The Commentariat -- Nov. 12, 2015

Internal links removed.

Sheryl Gay Stolberg, et al., of the New York Times: "While [President] Obama's 2008 election helped usher in a political resurgence for Democrats, the president today presides over a shrinking party whose control of elected offices at the state and local levels has declined precipitously. In January, Republicans will occupy 32 of the nation's governorships, 10 more than they did in 2009. Democratic losses in state legislatures under Mr. Obama rank among the worst in the last 115 years, with 816 Democratic lawmakers losing their jobs and Republican control of legislatures doubling since the president took office -- more seats lost than under any president since Dwight D. Eisenhower."

Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "President Obama focused his Veterans Day remarks on the growing ranks of former troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and are now searching for new ways to serve their country at home.... At Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday, Obama spoke of progress in reducing wait times for veterans and a plummeting unemployment rate among vets. He stressed the country's continuing obligation to do more to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs and help veterans find work":

... Perry Stein of the Washington Post: "A couple dozen servicemen and women marched to the White House this Veterans Day and dumped a large box of empty pill containers, calling on the president and other federal officials to make medical marijuana accessible to veterans."

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "The White House endorsed legislation Tuesday that would amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the Obama administration had been reviewing the bill 'for several weeks.'"

Austin Wright of Politico: "Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain is threatening a court battle if President Barack Obama tries to go around Congress in a last-ditch attempt to achieve his campaign pledge of closing the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba."

Jennifer Haberkorn & Seung Min Kim of Politico: "Moderate Senate Republicans are voicing new opposition to a conservative-backed plan to defund Planned Parenthood -- a move that could imperil the GOP's long-cherished goal of sending an Obamacare repeal to the president's desk.... If the Planned Parenthood provision is in the final bill -- Senate Republican aides say no final decisions have been made -- a handful of votes from the moderate wing could also break away. They include [Lisa] Murkowski [Alaska], and Sens. Mark Kirk of Illinois and Susan Collins of Maine." ...

... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Senate Republicans are divided over how far to go with an ObamaCare repeal bill they plan to send to the president's desk by year's end. Senate GOP leaders have told their members they will repeal as much of the 2010 healthcare reform law as possible, but some Republicans are balking at a proposal to repeal the expansion of Medicaid."

Linda Greenhouse: A "2-to-1 decision in State of Texas v. United States held that the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans program would likely be found after a trial to have exceeded the president's authority under the Immigration and Nationality Act.... The majority opinion is as cynical an exercise of judicial authority as I can remember -- and no, I haven't forgotten Bush v. Gore.... Assuming the [Supreme Court] justices agree to hear the case, it will be fascinating to see how they respond to a decision that reads like a judicial version of the old Woody Allen movie 'Sleeper,' in which everything that used to be bad for you is now good, and vice versa."

Spam Is More Disgusting than You Knew. Roberto Ferdman of the Washington Post: "An undercover video taken at one of the nation's largest pork producers shows pigs being dragged across the floor, beaten with paddles, and sick to the point of immobility. By law, pigs are supposed to be rendered unconscious before being killed, but many are shown writhing in apparent pain while bleeding out, suggesting that they weren't properly stunned. 'That one was definitely alive,' a worker says. The video also appears to show pigs with puss-filled abscesses being sent down the line. Others are covered in feces.... The graphic video -- available on YouTube in an edited form -- was covertly filmed by a contracted employee of Compassion Over Killing, a nonprofit animal rights group that claims to have infiltrated an Austin, Minn., facility run by Quality Pork Processors (QPP), a supplier of Hormel Foods, the maker of Spam and other popular processed meats. The group has turned over the 97-minute unedited video to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which has raised serious concerns about the conditions at the QPP facility and pledged a thorough investigation." ...

     ... See also Kate M.'s comment in today's thread.

Curtis Skinner of Reuters: "Students were set to walk out of classrooms across the United States on Thursday to protest ballooning student loan debt for higher education and rally for tuition-free public colleges and a minimum wage hike for campus workers. The demonstrations are planned just two days after thousands of fast-food workers took to the streets in a nationwide day of action pushing for a $15-an-hour minimum wage and union rights for the industry. Events for Thursday's protests, dubbed the Million Student March, have been planned at colleges and universities from Los Angeles to New York."

