The Commentariat -- July 26, 2014

Michael Shear & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday urged the presidents of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador to exercise what he called their 'shared responsibility' to help stem the flow of migrant children toward the United States border, but the Central American leaders said America shares some of the blame for the crisis." The presidents met for 90-minutes in the White House Cabinet Room:

... Chris McGreal of the Guardian: "Three Central American leaders met President Obama on Friday to tell him that billions of dollars poured into attempting to prevent migrant children crossing the US border would be better spent addressing the root causes of the crisis in their countries." ...

... Pamela Constable of the Washington Post: "Some immigration experts and advocates suggest [a major cause of the migrant children influx was] U.S. policies of the 1990s and 2000s that deported thousands of gang members back to Central America. At the time, authorities were attempting to root out Latino gang violence in American cities.... The gangs took new root in Central America, abetted by the push of drug-trafficking routes into Central America from Mexico. The gangs grew more ruthless and expanded into international drug trade and other crimes, leading to escalating violence in Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Critics of proposals to deport the new crop of youths warn that the United States risks making the same mistake twice, accelerating violence over the border by condemning those fleeing the gang explosion to become either gang members or victims."

Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times: "Over the past several months, [Former CIA Director George Slam-Dunk] Tenet has quietly engineered a counterattack against the Senate committee's voluminous report [on the CIA's detention & interrogation program], which could become public next month. The effort to discredit the report has set up a three-way showdown among former C.I.A. officials who believe history has been distorted, a White House carefully managing the process and politics of declassifying the document, and Senate Democrats convinced that the Obama administration is trying to protect the C.I.A. at all costs."

Yesterday I linked to a story featuring a videotape of a January 2012 talk by Jonathan Gruber -- one of the architects of the ACA, who said, in response to a question, "... if you're a state and you don't set up an Exchange, that means your citizens don't get their tax credits. But your citizens still pay the taxes that support this bill." This is the same argument conservative plaintiffs made in the Halbig case, & the D.C. Circuit Court agreed. In an interview with Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic, Gruber said, "I honestly don't remember why I said that. I was speaking off-the-cuff. It was just a mistake." Both Gruber & Cohn offer evidence that the intention of Congress was always to grant tax subsidies to eligible citizens of every state -- whether the state had established its own exchange or not.

     ... BUT, in an update, Cohn links to a Breitbart audio in which Gruber says the same thing, in another venue, in the same time frame. So, not a mistake. CW: Clearly, this is what Gruber believed at the time. It helps explain, IMO, how the language got into the bill. If Halbig eventually comes before the Supreme Court, the justices won't hear this new information, but you can bet the conservative justices will know about it. Yesterday, I was skeptical that this was a smoking gun; I'm not skeptical any more, unless the Breitbart audio is a mashup of some sort (not an impossibility, given Brietbart's record). ...

     ... Adam Serwer of MSNBC: "Asked over email whether those remarks [in the Brietbart audio] were a mistake, too, Gruber wrote back, 'same answer.'"

     ... Jon Walker of Firedoglake: "Either Gruber was misleading these people earlier, perhaps in an attempt to promote his consulting work or trick more states into adopting exchanges to make the law seem more popular, or he is misleading people now."

** Never Mind. Katie Zavadski of New York: "When the bodies of three Israeli teenagers, kidnapped in the West Bank, were found late last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not mince words. "Hamas is responsible, and Hamas will pay," he said, initiating a campaign that eventually escalated into the present conflict in the region. But now, officials admit the kidnappings were not Hamas's handiwork after all." Israel now says the kidnapping & murders were committed by members of a "lone cell."

Paternalism doesn't change through the ages. It just dresses differently. -- Charles Pierce, on Paul Ryan's latest granny-starving scheme

Ben Smith of BuzzFeed: "Starting this Wednesday, Twitter users began pointing out instances in which a BuzzFeed writer, Benny Johnson, had lifted phrases and sentences from other websites. After carefully reviewing more than 500 of Benny's posts, we have found 41 instances of sentences or phrases copied word for word from other sites. Benny is a friend, colleague and, at his best, a creative force, but we had no choice other than letting him go." ...

