The Commentariat -- August 9, 2014
Internal links removed.
CW: No more postings until late Sunday, & light postings for a few days thereafter. I'm traveling for a few days & taking a vacation for a few more.
New York Times: President Obama talks to Tom Friedman. ...
... Michael Shear & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama said Friday that he was open to supporting a sustained effort to drive Sunni militants out of Iraq if Iraqi leaders form a more inclusive government, even as he vowed that the United States had no intention of 'being the Iraqi air force.'" ...
... Mark Landler, et al., of the New York Times on what led to President Obama's decision in Iraq. ...
... Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post -- same subject. ...
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama's decision Friday to launch airstrikes in Iraq reflected an important shift for a president who had spent months making the case for how the United States could achieve its foreign policy objectives without the use of force. His conclusion: Sometimes there is no substitute for military might." ...
... Julie Davis & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "President Obama drew bipartisan support on Friday from members of Congress for his decision to authorize military strikes in Iraq, but the backing was tempered with substantial concern -- including within Mr. Obama's own party -- about his strategy for the operation. Republicans suggested that the administration had acted too slowly and timidly to confront the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and now was moving too cautiously against the group. Some said he should not rule out ground troops. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio accused the president of 'parochial thinking' that had emboldened the enemy and 'squanders the sacrifices Americans have made.'" ...
... CW: Hah! There is no "thinker" more "parochial" than John Boehner, whose worldview doesn't extend beyond John Boehner. ...
... AND then there's Not-President (Thank God) John McCain, in a class by himself (thank god). Josh Rogin of the Daily Beast: "President Obama's limited strikes on ISIS in northern Iraq are 'pinpricks' that are 'meaningless' and 'worse than nothing,' according to one of his fiercest foreign policy critics, Sen. John McCain. ...
... Juan Cole: "Obama's hope that the so-called 'Islamic State' can be stopped by US air power is likely forlorn. The IS is a guerrilla force, not a conventional army. But one thing is certain. A US-policed no fly zone or no go zone over Iraqi Kurdistan is a commitment that cannot easily be withdrawn and could last decades, embroiling the US in further conflict." Cole provides some evidence for his assertion.
Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "The death on Monday of James S. Brady, the press secretary for President Ronald Reagan who was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1981, has been ruled a homicide by gunshot by the Virginia medical examiner's office, according to District police department's chief spokeswoman. There was no immediate word on whether the shooter, John W. Hinckley, who has been treated at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital, could face new criminal charges. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he shot Reagan and three others on March 30, 1981."
Michael Liedtke of the AP: "A federal judge rejected as too low a $324.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging Google and Apple conspired with several other technology companies to block their top workers from getting better job offers.The Friday ruling by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh concludes the more than 60,000 high-tech workers represented in the 3-year-old lawsuit deserve to be paid more money, based on the evidence indicating their earning power was undermined by the collusion among their employers."
Conservative legal scholar Jonathan Adler in the Washington Post: "Many Republicans and conservatives are upset with the Administration's approach to immigration, in particular the deferred deportation of illegal immigrants. There may well be good policy arguments against Obama's policies, but there's a strong case the actual law is on the president's side.... Immigration law is an area in which -- for good or ill -- Congress has given the executive wide latitude." ...
... Greg Sargent interviews attorney John Sandweg, who helped write the DACA or DREAMers order President Obama signed. Sandweg says, "The president is doing what every single law enforcement agency across the country does: Put in place rational priorities to ensure that limited resources are focused on the populations that pose the greatest threat to public safety and border security.... ICE officers have always exercised discretion.... If you choose to expend resources on those who have been here 15 years and have never committed a criminal offense, that means somebody who has committed a felony is more likely to be able to stay in the U.S.... Longstanding law already allows for individuals who are granted deferred action to gain work authorization." Read the whole interview, plus Sargent's queries of "immigration reform advocate" David Leopold.
CW: Gee, I just got my weekly report, "This Week in News for Senator Rand Paul." It was "Dr. Rand Paul did this" & "Dr. Rand met with So-&-So." But not a word about "The Real New This Week for Senator Rand Paul." No GIF! No video of his running away from young DREAMers! Maybe Dr. Sen. Rand Paul didn't read his press clippings. Maybe Dr. Rand Paul needs to get his eyes examined. ...
