The Commentariat -- August 3, 2014
New York Times Editors: "It was a remarkable two days of legislative dysfunction, even for congressional Republicans, who have been pushing the limits of unhinged governance.... Congressional nihilism has created a vacuum. Now it's President Obama's job to fill it.... Having spent the summer howling about a catastrophe at the border, Republicans are now congratulating themselves for refusing to solve it."
Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: "In a new study conducted by researchers tasked with studying of the root causes and consequences of terrorism in the U.S. and abroad, the sovereign citizen movement was perceived to be the gravest terrorist threat, rivaling Islamist extremists and militia/patriot groups."
Nathan Thrall explains in the London Review of Books what led to the current Israeli-Hamas conflict. It's complicated! ...
My suggestion is a two-state solution and coexistence between Israel and the West Bank: two capitals in Jerusalem, a mutually agreed territorial modification, removal of most of the Jewish settlements from the West Bank. -- Amos Oz
Philip Gourevitch in the New Yorker on the Israeli-Gaza conflict as seen through the eyes of novelist Amos Oz & former Palestinian Rashid Khalidi.
Maureen Dowd writes a column wherein she whacks Dubya for the Oedipal thing, then ends by whacking Obama. CW: I do think she's mostly right about John Brennan. He never should have been put in a position of power & responsibility. Calling Brennan "a cheerleader for torture," however, is an overstatement. See this 2008 piece by Glenn Greenwald.) Still, Obama should invite Brennan to resign. Soon. There's no doubt he was, at the least, complicit in CIA torture operations during the Bush years. ...
... "We Tortured Some Folks." digby on President Obama's remarks (see yesterday's Commentariat): "We have normalized torture with this tepid, half-assed, sanctimonious admission that 'we tortured some folks' and that it crossed a line and all, but they did it because people were afraid. Heckuva job."
Michael Paulson of the New York Times (July 30): "The Roman Catholic archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis, under fire for the way his diocese has dealt with sexually abusive priests, apologized Wednesday for his conduct but rejected calls for his resignation. The archbishop, John C. Nienstedt, acknowledged errors in his diocese's response to abuse allegations, writing in a column for the diocesan newspaper that 'it is very clear that we did not handle all complaints the way we should have in the past' and that he had only recently removed from ministry several priests accused of abuse.... He did not directly address accusations that he himself had had inappropriate sexual relationships with adult men, other than to say that he commissioned an investigation 'because I had nothing to hide and wanted to be vindicated from false allegations, as anyone would.'" Via Steve Benen. ...
... CW: If Nienstedt had relationships with consenting adult men who knew what his job was, I would say there's a good chance the relationships weren't "inappropriate." Although Paulson couches the "inappropriate" behavior as an accusation by others, it sure comes across as a value judgment on the part of the Times, & in a straight news report, that is "inappropriate."
Stan Diel of the Alabama Media Group: Twinkle Cavanaugh, the President of the Alabama Public Service Commission, wants all Alabamians to "be in prayer" against the EPA's proposed carbon emissions regulations. "PSC commissioner-elect Chip Beeker..., a Republican who is running unopposed for a PSC seat, said coal was created in Alabama by God, and the federal government should not enact policy that runs counter to God's plan." Via Benen. ...
... CW: Well, Chip & Twinkle, God put that coal away down deep under her green earth, & it could be she didn't have any plans for you-all to dig it all up & burn it down, spewing the carcinogous detritus into the good air she gave all her creatures breathe. Nor was it likely in her plan to warm up the earth to ungodly temperatures. Those floods & hurricanes & droughts & heat waves are God's way of telling you nitwits to cut carbon emissions, & she doesn't appreciate your beseeching her to destroy her little pet planet.
Gubernatorial Election
Dave McKinney of the Chicago Sun-Times: "Multimillionaire Republican Bruce Rauner[, the GOP's nominee for governor of Illinois,] has channeled at least part of his fortune into the Cayman Islands, a Caribbean paradise long criticized as a tax haven for American investors.... For Rauner, consistently leading [Gov. Pat] Quinn [D] in mid-summer polling, it's the same political issue that President Barack Obama used to his advantage against uber-rich Republican Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential campaign.
Beyond the Beltway
Brent Johnson of the Star-Ledger: "Gov. Chris Christie [Friday] said he doesn't recall receiving a text message from a top aide in December as talk of the controversial lane closings at the George Washington Bridge intensified. Regina Eg[e]a, whom the Republican governor has named his next chief of staff, testified last month before a state legislative committee that she texted Christie about testimony given by Port Authority officials concerning the lane closings but later deleted the message."
Laura Vozzella, et al., of the Washington Post: "Tanned, relaxed and sometimes witty on the stand, [Jonnie] Williams[, Sr., the chief witness in the Bob & Maureen McDonnell corruption case,] might charm and convince the eight men and four women who hold the former first couple's fate in their hands. But there's also a risk that jurors will see him as a snake oil salesman, one who duped the McDonnells and is lying now to save his own skin."
