The Commentariat -- Dec. 31, 2013
Stephen Ohlemacher of the AP: "In an almost annual ritual, Congress is letting a package of 55 popular tax breaks expire at the end of the year, creating uncertainty -- once again -- for millions of individuals and businesses. Lawmakers let these tax breaks lapse almost every year, even though they save businesses and individuals billions of dollars. And almost every year, Congress eventually renews them, retroactively.... 'More cynically, some people say, if you just put it in for a year or two, then that keeps the lobbyists having to come back and wine-and-dine the congressmen to get it extended again, and maybe make some campaign contributions,' said Mark Luscombe, principal tax analyst for CCH, a consulting firm...."
Emily Atkin in Think Progress: "Just one week after Al Jazeera discovered that regulatory responsibility for Alberta, Canada's controversial tar sands would be handed over to a fossil-fuel funded corporation, federal scientists have found that the area's viscous petroleum deposits are surrounded by a nearly 7,500-square-mile ring of mercury.... The findings ... showed that the 7,500 miles contaminated are 'currently impacted by airborne Hg (mercury) emissions originating from oilsands developments.'"
Matthew Wald of the New York Times: "The Federal Aviation Administration will authorize test sites for drone aircraft in upstate New York, New Jersey and at least eight other states, the agency said on Monday, preparing for a time when unmanned aircraft of various shapes and sizes cruise over the landscape." The FAA announcement is here.
Nate Raymond of Reuters: "The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to force the U.S. government to disclose details of its foreign electronic surveillance program and what protections it provides to Americans whose communications are swept up." ...
... Eric Posner, in a Slate piece, sides with Judge William Pauley over Judge Richard Leon re: NSA storage of metadata. CW: Here's a curious argument Posner makes: "The risk of abuse must, for now, be considered remote. If the NSA ever does start blackmailing people, the information will come out because you can't blackmail someone without talking to him." Say what? If the NSA -- or anyone -- blackmails you, the whole idea is that the blackmailer is threatening to make public something you want kept secret. So couldn't we surmise, more logically, that the NSA is blackmailing thousands of people, & those people are keeping quiet lest their secrets be revealed? So, no, if the NSA resorts to blackmail, there's no reason to anticipate that "the information will come out."
Lori Montgomery of the Washington Post: "The plan to trim pension increases for working-age military retirees ... is by far the most controversial provision in a bipartisan budget deal approved by Congress and signed last week by President Obama. The cut is small -- a one-percentage-point reduction in the annual cost-of-living increase -- but it has provoked outrage among veterans who argue that the country is reneging on a solemn pact.... The authors of the budget deal, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray (D-Wash.), have already agreed to amend the provision to exempt disabled retirees and survivors of those killed in action, eliminating roughly 10 percent of the $6 billion in savings projected over the next decade. But Ryan has resisted efforts to abandon the pension cut entirely, calling it a 'modest' adjustment to a particularly generous program -- and therefore a more sensible choice than harder decisions that may lie ahead."
Apropos of a discussion in yesterday's Comments, Steve Benen produced this chart which "shows every political figure who made 10 or more Sunday show appearances this year, with red columns representing Republicans and blue columns representing Democrats":
... Adam Weinstein of Gawker: "This chart shows why Sunday talk shows suck.... This is proof that if God exists, He intends for you not to watch TV on Sunday mornings." Weinstein also notes there is only one woman among the 13, no person of color (unless you count Ted Cruz) & the average age of the six old boys who top the list is 65+.
Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "The State Department on Monday said it has no evidence that 'core al Qaeda' behind last year's terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya.... '...it actually matters whether you say core al Qaeda directed and planned it or they didn't, or it's just some folks that are affiliated with a local group or militia or terrorist organization -- that's what we're looking into right now -- whether they took some inspiration from some sort of similar ideology,' [State Department spokeswoman Marie] Harf said. She pushed back on those making stronger statements." ...
