The Commentariat -- April 24, 2016

Presidential Race

Nick Gass of Politico: "Bernie Sanders says the Democratic Party hasn't been fair to him -- but he has mixed feelings on the nominating process overall. 'Do you think this process has been fair to you? The Democratic nomination process?' moderator Chuck Todd asked the Vermont senator in an interview filmed Saturday in Baltimore and aired Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press.' 'Yes and no,' Sanders said, going on to criticize the role of the media for neglecting to focus on 'real issues facing America.' The media, he said, emphasizes 'political gossip' rather than 'issues that affect working people.'" CW: If you're looking for shallow media that "emphasizes political gossip," Chuck, you do have a mirror, don't you? ...

... John Wagner & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "... Bernie Sanders said Saturday that many of his losses to Hillary Clinton in Democratic primaries were because 'poor people don't vote.'" -- CW

Harper Neidig of the Hill: "... Bernie Sanders called for criminal justice reform during a rally in Baltimore on Saturday, promising to 'bring justice back to the criminal justice system.'" -- CW

Harper Neidig: "... Bernie Sanders's top adviser [Tad Devine] said on Saturday that the campaign would consider dialing down its criticism of front-runner Hillary Clinton depending on the outcome of the primaries on Tuesday." -- CW

Real Donald Trump? Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "If Donald J. Trump starts to soften his image, Hillary Clinton has a warning for voters. Don't believe it. 'Trump,' she said at a rally [in Rhode Island] on Saturday, 'keeps saying things like, "Well, you know, uh, I didn't really mean it. It was all part of my reality TV show."'... 'If we buy that, shame on us. Because he's already showed us what he believes and he's already said what he wants to do, and he wants to go after every one of the rights we have.' On Saturday, the Clinton campaign also released a video that amounted to a highlight reel of Mr. Trump's incendiary comments. The video said that Mr. Trump 'is getting ready for an extreme makeover.'" -- CW

Kristen East of Politico: "Billionaire businessman Charles Koch said in an interview airing Sunday that 'it's possible' another Clinton in the White House could be better than having a Republican president. Koch, the CEO of Koch industries, made the comment to ABC News' Jonathan Karl for an interview airing on ABC's This Week." -- CW ...

... When two wingers get together to talk on the teevee:

Not Only Trump. Nick Gass of Politico: State Department spokesman John Kirby suggested Friday that "Ted Cruz has also raised eyebrows abroad with his vows to 'make the sand glow' in the Middle East and his comments about Muslim immigrants, though Kirby did not explicitly mention the Texas senator by name." -- CW

Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Ted Cruz notched another delegate landslide Saturday, stretching his advantage in a competition that might never occur: the second ballot of a contested Republican National Convention in July. Cruz won at least 65 of the 94 delegates up for grabs Saturday (and he may have won more, but Kentucky's 25 delegates haven't revealed their leanings). The Texas senator has so thoroughly dominated the fight ... that if front-runner Donald Trump fails to clinch the nomination on the first ballot, Cruz is well-positioned to surpass him -- and perhaps even snag the nomination for himself -- when delegates are free in subsequent convention rounds to vote for whomever they want." -- CW ...

... David Wright of CNN: "Texas Sen. Ted Cruz collected the overwhelming majority of Maine's Republican delegates during the state's GOP convention Saturday.... Ahead of the vote, [Gov. Paul] LePage accused the Cruz campaign of going back on a promise to back a 'unity slate' of the state's delegates, a move he portrayed as 'stabbing us in the back.'" -- CW ...

... BUT Trump Is Trying! Kyle Cheney: Deleware "State GOP insiders say [Trump aide Joe] Uddo ripped their long-standing process from his very first phone call and hinted he might refer it to Trump's high-powered law firm, Jones Day. Then, he suggested that continued resistance could lead to a nasty Trump campaign tweet about 'backroom deals in Delaware,' according to three sources familiar with Uddo's interactions.... The spat created bitter feelings between Delaware GOP insiders and the Trump campaign." -- CW ...

... Brianna Gurciullo of Politico: "Donald Trump ... on Friday, prais[ed Delaware's] ... status as a tax shelter and at one point sharing a story about calling his credit-card company to find out whether it employed people in India." In recounting the phone call, Trump spoke mockingly in what he apparently thought was "Indian"-sounding English. "Trump said he had 378 corporate entities registered in the state, 'meaning I pay you a lot of money, folks. I don't feel guilty.'" -- CW ...

... The Pain in Maine Falls Mainly on the Sane. AP: "Maine's Republican governor says it's hard to understand workers 'from Bulgaria' and workers from India are 'the worst ones.' Gov. Paul LePage said Saturday that foreign workers are being used in restaurants after he criticized a referendum proposal to raise Maine's minimum wage to $12. He says he's disappointed his alternative proposal to hike the wage to $10 didn't get traction. He described Indians as 'lovely people but you've got to have an interpreter.'" -- CW ...

