The Commentariat -- Jan, 14, 2014
Internal links removed.
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: " House and Senate negotiators reached accord on a trillion-dollar spending plan that will finance the government through September, reversing some cuts to military veterans' pensions that were included in a broader budget agreement last month and defeating efforts to rein in President Obama's health care law. The hefty bill, filed in the House on Monday night, neutralized almost all of the 134 policy provisions that House Republicans had hoped to include...."
Lisa Mascaro of the Los Angeles Times: "Votes are set for Tuesday in the Senate on the jobless aid package as a small group of key Republican senators emerged as a potential voting block that could form a coalition for compromise with Democrats. The nine senators, who made a new proposal late Monday, have publicly split with those hard-line conservatives in their party who see jobless aid as a handout that provides a disincentive to work.... But Democrats were cool to the proposal because they want to guarantee benefits for a longer duration, perhaps a year. Moreover, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has been reluctant to open the debate to a freewheeling amendment process out of concern that Republicans will offer partisan proposals on Obamacare or other topics...."
Bad News for the GOP Christie Defense. Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "F.B.I. investigators do not believe Internal Revenue Service officials committed crimes in the unusually heavy scrutiny of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, a law enforcement official said Monday.... I.R.S. documents show the agency gave the same scrutiny to some liberal groups, using the key words 'Progressive' and 'Occupy.' The news that criminal charges are unlikely is not expected to stop the debate over whether politics had motivated the I.R.S. scrutiny." CW: Because Darrell Issa has never let facts get in the way of a righteous witch hunt.
Bad News for Presidential Power. Lyle Denniston of ScotusBlog: "Seeming a bit troubled about allowing the Senate to have an on-off switch on the president's power to temporarily fill vacant government posts, the Supreme Court on Monday indicated that it may yet allow just that. Even some of the Justices whose votes the government almost certainly needs to salvage an important presidential power were more than skeptical."
Michael Shear & Robert Pear of the New York Times: "People signing up for health insurance through the Affordable Care Act's federal and state marketplaces tend to be older and potentially less healthy, officials said Monday, a demographic mix that could threaten the law's economic underpinnings and cause premiums to rise in the future if the pattern persists." ...
... Alex Wayne & Mike Dorning or Bloomberg News: "The U.S. government said it would ramp up Obamacare outreach in 25 cities to lure younger people to the program after a report showed about 70 percent of the initial customers are 35 years of age or older."
Ana Marie Cox of the Guardian: The West Virginia chemical spill is "likely a bigger scandal than Bridgegate.... Both are environmental policy stories. And they both speak to the costs of letting shortsighted, local economy goals trump more global concerns. The traffic on the George Washington Bridge is, in part, as bad as it is because of the antiquated rail service between New York and New Jersey. The system needs the exact sort of overhaul that Christie scuttled as one of his first acts in office.... One sure way to foil traffic vigilantes of the future, after all, would be to deny them a hostage." ...
... Erica Martinson of Politico: "The coal-processing chemical that cut off the water supply to 300,000 West Virginians is one of tens of thousands of potentially hazardous substances that have fallen through a decades-old loophole in federal regulations, leaving authorities with little information on what dangers it poses.... The problem is that there is 'no publicly available health and safety information for the vast majority of chemicals on the market,' said Andy Igrejas, director of advocacy group Safer Chemicals Healthy Families. 'And that's clearly the case with this spill.'”
Mark Landler & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "With the United States and Iran about to embark on a critical phase of nuclear talks, President Obama is waging an intense rear-guard action to prevent Senate Democrats from supporting strict new sanctions that could upend his diplomatic efforts. Sponsors of the bill, which would aim to drive Iran's oil exports down to zero, have secured the backing of 59 senators, putting them within striking distance of a two-thirds majority that could override Mr. Obama's threatened veto. Republicans overwhelmingly support the bill. So far 16 Democrats have broken with the president, and the bill's sponsors hope to get more." ...
... USA Today Editors: The "Iran sanctions bill makes no sense. Passing it virtually guarantees ... a quick path to war.... It expresses 'the sense of Congress' that if Israel decides to attack Iran, the United States should provide military support. The provision doesn't quite outsource American war decisions to Israel; Congress would still need a second vote to turn its dubious 'sense' into action. But the implication is hard to miss."
Local News
Kate Zernicke of the New York Times: "... the day [Jersey City Mayor Steven] Fulop, a Democrat, relayed word that he could not endorse the governor..., Mr. Christie's commissioners themselves called to cancel [meetings with Mayor Fulop] -- most within the space of an hour -- leaving Jersey City needing to fill its budget without money from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, its requests for help with Hurricane Sandy recovery, transportation and other issues falling on deaf ears. Meanwhile, the Democratic mayor of Harrison, who endorsed Mr. Christie, got $250 million in Port Authority money for a new transit station. The mayor of Union City, another Democratic endorser, got an increase in state aid when bigger cities were being cut off, and $3 million in Port Authority money even though the authority does not operate there. The Democratic county executive in Essex County, who brought along other mayors and black pastors with his endorsement of Mr. Christie, got $7 million in Port Authority money for a park, $4 million in state aid for a vocational school, and personal assistance from Mr. Christie...." ...
