The Commentariat -- March 8, 2014

Internal links removed.

** Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "An examination of the seismic events that set off the most threatening East-West confrontation since the Cold War era, based on Mr. Putin's public remarks and interviews with officials, diplomats and analysts here, suggests that the Kremlin's strategy emerged haphazardly, even misleadingly, over a tense and momentous week, as an emotional Mr. Putin acted out of what the officials described as a deep sense of betrayal and grievance, especially toward the United States and Europe." ...

... CW: A good example, a la Dubya, of why a "leadership style" -- however much Giuliani, et al., admire it -- based on grievance & hurt feelings -- is bad for the world. Moreover, if Myers' reporting is right, then the right wing might STFU about Obama's failure to anticipate Putin's actions. Putin himself didn't anticipate them. ...

... The Guardian is liveblogging developments re: the Ukraine crisis. ..

... Steven Myers: "Russia signaled for the first time on Friday that it was prepared to annex Crimea, significantly intensifying its confrontation with the West over the political crisis in Ukraine and threatening to undermine a system of respect for national boundaries that has helped keep the peace in Europe and elsewhere for decades." ...

... Steve Mufson of the Washington Post debunks John Boehner's fantasy that "the United States can help Ukraine by approving more gas export terminals" in the U.S. ...

... Liz Sly of the Washington Post: "Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is taking advantage of the rift between Russia and the United States over Ukraine to press ahead with plans to crush the rebellion against his rule and secure his reelection for another seven-year term, unencumbered by pressure to compromise with his opponents."

Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "Edward J. Snowden ... said he raised his concerns to more than 10 officials, 'none of whom took any action to address them,' before he decided to give the documents to journalists. Mr. Snowden's comments, in written answers to questions by members of the European Parliament that were released on Friday, amplified previous assertions that he initially tried to raise concerns internally about surveillance collection he believed went too far.... The agency has previously said its internal investigation ... found no evidence that he had brought concerns to the attention of anyone." ...

... Christian Davenport of the Washington Post: "After years of focusing on outside threats, the federal government and its contractors are turning inward, aiming a range of new technologies and counterintelligence strategies at their own employees to root out spies, terrorists or leakers. Agencies are now monitoring their computer networks with unprecedented scrutiny, in some cases down to the keystroke, and tracking employee behavior for signs of deviation from routine. At the Pentagon, new rules are being written requiring contractors to institute programs against 'insider threats,' a remarkable cultural change in which even workers with the highest security clearances face increased surveillance."

Mark Mazzetti of the New York Times on how the Justice Department got stuck investigating the Senate Intelligence Committee & the C.I.A., each of whom accuses the other -- probably rightly -- of spying on the other.

Gail Collins on women's reproductive health services, religious freedom (to impose your own beliefs on everybody else) & Texas.

Mattea Kramer in the Nation: "Washington is pushing the panic button, claiming austerity is hollowing out our armed forces and our national security is at risk.... Yet a careful look at budget figures for the US military -- a bureaucratic juggernaut accounting for 57 percent of the federal discretionary budget and nearly 40 percent of all military spending on this planet -- shows that such claims have been largely fictional." Kramer looks at the details & finds that the actual appropriations represent "a cut of less than 1 percent from Pentagon funding this year."

Charles Pierce: "There is no question that Aqua Buddha was the breakout star [at CPAC].... It was truly a stunning performance. A speech shot through with applause lines with almost no actual substance to it at all." ...

... CPAC, Where Reality Is Not Allowed in the Door. Dylan Scott of TPM: "Conservative radio host Michael Medved said Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference that no state has ever banned gay marriage and any claim to the contrary is 'a liberal lie.' ... To be clear: 30 states have banned same-sex marriage in their state constitution, usually by legally defining marriage as between a man and a woman, according to the Human Rights Campaign." Other liberals lies: slavery used to be legal in the South, American women were not allowed to vote, and Barack Obama was born in the U.S.A. ...

... More Stupid Things Wingers Say. Tim Murphy of Mother Jones: "Top social-conservative strategist Ralph Reed compared President Barack Obama to segregationist Alabama governor George Wallace on Friday at the Conservative Political Action Conference." CW: Let's add to Amanda Marcotte's list, linked below: "Making education fact-based & inclusive." ...

