The Commentariat -- November 10

Prof. Gary Gutting, relying on Plato's “Republic,” which describes "five types of government -- aristocracy (rule by the 'best', that is, by experts specially trained at governance), timarchy (rule by those guided by their courage and sense of honor), oligarchy (rule by a wealthy minority), democracy (rule by the people as a whole—a “mob” as Plato saw it), and tyranny (rule by a despot answerable to no one but himself) -- notes that the U.S. incorporates all five types. Gutting says, "Current calls for 'less government' actually mean less power for elected leaders and for the bureaucracies that serve them and more power for the 'oligarchy' of millionaires and corporations.  Such calls also imply less power for the people (the democratic element), since, while elected leaders are directly responsible to those who vote, those whose power is based on wealth are not." CW: this is a little philosophical something the rank-and-file of the Tea Party have not figured out. You can bet the Koch brothers have. ...

... So today on Off Times Square we'll discuss Plato and the Koch brothers. Or whatever.

** Karen Garcia: "... here is part of what The Times moderators saw fit to publish from reader-commenter Richard Luettgen of New Jersey [commenting on Gail Collins' column in which she mentions Mitt Romney's dog Seamus, whom Romney caged in a crate on the roof of his car during a traveling vacation]:

But you continue to misinform the public about Seamus, the dog that has achieved immortality by allegedly being strapped to the roof of Mitt's car during a family jaunt to Canada. The only dogs that Mitt ever strapped to the roof of a car were Herman Cain's old girlfriends.

     ... CW: Real the whole post; it gets worse. At least one person flagged Luettgen's comment shortly after the moderators decided it was fit to print. Despite the flag, the comment remained up for hours. The moderators -- who must have been flooded with complaints (quite a number of people told Garcia they had flagged it) -- took the comment down by early afternoon. Probably Luettgen will be the Times' very next "Trusted Commenter." (Evidence suggests that he did not made the cut.) BTW: Luettgen has written nasty stuff about Garcia and me, and the Times has published it. Knowing Luettgen is a raging misogynist helps explain his antipathy to us.

Craig Whitlock & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "The Dover Air Force Base mortuary for years disposed of portions of troops’ remains by cremating them and dumping the ashes in a Virginia landfill, a practice that officials have since abandoned in favor of burial at sea. The Dover, Del., mortuary, the main point of entry for the nation’s war dead and the target of federal investigations of alleged mishandling of remains, engaged in the practice from 2003 to 2008, according to Air Force officials. The manner of disposal was not disclosed to relatives of fallen service members."

Karen Garcia found a new publication -- the New York Times eXaminer. The main page is here. The site's mission statement is here. Among its goals, to provide:

• Daily direct responses to NYT articles (that appear in both their on-line and print forms)
• Analysis and commentary on NYT coverage of topics and issues
• Critique of NYT editorial choices, standards, journalistic ethics and practices
• Provide editorials and Op-Ed’s covering labor, the environment, human rights, foreign policy, and more, providing alternative analyses to what is offered in NYT editorials
• Provide hard news without corporate bias
• Highlight and analyze Times content that is highly problematic but often found in its back pages

... Here's a story by Matthew Ingram positing that "if WikiLeaks is dying, then the New York Times is partly to blame." CW: Ingram's analysis is consistent with analyses I've read elsewhere & with my own limited observations. ...

... Julian Assange of WikiLeaks speaks with NYTX's Chris Spannos in this three-part video interview. Part 1:

     ... Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: "One person who should be feeling particularly good about last night's election results in Ohio is Barack Obama. On our weekend poll, which got the final result of Issue 2 correct to within a point, Obama led all of his Republican opponents in the state by margins ranging from 9-17 points." CW: yeah, and he has labor & teachers to thank for that. He'd better remember who his friends are.

Book Review. Andrew Leonard of Slate on President Bill Clinton's Back to Work or Bill Clinton's Alternate, Unbelievable Reality: "Before Bill Clinton decided to write a book arguing the merits for smart government, he should have fessed up to how his own dumb government played a role in creating the financial crisis that put so many Americans out of work and has made it so difficult to restart economic growth."

