The Commentariat -- Sept. 13, 2014
Internal links, defunct video removed.
White House: "In this week’s address, President Obama reiterated his comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group ISIL":
Justin Sink of the Hill: "The United States is at war with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL), the White House and Pentagon said Friday, a day after Secretary of State John Kerry repeatedly declined to use that phrase. 'In the same way that we are at war with Al Qaeda and its affiliates around the globe, we are at war with ISIL,' White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters at the White House. Pentagon spokesman John Kirby echoed that sentiment, telling reporters that while the effort was 'not the Iraq war,' they should 'make no mistake, we know we are at war with ISIL.'" ...
... Michael Isikoff of Yahoo News: "The parents of murdered journalist Steven Sotloff were told by a White House counterterrorism official at a meeting last May that they could face criminal prosecution if they paid ransom to try to free their son, a spokesman for the family told Yahoo News Friday night.... The Sotloff family issued their statement after Diane Foley, the mother of murdered journalist James Foley, told ABC News that her family took statements by the White House counterterrorism official about legal bars to paying ransom as a 'threat, and it was appalling. ... We were horrified he would say that. He just told us we would be prosecuted.'" ...
... Brian Ross, et al., of ABC News: "The mother of slain American journalist James Foley said she wasn't necessarily surprised that the U.S. government threatened her family with prosecution should they raise money to pay her son's ransom, but she was astounded by how such a devastating message was delivered. 'I was surprised there was so little compassion,' Diane Foley told ABC News today of the three separate warnings she said U.S. officials gave the family about the illegality of paying ransom to the terror group ISIS.... Earlier this week five current and former officials with direct knowledge of the Foley case confirmed the alleged threats were made.... Diane Foley told ABC News earlier this week that warnings over the summer came primarily from a highly decorated military officer serving on the White House's National Security Council staff." ...
... digby: "Threatening the family of an abducted journalist with criminal charges for terrorism is indeed appalling. But the fact that everyone, including the president, is using the execution of these prisoners as a rationale for military action means that this policy has major ramifications we have not fully examined." ...
... Bruce Ackerman, in a New York Times op-ed: "PRESIDENT OBAMA's declaration of war against the terrorist group known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria marks a decisive break in the American constitutional tradition. Nothing attempted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, remotely compares in imperial hubris.... The 2001 authorization for the use of military force does not apply here. That resolution -- scaled back from what Mr. Bush initially wanted -- extended only to nations and organizations that 'planned, authorized, committed or aided' the 9/11 attacks.... Not only was ISIS created long after 2001, but Al Qaeda publicly disavowed it earlier this year. It is Al Qaeda's competitor, not its affiliate." ...
... CW Note: Ackerman is a highly-respected Constitutional scholar. He has been writing about executive overreach for a long time. Here he is in the American Prospect in March 2009, urging the new President to take steps to force future presidents to follow "the rule of law." At that time, barely two months into the Obama presidency, Ackerman asserted that, "Barack Obama is no George W. Bush -- he will indeed cut back substantially on unilateral assertions of power. The big question is whether he will take effective steps to prevent the next president from reversing course yet again...." CW: So that hasn't worked out. ...
... CW Update: OR, it's worth throwing into the mix that following President Obama's address to the nation, both Boehner & Reid vowed to bring up authorization bills. So perhaps (she said, being generous to the President), Obama has used hubris to bully the Congress into doing something.
... New York Times Editors: "By avoiding responsibility, [members of Congress] allow President Obama free rein to set a dangerous precedent that will last well past this particular military campaign. Mr. Obama, who has spent much of his presidency seeking to wean the United States off a perpetual state of war, is now putting forward unjustifiable interpretations of the executive branch's authority to use military force without explicit approval from Congress." ...
... Steve M.: "I understand that the Authorization for the Use of Military Force drawn up right after the 9/11 attacks doesn't really apply to a group that didn't exist in 2001, and that's in conflict with Al Qaeda. I understand that what the president plans to do will take ongoing military action past the deadline imposed by the 1973 War Powers Act. But America is a failed state now, so I have to confess that I'm struggling to care.... If Republicans in Congress resist voting (see that Jack Kingston quote) and resist working with president, then we have a non-functioning government, and that's the real constitutional crisis." ...