Mireya Navarro of the New York Times: "Smoking would be prohibited in public housing homes nationwide under a proposed federal rule to be announced on Thursday, a move that would affect nearly one million households and open the latest front in the long-running campaign to curb unwanted exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke. The ban, by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, would also require that common areas and administrative offices on public housing property be smoke-free."

Stephen Colbert remembers the Three Wise Snowmen:

Presidential Race

Nick Gass of Politico: "Bernie Sanders snagged a major union endorsement on Thursday, with the American Postal Workers' Union announcing its backing of the Democratic presidential candidate. Sanders' largest union pickup comes as his chief rival, Hillary Clinton, has earned several significant labor endorsements in recent weeks."

Jesse Byrnes of the Hill: "... Hillary Clinton slammed GOP rival Donald Trump on Wednesday for his latest remarks about illegal immigration. 'The idea of tracking down and deporting 11 million people is absurd, inhumane, and un-American. No, Trump,' Clinton wrote on Twitter." ...

... Most Important Campaign News of the Day: Donald Trump agrees with confederate radio star Mark Levin that Hillary Clinton is wearing a wig. ...

... CW: Maybe thats' fair because "Clinton this summer poked fun at Trump's hair and questions swirling around the brash billionaire's do." ...

... People: "Political blogger Matt Drudge has alleged in a series of tweets to his 321,000 followers that wears a wig -- a claim her hairstylist is calling 'ridiculous.'" ...

... CW: Coming next week: Hillary undergoes chemo, confederates allege.

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "One Clinton story that has often been greeted with skepticism is her claim, first made in 1994, that she once tried to join the Marines in 1975. On the campaign trail [this week], she brought up the story again.... So far, we do not have enough documentary proof to say the incident never happened.... But the circumstances are in question. She pitches it as a matter of public service, but her friends suggest it ... happened in the context of the lack of opportunity for women.... So at this point Clinton's story is worthy of Two Pinocchios, subject to change if more information becomes available." CW: I don't see how it makes much sense to call a candidate half-a-liar when you can't disprove a claim she has made.

From Hillary Clinton's campaign:

... Brett LoGiurato & Colin Campbell of Business Insider: "Fox Business Network moderator Maria Bartiromo was briefly booed by a Republican-friendly debate crowd Tuesday night when she brought up former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's ...'impressive résumé.'" CW: Hey, it was a tough, unfair, liberal question. ...

... Frank Rich comments on last night's GOP "debate": "The least substantive candidates were the two leading the polls: Trump and Ben Carson, both of whom are running on sheer ego. Dealing with questions about national security and financial regulation, Carson spoke in generalities and non sequiturs that suggest he has no intention of learning the most rudimentary information he needs to execute the job he seeks. Asked, with kid gloves, to address the controversies attending his own biography, the good doctor said, 'People who know me know that I'm an honest person.' Well, that settles that! Trump also had little to offer beyond braggadocio and his usual self-congratulation on his ability to vanquish any adversary through sheer lung power and his Art of the Deal." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Gail Collins seems to think the debate would make a lovely topic of conversation around the family Thanksgiving dinner table. ...

... Mister Mix of Balloon Juice: "Trump kicked it off by saying that the princely sum of $31,000, which is the fortune that one lucky enough to pull down 15 US American Dollars per hour would make, is too high. We can't be competitive in the global Happy Meal toys and iPhone assembly race to the bottom if we are paying our workers a barely living wage. Ben Carson agreed: we can't effectively build and stock pyramids with the life-giving sustenance of grain by paying three pictures of Lincoln every backbreaking hour. And repeal Obamacare."

... Josh Marshall of TPM: "This debate is the logical outcome of the blow up after the CNBC debate. CNBC is a generally right leaning network on economic issues. But simply pressing the candidates to answer questions or noting when they're making demonstrably untrue claims made them liberal. So now we have a debate structured around letting candidates say absolutely anything - because scrutinizing candidates is liberal." ...

... Brian Beutler thinks a GOP debate structure where candidates get to make all the false claims they can, without being called out, is a boon for Democrats. "Jeb Bush, an exception to this overall dynamic, tried to bring a modicum of sobriety to the discussion by scolding his unrealistic adversaries. 'They're doing high-fives in the Clinton campaign right now when they hear this,' he said. Republicans should have listened to him." ...

... E. J. Dionne: "White working-class voters have been a key building block of the Republican coalition since the rise of the Reagan Democrats 35 years ago. You would think that the party's presidential candidates would want to respond to the heartbreaking crisis these Americans are facing.... The candidates were all about flat or flatter taxes, or levies on consumption, which tend to disadvantage lower-income Americans, who are suffering most in this economy. The GOP hopefuls often sounded as if they were addressing a convention of Mercedes owners." ...

... Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker: As the debate illustrated, many of the candidates' positions are more revolutionary than conservative. ...

... Emily Steel of the New York Times: "More than 13 million people tuned in to Fox Business Network to watch the fourth Republican presidential debate on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, according to Nielsen ratings data provided on Wednesday by the business news network. The viewership was the most ever in the history of the business news network, but less than previous debates in the 2016 presidential race. The highest rated debate so far this campaign season was the first on Fox News in August, which drew 24 million viewers. A subsequent debate on CNN in September drew nearly 23 million viewers." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Tom McCarthy of the Guardian: "Activist billionaire Charles Koch, who with his brother David has contributed hundreds of millions of dollars to advance 'conservative' causes from voter ID laws to for-profit prisons to stand-your-ground gun laws, has no plans to endorse a Republican candidate in the presidential nominating race."

Dana Milbank: Ben Carson sees himself as the Anointed One (CW: a/k/a the Messiah) & so do many evangelicals. ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Ben Carson on Wednesday evening said the stories in his best-selling books that have come under question by the media give a 'general flavor' as to what happened in his life, adding that it would be impossible to recount the exact details of events from decades ago." CW: Yes, the "general flavor" of my autobiography (which won't be an autobiography once I've written it -- see next story) will be that I am absolutely awesome & the hero of every event in my life. You will never have met anyone as terrific as the "flavor" of my story, even if you have met me.

... When Does an Autobiography Cease to Be an Autobiography? When It's Already Been Written. Hunter Walker of Yahoo News: "Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson is ready to tell people who ask questions about his history to 'go jump in a lake,' he said[, following Tuesday night's debate.]... Carson elaborated on his rationale for not addressing skepticism about his biography when a reporter asked whether he felt that the moderators had let him 'off the hook' during the debate by not pressing him on the issue. 'From this point on, I get to determine what the hook is. I get to determine whether I'm going to answer what I consider silly questions,' Carson explained.... Yahoo News pointed out that many of the stories that have raised questions came from Carson's own books and speeches.... 'Yeah, but I'm not going to talk about them,' Carson said. '... I'm not going to let people drive this....' Yahoo then asked Carson why he wrote stories about his past that he no longer wants to discuss. 'Because before it was an autobiography, and it's not an autobiography now because it's already been written,' Carson said." Emphasis added.

... CW: By this logic, written autobiographies do not and cannot exist. One can say, "I am writing an autobiography." But it is not possible to say, "I wrote an autobiography," because once "it's already been written," it ceases to be an autobiography. What is the precise moment the autobiography dies? Is it when the author sends it to her publisher? Or when the editor sends it to print? Or at some other point? Ole Doc has waded deep into gibberish, people, and he cannot get out. ...

... Ed Kilgore: "It's an abiding tragedy to me that fundamentalists of every religious faith typically think they are expressing humble obedience to God by lording it over other people. It becomes more sinister when that kind of believer wants secular power over the 'secular' people they despise." ...

... James Bamford in Foreign Policy: "Carson's foreign-policy experts are likely part of his problem. The candidate's most outrageous statements on national security -- including his shocking declaration in September that he believes Muslims are unfit to serve as president -- aren't merely a collection of ill-informed gaffes. They are a reflection of the troubling worldview of the people he has turned to for advice. Chief among them is Robert F. Dees, a retired Army officer who has indulged in anti-Muslim bigotry and advocated for a national security strategy centered on Christian evangelism." ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Ben Carson took a shot at Bernie Sanders in an address to students at the nation's largest Christian college on Wednesday, warning against 'unscrupulous politicians' offering free college that will add to the national debt and hasten 'the destruction of the nation.' Just 12 hours after the fourth Republican presidential debate concluded Tuesday night in Milwaukee, Carson told students at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., that a successful democracy depends on 'a well-informed and educated populace.'" Also, too, the Liberty U. kidz wouldn't get free tuition because Bernie would apply it only to public colleges & universities. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... CW: Too bad that under Ole Doc's "plan," the "populace" won't be able to afford an education. As for "Unscrupulous Bernie"'s plan, it would not "add to the national debt" & hasten "the destruction of the nation." Bernie would pay for the plan by "imposing a Robin Hood tax on Wall Street." So who's unscrupulous? Maybe your friends know you as Honest Ben Carson (see Frank Rich's comment above), but the rest of us are onto your grift. As for that picture of you & Jesus you have hanging in the front hall -- take a second look. That guy with his hand on your shoulder might just be the devil in a white nightgown. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Operation Wetback," Writ Yuuuuge. Washington Post Editors: Donald "Trump, who has stirred up so much enthusiasm for mass deportations, is now offering what he evidently regards as an exemplary template: the far more modest but still massively cruel round-'em-up-and-throw-'em-out program carried out, mainly in the summer of 1954, under the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.... Operation Wetback was a disgraceful episode that involved inhumane treatment of Mexican migrants, an unknown number of whom died or were sickened by being forcibly relocated and in many cases deposited in sweltering, remote locations with little food or water." ...

