Friday
Sep262014
The Commentariat -- Sept. 27, 2014
Internal links, graph removed.
Neil Irwin of the New York Times: "From 2001 to 2007, 98 percent of income gains accrued to the top 10 percent of earners.... In the first three years of the current expansion, incomes actually fell for the bottom 90 percent of earners, even as they rose nicely for the top 10 percent. The result: The top 10 percent captured an impossible-seeming 116 percent of income gains during that span.... One percent of the population, in the first three years of the current expansion, took home 95 percent of the income gains." ...
... CW: Voters & reporters must confront politicians of both parties at every opportunity to ask them what their plan is to reverse this 75-year trend. I look forward to hearing from John Boehner & Paul Ryan about the sanctity of the free-market economy, blah-blah. Makers & takers, my ass. Ryan has it exactly backwards. ...
... digby has an illuminating post in Salon on why the majority of Republicans still believe in the "American dream": "They don't see it as a middle-class goal at all, much of it made possible by the promise of a decent education and secure retirement, guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. No, they believe that the American dream is getting filthy rich." CW: Their dream is better than your dream. Their dream, however, is the impossible dream.
Joby Warrick of the Washington Post: "Data released Friday by the Energy Department show American factories and power plants putting more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the first six months of 2014 compared with the same period in each of the past two years. The figures confirm a reversal first seen in 2013, when the trend of steadily falling emissions abruptly halted. The higher emissions are primarily a reflection of a rebounding economy.... The shift also underscores the challenge confronting the Obama administration as it seeks to honor a pledge to sharply cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases by the end of the decade."
Patrick Wintour of the Guardian: "Britain has embarked on a renewed war in the Middle East, starting with air strikes in the next 48 hours, after MPs overwhelmingly sanctioned a UK air assault against Islamic State targets in Iraq." ...
... Griff Witte & Rebecca Collard of the Washington Post: "Three European nations [-- ... Britain, Denmark & Belgium] -- joined the widening U.S.-led air campaign against Islamic State militants in Iraq on Friday, even as the group's fighters renewed their attempt to overrun a strategic border city in Syria.... All three countries that authorized military action on Friday decided to limit their involvement to Iraq. Meanwhile, Islamic State militants demonstrated that airstrikes have failed to slow their assault on critical positions within Syria." ...
White House: "In this week's address, the President reiterated the forceful and optimistic message of American leadership that he delivered in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly earlier this week":
... AP: "American warplanes and drones hit Islamic State group tanks, Humvees, checkpoints and bunkers in airstrikes Friday targeting the extremists in Syria and Iraq, as the U.S.-led coalition expanded to include Britain, Denmark and Belgium." ...
... Joan Lowy of the AP: "An al-Qaida cell in Syria known as the Khorasan Group, which was targeted by U.S. airstrikes this week, represents 'a clear and present danger' to commercial flights to Europe and the United States, the Obama administration's top aviation security official said Friday. The purpose of the airstrikes was to disrupt an 'imminent attack or attack entering the last phases of execution,' said John Pistole, head of the Transportation Security Administration. The Khorasan Group has been researching and testing improvised explosive devices designed to elude airport security.'"
Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Japan said it would change its laws in order to be able to send soldiers on United Nations peacekeeping missions. Mexico said it would revive its involvement in United Nations peacekeeping. Indonesia, Mongolia and Bangladesh promised to prepare troops for rapid deployment. The pledges were part of an unusual session led by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr.... There are more peacekeepers than ever before -- 130,000 troops, police officers and civilian staff members, according to the United Nations. Attacks on them are rising."
Brian Knowlton of the New York Times: "... Richard A. Stengel, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, believes the United States has no choice but to counter [ISIS social media] propaganda with a forceful online response.... Digital operators at the State Department are directly engaging young people -- and sometimes jihadis -- on websites popular in Arab countries, publishing a stream of anti-Islamic State messages, and one somewhat shocking video, on Facebook or YouTube or Twitter, using the hashtag #Think Again Turn Away."