... More Stupid Things, Ctd. Ryan Reilly of the Huffington Post: "The Department of Justice's public affairs staffers think Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) could use a history lesson on the civil rights movement. On Friday, the day after Jindal compared [AG Eric] Holder to segregationist Alabama Gov. George Wallace at the Conservative Political Action Conference, DOJ employees mailed Jindal a copy of a book by civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.). They inserted a yellow sticky note on page 199, where Lewis writes about Vivian Malone, one of the first African-Americans to integrate the University of Alabama, who walked past Gov. Wallace that day. Malone is Holder's late sister-in-law...." ...

... Ed Kilgore: "Comparing legal objections to Louisiana's highly dubious voucher program -- which is extremely light on any sort of educational accountability for use of tax dollars at conservative evangelical madrassas, to efforts to bar African-Americans from public schools -- is precisely the sort of rhetorical jiu-jitsu we've come to expect from conservatives trying to parry accusations of (and historical association with) racism." ...

... CW: I find disturbing the bellicose language these "religious freedom fighters" invoke. Is it any wonder that a few wingers feel justified in harming the President when they listen to elected officials make speeches like this?:

... Carrying on with the Crazy, Amanda Marcotte of AlterNet, in Salon, notes the many ways evil secularists are persecuting American Christians. Includes filling out paperwork, taking money from gays & doing what they ask. CW: Look, these want to be persecuted so they can be more like Jesus. But secularists refuse to cooperate by actually persecuting them. That's just mean. In fact, you might call it a form of -- persecution. ...

... Digby: "They're getting so filled with contradictions they are pretty much reduced to speaking gibberish." Digby wrote this in response to Paul Ryan's fake story about the boy who lost his soul because he got a hot lunch instead of a bag lunch (see yesterday's Commentariat). But her observation of course has a much broader application. ...

... CW: To prove that I am one secularist who is good at persecuting, I commend you to watch the clip of Ryan's delivery:

... Adam Weinstein of Gawker: "Ryan later ... [said] in a Facebook post that he regrets 'failing to verify the original source of the story.' What he doesn't seem to regret, however, is the fact that in stealing Maurice [Mazyck]'s story, he and [Scott Walker sidekick Eloise] Anderson used it to shit on everything [Mazyck] stands for today. [Maczyk is cofounder of the No Kid Hungry campaign.] They divorced it from the kindness he received and accepted. Their honesty problem isn't about attribution; it's about exploitation." ...

... Dana Milbank: The CPAC convention (and its offshoot convention of ultra-ultra conservatives "The Uninvited") shows not that the Republican party is engaged in civil war but in chaos. ...

... MEANWHILE, Down the Road. Josh Glasstetter of the Southern Poverty Law Center: "The Family Research Council's executive vice president, Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin (retired), was caught on a 'hot mic' following a panel yesterday at the National Security Action Summit, which was held just down the street from the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).... Boykin told [a] reporter that President Obama identifies with and supports Al Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood and uses subliminal messages to express this support.... Now consider the fact that he once served as Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and is still viewed as a credible expert on terrorism by Republican members of the House Armed Services Committee." CW: Glasstetter reports an anti-Jewish comment by Boykin, but I think Boykin was being facetious.

Beyond the Beltway

Laura Vozzella & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Maureen McDonnell comes across as insecure and sometimes erratic in hundreds of pages of e-mail exchanges among staff members at the governor's mansion and two management consultants at Virginia Commonwealth University. The consultants were brought in to bring order to the seemingly dysfunctional workplace that was Virginia's executive mansion. The messages portray the governor as willing to devote high-level staff to helping his wife cope but reluctant to delve into the problems himself." ...

... The AP story is here.

Sometimes, in the interest of journalism, political reporters must watch porn movies. Nate Sunderland & Jeff Robinson of the Idaho Statesman report on Gov. Butch Otter's (R) performance in what became a soft-porn movie. CW: There's no reason to think Otter had anything to do with the porn bit, but since Gale Collins very much enjoys writing about Butch Otter, it was awfully nice of the Statesman to provide her some humorous material.

