The Commentariat -- Sept. 23, 2015
Internal links & defunct video removed.
Afternoon Update:
Jack Ewing of the New York Times: "Martin Winterkorn resigned as chief executive of Volkswagen on Wednesday, taking responsibility for an emissions cheating scandal that has gravely damaged the carmaker's reputation and may spread to the German economy." ...
... Danny Hakim & Hiroko Tabuchi of the New York Times: "Long before Volkswagen admitted to cheating on emissions tests for millions of cars worldwide, the automobile industry, Volkswagen included, had a well-known record of sidestepping regulation and even duping regulators. For decades, car companies found ways to rig mileage and emissions testing data. In Europe, some automakers have taped up test cars' doors and grilles to bolster their aerodynamics. Others have used 'superlubricants' to reduce friction in the car's engine to a degree that would be impossible in real-world driving conditions."
Abigail Ohlheiser, et al., of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis told American bishops Wednesday that the offenses of the Catholic church's sex abuse scandal must never be repeated.... Francis's somber words for the bishops came in stark contrast to the joyous popemobile circuit along some of Washington's historic avenues just minutes before, where he greeted thousands, kissed babies and blew kisses to the crowd." ...
... Karen Tumulty of the Washington Post: "... Pope Francis ... made it clear Wednesday that he does not intend to sidestep the deeply divisive issues that are roiling this country -- and indeed, that he plans to fully employ his voice and influence as the spiritual leader of nearly 80 million Roman Catholics in the U.S. Amid the pageantry of a welcoming ceremony on the White House lawn, the first pope from the Americas introduced himself as 'the son of an immigrant family. I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely built by such families.'"
*****
Here's the full transcript of Pope Francis's speech at the White House.
Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama will host an elaborate arrival ceremony at the White House for Pope Francis on Wednesday morning in a highly symbolic encounter between the political leader of the world's most powerful nation and the spiritual leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics." ...
... New Lede: "With the fanfare of trumpets and a show of solidarity, President Obama welcomed Pope Francis to the White House on Wednesday as the leaders of the world's most powerful nation and the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics declared common cause in tackling global poverty, conflict and environmental degradation."
The Washington Post is liveblogging the Pope's doings in Washington, D.C., today. The Post had a small video, which you can supersize, in the upper left corner of its front page & may have others later in the day covering Francis's public or quasi-public appearances.
Washington Post: 215 years of popemobiles, illustrated.
Via Time, here's Francis's public schedule for today:
9:15 a.m.: Pope Francis will appear at an official welcoming ceremony on the White House South Lawn then meet with President Obama.
11 a.m.: The Pope will parade around the Ellipse just south of the White House and the National Mall.
11:30 a.m.: Pope Francis will pray with U.S. bishops at D.C.'s St. Matthew's Cathedral.
4:30p.m.: His Holiness will canonize Junípero Serra during a mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.
Abby Ohlheiser & Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post: "Pope Francis descended from the plane at Joint Base Andrews to cheers under cloudy skies and a steady breeze that lifted the black robes of the awaiting bishops and kept the flags rippling on the tarmac. Waiting for him: President Obama, who rarely greets arriving foreign dignitaries on the tarmac, where a pink carpet had been rolled out just minutes before the pope's chartered Alitalia jet landed more than 10 minutes ahead of schedule." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...
... A Limited Menu for GOP Cafeteria Catholics. Brian Beutler: "Consider the timing of Francis's visit, which happens to coincide with an outburst of Islamophobia within the Republican Party.... Francis, by contrast, has rejected Christian intolerance of Islam. He considers the Koran to be no less a spiritual tome than the Bible, and condemns those who equate Islam with violence.... Francis is extremely adept at revealing the extent to which Republicanism is ... in many ways, an entity that exploits religion to advance secular ends.... with respect to ... [climate change,] Francis embodies the fact that Republican nostrums aren't entirely coterminous with 'Christian theology.' Francis comes to the U.S. from Cuba, months after concluding an instrumental role facilitating the normalization of relations between the two countries. He supports the anti-proliferation deal with Iran. At a time when Republicans are aggressively yanking their immigration consensus to the right, Francis preaches support for liberal immigration policy, and toleration of immigrant families.... It's possible that by the end of his visit, Francis will have complicated rather than augmented the GOP's anti-abortion strategy."
Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "President Xi Jinping pledged in a speech [in Seattle] on Tuesday night to work with the United States on fighting cybercrimes, saying that the Chinese government was a staunch defender of cybersecurity."
Burgess Everett & Seung Min Kim of Politico: Mitch McConnell has a plan to avoid a government shutdown. One itty-bitty catch: "... there's no guarantee that the House will accept what the Senate sends over." CW: Isn't it ridiculous that a party "leader" has to try to finagle -- possibly without success -- a convoluted strategy to get his own caucus to cooperate when a functioning government is at stake? Thanks, winger-voters, for foisting these yahoos on the rest of us.
Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "The Senate failed on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy in a high-profile messaging vote held by Republican leaders ahead of Pope Francis's visit to the Capitol. The result was expected. Democrats pledged to filibuster the bill, which passed the House earlier this year, and Republicans could not garner the 60 votes necessary to block it. Te vote was 54 to 42. Two Republicans -- Susan Collins of Maine and Mark Kirk of Illinois -- voted against proceeding with the bill. Three Democrats -- Bob Casey Jr. of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, voted in favor. Four senators -- Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) -- did not vote." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Edward-Isaac Dovere of Politico: "For the first time since he took office, President Barack Obama will skip an appearance at the Clinton Global Initiative during his annual trip to New York for the United Nations General Assembly next week.... The event comes as Vice President Joe Biden weighs his own entry into the presidential race against Clinton...."
Andrew Pollack & Julie Crestwell of the New York Times: "After fiercely defending the price increase in various interviews and on Twitter for two days, [Martin] Shkreli backed down a bit late Tuesday. He told television news networks that the price of the drug, Daraprim, would be lowered, though he did not specify what the new price would be." CW: Instead of $750 a pill, he'll probably run a $749.99 special. Hideous little bastard. ...
... Jeremy Stahl of Slate: "The former hedge fund manager whose pharmaceutical company has come under withering attack for allegations of egregious price-gouging on life-saving medication is the subject of a $65 million lawsuit by his former employer for alleged stock manipulation -- and it turns out he once tried a similar price hike scheme with that company. During Martin Shkreli's tenure as CEO of Retrophin -- the company that is now suing him -- the company increased prices on a decades-old kidney medication by about 20 times its original cost, a move similar to the controversial price increase by his new company reported by the New York Times on Sunday."
Sarah Ferris: "A total of 17.6 million people have gained coverage under ObamaCare, according to a revised government estimate released Tuesday. The newest figure, which is based on national survey data, shows that 1.2 million more people had signed up for healthcare over the last five years than previously thought."
Owen Bowcott of the Guardian: "European companies may have to review their widespread practice of storing digital data with US internet companies after a court accused America's intelligence services of conducting 'mass, indiscriminate surveillance'. The influential opinion by the European court of justice's advocate general Yves Bot, yet to be confirmed by the Luxembourg court as final, is a significant development in the battle over online privacy. The court normally follows the advocate general's opinion; ECJ judgments are binding on EU countries.... The opinion by Bot contains far-reaching recommendations that threaten to upend many current commercial practices and assumptions in the digital industry."
The AP Stylebook changes its nomenclature for climate-change wingnuts. Henceforth, they shall be called climate-change doubters, rather than deniers or skeptics. CW: Congrats on the promotion, doubters. You'll always be wingnuts & loons to me.
Presidential Race
Anne Gearan & Steve Mufson of the Washington Post: "... Hillary Rodham Clinton declared opposition to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline on Tuesday, ending a long and politically uncomfortable silence on an issue that has become a touchstone for environmentalists and liberal voters. 'I think it is imperative that we look at the Keystone pipeline as what I believe it is -- a distraction from the important work we have to do to combat climate change,' Clinton said at a community forum [in Des Moines, Iowa]. The debate over Keystone 'interferes with our ability to move forward,' Clinton said. 'Therefore I oppose it.'... While she stayed mum, progressive challenger Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won significant liberal support for a straightforward denunciation of the project. Democratic challenger Martin O'Malley ... and Clinton's own senior campaign adviser, John Podesta, also oppose the pipeline." ...
