Friday
Apr152016
The Commentariat -- April 16, 2016
Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday announced his support for opening the market for cable set-top boxes, singling out the devices in millions of homes as a clunky and outdated symbol of corporate power over consumers as he introduced a broad federal effort to increase competition.... The president, in an interview with Yahoo Finance, said it was one example of the kinds of actions government agencies should take in response to an executive order he signed on Friday calling for administrative action to promote competition and better protect consumers." (This story is an update of one linked yesterday.) -- CW ...
... A report & the interview, both by Nicole Sinclair of Yahoo! News, are here. Includes video of the interview.
MEANWHILE. Mario Trujillo of the Hill: "The House on Friday passed a bill to ban the Federal Communications Commission from setting or reviewing the rates that companies charge for internet service. The largely party-line vote is a win for Republicans, who have pushed for the past year to nibble away at the FCC's internet regulations, which are currently being challenged in federal court." -- CW
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: Because of the popularity of the Broadway musical "Hamilton," Treasury Secretary Jack "Lew is leaning toward keeping [Alexander] Hamilton at the center of the $10 note and placing a vignette of female historical figures on the flip side. But, in keeping with his announcement last June, Mr. Lew is expected to simultaneously announce that a woman will be front and center on the more numerous $20 notes -- displacing the (currently) less popular Andrew Jackson -- and that one or more women will be on the $5 bill as well. Mr. Lew's own public hints in recent weeks have pointed in this direction." -- CW
Julie Davis: President "Obama and his wife, Michelle, cashed out nearly $1 million in investments last year, according to their 2015 tax return, which the White House released on Friday. The figure suggests that they were preparing to finance large expenses like a home purchase. Mr. Obama said last month that the family would remain in the Washington area after he left the White House in January 2017, while his younger daughter, Sasha, finishes high school." -- CW ...
... A summary of President Obama and Michelle Obama's 2015 tax returns, as well as a summary of Vice President Biden & Dr. Jill Biden's 2015 returns, via the White House Website, is here. Link to the full returns from the linked page. -- CW
Matt O'Brien of the Washington Post takes a whack at Time's wacky (vote Republican!) cover story. CW: Indeed, the cover story is so bad that it has given room for each of the other columnists I cited yesterday to take a unique tack. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
TMZ: "Cops cuffed [actor] Rosario Dawson and hauled her away from the Democracy Spring rally in Washington, D.C. The actress was among a group of about a dozen people who crossed a police line and then sat down in protest. It's unclear what Rosario was booked for, but cops say about 100 people were arrested Friday ... mostly for crowding or obstructing. The Democracy Spring rallies have been going on all week in D.C. to protest all sorts of causes." Via New York. -- CW
Griff Witte & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis arrived Saturday morning on the Greek island of Lesbos in a highly symbolic and provocative visit that seems designed to prick Europe's conscience over its treatment of refugees. Lesbos has been the first port of call for hundreds of thousands of people seeking sanctuary in Europe over the past year as they fled war, oppression and poverty in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. But in the past two weeks, it also has been the scene of hundreds of deportations under a new plan by which Europe sends back those who reach its shores." -- CW
Damian Carrington of The Guardian: "The global temperature in March has shattered a century-long record and by the greatest margin yet seen for any month." Professor Michael Mann, a climate scientist at Penn State University said, "The [new data] is a reminder of how perilously close we now are to permanently crossing into dangerous territory." -- LT
Jenny Staletovich of Miami Herald: "With sea rise projections growing ever grimmer -- the latest predicts up to eight times as much flooding around Miami-Dade County by 2045 -- the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has launched an ambitious plan to come up with a comprehensive assessment of risks....Covering 10,000 miles of vulnerable shoreline from North Carolina to Mississippi, the study for the first time tries to unify what has so far been a patchwork of sea rise assessments." -- LT
Francis Langum of Crooks and Liars: "You know that sentimental human caring that says 'rape, incest, or the life of the mother' are reasons why abortion might be allowed Not for the Heritage Foundation... Global organizations are outraged at what is perceived widely as backwards misogyny and outdated puritanism on the part of the United States. The US policy enforces the rights of terrorists to use rape as a weapon of war, forcing their progeny onto women populations." -- LT
