The Commentariat -- May 7, 2015
All internal links removed.
** New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo in a New York Times op-ed on why a raise for fast-food workers in good for them & good for the economy.
"The Worst Ex-Chairman Ever." Paul Krugman: "... as the Fed holds its annual meeting in Jackson Hole, [Alan] Greenspan will address a counter-conference organized by a group called the American Principles Project. The group combines social conservatism -- it's anti-gay-marriage, anti-abortion rights, and pro-'religious liberty' -- with goldbug economic doctrine." ...
... MEANWHILE, Mrs. Worst Ex-Chair Ever is dawging Mrs. Ex-Big Dawg: Hadas Gold of Politico: Andrea Mitchell is "one of the most senior reporters covering the [presidential] race, and one of the most aggressive, calling [Hillary] Clinton out, chasing her down, asking her questions -- and occasionally getting a roundabout answer. Some sources suggest she's getting under the Clinton camp's skin, a rope-line irritant constantly shouting after the former secretary of state to answer questions."
Dreamers Deferred. Kristina Wong of the Hill: "The Army has already allowed almost 50 illegal immigrants to enlist as members of Congress debate whether to allow them to seek citizenship through military service." The program is designed to allow "highly-skilled legal immigrants to enlist in the military as a fast-track to citizenship.... The program, called Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI), was meant to recruit people with medical training or who speak a critical language, such as Mandarin, Urdu or Arabic." Some Congressional Democrats want to expand the program to accept less specialized recruits "in the interest of national security," but Republicans oppose the expansion.
Bryan Bender of Politico: "An audit by the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, which is to be made public in coming weeks, found that both civilian and military employees [of the Pentagon] used [government] credit cards at casinos and for escort services and other adult activities -- in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. A Pentagon official briefed on some of the findings stressed that the federal government did not necessarily pay the charges; holders of the cards pay their own bills and then submit receipts to be reimbursed for expenses related to their government business."
Burgess Everett of Politico: "President Barack Obama hosted a group of Senate Democrats at the White House on Wednesday, hoping to shore up support for his free-trade efforts before a critical vote next week." ...
... Ben White of Politico: "So far in her battle against President Barack Obama's trade agenda, Sen. Elizabeth Warren has raised the specter of shady international courts invalidating U.S. laws and a cabal of business interests writing trade agreements in secret, smoky rooms. Now she has a new complaint: If Congress gives Obama what he wants on fast-track trade authority..., some future Republican president could use that power to gut the Dodd-Frank financial reform law.... White House, Congress and the business community [say ... Warren's arguments ... are increasingly wide of the mark and easily rebutted.... Obama has already called Warren 'wrong' on trade. But in private, administration officials fume in much more colorful terms over Warren's attacks, calling them 'baseless' and 'desperate,' with 'no bearing or relation to anything we are doing.'" ...
... Robert Reich, a former secretary of labor, characterizes the TPP as trickle-down economics gone wild. Thanks to Janice for the link. CW: I have a lot of respect for Reich, so his short post has moved me from high-octane skeptic to non-believer. Sorry, Mr. President. This is one I hope you can't deliver for your big business buddies.
Timothy Cama of the Hill: "Iran is wooing American oil companies in anticipation of a time when Western interests can take advantage of the Middle Eastern nation's vast crude reserves. A delegation of U.S. oil company leaders and investors heads to Tehran this week to discuss opportunities to operate there if the U.S. lifts sanctions on Iran this summer as part of a deal to restrict its nuclear capabilities, Iran's state media reported."
Peter Sullivan of the Hill: "Around 17 million people have gained health insurance since the core of ObamaCare took effect in 2013, according to a RAND Corporation study released Wednesday.... While there was much concern about plans being cancelled because of ObamaCare, the study notes that the number of people losing coverage was close to the same level it was before ObamaCare. 'We found that the vast majority of those with individual market insurance in 2013 remained insured in 2015, which suggests that even among those who had their individual market policies canceled, most found coverage through an alternative source,' the study states."
Dylan Matthews of Vox: "... for all [Paul] Ryan's rhetoric on poverty, he's also the author of a series of budgets that would absolutely wreck programs for the American poor, inflicting massive human suffering on the nation's most vulnerable residents.... His appearance on Face the Nation suggests he's going to try to make his poverty programs work with his budgets, which is to say he's going to argue that taking trillions away from the poor is somehow actually good for them."