... CW: Both Ackerman & Steve M. are right. Never before in my lifetime have we had a Congress whose explicit goal was to keep the government from functioning. That effort began in a secret meeting led by Eric Cantor in December 2008 and at a dinner on January 20, 2009, the night of President Obama's inauguration. Once a conspiracy of top Republican elected officials, including Mitch McConnell was prime participant, the cat has been out of the bag so long that McConnell & other Republican MoCs are now touting it as legitimate strategy. ...
... Kevin Drum poses a question it would be nice to see one of those crack Sunday show hosts ask John McCain/Lindsay Graham/Generic Republican Hawk the next time one appears on the teevee (which would be tomorrow): "Republicans seem to universally hold the following two opinions about Iraq and ISIS:1. President Obama is to blame for the military success of ISIS because he declined to keep a residual force in Iraq after 2011. 2. In the fight against ISIS, we certainly don't want to send in combat troops. No no no.... But if we don't want boots on the ground in the fight against ISIS, what exactly would [a "residual force"] have done? Hang around Baghdad to buck up the morale of the Iraqi forces that came fleeing back after encountering ISIS forces? Conduct ever more 'training'? Or what? Can someone tell me just what everyone thinks this magical residual force would have accomplished?"
Ali Watkins of McClatchy News: "Tensions between the CIA and its congressional overseers erupted anew this week when CIA Director John Brennan refused to tell lawmakers who authorized intrusions into computers used by the Senate Intelligence Committee to compile a damning report on the spy agency's interrogation program. The confrontation, which took place during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday, came as the sides continue to spar over the report's public release.... After the meeting, several senators were so incensed at Brennan that they confirmed the row and all but accused the nation's top spy of defying Congress." Read the whole story. Brennan is defying Democratic senators, & they're willing to go on the record, closed-door meeting notwithstanding. CW: This is something President Obama can mitigate. He should do so. Today.
Burgess Everett of Politico: "Senate Republicans unanimously rejected a constitutional amendment sought by Democrats that would allow Congress to regulate campaign finance reform. The measure failed to clear a 60-vote threshold on Thursday afternoon, 54-42.... 'Senate Democrats want a government that works for all Americans -- not just the richest few. Today, Senate Republicans clearly showed that they would rather sideline hardworking families in order to protect the Koch brothers and other radical interests that are working to fix our elections and buy our democracy,' [Majority Leader Harry] Reid said after the vote."
Mark Stern of Slate: "On Wednesday, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs voted 13-12 to continue to deny equal benefits to gay veterans who live in states without gay marriage. Currently, all active servicemembers and their same-sex spouses receive equal benefits -- no matter where they live -- under an order from the Department of Defense. But a statutory quirk instructs the Department of Veterans Affairs to look to veterans' state of residency to determine their marital status." ....
... Because ... States' Rights! Stern, Ctd.: "Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, R-Florida, explained that 'deference to the state is not motivated by hostility, it is motivated by adherence to the Constitution.' ... Miller's notion of 'deference to the state' is ... so utterly inane, so completely and totally wrong about the structure of the U.S. government, that it reads more like a giveaway question on a seventh-grade true/false civics quiz than a statement by an ostensibly educated congressman." CW: Just makes me want to sing "Dixie" & the version of "Swanee River" -- Florida's state song -- we used to sing as children. (The Negro-dialect version was retired in 2008, tho I think it was commonly bowdlerized long before that.) ...
... BUT. Federal Judge Understands Federalism. Mark Berman of the Washington Post: "A federal judge has ordered Arizona to recognize one same-sex marriage, determining Friday that the state must formally acknowledge that Fred McQuire and George Martinez were married.... [Judge John Sedwick's] ruling is very limited, focusing only on this one couple, but it also touches on the larger issues involving same-sex marriage, noting that arguments suggesting Arizona's ban does not discriminate 'lacks merit.'" (You can read the complete ruling here.)" CW: Sedwick is Bush I appointee.