Seung Lee of Newsweek: Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is receiving a lot of heat from the computer security industry for her bipartisan encryption bill, co-sponsored with Senator Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the "Compliance With Court Orders Act of 2016 [which] seeks to significantly weaken secure communications, like end-to-end encryption, by giving the government power to force companies to decrypt their data or provide technical assistance if the courts issue a warrant for 'serious crimes.'" -- LT
Presidential Race
Matea Gold & Anu Narayanswamy of the Washington Post: "A small core of super-rich individuals is responsible for the record sums cascading into the coffers of super PACs for the 2016 elections, a dynamic that harks back to the financing of presidential campaigns in the Gilded Age. Close to half the money -- 41 percent -- raised by the groups by the end of February came from just 50 mega-donors and their relatives...." -- CW
Jeff Stein of Vox: "The biggest news outlets have published more negative stories about Hillary Clinton than any other presidential candidate -- including Donald Trump -- since January 2015, according to a new analysis of hundreds of thousands of online stories published since last year.Clinton has not only been hammered by the most negative coverage but the media also wrote the smallest proportion of positive stories about her, reports Crimson Hexagon, a social media software analytics company...." -- CW
Nick Gass of Politico: "Surrogates for both Democratic candidates sniped back and forth on the cable shows Friday over whether Hillary Clinton should release the transcripts of her paid speeches to financial institutions, as Bernie Sanders again suggested during the previous night's debate that the lack of disclosure bespeaks a lack of judgment." -- CW
John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Aides to Sen. Bernie Sanders said Friday that the Democratic presidential hopeful plans to make good on his promise to release his full 2014 tax returns by the end of the day.... [Sanders] reported income of just more than $200,000 on his 2014 returns, according to the first few pages of his federal and Vermont filings, which were shared with The Washington Post back in June. On Friday, the couple is planning to release the rest of the returns...." -- CW ...
... Update. Chris Megerian of the Los Angeles Time: The Sanders' tax "returns [for 2014] showed an adjusted gross income of $205,271 for Sanders and his wife, Jane. They donated $8,350 to charity, about 4% of their income.... Hillary Clinton has posted seven years of documents on her campaign's website. (She and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, detailed $27.9 million in adjusted gross income in 2014, and $3 million in charitable gifts.)" CW: So in 2014 the Clintons made about 136 times what the Sanders earned. I don't know why Bernie keeps going on about income inequality.
Stephanie Kirchgaessner of the Guardian: "Bernie Sanders launched one of the most powerful indictments of modern capitalism of his campaign in the Vatican on Friday, saying that the greatest challenge facing the world was a moral imperative to redirect 'our efforts and vision to the common good'.... Sanders praised the Roman Catholic church for its consistent social teachings on economic matters, saying: 'There are few places in modern thought that rival the depth and insight of the church's moral teachings on the market economy.' But his most effusive praise was reserved for Pope Francis, whom he heralded for raising the 'most profound issues' of the day -- from the problems of the dispossessed, to the loneliness of the elderly who cannot afford their medication, to the challenge of climate change -- with a "vision and articulateness", while others chose to ignore the issues.'" -- CW ...
... Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders did not get to meet with Pope Francis inside Vatican City on Friday, but it's not because the pontiff didn't want to. Pope Francis sent a handwritten note to those attending a conference at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, including Mr. Sanders, saying he had planned to stop by the event around 7 p.m. local time, but could not because of a scheduled trip to the Greek island of Lesbos the next day." -- CW ...
... Update. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "... Bernie Sanders met privately with Pope Francis during his overnight trip here, his spokesman said.The brief meeting took place at the papal residence early Saturday, according to the senator's spokesman Michael Briggs.... Sanders does not consider the meeting in any way an endorsement of his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination, Briggs said." -- CW ...
... Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico has more on Sanders' meeting with Francis & his admiration for the Pope. Of course it's Politico, so the headline is "Bernie's Fanboy Moment." -- CW ...
... Hanna Trudeau of Politico: "Vice President Joe Biden said Friday that while he approves of Bernie Sanders' quick trip to Rome, he doubts Pope Francis endorses the Vermont senator's policies." CW: Weirdly, Biden then seeimingly made a faith-based case for Bernie's policies.
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times on reactions to Sanders' debate answer to the question, "Does Israel have a right to defend itself as it sees fit?" CW: Sanders is the first presidential candidate in quite a few election cycles to give a sensible, humane answer to this type of question.
