The Commentariat -- July 10, 2015
Internal links removed.
Put the white men up front, please.Richard Fausset & Alan Blinder of the New York Times: "South Carolina, the first state to secede from the union, dispatched with a lasting symbol of the Civil War on Thursday as Gov. signed a law removing the Confederate battle flag from the grounds of the State House." ...
... Fausset & Blinder are wondering how the flag will be removed inasmuch as "The pole to which the flag is attached appears to have no mechanism -- no winch, pulley, or rope -- that a person on the ground might use to bring it down." CW: I suggest Nikki Haley give Bree Newsome a call & ask her to do the honors. Newsome says she won't be attending the ceremony, but Haley could offer her clemency as an incentive.
... Amanda Hopuch & Oliver Laughland of the Guardian: "The battle flag of the former American Confederacy will stop flying at South Carolina's statehouse on Friday..., 150 years after the south lost a civil war fought largely over slavery, and for which the flag's endurance has remained a lasting symbol of racism. Governor Nikki Haley was prepared to sign legislation on Thursday that would require the flag to be removed from government grounds within 24 hours. Her office said it would be taken down from a flagpole near the capitol at 10am the next day, after flying there for nearly 54 years." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Gene Robinson, a South carolina native, on why taking down the flag matters. ...
... Paul Kane of the Washington Post: "The battle over the Confederate flag landed with ferocity Thursday in the U.S. Capitol amid an unexpected debate on the display of the southern 'Battle Flag' in federal cemeteries for veterans. House Democrats accused Republicans of catering to the large bloc of southern conservatives in initially promoting an amendment that some viewed as pro-Confederate. Republicans accused Democrats of trying to exploit the tragedy of the mass killing inside a Charleston church last month and the subsequent decision by South Carolina leaders to remove the controversial flag from their state capitol. The recriminations built throughout the day despite House Speaker John A. Boehner's effort to ease the tension. Boehner (R-Ohio) said he would soon create an informal bipartisan group to review all matters related to the display of Confederate memorabilia, likely to include those in the U.S. Capitol." ...
... Sandra Pedicini of the Orlando Sentinel: "Walt Disney World has joined the list of businesses and governments distancing themselves from the Confederate flag. The resort has removed a version of the Confederate banner from a flag display in Epcot's American Adventure. Disney acknowledged it took down the flag recently but would not comment further."
Greg Mlller & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "U.S. authorities have arrested more than 10 people over the past four weeks who were suspected of having ties to the Islamic State, including several who may have been planning terrorist attacks to coincide with the July 4 holiday, FBI Director James B. Comey said Thursday. The arrests were part of a flurry of law enforcement activity over the past month amid counterterrorism officials' warnings of a heightened danger of attacks leading up to Independence Day." ...
... CW: Charles Pierce isn't buying Comey's assertions. CW: I had some of the same thoughts Pierce expresses when I read Miller & Nakashima's report. However, I think that over the years federal law enforcement has prevented some attacks, & they may well have prevented one or more this summer. I'd sure rather be reading Comey's assertions than stories about an attack that did take place. Call me gullible, but I'm not ready to discount Comey's claims.
Human Error. Rupert Neate of the Guardian: "The more than three-and-a-half hour New York stock exchange shutdown on Wednesday was caused by engineers loading the wrong software on to the system, the NYSE admitted on Thursday. The NYSE said the shutdown, which sent some traders into panic about a possible cyber terrorist attack, was sparked by its systems being 'not loaded with the proper configuration compatible' with new a software upgrade." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "The massive hack last year of the Office of Personnel Management's system containing security clearance information affected 21.5 million people, including current and former employees, contractors and their families and friends, officials said Thursday. That is in addition to a separate hack -- also last year -- of OPM's personnel database that affected 4.2 million people. That number was previously announced." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... Raya Jalabi of the Guardian: "In a statement, the [Office of Personnel Management] said the number of those affected by the hack included 19.7 million individuals who applied for a background investigation 'and 1.8 million non-applicants, predominantly spouses or co-habitants of applicants'.... Anyone who has undergone a background check through OPM since 2000 'is highly likely' to be affected, the agency said. It is less likely, but still possible, that those who underwent background checks before 2000 would be affected.... In its statement, OPM announced several steps it has taken and will take to 'protect' those impacted by the breach, including providing identity theft insurance; identity monitoring for minor children; credit and fraud monitoring; and 'full service identity restoration support and victim recovery assistance'. These services will only be provided for free for three years." The OPM statement is here.
