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
Tuesday
Mar292016
The Commentariat -- March 30, 2016
Sabrina Tavernise of the New York Times: "The Food and Drug Administration ... relax[ed] the requirements for taking a medication that induces abortion, a move that is expected to expand access to the procedure. The move was a victory for abortion rights advocates who had been fighting laws in states like Texas, North Dakota and Ohio that required providers to follow the requirements on the original F.D.A. labels for the drug when conducting abortions by medication."
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Wednesday commuted the sentences of 61 federal prisoners convicted of drug and firearm crimes, extending his efforts to reshape a criminal justice sentencing system he has said is unduly harsh, unfair to minorities and outdated. More than a third of the prisoners who will soon be released were serving life in prison as a result of federal sentencing laws that imposed severe punishments for the distribution of cocaine and other drugs."
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "White House press secretary Josh Earnest on Wednesday condemned ... Donald Trump for standing by his campaign manager after he was charged with battery.... 'I am confident that neither President Obama nor President Bush would tolerate someone on their staff being accused of physically assaulting a reporter, lying about it and then blaming the victim,' Earnest told reporters. Earnest said Trump's response to the Lewandowski incident, as well his other controversial actions, is 'completely outside the realm of acceptable behavior.... I am also confident in telling you nobody is particularly surprised that that's behavior that Mr. Trump doesn't just seem to tolerate, he seems to encourage,' he added." ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Karl Rove, David Axelrod and David Plouffe are not taking kindly to Donald Trump's speculation that they roughed up reporters worse than his own campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. The three former strategists told Politico Wednesday morning that Trump is not only flat-out wrong, he's also irresponsible.... During a telephone interview with 'Fox and Friends,' co-anchor Brian Kilmeade asserted that campaign managers "should not be putting their hands on reporters," remarking, "Karl Rove didn't do it. David Plouffe didn't do it, David Axelrod didn't do it. That's why you have Secret Service and that's why you have your own security.' 'OK and you don't know that they didn't do it, because I guarantee you they did, probably did stuff that was more physical than this,' Trump replied. 'More physical, because this is not even physical. And frankly, she shouldn't have her hands on me. Nobody says that. But she shouldn't have her hands on me.'" Emphasis added. ...
... CW: No, Nick, that wasn't "speculation" on Trump's part. That was an out-and-out accusation that Rove, Plouffe & Axelrod physically, severely abused reporters. Even though those guys are public figures, they have grounds to sue Trump. Since Trump likes lawsuits so much, they should sue his ass for defamation. ...
... Peter King for Feminist of the Year. Christopher Massie of BuzzFeed: "Republican Rep. Peter King of New York defended Corey Lewandowski on Tuesday after new video emerged from the incident showing Lewandowski grabbing a reporter's arm and pulling her backwards at a Donald Trump event in early March.... 'This thing with Corey Lewandowski,' King said on Imus in the Morning. '... You know, before I saw the video yesterday, I thought he had hit her with a baseball bat or something. I haven't practiced law in a while but I never heard of somebody being charged for touching someone on the arm, unless you're talking about some kind of a sexual thing.'" ...
... No, No, Donald Trump for Feminist of the Year. Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Donald Trump on Wednesday suggested that women should be punished for seeking abortions if the procedure is outlawed." CW: I can't tell from the reporting whether or not Trump said abortion would be illegal, but he seems to imply it. ...
... Priscilla Alvarez of the Atlantic: "In an unprecedented move Wednesday, the National Border Patrol Council announced that it is endorsing Donald Trump, a candidate it touts as 'bold and outspoken as other world leaders who put their country's interests ahead of all else.' The National Border Patrol Council, a labor union representing 16,500 agents, has refrained in the past from making such endorsements, but cited the 'lives and security of the American people' as reason enough to break with precedent." CW: Lunkheads.
Lisa Hagen of the Hill: "President Obama and Vice President Biden on Wednesday endorsed Democratic Senate candidate Katie McGinty, another sign that the party's establishment is coalescing behind her in a contentious Pennsylvania primary battle. The endorsements give the former gubernatorial chief of staff a huge boost ahead of the April 26 primary, where the candidates will vie for the chance to take on Republican Sen. Pat Toomey."
*****
Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "The reality of an ideologically divided, evenly split, one-man-down Supreme Court became apparent Tuesday: The justices deadlocked on a major organized-labor case and tried to avoid a second stalemate by floating their own policy compromise on the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate."
Robert Barnes: "The Supreme Court on Tuesday called for additional briefing on alternative ways that employees of religious organizations could receive contraceptive coverage mandated by the Affordable Care Act without involving the organizations themselves. The new order could mean that the court is deadlocked on the case, which was argued last week." ...
... Ian Millhiser: "The biggest birth control case to reach the Supreme Court in 40 years just got a whole lot more confusing.... The order instructs the parties in Zubik and a bevy of related cases to 'file supplemental briefs that address whether and how contraceptive coverage may be obtained by petitioners' employees through petitioners' insurance companies, but in a way that does not require any involvement of petitioners....' In other words, rather than filling out a form provided by the government..., this alternative solution would require a religious objector to 'inform their insurance company that they do not want their health plan to include contraceptive coverage' at the time when they initially contract with the insurance company. If that seems like a mighty fine hair to split, that's because it is.... If the Court is, in fact, willing to accept this solution, however, that could be a win for the government -- and for women seeking access to birth control." ...
