The Commentariat -- August 29, 2014

Internal links removed.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama confronted a pair of volatile international crises with restraint on Thursday as he said he was not close to authorizing airstrikes against Islamic extremists in Syria and played down the latest escalation of Russia's military intervention in Ukraine. With tensions rising in Europe and the Middle East, Mr. Obama emphasized that a military response would not resolve either situation and pledged to build international coalitions to grapple with them. Despite pressure from within his own government for more assertive action, he tried to avoid inflaming passions as he sought new approaches." ...

... David Nakamura & Katie Zezima of the Washington Post: "President Obama said Thursday he has not decided on stepped-up military action against the Islamic State in Iraq or Syria, cautioning that he remains committed to a strategy that protects U.S. interests and builds broader partnerships to combat the threat posed by the militant group":

... "The Audacity of Taupe." Elahe Izadi: "President Obama wore a tan suit on Thursday while talking about Ukraine and the Islamic State, and political Twitter promptly went nuts. Over the suit." Some pretty funny tweets, including this one from conservative Philip Klein: "This is what happens when Obama bypasses Congress to purchase a suit." ...

... Jenn Harris of the Los Angeles Times: "Despite the criticisms, The Times' menswear expert and fashion writer Adam Tschorn insists Obama made an appropriate fashion selection for this time of year." ...

... CW Note: Illustration above to tamp down the wingnuts. ...

     ... Update: You should probably read Akhilleus's "recommendation on appropriate clothing" for the Obama fashion police.

Michael Schmidt & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "American intelligence and law enforcement agencies have identified nearly a dozen Americans who have traveled to Syria to fight for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.... As ISIS has seized large expanses of territory in recent months, it has drawn more foreign men to Syria, requiring more American and European law enforcement resources in the attempt to stop the flow of fighters, senior American officials said. And as a result of the increasing numbers of men, ISIS is now recruiting foreign women as jihadist wives."

Thursday, Chuck Todd Went to Work. Caitlan MacNeal of TPM: On his daytime show, he asked RNC Chair Prince Rebus if the reason the Republican party couldn't attract women voters was because "there's just too many crazy white guys who have crazy theories about my reproductive system?" He noted the GOP had the same problem with Latinos. Okay, Chuck, I guess that's "edgy." The Little Prince's response was along the lines of

Brendan James of TPM: "MSNBC anchor Andrea Mitchell is less than surprised by the revelations of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) about being subjected to sexual harassment by her congressional colleagues, sharing her own experiences reporting on 'the oldest white male club in the world.' 'We all had our stories of whom you'd not get in an elevator with and whom you'd protect your young female interns from,' Mitchell told her guests...." ...

... Kay Steiger of TPM: "A debate broke out on Twitter among three male journalists -- New York Times' Nick Confessore, Politico's Alex Burns, and MSNBC's Benjy Sarlin -- on Thursday afternoon: Does Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), whose anonymous colleagues she said told her she was 'porky,' 'chubby,' and 'fat' during the months just after she had a baby, have a responsibility to name her harassers?" ...

... Now Here's Someone Who Should Tell. Catherine Thompson of TPM: "Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's stories about being called 'porky' by her male colleagues didn't surprise CNN's chief congressional correspondent Dana Bash, who said lawmakers also made inappropriate comments about her post-baby body." The only thing Bash will say is that the "inappropriate comments" "will just blow you away" & came from men over the age of 50.

Tom Pelissero of USA Today: "NFL commissioner Roger Goodell admits he was wrong on the Ray Rice decision, and Goodell took an important step Thursday towards showing the league is serious about cracking down on domestic violence as well as sexual assault. In a lengthy letter sent to every NFL owner on Thursday, Goodell announced enhanced policies and discipline under the personal conduct policy that will result in a six-game suspension for a first offense related to domestic violence or sexual assault and an indefinite ban for a second offense committed by any NFL personnel. Goodell has drawn harsh criticism since the announcement last month that Rice, the Baltimore Ravens running back, would be suspended just two games for striking his then-fiancee at a New Jersey casino and being caught on camera dragging her unconscious body out of an elevator." ...

... William Rhoden of the New York Times: "Better late than never, I suppose. But why so late? Perhaps because the N.F.L.'s moral high ground is so low.... [After "spinning rationale after rationale" for his decision in the Rice case,] on Thursday, facing an undercurrent of outrage that showed no signs of subsiding, with the possibility of demonstrations and even boycotts, Goodell did an about-face.... What's galling about his sudden turnabout is that we see the same intransigence in other areas. In the face of mounting criticism from American Indians and others, Goodell insists that there is nothing racist about the Washington team's nickname.... Just once it would be great to see this multibillion-dollar empire admit the truth without being backed into a corner." ...