Michelle Gorman of Newsweek: "Bernie Sanders said on Thursday night that he would ask President Barack Obama to withdraw his recent nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to fill the vacant seat on the Supreme Court if Sanders wins the November election.... MSNBC's Rachel Maddow ... asked the candidate whether he would request Garland's name be withdrawn.... 'Yes, I would,' Sanders said. 'I'm 100 percent prepared to support Judge Garland. I think he's clearly very knowledgeable and can serve ably on the Supreme Court. But, between you and me, I think there are some more progressive judges out there,' he added." -- CW
One of the few things I really haven't enjoyed about this primary: I think it's fine that all these young students have been so enthusiastic about [Hillary Clinton's] opponent and [Sanders] sounds so good: 'Just shoot every third person on Wall Street and everything will be fine.' -- Bill Clinton, Friday
Okay, so Bill Clinton is worse than Krugman when it comes to misrepresenting Sanders. -- Constant Weader
Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "Late in Thursday night’s debate..., [Hillary] Clinton was asked if she would ask the president to withdraw Chief Judge Merrick Garland's nomination to the Supreme Court ... if she wins the presidential election. Clinton rather explicitly refused to answer the question.... [She made] a noncommittal statement that hardly comes off as a robust endorsement of the Garland nomination. Nevertheless..., her non-commitment to Garland is the judge's best chance at confirmation." -- CW
Alex Isenstadt & Shane Goldmacher of Politico: "The Republican National Committee is expected to debate a proposal next week that would dramatically shift the balance of power at this summer's convention -- and impose a new rulebook for selecting the party's nominee. The proposal, which will top the agenda during a meeting of the Rules panel at the RNC's annual spring meeting in Hollywood Beach, Fla., would fundamentally alter how the convention is conducted, further empowering the delegates to determine the course of the proceedings." -- CW ...
... Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: Reince Priebus, "the chairman of the Republican National Committee, has privately urged members of the party's rules committee not to make changes to the guidelines governing the presidential nominating process, an effort to avoid the appearance that the party is seeking to block Donald J. Trump from becoming its nominee." -- CW
Jenna Johnson & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "Tensions between the Republican Party and its own front-runner erupted into a full-blown public battle as top party officials rebuked Donald Trump on Friday for alleging that the GOP primary system was 'rigged' against him.... A senior Republican National Committee official fired back with a thinly veiled response, writing in a Friday memo to reporters that 'each process is easy to understand for those willing to learn it.'" -- CW
Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: Among all of the presidential candidates, "only in the case of [Donald] Trump have significant numbers of former [foreign policy] officials and retired military officers publicly declared they would never work for him.... Trump, who has cited himself as his primary foreign policy adviser, has announced eight team members so far, one of whom has discrepancies on his résumé." -- CW
Ken Meyer of Mediaite: "Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski appeared on [CNN's] New Day to address the final decision by Florida prosecutors to drop the charges being brought against him by a former Breitbart reporter..... Lewandowski said that their three-second encounter 'wasn't memorable' to him, and claimed that he tried to reach out to [reporter Michelle] Fields to clear things up. 'To this day,' Lewandowski said, 'I have never heard back from Michelle. She wanted to inject herself into making it a story. Now I'm glad the story is over.'" Fields later tweeted that she had never heard from Lewandowski. -- CW
Via WFSB: "Thousands of people showed up at the Convention Center in Hartford [CT] on Friday to see Donald Trump...A crowd of more than 8,000 people was expected to attend...Close to 800 protesters and supporters chanted outside the center." With video. -- unwashed {Warning!: Before viewing, have vomitus apparatus collectum at hand.}
Dick Cavette opines in the New York Times: "Each new awful atrocity or pettiness by 'Trumpo' (the really unfunny Marx brother) just cements the allegiance of those followers who jeer and give the finger and worse to anyone who doesn't agree with him, or them. Like Donald, they find fault with the questions and questioners, but not with his often incomplete, erroneous or ever-changing answers." -- unwashed
Dildo Update. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Ted Cruz says he will not ban dildos and other sexual toys if he becomes president."
Kasich's Detailed Plan to Protect Women from Sexual Predators. Ben Gittleson of ABC News: "... John Kasich [Friday] told a female college student concerned about 'sexual violence, harassment and rape' that she should not 'go to parties where there's a lot of alcohol.' The first-year student asked Kasich at a town hall in Watertown, New York, what he would 'do in office as president to help me feel safer and more secure regarding sexual violence, harassment, and rape?'" -- CW ...
