The Commentariat -- June 10, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Jad Mouawad & Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Obama administration on Wednesday said it would regulate greenhouse gas emissions from airplanes, a move that could significantly strengthen President Obama's environmental legacy but that also presents major new challenges for the airline industry. The Environmental Protection Agency found that emissions from airplanes endanger human health because of their contribution to global warming. That finding does not yet impose specific new requirements on airlines, but instead requires the agency to develop the new rules, as it has done for motor vehicles and power plants."

Jana Kasperkevic of the Guardian: "Los Angeles will officially raise its minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2020. After a third and final city council vote, workers in Los Angeles will receive incremental pay increases over the next five years that will bump their wages up from $9."

Michelle Rindels of the AP: "Brian Sandoval, who gave up a lifetime appointment as a federal judge to run for Nevada governor, said Tuesday he liked the job so much that he was turning his back on a U.S. Senate bid that he would've been highly favored to win. Sandoval's decision to forgo a run for the seat held by retiring Democrat Sen. Harry Reid brings the search for the Republican nominee into sharper focus...."

*****

Michael Gordon of the New York Times: "In a major shift of focus in the battle against the Islamic State, the Obama administration is planning to establish a new military base in Anbar Province and send 400 American military trainers to help Iraqi forces retake the city of Ramadi. Although a final decision by the White House has yet to be announced, the plan follows months of behind-the-scenes debate about how prominently plans to retake another Iraqi city, Mosul, which fell to the Islamic State last year, should figure in the early phase of the military campaign against the group."

Monica Davey, et al., of the New York Times: "After days of silence, J. Dennis Hastert, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he illegally structured bank withdrawals and lied to the authorities about millions of dollars he had promised to pay someone for misconduct that occurred decades ago.... He was released on a $4,500 bond and ordered to stay in the continental United States, to surrender his passport and to remove his sons' guns from his suburban home within two weeks. He was also told to avoid contact with anyone who might be a witness or an accuser in his case.... Judge [Thomas] Durkin, who had been randomly assigned to the case [and who has several personal connections to Hastert], said he would remove himself unless both sides -- the prosecution and Mr. Hastert's lawyers -- decided this week to waive objections and permit him to stay on."

Dana Milbank: "President Obama uttered more than 3,600 words on the stage of Washington's Marriott Wardman Park ballroom on Tuesday, but his message could be summed up in three: You wouldn't dare.... He was speaking ... to five men not in the room: the conservative justices of the Supreme Court. His appeal to the justices, devotees of judicial modesty all: Do they really wish to cause the massive societal upheaval that would come from killing a law that is now a routine part of American life?... It's difficult to imagine the Supreme Court justices taking away health coverage for 6 or 7 million Americans, causing costs to skyrocket for millions of others, and likely plunging the entire American healthcare system in chaos. That's not just judicial activism -- it would be a judicially induced cataclysm.... I have faith that the conservative justices, even if they detest Obamacare, have no wish to throw the country into chaos." ...

... Here's better audio, courtesy of C-SPAN, of President Obama's speech on the Affordable Care Act, delivered yesterday:

... Greg Sargent reads Mitch McConnell's tea leaves: "Republicans will argue that the post-King chaos is the fault of the law itself, and not the fault of the Court decision (which Republicans urged on) that is knocking out a key pillar of it. In this telling, the cause of all the damage will be that Obamacare held out the false promise of economic security for millions, in the form of expanded coverage, but that security was then snatched out from under all those people (thanks to Obummer's incompetence) when the Court clarified what the law actually says. All this is only the latest way in which Obamacare is hurting countless Americans. That's pretty damn slick."

Manny Fernandez & Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: "A federal appellate court upheld some of the toughest provisions of a Texas abortion law on Tuesday, putting more than a dozen of the state's remaining abortion clinics at risk of permanently shutting their doors and leaving the nation's second-most populous state with possibly seven providers. There were 41 when the law was passed. Abortion providers and women's rights groups vowed a quick appeal to the United States Supreme Court, setting the stage for what could be the most far-reaching ruling in years on when legislative restrictions pose an 'undue burden' on the constitutional right to an abortion." ...

... Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has cleared the way for most of a restrictive Texas abortion law -- that among other things requires clinics to meet hospital-like standards and providers to attain special credentials with local hospitals -- to go into effect. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, all but seven of the clinics in the state stand risk of closing." Includes copy of decision. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... MEANWHILE. Jason Stein & Andrew Hahn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Amid a lengthy and wrenching debate, the Wisconsin Senate passed a Republican-backed bill Tuesday to ban abortions after 20 weeks from fertilization. The bill is moving quickly toward becoming law but would be struck down by a federal trial court if a lawsuit against the measure is eventually brought, legal experts said. Only the U.S. Supreme Court could uphold the measure, which carries no exemptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.... The legislation ... now heads to the Assembly.... Gov. Scott Walker ... has said he would sign the bill if it came to his desk."

