Wednesday
Apr062016
The Commentariat -- April 7, 2016
I've done a piss-poor job here, & not by accident. I need some help. -- Constant Weader
CW Update: The contributions safari & LT have made since I posted my plea for help are terrific. LT even does the work a commenter could not be bothered to do: provide facts, put them in context & link the sources.
Afternoon Update:
Guardian: Fox "News" host Megyn Kelly "spoke openly about her evolving relationship with [Donald] Trump during a discussion with Katie Couric at the Women in the World Summit in New York City on Wednesday night, revealing that he used to call repeatedly after shows and send her signed press clippings in an attempt to ‘curry favor’ ahead of his presidential run." Video.
*****
Louise Story of the New York Times: "The United States government is close to issuing a rule that will for the first time require banks and other financial institutions to find out the identities of people hidden behind shell companies. The rule is meant to close a major loophole in the American banking system that enables the sorts of secretive financial maneuvers that were thrust into the spotlight this week with the leak of millions of documents from a law firm in Panama." -- CW
Jonelle Marte of the Washington Post: "The Labor Department announced sweeping rules Wednesday that could transform the financial advice given to people saving for retirement by requiring brokers and advisers to put their clients’ interests first. The long-awaited 'fiduciary rule' would create a new standard for brokers and advisers that is stricter than current regulations, which only require that brokers recommend products that are “suitable,” even if it may not be the investor’s best option." -- CW ...
... Jared Bernstein, in his blog, explains the importance of two of the key actions taken by the Obama administration this week. He thinks the conflict of interest rule for financial advisors (linked above) is, "one of the administration’s biggest wins for middle-class people trying to do the right thing and save for their retirement." He also weighs in on the importance of Obama's attempts to snuff out corporate inversions to avoid US corporate tax, reminding us that, "Because Congressional conservatives would never have let either of these new rules become law, they’ve been run through executive action. That means the next president could reverse them." --safari. Via Washington Monthly
J. Weston Phippen of The Atlantic: "The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil antitrust lawsuit Wednesday to block a merger between Halliburton, the world’s second-largest oilfield-services company, and the third-largest, Baker Hughes. Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the deal would 'skew energy markets and harm American consumers.'" --safari
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "On Thursday,[President Obama] will return to the [University of Chicago] law school for the first time as president, using the backdrop of his academic life [there] to underscore his demand that Republicans follow the letter of the law by agreeing to hold a hearing and a vote on his nominee to the Supreme Court, Merrick B. Garland, the chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit." -- CW
Mary Ellen Kustin of ThinkProgress: "The national monuments that President Obama has created or expanded are generating more than $156 million in local economic activity annually, according to a study published Wednesday. (...) Harry Reid (D-NV) said in a statement. 'As this report shows, we can protect the most magnificent areas of our nation while also providing real opportunities for local economies.'" --safari note: Tell that to the Bundy Bunch.
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration will take $589 million in existing federal funds — most of which were intended to combat the Ebola virus — and spend the money instead on fighting the spread of the Zika virus. The move, which federal officials described as a stopgap measure, came after GOP congressional leaders refused to provide $1.9 billion in emergency funds to limit transmission of Zika in the United States and abroad." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... CW: So, a new way to get around Congress. Let them scare themselves silly (see Paul, Rand) about one threat, claim it costs billions to eliminate; then, when that threat abates, transfer the left-over money to needs the Congress won't fund, like ones that most affect women & minorities/"foreigners," about whom Republicans care NOTHING.
Hannah Fairfield & Tim Wallace of the New York Times: "Republican leaders have blocked the closing of the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, because they say they do not want terrorists held on United States soil. But American prisons currently hold 443 convicted terrorists, far more than the 89 men who remain imprisoned in Cuba.The New York Times was able to confirm locations for about a third of the terrorists, shown on the map above. The Department of Justice would not release the names or locations of the other prisoners who had been convicted of terrorism." Includes map of know locations. ....
... CW: The Times story appears to be meant as a persuasive tool cloaked in a factual representation. That is, it proffers an implicit argument: let's save millions by imprisoning 89 more terrorists (& suspected terrorists) in prisons in this country. As such, it assumes facts not in evidence: (1) Congressional Republicans can be swayed by logic or sensible argument; (2) Congressional Republicans care about the safety of all innocent people, including Cubans; (3) Congressional Republicans would pass any legislation that President Obama initiated; (4) Congressional Republicans believe they should do their jobs.
