The Commentariat -- April 4, 2016

Afternoon Update:

** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Monday unanimously ruled that states may count all residents, whether or not they are eligible to vote, in drawing election districts. The decision was a major statement on the meaning of a fundamental principle of the American political system, that of 'one person one vote.' As a practical matter, the ruling mostly helped Democrats.... The court did not decide whether other ways of counting were permissible.” The decision, writen by Justice Ginsburg, is here. -- CW ...

... Ian Millhiser: "Justice Ginsburg just shut down one of America’s most notorious white rights activists." -- CW

Jennifer Rubin, the WashPo's official winger-blogger, writes a very good takedown on Trump the Ignoramus & traveler on the long whining road. And kudos to Chris Wallace of Fox "News" (no, really!) for challenging Donald the Dunce. -- CW

David Siders of the Sacramento Bee: California "Gov. Jerry Brown [D], casting a living wage as a moral imperative while questioning its economic rationale, signed legislation Monday raising California’s mandatory minimum to $15 an hour by 2022, acting within hours of a similar bill signing in New York.... Brown, a fiscal moderate, had previously expressed reservations about a wage increase. But amid growing concern about income inequality in California and the national thrust of the labor-backed 'Fight for 15' campaign, his hand was forced." -- CW

Matt Yglesias of Vox on the Panama Papers: "Even as the world's wealthiest and most powerful nations have engaged in increasingly complex and intensive efforts at international cooperation to smooth the wheels of global commerce, they have willfully chosen to allow the wealthiest members of Western society to shield their financial assets from taxation (and in many cases divorce or bankruptcy settlement) by taking advantage of shell companies and tax havens." -- CW

*****

Steve M.: "... Republicans will probably obstruct any appointee by President Hillary Clinton if they hold the Senate next year." CW: Sounds alarming, doesn't it? But I don't see any sensible argument to refute Steve's. What? You think Mitch & Chuck are going to get all sweet & cuddly?

Elizabeth Kolbert of the New Yorker: Researchers have found evidence that "the West Antarctic Ice Sheet ... [is] vulnerable to collapse.... The researchers concluded that just a few more decades of 'unabated' carbon emissions could result in more than three feet of sea-level rise from WAIS [alone] by the end of this century.... [Donald] Trump has repeatedly used Twitter ... to scoff at the very notion of climate change. 'Hoax' and 'con job' are some of his more nuanced comments. 'Bullshit' is another. Ted Cruz is, if anything, worse; he recently claimed that the federal government was 'cooking the books' to demonstrate warming that doesn’t exist.... Disaster is looking like a good bet." -- CW

Presidential Race

Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "Hillary Clinton said Sunday that the FBI has not asked to question her about her use of a private email server when she was secretary of State, a controversy that has dogged her presidential bid." -- CW ...

... Also, too, Hillary feels sorry for the kids who believe Bernie. Sometimes. Who says Hillary Clinton isn't compassionate? Sometimes. --CW

Patrick Healy & Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times write something of a post mortem of the Sanders campaign." -- CW

An Ordinary Couple. Connon O'Brien of Politico: "Sen. Bernie Sanders on Sunday dismissed criticism that he hasn't released his full tax returns, even though Democratic rival Hillary Clinton has released eight years worth. Pushed by Jake Tapper on CNN's 'State of the Union' over why he only released a 2014 summary of his returns, the Vermont senator said..., 'My wife does our tax returns. We have been a little bit busy lately,' Sanders said.... Sanders said he would work to make as much of his personal tax information public as soon as possible, but said expectations should be tempered for what will be revealed." -- CW

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "After a contentious vote on Sunday, North Dakota Republicans elected 25 unaligned delegates to send to the Republican National Convention this summer in Cleveland, offering a presage of the confusion and chaos that seems certain to unfold there if the party remains unable to unite behind a nominee.... A disagreement erupted on the convention floor after a group of Republicans challenged party leaders to bring more clarity to the process by asking delegate candidates to declare which presidential candidate they would support in Cleveland.... Even the prospective delegates seemed confused." -- CW ...

... Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "Ted Cruz’s preferred candidates won the vast majority of convention delegates available in North Dakota over the weekend, taking 18 of 25 slots in the state in another show of organizational strength over Donald Trump. It’s still not clear how loyal all of Cruz’s slate will be if the Republican nomination heads to a contested convention in Cleveland, as several included on it told Politico they were only leaning toward Cruz, or simply opposed to Trump." -- CW

Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump’s private meeting in Washington on Thursday featured nearly a dozen industry leaders, including a veteran lobbyist and the chief executive of a major airline trade organization, attendees confirmed.... Yet Mr. Trump routinely makes 'special interests' and lobbyists a focus of derision in his stump speeches, making the meeting something of a surprise." His campaign spokesperson said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) arranged the meeting with lobbyists. -- CW

Brian Bennett: "Donald Trump refused on Sunday to rule out running as an independent if he fails to win the Republican presidential nomination, renewing a threat that party leaders thought they had quashed months ago. 'I want to run as a Republican. I will beat Hillary Clinton,' Trump said on 'Fox News Sunday. 'When pressed to rule out an independent run, the New York billionaire said, 'I'm gonna have to see how I was treated.'" -- CW

Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump on Sunday called on Ohio Gov. John Kasich to drop out of the GOP nominating contest, accusing him of siphoning away potential Trump voters and telling reporters that he expressed his displeasure while meeting with Republican National Committee officials last week.... 'It’s very unfair because he’s taking our votes...,' Trump said." (Emphasis added.) CW: It is clear that in the World According to Trump, anyone who doesn't vote for him, or do his bidding, or bow & curtsy appropriately, is being "very unfair." It's beyond question what he means when he says he won't run as an independent unless "the "party treats him unfairly"; that is, unless he wins the nomination.