Leader McClueless & Speaker J. B. O'Blivious.... Hannah Hess of Roll Call: "House Speaker John A. Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., might never have known their bodyguards left guns in the bathroom without CQ Roll Call's report, which has launched a Capitol Police investigation into the source of the leak. Spokesmen for the two GOP leaders on Tuesday made their first comments on the security lapses that were revealed May 1...."
Sasha Goldstein & Jason Silverstein of the New York Daily News: "ISIS appears to declare war on controversial blogger Pamela Geller on Tuesday in an ominous online message claiming it has fighters across America ready to attack 'any target we desire.' The threat, posted on anonymous message board JustPasteIt, singles out Geller, who helped plan a Prophet Muhammad cartoon contest that was attacked by two gunmen in Garland, Texas, over the weekend." ...
.. New York Times Editors: "There is no question that images ridiculing religion, however offensive they may be to believers, qualify as protected free speech in the United States and most Western democracies.... But it is equally clear that the Muhammad Art Exhibit and Contest in Garland, Tex., was not really about free speech. It was an exercise in bigotry and hatred posing as a blow for freedom." ...
... Erik Wemple of the Washington Post, in criticizing Greta Van Susteren for scolding Pam Geller, doesn't seem to get the Times' distinction.CW: Yes, police have a duty to protect protesters, but protesters have a civic duty to make their case without resorting -- in the main -- to incendiary techniques, especially when those techniques are aimed at minority groups. A "protest" organized around hate speech is not exactly a "peaceful protest" nor is it a noble expression of a First Amendment right. I'm not sure why so many people have trouble grasping this fairly evident principle. I make fun of fundamentalist Christian beliefs all the time, but I do so mainly because those beliefs have taken hold of a powerful political party & are being employed to trample the rights of others & to dismantle an orderly, secular society. I don't think fantastical Muslim beliefs -- including restrictions on depictions of people in sacred art -- are any more defensible than Christian mythologies, but what is the point of showing disrespect for religious beliefs that don't affect the rest of society?
... Scott Shane & Fernanda Santos of the New York Times on the FBI's 2009 case against Elton Simpson, who attacked the Geller hate event. ...
... Now add that costly, bungled effort to this story. Scott Shane: "Elton Simpson, in the weeks before the attack. Mr. Simpson, a convert to Islam with a long history of extremism, regularly traded calls for violence on Twitter with Islamic State fighters and supporters, as well as avowed enemies of Pamela Geller, the organizer of the cartoon contest.... Several months ago, after Mr. Simpson began posting on Twitter about the Islamic State, the F.B.I. and the police in Phoenix opened a new investigation, officials said. As part of that inquiry, the authorities monitored his online postings and occasionally put him under surveillance.... Yet with dozens, or perhaps hundreds, of people across the United States expressing online sympathy for the Islamic State, authorities are unable to keep them all under physical surveillance or track them online." ...
... Now, add this. Holly Yan of CNN: "A ... law enforcement source said the two long guns and four handguns found in their car were bought legally." CW: Since Yan uses the passive voice, we don't know if Simpson or his accomplice Nadir Soofi or someone else bought the firearms. ...
... CW: As long as we glorify the Second Amendment & encourage people of all stripes to obtain firearms, murderous attacks are going to happen. The attack against the hate "cartoonists" is as much about American violence as it is about Middle Eastern violence. ...
... Of course Republicans think the answer to terrorist attacks such as this one is more surveillance. CW: I'm finding it a little difficult to see the freeedom in this approach. But, hey, I'll go along with this so long as Republicans promote the surveillance of all the whackos who own guns. One problem: since, according to Shane, it takes up to 25 agents to surveil a single suspect, "perfect" surveillance would be mathematically impossible.
Presidential Race
Charles Pierce thinks Hillary Clinton has her progressive act together. & all that "appearance of impropriety" handwringing is evidence that her detractors have got nothing. ...
... Apparently voters agree. Jonathan Martin & Megan Thee-Brenan of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to have initially weathered a barrage of news about her use of a private email account when she was secretary of state and the practices of her family's foundation, an indication that she is starting her second presidential bid with an unusual durability among Democratic voters. Americans now view Mrs. Clinton more favorably and more see her as a strong leader than they did earlier in the year, despite weeks of scrutiny about her ethics, a New York Times/CBS News poll has found. And nearly nine in 10 Democrats say the nation is ready to elect a woman president." ...