CW: Forgot to link this yesterday. of Jonathan Topaz of Politico: "Sen. Ted Cruz walked off the stage and left an event hosted by a Christian organization mid-speech after being booed on Wednesday night following comments praising Israel. The Texas Republican senator and tea party icon was a keynote speaker at a Washington summit hosted by In Defense of Christians, a group that focuses on persecuted Christian and minority communities in the Middle East." ...
... Jonathan Topaz: "The president of the Christian organization who hosted Sen. Ted Cruz at its summit has partially blamed the senator for walking off the stage after being heckled and booed by some in the crowd during his speech. In Defense of Christians President Toufic Baaklini, in a statement released Thursday evening, said that while the hecklers were out of line, Cruz's actions were 'unfortunate.' ... [Baaklini] contested the characterization used by some outlets that the Texas Republican was 'booed off stage,' suggesting the group of hecklers was 'small' and that there were more audience members shouting them down.... Republican Rep. Charlie Dent struck a harsher tone in criticizing Cruz on Thursday. '... what Senator Cruz did was outrageous and incendiary," the Pennsylvania congressman told The Washington Post. 'He showed a true lack of sensitivity for the people he was speaking to, especially the religious leaders who were there. It was a political speech, inappropriate and, overall, an uncomfortable moment.'" ...
... Robert Costa of the Washington Post has more on Dent's comments....
... CW: In the reporting, I haven't seen any evidence that the hecklers "hate Jews," as Cruz claimed before walking off the stage. While it isn't polite to boo a speaker (I might not be able to contain myself either if Cruz was the speaker), it's pretty damned easy to deplore Israel's actions against Gazans & other Palestinians without in any way, shape or form "hating Jews." Cruz's assumptions, as far as I can tell, are unsupported conjecture. I suppose Cruz is just posturing, but if he really can't tell the difference between opposing a government's policy & hating its citizens, then he's remarkably stupid. Does Ted Cruz, who opposes practically every U.S. policy, hate Americans? Maybe so. On the other hand, he may just be a thin-skinned crybaby. Good luck, President Cruz.
Beyond the Beltway
** Dana Milbank Indicts the Prosecutor: "It's a good bet the grand jurors won't charge [Darren Wilson for shooting dead Michael Brown], because all signs indicate that the St. Louis County prosecutor, Robert McCulloch, doesn't want them to.... McCulloch's office has declined so far to recommend any charges to the grand jury.... A grand jury is less likely to deliver an indictment -- even a much deserved one -- if a prosecutor doesn't ask for it.... [In response to a request by the Post's Wesley Lowery,] McCulloch's office ultimately came up with only one case over 23 years that The Post could verify of the prosecution of a white officer for using inappropriate force against a black victim, and it wasn't a shooting." Read the whole post. On an empty stomach.
Federal Appellate Panel Okays Wisconsin Voter Suppression Law. Patrick Marley & Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "A federal appeals panel reinstated Wisconsin's voter ID law Friday, acting with unusual speed eight weeks before the Nov. 4 election and just hours after hearing arguments on the subject. The move by the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for the state to immediately implement the law, though it does not stop the ongoing appeal over whether the measure is constitutional. State officials responded by saying they planned to have the requirement in place this fall. 'The state of Wisconsin may, if it wishes (and if it is appropriate under rules of state law), enforce the photo ID requirement in this November's elections,' the judges wrote in an unsigned two-page order. The appellate court indicated it was satisfied by changes imposed on the law by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in a separate decision this summer.... Some 300,000 people in Wisconsin do not have IDs...." All three judges on the panel -- the ruling was unanimous -- are Republican appointees. Thanks to Nadd2 for the lead. ...
... Even though the (U.S.) Supreme Court could well agree that Wisconsin's voter ID law is legal, there's a real chance that the (U.S. Supreme) Court could reverse today's 7th Circuit order. The Supreme Court has said that courts should not make changes in the run-up to elections, which can cause voter and election official confusion. The 7th Circuit did not even mention this rule in its order today. -- Rick Hasen, election law expert
... Journal Sentinel Editors: "This has always been a law in search of a problem. The kind of fraud that voter ID can catch has been rare, and the chilling effect the law will have on the votes of some groups -- minorities, older people and students -- far outweighs any benefits. Beyond that, the timing issue is critical. Coming less than two months before the November election, the ruling threatens to make balloting difficult for voters and election officials." Thanks to Victoria D. for the link.
