The Commentariat -- May 2, 2014
CW: Yesterday I implied that the City of Chicago spent $500MM last year to improve Wrigley Field. That isn't true; I misinterpreted the lede in the story I linked. In yesterday's thread, contributor Haley S. set me straight. P.S. to Wingers: When you allow your biases to lead you into making a boneheaded mistake, you fess up. It's not that hard to say, "Oops!"
Paul Krugman wrings his hands over the question of why economics failed to cause politicians to make decisions to avert "a vast economic and human catastrophe, with trillions of dollars of productive potential squandered and millions of families placed in dire straits for no good reason." ...
... CW: I know exactly why. (1) The buck stops with the President, so ultimately, -- as every Republican will tell you, "it's all Obama's fault." Obama was/is so anxious to fit in with the Washington elite that his knee-jerk response was/is to stick with establishment advisors. As Sen. Byron Dorgan told Obama, 'You've picked the wrong people. I don't understand how you could do this. You've picked the wrong people!" (2) Those wrong people were Larry Summers, Tim Geithner & (early on) Bob Rubin, two corrupt Wall Street sycophants & one craven Master of the Universe. Summers is a very bright guy, but he's also a giant prick whose Number One Client is Larry Summers. As he told Elizabeth Warren, "Insiders don't criticize other insiders." Abrasive as he is, Summers would never rock the boat or bite the hand that feeds him. He has no character. Ditto Geithner. (3) Meanwhile, credible economists who cared, who knew what to do, & who knew how to explain macroeconomics to non-economists -- Krugman, Joe Stiglitz, Christina Romer -- were too fucking polite to demand Obama stop doing stupid shit.
** Laura Barron-Lopez of the Hill: "Keystone XL supporters on Thursday introduced legislation they said was backed by 56 senators that would immediately greenlight the controversial oil pipeline.... Eleven Democrats are among the 56 senators backing the bill, which would immediately give pipeline developer TransCanada the green light on a permit to begin construction of Keystone XL, according to a release from [Mary] Landrieu's [ConservaD-La.] office. Democrats discussed the issue during a meeting on Thursday, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) expressed optimism a deal would be reached to allow a vote."
Craig Timberg of the Washington Post: "Major U.S. technology companies have largely ended the practice of quietly complying with investigators' demands for e-mail records and other online data, saying that users have a right to know in advance when their information is targeted for government seizure. This increasingly defiant industry stand is giving some of the tens of thousands of Americans whose Internet data gets swept into criminal investigations each year the opportunity to fight in court to prevent disclosures. Prosecutors, however, warn that tech companies may undermine cases by tipping off criminals, giving them time to destroy vital electronic evidence before it can be gathered." ...
... CW: Great. Meanwhile, the companies are still stalking me with ads for stuff I might have once Googled months ago.
Larry Fine of Reuters: "The National Basketball Association on Thursday launched its bid to oust Donald Sterling as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers for racist comments as a panel of 10 fellow team owners or their proxies unanimously agreed to proceed 'as expeditiously as possible,' the NBA said. The decision, reached during a telephone conference call of the NBA Board of Governors' advisory-finance committee, seemed to indicate a strong base of support among Sterling's fellow owners for his removal, as urged by league Commissioner Adam Silver." Via Margaret Hartmann. ...
... Margaret Hartmann of New York: V. "Stiviano's lawyer, Siamak Nehoray, told the AP on Thursday that the hour-long recording [of her conversation with Donald Sterling] was leaked to TMZ by her friend. Stiviano recorded the conversation on her phone and forwarded two snippets electronically. She asked her buddy to hold on to them for 'safekeeping,' which the friend apparently took to mean 'sell them to TMZ.' ... Nehoray also reiterated that Stiviano is Sterling's archivist, and nothing more. 'It was by mutual agreement that it was going to be recorded,' he said." ...
... Tami Abdollah of the AP: "California law requires both parties to agree to recording a conversation that one would reasonably expect to be private." ...
... Linda Massarella, et al., of the New York Post: "This could wind up being a pretty short ban. Disgraced racist Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling is battling cancer -- surprising those around him by beating the final buzzer for as long as he has, sources told The Post on Thursday." CW: This report is actually quite sensitive. The Post editors nixed the "Nah-ne-nah-ni-nah-ni" headline & accompanying cartoon of the Grim Reaper. Via Margaret Hartmann. ...
... Angel Jennings of the Los Angeles Times: Leon Jenkins, "the head of the Los Angeles Chapter of the NAACP, is coming under scrutiny in the wake of the organization's decision to give awards to Donald Sterling." Read the whole article. What an SOB. Thanks to James S. for the link. ...