... Maggie Haberman & Nicholas Confessore of the New York Times: "Hillary Rodham Clinton will begin personally courting donors for a 'super PAC' supporting her candidacy, the first time a Democratic presidential candidate has fully embraced these independent groups that can accept unlimited checks from big donors and are already playing a major role in the 2016 race. Her decision is another escalation in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential race in history, and it has the potential to transform the balance of power in presidential campaigning, where Republican outside groups have tended to outspend their Democratic counterparts." ...
... Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "President Bill Clinton on Wednesday conceded that over-incarceration in the United States stems in part from policies passed under his administration. Clinton signed into law an omnibus crime bill in 1994 that included the federal 'three strikes' provision, mandating life sentences for criminals convicted of a violent felony after two or more prior convictions, including drug crimes.... 'The problem is the way it was written and implemented is we cast too wide a net and we had too many people in prison,' Clinton said Wednesday.... [Last week] Hillary Clinton delivered one of the first policy addressees of her presidential campaign on criminal justice reform, saying that the system focuses too much on incarceration." ...
... ** Rebecca Traister of the New Republic: "The best thing Hillary could do for her campaign? Ditch Bill."
Matea Gold & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: Jeb Bush & his strategists believe he will "peak late," letting others enjoy being "the presidents of August.... Bush, who has already stockpiled record sums, intends to hold back from officially declaring his bid for at least another month, according to people familiar with the plan. The strategy is being driven by a confident, tightly knit group of Bush advisers who are focused on amassing as much money as possible for his allied super PAC on the theory that a considerable cash advantage will enable Bush to outlast his competitors." ...
... Nick Gass of Politico: Scott Walker "retains his advantage among Iowa Republican caucus-goers, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday, with 21 percent of likely participants saying they would vote for him if the caucus were held today.... [Jeb] Bush ... comes in seventh -- with just 5 percent responding that they would vote for him. Only 39 percent said they viewed him favorably, compared with 45 percent who said they did not."
However. Jonathan Easley of the Hill: "Nationally, Walker's support peaked at 17.3 percent on April 1 and dropped to 12.3 percent on Wednesday, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls. He's been overtaken by two candidates seeking to appeal to establishment-minded Republicans. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush now leads the field at 15.5 percent support, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) at 14.3 percent."
"It's Still Good!" Steve Benen writes a funny post on Chris Christie's presidential chances, likening them to a "Simpsons" episode in which Homer & Bart go on a wild barbecue chase. ...
... Marianne Levine of Politico: "The expectation within the legal community is that Christie will lose" a legal case challenging his self-proclaimed "biggest governmental victory": "reforming" New Jersey's state pension plan. CW: But "It's still good!"
Jonathan Easley: "Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) said Wednesday he’ll make a 'big announcement' regarding his 2016 presidential campaign plans May 27 in Pittsburgh." CW: I guess he's looking for another gig on Fox "News." Because he sure as hell isn't going to be the POTUS.
Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will not run for president in 2016, according to two sources familiar with his planning. Snyder, a Republican who was first elected in 2010, has been traveling across the country in recent weeks but has decided against a White House bid."
Gail Collins: "People who run for president boasting that they aren't politicians are frequently just trying to compensate for a lack of political skill. [Ben] Carson (who presumably wants to run government like an operating room) is going to appeal to the folks who think the military is plotting to take over Texas, but otherwise, his only political gift seems to be for making outrageous statements. [Carly] Fiorina ran for the Senate in 2010 and was beaten by Barbara Boxer, who was thought to be a vulnerable incumbent until Fiorina got hold of her, racking up a grand total of 42 percent of the vote." ...
... Andy Borowitz: "One day after the former Hewlett-Packard C.E.O. Carly Fiorina announced her candidacy for the 2016 Republican Presidential nomination, a new poll shows that she enjoys extremely high name recognition among the tens of thousands of former H.P. employees she fired."
AND Ben Carson turns out to be a brilliant Constitutooshunal scholar. Daniel Strauss of TPM: "... Ben Carson said in an interview with Newsmax that the President of the United States doesn't have to follow the Supreme Court if the high court were to rule in favor of same-sex marriage. 'First of all, we have to understand how the Constitution works. The president is required to carry out the laws of the land, the laws of the land come from the legislative branch,' Carson said on Tuesday. 'So if the legislative branch creates a law or changes a law, the executive branch has a responsibly to carry it out. It doesn't say they have the responsibility to carry out a judicial law. And that's something we need to talk about.'" CW: Apparently Dr. Ben skipped class the day the teacher explained the significance of Marbury v. Madison & the principle of judicial review (which predates Marbury). But, hey, what's 200-plus years of established law when one can don a tricorn & pretend he's living in the 18th-century? ...