The President's Weekly Address

News Lede

New York Times: "A 12-mile-long oil slick spotted between Malaysia and Vietnam on Saturday afternoon is thought to be the first sign that a missing Malaysia Airlines flight with 239 people aboard went down in the waters between southernmost Vietnam and northern Malaysia, according to Vietnam's director of civil aviation."

The Commentariat -- March 7, 2014

Internal links removed.

Here's the Guardian's liveblog of events re: the Ukraine crisis. ...

... Steven Myers, et al., of the New York Times: "Leaders of both houses of Russia's Parliament said on Friday that they would support a vote by Crimea to break away from Ukraine and become a new region of the Russian Federation, the first public signal that the Kremlin was backing the secessionist move that Ukraine, the United States and other countries have denounced as a violation of international law." ...

... Carol Morello & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "Pro-Russian lawmakers in the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea sparked a showdown reminiscent of the Cold War on Thursday, accelerating their bid to leave Ukraine and join Russia in a move that President Obama, the new government in Kiev and European leaders described as provocative and illegal. Lawmakers in the autonomous region voted Thursday to join the Russian Federation and hold a referendum March 16 to validate the decision. The regional parliament, now led by Sergei Aksyonov -- a businessman and politician known around Kiev as the 'Goblin' because of his alleged ties to organized crime, vowed to nationalize Ukrainian state industries and begin setting up government ministries separate from Ukraine, which it joined in 1954 when the nation was still a satellite of the Soviet Union." ...

... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "President Barack Obama held an hour-long telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday afternoon in an effort to resolve the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, according to the White House. The White House statement indicated no breakthrough or even any progress in the dispute about Russian troop movements into Ukraine's Crimea region and Russia's support for a referendum on making Crimea a part of Russia." Here's the White House readout. ...

... Lidia Kelly & Alissa DeCarbonnel of Reuters: "After an hour-long telephone call, Putin said in a statement that Moscow and Washington were still far apart on the situation in the former Soviet republic, where he said the new authorities had taken 'absolutely illegitimate decisions on the eastern, southeastern and Crimea regions.'" ...

... AFP: "The United States on Thursday sent six additional F-15 fighter jets to step up NATO's air patrols over the Baltic states, mission host Lithuania said as West-Russia tensions simmered over Ukraine." ...

... Natalia Antelava of the New Yorker on the precarious position of Crimean Tatars. ...

... Darlene Superville of the AP: "Russia's intervention in Ukraine has put Obama's [weekend vacation] plans in doubt, making it very likely the family will end up at the White House.... The weekend stay was to be tacked on to a visit by Obama and his wife Friday to Coral Reef High School in Miami, where they are to address students on the importance of education."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: President "Obama has fixed ideas about how best to pursue peace in the Middle East, and a far less solicitous style than his secretary of state, John Kerry, who has drawn close to [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu over many hours of painstaking negotiations. With the deadline nearing for the Israelis and Palestinians to sign on to an American framework accord, Mr. Obama and Mr. Kerry have fallen into a good-cop, bad-cop routine with Israel -- a strategy that may push through a deal but will bruise feelings along the way."

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "The Senate on Thursday rejected a controversial bipartisan bill to remove military commanders from decisions over the prosecution of sexual assault cases in the armed forces, delivering a defeat to advocacy groups who argued that wholesale changes are necessary to combat an epidemic of rapes and sexual assaults in the military. The measure, pushed by Senator Kirsten E. Gillibrand, Democrat of New York, received 55 votes -- five short of the 60 votes needed for advancement to a floor vote -- after Ms. Gillibrand's fellow Democrat, Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, led the charge to block its advancement." ...

... BTW, Here's McCaskill, speaking to Nora Caplan-Bricker of the New Republic immediately before she filibustered Gillibrand's bill:

I can assure you, I am not filibustering Senator Gillibrand's bill. There is a requirement in the Senate that for controversial things and major issues, 60 votes are required. I spent a day on the floor arguing for these votes [to occur on both military sexual assault bills]. I have never stood in the way of these votes going forward. For people supporting Senator Gillibrand to try to make me out as the bad guy on this is unfair.