Hanna Trudo of Politico: "Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced on Thursday that federal marriage benefits will be made accessible to same-sex couples across America.... 'I am proud to announce that the critical programs for veterans and elderly and disabled Americans, which previously could not give effect to the marriages of couples living in states that did not recognize those marriages, will now provide federal recognition for all marriages nationwide,' Lynch said. Agencies are currently working to provide guidance to implement the law change, according to Lynch's statement." ...
... CW: Seems obvious that any marriage benefits that any government entity provides must be afforded to all married couples. Maybe what she's talking about here is benefits that require a specified length of marriage to accrue; for instance, to get the "Social Security survivor's benefit, a widow or widower must have been married to the deceased worker at the time of his or her death and for at least nine months immediately prior to the day in which the worker died."
New York Times Editors: "... public employees [who refuse to serve same-sex couples] seem to forget that taxpayers pay them to do their job. If doing that job violates his or her religious beliefs, the best solution is to find another job, as several have done in the days since the Obergefell ruling.Some same-sex marriage opponents argue that under state religious-freedom laws, a government employee's beliefs should be accommodated so long as another official is available to carry out the task. But government employees do not have a constitutionally protected right to pick and choose which members of the public they will serve, no matter their religious beliefs.... The Constitution's protection of religious freedom simply does not include the right to discriminate against others in the public sphere." ...
... ** Catherine Rampell of the Washington Post: "Same-sex marriage opponents like to claim that public officials are entitled to reasonable accommodation of their religious beliefs. But that fundamentally misunderstands the legal history of religious accommodations. Courts have said, again and again, that accommodations may be granted only if they do not injure or substantially burden a third party (which includes injuring the dignity of same-sex couples by denying them marriage licenses) or otherwise wreak havoc on the legal system."
Frank Rich on the presidential race & racism. Rich really does not care for Hillary Clinton.
Damon Linker of the Week: "The GOP doesn't have a Donald Trump problem. It has an angry conservative base problem.... [The] ragtag conglomeration of ideological radicals... of the postwar John Birch Society and similar groups ... had no natural political home in the major parties. But they've been drawn to the Republican Party ever since Barry Goldwater became their champion.... It was Ronald Reagan who truly brought them en masse into the Republican Party.... More than 30 years later, they've grown and spread like a fungus (thanks to the fertilization efforts of Rush Limbaugh and Roger Ailes). The populists are the now base of the party -- its most loyal and devoted members, surpassed only by super-rich donors for influence.... What the Republican Party needs isn't more courageous candidates and elites. It's a new electorate."
Tim Egan: It's the mother of all ironies that a nation where all but about 2 percent (the Native Americans) of the population can trace its lineage to some distant land is now going through another of its anti-immigrant moments. But good news: The 2015 version is a weak strain of the earlier tea."
Linda Greenhouse finds more ways of demonstrating that the Roberts Court is not a liberal court. Expect it to look more like the "Alito court" next year. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
How Congress Helped Create Puerto Rico's Debt Crisis. Michael Fletcher & Steven Mufson of the Washington Post: "A generous series of tax breaks enacted by Congress shielded the profits of U.S. corporations operating [in Puerto Rico] and helped transform Puerto Rico from a largely agrarian society to a manufacturing powerhouse.... When Congress decided to phase out a crucial tax credit that ended in 2005, it helped plunge Puerto Rico into a recession that began a decade ago and has yet to end.... Now, it's again at the mercy of Washington, as [Gov. Alejandro] García Padilla asks Congress and the president to allow the island and its public corporations -- which provide basic services including electricity and water -- to file for bankruptcy, a process that would give Puerto Rico and its creditors an orderly way to restructure the territory's staggering debt." CW: An American horror story worth reading in full.