... The New Policy Looks a Lot Like the Old Policy. Travis Waldron of Think Progress: "... the new standards are vague about when exactly a player will be subject to suspension (a source told ESPN that discipline will only occur after the 'adjudication of a player's case, such as conviction or plea agreement,' which is pretty much how the policy works now, most of the time), and its allowances for the consideration of 'mitigating factors' and 'longer suspensions when circumstances warrant' make it clear that six games is a suggested starting point from which the commissioner is free to deviate in either direction rather than an absolute standard."

Peter Baker: "More than 150 years after standing his ground against Pickett's Charge at the Battle of Gettysburg, Lieutenant [Alonzo] Cushing will be awarded the Medal of Honor by President Obama -- a result both of his heroism in those dark days and of the persistence of a 94-year-old Wisconsin woman who lobbied on his behalf for more than a quarter-century.... His cause ... lingered for years in the bureaucratic and legislative trenches of the capital... [Rep. Ron] Kind [D-Wisc.] said some Southern colleagues were also less than enthusiastic. 'There was some resistance to awarding a Union soldier the congressional medal at Gettysburg even 150 years after the fact,' Mr. Kind said." ...

... Jonathan Chait: "If you're wondering how long it's going to take the South to stop letting its poor people suffer and die for lack of medical care rather than accept free Medicaid money, the answer is: probably a long time."

David Sheff of Time: "If You Want to See Inequality in the U.S. at Its Worst, Visit an Impound Lot.... When events like the Michael Brown shooting occur that inflame people and motivate them to take to the streets to protest, we are reminded that there is not justice for all in America. We must also acknowledge and condemn the daily injustices born of a system that slowly grinds down the people who can least afford it, and, in too many cases to count, leads to their early death."

October Surprise. Marc Ambinder of the Week imagines a scenario in which President Obama signs a sweeping executive order granting amnesty to millions of undocumented immigrants, a move which goads Republicans into shutting down the government. Again. Just days before the November election. ...

... So right off, Chris Stirewalt of Fox "News" writes a post titled "Dems' last ditch hope: Force a shutdown to save the Senate." Stirewalt leaps from the imaginings of a columnist to ... "The plan calls for broad executive action by President Obama to legalize illegal immigrants to goad Republicans into a similar fight as last year's failed effort to strip funding from ObamaCare." No longer the subject of a speculative piece by a journalist (admittedly, a well-connected one), the amnesty bonanza is now a "plan." Good for Stirewalt for practicing restraint. I'll bet he wanted to call out "a Kenyan socialist plot to flood the country with "those people" & steal control of the Senate." ...

... BUT. President Obama hints he may not go along with his own diabolical plot. Kathleen Hennessey, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "President Obama is suggesting that he will defer his self-imposed deadline for announcing an expected change in immigration policy, as the White House wrestles with the political and legal dilemmas involved in making significant alterations without congressional approval." CW: Yeah, well, probably part of his shrewd strategy to catch unsuspecting MOCs off-guard.

Beyond the Beltway

Sarah Kliff of Vox: "Pennsylvania has struck a deal with the Obama administration to expand its Medicaid program to more than 300,000 poor residents, the state announced Thursday. Pennsylvania would be the 27th state (not including the District of Columbia) to participate in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion, and Gov. Tom Corbett would be the ninth Republican governor to sign on." ...

     ... Corbett is trailing his Democratic opponent in the November election, Tom Wolf, by about 20 points. ...

... Sarah Ferris of the Washington Post: "A battle over whether to expand Medicaid that has divided Arizona Republicans for nearly two years will soon advance to the state's highest court. The Arizona Supreme Court agreed to hear a challenge from Republican Gov. Jan Brewer, who is seeking to protect the state's use of federal dollars to expand Medicaid last year."

Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: "The video texting service Glide has verified the recording played by CNN this week of the purported shots in the Ferguson, Mo., killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown." Glide is turning over their verification data to the FBI. CW: Kind of a bummer for those CNN "experts" who claimed the tape was hoax. (See yesterday's Commentariat.) ...

... Carey Gillam of Reuters: "A group of people caught up in unrest in Ferguson, Missouri..., sued local officials on Thursday, alleging civil rights violations through arrests and police assaults with rubber bullets and tear gas.... The lawsuit seeks a total of $40 million on behalf of six plaintiffs, including a 17-year-old boy who was with his mother in a fast-food restaurant when they were arrested. Each of the plaintiffs was caught up in interactions with police over a period from Aug. 11 to 13, the suit allege."