... CW: Li'l Randy has some ideas on immigration, which he failed to share with those DREAMer young people, likely because he would send them back where their parents came from. I have allowed Charles Pierce to illuminate, since the original story comes from Breitbart "News," & I don't want to encourage those people. It turns out that, according to Paul, the immigrant crisis is only partly President Obama's fault (for letting some DREAMers stay in the U.S.); Rick Perry shares the blame! (Oddly, this particular radio interview does not make the cut on "This Week in News for Sen. Rand Paul.") As Pierce notes, we are not "we are living through the libertarian moment, at least as represented by Senator Aqua Buddha. This is because 'the libertarian moment' is a scam."
... Sam Biddle of Gawker: "Is there any way to keep white people from using computers, before this whole planet is ruined? I ask because the two enterprising white entrepreneurs above just made yet another app for avoiding non-white areas of your town -- and it's really taking off! Crain's reports on SketchFactor, a racist app made for avoiding 'sketchy' neighborhoods, which is the term young white people use to describe places where they don't feel safe because they watched all five seasons of The Wire."
Paul Waldman on the New York Times' decision to call torture, torture: "when [executive editor Dean] Baquet says the Times 'avoided a label that was still in dispute,' what he's saying is that the paper essentially outsourced its judgment on what is and isn't torture to the Bush administration. All that was required to put the matter 'in dispute' was for the administration to declare, beyond all reason and common sense, that things like waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and stress positions aren't torture.... So, presumably, if tomorrow the Obama administration decided to refer to Republicans as 'the Hater party,' the Times would no longer use the term 'Republican' in its pages, because now that's 'in dispute.'" ...
... CW: AND one does have to wonder why the Times doesn't consider the name of the Democratic party "in dispute," inasmuch as Republicans call it the "Democrat party," which they seem to think is some kind of cleverly derogatory epithet.
Richard Leiby of the Washington Post reviews John Dean's new book The Nixon Defense, which is based on Watergate tapes. "The historical value of Dean's book -- which unspools as a practically moment-by-moment chronicle of the White House machinations starting soon after the break-in -- is one thing. The sheer entertainment value of the tapes he quotes is another." CW: The review itself is fairly entertaining.
Congressional Races
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts is not amused that Mitch McConnell's wife Elaine Chao chose to sit on the Board of Bloomberg Philanthropies shortly after Bloomberg gave $50MM to the Sierra Club "to continue funding its campaign to keep new coal-fired power plants from opening and has supported other attacks on coal and coal miners' jobs.... One has to wonder just where Sen. McConnell is with respect to this, and whether he supports his wife's continued service on the board of this organization, one whose actions have already cost thousands of coal miners in Kentucky and elsewhere their jobs."
Chas Sisk of the Tennessean: "U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais declared victory in the Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District, as state officials hustled to finalize results from Thursday's vote. Robert Jameson, a spokesman for the DesJarlais campaign, said they do not believe enough ballots remain uncounted to shift the outcome of the race. DesJarlais holds a 35-vote lead over state Sen. Jim Tracy in an unofficial tally." CW: Got that? A 35-vote lead in an unofficial tally & he's sure he won. An asshole in too many ways to count. ...
... Gail Collins counts a few: "Wow, it appears that Republicans in Tennessee just gave a vote of confidence to a right-wing congressman-doctor who has a history of having sex with his patients and encouraging the women in his life to end inconvenient pregnancies by abortion.... As a member of Congress, DesJarlais eagerly and persistently urged that women be deprived of the right to do the very thing that he seems so enthusiastic about when an unwanted pregnancy interfered with his own life.... So, at best, we have a man who made a decision that worked for him at the time. Then he regretted it and changed his moral principles. Then he decided that nobody else was ever going to have the right to make that moral choice for herself, if he had anything to do with it. Some things are really unforgivable.... So how the heck did DesJarlais end up doing so well? Maybe it's just because he's already there.... Despite all the whining about unpredictable voters, a seat in Congress is still a hard thing to lose."