Liz Alderman & James Kanter of the New York Times: "Only a day after grim predictions of financial and social collapse in Greece, a scramble appeared underway to work out the details of a new bailout package to bring the country back from the brink.... [Greek] Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ... seemed to have gained ground on debt relief, his one bedrock demand. Germany's truculent finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, finally gave a little on that Thursday, admitting that 'debt sustainability is not feasible without a haircut,' or writedown of debt, even if he then appeared to backtrack.... What was breathtaking ... was how in a matter of hours the entire dynamic in the Greek crisis seemed to shift, from apocalyptic warnings of a Zimbabwe in the Balkans, to a fresh optimism that the basics of a deal could be worked out." ...
... David Jolly & Liz Alderman of the New York Times: "Investor optimism surged on Friday for a second day after Greece took a big step toward reaching a deal with its creditors." ...
... Paul Krugman: "... the people most likely to deliver a Greek-style economic disaster here in America are the very people who love to use Greece as a boogeyman.... If you really worry that the U.S. might turn into Greece, you should focus your concern on America's right. Because if the right gets its way on economic policy -- slashing spending while blocking any offsetting monetary easing -- it will, in effect, bring the policies behind the Greek disaster to America."
Carol Morello of the Washington Post: "Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Thursday that the United States and its negotiating partners 'will not rush, and we will not be rushed' into finalizing a nuclear deal with Iran, but warned they will abandon talks soon if Iran doesn't make the 'tough decisions' needed for an agreement. 'This is not open-ended,' he said after walking on crutches to a podium outside the Coburg Palace hotel...." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.
Jim Yardley & William Neuman of the New York Times: In Santa Cruz, Bolivia, "Pope Francis offered a direct apology on Thursday for the complicity of the Roman Catholic Church in the oppression of Latin America during the colonial era, even as he called for a global social movement to shatter a 'new colonialism' that has fostered inequality, materialism and the exploitation of the poor. Speaking to a hall filled with social activists, farmers, garbage workers and Bolivian indigenous people, Francis offered the most ambitious, and biting, address of his South American tour. He repeated familiar themes in sharply critiquing the global economic order and warning of environmental catastrophe -- but also added a twist with his apology."
Matthew Rosenberg of the New York Times: "Russia's aggressive behavior and its nuclear arsenal make it the single greatest national security threat faced by the United States, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr. said Thursday at a Senate hearing on his nomination as the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. General Dunford, the Marine commandant, appeared far more confident that the military could step in if necessary if negotiations on a nuclear deal with Tehran fail. Asked whether the military has the ability to destroy Iran's nuclear program, General Dunford was unequivocal. 'My understanding is that we do, Senator,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dylan Byers of Politico has wingers in a tizzy because the New York Times has kept Ted Cruz's book off its best-seller list even though, according to Byers, "the book has sold more copies in its first week than all but two of the Times' bestselling titles." ...
... CW: What Byers doesn't bother to explain to readers, & which he almost certainly knows, is that political books often don't make the list because the Times, as its spokesperson hints, tries to count only "real" sales. Big political donors often buy up thousands of copies of politicians' books -- at deep discounts -- then distribute the books to likely voters, campaign workers, etc. I don't know it for a fact, but that's probably what happened here, not some East-Coast-liberal-elite plot to sabotage Ted's excellent writing career. ...
... Update. Oh, Snap! Byers' updates his post: "'In the case of this book, the overwhelming preponderance of evidence was that sales were limited to strategic bulk purchases,' [the Times spokesperson] wrote." ...
... Update 2: Margaret Hartmann on the winger wingout & on the Times' "secret formula" for rating book sales....
... CW: Now, class, we will compare & contrast Dylan Byers' "reporting" with Hartmann's reporting. (For more on Byers' reporting methods, you may consult Dana Milbank's 2014 rebuttal to a Byers column trashing Milbank.)
Presidential Race
Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "Bernie Sanders cemented his appeal to older voters on Thursday with renewed calls for an expansion of social security and protection of Medicare from alleged assaults by Republicans.... 'The momentum is with us and not with them,' said the Vermont senator to chants of 'Bernie, Bernie' at the Alliance for Retired Americans annual legislative conference in Washington." ...
