The Commentariat -- March 2, 2016

Presidential Race

The New York Times is liveblogging the primary elections.

Democrats

Patrick Healy & Amy Chozick of the New York Times: "Hillary Clinton took full command of the Democratic presidential race on Tuesday as she rolled to major victories over Bernie Sanders in Texas, Virginia and across the South and proved for the first time that she could build a national coalition of racially diverse voters that would be crucial in the November election. Based on results from Democratic primaries and caucuses in 11 states, Mrs. Clinton succeeded in containing Mr. Sanders to states he was expected to win, like Vermont and Oklahoma, and overpowering him in predominantly black and Hispanic areas that were rich in delegates needed for the Democratic nomination." ...

Alabama: The New York Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with less than one percent of the precincts reporting.

Arkansas: The New York Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with less than one percent of the precincts reporting.

Colorado: The Times has projected Sanders to be the winner with 35 percent of the precincts reporting.

Georgia: The New York Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with 3 percent of the precincts reporting.

Massachusetts: The Times had the state leaning Clinton; now, with 5 percent of the vote counted, they have it leaning Sanders. Oops! At 9:00 pm, the Times has Massachusetts leaning Clinton. Update: With 91 percent of the votes counted, the Times has projected Clinton as the winner.

Minnesota: The Times has projected Sanders to be the winner with 43 percent of the precincts reporting.

Oklahoma: The Times has projected Sanders to be the winner with 51 percent of the precincts reporting. Sanders currently has 52 percent of the vote; Clinton has 41 percent.

Tennessee: The Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with less than one percent of the precincts reporting.

Texas: The Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with 2 percent of the precincts reporting.

Vermont: The Times has projected Sanders to be the winner with 4 percent of the precincts reporting.

Virginia: The New York Times has projected Clinton to be the winner with 44 percent of the precincts reporting.

Ed Kilgore: "On Super Tuesday Hillary Clinton took some measured steps forward towards winning the Democratic presidential nominating contest. Meanwhile Bernie Sanders took some measured steps backwards towards his original role as a protest candidate trying to 'keep Hillary honest' and carry the torch for progressives dismayed by the last two Democratic presidents."

Steve Annear of the Boston Globe: "Bill Clinton’s presence inside a polling location in Boston on Super Tuesday raised concerns about whether the former president violated state rules on election campaigning.... A video clip showing Bill Clinton shaking hands with election clerks at Holy Name [school gym], alongside Mayor Martin J. Walsh, had some people on Twitter questioning the former president’s appearance indoors.... [Massachusetts] Secretary of State William F. Galvin told the New York Times that he had to remind election workers that 'even a president can’t go inside and work a polling place.'”

Republicans

Alexander Burns & Jonathan Martin of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump won sweeping victories across the South and in New England on Tuesday, a show of strength in the Republican primary campaign that underscored the breadth of his appeal and helped him begin to amass a wide delegate advantage despite growing resistance to his candidacy among party leaders. Mr. Trump’s political coalition — with his lopsided victories in Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts and Tennessee, and narrower ones in Arkansas, Vermont and Virginia — appears to have transcended the regional and ideological divisions that have shaped the Republican Party in recent years." ...

Alaska: Polls close at midnight ET. at 1:00 am ET, with 10 percent of the voted counted, Alaska is leaning Trump. at 2:00 am, Cruz is up by 3, & the Times has the state leaning Cruz. Update: With all precincts reports, Cruz carried Alaska, 36 percent to Trump's 34 percent.

Alabama: The Washington Post has projected Trump to be the winner with 0 percent of the precincts reporting.

Arkansas: The Washington Post has projected Trump to be the winner with 28 percent of the precincts reporting.

Georgia: The New York Times has projected Trump to be the winner with 2 percent of the precincts reporting. 

Massachusetts: The Times has projected Trump to be the winner with 0 percent of the precincts reporting.

Minnesota: The Times has projected Rubio to be the winner with 53 percent of the precincts reporting.

Oklahoma: The Times has projected Cruz to be the winner with 51 percent of the precincts reporting. Cruz currently has 34 percent of the vote; Trump has 30 percent.

Tennessee: The Times has projected Trump to be the winner with less than one percent of the precincts reporting.

Texas: The Times has projected Cruz to be the winner with 2 percent of the precincts reporting.

Vermont: With 84 percent of precincts reporting, the Times says the state is leaning toward Trump, who has 33 percent of the vote. However, Kasich is close at 31 percent. Update: With 97 percent of the vote counted, the Times has declared Trump the winner.

Virginia: The New York Times has projected Trump to be the winner with 84 percent of the precincts reporting. Trump currently has 36 percent of the vote; Rubio has 31 percent. 

The Party of Drumpf. New York Times Editors: "... voters ... are leaning, in unbelievable numbers, toward a man whose quest for the presidency revolves around targeting religious and racial minorities and people with disabilities, who flirts with white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan, who ridicules and slanders those who disagree with him.... Those who could challenge Mr. Trump — Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio — are not only to the right of Mr. Trump on many issues, but are embracing the same game of exclusion, bigotry and character assassination." ...

... CW: Perhaps the Grey Lady should remove her rose-colored blinders & read Driftglass's explanation of why those voters are "leaning in unbelievable numbers" toward a fascist who would dispense with freedom of the press & "sue them and win lots of money" because the paper is "one of the most dishonest media outlets I've ever seen in my life. The worst, the worst. The absolute worst. They have an agenda that you wouldn't believe. And they're run by incompetent people. Yes, yes, I know Driftglass is not now nor will he ever be a member of the club, but the Times is aware of outsider journalism (whence their reporters often get their leads), so it wouldn't hurt if they occasionally took a peek at an outsider's POV. ...

