Wednesday
Apr032013
The Commentariat -- April 4, 2013
Michael Shear of the New York Times: President "Obama, who appears to be leaning toward approval of the [Keystone XL] pipeline, acknowledged that it is difficult to sell aggressive environmental action to Americans who are still struggling in a difficult economy...."
National Constitution Center: "It was 45 years ago today that civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed by an assassin's bullet in Memphis. The world has changed greatly since 1968, but King's message survives intact." CW: the world may have changed, but the hatred & greed against which Dr. King fought is still controlling our politics.
Ezra Klein has a good piece on what a GOP health expert claims is the Republican plan to replace ObamaCare: "This isn't a plan to 'replace Obamacare.' It's a plan to do the opposite of replacing Obamacare.... Rather than make comprehensive insurance more accessible through government subsidies and regulation, it makes insurance stingier and rarer by removing government subsidies and regulation.... Obamacare and the Republican ideas aren't even apples to oranges. They’re apples to taking away apples.... The fact that Republicans haven't put forward an actual legislative replacement to Obamacare suggests that" they know their "plan" would be exposed as a sham.
Yes, the Sequester Is Killing People. Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post: "Cancer clinics across the country have begun turning away thousands of Medicare patients, blaming the sequester budget cuts. Oncologists say the reduced funding, which took effect for Medicare on April 1, makes it impossible to administer expensive chemotherapy drugs while staying afloat financially." ...
... Howard Fineman of the Huffington Post: "Of all the blinkered buzz-saw cuts in this year's $85 billion spending sequestration, perhaps none is as counterproductive -- or as flat-out boneheaded -- as the one now hitting medical research under way in a refurbished industrial expanse of central St. Louis." ...
... Peter Baker & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama plans to return 5 percent of his salary to the Treasury in solidarity with federal workers who are going to be furloughed as part of the automatic budget cuts known as the sequester, an administration official said Wednesday. The voluntary move would be retroactive to March 1, the official said, and apply through the rest of the fiscal year, which ends in September. The White House came up with the 5 percent figure to approximate the level of spending cuts to nondefense federal agencies that took effect that day." CW: sure hope that makes Medicare patients dying of cancer feel better.
Jon Lender, et al., of the Hartford Courant: "After more than 13 hours of debate..., the [Connecticut] General Assembly early Thursday approved an historic and far-reaching gun-control bill that proponents said was their toughest-in-the-nation response to the Dec. 14 Newtown school massacre. The state House of Representatives at 2:26 a.m. gave final legislative approval to the bill by a vote of 105 to 44, with 2 absent. Of the 98 House Democrats present, 13 voted no; and 31 of the 51 Republicans in the hall voted no. About eight hours earlier, the state Senate had approved it by a 26-10 vote -- with two of 22 Democrats and eight of 14 Republicans opposed. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy will sign the bipartisan bill into law at noon Thursday in the Old Judiciary Room on the third floor of the state Capitol." ...
... AP Update by Susan Haigh: "Alongside family members of some of the victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Malloy signed the bill hours after the General Assembly approved the measure to give the state some of the toughest gun laws in the country."
... Aaron Davis of the Washington Post: "The Maryland House of Delegates passed what would be among the nation's most restrictive gun-control measures Wednesday, voting to ratchet up the state's already tough rules by requiring fingerprinting of gun buyers, new limits on firearm purchases by the mentally ill, and bans on assault weapons and on magazines that hold more than 10 bullets.The 78 to 61 vote handed Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).... The bill now returns to the state Senate, which passed a substantially similar version of the legislation last month." ...
... Erica Goode of the New York Times: "Many states with the weakest gun laws have the worst rates of gun violence, ranking high on numerous indicators, like gun homicides and suicides, firearm deaths of children, and killings of law enforcement officers, according to a report ... issued Wednesday by the liberal Center for American Progress." Zack Beauchamp of Think Progress has more. The study report is here (pdf). ...
... there's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue States: red states for Republicans, blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them.... We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America. -- Barack Obama, 2004 Democratic Convention
I am a pundit. -- Constant Weader
... Denver Post: "President Barack Obama took to a lectern in Denver to make his case for tougher federal gun laws Wednesday with the backdrop of a Western state that focused the nation's attention on a mass shooting last year and took significant legislative steps on guns this year":
GOP Sides with Iran, North Korea & Syria (Not a Typo). Steve Benen: "Following seven years of negotiations, the Arms Trade Treaty was approved by the U.N. General Assembly, 154 to 3, though there were [23] abstentions. The United States was part of the majority." China & Russia were among the abstentions. The three "no" votes: Iran, NK & Syria. "The National Rifle Association and Republican policymakers are taking the Iranian, North Korean, and Syrian side of the argument." ...
