The Commentariat -- October 2, 2014
Internal links, defunct video & related text removed.
Michael Schmidt & Michael Shear of the New York Times: " Julia Pierson, the director of the Secret Service, is resigning in the wake of several security breaches. Ms. Pierson offered her resignation on Wednesday during a meeting with Jeh C. Johnson, the secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that oversees the Secret Service. The resignation came less than a day after lawmakers from both parties assailed Ms. Pierson's leadership and said they feared for the lives of the president and others in the protection of the agency. In a statement, Mr. Johnson said that he had appointed Joseph Clancy, a former agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division, to become the Secret Service's acting director. President Obama concluded that new leadership and a new direction was needed at the Secret Service 'in light of recent and accumulating reports about the agency,' Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday." CW: Always heartening when we learn that top officials read RealityChex & immediately follow our advice. (See yesterday's Comments.) ...
... The Washington Post story, by Carol Leonnig, is here. CW: Leonnig, who broke & advanced several stories about serious Secret Service lapses, probably did more than any other single person to effect Pierson's resignation. ...
... Catherine Thompson of TPM: "Some of the male panelists on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' wondered Wednesday whether Secret Service director Julia Pierson hadn't been dismissed over recent revelations of serious security lapses because of her gender. Panelist Donny Deutsch ... said that promoting women into positions of authority shouldn't be prioritized over competence. Co-host Joe Scarborough then turned the conversation to the female agent who was guarding the White House's front door when an intruder entered the building last month and managed to overpower her. 'Now, if a woman, 6' 4", can tackle a big guy or a big woman that's intruding, that's one thing,' he said. 'But we can't have people standing between the President of the United States and a terrorist that can get knocked down and that's there for politically correct reasons.'" ...
... Update: Erik Wemple of the Washington Post quite properly pins the blame on Mika Brzezinski for starting the men down the sexist path (and then trying to weasel out of taking responsibility): Brzezinski questioned why Pierson got the job in the first place, suggesting -- but not saying -- it was because she was a woman. As Wemple points out, "loaded in [her] question of whether a 30-year veteran of the Secret Service -- someone who'd served as chief of staff, as coordinator of the agency's drug program, as special agent in charge of the Office of Protective Operations and who, according to the New York Times's Peter Baker, 'boast[ed] a résumé much like those of her predecessors' at the time of her elevation -- had gotten her job via some kind of gender preference."
... Digby: "They've had female Secret Service agents for a long time. And no president has been assassinated since they put them in the job. In fact, the only presidents who've ever been assassinated were guarded only by men. Therefore, we should get rid of all the male Secret Service agents." ...
... Bryce Covert of the New Republic: "... it's probably not pure chance that Pierson, who held that position for just a year-and-a-half, was a woman. Time and again, women are put in charge only when there's a mess, and if they can't engineer a quick cleanup, they're shoved out the door." ...
... Wingers were vewwy upset yesterday at Peter Baker's New York Times article [linked in yesterday's Commentariat] suggesting that Republican legislators were crying crocodile tears over the Secret Service's failure to adequately protect the President & his family. Matt Lewis of Daily Caller strikes a more conciliatory note & has a superb suggestion: "I would suggest that conservative militias should begin voluntarily policing the fence around the White House, immediately. There is no border more important to protect, and there is nothing that would potentially do more harm to the cause of conservatism than for some horrible thing to happen to this president. Even if you put humanity and common decency aside, conservatives have a greater incentive than anybody to ensure his safety and security. God save the president." ...
... CW: I'm not sure if Lewis proposes that these noble militiamen be armed -- the District has an open-carry ban -- but having militiamen milling near the White House, harassing & intimidating tourists & other passers-by, would be swell, wouldn't it? ...
... Charles Lane of the Washington Post profiles the Secret Service's second director Hiram Whitley, who served during President Grant's administration. He was a genuine scoundrel and proud of it. Julia Pierson was no Hiram Whitley.
Julie Pace of the AP: "In a striking public rebuke, the Obama administration warned Israel on Wednesday that plans for a controversial new housing project in east Jerusalem would distance Israel from 'even its closest allies' and raise questions about its commitment to seeking peace with Palestinians. The harsh criticism came just hours after President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met at the White House. Obama spokesman Josh Earnest said the president privately raised his concerns with Netanyahu though the two leaders made no mention of the matter in their public comments to reporters."