... Stuart Stevens, Mitt Romney's strategist in 2012, in the Daily Beast, on how Clinton could lose the nomination to Sanders. Take Stevens' commentary with a grain of salt, but here's a reminder of Hillary's record:
Hillary Clinton has supported every U.S. war since Vietnam. She supported not only DOMA, which her husband signed, but a travel ban on those who were HIV positive. She supported welfare cuts (remember her husband's efforts toward 'ending welfare as we know it'?). She supports the death penalty and campaigned in her husband's place during the 1992 New Hampshire primary when he left to oversee the execution of an African-American man whose suicide attempt left him brain damaged.
And if 'mass incarceration' is a problem today, keep in mind she has long advocated for the criminal justice policies that called for locking up more people for longer periods. She supports -- and, as Secretary of State, participated in -- the U.S. policy of targeted assassinations, including when the targets were American citizens.
In a political environment in which income inequality is a rallying cry, she makes $300K plus expenses an hour. In fact, she would be the wealthiest person elected president in the modern era.
Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Jeb Bush and his allies announced on Thursday that they had amassed more than $114 million in campaign cash over the last six months, dwarfing the combined fund-raising of his Republican rivals for the party's presidential nomination. The announcements, made as many of his donors were gathering at his family's compound [in Kennebunkport, Maine,] to celebrate their success, established Mr. Bush as his party's financial powerhouse. They also underscored how the Supreme Court's five-year-old Citizens United decision continues to remake the way presidential campaigns are waged. Almost all of the money was raised before Mr. Bush formally declared his candidacy last month, collected by a 'super PAC' that Mr. Bush’s aides helped set up." CW: They also underscore what selfish rich people want in a president. See stories that follow re: "people need to work longer hours" & Akhilleus's comments above. ...
... Jeb! Ed O'Keefe & Matea Gold of the Washington Post: "Jeb Bush's presidential campaign raised $11.4 million in the second quarter, and his allied super PAC brought in more than $103 million in the first six months of the year, giving the Republican presidential contender an unprecedented war chest as he heads into the highly competitive 2016 primary contest. The massive sum raised by the super PAC, Right to Rise USA, instantly makes it one of the most potent forces in the White House race. The group has $98 million in cash on hand." ...
... Paul Waldman: "This is truly an inspiring demonstration of the American people's enthusiasm for Jeb's forward-looking message of blah blah blah ... or, that a bunch of the super-rich think it would be great if he were president. Can't figure out which." ...
... The Cold Truth Behind the Gaffe. Brian Beutler: Jeb!'s remark that "people need to work longer hours" & "his equally muddled attempt to clarify them ... betray a shaky grasp of basic economic terms.... The real controversy arises not from the bloodlessness of the words he chose, but from the tactics he would use to extract the necessary labor.... When he said 'people need to work longer hours' he meant our policies should leave people little choice but to do so." ...
... "The Doofus." Josh Marshall of TPM: "It goes without saying that it's probably not good politics to say your plan to move the country forward is that everyone needs to work longer hours. It approaches 47% level toxicity. Even more damning is that it makes zero sense in policy terms. Indeed, Jeb's 'work harder' prescription provides harrowing look at the level of derp that can be produced when you take a guy who isn't all that bright and push him to the head of the national leadership line without ever having put in an honest day's work or support himself in his life.... It's unclear to me whether Bush doesn't even fully understand the policies his advisors are trying to explain to him or whether this is just standard patrician work ethic morality." ...
... Presenting President Jeb! of the United Serfs of America. Joan Walsh of Salon: "Unbelievably, in an economy in which workers have grown ever more productive over the last three decades, but productivity has not resulted in higher wages, Bush said Wednesday that they should work even longer hours.... Back in March..., Bush came out against the federal minimum wage.... And he's on record saying the Social Security retirement age needs to be raised to 70.... He also seemed to back his brother's failed push to at least partially privatize Social Security.... Finally, on the same day as his 'work longer hours' comment, Bush dismissed the debt-free college plan unveiled by former Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley as an example of Democrats providing 'more free stuff.'... We'll see if the Bush approach brings in the white working class voters who were cool to Mitt Romney." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "This casual slip in usage reveals an important assumption. Bush not only prefers higher productivity in its technical meaning (higher output per hours of work), which both conservative and liberal economists consider axiomatic; he likewise considers higher levels of work implicitly preferable. Liberals do not share that assumption. And the division over this question turns out to be buried within many of the economic fights of our time.... Much of the dispute centers not on incentives but on whether workers should have the freedom to choose more leisure time.... Opposition to laws and customs that enforce periods of rest, and a culture where workers can comfortably balance their jobs against family life and leisure, sets American conservatives apart from American liberals and the rest of the Western world." ...
