The Commentariat -- April 3, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon News:

Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "Amid the backlash over Indiana's controversial religious liberties law, Gov. Mike Pence (R) and other state officials insisted the measure was never intended to permit business owners to deny service to gays and lesbians. But that is not entirely true. For the socially conservative organizations that proposed the measure, protecting the right of Christians to opt out of any involvement in gay marriage ceremonies was a primary goal. And they underscored that fact two weeks ago, immediately after Pence signed the measure into law."

AFP: "Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said Friday a nuclear deal with world powers would open a 'new page' for the country's international relations and lead to greater cooperation. In a live televised address, Rouhani also said a final agreement would depend on both sides living up to their commitments."

*****

Thank you, John Kerry. -- Constant Weader

Michael Gordon & David Sanger of the New York Times: "Iran and the world powers said here Thursday that they had reached a surprisingly specific and comprehensive general understanding about the next steps in limiting Tehran's nuclear program, though Western officials said many details needed to be resolved before a final agreement in June. Both Germany's foreign office and President Hassan Rouhani of Iran said that the major parameters of a framework for a final accord had been reached, after eight days of intense debate between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif.... Speaking from the White House, President Obama made a strong case for the deal, saying that it 'cuts off every pathway' for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon and that it establishes the most intrusive inspections system in history. 'If Iran cheats,' he said, 'the world will know it'":

... Here's the U.S. State Department statements which lays out the parameters of the deal. ...

... Fred Kaplan of Slate: "... it is a profoundly good deal; there has never been a nuclear deal, with any country, that is so comprehensively restrictive. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the U.S. Congress to demand 'a better deal,' but his definition of such a deal -- one that bans uranium enrichment, dismantles all its facilities, and insists on a drastic change in Iran's foreign policy -- is unattainable, and, more to the point, he knows it." ...

... Robin Wright of the New Yorker: "The deal still has to go through formal drafting, but the terms announced by Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the majority of issues with more specificity than expected. Iran's capabilities will be seriously curtailed -- some for ten years, some for fifteen years, and some indefinitely -- in exchange for a phased easing of sanctions imposed separately by the United Nations, the United States, and the European Union." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "Obama's making a lot of sense, and he can already register one solid accomplishment this very day: Iran's government TV carried his Rose Guard announcement -- criticisms of Tehran and all -- live." ...

... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: "If it is good -- and that will depend on getting the final settlement done and signed between now and June -- it will be in large part because the President avoided the temptations of resentment and self-pity. And Republicans in Congress will have failed to thwart it because they embraced them. The G.O.P. did everything that it could to scuttle this deal." ...

... Washington Post Editors characterize the deal as a gift to Iran. ...

... Mike DeBonis, et al., of the Washington Post: "Congress greeted news of a framework agreement to curtail the Iranian nuclear weapons program much as it has reacted to the months of negotiations that preceded it -- with criticism from most Republicans, optimism from most Democrats, and a strong desire from both sides to play a direct role in the deal." ...

Yes, this is an actual winger reaction, only the original is a gif/movie, which I can't figure out how to load here.... Luke Brinker of Salon: "For the crowd that believes war is always the answer, Thursday's announcement represented an utter catastrophe." Brinker shares some of their "thoughts"/hysterical howls. ...

...digby: "... the dreams of All American omnipotence and glory are hardwired into the right and very strong in the culture at large. And it's dangerous as hell. Everyone should want to negotiate peace as the default position. If there's anything on earth that should be avoided unless there is absolutely no other choice, it's war. You'd think that would be common sense but this rather silly belief in America's godlike military power is leading a whole lot of people to take us into some very dangerous territory." ...

... Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: "... it's laughably easy to figure out what to be against: reflexive and dogmatic opposition undertaken for the purposes of making sure you get your anti-Obama ticket stamped that will hasten the day either that a) Iran gets the bomb or b) we start a war to prevent that. Maybe it's a little cliched to say give peace a chance, but thanks to the neoconservatives, we've given war plenty of chance, and all it's done is strengthened Tehran and given us ISIS. Will these people ever look in the mirror?"