Today in Supercommittee News. Lori Montgomery & Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Democrats [on the deficit reduction supercommittee] rolled out a new framework of their own that would save about $2.3 trillion over the next decade instead of the $3 trillion in their initial proposal. The blueprint ... called for $1 trillion in spending cuts, including a $400 billion reduction in federal health programs. It also called for $1 trillion in new tax revenue, down from $1.3 trillion in the initial offer." CW: in other words, a "breakthrough" that is a nonstarter.

Simon Lazarus of Slate on the D.C. Court of Appeals decision upholding the individual mandate in the Affordable Care Act and the "outsized influence of Judge Laurence Silberman," the conservative jurist who wrote the decision: "... as the conservative [Supreme Court] justices brace for their turn in the health reform wars, they are receiving pointed recommendations — from their own side of the political and ideological spectrum — to leave this battlefield to politicians and voters. As Silberman notes, deflecting still another factoid often emphasized by ACA opponents, whether Americans can be required to purchase a product or service seems 'a political judgment rather than a recognition of constitutional limitations.'” CW: if you favor the ACA, this thoughtful post should hearten you.

You Can't See the Forest for the Signs. In what will likely be a never-ending series -- "Today in Oligarchy" -- Karen Garcia homes in on horticulture, horticulture of the oligarchic variety. It seems John Thain -- who plundered Merrill Lynch just as it was about to fold & make its massive contribution to the crash of 2008 -- has donated a bit of his plunder to the strapped-for-cast Bronx Botanical Gardens. And lest you not realize where you ramble on your gambol through said gardens, John Thain has planted more Thain Family Forest signs than trees.

Right Wing World *

Karl Rove's super PAC Crossroads GPS is running this new negative ad against Elizabeth Warren. Reader Julie L. saw the ad on Massachusetts TV this morning: 

     ... CW: this kind of attack will backfire if the Occupy movement doesn't turn violent. Obviously, such ads could hurt all Democrats if Occupy turns, or is perceived to turn, violent. Ads like this one will not convert voters who see the Occupy movement as a protest against Wall Street, the unemployment situation and other oligarchical power grabs. Noah Bierman of the Boston Globe has a story here.

NotMittRomney.com  Alicia Cohn of The Hill: "A coalition of conservatives is working to organize the disparate groups opposing Mitt Romney as the Republican presidential nominee.... The new coalition is seeking to push back against the narrative that Romney is the 'inevitable nominee.' ... The group's website, NotMittRomney.com, launched this week." CW: oh, good. Let them rally 'round one of the dwarfs. You pick the dwarf. Danger: they just might pick Huntsman, the one candidate who's a bona fide hard conservative and not crazy. And he hasn't had his turn in the limelight yet.

Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "L. Lin Wood, the lawyer hired by the Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain to fend off sexual harassment accusations, has warned that any other women who might be considering coming forward with similar allegations 'should think twice.'” CW: Wood's threat was not idle. Read the report. The way the right -- including Matt Drudge & the execrable Rush Limbaugh -- is defaming Cain's alleged victims is beyond disgusting. This is historically what happens to victims of sexual battery, assault & harassment: they are victimized twice. Cain & his thugs turn my stomach. Conservative women should speak out against these misogynistic bullyboys and rally around their victims. Enough is enough. ...

... It Gets Worse. Eric Boehlert of Media Matters: After it was revealed "that single mom Sharon Bialek had sat down with her son and told him about the encounter she alleges to have had with [Herman] Cain thirteen years ago, and that her son then urged her to come forward and make her claim publicly..., Rush Limbaugh on Tuesday repeatedly turned his AM wrath on ... the 13 year-old [and portrayed him] as a villain in the Herman Cain sexual harassment saga.... Limbaugh attacked the boy as a wannabe Nazi 'brownshirt.'" With audio. ...