Jennifer Schuessler of the New York Times: "The Library of Congress is to announce on Wednesday that Juan Felipe Herrera, a son of migrant farmworkers whose writing fuses wide-ranging experimentalism with reflections on Mexican-American identity, will be the next poet laureate. The appointment is the nation's highest honor in poetry and also something of a direct promotion for Mr. Herrera, who was poet laureate of California from 2012 to 2014." ...

... Here are a few of Herrera's poems. Dwight Garner of the New York Times highlights Herrera's special gifts.

Jake Sherman & John Bresnahan of Politico: "House leaders, confident but not yet certain they have the support to pass sweeping trade legislation, are aiming to bring the package to a floor vote by the end of this week -- even as they rush to resolve a last-minute hangup over how to pay for aid to displaced workers."

American "Justice," Ctd. Shaila DeWan of the New York Times: "Defense lawyers, scholars and even some judges say the high bail amounts set for some Baltimore protesters highlight a much broader problem with the nation's money-based bail system. They say that system routinely punishes poor defendants before they get their day in court, often keeping them incarcerated for longer than if they had been convicted right away.... Critics say the system allows defendants with money to go free even if they are dangerous, while keeping low-risk poor people in jail unnecessarily and at great cost to taxpayers.... For those who cannot afford to post bail, even a short stay in jail can quickly unravel lives and families." ...

... A Larger Lesson from McKinney. Seth Stoughton in TPM: "A short video of officers in McKinney, Texas, shows us the avoidable results of an unnecessarily aggressive approach to policing. But in the same video, we can see a few seconds of policing the way the way it should be done.... As a former police officer and current policing scholar, I know that an officer's mindset has tremendous impact on police/civilian encounters. I've described the Guardian and Warrior mindsets at some length here and here; for now, suffice to say that the right mindset can de-escalate tense situations, induce compliance, and increase community trust over the long-term." (See also Beyond the Beltway.) ...

... digby: "I think everyone got so caught up in the story of military gear appearing on the streets of America that our discussion of the militarization of police got short changed. This is the big problem that stems from militarization --- bad training and bad attitudes."

C. J. Ciaramella of BuzzFeed: "The Justice Department has issued a federal grand jury subpoena to Reason, a prominent libertarian publication, to unmask the identity of commenters who made alleged threats against a federal judge.... The subpoena raises several First Amendment issues, such as whether the comments rise to the level of a 'true threat' or are protected free speech. The Supreme Court recently ruled that 'true threats' must be made with some knowledge or intent that the threat will be taken seriously. Kimberly Chow, an attorney for the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, said the comments on Reason clearly fall within the internet's regular, if outrageous and often vile, discourse.... Free speech advocates also worry that such subpoenas burden websites with significant legal costs and could have a chilling effect on speech." ...

... CW: FYI, "burdening websites with significant legal costs" is one reason I delete the very infrequent comments made on Realty Chex that might be perceived as threats or inciting violence -- I can't afford them. But, go ahead, as some have done, & accuse me of having "a chilling effect on speech." ...

... Virginia Postrel of Bloomberg, who says she is one of the founders of Reason: "Venting anger about injustice is not a crime. Neither is being obnoxious on the Internet. The chances of one of these commenters being convicted of threatening the judge are essentially nil. Conviction isn't the point. Crying 'threats' just makes a handy pretext for harassing Reason and its commenters. The real threats ... [are] coming from civil servants in suits. Subpoenaing Reason's website records, wasting its staff's time and forcing it to pay legal fees in hopes of imposing even larger legal costs ... sends an intimidating message...."

Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "A rush to recruit additional Secret Service officers in the wake of numerous White House security lapses has led to a new problem: Several dozen of the fresh arrivals have been posted in sensitive positions without completing the required national security clearance process, according to two government officials familiar with the situation.... [Rep. Mark] Meadows [R-N.C.] told The Post it was 'very puzzling' that a violation of security standards was tolerated for so long and now could be resolved in a week."

David Nakamura & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The White House daily briefing was interrupted Tuesday when reporters and staff were evacuated by the U.S. Secret Service during the televised question-and-answer session due to a bomb threat made over the telephone, authorities said."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd., "Luxury" Edition

Dylan Byers, et al., of Politico: "In an effort to showcase Sen. Marco Rubio's history of financial struggles, The New York Times reported Tuesday that the Florida Republican had spent '$80,000 for a luxury speedboat' even as he faced outstanding debts. But while Rubio did indeed spend $80,000 on a boat, the vessel in question is not the glamorous 'luxury speedboat' the Times article portrayed. It is, in fact, an offshore fishing boat.... The manufacturer, Edgewater, notes that the boat is perfect for 'safety-minded family boaters and avid anglers.' In a place like Miami, home to billionaires and stars who have multimillion-dollar yachts, an '$80,000 luxury boat' can seem like a contradiction." ...