... William Booth of the Washington Post: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the framework agreement announced Thursday by six world powers and Iran to curtail the latter's nuclear ambitions 'would threaten the survival of Israel' and pave the way to an Iranian nuclear bomb. Netanyahu, who has threatened to use military force to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, spoke with President Obama on Thursday night and expressed Israel's strong opposition to the preliminary agreement, according to the prime minister's office." CW: Sorry, but Bibi reminds me of Rumpelstiltskin.

... Dan Williams & Allyn Fisher-Ilan of Reuters: "Israel dismissed celebration of a nuclear framework deal between major powers and Iran on Thursday as detached from reality and vowed to continue lobbying to prevent a what it called a bad final agreement. Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said after the announcements in Switzerland that 'the smiles in Lausanne are detached from grim reality in which Iran refuses to make any concessions on the nuclear issue and continues to threaten Israel and all other countries in the Middle East.'" ...

... Former U.S. Career Ambassador William Burns, with an important message to important wingnuts: "The history of the Iranian nuclear issue is littered with missed opportunities. It is a history in which fixation on the perfect crowded out the good, and in whose rearview mirror we can see deals that look a lot better now than they seemed then. With all its inevitable imperfections, we can't afford to miss this one." CW: Burns -- who has been a high-ranking State Department official under three presidents -- initiated the Iranian talks, & his essay on the New York Times op-ed page provides a sober -- and likely accurate -- assessment of the accord announced yesterday.

Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) pleaded not guilty on Thursday to 14 federal corruption charges stemming from allegations that he improperly aided a wealthy donor. In federal court [in Newark, N.J.], Judge William Walls agreed to release Menendez on his own recognizance, but ordered him to surrender his personal passport. Menendez will be allowed to retain an official passport that he has in his capacity as a U.S. senator." ...

... Nicholas Confessore & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "... Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote in the Supreme Court's opinion in Citizens United ... that independent expenditures 'do not give rise to corruption or the appearance of corruption.' But federal lawyers do not seem to agree.... 'The indictment of Senator Robert Menendez illustrates in stark terms the corrupting role that super PACs now play in our political system,' said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, which advocates stricter limits on campaign money. 'The super PAC was used as the vehicle to buy corrupting influence with Senator Menendez.'" ...

... Indictments Matter. Sarah Mimms of the National Journal: "With Ben Cardin [D-Maryland] taking the indicted Robert Menendez's slot as the Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrat, the White House is losing its staunchest intraparty opponent on two of the biggest foreign policy issues facing the administration -- Iran and Cuba -- and gaining an important ally. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's office made it official Thursday that Cardin will step into Menendez's role -- temporarily, at least -- while Menendez fights federal corruption charges. In style and some issues of substance, the two Democrats could not be more different."

The Many Faces of Mark

Burgess Everett of Politico: "Attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch won't need Vice President Joe Biden's vote after all. Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk, who was complimentary of Lynch after meeting with her last month, said at a Thursday event in Chicago that he would vote to confirm her." ...

... Shortly thereafter Kirk compared Lynch's soon-to-be boss to Neville Chamberlain. ...

... AND Then. Nick Gass of Politico: "Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) blasted Indiana Gov. Mike Pence's decision to sign the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law, calling it a form of bigotry."

Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "The raise at McDonald's, even though it applies only to a small fraction of the employees who work at the Golden Arches, is one of a series of remarkable, if incomplete, victories that low-wage U.S. workers have won in recent months." ...

... People Are Not Soybeans. Paul Krugman: "... there's a lot more wiggle room in wage determination than conventional wisdom would have you believe. We can, in fact, raise wages significantly if we want to.... Raising the minimum wage makes jobs better; it doesn't seem to make them scarcer.... There's no excuse for wage fatalism."

Tim Egan: "... the free market in tandem with the First Amendment has worked pretty well in a clamorous democracy such as ours. It's only when activist judges -- thy names are Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, Samuel Alito, Anthony Kennedy and John G. Roberts -- have tried to broaden the intent of the founders that we've gotten into trouble. In 2010, those five judges created the notion of corporate personhood -- giving companies unfettered right to dominate elections.... And in 2014, those five judges gave corporations a soul, a further expansion of business entity as a citizen. Well, they tried to. As the saying goes, a corporation will never truly be a citizen until you can execute one in Texas."

In the New York Times Magazine, Mark Leibovich has a brief interview of Tom Cotton. I don't think it's a spoof. The guy's just a walking joke.

