The Commentariat -- May 31, 2015
Internal links removed.
Michael Shear of the New York Times: "Joseph R. Biden III, the former attorney general of Delaware and the eldest son of Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., has died of brain cancer, his father announced on Saturday. The younger Mr. Biden was 46.... A popular Democratic politician in his home state who was known to be very close to his father, Mr. Biden served two terms as Delaware's top law enforcement official before announcing last year that he would not run for a third term so he could make a bid for governor in 2016." ...
... Vice President Biden's statement is here.
... Beau Biden's Washington Post obituary, by Paul Kane, is here. ...
... President Obama's quite moving statement is here.
Manu Raju of Politico: "Rand Paul plans to force the expiration of the PATRIOT Act Sunday by refusing to allow Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to expedite debate on a key surveillance bill. In a statement to Politico Saturday, Paul warned that he would not consent to any efforts to pass either an extension of current law or the USA Freedom Act, a reform bill passed overwhelmingly by the House earlier this month. 'So tomorrow, I will force the expiration of the NSA illegal spy program,' Paul said." ...
... Raju's background story is here.
Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Kimberly Kindy, et al., of the Washington Post: "... at least 385 people [have been] shot and killed by police nationwide during the first five months of this year, more than two a day, according to a Washington Post analysis. That is more than twice the rate of fatal police shootings tallied by the federal government over the past decade, a count that officials concede is incomplete. 'These shootings are grossly underreported,' said Jim Bueermann, a former police chief and president of the Washington-based Police Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving law enforcement.... About half the victims were white, half minority. But the demographics shifted sharply among the unarmed victims, two-thirds of whom were black or Hispanic.... So far, just three of the 385 fatal shootings have resulted in an officer being charged with a crime -- less than 1 percent."
Mary Troyan of USA Today (May 29): "U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller announced Friday he will resign Aug. 1, almost one year since he was arrested and charged with battery of his wife. By resigning, Fuller, 56, gives up what had been a lifetime appointment. The departure creates another vacancy on the federal bench in Alabama, which is already depleted.... Fuller's caseload was reassigned to other judges after his arrest but he continued to collect his salary.... Most members of Alabama's congressional delegation had publicly urged him to step down within weeks of his arrest, but Fuller resisted while his criminal case worked its way through the courts.... Members of Congress, Republican and Democrat, had begun preparing possible impeachment proceedings. And women's advocacy organizations had launched campaigns for his removal."
The Affable Opportunist. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "Federal law enforcement agents say [former House Speaker Dennis] Hastert's [R-Ill.] years as a lobbyist and rainmaker explain how he was able to promise $3.5 million in cash to a former student who claims Mr. Hastert sexually molested him decades ago. A former wrestling coach and high school teacher, Mr. Hastert did not enter Congress as wealthy as some of his colleagues. Yet he was still able to amass a small fortune with land deals, one aided by an earmark he secured for a highway interchange. But it was at his own post-Congress lobbying firm and at the professional services firm Dickstein Shapiro that Mr. Hastert swelled his cash flow, working all sides of issues and glad-handing members of Congress for controversial clients.... The Hastert era in the House ... was known for loose reins on spending and the extensive use of earmarks, legislation that directed tax dollars to home-district projects." ...
... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker writes an excellent post, tying together the threads of what has been revealed & surmised in the Hastert case. ...
... CW: I listened to this to hear what vapid gibberish Brooks would spout, and he didn't disappoint, but Mark Shields is worth hearing:
Nicholas Kristof: "In California, 80 percent of water used by humans goes to farming and ranching.... It's time for a fundamental rethinking of America's food factory.... Something good could come from the California drought if it could push this revolution a bit further, by forcing a reallocation of water to the most efficient uses. But remember that the central challenge can't be solved by a good rain because the larger problem is an irrational industrial food system.... You can also calculate your own water footprint at National Geographic's website."
Bill Moyers, in Salon: "... the challenge of journalism today is to survive in the pressure cooker of plutocracy." From "remarks were made by Bill Moyers at the presentation of the Helen Bernstein Book Awards for Excellence in Journalism. The ceremony took place at the New York Public Library on May 26, 2015." CW: If you don't feel like reading something serious today, at least read the Robert Benchley anecdote.
CW: Looking for something else, I came across these remarks by former Supreme David Souter on the Constitution, written as "a great compromise," which is "in a state of inconsistency with the daily practice of politics" & a "culture of intransigence":
Alana Massey's essay in the New Republic on "the white Protestant roots of racism" is a bit disjointed, thus unsatisfying, but she still manages to offer some insights into our racist past & present.
The Quality of Stench. Daniel Politi of Slate: "Anyone hoping that FIFA President Sepp Blatter would take on a more conciliatory tone after his re-election in the midst of a corruption scandal that has shaken global soccer to its core was in for a rude awakening Saturday. As he started his fifth term on Saturday, Blatter directly hit out at the United States, essentially implying that the Justice Department timed its arrests in Zurich and the announcement of a major corruption probe to hurt his chances of re-election. 'No one is going to tell me that it was a simple coincidence, this American attack two days before the elections of FIFA,' Blatter told Swiss television, according to the Guardian. 'It doesn't smell good.'"
Presidential Race
Socialism for Me but Not for Thee. Bob Cesca in Salon: Ted Cruz railed against disaster relief for the Northeast after Hurricane Sandy, but with parts of Texas under water, he's imploring the federal government to "fulfill its statutory obligation" & send aid to Texas. Cesca is under the impression Cruz is asking for "redistribution" of money from all us to Texas. CW: No word on his views about how man-made climate change likely has exacerbated Texas's drought-and-flood cycles.
