Wednesday
Feb182015
The Commentariat -- Feb. 19, 2015
Internal links removed.
We must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. They are not religious leaders. They are terrorists. And we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam. -- President Obama, Wednesday ...
... Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday outlined his administration's efforts to counter what he calls 'violent extremism' in a speech to law enforcement, community and religious leaders gathered to discuss how to prevent groups like the Islamic State from recruiting disaffected young people to their ranks. The sessions on Wednesday -- part of a three-day meeting here -- focused on government-backed community pilot programs in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Los Angeles and Boston in which law enforcement and civic and religious leaders have worked together to counter extremist influences":
Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday appointed Joseph P. Clancy, who had guided the Secret Service on an interim basis for the last four and a half months, to be the agency's permanent director. In picking Mr. Clancy, a former head of Mr. Obama's security detail, the president rejected calls by critics on Capitol Hill and members of a special Department of Homeland Security panel, who said that a string of embarrassing personnel and security episodes had made it clear that the agency should be run by an outsider." ...
... The Washington Post story, by Carol Leonnig & David Nakamura, is here.
A few days ago, contributor JJG suggested the Department of Homeland Security, which is about to lose its funding because John Boehner, should be abolished anyway. Comes now Dara Lind of Vox: "... why does the department even exist? The answer is that it shouldn't, and it never should have. DHS was a mistake to begin with. Instead of solving the coordination problems it was supposed to solve, it simply duplicated efforts already happening in other federal departments. And attempts to control and distinguish the department have politicized it to the point where it can't function smoothly -- and might be threatening national security."
** Gail Collins raises the alarm about a Senate bill, introduced by the Other Senator from Texas, "that would allow people from states with lax gun laws to carry their concealed weapons all around the country." If you aren't sure why this isn't a lovely federalist, cooperative idea -- "like drivers' licenses,' as Sen. Cornyn puts it, allow Collins to explain. Here's an exemplary data point: "In 2007, The Sun Sentinel in Florida found that in a six-month period, more than 1,400 people who had pleaded guilty or no contest to felonies had been awarded concealed carry permits, along with 216 people with outstanding warrants, 28 people with active domestic violence injunctions against them, and six registered sex offenders."
Carol Morillo of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration on Wednesday accused the Israeli government of misleading the public over the Iran nuclear negotiations, using unusually blunt and terse language that once again highlighted the rift between the two sides." ...
... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "... Israel's prime minister is aligning himself with one of America's two camps. It's not the camp that commands -- or even can command -- the support of most American Jews. That will pose a problem for Israel."
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by the conservative Koch brothers, and the [Center for American Progress], a Washington-based liberal issues group, are coming together to back a new organization ... [which] plans a multimillion-dollar campaign on behalf of emerging proposals to reduce prison populations, overhaul sentencing, reduce recidivism and take on similar initiatives. Other groups from both the left and right -- the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Tax Reform, the Tea Party-oriented FreedomWorks -- are also part of the coalition, reflecting its unusually bipartisan approach.... Organizers of the advocacy campaign, which is to be announced on Thursday, consider it to be the largest national effort focused on the strained prison and justice system."
Evan Perez & Alexandra Jaffe of CNN: "The Justice Department is preparing to bring a lawsuit against the Ferguson, Missouri, police department over a pattern of racially discriminatory tactics used by officers, if the police department does not agree to make changes on its own, sources tell CNN.... The Justice Department action would ask for court supervision of changes at the Ferguson Police Department to improve how police deal with the minority communities they are supposed to protect. [AG Eric] Holder hinted at plans to announce the outcome of the dual investigations during an appearance at the National Press Club on Tuesday."
Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "A Chicago detective who led one of the most shocking acts of torture ever conducted at Guantánamo Bay was responsible for implementing a disturbingly similar, years-long regime of brutality to elicit murder confessions from minority Americans.... Richard Zuley, a detective on Chicago's north side from 1977 to 2007, repeatedly engaged in methods of interrogation resulting in at least one wrongful conviction and subsequent cases more recently thrown into doubt following allegations of abuse.... Zuley's tactics ... would be supercharged at Guantánamo...."
