The Commentariat -- March 2, 2012
My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is titled "In Church v. State, Ross Douthat Speaks for the Prosecution." The NYTX front page is here. You can contribute here.
Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic interviews President Obama: "In the most extensive interview he has given about the looming Iran crisis, Obama told me earlier this week that both Iran and Israel should take seriously the possibility of American action against Iran's nuclear facilities." ...
... Aluf Benn, editor-in-chief of Haaretz: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's upcoming trip to Washington will be the most important one in his long career.... On Monday, Netanyahu will meet President Barack Obama in the White House for a game of diplomatic poker, where the greatest gamble of all will be right on the table: an attack on Iran's nuclear installations. Each of the two players will try to push the other to act." ...
... ** Stephen Walt of Foreign Policy: "You know a case for war is weak when its advocates have to marshal blatant untruths in order to convince people that their advice should be followed. Exhibit A is [yesterday's] alarmist op-ed in the New York Times, in which former IDF general Amos Yadlin argues for a preventive strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities.... The true history teaches the opposite lesson.... In the Iraqi case, a preventive strike reinforced Iraq’s interest in acquiring a deterrent, and led Iraq to pursue it in ways that were more difficult to detect or prevent. That is what Iran is likely to do as well if Israel or the United States were foolish enough to strike them. U.S. intelligence still believes Iran has not made a final decision to weaponize; ironically, an Israeli or U.S. attack is the step that is most likely to push them over the edge."
Charles Pierce: "After several months of watching the Republican primary process, I can't tell you what a cool breeze it was to watch a politician who looks at a crowd and doesn't see a group of potential marks (Romney), a collection of your fellow Elect marching with you through the dystopic Sinai that is America (Santorum), a gaggle of goldbugs (Paul), or the class of half-bright sophomores that N. Leroy Gingrich sees every time he looks anywhere but into the mirror. Barack Obama is not stiff. He is not bristling with unbridled id. He grins. He kids people.... He is relaxed about the job of politics. He is the only president of the United States — real or prospective — that I've seen in months." Here's the speech:
... CW: this is why Obama will win re-election, barring unforeseen circumstances (what could possibly go wrong in the next eight months?). Except for the wingnuts busily checking out Joe Arpaio's positive proof that Obama is a Kenyan Muslim & the crowd who are convinced Obama will implant computer chips in the heads of everybody who fails to show up for indoctrination camp, Americans will view Obama as the only candidate who seems like a POTUS. Looking presidential in a still shot, Mr. Romney, isn't good enough.
Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) writes a Washington Post op-ed explaining why she is leaving the Senate after "nearly 40 years of public office."
Phil Angelides, a former state treasurer of California & chair of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, in a New York Times op-ed, says Eric Holder should get off his ass & prosecute Wall Street miscreants. CW: fat fucking chance. Eric Holder is the worst Attorney General since ... Mike Mukasey.
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: Republicans are pinning their election hopes on rising gas prices, but most Americans are not inclined to blame President Obama for the price hikes.
Right Wing World *
Paul Krugman -- and others -- have covered most of what he writes in today's column -- titled "Four Fiscal Phonies" -- earlier this week. But it's helpful to read it all in one place. Also, this is new:
... the Tax Policy Center has analyzed Mr. Romney’s [latest] tax proposal. It found that, compared with current policy, the proposal would actually raise taxes on the poorest 20 percent of Americans, while imposing drastic cuts in programs like Medicaid that provide a safety net for the less fortunate. (Although right-wingers like to portray Medicaid as a giveaway to the lazy, the bulk of its money goes to children, disabled, and the elderly.) But the richest 1 percent would receive large tax cuts — and the richest 0.1 percent would do even better, with the average member of this elite group paying $1.1 million a year less in taxes than he or she would if the high-end Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire.
... Michael Barbaro & Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The Romney campaign’s shortcomings have been on vivid display in recent weeks, from verbal stumbles to a failure to stir the passions of the Republican base. But even his battered rivals acknowledge that Mr. Romney is proving unusually adept at defining, diminishing and disqualifying a serial cast of challengers through relentless attacks. His campaign has deployed every tactic in the negative-campaign playbook." ...
Look, I have worn a garbage bag for rain gear myself. -- Mitt Romney, Man of the People ...
... Oh, wait. Make that Man of the People's Representatives:
I am big believer in getting money where the money is. The money is in Washington. I want to go after every grant, every project, every department in Washington to assure that we are taking advantage of economic development opportunities. -- Mitt Romney, 2002 ...