... CW: Byers, et al., are fractionally-right to call out the Times' characterization of the boat. When I read the Times article, I pictured a Bush-family-type cigarette boat, not a clunky fishing boat. However, the Politico "reporters" then go overboard, so to speak, in emphasizing the boat's family values. As Hunter Walker of Business Insider notes, "However you might define the boat, it is clearly marketed as an impressive craft. On its website, EdgeWater describes its Deep-V Center Consoles as 'luxury boats.' The manufacturer's website describes the model owned by Rubio as an 'unsinkable' boat 'of unmistakable distinction' with 'offshore capabilities.'" ...

... CW: As I watched the video, I couldn't help think of the cost of docking, drydocking, fueling & maintaining the boat in Miami. (Do you think Marco cleans out the bilge tank? Or scrapes barnacles? I can't quite picture him even cleaning his own fish.) ...

... Charles Pierce: "Over the last couple of weeks, [Dylan Byers has] ... gone to work on behalf of The Washington Free Beacon, a Washington supermarket flyer for ratfkers run by William Kristol's otherwise unemployable son-in-law, Matthew Continetti, who once vowed that he would be engaging in 'combat journalism.'" ...

** "The Fournier Effect." Charles Pierce: Our elite journalists can't handle democracy. "I have no idea whether [Hillary Clinton] will 'tack back to the center,' or whatever the cliche du jour turns out to be in the high midsummer of 2016. But, for now, if she's making the likes of Ron Fournier and David Brooks nervous about their ongoing journalistic malpractice, that's all to the good." ...

... In one of his best -- and as usual, humorous -- takedowns ever, Driftglass eviscerates Brooks' column. Driftglass exposes, for the umpteenth (modest estimate) time Brooks' tried-&-lied shifty elisions of facts. Brooks is an expert at ignoring -- and inviting the reader to ignore -- the salient truths that would demolish his arguments.

Presidential Race

CW: In a somewhat convoluted way, perhaps because she culled her column from a panel discussion, Joan Walsh of Salon sez what I said the other day. Walsh -- and Democratic strategist & opinion researcher Stan Greenberg -- assert that Hillary Clinton does indeed champion policy goals that appeal to working class whites, especially white women. ...

... CW: Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post, friend of David Brooks & fake liberal, writes -- correctly, I think -- "Reports of Hillary Clinton's supposed lurch to the left have been greatly exaggerated.... Nothing Clinton is saying is outside the 2015 Democratic Party mainstream -- or, more to the point, is likely to hurt her in a general election.... As Clinton prepares for her big launch speech Saturday and begins to flesh out her policy specifics over the summer, the left-leaning positions she isn't taking are as significant as the ones she has endorsed." Here's where Marcus outs herself -- in perfect Village vernacular, I might add: "Folks like me will hope in vain for even a glancing mention of the national debt or entitlement reform." Brooks couldn't have said it better. And, yes, Hillary, we so want to hear some of that "belt-tightening" rhetoric.

Jeb Does Germany. Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: In Berlin, "in a speech before a business group affiliated with German Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union party, [Jeb] Bush praised former president George H.W. Bush for having partnered a quarter-century ago with then-Chancellor Helmut Kohl in one of 'history's decisive turns.... The work was done, and because of that, Germany was whole and Germany is free.' At no point, however, did Jeb Bush mention the more recent Bush presidency -- that of his brother George W. Bush -- when relations with European allies were strained over the Iraq war and the go-it-alone approach of the 43rd president's administration." ...

... Matea Gold & Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "A super PAC backing ... Jeb Bush is likely to fall short of collecting $100 million by the end of this month, despite widespread expectations that the group would hit that record-breaking sum, according to people close to the operation.... That would be a major psychological blow for Bush's operation, whose fundraising prowess has raised expectations about how much cash it has been amassing. Bush's schedule for the past five months has been dominated by high-priced fundraisers for the super PAC, helping the group stockpile tens of millions."

Nick Gass of Politico: "Unmarried Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says that if he becomes president, he will have a 'rotating first lady.'" CW: I think I'll vote for Lindsey just so I can watch a first lady rotate. As well as being an experienced first lady, Michelle Obama is a very good dancer & athletic gymnast. Lindsey should pick her. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... Update: Ah, Akhilleus has found a well-qualified candidate:

Here's Diane's entry (BTW, there seems to be a good deal of animal cruelty on the YouTubes):

Wait! Wait! MAG has an excellent suggestion, & likely more to Lindsey's "lifestyle choice":

Nick Gass: "Just one Iowan showed up at [Rick Santorum's] 2 p.m. campaign stop Monday at a restaurant in the unincorporated community of Hamlin, population 300, according to a report from The Des Moines Register -- Peggy Toft, an insurance agent who chairs the county's Republican Party.... Eventually, there were four Iowans gathered at Santorum's table.... Santorum told the Register that the low turnout was not surprising, but that it is all a part of the plan." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Beyond the Beltway

