The Commentariat -- August 11, 2014

Internal links removed.

Lolita Baldor & Julie Pace of the AP: "The Obama administration has begun directly providing weapons to Kurdish forces who have started to make gains against Islamic militants in northern Iraq, senior U.S. officials said Monday. Previously, the U.S. had insisted on only selling arms to the Iraqi government in Baghdad, but the Kurdish peshmerga fighters had been losing ground to Islamic State militants in recent weeks. The officials wouldn't say which U.S. agency is providing the arms or what weapons are being sent, but one official said it isn't the Pentagon. The CIA has historically done similar quiet arming operations.... The administration is also very close to approving plans for the Pentagon to arm the Kurds, a senior official said." ...

... Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The weaponry is said to be light arms and ammunition, brokered not through the department of defense -- which supplies Baghdad and its security forces with heavy weaponry -- but the Central Intelligence Agency, which is better positioned to supply the Kurdish peshmerga with Russian-made guns like AK-47s that the US military does not use." CW: It's unclear to me whether Ackerman has done additional reporting to confirm the CIA's role or whether he is interpreting the AP story. ...

... President Obama, Saturday, on the U.S. effort in Iraq:

... Terrence Mccoy of the Washington Post: Nuri al-"Maliki, critic& after critic says, has ... shown himself to be a bullish and sectarian political player, one who has alienated or ousted many Kurds and Sunnis from his Shiite-dominated government -- a move that contributed to the rise of the Islamic State. And even after Mosul's fall earlier this year, when such criticism intensified, Maliki didn't temper such unrest with Sunni appointments, soothing words or conciliation.... On Sunday night, the U.S. government announced it was done with Maliki, throwing its support behind President Fuad Masum." ...

Juan Cole, on al-Maliki's move, which looks suspiciously like the beginnings of an attempted coup. ....

We used to restrain Maliki all the time. U.S. Lt. Gen. Michael Barbero, deputy commander in Iraq until January 2011

... In this fascinating piece, Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker (April 2014) illuminates how an unnamed C.I.A. agent, with backing from Dubya's Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad, chose al-Maliki as Iraq's PM, & how the U.S., under both the Bush & Obama administrations, "created a dictator." ...

... Tim Arango & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times on "Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the self-appointed caliph of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and the architect of its violent campaign to redraw the map of the Middle East.... At every turn, Mr. Baghdadi's rise has been shaped by the United States' involvement in Iraq -- most of the political changes that fueled his fight, or led to his promotion, were born directly from some American action. And now he has forced a new chapter of that intervention, after ISIS' military successes and brutal massacres of minorities in its advance prompted President Obama to order airstrikes in Iraq." ...

... Jeffrey Goldberg of the Atlantic: Hillary Clinton "outlines her foreign-policy doctrine. She says this about President Obama's: 'Great nations need organizing principles, and "Don't do stupid stuff" is not an organizing principle.... She used her sharpest language yet to describe the 'failure' that resulted from the [Obama administration] decision to keep the U.S. on the sidelines during the first phase of the Syrian uprising." ...

... CW: What Clinton, & millions of other people, BTW, fail to understand is that in 99 cases out of 100, there is not a "right answer," (though Clinton does admit she's not sure arming the rebels would have stopped ISIS, so she's not an imbecile of the McCain variety). One rare, obvious "right answer" is aiding the Yazidi. But helping Syrian moderates -- as Clinton wuld have done -- would not make ISIS extremists less extreme. You can of course suppress such extremism by various forceful means, as Saddam did for years (and as Clinton suggests doing here), but you have to win hearts & minds to effect lasting change. Force is seldom, if ever, the way to change opinion; rather, it solidifies the views of the opposition, giving them more weapons in their ideological arsenal & making them more extreme. Obama gets this. On the other hand, accommodating extremists doesn't help, either. Obama learned the hard way -- as he tried again & again to accommodate U.S. right-wing extremism. "Don't do stupid shit" is in fact both a strategy as well as a philosophy; it's a crude expression of political realism. ...

... Margaret Hartmann of New York: "... no Clinton interview would be complete without a vague admission that she's running in 2016.... When asked about her own 'organizing principle,' she unveiled a potential campaign slogan: 'Peace, progress, and prosperity.' ... That's definitely an old-fashioned idea. MSNBC notes that 'Peace, prosperity, and progress' was the slogan for Dwight Eisenhower's 1956 campaign, and 'prosperity and progress' was Al Gore's campaign slogan in 2000." CW: Hey, it nearly worked for Al. If only he had added "peace," those Nader voters in Florida probably would have gone for Gore.

Paul Krugman: "Often -- not always, of course, but far more often than the free-market faithful would have you believe -- there is, in fact, a good reason for the government to get involved. Pollution controls are the simplest example, but not unique.... Commonly, self-proclaimed libertarians deal with the problem of market failure both by pretending that it doesn't happen and by imagining government as much worse than it really is.... You shouldn't believe talk of a rising libertarian tide; despite America's growing social liberalism, real power on the right still rests with the traditional alliance between plutocrats and preachers. But libertarian visions of an unregulated economy do play a significant role in political debate...." Krugman also provides reminders, as if we need them, that Almost-Veep Paul Ryan & Red State's Erik Erickson are always colossally wrong. ...

... Also, there are excellent comments in the August 9 Comments section -- too many to pull forward -- re: Krugman's thesis.

Adam Nagourney of the New York Times: "Republicans, who had appeared to hit a high-water mark in control of statehouses in recent years, are seeking to pick off another half-dozen chambers this year, taking advantage of President Obama's persistent unpopularity, anxiety about the economy, and a history of anemic turnout among Democrats in nonpresidential election years. In addition, the party that controls the White House almost always loses seats in statehouses in those years.... This looming battle is a reminder of the enduring political import of the 2010 midterm elections, in which Republicans, powered by the Tea Party and anger over Mr. Obama's health care program, picked up control of 23 state legislatures. These were the legislatures that oversaw redrawing legislative and congressional district lines in most states, typically in favor of the party in power, which has only enhanced their electoral prospects this year." ...

