The Commentariat -- Sept. 11, 2015

Internal links removed.

Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Senate Democrats delivered a major victory to President Obama on Thursday when they blocked a Republican resolution to reject a six-nation nuclear accord with Iran, ensuring that the landmark deal will take effect without a veto showdown between Congress and the White House. A procedural vote fell short of the number needed to break a Democratic filibuster. It culminated hours of debate on the Senate floor and capped months of discord since the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China announced the agreement with Iran in July." ...

... Sabrina Siddiqui of the Guardian: "The Senate voted 58-42, short of a required 60-vote threshold, on whether to end debate on the Iran deal, thus failing to even reach an up-or-down vote on the disapproval resolution itself." ...

... President Obama's statement is here. ...

... Or as John Cole of Balloon Juice put it, "All Over but the Wanking." Now we shall take a brief time out for the wankery ...

... Karoun Demirjian & Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "The House plans to vote Friday on a resolution of approval ... instead of a resolution of disapproval ... that was previously planned. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) promised Thursday that House Republicans will 'use every tool at our disposal to stop, slow and delay this agreement from being fully implemented' up to and including suing President Obama to keep him from enforcing the agreement.... The strategy shift comes after a group of House Republicans successfully pressed leaders Wednesday not to play ball with Obama over two confidential side agreements between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that lawmakers have never seen.... There's just one problem: In the eyes of the administration, the play clock runs out on Sept. 17. If Congress hasn't rejected the deal via a disapproval resolution by then, the pact will take effect." ...

... Ed Kilgore: House Republicans "are preparing votes on a resolution approving the deal (which is kinda beside the point now), a resolution denying the deal was ever properly submitted to Congress (good luck in court on that one!), and still another measure seeking to stop the administration from easing sanctions on Iran (ditto). The whole Republican effort seems mainly designed to remind the international community that they'll blow up the deal if they win next year's elections. I guess the other way to look at it is that House Republicans believe they haven't lost this fight if they don't admit it's lost!" CW: Reality is not a feature of Right Wing World. ...

... Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim: "Republicans are plotting to make Democrats pay dearly for backing an agreement the GOP argues hinges on an historic enemy of the United States playing nice. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell plans to return to the floor next week to force Democrats to take more votes Republicans say they'll regret as soon as Iran violates the terms of the deal or sponsors terrorist attacks, which critics believe is just a matter of time. After that will come the attack ads, national GOP officials say." ...

... CW: If Republicans knew anything about the agreement, they would know it does not "hinge on" Iran's "playing nice." See the WashPo op-ed below by the leaders of France, Germany & Great Britain, & Hillary Clinton's speech on the deal. For starters. ...

... MEANWHILE, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel & British Prime Minister David Cameron write a joint Washington Post op-ed in support of the deal. Yo, crazy GOP, it's you nutsos against the world.

Juiet Eilperin & Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "President Obama has directed the U.S. government to accept at least 10,000 refugees from Syria in the next fiscal year, White House press secretary Josh Earnest announced Thursday, a six-fold increase over the number admitted this year to the United States."

Reuters: "Relatives of the nearly 3,000 people killed in the 11 September 2001 attacks are due to gather in New York, Pennsylvania and outside Washington on Friday to mark the 14th anniversary of the hijacked airliner strikes carried out by al-Qaida militants." ...

Washington Post photo.... Kevin Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... the $26 million Flight 93 National Memorial visitor center ... opened this week, remembering the legacy of the 9/11 attacks and honoring the courage of 40 passengers and crew members who fought back against their four hijackers, preventing the plane from hitting its presumed target, the U.S. Capitol.... The visitors center and museum is set between two soaring concrete walls that rise 40 feet high, one foot for each of those who died. It is set directly on Flight 93's flight path, with a black stone walkway indicating the precise route that the plane followed. On the valley floor below, a large boulder marks the point of impact, serving almost as a headstone in a place where very few human remains were recovered."

Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "Barack Obama's intelligence chief is said to be in frequent and unusual contact with a military intelligence officer at the center of a growing scandal over rosy portrayals of the war against the Islamic State, the Guardian has learned. James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, is said to talk nearly every day with the head of US Central Command's intelligence wing, Army Brigadier General Steven Grove -- 'which is highly, highly unusual', according to a former intelligence official. Grove is said to be implicated in a Pentagon inquiry into manipulated war intelligence."

"The War on Women Is Over -- And Women Lost." Molly Redden of Mother Jones: "This is what 2015 looks like: Abortion providers struggle against overwhelming odds to stay open, while women 'turn themselves into pretzels' to get to them, as one researcher put it.... The onslaught of new abortion restrictions has been so successful, so strategically designed, and so well coordinated that the war in many places has essentially been lost. Most abortions today involve some combination of endless wait, interminable journey, military-level coordination, and lots of money.... The struggle [for abortion providers] just to stay open is all-consuming."

Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "Vice-President Joe Biden on Thursday joined the top US prosecutor [Loretta Lynch] and the Manhattan district attorney to announce a $79m initiative to end a backlog of untested sexual assault DNA kits. The initiative is funded by a $41m congressional allocation to the Justice Department and through $38m in civil forfeitures seized by the office of Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance. The joint effort promises to test more than 56,000 backlogged 'rape kits' in 32 jurisdictions in 20 states, over two years. Grants to local agencies to carry out such tests will range from $97,000 to nearly $2m."

Jonathan Chait: "The rapid willingness of the rest of the world to reduce its emissions has merely redoubled the [Republican] party's commitment to destroy any cooperative structure to reduce emissions.... The speed at which Republicans have changed from insisting other countries would never reduce their greenhouse-gas emissions to warning other countries not to do so ... says everything you need to know about the party's stance on climate change.... The Republican climate-change strategy has been hatched by a group of Republican politicians and fossil-fuel lobbyists so tightly intermingled there seems to be no distinction between the interests of the two.... Beyond the straightforward self-interest of coal and oil companies, there is the ancient right-wing distrust of international agreements in general. Plus, of course, Republicans continue to follow a policy of across-the-board opposition to the whole Obama administration agenda."

Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "A federal district judge on Wednesday delivered a blow to the Obama administration, ruling that the House Republican lawsuit against ObamaCare can move forward. 'The Court concludes that the House has standing to pursue those constitutional claims,' Judge Rosemary Collyer wrote in a 43-page decision. The ruling is an early victory for Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who has repeatedly touted the lawsuit to his conference.... 'The Court stresses that the merits have not been briefed or decided; only the question of standing has been determined,' Collyer wrote. The Obama administration said it plans to immediately appeal the decision." Collyer is a Bush II appointee. ...

... Jonathan Cohn of the Huffington Post takes a deep dive into the ramifications of the case.

Paul Krugman: "... Japan needs to make a decisive break with its deflationary past. You might think this would be easy. But it isn't: Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, has been making a real effort, but he has yet to achieve decisive success. And the main reason, I'd argue, is the great difficulty policy makers have in breaking with conventional notions of responsibility."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jonathan Chait: "If you have heard about Jeb Bush's new tax plan by reading political reporters, you have probably heard that it is a 'proposal to reform the tax code' that will 'crack down on hedge fund managers' (CNN), that it is 'mainstream and ordinary' with 'a populist note' (NPR), that it 'challenged some long-held tenets of conservative tax policy' (the New York Times), and has 'a nod to the populist anger roiling both parties' (The Wall Street Journal). It is, in other words, the same sort of coverage George W. Bush received when he unveiled his tax cuts in 1999.... On the other hand, if you have learned about the tax plan from some of the new policy-focused writers, you have drawn a very different impression. The difference lies between journalists who write narratives drawn from quotes from campaign sources and those who build their coverage on data. George W. Bush was fortunate that data-based journalism barely existed 16 years ago. His brother is counting on the power of narrative to obscure the data." ...

... CW: Because most readers will look at only the first couple of grafs of a report, especially a report on a subject they don't know much about -- like tax structure -- the MSM stenographers, probably purposely, do a terrible disservice to the democratic process. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "The 'wonkosphere' is very much onto Jeb's act, but its influence remains limited. And so, Jeb is able to turn a weakness -- he, like his brother, is in thrall to wealthy interests and cannot conceive of an economic 'plan' that doesn't begin with giving them pretty much all they want -- into a perceived strength: Jeb wants to cut your taxes and jump-start the economy, O ye middle-class voters! It is indeed the very essence of a misdirection play, and unfortunately, it’s working better than it should...."

Presidential Race

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., in an emotional, wide-ranging interview on Stephen Colbert's 'Late Show' on Thursday, expressed doubt about the likelihood that he would run for president, saying that 'I'd be lying if I said that I knew I was there'":

... Steve M.: "My guess: Biden won't run. Maybe that's a good thing. But I'll be sorry if we never get to see him debate the GOP nominee, who, I'm more and more convinced, will be Trump. Biden can seriously talk policy, but I wonder if the quantity of blarney he tosses into the mix, and especially the quality of sentiment, could be the magic bullet against Trump. Watch the Colbert interview -- when Biden talks about his son, you can hear a pin drop. I don't think Trump's bombast would be a match for that."

