The Commentariat -- Sept. 4, 2016
Mark Landler & Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "President Obama and President Xi Jinping of China formally committed the world's two largest economies to the Paris climate agreement [in Hangzhou, China] on Saturday, cementing their partnership on climate change and offering a rare display of harmony in a relationship that has become increasingly discordant.... On multiple fronts, like computer hacking and maritime security, ties between China and the United States have frayed during the seven and a half years of Mr. Obama's presidency.... Yet the fact that [they]... could set aside those tensions to work together yet again on a joint plan to reduce greenhouse gases attests to the pragmatic personal rapport they have built, as well as to the complexity of the broader United States-China relationship...." -- CW ...
... Mark Landler: "... the reception that President Obama and his staff got when they arrived [in China] Saturday afternoon was bruising, even by Chinese standards." CW: The Chinese must have been practicing for Trumpelthinskin. Their rude "greeting" to Obama certainly would rile Trumpus. ...
... Tom Phillips of the Guardian: "China's leaders have been accused of delivering a calculated diplomatic snub to Barack Obama after the US president was not provided with a staircase to leave his plane during his chaotic arrival in Hangzhou before the start of the G20.... When Obama did find his way on to a red carpet on the tarmac below there were heated altercations between US and Chinese officials, with one Chinese official caught on video shouting: 'This is our country! This is our airport!'" CW: Very Trumpy.
... President Obama speaks to Julie Davis of the New York Times:
... Justin Gillis of the New York Times: "For decades, as the global warming created by human emissions caused land ice to melt and ocean water to expand, scientists warned that the accelerating rise of the sea would eventually imperil the United States' coastline. Now, those warnings are no longer theoretical: The inundation of the coast has begun. The sea has crept up to the point that a high tide and a brisk wind are all it takes to send water pouring into streets and homes. Federal scientists have documented a sharp jump in this nuisance flooding -- often called 'sunny-day flooding' -- along both the East Coast and the Gulf Coast in recent years." -- CW ...
... Ian Livingston of the Washington Post: "... [Tropical Storm] Hermine's assault on the East Coast is just beginning. By the time it finishes during the week ahead, significant impact is anticipated up-and-down the coastline." The story includes updates. -- CW
Reuters: "U.S. President Barack Obama told Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan Sunday that his administration would work with Turkey to help ensure that those responsible for an attempted coup are brought to justice.... Obama and Erdogan met on the sidelines of the G-20 summit under way in eastern China's Hangzhou city." -- CW
Elisabetta Polvoledo of the New York Times: Pope Francis made Mother Teresa a saint at a "canonization ceremony in St. Peter's Square. The canonization marked a highlight of the Jubilee year that Francis had proclaimed to celebrate the theme of mercy. On Saturday, he told thousands of cheering volunteers gathered in St. Peter's Square that Mother Teresa was a 'witness to mercy in our time.'" -- CW
Presidential Race
Jordan Weissmann of Slate: "Hillary Clinton already had a plan to lower prescription drug costs. In fact, it was one of the first pieces of her agenda that she rolled out. But following the furor over Mylan's decision to increase EpiPen prices by some 500 percent, her campaign has released a new proposal specifically aimed at stopping 'unjustified' price spikes on pharmaceuticals. And it's surprisingly bold.... Clinton would create a task force of regulators with the power to ... mete out punishments to companies that were trying to profiteer, potentially with fines." -- CW
Campaigning with the Rich & Famous. Amy Chozick & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump has pointed to Mrs. Clinton's noticeably scant schedule of campaign events this summer to suggest she has been hiding from the public. But Mrs. Clinton has been more than accessible to those who reside in some of the country's most moneyed enclaves and are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to see her. In the last two weeks of August, Mrs. Clinton raked in roughly $50 million at 22 fund-raising events, averaging around $150,000 an hour, according to a New York Times tally." -- CW ...