... MEANWHILE. Ari Melber of NBC News: "The Donald Trump and Ted Cruz campaigns are working to prevent John Kasich from appearing on the ballot at the Republican National Convention in July, msnbc has learned, an aggressive strategy suggesting the GOP's leading candidates are girding for a contested convention to select the party's nominee. On Sunday, Trump told a supporter that 'Kasich shouldn't be allowed to continue and the RNC shouldn't allow him to continue.... 'I expect the Rules Committee to require a level of support that would leave only two candidates on the ballot at the convention,' a senior Cruz Campaign aide told msnbc." -- CW

Steve Coll of the New Yorker: “'We’re a country that doesn’t have money,' [Donald Trump] told the Times.... 'At some point, we cannot be the policeman of the world.'... In all probability, the U.S. can afford its global-defense commitments indefinitely, and an open economy, renewed by immigration and innovation, should be able to continue to grow and to share the cost of securing free societies. The main obstacle to realizing this goal is not an exhausted imperial treasury. It is the collapse of the once-internationalist Republican Party into demagoguery, paralysis, and Trumpism.” -- CW

Trump "Made Too Many Wrong Mistakes." E.J. Dionne thinks, finally, the Trump candidacy is finished: The past week's episodes "ratify what Trump skeptics said all along: that he is utterly unprepared to be a serious candidate, let alone president of the United States; that an endless stream of insults against all who get in his way wears thin over time; that he is winging it and stubbornly refusing to do the homework the enterprise he’s engaged in requires; and that trashing ethnic and religious minorities can win you a fair number of votes but not, thank God, a majority of Americans." -- CW ...

The Editorial Board of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel has come out against voting for Trump tomorrow. However, I have to disagree with them equating Bernie Sanders with Trump as being "the wrong standard-bearer for voter concerns." --unwashed

... Also Has No Idea What Newspapers Do. Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump on Sunday compared his Twitter account to owning his own newspaper. 'This is a modern form, it's like owning my own newspaper,' Trump said during a Fox News town hall on Sunday, in response to a question from anchor Greta Van Susteren about whether he'd stop tweeting if he is elected president." -- CW

According to Richard Zombeck at HuffPost Politics Donald Trump never wanted to be President: "What began as a con will end as a con. Trump will continue to make bombastic, ludicrous and inane comments, proving to the media—who are all too eager to give him all the attention he wants—that he is wholly unqualified for the job. Other republicans will chastise him for the things that he says, proving to his followers that he is being targeted by an establishment that is afraid of him. Trump will walk away unscathed, his brand strengthened and his dignity intact. He will be the guy who nearly became president, but was too much for people to take." -- CaptRuss

Lady Liberty. A Former Mrs. Trump Knows the Value of Immigrants. Caitlin Yilek of the Hill: "Donald Trump’s ex-wife [Ivana Trump] defended the Republican presidential front-runner’s immigration policies in an interview published in Sunday's New York Post.... 'As long as you come here legally and get a proper job … we need immigrants. Who’s going to vacuum our living rooms and clean up after us? Americans don’t like to do that,'” she added." (Emphasis added.) -- CW

Gabriel Sherman of New York magazine provides an inside look at Operation Trump." 'I’m the strategist,' Trump told me. Which would make him, no matter what your feelings about his beliefs or his qualifications to govern a country, one of the greatest political savants of the modern era." -- unwashed

Congressional Races

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Florida is again likely to play a crucial role in who wins the White House this year, but the wild, wide-open and largely forgotten race to replace Senator Marco Rubio could also determine which party controls the Senate, which in turn could decide the ideological balance of the Supreme Court.... The White House has weighed in heavily, and remarkably early, in favor of [Rep. Patrick] Murphy in his primary fight against Representative Alan Grayson, who has cultivated a reputation as a liberal firebrand with a willingness to buck party leaders." -- CW

Amanda Terkel of The Huffington Post: "Obama's Endorsement of Debbie Wasserman Schultz Brings In Serious Money...For Her Challenger."