Beyond the Beltway
Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors focused on secrecy on the 10th day of the [McDonnells corruption] trial, showing that [Jonnie] Williams kept his own company in the dark about the items he gave the McDonnells while also trying to prove that the McDonnells themselves took steps to hide their financial ties to the businessman.... To win a conviction, prosecutors must show the McDonnells were engaged in a corrupt bargain with Williams. They are allowed to use evidence they worked to conceal the arrangement to make their case." ...
... Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: "The second week of the corruption trial against [Virginia Gov. Bob] McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, ended much like it began, with the character and foresight of his wealthy donor Jonnie R. Williams Sr. under fire. Mr. Williams is the star witness in the prosecution's case, which argues that Mr. McDonnell took official action to benefit Mr. Williams's dietary supplement, Anatabloc, in return for gifts and loans. On Friday, the chairman of the board of Mr. Williams's company, Star Scientific, testified that Mr. Williams had displayed 'the most egregious errors in judgment.'"
Ahiza Garcia of TPM: "A Democratic candidate for a judicial seat in Plainfield, Conn. was forced to answer questions about her husband this week after a watchdog group exposed his ties to the white supremacist movement.... '"What am I supposed to do? Divorce him? It's not unusual for husbands and wives to have different views,'" the candidate Anna Zubkova said. CW: Yes, dear. Divorce him. He's a reprehensible scum.
Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "The [Texas anti-abortion] law will soon force El Paso's sole abortion clinic to shut its doors, leaving no abortion providers in all of West Texas. Opponents of the law said that would force women to embark on a lengthy drive to the nearest abortion provider in San Antonio. For women in El Paso, for example, it amounts to a nearly eight-hour, 550-mile trip one way. The state's lawyers said that no such burden would exist, and that no long drives would be necessary, because West Texas women can go to the New Mexico clinic, 15 miles outside El Paso. But the state's reliance on the New Mexico clinic is being disparaged by the law's critics, who say Texas' use of an out-of-state clinic is contrary to a recent abortion ruling in Mississippi. And it remained unclear whether the Santa Teresa clinic meets the new standards Texas has mandated."
Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times: "With Florida's election schedule in disarray after a judge ruled the state's congressional map unconstitutional, state lawmakers moved one step closer to resolving the uncertainty during a special session on Friday in Tallahassee. Redistricting committees for both the state House and Senate on Friday approved a redesigned congressional map -- drawn in private by the two Republican committee heads, members of their staff and outside lawyers -- that they expect will comply with the court's orders. The redrafted map makes relatively minor changes to the two congressional districts that were ordered redrawn: the Fifth District, held by Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat, and the 10th District, held by Representative Daniel Webster, a Republican.
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Reader Comments (12)
Must say I am sympathetic to Obama in giving humanitarian aid to the Kurds stuck in the mountains in Sinjar. Reminds me of how terrible we all felt when Bill Clinton held back in Rwanda until it was way too late.
However, I am ambivalent about the airstrikes, because (as Juan Cole says) how can it possibly not make us responsible for enforcing a no-fly zone over Irbil in the future? Hard to know where humanitarian efforts end and doomed military assistance begins.
It boils my blood to think that ISIS is mowing down innocent civilians with tanks abandoned by the Iraqi army--which were, of course, supplied by the U.S. of A. Also, I hear many ISIS weapons were left behind by the fleeing army of Shite Iraqis. I wonder how much money we spent on arming that floppy army while crying poor mouth about important domestic programs for suffering people living right here on our own huge mountain of denial?
Moving right along--I am also furious about how little anybody in the White House, Congress, Press or ANYWHERE else has shown sympathy and understanding for the plight of the starving, entrapped Palestinians! Nowhere have I heard about giving them humanitarian relief--only that the Senate unanimously voted to give Israel $225 million more for their Iron Dome. Tommy Freedom's little interview with Obama tonight seemed to me to be an excuse to get Obama to comment on Israel. Why, oh why, did Obama's press people choose Tommy Freedom--a phony corporate journalist completely entrenched with the neo-cons and the 1%. Perhaps my husband is right--and I will end up crying my little eyes out--that Obama wishes to join the 1% and will take a job on The Street after leaving office.
This is all too much. And so, good night sweet ladies.....good night, good night. And all you sweet gentlemen, too.
@Marie. Thanks again for your efforts. I and Ms. Unwashed hope that you stay safe and enjoy your well-deserved time off.
