The Commentariat -- March 18, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Alissa Rubin & Aurelien Breeden of the New York Times: "Europe's most wanted man, Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the 10th participant in the Paris terrorist attacks of Nov. 13, was captured on Friday afternoon during a police raid in Brussels, a Belgian official said. 'We've got him,' Théo Francken, a Belgian minister, wrote on Twitter. The country's two public broadcasters, VRT and RTBF, reported that Mr. Abdeslam had been captured and had a leg injury, and that the raid was one of four carried out in the Belgian capital."

Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "The European Union and the Turkish government struck an accord Friday to contain Europe's largest migrant crisis since World War II, agreeing to a deal that turns Turkey into the region's refugee camp and leaves untold thousands stranded in a country with a deteriorating record on human rights.... Under the deal coming into effect Sunday, virtually all migrants -- including Syrians fleeing war -- who attempt to enter Europe via the Aegean Sea will be sent back to Turkey."

Abby Goodnough of the New York Times interviews women & providers who have suffered because of Texas's impossibly restrictive new anti-abortion laws. The Supreme Court is deciding the constitutionality of the law.

John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "... it is ... evident that, in the past ten months, [Bernie] Sanders has defied the pundits, alarmed the comfortable, and inspired the young. He has turned what looked to be a political coronation into a lively and hard-fought contest, forcing his opponent to modify her positions and raise her game. He has demonstrated that Presidential campaigns don't have to be beholden to big donors. And he has shown that, surprisingly enough, there is still a place in American politics for an independent-minded speaker of uncomfortable truths. What's more, he isn't done yet."

The law? The law? I don't think anybody here cares about the law. -- Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), in response to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's testimony that Congress gave the states responsibility for enforcing drinking-water standards ...

... Dana Milbank: "Now [Republican] members of Congress are blaming the EPA for failing to stop the problem -- oblivious to the irony that they and their predecessors were the ones who denied the federal government the ability to enforce drinking-water standards in the first place. It's a vicious cycle: Washington devolves power to the states. When states screw up, conservatives blame the federal government, worsening the public's already shaky faith. Having tied the hands of the feds -- in this case, the EPA -- they use the failure as justification to restrict federal power further -- thus giving more control to the states, which caused the problem in the first place."

*****

** Paul Krugman on confederate elites' disdain for the unwashed masses: "... the argument that the social safety net causes social decay by coddling slackers runs up against the hard truth that every other advanced country has a more generous social safety net than we do, yet the rise in mortality among middle-aged whites in America is unique: Everywhere else, it is continuing its historic decline. But the Republican elite can't handle the truth. It's too committed to an Ayn Rand story line about heroic job creators versus moochers to admit either that trickle-down economics can fail to deliver good jobs, or that sometimes government aid is a crucial lifeline."

Mike DeBonis & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Democrats began laying out an aggressive strategy Thursday to get Judge Merrick Garland considered by the Senate and seated on the Supreme Court, over what appears to be implacable Republican opposition. The approach, which is being implemented in part by a well-organized group led by former aides to President Obama, involves targeting vulnerable GOP Senate incumbents for defeat by portraying them as unwilling to fulfill the basic duties of their office. The idea is to so threaten the Republicans' Senate majority that party leaders will reconsider blocking hearings on Garland's nomination." ...

... The Gang's All Back -- Mostly. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama has said for years that he has finished his last campaign. But you would not know it by looking at the team he has assembled to push for his Supreme Court nominee. The Constitutional Responsibility Project, which was formed to lead the fight to get the nominee, Judge Merrick B. Garland, confirmed, is a virtual who's who of Mr. Obama's two presidential campaigns.... Founded within the last several weeks as a nonprofit organization, the project will accept donations, develop advertising, coordinate messaging, help manage operatives in the field, respond to attacks on Judge Garland and collect opposition research on Republican opponents." ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "When Judge John G. Roberts Jr. ran into hostile questioning at his 2005 Supreme Court confirmation hearings, he invoked a fellow judge on the federal appeals court in Washington: Merrick B. Garland.... The questions came from Senator Charles E. Grassley [(R-Iowa), now chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee].... Judge Roberts said there was reason to think Mr. Grassley was right, given that Judge Garland had dissented [& agreed with Grassley]."