Paul Waldman wrote this a couple of days ago, but as a window into the future of voting rights, it's worth reading today: "The Supreme Court has granted Ohio's request to throw out a ruling by lower courts stopping the state from implementing a law on early voting passed by the Republican state legislature. Meanwhile, cases on Republican-passed voting laws in Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Texas are also working their way through the courts, and may all wind up in front of the Supreme Court in one way or another. So here's a prediction: Republicans are going to win every single one of these cases. No matter how compelling the arguments of the opponents are, the simple fact is that there are five conservative justices who think that almost anything a state does to restrict people's ability to vote is just fine with them." ...
... CW: I continue to think that voter suppression will backfire. People are casual about rights (or anything else) given freely. So in the case of voting rights, many vote only when it's convenient. But take away rights to which people are accustomed, & they suddenly get passionate about them.
Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "The Justice Department is not expected to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death o Trayvon Martin, according to three law enforcement officials, despite allegations that the killing was racially motivated. The federal investigation of Zimmerman was opened two years ago by the department's civil rights division, but officials said there is insufficient evidence to bring federal charges. The investigation technically remains open, but it is all but certain the department will close it."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: I sort of followed Politico's most recent jump into outrageous, but didn't think it worth linking. However, Margaret Hartmann of New York paraphrases it so beautifully I can no longer take a pass: "Politico is sorry readers thought they blamed Obama for his hypothetical assassination." Start with this closing graf in a piece by Politico guest columnist Ron Kessler:
Agents tell me it's a miracle an assassination hasn't already occurred. Sadly, given Obama's colossal lack of management judgment, that calamity may be the only catalyst that will reform the Secret Service.
... Hartmann: "After many people objected to the implication that the Secret Service will only improve if the president is killed, and that his death would be his own fault, the lines were changed.... [and an editor's note was added.] Politico is sort of sorry, but if readers mistakenly thought they were blaming the president for his own assassination, they really only have themselves to blame." ...
... CW: Let me add that guest columns typically get a lot of editorial scrutiny (unless they're written by prominent politicians or heads-of-state, in which case they get a spellcheck). And, um, hint to Politico: normally this scrutiny comes before the column is published. ...
... Also, Steve M. takes a peek at Kessler's history, demonstrating anew Politico's excellent editorial judgment in seeking out Kessler's opinion in the first place.
November Elections
Josh Gerstein of Politico: "A federal appeals court has blocked North Carolina from ending same-day voter registration and out-of-precinct voting in connection with this fall's elections. In a 2-1 ruling issued Wednesday, the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said the changes appeared to run afoul of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, a provision that prohibits practices that discriminate on the basis of race."
Gail Collins: "Conservative Republicans still tend to hew to the theory that the [Social Security] system is 'going bankrupt' and needs to be turned into some kind of private retirement investment account. They also generally promise to protect people 55 or over from any change.... If you happen upon a congressional debate in the next few weeks, feel free to ask the candidates what they're going to do to protect Social Security. Bring along a 54-year-old friend who might helpfully burst into tears when anyone starts promising to protect the 55-year-olds." ...
... Here's the "Daily Show" segment Collins mentions in her column:
Greg Gatlin & Mariellen Norris of Suffolk University: "Independent businessman and political enigma Greg Orman (46 percent) is leading three-term Republican incumbent Pat Roberts (41 percent) in the race for U.S. Senate in Kansas, with 11 percent undecided, according to the latest Suffolk University/USA TODAY poll of likely voters in the general election. In the race for governor [of Kansas], Democratic state Rep. Paul Davis (46 percent) is leading incumbent Sam Brownback (42 percent), a Republican, with 6 percent undecided in the survey conducted by the Suffolk University Political Research Center in Boston."
Charles Franklin of Marquette U. Law School: "A new Marquette Law School Poll in the Wisconsin governor's race finds Republican Gov. Scott Walker receiving the support of 50 percent of likely voters and Democratic challenger Mary Burke receiving 45 percent support."
Here's how College Republicans think they can influence young women to vote for Florida Gov. Rick Scott. CW: Apparently all college Republicans are boys who don't actually know any young women. I don't know how it's possible, but these young Republican boys seem to have come to us from 1954, which makes this ad not just the Worst Political Ad of 2014 but also kinda creepy. To be fair, the ad would have sucked in 1954, too:
... Via Ed Kilgore. ...
... Amanda Marcotte in Slate: "At this point, it's hard not to wonder if the people being hired to do outreach to women on behalf of Republican candidates aren't all a bunch of Democratic moles." ...
