The Commentariat -- March 19, 2015
Internal links removed.
Paul Lewis & Alan Yuhas of the Guardian: "The White House has made clear its dismay at Binyamin Netanyahu's sweeping victory in the Israeli elections with a stinging rebuke of the 'divisive rhetoric' used by the Israeli leader in the closing stages of the election. President Obama has not called to congratulate Netanyahu, who is now attempting to build a coalition between rightwing parties and his own Likud, which won decisively in parliamentary elections on Tuesday. But the White House said it would be forced to re-evaluate its policy on the Middle East peace process after Netanyahu abandoned a prior commitment to an independent Palestinian state, apparently to shore up support among conservatives in Israel." ...
... Diaa Hadid of the New York Times: "With Mr. Netanyahu having dropped, for now at least, the pretense of seeking a two-state solution, the Palestinians can argue to Europe and the United States that they no longer have a negotiating partner, strengthening their case for full statehood and recognition in the United Nations, as well as membership in important international bodies. They are already members of the International Criminal Court and Unesco.... In addition to considering seeking full statehood at the United Nations, the Palestinians may now curtail security coordination with Israel, reducing Israel's ability to seize suspected militants in the West Bank, two P.L.O. officials said." ...
... (CW: If, like me, you've forgotten the basis of the U.S.'s "principled stand" against U.N. recognition of Palestine, here's a 2012 Washington Post report to remind you. Now that Netanyahu has asserted his opposition to any negotiated deal, our "principled stand" seems virtually moot.) ...
... Update. Michael Crowley of Politico: "Angered by Netanyahu's hard-line platform toward the Palestinians, top Obama officials would not rule out the possibility of a change in American posture at the United Nations, where the U.S. has historically fended off resolutions hostile to Israel." CW: Of course it's more complicated than that. For one thing, "Under a law passed by Congress, any Palestinian bid to bring war crimes charges against Israel at the [International Criminal Court will automatically sever America's $400 million in annual aid to the Palestinian Authority...." ...
... Jonathan Alter of the Daily Beast: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin (Bibi) Netanyahu won a big election Tuesday, but he won ugly by staking out a new position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is likely to harm his nation in the months ahead.... Beset by European boycotts, rebuked by international tribunals, estranged from the president of the United States -- it's not a pretty picture of the fate of America's closest ally in the region." ...
... Fred Kaplan of Slate: "Many have commented that the outcome [of the Israeli elections] will exacerbate tensions between Israel and President Obama, but that misses the larger point -- which is that it will also further alienate Israel from the world."
Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Senate Republicans on Wednesday released an austere budget that maintains strict caps on military spending and cuts trillions of dollars from health care and welfare.... House Republicans are trying to evade the spending caps by adding close to $40 billion to military spending through an 'emergency' war funding account that is not subject to the limits. Not only did Senate budget writers not follow suit, they included language in their budget requiring 60 votes in the Senate on any measure that used that approach.... Over all, the Senate version hews closely to the budgetary intent of the House proposal. It repeals the Affordable Care Act, turns Medicaid and food stamps into block grants and cuts domestic programs to balance the budget by 2025 without tax increases. The Senate budget also relies on a significant gimmick: It repeals the health law but also assumes that $2 trillion from the law's tax increases continues to flow into the Treasury." ...
... Jonathan Chait: "... the Republicans do have a health-care plan: It is to repeal Obamacare and replace it with what we had before Obamacare. They don't want to admit that's their plan, but it is. It's right there, in the new budget released by House Republicans this week." ...
... Manu Raju of Politico: "The four Republican senators considering a run for president will have to take sides in the feud between fiscal hard-liners and defense hawks over the budget. That will give voters a clear read on their ideology just as they're hitting the campaign trail -- and likely complicate Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's vow to shepherd a spending blueprint through the GOP-controlled Congress."
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) compares AG nominee Loretta Lynch to Rosa Parks:
... Dave Weigel: "On Wednesday morning, Washington Senator Patty Murray and Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin assembled (on short notice) a justice league of women's rights activists to join the identity-politicking chorus.... Joined by leaders of the National Organization for Women, Moms Rising, and the National Women's Law Center, Murray and Baldwin attacked Republicans for holding Lynch 'hostage' by waiting until the passage of the trafficking bill to give her a vote." ...