     ... CW: BuzzFeed, not the NYT, fired Johnson for plagiarizing posts, the content of which were intentionally inconsequential; e.g., "15 things to avoid if you don't want to eat horse meat." These were not exactly master's theses. Apparently BuzzFeed is way more serious than the U.S. Senate. Also probably more serious than the Army War College: contributor Citizen 625 invites you to read Senator General John Walsh's "master's thesis": "If you want to read one god-damn lame masters thesis by John Walsh. The Army War College ought to be embarrassed for their obvious support for grade inflation."

Ed Pilkington, et al., of the Guardian: "Leading experts on the use of medical drugs in capital punishment have accused death penalty states of conducting a 'failed experiment' with new drug combinations following a recent run of drawn-out executions in which prisoners have shown signs of distress on the gurney."

One More Way Fox "News" Undermines Democracy. April Sorrow in Science Daily: "When asked who is going to win an election, people tend to predict their own candidate will come out on top. When that doesn't happen, according to a new study from the University of Georgia, these 'surprised losers' often have less trust in government and democracy.... Despite all evidence to the contrary, 78 percent of Mitt Romney supporters during the 2012 election believed he would win.... Among Romney supporters, watching Fox News Channel had a unique effect.... Those who watched Fox News Channel were even more likely to predict Romney would win, and this in turn had an effect on whether or not they thought government posed a threat." Thanks to James S. for the link.

My New Congressman Is Just as Great as My Old Congressman
                          -- Constant Weader

Sahil Kapur of TPM: "In an extraordinary -- and extraordinarily awkward -- failure of basic situational awareness, a U.S. congressman [Curt Clawson (R-Fla.)] apparently mistook American government officials for Indian government officials during a congressional hearing.... 'I'm familiar with your country. I love your country. And I understand the complications of so many languages and so many cultures and so many histories all rolled up in one,' Clawson said. He added: 'Anything I can do to make the relationship with India better, I'm willing and enthusiastic about doing so.' ... Clawson took office on June 25, replacing Rep. Trey Radel (R), who resigned after getting arrested for cocaine possession last fall." ...

     ... CW: Hey, how was Clawson to know? (Well, okay, maybe from cheat sheet on his table that identified all the hearing participants.) The officials didn't "look American." Clawson also told Rep. Colleen Wakako Hanabusa (D-Hawaii) that he was famililar with Japan & loved Godzilla movies. He greeted Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Illinois) with a hearty "Hola, Amigo!" & told him he was familiar with Taco Bell. ...

     ... CW Update: Since I can't access Foreign Policy, which was the source for the story, I read secondary sources. I missed this Gawker piece, which cites the FP story (Update update: the FP story is available here):

During the hearing, [Clawson] repeatedly touted his deep knowledge of the Indian subcontinent and his favorite Bollywood movies.

You cannot satirize this guy.

Beyond the Beltway

Meghan Keneally, et al., of ABC News: "A doctor with a semi-automatic gun and a caseworker who was 'nothing short of heroic' were able to wound and then subdue an armed psychiatric patient after he had killed another caseworker and appeared intent of reloading and shooting more people in a Pennsylvania hospital, police said today." After the assailant Richard Plotts killed the caseworker, Dr. Lee "Silverman dove to the floor, pulled a semi-automatic pistol out his pocket and had a furious close range gun battle with Plotts." CW: We'll be hearing about this from the NRA & their supporters, even though the person who actually subdued Plotts was unarmed caseworker John D'Alonzo. Another doctor, also unarmed, assisted him.

Presidential Race

Charles Pierce is not impressed with Aqua Buddha's outreach to the people his former employee & co-author the Southern Avenger asked to apologize to white people for their high crime rate. CW: I'm not sure if it's guts or chutzpah, but Paul's efforts seem okay to me so far.

News Ledes

AP: "The United States shut down its embassy in Libya on Saturday and evacuated its diplomats to neighboring Tunisia under U.S. military escort amid a significant deterioration in security in Tripoli as fighting intensified between rival militias, the State Department said."

Washington Post: "Large Palestinian protests against Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip spread across the West Bank on Friday, as U.S.-led talks to secure a lasting truce sputtered. But a brief 12-hour humanitarian cease-fire did begin as promised Saturday and ambulances rushed into no-go zones to look for dead and wounded." ...

... AP: "Israeli aircraft struck 30 houses in the Gaza Strip early Friday, killing a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group and two of his sons, as Israel's Security Cabinet was to decide whether to expand its operation or consider ideas for a cease-fire."

