Monday
Feb112013
The Commentariat -- Feb. 12, 2013
Phil Stewart of Reuters: "The Pentagon announced on Monday it would extend more of the benefits offered to spouses of heterosexual troops to those of gay personnel but acknowledged some key benefits, like housing, would still be off-limits, at least for now. The step ... will affect the day-to-day lives of their spouses in ways big and small -- from allowing them to finally get military I.D. cards to granting hospital visitation rights. But outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in a memorandum explaining the move, noted his actions were limited by U.S. law, specifically the Defense of Marriage Act, which is now being reviewed by the Supreme Court and which defines marriage as a union between a man and woman."
New York Times Editors: "... two senators, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and James Inhofe of Oklahoma, say they will place 'holds' on President Obama's nomination of Chuck Hagel to run the Pentagon. A hold is a kind of minifilibuster, preventing unanimous consent to take up a bill or nomination, and preventing an up-or-down vote. Using this power for showboating, as Mr. Graham and Mr. Inhofe are doing, shows how easy it has become for senators to put petty personal demands ahead of the country's needs.... This kind of posturing is exactly why holds and filibusters against nominees have to end. Any senator is free to cast a vote for or against a nominee but should not be able to prevent others from doing so." ...
... Manu Raju & Tim Mak of Politico: "Some Senate Republicans are prepared to filibuster Chuck Hagel's nomination to become the next secretary of defense, a rare maneuver to block a Cabinet-level nominee that demonstrates the lingering hostility from GOP senators toward a man who used to serve with them.... Of course, it's still possible that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) cut a deal and a Hagel filibuster is avoided -- or that GOP senator[s] backs down from their threats."
... Ramsey Cox of The Hill: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that once work on the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) is finished the Senate would proceed to a vote on the confirmation of Chuck Hagel to be Secretary of Defense.... 'Never in history has there been a filibuster on a defense nomination, and I hope that will continue,' Reid said on the floor Monday." CW: so does this mean Reid won't honor any individual holds put on the Hagel vote? I don't know.
Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "GOP senators plan to ask pointed questions about Jack Lew's work at Citigroup -- and his pay at the bailed-out bank -- when the Treasury nominee appears before a Senate panel for his confirmation hearing Wednesday, officials said Monday.
The White House will broadcast an online enhanced version of the State of the Union. Here's how it will work:
... Meanwhile, Margaret Hartmann of New York Magazine reports that "The House Republican Conference has launched the site http://www.gop.gov/SOTU/ so it can post fact-checking information and tweets from prominent Republicans during the speech." The comments to Hartmann's piece are quite good. Isn't "House Republican fact-checker" an oxymoron?
... Jennifer Epstein & Stephanie Gaskill of Politico: "President Barack Obama is expected to announce Tuesday night that he'll withdraw 34,000 more troops from Afghanistan over the coming year, the latest big move in his plan to transfer responsibility for the war to Afghanistan's homegrown soldiers and police." ...
... New York Times Editors: "President Obama ... [must] not forget the most fundamental democratic reform of all: repairing a broken election system that caused hundreds of thousands of people to stand in line for hours to vote last year. It is time to make good on his election-night promise." ...
... CW: here's a guess -- the President will be mentioning election reform in his SOTU address. Susanna Gamboa of the AP: "A delicate centenarian from Florida will sit with first lady Michelle Obama during Tuesday's State of the Union, symbolizing the ferocity and determination of a voter and giving testament to problems with America's voting system. Desiline Victor, 102, of Miami, endured a weather-delayed flight to Washington on Monday in order to get to town for President Barack Obama's address. She will be among the guests seated with Mrs. Obama...."
"Hearsay Economics." Paul Krugman: "... where do the reputable people get their [mis]information? Why, it's what they heard somebody in their circle say. It's hearsay economics all the way down.... It may seem hard to believe that this sort of petty small-group sociology exerts a vast influence on actual policy, and that it is actually responsible for millions of lost jobs. But the more I look at it, the more that seems to be right."
Bad Day for Deficit Hawks. Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "In recent weeks, the White House has pressed the message that, if policymakers can agree on a strategy for replacing across-the-board spending cuts set to hit next month, Obama will pretty much have achieved what he has called 'our ultimate goal' of halting the rapid rise in government borrowing.... Deficit hawks have reacted with alarm to the administration's position." CW: yeah, they're reacting with alarm because they might lose speakers' fees, etc. ...
... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "Eric Cantor, who voted for the sequester in the first place, now says it doesn't make any sense. He says he'd like to replace it, but only with spending cuts that target Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other social insurance programs. Cantor says that unless Democrats agree to such cuts, Republicans will move forward with implementing the sequester -- even though doing so will 'hurt a lot of people.' In other words, Eric Cantor has outlined the GOP position on the sequester: hurt a lot of people -- or hurt even more people." ...
... Jon Chait of New York: Wow, Joe Scarborough doesn't understand economics at all." CW: I should add that Mika Brzezinski is a good dancer. Other than that, she is MSNBC's bow to the tradition of always having an on-air dumb blond. ...
... Digby. "The Village has decided that Social Security must be cut. But will it be enough?"
Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "The nuclear test by North Korea on Tuesday, in defiance of warnings by China, leaves the new Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, with a choice: Does he upset North Korea just a bit by agreeing to stepped up United Nations sanctions, or does he rattle the regime by pulling the plug on infusions of Chinese oil and investments that keep North Korea afloat?"
Steve Benen on Ben Smith's claim -- linked in yesterday's Commentariat -- that President Obama is "screwing his base" via ObamaCare: "... the further we get from the needlessly inflammatory, please-Drudge-link-to-me BuzzFeed headline, the less outrageous the Obamacare policy is."
Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "... when the pope stunned the world on Monday with his resignation announcement, his supporters and detractors alike almost universally hailed the move as a moment of grace, sounding almost relieved to see the end of what has been a very turbulent journey." Goodstein takes a trip down memory lane, pausing on Benedict's greatest hits -- not a pretty review. ...
... Playwright John Patrick Shanley, author of "Doubt," in a New York Times op-ed: "POPE BENEDICT XVI quit. Good. He was utterly bereft of charm, tone-deaf and a protector of priests who abused children. He'd been a member of the Hitler Youth. In addition to this woeful resumé, he had no use for women." ...
... Jason Berry in a New York Times op-ed: "Benedict has one last chance to right some of the wrongs of the recent past by forcing out Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals and the man who, more than any other, embodies the misuse of power that has corrupted the church hierarchy. Cardinal Sodano is hardly alone: a long list of leaders betrayed Catholics everywhere with their pathological evasions, sending known sex offenders into treatment centers to avoid the law, then planting them in parishes or hospitals where they found new victims." ...
... Washington Post Editors: "This pope's response [to the challenges the Roman Catholic church faces] was to insist that only uncompromising adherence to past doctrine could preserve the faith. Catholics who seek a different answer will have to hope that a college of cardinals dominated by the pope's appointees will choose a more progressive successor." ...
... CW: There are quite a few prognosticators out there already sussing out the various candidates for the papacy. Predictions being what they are, I'm going with John Oliver's approach:
"The Man Who Killed Osama bin Ladin -- Is Screwed," by Phil Bronstein, published by Esquire, has received a lot of media attention today: the man, who is identified only as "The Shooter,' left the military after 16 years, so is not eligible for a pension. He can't reveal his expertise to potential employers. One point of the story that enraged various commentators: he can't even get health insurance. ...
... This last "travesty" would be a lot more compelling if it were true. Megan McClosky of Stars & Stripes: "Like every combat veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the former SEAL, who is identified in the story only as 'the Shooter', is automatically eligible for five years of free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs." ...
... Update: Esquire editors defend Bronstein's piece against McClosky's assertions.
Right Wing World
Tea Party, Debunked. Kevin Grandia of Firedoglake: "Shattering the public perception that the Tea Party is a spontaneous popular citizens movement, a new academic paper provides evidence that an organization founded by David and Charles Koch, attempted to launch the Tea Party movement in 2002. The peer-reviewed study appearing in the academic journal, Tobacco Control ... shows that the group Citizens for a Sound Economy launched a Tea Party movement website, www.usteaparty.com, that went live in 2002. According to the website DeSmogBlog.com, who broke this story [Monday], CSE was founded in 1984 by the infamous Koch Brothers.... David Koch sat on the board of CSE for many years and the group's first president, Richard Fink, went on to become a senior VP at Koch Industries."