... Dana Milbank: "The very white, very male Republican Party has managed to get itself caught in another thicket in the hostile terrain of identity politics. Ashton Carter, Obama's white, male nominee to be defense secretary, was confirmed in just under 70 days. But Lynch, nominated a month before Carter, continues to languish in the Senate -- 131 days and counting -- even though she is by all accounts superbly qualified for the job and she got through her confirmation hearings without so much as a scratch." ...
... Gail Collins manages to put a humorous spin on even the despicable stunts of the most abominable showmen.
Yes, We Can Govern! Paul Waldman has an excellent post on how & why House Republicans & Democrats have come together to craft legislation to make permanent the "doc fix."
** Ha! Hillary Flynn & Rachael Bade of Politico: "The IRS may broaden a looming controversial rule to police political nonprofits to include political parties and political action committees, the IRS chief said Wednesday. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said the agency may expand a yet-to-be-released rule governing 501(c)(4), 'social welfare' groups, to include political groups known as 527s, which focus on elections. It could require them both -- as well as other types of tax-exempt groups -- to operate under the same definition of 'political activity.'... The news comes as the political world awaits a highly contentious draft IRS rule aimed at ensuring social welfare organizations like Karl Rove's giant Crossroads GPS and Obama-loyalist group Organizing for Action are following rules limiting political activity."
Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "The Federal Reserve on Wednesday moved to the verge of raising interest rates for the first time since the economy fell into recession more than seven years ago, even as officials suggested the Fed might not pull the trigger until well into the second half of the year." ...
... Megan Wilson & Peter Schroeder of the Hill: "Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is upping her outreach to Capitol Hill, and one lawmaker is attracting the largest amount of her attention: Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). A review of Yellen's meeting records, obtained by The Hill, shows the Fed chief has had more than twice as many meetings and phone calls with the big bank critic as any other lawmaker."
Ted Bridis of the AP: "The Obama administration set a record again for censoring government files or outright denying access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act.... The government took longer to turn over files when it provided any, said more regularly that it couldn't find documents and refused a record number of times to turn over files quickly that might be especially newsworthy. It also acknowledged in nearly 1 in 3 cases that its initial decisions to withhold or censor records were improper under the law -- but only when it was challenged."
Dan Roberts of the Guardian: Britain's "Prince Charles is expected to discuss his assessment of leading Arab royal families during a meeting with Barack Obama that will cap an unusually political visit to Washington for the British monarch-in-waiting. Fresh from meetings with the Jordanian, Kuwaiti and Saudi rulers during a tour of the Middle East last month, the prince is seen as well-placed to advise the Americans on a crucial component of Middle East stability during his visit to the Oval Office on Thursday. He is also due to meet with members of the Senate foreign relations committee and the Republican majority leader Mitch McConnell during separate meetings on Capitol Hill." CW: I am seriously looking forward to seeing Mitch curtsy.
Two years from now he will be successful if he's not in jail. -- Richard Schock, on his son Aaron
Aaron is very popular. Aaron is a little different. He wears...stylish clothing, and yet he's not gay. -- Richard Schock ...
... Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "... apparently, Schock's parents have had prison on the brain for some time." According to a 2009 World Magazine story, Schock's mother "cried when she found out he was running for Congress. She worried, he said, that politics might turn him into a crook." ...
Also,
... expounds on how the Schock story "touch[es] on a few larger lessons about campaign cash and ethics on Capitol Hill."
Jaime Fuller of New York: "Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, still recovering from an eye injury he got while exercising, took a moment [on the Senate floor] on Wednesday to thank eye doctor and recreational presidential candidate Rand Paul for checking in on him."
** Dog Bites (Black) Man. Jack Hitt of the New Yorker: According to the DOJ report on Ferguson, Mo., "Among cases in which a suspect was bitten by an attack dog and the suspect's race was recorded, what percentage were black? A hundred per cent." A series of studies has shown that service dogs reflect the prejudices of their handlers. "... there is one social ill that all detection dogs ... reveal with searing accuracy: the hidden racial prejudices of the police officers who deploy them."