Ali Breland of Politico: "Sen. Marco Rubio will not participate in the Iowa Straw Poll, his campaign team confirmed Saturday. The Florida senator and 2016 hopeful's decision marks the latest blow to the August event long considered a staple on the Republican road to the presidential nomination. Jeb Bush, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Mike Huckabee have all said they won't participate this cycle. Many, including Gov. Scott Walker. Sen. Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz have yet to signal if they will attend."
Beyond the Beltway
AP: "While acknowledging that he cannot appeal an acquittal, an Ohio prosecutor says a judge made serious errors before finding a Cleveland police officer not guilty in the deaths of two unarmed suspects, and he wants an appeals court to order the judge to correct the record. The prosecutor, Timothy J. McGinty of Cuyahoga County, said in court documents that were posted Friday on The Plain Dealer website that Judge John O'Donnell's reasoning in the voluntary-manslaughter trial of Officer Michael Brelo could set a legal precedent that would 'endanger the public.'"
News Ledes
New York Times: Lenny "Merullo, who died on Saturday at 98 in Reading, Mass., played shortstop for the 1945 Cubs, the franchise's last pennant winner, and was the last surviving ballplayer to have worn a Cubs uniform in a World Series."
New York Times: "Secretary of State John Kerry has cut short his trip to Europe after breaking a leg while bicycling on Sunday and is returning to Boston for medical treatment. The State Department said that Mr. Kerry's bike struck a curb while he was cycling near Scionzier, France. He was taken to a hospital in Geneva and never lost consciousness."
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Reader Comments (11)
Does the flooding in Texas mean that Obama's invasion will have to be postponed?
@David Feldman: Excellent question. Maybe some of the invaders will come disguised as FEMA agents. Geeks bearing gifts, or something.
Marie
After reading Felman's query I thought––huh? immediately thought he meant some invasion in the middle east that I wasn't aware of–––then, like one of those light bulbs over the heads in cartoons, I got it,. and Marie's response so funny.
The death of Beau Biden is so very sad. Such a terrible loss. Obama's homage quite moving–-I liked what he had to say.
And thanks, Marie for finding that Souter video––will try and see if I can find the whole panel discussion.
@PD Pepe: C-SPAN has the full discussion here. I listened to a bit of it earlier today & didn't find the part I listened to nearly as interesting as Souter's thesis. But 5 minutes of an hour-plus-long presentation isn't a fair assessment.
Marie
Several days ago here, I wondered when an explanation would be forthcoming as to why God has chosen to smite the Republik of Tejas. The NYT has since quoted a survivor: “I guess it’s just a sign that it’s time for a change in my life. God said, ‘You have too much stuff.’ ”
I now am waiting for God to decide that La Donald, Sheldon, and the Koch Brothers "have too much stuff." Not holding my breath.
So Dennis Hastert made money in congress by engineering sweet real estate deals. Perhaps Kenneth Starr had too narrow a mandate when he was unleashed to look into the Clintons' real estate deals. This looks to me like yet another example of Republicans complaining about Democrats doing something in order to deflect attention from the fact that they are doing the same thing many times over.
Nisky Guy,
Nah. It's just another case of IOKIYAR.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/in-iowa-gop-voters-are-uneasy-about-pauls-crusade-against-nsa-spying/2015/05/31/0b528f46-0775-11e5-a7ad-b430fc1d3f5c_story.html.
Wow! This is why the importance of Iowa should be deemphasized in presidential elections. That said, this is a text book example of the messiness of representative democracy. In the same way many of these same people in Iowa want to disenfranchise non-white male land owning voters, I'd like to disenfranchise some of those fine citizens of Iowa. They don't see that they spawn an accelerating spiral to the bottom of autocracy and fascism by their self centered disinterest in learning about the consequences of their preferred policies.
And speaking of how IOKIYAR, this morning on Show Your Ass, known to the lurkers in the green rooms of Sunday morning gasbag extravaganzas as Face the Nation, Juanito Arbuto, when asked about Iraq, blamed all the problems of that country on Obama. He sniffed that the president didn't seem have a plan in place, which is bad because careful planning is so important. Also, Obama needs to listen to the people who know what they're talking about and not just do whatever he decides is best.
Do these people ever listen to themselves? This is the brother of the captain of the Titanic saying that the new guy needs to watch out for icebergs and not go so fast.
It looks like the cop who was recently acquitted in Cleveland got away with double homicide. It is highly unusual for a prosecutor to appeal court rulings in a criminal case where the outcome of acquittal is unchangeable. I comment Timothy McGinty for taking this unusual step. Otherwise, ad hoc police firing squads could become routine. ("His bullet did it" "No, HIS bullet...."). It seems like the judge in the case got everything wrong through ignorance or otherwise.
@Citizen625:
"I don’t want the mall to get bombed because they didn’t get the information they needed,” -- Iowan Victoria Martin, 71, who runs a water-softening business with her husband
Number of cloud-to-ground lightning flashes in Iowa in 2012: 400,000
Number of terrorist attacks thwarted anywhere in the US by bulk collection program: 000,000
Of course, Victoria there has plenty of reason to be worried, but the state's residents won't be needing operators standing by 24/7 to listen in on their phone calls. Your average Iowa terrorist doesn't resort to covert phone calls: "Charles City, Iowa.... "Loren Saxon, 48, is charged with terroristic threats and public intoxication.... According to officers, Saxon said he was a member of the al-Qaida terrorist organization and that he would shoot as many children as he could. He was not armed at the time."
Congratulations to our politicians for their successful efforts to scare little old ladies living in the hinterlands where there is close to zero chance of a terrorist attack.
(In fairness, there may be a threat to rail lines. Here's one report from 2011. It was not NSA spies who discovered that someone had cut the track, but railroad employees.)
Whatever you do, Victoria, don't get on a train! Especially if a thunderstorm is expected!!!
Marie