The Commentariat -- Sept. 10, 2014
Internal links, photo removed.
Julie Pace of the AP: "President Barack Obama will ask Congress to quickly authorize the arming and training of Syrian opposition forces but will press forward without formal sign-off from lawmakers on a broader military and political effort to combat militants in Syria and Iraq, administration officials said Tuesday. Obama was to outline his plans Wednesday in a rare prime-time address to the nation, a format that underscores the seriousness of the threat posed by the Islamic State militants. The president's broader strategy could include more wide-ranging airstrikes against targets in Iraq and possibly in Syria, and hinges on military and political commitments from allies in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere." ...
... Mark Landler & Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "President Obama is prepared to authorize airstrikes in Syria, a senior administration official said on Tuesday, taking the military campaign against the Sunni militant group, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, into new and unpredictable terrain. But Mr. Obama is still wrestling with a series of challenges, including how to train and equip a viable ground force to fight ISIS inside Syria, how to intervene without aiding President Bashar al-Assad, and how to enlist potentially reluctant partners like Turkey and Saudi Arabia." ...
... Josh Rogin & Tim Mak of the Daily Beast: "When the president calls for Congress to approve his new counterterrorism fund in his speech Wednesday, it's unlikely he'll mention that for the last four months his administration has stifled calls from inside and outside the government for the White House to specify exactly what the money is for."
... Lara Jakes of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Baghdad Wednesday to press Iraq's Shiite leader to quickly deliver more power to wary Sunnis -- or jeopardize any hope of defeating the Islamic State group. Kerry landed in the Iraqi capital just two days after newly sworn Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi seated his top government ministers, a crucial step toward restoring stability in a nation where security has spiraled out of control since the beginning of the year." ...
... Steve Benan: "... Dick Cheney was on Capitol Hill once again today, delivering yet another round of advice to congressional Republicans on foreign policy as if he still has credibility on the subject. The failed former vice president was reportedly 'greeted with affection,' and received standing ovations from the assembled GOP lawmakers.... Even now, years later, as the world struggles with the consequences of a disastrous war, which the Bush/Cheney team handled in the most incompetent, dishonest, and corrupt ways possible, congressional Republicans look back and think, 'Yep, that was a smart move.'" ...
... Ben Jacobs of the Daily Beast: "According to Rep. John Fleming of Louisiana, Cheney said Obama 'has actually done things that have supported the Muslim Brotherhood.' The former vice president then went on to name the Muslim Brotherhood as 'the beginning of all the Islamist groups that we're dealing with now like Hamas and ISIS.'" CW Translation: ISIS did not arise out of the unnecessary, disastrous, poorly-planned war I started (as experts contend), but out of Obama's deep & abiding faith in & support for radical Islam.
Paul Kane & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "House Republican leaders Tuesday unveiled a temporary government funding bill that includes a short-term extension of a trade-promotion agency that has been targeted by conservative activists, eliminating a key sticking point in the effort to avoid a government shutdown. The bill would keep the government running on this year's budget levels from the start of the new fiscal year, Oct. 1, until mid-December, when negotiators would prefer to approve detailed spending plans for the federal agencies through 2015." See also Cruz News below.
Jeremy Herb of Politico: "The House condemned President Barack Obama on Tuesday for swapping five Taliban commanders at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl without notifying Congress. The House approved a resolution, 249-163, that condemned the president for breaking the law since he did not give Congress 30 days notice of the transfer."
Lindsay Abrams of Salon: House Republicans think curbing fake "government overreach" is way more important than ensuring Americans have clean water. "House bill, H.R. 5078, overrides a rule proposed in March by the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers, which sought to clarify two Supreme Court decisions that had made it difficult to determine whether waterways that are dry for part of the year are protected by the Clean Water Act -- confusion that polluters have Obama's senior advisers would recommend he veto the bill....."
Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "US police forces that use military equipment earmarked for counter-terrorism to handle public order disturbances instead could be forced to repay millions of dollars in grants, under a review revealed during the first congressional hearings into this summer's riots in Ferguson, Missouri.... The Department of Homeland Security, one of three US agencies primarily responsible for providing the equipment, said it was now considering whether to demand that its grants be repaid if police are found to have broken a little-known rule prohibiting its use in riot suppression.... Senator Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat, said committee investigators had found there were now more MRAPs in the hands of local police forces than the national guard and that 36% of all surplus equipment received direct from the military was brand new or unused." ...
