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The Ledes

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Washington Post's liveblog of developments in the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse is here: “Divers recovered the bodies of two construction workers who died when a massive cargo ship struck and collapsed a Baltimore bridge, as investigators revealed Wednesday that hazardous material was leaking from breached containers on the stranded vessel and state and federal lawmakers rushed to begin the recovery from the disaster that crippled the Port of Baltimore. Rescue crews found the victims shortly before 10 a.m. trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the hulking wreck of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland State Police Secretary Roland L. Butler Jr. said at a news conference. The conditions were treacherous for the divers, so Butler said they were suspending the search for the bodies of four other construction workers who plunged to their deaths when the container ship in distress struck the bridge shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing it to fall.

“The workers are believed to be the only victims in the disaster.... The victims recovered were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Md. Other victims identified Wednesday were Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, from Honduras, and Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, who was the father of three. The names of the remaining two victims have not been released.” ~~~

~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

The Wires
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The Ledes

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington Post: “As a cargo ship the size of a skyscraper drifted dangerously close to a major Baltimore bridge that carried more than 30,000 cars a day, the crew of the Dali issued an urgent 'mayday,' hoping to avert disaster Tuesday. First responders sprang into action, shutting down most traffic on the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge just before the 95,000 gross-ton vessel plowed into a bridge piling at about 1:30 a.m., causing multiple sections of the span to bow and snap in a harrowing scene captured on video.... Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) hailed those who carried out the quick work as 'heroes' and said they saved lives, but the scale of the destruction was catastrophic and will probably have far-reaching impacts for the economy and travel on the East Coast for months to come.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ A Washington Post liveblog of developments is here: “Six people [-- bridge construction workers --] were presumed dead Tuesday evening, authorities announced as they shifted from a search and rescue operation to a recovery effort.... The governor declared a state of emergency, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city has deployed its emergency operations plan. Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore was 'suspended until further notice.'”

Public Service Announcement

The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

The Hollywood Reporter has the full list of 2024 Oscar winners here.

Ryan Gosling performs "I'm Just Ken" at the Academy Awards: ~~~

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

CNN: “Jon Stewart is heading back to 'The Daily Show.' The comedian, who during his 16-year run as host of the Comedy Central program established it as an entertainment and cultural force, will return to host the show each week on Mondays starting February 12, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios announced Wednesday. Stewart, who returns as the 2024 presidential election season heats up, will also executive produce the show and work with a rotating line-up of comedians who will helm the program the rest of the week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Wednesday
Jun242015

The Commentariat -- June 25, 2015

Internal links removed.

Afternoon Update:

Doug Palmer of Politico: "The House voted 286-138 Thursday to renew a 50-year-old worker entitlement program with overwhelming support from Democrats, who reversed themselves on the legislation after losing a battle with the White House and Republicans over a bill to “fast-track” approval of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.... The vote sends the bill to President Barack Obama to sign into law."

Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: "Under a bill expected to be approved Thursday by state lawmakers, schoolchildren in California will be required to receive vaccinations unless there is a medical reason not to do so. The bill would end exemptions for personal or religious reasons, which parents who oppose vaccinations routinely request. The legislation would make California the largest state by far with such sweeping requirements for vaccinations, joining West Virginia and Mississippi, which have had similar laws for years."

Sarah Kaplan of the Washington Post: "A fire that engulfed a small, predominantly black church in Charlotte[, North Carolina,] was set on purpose, local officials said Wednesday. Now they are trying to determine whether the act of arson was a hate crime."

Missed this one. Al Kamen of the Washington Post: "The National Park Service moved Wednesday to stop sales of the Confederate flag in federal parks...."

*****

President Obama to speak on Supremes' decision. CW: I am so happy to see Joe Biden have something to smile about. You can view Obama's remarks on C-SPAN. ...

... ** Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that President Obama’s health care law may provide nationwide tax subsidies to help poor and middle-class people buy health insurance. Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote the majority opinion in the 6-to-3 decision. The court’s three most conservative members — Justices Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. — dissented." ...

... The Washington Post report, by Robert Barnes, is here....

... CW: Neither the NYT nor the WashPo report initially lays out the details of the decision, but I imagine the reporters will update them soon. ...

... ** Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "The message here is clear: In this and in future litigation, judges should turn aside clever attempts to undermine the law if there is any possible way to read the law otherwise. The attorneys and activists behind this lawsuit came to the Court hoping to gut Obamacare; instead, they placed it on the strongest possible legal footing.... King is a warning to lawyers who seek to tear down laws they disapprove of through clever games.... The upshot of this holding is that a future president will not be able to turn off tax credits. Agencies do not have discretion over this aspect of Obamacare.... King not only preserves Obamacare today — it also sharply limits the scope of future cases seeking to undermine the law." ...

... Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "The decision closely tracked most of the arguments that the Obama administration had made in defending the nationwide availability of subsidies, in the form of tax credits.... Although many observers had thought that the outcome of this new high-stakes controversy was anything but predictable, the Roberts opinion and his oral announcement gave no hint that, for the majority of six Justices, the outcome was ever in doubt...." ...

... Lena Sun & Robert Gebelhoff of the Washington Post: Healthcare insureds express relief & joy at the Court's decision. ...

... Yeah, but who cares about millions of people? Not this guy:

"Scalia Lashes Out." Tierney Sneed of TPM: "In his dissent from the Supreme Court's decision upholding Obamacare subsidies in 34 states, Justice Antonin Scalia accused the six-vote majority of engaging in 'interpretive jiggery-pokery.'... 'Under all the usual rules of interpretation, in short, the Government should lose this case. But normal rules of interpretation seem always to yield to the overriding principle of the present Court: The Affordable Care Act must be saved,' Scalia wrote in his scathing dissent." ...

     ... CW: Shorter Scalia: Dear Fellow Supremes, If you disagree with my superior ideology, you're a deceitful idiot." ...

... Ed Kilgore enjoys "a moment of schadenfreude" as he "luxuriate[s] ... into scalded-cat reactions" to the decision. ...

... digby: "Jeff Toobin just pointed out on CNN that Roberts is still a very conservative justice and this idea that he's a 'liberal' is daft. This is just a sign of how absurdly right wing the conservative legal community has become that they would even think of pushing a daft case like this one. Roberts is just not willing to be a total intellectual whore for their hobby horses." digby also cites a few tweets from GOP presidential candidate: "judicial tyranny" (Huckabee), etc. ...

... CW: "Liberal," my ass. Either Roberts or Kennedy, or both, had to agree to hear the case in the first place, since it takes four to tango. ...

... Bloomberg rounds up responses from presidential candidates of both parties. ...

... Also see Akhilleus' documentation of winger reactions (Comment 10, below). ...

... Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Even as Republicans rose in a chorus of outrage Thursday over the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to gut the unpopular Affordable Care Act, party leaders were privately breathing a sigh of relief. Had the court gone the other way, Republicans would have faced their most serious governing challenge since taking control of both houses of Congress earlier this year." ...

... CW: The decision seems to rest entirely upon interpretation of "Congressional intent," not just on the as-written language, as some experts had argued the Court would & could do. In relying on intent rather than "plain language," the Court cites as precedent at least one opinion that Scalia wrote -- United Savings Association of Texas v. Timbers of Inwood Forest Associates, Ltd. -- & one in which he joined the majority -- FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco. A nice kick in the face to the Court's most famous slimy hypocrite. ...

... ** OMG! "Decision of the Fourth Circuit is affirmed in King v. Burwell. 6-3." Opinion by Roberts. "Six are the Chief, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Breyer, Sotomayor, and Kagan" upholding subsidies. Here's the opinion & Scalia's dissent. ....

... From the opinion: "Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them.... In this instance, the context and structure of the Act compel us to depart from what would otherwise be the most natural reading of the pertinent statutory phrase.... The Affordable Care Act contains more than a few examples of inartful drafting." ...

... "From the intro to Scalia's dissent: the majority's reading of the text 'is of course quite absurd, and the Court's 21 pages of explanation make it no less so.'... We should start calling this law SCOTUScare." CW: Remember that in cases where he agrees with the nature of the legislation, Scalia has written that an isolated phrase must be read in context. What an ass. ...

... The Supreme Court will issue one or more opinions today, beginning at 10 am ET today. ScotusBlog will begin liveblogging at 9 am ET. ...

... First opinion on Texas housing: A big win for housing & civil rights. Kennedy wrote the opinion. "Disparate impact claims are cognizable under the Fair Housing Act." Here's the opinion & dissents. ...

... Smart note from Eric Citron: "This is a good example of what's problematic with the proposition that this is a 'liberal' term. On the one hand, this is a huge victory for the left wing of the Court on a contentious issue; on the other hand, this issue does not get granted with a less conservative Court. It all depends on your baseline." ...

... Emily Badger of the Washington Post: "Civil rights groups and the Obama Administration won a major victory Thursday as the Supreme Court upheld a tool that advocates argue is essential to fighting housing discrimination and patterns of segregation that have persisted in America for decades. In the 5-4 decision written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, the Court ruled that the 1968 Fair Housing Act doesn't solely ban overt discrimination in the housing market. The Court said the law can also prohibit seemingly race-neutral policies that have the effect of disproportionately harming minorities and other protected groups, even if there is no overt evidence of bias behind them." ...