... CW: McCaskill has taken the political lie to a new level. I cannot imagine what her problem is, but it's pathological. And, yeah, Claire, I'm so unfair. ...

... Chris Carroll & John Vandiver of Stars & Stripes: "The top Army prosecutor for sexual assault cases has been suspended after a lawyer who worked for him recently reported he'd groped her and tried to kiss her at a sexual-assault legal conference more than two years ago."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: On Thursday, President "Obama was appearing at a town hall-style event at the Newseum to encourage the Latino community to sign up for health-insurance policies under the Affordable Care Act. But the hosts, Jose Diaz-Balart of Telemundo and Enrique Acevedo of Univision, turned their sights on another issue: immigration. 'Your reputation has been tarnished among Latinos over deportations,' Acevedo said, referring to the administration's removal of nearly 2 million immigrants who were in the country illegally. 'How can you ask the Latino community to trust you?' 'I would challenge the premise,' Obama shot back testily as he sat onstage before a live audience of 150."

Amy Goldstein of the Washington Post: "The new health insurance marketplaces appear to be making little headway in signing up Americans who lack insurance, the Affordable Care Act's central goal, according to a pair of new surveys. Only one in 10 uninsured people who qualify for private plans through the new marketplaces enrolled as of last month, one of the surveys shows. The other found that about half of uninsured adults have looked for information on the online exchanges or planned to look."

Jay Newton-Small of Time interviews Bernie Sanders. Bernie says he would be better president than Hillary Clinton. CW: No kidding. ...

... John Nichols of the Nation interviews Sanders. He says he is prepared to run for president.

Wesley Lowery of the Washington Post: "In a strongly worded letter to House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), the Congressional Black Caucus lashed out at [Rep. Darrell] Issa [R-Calif.], who on Wednesday halted a hearing of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee without allowing any Democrats to speak.... But Boehner defended Issa's actions during his weekly news briefing, saying that the California congressman was not out of line to cut off Cummings' microphone and walk out.... House Democrats also attempted Thursday to introduce a resolution condemning Issa's behavior at the hearing and have called on him to issue a public apology to [Rep. Elijah] Cummings [D-Md.]. However, in a party-line vote, the House tabled the resolution."

Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "A measured Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, returning to the national political spotlight at a convention of conservative activists on Thursday, chided Washington for its political dysfunction, played up his social conservatism and urged the Republican Party to broaden its electoral appeal.... And he defended the billionaire Koch brothers.... The crowd responded warmly, interrupting Mr. Christie about a half-dozen times with applause and giving him a standing ovation." CW: Sorry, I can't help seeing a parallel between Christie & the new mafioso boss of the Crimea, not to mention the parallel between their respective separatist followers. ...

... Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger: Christie "took his familiar shots at President Obama over his failure to solve the fiscal crisis in Washington. The president is not a real leader, he says. But what about Trenton's fiscal crisis? And what about Christie's leadership? He pushed hard last year for a tax cut, tilted to the advantage of the state's wealthiest families, and claimed against all evidence that the state could afford it. Now he has flip-flopped, and is warning of a looming fiscal crisis that will require tough sacrifices. That is not sturdy leadership. It is the herky-jerky dance of a political opportunist." CW P.S.: I don't think there's a real "fiscal crisis in Washington" anyway. ...

... A Story Paul Ryan Found "Too Good to Check." CW: Glenn Kessler's takedown is fascinating. the origins of the story come from people whose purpose in telling it was to expand school lunch programs:

The left is making a big mistake here. What they're offering people is a full stomach and an empty soul. The American people want more than that. This reminds me of a story I heard from Eloise Anderson. She serves in the cabinet of my buddy, Governor Scott Walker. She once met a young boy from a very poor family, and every day at school, he would get a free lunch from a government program. He told Eloise he didn't want a free lunch. He wanted his own lunch, one in a brown-paper bag just like the other kids. He wanted one, he said, because he knew a kid with a brown-paper bag had someone who cared for him. This is what the left does not understand. -- Paul Ryan, speaking at CPAC

... Speaking of Ryan & his diabolical efforts to starve needy children -- "The Hammock Fallacy." Availing himself a a school lunch program or food stamps, Paul Krugman eats Paul Ryan for lunch. ...

