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
Monday
Sep212015
The Commentariat -- Sept. 22, 2015
Internal links removed.
Afternoon Update:
Abby Ohlheiser & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis descended from the plane at Joint Base Andrews to cheers under cloudy skies and a steady breeze that lifted the black robes of the awaiting bishops and kept the flags rippling on the tarmac. Waiting for him: President Obama, who rarely greets arriving foreign dignitaries on the tarmac, where a pink carpet had been rolled out just minutes before the pope's chartered Alitalia jet landed more than 10 minutes ahead of schedule." ...
Nick Gass of Politico: "Debbie Wasserman Schultz wants Marco Rubio to cancel his presidential fundraiser Tuesday evening at the home of a real estate investor who has collected art from Adolf Hitler and who also owns a signed copy of 'Mein Kampf.' There is 'really no excuse,' she said in a statement released through the Democratic National Committee, calling the event 'tasteless.' The Florida lawmaker and DNC chairwoman remarked that Rubio is 'adding insult to injury' by holding the event at the home of Harlan Crow and his wife Kathy in the tony Dallas suburb of Highland Park, Texas, on the eve of Yom Kippur...."
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The Senate failed on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in a high-profile messaging vote held by Republican leaders ahead of Pope Francis's visit to the Capitol. The result was expected. Democrats pledged to filibuster the bill, which passed the House earlier this year, and Republicans could not garner the 60 votes necessary to block it. The vote was 54 to 42. Two Republicans -- Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois -- voted against proceeding with the bill. Three Democrats -- Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted in favor. Four senators -- Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) -- did not vote."
James Kanter of the New York Times: "European Union ministers approved a plan on Tuesday that would compel member countries to take in 120,000 migrants seeking refuge on the Continent -- but only after overruling four countries in Central Europe. The plan to apportion the migrants, still only a small fraction of those flowing into Europe, was approved by home affairs and interior ministers of the member countries after a vigorous debate.... The Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voted no. Finland abstained."
Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim of Politico: Mitch McConnell has a plan to avoid a government shutdown. One itty-bitty catch: "... there's no guarantee that the House will accept what the Senate sends over." CW: Isn't it ridiculous that a party "leader" has to try to finagle -- possibly without success -- a convoluted strategy to get his own caucus to cooperate when a functioning government is at stake? Thanks, winger-voters everywhere, for foisting these yahoos on the rest of us.
*****
Your Government Is Working for You. Bill Vlasic & Aaron Kessler of the New York Times: "Volkswagen executives told environmental regulators for more than a year that discrepancies between pollution tests on its diesel cars and the starkly higher levels out on the road were a technical error, not a deliberate attempt to deceive Washington officials. But this month, the executives made a startling admission: The diesel vehicles it sold in the United States used software meant to cheat on the tests. VW made the admission only when the Environmental Protection Agency took the extraordinary action of threatening to withhold approval for the company's 2016 Volkswagen and Audi diesel models...."
Your Government Is Not Working for You. OR Why Journalism Matters. Andrew Pollack of the New York Times: "A huge overnight price increase for an important tuberculosis drug has been rescinded after the company that acquired the drug gave it back to its previous owner under pressure, it was announced on Monday.... Cycloserine[, a tuberculosis drug.] was acquired last month by Rodelis Therapeutics, which promptly raised the price to $10,800 for 30 capsules, from $500.... The drug made by generic companies abroad costs only about $20 for 100 capsules.... But the company agreed to return the drug to its former owner, a nonprofit organization affiliated with Purdue University, the organization said on Monday.... However, outrage over a gigantic price increase for another drug [-- Daraprim, used to treat parasitic infection --] spread into the political sphere on Monday, causing biotechnology stocks to fall broadly as investors worried about possible government action to control pharmaceutical prices. The Nasdaq Biotechnology Index fell more than 4 percent. 'Price-gouging like this in the specialty drug market is outrageous,' Hillary Rodham Clinton ... said in a tweet on Monday. She said she would announce a plan on Tuesday to deal with rising drug prices.... Senator Bernie Sanders ... sent Turing [Daraprim's new owner] a letter on Monday demanding information on the price increase. Turing's CEO, Martin Shkreli, a former hedge fund manager, who raised the drug's price from $13.50 per pill to $750, "does not appear ready to surrender." See also Pollack's story linked in yesterday's Commentariat.
Senate Republicans Inaugurate Keep 'em Pregnant Week. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Senate Republicans on Monday night started the Senate's fast-track process on legislation that would block federal funding for Planned Parenthood.... Senate Republicans also started the fast-track process on a House-passed bill that would tighten restrictions on abortion doctors who violate infant protections."
Coral Davenport of the New York Times: "Senate Democratic leaders on Tuesday plan to unveil a measure intended to signal their full-throated support of President Obama's aggressive climate change agenda to 2016 voters and to the rest of the world. The Democrats hope that the bill, sponsored by Senator Maria Cantwell, of Washington, the top Democrat on the Senate Energy Committee, will demonstrate a new unity for the party on energy and climate change, and define Democrats' approach to global warming policy in the coming years."