... CW BTW: Hillary Clinton's clever strategy of running out the clock, is, unsurprisingly, not going well. Hillary should recall the Michael Dukakis campaign. I remember one poll, taken right after the Democratic convention, that had Dukakis up by 25 points over Bush Pere. Then Dukakis went home to Massachusetts to do his governor thing & did little campaigning for the month of August.
Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Under attack from Republicans over pay-for-play allegations, Hillary Clinton's campaign on Friday took the opportunity to punch back, ripping Donald Trump over his own foundation's run-in with the Internal Revenue Service. Trump's foundation -- which the Clinton campaign refers to as the one 'that has been caught in an actual pay-to-play scandal' -- was forced to pay the IRS a $2,500 penalty this year following the revelation that the Trump Foundation improperly donated $25,000 to a political committee supporting Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi in 2013. The foundation failed to document the payment in its IRS filings. The fine was first revealed Thursday by the Washington Post." -- CW
Sam Frizell of Time: "Colorado Democrats are setting up a taco truck outside of Donald Trump's campaign office in Denver to register voters after a Trump surrogate said that more Mexicans moving to the United States would lead to 'taco trucks on every corner.'... The Arizona Democratic Party has changed its sign to say 'Taco Trucks On Every Corner.'" -- CW
Yamiche Alcindor & Alexander Burns of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump ... visited a black church for the first time.... Flanked by a few black supporters, including Ben Carson ... and Omarosa Manigault, a former contestant on 'The Apprentice,' Mr. Trump cut a subdued figure here at Great Faith Ministries International.... In Detroit, Mr. Trump did not express regret for, or even acknowledge, the actions and remarks that had opened a gulf between him and black voters. Instead, reading from prepared remarks, he hailed the Christian values and political contributions of black Americans and told his audience he cared about making their lives better.... Mr. Trump's appearance on Saturday ... was swathed in uncertainty up to the last minute.... Plans for stops in nearby neighborhoods were announced, then retracted; Mr. Trump ultimately paid a short visit to Mr. Carson's childhood home before flying out of Detroit. And a scheduled interview with [Bishop Wayne T.] Jackson, Mr. Trump's host on Saturday, became a source of embarrassment when it was revealed that both the questions and Mr. Trump's answers had been scripted in advance." -- CW ...
... Ryan Felton & Amber Jamieson of the Guardian: "After [Bishop Wayne T] Jackson spoke about the need for love and called on parishioners to hug and love each other, Trump could be seen hugging and greeting churchgoers himself. He posed for selfies and held up a baby.... Reading from a script and adopting a milder tone than that familiar from campaign rallies and debates, [Trump]... said: 'We're all brothers and sisters and we're all created by the same God.'" -- CW ...
... Chas Danner of New York gives the best account of Trump's brief visit to Detroit. It's titled, "Trump Successfully Reads Prepared Remarks at Black Church in Detroit," and includes tidbits like this: "Ben Carson, for his part during the brief stop, gave a live interview to CNN during which he walked away for a time because he was worried about his luggage." ...
... The full speech, which Trump claimed he wrote himself, is here. Near the end, Trump read a verse from 1 John. The audience clapped & cheered when he said "First John" instead of "One John." Trump seemed not to understand (or at least pretended not to understand) the reason for the applause. -- CW ...
... Lindsay Gibbs of Think Progress: "Protesters, including pastors from the community, greeted Trump as he arrived at the church. 'What do you have to lose?' the crowd asked. 'Everything,' they answered." -- CW
Callum Borchers of the Washington Post: Donald Trump has not committed to participating in the presidential debates. "One reason for the holdout: 'I'll have to see who the moderators are,' the Republican nominee told Time magazine last month. 'Yeah, I would say that certain moderators would be unacceptable, absolutely.'" Now that the debate committee has announced the moderator line-up, will Trump commit? His campaign would not respond to the Post. Borchers reprises some of Trump's interactions with the moderators named.
