The Commentariat -- Feb. 2, 2013
The President's Weekly Address:
... The transcript is here. CW: Interesting. The President's "balanced approach" to cutting the deficit is suddenly not about "belt-tightening" -- which he implicitly warns against -- & more about cutting tax loopholes available only to corporations & the wealthy. Why, for a brief moment, I might believe our President has had an epiphany wherein he has accepted Krugman as his personal savior. Let's see if he can keep the faith. One ambiguous weekly address does not a vocation make.
Felicia Sonmez of the Washington Post: "Hillary Clinton gave her final speech as secretary of state on Friday, thanking employees at the State Department in an emotional goodbye and pledging to them that she 'will be an advocate from outside' for the work that they do." ...
... John Cassidy & Ryan Lizza discuss Hillary Clinton's performance as Secretary of State with Dorothy Wickenden:
David Sanger of the New York Times: "'It's somewhere between baffling and incomprehensible,' a member of Mr. Obama's own team of advisers on Iran said on Thursday night when asked about Mr. Hagel's stumbling performance on the question [of containing a nuclear Iran] during the all-day hearing." ...
... ** Dana Milbank: Jim "Inhofe [RNasty-Okla.] is the new ranking Republican of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he seems intent to use this prominent perch to wage all-out war on the president. This is significant because when it comes to the military, lawmakers have historically been able to overcome partisan differences for the good of the country.... Inhofe is leading Republicans to a position of gratuitous hostility. Following his statement, Republicans on the panel signaled Thursday that they would vote against Hagel, simply because he held views, shared by the president, with which they disagreed."
... Ben Armbruster of Think Progress: "Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) said on MSNBC this morning that he does not intend for vote for Hagel; but when asked if he would support a filibuster of the former Republican senator, Blunt said he would not and that Hagel should receive an up-or-down vote."
"A Rancid Tub of Ignorance." Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: Senate Republicans are unusually rude, even to each other. "... many Senate Republicans now are newly elected, deeply conservative members who have less regard for the old rules of comity and respect for elders." And the rest of 'em are runnin' skeert.
Paul Krugman disagrees with Washington Post economics writer Neil Irwin, who wrote (linked in yesterday's Commentariat) that Krugman & the VSPs are speaking different languages: "There isn't any symmetry here; my side of the debate is actually paying attention both to the numbers and to the arguments of the other side, while the Very Serious People only listen to each other." ...
... Here's what the deficit scolds are too stupid to get. Krugman again: "... fiscal austerity is the difference between where we are now and an unemployment rate not much above 6 percent. It's a policy disaster." CW: why this isn't self-evident is beyond me.
Ron Brownstein of the National Journal has a very interesting piece on the strengths & weaknesses of the Democratic coalition.: CW: And I didn't know this: Obama is "only the third Democratic president ever to reach at least 51 percent of the popular vote twice." One was FDR; the other was Andrew Jackson (I hadda look that one up). ...
... Ed Kilgore: "... Democratic centrists would be better advised to promote their favored policies on the merits instead of as bipartisanship-bait, which at the moment just is not a credible approach. And if Democrats do indeed need to improve their performance among elements outside the 'Obama coalition' -- and in the short term, they do if they ever want a sizable congressional majority and control of a majority of states -- they should focus on what these voters actually do and do not favor instead of assuming 'moderate' rhetoric will do the trick."
Greg Sargent: "Sarah Dawn McKinley, a young mother from Oklahoma, was thrust into the national spotlight this week when conservatives at the Senate gun hearing cited her run-in with intruders to make the case against Obama's new gun proposals. On December 31, 2011, Ms. McKinley, at home with her three-month-old baby, fought off two men, killing one who was bearing a knife with her shotgun.... She told me she does not favor an assault weapons ban, even though she didn't use an assault weapon in warding off her intruders. But Ms. McKinley said she supports the idea of expanding the background check system, telling me: 'Anybody should be willing to get a background check that wants to take a gun.'"
New York Times Editors: "The Obama administration has proposed a sensible way to provide women who work for religiously affiliated institutions with free coverage of contraceptives while exempting the organizations they work for from financial or administrative obligations to provide the coverage." ...
