The Commentariat -- Dec. 21, 2015

Internal links & defunct video removed.

Afternoon Update:

Samantha Masunaga of the Los Angeles Times: "South San Francisco drug company KaloBios Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Monday that it terminated its chief executive, Martin Shkreli, last week. KaloBios also said Shkreli resigned from his position on the company's board of directors."

*****

Doyle Rice of USA Today: "The winter solstice -- marking the longest night and shortest day of the year -- is Monday night. The solstice occurs at the same instant everywhere on Earth. In the United States, it happens at 11:48 p.m. ET Monday (or 10:48 p.m. CT, 9:48 p.m. MT and 8:48 p.m. PT). In Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia, that means the solstice actually comes on Tuesday."

Harry Goes Out with a Billion-Dollar Bang. Eric Lipton & Liz Moyer of the New York Times: "As congressional leaders were hastily braiding together a tax and spending bill of more than 2,000 pages, lobbyists swooped in to add 54 words that temporarily preserved a loophole sought by the hotel, restaurant and gambling industries, along with billionaire Wall Street investors, that allowed them to put real estate in trusts and avoid taxes. They won support from the top Senate Democrat, Harry Reid of Nevada, who responded to appeals from executives of casino companies, politically powerful players and huge employers in his state. And the lobbyists even helped draft the crucial language. The small changes, and the enormous windfall they generated [$1BB in future tax obligations], show the power of connected corporate lobbyists to alter a huge bill that is being put together with little time for lawmakers to consider. Throughout the legislation, there were thousands of other add-ons and hard to decipher tax changes."

Jonathan Chait: "People Who Were Certain Climate Change Is Fake Are Now Certain That Paris Can't Stop It." ...

... Here's one for contributor Marvin S. Jessica Prois of the New Republic: "Voluntary Birth Control Is A Climate Change Solution Nobody Wants To Talk About.... Access to voluntary birth control -- which typically means pills, condoms and IUDs -- to reduce the 40 percent of unintended pregnancies per year worldwide will cut our collective human carbon footprint, and an increasing number of countries are factoring this in to their climate change plans, experts point out."

Benjamin Siegel of ABC News: "President Obama said [Donald Trump] ... is 'exploiting' Americans' anxieties about the economy and American society.... The president also called [Ted] Cruz's plan to 'carpet bomb' ISIS 'terrible for our national security.'... In a wide-ranging interview before leaving for Hawaii, Obama also discussed the fight against ISIS, and the threat the group poses to the United States.... " Here's the full interview, by Steve Inskeep of NPR:

AP: "President Obama on Sunday paid tribute to Zaevion Dobson, a 15-year-old high-school football player from Tennessee who died on Thursday night after he shielded three girls from gunfire. 'Zaevion Dobson died saving three friends from getting shot,' Obama said, using Twitter. 'He was a hero at 15. What's our excuse for not acting?'"

Anthony Faiola & Souad Mekhennet of the Washington Post: "The recent terrorist attacks in Paris have brought into sharper focus the rise of a new breed of jihadists, one that blurs the line between organized crime and Islamist extremism, using skills honed in lawbreaking in the service of violent radicalism. The Islamic State is constructing an army of loyalists from Europe that includes an increasing number of street toughs and ex-cons.... Rather than leave behind lives of crime, some adherents are using their illicit talents to finance recruiting rings and travel costs for foreign fighters even as their backgrounds give them potentially easier access to cash and weapons, posing a new kind of challenge to European authorities." ...

...AFP: "The Islamic State group may have stolen 'tens of thousands' of blank passports that it could use to smuggle its fighters into Europe as refugees, a German newspaper reported Sunday. The Welt am Sonntag cited Western intelligence sources as saying that IS could have acquired the stolen travel documents in areas of Syria, Iraq and Libya it now controls."

Presidential Race

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "The debate was lively, informative, and civil.... And excluding, for a moment, Martin O'Malley, it reaffirmed the choice facing Democratic voters: experience, moderate reformism, and vigorous engagement abroad (Hillary Clinton) versus passion, an assault on privilege, and an abiding skepticism about overseas military engagements (Bernie Sanders)." ...

... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: "When [President] Obama was mentioned [during the Democratic debate], it was generally in passing.... On foreign policy, [Hillary] Clinton distanced herself even more from Obama. As she has in the past, she noted that Obama rejected her advice on what to do about Syria when the civil war there first started.... There is a natural tension between Obama's interest in polishing his legacy and emphasizing every achievement in his final months in office and Clinton's strategic need to respond to the real problems that voters face. But if the balance gets too out of whack, Clinton risks running a campaign that seems more like a repudiation of Obama than one that defines her as his natural heir."