Samantha Marcus of NJ.com: "The [New Jersey] state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Gov. Chris Christie can slash billions of dollars in contributions from New Jersey's troubled public employee pension system. The court's ruling caps an intense fight for pension funding and deals a major blow to the state's labor unions, who challenged Christie's spending cuts. Christie had sought to dismantle the pension law, which he argued was unconstitutional. Judges split 5-2 reversing the lower court's ruling that ordered Christie had broken his own landmark pension law and had to work with the Legislature to comply with it." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Guardian: "Nearly 24 hours after a judge ordered the release of a man who has spent more than four decades in solitary confinement, another court has ordered him to remain in prison at least until the end of this week. On Monday, a federal court ordered the immediate release of Albert Woodfox, the last of the 'Angola Three' inmates, who has been in solitary confinement in a 6 by 8 sq ft cell since 18 April 1972. Judge James Brady called Woodfox's release 'the only just remedy' after his two previous convictions for the death of a prison guard were overturned because of racial prejudice and lack of evidence. But Louisiana attorney general Buddy Caldwell on Tuesday appealed to the fifth US circuit court of appeals in New Orleans to keep Woodfox in prison with the intent to try him a third time." ...

... "The United States of Torture." Charles Pierce: "There are two stories out there that fill me with horror and disgust. They involve the fact that I live in a country that has made peace with its own inherent barbarism, one in Louisiana and one in New York.... Dear god, 40 years in solitary? By any measure, including those used by the United Nations, solitary confinement is a form of torture. It drives people mad." ...

... Los Angeles Times: "Los Angeles Police Officer Sharlton Wampler said he was in a life-and-death struggle with Ezell Ford, wrestling over the officer's gun on a summer evening last year. Fearing Ford would get control of the weapon, Wampler pulled out a backup gun from beneath his uniform and fired a fatal shot into his back. The account prompted Chief Charlie Beck to conclude Wampler was justified in opening fire. But on Tuesday, the L.A. Police Commission rejected Beck's finding, ruling that Wampler's use of deadly force violated LAPD policy.... The commission decided [Wampler] did not have a reason to stop and detain Ford in the first place. His handling of the encounter, the commission concluded, was so flawed that it led to the fatal confrontation.... It now falls to Beck, who alone is authorized to discipline officers, to decide what punishment, if any, to impose." CW: So according to the commission, that Walking While Black is not a death-penalty crime in L.A., after all. In theory, anyway. ...

... Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Video footage of a group of police officers in California beating a man with batons is being investigated by the department after the city's police chief conceded that it appeared 'horrific and inflammatory'. Officers from the city of Salinas were filmed repeatedly striking Jose Velasco, who is said by his sister to have a mental illness, as he writhed around on a street on Friday. Velasco, 28, appears from the video clip to be hit on his head, legs, hands and back during the 45-second beating." ...

... Sarah Mervosh of the Dallas Morning News: "McKinney[, Texas,] Police Chief Greg Conley condemned as 'indefensible' the actions of Eric Casebolt, an officer who resigned Tuesday, after a video of Casebolt physically confronting teenagers at a pool party attracted national attention. Conley said at a news conference late Tuesday that Casebolt, 41, resigned 'on his own will' while under investigation. He will keep his pension and benefits.... The chief said the investigation will take some time to determine whether Casebolt should be criminally charged." ...

... CW: Remember this: some officers are brutes, some are racists & some are both. But mostly, they are not too intelligent.

Jessica Wohl of the Chicago Tribune: "McDonald's tapped two outsiders for key brand roles on Tuesday, the latest signal from the world's largest restaurant company that it wants to ignite change in the organization. Robert Gibbs, former press secretary for President Barack Obama, was named global chief communications officer. Silvia Lagnado, a past chief marketing officer for Bacardi Limited, was named global chief marketing officer, a position that was vacant for five years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

The Power of Grover. Tierney Sneed of TPM: Deep in a budget crisis, some Louisiana GOP legislators have begged tax nazi Grover Norquist to loosen his "no-new-taxes" manifesto to allow them some wiggle room to write a budget Norquist Disciple Bobby Jindal would sign. Norquist, of course, declined. CW: Pathetic.

Way Beyond

Chicks Are Crybabies & Distractions to Great Men of Science. Jamie Grierson of the Guardian: "The Nobel laureate Tim Hunt has apologised for comments he made about female scientists. Hunt had told a conference he had a reputation for being a chauvinist, before saying: 'Let me tell you about my trouble with girls. Three things happen when they are in the lab. You fall in love with them, they fall in love with you and when you criticise them, they cry.' The 72-year-old, who was awarded the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine in 2001, also said he was in favour of single-sex labs, while adding that he did not want to 'stand in the way of women'."

News Ledes

CNN: "American citizen Keith Broomfield was killed fighting in Syria, a State Department official confirmed Wednesday." He was reputedly fighting with Kurdish forces against ISIS.

