The Commentariat -- May 23, 2015
All internal links removed.
Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "After vigorous debate and intense last-minute pressure by Republican leaders, the Senate on Saturday rejected legislation that would end the federal government's bulk collection of phone records. With the death of that measure -- passed overwhelmingly in the House earlier this month -- senators then scrambled to hastily pass a short-term measure to keep the program from going dark when it expires June 1 but failed. The disarray in Congress appeared to significantly increase the chances that the government will lose systematic access to newly created calling records by Americans, at least temporarily, after June 1.... The measure failed in the Senate 57 to 42, with 12 Republicans voting for it, shortly after midnight because [Rand] Paul, a candidate for the White House, dragged the procedure out as he promised to do in fund-raising tweets and emails." ...
... CW: I read Steinhauer's lede three times, & I still didn't get it. ...
... Mike DeBonis & Ellen Nakashima of the Washington Post: "Senators left Capitol Hill early Saturday morning without taking action to extend or replace a controversial surveillance program set to expire at month's end, paralyzed by a debate over the proper balance between civil liberties and national security. In an after-midnight vote, the Senate turned back a House-passed bill that would end the National Security Agency's bulk collection of private telephone records, the only legislation that offered a smooth transition ahead of a June 1 deadline.... That led Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to recall senators to the Capitol a day earlier than planned, on May 31, for a rare Sunday session hours ahead of the deadline." ...
... Alan Rusbridger, et al., of the Guardian: In an interview with the Guardian, "Edward Snowden has hailed landmark shifts in Congress and the US courts on NSA surveillance but cautioned that much more needs to be done to restore the balance in favour of privacy. He also warned this was only the beginning of reform of the NSA, saying there are still many bulk collection programmes which are 'even more intrusive', but expressed hope that the Senate would act to curb the NSA, saying retention of the status quo is untenable."
Danielle Ivory, et al., of the New York Times: "Justice Department investigators have identified criminal wrongdoing in General Motors' failure to disclose a defect tied to at least 104 deaths, and are negotiating what is expected to be a record penalty, according to people briefed on the inquiry.... Former G.M. employees, some of whom were dismissed last year, are under investigation as well and could face criminal charges."
Deborah Sontag of the New York Times: "In what appeared to be a reversal of his predecessor's position, Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas wrote to Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch last week to assure her that his state intended to abide by national standards to prevent, detect and respond to prison rape 'wherever feasible.'... But the Justice Department said late Thursday that it had rejected his assurance. Texas, which has a high rate of reported sexual abuse against inmates, is expected to be financially penalized for a second straight year for failing to follow the procedures that the federal government has established to document progress in eliminating prison rape." CW: No doubt Lynch's actions are part of the federal government's plan to declare martial law in Texas. She'll probably release a bunch of alleged rape victims & have them do their Count of Monte Cristo thing under all the Texas WalMarts.
Dana Milbank: "After more than three decades of income growth for the wealthiest 10 percent and stagnation for everybody else, the top 3 percent now has more wealth than the bottom 90 percent.... An International Monetary Fund study released in March found that the decline in union membership has been responsible for half of the rise in the share of income going to the top 10 percent.... Straws in the wind suggest a building backlash."
CW: I do not know how I missed it, but last week Frank Rich wrote a marvelous feature piece on race riots. There are few writers of English prose who can so seamlessly wrap their personal stories into the broader cultural context (without making the piece All About Me). ...
... The photo that accompanies Rich's essay is striking. Looking at it, I thought, "This photographer should get a Pulitzer." Then I noticed that the credit went to someone named Devin Allen, with no affiliated media outfit designated. So I looked up Allen. Here's another post on Allen. (Its author, Charise Frazier, & her copywriter should look up the meaning of "notoriety.") And another. I hope most of those media who used Allen's photos have paid him handsomely.
White House: "In this week's address, the President commemorated Memorial Day by paying tribute to the men and women in uniform who have given their lives in service to our country":
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Dean Baker in FAIR: "In a Washington Post column (5/22/15), Delaware Gov. Jack Markell and Third Way president Jonathan Cowan took a swipe at the progressive wing of the Democratic Party in arguing for a set of ill-defined centrist proposals.... There is much about their piece that is wrong or misleading ... but the best part is in the last paragraph, where they tell readers, 'Nine years ago, Borders Books had more than 1,000 stores and more than 35,000 employees. Four years ago, it liquidated. Those stores ... closed because technology brought us Amazon and the Kindle.' Actually, Border Books did close in large part because the economic system is rigged against ordinary Americans. One of the main reasons Amazon has been able to grow as rapidly as it did is that Amazon has not been required to collect the same sales tax as its brick-and-mortar competitors in most states for most of its existence." CW: Three things: (1) Jeff Bezos, the billionaire who started & owns Amazon, also owns the Washington Post, which is the point of Baker's piece; (2) likely Borders wasn't the slavedriver that Amazon is;* & (3) Jack Markell has to be one of the dumbest elected Democrats in the country. Thanks to Bonita for the lead.
...* There are other reasons Borders failed, of course, & one of those reasons is its partnership with Amazon.
