The Commentariat -- October 2, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

This is fairly hilarious. Laurie Goodstein & Jim Yardley of the New York Times: "The church distanced itself on Friday from the case of [Kim]. Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who defied a judge's order and refused to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples. It said 'the only real audience' Francis gave in Washington was to a former student of his. Contacted by phone, a former student of Francis, Yayo Grassi, said he had been granted a meeting with the pope. Mr. Grassi is an openly gay man living in Washington, and he said he had been accompanied by his partner of 19 years, Iwan Bagus, as well as four friends." Emphasis added. CW: Nice try, Kimmy.

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Arne Duncan, the secretary of education and a member of President Obama's original cabinet, will step down in December after a long tenure in which he repeatedly challenged the nation's schools to break out of their hidebound ways." CW: Buh-bye.

*****

Joseph Hoyt, et al., of the Washington Post: "A shooter described as a 20-year-old man opened fire on a rural community college campus in Oregon on Thursday morning, killing multiple people and injuring even more. Ellen F. Rosenblum, the Oregon attorney general, said her office believed that 13 people were killed in the shooting and another 20 people were injured." ...

... Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "That brings the total of mass shootings this year -- incidents where 4 or more people are killed or injured by gunfire -- to 294." More than the number of days in the year. ...

Liam Stack of the New York Times has a sketchy profile of the gunman Chris Harper Mercer. Hey, he was a young loner who wore military garb, shaved his head, posted a picture of himself with a rifle, admired the Irish Republican Army, hated religion & after years of not speaking to people began yelling at them. Who would have thought he could become a mass murderer? ...

... The Guardian, via Raw Story, has more on Harper-Mercer: "a self-described conservative who loved guns and conspiracy theories."

... Steve M. "... the right will treat this massacre as an assault on Christianity -- and you know whose fault that is." ...

... Despite what you hear on CNN & certified right-wing media, Umpqua Community College is not a "gun-free zone." Judd Legum of Think Progress explains. ...

... The New York Times has updates here. The Oregonian is updating here. ...

Our thoughts and prayers are not enough.... Somehow this has become routine.... Each time this happens I'm going to bring this up. Each time this happens I am going to say we can actually do something about it. -- President Obama, on the Oregon shootings

... President Obama remarks on the shootings & on gun safety legislation:

... Sam Stein & Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: "To promote the general welfare, members of Congress have the power to craft laws, pass them and send them to the president for his or her signature. In the wake of instances of gun massacres, however, politicians reliably and reflexively reach for the most casual response possible: condolences of 140 characters or less to nobody in particular. Why even bother? The mass shooting at a community college in Oregon gave us this same rote reaction." Except Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.): "This is on us. Silence from Congress has become quiet endorsement of those whose minds unhinge and veer toward mass violence."

Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a major new regulation on smog-causing emissions that spew from smokestacks and tailpipes, significantly tightening the current Bush-era standards but falling short of more stringent regulations that public health advocates and environmentalists had urged. The Environmental Protection Agency set the new national standard for ozone, a smog-causing gas that often forms on hot, sunny days when chemical emissions from power plants, factories and vehicles mix in the air, at 70 parts per billion, tightening the current standard of 75 parts per billion set in 2008."

Carl Hulse & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "A bipartisan group of influential senators on Thursday proposed a far-reaching plan to cut mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent offenders and promote more early release from federal prisons in what they described as the most important criminal justice reform effort in a generation."

Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: "The government will reach its borrowing limit around Nov. 5, the Treasury Department said Thursday, setting up what promises be a tense round of negotiations over raising the debt ceiling just as House Republicans transition to a new leadership team with Speaker John Boehner set to step down at the end of the month. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew wrote Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday to inform Congress that the debt limit would need to be increased earlier than under previous estimates."

Julian Hattem, et al., of the Hill: "Republicans are scrambling to contain the damage from House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) remarks about the Benghazi Committee amid a firestorm of criticism. Outgoing Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was forced to defend the Benghazi panel on Thursday after McCarthy -- his presumed successor for the gavel -- linked the success of the investigation to Hillary Clinton's falling poll numbers." ...

...Mike Lillis of the Hill: "House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is threatening to pull Democratic participation from the select committee investigating the 2012 Benghazi attacks in the wake of Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's (R-Calif.) comments linking the panel to Hillary Clinton's falling poll numbers. Pelosi said McCarthy's comments show the panel is political, 'unethical' and should be dismantled." ...

... ** Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.): "[Thursday], Benghazi Select Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy tried to explain away Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s confession on Fox News that the core Republican goal in establishing the Benghazi Committee was always to damage Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and never to conduct an even-handed search for the facts. As Chairman Gowdy said: 'I would just encourage people to look at what is done as opposed necessarily to what is said.' So, here are the facts about what the Select Committee has done to date." Do read Cummings' list. It's downright comical. Via Paul Waldman. See also Rucker & Costa's piece linked under Presidential Race below.

Kevin Drum: on manly Putin v. weakling Obama: "Like clockwork, every time another country hauls out its military -- the Egyptian airstrikes in Libya, Jordan's airstrikes against ISIS -- American conservatives go wild. Why can't Obama commit to that kind of serious action? But also like clockwork, this routinely ignores the fact that (a) the military action they're admiring is pretty small, and (b) Obama is already doing the same thing on a much bigger scale."

Scott Keyes of Think Progress: "... when ... asked about [President] Obama's plan to give shelter to thousands of refugees, [Rep. Mo] Brooks [R-Ala.] called it 'horrendous' and 'an abdication of responsibility.' 'I think it's an impeachable offense,' the Alabama Republican said. 'But we don't have the votes to even get articles of impeachment out of the House of Representatives or the Judiciary Committee.'... Such rhetoric is having an effect.... Donald Trump initially supported bringing in more Syrian refugees, telling MSNBC, 'It is a huge problem and we should help as much as possible.' However, after uproar on the issue from conservatives over the past month, Trump reversed himself at a town hall this week, saying of Syrian refugees, 'If I win, they're going back.'" ...

... CW: You do wonder why, after President Obama has committed so many "impeachable offenses," the majority-GOP House can't boot the guy. Why, way back in 2010, someone came up with 64 "impeachable offenses." I didn't know stuff a sitting president supposedly did in college or jobs his wife had before he was president were impeachable offenses, but apparently so. See what-all you can learn on the Internets?

Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Despite the cutesy vehicular nickname, [the Cadillac] tax is actually on high-cost health insurance plans (those costing at least $10,200 for a single person and $27,500 for families). It's no wonder that [Hillary] Clinton, like other poll-sensitive or perhaps misguided politicians, has come out against it: This tax, like so many other taxes, has proved hugely unpopular, repelling an unholy alliance of unions, businesses and the public at large.... But here's a fun fact that might help turn the tide: This tax would probably help you get a raise." Rampell explains why.

