Monday
Feb152016
The Commentariat -- Feb. 16, 2016
Afternoon Update:
Wowza! President Obama has two middle fingers: one for Senate Republicans & one for all the GOP presidential candidates. CW: I understand the tactical reasons for his reticence to criticize Republicans during his first term, but I surely wish he had spoken like this back in 2009 & '10. ...
Here's the President on the Republican presidential candidates:
... David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama on Tuesday vowed to nominate a Supreme Court justice who is 'indisputably qualified for the seat,' and he scoffed at Republican suggestions that the process should be halted until after the November presidential election and a new administration takes office." ...
... Coming Soon -- An American Show Trial. Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Tuesday that he had not ruled out holding hearings on President Obama's eventual nominee to replace Justice Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. 'I would wait until the nominee is made before I would make any decisions,' Mr. Grassley said, according to Radio Iowa. 'This is a very serious position to fill and it should be filled and debated during the campaign and filled by either Hillary Clinton, Senator Sanders or whoever's nominated by the Republicans.'" ...
... This story has been updated with a shared byline: Steinhauer & Mark Landler. New Lede: "President Obama on Tuesday challenged Republicans to offer any plausible rationale for refusing to consider a Supreme Court candidate to replace Justice Antonin Scalia..., and he pledged to nominate someone with an 'outstanding legal mind' who cares about democracy and the rule of law. 'The Constitution is pretty clear about what is supposed to happen now,' Mr. Obama said during a news conference after a meeting in California with leaders of Southeast Asia. He said the Constitution demands that a president nominate someone for the court and the Senate either confirms or rejects. 'There's no unwritten law that says that it can only be done on off years,' Mr. Obama said. 'That's not in the Constitutional text.'" ...
... Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "Justice Antonin Scalia's body will lie in repose at the Supreme Court before his funeral is held, offering the public a chance to pay their respects, court officials said Tuesday."
David Sanger & Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "In the early years of the Obama administration, the United States developed an elaborate plan for a cyberattack on Iran in case the diplomatic effort to limit its nuclear program failed and led to a military conflict, according to a forthcoming documentary film and interviews with military and intelligence officials involved in the effort. The plan, code named Nitro Zeus, was designed to disable Iran's air defenses, communications systems and key parts of its power grid, and was shelved, at least for the foreseeable future, after the nuclear deal struck between Iran and six other nations last summer was fulfilled." CW: Just remember, people, President Obama is a total wimp.
Adding Insult to Injury. Christopher Ingraham of the Washington Post: "Flint residents were paying more for their [poisonous] water than just about anyone else in the country.... In January 2015, the Flint water system charged more for its services than any other of the 500 water utilities in [a] survey [conducted by the non-profit Food & Water Watch]."
Have We Mentioned that Republicans Don't Care about Deficits? Kelsey Snell of the Washington Post: ... Ted Cruz's plan to impose a flat 10 percent tax on all personal income and greatly lower the corporate tax rate would cost the federal government at least $8.6 trillion over a decade, according to a new analysis. The plan would be the second most expensive tax proposal in the GOP presidential field, with only businessman Donald Trump offering a proposal that would add more in government debt over the next 10 years, according to data released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Urban Brookings Tax Policy Center." ...
... CW: Gosh, however will Tailgunner Ted make up for that honking big deficit? Oh, I know, cut programs for the needy & the deserving. Luckily for me, That Damned Cat has turned up her nose at the catfood pate', so I've got enough to keep me in kitty-canapes for quite some time. Always look on the bright side of life. ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Ted Cruz's campaign sent a letter to TV stations across South Carolina and Georgia on Tuesday, demanding that they stop airing what it calls 'a false attack ad' from the conservative super PAC American Future Fund that goes after the Texas senator on national security. 'The ad falsely claims "Cruz proposed mass legalization of illegal immigrants." Ted Cruz has never introduced, outlined, or supported any policy that would give legal status to illegal immigrants,' wrote Eric Brown, general counsel to the campaign, in the letter shared with the media."
Azi Paybarah of Politico: "Hillary Clinton took her campaign to shore up African-American support to Manhattan on Tuesday, meeting with civil rights leaders, including the Rev. Al Sharpton, in the offices of the National Urban League on Wall Street....Speaking briefly after the event, Sharpton said ... the meeting with Clinton ... was 'very candid.'" ...
... Greg Bluestein of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "State Sen. Vincent Fort, the No. 2 Democrat in the Georgia Senate, flipped his endorsement on Tuesday from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. He instantly becomes one of the Vermont senator's top surrogates in the South, where his campaign has picked up support from only a handful of black elected officials. The Atlanta Democrat made his decision public just hours before Sanders is set to speak at a Morehouse College rally aimed at enticing black voters to give his campaign a second look."