The Ghosts of Campaigns Past:

Chris Danner of New York: Hillary Clinton's campaign reps Sunday walked back her debate claim that Donald Trump has been a feature of ISIS recruitment videos. "... it's also worth noting that extremist expert Seamus Hughes told Reuters that ISIS's official propaganda channels haven't mentioned Trump or his comments at all, and as the Associated Press notes, ISIS-linked attackers typically point to Western airstrike campaigns in Syria as their primary motivation. So while it's possible that Trump[s comments are being used in some kind of official recruiting capacity -- and that's definitely something ISIS-watchers are worried about -- the evidence may be limited, and even if a Trump-citing recruitment video exists, Clinton's campaign seems to be making it clear that she hasn't seen it."

Paul Krugman: "... [Donald] Trump, Ben Carson, and Ted Cruz — now commands the support of roughly 60 percent of the primary electorate.... The antiestablishment candidates now dominating the field, aside from being deeply ignorant about policy, have a habit of making false claims, then refusing to acknowledge error.... Bluster and belligerence as substitutes for analysis, disdain for any kind of measured response, dismissal of inconvenient facts reported by the 'liberal media' ... have long been key elements of the [Republican] party brand.... While [George W.] Bush;s debacles in Iraq and New Orleans eventually ended America's faith in his personal gut, the elevation of attitude over analysis only tightened its grip on his party, an evolution highlighted when John McCain ... chose the eminently unqualified Sarah Palin as his running mate. So Donald Trump as a political phenomenon is very much in a line of succession that runs from W. through Mrs. Palin, and in many ways he's entirely representative of the Republican mainstream.... In case you're wondering, nothing like this process has happened on the Democratic side."

Jose DelReal of the Washington Post: "Donald Trump defended Russian President Vladimir Putin against accusations that he has assassinated political adversaries and journalists, responding to criticism from his rivals over his embrace of praise from the Russian leader. 'Nobody has proven that he's killed anyone. ... He's always denied it...,' Trump said on ABC's 'This Week' on Sunday. 'You're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, at least in our country. It has not been proven that he's killed reporters.'" CW: Sure, Donald, because the Russian justice apparatus would definitely haul Putin before a tribunal. Read the whole story: Trump goes on about Hillary, even criticizing her for taking too long in the bathroom. There is, BTW, a good explanation for Clinton's late return to the debate podium -- it's the same one women experience all the time: restrooms for women in sports (and some other) venues are afterthoughts. Thus, Donald has added a sexist criticism to an already-sexist reality.

Bradford Richardson of the Hill: "GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump says the Republican National Committee (RNC) should disqualify candidates from primary debates who have failed to file paperwork to get their names on the ballots in major states." CW: He's right. Except it isn't necessary to insult low-polling candidates to the make the point, as Trump does: "When you're at like, this guy [former New York governor George] Pataki, he's been at zero for months. He couldn't get elected dog-catcher in New York. The guy's at zero for months. And he keeps on staying and staying."

Queen for a Moment. Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: Even a beauty pageant can turn into disaster without Donald Trump's direction. The host of the Miss Universe pageant -- which Trump sold shortly after Univision dropped the pageant in the wake of Trump's derogatory remarks about Mexicans -- crowned the wrong woman.

Donald Trump is the Cicero -- or the 8-year-old -- of the Republican party. Shon Arieh-Lerer of Slate compiles the evidence.

Kira Lerner of Think Progress: "Six of the Republican candidates vying for the presidency ... Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Carly Fiorina, Rick Santorum, and Mike Huckabee ... have signed a pledge promising to support legislation during their first 100 days in the White House that would use the guise of 'religious liberty' to give individuals and businesses the right to openly discriminate against LGBT people."

NEW. Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) ended his long-shot presidential bid Monday, telling supporters in a web video that he succeeded in changing the conversation about how to fight the Islamic State." CW: Sadly, it seems certain now that I will never be First Lady. Lindsey was my last, best chance. Not that Hillary won't leave Bill & marry me. Always look on the bright side. Even if she won't let me pick out the china.

Why Ted Cruz's Senate colleagues hate him.

Beyond the Beltway

Jesse McKinley & James McKinley of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said on Sunday that he would seek out and pardon thousands of people who were convicted of nonviolent crimes as teenagers but have since led law-abiding lives. Envisioned as a way to remove stubborn barriers to employment, housing and other services, the pardons would be available to anyone who was found guilty of a nonviolent felony or misdemeanor that was committed while they were 16 or 17, provided they have spent at least a decade without any additional convictions. Under his plan, Mr. Cuomo intends to invite those people to apply for -- and virtually be assured of receiving -- a governor's pardon, as long as they meet several other criteria."

