The Commentariat -- Dec. 5, 2014
Internal links removed.
Helene Cooper, et al., of the New York Times: "President Obama on Friday will announce his selection of Ashton B. Carter to lead the Pentagon, White House officials said, embracing a physicist and national security centrist who may advocate a stronger use of American power. Mr. Carter, 60, is expected to face smooth confirmation hearings from Senate Republicans, who say they foresee no opposition to him."
Feliz Navidad! Robert Costa & Ed O'Keefe of the Washington Post: "House Republicans voted to rebuke President Obama for his unilateral overhaul of the nation's immigration system Thursday, passing legislation to curb the White House's ability to protect millions from being deported. But the effort was largely symbolic: The Democratic-controlled Senate plans to ignore the bill, and the White House has said it would veto it."
Tim Egan: "Many of the people who dwell in the uglier recesses of social media, or make casual conversation among the like-minded, will not grant Obama the family man the respect he has earned, or Obama the president the dignity that comes with the office. I want to believe this is not about race, but it sure looks that way."
** Nate Cohn of the New York Times: "If Mary Landrieu, a Democratic senator from Louisiana, loses re-election in Saturday's runoff election, as expected, the Republicans will have vanquished the last vestige of Democratic strength in the once solidly Democratic Deep South. In a region stretching from the high plains of Texas to the Atlantic coast of the Carolinas, Republicans would control not only every Senate seat, but every governor's mansion and every state legislative body."
** Paul Krugman: Chuck Schumer is an asshole. (Paraphrase.) "If more Democrats had been willing to defend the best thing they've done in decades, rather than run away from their own achievement and implicitly concede that the smears against health reform were right, the politics of the issue might look very different today." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "What makes this wave of regret [over passing the ACA] -- not even taking into account the unmitigated hostility from the political right -- so strange is that Obamacare is actually working. Indeed, evidence continues to mount that the law is working extremely, even shockingly, well.... Four major new sources of information have come out this week, all of which have further demonstrated the law's success [by] 1. Increasing access to the uninsured; 2. Reducing overall health-care costs..., 3. [Reducing] hospital errors..., [and] 4. [Increasing] hospital competition." ...
... ** Ryan Cooper of the Week outlines "everything that is wrong with the Democratic party," as demonstrated in "one speech by Chuck Schumer.... The reason all this happened is that Democrats, especially in the Senate, are a bunch of spineless porridge creatures, wholly owned by the financial sector, who continually failed to grasp that being cautious and timid in power during a huge recession was highly politically risky. They were obsessed with ridiculous Beltway shibboleths like the deficit, and got slaughtered at the polls as a result." CW: Now that, IMHO, is a more realistic take on history than Schumer's spineless, stupid rewrite.
Annals of "Justice," Ctd.
Richard Oppel & Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "One week after the release of a surveillance video showing a Cleveland police officer fatally shooting a 12-year-old African-American boy who was holding a pellet gun, Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. flew [to Cleveland] on Thursday to announce that a lengthy Justice Department civil rights investigation had found 'unreasonable and unnecessary use of force' by the city's Police Department. The Cleveland abuses highlighted by Mr. Holder included many that have caused friction with the police in minority communities around the country.... 'Cleveland officers are not provided with adequate training, policy guidance, support and supervision,' the Justice Department concluded in its report. As a result of the investigation, the city has agreed to work toward a settlement with the Justice Department...."
... CW: Training? Guidance? Ha! They don't even bother to screen applicants to see if they're qualified to serve. (See yesterday's Commentariat.) ...
... The Guardian report, by Paul Lewis, is here. "'Our review revealed that Cleveland police officers violate basic constitutional precepts in their use of deadly and less lethal force at a rate that is highly significant,' the report said. It found use of force by Cleveland police was at times 'chaotic and dangerous', even going so far as to suggest victims of crime and innocent bystanders should fear for their lives in the presence of police." ...
... The Justice Department report is here (pdf).
Mark Santora of the New York Times: "One day after a grand jury declined to indict a New York police officer in the death of Eric Garner, prompting angry protests and calls for reform from elected officials, Mayor on Thursday announced the start of a significant retraining of the nation's largest police force.... Patrick J. Lynch, the president of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, assailed Mr. de Blasio, saying that officers around the city felt he had thrown them 'under the bus.'" ...