... Nate Silver: "... if the framing of the question matters, Trump has a big advantage: The media is [sic.!] mostly echoing and validating his side of the argument. That's partly because Trump continues to dominate news coverage of the Republican race and therefore has a lot more opportunities to get his message out. It also helps that Trump's system-is-rigged message is relatively simple and plays into the media's master narrative of the Republican race as a conflict between the Republican base and the GOP 'establishment.' The Republicans' delegate selection rules, by contrast, require an attention to detail that narrative-driven stories about the Republican race can misconstrue." Read on. -- CW

Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "As Donald J. Trump ... begins preparing his campaign for a general election, he told voters in Connecticut on Saturday that they should not expect him to start 'toning it down.' Mr. Trump's message at two stops in Connecticut -- first in Waterbury, and later in Bridgeport -- seemed to contradict the closed-door pitch his newly installed campaign chief, Paul Manafort, brought to the Republican National Committee's spring meeting in Florida on Thursday." -- CW ...

... Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas ... has used [Paul Manafort's leaked] comments [to the RNC] to attack Trump's authenticity. He said in interviews Thursday that Trump has been 'lying to us' and is 'pretending' to be a conservative to fool voters. Trump blasted Cruz on Saturday during campaign stops in Connecticut..., accusing him of twisting Manafort's words for political gain. The billionaire showman insisted that Manafort's comments ... merely showcased the reality of adjusting stylistically to different audiences." -- CW ...

... digby: "This notion that Trump is putting on an act is idiotic. Of course he's a showman. But that doesn't mean he isn't a neo-fascist xenophobe and he's been remarkably consistent about it for 30 years or more. He has always railed against foreigners, worshiped the police, and celebrated state violence. That he has different personas in different circumstances is irrelevant to that. I think if you want to see the 'authentic' Trump, just read the Washington Post and New York Times editorial board interviews. He wasn't playing to the crowd, he was among fellow elites. And he relied on a whole bag of tricks to hide the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about. What comes through is the bravado, the violence, the deviance, the guile." -- CW

Kristen Salaky of TPM: "Following a tense exchange with Fox New host Sean Hannity this week, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) took another swipe at the network's coverage of Donald Trump and accusations that he's wrangling delegates. 'They know it's not true,' Cruz said, when asked if his strategy was unethical, according to BuzzFeed. 'Donald doesn't handle losing well and when we loses he cries and he screams and he whines and he curses and he insults everybody.' Cruz went on to criticize the editorial decisions of Fox News and who they are 'rooting for.'" -- safari

Frances Sellers of the Washington Post visits the Drumpf family ancestral town of Kallstadt, Germany. "Kallstadt lies in the lush landscape of southern Germany along the Weinstrasse, or wine route, that the Nazis created in 1935 to market the wines as Hitler surged to power and drove out Jewish merchants." -- CW

Other News & Views

Steve Erlanger & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama will meet with Western European leaders on Sunday and Monday amid a growing sense in his administration that Europe is faltering in the face of multiple challenges, undercutting the trans-Atlantic alliance at a critical time." -- CW ...

... Darlene Superville of the AP: "President Barack Obama, beginning a visit Sunday to Germany, hoped to build momentum for a U.S.-Europe trade deal that has become a tough sell, particularly in Germany. Other issues were on the agenda for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, including efforts to counter the Islamic State group, improve cooperation on counterterrorism, and encourage countries to share law enforcement information. IS says it was responsible for attacks that killed 30 people in Brussels last month." -- CW

Michael Shear & Liam Stack of the New York Times: "At a meeting with young people on the second day of his visit to Europe..., [President Obama] praised the [Black Lives Matter] movement as 'really effective in bringing attention to problems,' but said young activists should be more willing to work with political leaders to craft solutions instead of criticizing from outside the political process. '... you can't just keep on yelling at them,' Mr. Obama said." -- CW: Welcome to Protesters' World, Mr. President. Most protesters think yelling & whining is the point. The most successful freedom movements -- like the remarkable gay rights groups -- knew how to organize & cajole. ...

... Former Sen. Harris Wofford (D-Pa.), in a New York Times op-ed: After Clare, his wife of 50 years, died, Wofford found love again with a young man named Matthew Charlton. "On April 30, at ages 90 and 40, we will join hands, vowing to be bound together: to have and to hold, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until death do us part." -- CW

Sabrina Tavernise & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "The first full year of the Affordable Care Act brought historic increases in coverage for low-wage workers and others who have long been left out of the health care system, a New York Times analysis has found. Immigrants of all backgrounds -- including more than a million legal residents who are not citizens -- had the sharpest rise in coverage rates. Hispanics, a coveted group of voters this election year, accounted for nearly a third of the increase in adults with insurance. That was the single largest share of any racial or ethnic group, far greater than their 17 percent share of the population. Low-wage workers, who did not have enough clout in the labor market to demand insurance, saw sharp increases." -- CW

She Danced with the President, but in 30 States She Couldn't Vote. Courtland Milloy of the Washington Post: "Virginia McLaurin, who recently turned 107, was still basking in the glow of her dance with President Obama in February. A White House video of the meeting has been viewed nearly 66 million times. The attention has resulted in invitations to New York and Los Angeles for media interviews. To board an airplane, however, McLaurin needs to replace a long-lost government-issued photo ID" which she has been unable to obtain. "On the bright side..., at least the District didn't require a photo ID to vote.... But roughly 30 states have adopted an array of restrictive voter ID laws, and elderly citizens who live in those states seemed particularly at risk of having their rights denied." ...