... Hannah Levintova of Mother Jones: "The order suggests one workaround: The employer could voice their opposition to birth control in its initial contracts with insurance companies, and then leave the rest to the insurer. The insurance company would then be responsible for facilitating alternative birth control coverage, eliminating the need for groups to file any additional forms opting out of birth control coverage on religious grounds. Still, the distinction here is quite thin: if notifying the government violates a religious group's beliefs, it's unclear how shifting the process to one where they notify the insurance company instead will do much to alleviate their concerns."
Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "A case that seemed poised to deal a major blow to public unions ended in a 4-4 tie on Tuesday at the Supreme Court, effectively delivering a big victory to the unions. When the case was argued in January, the court's conservative majority seemed ready to say that forcing public workers to support unions they had declined to join violates the First Amendment. But the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February changed the balance of power in the case, which was brought by California public schoolteachers who chose not to join unions and objected to paying for the unions' collective bargaining activities on their behalf.... Relying on a 1977 Supreme Court precedent, the appeals court in the case upheld the requirement that the objecting teachers pay fees. Tuesday's announcement, saying only that 'the judgment is affirmed by an equally divided court,' affirmed that ruling and set no new precedent." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "The one-sentence result in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association will leave intact, but on an uncertain legal foundation, a system of 'agency fees' for non-union teachers in California -- with the legal doubts for public workers' unions across the nation probably lingering until a ninth Justice joins the Court at some point in the future." ...
... Charles Pierce reminds us that "the current presidential election likely will shape constitutional law in this country for the next three decades or so." CW: I think that's right.
Burgess Everett of Politico: "Mark Kirk could have been in Illinois, waging what might be the most difficult reelection campaign in Congress. Instead, the Republican senator was on Capitol Hill Tuesday drawing national attention for meeting with Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland. Kirk became the first Republican to meet with Garland, a huddle that took place in the middle of a long congressional recess and was covered by more than 50 journalists.... Sitting beside Garland in his office, Kirk lavished praise on the Illinois native as a 'brilliant' legal mind who is 'one of the most eminent jurists in the country.' Then he shifted to his own party's blockade of Garland, remarking that Republican senators who won't even meet with Garland are 'too closed-minded.'"
Matt Zapotosky & Elizabeth Dwoskin of the Washington Post: "The U.S. government's revelation that it had accessed the San Bernardino shooter's iPhone without the help from Apple ... indicates the FBI was either disguising its technical capabilities or its agents and employees remain outmatched by tech workers in the private sector.... But former FBI officials said the bureau will always face an uphill battle against private firms, which can offer much more money, a less rigorous code of conduct and more opportunities to do creative work."
Robert Pear of the New York Times: "People newly insured under the Affordable Care Act were sicker, used more medical care and had higher medical costs than those who already had coverage, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association said Tuesday in a new study of its policyholders.... Administration officials said the study showed the need for the health care law, signed six years ago by President Obama."
Jack Shafer of Politico: "The last person in the world who should be lecturing journalists on how to do journalism is President Barack Obama.... Under his administration, the U.S. government has set a new record for withholding Freedom of Information requests, according to a recent AP investigation.... Obama's 'Insider Threat Program' has turned employees across the government into information squelching snitches. If this isn't Trumpian behavior, I don't know what is." Shafer goes on. And he's livid."
Matthew Lee & Lolita Baldor of the AP: "The State Department and Pentagon ordered the families of U.S. diplomats and military personnel Tuesday to leave posts in southern Turkey due to 'increased threats from terrorist groups' in the country." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Nick Gass: "Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson on Tuesday sharply criticized rhetoric about Muslims from both Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, slamming both Republican candidates for their 'counterproductive' and 'inflammatory' comments." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Presidential Race
Kyle Cheney of Politico: "All four early appointees of the rules committee for this year's Republican convention told Politico they're prepared to weaken or scrap a rule that could limit the convention's alternatives to Donald Trump."
Jose DelReal & Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "None of the three remaining Republican presidential candidates would guarantee Tuesday night that they would support the eventual GOP nominee for president, departing from previous vows to do so and injecting new turmoil into an already-tumultuous contest.... As recently as March 3, in a Fox News debate, all three said they would support the nominee.... 'I'm not in the habit of supporting someone who attacks my wife and attacks my family,' Cruz said.... Kasich said he would have to 'see what happens' in the race before he could answer the question."
... Kyle Cheney: "Donald Trump has rescinded his pledge to support the Republican nominee for president. Asked by moderator Anderson Cooper if he stood by the earlier pledge, Trump said: 'No, I don't. We'll see who it is,' he said during the CNN town hall [Tuesday night]. He said he had been treated 'unfairly' by the Republican National Committee and the GOP establishment. He said he was unsure whether the Republican establishment was plotting to take the nomination away from him during the convention in Cleveland." ...
