Thanksgiving Day 2014
Internal links, defunct video & photo removed.
CW: I'm experiencing weather-related brief power outages. So if there's no more Commentariat, blame it on Mother Nature.
Steve Benen: Rich Lowry, the editor of the National Review, told the New York Times, "If I were John Boehner, I'd say to the president:'Send us your State of the Union in writing. You're not welcome in our chamber" "Lowry ... isn't the only one publicly pushing the idea. Politico reported yesterday that congressional Republicans are weighing a variety of tactics to 'address' their disgust over Obama's immigration policy, and 'GOP aides and lawmakers' are considering the idea of 'refusing to invite the president to give his State of the Union address.' Late last week, Breitbart News also ran a piece of its own on the subject: 'Congress should indicate President Obama that his presence is not welcome on Capitol Hill as long as his "executive amnesty" remains in place. The gesture would, no doubt, be perceived as rude, but it is appropriate.'"
Amanda Marcotte in Slate: "Thanksgiving is becoming impossible for low-wage working women."
Gail Collins: "This year, in a break from tradition, I am giving thanks for the House Intelligence Committee's final report on Benghazi."
That Bird Outside Your Window Is Not a Turkey. Nick Wingfield of the New York Times: "As the price of drones has fallen and sales have risen, the machines have emerged as central characters in stunts from the puckish to the criminal. In recent months, drone pilots have tried to smuggle contraband into prisons and disrupt sporting events at stadiums. Animal rights groups have turned to drones to stalk hunters as the hunters stalk wildlife. And in France, more than a dozen illegal flights over nuclear power plants have unnerved the authorities." ...
... Nick Wingfield: "After requests by news organizations..., the Federal Aviation Administration released a report on Wednesday that compiles data on drone incidents reported to it this year through air traffic control facilities around the country. The list isn't comprehensive since some drone incidents are reported to local law enforcement agencies, or not at all." ...
... Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: "Pilots around the United States have reported a surge in near-collisions and other dangerous encounters with small drones in the past six months at a time when the Federal Aviation Administration is gradually opening the nation's skies to remotely controlled aircraft, according to FAA records."
** Judd Legum of Think Progress: Justice Antonin "Scalia explains what was wrong with the Ferguson grand jury.... Scalia, in the 1992 Supreme Court case of United States v. Williams, explained what the role of a grand jury has been for hundreds of years.
It is the grand jury's function not 'to enquire ... upon what foundation [the charge may be] denied,' or otherwise to try the suspect's defenses, but only to examine 'upon what foundation [the charge] is made'; by the prosecutor. Respublica v. Shaffer, 1 Dall. 236 (O. T. Phila. 1788); see also F. Wharton, Criminal Pleading and Practice § 360, pp. 248-249 (8th ed. 1880). As a consequence, neither in this country nor in England has the suspect under investigation by the grand jury ever been thought to have a right to testify or to have exculpatory evidence presented. [Emphasis added.] ...
... Leada Gore of AL.com: "The nation's largest group of African-American attorneys and judges is calling for federal charges to the filed against the police officer cleared in the shooting of an unarmed black teenager. The National Bar Association released a statement questioning the lack of an indictment against Ferguson, Missouri police officer Darren Wilson. A 12-member grand jury declined to indict Wilson, and some groups are pressing the White House to move forward with a Civil Rights investigation." ...
... Scott Kaufman of the Raw Story: "The National Bar Association released a statement 'questioning how the Grand Jury, considering the evidence before them could reach the conclusion that Darren Wilson should not be indicted and tried for the shooting death of Michael Brown.' 'The National Bar Association also questions the makeup of the gran jury that consisted of nine Whites and only three African-Americans in a town comprised of sixty-seven percent African-Americans,' the group wrote in a related statement." ...
... The original National Bar Association statement is here. ...
... Caroline Bankoff of New York: "In the latest installment of his interview with George Stephanopoulos, Darren Wilson revealed that his wife, fellow cop Barbara Spradling, is pregnant. (That probably explains why the couple decided to marry last month, despite the fact that Wilson was still in hiding and facing the possibility of indictment.)" That portion of the interview is here. ...