AND here are some nice letters in support of child molester & former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "Protests surrounding a rally at Stone Mountain[, Georgia,] erupted in violence Saturday as demonstrators trying to confront a white power group set a barricade on fire and hurled rocks and fireworks at police attempting to block them. By midday, park officials worried about the safety of visitors, shut down attractions such as the cable car and amusement center and also canceled the popular laser show. The park remained open. Nine counter-protesters were arrested, most for refusing to take their masks.... In Rome, Ga., about 80 supporters of the neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement also held a rally Saturday. That event has largely avoided the violence seen at Stone Mountain, although police said two counter-protesters were arrested for disorderly conduct. There were several hundred counter-protesters on hand." -- CW

AP: "A solar-powered airplane landed in California on Saturday, completing a risky, three-day flight across the Pacific Ocean as part of its journey around the world." -- CW ...

Rebecca Piccardo of the Los Angeles Times: "A week after a Palm Beach Zoo animal keeper was killed during a tiger attack, the zoo's president said the keeper had knowingly entered a part of the tiger enclosure with one of the big cats in it -- which is not allowed." -- CW ...

... John Pacenti of the Palm Beach Post: "But in a reflection of how the zoo handled this crisis, some of the public appeared skeptical of the explanation. The Post received anonymous calls immediately casting doubt, but these calls have been ongoing since the mauling and were attributed as 'rumors circulating from disgruntled staff members' by zoo spokeswoman Naki Carter.... And there are no fewer than five ongoing independent investigations into [Stacey] Konwiser's death...." -- CW

Way Beyond

Azam Ahmed & Paulina Villegas of the New York Times: "An international panel of experts brought to Mexico to investigate the haunting disappearance of 43 students that ignited a global outcry say they cannot solve the case because of a sustained campaign of harassment, stonewalling and intimidation against them. The investigators say they have endured carefully orchestrated attacks in the Mexican news media, a refusal by the government to turn over documents or grant interviews with essential figures, and even a retaliatory criminal investigation into one of the officials who appointed them." -- CW

Give peace a chance? Guardian: "North Korea will halt its nuclear tests if the US ceases its annual military exercises with South Korea, Kim Jong-un's foreign minister has said in a rare interview with western media. A North Korean submarine launched missile on Saturday in breach of UN bans, and anticipation is building that the North is also preparing to conduct a nuclear explosion." --safari

Press release for MAPS: "The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has formally approved the first-ever randomized controlled trial of whole plant medical marijuana (cannabis) as a treatment for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in U.S. veterans. The DEA's approval marks the first time a clinical trial intended to develop smoked botanical marijuana into a legal prescription drug has received full approval from U.S. regulatory agencies, including the DEA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)."" --safari

The Commentariat -- April 23, 2016

Presidential Race

John Wagner & Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "... Sen. Bernie Sanders said in an interview broadcast Friday that he would wait to see what Hillary Clinton includes in her platform before deciding how actively to campaign for her in the fall if she is the party's nominee." -- CW

Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton's advisers and allies have begun extensive discussions about who should be her running mate, seeking to compile a list of 15 to 20 potential picks for her team to start vetting by late spring. Mrs. Clinton's team will grapple with complicated questions like whether the United States is ready for an all-female ticket, and whether her choice for vice president would be able to handle working in a White House in which former President Bill Clinton wields significant influence on policy." CW: So ConservaDem Bill definitely will be back. At least the campaign is admitting it to reporters. I doubt the Presidents Clinton will have Bernie Sanders on their contacts list. ...

... Alan Rappeport & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "Here are some likely contenders -- according to allies and advisers of the Clintons and prominent Democrats -- and a look at their strengths and weaknesses. Sherrod Brown..., Julián Castro..., Tim Kaine..., Amy Klobuchar..., Deval Patrick..., Thomas E. Perez..., Mark Warner..., Elizabeth Warren." -- CW

Amie Parnes of the Hill: "... Hillary Clinton is doubling down on a strategy of not releasing transcripts of speeches she gave to Goldman Sachs and other investment banks.... The issue has been an effective line of attack from [Bernie] Sanders, who has closed the gap with Clinton in national polls. It also appears to have hurt Clinton, who has seen her favorability rating in polls drop below 50 percent. Just as bad, Clinton has seen her marks fall with Americans when they are asked whether they trust her or see her as honest. At the same time, Sanders is now coming under growing pressure to pull back on his attacks after Clinton's big win in New York's primary." -- CW

The Accidental Truth-Teller, Ctd. Jason Noble of the Des Moines Register: "U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley [R] suggested on Friday that the FBI might leak reports of its investigation into presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state. Grassley, Iowa's senior senator and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said an anonymous and unauthorized release of FBI investigative materials could result if officials at the agency believed prosecution of Clinton was stymied for political reasons." -- CW

Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "Joe Biden's made a decision in the Democratic primary race -- but he won&'t say whether he picked Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. The vice president and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, voted early while back home in Wilmington on Friday, four days before the Delaware primary on April 26, when Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Maryland will also vote." -- CW

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: Reince Priebus, "the head of the Republican National Committee, implored leaders of his sharply divided party on Friday to rally behind their eventual presidential nominee, suggesting that they ignore Donald J. Trump's assault on the nominating process." -- CW

John O'Keefe of the Washington Post: Uncommitted Pennsylvania delegates could choose the GOP nominee. "While most states award convention delegates on a winner-take-all or proportional basis, 54 of Pennsylvania's 71 delegates -- three for each of 18 congressional districts -- are officially unbound to a candidate and do not have to announce their intentions before Tuesday's vote. The winners can vote for whomever they want at the convention." -- CW

Oops, Forgot about GOP States' Rights Mantra, Bigot Vote. Daily Beast: "Less than 24 hours after saying transgender individuals should be able to 'use the bathroom they feel is appropriate,' Donald Trump backtracked from that pro-LGBT position. Speaking with Sean Hannity on Fox News Thursday evening, the Republican presidential frontrunner decided that while he still believes North Carolina's law overturning local anti-discrimination ordinances is 'causing a lot of problems,' he thinks 'local communities and states should make the decision. The federal government should not be involved.'" CW: Yes, people, you can count on Donald Trump to stand by you for up to 24 hours. ...

We're going to take care of those wounded warriors and we're going to take care of our vets better than anybody. -- Donald Trump, aboard the USS Wisconsin, October 2015 ...

... Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "Three months ago Donald Trump held a fundraiser for wounded veterans and apparently raised $6 million. But most of that money has yet to be distributed and Trump's chairman for veterans issues couldn't care less." -- CW

Dana Milbank, borrowing from the Passover Seder service, assesses Donald Trump in terms of the "Ten Plagues that God inflicted on the Egyptians: blood, frogs, lice, wild animals, pestilence, boils, hail, locusts, darkness and slaying of the firstborn." -- CW

Kristina Davis of the Los Angeles Times: "An Orange County woman who wanted to back out as a class representative in a long-running lawsuit against Donald Trump has gotten her wish. Tarla Makaeff, who filed the lawsuit against Trump's now-defunct Trump University six years ago, claimed the litigation had caused her to suffer severe stress and unwanted publicity, especially in light of the combative presidential race.... Three other plaintiffs still will participate in the case...." -- CW

Other News & Views

President Obama & British PM David Cameron hold a press conference:

Britain's Prince George looks a bit wary of President & Michelle Obama, but warms up when he finds out they gave him that hobby horse. -- CW

We're Back in Iraq. Fred Kaplan of Slate: "... we are going to war in Iraq against ISIS. It's not going to be like George W. Bush's 2003 invasion of Iraq: It will involve about 5,000 U.S. troops, not 150,000; and local forces -- Iraqi soldiers, Kurdish peshmerga, and various militias -- will be in the lead. But the United States will be directly involved in the fighting and quite possibly the dying. And although [Secretary of Defense Ash] Carter and other senior officials say the U.S.'s mission isn't changing it's clear that, by any reasonable definition of 'mission' and 'changing,' it is." -- CW

Frederic Rich of Salon: "How extreme right-wing market fundamentalism captured the GOP -- and endangered the environment. Republican orthodoxy is deeply hostile to environmental goals -- along with science and basic common sense. Painting environmental protection as inconsistent with the things that people want most [jobs, wealth, and cheap gas] was an astute and successful political strategy for the foes of the Green movement." -- LT

"A good guy with a gun." Matt Drange of The Guardian: Mark Bryant, NRA member from Kentucky, "has developed what is by some measures the most comprehensive database of recent gun deaths and injuries in America... [by]collect[ing] information the government isn't capturing....Bryant isn't 'for or against' gun ownership. He's simply trying to reduce gun violence by building a better understanding of what guns are to America." -- LT

Beyond the Beltway

Sari Horwitz & Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: "Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) will make all ex-felons in Virginia eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, part of a years-long effort to restore full voting rights to former convicts. McAuliffe's announcement in Richmond on Friday will allow an estimated 180,000 to 210,000 former felons who are not in prison or on probation or parole to register to vote this year in Virginia, a battleground state, according to a coalition of civil rights groups that had pushed for the restoration of voting rights. Advocates said McAuliffe's move was the biggest-ever single action taken to restore voting rights in this country." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Scott LeMieux in LG&M: "I'm so old that I remember extensive debates on various social media about whether or not McAuliffe was inspiring enough to be worth supporting ... against Ken Cuccinelli. The lesson, as always, is that this way of thinking about elections is really dumb." CW: Exactly. This is why you vote for the Democrat even when he's a jerk. ...

... Inae Oh of Mother Jones: "The executive order bypassed Republicans in the state, who view former felons as potential Democratic voters. Their angry response was swift." -- CW ...

... Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "... the big number of newly enfranchised voters is actually larger than Mr. Obama's 149,298-vote margin of victory there in 2012." However, ex-felons aren't all that into voting: studies "usually find that around 20 percent of ex-felons turn out, even in presidential elections." -- CW

Heide Brandes of Reuters: "An Oklahoma bill that could revoke the license of any doctor who performs an abortion has headed to the governor, with opponents saying the measure in unconstitutional and promising a legal battle against the cash-strapped state if it is approved. In the Republican-dominated legislature, the state's House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a Senate bill late on Thursday. Governor Mary Fallin, a Republican, has not yet indicated whether she will sign it." -- CW

News Lede

New York Times: "As law enforcement officials await the complete results of an autopsy performed [on performer Prince] Friday, they said they would be reviewing local pharmaceutical records as part of a broad effort to understand Prince's full medical history. They declined to comment on reports that Prince had been taking pain medication, saying the investigation was continuing." -- CW

The Commentariat -- April 22, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Sari Horwitz & Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: "Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) will make all ex-felons in Virginia eligible to vote in the upcoming presidential election, part of a years-long effort to restore full voting rights to former convicts. McAuliffe's announcement in Richmond on Friday will allow an estimated 180,000 to 210,000 former felons who are not in prison or on probation or parole to register to vote this year in Virginia, a battleground state, according to a coalition of civil rights groups that had pushed for the restoration of voting rights. Advocates said McAuliffe's move was the biggest-ever single action taken to restore voting rights in this country." -- CW

*****

CW: The Washington Post has just posted a big package of stories & opinion pieces on President Obama's legacy. It begins with this essay by biographer David Maraniss. I haven't delved into any of it yet, but thought you'd like to know.

Arlette Saenz of ABC News: "President Obama is extending birthday greetings to Queen Elizabeth over lunch today, one day after Britain's longest-serving monarch turned 90. On his first full day in London, the president and First Lady Michelle Obama traveled to Windsor Castle for lunch with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip." -- CW

Mark Berman & Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "FBI Director James Comey suggested Thursday that the bureau paid more than $1 million to access an iPhone belonging to one of the San Bernardino attackers, the first time the agency has offered a possible price tag in the high-profile case. While speaking at a security forum in London hosted by the Aspen Institute, Comey would not offer a precise dollar figure, saying only that it cost 'a lot' to get into the phone." -- CW ...

     ... The Guardian story, by Danny Yadron, is here. --safari ...

     ... Update. Eric Lichtblau & Katie Benner of the New York Times do the math: "The director of the F.B.I. suggested Thursday that his agency paid at least $1.3 million to an undisclosed group to help hack into the encrypted iPhone used by an attacker in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif." -- CW

Nathaniel Popper of the New York Times: "Regulators released on Thursday long-awaited proposed rules that would restrict how big financial institutions can pay their top executives. The new rules would make bankers wait at least four years to receive portions of their bonuses and force banks to find ways to claw back bonuses from bankers if their behavior leads to big financial losses. The new rules would apply only to incentive-based compensation -- generally bonuses -- which varies according to the performance of the bank and the individual executive." -- CW

Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Volkswagen agreed on Thursday to fix or buy back nearly 500,000 diesel cars in the United States that are equipped with illegal emissions software. But the measures fell short of a broader settlement that will eventually also include fines and additional compensation for owners stemming from the carmaker's admission that it rigged diesel vehicles to cheat on pollution tests." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

...Christoph Rauwald of Bloomberg: "Volkswagen AG more than doubled provisions to pay for the emissions-cheating scandal, leading to the biggest loss in the German automaker's history while giving it a path toward assessing the full financial impact of the crisis." -- unwashed

Devin Henry of the Hill: "Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked a Republican effort to prevent further spending on an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule designed to establish federal regulatory control over small waterways. The measure ... failed to meet the 60-vote threshold needed to overcome a Democratic filibuster; the vote was 56-42." -- CW

Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said he thinks he's doing a better job than his predecessor, John Boehner (R-Ohio). 'I think I do it better,' he told CNN in an interview this week." CW: That's not really a boast. A hampster would do a better job than the Boehner.

... Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) warned Thursday that overturning North Carolina's controversial bathroom law would make it easier for sex offenders to harass young children.... Gohmert singled out Target, which this week said that it will allow transgender people to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identities. That didn't sit well with Gohmert, who declared he won't be shopping at the retail giant anymore." -- CW

Dan Keating & Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "The U.S. suicide rate has increased sharply since the turn of the century, led by an even greater rise among middle-aged white people, particularly women, according to federal data released Friday. Last decade's severe recession, more drug addiction, 'gray divorce,' increased social isolation, and even the rise of the Internet and social media may have contributed to the growth in suicide, according to a variety of people who study the issue." -- CW

Tiq Milan of The Guardian: "Over the last few years, trans people have been visible like never before, with several television shows and reality series showcasing their lived experience... That increased cultural prominence has led to more acceptance than ever, yes, but also to an uncloaking of an ongoing strain of anti-trans prejudice and hatred." --safari

Paul Krugman reminds us of why we are in Alexander Hamilton's debt, in more senses than one. ...