... Christina Cauterucci of Slate: "Kasich's viewpoint is a cynical, victim-blaming, finger-wagging perspective.... It would make just as much, if not more sense to tell men to stop drinking so much so they don't rape women.... Kasich should blame misogyny, poor sex education, and toxic male behavior, not women, for the scourge of campus sexual assault." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
AP: "Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant has signed into law a bill that allows some members of churches to undergo firearms training so they can provide armed security for their congregations. The Church Protection Act specifies that those designated can carry guns into church buildings. It also allows people to carry holstered weapons without a permit. The law also makes Mississippi the ninth state in the nation to allow people to carry holstered guns without a permit, said NRA spokeswoman Amy Hunter." -- CW
Maura Ewing of The Trace: "Public outrage over campus carry legislation has so far focused mostly on the potential for accidental shootings -- the worrisome formula of keg party plus gun -- and scenarios where the presence of firearms might adversely influence intense classroom discussion. But some researchers and faculty members are flagging what they worry could be another deadly side effect of more firearms on college grounds - youth suicide." -- LT
Yay! Sex Makes Corruption Scandal More Interesting. Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have evidence that Sheldon Silver, the former speaker of the New York Assembly, engaged in extramarital relationships with two women connected to his position in Albany, according to newly unsealed court documents. The women were not identified in the papers, which were released on Friday, but one of them lobbied Mr. Silver 'on a regular basis on behalf of clients who had business before the state,' the government said.... In the case of the other woman, prosecutors said, Mr. Silver 'used his official position' to help her get a state job, 'over which he exercised a particularly high level of control.'" -- CW
Dylan Baddour of the Houston Chronicle: "A handful of Texas Republican district or county conventions in March passed resolutions calling for a vote on secession, paving the way for a potentially awkward debate at the state GOP conference in May." -- CW ...
... A photo of fake soldiers shooting at something as they stand in front of the Alamo accompanies the story. So does as instrumental version of "Yellow Rose of Texas." The history of the song is interesting, including this part, via Wikipedia: "This song [with altered lyrics] became popular among Confederate soldiers in the Texas Brigade during the American Civil War; upon taking command of the Army of Tennessee in July 1864, General John Bell Hood introduced it as a marching song." -- CW
Teresa Watanabe of the Los Angeles Times: "UC Berkeley Provost Claude Steele resigned Friday following widespread criticism of his leadership involving sexual harassment cases and the budget crisis. Steele, who has served as Berkeley's chief academic officer since March 2014, will retain his faculty appointments...." -- CW
Curse of the Intertubes. Brian Feldman of New York: "... UC Davis, which spent a whopping $175,000 trying to bury posts about the infamous 2011 incident in which a campus police officer pepper-sprayed protesting students.... Of course, all of this news is just dredging the pepper-spraying up once again. Searching for UC Davis on Google this afternoon will pull up -- you guessed it -- articles on the internet about UC Davis trying to clean up its online presence. Once again, for the trillionth time, the web eats its own tail, in an endlessly recursive algorithmic nightmare." -- CW
Marc Tracy of the New York Times: On Jackie Robinson Day, the City of Philiadelphia apologizes to Robinson for the way the Phillies treated him to racist taunts at the beginning of his first season with the Brooklyn Dodgers. CW: This took awhile. The incidents occurred in 1947, & Robinson died in 1972. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Lede
New York Times: "The death toll from two powerful earthquakes and a series of continual aftershocks on the Japanese island of Kyushu reached 41 on Saturday, the authorities said, as rescue workers searched for survivors under collapsed buildings and mountains of earth displaced by landslides."
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Reader Comments (25)
Well Marie a couple of days ago you came out as one who views Hillary Clinton as a .. lying bitch? I might have the adjective wrong, but it's been quite clear for some time that you are not a Hillary supporter. However, I believe that she will almost certainly be the nominee.
Let me declare here that I find Bernie Sanders to be an obnoxious old fart with one issue and one only, and he is clueless how he would proceed if he were elected. If Bernie turns out to be the Ralph Nader of this election, this country will never be the same again. I'm old enough (as are you) not to be personally affected by the havoc that will be created by the election of the theocratic psychopath Cruz.