Sarah Larimer of the Washington Post: "An embattled University of Missouri professor has again found herself to be the subject of public scrutiny, after a video surfaced that shows her engaged in a verbal confrontation with police. Melissa Click, an assistant professor in MU's communication department, was suspended last month, in the wake of an encounter she had with a student journalist during protests on the Columbia, Mo., campus in the fall." Includes video. CW: I read that she told an officer "to get your fucking hands off me."
*****
Michael Shear & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "On Monday, Senate Republicans -- including some who are up for re-election in swing states -- appeared to be closing ranks with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the majority leader, who has vowed to block any nominee from Mr. Obama and has said that he should not even suggest one, leaving the choice to the next president." ...
... James Hohmann of the Washington Post: "Mitch McConnell has decided to wager the Republican majority in the Senate on blocking Barack Obama's pick for the Supreme Court. It's a bold and understandable gambit designed to prevent a leftward lurch in jurisprudence after Antonin Scalia's unexpected death this weekend, but it could backfire badly." CW: This seems a pretty solid analysis. ...
... Jeff Stein of Vox runs through the "strongest" confederate arguments for blocking any Obama nominee to the court. CW: By some of this logic, we had better hope the current federal judges & justices live forever, because no Senate will ever have to allow any president to fill a vacancy: "'The Senate can structure its own rules to govern the advice-and-consent process,' says Adam J. White in the Weekly Standard. 'Nowhere does the Constitution say that the Senate is required to act on the president's nominations.'" ...
... Wait, Wait! Here's one Stein missed. Emily Atkin of Think Progress: According to Constitutional scholar Rand Paul, President Obama can't appoint a justice to the Supreme Court because Obama has a "conflict of interest"; to-wit, the Supremes will be ruling on matters of interest to Obama. ...
... CW: By that logic, not only can the president never propose a nominee, the Senate can never consent to a nomination because the Supremes regularly make decisions regarding laws the Senate has passed; ergo, the Senate, too, has a conflict of interest. Looks like Li'l Randy just eliminated Article III from the Constitution. Well, good, as every libertarian knows, there's just too damned much government anyway. The upside to being a dimwit is that you never have any idea you're a dimwit. ...
... ** Sen. Harry Reid, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Having gridlocked the Senate for years, Republicans now want to gridlock the Supreme Court with a campaign of partisan sabotage aimed at denying the president's constitutional duty to pick nominees.... By ignoring its constitutional mandate, the Senate would sabotage the highest court in the United States and aim a procedural missile at the foundation of our system of checks and balances.... This Republican Senate would be the first in history to abdicate that vital duty." Read the whole essay. ...
... Steve Benen: "In every possible way, Senate Republicans have handled this about as poorly as they possibly could have. While much of the country was still learning of the news [of Justice Scalia's death], GOP senators, from the leadership to the rank and file, announced in no uncertain terms that President Obama shouldn't even try to fill the Supreme Court vacancy. If he does, Republicans declared that they will not act in good faith: no nominee will be considered or confirmed, regardless of merit or qualifications, because the party says so.... To further their obviously ridiculous case, GOP senators have even begun making up rules that didn't exist before the weekend." Read the whole post, especially the P.S. ...
... CW: If voters want the federal government to function ever again, they had better vote out every Republican candidate for national office. These nuts could make me vote for Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.). ...
... Greg Sargent: "Republicans may be courting a pretty serious risk: if Obama doesn't end up getting his pick through, there is a real possibility that President Hillary Clinton could nominate a more liberal replacement than Obama did -- and she might also enjoy a Dem Senate majority, making it easier to get that more liberal replacement confirmed.... McConnell may also be calculating that if Republicans do lose the White House, they could then quickly confirm Obama’s nominee." ...
... CW: My thoughts exactly. Republicans could also move to confirm a moderate Obama nominee before the election, in hopes the move would help retain their majority, if the polls indicated a Democratic would likely win the presidency & GOP senators were about to get trounced. Not an October surprise exactly, but an October calculation. Mitch does what's best for Mitch. ...
... Richard Hasen, in the Washington Post: "Think of the Scalia battle not as a hurricane, but as the first in a series of storms that will come through our increasingly polarized Congress.... The series of storms will put great stress on our system of separation of powers when we are so divided." ...
... CW: Il Nino has already "put Congress stress on our system of separation of powers." This is the first time I can recall that the leader of the majority party has stated outright that the portion of the branch of government he leads refuses to fulfill its Constitutional obligations. ...
Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "I've been puzzled by how much of the should-Obama-get-to-choose-a-judge debate has been framed as a last-year-of-presidency issue Republicans' strategy of blocking everything this president wants to do, and everyone he wants to appoint, did not exactly begin when we rang in the recent new year.... Republicans were just as dedicated to Confirmationus Interruptus in 2015. Last year, the Republican-controlled Senate confirmed just 11 federal judges, the fewest in any year since 1960. Only one appeals court judge was confirmed, the lowest number since 1953."
