The Commentariat -- April 25, 2015

Internal links removed.

Greg Miller & Julie Tate of the Washington Post: President Obama's revelation that a U.S. drone had killed two Western hostages in January "has revived questions about why the White House has been unwilling to provide similar information on dozens of other strikes over the past decade where there is abundant evidence that civilians were killed." ...

... Dan Roberts & Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "On Thursday, the White House conceded it did not specifically know whom it had targeted in the 'al-Qaida compounds' where US drones killed Warren Weinstein and Giovanni Lo Porto, as well as American-born militants Adam Gadahn and Ahmed Farouq and two others. The admission suggests that 'signature strikes' -- lethal strikes launched without necessarily knowing who is in the crosshairs -- have continued despite the president's 2013 announcement that new rules would govern strikes. The order mandates that the CIA can authorize strikes only if it knows with 'near certainty that the terrorist target' is present." ...

... Steve Coll of the New Yorker: "... the President's mea culpa masks an important and timely question: How exactly did this mistake at the C.I.A.’s Counterterrorism Center happen, and who will be held accountable for it? By putting the President out front and withholding all but the broadest details about the failed operation, the Obama Administration apparently hopes to evade that question.... Obama must own up to the fact that the changes he ordered [in 2013] failed to prevent a tragic, consequential error. The best way for the President to accept responsibility would be for him to order greater transparency about what happened in January and why, and, more broadly, to accept that secret violence beyond public accountability, no matter its justification, cannot play such a central role in any democracy's 'long war' strategy." ...

... William Saleton of Slate: "But these two deaths, tragic as they are, don't change the fundamental truth: For civilians, drones are the safest form of war in modern history." ...

... W. J. Hennigan & Brian Bennett of the Los Angeles Times: "The White House is considering revamping its overseas hostage-rescue program after CIA drone strikes that mistakenly killed an American and an Italian held captive by terrorists in Pakistan.... A key proposal would create an interagency task force to better coordinate efforts by the FBI, the Pentagon, State Department and intelligence agencies to find and free abduction victims...."

Dick Cavett remembers Vietnam, though he'd rather not. "Dick Cavett's Vietnam" will air on PBS Monday:

White House: "In this week's address, the President lays out why new, high-standards trade agreements are important for our economy, our businesses, our workers, and our values":

... Greg Sargent: "On a conference call with a small group of reporters, President Obama significantly intensified his criticism of Elizabeth Warren and other opponents of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal, accusing them of being 'dishonest' about the secrecy around the TPP process, suggesting they were playing to their 'fundraising' lists, and arguing flatly that they were using 'misinformation that stirs up the base but doesn't serve them well.'.... 'I'm not adverse to continuing to engage with members of Congress or unions or anybody else in the progressive community about how we can make sure this is the strongest agreement possible,' Obama concluded. 'But what I am adverse to is a bunch of ad hominem attacks and misinformation that stirs up the base but ultimately doesn't serve them well. And I'm going to be pushing back very hard if I keep on hearing that.'"

Maybe Dana Milbank Missed the Call: Elizabeth "Warren is right: The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is an abomination -- not because of the deal itself, and not because free trade in general is a bad idea. The TPP is an abomination because [President] Obama had a chance to protect American workers from the harm that would inevitably come from such a pact, and he didn't take it, or at least he hasn't." ...

... Greg Nelson of the White House contrasts the TPP with NAFTA. Charts! According to the White House, the TPP does a lot to protect workers everywhere. ...

... Ellen Brown, in Common Dreams, asserts the TPP will cause "the death of the Republic: The TPP would destroy our republican form of government under the rule of law, by elevating the rights of investors -- also called the rights of 'capital' -- above the rights of the citizens. That means that TPP is blatantly unconstitutional.... Neo-liberalism and corporate contributions seem to have blinded the deal's proponents so much that they cannot see they are selling out the sovereignty of the United States to foreign and multinational corporations." CW: That doesn't seem good. ...

... Ryan Cooper of the Week says that U.S. negotiators added all those corporate goodies to the TPP in order to get Congress to pass it: "... corporate oligarchs ... have the money and lobbying muscle needed to get something through our jalopy legislature. So the administration slanted the deal heavily towards some key sectors, even allowing some corporate representatives access to the documents that were denied to members of Congress. And now the thing has built up so much momentum that Obama is invested in passing it if only so he doesn't look like he lost something big."

Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "During a farewell speech Friday at the Justice Department, where [Eric] Holder spent more than a quarter-century of his career, he highlighted the department's accomplishments over the past six years, saying he took particular pride in his efforts to empower the powerless and protect civil rights."