... ** Jason Zengerle of the New Republic writes a compelling, report that puts the GOP's Southern resurgence & ownership of state legislatures in its historical context.

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd.

Lame-Stream Media Rising. CW: For those of you holding out hope that any of the major teevee networks could restore some heft & credibility to the Sunday morning news desert, I have come to dash your dreams. Mike Allen (not exactly the pride of journalism himself, as he demonstrates once again in his "conventional wisdom" hat-tip to Russert) of Politico: "Chuck Todd, a political obsessive and rabid sports fan, is the likely successor to David Gregory as moderator of 'Meet the Press,' with the change expected to be announced in coming weeks, according to top political sources. The move is an effort by NBC News President Deborah Turness to restore passion and insider cred to a network treasure that has been adrift since the death in 2008 of the irreplaceable Tim Russert." ...

... AND, as reminder of what Todd thinks of journalism -- Tom Kludt of TPM (September 2013): "MSNBC host Chuck Todd said ... that when it comes to misinformation about the new federal health care law, don't expect members of the media to correct the record.... He disagrees with those who argue that the media should educate the public on the law. According to Todd, that's President Barack Obama's job." ... CW: Todd not only practices he-said/she-said "journalism," he embraces it. Letting "both sides" spin their spin is part of his credo. It's step-aside "journalism." In Todd's view, the Fourth Estate should act as mute observer-recorder, not as a vital check-and-balance to government actors. There has never been a time, of course, when supposed journalists didn't serve as lapdogs or mouthpieces for politicians, but for a major network news organization -- according to Allen -- to imply that such a practice would "restore passion and insider cred" to its news operation is pretty discouraging. And, no, I wasn't expecting them to tap Rachel Maddow. ...

... Update. Driftglass on the Ascension of Todd: "And so [NBC's] decision to stroll 90 feet past David Gregory's office to find another NBC Village-sanctioned 'Both Sides' delivery system for their weekly 'newsmakers and political junkies' Centrist porn makes perfect sense... The problem is that somewhere people with wealth and power -- the people who are footing the bill for all of this -- remain enthralled by the same, monstrous production of the same grotesque lie over and over and over again. The problem is that somewhere those people are still standing and applauding, and will go right on standing and applauding whether their 'Both Sides' fairy tales are reflected back to them through the lens of David Gregory or Chuck Todd or Joe Scarborough or a Pekingese riding a pachyderm." CW: Read the whole post for a fabulous demo of the "both sides" NBC "News" philosophy, as rendered by Poor Greggers in a "Press the Meat" dialog with Chuck hisself (Turness apparently likes to twist the knife. Poor Greggers).

Danielle Rhoades-Ha of the New York Times. Press Release: "The New York Times announced today that Maureen Dowd is joining The Times Magazine as a staff writer. The move will mark Ms. Dowd's return to her roots as a narrative journalist and is the first in a series of expected announcements regarding the magazine's major redesign, set for early 2015. Ms. Dowd will also continue to write her weekly Sunday opinion column." ...

... Joe Coscarelli of New York runs down "Maureen Dowd's greatest hits (as a reporter).

Beyond the Beltway

AP: "A federal judge has extended a months-long moratorium on executions in Ohio into next year as questions mount about the effectiveness of a new, two-drug combination being used to carry out the death penalty."

The Washington Post liveblogs Day 11 of the corruption trial of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell & his wife Maureen.

News Ledes

Los Angeles Times: "Robin Williams, a comic and sitcom star in the 1970s who became an Oscar-winning dramatic actor, died Monday at 63 in Marin County. The Marin County Sheriff's Office said he appears to have committed suicide. The news of the beloved actor's death rocked the nation. Channels broke into their usual programming to make the announcement, and within minutes, he dominated online trending topics. Williams was hailed as a comic genius was a star of both movies and television for more than three decades. But he also suffered from substance abuse problems."

Wall Street Journal: "Islamist extremists who have overrun swaths of Iraq made a rare retreat in an area hit by U.S. airstrikes and gave up some territory they had won from Kurdish forces, in an early sign of impact from the three-day-old American campaign."

New York Times: "Iraq's president on Monday formally nominated a candidate to replace Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, a political breakthrough that also seemed to take Iraq into uncharted territory, as Mr. Maliki gave no signal that he was willing to relinquish power. The nomination of Haider al-Abadi, who is a member of Mr. Maliki's Shiite Islamist Dawa Party, came hours after a dramatic late-night television appearance in which a defiant Mr. Maliki challenged the Iraqi president, Fuad Masum, and threatened legal action for not choosing him as the nominee."

The Commentariat -- August 9, 2014

Internal links removed.

CW: No more postings until late Sunday, & light postings for a few days thereafter. I'm traveling for a few days & taking a vacation for a few more.

New York Times: President Obama talks to Tom Friedman. ...

... Michael Shear & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "President Obama said Friday that he was open to supporting a sustained effort to drive Sunni militants out of Iraq if Iraqi leaders form a more inclusive government, even as he vowed that the United States had no intention of 'being the Iraqi air force.'" ...

... Mark Landler, et al., of the New York Times on what led to President Obama's decision in Iraq. ...

... Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post -- same subject. ...

Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "President Obama's decision Friday to launch airstrikes in Iraq reflected an important shift for a president who had spent months making the case for how the United States could achieve its foreign policy objectives without the use of force. His conclusion: Sometimes there is no substitute for military might." ...