... That's it for the day. Another long national (unnecessary) nightmare is over. The Court will issue more opinions tomorrow & Monday. ...

... Robert Pear & Margot Sanger-Katz of the New York Times have a good overview of how the ACA subsidies work; ergo, what is at stake in the Supreme Court's upcoming opinion. CW: As for me, I can't get over the extreme cruelty of the Supremes' even taking King v. Burwell in the first place -- it takes four of them to agree to hear a case -- then dragging out issuing an opinion until the end of days. ...

... Greg Sargent on the crux of the various GOP plans to deal with the fallout of a King victory: "It would be 'unfair' to abandon those who lose subsidies, so Republicans should pursue a contingency they know will fail to restore those subsidies, because it will allow them to blame Obama!"

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "The Senate on Wednesday gave final approval to legislation granting President Obama enhanced power to negotiate major trade agreements with Asia and Europe, sending the president’s biggest end-of-term legislative priority to the White House for his signature. The vote was 60 to 38. Senators then approved legislation assisting workers dislocated by international trade accords, attaching it to a popular African trade measure that will go to the House on Thursday for a final vote. House Democrats signaled they would support the worker-assistance measure, which they voted down two weeks ago in a tactical bid to derail the trade authority bill."

White House: "Speaking in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, President Obama lays out the findings of the U.S. Hostage Policy Review and the outlines of what U.S. policy will be moving forward. June 24, 2015":

Matt Lewis, formerly a columnist for the notorious Daily Caller & now a writer for the Daily Beast: "The injection of Southerners into the Republican coalition — a coalition they ultimately came to dominate — couldn’t help but change the image of the GOP. There were racial, cultural, political, and even religious implications. Republicans captured the South, yes, but the South also captured the GOP. There were no doubt many salutary benefits to this arrangement — most obviously, an electoral boon that lasted for decades. But it also guaranteed we would eventually see a day of reckoning." CW: He makes a good point. Conservatism isn't necessarily about racism, sexism, classism, intolerance & cruelty, even though its underlying principles are designed to promote economic inequality, aristocracy & oligarchy.

Jeremy Borden, et al., of the Washington Post: "The federal government is likely to bring hate-crime charges against the gunman accused of killing nine parishioners in a Charleston, S.C., church last week...."

Nicholas Kristof: "... the movement [to deep-six the confederate flag] is in some ways chimerical. It’s about a symbol — and now the progress on the symbol needs to be matched by progress on racial inequality in daily life.... So, sure, good riddance to Confederate flags across the country! And then let’s swivel to address the larger national disgrace: In 2015, so many children still don’t have an equal shot at life because of the color of their skin."

Jeremy Borden & Brian Murphy of the Washington Post: "Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley ordered that Confederate flags be taken down from the state capitol grounds. The Birmingham News reported that workers arrived 'with no fanfare' early Wednesday to remove the flags.... At South Carolina’s statehouse, workers placed a black drape over a second-floor window — blocking the view of a Confederate battle flag at a nearby Civil War memorial — before thousands of mourners were expected to view the body of slain state senator, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Josh Marshall of TPM: "The United States Army maintains at least ten military bases - including some of the largest - named in honor of Confederate generals. There is a unique irony in the United States Army, which lost hundreds of thousand of soldiers defeating the Confederacy, naming its biggest military compounds for generals who helped with the killing.... If it is inappropriate to have a statue of Jefferson Davis in the Kentucky capitol building [as Mitch McConnell suddenly noticed this week!] can it really be appropriate for our largest Army bases to be named after Confederate generals? As of now, the Pentagon says there is 'no discussion' of renaming those bases."

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: In a photo that appeared on his Facebook page, Dylann Roof is holding in his left hand a confederate flag, in his right hand a "a semiautomatic .45-calibre Glock 41 handgun.... According to news reports, Roof bought the pistol on April 11th, eight days after his twenty-first birthday.... Despite the fact that Roof was arrested earlier this year on a minor drug charge, the purchase appears to have been perfectly legal.... What about banning the Glock and other deadly weapons — or, at least, restricting them to rifle ranges and other secure areas? Where is the national movement to do this?" ...

... E. J. Dionne: "What’s needed is a long-term national effort to change popular attitudes toward handgun ownership. And we need to insist on protecting the rights of Americans who do not want to be anywhere near guns.... But as long as gun control is linked to ideology and party — and as long as the National Rifle Association and its allies claim a monopoly on arguments about individual rights — reasonable steps of this sort will be ground to death by the Washington Obstruction Machine."