GOP Hopes to Roll Obama. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Republicans want President Obama as a negotiating partner when it comes to budget talks, something Democrats are determined to avoid.... Democrats, however, are determined to keep a seat at the table -- in part because they think they'll drive a tougher bargain than Obama, whose past efforts to make deals with Republicans unnerves Capitol Hill liberals."
Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "... an often-overlooked feature of the Obama presidency: Obama has presided over the most demographically diverse administration in history, according to a new analysis of his top appointments. The majority of top policy appointments within the executive branch are held by women and minorities for the first time in history. The transformation partly reflects a broader trend in U.S. society, but it also reflects the results of a calculated strategy by the nation's first African American president. The shifts are significant enough, experts say, that they may have forever transformed the face of government."
When the Ship of Fools Is Rudderless. Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "... the debate over Islam is particularly worrisome for Republicans because it so vividly highlights the vacuum that has been created by the absence of a unifying leader who can temper the impulses of the rank-and-file."
Presidential Race
The Bible is full of stories about people who are called to be leaders in unusual ways. Today, I believe that I am being called to lead by helping to clear the field in this race so that a positive conservative message will rise to the top of the field. With this in mind, I will suspend my campaign immediately. -- Scott Walker, today
Alexander Burns, et al., of the New York Times: "Short of support and cash, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, saying he had been 'called to lead by helping to clear the field,' announced Monday that he was suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination." CW: So that was "God's plan." Proof there is a god & she has a sense of humor. ...
... The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's story, by Jason Stein & others, is here. ...
... Eli Stokols of Politico: "Scott Walker decided to end his 2016 campaign after burning through cash and disappointing donors who thought the one-time frontrunner would be one of the last men standing this primary season.... The sudden decision opens up opportunities for other candidates, among them Marco Rubio, who has already scored some of Walker's financial backers." ...
... Rat Race. BuzzFeed: The Walker story beats out pizza rat! ...
... Glenn Thrush of Politico: "From presumed front-runner to quitter, Walker's fall was fast.... After a promising start last winter, the two-term Wisconsin governor turned out to be a tentative and mistake-prone candidate who badly fumbled core Republican issues -- especially birthright citizenship -- that Trump and other top GOP candidates handled with relative ease." ...
... Steve M.: "Horserace journalists say that every candidate occupies a 'lane,' but most straddle a couple of lanes. Walker was in exactly two -- and in each one an outsider roared past him. So he was left in the dust." ...
I thought he could stand up to 'death threats' and poster-waving citizens and ISIS? This is exemplary of the entirely empty suit that pathetic little man is. Hopefully after showing he's a complete deadbolt nationally, Wisconsinites will wake up and throw his ass in the gutter where he belongs. -- safari, in yesterday's Comments
Watch out, Badgers. Wisconsin does not term-limit governors. -- Constant Weader
... See also Nadd2's commentary at the top of today's Comments. ...
... Jonathan Chait: Scott Walker won three statewide elections in Wisconsin, which has supported the Democrat in every presidential election since 1984. He led national Republican polling as recently as March. He led in Iowa by enormous margins as recently as August. The Koch brothers loved him. Walker had spent his entire adult life developing an almost superhuman fealty to the principles of the modern Republican Party, its Reaganolotry, and, above all, a ruthless commitment to crushing its enemies beneath his boot heel. If there was anything that gave Walker joy, other than eating copious amounts of trayf, it was the goal of wiping organized labor off the map. As Grover Norquist enthused in May, 'when you meet him, it's like seeing somebody who sits on a throne on the skulls of his enemies.' The collapse of his presidential campaign, culminating with his departure today, has taken place with head-spinning speed." ...
... "The Decline & Fall" of a Pipsqueak. Molly Ball of the Atlantic: " Scott Walker's fall was especially precipitous. The Wisconsin governor's campaign lasted just 70 days. He came in as the Iowa frontrunner and departed a few weeks later as an asterisk, with too little support even to be assigned a number in the last national poll. ...
... Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin was among the most successful fund-raisers in his party, with a clutch of billionaires in his corner and tens of millions of dollars behind his presidential ambitions. But his swift decline and exit from the presidential race on Monday was a stark reminder that even unlimited money has its limits.... Super PACs, Mr. Walker learned, cannot pay rent, phone bills, salaries, airfares or ballot access fees. They are not entitled to the preferential rates on advertising that federal law grants candidates, forcing them to pay far more money than candidates must for the same television and radio time." CW: I'm sure the Supremes will want to dispose of that flaw. Look for superPAC lawsuits in a court near you. Because equality: a dollar here should be worth a dollar there.
** Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "As commander in chief of the New Jersey National Guard, [Gov. Chris Christie] is in charge of 8,400 citizen soldiers, a militia that has become increasingly dysfunctional under his watch.... Christie (R) reappointed a two-star Army general -- a childhood friend -- to lead the Guard. But the married general was forced to resign in disgrace after staff members caught him having an affair at work.... The governor's next pick, an Air Force pilot, was secretly reprimanded by the Pentagon last year for his excessive waistline and for repeatedly ducking physical-fitness tests.... More recently, several high-ranking officers have filed whistleblower complaints, alleging that the Guard's leadership is plagued by cronyism, racism and a 'toxic' command climate, among other problems."
Absolutely, I stand by the comments. What we have to do, we have to recognize that this is America, and we have a Constitution, and we do not put people at the leadership of our country whose faith might interfere with them carrying out the duties of the Constitution. -- Ben Carson, speaking to Sean Hannity ...
... CW: On Sean Hannity's show, of all places, Dr. Ben sort of walks back his remarks on Muslims. You have to read the Politico report to appreciate Carson's "reasoning." It's pretty hilarious. Remember as you read that Carson doesn't think Christian public officials have to follow the law & the Constitution. ...
... Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The White House on Monday denounced Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson for saying a Muslim should not be president of the United States. Press secretary Josh Earnest said Carson's comments are 'entirely inconsistent with the Constitution' and the First Amendment.... Several of Carson's rivals have rebuked him over the remarks. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said the remarks are evidence that Carson is 'not ready to be commander in chief,' while Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) noted that the Constitution explicitly rules out a religious test for office. Carson's comments drew the ire of the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), a prominent Muslim advocacy group, which called on the candidate to withdraw from the race." ...
... Kathie Obradovich & Linh Ta of the Des Moines Register: "It would be unconstitutional to disqualify a Muslim from the presidency because of religion, Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz said Sunday. 'You know, the Constitution specifies there shall be no religious test for public office and I am a constitutionalist,' the Texas senator said during the taping of 'Iowa Press' at Iowa Public Television.... He said [Muslim Syrian refugees] should settle in other Middle Eastern countries, citing concerns that some of the purported refugees may actually be terrorists." ...
... Dubya's scribe Michael Gerson of the Washington Post: "Carson argues that Muslims are unfit for high office because they hold a conception of divine law that is inconsistent with a liberal, democratic order. A significant portion of the country would disqualify Carson for exactly the same reason [because of his fundamentalist Christian views].... Carson, Donald Trump and other Republican candidates need to step back a moment and consider what they are doing. By targeting various groups for suspicion -- calling Muslims a danger to the Constitution or attacking undocumented immigrants as rapists and murderers -- they are opening up a space for some of the worst elements of our society.... What gain or goal is worth the cost of breathing life into bigotry?" ...
... Andy Borowitz: "Brain surgeons, long burdened with the onerous reputation of being among the smartest people in the world, are expressing relief that the Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson is shattering that stereotype once and for all." Thanks to Barbarossa for the link. ...
... Alex Griswold of Mediaite: "When asked about the possibility of having a Muslim in the White House, Donald Trump said on NBC's Meet the Press that some people think it's already happened." ...
... digby: "At this stage of the electoral process the Donald Trump campaign is literally a live reality TV show that is being shown on several different networks at once, all of whom are making a bundle from it. And in the process, he is breaking down the system that's been dominating TV news for the past 20 years."
Re: the potential impacts of the Trumpster, Charles Pierce thinks Frank Rich is a dewy-eyed dilettante from Neverland. ...
... CW: Pierce can't see the irony of a billionaire's campaign. Trump is flouting the "invisible campaign" -- the one where the would-be leaders of the free world repeatedly grovel at the feet of the real power -- & flaunting his (supposed) billions as evidence of comparative purity. Like Ross Perot before him, he will probably flame out Rumplestiltskin-style, but not before reminding us again & again that all the other major candidates (save Bernie Sanders) are merely the tools of the mega-rich. The candidates are littlle rodents, whom the billionaires cannot save from themselves (Scott Walker, Newt Gingrich). Trump is not a populist, but he is demonstrating anew that (at least until Prince Rebus & his band of bandits get in there & fix the voting machines), the people have the last word. As further irony, albeit unintended, Trump is also reminding us that billionaires are not a helluva a lot better than the rest of us.
... Steve M. takes issue with Rich, too. ...
... CW: It isn't that Trump himself is exhibiting anything approaching candor; it's that all politicians are masters of duplicity, and every voter knows it. So it is in secret recordings -- the 47 percent -- or in gaffes -- "I'm not sure we need a half a billion dollars for women's health issues" -- that we glean any real sense of the candidates. Trump poll-tests, too, even if his "poll" is as informal as a finger in the wind. Trump is the clown -- the gross, cartoonish exaggeration of the politician -- whose mimicry exposes the farce that journalists & pundits so earnestly portray as consequential. ...