... David Bernstein of the Boston Phoenix: Romney's Blunt Amendment "misunderstanding" (see my column in yesterday's NYTX) "is, to a large extent, the direct result of Romney's avoid-the-press strategy. If Romney talked to reporters more often, than he would most likely be on the record about this issue several times already -- it's not a surprising question to ask, given that the Senate was slated to vote on it this week (and did, earlier today). In that case, one awkward exchange would be easily brushed aside.... But Romney avoids the press (and most direct, unscripted human contact) almost pathologically. He had gone more than two solid weeks without taking questions from his travelling press corps, before he did an availability the morning of this Tuesday's primaries. CW: My new favorite phrase: "Avoid Unscripted Human Contact." ...
... Jonathan Cohn: the real problem for Romney isn't the flip-flop. It's the fact that he supports legislation that "would have allowed an employer to override the insurance requirement altogether, thereby depriving their workers of birth control coverage – or any other coverage – the employer finds objectionable." This is at odds with public opinion. ...
... Prof. Louise Trubek in a New York Times op-ed: "Why are issues that the courts decided so long ago still unresolved? Maybe it is time to recognize that law alone is not enough to effect social change. It must be linked to social activism on behalf of women’s rights. I should know. Fifty-five years ago, I had an opportunity to take a stand in favor of the right of women to control their fertility — and I did so through the courts." ...
Republicans like to talk about the Constitution and freedom, but once again, when it comes to women, they don't get rights. They get restrictions. -- Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ)
S. V. Date of NPR: "In a 4-2 vote, the Credentials Committee of the Michigan Republican Party apparently reversed course on a stated delegate selection formula and awarded both statewide delegates to Mitt Romney. The committee includes three Romney supporters, but no Rick Santorum supporters. The move changed the final Michigan delegate count from a 15-15 tie between Romney and Santorum to a 16-14 Romney win":
There's just no way this is happening. We've all heard rumors that Mitt Romney was furious that he spent a fortune in his home state, had all the political establishment connections and could only manage a tie. But we never thought the Romney campaign would try to rig the outcome of an election by changing the rules after the vote. This kind of back room dealing political thuggery just cannot and should not happen in America. -- Hogan Gidley, Santorum spokesperson
Steve Kornacki of Salon: Newt "Gingrich has been reduced to: a useful tool for supporters of Mitt Romney." His candidacy serves to keep all the wingnut branch from coalescing around Rick Santorum.
Prof. Molly Worthen, in a New York Times op-ed: "When conservatives cry 'freedom of religion' and insist they mean something more than 'freedom of worship,' this is what they mean: religious freedom is not just the freedom to gather in a room and pray one morning a week. It is the freedom to impose one’s own religious values on others. Free expression of religion entails the right to reason from religious principles in the public square and — with sufficient electoral support — to enshrine those principles in law and social institutions. If Obama does not support this view, they argue, then he is hardly a true American.... Conservatives’ accusations that Obama disrespects religious freedom have little to do with the White House’s actual policy.... They have everything to do with resurrecting old challenges to the president’s legitimacy and framing the 2012 campaign as a battle between honest Christian Americans and atheist subversives." ...
... James Hohmann of Politico: in Washington state, Santorum continues campaigning on religious rhetoric.
Vicious, Crazy Uncle Alert. Ashley Powers of the Los Angeles Times: Phoenix-area Sheriff Joe Arpaio held a news conference Thursday" to say that "after six months of digging, Arpaio’s team concluded there was 'probable cause to believe forgery and fraud occurred' regarding [President] Obama’s birth certificate and his Selective Service card; the team recommended a criminal investigation.... At the news conference, it was suggested that [Andrew] Breitbart's last interview may have been with Arpaio.The specter of conspiracy was raised repeatedly." CW: I was going to put this in yesterday's News Ledes; When I got to the "Breitbart's last interview" part I realized it belonged in Infotainment. The Commentariat is a compromise in the spirit of respect for the dead. ...
... Andy Rosenthal of the New York Times: "Based on news accounts, [Arpaio's] report consists of previously aired and well-refuted claims about the typography on the document.... A law-enforcement officer, who has abused his position and the public trust to conduct a xenophobic vendetta against Mexican Americans, is also participating in a xenophobic – perhaps racially motivated – attack against the president of the United States." ...
Here's the New York Times obituary for Andrew Breitbart. ...
... CW: a friend of mine, who is familiar with the chatter in Right Wing World tells me that immediately after the announcement of Andrew Breitbart's death, the conspiracy theory mill shifted into high gear -- Vladimir Putin had Breitbart killed; no, no, Obama's people assassinated him.
* Where all is not well.
News Ledes
ABC News: "Stronger twisters and extreme weather are expected today to again hit the areas of the Midwest and South rattled earlier this week by 33 confirmed tornadoes that left 13 people dead."
Guardian: "Israel is pressing Barack Obama for an explicit threat of military action against Iran if sanctions fail and Tehran's nuclear programme advances beyond specified 'red lines'. Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, is expected to raise the issue at a White House meeting on Monday after weeks of intense diplomacy in which Obama has dispatched senior officials – including his intelligence, national security and military chiefs – to Jerusalem to try and dampen down talk of an attack." New York Times story here. See also Jeffrey Goldberg's interview of President Obama linked in today's Commentariat.