Guardian: "The United States paved the way for the execution of a convicted serial killer in Virginia on Thursday night when the US supreme court denied his request for a stay and a federal judge separately rejected a concern that the drugs used to put him to death are unsafe. Attorneys for Alfredo Prieto, 49, wanted his execution delayed as they sought more information about the drugs, which were obtained from Texas's prison system, to ensure they will not bring about a painful death."

Samantha Vicent of the Tulsa World: "The Oklahoma Attorney General's Office is seeking a request for an indefinite stay of the state's three upcoming executions." ...

... Jonah Shepp of New York: "In [Richard] Glossip's case, an indefinite stay is welcome but insufficient, according to his supporters, who say abundant evidence suggests he is innocent."

Republicans on the Planned Parenthood Inquisition complained about Cecile Richards' high salary. BUT Margo Sanger-Katz & Claire Miller of the New York Times: "Her pay puts her in the top 1 percent of all earners in the United States. But her salary is actually on the low side when it is compared with executive pay at other large nonprofits. When compared with the pay for hospital executives running nonprofit health care organizations of similar budgets, it is actually well below the norm." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Chris McGreal of the Guardian: "In a lengthy speech to the UN general assembly, punctuated by long pauses in which he glared at delegates after denouncing them as 'obsessively hostile' to Israel, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu said he hoped the shared threat posed by Tehran and Islamic State would remake the politics of the region. 'Common dangers are clearly bringing Israel and its Arab neighbours closer and as we work together to thwart those dangers, I hope we'll build lasting partnerships,' he said."

Just knowing that the pope is on track with what we're doing and agreeing, you know, it kind of validates everything. -- Kim Davis, to ABC News ...

Or not. ...

... Pope Walks It Back. Jim Yardley of the New York Times: "Pope Francis' encounter with Kim Davis last week in Washington, which was interpreted by many as a subtle intervention in the United States' same-sex marriage debate, was part of a series of private meetings with dozens of guests and did not amount to an endorsement of her views, the Vatican said on Friday.... 'Pope Francis met with several dozen persons who had been invited by the Nunciature to greet him as he prepared to leave Washington for New York City,' Father [Federico] Lombardi said in the statement, referring to the Vatican's term for its embassy. He added: 'Such brief greetings occur on all papal visits and are due to the pope's characteristic kindness and availability. The only real audience granted by the pope at the Nunciature was with one of his former students and his family.'" ...

... Fred Barbash of the Washington Post describes Lombardi's clarification as "a formal statement." ...

Mugshot of the perp.... CW: This comports with Charles Pierce's theory that conservo-archbishop & papal nuncio Carlo Vigano set up Francis. We discussed this in yesterday's Comments thread after contributor pat highlighted Pierce's post. I predict Francis will find Carlo another job where he won't be doing any nuncioing. ...

... Jay Levine of CBS 2 Chicago: "A highly placed source inside the Vatican claims the Pope was blindsided.... It is a meeting some charge was orchestrated by the man who lived there, the Pope's representative here, Carlo Maria Vigano. Not even the Papal Spokesman Federico Lombardi knew about it ahead of time. Nor did the leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which would have opposed it.... A close advisor to Pope Francis tweeted that the Pope was, in his words, 'exploited' by those who set up what the CBS 2 source says was a 'meeting that never should have taken place.'"

Presidential Race

Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "Hillary Rodham Clinton's upcoming appearance before the U.S. House Select Committee on Benghazi ... may have turned into a political gift for Clinton following this week's suggestion by the likely next House speaker, Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), that the taxpayer-funded Benghazi investigation was politically motivated. Clinton's allies say his comments will help recast Clinton's scheduled Oct. 22 hearing as a partisan inquisition rather than a fact-finding mission about the attacks in Libya.... With Clinton struggling to gain momentum in the Democratic nominating fight, McCarthy's comments amount to a unifying force for the party to rally to her defense, as well as give her an opening to do what she finds most comfortable: fight back against Republicans." ...

... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton is scheduled to appear on 'Saturday Night Live' this weekend, the latest -- and highest stakes -- appearance of her current push to show her funny, personable side as the campaign heads into the critical first Democratic debate and she faces headwinds in Iowa and New Hampshire and a potential challenge from Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr." ...

... CW: Unfortunately, Hillary has repeatedly proved that as an actor & comedian, she is more like Al Gore than President Obama. Also too: Amy, maybe you should have mentioned Bernie Sanders by name. He not a "headwind." ...

... Paul Waldman: "... we've passed the point where the [Bernie] Sanders campaign is just a novelty. It doesn't matter whether he’s going to be the nominee or not. He should be getting more (and more comprehensive) coverage than he has gotten up to this point. He may not like all of it, but he's earned it." ...

... Gene Robinson: "Sanders's money haul has to worry Clinton, not just for its size but for the way it was achieved. The vast majority came in small donations -- Sanders's average contribution is less than $25. This means he can keep going back to these same supporters later in the campaign. Far more of Clinton's donors, by contrast, have already maxed out their allowable contributions for the primaries. ...

Who Do That Voodoo that Jeb! Do? They All Do. Paul Krugman: "So Donald Trump has unveiled his tax plan. It would, it turns out, lavish huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit. This is in contrast to Jeb Bush's plan, which would lavish huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit, and Marco Rubio's plan, which would lavish huge cuts on the wealthy while blowing up the deficit. For what it's worth, it looks as if Trump's plan would make an even bigger hole in the budget than Jeb's. Jeb justifies his plan by claiming that it would double America's rate of growth; The Donald, ahem, trumps this by claiming that he would triple the rate of growth. But really, why sweat the details? It's all voodoo.... But never forget that what it's really about is top-down class warfare."

Mark Salter, former John McCain chief-of-staff & campaign advisor, in Real Clear Politics: "I can't recall any senator who was as nearly universally loathed by his colleagues as [Ted] Cruz.... The heart of colleagues' contempt for him [is] ... belief that he is an imposter. He deliberately sets up conservatives to fail by goading them into empty gestures and self-defeating stunts like shutting down government, which make it harder to persuade more Americans to embrace conservative policies.... And Cruz bets on them to fail. He stokes the anger of grassroots conservatives in the hope that it devours everyone but him. He offers false hope and misinformation as a plan, stands defiantly in the imaginary breach, and scurries to blame others for his singular lack of success." CW: Tell us what you (and McCain) really think, Mark.