... The Guardian liveblogged Tuesday's Congressional hearing on police use of military equipment.
Molly Ball of the Atlantic: "To understand why [immigration reform] advocates are so hurt and angry [by President Obama's decision not to take executive action until after the elections], you have to understand the meandering road immigration reform has taken over the course of the last decade -- a road littered with false starts, broken promises, and a community repeatedly left in the lurch. Latinos feel that they have been jerked around by politicians who alternately pander for their votes and shunt them aside when their priorities become inconvenient -- like now. Obama in particular has made a series of pledges on immigration, only to abandon them all."
Sorry, Wrong Number. Alexander Bolton of the Hill: A top aide to Eric Holder accidentally calls Darryl Issa's (RTP-Calif.) office -- he meant to call Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) -- & asks to have the Congressman's staff leak documents to "interested reporters" re: the IRS investigation favorable to the administration....
... CW: Just massively stupid. Of course, Issa -- who has a history of leaking parts of reports that misrepresent the totality of actual findings -- was in high dudgeon over the very idea that Democrats would leak favorable information, & that there would be coordination between the Democratic administration & Democrats in Congress. What I do find troubling, though not surprising, was that it was the DOJ -- which is supposed to be a impartial (though it never is), law-enforcement operation -- that is doing the "coordinating." Why not the political wing of the White House?
Katie McDonough of Salon: NFL Commissioner "Roger Goodell ... explains that he needs to see a woman get knocked out to know domestic violence is bad.... It has long been clear that the NFL is indifferent to violence against women. This incident was just too much of a media headache to ignore, so the NFL acted -- belatedly, inadequately, cynically. Rice is not the only man in the NFL who has abused women, though Goodell really wants the public to believe that's the case."
Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Jim Newell of Salon writes a very good analysis of Tim Russert's interview methodology, & explains why it sucked. "Had Russert lived and continued hosting the show, he could have ended up like Thomas Friedman: someone whose 'brand' kept him going, but whose style and techniques had long ago become mockable shtick. David Gregory's failure was in trying to continue the Russert shtick without ever having built up the brand." I quit watching the Sunday shows regularly because the interviewers, including Russert, seldom challenged the wildly inaccurate claims guests and panelists made. But I had forgotten that Russert enjoyed "challenging" guests with "gotcha" assaults highlighting inconsistencies on often inconsequential aspects of an issue.
Cruz News
House Speaker Holds Late-night Tea Party Strategty Session. Matt Fuller of Roll Call: "Sen. Ted Cruz again met with a small group of House Republicans late Tuesday night, this time to discuss over pizza a conservative strategy on the continuing resolution.... Earlier in the evening, the [other] House GOP leadership unveiled a bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 11. And the early review from conservatives attending Cruz's meeting in the Texas Republican's office was that Dec. 11 is too soon.... Pushing the next big spending showdown into March, members of the 'Cruz Caucus' said, would give the new 114th Congress, which could include a Republican-controlled Senate, an opportunity to tackle government funding." Via Greg Sargent.
Seung Kim Min of Politico: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) called on lawmakers to use 'any and all means necessary' -- including must-pass government funding measures -- to block President Barack Obama from taking executive action on immigration. The tea party hero, who aggressively pushed the anti-Obamacare strategy that spurred last year's 16-day government shutdown, has seized on immigration executive moves from the Obama administration as the root cause of the border crisis this summer." ...
... Alexander Bolton of the Hill: "Setting up a possible confrontation over the funding measure that would keep the federal government open beyond September, Cruz declined to rule out opposing the stopgap bill if it allows the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program to continue." CW: Looking forward to some more of those Dr. Seuss readings. Maybe I Can Lick 30 Tigers Today or If I Ran the Zoo.
MEANWHILE. Jonathan Chait: Ted Cruz's ObamaCare nightmare comes true. It's working, & Republicans can't even agree to schedule any more of their "message" repeal votes.
Democrats Conspire to Take Down SNL, Jail Lorne Michaels. Lucy McCalmont of Politico: "Sen. Ted Cruz says the comedy of NBC's 'Saturday Night Live' is at risk and creator Lorne Michaels could be thrown in jail if a proposed Constitutional amendment on campaign finance is passed." Cruz has been in touch with Sen. Al Franken on this. Franken, a former SNL star & co-sponsor of the amendment is oddly untroubled by Cruz's warning. Probably the whole amendment is a Franken plot to bring down his former boss.