... Update: Angel Jennings: "Los Angeles NAACP President Leon Jenkins has resigned amid scrutiny surrounding the organization's decision to give awards to disgraced Clippers owner Donald Sterling." ...
... CW: Tim Egan calls sports "the most progressive force in America." Sadly, he doesn't explain why that is. You probably have your own ideas. Here's mine: African-Americans have long excelled in two fields, fields whites considered nonthreatening: sports and entertainment. By the 2nd half of the 20th century, entrepreneurs in both fields realized they could exploit African-American talent. Today black players dominate pro basketball & are prominent in football & baseball. Of course the team members are a "progressive force," at least as far as discrimination against blacks goes. Women, gays & other minority rights: not so much. I wouldn't call it "progressive" when all a person cares about is in his personal self-interest. ...
... Jennifer Steinhauer & David Joachim of the New York Times: "The Obama administration on Thursday released the names of 55 colleges and universities under investigation for their handling of sexual assault complaints, an unusual step meant to increase pressure on the institutions to crack down on the problem on their campuses. It was the first time that the Department of Education had made public a comprehensive list of colleges under investigation for potential violations of federal antidiscrimination law under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The law prohibits gender discrimination at colleges that receive federal money." CW: Now that's progressive. ...
... Here's a full list of the universities & colleges cited.
Benghaaazi! The Hill: "Republicans are turning up the heat on the White House over the terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, questioning whether the administration violated a congressional subpoena by withholding documents." ...
... Mario Trujillo of the Hill: "Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday called on Secretary of State John Kerry to testify as to why a newly revealed email prepping Susan Rice for a series of television interviews was not handed over to Congress last year.... Boehner said the withholding of the email constitutes the 'most flagrant example yet of the administration's contempt for the American people's right to know the truth about what happened when four Americans died in a fiery terrorist attack.'" ...
... Justin Sink of the Hill: "Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) accused White House press secretary Jay Carney of deliberately lying about new emails released earlier this week related to the Benghazi controversy. 'I guess he believes that we're all dumb,' Graham told CNN. 'To say that this wasn't trying to shape the Benghazi story is inconsistent with the document itself, flies in face of the facts, and yet another insulting, misleading lie.' ... The White House has maintained that Rhodes was merely prepping Rice to discuss protests across the Middle East, and not the September 11, 2012 Benghazi incident specifically." ...
... Andrew Kirell of Mediaite: "Appearing on Mike Gallagher's radio show Thursday morning, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) went after the 'scumbags' in the White House who he believes 'lied' in the aftermath of the 2012 attacks on a U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya." ...
... Steve M.: "For the right, this isn't about the attack -- it's about how the White House talked about the attack.... It matters to them because it happened during a presidential campaign that the president won. Omigod! A candidate running for reelection put the best possible spin on something he did in office -- temporarily!"
Jonathan Chait: Bill & Hillary Clinton can't handle the media because they have turned their antipathy to shallow journalism into "a narcissistic saga of personalized grievance is a way of making it unmanageable."
Beyond the Beltway
Depravity, All Around. Erik Eckholm & John Schwartz of the New York Times have more details on the botched execution of murderer Clayton Lockett.
Dan Friedman of the New York Daily News: "Indicted Rep. Michael Grimm (R-Staten Island) got a chance to plead his case Wednesday to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor. A source said Cantor (R-Va.) did not demand Grimm's resignation, despite GOP leaders' decision to cut ties with Grimm." ...
... Steve Fishman of New York: Maybe that's because both Grimm & Cantor used the same "shady rabbi," Yoshiyahu Pinto, as a fundraiser.
New York's Finest. Joe Coscarelli of New York: "The copycat crime spree is coming from inside the [NYPD]. For the third time since last Thursday, a New York City police officer has been charged with drinking and shooting -- and that's in addition to the three additional DWIs local cops collected within 27 hours last week. It's almost like this job drives a person to get wasted (and then, occasionally, fire a weapon at an innocent bystander)." CW: So maybe NYC isn't much safer than Georgia.
News Ledes
New York Times: "A federal jury said on Friday that Apple and Samsung had infringed each other's patents, a split decision in the latest court fight between the two technology giants. The jurors found that at least some Samsung devices infringed two of four patents at issue. The judge in the case, Lucy H. Koh, had already ruled that Samsung infringed a fifth patent. For infringing the patents, the jurors concluded, Samsung must pay Apple $119.6 million in damages, far below the $2 billion that Apple had demanded in total.... The jurors decided that Apple had violated one of the two Samsung patents at issue, awarding Samsung $158,400 in damages. It had sought $6 million for both patents combined."