I hope that we will all unite and FIGHT for the election of our first female president, lying bitch that she may be.... The alternative does not bear thinking about.
@pat: As I've stated numerous times here, I will vote for the Democratic nominee. I will not stay home, I will not vote for the Republican nominee, I will not vote for the Green party nominee, I will not vote for myself. I will urge others to vote for the Democratic nominee.
As to your assertion that Bernie might turn out to be the next Ralph Nader, that doesn't make sense. Nader ran as the Green party candidate, splitting liberal votes. Sanders specifically ran as a Democrat, even tho he has identified as an independent for at least a quarter-century, so as not to split the liberal & ultra-liberal vote. And -- just like me -- he has said he will support Clinton if she wins the nomination, as is likely.
Marie
Hot damn! Elizabeth Warren has weighed in on Paul Krugman and quite specifically rejected his idea that the big banks are not the big problem. She did not, however, accuse him of having his eyelids sewed shut!
Be sure to read the comments. Some are doozies!
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/318-66/36343-elizabeth-warren-has-basically-had-it-with-paul-krugmans-big-bank-nonsense
CW: Portion of comment removed as offensive to another commenter.
Dear Pat:
You must not have been reading this site for very long, since Marie has made her views and plans clear for a very long time. You might also have missed the guidelines - one of which is that we're nice to each other even as we disagree.
I did watch Kase-hick's patronizing responses to women, especially younger women. I relate this to a personal experience I had in the late 1980's, and have to comment:
A columnist for a local paper wrote a column condemning the victim of a gang rape at a college frat house. She had gotten drunk, and had gone upstairs to the women's coat room to sleep it off. Later, several of the male partiers had gone upstairs and raped her while she was still asleep. The columnist's view was that the victim's crime was that she wore suggestive clothing and she got drunk. I wrote to the columnist and asked him if men were equally at risk if they wore tank tops and flip-flops, and if men were equally at risk of being raped if they got drunk. Somehow the letter got published. The columnist got so mad at me personally that he tracked me down, and drove 60 miles to where I was working at the time. He yelled at the receptionist until he was told to leave. I wasn't at work that day thank goodness. The columnist never published a response to my questions.
How far have women really come in 25 years?
@Victoria: What a horrifying experience. Today somebody would have caught that bastard on cell video, he would have lost his job &, if the local prosecutor had any moral fiber, the perp would have been prosecuted for a number of crimes. But, yeah, 25 years ago, not so much.
I had a different experience from yours, and even more violent, in 1980 on the day Ronald Reagan was elected. The cops refused to help me. "Next time, duck," they said. (And I had ducked.) At my instigation, the local prosecutor agreed half-heartedly to bring charges against the perp. When the prosecutor made excuses for the defendant to the judge, the judge -- who also was male -- read him & the perp the riot act. My reaction: I was stunned that anyone in the justice system would stand up for a woman. That's the way it was. That judge was way ahead of his time.
There's no way to know what would have happened had there not been a Clarence Thomas confirmation hearing, but I do know that Anita Hill's courage made a difference for all women.
Kasich, like nearly all Republicans, is still stuck in the pre-Hill mindset. He can't get out because he doesn't want to. According equal justice to non-WASP men is an affront to their god-given right to power. Their perfunctory lip service to the rest of us is as transparent as a flake of their dead, white skin.
Marie
Since Bernie's religion is pretty much the same as mine, I have not paid it much attention. But, given his heritage, his remarks at Thursday's debate may change some minds.
Perhaps ironically, it was Hillary Clinton, speaking in NYC in 1999 or 2000, who changed my mind on the rectitude of a Palestinian state. Up to that time I had paid little attention to "the Palestinian question" & sat comfortably jerking my knee in support of all things Israel. When Clinton said there would be a Palestinian state, she forced me to re-think, or begin to think, about the matter in a different way.
Marie
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wrote a very good endorsement of HRC, see the WaPo piece:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/kareem-abdul-jabbar-in-this-crucial-election-im-endorsing-hillary-clinton/2016/04/15/305bd5fc-0244-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html?hpid=hp_no-name_opinion-card-e%3Ahomepage%2Fstory
Note especially the idea that "... Clinton possesses that rare but crucial combination of idealism and pragmatism. "
I think this is true, and that it is sad that her decades-long practice of idealism has been mixed with the politician's need to trim and pose to get and keep a majority. All things considered I suspect there's more of that Wellesley valedictorian remaining, and that the calculating pol in her has not totally eclipsed the idealist.