American Bridge, a pro-Obama PAC, looks at the State of the GOP Union:
Ted Nugent, the kind of person who passes for a dignitary Republicans see fit to bring to a solemn Constitutional moment.Greg Sargent: "Lots of chatter about the news that GOP Rep. Steve Stockman, who threatened Obama with impeachment over guns, has invited [crazed winger, former rocker] Ted Nugent to the State of the Union address.... 'I am excited to have a patriot like Ted Nugent joining me in the House Chamber to hear from President Obama,' Stockman said in a press release. 'After the Address I'm sure Ted will have plenty to say.' ... The problem isn't so much Ted Nugent as it is the Steve Stockmans of the world telling their constituents that Obama's sensible gun reforms rise to the level of impeachment." ...
... Adam Peck of Think Progress: the Secret Service, which interviewed Nugent after he appeared to threaten the President's life, has "no comment" on his attendance at the SOTU. ...
... Steve Benen: "Republicans find themselves in the awkward position of having two GOP senators delivering post-SOTU speeches, and while they're speaking, a musician/right-wing clown will be hosting a press conference on Capitol Hill, which seems likely to become a distracting spectacle.... As the Stockman/Nugent story reminds us, the problem isn't that Republicans have some 'cranks, haters, and bigots'; the problem is that Republicans are a radicalized party in which 'cranks, haters, and bigots' routinely dominate."
Josh Marshall: new conspiracy theory -- John Brennan is a secrety Muslim.
Local News
Suzi Parker of Reuters: "Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe, a Democrat, signed into law on Monday a bill that allows concealed-carry permit holders to take their weapons into churches. The Church Protection Act would allow individual places of worship to decide whether to allow concealed handguns and who could carry them. Churches that take no action will remain off-limits to guns."
Lucy Morgan of the Tampa Bay Times: "After two weeks of behind-the-scenes wrangling, former GOP party chairman Jim Greer walked into court Monday morning and pleaded guilty to theft and money laundering charges that could put him behind bars for 3 and 1/2 years. Greer responded 'guilty your honor' to charges he stole and laundered GOP campaign contributions through a company he created, Victory Strategies. He declined to talk with a crowd of reporters as he left the courtroom. The plea, which came moments before jury selection was set to begin, ends the prospects of a two-week trial that promised testimony from former Gov. Charlie Crist and a who's who of Republican politicians." CW: looks as if Greer fell on his sword for somebody.
News Ledes
Tuesday, February 12, 2013.
Here's the Los Angeles Times page with live updates of the Christopher Dorner standoff. It includes video. The New York Times has live video & updates here. MSNBC reports that the cabin Dorner is believed to be in has been "engulfed in flames." The AP is reporting Dorner "never emerged" from the cabin; also, a single shot was heard coming from inside the cabin before flames overtook the cabin. ...
... AP Update: "The extraordinary manhunt for the former Los Angeles police officer suspected of three murders converged Tuesday on a mountain cabin where authorities believe he barricaded himself inside, engaged in a shootout that killed a deputy and then never emerged as the home went up in flames. A single gunshot was heard from within, and a charred body was found inside." ...
... OR NOT. Los Angeles Times: "There were conflicting reports about whether a body was located inside the burned-out cabin Tuesday night where Christopher Jordan Dorner was believed to have kept law enforcement authorities at bay. Several sources told The Times and many other news organizations that a body was located in the rubble. But LAPD officials said that the cabin was still too hot to search and no body has been found."
New York Times: "North Korea confirmed on Tuesday that it had conducted its third, long-threatened nuclear test, according to the official KCNA news service, posing a new challenge for the Obama administration in its effort to keep the country from becoming a full-fledged nuclear power." ...
... Reuters: "North Korea conducted its third nuclear test on Tuesday in defiance of existing U.N. resolutions, drawing condemnation from around the world, including from its only major ally, China, which summoned the North Korean ambassador to protest." ...
... Politico: "President Barack Obama vowed Tuesday that the United States and its allies will take 'swift and credible action' over North Korea's latest nuclear test -- a move he denounced as a 'highly provocative act.' In a written statement issued just before 2 A.M. Eastern Time Tuesday morning, Obama promised that the U.S. will be 'steadfast' in its commitments to allies in the region. However, he was not specific about what steps the U.S. might take against North Korea or to shore up allies."
