The Commentariat -- August 15, 2015

Internal links removed.

Witch Hunt Washout. Samantha Lachman of the Huffington Post: "The Planned Parenthood Federation of America stressed Friday that multiple investigations into its state affiliates have fallen flat, as the reproductive health organization battles allegations that it has illegally profited from fetal tissue donations for research.... Probes -- in Georgia, Indiana, Massachusetts and South Dakota -- have found area Planned Parenthood affiliates to be in full compliance with state laws and regulations.... Probes in other states, like Arizona, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas, are unlikely to reveal evidence of illegal tissue donation practices, since those states' Planned Parenthood centers either don't participate in a tissue donation program, don't even have a center actively performing abortions in the state or are barred by state law from donating tissues in the first place." Via Paul Waldman. ...

... The War on Women, Ctd. Paul Waldman: "In the Planned Parenthood tapes, what one actually sees ... [is] a failed attempt at a sting.... Republican politicians ... have used the tapes as an opportunity to go after Planned Parenthood..., [not to stop] fetal tissue research.... You have to look at their motives to understand what they're up to.... Republicans have always hated Planned Parenthood, not only because it provides abortions but because it's a forthright advocate on behalf of women's rights to control their own reproductive lives.... Abortion opponents barely care at all about the 'babies' they supposedly want to save, because their real interest is in controlling women's lives and limiting their autonomy. Nothing is more horrifying to a certain kind of conservative than a woman who has sex because she wants to, and does so without being punished for her sin; witness the recent turn in conservative circles not just against abortion but even against contraception.... I'm guessing not too many of Ben Carson's fans will turn away from him now. He's as committed as ever to taking away women's reproductive rights, and that's what really matters." ...

... CW: I would add this. These Republicans especially want to control poor women's reproductive rights. Confederate control freaks take perverse pleasure in bullying not only women in general but specifically women who are least able to defend themselves. They hate Planned Parenthood particularly because it provides healthcare services to women who can't afford to get these services elsewhere. Most of these confederate men think it's quite all right for their own wives & girlfriends to practice contraception, or to get abortions if contraception fails. Republican women like Carly Fiorina have the same attitude; "There is no good reason for birth control to be free," she has said. That is, reproductive health care should be means-tested. Women & girls have to earn reproductive rights. Women's rights are human rights? Hah! In Right Wing World, some are more human than others.

Tierney Sneed of TPM: "In blocking an Alabama requirement that abortion providers have admitting privileges -- an anti-abortion mandate that is closing clinics in states across the country -- a federal judge pointedly used a line from Justice Samuel Alito during this year's Supreme Court lethal injection case. The opinion issued Thursday evening by U.S. District Judge Myron H. Thompson, a Carter appointee, was a narrow one: it gave a single abortion clinic in Tuscaloosa temporary relief from the state's admitting privileges requirement. 'By closing down operations at the Center, the regulation seems to impose severe and, in some cases insurmountable, obstacles on women who seek abortions in this State in several ways,' Thompson ruled." Justice Alito's comment came in the Court's ruling on the use of drugs in executions.

White House: "In this week's address, the President spoke about the work the Administration is doing to enhance trust between communities and law enforcement in the year since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson":

Adam Goldman & Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "The leader of the Islamic State personally kept a 26-year-old American woman as a hostage and raped her repeatedly, according to U.S. officials and her family. The family of Kayla Mueller said in an interview Friday that the FBI had informed them that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the emir of the self-proclaimed Islamic State, had sexually abused their daughter, a humanitarian worker.... The disclosure that Mueller was raped by Baghdadi adds to the grim evidence that the exploitation and abuse of women has been sanctioned at the highest levels of the Islamic State. The sexual enslavement of even teenage girls is seen as religiously endorsed by the group and regarded as a recruiting tool."

Anna Fifield & Yuki Oda of the Washington Post: The emperor & prime minister of Japan appear to disagree on the country's military future. "Japan's emperor expressed his 'deep remorse' Saturday over his country's actions during World War II, strengthening his usual statement of regret on the anniversary of the end of a particularly ignominious period in Japanese history.... In previous addresses, [Emperor Akihito has appeared to voice his displeasure with [Prime Minister Shinzo] Abe's efforts to reinterpret Japan's constitution and put the country on what he calls a more 'normal' military footing by allowing Japanese troops to fight abroad in certain circumstances."

