The Commentariat -- Oct. 6, 2013
According to James Hohmann of Politico, the right's new litmus test is sabotage. Anyone who wants to "compromise" by passing a clean CR is a suspect squish, & the Tea Party plans to primary him/her. This really is extraordinary. ...
... AP: Appearing on ABC News's "This Week," "House Speaker John Boehner ... says he doesn't know when the government shutdown will end and says it's up to President Barack Obama to start negotiations. The Ohio Republican said Sunday that he will not allow his GOP-led House to vote on a bill reopening the government without serious talks about spending. He also says he will not go forward with a bill increasing the government's borrowing authority without a similar conservation." CW Translation: Woe is me. I'm the Speaker of the House and the only thing I can do is make a long series of unreasonable demands. Alternate CW Translation: Ask Ted Cruz. ...
... Thanks to Julie in Massachusetts. ...
... ** Nicholas Kristof on governing by blackmail. If the President did it, we would think he had gone mad. "... in that kind of situation, I would hope that we as journalists wouldn't describe the resulting furor as a 'political impasse' or 'partisan gridlock.' I hope that we wouldn't settle for quoting politicians on each side as blaming the other." ...
... Mark Sumner of Daily Kos: "And now, let's flip back to the front page of Kristof's own New York Times for continuing coverage of 'the budget standoff.' See? It's not an impasse, it's a standoff. Glad that got cleared up." ...
... Paul Krugman: "Ever since Reagan, the Beltway has treated Republicans as the natural party of government.... There was a general presumption of Republican competence.... I think the last two years have finally killed that presumption. It wasn't just that Romney lost -- his shock, the obvious degree to which his campaign was deluded, was an eye-opener. And now the antics of the Boehner bumblers. Suddenly the old Will Rogers line -- I'm not a member of any organized political party,I'm a Democrat -- has lost its sting; the upper hand is on the other foot. And that's going to color narratives and shape campaigns for a long time." ...
... Thom Shanker of the New York Times: "Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made a surprise announcement on Saturday that he would recall next week almost all of the 400,000 civilian employees of the Defense Department who had been sent home when the government shut down. Mr. Hagel said the decision that 'most D.O.D. civilians' would now be exempted from furloughs came after Pentagon and Justice Department lawyers interpreted a budget law passed just before the shutdown to include a larger number of workers." ...
** Sheryl Gay Stolberg & Mike McIntire of the New York Times: "... interviews with a wide array of conservatives show that the confrontation that precipitated the crisis was the outgrowth of a long-running effort to undo the law, the Affordable Care Act, since its passage in 2010 -- waged by a galaxy of conservative groups with more money, organized tactics and interconnections than is commonly known.... The current budget brinkmanship is just the latest development in a well-financed, broad-based assault on the health law....
... CW: It should never go unsaid that the groups who form the loyal opposition are people who will never directly benefit from it: (1) the funders are rich old white guys (Koch boys, Ed Meese), (2) the politicians are legislators (retired or active) who already get government-backed health insurance, & (3) the so-called grassroots are people on Medicare. They are nasty, selfish bastards, one & all. ...
... Jeff Simon of the Washington Post: "As the fifth day of the federal government shutdown began, members of the House came together in a moment of rare bipartisanship to pass a bill, by a vote of 407 to 0, approving back pay for furloughed government workers. President Obama has expressed his support for the measure. Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid supports the measure, but said Saturday that if furloughed workers are guaranteed back pay, there's no reason to keep them out of work." ...
... AFP: "US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Saturday the political standoff paralysing Washington was 'reckless' and would weaken the United States' standing abroad if it did not end soon." ...
... Teabaggers Suddenly Love Federal Programs. Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "After defending such actions by saying they were taking aim at a major new government program, House Republicans set about reassembling the government they had shut down, piece by piece. Programs that conservatives had tolerated at best were suddenly lavished with praise: nutrition assistance for women and children, federal medical research, national parks, the Smithsonian Institution, even the government of the District of Columbia, which was authorized to spend money to pick up Washington's trash, maintain its needle exchange program for intravenous drug users and even implement the health care law." ...