Heidi Przybyla of USA Today: "Hillary Clinton on Tuesday unveiled a plan to rein in prescription drug costs by forcing pharmaceutical companies to reinvest their profits into research and allowing for more generic and imported drugs. The proposal, which she outlined in a speech in Iowa on Tuesday, would also allow Medicare to negotiate lower drug costs and cap out-of-pocket expenses for individuals with chronic health problems. The plan seeks to address a key shortcoming of Obamacare, President Obama's signature health law, as the Democratic front-runner aims to show how she would put her imprint on it." ...
... Sarah Ferris of the Hill: "The leading pharmaceutical lobbying group is lashing out against Hillary Clinton's soon-to-be-released plan to combat rising drug prices. The head of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) released a statement Tuesday rebuking her proposals, which he warned would kill jobs, risk patient safety and halt investment in new cures for diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and cancer.... The leading insurance company lobbying group, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), released a statement Tuesday that also slammed Clinton for supporting spending caps." CW: Big PhARMA is an enemy any candidate would be happy to have.
... Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "F.B.I. investigators have recovered work-related and personal emails that Hillary Rodham Clinton said had been deleted from the server that housed the personal account she used exclusively when she was secretary of state, according to two government officials.... It was not clear whether the entire trove of roughly 60,000 emails had been found on the server, but one official said it had not been very hard for the F.B.I. to recover the messages." ...
... Del Wilbur of Bloomberg: "The Federal Bureau of Investigation's success at salvaging personal e-mails that Clinton said had been deleted raises the possibility that the Democratic presidential candidate's correspondence eventually could become public.... A group of agents has been separating personal correspondence and passing along work- related messages to agents leading the investigation.... The bureau's probe is expected to last at least several more months...." ...
... Carol Leonnig & Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Throughout the controversy over her use of a private e-mail system while she was secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton has described her decision last year to turn over thousands of work-related e-mails as a response to a routine-sounding records request.... But State Department officials provided new information Tuesday that undercuts Clinton's characterization. They said the request was not simply about general record-keeping but was prompted entirely by the discovery that Clinton had exclusively used a private e-mail system.... The State Department also realized it was not automatically preserving internal communications, with some other senior officials' e-mails missing." They discovered her private account only when attempting to respond to a records request by a House Benghaaazi! committee.
Alan Rappeport of the New York Times: "Senator Bernie Sanders ... is using the pope's visit to Washington to amplify his call for a wage increase for federal workers. The independent senator from Vermont joined a rally of striking government workers on Tuesday at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation in Washington, and pressed Congress and President Obama to heed Pope Francis' call for social and economic justice."
... Conservocolumnist Kathleen Parker of the Washington Post: "In the spirit of charity prompted by Pope Francis's visit to the United States, let's not call them bigots. Let's just call them the clueless, the incurious, the moronic, the dull. In short, ignoramuses. I refer to those Republican wits who unconscionably demonize a swath of Americans based on their religious views.... When can we get rid of them?" CW: Whaddaya bet Ben Carson is not accustomed to be called an ignoramus, especially by conservative writers? Welcome to reality, Dr. Carson. ...
... BUT the GOP base is extremely ignoramusist. Tom Jensen of Public Policy Polling: Donald "Trump's recent comments about President Obama waging a war on Christianity don't hurt him much with the GOP base. 69% agree with the sentiment that the President has waged a war on Christianity, with only 17% disagreeing. Trump's probably not hurting himself too much with his negativity toward Muslims either - only 49% of Republicans think the religion of Islam should even be legal in the United States with 30% saying it shouldn't be and 21% not sure." ...
... Ilan Ben-Meir of BuzzFeed: "Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Tuesday that the United States 'should take in zero' Syrian refugees.... 'If Mr. Trump were the president of the United States we would not be bringing refugees into the country under this criteria,' Lewandowski said.... In past interviews, Trump has not completely ruled out taking in refugees from Syria." ...
... Kelly Riddell of the Washington Times: "The super PAC supporting neurosurgeon Ben Carson for GOP president has seen a surge of donations since his appearance Sunday on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' where Mr. Carson said he wouldn't advocate for a Muslim to be president of the United States." Includes a clip of Dr. Ben further walking back his bigoted remarks. He has Muslim friends, too! ...
