The Commentariat -- March 11, 2015
Internal links removed.
The Senate's Forty-Seven Percent
Are Way More Irresponsible than Mitt's 47 Percent
Dana Milbank: "... 47 Republican senators did their level best to bring us closer to war by writing a letter to Iran's mullahs, attempting to scuttle nuclear talks with the United States.... It's ... as if they're operating their own independent republic on Capitol Hill. Call it the State of Republicania.... On Tuesday, the day after his letter to Hezbollah's masters became public, Cotton provided a clue about his motives: He'd had a breakfast date with the National Defense Industrial Association -- a trade group for Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing and the like.... The event was 'off the record and strictly non-attribution.' But you can bet it was what Dwight Eisenhower meant when he warned of the military-industrial complex." Read the whole column. ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer & Julie Davis of the New York Times: "Democrats say that as concerned as they are about an emerging deal with Iran, Republicans' extraordinary moves to undermine Mr. Obama's efforts to reach an agreement are weakening their resolve to cross party lines and challenge their own president.... On Tuesday, Democrats took to the Senate floor to denounce the letter to Iran. Noting that she had opposed the war in Iraq under President George W. Bush, Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, her voice shaking with rage, said, 'I never would have sent a letter to Saddam Hussein.'" ...
... Greg Jaffe & Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post: "Many in the GOP foreign policy establishment, meanwhile, expressed disappointment over the increasingly partisan nature of U.S. foreign policy. Former senator Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who previously served as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, described Cotton's letter as 'an unfortunate venture' and said he would have advised the freshman senator and Army veteran not to send it." ...
.. Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "A day after releasing a letter that potentially threatened the administration's negotiations with Iran, some Republicans who signed on are realizing it was a bad call." ...
... It Was Supposed to Be a Hilarious Joke! Republican aides were taken aback by what they thought was a lighthearted attempt to signal to Iran and the public that Congress should have a role in the ongoing nuclear discussions. Two GOP aides separately described their letter as a 'cheeky' reminder of the congressional branch's prerogatives. 'The administration has no sense of humor when it comes to how weakly they have been handling these negotiations,' said a top GOP Senate aide. ...
... Andy Borowitz: "Stating that 'their continuing hostilities are a threat to world peace,' Iran has offered to mediate talks between congressional Republicans and President Obama." ...
... Steve M.: "... Republicans don't care about advancing an agenda. They just care about keeping their fans pumped up and enraged." ...
... Mehdi Khalaji in Politico Magazine: "Thanks, Tom Cotton. You Just Got Us a Hard-line Supreme Leader. The next Iranian ruler could reject a deal just as easily as the next U.S. president. He probably will." ...
... MEANWHILE, in Politico, Burgess Everett writes a piece describing Cotton as a "GOP phenom." ...
... AND Michael Crowley of Politico shows that Congressional Democrats, too, have communicated with foreign leaders over the years in attempts to mitigate presidential policies. CW: What's remarkable about Crowley's piece -- though Crowley doesn't in any way acknowledge it, is that in every case he cites, Democrats were attempting to advance prospects for peace. The Senate's 47 percent, obviously, are intent upon leading us closer to use of force. Even a person who believes that regulations on business should be eliminated, that climate change is a hoax, that Mitt's 47 percent are moochers, that entitlements should be cut, that abortion should be punishable by death & that there should be an arsenal in every home, should vote Democratic because Democrats want to keep Americans out of wars whenever possible. ...
Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. -- U.S. Constitution, Article III, Section 3
... Mark Klaiman of the Washington Monthly explains what "treason" is as defined by the U.S. Constitution: "... even if you think -- contrary to any evidence I'm aware of -- that Cotton & Co. were trying to damage the United States as well as actually damaging the United States -- that still wouldn't amount to 'treason' in the Constitutional sense of that term.... Please don't call them 'traitors.' For that crime, they lacked the opportunity, the intention, and the guts." ...
... Philip Weiss of MondoWeiss speculates on who actually wrote that letter attributed to Tom-Tim Cotton: "I don't know who wrote the letter, but I can tell you whose fingerprints are on it: the only folks who are supporting it publicly, the hard-right Israel lobby. Even as Cotton himself splutters on national television, rightwing lobby groups are the main voices out there defending the letter." Thanks to Keith H. for the link.