Nicholas Kristof comes late to the party: Union "abuses are real. But, as unions wane in American life, it's also increasingly clear that they were doing a lot of good in sustaining middle class life -- especially the private-sector unions that are now dwindling. Most studies suggest that about one-fifth of the increase in economic inequality in America among men in recent decades is the result of the decline in unions. It may be more."
"Be Wary of Humanitarian Intervention." Joel Gillen of the New Repubic: "In the fourth anniversary of the February 17 revolution, the prospects for peace and stability in Libya seem more remote than ever. The beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by a local branch of the Islamic State (ISIS)-- to which Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi swiftly responded with airstrikes -- is the most recent example of the instability and complete lack of security that has followed the NATO-backed overthrow of former President Muammar Qaddafi. Jon Lee Anderson of The New Yorker, who visited Libya earlier this winter, has written that '[t]here is no overstating the chaos of post-Qaddafi Libya.' Indeed, many see the country as the world's next failed state. There are now effectively two competing governments in Libya."
"Opportunistic Activism." Jay Michaelson of the Daily Beast: Judge Andrew Hanen's 123-page temporary injunction against the Department of Homeland Security's new immigration policies is packed with right-wing talking points & rhetoric & its legal reasoning is "sketchy."
Linda Greenhouse writes a fairly fascinating column on the University of Texas affirmative action case which the Supremes may take up again, fascinating because she includes some insider insights, & valuable because, without saying so, she reminds us why diversity on the Court is essential. ...
... CW: And I have some news for that brat Amanda Fisher: life isn't always fair & usually doesn't present you with just what you want. Nearly everybody who has planned a college education has received a rejection letter -- I got more than one -- even though she may have the potential & prove to be a good university student. Get over it. Of course, this case, as Greenhouse points out, Fisher isn't even the prime move of the case brought in her name: she "is the recruited face of a powerful social movement that opposes affirmative action in college admissions." I don't know who the individuals in this "powerful social movement" are, but I know they're privileged white racists.
Capitalism Is Awesome, Ctd. Natasha Singer of the New York Times: "Would you pay an extra monthly fee just to avoid seeing some online ads based on your web browsing history? That's the premise behind a staggered-pricing option offered by AT&T's ultrafast fiber optic network, called GigaPower, which the company introduced in the Kansas City area on Monday."
Jonathan Chait: "... Stephen Moore, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation, mak[es] his case, such as it is, that Obamacare has failed to meet its cost targets. Perhaps the most revealing aspect of Moore's column is the fact that, five years after its passage, the chief economist of the most influential conservative think tank in the United States lacks even a passing familiarity with its fiscal objectives." However, Moore is pretty good at making up "facts."
Hand Signals of Truth. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: "President Barack Obama has moved beyond the 'terrorist fist jab' with another hand gesture that conservatives believe proves he is, in fact, a Muslim. Writing for The American Thinker website, the blogger and Islamophobic author F.W. Burleigh closely examines a photograph of Obama taken in August during a meeting with African dignitaries. 'It shows Barack Hussein Obama flashing the one-finger affirmation of Islamic faith to dozens of African delegates,' claims Burleigh...." ...
... Steve M. searches Google images & finds that secret Muslims have even infiltrated Right Wing World. Some top secret Muslims: Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Scott Walker. ...
... Speaking of Crackpots.... I do not believe, and I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America. He doesn't love you. And he doesn't love me. He wasn't brought up the way you were brought up and I was brought up through love of this country.... What's wrong with this man that he can't stand up and say there's a part of Islam that's sick? ... I've never felt [love] from him. I felt that from [George] W. [Bush]. I felt that from [Bill] Clinton. I felt that from every American president, including ones I disagreed with, including [Jimmy] Carter. I don't feel that from President Obama. -- Rudy Giuliani, Wednesday
Rudy has been watching the hand signals. -- Constant Weader
This code-word racist crap is all they have now, and it's all they ever had against him in the first place. It's also why they lost. -- Zandar, in Balloon Juice
Giuliani used to be a respected figure in this country and now he's just another embarrassing right wing freakshow like Ted Nugent or one of those Duck Dynasty guys. -- digby ...