Ha Ha. M. J. Lee of CNN: "Disaffected Republicans are discussing everything from skipping the Republican National Convention in July to running a conservative candidate as an independent or third-party candidate -- with the ultimate goal of denying Trump the presidency. One of the names frequently mentioned in this hypothetical is Mitt Romney, the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, even though he has shown no desire to run another campaign but has shown a zest for attacking Trump."

Tim Alberta of the National Review: "It’s either Donald Trump or a contested convention.... Cruz emerged from Tuesday second in the delegate race and best positioned, at least mathematically, to challenge Trump for the nomination.... [But] southern, conservative, Evangelical-heavy areas were once thought to be hostile to the bombastic, thrice-married Manhattan billionaire. Instead, Trump turned the Bible Belt into his personal political playground. Now the race shifts to friendlier terrain. Come mid-March, the primaries will award delegates in chunks from states in the midwest, the mid-Atlantic, and the sun belt, with bigger, more-diverse electorates. After that, April sees the race move to Trump’s wheelhouse: the northeast." Via Greg Sargent. ...

... Greg Sargent scans the GOP "leadership"'s evolving attitudes toward a Trump nomination. There's no consensus, but there seems to be movement toward "At least he's not Hillary." Nice bumper-sticker material. ...

... The Trumpinator. Ben Kamisar of the Hill: "Donald Trump warned Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) that he'll have to pay the price if he doesn't get along with a President Trump after Ryan repudiated him for failing to disavow backing from David Duke. 'I'm going to get along great with Congress. Paul Ryan, I don't know him well, but I'm sure I'm going to get along great with him,' the front-runner for his party's nomination said during his Super Tuesday speech. 'And if I don't, he's going to have to pay a big price.'" CW: Are you missing Obama yet, Paul? ...

... Jennifer Jacobs for USA Today: "Donald Trump lashed out again at the news media — specifically the Des Moines Register, part of the USA Today Network —  for reporting on some black college students who said his campaign ejected them from his presidential rally in Georgia on the eve of the big Super Tuesday vote.... The police chief in Valdosta confirmed Tuesday that the students were correct when they said Trump aides ordered them out of the campus stadium. But Chief Brian Childress said Trump and his detail were justified in removing the students for disorderly behavior. The night before, Trump’s spokeswoman Hope Hicks had called USA Today’s article about the incident a 'false report,' saying neither Trump nor the campaign had anything to do with asking the students to leave. Trump kept up that narrative during his Super Tuesday stop in Columbus, targeting this reporter, who writes for The Des Moines Register and is a correspondent for USA Today.... The Trump campaign had earlier in the day refused to credential USA Today for the candidate's appearance in Palm Beach on Tuesday night. ...

     ... CW: I'd love to know what constitutes "disorderly" at a Trump rally. If you didn't watch the video I posted yesterday of snippets from Trump's rally in Virginia, you might want to take a look. Unless the black students were shooting people, they weren't "disorderly" by Trump rally standards. ...

... Olivia Nuzzi of the Daily Beast: "Donald Trump is paying himself to run for president. Between June 16, when he announced his candidacy from the lobby of Trump Tower, through the end of 2015, the Trump campaign spent $2.2 million patronizing Trump businesses. The majority — $2 million — was spent on Tag Air Inc., where Trump is CEO.... Whether or not this is legal is a tricky question. By law, candidates cannot profit from their own campaigns." ...

... CW: That's funny, because Trump doesn't care. He once bragged that "It’s very possible that I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it.” I suppose President Trump will just disband the Federal Election Commission & declare the law null, void & unprosecutable.

Andrew Sprung has a very good piece titled "Trump the Incompetent." He uses the WashPo's reporting on Trump Mortgage to demonstrate the "distilled essence of Trump's art of the debacle:... 1. Ignore market signals.... 2. Fail.... 3. Blame surrogates.... 4. Stiff everyone.... 5. Lie about it when everyone's forgotten." Read the whole post. Via Paul Waldman.

Erik Wemple of the Washington Post: Sean Hannity & Bill O'Reilly of Fox "News" rescue Donald Trump from his know-nothing moments on his white supremacist supporters. ...

... Derek Thompson of the Atlantic profiles Trump supporters: white, undereducation, fearful, resentful, racist & receptive to authoritarian leadership.

Glenn Blain & Dareh Gregorian of the New York Daily News: "Super Tuesday has gotten off to a not-so-super start for Donald Trump - a state appeals court has denied his bid to toss out a lawsuit that charges his Trump University was a fraud. In a unanimous ruling, a four judge panel of the state Appellate Division said the state Attorney General's office is 'authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud' - despite the bloviating billionaire's claims to the contrary." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Justin Wolfers of the New York Times: "It’s unsurprising that 'Donald Trump' has been the most searched-for candidate in the United States over the past 24 hours. More surprising: The runner-up is neither Marco Rubio nor Ted Cruz. Instead, that honor goes to 'Donald Drumpf.' The comedian John Oliver mocked Mr. Trump by urging the audience of his HBO show Sunday night to adopt the candidate’s real family name.

... Jonathan Chait: "The fact that Trump threatens rather than promotes conservative interests has enabled conservative intellectuals to see certain truths that they once obscured: There are deep strands of racial resentment and anti-intellectualism running through the Republican electorate. But these angry spasms of half-recognition attempt to quarantine Trump from a political tradition of which he is very much a part." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

** Sam Biddle of Gawker: Ted Cruz celebrated his wins in Texas & Oklahoma at a bar called the Redneck Country Club. "This may or may not shock you, but the Redneck Country Club is owned by an extreme, open racist by the name of Michael Berry, who hosts a racist radio program that includes a blackface 'comedian' named 'Dr. Rev. Shirley Q Liquor,' who provides a routine of vile black stereotypes for Berry’s white listeners.... And Media Matters points out, Berry, a friend of Cruz’s for decades, has referred to blacks as 'jungle animals' and 'pack animals,' and tweeted in defense of a KKK billboard promoting white purity ('nothing wrong with it'). So remember: Donald Trump is the GOP candidate with a racist affiliation problem" ...