Mohammed Daraghmeh of the AP: "Facing pressure at home to come up with a new strategy for achieving Palestinian statehood, Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he would ask the U.N. Security Council to dictate the ground rules for any talks with Israel, including setting a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian lands. In a speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, the Palestinian leader also accused Israel of conducting a 'war of genocide' in Gaza, but stopped short of saying he would pursue war crimes charges against Israel."
Sahil Kapur of TPM: Michael Carvin, lawyer for the plaintiffs in Halbig v. Burwell, on why the Supreme Court will hear his case even though it is likely that the lower courts will all have consistently ruled against the plaintiff (a three-judge D.C. panel ruled in favor, but the full en banc court is likely to overturn that ruling): "I don't know that four justices, who are needed to [take the case] here, are going to give much of a damn about what a bunch of Obama appointees on the D.C. Circuit think." ...
... Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "It's not every day that an attorney states openly to a reporter that he thinks he's going to win his case because he expects the justices to behave like partisan hacks."
Missed this. Craig Timberg & Greg Miller of the Washington Post (Sept. 25): "FBI Director James B. Comey sharply criticized Apple and Google on Thursday for developing forms of smartphone encryption so secure that law enforcement officials cannot easily gain access to information stored on the devices -- even when they have valid search warrants. His comments were the most forceful yet from a top government official but echo a chorus of denunciation from law enforcement officials nationwide.... He said he could not understand why companies would 'market something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law.'" ...
... Markos Moulitsas thinks the new encryption is great!
Why the Fed Didn't Prevent the Financial Meltdown. Jake Bernstein of ProPublica writes a long piece based on secret recording & a confidential report for the Fed that shows how the big banks "captured" Federal Reserve employees supposed to oversee the banks' transactions. If the bank examiners found fault with a transaction, Fed higher-ups could be counted on to "rein in" the examiners. CW: It's no surprise that these banks operate with impunity, that every authority from the president on down kowtows to them. The ProPublica report shows how the nitty-gritty of how fix works re: Fed regulation. If a bank examiner tries too hard to curb a bank's illegal or questionable activity, she just might get fired for, um, failing to be a team player. ...
... The audio story by This American Life is here. The transcript is here. ...
... As Michael Lewis succinctly puts it in Bloomberg View: "The Fed encourages its employees to keep their heads down, to obey their managers and to appease the banks. That is, bank regulators failed to do their jobs properly not because they lacked the tools but because they were discouraged from using them.
Steve Peoples & Ken Thomas of the AP: "Fighting to improve their brand, leading Republicans rallied behind religious liberty at a Friday gathering of evangelical conservatives, rebuking an unpopular President Barack Obama while skirting divisive social issues. Speakers did not ignore abortion and gay marriage altogether on the opening day of the annual Values Voter Summit, but a slate of prospective presidential candidates focused on the persecution of Christians and their values at home and abroad -- a message GOP officials hope will help unify a divided party and appeal to new voters ahead of November's midterm elections and the 2016 presidential contest." CW: Yes, because Democrats are totally in favor of persecuting Christians. ...
... Olivia Nuzzi of the Daily Beast: "Rand Paul and Ted Cruz's back-to-back speeches at Friday's Values Voter Summit offered a preview of what the Republican presidential primary would look like should the two senators decide to run for president in 2016.... The crowd did not seem to notice Cruz's blatant pandering -- or if the did, they didn't mind. They were up on their feet so often to applaud the Texas senator that his speech was practically an aerobics class. Paul's reception, meanwhile, was markedly less enthusiastic." Read the whole post.
... Here's the New York Times report, by Jeremy Peters. Contra Nuzzi, it turns out Paul did cite some scripture. And contra the AP report, Paul didn't exactly "skirt social issues," Peters reports: "Mr. Paul emphasized his opposition to abortion. As he was introduced to the crowd, a video of an ultrasound and the murmur of a beating heart played, accompanied by lines from Mr. Paul's speeches like, 'I will always take a stand for life.'" Creepy. ...