... Claire Landsbaum of New York: "Shortly after Trump himself defended his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, against allegations of assault, yet another violent incident occurred at a Trump rally in Janesville, Wisconsin. A video posted to the Janesville Community Page shows a confrontation between a 15-year-old blonde girl protesting the rally and a white-haired man. The girl, who police say was groped just before the incident, appears to confront the man and attempts to punch him before an onlooker sprays her in the face with pepper spray.... Police say the victim received medical treatment.... The Janesville Police Department said in a statement that it's 'looking for two suspects: one for the sexual assault and one for the pepper spray.'" ...
... Michael Miller of the Washington Post has more on the incident. The pepper-spraying guy was wearing a "Make America Great Again" cap; one videographer said the man accused of groping the girl did not do so.
... Sociopath Runs for President. Is Winning. Eli Stokols, et al., of Politico: "... Trump spent the day on Tuesday mounting a vigorous defense for Corey Lewandowski and verbally attacking the journalist, questioning whether she made the whole thing up and is to blame in the incident.... At a rally in Janesville, Wisc., on Tuesday night ... [Trump said,] '... I'm rich, so I have tapes. Did anybody see the tapes? What did you think?' The audience responded with a resounding 'Nothing.'... Trump then shifted the blame on Michelle Fields.... 'She bolts into the picture, she hits me on the arm and then he goes by and maybe he touched her a little bit,' Trump continued. 'It was almost like he was trying to keep her off me, like he was trying to help her.'... Trump's comments at the rally follow a press conference he held with reporters, in which he again forcefully defended Lewandowski and suggested that maybe he should have pressed charges against Fields. 'Who said they were bruises from that? How do you know those bruises weren't there before?' Trump asked.... Lewandowski will be represented by Scott Richardson in West Palm Beach and Kendall Coffey in Miami. Coffey ... resign[ed] from his job as the top federal prosecutor in South Florida in 1996 after reports alleged that he had bitten a stripper." CW: Perfect! ...
... CW: This "maybe he touched her a little bit" comes after Trump has repeatedly said Lewendowski didn't touch Fields. And the "she touched me" Trump complained about earlier Tuesday (the photograph Trump tweeted as proof of the claim shows no such thing), has been escalated through "she grabbed me" (at 4:48 pm ET) until, by the early evening it became "she hit me." Pretty soon we're going to find out Fields threw Trump to the ground, bit him & stomped on him while the Secret Service stood by drinking Slurpies. ...
... Lulu Ramadan of the Palm Beach Post: "Corey Lewandowski, Donald Trump campaign manager, was charged this morning with misdemeanor battery after allegations of forcefully grabbing a reporter at a Jupiter news conference, town police confirmed this morning. Following a March 8 conference at Trump National Golf Club, Michelle Fields, a 28-year-old reporter formerly with the online Breitbart News Network, said she was grabbed on the arm by Lewandowski, 41, after she asked Trump a question about affirmative action." CW Note: You have to love the fact that the reporter who broke the story is named Ramadan. (Also linked yesterday.) ...
... Here's police video of Lewandowski manhandling Fields in an incident Lewandowski says never happened:
... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump issued his first tweets Tuesday after Florida authorities charged his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, with misdemeanor battery for allegedly forcefully grabbing Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. 'Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes-nothing there!' Trump wrote. Surveillance footage from the venue at which the alleged incident took place, released Tuesday, appears to corroborate Fields' account that Lewandowski grabbed her as she sought to ask Trump a question following a March 8 news conference in Jupiter, Florida." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Update. Rebecca Savransky of the Hill: "... Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to press charges against former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, claiming she grabbed him after a press conference. 'Victory press conference was over. Why is she allowed to grab me and shout questions? Can I press charges?' Trump tweeted Tuesday with a photo." ...
... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: "What makes the accusation so odd is the image Trump tweeted doesn't show her grabbing Trump. In fact, it clearly showed that Fields couldn't grab Trump; one hand was holding a phone and the other was crossed across her body." CW: Sorry, Alex, facts don't matter. ...
... Trump also tweeted Tuesday afternoon, "Why is this reporter touching me as I leave news conference? What is in her hand??" Philip Bump of the Washington Post: "Now [according to Trump], not only is Fields a liar, but Trump found her threatening. You know who didn't find her threatening? The Secret Service agent standing literally right behind her.(And we know they'll intervene.) What's in her hand? A pen, so she can write down what's being said. But notice what we're debating now!... We're debating what Fields did, which is irrelevant to both the ethical and criminal accusations against the campaign." ...
... CW: This is how Donald Trump treats a 28-year-old, now-unemployed, female reporter after his goon roughs her up. First, he denied the battery occurred, saying she made it up; second, he suggests she's unstable & has "done this kind of thing before"; third, he denies video evidence that the incident happened; & fourth, he accuses her of battery. This is how he operates. He's a thug. And before you get to thinking a Democrat would never be such a lying brute, allow me to remind you that Bill & Hillary Clinton did Steps 1 & 2 there to Monica Lewinsky. And many of us will be voting for that thug Hillary. ...
... Pema Levy of Mother Jones: "Here are all the times the Trump campaign denied" Lewandowski grabbed Fields. ...
... BTW, all the time Trump, Lewendowski & others in the Trump campaign have been denying that Lewandowski touched Fields, they had the video demonstrating that he did. Rosie Gray of BuzzFeed: The "police video" released today came from "Trump Security at Trump National in Jupiter," according to the police report. ...
... Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post: "... the Donald Trump campaign ... remains stubbornly impervious to reality.... Scroll through the comments beneath Trump's tweets and you will see people who can see the actual video footage and still don't believe it. Or they think this is how you should behave and it's fine.... All that you need for something to be true is for Donald Trump to say that it is so. And as soon as he says it is false, it is false again." ...
... Goons, Inc. Katherine Krueger of TPM: "Katrina Pierson, Donald Trump's national spokeswoman, said Tuesday that embattled top aide Corey Lewandowski would stay with the campaign even if he's convicted of a criminal battery charge in Florida." ...
... Washington Post Editors: "How did Mr. Trump react when one of his key campaign aides apparently manhandled a reporter and then denied having done so? Instead of the rigorous fact-finding and dispassionate thinking that should be prerequisites for the Oval Office, there was denial and doubling down.... A mature and respectful campaign would have responded with an acknowledgment and apology.... That Mr. Trump sees nothing wrong confirms the troubling lack of judgment that he has demonstrated repeatedly. The brazen willingness to overlook fact and evidence, and the ease with which he countenances the smearing of a victim -- these are not compatible with a presidential temperament."
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Editors: "No to Donald Trump. No to his bigotry. No to his contempt for women and minorities. No to his vague, clueless bluster about the problems facing the nation. No to Trumpism, which runs counter to the ideals of this nation of immigrants, to the notion that by working together under the rule of law, we can protect freedom and promote inclusion and fair play. Wisconsin Republicans: Reject this un-American candidate on April 5." For a good synopsis of what's wrong with Trump, read on.
New York Times Editors: "In a recent spate of interviews, including with The Times, [Donald Trump] was unable or unwilling to clarify his disturbing views on ... critical national security issues, which sometimes shift from one minute to the next.... Mr. Trump is confronting most of these issues for the first time, and many of his thoughts are contradictory and shockingly ignorant.... Mostly, his vision of cooperation with allies depends largely on how much they would pay the United States for protection." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is threatening to skip CNN's town hall interview Tuesday night over the network's treatment of him. 'Wow, @CNN has nothing but my opponents on their shows,' he wrote on Twitter. 'Really one-sided and unfair reporting. Maybe I shouldn't do their town-hall tonight!'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Nick Gass & Katie Glueck of Politico: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz on Tuesday, becoming the latest lawmaker to support the Texas senator as he seeks to emerge as the consensus anti-Trump choice in the Republican primary. Walker said on Charlie Sykes' radio show on WTMJ in Milwaukee that he was 'proud' to back Cruz, casting his decision as one for Cruz and not against anyone else." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Charles Pierce: "There's even some talk about Walker's potential as a vice-presidential nominee, especially among people who chose to forget what a dead fish he was on the national stage during his abortive presidential bid."
"Little Marco Will Have His Revenge." Margaret Hartmann: "Days before he dropped out of the presidential race, Marco Rubio dismissed the idea of teaming up with Ted Cruz to stop Donald Trump, saying, 'This is stuff from like House of Cards. It's not real life.' Nearly three weeks later, Rubio hasn't even endorsed Cruz, but he may be doing him a bigger -- and more Frank Underwood-esque -- favor. The Florida senator has reached out to party leaders in 21 states and territories asking them not to release the 172 delegates he won during his presidential campaign. If the state parties agree, the unprecedented move could deny Trump the 1,237-delegate majority he needs to secure the nomination, forcing a second ballot in which pretty much anyone can be selected. Rubio aide Alex Burgos confirmed that's the plan, telling NBC News that while the senator ... 'wants to give voters a chance to stop Trump.'"
Lydia Saad of Gallup: "Hillary Clinton's supporters are more enthusiastic than Sen. Bernie Sanders' supporters, 54% vs. 44%." ...
... CW: I meant to look at these Gallup results the other day, then forgot. But Amanda Marcotte, in Salon, is on it: "As anyone with a computer or TV knows, the narrative has been the opposite of what this hard polling data shows [sic!].... But if you dig in, it also becomes quickly clear that much of the online enthusiasm isn't really pro-Sanders so much as it's anti-Clinton. There are thousands, probably millions of social media messages which are more about using Sanders as a cover to harass women and their allies than as legitimate advocacy for the candidate. Remove the mansplaining, harassment, and gotcha trolling, and the amount of Sanders traffic isn't quite so awe-inspiring in volume.... It's a symptom of how male-dominated our media continues to be that this narrative is so stifled."
... Marcotte ends by citing as a "proof" a Dave Wiegel tweet: "Clinton has won around 9 m votes. Trump has won aruond 7.8 m. The stories: how Hillary's blowing it, how Trump changed everything." CW: That's not evidence of the effects of "male-dominated media" or out-and-out misogyny. That's evidence of pre-voting expectations: Hillary would sail to the nomination & Trump would flame out before super Tuesday. ...
... Besides, Marcotte totally doesn't get the whole BernieBro thing. Rebecca Caplan of the New Yorker is here to clue us in. For one thing, "a Bernie Bro is never sexist. The reason a Bernie Bro isn't voting for Hillary, that corporation-funded political witch, is because of how much a Bernie Bro loves women." ...
