The Commentariat -- January 5, 2015
Internal links removed.
David Goodman of the New York Times: "For the second time in just over a week, a sea of pressed blue uniforms filled some of New York's streets as Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered a eulogy for a police officer killed because of the badge he wore. And for the second time, hundreds of police officers crowded together in the rain turned their backs to television screens showing the the mayor's remarks outside a funeral home in southern Brooklyn." ...
... CW: Since these officers can neither follow orders nor control themselves, they cannot be trusted to keep the peace. The NYPD should dismiss them. ...
It's ironic that they seem to think it's appropriate for them to demonstrate at a funeral but not okay for citizens to demonstrate on public streets. -- Contributor Victoria D., in today's thread
... Why Apologize? The Thin-Skinned Blue Line. Bob Mayo of WTAE Pittsburgh: "In an email to the entire city police bureau, Pittsburgh Police Chief Cameron McLay is responding to criticism of his appearance in a photo on Twitter in which he holds a sign challenging racism. The sign read, 'I resolve to challenge racism @ work. #EndWhiteSilence.' The chief's message to the rank and file came after a critical email from the president of the union representing city police. 'It appears my having been photographed with a sign supporting racial justice at work and (opposing) "white silence" has offended some. If any of my PBP (Pittsburgh Bureau of Police) family was offended, I apologize. You are very important to me and I would never hurt you purposefully,' McLay wrote." ...
... Jack Pickell of the Boston Globe: "A veteran Boston police officer was arrested Sunday on charges he assaulted an Uber driver in South Boston.... Officers later arrested Michael Doherty, 40 of South Boston, a 16-year veteran of the Boston Police Department, and charged him with assault and battery and using a motor vehicle without authority." Read the whole story for disgusting details of the alleged assault. ...
... Charles Blow wonders why a 45-year-old white woman who was shooting up Chattanooga, shot at police officers & led them on an auto chase was "taken into custody without incident or injury. Then he lists a number of incidents in which black men, whose actions were or seemed much less violent, were shot dead." ...
... CW: I'd like to caution that this is anecdotal evidence of discrimination. Blow, who used to be the Times' writer on sociological statistics, should have included statistical data which demonstrated or suggested that police do not treat black suspects the same way they treat deranged white women. Instead, he provides stats of public opinion, attempting to make the point that white people don't get it. But since his anecdotes don't provide an actual counter-argument, his use of the argument-from-anecdote fallacy amounts to sleight-of-hand & demagoguery. The right does this all the time; it's disappointing to see it coming from a New York Times columnist, especially when one is pretty sure there is evidence to back up the important point he is making. ...
... Wesley Lowery & Kimberly Kindy of the Washington Post: "The frustration and defiance of the nation's police officers were on display again Sunday in New York City, where tens of thousands of them gathered for the funeral of the second of two officers who were slain at the height of the ongoing protests and scrutiny after several high-profile deaths of unarmed black males.... Law enforcement officials say morale is flagging among the rank-and-file, who they say feel 'betrayed' by President Obama and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in their calls for tough reforms of policing tactics." ...
... Jeff Toobin of the New Yorker presents the cases for & against special prosecutors in cases of fatalities caused by police.
Speaker Gohmert! Kyle Balluck of the Hill: "Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) said Sunday that he will challenge John Boehner (R-Ohio) as Speaker in the new Congress.... Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) on Saturday announced that he would not support Boehner for Speaker." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the lead. ...
... Speaker Yoho! Even Better. Eric Bradner of CNN: "Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Florida, said this weekend that he won't support Boehner as speaker when lawmakers vote Tuesday, and offered himself up as an alternative." ...
... CW: The Orange Man is looking a little better, isn't he?
Megan Wilson of the Hill: "Soon-to-be Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said on Sunday that the GOP agenda will be focused on 'voting on things I know [President Obama is] not going to like.' He said that jobs would be the number one focus, also lumping in the Keystone XL pipeline project and rolling back strict environmental and healthcare regulations. 'We need to do everything we can to try to rein in the regulatory onslaught, which is the principal reason that we haven't had the kind of bounce-back after the 2008 recession that you would expect,' McConnell told CNN's Dana Bash on 'State of the Union.'" ...