... Thomas Edsall of the New York Times delves into the Donald dynamic. CW: Edsall makes the same lazy, sexist assumption that many people do. He writes that both Jeb! & Hillary have "deep roots in political dynasties." Bull. Shit. Jeb!'s brother was president. His father was president. His ancestor Franklin Pierce was president. His grandfather was a U.S. senator. Hillary's parents were not involved in politics. Neither were the parents of Bill Clinton. They made it on their own, & tho there was a division of labor based on their differing skills, they were nearly equal partners. When Hillary invokes the Clinton name, it is a name she earned. Personally, I don't care for Hillary Clinton. But I'm sick of this depiction of her as the "little woman" who got where she is because she's Mrs. Clinton. ...
... Jason Horowitz of the New York Times asked Donald Trump "about a 1927 report in The New York Times, unearthed by the website Boing Boing, that listed Fred Trump as being among a group of people arrested, and then discharged, by the police in response to a Ku Klux Klan rally that had turned violent in Queens. The question, essentially, was, 'Did you ever hear of this?' Mr. Trump's barrage of answers -- his sudden denial of a fact he had moments before confirmed; his repeatedly noting that no charges were filed against his father in connection with the incident he had just repeatedly denied; and his denigration of the news organization that brought the incident to light as a 'little website' -- shows his pasta-against-the-wall approach to beating down inconvenient story lines." ...
... Here's a portion of Stephen Colbert's interview of Donald Trump:
... The full interview is here. It begins about 15 min. in. Tom McCarthy of the Guardian writes that Colbert let Trump off easy.
Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "In a speech delivered in 2012, Ben Carson said the big bang theory was part of the 'fairy tales' pushed by 'high-faluting scientists' as a story of creation. Similarly, Carson, a noted creationist, said he believed the theory of evolution was encouraged by the devil." CW: Seems to me Dr. Ben's religious beliefs would mightily interfere with his ability to fulfill the Constitutional duties of the presidency. He would probably appoint Pat Robertson director of NASA. ...
We should not have a multicultural society. -- Jeb Bush, Tuesday
Katherine Krueger of TPM: "Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush warned America is 'creeping toward multiculturalism' during a campaign stop Tuesday, and said he worries about areas where the assimilation process is 'retarded.' In response to a young woman's question about how to empower immigrants as Americans, Bush said at an event at a Cedar Falls, Iowa diner that multiculturalism should not be the goal." Includes video of Jeb's Trump-y remarks. CW: I cannot believe he said that, but I heard it with my own Irish-French-English-etc. ears. If you like to dance the polka or cherish your Japanese heritage, get out! ...
... CW: I've got bad news for this year's GOP candidates. It is relatively easy to pivot in the general election from primary-season dogwhistles by pretending a dogwhistle is not a dogwhistle. But you can't really pivot away from blatantly racist remarks. You can't pivot from insisting on shutting down the government if a women's healthcare provider is funded or from maligning women's looks to pretending you really like women & care about their well-being. Mitt's 47-percent remark was supposed to be an insider secret; this year's crop of bozos makes its incendiary comments right out in the open.
Slightly-less conservocolumnist Ruth Marcus of the Washington Post: Carly "Fiorina's dishonesty is flagrant and unapologetic. Called on her misstatements, Fiorina doesn't cede ground, she attacks critics.... Fox News's Chris Wallace asked her, 'Do you acknowledge what every fact-checker has found ... there is no actual footage of the incident that you just mentioned?' Fiorina: 'No, I don't accept that at all.... I haven't found a lot of people in the mainstream media who have ever watched these things.' This dishonesty is part of a pattern. Fiorina's up-by-the-bootstraps foundational story -- from secretary to chief executive -- is similarly misleading." The column is worth a read.
Monica Davey of the New York Times: "Gov. Scott Walker went back to his regular job on Tuesday, and it sounded like just another day. The governor was at work in the Capitol, his aides said, holding private meetings and receiving briefings from his executive staff.... Some residents and lawmakers said Mr. Walker had been largely disconnected from state policy making of late and wondered whether he really intended to dig back into work here. Political operatives say Mr. Walker, who just months ago was considered a front-runner but exited the presidential field after sliding sharply in opinion polls, has relations to soothe in a state that feels a bit forgotten." ...