... James Grimaldi & Perry Bacon of the Washington Post: "The women who have accused GOP contender Herman Cain of sexual harassment have agreed to hold a joint news conference to air their stories, one of their attorneys said Wednesday.... Joel P. Bennett, who represents federal employee Karen Kraushaar, 55, said in an interview that he was planning the news conference with Gloria Allred, who represents Chicago homemaker Sharon Bialek, 50. Details of the joint appearance have not yet been worked out, Bennett said."

Jeff Zeleny & Ashley Parker of the New York Times lede their story on Wednesday's GOP presidential debate with with Rick Perry's "Oops!" moment: "For any other candidate, the moment may have been quickly forgotten or easily explained. But for Mr. Perry..., it reinforced negative stereotypes about his candidacy, a point that was made clear after the debate when he made a rare trip into an adjoining room to face reporters and try to brush away what had happened."

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post, whose sole talent is in the horse-race aspect of politics, picks winners & losers. Here's loser Rick Perry's "Oops!" moment:

... Dave Weigel of Slate: "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn Rick Perry’s presidential campaign. Born in a South Carolina hotel ballroom on Aug. 13, it died on the campus of Oakland University on Nov. 9, with CNBC’s debate moderators unable to avert their eyes. The cause of death: Self-inflicted injury, brought on by amnesia." ...

... Steve Kornacki of Slate: "This really has the potential to be the flub that will define all of Perry’s flubs." ...

... Lucky Mitt. Jon Cohn of The New Republic: "Perry’s flub obscured more interesting exchanges – including two moments that revealed a great deal about Mitt Romney." For one thing, tho the debate was in Michigan -- center of the American auto industry -- Romney still didin't clearly state his view of the Obama auto bailout; he's been all over the map on it. Oh health care, Romney's oft-stated position is the popular right-wing line about not letting the government get between a patient & her doctor. But Mitt couldn't explain to questioner John Harwood why it was bad for the federal government to interfere but fine & dandy for a state government to meddle. "Romney, who’s a superb debater, was actually flustered. Eventually, Romney changed the subject to Medicaid and a statement that 'Obamacare is wrong.'” CW: well, we've cleared that up.

... Josh Lederman of The Hill: "Onstage at his first presidential debate since sexual harassment allegations against him emerged more than a week ago, Herman Cain dismissed the accusations as a 'character assassination' Wednesday — and was enthusiastically backed up by the debate audience. Those in the crowd at the CNBC debate booed moderator Maria Bartiromo when she asked Cain about whether he had the character needed for the nation's highest office." CW: bear in mind that Republican debate-goers also booed a gay serviceman serving in Iraq, cheered for letting a sick, uinsured man die, & cheered for executions. (Similarly, at a campaign event, Cain supporters cheered when he said he would put up a border fence that would electrocute Mexicans trying to get into the U.S.) Add sexual assault to the List of Their Favorite Things.

Alex Pareene of Salon notices this astounding bit of right-wing "media analysis": Dan Perrin of Red State, in a post duly admired by the ever-insane CNN correspondent Erick Erickson, claims that -- and really, this is a direct quote: "The media’s obsession with the Penn State sex scandal can be explained by the fact they think it will hurt Herman Cain." CW: yep, that was my first thought, too.

President Obama hates Christians. -- Jim Holt, Gateway Pundit

... Jeremy Holden of Media Matters: "Right-wing media figures are accusing the Obama administration of seeking to impose a tax on Christmas trees; but the Christmas tree industry has been working since 2008 -- before President Obama was elected -- to partner with the Department of Agriculture and establish a marketing campaign funded by tree growers in order to promote the sale of fresh Christmas trees." ...

     ... Update. Jake Tapper of ABC News: so the Obama Administration is going to delay implementation of the tax. CW: Why?

Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone: In Tuesday's column, "David Brooks ... explained how [Mitt] Romney’s recent decision to unveil a plan for reforming the entitlement system 'demonstrates his awareness of the issues that need to define the 2012 presidential election.' ... Romney’s ideas ... pave the way for Wall Street’s ultimate goal – full privatization of Social Security and Medicare.... Evaluated purely on their own merits, without the implicit attachment to the taxpayer, [the big banks] actually have negative trustworthiness. And these are the people we want managing the nation’s Social Security accounts?... Advocating the turning over of Social Security management to Wall Street after the 2008 crash is a little like ... tabbing Charlie Sheen to manage the inventory of a hospital pharmacy – completely nuts, but to David Brooks, that makes Mitt Romney the 'serious” candidate.'" Thanks to reader Karen S. for the link.

The Hon. Rep. Joe Walsh (RTP-Ill.) -- dutifully following the Republican party lie line -- explains to constituents that Congress, not the banks, caused the housing market bubble & crash. Joe presents his case in such a sweet manner that you won't be surprised the right-wing Family Research Council gave him their "True Blue" Family Man award even though Walsh is more than $100K in arrears on court-ordered child support -- and he still refuses to pay. And you'll wonder how his wife ever could have left such a sweetiepie. Legally, Joe's little chat with his constituents probably constitutes harassment at the least, assault at worst:

 * Where paranoia and conspiracy theories are, like, normal.

News Ledes

Deciding Not to Decide: Election 2012. Washington Post: "The Obama administration will delay action on a controversial cross-country oil pipeline in order to assess a shift in its route, officials announced Thursday, effectively putting off a politically vexing decision until after next year’s election. The move is the latest twist in a more-than-three-year review process that has evolved from a fairly routine decision within the federal bureaucracy to a very public debate over national energy policy."

AP: "U.S. Army soldier accused of exhorting his bored underlings to slaughter three civilians for sport was convicted of murder, conspiracy and other charges Thursday in one of the most gruesome cases to emerge from the Afghan war. Staff Sgt. Calvin Gibbs, of Billings, Mont., was the highest ranking of five soldiers charged in the deaths of the unarmed men during patrols in Kandahar province early last year. At his seven-day court martial at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle, the 26-year-old acknowledged cutting fingers off corpses and yanking out a victim’s tooth to keep as war trophies, 'like keeping the antlers off a deer you’d shoot.'”

AP: "The number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week fell to the lowest level since April, a sign that employers could be stepping up hiring.The Labor Department said Thursday that weekly applications dropped to a seasonally adjusted 390,000. It was the third decline in four weeks."

New York Times: "Lucas Papademos, a respected economist with an avuncular style, was named prime minister of Greece on Thursday. He will head a unity government that has pledged to quickly approve the tough terms of a European aid package and save the country from bankruptcy." CW: it would be nice if the U.S. would make "an avuncular ... respected economist" head-of-state.

New York Times: " After top Penn State officials announced that they had fired Joe Paterno on Wednesday night, thousands of students stormed the downtown area to display their anger and frustration, chanting the former coach’s name, tearing down light poles and overturning a television news van parked along College Avenue." CW: because harboring an alleged child sex abuser and possibly even being involved in the coverup is A-OK. And I thought all the kids cared about was academics.

AP: "James Murdoch told Parliament Thursday that he'd told the truth when he said he'd been kept in the dark about the culture of criminality at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid. In comments to often-skeptical and occasionally hostile lawmakers, Murdoch stuck to his guns, accusing his former subordinates of keeping him in the dark and misleading Parliament over the extent of the phone hacking that has shaken his father Rupert Murdoch's media empire." The Guardian has a liveblog. ...

     ... Update: Somebody Is Lying. Guardian: "James Murdoch was embroiled in a rancorous war of words with two of his former senior News of the World executives after he told MPs during a marathon questioning session that they had failed to tell him the truth about the scale of phone hacking at the paper and had misled parliament. In a two-and-a-half hour session..., the 38-year-old repeatedly denied being told three years ago about evidence that hacking went beyond a single journalist at the paper. But his account was quickly contradicted by both those executives, former NoW legal head Tom Crone and ex-editor Colin Myler."

