The Commentariat -- January 5, 2014
Ben Hubbard, et al., of the New York Times: "... for all its echoes, the bloodshed that has engulfed Iraq, Lebanon and Syria in the past two weeks exposes something new and destabilizing: the emergence of a post-American Middle East in which no broker has the power, or the will, to contain the region's sectarian hatreds. Amid this vacuum, fanatical Islamists have flourished in both Iraq and Syria under the banner of Al Qaeda, as the two countries' conflicts amplify each other and foster ever-deeper radicalism. Behind much of it is the bitter rivalry of two great oil powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, whose rulers -- claiming to represent Shiite and Sunni Islam, respectively -- cynically deploy a sectarian agenda that makes almost any sort of accommodation a heresy."
Peter Baker of the New York Times: The idea of amnesty for Edward Snowden "won widespread attention last month when Richard Ledgett, who leads an N.S.A. task force evaluating damage from the disclosures, said on the CBS News program '60 Minutes' that it was 'worth having a conversation about' it to prevent further revelations. That position won further attention in the last week with editorials in The Guardian and The New York Times urging clemency.... Debates about the idea played out on CNN, ABC and elsewhere, and Anne-Marie Slaughter, a former State Department official in the Obama administration, posted a message on Twitter in favor of clemency. But inside the White House and the Justice Department, Mr. Ledgett's suggestion has been met with stony opposition. The administration has made no move to reach out to negotiate any kind of deal and makes clear that it has no plans to." ...
... CW: I'm really sorry I missed this segment, which aired about two weeks ago. It seems to me both Greenwald & Toobin get stuff wrong. To their credit, both of these often-over-the-top commentators behave themselves:
Michael Hiltzig of the Los Angeles Times: "Here's a business practice likely to keep booming in 2014: corporate extortion.... By the estimate of the Washington-based Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, state and local tax incentives funnel $50 billion in tax revenue into corporate coffers every year. On a national basis, ITEP says, this is worse than a zero-sum game: The incentives are 'much more likely to reshuffle investment between geographic areas than ... to spur genuinely new economic activity.' The trendsetter for the coming year may turn out to be Boeing. The aerospace company has been dangling the prospect of a big airliner production facility in front of several states, including California, since mid-November. That's when union machinists in Everett, Wash., rejected its demands for big concessions on pension and healthcare benefits. The process started only days after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed the biggest state tax break in history into law -- a package that will give Boeing up to $8.7 billion in benefits through 2040." ...
... Scott Hamilton of CNN: "A standoff between Boeing and thousands of unionized workers based in Washington state came to an unexpected end Friday after workers voted in favor of a contract to build the company's new commercial jet. The deal keeps economic activity worth billions inside the state, and means hundreds of thousands of jobs will be retained."
Frank Bruni writes a moving column about a dying man who just received an honorable discharge from the Marines after having been given a "less than honorable" discharge in 1956 when his superior learned he was gay. "... now that the military accepts gays, there is also a process that permits those who were dishonorably discharged to appeal for reclassifications of those dismissals as honorable. A military spokesman said last week that he didn't know how many veterans had sought to take advantage of it, or with what success." CW: I hope Bruni's column leads to more affected ex-servicemen & women learning of the new policy & taking advantage of it.
Amy Goldstein & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "More than 100,000 Americans who applied for insurance through HealthCare.gov and were told they are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) remain unenrolled because of lingering software defects in the federal online marketplace.... To try to provide coverage to these people before they seek medical care, the Obama administration has launched a barrage of phone calls in recent days in 21 states, advising those who applied that the quickest route into the programs is to start over at their state's Medicaid agency."
Julie Cart of the Los Angeles Times: "The U.S. Department of Agriculture's inspector general will investigate a federal agency whose mission is to exterminate birds, coyotes, mountain lions and other animals that threaten the livelihoods of farmers and ranchers. The investigation of U.S. Wildlife Services is to determine, among other things, 'whether wildlife damage management activities were justified and effective.' Biologists have questioned the agency's effectiveness, arguing that indiscriminately killing more than 3 million birds and other wild animals every year is often counterproductive. Reps. Peter A. DeFazio (D-Ore.) and John Campbell (R-Irvine) requested the review, calling for a complete audit of the culture within Wildlife Services. The agency has been accused of abuses, including animal cruelty and occasional accidental killing of endangered species, family pets and other animals that weren't targeted."
Salon republishes a portion of A Neurobiography of the Brain by D. F. Swaab. In this section, Swaab discusses the religious brain & the evolutionary advantages of religion.