... Matt Ygesias of Vox: "... the last time the United States regularly saw episodes of 4 percent growth [-- Jeb!'s goal --] was back when Bill Clinton was president, and part of the story then was an increase in average annual hours worked. The more time people put in on the job, the higher GDP gets. At the time this was typically offered as a critique of the 1990s economy (see Juliet Schor's books The Overworked American and The Overspent American) on the theory that economic growth obtained through more toil rather than higher hourly pay is illusory."
** A Week to Remember. Kathy Frankovic of YouGov.com: "The Republican horserace continues to be a contest of multiple candidates -- with frontrunners sometimes ahead by only a few points, and no one dominating the race. In this week's Economist/YouGov Poll, businessman Donald Trump leads among Republicans, ahead of Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. Trump looks even better as a candidate this week when Republicans are asked for their second choice. When they are, Trump extends his lead. One in four Republicans who are registered to vote say he is their first or second choice." (Emphasis added.) ...
... Paul Campos in Lawyers, Guns & Money finds similarities between Trump's campaign & Ronald Reagan's: "In a GOP presidential field that isn't exactly stacked with political talent, the notion that Trump can't win the nomination is at least premature. As is the idea that he can't be elected president." ...
... Steve M. "... whether Trump is being phony or sincere, much of the political world doesn't realize that he's speaking the well-established language of modern conservatism rather than expressing prejudices that are strictly personal.... When Trump is finally out of the race..., the mainstream press will continue to insist that the real Republican Party is polite and civil and works well with others. But Trumpism will still be its underpinnings, long after Trump's 2016 campaign is forgotten." ...
... Robert Costa & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: Donald "Trump ... call[ed] The Post to dispute some details reported Wednesday night about a private phone call with Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee.... Trump said the call from Priebus 'was meant, in my opinion, to be a congratulatory call.... It wasn't a lecturing-type call. He's going to lecture me? Give me a break.'... Trump said that the Wednesday call with Priebus lasted between 10 and 15 minutes and ... that, near the end of their discussion, Priebus asked him to speak in a more measured way about immigration.... Priebus's outreach to Trump came after days of talks with GOP officials about how best to manage Trump's seemingly nonstop appearances on cable news programs and his unrelenting commentary on illegal immigration. Donors familiar with the exchange told The Post about the call on Wednesday and said it lasted for about 45 minutes." ...
... Karen Schwartz of the New York Times: "Three navigation coordination points above Palm Beach International Airport that had been named in honor of Donald J. Trump will be renamed, the Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday. 'In general, the F.A.A. chooses names that are noncontroversial,' said an agency spokeswoman, Laura Brown.... In 2010, an air traffic controller who was a fan of Mr. Trump's reality show and its catchphrase, 'You're fired,' named some of the navigation points that pilots use for takeoff from the airport DONLD, TRMMP and UFIRD." ...
... Daniel Strauss of Politico: "The Clinton Foundation has no plans to return tens of thousands of dollars in donations it received from Donald Trump - or at least none that it's willing to share."
Lauren Gambino of the Guardian: "The Republican-controlled Wisconsin legislature on Thursday passed a controversial bill that would ban women from seeking non-emergency abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The Wisconsin assembly passed the bill 61 to 34 after two hours of emotional testimony from lawmakers on both sides of the debate. The state senate had approved the legislation in June. The bill now goes to Governor Scott Walker. Eager to burnish his conservative credentials ahead of his anticipated campaign for president, Walker specifically asked the legislature to send him the bill and has said repeatedly that he will sign it."