Unfortunately, Obama Will Not Be Taking Your (Armor-Piercing) Bullets Away. At This Time. Tim Devaney of the Hill: "The Obama administration is backing off its plan to ban a type of armor-piercing ammunition following a deluge of criticism from gun rights groups and congressional Republicans. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said Tuesday it will not ban bullets commonly used in AR-15 hunting rifles 'at this time,' after receiving more than 80,000 comments on the proposal.... Democrats and gun control groups blasted the move, accusing the administration of caving. 'It's shameful that the gun lobby has, yet again, successfully worked to block an effort that would keep our communities safer from the threat of gun violence,' said Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.).... Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) threatened to practically defund the ATF in an agency meeting last week. 'I explained to the ATF that if they continued to interfere with law-abiding Americans' Second Amendment rights, they were going to have a very bad budget year,' he told The Hill."
John Eligon of the New York Times: "The city manager of Ferguson, whom a Department of Justice report blamed as one of the officials responsible for much of the questionable conduct by the police and the courts here, has agreed to resign. The announcement came during a City Council meeting here on Tuesday, about a week after the scathing Justice Department report. The manager, John Shaw, 39, had held the post since 2007. As Ferguson's chief executive, he is the city's most powerful official." ...
... Two Americas. Just watch this. Hold onto your jaw, as you're likely to drop it:
Lifestyles of Congressional Crooks. Da Bears! Jake Sherman & Anna Palmer of Politico (March 9): "Illinois Rep. Aaron Schock reported on federal campaign finance documents that he spent more than $3,000 on software on Nov. 14. But in fact, the expenditure was part of the cost of flying in a software executive's private plane to a Chicago Bears game and his district, the pilot and company executive said." ...
... Jake Sherman: Schock "argued that if the media spent time digging into the spending of other lawmakers -- like they have his -- reporters would 'find a story to write about any member of Congress.'"
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Charles Pierce has another go at Politico "reporting."
Presidential Race
Anne Gearan & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post: "Hillary Rodham Clinton acknowledged Tuesday that she had erred in using only a private e-mail server for work correspondence at the State Department, saying that she sent about 60,000 e-mails from her private account during her four-year tenure as secretary of state":
... In her presser, she also whacks the 47 senators. Alan Yuhas of the Guardian reports on her comments re: the senators. ...
... The Washington Post has the transcript of Clinton's remarks. ...
... Paul Richter & David Lauter of the Los Angeles Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton directed aides to delete some 30,000 emails from her personal server after determining that they were not related to work, the former secretary of State disclosed at a news conference Tuesday." That's the lede.
... Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Hillary Clinton failed to quell mounting criticism over her controversial private email account on Tuesday evening after her office suggested she had erased more than half of her emails before turning them over for release to the American public. In a statement released after a press conference intended to end a week-long controversy, Clinton's office said that she did not preserve 31,830 of the 62,320 emails she sent and received while serving as Barack Obama's secretary of state from 2009 to 2013." ...
... To Avoid Bad Press, Clinton Pisses off Media. Peter Nichols & Natalie Andrews of the Wall Street Journal: "Mrs. Clinton chose to address the media at the United Nations, a venue with a strict media vetting and credentialing policy that has presented tough challenges for the reporters scrambling to cover her news conference. Reporters were given little advance notice that Mrs. Clinton would speak publicly today at the United Nations, where she is headlining the United Nations women's conference. In the small UN press credentialing office, staff charged with issuing credentials were overwhelmed by dozens of reporters.... The line moved slowly; tempers were short." ...
... So here's one pissed-off reporter, Maggie Haberman, who wrote what is now (10:20 pm ET Tuesday) an online front-page story for the New York Times: "Mrs. Clinton's attempt to put a whirlwind of questions and critical news reports behind her -- and to get back to mustering enthusiasm ahead of her expected announcement that she will make another run at the White House -- devolved, over the course of 21 minutes, into an exchange of sharp-toned questions and increasingly defensive responses, both in what she said and in her demeanor in saying it.... She asked the public to trust her: to take her word that the 30,000-odd emails that she said she had deleted were truly personal, not professional or political; truly private, not merely embarrassing." ...
... As Steve M. points out, John Harris of Politico is appalled that a presidential candidate would, as Harris puts it, tell the media to "go to hell." Because, ya know, Republicans would never be critical of the media. ...
... CW: AND here's the funny, funny thing: Republicans don't pay for their diatribes against the media the way Hillary did with her "tight-lipped" presser. Maybe here would be a good place to point out that Haberman worked for Politico until January of this year. ...