C. J. Chivers of the New York Times: "A terrorist hoping to buy an antiaircraft weapon could look no further than Facebook, which in recent years has been hosting sprawling online arms bazaars, including handguns, heavy machine guns and guided missiles.... This week, after The New York Times provided Facebook with seven examples of suspicious groups, the company shut down six of them." CW: And you people don't like Facebook!
Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday declined a Texas inmate’s request to halt his execution, rejecting an appeal from his attorneys hours before his scheduled lethal injection. Texas authorities plan to execute Pablo Vasquez, 38, on Wednesday evening. Vasquez was convicted in 1999 of murdering David Cardenas, a 12-year-old boy, the previous year." -- CW
America's crumbling instrastructure...Sarah Frostenenson and Sarah Kliff of Vox: "Neighborhoods where kids face the highest risk of lead poisoning exist all across America. (...) So we worked with epidemiologists in Washington state to estimate risk levels in every geographic area in America." --safari note: Includes national map to check out your area.
Presidential Race
Frank Rich: "A contested [Repubican] convention in which the various camps conduct trench warfare to win over, steal, or bribe unbound delegates seems near-certain.... What Sanders is doing and can keep doing is force Clinton to address his signature issues and keep weakening her in the process by calling attention to her inability to plausibly pose as a populist and her overall deficiencies as a candidate. She is now openly exasperated by Sanders’s campaign. And she keeps making astonishing errors...." -- CW
Peter Eavis of the New York Times: "Yes, Bernie Sanders knows something about breaking up banks." Eavis explains what Bernie was saying in that New York Daily News interview (linked below). Hillary Clinton can quit gloating now (which she did, sending transcripts of the interview all around. Maybe she should read the interview.) -- CW
... Steve M.: "I don't know how many votes Hillary Clinton can win by pouncing on this. When she says she's been in the trenches and has the experience, voters seem to envision not statecraft but shady deals in back rooms. Touting her experience is probably hurting her. It's just that kind of year." -- CW ...
... Ryan Grim of the Huffington Post: "In fact, in several instances, it’s the Daily News editors who are bungling the facts in an interview designed to show that Sanders doesn’t understand the fine points of policy. In questions about breaking up big banks, the powers of the Treasury Department and drone strikes, the editors were simply wrong on details." -- CW ...
... Mike Konczal of the Roosevelt Institute: "Let’s Dispel Once and for All With This Fiction that Sanders Doesn’t Know How to Break Up Banks." -- CW
Mrs. Clinton Is No Longer Amused. Anne Gearan of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton launched a fierce new two-pronged attack on rival Bernie Sanders on Wednesday, questioning the persistent challenger's bona fides as a Democrat and his qualifications to run the country. In comments to a union gathering [in Philadelphia] and in interviews, the Democratic front-runner did not hide her frustration and annoyance with Sanders and his underdog assault as the once-tame Democratic primary turns increasingly testy." -- CW
...Neither is Mr. Sanders. Hanna Trudo of Politico: In response to Hillary Clinton insinuating that Bernie Sanders is not qualified to be President, Sanders replied, "I don't believe that she is qualified if she is, through her super PAC, taking tens of millions of dollars in special interest funds,...voted for the disastrous war in Iraq,... [and] supported virtually every disastrous trade agreement." -- LT ...