Washington Post: "First lady Michelle Obama announced commitments from a range of companies Thursday to hire 100,000 veterans and military spouses by 2014, a dramatic step-up in activity for her Joining Forces initiative. She said the show of support demonstrates to military families that 'America has your back.'”

AP: "In a shift in White House tactics on the cusp of an election year, President Barack Obama isn't shying away these days from saying that many of his policies were designed with African-Americans in mind.... on Wednesday, the White House convened a gathering of black business, political and community leaders to share a report on the multiple ways the president's agenda has benefited African-Americans. The president made a direct appeal for help on proposals 'where we don't have to wait for Congress' to act." See video below.

Al Jazeera: "Israel's Supreme Court has upheld the conviction by a Tel Aviv court of former president Moshe Katsav over two counts of rape and other sexual offences. Reading out their decision on Thursday, the three justices unanimously ruled that the disgraced president was guilty of rape and rejected his 'alternative scenarios,' Israel's army radio reported." Haaretz story here.

New York Times to You: "Drop Dead"

In its never-ending quest to classify and categorize the hoi polloi, the elite Arbiters of Worthiness at the New York Times have created a new class of Worthies.

A number of commenters received notification earlier this week that they had been designated "Trusted Commenters." The Times is publishing comments from these commenters without moderation. This means that comments from these writers will be posted hours before comments by Unworthies.

What? You're not one of the Worthies? Neither am I.

When I complained that popular commenters -- including Yours Truly -- were not among the New Worthies, I received a response which read, in part,

I don't know the details of your comment history on the times (and I don't have any way of finding out), but just so you know the invitations [to become “Trusted Commenters”] are sent out automatically based on an algorithm that takes into account a number of factors. – Aron Pilhofer, Editor, Interactive News, New York Times

One of these Algorithmic Worthies is "tom" from "pittsburgh." Today tom wrote a short, innocuous comment (on Dowd's column) that begins,

The power of the press for good, is why the constitution is important to protect. ...

... and doesn't get better. But, hey, that's how the algorithm crumbles.

Unless and until the Times sees fit to deem hundreds of us among the Worthy, I will neither comment on Times columns nor read the comments (since the Times receives revenue for every click on the comments pages). Please consider joining my boycott.

The Commentariat -- November 9

Today's question on Off Times Square: "Is patriotism a virtue?"

This was the first time in our nation’s history there was a statewide vote on bargaining rights.... If you pay attention to history, you know that collective bargaining is perhaps the single biggest reason we have a strong middle class in this country. It has provided a path to the middle class for hundreds of thousands of workers. The middle class doesn’t happen on its own — and it doesn’t unravel on its own, either. Last night Ohio took a very big step towards rebuilding the middle class.... It’s clear there has been class warfare from the top in this country. The middle class pushed back last night. -- Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), on Ohio voters' repeal of the state law severely restricting public employees' collective bargaining rights

Adam Gabbatt of the Guardian: "A group of Occupy protesters plan to march nearly 300 miles from New York to Washington DC in a bid to end tax cuts which they say benefit the richest 1% of Americans. The group will set off from Occupy Wall Street on Wednesday and walk 20 miles a day en route to the capital, their arrival planned to coincide with the Congressional deficit reduction super-committee meeting on 23 November." ...

... Gloria Pazmiño of the Manhattan Times: "Northern Manhattan came out to show its support of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement this past Monday morning.... Local residents came out holding signs, megaphones and banging on drums to take on the 11-mile trek along Broadway all the way down to OWS central at Zuccotti Park where protesters have been camped out for nearly two months.... Shouting, “El pueblo unido jamás será vencido [The people united will never be defeated],” Victor Guzman, a resident of Washington Heights for more than three decades, said he joined the march to protest the lack of jobs."