... CW: Here's a question: what kind of incriminating content do critics think Clinton is hiding? That she said Barack Obama had cooties? That she confessed she didn't care Americans died in Benghazi? The woman is a control freak; I doubt she writes down her dark thoughts. ...
... Another question for anyone who has owned a Blackberry. Clinton said in her presser that "she had used a single account on one mobile phone for 'convenience', adding: 'I thought using one device would be simpler, and obviously, it hasn't worked out that way.'" Um, can't you put more than one e-mail account on a Blackberry? ...
... Ashe Schow of the Washington Examiner: "At a press conference on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said the server that housed her emails while she was secretary of state (that was reportedly housed at her home in New York) was set up for President Bill Clinton. She also said that some of the 'personal' emails she deleted were between her and her husband. But just before Hillary began the press conference at the United Nations building, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bill Clinton does not use email." ...
... Laura Meckler of the Wall Street Journal: "Bill Clinton doesn't use email." ...
... Scott Shane of the New York Times: "'I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email,' Mrs. Clinton said at a news conference on Tuesday at the United Nations. 'I'm certainly well aware of the classification requirements and did not send classified material.' But some secrecy experts and former government officials on Tuesday were skeptical, noting the interesting turnabout that had a former top official insisting, for once, that none of her exchanges were secret." ...
... David Graham of the Atlantic: "... I thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and personal emails," [Hillary] Clinton said. 'Looking back, it would've been better if I’d simply used a second email account and carried a second phone.' Yet as recently as two weeks ago, she told journalist Kara Swisher that she carried two phones during at least part of her tenure as secretary of state. Clinton also argued that because most of her work-related emails were sent to other people using official government accounts, they were being recorded, anyway. But some of the communication that has aroused the most interest is her communiqués with close staffers including Huma Abedin, who appears to have used her own account on Clinton's personal server." ...
... Timothy Lee of Vox: In her press conference, Clinton said there were no security breaches to her homebrew e-mail server. "The reality is that if there were a security breach, there's no reason to think she would know about it. If a foreign intelligence agency had managed to hack into her server, they wouldn't have told anyone. Instead, they would have silently collected copies of her communications and send them back home for analysis."
** Greg Sargent: "Lurking underneath the searing controversy around the GOP letter to Iranian leaders is a dynamic that will far outlast the current headlines...: If President Obama reaches an international deal curbing Iran's nuclear program, all of the 2016 GOP presidential candidates will likely campaign on a pledge to cancel it.... All signs are that the 2016 GOP candidates will shape their agendas largely around rolling back Obama accomplishments on a number of fronts."
Ed O'Keefe & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: Jebbie & Scottie are out on the new playground calling each other names.
Dave Weigel: Michigan Republicans are preparing once again to rig the Electoral College. Their vote-splitting "bill represents a new flush of Republican chutzpah." And there's a good chance they'll get away with it this time.
Beyond the Beltway
S. P. Sullivan of NJ Advance Media: "New Jersey may end up spending as much money on legal fees from a controversial settlement with Exxon Mobil as it will dedicate toward environmental programs, documents show. Roughly $50 million -- one fifth of a $225 million settlement between the state and the oil giant over pollution at their facilities in New Jersey -- could go toward payment to an outside counsel if the agreement is approved by a judge." ...
... Matt Arco of NJ Advance Media: "Gov. Chris Christie says the controversial settlement agreement with Exxon Mobil is 'actually a really nice settlement,' and blasted The New York Times for not getting its facts straight when the newspaper first reported the agreement. The governor, speaking today at a town hall event in Somerville, stressed the $225 million the oil giant agreed to pay is on top of the billions Exxon will dole out to pay for cleanup at contaminated sites in New Jersey." ...
... Flim-flam Man. Kate Zernicke & Benjamin Weiser of the New York Times: "Mr. Christie, on Tuesday, in citing Exxon's obligation to 'fix what they created' without a limit on cost, was referring to the provisions of a 1991 consent order that Exxon reached with the state to clean up the contaminated refinery sites.... But New Jersey's 2004 lawsuits covered different issues, seeking recovery for damages to the state's natural resources and for their loss of use to the public."
Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "A witness to the fatal police shooting of a naked, unarmed man here said Tuesday that the man had approached the officer with his hands in the air, prompting the frightened officer to shoot at close range with a handgun."