What has happened to some of the comments here? I posted three that were created earlier but have now disappeared.
Well, well––my mistake––I put them in yesterday's box. I won't duplicate them here but if you are interested you may want to click on the link I gave to an interesting discussion/debate between Robert Scheer and Torie Olsen discussing Clinton/Sanders
When Bernie "launched one of the most powerful indictments of modern capitalism" I'm wondering whether he thought about mentioning the great wealth of the Catholic Church and the idea that maybe it's time to start taxing religious entities. What a bundle of $$$ we could get in OUR coffers––even that fake religious Scientology Scam could cough up a few million. Not to take away Sander's "this is how the world should work" speech I couldn't help agree with Biden–-much of it wouldn't correspond with the Church's edicts ––hence, the Pope who waves his hand over the people proclaiming love and compassion has neither love or compassion for many who don't fit into the round hole of ancient teachings.
@PD Pepe, Bill Maher agrees with you http://www.rawstory.com/2016/04/bill-maher-calls-for-taxes-on-all-religions-why-should-i-subsidize-a-homophobic-magic-act/
It's clear from the quoted remark above about shooting one-third of Wall Street, as well as from some of his other recent behavior on the stump that, regardless of what I might have thought of him as President, Bill Clinton is not wearing well. Maybe his intent is to make HRC look better, more calm and reasoned, in comparison, but right now am picturing that vaudevilleian cane emerging from behind the stage curtain, encircling his neck and yanking him into the wings where he belongs. Wonder if HRC has had similar thoughts.
For me, HRC's main weakness (besides Bill?) is her allegiance to the corrupted, corporate progressivism that arose in the 1980's that her husband rode to power. As John Nichols makes clear in the following, that's the essential difference between HRC and Sanders.
http://www.progressive.org/news/2016/03/188607/what-progressive
But, of course, when she is the nominee, I'll swallow my disappointment and support her. I've done it before.
@Ken: Could it be possible that Hillary has changed her mind about many issues?––Bernie certainly has nudged her to the left of center but she, herself, may have evolved on her own. Obama has changed his mind on quite a few issues as I imagine all of us do as time goes by to some extent. I recall our discussion here when Obama was in his first term and many of us were pissed because he wasn't moving on issues we thought he should and we then guessed, well, it was political maneuvering cuz he wanted a second term and he'd show his true colors if he got elected to a second. And for the most part that has happened. It's pretty certain Hillary will be our next president. I'm hoping she follows through especially having listened to a growing population of progressives. Unlike some here I am voting for her with a happy heart and thrilled that we will have our first female president that is as accomplished as she. Does she come with lots of baggage? You bet––but lost luggage can be tossed away or retrieved––all depends on how connected you were to it.
@LT: thanks––Bill and I must have been smoking that same stuff that put us in mind of all that coinage going to waste.
Joe Conason: On Israel, Bernie Sanders is Right (and Hillary Clinton knows it.
http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/on_israel_sanders_is_right_and_clinton_knows_it_20160416
A prescient description of 2016's Republican candidates (and too many lapdogs of the Right)?
Via Daily Kos and Bette Midler:
“It was miraculous. It was almost no trick at all, he saw, to turn vice into virtue and slander into truth, impotence into abstinence, arrogance into humility, plunder into philanthropy, thievery into honor, blasphemy into wisdom, brutality into patriotism, and sadism into justice. Anybody could do it; it required no brains at all. It merely required no character.” — Joseph Heller, Catch-22
Victoria, what did you find "not nice" about pat’s observation of Marie’s contempt for Hillary Clinton? That she disagreed with you and Marie? Disagreement is by nature ‘not nice.’ I’ve read plenty of instances where Marie was unnecessarily nasty to commenters.
To see in print Marie call Hillary Clinton ‘... a nasty, lying bitch,’ -- I believe those were her exact words, but, odd I can’t find the Commentariat now -- was a little startling, you have to admit, even for Marie. She didn’t offer specific examples of Clinton’s lying, which was uncharacteristic because she’s so principled about backing up accusations. She’s the first one to scold if others don’t follow the same rules.
Marie was expressing her opinion when she said that. She’s entitled. It’s her blog. And pat was expressing hers/his. Also entitled, else there would be no interesting comments.