... Yo' Mama Update. Anne Gearan & John Wagner of the Washington Post provide a blow-by-blow account. -- CW
Glenn Thrush of Politico interviewed Hillary Clinton Monday, & she unloaded on everybody, especially Bernie Sanders. "She was ticked off — already factoring in an inevitable loss in Wisconsin Tuesday — and was in a rare mood of public introspection...." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Eliza Collins of Politico: Former Obama advisor & campaign guru David Alexrod "was asked on CNN’s 'New Day' on Wednesday about Clinton telling Politico that she felt sorry for the young supporters of Sanders who 'are fed this list of misrepresentations' about her record. Axelrod ... cautioned the former secretary of state against being dismissive of Sanders' allure to young voters. 'One thing I would stay away from, I would stay away from the insinuation that these young people who are inspired by Bernie Sanders are dupes and they are being fed misinformation and that is why they are enthusiastic about Bernie Sanders,' Axelrod said." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Jonathan Chait: Hillary "Clinton’s dominance of the African-American vote has been explained as a residue of the long-standing ties she and her husband have built over decades on the national scene. Sanders’s failure has likewise been attributed to his decades of confinement to the flamboyantly white state of Vermont. Both factors have surely played a role. But there is a larger and more durable force behind the African-American place in the Democratic Party mainstream: a long historical tradition of highly rational electoral pragmatism." -- CW
Democrats need not worry about the Bickersons. Over on the Republican side, a catastrophe is brewing. Paul Waldman in the Week: "Republicans ... may be facing the worst of all possible worlds: a terribly damaged [Donald] Trump who nonetheless can't be stopped from winning their party's nomination. Trump has certainly suffered in the last couple of weeks, as the horrifying farce that his candidacy represents has become more clear with each passing day.... Ted Cruz[? ... That won't sit right. In the current establishment fantasy, a deadlocked convention is resolved when the attendees finally give the nomination to that fine young man, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. That would be a disaster of a different sort." -- CW
Jenna Johnson & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump’s campaign will soon announce the hiring of several 'seasoned operatives' and 'well-known, established names' to help the Republican front-runner quickly grow his operation and prepare for a likely contested convention, his campaign manager said Wednesday." -- CW ...
"Seasoned operatives"? Why didn't you say so? Karoli Kuns on Crooks and Liars, reports that Trump BFF and former dirty trickster with the Nixon Gang, Roger Stone, who was born under a rock, is looking at calling upon a few of his own "seasoned operatives" if Trump doesn't get the crown next summer in Cleveland. His plan? "'We’re going to have protests, demonstrations. We will disclose the hotels and the room numbers of those delegates who are directly involved in the steal,' Stone said Monday in a discussion with Stefan Molyneux on Freedomain Radio, as he alleged that Trump's opponents planned to deny the democratic will of Republican primary voters.'" And if you're not sure whether or not someone from your area is involved, Stone and his thugs will help."...we’ll tell you who the culprits are. We urge you to visit their hotel and find them." Jeff Toobin, in a New Yorker profile (mug shot is more like it) of Stone a few years back relayed the Stone mantra: "'Attack, attack, attack—never defend' and 'Admit nothing, deny everything, launch counterattack.'" No wonder Drumpf loves this guy. -- Akhilleus
... John King, et al., of CNN: "Donald Trump met Wednesday with GOP strategist Paul Manafort, a huddle that suggests campaign changes could be in the works.... The move raised questions about the future of Trump's embattled campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.... Friction between Lewandowski and Manafort may have already had an impact on Trump's campaign.... Campaign sources say Lewandowski's role is clearly being diminished....Trump's adversaries see the campaign overhaul as coming too late in the process." ...
... CW: The CNN reporters write that "Trump and his team simply appeared unaware of how the delegate process worked." As we mentioned here last week, Trump seems to have believed -- until he met with the RNC & even thereafter -- that he should be nominated by acclamation, & that anything less was "unfair" to him. He has continued to characterize rival campaigns' customary outreach to delegates as "stealing." ...
... NEW. Benjy Sarlin of MSNBC: "Colorado is a rare state where party officials choose delegates without any input from a primary or caucus vote," and the Trump campaign has little or no presence there. Donald Trump himself "canceled an appearance in the state to campaign in New York instead." Meanwhile, Ted Cruz has a sophisticated delegate outreach operation, & he plans to address the state's convention. "It’s not just Cruz and Kasich that Trump has to worry about either. The anti-Trump group Our Principles PAC, which has spent millions on ads opposing his candidacy, is increasingly devoting its focus to the delegate selection fight." Sarlin casts the Trump campaign's near-absence in Colorado as consistent with its lack of effort in other states. -- CW
Philip Bump of the Washington Post: Without providing any evidence, Donald Trump casually accused Ted Cruz of violating campaign finance law by coordinatng with a pro-Cruz superPAC, which would be a federal crime. But there's this: "Trump himself appeared at fundraising events for a super PAC supporting him last year, before the super PAC was shuttered following a Post story that raised questions about how the campaign and the PAC were interacting. In that case, the two organizations shared a vendor, and that vendor reached out to raise money for the PAC using information he apparently received from Trump's office." -- CW
Trump Blows off Pro-Lifers. Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Anti-abortion activists gathered in Washington on Wednesday had expected to hear from Donald Trump about his abortion positions. They left disappointed. Trump did not address the 115 Forum, a conference of abortion foes in Washington organized by Priests for Life. Three sources associated with the group said organizers had initially led attendees to believe that Trump would be speaking to them by phone. Yet later on Wednesday, organizers said the mogul would not be speaking." -- CW ...