It takes serious chutzpah for Republicans to portray themselves as the defenders of N.I.H., parks and other critical services they gutted through sequestration and proposed cutting further for 2014. -- Rep. Nita M. Lowey (D-N.Y."
Are we meant to believe that today they have come to Jesus, or is this just politics? -- Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.)
Dave Weigel of Slate: "The intransigence of Democrats, from Obama on down to red-state senators, has surprised the GOP.... Democratic aides say that the red-staters are 'scared straight' by the House GOP. They're not getting the calls from home to defund Obamacare. Their home-state papers aren't dogging them, either. They're in no fear of losing an 'optics' battle to John Boehner and company."
Dealing with terrorists has taught us some things. You can't deal with 'em. This mess was created by the Republicans for one purpose, and they lost. People in my district are calling in for Obamacare -- affordable health care -- in large numbers.... You can't say, OK, you get half of Obamacare -- this isn't a Solomonic decision. So we sit here until they figure out they fuckin' lost. -- Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.)
... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave Rep. Darrell Issa (RTP-Calif.) what-for when he petitioned to allow his suit against Attorney General Eric Holder to proceed despite the shutdown, which has furloughed DOJ litigators. Berman wrote in her denial of Issa's motion: "... while the vast majority of litigants who now must endure a delay in the progress of their matters do so due to circumstances beyond their control, that cannot be said of the House of Representatives, which has played a role in the shutdown that prompted the stay motion." Thanks to Jeanne B. for the link. ...
... "Mitch McConnell's Vanishing Act." Dana Milbank: Mitch McConnell's Tea Party rival for his Senate seat is keeping McConnell -- who has been the Republican to avert crises in the past -- from doing anything useful in the present debacle. ...
... Mary Reinhart of the Arizona Republic: "Policy experts say Arizona appears to be the only state in the nation so far to have withheld welfare checks because of the federal shutdown, a move key state lawmakers want Gov. Jan Brewer to reverse. The shutdown halted funding Tuesday for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, which states use to provide cash assistance and other support for low-income children and parents. Arizona officials announced this week that 5,200 eligible families would not receive payments, which average $207 a month.... States are allowed to use contingency funding or move money around to fund the cash-assistance payments, and other states have done so. In a letter to state welfare directors this week, federal officials said states would be reimbursed once the budget impasse is resolved. Arizona is one of 11 states that use only federal funding for the welfare payments, and the state uses the majority of its TANF funds for its burgeoning child-welfare programs." ...
... CW: Loved this David Kirkpatrick, et al., New York Times story (also linked in today's Ledes) on the U.S. raids in Somalia & Lybia: "With President Obama locked in a standoff with Congressional Republicans and his leadership criticized for a policy reversal in Syria, the raids could fuel accusations among his critics that the administration was eager for a showy foreign policy victory." The story, which is a long one, is all about the raids except for this graf signalling the wingnuts to attack Obama for, um, competence.
Julie Pace of the AP: "Defending the shaky rollout of his health care law, President Barack Obama said frustrated Americans 'definitely shouldn't give up' on the problem-plagued program now at the heart of his dispute with Republicans over reopening the federal government. Obama said public interest far exceeded the government's expectations, causing technology glitches that thwarted millions of Americans when trying to use government-run health care websites. 'Folks are working around the clock and have been systematically reducing the wait times,' he said. The federal gateway website was taken down for repairs over the weekend, again hindering people from signing up for insurance." ...
... AP: "President Barack Obama conducted an interview Friday with AP White House Correspondent Julie Pace that covered a wide range of topics...." Here's a text of the interview.
** Mark Sherman of the AP: "The Supreme Court is beginning a new term with controversial topics that offer the court's conservative majority the chance to move aggressively to undo limits on campaign contributions, undermine claims of discrimination in housing and mortgage lending, and allow for more government-sanctioned prayer. Assuming the government shutdown doesn't get in their way, the justices also will deal with a case that goes to the heart of the partisan impasse in Washington: whether and when the president may use recess appointments to fill key positions without Senate confirmation." ...