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "... closing arguments were scheduled for Friday in the federal corruption trial of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen. The final pitches to the jury are expected to be lengthy, with closings by the defense teams for each of the McDonnells bookended by presentations by prosecutors." ...

     ... Here are the Post's live updates for today. Closing arguments have begun. ...

... CW: It just dawned on me that Bob & Maureen McDonnell -- & their daughter Jeanine -- might be telling the truth about a marriage they claim has been on the rocks for 20 years. Maybe Bob is gay. Well, good. I hope he works that out, finds happiness with a nice fella (maybe someone he meets in jail!) & apologizes for his decades of discriminating against women & gays.

The Fracking News. AP: "In at least four states that have nurtured the nation's energy boom, hundreds of complaints have been made about well-water contamination from oil or gas drilling, and pollution was confirmed in a number of them, according to a review that casts doubt on industry suggestions that such problems rarely happen. The Associated Press requested data on drilling-related complaints in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Texas...."

Paul Krugman: "... Europe desperately needs the leader of a major economy -- one that is not in terrible shape -- to stand up and say that austerity is killing the Continent's economic prospects. [François] Hollande[, president of France & head of the Socialist party,] could and should have been that leader, but he isn't."

Senate Races

Sam Wang of Princeton, in contrast to "snapshots" produced by other major horse-race forecasters, is showing the likelihood that Democrats will retain control of the Senate at 70 percent.

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "In Washington, Sen. Mary Landrieu lives in a stately, $2.5 million brick manse she and her husband built on Capitol Hill.... In Louisiana, however, the Democrat ... is registered to vote at a large bungalow in New Orleans that her parents have lived in for many decades.... The New Orleans house, which Landrieu claims as her primary residence, is a new flash point in one of the most closely contested Senate races in the country. Republicans are considering taking legal action to question Landrieu's residency in the state, arguing that since winning her seat in 1996 she has become a creature of Washington."

** The Trouble with Kansas. Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post lays out the Democrats' dilemma in Kansas where the incumbent, Pat Roberts (R) "finds himself in an unexpectedly competitive race against a Democratic challenger and an independent who has emerged as a wild card."

Presidential Race

Jon Stewart explains the politics behind the Rick Perry indictment:

Benghaaazi! Jonathan Weisman & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "A House Republican-led investigation of the 2012 terrorist attack on an American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, will extend well into next year, and possibly beyond, raising concerns among Democrats that Republicans are trying to damage Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential prospects." CW: Of course the House's 8th "investigation" is political & of course it's designed to attack Clinton. But the committee will not come up with a smoking gun (except any that might be planted by unreliable witnesses procured by somebody like, say, Lara Logan). Voters will pay little, if any, attention to the proceedings. Besides, who are you gonna believe, Clinton or a conehead?:

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), chair of the House select committee on Benghazi.

News Ledes

New York Times: "Backed by Russian troops and weaponry, hundreds of Ukrainian rebel militiamen mobilized on Friday in [Novoazovsk, a] southeastern town, vacated by the Ukrainian military two days ago, and began to push toward the strategic seaport of Mariupol 27 miles away. The leader of the rebels called the advance a broad new effort to wrest control of a wide swath of coastal territory from the central government. ...

... Washington Post: "Russian President Vladimir Putin called on pro-Russian separatists to release trapped Ukrainian soldiers Friday, one day after Russian soldiers, tanks and heavy artillery began rolling into the southeastern part of the country in earnest, according to the Ukrainian government.... The Russian leader did not answer accusations from both the Ukrainian government and the West about Russia's military presence in southeastern Ukraine. He praised the separatists instead...."

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

This morning's local paper printed this tidbit of more good news hidden in the ACA's dense wrapping, a curb on outrageous executive pay:

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2014/08/29/3270518/sam-pizzigati-health-

Other than that, it's raining this AM and all joy has fled. I've given up on the Seahawks, who lost an inconsequential pre-season game to Oakland last night, but...

(for now) Sam Wang is my Man.

Just call me fickle.

