The Commentariat -- Jan. 22, 2014
Internal links removed.
Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Target Corp. announced on Tuesday it would no longer offer healthcare coverage to its part-time employees. In a blog post on the company's website, Jodee Kozlak, the executive vice president of human resources, framed it as a positive development for part-time employees of the company. 'The Health Insurance Marketplaces provides new options for healthcare coverage that we believe our part-time members may prefer,' she wrote. 'In fact, by offering them insurance, we could actually disqualify many of them from being eligible for newly available subsidies that could reduce their overall health insurance expense.'"
Patrick Temple-West of Reuters: "The Republican Party is expected to approve a resolution this week, calling for repeal of an Obama administration law that is designed to crack down on offshore tax dodging. In what would be the party's first appeal to scrap the law -- the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) -- a panel was slated to vote at the Republican National Committee's (RNC) winter meetings in Washington, likely approving the resolution on Friday, according to party members driving the repeal effort." ...
... CW: So, the GOP's first order of business: helping rich tax cheats. One thing Republicans have learned: as long as they keep screaming ObamaCare! Benghaaazi! Socialism!, Abortion!, etc., they can brazenly flak for the rich at the expense of the rest of us. ...
... Harold Meyerson of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday, the [Supreme Court] justices were presented with a golden opportunity to further increase inequality. The court heard arguments in Harris v Quinn, a case testing whether home-care providers who work under a union contract with the state of Illinois can avoid paying dues that support the union's collective-bargaining work. (Under the law, they already can decline to pay the share of dues that goes to the union's political work.)" ...
... ** NEW. Garrett Epps in the Atlantic: "William Messenger of the National Right to Work Committee asked the Supreme Court today to hold that public employee unions are unconstitutional.... At least four members of the Court seemed ready to reach that 'radical' result. The fate of public employee unionism in the nation seemed, by the end of the argument, to lie in the hands of Justice Antonin Scalia." CW: And you're worried about the NSA holding the key to your e-mails? Oh, puh-leze. ...
... Here's the New York Times story, by Adam Liptak.
Jane Mayer of the New Yorker: "Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor turned whistleblower, strongly denies allegations made by members of Congress that he was acting as a spy, perhaps for a foreign power, when he took hundreds of thousands of classified U.S. government documents. Speaking from Moscow, where he is a fugitive from American justice, Snowden told The New Yorker, 'This "Russian spy" push is absurd.' ... 'a senior F.B.I. official said on Sunday that it was still the bureau's conclusion that Mr. Snowden acted alone,' the New York Times reported this weekend, adding that the agency has not publicly revealed any evidence that he was working in conjunction with any foreign intelligence agency or government." ...
... Spencer Ackerman of the Guardian: "The Justice Department is withholding documents related to the bulk collection of Americans' data from a transparency lawsuit launched by the American Civil Liberties Union.... The decision to keep some of the records secret, in the thick of Edward Snowden’s revelations, has raised suspicions within the ACLU that the government continues to hide bulk surveillance activities from the public...." ...
... Juan Cole: "Among the ironies of Barack Obama trying to sell us the gargantuan NSA domestic spying program is that such techniques of telephone surveillance were used against the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. in an attempt to destroy him and stop the Civil Rights movement. Had the republic's most notorious peeping tom, J. Edgar Hoover, succeeded in that quest, Obama might never have been president, or even been served in Virginia restaurants." Thanks to Whyte O. for the link.
Jamelle Bouie of the Daily Beast: "It's not new for conservatives to cry that Obama is 'playing the race card.' But in this instance, it's silly. Not only is Obama not attributing his entire standing to race, but he's not saying anything that hasn't been confirmed by reams of research, to say nothing of common sense."
Manya Pashman, et al., of the Chicago Tribune: "Thousands of pages of secret church documents released Tuesday as part of a court settlement provide an unprecedented and gut-wrenching look at how the Archdiocese of Chicago for years failed to protect children from abusive priests. The documents provide new details and insights into how the nation's third-largest archdiocese quietly shuttled accused priests from parish to parish and failed to notify police of child abuse allegations. The paper trail, going back decades, also portrays painfully slow progress toward reform, accountability and openness. Most of the 30 clergymen tied to the documents were not prosecuted." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link.