... David Savage of the Los Angeles Times: Ditto.
** Sorry I missed this. It's important. Leonard Downie, former WashPo executive editor, in the Washington Post, "based on his report 'The Obama Administration and the Press,' forthcoming Thursday from the Committee to Protect Journalists": "Many reporters covering national security and government policy in Washington these days are taking precautions to keep their sources from becoming casualties in the Obama administration's war on leaks.... The Obama administration has drawn a dubious distinction between whistleblowing that reveals bureaucratic waste or fraud, and leaks to the news media about unexamined secret government policies and activities; it punishes the latter as espionage."
Local News
Photo of the Nebraska Supremes via Digby.Margery Beck of the AP: "In a split decision released Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court rejected a 16-year-old ward of the state's request to waive parental consent to get an abortion, saying the girl had not shown she is sufficiently mature and well-informed enough to decide on her own whether to have an abortion. The girl, who is not named in the opinion, was living with foster parents this year when a juvenile court terminated the parental rights of her biological parents, who had physically abused and neglected her. In a closed hearing this summer, she told Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon she was 10 weeks pregnant and asked for a court order allowing an abortion. She said she would not be able to financially support a child and feared she might lose her foster placement if her foster parents, whom she described as having strong religious beliefs, learned of her pregnancy." CW: You have to read the whole story to get the impact of how horrible this ruling is. ...
... Digby: "She is competent to raise a child, however.... Just the image of a group of old white men (and one woman) in black robes, sitting up on a dais, making such a personal, intimate decision like this from on high chills my blood. It's medieval.... By the way, a majority of the Nebraska Supreme Court are Democrats. And according to the article, it appears that the lone Democratic woman on the court sided with the majority in this case."
Presidential Election 2016
CW: In case you Hillary fans are still wondering whether she will run in 2016, the answer is, "She's already running." Just take a look at this AP report by Ken Thomas about Clinton's campaign speech at Hamilton College. It's 2013, & I'm already sick of the 2016 campaign.
News Ledes
Al Jazeera: Japanese "Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday that Japan is open to receiving overseas help to contain widening disaster at the crippled nuclear plant in Fukushima, where radioactive water leaks and other mishaps are now reported almost daily."
Guardian: "Italian divers have recovered 83 more bodies of migrants who died when a fishing boat with an estimated 500 people onboard sank within sight of the tiny island of Lampedusa."
Al Jazeera: "A day of demonstrations has left at least 51 dead and 268 injured across Egypt, according to the government's Health Ministry. The toll has risen steadily through Sunday and includes at least one dead in the province of Minya, 150 miles south of Cairo, where police are reported to have fired live rounds into a crowd protesting the military-backed government. Police have used tear gas to disperse protesters in Cairo, near Tahrir Square, and in Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city."
New York Times: "American commandos carried out raids on Saturday in two far-flung African countries in a powerful flex of military muscle aimed at capturing fugitive terrorist suspects. American troops assisted by F.B.I. and C.I.A. agents seized a suspected leader of Al Qaeda on the streets of Tripoli, Libya, while Navy SEALs raided the seaside villa of a militant leader in a predawn firefight on the coast of Somalia.... Abu Anas, the Libyan Qaeda leader, was considered a major prize, and officials said he was alive in United States custody." ...
... Update: "An accused operative for Al Qaeda, [Abu Anas al-Libi,] seized by United States commandos in Libya over the weekend is being interrogated while in military custody on a Navy ship in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said. He is expected eventually to be sent to New York for criminal prosecution." ...
... Update: "Libya's fragile interim government condemned the United States on Sunday for what it called the 'kidnapping of a Libyan citizen' from this capital city a day earlier, and Libyan lawmakers threatened to remove the prime minister if the government was involved.... The government denied an American assertion that it had played a role in the operation amid anger that the nation's sovereignty had been violated. But ... some Libyans angry at the raid expressed exasperation at their government's failures to bring any measure of security to its people."