... CW: Please. Donald loves babies, even girl babies, despite the fact they don't yet have the most important female assets:
... See? A pro-lifer AND a feminist.
Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker, in a greatest-hits column, demonstrates how, during the past several weeks, Donald Trump blew a lock on the nomination with a series of stupid Trump tricks. -- CW ...
... CW: IMO, Trump cannot fix these goofs, because they are part and parcel of who he is -- a narcissistic, childish, shallow, tasteless, misogynistic, mean-spirited bully. Candidate Trump has sought to cast his oafish public persona as a long-running media act. To the extent that he's covered his cowardice with boorishness, that's true. But the goonish persona has been a means to try to hide a host of abhorrent character traits and personal shortcomings that he cannot undo by pretending to "act presidential." "Presidential" isn't an act; it is a galaxy of traits that one develops (or doesn't) over a lifetime: intellectual depth, emotional equilibrium, empathy, decency, diplomacy, humility, grit. Maybe money can buy Trump love, maybe it can even buy him the presidency, but it cannot make him presidential. Ever.
Trump in a funny way has normalized Ted Cruz because without Trump, the establishment would be totally opposed to Cruz. -- Newt Gingrich ...
... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Newt Gingrich on Wednesday marveled at one of Donald Trump's biggest accomplishments in the 2016 race — making Ted Cruz appear normal." -- CW
Chauncey Alcorn & Leonard Greene of the New York Daily News: Ted "Cruz was scheduled to speak [about education] at Bronx Lighthouse College Preparatory Academy until students wrote a letter to the principal asking her not to let Cruz come, prompting staffers to cancel the appearance. 'We told her if he came here, we would schedule a walkout,' said Destiny Domeneck, 16. 'Most of us are immigrants or come from immigrant backgrounds. Ted Cruz goes against everything our school stands for.'" -- CW
Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "While campaigning in the Bronx on Wednesday, Sen. Ted Cruz explained that his attacks on Donald Trump’s “New York values" were really attacks on the 'liberal Democratic' values he said were held by leading politicians in the state." --safari note: Classic Cruz, Uniter-in-Chief.
Amber Phillips of the Washington Post: "It's hard to imagine a more far-right presidential candidate than [Ted] Cruz, who has shown little to no willingness to appeal to the broader electorate that Republicans arguably need to win the White House and maintain control of the Senate. Some political analysts even think Republicans' majority in the House could be in play with not just a Trump nomination, but also a Cruz nomination." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "Donald L. Blankenship, whose leadership of Company transformed him into one of the wealthiest and most influential men in Appalachia, was sentenced on Wednesday to a year in prison for conspiring to violate federal mine safety standards. The sentencing, in Federal District Court here, came six years and one day after an explosion tore through Massey’s Upper Big Branch mine, killing 29 people. Although Mr. Blankenship was not accused of direct responsibility for the accident..., the disaster prompted the federal inquiry that led to Mr. Blankenship’s indictment." -- CW
Amber Phillips: "North Carolina's Republican party has declared war on itself.... In [a] press release they sent Tuesday, party leaders say they now have proof that not only did [the state chairman Hasan] Harnett try to crash their website, but that he tried to divert party funds into his own account.... ]The leaders have] shut down [Harnett's] email account and banned him from accessing their websites from going into party headquarters." -- CW
Tom Fuller of the New York Times: "San Francisco on Tuesday became the first city in the United States to approve six weeks of fully paid leave for new parents — mothers and fathers, including same-sex couples, who either bear or adopt a child." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Gov. Rick Scott (RAsshole-Fla.) hits Starbucks for a latte & a nice chat with the little people (who can afford $4/coffee):
Let's Party Like it's 1865! Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant, another one-a them "uniters, not dividers", you know, like Trump and Cruz and Trump BFF David Duke, has officially designated April Confederate Heritage Month! Praise the white lord, chillun! This not very startling happenstance comes at the behest of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Such nice lads. And, according to Breitbart, defender of all things White Supremacisty, not a racist among them. Know how they know? Why, the SCV says so, that's how. Yeah, and ISIS is dead set against terrorists. Oh, well then. I guess we can ignore some of the stated core values of the SCV, which, according to Max Blumenthal in a an article appearing on Salon, involve "...promoting issues and ideas you wouldn’t believe. One of the books they’re promoting... argues that Jewish northern intellectuals are the South’s deadliest enemy — that civil rights is really a Jewish conspiracy and that blacks have lower IQs. They’re also selling...a book that portrays the KKK as great heroes."