Marie's Sports Report
Ken Belson of the New York Times: "The National Football League, which for years disputed evidence that its players had a high rate of severe brain damage, has stated in federal court documents that it expects nearly a third of retired players to develop long-term cognitive problems and that the conditions are likely to emerge at 'notably younger ages' than in the general population. The findings are a result of data prepared by actuaries hired by the league and provided to the United States District Court judge presiding over the settlement between the N.F.L. and 5,000 former players who sued the league, alleging that it had hidden the dangers of concussions from them."
WCCO Minneapolis: "A warrant was issued Friday for the arrest of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson after a grand jury in Texas indicted him for reckless or negligent injury to a child. Peterson will not play in Sunday's game at TCF Bank Stadium against the New England Patriots. On Friday afternoon, the Vikings said Peterson had been deactivated. That's different from a suspension, as Peterson will be still be paid as officials investigate." ...
... Here are some details from TMZ. ...
... Update. The New York Times story, by Steve Eder & Pat Borzi, is here. ...
... Paul Campos in Lawyers, Guns & Money: "For those who don’t follow the sport, Peterson is the best running back in the league, and a much bigger star than Ray Rice." ...
... Sean Gregory of Time details the harrowing, life-threatening experience of the victim of another pro-player's domestic abuse. A female judge convicted Greg Hardy, who plays for the Carolina Panthers, of a misdemeanor. She "sentenced him to 18 months probation; a 60-day jail sentence was suspended." Hardy is appealing. "The world hasn't seen this incident on tape. Hardy played in Carolina's first game. He didn't practice on Wednesday for what the team said were 'personal reasons' -- he met with his attorney. But Hardy returned to practice Thursday and as of right now, he is slated to play on Sunday, as the Panthers host the Detroit Lions.... On Wednesday night..., Panthers owner Jerry Richardson received a humanitarian honor in Charlotte: The Echo Award Against Indifference." ...
... CW: You read what that woman endured & tell me if you think Hardy is guilty of a minor infraction & should have got off with a suspended sentence. There is one judge who thinks severe domestic violence is not such a terrible thing. Oh, & after reading the Charlotte Observer report linked below, we find she also doesn't care too much if the defendant commits perjury. ...
... Joseph Person & Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer have more. "Hardy ... has not been disciplined by the NFL or the team."
Lifestyles of the Ludicrous
Oh, My Stars. Our Lady of the North Is Actually a Cat-fighting, Foul-mouthed Harridan. Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post relates the details of the Palin brawl, via Amanda Coyne, who "recounts what happened through the eyewitness account of Eric Thompson." Thompson, who was the designated driver for a group, was not drinking, so his account is not colored by the substances which apparently encouraged the Palin clan. Money quote from Coyne's account: "... Sarah got involved and began to scream profanities at everyone. One source, who didn't want to be named, said that she was 'nearly crawling on top of people,' trying to get into the scrum." CW: Yes, millions of Americans decided that this model of probity should be one aged heartbeat away from the presidency. And yes, thanks again, John McCain, for another demonstration of your excellent judgment. ...
... Coyne's full account is here. ...
... Tina Nguyen of Mediaite: "Thompson ... was fired [Friday] for talking to the media." CW: Thompson's employer was McKenna Brothers Paving. Korey Klingenmeyer, the owner of the house where the party was held, also works for McKenna Brothers. In fact, according to Coyne, the party was to celebrate the birthdays of "twins Matt and Marc McKenna," who own McKenna Brothers. Apparently omerta is part of the Alaskan chivalric code. ...
... At the end of her report on the "Palin Fight Club," Ahiza Garcia of TPM demonstrates how Sarah Palin has avoided all mention of the melee. ...
... CW: Former Half- Gov. Palin also appeared on Sean Hannity's Fox "News" show Thursday night to bash President Obama. Hannity, of course, did not ask her about the Saturday night brawl, even though it was all over the "liberal media." When Martha Stewart was involved in a stock scandal -- for which she was later jailed -- she appeared on her regular CBS morning show homemaking segment only to be confronted by host Jane Clayson about the stock deal. Martha, who mumbled something about the "ridiculousness" of the charges against her, famously replied, "I'd rather focus on my salad," and kept on chopping cabbage. But then CBS "News" occasionally covers news, whereas Fox "News" focuses on their shredded Obama salad & keeps on chopping. ...