Ryan Cooper of the Week: "Would Hillary Clinton actually perform that much better than [Bernie] Sanders (or another challenger) in a general election? There are good reasons to suspect not. To be sure, a great deal of Clinton's poor performance of late is likely due to blatantly unfair treatment from the mainstream media. We're now several weeks into wall-to-wall coverage of Clinton's email server thing, and there is still no hint that this supposed controversy is anything more than a minor bureaucratic foul-up.... Both [Clinton & Sanders] have some pluses and minuses.... The difference between any two Democratic presidents is going to be relatively tiny compared to that between a Democrat and a Republican.... So as far as the primary is concerned, Clinton better not rely on her supposed electability."

Glenn Thrush & Hadas Gold of Politico: Clinton backer & Media Matters founder David Brock trades insults with the New York Times re: their Clinton coverage. ...

... Rachel Bade of Politico: "The State Department inspector general opened a 'criminal investigation' of Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin in 2013 over allegations of 'theft' -- referring to overpayments she received and overtime she allegedly wrongfully billed. But the Justice Department declined to take up the issue.... Abedin's lawyers have acknowledged the $10,000 overpayment issue weeks ago and said they're fighting it. They maintain that she was actually working during the maternity leave and vacation time, though it doesn't appear she properly logged the information into the State Department system. But they've denied that the overpayment dispute, widely known, ever turned into a criminal investigation."

Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "In a video produced in conjunction with IJ.com, [Martin] O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland who moonlights as an Irish folk rocker, took his guitar to Wall Street this week to show the world how to 'make an honest buck' in the heart of the financial world." Scroll down the page for Rappeport's item:

     ... CW: When I tried to play this video, it ended. To watch it, I had to click on the replay right away, or I got whatever video YouTube put up next in a thread. So it works about as well as Maryland's ObamaCare exchange worked. Update: It seems to be working better here than on YouTube. ...

... Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg: "Facing increasing resistance from candidates and party officials, Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Thursday stood firmly by her plan to hold exactly six presidential debates -- and jabbed at [Martin O'Malley,] the candidate who's been most aggressive in agitating for more.... 'Every candidate does what they believe they need to to attract attention to their campaign,' she told reporters. 'He has chosen to focus on debates, rather than substance. That is certainly his prerogative.'" ...

... Evan McMorris-Santoro: "The Democratic Party is having a very loud, very public fight over the presidential primary debate calendar, pitting leaders at the Democratic National Committee against chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Top party leaders say Wasserman Schultz rolled out the debate calendar without consulting them and refused to listen to concerns that the tightly-limited calendar would cause problems. For her part, Wasserman Schultz says there's no way the calendar she set up will change.

The ALEC Candidate. Ed Pilkington of the Guardian: "In an attempt to kickstart his flagging campaign, [Scott] Walker, who made his name nationally by taking on Wisconsin's public sector unions, has come up with a new union-bashing ruse. In a speech on Thursday at the alma mater of his hero Ronald Reagan, Eureka College in Illinois, he pledged to destroy the political activities of federal employee unions by blocking their political funding.... The idea of hitting public unions by cutting off their political funding has been promoted by ... the American Legislative Exchange Council, Alec, since at least 1998."

Nick Gass of Politico: "Bobby Jindal pulled no punches against Donald Trump on Thursday, raining down a deluge of criticisms on the current Republican leader in the polls, calling him 'a narcissist,' 'an egomaniac,' 'non-serious,' 'substance-free,' 'insecure,' 'weak,' 'shallow,' 'unstable,' among other knocks." ...

You may have recently seen that after Trump said the Bible is his favorite book, he couldn't name a single Bible verse or passage that meant something to him. And we all know why, because it's all just a show, and he hasn't ever read the Bible. But you know why he hasn't read the Bible? Because he's not in it.— Gov. Bobby Jindal in remarks prepared for a speech at the National Press Club

... CW: The guy is gonna kick sand in your face, Bobby. Here it is (via Gass): "Trump responded later in the day, remarking that Jindal 'did not make the debate stage and therefore I have never met him.' 'I only respond to people that register more than 1 percent in the polls. I never thought he had a chance and I've been proven right,' he said in a statement."

New York Times: "Donald J. Trump said Thursday he was not referring to Carly Fiorina's looks when he was quoted as saying, 'Look at that face' and, 'Would anyone vote for that?' Mr. Trump told CNN on Thursday: 'I'm not talking about looks. I'm talking about persona.'" CW: Of course that bull, because right after he said it & his staff failed to guffaw on cue, Trump said, "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?" (See yesterday's Commentariat.) ...

... Has anyone showed Donald Trump his own face? -- Anna Merlan of Jezebel

... Eliza Collins of Politico: "'Many of those comments are made as an entertainer because I did The Apprentice and it was one of the top shows on television,' [Donald Trump] told Greta Van Susteren on Thursday night. 'Some comments are made as an entertainer and as everybody said, as an entertainer is a much different ball game.'" CW: Very entertaining. Especially to someone like Van Susteren, who had serious cosmetic surgery to make her face more Trump-friendly. ...

... The Party of Misogyny. CW: Disparaging an older woman's appearance is an extension of the war on women. Republicans have all the bases covered. They have done their best to rescind the reproductive rights of young women. Their canonization of "traditional families," which hasn't worked out all that well, was a longstanding attempt to undermine & denigrate career women -- Trump's attacks on Megyn Kelly for a "lack of professionalism" was a riff on that theme. Just as confederates have never accepted equality for racial & ethnic minorities, they cannot accept female equality. Why is it exactly that Scott Walker & Chris Christie have attacked teachers' unions in particular? Even GOP tax policies are subtle backhands to feminism: the underlying rationale for Jeb!'s (& Marco's) plans to increase the Earned Income Credit is an incentive for "you girls to stay home & make more babies." Paid family leave, however? Faggedaboudit. Equal pay laws? Ha! Raise the minimum wage (which disproportionately affects women & minorities)? Bad for business. Social welfare programs (from which women benefit more than men)? Hammocks! The GOP's attitude is nearly cradle-to-grave oppression of women. ...

... Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "Donald Trump is going after Rolling Stone in the latest of a series of attacks against the media, saying the magazine's editors added 'a lot of garish stuff' to his controversial interview.... 'The writer actually called me and said, "I'm so upset, I wrote this great story and [publisher] Jann Wenner screwed it up" -- he told me that,' Trump said on CNN's 'New Day.' 'They added a lot of stuff, a lot of garish stuff, that I think is disgusting.'" ...

     ... CW: Trump's claim about the call from the writer seems at least believable. As Steve M. pointed out yesterday, "The profile's author, Paul Solotaroff, seems to be in awe of Trump and his trappings."

Trump to Face "That Face." Guardian: "Carly Fiorina, the sole female Republican presidential candidate, will join the line-up for the next prime-time televised debate, the only contender to step up from the so-called 'kids' table' to the main platform.... In total, 11 candidates have qualified for next week's main debate, the largest group to share a presidential debate stage in modern American political history." ...

... Patrick Healy & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "The Republican presidential candidates, increasingly certain that their televised debates can have make-or-break consequences for their campaigns, are preparing aggressive new tactics for their next face-off on Wednesday, hoping to draw voters away from the surprisingly durable Donald J. Trump as the 2016 race enters a more combative phase."

Government of the Rich People, by the Rich People, for the Rich People. Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: Jeb Bush "would make out like a bandit under his own plan. According to my quick-and-dirty, back-of-the-envelope calculations based on Bush's 2013 tax return, his liability for that year would have fallen by about $800,000, or about a quarter of what he paid Uncle Sam." CW: What a surprising coincidence. ...

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "Just like Reagan, Jeb's brother George, and Mitt Romney in 2012, Jeb talks about simplifying the tax code, boosting American competitiveness, stimulating growth, and restoring 'the opportunity for every American to rise and achieve earned success.' That's how voodoo economics is always marketed. But, despite the welcome addition of a few populist touches, such as pledging to euthanize the carried-interest deduction, Bush is writing the same old tired script."

CW: I don't usually cite the latest stupid thing Mike Huckabee has said, but this was too much to ignore:

... the Dred Scott decision of 1857 still remains to this day the law of the land which says that black people aren't fully human. -- Mike Huckabee, on the radio

This isn't necessarily a mistake on Huckabee's part. He probably doesn't believe that the post-Civil War Amendments to the Constitution are valid. -- Constant Weader

... While we're at it, the Huckblocking of Ted Cruz? That was because the Mike & Kim Show was "our event" & Huck wasn't about to let Cruz crash it. CW: I'll have to admit I don't want Ted coming to my party, either.