New York Times: "Huge landslides caused by heavy rainfall buried hundreds of houses in a remote area of northeastern Afghanistan on Friday. As many as 2,500 people were said to be missing in the disaster, one of the worst to hit the war-torn country in at least a decade."
Reuters: "U.S. hiring likely increased at its quickest pace in five months in April, which would bolster hopes of a strong rebound in economic activity in the second quarter. Employers probably added 210,000 jobs last month after increasing headcount by 192,000 in March, according to a Reuters poll." ...
... Update: "U.S. job growth increased at its fastest pace in more than two years in April and the unemployment rate dived to a 5-1/2 year low of 6.3 percent, suggesting a sharp rebound in economic activity early in the second quarter." ...
... Washington Post Update: "Ukraine suffered its bloodiest day in three months on Friday, with at least nine people killed when the army launched its first major assault on a rebel stronghold in the east of the country and 34 killed in clashes between pro-Ukranian and pro-Russian mobs in the Black Sea port city of Odessa. The Ukrainian army attacked the rebel stronghold of Slovyansk at dawn, provoking the heaviest military fighting since a pro-Russian uprising began a month ago. The military took control of the major checkpoints outside the city but was unable to force its way into the center, and two of its helicopters were shot down."
One Way to Dodge Lawsuits. Bloomberg News: "General Motors Co. (GM) is bringing its fight against owners of recalled cars to ... the Manhattan bankruptcy court where the U.S. government financed the automaker's turnaround five years ago.... The carmaker wants U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber to tell the owners [who are bringing suit] that damages stemming from before the company's collapse are barred under his rulings in 2009, when GM emerged from Chapter 11."
Washington Post: "The Ukrainian army launched its first major assault on a rebel stronghold in the east of the country on Friday, provoking the heaviest fighting since a pro-Russian uprising began a month ago. Two military helicopters were shot down, and at least three people were reported killed."
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Reader Comments (9)
@Re:Oklahoma. Move over, Rick Scott, Chris Hayes remarked last night that Mary Fallin is doing all she can to be America's Worst Governor. Considering her competition, that takes real effort.
Real journalism exposing corporate fluff journalism. Who needs real investigations when we've got a few more computers to sell? Here's lookin' at you Bloomberg.
Praise Jeezus that RC hasn't sold her soul to Corporate America or this site would be infinitely less interesting.
http://www.cjr.org/feature/bloombergs_folly.php?page=all
@B: You betcha! This woman runs a state that as Rachel Maddow says is beyond the pale––"There are the blue states, the red states, the in-between sates and then there is Oklahoma." This is a state that taxes solar power, bans its cities from raising the minimum wage, has closed many of its health centers (read abortion) for women, and is considering banning ALL marriages (if them gays insist on hooking up, we'll jest close it down entirely) plus the latest debacle execution style. I don't know much about Mary Fallin (but I have an urge to find out) except she seems to be running a pretty shaky state and has had that face of hers spruced up plastic style and that alone tells me something, don't it?
Re: Where to start; where to start.
Drunk cops shooting off their guns?
Good, not great; not going to rag on the guys and gals in blue, world's shittiest job, I'd be drunk too.
Shady rabbi; good name for a Jewish punk band. But "Shady Pinto" kind'a takes the sting out. I thought, "scammmmmer" the first I read about "fuzzy bean". No, next.
It takes a killer to kill a killer; WTF, don't the prisons have somebody inside that could handle state sponsored murder? Good, but too depressing for the morning.
Start with BENghaZI! No, let Fox news carry those caskets around.
Start with Tim Egan; not enough time but in a second; it's not the young men or women at fault here; it's the money machine behind them. Look a sport that doesn't make Nike a mountain of cash; rowing or others, and you can see the benefit of sports for young kids. Boring.
Next. Sterling's archivist; Ms. V; "Donald, where should I file your dick? Doesn't take up a lot of room. How about here, on the upper shelf?" Yea, yea; everybody be mean to Donald, next!
Keystone pipeline; not cool, not funny; It's your planet Monkeyboys.
Ok, here's where to start,
CW: "I know exactly why... " Once again Marie coming through loud and clear. My puzzle for today is this; if CW can say it so I can understand it and I know what she says is absolutely true why the fuck can't the general public understand? He picked the wrong people. Or to be more cynical, the wrong people picked him.
The Republic of Environmental Hell: Texas.
Well Rick Perry's new specs might make him look smarter to wingnut groupies and drooling Fox sycophants, but they won't make it any easier for him to see clearly in parts of his own state, or to walk without stumbling.
One family living in Perry's Environmental Hell Hole, couldn't take that shit anymore.