... Also, too, not all Sanders supporters are BernieBros. There is, for instance, actor & activist Susan Sarandon, who thinks a vote for Hillary just might postpone the revolution that's a'comin'. ...
... Steve M. does a pretty nice job of blowing Sarandon's theory: "I wish Sarandon were right about the electorate -- but if she were, our government would already look very different. The problems she thinks are pushing us to the brink of revolt are problems we're not up in arms about, except in small pockets of America. She needs to get out more, and see the rest of the country." CW: The thing is, if Trump wins, it will because somewhere in the neighbor of half of the people who went to the polls voted for him. It's unlikely that many in the Trump half will become so disillusioned they will join the revolution. If the revolution came, it would manifest more as a disorganized civil war, & President Trump would crush every pocket with gleeful gusto. Get real, Susan, & vote for Hillary.
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Citing indications of wrongdoing and bad faith, a federal judge has overruled government objections by declaring that a conservative group is entitled to more details about how Hillary Clinton's private email account was integrated into the State Department recordkeeping system and why it was not searched in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. U.S. District Court Judge Royce Lamberth entered an order Tuesday agreeing that Judicial Watch can pursue legal discovery.... Lamberth..., [a] Reagan appointee, oversaw a series of lawsuits [during Bill Clinton's administration] over issues like access to the meetings and records of Clinton's Health Care Task Force, the maintenance of security files on GOP appointees ... and the use of Commerce Department trade missions as a reward for campaign donors."
I'll Only Debate You if You Promise to Lose, Ctd. Nick Gass: "The debate in the Democratic race has largely returned to where it was several months ago -- on the debates themselves. Hillary Clinton's campaign on Tuesday refused to budge from its refusal to participate in future debates until Bernie Sanders pledges not to launch any attacks on the former secretary of state, maintaining that the Vermont senator has not upheld the lofty ideals he set for his own campaign's rhetoric." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Claire Landsbaum of New York: "GOP Rips Hillary Clinton for Politicizing Hyperpolitical SCOTUS Fight."
Congressional Race
Debbie has been a strong, progressive leader in Congress and a hardworking, committed Chair of our national Party since I proudly nominated her to the role in 2011. She always stands up and fights for what is right for her district while passionately supporting middle class families. -- President Obama, endorsing Debbie Wasserman Shultz in her first primary battle since 2004 ...
... Charles Pierce says that's a joke, then recounts why it isn't funny.
Beyond the Beltway
Oliver Milman of the Guardian: "People in parts of Oklahoma and Kansas now face the same threat of destructive earthquakes as Californians, with human-induced tremors from oil and gas production helping spread earthquake vulnerability across much of the US. For the first time, the US Geological Survey mapped out areas of the country vulnerable to earthquakes caused by human activity as well as natural events and found that around seven million people in the central and eastern US are at risk from ground-shaking episodes."
John Flesher of the AP: During a hearing of a Michigan state legislative committee, a Flint water treatment official testified that a state Environmental Quality official told him not to treat the city's water supply with anti-corrosive chemicals.
Colin Campbell of the Charlotte Observer: "The state of New York and four cities across the country have banned their employees from non-essential travel to North Carolina, citing the state's new LGBT discrimination law. The new law creates a new statewide discrimination policy that doesn't protect against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. It was triggered by a Charlotte nondiscrimination ordinance allowing transgender people to use bathrooms of the gender with which they identify."
Gary Robertson of the AP: "North Carolina's attorney general said Tuesday he won't defend in court a new state law preventing Charlotte and other local governments from approving protections for LGBT people, calling it discriminatory and a 'national embarrassment.' Democrat Roy Cooper made the announcement during a news conference a day after gay rights advocates sued to overturn the law approved last week and signed by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Tuesday said he was 'very proud' to veto a GOP-led bill that would have stripped Planned Parenthood of state funding. 'We're here today to smack down the latest attack on women's health care rights,' McAuliffe said at an event attended by Planned Parenthood patients and staff." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
The Wild, Wild East. AFP: "America's heated gun debate has reached a remote Pacific territory, with a court overturning a ban on handguns in the Northern Marianas after ruling it breached the US constitution’s second amendment. In a ruling greeted with dismay by the island territory's leaders, the US district court found the right to bear arms enshrined in the second amendment also applied to the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)."
Visit Rhode Island Iceland! Guardian: "Rhode Island officials have been forced to pull a new tourism video, designed to draw visitors to the state, after eagle-eyed viewers complained it showed a scene shot in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik."
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Reader Comments (20)
Even an ass like Trump should be able to smack a paparazzo that sticks a mike in his face. The rule should be that you cannot leave your feet or take a step towards the invader.
In this case, an NBA official would rule "no harm, no foul". Much more is being made of this case because of the desperation of the Trump Never alliance.
As a New Deal Democrat, the alliance has my sympathy but must excuse my enjoyment of the show so far and my hope to see more unbelievable idiocy in the weeks ahead
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Kate: aren't you glad there's 31 days in March? I am. Whatever happens to RC, I want to thank all my fellow participants. I feel better knowing I think better because I visit and read here.