Boehner v. the Tea Party. Scott Wong & Cristina Marcos of the Hill: "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and his allies are charging ahead with their effort to punish conservatives who have been a thorn in leadership’s side — a purge that is roiling the GOP conference. The latest victim is Colorado Rep. Ken Buck, who could be stripped of his title as GOP freshman class president on Thursday morning.... While the Speaker has lashed out at conservative rebels before, the latest intraparty purge has been particularly aggressive, this time targeting members of the new, conservative House Freedom Caucus who voted against the rule."

Jeff Stein of Newsweek: "Chinese hackers have in recent months penetrated an untold number of FBI agents’ personnel files, Newsweek has learned, in a breach with potentially dangerous national security implications."

Etiquette Rule #1: Don't Diss the Host. Liam Stack of the New York Times: "An activist interrupted President Obama on Wednesday at a White House event celebrating L.G.B.T. Pride Month to demand an end to the deportation of L.G.B.T. immigrants. The activist was escorted from the room amid a chorus of boos and jeers from the assembled guests. The activist, Jennicet Gutiérrez, who is transgender and says she is in the country illegally, interrupted Mr. Obama shortly after he began speaking, calling from the back of the room, 'President Obama, release all L.G.B.T.Q. immigrants from detention and stop all deportations!'” ...

... CW: President Obama began his remarks with "This is a rowdy crowd!" Gutiérrez interrupts the POTUS about a minute later. POTUS tells Gutiérrez "You're in my House. Its not respectful when you get invited to somebody's ... Can we escort this person out. You can either stay & be quiet or well have to take you out.... Can we have this person removed, please?... If you're eating the hors d'ouevres ... & drinking the booze...."

Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy will be held accountable for the federal land grazing fees and penalties he owes, [Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, whose department includes BLM,] said."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dylan Byers of Politico: "Fox News chief Roger Ailes has signed a new multi-year contract with 21st Century Fox, laying to rest any speculation that he would leave following Rupert Murdoch's decision to step down as CEO. The company announced Thursday that Ailes, 75, will continue to serve as chairman and CEO of Fox News and Fox Business Network, and chairman of Fox Television Stations. The news was announced by Rupert Murdoch, Lachlan Murdoch and James Murdoch, who stated that Ailes would "jointly report" to all three — clearing up previous confusion around the chain of command." ...

... Patrick Phillips of WCSC Charleston: "Charleston Police are investigating a Facebook video of an apparent interaction between one of their officers and a group of African-American children. The video begins with children using graphic language towards a police officer who is driving by in his cruiser. At the end of the video, the officer appears to say, 'Don't go to church and get hurt,' before driving away." CW: What's wrong with this story, beyond the officer's reaction?: Phillips doesn't bother to cite the race of the cop though he notes the race of the children. Why? Because there are "people" and there are "African-American people." Phillips, and his editor, if he has one, are no doubt unaware of their own racist mindsets.

Presidential Race

John McCormick of Bloomberg: "Bernie Sanders is gaining on Hillary Clinton in Iowa and New Hampshire, with an appeal as an issue-oriented protest vehicle potentially capable of slowing any coronation of the popular front-runner. In simultaneous surveys, the U.S. senator from Vermont received nearly a quarter of support from likely Democratic caucus and primary voters in the states that host the first presidential nomination balloting early next year, cutting sharply into Clinton's still-huge lead."

Carry Him Back to Old Virginny. Yes, friends, there is a potential Democratic candidate who has an affinity for Old Dixie, and that candidate is Jim Webb. "Webb has weighed in on his Facebook page, writing that '[t]his is an emotional time and we all need to think through these issues with a care that recognizes the need for change but also respects the complicated history of the Civil War.' He calls for “mutual respect” and says the flag shouldn’t be used 'as a political symbol that divides us,' but does not take any clear stance on the flag publicly displayed on the grounds of the South Carolina statehouse." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "... if this is Webb’s final word on the subject, I think he’s disqualified himself from serious consideration as a Democratic candidate for president. It’s not entirely news that Webb’s admirable record in the Senate is sometimes overshadowed by conservative cultural attitudes he’s advanced in the past, often, like this one, a product of his stubborn self-identification with the bad as well as the good aspects of the Scots-Irish people from whom he (and for that matter, I) descended. It’s really just too bad." ...

... Here's Webb's Facebook entry.

** Frank Rich: Today’s neo-Confederate GOP politicians, vying for primary votes in Dixie 150 years after Appomattox, proved themselves to be laughable cowards. Confronted with the simplest of questions – should a state capitol display a flag that stands for slavery, racism, and treason? – they hedged (all of them), spouted gibberish (Ted Cruz), or went into hiding (Rand Paul).... This combination of disingenuousness and spinelessness on a no-brainer issue should disqualify all of them from the White House."