Presidential Race
CW: As usual, our own Commentariat was excellent yesterday. I particularly appreciated Akhilleus's putting the Clintons' fortune into context. As he noted, in the course of some 16 months, the accumulated earnings of all three Clintons amounted to "a third of what Robert Downey, Jr. made in a few months for making 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'." To extend Akhiilleus's commentary, I would ask: Is a former President earns $250K for a speech in which he tries to talk some fat cats & lesser richy-riches into forking over some of their millions to, say, reduce mortality rates in parts of Africa, doing pretty much the same as an oil company exec taking in a multi-million-dollar salary so he can buy a yacht, etc. -- while his company begrudgingly pays a pittance in fines for multiple safety violations until it ends up polluting the beaches, the wetlands & the oceans? And if Bill Clinton is so smart, why can't he out-earn a guy who "was a lot more interesting when he was on drugs"? ...
... (Less appreciated: Akhilleus's extensive commentary on Josh Dugger, although Akhilleus did manage to tie that repulsive, repeat child-molester to the leading lights of the Republican party, just to show you how dim those lights are. Anyhow, unless one of those dim bulbs comments on the Dugger boy, I'm leaving staying clear of him. And, no, I don't really mind Akhilleus's post on a sanctimonious punk who would tell most Reality Chex readers we were going to hell.)
Gail Collins: August 6 is "the [70th] anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and the date of the first Republican presidential debate." Collins notes that not all of 2,376 candidates will make the cut, meaning there may be no Carly Fiorina or Rick Santorum.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Henry McDonald of the Guardian: "Voters in Ireland appear to have voted strongly in favour of legalising same-sex marriage in the republic's referendum, the country's equality minister said on Saturday shortly, after counting began. 'I think it's won. I've seen bellwether boxes open, middle-of-the road areas who wouldn't necessarily be liberal and they are resoundingly voting yes,' equality minister Aodhán Ó Ríordáin told Reuters at the main count centre in Dublin." ...
News Ledes
New York Times: "The United States and China on Friday escalated their dispute over contested territory in the South China Sea, after the Chinese repeatedly ordered an American military surveillance plane to abandon flights over areas where China has been building artificial islands. The continued American surveillance flights in areas where China is creating new islands in the South China Sea are intended to challenge the Chinese government's claims of expanded territorial sovereignty. Further raising the challenge, Pentagon officials said they were discussing sending warships into waters that the United States asserts are international and open to passage, but that China says are within its zone of control."
Guardian: "An inflatable dam in drought-stricken California was damaged on Thursday, causing the loss of nearly 50,000,000 gallons (190m litres) of water. Police said vandals caused 'irreversible damage' to the inflatable dam in Fremont, a city in the San Francisco Bay Area. The vandalism caused water meant for local residents to instead flow into San Francisco bay."
Washington Post: "The man convicted in the 2001 killing of federal intern Chandra Levy is likely to get a new trial after prosecutors on Friday dropped their long-standing opposition to defense efforts to have a new jury hear the case. Since 2013, attorneys for Ingmar Guandique, 34, have argued that a key witness in the 2010 trial had lied when he testified that Guandique, his onetime cellmate, confessed to him that he killed Levy."
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Reader Comments (4)
It gives on pause (this one anyway)
According the the NYTimes, Rush Limbaugh and I are on the same side, both weighing in against the TPP deal. Of course Rush is agin' it because Obama is for it. I take comfort in my opposition because my labor friends think it will bring more havoc to the American worker. But then, Elizabeth Warren doesn't like it and neither does Harry Reid.
So let's see. Limbaugh, Warren, Reid and Ken. In the other corner, Obama and most the the Republicans. We have some very strange bedfellows to share this night.
Yesterdays commentary on Heroes and Villains recalled a favorite anecdote: Einstein often spoke about God: "Subtle is the Lord... God does not play dice... etc." To which Danish physicist Niels Bohr responded: "Albert, stop telling God what to do."
I've always thought that was excellent advice for all of us -- especially politicians and members of the clergy. Can any of them string together more than two sentences without demanding that: "God Bless America"? What more do they want? God (if he exists) has given us hands, hearts, minds, and a magnificent planet -- which we have throughly trashed when we weren't otherwise occupied slaughtering each other in God's name. Is it possible that God is thinking: "Stop bothering Me. STFU, get off your asses, and get to work with what I've already blessed you."
Good work Frank Rich. However I do not think the American public is making the comparison of domestic protests with the growth of the haters in Iraq.
A huge group of under educated, unemployed young men with no hope and no future exists in Iraq and in major American cities.
In Iraq, they will fight and kill forever.
In America, they will riot and burn as the perceived injustices occur and the process will continue until it becomes an economic burden and cities, states and counties change attitudes and practices and attack the problems of the city poor.
The Frank Rich piece was terrific––is so good I'm left with a feeling of fullness. He covers this problem with such a broad brush and yet we have these intimate details. How fortunate for him to have had such a good role model for a father, someone who obviously had a moral and ethical conscience.
Thanks Marie for posting this most important essay that one wishes many people will read, but sadly, that won't be the case. We'll muddle on as before––it's what we do.