Update: Ben Carson Still a Bigot. Jonah Shepp: "Given his lower-than-Wikipedia-level understanding of Sharia (Islamic religious law) and how it applies to the everyday life of a practicing Muslim, it's no wonder [Ben Carson] wouldn't support a Muslim president of the United States. So it came as no surprise on Thursday when we learned that he would apply the same religious test to Supreme Court justices.... At [interviewer Hugh Hewitt]'s prodding, Carson also said he would investigate the background of federal judge Abdul Kallon, who was appointed to an Alabama district court in 2009. The U.S. Senate, including both of Alabama's Republican senators, confirmed Kallon unanimously, but apparently that's not good enough for Hugh Hewitt or Ben Carson.... Ben Carson himself could be obeying Sharia at this very moment and not even know it." ...

... CW: The Supreme Court has three Jewish members. Two have been on the Court for decades. But I keep watch, because at any moment they could impose Mosaic Law. First, it will be little things like banning shrimp & cheeseburgers. The next thing you know, you'll have to sacrifice a goat or at least a couple of turtle doves if you're caught wearing a linen-cotton-blend shirt.

Beyond the Beltway

Jim Crow Playbook. Chapter 2: How to Really, Really Make Sure a Voter ID Law Has the Desired Outcome. Tierney Sneed of TPM: "... Alabama has shuttered 31 driver's license offices, many of them in counties with a high proportion of black residents. Coming after the state recently put into effect a tougher voter ID law, the closures will cut off access -- particularly for minorities -- to one of the few types of IDs accepted. According to a tally by AL.com columnist John Archibald, eight of the 10 Alabama counties with the highest percentage of non-white registered voters saw their driver's license offices closed. 'Every single county in which blacks make up more than 75 percent of registered voters will see their driver license office closed. Every one,' Archibald wrote. Archibald also noted that many of the counties where offices were closed also leaned Democrat." ...

... John Archibald: "So roll out the welcome wagon to the Justice Department, and tell the world what it already so desperately wants to hear. That Alabama is exactly what they always thought she was. That Alabama refuses to pay for its own government, and used it as an excuse to keep black people from the polls. That Alabama hasn't changed a bit." ...

... AND, as Charles Pierce reminds us -- Thanks, John Roberts. ...

... PLUS, Steve M.: "A legal challenge to this law[, which is inevitable,] could well wind up in the Supreme Court. If it does, and if President Rubio or Bush or Fiorina or Carson has stacked the bench sufficiently, what Alabama is doing will almost certainly be declared constitutional. That will be an open invitation to the states to pull the same stunt.

Roberto Ferdman of the Washington Post: How asset tests to qualify for food stamps -- like the one recently passed by the nincompoops in Maine's state legislature & signed by Gov. Pepe LePew (RTP) -- keep the impoverished in poverty.

Veronica Rocha & Brittny Majia of the Los Angeles Times: "A fire Wednesday night at a Planned Parenthood facility in Thousand Oaks [northwest of Los Angeles] was determined to be arson, authorities said. Ventura County sheriff's Capt. John Reilly said Thursday someone likely used a rock to shatter a window at the Planned Parenthood facility in the 1200 block of West Hillcrest Drive, then threw gasoline inside the office and ignited it. The attack comes more than six weeks after the office was vandalized, he said."

Nathan Pemberton of New York: "The Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar 'Where Pride Began' is [now] a designated landmark, the first and only landmark to honor the gay-rights' movement in the city. The designation prevents it from being torn down or forced to renovate, unlike the rest of the relentlessly gentrifying Village these days."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Russian warplanes have struck targets deep inside the Islamic State's heartland province of Raqqa for the first time, Russia's Defense Ministry said Friday."

AP: "U.S. hiring slowed sharply in September, and job gains for July and August were lower than previously thought, a sour note for a labor market that had been steadily improving. The Labor Department says employers added just 142,000 jobs in September, depressed by job cuts by manufacturers and oil drillers."

Weather Channel: "While Joaquin may go down as one of the more destructive hurricanes on record in the central Bahamas, the odds of the U.S. mainland seeing its first landfalling hurricane in 15 months are now very low as the forecast track continues to trend farther to the east."

The Commentariat -- October 1, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

Republicans on the Planned Parenthood Inquisition complained about Cecile Richards' high salary. BUT Margo Sanger-Katz & Claire Miller of the New York Times: "Her pay puts her in the top 1 percent of all earners in the United States. But her salary is actually on the low side when it is compared with executive pay at other large nonprofits. When compared with the pay for hospital executives running nonprofit health care organizations of similar budgets, it is actually well below the norm."

*****

David Herszenhorn of the New York Times: "With only hours to spare on the last day of the fiscal year, Congress approved a temporary spending measure to avert a shutdown and keep the federal government operating through Dec. 11. In the House, the measure was approved only because of strong support by Democrats.... In one last display of their fury, House Republicans on Tuesday adopted another resolution to cut off government financing to Planned Parenthood. The resolution was to be sent to the Senate, where Democrats were certain to block it.... The temporary spending bill does nothing to resolve the core disputes between Republicans and the White House, setting up even bigger battles in the months ahead." ...

... David Lawder & Richard Cowan of Reuters: "President Barack Obama signed the spending extension into law later on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement."

Carl Hulse & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "A long-awaited bipartisan proposal to cut mandatory prison sentences for nonviolent offenders and promote more early release from federal prisons is scheduled to be disclosed Thursday by an influential group of senators who hope to build on backing from conservatives, progressives and the White House. The comprehensive plan, which has the crucial support of Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican who heads the Judiciary Committee, is the product of intense and difficult negotiations between Republicans and Democrats who hope to reduce the financial and societal costs of mass incarceration that have hit minority communities particularly hard."

The Hypocrites Revolt. Manu Raju, et al., of CNN: "House Republicans on Wednesday sharply repudiated Rep. Kevin McCarthy's comments that suggested the Benghazi oversight committee had succeeded by tarnishing Hillary Clinton, saying it undermined their party's messaging on a key issue and raised questions about his ability to be the GOP's top communicator.... Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer..., Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, said McCarthy should apologize, saying the California Republican made an 'absolutely inappropriate statement.' Privately, Republicans were outraged by the remarks, saying the House majority leader had given Democrats unfounded ammunition to argue that the committee's investigation is squarely being driven by politics...." ...