... Scott Shane of the New York Times: "Obama aides say there is a strategic logic to his vocabulary: Labeling noxious beliefs and mass murder as 'Islamic' would play right into the hands of terrorists who claim that the United States is at war with Islam itself. The last thing the president should do, they say, is imply that the United States lumps the world's 1.5 billion Muslims with vicious terrorist groups. But Mr. Obama's verbal tactics have become a target for a growing chorus of critics who believe the evasive language is a sign that he is failing to look squarely at the threat from militant Islam." CW Note: "evasive language." Scott?
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Ed Kilgore: "Politico makes case for just declaring Jeb Bush president right now." ...
Presidential Race
Mistakes Were Made. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush pointedly sought to distance himself from his brother's presidency on Wednesday, declaring himself 'my own man' and acknowledging that 'there were mistakes made in Iraq' even as he used his first major foreign affairs speech to call for an assertive American presence that recalled President George W. Bush's approach to international relations." ...
... Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "If Bush's goal is to present himself as his 'own man,' that list of advisers undermines the point somewhat: 19 of the 21 people on it worked in the administrations of his father or brother":
... OR, as Igor Volsky of Think Progress puts it, "The Same People Who Lied To You About Iraq Are Now In Charge Of Jeb Bush’s Foreign Policy."
... Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed sums up the speech: "His prescription: Hit ISIS, arm the Ukrainians, keep NSA surveillance, chuck the original justification for getting into Iraq in 2003. Broad strokes, but few details." ...
... Accidentally Forgets, Criticizes Brother's Foreign Policy. Igor Volsky: "During a wide-ranging speech on foreign policy matters at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs on Wednesday, Bush criticized the Obama administration for staking out a negotiating position that, he claimed, would endanger Israel and the world by merely managing the Iranian nuclear program rather than eliminating it altogether.... But 'managing' Iran's nuclear capabilities, as Bush puts it, isn't a position that originated in the Obama administration. As the New York Times points out, George W. Bush officials eventually conceded during his presidency that 'there was no way to reach a deal without Iran retaining at least a face-saving amount of enrichment capability.'" ...
... Another Way to Explain Jeb's Iran Gaffe. The more I get into this stuff, there's some things you just go, you know, "holy schnikes." This is, like, serious stuff. -- Jeb Bush, on Iran policy
I see Bump left Chris Farley out of his chart there of Bush foreign policy advisors. -- Constant Weader
... Zack Beauchamp of Vox found six more "cringeworthy moments" in Jeb's speech. CW: Yo, Jeb, if you're confusing Iran with Iraq maybe your 20 excellent advisors aren't so excellent. ...
... A Chip Off the Old Blockhead. Dana Milbank: "Try though he did to differentiate himself from George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, John Ellis Bush's delivery gave him away." ...
... Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "Former Florida governor Jeb Bush delivered a full-throated defense of government surveillance programs on Wednesday, expressing a resounding faith in techniques pioneered by his brother, George W Bush, and staking out a position in sharp contrast with other prospective 2016 presidential candidates."
Paul Waldman on Bill & Hillary Clinton & that '60s thing: "The divides we have now are still between the squares and the cool kids, the buzzcuts and the longhairs, the upright and the pot smokers and, perhaps most importantly, the group that looked on in disgust and envy at the other group that was getting laid and having all the fun." ...
... Larry Mishel of the New Republic, however, is more concerned with HRC & that '90s thing: namely, Robert Rubin & Co., & their stale -- and discredited -- idea, which they're pushing anew, that technological change is what led to income inequality & the one-&-only way to reduce the gap is education. CW: It should be obvious that the Rubin prescription is designed to make Rubin & his Wall Street buddies feel good: see, wealth & income inequality is not the result of high-earner greed but of poor workers' failure to get a proper education.