... Robin Abcarian of the Los Angeles Times sums up yesterday's CPAC speeches. "So what were Republican presidential hopefuls telling conservatives Thursday on opening day of the annual CPAC conference? Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz: Washington sucks. Republican U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan: Democrats suck. Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie: Everyone but governors sucks." Thanks to James S. for the link. ...

... AND Mitch McConnell brandished a rifle at CPAC. ...

... WHICH may make you wonder what Wayne LaPierre of the NRA had to tell the folks at CPAC. Charles Pierce obliges. "The woods are full of monsters."

Public Policy Polling: "PPP's newest Arizona poll finds that John McCain is unpopular with Republicans, Democrats, and independents alike and has now become the least popular Senator in the country."

Elsewhere Beyond the Beltway

"The Gunshine State." Barbara Liston of Reuters: "Every Wednesday afternoon, Doug Varrieur steps into his backyard in the Florida Keys, aims his .380 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol and fires shots that ricochet through city halls around the state. Varrieur, 57, discovered a little-noticed part of Florida law which prohibits local governments from restricting gun rights in any way, and in December he set up a personal gun range on his property in a residential subdivision.... Municipal leaders, who were shocked to realize there was nothing they could do about it.... Numerous city and county leaders now trying to regain some control over recreational gunfire in their communities, particularly in dense urban zones. Palm Beach and Broward counties in south Florida have a lawsuit pending to overturn the law, noting that it forced them to rescind restrictions, for example, on taking guns into child care facilities." ...

     ... CW: These loons can pack heat. I am packing my belongings & moving out of Florida.

Margaret Hartmann of New York: "... on Thursday, the Massachusetts legislature passed a bill outlawing taking 'up-skirt' photos in public. Just a day earlier, the state's highest court ruled that an accused Peeping Tom didn't violate the law because technically the women he photographed on an MBTA trolley were clothed. Under the new law, which Governor Deval Patrick's aide said he will sign, taking "up-skirt" pics will be punishable by more than two years in prison or a $5,000 fine."

News Ledes

New York Times: "... the Army captain who has accused Brig. Gen. Jeffrey A. Sinclair of sexual assault took the witness stand on Friday on the first day of his closely watched court-martial. During five hours of testimony, the 34-year-old captain chronicled in detail a three-year affair that included casual sex ... but also, she said, violent moments where he forced her to perform oral sex and threatened to kill her if she disclosed their relationship."

AP: "Malaysia Airlines said Saturday it lost contact with a plane carrying 239 people on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and search and rescue teams were trying to locate the aircraft."

Bloomberg News: "Employers added more workers than projected in February, indicating the U.S. economy is starting to bounce back from a weather-induced setback. The jobless rate unexpectedly climbed from a five-year low. The 175,000 gain in employment followed a revised 129,000 increase the prior month that was bigger than initially estimated.... Unemployment rose to 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent as more people entered the labor force and couldn't find work."

Guardian: "A Natiional Guardsman and a civilian have been killed in Caracas after a group of men on motorcycles rode into a neighbourhood to remove a street barricade erected by anti-government protesters. The clash that erupted on Thursday in the mixed industrial and residential district of Los Ruices heightened tensions on the same day the Venezuelan government expelled foreign diplomats for the second time in a month."

Reuters: "Western countries voiced concern on Thursday that tensions in Libya could slip out of control in the absence of a functioning political system, and they urged the government and rival factions to start talking. Two-and-a-half years after the fall of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, the oil-rich North African state is struggling to contain violence between rival forces, with Islamist militants gaining an ever-stronger grip on the south of the country."

The Commentariat -- March 6, 2014

Alissa de Carbonnel of Reuters: "Crimea's parliament voted [unanimously] to join Russia on Thursday and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum within 10 days on the decision in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula.... The vice premier of Crimea ... said a referendum on the status would take place on March 16. He said all state property would be 'nationalized', the Russian ruble could be adopted and Ukrainian troops would be treated as occupiers and be forced to surrender or leave. The announcement, which diplomats said could not have been made without Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval, raised the stakes in the most serious east-west confrontation since the end of the Cold War." ...