Harper Neidig of the Hill: "Donald Trump this week railed against allowing Syrian refugees to settle in Detroit as a way of rebuilding the city, calling it 'unfair to the people that are living there.'. 'I think it's crazy,' Trump told Breitbart of the idea, floated by former President Bill Clinton in February. 'I mean, these people are getting started -- I think it's a very, very hard place to get your start. We shouldn't have them in the country,' Trump added, referring to Syrian refugees. 'We don't know who these people are. We have no idea. This could be the all time great Trojan horse. We have no idea who they are.'" ...
... CW: This is part & parcel of Trump's lack of knowledge of macroeconomics. Population increases fuel economic growth. Detroit has been depopulating for decades, so one way to repopulate it is with immigrants.
All the Best People. Sophie Tatum of CNN: "A top Donald Trump surrogate admitted to falsifying some of his professional accomplishments after a contentious confrontation with CNN anchor Victor Blackwell. South Carolina preacher Mark Burns, who regularly introduces Trump at his campaign events, had listed on his church's website that he had a Bachelor of Science degree and served six years in the Army Reserve.Burns, however, was never in the Army Reserve. He was in the South Carolina National Guard, from which he was discharged in 2008, CNN found. As far as a Bachelor's degree, North Greenville University told CNN he only attended the school for one semester. Burns admitted that he did not finish his degree when CNN asked him about it." -- CW ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post has a few highlights: "Confronted with an apparently bogus claim that he was a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, Burns initially says he 'started the process' of joining the fraternity. Then he argues that such facts were added to his bio by a hacker.... When confronted with his claim to have graduated with a bachelor of science degree from North Greenville University, Burns tries to argue that the interview was and had been off the record.... Asked about his claim to be pursing a master's degree from Andersonville Theological Seminary, where he enrolled in 2008 but hasn't advanced, Burns's explanation shifts. Now standing and swaying, he explains: "Do you know how old this [bio] is?... Then, perhaps predictably, Burns walks away, mid-interview." -- CW
Kevin Baker in Politico Magazine: How Rudy Giuliani, boy liberal Democrat, became a raving, lying maniac. "What lies at the heart of Trumpism, and Rudyism, is the same, nostalgic impulse that has driven reactionary Republican populism for a half-century now -- 'The shining city on the hill!' as Giuliani managed to splutter at the convention, just before, 'Greatness!' It's no coincidence that Trump and Giuliani both came of age in the New York of the 1960s and -70s, the time when the dream seemed to die, during the nihilistic, wholesale destruction of our cities." -- CW
Sorry to be so late with this. Tim Egan: "In the hate speech that Donald Trump gave on immigration in Phoenix on Wednesday night, he all but deported the Statue of Liberty, laying out one of the darkest visions of the American experience that any major-party nominee has ever given. Despite the media misread by some who presented the speech as a pivot, it got rave reviews from neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan supporters, and prompted some of Trump's few Latino advisers to resign in protest. 'Excellent speech,' said David Duke, the former Klan leader.... [Trump]laid out a test for political correctness, in the most authoritarian sense of the term. 'I call it extreme vetting,' said Trump. 'Right? Extreme vetting. I want extreme.'... He said 'an ideological certification' would be required." -- CW ...
... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker on Trump's "new immigration commission," whose charter would be "to select immigrants based on their likelihood of success in U.S. society, and their ability to be financially self-sufficient. . . . To choose immigrants based on merit, skill, and proficiency." Davidson thought that sounded good till she learned a bit about Great Britain's experiment with a similar program: experts who had served on the commission said the effect was that "a hugely disproportionate number of these 'entrepreneurs' [who were admitted] were wealthy people from Russia -- 'I believe the polite term is "oligarchs,"' and China. 'There were a lot of Subway franchises,' another said." ...
... CW: The U.S. already has a similar program, and frankly, the effect is the same. There's a good reason gas stations & motels are run or owned by foreign-born individuals & Florida is crawling with mini-oligarchs. If you think the petite bourgeoisie & dirty, rotten crooks form the best possible models for future generations, you might like this part of Trump's plan. ...