... Andy Cush of Gawker: During his press conference Wednesday night, Mayor de Blasio revealed how he & his wife repeatedly warned their son Dante -- who is black -- to watch out for New York's finest. Read it & weep.
Ashley Southall of the New York Times: "Thousands of demonstrators gathered Thursday night in several cities to protest recent killings of unarmed African-Americans by white police officers."
** Max Read of Gawker: "The 'rule of law' that [New York Gov. Andrew] Cuomo wants us to hold in high esteem is the very same one that has given the NYPD a wide berth to harass, intimidate, and abuse young men of color, a 'rule of law' governed by a rapidly militarizing police force training trigger-happy violent cops. A rule of law at the base of a system of violence and hate so out of control that even the mayor of New York City needs to warn his son of it. How can you ask people to respect the law when the law does not respect them? How can you remind them of the importance of the process when Missouri and New York are reminding us the process is hopelessly broken?"
Peter Beinart of the Atlantic: "... the right's largely indifferent response illustrates just how much the Garner case really is about race. Had Eric Garner been a rural white man with a cowboy hat killed by federal agents, instead of a large black man choked to death by the NYPD, his face would be on a Ted Cruz for President poster by now."
Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post on "the killing of Rumain Brisbon..., an unarmed African American man at the hands of a white police officer" in Phoenix, Arizona.
Carl Hulse of the New York Times: Republican senators may question "Loretta E. Lynch's nomination as attorney general, because she will be heading the inquiry as the United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York even as she undergoes scrutiny in the new Republican-controlled Senate." CW: Except as an indicator that Loretta Lynch can walk & chew gum at the same time, this seems like a non-story story.
Gary Robertson of Reuters: "A Virginia health panel remade by the Democratic governor [Terry McAuliffe] voted on Thursday to revamp rules that threatened to shut down abortion clinics across the state. In a victory for abortion rights advocates, the state Board of Health voted 13-2 to begin amending regulations that require abortion clinics to have standards similar to hospitals. The board put the requirement in place in 2013 when then-Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, appointed abortion foes to the panel."
Chris Mooney & Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "For two decades, scientists have kept a close watch on a vast, icebound corner of West Antarctica that is undergoing a historic thaw. Climate experts have predicted that, centuries from now, the region's mile-thick ice sheet could collapse and raise sea levels as much as 11 feet. Now, new evidence is causing concern that the collapse could happen faster than anyone thought. New scientific studies this week have shed light on the speed and the mechanics of West Antarctic melting, documenting an acceleration that, if it continues, could have major effects on coastal cities worldwide." ...
... Jeff Spross, et al., of Think Progress, June 26, 2013: "90 percent of the Republican leadership in both House and Senate deny climate change. 17 out of 22 Republican members of the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology, or 77 percent, are climate deniers. 22 out of 30 Republican members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, or 73 percent deny the reality of climate change, 100 percent of Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Republicans have said climate change is not happening or that humans do not cause it. The campaigns of those who reject the reality of climate science are fueled by the fossil fuel industry that advocate for and drive the emissions that cause global warming." CW: Let's pick 'em all up & put 'em on a little ole iceberg somewhere near Antartica.
Presidential Election
Amy Chozick of the New York Times: Speaking at a conference in Boston, " said Thursday that she supported President Obama's decision to form a task force to review police tactics and praised the Justice Department's decision to investigate the death of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer on Staten Island. 'Each of us has to grapple with some hard truths about race and justice in America,' Mrs. Clinton said in wide-ranging remarks about the protests over police tactics that have erupted in cities across the country." ...
... CW: Clinton would have spoken up sooner, but it took her pollster & speechwriter a while to test & develop her response. Jeesh. Rand Paul might say stupid shit (okay, does say stupid shit), but at least he's capable of saying stupid shit spontaneously. Sorry, I don't think a majority of Americans are going to vote for a robot. There's a difference between (1) being cautious & circumspect -- a good thing -- and (2) only saying what will garner the highest level of public approval. ...