... Joe Nocera: "... my favorite moment in last week’s Republican debate came when Carly Fiorina and Donald Trump got into a spat over which of them had the lousier track record as business leaders.... They're both right. Fiorina's tenure at HP was indeed a disaster, and Trump's casino interests did indeed file for bankruptcy multiple times.... By every metric that mattered, HP was in far worse shape when she was fired than when she was hired.... The key fact about Trump's early success is that it would never have happened without his father Fred's money.... In effect, his post-1988 business career has cost him $5 billion.... Even putting aside their policy positions, their narcissism, their poor records as leaders and their lack of scruples in spinning failures as triumphs all suggest that Fiorina and Trump would make terrible presidents." Nocera goes on to suggest that Michael Bloomberg is the businessman who is qualified to run for president. ...
... Sam Stein & Igor Bobic of the Huffington Post: "... Carly Fiorina's explanation for a controversial business practice undertaken by Hewlett Packard during her time running that company appears incomplete, if not misleading.... If Fiorina was unaware of HP products ending up in Iran, it appears to be partially because she wasn't looking or listening.... As for Fiorina's assertion that HP only discovered the Iran-related transactions three years after she left the company, that too seems unlikely. The company, after all, was known to use subsidiaries to circumvent sanctions law.... With respect to Fiorina's suggestion that 'the S.E.C. investigation proved that neither I nor anyone else in management knew about' the company's business dealings in Iran, it's not entirely clear what investigation she's discussing." Stein & Bobic could not find any SEC investigation of HP's illegal sales to Iran; they found only SEC letters that referenced the sales but were not in any way part of an "investigation." ...
... Jeffrey Sonnenfeld in Politico Magazine on why Carly Fiorina was/would be a lousy leader.: she doesn't learn from her mistakes, she lies, she makes irresponsible decisions & "She is intolerant of dissent and resorts to personal attacks."
Steve Holland of Reuters: "... Jeb Bush will pledge on Tuesday to place a freeze on new federal government regulations if he is elected president in November 2016, saying bureaucratic rules are weighing down the U.S. economy." CW: Which is Bush's response to 1000-percent increases in drug prices & auto manufacturers' skirting clean-air standards. Elections matter .
Ken Thomas & Catherine Lucey of the AP: "Hillary Rodham Clinton is laying out a new plan to rein in the rising cost of prescription drugs, seeking to build upon President Barack Obama's health care law." ...
... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "Hillary Clinton vowed to protect ObamaCare on Wednesday [sic.], one day before unveiling her own plan to make a mark on healthcare reform. 'It's not just a political issue, it's a moral issue,' the 2016 front-runner for the Democratic nomination said, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. Underscoring the 16 million people who gained insurance under the law, Clinton vowed to prevent the GOP from rolling back its progress."
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "The FBI on Monday rebuffed a federal judge's request for information on the inquiry it is conducting into former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's private email account and server, raising the question of whether the courts or Congress will take more forceful action to try to secure data from Clinton's email system. About a month ago, U.S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered the State Department to reach out to the FBI to address a Freedom of Information Act request by the conservative group Judicial Watch regarding Clinton aide Huma Abedin's employment arrangements and to report on arrangements for the FBI to share information about the ongoing investigation. In a terse letter Monday, FBI General Counsel James Baker appeared to reject the request."
Beyond the Beltway
Jordan Fabian of the Hill: "The United States saw a spike last month in the number of unaccompanied minors and families illegally crossing the southern border, the White House said Monday. 'We have seen, just in the last month, in the month of August, a surprising uptick,' press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters."
Angela Couloumbis & Craig McCoy of the Philadelphia Inquirer: "In an unprecedented move, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Monday temporarily suspended the law license of Attorney General Kathleen Kane [D], the latest setback for the state's embattled top law enforcement officer.The decision was unanimous, winning support from the court's three Republicans and two Democrats. Lawyers for the state Disciplinary Board, which oversees attorney conduct, had sought the suspension after Kane was charged last month with perjury, obstruction and other charges stemming from the leak of confidential grand jury material and an investigation into that leak.The board contended that allowing Kane to remain in office while under criminal charges would damage the administration of justice and cause 'immediate and substantial public harm.' Its lawyers suggested that stripping Kane of her law license would disqualify her from holding office."
That's young Donald in the center.Joseph Berger of the New York Times: "After struggling financially for years and filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March, the private boarding school [New York Military Academy] did not open as promised last Monday. Its 113 acres of land and buildings are scheduled to go on the auction block at the end of this month for a minimum bid of $9.5 million, with no requirement that the buyer maintain a school there.... Among its thousands of alumni, the 126-year-old ... [school] counts ... Donald J. Trump, Stephen Sondheim and John A. Gotti.... There is ... a smidgen of hope among some alumni that Mr. Trump ... would be a rescuing angel and provide the $13 million the school needs to pay creditors and other costs." CW: Nah. I'll bet he sees it as a home for Trump "University."