Jason Horowitz of the New York Times: "Old political adversaries of [Scott] Walker greeted his dour denouement as a fitting result for a politician who they say began and furthered his career [in Milwaukee] with a divisive style, a penchant for turning out conservative supporters rather than working with opponents, and tacit racial appeals in one of the nation's most segregated cities. But the irony is that Mr. Walker was eclipsed by candidates who have ignited the Republican base with more overtly nativist and, their critics argue, racist appeals." ...
... James Downie of the Washington Post: "... with Walker gone, there is one less candidate who can unite the GOP establishment. Four come to mind, though all have weaknesses: Jeb Bush, the most likely, has the money, but almost seems to be running against his will. Carly Fiorina can play the outsider card, but she is short on funds. Ohio Gov. John Kasich appeals to moderates and pundits but still hasn't broken through in New Hampshire, where he has bet his campaign. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has the political talent and enough money to survive for some time; he would be the favorite to inherit the GOP elite if Bush drops out.... With Trump hanging on and Carson rising, though, the establishment would be smart to rally around someone soon, and Walker's exit opens the door wider for the others."
I just think you've created an industry now -- a situation where very much, you've created an incentive for people not just to look forward to having more abortions, but being able to sell that fetal tissue -- these centers -- for purposes of making a profit off it, as you've seen in some of these Planned Parenthood affiliates. -- Marco Rubio, this past weekend
Marco Is as Big a Liar as Carly Fiorina. Women don't get pregnant for profit or "look forward to having more abortions" because abortions are money-makers for them. Planned Parenthood is not running a fetal tissue "industry." I don't know how other abortion providers work, but at Planned Parenthood clinics women can donate their aborted fetuses (not collect cash). Planned Parenthood charges research institutions only for the costs of maintaining & transferring the tissue (from $30 to $100). -- Constant Weader
Nick Gass of Politico: "Debbie Wasserman Schultz wants Marco Rubio to cancel his presidential fundraiser Tuesday evening at the home of a real estate investor who has collected art from Adolf Hitler and who also owns a signed copy of 'Mein Kampf.' There is 'really no excuse,' she said in a statement released through the Democratic National Committee, calling the event 'tasteless.' The Florida lawmaker and DNC chairwoman remarked that Rubio is 'adding insult to injury' by holding the event at the home of Harlan Crow and his wife Kathy in the tony Dallas suburb of Highland Park, Texas, on the eve of Yom Kippur, Judaism's holiest day." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
Ted's Filibuster Fetish. Jordain Carney of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) says the Senate should use its short-term spending bill to force President Obama to hand over the 'side deals' between Iran and international inspectors.... The administration says it has been briefed on the side deals but does not possess the documents." CW: Ted should learn to read bedtime stories to his kids at home instead of insisting on reading them from the Senate floor.
Chris Christie orders the chubby general of New Jersey's National Guard to lose weight.
Way Beyond the Beltway
Souad Mekhennet & William Booth of the Washington Post: "Moving among the tens of thousands of Syrian war refugees passing through the train stations of Europe are many who are neither Syrian nor refugees, but hoping to blend into the mass migration and find a back door to the West.... [There] are shady characters, too, admitted criminals, ISIS sympathizers and a couple of guys from Fallujah, one with a fresh bullet wound, who when asked their occupation seemed confused.... An Austrian security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there is a thriving black market for Syrian passports in Croatia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria, too."
James Kanter of the New York Times: "European Union ministers approved a plan on Tuesday that would compel member countries to take in 120,000 migrants seeking refuge on the Continent -- but only after overruling four countries in Central Europe. The plan to apportion the migrants, still only a small fraction of those flowing into Europe, was approved by home affairs and interior ministers of the member countries after a vigorous debate.... The Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia voted no. Finland abstained." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)
News Ledes
Guardian: "Egypt's president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, has pardoned at least two of the three journalists working for al-Jazeera English who were convicted of airing 'false news' and biased coverage. Mohamed Fahmy, a Canadian national, and his Egyptian colleague Baher Mohamed were among 100 people who have been pardoned. They will be released from prison later on Wednesday, state-run news agency Mena reported. The pardons came a day before Sisi plans to head to New York for the 70th session of the UN general assembly."