... Zeke Miller of Time: "President Barack Obama ordered a round of economic sanctions Thursday targeting individuals and corporations that the administration sees as destabilizing Ukraine or involved in the crisis in Crimea.... The broad directive allows for sanctions on an array of individuals, from officials of the former Ukrainian government, to Russian government, military, and business leaders. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney warned that 'depending on how the situation develops, the United States is prepared to consider additional steps and sanctions as necessary.'" ...

Carol Morello & Anthony Faiola of the Washington Post: "Lawmakers in Ukraine's Crimea region voted Thursday to hold a referendum on March 16 to decide whether Crimea should become part of Russia, according to the Associated Press. The autonomous region's 100-member parliament voted 78 to 0, with eight abstentions, in favor of holding the referendum, which would also give Crimean voters the option of remaining part of Ukraine, but with enhanced local powers, AP reported." ...

... Alan Cowell of the New York Times: "The European Union was meeting in emergency session in Brussels on Thursday to debate the crisis in Ukraine, reinforcing its support for the fledgling government in Kiev even as it punished the Russian-backed former president, Viktor F. Yanukovych, with measures to freeze his assets and those of 17 of his closest aides and family members. But pro-Russian forces -- and Moscow itself -- seemed to be pressing ahead undeterred with preparations to tighten their grip on the southern Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, where Ukrainian military installations are under a tight blockade." ...

... Anne Gearan & Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "The Obama administration claimed progress Wednesday toward resolving a Cold War-style standoff with Russia over its military incursion in Ukraine, even as the Pentagon moved to reassure nervous NATO allies by positioning fighter jets closer to Russia." ...

... Top Diplomat Gets More Diplomatic. Denver Nicks of Time: "Speaking at an event at UCLA on Wednesday, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied she drew a parallel between Russia's recent actions in Ukraine and Nazi Germany at a fundraiser on Tuesday. 'I'm not making a comparison, certainly,' Clinton said. 'But I am recommending that we perhaps can learn from this tactic that has been used before.' She also called Putin 'a tough guy with a thin skin.'" ...

     ... Joe Coscarelli of New York: "Except she is comparing them, certainly, in the sense that she's noting the similarities between their actions. Clinton may not be equating the two men or their behavior, but even if the analogy is sloppy, as some have argued, she wouldn't have made it again if she didn't want to seem tough on the issue." ...

     ... Marc Tracy of the New Republic: "No matter which Hitler moment Clinton was referring to, she can't have been making a particularly apt analogy. It makes her seem like an Internet commenter. And even if it were a good analogy, it is not one a prominent American statesperson -- even one currently in the private sector -- should make.... If there is a silver lining [to her unstatesmanlike remark], it is that there isn't likely to be extensive political fallout for Clinton.... Given that no public figure is more associated with the Benghazi debacle than Clinton, [Sen. Lindsey Graham] cannot possibly square a narrative in which she is weak, a narrative in which Putin is like Hitler, and a narrative in which Clinton's saying Putin is like Hitler makes her unfit to lead. (Tune in next week to see how he squares those narratives.)"

... ** Henry Kissinger Is Not Dead Yet: "Russia and the West ... [have] made the situation [in Ukraine] worse. Russia would not be able to impose a military solution without isolating itself at a time when many of its borders are already precarious. For the West, the demonization of Vladimir Putin is not a policy; it is an alibi for the absence of one." ...

... ** Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: Rudy "Giuliani, once a genuinely moderate Republican (go look up his mayoral immigration record) and a man whom aides used to describe a long time ago as the one figure capable of pulling the national GOP back toward the center..., has served for some time now as little more than a right-wing standup comic -- and a staggeringly hypocritical one at that.... A standup comic often serves as his audience's id, and so it is in this case. The neocons, on some emotional level, prefer Putin to Obama." ...

... E. J. Dionne illustrates the difference between principled dissent & extremist partisan assaults.