Presidential Race 2016
Michael Tomasky of the Daily Beast: If scandals bring down Gov. Chris Christie, "and the GOP is stuck with Cruz-Rubio-Paul, or even a right-wing governor like Scott Walker, the establishment will be reaping what it's spent the Obama years sowing: a party that cares more about feeding its base's fever-dreams than being nationally electable. And that's where things stand, as Christie begins a term that there's a sporting chance he may not even be able to finish." CW: But what about Transvaginal Bob? Oh, maybe not ...
Local News
** Rosalind Helderman, et al., of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, were charged Tuesday with illegally accepting gifts, luxury vacations and large loans from a wealthy Richmond-area businessman who sought special treatment from state government. Authorities alleged that for nearly two years, the McDonnells hit up executive Jonnie R. Williams Sr. again and again, lodging near constant requests for large loans, clothes, trips, golf accessories and private plane rides." The New York Times story, by Trip Gabriel, is here. ...
... The indictment is here. Chris Hayes of MSNBC says it's fun to read. ...
... Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell reacted Tuesday night to charges that he and his wife had improperly accepted gifts from a Virginia businessman, saying they were 'false allegations.'" ...
... Leonnig & Helderman: "The indictments of former Virginia governor Robert F. McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, reveal new details about the first couple's requests for financial help and luxury items from a prominent businessman at the same time the pair was offering to help promote his company's new product, Anatabloc, according to prosecutors." The reporters list six of what they deem the most interest details. ...
... Matt Berman of the National Journal: "... Tuesday's indictment and the charges against the McDonnells show just how difficult it is to be an American politician without great wealth, and how easy it can be to slip down a path toward corruption." ...
CW: Above are the McDonnells at Bob's inaugural ball. After a staff member told her to return the Oscar de la Renta dress that Jonnie Williams purchased for her (at her request), MoMcDo had to buy her own. Definitely not de la Renta. In fact, in looks suspiciously like one I purchased for $50 on e-bay for a costume ball I attended a few years ago. See today's Comments for context. ...
... Update. Apparently, Mrs. McD did not have to rely on e-bay or GoodWill. This from a July 2013 WashPo report: "Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell bought nearly $9,800 in clothing with money from her husband's political action committee and tapped into his campaign and inaugural funds to buy $7,600 in mostly unspecified items, according to records and a representative for the PAC."
... Not-Virginia-Governor Ken Cuccinelli Dumps on New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Shane Goldmacher of the National Journal: "... former Virginia attorney general and failed candidate for governor Ken Cuccinelli called on the New Jersey governor to step down as chairman of the Republican Governors Association. On the day Christie was sworn into his second term, Cuccinelli argued that the scandal surrounding the Christie's administration alleged closure of a bridge for political retribution could spread beyond New Jersey's borders if he stays put atop the RGA." ...
... Brent Johnson of the Star-Ledger: " Gov. Chris Christie's popularity among New Jersey voters has plummeted in the wake of the George Washington Bridge scandal -- especially among Democrats and those who travel across the bridge regularly, according to a new poll." ...
... Larry McShane of the New York Daily News: "Gov. Chris Christie's inaugural day call for bipartisanship was quickly heeded Tuesday by the state legislators investigating his alleged abuses of power. About 30 minutes before the New Jersey chief executive took the oath of office, the state assembly and senate announced they were merging their probes into a single investigation.... Christie launched his second term atop the Garden State as a snowstorm descended, forcing cancellation of his planned inaugural gala on Ellis Island." ...
... Christopher Baxter of the Star-Ledger: "Leading trial attorneys and legal experts said today that the U.S. Attorney's Office of New Jersey has enough evidence to pursue a serious investigation into allegations that the Democratic mayor of Hoboken made against Gov. Chris Christie's administration this weekend."