... Steve M. on House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy's supposed gaffe, acknowledging that the Benghaaazi! investigations are nothing more than partisan strategy to undermine Hillary Clinton: "Beyond the acknowledgment of an obvious fact -- that the committee's goals are entirely political -- notice that McCarthy doesn't even bother with the right's usual phony sanctimony about Benghazi.... I guess the pretense that this is about lost lives is being dropped.... The conventional wisdom about McCarthy is that he's not one of the lunatic zealots, but in this interview he's certainly trying to establish his lunatic-zealot cred." See also Tom McCarthy's report linked under Presidential Race. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "The idea that Republican members of Congress will clutch their pearls in horror that McCarthy defended their performance is a big reach, in my opinion. These folks are so beyond the norms of behavior that you'd expect of your children that it's absurd to hold them to those kind of standards. When one of them gets caught in a lie, that's a badge of honor, and it's not even remotely problematic to get caught telling the truth if the truth is that you've been lying."

Jake Sherman & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Speaker John Boehner secretly met with Rep. Trey Gowdy Tuesday to encourage him to jump into the race for House majority leader, a dramatic attempt by the chamber's top Republican to try to influence the intraparty election.... But Gowdy (R-S.C.) said late Tuesday that he had no interest in running for the No. 2 position in House leadership, and he would prefer to remain atop the Benghazi select committee." ...

... Here's Rachel Maddow's segment on Kevin McCarthy's excellent verbal skills. Pathetic :

Jeff Toobin in the New Yorker: John Boehner's "failures, political and substantive, were due mostly to cowardice.... Boehner adopted an extreme version of the so-called Hastert rule, named for his predecessor as Speaker, Dennis Hastert, who is now under indictment for alleged financial crimes connected to blackmail payments (he has pleaded not guilty). The Hastert rule holds that the Speaker should never allow a vote on a bill unless it's supported by a majority of the Republican caucus. But Boehner's approach was to keep bills off the floor that were opposed by a minority of Republicans -- the Tea Party caucus, which only numbers about fifty -- effectively giving them a veto over the work of the House.... And what did Boehner's cowardice in the face of the Tea Party stalwarts get him? They forced him out anyway. Boehner built his career around keeping his job, and he still failed." Thanks to Diane for the link.

The Chaffetz File. Carol Leonnig & Jerry Markon of the Washington Post: "An assistant director of the Secret Service urged that unflattering information the agency had in its files about a congressman critical of the service be made public, according to a government watchdog report released Wednesday. 'Some information that he might find embarrassing needs to get out,' Assistant Director Edward Lowery wrote in an e-mail to a fellow director on March 31, commenting on an internal file that was being widely circulated inside the service. 'Just to be fair.' Two days later, a news Web site reported that Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, had applied to be a Secret Service agent in 2003 and been rejected.... The report by John Roth, inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security, singled out Lowery, in part because of his senior position at the agency. The report also cited Lowery's e-mail as the one piece of documentary evidence... of the desire for the information to be public." Although dozens of Secret Service members knew about the info on Chaffetz, the agency's director Joseph Clancey claims he was not in the loop. CW: Oh, shame on the leaker(s) & ha ha ha.

Amanda Marcotte in Slate: "Despite all the hand-waving about fetal tissue, Tuesday's [Planned Parenthood] hearings were a confirmation that the attacks on Planned Parenthood are a proxy for the larger religious-right movement to reverse the sexual revolution brought to Americans by feminism and reliable contraception.... Deluging people with bloody fetus pictures isn't dissuading them from their enthusiasm for affordable contraception that makes stress-free recreational sex possible. Watching Republicans, mostly men, gang up on Cecile Richards indicates the deep contempt for women that drives the anti-choice movement." ...

... Gail Collins: "Richards was fine, whenever she could get a word in edgewise. She explained several times that Planned Parenthood's federal funding was mainly just Medicaid payments for treating low-income patients. However this is a concept that her opponents made it clear they plan to never get their heads around." ...

... Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Daniel Handler, the author of children's books under the pen name Lemony Snicket, announced with his wife, Lisa Brown, an author and illustrator, that they are donating $1 million to Planned Parenthood.... Mr. Handler and Ms. Brown posted the announcement the day before the president of Planned Parenthood, Cecile Richards, testified on Capitol Hill over what she called 'outrageous accusations' by Republicans who said that her organization profits from the sale of fetal tissue." Thanks to contributor mae f. for the link.

Dana Milbank: "Fresh from her triumph Tuesday over the Brookings Institution in which she forced the ouster of a corporate-backed scholar..., [Elizabeth Warren] was at Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill, firing up a crowd of housing activists Wednesday afternoon.... Warren blasted the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Federal Housing Finance Agency, both run by Obama appointees, for selling troubled mortgages to hedge fund investors at a discount...."

Donald McNeil of the New York Times: "Everyone who has H.I.V. should immediately be put on antiretroviral triple therapy and everyone at risk of becoming infected should be offered protective doses of similar drugs, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday as it issued new H.I.V. treatment and prevention guidelines."

Annie Lowrey of New York on how systemic tax evasion by large corporations fuels inequality. And makes a mockery of the "free market."

Linda Greenhouse: Nobody likes Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Quiet Bigotry of the Pope. Laurie Goodstein & Jim Yardley of the New York Times: "For nearly eight hours, Vatican officials refused to confirm or deny that the meeting [with Kim Davis] had occurred, before finally confirming it on Wednesday afternoon.... The episode added a new dimension to an American tour in which the pope drew rapturous throngs and surprised admiration from liberal Americans thrilled to hear a pope stake out left-leaning positions on poverty, the environment and immigration. Suddenly, on Wednesday, religious conservatives were cheering....,putting the Davis visit together with the pope's subtle speech on religious freedom on Saturday and his unscheduled stop in Washington to see the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of nuns that is suing the federal government over the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate." ...

... Charles Pierce: "Given this pope's deft gift for strategic ambiguity and shrewd public relations, it's hard for me to understand how he could commit such a hamhanded blunder as picking a side in this fight.... This is, obviously, the dumbest thing this Pope ever has done. It undermines everything he accomplished on his visit here. It undermines his pastoral message, and it diminishes his stature by involving him in a petty American political dispute. A secret meeting with this nutball? That undermines any credibility he had accrued on the issue of openness and transparency. Moreover, it means that he barbered the truth during the press conference he held on his flight back to Rome, in which he spoke vaguely about religious liberty, and freedom of conscience...." ...

... Patrick Scott in the Hill: "... whose liberties were truly under attack in this scenario? The county official who refused service to a portion of her community, or those members whose right to marriage, legally upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, was being denied? Conscientious objection, it's true, is a right of an individual citizen. But when employed by the government, the role of 'citizen' is subjugated by the obligations that come with representing the local, city, state or federal government. In this capacity, the individual is no longer a single voice, but the voice of an entire institution." ...