... Shawn Boburg of the Bergen Record: "The prosecutor in Mercer County [incl. Trenton, N.J.] said Monday he is weighing whether to level a misdemeanor charge against a former Port Authority executive [David Wildstein] who clammed up at a legislative hearing in Trenton last week." ...
... Darryl Isherwood of NJ.com: "A new theory emerged this weekend on a possible target of the lane diversions at the George Washington Bridge that have spiraled into a full blown scandal. The theory, first postulated by MSNBC host Steve Kornacki, involves a massive development project in the heart of Fort Lee that sits quite literally in the shadow of the George Washington Bridge.... By diverting - or threatening to divert- those lanes, the value of the property and the burgeoning development would plummet.... The theory is bolstered by Christie himself who during a Dec. 2 press conference railed against the existence of the three dedicated local lanes in Fort Lee...." Both Chris Hayes & Rachel Maddow devoted segments of their shows last night to Kornacki's theory. ...
... George Packer of the New Yorker: "Christie ... is reminiscent of the President [Nixon] whose petty hatefulness destroyed him -- which is why, as NBC's newscaster said when signing off on an early report on that long-ago burglary, I don't think we've heard the last of this."
... Star-Ledger Editors: "Somehow, the right's response to Chris Christie's still-breaking Bridgegate scandal has devolved into this: Why are you writing about New Jersey traffic jams, because Benghazi!" The editors explain why one of these things -- Bridgegate -- is not like the others.
Mitt Romney is a better dancer than Karl Rove:
News Ledes
Los Angeles Times: Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, "the alleged mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has written a rambling, deeply religious manifesto that suggests Muslims should not use violence to spread Islam -- a sharp departure from his earlier boasts of waging violent jihad against the U.S. and other non-Muslim nations."
Reuters: "A 12-year-old boy armed with a shotgun opened fire at a middle school in New Mexico on Tuesday, seriously wounding two students before a staff member persuaded him to put down the firearm, authorities said. The shooting at Berrendo Middle School in Roswell took place in a gym where students had gathered to stay warm from the frigid weather outside before the start of class, Governor Susana Martinez told reporters."
New York Times: "A State Department spokeswoman expressed outrage on Tuesday over a news report in which Israel's defense minister was said to have dismissed Secretary of State John Kerry's Middle East peace push as naïve and messianic."
New York Times: "Egyptians trundled to the polls on Tuesday for the third referendum in three years to approve a new constitution, this time to validate the military ouster of their first fairly elected president, Mohamed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood."
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/former-nyt-editor-bill-keller-and-his-wife-under-fire-for-commentary-on-cancer-patient/2014/01/13/d40a0ac4-7ca0-11e3-93c1-0e888170b723_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
Looks as if the Kellers found a whole bunch of people who were offended by their insensitivity. Advice to Mr. Keller: When you're wrong, just STFU. Don't try to justify what you did. I'm just as angry with you today as yesterday. CW pegged this guy as a loser some time ago.
Ah yes. Another day in gun lovers' paradise, aka the USA.
A retired cop in a Tampa Bay movie theater shoots and kills a man for texting his daughter. I think most people would agree that people doing things on cell phones during a movie can be pretty annoying, but the movie hadn't even started yet. And besides, what was that dad doing coming into a movie theater in the middle of the day unarmed? He, like the ex-cop who murdered him, and everyone else in the theater, should have been armed to the teeth, just like NRA death mongers command.
Frontline, last night, reviewed the Sandy Hook shootings and I was reminded of a conversation I had recently with someone from my red state who suggested that there was no chance of gun control, ever, in this country. After a counter argument he backtracked a bit and added that perhaps if something really bad were to happen there might be some movement. Really bad? You mean like in Aurora (12 dead, 70 injured), or Virginia Tech (32 dead), or Sandy Hook (28 dead including 20 small children)? "Really bad" like that?
No response.
The NRA anesthesia seems to have plunged too many brains into a comatose belief that each new tragedy is a one-time affair that has no connection to the tens of thousands of other deaths from gunshot every year. Pretty neat trick. The NRA promotion, on the one hand, of the spread of deadly weapons, and the stranglehold on any action that might prevent gun tragedies (remember how they killed funding at the CDC for any research connected to gun violence? Congressional toadies line up to do their bidding), has created a seemingly insurmountable barrier to stanching the (literal) bleeding.