Caitlin Gibson of the Washington Post: "Voters in Virginia's 33rd Senate District will cast ballots Tuesday in a special election to fill the seat vacated by Attorney General Mark R. Herring -- a contentious three-way race that could determine control of the state's evenly divided Senate. The trio of candidates vying for the seat -- Democrat Jennifer Wexton, 10th Congressional District Republican Committee Chairman John Whitbeck and former state delegate Joe T. May, a veteran Republican who is running as an independent -- have had only a few weeks to organize their campaigns and rally supporters across the district, a politically competitive territory spanning parts of Loudoun and Fairfax counties." ...
... Update: Rachel Maddow says the Democrat Jennifer Wexton won the election.
Mark Puente of the Tampa Bay Times: "As Americans honored the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, a Republican candidate for Florida House District 68 said President Barack Obama should be hanged for war crimes. 'I'm past impeachment,' Joshua Black wrote on Twitter. 'It's time to arrest and hang him high.'" ...
... Dylan Scott of TPM: "The U.S. Secret Service paid a visit to the Florida state House candidate who advocated for President Barack Obama's execution on Twitter. Joshua Black, a Republican who is running in Florida House District 68, told the Tampa Bay Times that Secret Service agents had come to his home following the uproar over his comments." ...
... Adam Weinstein of Gawker elaborates.
Adam Weinstein: "Despite years of negative publicity over Florida's 'Stand Your Ground' self-defense law, lawmakers are close to expanding it to protect gunmen who fire warning shots or wave weapons in a threatening manner -- and they're doing it with a bill written by a top NRA lobbyist.... That also means gun owners would get blanket immunity from the state's '10-20-life' law, which mandates an automatic 10-year sentence for anyone accused of flashing or using a gun in the commission of a felony. Numerous Florida politicians, including Jeb Bush, have long credited that measure with significantly decreasing the state's gun crimes.... So far, the warning shot bill appears destined for passage." Read the whole post to see how stupid, irresponsible & violent we Floridians are. ...
... Charles Pierce comments. ...
... Jeff Weiner & Arelis Hernandez of the Orlando Sentinel: "The gunman accused of chasing and killing a 21-year-old man at an Orlando apartment complex Thursday told police he was pursuing a suspected burglar and acted in self-defense after he was attacked." CW: This time the defense goes, "He attacked me while I was chasing him so I shot him in the back." It could work. It's Florida.
Paul Egan, et al., of the Detroit Free Press: "Gov. Rick Snyder [R] and legislative leaders reached an agreement [Tuesday] on the framework for a deal to help protect Detroit pensioners and the Detroit Institute of Arts collection from ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, sources told the Free Press, and he is expected to make an announcement Wednesday."
Cheer Up, GOP Govs -- You're Not Rob Ford
Sasha Goldstein of the New York Daily News: "Crack-smoking Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, known for his 'drunken stupors,' has fallen off the wagon. Hours after new cellphone video taken Monday evening emerged showing the notorious face of Canada's most populous city swaying and slurring his words while holding court at a fast food restaurant, Ford admitted he was drunk during the incident."
News Ledes
New York Times: "After two protesters were shot to death during clashes with the police on Wednesday, the first fatalities in Ukraine's two-month civil uprising, President Viktor F. Yanukovich met with opposition leaders as efforts to defuse the crisis took on new urgency."
New York Times: "After months of diplomatic maneuvering and last-minute slips, delegates gathered on Wednesday in [Montreux, Switzerland] to press for a political settlement in Syria's bloody civil war. But sharp divisions between the United States and Russia, and especially among the Syrian participants themselves, immediately came to the fore, casting doubt on the prospects for easing hostilities or even opening up humanitarian corridors for the delivery of food and medicine to besieged towns and cities." ...
... AP: " The United States is criticizing Syria's top diplomat for his 'inflammatory' speech at an international peace conference aimed at ending the country's brutal conflict.The State Department said Wednesday that remarks from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem were not in keeping with the spirit or aims of the gathering...."