I recently rewatched this brilliant old post by Driftglass. I think of it in terms of the contorted positions of confederates on crumpism. There are a few current posts on Springsteen and trump which I found interesting. Just as now Middle East debacles are all the fault of liberals who firstly didn't protest loudly enough, and lastly didn't fight on for long enough, crump is the fault of liberals who don't make it clear enough the fascist path we head down. This is the same as the Vietnam war era, when we were threatened, called traitors, some even killed (Kent, Jackson). Brooks in the DG piece opines that he will never see the the Bush haters admit they were wrong when we see Iraq become a peaceful democracy. No matter how loudly we shout, no matter how coherent our arguments, no matter how often we have been right in the past, and they wrong, we are ignored, marginalised, criminalised. We are always not only wrong, but bad, while they rewrite their story so that they are right and good.
I do actually feel like a loser.
I want to know how Trumpistas look at macho man Drumpf now that he is whining about being assaulted (and considering filing charges) against a 28 year old woman who was merely trying to ask him a question. Is Donnie gonna show us his bruises? Is he going to produce an emergency room bill for medical attention after this assault?
What kind of macho man who struts around and brays about how he's gonna kick Chinese asses around the block whines about being assaulted by a woman he towers over and outweighs by about a hundred pounds?
More to the point, what kind of man goes out of his way to cast that woman as the attacker and some kind of crazy person who needs to be locked up?
A Republican. That's who. And just because it wasn't Cruz whose campaign manager assaulted this woman doesn't mean he and his policies don't relegate her and all other women to the status of second or third class citizens.
Gloria,
I once read about an interesting strategy taught to recovering junkies and alcoholics who worry, once they regain sobriety and start seeing clearly for the first time in, perhaps years, what others will think of them. Will others think of them as weak? Immoral? Cowards? Criminals? Stupid? Any of these real or imagined reactions could trigger a relapse, so what to do with all of that? The answer is not to pretend it's not there or to ignore it. The answer is really rather brilliant: Tell it to fuck off. The strategy boils down to this: "You may think that about me. And you may think you're absolutely right. But I don't give you permission to use your opinions to affect what I think about myself."
I've never had to try this, but it sounds like it would be a pretty useful tool to have in your back pocket.
Asshole mountebanks like David Brooks who are always trying to rip others for their own mistakes, to cast blame away from themselves onto those who have been right all along, will always attempt to force their opinions on others, to make them feel responsible for things they had nothing to do with. So don't let them.
My response is usually to employ facts against deceivers and frauds. I don't really care if they listen or not. Mostly it's a way for me to stay sane and to keep grounded, to maintain an equanimity in the face of vicious lying liars. And there are plenty of them. It's also a way to avoid feeling like a victim. That, I think, might be a secondary benefit of the strategy described above. Once one descends into victimhood, all the hard work of getting clean could dissolve in a fit of "Oh, fuck it. What does it matter?" By taking control of the situation, recognizing that you're not allowing the begrudgers to either control you or make you a victim, you're on the road to a more autonomous state of being.
Another way to look at it is that people like Brooks and Cruz and even Trump, are scared. Scared to death. They're bullies and bullies are always scared of something. They put up a big show of bravado and spite to try to convince everyone of their toughness and rightness, but at heart, they're little boys afraid of something in the dark.
So, fuck 'em. Live your life in the knowledge that the beliefs you hold have value, that they are hard won and that they have merit. You didn't just find them on the street, like so many dropped coins. My belief system has been chiseled out of hard experience over the years. I can't say it's perfect or completely correct all the time, but at least I can justify my positions and feel comfortable defending them without resorting to intellectual dishonesty, philosophical subterfuge, or self delusion. And just because my side doesn't always prevail, doesn't make any of us losers. Remember what MLK said about the arc of the moral universe.
And if that doesn't work, you can always shake it out with some rock n' roll:
"Your eyes get itchy in the wee wee hours
sun's just a red ball risin' over them refinery towers
Radio's jammed up with gospel stations
lost souls callin' long distance salvation
Hey Mr. Deejay woncha hear my last prayer
hey ho rock 'n roll deliver me from nowhere"
(You can bet your vintage peace sign buttons that David Brooks ain't listenin' to this...)
("Open All Night", Bruce Springsteen)
@Akhilleus: I'm not nearly as appalled by Lewendowski's grabbing Fields as I am by his & Trump's (not to mention Breitbart's) responses to it. It's one thing to make a mistake, even a fairly brutal one, in the heat of the moment, but quite another to repeatedly lie & slander & try to bully their way out of it.
Those Trumpbots who continue rallying behind the Trumpmobile are evidently unable to grasp the reality that if Trump would do this to a sole Brietbart reporter, he would do it to all of us. If a Brietbart employee isn't safe, none of us is safe, & that includes the minions of mouthbreathers.
I must say it pleases me that Anderson Cooper told Trump he sounded like a five-year-old when Trump said, "He started it," re: the smackdowns of the wives. Trump's response of course was to continue talking like a five-year-old.
I can hardly wait to see the temper tantrums Trump throws if he loses the nomination in some kind of old boys' deal, possibly consummated before the convention. He doesn't seem to understand that if you're going to insult nearly everybody in the party, everybody in the party is going to gang up against you. It's beginning to look like that's what will happen unless Trump gets the necessary number of committed delegates to win on the first ballot. I see that's Marco's plan. And certainly Ted's & Kasich's.
