The Commentariat -- February 8, 2012

Chris Spannos of the New York Times eXaminer: "In its treatment of WikiLeaks The [New York] Times has thoroughly undermined press freedoms that the Supreme Court argued for on its behalf. In its publication of Cablegate documents, The Times did not participate in the international consortium of media partners—organized by WikiLeaks—and instead acquired the cables through the Guardian (in violation of its contract with WikiLeaks). The Times then gave 'the White House an early warning' of the cables it was going to publish and listened to Washington’s concerns relating to the cables. The Times shared these concerns with other news media outlets." ...

My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on a "fundamentally dishonest" New York Times report which advances the GOP party line. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.

New York Times Editors: "On Monday, the president's ... aides announced that the Obama campaign would begin to assist the 'super PAC' that can raise and spend unlimited sums to support the president’s re-election effort.... The president gave in to the culture of the Citizens United decision that he once denounced as a 'threat to our democracy.' Obama has given up that higher ground. He had already undermined the public financing system for presidential campaigns by refusing to use it in 2008, but this is much worse." ...

... Kevin Drum of Mother Jones echoes a comment today from contributor Dennis Garber: "Is this hypocritical of Obama? For the thousandth time, no, no, no. The playing field is the playing field, and once a public policy has been legally put in place you'd be a sap not to play by the same rules as everyone else." ...

... Dana Milbank: "While Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are making each other unelectable, the president is singing Al Green, congratulating Super Bowl winners, playing with science projects, raising obscene amounts of campaign cash and watching his poll numbers soar."

In a New York Times op-ed, David Miller, a tax lawyer, suggests a "Zuckerberg tax," or what he calls a "mark-to-market" tax. Under the current tax code, Mark Zuckerberg will pay no tax on the stock he doesn’t immediately sell. "Instead, he can simply use his stock as collateral to borrow against his tremendous wealth and avoid all tax.... After rejoining Apple in 1997, [Steve] Jobs never sold a single Apple share for the rest of his life, and therefore never paid a penny of tax on the over $2 billion of Apple stock he held at his death. Now his widow can sell those shares without paying any income tax on the appreciation before his death." Miller's suggested Zuckerberg tax would change that. "A mark-to-market system of taxation on the top one-tenth of 1 percent would raise hundreds of billions of dollars of new revenue over the next 10 years."

Scott Higham, et al., of the Washington Post: "Some members of Congress send tax dollars to companies, colleges and community groups where their spouses, children and parents work.... A U.S. senator from South Dakota helped add millions to a Pentagon program his wife evaluated as a contract employee. A Washington congressman boosted the budget of an environmental group that his son ran as executive director. A Texas congresswoman guided millions to a university where her husband served as a vice president."

Bill Moyers interviews social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. While I disagree with some of Haidt's premises, a number of his general principles are well-supported. The Moyers site is here. Thanks to Lisa for the link:

Igor Volsky of Think Progress: " Twenty-eight states already require organizations that offer prescription insurance to cover contraception and since 98 percent of Catholic women use birth control, many Catholic institutions offer the benefit to their employees.... Many Catholic colleges have purchased insurance plans that provide contraception benefits." CW: I wish somebody would conduct a poll on this of women of child-bearing years. ...

... Think Progress: "... a majority of Catholics, support [the Obama administration’s rule requiring employers to provide contraception], according to a new poll conducted by the Public Religion Research Institute. The requirement garners support from 55 percent of Americans and 58 percent of Catholics, though the number is slightly lower (52 percent) for Catholic voters."

Right Wing World

Obvious, but Not Often Said. Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "A core argument of Romney’s presidential campaign is that he knows how to create jobs based on his career in finance. As governor, Romney faced his first test in applying his business background to a slow-growing economy — and data show that the results were unremarkable.... As Romney’s opponents have pointed out, the state ranked 47th in job creation during his term. The parallels between Massachusetts then and the country as a whole now point to the same central problem that has dogged the U.S. economy the last three times it’s climbed out of a recession: The recovery hasn’t created enough jobs."

"A Long Battle." Nate Silver: "Whatever your perspective on how likely Mitt Romney was to lose the Republican nomination race prior to Tuesday evening, it should be acknowledged that he had about the worst results conceivable." ...