... Gavin Aronsen of Mother Jones: "... the treaty doesn't dictate domestic gun laws in member countries. It requires signatories to establish controls on the import and export of conventional arms.... The US is the world's leading arms exporter, and gun dealers aren't eager to be required to report weapons exports that may wind up in the hands of warlords or terrorists overseas."
UN Arms Treaty should be rejected outright by US Senate. It is international gun regulation, plain and simple & it must never be ratified. -- Sen. Ted Cruz (RTP-Texas), in a Tweet
The U.N. Arms Trade Treaty is another attempt by internationalists to limit and infringe upon America’s sovereignty. Such a treaty would require the United States to implement laws as required by the treaty, instead of the national controls that are currently in place. -- Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) Via Jonathan Bernstein.
One thing we know about Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi -- he has no sense of humor:
Brian Beutler of TPM: "We’ve reached a point in the power struggle between the White House and Senate Republicans where it's unclear whether President Obama can get a judicial nominee supported by Ken Starr -- yes, that Ken Starr -- confirmed to a federal appellate court.... John Roberts' old seat on the DC Circuit has been vacant for eight years." And still no filibuster reform. Beutler thinks the Senate's blocking Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be the straw that breaks the camel's back. CW: I think the camel has a mighty strong back. ...
... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "The Republican party excuse: "The DC Circuit doesn't really have a very heavy caseload, so it doesn't need any more judges.... Now that David Sentelle has retired and the court has four vacancies, maybe this argument won't fly any longer. Then again, maybe it will."
"The Nihilism of David Stockman." Neil Irwin of the Washington Post: "Stockman’s view of the economy seems to be: that basically anything the state does to try to fix things is undermining some elegant capitalist order and will inevitably lead to chaos.... [But] capitalism can only exist in a framework -- monetary and legal -- set up by the government." ...
... William Greider of the Nation: in the 1990s & 2000s, Paul Krugman got the effects of globalization seriously wrong. Thanks to Kate M. for the link. Here's Krugman's withering 1997 review of Greider's book, which Greider mentions in his column.
Gail Collins agrees with a portion of a comment contributor Diane made in yesterday's Comments. Collins writes that former South Carolina Gov. Mark "Sanford has always had a terrible case of chronic self-absorption. Now that he's talking about his feelings so much, it's turned into a creepy New Age egomania."
Ta-Nehisi Coates, in a New York Times op-ed, on Dr. Benjamin Carson, the latest Conservative Black Hope.
Stephanie Clifford of the New York Times: "Walmart, the nation's largest retailer and grocer, has cut so many employees that it no longer has enough workers to stock its shelves properly, according to some employees and industry analysts. Internal notes from a March meeting of top Walmart managers show the company grappling with low customer confidence in its produce and poor quality. Before the recession, at the start of 2007, Walmart had an average of 338 employees per store at its United States stores and Sam's Club locations. Now, it has 281 per store, having cut the number of United States employees while adding hundreds of stores." CW: maybe one reason consumers have "lost confidence" in WalMart is that they don't like shopping at stores that underpay AND overwork their employees. Meanwhile, the Waltons just keep getting richer.
Steve Eder & Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "On Wednesday morning, Rutgers fired the men's basketball coach, Mike Rice, a day after video surfaced of him berating his players during practices, throwing basketballs at them, kicking them and taunting them with vulgar language, including homophobic slurs. But Mr. Rice's dismissal did little to quiet critics, including selected officials, faculty members and students, who called for the dismissal of [athletic director Tim] Pernetti and [university president Robert] Barchi and demanded to know why Rutgers had not fired Mr. Rice after it initially investigated the abuse allegations last November." ...
... New York Times Editors: "Critics like Walter Byers, a former N.C.A.A. executive director, have complained of a 'neo-plantation' system of college sports in which athletes are pawns while high-priced coaches and athletic directors -- under pressure to win -- exercise the power of kings. The Rutgers tape is a timely warning not only to Rutgers but to university presidents everywhere as the final games of the N.C.A.A.'s basketball tournament play out before the nation."