New York Times: "As it prepares for two sets of negotiations with outsiders on its disputed nuclear program, Iran said on Tuesday that it was converting some of its enriched uranium into reactor fuel, the state news agency IRNA reported, potentially limiting the expansion of stockpiles that the West fears could be used for weapons." ...
... Reuters: "The U.N. nuclear watchdog, [the International Atomic Energy Agency {IAEA},] said on Tuesday it would seek in talks in Iran this week to bridge differences that have prevented it restarting an investigation into the Islamic state's atomic activities. The agency has been trying for more than a year to revive its inquiry into suspected nuclear weapons research by Iran, which denies Western allegations that it is seeking to develop the capability to make atomic bombs."
AP: "The Vatican is acknowledging for the first time that Pope Benedict XVI has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced a few months ago in secret. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said Benedict had the pacemaker installed 'a long time' before he became pope in 2005. He called the latest medical procedure 'routine.'"
ABC News: "President Barack Obama is spending up to $50 million from the Pentagon's budget to assist Chad and France in their efforts to combat militants in Mali< in North Africa. The United States has been supporting the French military's operations in northern Mali by providing refueling services for French forces and airlift support for French and Chadian forces. Obama issued a memorandum to the State and Defense departments Monday advising them of his directive to use the $50 million. The State Department already had notified Congress of Obama's intent to tap Pentagon funds."
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Reader Comments (9)
Plenty to read about concerning the pope's decision to abandon ship, but my favorite headline so far?
"Pope Pulls a Palin"
Courtesy of Wonkette.
There are, of course some differences. The pope can't see Russia from his back porch, has never won a beauty pageant, and can probably recall at least one periodical he's read in the last six months (although I'm pretty sure it wasn't Mother Jones). On the other hand, Palin, at least to my knowledge, hasn't spent the last 30 years of her life protecting child molesters and was never a member of the Hitler youth (does the Tea Party count?).
Unfortunately, the next time we hear "Habemus papam" it's unlikely to be anyone who will care much about anything Ratzinger didn't care about. And that's a looooong list.
I think it's time to expand the pool a bit. Limiting the job offer to 171 cardinals guarantees more same ol', same ol'. Open the door to anyone who'd like the job. The only problem is that they'd want to maintain a solidly (psychotically?) conservative front. Hey! How 'bout Ted Nugent? They get their conservative psycho and we get rid of a loser maniac.
Pope Ted!
Re: Whining, Spoiled Boy Graham (personal attack warning: how anyone with a voice like his could be elected escapes me) :
Seems like the Senate rules as they stand have gifted the nation with 100 potential autocrats, many of whom (Graham's colleague R. Paul comes to mind) making a political living by calling our re-elected President a dictator, another pot and kettle...
....but here for fear of misconstruction, I desist, and merely suggest that on this day we once celebrated as Lincoln's birthday, one wonders how Lincoln could have made it through his first term if he had to deal with senate brats like that.
Oh, that's right, he didn't. They resigned and left the country. I think there's a germ of a good idea in here somewhere.
For the geeks in our little circle, for the wonks, and for the just plain interminably curious, two articles in the current MIT Technology Review might be of interest.
We've all read about the dynamic digital and analytical innovations of the Obama campaign. The mechanics of how it all worked are detailed in these articles.
The first is more of an overview (but an excellent one) that provides an historical look at how big data has been used in political campaigns going back to Ted Kennedy's presidential run in 1980 (okay, in 1980 it was more like little data). This piece, written by longtime political operative Joe Trippi, suggests that some of the innovations involving how a campaign can decode a bloc of voters, identify core values, and develop an approach to convince the undecided to move a certain way on specific issues, might also be used as a tool for governing.
The Soul and Technology of Politics
The second piece, by investigative reporter Sasha Issenberg, is much longer and may only appeal to the real wonks but if you try to scan it you might as well not bother. It's hard to unpack with a quick perusal but it provides a completely fascinating background look at important breakthroughs in how big data can focus in on individual voters in ways never done by political campaigns before. To say the Romney people were bewildered is no hyperbole. They saw Obama making selective ad buys in tiny markets that seemed overwhelmingly red. What they didn't know was that the Democrat's analytical team had identified some persuadable voters there and their goal was to win the election one voter at a time.
In fact, their data models were so accurate at predicting who would show up to vote that in a county in battleground Ohio the Obama geeks predicted a 56.6 win for their guy over the Forces of the Rat. They got 56.4. They were two tenths of a percent off. Not too shabby, eh?