Congressional Races
James Hohmann of Politico: "Scott Brown won the New Hampshire Republican Senate primary Tuesday night, setting up a general election showdown with Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. The former Massachusetts senator, who ... became a New Hampshire citizen last December, easily defeated two main challengers, former state Sen. Jim Rubens and former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith." ...
... Ha Ha. Scott Brown's campaign manager Colin Reed sent Larry Lessig a nasty, threatening letter on accounta Lessig described Brown as a "Washington lobbyist" is a campaign finance reform flyer. Also, Reed cc'ed Lessig's department chair, the president & the provost of Harvard. Larry Lessig: "I take it Mr. Reed's outrage is triggered by the Senate's regulations of what constitutes being a 'lobbyist' for purposes of the Senate rules. I hadn't received the memo that explained that the English language is now regulated by the rules of the United States Senate.... I submit to anyone else in the world, a former Senator joining a 'law and lobbying firm' to help with Wall St's 'business and governmental affairs' is to make him a lobbyist. Because to anyone else in the world, when you sell your influence to affect 'business and governmental affairs,' you are a lobbyist." Via Charles Pierce. CW: Probably Scottie's man should not be trying to match wits with of a Harvard law professor. ...
... CW Note to Jeanne Shaheen: Call Brown a "Washington lobbyist" every chance you get. Apparently he'll go nuts. (And, yeah, in case they missed it, I sent Lessig's post on to Shaheen's campaign.)
Steve LeBlanc of the AP: "U.S. Rep. John Tierney has conceded defeat to former Marine Seth Moulton after a hard-fought Democratic primary in Massachusetts' 6th Congressional District.... Moulton argued he would have a stronger chance of holding off [Republican Richard] Tisei, who lost to Tierney by less than 1 percent of the vote in the 2012 election. Tierney is the first incumbent Democratic congressman from Massachusetts to lose a primary since Chester Atkins in 1992."
Gubernatorial Races
Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo of New York claimed the Democratic nomination for a second term on Tuesday, but at a considerable price: A liberal challenger with little money or name recognition, Zephyr Teachout, was on track to receive about a third of the vote, a signal of the potent dissatisfaction with Mr. Cuomo in his party's left wing. Mr. Cuomo avoided what could have been a more damaging blow to his prestige, as his choice for lieutenant governor, Kathy Hochul, a former congresswoman from Buffalo, soundly defeated Ms. Teachout's running mate, Tim Wu." CW: Kudos to everybody who voted for Teachout. Too bad her good showing won't teach that Gov. Sleazy a lesson.
Roberto Scalese & Lara Salahi of the Boston Globe: "Treasurer Steve Grossman has conceded to Attorney General Martha Coakley in the [Massachusetts] Democratic gubernatorial primary Tuesday night. With 65 percent of precincts reporting, Coakley has 42 percent of the vote. Grossman has 37 percent of the vote, and former Medicare Administrator Don Berwick has 21 percent of the vote." CW: Let's hope Martha has developed the teensiest familiarity with the top sports teams this time around & also has overcome her aversion to dirtying her hands dirty by shaking the hands of mere voters.
Roberto Scalese: "Charlie Baker is projected to win the Republican primary for governor [of Massachusetts]. At 75 percent, Baker has a massive lead over [Mark] Fisher at 25 percent, with 60 percent of the vote counted."
Beyond the Beltway
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "The first Ferguson City Council meeting since the police killing of Michael Brown one month ago erupted on Tuesday into an outpouring of grievances -- accusations of racism, police harassment and government incompetence -- as hundreds of residents made angry appeals for change."
Georgia State Senator Angrily Vows to Suppress Black Vote. Really. Daniel Strauss of TPM: Fran Millar, "a Republican state senator in Georgia, has vowed to end Sunday balloting in DeKalb County (includes part of Atlanta) due to the fact that the area is 'dominated by African American shoppers and it is near several large African American mega churches.'" Thanks to safari for the link. ...
... Jim Galloway of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reproduces Millar's full e-mail rant. It begins with a barely-coded racial slur & descends from there: "How ironic! Michele Obama comes to town and Chicago politics comes to DeKalb." ...
... Time to Bring Back Literacy Tests. (Millar later elaborated that he wanted "more educated voters" rather than a greater number of voters." Rick Hasan, a law professor & elections law specialist, offered this erudite analysis: "Holy cow!" ...