     ... CW: Seriously, this shocks me. Of course I know Ted is an asshole, but I didn't know he was a flagrant, flaming racist asshole. Earlier this week, he tweeted, "Really sad," in response to Trump's refusal to disavow the KKK & David Duke. "You're better than this," he wrote to Trump. "We should all agree, racism is wrong, KKK is abhorrent." Evidently just a teensy weensy bit wrong & a widdle biddy bit abhorrent.

"Goodbye, Rubio Tuesday." Jonathan Chait: "... it was only a few days, when Marco Rubio was poised to seize back the inside lane of the Republican nomination race.... In the days since, Rubio’s plan has come to pieces.... For all its struggles at vote-garnering, Rubio’s campaign has excelled at one thing: winning the nebulous 'expectations game.'... Tuesday, reports leaked that Rubio’s campaign was telling supporters it could win four states. This turned his 1-for-11 showing from a disappointment into an absolute debacle.... He is closer to becoming a joke than the front-runner.” ...

... Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "The night could not have gone much worse for Marco Rubio, perhaps the only Republican with a good chance to beat Mr. Trump in a one-on-one contest." ...

The Grifters. Steve M.: "What's the difference between [Rubio & Carson] right now? As far as can see, the only difference is that Carson is staying in the race so that the flow of small to medium-size checks from churchgoing heartlanders won't stop altogether, and Rubio is staying in the race so the flow of somewhat larger checks from Republican one-percenters won't dry up. They both like the money. They both like the attention. Carson's hoping to sell a million copies of a godly campaign memoir and Rubio's hoping to position himself for 2020. But it's still all about that grift. Everyone acknowledges that about Carson, but most people think Rubio operates on a higher plane. Remember, though, Rubio's the guy who charged lots of personal expenses on a GOP credit card. He's the guy who was in debt until a billionaire named Norman Braman bailed him out. They're two of a kind. Let's admit that, at least." ...

... Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Ben Carson will not drop out of the GOP presidential race, even if he doesn’t take home any delegates on Super Tuesday, close friend and adviser Armstrong Williams told The Hill." ...

... Which is totally sensible because ... Al Weaver of the Washington Examiner: "... his campaign admits that it's not clear at all that Carson has a viable path to victory, and they don't have a plan to win." ...

... Scammer-in-Chief: CW: Of course if the main goal of your campaign is not the presidency but the jackpot, then it does make sense to stay to the bitter end. Send money, people. There's a God-fearing Christian who is pretending to run for president who needs your hard-earned cash to send on to his so-called consultants. And maybe take a kickback here & there. Who knows?

GOP Leaders Beat up on Last Nearly-Sane Guy Standing. Tarini Parti of BuzzFeed: "On Tuesday night as return after return came in and Marco Rubio failed to break through, many establishment Republicans grew angrier that John Kasich was still in the race. One of them was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has become increasingly frustrated with Kasich behind closed doors, three sources told BuzzFeed News. In the coming days, McConnell will be urged to more aggressively try behind the scenes to push Kasich out, sources say." ...

     ... CW: I believe Kasich will drop out soon, without any pressure from the Turtle & other GOP "establishment leaders." BTW, if anybody feels sorry for these "leaders" (so leaderish they typically don't have the guts to be quoted on the record), get over it. Flacking for Marco is unconscionable. ...

... Charles Pierce: John Kasich is cranky but evidently not crazy: "I know that human beings affect the climate.... I know we need to develop all of the renewables, and we need to do it in an orderly way." CW: The next thing you know, he'll be saying science is a good thing. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Charles Pierce: "As near as I can tell, there's only one elected Republican who's out there being completely principled about what's happening to his party.... [Sen. Ben] Sasse [RTP-Neb.] is every bit the soul of wingnut chewiness that Ted Cruz is. His Tea Party street cred is unassailable." Sasse called for a third-party candidate if Trump wins the GOP nomination. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey is awkwardly adapting to a new role: Donald J. Trump’s yes man. During Mr. Trump’s victory news conference on Tuesday night in Florida, Mr. Christie stood behind him during the business mogul’s entire speech, offering the constant nods, a gaze of admiration and unrelenting affirmation usually reserved for a political spouse." ...

If you mute this Trump speech, it looks like they're holding a bachelor auction but no one will bid on Chris Christie. -- Chris Burke, on Twitter ...

Play it with the audio, which you can mute (lower right-hand corner):

https://t.co/SxcpUxkL45

— Ronan Farrow (@RonanFarrow) March 2, 2016

 ... Margaret Hartmann: "Just days after Trump appeared to kick Christie off his stage in Tennessee, directing him 'get on the plane and go home,' the governor elected to stand in Trump's shot. Twitter quickly went to work, attempting to determine if the troubled look on Christie's face was a sign that he's realized his political future is now in the hands of the guy from The Apprentice, or a desperate attempt to alert the media that Trump has taken his loved ones hostage." ...

... CW: If you also watch Christie's introduction of Trump at the victory party, you'll be even more convinced Trump is holding Christie hostage. Instead of the irrepressible glee that usually accompanies a big win, Christie delivers his words in a near monotone, a sober (or pained) expression on his face -- in the manner of a hostage delivering a videotaped speech his captors wrote & forced him to make for the folks back home.

... Paul Singer of USA Today: "Six New Jersey newspapers issued a joint editorial Tuesday calling on Gov. Chris Christie to resign in the wake of his failed presidential campaign and his subsequent endorsement of rival Donald Trump. The six newspapers including the Asbury Park Press, the Cherry Hill Courier-Post and the Morristown Daily Record — all Gannett-owned papers that are part of the USA Today Network — were apparently spurred to editorial outrage by a Monday press conference in which Christie refused to answer questions about anything other than his nomination of a state Supreme Court judge. Asked why, Christie replied, 'Because I don't want to.' 'We’re fed up with Gov. Chris Christie’s arrogance,' the papers wrote. 'We’re fed up with his opportunism. We’re fed up with his hypocrisy.'"