Once upon a time I rescued a stray cat who unfortunately brought a few friendly fur riders, otherwise known as fleas, into the house. I doused the downstairs (looked like they were contained there) with some concoction I bought at the super market. For awhile it looked as though that had done the trick. Alas, within weeks those suckers had replicated and invaded our bedrooms upstairs. "Ya, gotta bomb those critters to smithereens, only way you can get rid of em. They is like tiny terrorists whose only mission in life is to make more like themselves and fester on good people like yourselves,"said the local flea expert who brought those bombs in, one on each floor, and after the evacuation (had to stay out of house for four to five hours) proceeded to air out house, scrub down surfaces, etc. It stunk of moldy grapefruit for days after.
I hate war. I dread getting entangled again in Iraq with this rag tag evil group, ISIS, but understanding what they stand for, what they have done, what they intend to do, I want them dead. I want them stopped. We sure as hell aren't going to reason with these jackals, so what 's the answer? My local flea expert's words come back to me loud and clear.
Kate mentions the Palestinians and their plight which of course breaks your heart along with wanting to break Israel's stubborn resolve. The U.S. is supporting those people with humanitarian needs. In that case, aside from continuing diplomatic hand ringing, we need to stay clear. Our situation in Iraq needs our intervention and sadly that's the way of it. And again remembering the "As they step up, we step down" bullshit is almost laughable.
Since we have had a Nixon redux lately I was reminded how I nursed my last child throughout those long, fascinating Watergate hearings–-how they became like a serial Penny Dreadful day after day. Saw some bits and pieces last night on a PBS special and was delighted to discover I could name almost all the Congress critters who did such a bang up job and who became famous in their own right while doing it. Superb entertainment while bringing down the House and its many occupants.
@Kate and PD: Hear, hear!
I thought this paragraph appearing near the beginning of the Times front-page story on the Iraq mess was worthy of the Wall Street Journal:
“I don’t think we’re going to solve this problem in weeks,” Mr. Obama told reporters before leaving for a two-week golf-and-beach vacation on Martha’s Vineyard. “This is going to be a long-term project."
Yeah, all the President will be doing in Massachusetts is golfing and body surfing. The NYT can be so disappointing.
Yes, our efforts in Iraq will certainly be for humanitarian reasons, but our military intervention in northern Iraq is all about OIL––and for good reason, says John Judis ( I tend to read most anything by Judis), but wishes Obama had been frank about that in his speech.Funny thing about that oil––a big reason why we went into Iraq in the first place––it's that unctuous substance that makes the world go round and upside down.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119035/us-attack-islamic-militants-all-about-iraqs-oil
PD: It always was about oil. Iraq has the misfortune to have our oil under their sand.
Was Sadaam a really brutal dictator? You bet. Was that sufficient reason to invade? No. There were other brutal dictators, but they didn't have oil.
In Marie's (regretted) absence I'll note today's NYTime's story--don't have the link and am in a hurry-- on the inevitability of the major change in our nation that the Right would do anything--mainly political and social suicide bombing so far--to stop:
Namely, this next school year for the first time non-whites will outnumber whites in our nation's schools, a factor I would submit is at the heart of much of our broken politics.
Conservatives like to keep things the way they are. So do I, sometimes. I like to preserve the good things, like democracy and air and water and bridges that don't fall down. Today's Conservative, though, in the interest of preserving their waning power want to keep or reinstitute a whole lot of bad things, like oligarchy and limited voting rights. And the more changes they face that they can do nothing about, the crazier they will get.
We could look to ISIS and other zealots as an example.
Krugman debunks the Libertarian Fantasy using phosphorous to help make his points.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/opinion/paul-krugman-the-libertarian-fantasy.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0
In the Krugman piece referenced by P.D. Pepe, a commenter reminds us that David Koch ran for Vice President (of the U.S.) on the Libertarian ticket in 1980. The extensive platform of the Libertarian Party is linked on the Bernie Sanders website, but here are some "highlights:"
-Privatize all schools
-Get rid of campaign finance laws
-The eventual repeal of all taxation
-Abolition of Medicare and Medicaid programs
-Abolition of various agencies, among them: EPA, Transportation, FDA
....and there is LOTS more of this craziness in the platform which can be viewed here:
http://www.sanders.senate.gov/koch-brothers
Sadly, much of said craziness has now become mainstream thinking in much of the Republican Party....oh, and the Supreme Court seems to endorse the views against campaign finance laws.