"The Daily Cruz." Hadas Gold, et al., of Politico: "Ted Cruz has a media strategy. It's called Breitbart.com.... Breitbart.com, which boasts of having 18.7 million unique users per month -- almost all of them conservative firebrands — is funded in part by New York hedge fund manager Robert Mercer, whose family is bankrolling a pro-Cruz super PAC as well as a political data company called Cambridge Analytica that is working with Cruz's presidential campaign. Breitbart.com insists it's independent, though proudly conservative, and attributes its often-favorable assessments of Cruz to the fact that his independent brand of conservatism is appealing to its readers. But no one disputes the site's enthusiasm for Cruz."
Congressional Races
Alex Jaffe of NBC News: "Rep. Alan Grayson's reputation as a progressive bomb-thrower is exactly what's made national Democrats fearful that his bid for Senate in Florida could cost them a top pickup opportunity. But when he launched his bid on Thursday, he showed no signs of changing his tune. 'Frankly, one reason why Democrats are willing to crawl over hot coals naked to vote for me is because I'm willing to tell the truth,' he told NBC in an interview.... [Rep. Patrick] Murphy, a second-term Democrat with a proven ability to win tough races and raise huge sums, has the backing of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee."
Marc Caputo of Politico: "Former Florida Gov. Charlie Crist is strongly considering a political comeback in 2016 now that a new state Supreme Court ruling nearly guarantees that a swing congressional seat will be redrawn to rope in his home along with a gaggle of Democrats.... The court ruling could also force Rep. David Jolly, the incumbent Republican of the district in question, to forgo a reelection bid and instead try his luck with an open Senate seat." (See Florida redistricting stories below.)
Beyond the Beltway
Mary Ellen Klas of the Times/Herald Tallahassee Bureau: "The Florida Supreme Court took a wrecking ball to Florida's political landscape Thursday, throwing out the state's carefully crafted congressional districts drawn by the GOP-led Legislature and ordering a new map within 100 days. In the historic 5-2 ruling, the court not only ruled the maps were the product of an unconstitutional political gerrymandering, it signaled its deep distrust of lawmakers and provided detailed instructions on how to repair the flawed map in time for the 2016 election.... The new maps are likely to reconfigure nearly all of the state's 27 congressional districts, open the door to new candidates, and threaten incumbents, who will now face a new set of boundary lines and constituents close to the 2016 election." ...
... CW: Alrighty, then. Time for the U.S. Supremes to step in & overrule the Florida state supreme court 5-4. They're right good at that. ...
... Michael Miller & Nick Kirkpatrick of the Washington Post have more on the shady history of the redistricting: "Destroyed records. Shadowy projects with names like 'Sputnik' and 'Frankenstein.' And a college student whose identity was stolen to provide cover for political operatives." All the crooked tricks were crooked Republican tricks.
News Lede
New York Times: "Omar Sharif, the Egyptian actor who rode out of the desert in the 1962 screen epic 'Lawrence of Arabia' into a glamorous if brief reign as an international star in films like 'Dr. Zhivago' and 'The Night of the Generals,' died on Friday in Cairo. He was 83."
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Reader Comments (9)
I see not-so-subtle similarities between ¡Jeb!'s "work more hours" stint and his row with Trump over Mexicans. I'm waiting for an interviewer to grill ¡Jeb! a little harder on his Mexican connections. I'm assuming he'd not only reaffirm his profound love for his mujer, but also how he's embraced the "culture".... Or at least the part of the culture that a money-whoreding capitalist would appreciate.
¡Jeb!: "What do I love about Mexicans? Mexicans labor for hours on end, barely need food and water breaks, work in all conditions, and hardly ever complain. For pennies on the dime! If one falls ill, there's always a replacement ready and willing. It's this work ethic that us Americans are forgetting, preferring posh break rooms, fair wages, chairs to sit on, adherence to labor laws, and weekends off. I think the 47% of American 'takers' could emulate their paisanos by picking up a hammer, nailing some floorboards, and finding fulfillment again in their lives working for something bigger than themselves. Job creators are hiring across America, building cabins and mansions and vacation houses bigger than ever. We're trying to build a better America for the silvered-spoon future generations.