Hey, Remember the Most Interesting Man in Politics? Russell Berman of the Atlantic: "On Thursday, [Rand] Paul sought to reclaim his standing in the campaign by turning to this year's most-popular method of attention-grabbing: yelling just a little bit louder and challenging his party's leadership. Paul headlined a rally on the National Mall to demand that Republicans defund Planned Parenthood in the coming budget fight. Standing alongside Sarah Palin and a group of conservative women, Paul said Republicans 'must hold our ground,' even if it results in a government shutdown that his party leader, Mitch McConnell, is trying to avoid." CW: Yes, Randy, there's no more "interesting" man than one who uses & abuses poor women in pursuit of his own personal gain.

From Goat Shed Dwellers to Billionaire Cruz Donors. Michael Kranish of the Boston Globe: "Brothers Farris and Dan Wilks grew up [in Cisco, Texas,] in a converted goat shed amid the ranchlands.... They had little money to spare and didn't show much interest in politics. Then, one day in 2002, they decided to invest in ... 'fracking.' Before long, two things changed: The brothers became fabulously wealthy, and election laws were upended by the Supreme Court. By the time the Wilks brothers sold their company, Frac-Tech, in 2011, they both were billionaires. This year, seizing upon the opportunity presented by loosened election laws, they have made a new investment: the race for the presidency.... Their cumulative $15 million has gone to support Senator Ted Cruz...." Farris is obsessively worried about "the gay agenda" & Dan wants to "bring the Bible back into the school."

Congressional Race

Robert Schmidt of Bloomberg: "Corporate and Wall Street donors have already been shying away from ... New Jersey Republican [Scott Garrett] since he reportedly made anti-gay remarks at a private gathering in July. Now, some key Washington insiders are coalescing around his likely 2016 challenger, Democrat Josh Gottheimer. Later this month, James Cicconi, the Republican head of external affairs at AT&T Inc., and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Peter Scher, a Democrat, will host a breakfast 'meet and greet' for Gottheimer.... The backlash is even more notable considering the power [Garrett] wields as the head of the House subcommittee on capital markets -- a panel known informally ... as the ATM, mainly because of the money lawmakers can extract from the industry." ...

Daily Kos: "Garrett voted against re-electing John Boehner as speaker in January, and his opposition to the Export-Import Bank also did not put him on Wall Street's good side. The final nail in the coffin may have been a Politico report describing how Garrett refused to donate to the NRCC over their support for gay candidates. Major Wall Street donors canceled a fundraiser for Garrett after the news broke...."

Beyond the Beltway

Kate Zernike & William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "It was a traffic jam that, in the end, rerouted the career of the chief executive of the world's fourth-largest airline, and how one led to the other is a tale of power, politics and New Jersey wheeling-dealing.... Like a never-ending thread, the federal investigation into the [GWB] lane closings led prosecutors to look into the dealings of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge, and its chairman at the time, David Samson. This revealed his close relationship with officials at United, the largest carrier at Newark Liberty International Airport, which the authority runs.... People close to the case said those same prosecutors had been asking questions about the role played by Jamie Fox, a longtime friend of Mr. Samson's and United's onetime lobbyist whom [Gov. Chris] Christie, a Republican, appointed state transportation commissioner last year."

Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press: "It took 14 hours, two failed votes and a day full of drama, but at 3:12 a.m. Friday, state Rep. Todd Courser [RTP] resigned from his state House seat, and an hour later, Rep. Cindy Gamrat [RTP] was expelled on a 91-12 vote, ending a controversial sex and cover-up scandal that has rocked Lansing for the last month." ...

... NEW. We call them Evangenitals. -- Forrest M.

Benjamin Mueller, et al., of the New York Times: New York City "Mayor Bill de Blasio and New York City's police commissioner [Bill Bratton] apologized on Thursday for the mistaken arrest of James Blake, a retired top-10 professional tennis player, who said he was slammed to the ground outside his hotel in Midtown Manhattan after being confused for a suspect in a credit card fraud investigation.... Mr. Bratton, speaking at a news conference on Thursday, said he had concerns about 'the inappropriateness of the amount of force that was used during the arrest.' An initial review of video evidence of the arrest, he said, led him to believe that it may have been excessive. The officers failed to report the mistaken arrest, as they were required to do.... The officer's decision to throw an unarmed, compliant man to the ground added to the sense that black people are often roughed up by the police out of view, with few resources to bring attention to their grievances." CW: No kidding. Would police have body-slammed me & roughed me up if they mistook me for a white-collar criminal? I doubt it.

Miranda Blue of Right Wing Watch: "The Oath Keepers, the anti-government 'Patriot' group that mounted an armed standoff with the Bureau of Land Management at the Bundy Ranch, stationed armed guards outside of military recruitment centers after the Chattanooga shooting, and unsettled Ferguson protestors when they showed up carrying assault rifles, is now offering anti-gay Kentucky clerk Kim Davis a 'security detail' to protect her from further arrest if she continues to defy the Supreme Court's marriage equality ruling." ...

... Steve M.: "Since [both Mike Huckabee & Ted Cruz] described [the federal government's efforts to force Kim Davis to comply with the law] as government tyranny, and they both say that privately owned firearms are a citizen's defense against tyranny, aren't they obligated to participate in an armed intervention if an evil federal judge sends Davis back to jail? If not, why do they hate freedom?"

News Ledes

Al Jazeera: "At least 107 people have been killed and 238 others injured after a crane collapsed in Mecca's Grand Mosque, Saudi Arabia's civil defence authority says."

AP: "US officials have arrested a man who allegedly tried to help plan an attack on a 9/11 memorial event. The US attorney's office said Joshua Ryne Goldberg, 20, of Orange Park, Florida, had been charged with distributing information relating to explosives, destructive devices and weapons of mass destruction."

AP: "Prosecutors have released new photos taken in the chaotic aftermath of the Colorado theater shooting, including pictures of the auditorium where James Holmes killed 12 people. The images, which prosecutors released in response to open-records requests, also show the elaborate homemade explosives in Holmes' apartment, which he had rigged into a potentially deadly booby trap." Includes slideshow.

The Commentariat -- Sept. 10, 2015

Internal links removed.

Paul Singer of USA Today: "House Republicans began their effort to de-fund Planned Parenthood Wednesday with the first in a series of hearings intended to make the case that the group is illegally harvesting and selling tissue from aborted fetuses, a claim the group vehemently denies. The hearing in the House Judiciary Committee -- titled 'Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation's Largest Abortion Provider' -- is the first of several hearings expected this fall as three House committees pursue investigations of Planned Parenthood. House Republicans also launched a website Wednesday to track their investigations into the group." ...

... ** Anna Merlan of Jezebel sums up the gist of the hearing: "The GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee is having themselves a very reasonable and neutral-sounding hearing on Planned Parenthood today, sensitively entitled 'Planned Parenthood Exposed: Examining the Horrific Abortion Practices at the Nation's Largest Abortion Provider.' Not invited to testify: a single person who works for Planned Parenthood. The hearing's witness list, with one exception, is a veritable who's who of experts in the field of talking about abortion being evil and wrong: James Bopp Jr., a conservative attorney who serves as the general counsel of National Right to Life (and a host of other organizations, including the anti-gay Focus on the Family and the Susan B. Anthony List, another anti-abortion group), Gianna Jessen..., an anti-abortion activist who says she was born after a failed abortion, and Melissa Ohden, who also says she is an 'abortion survivor.'"

... Laura Bassett of the Huffington Post: "The same day the GOP-controlled House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to 'expose' Planned Parenthood's 'horrific abortion practices,' members of another House committee announced that their federal investigation into the family planning provider has so far turned up no evidence of wrongdoing. The Judiciary Committee brought three longtime anti-abortion activists to testify at the hearing on Wednesday, including two women who claim they 'survived' botched abortions that their mothers had attempted. The Democrats were allowed one witness, a Yale University professor who supports abortion rights. Planned Parenthood was not invited to testify at the hearing.... Just before the Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, the ranking Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee announced that their investigation has found 'no evidence' to support the claims that Planned Parenthood is engaged in any illegal activities." Emphasis added. ...

... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "In Congress's first hearing on the [supposed sting] videos, two expert witnesses sharply disagreed on whether Planned Parenthood and its donation of fetal tissue violated any laws. 'The evidence now is clear,' James Bopp, general counsel for National Right to Life, told the House Judiciary Committee. 'Current practices employed by Planned Parenthood and various tissue procurement companies, not only violate federal law when applicable, but also many ethical and moral principle.' Minutes later, lawmakers heard a rebuttal from Priscilla Smith, the director of Yale Law School's Program for the Study of Reproductive Justice. 'There is simply no evidence in these misleadingly edited videos of a violation of either of these laws,' Smith said. 'There's certainly nothing in the tapes that violates the fetal tissue law.'"

