The Commentariat -- April 5, 2014
Obsolute video, graphic removed.
** Larry Lessig in the Daily Beast: "The Supreme Court decision ending aggregate limits on political donations was made possible by a dangerous, narrow definition of 'corruption' the Framers themselves wouldn't recognize." Thanks to P. D. Pepe for the link. Also read Pepe's ecellent comment today on the Roberts confirmation hearing. Makes me think more of Chuck Schumer, too. ...
... Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: "The astonishing concentration of wealth among America's super-rich, combined with a Supreme Court determined to tear down the barriers between their millions and our elections, is once again shifting the balance of power between politicians and donors.... The media, for the most part, still treats elected officials as the key players in our political process.... Mega-donors, by contrast, are permitted a substantial degree of anonymity. Now that must change.... The press has an obligation to follow power...." ...
... Jim Fallows of the Atlantic: "It is very hard for me to find a non-cynical interpretation of the growing gap between the way [John Roberts] presented himself [at his confirmation hearing] and the way he writes decisions now." ...
... Jonathan Alter in the New Yorker: What Sheldon wants, & how the Supremes help him get it. "Reformers like to complain about the malign influence of money in politics. The real problem is big money in politics...."
Jonathan Cohn of the New Republic: "As of the end of February, the number of Americans on Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) was 3 million higher than it was at the beginning of the Affordable Care Act's open enrollment period. It's one more sign that the health care law is reducing the number of Americans without insurance significantly.... It's also one more window into our growing geopolitical divide -- between the part of America where officials are trying aggressively to help poor people get health insurance, and the part where officials are not." ...
... Republicans, Always on the Wrong Side of History. Theda Skocpol in TPM: "Not until the mid-1950s did Eisenhower-era Republicans finally accept Social Security; and it took until the early 1970s for generous benefits to make it widely popular." ...
... Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) says in a new interview that it would be too costly for Republicans to reinstate some of the more popular provisions of Obamacare if and when the law is repealed, but that Republicans should look for alternatives." CW: An admission from the GOP Numbers Guru & former vice-presidential candidate that Republicans want to repeal the ACA & replace it with (a) nothing or (b) next to nothing. Millions of people vote for these nasty bastards. ...
... Charles Pierce: "He really doesn't know what he's talking about. He hasn't had to live in the real world away from the government trough for 10 minutes since he entered high school. Biggest fake in American politics." ...
White House: "In this week's address, President Obama highlights the important differences between the budget he's put forward -- built on opportunity for all -- and the budget House Republicans are advocating for, which stacks the deck against the middle class":
... ** Brian Beutler of Salon: "... the Koch brothers actively participate in, and benefit from, a healthcare system in which the government subsidizes private insurance; carriers are prohibited from discriminating against the sick; the young cross-subsidize the old; and qualified beneficiaries who opt out suffer a big financial hit.... As employers, they can and do compensate their employees with tax-exempt health insurance benefits, their employees are all part of one risk pool, and everyone contributes the same amount for equal coverage." So why do they oppose ObamaCare? it's all about the money. Beutler explains. ...
... Paul Waldman in the Washington Post: "... there's a new misleading [ObamaCare] 'horror story' on its way: the worker whose hours are being cut back so their boss won't have to comply with the ACA's employer mandate. Watch out for it, because it's coming. Just as before, the decisions of private companies to attempt to screw over ordinary people are going to be blamed not on those companies, but on Obamacare.
Alan Ota of Roll Call: Some House Republicans are urging their leadership to bring up for a vote an unemployment benefits extension.
James Surowiecki of the New Yorker: "The real mystery ... is not why [Brendan] Eich stepped down [as Mozilla CEO] but why he ever got hired in the first place. His unquestioned technical ability notwithstanding, this was a candidate who divided the board, who had already been controversial, and whose promotion was guaranteed to generate reams of bad publicity. I
Congressional Races
Gail Collins: "... Mike Rounds, a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, came up with a debut video in which he tells prospective voters that the rest of the nation 'could learn a lot from the people of South Dakota.' Meanwhile, the viewer is treated to pictures of folks building houses, having meetings, playing with the family -- doing all sorts of positive things that presumably exemplify the state's wholesome lifestyle. Unfortunately, it turns out that they are stock photos from parts unknown. Except we did learn that the fetching woman holding her pen at that meeting is actually in Paris.... Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky recently released a video about the glories of his home state that featured what was supposed to be a triumphant local basketball team but was in fact hated Kentucky rival Duke." And so on. Hilarious. ...
... ** Still, Collins does not top Jake Rush/Chazz Darling, who is running in the primary to the right of Tea Party Rep. Ted Yoho (Fla.). Unbelievable. And scary. Adam Weinstein of Gawker has the details. Via Charles Pierce.
Beyond the Beltway
Ann Thompson of WVXU Cincinnati: "Federal Judge Timothy Black says he will issue a ruling by April 14 striking down Ohio's gay marriage ban passed by voters in 2004. Attorney Al Gerhardstein, representing plaintiffs in a lawsuit about birth certificates, amended his request to ask Black to declare all aspects of Ohio's gay marriage ban unconstitutional. In federal court Friday morning, the judge said he would do that. The ruling will only apply to the marriage recognition ban. The lawsuit did not seek to allow same-sex partners to get married in Ohio, just the recognition of marriages from other states."