... Update. The New York Times has a story on the brawl, in muted Grey Lady-style. On the byline are Amanda Coyne & Lizette Alvarez (Alvarez often reports Florida news for the Times).
The Trials of Mark. Sahil Kapur of TPM: "South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford took the liberty of airing his legal troubles with his ex-wife in excruciating detail on Friday afternoon. In a 2,343 word Facebook post, the Republican congressman wrote about several lawsuits and child custody disputes with his ex-wife Jenny Sanford, whom he left for an Argentinian woman he was cheating with while he was governor. He revealed in the post that the woman, Maria Belen Chapur, is no longer his fiancé[e]."
... CW: No one knows the troubles Mark's seen. (Well, okay, some of the troubles, which he blubbered out in an extraordinary presser after his "Appalachian Trails" scam flopped.) So he's going to tell you. In excruciating detail. Here's how Mark begins his Poor, Poor, Pitiful Me post, and truth be told, this is where I quit reading, but I'm pretty sure there's going to be some more Jesus & God stuff further along, wherein I'm pretty sure we're going to find out Jesus & God are on Mark's side, & Jezebel Jenny, his mean former wife, will have to answer to them:
More than anything, I am struck by two truths. One, it seems that history well documents that those who work to avoid conflict at all costs wind up being those destined in many instances to find much conflict. Peace at all costs rarely brings it. On the other hand, Jesus was incredibly clear in the book of Luke that we are to turn the other cheek at offenses and that if someone took our shirt, we were to offer our coat as well.
... Ed O'Keefe & Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "Shortly before posting his message online, Sanford also filed a motion requesting a gag order against his ex-wife, Jenny Sanford, that will be heard by a judge on Monday." CW: Here again, I suspect we'll find that Jesus gave Mark the idea he should muzzle the missus. And thou shalt go before the judge of thy land & pray that he shall silence thy former wife for her wickedness. ...
... Also, do read A. O. Scott's piece in this week's NYT Magazine, linked under Infotainment.
Rene Stutzman of the Orlando Sentinel: "A driver called Lake Mary[, Florida,] police earlier this week, accusing former Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman of threatening to shoot him during a road-rage incident. Zimmerman, 30, was not arrested. Lake Mary Police Chief Steve Bracknell said the man, 35-year-old Matthew Apperson of Winter Springs, did not want to press charges, so there would be no arrest." Read the whole story.
Congressional Races
Gail Collins: Today's Senate candidates are often reluctant debaters. Indeed, political debates these days are not going to be of the calibre of the Lincoln-Douglas debates. After all, the most famous debate in New York gubernatorial history in one in which candidates included "a woman whose claim to fame was running a prostitution ring and the nominee of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party."
Alexandra Jaffe of the Hill: "A group helmed by a major donor and policy adviser to Democratic Senate candidate Michel[l]e Nunn is under investigation by the Georgia secretary of State for alleged voter fraud. Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) said in a memo ... that his office has 'received numerous complaints about voter applications submitted by the New Georgia Project,' an organization launched to register and turn out voters to the polls. 'Preliminary investigation has revealed significant illegal activities, including forged voter registration applications, forged signatures on releases, and applications with false or inaccurate information,' Kemp wrote in the memo." CW: Might be true; might be voter suppression as usual. ...
... Jamelle Bouie has an excellent post on this. Here's a key factor: Stacey Abrams, the Democratic leader of the Georgia house, "notes, Georgia law 'requires that we turn in all application forms we collect, regardless of concerns over validity.' It's the job of the secretary of state, she says, to determine the status of the applications. 'We do not get to make the decisions about whether or not a form is valid or not.' ... But there is an aggressive subpoena that, Abrams says, 'essentially demands every document we have ever produced.' She calls it a 'fishing expedition' meant to 'suppress our efforts.' A spokesperson for the New Georgia Project, the Rev. Dr. Raphael Warnock of Ebenezer Baptist Church, was a little more explicit. 'I see this move by the secretary of state as the latest effort in voter suppression in the state of Georgia,' he said." CW: So, voter suppression as usual.
