The Commentariat -- July 12, 2015
Internal links & defunct video removed.
Afternoon Update:
George Jahn & Matthew Lee of the AP: "Negotiators at the Iran nuclear talks plan to announce Monday that they've reached a historic deal capping nearly a decade of diplomacy that would curb the country's atomic program in return for sanctions relief, two diplomats told The Associated Press on Sunday."
Richard Cowan of Reuters: "Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, interviewed on the 'Fox News Sunday' television program, said the Senate is unlikely to confirm any U.S. ambassador to Havana nominated by [President] Obama. McConnell added, 'There are sanctions that were imposed by Congress. I think the administration will have a hard time getting those removed. This is a policy that there is substantial opposition to in Congress.'"
Mark Hensch of the Hill: "'Meet the Press' on Sunday aired a video documenting GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's various changes of heart on campaign issues. The clip -- titled 'Trump vs. Trump' -- shows the New York business mogul shifting his stances on abortion, ObamaCare and even Hillary Clinton, his potential Democratic rival in 2016. 'One of the reasons Trump is breaking through this year thought is because people feel they know where he stands,' says 'Meet the Press' host Chuck Todd in the video." CW: Which means that the Village People got together & sanctioned anti-Donald talk.
Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "Dealing with legislation at home was supposed to be the low-drama part of [Gov. Scott] Walker's year. Instead, things ... in Madison have been in turmoil for months -- a complication for a governor building his presidential candidacy around his ability to get things done. Walker has spent much of the year feuding not only with Democrats -- a fight he relishes -- but also with fellow Republicans over proposals such as the Bucks' arena.... [Walker] has pushed hard to use $250 million in taxpayer money to pay for a new professional basketball arena for the Milwaukee Bucks...."
*****
Sean McElwee of Salon: Studies show that the only people whose policy preferences matter are rich, white men. In fact, if you're a woman, there's a negative correlation between what you want & what you get. Researcher Nicholas Stephanopoulos: "As male support increases from 0 percent to 100 percent, the odds of policy enactment rise from about 0 percent to about 90 percent. But as female support varies over the same range, the likelihood of adoption falls from roughly 80 percent to roughly 10 percent. When men and women disagree, then, stronger female backing for a policy seems entirely futile." Even Democrats favor the preferences of whites.
Erik Eckholm of the New York Times: "A federal trial opening in Winston-Salem on Monday is meant to determine whether recent, sweeping changes in [North Carolina's] election laws discriminate against black voters. These changes were adopted by the Republican-dominated state legislature in 2013, immediately after the United States Supreme Court struck down the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 when it ended a requirement that nine states with histories of discrimination, including North Carolina, get federal approval before altering their election laws. But the case, as well as one involving a Texas law requiring voters to show a photo ID, could have far wider repercussions, legal experts say -- helping to define the scope of voting rights protections across the country in the coming presidential election and beyond."
Propublica, republished in Salon, interviews Sonia "Sotomayor biographer Joan Biskupic on the long, tortured history of Fisher v. Texas, [the affirmative action case,] and why it's being reheard." CW: Has some interesting inside-the-Court back-and-forth. As many have said, the Court's agreement to rehear the case doesn't bode well for affirmative-action considerations.
God News
Jim Yardley & Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "Having returned to his native Latin America, [Pope] Francis has renewed his left-leaning critiques on the inequalities of capitalism, describing it as an underlying cause of global injustice, and a prime cause of climate change. Francis escalated that line last week when he made a historic apology for the crimes of the Roman Catholic Church during the period of Spanish colonialism -- even as he called for a global movement against a 'new colonialism' rooted in an inequitable economic order. The Argentine pope seemed to be asking for a social revolution." ...
... CW: I'll bet John Boehner is really, really glad he invited Francis to speak to a joint session of Congress this fall. Maybe Francis will endorse Bernie for president.
Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Seventh-day Adventists voted Wednesday that individual regions of the 18 million-member Protestant denomination cannot choose to ordain female ministers." Via Steve Benen.