Sam Hananel & David Warren of the AP: "The Texas county judge who decided no autopsy was needed following the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has disclosed new details about Scalia's health.... Presidio County Judge Cinderela Guevara told The Associated Press on Monday she spoke with Scalia's doctor on the day he was found dead.... She said the doctor told her that Scalia had a history of heart trouble, high blood pressure and was considered too weak to undergo surgery for a recent shoulder injury.... Guevara said [Rear Adm. Brian] Monahan[, the attending physician for members of Congress and the Supreme Court,] told her Scalia had gone to the doctor's office on both Wednesday and Thursday before traveling to Texas, and had an MRI on his shoulder. She said Monahan told her surgery was needed, but that Scalia wasn't strong enough to endure surgery so rehabilitation was recommended instead." ...
... Toljaso. Lena Sun & Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "Conspiracy theories swirl around the death of Antonin Scalia.... 'As a former homicide commander, I am stunned that no autopsy was ordered for Justice Scalia,' William O. Ritchie, former head of criminal investigations for D.C. police, wrote in a post on Facebook on Sunday.... 'You have a Supreme Court Justice who died, not in attendance of a physician,' he wrote. 'You have a non-homicide trained US Marshal tell the justice of peace that no foul play was observed. You have a justice of the peace pronounce death while not being on the scene and without any medical training opining that the justice died of a heart attack....'" ...
... CW: I stand corrected on the source of the "pillow over his head" story, which I wrote in a comment yesterday was an invention of a right-wing fake news site. However, John McCormack of the San Antonio Express-News did cite ranch owner John Poindexter: "We discovered the judge in bed, a pillow over his head. His bed clothes were unwrinkled." ...
... Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story fills us in on some of the best conspiracy theories. ...
... Tommy Christopher of Mediaite shows how the theorists connect the dots to President Obama. ...
... Even some wingers, like Leon Wolf of Red State, think the conspiracy nuts are over the top.
What About Bob(s)? Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell could wind up one of the biggest losers as a result of Justice Antonin Scalia's unexpected death.... Last August, McDonnell was perhaps weeks away from being required to report to prison when the Supreme Court stepped in, granting him a stay that remains in effect today. Just one month ago, the high court formally agreed to hear McDonnell's appeal, which argues that his convictions relied -- at least in part -- on 'routine political courtesies'.... Scalia was considered among the most receptive justices to McDonnell's argument.... If the court can't muster five votes ... to overturn McDonnell's conviction, the appeals court ruling upholding his sentence is likely to kick in...." The Court's ruling in the McDonnell case could also have an impact on the corruption trial of Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).
... Michael Ruane of the Washngton Post: "The National Park Service announced Monday that the Lincoln Memorial will undergo a major renovation over the next four years, thanks largely to an $18.5 million donation by billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein. The project is probably the biggest overhaul of the building since the structure was dedicated in 1922, officials said."
Presidential Race
Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "With his expansive plans to increase the size and role of government, Senator Bernie Sanders has provoked a debate not only with his Democratic rival for president, Hillary Clinton, but also with liberal-leaning economists who share his goals but question his numbers and political realism. The reviews of some of these economists, especially on Mr. Sanders's health care plans, suggest that Mrs. Clinton could have been too conservative in their debate last week when she said that his agenda in total would increase the size of the federal government by 40 percent. That level would surpass any government expansion since the buildup in World War II. The increase could exceed 50 percent, some experts suggest...." ...
... CW: It's worth noting that of the economists whose names I recognize, all are likely supporters of Hillary Clinton: Jared Bernstein & Austan Goolsbee, for instance, both served in the Obama administration, & Paul Krugman has devoted numerous columns to running down Sanders' proposals and extolling Clinton's. This doesn't mean they're all wrong, but it's important to take their criticisms of Sanders' plans with a grain of salt. Besides, as Ive said, Sanders' proposals are aspirational. There's no chance Congress -- even a Congress dominated by liberals -- would enact legislation to increase the size of the federal government by more than 50 percent. ...
... Thomas Frank in the Guardian: "... focusing on the money being mustered behind Hillary Clinton by various lobbyists and Wall Street figures misses this point. The problem with establishment Democrats is not that they have been bribed by Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the rest; it's that many years ago they determined to supplant the GOP as the party of Wall Street -- and also to bid for the favor the tech industry, and big pharma, and the telecoms, and the affluent professionals who toil in such places.... Changing what the Democratic party stands for may ultimately require nothing less than what a certain Vermonter is calling a 'political revolution'." ...
... CW: What we need is a president with Bernie Sanders' ideals & a chief-of-staff with Hillary Clinton's know-how. ...