Where's Terri? Laura Berman of the Detroit News: Michigan's GOP U.S. Senate candidate "Terri Lynn Land [is] ... gambling you won't notice her near total disappearance from the campaign trail. While both Land and her opponent, U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, are bombarding the airwaves with commercials, it's Land who's trying to stay out of sight.... [A] Mackinac Island policy conference last May -- included both Senate candidates, who appeared separately.... That was also Land's last media confrontation, when she was visibly overwhelmed by a crush of microphones, and lambasted by the media for failing to understand 'net neutrality.'... In November, voters will decide whether such cynicism can also be a clever way for an insecure, under-prepared candidate to win."
Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "Comedian Bill Maher announced Friday night that he will personally target Republican Rep. John Kline (Minn.) for defeat in the November election -- the culmination of his longstanding 'Flip a District' contest in which the HBO host allowed his viewers to pick which Republican he would attempt to unseat." Blake explains why Maher "picked the wrong guy.... If Maher somehow pulled ... off [an upset], it would be a true testament to the ability of one man to 'flip a district.' But don't hold your breath."
Josh Feldman of Mediaite: "Maher will be traveling to Kline's district to do stand-up, and he explained why this congressman -- whom you probably never heard of -- is his big target: because he's 'the living embodiment of legislation for hire.' He called Kline a 'silent threat' who doesn't say 'kooky things' but votes with the people who do:
News Ledes
New York Times: "The president of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, has implored President Obama for help in managing her country's rapidly expanding Ebola crisis and has warned that without American assistance the disease could send Liberia into the civil chaos that enveloped the country for two decades."
Guardian: "The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, wants to destroy Ukraine as an independent country and resurrect the Soviet Union, the Ukrainian prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk has said. Yatseniuk told a conference of European politicians his country was 'in a stage of war' with Russia, as renewed clashes broke out between the Ukrainian army and pro-Russian rebels in the east and Moscow sent a second convoy of trucks into Ukraine without Kiev's consent. Continuous rocketfire could be heard overnight in the eastern city of Donetsk."
New York Times: "The doctor who performed an endoscopy on Joan Rivers before she went into cardiac arrest has stepped down as medical director of the Manhattan clinic where she was treated and he is no longer doing procedures there, the clinic announced on Friday.... The doctor who performed the endoscopy, Lawrence B. Cohen, a prominent gastroenterologist, had brought an ear, nose and throat specialist into the operating room to examine Ms. Rivers, even though that doctor was not authorized to practice medicine there, according to people briefed on the matter."
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Reader Comments (11)
Three conservative judges on the federal appeals court just reinstated the voter ID requirement in Wisconsin, even without making a ruling on the merits of the case. The ID law was in effect for only one low-turnout primary since it was passed in 2011. The gubernatorial election is in 7 weeks. Never has a court made a change in voter ID requirements so close to an election.
I fear that Scott Walker has just managed to rig the election. As noted in Judge Adelman's decision that the law was unconstitutional, there are 300,000 voters who may lack the necessary documents, and the 2010 governor's race was decided by about 172,000 votes.
A very dark day in Wisconsin.
Here's a link to an account of the Wisconsin voter ID decision:
http://journaltimes.com/news/local/appeals-court-reinstates-wisconsin-s-voter-id-law/article_4c66a7a3-8611-5fae-a173-9e054106a667.html
The Milwaukee J S editorial condemning the opinion:
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/news/274955401.html?ipad=y
We'll need Claude Rains to read the reaction statement when George Zimmerman blows someone's head off. Until then, municipal officials will avoid the glare of the Fox spotlight.
Goodness gracious, where to begin. Tip of the hat to Marie for putting together today's Reality Chek, which sure seems a little different than the one on CNN, but man is it heavy. A brilliantly-complied brushstroke off the ills affecting this country today.