I agree with Mike [Rogers (R-Mich.)] that ... the intelligence indicates that al-Qaeda was involved. But there were also plenty of people and militias that were unaffiliated with al-Qaeda that were involved. I think the intelligence paints a portrait that some came to murder, some people came to destroy property, some merely came to loot, and some came in part motivated by those videos. So it is a complex picture. -- Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Fox "News" Sunday
... You can watch the full "Fox 'News' Sunday" segment here. It's worth hearing Schiff's full remarks on Benghazi, which come early in the segment that was booked to discuss Edward Snowden. ...
... New York Times Editors: "If [Rep. Mike] Rogers has evidence of a direct Al Qaeda role, he should make it public. Otherwise, The Times's investigation, including extensive interviews with Libyans in Benghazi who had direct knowledge of the attack, stands as the authoritative narrative." CW: The editors do not directly address Schiff's claims (or mention him at all), but he was no doubt talking about the same intelligence Rogers claimed he had seen. Also bear in mind that this is the Times -- likely with justification -- declaring itself the superior authority. If Rogers has the goods, he should accept the editors' challenge. ...
... Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times: "... one particularly hilarious theme in the response to the Times investigation [of the September 11, 2011 Benghazi attack]. According to [Rep. Mike] Rogers [R-Mich.], the article was intended to 'clear the deck' for Mrs. Clinton's presidential campaign. Rep. Lynn Westmoreland of Georgia, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said today that The Times was 'already laying the groundwork' for a Clinton campaign. Other Republicans referred to Mrs. Clinton as our 'candidate of choice.' Since I will have more to say about which candidate we will endorse in 2016 than any other editor at the Times, let me be clear: We have not chosen Mrs. Clinton. We have not chosen anyone. I can also state definitively that there was no editorial/newsroom conspiracy of any kind, because I knew nothing about the Benghazi article until I read it in the paper on Sunday."
... Dana Milbank: "No doubt Issa will continue to pursue the Benghazi 'scandal.' Others will look deeper into Pajama Boy, or Obama's religion. If they'd devote a similar intensity toward the jobless and the uninsured, they might actually do some good."
Andrew Kramer of the New York Times: "Before he went to prison 10 years ago, Mikhail B. Khodorkovsky was Russia's richest man, worth maybe $15 billion. Set free this month, he could only guess at his vastly depleted, but still formidable, wealth.... As Russian prosecutors began dismantling his company, Mr. Khodorkovsky's lawyers set about safeguarding his main asset, shares in the Yukos oil company. His lawyers did such a good job entangling billions of dollars in offshore vehicles outside of Russia, mostly in the Netherlands, that it is far from clear when or if Mr. Khodorkovsky will ever gain access to what is left of his fortune. The money is now under the control of Dutch foundations, run by boards known by the benign, if Kafkaesque, term of benevolent interveners."
White House Whitewash. CW : If you can't remember what-all President Obama did this year, the White House would like to remind you -- of only the good stuff. There is nary a word about the Healthcare.gov rollout. The one & only mention of the ACA is a September "white board" video touting the ACA & the Website, which went slightly live October 1. Pathetic, stupid & a little scary.
Right Wing World
Adam & Eve & Pinch Me. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "A new Pew Research Center poll shows a widening political gap over theories about how humans came to be, with Republicans growing increasingly skeptical about the idea that humans evolved over time. Over the last four years, the percentage of Democrats who said they believe in evolution has risen by three points, from 64 percent to 67 percent. But the percentage of Republicans who believe in the theory has dropped 11 points, from 54 percent to 43 percent." Pew's report is here.
When Impeachment Isn't Enough. Let us ring out the old year with the wingiest wingnut of all. Travis Gettys of the Raw Story: Fox "News" analyst & retired Major Gen. Paul E. Vallely "has prescribed a regimen of extra-constitutional measures to protect the Constitution from President Barack Obama.... Vallely suggested that Congress pass legislation that would allow conservative activists to undo the results of the last presidential election.... Vallely ruled out impeachment [because], '... if Obama was found guilty and removed from office, Joe Biden would step in, Valerie Jarrett still wields all the power, and likely we get more of the same.' ... He did suggest that a new George Washington could be drawn from the ranks of retired military personnel, which, of course, include Vallely. 'It's fallen upon senior, retired military to take stands against the overreach and tyranny of a corrupt government....'" ...