... Hillary Cares About Black People. Annie Karni of Politico: "In a high-profile speech in Harlem on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton is expected to address the issue of systemic racism, and offer solutions for how to break down the barriers that hold back African American families. The speech is part of Clinton's effort in recent days -- as she closes in on the South Carolina primary and turns her attention toward more diverse March states -- to show that she views racism and discrimination as stand-alone problems in American in need of their own solutions. Her approach appears designed to highlight the contrast with her chief rival Bernie Sanders, who so far in his campaign has mainly addressed racism through the lens of economic inequality." ...
... Jon Ralston of the Ralston Report in the Washington Post: "Nevada is no longer a 'lock' for Hillary Clinton. CW: Frankly, I'll be shocked if Sanders prevails in Nevada. The caucuses are this coming Saturday. ...
... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Women serving in the Senate say Hillary Clinton is being subjected to an unfair, sexist double standard on the campaign trail. Criticisms of Clinton's tone of voice have become prominent in recent weeks, stirring strong feelings among Senate Democratic women who say they too have had to battle the stereotype of the shrill female.... Female lawmakers were particularly galled by recent statements by Washington Post columnist Bob Woodward, one of the nation's most respected journalists, characterizing Clinton's tone as 'screaming.' 'She shouts. There's something unrelaxed about the way she is communicating,' he said on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' The comment prompted the show's host, Joe Scarborough, to interject, 'I was watching her and I said to myself, "Has nobody told her how the microphone works?"'... The New York Times reported that Clinton received additional media training after Woodward aired his critique." ...
... CW: So that's why Clinton spoke like a normal person in the last debate. Now somebody please get Sanders a voice coach.
Ben Schreckinger of Politico: "As Donald Trump and Ted Cruz divide up the first primaries and center-right Republicans tear one another apart in a race to be the mainstream alternative, Republicans are waging a shadow primary for control of delegates in anticipation of ... a contested national convention."
The Art of Breaking the Deal. Andrew Shain of the (South Carolina) State: "... Donald Trump did not close the door Monday on a possible third-party run after accusing the Republican party of breaking its pledge to stay neutral in the race. 'The (Republican National Committee) is in default,' Trump said during a news conference at the Hanahan Town Hall on Monday. 'When somebody is in default, that means the other side can what they have to do.'... In his fight against the RNC, Trump said he is upset that tickets to GOP presidential debates, including one held Saturday in Greenville, have gone to what he calls special interests and big donors." While he was at it, Trump accused S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley (R) of not doing enough to protect South Carolinians from Syrian refuges & Guantanamo prisoners.
In a statement, Donald Trump says Ted Cruz is crazy: "Ted Cruz is a totally unstable individual. He is the single biggest liar I've ever come across, in politics or otherwise, and I have seen some of the best of them. His statements are totally untrue and completely outrageous. It is hard to believe a person who proclaims to be a Christian could be so dishonest and lie so much." He also suggests a couple of wingnuts as his possible Supreme Court nominees. ...
... Yo' Sistah. Katie Glueck of Politico: "Ted Cruz on Monday pledged to make the presidential election a 'referendum' on the U.S. Supreme Court, ramping up efforts to make that issue one more increasingly personal point of contention with Donald Trump, his biggest rival here ahead of the South Carolina primary. 'The one person Donald has pointed to as a potential Supreme Court nominee is his sister,' Cruz told reporters here Monday, though Trump opened Saturday night's debate by name-checking federal judges Bill Pryor and Diane Sykes. 'Now, it's good to stand with your sister. But Donald's sister was a Bill Clinton-appointed federal appellate judge who's a radical pro-abortion extremist.'"
Ed O'Keefe & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "George W. and Laura Bush returned to the campaign trail Monday to campaign for Jeb Bush.... The former president and first lady took the stage at a convention center [in North Charleston, S.C.,] alongside the former Florida governor."...
... Look at Me. Now I'm an Anarchist, Too. Tim Devaney of the Hill: "... Jeb Bush in an interview Monday morning urged Senate Republicans to block President Obama from nominating a Supreme Court justice, taking a harder stance than during the latest GOP debate."
Megan Apper of BuzzFeed: "'It's morning again in America,' a calm narrator says as an idyllic scene of a boat crossing a harbor plays in Marco Rubio's latest ad -- a darker riff on the classic Ronald Reagan ad. Based on a quick internet search, though, the boat scene in the 'Morning Again' ad appears to be Vancouver, Canada.... And the flag on the boat appears to be Canadian." CW: What's terribly sad about the ad is that Ted Cruz's team didn't produce it. But, hey, the stock footage is still out there. Try it, Ted. ...
... Anyhow, Ted & Marco both might as well be a couple of Canadians. Or Cubanos. Whatever. Caitlin Cruz of TPM: "A Republican National committeewoman from Nevada said Monday that she believes both Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) are ineligible to run for President." Her theory on Marco is that he was born before his parents became American citizens, so to hell with the Constitution; the guy's a foreigner. The Nevada woman, Dianna Orrock, is supporting the guy in the orange rug whom she believes will make America great again. ...