Reuters: "The United States has offered to send a special envoy to North Korea to win the release of a jailed missionary, but signaled that any meaningful talks with Pyongyang will require it to give up its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
AP: "Two officials of South Africa's ruling party who were linked to a bogus sign language interpreter at Nelson Mandela's memorial have resigned from the African National Congress, South African media reported Tuesday."
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Reader Comments (24)
Juan Cole posted a thoughtful NSA perspective piece yesterday:
http://www.juancole.com/2014/01/surveillance-destroy-trust.html
Part of me feels sorry for Bob McDonnell.
Not the part of me that values women as independent actors on the political and reproductive stage; not the part that rejects sanctimonious ness; not the part that much prefers politicians who occupy the offices they have won to advance the public good, not feather their own nests; not the part that shudders at the indignity of fawning over hucksters who care nothing about the people they con on the way to their Ferrari; but the part that thinks he might understand how a reasonably intelligent, educated American could have swallowed the nonsense that convinced him that a Rolex makes the man (or an expense-paid over the top shopping trip to New York makes the woman).
For all his public espousals of faith, some I suspect grounded in sincere (if wrong-headed belief), McDonnell likely learned the wrong lessons from a culture that has long confused morality with material success and understandably came away with the impression that uprightness is recognizable by its material rewards.
I am always shocked that hypocrisy is so common, but I need to get over that. I know better. When hypocrisy is taught by a culture from birth, the real surprise would be if it were not.
Maybe too much Burt Lancaster in "Elmer Gantry" tonight for me, but I had the same reaction to McConnell as I have to Gantry. I feel many things when I watch their tragedies unfold, but along with the indignation and anger, I feel sorry for them too. In both cases, it's hard for me to watch.
We are a nation of hucksters, touched by God.
@KenW. After reading the MoBo indictment last night, the word that came to my mind was 'grifters.'
But grifters with Jesus on their side.
@PD Pepe: I'm pretty sure Prosperity Jesus wanted Bob to have a Rolex & the use of a Ferrari. Either that, or Maureen McDonnell, who arranged for both, is the Devil Incarnate.
Can this marriage survive??? I have a feeling Transvaginal Bob wishes he had not chosen a football cheerleader -- or at least this particular football cheerleader -- as his wife.
Marie
"It may seem counterintuitive, but divorce rates are higher in religiously conservative "red" states than "blue" states, despite a Bible-based culture that discourages divorce."
Article doesn't mention former cheerleaders! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/21/divorce-study_n_4639430.html
I think we should change Bob's moniker from Transvag Bob to Uxorious Bob. Reading that indictment, which unfolds in a time progression, it seems pretty clear that Mrs. Bob thought she had a golden goose in JW. And it is a riveting tale. When/if we read JW's indictment it may claim JW suborned Mrs. Bob, but for this paper she is apparently the suborner of U-Bob. And U-Bob did not have the smarts to realize he was signing his own arrest warrants, or the ability to get his wife to desist. And then he became just as complicit as she.
U-Bob's staff apparently saw the problems early, but again U-Bob was not smart enough to heed. He is really not too bright.
Nowhere in the indictment is mention of the residence chef drama that kicked off the investigation. Part of the moral there is that the downstairs help is always pretty familiar with what the mistress is doing, and can cause problems with the constable and the villagers if not properly taken care of.
Under Infotainment there is a bit about Barbara Bush. I happened to watch part of that interview toward the end where the interviewer asked B. about her faith. She replied that it was a private matter, but then true to form––Mrs. Bush has always been forthcoming––regaled us with how deep her faith is, how she and George pray every night together, how she doesn't fear death at all because she knows she is going to heaven where she will see Robin (the daughter that died) again. I couldn't help thinking once again how believing one is going to another place to be alive and interact with others changes one's perspective while still hugging this earth. (would certainly cut down on the suicide bombers, I would think).