... "The Benghazi of Healthcare Hearings." Marcus Howard of the Los Angeles Times: "'These hearings are not really hearings, they are political theater oriented toward taking away the right for women to access abortion in this country,' Dawn Laguens, executive vice president of Planned Parenthood, said in an interview. 'There was no evidence of any wrongdoing by Planned Parenthood.' Michigan Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr., the committee's ranking minority member, called the hearing one-sided. His Democratic colleague Rep. Hank Johnson of Georgia described it as a 'show trial,' while another, Rep. Steve Cohen of Tennessee, went further and labeled it the 'Benghazi of healthcare hearings.'" ...

... Charles Pierce: "The committee set itself in judgment of a sham, a lie, perpetrated on the gullible, and on the people whom the gullible send to Congress.... The majority on the House Judiciary Committee ... is the '27 Yankees of wingnut fauna. Issa! Gowdy! Gohmert! King! Even Blake Farenthold, the shebeen's incumbent Royal Regent of the Crazy People.... Nobody from the Center for Medical Progress was called to testify, of course, because some Democrat might ask them why their videos have been judged to be fudged by just about everyone who doesn't work for the Center For Medical Progress.... [Rep. Trent Franks] even brought convicted babykiller Kermit Gosnell into the mix, even though Gosnell has as much to do with Planned Parenthood as Charlie Manson does with thoracic surgery." ...

... Molly Redden of Mother Jones fact-checks a couple of claims made at the hearing. Surprise! The assertions were nonsense. ...

... ** Danielle Paquette of the Washington Post: "Three weeks before lawmakers must pass new legislation to fund the government, at least 28 Republicans, all men, have vowed to vote against any bill that contains support for Planned Parenthood, causing concern about the possibility of another shutdown. Defunding Planned Parenthood, however, would have broad ramifications, especially for low-income women who rely on subsidized services for birth control. The Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit reproductive health organization, released a report this week breaking down how often these women turn to the organization for reliable contraceptives. Many would have to leave town to find birth control if the resource were to evaporate, the data implies." ...

... Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, in Newsweek: "But Planned Parenthood is not the only health program the GOP is targeting. The House Appropriations Committee earlier this summer approved a proposed spending bill for the Department of Health and Human Services that would eliminate all funding for the Title X federal family planning program, which mainly funds state and local health departments but also provides some of the federal funds Planned Parenthood receives. The House bill also zeroed out the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which conducts and funds research on how health care is delivered and paid for.... The bill also rescinded or transferred funds for the [ACA]'s implementation.... Dozens of other health programs were set for cuts as well. And a companion Senate spending bill, also approved at the committee level, included substantial, if not quite as large, cuts to many health programs, including those aimed at preventing teen pregnancy."

House of Cards. Deb Reichmann of the AP: "House GOP leaders were forced to delay plans to open debate on a resolution of disapproval [of the Iran nuclear deal] as some Republicans threatened to withhold their support. Frustrated that the disapproval resolution looked short of support in the Senate, these Republicans were demanding an alternate approach.... The outcome was uncertain as the surprise disagreement spilled into the open just moments before the House was to come into session to begin debating a procedural measure on the resolution." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Here's Politico's story, by Jake Sherman. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... MEANWHILE, Out on the Lawn. Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "... Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) warned of catastrophic consequences should the Iranian nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration pass Congress, including death and the possibility of nuclear conflict.... Hundreds of people stood in sweltering heat on the west lawn of the Capitol for the rally; many huddled under a large tree far from the stage to shade themselves from the blazing sun.... The crowd consistently yelled "Amen!" and booed any mention of [President] Obama, Democrats, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)." ...

... Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Tuesday, President Obama secured the votes needed to make his negotiated deal with Iran essentially veto proof, giving this rally a less tangible, or at least achievable, objective. But, as with all great political theater, the show had to go on. So Mr. Trump, Mr. Cruz, Sarah Palin, the radio host Mark Levin and a host of other conservative luminaries headed outside to brave the swampy September humidity to air their grievances against the deal, committed votes be damned, basking in the lights, camera and attention brought by Mr. Trump." ...

... Amanda Marcotte, in TPM: President "Obama's plan looks like a done deal, but now the clowns are spilling out, honking their noses and trying to get attention by screaming about how we're all going to die now.... Two of the worst Republican traits of the past 20 years -- pointless obstructionism for the sole purpose of sticking it to the Democrats and mindless demagoguery about the nefarious Middle Eastern threat to convince voters of your manhood -- are joining together to create a massive, misshapen beast that represents everything that's gone wrong with politics in the 21st century." ...

... Dana Milbank puts the crowd at "a few thousand tea party loyalists." He says the rally showed why Trump is the GOP frontrunner: "Trump's raw anger bested Cruz's cerebral argument." CW: Shoulda invited Scott Walker, too: there is no cerebrum there. (See Presidential Race, below.)

... Charles Pierce: "The rally on Wednesday was an incredible parade of retired military bloodworms, outright grifters, washed-up geopolitical sorcerers, and mutton-witted drive-time radio cowboys. Donald Trump, whatever you may think of him, is none of those. He knows what a festival of fruitcakes he joined on Wednesday.... He knows he's not like the rest of losers whom he followed to the podium on Wednesday, but he's willing to swim in that sewer if he has to, and he will tell you that he always comes up smelling like roses, because he's Donald Trump and you're not." ...

... The Louis Gohmert Reader

... There's some good news in all this. Sara Jerde of TPM: "Conservative pundit Glenn Beck said Tuesday that he had received an email from Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX) vowing to quit ... Congress if the Iran deal went through. Beck read the email on air during his radio show." ...

... Jordain Carney of the Hill (Sept. 8): "Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) said Tuesday she supports the Iran deal, becoming the last Senate Democrat to take a position on the agreement.... Cantwell is the 42nd senator to back the agreement...." ...

... Jordain Carney: "Sen. Dick Durbin, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, suggested Wednesday that he's still trying to shore up support for a filibuster of a resolution of disapproval on the Iran nuclear deal. 'I will tell you this: We're working that question now,' he told reporters when asked whether Democrats would be able to block the resolution. 'We're down to three or four loose ends....'" ...

... Max Fisher of Vox: "Republican lawmakers, having lost the battle to block the Iran nuclear deal in Congress, appear to be considering a new strategy: turn the deal into a never-ending political circus. The old and busted GOP plan was to vote on a measure formally disapproving of the Iran nuclear deal.... So now the new hotness among Republicans is that they shouldn't bother voting to disapprove of the Iran nuclear deal, and instead should vote for a resolution that, according to Politico's Jake Sherman, 'would delay a disapproval vote because they believe Obama has not disclosed some elements of the deal.' The entire caucus is not yet on board, but it looks like they're moving in this direction." ...

... According to Mike DeBonis & Katie Zezima of the Washington Post, here's the plan, as it stood yesterday, "Members ... agree[d] on a new plan to vote on a trio of measures designed to register disapproval with the president: a resolution indicating that [President] Obama did not meet his obligations to send all relevant negotiating documents to Congress; a bill blocking Obama from lifting sanctions against Iran; and a separate measure approving of the deal, which is expected to fail." ...

     ... David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Administration officials have repeatedly said an agreement between Iran and the atomic agency over past nuclear research at a military facility called Parchin was not connected to the deal made by Iran and six world powers to contain its nuclear program. The energy agency, which has long had a role in monitoring Iran's nuclear program, is not covered by Congress's Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, and the White House does not have the documents Republicans have demanded...." (Emphasis added.) CW: The IAEA is an independent agency, & it keeps secret its monitoring agreements with all the nations whose nuclear facilities it inspects.

... CW: Both Fisher & Steve M. think the GOP strategy is smart, if totally fake. I don't. When their 60-day window to approve or disapprove the P5+1 deal with Iran is up, it's up. The deal is a fait accompli. Republicans can caterwaul about nonexistent side deals all they want; if they go this route, they've removed themselves from the picture. Only the sheeples -- and maybe the New York Times -- will be fooled.

... Thomas Erdbrink of the New York Times: "Iran's supreme leader predicted Wednesday that Israel will not exist in 25 years, and ruled out any new negotiations with the 'Satan,' the United States, beyond the recently completed nuclear accord. In remarks published Wednesday on his personal website and in posts on Twitter, the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, responded to what he said were claims that Israel would be safe for that period under the July nuclear agreement."