Jon Schuppe of MSNBC: "A group of more than 600 churches has joined a small but growing movement within the religious community to call for and end to the war on drugs through legalization. The New England Conference of The United Methodist Church, representing more than 600 congregations, voted last month to support efforts to address the nation's drug abuse problem through 'means other than prohibition.'" Via Benen.
Presidential Race
** Nate Cohn of the New York Times had a conversation with Bernie Sanders. Sanders "believes he can mobilize a working-class coalition spanning ideological divides.... Few, if any, recent Democratic candidates represented the economic, populist left. The anti-establishment candidate of the last four competitive primaries all featured challenges from intellectual, professional-class liberals. [Jerry] Brown, [Bill] Bradley, [John] Dean and [Barack] Obama -- each educated at some point at an Ivy League university -- all fared well in Marin County, Calif., and Greenwich, Conn.; none appealed much to voters in the Appalachians or along the Rio Grande. Even the candidate who came closest to running as a populist, John Edwards, fared best among voters in Iowa and South Carolina who made more than $100,000 per year.... But so far, Mr. Sanders's support looks a lot like the liberal coalitions assembled by those other candidates." ...
... Todd Gitlin, in a New York Times op-ed, on "the Bernie Sanders moment." CW: BTW, Todd, one need not have been a hippie to support Sanders' agenda. It's about fairness to the all Americans, which is good for the country.
Sanders-Lite. Michael Grunwald of Politico: "In a speech Monday at the famously progressive New School in lower Manhattan, [Hillary] Clinton will lay out her economic theory of the case, and her main theory is that the incomes of 'everyday Americans' have remained too low for too long. At a moment when the left wing of the Democratic Party is flexing its muscles -- and flocking to the rallies of her socialist challenger, Bernie Sanders -- she will stick with the liberal populism that has dominated the opening months of her campaign, contrasting the good times on Wall Street and corporate boardrooms with the wage stagnation of the middle class. But an outline of the speech provided by a campaign aide suggested that she will strike less of a rabble-rousing tone than Sanders, challenging 'top-down' Republican policies without suggesting that capitalism is inherently rigged against families on the bottom."
Paul Krugman: "Maybe we were unfair to Mitt Romney; Jeb 'people should work longer hours' Bush is making him look like a model of empathy for the less fortunate.... Partly it's Bush trying to defend his foolish 4 percent growth claim; but it's also, I'm almost certain, coming out of the 'nation of takers' dogma that completely dominates America's right wing." ...
... KISS. Tom Boggioni of the Raw Story: Jeb! told the New Hampshire Union Leader that Obama's problem was that he used too many "big syllable" words & too much nuance, which together created "chaos" in the world. "Bush then advocated for more blunt and simple type of statesmanship -- reminiscent of the style of his brother, former President George W. Bush as well as Vice President Dick Cheney -- in dealing with world." CW: Yes, best to leave international policy to monosyllabic dimwits.
I think everybody knows that he's right. -- Former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer (R) on Donald Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants
Everybody except those pesky people who care about facts. -- Constant Weader
... The Arizona Republic is so excited about Donald Trump's appearance in Phoenix (Saturday afternoon) that it's liveblogging his speech. A lady out in front of the arena has a professionally-made sign that reads "Trump/Arpaio/2016/Make American Narcissistic Again". ...
... CW: Apparently Trump missed his attendance estimates by a bit. His campaign had predicted 9,000 would attend the rally. Ben Schreckinger of Politico puts the number in attendance at 4,000. "[This crowd today blows away anything that Bernie Sanders has gotten,' Trump said (10,000 people recently came out to cheer Sanders in Madison, Wisconsin)." Schreckinger has expanded his story since first posting it. ...
I'm, like, a really smart person. -- Donald Trump, speaking in Phoenix
... Zeke Miller of Time has more stupid/inaccurate stuff Trump said at the rally. ...
... Rory Carroll of the Guardian has a comprehensive report. ...