** CW: Last week on Off Times Square I posited the question, "Have we been unfair to Obama?" in which I contrasted Obama's presidency with that of FDR. What I meant to do also, and never got around to, was comparing the Congresses with whom the two presidents had to work. But Ezra Klein does get to this aspect of the equation -- or non-equation. Klein also makes arguments similar to ones I made. A few commenters suggested I was an apologist for Obama, but perhaps if they read Klein, they'll be a little more forgiving of both Obama & me: "Franklin D. Roosevelt won the presidency in 1932, three years into the Great Depression. The unemployment rate that year was 23.6 percent. Obama won the presidency in 2008, mere months into the financial crisis; unemployment was at 6.8 percent. Consequently, the two presidents faced political systems prepared to do very different things. In his new book, 'The New Deal: A Modern History,' Michael Hiltzik makes clear that though FDR was an unusually energetic and ambitious president, he was paired with an unusually energetic and ambitious Congress." Read the whole post.

Henry Gomez of the Cleveland Plain Dealer: "By resoundingly rejecting the Republican-backed push to rewrite labor rules for public employees, Buckeye State voters helped set the table for the 2012 presidential election. Without question the results will be viewed as a momentum-builder for Democrats nationwide and should encourage President Barack Obama. He carried Ohio by four points in his 2008 Electoral College landslide, but the GOP won control of every state office and the legislature last fall."

** "Course Correction." Jonathan Chait of New York Magazine has a withering post on the implications of President Obama's demotion reassignment of Bill Daley, his chief-of-staff: Obama has now rejected Daley's Washington elitist view of the Obama presidency -- a view shared by David Brooks, Michael Bloomberg, Mitch McConnell & Karl Rove, BTW. Daley talked Obama into the premise that he should be less liberal, more pro-business, more bipartisan. "Obama issued a course correction and started pursuing a strategy that’s in line with the realities of public opinion and the Congress, as opposed to Daley’s fantasy version thereof. Recognizing public populism and GOP intransigence, he is outlining the legislation he wants...." And it's paying off.

Zaid Jilani of Think Progress. Last week, ", six Democratic senators — Tom Udall (NM), Michael Bennett [sic.; s/b Bennet] (CO), Tom Harkin (IA), Dick Durbin (IL), Chuck Schumer (NY), Sheldon Whitehouse (RI), and Jeff Merkely [oops! sic.; s/b Merkley] (OR) — introduced a constitutional amendment that would effectively overturn the Citizens United case and restore the ability of Congress to properly regulate the campaign finance system." The Senate resolution introducing the amendment -- which includes the full wording of the proposed amendment -- is here. ...

     ... CW: I don't think the proposed amendment is strong enough -- we know what a good job Congress & state legislatures do at regulating themselves -- but until I see a stronger, viable amendment, I'll support this one. You can add your name to a petition supporting passage of the amendment here. At least this sends a message we aren't happy with Citizens United. ...

... Neil Sinhabubu of Donkeylicious Explains the Difference between People & Corporations to Shut-Ins ... & Nino Scalia: "Real persons have rights, but if you're just pretending that something is a person for limited practical purposes [like listing the owners of property on deeds], you don't have to pretend it has all the rights persons do.... Corporations shouldn't have the right to vote in elections after they've existed for 18 years. The end of a corporation isn't a death, such that intentionally causing it would be murder. These points follow just as well if one sees corporations not as fictions but as groups (as Scalia does at some points) -- groups don't have the vote in addition to that of the individuals who compose them, and disbanding them doesn't constitute murder." CW: oh, and somebody tell Mitt Romney about this, too.

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: "The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a decision in the lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act. It looks like a big win for the administration — and, more importantly, for health care reform.... The author of the majority opinion: Judge Laurence Silberman [is] a Reagan appointee and conservative judge.... The judges are dismissing the distinction between 'activity' and 'inactivity' as meaningless.  That distinction, of course, is the foundation of the lawsuit. The relevant issue, Silberman goes on to say, is whether the mandate affects commerce that crosses state lines. It clearly does." (See also today's Ledes.) ...

... Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post: "Justice Laurence Silberman, who wrote a full-throated defense of the health reform law, has a lengthy history of conservative legal thought.... What Silberman wrote in today’s opinion hews very closely to the legal argument that the Obama administration has pushed in the courts: The federal government has a constitutional right to regulate an individual’s choice not to purchase insurance, because that decision has an economic effect on others.... Legally speaking, the ruling today is a bit moot: The Supreme Court has already scheduled a conference Thursday to discuss whether to take up any of the challenges to the health reform law ... [so] it’s not even looking at this case.... But politically, it suggests that judges’ political and judicial histories do not necessarily provide reliable guidance as how they will rule on the health reform law." ...

... Pro-BamaCare News Brown-Out. Steve Benen: In news coverage of "lower-court rulings that evaluated the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act..., conservative rulings received more coverage, longer articles, and better placement.... It hasn’t even been close.... The Washington Post continues to be the most one-sided — the three conservative rulings were all treated as front-page news, while the five rulings in support of the law were either buried or ignored."

Craig Whitlock & Greg Jaffe of the Washington Post: "Federal investigators said Tuesday that they had uncovered 'gross mismanagement' at the Dover Air Force Base mortuary that cares for America’s war dead after whistleblowers reported horror stories of lost body parts, shoddy inventory controls and lax supervision.... Military officials said the incidents resulted from the strain of handling thousands of dead bodies, some with gruesome injuries that made it difficult to prepare remains for burial. But the sloppy handling of troops’ remains at Dover painfully undercut the military’s commitment to treat war dead with the utmost honor." An analysis by the U.S. Special Counsel is here. Recommended only for those with strong stomachs.

Ceclia Kang of the Washington Post: "The Federal Communications Commission and cable and computer firms will announce Wednesday a program to provide low-income homes with $10 monthly broadband Internet service and $150 computers.... Beginning in the spring, cable Internet service providers such as Bright House, Comcast, Cox and Time Warner will offer families that are eligible for federal school-lunch programs — 25 million Americans — the discounted monthly service. The service will include free installation and modem rental for two years. Redemtech, a computer refurbishing firm, will offer those families laptops or desktops for $150, with free home shipping and 90 days of tech support. Microsoft will provide new computers for eligible school-lunch families for $250."

Right Wing World

Wanted: Panderer-in-Chief. Libertarian Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic has a fine takedown of popular right-wing gasbag Erick Erickson. Friedersdorf runs through Erickson's critique of GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman, then concludes, "Erickson likes [Huntsman's] proposals on most issues, including the ones he finds most important. But in order to take Huntsman seriously, Erickson is going to need him to a) hire a new campaign strategist; b) make different jokes; and c) send different Tweets.... If you want to know why the GOP is stuck with a bunch of frivolous candidates versus Mitt Romney..., that is why. Even the most knowledgeable, allegedly savvy representative of the grassroots won't elevate the substantively more conservative candidate [Huntsman] ... unless he panders. And slakes Erickson's immature thirst for liberal bashing. Meanwhile, Erickson is complaining that he's going to get stuck with a guy that panders. Guess why, Erick?"

It Would Be a Conspiracy if We Hadn't Made It Up. CNN: "Herman Cain's chief-of-staff Mark Block on Tuesday wrongly claimed that the son of a woman who accused Cain of sexual harassment worked at POLITICO, a news outlet that first broke the story.... 'We've confirmed ... that he does indeed work at POLITICO and that's his mother, yes,' Block said. But the man whom Block appears to be talking about – Josh Kraushaar – said he's not related to Karen Kraushaar. He previously worked at POLITICO but now works at National Journal, a news outlet that covers public affairs."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Graham B. Spanier, one of the longest-serving and highest-paid university presidents in the nation..., stepped down Wednesday night in the wake of a sexual-abuse scandal involving a prominent former assistant football coach and the university’s failure to act to halt further harm. Spanier’s departure came as the university’s Board of Trustees also ended the 84-year-old Joe Paterno’s career, denying him his wish to finish out the season, his 46th as the head football coach and his 62nd over all at the school."

There's another Republican presidential debate tonight. It's at 8 pm ET on CNBC & will be broadcast from the campus of Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. The CNBC livestream -- for the convenience of reporters and masochists -- will be here, I guess. See the November 10 Commentariat for links to analysis.