Marie
Greetings, One & All.
Last night, via our (NYC) PBS station, I viewed Frontline's "Saudi Arabia: Uncovered".
It was a difficult - but, I believed, an important - watch . . .
Their government's incarceration (flogging & execution) of "dissidents", the public mob violence, the fascistic sharia (nope: wont upper-case it), the brutal misogyny (they - partially/"discretely" - showed the street-beheading of a woman, pleading her innocence, to no avail), the brave (<= gargantuan understatement) women who, despite life-threatening punishment & threats of death to themselves and their families, forge ahead in protest to defend and liberate their sex, the squads of "religious police" who roam streets and malls to make certain that women are complying with sharia (one woman, who seemed fully covered, was taken to task for wearing make-up while another, shopping at a grocery, was forcefully - and unexpectedly -knocked to the ground, apparently just-for-the-hell-of-it) - - etcetera, etcetera and so on.
I gasped - audibly - more than a few times while viewing this most courageous (again, an understatement) and perilous undercover footage.
I had, just prior, been reading Marie's links to one of the recently published Drumpf-induced episodes of violence (the young Ms. Fields) - clearly captured on video - yet *still* denied by Drumpfollini *and* his own (*video-witnessing*) supporters (!).
(Today's video of the 15 year-young Janesville (?) protester, who was sexually groped and, then, when attempting to push the POS away from her, was face-saturated with . . . was it tear gas? . . . and cheered by the goons as she left. I was thankful that she, at least, was wearing eyeglasses.)
A not-so-distant melody of "Are We There Yet?" keeps whispering to me. And I ain't referencing sweet-but-antsy children enduring the family road trip.
"Are We There Yet?"
The images - and narratives - from last night's Frontline have been inclining me, thusly:
"We're Almost There, Children. Almost There."
Marie,
Yeah. I agree. It didn't look like a beat down or anything like that, but the lies, especially in the face of evidence, and the continued denial that anything happened take the whole thing to another level. Speaking of Breibart, I visited that cesspool earlier to see what they had to say for themselves. Nothing. They have a piece about Cruz saying he would have fired his campaign manager for doing something like that, but he is attacked by Trumpistas in the comments. Trump is Breitbart's boy and nothing he does will change that, not even the Trump campaign's assault on one of their own.
Oh wait. It was a woman.
Never mind.
Ophelia,
The Saudi royal family are getting close to the place the Republican Party is now in. For decades, they have made peace with radical Wahabbists. The deal has been they get to indulge their medieval rites and assaults on women and anyone they deem unworthy (outside the select members of the royal family and their hangers-on) and the royals get to flout the Koran, drink booze, fly off to Paris and New York and party with the infidels.
Extremists are indulged so that the reigning few can stay in power. How's that working out for Republicans?
This deal is what propelled a group of Saudi extremists to come to America so they could learn to fly planes. Did the Saudis know about that? Maybe not. But worse, they didn't care. And if they did know about it, they probably wouldn't have done anything to stop it. Better they fly planes into US buildings than storm the royal palaces in Saudi Arabia.
We're paying so that Saudi princes can indulge their taste for western style debauchery without forking over piles of oil loot at the Wahhabi toll booths (although they're probably keeping the nuts rolling in cash anyway).
The worst is yet to come.
Trump said last night he will not unconditionally back the eventual GOP nominee. The next question should have been "if you are not the nominee will you run as an independent or write in candidate"? Seems an obvious question to this old man.
Freaky " annotations " a new concern.
See NY mag: ."..the website Genius caught flack for … something. Commentary? Abuse? Something in-between? Depends on whom you ask. ... — recently unveiled a tool that lets users annotate, and view annotations on, any website."
e.g., Blogs!
Looked at some examples linked, feels eerie.
To Marie's Marauders :) -
(Not precisely the right noun, but I like the way it sounds.)
If, as a Newbie, I were considered eligible, I would wish to continue reading - and contributing thoughts and articles - via . . . Was it a "closed Facebook forum" (?) that was suggested??
I'm so *not* "hip" to the lexicon: I'm not on Facebook, have never Tweeted (except to the parakeet I rescued in childhood) and haven't known how to create links (only copy & paste) within my posted comments here on RC. (Despite having been a dancer, I'm one heckuva clumsy clod - with dyslexic-like leanings - when it comes to 'puter-tech kinds of content.)
(Just adding my voice - one day away from April 1st - to the dialogue.)
Cheers -
Akhilleus -
What a compassionate and thoughtful (full, with thought) reply to Gloria (which resonated with me).
Cheers -
I'm feeling like this is the Rapture that all of those religious nerds
are hoping for. So, come April first, if all of you RC guys and gals
go up to Facebook heaven and leave us computerilly (?) challenged
to fend for ourselves without Marie's invaluable input; don't know
what to do. So, whatever happens, I want to be in on it. My email
is forrest.morris@yahoo.com. Help!
A quick thought about Chinese president and party leader Xi Jinping and his western counterpart Don Trumping.