... Alex Seitz-Wald of MSNBC: "Beyond racial issues, Clinton suggested she favors reducing the prison population overall. 'The United States has less than 5% of the world's population, yet we have almost 25% of the world's total prison population,' she said, saying it's not because Americans break more laws than other nations. 'It is because we have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance. And I personally hope that these tragedies give us the opportunity to come together as a nation to find our balance again.'... Clinton had been criticized for waiting almost 20 days to comment on Ferguson after Brown was killed in August." CW: I'd call that "co-opting Rand Paul's message." Also, more "shoring-up the black vote." ...
... Dana Milbank: On Wednesday, Georgetown students were too busy to attend an event featuring Hillary Clinton. The few who did show up appeared bored.
Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "Chris Christie today said he doesn't want to 'second-guess' that work by the grand jury [that failed to indict Eric Garner's killer Daniel Pantaleo]. In comments reported by the Wall Street Journal, Christie said, 'As someone who ran a prosecuting office for seven years before I became governor, one of the things I learned is that you never know all the things that a grand jury knows, unless you're in that grand jury and working with them.' Christie has kept mostly silent on these issues, recently declining to discuss issues raised by Ferguson. CW: Ah, "shoring up the white bigot vote." ...
... Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "Determined to let no doubts about his enthusiasm for the [Keystone XL] pipeline linger, [Chris] Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey, traveled [to Calgary, Canada,] to meet with the chief executive of the company trying to build it. He held a joint news conference with the premier of Alberta, who is aggressively pushing for it. And Mr. Christie delivered a speech to a group of Canadian energy executives who fervently support it -- inside the Calgary Petroleum Club, no less.... Mr. Christie, who has limited experience in international affairs, is fashioning a foreign policy that is heavily grounded in North America, which he views as an overlooked domain in an era of international threats to the United States." ...
... Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "A long-awaited report by a New Jersey legislative committee says that there is 'no conclusive evidence' whether Gov. Chris Christie knew about the controversial lane closings at the George Washington Bridge in 2013 before or as they were happening. But in a detailed chronology, the report argues that the governor had many opportunities to know about the lane closings, the political motive behind them and the involvement of his administration, even as he insisted he knew nothing." Thanks to Marvin S. for the heads-up. ...
... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "A report summarizing a yearlong investigation by the legislative panel examining the George Washington Bridge lane closures found no evidence of Governor Christie's involvement but concluded that two of his allies acted 'with perceived impunity' when they gridlocked Fort Lee's streets apparently for political reasons. The committee's 136-page report, drawing off sworn testimony, private interviews and thousands of subpoenaed documents, also highlights the unsuccessful efforts by a now-shuttered arm of Christie's office to court the Fort Lee mayor's endorsement, finding that the closures were 'motivated in part by political considerations.'"
News Ledes
Bloomberg News: "Employers in the U.S. added 321,000 jobs in November, the most since January 2012, driving wage gains and highlighting increased corporate confidence the economy will endure a weakening in global markets. The advance in payrolls exceeded the most optimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists and followed a 243,000 gain in October that was stronger than previously reported, figures from the Labor Department showed today in Washington. The jobless rate held at a six-year low of 5.8 percent."
Orlando Sentinel: "Atop the most powerful rocket available, NASA's next generation space capsule Orion blasted off at 7:05 this morning against the backdrop of a rising sun at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.... The 4 1/2 hour, unmanned mission gives NASA a chance to test America's new do-everything spacecraft. In coming decades, Orion is expected to carry astronauts deep into space to the moon, asteroids, Mars and beyond."
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Reader Comments (39)
It strikes me that Hillary is Bill, without the charisma. She is a poll driven, cautious centrist lacking his extraordinary people skills. It would not seem to be a winning formula.
@Victoria D. And it strikes me that you're right. I recall that Bill used to secretly meet with Dick Morris who would focus-group "policy" like school uniforms are other stupid stuff. I think Hillary does the same thing (tho not with Morris).
I remember when Reagan complained that Pappy Bush didn't "stand" for anything. Neither does Hillary. Even though millions of women -- myself included -- desperately wanted to see a female president elected in 2008, more Democrats than not decided to go with a blank slate -- Obama -- rather than Hillary. I'm becoming more & more convinced that there won't be a President Hillary, whether or not she runs & wins the Democratic nomination.