... Luke Brinker of Salon runs down the five craziest things Cruz said in his speech. CW: Bear in mind, Ted's misrepresentations were totally lost on the "values voters." Facts don't matter to true believers.
Quit Picking on Republicans/"Pathetic Losers"!
... Chris Moody of Yahoo! News: "A Republican adman [-- Vinny Minchillo, who worked for Mitt Romney --] unveiled a new public relations campaign this week to soften the image of the Grand Old Party using the guiding slogan 'Republicans Are People, Too.' The promotional push came complete with a highly produced video, a website and social media efforts.... [Hilariously,] in 1974, when the heavily damaged GOP brand was reeling from the Watergate scandal that brought down Richard Nixon, the Republican National Committee launched its own 'Republicans Are People Too' initiative in an attempt to recast the party...." Minchillo told Moody he was unaware of the Nixon-era campaign. Craig Shirley, a political consultant & Reagan biographer, described the '74 campaign as "the wail of pathetic losers."
Gail Collins: Republican Congressional candidates want you to know their Democratic opponents are really fans of terrorism. Also, Scott Brown is an idiot. ...
... On that subject, Scot Lehigh of the Boston Globe attended Scott Brown's "major speech on foreign policy" (as advertised): "As far as I can tell, Brown has been studying under the tutelage of Sean Hannity. Which is to say, he has cast his gaze about the globe, catalogued the various problems that have arisen in the last half-decade -- and blamed them all on President Obama. His foreign-policy reasoning, to the extent it can be called that, runs this way: Post Barack ergo propter Barack." When asked, foreign-policy-expert/Obama basher Brown wouldn't answer whether or not Congress should vote on authorizing Obama to fight ISIS. Read the whole column.
Here's the "Daily Show" segment in which Jason Jones interviews Washington's football team fans & Native American activists about the team's name:
Beyond the Beltway
Jason Stein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Opponents of Wisconsin's voter ID law fell just short Friday of getting a full federal appeals court to reconsider their recent loss in the case before a panel of judges. On Sept. 12, a three-judge panel of the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Chicago ruled that Wisconsin could implement the law for the Nov. 4 election. The law requires voters to show a photo ID in order to vote.... The members of the court split 5-5 on whether to hold the hearing, which means that the request did not get a majority of votes and failed as a result.... All five who declined to take the case were appointed by Republicans, and three of the five sat on the panel that first decided the case.... There is a chance that the U.S. Supreme Court could yet consider the matter." Thanks to Victoria D. for the lead. ...
... Ernst-Ulrich Franzen for the Journal Sentinel Editorial Board: "The voter ID issue is settled -- at least for the Nov. 4 election: Voters will be required to bring a photo ID to the polls. We think that's an unnecessary burden to place on voters and could cause some to stay home for lack of a proper ID. And, with only a few weeks before the election, some may find it difficult to get one. But our hope is that officials and voters will rise to the occasion and not allow this attempt at voter suppression to achieve its goal. Make sure you have or obtain a proper photo ID -- and vote. If you know someone who needs a photo ID, help that person get one. It does matter."
Julie Bosman of the New York Times: "The Justice Department on Friday pressured the Ferguson Police Department to stop its officers from wearing bracelets stamped with the message 'I am Darren Wilson,' in solidarity with the police officer who is being investigated for shooting an unarmed black 18-year-old, and from covering up their name plates with tape.... In a stern letter to Chief Thomas Jackson, Christy E. Lopez, deputy chief of the special litigation section of the Justice Department's civil rights division, said that the bracelets 'upset and agitated people.'" ...
... CW: It's pretty pathetic when the Justice Department has to urge a police chief to exercise common sense. If the Ferguson mayor & city council had any sense themselves -- which clearly they don't -- they would fire Tom Jackson.