... Maxwell Tani of Business Insider: Trump made two "surreal" speeches yesterday, the first in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oh, & the 4,000 at Phoenix; according to Trump's campaign it was actually 15,000. CW: Schreckinger wrote that the venue holds only about 2,100, but Trump claimed the fire marshalls allowed him to pack the room. If so, shame on the marshalls. ...
... Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone: "David Letterman made a surprise visit to Martin Short and Steve Martin's A Very Stupid Conversation stage show Friday night in San Antonio, and the former Late Show host used the opportunity to gleefully mock beleaguered presidential hopeful Donald Trump."
Josh Voorhees of Slate: If Ohio Gov. John Kasich makes it to the GOP debate stage, he could pose more problems for the candidates than will Donald Trump. It's easy for candidates to separate themselves from Trump's outrageous rhetoric, but Kasich's more nuanced views on immigration reform might force other candidates to be specific about their proposals.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Daniel Politi of Slate: "During an event to mark the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, the Duke of Edinburgh lost patience with a photographer: 'Just take the fucking picture!' TV cameras caught the moment that showed him looking 'visibly distressed' while 'grandson Prince William laughed at his outburst,' reports the Press Association. The photographer didn't seem very offended and seconds later can be heard saying, 'eyes on me.'" CW: Hey, if you're a 94-year-old guy married to the Queen of England, you can can whatever the fuck you want.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Joaquín Guzmán Loera, the infamous Mexican drug kingpin whose capture last year had been trumpeted by his country's government as a crucial victory in the bloody campaign against the narcotics trade, escaped from a maximum-security prison through a tunnel that led from a shower, Mexican security officials said on Sunday. The government detailed the escape in a news conference early Sunday. Mr. Guzmán, known by the nickname El Chapo, or Shorty, absconded through a passage tall enough for a person to stand upright and equipped with overhead lighting and a motorcycle on rails likely used to transport digging equipment and haul out dirt." ...
... Los Angeles Times: "It is the second time Guzman, head of the Sinaloa cartel, Mexico's largest and most lucrative trafficker of heroin, cocaine and marijuana, has been able to flee jail. The first time was 2001, from a different prison, when he famously hid in a laundry cart, and he remained a fugitive -- albeit sometimes a public one -- until his arrest last year. Guzman's escape is a major embarrassment for the administration of President Enrique Peña Nieto, which has prided itself for having taken down a string of top cartel leaders."
New York Times: "With just hours left for a deal to keep Greece in Europe's common currency, European finance ministers resumed negotiations Sunday after a day of fruitless talks and indicated that a decision on whether to cut Greece adrift or open the way for a new bailout would be left to a meeting later in the day of the the leaders of the 19 countries that use the euro." ...
... Washington Post UPDATE: "Bitterly divided European financial officials failed to agree on a path forward to save Greece on Sunday afternoon, passing the baton to a higher-level summit this evening of the 19 leaders of the euro zone to decide the fate of a country on the brink of financial collapse.... It was now up to Europe's leaders -- chiefly, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Françios Hollande -- to attempt to forge a compromise on how and whether to push forward on what would be Greece's third bailout in five years."
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Reader Comments (11)
Speaking of the Donald, watched last night "You've Been Trumped"
from Netflix. I thought he was not a nice person from hearing things
about him for the last 20 years or so. Now I'm quite sure he is the
number one jerk running for POTUS. He goes into Scotland (home
of my ancestors) and has the gaul to tell people who have been living
in their 200 year old homes that they are pigs living in hovels, and I
want these houses and all of these farm implements gone, because
when people look out from my high rise hotel they don't want to see
200 year old hovels. And, "does anyone have a mirror? have to check my hair before we keep filming". Jerk isn't quite descriptive
enough, but what I'm thinking is unprintable. Yikes, we decided to
move to Canada, or Italy, if he comes even close to being elected.