@PD,
Yes, the Krugman column in the dead tree edition even has, as the highlighted phrase, "Libertarianism is a foolish fantasy."
And the secondary plot line about the DMV is very interesting for me. When I moved to Ohio in 1991, getting myself and my car registered was at least a day-long event involving two or three separate offices in different parts of the county, and multiple visits to at least one of those. It was all about the fiefdoms of county vs. state for the different portions of registration. It is possible that they have consolidated that mess, but it was a real nightmare.
When we moved to New York State in 2001, with the DMV made notorious by quips on various TV shows, it was a quick, easy, and pleasant single trip to the office downtown. Repeat trips over the years have been efficient. I have heard grumbling from people in the waiting area, but it really seems like an attitude brought in the door by patrons with unrealistic expectations.
Yes, my view is probably colored by the fact that I have always made sure I had my paperwork in order and I have always had enough money to pay whatever was required, but I have watched the DMV clerks work very patiently and effectively with a wide variety of patrons. Attitude is crucial.
Libertarian fantasies no more.
Thank you Dr. Krugman.
I appreciate the lure of Libertarianism. At one time I dabbled in it too, back when I was a sophomore in college. I had just read what became the philosophical bible of Libertarians, Robert Nozick's "Anarchy, State, Utopia". It was a fascinating tour along the fault lines of liberal democracy and it was, for me, my first deep submersion into a political philosophy. But even as as a slightly callow fellow, I had to reject Prof. Nozick's conclusions. Even after carefully following through the whole big megillah, I felt that the thing was either too arch or too artificial. Maybe both.
I felt it lacked, for want of a more accurate term, humanity, even though the stated goal was to provide absolute freedom for humanity. That freedom even extended to being free of that humanity itself. You wanna be a misanthropic dickhead? Go right ahead. This is the part of Libertarianism that so intrigued Ayn Rand and her blithering followers (lookin' at you Lyin' Ryan), the idea that you can make it all about yourself and to hell with everyone else. What Rand did was to make that sideline option the final goal.
Some years later I discovered that a prominent philosopher agreed with me. It was Robert Nozick himself. In an essay published in his collection "The Examined Life" (Nozick is nothing if not eminently interesting. His work is what I believe Stanley Cavell has always talked about when he refers to philosophy being explicated in "plain language"; worth more than a glance, if you're so inclined), called "The Zigzag of Politics". Nozick, recognizing the shortcomings of Libertarianism, regroups:
"The libertarian position I once propounded now seems to me seriously inadequate, in part because it did not fully knit the humane considerations and joint cooperative activities it left room for more closely into its fabric." He goes on to say "...the libertarian view looked solely at the purpose of government, not its meaning; hence, it took an unduly narrow view of purpose, too".
Nozick is getting at what government can do--necessary things--that none of us can do on our own, not even corporations. Krugman refers to such enterprises. This is perhaps a primary reason conservatives want the ACA abolished and Social Security turned over to their big banking buddies (who will, of course, run it into the ground after looting it for all it's worth). They want to kill anything that makes it look like government can do good things, necessary things, and do them well. This is why, for people like Ryan, government just HAS to be bad.
Nozick talks about the idea of the relational ties that joint political (governmental) action can bring about. He addresses the problem that certain approaches can have when faced with the need for addressing issues such as economic inequality and caring for those who cannot care for themselves. Ayn Rand and her sociopathic pupils would just as soon let them die (it's all about "me", remember?), but Nozick points out that even though citizens have the right not to give a shit about the poor (or medical care reform, or discrimination, or phosphates in the Great Lakes), that does not mean they don't have to help foot the bill (vis-a-vis paying taxes).
So there you have it. One of the leading intellectual lights of the Libertarian movement recants. And a Nobel economist declares it unworkable as an economic theory. A fantasy.
Libertarianism is still a nice pipe dream, but that's about it. It doesn't work in the real world. Gene Rodenberry's idea of a Federation of Planets is a more realistic political system, and that was on a sci-fi TV show.