"Tim Canova, a progressive law professor taking on Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), pulled in more than half a million dollars in the first three months of 2016...In the four days following Obama’s endorsement, Canova received nearly $100,000, according to his campaign — almost a quarter of what he raised in the three-month period, even though they never actually fundraised off the endorsement." -- unwashed

Beyond the Beltway

Los Angeles Times Editors: "Even before Southern California Gas Co. plugged the damaged storage well blamed for the worst methane leak in U.S. history, its executives promised to fully offset the emissions released during the break.... Gov. Jerry Brown attempted to hold SoCal Gas to its word ... [by directing] regulators to develop a program, to be funded by the utility, that would cut greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Now that the California Air Resources Board has prepared that program, however, the utility has balked.... SoCal Gas made its position clear in a letter to the air board: The mitigation plan is voluntary and the utility will make good on its pledge in any way it sees fit." -- CW

Way Beyond

Luke Harding in the Guardian: "A network of secret offshore deals and vast loans worth $2bn has laid a trail to Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. An unprecedented leak of documents shows how this money has made members of Putin’s close circle fabulously wealthy. Though the president’s name does not appear in any of the records, the data reveals [sic!] a pattern – his friends have earned millions from deals that seemingly could not have been secured without his patronage." -- CW ...

... The Panama Papers: "The files expose offshore companies controlled by the prime ministers of Iceland and Pakistan, the king of Saudi Arabia and the children of the president of Azerbaijan.... World leaders who have embraced anti-corruption platforms feature in the leaked documents. The files reveal offshore companies linked to the family of China’s top leader,Xi Jinping, who has vowed to fight 'armies of corruption,; as well as Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has positioned himself as a reformer in a country shaken by corruption scandals. The files also contain new details of offshore dealings by the late father of British Prime Minister David Cameron, a leader in the push for tax-haven reform." -- CW ...

... Fusion has a short list of "famous politicos" outted in the papers. -- CW

Demitrus Nellas of the AP: "An agreement between the European Union and Turkey to deport migrants currently on Greek islands back to the Turkish mainland is to take effect Monday morning, but the operation is threatened by a shortage of personnel." -- CW

Reuters: "Thousands of people have attended a pro-choice rally outside parliament in Warsaw after the leader of Poland’s ruling party backed a call from Catholic bishops for a full ban on pregnancy terminations. Poland already has one of the most restrictive abortion laws in Europe. Official statistics show only a few hundred abortions are performed every year, but pro-choice campaigners say underground abortions are common." -- CW

Tempus Fugit. In honor of the upcoming 40th anniversary of his death Gil Troy of The Daily Beast writes an informative tribute to the "Singing Journalist" Phil Ochs. I can only think Phil's been spinning in his grave for the last 15 years. --unwashed

The Commentariat -- April 3, 2016

Kristen East of Politico: "Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran has reversed his position on a hearing and vote for Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland, just a week after straying from the position of GOP leadership. The senator's office released a statement Friday clarifying Moran's position, saying the senator no longer believes hearings are a necessity." CW: Clarifying? Apparently there is clarity in chickenshit.

Joan Lowy of the AP: " A government-sponsored committee is recommending standards that could clear the way for commercial drone flights over populated areas and help speed the introduction of package delivery drones and other uses not yet possible....."

Mark Sherman of the AP: A potential "Supreme Court appeal from a Hispanic defendant in Colorado raises the prospect that a juror's comments during deliberations can be so offensive that they deprive a defendant of a fair trial ... After a jury convicted Miguel Angel Pena Rodriguez of attempted sexual assault involving teenage sisters at a Denver-area horse race track, two jurors provided his lawyer with sworn statements claiming that a third juror made derogatory remarks about Mexican men before voting guilty.... The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the National Congress of American Indians are among the groups backing Pena Rodriguez, cataloguing examples of trials in which jurors uttered slurs or made derogatory remarks about Native American, African-American and Hispanic defendants." -- CaptRuss

Rocket Man. Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: Jeff Bezos, "the billionaire founder of Amazon.com (and owner of The Washington Post), not only announced ahead of time that his space company would launch a rocket on Saturday, but he live-tweeted it, giving his followers a play-by-play of the event, and a few inside glimpses. Saturday's liftoff from Blue Origin's launch site in West Texas was the third consecutive time the company has launched and landed its reusable New Shepard suborbital vehicle, which consists of a rocket and a capsule designed to take astronauts just past the edge of space." -- CW

Washington Murder Mystery. Steven Myers of the New York Times: "Mikhail Y. Lesin, once a player in the Kremlin's media apparatus, was found dead from 'blunt force injuries' in Washington, fueling speculation of murder." -- CW

Presidential Race

Lisa Lerer & Ken Thomas of the AP: "After a year of campaigning, months of debates and 35 primary elections, Sanders is finally getting under Clinton's skin in the Democratic presidential race. Clinton has spent weeks largely ignoring Sanders and trying to focus on ... Donald Trump. Now, after several primary losses and with a tough fight in New York on the horizon, Clinton is showing flashes of frustration with the Vermont senator -- irritation that could undermine her efforts to unite the party around her candidacy." -- CW

Bob Woodward and Robert Costa of the Washington Post interview Donald Trump: "In his first 100 days, Trump said, he would cut taxes, 'renegotiate trade deals and renegotiate military deals,' including altering the U.S. role in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. He insisted that he would be able to get rid of the nation's more than $19 trillion national debt 'over a period of eight years.' Most economists would consider this impossible because it could require taking more than $2 trillion a year out of the annual $4 trillion budget to pay off holders of the debt." Un-fucking-believable that he doesn't seem to understand that international trade deficits are the result of business transactions - which do not involve the government. -- CaptRuss ...

