Whitey's on the Moon

By Akhilleus

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

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

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

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

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

Message received.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Whitey is still on the moon.

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

The Commentariat -- March 1, 2016

Afternoon Update:

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Presidential Race

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

... This raw video is stunning:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

News Ledes

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

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

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

The Commentariat -- Feb. 29, 2016

Afternoon Update, Seventh-Grade Edition:

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

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

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

*****

Following an Irish tradition going back to the sainted Patrick & the lovely St. Brigid, I feel obliged this Leap Year Day to propose marriage to my gentlemen readers. This tradition was supposed to "balance the traditional roles of men and women in a similar way to how leap day balances the calendar." As a feminist, I abhor a tradition that limits women to equal opportunity only one out of every 1,461 days. Am I 1/1,461st of a person? Maybe I'll propose tomorrow, too. And the next day & the next. ...

... AND speaking of equal opportunity ...

... Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "... more than 100 ... women have filed several supporting briefs in a major Supreme Court abortion case to be argued on Wednesday. The briefs tell the stories of women who say their abortions allowed them to control their bodies, plan for the future and welcome children into their lives when their careers were established and their personal lives were on solid ground. The briefs are aimed largely at Justice Kennedy, who holds the crucial vote in abortion cases. They use language and concepts from his four major gay rights decisions, notably his invocation of 'equal dignity' in June's ruling establishing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage.... The briefs also seek to counteract what many women saw as a streak of uninformed paternalism in a 2007 majority opinion in which Justice Kennedy said many women regretted their decisions to have abortions and suffered from depression and plunging self-esteem as a consequence." ...

... Linda Greenhouse (pub. 2/27) on "abortion exceptionalism" & the Texas case to be argued this Wednesday in the Supreme Court. A 4-4 tie would leave Texas's restrictive law in place. Greenhouse urges the justices to consider the facts. CW: At least four of them likely will. That ain't enough. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Inequality, from Cradle to Grave. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: The Army still is not allowing members of the Women Airforce Service Pilots to be buried in Arlington Cemetery, reasoning that they were not technically part of the armed services. "... the WASPs wore uniforms, carried weapons, had access to classified information and saluted their superiors. Along with training men to fly bombers, the WASPs flew fighter planes from military bases to ports, where they were shipped to battle overseas. At least three dozen of them died or were killed while serving." Rep. Martha McSally (R-Az.), a fighter pilot herself, has introduced legislation to change that. The bill has more than 100 co-sponsors. "On Thursday, the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs sent the bill to the House floor." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Noam Scheiber of the New York Times: "The AFL-CIO, the federation of unions representing nearly 10 million workers, is preparing plans for a 'super PAC' that would raise tens of millions of dollars and focus on grassroots efforts to mobilize voters."

Presidential Race

** Off with Their Heads. David Bernstein in Politico Magazine: "No matter what happens on Super Tuesday, it's clear who the real losers will be on election night: The Democratic and Republican parties. An election season that began as a presumptive showdown between two inevitable dynastic front-runners -- Jeb Bush vs. Hillary Clinton -- has now devolved into an electoral dumpster fire. And it's time to name the culprit: The dynasties themselves.... If this cycle teaches us anything, it's that political dynasties are bad for parties the way monopolies are bad for business: They impede competition, and reward power rather than merit."

Paul Krugman: "We now have a pretty good idea who will be on the ballot in November: Hillary Clinton, almost surely (after the South Carolina blowout, prediction markets give her a 96 percent probability of securing her party's nomination), and Donald Trump, with high likelihood (currently 80 percent probability on the markets). But even if there's a stunning upset in what's left of the primaries, we already know very well what will be at stake -- namely, the fate of the planet."

Charles Pierce: "Anyone who thinks the Trump phenomenon is a sui generis explosion of eccentricity has forgotten the incredible collection of rodeo clowns over which Mitt Romney triumphed in 2012. Anyone who thinks He, Trump is unique in his rhetoric and his appeal never has read through Gingrich's old Thesaurus For Ratfckers that helped fuel his rise to the Speakership. And anyone who thinks Trump's brand of noisy, arrant bullshit is in anyway unique never has listened to a Cruz's stump speech...."

     ... Thanks to safari for the link.