... PLUS, Mike Huckabee is still a Tenther. A tricorn for that man, too! And a musket!
Beyond the Beltway
Joseph Serna, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "An aide to California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris and two others [are] accused of operating a rogue police force.... Los Angeles County prosecutors said the whole effort was a ruse, though for what purpose remains unclear. The investigation is continuing."
Dana Hedgpeth of the Washington Post: "Baltimore's Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she plans to put in place police body cameras by the end of the year and to have the Justice Department review whether the city's police department has a pattern of excessive force..... Also Wednesday, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan lifted Baltimore's state of emergency, which was imposed April 27 after violence erupted...." The New York Times story, by Stephen Babcock & Richard Perez-Pena, is here. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Fenit Nirappil of the AP: "California water regulators adopted sweeping, unprecedented restrictions Tuesday on how people, governments and businesses can use water amid the state's ongoing drought, hoping to push reluctant residents to deeper conservation." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Way Beyond
Jodi Rudoren of the New York Times: "Facing a midnight deadline to form a government or step aside, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel was under intense pressure on Wednesday from the conservative Jewish Home party over powerful ministerial posts and contentious policy positions. Mr. Netanyahu, who exulted in what looked like a strong mandate for a fourth term after the March 17 elections, instead was scrambling to form a coalition with the slimmest possible majority in Parliament. Many analysts said such a coalition would be able to do little and would be unlikely to last long." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... New Lede: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel barely met the legal deadline to form a new government on Wednesday night, and will start his fourth term with the slimmest of parliamentary majorities, made up of right-leaning and religious parties."
News Ledes
NBC Connecticut: "A suspended Connecticut Roman Catholic priest who authorities say dealt pounds of methamphetamine and bought a sex shop intending to launder his drug money will spend another three years in prison after being sentenced on Thursday. Around 75 people were in court on Thursday to support Monsignor Kevin Wallin, 63, dubbed 'Monsignor Meth' in some media reports, and the judge called it an 'unprecedented' turnout for a drug trafficking sentencing."
Guardian: "Twelve years and nine months after he was captured at the age of 15 by US troops in Afghanistan and taken to Guantánamo Bay, Omar Khadr -- now 28 -- has walked out of jail. A judge rebuffed the conservative Canadian government's attempt to block bail for Khadr, the youngest person ever held by the US at Guantánamo, who was transferred to his home country in 2012.... Yet Khadr's legal ordeal is far from over. The government has given notice that it intends to challenge the bail order itself, while Khadr appeals his conviction in a US military tribunal for the murder of an army special forces medic, Sgt First Class Christopher Speer. Khadr will also go before a parole board on 25 June."
It's election day in Great Britain. The Guardian is liveblogging results & other developments. ...
... Update: Here's the Guardian's new liveblog of the results.
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Reader Comments (17)
For those still on the fence about the TPP, I would suggest Robert Reich's latest blog post. He speaks from his experience as a former labor secretary trying to enforce the worker protections in NAFTA.
http://robertreich.org/post/117948294805
I thought Ken Winkes' comment on the TPP a few weeks ago was excellent; I meant to copy and save it, but didn't. As I recall, he focused on the secrecy of this "deal".
Capitol Cops Leave Glocks in the Crapper. Maybe Stupidity really is contagious. That would explain a lot.
I'm having this fantasy of a group of CWs marching on the Capitol in bio-hazard suits bearing banners: "Stupidity Kills", "Stop the Epidemic", "Guns Don't Kill People, Stupid Kills People"...
@Janice: Here is a link I posted previously that addresses the "secrecy" aspect of the TPP deal.
After reading Reich this morning, I, too, am thinking negatively about the plan. The problem arises when a President you respect, believe him when he says this is a good deal for us as a country, gets lambasted by others you also respect who say, nay, this deal is bad for us. Tis difficult.
If you all will indulge the repetition, a shortened version of the TPP comment Janice remembered reading.