Robert Pear of the New York Times: "The Obama administration, struggling with continued political fallout over its troubled health care law, said Wednesday that it would allow consumers to renew health insurance policies that do not comply with the law for two more years. The action is a reflection of the difficulties the president has faced as he tries to build support for the Affordable Care Act, and the backlash over his promise -- which he later acknowledged was overstated -- that individuals who liked their insurance plans could keep them, no matter what." CW: Yes, excellent idea. Give the GOP another two years to caterwaul.

Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "Relations between the CIA and the US senators charged with its political oversight were at a nadir on Wednesday after the head of the agency issued a rare public rebuke to lawmakers who accused it of spying on their staff. John Brennan, the director of the CIA, said the claims by members of the Senate intelligence committee were 'spurious' and 'wholly unsupported by the facts', and went as far as suggesting the committee itself may have been guilty of wrongdoing." ...

... Jonathan Landay, et al., of McClatchy News have more on the allegation/suspicion that the C.I.A. spied on Senate aides: "The CIA Inspector General's Office has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations of malfeasance at the spy agency in connection with a yet-to-be released Senate Intelligence Committee report into the CIA's secret detention and interrogation program, McClatchy has learned." ...

     ... Update. Landay, et al.: "Congressional aides involved in preparing the Senate Intelligence Committee's unreleased study of the CIA’s secret interrogation and detention program walked out of the spy agency's fortress-like headquarters with classified documents that the CIA contended they weren't authorized to have, McClatchy has learned. After the CIA confronted the panel in January about the removal of the material last fall, panel staff concluded that the agency had monitored computers they'd been given to use in a high-security research room at the CIA campus in Langley, Va...." CW: This piece is a key that puts together the earlier pieces.

Jonathan Weisman (Update: & Michael Shear) of the New York Times: "The long shadow of Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose trial for the killing of a Philadelphia police officer became an international cause célèbre, fell over the Senate on Wednesday as lawmakers from both parties rejected President Obama's nominee to head the Justice Department's civil rights division. Debo P. Adegbile, who headed the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund when it represented Mr. Abu-Jamal decades after his conviction, could not overcome a concerted campaign by Republicans, conservative activists and law enforcement organizations, still infuriated by the murder of Police Officer Daniel Faulkner." ...

     ... CW: The New Lede Is Not Like the Old Lede. New: "Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected President Obama's nominee to lead the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in an embarrassing rebuke of the president on the choice of a key legal adviser and one that left senior White House officials 'furious' with members of their own party.... The president personally appealed to Senate Democrats at a recent caucus meeting and made several calls to Democratic senators in the last week, officials said. Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, continued making calls Tuesday night and Wednesday morning." ...

... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress has more. Plus, he points us to ...

... Adam Serwer of NBC News: "Three months ago, John Errol Ferguson was executed for one of the worst mass murders in Florida's history. After tricking his way into a woman's home, he eventually bound, blindfolded and shot eight people. Six of them died. While under indictment for those crimes, Ferguson murdered two teenagers on their way to church.... What kind of person would defend a butcher with the blood of eight people on his hands? It was Chief Justice John Roberts, who devoted 25 pro bono hours to Ferguson's case when he was working in private practice."

He inserted his office in an effort to turn reality on its head, impugn honorable and selfless law enforcement officers, and glorify an unrepentant cop-killer. This is not required by our legal system. On the contrary, it is noxious to it. -- Mitch McConnell on Debo P. Adegbile

Judge Roberts has an impressive record. He has keen intellect, sterling integrity, and a judicious temperament. Most importantly, Judge Roberts will faithfully interpret the Constitution, not legislate from the bench.... We should not attribute to him the actions of clients he has represented. -- Mitch McConnell, on John Roberts, July 20, 2005

I wonder what the difference is. Oh, yeah. John Roberts is white and murdered teenagers don't have a lobby. -- Charles Pierce

Republicans argued that Adegbile's advocacy on behalf of civil rights disqualified him from running the civil rights division. -- Adam Serwer

... Jesse Wegman of the New York Times: "Some have called Mr. Adegbile a 'cop-killer advocate.' Another word for that might be 'lawyer.' In representing people like John Ferguson and Mumia Abu-Jamal, Chief Justice Roberts and Mr. Adegbile were doing what lawyers everywhere are trained to do. Particularly in death-penalty cases, it is critical to ensure that a defendant has adequate representation and that his trial, conviction and sentence do not violate the Constitution." ...