Brad and Lisa Parr, a family with a ranch in North Texas, a playground for oil and gas companies who have taken fracking to new levels of environmental rape, have sued Aruba Petroleum which has been drilling and fracking around their property for years. They won.
Lisa Parr describes some of the side effects of living in Perry Land:
"I was sick for well over a year before we figured out that it was the industry that was causing my medical problems. In late 2008, I started having a few symptoms - nausea, blinding headaches, dizziness - that developed into - I had a rash over my entire body. I had lymph nodes that stuck out like pecans on my neck. I started stumbling, stuttering, getting dizzy. My face drew up like I had Bell's palsy."
These symptoms were visited on her husband and their little girl as well, who frequently was unable to breath or walk properly.
And the kicker?
Aruba (reminds me a bit of another unscrupulous, slimy Texas company.....oh yeah, Arbusto!) was in compliance with Texas environmental regulations. How ya like them apples, eh? Oh, not those apples...those apples were grown in Texas. That's why they look like walnuts.
So, according to Rick Perry, if people get sick, can't walk right, puke daily, can't see straight, and have rashes covering their bodies, all caused by companies raping the environment, it's all good because it's within the bounds of Texas regulations.
Welcome to Texas, y'all! Better not get sick. We don't cotton to healthcare here. We drag you out to the desert to die.
But this is nothing new to Rick Perry.
According to the San Antonio Business Journal a recent report from the Center on Public Integrity, the few state monitoring devices around fracking areas like the Eagle Ford Shale are strategically placed miles and miles away from any actual fracking. It's like testing the emissions from your car from three blocks away.
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (sounds like the Teabagger Commission on Rationality) allows polluters to monitor and report on their own environmental impacts and, in many situations, doesn't have a clue about the sources of pollution problems. But just in case someone at the TCEQ gets uppity and decides to take their job seriously, Perry slashed their budget by a third when the fracking started, just to make sure.
The Texas Observer reports that in 2005, amidst a battle with environmental groups to halt the construction of 11 (ELEVEN!) new coal fired energy plants in Texas, Perry gave them all the finger and rammed through permits for the plants, being built by a company called TXU. The day after permits were issued, TXU sent Perry a check and over the next few months paid him off with over $100,000 in campaign contributions.
Does this fit little Johnny Roberts' definition of corruption? Cause if it don't, I don't know what else would.
Anyway, it could be years or decades before the Parr family sees dime one. Big Energy in Perry Land rarely pays the freight on anything if Perry can help it. They'll appeal and appeal and appeal. By the time it's all settled, Arbusto, er, Aruba, will be fracking somewhere else.
Life, even in the diminished and sickened condition typical of Perry Land, goes on. Sort of. Until residents start dying off, of course, from toxic carcinogens or some other nasty shit resulting from the actions of Perry's cronies. That is, if they don't get blown up in some unregulated, factory last inspected during the Johnson Administration, that incinerates most of their town.
But this is nothing new for the Modern GOP where money is king and life is cheap.
JJG,
"Shady Rabbi" IS a great name for a punk band (although not quite as good as "Hornets Attack Victor Mature"). How 'bout a Hasidic punk band? They could have Bibi sit in as lead singer now and then, but they'd have to give him a punk pseudonym like "Taser".
Got your "Buckaroo Banzai" reference too.
Best name in that movie? John Smallberries. Although John Ya Ya is pretty good.
Make-a the ganglia twitch!
Ta-Nehisi Coates has an excellent think piece in the Atlantic.
He reminds us that there are different kinds of racism and that just because knuckledraggers like Cliven (let me tell you about the negro) Bundy and Donald (no black guys!) Sterling, a couple of loutish bigots from central casting, have been outed and kicked around a bit, the most insidious forms of racial intolerance, which he terms "elegant" racism, are far from being extirpated.
Elegant racism from Ronald Reagan to John Roberts.
Just when I thought the news couldn't get more sickening, along comes this from Digby:
Http://www.salon.com/2014/05/02/sean_hannitys_post_bundy_hero_meet_vigilante_killer_byron_smith/
Reading what the killer did was disturbing. Thankfully, the jury didn't let him off.
I guess Minnesota isn't like Florida!
Barbarossa,
The jury didn't let him off, but Hannity did. In fact, he'd give him a medal. Apparently, according to the link, so would journalist manqué Geraldo Rivera, who should go back to opening celebrity gangsters' empty safes on live TV and looking like the schmuck he really is.
How warm and fuzzy that Hannity and Rivera found the subject of the murder of two teenagers a source of amusement and joviality. They got to share a laugh about it. How nice.
These fucking people! Christ!