Today in Post-Racial America. Amanda Holpuch of the Guardian: "University of Oklahoma's president has expelled two students who led others in racist chants in a video that drove the school to close a fraternity. School president David Boren said Tuesday that the students had created a 'hostile learning environment' while leading a chant at an event hosted by the the school's branch of Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) -- one of the largest fraternities in the US.... Boren, a former Oklahoma governor and US senator, ordered the fraternity house shut down on Monday. The two students have until Friday to contest their expulsion." ...
... Susan Svrluga of the Washington Post: One of the expelled frat brothers apologizes; the other lets his parents do it for him. Turns out he's "a good boy" and "not a racist." The post reprints the statements.
... Eugene Volokh, who's kind of an oddball winger, argues that expelling the students violates their First Amendment rights. CW: However, the content of the chant, which Volokh reproduces, suggests to me that the students are doing more than using a racial epithet & incendiary racist imagery; the chanters declare they will never allow black men to becomes members of SAE. That is discriminatory, & racial discrimination is not lawful. If the members are allowed to vote on whom to admit to the fraternity, as is customary, then it seems to me the chanters don't get a First Amendment pass, though Volokh argues otherwise: "I don't think that a discussion saying that discrimination ought to take place, or even that at some unspecified time it will take place, would suffice to constitute a violation of the antidiscrimination rules, though it might be used as evidence in a future case where discrimination against a particular applicant might be alleged." He might be right. ...
... Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post has more on the students' legal case. CW: AND he addresses a question I had as soon as I read Volokh's analysis: does OU have a student code of ethics that the SAE boys violated? Does the code itself violate the First Amendment? ...
... The Paula Dean of Housemothers. Oklahoma Daily (the OU campus paper): "A video surfaced Monday evening appearing to depict OU's Sigma Alpha Epsilon house mom. The Feb. 24, 2013 Vine, shows a woman who appears to be Beauton Gilbow saying the n-word repeatedly. The Daily identified Gilbow by comparing the Vine to her GoFundMe page, which was created to raise funds for her after Sigma Alpha Epsilon's closure resulted in her sudden joblessness. The campaign page has since been taken down." Includes video. ...
... This is precious. Pete Volk of Oklahoma City News 9, in an earlier interview: “'Did you ever get any indication there was anything like this going on?' News 9's Kelly Ogle asked [Gilbow]. 'No, no, no. Never heard the song,' Gilbow responded." She is, according to the report, "a longtime friend" of legendary OU football coach Barry Switzer.
News Ledes
New York Times: "The Obama administration said Wednesday that it would provide another $75 million in nonlethal aid to Ukraine's military. It also imposed sanctions against a handful of pro-Russian separatists and others blamed for fomenting the civil war that has torn apart Ukraine's eastern regions."
Washington Post: "The Italian weather Website MeteoWeb reports that Capracotta, Italy saw 100.8 inches of snow in just 18 hours on Thursday, March 5 -- a total that, if verified, would set a new world record for snowfall in a 24-hour period."
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Reader Comments (18)
As someone totally unqualified to be a Republican member of Congress, let me say something logical. While there is no way to know about what emails were deleted, as S of S, one might assume that all related emails were sent to other government people meaning that the emails all still exist. What, she commented about the situation in Benghazi to her cousin, not the State Dept? Beyond stupid.
And of course the MSM are much more interested in this drivel than the most disgusting act in Congress in modern history.
Re: Hanks lip sync. Getting paid is one thing, keeping the respect of his children Truman and Elizabeth Ann is the tradeoff.
I found this link on the likely origins of the 47 Senator Iran letter interesting and plausible:
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/03/israel-fingerprints-republican
Best,
Keith Howard
This is interesting
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/03/dhs-funding-main-street-alliance-ads-115905.html
A GOP "mainstream" group is running this ad in the rush-hour prime time, for Cong. Barbara Comstock (R-VA), telling people to thank her for saving them from the bullies in congress who wanted to deny DHS funding in order to force the President to drop his immigration initiatives. In other media markets, the same ad names different congresspersons.
You have to listen to the ad a few times to get beyond the weird feeling of hearing GOP spox calling the GOP TP Reps "bullies."
Apparently some of the 75 House GOPers who voted for the clean DHS bill feel that they need to pre-empt attacks on their patriotism, but just can't abandon the name-calling and character-bashing that is typical of campaign ads. Or stand up for themselves, since these "interest group" ads all disclaim any coordination with any party, person, or office.