Cecilia Kang & Brian Fung of the Washington Post: "By the time [Comcast CEO Brian Roberts called FCC Chair Tom Wheeler on Monday], Wheeler and his staff at the FCC had already decided to block the $45 billion megadeal, one of the largest ever to come before Washington regulators.... On Wednesday, Comcast executives were summoned to a meeting in a nondescript conference room at the agency to hear the verdict: No amount of concessions would save the deal. Comcast and Time Warner would simply be too big and threatening to an array of competitors, particularly online video providers." ...

... Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The announcement Friday morning that Comcast was terminating its effort to take over Time Warner Cable, a plan that would have united the nation's top two cable operators, ultimately collapsed because of clear signals that federal regulators were preparing to block it. But the warning signs were already present from the muted reception it had received on Capitol Hill." ...

... CW: One never knows what might have been, but my guess is that under a different POTUS, Brian Roberts would be popping champagne bottles. Also, thanks, John Oliver! ...

... Sam Thielman of the Guardian: "The $45bn Comcast-Time Warner Cable merger, which would have been the biggest deal in cable history, is officially dead as of Friday morning. That outcome is due in no small part to consumers who managed to make their voices heard to regulators above the lobbying dollars of Big Cable who -- in the last year alone -- spent a combined $32m making sure they were heard in Washington." ...

... Alison Griswold of Slate thinks Comcast's famously horrible customer "service" played a part. And she doesn't even mention the company's habit of changing dissatisfied customers' names to "Asshole Brown" or "SuperBitch," or just randomly adding "Whore" as the prefix to a customer's name. 

Daniel Slotnik of the New York Times: "Bruce Jenner, the Olympic gold medalist and member of the Kardashian family, ended months of speculation on Friday night in announcing during an ABC television special that he identifies as a woman."

Will Sommer of City Desk: "A U.S. Senate staffer allegedly dabbled in drug importation, according to law enforcement. Fred W. Pagan, a staffer for U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) allegedly told law enforcement agents that he imported drugs from China in a plan to exchange them for sexual favors, according to new documents filed in U.S. District Court.... Pagan works as Cochran's office manager." ...

... Arturo Garcia of the Raw Story: "The 49-year-old suspect, who is registered to vote as a Democrat, reportedly began working for Cochran when he was 16 years old. He is currently Cochran's office manager and personal assistant." CW: So, bipartisan meth-for-sex. Excellent.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Ravi Somaiya of the New York Times: "An NBC News internal investigation into Brian Williams has examined a half-dozen instances in which he is thought to have fabricated, misrepresented or embellished his accounts, two people with knowledge of the investigation said. The investigation includes at least one episode that was previously unreported, these people said, involving statements by Mr. Williams about events from Tahrir Square in Cairo during the Arab Spring."

Presidential Race

Mark Hensch of the Hill: "Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton on Thursday said 'deep-seated ... religious beliefs' have to be changed before the world's women will get full access to abortion. 'Far too many women are still denied critical access to reproductive health care and safe childbirth. All the laws we've passed don't count for much if they're not enforced,' Clinton said. 'Rights have to exist in practice -- not just on paper,' Clinton argued. 'Laws have to be backed up with resources and political will.'... Clinton's remarks came during the sixth annual Women in The World Summit in New York." ...

... Steve M. on how wingers are taking Clinton's remarks out of context. "... that's how the right does it." ...

... Paul Krugman slams his own paper (without mentioning it by name): "If you are old enough to remember the 1990s, you remember the endless parade of alleged scandals, Whitewater above all -- all of them fomented by right-wing operatives, all eagerly hyped by mainstream news outlets, none of which actually turned out to involve wrongdoing. The usual rules didn't seem to apply; instead it was Clinton rules, under which innuendo and guilt by association were considered perfectly OK, in which the initial suggestion of lawbreaking received front-page headlines and the subsequent discovery that there was nothing there was buried in the back pages if it was reported at all.... So, is this time different? First indications are not encouraging...."

Tim Egan: "We are in the 'invisible primary,' an apt term for the age of oligarchs and dark money. It's invisible, this suck-up campaign, because it's happening behind the closed doors of a wealthy few, as a half-dozen or so Republicans audition to win the blessing of billionaires. It should be called the Plutocrat Primary.... At some point, you would think that average Americans would be appalled by a few rich guys trying to buy the next presidential election. And -- hope alert! -- you did see a great pushback against the Koches in red-state Montana this month. There, Koch-funded surrogates tried to keep poor people from getting health care, through the Medicaid expansion option of Obamacare. Koch agents were booed at one hearing. And they were shamed at another, for the stark cruelty of two people worth a combined $80 billion dollars trying to deny a basic human decency to people who earn $11,000 a year. Health care is on the way in Montana."