See? Not racist at all. But back to Confederate Heritage Month. Fun will be had by all. Oh...as long as you're white, Christian, and wingnutty. The official proclamation (issued on the SCV website and not the official mississippi.gov site) acknowledges that there might have been a few, er, well, hmmmm....some "mistakes" made...in the past. Long time ago. Not even worth mentioning anymore. What were those mistakes? Who knows? Oh, and there's no mention of the S word. Shhh... Why? Well, former Mississippi Guv, Haley Barbour, had to remind everyone, not long ago, that them darkies were all happy as Larry before all the civil rights foolishness. A-pickin' and a-grinnin. No one sad or nothin'. Of course you won't hear much from black Mississippians anymore on account-a all the amazingly successful vote suppression that has diminished black turnout so dramatically. But anyways, don't forget to jot down April 25th on your calendars. That's Confederate Memorial Day. Aiiieeeeyyyaghohwooo (rough approximation of Rebel Yell, which sounds very much like a dog being castrated.) -- Akhilleus
Way Beyond
Never Mind. Dan Bilefsky of the New York Times: "’s already fragile coalition government was thrown into further uncertainty on Wednesday after the country’s prime minister [Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson] said he had not formally resigned but had stepped aside for an 'unspecified' period after leaked documents linked him to an offshore company." -- CW
Kareem Fahim & C. J. Chivers of the New York Times: "A -led military coalition used bombs supplied by the United States in an attack on a market in Yemen last month that killed at least 97 civilians, including 25 children, said in a report released Wednesday."
Wall Street vs. Puerto Rico. Brian Chappatta, Michelle Kaske and Steven Dennis of Bloomberg: "Puerto Rico risked upending months-long efforts on Wall Street and in Washington to address the commonwealth’s fiscal crisis by authorizing the government to halt payments on a wide swath of its $70 billion debt (...) A default on those obligations would be a first for Puerto Rico" --safari
Michael Forsythe of the New York Times: "At least three of the seven people on the Chinese Communist Party’s most powerful committee, including President , have relatives who have controlled secretive offshore companies, the organization that has publicized a trove of leaked documents about hidden wealth reported on Wednesday." -- CW
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Reader Comments (26)
The result of the vote in Ferguson, Missouri, to increase sales tax but not property tax intrigued me. The tax increases were in part to fund changes to Ferguson's criminal justice system, demanded by the U.S. Department of Justice. I tried to find out who voted, and couldn't come up with any definitive answers. But voter participation remains low, with headlines saying it was disheartening, USA Today, and encouraging, Reuters.
The USA Today article states: "In the Ward 3 race, which includes the area Brown was from and where many business were destroyed and looted in the unrest, only 19% of voters cast ballots. To be certain, participation was up dramatically in Brown's home ward. In 2012, the last time there was a contested election in the ward, only 6 % – just 168 voters – bothered to cast ballots.
But after what Ferguson went through over the last eight months, an election in which less than a third participated seems like a hollow victory for democracy."
This makes me wonder if it is still mainly the more affluent voters turning out, as sales tax is considered a regressive tax hurting the poor, and property taxes affecting the wealthier. What I am alluding to here, is after all the turmoil, a disappointingly selfish vote. Perhaps in line with the contradictory headlines, though, with disheartening - "No" to property tax, and encouraging - "Yes" to at least some tax increase.
CW. Your coverage of the Hillary-Bernie he/she's not qualified spat was miserably, palpably slanted. We expect that from the Huffington Post. But not here. She was asked three times whether he was qualified and DODGED every time. He on the other hand came out and said that a woman whom the New York Times called the most highly qualified in our history was not qualified.