So do we throw up our hands (as many in the media and congress have done) and give up? Is there some model for action we can call upon to help change what seems an intractable and fiercely defended and well financed position?
Yes. At least I think so.
What we need is a retooled version of the Civil Rights Movement. If you think about it, the Civil Rights Movement addressed a problem that was far more entrenched in the nation's history and the body politic. It drew upon support from many parts of the country where civil rights didn't seem to be an issue. Its leaders, working with political groups and certain politicians, were able to make it a moral issue of the first order. A president who grew up in the Jim Crow south helped push it over the top.
But the issue garnered support from many different corners and groups including influential members of the media, and later, congress, especially after the violence in favor of continued control by bigots became too vicious to ignore.
The Civil Rights Movement succeeded because enough Americans (and their leaders--very important) stood up and said "enough". This is what has to happen to achieve even moderate gun control, and I believe that the majority of Americans want some control on the relatively small minority who can't wait to strut into the next airport, school, day care center, or grocery store, packing heat.
So what's different now? I realize the media is different, more in corporate lock step than in the 60s, and the politicians are more in the pocket of the entrenched special interest, but politicians, as a species, have always had a sub-species of craven fools. Is it just the money? It can't be "tradition" because the tradition of the kind of zero-sum game the gun lobby plays has only been in operation since the Reagan administration (Reagan is the point of origin, like the flash point in a house fire, for so much bad shit in this country). The kind of racism and discrimination addressed by the Civil Rights Movement had been around for centuries not just decades.
Is it impossible to motivate and mobilize against the power of the NRA in a way similar to the Civil Rights Movement, or is this just a pipe dream? Fed up and frustrated minds want to know.
Before someone else gets shot for texting their little girl.
Here's an AP story on the shooting in the Tampa area, which Akhilleus mentions above.
Marie
Just checked out the Rat and the Turd laying out their dance moves. I thought I'd be blind by the time it was over but Romney looked almost human. For two seconds, anyway. And at least he knew when to quit. Rove can forget about that gig on Soul Train when American Crossroads crashes and burns. But I'm sure his dancing will improve dramatically if he's ever hauled before a court for crimes against everyone and everything. Maybe Romney can teach him that leg kick thing. That shit is fly.
From Tampa Bay to Niagara Falls, responsible gun owners are EVERYWHERE!
They're coming to take me away, ha-ha. (They're really not, but they should)
Buffalo police responded to a call from a resident who reported men hiding in the woods behind his house, dispatched by evil NY Governor Andrew Cuomo to spy on him and take his guns when he's not looking. When police showed up the guy was out in the yard waving a loaded semi-automatic. Neighbors are understandably worried (remember that fool in Georgia who shot that Alzheimer's victim for being in his yard?), especially because this is not the first time. The cops gave him a psych eval because, well, you know. So another nut. With a loaded gun.
But wait, folks. It gets better. This guy isn't just any nut with a loaded gun, he's a nut with a loaded gun who has a daily radio show where he screams about men coming to get him to other nuts with loaded guns.
To say that the atmosphere is a tad heavy with paranoia where many gun owners are concerned is an understatement on par with the guy in "Jaws" who, upon sighting the 75 ton shark, suggests they might need a bigger boat.
It's all funny until somebody gets hurt. Unfortunately, that happens every day. Many times every day on some days. The Buffalo radio show gun nut, Tom Bauerle, tells his listeners that Gov. Cuomo is spending taxpayer money to the rat-a-tat machine gun tune of $40,000 a day on surveillance of his (Bauerle's ) house because of his hatred of Cuomo's--very mild--gun control bill, NY-SAFE. Not only that, Bauerle tells his audience of droolers that Cuomo's plan is to get him to shoot the guys watching him so he can then go on the TV box and say how dangerous guns are and evil, lying stuff like that. Because anyone advocating the most modest control on gun ownership is insane and should be...well, shot.
Bulletin to Bauerle: Guns ARE dangerous, you idiot. That's why you're not running around the yard waving a yam at the shadow men. The police have been called to his house on a number of occasions and have described him as delusional. A guy who believes the governor is sending men to watch him and steal his guns, who runs around waving loaded weapons. In a neighborhood. But he still has his radio show and he still has his guns. In what sane universe do either of those sound like good ideas? Why, in the NRA universe, of course!
Get ready for another bulletin out of Buffalo any day now.
Oh, this must make Wayne LaPierre so fucking happy.
@ Akhilleus,
May I quote your post beginning with "Ah yes... and ending with "No Response.?"
It's a perfect piece of writing to send to my wrong headed, winger, but beloved brother.
It will hit him in the face-not that he would ever admit it .
mae finch
Mae,
Have at it. And good luck!