... Igor Volsky: "Mitt Romney has launched a petition accusing the Obama administration of 'using Obamacare to impose a secular vision on Americans who believe that they should not have their religious freedom taken away.' The move is the latest in a concerted campaign effort to rally the conservative base around a supposed 'war against religion' and misrepresent or outright lie about a new regulation requiring employers and insurers to offer contraception coverage." P.S. RomneyCare "offers primary and preventive care that includes 'family planning services' and prescription contraceptives."

Local News

Steve Schultze of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Darlene Wink pleaded guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges of fundraising in the courthouse for then-Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker's campaign for governor. Her convictions were the first stemming from a secret John Doe investigation into a variety of issues from Walker's tenure as county executive. Three other former Walker courthouse aides and appointees also have been charged through the Doe probe." ...

... MacKenzie Weinger of Politico: "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will voluntarily meet with the Milwaukee County prosecutors about the John Doe investigation into some of his former aides.... Walker said he had hired two criminal lawyers for the meeting." CW: John Nichols of The Nation appeared on Ed Schultz's show Tuesday evening & said the interview was not "voluntary," but I can't find a story backing that up. ...

... Charles Pierce on the back-room blood-pacts and related goings-on in "Wisconsin, a former state of the union now d/b/a a wholly owned subsidiary of Koch Industries under goggle-eyed homunculus Scott Walker and his pet state legislature."

News Ledes

New York Times: "Washington was poised Wednesday to become the seventh state to allow same-sex couples to marry after the State House gave final passage to such a bill. Gov. Christine Gregoire promised to sign it."

New York Times: "His candidacy all but dismissed just days ago, Rick Santorum won the Minnesota and Colorado caucuses and a nonbinding primary in Missouri on Tuesday, an unexpected trifecta that raised fresh questions about Mitt Romney’s ability to corral conservative support. With his triumphs, Mr. Santorum was also suddenly presenting new competition to Newt Gingrich as the chief alternative to Mr. Romney, the front-runner. Where Mr. Gingrich has won one state, South Carolina, Mr. Santorum has now won four, including Iowa." Washington Post story here.

Now Republicans have our backs against the wall. We can’t win the argument. We’re going to have to go on to something else. -- Mean Sen. Jim DeMint (RTP-S.C.) ...

... New York Times: "Any hope for a fast and quiet resolution to the Congressional battle over a payroll tax cut seemed to dim Tuesday as members of a bipartisan negotiating committee clashed over how to pay for the extension, and Senate Democrats suggested that they would come up with their own bill to get the matter resolved."

New York Times: "Facing vocal opposition from religious leaders and an escalating political fight, the White House sought on Tuesday to ease mounting objections to a new administration rule that would require health insurance plans — including those offered by Catholic universities and charities — to offer birth control to women free of charge."

Washington Post: "New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman abruptly called off a news conference at which he could have provided a crucial endorsement of a proposed settlement with some of the nation’s biggest banks over shoddy foreclosure practices. Schneiderman’s unexplained last-minute postponement cast another cloud of uncertainty over the ongoing negotiations, which have dragged on for more than 16 months. State and federal officials have been intent on finalizing the deal by the end of the week."

AP: "The European Union will impose harsher sanctions on Syria, a senior EU official said Wednesday, as Russia tried to broker talks between the vice president and the opposition to calm violence. Activists reported at least 50 killed in military assaults targeting government opponents." The Guardian has a liveblog on the story.

New York Times: "Greek political leaders continued to struggle Wednesday to secure agreement on new austerity measures to be presented to the country’s financial backers in the coming days. Driving the talks has been a clear recognition that the ever-worsening collapse of the Greek economy will require another increase in bailout funds — money that will not be forthcoming until the rest of Europe is persuaded that Greece is serious about taking such steps as firing more public-sector workers and cutting private-sector wages." ...

     Reuters Update: "Greek political leaders failed early on Thursday to sign off on a tough reform and austerity program, the price of a new international bailout for the nation, but Prime Minister Lucas Papademos said they would try to strike a deal within hours."

Reuters: "Iran is capable of hitting U.S. military forces around the world if attacked by the United States, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted the Iranian ambassador to Moscow as saying on Wednesday."