Shane Harris & Nancy Youssef of the Daily Beast: "More than 50 intelligence analysts working out of the U.S. military's Central Command have formally complained that their reports on ISIS and al Qaeda's branch in Syria were being inappropriately altered by senior officials.... The complaints spurred the Pentagon's inspector general to open an investigation into the alleged manipulation of intelligence. The fact that so many people complained suggests there are deep-rooted, systemic problems in how the U.S. military command charged with the war against the self-proclaimed Islamic State assesses intelligence."

Matt Apuzzo & Ben Protess of the New York Times: "... the Justice Department issued new policies on Wednesday that prioritize the prosecution of individual employees -- not just their companies -- and put pressure on corporations to turn over evidence against their executives. The new rules, issued in a memo to federal prosecutors nationwide, are the first major policy announcement by Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch since she took office in April. The memo is a tacit acknowledgment of criticism that despite securing record fines from major corporations, the Justice Department under President Obama has punished few executives involved in the housing crisis, the financial meltdown and corporate scandals. 'Corporations can only commit crimes through flesh-and-blood people,' Sally Q. Yates, the deputy attorney general and the author of the memo, said in an interview on Wednesday." CW: Over on the Street, they'll be missing Eric Holder.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Steve M. points out the epitome of all he said/she said journalism: "Peter Baker and David Sanger inform us in The New York Times that we don't have to worry about the fearmongering demagoguery of Iran-deal opponent Dick Cheney because Hillary Clinton is his precise mirror image.... One of these people is actually telling the truth ... but it doesn't matter because Both Sides Do It, 'it' in this case being the formation of 'narratives' that involve 'rewriting' of history. All narratives are equal! Or at least no Democratic narrative can ever be closer to the truth than a Republican narrative. By definition!" CW: My guess is that Baker wrote this story & Sanger contributed only his expertise on the deal. Baker is the Times' expert at he said/she said reporting. I have personally, face-to-face, called him out on this, & he pretended he had no idea what I was talking about. Oh, he knows. But it's such a facile way to feign the role of "neutral observer."

Gabriel Sherman of New York: "Yesterday, [David] Gregory sat down [with me and] ...) talked about leaving the longest-running show on television, why he doesn't think he was fired, and how George W. Bush inspired him to find God and write a book titled How's Your Faith?" CW: Should be inspiring! Sadly, I didn't bother to read Gregory's profound thoughts about things. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Presidential Race

David Sanger & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday embraced the Iran nuclear deal that she paved the way for as secretary of state, but said it would work only 'as part of a larger strategy toward Iran' that contained the power Tehran may gain as sanctions are lifted and billions of dollars flow back into the country. Mrs. Clinton's speech, at the Brookings Institution, amounted to a strong endorsement of the deal struck by President Obama and her successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, though one laced with skepticism about Iran's intentions": (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Quinnipiac University: "In a come-from-behind rally, U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont is the choice of 41 percent of Iowa likely Democratic Caucus participants, with 40 percent picking former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 12 percent backing Vice President Joseph Biden, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to results of a July 2 survey by the independent Quinnipiac University showing Clinton at 52 percent, with 33 percent for Sanders and 7 percent for Biden." Via Greg Sargent.

Nate Silver: One of these candidates (Bernie Sanders) is not like the other (Donald Trump). ...

... Mark Barabak of the Los Angeles Times: "What's behind Republican voters' support of Trump? Anger at Republicans.... The reason for his success is simple, observers say: Trump is giving unsparing voice to the contempt many conservatives feel toward the political leadership in Washington, Democrat and Republican alike. The scorn runs so deep, it overrides whatever differences voters may have with Trump over his garish lifestyle, his patchwork philosophy or past stances on particular issues.... Collectively, the three candidates with zero experience in elective office -- real estate magnate Trump, neurosurgeon Ben Carson and businesswoman Carly Fiorina -- account for roughly half the support in surveys of Republican primary voters." ...

... Brian Beutler offers another, related explanation for the rise of the Donald: "To be acceptable to the establishment, you must seek the blessing of supply-siders and climate change deniers and diplomacy rejecters and on down the line. Trump is viable in part because genuinely serious candidates are not, and elite conservative institutions bear a lot of responsibility for that." ...

... Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Donald Trump has become the first Republican presidential candidate to top 30% support in the race for the Republican nomination, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll, which finds the businessman pulling well away from the rest of the GOP field. Trump gained 8 points since August to land at 32% support, and has nearly tripled his support since just after he launched his campaign in June. The new poll finds former neurosurgeon Ben Carson rising 10 points to land in second place with 19%. Together, these two non-politicians now hold the support of a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, and separately, both are significantly ahead of all other competitors." ...

... Greg Sargent: "... perhaps the most notable CNN poll finding is that the percentage of Republicans who now say illegal immigration is 'extremely important' to them is way up."

... Paul Solotaroff writes Rolling Stone's cover story on Donald Trump. Most cited graf:

With his blue tie loosened and slung over his shoulder, Trump sits back to digest his meal and provide a running byplay to the news. Onscreen, they've cut away to a spot with Scott Walker, the creaky-robot governor of Wisconsin. Praised by the anchor for his 'slow but steady' style, Walker is about to respond when Trump chimes in, 'Yeah, he's slow, all right! That's what we got already: slowwww.' His staffers at the conference table howl and hoot; their man, though, is just getting warm. When the anchor throws to Carly Fiorina for her reaction to Trump's momentum, Trump's expression sours in schoolboy disgust as the camera bores in on Fiorina. 'Look at that face!' he cries. 'Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!' The laughter grows halting and faint behind him. 'I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?'

     ... Steve M.: "If Trump starts rolling up delegates next year, this, increasingly, is what the coverage of him is going to be like. His boorishness is going to be depicted as shrewdness. His ignorance is going to be described as intuitive brilliance. For now, Solotaroff's lack of skepticism must have Hunter Thompson rolling over in his grave." ...

Mark Hensch of the Hill: "Donald Trump slammed fellow 2016 Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson for questioning his faith, calling the retired pediatric neurosurgeon an 'OK doctor' who was 'heavy into the world of abortion.' 'Who is he to question my faith?' Trump asked host Chris Cuomo on CNN's 'New Day.' 'He knows nothing about me. I am a man of faith,' he said. 'I hardly know Ben Carson. I'm a believer, big league in God. I will hit back on that.'... Carson questioned the sincerity of Trump's spirituality during an interview Wednesday evening."

Gail Collins is back with a handy cheat sheet to get us up to speed on the GOP presidential candidates. CW: This is one I missed, & it's so maximally weasly, I thought Collins made it up: "Scott Walker keeps showing up and it's always terrible. Asked about the Syrian refugee crisis, the governor of Wisconsin said, 'Everybody wants to talk about hypotheticals; there is no such thing as a hypothetical.'" ...

The Dimwittiest.... ** BUT Walker really said that. On national television. Jaime Fuller of New York (Sept. 8): "...Scott Walker, who has previously declined to have stances on birthright citizenship, evolution, whether being gay is a choice, and whether he would meet with Black Lives Matter organizers, discussed the philosophical underpinnings of his political apathy when announcing that he has no opinion on the migrant crisis in Europe. ABC News asked Walker how he would respond to the massive influx of refugees from Syria if he were president today. He explained that the query was flawed. As he is obviously not president, Walker argued, there is no way that he would be able to answer that question. 'I'm not president today and I can't be president today,' he said. 'Everybody wants to talk about hypotheticals; there is no such thing as a hypothetical' -- a sentence that probably would have moved Socrates to set Walker's pants on fire himself." Fuller goes to note that when Scottie has a canned hypothetical at the ready, he's willing to share it: "'I'm talking about what I would do as president, that'll be a year and a half from now.' He hypothesized that he will 'take on ISIS as president.'" ...

... CW: I apologize for missing this. It is iconic Scottie. And absolute, undeniable proof that Walker is not qualified to fill Kim Davis's job. BTW, Walker's team has since fed him an answer on the refugee crisis, & they allegedly let him type it himself: 'We shouldn't be taking in any more Syrian refugees right now. The real problem here is the Obama Admin's failure to deal with #ISIS,' Walker tweeted, adding his initials to denote a personal tweet."

Jason Zengerle of New York: This year, multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson is waiting to see which GOP candidate to buy. Most are groveling at his feet. Ain't democracy grand? (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Jeb!'s Excellent Tax Plan to Add $3.4 Trillion to the Deficit. Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "... Jeb Bush on Wednesday unveiled a long-awaited tax reform plan that would add trillions of dollars to the deficit, filling in details that he says would help fulfill his promise to restore 4 percent annual economic growth.... Bush married traditional conservative thinking on taxes with some politically viable proposals that already enjoy support on Capitol Hill." ...