But its the job creators who are struggling today, trying to find qualified workers who accept modern slavery without complaining on the job while they're on the clock. There's really nothing that irritates me more than those pretentious workers who don't even stop to appreciate how us job creators are employing them, giving them work and purpose in life, giving them water breaks from the garden hose free of charge! By everyone adopting Mexican immigrants' work ethic, we can become exceptional again here in America."
Here's a video that been circulating on my "social media" feed lately since The Trump went off on his Mexican screed. A migrant worker gives his thoughts on Trump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuxsuzdHNLo
Yes, I think we all get the picture that Frank Rich ain't that crazy bout Hillary, but then he doesn't seem keen on any of the Democratic hopefuls. As much as we all love Bernie, he's painted as a beloved uncle who satisfies with the best gifts ever, but we'd never want him to replace the family structure; O'Malley is described as "lack luster"–-(I find him interesting and he's easy on the eyes–-however...) and Rich never even mentions Webb.
But back to Hillary: Some time ago I defended her ability to have survived the long slog of political experience (after reading another Rich piece putting her down) and listed her many qualities. I am not going to repeat myself, but for this country to have their first female president might be the kicker that we need. Obama brought out the racism that was always there simmering on the stove ready to boil over. Perhaps Hillary can do the same for women.
And speaking of women: Eric Kandell's brain series on PBS last featured discussions re: gender/ trans gender. According to one of the panelists who has been doing studies on abilities of male/female brains finds that women are just as good as men when it comes to math and science and men rank almost as high as females on verbal skills. The discrepancy comes in spatial ability– needed if you want to become architects, engineers––where females rank low, but part of the problem is our lack of teaching this skill in our schools; it appears females could very well grasp this concept. A trans-gender male was on the panel presenting his story of being born a girl, but always feeling like a boy. Finally as a professor at Sanford, he made the decision to trans. He now is an advocate for women's rights because his experience as both genders has taught him how males have the leg up right from the beginning. He tells the tale of after returning to teach as a male, a student who had had him when he was a female said, "I think you are a much better teacher than your sister."
I need to stop now and get back to work––be productive–-help this economy–-skip the weekend's fun in the sun...
"What's a weekend?"–––––absolutely perfect!
P.S. I want to mention how riveting that Atlantic piece (from yesterday) is on the young father who fought for his paternal rights. And you bet, know your rights and document everything.
And the video of Jenny Horne giving her impassioned speech on the S.C. house floor brought me to tears.
Attack of the Pastors
The constitutional wall between church and state has been under assault for decades by the Christian right, but now they want more than to knock down that wall. They want to swarm the domain of state, take it over and drive a stake through the heart of secularism. Their goal is to replace our laws, including the Constitution, with the Bible and force all of us into submission to their idea of governance.
Today, in Orlando, hundreds of pastors are meeting to learn how to do just that. An ongoing series of training and coaching events begun by Christian fundamentalist extremist (I know, they're the same thing) David Lane, according to whom you, me, everyone who does not think and act and believe as he instructs, are "evil" and "maggots" and he is marshaling an army to force his brand of Christianity into every corner of America.
If you want to get an idea of what this might look like, especially at the local level, you need look no further than the spate of county clerks in red states who are turning their backs on the oaths they took to serve the public. The recent ruling on marriage equality has the Jesus crowd in an uproar. According to a story in the Orlando Sentinel, a Kentucky county clerk who met privately with the governor told him to fuck off when the governor suggested he just go back to work and do his job and issue marriage licenses for EVERYONE. Instead of obeying his boss, the clerk demanded that the governor call a special session of state legislators and change to laws to protect him from having to obey the Supreme Court. Just imagine the wailing if a state official of the Muslim persuasion suggested such a thing.
A pastor in Florida is petitioning that state's wingnut governor to pass a law, the Pastor Protection Act, that will protect them from being "forced" to marry same sex couples. Similar legislation has already been rammed through in Oklahoma and is being considered in Tennessee. The idea is to subvert the law in favor of Christian beliefs, any way you can.