Local News
Harry Warren, et al., of WRAL Raleigh: "A resolution filed by Republican lawmakers would allow North Carolina to declare an official religion, in violation of the Establishment Clause of the U.S. Bill of Rights, and seeks to nullify any federal ruling against Christian prayer by public bodies statewide. The resolution grew out of a dispute between the American Civil Liberties Union and the Rowan County Board of Commissioners. In a federal lawsuit filed last month, the ACLU says the board has opened 97 percent of its meetings since 2007 with explicitly Christian prayers." ...
... Charles Pierce: "Thus does North Carolina march boldly into the past, looking neither right nor left as it passes 1789 or 1776, until it arrives at 1640, and Quakers and Catholics are hiding under the bed." ...
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "The bill might be pointless grandstanding, but it's just one of many pointless pieces of grandstanding that signal the revival of nullification as a legal theory in the Obama years, mostly among conservatives who have claimed that states could disregard duly passed federal laws on matters like health care or gun control. (Liberals have indulged too, demanding that the feds not enforce drug laws in states that have legalized marijuana.)" ...
... Laura Leslie of WRAL: "The [Republican-controlled North Carolina] state Senate voted 33-14 Wednesday to repeal the state's historic Racial Justice Act and restart executions in North Carolina. The 2009 Racial Justice Act allowed death row inmates to appeal their sentences on the grounds of racial bias in the court system. If a judge agreed, the inmate's sentence could be commuted to life without the possibility of parole."
Right Wing World *
War on Women, Ctd. Digby: "Here's more evidence that the Republican Party is 'moderating' on these pesky social issues due to their shellacking in the last election. This post is by Reince Preibus, Chairman of the Republican Party: 'Media Covers up Democrat-Backed Planned Parenthood's Support for Infanticide.' ... Anyway, I think we can all feel fairly confident that the War on Women has not been abandoned. ...
... Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs: "This is damage control, folks -- a sop thrown to the religious right, who are getting very angry with the Republican Party and their talk of 'rebranding.' The absurdly hateful lie that President Obama supports infanticide has been bouncing around the right wing echo chamber for years, impervious to refutation, and Priebus is very calculatedly playing to that lovely group of people who are willing and eager to believe it." CW: my thoughts exactly. Besides, the 22 percent of Romney voters who believe Obama is the Anti-Christ won't be slightly surprised that he supports infanticide.
Even More GOP Outreach. (The Hits Just Keep Coming.) Lou Chibbaro of the Washington Blade: "Virginia Attorney General Kenneth Cuccinelli has filed a petition with the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond asking the full 15-judge court to reconsider a decision by a three-judge panel last month that overturned the state's sodomy law. The three-judge panel ruled 2-1 on March 12 that a section of Virginia's 'Crimes Against Nature' statute that outlaws sodomy between consenting adults, gay or straight, is unconstitutional based on a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2003 known as Lawrence v. Texas." CW: the ruling should have been 3-0; don't know what the problem was with the dissenting judge, but I can guess.
* Is still right-wing.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Roger Ebert, the popular film critic and television co-host who along with his fellow reviewer and sometime sparring partner Gene Siskel could lift or sink the fortunes of a movie with their trademark thumbs up or thumbs down, died on Thursday in Chicago. He was 70." CW: the obituary, written by Douglas Martin, who also write Virginia Brill's obituary, does not mention until th een dof the 4th paragraph that Ebert "published a cookbook on meals that could be made with a rice cooker." The Chicago Sun-Times obituary of Ebert is here, with links to related stories.
New York Times: the Manhattan D.A. brought indictments "against 63 members of ... three [East Harlem] gangs. All males, they range in age from 16 to 25. All but eight of them are younger than 20. Forty-nine of them face up to life in prison on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. The top charges against the 14 others carry sentences of up to 25 years in prison. Most of the young men were arrested on Wednesday in an operation that involved more than 300 police officers. Throughout the day on Thursday, they were brought before two judges in Manhattan, where they all pleaded not guilty."
Christian Science Monitor: "Investigators in the case of slain Colorado prison chief Tom Clements have begun a search for two white-supremacist prison gang members identified as persons of interest in the case. The men, James Lohr and Thomas Guolee, are said to be part of the 211 Crew, a gang whose members also included Evan Ebel, the primary suspect in Mr. Clements's killing."