Forget Scott Walker. There are still heroes from Wisconsin. Karen Crouse of the New York Times: Don "Pellmann, the most senior athlete in the San Diego Senior Games, became the first centenarian to break 27 seconds in the 100-meter dash and the first to clear an official height in the high jump. He also broke records for men in the 100 and over age group in the shot put and discus and set a record in the long jump." Pellman & his wife live in Santa Clara, California, now.
Kevin McCoy of USA Today: "Former peanut company executive Stewart Parnell was hit with a virtual life prison term Monday for his 2014 conviction on crimes related to a salmonella outbreak blamed for killing nine and sickening hundreds. A federal judge in Georgia sentenced the 61-year-old former head of Peanut Corporation of America to 28 years behind bars.... U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands also sentenced the former executive's brother, Michael Parnell, 56, to serve a 20-year prison term.... Mary Wilkerson, 41, a former quality control manager at the now-defunct peanut firm, drew a five-year prison term for her conviction on obstruction in the tragedy.... Prosecutors presented evidence that Parnell and the co-defendants knowingly shipped salmonella-tainted peanut butter from the Georgia facility to Kellogg's and other customers -- who in turn used it in products...."
... AP: "A judge on Monday rejected defense efforts to exclude key witness testimony against the last remaining Angola Three member still behind bars and to throw out his indictment entirely in the 1972 killing of a prison guard. Judge William Carmichael also ruled that the trial against Albert Woodfox could go forward in West Feliciana parish, rejecting defense claims that he could not get a fair trial in a place where Louisiana's Angola prison is also located."
AP: "Gay couples in Kentucky are questioning the validity of altered marriage licenses issued by a defiant county clerk and have asked a federal judge to order her to reissue the licenses or close the office down.
AP: "The family of a 14-year-old Muslim student who got in trouble over a homemade clock mistaken for a possible bomb have withdrawn him from his suburban high school in Texas."
Way Beyond
Nicole Winfield & Christine Armario of the AP: "Pope Francis ends his visit to Cuba on Tuesday with a Mass at the country's most revered shrine and a pep talk with families before flying north to Washington for the start of his U.S. tour."
Rick Jervis of USA Today follows Pope Francis's travels through Cuba.
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Reader Comments (20)
The news made lightning rounds at my workplace, full of state and UW employees. It has been delicious reading the accounts of Walker's humiliating descent into ignominy. I should hate myself for enjoying it, but no, I'll take a victory lap with my colleagues first. We all have a bit of wistfulness--wish he'd stayed in longer, so he could be more fully exposed for the lightweight/evil/ridiculous person/candidate he is. Mixed with more than a bit of fear--he's coming back, he's humiliated, and he's mad. A vindictive little pol like him will be taking it out on us. First on the agenda, appointing another rock-solid rightwing justice to the State's sorry Supreme Court to replace the swing vote (Justice Crooks) who died in the capitol today. We're in for a ride, but we'll take one for the team so the rest of the country can be safe from this pathetic and malevolent man.
Simply to point out that the Constitution prohibits a religious test for public office misses the point.
What Carson said was that Muslim values are inconsistent with American values. Within Carson's lifetime, and many of ours as well, it has been argued that Jewish values are inconstant with America's -- that a Jew's first loyalty is to Israel. It was also argued that a Catholic President would take orders from Rome. These notions are not entirely dead even now.
And the more things change...
Jonathon Martin's piece about the rudderless GOP being unable to call out the crazier assertions of candidates reminds me of an experience I had on a recent trip to Europe. A few days ago, the TOP headline of an English language newspaper there was, "Trump declines to correct man who says Obama is Muslim." I actually saved this and brought it home, so I am quoting directly. Barack Obama has been president for 7 years, and THIS sort of garbage is still coming up and being tacitly condoned by the Republican current front runner. What must Europeans and others around the world think of our political system, to say nothing of the stupidity of much of our electorate?
The revelations about VW's intentional deception are just shocking, and the role of government in ferreting it out, as RC points out, an example of the good regulators can do. But something tells me the Republican base will not take away that message.
On a happier note, I was so grateful to be able to read RC while travelling; it really kept me in the loop. Thanks for all you do, Marie!
W. James Antle III, a conservative commentator, writes a piece in The Week titled, "Why Scott Walker's failure is such a tremendous blow to Conservatives." It's hard to feel sympathy; schadenfreude, on the other hand.....
D.C.Clark writes, "Simply to point out that the Constitution prohibits a religious test for public office misses the point. What Carson said was that Muslim values are inconsistent with American values."
Here's the transcript of the relevant MTP interview:
Chuck Todd: ... Should a President's faith matter? Should your faith matter to voters?
Ben Carson: Well, I guess it depends on what that faith is. If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter. But if it fits within the realm of America and consistent with the constitution, no problem.
Todd: So do you believe that Islam is consistent with the constitution?