First on the docket is Iraq War Redux, with Obama throwing us sort of all in on war against ISIL. Yet, in his address to the nation today, he even mentions that ISIL doesn't currently have any known plans to attack the territory of the US. So why the hurry? After the excellent piece of "Video Nation" the other day pointed out, a few horrific images of Americans being beheaded and the whole game changes. That's a scary precedent to set given that that whole set-up can be recreated by just about any small group of fanatics with a warped mind, a cheap video camera and an internet connection. And while paying ransom only further stirs the pot, threatening a grieving family with legal battles seems a pretty callous and cold-hearted approach. And not only are we now officially 'at war' with ISIL, President Obama has apparently circumvented all legal precedent to declaring this war, which itself creates dangerous precedent for future war-mongering. BUT, this is both dangerous AND irrelevant, according to some, because we're de facto living in a failed state where our government currently works by not working. If Congress ever does get their act together, how are we gonna pay for all of this? Is it gonna be another give and take one dollar system designed to cut entitlements?
That all of this is happening to the first U.S. President to receive the Nobel Peace Prize while in office since Wilson in 1919 (Carter got his decades after office) only encourages the irony of the situation.
Next up we've got further confirmation that our post 9/11 apparatus has given the CIA its own wing in the government that is responsible to no one but themselves, and perjury is a selective punishment.
Bit surprise here, but Citizens United worked and the GOP is all bought and paid for. To make matters worse, we have one of its most egregious examples of dark money's damning impact to Democracy in Wisconsin as more GOP activist judges rewrite the law to hand elections to their counterparts. I expect to see those judges drinking Bordeaux wines and shopping for their personalized Rolex in the next coming months.
In social ills of the day, women continue to be trapped in the social system built over centuries of chauvinistic mansplainin' and testosterone rage while homosexuals are still persecuted by the Religious Right as they throw up any trap possible to keep them legally considered as second-rate citizens. There they share their status with any minority, the darker the skin the bigger the problems, who will eventually become the collective majority in the coming decades. I sure hope that doesn't lead to the nationalization of Ferguson, Missouri where the whites have institutionalized their repression while clinging to their two-tiered society through legal and judicial power.
Stand your ground, GOP darling Zimmermann just about murders another innocent citizen while the only bright spot of the day shines the light of the underbelly of the Palin tribe as they guzzle beers and fight for the title of White Trash Family of America.
While all this news is quite depressing indeed, please tell me that someone got cellphone footage of Sarah Palin's scuffle with her former constituents. That won't solve anything but it would bring a smile to sooo many. Can you image the GIFs we could create with that video Gold?
@Jack Mahoney: Point re Zimmerman well taken. But I would slightly revise it to read "blow someone ELSE'S head off."
If I understand correctly, WI may have managed to correct the problem of calling it a 'free' ID. They have (or will?) instituted a program where the state will access federal and state databases in order to locate missing documents for voters needing an ID. They will also search for school and baptismal records. This is an improvement. Of course, I still hate the law and its obvious attempt to suppress voter turnout. My next concern is accessibility to sites where applications are to be made.
Has anybody heard how WI is handling the accessibility issues?
Haley Simon--
The DMV has not yet updated information on its website, so no one knows exactly how to get a free ID. Some DMVs are open only three days between now and the election, during normal working hours. The state admits that it may take some time for IDs and record checks to be done and so applying in advance of the election is necessary. Voters have not had to have IDs except for one election in 2012 (which was a low turnout primary) and so most people who didn't have them have not had much reason to try to get one.
Most DMVs are very busy and there have been many instances of employees not knowing the current procedures.
All in all, putting the law into effect 49 days before the election is sure to cause chaos and disenfranchise voters.
Nadd2
Thanks for your response but I can hardly believe my eyes! Some DMVs are only open 3 days between now and the election? Can this possibly be true? That's pure insanity.
Haley Simon--
No DMV is open past 4:45 pm. Most DMVs outside of major metropolitan areas are open only 2 days per week. I believe a DMV somewhere is open Sat morning.
These cuts were put in place early in Walker's rule (I mean, term).
Yes, it is difficult to believe what happens in Wisconsin. My husband, not nearly the lefty that I am, is also completely shocked.
Thanks for your interest in our state.
Here is a link to the Wisconsin DMV:
http://www.dot.wisconsin.gov/about/locate/dmv/