... Julie Davis & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "President Obama drew bipartisan support on Friday from members of Congress for his decision to authorize military strikes in Iraq, but the backing was tempered with substantial concern -- including within Mr. Obama's own party -- about his strategy for the operation. Republicans suggested that the administration had acted too slowly and timidly to confront the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, and now was moving too cautiously against the group. Some said he should not rule out ground troops. Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio accused the president of 'parochial thinking' that had emboldened the enemy and 'squanders the sacrifices Americans have made.'" ...

... CW: Hah! There is no "thinker" more "parochial" than John Boehner, whose worldview doesn't extend beyond John Boehner. ...

... AND then there's Not-President (Thank God) John McCain, in a class by himself (thank god). Josh Rogin of the Daily Beast: "President Obama's limited strikes on ISIS in northern Iraq are 'pinpricks' that are 'meaningless' and 'worse than nothing,' according to one of his fiercest foreign policy critics, Sen. John McCain. ...

... Juan Cole: "Obama's hope that the so-called 'Islamic State' can be stopped by US air power is likely forlorn. The IS is a guerrilla force, not a conventional army. But one thing is certain. A US-policed no fly zone or no go zone over Iraqi Kurdistan is a commitment that cannot easily be withdrawn and could last decades, embroiling the US in further conflict." Cole provides some evidence for his assertion.

Peter Hermann of the Washington Post: "The death on Monday of James S. Brady, the press secretary for President Ronald Reagan who was wounded in an assassination attempt in 1981, has been ruled a homicide by gunshot by the Virginia medical examiner's office, according to District police department's chief spokeswoman. There was no immediate word on whether the shooter, John W. Hinckley, who has been treated at St. Elizabeths psychiatric hospital, could face new criminal charges. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity after he shot Reagan and three others on March 30, 1981."

Michael Liedtke of the AP: "A federal judge rejected as too low a $324.5 million settlement of a class-action lawsuit alleging Google and Apple conspired with several other technology companies to block their top workers from getting better job offers.The Friday ruling by U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh concludes the more than 60,000 high-tech workers represented in the 3-year-old lawsuit deserve to be paid more money, based on the evidence indicating their earning power was undermined by the collusion among their employers."

Conservative legal scholar Jonathan Adler in the Washington Post: "Many Republicans and conservatives are upset with the Administration's approach to immigration, in particular the deferred deportation of illegal immigrants. There may well be good policy arguments against Obama's policies, but there's a strong case the actual law is on the president's side.... Immigration law is an area in which -- for good or ill -- Congress has given the executive wide latitude." ...

... Greg Sargent interviews attorney John Sandweg, who helped write the DACA or DREAMers order President Obama signed. Sandweg says, "The president is doing what every single law enforcement agency across the country does: Put in place rational priorities to ensure that limited resources are focused on the populations that pose the greatest threat to public safety and border security.... ICE officers have always exercised discretion.... If you choose to expend resources on those who have been here 15 years and have never committed a criminal offense, that means somebody who has committed a felony is more likely to be able to stay in the U.S.... Longstanding law already allows for individuals who are granted deferred action to gain work authorization." Read the whole interview, plus Sargent's queries of "immigration reform advocate" David Leopold.

CW: Gee, I just got my weekly report, "This Week in News for Senator Rand Paul." It was "Dr. Rand Paul did this" & "Dr. Rand met with So-&-So." But not a word about "The Real New This Week for Senator Rand Paul." No GIF! No video of his running away from young DREAMers! Maybe Dr. Sen. Rand Paul didn't read his press clippings. Maybe Dr. Rand Paul needs to get his eyes examined. ...

... CW: Li'l Randy has some ideas on immigration, which he failed to share with those DREAMer young people, likely because he would send them back where their parents came from. I have allowed Charles Pierce to illuminate, since the original story comes from Breitbart "News," & I don't want to encourage those people. It turns out that, according to Paul, the immigrant crisis is only partly President Obama's fault (for letting some DREAMers stay in the U.S.); Rick Perry shares the blame! (Oddly, this particular radio interview does not make the cut on "This Week in News for Sen. Rand Paul.") As Pierce notes, we are not "we are living through the libertarian moment, at least as represented by Senator Aqua Buddha. This is because 'the libertarian moment' is a scam."

... Sam Biddle of Gawker: "Is there any way to keep white people from using computers, before this whole planet is ruined? I ask because the two enterprising white entrepreneurs above just made yet another app for avoiding non-white areas of your town -- and it's really taking off! Crain's reports on SketchFactor, a racist app made for avoiding 'sketchy' neighborhoods, which is the term young white people use to describe places where they don't feel safe because they watched all five seasons of The Wire."

Paul Waldman on the New York Times' decision to call torture, torture: "when [executive editor Dean] Baquet says the Times 'avoided a label that was still in dispute,' what he's saying is that the paper essentially outsourced its judgment on what is and isn't torture to the Bush administration. All that was required to put the matter 'in dispute' was for the administration to declare, beyond all reason and common sense, that things like waterboarding, sleep deprivation, and stress positions aren't torture.... So, presumably, if tomorrow the Obama administration decided to refer to Republicans as 'the Hater party,' the Times would no longer use the term 'Republican' in its pages, because now that's 'in dispute.'" ...

     ... CW: AND one does have to wonder why the Times doesn't consider the name of the Democratic party "in dispute," inasmuch as Republicans call it the "Democrat party," which they seem to think is some kind of cleverly derogatory epithet.

Richard Leiby of the Washington Post reviews John Dean's new book The Nixon Defense, which is based on Watergate tapes. "The historical value of Dean's book -- which unspools as a practically moment-by-moment chronicle of the White House machinations starting soon after the break-in -- is one thing. The sheer entertainment value of the tapes he quotes is another." CW: The review itself is fairly entertaining.