Paul Waldman: "... it may be no accident that most of the Republican governors currently running for president aren’t popular at home. They’re products of today’s Republican Party, where unflagging commitment to conservative doctrine is what counts as success.... Practical achievements like improving the health of your state or even fostering strong job creation are all well and good, but they have to take a back seat to ideological achievements like crushing a labor union, fighting Obamacare, or resisting tax increases." ...

... Gail Collins has a super piece that helps explain why: she demonstrates how "effective" the GOP governor-candidates' "jobs creation" programs are -- although if bestowing taxpayer-funded gifts upon corporations is their purpose, then these governors have very effective economic development programs.

Jonathan Easley of the Hill: Not-President "Mitt Romney is asserting himself as a leader of the Republican Party at a time when the GOP lacks a true standard-bearer. As the huge field of Republican contenders begins the long slog to the party’s 2016 nomination, Romney is working to connect select candidates with his vast political network, urging the party to learn from his past mistakes, attacking Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton and taking forceful stances on controversial issues."

Scott Walker in a CNN opinion piece: Kill ObamaCare, by any means. “Governors across the country have been clear: If the Supreme Court strikes down the Obama executive overreach, we will not bail out Obama at the expense of the American people.... If the high court rules in favor of the administration, Obamacare will continue, unchanged. And that means the Republican House and Senate must redouble the fight to repeal and replace Obamacare.”

Well, 80,000 people failed a background check last year or two years ago. Nine thousand were felons on the run from the law and not one of them was arrested or prosecuted. Absolutely, if I get to be president of the United States, you fail a criminal background check, you try to buy a gun when you’re not supposed to, you’re going to meet the law head on. – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), interview on CNN, June 19

This is emerging as a 'zombie claim' — something that keeps popping up even after it has been debunked.... While there is no comprehensive nationwide survey of fugitive prosecutions, the state-level data from Virginia and Pennsylvania clearly shows that fugitives have been arrested as a result of the Brady law. Pennsylvania alone indicated that it has arrested about a 100 fugitives a year in the past 17 years. Yet Graham persists in falsely claiming that 'not one of them was arrested or prosecuted.' -- Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post

President Doody.

Unpossible! Katharine Seelye of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush, who is struggling in the polls in Iowa, may find his salvation in New Hampshire. Yet another poll of New Hampshire voters shows him leading the passel of nearly 20 Republican candidates for the 2016 presidential nomination. Mr. Bush ... was backed by 14 percent of respondents in a Suffolk University poll released Tuesday; the surprise was that his nearest competitor was Donald J. Trump..., who captured the support of nearly 11 percent of those surveyed." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: Also, I noticed in the photo accompanying the story that Donald doesn't have orange hair anymore. Maybe the gray makes him seem more presidential to the lumpenproletariat, although I do believe Republicans would vote for Howdy Doody if the Koch boys were the ones pulling the strings.

The Most Superficial, Witless President in Living Memory. Colby Itkowitz of the Washington Post: George W. Bush "doesn’t miss much about the [POTUS] job (it was pretty rough go), but he does miss the showers on Air Force One and the personal pastry chef. Yes, we can see how that would be plenty incentive for Jeb Bush to go for it." Also misses saluting soldiers.

Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "Gov. Bobby Jindal, who became Louisiana’s first nonwhite governor since Reconstruction but whose popularity has plummeted as the state struggles with a $1.6 billion shortfall, announced on Wednesday that he is running for president in 2016.... The announcement was made online, and Mr. Jindal plans a late-afternoon announcement event outside New Orleans." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Here's "a special announcement from Bobby Jindal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) Paul Waldman especially enjoyed Bobby's "completely bizarre announcement video." ...

... CW: Not completely bizarre if you consider this. McKay Coppins of BuzzFeed: "The most viral headline this year with the Louisiana governor’s name in it was published in The Onion: 'Bobby Jindal Not Sure He Willing To Put Family Through 2-Month Presidential Campaign.'” You might want to read Coppins' whole piece on Jindal's plan to win. It's pretty sickening. Example: He thinks being the "Duck Dynasty" candidate is a winning strategy. ...

... Even the WashPo editors think so.

Beyond the Beltway

Jan Skutch & Dash Coleman of the Savannah Morning News: "Two former sheriff’s deputies and a contract health-care worker at the Chatham County jail were indicted Wednesday on felony involuntary manslaughter and related charges stemming from the Jan. 1 death of Mathew Ajibade, 21, at the jail. But despite the nine-count indictment in the well-publicized case, some were upset at the grand jury’s lack of felony murder charges, and protesters downtown Wednesday pressed for accountability and larger community discussions about racism — while also calling for Sheriff Al St Lawrence to step down."