... "Latino Outreach." digby: "Wouldn't you know it? The only two Hispanic candidates in the race are not American enough to run for president. Talk about bad luck, huh? (Because you know that Republicans don't have an racist bone in their bodies. They all love Taco Bell, amirite?)" ...
... Leading from His Behind. Steve Benen: How hard is it for Marco's backers to come up with examples of his "accomplishments"? Impossible. Rick Santorum couldn't think of one. Jim Inhofe [R-Denial] made up one that (a) was just a vote rather than an "accomplishment," & (b) Marco didn't actually, um, vote on it. Rubio can't think of one either: Sunday his best answer to Chris Wallace of Fox "News" was, "'Foreign policy experience is doing as I did, leading the effort to impose additional sanctions on Hezbollah.' That at least sounds like an accomplishment, except (1) the Hezbollah sanctions bill passed without opposition, so this was hardly a heavy lift; and (2) when it came time for the Senate to vote on the Hezbollah sanctions bill, Rubio again didn't show up for work." ...
... Kiss of Death. Dave Helling of the Kansas City Star: "Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has become the first sitting governor to endorse Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida for president. The Rubio campaign announced the endorsement Monday. 'Just like Governor Brownback, Marco has consistently defended life, small government and free enterprise throughout his career in public service,' Rubio midwest spokesman Jeremy Adler said in a statement. Kansas Republicans will caucus Mar. 5." CW: Yep. And their economic policies are identical, too. As Kansas went, so goes the nation.
AND Jonathan Chait makes the case for a Michael Bloomberg run. Thanks, Jon!
Senate Race
America's Stupidest Senator Retains Title. Following is what Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson's tweeted upon learning of Justice Scalia's death. Sophia Tesfaye of Salon: "The picture Johnson tweeted was of Edward Gero, an actor who portrayed Scalia in 'The Originalist'...." But no disrespect intended: Johnson later blamed his staff for the error & took down the tweet. Anyway, thanks, Wisconsin! Vote Feingold.
... For anyone who has wiped the real Antonin Scalia from her memory bank, here he is, explaining textualism, or in this case, I guess you might call it "hypertextualism":
CW BTW: Textualism, I would add, doesn't make much sense. As any lit critic will tell you, all reading is interpretive. Of course there are innumerable symbols, words, phrases & sentences which 99.9 percent of us would "interpret" in precisely the same way, to the point that we're not even aware we're interpreting them. But in more complex writings, where words may have shades of meanings & parts of the whole may be in conflict -- as they are in, say, the U.S. Constitution -- we become aware that we have to work to affix some meaning to them; their ambiguity may cause reasonable people to differ on what their meaning is or what the writer(s) intended us to infer.
News Lede
New York Times: "Boutros Boutros-Ghali, an Egyptian diplomat who led the United Nations in a chaotic 1990s tenure that began with hopes for peace after the Cold War, but failed to cope with genocide in Rwanda and Bosnia and ended in angry recriminations with Washington, died on Tuesday in an Egyptian hospital. He was 93."
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Reader Comments (31)
Gotta love Charles Pierce's suggestion of Anita Hill as a nominee. The announcement, immediately followed by Clarence Thomas' head exploding.
http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a42165/scalia-succession/
Paul Waldman has an interesting pieces, but it's the very last sentence of his last paragraph that caught my eye! Very telling! It is!
"Everyone now understands that the Supreme Court may be the most important issue in this election (which I’ve been arguing for some time), not only because of this vacancy but because of the advanced age of so many of the justices. That means that the next president could get to fill two, three, or even four seats. Or maybe she won’t get to fill any at all."
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2016/02/15/the-stalemate-over-the-supreme-court-could-get-even-worse-than-you-think/
How about Obama resigns, and President Biden nominates Obama? That'd be fun, just to watch the conspiracy theorists' heads explode.
@D.C.Clark: Excellent suggestion! But again, I'd suggest a recess appointment for maximum explosive impact. Ka-boom! If we're going to have a Constitutional crisis anyway, let's make it super-entertaining.
@Diane: Back in the day, Anita Hill was a conservative Christian (she taught at Oral Roberts University). Maybe she's changed her legal philosophy, but I wouldn't chance it. She's also old, by Supreme Court nominee standards. I hope Pierce was kidding. Either way, I hope Hill doesn't make Obama's shortlist.
Marie
A couple of things. In fact, 'lame duck' starts on the day of the POTUS is inaugurated for his second term.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee made the "80 year" lie the Cruz made. He is special because he actually voted for Justice Kennedy.
Adolf finally got something right. He called Cruz crazy and a horrible liar. After all he is an expert on the subject.
I think that marco rubes deserves a new nickname. I suggest "Hindenburg" because he is lighter than air with a tendency to self-immolate.