Andrew Jackson had a great history. I think it's very rough when you take somebody off the bill. Andrew Jackson had a history of tremendous success for the country.... I think Harriet Tubman is fantastic. I would love to leave Andrew Jackson and see if we can come up with another denomination. Maybe we do the $2 bill or another bill. I don't like seeing it.... Yes, I think it's pure political correctness [to replace Jackson. He's] been on the bill for many, many years and really represented somebody that was really very important to this country. -- Donald Trump, on the "Today" show yesterday

If you saw yesterday's Commentariat, you know this is exactly what Ben Carson said, & if you read Steve M.'s post linked yesterday, you also know both of these nitwits learned their "history" watching Fox "News" Three Stooges morning show. -- Constant Weader ...

... Kevin Levin of The Daily Beast: "While the announcement [of Harriet Tubman] has been received with a great deal of excitement, it is not the first time in American history that African Americans have been featured on currency. African Americans were depicted in a wide range of scenes on Confederate currency during the first year of the war. Their presence ... highlight[s] the importance that Confederate leaders placed on the preservation of slavery and white supremacy to their new nation." --safari ...

... Ana Swanson of the Washington Post speaks to Harriet Tubman biographer Catherine Clinton about Tubman. -- CW

Brianna Ehley of Politico: "The Florida mailman who piloted a gyrocopter over Washington, D.C. and landed on the West Lawn of the Capitol last year was sentenced to 120 days of prison, U.S. Attorney Channing Phillips announced on Thursday. Douglas Hughes of Ruskin, Fla., pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last fall for flying his gyrocopter without a license into D.C. airspace. Hughes, dressed as a mailman at the time of the incident, said he was protesting campaign finance laws and came to deliver letters to members of Congress." -- CW

Presidential Race

And This Pantsuit Comes with a Full Metal Jacket, Ma'am. Mark Landler in the New York Times Magazine: "Throughout her career [Hillary Clinton] has displayed instincts on foreign policy that are more aggressive than those of President Obama -- and most Democrats.... Clinton's foreign-policy instincts are bred in the bone -- grounded in cold realism about human nature and what one aide calls 'a textbook view of American exceptionalism.'... For all their bluster about bombing the Islamic State into oblivion, neither Donald J. Trump nor Senator Ted Cruz of Texas have demonstrated anywhere near the appetite for military engagement abroad that Clinton has." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

     ... CW: To readers put off by Ben Nelson's Norton's over-the-top diatribe against the Clintons -- here's a scary dose of reality for ya.

Stephan Braun of the AP: "It's not just Wall Street banks. Most companies and groups that paid ... Hillary Clinton to speak between 2013 and 2015 have lobbied federal agencies in recent years, and more than one-third are government contractors, an Associated Press review has found. Their interests are sprawling and would follow Clinton to the White House should she win election this fall.... Clinton's two-year speaking tour, which took place after she resigned as secretary of state, 'puts her in the position of having to disavow that money is an influence on her while at the same time backing campaign reform based on the influence of money,' said [Lawrence] Noble [of the Campaign Legal Center &], a former general counsel at the Federal Election Commission. 'It ends up creating the appearance of influence.'" -- CW

John Harwood of the New York Times: Vice President Joe Biden "remains neutral in the battle between Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, but not between their campaign styles. He'll take Mr. Sanders's aspirational approach over Mrs. Clinton's caution any day. 'I like the idea of saying, "We can do much more," because we can,' Mr. Biden said in an interview on the Washington-to-Wilmington, Del., Amtrak train.... 'I don't think any Democrat's ever won saying, "We can't think that big -- we ought to really downsize here because it's not realistic,"' he said in a mocking tone. 'C'mon man, this is the Democratic Party! I'm not part of the party that says, "Well, we can't do it."'" -- CW ...

... Tim Egan, who uses his column today to slam Bernie Sanders & Donald Trump, acknowledges that Hillary Clinton lacks a big idea, & he urges her to get one.

Nicholas Confessore & Sarah Cohen of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton has burned through tens of millions of dollars to counter Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in states that are unlikely to be general election battlegrounds, delaying any pivot to the general election and shrinking her potential financial advantage over the eventual Republican nominee." -- CW

Nick Gass of Politico: "Hillary Clinton slammed the abundance of guns in the United States on Thursday, in her latest remarks stressing the need for a national movement to blunt the influence of the gun lobby and end the cycle of violence perpetuated with firearms. 'It is just too easy for people to reach for a gun to solve their problems. It makes no sense,' Clinton said in remarks preceding a panel in Hartford, Connecticut, that featured family members of gun-violence victims, including at nearby Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary in 2012." -- CW ...