Then I saw a headline, "The Year of the Bush," and I thought good god, are we going to be bombarded with more Bushy interviews, is Dubya going to open a gallery, is Jeb going to run for President fer sure? No, no, and no is the answer. Seems pubic hair on lady parts is back in vogue after the rash of infections due to all those Brazilian waxes that reduced women to resemble pubescent girls. Some store in N.Y. has mannequins in their windows that reveal the bush under their pink panties. What a wonder! So Ken, don't despair––if the bush can come back, anything is possible.
@MAG. Thanks. According to the researcher, "Specifically, putting pressure on young people to marry sooner, frowning upon cohabitation before marriage, teaching abstinence only sex education and making access to resources like emergency contraception more difficult all result in earlier child bearing ages and less-solid marriages from the get go."
I would add, & I don't know that there's any research on this, that I think the emphasis fundamentalist religions put on failure & redemption makes all sorts of failure more acceptable. In addition, the fact that failure is more prevalent in a culture where people are less educated, have lousier jobs & thus live under more unstable economic conditions, make more failure inevitable. The culture has to deal with this somehow, & the way it deals with it can be to give the "sinners" the opportunity to be "redeemed & saved." Also, I guess, guns.
Many thanks to those of you who commented yesterday on the Chotiner post about Obama's New Yorker interview.
Marie
Marie, thanks for the quote labeling Scott Walker as a right-wing governor. We should not ignore his driving ambition to be president. He has only one talent, and that is being a savvy politician with an undeserved Teflon coat. If we are going to change Transvaginal Bob's nickname, let's apply it with a string of others to Walker. He signed an ultrasound bill and has yet to face serious questioning about it.
@Patrick. Thanks for remembering the chef. Here's a WashPo article that includes an interview of the chef & how he was the first to alert authorities about the McDonnells' relationship with Daddy Govbucks. "The first lady could be a demanding boss, [chef Todd Schnieder] said: She screamed at staff. She peppered them with angry texts until well after midnight."
Marie
PD: thanks for addressing Mama Bush. I will add that her one and only god is Machiavelli. She embodies the behavior of the enabling support system for evil and mediocrity the Brahmin use. To quote my old friend Suzy, "She's a pig-fucker".
Ken: "a culture that has long confused morality with material success and understandably came away with the impression that uprightness is recognizable by its material rewards." Perfectly said. I'm thinking the Rs need a paradigm shift.
Poor Bob and Maureen McDonnell. Soooo misunderstood. They were just having some fun. Oh, and accepting bribes to help further the business interests of one Mr. Jonnie R. Williams, Sr.
But pay no attention to all that, screams USA Today. Democrats are just as bad, if not worse.
The editors at McPaper undoubtedly realized that they had an opportunity here to help out the Republican ex-gov and his wife by playing the "both sides do it" card.
So Bob and Mo rode around in a nice car, got some nice clothes and a fancy watch. Well....la-di-da. Let me tell you all about those bad, bad, bad Democrats. So they bring up Whitewater and how Hillary wore a pink dress when answering questions about it. Oh, and what about those awful Jacksons in Chicago? Sandi and Jesse, Jr. who used campaign money to live high off the hog? And let's not forget that Geraldine Ferraro's husband paid a $1,000 fine over some real estate deal he made. Yeah. 30 years ago.
First, some clarity. Whitewater? The Clintons, whatever the real story is, lost money. And the only reason it became an issue was due to right-wing scumbags trying to make it one. David Hale, the Republican judge who started the whole thing and had it in for the Clintons, admitted to lying about them when he plead out after being indicted himself.
The Jacksons? Yeah, that was bad. They used campaign money. A lot of it. But what they didn't do was take money from a constituent and use their positions as elected officials to make good on the payoffs. Same with John Zaccaro who was charged with a misdemeanor. His wife was never accused of using her position to help him or anyone else. He was behaving like a schmuck, but probably like thousands of other real estate developers. That doesn't make it right but in no way is it the same thing, as USA Today would like readers to believe, as what the McDonnells were up to.