@Marie. Yes he was kidding and she's 59, considered too old in modern times for a SC appointment. However, the idea of it was pretty entertaining.
Snark aside. Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog has an incisive analysis pointing to Paul Watford (Ninth Circuit, age 49) as the nominee.
http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/02/ninth-circuit-judge-paul-watford-is-the-most-likely-nominee-to-replace-antonin-scalia/#more-238286
@Diane: Steve M. addresses Goldstein's pick, whom Goldstein himself has now abandoned for Loretta Lynch, all of which prompted Steve to lead with, "Tom Goldstein of SCOTUSblog is a very bright guy, but I don't think he understands American politics the way he understands the Supreme Court."
Marie
@Maxwell's Demon: Well, if we began calling him Marco von Hindenburg he might sound more "American" (& also more "noble," which is also great with "real" Americans who like their presidents regal) to people like that Nevada GOP committeewoman who thinks Marco is ineligible for the presidency on accounta his parents being foreigners & all. I wonder if we told her that "rubio" means "blond" she'd change her mind.
Marie
It's complete turmoil! It's as though everything is topsy turvy and all the Humpty Dumpty's have fallen and cracked their heads open. Robert Reich says the Republican party is no longer a living, vital, animate organization. Chris Hedges (link below), one of our loudest criers of doom and gloom, says Bernie Sander's movement is bogus––calls it a phantom movement. Hedges says the Democrats like the Republicans have no real interest in genuine reform. They are both wedded to corporate power. We, he says, do not live in a capitalist democracy, but in a system of "inverted totalitarianism." And lo and behold, the death of a S.C. Justice is causing a certain party to act like spoiled, disruptive children––once again.
And what is going to save us from ourselves? Certainly not "all the king's horses and all the king's men, couldn't put[all the] Humpty Dumpty's together again."
href="http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bernie_sanders_phantom_movement_20160214">http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bernie_sanders_phantom_movement_20160214
@Marvin Schwalb: You have a pretty expansive definition of lame duck there! It may be a hard term to pin down; here's what Wikipedia has to say:
"A lame duck, in politics, is an elected official who is approaching the end of their tenure, especially one whose successor has already been elected. The official is often seen as having less influence with other politicians due to their limited time left in office."
will try that link again: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/bernie_sanders_phantom_movement_20160214
@Victoria D.: The problem is not with your definition, which is correct. The problem is with Republicans, in particular, who have been using "lame duck" to describe Democratic elected officials who are not running for re-election, either because they're term-limited, like the president & some states' elected officials, or because they've indicated they're not running again for some other reason.
That's why many people who don't plan to run for re-election keep it a secret as long as they can -- because once it's clear they're on their way out, their power & influence dries up.
I've heard Democrats use the term in this same way, tho less often. I expect Marvin, as do I, remember Republicans calling President Obama a lame duck even before his 2nd inaugural. And of course they've treated him like Not-President Obama since his first inaugural.
Marie
De Scaliasiana.
The Ron (Dumbo) Johnson picture snafu is my favorite Stupid Confederate Trick so far. I saw the picture before I read the blurb and immediately thought, "Hey, this guy actually looks a little like Scalia. But why is there a picture posted on some twitter account of a guy who LOOKS like Scalia? Are we already into Scalia impersonators, like those guys who do Elvis? And what kind of gigs would there be for a Scalia impersonator? Man, that Obama really has outdone himself on the job creation front!" So, okay. My mind goes off on tangents. Then I read the text. *sigh* Just another stupid Republican. They can't even find a picture of a guy they value so highly. I mean, do a Google image search for the guy and this Edward Gero character never even shows up. Dummmmmmb.
Then we come to the Littlest Konstitushunal Skolar.
Oh man. Where to begin? Marie did a nice, quick little tap dance on Li'l Randy's head (she cut a rug, so to speak), but the depth of stupidity contained in this statement is astounding, even for him.
So, this idiot is whining (have you ever seen a more petulant little shit?) that the president can't nominate a new justice because something, something, conflict of interest. Okay. When is it okay for a president to nominate a justice? Is there any time in a presidency when the SCOTUS might not be ruling on some issue of importance to the president? For that matter, what about lower court judges? What about appeals courts and appointments to the federal benches? Should all of those be denied too? Something, something, conflict of interest? But then why should a Confederate prez get his nominees okayed? No conflict of interest there? So maybe what he's getting at is Libertarian Wet Dream Land. No courts at all. No judges. No nothing.
But that's not what he wants. Actually, what he's really acknowledging in a not so tacit way, is that anyone nominated will have some sort of political leaning. The winger judges currently on the court (especially Roberts and Alito) who claimed during confirmation hearings to have no political persuasion were/are lying sacks of shit. But then you knew that. No, what Rug Man is saying is that political leanings are okay as long as they lean toward the right. To the point of falling over, that is.