AP: "All but one of the first wave of phone hacking cases against Rupert Murdoch's News International have been settled, victims' lawyer told Britain's High Court on Wednesday. The latest settlement brings to more than 60 the number of claims that Murdoch's UK newspaper company has dealt with."

ABC News: "A retired general today assailed the commander of the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden for drawing too much media attention to operations that he argued should be kept under wraps. Special Operations Commander Adm. Bill McRaven was confronted by retired Lt. Gen. James Vaught, who said he didn't understand why the recent raids by the Navy SEALs, such as the one to kill Osama bin Laden or to rescue U.S. hostage Jessica Buchanan, were all over the media."

Some People Are So Cheesy. AP: "A memorabilia collector and self-styled expert on presidential history pleaded guilty Tuesday to conspiring to steal thousands of documents signed by leaders throughout U.S. history. Barry Landau, whose knowledge of the White House earned him appearances on network morning shows, admitted in the plea to taking documents from the Maryland Historical Society and conspiring with his assistant to steal documents from several institutions with the intention of selling them. Thousands of documents were seized by authorities over the summer from the 63-year-old Landau’s artifact-lined Manhattan apartment. Prosecutors say he schemed for years, if not decades, to steal valuable documents."

The Commentariat -- February 7, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is an attempt to make sense of David Brooks' column today. The NYTX frontpage is here. You can contribute to NYTX here. ...

... Dean Baker: "Bill Keller does not understand free speech, copyright and the Constitution.... It is perverse response to the development of technology to grant the government ever greater powers of repression in order to ensure that an archaic social institution can still be used to generate profits for a small group of powerful corporations and individuals."

CW: This is to follow up on something Carlyle said in the Comments section a few days ago. He asserted, I would have guessed correctly, that before Roe v. Wade, the doctors of middle-class & wealthy women routinely performed abortions who requested them. (My recollection was that abortions were referred to as "D&C"s, -- dilation and curettage -- a "cover" for their true purpose. Quite a few of my mother's friends had D&Cs for "medical" reasons.) Now Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times provides some figures to back up Carlyle's assertion:

If the right-wing manages to outlaw abortion, the abortion rate will not go down. It was about the same before the 1973 Roe v Wade decision, which recognized a woman’s right to privacy, as it was in 2008.  (Approximations of illegal abortions in the 1960s range from 200,000 to 1.2 million a year, and the total population was under 200 million until the end of that decade. If the truth lies closer to the larger number, the rate was actually higher than post-Roe.) But abortions will become more dangerous. According to some estimates, fifty percent of the maternal deaths in the first half of the 20^th century were due to illegal abortions. Was that a culture of life?

David Fallis, et al., of the Washington Post: "Thirty-three members of Congress have directed more than $300 million in earmarks and other spending provisions to dozens of public projects that are next to or within about two miles of the lawmakers’ own property, according to a Washington Post investigation.... Congress’s interpretation of what constitutes a conflict is narrowly construed: If lawmakers or their immediate families are not the sole beneficiaries, there is considered to be no conflict." The details of the Post investigation are here. There are related stories here.

A painless way to learn about the European fiscal crisis. Thanks to Dave S.:

Certain products are gone forever. Fancy derivatives are mostly gone. Prop trading is gone. There’s less leverage everywhere. Mortgages are back to old-fashioned conservative mortgages — which is a good thing. -- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase ...

... "The Masters of the Universe Are Masters No Longer." Gabriel Sherman of New York Magazine: Dodd-Frank's "major provisions — forcing banks to reduce leverage, imposing a ban on proprietary trading, making derivatives markets more transparent, and ending abusive debit-card practices — have taken a pickax to the Wall Street business model even though the act won’t be completely in effect till the ­Volcker Rule kicks in this July (other aspects of the bill took force in December; capital requirements and many other elements of the bill will be phased in gradually between now and 2016)."

Right Wing World

Know Your Dumb Congressmen. This Week's Winner: John Fleming of Louisiana's 4th District. Mackenzie Weinger of Politico: "In a Facebook status on Friday, Fleming alerted his followers to The Onion’s May 18, 2011 article, 'Planned Parenthood Opens $8 Billion Abortionplex' and wrote 'More on Planned Parenthood, abortion by the wholesale.' Fleming’s spokesman Doug Sachtleben confirmed to Politico the post has since been removed from the congressman’s Facebook page and said the office had no further comment."

