The Commentariat -- October 5, 2014
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Andrew Bacevich in the Washington Post: "... Syria has become at least the 14th country in the Islamic world that U.S. forces have invaded or occupied or bombed, and in which American soldiers have killed or been killed. And that's just since 1980.... Even if we win, we lose. Defeating the Islamic State would only commit the United States more deeply to a decades-old enterprise that has proved costly and counterproductive.... By inadvertently sowing instability, the United States has played directly into the hands of anti-Western radical Islamists intent on supplanting the European-imposed post-Ottoman order...." ...
... Don't worry, Andrew. The "war against ISIS" will be over in a month. Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R) argued on Sunday that President Obama has declared war against ISIS in Iraq and Syria in order to help Democrats win the midterm elections in November and expressed concern that he would abandon the fight in the new year."
Matthew Dallek, in the Washington Post, on the history of high security at the White House. "It was after Dec. 7, 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor, that the White House truly ceased to be the 'people's house.'" ...
... Maureen Dowd: Julia Pierson "earned her abrupt exit fair and square. It's no blot on the copybook of women. She withheld crucial information and helped paper over fiascos at an agency where mismanagement and denial put the president's life (and his family's lives) in jeopardy."
God News
Shadee Ashtari of the Huffington Post: "The separation of church and state doesn't mean 'the government cannot favor religion over non-religion,' Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia argued during a speech at Colorado Christian University on Wednesday.... Defending his strict adherence to the plain text of the Constitution, Scalia knocked secular qualms over the role of religion in the public sphere as 'utterly absurd,' arguing that the Constitution is only obligated to protect freedom of religion -- not freedom from it." ...
... Steve Benen: "If U.S. policymakers passed a law that deliberately treated American atheists as second-class citizens, Scalia seems to believe that's perfectly permissible under the Constitution. Of course, there is nothing in the Constitution that empowers the state to favor religion over irreligion, but Scalia has apparently morphed the document to comport with his preferred vision of a government that blurs the church-state line.... The strict constructionist just made up his own rules, based on what he wishes the Constitution says, but doesn't. It's what happens when someone starts with an answer, then works backwards in the hopes of reaching an agreed upon conclusion." ...
... ** Rob Boston, in the American Constitution Society: "... for all this bluster, Scalia isn't really harkening back to the founding document of the Constitution. Nothing there provides comfort for his view of a religion-tinged government. In fact, Scalia is endorsing a much more modern theory of church-state relations: It's what scholars call 'ceremonial deism.' The idea behind ceremonial deism seems to be that government can endorse religion as long as it's not terribly serious about it and no one faith is endorsed over others." Via Benen.
Jack Jenkins of Think Progress: "Pope Francis had some harsh words for religious extremists this weekend, voicing his strongest condemnation yet for those who use religion to justify violence. Speaking on Sunday to an audience that included the President, governmental authorities, and diplomatic corps of Albania, where he is spending a one-day apostolic visit, the first Argentinean pope directly addressed the growing issue of religious violence. Francis first praised the 'climate of respect' in Albania -- which is a Muslim-majority country -- between Muslims, Catholics, and Orthodox Christians, saying the culture of tolerance was a 'precious gift.' He then expressed firm criticism for those who cite faith as grounds for killing others."
AP: "An American nun credited with curing a boy's eye disease moved a step closer to sainthood Saturday in what church officials said was the first beatification Mass held in the United States. A beatification Mass for Sister Miriam Teresa Demjanovich, who died in 1927, was led by Cardinal Angelo Amato at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Newark. Beatification is the third in a four-step process toward sainthood."
Congressional Races
Carrie Dann of NBC News: "Independent candidate Greg Orman is leading incumbent Republican Sen. Pat Roberts in Kansas by 10 points, while Democrats have a slim lead in North Carolina's contest and both candidates are in a dead heat in Iowa's Senate race, new NBC News/Marist polls find."
Don't you ever touch me. Don't ever touch me. The last guy who touched me ended up on the ground dead. -- Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), to Democratic challenger Forrest Dunbar, when, just prior to a debate, Dunbar lightly touched Young on the arm during a conversation
Gubernatorial Race
Jason Salzman of the Huffington Post (October 2): "During a debate Tuesday against Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez said he thinks intrauterine devices (IUDs) cause abortions, and he would not use public funds on them.... 'These comments illustrate how little Bob Beauprez really understands about women's health,' said Cathy Alderman of Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado, in a news release issued after the debate." CW: Sorry I missed this earlier. Beauprez's view isn't about opposition to abortion; it's about opposition to women, especially poor women -- women who would benefit from receiving "public funds" to obtain IUDs. ...
... Today's Rant. Pardon my paranoia, but I have long thought that a fundamental reason for opposition to abortion is to maintain income & "class" inequality. Higher-income women can afford to practice family planning. If they accidentally get pregnant at an inconvenient time in their lives or under other undesirable circumstances, they can obtain abortions even if they live in Texas 150 miles from the nearest abortion provider. Not so for poorer women & families, who may find themselves saddled with child-rearing responsibilities when they are financially &/or otherwise ill-equipped to do so. Unplanned children may prove to be joys to their parents, but the expense & time it takes to rear them necessarily limit the mothers' or families' opportunities for upward mobility. I think there are many abortion opponents who are right pleased with that disparity. They probably see family planning as one of the perks of wealth -- another way to distinguish themselves from "those people," & to make sure "those people" remain in the underclass. -- Constant Weader
Presidential Race
Dana Milbank: The GOP presidential primary lineup is beginning to look like a police lineup, so many of the potential candidates are under investigation for criminal activities.