... Jim Tankersley of the Washington Post: Bush's "new tax plan ... includes a lot of the same ideas that Democrats hammered [Mitt] Romney for. Bush, like Romney, wants to cut the top rate to 28 percent, from the current 39.6 percent. Romney wanted to cut the corporate rate to 25 percent, and now Bush wants to cut it to 20. Romney wanted to end the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax, which almost exclusively affect higher-income earners. So does Bush.... Independent analysts found Romney's plan would have given a substantial tax cut to the wealthy. Bush's appears likely to do that, too.... In the primary, most of Bush's rivals have sketched tax plans that cut rates far deeper than Romney would have. With the encouragement of supply-side stalwarts led by economist Arthur Laffer, and to the delight of Democratic political hands, several Republican contenders have proposed flat taxes that would lower top rates dramatically. (The notable exception to that is the current GO front-runner, Donald Trump, who has indicated a willingness to raise taxes on the rich.)" ...

... Bushonomics. Matt O'Brien of the Washington Post: "The Bush tax cuts are back, just with more exclamation points.... The result would be as much a $3.4 trillion tax cut[/deficit] over 10 years that would sharply lower taxes for people at the top, eliminate taxes for more people at the bottom, and slash taxes for businesses. That's a lot of tax-cutting, but there isn't a lot of reason to think it'd help the economy that much." ...

... One of These Brothers Is Just Like the Other. Except Worse. Jonathan Chait: "George W. Bush passed a sweeping across-the-board tax cut in 2001, promising his plan would promote faster economic growth while still allowing budget surpluses. Instead, Bush's plan brought back the structural deficits that had disappeared during the 1990s, along with a mediocre recovery that was itself inflated by a housing bubble, the popping of which culminated in the deepest economic crisis since the Great Depression. You might think that the brother of that guy would go out of his way to prove that he has different ideas for fiscal policy. Instead, Jeb Bush has unveiled his tax-cut plan, and it's the same thing his brother did, only more extreme. Bush's plan, unveiled in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, would replicate his brother's program in extremis." ...

... Jonathan Chait (Sept. 8): "Jeb Bush ... finds himself trailing badly against a demagogue who has taken populist stances on taxing the rich, social insurance programs, immigration, and the donor class in general. Bush's solution? Suck up more to the Republican donor class. Robert Costa and Ed O'Keefe report that Bush is meeting with the high priests of the Voodoo Economics cult.... All of the non-Trump candidates are locked in a competition to outbid each other to propose the most lavish tax cuts for the rich. Trump is the one candidate appealing to the populist crowd within the party." ...

... CW: And you wonder why the GOP rank-and-file prefer Trump to Bush, et al. ...

... Dylan Matthews of Vox: "You can understand Jeb's proposal as an attempt to negotiate a disagreement within the Republican party about how best to cut taxes." ...

... Scott Lemieux: "Hopefully, the Republican race will be won with someone with a more serious, less ridiculously crankish agenda, like Donald Trump." ...

... BUT over at the Paper of Record, Alan Rappeport & Matt Flegenheimer see Jeb!'s tax plan as a "foray into populism" because he proposes to "to curtail valuable deductions that benefit businesses and the wealthy and eliminate a loophole that has benefited hedge fund and private equity managers for years." CW: Yeah, this is the same "foray into populism" that Dubya took when his big ole tax cuts trickled down to the point they cut a few hundred bucks off the tax bills of the upper middle class. Indeed, further down the page, after Rappeport & Flegenheimer get thru exulting over Jeb!'s "foray into populism," they cite Democrats & a number of experts who point out Jeb!'s plan is designed to help the rich & explode the deficit. ...

... CW: They Can't Deal with the Donald. Here's the problem for the Doofus & the Other 15 Dwarfs: confederates are constitutionally & intellectually incapable of breaking out of confederate orthodoxy. Not only do they eschew the very nature of change, they cannot adjust to real-world change because denying inconvenient facts is a central feature of confederacy. So when an outlier candidate like Trump runs successfully to their left on some issues, they just keep digging away at their same ole hole. Any "adjustment" they make is to sink deeper into their righty-tighty comfort zone, as they've done with immigration & with women's reproductive & economic rights. Confederates have counted for decades on voter-lemmings. Now that former lemmings are breaking away, the dwarfs' only answer is to shout, "Follow Me!" It could still work for one of them, because at this point we don't know if Trump has sufficiently radicalized the lemmings. In flirting with Trump, the lemmings too are leaving their own righty-tighty comfort zones. The could crawl back.

Andrew Shain of the (South Carolina) State: "U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham will not take part in a Republican presidential forum next week that is being held 45 minutes from his S.C. home. Graham's national poll numbers in August failed to reach the 1 percent threshold set by the forum's organizers -- Gov. Nikki Haley and Heritage Action, the lobbying arm of the conservative think tank, Heritage Action spokesman Dan Holler said Wednesday. Graham registered zero percent in five of six national polls last month compiled by Real Clear Politics."

Beyond the Beltway

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was released from jail on Tuesday but would not say whether she would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, was not at work on Wednesday. A lawyer for Ms. Davis, Mathew D. Staver, said Ms. Davis would 'return soon,' either on Friday or Monday. After spending five nights in jail, he said, Ms. Davis 'needs some rest and time with the family.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Juan Cole explains the Constitution to Huckleberry & Ted: "What if Kim Davis Refused to License Marriages of Inter-Racial Couples?... That is not a far-fetched scenario. A small Baptist church in Kentucky voted in 2011 not to allow inter-racial couples to be members.... The Founding Fathers were afraid of rabble-rousers like [Mike] Huckabee and Ted Cruz, which is why we have a senate and an electoral college. They were also afraid of Christians imposing their will on deists and non-conformists (like Quakers), which is why they put the Establishment Clause in the First Amendment. That clause has now been adopted by all the state constitutions, too.... [Davis] is trying to use her government position to impose her religious views on gay citizens of her district.... She is violating the prohibition on state officials establishing an official church. And she is discriminating against her own constituents, as surely as if she were refusing to license inter-racial marriages -- which were illegal in some states until the SCOTUS Loving ruling."

Today in Racial Profiling. Wayne Coffey, et al., of the New York Daily News: "Retired black tennis star James Blake, in an NYPD double-fault, was slammed to a Manhattan sidewalk and handcuffed by a white cop in a brutal case of mistaken identity. The 35-year-old Blake, once ranked No. 4 in the world, suffered a cut to his left elbow and bruises to his left leg as five plainclothes cops eventually held him for 15 minutes Wednesday outside the Grand Hyatt Hotel.... Blake, on his way to make a corporate appearance for Time Warner Cable at the U.S. Open, said none of white cops identified themselves, including the officer who charged straight at him and bounced him off the E. 42nd St. concrete around noon. 'Don't say a word,' snapped the officer, who Blake said was not wearing a badge. Blake -- whose right eye appeared red hours later at the Midtown hotel -- was only turned loose when a former cop recognized the man in cuffs and alerted the arresting officers, a police source said." ...

     ... Update: Benjamin Mueller & Al Baker of the New York Times: "A New York Police Department officer who was involved in mistakenly detaining James Blake, a retired top-10 professional tennis player, has been placed on desk duty, the police said on Thursday..... [Blake] said he was speaking out to let people know that this happens too often, and most of the time it's not to someone like me.'"

When Hate Group Meets Hate Symbol. Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "An Air Force pilot was assaulted with a bat in Washington state Saturday by masked 'anarchists' after they noticed he was displaying two Confederate flags on his motorcycle, police said. The incident occurred in Olympia, Wash., a few miles west of where the man is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.... 'They sprayed the victim in the face with mace, and struck him in the back with a baseball bat and a glass bottle filled with red paint,' the [police] report said. 'The victim suffered severe eye irritation and a bruised shoulder and back. One of the witnesses attempting to assist the victim was also sprayed in the face with mace.'... 'This protest group identified themselves as 'anarchists,' which is a local Hate Group,' the police statement said."

Way Beyond

Sibylla Brodzinsky of the Guardian: "Latin American countries are opening their doors to Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country, as Europe struggles with a growing refugee crisis." (Also linked yesterday.)

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Raging floodwaters broke through an embankment Thursday and swamped a city near Tokyo, washing away houses, forcing dozens of people to rooftops to await helicopter rescues and leaving one man clinging to a utility pole for his life. There were no immediate reports of casualties, but rescue officials said they were overwhelmed by pleas for help. More than 30,000 were ordered to flee their homes, and hundreds more were stranded by the water."

New York Times: "The [Orange County, N.Y.] medical examiner's conclusion is clear: Vincent Viafore, who the police say was killed by his fiancée during a kayaking trip on the Hudson River this past spring, was a victim of homicide caused by a 'kayak drain plug intentionally removed by other.' But the lawyer for the fiancée, Angelika Graswald, said the medical examiner's office had overstepped its bounds with that determination. He said it was based on police speculation, not an examination of Mr. Viafore's body.