I was, frankly, offended by it.  I'm a huge fan of Clint Eastwood, I thought it was an extremely well-done ad, but it is a sign of what happens when you have Chicago-style politics, and the president of the United States and his political minions are, in essence, using our tax dollars to buy corporate advertising. -- Karl Rove ...

... Here's Rove whining on Fox "News":

... Charles Blow: "Rove didn’t mention that it was [George W.] Bush who first agreed to save Chrysler.... Chrysler nearly collapsed in late 2008 under private equity ownership. Bush agreed to a $4 billion bailout of the company." Chrysler got its first $4 billion in bailout cash while Bush was still in office. CW: Huh. Who'da thunk Dubya practiced "Chicago-style politics"? Gosh, not a Floridian such as I who watched the Bushes Jeb & George muscle the Florida vote-count shutdown. ...

... Somewhat weirdly, this major New York Times story, headlined "Republicans See Politics in Chrysler Super Bowl Ad," by Jeremy Peters & Jim Rutenberg (it's a two-pager online) does not mention that Dubya initiated the Chrysler bailout. ...

... Meanwhile, out in Las Vegas, the Detroit Free Press reports that "Former President George W. Bush, who extended bridge loans to the auto  industry as one of his administration's last acts, told auto dealers Monday he would do it all again."

... Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "A Chrysler ad aired during the Super Bowl Sunday night has inspired ire among some Republicans and admiration among some Democrats — with both sides seeing a political message that boosts President Obama." (See the ad in yesterday's Commentariat.) CW: You made my day, Turdblossom. ...

... Oops! The NFL took the ad down. They've put it back up. Update: an NFL spokesman said the NFL never asked Google/YouTube to take the ad down, and asked them up put it back up. It's up:

... Guess what, Karl Rove. Clint Eastwood didn't just star in the Chrysler ad. He wrote it. This New York magazine post, in which Claude Brodesser-Akner reports on his interview of Eastwood's long-time agent/manager Leonard Hirshan, is pretty interesting. ...

I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK. I am not supporting any politician at this time.... If Obama or any other politician wants to run with the spirit of that ad, go for it. -- Clint Eastwood

... Digby. "There was a time when this message would be uncontroversial --- just straight up All American patriotic commercialism. Now the wingnuts say it's commie propaganda for the Kenyan usurper." ...

... Laura Clawson of Daily Kos: "... Rove is still twisting himself in knots to be sure he doesn't blame its content on Chrysler.... And Clint Eastwood? He's what passes for a Hollywood Republican, so he's blameless. Instead, Chrysler's advertising ... is somehow a result of the president's 'Chicago-style politics.' ... It's not clear whether Rove is implying that Obama saved Chrysler in 2009 in order to get a 2012 Super Bowl ad that some would interpret as positive about him, or that Obama actually called up Chrysler and demanded the ad, but whatever. We knew Republicans were rooting against the economy improving. But claiming that any implication that Obama's policies have improved the economy is all a nefarious political plot on his part takes the desperation a little far." ...

... David Firestone of the New York Times: "Detroit’s resurgence [is] what’s what’s really offensive to Mr. Rove and other Republicans.... These [successes] are inconvenient facts for both Mr. Rove and for Mitt Romney, who is on the record as opposing the automaker bailouts. The outcry being raised against the commercial is not really from people who are offended, but from those who are embarrassed."

Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Mitt Romney returned to the campaign trail [in Colorado] Monday and trained his focus on President Obama, but his top aides and key surrogates fought to beat back a possible surge by Rick Santorum on the eve of Republican presidential contests in a trio of states. Romney’s aides and a top surrogate, former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty, unloaded on Santorum over his support of taxpayer-funded earmarks during his years in Washington, calling him a 'champion of earmarks.' The Romney team lobbed similar broadsides against Newt Gingrich ahead of last month’s Florida primary, but have let up somewhat as the former House speaker’s campaign has struggled." ...

... Alex Altman of Time: "While polling in each state has been light, a series of Public Policy Polling surveys found Santorum with a slight edge over Romney in Minnesota, 29% to 27%, and in second place in Colorado, where he trails Romney, 40% to 26%. A week-old survey also placed him atop Missouri's bragging-rights derby." ...