... Trump also said in the interview "that economic conditions are so perilous that the country is headed for a 'very massive recession' and that 'it's a terrible time right now' to invest in the stock market, embracing a distinctly gloomy view of the economy that counters mainstream economic forecasts." CW: Allow me to remind you that in 2011, Mr. I. Speak toMyself "predicted riots in the street and exorbitantly expensive loaves of bread due to higher oil prices and a declining dollar. But the business mogul overshot the price of bread by more than 12 times." ...

... And Then Some

Glenn Kessler of the Fact Checker at the Washington Post laments that there are only Four Pinocchios available: "Alone among Republican hopefuls, Trump has pledged not to touch entitlement spending. So unless he wants to start breaking some campaign promises, one presumes he would not seek to change the laws governing most mandatory spending. That leaves discretionary spending, which Congress votes on year after year and funds the basic functions of government, such as defense, homeland security, highways, and so forth. In the eight years of a putative two-term Trump presidency, the CBO projects a total of $10 trillion in discretionary spending. So even if Trump eliminated every government function and shut down every Cabinet agency, he'd still be $16 trillion short."

Jonathan Martin & Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "As Donald J. Trump moves closer to the Republican nomination, his unpopularity with large groups of voters suggests a potentially staggering loss in a general election.... In recent head-to-head polls with one Democrat whom Mr. Trump may face in the fall, Hillary Clinton, he trails in every key state, including Florida and Ohio, despite her soaring unpopularity ratings with swing voters." -- CW ...

... But there's this. Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "Few people are thanking the president for low unemployment [in Indiana]. Instead, many discouraged workers are attracted to Donald J. Trump's economic message." CW: Then again, Trump is a white dude.

Ben Schreckinger & Ken Vogel of Politico: "In public, Donald Trump is standing behind embattled campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as he faces battery charges for grabbing a reporter. But behind the scenes, Lewandowski's role in the campaign is shrinking. In early March, Lewandowski ceded authority over many hiring decisions to a lower-ranking staffer. In recent days, the campaign's press office has been overruling his decisions about issuing credentials for campaign events. Going forward, Trump's just-named convention manager, Paul Manafort, is expected to take a leading role not just in the selection of delegates, but in the remaining primaries themselves, according to three people on or close to the campaign." ...

     ... CW: Not that there's anything wrong with picking as an alternate delegate a guy who is in jail awaiting trial on federal charges stemming from his part in the Cliven Bundy stand-off & also participated in the Oregon occupation of the Malheur Reserve. Lewandowski's been doing a great job!

... This Elephant Has a Very Short Memory. Joey Garrson & Dave Boucher of the Tennessean: "Donald Trump's campaign for president is accusing the Tennessee Republican Party of 'doing the bidding' of the national GOP establishment in a calculated attempt to 'steal' pro-Trump delegates and stop them from being a part of Tennessee's GOP delegation.... A Tennessee party official disputes that allegation, instead accusing Trump's camp of distorting the truth while noting Trump will still receive all delegates won from the state." CW: Apparently Trump forgot that way two days ago he admitted that his campaign wasn't doing its job of trying to "steal"/persuade convention delegates to vote for him. ...

... Jamie McGee & Joel Ebert of the Tennessean: "Tennessee Republican Party leaders voted Saturday to finalize a list of delegates to the GOP's national presidential nominating convention over fierce objections from Donald Trump backers, who accused officials of stacking the group against the real estate mogul.... As the committee began its meeting at 10 a.m.dozens of Trump supporters formed a line outside the Hillsboro Village office, voicing frustration over the fact that they weren't being allowed inside for the proceedings. [Trump supporter] Robert Swope, Metro Councilman for the 4th district..., [said] 'Trust me, there will be a war.... I want everyone to remember this moment in the Tennessee GOP because this will come back to haunt them." -- CW ...

... Shane Goldmacher & Kyle Cheney of Politico: Party leaders, alarmed by an intensifying backlash throughout the night, have hired extra security for the event -- which party chairman Ryan Haynes noted had been scheduled to take place in a small, unsecured conference room -- and [they consider[ed] canceling the event altogether." ...

... CW: As I wrote yesterday, Trump's preferred method of negotiation is violence or threats of violence.