Marie
I have thought for some time that Hillary was inevitable as the Democratic presidential nominee in 2016. But I think Marie may be right--that her shelf life has expired. In fact, her "Sell By" date was
probably 2008. Except, of course, with the wealthy establishment.
It troubles me that the Democrats will be hard pressed to find a viable candidate who wants to run and will be able to amass the huge amount of $$$ that Hillary and the Republicans already have. It will take a miracle for a more left-leaning Democrat to achieve national prominence and a huge following of richie supporters by next year!
In the end......Supreme Court. That is really all I care about in this next presidential election. But I sure wish Elizabeth Warren would run. Bernie Sanders is terrific, but too far left for most voters and too old.
And isn't it telling that we seem to have, at this date, NO ONE worth their salt to take up the reins of Potus and drive this country forward, and the few that are worth their salt, like Bernie, wouldn't stand a chance, and those that would stand a chance aren't interested or aren't ready (like Brown & Warren). We have said this many times and Kate continues to remind us, that the Supreme Court has to be taken into account here ––it's like having to hold your nose while taking a nasty tasting medicine, but it will prevent you from dying. A bad simile, but maybe closer to the truth than we think.
Ah yes, Bridgegate again. Interesting how the Huff post headline on AOL says Christie new nothing about it and the Times article says evidence exists that he was involved in an attempted cover up. I love the Huff 'news' whose headlines are designed to get you to see ads.
I believe that America needs a female President. However, I have never been enamored of HRC, who is a neoliberal and a free trader. One name I haven't seen discussed much is Kirsten Gillibrand. Anyone here want to help me understand why there hasn't been more of a groundswell in her favor?
Gillibrand-Franken 2016
Just throwing it out there. Thanks.
So now that the economy has added a whopping 321,000 jobs, we can expect Schumer to revise his opinion that POTUS should have tabled health care reform. Okay, maybe not. Because then there would be no explanation as to why those Schumer-advised senatorial candidates crashed and burned.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/06/business/economy/november-jobs-unemployment-figures.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news
If health reform hadn't passed, no doubt the Republicans would have run on that , lambasting Obama and Dems for failed promises. It appears that Schumer just doesn't get their little game.
Back years ago when I was running restaurants if one of my employees did something truly egregious the owner of the restaurant would want to know how I could allow that to happen.
He didn't care whether I knew the employee was going to do what he did. He didn't care whether I had any part in it. It was my responsibility to put the proper people in the proper jobs and to create a culture in the restaurants where egregious things simply did not happen.
So who cares whether Chris Christie directed the lane closures? He put people in place who thought that egregious act was a good thing. He created a culture where that sort of thing was condoned. The very fact that his minions thought they could do as they did, and that the boss would approve, is enough to disqualify Christie as being fit for any public office.
Mr. Mahoney: We could do with a woman president, but in my opinion that woman is Elizabeth Warren.
Nonny, I agree about EW. However, it appears that she has no intention of running.
Mr. Mahoney; Kirsten Gillibrand worked for a time as an attorney defending Philip Morris. But it's her close ties to Wall Street that are worrisome to many progressives.
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/politics/2012/02/5318350/schumer-gets-quieter-regulatory-issues-gillibrand-steps-champion-wa?page=all
Thanks Nonny. I'll read the article.
@A. Nonny Mouse: Point taken. However, I think William Cohan, writing in Politico Magazine in mid-November, is right:
"While the finance industry does genuinely hate Warren, the big bankers love Clinton, and by and large they badly want her to be president. Many of the rich and powerful in the financial industry—among them, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman, Tom Nides, a powerful vice chairman at Morgan Stanley, and the heads of JPMorganChase and Bank of America—consider Clinton a pragmatic problem-solver not prone to populist rhetoric. To them, she’s someone who gets the idea that we all benefit if Wall Street and American business thrive. What about her forays into fiery rhetoric? They dismiss it quickly as political maneuvers. None of them think she really means her populism."