... E. J. Dionne: "The decision ought to be taken by the nation's Catholic bishops as a victory, because it is. Many in their ranks, including some of the country's most prominent prelates, are inclined to do just that -- even if the most conservative bishops seem to want to keep the battle raging."
Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "In a strong move to protect the privacy of Americans as they use the Internet on their smartphones and tablets, the Federal Trade Commission on Friday said the mobile industry should include a do-not-track feature in software and apps and take other steps to safeguard personal information."
How Many Ways Is Bob Menendez a Sleazebag? Dave Weigel of Slate: "Taken on its own, an A1 story [in the New York Times {see link in yesterday's Commentariat}] about the Foreign Relations chairman's mobby relationship with a donor would be devastating. But it's less devastating than what the conservative Internet has tried and convicted Menendez for -- an unproven sex scandal. If Menendez did decide to ruin his career by telling prostitutes his real name and stiffing them on a bill, obviously, he'll go. But if that part of the story is bogus, while some number of people will always believe it, Menendez will skate on the financial sleaze that he never even tried to deny."
Jill Lawrence of the National Journal: "The Democratic Party and Senate hopefuls ... are fortunate that [former Massachusetts Sen. Scott] Brown has decided to stand down in the June 25 special election to succeed new Secretary of State John Kerry. Republicans, meanwhile, have suffered the (perhaps temporary) loss of an unusual, highly valuable candidate: One who has both charisma and firsthand familiarity with life among the 47 percent.... The new thinking is he will run for governor in 2014. Democrats would be smart to start looking for the next Elizabeth Warren right now."
Joe Nocera: "New York's three greatest mayors were also three of its great egotists. It's no accident." CW: Nocera skips Rudy Giuliani. Has there ever been a greater egotist than "America's Mayor"?
The Washington Post Editors notice that Republican grand plans to fix presidential elections "would destabilize the already imperfect electoral college." One reason they should not go forward with their schemes, the Editors write, is that such brazen partisan moves would damage the GOP's reputation, oh my.
News Ledes
For those of you who prefer to get your weather report from rodents rather than from climate-change-denying teevee weatherpersons, the AP sez, "An end to winter's bitter cold will come soon, according to Pennsylvania's famous groundhog ... Punxsutawney Phil."
Reuters: "The United States is ready to hold direct talks with Iran if it is serious about negotiations, Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday, backing bilateral contacts that many see as crucial to easing an international dispute over Tehran's nuclear program. Speaking at a security conference in Munich, Biden said Iran - which says it is enriching uranium for peaceful energy only - now faced 'the most robust sanctions in history' meant to ensure it does not use its program to develop nuclear weapons." CW: um, probably what Chuck Hagel should have told the Nasty Boys on the Senate Armed Services Committee. Does it seem as if Joe Biden has been putting in overtime cleaning up other people's messes?
Reuters: "The leader of the Syrian opposition was expected to meet U.S., Russian and U.N. officials on Saturday at a Munich conference which may provide a rare chance to overcome differences on how to end Syria's civil war. U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, head of the Syrian National Coalition Moaz Alkhatib, U.N. envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov were all expected to meet - but not necessarily all at the same table, as the opposition hoped."
New York Times: "Taliban militants killed at least nine soldiers and four paramilitary troops in an attack on a Pakistani army base in northwestern Pakistan early Saturday, officials said. Ten civilians, including three women and three children who were living in a nearby compound, were also killed."
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Reader Comments (12)
FYI, on quotes of longer than a paragraph, where you can't indent & italicize the whole citation, the proper way to cite the passage is to put quotation marks at the beginning of every paragraph & at the end of the last one.
Yesterday a commenter identified another writer & cited a multiple-paragraph passage from his work. The commenter clearly had no intention to pass the other writer's work off as her own, but she didn't put quotation marks at the top of the later grafs. Since the commenter is a very good writer herself, I couldn't tell who wrote what until I found & read the post she cited.
I know it's hard to set off stuff in this Comments facility, because you have to use html code to do anything fancier than straight typing.
Marie
Re Menendez. Terrible. We need sustainable, sweeping, healing all-night vigil on his behalf. Seems to work for the survivors of random shooting victims; maybe it'll work for him.