Steven Greenhouse of the New York Times: "The United Automobile Workers has seized on leaked documents from Gov. Bill Haslam of Tennessee in its efforts to persuade the National Labor Relations Board to order a new unionization election at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga. The union, which lost a vote in February, plans to argue in a hearing later this month that Mr. Haslam and Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee, both Republicans, frightened VW workers at the plant with anti-union statements that made a fair vote impossible.... In the documents, revealed earlier this week, Mr. Haslam proposed nearly $300 million in incentives to help the VW plant add a second production line, contingent on the unionization effort's 'being concluded to the satisfaction of the state.' The documents, including the outlined incentives, were made public Monday by WTVF, a Nashville television station."
News Ledes
Guardian: "Against the backdrop of Russia's takeover of Ukraine's Crimean region, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Saturday that a key message he will deliver to leaders in Tokyo this weekend is that the US is strongly committed to protecting Japan's security."
Reuters: "NATO will strengthen its presence in Poland within weeks, [Polish] Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Saturday, a move that could help allay fears in eastern European states for their security after Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region."
New York Times: "A Chinese vessel that is part of a multinational search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane in the southern Indian Ocean reported on Saturday that an underwater sensor had picked up a 'pulse signal' of the same frequency used by locator devices on planes, China's official news agency reported."
AFP: "Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet jointly Sunday with US envoy Martin Indyk, as attempts continue to prevent the collapse of peace negotiations, officials close to the talks said."
Washington Post: "As polls opened amid threats of violence and lingering memories of fraud, Afghan voters turned out on Saturday morning to choose a president who will lead them into the post-American era in Afghanistan." The New York Times story is here. ...
... AP: "Several issues are at the top of Afghans' minds as they go to the polls Saturday. High among them is deteriorating security as the country undergoes its first democratic transition of power in history. Afghan President Hamid Karzai is barred by the constitution from seeking a third term in office." ...
... Washington Post UPDATE: "Conducted under armed guard, the country's third presidential election since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 unfolded without the large-scale attacks or major disruptions that many Afghans had feared, although scores of minor attacks were reported. As the process moves to a vote count that could take weeks and, potentially, lead to a second-round runoff, voters and observers expressed relief that the day had ended in relative peace." ...
... AP UPDATE: "President Barack Obama says Afghanistan's presidential election marks another milestone in the effort by the Afghan people to take full responsibility for their country as the United States and its allies gradually withdraw their forces."
Washington Post: "A spontaneous argument among soldiers in the same transportation unit at Fort Hood, Tex., touched off the mass shooting in which Spec. Ivan A. Lopez killed four people, including himself, and wounded 16 others, Army officials said Friday. Witnesses and relatives of the wounded said Lopez's fury was apparently sparked by a simple dispute over paperwork. They said the 34-year-old military truck driver became exasperated after he walked into a human-resources office Wednesday afternoon and asked for a leave-of-absence application, but was told to come back the next day. Lopez left, but returned moments later with a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson semiautomatic pistol and opened fire on soldiers in his unit, the 49th Transportation Battalion, killing two of them. Lopez ... then walked outside and indiscriminately shot at other soldiers...."
CNN: "Two of the world's best-known public figures, Pope Francis and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, met for the first time Thursday in Rome. The Queen, accompanied by husband Prince Philip, is paying a one-day visit to Italy at the invitation of Italian President Giorgio Napolitano."
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Reader Comments (3)
Perhaps this is worth repeating:
THE SUPREME BEING
In 2006 Janet Malcolm wrote a very funny, clever article in the New Yorker
about the confirmation of John Roberts. During the hearings old black and
white movies came to her mind unbidden. Watching Roberts on television, she
said, was like watching one of "the radiantly wholesome heroes that Jimmy
Stewart, Joel McCrea, and Henry Fonda rendered so incisively in the films of
Capra, Lubitsch, and Sturges. They don't make men like that anymore. But
Roberts had all their anachronistic attributes: the grace, charm, and humor
of a special American sort in which decency and kindness are heavily
implicated, and from which sexuality is entirely absent. It was out of the
question that such a man be denied a place on the Supreme Court." When I,
myself, listened and watched this hearing I was taken with how this man so
prettily maneuvered his way into the hearts of even the eight democrats on
the committee. My favorite of the Q and A's was this:
Schumer: You agree we should be finding out your philosophy and method of
legal reasoning, modesty, stability, but when we try and find out what
modesty and stability means, we don't get answers. It's as if I asked you:
what kind of movies do you like? Tell me two or three good movies. and you
say, "I like movies with good acting. I like movies with good directing. I
like movies with good cinematography." and I ask you, "No, give me an
example of a good movie." You don't name one. I say, "Give me an example of
a bad movie." You won't name one. then I ask if you like Casablanca and you
respond by saying, "Lots of people like Casablanca." You tell me it's widely
settled that Casablanca is one of the great movies.
By this time Schumer's time was up and there was to be a fifteen minute
break. Roberts asked if he could respond to Schumer; reply granted, he said:
"First, Dr. Zhivago and North by Northwest." This brought down the house and
as Malcolm says, "Roberts went on to give an unconvincing defense of his
evasiveness, but it was too late––there was too much good feeling through
the room like lavender air freshener––for the weakness of his argument to
matter."
So the skillful seduction worked. It's right out of central casting where
the handsome, wholesome fella becomes the hero of the day. Then the curtain
falls, the lights come on and we all go home to the real world.
And here's an interesting take on the Court's decision by Lawrence Lessing:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/04/02/originalists-making-it-up-again-mccutcheon-and-corruption.html
From HuffPost: '(Bill) Maher blasted the court's McCutcheon v. FEC ruling on his show Friday night. He specifically went after Chief Justice John Roberts' reasoning that large donations are not reflective of "quid pro quo corruption."
“Either he is a liar or he is too naïve to hold any important job including, and especially, this one,” Maher said. '
In other words, the answers are: Dr. Zhivago and North by Northwest!