... Steven Rosenfeld of AlterNet, republished in Salon: "Donald Trump's pledge this week to speedily deport 'anyone who has entered the United States illegally' would require the creation of a vast police state that harkens back to the early 20th century, with Nazi Germany's roundups and deportations of millions of Jews and others deemed undesirable." Rosenfeld supplies stats to support his assertions. He also addresses the "economic devastation" the Trump "plan" would cause. -- CW ...
... ** Matthew Sheffield in the Washington Post: "According to [Hillary] Clinton -- and many conservative intellectuals who oppose Trump -- the conspiratorial, winking-at-racists campaign he has been running represents a novel departure from Republican politics. That's not quite true, though. Trump's style and positions -- endorsing and consorting with 9/11 truthers, promoting online racists, using fake statistics -- draw on a now-obscure political strategy called 'paleolibertarianism,' which was once quite popular among some Republicans, especially former presidential candidate Ron Paul.... There's no question that the paranoid and semi-racialist mien frequently favored by Trump originates in the fevered swamps that ... Paul dwelled in for decades." Read on. -- CW ...
... Richmond Times-Dispatch Editors: "Neither Donald Trump nor Hillary Clinton meets the fundamental moral and professional standards we have every right to expect of an American president. Fortunately, there is a reasonable -- and formidable -- alternative. Gary Johnson is a former, two-term governor of New Mexico and a man who built from scratch a construction company that eventually employed more than 1,000 people before he sold it in 1999. He possesses substantial executive experience in both the private and the public sectors." -- CW
Beyond the Beltway
Corey Jones of the Tulsa World: "Oklahoma's second magnitude-5.0 earthquake in 2016 and third in five years has renewed concerns a 6.0 may strike after Saturday's temblor revealed another undiscovered fault line. The magnitude-5.6 -- which fired off at 7:02 a.m. Saturday about nine miles northwest of Pawnee -- is tied with one near Prague in 2011 for the state's strongest quake. That seismicity triggered state regulators, in an unprecedented move, to mandate that 37 disposal wells [from fracking] in a 725-square-mile area shut down operations for an indefinite period of time." -- CW
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Reader Comments (13)
The owners of every taco truck in the NY metropolitan area should parade past the Trump Tower then take up residence on all nearby corners from now until the election. They'd do land office business. And a free side of guacamole to anyone showing up with an orange fright wig.
Chait takes down Bruni for accusing liberals of enabling Trump. Another journalistic gem.
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/09/did-trump-happen-because-liberals-are-too-mean.html
Note to AK: Thanks for clearing up the comment yesterday from PD that wasn't ME. After I read it I thought, wow, did I write this beautifully executed piece and not remember doing it? Could it be the beginning of the beguine of diminution? Who am I really? David Byrne's tune running around in my head––same as it ever was––-letting the days go by...Given this crazy season of tommyrot it's perfectly understandable that one could easily lose their mind.
Had much the same thoughts as Davidson and the CW about the "merit, skills and proficiency" tests for admission to the U.S.....and a few more.
Immediately occurred to me that in Trumpworld merit would be measured exclusively by money. After all, what else matters but one's bank balance?
Skills would surely be defined as the artfulness of the deal, (or as I heard it said many years ago by a businessman with the quaint notion that ethics and business could go together, the sharpness of the practice); and proficiency as intimate knowledge of bankruptcy law and tax codes and the demonstrated willingness to use both to personal advantage, Devil take the hindmost.
Was wondering, though, how with such tests in place anyone without an established history of business acumen would ever get in. Seems that no kids would be allowed. And what of those who are merely hangers-on, retinue members, husbands, wives of test-passers? Left behind, waving tearfully at the airport, I guess.
Also had the suspicion there was another implied test lurking in there somewhere: Was thinking it might help to be white. Maybe a sliding scale. You can get in if you're not, but you'll need a little more merit to compensate for the deficiency.
All this considered, am pleased I was able to slip into the country through my mother's port of entry.
Under the new rules I would never have made it in any other way.
