The Commentariat -- August 26, 2012
CW: I'll be spending Sunday -- as I did most of Saturday -- preparing for an unwelcome visit from Isaac. By Monday, I probably won't have power. The last two times a hurricane hit here, the power was out for 5 days. So I'll be back when I'm back. Update: Isaac is forecast to move in a more westerly direction, leaving SW Florida just out of the "forecast cone." Doesn't change my plans for today, but it might mean I mostly retain power.
The Times has a good feature on the 1969 moon landing, which begins here. Produced in 2009, the Times is reprising it because of the death of Neil Armstrong (see yesterday's Ledes).
Prof. Robert Self in the New York Times on conservatives & the "antisocial contract." "The social contract says that though our individual fates differ, we have a collective destiny, too. Many of us respond viscerally to comments from politicians like Mr. Akin because he leaves us wondering what place for women Republicans see in that collective future.... What liberal women saw [in the 1970s] as routes to equality, conservatives saw as invasions of the private sphere of morality, an invasion only a huge, interventionist government could accomplish."
The New York Times Editors are appalled at the failure of the Justice Department to prosecute the fraud & other unlawful acts that brought us the Great Recession. "As far back as 2009, when the Justice Department lost a financial fraud case against a pair of hedge fund managers at Bear Stearns, it seems to have made an institutional determination that it could not win against big banks and top bankers. That stance has dovetailed with the Obama administration's emphasis on protecting the banks from any perceived threat to their post-bailout recovery."
The Economist: "... the past seven years have seen a fivefold increase in people [in the U.S.] who call themselves atheists, to 5% of the population, according to WIN-Gallup International, a network of pollsters. Meanwhile, the proportion of Americans who say they are religious has fallen from 73% in 2005 to 60% in 2011."
The Spy Who Was Sent out in the Cold. Jeff Stein of the Washington Post: the travails of Gwenyth Todd, an American expert on the Middle East.
Presidential Race
Scary Picture Horror Show. Art by Victor Kerlow for the New York Times.
Jeff Zeleny & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "Mitt Romney is heading into his nominating convention with his advisers convinced he needs a more combative footing against President Obama in order to appeal to white, working-class voters." CW: because so far he's been playing nice.
Seriously, Girls, We Love Ya. Holly Bailey of Yahoo! News: "Mitt Romney and ... Rep. Paul Ryan made a direct appeal to female voters Saturday, telling supporters at an Ohio rally that, if elected, they would do more to help women in business."
Ben Feller of the AP: "President Barack Obama said Mitt Romney has locked himself into 'extreme positions' on economic and social issues and would surely impose them if elected, trying to discredit his Republican rival at the biggest political moment of his life. In an interview with The Associated Press, Obama said Romney lacks serious ideas, refuses to 'own up' to the responsibilities of what it takes to be president, and deals in factually dishonest arguments that could soon haunt him in face-to-face debates":
... The full transcript of the interview is here.
... David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Only four years after Democrats seemed on the verge of historic policy gains, Republicans could reverse many of those gains and then some. They could cut the top tax rate to its lowest level in 80 years (as Mr. Romney proposes) and make major changes to federal programs.... A Romney administration would ... take a more laissez-faire path than any wealthy country has previously tried." ...
... A hard-hitting Obama campaign ad -- "Mitt Romney -- An End to the Medicare Promise":
... ** Carol Giacomo of the New York Times on Romney's plan to force-feed the Pentagon. "Linking a budget to the G.D.P. is a bizarre way of addressing defense needs -- which rationally should be based on a disciplined analysis of threats and the nation's tolerance of risk. This certainly won't provide any incentive for reform in a Pentagon that spends with more waste and less economic bang for the buck than other federal departments." CW: Giacomo doesn't say so, but Romney's plans for outlandish defense spending are not about defense. They're about military contractors.
"Too Late to Shake that Etch-a-Sketch." Maureen Dowd: "Even if he wanted to, Mitt couldn't reveal himself. He has recast his positions so many times, he doesn't seem to know who he is.... Even teaming up with the most policy-specific Republican House member in a bid for reflected ideological clarity has not worked. Rather than Mitt's gaining focus, Paul Ryan is losing it.... Even though he once seemed to have sensible, moderate managerial instincts, he won't stop ingratiating himself with the neo-Neanderthals. That's the biggest reveal of all."
Congressional Races
Nick Carey of Reuters: "Missouri conservatives say they are rallying around U.S. Senate candidate Todd Akin despite his controversial comments about rape because they are outraged that 'establishment' Republican Party leaders tried to railroad him out of the race." CW: altho it's certainly a longshot, pissed-off anti-abortion fanatics might just forget to pull the lever for Willard. Combined with moderates horrified by the Ryan-Akin no-exceptions stance, Obama might squeak out a win in Missouri. (Okay, when pigs fly. But remember, I'm facing a weather situation in which some wild boar -- of which we have a'plenty -- will fly.)
News Ledes
The Weather Channel's hurricane tracker for Tropical Storm Isaac is here.
AP: "The son of the founder of the powerful Haqqani network was been killed in an airstrike in Pakistan, Afghanistan's intelligence agency said Sunday, providing the first public confirmation of rumors that have been swirling for days about the key member of a militant group the U.S. considers one of the most dangerous in the region. The Taliban rejected reports of Badruddin Haqqani's death, however, saying that he was alive and well in Afghanistan."