Drill, Baby, Drill? Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "In recent months, at least 93 coastal communities -- from small beach towns on the Delmarva Peninsula to the wealthy and politically powerful cities of Charleston and Myrtle Beach in South Carolina and Savannah, Ga. -- have joined a revolt against a pro-drilling movement that once seemed unstoppable in the Republican-dominated South.... The Obama administration is expected to finalize by early spring a plan that could allow limited oil and gas development off the coasts of four Southeastern states -- Virginia, North and South Carolina, and Georgia. All four have heavily supported drilling in the past.... Many of the region's most prominent elected officials continue to support offshore drilling, which industry officials say would bring thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic revenue.... But other politicians, regionally and nationally, have spoken against the [Obama administration] plan."

AP: "A St Louis police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old VonDerrit Myers Jr last year has resigned after being accused of driving his patrol car while intoxicated and crashing into a parked vehicle."

Way Beyond

Sam Borden of the New York Times: "Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini, two of the most powerful figures in global soccer, were barred from the sport for eight years on Monday morning after being found guilty of ethics violations. The suspensions were imposed by the independent ethics committee of FIFA, soccer's international governing body. Mr. Blatter, who is FIFA's longtime president, as well as Mr. Platini, who is the president of UEFA, European soccer's governing body, are prohibited from taking part in any soccer-related activities while barred -- a sanction which, in Mr. Platini's case, seemingly ends any chance that he will be able to run in February's special election to fill the post Mr. Blatter has already said he would vacate."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Six members of the NATO military mission in Afghanistan were killed by a Taliban suicide bomber on Monday while on patrol near Bagram Air Base, the largest remaining American military base in the country, officials said." ...

     ... New Lede: "In one of the deadliest attacks against American forces in Afghanistan this year, a Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle drove into a military convoy near Bagram Air Base on Monday, killing six American soldiers, United States officials said."

CNN: "Just hours after his 28-year-old grandson [Jeremy Carter] died, a shaken former President Jimmy Carter broke the news to his Plains, Georgia, church and then taught Sunday School according to the church's minister."

Comments

[PD Pepe]

Every year I make my own Christmas cards. Last year used the picture Marie has above re: the winter solstice:

Within the wood's silence the pine's aroma
pierces my senses;
I am in the company of an ancient family
Whose longevity mocks our human frailties

But gives us shelter and warmth
From cold winters and ill winds;
Gives us shade and protection
From the summer's sun.

What majesty to celebrate on this
Dark night of the Winter Solstice.

[Marvin Schwalb]

Yes, 195 countries and no one talks about birth control. And of course the earth can also supply an infinite amount of food.

The Chait article makes one error. He uses the term 'conservative intellectuals'. There is no such thing.

Winter? I wonder if Sen. Inhofe plans to throw a snowball in NYC on Thursday. The expected temp is 72F.

[D.C.Clark]

From PBS Newshour, December 20:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: "He is becoming ISIS’s best recruiter. They are going to people showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARI SREENIVASAN: "Any truth to that?"

JON GREENBERG, POLITIFACT: "Well, I think the issue here is that Hillary Clinton said there was a video being produced. And the problem is not the Clinton campaign nor anybody else can point to a video. So there was an article that the Clinton campaign talked about which had some people saying that ISIS was referring to Donald Trump, but no mention of a video. The people who really do track this stuff say, you know, if Donald Trump had shown up in an ISIS video, lots of people would be talking about it. And nobody was talking about it. So in the absence of evidence, we really have no choice but to say this is false."

Where has "Hillary Clinton said there was a video being produced."?
She did not say that ISIS has made a propaganda video. There would be no need, Le Donald's odious oratory is everywhere available. It appears to me that she has only contended that his public remarks are a recruitment tool.

On this one, I have to give Politfact a "Mostly False".

[PD Pepe]

@D.C. I agree with your assessment .She did not say she SAW a video–––the "They are going to people"....suggests that there will be a possibility that there WILL be videos––makes sense to me.

As much as I admire what PBS News offers, many times their interviews (especially when Judy does the interviewing) and their assessments drive me nuts.

[Diane]

I don't see anything noteworthy in Clinton or other Dem candidates avoiding references to Obama. In my memory, presidential candidates don't much mention a sitting President of their own party. They're trying to solidify an individual persona as well as scoop up any votes from voters who have a beef with or are tired of the current president.