Marie is not always nice. It’s no big deal. Sometimes her unpleasantness makes me think. Sometimes I just roll my eyes. Sometimes I say to myself, shit, Marie, that was uncalled for and move on to another blog. Sometimes I think she’s angry about something else and just blowing off steam. It’s no big deal. It’s her blog and it reflects her personality. She’s the reason I keep reading. I trust her judgment and her intelligence to inform and opine, even if I don't always like her.
So, please dispense with the piety that pat was "not nice." Pat, who doesn’t need me to defend him/her I’m sure, was just commenting.
p.s. I thought the days of women calling each other 'bitch' were long gone. I would have preferred Marie call HC a liar rather than a bitch.
Here is a P.S. to Elizabeth Warren's comment yesterday about Big Banks. I am sure she has the Banksters whirling! And, maybe--just maybe--Paul Krugman is taking another look?
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/36350-5-of-countrys-biggest-banks-are-still-too-big-to-fail
It appeared to me that pat's comment was based on less than a full understanding of Marie's position, which she has been clear about for a long time. So: the comment seemed sharper than it needed to be. Bitch was not what I was responding to. You also did not see another comment which was on at the same time, but was removed.
I want to thank you for telling me to dispense with "piety." No one has ever ordered me to do that before.
After a look at today's Commentariat, immediately decided to look at an article that caught my eye earlier and had put on my "Later to Read List" right away: " More in Related Cat Fight News "
Not exactly the title/topic, but sort of related.
British author, Mary Beard: “This is exactly what we need more of in American feminism: wry humor,” Ms. Brown said. “The outrage meter is getting out of control.”
“There’s an awful lot about social media which people feel very frustrated about,” she said. “It claims to be a democratic online world out there, and yet it isn’t.”
“ (It's ) ...An available means of being nasty,” she said, “of expressing your discontent.”
Hey, chill!
Here's the context of my comment about Hillary's being a bitch:
Kate Madison wrote, in part:
..."Clinton has carefully crafted her talking point to find the particular government data that support her point, which gives a wildly different view than how trafficking flows are tracked." [quoting a Washington Post fact-check]
"An example of why I detest (but will vote for) Hillary Clinton. She is sneaky in the way some of the most hated girls in junior high were, because of her insinuations and half-truths."
I responded:
"@Kate Madison: My feelings exactly. I am annoyed by feminists who claim that Hillary's low-trust quotient is the product of sexism -- if you don't trust Hillary, you must be a misogynist/bro or a self-loathing woman.
"I don't trust Hillary because she's a nasty, lying, scheming bitch. And she isn't even that good at it. If she were, she wouldn't keep getting caught, as she did this time.
"Also today, I love the way she blames the help for her misstep. I don't doubt that the CPT "joke" was De Blasio's idea, but why couldn't she and/or her staff see it beforehand & just say no way? And how very gracious of her to finger a guy who just endorsed her without accepting any responsibility for her own participation. The buck stops way over there. Hope De Blasio is comfy under the bus.
"And, yes, of course I'll vote for her in November."
Marie
For Those With HBO & Interest -
This evening, HBO will air "Confirmation" . . .
"From HBO Films comes this riveting drama that details the explosive 1991 Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination hearings, which brought the country to a standstill and became a pivotal moment in American culture, forever changing how we perceive and experience workplace equality and gender politics . . ."
I am hoping that the casting of mega-fine actors (Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce, Jeffrey Wright, etc.) is an indication of the production's quality.
It should be "interesting" - perhaps shocking for those who were unaware, or too young to have been glued to the hearings - to be reminded of the role that Joe Biden (and others) played in the harsh treatment & interrogation of Anita Hill.
Apropos Ophelia's comment, here's the text of an interview on Thursday with Nina Totenberg of NPR about breaking the Thomas/Hill story.
LT's link required me to sign in to the site to view the Maher video (not!). Here's the same thing via Crooks & Liars.
"Confirmation" airs Sunday (tomorrow) on HBO at 8:00 PM (my
time). Don't know about other time zones airing.
Thank you, Forrest!
I neglected to indicate that "tonight" referenced most of The Tri-State Area (NY NJ & CT . . . perhaps elsewhere, as well?).
So -
"Confirmation" will air - in some places & at some times - on HBO.