I just hate it when a Democratic senator is revealed as a sleaze bag, though most of us have long known that Bob Menendez is one. What a disaster it will be if he is forced to resign and Chris Christie gets to name his replacement. Come to think of it, why should he resign? David Vitter never went nowhere--and he is scummy beyond belief.
As for who might step up to the plate besides old Ed Markey in Massachusetts? How about Michael Capuano, the congressman from North Boston, Somerville and Cambridge--reelected six times. Member of the Progressive Caucus--tried and true liberal. Also, an admirable human being. (Admission: I am biased on this, because my nephew is his chief of staff. But it is nevertheless true.)
Capuano established the Committee on Congressional Ethics and has always championed labor and the little guy. He voted against the Iraq War and asked for immediate withdrawal of troops. He is close with Nancy Pelosi and a real team player. Problem is: his is not a household name, and he is not a dynamic campaigner. With strong liberal support, however, I think he could win Kerry's seat.
But.....I have always been a dreamer!
So New York's greatest mayors tend toward the egotistical according to Joe. That's probably true although I have always suspected that most who run for high offices are just a teeny tiny bit in love with themselves––not that there's anything wrong with that, I mean, how can you love me if I can't love myself goes the rationale. One of the mayors Joe cites is Fiorello La Guardia who was much beloved in his time––every Sunday would read the "funny papers" to the children via the radio.(My father did a terrific imitation of him sometimes when he would read the comics to my brother and me.)
Here was a man that was the courageous early critic of Hitler and fascism and yet a decade later did little to prevent followers of the anti-Semitic demagogue Father Coughlin from smashing the windows of Jewish shopkeepers in upper Manhattan's Washington Heights: the gangs who did so were constituents––largely Irish Catholics, many of them police officers whose votes La Guardia did not want to lose. He, by the way, was half Jewish. and so it goes~~~~~~
@Marie: Were you able to watch "House of Cards?" The Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright characters a real pair. You should be able to watch it on your computer.
"The House of Cards"––one of my favorites–-that I am familiar with is with the wonderful Ian Richarson who plays British politician, Francis Urquhart whose evil is just delicious to watch. "You could say that, I could not possibly," his line of deception said with honey-laden insincerity.
@CW
First it was new math and now english. I had no problem following the intent of the writer as posted. If they had put quotation marks at the beginning of the 2nd para I would have assumed that their quote was missing a paragraph or 2 in the middle! PD & I must be of similar vintage. Live and learn!
@Barbarossa: thanks. I was able to watch the first episode last night. The resolution was quite good on what I would estimate is a 25" monitor.
It looks as if I'll have to sign up for a Netflix "free trial" to watch the subsequent episodes, tho a friend has given me a sneaky work-around that I might try. I would be even more appreciative of my friend's sneaky assistance had he not inadvertently revealed that his 2-year-old was more computer-savvy than I!
Marie
@PDPepe the British "House of Cards" is one of my favorites!
In fact, I had just researched it yesterday. And I've considered buying the DVDs to watch whenever I wish. Though can't wait to catch up with the Kevin Spacey series.
@cowichan: to indicate that you are skipping/eliding a paragraph or two in a multiple-graf citation, type an ellipsis:
"Blah blah....
"Blah blah blah."
If you're just skipping a few words, do so like this: "Now is the time for all good men to .... aid .. their party."
If you need to add a word or two for clarity because you skipped stuff, use brackets (not parentheses).
"Blah [Sen. Blah] blah."
This ain't new-fangled. It appears in my college writers' guide, first copyrighted in 1942. (The copyright date on the editon I have is 1959.)
Marie
I'm surprised that RC isn't on the NRA's "enemies list."
http://nraila.org/Issues/FactSheets/Read.aspx?ID=15
Paranoid a bit much are we?
The NRA should keep in mind :"Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
In addition, the use of pull quotes come with caveats. Think Broadway and Hollywood ad blurbs, which deftly manipulate this technique to their advantage. For instance, you'll read partial quotes in bold face such as:
Critics called the show "...the greatest..."
—leaving out some words... what they really said was:
Critics called the show "...the greatest fiasco ever."
Funny, how what appears to be an actual quote can have its meaning selectively turned on its head — depending upon what follows the ellipsis...