... Update: It gets worse. Laura Clawson of Daily Kos: College Republicans are spending nearly $1MM on a "digital campaign" using this ad. BUT wait. It's a generic ad, in which they plug in the name of the GOP gubernatorial candidate & his rival. The rest of the script remains the same. So Rick Scott/Tom Corbett/Rick Snyder "has new ideas that won't break your budget!"
Beyond the Beltway
Vivian Kuo & Eliott McLauglin of CNN: The Tallahassee, "Florida police department is investigating one of its officers after he shot a 62-year-old woman in the back with a Taser on Tuesday afternoon. The incident was captured on videotape by a nearby witness. The incident was captured on videotape by a nearby witness." With video. Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. Also see his commentary in today's Comments.
CW: I'm dedicating the video below to Akhilleus. You'll have to read today's Comments to see why. To my credit, even tho this video has had 100MM views, I've never heard the song before:
News Ledes
New York Times: "As a large crowd of demonstrators massed outside his offices Thursday night, Hong Kong’s embattled chief executive declared that he would not resign but said his government was willing to meet with student protesters to discuss their demands for democratic reform. But the chief executive, Leung Chun-ying, who was anointed by Beijing to lead Hong Kong two years ago, said the talks would have to be in accordance with an earlier ruling by the Chinese leadership limiting the scope of political change here -- a ruling that has been a target of the mass protests that have shaken this former British colony for nearly a week."
Bloomberg News: "U.S. stocks fell, with the Standard & Poor's 500 poised for its first four-day decline of the year, as European shares tumbled on speculation central-bank stimulus will fail to revive the euro-area economy."
NEW. New York Times: "Health officials in Texas said Thursday that they had reached out to as many as 100 people who may have had contact -- either directly or indirectly -- with a Liberian man sick with the Ebola virus while he was contagious. Of those people, only a handful have been isolated, including family members and the medical technicians who rushed the patient, Thomas E. Duncan, to the hospital on Sunday. Most on the list are there simply because they had contact with people who had had contact with Mr. Duncan."
Hill: "The White House said Wednesday it will not impose travel restrictions or introduce new airport screenings to prevent additional cases of Ebola from entering the United States. Spokesman Josh Earnest said that current anti-Ebola measures, which include screenings in West African airports and observation of passengers in the United States, will be sufficient to prevent the 'wide spread' of the virus." ...
... AP: "A Dallas emergency room sent a man with Ebola home last week, even though he told a nurse that he had been in disease-ravaged West Africa, and officials at the hospital are considering if they would have acted differently had the entire medical staff been aware."
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Reader Comments (14)
About a month ago when I wrote about Sam Brownback I said that at least he was supporting wind power (In Kansas wind power is the main form of renewable energy) even though he fits snugly in the pockets of the Kochs. I thought at the time those brothers are going to put the squeeze on this guy especially now that's he's trying to save his seat. It appears that this is exactly what has happened. So the one nice thing one could say about Sam the man, has gone with the wind.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/119672/koch-brothers-changed-sam-brownbacks-opinion-wind-power
The Republican ad above is so bad, it's hard to understand how anyone could possibly think this effective in any way. Again, as with their other ad equating a dating service with voting, choosing a candidate is like picking out a wedding dress––both smack of a total putdown of women's intellect.
I do want to respond to the ridiculous bridal gown spot with something other than an open mouth and a "wtf" expression.
But first, I have to say something about another video that demonstrates another part of right-wing world. Equally ignorant but much more dangerous. And that is the authoritarian, civil-rights hating, arrogant, out-of-control world of policing in this country, at least what it's become in many parts of the country.
62 Year old woman tased in the back. Just because.
In a Tallahassee neighborhood (black, of course), police have descended en masse to make an arrest. After the subjects have been cuffed and put in the cruisers, officers are strolling around, leaning against cars and chatting. A 62 year old woman comes down the street--her street--wanting to know what's going on. The cops start screaming at her. She is told to turn around and walk away. She does so. But that's not good enough. In right-wing world it's not good enough for black people to do what they're told. She was uppity with a white cop. For that, she gets tased. In the back. No warning. Nothing. She hits the pavement hard. The cop who tased her, and another cop just stand over her gawking as she lays on the street, like she's a dog that was just hit by a car. No, scratch that. They'd probably show a lot more compassion and humanity to a dog.
Fucking brutal. The guy shooting the video says "And they wonder why they're hated."
Something has to change here. We are not supposed to be a police state. Aren't police supposed to "protect and serve"? The new motto should be "Do whatever the fuck we want and if you think different, we will shoot you or tase you, if you're lucky."