... Remembering the Good Old Days. Philip Bump of the Washington Post has more on Ike's deportation program, which was a human horror show.

... Even Bill O'Reilly is calling out Trump on his plans to emulate this "humane" deportation. With video. ...

... Maggie Haberman of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump on Wednesday morning repeated a statement he made the night before in the Republican presidential debate: that wages are 'too high' in the United States, an argument he made to explain his opposition to raising the minimum wage." ...

... ** Digby in Salon: "Under questioning from Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski on Wednesday's 'Morning Joe,' Trump explained that he would have to create a 'deportation force' to round up all these people, and has said before that it would have to include a number of American citizens, the children of these undocumented workers, because we can't be expected to take care of them. Also, it would be cruel to separate families. Just like Ike, he is so gosh darned nice."

Francis Wilkinson of Bloomberg: "Marco Rubio has a three-step plan on illegal immigration. Trouble is, it's a three-step plan for Rubio to gain the Republican nomination, not to address illegal immigration." ...

... BUT Marco's plan is not bad enough for Tailgunner Ted. Greg Sargent: "... Cruz has unleashed what may be his most aggressive and sustained assault on Rubio yet, and the topic is indeed immigration." ...

... William Saletan of Slate: Marco Rubio's competitors are paving his way to the nomination. And "The debate's moderators might as well have been on Rubio's payroll.... In the end, it will be a two-man race between Rubio and Sen. Ted Cruz. And in that personality contest, Rubio can't lose."

Leigh Ann Caldwell & Kasie Hunt of NBC News: "Former U.S. senator and Republican presidential candidate Bob Dole announced his support of [Jeb Bush]. Announced on Veteran's Day, Dole will also serve as national veterans chairman for the Bush campaign."

Amanda Marcotte in Salon: Rand Paul trolls the GOP's "small government" farce. Apparently, Li'l Randy doesn't know that "'small government' is a code term for 'squash the little guy'..."

Eric Kleefeld of the National Memo: "One subject was conspicuously absent from the Republican debates on Tuesday night: The fact that the previous weekend, three of the candidates had attended a conference in Iowa run by a fringe religious-right minister who was actively advocating the death penalty for gays -- and, oh, saying that if his son married a man, he would show up for the wedding and smear his body in cow manure." Kleefeld goes to relate some of Kevin Swanson's other views. His post is titled, "It Gets Worse."

Beyond the Beltway

Elliot Hannon of Slate: "The University of Missouri on Wednesday announced Director of Greek Life, Janna Basler, one of the staff members involved in forcibly preventing a student journalist from covering Monday's protests on campus, has been place on administrative leave." ...

... Richard Perez-Pena & Christine Hauser of the New York Times: "Dr. [David] Kurpius[, dean of the University of Missouri's journalism department,] said in a message on Twitter late Tuesday that [Melissa] Click resigned her courtesy appointment with the journalism school during a faculty meeting that day. It was unclear whether her status within the department of communication, which is in the College of Arts and Sciences, had changed." See Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. below for links to background stories. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Peter Hassen of the conservative Campus Reform: "Dr. Dale Brigham, considered one of the most beloved professors at the University of Missouri, has resigned after refusing to cancel an exam for students who claimed to feel 'unsafe.'" ...

... Whyever would "those students" feel unsafe? ...

... Yamiche Alcindor & Doug Stanglin of USA Today: "Police arrested two college students in Missouri on Wednesday for making threats to black students that heightened tensions as the state's flagship University of Missouri-Columbia campus has been roiled in recent weeks by racial strife." ...

