The Commentariat -- January 28, 2016
Afternoon Update:
** 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."
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."
AP: "... Donald Trump has 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."
Meant to link this morning: 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."
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.
*****
Ishaan Tharoor of the Washington Post: "Human Rights Watch unveiled its annual World Report, a 659-page project documenting human rights practices and abuses in more than 90 countries. The report is a handy compendium of some of the darker corners of world politics. It spotlights the many shortcomings of even the more-advanced Western democracies, as well as the poor human rights records of the usual suspects -- closed or authoritarian regimes that suppress freedoms and squeeze civil society through crackdowns and interference.... WorldViews has charted the growing xenophobic backlash in the West to an influx of Syrian refugees and other migrants over the past year. Anti-migrant and anti-Muslim rhetoric has seeped into the political conversation in the United States and is shadowing the election cycle. Republican presidential candidates such as Donald Trump have pandered to populist fears and suspicions of outsiders to an extent not seen in a long time."
Dave Philipps of the New York Times: "... in its swift rise, [the Wounded Warrior Project] has ... embraced aggressive styles of fund-raising, marketing and personnel management that have caused many current and former employees to question whether it has drifted from its original mission. It has spent millions a year on travel, dinners, hotels and conferences that often seemed more lavish than appropriate, more than four dozen current and former employees said in interviews. Former workers recounted buying business-class seats and regularly jetting around the country for minor meetings, or staying in $500-per-night hotel rooms." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: This is the charity for which Donald Trump said he would hold a fundraiser in lieu of attending Fox "News"'s GOP debate. Sounds more like a Ben Carson thing.
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday started debating its first comprehensive energy legislation since the George W. Bush administration, a bipartisan measure meant to update the nation's power grid and oil and gas transportation systems to address major changes in the ways that power is now produced in the United States.... [] has the support of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky, and the minority leader, Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada...." CW: Wonder how this bill, even with its drawbacks, fares in the House of Crazies if it passes the Senate.
Elias Isquith of Salon: The Senate will pass no criminal justice reform legislation this year because Mitch McConnell doesn't see it as a political winner. And Ted Cruz is campaigning against it.
Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve said Wednesday that domestic economic growth slowed in the final months of 2015 and pointed to increased concern about the weakness of the global economy. In a statement published after a two-day meeting of its policy-making committee, the Fed, as expected, left its benchmark interest rate unchanged and said it still expected to increase that rate 'gradually' in the coming months as economic conditions improve." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Cecilia Kang of the New York Times: "The cable set-top box, long a scourge of consumers and a moneymaker for cable companies, appears set for a makeover. The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday announced a proposal that would make it much easier for subscribers of cable and satellite television to pick the boxes they use to watch programming. Nearly all customers now must get their boxes from their cable companies, and they pay an average of $231 a year to lease the devices. The move could have broad implications for the industry, allowing Google, Amazon and Apple, for instance, to expand their footprints in the media industry with devices that would blend Internet and cable programming in a way the television industry has resisted." (Also linked yesterday.)
Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "For more than two years, the Navy's intelligence chief has been stuck with a major handicap: He's not allowed to know any secrets. Vice Adm. Ted 'Twig' Branch has been barred from reading, seeing or hearing classified information since November 2013, when the Navy learned from the Justice Department that his name had surfaced in a giant corruption investigation involving a foreign defense contractor and scores of Navy personnel." CW: This is a mighty odd way to "keep America safe."
Amy Nutt of the Washington Post: "For the first time, scientists have pinned down a molecular process in the brain that helps to trigger schizophrenia. The researchers involved in the landmark study, which was published Wednesday in the journal Nature, say the discovery of this new genetic pathway probably reveals what goes wrong neurologically in a young person diagnosed with the devastating disorder." ...
... The New York Times story, by Benedict Carey, is here. The original Nature article is here (pdf).
There Must Be a Pony. CW: I know Nicholas Kristof is a well-meaning man, but if you can't punch a fistful of holes into his column today -- on how conservatives really want to help the needy -- then you haven't been reading any of the opinion pieces I link here.
Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "The Republican National Committee (RNC) says it raised $105.6 million in 2015 -- a fundraising record for the party in a non-election year. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus announced the total in a tweet Wednesday morning, adding that the party has $18.7 million on hand."
Steve Benen says President Hillary would not appoint President Barack to the Supreme Court, even though she said the other day, in response to a question, that it's "a great idea,” that she “would certainly take ... under advisement": "For a former president," Benen argues, "Obama will be quite young. For a prospective high court justice, Obama will be over the hill." CW: I'm not so sure. Elena Kagan was 50 when President Obama nominated her & Sonia Sotomayor was 55. It's true that men have a shorter life expectancy than women &, as Benen points out, Obama is a former smoker. But still. Even in Partisan World, I don't think presidents have to nominate the immediate past president of the Harvard Law Review.