Clinton has a triple whammy, a sitting Dem President, a spouse who is a former President as well as running to be the first female president. I think she's handled the electioneering really well so far. She's always been a hold-my-nose choice, but an absolutely critical choice nonetheless.

[Akhilleus]

Diane,

I think we all (all rational liberals) have had our Come to Hillary moment. I've used your exact phrase, twice, when I voted for her husband. There really is no choice so people need to forget about perfection. It ain't happenin'. I'm happy to have Bernie Sanders to give her a few nudges leftward but it's highly unlikely he will win the nomination (especially with a frenemy like Debbie Wasserman Schultz tagging along) and if he did, the media would line up with the wingers by calling him a radical commie. Can't you just hear Upchuck Todd asking some Democratic senator (if he ever invites one on his show) if there is any chance in hell that a self-described socialist with Communist tendencies toward Wall Street could ever be elected by real Americans?

Now it's up to Hillary to not fuck this up. My fear is that she has, as she's done in the past, stocked the shelves with more groupies than Cassandras and will bank too heavily on unreliable instincts and inaccurate readings of the electorate. She can be too cagey and careful by half. She can't come across as the focus group candidate and she can't rely on the women's vote either. Her best bet is to present herself as the only viable option for moving forward, something that, had we a respectable, honest, and professional class of journalists (especially the TV variety), shouldn't be too hard given the alternatives.

I'm sure she has no doubts about the forces arrayed against her. She's been fighting that vast right-wing conspiracy for decades. I hope she's found a way through it or around it. Remember, Alexander the Great decided to forgo scratching his head over the solution to the Gordian Knot.

Hopefully Clinton has a sharp sword at the ready.

[Akhilleus]

PD,

Thank you for a lovely thought on this last dark day.

Your nod to the beneficence of trees to humankind puts me in mind of Shel Silverstein's wonderful story, "The Giving Tree". The Earth gives, and we take. And take. And take, and give back very little. Except plenty of CO2. Studies indicate that the rise in carbon dioxide will wreak havoc with vegetation, dropping the quality of food, reducing the nutrients needed by both animals and humans requiring all to eat more to receive the same nutritional value. So, as the world population increases and the quality of food decreases, we find ourselves with a possibly insoluble problem.

But not to worry: as The Decider loved to say, who cares about shit like that? We'll all be dead by then, so party on.

The sun begins its return tomorrow. Too bad it won't be shedding any light where it's really needed.

[Akhilleus]

D.C.,

Words do matter.

As far as I've been able to ascertain, Clinton, as you suggest, never claimed that ISIS produced recruitment videos featuring Trumpy making a bigoted, ignorant ass out of himself. She did say that extremists were "...showing videos of Donald Trump insulting Islam and Muslims in order to recruit more radical jihadists", a claim that has not been independently verified. But nearly all outlets, as for instance, on the NYMAG website, couch Clinton's claim in language that suggests something different: "...that [ISIS] was using Trump in their recruiting videos" which is not the same as showing potential recruits videos of Trump being Trump. It's a small thing but it matters. If your're going to play Gotcha, stick to things you can actually get people on, not on someone's or your own variation or interpretation of what you think they said.

Sheesh.

(This is not to say that Jihadis somewhere are not having a field day with Trumpy's blowhardiness. He is a prêt–à–porter propaganda warehouse.)

[Marie Burns]

@Akhilleus, et al.: It seems to me that, as you & D.C. Clark suggest, ISIS folks would be using Trump videos more or less as I do; that is, I post a video of Trump saying something awful & write, "What an ass," whereas ISIS might post the same video & say, "This is what all Americans are like." So, are ISIS & I using Trump videos as propaganda? Yes & yes.

Marie

[Akhilleus]

In the piece Marie has linked above regarding the general animus directed at one Ted (The Carpet Bomber) Cruz, a Princeton classmate of his is quoted as saying "More than anyone I knew, Ted seemed to have arrived in college with a fully formed worldview. And what strikes me now, looking at him as an adult and hearing the things he's saying, it seems like nothing has changed".

I think I mentioned this some time ago as something that sounds like a small thing but one that should set off the maximum number of alarms in one's mental emergency response center.

The guy is now 44. In over 25 years as an adult, he has not changed his general worldview? Not even a little? This is some scary shit, kids. Just imagine that snotty little shit you knew as freshman in college, an arrogant twit who thought he knew it all, disdained anyone who disagreed with him, formed opinions based on preconceived notions rather than facts and real-world experience, and generally creeped out anyone who came within snot-blowing distance of him.

Now, consider that this little asshole, over a quarter of a century later, is almost exactly the same. He's learned nothing, had no experiences or met anyone or read anything that moved him off the opinions he harbored right out of high school.