... Here's the kind of messages we're talking about: 'I'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person I see,'" read one post on the anonymous message app Yik Yak."...

... Mary Elizabeth Williams of Salon elaborates, calling out Brigham for "shaming black students." Read her whole post, especially the message instructor Bradley Smith sent to his students.

Justin Moyer of the Washington Post: Judge Scott Johansen, a Utah juvenile judge with a history of weird & harsh decisions. removed an adopted child from the care of a lesbian couple because he believes "the child would be better off with heterosexual parents, he said." He said he did research! That was secret! "'On the one hand, I'm not going to expect my caseworkers to violate a court order,' Brent Platt, director of the Utah's Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS), said, 'but on the other hand I'm not going to expect my caseworkers to violate the law.'"

Way Beyond

Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: Krzysztof Charamsa, who is a Vatican official, came out as gay in a melodramatic announcement right before Pope Francis's big synod. He is now living in an apartment in Rome with his partner. Gay Roman Catholics are divided on the effects of his stunt. CW: I have no problem with his coming out in a theatrical manner to highlight the Church's perverted view of homosexuality. But Faiola's story gives no indication that Charamsa addresses the issue of celibacy, & Charamsa is not celibate. The Church's problem with sexuality is far bigger than gay sexuality, & its expectations of priests & nuns are unnatural.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "An Ohio man was arrested and charged with trying to solicit the murder of members of the U.S. military in their homes and communities in a series of posts on social media, the FBI announced Thursday. The FBI said Terrence J. McNeil, 25, of Akron, repeatedly professed his support for the Islamic State and in September distributed a file on Tumblr that contained the photographs and names and addresses of dozens of U.S. military personnel."

New York Times: "Vincent Asaro, the reputed mobster charged in connection with the notorious 1978 Lufthansa robbery, walked out of federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday a free man after a jury cleared him of racketeering and other charges. The verdicts, delivered after little more than two days of deliberations, left many in the courtroom stunned, most visibly prosecutors from the United States attorney's office, which had spent years building a case against Mr. Asaro, 80, with testimony from high-ranking Mafia figures and recordings made by an informer for the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Reuters: "A man who sought a predawn psychiatric evaluation at a Bronx hospital was taken into custody by police on Thursday in connection with a fatal shooting this week near New York's Penn Station transportation hub, authorities said. Vincent Arcona, 27, who had been identified as a person of interest in Monday's shooting that left one man dead and two others wounded, was being held by police, a New York Police Department spokeswoman said.Arcona was not arrested or charged...."

New York Times: "Kurdish forces aided by thousands of lightly armed Yazidi fighters captured a strategic highway on Thursday in northern Iraq in the early stages of an offensive to reclaim the town of Sinjar from the Islamic State, which seized it last year and murdered, raped and enslaved thousands of Yazidis."

New York Times: "Hundreds of thousands of Greeks walked off their jobs on Thursday to protest austerity economics, as officials of the leftist-led government wrangled with the country's international creditors over the terms of Greece's third bailout. At least one Athens protest turned violent."

Comments

[Ken Winkes]

As the son who sent this to me tonight said, it's a bit depressing but does link the decline of unions and our public education system to Republican ascendancy, cause and effect...

http://www.vox.com/polyarchy/2015/11/4/9665842/republican-inequality-future-loop

[Kate Madison]

"...An undercover video taken at one of the nation's largest pork producers shows pigs being dragged across the floor, beaten with paddles, and sick to the point of immobility. By law, pigs are supposed to be rendered unconscious before being killed, but many are shown writhing in apparent pain while bleeding out, suggesting that they weren’t properly stunned. 'That one was definitely alive,' a worker said."

Well, DUH! You have hit on my heart's true pain, Marie, in quoting the above. I am an unabashed animal lover, and a vegetarian. I eat a few fish--but no animals or poultry, and have not for 35 years. This is for ethical, rather than health reasons. I especially love pigs, and a local farmer has a pet pig he has named after me. I am honored!

I do not know how many of you have followed the cruelty to animals movement--there are many offshoots. However, if you have a heart and soul, I hope that you do. Or will. The way we treat our animals sent to slaughter in this country--especially those from factory farms--is unconscionable! They are tortured, starved, put on hooks before stunned and sometimes boiled alive. Truly! And all of this because Americans (and other nations) demand their MEAT! I think this is sick--unless one knows the animal has been humanely raised and killed.