David Fahrenthold of the Washington Post: "Instead of a triumph, [Marco] Rubio's involvement with the immigration bill became a cautionary tale about a gifted freshman who had miscalculated his capability. Now, as he begins a run for president, Rubio is left trying to run away from the most prominent item on his political résumé." ...

... Gail Collins reviews The Life of Marco, or whatever Rubio calls his autobiography. It turns out that at an early age, Little Marco made all the family's important decisions, including which faith to follow. (CW: This seems particularly hilarious inasmuch as Marco now attends two churches whose creeds seldom overlap.) Anyway, "God figures a lot in this story, and although Rubio says he knows 'God didn't endorse candidates,"' he does make it pretty clear that he knows who would win if God had an absentee ballot." Also prominent: the Miami Dolphins.

Beyond the Beltway

Peter Hermann & Ovetta Wiggins of the Washington Post: "Top officials [in Baltimore] acknowledged Friday that Freddie Gray was not treated properly when he was arrested nearly two weeks ago but said they are still probing how he suffered the severe spinal injury that appears to have led to his death. Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said Gray was never seat-belted after being placed in a transport van, a violation of department policy. Deputy Commissioner Kevin Davis said that Gray was not offered medical attention despite several requests and that officers should have called for an ambulance when they arrested him." ...

... Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times: "... police-involved killings [in Baltimore] are woven into Baltimore's psyche, part of what Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake calls the 'broken relationship' between residents of this majority black city and a police department with a history of aggressive, sometimes brutal behavior." ...

... Doug Donovan & Mark Puente of the Baltimore Sun: Freddie "Gray is not the first person to come out of a Baltimore police wagon with serious injuries.... For some, such injuries have been inflicted by what is known as a 'rough ride' -- an 'unsanctioned technique' in which police vans are driven to cause 'injury or pain' to unbuckled, handcuffed detainees, former city police officer Charles J. Key testified as an expert five years ago in a lawsuit over [Dondi] Johnson's subsequent death.

News Ledes

Saturday, April 25, 2015.

New York Times: "Pledging to shut down the city, thousands of demonstrators jammed the streets of Baltimore on Saturday to protest the death of a black man who sustained a fatal spinal cord injury while in police custody." ...

... Baltimore Sun: "A day of peaceful rallies into the death of Freddie Gray turned violent as dark fell over Baltimore with protesters smashing the windows on police cars, blocking traffic near the Inner Harbor and shouting, 'Killers!' at officers dressed in riot gear." ...

... The Sun also is loveblogging the demonstrations.

New York Times: "An earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 7.9 shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu. People in the capital described scenes of panic and collapsed buildings, and the United States Geological Survey predicted severe damage to villages near the quake's epicenter, about 50 miles from Katmandu." ...

... New Lede: "A powerful earthquake shook Nepal on Saturday near its capital, Katmandu, killing more than 1,300 people, flattening sections of the city's historic center and trapping dozens of sightseers in a 200-foot watchtower that came crashing down into a pile of bricks." ...

... At 9 pm ET, the Washington Post has the death toll at 1,500. By midnight, the Post was reporting 1,800 dead. ...

... The Guardian is liveblogging developments. ...

... NEW. Washington Post: "An Indian army mountaineering team found 18 bodies on Mount Everest on Saturday, an army spokesman said, after a massive earthquake in Nepal unleashed an avalanche on the world's tallest mountain at the start of the main climbing season." ...

Katmandu's historic Dharahara Tower, before & after the quake.... NEW. Washington Post: "The devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that violently shook Nepal on Saturday left more than human casualties in its wake. The country also saw a number of its iconic UNESCO World Heritage sites and most popular tourist attractions -- some dating more than 1,700 years -- reduced to piles of rubble."

AP: "The University of Florida suspended one of its fraternities on Friday after allegations that its members hurled drunken insults and spat at a group of disabled military veterans at a Panama City Beach resort."

Comments

[safari]

I'll admit that I haven't been keeping up enough on the TPP trade deal, but I'm quite inquisitive as to what Obama is cooking up for us.

He claims time and again that he's ensuring a good deal and learning from the NAFTA loopholes that hurt North American workers and soiled the environment all for corporate profits. But if Obama really wants to be open about things, as he claims, why not open up the debate to everyone involved? Why can't even interested parties get a hold of what the controversies are and have an open and frank discussion about them?

For me I see two options: either Obama's team can't communicate for shit with the public (or even his fellow Democrats), which is a real possibility, or that the elusiveness of key points is a planned, strategic smokebomb that we'll find out about after the deal is signed and CEOs across the world starting ordering their bigger and better yachts while the mass of workers involved start organizing their "Staycations".