And she has very little chance of convincing voters she's on their side. Gillibrand, however, is an unknown quantity to most voters. Most probably couldn't name her.
The advantage Gillibrand has over Clinton is that she's not old news. And she has tacked sharply to the left since her appointment to the Senate, making nary a misstep. So Gillibrand in 2016? Seems plausible. I think she'd be harder for the GOP to attack than is Hillary, mostly because voters are accustomed to hearing attacks on Hillary. (Also, I know nothing about Gillibrand's husband, but he hasn't bonked any White House interns, as far as I know. People are not likely to "worry" about Mr. Gillibrand "roaming the West Wing.")
Franken, not so much. I love Franken & would be happy to see him as president or veep, but even he would probably concede he would be a drag on the ticket. He is a serious guy & an superb senator, but the unwashed masses still see him in SNL skits, & they would see plenty of those "severely unpresidential" SNL skits in GOP ads.
Marie
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/12/03/this-is-not-cleveland-mississippi/
I don't want to appear unduly alarmed, but my concern about a Clinton campaign has turned to apprehension. I don't know why I thought things might be different, but they're not.
For someone considering a run for the White House, Hillary has been conspicuously silent on too many emergent issues. As Marie points out, a certain amount of caution is not bad, one shouldn't go off half cocked, but waiting weeks until you've had a chance to let the consultants, the flaks, and your top staff members work on a 50 word statement that will then be vetted by focus groups around the country says that you don't care what you say as long as it will play in Peoria.
Which is tantamount to admitting that you have no heart, or if you do, you have no faith in what it tells you, which is about the same thing.
And then the stuff she comes out with....oh, man. I've read more genuine expressions on the back of cereal boxes.
I've mentioned in earlier posts that I've held my nose twice before and voted for a Clinton and I'll do it again because, as Kate points out, Supreme Court. Just imagine the justices that might be thrown up by a President Cruz or Paul or Christie. Jeeeeezus. They'd make the judges tried at Nuremberg look like King Solomon.
I wouldn't be very happy voting for another Clinton, at least not now, despite my agreement with other commenters that we sure could use a woman in the White House. But that doesn't mean just any woman.
Hillary has some time to reconnect with humanity, but does anyone think that's gonna happen? She's had a long while to think about this and at this late stage (and yes...it's late...one website lists 23 possible GOP candidates, all running around with their noses to the ground scrounging for money and people, things, and ideas to bash), if you're still focus-grouping every utterance, Rick Perry is going to come off as more sincere and authentic.
But because she has been hovering over this thing for so long, few other Democrats, unlike the rapacious hordes from the GOP, have been doing any legwork. If she doesn't run, who do we have? Yes, Webb and O'Malley. But that's pretty much it. Warren has said ixnay.
And both of them will need some serious cash because an animal control officer from Colorado with an R after their name will be able to raise about nine billion dollars if they're still in the running a year from now. So she should either declare or make room for someone else.
If we're going to have go through another Hamlet on the Hudson soap opera thingie, I'm going to start heavily self-medicating. That may be the only way to survive the next two years even if she does declare.
Honestly, folks. If the Democrats fuck this up--and that's not at all unlikely--I'm going to change parties. I guess I'll invent my own.
Chris (Hey! I'm Innocent Too) Christie reminds anyone concerned that black men--and boys--are being gunned down with no consequences, that no one knows what grand juries know.
That is especially true if the grand jury's job morphs into that of a jury in a courtroom trial and the DA decides that it's his or her job to ensure that no actual trial takes place.
Both grand juries, in Ferguson and on Staten Island, were treated to testimony from the perpetrators (something that is not supposed to happen), and multiple witnesses, hangers-on, and guys walking down the street who may or may not have seen shit. Why the testimony of a "witness" who may not have seen a thing is held in higher regard than a clear video of the killing of Eric Garner, shot from about 10 ft. away is something you'd have to ask the DA.
When you read the long list of departures between both white cop killing unarmed black citizen grand juries and way grand juries typically operate (even Nino Scalia says this is bullshit), it appears that this will be new paradigm for getting officers who take the life of unarmed black people off the hook. The idea is to put the dead person on trial and turn their murderer into the victim.