But the conflict of interest argument is ingenious (*snicker*). I'm wondering how it was that Madison, Hamilton, Jefferson, et al, never picked up on this problem. Goldbricks, all of 'em. It took a couple hundred years and a peevish little punk with a bad toupée to uncover a Constitutional crisis completely missed by the founding fathers. Way to go, Randy!
And remember kids, this guy is the one they all consider the smartest and most serious.
But this is just one more in the loooooong line of stones thrown in the pathway of this president by noxious, jealous, ignorant racist assholes: he wasn't born here, he's hates Kenyan colonialists, he's a Mooslim, he loves terrorists, he hates America because he talked to Iran, because he talked to Cuba, because he didn't let Netanyahu formulate his foreign policy, he had Scalia killed, and now Conflict of Interest.
In their minds all he should be doing is eatin' watermelon, sittin' on the front porch a pickin' and a grinnin' and a shinin' the shoes of his betters.
Theirs.
Instead, he's been kicking their white asses around the Capitol Building grounds for seven years and counting. I suppose that's a conflict of interest too.
More Stupid Confederate Tricks.
I heard The Decider stumping for his brother (the one who wasn't supposed to be quite so stupid) this weekend. He took pains to rip Donald Trump, only not by name (that would be déclassé, no? Because zee Booshes, are zo propair and soczhially correct, no? Would never be stooping to ze dairty treeks, yes?). Then he went on to qualify Jeb(!) as a "guy you can count on to handle the unexpected".
Oh, really? Like what a bang up job he's done handling the unexpected Donald Trump?
Give the guy painting lessons. He's toast.
@P.D.Pepe: As usual, Hedges takes the best of intentions, & in fact the best tactical moves to realize those intentions, & turns them into what he calls here a "Faustian deal." I have long found Hedges' purist views to be toxic, even though they are not entirely wrong. I think he's quite childish. And selfish. He & his ilk always have their pitchforks sharpened to skewer everyone who has even the slightest tendencies toward realism. He thinks you & I are jerks. And I think he's a whiney jerk. His call for a revolution in the streets -- this is a constant call of his -- is both foolish & treasonous.
Marie
Oh yeah, one more funny thing about The Decider's pimping for his doofus brother.
At one point, trying to burnish Jeb(!)'s credentials as a handler of unexpected thingies, he pointed out that Florida has lots of hurricanes. Oh yeah, baby. And Bushes are so fucking good at dealing with those.
Hurricanes? Seriously?
Do these people own any mirrors?
It'd be like George Armstrong Custer pushing for the advancement of his brother's military career based on the Custer family's ability to assess Indian attack capabilities.
Re: Chris Hedges.
Twelve or thirteen years ago, after reading his book about war, I found Hedges to be a bracing polemicist, especially in the face of the outrageous tsunami of war chants from both sides based on lies and innuendo. It was the Marx Brothers' brilliant satirical bit "The Country's Going to War" on an infamous scale.
But by now his position has hardened (maybe it was already in an early stage of petrifaction even then) to that of a black and white fanatic. It's the same "with us or against us" bullshit that The Decider trumped up to help sell his War of Choice. Zealotry is no more useful on the left than it is on the right. If you're gonna pose some solution, it really needs to be one that works. It can't be "Follow me to Never Never Land and all will be well!" I'm all for idealism, but idealism alone only gives you the Why. If you're going to move on to to How, you need some pragmatism in the mix and, as we're currently seeing with the extremist militancy of the wingnuts, pragmatism is a rare commodity among zealots.
Bug eyes don't see any more clearly than eyes wide shut.
The Pillow on the Face Thing.
Geeeez. Will this shit ever get old?
So, note to the prez: next time you send someone to smother a Supreme Court justice, or some other Confederate leader, tell the guy to please not leave the pillow on the victim's face. It's a bit of a giveaway.
But seriously folks, ba-dum-bum...
Never having done this myself, I'm guessing that someone deprived of breath, would thrash around a bit before succumbing, doncha think? This means bed clothes might be a tad rumpled. So why smooth out the wrinkles to make it look like a natural death and then depart with the pillow in place?
It's a little like shooting someone then cleaning up the blood but leaving the smoking revolver next to the body.
Oh, I know....he sent Joe Biden!
And I'm still wondering where were the UN's black helicopters?? Ah-ha! They must have been using the same stealth technology they employed when Obama took over Texas last summer and stole everyone's guns!
The FIEND!
How long before we hear Crump start bleating about murder?
Oh, and if you've never seen the Marx Brothers bit referenced above (forgot the link), here it is. The really sad thing is that it's almost a Frontline documentary of the kickoff to the Bush Debacle with a side dish of NRA wet dreaminess in the "All God's chillun got guns" segment.
Holeee.....
Boutros Boutros-Ghali died a few hours ago, Scalia the other day, David Bowie last week.