Congressional Races

United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) International President Cecil E. Roberts is not amused that Mitch McConnell's wife Elaine Chao chose to sit on the Board of Bloomberg Philanthropies shortly after Bloomberg gave $50MM to the Sierra Club "to continue funding its campaign to keep new coal-fired power plants from opening and has supported other attacks on coal and coal miners' jobs.... One has to wonder just where Sen. McConnell is with respect to this, and whether he supports his wife's continued service on the board of this organization, one whose actions have already cost thousands of coal miners in Kentucky and elsewhere their jobs."

Chas Sisk of the Tennessean: "U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais declared victory in the Republican primary for the 4th Congressional District, as state officials hustled to finalize results from Thursday's vote. Robert Jameson, a spokesman for the DesJarlais campaign, said they do not believe enough ballots remain uncounted to shift the outcome of the race. DesJarlais holds a 35-vote lead over state Sen. Jim Tracy in an unofficial tally." CW: Got that? A 35-vote lead in an unofficial tally & he's sure he won. An asshole in too many ways to count. ...

... Gail Collins counts a few: "Wow, it appears that Republicans in Tennessee just gave a vote of confidence to a right-wing congressman-doctor who has a history of having sex with his patients and encouraging the women in his life to end inconvenient pregnancies by abortion.... As a member of Congress, DesJarlais eagerly and persistently urged that women be deprived of the right to do the very thing that he seems so enthusiastic about when an unwanted pregnancy interfered with his own life.... So, at best, we have a man who made a decision that worked for him at the time. Then he regretted it and changed his moral principles. Then he decided that nobody else was ever going to have the right to make that moral choice for herself, if he had anything to do with it. Some things are really unforgivable.... So how the heck did DesJarlais end up doing so well? Maybe it's just because he's already there.... Despite all the whining about unpredictable voters, a seat in Congress is still a hard thing to lose."

Beyond the Beltway

Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Prosecutors focused on secrecy on the 10th day of the [McDonnells corruption] trial, showing that [Jonnie] Williams kept his own company in the dark about the items he gave the McDonnells while also trying to prove that the McDonnells themselves took steps to hide their financial ties to the businessman.... To win a conviction, prosecutors must show the McDonnells were engaged in a corrupt bargain with Williams. They are allowed to use evidence they worked to conceal the arrangement to make their case." ...

... Theodore Schleifer of the New York Times: "The second week of the corruption trial against [Virginia Gov. Bob] McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, ended much like it began, with the character and foresight of his wealthy donor Jonnie R. Williams Sr. under fire. Mr. Williams is the star witness in the prosecution's case, which argues that Mr. McDonnell took official action to benefit Mr. Williams's dietary supplement, Anatabloc, in return for gifts and loans. On Friday, the chairman of the board of Mr. Williams's company, Star Scientific, testified that Mr. Williams had displayed 'the most egregious errors in judgment.'"

Ahiza Garcia of TPM: "A Democratic candidate for a judicial seat in Plainfield, Conn. was forced to answer questions about her husband this week after a watchdog group exposed his ties to the white supremacist movement.... '"What am I supposed to do? Divorce him? It's not unusual for husbands and wives to have different views,'" the candidate Anna Zubkova said. CW: Yes, dear. Divorce him. He's a reprehensible scum.

Manny Fernandez of the New York Times: "The [Texas anti-abortion] law will soon force El Paso's sole abortion clinic to shut its doors, leaving no abortion providers in all of West Texas. Opponents of the law said that would force women to embark on a lengthy drive to the nearest abortion provider in San Antonio. For women in El Paso, for example, it amounts to a nearly eight-hour, 550-mile trip one way. The state's lawyers said that no such burden would exist, and that no long drives would be necessary, because West Texas women can go to the New Mexico clinic, 15 miles outside El Paso. But the state's reliance on the New Mexico clinic is being disparaged by the law's critics, who say Texas' use of an out-of-state clinic is contrary to a recent abortion ruling in Mississippi. And it remained unclear whether the Santa Teresa clinic meets the new standards Texas has mandated."

Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times: "With Florida's election schedule in disarray after a judge ruled the state's congressional map unconstitutional, state lawmakers moved one step closer to resolving the uncertainty during a special session on Friday in Tallahassee. Redistricting committees for both the state House and Senate on Friday approved a redesigned congressional map -- drawn in private by the two Republican committee heads, members of their staff and outside lawyers -- that they expect will comply with the court's orders. The redrafted map makes relatively minor changes to the two congressional districts that were ordered redrawn: the Fifth District, held by Representative Corrine Brown, a Democrat, and the 10th District, held by Representative Daniel Webster, a Republican.

The Commentariat -- August 8, 2014

Internal links removed.

CW @ 10:15 am ET: There's a boatload of political news, people. Have you nothing to say about it? ...

     ... Update. Thank you very much, especially to P. D. Pepe, who got out of a sick bed to comment.

Today I authorized two operations in Iraq -- targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel, and a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death. -- Barack Obama, last night

Julie Pace & Robert Burns of the AP: "President Barack Obama says he has authorized the U.S. military to launch targeted airstrikes if Islamic militants advance toward American personnel in northern Iraq. He also has announced that the military carried out airdrops of humanitarian aid Thursday to Iraqi religious minorities threatened by the extremists. 'Today America is coming to help,' he said in a late night statement from the White House." ...

... The New York Times story, by Helene Cooper, et al., is here. Another Times story providing more background, by Peter Baker, is here:

     ... The transcript is here. ...

... Michael Crowley of Time: "Why not Syria? Or for that matter the Democratic Republic of Congo, or the Central African Republic, or anywhere else that innocents are dying every day? Because, Obama would surely say, the nature of those conflicts make limited U.S. intervention with clear and achievable goals impossible.... Just because we intervene in some places doesn't mean we have to intervene everywhere." ...