... Catherine Thompson of TPM: "Conservative media outlets were outraged that the New York Times published the name of the street where Ferguson, Mo. police Officer Darren Wilson and his new wife live outside of St. Louis. The Times revealed Monday that Wilson quietly married fellow officer Barbara Spradling last month. The story identified the town and the street where Wilson and Spradling own a home, but did not specify an exact address. A photograph of the couple's marriage certificate also appeared in the article.... The Times has not removed the street name from its article (TPM also originally republished the photo of Wilson's marriage license. It has been removed). It did remove the photograph of Wilson's marriage certificate, however, and appended the following editor's note on Tuesday: 'An earlier version of this post included a photograph that contained information that should not have been made public. The image has been removed.'"
Emma Fitzsimmons of the New York Times: "A police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy outside a Cleveland recreation center fired within two seconds after the patrol car he was riding in pulled up next to the boy, a video released on Wednesday by the Cleveland police showed." Includes video.
Benjamin Mueller of the New York Times: New York City "police said that [in 2005] Leonel Disla, 19, had waved a long kitchen knife at two police officers before he was shot [by police]. A six-person jury in Bronx Supreme Court on Tuesday found the city and Sgt. Robert Barnett liable in Mr. Disla's death, casting doubt on whether the teenager had wielded a knife at all."
Todd Richmond of the AP: "A man who got arrested after he posted Facebook comments calling a southwestern Wisconsin police department racist has filed a federal lawsuit alleging one of the agency's officers violated his constitutional rights." CW: Read the whole report; the reporter appears to have gleaned the facts in his story from the plaintiff's lawsuit, so you should read them in that light. However, it seems unlikely his attorney would have invented the basic events, since there must be a chain of evidence demonstrating that the guy was arrested, jailed, convicted, sentenced & later exonerated (on appeal) on First Amendment grounds. I don't know what the plaintiff actually wrote in his Facebook comment, but unless the language can be construed as threatening, surely he has a First-Amendment right to call public officials racists, whether "true or not.
Emily Atkin of Think Progress: The usual suspects -- business groups & the GOP -- "are freaking out" over the new EPA draft proposal for ground-level ozone pollution rules. "... both industry groups and Republicans have been overestimating the cost of regulations like this since the EPA first began issuing regulation of this kind. In addition, the EPA has historically underestimated the benefits."
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Mitt and Jeb lead Quinnipiac University poll as top GOP choices for 2016, with Mitt even running ahead of Hillary, 45-44.
Among Repugs, the Mittster garners 19 percent, Jebbie gets 11 percent, Christie and Carson get 8 percent each. No other Republican tops 6 percent; 16 percent are undecided.
Among Dems, Hill’s at 57 percent, Warren’s at 13, Unka Joe’s got 9 percent, Bernie’s at 4 percent, and Webb and O’Malley are well behind at 1 percent each. (One thing that struck me as interesting: Warren is doing better among men than among women.)
http://www.quinnipiac.edu/news-and-events/quinnipiac-university-poll/national/release-detail?ReleaseID=2116
Marie and all,
Happy turkey day.
To Marie,
Thank you for doing this site. You weed around in news, blogs- left and right, wingers and crazies.
A hearty thank you and have an easy day tomorrow.
mae finch
Marie,
I second Mae's wishes. RealityChex and your stellar efforts are high on my "thankful" list. Best wishes to you and the rest of the gang, AK, PD, Ken, MAG, and all the people I enjoy reading the year long.
Jack
Marie: I think you are out of the running for first lady, even though
we all know you would be the most outstanding (and dare I say,
outspoken?) I just have a feeling in my old bones that Ann is going
to throw Willards' hat in the ring even though he keeps saying "not".
You know, they have only 4 little houses now and living in the big
white one would be tax free. Can't wait to see who she picks to be
Willards' running mate!
Back acha Jack, and a fruitful Thanksgiving to one and all, especially our Lady at the head of the table–-cuz she's the one who gives us the bounty day after day.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone for contributing to this site and Marie for hosting. Love the one you're with and enjoy the holiday!
The GOP is really showing how to put the goober into GOP-per by opposing ozone regulations: ozone destroys carbon bonds and not only kills bacteria but is wicked evil to breathe. Ozone, O3, is not O2 and is like breathing empty air where you feel like you're choking because you are like a fish out of water when you try and breath it. The GOP doesn't even want to secure their own damn health; no wonder they don't care about anyone else's.