If I can meet with a dictator in Uganda, I can surely meet with a decent person in America. -- Chuck Grassley, saying he might meet with Judge Garland & demonstrating his remarkable magnanimity

Todd Spangler, et al., of the Detroit Free Press: "With Democratic members of Congress calling for his resignation, Gov. Rick Snyder lashed out Thursday at federal regulators for their response to the Flint water crisis, saying that despite the Environmental Protection Agency's insistence that the agency bore no direct responsibility there was evidence it could have moved far more quickly to protect the public." ...

... Matthew Dolan of the Detroit Free Press: "Gov. Rick Snyder reiterated on Thursday in congressional testimony that he did not know about his staff's longtime concerns over a Legionnaires' outbreak in the Flint until January when he disclosed the problem publicly. 'I don't recall any mention of that to me,' Snyder said. He added that he does not recall seeing any of the e-mails shared among his senior staff for months or being a part of discussions over a potential link between the deadly outbreak and Flint's switch of its drinking water supply."

... Lenny Bernstein of the Washington Post: "The head of the Environmental Protection Agency [Gina McCarthy] conceded Thursday that her agency was too slow to intervene in the Flint, Mich., water-contamination crisis and less forceful than it should have been when federal officials told a recalcitrant state bureaucracy to act.... But ... she refused several times to accept blame for the catastrophe, laying the responsibility on the witness seated next to her, Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.... Snyder adopted a more conciliatory tone as several Democrats called on him to quit, admitting culpability and noting that he had dismissed several state officials. But he bluntly suggested that the EPA had failed in its oversight role and its obligation to warn the public. Snyder had little success fending off questions about why his staff knew how dire the situation had become but he did not."

... ** Charles Pierce: "... the howling hypocrisy of conservative Republicans feigning concern about environmental safety, and the howling hypocrisy of conservative Republicans pretending that they expected the EPA to take care of this crisis, was extraordinarily hard to take. Nine days out of ten, they'd be baying at the moon about regulations strangling business and about devolving federal functions to the states, which are run by people like Rick Snyder." Read on.

I do not like the idea of buying into these distributional tables. -- Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, demonstrating anew that he is the wonkiest wonk-wonk of them all, which is important when one is trying to pull the proverbial wool over the sheeples' eyes

'These distributional tables' are the ones that show Republican tax plans giving enormous cuts to the wealthy and nothing much at all to the middle class. Ryan calls them ridiculous because once you account for the economic boom of Republican tax cuts for the rich, everyone is going to be rolling in dough. Bottom line: distributional tables are for losers. -- Kevin Drum, translator

Dan Lamothe of the Washington Post: "The Air Force has fired one of its most senior generals after an investigation into whether he had an affair with a married female officer found that they had exchanged emails that were 'sexually suggestive.' Lt. Gen. John Hesterman was removed from his position as Air Force assistant vice chief of staff.... Hesterman previously served as the commander of Air Forces Central Command (AFCENT), leading the early days of the U.S. air war against the Islamic State militant group while deployed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar from July 2013 to last June."

Presidential Race

Maggie Haberman & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In unusually candid remarks, President Obama privately told a group of Democratic donors last Friday that Senator Bernie Sanders is nearing the point where his campaign against Hillary Clinton will come to an end, and that the party must soon come together to back her. Mr. Obama acknowledged that Mrs. Clinton is perceived to have weaknesses as a candidate, and that some Democrats did not view her as authentic. Mr. Obama made the remarks after reporters had left a fund-raising event in Austin, Tex., for the Democratic National Committee." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Juliet Eilperin: "As Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton begin to tighten their grips on their respective party nominations, President Obama is plunging into the campaign fray, not only to help Democrats retain the White House but in defense of his own legacy in a political climate dominated by Trump.... Obama is poised to be the most active sitting president on the campaign trail in decades."