Other News & Opinion

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear its first major abortion case in almost a decade, one that has the potential to revise constitutional standards and to affect millions of women. Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last month may have muted the prospect of truly bold action, but even a 4-to-4 tie would have enormous consequences because it would leave in place an appeals court decision that could drive down the number of abortion clinics in Texas to about 10, from roughly 40."

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "During a Tuesday meeting at the White House with President Obama, GOP Senate leaders remained unbowed in refusing to consider his nominee to the Supreme Court, according to top Democrats present. 'They were adamant. They said no, we are not going to do this at all. We are going to do what has never been done before,' Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) told reporters at a stakeout after Tuesday's meeting...." ...

... Oliver Knox of Yahoo! News: "One aide to a vulnerable Senate Republican, who requested anonymity, jokingly suggested that there might be another, very different source of pressure as early as Tuesday night. 'I’m not sure we want to be in the business of telling voters that we’d rather risk having Donald Trump nominate the next Supreme Court justice,' he said." ...

... Paul Waldman: "So on the one hand, people like McConnell are saying Trump is a lunatic who can’t be trusted, but on the other hand they’re saying he’s the one who ought to make this appointment. Got it." ...

... Of course he can be trusted, Paul. Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Donald Trump ally Roger Stone said that Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano is 'probably Trump's number one pick for the U.S. Supreme Court.' Napolitano believes in 9/11 conspiracy theories, is a 'contrarian' on President Abraham Lincoln's legacy, and doesn't believe 'the right to vote' is a 'fundamental right.'" CW: Also, too, Napolitano is 65 years old, so he'll be getting wackier soon.

Zach Carter of the Huffington Post: DNC Chair & Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) has joined Republicans' efforts to gut the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's regulation of payday lenders. "She's also attempting to gin up Democratic support for the legislation" that would curb the CFPB's rules. "The misleadingly titled Consumer Protection and Choice Act would delay the CFPB's payday lending rules by two years, and nullify its rules in any state with a payday lending law like the one adopted in Florida [which is a joke].... Consumer groups are appalled by the bill." CW: Thanks, Debbie. It's always great when a Democratic leader goes out of her way to stick it to the most helpless Americans. ...

     ... It would be super to have your BFF Hillary Clinton weigh in. Inquiring reporters???

Beyond the Beltway

Mitch Smith of the New York Times: "The Republican governor of South Dakota on Tuesday vetoed a bill that would have restricted bathroom access for transgender students and made the state the first to adopt such a measure. Gov. Dennis Daugaard put out a statement late in the day saying that the bill did 'not address any pressing issue' facing the state, and that it would have put schools in the 'difficult position of following state law while knowing it openly invites federal litigation.' The measure was pushed by conservative legislators who said it was an effort to protect the privacy of all students. But it appeared to conflict with the Obama administration’s interpretation of federal civil rights law and seemed likely to be headed for a court challenge.” CW: Well, good on Gov. Daugaard.

Laurel Andrews of the Alaska Dispatch News: "A Superior Court judge dismissed the Alaska Legislature’s lawsuit to halt Gov. Bill Walker’s Medicaid expansion Tuesday. In his decision and order, Superior Court Judge Frank Pfiffner concluded that the state acted within the bounds of the law when it expanded Medicaid.... Whether the Legislature would appeal the ruling was still being considered Tuesday, Senate Majority spokeswoman Michaela Goertzen said, but 'I know that’s something that (the Senate majority) has said in the past that they would likely do.'"

Whitey's on the Moon

By Akhilleus

Black people? I don' see no black people. Don't hear me none neither. And don't want to.

Today we're seeing the wondrous results of John Roberts' decision that race is no longer a problem in America. There'll probably be several million Americans who won't be able to vote today because race is no longer a problem in America. All those southern states the Voting Rights Act was designed to keep from sticking it to black citizens are now free from the shackles of unfair bondage because race is no longer a problem in America. Little Johnny and the dwarfs done set them free, hallelujah. And to show how much they've reformed their ways, they set right to making sure the roadblocks to the ballot box in place for generations in the south were immediately reinstated with extra prevention mechanisms, just to make sure them darkies stayed away. It's all good. Because race is no longer a problem in America.

This is a big part of what Reagan meant by morning in America again. White picket fences, Brillcream billboards, sunny, happy, shining white faces on the way to vote for Confederate politicians, and black people off to the side of the road. Invisible and silenced, in their places, happy to steppinfetchit and catch the occasional crumb falling out off the white tables, eatin' watermelon and keepin' out of the way. Invisible and silenced. Because...

Today those southern states get to unveil how much they learned from the Voting Rights Act. The moral? "Time to teach those niggers a lesson once again. They thought those fucking liberals were gonna help them vote? Fuck that. Now here's a few dozen hoops for them to jump through. Let 'em try this shit on for size. And this time, it's all nice and legal like. The Supreme Court says so. And we'll have our open carry boys at the polling places just to make sure they get the message: they ain't Americans and they ain't welcome to vote."

And that was the message Confederates on the court sent out.

Message received.

The other day I read that Nikki Haley was getting all bent out of shape that some people thought SC's voter ID bullshit was out of control. She sniffed that you had to show an ID to buy Sudafed (this hoary citation is right out of the Winger Playbook; they all trot out this one) or to get on a plane. Okay, Nikki. First, Sudafed can be used to make meth which has decimated large swaths of rural America, so there's a good reason for the ID check. Second, plane travel has become a dangerous business. Voting is only dangerous if you're a Republican thinking about Democrats being allowed to vote and voter ID regulations are designed to fix a non-existent problem. Oh, and since we're up in arms about all those important things you need an ID for, you don't need an ID in 30 states (30!) to purchase deadly weapons. How 'bout that asshole? Huh? Sorry, can't hear you....What'd ya say? Never mind. Scumbag.