... Pete Williams of NBC News: "Kentucky Gov. Steven Beshear, urging a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit filed against him by Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis, says her legal claims 'demonstrate the absurdity' of her position. In court documents filed late Tuesday, Beshear argued that because he never ordered county clerks to do anything in issuing marriage licenses, her lawsuit against him has no merit."

Presidential Race

Matea Gold & John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Former secretary of state Hillary Rodham Clinton's front-runner status in the Democratic presidential primary fight was jolted Wednesday by a new and unexpected vulnerability: a financial one. The more than $28 million that Clinton's campaign announced Wednesday it had raised in the third quarter was nearly matched by the $26 million that Sen. Bernie Sanders brought in, thanks to small contributions that came in for him at a faster clip than even in President Obama's campaigns." ...

... Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal (not firewalled): "With hours to go before the third quarter campaign finance filing deadline, the campaign of Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders said it reached its goal of one million individual online contributions. He is the first candidate of the 2016 campaign to announce it had reached this number -- and he reached it faster than President Barack Obama did in 2008 and 2012."

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "A day after a top Republican touted the impact on Hillary Clinton's poll numbers of a congressional probe into the 2012 Benghazi attacks, the former secretary of state condemned the comments as 'deeply distressing'. House majority leader Kevin McCarthy said in an interview Tuesday night that the House select committee on Benghazi was part of a Republican 'strategy to fight and win'....'When I hear a statement like that, which demonstrates unequivocally that this was always meant to be a partisan political exercise, I feel like it does a grave disservice and dishonors not just the memory of the four that we lost, but of everybody who has served our country,' Clinton said, according to a transcript of [an] interview [with Al Sharpton to air Sunday on MSNBC]." ...

... Jennifer Epstein of Bloomberg: "Hillary Clinton and her fiercest defenders couldn't have said it better themselves. Instead, the Republican leading the race to replace John Boehner as House speaker said it for them, boasting Tuesday that his party has spent nearly three years dragging her through investigations of the Sept. 11, 2012, attack in Benghazi in hopes of doing serious damage to her presidential campaign.... Earlier, Clinton campaign press secretary Brian Fallon called McCarthy's words 'a damning display of honesty by the possible next speaker of the House,' who has 'just confessed that the committee set up to look into the deaths of four brave Americans at Benghazi is a taxpayer-funded sham. This confirms Americans' worst suspicions about what goes on in Washington.'" ...

... Michael Shear & Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "Three emails sent to Hillary Rodham Clinton in 2011 when she was secretary of state contained information that should have been considered 'secret,' the government's second-highest classification, according to a State Department review of about 6,300 pages of her emails made public on Wednesday." ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "The latest trove of Hillary Clinton's emails show how the former secretary of state dealt with with major geopolitical events.... But the messages made public by the State Department also show the more personal side of Clinton.... Here are a few of the must-read emails...." ...

... Rachel Bade, et al., of Politico: "Hackers tried to target Hillary Clinton's homemade personal system at least five times in one day while she served as Secretary of State, according to new emails released Wednesday under a court order. Clinton received on Aug. 3, 2011, at least five messages that appear to contain virus-laden attachments.... Another email released Wednesday suggests that even before the August 2011 phishing scam bombarded her inbox, Clinton was aware of hacking problems with personal email accounts.... 'NO ONE uses a State-issued laptop and even high officials routinely end up using their home email accounts to be able to get their work done quickly,' she wrote, suggesting they use that argument to make the case for more State technology funding in the budget. State budget cuts, she said, would 'make matters much much worse.'... Clinton agreed with her former aide's suggestion that they tell the public about how State officials routinely use their own accounts.... The RNC pounced on the chain released Wednesday, arguing that the messages suggests Clinton and her staff were well aware of the threats posed to their use of personal email systems."

Jeff Zeleny of CNN: "Vice President Joe Biden has extended his window for deciding whether to jump into the 2016 presidential campaign, several Democrats say, allowing the contest to play out even longer before he answers one of the biggest questions hanging over the race for the White House. He is not preparing for the first Democratic debate on October 13 in Las Vegas and is not expected to participate, people close to him say...."

More than everything you ever wanted to learn about Melania Trump in the New York Times (here) & the Washington Post (here.) CW: Also, People magazine has Melania on the cover, but I forget where I saw the link, & I'm not looking for it. ...

Last week, in an effort to invent some proof that Carly Fiorina had seen something that doesn't exist, her superPAC made its own YouTube video. Dahlia Lithwick (Sept. 25): "The [Fiorina superPAC] video uses spliced footage from the Grantham Collection, an unsourced image of a stillborn, and a CMP image of a Pennsylvania woman's stillborn baby, used without her permission.... The very meta nature of the enterprise stunned me -- trying to doctor doctored videotapes and still failing to produce an image that corresponds to Fiorina's narrative. It's truthiness elevated to almost cosmic levels."

... CW: Yesterday, we linked to posts suggesting that the fetus in the Center for Medical Progress was probably stillborn. Heather of Crooks & Liars: The mother -- who opposes abortion -- has confirmed that the fetus was hers & that it was stillborn at 19 weeks, & she strongly objects to use of his image in the video, which she did not authorize. ...

... David Edwards of the Raw Story, that "David Daleiden, the project lead Center for Medical Progress' anti-Planned Parenthood campaign, admitted on Wednesday that an alleged fetus on a table that GOP presidential candidate Carly Fiorina described during a graphic anti-abortion rant was actually from a miscarriage." But so what? "'It's the same kind of fetus,' Daleiden continued to insist." Chris Cuomo is the questioner here:

... digby, in Salon: "Just like Dick Cheney, [Carly Fiorina] makes outrageously dishonest claims, refuses to admit it when she's caught and stubbornly barrels ahead confidently insisting that her claims are true even when presented with proof that they are not.... The right actually appreciates this unwillingness to ever say you're sorry. It shows commitment to the cause." ...

... Ana Marie Cox in the Daily Beast: "Call it Car-lying. Describing things into reality is a trademark of Fiorina's, a style of mendacity that sets her apart from career politicians. Indeed, the reason she doesn't come off as a politician is she's still in marketing. At Hewlett-Packard, employees said she 'embellished' the company's 'future products, strategy and even history,' adding a fictitious personal visit from Walt Disney to the true story about Disney Studios being an early client." She even advised then-CIA Director Michael Hayden on how to lie. "... by sheer force of articulated will she has fabricated her own reality, to the point that her Super PAC spliced together a different video to illustrate just what it is she said she saw."

Lawrence Krauss of the New Yorker on "Ben Carson's scientific ignorance.... While many may debate whether his lack of public-service experience disqualifies him from serious consideration in this race, Carson's ideas about religion, science, and public office, as revealed in the past week, suggest that there are far deeper reasons to be concerned about his candidacy for the highest office in the land." Thanks to Diane for the link.