... Seung Min Kim of Politico: "... the stage is set for a dramatic few months in the GOP-controlled Congress over immigration." ...
... Carl Hulse of the New York Times: "In taking control of Congress on Tuesday, Republicans say they will quickly advance energy and health care legislation that stalled in the Democratic-controlled Senate as they try to make good on claims, and address doubts, that they can govern effectively.... Yet a sour note is possible on Tuesday as Speaker seeks his third term as the House leader. Some disgruntled conservatives have said they will not back Mr. Boehner ... and a coup, while unlikely, would represent a disastrous beginning." ...
... Greg Sargent has a good overview of what to expect of the new Congress. Good governance? Not likely. ...
... AND Charles Pierce, despite reading soothing words in the Washington Post "about how the new Republican-majority Congress, which will open the Reign of the Morons II this coming Tuesday, really understands that it has to govern the country responsibly this time around, and that the grown-ups are in charge again," is not all that convinced. Something about Louie Gohmert & asparagus.
"I'm Not a Scientist" Is ... Progress! Timothy Cama of the Hill: "High-profile Republicans converged this year around a new favorite refrain when it comes to climate change: 'I'm not a scientist.... 'It sounds like one of the most nonsensical GOP talking points in quite some time,' said Ford O'Connell, a GOP strategist who advised Sen. John McCain's (Ariz.) 2008 campaign for president. But O'Connell said 'I'm not a scientist' plays an important, albeit temporary, role in the broader GOP debate.... 'The party's not come to a consensus on how they want to deal with the issue of climate change,' he said.... 'It's a rhetorical shift, obviously. There's no policy behind it,' said Tony Leiserowitz, director of Yale University's project on climate change communication. 'But ... it's definitely a step back from "it's a hoax," it’s definitely a step back from "it's not happening.z''"' ...
... MEANWHILE in Scotland. Juan Cole: "With regard to the [Scotland's] households, i.e. domestic energy consumption, Scotland's wind turbines generated enough to cover 98% of it in 2014. In addition, in some months of the spring and summer, those homes that have solar panels generated all the electricity the household used. Scotland tripled its solar installations in 2014. Scotland is well on its way to getting 100% of its energy from renewable sources by 2022." ...
... CW: Keystone Mitch McConnell could learn a lot from his fellow Scots. But he won't. ...
... Lawrence Summers in the Washington Post: "The case for carbon taxes has long been compelling. With the recent steep fall in oil prices and associated declines in other energy prices, it has become overwhelming. There is room for debate about the size of the tax and about how the proceeds should be deployed. But there should be no doubt that, given the current zero tax rate on carbon, increased taxation would be desirable." CW: I'm pretty sure you have Mitch McConnell's ear, Larry.
"Knaves & Fools." Paul Krugman explains the roles of the president and the Federal Reserve in boosting or busting the economy. "So is the president responsible for the accelerating recovery? No. Can we nonetheless say that we're doing better than we would be if the other party held the White House? Yes. Do those who were blaming Mr. Obama for all our economic ills now look like knaves and fools? Yes, they do. And that's because they are."
Bruce Alpert of the Times-Picayune: "House Majority Whip Steve Scalise's 2002 speech to at least some members of a white supremacist group was a hot subject on the Sunday (Jan. 4) talk shows. And while all the Republicans appearing on the shows defended Scalise and asserted their support for his continuing in the No. 3 leadership position in the House, the continued focus on the 13-year-old speech, including a critical editorial Sunday by the conservative Boston Herald, has to be unsettling to the GOP.... [Sen. John] Barrasso was asked by host Chuck Todd whether the Scalise controversy might add 'to the stereotype of the Republican Party that Democrats want to paint.' 'Well, the Democrats do want to a paint this, but I've just gotten back from Wyoming. This has not come up as a discussion in Wyoming,' Barrasso said." ...