... Ari Berman of the Nation: "... Adegbile was the victim of a vicious right-wing smear campaign attacking him because LDF defended Mumia Abu Jamal's right to a fair trial. All across the right-wing media echo chamber, on Fox News and conservative blogs, the words Adegbile and 'cop-killer' were plastered in the headlines. The Fraternal Order of Police came out against his nomination, even though a court agreed with LDF that Abu Jamal had not been granted a fair trial -- a basic right in American society regardless of whether he did or did not commit the crime." ...

... Steve M. wonders: "Are Democrats ever going to develop the habit of anticipating attacks of the kind that were made against Adegbile? Are they ever going to recognize the need to neutralize such attacks rather than sticking their fingers in their ears and hoping the attacks will just go away? Is the Democratic Party always going to be a party of Dukakises?" ...

... CW P.S.: Let's give President Obama some credit here. He nominated the right guy for the job, he pushed to get him confirmed, then he condemned his own party members for voting against his nominee.

Gail Collins ponders the definition of oligarchs & who they are here in the U.S.A. So far, her list is limited to Charles & David Koch, Sheldon Adelson & maybe Michael Bloomberg, who bought himself the mayority of the country's largest city.

Absurd Moments in American History
Brought to You by the Republican Party

March 5, 2014 Edition. "Darrell Issa Hits a New Low." Dana Milbank: "Darrell Issa ... found a new way to silence Democratic critics who question his actions: He shut off the microphones." Issa had called IRS official Lois Lerner to testify, even though she had previously invoked her Fifth Amendment privilege & her attorney had said she would not testify Wednesday. Issa forced her to take the Fifth ten times during the brief hearing, and refused to allow any Democrats to speak. Here's the best/worst bit: after repeatedly shutting off the mic of ranking member Elijah Cummings,

Issa and fellow Republicans walked off to cries of 'Shame!' 'Mr. Chairman,' Cummings called after Issa, 'what are you hiding?' Said Rep. Gerald Connolly (D-Va.), 'He's taking the Fifth, Elijah.'

Beyond the Beltway

Robert Costa & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "CPAC, which is an event that brings together movement conservatives, libertarian college students, and tea-party leaders for three days of talks, will be an opportunity for [New Jersey Go. Chris] Christie to showcase his displeasure with the president he once considered an ally." Christie is to speak at CPAC today. ...

... Charles Stile of the Bergen Record: The secrecy & duplicity in the way Gov. Christie managed toll hikes for the Hudson River crossings appears to be part of a pattern: "Christie publicly expressed surprise and outrage over the magnitude of the hikes. But a knowledgeable source said Christie met privately with his aides three days earlier to discuss the inflated toll-hike proposal. So far, Christie and Cuomo have said nothing about the reports.... Christie critics will inevitably conclude that if Christie was aware of the toll-hike scheme, then he must have been equally aware of the bridge-lane closings, despite his forceful denials."

Steve Yaccino of the New York Times: "Passing a symbolic resolution Wednesday, Chicago's City Council unanimously opposed naming a federal building in Washington after Eliot Ness, the Prohibition-era agent whose team of lawmen in Chicago inspired 'The Untouchables' book, movie and television series." Here's the backstory, by Yaccino.

The Grayson Family Saga, Ctd.:

News Ledes

New York Times: "An American drone strike killed five Afghan National Army soldiers and wounded eight more Thursday morning, according to Afghan officials. The attack took place at 3:20 a.m. in the Charkh district of Logar Province, an area of intense insurgent activity. 'We believe the strike was the result of poor coordination between the people on the ground and the operators of the drone,' said Din Mohammad Darwish, a spokesman for the governor of Logar Province, which is in eastern Afghanistan...."

New York: "In the latest inception of the SAT, the second ever change in the exam's 88-year history, the College Board tried to make a test that would be more accessible to more people, for which preparation materials would be widely available, and wealthy students would have a harder time gaming the system by taking expensive classes."