William Branigin of the Washington Post: "U.N. human rights experts expressed grave concern Friday about Iran's continued detention of Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian and called on authorities in Tehran to release him immediately."

Presidential Race

Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: The Iowa State Fair provides a soapbox for presidential candidates. Hillary Clinton & Donald Trump will attend the fair today, but both are skipping the soapbox, Trump because it's sponsored by the Des Moines Register, a paper with whom he's feuding. Sixteen other candidates have showed or will shop up at the fair.

Michael Schmidt & David Sanger of the New York Times: "F.B.I. agents investigating Hillary Rodham Clinton's private email server are seeking to determine who at the State Department passed highly classified information from secure networks to Mrs. Clinton's personal account, according to law enforcement and diplomatic officials and others.... To track how the information flowed, agents will try to gain access to the email accounts of many State Department officials who worked there while Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state, the officials said. State Department employees apparently circulated the emails on unclassified systems in 2009 and 2011, and some were ultimately forwarded to Mrs. Clinton. They were not marked as classified, the State Department has said, and it is unclear whether its employees knew the origin of the information. The F.B.I. is also trying to determine whether foreign powers, especially China or Russia, gained access to Mrs. Clinton's private server.... " ...

... CW Note: I don't think it's coincidence that when the Times put a grown-up reporter -- David Sanger -- on the story, the onus shifted from Clinton to others at State. ...

... Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "The controversy over [Clinton's] private e-mail setup has moved into a new and, potentially, more serious phase. What had begun five months ago as a relatively narrow question about proper archiving of public records has become a bigger, more politically dangerous one: Whether the then-secretary of state and her close aides, in choosing to use a private e-mail system, disregarded common sense and may have put sensitive information at risk of falling into the wrong hands.... The issues around Clinton's e-mails have also intensified as it has become clear that a number of her statements defending her actions now appear to be false." ...

     ... CW: If you missed out on some developments in the continuing e-mail saga, the WashPo piece linked above provides a good overview &, IMO, a fair assessment. ...

You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves. -- Hillary Clinton at the Wing Ding Dinner in Clear Lake, Iowa

... Amy Chozick of the New York Times: Four Democratic presidential candidates -- Clinton, Sanders, O'Malley & Chafee -- showed up at the annual Clear Lake, Iowa, Wing Ding Dinner, a Democratic fundraising event, to ding the GOP candidates. Democrats are doing the Iowa State Fair this weekend, too.

Jason Horowitz of the New York Times asks Bernie Sanders & his colleagues to assess Sanders' role as a legislator.

The Washington Post editors cite these GOP candidates for signing Grover Norquist's "make-believe" no-new-taxes pledge: Gov. Chris "Tell It Like It Is" Christie (N.J.), "Ben Carson, Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), businesswoman Carly Fiorina, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), former Texas governor Rick Perry, Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former senator Rick Santorum (Pa.)." They credit Jeb! with refusing to sign (so far & in the past). No mention whatsoever of the current frontrunner Whatsizname. "To sign a pledge is to make a reckless promise that locks politicians into an arbitrarily restrictive budget policy, no matter what circumstances time brings, and ignores the reality that is bearing down on the nation."

Jeb! Joins Torture Team. Simon Maloy of Salon: Jeb! says he won't rule out torturing our perceived enemies; Marco Rubio, John Kasich & Rick Perry say torture is an excellent technique, Ben Carson says whom we torture is our business. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, and Lindsey Graham, all say "torture is immoral and entirely unjustified." CW: Donald Trump is totally into torture, telling ABC News earlier this month that waterboarding "doesn't sound very severe."

Philip Rucker & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "When Jeb Bush stepped up onto the fabled soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Friday, fairgoers pelted him with questions about the legacy of his brother.... And his father.... And one of his foreign policy advisers, Paul D. Wolfowitz, the architect of his brother's war in Iraq. And about the war itself.... This was supposed to be the week when Bush would finally lay out his own thoughts on how to combat the Islamic State terror group and put Hillary Rodham Clinton on the defensive -- and wrest himself from his family legacy in the process. But over several days, it has become evident that his ideas on the subject are remarkably similar to George W. Bush's ideas and that he firmly believes that Democrats ... deserve the blame for the unrest in Iraq and neighboring Syria.... Most Americans still believe the Iraq war was a mistake and are opposed to new military engagement -- making Jeb Bush's approach to national security risky." ...