A More Perfect Union
One of the interesting observations made in the Trippi piece has to do with why Republicans may have a hard time catching the Democrats in these fields (in addition to their being assholes, that is...).
In response to the pope's decision to toss the funny hat into the papal closet and sit in the Barcalounger gulping down steins of ale watching old Leni Riefenstahl movies, Cardinal Douthat has handed down his considered opinion on the matter.
Pity it wasn't written in Latin (his first words would have been "ego te absolvo, senex") given the Cardinal's extreme antipathy toward any semblance of modernizing the church. In fact, he blames modernity for the pope's resignation (David Brooks, I'm pretty sure, blames hippies).
He does allow that a certain amount of relief accompanies the Bolting of Benedict, especially since now the church can dispense with all that unpleasantness surrounding the scandals caused by a few bad apples. Yup, that's all behind us now that Benny is cooling his jets. He fucked that up royally but no need to talk about that sex stuff anymore (you know how much talk about SEX distresses the cardinal!) because we'll have a new guy who didn't have anything to do with protecting priests diddlers. Maybe.
Also, Catholics, according to the great Cardinal, can now forget about any new initiatives. New, new, new? No, no, no. In fact the word "new" will henceforth be stricken from any conversations about the church because it can only mean great big heaps of bother being caused by the usual troublemakers, women, gays, progressive Catholics. You know, the pests.
Time now to move backwards into the dim past with wits equally dimmed. The cardinal has spoken!
Ad astra per alas porci!
Charles Pierce has a link from his 2:30 PM post to Ezra Klein's invaluable House Of Wonks ( http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/The_First_Law_Of_Politics_Reviewed ) with a great graphic that clarifies this:
Wonkblog: ' Jed Graham calls this “the deficit chart that should embarrass deficit hawks”:“Here’s a pretty important fact that virtually everyone in Washington seems oblivious to: The federal deficit has never fallen as fast as it’s falling now without a coincident recession,” he writes for Investor’s Business Daily.
This is true whether or not the sequester goes into effect. '
Someone should forward it to Boehner & Company, ilk! The graph is quite striking!
Re: The Shooter. It would seem obvious that he knew when he signed up that one had to put in a full 20 years in order to draw retirerment pay and remain under TriCare, unless one is medically retired. In none of these pieces can I find where the Shooter has even bothered to apply to the VA. The Esquire piece implies that he shouldn't bother, because it can take up to nine months. The Disabled American Veterans and other such organizations offer free assistance to vets applying to the VA. If he does get a service-connected disability he will receive a monthly stipend the amount depending on the rating, maybe enough to pay for his health insurance.
What comes across to me is that the author of the Esquire piece has an axe to grind. If he doesn't like the law, he should petition Congress, not DoD or the VA.
On a personal note, I have a 100% rating. I get fine medical care from the VA.
Re: Nope; it's the dope; I wanta' be pope. I'm throwing my hat in the ring. I'll take the job. Doin' the Vatican Rag... First order of business; No more fucking the altar boys. Second order of business; women priestesses. Third order of business; the world's biggest estate sale; that's right, we're downsizing for charity.
Who wouldn't want to be Pope? The hats, the Vatican art, the parties. Best of all; I'm infallible, ha ha; kiss my ring asswipe!
Life is good as pope. One drawback; my significant otter needs a lot of closet space so the Sistine Chapel would be turn over to wardrobe; sorry no lookieloos.
so wait for the white smoke; brothers and sisters; we're going to party like it's 2099.
Ak, I'm going to need a press secretary; someone to tell the fundies that the true Catholic God doesn't give a living shit about them and Jesus was as brown as Mohammad. Pays well, good medical and plenty of vacation.
JJG,
I'm in dude. But I want access to the Papal Gulfstream for occasional jaunts back to the states for Red Sox games and visits to my favorite bookstores. Also I'd like the keys to the Pope-mobile so I can cruise around the seven hills in style every now and then.
But no dresses or funny hats. That shit is right out.
So what will you choose for your popey name? How 'bout Pope Jim Bob? Or Pope Omar?
With Pope Omar on everyone's mind, it's hard to remember sometimes that today is the birth date of our two great emancipators--Darwin and Lincoln. The day should be written in neon on every calendar.