New York Times: "A day after the Syrian Army overwhelmed the main rebel stronghold in Homs, the Red Cross said it was sending a relief column to a beleaguered enclave of the city on Friday with food and medical aid for civilians trapped there for a month."
Washington Post: "Polls opened Friday for Iran’s parliamentary elections, the country’s first major vote since the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 led to months of unprecedented anti-government protests."
Philadelphia Inquirer: "Marcellus pipeline proposed: ... A partnership of three companies on Thursday proposed building a $1 billion pipeline that would transport fuel from Northern Pennsylvania to markets in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, as well as Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Washington.... The proposed 200-mile, 30-inch Commonwealth Pipeline would transport at least 800 million cubic feet of gas a day - 800,000 dekatherms - if it goes into service in 2015. A pipeline that could connect local markets to the Marcellus would reduce transportation costs for customers, who now buy most of their fuel from producers on the Gulf Coast."
ABC News: President Obama said [last night] that his campaign might run excerpts of the GOP primary debates as political ads 'without commentary' during the general election."
Reuters: "Eight of the 10 men who prosecutors contend were sexually abused by former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky were abused on the college campus, and one was just 8 years old at the time, according to court documents released on Thursday."
Washington Post: "AT&T clarified its data policies Thursday, saying it will slow data speeds for users who exceed either a monthly limit of 3GB of smartphone data or 5GB of data on the carrier’s 4G LTE network. The company, which switched to tiered data plans for new users in June 2010, had previously said that it would slow data speeds for the top 5 percent of data users who had been allowed to keep their older, unlimited plans."
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Reader Comments (8)
Those women least able to afford the pill seem to be targets of the Republicans. Hospital maids, cooks and aids. They do not send money to politicians and often do not vote. Perfect victims.
If Breitbart's demise is followed by Rush being struck down in the next few days I will be converted to a believer in talking snakes.
Willard avoids public press conferences because there is always the possibility that some reporter would have the gaul to question some of his lies. When he becomes the candidate he will have to stop a lot of lying because lies will get more attention in a head to head contest I would hope.
It is tough being the candidate no one wants to have a beer with.
@Carlyle. You make a good point. However, Willard supported the Blunt amendment which would allow any employer to disallow any type of coverage because he found it "morally objectionable." The kinds of coverage that would tend to be "objectionable" would probably be anything (except maybe Viagra) having to do even tangentially with sex -- e.g., sexually transmitted diseases -- mental health, drug treatment, immunizations, but really anything. There are 45 Senators and Weaseling Willard on record now supporting this incredibly broad exemption.
So, yes, this was a bullying effort, just like all of the attacks on women's reproductive rights, but the big backfire is that every single person -- man or woman -- who is covered by an employer-backed policy is at risk of being negatively affected by this. If the public comes to understand what the Senate Republicans -- and Willard -- are up to, those jerks are toast. They have expanded their common practice of bullying the least powerful -- poor working women -- to include everybody. No one is safe. A big fat tactical error.
I want to thank Rush for making it absolutely clear what religion and conservatism for many are all about, the pathetic effort to make men feel more powerful than women. Rush thinks that a women who has 2.7 sex acts a day is a slut. But what are the men who had the sex? Well they are just being men, right? Remember, his god created a man first. His god is 'he'. Women exist solely for the purpose of making more men. If Jesus of Nazareth were around today, Rush and Rick would make him throw up.
OK ladies it is time to put an end to this game. You have the votes. Take over the world!
This is only a guess, Marvin, but I'm guessing that Rush thinks that women who have (only) 2.7 sex acts a day are sluts, because no way can he even dream of as many as 1 sex act a day.
Or, here's another thought: these so called sluts have to stop at 2.7, because the evangelicals just can't keep up, so to speak.
I'll stop before I say what I really think.
Netanyahu is meeting Obama Monday.I am sure you all remember how he pandered to the Republicans last time here. According to Haaretz.com, " Netanyahu has made good use of Obama's rivals." At the time, Netanyahu thought he was dealing with a one term President. It will be interesting to see if he tries to show up a Obama this trip. We will see Obama's determination to do what is right for America in the face of pressure from the Israel lobby and the Republican candidates
Marie,
The venerable Mr. Pierce directs us to this absolute audio gem. Behold the president of Ireland kicking wingnut propagandist ass!: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/01/1069909/-President-of-Ireland-Must-See-Believe-Me-Please-?via=siderec
@carlyle
Obama is a cagey poker player, witness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQPn307fR7A
Rush is a dick, always was, always will be. Join the petition drives to his sponsors.