@Calyban: That's what this Comments section is for: to add to & amend the discussion.
However, you haven't provided any supporting evidence, so I have no idea if you're right. Until you post the candidates' actual comments or paraphrases of them, with links, & put them in context, you've just expressed an unsupported opinion/criticism. So, not particularly helpful, tho I suppose if criticizing me makes you happy then that's some kind of plus.
As you may know, I'm no longer covering for commenters who make assertions they are unwilling or unable to back up with facts.
BTW, this entire site is slanted. While there are occasions when I recommended ideas posed by conservative writers, I almost always identify them as wingers or some other pejorative. This isn't the Washington Post.
Marie
@Marie: and thankfully it's not the Washington Post.
Some days, I almost get what Bill Clinton meant when he said, "...it depends on what the meaning of IS is." Interpretations in the mind of the beholder can vary from one report to another.
I read what Sanders said who was or was not qualified, I read what Clinton (Hillary) responded when asked on the subject as well. Nothing in either situation appeared to rise to the level of OMG he/she just said and it's "....really getting nasty."
Seems more of tempest in a teapot than anything.
Or, Memo from the Editor to reporter: "Give this story some raw meat for the front page. We need eyeballs!" sincerely, Ed
Charles Pierce discusses justice inequality in the sentencing of Don Blankenship to one year's jail for his part in the West Virginia coal mining disaster that killed 29 miners. If you're some combination of white, well-connected and rich, there is a different justice system than if you're not. Conspiracy to violate mining regulations is just an accident.
The Economist ran an article a few weeks ago on justice in Louisiana, which I think could be fairly described as a failed state. The funding for the Public Defenders comes mainly from court fees and fines, truly a conflict of interest: "Thus, in a perverse reversal of the usual formula, public defenders routinely work on a “No lose, no fee” basis". The newly installed Dem Governor is in for a rough ride. Bobby Jindal gets to ride off into the sunset, while John Bel Edwards salvages the ruins, and will be vilified for all the spending cuts and tax hikes he'll have to make.
I hope the Democratic candidate has the perspicacity to use this material, and evidence from other failing red states, in the fall.
@MAG, re: the Bickersons: Exactly. The Democratic candidates are in a "yo' mama!" phase right now: -- "He's not qualified!" "No, she's not qualified!" -- part of which I was unaware when I posted my comment above. (And thanks again to LT for doing the heavy lifting here.) Until Hillary says Bernie is a commie who belongs in jail for sedition & Bernie says "those damned e-mails" are proof of Hillary's treason, this too shall pass.
Marie
Here is a more thorough coverage of the Sanders/Clinton kerfuffle along with Barney Frank and Robert Reich slugging it out. See? We be gettin stuff even if some don't think we be up to snuff. We be trying our bestest.
http://shows.huffingtonpost.com/video/can-sanders--plan-to-break-up-the-banks-work--519619195
Re: "CW–IMO: Her description here is not only exactly right, but beautifully put. After reading it I immediately thought of the old fable about the frog and the scorpion:
The scorpion asks the frog for a life across the river––no danger, says S. of me stinging you– "if I did we would both drown." Halfway across the scorpion stings the frog. As they both go down under the frog begs, "WHY?"
"It's MY CHARACTER," says S.
http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=16068
another test, this time winging it. do the mac users have laptops? i do not have a R click on that little square thing below the keyboard.
what i would like to be able to do is to refer to the new england journal medicine editorial absolutely condemning Gov. Snyder for his catastrophic failure to provide adequate public health for his citizens. not there yet
1) Supporting Evidence (Previously supplied, but here goes again):
DICKBRAIN SCARBOROUGH: "Is Bernie Sanders qualified to be President?"
MADAM SECRETARY: [summarized response] Dickbrain, I'm not going to answer that question, but here's some evidence people should look at: he doesn't have the foggiest notion of how he's going to implement his main policy proposal or what powers he has to do so.
DICKBRAIN SCARBOROUGH: "Is Bernie Sanders qualified to be President?"
MADAM SECRETARY: [summarized response] Dickbrain, I'm not going to answer that question, but here's some evidence people should look at: blah, blah, blah
DICKBRAIN SCARBOROUGH: "Is Bernie Sanders qualified to be President?"