I'm still trying to understand how people support Trump and then here comes Ken talking about "skills" and then mentioning "measured exclusively by money". I realize those are in two different sentences, yet they are so precisely paired when talking about Trump and his folk.
"http://mtpr.org/post/veteran-teacher-quits-under-weary-load-and-hes-just-one-many" this veteran teacher about minute 2:00 starts talking about the "soul sucking" requirements he is forced to fulfill before he enters the classroom to teach. As I describe it, it is the 'emasculation by regulation' put upon those who do by those who don't; to paraphrase: those who do, do; those who don't teach. In this case they are administrators. In many cases, they are MBAs who alienate the many for the enrichment of the few. Trump seems to capture support from both sides of this situation: the entitled, enriched few and the eunuched masses disempowered by distant capitalists and their captive regulators in the government. Go ask people who need Epipens or insulin what they think about our government and the efficacy of regulations which de facto prevent competition by regulatory barriers to entry. That's ripe Trump country. Too often the left and progressives are rule adhering rule makers to insure conformity to their standards. And they see nothing wrong with that. If rules and standards of behavior were cats, it is easier to keep track of three vs. thirteen. Hillary and her supporters, if they open their tent, need to let their hair down more along the lines of non-conformist Bernie supporters and let more freaks and outliers inside. Trump and Dick Cheney likely view rules applying to themselves similarly; lots of their supporters dream of touching their scepter of impregnability to rules, no matter how briefly, just a few times in life.
@citzen625 writes, " Go ask people who need Epipens or insulin what they think about our government and the efficacy of regulations which de facto prevent competition by regulatory barriers to entry. That's ripe Trump country. Too often the left and progressives are rule adhering rule makers to insure conformity to their standards."
It depends upon the regulations, doesn't it? Hillary Clinton suggests a law that would allow regulators to prevent price-gouging precisely like the EpiPen situation. Yet you cite the EpiPen price hike as an example of snooty, "rule adhering rule maker" progressives.
First, the EpiPen is an American product, so there's no "barrier to entry."
The major reason consumers in other countries pay far less than Americans do for pharmaceuticals is precisely because of massive "regulation": the governments themselves negotiate with the drug companies & buy the drugs for the entire countries. There is no competition at all; if a drug manufacturer wants to sell his products in countries like Britain, they have to agree to a price acceptable to the regulatory agency.
Meanwhile, in this country, another reason drug prices are high is that Republicans oppose a big ole "regulation": allowing Medicare to negotiate for the price of drugs. This isn't silly "progressives" clinging to their laws & regulations; it's Republicans who insist Americans fend for themselves in the pharma market.
I'm not saying all regulations are swell; many are foolish or counterproductive; others become so over time. But the purpose of regulation is to level the playing field -- to prevent the powerful from using & abusing the rest of us. What I am saying is that you're confused (to the point of having it ass-backwards) about the cause & effect of regulation. If one wants lower drug prices in this country, more -- not less -- regulation is required.
Is Trumps "hit and run" approach to outreach authentic or merely a quest for photo ops and to soothe moderates? The trip to Mexico was clearly the latter. We'll have to wait and see how the Detroit church visit plays out.
To All Who May Reside in "Hermine's" Path . . .
Health & Safety To You & Yours -
Ophelia
Marie,
"a barrier to entry, or economic barrier to entry, is a cost that must be incurred by a new entrant into a market that incumbents don't or haven't had to incur", so @citizen 625 wasn't referring to whether the product was American or not. However, in all other aspects your post was spot on.
I recently told a (GOP) co-worker complaining about over regulation that if we could depend on businesses or companies acting in good faith (as ours does) then we wouldn't need regulation, but history has proven repeatedly that we can't rely on that good faith, so regulation is necessary to protect the public. He didn't have a good counter argument...
Regulations and barriers -- there has been more press recently about the inhibiting effect of regulations and licensing (i.e., permits to do business). Two things are showing up more often:
1. Most small businesses' complaints about regulations concern state and local regs, not so much the feds. Surprise.
2. State and local regulators, instructed by their legislators and councils, tend to protect established businesses by creating credentialing and licensing requirements that greatly increase the costs of new entrants. A standard example is the large number of training hours necessary to be a hair stylist in many jurisdictions.