Turns out Mitt Romney cares about poor people (the 47 percent), minorities (Obama giftees) & immigrants (self-deportation). Also says Donald Trump won't win the nomination.

Beyond the Beltway

Carol Cole-Frowe & Manny Hernandez of the New York Times: "Richard E. Glossip, the death row inmate who challenged the constitutionality of Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol before the Supreme Court, was granted a stay of execution shortly before he was scheduled to be put to death here Wednesday.... 'Last minute questions were raised today about Oklahoma's execution protocol and the chemicals used for lethal injection,' [Gov. Mary] Fallin said. 'After consulting with the attorney general and the Department of Corrections, I have issued a 37-day stay of execution while the state addresses those questions and ensures it is complying fully with the protocols approved by federal courts.' A new execution date was set for Nov. 6."

AP: "An Oklahoma sheriff quickly decided to resign on Wednesday after he was indicted by a grand jury called to investigate his office following the fatal shooting of an unarmed man by a volunteer deputy. Tulsa sheriff Stanley Glanz was indicted on two misdemeanor counts. The grand jury accused the longtime law enforcement officer of refusing to perform his official duties for not promptly releasing documents in an internal investigation related to the volunteer deputy, Robert Bates, one of Glanz's longtime friends."

He Should Go Eat Worms. Nick Gass: "Scott Walker remains unpopular among Wisconsin voters in the first poll conducted since the Republican governor ended his presidential campaign. More than six in 10 Wisconsin voters, 62 percent, do not want Walker to run for a third term as governor in 2018, according to the results of a new Marquette University Law Poll out Wednesday. Just 35 percent said he should seek a third term. Walker's approval rating slid to a new low: 37 percent, with 59 percent of voters disapproving."

The Chinese Are Killing Us! Joseph Berger of the New York Times: "The New York Military Academy, a 126-year-old boarding school whose graduates include the Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump, was bought on Wednesday for close to $16 million at a bankruptcy auction by a nonprofit group controlled by Chinese investors, who told academy officials that they would keep it open as a high school." CW: Ha ha. Evidently the Donald couldn't afford to keep his beloved alma mater alive, but the Chinese could.

News Ledes

NBC News: "Twelve people, including five American service members, were killed early Friday when a U.S. C-130 transport plane crashed while taking off from an airport in Afghanistan, a U.S. military official said."

Weather Channel: "Hurricane Joaquin strengthened to major hurricane status as a Category 3 storm Wednesday night, and is now hammering the central Bahamas. Prospects remain worrisome for the U.S. mainland as the official forecast continues with a chance of the East Coast seeing its first landfalling hurricane in 15 months." ...

     ... Update: "Hurricane Joaquin intensified to an extremely dangerous Category 4 storm Thursday afternoon, and continues to hammer the central Bahamas with hurricane-force winds, storm surge flooding and torrential rain. The odds of the U.S. mainland seeing its first landfalling hurricane in 15 months are dwindling as the forecast track continues to trend farther to the east. The best chance for an East Coast landfall is now shifting toward New England, but if Joaquin's center should reach land there, it would likely do so as a tropical storm rather than a hurricane."

New York Times: "In a second day of raids in Syria, Russian warplanes carried out a new round of airstrikes on Thursday that -- contrary to Moscow's assertions -- appeared to be targeting not the Islamic State but a rival insurgent coalition." ...

... New York Times: "Russian aircraft carried out a bombing attack against Syrian opposition fighters on Wednesday, including at least one group trained by the C.I.A., eliciting angry protests from American officials and plunging the complex sectarian war there into dangerous new territory. Russia's entry into the Syrian conflict, foreshadowed by a rapid military buildup in the past three weeks at an air base in Latakia, Syria, makes the possibility of a political settlement in Syria more difficult and creates a new risk of inadvertent incidents between American and Russian warplanes flying in the same area."

Washington Post: "Afghan troops punctured the Taliban's grip on the northern city of Kunduz Thursday, pushing into the center of the city as part of a U.S.-backed counter-offensive aimed at restoring public confidence in the country's beleaguered military."

The Commentariat -- Sept. 30, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Peter Baker of the New York Times:"... to Secretary of State John Kerry, the mushrooming crisis [in Syria] cries out for American attention. No less aware of the challenge, he seems willing to go anywhere, anytime, and meet with anyone in pursuit of a resolution. The idea that it may be elusive, or even impossible, is no deterrent." ...

... Neil MacFarquhar of the New York Times: "President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia suddenly escalated the stakes in his contest with the West over influence in the Middle East on Wednesday, as Russian pilots carried out their first airstrikes in Syria. Russian warplanes dropped bombs near the central city of Homs, according to American officials in Washington.... Russian officials and analysts portrayed the move as an attempt both to fight Islamic State militants and to try to ensure the survival of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, Russia's main ally in the Middle East. But Homs is not under the control of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL."

Tom Hamburger of the Washington Post: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren, stepping up her crusade against the power of wealthy interests, accused a Brookings Institution scholar of writing a research paper to benefit his corporate patrons. Warren's charge prompted a swift response, with Brookings seeking and receiving the resignation of the economist, Robert Litan, whose report criticized a Warren-backed consumer protection rule targeting the financial services industry."

Your Taxpayer Dollars Wasted on Grandstanding & Lies. Dana Milbank: The House Oversight Committee holds an oversight hearing on videos it hasn't seen. But of course the real purpose was to hector Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards, using other false "evidence" they produced. "A new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds that Americans have a more favorable view of Planned Parenthood than of any other entity tested, including the Republican Party and presidential candidates. The group's favorable/unfavorable impression, 47 percent to 31 percent, is actually up slightly from July. What's more, 61 percent oppose eliminating federal funding of Planned Parenthood. Even among the 35 percent who support defunding, only 9 percent favor shutting down the government to do it."...

... CW: I listened to a good part of the hearing, & I am happy to say I did not throw my laptop out the window when I heard heard for the 100th time that Planned Parenthood was "selling baby parts," no matter how many times Richards patiently reiterated that PP does not "sell baby parts"; it transfers donated fetal tissue to research facilities. ...