Next stop: Phoenix! The fun never stops.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/ts/men-who-hate-hillary-clinton
I'm not indicting anyone who has made comments today about Hillary, but, if you want to laugh a bit about comments ...simultaneously funny and stupid.. about Hillary by men, read the article posted above.
A sample of the theme is summed up in the last paragraph of this article
"All biography is ultimately fiction,” Bernard Malamud wrote in Dubin’s Lives, his novel about a biographer. What would he have said about this motley collection of writers: all biography is ultimately a Rorschach test? The various Hillaries that emerge are fictive enough, yet clearly they have an inner truth for their creators. Each invents his own personal Hillary—from baroque sexual fantasies straight out of The Honeymoon Killers and girl-girl sexcapades, to big sis—then has to slay his creation, while paying tribute to her power with these displays of antagonism and ambivalence. They’re caught in her grip, but they don’t know why; they spin tales about her treachery and perversity, as if that explains it. Except that the harder they try to knock her off her perch, the more shrill and unmanned they seem."
It's no wonder that women must think twice...more than twice...about presenting themselves for public leadership positions for fear of attracting all the crazies who write sensational biographies in order to profit, but ultimately expose their own fears and shortcomings.
Oops; I forgot the title of this article: A DEFORMED WOMEN: HILLARY CLINTON AND THE MEN WHO HATE HER
by Lauris Kipnis.
Too many things on my mind today.
1. Socrates (a commenter on NYTimes articles) stated what has crossed my mind...and others, the Democrats in office or vying for office have become 'moderate Republicans.'
The few and far in between genuine Democrats as we once knew them are rarer than the unicorn.
Whenever anyone brings up "...we need a third party." I've always cringed and thought get real. But, more and more I'm getting there.
@Akhilleus, when's your 'party' ready ?
2. Switching topics (especially after reading this article)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/health/cdc-warns-that-flu-season-may-be-more-deadly-than-usual.html it seems that year after year following the BIG push to get 'your flu shot' that
reports come out that the vaccine isn't quite working.
What I suspect is working, is working for Big Pharma. Somebody is producing these apparently ineffective vaccines year-after-year. Yeah, get your FREE flu shot! But somewhere there is big money being made. No one is producing all these
vaccines for the love of humanity. It's a background story I've yet to read.
3. Then there the 'unreasonable' use of deadly force. (See Charlie Pierce for more this morning). Thinking police-related shootings happened somewhere else, not in my particular little corner of the world crashed yesterday when a 55-year old woman with mental issues and a gun was shot. The story is still unfolding, but without specific details one still wonders 'wasn't there an alternative"?
" Half of people shot by police are mentally ill, investigation finds. A Maine-based study found a lack of training and oversight and a system that justifies deadly use of force."
From Salon in 2010: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/10/half_of_people_shot_by_police_are_mentally_ill_investigation_finds/
Dan,
There are plenty of Clinton haters, and they're on the move again. I'm not sure they've ever stopped. All the fabricators who concocted the various Clinton "gates" never suffered for their lies. They got better jobs, higher pay, seats in congress and the senate; she was always right on the money about the vast right wing conspiracy.
I'm talking about the real, or at least, public Hillary Clinton, someone who is anything but a cypher or a fictional character.
She's been able to largely overcome the many assholes who have dogged her for years, and yes, women have to be like Caesar's wife, above suspicion--and better than the best man. I guess mostly I'm looking for passion and sincerity. I'm sure she had it once, and maybe she still does. But the Hillary who voted for Bush's made up war, who votes with Wall Street (like many, many others, it must be said), doesn't fill me with warm fuzzy feelings.
All that being said, I'll vote for her in a flash if it's between her and one of the knuckledraggers.
But she has a lot of baggage and history to deal with, and, as Marie suggests, there's plenty for the haters to work with. All the old lies will be new again and given new power with the anabolic steroids of social media.
I really don't know how she does it. I'd be pretty fucking fed up by now if I were her. Maybe she wants one last chance to spit in their eyes. Can't say I blame her. My hope is that she doesn't miss.
"More Jobs and Higher Wages: Recovery Starts to Hit Home".