When "Madame President" Was Unthinkable
A man must be protected while he is the President of the United States. -- Eleanor Roosevelt, in her autobiography, published 1961
If all of us except Frances were killed we would have a woman president. -- Franklin Roosevelt, ca. 1942, on how a White House dinner with his Cabinet could have an absurd result (Both citations from Matthew Dallek's article, linked above)
News Ledes
Guardian: "The parents of Peter Kassig, an American aid worker held hostage by Islamic State (Isis) militants, have appealed for his release in a statement and video message that highlighted his aid work and mentioned his conversion to Islam."
Guardian: "Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong have vowed to keep up their occupation as a Monday deadline fast approaches, but are seeking compromise by offering to open access lanes."
Guardian: "The condition of Thomas Duncan, the first patient ever to be diagnosed with Ebola outside Africa, was reported to have worsened on Saturday as health officials in Texas said they were closely monitoring nine people who had close contact with him before he was admitted to hospital."
New York Times: "Jerrie Mock, who as a relatively untested pilot accomplished in 1964 what Amelia Earhart could not -- becoming the first woman to fly solo around the world -- died on Tuesday at her home in Quincy, Fla., near Tallahassee. She was 88."
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Reader Comments (6)
On Motherjones there is a good article about how police departments can't get rid of surplus military gear. I can't help but see a parallel between this ineptitude and how we can't keep weapons out of the hands of mental patients. It is as though the control of the DOD belongs to Wayne LaPierre and all the authoritative generals have recused themselves from actual responsibility. The generals on top need to go the way of Julia Pierce. (Along this line, read the article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about the guy who murdered his mom 20 years ago and just was sentenced to jail for the arsenal he has acquired now.)
But if those that oppose abortion have an income and class agenda, doesn't that bite them in the old pocket book in the end? If it's the poor that can't get abortions readily and easily then the result is more poor people on welfare which means more money going in that direction and...oh, wait, what was I thinking. Compassion and helping the indigent ain't on that their agenda so we come full circle once again.
I don't bother to read Ross Douthat (NYT's resident cleric) anymore, but today I was curious as to what he had to say about Lena Dunham in his "I love Lena" column. My reactions were the same as our old friend Gemli who always seems to express his opinions so succinctly and accurately (see if you agree) so I'm going to snatch his comments and put them here––I don't think he's mind at all. Please read Ross's column first:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/opinion/sunday/ross-douthat-i-love-lena.html?ref=todayspaper
From Gemli
Here is something you should know about Ross Douthat. He sometimes writes columns that laud things he despises, like "The Believer's Atheist," (12/17/2011) which pretended that the then recently-deceased Christopher Hitchens was "not so much a disbeliever as a rebel." (No chance for rebuttal there.) Or today's "Pagans and Christians," where his "rage" against a secular scientist's criticism of missionaries turns to pity when he decides the scientist was just jealous.
Here he's doing the same thing. Lena Dunham stands for the kind of sexual freedom and, horror of horrors, individualism that Douthat has railed about in his frequent and often quease-inducing columns. Her Obama ad is about sexuality, birth control, affordable health care, gay rights and specifically gay marriage, all topics which have caused spittle to accumulate in the corners of Douthat's mouth while veins bulged alarmingly ("The Terms of Our Surrender," 3/1/2014).
Note that he "likes" her show because it confirms that expressive individualism makes people unhappy. Look at the poorer communities. People with no money, no jobs and no prospects are unhappy. The only reason: the rise of individualism.
Liberals can be wild, or repressed, or profligate or demure. But Douthat uses his prodigious intellect to analyze a cartoonish version of liberals and is surprised to find that they're almost as complicated as he is.
@PD and @Marie: I agree with both of you regarding abortions and class warfare, and I'll go even further. This whole attitude of conservatives that it is wrong and even immoral to "take" money from the wealthy to fund programs that help lift the poor is putting America on an unsustainable path. On the one hand, the rich really ARE being asked to pay an increasing percentage of money to fund the national coffers, but that is largely because those below find their real income shrinking. It seems to me that the more the disparity in income grows, the more the anger grows from wealthy conservatives at having to pay a large share in taxes (of course, they magnify this). And not only are incomes stagnant, but costs such as medical and educational are spiraling upward. Yet these wealthy do not acknowledge that there is a problem of income and wealth distribution.
But there is huge opposition even to programs that don't depend on government funds, such as abortion clinics. Here you have a confluence of true believers (religious zealots) hitched to low tax/regulation opportunists like the Kochs. This article focused on the situation in Texas points that out:
http://prospect.org/article/how-koch-brothers-helped-bring-about-law-shut-texas-abortion-clinics
From the article:
"In the wake of the 2010 Supreme Court decision in Citizens United, which gave license to groups like those mentioned above to spend unlimited sums in elections without disclosing their donors, millions of free-enterprise dollars flowed to anti-choice groups and politicians. (In Texas, for example, Rep. Jodie Laubenberg, the sponsor of the House version of the draconian 2013 abortion law, was also president of the state chapter of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the influential right-leaning group, supported by the Kochs, that crafts legislation designed to cut regulations on corporations.) The Koch network money led to an unprecedented number of anti-choice politicians elected to state legislatures in 2010 and 2012."
Marie, I would take your "paranoia" a step farther. I once said, I though humorously at the time, that the Right doesn't like family planning or abortions for the little people because uncontrolled breeding guarantees a never-ending supply of low wage workers. Maybe I shouldn't have offered the remark as a joke.
As for the Right's money machine, mentioned by Victoria, which is indeed fueled by the unwitting collaboration of religious zealots with their monied masters, this appeared in The Baffler a few years ago. It's history of how those two elements met and married; it remains very relevant today in our post Citizens United world.
http://www.thebaffler.com/salvos/the-long-con
It's a long piece but today is Sunday, and God in his wisdom suggested we use today to rest--which I took to mean, read.