So ... regulations/standards protect. They can also be used to impede new competition, and often are so used.
Cakers,
Yeah, all regulations imply the same argument. If we could count on people to exhibit common morality, which I would define--as others since Bentham, Mill and Marx have as the greatest good for the greatest number--we would self-regulate (the moral equivalent of self-deportation?).
But as you say both history and daily experience tell us we can't expect that much good sense this side of Paradise, so some regulations are obviously necessary. One would think it's obvious, anyway. It certainly is to anyone but an anarchist, which is interestingly the shape the GOP, the party of law and order, seems to be taking.
Jerry Rubin would be proud.
For regulations to work, though, they should be subjected to the same moral test. Do they disproportionately favor individuals or influential cabals? Or are they the best we can do for society at large?
We seem to grasp that logic when it comes to speed limits on our highways, but when it comes to money in our politics or guns in our streets, comprehension takes a holiday.
What's the difference?
Would welcome some answers...
Heard the author of this article yesterday on KQED Forum make this observation: stressed folks supporting the anti-government folks observe that many regulation minutae, such as requiring LED/CFL to replace incandescents or kids to wear helmets, arise in the face of the "freedom" of the petrochemical industry to ruin their lives, courtesy of the government that refuses to rein them in. They see hypocrisy.
There seems to be a spate of articles touting an improvement in Donaldo's poll numbers. Several things about this, whether or not such numbers mirror the current (weekly, daily, hourly?) state of voter inclinations.
First is the standard warning about putting too much stock in what you read. As recently as a week ago, predictions, from both sides about the imminent demise of the Orange Headed Bigot were rife. A few days later, after a flurry of fails, the OHB seems to be gaining ground. All speculation is just that. If one excludes the extreme predictions on both sides (landslides for both), you're left with suppositions. But, as Marie reminds us, there's a lot of time left.
So, what has caused this uptick, real or not, for the tiny hand man? His recent outings have run the gamut from hysterical (in both senses of the word ) to frightening, to nonsensical, to downright weird. His numbers with the mouth breathers should be flat at this point. What has happened, however, is episode 467 of Hillary's Emails and the FBI. If you've thought that was a dry hole by now (and it is), you're overlooking the Chuck Todd Both Sides disease.
Which brings us to the second and most important point, alluded to by Marie's remembrance of the Dukakis Debacle. If Hillary were anyone else, she might be able to lay low and let Douchebag Donald self-destruct, but she isn't someone else. Eight years ago she underestimated the draw of Barack Obama's candidacy. She clearly (maybe fatally) underestimated the consequences of her flouting rules and common sense with the entirely avoidable email disaster. And she may be underestimating what she could lose by laying low at a crucial juncture. During the recent Olypmpics I watched as sprinters, instead of turning it on, looked over their shoulder and lost. I saw an American bicyclist sprint to the finish only to overestimate her lead. She was caught and passed, ran out of gas and finished out of the medals.
Hillary has few supporters in the media who can help her by changing any minds but Trump has plenty of assistance among both media outlets that support him and ones who simply hate Clinton. Then there are the Chuck Todds who see their job as finding enough bad shit, true or not, to lay at her door so as to balance the mountain of monumental gaffes on the Trump side.
Plus she has the handicap of the media's indolence and disinterest concerning serious policy announcements when, across the street Donaldo is taking a leak on a taco truck.
She needs to turn it on and sprint like hell, not coast to the finish, otherwise the unthinkable could be thunk.
I agree with Akhilleus, HRC needs to be out there everyday showing the electorate what reasonable people sound like. I'm hoping that she gets a good bump after the upcoming Commander In Chief forum, however I'll be holding my breath. I have no idea how one prepares for the interrupting hectoring she'll get from DJT, but I'm sure it will make the Benghazi hearing seem like a walk in the park.