AP: "The European Union on Friday extended its Ukraine-related sanctions to target top Russian intelligence officials and leaders of the pro-Russia revolt in eastern Ukraine, official documents showed."

Comments

[Whyte Owen]

That a self defense shooting is national news at all should make folks think. Oh, wait………..

[The Constant Weader]

@Whyte Owen wrote yesterday, in part. "Asked what single step would most improve the economy, or human ecology to a biologist, 'improve' defined as the most quality of life for the least cost to the individual and the group, my response would be this: decrease the population."

We're talking apples & oranges here. I meant GDP; you mean quality of life, though I wouldn't buy your premise there, either. Among the first world's countries, there is little correlation among quality-of-life measures, population growth & fertility rates. Switzerland, for instance, usually does better than the U.S. on quality-of-life indexes, but its population density is about 4 times that of the U.S. while its fertility rate is considerably lower. The Danes don't do as well on quality-of-life measures as the U.S., but they usually beat out the competition on "happiness" indexes.

For the worldwide population, of course you're right. But the economies of individual countries benefit from increasing their populations. (That true of U.S. states, too. Texas is a big economic "success" because of increased population; in terms of quality-of-life, other than low-cost housing [which raises its quality-of-life index], it ain't so great, as Krugman mentioned yesterday.)

Marie

[PD Pepe]

C.W. thanks for reminding me cuz I, too, was going to weigh in on Owen's comments. I was reminded of the book by Jonathan Last: "What to Expect When No One's Expecting: America's Coming Demographic Disaster." The NYRB's Joel Cohen reviewed this book:

"Jonathan Last wants Americans to have more babies. If we don’t, he warns, the proportion of young people will fall while the proportion of old people will rise to unprecedented levels. This aging of the population will bankrupt our retirement system or divert spending from other priorities or—heaven forbid—lead to an increase in taxes. It will weaken America’s capacity to project military power in the world because families with few offspring will be reluctant to sacrifice them in battle. It will diminish the proportion of innovators in the economy and lower America’s rate of economic improvement. It will undermine America’s competitive position in the world."

According to this review fewer babies are being born in the U.S. Last says that we need more immigrants––they breed abundantly––and then remarks that the groups that breed will (literally) inherit the future.So I got to thinking: Hmmm––the rabid abortion deniers, the immigration "shoot em at the border" people,–––could this possibly have anything to do with all them white people wanting to maintain their hierarchy? Just a thought.

“In the long run,” Last writes, “the groups that breed will (literally) inherit the future.” To save America from the dire ills that accompany “the long, inexorable process” of demographic decline, he calls for a resurgent American natalism—many more babies must be born."

So get busy, Americans and start producing!

[PD Pepe]

Just how lucky can one gal be: Her past Representative up and left because of blow; her new Representative makes a gaff that will stick to him like a stubborn burr. Curt Clawson––face like a baby's bottom, former executive of an aluminum wheel company, jock (played a lot of ball in his day), unmarried (never was), and a Mormon.
Rachel featured Curt's foray into the big time last night and was laughing so hard she was banging on the desk. She produced a graph that indicated this is the worst Congress ever––it's quite startling to see in living color today's teeny tiny inch compared with Congress's of yore. The book, "It's Worst Than You Think," might have a sequel: "It's Even Worse Than We Thought."

[MAG]

Playing devilish advocate here. It's easy to recognize how a Ponzi scheme a la Ponzi/Madoff and company works...or those clubs that got (mostly) women to acquire cash/points if they get 6 friends who get 6 friends who get 6 friends....(you know where I'm going)...one day the supporting multiples run out. Thus, I can see where Mr. Owen is coming from...when you consider a LONG range picture. Yes, by increasing a younger, productive population it will benefit us for a long time, but eventually there will be a tipping point starting with such basics as available natural (fuel/water) resources, agricultural products, etc.

I'm often stunned when I come across satellite images of the earth from space...it is dazzling to see those billion/trillion/megagillion lights in cities, glittering up and down the coasts, across the different countries. The current demand for electrical needs alone is staggering.

I'm not anti-immigration at all and welcome infusion. However, globally we should consider the long range prospects of how to balance Ponzi-like growth so that everyone everywhere can enjoy a good or comfortable life at any age.

Because there will come a day when a once younger, fecund population that has supported a costly, aging population will also become an aged (even larger) population and we're back to "... if you get six friends, who get six friends." Hence a demographic disaster for sure!