Reuters: "The Bank of Japan unleashed the world's most intense burst of monetary stimulus on Thursday, promising to inject about $1.4 trillion into the economy in less than two years, a radical gamble that sent the yen reeling and bond yields to record lows. New Governor Haruhiko Kuroda committed the BOJ to open-ended asset buying and said the monetary base would nearly double to 270 trillion yen ($2.9 trillion) by the end of 2014, a dose of shock therapy officials hope will end two decades of stagnation."
Reuters: "New York State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson and four others were charged with corruption by U.S. prosecutors on Thursday, in the second federal graft case brought against New York politicians this week. Federal prosecutors have accused Stevenson of taking more than $22,000 in bribes in exchange for official acts, which included drafting and sponsoring legislation to assist four businessmen in opening a network of adult daycare centers in the Bronx and avoid competition."
Reuters: "An Ohio judge sentenced Richard Beasley to death on Thursday for the murder of three down-on-their-luck men who responded to an ad he placed on the Craigslist website for a nonexistent job."
AP: "The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week by 28,000, the third straight increase. Weekly applications increased to a seasonally adjusted 385,000, the Labor Department said Thursday. That's the highest level since late November."
New York Times: "An enormous leak of confidential financial records has revealed the identities of thousands of wealthy depositors — including European and Russian officials and corporate executives, Asian dictators and their children, and even American doctors and dentists -- who have stashed immense amounts of money in offshore tax havens.... The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a 15-year-old Washington-based group that obtained the secret records, collaborated with The Guardian, Asahi Shimbun, Le Monde, The Washington Post and more than 40 other news organizations to untangle and report their contents." The Guardian story is here, with links to related stories.
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Reader Comments (11)
Gail Collins's piece cited above is quite good and goes a long way to remind those of us who still read what an asshole Sanford is. For what it's worth, which is nada, I expect a Democratic win in this set-to.
Oh boy, David Stockman will be on On Point with Tom Ashbrook this morning.
On another note, yesterday I had an appointment with nurse practictioner, and she is anticipating having to do doctors work at nurses pay once the ACA starts up. She's not happy about it (the pay that is).
Julie in Massachusetts
Crazy has a long shelf life in right-wing world. It will probably outlive cockroaches.
As I’ve mentioned a few times previously, I am blessed to be on some right-wing e-mail lists and so every now and then I get to scan dispatches from the front where the residents, those who aren’t totally barking mad, have had their heads pounded on so long they ring like a Chinese gong.
So here’s how it works. Someone (in this case Michele Bachmann and Louie Gohmert, and a few other roaches) says something demonstrably false and insanely stupid (MOOSLIMS ARE INFILTRATING THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!), this gets passed around the inner sanctums of wingnut redoubts where, after thirty or forty seconds, it transmogrifies into hand-to-god truth, someone makes a graphic which ramps up the original bullshit, metaforming it into a shiny, blinking, 3D version of stupid.
This golden idol gets passed around and receives the requisite drooling nods and a “See? Toldya it was true! MOOSLIMS ARE EVERY fucking WHERE” and finally gets delivered, months and months after the initial steaming loaf of crazy was spit out of Bachmann’s mouth, right to my inbox, where the more respectable e-mails knock each other down trying to avoid being infected. Even the spam heads for the hills.
Anyway, the graphic in this case depicts six men, all portrayed, in this e-mail to be agents of the Muslim Brotherhood who have not just infiltrated the government, but are running the White House. I kid you not. The e-mail is titled “Look Who’s Running the White House Show. This is SERIOUS, GUYS!!”
The “writer” goes on to scream that these six Muslim Brotherhood types are making national policy for the US and asks why can’t we find qualified Americans to make policy.
One problem? None of these men are members of the Muslim Brotherhood. None were born in Egypt. Three are American born. Two others are from Pakistan and India. The closest any come to Egypt is one guy who was born in the Sudan. Two guys, Arif Alikhan and Rashad Hussain, are former federal prosecutors. Alikhan worked in the Bush administration (no lovers of Muslims of any stripe).
And the other outrage? Obama is giving $250 million to Egypt. To those dirty Muslims!! Two hundred and fifty fucking million. Dollars!
So as usual, just for shits and grins, I wrote back to the group explaining that a teensy bit of research would uncover background information on all those depicted, which would in turn demonstrate that not an ounce of truth backed up any claim made in this graphic or the accompanying e-mail, and I mentioned that $250 million is a drop in the bucket as far as aid goes but could be extremely beneficial if we wish to play a role in the ongoing developments in Egypt, mentioning that if Egypt were to become a failed state the cost we’d pay would make that 3 trillion we just dumped down a well in Iraq look like pocket change.