Carson: No, I don't, I do not.
Todd: So you--
Carson: I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that.
It's true that Carson didn't say, "I reject the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution." But that is what he said, in response to Todd's questions. It's difficult to see his responses as anything other than applying a religious test.
Marie
You have to say this for Scott Walker & Rick Perry: when they could no longer afford to pay their staffers, they folded up shop. Carly Fiorina, on the other hand....
Marie
Victoria--columns like Antle's that treat Walker like a serious presidential contender have always made my head hurt and forced me to wonder if I am crazy. Today's Wisconsin State Journal at Madison.com is chock full of satisfying admissions from people like Larry Sabato that Walker is not as skilled as they thought he was. The pundit and media treatment of Walker should serve as evidence that readers/voters can trust their own judgments more than those of the paid commenters.
Dear God,
If you are serious about this Scott Walker thing (nice going, by the way), I have a suggestion for a few others you might want to have clear the field, so to speak.
Oh, and while you're at it, could you please do something about all these assholes doing such horrific stuff in your name? I mean, really. If I were the Supreme Being and people were running around saying that others of my creation were not worthy of this or worthy of that and shouldn't be allowed into the country and needed to be bombed, or put in prison, or shot on sight because they're all "thugs", and have food for their kids taken away, and couldn't get married, and deserved to be poor, and shouldn't have healthcare, and some others needed to be invaded, I would punish the whole kaboodle by whispering to people like Scott Walker and Ben Carson and Bobby Jindal and Ted Cruz that they should run for president so they could really fuck things up but good.
Oh, wait...
Okay, well, back to my first thought...
Thanks to Victoria for the link to the Antle article on The Week's site.
I'm tempted to call it the Weak Site not just because it sucks, but because the Confederate world view limned in this piece is so delusional.
Describing Scott Walker as a superior person and the epitome of the perfect conservative, one who had a chance to beat everyone, including Hillary, is wrong on so many fronts. Confederates are living such fantasy lives that it's fair to say they may never awaken from their dream state. Grover Norquist is quoted as being so impressed when first meeting Walker that he pictured him a mighty warrior sitting atop the skulls of his enemies. This is a stunningly adolescent response. Adolescent and delusional. Walker is not now nor has he ever been a fierce warrior. He hid under his desk when grannies were protesting in the lobby of the capitol building, sneaking out side doors under armed guard so no one would see him.
In months and months he hasn't been able to articulate a single decent idea, even an idea which, although most liberals would reject, might at least have the benefit of being realistic and internally consistent. He's not for or against anything that would get him in trouble. When he did have an idea it was so monumentally stupid (the Canadian Wall) that he and his party were (again) a laughing stock for weeks. This is a fierce warrior leader? The guy who would bring movement conservatives back to the Reagan mountaintop? The guy is a loser. He and his cronies have been under investigation for numerous campaign violations for years now. Half the people connected to him are doing time. He plays shell games with state money, making sure his cronies are taken care of and the public is screwed. He's never run a clean campaign in his life, going back to his two years in college, from which he disappeared after losing.
But Antle does his Confederate duty by reminding his readers that they are now and always will be victims. Plenty of shoulda, woulda, coulda. They could have won in '88 except that Robertson and Kemp split the vote. Then they could have won again in '96 but the same outcome obtained with Phil Gramm and Pat Buchanan. And Fred Thompson and Rick Perry coulda, woulda, shoulda beat Romney and McCain too.
Fred Thompson and Rick Perry?? The first guy was far more effective as a TV actor than he ever was in the senate. The second guy is a clown. But here Antle is demonstrating to his Confederate confreres that they are doubly victimized because the Party Bosses undermined the "true" conservatives at every turn. Otherwise, coulda, woulda, shoulda, you betcha.
What he never puts together is that the establishment GOP invited him and his knuckledragging friends into the party just for their votes (thank you Tricky Dick and St. Ron). They never intended to give them any real power. But then things got out of hand and the knuckledraggers wanted a seat at the table. But the Party Bosses realized (and still realize) that Perry and Huckbee and, yes, Walker, aren't going anywhere in a general election. According to Antle, the only two real conservatives nominated in the last 50 years have been Goldwater and Reagan (although, take away his name, and none of today's Confederates would consider Reagan one of them).
But to say guys like Huckabee, Buchanan, Perry, and Fred Thompson are the guiding lights of movement conservatism demonstrates the appalling shallowness of this movement, both intellectually and morally. Yes, they certainly have dragged the country to the right. They've dragged the party to the right, but their world view is as delusional as their choice of candidates.
And if Scott Walker was the he-man they all seem to think he was, he wouldn't have skulked off with such a namby-pamby excuse for quitting. "God told me to leave the race" is a coward's way out, not a leader's. He also suggested that others should drop out too, I suppose so he won't be the only sad sack loser. A leader, a strong person, would have said, I wasn't ready, or I didn't anticipate certain things I should have, or I just fucked up.