... NEW. Sarah Jones of Politics USA writes an extremely partisan, but useful, roundup of Republican reactions to President Obama's announcement.

Martin Matishak of the Hill: "President Obama on Thursday signed a $16.3 billion bill to overhaul the troubled Veterans Affairs Department, saying the country had a 'sacred duty' to protect its military service members. The bill, approved by Congress last week, would allow veterans to seek private care outside VA facilities, and would also provide money for the VA to hire more doctors and nurses. The effort came after reports that some veterans had waited months to get care from the VA.... During the ceremony, Obama also made his first public comments about the killing of Major Harold Greene, who was shot in Afghanistan on Tuesday.... 'Our prayers are with the Greene family, as they are with all the gold star families and those who've sacrificed so much for our nation,' Obama said. 'Now, four months from now, our combat mission to Afghanistan will be complete'":

Bad News for IRS Scandal-Mongers. Bernie Becker of the Hill: "A federal judge on Thursday delivered an early setback to a conservative group's lawsuit against the IRS, denying a request to allow an independent expert to search for former agency official Lois Lerner's missing emails. Judge Reggie Walton of the U.S. District Court in Washington ruled that the conservative group, True the Vote, had provided no evidence that the IRS had already intentionally destroyed evidence or would do so in the future. He added that approving True the Vote's request could jeopardize the confidentiality of taxpayer information, and complicate the efforts of an inspector general currently investigating what happened to Lerner's emails. 'The public interest weighs strongly against the type of injunctive relief the plaintiff seeks,' Walton, a George W. Bush nominee, wrote in his 17-page opinion filed Thursday." CW: I didn't realize this disgusting fake "voter integrity" group had branched out into IRS fake scandal territory. What fake cause will they take up next?

Another Nixonian Summer. Frank Rich: "... it's hard not to notice similarities [between Americans' attitudes toward Washington today and] the funk of [the Watergate] era: Vast economic uncertainty; the absence of leadership and governance in a polarized Washington; continued revelations of CIA crimes, from torture to illegal surveillance; the citizenry's disillusionment with unpopular, failed wars."

Tim Egan: "More than 250,000 acres have burned in the largest fire in [Washington] state's history, the Carlton Complex. About 300 homes have been destroyed. A small army of firefighters, at a cost of $50 million so far, is trying to hold the beast in the perimeter.... With this kind of loss comes blame. It's President Obama's fault. Why? Because everything is his fault in the inland West, where ignorance rides the airwaves of talk radio. Amid the conservative cant, a great irony: People who hate government most are the loudest voices demanding government action to save their homes.... Smart foresters had been warning for years that climate change, drought and stress would lead to bigger, longer, hotter wildfires.... If [you] want to put a face on this inaction, you can look no further than the member of Congress whose district in Washington State is now choked by smoke and harassed by flames -- [Rep.] Cathy McMorris Rodgers [R-Wash.].

** Paul Krugman: "For more than three decades, almost everyone who matters in American politics has agreed that higher taxes on the rich and increased aid to the poor have hurt economic growth.... But there's now growing evidence for a new view -- namely, that the whole premise of this debate is wrong, that there isn't actually any trade-off between equity and inefficiency. Why? ... American inequality has become so extreme that it's inflicting a lot of economic damage.... If you look systematically at the international evidence on inequality, redistribution, and growth -- which is what researchers at the I.M.F. did -- you find that lower levels of inequality are associated with faster, not slower, growth."

Janelle Marte of the Washington Post: "One in five people who are near retirement age have zero money saved.... The sobering statistic was one of many released by the Federal Reserve on Thursday as part of its report on the economic well-being of U.S. households, which surveyed more than 4,100 people online last year between mid-September and early October. The study offered a stark reminder that as more Americans are made responsible for their own retirement, most are not saving nearly enough.... [According to the Fed report,] 'The lack of preparedness is not signaled by a lack of planning alone. Many respondents, particularly those with limited incomes, indicated that they simply have few or no financial resources available for retirement.' ... The biggest resource people planned to rely on, whether they had savings or not, was Social Security, which was cited by roughly 45 percent of respondents." CW: But, but Social Security is an entitlement program, it should be privatized (because freeedom! [to starve to death on the street]) & it's going broke.

CW: Today in Agitprop. I seldom read articles whose headlines ask a question. Robert Draper's New York Times Magazine cover story -- "Has the 'Libertarian Moment' Finally Arrived?" -- did not inspire me to change my policy.... Jonathan Chait says the Draper piece is a crock, largely dictated by Reason magazine & its skewed poll "findings.": "Draper's story presents the libertarians' self-conception in their preferred terms." ...

... Rand Paul, Pragmatically Anti-Gay. If you tell people from Alabama, Mississippi or Georgia, 'You know what, guys, we've been wrong, and we're gonna be the pro-gay-marriage party,' they're either gonna stay home or -- I mean, many of these people joined the Republican Party because of these social issues. So I don't think we can completely flip.... I think the party will evolve. It'll either continue to lose, or it’ll become a bigger place where there's a mixture of opinions. -- Rand Paul, to Robert Draper

Not sure suggesting people from Alabama, Mississippi & Georgia are seriously Cro Magnon will help Paul's primary chances there, but at least his assessment is accurate. I admire the way Randy suggests he has "evolved," without actually saying he's evolved. Kinda like running away from a Steve King-DREAMers confrontation, then claiming you had to rush to an interview. Has anyone seen or read that interview? -- Constant Weader

Mo Brooks, recently delivered from obscurity by his claim that Democrats are waging a War on Whites, is intent on extending his 15 minutes. Ahiza Garcia of TPM: "Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) said during a radio interview on Wednesday that his party's efforts to court Hispanic voters amount to 'race-baiting.' The Huffington Post reported that the comments came in response to a passage from the Republican National Committee's Growth and Opportunity Book 2013, that was read aloud by the National Journal's Ron Fournier, who was also a guest on the show." CW: Maybe we should mention to Mo that "Hispanic" is not a race or ethnicity. ...