However, animals are getting their revenge! E-Coli, salmonella, and many other nasty bacteria are rampant in our abused and inhumanely slaughtered animals. People, more and more, are getting sick eating meat from these tragic creatures. I cannot say I am sorry, because this may be what it takes for people to wake up! My husband is now eating meat only from humanely raised and killed cows. Knowing what a terrible life the highly intelligent pig suffers, he no longer eats pork. And he will eat chicken only if raised on small, private farms--where they are not caged.

Don't know if any of you know, but I think you will be interested: After retiring from The Daily Show, Jon Stewart and his wife, Tracey, bought a farm in New Jersey and have become part of "The Farm Sanctuary" movement! They have just adopted two pigs saved from slaughter and plan to adopt many more--as well as cows, sheep, chickens and, yes, turkeys!

You may think me a bleeding heart nutcase, but I hope your heart is touched just a bit by realizing the needless abuse and suffering of the animals (almost) everyone eats! And that you will perhaps reconsider your own meat eating habits--if you have not already.

Peace.....

[Ken Winkes]

On Kessler's peculiar determination of Clinton's "half-lie." Odd logic indeed. By that standard (she hasn't offered convincing empirical evidence that what she claimed is true), most everything we say is at least half a lie.

When my wife who was already asleep when I went to bed the other night asked me the next morning what time I had retired, my answer must have been at least half a lie because I had no independent proof to back up my claim. I would add I might have lied and I might have been mistaken or confused, but I believe what I said was both accurate and true.

Three thoughts about this absurdity. First, Kessler is now a show-me fact checker, Missouri his new home. If it's not on unedited video, certified by reliable affidavits or independent, commonly accepted fact, it ain't true....so Might be's are half a lie...

Or...Kessler watched a PBS science program and was inspired to spice up his column with a little quantum theory. Henceforth the degree of truth will not be simply quantifiable with Pinocchios, all claims will be treated as quantum events, their nature as truth or lie indeterminate until they manifests themselves. Two Pinocchios will be the new baseline. Unfortunately, as I understand quantum theory, though an unproved claim might emerge as either true or false, that does not make it half-true before it manifests itself as one or the other. Kessler apparently think Schrodinger's poor cat is half dead.

Or....it might be just politic. Kessler has had no choice but to call out multiple Republican claims recently and the pickings have been so easy, maybe he felt obligated to find something about a Democrat he could be publicly skeptical about and this was the best he could do. Always best to appear even-handed you know...

But now maybe I'm just being cynical about Kessler's skepticism.

[Akhilleus]

Ken,

You are quite right. The Pinocchio Meter proves an unsatisfactory scale for claims like "I once tried to join the Marines", due to the fact that the basis for the measurement is determinant on whether a statement can be categorized as a big lie or a little lie, as completely untrue or somewhat untrue.

Such a measurement requires some kind of corroborative evidence. However, if there is none, which means there is also no corroboration of a lie, then your best bet is to treat the claim in some other fashion. At that point you are completely free to express doubts about the veracity of the claim. For instance, one could say, fairly or not, that Clinton had never before brought this up (at least not that I've ever heard), and she's been a public figure for decades.

This allows you to simply raise the question rather getting into assessing it as a lie or the truth, or something that lands somewhere on the spectrum. Sort of a lie (two Pinocchios) simply has to mean that you have enough evidence to the contrary to assess the claim as half a lie or a medium sized lie. Just saying you can't prove or disprove, in any logical system of thought, would completely rule out the determination that a lie has been told. Even a little one. Truth values in classical logic are either true or untrue (false). Statements of unknown truth value have to remain in that logical limbo until enough information is present to make a clearer assessment. Another reason the Pinocchio Scale is a bad choice for such claims. There are areas of logic that allow for a more nuanced approach (multi-valued and relevance logic) but I doubt this what Kessler has in mind.

In any event, Kessler admits as much when he says that his assessment could change based on additional information. But what if there is nothing more than Hillary's statement? First, unlike Carson's claim of being offered a scholarship to West Point (meaning he had to have applied and there would be documented evidence of this, which there wasn't), Hillary's statement that she tried to join the Corps may have no documentary evidence one way or the other. You can't prove a negative, so calling her claim a lie (which, let's face it, is what he's doing) is nothing but a baseless assertion. An opinion.

I'm also going to agree with your thinking that, in light of all the many, many, many Confederate lies, the WaPo or Kessler himself, felt the tug of Both Siderism and set out to show that, "See? Democrats lie too." Another example of shoddy, lazy journalism, of which we have, already, an embarrassing surplus.