New York Times: "Yogi Berra, one of baseball's greatest catchers and characters, who as a player was a mainstay of 10 Yankee championship teams and as a manager led both the Yankees and Mets to the World Series -- but who may be more widely known as an ungainly but lovable cultural figure, inspiring a cartoon character and issuing a seemingly limitless supply of unwittingly witty epigrams known as Yogi-isms -- died on Tuesday. He was 90." ...
... Washington Post: Yogi Berra's most famous quotes. Here's one: "When you come to a fork in the road ... take it."`
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Reader Comments (16)
Hail and farewell to one of my heroes -- Yogi Berra.
If you can stand another wacky theory; I am convinced that Yogi was a genius. His famous aphorisms, superficially obvious or just dumb, on thoughtful consideration, are brilliant. I've done motivational lectures based on several of them.
My favorite: "When you come to a fork in the road, take it." Consider the options. You could just stand there; paralyzed by indecision. You could give up; turn around and go home. Or, take one. Which one? If there's nothing to choose between them, it doesn't matter which one. That's not the point. The point is to go forward. And if that fork doesn't take you where you want to be, go back and try the other one.
From this I would proceed to an explication of problem solving by 'Ariadne's Thread'.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariadne%27s_thread_(logic)
The kids ate it up.
Yesterday Charles Pierce commenting on Frank Rich's piece about Trump complained about having to weigh through all the movie references Rich had scattered throughout his essay. Being an avid film buff, I loved it! (another criticism was that after all, Rich is basically a theater critic as though he's not fit to also be a political commentator?) So today I'd like to play with another film reference: In the film, "House Calls" (one of the best) Walter Matthau and Glenda Jackson are sitting on a bed watching an old black and white film and Glenda recalls that back in those days couples couldn't be filmed in bed together and if they had to be they both had to have one foot on the floor. Glenda and Walter demonstrate how that could work if any canoodling could take place. I equate this hilarious experiment with the fact that when the Obama administration was implementing the AFCA they had to get halfway in bed with big Pharma. Now with Hillary following Bernie's stance on addressing this problem perhaps we can get out of bed all together. (The amount of money these Pharma companies spend on advertising is enormous––the one for Cialis plays continually as do other penile enhancement drugs as though bigger boners make better men).
The above story about Martin Shkrell and his playing around with life and death is despicable! "Hideous little bastard" is right.
I'm not a big fan of Ruth Marcus, but her piece today is perfect––especially the last line:
"Anyone else get the sense that the only woman Fiorina would be happy to see on the $10 bill is . . . Fiorina?"
Re Pope Francis, the contrast between his little Fiat and the ginormous Tahoes and Suburbans in the rest of his motorcade is quite amusing
http://wjla.com/features/pope-in-america/video-locals-watch-as-pope-francis-rides-through-southeast-dc
I am no fan of religion in any form, but I gotta say that I like this Pope
D.C.,
I am pretty sure the term "tools of ignorance" was in use long before Yogi Berra donned them, but his apparent humorous contretemps with the language were anything but ignorant, as you suggest. Most of them are entirely understandable sentiments wrapped in somewhat counter-intuitive phraseology. For instance, everyone gets what he means when he says "The place is so crowded, nobody goes there anymore." And any decent scientist could agree that "You can observe a lot by watching."
And speaking of science, at least Berra was never ignorant enough to claim that the theory of evolution was encouraged by Satan, or that the Big Bang Theory is a "fairy tale" concocted by "high-falutin' scientists."
Does that mean Ben Carson is a "low-falutin'" scientist? Or perhaps he is a denier of any kind of faluting. Wingers deny so much, one can never tell. I'll bet, if he ever played baseball, he'd deny that the umpire had the right to call balls and strikes. After all, he denies that the Supreme Court has the right to judicial review and claims that a president can ignore a SCOTUS ruling.