... DuBose Porter, chair of the Georgia Democratic party responds, in part, "What have Georgia Republicans come to when they are outwardly admitting to suppressing the African-American vote? Further, his comments about 'educated voters' are reprehensible. I suppose Fran would prefer a return to literacy tests or the poll tax while he's at it." The Rev. Raphael G. Warnock, pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, made a similar statement. Both statements reprinted in full at the linked page (AJC).
... Millar complains that church buses taking people to polling places is a violation of the First Amendment "accepted principle of separation of church and state." Steve Benan: I don't think this state lawmaker fully appreciates what 'the accepted principle of separation of church and state' is. If a private institution (a church) has a bus that takes people to another private institution (a shopping mall), this isn't a First Amendment violation. That really doesn't make any sense at all." CW: Also, whaddaya bet Millar would swear on his Holy Bible that this is a "Christian Nation." By which, I suppose he would mean "White Christian Nation."
Anemona Hartocollis & David Goodman of the New York Times: Performer Joan Rivers' "treatment at ... Yorkville Endoscopy, a for-profit center, has drawn attention to a flourishing model of medical treatment, outpatient surgery centers, which have been licensed by the state to replace hospital operating rooms for minor procedures. Their management structure is often explicitly designed to maximize profits for doctors, who are typically the majority owners. They are common in other states, but only now gaining traction in New York, where by law, the traditional hospital model is nonprofit." Rivers went into cardiac arrest during minor surgery at the clinic & died a week later, during which time she was kept alive on life support. Her death is being investigated by the New York State Health Department & New York City medical examiner.
CW: This story is a week old, but since Akhilleus brought it to our attention (see yesterday's Comments for his take), it seems too weird to pass up. Jessica Chasmar of the Washington Times: "Ohio police say they have 'overwhelming evidence' to prove a former Navy SEAL turned prominent TV personality lied when he claimed he was shot during a fight with three black men outside of a Bath shopping plaza. Chris Heben, a former Navy SEAL and current spokesman for Montrose Auto Group, has been charged with misdemeanor counts of falsification and obstructing official business, a local ABC affiliate reported.... In 2008, the former SEAL pleaded no contest to three counts of forgery in Ohio and had his physician's assistant license suspended for writing up fake prescriptions, the Daily Mail reported." ...
Doktor Zoom of Wonkette: "Despite Heben's previous willingness to put himself forward as an expert for TV stories about brave special operators and security and why no Navy SEAL would ever vote for Obama or for Hillary (because Benghazi), he hasn't answered a single Ohio media outlet's request for an interview since he was charged. Go figure!" ...
... CW: The police seem pretty blase about finding out who shot Heben. After all, it's highly likely that -- unless Heben shot himself (not necessarily a wild guess) -- somebody committed a felony when that somebody shot Heben. And Heben himself may have been engaging in some felonious shenanigans that earned him the shot in the gut. Also, a hat tip to those awesome-scary black gangsters who can shoot to kill even when they're imaginary.
... Akhilleus also dug up this story, featuring "Judge Jeanine (Pirro) of Fox "News" interviewing Heben for his expert opinion on threats to the national power grid. Super-hero Heben explains a big problem is that a bunch of wimpy "'desk jockeys' who are not trained in unconventional warfare" -- as he is -- run the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. It is these fat-asses (who are no more expert than a WalMart employee who watches security cameras all day) have approved the crappy power-grid security system. Another problem: power company execs are not buying his sales pitch to sell them an expensive security system. The segment seems to be an infomercial for Heben's security products & services. Meanwhile, you'd better stock up on canned goods because your power will be out for months. ...
... Pirro, by the way, has had plenty of troubles of her own.
News Ledes
New York Times: "Israel’s Military Advocate General Corps has ordered criminal investigations into five incidents of possible misconduct on the part of Israeli forces in the 50-day Gaza war, a senior Israeli military official said on Wednesday. Word of the investigations, coming two weeks after a cease-fire in the conflict, appeared to be the beginning of an Israeli effort to pre-empt the impact of international inquiries into allegations of possible Israeli war crimes in Gaza."
Reuters: "Two senators asked the federal government to investigate a data breach on the payment-card processing systems of Home Depot Inc and five U.S. states launched a probe into the matter on Tuesday as fallout from the attack intensified. The retailer has yet to say what was stolen, though experts fear the attackers may have gotten away with more than 40 million payment cards, which would exceed the number taken in last year's unprecedented attack on Target Corp."