For "balance" they mention a minor situation concerning a check kiting scheme by the husband of a forgettable Republican Rep from Utah.
So there you have it folks, the fourth estate hard at work to minimize Republican transgressions and make false and misleading comparisons to denigrate Democrats into the bargain.
The comparison with Hillary Clinton is especially heinous because the Clintons were cleared after three (count 'em, three) separate investigations turned up nothing. Also interesting is that the USA apparatchiks decided to post a tiny picture of the McDonnells and much larger pictures of Clinton and Zaccaro to make sure readers understand who the real bad guys are.
And don't worry, you'll see plenty more of this as the McDonnell circus really gets going. DEMOCRATS DO IT TOO, so pay no attention to Republican wrongdoing. Plenty more on Fox at all hours.
Hold on Bob and Maureen, USA Today will save you!
Had to do a double-read. Seems Friedman had something relevant to say today.
Happy to see that Charlie Pierce concurs! "But nobody has crashed and burned more garishly that noted transvaginalist Bob McDonnell, who now faces multiple counts of being a shameless grifter."
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/bob-mcdonnell-indictment-012214
...rereading the indictment, the McDonnell's blatant demands are simply stunning.
@Whyte Owen: What Friedman doesn't say is that the Assad regime worsened the drought by subsidizing "water-intensive crops like wheat and cotton farming and promoted bad irrigation techniques." Meanwhile, he & the Mrs. lived like, well, a king & a queen.
Then, "The water shortage and drought drove up unemployment, in agriculture. So hundreds of thousands of farmers ... went to where they might find work: the cities.... They were met 'almost callously' by the Syrian government."
I'm not sure how massive drought relief would have helped if Assad was allowed -- as presumably he would be -- to continue his own ill-advised & "callous" policies.
As for Friedman's claim that he is "shouting into a dust storm," the DOD is already putting resources into at least studying the problem from a strategic POV. But try to get Jim Inhofe to support shifting money from defense contractors to alleviating the effects of climate change in the world's literal & figurative hot spots.
When it comes to the Middle East, it seems there is never an easy fix. At least Friedman posed a growing problem in a prominent spot, & that can't hurt. AND he promoted his appearance on an upcoming teevee show.
Marie
@Akhilleus. Thanks for the link. Yeah, Hillary Clinton's wearing a pink suit -- which as far as we know, she purchased with her own money -- is just like Maureen McDonnell hitting up a person she just met to buy her a dress for her husband's inaugural ball (her mean staff made her return that dress -- I guess she had to wear something from GoodWill).
Grifter, you say? That woman couldn't even wait till her husband took office to tap her first mark. I have to wonder if there are others.
Marie
While the press contents itself with the MoBo and BridgeGate carney acts, as usual, the really important stuff, is relegated to specialty web sites and buried deep inside newspapers.
The far-right wing supremely activist Supreme Court, appears on the verge of gifting the right one of its biggest victories in years as it bwa-ha-has over the fate of public employees unions. Never mind about nearly 70 years of precedent. The Roberts court can't even spell "precedent". They think you're talking about the guy in the White House (and they'll deal with him later--nooooo recess appointments).
As usual, we get bread and circus while our pockets are picked by Nino, Sam, Johnny, Clarence, and very likely Tony (who thinks public employee unions are bad because...government. Jesus, Tony, I didn't know you had such a good reason for killing unions. Why didn't you say so? And there you have it folks, right-wingnut ideology apotheosized (and weirdly rationalized) at the highest court in the land.).
Re: Florida and making it OK to brandish a gun and/or fire "warning shots." Sure it's all right to fire shots in a neighborhood. After all, if a bullet goes up, it won't come down, will it? Unfortunately, it will, and you don't know where. I can see the defense now. "That guy had no business standing in his own yard."
I'm afraid that the gun worshipers in the Georgia legislature will want to copy this insane law.