Reuters: "Several thousand barrels of crude have spilled into a river in southwest Colombia after insurgents bombed a pipeline, state-run oil company Ecopetrol said on Wednesday, describing the damage as an 'environmental tragedy.'"

Washington Post: "Alleged serial offender Jesse L. Matthew Jr. on Wednesday was convicted in a brutal 2005 sexual assault in Fairfax City after a stunning development in which he reached a plea deal with prosecutors on the third day of his trial."

New York Times: "An examination of the cellphone used by the engineer on the Amtrak train that crashed just outside Philadelphia last month turned up no evidence that he was on the phone at the time of the accident, federal investigators said Wednesday."

AP: "Pope Francis has created a new Vatican tribunal section to hear cases of bishops accused of failing to protect children from sexually abusive priests, the biggest step the Holy See has taken yet to hold bishops accountable."

Guardian: "Pope Francis has been encouraged by a top American diplomat to take a tougher stance against Vladimir Putin when he meets the Russian president on Wednesday evening. The pope, a frequent critic of military action, has taken a cautious approach to criticism of Russia since its annexation of Crimea. Kenneth Hackett, the US ambassador to the Holy See, said the Vatican 'could say more about concerns on territorial integrity'."

To the Lighthouse

Defunct video removed.

I suppose it was appropriate that on a day Paul Krugman warned against succumbing to the “derp,” it appears that some Reality Chex contributors did just that.

So, a few notes:

When you link to a story (or video) that presents itself as true, if it is a joke or a hoax or satire, please be sure to let readers know.

If you think the story is true, consider your own biases. If the story is both outlandish and fits into your personal belief system, as Krugman suggests, be cautious.

If you still aren't sure, try to check out the story's veracity. If it's a widespread hoax, as was the one linked yesterday, it's easy to Google rebuttals. Both Snopes and Wikipedia have extensively debunked the lighthouse joke.

Facebook is not a news source.

Anybody can be fooled.

(a) I once linked to a fake news story, precisely because the story fit into my own preconceptions. Luckily, a reader caught my error pretty quickly.

(b) “In March 2008, Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence in the U.S., opened his remarks to The Johns Hopkins University's Foreign Affairs Symposium with the lighthouse story, claiming, 'Now this is ... true. I was in the signals intelligence business where you listen to the people talk and so on. This is true. It's an actual recording.'” Besides being DNI, McConnell is a former vice-admiral of the Navy. If anyone in the world should have known better, it was McConnell. And you wonder how we got the Iraq intelligence so wrong (McConnell was not DNI at the time, but you know, same administration).

If you know a story linked on Reality Chex isn't true, let us know, as contributor D. C. Clark did yesterday. I catch quite a few of them, & I certainly suspected the lighthouse story was a hoax, but I didn't have time during the day yesterday to Google it -- still tearing up that countertop, which is built like the roof of a bomb shelter.

BTW, Clark thought (or sought) this Berlitz ad was funnier:

... because what is funny about the lighthouse story is that it is true. Only it isn't. And that makes all the difference.

The Commentariat -- June 9, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has cleared the way for most of a restrictive Texas abortion law -- that among other things requires clinics to meet hospital-like standards and providers to attain special credentials with local hospitals -- to go into effect. According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, all but seven of the clinics in the state stand risk of closing." Includes copy of decision.

Nick Gass of Politico: "Unmarried Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham says that if he becomes president, he will have a 'rotating first lady.'” CW: I think I'll vote for Lindsey just so I can watch a first lady rotate. As well as being an experienced first lady, Michelle Obama is a very good dancer & athletic gymnast. Lindsey should pick her.

Nick Gass: "Just one Iowan showed up at [Rick Santorum's] 2 p.m. campaign stop Monday at a restaurant in the unincorporated community of Hamlin, population 300, according to a report from The Des Moines Register -- Peggy Toft, an insurance agent who chairs the county's Republican Party.... Eventually, there were four Iowans gathered at Santorum's table.... Santorum told the Register that the low turnout was not surprising, but that it is all a part of the plan."

Samantha Marcus of NJ.com: "The [New Jersey] state Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Gov. Chris Christie can slash billions of dollars in contributions from New Jersey's troubled public employee pension system. The court's ruling caps an intense fight for pension funding and deals a major blow to the state's labor unions, who challenged Christie's spending cuts. Christie had sought to dismantle the pension law, which he argued was unconstitutional. Judges split 5-2 reversing the lower court's ruling that ordered Christie had broken his own landmark pension law and had to work with the Legislature to comply with it."

Jessica Wohl of the Chicago Tribune: "McDonald's tapped two outsiders for key brand roles on Tuesday, the latest signal from the world's largest restaurant company that it wants to ignite change in the organization. Robert Gibbs, former press secretary for President Barack Obama, was named global chief communications officer. Silvia Lagnado, a past chief marketing officer for Bacardi Limited, was named global chief marketing officer, a position that was vacant for five years."