Annals of Journalism, Ctd. Jim Dwyer of the New York Times: After Jane Mayer of the New Yorker wrote a long piece for the magazine about the Koch brothers' secret financial backing of right-wing groups, she learned that someone was investigating her & falsely accusing her of plagiarism. After three years, she trace the investigators "to a 'boiler room' operation involving several people who have worked closely with Koch business concerns. 'The firm, it appears, was Vigilant Resources International, whose founder and chairman, Howard Safir, had been New York City's police commissioner under the former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani,' she writes in 'Dark Money.' Mr. Safir served as both the fire commissioner and the police commissioner during the Giuliani mayoralty." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Presidential Race
Gail Collins conducts a Q&A with imaginary us on the Democratic presidential primary. It begins, "Let's get focused. Time to discuss how Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton differ on the issues. You forgot to mention Martin O'Malley. No, I didn't."
CW: Frances Sellers & John Wagner of the Washington Post delve into Bernie Sanders' religious beliefs, because that's what American journalists do. Unless you think participating in religious rites is a prerequisite for holding high public office, you'll like Bernie better after reading this story. BTW, if Jerry Falwell, Jr., were actually religious, instead of pretending to be, he would have endorsed Bernie Sanders instead of Donald Trump. ...
... Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Bernie Sanders threw one of his most direct rhetorical punches yet at Hillary Clinton over her financial-industry ties on Wednesday night, telling a packed crowd, 'My opponent is not in Iowa tonight. She is raising money from a Philadelphia investment firm.'... [Clinton] left the state on Wednesday for a campaign cash event hosted by Franklin Square Capital Partners and featuring a concert by Jon Bon Jovi."...
... Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "President Barack Obama was so determined to prove he hadn't endorsed Hillary Clinton that he put in a full 45 minutes with Bernie Sanders in the Oval Office on Wednesday. There were no photos, and no lunch like the one Obama hosted Clinton for when she came through the White House in early December." ...
... Kevin Liptak of CNN: "With the West Wing as his backdrop, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday declared President Barack Obama 'even-handed' in his assessments of the presidential race, days after Obama piled praise upon the Vermont senator's 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton." ...
Gabriel Debenedetti: " Hours after Hillary Clinton ratcheted up her pressure on him to accept an invitation to an unsanctioned debate on Feb. 4, Bernie Sanders escalated the debate by calling for three new debates. 'From the beginning of this campaign Sen. Sanders has called for more debates. Secretary Clinton has not. Now she is asking to change the rules to schedule a debate next week that is not sanctioned by the DNC. Why is that? The answer is obvious. The dynamics of the race have changed and Sen. Sanders has significant momentum,' said Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver in a statement on Wednesday night, while Sanders was speaking to a packed audience [in Mason City, Iowa]." ...
... Anne Gearan & Abby Phillip of the Washington Post: "... in the final, five-day sprint of an uncomfortably close Democratic contest in Iowa, [Hillary] Clinton has largely abandoned a strategy that appears to have done little to improve her standing with voters...: trying to directly discredit ... [Bernie Sanders] and his unstintingly liberal proposals.... She has debuted a sunnier, more optimistic version of herself here this week while lacing her campaign appearances with some of the populist anger that animates Sanders."
Paul Waldman explains the Iowa caucus process & why it likely favors Hillary & the Tailgunner. And also is extremely undemocratic. House-bound? Kid-bound? Work-bound? You never get to vote.
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Speaking on 'The O'Reilly Factor' [last night, Donald] Trump continued his long-running feud with [Fox 'News' host Megyn] Kelly, who[m] he has been criticizing ever since she challenged him on his past derogatory remarks about women at the first GOP debate in August." ...
... Mark Carlson of KCRG-TV (Cedar Rapids, Iowa): "A 28-year-old man has been arrested after authorities say he threw two tomatoes at Donald Trump during a campaign stop Tuesday night." CW: I believe that's a vaudeville tradition, so perfectly appropriate under the circumstances. ...
... Jim Rutenberg, et al., of the New York Times: "With [Donald] Trump declaring he will skip the debate, the most potentially consequential fight on the campaign trail is not between Mr. Trump and his fellow candidates, but between Mr. Trump and the top-rated cable television news network, which is also one of the most important forces in Republican politics.... Fox News said it would never accede to Mr. Trump's demand that it remove [Megn] Kelly from its panel of moderators, which also includes the network anchors Bret Baier and Chris Wallace. Though the move could cost Fox News debate-night ratings, officials there said Rupert Murdoch, the executive co-chairman of the network's parent company, 21st Century Fox, lent [Fox 'News" chair Roger] Ailes his support.... (Mr. Murdoch made his own political news on Wednesday, posting on Twitter his support for an independent presidential run by former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.) ...