I also pointed out that claiming six guys who work as occasional advisors to the president are now "running the White House" is a tad hyperbolic, especially considering the hundreds of other advisors used by all administrations.
You can imagine the responses I got. I wonder why a discussion about foreign policy qualifies me for "dirty queer" and "faggot traitor" epithets? What is about right-wingers that causes everything to be reduced to gay sex?
But that’s just how it works. It’s no different than the crazy in the link Marie provided today telling about the outrages of Obama: Serial Baby Killer.
We really are dealing with an entirely different species here. No facts intrude on their hate fueled fantasies. No truth will break through the barriers of bullshit.
It’s crazy in the morning, crazy in the evening, crazy at suppertime.
"But what's going on out there in the country now is getting just a little bit terrifying." —Charles Pierce today on The Definition Of Terrorism.
When law enforcement becomes afraid we really have a problem.
There's one story in the media after another relating to guns. From the federal prosecutor leaving the case in Texas (after the triple shootings there & one in Colorado, the sheriff killed in West Virginia just sitting in his car) and it goes on and on. Finally, Connecticut cracks down with a 'tough' new gun law...and this has people there lining up to purchase guns!
This is freaky, but looking at media pics of the crazed-eyed NRA's LaPierre ranting from his podium...and comparing to a recently released WIDE-EYED, eerie photo of Adam Lanza—both display a similar characteristic: small pupils and wide, wide whites of the eye!
@Akhilleus Pierce is also on the "Louie, Louie" case again today. How, how does someone like that get elected?
@ Julie, Re: Nurse Practitioners (and Physicians' Assistants).
You NP's concern is not misplaced but arrives very late to the party. NPs and PAs have been performing what used to be doctors' work for at least twenty years and while their salaries are higher than that of those without the advanced training and certification, their pay is no where near commensurate with the compensation of physicians doing the same work, certainly not in Family or Pediatric practice, even keeping in mind that Family Practice doctors and Pediatricians are the lowest paid doctors of all.
Much could be said here about the peculiar compensation structure embedded in our medical-industrial complex, like why radiologists who never see a patient are paid at least twice as much as those who actually deal directly with the sick and dying, but my point here is that those pay peculiarities have developed over time and that the recently enacted ACA has little, if anything, to do with the "unfairness" your nurse practitioner tardily anticipates.
That unfairness is already here.
MAG,
How do maggots like Gohmert keep getting elected? My first guess is similar to Hunter Thompson's calibration of out of control elements of life into something one comes to see as normal: Fear and loathing.
GOPers like Gohmert and Bachmann are so far around the bend with their paranoia and insanity and they spread their craziness across their districts like a gelatinous ooze. I also think that nearly all the people that vote for them must share at least a good part of their stupidest fantasies and fears, and consequently loathe whatever it is their reps loathe.
When you spend most of your life looking for enemies and traitors you're gonna find them.
Everywhere. Remember the watchwords of the Bush administration? Be afraid. Be very afraid. Gohmert and like minded vermin trade in the same sort of paranoia and they are elected by those who believe they can keep the fantasy monsters at bay.
Well, isn't this special?
Good neighbor Exxon/Mobil, you know, the guys who are testing out their Crude Oil is Great for your Lawn theme park down in Mayflower, Arkansas, have gone one neighborly step further.
It seems that pesky reporters and TV stations have been flying over the area getting great aerial shots of how cool all that oil looks flowing over backyards and patios, down streets and into basements and, well, Exxon is concerned that there might be a hazard connected with this.
Oh, not the oil spill. That's fine. No problem. All taken care of. Why all those kids now forced to live in the local Super 8 even got fucking Easter baskets. What more do you want? Greedy fucks.
No...the hazard involves planes and helicopters and nosy parkers taking pictures that give everyone the wrong impression. Very inconvenient, you see. What to do? I know! Call up the FAA, tell them to institute a no-fly zone effective right fucking now and keep it in place until we say so. And not only that, we're putting one of our guys in charge. That's right. An Exxon guy will be in charge of "supervising" the no-fly zone.
So I'm guessing the "hazard" warning, which is, I guess, the sorta, kinda, maybe reason for the no lookee from the air plan must be for some kind of safety thing. Because there's certainly no hazard from Exxon/Mobil turning your street into a river of crude (pay no attention to those guys in the haz-mat suits). Crude spilling out of a pipeline that's 65 years old (!) and just recently had its capacity increased by 50% because, you know, what could go wrong with that?