Zach Carter of the Huffington Post: Hillary Clinton "is doing a terrible job turning out voters, particularly in the states that will matter most in a November matchup against Donald Trump.More people voted for Trump than for Clinton in two states Tuesday night -- Missouri and Ohio. In Florida, Clinton edged Trump by a nose -- less than 2 percent. Clinton had only one other candidate splitting the Democratic vote in a contested election, while Trump was embroiled in a four-way contest that factionalized Republican voters. In Ohio, Trump bested Clinton by about 50,000 votes despite coming in second in the GOP contest to John Kasich, the state's current governor. In Missouri, both Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) bested Clinton's vote total by nearly 20 percent."

Missouri. AP: "Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders says he will not seek a recount of results in Missouri's Democratic primary, conceding defeat to Hillary Clinton. Sanders says in an interview with The Associated Press that it's unlikely the results will affect the awarding of delegates in the state and he would 'prefer to save the taxpayers of Missouri some money.' Clinton has a narrow lead of 1,531 votes, but under state law Sanders could have sought a recount because the margin was less than one-half of one percent."

Nate Cohn of the New York Times: Bernie "Sanders should fare better over the second half of the primary season, after black voters gave Hillary Clinton such a big advantage in the first half. But the path to a majority of delegates is nonetheless a daunting one. He would need to win the remaining delegates by around a 58-42 percent margin after falling behind again in the delegate count Tuesday night." ...

... John Wagner of the Washington Post: "Bernie Sanders acknowledged Thursday that he has 'a hard fight' ahead to catch Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential race but said he is still angling to win and that it would be 'outrageously undemocratic' not to continue. 'Our progressive agenda has enormous support,' the senator from Vermont said in an interview ahead of a rally planned here. 'For anyone to rule us out is making a mistake.'"

Yamiche Alcindor of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont took on one of Arizona's most contentious political figures at a rally on Thursday, calling Sheriff Joe Arpaio of Maricopa County a bully and accusing him of 'un-American' behavior. Mr. Sanders, speaking to a crowd of about 2,800 people at Twin Arrows Navajo Casino Resort here, also pledged to devote more federal resources to Native Americans, who he said 'face appalling levels of inequality.' The rally came days after Mr. Sanders's wife, Jane Sanders, had an impromptu discussion with Sheriff Arpaio at his so-called Tent City in Maricopa County, where jail inmates are housed under the hot sun." ...

... For an insider's look at Tent City, read Alexander Reynolds' August 2014 account. It is beyond horrifying.

Like a really long time ago in the good old days in the history of America which was great then or not-so-great, whatever, the smartest guys in the world -- maybe smarter than I am but I don't think so, nah, okay, not smarter than I am -- they didn't go to an Ivy League school, which I did, the best, I have a very good brain -- anyway, they wrote the Declaration of Independence, okay? And they said all men are equal, but not the women and also not Mooslums and Mexicans and the illegals. And also not the thugs and the very bad dudes. Who were slaves, okay? And definitely not women, unless they're a 10. Not the women. The women are not equal. Especially if they're a fat pig. -- Donald J. Drumpf, assistant speechwriter to President Abraham Lincoln, opening graf of a recently-discovered first draft of the Gettysburg Address

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. -- Final draft, revisions by A. Lincoln

Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Republican National Committee communications director Sean Spicer on Thursday suggested someone will win the Republican nomination outright, and should it be Donald Trump, the RNC will support him '100 percent.'" ...

... Shane Goldmacher, et al., of Politico: "A group of conservative leaders and activists, including RedState.com founder Erick Erickson and former George W. Bush adviser Bill Wichterman, called for the formation of a GOP 'unity ticket' on Thursday to stop Donald Trump from becoming the 2016 Republican nominee. Huddled on the second floor of the Army and Navy Club in downtown Washington D.C., the group's agenda on Thursday was twofold: first, trying to block Trump's nomination and second, if that should fail, mounting a third-party bid." ...

... Isaac Arnsdorf, et al., of Politico: "House Speaker Paul Ryan met Thursday night at a pricey French restaurant [in Palm Beach, Fla.,] with some of the party's biggest donors to assess a political landscape dominated by one vexing question: what to do about Donald Trump. The dinner was a highlight of a secretive two-day conclave, convened under heavy security by a donor group headed by New York hedge-fund manager Paul Singer, that is being viewed as a pivotal moment for the big-money effort to block Trump from the Republican presidential nomination." ...