News Ledes
AP: "Fighting raged Sunday on the western outskirts of Donetsk as the advancing Ukrainian army tried to seize control of the rebel stronghold. In danger of being encircled, the separatists renewed their calls for Russia to send troops to their aid. To support their operations, the pro-Russian fighters have been confiscating vehicles and food from residents and businesses in Donetsk." ...
... ** New York Times: "The growing confrontation between Washington and Moscow over Ukraine has derailed a recent accord that promised one of the most expansive collaborations ever between the countries' nuclear scientists, including reciprocal visits to atomic sites to work on projects ranging from energy to planetary defense."
Washington Post: "A United Nations school was attacked in southern Gaza on Sunday, killing at least 10 and injuring more than 30, as Israeli shells continued to bombard southern Gaza, hours after President Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that Hamas would pay 'an intolerable price' for its assaults. A spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said an Israeli air strike most likely hit the school in the southern border city of Rafah, while about 3,000 Palestinians, who had fled their homes and were seeking refuge there, were waiting in line for food and other supplies." ...
... AP UPDATE: "Israel withdrew most of its ground troops from the Gaza Strip on Sunday in an apparent winding down of the nearly monthlong operation against Hamas that has left more than 1,800 Palestinians and more than 60 Israelis dead. Even as Israel said it was close to completing its mission, heavy fighting raged in parts of Gaza, with at least 10 people killed in what U.N. and Palestinian officials said was an Israeli airstrike near a U.N. shelter. The United States lashed out at Israel, saying it was 'appalled' by the 'disgraceful' attack." ...
... Guardian UPDATE: "A deadly attack on a school in the city of Rafah in the south of Gaza has been denounced as a 'moral outrage' and 'criminal act' by the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon."
Guardian: "Libya's interim government says a day of militia fighting for control of the international airport in the capital Tripoli has killed 22 people."
Guardian: "One of two American aid workers infected with the deadly Ebola virus returned to the US from Africa on Saturday. Both were volunteers treating Ebola patients in Liberia, one of three countries affected in a West African outbreak that has so far killed 729 people, the deadliest outbreak in history."
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Reader Comments (5)
Dana Milbank's column yesterday about executive action makes the Republicans sound more rational than they are. They are suing President Obama because he modified a law they don't like to bring it more into line with what they wanted, delaying the employer mandate portion of the ACA. BAD! Now they are asking him to disregard a 2008 law and send the children back to their countries of origin. GOOD! They will make it sound completely different within their news bubble, but it is the same thing.
Of course, the president isn't going to take the executive action _they_ want him to take (where he tries to follow the 2008 law, mixed with a modicum of compassion and empathy), so there will be even more howling at the moon and blathering at the camera.
Robert Reich has a thoughtful blog post entitled Work and Worth. His central argument is that "What someone is paid has little or no relationship to what their work is worth to society." He then compares the pay of social workers, kindergarten teachers, artists, etc. to that of investment bankers, corporate lawyers, etc., asking which professions are of more genuine value to society.
http://robertreich.org/post/93632709170
Abby Gluck cites and further elaborates on an excellent TPM piece by Dylan Scott (linked in yesterday's RC) dealing with CBO actions as incontrovertible evidence that Congress always intended subsidy availability for folks signing up through Federal exchanges.
http://balkin.blogspot.com/
The post preceding Ms. Gluck's -" Halbig, King and the Procedural Path Ahead," by Neil Siegel - is also of interest. Siegel states that there will be no good reason for the Supreme Court to accept cert on these cases, as (once the D.C. Circuit en banc panel reverses the 3 judge panel's decision, as they very likely will) there will be no existing split of the circuits. Plus the S.C. already upheld the ACA once. But Siegel's conclusion is telling:
"If the Justices take King, it will be because they want to take King notwithstanding the absence of a circuit split. If the Justices follow their ordinary procedure of resolving circuit splits under Rule 10, they will sit on the petition for certiorari in King until the Halbig litigation is resolved—and then deny the petition."
@Victoria D. The problem is that it takes only four justices to accept a case. That means that all of the liberals & two of the conservatives would have to take a pass. Four of the justices already have expressed the opinion that the ACA is unconstitutional, so it would hardly be surprising if they decided to take another swipe at it. I believe the plaintiffs in Halbig have already petitioned the Court.
It's going to be an interesting fall.
Marie
@Marie: yes, the Plaintiffs have already petitioned the S.C. Just as the Defense (government) has petitioned for a re-hearing before the full D.C. Circuit Court panel, a hearing they will likely win. Siegel is simply saying that in the normal scheme of things, the SC shouldn't accept cert on the subsidy issue -at least not yet. But I don't think he's betting any money that they won't, any more than you are. Of course, a decision by the Court on the merits would still take 5 votes . And the constitutionality of the whole Act will not be in front of the Court - just the legislative interpretation of whether the subsidies are available to those who go through Federal exchanges. As you say, it will be an interesting fall -as if we needed any more drama.