Jeanine Lister, in a Washington Post op-ed, on the indignities of poverty.

Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "The co-pilot thought to have deliberately crashed Germanwings Flight 9525 had been trawling the Internet for ways to commit suicide and information about the safety mechanisms on cockpit doors, German prosecutors said Thursday. The revelations about Andreas Lubitz's surfing activities came as another break in the case emerged in France, where authorities said Thursday that they had found the second of the Airbus A320's two 'black boxes' among the wreckage in the French Alps."

Presidential Race

Annie Karni of Politico: "Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed cautious support late Thursday for President Barack Obama's Iran deal, calling it an 'important step' toward a comprehensive agreement that would prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.... Clinton treated Thursday's agreement as a good step in a long process. 'There is much to do and much more to say in the months ahead,' she said in the statement, 'but for now diplomacy deserves a chance to succeed.'" CW Translation: They couldn't do it without me. ...

... Annie Karni: "The lease is signed: Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters will work out of 1 Pierrepont Plaza in Brooklyn Heights, according to a source familiar with the deal."

Pick Me! Pick Me! I'm a Genuine Dangerously Ignorant Hick. Or Why Republicans Inevitable Put Americans at Risk. Greg Sargent: In "a new interview that Scott Walker gave to a Wisconsin radio personality..., he said that not only would he undo any deal with Iran on his first day as president; he would do so even if our European allies wanted the deal to continue." ...

Not So Fast, Scottie! We're Pea-Brained Warmongers, Too. Kendall Breitman of Politico: "Potential Republican presidential contenders on Thursday accused the Obama administration of striking a seriously flawed nuclear deal with Iran that gave way too much for far too little in return." ...

... Yeah, But Walker Is Still Really Stupid. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said Wednesday much of the outrage over Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act comes from 'people who are chronically looking for ways to be upset about things.'... Asked about what would happen to a baker who did wanting to provide services to a same-sex wedding in the state, Walker didn't address the scenario...."

In the Toilet with Ted. Well, actually Heidi Cruz. A lav is a lovely place to talk up Ted.

Beyond the Beltway

Unfuckingbelievable. Judd Legum of Think Progress: "Appearing yesterday on CNN, Senator Tom Cotton (R) urged critics of Indiana's 'religious freedom' law to get 'perspective,' suggesting the treatment of LGBT people in Indiana compared favorably to countries where gay people are executed. 'I think it's important we have a sense of perspective,' Cotton said. 'In Iran they hang you for the crime of being gay.'" ...

... Max Brantley of the Arkansas Times: Local groups react with appropriate horror to Cotton's remarks. ...

... Simon Miloy of Salon: "It could be worse: you could be hanged by your government for being gay sets the standard for bigotry so low that it becomes functionally nonexistent." ...

... Laura Clawson of the Daily Kos unpacks Cotton's complete remarks. ...

... Charles Pierce reminds us that Tom Cotton is "pen-pal to the mullahs." ...

... Jonathan Chait: Oh, why can't liberals see the "obvious similarities" between Iran & Indiana? CW: It turns out that Cotton's putting gay rights "in perspective" is just parroting right-wing talking points. ...

... Mollie Reilly of the Huffington Post: "Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed a revised version of the state's Religious Freedom Reformation Act on Thursday, one day after refusing to sign an earlier version of the bill over concerns about discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. Earlier Thursday, the Republican-controlled state legislature passed a new version of the bill at the governor's request, amending provisions that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT customers. The amended legislation mirrors the federal RFRA." ...

... Tom LoBianco & Tony Cook of the Indianapolis Star: "After a week of tumult in Indiana, Gov. Mike Pence signed a revision to the state's 'religious freedom"' law late Thursday that eliminates the potential erosion of LGBT protections in communities, including Indianapolis, that have local anti-discrimination ordinances protecting sexual orientation and gender identity. But the change was not universally hailed because it does nothing to provide those protections in much of Indiana where such local ordinances do not exist." ...