How come this isn't Obama's fault? Maybe it's because of unconstitutional actions by the POTUS.
Two cents: Hillary is a Charles Shumer Democrat. Would you rather have Jeb appointing Supremes or Hillary?
MAG,
Your comment referencing the number of mentally disturbed people being shot by police triggered a memory of the National Lampoon's Radio Dinner album, circa 1972, on which they play a PSA called "Support Your Local Polece."
The announcer, introducing himself as Mayor Frank Rizzo (Rizzo, as many of you likely recall, ran the Philly PD with an iron fist, and when they raided a Black Panthers meeting, dragged the members outside and had them strip searched at gunpoint in front of TV and newspaper photographers, among other things) states that he is taking a stand on mental illness. "I am working to get the mentally ill off the streets and onto the police force, where they belong."
Lest anyone think the Lampooners' arrows were solely aimed at the right, they did a startlingly realistic Joan Baez parody called "Pull the Tregros", which called for black prisoners in Alcatraz to riot because folkies in San Francisco would have their backs. The chorus (which reminds me now of Phil Ochs' song "Love Me, I'm a Liberal") went something like "Pull the triggers, niggers, we're with you all the way. Just across the bay."
Wow. The early days of the Lampoon were something. Anyone who thinks Maher, Colbert, and Stewart are hard core should listen to this stuff.
Well, kids, it looks like Hillary might be running after all.
And her PAC has this spiffy music video to let everyone know what a down home, shit-kickin', country music lovin' momma she is. Back porch swings, gittar men, pickup trucks, boots, dirt, cowboy hats, 'murican flags, and good lookin' construction workers just dyin' to git in that there votin' booth and pull the lee-ver for Hills! I didn't see any hound dogs but there's probably one or two there. My eyes started to close halfway through. I think it was a brain hemorrhage.
iI know this was released by a PAC to drum up interest in a Hillary for Prez run, but Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, as my dad used to say, all this thing is going to drum up is gales of laughter, or in the case of Democrats, the runs.
Remember those stupid godawful Republican music videos that featured pretend hard core rock and roll that we all made fun of during the mid-terms?
Just shoot me now.
@Ak.
If you do set up your own new third party may I suggest a revitalization of the Pail and Shovel Party from my old college days. They did some silly things but at least they were honest about them. If we didn't have such serious issues facing our country now P&S would be the perfect counter to today's Party of No.
www.surroundedbyreality.com
Also, thanks for mentioning Kerr's "Berlin Noir" a while back. It's a great read.
@Ak.
I've still got the original vinyl. May need to put it on the platter when I get home tonight. NL and Firesign Theater were great in their day. A little chemical enhancement didn't hurt either.
@Akhilleus: Thanks for the link to the "spiffy music video." I tried to access it early this morning but I was having computer troubles. I'm just as glad. The video is REALLY HORRIBLE. Al Franken's SNL skits are looking better to me already. None of them was as embarrassing as that video.
Marie
I just want to endorse Akhilleus's comments about grand juries.
The purpose of a grand jury is not to find guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, yet that's how prosecutors in Staten Island & St. Louis treated them. A grand jury is merely supposed to determine whether or not there is enough evidence to take a suspect to trial. That evidence would not ever include the suspect's side of the story or any other supposedly exculpatory factors -- unless the prosecutor didn't want to go to trial. An indictment is not a statement of guilt; it is merely an opinion based on one side of the story -- an accusation absent the accused's rebuttal.
The only solution (and this is admittedly a partial solution) is to remove control of the prosecution of police officers -- for whatever crime they may have committed -- from the jurisdiction in which they work. Even a prosecutor who tries to go "by the book" is necessarily going to side with the force on which s/he relies to bring all of her cases. A prosecutor must have a cooperative association with police; therefore, that prosecutor undermines her own duties when she prosecutes the police. Human nature being what it is, a prosecutor is only going to seek indictments against law enforcement officials who are unpopular with the force or others powers that be.
A criminal "justice" system cannot operate contrary to human nature, to its own best interests & to the interests of the community. Our system is broken in many ways, & this is an obvious one.