New York Times: "A year after Republicans swept legislatures across the country, voters in Ohio delivered their verdict Tuesday on a centerpiece of the conservative legislative agenda, striking down a law that restricted public workers’ rights to bargain collectively. The landslide vote to repeal the bill — 62 percent to 38 percent, according to preliminary results from Ohio’s secretary of state — was a slap to Gov. John R. Kasich, a Republican who had championed the law as a tool for cities to cut costs."

Jackson, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger: "The contentious Personhood Amendment failed in Mississippi by a wide margin, unofficial and incomplete returns showed Tuesday night. With about 90 percent of the vote counted, the initiative was headed for certain defeat. The proposed amendment, which affirms that all fertilized eggs are people, was one of three initiatives that enlivened polling places across the state." ...

... Clarion-Ledger: "Mississippians have elected Republican Phil Bryant as the state's 64th governor.... As election results came in, Bryant, 56, took an early lead over Hattiesburg Mayor Johnny DuPree, 57, solidifying the GOP's hold on the Mississippi Governor's Mansion for at least four more years.... Bryant follows Gov. Haley Barbour, who after serving eight years could not seek re-election because of term limits."

NEW. Arizona Republic: "Russell Pearce, one of the most influential state politicians in the nation and a powerful voice on illegal immigration, was on the verge of losing his Senate seat in Tuesday's unprecedented recall election.... If the vote totals hold, Pearce becomes the first sitting Senate president in the nation and the first Arizona legislator ever to lose a recall election. He would be required to step down immediately once the results become official." His opponent, Jerry Lewis, is also a conservative Republican.

Louisville, Kentucky Courier-Journal: "Gov. Steve Beshear won a landslide re-election victory Tuesday over Senate President David Williams, sweeping Democrats in four other races into office with him and capping a remarkable four-decade career in Kentucky politics." ...

... Courier-Journal: "Democratic incumbent Jack Conway cruised to an easy victory over Republican Todd P’Pool in the race for Kentucky attorney general, wiping away last year’s brutal U.S. Senate defeat to Rand Paul. With all precincts reporting, Conway had 55 percent of the vote to P’Pool’s 45 percent. The win marks a comeback for Conway, who has acknowledged last year’s bruising loss to Paul was a setback."

Washington Post: "Virginia Democrats’ hopes of maintaining their party’s hold on the Commonwealth’s upper house were very much in doubt late Tuesday, hinging on a razor-thin count in a single Senate district. When the ballot-counting ended for the night, longtime Spotsylvania incumbent Sen. R. Edward Houck (D) was 86 votes behind Republican challenger Bryce E. Reeves. Absentee ballots have been counted, and an unknown number of provisional ballots will be counted Wednesday. Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R) early Wednesday morning declared victory...."

AP: "A law requiring voters to enroll at least two days before an election was repealed Tuesday, restoring a four-decade policy of allowing registrations up to and including Election Day."

Bloomberg News: "A conservative-leaning panel of federal appellate judges on Tuesday upheld President Barack Obama's health care law as constitutional.... A panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia issued a split opinion upholding the lower court's ruling that found Congress did not overstep its authority in requiring people to buy health insurance or pay a penalty on their taxes, beginning in 2014." The ruling is here (pdf).

New York Times: "Italy’s financial crisis deepened on Wednesday despite a pledge by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign once Parliament passes austerity measures demanded by the European Union. The move failed to convince investors, propelling Italy’s borrowing costs through a key financial and psychological barrier of 7 per cent, close to levels that have required other euro zone countries to seek bailouts. Cornered by world markets and humiliated by a parliamentary setback, Mr. Berlusconi appeared to become the most prominent victim of the broader European debt crisis."

New York Times: "Negotiations to choose a new Greek prime minister seemed to have been plunged into new confusion early on Wednesday following widespread reports only hours earlier that Lucas Papademos, a respected economist, was on the verge of being named to the job."