Carson may be able to get away with quite a lot of completely insane, insulting, and nonsensical pronouncements, but as Yogi once said "Every Napoleon has his Watergate."
@Akhilleus: "Every Napoleon has his Watergate." Or, "Even Napoleon had his Watergate."
It was St. Louis Post-Dispatch sportswriter Dan O'Neill who wrote that remark, imagining what Yogi might have said at a 2007 St. Louis U. commencement address that O'Neill missed. This is a Yogi-ism Yogi never uttered.
Marie
"We should not have a multicultural society."
Why, looka here, everyone, it's good old Jeb Bush, just back from the 1980s. Say hey, there Jebbie. How are those multicultural wars going back there in 1984? Reagan sure has them immiygrants and ESL types on the run, don't he? Every day there are at least 20 or 30 new bills to make English the official and ONLY language of the US of A. But listen here, it's 2015 now. Confederates pretty much lost those multicultural wars even though they pretend, like the Civil War, that it's still not decided.
Oh well, Jeb Van Winkle will wake up one day. Maybe. Prob'ly still a bit out of it on account-a that low energy thing.
And try as I might, I cannot hold the lexical snark at bay when presented with a delicious phrase like "retarded assimilation". Isn't that the kind of assimilation most favored by Confederates?
Ba-dum-bum.
Can't make this stuff up, no sirree bob. As Steven Colbert said last night in his interview with Trumpy, during which he thanked him profusely for the daily torrent of stupidity. "I’m not going to say this stuff writes itself, but you certainly do deliver it on time every day."
And Jebbers is no slouch with the stupid either. Keep it comin' amigo. Oops, I mean pal.
Marie,
Ha. Ya got me. I never remembered Berra saying that but I found it on a site listing his statements, and it certainly sounded like something he might say, so I went with it. I needed a good finish. Shoulda checked it out though. Thanks for the correction.
You just can't believe everything you read online. Including stuff I write myself!
And speaking of lexical snark, I'm a little pissed at the AP. How is it that Confederates are always given the benefit of the doubt, doubt being the operative word here?
So the locution adepts hovering over the AP stylebook have decided to take the onus off wingers who claim that science-based assertions that climate change has occurred and that humans may play a role in affecting it, are completely false.
The preferred phrase for referring to such idiots has been "climate change deniers", the last part of which the AP now takes issue. Their newly writ term is "climate change doubters" which makes no sense at all. I buy the idea that the use of the word "skeptic" is wrong because of its concern for scientific accuracy. These people hate science, and their interest in accuracy extends solely to ideology not science. So "skeptic" is out, and with good reason. But look up "doubter". In many dictionaries, it is defined as a skeptic, including the Oxford online dictionary, which puts us back where we started.
Not to mention the fact that a doubter is one who is not sure, who doesn't have good enough information to go on one way or the other, or one who is pretty sure the story she's being told is not correct.
These people aren't "doubters". They have no doubt that they are right and 300,987,345 climatologists and data analysts are wrong. Doubt plays no part in their calculations.
And extirpating the word "denier" because of its connection to the Holocaust is a worthy goal, but these people are in fact denying that climate is changing and that changes thus brought about will have catastrophic effects across the planet and that is a potential outcome that deserves to be taken seriously.
I opt for the simple and uncomplicated expression "assholes".
The more dainty AP souls can opt for A-holes if they so choose. I'm okay with that too. Calling them doubters gives their position a status and a gravity it doesn't deserve.
They're not doubters.
Assholes. Yeah. That's it. Assholes.
While Congress fiddles, people go hungry. Apparently, the USDA has instructed the states to freeze the processing of food stamp benefits in anticipation of the threatened government shutdown. So the hypocrite Christians (hypochristians?) are making a yet another sanctimonious stink, this time over the bogus Planned Parenthood videos, and as a result, children and adults who are alive in this country, will have to suffer pangs of hunger while these people make their point.
Have they never read Matthew 25, where Jesus makes it quite clear what will happen to those who choose not to feed the hungry, tend to the sick, welcome the stranger, and visit the imprisoned? Hellfire and brimstone all the way.
Please support your local food pantry.