Odd News. John Koblin of the New York Times: "PBS said on Wednesday that it was postponing a future season of 'Finding Your Roots' after an investigation revealed that the actor Ben Affleck pressured producers into leaving out details about an ancestor of his who owned slaves. PBS will not run the show’s third season until staffing changes are made, including hiring a fact checker, it said. The show, which is hosted by the Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., traces family histories of celebrities and public figures, and has run for two seasons. The concern about Mr. Affleck’s relative surfaced in the WikiLeaks cache of hacked Sony emails after Mr. Gates asked a Sony executive for advice about a 'megastar' who wanted to omit a detail about a slave-owning ancestor." ...

... CW: At least it turns out that this particular Wikileaks hack did have more than one public benefit. (It also demonstrated -- as if we didn't know -- Hollywood's rampant sexism. And Ben Affleck is an asshole. All of us have ancestors who were jerks, ne'er-do-wells or out-and-out monsters.

Reader Comments (19)

I had written a response to Haley's comment yesterday but an errant keystroke consigned it to the aether. I'll try to reconstruct it this morning.

Haley,

You are, to coin a phrase, right on the money with your observation about the morality market exchange in Charleston. The church connection dramatically increased the value of those nine victims of the kind of white supremacy supported daily on Fox and by thousands, if not tens of thousands, of politicians and officials who are themselves racist or who support or simply tolerate racists.

Had those people been killed in a drive-by shooting in a black neighborhood Megyn Kelly would be on Fox proclaiming that probably they "were no angels" either. Bill O'Reilly would be suggesting that perhaps this was the result of a gang war, because you know how violent "those people" can be. But the fact that they had welcomed that murderous little pissant into their midst to read the Bible with him, Paul to the Racists, chapter II, verses 24-35, places their deaths, for all but the most unsalvageable assholes, beyond criticism or the standard snide insinuations from the right.

Oh, except for the gun strokers who blame the murdered men and women for their own deaths because they weren't sitting in their church with ammo belts slung across their chests like Sergeant Rock.

Nonetheless, the flip side is that the church element allows the wingers to get back a dividend in this Market of Morality exchange. It allows Bible beaters like Steve Doocy and Rick Santorum to claim the mantle of victims who have been wounded just as badly as the dead people, because being killed in a church proves that race was not a factor but that they were assassinated because they were Christians.

So they give a little but they get a lot back too.

Wingers tend always to get the better of the deal in these exchanges of morality. I guess they've been at it so long.

The Supremes are about to extract several million pounds of flesh in the next big Marketplace of Morality atrocity. Can't wait to see how that is reported.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

So....ACA WINS 6-3! Only the Creepolas dissenting: Scalia, Alito and CT (of course). BIG (and deserved) VICTORY FOR OBAMA! Now.....on to Single Payer!

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

A perfect example of the Marketplace of Morality at work and a further example of how Confederates get the best of these exchanges can be seen in states with Republican governors.

As related in a link, above, most of these states are in dire straits because of fealty to hard line ideology. But states with governors who see themselves as standard bearers for the party line are especially hard hit. In all cases the voters who put these schmucks into office have been sold a bill of goods; ideological snake oil guaranteed to cure all the invented ills that lib'rals and progressives and immygrants and feminazis and blah people have supposedly forced upon them.

The truth is that these standard bearers have sold out their constituents for a seat at the table where the Kochs and the Adelsons and Wall St. cronies are handing out the goodies and the chance to be Boss of All Bosses.

As in the so-called "free market", nothing is really free. It's a rigged game and taxpayers are the marks.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Josh Marshall's TPM piece, and several others this week, raise the question of what other symbols of the Confederacy should go on history's ash heap, along with the battle flag. I hope that this doesn't go too far, in the near future, because at some point it will become silly. The battle flag is an icon in the true sense of that word: it immediately conveys, by bright heraldry, the emotional impact of what the rebellion was all about. Now that more people recall that it was all about defending the then Southern Way of Life (forced labor for life), and treason, it can be seen as odious rather than a cute semiotic statement of "rebelliosness" (which all Americans can relate to - 1776 and all that).

But the name "Fort Bragg", or a statue of General Beauregard (Lee, Jackson, etc.) don't convey that iconic punch. We should not get all excited about seeking a clean sweep of those minor images in the Southern pantheon. Just let them slowly go their Ozymandian way.

But two other items:

1. Naming a U.S. Army fort (now Joint Base, merged with Pope AFB) after Gen. Bragg is actually funny. He sucked as a general.

2. Harry Reid showed a very wry sense of humor the other day, when asked about considering the removal of statues from the U.S. capitol building. He said that the states would have to consider it, but he would suggest getting rid of the statue of Nevada Senator Pat McCarran. McC was a Nevada (D) senator from 1933 to 1954, a serious red-baiting reactionary asshole. Reid's got a point -- if we are going to remove statues, and such, maybe we should look at ALL the assholes rather than just the Civil War ones.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Wow! I'm stunned. Thrilled, but stunned.