... Charles Pierce writes a classic Piercian response: "Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama, who got in a little trouble the other day when he said that the president was waging a 'war on whites,' has apparently decided to go Full Peckerwood just for the pure hell of it. Next up, why the alleged Republican outreach to Hispanic voters is...wait for it...race-baiting! And, god help us, he did so in response to Ron Fournier, who undoubtedly chalked it up to the president's failure to 'lead' Brooks away from his previous job as a cave painter." CW: I so hope Mo is reading his press clippings. Fournier, too.

The Grand Old Deportation Party. David Nakamura & Sebastian Payne of the Washington Post: "The [immigration] crisis has empowered conservatives, whose more restrictionist views on the crisis and the broader issue of dealing with the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the country have taken precedence in the party. House Republicans are pushing for more deportations, and several of the party's prospective 2016 White House contenders are moving to align themselves with the GOP's pro-enforcement wing.... The strategy runs counter to the party's announcement -- after losing the presidential race two years ago -- that its future depends largely on broadening its appeal to minority groups...."

Jonathan Capehart: "Herman Cain made no sense when he ran for the 2012 Republican nomination for president.... But Cain made absolute sense when he talked about the state of the tea party on Fox News yesterday. 'The tea party movement is alive and well. Now, I never expected tea party-backed candidates ... to take Congress by storm,' he said. 'But I think the key thing is it's causing many of the incumbents to move more to the right relative to what the tea party message is.' Truer words have never been spoken, especially by Mr. 999." ...

... ** Paul Waldman: "The Tea Party wins when it wins, and it wins when it loses. Five years after it began and long after many people (myself included) thought it would fade away, it continues to hold the GOP in its grip. For a bunch of nincompoops prancing around in tricorner hats, it's quite a remarkable achievement."

Another ACA "Horror Story" Debunked. Eli Stokols of Fox 31 Denver: "A new TV ad from Crossroads GPS [Karl Rove] features a Castle Rock mom criticizing Democratic Sen. Mark Udall for voting for the Affordable Care Act.... But the woman in the ad, Richelle McKim, is actually an employee of an energy company that is among the biggest donors to Udall's opponent; and her story, which seemingly contradicts information on her publicly available LinkedIn profile, is at least more complicated than the 30-second version hitting Colorado's airwaves starting Thursday.... On the screen, text appears that reads: 'Richelle had to go back to work.' McKim's own LinkedIn profile shows that she has worked constantly since July 2008 -- four months before President Obama was elected.... Reached by phone Thursday afternoon at her office, McKim explained ... 'It wasn't the Affordable Care Act.... It was just a financial burden, having a single income for so long.'" ...

... Steve Benen: "Complicating matters, McKim's husband had been treated for high-blood pressure, a pre-existing condition that made coverage unaffordable. For a while, he apparently had to go without insurance. That is, until 'Obamacare' came along to protect those like McKim's husband, making coverage affordable for those with pre-existing conditions. At this point, everyone in McKim's family now has the benefit of health security and they're no longer one serious illness away from bankruptcy. Indeed, this sounds like a great success story...." Read the whole post. CW: McKim's real complaint is Freeeedom! to get sick, or die, &/or go bankrupt.

The New York Crank: "The Gun Nut of America, or whatever they're called," are very, very upset with anyone who manufactures or sells "smart" firearms that would help prevent accidental shootings or other misuse. CW: The next thing you know, under the GNA theory, legislators will be depriving three-year-olds of their a Constitutional right to kill people & burglars from their Constitutional right to wrest your gun from your hand & shoot you with it. ...

.... The underlying Washington Post story, by Michael Rosenwald: "In nearly 30 years at Heckler & Koch, a legendary German gunmaker, Ernst Mauch designed some of the world's most lethal weapons, including the one that reportedly killed Osama bin Laden. A state regulator once called him a 'rock star' in the industry. Now the gun world sees him a different way: as a traitor. The target of their fury is the smart gun Mauch designed at Armatix, a start-up near Munich. The very concept of the weapon has been attacked by U.S. gun rights advocates even as it has helped Mauch resolve a sense of guilt that has haunted him his entire career."

Joe Stiglitz & Martin Guzman in the Guardian: "On 30 July Argentina's creditors did not receive their semi-annual payment on the bonds that were restructured after the country's last default in 2001. Argentina had deposited $539m (£320m) in the Bank of New York Mellon a few days before. But the bank could not transfer the funds to the creditors: US federal judge Thomas Griesa had ordered that Argentina could not pay the creditors who had accepted its restructuring until it fully paid -- including past interest -- those who had rejected it. It was the first time in history that a country was willing and able to pay its creditors, but was blocked by a judge from doing so. The media called it a default by Argentina, but the Twitter hashtag #Griesafault was much more accurate.... It was clear that Griesa never really fathomed the issue's complexity. The US financial system, already practised at exploiting poor Americans, has extended its efforts globally. Sovereign borrowers will not -- and should not -- trust the fairness and competence of the US judiciary. The market for issuance of such bonds will move elsewhere." CW: Griesa is a Nixon appointee! ...

... ** Greg Palast in the Guardian: President "Obama could prevent vulture hedge-fund billionaire Paul Singer from collecting a single penny from Argentina by invoking the long-established authority granted presidents by the US constitution's 'Separation of Powers' clause. Under the principle known as 'comity', Obama only need inform US federal judge Thomas Griesa that Singer's suit interferes with the president's sole authority to conduct foreign policy. Case dismissed.... President George W Bush invoked this power against the very same hedge fund now threatening Argentina. Bush blocked Singer's seizure of Congo-Brazzaville's US property, despite the fact that the hedge fund chief is one of the largest, and most influential, contributors to Republican candidates." See also Thursday's Ledes.