The key to me knowing that there's a serious breakdown in the communication is reading that not even RC readers or The Marie can get a clear picture of the Truth. That, my friends, does not bode well for the workers of the world.

[safari]

On another note, Michael Tomasky has some good strategic advice for the Clinton campaign to corner the Republicans and try to talk some sense into American workers: stagnant wages.

According to his analysis, wages have been largely stagnant since 1979 for most workers (6% growth compared to 140% for the top 1% of earners), and if the minimum wage followed the growth of the economy, it should be $9.38 right now. That stat alone would put every GOPer in a bind as they prefer to talk about Freeeedom rather than actually raise the minimum wage. If we could hammer home a few of the points Tomasky brings up, we could at least secure the constant fluctuating "independents" who pay no attention whatsoever but their ears will perk up if we start talking about their pocketbooks with a real plan to fill it with some cash. It wouldn't even be a "progressive" position per se, it'd just be catching up to what the economic reality should be.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/04/24/democrats-no-1-job-remind-voters-that-american-wages-have-flatlined.html

[PD Pepe]

I have spent the good part of the morning researching information on the TTP. It boils down to "it's a terrible deal" to a "disastrous deal" to "it's a great deal." I'm in a flux as I imagine most of us are since there is such a diverse take on this and given that Obama is telling us this will be good for our country what and who do we trust here? Hillary, some years ago when this plan was being implemented, said it was the gold standard of trade deals, but she hasn't come out with that endorsement lately and is just saying any deal should be best for our workers and middle class. And why "fast track" (a yes or no vote) on this––when we, the public, aren't privy to a debate by Congress. People like Sanders and Warren who are vehemently opposed appear to have read the full text, but complain they don't have access to it––-I find this curious. So I share safari's frustration and am still confused.

[Ken Winkes]

Safari, some other numbers not in the Tomasky article.

Workers wages have been stagnant since 1979 (can't remember who was President in the early 80's, but he and the glitterati he and his smiley face represented might have had something to do with our wage doldrums). Depending on the calculation, the cost of living has increased by about 240% since then; wages have not increased in proportion, nearly so, but not quite. The federal minimum wage is significantly behind the CPI, but in some sectors wages and inflation are almost in line with inflation.

But there are at least two other factors at work here, both of them sneakier and more harmful to workers than stagnant wages.

One is the abyss between compensation and productivity. As variously measured, productivity increased 75% between 1979 and 2013 but workers received no benefit from that increase (the gap might explain the jump in CEO compensation; management and ownership siphon off the goodies, leaving the real producers the gruel).

The other nasty consequence of wage stagnation is that our largely regressive state and local tax regimen imposes an ever larger proportional burden of revenue generation on wage earners. If you're paying 10 or 15 % of your earnings in state and local taxes, that's a much bigger hit for those who have to spend most of their income in order to live. Owners and managers, who spend a much smaller portion of their income, are effectively taxed far less, closer to 2%. Not only that, they get to invest the surplus in capital investments, which are taxed at a lower federal rate than is income tax and in most states are not taxed at all.

So...added up, the gap between the rich and the rest continues to grow with all the benefits of increased productivity going to the top.

But numbers are sooo boring. The trick is to make them interesting and understandable, and that's hard to do. Most people know that life is getting harder for working people, but they don't know why.

They just feel it....and lash out mindlessly... at the President...at the government...at immigrants...at gays...at the poor...at those darn tax and spend liberals like me.

[Marie Burns]

@Ken Winkes: Thanks. Both factors you mention are critical.

A most troubling thing about this is not that American voters don't know these specifics, but that they fault "the government" for their depressed economic circumstances, with no understanding whatsoever that "the government" "deciders" who allowed them to get into this fix are not all the same. The GOP ploy to make "the government" so bad that everybody hates it is working.

Marie

[Haley Simon]

Schweizer of the Clinton book is quite the 'journalist' (as Marie has pointed out). Media Matters has taken him apart:

http://mediamatters.org/research/2015/04/20/clinton-cash-author-peter-schweizers-long-histo/203209

h/t to NYT commenter on public editor's column regarding the Times 'exclusive' with Schweizer.

I think we should keep the MM article handy. I think the Republicans plan to use the book to bash HRC from now 'til 2020.

I hope HRC doesn't make the same mistake Kerry did. She needs to blast this book to smithereens.

[PD Pepe]

Here's the latest backlash on the TPP: the opposition cauldron is heating up and I see this as a good thing.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/25/elizabeth-warren-tells-ob_n_7142850.html