... Jeff Swiatek of the Indianapolis Star: "Angie's List calls the fix to the 'religious freedom' law 'insufficient,' becoming the first major local company to reject the deal hammered out by Indiana legislators, the business community and others." ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The fix [Indiana GOP legislators are proposing] does nothing to expand LGBT rights beyond where they stood on the day before Gov. Mike Pence (R-IN) signed the new Indiana law. Nevertheless, it appears to be expansive enough to neutralize attempts to wield the Indiana law as a sword to cut down LGBT rights protections at the local level."

... Charles Riley of CNN Money: "Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is helping employees who are uncomfortable with Indiana's controversial religious freedom law to transfer out of the state. Benioff told CNN's Poppy Harlow on Wednesday that several employees have asked for transfers -- and he has agreed, even supplying relocation packages." ...

... Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: "... Memories Pizza ... is feeling the heat of a great debate about religious freedom and gay rights.The dust-up has proved a windfall of sorts for Memories. A GoFundMe page called 'Support Memories Pizza' set up to raise $35,000 for the embattled restaurant got almost $50,000 from more than 1,300 donors in 11 hours -- and donations continue to come in." ...

... Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press: "The business community and progressives breathed a sigh of relief Thursday while social conservatives reacted with frustration to Gov. Rick Snyder's promise to veto a Religious Freedom Restoration Act if the bill makes it to his desk."

Mike Levine & Aaron Katersky of ABC News: "Federal authorities have arrested two women who were allegedly planning to detonate a bomb somewhere in the United States after being radicalized at least in part by ISIS, sources familiar with the arrests told ABC News. The public was never in danger, as it was all part of a lengthy undercover FBI operation. And court documents suggest any plotting was more aspirational than operational."

Matt Vasilogambros of the National Journal: Gwinnett County, Georgia, "the most diverse county in the Southeast is run almost entirely by white politicians." Love the lede graf:

Three days after being sworn in as the first Latino state legislator in Georgia's history, Pedro Marin had an ethics complaint filed against him. It said that he was a 'Mexican federal government agent infiltrated in the Georgia General Assembly.' There were a couple of problems with that charge: 1) Marin is Puerto Rican; 2) He's never been to Mexico.

News Ledes

AP: Ray Hinton, "a man who spent nearly 30 years on Alabama's death row, was freed Friday after prosecutors finally acknowledged that the only evidence they had against him couldn't prove he committed the crime."

Bloomberg News: "Employers in March added the fewest workers since December 2013 and the jobless rate held at 5.5 percent as companies sought to bring U.S. headcounts in line with an economy that throttled back at the start of the year."

New York Times: Somali terrorists targeted Christians in a massacre at a Kenyan university. "Officials said that by the time Kenyan commandos cornered and killed the attackers on an upper floor, 147 people lay dead. Despite new security laws, significant Western help and a heightened state of vigilance that has already put police officers on almost every major street corner in the capital, Nairobi, Kenya remains squarely in the cross hairs of the Shabab, the Somali terrorist group that immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Thursday."

Astounding. Guardian: "A man whose family reported him missing at sea more than two months ago has been found sitting on the overturned hull of his 35ft boat far off the North Carolina coast." ...

     ... The Guardian has an updated story.

Comments

[David Feldman]

The GoFundMe site for the Indiana pizza restaurant that was the first business to refuse catering to LGBT couple has now raised more than $250,000. I could not find one crowdsourcing site raising funds to really put the hurt on Indiana by luring conventions and businesses away from the state. At the least, such a fund would cost Indiana a lot of money in concessions to keep those conventions and business. Oh, and it might demonstrate that discrimination is bad business. Apparently it is not. The owner's of Memories Pizza will probably be able to retire tomorrow.

Its really disheartening that the haters, racists and bigots are willing to put their money where there mouths are. Or perhaps its just shameful that the rest of us aren't.

Can you all find any sites. Any ideas?

[Akhilleus]

Someone should remind Tom (Get Perspective) Cotton that in some countries they also hang those who commit treason.

[safari]

There are a lot skeptics out there regarding the potential Iran deal, but all the naysayers and warmongers collectively lack any credible alternative that doesn't involve "military action" meaning the slaughter of countless souls caught in the crossfire of profiteers and cynics on both sides.

While it's far too early to judge the local dynamics here and abroad that this potential deal may produce, I find the pictures and videos of everyday Iranians celebrating in the streets a welcoming image coming from the disaster-ridden Middle East, particularly because these are a few faces of the real Iran, and those most affected by our economic sanctions.