TBogg, in a funny piece in the Raw Story, predicts how Mitt Romney will address the Melissa Harris-Perry hoohah: "Unless Ann Romney is on with him, because Ann will cut a bitch, Mitt will probably be firm but gracious and will talk about the importance of family and about love being color blind and he will say that it is time to move on and maybe he'll make a little joke and will smile that uncomfortable-with-human-emotions grimace-smile of his and will end up kind of laughing this whole nothing-burger off. HA HA HA HA HA HA." CW: We'll learn later in the day if TBogg is an oracle. ...
... Update: Katie Glueck of Politico: "Mitt Romney said on Sunday he's forgiven MSNBC after a host and other panelists on the network made comments about his adopted black grandchild. Speaking on 'Fox News Sunday,' the former Republican presidential candidate said he accepted the apology of MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, who a day earlier offered an emotional on-air walk-back." CW: Sounds as if Mitt was gracious. Wait for the video.
Local News
Susan Craig & Jesse McKinley of the New York Times: "Joining a growing group of states that have loosened restrictions on marijuana, [New York] Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York plans this week to announce an executive action that would allow limited use of the drug by those with serious illnesses, state officials say."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Australian officials have asked an American icebreaker to help with the rescue of Chinese and Russian vessels that are surrounded by ice floes off Antarctica...."
AP: " U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that America would support Iraq in its fight against al-Qaida-linked militants who have overrun two cities in the country's west, but said the U.S. wouldn't send troops, calling the battle 'their fight.'"
AP: "Two warring factions from South Sudan held direct peace talks on Sunday for the first time since conflict began roiling the country last month, sending hundreds of thousands of people fleeing for safety."
AP: "The deep freeze expected soon in the Midwest, New England and even the South will be one to remember, with potential record-low temperatures heightening fears of frostbite and hypothermia. It hasn't been this cold for decades...."
Yahoo! News: "A Delta jet skidded off the runway at John F. Kennedy International airport shortly after landing, the Federal Aviation Administration said. There were no immediate reports of injuries but the New York airport is now closed due to ice and snow, airport officials said."
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Reader Comments (3)
@James Singer: You wrote, " Have to agree citizen625. I've grown weary of the kill the messenger tribunal."
Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog posts a good example of "shooting the messenger": the Daily Caller apparently dug up on true & one fake story about NYT reporter David Kirkpatrick appearing nude in public in his college days. The DC's idea, I guess, is that if a college kid engaged in some kind of typical student stunt, he cannot possibly be a competent reporter decades later.
Whether you like his message or not, Kirkpatrick was doing his job.
In fact, that is usually how the term "shooting the messenger" is used. The general orders the messenger to tell the king the battle is lost; the messenger runs to the king, relates the message, and the king -- angry about the bad news -- shoots the messenger, who is only doing his job.
I think if you read the Kaplan piece, it will help you understand that there are messengers and messengers. Kaplan does a good job of distinguishing between Daniel Ellsberg's whistleblowing & Snowden's releases, even if Ellsberg himself is unable to distinguish the difference. Frankly, I am surprised that so many smart people can't seem to tell the difference & are unable to locate even a fuzzy line, much less a bright one, between (a) genuine whistleblowing to expose wrongdoing & (b) rash, unjustified revelations that breach contractual confidentiality agreements. Snowden did both (a) and (b). So, yes, he is a whistleblower. And, yes, he has admitted to having committed crimes. (a) does not equal not-(b). WTF is so hard about that?
Marie
I have been very interested in the Boeing saga––the tale of corporate greed versus union worker's fair share of the pot ( again the issue of what's fair––apparently not a hell of a lot). When the decision came down late Friday I was not surprised: Boeing had everyone–-workers, state, politicians by the balls. " Boeing’s hard line could hardly be justified by hard times: it is enjoying huge profits and a record $400 billion backlog in orders and two weeks ago raised its dividend by some 50 percent and signed off on a $10 billion stock buyback. Oh, and its CEO Jim McNerny’s total compensation is somewhere north of $20 million." Quotes from Alec Maccillis' piece in the N.R. He had an interesting side bar about how the Obama administration dealt/is dealing with this. Seems the head of that union said some uncomplimentary things about Obama during his first run for president and predicted that Obama would not be able to deal with those aggressive Republicans; Obama was a poet,not a fighter, he said.
and so it goes~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's the link to the above article:
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116101/boeing-machinists-union-vote-seattle-win-income-inequality