After they revive the woman, she is cuffed and arrested!!!!!
Also, don't miss the comments on the YouTube page. One guy fantasizes that the woman is hitting, kicking, and spitting. I don't see that anywhere. I guess in Right-wing world, you can just make up anything to justify brutality. Someone else refers to the person who shot the video as "trash" because, I suppose, black automatically equals trash.
Someone else comments that this sort of thing needs to start happening to white people before anything will be done.
Sadly, that is the exact truth. Wingnuts will go to the mattresses for a cop's right to tase or shoot black people for next to nothing. Someone else comments that anyone who doesn't hop when a cop says jump should expect to be "lit up" like the kid in Ferguson. Seriously?? LIT UP? For walking down the street?
Let's see what happens to this guy. He apparently is on leave while some jamokes determine that his tasing of a 62 year old woman in the back--who was walking away--was entirely justified. Why?
White cop. Black woman. 'nuff said,. right?
Just abominable.
The tasing is about 2:31 in.
Just one more thought. What we've been seeing is the tiny tip of a gigantic iceberg. The fact that a handful of videos have popped up providing clear evidence of police brutality and overreach means that there is a lot of this going on. Very likely the worst stuff is never recorded. Pretty soon you look for cops, after incidents like this, confiscating all recording devices.
My takeaway from the "Rick Scott is Perfect" spot is very simple.
This spot was created by young college conservatives? Okay. Aside from how insulting, ham-handed, and puerile it is, it's a perfect encapsulation of the frame of the mind of the next generation of Republicans.
Anyone hoping that the next crop of wingers might not be as bad as what we have now might as well fold that hand. It's a terrible bet.
And it's another indication of the efficacy of the constant wingnut drum-beating in the media, homes, and in schools where the generation after the idiots who made this spot will be even stupider.
I can't imagine what will come from the minds of kids 20 years from now who are learning that the only halfway decent black person was Martin Luther King, that is, when he wasn't attending underground meetings with socialists and commies and when he wasn't stepping out on his wife, also that Moses wrote the Declaration of Independence, science is a lie, kindergarten kids need to go to school strapped, and America can never make a mistake, because Jesus, and as long as Republicans are in office.
Here's how it's gone. Reagan taught Republicans that it was okay to lie. Most of them knew better but they went all in, because, fuck it. The next group learned from The Decider that it was their destiny to rule no matter what, so anything they did was perfectly legal and necessary. There were still a few who smelled a rat but most were brainwashed. The rest were too morally corrupt to care. The current group truly believe they are, like "The Rick Scott" dress, perfect.
The next generation? And the one after that? Ideologically brainwashed imbeciles who believe they're geniuses who can never be wrong about anything.
This poor country.
And Marie, you are not the only one who hates Windows 8, by a long shot.
It seems that every other Microsoft operating system sucks We get a good one followed by a terrible one. So we had Windows 95. A stable and useful system. After that was 98 which famously went to the Blue Screen of Death as Bill Gates was doing a live demo of it. After that was NT. The first NT wasn't great but it was stable. By NT 4 they had it down. Next, Windows 2000. I don't know a single person who used 2000 on their computers. The server version worked okay, but PCs? Unh-uh. Then we got XP. A great OS. Stable, user friendly, pretty much universal. After that it was Vista, an OS so terrible that Microsoft employees uninstalled it from their own computers. Then Windows 7. A good upgrade. Some nice new features and pretty easy to use, after which we got the abomination of Windows 8 which, despite an enormous ad campaign was roundly ripped by everyone.
So it's not a bad idea for them to bag 8 and go straight to the next one.
Ho-hum, another day, another wingnut fail.
Here's how unqualified fealty to ideology unmediated by any measure of propriety, professionalism, common sense, or appreciation for reality can warp even so-called smart people, or at least people considered to be very important.
Steve M's review of Ronald Kessler's career, especially the last dozen years or so (linked above), is as text book as you'll find anywhere in laying out how the poison of right-wing belief systems infect all thought processes.
Even if, as it seems, Mr. Kessler was always a right-leaning reporter, his earlier career appears not to be marred by the kind of wild-eyed, dyspeptic expressions of wingnut outrage marinated in hatred and spiced up with exaggerations and highly questionable judgement that his recent work has shown.
There's a difference, or used to be, between journalists and propagandists. That line has been slowly erased on the right. Ronald Kessler is a perfect example.
And by the way, his attempt to blame the president for anything that might happen to him...