... CW: Speaking of debates, I had one with myself about linking any more stories about this ridiculous faux feud. Rand Paul must be vewy, vewy upset that his decision to boycott the last debate -- because the Fox Business network put him at the kiddie table -- received only cursory media attention. I don't recall that anybody missed him, either. ...
... Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump is obsessed with being in control.... The latest episode of Trump vs. Fox News reads like a movie script." ...
... AND Trump is in control. Brian Beutler of the New Republic: "By withdrawing from the debate, he demonstrated who's in command and who is not.... Trump has pocketed most or all of what he'd hoped to get out of Thursday night's originally planned festivities -- limelight, distinction, narrative control -- while everyone else has not. His departure will cost Fox News millions of eyeballs, and as many dollars in lost revenue. New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman -- better sourced within Fox than anyone else on the media beat -- depicts the network in chaos, badly divided between pro-Trump and pro-Kelly factions. He reports that CEO Roger Ailes 'is fighting off criticism from his senior executives over his handling of the crisis,' and has become 'frantic' to re-enlist Trump." ...
... Digby, in Salon: "The most likely reason for this is exactly what it seems: Trump doesn't like debating. He[s complained about the length of them and threatened to boycott before so his beef with Megyn Kelly gave him a good excuse to get out of this one and dominate the news cycle in the process. And there's nothing Ailes can do about it." ...
... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Super PACs supporting ... Ted Cruz say they will donate $1.5 million to charities committed to helping veterans if rival Donald Trump agrees to a one-on-one debate with Cruz." CW: Otherwise, veterans get nada. ...
... Jessica Hopper of ABC News: "Trump's campaign responded to the debate offer, telling ABC News, 'If he's the last man standing and it comes down to a two-person race Donald Trump will be happy to debate him.'" ...
... Harper Neidig of the Hill: "'Even though I beat him in the first six debates, especially the last one, Ted Cruz wants to debate me again,' Trump tweeted on Wednesday. 'Can we do it in Canada?'"
I Called My Friend a Liar Because the Press Calls Me Black. Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Hours after appearing to question the honesty of longtime friend and adviser Armstrong Williams, Ben Carson on Wednesday made an unannounced appearance on Williams' radio show to reinforce their friendship and slam the media for what he argued was a misrepresentation of his words. He also accused reporters of holding black conservatives to a double standard. Carson, earlier in the day at a Bloomberg Politics breakfast, described Williams as 'not necessarily the epitome of truth. He doesn't speak all things that are correct,' Carson said at the event."
Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "ABC News will not include an undercard contest during its Republican presidential debate in February, according to new criteria released from the network. The decision threatens to cut the debate stage to as few as six candidates just three days before New Hampshire primary." CW: Rats! I wanted to see Santorum & Huckleberry one more time.
Beyond the Beltway
Joe Heim of the Washington Post: "Malheur is the first real siege brought about by a group of occupiers on the offensive. Armed with AR-15 assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and knives, dozens of men and women occupied a federal facility for more than three weeks, rallied others to their cause and, citing the Constitution, advocated severely curtailing federal authority across the country.... Supporters and critics agree that the Malheur occupation marks a dramatic turn in a long-simmering relationship between the federal government and radicals who view it as overreaching and corrupt." ...
... David Seminara, et al., of the New York Times: "The armed occupation of a wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon, which flashed into violent confrontation with law enforcement on Tuesday when eight members of the group were arrested and one was killed, appeared to be unraveling on Wednesday night when the jailed leader of the siege advised his followers to go home.... Speaking on the telephone from inside the refuge on Wednesday night, an occupier, David Fry, 27, said there were seven people remaining. He said the group had been drinking..., adding that they would stay 'until someone starts listening or until they slaughter us.' Group members, passing around a phone, said they believed Mr. Finicum was murdered and that holding Ammon Bundy in jail was an outrage to them.... News media crews at the refuge headquarters -- more or less camped out there since the occupation began -- drove away, out of concern for their own safety." ...
... Maxine Bernstein of the Oregonian: "A federal court judge Wednesday ordered Ammon Bundy and six others accused in the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to remain in jail, calling them flight risks and a danger to public safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Barrow argued that they would return to the refuge and 'bunker in' with their followers and stage a last violent stand if released. The government is also concerned about the 'dynamic situation involving an ongoing armed occupation,' said fellow federal prosecutor, Ethan Knight." The federal complaint is here. ...
... Carli Brosseau of the Oregonian: "The man who emerged Wednesday as the leader of the remaining occupiers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has been taken into custody. The FBI arrested Jason Patrick, 43, of Bonaire, Georgia, at a checkpoint outside the refuge near Burns about 8:40 p.m., authorities said. Duane Leo Ehmer, 45, of Irrigon, Oregon, and Dylan Wade Anderson, 34, of Provo, Utah, were taken into custody by the FBI about 3:30 p.m., an FBI news release said. Each man faces the same charge as the occupation's top leaders -- one federal felony count of conspiracy to impede officers of the United States from discharging their official duties through the use of force, intimidation or threats."