... Christine Stuart of ctnewsjunkie.com: "Hillary Clinton ... focus[ed] her message on the gun issue Thursday during a campaign stop at the YMCA on Albany Avenue in Hartford's north end'... 'If anything else we're killing 33,000 people a year,' Clinton said. If that was any other epidemic 'we'd be doing everything we possibly could to save lives.'" -- unwashed

... While Hill's talking guns, Bill's getting pizza according to Randall Beach of the New Haven Register: "Bill Clinton gets a warm welcome at New Haven's Pepe's." -- unwashed

... Nick Gass: Jane Sanders ... laced into [Clinton's] approach Thursday. 'I just don't like to see it be politicized. I think that Secretary Clinton's gun record is a lot more spotty than Bernie's,' Jane Sanders ... said in an interview with CNN.... Sanders noted that her husband [Bernie] has, since 1988, 'been consistently supportive of instant background checks, opposed to assault weapons, the sale and manufacture of assault weapons, for closing the gun show loophole, ending the strawman problem. And I think that's been since 1988.." -- CW

Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "A contested [Republican] convention would mean that instead of focusing on a running mate that would most improve their chances of swaying voters nationwide in November, Donald Trump, Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich may first consider whether someone will help them win over delegates. -- CW

Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: A Republican National Committee panel on Thursday overwhelmingly rejected an effort to make preliminary changes to the rules governing the party's convention this summer, batting away a move to make it more difficult for party leaders to draft a 'white knight' candidate into the race.... The House Rules[, which the panel let stand,] can be interpreted as allowing the chairman of the convention, Speaker Paul D. Ryan, to reopen presidential nominations...." -- CW ...

... Jonathan Martin: "The Republican National Committee is scaling back its financial commitments to some of the most hotly contested states because of flagging fund-raising, the most concrete evidence yet of how the party's divisive and protracted presidential race is threatening the entire Republican ticket in November." -- CW ...

... Jonathan Martin & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump's newly installed campaign chief sought to assure members of the Republican National Committee on Thursday night that Mr. Trump recognized the need to reshape his persona and that his campaign would begin working with the political establishment that he has scorned to great effect. Addressing about 100 committee members at the spring meeting [in Hollywood, Florida]..., the campaign chief, Paul Manafort, bluntly suggested the candidate's incendiary style amounted to an act." ...

     ... CW: Maybe Trump is capable of toning down the obnoxious. (Or maybe not.) Maybe he can learn to use a teleprompter. Reportedly, he is practicing. But exactly how is he going to stop being ignorant? Are we to believe a guy who is "speaking mainly with myself" because "I've said a lot of things" will now master policy books compiled by the leading (Oxymoron Warning!) confederate intellectuals"? ...

     ... Best sentence in Times story: "Mr. Manafort's comments, which included a PowerPoint presentation, came during a happy-hour reception at the beachside hotel resort here." Kinda reflects the gravity of the matter, doesn't it? ...

... ** Will the Real Donald Trump Please Stand Up? Paul Waldman comments, in the Washington Post, on Trump's upcoming "transformation": "... the truth is that Trump is the most inauthentic candidate there is.... Just try to imagine for a moment what the reaction in the media would be if Hillary Clinton -- another politician who is constantly criticized for being insufficiently 'real' -- had her campaign manager say in public that she would be transforming her personality for the general election, because it's all an act anyway." -- CW

Eli Stokols & Kyle Cheney of Politico: "Delegates face death threats from Trump supporters. At the Republican National Committee's spring meeting, delegates describe vicious missives demanding they support the GOP front-runner." -- CW

Clinton May Be a Scary Hawk, but Trump Is Scarier. Edward-Isaac Dovere & Bryan Bender of Politico: "President Barack Obama is trying but failing to reassure foreign leaders convinced that Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. They're in full-boil panic.... In meetings, private dinners and phone calls, world leaders are urgently seeking explanations from Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry, Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Trade Representative Michael Froman on down. American ambassadors are asking for guidance from Washington about what they're supposed to say. 'They're scared and they're trying to understand how real this is,' said one American official in touch with foreign leaders." -- CW

Eric Levitz of New York: "Donald Trump says transgender people should be able to "use the bathroom that they feel is appropriate.' On NBC's Today show Thursday morning, the GOP front-runner said he opposes North Carolina's 'very strong' bathroom bill, which allows businesses to prohibit transgender people from doing just that." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Eric Levitz: "Call Ted Cruz old-fashioned, but he just doesn't think we should legalize child molestation for the sake of political correctness. That was the essence of the Texas senator's rebuttal to Donald Trump on Thursday, after the GOP front-runner declared his opposition to North Carolina's 'bathroom bill.'" --safari ...

Donald Trump is no different from politically correct leftist elites. Today, he joined them in calling for grown men to be allowed to use little girls'; public restrooms. As the dad of young daughters, I dread what this will mean for our daughters -- and for our sisters and our wives. It is a reckless policy that will endanger our loved ones.... Donald stands up for this irresponsible policy while at the same time caving in on defending individual freedoms and religious liberty. -- Ted Cruz, in a thoughtful, measured response to Donald Trump's opposition to the North Carolina law -- CW

Steve Benen: Donald Trump said again Thursday morning, to applause, that he believes in raising taxes for the wealthy. "... when Trump earns applause for saying he supports raising taxes on the wealthy, he conveniently overlooks the fact that he's running on a platform that calls for massive tax breaks for the wealthy.... It's entirely possible ... that Trump has no idea what his campaign has put forward in terms of tax plans, and in turn, he may not realize the great distance between his rhetoric and reality.... But either way, there's ample evidence that Trump does not agree with his most popular policy position." -- CW ...