Message to D.T. from God:
Don't make me come down there and trump your game of cards, Mr. "I am the greatest." Weeks ago I had to address that miscreant, Huckabee, and now it seems I have to do the same to you. What people don't seem to get through their noggin is ––I AM RETIRED!. After centuries of working my butt off––no weekends for me–-I finally called it a day after the last World War; apparent evidence my influence was nonexistent. Yet you people keep praying––I have drawers of prayers and sometimes on dark days I read them and weep. But I digress: You, Donald––I may call you Donald? are–– and here I completely shed my god-like demeanor–– a dunce, a doofus, an embarrassment, and a first class bully bullshitter. My powers as I said are nil but I am still capable of some sly slight of hand now and then and it appears that that now and then has arrived. You apparently think having lots of money gives you carte blanche to run roughshod over those you deem below you. Well, let me remind you ––and I speak from experience––(( I am still above you) that kind of power can destroy a man as well as a god. Heed my words, Mr. Trump, time is running out.
P.S. Did you catch Letterman's ten things about you? Since Dave is also retired he and I put that little guffaw together one rainy afternoon while drinking a fine Cabernet and nibbling on some stinky cheese.
Jeb! says: " It means that people need to work longer hours and, through their productivity, gain more income for their families. That’s the only way we’re going to get out of this rut that we’re in.”
One of his main flaws is believing that a worker's productivity gains will translate into income gains. Sounds good and logical but not what has happened in the last 35 years.
@Nisky Guy: I'm not a bit certain that Bush "believ[es] that a worker's productivity gains will translate into income gains." In fact, I don't think he favors workers' income gains at all. He wants Americans to work longer for the same wages. Yes, they'll have more income for every hour they work -- unless the bosses cut their hourly rates -- but their quality of life will decrease; not only will they have less leisure time (& more illness), prices of goods & services they need will rise as their ability to pay increases.
Jeb!'s plan is a plan to increase income inequality, not to decrease it. It is the GOP economic plan, proposed in tandem with flatter taxes, less regulation, etc.
Marie
@Marie. Perhaps I should have said "...puts out words that could be construed to mean..." I agree with all you say, but I can hear the talking heads saying he meant what I wrote above. Jeb! and his ilk are responsible for the workers not seeing the rewards of productivity gains. He also doesn't seem aware that there are many out there already working multiple jobs trying to make ends meet.
Au contraire mon cher PD,
Le Donald is a gift from heaven. The best thing that has happened to Progressivism in many years. Long have we waited for the paper thin veneer of sanity, civility, and morality to fall from those few wingers still masquerading as decent human beings. We could not ask them more clearly to identify themselves, short of wearing aluminum foil headgear. Icing on the cake: The Chump is so astonishing stupid that it is child's play to refute his every utterance. And if anything like a significant minority of Americans are stupid and vicious enough to fall for his crap... (Now where did I put my Swiss visa? Sehr gut. Ich habe es gefunden.)
While I am thrilled that "il nuovo Papa" is addressing issues - never before (yes?) originating from the Vatican - I am still waiting for Francis to incorporate the topic of over-population . . . inseparable (IMO) from - and critical to - all other stated concerns. Ophelia M.
I'm stuck in a nursing home with a man from Colombia who never watches anyththing but Fox "News." He says it's because Fox tells the "troot" while everyone else lies. He's also a minister of some evangelical religion. You'll never convince these people to listen to facts. Fortunately he leaves tomorrow but I'm sure whover takes his place will be the same.
@Ophelia M. Good point. Early this year, in response to a reporter's question, Francis did at least peripherally address the issue, then he decided to walk it back.
Francis is a smart guy, so he certainly understands the relationship between climate change & overpopulation, but at least as of January, he hadn't hit on an answer.
Marie
Thank you, Marie, for the ('like rabbits') link: I had missed that one. And, yes - definitely a walk-back. Not to mention (though I will :)) the referencing of 'ways to limit births without resourcing ("resorting"?) to contraceptives', and the birth of children as 'a real gift of God'. "Organized religion" can inflict such havoc.
@Marie: Climate change will take care of overpopulation.