The movement to make black Americans even more invisible than they already are is in high gear as is the effort to shut them up. Black Lives Matter is a "hate group", a "murder movement", they're for killing all police. Organized right wing efforts to silence black voices run the gamut from self-appointed "journalists" in the deep south, to presidential candidates (apart from Trump) to a TV network and its favorite political party.

Yesterday, I posted a link to a song written and performed by a politically astute Trinidadian musician back in the thirties, Growling Tiger, who sang about the differences between rich and poor, differences that are no better today. The poor are invisible to most white Americans. But poor and black? Those people don't even exist. Or at least an enormous number of white Americans try not to think about them. And they're encouraged in that effort by an entire political party for whom black America is seen as a dangerous swarm that needs to be exterminated. It really is that bad. So, you might hear about "those people" but they're criminals and murderers and rapists, so don't bother worrying about them.

In response to the Growling Tiger song, Whyte Owen replied with a pertinent and timely link of his own to a song by the great Gil Scott-Heron, "Whitey on the Moon":

I can't pay no doctor bills
But Whitey's on the moon
Ten years from now I'll be paying still
While whitey's on the moon

You know, the man just upped my rent last night
Cause whitey's on the moon
No hot water, no toilets, no lights
But whitey's on the moon

It's become a common expression: We put a man on the moon so we ought to be able to do X. But the X is never "fix race relations in this country" or "make it easier for all Americans to vote" or "find a way to keep so many black men out of jail for minor offenses."

And to prove the point, yesterday, a little known 'bagger pol, Ben Sasse, came out against Donald Trump. He's not upset because of the unchanging problems of race relations, despite his use of the David Duke endorsement; that's just a handy cudgel. I mean, seriously, a 'bagger concerned about black people?? No. He's pissed because Trump isn't a "true Conservative" (the No True Scotsman thing).

Here is Sasse's problem in a nutshell: "The American people deserve better than two fundamentally dishonest New York liberals. This is a country that put a man on the moon."

Whitey is still on the moon.

And it's pretty fucking hard to see Ferguson from there.

The Commentariat -- March 1, 2016

Afternoon Update:

Glenn Blain & Dareh Gregorian of the New York Daily News: "Super Tuesday has gotten off to a not-so-super start for Donald Trump - a state appeals court has denied his bid to toss out a lawsuit that charges his Trump University was a fraud. In a unanimous ruling, a four judge panel of the state Appellate Division said the state Attorney General's office is 'authorized to bring a cause of action for fraud' - despite ... [Trump]'s claims to the contrary."

Jonathan Chait: "The fact that Trump threatens rather than promotes conservative interests has enabled conservative intellectuals to see certain truths that they once obscured: There are deep strands of racial resentment and anti-intellectualism running through the Republican electorate. But these angry spasms of half-recognition attempt to quarantine Trump from a political tradition of which he is very much a part."

Charles Pierce: "As near as I can tell, there's only one elected Republican who's out there being completely principled about what's happening to his party.... [Sen. Ben] Sasse [RTP-Neb.] is every bit the soul of wingnut chewiness that Ted Cruz is. His Tea Party street cred is unassailable."

Charles Pierce: John Kasich is cranky but evidently not crazy: "I know that human beings affect the climate.... I know we need to develop all of the renewables, and we need to do it in an orderly way." CW: The next thing you know, he'll be saying science is a good thing.

*****

Gardiner Harris of the New York Times: "President Obama is to confer in the Oval Office on Tuesday with Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, about filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia. If everyone maintains previously stated positions, it might be a very short meeting. Mr. Obama is adamant that he will name a nominee to the court, most likely in the next few weeks. Republicans remain just as adamant that they will not even meet with Mr. Obama's nominee, let alone hold confirmation hearings." ...

     ... The story has been updated: "It was a 'very short' meeting in the Oval Office on Tuesday between President Obama, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican majority leader, and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, about filling the Supreme Court vacancy left by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia.... Leaving the meeting, [Senate Minority Leader Harry] Reid [D-Nev.] suggested that the Republicans appear to be waiting for Donald Trump to be in the White House." ...

... Get Over It, Mitch & Chuck. Barbara Perry, in a Washington Post op-ed: "A half-dozen presidents, classic lame ducks, filled Supreme Court seats even though their successors had been elected.... Aside from genuine lame ducks, one-third of U.S. presidents appointed justices during presidential election years."

Clarence Speaks! Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "Breaking a decade-long silence, Justice Clarence Thomas on Monday asked several questions from the Supreme Court bench. He spoke just weeks after the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, whose empty seat next to Justice Thomas's remains draped in black. It was hard to escape the conclusion that the absence of the voluble Justice Scalia, who had dominated Supreme Court arguments for nearly 30 years, somehow liberated Justice Thomas and allowed him to resume participating in the court's most public activity." ...

... CW: OR maybe Thomas just finally had something important to say:

... Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: "Monday's case involved a federal law that bans people convicted of domestic violence from owning a gun.... When Thomas spoke, the questioning of Assistant Solicitor General Ilana H. Eisenstein was just winding down.... 'Ms. Eisenstein, just one question,' Thomas said. '... this is a misdemeanor violation. It suspends a constitutional right. Can you give me another area where a misdemeanor violation suspends a constitutional right?'... Thomas again pointed out that the case involves a 'misdemeanor violation of domestic conduct that results in a lifetime ban on possession of a gun, which, at least as of now, is still a constitutional right.'... Thomas then went on to ask a number of follow-up questions and pointed out that neither of the men challenging the gun ban ... had a weapon in the domestic violence incidents for which they were convicted." ...