... Kevin Drum corrects the fake chart House Oversight Committee chair Jason Chaffitz (RTP-Utah) produced at the hearing, claiming it was based on Planned Parenthood's own figures. It wasn't. As Dana Milbank writes in the column linked above: "In fact, the chart said the source was the antiabortion group Americans United for Life -- which [Cecille] Richards pointed out to Chaffetz." Drum: "I'm sure it was an honest mistake, probably due to poor math skills from a lifetime spent in the liberal public education system. So as a public service, I've replotted the data using conventional 'numbers' and 'slopes.' You're welcome":

     ... Planned Parenthood has performed fewer cancer screenings because "some of the services, like pap smears, dropped in frequency because of changing medical standards about who should be screened and how often," Richards said in the hearing. ...

... Timothy Lee of Vox also is appalled by the chart, & provides an honest one that shows the correct "slope" of the increase in abortions provided (2 percent) & the actual "slopes" for other services PP provides.

I had a bit of fun today and made a donation to Planned Parenthood in honor of Jason Chaffitz and asked that they notify him of my donation at the House of Representatives. I thought some of you might also think that was a fun thing to do. -- Haley S., in yesterday's Comments

... Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "As Planned Parenthood called on their supporters to rally on Tuesday, a state report found no evidence that a Planned Parenthood clinic in Missouri illegally handled fetal tissue. The report by the Missouri attorney general [Chris Koster (D)] was the latest to announce results of an investigation arising from secretly recorded videos claiming that Planned Parenthood was 'profiteering in baby parts.'... In addition to Missouri, officials in Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, South Dakota and Massachusetts have found, after investigations, that Planned Parenthood was in compliance with state laws.Investigations have also been opened in about nine states, including Arizona, where fetal tissue donation is not an option." ...

... Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "Planned Parenthood president Cecile Richards on Tuesday for the first time directly addressed members of Congress about undercover videos purporting to show that the women's health organization illegally sells fetal tissue for profit, telling members of the House Oversight committee that the allegations are 'offensive and categorically untrue.' At a hearing centering on whether federal funding should continue for the group, Richards forcefully defended her organization, calling it a critical source for cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, contraception care and other services for millions of women, particularly those who are low-income." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

.... Jennifer Haberkorn of Politico: "House Republicans during a combative hearing on Tuesday said that Planned Parenthood doesn't deserve federal funding, citing the group's political activities, travel expenses and salaries. [Planned Parenthood President Cecile] Richards defended the organization's federal support, pointing out that federal funds are not spent on abortion. She also strongly rejected accusations that her organization illegally profits from fetal tissue and organ donation, as alleged by the undercover videos." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... An "Investigation" Where Answers Are Not Allowed. Sara Jerde of TPM: "Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) repeatedly interrupted Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards as she tried to answer his questions Tuesday in front of the House Oversight Committee." ...

... Brian Beutler: "The anti-abortion movement's weapons: shock, lies and Carly Fiorina." ...

... See also Michael Scherer's report under Presidential Race linked below.

House Majority Leader Says Purpose of Benghaaazi! Investigations Was to Hurt Hillary Clinton's Presidential Aspirations. Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable. But no one would have known any of that had happened, had we not. [Sean Hannity interrupts] -- Kevin McCarthy, yesterday ...

... Greg Sargent: "Congress is supposed to exercise oversight" of public officials. BUT "The problem comes in the linking of this directly to Clinton's 'dropping numbers.' It suggests that the probes are less about genuine accountability than about driving up her negatives...." ...

... Steve Benen: "Note, McCarthy sees the committee as a legitimate accomplishment of the Republican Congress, not because it's uncovered relevant details about an act of terrorism, but because Hillary Clinton's 'numbers are dropping.' This, in his mind, is evidence of the GOP majority using its power effectively -- by using a supposedly non-partisan investigatory vehicle to embarrass a Democrat with dubious allegations. There was no real reason to create this committee, and the panel itself no longer serves any legitimate purpose. McCarthy's unexpected candor ... served as a timely reminder that the Benghazi investigation that no longer focuses on Benghazi is now little more than a taxpayer-financed farce."

Your Taxpayer Dollars Wasted, Ctd. Stephen Ohlmacher of the AP: "House Republicans advanced legislation Tuesday to dismantle President Barack Obama's health law that could actually reach the president's desk. The House GOP has voted more than 50 times to repeal all or parts of the health law. Almost all the bills died in the Senate. But this time, Republicans are using a special process that prevents Senate Democrats from blocking the legislation. Obama can still veto it, but the vote could provide a blueprint for dismantling the law if Republicans retake the White House in 2016."

Mike DeBonis & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "A generation of House Republicans who have spent the past five years trying to shake up Washington spent Tuesday trying to shake up their party's leadership contests that have moved coolly toward reinforcing the status quo. They had little success. A campaign to draft one prominent, relatively young conservative, Rep. Trey Gowdy (S.C.), into the race for majority leader was extinguished before day's end, leaving restless conservatives to continue their search for a standard-bearer. Meanwhile, the sitting majority leader, Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), moved to tighten his grip on the speaker's chair being vacated next month by John A. Boehner (Ohio), pledging in a series of public appearances to 'change the culture' of the Republican conference in a bid to address the right flank's long-running frustrations with Boehner." ...

... Apparently Boehner & Mitch McConnell have no illusions about the future of the House. Reuters: "U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday that he and departing House Speaker John Boehner will soon launch negotiations with the White House to try to reach a two-year budget deal that covers the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years." ...

>... Seung Min Kim of Politico: "As President Barack Obama and top congressional leaders prepare to launch negotiations on a two-year budget deal, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is maneuvering to cut key Democrats out of the talks...."

New York Times Editors: "In the days he has left, [John Boehner] can revive immigration reform. He can pass the large-scale, comprehensive overhaul that lawmakers had worked on for years, a bill that passed the Senate in 2013 with strong bipartisan support and could have been sent to President Obama's desk but for the obduracy of the nativist right in the House and Mr. Boehner's unwillingness to call a vote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Calla Wahlquist of the Guardian: "Kim Davis, the Kentucky county court clerk who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, is reported to have had a private meeting with the pope during his historic US tour. According to a statement posted on the website of Christian lobby group the Liberty Council, Pope Francis met Davis and her husband, Joe, at the Vatican's Washington DC embassy on Thursday. The statement carries the stamp of the Liberty Council's founder and chairman, Matt Staver, who is acting as Davis's lawyer in her dispute with the court. The statement, which is based on a report from Inside The Vatican, says that the pope thanked Davis for her 'courage' and told her to 'stay strong'.... The Vatican has not responded to the reports." CW: Disgusting, if remotely true. ...

... David Gilbson of Religion News Service, in a straight news report: "Throughout his six-day visit to the U.S., Pope Francis was careful to avoid or downplay many of the hot-button social issues that have roiled American society, and he repeatedly exhorted his own bishops to take a more positive approach and not pick fights that would turn more people off than they would attract. Yet it turns out that even as he was preaching that message the pope met secretly with an icon of the culture wars: Kim Davis...." CW: I guess Francis was following Jesus's admonition to "Do as I say, not as I do." Well, okay, not Jesus. ...