"Agents tell me it’s a miracle an assassination hasn’t already occurred. Sadly, given Obama’s colossal lack of management judgment, that calamity may be the only catalyst that will reform the Secret Service"
...is a much more damning indictment of his buddies in the Secret Service. In effect, those "agents" confiding in Kessler are confessing their own inadequacy and impotence. Saying "Well, shit, I'm amazed the guy ain't dead already" is the same as "If anyone tries to kill this guy, he's toast 'cause his protection is like a sieve. We ain't worth shit."
Good job, Ron. Maybe the president doesn't have to die after all. Sorry to burst your bubble.
Okay, one more then I'm packing it up for a while.
Just one more index of life under Republican rule, the decline of education. In Wisconsin, currently owned by the Kochs, the decline has been more like a plummet.
A study just completed, reported by Diane Ravitch on her education blog, makes the following points, from a press release by the Association for Equity in Funding, who conducted the study, called, appropriately, "Segregation of Opportunity":
"The school funding system is depriving many Wisconsin children and communities the resources they need to provide equal educational opportunities;
Because of the unfair funding formula, the more high needs students (poverty, special needs, English language learners) a school district has, the less educational opportunities [for] children in that district.
The inequality of opportunity between different types of school districts with different student populations and community wealth has been getting worse over time."
Life under Republican "leadership" just gets worse all the time. Bet you won't hear anything about this on Fox.
Those uppity blah people. Not only don't they get to vote, they are not even eligible for a decent education. Just ask Scott Walker.
on another subject-
Recent, 1970s political history:
http://www.bbc.com/news/29441281
Henry Kissinger 'considered Cuba air strikes' in 1976
"...But the newly released documents show he was infuriated by Cuban President Fidel Castro's decision in late 1975 to send troops to Angola to help the newly independent nation fend off attacks from South Africa and right-wing guerrillas."
"...The plans were never undertaken, as Jimmy Carter was elected president that year."
"Elections matter" takes on a different meaning.
Jesus, Kissinger is a monster.
Why is it that so many of them, (Kissinger and Cheney, to name just 2) seem to live forever?
mae finch
I am appalled, fucking speechless after watching that poor woman get, again, shot in the back w/ the taser.
Arresting people for walking on the side of the road when there is no sidewalk!
I am so embarrassed because I live in a police state and the whole world is beginning to hate Americans and I understand why. I travelled to five countries last year, some were communist, I have been to many countries since 2007 and I have never seen people treated so inhumanly.
And they keep getting away w/ it.
Fuck the police! They neither protect nor do they serve the public. I can't until this nation turns against these thugs!
Mae,
The good die young. Mediocrities live forever. John Lennon was killed at 40. Stevie Ray Vaughn died in a helicopter crash at 35. Jon Bon Jovi will probably live to be 100.
Marie,
Awwww....thanks.
Now you know what I mean by mediocrity. John Lennon he ain't.
But at least, unlike Cheney and Kissinger, he was not directly responsible for the deaths of thousands, that is, if you don't count suicidal impulses from too much Bon Jovi.
Ugh. That is one of my least favorite bands and most despised songs that was/is still played to death.
@Ak, here are some more that make you wonder how things would be different had they not died so young:
Buddy Holly - 22
Otis Redding - 26
Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix - 27
James Dean - 24
River Phoenix - 23
Would we have escaped the disco era?
Unwashed,
It's tempting to think so but I think the success of early rock and roll finally, by the late 70's, attracted the attention of the MBA suits who saw only dollars and didn't give a broken E string about the music. (Does anyone think that any record company in the 80's would have given The Doors a second listen?)
Genuine rock and roll was back seated for whatever they thought would sell. This led, of course to the 80's big hair arena faux rock abominations like Bon Jovi. These guys were the capitalist descendants of those record company execs in the 50's who pushed pablum puking Wonder Bread covers of ass kicking rockers, like Pat (Fucking) Boone turning Little Richard's head-exploding "Tutti Frutti" into a tame country club ditty safe enough for church picnics.
Christ, don't get me started down that road. I might turn into Kissinger!
On the other hand, with some distance, I've found that I can appreciate some Disco Era entries, even though, as a working rock musician at that time, I pretty much dreaded the corporatized element of much of that genre. It's pretty hard to listen to "Dancing Queen" or "Waterloo" today and not smile.
I never smile at Bon Jovi.
You're probably all tired of my rants today, but I'll leave you with this one because I sure wish I had written it.
Open letter to white racists, and people like, pretty much every Republican politician--and voter--of the last 20 years.
I like Bon Jovi.