... Here's the Washington Post story on the U.S. raid on a Somali al-Qaeda-linked leader. Wire story linked in yesterday's Ledes.
AP: "International inspectors began destroying Syria's stockpile of chemical weapons and the machinery used to create it, a United Nations official said Sunday, racing under a tight deadline aiming to eliminate President Bashar Assad's chemical weapons program within nine months."
AP: "President Barack Obama says U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran is still 'a year or more' away from producing a nuclear weapon, an assessment he acknowledged was at odds with Israel. 'Our estimate is probably more conservative than the estimates of Israeli intelligence services,' Obama said in a wide-ranging interview with The Associated Press."
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Reader Comments (23)
Well, for once, something isn't being blamed on the gays, the women
the on and on. Put the blame where it belongs--come on you news-
casters or whatever. Anyone with half (1/8th) a brain who can read and digest the truth has to know what's coming down. It has to do
with the fact that we have a black president, pure and simple, and he just can't be allowed to do anything that he would be remembered for. But what happens in the next fifty or hundred years when all of those old WASPY homophobic, good old boys are
history?? Could be that things will be better, so chin up all of you
CW readers. If we live to be a hundred and fifty, it'll be much better
No, Forrest, it won't be much better. Ignorance is a formidable force.
MAG: Many thanks for the new word, eggcorn. Must use that at
brunch tomorrow to find out who has heard of or used it. I actually
thought it was me, when I would use the phrase "baited breath".
JAMES: We educate one person at a time in our own little circles and
families and eventually it adds up to millions. We can't give up.
@ Forrest: My husband played golf with a guy who frequently complained about his arthur-write-us!
RC teaches new thing such as eggcorn. I've been hearing or reading eggcorns. After a little researh, you'lll find there are websites devoted to them.
Way back at the beginning of my Army career, I was assigned as a training officer in basic training company. One morning, I was listening to an NCO give a class. I don't remember the context, but he used the eggcorn "withinside." There was also another sergeant who reported that his wife had veryclose veins.
Eggcorns are a riot but if I'm in a cranky mood I find them irritating. They are epidemic today and I believe they are mostly from younger people who have not seen the phrases in print because they don't read enough and are going by what they think they hear.
My favorite eggcorn comes from my father.* When he became an altar boy, the chief usher at his church was named Dominick.
Before the offertory (and elsewhere in the mass, I think), the priest says, "Dominus vobiscum" (God be with you). When he said that, the congregation would respond "Et cum spiritu tuo" (& with they spirit), & Dominick & other ushers would come forward & begin passing the offertory baskets (or whatever they're called).
My father thought Dominick was responding to the priest's direction: "Dominick, go frisk 'em."
Marie
* I got to thinking this was so perfect, I'd better look it up. Sure enough, it's a standard Roman Catholic joke. Hard to believe my father fibbed to me about the liturgy! We find out so much late in life, it's worth the aches & pains that accompany our new understanding.
BTW, I absolutely love the word "cowtailing" as a synonym for "brown-nosing." Thanks to MAG, I'll be using it in the future.
@ P.D. Pepe: This is in response to a comment you made this morning in yesterday's thread re: the Carol Costello/Todd Rokita exchange where you assert that Rokita didn't actually call Costello "beautiful" & that Charles Pierce may have misquoted Rokita. It is true that Pierce paraphrased Rokita's remarks, perhaps in a way that was not entirely fair, but I thought he was close enough to portraying Rokita's sentiment to be inside the ballpark.
You didn't read the whole transcript, some of which is here, along with video of the full exchange. Here's how the "interview" ended:
"ROKITA: Oh, come on. Carol, you're beautiful but you have to be honest as well.
"COSTELLO: OK, I think we should leave it here. Thank you so much for joining me, Congressman Todd Rokita.
"ROKITA: See you, Carol."
I saw this story when it was making the rounds the other day but didn't think it was worth linking on Reality Chex as I didn't feel Rokita's remarks were quite as egregious as the usual stuff that comes from the right. I also thought Costello encouraged Rokita, so she kinda had that "beautiful" remark coming.