Except now he wants to be president. That'll show all those girls who didn't appreciate him skulking outside their showers waiting to throw open his robe and favor them with sight of his wonderfulness.

Have you learned anything since you were 17? I know I have. Anyone who hasn't has a serious problem. Stunted would be a polite description. I wouldn't hire that person to sell peanuts at a ball game, never mind run the country.

(Just imagine coming out of the showers and seeing that creepy Ted Cruz Leer (™). Years of therapy might not help.)

[Diane]

I received a forwarded email today from a friend. The originator of the e-mail is a very old, unpleasant man who was briefly (thank goodness) married to an aunt of mine. He alternates browsing wingnut websites with Fox new binges and sending out volumes of emails. He does prove that the adage "the good die young" has some merit. The email started out with "put some pork on your fork". Aimed at the mayor of Quebec, it purported to be a response to Islamic parents who had asked that pork be removed from school cafeteria lunches. It's made the rounds of other city mayors since 2013 and of course is false. I only bring it up, because it is such a catchy phrase. Pork producers could do worse than adopt it as their slogan.

[Akhilleus]

So Sky is Falling Graham has thrown in the towel. Good riddance. Despite the fact that he's being portrayed as a kind of moderate, old school establishment éminence grise compared to the unhinged fanatics, ignorant bleaters, and bomb throwing blowhards that comprise the rest of the remaining field, he's still the guy who relishes boots on the ground and indiscriminate bombing runs just as much as the unschooled political tyros who've been waving their baby rattles around and stamping their widdow feet because Obama has not taken their advice about all out war all the time.

Adios, douchebag.

[Jeanne Pitz]

Of course, Mr. Graham will be the very first to offer his services and those of his relatives for the oh-so-hackneyed "boots on the ground..."NOT...

I also would like to know, in that article about the charming (ulp) Mr. Cruz, why it was not pointed out that his father's, and presumably his, disastrous "world view" is dominionist, which is one of the scariest qualities about them/him. It's not simply that he is a revolting human being, but that letting him anywhere near the prime leadership of the US is tantamount to letting him ride the bomb down, a la Dr. Strangelove. He has no positive plan for government because it is all secondary to a religious view that all things should be governed by this religion, and in the end, nothing matters but this religion, and he will not rest until we are all governed by it. Scares me to death. He, assuming he believe this stuff, is on the fringe of the fringe.

[PD Pepe]

This is the third time I have brought this up and I'm puzzled that this has not been a front and center issue. Ted Cruz said a year ago, "We need one hundred Jesse Helms in the senate." At the time I was shocked––now, understanding Ted Cruz a lot better, I realize that Helms is Cruz's Granddaddy and what a grandaddy he is. I remember Helms as one of the most racist, homophobic, despicable slime molds that ever sat in those congressional leather chairs. Below is the 1995 Mother Jones' piece on Helms if you are interested.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/1995/05/what-you-need-know-about-jesse-helms

[Ophelia M.]

Thank you, PD Pepe, for posting the Mother Jones piece! Content in need of resurrecting & disseminating.

From Granddaddy Helms, we can trace - through DNA - a generationally closer inspiration of Señor Cruz (loved reading - if true - about his all-White campaign dinner guests being served, exclusively, by the Hispanic "help").

Apparently, La Manzana does not fall far from El Árbol . . .

"Like Father, Like Son: Ted Cruz Defend’s Father’s Racist Obama Rant By Openly Lying About It". (VIDEO)

(From "Addicting Info" - August 2015)

http://www.addictinginfo.org/2015/08/01/like-father-like-son-ted-cruz-defends-fathers-racist-obama-rant-by-openly-lying-about-it-video/

[Diane]

Just finished a rather long piece in the New Yorker; "Negotiating the Whirlwind" (Can Secretary of State John Kerry break through in Syria?), David Remnick.

Its a detail rich account of negotiations involving the Middle East, Israel and Syria, as well as being full of insights about Kerry. The article is woven with the idiosyncrasies of the players and the impossible tasks of negotiations.

Remnick contrasts Kerry and Obama; "... he (Kerry) has an abiding faith in the value of personal relationships and of his capacity to persuade. All he has to do is get the parties in a room and he can’t lose.....Where Obama is skeptical, Kerry is almost sentimental in his optimism."

Remnick's take on the different styles of Kerry and his predecessor Clinton;... But she was as restrained in her ambitions as she was disciplined. Kerry, by contrast, is considered relentless, sometimes to a fault."

The article gave me some information and insights that certainly added to my understanding of the situations.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/12/21/negotiating-the-whirlwind