... Romney Must Be a Tad Worried. Alexander Burns of Politico: "In a memo released to the press, Romney political director Rich Beeson makes the case that the path forward in the 2012 primaries points clearly toward a Romney victory, and preemptively spins tonight's Missouri-Minnesota-Colorado contests as a political sideshow.

Charles Pierce of Esquire has a lovely way of addressing the embattled enemy in President Obama's War on Religion (See Douthat, Ross; Gingrich, Newt; etc.): "... please stop going on my television set and telling me what 'the Catholic position' is on the fact that the president has told various Catholic institutions — and told them quite gently, too — that, yes, if they want all those nice juicy tax advantages, they must abide by the federal law and, in their capacities as employers, make contraceptives available to their employees under the new Affordable Care Act. There is no 'Catholic position' on this issue. There are the opinions of the clerical bureaucrats, accessories after the fact, and the members of the Clan of The Red Beanie, and then there is the opinion of the overwhelming majority of Catholic laypeople, who stopped listening to anything the Vatican said on the matter of birth control back in 1965."

AND Dave Weigel: "This can be filed under Things Everyone Knew Donald Trump Would Say.

Appearing on Fox News Monday, 'The Donald' said his endorsement helped Romney win by nearly 30 points.

'There was a lot riding on that particular race in Nevada and it was interesting, because the numbers were much, much greater than you thought,' Trump told Fox News. 'And a lot of people are giving me credit for that. And I will accept that credit.'

News Ledes

The New York Times is liveblogging the results of the three GOP presidential contests today, none of which will produce any delegates. Updated results are on the same page. ...

     ... At 9:45 pm ET, NBC News projected Rick Santorum as the winner of the nonbinding primary in Missouri. No link. ...

     ... At 10:20 pm ET, NBC News projected Santorum has won the Minnesota caucuses. No link.

     ... At 1:05 am ET Wednesday, NBC News declared Santorum the winner of the Colorado caucuses. No link.

Washington Post: "A top official of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation who was involved in the controversy over the group’s funding of Planned Parenthood resigned Tuesday. Karen Handel, vice president for public policy, acknowledged that she had supported Komen’s decision to pull funding for Planned Parenthood in a resignation letter obtained by The Atlanta Journal Constitution." Here's the letter.

New York Times: "Two American brothers of a Mexican casino magnate who fled drug and fraud charges in the United States and has been seeking a pardon enabling him to return have emerged as major fund-raisers and donors for President Obama’s re-election campaign. The casino owner, Juan Jose Rojas Cardona ... jumped bail in Iowa in 1994 and disappeared, and has since been linked to violence and corruption in Mexico.... When The New York Times asked the Obama campaign early Monday about the Cardonas, officials said they were unaware of the brother in Mexico. Later in the day, the campaign said it was refunding the money raised by the family, which totaled more than $200,000."

New York Times: President Obama is signaling to wealthy Democratic donors that he wants them to start contributing to an outside group supporting his re-election, reversing a long-held position as he confronts a deep financial disadvantage on a vital front in the campaign."Washington Post story here.

Los Angeles Times: "A federal appeals court is expected to decide [today] whether California's ban on same-sex marriage violates the federal Constitution, a ruling that could reach the U.S. Supreme Court next year." San Francisco Chronicle story here. ...

     L.A. Times Update: "A federal appeals court Tuesday struck down California's ban on same-sex marriage, clearing the way for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on gay marriage as early as next year. The 2-1 decision by a panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found that Proposition 8, the 2008 ballot measure that limited marriage to one man and one woman, violated the U.S. Constitution. The architects of Prop. 8 have vowed to appeal. The ruling was narrow and likely to be limited to California." You can read the decision here. The New York Times story, which is more expansive, is here.

New York Times: "One of the largest companies that provided home foreclosure services to lenders across the nation, DocX, has been indicted on forgery charges by a Missouri grand jury — one of the few criminal actions to follow reports of widespread improprieties against homeowners."

New York Times: "Thousands of Syrians lined the streets of Damascus, waving Russian flags to welcome top Russian officials arriving on Tuesday for talks with President Bashar al-Assad on Syria’s deepening, 11-month-old crisis.... Russia said it had sent its foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and Mikhail Fradkov, the head of Moscow’s foreign intelligence service, to Syria with a proposal that could end the crisis." Washington Post story here.