The Commentariat -- Sept. 9, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

House of Cards. Deb Reichmann of the AP: "House GOP leaders were forced to delay plans to open debate on a resolution of disapproval [of the Iran nuclear deal] as some Republicans threatened to withhold their support. Frustrated that the disapproval resolution looked short of support in the Senate, these Republicans were demanding an alternate approach.... The outcome was uncertain as the surprise disagreement spilled into the open just moments before the House was to come into session to begin debating a procedural measure on the resolution." ...

... Here's Politico's story, by Jake Sherman.

David Sanger & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday embraced the Iran nuclear deal that she paved the way for as secretary of state, but said it would work only 'as part of a larger strategy toward Iran' that contained the power Tehran may gain as sanctions are lifted and billions of dollars flow back into the country. Mrs. Clinton's speech, at the Brookings Institution, amounted to a strong endorsement of the deal struck by President Obama and her successor, Secretary of State John Kerry, though one laced with skepticism about Iran's intentions":

Jason Zengerle of New York: This year, multi-billionaire Sheldon Adelson is waiting to see which GOP candidate to buy. Most are groveling at his feet. Ain't democracy grand?

Gabriel Sherman of New York: "Yesterday, [David] Gregory sat down [with me and] ...) talked about leaving the longest-running show on television, why he doesn't think he was fired, and how George W. Bush inspired him to find God and write a book titled How's Your Faith?" CW: Should be inspiring! Sadly, I didn't bother to read Gregory's profound thoughts about things.

Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Kim Davis, the Rowan County clerk who was released from jail on Tuesday but would not say whether she would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, was not at work on Wednesday. A lawyer for Ms. Davis, Mathew D. Staver, said Ms. Davis would 'return soon,' either on Friday or Monday. After spending five nights in jail, he said, Ms. Davis 'needs some rest and time with the family.'"

Sibylla Brodzinsky of the Guardian: "Latin American countries are opening their doors to Syrians fleeing the civil war in their country, as Europe struggles with a growing refugee crisis."

*****

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "Three Democratic senators announced on Tuesday that they would back President Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, bringing to 41 the total number of Senate supporters as critics in Congress prepared to open a historic debate on the accord. With the support of the three senators -- Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Gary Peters of Michigan and Ron Wyden of Oregon -- the White House gained additional assurance that a presidential veto of legislation opposing the deal would be sustained. While having 41 votes is typically sufficient to block a vote on complex legislation in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster, it was still not clear that the White House would be able to prevent passage of a resolution opposing the accord, which would spare Mr. Obama from having to exercise his veto authority. At least two Democrats have indicated that they will vote to break any filibuster, even though they support the agreement.... On Tuesday, Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia became the fourth Senate Democrat to publicly oppose the agreement, joining Benjamin L. Cardin of Maryland, Robert Menendez of New Jersey and Chuck Schumer of New York." ...

... Still a Dick. Tierney Sneed of TPM: "In a speech slamming President Obama's Iran deal -- which Congress is debating this week -- former Vice President Dick Cheney suggested that only the threat of military action could prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons program. 'As soon as President Obama went on Israeli TV and effectively ruled out the option of force, the Iranians knew that they had won,' Cheney said, speaking Tuesday at the American Enterprise Institute." ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "The nuclear agreement negotiated between Iran and six world powers earlier this year is 'madness' and an 'intricately crafted capitulation' on the part of President Barack Obama's administration, former Vice President Dick Cheney said Tuesday during a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in Washington. The deal 'will give Iran the means to launch a nuclear attack on the U.S. homeland. I know of no nation in history that has agreed to guarantee that the means of its own destruction will be in the hands of another nation, particularly one that is hostile,' Cheney told attendees at the center-right think tank's event." ...

... CW: Well, Dick, there are five other nations "in history" that have agreed to invite nuclear attacks on their "homelands": China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom & Germany. BTW, the leaders of those countries think you're a madman. And so do I. ...

... Dana Milbank: "Cheney said it’s a 'false choice' to claim the alternative to the deal is war. But he went on to say that unless Iran makes much deeper concessions, 'they must understand that the United States stands ready to take military action ... Iran will not be convinced to abandon its program peacefully unless it knows it will face military action if it refuses to do so.' And this isn't war? In the immortal words of George W. Bush: 'You can't get fooled again.'... Applauding Cheney from the front row were Paul D. Wolfowitz, a principal architect of the Iraq war, and Sen. Tom Cotton, (Ark.), author of the Senate Republicans' letter to the ayatollahs attempting to kill the deal during negotiations. In the second row were former congresswoman Michele Bachmann and I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, the Cheney aide whose tenure led to a prison sentence."

The Ted Show. Sahil Kapur of Bloomberg: "The sequel to Government Shutdown -- the 2013 battle that caused the closing of national parks and museums, cost the U.S. economy $20 billion, and tanked the Republican Party's popularity -- is slated for this fall and will feature the same star: Ted Cruz. The Texas senator ... is rallying the faithful behind the same strategy as led to a two-week hiatus of government services in October 2013, when he led the party in holding up a government funding bill in a quixotic attempt to strip money for Obamacare. This time, Cruz is using the same Sept. 30 funding deadline to push for stripping Planned Parenthood's $500 million in annual federal dollars.... Cruz's co-stars in this year's drama will be the other three Republican senators running for president -- Florida's Marco Rubio, Kentucky's Rand Paul, and South Carolina's Lindsey Graham...." ...

... MEANWHILE. Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "House Speaker John Bohener (R-Ohio) ... is battling an insurgent conservative group within his own party threatening to block any spending bills that include funding for Planned Parenthood, including the stop-gap funding bill. Courting Democrats [to help pass a spending bill] risks losing more support within his own party by alienating deficit hawks in addition to the rebellious conservatives."

Alyssa Rosenberg of the Washington Post: Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns sees the American Civil War as "unfinished." "All of the way the Ferguson municipality behaved to its own citizens, its majority citizens, is not dissimilar to the way Jim Crow sharecroppers experienced the pernicious substitute for slavery," Burns told Rosenberg.

Michael Birnbaum & Griff Witte of the Washington Post: "Seeking to allay Europe’s fast-worsening refugee crisis, a top European Union leader proposed on Wednesday a plan to redistribute 160,000 asylum-seekers across the continent. The plan would be one of the largest efforts to address any migration crisis. But with thousands of men, women and children fleeing conflict and poverty reaching the continent's shores each day, it fell far short of the need. Nor was it clear whether all E.U. nations would support it." ...

... Griff Witte: Hungary's top Roman Catholic bishop says Pope Francis doesn't know what he's talking about re: welcoming refugees from the Middle East. "'They're not refugees. This is an invasion,' said Bishop Laszlo Kiss-Rigo." CW: Looks as if Laszlo there is also rejecting the doctrine of papal infallibility. Also, I guess he doesn't care so much that Jesus & God will be sending him to hell:

Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. -- Matthew 25: 41-43

     ... But before Laszlo gets to hell, it might be a good idea for Francis to defrock him.

Beyond the Beltway

I think that's Huckleberry, Davis & her attorney Mat Staver. However, it may be Jebus & the Two Thieves. As evidence, the Jebus one delivered a Sermon at the Court. One thing Jebus said, "God knows where you're at." Don't get huffy. Jebus's first language was Aramaic. You have to expect some English grammar errors. Anyhow, seems as if God is nosier than the NSA. And that's the Word.Alan Binder & Richard Perez-Pena of the New York Times: "Kim Davis, the Kentucky county clerk who was jailed for refusing to give marriage licenses to same-sex couples, walked free Tuesday after five days, but she and her lawyer would not say whether she would abide by a court order not to interfere with the issuance of licenses by her office." Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead....

... CW: Here's the most hilarious part of the story:

Senator Ted Cruz of Texas ... made an appearance, but it was Mr. Huckabee, a former Baptist pastor, who grabbed the political spotlight. When Senator Cruz exited the jail a throng of journalists beckoned him toward their microphones, but an aide to Mr. Huckabee blocked the path of Mr. Cruz, who appeared incredulous. Moments later, Mr. Huckabee appeared, joined by Ms. Davis. He stuck close to her side as she approached the reporters, and again when she took the stage, and cast her fight as a choice of tyranny or religious freedom. (Emphasis added.)

     ... Thanks to safari for finding video of the moment. Rachel Maddow begins discussing the incident at the top of her show; the actual video begins at about 1:45 min. in:

... Gabe Gutierrez & Jon Schuppe of NBC News: "... Davis has already told Bunning that she would not allow any same sex marriage licenses to be issued from her office, even if she wasn't the one signing them. That's because all licenses issued by her office are, legally, authorized by her. 'Nothing has been resolved,' [her lawyer Mat] Staver told NBC News. 'She told the court Thursday that she can't allow licenses to go out under her name and her authority that authorize a marriage that collides with her conscience and religious conviction, and Kim is not changed on that position,' Staver said." ...