[Marie Burns]

Just yesterday morning I told a reader (in a personal e-mail) that Reality Chex hadn't been trolled for about a year. As luck would have it, by mid-afternoon an apparent troll showed up. Here's what OrlandoChris wrote in yesterday's thread (repetitions omitted where indicated):

"Why vote between 2 known liars? Florida, we are fortunate enough not to be stuck picking one liar or the other this time. We actually have an alternative. Take advantage of the opportunity. Adrian Wyllie deserves my vote. He is a honest average Floridian just as you and I , that is willing to stand up and do something for the interest of all of us here in Florida. The other candidates both Republican and Democrat are owned and controlled by special interest, like puppets and will lie to your face to gain your vote, then continue the same old agenda that we complain about year after year.,,, Take a stand, vote for the candidate that loves this state and is willing to take time out of his life, effort and money to SERVE the people of Florida and stop voting for these ‘paid for’ career politicians that are only out for money and fame and have zero interest in us Floridians. Even if it’s just for honesty alone, vote for Adrian Wyllie instead of the other two (Scott/Crist) which are proven liars.... Support him by donating to his campaign, spreading the word and contribute to the super brochure program which I think is very powerful. Visit his website today."

Chris's comment, besides making some value judgments, is devoid of content. Maybe Crist & Scott are so famous for being liars that everybody is supposed to know about that. I don't. Charges unsupported by any sort of documentation are useless.

Chris doesn't tell us anything about Wyllie's qualifications (other than he's honest, unlike his opponents), either.

Chris doesn't tell us about Wyllie's proposed policies & campaign platform. That's a good thing, because it turns out Wyllie's proposals are (a) the height of fiscal irresponsibility, & (b) (most of us would conclude) would result in great harm to Floridians in general & to Florida's children & the poor in particular. (Wyllie does have some fairly harmless pet projects, like opposing "Florida’s participation in the federal REAL ID act." His means of protest is fairly comical [& irresponsible!]: he refuses to renew his driver's license.)

Chris doesn't understand 5th-grade math. As a Floridian, Chris should know a little something about what happens when voters cast protest votes for third-party candidates. The result is that a vote for the third-party candidate -- no matter what her/his qualifications -- is a vote for the worst of the three candidates. In Wyllie's case, it's possible he will take more votes from Scott than from Crist, so it's hard to tell which of the major candidates will benefit/lose.

In short, Chris's post is a good example of why trolls don't usually do themselves or their causes much good.

Marie

[Akhilleus]

Are they really complaining now about the clothes the president is wearing?

So the color of his suit is what's occupying the great minds focused on Washington?

Huh.

I have a recommendation on appropriate clothing for these people:

Big floppy shoes, checkered pants, a fright wig, and a huge plastic flower that squirts water.

[MAG]

Yeah! Thanks CW for calling out a troll. Yesterday after I read the post, I did some on-line checking re one Adrian Wylie—and also read Akhilleus's late day (quite diplomatic post), I thought...on just wait 'til his research takes him to discover this total nut. The driver's license saga is most telling. Yeah, James Singer called it!

Now I'm trying to get today's picture of Trey Gowdy out of my mind. All that comes to mind is, doesn't he look like one of the stupid yellow rubber chickens that comedians toss around? You know, the birds with the spiky comb!

As for the fashion snipers. I thought Obama looked terrific. Nice cut, good tailoring !

[Akhilleus]

Interesting legal skirmish concerning a photographer, Wikimedia, and a monkey. (See link under Infotainment section.)

It appears that since the monkey took a photograph of himself, albeit, using the photographer's camera equipment, Wikimedia has decided that the photographer doesn't own the copyright and will not be compensated.

In which case, will they be sending a check to the monkey?

I mean, if Cezanne loaned a brush to Van Gogh who used it to paint a picture, would Cezanne own that image?

And there are plenty of other examples of monkeys creating something that is blessed with copyright protection, such as the recently released "The Way Forward". You may think that a monkey would be hard pressed to write an actual book, and, of course, you're right. But that doesn't stop Breitbart from giving this particular monkey, Paul Ryan, a tentative non-opposable thumbs-up for his book.

And no one wonders whether or not this monkey will be getting a check. One of the few he's gotten not signed by the Secretary of the Treasury, or whoever else signs his checks.

[Akhilleus]

Ken,

I'm with you on Sam Wang.

And don't give up on your Seahawks. In a few weeks they'll have another chance to fillet the Broncos and All World Peyton.

One of my most enjoyable Super Bowls.

And just remember where Oakland will be in December.

[James Singer]

Complaining about BHO's suit? Godamighty! I suppose Trey Gowdy will be complaining about O's haircut next.

[Akhilleus]

James,

Very likely Trey will decide that the Obama White House bribed a liberal hair stylist in the Congressional Tonsorial Parlor to make him look like an idiot.

The truth of the matter is that his barber concluded that no subterfugical tonsuring was necessary, so ce n'est pas ma faute.

He already looks like an idiot.

Au fait, merci pour that information on Adrian Wyllie.

Another libertarian dissembler.