... CW: Gee, John, I wonder why. Maybe it's because the percentage of black people living in Wyoming in 2010, according to Census Bureau figures, was .08. As for Jews, who also would be deeply offended by Scalise's speaking to a David Duke group, Wyoming is the least Jewish state in the country, with .02 percent of population identifying as Jews. So, yeah, there could be a reason "this has not come up as a discussion in Wyoming." I don't think Wyoming is the civil rights center of America.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff of the Oregonian: "U.S. Navy veteran Dario Raschio was all smiles Saturday as he awaited a special honor from U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, who joined him at Portland Community College's Southeast Campus to present the 100-year-old with a handful of medals.... Shortly after Wyden began speaking, though, protesters erupted in the back of the room, shouting 'hands-up, don't shoot!'... Raschio ... grabbed the mic to speak, more shouts came from the back of the room, demanding the military exit from Iraq. The feisty centenarian quickly responded, 'Give me a chance' which brought chuckles from the audience. He further chastised the shouters, saying 'Let's show a little respect for this occasion,' to which the crowd applauded." ...
... Kristyna Wentz-Graff: "However, immediately following the award presentation, the chanting began again. Protesters stated it was 'their town meeting' to which Wyden responded, 'Yes, it's your town meeting, but it's theirs as well' as he gestured toward the audience.... The event, at Portland Community College's Southeast Campus, was canceled after 45 minutes.... We are certainly going to reschedule it,' [Wyden] said. 'It's important to be able to throw open the doors of government to everybody. That's why town hall meetings are so important.'" ...
... CW: Now somebody please explain to me how these protesters were advancing their cause by shutting down a public meeting held by a relatively liberal U.S. senator. See Oprah Winfrey's comments, linked January 3. ...
... Contra Oprah's argument -- sort of -- Jesse McCarthy, in the New Republic, has a very fine piece arguing that "Hollywood loves the great man narrative, but the civil rights movement was never about top-down leadership."
Driftglass takes a well-deserved swipe at Bob Schieffer for choosing Newt Gingrich! to discuss race relations. As a sort of afterthought, he notes that Chuck Todd said something sorta nice about Mario Cuomo, "Proving once again that almost the only Liberals who are permitted anywhere near the Sunday Gasbag Conclave are those who are safely dead."
E. J. Dionne: "There will never be another politician like Mario Cuomo, a man shaped by a different age. Yet he taught lessons about racial reconciliation, the role of religion in politics, the purposes of politics itself and -- oddly for a politician -- humility that will always be fresh." ...
... CW: I think there are other politicians more or less like Mario Cuomo right now. The difference is that today's establishment does not embrace them the way the Democratic party did back in the day. The Party of Nothing thinks it cannot afford to offend all the special interests & ideologues whose policies & preferences Cuomo so effectively rejected.
Presidential Election
Steve M. writes an excellent assessment of Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio & the press, including a nice little dig at Frank Bruni of the New York Times.
Robert Costa & Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "If Mike Huckabee is going to make a serious run for the Republican presidential nomination, he will have to do something he was unable to do in 2008: raise millions of dollars and build a sprawling national campaign to complement the well of support he has among evangelicals and grass-roots activists in early primary states.... Another likely hurdle for Huckabee as he solicits donations: scattered antagonism among the GOP's fiscally conservative donors who find Huckabee's record on taxes and spending to be lacking."
News Ledes
New York Times: "Bess Myerson, a New York favorite daughter who basked in the public eye for decades -- as Miss America 1945, as a television personality, as a force in public affairs and finally, under a harsher light, as a player in a shattering municipal scandal -- died on Dec. 14 at her home in Santa Monica, Calif., her death occurring in the relative obscurity in which she had lived her last years. She was 90."