... CW: Please remember, Fox "News" employs this guy. Via Charles Pierce, who is very impressed with Jarett, "the shadowy genius behind the takeover of the Republic." I wonder if it's a coincidence that Vallely seems most worried about people who happen to be black "wielding all the power." I don't suppose he would propose, say, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Colin Powell to be the "senior, retired military" guy to fill in when Barack, Joe & Valerie are sent packing. While Vallely is contemplating his choice for the next president, may I suggest that the current one call him into the Oval, & with cameras rolling, strip one of Vallely's stars & send him packing.
News Ledes
AFP: "A Bangladesh court Tuesday ordered the arrest of owners of a garment factory where 111 workers were killed last year in the country's worst such fire, after police laid charges. The court in Dhaka issued the warrants for Delwar Hossain and his wife Mahmuda Akter and four others over the blaze that gutted the Tazreen factory where workers stitched clothes for Western retailers including Walmart."
Reuters: "Police detained dozens of people on Tuesday in sweeps through the Russian city of Volgograd after two deadly attacks in less than 24 hours that raised security fears ahead of the Winter Olympics. A man wounded when a bomber set off a blast in the city's railway station on Sunday died overnight, bringing the toll in that attack to 18. Regional governor Sergei Bazhenov said 16 died in a trolleybus bombing on Monday."
AP: "Suspected Jewish vandals set fire to three vehicles in a West Bank village early on Tuesday and sprayed threatening graffiti referring to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry ahead of his expected visit to the region, police said."
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Reader Comments (9)
About Vallely, I like this Wikipedia entry;
"Paul E. Vallely is a retired US Army Major General and senior military analyst for Fox News as well as a complete disgrace to the uniform. He served in the Vietnam War and retired in 1993 as Deputy Commanding General, Pacific Command. In 2004, together with retired Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, Vallely co-authored the book Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror. Vallely currently serves as the Military Committee Chairman for the Center for Security Policy and has lent his support to the organization Veteran Defenders of America. With his recent comments to Fox News Channel and to the controversial online tabloid, World Net Daily, calling for a "March on Washington" by "patriots" to force President Obama to resign, it is apparent that the man has come unhinged from reality and needs to be locked up for his, and our nation's, protection."
@James Singer: In the half-hour since you posted your comment, the Wiki entry has been edited:
"Paul E. Vallely is a retired US Army Major General and senior military analyst for Fox News as well as a true veteran. He served in the Vietnam War and retired in 1993 as Deputy Commanding General, Pacific Command. In 2004, together with retired Air Force Lieutenant General Thomas McInerney, Vallely co-authored the book Endgame: The Blueprint for Victory in the War on Terror. Vallely currently serves as the Military Committee Chairman for the Center for Security Policy and has lent his support to the organization Veteran Defenders of America. With his recent comments to Fox News Channel and to the controversial online tabloid, World Net Daily, calling for a "March on Washington" by "patriots" to force President Obama to resign. He is a true Patriot in every sense of the word." (Emphasis added.)
The version you cited obviously is more accurate.
Marie
As retired military, Vallely's ravings make me sick. Among other aspects of being retired, one stands out:the current President is STILL our Commander-in-Chief. I despised GW Bush, but I never publicly criticized him for that reason.
IMHO what he said is treason. He should be called to active duty and court-martialed. That's another aspect of retired military, we can be called back. That's why it's called retired pay, not a pension. Although we have First Amendment rights like any other citizen, advocating overthrow of the government isn't among them.