Marie
Marie,
Knew you'd like that Hillary Loves Her Some Country-Western video. I know she lived in Arkansas for a while but I doubt she was hanging out at the waterin' holes and rodeos, sitting on pickup trucks drinking warm beer listening to Hank Williams on the radio.
This is more of that inauthentic crap that sends me up the wall. I expect this shit from Romney and Bush types, wealthy masters of the universe pretending to be good ole boys.
Her people would probably say, well, it's the imagery that counts, down home all American and all of that happy horseshit. Okay. Fine. But if you're thinking imagery will tell the tale, how 'bout the interpretation that this imagery suggests an alliance with people who look like that and who love that kind of music who, not all, but many of whom, are rock ribbed conservatives who are against choice, against unions, hate the idea of immigration and healthcare reform, think Obama is a Muslim traitor, love guns like they love their kids, and never turn on the TV without seeing what Fox has to say.
Are they saying that that's what she's for? Because it sure looks like it. You take away her face and name and I would almost categorically not want to vote for that candidate.
.....crap.
Unwashed,
Great minds, etc.
My friends and I memorized most of that album. Remember "Catch it and you keep it", the game show parody?
"Ooooh, hey, Bob, that electric knife came down point first on a contestant dressed like a vegetable. I think it was a turnip."
We also memorized most of Cheech and Chong's "Big Bambu", speaking of chemical enhancements.
Glad you're liking "Berlin Noir". I read somewhere that there's Hollywood interest in Bernie Gunther. Don't much care who they get to play him as long as it's not Mel Gibson. He'd be more comfortable playing one of the National Socialists, I'm guessing.
Looks like the Hillary video is aimed at line dancing gay voters,
however many that might be. Just turn the sound off and enjoy
the hot men! Not much of a message from someone planning to
garner more votes than Ann and Willard.
Ak,
Yes, I do recall that track as well as snippets called Foto Funnies and, I think, a parody of John Lennon's Concert for Bangladesh.
Unfortunately, with rare exceptions, the movies are never as good as the books. Like, who would ever cast a pipsqueak such as Tom Cruise to portray Jack Reacher? Shit. That really happened, didn't it?
Unwashed,
Yup. It really did.
The John Lennon parody was "Genius is Pain" and Christopher Guest did a killer Bob Dylan impression selling K-Tel records Hits of the 60's.
I think there was also a bit about the Democrats nominating a GTO convertible for president.
Forrest,
The Gay Line Dancing Vote. Now that's a special interest group sure to attract the interest of Fox bots. But you have a point. I thought there was a fair number of young, good looking hunky guys in that video. Maybe there are more subliminal messages than I first thought in that thing.
Oops. It was Phono not Foto and Harrison not Lennon. Musta lost a couple of synapses.
Unwashed,
Hey man, I just looked up Pail and Shovel Party. It sounded vaguely familiar but I didn't connect it with Jim Mallon of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame! I was such a huge fan of that crazy show that I would tape episodes I wouldn't be home for.
In that case, I may have to resurrect the P&S Party.
Were you there for the Statue of Liberty thing?
A memory of "Radio Dinner":
After a show or a rehearsal we would set my dorm room on "bake" and play that album over and over. My favorite vignette:
Lavatory sounds (running water, a flush:
Man 1: Here we are, you a young hippie freak and me a successful businessman, both here in a public place doing our thing. The only thing I wonder about it, why is your splash so much louder than mine?
Man 2: Um, it's because I'm pissing on your briefcase, man.
@Ak. Sorry for the delay but just got off a plane. Yes, do 35mm negatives count as sufficient evidence?
@Jack. That is one Phono Funny that I recalled but didn't want to mention for fear of being considered inappropriate.
Those were the days...
Ak: We just have to wait for the next Hillary video directed at the
lesbian faction, and from what I hear from my Lez friends, they
actually like her. I don't. There's just something I just can't wrap
my little brain around, and can't exactly put it into words. It's just
a distrust thing, I guess, and I am a very trusting person.
My problem with Hillary is a mechanical one. She creates chaos not organization, as witnessed in her 2008 primary campaign (and her healthcare reform way before that). And, as a result of such turmoil, I don't think she's capable of running a successful presidential campaign; I don’t think she’s electable.