Peter Montgomery in Otherwords, via Juan Cole: "There's a darker side to Trump's campaign that should disturb anyone thinking about supporting him: It's electrifying and energizing the white supremacist movement." -safari

Maureen Dowd interviews Donald Trump. "It's ridiculous how many mistakes Trump has made in rapid order to alienate women when he was already on thin ice with them -- and this in a year when the Republicans will likely have to run against a woman." Dowd doesn't make any definitive news, but there's this: Dowd: "I had to ask: When he was a swinging bachelor in Manhattan, was he ever involved with anyone who had an abortion?" Trump: "Such an interesting question. So what's your next question?" So yes. Of course. -- CW

Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump "either can't or won't think before speaking. Shooting from the hip may work on reality TV, but it's no way to run a country -- or even to broker a deal, the art of which seems to have been lost on its author." -- CW

When a huckster presidential candidate jokes about nuclear war while real POTUS works to avoid it. Ben Jacobs and Martin Pengelly in the Guardian: "Speaking at a rally in Rothschild, Wisconsin ahead of the state's primary on Tuesday, [Donald Trump] said that if conflict between Japan and nuclear-armed North Korea were to break out, 'it would be a terrible thing but if they do, they do'. 'Good luck,' he added. 'Enjoy yourself, folks.'" --safari

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. New York Times Edition. Steve M.: "An editorial in The New York Times [Saturday] expresses anguish at the GOP establishment's decision to freeze out that nice John Kasich.... The media feels it [sic!] has a responsibility to save the Republican Party from itself.... The press blam[es] itself for the fact that Republican voters admire Donald Trump and want to watch and read about him before enthusiastically voting for him.... Beyond that, the press wants a Republican to admire." Steve reiterates why Kasich is not that admirable guy. -- CW

Senate Race

Melinda Deslatte of the AP: "Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told state Democratic Party leaders on Saturday that he's backing Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell in the U.S. Senate race, and he encouraged them to unite behind one candidate on the November ballot ... Campbell, a member of the Public Service Commission for more than a decade and a long-time state senator before that, called the governor's support 'monumental' for his campaign." Political newcomers Caroline Fayard, an attorney, and Josh Pellerin, a businessman in the oil and gas industry, have also announced they will run for the senate seat being vacated by moral reprobate David Vitter. -- CaptRuss

Beyond the Beltway

Rebecca Traister of New York Magazine, published April 1st: "On the last day of March, the New York State Legislature finalized a budget deal that included not only a promise to raise the minimum wage to $15, but also the nation's newest -- and by far its strongest and most comprehensive -- bill mandating paid-family-leave time for -- most employees. That means that New York has just become the fifth state ... to mandate paid leave. And compared to its progressive predecessors, New York's bill is startlingly robust."safari note: Elections matter y'all.

Jen Kirby and Chas Danner of NY Magazine: "Queens Bull Escapes to College, Gets Rescued by Jon Stewart ... [Stewart] and his wife run their own animal sanctuary, Bufflehead Farm, in New Jersey, and were alerted to [the bull's] plight by the Farm Sanctuary organization, who negotiated the release of the animal." -- CaptRuss

Kate Royals and Sarah Fowler of the Jackson, MS Clarion-Ledger: Mississippi "House Bill 1523, or the 'Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act,' is soon headed to Gov. Phil Bryant's desk after the House concurred with the Senate's version Friday morning." Among other nonsense, the bill protects "individuals whose sincerely held beliefs include that 'sexual relations are properly reserved' to a marriage between a man and a woman, raising questions about whether single mothers could be targeted...Bryant said he has not made a decision about the bill." -- CaptRuss

Charles Pierce of Esquire on the upcoming "shitstorm" in Wisconsin: "All morning, citizens scrambled through the freshening snow into the four local offices [in Madison]of the Wisconsin Department of Motor Vehicles. They were there to get the identification cards they will need to cast a vote on Tuesday under the state's new voter ID law that is having its shakedown cruise that day." -- unwashed. As a former Wisconsinite it's hard to believe how far the Badgers have fallen down the rabbit hole.

Way Beyond

Helena Smith of the Guardian: "Rioting and rebellion by thousands of entrapped refugees across Greece has triggered mounting fears in Athens over the practicality of enforcing an agreement already marred by growing concerns over its legality.... 'We are expecting violence. People in despair tend to be violent,' the leftist-led government's migration spokesman, Giorgos Kyritsis, told the Observer..., 'These are people [that] have fled war. They are not criminals.' With tensions on the rise in Lesbos, the Aegean island that has borne the brunt of the flows, and in Idomeni on the Greek-Macedonia frontier where around 11,000 have massed since the border's closure, NGOs warned of a timebomb in the making. Hopes of numbers decreasing following the announcement of the EU-Turkey deal have been dispelled by a renewed surge in arrivals with the onset of spring." -- CaptRuss

News Ledes

AP: "Joseph Medicine Crow, an acclaimed Native American historian and last surviving war chief of Montana's Crow Tribe, has died. He was 102. Medicine Crow died Sunday...." Read the obituary.

New York Times: "Fierce winds, snow, lightning and hail stomped across the East on Saturday and early Sunday, downing trees, damaging buildings and cutting power to more than 250,000 homes across 14 states. Among the hardest hit were New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with over 35,000 homes in each state dark on Sunday afternoon."

AP: "Authorities say an Amtrak train struck a piece of construction equipment just south of Philadelphia, and some injuries are being reported. Service on the Northeast Corridor between New York and Philadelphia has been suspended.... The impact derailed the lead engine of the train." ...

     ... Washington Post Update: "Local police told affiliate NBC10 that two people had died and at least one was hurt." ...