Who knows if this deal holds and there are plenty of powerful people who would love to sabotage it, but for now we need to take the welcoming reception in stride, placate our allies and dissuade the knee-cappers from launching their plots. A certain Netanyahu comes to mind as he'll have lost his number one fear mongering talking point and Saudi Arabia will equally be pissing down their legs over this deal. But until they can come up with a credible alternative, Obama's got (nearly) the whole world behind him here.

Too early to celebrate indeed but images of everyday Iranians taking selfies with Obama during his televised speech are infinitely better than more CNN coverage of Shock and Awe Redux.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2015/04/02/videos-show-iranians-partying-in-the-streets-after-iran-deal/?tid=hpModule_04941f10-8a79-11e2-98d9-3012c1cd8d1e&hpid=z11

[Akhilleus]

Safari,

Good point. It's true that no one knows what will come of this, but we do know that the Bush/Cheney/Neocon solution of choice, out and out war, has been avoided for the nonce.

In fact, even though the situations are not exact analogs, Obama and Kerry and representatives of the other nations have demonstrated that solutions other than war-first bellicosity can offer the possibility of a win for all sides, that diplomatic negotiations supporting respect for the needs of both sides (as opposed to the standard right-wing requirement that one side realize complete victory while the other submit to abject and total defeat) can result in a peaceful outcome that sidesteps the catastrophic loss of blood and gold and international respect beloved by arrogant chicken hawks and bug-eyed warmongers.

Regarding Iraq, we should never have been considering war in the first place, but had we allowed careful diplomacy to run its course, we could have avoided millions of casualties and the loss of trillions of dollars while freeing up military and intelligence resources to finding Bin Laden, something the winger idiots left to the more rational Obama.

The truly scary thing is that Americans, thanks to the constant drumbeat of hatred, war, and propaganda perpetrated by the GOP and their Confederate allies in the media, have been electing monsters potentially worse than Bush and Cheney, monsters who talk about how American citizens better shut their mouths and be glad they aren't being strung up for who they sleep with.

[Diane]

President Rhouhani deserves much praise for refusing to give up on the deal. Fatwa notwithstanding, the Ayatollahs are a tough audience. I thought Rhouhani would have a maximum of 6 months post election to solidify a deal before he was slapped down. He proved resilient and determined.

The Republicans and their buddy Bibi are out of step with the modern world. The outdated framework of the Cold War marries them to a single strategy of aggression. What buffoonery disguised as nationalism. In my mind Bibi could easily be sanctioned for human rights violations in Gaza.

[Kate Madison]

..."In "a new interview that Scott Walker gave to a Wisconsin radio personality..., he said that not only would he undo any deal with Iran on his first day as president; he would do so even if our European allies wanted the deal to continue." ...

Scotty Walkster is trying to keep his head above water in pathetic puddles of stupid--as he drowns in hubris.

[Barbarossa]

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/peace-with-iran-could-limit-ability-to-bomb-it-warns-mccain?mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(11)&cndid=32493085&mbid=nl_Borowitz%20(11)&CNDID=32493085&spMailingID=7635569&spUserID=ODk5MzU4MDUzMjIS1&spJobID=660213248&spReportId=NjYwMjEzMjQ4S0

Maybe this has been linked before, but Andy Borowitz points out that this deal seriously limits our ability to bomb Iran.

[Patrick]

From the bottom of a WaPo article today: "A new Washington Post-ABC News poll found that Americans by a nearly 2-to-1 margin support the idea of striking a deal that would restrict the Iranian nuclear program in return for loosened sanctions."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/04/02/congress-reacts-to-iran-nuclear-framework-with-cautious-optimism-renewed-skepticism/

A Quinniapac poll two days ago came up with almost exactly the same views, AMONG REPUBLICANS POLLED.

I checked the poll questions, they were pretty straightforward, so responses do seem to indicate that those polled support pursuing a verifiable agreement that limits Iran's nuclear potential.

"Congress" wants the American people to review any deal. I hope "Congress" is reading these polls and comes to understand that the "American people" are not about to support stupid obstructionist bullshit. So, expect hearings, and also expect some efforts to pass Corker's enhanced sanctions bill, but I predict that senators and congressman will see serious electoral hazard in screwing with the President.