Philip Rucker & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "The implosion over Donald Trump's candidacy that Republicans had hoped to avoid arrived so virulently this weekend that many party leaders vowed never to back the billionaire and openly questioned whether the GOP could come together this election year. A campaign full of racial overtones and petty, R-rated put-downs grew even uglier Sunday after Trump declined repeatedly in a CNN interview to repudiate the endorsement of him by David Duke, a former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.... Marco Rubio, who has been savaging Trump as a 'con man' for three days, responded by saying that Trump's defiance made him 'unelectable.' The senator from Florida said at a rally in Northern Virginia, 'We cannot be the party that nominates someone who refuses to condemn white supremacists.'" ...

... The Grey Lady Is Shocked by Your Guttersniping. Jeremy Peters & Ashley Parker of the New York Times: "Senator Marco Rubio, seeing his path to the Republican nomination grow narrower with each contest, has determined that the only way to beat Donald J. Trump is to fight like him: rough, dirty and mean. The acidity coming from Mr. Rubio these days, and the gleefully savage way Mr. Trump has responded, have sent an already surreal presidential campaign lurching into the gutter with taunts over perspiration, urination and self-tanner." ...

... Jeet Heer of the New Republic: "If Rubio wants to learn the proper way to insult Trump, he should study Obama. In the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner, where Trump was in the audience, Obama made the businessman squirm by mocking his birtherism and the absurd notion that being on Celebrity Apprentice was fit preparation for the presidency. Obama's belittling was carried off with a cold hauteur. He attacked from above.... Rubio, by contrast, has been meeting Trump at his own level, like the proverbial man getting into the sty to wrestle with the pig." With video. ...

... Jonathan Chait: "It is possible that Rubio's mockery will finally bring down Trump. But even if so, Rubio's popularity might come down along with him. In that case, the conflict will redound to the benefit of the candidate who is currently running the now-discarded Rubio game plan: John Kasich. The Ohio governor is using versions of the old, well-received Rubio message about refusing to attack fellow Republicans and bringing people together." ...

... Leslie Savan of the Nation: "... as far as stopping Trump's coronation is concerned, as pundits have been declaring all morning, [Rubio's attack on Trump] 'was too little, too late. 'But it's not too late for Hillary. Rubio's jabs were just the sort of GOP-on-GOP violence she'll need to make her negative ads and social media credible. It could operate much in the same way that Newt Gingrich's attacks on Mitt Romney's business practices let Obama bleed him out in 2012." ...

... "Desperate Measures." Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The specter of Donald Trump as an elected nominee for president pushed his Republican opponents to desperate measures on Sunday, two days before a dozen states could vote to give the billionaire a huge lead in the 2016 contest. Marco Rubio predicted he could win the nomination without winning a state, while Ted Cruz raised allegations that Trump once contracted a mafia-owned company.... He ... speculated that Trump has refused to release his tax returns because he wants to hide 'business dealings with the mob, with the mafia'."

... Jonathan Chait: Donald Trump repeatedly tells Jake Tapper of CNN that he "knows nothing" about David Duke & white supremacist groups who have endorsed or supported his candidacy. "Possibly Trump is making a clever historical reference that he will later explain when he reveals that his entire political profile from 2011 through 2016 was a form of guerrilla theater designed to smoke out the widespread appeal of Republican racism. Or else, more likely, he is even stupider than anybody previously believed." Thanks to MAG for the link. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... This in turn upsets Donald's BFF Joe Scarborough, causing him to write in the Washington Post that Trump has "feigned ignorance" of the KKK & Duke, which was "even more disturbing" (than something else Joe doesn't specify). "... why would Trump pretend to be so ignorant of American history that he refused to pass judgment on the Ku Klux Klan before receiving additional information?... Why would the same man who claims to have 'the world's greatest memory' say 'I don't know anything about David Duke' just two days after he condemned the former Klansman in a nationally televised press conference?... Sunday's distressing performance is just the latest in a string of incidents that suggest to critics that Donald Trump is using bigotry to fuel his controversial campaign." CW: There goes the vice presidency, Joe. ...

... Nick Gass of Politico: "Donald Trump's failure to explicitly disavow the Ku Klux Klan and former Grand Wizard David Duke is 'disqualifying,' Joe Scarborough declared on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' on Monday.... Scarborough and co-host Mika Brzezinski, who have been accused of cozying up to Trump, were adamant in their disgust for the candidate throughout the first hour of the show." ...