... Paul Waldman: "So just to clarify, after 10 years he finally spoke up in defense of the right of domestic abusers to buy guns. Inspiring!" ...

... Garrett Epps of the Atlantic: "... Monday's surprise is powerful evidence that the Court today is a different place than it was on February 12. (If you doubt me, consider that no justice on the current court has ever sat on it without Scalia.)" ...

... Robert Barnes: The Supreme Court considers the ethics of judicial recusal.

Katie Benner of the New York Times: "A federal judge denied the United States government's request to open an Apple iPhone in a drug case in New York, a move that gives Apple's pro-privacy stance a boost and that has implications for other cases where federal investigators are trying to get data from tech companies. Magistrate Judge James Orenstein in New York's Eastern District said in a ruling on Monday that the United States government couldn't use a law called the All Writs Act to force Apple to hack into an iPhone that was seized in connection with a drug case. The government overstepped what the All Writs Act was intended for, the judge wrote." ...

... Sam Thielman & Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The war of words between Apple and US law enforcement escalated again on Monday as their fight over personal versus national security prepared to move beyond the courthouse and into the halls of Congress. In testimony released ahead of a hotly anticipated congressional hearing, Apple's chief attorney argued that helping unlock an iPhone used by a terrorist in San Bernardino will ultimately create more crime. New York's chief prosecutor said the company's devices were beyond the law and urged Congress to pass new legislation keeping encryption keys to user data in the hands of the tech giants."

** Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "... a massive group of Americans ... reject any label or affiliation to describe their faith. At 23 percent of the U.S. population, this left-leaning group called 'Nones' are the Democratic parallel to the GOP's white evangelicals -- except without organization, PACs, leadership and a clear agenda. They do, however, have one big expectation of political candidates: Be ethical, and go light on the God talk."

Helene Cooper & Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Recent gains against the Islamic State in eastern Syria have helped sever critical supply lines to Iraq and set the stage for what will be the biggest fight yet against the Sunni militancy, the battle to retake Mosul, Pentagon officials said on Monday."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. New York Times: "A webpage that masqueraded as a New York Times article and claimed that Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts had endorsed Bernie Sanders for president circulated widely on social media on Monday.... The fake news article, which mimicked The Times's typefaces and design and included the bylines of two of the newspaper's political reporters, appeared with the headline 'Warren Endorses Sanders, Breaking With Colleagues.'... Many readers appeared to be taken in.... The Times has asked Clone Zone, which displays examples of other fake Times articles, to take down the page as well as any others intended to mimic The Times."

Presidential Race

Jonathan Martin & Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "Voters in 12 states go to the polls on Tuesday as Donald J. Trump and Hillary Clinton, who have had the most success in the early nominating contests, look to extend their delegate leads over their nearest rivals. Here are some of the things we will be watching." ...

... Harry Enten has 538's "super guide to Super Tuesday -- Republican edition" here & Democratic edition here.

Jeffrey Frank of the New Yorker: Parties like it's 1964 all over again.

Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "More than half a million registered Texans don't have the right ID to vote on Super Tuesday.... Out of the 13 states holding primaries or caucuses, there are five where voters will face new rules: Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. The laws range from asking voters to present photo IDs at the polls to requiring proof of citizenship when registering to vote."

Something to Think about Today. Jennifer Agiesta of CNN: "Both of the remaining Democratic candidates for president easily top Republican front-runner Donald Trump in hypothetical general election match-ups, according to a new CNN/ORC Poll. But Hillary Clinton, who is well ahead in the Democratic race for the presidency, would likely face a stronger challenge should Florida Sen. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz capture the Republican nomination for president.... Sanders -- who enjoys the most positive favorable rating of any presidential candidate in the field, according to the poll -- tops all three Republicans by wide margins: 57% to 40% against Cruz, 55% to 43% against Trump, and 53% to 45% against Rubio."

Secret Tapes! Ben Smith of BuzzFeed: "The New York Times is sitting on an audio recording that some of its staff believes could deal a serious blow to Donald Trump, who, in an off-the-record meeting with the newspaper, called into question whether he would stand by his own immigration views.... On Saturday, columnist Gail Collins, one of the attendees at the meeting..., floated a bit of speculation in her column: 'The most optimistic analysis of Trump as a presidential candidate is that he just doesn't believe in positions, except the ones you adopt for strategic purposes when you're making a deal. So you obviously can't explain how you're going to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants, because it's going to be the first bid in some future monster negotiation session.' Sources familiar with the recording and transcript -- which have reached near-mythical status at the Times -- tell me that the second sentence is a bit more than speculation. It reflects, instead, something Trump said about the flexibility of his hardline anti-immigration stance." However, Smith doesn't know what Trump said. ...

... Dave Weigel of the Washington Post: "... Rubio allies and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) have demanded answers from Trump on BuzzFeed's report that the candidate had more immigration wiggle room than he'd admitted.... Joe Pounder, the opposition researcher who has become Rubio's most effective messenger on Twitter, led a volley of Rubio supporters in pushing the story." ...

     ... CW: Since the candidates are playing in the schoolyard, let me join in by saying that I can't believe the guy who fed Marco the line about Trump's teensy-weensy dick is really named Joe Pounder. Is this entire campaign season a farce writ large? Are we all being had? ...

     ... Weigel, BTW, speculates, based on sound evidence, on what Trump may have told the Times. ...

     ... UDDATE: Dave Weigel: Sean Hannity, inquiring reporter, asked Trump Monday night about the secret tapes. Part of the answer: "The most dishonest media group [that would be the Times].... It's negotiable.... I'll be honest with you -- I'll make the wall two feet shorter, or something. I mean, everything's negotiable." ...