MADAM SECRETARY: [summarized response] Dickbrain, I'm not going to answer that question, but the American people are going to decide who is qualified to be President.
CONCLUSION: She never, ever said he was unqualified. She did not read fairly, even imply he was not. She did point to some highly relevant evidence that anyone addressing the issue would want to look at in deciding that question.
2) CW: you set the agenda and frame the discussion here, and I, for one, expect a teensy bit more impartiality than you demonstrated here.
I'm sorry I can't provide a link (no idea how to do that--)but I was listening to Morning Joke yesterday when he asked Clinton three times whether Bernie was "qualified" and she DID duck it three times. She was screwed whichever way she went on live television. She did NOT say he was "not qualified" with those words. I was amazed as the day went on, as outlet after outlet said she did. Frankly, I think they are both eminently "qualified", especially when looking at the entire repugnican community. This is a tempest in a teapot-- I hope they can move on. Morning Joke needs a new job-- being a jerk is apparently not enough for him.
According to a CNN headline, "2 'dangerous' men escape from Washington state psychiatric hospital".
The men immediately threw their hats into the ring to run for the White House as Republicans. RNC chair Reince Priebus says the party bosses are seriously considering at least one of them as an alternative to Crump and Kasich. The Kochs, still looking hard at Lyin' Ryan as a possible last minute back-door weasel nominee, and realizing that their most recent big bets on losers like Scott Walker never panned out, are wondering whether it might not be a good idea to take a close look a formerly incarcerated criminally insane person, as opposed to an undiagnosed one walking around mumbling to themselves and looking dim on TV.
"At least he'd be our nut" Charles Koch was heard to mutter while helping his brother pull the wings off flies they caught next to their backyard abattoir.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1601013
With the permission of NEJM, here is a definitive perspective on the criminal wrongdoing of Gov. Snyder without mentioning Gov. Snyder. Just facts and history. It's well written and appalling.
thanks everyone for the education about links. I'm still working on how to embed. not there yet after 3 tutorials. I wanted to link/embed the review of the H. Bosch 500 year anniversary exhibit of 47 of his paintings - taking place now in his home town in Holland. I think the images are particularly good representations of Trump rallies.
Why It Matters
A few weeks ago American philosopher and great soul Hilary Putnam died. Martha Nussbaum, a friend, colleague and outstanding philosopher in her own right, offers a commemoration of Putnam's life and the importance of his work on the HuffPo site.
Philosophy routinely comes in for much hilarity and scorn, especially from the right. Big Brain Marco Rubio once whined, in an appropriately awkward expression, that "We need more welders and less philosophers." Nice going with that Basic Writing class, Marco. Nussbaum reminds us that NC governor, bigot and all around misogynistic creep Pat McCrory, described philosophy as "worthless" because it offers "no chances of getting people jobs". You can be sure no philosophical urges were circling McCrory's tiny lizard brain when he recently signed into law one of the most discriminatory laws in recent US history.
But, as Nussbaum also reminds us, the United States of America was founded by guys who were quite enamored of and conversant in the most important philosophical questions of their time. It's because of the philosophical enlightenment of these founders that we are a nation at all. Adams and Jefferson, in their voluminous correspondence, routinely delve into philosophical discussions, referencing the ancient Greeks as well as contemporary thinkers. Just imagine what fun would be made of them by wingers today: "ivory tower liberals", "elitists", "out of touch". But had we to rely on 18th century Marco Rubios or Pat McCrorys, Donald Trumps or Ted Cruzes, in 1776, we'd all be singing "God Save the Fucking Queen" today. (I think that's the original title.)
Right wing antipathy--nay, hostility--to education, even the IDEA of education, is what has birthed the current horror show of astounding ignorance and rank stupidity that is the Republican presidential nomination wrestling match. These people aren't just anti-intellectual, they're anti-thought.
As for Hilary Putnam, he "...was a philosopher of amazing breadth. As he himself wrote, 'Any philosophy that can be put in a nutshell belongs in one.' And in his prolific career Putnam, accordingly, elaborated detailed and creative accounts of central issues in an extremely wide range of areas in philosophy. Indeed there is no philosopher since Aristotle who has made creative and foundational contributions in all the following areas: logic, philosophy of mathematics, philosophy of science, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, ethics, political thought, philosophy of economics. philosophy of literature."