New York Times: "Greek workers walked off the job on Tuesday to protest a new barrage of austerity measures being demanded by the country’s foreign creditors in exchange for a second bailout of $170 billion without which Greece faces a potentially catastrophic default within weeks."

The Commentariat -- February 6, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer critiques Thomas Edsall's New York Times column on deficit politics. Edsall may be an excellent journalist, but he's no economist. The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here. ...

... BTW, today's Commentariat is open for comments. If you're not reading the comments, you're really missing something. I may be a bit biased, but I think Reality Chex contributors often make important points more cogently than the "experts" do. Yesterday was no exception.

Digby: "Barack Obama is the most conservative Democratic president of the modern era. And George W. Bush was the most conservative Republican." CW: See also Paul Krugman on this:

Paul Krugman: "... here’s what needs to be said about the latest [employment] numbers: yes, we’re doing a bit better, but no, things are not O.K. — not remotely O.K. This is still a terrible economy, and policy makers should be doing much more than they are to make it better." ...

... It's Paul Krugman Day: "... the left and right aren’t symmetric. People of all persuasions lie; but the right has a whole institutional structure of lying that has no counterpart on the left."

"Romney Takes Nevada, Obama Takes the Lead." Michael Falcone & Amy Walter of ABC News: "This was supposed to be Mitt Romney's week. Back-to-back wins in Florida and Nevada have helped to cement him as the all-but-certain Republican nominee. Instead, the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll points to President Obama as the biggest winner of the GOP primary contest. President Obama has snuck ahead of Romney among registered voters, 51 percent to 45 percent. What's more, 50 percent of voters in the new poll approve of Obama's job performance and the same percentage say he deserves re-election. Here's a related ABC News story, with video." ...

Obama Super PAC? Republican Clinton Eastwood cuts an ad for President Obama's re-election. No, wait, it's a Chrysler ad that ran during the Super Bowl half-time. Update: Chrysler took the ad down, but here's another YouTube version, which may or may not remain available:

** Elections Have Consequences. Mark Sherman of the AP on the importance of this year's presidential election in determining the future of American jurisprudence. "Despite his slow start in nominating judges and Republican delays in Senate confirmations, Obama has still managed to alter the balance of power on four of the nation's 13 circuit courts of appeals. Given a second term, Obama could have the chance to install Democratic majorities on several others."

President Obama on Iran's nuclear program, Israel, and other stuff:

... Ethan Bronner of the New York Times: "Israel believes that its threats to attack Iran have been the catalyst that has pushed much of the world to agree to harsh sanctions on Iran’s energy and banking sectors.... But Israel’s top leaders also worry that the sanctions are too late and that, in the end, a military assault is the only way to accomplish their goal — stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. So the talk in this crisis is not made instead of action, but in addition to it — and perhaps as a prelude to it." ...

... Michael Ono of ABC News: "As United States and Israel grow increasingly concerned over Iran's nuclear program [Mike Rogers {R-Michigan}] the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, is cautioning that a pre-emptive strike by Israel could spell trouble for America.... This statement comes days after Defense Secretary Leon Panetta expressed concern that Israel would bomb Iran in an unattributed comment run in a column in the Washington Post." ...

... Activist-author Tom Hayden (D-Calif.) on how Romney, Gingrich or Santorum could push President Obama toward war with Iran during this election cycle.

Rick Hertzberg advocates for more debates. As the man most responsible for arranging the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debates, Newton Minow, has written, “The debates are the only time during presidential campaigns when the major candidates appear together side by side under conditions that they do not control.”

Right Wing World

Anjeanette Damon of the Las Vegas Sun: "A painstakingly slow hand count of Clark County’s [Nevada] presidential caucus vote delayed final results by more than a day, prompting accusations of fraud and conspiracy from supporters of Rep. Ron Paul, doubts from national Republicans about Nevada’s ability to run a caucus and derision from national political observers, who called for Nevada’s status as an early caucus state to be summarily yanked. While no evidence of fraud was uncovered, the prolonged count capped a caucus marked by disorganization, bickering and bumbling at nearly every turn."

Jane Mayer of the New Yorker. Meet Larry McCarthy, creator of the Willie Horton ad against 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis, and Mitt Romney's top attack dog. You will not find McCarthy strapped to the roof of Romney's station wagon; he works out of Washington, D.C.