@Barbarossa. You're right. And all kidding aside, Army Chief Ray Odierno &/or Chair of the Joint Chiefs Martin Dempsey should take some action against Vallely. To let Vallely's commentary go unremarked threatens a system of government that assumes civilian control over the military. That's why the Constitution makes the President the commander-in-chief.
Nonetheless, Vallely isn't completely stupid. After urging a takeover of the government by, uh, some modern-day George Washington with massive Tea Party backing, Vallely said, "That brings us to the other word no one wants to utter, revolution. In our opinion, this is the least palatable option. Others talk about the military taking over as we saw in Egypt; again, we do not support this route."
As of this morning, BTW, all reference to Vallely's recent comments has been removed from the Wiki entry.
Marie
Re: How did we get here? Where's Gen. Ike (ret.) when you need him? Further more, Gen. Vallely(retard.) if you feel so strongly about the state of the union, why not run for office? Your views are are mainstream among true patriots across this great land of ours.
Patriots in every sense of the word. Little tri-cornered hats, white long leggings and overcoats down to the knees. Or drunken red-faced Bostonian football fans. Patriots, in every sense of the word.
Re: Benghazi; I just finished everything I could read about the incident. What a clusterfuck, if you pardon my filthy language.
Seems to me it was mistakes made right on the ground that lead to the senseless killings.
Got one question for the boys and girls at the NSA. According to the NYT there were vast numbers of phone calls that night between the various Libyan factions. If you can find them in your haystack why not use the data to establish who did what and when?
Notice the Brits locked up at night and went home. Humm.
Clinton's fault? Nah. CIA's fault; humm. Nobody's fault; Nah, everybody's fault, yea.
The following AP story by Jonathan Fahey appeared in our local newspaper today regarding household energy use:
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/home-electricity-us-falling-2001-levels-21370718
The US Energy Information Administration shows that total residential usage had a spike in 2010 as we came out of the worst of the recession but has been decreasing since then. (The actual total usage is higher than in 2001 but I assume that there are more households now.)
If the AP article is to be believed, it looks as if government policy is saving energy and $. All I can hear is the VP Who Must Not Be Named, sneering: "Conservation may be a sign of personal virtue, but it is not a sufficient basis for a sound, comprehensive energy policy." All those lost years!
As a side note about this joker Paul Vallely: following through his wikipedia entry to Center for Security Policy of which he is apart there is a nice entry about how another supporter of this "Center" "advocated for making George W. Bush president for life,".
You really can't make this stuff up. I'm thinking Paul doesn't have a fair or balanced bone in his body, unless you want to include the rock that sits above his shoulders.
From the NYT editorial linked above: 'Yet, despite the C.I.A. presence and Ambassador Stevens’s expertise on Libya, “there was little understanding of militias in Benghazi and the threat they posed to U.S. interests,” a State Department investigation found.'
I don't know how much the CIA folks knew about militias, but I'm pretty sure that Stevens knew that going in to Benghazi, with all of its turmoil and weaponry, was like a lion tamer going into the cage with the big cats. You've spent all your life working with them, you know that they are killers, but you've accustomed them to your presence and your reward system. You know that at any time, for no predictable reason other than that they are hardwired to kill, they will try to get you. Every time before, the whip, prod, or your agility saved you. Then one night they get you. Because that is what big cats can do.
It doesn't have to be an intelligence failure, or a lack of understanding. You know the cats are there, what they can do, and you know that from time to time they will try to kill you. You train yourself to have the equipment, positioning, exit route, and reflexes to save yourself. You never kid yourself that the cats are "tame," the whole history of the business tells you they are always killers, no matter how long you work with them.
But you go in because it is what you do. You're a lion tamer.
Or, in Stevens' case, a U.S. diplomat in a risky city.
Re: Eric Posner and the Salon piece supporting Judge Pauley's ruling that NSA's metadata storage is Constitutional. You might Google: University of Chicago Law School and Neo-Fascism. Follow that with Leo Strauss and Political Philosophy.
I know, that's kind of an ad hominem attack but what's good for the Goose Steppers is good for the gander.