And this is what Lane is training these pastor/politicians to do. Disobey the "law of man" if it conflicts with the Bible. And he's suggesting that pastors infiltrate city councils, school boards, county commissions, and change it all from the inside.
Now my question is, how is it possible that these churches, having now broken down the wall between church and state, are still protected from having to pay taxes?
Here's the Supreme Court rationale for ruling in favor of relieving churches from paying taxes in a 1970 decision in Walz v Tax Commission of NYC:
"...the exemptions for religious organizations created only a minimal and remote involvement between church and state, and far less of an involvement than would be created by taxation of churches, and the effect of the exemptions was thus not an excessive government entanglement with religion."
In other words, as long as church and state were kept separate, churches could avoid paying taxes.
But, as always, Confederates want it both ways. They want to remain free from any governmental influence, laws, or controls, including taxation, but want to be free themselves to exert influence and control over governmental departments and policies.
This is some scary shit, folks. Oh, and don't miss the fact that David Lane and his group have been kowtowed to by a select passel of GOP presidential candidates including Cruz, Jindal, Huckabee, and Li'l Randy. These people see nothing wrong, apparently, with throwing out the Constitution and replacing it with the Bible.
So wonderful to see the symbol of racism, hatred, and enslavement come down.
And since I'm on about religion and the right this morning, here's a reminder from Mark Twain himself about the connection between religion and slavery.
In his autobiography, Twain recalls that, as a boy, he saw nothing wrong with the institution of slavery, "...No one arraigned it in my hearing; the local papers said nothing against it; the local pulpit taught us that God approved it, that it was a holy thing, and that the doubter need only look in the Bible if he wished to settle his mind — and then the texts were read aloud to us to make the matter sure; if the slaves themselves had an aversion to slavery they were wise and said nothing."
And well they didn't. Had they said anything, every pastor in the state would have ordered their hanging. But they'd have made that declaration from the pulpit, during Sunday services, and in the nicest of possible ways. Church, tea, crumpets, a nice cobbler, and a lynching. A good old fashioned Sunday morning in Confederate America.
Organized religion has been a scourge on humankind. For any benefit a true sense of spiritual religion has conferred on humanity, and it's been significant, the downside has been far more influential and devastating.
And the GOP is helping to make sure that those who wish to continue to inflict pain and suffering under guise of religion are given free rein to do so. Votes matter. The horde is coming and they're bringing the scourge with them.
Best be ready.
Marie,
Love that picture of Nikki Haley signing the bill to take down the Slave State Flag. Nice how they made the black legislators sit in the back of the bus while the white guys stand right behind the governor.
Re: the Doofus.
I think it may just be dawning on people that the appellation "The smart Bush" does not indicate any excess of brainpower. It just means "Not quite as doltish as the others".
Kinda like the carpenter who hammers the nail just a little more often than he hits his thumb.
Safari, good rant. And great clip. Love 'em both.
Yup, Jeb! wants to make sure those lazy ass workers keep it up, work those long hours to make things better. For him. He might need another vacation house or two, and they better not take any bathroom breaks while they're building it either. He'll probably let them sleep a few hours, but then it's back to work. For a guy who hasn't worked a day in his life.
In just the same way that his brother made sure all those soldiers went off to fight and die for a war he based on lies, because when it was his turn to fight, he deserted. Even though he was protected from actually having to put himself in harm's way, he made sure of it. He ran away. But that's okay. When they came back, at least the ones still alive, he charged them $170,000 to let them hear him and his wife drone on about "Duty" or "Sacrifice". Of which he knows neither.
The Republican Way.
"Organized religion has been a scourge on humankind. For any benefit a true sense of spiritual religion has conferred on humanity, and it's been significant, the downside has been far more influential and devastating." (Akhilleus)
The longer I live the more I see that this is true (the great architecture, & paintings not withstanding). I continue to be baffled that science, in so many circles, takes a back seat (or is denied entirely) and the belief in religious dogma seems to be getting stronger. And yet we read that many more people are NOT religious. Perhaps your example of the pastors in Florida is an anomaly –––perhaps they will die a natural death from lack of followers––yet––there's that voice, like yours, that tells me the "horde is coming...best be ready."
Praise Jesus!