*****

... Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Days before the Supreme Court hands down a ruling that could drastically undermine the Affordable Care Act, President Obama will deliver a speech on Tuesday extolling his health care law as a moral and practical victory that was decades in the making." CW: The speech is at 11:50 am ET. I'll try to embed it here, but if I can't be here -- a possibility -- go to WhiteHouse.gov/live . ...

     ... UPDATE: You can view President Obama's remarks here. The President begins speaking 2:30 min. in.

Kate Connolly of the Guardian: "The G7 leading industrial nations have agreed to cut greenhouse gases by phasing out the use of fossil fuels by the end of the century, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has announced, in a move hailed as historic by some environmental campaigners." ...

... Kate Connolly: "Barack Obama has used the close of the G7 summit in Germany to deliver his strongest criticism yet of Vladimir Putin, lambasting the Russian president's isolationist approach as the seven leaders signalled their readiness to tighten sanctions against Russia if the conflict in Ukraine escalates.... World leaders, including the summit's host, ">Angela Merkel, presented a united front against Putin": ...

... Julie Davis & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama said on Monday that he has asked the Pentagon for a plan to accelerate the American military's efforts to train and equip Iraqi forces fighting the Islamic State, acknowledging that the militant group's recent gains indicated a need for a shift in strategy.... Earlier Monday, Mr. Obama met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of Iraq, where he reaffirmed the world powers' commitment to supporting Iraq in the fight against the Islamic State, which has made major gains in recent weeks." (Also linked early yesterday afternoon ET.)

** Walter Pincus of the Washington Post: "What better way to celebrate the two-year anniversary of Edward Snowden's first leak about the National Security Agency's operations than to have the latest story from his cache of stolen government documents create another misleading public understanding of an NSA program, this one aimed at catching foreign hackers. As with the initial Snowden-generated story about the NSA's collection and storage of American telephone metadata (every call, date, time and duration) the newest story does not report any violation of law or misuse of the data that the NSA collected -- only the implication that the program could be abused." Read the whole column.

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "In an important separation-of-powers decision, the Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Congress may not require the State Department to indicate in passports that Jerusalem is part of Israel. The vote was 6 to 3, with Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel A. Alito Jr. dissenting. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, writing for five [other] justices, said the question of the status of Jerusalem is 'a delicate subject.' But he said the Constitution conferred exclusive authority on the president to recognize foreign governments." (Also linked early yesterday afternoon ET.) ...

... Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: The Supreme Court "resolved a sensitive modern question and decided one of the most enduring -- and, until Monday, unanswered -- questions about the meaning of the Constitution.... The ruling in Zivotofsky v. Kerry obviously was a difficult one for the Court: argued in early November, the case took more than seven months to prepare, emerging Monday in five separate opinions in a six-to-three split."

Lyle Denniston: "Raising significant new questions about how much protection the Constitution's Second Amendment actually gives to gun owners, the Supreme Court on Monday left intact a local ordinance that restricts access to guns even within one's own home. The denial of review drew a fervent dissent from two Justices [Scalia & Thomas], who argued that the Court is narrowing the amendment's 'right to keep and bear arms.'"

Paul Waldman: "Here, courtesy of GOP Senator John Thune, is the tweet of the day, and probably the month:

Six million people risk losing their health care subsidies, yet @POTUS continues to deny that Obamacare is bad for the American people.

"As this blog predicted. No snark I could come up with would add anything to the rampaging stupidity on display here." ...

... Angela Keane & Justin Sink of Bloomberg: President "Obama said [in response to a question at his G-7 summit press conference that] he has confidence the court, which has upheld other portions of the law, will again rule in favor of keeping the program intact.... 'I'm optimistic that the Supreme Court will play it straight when it comes to the interpretation,' he said. 'If it didn't, Congress could fix this whole thing with a one-sentence provision.' That won't happen, said John Barrasso of Wyoming, the fourth-ranking Republican in the Senate. 'Instead of bullying the Supreme Court, the president should spend his time preparing for the reality that the court may soon rule against his decision to illegally issue tax penalties and subsidies on Americans in two-thirds of the country,' he said in a statement. 'Congress will not pass a so-called "one-sentence" fake fix.'" ...

     ... digby: "It wouldn't be a fake fix at all, of course. Whatever sabotage the Republicans come up with would be the 'fake fix.' If the Supremes reject the administration's argument they are basically giving the GOP a cudgel with which to destroy sick people's lives. And they know it." ...

... Now the Wayback Machine Takes Us to Oral Arguments in King v. Burwell: Justice Antonin Scalia to Solicitor General Donald Verrelli: "I don't care what Congress you're talking about. If the consequences are as disastrous as you say, so many million people without insurance and whatnot, yes, I think this Congress would act." Via Charles Gaba....