"Guard chokeslams photographer at Trump rally in Virginia." Yes, that's a real headline on a real news site. Jonathan Swan of the Hill: "A photographer was slammed down on a table by someone who appears to be a security guard during a Donald Trump rally Monday in Virginia. A short video of the encounter was posted on Twitter by Independent Journal reporter Joe Perticone and other reporters. The photographer, Time magazine's Christopher Morris, ended up on the ground, kicking out his legs at a man in a gray suit who was trying to hold him. It was not immediately clear who the man in the gray suit was working for. A video of the incident posted on Instagram showed the guard clearly grabbing Morris by the neck before slamming him down on a table. The video has now been taken down.... Trump's campaign issued a statement indicating that the security agent involved in the incident was with the U.S. Secret Service...." ...

... This raw video is stunning:

     ... Here's Time's response to the altercation. ...

... Fenit Nirappil of the Washington Post : "A Donald Trump rally in southwest Virginia on the eve of Super Tuesday turned nasty, with repeated disruptions by protesters, and a scuffle between a Secret Service agent and a photographer.... Trump was describing how he would react to companies like Carrier moving air conditioner production to Mexico when he was interrupted by commotion in nearby bleachers. The crowd was jeering at an apparent protester. 'Are you from Mexico?' he repeatedly shouted at the woman as she stepped down from the bleachers." ...

... CW: If you watch Trump & the Mob in the video above, take a moment to recall how an actual President handles protesters who interrupt him. The linked video is one of at least a dozen similar examples of how President Obama has treated disruptive demonstrators. This isn't a difference of style; it's a difference between a scary, mob-inciting demagogue & a responsible leader. Trump says the tumult is kind of fun; there is nothing in that video that is remotely amusing. ...

... Here's another shocker. Standing While Black. Jennifer Jacobs of the Des Moines Register: "About 30 black students who were standing silently at the top of the bleachers at Donald Trump's rally [in Valdosta, Georgia,] Monday night were escorted out by Secret Service agents who said the presidential candidate had requested their removal before he began speaking. The sight of the students, who were visibly upset, being led outside by law enforcement officials created a stir at a university that was a whites-only campus until 1963. 'We didn't plan to do anything,' said a tearful Tahjila Davis, a 19-year-old mass media major, who was among the Valdosta State University students who was removed. 'They said, "This is Trump's property; it's a private event." But I paid my tuition to be here.'... Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks in an email late Monday night denied that the students were shown the door 'at the request of the candidate.'" ...

... CW: I want to know why the Secret Service, whose members are bound to uphold the Constitution, are muscling journalists (First Amendment) & excluding black Americans (13th, 14th, 15th). If you wonder if President Trump could get away with ditching our Constitutional rights, this is a preview. Last Friday, former CIA director Michael Hayden said he could foresee situations in which the military would refuse to act on orders from a President Trump (linked in the February 29 Commentariat). As revolutionary as that sounds, it appears Hayden was being optimistic. ...

     ... 12 noon ET UPDATE: I've been talking to a couple of WashPo reporters about this, & they tell me they've now learned that it wasn't the Secret Service who ousted the black students but "security officials." ...

     ... Update Update: Jacobs' story has been updated to indicate it was Trump's people who removed the students, with help from local police. Note that Trump's spokesperson denied they had anything to do with it, & it turns out the Trump people had everything to do with it.

... Trumpolini. Bushbot Michael Gerson of the Washington Post has a pretty good column outlining Trump's longstanding admiration for authoritarianism. "This is more than a personality disorder talking. Trump roots his intimidation in a worldview -- the need for the strong hand.... We have seen the lengths to which Trump will go to threaten and intimidate his enemies, armed mainly with social media. It seems reckless beyond reason -- reckless with the republic itself -- to arm him with the immense power of the executive branch." Gerson calls Trump "a cut-rate Mussolini." CW: Not sure about the "cut-rate" part. ...

... Roger Cohen of the New York Times: "Europe, the soil on which Fascism took root, is watching the rise of Donald Trump with dismay. Contempt for the excesses of America is a European reflex, but when the United States seems tempted by a latter-day Mussolini, smugness in London, Paris and Berlin gives way to alarm. Europe knows that democracies can collapse."

Tom Hamburger & Michael Kranish of the Washington Post follow up on John Oliver's takedown of Donald Drumpf: "Within 18 months [of Donald Trump's launch of Trump Mortgage LLC in the spring of 2006], as the experts' worst fears began to pan out and home prices began to dip, Trump Mortgage closed, leaving some bills unpaid and a spotty sales record that fell short of Trump's lofty predictions. Trump distanced himself from the firm's demise, saying at the time that he had not been involved in the company's management and that its executives had performed poorly." ...

... CW: Perhaps trying to balance the Mussolini quote he tweeted Sunday, on Monday Donald Trump claimed to cite Mahatma Gandhi in an Instagram post: "First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win." Trouble is, Gandhi never said that, tho it often has been misattributed to him.

... Kevin Drum on Joe Scarborough's sudden about-face on the Drumpfenfallen: "Scarborough has probably done more than any other single human being to help Trump get where he is. And he's only now noticing that Trump's bigoted rhetoric has turned out to be pretty popular among the Republican base?... Aside from a brief spat with Trump over his proposed ban on Muslims,* Scarborough has been practically a one-man super-PAC pushing Trump's candidacy." ...

     ... * Steve M.: And, no, Scarborough did not hang up on Trump for his anti-Muslim comments, as Scarborough claims in his WashPo op-ed, linked yesterday. Rather, he went to commercial break because Joe felt Trump was being rude to Mika, who was asking the questions about Muslim bigotry. "... this is more about rescuing Scarborough's own reputation than it is about condemning Trump." Read the whole post. ...

... Manu Raju of CNN: "Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn raised serious concerns Monday about Donald Trump's surging presidential bid, becoming the highest-ranking congressional Republican to express fears about the real estate mogul's candidacy. 'We can't have a nominee be an albatross around the down-ballot races,' Cornyn told CNN when asked if he had concerns about the prospect of Trump winning the GOP race. 'That's a concern of mine.'" Cornyn has not officially endorsed a candidate for president.