     ... CW: Now wouldn't it be something if some journalist asked him about the discrepancy between his rhetoric & his plan-on-paper? Nah, too much to ask when we're more concerned about the source of that thing on his head:

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times: "Senator Ted Cruz says the party's nominating rules have been in place from the beginning. Mr. Cruz is right, and he may be losing the public argument anyway. With polls showing a strong preference for nominating the candidate with the most popular votes -- even if he fails to secure a majority of delegates before the convention in July -- Mr. Cruz has brushed up this week against an uncomfortable reality: His only road to victory is a messy one.... Mr. Cruz ... has appeared increasingly frustrated amid questions about his path." -- CW

Unsurprisingly, Ted Cruz rushes to the defense of longtime jerkwad Curt Schilling. -- Paul Waldman

ESPN fired Curt Schilling for making the rather obvious point that we shouldn't allow grown male adult strangers alone in a bathroom with little girls. That's a point anyone who is rational should understand. -- Ted Cruz, in a thoughtful, measured response to Curt Schilling's firing for forwarding & defending an obnoxious photo of his idea of a trans person -- CW

"John Kasich Reveals Secret Balanced-Budget Plan Is Stored in Undisclosed Location in Columbus, Ohio." Jonathan Chait:" John Kasich has been running for president as the candidate of sobriety and 'ideas,' the main one of which is his 'plan' to balance the budget. The trouble ... is that such a plan does not exist.... The other day, Kasich stopped by the Washington Post editorial page for an interview, where columnists Catherine Rampell and Ruth Marcus attempted to pin him down. The result was a comic masterpiece best appreciated if read in the voice of Jerry Lundegaard, William H. Macy's Fargo character." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Here's a transcript of the full Kasich interview. -- CW

Beyond the Beltway

Kevin Miller of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald: Maine's "Gov. Paul LePage vetoed a bill Wednesday that would allow pharmacists to dispense an anti-overdose drug without a prescription, saying that allowing addicts to keep naloxone on hand 'serves only to perpetuate the cycle of addiction.' The Legislature passed the bill 'under the hammer' -- or unanimously without a roll call -- this month as part of lawmakers' attempts to address Maine's growing opioid addiction epidemic." -- CW

David Edwards of RawStory: "Sheriff Chuck Wright of Spartanburg County, South Carolina came under fire this week after he recently argued that minorities were 'the most racist people in America' and compared the NAACP to the Ku Klux Klan." --safari

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal judge in Los Angeles has again shut down California Attorney General Kamala Harris' drive to obtain the donor list for Americans for Prosperity, an influential political group funded by Charles and David Koch. U.S. District Court Judge Manuel Real issued a permanent injunction Thursday barring Harris' office from requiring AFP to submit the donor list. And AFP may not be considered deficient or delinquent in its filings because it won't turn over the form, the judge said. In his ruling, Real said the California attorney general's claims that she needed the information for investigative purposes were dubious...." -- CW

Derek Markham of Treehugger: San Francisco "just took a big step toward its goal of powering the city with 100% renewable electricity by 2025 with the passage of a bill that will require new residential and commercial buildings to include rooftop solar, either solar electric or solar water heating. This ordinance, which was unanimously passed by the city's Board of Supervisors, is essentially the extension of an existing regulation that required new building projects to designate 15% of a building's roof as being "solar ready," which means unshaded and clear of obstructions and reserved for solar." -- CW

Way Beyond

Ian Shapira of the Washington Post: "More than 13 years after an Egyptian cleric was kidnapped off the streets of Milan by CIA operatives, one former agency officer now living in Portugal faces extradition to Italy and the possibility of a four-year prison sentence for the abduction -- an outcome that a former agency historian describes as 'unprecedented.' Sabrina De Sousa, 60, was one of 26 Americans convicted in absentia by Italian courts for her alleged role in the February 2003 rendition of Hassan Mustafa Osama Nasr, also known as Abu Omar." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Robinson Meyer of The Atlantic: "Among the world's rivers, the Amazon reigns with the heaviest crown. Now, researchers have added yet another jewel to the river's crown. A team of Brazilian and American scientists have discovered a new sponge and coral reef more than 600 miles long (1,000 kilometers), located at the mouth of the Amazon River." --safari

Bennish Ahmed of ThinkProgress: "A state of emergency was declared after 11 members of a single, remote community of Aboriginal Canadians tried to take their lives earlier this month. But as many indigenous and political leaders noted, the issue isn't isolated to Attawapiskat Canada -- it isn't even limited to Canada. According to a report by Survive International, interference by outside forces has effected indigenous communities around the world for the worst."--safari

News Lede

TMZ: The performer "Prince was treated for a drug overdose 6 days before his death ... multiple sources tell TMZ." CW: TMZ is not the most reliable source, but the celebrity sheet does often get stories right. Obviously, I have no idea if TMZ is right about this, but I read elsewhere that an autopsy would be performed, so sooner or later, the public should get some clarity.