Deficit Spending, Newt Style. Carol Leonnig of the Washington Post: "Newt Gingrich’s campaign remains roughly $600,000 in debt, two months after it reported deep debts and a long list of creditors, newly released campaign spending records show." ...

At Least He's Consistent. Howard Gleckman in a Christian Science Monitor post from December 2011: "GOP Presidential candidate Newt Gingrich is proposing a massive tax cut aimed at the highest earning American households. Gingrich’s plan would add about $1 trillion to the federal deficit in a single year. And while most of the nation’s lowest income families would get no benefit from these tax cuts, the top 0.1 percent (who make an average of more than $8 million) would get about a quarter of the windfall, according to new estimates by my colleagues at the Tax Policy Center." ...

... Oh. Wait. On his Website, Newt says he would "balance the budget by growing the economy, controlling spending, implementing money saving reforms, and replacing destructive policies and regulatory agencies with new approaches."

More on This: We are the only people on the earth that put our hand over our heart during the playing of the national anthem. It was FDR who asked us to do that, in honor of the blood that was being shed by our sons and daughters in far-off places. -- Mitt Romney>

Glenn Kessler of the Washington Post: "This is a strange one.... Romney managed to get just about everything wrong in this story, in what appears to be a misguided attempt to both promote American exceptionalism and ding President Obama."

News Ledes

New York Times: "With a deadline looming on Monday for state officials to sign onto a landmark multibillion-dollar settlement to address foreclosure abuses, the Obama administration is close to winning support from [California,] a crucial state that would significantly expand the breadth of the deal.... Another important potential backer, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman of New York, has also signaled that he sees progress on provisions that prevented him from supporting it in the past. The potential support from California and New York comes in exchange for tightening provisions of the settlement to preserve the right to investigate past misdeeds by banks, and stepping up oversight...." Washington Post story here.

New York Times: "The leaders of the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas announced on Monday that they have broken a long political deadlock to form an interim unity government led, at least at first, by Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority based in the West Bank. The announcement at a news conference in Doha, Qatar ... signaled a significant step toward reconciling the two movements as they prepare for elections...." Haaretz story here.

New York Times: "Syrian forces shelled the battered city of Homs for another day Monday, striking a makeshift clinic and killing at least 17 people in a mounting toll that has made the city the epicenter of the 11-month Syrian uprising, opposition groups said." Al Jazeera story here. ...

     ...  ** Washington Post Update: "The United States has closed its embassy in Damascus and pulled all diplomats and U.S. staff out of the country, the State Department said Monday. The decision comes two days after Russia and China vetoed a United Nations resolution condemning Syria’s violent repression of anti-government demonstrators, whose opposition to the government is threatening to become an all-out civil war."

AP: "Georgia's top court on Monday struck down a state law designed to discourage assisted suicides. The Georgia Supreme Court's unanimous ruling concludes the 1994 state law 'restricts speech in violation of the free speech clauses' of the U.S. and Georgia constitutions."

New York Times: "An appeals court ruled on Monday that Alberto Contador, a three-time winner of the Tour de France, used a performance-enhancing drug when he won the race in 2010, the latest black mark on a sport that has been tarnished by doping scandals over the past several years.... On Friday, federal investigators announced that they had ended a criminal investigation of Lance Armstrong, who won the Tour from 1999 to 2005. The United States Anti-Doping Agency, with the support of the World Anti-Doping Agency, is continuing a separate investigation of Armstrong under its rules."

AP: "The NFL and a major television network are apologizing for another Super Bowl halftime show...: an extended middle finger from British singer M.I.A. during Sunday night's performance of Madonna's new single, 'Give Me All Your Luvin.' ... She flipped the bird and appeared to sing, 'I don't give a (expletive)' at one point, though it was hard to hear her clearly." CW: shouldn't ever contract for a live performance include a penalty clause for the performer's purposefully offensive gestures and language?

ABC News: "President Barack Obama's grandmother, Sarah Obama, is home recovering from an accident that, judging by the condition of the vehicle, could have been much worse.... Police in the town of Kisumu, [Kenya] say the 87-year-old was traveling to her home Saturday night when the driver lost control, and the vehicle rolled into a ditch."