... Daniel Marans of the Huffington Post: "On Monday, President Barack Obama said the Supreme Court should not have taken up the challenge to the Affordable Care Act in King v. Burwell. 'This should be an easy case. Frankly, it probably should not even have been taken up,' Obama said during a press conference at the G-7 summit in Germany.... The president called the legal challenge 'bizarre' in light of the law's successful implementation.... When asked whether the administration had a 'plan B,' in the event that the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies in states that do not run their own health insurance exchanges, Obama said there are no easy solutions." ...

... Susan Cornwell & Caroline Humer of Reuters: "U.S. Republicans face a potential political backlash from voters if the Supreme Court rules soon against President Barack Obama's healthcare law, and are split over what to do about it, with some calling on the Obama administration for help. But the White House, perhaps sensing a chance to blame Republicans for trouble, is showing no outward signs of crafting a contingency plan in case of an adverse outcome in King v. Burwell, expected to be ruled on by the end of this month." ...

... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "It may be easier than expected for states to save their ObamaCare subsidies, if the Supreme Court rules against the law this month. Two states -- Pennsylvania and Delaware -- said this week they would launch their own exchanges, if needed, to keep millions of healthcare dollars flowing after the decision. Both want to use existing pieces of the federal health insurance exchange, like its website and call center -- a path that would be far less costly than the way most other states have created their exchanges. If those plans win approval, many of the other 36 states that stand to lose their subsidies could then pursue a similarly simple strategy." (Emphasis added.) CW: As soon as King v. Burwell made the news, this is exactly what I said progressive states would/could do. States led by Republicans? Many would require a public outcry to get off the dime. ...

... Sarah Kliff of Vox: "The GOP has 5 plans to fix Obamacare if the Supreme Court blows it up. They're all a mess." ...

... Jonathan Chait sums up the problems the GOP faces if they "win" King v. Burwell. ...

... CW: Here's a related problem: Burgess Everett of Politico finds plenty of indicators that the Senate is returning to a state of gridlock.

** Lena Sun of the Washington Post: "Fifty hospitals in the United States are charging uninsured consumers more than 10 times the actual cost of patient care, according to research published Monday. All but one of the these facilities is owned by for-profit entities, and by far the largest number of hospitals -- 20 -- are in Florida. For the most part, researchers said, the hospitals with the highest markups are not in pricey neighborhoods or big cities, where the market might explain the higher prices.... Community Health Systems operates 25 of the hospitals on the list; Hospital Corp. of America operates another 14.... By comparison, the researchers said, a typical U.S. hospital charges 3.4 times the cost of patient care." (Emphasis added.) ...

... CW: Guess what greedy, wicked bastard used to be CEO of Hospital Corp of America before the board of greedy, wicked directors kicked him out just prior to settling the largest fraud case in U.S. history? Thanks again, Florida, for twice putting this steaming pile in the governor's mansion.

Sarah Larimar & Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: Dennis "Hastert, the longest-serving Republican speaker in the history of the House, is expected to appear in court on Tuesday afternoon, emerging in public for the first time since the indictment was announced."

Dennis Hastert goes to court today. ...

... ** Todd Purdum in Politico: "A reassessment of Hastert's leadership began in earnest following his indictment two weeks ago. In hindsight, it now seems clear his avuncular persona ... served to deter broader scrutiny of congressional misdeeds, including an Illinois land deal of his own that netted him millions."

We turn now from reminders of scumbag politicians to a sweet, uplifting & informative piece by Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post on what it was like to cover the funeral of Beau Biden. The contrast is startling.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: Charles Pierce did a nice job yesterday of reprising the Sunday showz. It comes as no surprise to me that John DICKerson, who has taken oven the CBS show, remains as big a DICK as ever & a strict adherent to he-said/she-said "journalism." Pierce gives him the House Cup. It's worth noting that Chris Wallace of Fox "News," who probably just doesn't like Rick Santorum, did his job a helluva a better than Dickerson did his. (See also yesterday's Commentariat.) Also, it's pretty rich that Chris Christie, who could soon find himself under indictment for abuse of office, is accusing his entire state of fraud & corruption. Unless it's your job to watch this crap, I'd advise finding a better way to spend Sunday mornings. I spent mine tearing up a kitcken counter, which was no fun at all, but much less stress-inducing than witnessing what passes for mainstream journalism in the USA. ...

... digby does an excellent job of debunking a New York Times "First Read" "analysis" (linked here yesterday), the gist of which was that Hillary Clinton isn't going the "bipartisan" route that her husband took in 1992 to win the presidency: "... the fact that they even lamented that 'campaigns don't engage in persuasion anymore' tells us that haven't given up their precious derp just yet." CW: I would go further, tho. What I think Democratic candidates have figured out is appealing to many conservative voters, because poverty, near-poverty & fear-of-poverty are bipartisan, largely thanks to conservative policies.

Presidential Race

Greg Sargent on how Hillary Clinton might develop her economic agenda & theme, & whether or not Wall Street is skeert of her taking a populist, anti-Street tilt. 

Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: "A charity administered by the New York Times received a $100,000 check from the Clinton Family Foundation on July 24, 2008, months after the paper endorsed Hillary Clinton in the Democratic primary, according to a New York Times spokesperson. However, the check was a 'replacement check' for one that had been sent in 2007 that the Times never received, the spokesperson said." CW:  Wingers seem rather excited about this story. Seems like a big meh to me.

Steve Benen: Jeb Bush, who thought he would be the anointed one by the time he stopped collecting secret money & formally announced his presidential candidacy, just fired his non-campaign director & replaced him with long-time GOP media operative Danny Diaz. CW: Of course, Jeb's failure to leave the pack in his wake has nothing to do with the candidate himself. Iraq.

The Profligate Son. Steve Eder & Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Among the serious contenders for the presidency, [Marco] Rubio stands out for his youth, his meteoric political rise — and for the persistent doubts about his financial management, to the point that Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign flagged the issue when vetting Mr. Rubio as a possible running mate in 2012, interviews show.... A review of the Rubio family’s finances — including many new documents — reveals a series of decisions over the past 15 years that experts called imprudent: significant debts; a penchant to spend heavily on luxury items like [an $80,000 speed]boat and the lease of a $50,000 2015 Audi Q7; a strikingly low savings rate, even when Mr. Rubio was earning large sums; and inattentive accounting that led to years of unpaid local government fees.... [Rubio] has long portrayed himself as a champion of financial austerity, railing against excessive government spending and runaway debt."

Charles Pierce: Scott Walker, the roadkill candidate. CW: I don't see what Pierce's problem is. Roadkill is an excellent source of protein, one which all the Wisconsinites Scotty has reduced to poverty can well-afford, as long as they have butcher knives & freezers. As we've already learned from Fox "News," "Ninety-nine percent of them have a refrigerator." So there you go.

Beyond the Beltway

Bruce Smith of the (South Carolina) State: "A white former North Charleston police officer was indicted on a murder charge Monday in the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man who was running away from the officer after a traffic stop. The shooting April 4 was captured on video by a bystander and showed officer Michael Slager firing eight times as 50-year-old Walter Scott ran away. The shooting rekindled an ongoing national debate about the treatment of black suspects at the hands of white officers." (Also linked early yesterday afternoon ET.)

Rick Rojas of the New York Times: His unprecedented escape from an upstate New York maximum-security prison was not the first time two-time-killer Richard Matt eluded law enforcement: "In 1986, he had escaped from a jail in Erie County. About a decade later, after Mr. Rickerson’s death, Mr. Matt fled to Mexico, where he killed an American man at a bar and served several years in prison before being brought back in 2007 to stand trial here in Niagara County."

American "Justice," Ctd. Michael Schwirtz & Michael Winerip of the New York Times pick up on the story of the suicide of Kalief Browder, the teen who was jailed for three years without trial on New York City's Rikers Island, kept in solitary confinement for two years & repeatedly beaten. Jennifer Gonnerman of the New Yorker first brought Browder's ordeal to public attention; yesterday I linked her story on his death.

Yoni Appelbaum of the Atlantic on how white Americans, over the decades, have figured out how to segregate swimming pools.

Your Tax Dollars at Work. John Shiffman of Reuters: The Virginia Board of Medicine has accused Dr. John Henry Hagmann, who "has received more than $10.5 million in business from the federal government," of giving U.S. military "trainees drugs and liquor, and direct[ing] them to perform macabre medical procedures on one another.... The report alleges Hagmann told students to insert catheters into the genitals of other trainees and that two intoxicated student were subjected to penile nerve block procedures. Hagmann also is accused of conducting 'shock labs,' a process in which he withdrew blood from the students, monitored them for shock, and then transfused the blood back into their systems."

News Ledes

New York Times: "A days-long manhunt for two escaped killers prompted a burst of police activity on Tuesday as investigators converged on an upstate town about an hour from the prison where the men had been incarcerated. The prisoners, Richard W. Matt and David Sweat, were discovered missing from their cells at 5:30 a.m. on Saturday at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., 25 miles from the Canadian border. On Tuesday, law enforcement officials swarmed Willsboro, a small town about 40 miles southeast of Dannemora."

Washington Post: "Rebels announced the capture of a strategic army base in southern Syria on Tuesday, in the latest of several sweeping offensives by forces­ battling President Bashar al-Assad. A coalition of moderate rebel factions known as the Southern Front took control of the Brigade 52 base by early afternoon, spokesman Issam al-Reis said. Brigade 52 is the largest military installation in Daraa province, which borders Jordan, and is key to the defense of northern routes leading to the Syrian capital, Damascus."

Los Angeles Times: "Vincent Bugliosi, the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney who gained worldwide fame for his successful prosecutions of Charles Manson and his followers for the brutal 1969 murders of actress Sharon Tate and six others, has died. He was 80."