... Josh Israel of Think Progress: Against all evidence to the contrary, this morning on NBC's "Today" show, Trump blamed his failure to renounce David Duke & the Klan on a "lousy earpiece." CW: Just to be clear, that was earpiece, not hairpiece. ...

     ... UPDATE: Eric Levitz of New York: "Sure, the Donald did repeat the proper nouns in Tapper's question -- 'David Duke,' 'white supremacists' -- verbatim, several times in the course of the interview. But that doesn't mean he heard those words as words. The static in Trump's earpiece must have reduced those phrases to a collection of vowel and consonant sounds that the mogul was capable of regurgitating phonetically, even as he was incapable of recognizing them as spoken English." ...

     ... CW: This is in line with Trump's excuse for re-tweeting a Benito Mussolini saying.

... Rachel Maddow, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Now that the KKK and the white nationalists feel that the Republican Party has finally given them a candidate they can believe in, who will disabuse them of that notion?" ...

.. NOT Jefferson Beauregard Sessions, Who Has Taken a Front Seat on the Racist Express. Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "Sen. Jeff Sessions on Sunday became the first sitting senator to endorse Donald Trump, declaring his support for the Republican front-runner during a rally at a football stadium here." With video. ...

     ... In case you've forgotten Sessions' history of overt racism, Scott Lemieux provides a few reminders.

... Pity Poor Ted. Jose DelReal & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: Sessions' "endorsement represents a major blow to Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.).... Cruz has touted his strict positions on border security and deportation, leaning on his strident commitment to conservative ideology as a key rationale for his candidacy. In the run-up to the March 1 Super Tuesday primary elections, Cruz has tried to undermine Trump's conservative bona fides on immigration reform, characterizing his plan as 'amnesty.'" ...

... Ben Jacobs of the Guardian: "Republican senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska has announced that he would not support Donald Trump if the current frontrunner became the GOP nominee.... Sasse wrote on Facebook: 'I cannot support Donald Trump . . . My current answer for who I would support in a hypothetical matchup between Mr Trump and Mrs Clinton is: neither of them. I sincerely hope we select one of the other GOP candidates, but if Donald Trump ends up as the GOP nominee, conservatives will need to find a third option.'" Sasse is a Tea party guy.

... There Will Be Chaos. Peter Holley of the Washington Post: "Former CIA director Michael Hayden believes there is a legitimate possibility that the U.S. military would refuse to follow orders given by Donald Trump if the Republican front-runner becomes president and decides to make good on certain campaign pledges. Hayden, who also headed the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005, made the provocative statement on Friday during an appearance on HBO's 'Real Time with Bill Maher.' Trump, fresh off a string of primary victories, has yet to secure his party's nomination, but Hayden said the candidate's rhetoric already raises troubling questions.... During his appearance on 'Real Time,' Hayden cited Trump's pledge to kill family members as being among his most troubling campaign statements." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

Chuck Todd & Shawna Thomas of NBC News: "Meg Whitman, the CEO of Hewlett-Packard who had an official role with Gov. Chris Christie's now-suspended presidential campaign, called his endorsement of Trump, 'an astonishing display of political opportunism.... Trump would take America on a dangerous journey. Christie knows all that and indicated as much many times publicly,' Whitman wrote in a statement." ...

... ** Brian Beutler: "If this represents an enduring schism -- if the ranks of resolute anti-Trump conservatives grows to include influential Republicans who had previously pledged to support the winner of the primary unconditionally -- the significance will be hard to overstate. By closing in on the nomination, Trump is pitting conservatives' commitments to party and movement against one another.... If ... the party's leaders abandon Trump after promising otherwise, they would turn millions of people against the GOP enduringly. The damage to the Republican Party as an institution would be profound, perhaps fatal."

"Don't Interrupt Me." David Edwards of the Raw Story: "Fox News host Chris Wallace smacked down Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on Sunday after the GOP hopeful suggested that tough questions about dirty election tricks meant that the anchor was working for Donald Trump's campaign." ...

News Lede

Washington Post: "George Kennedy, the burly character actor who won an Academy Award as a chain-gang leader in 'Cool Hand Luke,' threatened Audrey Hepburn as a hook-armed villain in 'Charade' and was a crusty mainstay of 1970s disaster films before veering into satire as a clueless policeman in the 'Naked Gun' film series, died Feb. 28 at a nursing home in Middleton, Idaho. He was 91."