Katie Zavadski of New York: "The hotly debated story of who exactly was behind the kidnapping of the three Israeli teenagers killed in the West Bank is still developing. This week, Israeli officials announced that they have arrested the man who allegedly orchestrated the abductions -- Hussam Qawasmeh -- and that he confessed to receiving orders and financing from Hamas leadership in Gaza. Mideast correspondents Jon Donnison and Sheera Frenkel previously quoted two different Israeli officials questioning whether Hamas was directly involved in the incident, which sparked the current round of conflict in Gaza.

No More Euphemisms! (After a Decade of Using Euphemisms.) Dean Baquet, executive editor of the New York Times: "... reporters urged that The Times recalibrate its language. I agreed. So from now on, The Times will use the word 'torture' to describe incidents in which we know for sure that [CIA] interrogators inflicted pain on a prisoner in an effort to get information."

Congressional Races, Plus

Chris Moody of Yahoo! News: "For months, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell has accused his Democratic opponent, Alison Lundergan Grimes, of engaging in a 'war on coal,' casting her as n outright enemy of one of the state's most vital industries. But McConnell's wife, former Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, sits on the board of directors of Bloomberg Philanthropies, which has plunged $50 million into the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal initiative, an advocacy effort with the expressed goal of killing the coal industry.... Bloomberg Philanthropies isn't the only group Chao represents that has taken a stand against the coal industry. She also sits on the board of directors at Wells Fargo, which in 2013 announced that it would divest from surface mining of coal in Appalachia due to environmental concerns."

** Lisa Baumann & Matthew Brown of the AP: "Montana U.S. Sen. John Walsh dropped his election campaign Thursday amid allegations he plagiarized large portions of a 2007 research project, leaving fellow Democrats to scramble for a replacement with the election less than three months away." ...

     ... Politico's story, by Manu Raju & Maggie Haberman, is here. ...

... The report by Jonathan Martin, who broke the new of Walsh's plagiarism in the New York Times, is here. ...

... Cameron Joseph of the Hill: "Former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) won't run for Sen. John Walsh's (D-Mont.) seat. "Although I'm flattered to be on some of the lists of potential U.S. Senate candidates, I respectfully decline to seek the nomination," he announced on Facebook shortly after Walsh's decision to step aside became public."

Michael Cass of the Tennessean: "U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander won a convincing victory in Tennessee's Republican Senate primary -- though not as convincing as his pollsters predicted -- over state Rep. Joe Carr, fending off a tea party challenge in a state that continues to favor politicians who can work across the aisle." ...

... Alan Blinder & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Tennessee voters backed Senator Lamar Alexander against a Tea Party challenge and turned down an aggressive bid by conservatives and business interests to oust three members of the State Supreme Court in primaries on Thursday.... Chief Justice Gary R. Wade and Justices Cornelia A. Clark and Sharon G. Lee all survived to win new eight-year terms on the state's highest court, maintaining a margin of about 56 percent to 44 percent, The A.P. said. The justices were all appointed by the governor at the time, Phil Bredesen, a Democrat.... Their critics, including the Republican State Leadership Committee and Americans for Prosperity, affiliated with Charles G. and David H. Koch, mounted a high-profile campaign claiming the justices had been 'soft on crime' and hostile to business interests. The justices were also criticized for obliquely supporting the Affordable Care Act...."

Chas Sisk of the Tennessean: "State Sen. Jim Tracy holds a narrow lead over U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais in one of the state’s most closely watched races. Shortly before 9 p.m. Tracy, R-Shelbyville, led DesJarlais, R-South Pittsburg, 46 percent to 44 percent. Tracy appeared to benefit from strong early voting returns in Rutherford County, the district's largest county, but the latest returns showed DesJarlais' closing the gap." As of 10:15 pm ET Thursday, the AP had not called the race. ...

     ... AP Update: "U.S. Rep. Scott DesJarlais, who has been battered by a series of scandals, is locked in a razor-thin battle to hang onto his seat in Tennessee's Republican primary. Results from Thursday's balloting show DesJarlais with just a 33-vote margin ahead of state Sen. Jim Tracy. The race was too close to call and may ultimately be decided on a possible recount."

AP: "U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen has surged to victory in the Democratic primary as he seeks a fifth consecutive term in the House seat representing Tennessee's 9th District. With about 3 percent of the 9th congressional district's precincts reporting, Cohen had more than 65 percent of the vote Thursday. His closest challenger, attorney Ricky Wilkins, had about 32 percent. Cohen, who is white, once again defeated an African-American challenger. Cohen has represented the majority-black district, which includes Memphis, since 2006." CW: Yo, Mo. Apparently black people in Memphis did not take up arms against white people. Or Jewish people.

Murkowski Pissed off that Begich, Voter Suggest She's a Good Senator. Katie Glueck of Politico: "Representatives for GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski are demanding that her fellow Alaskan, Democratic Sen. Mark Begich, take down a campaign ad featuring her image -- an unusual instance of two sitting senators from the same state in a public spat. In a letter disseminated on Thursday, the law firm for Murkowski's Senate committee skewered a Begich ad in a cease-and-desist missive. The ad in question, 'Great Team,' features Murkowski and Begich appearing together, along with testimony from an individual who says he is a lifelong Republican, a Murkowski voter -- and also a Begich supporter. The letter charges that Murkowski's image was used misleadingly and without her permission, and that the individual in the ad is not a lifelong GOP supporter but is in fact undeclared.... [The letter claims] this advertisement prominently features a photograph taken in Senator Murkowski's official U.S. Senate office, an apparent violation of Federal law and Senate rules.' The photo in question, however, appears to be hosted by the Associated Press." Here's the ad:

     ... CW: After losing Alaska's 2010 GOP primary election to bagger Joe Miller, Murkowski won the election as an unaffiliated write-in candidate (an amazing feat, not only because her name is hard to spell). Murkowski vowed to be an independent voice for Alaska, but apparently the leaden GOP side of her brain disallows her from admitting she might work across the aisle for the benefit of citizens of Alaska & the USA.