Here's a local article on the USDA's order: http://ctmirror.org/2015/09/22/feds-tell-states-to-stop-processing-food-stamp-benefits/
RE: Daraprim & The "Business" of Medicine
My Father (R.I.P.) was a humble & ethical man.
A child-immigrant to this country, he strove to become a respected Microbiologist who headed teams responsible for the discovery of (many) life-saving drug treatments, for both humans and animals.
He was never a "businessman". Nor was he made a billionaire by (what is now referred to - 'though absent from the lexicon during his lifetime) "Big Pharma". His interest was in finding cures for diseases and their affordable treatments, here and world-wide.
And so I carry a very personal sense of fury and indignation for this young shyster, Martin Shkreli, and his $750.00 dollar bullet.
(Marie: I suspect that your price-lowering expectations are on target.)
While I still miss the exchanges with my Pater, I choose to imagine he has been spared the likes of Shkreli and the mega-monetization of The Art of Medicine.
(The word "shyster" comes to us from the German "scheisser" - - which, literally, means "one who shits".)
Re Rx RipOff:
It doesn't have to be this way.
Some years ago, working on a project with Centre Spatial dc Liege, a visit that was supposed to last a couple of weeks turned into a couple of months. I ran out of a prescription. The wife of one of my colleagues was a physician, so I asked him if she could help me out. He took the empty pill bottle and next morning handed it back full. This was a fairly expensive Rx, and I asked what I needed to pay for it. He looked at me rather oddly and said, "You can't pay for it. In Belgium there is no mechanism by which you can pay for such."
Belgium has one of the most equal distributions of wealth, and highest standards of living, in the world. Top quality, universal health care is taken for granted. No one there ever complained to me that they felt overtaxed, or that freeloaders were bankrupting the economy. Hell, in that instance, I guess I was a freeloader.
(Apologies if already featured - but overlooked - on Reality Chex)
Text & Video from Democracy Now! via Truthout:
"Native Groups Protest Pope Francis' Canonization of Junípero Serra Over Role in California Genocide"
http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/32936-native-groups-protest-pope-francis-canonization-of-junipero-serra-over-role-in-california-genocide
A corollary to D.C.'s story about prescription prices in Belgium and Ophelia's memory of how things were done by people like her father, (versus the crazy "free marketism" here in the states, the idea being that there's not just one way to do things) arises in an unusual story in Slate about how energy prices in Texas, because of a confluence of events and energy distribution arrangements, dropped to zero. That's right: zero dollars. Prices then turned the corner and dropped into negative territory.
Like many magic tricks, this situation has several parts, the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. In this case, the pledge is lower energy prices. The turn has to do with how the state of Texas handles its grid, and the prestige, or finale, is cost for energy in negative numbers, ie, below zero.
Sounds nuts, but it's apparently true.
And I bring this up as Confederates are losing what's left of their warped, little minds over something as extravagantly dangerous as the XL pipeline.
Even more interesting is the fact that wind power, unlike coal or natural gas, has very little cost, and further, that this magic trick is being pulled off in TEXAS!
The upshot is that there are many ways of being in the universe just as there are many ways to get things done, to do work, to maintain health standards, to educate a population and keep citizens safe. The Confederate way (white and Christian only, fossil fuel or bust, no government backed healthcare, text books written by religious kooks and racists, and guns everywhere you look)is not the only way.
Back to me and my languages again...
Does speaking a foreign language make you multicultural? To put it another way, is it possible to effectively learn a language without having its cultural base rub off on you, knowingly or not? Can you watch the tv series or read the literature of another culture and not have any of it seep into your being? What, by the way, is the American archetype everyone should assimilate to? If they don't do so, are they all NOT Americans? Well let's take it from the horse's mouth:
Jeb! speaks Spanish, and is married to a Mexican. Is that not the epitome of a multicultural household. He is the shining example of the scary society he just denounced.
Not only does this defy all logic, as he is essentially ignoring our country's entire history, but the GOP leadership is collectively reinventing our national identity to conform to only their xenophobic white God-fearing electorate. After this statement, who hasn't been caught in their web of revisionism?
Something or someone needs to take this bastard down completely. He and others like him deserve every bad thing that could possibly happen to them. Shkreli - "shyster" - "scheisser", very fitting indeed. Thank you Ophelia.