of the Washington Post: "Employees at the state office in Flint, Mich., have been drinking from coolers of purified water since last January -- the same month that representatives from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality assured residents the water was safe to drink. Emails released by liberal group Progress Michigan Thursday include a facility announcement responding to a notice that the city's water contained levels of trihalomethanes, a chlorine byproduct linked to cancer and other diseases, that violated federal standards for safe drinking water.... During this time, both city and state officials were denying that Flint's water was dangerous." ...
... Charles Pierce: "Okay, somebody should go to jail over the Flint water crisis.... Rick Snyder and several other somebodies in his administration belong in the pokey, if not hauled off to The Hague for crimes against humanity." ...
... CW: Say, Huff Post, how about an editor's note for all articles about Rick Snyder? You could crib some of it from your repeating Trump note: "liar" and "racist" will work.
Oliver Milman & Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "The Philadelphia[, Pennsylvania,] city council will investigate how it tests its water, after an expert told the Guardian the city's procedures are 'worse than Flint' and risk putting residents' health in jeopardy.... Dr Yanna Lambrinidou, a medical ethnographer, said that water sampling methods used by the Philadelphia water department don't properly illustrate the level of lead in drinking water and could mask the sort of problems suffered in Flint, Michigan, where a state of emergency has been declared over the toxic, discolored water that made many residents ill."
News Ledes
AP: "Iran flew a surveillance drone over a U.S. aircraft carrier and published video of the encounter Friday, the latest in a series of edgy naval incidents between the two countries in the Persian Gulf after the recent nuclear deal. While the U.S. Navy stressed it knew the drone was unarmed and the flyover didn't interrupt U.S. operations in the war against the Islamic State group, the incident underlined the continued tension over control of waterways crucial to global oil supplies."
Bloomberg: "The U.S. economy expanded at a slower pace in the fourth quarter as households tempered spending and businesses cut back on capital investment and made further adjustments to inventories. Gross domestic product rose at a 0.7 percent annualized rate in the three months ended in December after a 2 percent gain in the third quarter, Commerce Department figures showed Friday. The advance was in line with the Bloomberg survey median forecast of 0.8 percent."
Los Angeles Times: "A 44-year-old woman who worked as an English teacher at a Santa Ana jail was arrested Thursday on suspicion of helping three inmates mount a daring escape last week, officials said."
;)
Vampire Weekend, Ctd. Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Iowa's top elections official condemned Ted Cruz's campaign on Saturday for sending mailers to Iowa voters designed to look like official documents that accuse them of a 'VOTING VIOLATION' for failure to turn out in past elections. Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement Cruz's mailers, which has the words 'official public record' printed in red at the top, 'misrepresents the role of my office, and worse, misrepresents Iowa election law.' 'There is no such thing as an election violation related to frequency of voting,' said Paul, who was elected statewide as a Republican in 2014.... The controversial Cruz mailers show the name of the person receiving the mail at the top and then give them a grade on an A to F scale. Below, it shows their neighbors and their voting scores. CW: Ted just likes to frighten people. And shame them, while he's at it. ...
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