... Larry Wilmore examines Jeb!'s foreign policy:

Freeedom! Carly & the Crazy. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "GOP presidential hopeful Carly Fiorina said Thursday that parents should not be forced to vaccinate their children against [communicable] diseases like measles and mumps, although she added that public school systems can forbid unvaccinated children from attending.... Fiorina's comment came in response to a question from a mother of five children who said that because of her religious beliefs, she will not allow her children to receive any vaccines that were created using cells from 'aborted babies.'... Fiorina said that when it comes to 'these more esoteric immunizations' for diseases that are not contagious or communicable, school districts should not be allowed to mandate that children receive the vaccination." CW: Because what parent wouldn't prefer have her children get sick & die rather than submit to the horrors of medical research?

Citizen Trump. Liam Stack of the New York Times: "Donald J. Trump ... has been summoned to serve [as a juror] in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, and plans to report there on Monday morning,said Michael Cohen..., special counsel to Mr. Trump."

Since some of the GOP's presidential candidates speak at grade-school level (see yesterday's Commentariat), it seems appropriate that Bill Maher has produced a new picture book that explains women to GOP men in childish verse. Thanks to Victoria D. for the link:

Beyond the Beltway

Mary Klas in the Tampa Bay Times: "Florida's legal bill to defend Gov. Rick Scott grew Wednesday, as the governor's office released documents showing he has agreed pay lawyers $300,000 for defending him in two open government cases that were settled. The legal fees are on top of the nearly $1 million taxpayers have already spent to defend the governor and Cabinet in the cases. This month, Scott agreed to pay Tallahassee attorney Steven R. Andrews $700,000 to end a lawsuit alleging that the governor and several members of his staff violated state law when they created private email accounts to shield their communications from the public and then withheld the documents.... In June, Scott and the Cabinet agreed to pay $55,000 to St. Petersburg lawyer Matthew Weidner as well as public records advocates and media organizations, including the Tampa Bay Times, to settle another lawsuit.... The two settlements were the first time a sitting governor has used taxpayer money to end public records cases pending against him. The decision has outraged public records advocates and others." Thanks to Akhilleus for the link. ...

... Bill Cotterell of Reuters: "'He's playing fast and loose with our Constitution and we're paying the cost, both literally and figuratively,' Barbara Petersen, president of the First Amendment Foundation, said of Scott. Petersen noted that Scott, a wealthy former hospital executive, spent about $71 million of his own money getting elected." ...

... CW: Scott made those millions ripping off federal taxpayers in "the largest Medicare fraud in the nation's history." Do you expect him to treat state taxpayers any better?

Inscription on the monument Bobby Jindal is trying to save.

John Stanton of BuzzFeed: "Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal's presidential campaign Thursday defended his plan to block New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu's efforts to remove statues to confederate soldiers -- including one which celebrates a white supremacist insurrection that left 32 people dead, including a number of police officers.... The Battle of Liberty Place is unique in that it specifically celebrates the efforts of white supremacists to overthrow the post-war government."

Andrew Kirell of Mediaite: "One month after their video of a Kentucky clerk refusing to issue a marriage license went viral, gay partners David Ermold and David L. Moore returned to that same government office, cameras in tow, and filmed yet another rejection."

Josh Replogle of the AP: "An internal affairs investigation was underway Friday after a 47-second video emerged showing a Miami police officer putting a handcuffed young man in the back of a cruiser and then jumping on top of him." Both the officer & the young man are black. ...

Comments

[Victoria D.]

Bill Maher with a mock children's book entitled "The Mysterious People Who Aren't Men" pokes fun at Republicans problems with women.

[Victoria D.]

The previous link went to a clip that showed an interesting but lengthy run-up to Maher's reading of the fake book. For those who prefer to skip it, here is a more direct link.