New York Times: "Oil prices tumbled below $50 a barrel on Monday, spooking global financial markets and signaling that the remarkable 50 percent price drop since June was continuing this year and even quickening. The new drop in American and global benchmarks of more than 5 percent was accompanied by a series of reports of increased Middle Eastern exports; continuing increases in American production despite planned exploration cutbacks by many oil companies; and renewed worries about the declining economic fortunes of Europe."
AP: "Seating jurors in the case against Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was set to begin Monday under tight security at the federal courthouse in Boston and could take several weeks." ...
... Boston Globe UPDATE: "Jury selection has begun in the trial of accused Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, with about 1,200 people being called in over the next the next three days to be considered as jurors in the case. U.S. District Court Judge George O'Toole Jr., the judge overseeing the trial, said it will begin on Jan. 26 and is expected to last three to four months."
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Reader Comments (10)
I am not a scientist.
I am not a salesman.
I am not a dentist.
I am not an accountant.
I an not a waiter.
I am not a .............
I am a politician which means I am nothing.
I am appalled that a significant number of police iffy turned their backs on the mayor at the funeral of the second officer killed by the deranged shooter in NYC. The article did point out that Chief Bratton stopped short of ordering the police not to demonstrate at the funeral. i believe this calls his leadership into question as well. Wherever the blame lies, the demonstrators showed a complete lack of class. Disgusting. Also, it's ironic that they seem to think it's appropriate for them to demonstrate at a funeral but not okay for citizens to demonstrate on public streets.
"This has not come up as a discussion in Wyoming," Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY). Duh! Nothing comes up for discussion in Wyoming--except guns, money, oil wells, war and Darth Cheney. So glad this is not my circus, and these are not my monkeys.
As for the protestors in Oregon. They are from Portland Community College, a school located in a fairly poor section of Portland. I imagine black students there have experienced some degree of police intimidation--if not violence. Portland has a low percentage of African Americans, and most of the police are white. I should think Ron Wyden expected something like this to happen.
@ Marie: I strongly agree that the NYPD should dismiss the protesting officers, if for nothing more than gross insubordination. If those officers were serving in our military, they would likely find themselves being investigated for 'Contempt of Officials' under UCMJ Article 88, at the very least. Surely, the NYPD has a Code of Conduct that would support some punishment for this sort of behavior? Maybe ..?
I have a friend who is long-ago retired from the NYC Fire Department. He has always said that the main job of the NYPD is to keep the traffic and crowds back so that the FDNY can get the equipment in place and put the wet on the red. Maybe he exaggerates. But sometimes it seems about right.
Years ago I watched a documentary featuring Jane Elliot, a fourth grade teacher, create a racism experiment in her class after the killing of MLK. The film makers followed it up years later with another documentary featuring these same students, now grown, and asked how that experiment had affected their lives. Below is a link to an Oprah segment who had Jane do the same experiment on her audience––a reminder that you gotta get humans when they are young in order to instill whatever (the Church figured this out long ago).
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/02/jane-elliott-race-experiment-oprah-show_n_6396980.html
The Uber/police story sounds like that police person was off his chump. They put him on leave? With pay? They need to pay for a stay at some mental facility, I'd say.
@Patrick. I lived in Manhattan for 15 years -- between 1985 & 2000 -- though I was probably out-of-town for at least half that time. Still, I had enough interactions with the police to be left with the impression that they were ruffians, indifferent to the public, with no concept whatsoever that they were public servants.
When such indifference seems so pervasive, it cannot be put down to individual bad actors; it's an institutional problem. Somehow I doubt today's police were lovely young men & women until they joined the force, when peer pressure or job stress or something else turned them into pricks. I suspect the NYPD -- & other big-city police forces -- select for jerks in their hiring practices, & it's downhill from there.
While a certain amount of bias against police can be put down to general distaste for authority figures and to myth, at least an equal part is just plain realistic -- the policeman is not your friend. (And you wouldn't choose him for a friend, either, because you prefer to be around nice people.)
Marie
Re; "When logic and proportion have fallen softly dead..." J. A.