It's great to be a mega-corporation in America, ain't it? All part of being a good neighbor. You know, like BP.
But don't take my word for it:
Nothing to see here...move along.
I think at the core of the madness that is Bachmann, Gohmert and their ilk is free floating and irrational fears of the "other". These folks are especially stunted. Considering anything but a restrictive set of life rules is stone terrifying to them. They flail about, in their amoebic existence, to hang on to selective rules that allow them to be less terrified. Overly prescribed and rigid rules for conduct is likely what spurs the fall from grace episodes - primarily sexual. Their thinking skills are emotionally driven, and confused. I think their followers identify with the fear of the "other" and individuals can define the "other" in many ways. Bachmann et al give folks plenty of possibilities to experience their own personal horror; gays, minorities, science, independent women, religions not their own, adolescent rebellion and on and on. The wait is excruciating for them to either evolve or become extinct.
Make no mistake, Ted Cruz is not one of them. He is not confused. He's a sociopath. Cruz seems to be pursuing his need for grandiosity almost to exclusion of everything else. Moves like seizing control of an insignificant MS resolution, merely to exercise power, is an example. I'm not sure he is capable of moderating his behavior, especially at this stage when his actions still garner praise from the ignorant wing. I suspect he will become increasingly emboldened (UN Treaty response). As a sociopath, Cruz doesn't have self awareness. That will be his downfall.
@Diane. Thank you. I think your analysis is just right, and it's something to keep in mind as we ask ourselves "Why'd they do that?" Equal outcomes don't necessarily derive from equal inputs.
I'd like to know what you think of someone like Mitch McConnell, who is a conniving lizard but somehow different from Cruz. McConnell's objective is to advance his agenda, one he shares with others, and he will resort to nearly any means to do it. But he seems to have goals, however horrible they may be, that are not entirely self-serving, a la Cruz.
Marie
Re: Throwin' the baby out with the bath water. Sorry all to hell Mr. President; but I got to tell you the argument that tough times trump environmental concerns is a huge crock of shit. You're going to sign off on a pipeline for the good of nobody but the oil companies. Price of oil is not going to come down, gas is going to continue to rise in price. There will be a few new jobs created, but the oil companies and their lobbyists will profit the most.
If in fifty years time the pole caps are gone it won't make a figs bit of difference as to whether you lowered the unemployment rates or not.
Earth first, Mr. President; gun control, gay marriage, droning; if you can't breath the air, those cultural problems don't carry much weight.
So say you are signing off on the oil companies demands but don't pretend you're doing it for the good of the people.
Marie. Gosh I really like it when I am challenged to think about an issue I haven't really thought about. So...in re McConnell. I think he's the kind of politician who operates best in a smoke filled backroom. A principled stance is left outside with the wet umbrella. Its all about the highest bidder. If you look at his career, (1984 - present) he has charted a careful and patient path to minority leader. McConnell has always known on which side his bread is buttered and is a very savvy creature of opportunity. Before the intransigent battle lines were drawn, he had supported some Dem legislation, even gun control (91/98). Currently, he is successfully using the wingnut faction to obscure his real goal, which is to accumulate wealth and solidify his position in Congress by being a fill-in-the-blank industry whore. He overplayed some with the Obama "keep him to one term is our primary goal" quote in 2009. I think he let more of that old white guy stuff out of the racist trunk than was necessary, but didn't really hurt him all that much. In a clever move for a bit of redemption, he played out the filibuster BS with Reid.
A comprehensive report by the Public Campaign Action Fund (1/2013) covers McConnell's filibuster history as it relates to campaign donors and illustrates his longstanding tactics. His top 3 donor sectors are Securities and Investments, Health Professionals, and Lawyers. The reasons for filibustering appointments like Cordray and opposing the ACA are apparent. According to the report, McConnell was 41st, in terms of wealth in the Congress in 2004. By 2010, he was 10th. There are several other articles (google where did McConnell's wealth come from) that indicate he made some good investments with his 2nd wife (Elaine Chao) - whose Chinese father is very wealthy. I guess being cozy with those Chinese communist party members has its perks. Free Trade. Hmmmmm.
McConnell is a grifter, albeit a clever one. He will always have a successful landing. His early races were very tough, I suspect he’ll slime by in 2014 again.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/118823453/McConnell-Campaign-Finance-Report