Beyond the Beltway
Natasha Korecki & Jon Seidel of the Chicago Sun-Times: "... Gov. Bruce Rauner finally laid his cards on the table Wednesday, calling for a staggering $6.7 billion in cuts to Illinois' budget. The Republican governor's first proposed budget called for slashing money for human services, including $1.5 billion in Medicaid funding, $82 million in mental-health services and the elimination of a slew of programs for those living with special needs." ...
... Max Brown of the Sun-Times: "Everywhere you look, Rauner's budget looks to reduce spending in ways that will likely cause harm to real people rather than just 'trimming the fat,' as many would prefer to imagine."
Oregonian: "Kate Brown became Oregon's 38th governor Wednesday morning."
... Greedy Girl. Nigel Jaquiss of the Willamette (Washington) Weekly: "... before Kitzhaber's resignation and the investigations, Hayes had even grander plans for herself -- in terms of influence and money -- for the governor's final term in office. Newly obtained emails reveal Hayes told Kitzhaber in late 2013 that she wanted to further leverage her access to his office into 'lucrative work,' including an official state position, paid speaking appearances and book contracts. The first lady proposed her expansive plans to Kitzhaber, even as the governor's staff searched for ways to narrow Hayes' official role and make sure she wasn't violating state ethics laws." ...
... Laura Gunderson of the Oregonian: "Former Oregon first lady Cylvia Hayes plans to go to court to block a state order requiring her to turn over emails related to her public service." ...
... CW: It's always about money or sex. Sometimes it's about money AND sex.
Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "A Washington state florist who refused to provide flower arrangements for a gay wedding 'because of [her] relationship with Jesus' violated the state's anti-discrimination and consumer protection laws, a judge ruled Wednesday. 'Religious motivation does not excuse compliance with the law,' Benton County Superior Court Judge Alexander C. Ekstrom said in his 60-page opinion."
Gene Robinson in the Daily Beast: Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback "wants to fire all the gays." Brownback has rescinded an executive order, put in place by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D), which protected LGBT state workers.
News Lede
Guardian: "A polar vortex may deliver the coldest weather in 20 years to the United States on Friday, as the weather system yet again sends a high-pressured shot of arctic air into the the country, threatening dangerous conditions and record-breaking temperatures."
Los Angeles Times: "The manufacturer of the medical scopes at the center of a deadly bacterial outbreak at UCLA Medical Center is under investigation by federal officials for possible violations of laws that ban improper payments to doctors and other customers. Olympus Corp. of Americas, the U.S. subsidiary of the Japanese manufacturer, said earlier this month that the Justice Department had been investigating its medical business since November 2011." ...
... Washington Post: "California public health authorities are tracking down 179 patients who may have been exposed to a 'superbug' bacteria at Ronald Reagan Medical Center at the University of California at Los Angeles after two people died following infection from contaminated medical scopes. Seven patients may have been infected with the drug-resistant superbug called CRE, or Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, during 'complex endoscopic procedures' to diagnose and treat diseases in the pancreas between October and January at the hospital, UCLA's Health System said Wednesday...."
New York Times: "Greece on Thursday requested a six-month extension of the country's loan agreement with its European creditors. But Germany immediately indicated that it did not find the proposal acceptable. The head of the Eurogroup, the group of eurozone finance ministers, scheduled a Friday afternoon meeting in Brussels to consider the proposal, as Athens sought to break a deadlock in debt talks amid fears of Greek insolvency."
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Reader Comments (11)
I read the article in the Christian Post that Akhilleus linked yesterday. So, any speaker in any pulpit in any church in the U.S. must be accorded complete freedom of speech, no matter how hateful. Therefore, it must be okay for ministers to be encouraging their congregations to sign up for the ACA. No matter how hateful. Yes.
I like KP, particularly as like many RC readers familiar with languages, I never rhyme Koch with the fizzy drink. Though I do anglicise it a bit.
Paul Wolfowitz? PAUL WOLFOWITZ? Words fail me.