As for submitting any agreement as a treaty (requiring 2/3 approval in the Senate): not gonna happen. The Senate couldn't even approve a few years back the ADA-based treaty to protect people with disabilities, because many senators were cowed by assertions that it would subject local choices to UN standards, utter crap. This congress is worse than that one, and most Americans realize you could not trust it to pour piss out of a boot with the directions printed on the heel. So, you'll see lots of hearings and deliberations, but hopefully no votes on this Iran deal.

And most of those hearings will focus on what a bad actor Iran is, ignoring the fact that if you take the gun away from a bad actor he's a less dangerous bad actor.

[Akhilleus]

Hoo-boy...

The propellers on all those wingnut hats are spinning like tops this morning. Cries of "War today, war tomorrow, war forever" rattle across their echo chamber, along with "Munich" and "Neville Chamberlain". I think it's so funny that the only history Confederates care to know about involve Hitler or Civil War battles won by the south.

The right specializes in Hyper-hyperbole. Deranged rants that the Iran agreement is worse than the Munich Agreement are all of a piece with several aspects of Confederate thinking. First, and we've touched on this before, it's all or nothing for them. Everything is a zero sum game. It's either total victory in which you crush your enemies beneath your combat boots, or you are condemned to a life of ignominy, dishonor, slavery, and death.

So the ACA is worse than slavery. It authorizes "death panels" to decide who will live and who has to die. Allowing gay and lesbian citizens to enjoy the same rights as everyone else means your religious rights are being trampled. Not long ago Fox kook "Judge" Jeanine Pirro was running around the studio pulling her hair out and screaming that ISIS was the worst--the absolutely most terrifying--threat ever in the history of the United States. Got that? Worse than the Civil War, worse than WWI and WWII, worse than anything, evah. Oh, and she claims that they may already be here in the states plotting our demise. Really Jeanine? Two percent of the population of the United States, 660,000, were killed in the Civil War. If ISIS is worse than that then we can expect about 7 million deaths from their attacks in the next few months.

And now, this agreement, which none of these people have seen, by the way, is worse than Munich, because, Hitler, of course. Glenn Beck must be peeing his SS uniform.

So that's one problem. We either achieve glorious victory or ignominious defeat. There's no middle ground. This is why compromise is so difficult for the Confederacy. This is why they consider something as basic as a conversation with those they see as their enemy (pretty much all of us) as treason. This is why they can't get their heads around the concept that successful politics and diplomacy (and almost all adult human interactions) require that both sides come away with some of what they need, if not all of what they want. It's entirely possible, even necessary, that this be the case in any successful interaction. But wingnuts operate on the level of 4 year olds. At other times however they do seem a bit older, for instance, when they act like hormonally deranged pre-teens. Neither age group possesses the ability to act like a mature adult, which is not just a problem for them, it affects all of us.

Diane brings up a good point. Most Americans tend to see these negotiations only from our side of things. The Iranian negotiators had to stave off right-wingers of equal ferocity to our own, but wingers with more power than we have to shut it all down. Our wingers tried, but it backfired, thank you Traitor Tom and Company.

Which brings us to the other important thing to remember about Confederates. They are bumblers. They demand perfection in others, they look at something like this agreement and can only see its imperfections. Oh, and Bibi doesn't like it either, so there. They won't sign off on anything like healthcare or immigration until a solution is perfect and perfectly represents their hopes, needs, and desires. They won't do a thing about climate change until it has been proven, perfectly and beyond any doubt that it's real.

But they themselves are never willing to do what it takes to make those things happen (not that it would be possible anyway). Their confusion, ineptness, defective thinking and half-assed actions never match their rhetorical flights of fancy which make it sound like they are beset heroes, perfect angels of god who are attacked on all sides by atheist mongrels, and would fix everything if only they could be left alone.

So, what does their overreaction to the Iran negotiation--which they haven't even seen--tell us about them? That in their worldview, you either win or lose. No in between. That there can never be compromise, never be conversation, that you must remain pure and perfect.

In other words, they live in an adolescent world of fantasy and delusion and if they don't get their way, they'll take their ball and go home, which is pretty much always.