Rebecca Woolington of the Oregonian: "Oregon FBI Special Agent in Charge Greg Bretzing told reporters during a press conference Wednesday morning in Burns that the occupiers at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge had 'ample' time to leave peacefully. Bretzing was joined by U.S. Attorney Bill Williams and Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward during the press conference, held on the 26th day of the standoff with occupiers. They expressed disappointment that a traffic stop on protesters had turned deadly Tuesday." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)m...
... The Oregonian is running a liveblog of the developments related to the hostile takeover of the Malheur Refuge. And there are developments. I must say there are slightly differing accounts of how Finicum was killed. According to the Bundy story, he was lying face down with his hands up when an officer shot him three times. According to a person who claimed to be driving nearby, Finicum charged the officers. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Travis Gettys of Raw Story addresses the discrepancies in the accounts of Finicum's death. Two of the militants who claim to have been at or near the scene deny the martyrdom story the group's supporters have spread. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Nigel Duara of the Los Angeles Times: "... the FBI was running surveillance on the occupation and recording the activists' public statements, mostly drawn from media reports and the activists' use of social media, while FBI agents encouraged locals to report their experiences with the new strangers in town. According to the allegations in an indictment and supporting affidavit, the FBI was collecting information that confirmed the occupiers were armed, angry and willing to die."
Mayhem at Mizzou. Michael Miller of the Washington Post: The University of Missouri's "Board of Curators voted Wednesday to suspend Melissa Click, the assistant professor caught on camera pushing a student journalist and calling for 'some muscle' to remove him from a protest camp. [The board will continue to investigate the case to] 'determine whether additional discipline is appropriate.' The suspension came a day after the city prosecutor's decision to file a misdemeanor assault charge against Click over the incident, but it fell short of state legislators' demands that Click be fired. The suspension also came on the same day the school's ousted president, Tim Wolfe, issued a scathing letter slamming his successor as president, the Board of Curators, other university leaders and even the school's football team, which backed the protests."
Laura Vozzella of the Washington Post: "Court clerks with religious objections to issuing marriage licenses to gay couples could send them to the Department of Motor Vehicles instead under a bill advanced by a Virginia Senate panel on Wednesday. Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) immediately vowed to veto the 'divisive and distracting' measure if it gets to his desk." ...
... CW: Besides the obvious discrimination this law would impose on gay couples, there is an underlying stupidity to laws of this sort. Ninety-nine percent of employees object to some aspect of their jobs, often on moral or religious grounds. But they hold their noses & do their jobs anyway. If what they are required to do eats them up too much, they quit. Businesses & other institutions couldn't function if employees got to decide which parts of their jobs they would do. Being permitted to take a few days off for religious observances is not equivalent to being permitted to do only parts of your job every day of the week. Besides, most of us try not to take jobs in the first place if we think the jobs would test our ethical standards. If Greg Abbott invites me to oversee Texas executions for a Texas-sized salary & very little work, I'll tell him no. (On the other hand, if he invites me to oversee the prosecution of Planned Parenthood, I might tell him yes, so I could pull a Harris County grand jury move. You can reach me here, Greg.)
Today's Feel-Good Story. "Stand & Deliver" Redux. Hailey Brandson-Potts of the Los Angeles Times: "Cedrick [Argueta], the son of a Salvadoran maintenance worker and a Filipina nurse [who live in the Los Angeles area]..., scored perfectly on his Advanced Placement Calculus exam. Of the 302,531 students to take the notoriously mind-crushing test, he was one of only 12 to earn every single point.... Cedrick is the son of Lilian and Marcos Argueta, both of whom came to the United States as young adults -- she from the Philippines, he from El Salvador. Lilian, a licensed vocational nurse, works two jobs at nursing homes. Marcos is a maintenance worker at one of those nursing homes. He never went to high school." Cedrick's math teacher is Anthony Yom, who "treats his students like a sports team."
News Ledes
New York Times: "With about 500,000 people expected to visit Brazil for the Olympics here this year, researchers are scrambling to figure how much of a risk the Games might pose in spreading the Zika virus around the world."
AP: "The Texas teenager who used an 'affluenza' defense in a fatal drunken-driving wreck arrived at a Texas airport following his deportation from Mexico on Thursday, more than a month after he and his mother fled the U.S. as prosecutors investigated whether he had violated his probation. Ethan Couch, 18, arrived at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport late Thursday morning and could be seen walking through the airport escorted by law enforcement."
Washington Post: "The World Health Organization announced Thursday that it would convene an emergency meeting to try to find ways to stop the transmission of the Zika virus -- which officials said is 'spreading explosively' across the Americas."