As I read Marie's comment on Mr. Blow above, "...The Right does this all the time..." I was struck with this thought; nobody but aware progressive people like those that read RC gives a rat's ass.
Statistical data, so? Hard fact, piff. Reality? Of your own making.
Mr. Blow could have a essay devoted to nothing but police beating data and the results of his work would be the same.
I believe AK points this out in many of his comments, the Right makes shit up, know they make shit up, and don't care that they make shit up.
As Richard Phyor said, "Who are you goin' to believe? Me, or your lying fucking eyes?"
So we have gotten to the point in time were facts are secondary to narrative. A time of make believe, of myth and tall tales. A culture, an exceptional society based on shifting sands. We've become our own reality show; kind'a real but scripted. We are the great American Novel.
The white knight is talking backwards, remember what the dormouse said, keep your head.
Hard to when everyone around you has lost theirs.
Have been a bit under the weather and after the last twenty four hours, now nearly under water here in the Northwest, so have missed some of the news, but do have this simple thought about police morale and why it might suffer unduly from mayoral criticism...or criticism from any source.
Reaction to criticism is always particularly unwelcome to people or groups who know or suspect they are not doing a good job or who have come to define their jobs in ways contrary to their roles' commonly understood purpose.
In the case of large police forces and all groups easily identified by uniform, particularly when those groups are given powers not granted common citizens, like the police or the military, there is a natural tendency for them to nudge their roles in directions that make they most comfortable, physically (shoot first) and financially (take the money when it's offered..). Instead of making those who hire them safe and secure, they take care of themselves first, a role reversal directly contrary to their reason for being.
The more power they amass, the more self-serving they become, the more they behave like spoiled children and the less class they exhibit.
Fire them, yes, but I suspect the rot runs deep; the sepsis has been allowed to develop for a years, and it might not be possible to fire enough...
When I look at the pictures of the boys in blue turning their backs on the mayor, I imagine the mayor saying, "That's right. Don't look at me. Look out at the city and its millions who depend on you, and rededicate yourselves to serving them, as your fallen compatriots did, for that is the only reason you exist. Not for me and not for you, but for them."
But then a funeral for those who died in action is no place for a cheap political statement is it?
The mayor couldn't say that. He would have more class.
Heard part of this interview with Steven Brill on NPR's Fresh Air this morning on my drive to work. 'America's Bitter Pill' Makes Case For Why Health Care Law 'Won't Work'. Didn't have time to listen to the complete interview so will have to re-listen to the audio later.
Two highlights:
"A patient in the American health care system has very little leverage, has very little knowledge, has very little power," Brill says.
"So the only ray of hope I have is that if Obamacare will force changes in the cost structure just because there are going to be so many more people buying health care that it will just have to change the cost structure. That was sort of the implicit expectation that Gov. [Mitt] Romney had in Massachusetts, which is if we enact this plan and give more people health care, then when they have it, we'll see that we have to do something about the cost and we'll get the political will together to do that. The question is: Does Washington today, tomorrow, next year, in five years, even in the face of daunting health care costs — will they ever be able to summon the political will to do something about it?"
Then I had to read this about the fucking whiners at Harvard and how the professors are in an uproar because their costs are coming up this year.
"The university is adopting standard features of most employer-sponsored health plans: Employees will now pay deductibles and a share of the costs, known as coinsurance, for hospitalization, surgery and certain advanced diagnostic tests. The plan has an annual deductible of $250 per individual and $750 for a family. For a doctor’s office visit, the charge is $20. For most other services, patients will pay 10 percent of the cost until they reach the out-of-pocket limit of $1,500 for an individual and $4,500 for a family."
Mrs. Unwashed and I should be so fortunate. The premium for our 2015 insurance, through our state's ACA exchange, went up 7.5% to over $1400 per month, with higher deductibles and no subsidies.
Oh, and the term "out-of-pocket limit" is complete bullshit. There is no such thing other than as an insurance company marketing ploy.