Not He-man Conan the Barbarian Fierce Warrior Sitting on the Skulls of My Enemies Walker.
God told him to do it.
Weak is the word.
Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal.
Isn't this the sort of thing Confederates are all for when they say that we should leave corporations alone? That the "market" will sort it out without government "interference" or oversight?
The more serious scandal is the Confederate world view that would countenance such corporate cheating and cover-ups that put the public's health at risk so capitalism can go about its business of making stockholders and CEO's wealthy beyond measure.
Yeah. Let's all line up for candidates who are for that.
@Akhilleus: Thanks for the excellent takedown of little Scottie & the whole confederate fantasyland.
Marie
Marie,
Certainly. As you say: "It's difficult to see his responses as anything other than applying a religious test."
What I was trying to express is that the other candidates should not be given a free pass on this issue merely by demonstrating that they can read Article 6.
Not when their real message is: "Shooore a Mooslum can be Prezzy Dent! (nudge nudge, wink wink) Sez so rat cheer in are Glorious Consteetushun. Jess don't never vote fer no durn Rag Head. They ain't real 'Merkins."
@D.C.Clark: You're certainly right about that. Ted Cruz is applying a religious test to refugees, for Pete's sake -- Christians in, Mooslums out. Also, funny comment yesterday re: rocket scientist(s)./conspiracy theorist(s).
Marie
I've been bumming since Friday. While waiting for my flight home I checked RC, as usual, and saw the scrolling headlines under The Wire about VW. WTF???
I happen to be one of the 482,000 affected in the US.
I've had over five happy years with my TDI, until now because it was based on a lie. I guess time will tell how it will turn out for me and the others. Will there be a loss of performance, fuel economy, or value when the emission controls are re-activated under the recall repair? If so, how much?
What about the High Mileage Car tax rebate and sales tax exemption that I took advantage of? Will the fed and state want their money back?
Given my 30+ years working in the auto industry in a technical capacity at the local, national and international levels for both suppliers and OEMs, Asian and European, I know one thing for certain. This "scandal" was not the result of a sole, rogue software programmer. It had to have been known and approved by many individuals through several layers of the organization's management, if not the top. A smoking gun will be found, the only question is how big it will be.
There's going to be one person though that will make out big time in this fiasco - the lawyer that's already started a class-action suit against VW.
Unwashed,
I'm sure you're correct about the provenance of the Volkswagen scheme, but if things play out as they usually do (the sentencing of that Peanut guy notwithstanding), the company will be happy to hold a "sole, rogue software programmer" completely responsible for this scandal, if it will play. The fact that they have scrubbed emission test results will not make that gambit any easier, but rarely do big wigs pay the piper for their screw ups. Look at Trump.
When Walker said his God wanted him to leave the race, I think it was
another of those avoidance statements. I'm sure he meant to say that
the Gods called and wanted him to leave because he can't be trusted
to do to the rest of the country what he did to Wisconsin. (His Gods
in this case being the Koch brothers).
Iowa is terrible for Democracy. Part 72.
New Hampshire too, only not quite as bad as Iowa. At least Granite Staters have a certain crankiness that can unexpectedly jimmy campaign expectations. But in terms of how representative both are as bellwethers of early presidential horse races, neither offers much to recommend them.
Iowa is almost 93% all white. New Hampshire is worse at 94%. The country at large is 77.4% (according to census.gov). But much worse is the religious factor. Iowa, especially, forces all candidates, especially Republicans, as far to the right as they can squeeze without falling off the stage (and some do). This has a number of deleterious and pernicious effects.
First, it promotes holy roller and far-right candidates like Walker, Santorum, and Huckabee, skewing their numbers in ways that make them appear to have far more support than they would nationally. This synthetic support has a tendency to ramp up the crazy which in turn forces other candidates to adopt positions that are positively peccant for the country outside of delirious Confederate/Christianist enclaves. Add to this the fact that it has become impossible for any wingnut candidate to ever back up or admit a mistake, and you have the makings of a completely preposterous race right from the jump.
It also plays right into the hands of lazy "journalists" who have more interest in how many corn dogs a candidate can gulp down than in examining policy positions, experience, and temperament for the job. It becomes a high school popularity contest. No wonder a whack job non-entity like Rick Santorum won the Iowa caucuses a few years ago. And no wonder The Rat spent so much time contesting that result (the Romney Mechanism lost by 34 votes to a medieval religious zealot whose name is synonymous with....well, you know).
And no wonder walking and talking pile of pig shit, Scott Walker thought he was a sure thing for the White House. I-O-W-A. That's why. Or at least it's a big reason why.