I guess we had all (I say "we" but I mean me) been convincing ourselves that ideology would win the day for the forces of evil. Can't wait to read the opinions.

Of course, as Marie contends, this thing should never have made it to the Supreme Court. The plaintiffs had no standing and their case was ludicrously weak. I think it was because of this, the fact that they decided to hear it despite all those legal and procedural shortcomings, that I felt sure the fix was in.

I guess Kennedy and Roberts finally felt that a highly partisan decision based on a terrible case would cement their reputations as wingnut hacks.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Patrick,

Good point. If we (as a nation) start a kind of witchhunt to eradicate each and every instance of Confederate commemoration, it could appear unnecessarily harsh at best and counterproductive at worst. The Fort Bragg name is a good case in point.

I do think it's funny how certain defenders of "Southern Heritage" are trying to escape the fallout from the flag debate by making some sort of half-assed appeal of innocence. Mitch McConnell pooh-poohs the Jefferson Davis statue in Frankfort, KY by denying that it has anything to do with Davis's role in the Civil War. According to Turtle Man, the statue is there merely because Davis was born in Kentucky, and besides, Kentucky never actually joined the Confederacy. Okay. Then why no statue of Abraham Lincoln?

By that logic, Austrians of a certain political persuasion who put up a statue of Adolf Hitler could simply say they're merely celebrating a guy who was born in Austria. Had nothing to do with what he did afterwards.

But if you went around trying to rename streets and highways and buildings and parks and take down every plaque and sign with a connection to military and political leaders of the Civil War south, you'd be at it for years. Judicious might be the watch word. However if I had kids in a school named after someone like Preston Brooks (the SC slave-loving senator who nearly killed Sen. Charles Sumner of MA, on the floor of the senate, for standing up against slavery), I'd be first in line to get the name changed. In fact, I think I'd opt for the Charles Sumner Elementary School.

Ha.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I, for one, upon hearing the good news from the S.C. did the "Jiggery-pokey" and delved into a dish of "pure applesauce." Oh, that Scalia, such a card––such a way with words.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

YAHOO!

I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong. I was wrong.

I WAS EVER SO, DELIGHTFULLY WRONG!

and scalia is having a terrible day. boo hoo. poor scalia

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterHaley Simon

It was one of those things, you didn't want to say you hoped they would ultimately do the right thing and jinx the vote. You know that always happens to incurable optimists! Say it aloud and the opposite happens.

Just sat back and kept my fingers crossed, but what a relief that SCOTUS (except for the miserable trio) came through
on the Affordable Care Act. And, as someone else mentioned...now on to single payer.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

Never fear, Americans. Confederate candidates for leader of the free world are vowing to take healthcare away from you just as soon as they get elected. Maybe sooner.

Jeb(!) pledges that the fight to take healthcare away is not over yet! Not by a long shot.

Bad Toupée agrees wholeheartedly with Scalia that the answer is "moops", that logic has been upended and that as president he'll repeal healthcare right away, darn it. Or else he'll kidnap everyone, make them bow down to him and take hits from a bong.

Scottie Walker says repeal, repeal, repeal, jobs lost, too expensive, blah, blah, elect me...something, something. Always an eloquent guy, that Scottie.

Listening to these guys is like overhearing the conversation of blockheads sitting in a plane going 600 mph at 30,000 ft. in which they all agree that air travel is an impossibility.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I checked the NY Times home page about ten minutes ago and was stunned at the headline: 6-3 vote ... big victory for Obama. Big victory for a lot of us. I hadn't realized how tense I'd been, waiting each day for this decision to come down, hoping it wouldn't go into next week when I'm on vacation, until I felt that unmistakable sense of relief.

There are battles ahead--especially, as Akhilleus reminds us, if a Republican wins the presidency and works to dismantle the ACA and no doubt so many other good works of the government. But I'll just enjoy this day.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterElizabeth

Leave us not forget that John Roberts is a politician first and a jurist second.

Given the sketchiness of King and the non-standing of at least two of the plaintiffs, and considering how crudely the thing was cobbled together, holes papered over with GOP stickers held on with rusty flag pins, and given the fact that there would be a world of hurt and blame should the decision come down in favor of killing the ACA, which would have two immediate impacts: loss of healthcare for millions, and millions of really, really pissed off voters ready to take it out on the GOP, Roberts went for what he thought was the most politically prudent solution.

He rejected the "moops" argument which was silly at best and insultingly stupid at worst and went with what the market would bear. He made the reasonable decision that neither his party nor his reputation could take the full weight of a decision in favor of three flunkies and their ambulance chasing lawyers. Unlike Scalia, for whom ideology is the only end, Roberts realizes that it's a long game and there will, on occasion, be setbacks for his side.