That Obama has been a busy guy! Lock your doors, kids.
Akhilleus, of course don't bother with obvious facts. The Scalia 'theory' will go away as soon as the JFK one goes. In other words, never.The most telling piece is the fact that his doctor and family felt no need for an autopsy. They were not surprised. My guess is that the obese Scalia's heart was a serious mess and note they mention 'multiple' health problems.
Imagine most animals, four- and two-legged, ducks certainly, would be pleased to be as "lame" as Obama has been in his second term. I'm looking forward to his lame nomination.
Maybe all the years I spent imbibing teentalk forces the other, common meaning of "lame" to the forefront. Lame as in "boring or inconsequential."
As in people who have nothing positive to contribute to the human condition or conversation.
As in Republicans.
What's in a name?
or
The Lit'ry Life and the Modern Confederacy.
Not for any particular reason, I looked up the historical background of the Scalia family name. I wasn't surprised to find that the name derives from the Latin word "scandere" meaning to ascend or climb. Another theory is that the name references a profession, in this case someone who created "scalas" or ladders. Both are interesting considering that Scalia, born into an immigrant family, ascended to some pretty lofty heights in this country. Also funny that his surname might be connected with someone who builds ladders. Pretty much the only thing Scalia ever did with ladders, like most good wingers, was to pull them up after him.
I also discovered something I either didn't know or forgot. His father, originally from Sicily, became a professor of Romance Languages at Brooklyn College and fell in with an upstart literary critical movement called New Criticism. Without going into the nuts and bolts, leave us say that it was a pretty heavy shift away from more stodgy forms of academic literary investigations. In fact, New Criticism set the stage for all manner of new-fangled (and well despised--by conservatives) forms of critical work, structuralism, post-structuralism, semiotics, feminist theories, Marxist/social formalism, and the French Annales school of historians, all sniffed at by old-schoolers who viewed them all as vaguely Continental and rather pouffy, but especially hated by right-wing writers like the historian Gertrude Himmelfarb, who wrote a plethora of (sometimes pretty funny) barbed attacks against such Philistine academia.
Gertrude Himmelfarb's son?
Bill Kristol.
Funny world, eh?
4:23pm EST
Anyone want to wager on whether or not President Obama uses "bone-headed" during the press conference? I say Yes.
I find it high-larious that one of the most unprincipled and proficient liars in American political history, Ted Cruz, is whining about an ad he claims is lying about his record.
Ha!
Also, this; Marie wrote:
"Gosh, however will Tailgunner Ted make up for that honking big deficit? Oh, I know, cut programs for the needy & the deserving. Luckily for me, That Damned Cat has turned up her nose at the catfood pate', so I've got enough to keep me in kitty-canapes for quite some time. Always look on the bright side of life. ..."
Well, it just so happens that Ted's ad people (not the ones who hired that porn actress, some other people) have put together a breezy, uplifting spot designed to let all those citizens he plans to crucify on the cross of wingnut orthodoxy and cloven-footed Christian ambition, know that they should always, no matter how many times he stomps their faces in the mud, look on the bright side of life.
Such a Christian something, something, something, ain't he?
I just want to say when you have people like YOU people that can put things in perspective (thanks Ak and Marie re: Hedges, although I had come to the same conclusion) then the world ain't so awful after all. AND––when Marie's Damned Cat won't eat that fancy food, then things are looking up (last we heard TDC had disappeared during a move)–-plus when Obama has two rather than one finger up then... I'll sleep well tonight.
@Nisky Guy: He didn't say "bone-headed," but he might as well have. The implication was sure there.
@Akhilleus: My husband was a prominent "New Critic," & I never heard him mention Eugene Scalia, tho it seems likely they had at least met each other; they belonged to some of the same scholarly societies, & those societies usually held annual meetings where lots of the members showed up.
Of course the father probably pronounced his own name correctly -- more like SKAHL-ya, not ska-LI-uh, so maybe my husband didn't make the connection between father & son. I do recall my husband's complaining that Nino couldn't pronounce his own last name.
Marie
Aww, isn't that sweet: Ted Cwooze is unhappy that someone is running an ad against him, and he says it's saying things that are wrong.
Karma, dude.
Nothing personal guys, but most often RC sends me to bed with the covers pulled over my head. (Covers - not pillows) But today is a GREAT day! That 'Wowza' Obama statement was truly Wowza (too bad NPR didn't carry that portion of the press conference) AND the feds are really sticking it to ol' Cliven of the Cloven Hooves. They are charging him enough (all charges from the cattle standoff) to keep him in prison for the rest of his life AND the judge denied him bail! Oooh - too, too beautiful.
Oh yeah. And the mofo asked for a public defender. But MORE sweetness. The judge wants to see some financial statements.
I feel like 'Lizia and danced all night. (Bear with me, folks. It happens all to rarely.)