The short of it is, Kessler has no basis for this assessment so he should just treat it in another way or shut up. And enough of the both sides bullshit. This is a canard that forces pundits into employing a muddy overlay that obscures and obviates a more accurate analysis. In mathematics, it would be like insisting that all equations employ a constant (the Both Sides Constant) that would, perforce, change the answer, rendering the calculation moot.

[Akhilleus]

I see that drooling death-penalty-for-gays guy, Kevin Swanson, confesses that "...if his son married a man, he would show up for the wedding and smear his body in cow manure."

Is this a thing now? Cow manure? Really?

Oof. Remind me not to return wedding invitations for gay wingers.

[Marvin Schwalb]

I think I know whose fault caused the current mess in America.
The Wright brothers and Guglielmo Marconi: airplanes and radio.
They created an environment where people could easily move all over the planet and find out what was really going on. Much more technology has evolved but these people are the source of ruining our country. Now people have to deal with a new world that involves all sorts of cultures and adaptations such as women actually working out of home. But a substantial proportion of our population wants to live in isolation between 1550-1850.

The biggest problem of course is that their primary story, religion, does not fit the current world. So a person like Carson is perfect because he wants to create the world of 1550. And all of the Republicans want to get rid of the government because the government actually wants to follow the founding fathers. You know, all of that created equal crap.
They are particularly frustrated by the fact that the world of 2015 doesn't quite fit 1550. I mean the goberment doesn't support hate.

And BTW on occasion when I meet some religious person yelling out loud (like the guy on the PATH train who yells his Jesus story), I ask if this was the god who created childhood cancer. (The Path guy yelled at me to get off HIS train).

[Akhilleus]

Wingnut Logic in the Wild.

“...before it was an autobiography, and it’s not an autobiography now because it’s already been written.”

Errrrrr.....what?

I was thinking of trying to parse this thing, ya know, just for shits and grins, but Marie already took a crack at it. Really, the best thing to do with statements like this are to take it out back and shoot it.

It's not even a halfway decent non-sequitur, which at least would have the benefit of being weird but silly.

And it doesn't even rise to the interesting level of "Everything I say is false" or Bertrand Russell's bit of drollery "The present king of France is bald".

Wingnut logic itself is an oxymoron so....

Ahhh..fuggedaboutit.

[Marie Burns]

Comment from D.C.Clark:

Hello Kate and all,

There are other benefits to eating as your husband and I do -- its more healthy and it tastes better.

All of the animal products, and much of the produce, we consume are purchased directly from our friends and neighbors. Beef from freely grazing cattle that have never eaten anything but grass (in winter, hay and silage made from that grass) has a very mild clean taste. Grain fed beef, to me, tastes gamey and metallic. And you don't know what an egg tastes like 'til you've cooked one fresh from the nest of a free range chicken with whom you are on a first name basis.

There is a large and growing body of research on the health hazards of a grain based diet.

A problem is that this planet cannot possibly sustain 7 billion humans eating as we do. This will be greatly exacerbated by climate change. I don't have any answer to that. But the answer to egregiously cruel and unsanitary meat production, is strictly enforced regulation, and that is possible.

In that regard, you should be aware of Dr. Temple Grandin, a pioneer in the humane treatment of livestock; and in living with autism. please see:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_Grandin
and
http://www.templegrandin.com

Several years ago, Dr. Grandin addressed the Scientific Colloquium at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. I enjoyed giving her a tour of the engineering spaces.

Goddard is adjacent to the USDA Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. The road to our Visitor Center takes you through the Ag Center’s pig farm. Not surprisingly, a FAQ is: “What does NASA do with all those pigs?” We had a lot of fun inventing answers.

D.C.Clark

[Akhilleus]

No Hypocrites Funnier Than Wingnut Hypocrites!

You all recall the fuss made over St. Kim of Redneckia a while back? You remember, the county clerk who hates gays and lesbians so much she refused to touch a piece of paper on which they signed their names (gay cooties, I guess)?

Anyway, St. Kim sent a Confederate Command to the governor directing him to change the law so she didn't have to do her job. The governor told her to go back to work and do her job, please. A judge told her to go back to work and do her job, pretty please. It was suggested that she DO HER JOB OR RESIGN.

She told them all to fuck off.