Interesting, also, is that in most respects Rep. Comstock looks pretty much like one of the newest TP members -- but her district has plenty of federal employees and contractors (i.e. lots of DHS-based paychecks). Must be tough to be her.
Re; jawbone of a couple of asses,
Ok, watched the video. Did some research. Questions and answers.
Why is Meg Ryan on Fox News?
That is not Meg Ryan.
Her name is Megyn Reagan. She calls the faithful to pray each and every day.
She is not Muslim?
No.
She is hot?
So say about fifty percent of the media descriptions of her.
Does she have a fever?
Seemingly.
GQ mag has a photo spread of her trying to stay cool by layering, she's down to the last layer in the photos.
She's a layer by profession?
That's lawyer.
When did WSJ start hiring pinheads?
Don't know. I thought they reported financial news.
Was the video educational?
Very.
What did you learn?
Megyn and pinhead nod up and down at the same time.
The Cotton controversy: In Everette's article linked above we have this:
"“To suggest, like some have, that Tom Cotton hasn’t been here long enough to comment on foreign policy?” said Sen. Richard Burr, chairman of the Intelligence Committee, on which Cotton serves. “That’s a pretty bold statement to make about somebody who’s gone, been shot at, defended his buddies and, more importantly, defended the country.” And John Cornyn saying "By virtue of his [Cotton's] military service he's got a lot of credibility."
SO–––there you have it. Serve in the military, get shot at and by gum, you is ready for prime time on da foreign service committee. It's those big brass balls one acquires when donning a uniform and fighting for our freedom. Makes you real smart on foreign policy. Amazing!
Oh, and McCain signing that damn letter because, "hey, I sign a lot of letters, this one seemed plausible."
From yesterday: Got such a kick out of Achilleus' list of tweeterers. How good to be able to laugh at such crazy antics. And speaking of crazy, I still haven't picked up my jaw after watching Megyn Kelly and her esteemed guest who is full of shit.
Those 47 assholes who wrote the letter are not precisely "seditious"; they are not legally "traitors", but they certainly are too treacherous to think of engaging them in any interaction. They demonstrate their ignorance; normal people would avoid such people. Stupid, dangerous, not reality based, unpredictable. In any community, don't these people get locked up, sooner rather than later?
Scott Walker again flouts his lack of foreign policy experience by approving of the 47 senators' letter:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2015/03/10/jeb-bush-scott-walker-weigh-in-on-gop-senators-letter-to-iran/
Well, Jeb praised it too, but I've yet to see evidence that he's as stupid as Walker.
I diligently avoid Tom Friedman but....his column today is worth reading. Recently I called Netanyahu a fascist asshole. A rabbi acquaintance wrote back, "Asshole yes fascist no." Reading Friedman today I think I was right on both counts. Netanyahu is but one step away from the classic definition of a fascist and with the help of Adelson, Kristol and their ilk he will achieve that last step.
Oh here we go again with the "GOP phenom" shit. Yeah, didn't they call Ted Cruz that, too?
Puh-leez, Cotton is just one more pricky little ill-mannered dipshit yahoo with the nerve of a bad tooth. Just like Ted Cruz. Both are that creepy kid in junior high who stirs up trouble every day just to get attention and then flames out when people get wise to his game.
His military service does not qualify him as a foreign policy expert any more than his degree from Harvard makes him smart. Media, please move on. Gohmert was more entertaining.
Here's the link to Friedman's column.
Marie
This is interesting:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/03/10/the-science-of-protecting-peoples-feelings-why-we-pretend-all-opinions-are-equal/
Experiments indicate that people in groups tend to give credence to opinions of members who don't perceive facts correctly, possibly because we don't want to alienate them.
Key word here is "groups" which in context means people who share some bond ... as opposed to online commenters (not RC -- but at most sites) who are happy to anonymously tear down anyone's thoughts.
The article extrapolates a bit to suggest that this human tendency may explain why some fact-deniers get a hearing way beyond the fact-finding stage("both siders"), but the experiment just deals with pairs of people -- and I think the perceptions of fact-deniers may be more explainable by mob psychology, a whole 'nother dynamic than exists in pair associations.
In some of Tom Cotton's photos, he bears a strong resemblance to Tony Perkins. In "Psycho", the proprietor of the Bates Motel seemed like such a nice earnest young man.
Cue shrieking violins.