He'll have plenty more trips to the plate for the Confederate team. Siding with the mooks and the moops, Roberts decided, would make him look worse than Pete Rose trying to maintain that he never actually bet on baseball while he was still a player.

So, as Elizabeth suggests, let's just enjoy today and relax for the first time in many months.

How sweet it is to see the haters shaking their fists at the sky. And how sweet it is for all our fellow citizens who don't have to worry if they'll ever be able to see a doctor again.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

A friend just sent me a text message suggesting that Roberts may have decided to throw a sop to the haters, now that they're all lathered up about healthcare, by nixing the idea (protected by the Constitution, y'all) that marriage is legal for all Americans, not just some, or that he may decide to let the states decide (balm for the Tenthers).

I had been thinking that if one of these decisions, either for the ACA or for marriage equality, had a better chance of a positive outcome, it would be marriage equality, so who knows? Besides, I'm the guy who's been at the ready to slit my wrists over a rejection of healthcare so what do I know?

Anyway, I guess the GOP can shelve their "secret plan" to replace the ACA. Too bad. Bet it was a doozy.

By the way, hear that sound? All those pops? Confederate heads exploding all across the country. Lots head shaking and angry expressions in my red state. Heh-heh.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Happy happy joy joy! I was in the shower and my husband came busting in to tell me the decision was out, and then he tortured me further by telling me it was 6-3 and then wouldn't tell me in whose favor. Finally he prevented being throttled by saying, Well, shall we just say, there's no celebration over at Faux... Hauled myself dripping wet into the bedroom to gaze in awe at MSNBC and CNN... What a day.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterJeanne Pitz

I just want to join you all in celebration of this day. There are bound to be some bad days ahead, but this was a good one. And relieved a lot of anxiety as well.
I love Kate's term for the three dissenters: "creepolas." It infers a nice distinction between staunch conservatives who possess at least a shred of intellectual integrity and .....the creepolas!
One note of interest on the Scotusblog site is that the SC will apparently address a request for an order to restrain the Texas abortion law before it adjourns next week. That should be interesting.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria D.

Just read Scalia's dissent. Besides being embarrassingly solipsistic and snarkily insulting, it demonstrates his willingness to eschew the clearest logic for ideological pap.

And, pray tell, what the hell is "interpretive jiggery-pokery"? Some kind of card game for spastics? Charades for sufferers of St. Vitus Dance? As much as it sounds like some kind of neologism, it's in the dictionary.

It means underhanded trickery or suspicious activity.

As one woman suggests, on the Meriam-Webster site, Scalia is himself a prime example of interpretive jiggery-pokery.

May he jigger and poker merrily along the rest of this happy day.

Fucker.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Re ACA ruling: One less reason to move to Europe.

Just kidding. Besides, as a career U.S. Civil Service retiree, I enjoy the same choice of subsidized health care plans as members of Congress and the Judiciary. No matter where I live. (you and me, Nino, screw the proletariat) Not to mention the citizens of every civilized developed country on Earth. I wonder if the rest of our fellow Americans ever will.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterD.C.Clark

File this one under satisfying: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/06/25/univision-severs-ties-with-donald-trump-and-beauty-pageants/. Tramp the Big Mouth Pig, (or is it Trump?) only suffers when it costs him money. I guess some folks in Mexico took exception to his piggish comments about Mexicans.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterCitizen625

Now for news about the campaign of yaaaawwwwwnnnnn....Bobby Jindal...zzzzzzzzzzz...who, according to him, is not Indian-American at all (remember this knee-slapper of a portrait? Shit, the guy looks whiter than I do and I sunburn in March), he's "just American" or make that 'merican. I suppose that's one way to acknowledge that many of the Confederates whose votes he'll need might not feel too comfortable pulling the lever for someone who doesn't at least think he's whitey-white-white.

Americans of Indian descent are having a field day with this bullshit on Twitter at #BobbyJindalIsSoWhite and #Jindian.

Here are some howlers:

Bobby Jindal is so white he mispronounces his own name.

Bobby Jindal is so white he thinks ketchup is spicy.

You might be a Jindian if your parents are immigrants and you are anti-immigrant.

Bobby Jindal is so white he has never been randomly selected at the airport.

And my favorite so far...

Bobby Jindal is so white he couldn't win a spelling bee if he tried.

There are a few great ones if you know anything about Indian food.

Funny stuff. Like ol' Bobby himself.

The sad thing is that instead of being proud to be the first Indian-American to run for president, which is a pretty cool thing in and of itself, he's trying to pretend that he's never heard of India and his name is William F. Buckley.

June 25, 2015 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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