President Xi has recently been asked to step down by an anonymous commenter who posted his or her missive on various Chinese websites. The writer, who proclaims him or herself a steadfast member of the party, puts forward the argument that Xi's accumulation of personal power and attempts to curtail any ideological discussion is deleterious to the future of Communist China.
Xi, in response, has sent out the shock troops to find this person and institute a state mandated extirpation of their views, and if identifiable, their person: extirpation, if they're lucky.
Does anyone believe that Trump would not attempt a similar manhunt for any of his critics? He is used to being able to simply naysay anything he doesn't like or agree with. Those who try to call him on his lies are looked upon with scorn and enmity like you read about.
I can just picture Trump in the White House briefing room pointing out reporters to be evicted and trying to bully anyone who questions his positions, no matter how stupid, ahistorical, or insupportable. ]
Hard core Chinese and North Korean Communist Party apparatchiks would be solidly on his side.
Forrest,
I don't think, and certainly do not hope, that Facebook is where we are headed. I think Marie has another idea. I am not a luddite nor a stranger to the techy aspects of moe-dern communication, but I hate Facebook for a pile of reasons. If we ended up there, I would make every effort to follow, but the Facebook milieu, its mise en scene, does not in any way appeal to me as the most salutary way to reproduce, and or, continue, Marie's bailiwick.
That being said, despite the fact that there is simply no replacing the irreplaceable, we may be able to soldier on in a more comfortably habitable venue.
We will do our best and see how it goes.
Ophelia,
Thank you for your kind words.
In my post to Gloria I mentioned something about my personal belief system. One of my core beliefs is the importance of looking out for one another.
Confederates contend that it's every man for himself (women, in their worldview, are there for sexual use, reproduction, cooking dinner, taking care of the kids, and shutting the fuck up). They aspire to an Ayn Randian world where gigantic, self-absorbed he-roes stand up (sort of) to everything and everybody who doesn't go along with them. (Rand herself was a moocher like you read about.) Confederates are all about standing on your own two feet and not getting help from anyone. Unless they're the ones who need it. That's why they never talk about things like corporate welfare and how much money moochers in red states siphon off from blue states.
I think it's pretty indisputable that had our species adopted contemporary Confederate ideology, ie, no help from anyone, everyone responsible for their own well being and success, no exceptions, we'd still be living in caves with a life expectancy of about 40 years, that is, if you don't count all the deaths incurred by chasing potential sources of food through the forest.
Another way to look at it is let's remove all improvements advanced by progressive philosophies, fact based learning, and science over the last 250 years.
Where would we be?
We'd all think Donald Trump was the apogee of human progress.
Like so many Confederates.
Keep on keepin' on, wingers. Any century now you'll catch up to the rest of us and if it weren't for liberal advances, you'd all be standing in shit up to your hips and hitting each other over the head for a piece of raw meat.
@AK: Been away all day but want to reply to your last posting which corresponds to my way of thinking. Facebook is anathema for me, too, for "a pile of reasons." I'm reconciled to the fact that this is over and we soldier on. We've had the best and maybe we can tuck that away and be grateful we had it.
Something I heard Trump say last night during his interview with CNN: he'd have no problem if Japan, South Korea or the Saudi's get nuclear weapons––"it's gonna come, folks, just you wait, it's gonna come–-they should have their own protection."
If that doesn't give one pause––if that doesn't make one tremble in their beds at night, I don't know what will. In Trump's world it's a continuous "Jeezus Christ, McNulty, you've fuckin crossed the line again" moments over and over and over...
Thanks Ak, and Ophelia.I must reassure you that I am not a beaten down puddle (mixed metaphor) on the floor, and I agree with everything you said, Ak. I do argue back and have been saying for over a decade that these are the most frightened people on earth. I travel a lot, live in various countries around the world (soon off to Brussels(!)), and talk and listen to many people. As recently in Japan, a woman from MN told me she was voting for trump because she was sick of immigrants taking resources from Americans. Her story was over 100,00 Somalis being resettled by the Govt in MN that would deplete the local resources. Those numbers rang bells, but not having data at my fingertips I could not retort that the reality was about 1,000 refugees, and costs were covered mainly by Fed Govt and negotiated with local charities. Each family was reported to be receiving up to $4000 pa.. I did turn the conversation to the Corporate Welfare Queens driving not Cadillacs but Maseratis, who should be her real concern. Each costing billions rather that a few million, causing food shortages, they distort economies worldwide. The fact free world that we know these guys live in is hard to penetrate, as they don't listen to counter arguments and refute any contrary facts with more fiction. Without googling on the spot, it is hard to sit there and say "You lie!".
I've thrown my hat in the ring for the continuation of RC. It obviously won't be the same but if we could continue a healthy forum of facts and reality I think it'd still be a positive step forward.
And @PD, I thought the same thing RE: Trump and nuclear arsenals. Holy shit! Even the Japanese government didn't seem to know how to react. And I can almost guarantee that the elite cadres of the Military-Industrial complex have to be wringing their hands somewhere every time Trump "enlightens" us on his foreign policy proposals.
Makes me thing about Carson's comments the other day..."Even if he's a terrible President, it'd only be 4 years..." Yeah, and four years later we have a nuclear arms race in the Middle East and Asia. Sounds great!