Early in the interview, as you point out, Rokita said Costello looked much too young to have grandchildren. What you don't say is that Costello responded, "Thank you." I don't consider Rokita's remark about Costello's youthfulness a compliment; I consider it one of those fake "compliments" meant to reduce a woman's worth to her physicality rather than to her professional creds & personal qualities. Can you imagine someone "flattering" a male anchor by telling him he looked too young to have grandchildren? No. In fact, the men would be offended because the obvious implication would be that they didn't have gravitas. Hey, that's the obvious meaning when the remark is made about a female anchor, too.
I don't think women -- especially newswomen in the public eye -- should say "thank you" when a man says they look youthful. If they're on-air they should raise an eyebrow & move on; if off-air, they should tell the guy to knock it off.
In any event, by saying "thank you" to Rokita's remark about her appearance, Costello encouraged the sexist remark Rokita made later -- the one that caused her to terminate the "interview."
But it wasn't an interview. It was two partisans fighting. That's fine for political commentators, but Costello is supposed to be a newswoman. She is supposed to ask sharp, respectful questions, not wrangle with the guests. Her performance was pretty unprofessional, IMHO, & the best thing she did was cut off Rokita when he went over the line with the "beautiful" remark.
Marie
Based on the Republicans' funding parts of government they like, we should go through our bills, select the ones we choose to pay and ignore the rest.
@Marie: I'm confused. you say, "What you don't say is that Costello responded, "Thank you." But that's exactly what I did say. The points you are making are exactly the points I made in miniature. But you're right about me missing the word beautiful.
@P.D.Pepe: Quite right. I didn't read the whole comment. Actually, I did; I just forgot about the part where you not only commented on Costello's "thank you" comeback; you emphasized it in CAPITAL LETTERS.
Marie
And Marie––oh, gee, just read your other comment about your father's tale of a tub, so to speak. We both had Irish fathers–-the D in PD stands for Doyle––and ole Charley Doyle was known for his stories (he was also really good at accents) and I swear I remember the one you are citing or something similar. Perhaps for those who were blessed with the blarney we always believed about half of what they claimed was true––"honest to god" they'd always say at the end.
Saturday Night Live has a hysterical reporting of the Winners and Losers of the shutdown (Seth Meyers). Particularly funny is naming Canada as a Winner - cuz the shutdown had a big assist from Canadian born Ted Cruz.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/entertainment-news/SNL-Tackles-the-End-of-America-With-Miley-Cyrus-226619211.html
@CW Guess this my focus on word(s) week...(comment a work-in-progress).
Lately, I've noticed that you use the word 'graf.' Was/is this a version of graphic? A search for the word offered only: Graf (male) or Gräfin (female): a historical title of German nobility. ...and, IT'S THE LAST NAME of a noted tennis player! Also, came across a printing company in Canada with 'graf' as part of its business name. Could the word be of French origin? Explique s'il vous plait.
Wait, maybe could it be short for paragraph? Just as the light bulb clicked on, I did another search and found this: "In journalism, a 'nut graph' ...is a paragraph that explains the value of a story. ...also spelled as nut graf, nut 'graph, nutgraph, nutgraf." Aha! I get it, as wrap it up in a nutshell!
This shutdown isn't personal enough to affect the criminals executing it. Make it personal by doing away with or changing the 27th Amendment to enforce mandatory blocking of Congressional pay during a shutdown. Yes, many of them are so rich (by getting to Congress) it doesn't affect them, but there are many more for whom no paycheck would be as devastating as it is for the rest of the people being affected by their treason.
To assist in MAG's word quest, my I suggest the word "ridgeling" as a descriptor for the current GOP leader of the House.