She and lawyers started yelling "Jesus! Jesus! They all hate Jesus!" especially while she was cooling her heels in the hoosegow for NOT DOING HER JOB.

Well, she was let out by the nice Republican judge who feared backlash from the Confederates. She and her supporters beat on the Bible and said "Hallelujah! We were right all along. Kim didn't have to do her job after all! Praise be!"

Then, a couple of weeks ago, bigots (just like Kim and her lawyers and supporters) were able to ensure bigotry in Houston because they were worried about gays and transgender people invading bathrooms or some weird-ass bullshit. Anyway, the Houston mayor, Annise Parker, expressed her dismay about the repeal of a non-discrimination law and suggested that businesses boycott the city. This pissed off St. Kim's lawyer, a piece of shit named Matt Staver, so much that he is now declaring that Parker DO HER JOB OR RESIGN.

Yup. Confederate hypocrites are the funniest of all hypocrites.

Oh, and by the by, the newly elected, totally inexperienced Confederate 'bagger governor in Kentucky, Matt Bevin, famous tax delinquent, is making it his number one priority to change the law so Kim Davis DOESN'T HAVE TO DO HER JOB anymore.

But everyone else still has to do their job, because Jesus.

Job two will be getting all those lame, loser poors off healthcare. Let 'em rot.

Extreme Christian-'Bagger World. Nice, in'it?

[Unwashed]

Akh,

This is off topic but when I saw the headline on Slate I immediately thought of your comments months ago. In case you're not already aware, it appears that there's a Kickstarter campaign to bring back MST3K and produce some new episodes.

Since you mentioned the show and the involvement of Jim Mallon, former UW-Madison Student Association President on the Pail & Shovel Party during my matriculation, I've watched a few episodes myself, laughing my butt off.

I'm even thinking about making a contribution toward the effort.

[Diane]

@Akhilleus. Smearing oneself in cow manure as a gay protest must be the origin of the derogatory epitaph fitting to Swanson, "shitstain"

[Akhilleus]

Diane,

I was leaning towards "shithead" but shitstain works just fine.

[Akhilleus]

How the Kochs Purchased Joni Ernst's Senate Seat

An alarming, but not altogether surprising, article in Politico offers details about the workings of the "Kochtopus". Matt Taibbi once called Goldman-Sachs a blood sucking vampire squid, but that description could easily be applied just as accurately to the Kochs as they go about purchasing the country of their dreams.

And they're not just targeting Democrats (although that's a primary goal). They're going after Republicans who don't do the Koch Goosestep in perfect time. Republican party leaders are worried. Former RNC head Michael Steele warns that "...the growth of the Koch network raises questions about 'the relevance of the parties. And a lot of people answer by saying they’re not relevant anymore, which is why you’re seeing a lot of this activity outside of them'".

Right you are Michael, even though you're a bit late to this stunning realization. Been asleep have we? Thought you could invite the wolves in and that they'd leave your little ones alone? Oops. Bit of a miscalculation there.

Members of the Koch's shadowy network, according the article "...have even advocated targeting from six to 12 GOP House members who have run afoul of the Koch orthodoxy..."

They decide who gets the money and who gets access to their donors, all set up, courtesy of John Roberts and his Citizen's United cronies on the Supreme Court, to do their dirty work largely in the dark, accountable to no one. Just ask Joni Ernst how helpful hundreds of thousands of dollars and hundreds of paid-for commercials attacking your opponent can be at just the right time in an election in which you started out with zero name recognition.

The Kochs are also after kids. A propaganda program called "Youth Entrepreneurs" holds out the promise of cash assistance as long as terms like "climate change" are banished from school curricula.

Effectively, the Kochs have set themselves up as kingmakers beholden only to their own whims and the considerations of their bottom line. They are not interested in the Constitution, or responsible governance, or even in the United States.

The choice and elevation of a dangerous crank like Joni Ernst proves that. And they may not be able to steal all the elections they decide to go after, but even being able to grab 50% will change this country for good.

Thanks, Supremes!

[Julie in Massachusetts]

Re: pork producers

Kate et. al.,

You may be interested in this documentary in the making: http://www.argofilms.com/film/last-pig-0. The Last Pig is a documentary by Alison Argo about a pig farmer who increasingly finds it difficult to slaughter pigs. I crossed paths with Alison as a result of her documentary, "Parrot Confidential", and friends we have in common. Alison's documentaries bring light to the suffering of animals both wild and domestic.