‘Ken Winkes’ added The Commentariat — April 23, 2015:
"That the TPP is a Big Secret is only one of its big problems. Another is the dark history of other recent trade deals, from NAFTA to our recent "deal" with Korea, which have all shuttered our factories, lowered wages and increased our trade deficits. Those are facts, and absent a clear look at the provisions of the TPP not even the President, bless him, should be looking askance at trade deal skeptics. They've learned from experience.
The TPP's third problem, maybe the biggest of all, is its negotiators. Only corporations are present. Not labor, not those concerned with the environment, not you or I. Instead, we have bigger-than-nations corporations...."
And here's another TPP reference I posted earlier, in case you missed it. It's worth a look. Stan Sorscher has it exactly right.
"The chart included in the article says it all, clarifying further, if any more clarification were needed, whose side the Trans Pacific Partnership is on.
'Corporatist Agenda,' and Where Can We Find One? - Huffington Post
www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-sorscher/what-is-a-corporatist-age_b_7042618 .html
I do understand why corporate interests, so frequently exploitive of workers and the environment both, like secrecy.
Naive of me maybe, but I can imagine my wise grandmother telling little Kenny that if you're proud of what you're doing, don't hide it; do it in the daylight. She might not have said that, but she certainly could have.
Pam Geller, hate monger and incendiary rhetorician went on Fox last night (natch) to "explain" her position. Host Sean Hannity also invited on extreme British Muslim activist Anjem Choudary so that all three of them could scream at each other. Sweetness, light, and understanding, isn't that Fox in a nuthouse?
Seriously, what's the point of inviting on two outer limits whack jobs (to go with the equally fringy host) who would rather stick needles in their eyes than listen respectfully to the other's point of view?
Hannity apparently invites this guy on regularly to serve as his very own cartoon representation of what he believes all Muslims are like, the better to reinforce his viewers' worst instincts. How educational, Sean, you ignorant jackass.
One interesting sidebar to the shouting apparently arose when Hannity displayed shock and disbelief that a regiment of marines had not yet been attached to Geller to keep her sorry, bigoted ass safe after an unverified threat had been issued against her (she must LOVE it!). Geller, of course, agrees, and like all Confederates who rail against the government, when there's something that impinges upon them personally, they are outraged that the government is not there for them 24/7. In this case, Geller is calling on the president personally to ensure her protection and security.
Why the president?
You don't really need to ask, do you?
Because all of this is HIS FAULT! Of course.
Don't even ask....
And absent from all the shouting, the charges, and counter charges arose not a single mention on Hannity's part of how morally reprehensible it was for Geller to arrange an event, the express purpose of which was to incite a violent even deadly response, and then invite families and kids to stroll around. It was almost as if she was hoping some kid would get popped so she could revel in orgasmic hatred and prove to everyone the rightness of her maliciousness.
You know, I read about the world these people inhabit on an almost daily basis, but I still cannot, for the life of me, get a clear picture of exactly how fucked up it really is.
Whoa! Hey kids, don't forget to mark your calendars: May 27. BIGGGGG announcement by Rick Santorum.
What could it be? I'm on tenterhooks! And boy are they uncomfortable. So, with hopes high that I may disengage sometime soon from those damned pointy things, I'm devising a list of possible possibles for Ricky's BIG announcement:
Ready?
1. He's scheduled his sex reassignment surgery. Been talking to Bruce Jenner and decided what the hell, give it a shot.
2. He found out that we are NOT in the Middle Ages anymore (I think no. 1 is more likely).
3. He's changing his last name to Santorae (the better to avoid certain, er, definitional distractions).
4. He wants to remind all America that on this day in 1955, Norm Zauchin got 10 RBI's for the Red Sox in a game against the Senators. 10! Think of it!
5. He's celebrating the 323rd anniversary of an announcement by the Governor of Massachusetts to hear accusations of witchcraft in Salem (This is prob'ly a better bet than no. 4).
6. He's finally reached puberty! No more short pants.
7. He's starting to really dig man on dog sex. Hey, it's never too late.
8. He's had a few years to redo the math on his statement that "...a third of all the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion", Yeah. It took a while, but he's pretty sure now that it's more like half the young people in America are not in America today because of abortion.
I'm gonna go with 10. That's big.
Thank you ladies and gents, that concludes Rick Santorae's BIG announcement. Make sure to take all your belongings with you, including loaded Glocks--which are better left in the Capital building's rest rooms--and have a nice day!