Guardian: "Malaysia Airlines flight 17 was destroyed in an instant when the cockpit and other parts of the fuselage were peppered by 'a large number of high-energy objects,' causing the plane to break apart over eastern Ukraine before anyone could raise an alarm, according to a preliminary report on the disaster which was released on Tuesday.... The findings are consistent with US and Ukrainian assertions the Boeing 777, flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, was brought down by an anti-aircraft missile, which they say was provided by Russia."
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Reader Comments (14)
Given another example of explicit racism from one Fran Millar––as though we need any more proof ––it amazes me that so many conservative pundits are still denying that race plays into our political system. When Elizabeth Drew, the eyes and ears of this American scene for decades says the following, then there really should not be any doubt:
"... John Boehner has been forbidden by the House Republican caucus to negotiate with Obama on his own.[I found this piece of information quite extraordinary]. Yet the public perception is that the failure of Washington to solve major problems during the past six years falls on the president as well as on those actually responsible—the Republicans. In fact, no president in history has faced such intransigence from the opposition party. It’s undeniable that the president’s race has a significant part in the destructive ways in which he is talked about and opposed."
RE: Ted Cruz's crazy SNL business. If SNL, why then wouldn't it pertain to everyone on the media who would fit into the category of comedians making fun of political figures? I don't get it.
After reading Benen's piece, one thing strikes me -- the Republicans in congress are such a joke it's like I'm reading The Onion. Really.
@P.D.Pepe writes, "RE: Ted Cruz's crazy SNL business. If SNL, why then wouldn't it pertain to everyone on the media who would fit into the category of comedians making fun of political figures? I don't get it."
It would apply to every media corporation. Cruz was using SNL as an example, not as a specific target. Since the amendment makes reference to corporations, theoretically Congress could construe it to mean that media corporations would be prohibited from airing any political content -- no news shows, no political dramas, etc. But Cruz is an extremist, & there's just about zero likelihood that Congress would ever interpret the proposed amendment -- which has no chance of becoming an actual amendment anyway -- in the way Crazy Ted imagines.
In addition, it's important to remember that the Constitution is a document in tension with itself. Acts & activities that might be construed as constitutional by one clause or section may be appear to be unconstitutional under another. That's why plaintiffs & defendants are apt to cite different constitutional provisions as their authorities. The courts always have to balance the conflicting provisions, & that balance can change.
So, if such an amendment ever passed -- and someday in the far distant future it might -- certainly issues would arise in which the courts would have to balance individual free-speech rights with campaign finance laws passed under the umbrella of this amendment.
I know almost nothing about the history of "artistic license" (in the legal sense), but I do know, for instance, that the courts continue to uphold laws against child pornography, & that they wrestle with what constitutes pornography. As Justice Potter Stewart famously said, "I know it when I see it." (He decided the film that was the question of the case -- Louis Malle's "The Lovers" -- was not pornographic.)
So can the New York Times put an "artistic" picture of a naked 9-year-old on the front page & claim their free-press right to do so? They could try, but -- depending upon the journalistic rationale for the photo -- courts certainly might find that the Times violated child pornography laws & that the laws themselves were constitutional.
The recent horrifying animal snuff films case is a good example: The Court ruled 8-1 (puppy-lover Alito dissenting) in favor of the snuff-film distributor. (This brings to mind a comment Jack Mahoney made recently in the New York Times about our laws [& our morals] favoring humans over animals.) I don't think the courts would rule the same way about distributing child snuff videos. What about a fictional film -- or a docudrama -- that graphically depicts the abuse & murder of a child? You'll have to ask the judge.
Marie
@pdPepe, here's what I get about Ted Cruz...he wakes up each morning, scans the papers, the teevee, the blogs..."OMG, my name and picture aren't showing up anywhere! What can I do? I need exposure!" And so, Ted comes up with the SNL thing...and whadda wanna bet that 'he' will be the SNL opener? SNL is sure to take him on. Must be working that old canard into action, 'there's no such thing as bad publicity—just spell my name correctly!'
Ted Cruz, the Paris Hilton of the Senate.
@MAG. I like your response better than mine -- especially because Ted's undeclared reason for citing SNL hadn't dawned on me. I think you're right.
Marie
MAG,
Hey, at least Paris Hilton never shut down the government for publicity purposes.