... Ari Melber of NBC News: "While politicos have speculated about a new candidate swooping in to win a contested convention, such as House Speaker Paul Ryan, insiders on the RNC Rules Committee say that idea would be dead on arrival in Cleveland this July."

Tim Egan on the party of Trump: "Remember that Republican autopsy after Barack Obama swept to a second term with five million more votes than Mitt Romney? They called for an inclusive party, open to minorities, the young, with an optimistic vision of the country. What they've got now is a dour, vengeful grievance party, epitomized by Trump's two biggest endorsers -- Sarah Palin and Chris Christie."

Gov. Chrisco's Bridge to Nowhere. Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "One obvious theory behind Gov. Chris Christie's surprise endorsement of Donald J. Trump in the Republican presidential race is that he wants to be Mr. Trump's pick for vice president.... But whatever his wishes or their discussions, there is a complicating and possibly prohibitive factor: the trial in the closing of George Washington Bridge access lanes, the scandal that hobbled Mr. Christie's own presidential hopes. Already postponed twice, the trial has now been pushed to September, putting it in prime time during the final months of the presidential campaign."

"Name Your Poison." -- "Okay, 'Ted.'" Matt Flegenheimer & Emmarie Huetteman of the New York Times: "Less than two months ago, Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said that deciding between Donald J. Trump and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas amounted to selecting whether to be 'shot or poisoned.' He has made his choice. Mr. Graham, who recently joked about murdering Mr. Cruz on the Senate floor, plans to attend a fund-raiser on Monday in Washington as a special guest of the Cruz campaign.... In a statement, Mr. Graham called his colleague 'the best alternative to Donald Trump.'"

Steven Shepard of Politico: "In the event of a contested Republican convention this summer, John Kasich is the candidate most acceptable to GOP delegates. That's according to members of The Politico Caucus -- a panel of political insiders in seven battleground states -- who said Kasich would be the most palatable of the three remaining Republican presidential candidates in a contested convention, despite the fact the Ohio governor is last in delegates and the only one mathematically eliminated from clinching a majority before the July convention." ...

... Steve M.: "... I understand the disgust of people who've been duped all these years into believing that there's something pure and noble and idealistic about voting GOP, or at least about voting 'Tea Party' GOP or 'constitutional conservative' GOP or whatever the hell they're calling it this week. They were told there'd be no defeat and no compromise. Naturally, that's what they still want. If Trump somehow wins the presidency and doesn't rule the way he campaigned, I don't know what we'll get from his voters. Revolution? Random shootings? Hard to tell, but it won't be pleasant."

Beyond the Beltway

Allegra Kirkland of TPM: "Cell phone footage taken from the backseat of Oregon standoff leader LaVoy Finicum's truck shows the final moments before he was fatally shot by state police and the immediate aftermath of the confrontation. The video, shot by fellow wildlife refuge occupier Shawna Cox and published online by the Oregonian earlier this week, was instrumental to local authorities' investigation.... Finicum can be heard yelling at the officers from his car window, telling them, 'Go ahead, put your bullet through me.' As sirens flash through the back window, Finicum repeatedly tells officers he plans to continue on to John Day." Includes video.

Way Beyond

Samuel Lieberman of New York: "Mohamad Jamal Khweis -- the 26-year-old American who had been serving with ISIS until earlier this week, when he was detained while trying to quit -- explained on Kurdish TV today that living with the architects of the caliphate was no fun at all. 'Our daily life was prayer, eating, and learning about the religion for eight hours,' he said. 'It was pretty hard to live in Mosul. It's not like the Western countries ... There's no smoking.' Khweis said that he didn't take to his sharia studies, didn't like his imam, and eventually came to the same conclusion that most of the planet figured out a long time ago: ISIS does not represent Islam."

Adam Taylor of the Washington Post: "... according to one French lawmaker, the violence being committed by the Islamic State against women is so systematic and so ferocious that it needs a new term in international law to define it: femicide. Speaking Wednesday at the 60th annual Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York, Laurence Rossignol, France's minister for family, children and women's rights, pointed to the harsh conditions for Yazidi women in Islamic State-held territory. 'It is because they are women and they are Yazidis that they are sold and murdered,' Rossignol said.... "What they are experiencing is femicide."