The attention, publicity, ideological tinkering, religious tests, and political gamesmanship attendant to campaigns in Iowa and only a bit less so in New Hampshire, mean that the results from those early highly non-representative states can slant the entire proceedings all the way up to the nominating convention. Even after that the winning Confederate candidate will find himself (forget "herself") locked into intractable ideological and religious positions that, should they be elected, would have a terrible effect on the country. Even if they don't win, the foregrounding of issues near and dear to a small but menacing and malicious minority has an impact that far outweighs the actual electoral power of that group.
Bad for Democracy. Bad for America. Bad.
Forrest,
I think you're right. At this moment, Walker is looking for a few poor people to slaughter as a sacrifice to appease those gods. He needn't worry. His policies have seen to it that there are more of 'em all the time.
Re VW software:
I'm a member of a local metalworking group that includes some of the most rabid do-it-yourselfers in the known universe. These are guys that scratch build everything from computers to steam engines, and cook up everything from bio-diesel fuel to home brew.
Naturally, they like to work on their cars. There has been long standing and growing outrage on the part of such people that modern cars run on software which is inaccessible to anyone without hellishly expensive and highly proprietary diagnostic equipment. It's my understanding, that even though you own your car, you do not own the code that runs it and have no rights whatever to modify or even access it.
Were that not the case, VW could never have gotten away with their deception. Someone like one of my associates would have picked it up in a heartbeat.
Ironically, some of these folks also are rabid libertarians, who dislike the corporations as much as the 'commissars'. They have some tough choices to make, bless their hearts.
More Hypocrisy from Right Wing World (is there ever a dearth of such?)
For a crew who see themselves as put upon, these jamokes pretty much walk around with "Kick Me" signs stitched onto their asses.
Just in the last couple of hours we have:
Marco Rubio staging a fundraiser in the home of a collector of Hitlerian objets des haines, owner of paintings by Herr Schicklgruber a signed copy of "Mein Kampf". On YOM KIPPUR!! Easy fast, brothers and sisters.
Are you fucking kidding me? Delay that shit by a few days, why don't you? So first, if I were a multi gagillionaire, I might, out of obscene curiosity, want to purchase something painted by Hitler just because it would be so weird to look at it and think about what this guy actually did when he put his paint brushes aside. I'd hang it next to a painting of The Decider's piggy toes. And maybe, if I were a fiend of a rare book collector, I might covet a signed copy of "Mein Kampf". Put it alongside my signed copies of the "Communist Manifesto" and Newton's "Principia" and an original pamphlet of the "Rights of Man". Maybe. But it's been my experience that collectors like Harlan Crow, with his Harry Potter library, never read. They just like to bring associates and supplicants like Rubio into their Hollywood library to show off. He's got a collection of statues former Communist leaders he calls the Garden of Evil (but Hitler has a place of honor in his library?). Sounds eminently Confederate to me. Commies no. Fascists yes.
But okay, even if you buy all of that, for Rubio to hold a fundraiser with a far-right wing billionaire collector of Hitler memorabilia? On YOM KIPPUR?
How can you not call this guy a moron?
Next up, Islamophobe Ben Carson, who now claims that his multiple statements about how Muslims are not really Americans and could never be president were "taken out of context". Hmmm....where have we heard that before? Wingers can never say they were wrong, or that they misspoke, or that they were just drunk. They're not the ones who are wrong. Everyone else is: you, the press, bystanders, everyone. Many small children have their names on a tag sewn into their clothing. Wingers have "My words were taken out of context" sewn into theirs. Now he says that he only meant that only the really, really, bad Muslims shouldn't be allowed to be Americans or to be president. Which is funny because in the past he's pretty much said that all Muslims are really, really bad.
Douchebag.
Finally, Confederate darling and hater of all things gay (and a lot of other things), Kim Davis, may be headed back to court. The nice Bush appointed judge, son of one of the most incompetent, ignorant wingers ever to soil Senate linens, has told her not to fuck around with the law anymore. But Kimmy is god's BFF and she's telling anyone who will listen to fuck off.
But here's my favorite quisling Confederate casuistry of the day. Davis, a county clerk, who is paid $80,000 a year to make sure legal paperwork is properly handled, recorded, filed, and archived, has this to say about those sad, sad, addled gay people who are going to hell anyway, but still want that piece of paper that says, according to the state, they can get married. The same piece of paper hetero couples need to make it all legal.
"I feel really sad that someone could be so unhappy with themselves as a person that they do not feel dignified as a human being until they get a piece of paper," Davis said. "There's so much more to life than that."
Yeah, another douchebag. And without a legal "piece of paper" you couldn't drive a car, buy a house, vote, get proof of a death, record a deed, get a birth certificate, obtain a divorce certificate, obtain necessary licenses for doctors and business owners, file for naturalization or, in some areas, process passports. There is more to life without all that paperwork, but most of it would be spent either in prison or your basement, sitting around looking at the walls.
Such fucking hypocrites, these Confederates.
Plenty more tomorrow. They never let us down when it comes to examples of right-wing hypocrisy, perfidy, or assholeism. A fucking fountain of prevarication.