And maybe if Cruz gets to host SNL, some smart producer will hire some DREAMers to sing "I like to be in America" from West Side Story to open the show.
This one's for you, Ted.
(Even better that the music, lyrics, and choreography were all created by gay men. Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, and Jerry Robbins.)
Your Morning Buzzkill.
Usually it hits me late in the afternoon but lately it's been coming earlier and earlier, the despondency arising from the very real possibility that both houses of congress will very shortly be controlled by people who hate government, hate any American who doesn't look and think like them, but love what it can do for them and their friends, AND how it can be wielded and manipulated to punish their enemies.
The flim-flam artists, the ideological pinheads, the cowards, the ignoramuses, the intolerant religious haters, the fools, and the connivers will be raised up out of the muck to run the country into the ground.
And I see that they are being coached and pushed and pulled by one of the worst examples of partisan, corrupt, corporatized pols, one Dick (accent on dick) Cheney.
Reading that, the criminal creep leading the fools and the insane, Shelley comes to my rescue. Well, sort of.
They may be in charge, may be drunk on their own power, may see themselves as avenging heroes, and world historical figures, but Shelley has their number. Read this line from Ozymandias and see if you don't think of Cheney and his frightful heirs:
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read...
The final line is a description both of the damaged world left by Bush and Cheney, the country after their descendents from hell finish with it:
Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
Unfortunately, by that time, most of us may be under that sand.
@Akhilleus: Thanks for the link. Under Ted Cruz's theoretical horrific, Congress would ban "I like to be in America." It certainly is political.
Something I didn't know: in the play, the lyrics were different -- the song was a putdown of Puerto Rico. The original version is here -- begins about 1:15 min. in. The lyrics in the film version -- the YouTube video you linked -- sadly are still true more than half a century later.
Marie
Marie,
True. A large portion of the song definitely has less than complimentary things to say about Puerto Rico, San Juan in particular. But the comparison between PR and NYC allows for one of the best lines in American musical theater:
I like the island Manhattan.
Smoke on your pipe and put that in.
No doubt wingnuts would interpret this as indicating that Puerto Ricans are flocking to America to get their hands on free marijuana.
While that's likely not true, something that is still true, is:
Nobody knows in America
Puerto Rico's in America!
Think your average red state wingnut voter knows this fact? What they see is brown face, black hair, foreign language or accented English: not an American.
Puerto Ricans are intensely proud of being natural-born American citizens.
He's a sly one, that Paul Krugman feller! His blog post today continues on about the subject of Scotland's quest for independence.
Near the end, he delivers this witticism : "Let me say that I do understand why some people would like to be out of David Cameron’s UK — just as some of us coastal liberals occasionally wonder what America could be like without the old Confederacy."
Hmmmm, we coastal liberals might have a longer wait...as in today's going-backward climate, we could view the late Sen. Alfred Iverson of Georgia as the prescient one who pronounced in 1861 "You may whip us, but we will not stay whipped. We will rise again and again to vindicate our right to liberty, and throw off your oppressive and accursed yoke, and never cease the mortal strife until our whole white race is extinguished and our fair land given over to desolation."
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/27/the-south-rises-again-and-again-and-again/
Regarding the South rising again:
"You may whip us, but we will not stay whipped. We will rise again and again to vindicate our right to liberty, and throw off your oppressive and accursed yoke, and never cease the mortal strife until our whole white race is extinguished and our fair land given over to desolation."
Translation: We define our liberty as the right to deprive others of theirs, force them to labor for us in chains and uncompensated for the duration of their natural lives, or at whatever time they die from exhaustion or from the latest whipping. Because you can't whip us but we can whip them. And, oh, by the way, if you ever give "those people" the right to vote, we will do whatever necessary to take it away. Just ask Fran Millar. He's a good old boy who knows how to handle them nigras who think they can vote when we say they can't.
Lest we forget–– West Side Story is based on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet whose age old conflicts are still with us as some of you have pointed out so well.
"See what a scourge is laid upon your hate,
The heaven finds means to kill your joys with love."
Those heavenly three, as Akhilleus points out, although I would add ole Will to the trio, made magic.
Question: Why is it OK for Teddy Boy Cruz born in a foreign country of an American mother and a non-citizen father to run for President but not for Obama? Last time I checked, Hawaii is a part of the USA, though. Teddy Boy is a good name for him, since they were often associated with destructive violence.