Latest Gallup poll: Church attendance (http://www.gallup.com/poll/181601/frequent-church-attendance-highest-utah-lowest-vermont.aspx?utm_source=Social%20Issues&utm_medium=newsfeed&utm_campaign=tiles).
It is not a perfect match but by and large the more you go to church the more likely you are to get shot, have a teenage pregnancy and get lousy heath care and on and on. No one seems to notice that their god is not listening.
@Nisky Guy: exactly my visceral reaction.
Marie
CW: We had a discussion in yesterday's thread about the name "Department of Homeland Security." Patrick had a good late-in-the-day comment which I'm bringing forward here:
I agree with all that "Homeland Security" evokes feelings of Brown Shirts, Young Pioneers, and border guards in kepis asking train passengers for "papieren, bitte."
The U.S.' problem is that it already gave away the "normal" names that countries use for the internal police power and public safety (and, "Department of Public Safety" would be even worse than "Homeland" -- that is one translation of China's Gong An (literally Ministry of Public Peace). In our case, we were already using "Interior."
Many countries use "Ministry of the Interior" as the name of the government entity that provides for national police, fire, transport safety, etc. But to most citizens of such countries, "Interior" means "cops."
The British and many of its ex-colonies use "Home Ministry" without using the words "security" or "police" -- but their primary function is internal policing (think Scotland Yard).
When I was an undergraduate, an excellent professor delivered a lecture on European security issues between the wars (1930's) and spoke at length about the internal police and political controls in Europe at the time. I will never forget his comment to us that "You all should feel extremely fortunate to live in a country where the Interior Ministry is in charge of trees."
Now we have an almost-equivalent, in DHS, but the primary police power in the U.S. remains with the States, and for some reason the FBI still works for the Attorney General. So, we have no national gendarmerie, no national police force, and DHS and DOJ still have to fight each other over control of terrorism and internal security.
But -- I predict that we will one day have a national police force, and that DHS will swallow the FBI. They cannot really coexist and cooperate. Something has to give. Around then they will change the new cop department to "Department of Interior" and rename the tree people "Dept of Parks" -- because Dept of Agriculture has charge of forestry/lumbering and we will want to dispel any confusion about who is responsible for which trees.
Patrick
John Cornyn is one of the top recipients of gun lobby money in the Senate. Color me shocked!
https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?ind=Q13
I don't know to what extent RC readers are following the Greece/Eurozone crisis. For any who are interested, I strongly recommend the extensive coverage which Naked Capitalism is providing (www.NakedCapitalism.com). In connection with this, but also for setting our present global situation in a larger framework, Yanis Varoufakis' piece in the Guardian is well worth reading. Here is the link:
http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/18/yanis-varoufakis-how-i-became-an-erratic-marxist
Best,
Keith Howard
http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=borowitz&mbid=nl_021815_&CNDID=32493085&spMailingID=7514943&spUserID=ODk5MzU4MDUzMjIS1&spJobID=621808610&spReportId=NjIxODA4NjEwS0
Andy Borowitz on why Jeb would be different.
A Georgia state representative is standing up for rights of embryos.... Georgia Lawmaker (Republican Rep. Tom Kirby) Wants To Make Sure Embryos Don't Glow In The Dark
He admitted he hasn't seen evidence that anyone is creating these human-jellyfish hybrids, but "I've had people tell me it is but I have not verified that for sure," he said. "It's time we either get in front of it or we're going to be chasing our tails."
Looks to me, like Kirby is already chasing his!
EVOOOOLUNATIC.
How about Department Of Antiterrorism? That would be DOA,
well, maybe not.
Accompanying Rauner's slashing budget, it's good to remember the state income tax rate was just reduced by half. Because IL is in terrible fiscal shape, the rate was doubled maybe four years ago - right after Blago got kicked out. When the rate hike was passed, it was given a sunset date of 2015. Who's to know for sure, but if Quinn had won a second term the very solidly Dem legislature may have kept the higher rate. But Rat Rauner won and wanted it gone. Obviously, he feels reduced revenues work well with slashed services.