Presidential Election
Jeb Bush's Long Career of Aiding & Abetting. Tom Hamburger & Robert O'Harrow of the Washington Post: "Time and again, [Jeb Bush] benefited from his family name and connections to land a consulting deal or board membership, sometimes doing business with people and companies who would later run afoul of the law." In one case, that of Miguel Recarey, who absconded with millions & is still a fugitive from U.S. justice, "Bush has said over the years that he 'made one call' to a mid-level official to seek a fair deal for a Florida businessman. But new interviews and a review of congressional testimony show that Bush engaged in multiple calls on Recarey's behalf to senior administration officials -- and that his advocacy made a difference.... In [another] case, Bush reportedly advocated for a federal loan guarantee for a Miami contractor later convicted of fraud in applying for the loan, though Bush later said he did not recall doing so. He became a board member and consultant to a Florida-based manufacturer whose two top officers are now serving federal prison sentences for defrauding investors and the U.S. government. And he worked with another Florida firm investigated by the FBI for allegedly bribing Nigerian officials...."
Jimmy Margulies, May 2013.... For some strange reason, Steve M. isn't taking seriously Donald Trump's plans for a presidential run: "Trump's problem is that nearly everyone is on to his act, so he feels he has to fake it more convincingly. So here's what I think will happen: Trump will stay in the race until he can claim a monstrous insult that compels him to quit, as, y'know, a matter of honor."
Beyond the Beltway
Hartford Courant: "John G. Rowland [R], Connecticut's brash ex-governor turned radio commentator, stood again Wednesday in front of a packed courtroom and, for the second time in ten years, was sentenced to prison for low-rent political crimes, this time for 30 months. U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton said that Rowland showed a striking disregard for clean election laws while trying to conceal his role as a paid consultant to Lisa Wilson-Foley's 2012 congressional campaign."
Matt Zapotosky of the Washington Post: "Former Virginia first lady Maureen McDonnell was prepared to tell a jury that she assiduously hid her financial dealings with a Richmond area businessman from her husband because she feared Robert F. McDonnell would put a stop to them, but she was only willing to testify if she and the onetime governor were given separate trials, according to court papers.... The declaration from William Burck, Maureen McDonnell's defense attorney, is now a part of Robert McDonnell's appeal. Among other things, the former governor is arguing that Spencer erred when he refused to order separate trials." ...
... CW: My answer to how to cut down on the prison population: abolish governors.
Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Maurice Possley of the Marshall Project, in the Washington Post: "In a major turn in one of the country's most-noted death penalty cases, the State Bar of Texas has filed a formal accusation of misconduct against the county prosecutor who convicted Cameron Todd Willingham, a Texas man executed in 2004 for the arson murder of his three young daughters. Following a preliminary inquiry that began last summer, the bar this month filed a disciplinary petition in Navarro County District Court accusing the former prosecutor, John H. Jackson, of obstruction of justice, making false statements and concealing evidence favorable to Willingham's defense." ...
... Dahlia Lithwick: "On Wednesday an extraordinary petition was filed in the Texas Supreme Court by some 300 lawyers seeking a declaratory judgment or, in the alternative, a writ of mandamus, overturning the suspension of prominent defense attorney David Dow, who Texas's highest court of criminal justice suspended for a year on a technicality for which he was not at fault. ...
Rees Shapiro & Susan Svrluga of the Washington Post: "Racial tensions flared at the University of Virginia after a black student sustained head injuries while white police officers arrested him outside of a popular Irish pub early Wednesday morning.... Gov. Terry McAuliffe's office issued a statement Wednesday afternoon in which he said he was calling for an investigation into the arrest."
Craig Harris, et al., of the Arizona Republic: "An ex-convict with a history of violence and drug use is accused of gunning down a man in a Mesa motel Wednesday morning, then going on a shooting spree that left five others, including a culinary student, injured. A Mesa SWAT team took Ryan Giroux, 41, into custody around 1 p.m., in a vacant condominium near Longmore and Emelita Avenue after a massive manhunt that included four other law-enforcement agencies." ...
... Terrence McCoy of the Washington Post: An "anonymous police source told the [Southern Poverty Law C]enter that Giroux was a member of a notoriously brutal, diffuse organization named the Hammerskin Nation, which the Anti-Defamation League called 'the most violent and best-organized neo-Nazi skinhead group in the United States.' It spans more than a dozen countries, and broke into national headlines in August of 2012. That was when one of its adherents perpetrated a mass shooting at a Wisconsin Sikh temple.... The group illustrates the surprising resilience of the American hate group."