... This report by Jack Jenkins of Think Progress, dated Sept. 28, suggests Francis does support Kim Davis's right to "conscientious objection."

Presidential Race

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Bill Clinton hit ... Donald Trump for running a 'fact-free' campaign, defending his wife Hillary Clinton in an interview Tuesday. The former president touted his wife's accomplishments as President Barack Obama's first secretary of state -- starting with sanctions against Iran -- as he lashed out at Trump for calling his wife's four-year tenure a failure in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett."

Eliza Collins of Politico: "If Bernie Sanders were president, he wouldn't be as naive about compromise as President Barack Obama. At least that's what the Vermont senator told David Axelrod on the former Obama adviser's first episode of his podcast 'The Axe Files with David Axelrod.' Sanders said that after a 'brilliant campaign,' Obama made a mistake by expecting that he could easily negotiate with the other party."

Politics is a fact-free zone. People just say things. -- Carly Fiorina, distancing herself from dirty politicians

GOP Voters Thrill to Candidate's Lies. Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "On the facts, Carly Fiorina has been proved wrong. But on the politics, her impassioned condemnation of a Planned Parenthood video has turned her into a champion of the antiabortion movement and given her outsider candidacy new momentum." ...

... Michael Scherer of Time: "The video that Carly Fiorina graphically described at the last Republican presidential debate, depicting a moving fetus on a table following an apparent abortion, was released online in its entirety Tuesday morning, according to Gregg Cunningham, the founder of the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, who collected the footage. Cunningham, an anti-abortion activist, declined to identify the date, location or authors of the video.... He also made no claim that the images shown in the video had anything to do with Planned Parenthood.... At times the fetus appears to move, and at other times it appears to have a pulse. There are no images on the full video of any attempt to harvest the brain of the fetus, and there is no sound." ...

... CW: The video -- & even Cunningham -- dispute Fiorina's assertions. According to Fiorina, the tapes show "As regards [to] Planned Parenthood..., a fully formed fetus on the table, its heart beating, its legs kicking while someone says we have to keep it alive to harvest its brain." (I'm not sure what a "fully-formed fetus" is.) Since there's no sound, Fiorina didn't hear "someone say[ing] we have to keep it alive." Further, Cunningham can't confirm that the fetus in the clip was aborted but not miscarried, but he told Time "he is confident the procedure was an abortion, and not a miscarriage, owing to the lack of medical treatment offered to the fetus." So, the opposite of Fiorina's claim that there was an effort to "save" the fetus to harvest its brain. ...

... Update: Sarah Kliff of Vox has more. Kliff also links to an opinion by obstetrician Jen Gunner, who says the clip most likely shows a premature spontaneous delivery, not an abortion. ...

... Jen Gunter: Cunningham's "statement [that the clip must be of an abortion because no one tends to the fetus] underscores the fact that Cunningham has no idea what he is talking about as the fetus is 17-18 weeks and hence pre viable so no one would render care. It is highly atypical to offer neonatal care before 23 weeks. A neonatologist who attempt to resuscitate a 17 week delivery would be considered unethical." Gunner outlines several reasons for her conclusion that the clip does not show an abortion.

Ted [Cruz] has chosen to make this really personal and chosen to call people dishonest in leadership and call them names which really goes against the decorum and also against the rules of the Senate, and as a consequence he can't get anything done legislatively.... He is pretty much done for [in the Senate] and stifled, and it's really because of personal relationships, or lack of personal relationships, and it is a problem. -- Rand Paul, on Fox "News," Tuesday

... Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "One of the three super PACs supporting Rand Paul's presidential campaign has stopped raising money, dealing a damaging blow to an already cash-starved campaign. In a Tuesday telephone interview, Ed Crane, who oversees the group, PurplePAC, accused Paul of abandoning his libertarian views -- and suggested it was a primary reason the Kentucky senator had plummeted in the polls."

Beyond the Beltway

Guardian: "The Georgia board of pardons and paroles has denied clemency for the lone woman on the state's death row after hearing requests to spare her life from her children and from the Vatican. Kelly Renee Gissendaner was scheduled to die by lethal injection sometime after 7pm at the state prison in Jackson. Gissendaner, 47, was convicted of murder in the February 1997 slaying of her husband. She conspired with her lover, who stabbed Douglas Gissendaner to death." ...

... Atlanta Journal-Constitution Update: "The Associated Press reported at 11:31 p.m. that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied a third appeal to halt the execution of Kelly Gissendaner, the lone woman on Georgia's death row." ...

    ... Updated Lede: "Kelly Gissendaner was executed early Wednesday morning for her role in the murder of her husband in 1997. The Georgia Department of corrections said her death by lethal injection came at 12:21 a.m."

Tony Cook & Chelsea Schneider of the Indianapolis Star: "Rep. Jud McMillin, a rising star in the state's Republican Party, abruptly resigned Tuesday. The Indianapolis Star has learned that the surprise resignation came after a sexually explicit video was sent via text message from McMillin's cell phone. It's unclear who sent the text or how broadly it was distributed.... In 2005, his career as an assistant county prosecutor in Ohio came to an end amid questions about his sexual conduct." McMillin claimed that his cellphone was stolen for 24 hours.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Hurricane Joaquin rapidly intensified overnight and is now a Category 1 tracking west toward the Bahamas. Though there continues to be a high amount of uncertainty in the forecast, Hurricane Joaquin could track toward the East Coast this weekend, which is now in the cone of the National Hurricane Center forecast."

Washington Post: "Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday said his government no longer considers itself bound by the Oslo agreements in effect for two decades, charging that Israel has failed to live up to its obligations. In an address to the U.N. General Assembly, where the Palestinians have observer status, Abbas said Israel has not followed through on its commitments in the Oslo accords to accept a Palestinian state and to curtail settlement growth on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem."

New York Times: "A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Wednesday a federal judge's finding last year that the N.C.A.A. 'is not above antitrust laws' and that its rules have been too restrictive in maintaining amateurism. But the panel threw out the judge's proposal that N.C.A.A. members should pay athletes $5,000 per year in deferred compensation, stating that compensation for the cost of attendance was sufficient."

New York Times: "American warplanes bombarded Taliban-held territory around the Kunduz airport overnight, and Afghan officials said American Special Forces were rushed toward the fighting. But by Wednesday morning, the crisis in northern Afghanistan had deepened, as the Taliban continued to surge outward from Kunduz, the major city that the militants captured on Monday."