     ... NEW Wash Po LEDE: "Two Amtrak maintenance workers were killed Sunday when a passenger train bound for Washington plowed into a backhoe machine they were operating just south of Philadelphia.... Amtrak said its scheduled trains would run in the Northeast corridor on Monday, but that riders should expect delays between Wilmington, Del., and Philadelphia."

AP: "A week after taking back the historic town of Palmyra, Syrian troops and their allies on Sunday captured another town controlled by the Islamic State group in central Syria, state media reported. The push into the town of Qaryatain took place under the cover of Russian airstrikes and dealt another setback to the IS extremists in Syria. However, an activist group that monitors the Syrian civil war said the government forces for the moment control more than half of Qaryatain but have not fully secured the town."

Charles J. Gans of the AP: "Latin Jazz saxophonist Leandro 'Gato' Barbieri, who composed the Grammy-winning music for the steamy Marlon Brando film 'Last Tango in Paris' and recorded dozens of albums over a career spanning more than seven decades, has died at age 83...He earned the nickname 'El Gato,' which means 'The Cat,' in the 1950s because of the way he scampered between clubs with his saxophone.... He released 'Caliente' (1976) for the A&M label, which included his popular rendition of Carlos Santana's 'Europa.'" The sensuous "Europa" has long been one of my favorite jazz tenor sax tunes and is emblematic of Barbieri's rich and smoky style. -- CaptRuss

The Commentariat -- April 2, 2016

CW: Okay. You're on your own!

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday questioned Donald J. Trump's fitness for office after statements from the Republican front-runner that the United States and its allies should move away from decades of constraints on the use of nuclear weapons. 'We don't want somebody in the Oval Office who doesn't recognize how important that is,' Mr. Obama said. Speaking to reporters at the end of a summit meeting devoted to nuclear security, the president said the comments by Mr. Trump reflected a person who 'doesn't know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean Peninsula or the world in general'": -- CW

... Harper Neidig of the Hill: "President Obama on Friday called out Turkish President Recep Erdogan, saying his policies toward journalists have been 'troubling.'" -- CW

Josh Lederman & Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Barack Obama urged global leaders Friday not to be complacent in the face of an evolving threat from terrorists who he said are eager to unleash a devastating nuclear attack. 'It would change our world,' he declared." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Nelson Schwartz & Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "The 215,000 jump in payrolls in March reported by the Labor Department on Friday capped the best two-year period for hiring since the late 1990s, while the proportion of Americans in the labor force -- which had been on a downward trajectory since 2001 and an even steeper slide since 2008 -- hit a two-year high. 'It's really a best-case scenario,' said Michelle Meyer, deputy head of United States economics at Bank of America Merrill Lynch." -- CW

Sarah Wheaton of Politico: "White House Counsel Neil Eggleston ... has promised to pick up the pace [of granting presidential pardons & clemency], but so far, acceleration has been halting. That's about to change, Eggleston said on Friday at a Politico Playbook Breakfast." -- CW

** Gail Collins on abortion, contraception, Donald Trump, & Republicans' deep respect for women. "In reality, the anti-abortion movement is grounded on the idea that sex outside of marriage is a sin, and the only choice a woman should have is between abstinence and the possibility of imminent parenthood. It may be politically unwise to say that the sinner ought to pay, but she should at minimum have to carry an unwanted child to term. Look at it this way and it's easy to understand why abortion opponents have shown virtually no interest in working to make contraceptives and family planning universally available. It's the sex, at bottom, that they oppose...." -- CW

Matt Apuzzo & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "The Obama administration is considering whether North Carolina's new law on gay and transgender rights makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways and housing, officials said Friday. Cutting off any federal money -- or even simply threatening to do so -- would put major new pressure on North Carolina to repeal the law, which eliminated local protections for gay and transgender people and restricted which bathrooms transgender people can use.... Experts said such a drastic step was unlikely, at least immediately.... Gov. Pat McCrory of North Carolina had assured residents that the law would not jeopardize federal money for education." -- CW

Guardian: "Company CEOs and city officials have joined other government and business leaders in opposition to North Carolina's new law that prevents specific anti-discrimination rules for LGBT people for restroom use. The Human Rights Campaign and Equality North Carolina on Friday released the names of another 10 company executives that have signed on to a letter criticizing the law and seeking its repeal, bringing the number of names to more than 120. New executives include those from Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Qualcomm and EMC Corp." -- CaptRuss

Max Ehrenfreund & Roberto Ferdman of the Washington Post: "As many as 1 million Americans will stop receiving food stamps over the course of this year beginning on Friday, the consequence of a controversial work mandate that has been reinstated in 22 states as the economy improves. The 20-year-old rule -- which was suspended in many states during the economic recession -- requires that adults without children or disabilities must have a job in order to receive food stamps through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for more than three months, with some exceptions." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jennifer Bendery of the Huffington Post: Iowa teen Jake Smith, in a letter published by the Des Moines Register, asks Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) to step down as head of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Grassley argues that President Obama cannot appoint a Supreme Court Justice because the "people" in the next presidential election must decide who gets to make the appointment. Smith reasons, "... since you, too, are in an election year, how can you possess the authority to make a decision that will affect the future of our country if 'the people have not yet spoken?"' Smith told Bendery, 'I know he's not going to read this letter from an 18-year-old and say, "Oh crap. I have to step down now," But I'm just trying to kind of match his ridiculous statements about this issue with another ridiculous statement." -- CW

Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "The international hacker who allegedly accessed personal emails and photographs belonging to the family of former president George W. Bush and whose cyber-mischief revealed that Hillary Clinton was using a private email address appeared in a U.S. court for the first time Friday. Marcel Lehel Lazar -- better known by the moniker 'Guccifer' that he is said to have affixed to the materials he stole -- is charged with cyber-stalking, aggravated identity theft and unauthorized access of a protected computer in a nine-count indictment filed in 2014 in federal district court in Alexandria, Va. He was extradited to the United States recently from Romania, his home country, where he had been serving a sentence for hacking.

Lazar claimed to have compromised the email account of former Bill Clinton aide Sidney Blumenthal and released memos Blumenthal sent to Hillary Clinton. Gawker noticed that the notes were directed to a private, nongovernmental email account. The New York Times later reported that Clinton exclusively used a personal account to conduct government business. -- CW

... CW: In all of the bazillion words I've read or heard about "the damned e-mails," I never knew that a hacker was partially responsible for bringing to light Hillary's use of a private account for State business. How'd I miss that? The news (to me) is both fascinating & troubling. If a guy whose hacking "system" relies on Kabballah, numerology, the occult & Jung's archetypes, among other things, can hack the U.S. Secretary of State's e-mail account, you can bet that Israel, Russia, China & official eavesdroppers everywhere were reading her e-mails, too.

Presidential Race

Ari Berman of the Nation: "... 300,000 registered voters in Wisconsin, 9 percent of the electorate..., do not have a government-issued photo ID and could be disenfranchised by the state's new voter-ID law, which is in effect for the first time in 2016." CW: Bernie Sanders is ahead of Hillary Clinton by several points in polls of Wisconsin voters. If he loses, it's likely the voter ID law will be the reason: students are among those most likely not to have the requisite IDs.

** "Soften Your Tone" and Other Bronx Cheers. Eric Levitz of New York: "On Thursday night..., [Bernie Sanders] drew 18,500 raucous supporters to St. Mary's Park in the South Bronx. Although the senator's campaign has often been portrayed as the whitest thing since sliced Wonder Bread, the crowd in Mott Haven was a rainbow coalition: Among the Caucasian Sandersistas were significant numbers of African-Americans, Latinos, Asian-Americans, and even a smattering of Hasidic Jews. BernieBros and BernieBroads were out in roughly equal numbers. The only demographic that went underrepresented was 'people who were alive when Ronald Reagan was in office.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Maryalice Parks of ABC News: "Speaking to a packed house [in] eastern Wisconsin, Sanders twice said Clinton owed his campaign an apology. 'We were not lying, we were telling the truth,' the presidential hopeful said after bringing up an incident yesterday in which an activist asked Clinton if she would stop taking money from the fossil fuel industry. Clinton responded aggressively and accused the Sanders' campaign of lying." -- CW ...

... Paul Krugman says Bernie needs to cut that out & start playing nice. He also says Clinton is raising money for down-ballot candidates which Sanders is not. CW: What he doesn't say is that Clinton's little fundraising deal with the states is a mighty sleazy scheme. It is certainly not the point in her favor that Krugman pretends it is. -- CW

...Michael Tomasky of The Daily Beast on why he's voting for Hillary: "...I vote for other people's interests...economic welfare, of course, but voting rights, rights for immigrants, all the rest. The things the Republican Party wants to yank away from people. And you know what? I actually just think that Hillary Clinton will do a better job of defending those interests than Bernie Sanders will. Nobody makes me say that. Chelsea isn't sending me secret messages. I just think it." -- unwashed

... Jeff Stein of Vox explains the hoohah over Hillary Clinton's acceptance of campaign contributions from employees of oil-and-gas companies. Hey, Bernie Sanders has a accepted a teensy number, too. -- CW

Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "Roger Stone, the longtime Republican political operative and current ally of Donald Trump, says he's trying to organize protests at the Republican convention in Cleveland this summer to disrupt any effort by the party to 'steal' the nomination from the frontrunner. Stone tweeted several times on Friday evening about his plans, announcing a 'Stop the Steal March on Cleveland' and calling on supporters to get to Cleveland for the convention in July. Stone told BuzzFeed News over email that he is planning '#DaysofRage,' a seeming reference to the Weatherman-organized Days of Rage protests that took place in Chicago in 1969." ...

     ... CW: According to a New York Times report (linked on the Commentariat yesterday), Trump conceded to RNC brass that his campaign had failed to mount a delegate outreach effort, which is SOP for presidential campaigns. (The whole idea of schmoozing delegates seemed to come as a surprise to Trump, which in itself is pretty amazing.) That is, candidates & their campaigns try to get committed delegates to stick with them thru multiple roll calls, to get uncommitted delegates to support them, & to get those committed to other candidates to move to them on a second roll call. But that's not the Trump plan. No, the Trump plan is "rage" & violence. If this was the only thing you knew about the great businessman & his management style, it should be enough to tell you he isn't qualified to be president.