The Iranian Foreign Minister clearly knows more about the US Constitution than the Republicans. He also had to tell America's Republican political leadership that the agreement is not between the US and Iran. Maybe the Republicans should hire him as a consultant. Talk about worldwide embarrassment.
The Way Things Work.
New guy shows up for work. Second or third week on the job, he hasn't even read the company handbook yet, but he approaches the CEO and the board of directors, full of piss and vinegar.
"Looka here, guys, I have this letter to our stockholders and I think we should send it out right away to make us look tough."
"What does it say?" asks the CEO.
"It says we won't take any shit."
"Sounds great. Let's all sign it and send it out."
Stockholders read it and wonder who's hitting the bottle; it's full of illegal and insulting ranting and it's clear that not a single soul in Legal had ever clapped eyes on it.The company scurries to regain its footing. They slide, never recover. Stock tanks, company folds.
Would this happen in a corporation with a budget of almost four trillion dollars? Would it happen in a corporation with a budget of four million dollars?
No. And no.
But the Republicans in the US Senate? Once called the world's greatest deliberative body, the Republican side of the senate operates as the world's greatest delusional body.
So a complete tyro, right off the turnip truck, pushes this letter very likely co-written by Likud, AIPAC, Northrup Grumman, probably James Fucking O'Keefe and who knows who the hell else? Too bad these geniuses didn't at the very least run it by someone who had read the Constitution and knew a thing or two about international negotiations or anyone who had ever paid attention in law school.
They think they can float crap like this and then call it a joke? A joke? Great nations are striving to work out a plan for peace and they're playing Hippity-hop at the Barber Shop?
I mean, seriously, can you imagine putting your name to something like this without being absolutely certain that everything was rock solid and legal and appropriate? Well, most of us wouldn't, but Republicans? If it gives them a chance to stick it to the black guy, they'd probably sign something that had "...and we get your grandchildren in return for our sex slave ring" buried in the small print.
But these are the people who demand the reins of power.
Charlatans, fools, and corrupt jackanapes.
Tom Cotton is just another in the long line of empty suits, devoid of ideas, morals, ethics and respect. Full only of himself. Maybe Cruz will lend him one of his many mirrors.
Because in Right Wing World, this is the Way Things Work.
I must second Marvin's disgust with the media who seem far more interested in pursuing Hillary Clinton's e-mail account than they are with one of the more stupefying acts of senatorial hubris in US history. But as Charlie Pierce regularly reminds us, the press along with the entire Republican Party spent years and tens of millions of taxpayer dollars in pursuit of Bill Clinton's penis while stories of far greater import were left to rot on the back pages, if they made it at all.
And speaking of the press....that Fox piece on Ferguson..????
Oh, wait. I was speaking about the legitimate press. Not the GOP Newsletter Channel, sometimes known as the KKK Khronicle.
Never mind.
Akhileus,
Your post titled The Way Things Work was marvelous and sure puts this mess in perspective. I love that you didn't omit the likes of Northrup Grumman in your listing of who might've penned the letter. It's important to keep in mind the role of the MIC.
And if the whole thing was a "joke," someone should tell these bozos that April 1st is over two weeks away.
BTW, Jon Stewart did a pretty good smack-down of the 47-member clown car last night ("f-cking cuckoo bananas" indeed). That is until he got all "both sides do it." He just HAD to include Nancy Pelosi having a spot of tea with Assad in 2007. It may or may not have been a great idea on Pelosi's part, but I honestly don't see the equivalence.
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/jon-stewart-hammers-republicans-on-iran-letter-theyre-fcking-cuckoo-bananas/
Here's something to cap off your evening news:
"FAIRFIELD, Conn. - Police in Fairfield, Connecticut, are investigating the discovery of two dead skunks with a sign reading "Obama Stinks."
One skunk had string wrapped around its neck and was nailed to a telephone pole, while the other was found at the base. The sign with the anti-Obama message was attached to the pole and also had an American flag with a hammer and sickle in place of the stars. The Fairfield police chief says he cannot figure out why someone would do this. Hmmm––maybe after a good night's sleep he may come up with something.
@Patrick: Tony Perkins, yes,––resemblance to Tom Cotton (or the other way round)–––as he's climbing those congressional stairs can we hear the shriek of Psycho's orchestral sounds follow his ascendency?
And thank you to David Feldman for directing us to Tom Friedman's column (and Marie for linking it) because he's right this time and we should give credit where credit is due.