... Steve M. sees Judge David Bunning's move as part of a GOP establishment-led effort "to end the martyrdom of Kim Davis." Steve notes that Bunning is not only a Dubya appointee, he is also -- and this I did not know -- the son of former Kentucky Sen. Jim Bunning, "One of America's Worst Senators." "... freeing her is the best hope Establishment Republicans have of putting the story to rest before the public begins to see the GOP as the party of Kim Davis in the way that it seems to be becoming the party of unabashed immigrant hate as a result of the Donald Trump campaign." ...

... Sahil Kapur & Greg Stohr of Bloomberg follow up on Steve's point: "Republican strategists are worried that the return of same-sex marriage as a presidential campaign piñata could hurt the party in the 2016 general election, putting it on the wrong side of a growing majority of Americans that believes gay couples should have the right to marry. National Republicans operatives hoped the issue was settled in June when the Supreme Court ruled to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. But Davis upended that.... 'I think the longer this lingers, the worse it is for the Republican Party and for the conservative movement,' said John Feehery, a longtime Republican strategist and lobbyist. 'Civil disobedience never works well for conservatives. And in this case, it smacks of bigotry.'" ...

God showed up. He showed up in the form of an elected Democrat named Kim Davis. -- Mike Huckabee, at Kim Davis rally

See there? I was right about Jebus. Just ask Mikey. -- Constant Weader

Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch: "Mat Staver, the Liberty Counsel attorney who is representing Kentucky clerk Kim Davis..., appeared on the 'WallBuilders Live' radio program [Tuesday], where he said that requiring Davis to issue such marriage licenses is like requiring her to provide licenses to 'sodomize children.'" CW: Don't mean to quibble, but somebody should tell Staver that marriage is legal & sodomizing children is not. And, again not meaning to quibble, but somebody should ream Staver a new one for suggesting that adult marriage is like child sodomy. Yeah, we get what you mean, you perverted ass.

... Chris Christie, who is a lawyer, a former federal prosecutor. a governor & a temporary presidential candidate. has a Great Idea: ""What I would do with this woman is to move her to another job where this is not an objection for her, because you have to follow the law, and the law is these licenses have to be issued.... If she has a religious objection we should move her to another job inside the government." ...

... CW: Really, Chris? Davis is an elected official. To remove her from office, the state legislature would have to impeach her. (According to Goldie Taylor of Blue Nation Review, "There is no legal mechanism for recalls under the Kentucky state constitution. Besides, even though Davis is a Democrat, she enjoys widespread support in Rowan County.") You can't just move an elected official to some other job. If that were possible, maybe the New Jersey legislature or the state supreme court could just move you to a job commensurate with your interests & talents. How about GWB traffic cop?

Jad Mouawad & Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "United Airlines said on Tuesday that its chief executive, Jeff Smisek, and two other senior officials had stepped down after a federal corruption investigation. The airline is under investigation by the United States attorney in New Jersey over whether it had improperly sought to influence senior officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.... In February, federal prosecutors issued subpoenas focused on whether the former chairman of the Port Authority, David Samson, had pushed United to reinstate flights that he used to travel to and from his weekend home in South Carolina.... Mr. Samson was appointed by Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey in 2010. He stepped down in March 2014 when records showed that several senior aides to Mr. Christie worked with Port Authority officials to close down lanes of the George Washington Bridge under false pretenses to punish a mayor." ...

... Rachel Maddow has fun with this one:

Keith Alexander of the Washington Post: "Baltimore officials have reached a $6.4 million settlement with the family of Freddie Gray, an agreement they say is the right step for a city still recovering from riots and demonstrations sparked by the 25-year-old's death from an injury suffered in police custody. The wrongful death settlement, which requires final approval by a city board, comes as criminal charges are pending against six police officers in Gray's arrest and death."

Presidential Race

Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Hillary Clinton on Wednesday will lay out her proposal for reckoning with Iran beyond basic enforcement of the nuclear agreement -- making clear that she does not trust the country -- in a speech that her presidential campaign sees as a prime opportunity to remind voters of her foreign policy experience and willingness to go beyond the White House.... Clinton and her aides both see the Iran agreement as an accomplishment to which she can proudly point. The candidate has backed the deal on the campaign trail, and she often notes that as secretary of state she helped get Iran to the negotiating table via sanctions." ...

Shoulda Coulda Woulda, Redux. I wanted you to hear this directly from me: Yes, I should have used two email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I'm sorry about it, and I take full responsibility. -- Hillary Clinton, Facebook, Tuesday ...

... Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "A day after again declining to apologize for her use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton told an interviewer Tuesday that the arrangement was a mistake and that she is 'sorry' for it. 'That was a mistake. I'm sorry about that. I take responsibility,' Clinton said in an interview with ABC News":

     ... CW: Yeah, it took Hillary waaay too long to acknowledge a mistake that was evident to everyone else. But she's face(book)ed the music. So let's move on. ...

... Elise Labott & Laura Koran of CNN: "Secretary of State John Kerry has tapped a former career diplomat as an 'email czar' to coordinate the State Department response to the myriad of document requests mostly related to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, which have strained the department's resources, officials familiar with the appointment tell CNN. Janice Jacobs will serve as Kerry's State Department's Transparency Coordinator, charged with responding to Freedom of Information Act and congressional requests faster and more efficiently and improving the State Department systems for keeping records."

David Brooks Thinks You're Crazy. Dean Baker in FAIR: "New York Times columnist David Brooks discussed the rise of ... Bernie Sanders on the left in the United States, along with Donald Trump and Ben Carson on the right. He argues that none of these people could conceivably win a national election. He therefore concludes that their support must stem from a psychological problem, [link fixed] which he identifies as 'expressive individualism.'... Brooks' analysis [ignores] ... how people are supposed to respond when the party they have supported consistently pursues policies at odds with fundamental principles of their core constituencies. In the case of ... the administrations of Bill Clinton and Barack Obama..., the wealthy have received the overwhelming majority of the benefits of economic growth.... It is impressive to see Brooks argue that trying to turn the Democratic Party toward an agenda that supports workers rather than the rich is a psychological problem." Thanks to Bonita for the link.

Matt Wilstein of Mediaite: "Donald Trump made his big return to Fox News after a rare two-week absence Tuesday night with an interview at the top of The O'Reilly Factor." CW: The interview, embedded in Wilstein's post, is pretty interesting. If anybody could make Trump seem reasonable (and presidential!), it's Wild Bill.

... You can watch Colbert's full opening show here. Jeb! was a guest. Must-see teevee, for sure. ...

... Jordan Frasier of NBC News: "Jeb Bush said he would be a more fiscally conservative president than his brother as the Republican presidential candidate appeared as a guest on Stephen Colbert's inaugural episode of 'The Late Show' on Tuesday night." Here's a Jeb! bonus clip:

Katie Glueck of Politico: "Donald Trump isn't naïve about what Ted Cruz is up to. Behind the Texas senator's flattery, phone calls and his invitation to share a stage at the Capitol Wednesday, there's a middle-of-the-pack rival with designs on Trump's supporters. And the real estate mogul is well aware of it. 'I'm a very confident person,' Trump told Politico in an interview. 'I'm not worried about giving someone else exposure, especially if that someone else is a person who deserves respect.'"

Jamie Self of the (South Carolina) State: "Most S.C. Republican primary voters want a president with no prior elected political experience, according to a new poll released Tuesday to The State. A Public Policy Polling survey found Donald Trump would win 37 percent of the vote from S.C. Republicans and Ben Carson would pick up 21 percent. The rest of the crowded GOP field of 17 candidates was struggling in the single digits. When asked about the state's own 'favorite son,' U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, nearly four out of five S.C. GOP primary voters said the Seneca Republican should drop out of the presidential race."

Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "During his two-day tour [of New Hampshire] pegged to Labor Day, [Scott] Walker ... spent a good chunk of the weekend addressing his viability as a candidate.... He told a supporter...: 'We just have to stay constant, stay who you are.' Staying constant, however, has been one of his biggest challenges. On key issues of the day ... Walker has struggled more than other candidates to clearly explain where he stands."

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "In the last election, [Rick] Santorum visited all 99 counties in Iowa and later won the state's Republican caucuses. He was transformed from a long-shot ex-senator into a conservative hero who beat eventual GOP nominee Mitt Romney in 11 states. In this election, he's a long shot again. Santorum has lost his theme song, his campaign guru, his big money and his niche in the GOP field. Even in Iowa, he was hovering around 1 percent in polls."

Carrie Dann of NBC News: "Campaign finance reform advocate Larry Lessig will officially announce a bid for the White House on Wednesday as he pushes for sweeping changes to the way presidential campaigns are funded in America."