Great Moments in American History. CW: We should all pause in recognition of the historic moment that a sitting U.S. senator & a leading candidate for president of the United States belittled in public the size of the penis of one of his rivals. The dick in question may be of indeterminate size & functionality, but the willingness of one candidate to make penis jokes about another is yuuuuge. ...

... Ed O'Keefe & Dave Weigel of the Washington Post agree: "In the run-up to Super Tuesday, Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Tex.) are hurling deeply personal attacks about one another's appearances and personal backgrounds -- amounting to a level of petty and profane discourse unprecedented in a presidential campaign.... Republican Party leaders fear that the deteriorating tone of the race could have longer-term implications." ...

... Eric Levitz of New York: "'He's always calling me "little Marco,"' Rubio said, while reading strong> Trump's Twitter feed at a rally in Virgina on Sunday. 'I'll admit he's taller than me. He's like 6'2", which is why I don't understand why his hands are the size of someone who's 5'2". Have you seen his hands? And you know what they say about men with small hands?' Rubio's supporters, realizing that their presidential candidate had just suggested that the other presidential candidate has an unusually small penis, roared with approval." ...

... digby cites national polling that shows Trump is gaining ground & Rubio is slipping: "Rubio's attacks came very late and are, in my opinion, the wrong kind for someone like him. He's too fresh faced and callow to get away with schoolyard taunts. Now, if Christie had been in his position it might have worked. But Rubio had enough trouble being seen as a mature, presidential-level leader. This doesn't help. He should have attacked him quite seriously on his honesty about his business record. That's the foundation on which the Trump mystique relies and if he'd been able to show it for the house of cards it really is he might gotten headway. Cheap dick jokes only work for bully boys like Christie and Trump."

Samuel Lieberman of New York: "The mostly but perhaps not entirely dismissible case against Ted Cruz's eligibility to run for president will begin to unfold on Tuesday in front of New York State Supreme Court Justice David Weinstein. He'll be hearing arguments in a lawsuit filed by two New Yorkers who claim that the junior senator from Texas, born in Calgary to an American mother and Cuban father, is not a 'natural-born U.S. citizen,' and thus is constitutionally disallowed from becoming president of the United States." CW: Whaddaya bet Joe Pounder, via an intermediary, has filed a "friend of the court" brief supporting the petitioners. Knocking Ted off the ballot could do wonders for Marco's chances.

Heidi M Przybyla of USA Today: "Hillary Clinton's main target is Sen. Bernie Sanders no more.... The former secretary of State is lambasting the Republican primary field on everything from health care to 'hateful rhetoric' and gun control as she prepares for a series of Tuesday contests expected to help tighten her grip on the Democratic presidential nomination." ...

... Amy Chozick & Patrick Healy of the New York Times: "... groups that support Mrs. Clinton [are] preparing to script and test ads that would portray Mr. Trump as a misogynist and an enemy to the working class whose brash temper would put the nation and the world in grave danger. The plan is for those themes to be amplified later by two prominent surrogates: To fight Mr. Trump's ability to sway the news cycle, [Bill] Clinton would not hold back on the stump, and President Obama has told allies he would gleefully portray Mr. Trump as incapable of handling the duties of the Oval Office."

Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "The State Department on Monday released the last 3,871 pages of emails Clinton exchanged using a private server while she was secretary of state, ending a months-long review of her correspondence that concluded that more than 2,000 classified emails traversed Clinton's email server.... According to information released Monday by the State Department, Clinton's emails totaled 52,402 pages and included 2,101 emails that had been redacted in all or part because they contained material that was deemed classified."

John Wagner of the Washington Post: "On the eve of Super Tuesday, Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders took a jab at rival Hillary Clinton for the 'substantial sums' a super PAC supporting her has collected from corporate interests and reiterated his plans to stay in the race until voters in all 50 states have spoken." ...

... Jonathan Bernstein of Bloomberg: Sanders will "have to start thinking now, however, how he can best serve the 'revolution' he espouses. Does he really want to take his revolution into loss after loss in the remaining primaries and caucuses? Does he believe trying to pick off a handful of states is the best use of all of those small contributions he is so proud to have garnered?... Sanders hasn't been a national leader during his long political career. He is one now. He has to decide what he will do with his new influence."

CW: Peter Beinart of the Atlantic, who has the unique ability to be insightful one moment & completely daft the next, has succumbed to the Daft Side & recommended that Democrats -- in states that allow it -- abandon their own party today & vote for Marco Rubio to "save" the Republican party from Donald Trump. ...

... Here's what digby says about that. ...

... AND here's what Steve M. says. ...

CW: Needless to say, I'm with digby & Steve. Vote. Vote for Bernie, vote for Hillary, but for the good of the nation, don't vote for Marco.

News Ledes

Washington Post: "Osama bin Laden left a will indicating that he had about $29 million in Sudan, with detailed instructions to 'spend all the money I have left' continuing the global terror campaign he had led, according to newly released documents recovered by the United States from the compound in Pakistan where the al-Qaeda chief was killed in 2011. The handwritten will and 112 other documents were released Tuesday by the office of the Director of National Intelligence -- a collection that also includes letters to subordinates in al-Qaeda, messages from followers willing to carry out suicide attacks, and screeds on issues including bin Laden's conviction that the United States and Iran were poised for war." ...

... The New York Times story, which concentrates on different documents, is here.

Reuters: "Alphabet Inc's ... Google said on Monday it bears 'some responsibility' after one of its self-driving cars struck a municipal bus in a minor crash earlier this month. The crash may be the first case of one of its autonomous cars hitting another vehicle and the fault of the self-driving car. The Mountain View, California-based Internet search leader said it made changes to its software after the crash to avoid future incidents."