Barbarossa,
Yeah. I saw that crazy "warning shot" crap. Florida is certainly the place for it. Not only are they ready to shoot you when you come to visit, they might want to hang you if they think you deserve it.
See, I thought that when you declared a keen interest in murdering the president, the Secret Service, FBI, Power Rangers, and local Woodsmen of the World would descend on your ass and give you the third degree. Not, apparently, if you're a wingnut running for office, because crazy seems to be the state litmus test for GOP candidates thereabouts.
Hang 'im high! Says Florida wingnut
So here we have this guy, Joshua Black, running for state office, stating unequivocally that Obama should be strung up by the neck until he is dead. Didn't that used to be kind of a no-no?
But he has the Republican Victim's Playbook right by his night table it would seem because he's already in the defensive crouch, see, because people shouldn't be allowed to hold Republicans to stuff they actually say. Doncha know?
So now he's whining that people are gonna call him a racist for wanting to hang the president.
No, Joshua, not at all. Not a racist. How about a bat-shit crazy loon? And good luck, by the way, on your time as an elected Republican in the Florida House.
You'll fit right in.
While lost in real life for a few days I wasn't able to get my daily dose of reality 'til today and mannn was it a good one. Republicans start 2014 off thanking the Corporate Gods for their Christmas presents by putting together a package of their own in truly craven fashion, supporting main street the only way they know how, by facilitating Fiscal Paradise. Apparently doing absolutely nothing isn't enough even for Richy Richies. Sucking up all profits isn't good enough, they need to poke some more loopholes in our society to speed up the downfall.
Some interesting info. that comes of little surprise except for the concrete names and evidence they've pulled together. China's elite have embraced Fiscal Paradise as well, but the Chinese will never know cuz it's sure as hell this report is getting Firewalled out of existence.
http://www.icij.org/offshore/leaked-records-reveal-offshore-holdings-chinas-elite
Ensuite, the Catholic Church entrenches their love for Christ and their hunger for innocent genitalia, the younger the better otherwise they might require the pious youngin's to get a Brazilian wax but we now know how troublesome that can be. Wouldn't want the kids to go through that kind of painful, traumatic experience.
And to top it off Christie has to make a special order to Depends to get some XXL diapers to cover the bullshit that's gonna be coming out of his ass trying to wiggle out of the chains that he's finding himself in. Poor fat man's gonna end up just like his broken boardwalk, slowly beaten down by the successive salty waves eroding its foundation. Will some Superman come to his aid, or will (s)he withhold the funds too?
And I'm no fashion expert, but doesn't Vaggy Bob's pants look a little too baggy for his chicken legs? I mean, if you're milking millionaires you could at least get a customized tuxedo. Just shows what a fuckin' amateur he was to the real Washington. He looks like the awkward kid in High School with his ridiculous Jnco jeans on that he had his mom buy him so he could look like the cool kids but fails miserably. And Cruella Deville for a sidekick. Damn. Maybe I'm reading a bit too far into the photo, but the way she's embracing her hubby (right hand side of the photo on the projected screen), or should we say her "ticket to the $$$" looks much less like a loving embrace than as an awkward collar tug, directing the action behind the scenes as they at last bask in the glowing limelight they so deserve.
I can take a wild guess of who wears the (baggy) pants in that family...
@Akhilleus: Black is black. Also, the Secret Service did come a'calling. See stories above linked earlier.
Marie
@Marie, I think the key item in the TF column is that the MidE population has doubled twice in 60 years. Unfortunately it's not just the MidE. What Assad, DOD or Inhofe for that matter might propose to do or not to do to worsen or mitigate drought will be a grain of sand in the desert. Paul Erlich erred only in guessing the timeline and metals as the proxy, not the endgame.
@Whyte Owen. Amen. Mark Morford ended his column today "Mother Nature always, nay always bats last. We’d try to whistle past the graveyard, if our lips weren’t so damn chapped."
http://blog.sfgate.com/morford/2014/01/21/fine-weather-for-creepy-melancholia/