One other note, is anyone else giggling about how Obama is stacking up these enormous achievements, one after the other? So much for his lame duck years. The lame ones are all on the right trying mightily to stand up straight and not fall over.

Good luck with that.

[Akhilleus]

The hand wringing over this Iranian deal!

Fox's homepage is afire with headlines screaming US WIMPS OUT!!!

(and I'm not even gonna link it, because fuck them)

Little Scottie Walker says he'll repeal the whole thing as soon as his ass is in the Oval Office. Of course he's making this promise about something he hasn't even seen yet, that isn't even really complete yet. Just the guy you want running things.

So here we go. Any compromise (see above comment) is terrible. If we didn't get everything, we "wimped out".

Something the idiots don't consider is this: if we didn't have a deal Iran could--and probably would--start building a bomb today. Not in ten years. Today. But as always, Fox and their wack-job on-air screamers, strive to make things worse rather than better, to spread baseless rumors and propaganda rather than carefully considered thoughts about the pros and cons of an agreement with Iran.

These people never add anything to the public discourse. They just take away. They degrade it with inanities and lies and rank ignorance.

And because they're all essentially bullies who support other bullies, they think the only good interaction is one in which you push the other kid's face into the dirt until they say "uncle" and then you take their lunch money. In the adult world, in the world of serious statesmanship, you get something, you give something. That's how it works everywhere except the Fox Middle School where the bullies rule and where "I know you are, but what am I" passes for thoughtful commentary.

[Akhilleus]

David,

I think the Go Fund Me stuff represents a way for the yo-yo's and the haters to stamp their feet. This whole pizza thing has been blown way out of proportion. Liberals should have just let it be. So what? The bigger fight is getting the entire state to back down, not just hammer on a single pizza parlor. And the attacks have made this place into a Confederate outpost, an icon, a kind of Fort Apache for the begrudgers and the haters.

But there are a lot more business interests that have already been affected by the Indiana Religious Hate Law. A lot more money is at stake than $250,000. And these things peter out. A month or so ago, there was a Go Fund Me effort to pay the medical bills of a "sheriff" who worked against Americans getting health insurance. Now that he's sick, he's become a moocher, begging for others to take care of him even though he wanted to deny care to everyone else. That effort looked at first like it was going to skyrocket. Last I checked, his sad pleas had brought in about $38K. Not insubstantial, but medical bills will suck that dry in seconds.

Crowd funding is a great way to start and support a variety of worthwhile ideas and businesses, but social change is, I believe, more easily achieved, or attempted, through other venues, foremost of which is the vote. Which is why Confederates have made it a priority to make sure as few Democrats as possible can exercise that right.

That's not to say that Go Fund Me style operations can't play a part in the struggle. Every little bit helps. I just think most progressives look elsewhere for places and ways to effect change and demonstrate support for worthwhile causes.

But, hey, I could be wrong.

[Akhilleus]

Okay, I'm monopolizing the joint again, so just one more.

From the "As If Things Weren't Bad Enough" department comes this tidbit.

If you are for gun control, watch out. The gun nuts are looking for you. And Google is helping.

An app available from the Google Play Store allows gun kooks to record names, addresses, and personal information of anyone they consider an enemy of their version of the Second Amendment and share it with all the other rational, non-violent, reg'lar guys who show up at the CVS waving semi-automatics around in front of moms waiting in line to pick up a prescription for their kids, because Freedom, of course.

And if you don't think that's cool, they can now track you down. Phone numbers, place of employment, address, anything they get will be shared with other reg'lar guys who live for aggressive, in your face open-carry demonstrations in restaurants, malls, and playgrounds.

What if they get your address wrong? What if some night after a quiet 4 or 5 hours of drunken open-carry partying a few of these "reg'lar" guys show up and decide to open-carry on someone's house?

I can see the Fox headline now: Second Amendment Supporters' Rights Under Attack, Fight Back.

This is as dangerous and crazy as it sounds. We're not talking about climate change deniers compiling addresses of bird watchers, these are people--some clearly unhinged--who never go anywhere without loaded weapons, and who already feel victimized by anyone who doesn't think mentally unstable people should be able to purchase AK-47s out of the trunk of a car at the Dollar General.

Right-Wing World gets scarier by the day.