The picture, no doubt lovingly researched by Marie, of McClueless and Oblivious, reminds me of nothing so much as Dum and Dee, the Tweedles of "Through the Looking Glass" fame.
Here are Senator McClueless and Speaker Oblivious explaining to a voter, Alice, their thought process when considering the best way to get things done in congress:
'I know what you're thinking about,' said Tweedledum; 'but it isn't so, nohow.'
'Contrariwise,' continued Tweedledee, 'if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn't, it ain't. That's logic.'
As Lawrence Welk used to say, "Thank ya boys"
@Akhilleus: Oh noes. Please repost. We're missing Nos. 9 & 10. I have to know.
Marie
Ooops...I got ahead of myself. There are only eight. But I may have to go with ten anyway. I'll add two more. There are SO many possibilities. Maybe youse guys can add some of your own.
Double oops...
I'm sure there's plenty of capital in that building but it should have been the "Capitol" building.
A not so capitol misspelling.
Santorum Big Announcement number 9:
Will no longer wear sweater vests made in Bangladesh in order to make a statement about the TPP. Not sure exactly what the statement is -- depends on who's asking.
Santorum big announcement #10:
I am the illegitimate offspring of Donald Trump.
D.C. and Forrest,
Thanks for filling in 9 and 10. I tried but I discovered that continued thinking about Rick Santorum had lowered my IQ by about 20 points. It's worse than binging on a weekend of Adam Sandler movies.
@ PD Pepe: I don't see a link in your comment, but I'd be interested in reading the article.
@ Ken Winkes: Thank you for re-posting. I'll save the comment this time!
Like PD Pepe, and many of you, I respect President Obama, and think he's been a pretty good leader in spite of the Congress he's had to deal with. However, this trade deal smells funny for many of the reasons that both Ken and Robert Reich point out - especially those corporate tribunals that have authority over sovereign governments. Yet pretty much all the president has said is "Trust me on this." Sorry, nope, not this time.
Laws and Rules are for Other People (ie, not for Republican hatemongers, liars, and inveterate douchebags).
Beloved Confederate liar, racist, homophobe, faux academic, and douchebag dilettantein all things wingy, and convicted felon Dinesh D'Souza, has demanded that he be given a vacation from his sentence, because FREEEDOM! And WINGER.
You see, only certain people have to actually serve their sentences. Not wingnuts.
But a nice judge in New York has told poor Dinesh, victim of the evil legal system he flouted when ignoring campaign finance laws (because laws are not for the elevated types like him), to fuck off.
Funnily enough, he tried to use a Vanity Fair puff piece to prove to the judge that he was, in fact, a member of the wealthy, beach strolling elite and should be allowed some time to go on vacation.
In between gales of laughter, I wondered how long D'Souza's status as a convicted felon would deprive him of his right to vote as his fellow travelers in Right Wing World have insisted should be the case, in many instances, for life (unless you're a Confederate, of course).
Confederates have ensured that anyone convicted of a felony in 11 states, so far, lose their right to vote for the duration of their life. 20 states will reinstate that right after their period of incarceration, their parole and probation periods.
Luckily for D'Souza, he is (as far as I can tell) a California resident and will have the franchise restored after his parole period.
But this isn't good enough for Dinesh D'Douchebag. He wants a vacation as well.
Wingers create worlds that others have to live in which they themselves feel that they are above if it inconveniences their agenda. If D'Souza had been a resident in one of the states which has been implementing the sort of draconian punishments to which he subscribes, his sorry ass would never again see the inside of a voting booth.
Not to worry. Once free again, he'll be working on more scams to steal votes and disenfranchise those who refuse to vote the way he demands.
It's the Republican Way.
In advance of President Obama's appearance at Nike headquarters tomorrow to push the TPP, Robert Reich has a new post up about "why Nike is the problem and not the solution" to our country's stagnant wages. And it isn't just manufacturing workers whose jobs are at risk with this trade deal. "American workers with a four-year college degree are also highly vulnerable to job offshoring, according to a study by Princeton economist Alan Blinder. He found that one out of every four American jobs in finance, information technology and professional services could be offshored in the foreseeable future."
http://robertreich.org/post/118377464065
Greed and profit are at the heart of these free trade deals. Carelessly discarded without a thought are the human workers on both sides of the Pacific. Who's going to be left to buy all those sneakers?
@Janice: Sorry––here's the link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/25/elizabeth-warren-tells-ob_n_7142850.html