Adam Bell of the Charlotte Observer: "The Indian Trail councilman who wrote his resignation letter in Klingon wants to beam up to Capitol Hill. David Waddell is running as a write-in candidate for U.S. Senate.... Waddell, a plumber, said Thursday he is a registered Libertarian running on the Constitution Party platform's conservative values that focus in part on property rights and a strict adherence to the Constitution." You can see the original Klingon resignation letter here.

Beyond the Beltway

Matt Zapotosky, et al., of the Washington Post: "Virginia's health secretary testified Thursday that he was angry that a Richmond businessman hoping to promote his company's new dietary supplement was allowed to shape the guest list at a 2012 reception meant for state health-care leaders at the governor's mansion. The businessman, Jonnie R. Williams Sr., seemed to be able to navigate the governor's office in an atypical way, Health Secretary William A. Hazel Jr. testified. That was especially frustrating, he said, because of the dubious claims Williams was making about his product." ...

... Jim Nolan & Mark Green of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Secretary of Health Bill Hazel testified today that he met with Jonnie Williams Sr. at Gov. Bob McDonnell's request but he was deeply skeptical about Anatabloc, Star Scientific's dietary supplement." ...

... Robin Givhan of the Washington Post: "What's in Maureen McDonnell's Louis Vuitton handbag? Status, insecurity and maybe jail time.... The designer goods at the center of the government's case against former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen were splayed out on tables in a most undignified way, photographed and entered into evidence.... One can't help but think Maureen McDonnell was shopping and dressing for the job she aspired to -- one that comes with an office in the East Wing of the White House -- not the position she already had." ...

... NEW. The Washington Post's liveblog of the McDonnell trial is here. ...

... Jenna Portnoy of the Washington Post: "Virginia has hired an executive director to run a new ethics board intended to implement and police reforms approved earlier this year in the wake of the gifts scandal surrounding former governor Robert F. McDonnell and his family. The news comes as the second week in the federal corruption trial of McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, comes to a close."

NEW. Kevin Boyle of the Rockaway Times: "Anthony Weiner is ... now the name being associated with a fledgling non-profit called the Rockaway Restoration Kitchen. On Idealist.org the endeavor is described as 'a social entrepreneurship that operates a healthy, sustainable restaurant in a hard luck community to provide training, on-the-job apprenticeship and placement in the culinary and food service sector for unemployed New Yorkers.' ... Weiner's aim is to launch something that can help the disadvantaged in Rockaway."

News Ledes

AP: "Authorities say the wildfire burning in Oregon's wind-swept Columbia River Gorge has destroyed a home, damaged two others and is threatening 740 more. Residents of more than 140 homes have been told to evacuate and nearly 600 households have been put on alert in the community of Rowena near The Dalles."

New York Times: "The United States on Friday afternoon launched a second round of airstrikes on Sunni militants in northern Iraq, sending four Navy fighter jets to strike eight targets around Erbil, according to Pentagon officials." ...

... New York Times: "American warplanes struck Sunni militant positions in northern Iraq on Friday, the Pentagon said in a statement, confirming the first significant American military operation since ground troops left Iraq in 2011. Rear Admiral John Kirby, the Pentagon Press Secretary, said that two F-18 fighters dropped 500-pound laser-guided bombs on a mobile artillery target near Erbil."

Time: "Tropical storm Iselle made landfall on Hawaii's biggest island Thursday evening local time, cutting down trees, ripping roofs off buildings and cutting power at a biodiesel plant, leaving 18,000 people without electricity.... Over the weekend, an even more powerful hurricane, Julio, is expected to barrel just to the north."

Washington Post: "Palestinian militants began to fire rockets at Israel again Friday morning after a three-day truce ended and talks in Cairo to extend it sputtered." ...

... Guardian: "Israel launched air strikes on Gaza on Friday morning after Islamist groups there refused to extend a ceasefire and resumed rocket fire.... In Gaza, tens of thousands of people who had returned to their homes during the 72-hour ceasefire rushed back to the UN-run shelters where many have been staying since the war began more than four weeks ago." ...

     ... UPDATE: "Talks are continuing in Cairo in a desperate bid to end renewed hostilities between Israel and Hamas in Gaza."

AP: "Afghanistan's feuding presidential candidates have agreed to resolve their election dispute and say they will set the inauguration before the end of August. The breakthrough comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry opened a second day of talks in Afghanistan on Friday aimed at preventing the fragile country from collapsing into political chaos after disputed elections."

Guardian: "The World Health Organisation has declared the Ebola outbreak an international public health emergency, but it is not recommending general bans on travel or trade."

Guardian: "Malaysia Airlines shares have been suspended and the beleaguered company will be taken entirely into state hands after it was hit by two disasters that killed hundreds of people. Trading of shares in Malaysia Airline System Bhd (MAS) was suspended on Monday morning and the company soon afterwards announced it would be removed from the stock market."

Los Angeles Times: "A federal grand jury Thursday indicted [Keith Emerald,] a 32-year-old bow hunter suspected of starting the campfire that sparked last year's Rim fire, the third-largest blaze in recorded state history, which scorched more than 250,000 acres in and around Yosemite National Park."

AP: "More than 35 years after the infamous suicide-murder of some 900 people -- many forced to drink a cyanide-laced grape punch -- in Jonestown, Guyana, the cremated remains of nine of the victims were found in a dilapidated former funeral home in Delaware, officials said Thursday."