I first came to Putnam through his wonderful 1981 book, "Reason, Truth, and History" three subjects with which no Confederate has the slightest acquaintance.
Perhaps the biggest reason philosophy is still important.
And why they hate it so much.
P.S. by the by, Martha Nussbaum is an extraordinary and entirely accessible thinker and writer herself. If you're interested, check out her book on "Poetic Justice: The Literary Imagination and Public Life".
Victoria: hold down the control key and click. Or better, go to system preferences>trackpad and turn on "tap to click" and "secondary click" then tapping with two fingers is a right click. Trackpad does all sorts of neat stuff.
@Gloria
I haven't read Pierce's article but I thought I heard a blurb on the news that the judge in the Blankenship case imposed the maximum penalty she was able to for the charge he was convicted of. Sorry Marie, no evidence to link.
Cakers, here's a link: From the NYTimes: "Although the Justice Department said that federal guidelines " suggested a prison term of 15 to 21 months, the law under which Mr. Blankenship was convicted does not allow Judge Berger to sentence him to more than a year."
Cakers,
Your recollection is correct. According to the NY Times, Blankenship, who seemingly ruled every aspect of his company, Massey Energy, from purchase of hand tools up to large scale economic plans at the time 29 miners died under his oversight, was sentenced to one year in prison, "... the maximum allowed by law."
Blankenship was found guilty of a single--single as in one-- misdemeanor charge; essentially, he was convicted of a bad management style.
Blankenship, who believed he would never set foot in a courtroom in West Virginia, was unrepentant in the extreme and announced to the judge that everyone had to understand that he was in no way guilty of any crime.
As he was taken to a minivan outside the courthouse, someone screamed "You don't even know their names!"
I will bet everything I've ever had and ever will have that that is a true statement.
With good behavior, he'll probably be out by Labor Day.
"Good" Television: Why the Networks Want Clinton v. Trump"
" The dominant "news" media want this Trump-Clinton contest with such ferocious intensity that slip-and-fall accidents in newsrooms have gone up 6,000 percent thanks to all the drool on the floor. "
http://www.truth-out.org/
Drumpf "...used to call [Megyn Kelly] repeatedly after shows and send her signed press clippings in an attempt to ‘curry favor’ ahead of his presidential run."
Signed press clippings to curry favor?????
Who does this fucking guy think he is? Gaius Octavius? "Here's my signature. Aren't you thrilled? Now bow down to me and revel in my becoming emperor! If you're lucky, I'll let you live."
I think Marie's précis of the Trump persona, "...narcissistic, childish, shallow, tasteless, misogynistic, [a] mean-spirited bully" is exactly right. He's the kind of asshole who believes his very presence should be acknowledged as a world historical event, the kind of asshole who firmly believes there is no one who could stand up to his wonderfulness. In short, a ridiculous and preposterously egotistical douchebag. One who feels he has only to send off an autographed laundry list for mere humans to well up with tears of gratitude and fall swooning at his Gucci clad feet.
In short, a demeritorious and delusional fool.
Do nothing, fraudulent, dyspeptic, in-American carny barker Ted Cruz encourages an upstate New York audience at a Christian school to engage in election fraud by voting for him "ten times ".
He'd make a great leader of a democracy, no?
I understand that Judge Berger, a coal miner's daughter, was considered to be very brave to impose the maximum sentence on Blankenship for the misdemeanour he was convicted of. The jury found him not guilty of two felony charges. I read in Charles Pierce's comments section that had it not been a jury trial, the decision might have been different. Local NPR reported that Blankenship was widely feared in WV, including by the mining inspectors. Tim Murphy in Mother Jones states: Blankenship had " become a polarizing figure in his home state, where he bankrolled the rise of the Republican Party, pushed climate denial, and crushed unions".
Looks to me that it's safari and Akhilleus who are the ones that
"... [have done]the work a commenter could not be bothered to do: provide facts, put them in context & link the sources. "
Much appreciated!!!
@PD Pepe: Actually, it was LT who did the heavy lifting, as I noted above. You don't notice LT's submissions because they're so seamless. And, IMO, perfect.
Marie