Juan Cole's Informed Comment piece today is a good read to get a feel for Rouhani's status as middleman in a delicate negotiation with a short timeline. Khamenei has him on a very short leash. While the zombie Tea Party is lurching around feeding on the country, perhaps it has given us a moment to move forward with Iran and Syria. I think quick march, quick march is in order.
http://www.juancole.com/2013/10/optimistic-diplomacy-washington.html
@James Singer: re: 'ridgeling' reminds me that Charlie Pierce states it thusly,"... a speaker searching for his balls buried in a Mason jar."
and @CW: as to my earlier post, as Gilda Radner would say, "Never mind."
Boehner, well really Cruz, hand up the ass of the Boehner sock puppet, is in a full blown alcoholic rant. According to ABC news reporting, Boehner said to Stephanopolous..."He knows what my phone number is. All he has to do is call." I suspect no one in the press will point out that statement reeks of breathtaking disdain for the President. Oh, yah, he's a black man, its OK then, carry on. Its a good for Cruz position. If things go bad, Cruz can distance himself. If not, he can take credit.
I think we are on a historical razor's edge. The US could easily tip toward anti-democratic governance.
We are seeing the violent thrashing about of the longtime status quo. The "American Dream" is in the throes of a sea change and it’s no longer the exclusive product of the dreamland of white males and their mates. You could argue that few people ever actually achieved that "dream". Many more people were always casualties rather than successes under the standard definition of the American Dream. I am not arguing that having a shared vision is a bad thing, but it should reflect the desires of more than a sliver of the populace. There is assertive change to the definition of the American Dream, maybe more of mixing and integration. Demographics, the shrinking world and economic opportunities ( or non-opportunities) are drivers. Its slow and right now, the success game is still pretty much no more than money=power.
I am confident Obama understands that the Democratic process is at stake. If the Cruz faction prevails, elections by majority will be fairly meaningless. The contests would elect the best sociopath narcissist em-efers in the country. Obama has a huge practical streak but I hope his perseverance prevails. Perhaps it is fitting that a black man, whose personal story IS the status quo American Dream, who is a textbook example of “family values”, and who is thoughtful and intelligent should be the man standing on the edge of the razor. People will be hurt by the continuation of the furious tantrums of a bunch of nasty losers. As damaging as that is in the short term, the long term damage will be much worse if he doesn’t stand our ground.
" Perhaps it is fitting that a black man, whose personal story IS the status quo American Dream, who is a textbook example of “family values”, and who is thoughtful and intelligent should be the man standing on the edge of the razor."
Beautifully put, Diane. Coincidently saw the film "42" last night about Jackie Robinson. Another black man whose description above fits also––who stood on the razor's edge of baseball's integration and paved the way for many minds to expand and accept what was right and good. There is a scene in the film where Jackie endures all the catcalls and venom spewed out by the ignorant crowd and the despicable manager of the other team. When he's alone in the dugout he screams, punches the wall, breaks his bat and vomits. But Robinson stood his ground and won. So will Obama–-he has to––for himself, his race, and his country.
@Diane: Jonathan Chait has his latest post on New York magazine "On the Shutdown Prophet" that aligns with your thoughts. Read it earlier today, then spotted your post above. http://nymag.com/news/politics/nationalinterest/government-shutdown-2013-10/
@MAG. Thanks for the link. Chait's piece is beautifully written and quite chilling. This paragraph scares the bee-Jesus out of me;
How to settle this dispute? Here is where Linz’s analysis rings chillingly true: “There is no democratic principle on the basis of which it can be resolved, and the mechanisms the Constitution might provide are likely to prove too complicated and aridly legalistic to be of much force in the eyes of the electorate.” This is a fight with no rules. The power struggle will be resolved as a pure contest of willpower.
I surely felt this too. I have been quite befuddled about what happens next once the shutdown went into effect. What I know is that Boehner is an alcoholic of long standing which makes him unpredictable and manipulative. Throw in Cruz's considerable influence.... Obama has to be as whip smart, in possession of a boatload of self confidence and bolstered by a steel spine, just as I want him to be or we're in a heap of trouble.
I've always favored this kind of solution to our teaparty governmental barricade. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/30/world/europe/greece-arrests-senior-members-of-far-right-party.html?pagewanted=all