[carlyle]

That old, arrogant, white Congress is helping us depopulate. We have thousands of children trying to get into the country and the politicos are screaming invasion!
We have thousands of educated and loyal "Dreamers", raised in this country that Congress wants to send back to their parents country.
Are we nuts?

[Ken Winkes]

Agreed. GDP, which measures only the increase or decrease in spending on consumption, capital investments and exports, is not the same as any quality of life measure. Granted, too, that quality is not directly attributable to population density.

However....in a closed system (i.e., the Earth) where resources are necessarily limited, too many people demanding too many resources present an undeniable (except for our friends who live in the State of Denial) problem. The Club for Growth's propaganda to the contrary, there are limits.

In certain parts of the world, some of those limits are or should be obvious. One of those areas--not nearly so distant as Far Tortuga--is our own West beyond the 100th meridian, where limited water, a condition noted 150 years ago by John Wesley Powell, imposes an uncomfortable reality we still have not faced, a discomfort compounded by the region's persistent drought. When the mouth of a river the size of the Colorado can do no more than spit, we have a problem.

By themselves the resources possessed by certain blessed areas of the Earth can support more people than others, but most large populations live in cities which depend for their subsistence on resources transported to them from outside--more and more from farther and farther away--, distribution that is in turn dependent on cheap transportation costs, which are bound to increase as the price of fossil fuels (another limited resource) rises.

So we're looking at two limits, the resources themselves and our ability to get them to where the people who need them live. Long term (maybe not so long), these limits present a cliff toward which the human race is edging, blindfolded.

It's a tough issue because the freedom to procreate is about as fundamental as a freedom can get. That's why over the years the Sierra Club and other environmental groups have been all over the population control and immigration map. No stand on these issues is the politically correct one, that is the one guaranteed to get everyone on your side.

And it's part of why for the public at large immigration and even abortion issues (those aborted babies don't contribute much to the GDP) remain so hotly debated and contested.

[Barbarossa]

Re: Benny Johnson, John Walsh, et.al.:

Whenever I see news items about plagiarism, I think of this:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gXlfXirQF3A

[PD Pepe]

I should qualify here that my post above on Last's stance on "more babies" business is not something I agree with nor did the reviewer. Our problems regarding this issue are much more complex as Ken points out. But if anyone is interested in this piece I'll post the link. It certainly got me thinking.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/apr/24/case-for-more-babies/?insrc=toc

[MAG]

The frustrations of a senior trying to set a password from http://www.newsblur.com/site/364224/bookworm-room

Senior trying to set a password

WINDOWS: Please enter your new password.

USER: cabbage

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must be more than 8 characters.

USER: boiled cabbage

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain 1 numerical character.

USER: 1 boiled cabbage

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot have blank spaces.

USER: 50bloodyboiled cabbages

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password must contain at least one upper case character.

USER: 50BLOODYboiledcabbages

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot use more than one upper case character consecutively.

USER: 50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourAssIfYouDon’tGive
MeAccessNow!

WINDOWS: Sorry, the password cannot contain punctuation.

USER: ReallyPissedOff50BloodyBoiledCabbagesShovedUpYourAss
IfYouDontGiveMeAccessNow

WINDOWS: Sorry, that password is already in use.

(Attribution: The Bookworm)

[PD Pepe]

Oh, MAG, that was great! I just had dinner and my hearty laugh helped the pasta mit pesto und a melange of tomatoes, onions, peppers, corn, anchovies, cheese, & basil with a slug of beer digest happily and gratefully.Thank you.

[safari]

I must say, as someone who has recently toiled over the experience of writing a Master's thesis that actually included a section of original research tying history and theory to logic and reason, I'm both disappointed yet not surprised that Walsh could produce a high school quality paper and have it grant him 'Master' status. I'm obviously offended that my 160 page research paper gets me the same academic recognition as this idiot who couldn't even put 14 pages together, but the world has been surreptitiously designed to ease the burden on the Silver Spoon folks so it is what it is.

Saying as much, I think it'd be a very interesting search to dig up the major research papers of all the people we send to Congress just to give us an idea about their supposed intellectual fortitude. Seeing as the titles before their names are at times irrelevant, digging up the origins of their alleged credentials could prove to be worthwhile. The name and shame strategy only goes so far in our 'Post-Truth' political carnival, but at least the plebes can throw their eggs.