"Pope Francis blesses the sculpture "Jesus the Homeless" during his general audience in St. Peter's Square Nov. 20[, 2013]." CNS/L'Osservatore Romano.... Holy Water-Boarding. Doug Sovern of KCBS San Francisco: "Saint Mary's Cathedral, the principal church of the Archdiocese of San Francisco, has installed a watering system to keep the homeless from sleeping in the cathedral's doorways.... Water pours from a hole in the ceiling, about 30 feet above, drenching the alcove and anyone in it.... KCBS has also learned from a review of city permit records that the system was installed illegally, and may violate water use regulations." ...
... Update: "Saint Mary's Cathedral in San Francisco will dismantle a system that pours water on entrance areas of the church frequented by homeless after receiving a formal notice of violation from the city."
Starbucks Baristas Fail to End Racism on Account of Being Too Busy Making Coffee. Jessica Roy of New York: "After Starbucks announced its ham-fisted #RaceForward campaign yesterday, in which it plans to solve racism in America by writing stuff on cups, several ambitious journalists set out to earn the scoop of the decade: talking to a Starbucks barista about talking about race. Unsurprisingly, it seems the only people interested in having a discussion about identity politics were the eager journalists themselves."
News Lede
New York Times: "Buddy Elias, the closest living relative of Anne Frank and an ardent guardian of her legacy, died on Monday at his home in Basel, Switzerland -- a house whose attic yielded a cache of long-forgotten letters from Anne and her family that formed the basis of a recent book. He was 89." ...
... CW: A stirring reminder that likening President Obama (or any other American politician) to Hitler or Chamberlain is a travesty that diminishes the horrors of the Holocaust.
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Reader Comments (8)
Bibi's behavior confirms my belief that the word 'politician' belongs in the DSM.
Egomaniacal behavior devoid of reason and driven by a need to self prove one's worth.
Boy, oh, boy, things are getting curiouser and curiouser–– when we have someone like Rudy G. giving his Republican buddies a spanking re: the Lynch holdup; when we have Glen Beck telling us he's through with the Republican Party––disgusted, he is with the lot of them plus he's through with the NRA, too, bunch of bastards, then we either scratch our heads or come to the conclusion the clowns have been anointed with some of St. Mary's holy water that has awakened them from their long sleep in Republican's cold, dark doorways.
@Marie: RE: People taking "crappy cellphone pictures" while attending events that will be recorded anyway. Perhaps it's to signify they have been there––paste in their memorabilia book or something. I scratch my head at people scrabbling to get autographs for perhaps the same purpose––although I suppose you can make a little money from the latter. But I'm an odd duck in that I find our culture's fetish for a lot of things puzzling.
@P.D. Pepe: Don't pin any medals on Beck just yet; his stated reason for abandoning the Rs is they haven't delivered on promises such as ending Obamacare (certainly not for want of trying!); immigration and other Tea Party-type demands. In other words, I his view the GOP is not conservative enough.
@Victoria: The only medals I would pin on Beck would be for "Clown of the Century." But thanks for clarifying the reasons he is leaving.
Hmmm, 13 and 17 are prime numbers that maintain genetic diversity for cicadas, which hardly are pests - just ask the beasts and former humans that have feasted on them. A brilliant adaptation before which DT would scratch his head until all his quoif be gone. Laughed out loud at that one.
Also hmmmm: Interesting that whiteman Giroux was captured sans lead in head.
Finishing up the morning news, just finished this splendid post in the Anderson Valley Advertiser. I don't think it is behind the paywall:
http://theava.com/archives/41714
Steve Benen on the nuking of Charleston. I didn't realize the Alien Communist Tyrant was going to such lengths to destroy Murica.
http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/santorum-backer-obama-tried-nuke-charleston?cid=eml_mra_20150319
Oh, how I miss Barney Frank! But he came out of retirement and spoke on the subject of our lad Aaron Schock ( and is he or is he not gay?) and left us with this wonderful line:
"...Yeah, if they're true, and I don't know that they are. I have to say, if they're not true, he spent entirely too much time in the gym for a straight man."
Good one, Barney!
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barney-frank-on-the-aaron-schock-rumor-2015-3#ixzz3UrNoJo18
@James Singer...Charlie Pierce has more on Santorum & the Charleston lady...(see today's post).