AP: "At least three employees at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement have made serious complaints alleging inappropriate sexual behavior by [Suzanne Barr,] a senior Obama administration political appointee and longtime aide to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.... Barr is accused of telling a male subordinate he was 'sexy' during an office party and asking a personal question about his anatomy. She is separately accused of offering to perform a sex act with a male subordinate while on business travel in Bogota, Colombia. She is also accused of calling a male subordinate from her hotel room and offering to perform a sex act."
New York Times: "Syrian troops have killed hundreds of people suspected of being rebels and sympathizers in the last two days in a town outside Damascus, dumping executed victims in basements and a mosque, activists said, raising the specter of a massacre by Syrian troops as bad as any atrocity committed since the Syrian uprising began nearly 18 months ago."
Washington Post: "China's arms exports have surged over the past decade, flooding sub-Saharan Africa with a new source of cheap assault rifles and ammunition and exposing Beijing to international scrutiny as its lethal wares wind up in conflict zones in violation of U.N. sanctions."
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Reader Comments (7)
Marie, I am in a serious state of mental confusion. While I sincerely want you to retain your electricity (I mean the power to your house, I know the other form will never go away), according to Pat Robertson and many other serious followers of their god, all bad weather, earthquakes etc. are the god's revenge on the evil. If true, so far this god's weather has forced the Republicans to delay their convention one day. But what if it is cancelled or the juice doesn't flow and they have to work in the dark. This could cause me to reevaluate my entire view of religion, although I am sure that the Republicans will prove that their god was not responsible for this one. I mean certain things are just a coincidence, right? After all, even though the USA is literally burning up, there is no global warming. It is probably just a temporary punishment for electing a black man.
Stay safe, Marie.
and Marvin––the "temporary punishment for electing a black man"–– there are many that are spouting the same and call themselves sane. See Imani Gandi's piece in the Atlantic –– one of the best essays on race I've read in a long time.
Re Giacomo's article about Republican plans to link defense spending to GDP: Marie comments that it's all about funneling money to defense contractors. Of course it is. There is no other interpretation in which this preposterous scheme makes sense.
Marie-
I truly hope YOUR power does not go out, but that Isaac makes a detour up to Tampa and EVERYTHING there goes out. And the Repubs have to evacuate to the Houston Coliseum, where Ann Romney can show her dressage skills. I know, I know, I am beating a verrry dead horse.
Then we move on to the horrible working conditions in China--where hundreds of thousands are enslaved in sub-human working environments. And we must listen to Mitters lecture about creating better working conditions in China (where he outsourced all those jobs), like (we used to have) in America--before all the jobs were outsourced to China! Eeeeek! We all are living in a parallel universe.
Get me out of here--but NOT to China, or to Houston!
First, Marie: I hope you stay safe, although the hurricane could keep away roving bands of drunken saviors of America, so that's a plus.
Next, after considering mainstream Christian thinking about rich people and camels, I'd like to suggest that the plutocrats of this country are essentially atheists (albeit not the good kind). They sense that when life is over, it's over, so having a fulfilling existence, seeing all the sights, building multiple houses in view of large bodies of water, and then passing along enough money to assure that their great-grandchildren won't have to work is exactly the plan one might have if one mouthed christian platitudes one didn't believe while appreciating how effective those wonderfully cryptic pronouncements (now on two CDs!) could be to gull those who have trouble adding two and two.
I guess what we will always come back to when considering the mental acrobatics of followers of Christ also voting to screw the poor is that while Jesus said that we must take care of the poor, he never mentioned the word "black," did he?
Even after 200 years, for many in this country color means more than nationality. Ironically, many of these same people just can't seem to wave enough American flags.
It's tiring. I wish it were boring, but actual people have been harmed during the filming of this ideology.
Re: weather you believe or not; there is no god; God just is. Thinking your god can speak through the weather is losing hand. One man's drought is another's flood. Batten down the hatches Marie and keep the candles dry. I thought your last essay was one of your best I've read.
This just in from Video Cafe. I think it illustrates that for Romney "love and loyalty to country" have no particular meaning compared to a commitment to "live his privileged life" without apology.
FOX interview with Chris Wallace:
Romney: Not Going to 'Manipulate My Life' by Closing Swiss Bank Account
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney insists that he didn't shut down his tax shelters in the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Switzerland because it would "avoid the truth" and he wasn't going to "manipulate my life" just to become president.
Fox News host Chris Wallace asked Romney in an interview that aired on Sunday why he didn't close the Swiss bank accounts and get out of the investments in the Cayman Islands before he spent the last eight years running for president.
"First of all, there was no reduction -- not one dollar reduction -- in taxes by virtue of having an account in Switzerland or a Cayman Islands investment," Romney explained. "The dollars of taxes remained exactly the same. There was no tax savings at all. And the conduct of the trustee and making investments was entirely consistent with U.S. law and all the taxes paid were those legally owed and there was no tax saving by virtue of those entities."
"But why not just go to him a long time ago and just say, get out of these things?" Wallace pressed.
"Don't invest in anything outside the United States?" Romney replied. "I mean, I could have said, 'Don't make any investments in any foreign companies, in any foreign bonds, in any foreign currency -- only U.S. entities. And by the way, don't buy any foreign products, don't have any Japanese TVs or foreign cars.' I mean, yeah, I could have done that."
"But, I mean, I did live my life," he continued. "And I expect by virtue of disclosing all these things, people can take a look at it and see whether that's something they're comfortable with or not. I'm not going to try and hide who I am and try and manipulate my life to try and avoid the truth."