Descent of the Zombie. Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump ... may have surrendered any remaining chance to rally Republicans strongly around him before the party's July convention in Cleveland. At a moment when a more traditional front-runner might have sought to smooth over divisions within his party and turn his attention to the general election, Mr. Trump has only intensified his slash-and-burn, no-apologies approach to the campaign.... Republicans who once worried that Mr. Trump might gain overwhelming momentum in the primaries are now becoming preoccupied with a different grim prospect: that Mr. Trump might become a kind of zombie candidate -- damaged beyond the point of repair, but too late for any of his rivals to stop him." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: Funniest part of Burns' article: where he turns to Newt Gingrich to provide advice on how to be presidential.

Dana Milbank: "... it's impossible to ignore a growing volume of public-opinion data showing that a large number of [Donald Trump's] supporters are indeed driven by racial animus." -- CW

Bully of Week: Trump's Hells Angels. The Daily Beast's Mak & Suebaeng are scaring me with "Donald Trump has a new line of defense in his ongoing war against protesters: hundreds, if not thousands, of pro-Trump bikers ready and willing to provide extra security at his rallies...Trump has embraced his biker supporters with gusto...'My biker friends,' Trump said during a Q&A at a recent Wisconsin Rally. His new friends aren't just fans and are now pledging to provide ad hoc security at for their new hero, using violence if necessary." (I wonder if Scott Walker will show up with truncheons on his Harley?) -- unwashed

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. The Fourth Estate thinks about growing a pair. Jonathan Easley of The Hill: "The trio of controversies that have trailed [Donald] Trump over the last week -- dragging Ted Cruz's wife into the spotlight, his campaign manager's battery charge against a reporter and his statement on punishment for illegal abortions -- all had key media components.... 'Part of this is malice on the media's part,' said Republican strategist Ford O'Connell .. 'He's been able to outfox them at every turn, and now that he's backed into a corner you see some of the latent aggression coming out here as they try and make up for past instances where he's gotten the better of them...,' O'Connell said. 'It got away from him this week. If Trump loses the nomination, I think this is the week we'll look back on as when the bottom fell out.'" -- CaptRuss -- Could this be blood in the water that hastens a feeding frenzy?

Katherine Krueger of TPM: "Republican operative Karl Rove said Thursday that based on the GOP's current crop of candidates, the party might be better off picking a 'fresh face' for the best chance of winning the White House. 'Donald Trump excites a lot of enthusiasm,' Rove said about the Republican frontrunner. 'But he also excites a lot of anger within the Republican Party and outside of the Republican Party. And a fresh face might be the thing that could give us a chance to turn this election and win in November against Hillary.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Scott Wartman of Cincinatti.com: "Former presidential candidate Rand Paul said Friday he would still support Donald Trump if the controversial real estate tycoon ends up as the Republican nominee. Paul's statement, in response to an Enquirer reporter's question, puts him at odds with other Republicans, including Ted Cruz, John Kasich and Donald Trump. Those three candidates have backed off from earlier pledges to support the Republican nominee no matter what." CW: Yo, Karl, there's your "fresh face"! (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

...Holger Stark's essay in Der Spiegel provides a German perspective on how our lame-stream media is loosing the battle against Drumpf's successful use of social media. He concludes: "If Trump actually becomes his party's candidate or, even worse, becomes the next president of the United States of America, the damage to democracy would be significant not only because it would turn America into an autocratic nation, but because it would mean that, in this election, the principle of public scrutiny and thus democracy would have failed." -- unwashed

Beyond the Beltway

Richard Winton of the Los Angeles Times: "The knife reportedly found at the former home of O.J. Simpson is not connected to the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman, Los Angeles police confirmed Friday."

Ashley Southall of the New York Times: "A lieutenant with the New York Police Department who oversaw the arrest of an on-duty mail carrier in Brooklyn has been stripped of his gun and badge and placed on administrative duty. The police commissioner, William J. Bratton, said on Friday that Lt. Luis D. Machado would remain in the modified assignment until the internal investigation of the episode is completed.... The Postal Service's office of inspector general is investigating whether any federal laws were violated." -- CW

Way Beyond

Mathieu Rosemain of Reuters ; "Salah Abdeslam, the Paris attacks suspect who was arrested in Brussels last month, refused to blow himself up on the day of the attacks, his brother Mohamed told French news channel BFM TV ... 'There would have been more victims had I done it,' Salah Abdeslam told his brother. 'Luckily, I couldn't go through with it.'" CaptRuss: This story doesn't mention that the members of the Brussels "terrorist" cell were known to Belgian police as criminals, not as militants from the DAESH network. The crazies who are willing to blow themselves up are encouraged by those unwilling to do the same. Kinda like the right-wingers who harp on the "good guy with a gun" illogical fantasy while wanting their own Republican National Convention to be a gun-free zone. The parallels between DAESH and the American Taliban never cease to amaze me.