News Ledes
New York Times: Chelsea Clinton "gave birth to her first child -- with her husband, Marc Mezvinsky -- on Friday and posted the news on Twitter early Saturday." The child, a daughter, is named Charlotte Clinton Mezvinsky.
Washington Post: "James A. Traficant Jr., an iconoclastic nine-term Ohio populist in the U.S. House of Representatives who was convicted on corruption charges in 2002, becoming the second member of Congress to be expelled since the Civil War, died Sept. 27 at a hospital in Youngstown, Ohio. He was 73."
Share Article
Comments for this entry have been disabled. Additional comments may not be added to this entry at this time.
Reader Comments (5)
In a split decision the 7th Circuit Ciurt of Appeals refused to grant en Banc reconsideration of a panel's ruling allowing Wisconsin's voter ID (suppression) law to go forward.
All the justices who refused rehearing were appointed by Republican presidents.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/27/us/federal-court-declines-to-take-up-wisconsins-voter-id-law.html?smid=nytcore-ipad-share&smprod=nytcore-ipad
Thank you! Thank you for posting the graph and the piece by Neil Irwin. The dead tree version is below the fold on B1 and the graph is modified, with the 10% next to the 90% which does not produce the same visceral reaction. The second graph of the 1% gaining 95% of the income growth doesn't appear at all in the paper.
This story and especially the graph above should be front page news. It is class warfare and the rich have won. We are not just imagining things. It really is different!!!
@Niskyguy, my sentiments, exactly when I saw CW led with Irwin's article and CHARTS on inequality. These should be made into posters! Billboards! Then maybe those blinded by Republican rhetoric on how 'exceptional' life is here—might wake up and re-think their likely vote.
In another "charted' article (this on WaPO)...(What is this? Chart Day?) http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2014/09/26/eric-holders-legacy-is-one-of-a-loyal-deputy-an-unpopular-one/
"Holder departs as a pretty unpopular attorney general"
The article by Aaron Blake focuses on 'how bad, how unpopular, et al" Holder is. Short memories abound, who can forget those other splendid attorneys general?
The charts could have been expanded to include: John Mitchell, Edwin Meese, Michael Mukasey, et ilk.
...and the recent 'winner' looks like Alberto Gonzales to me!!
A day or two late to this, but Random--my favorite deity-- willing, we will have many more to think about the implications of Obama's recent speeches on confronting terrorism and dealing with environmental and medical disasters.
In each case, ISIL, global warming or ebola, the core message was that the immense challenges that face us do not face the United States alone, that they are world problems, and that--the crux--solutions demand international cooperation.
In each speech, what Obama delivered was a 21st century version of Stewart Brand's Whole Earth lite--and it's about time.
In previous weeks, he's even taken a tentative rhetorical step or two to recognize that corporate shenanigans on the international stage also call for international cooperation and problem solving.
So there we have it: terrorism, environmental and human health, out of control business interests, each and all fundamental challenges to human existence, none can be met if we don't act on the principle that we are all one people, that it's a fight between tribal interests and the human race, and if we continue to act as if wherever we live or whatever we believe is the only place or way of life on earth, we will all lose--everything.
Dare one hope? On this Saturday morning anyway, just maybe.
Once again my comment (to the Collins column) has been squelched by the NYT. Thought I'd share it here in case there were any Simpsons fans:
"Hi, I'm Troy McClure. You may remember me from fear-mongering TV ads like the attack on Barry Goldwater that starred a little girl picking petals off a daisy (spoiler alert! only to be blown to smithereens because electing Goldwater would ensure nuclear war with the Soviets!), George H.W. Bush's "Willie Horton," in which a big, black man invades your house and kills your family because you voted for Michael Dukakis, ..."
"Is this a clips show? You bet!
"I enjoy playing spooked white people in NRA promos, including a 1993 ad called 'The Laughing Criminal' that includes this exchange: 'The average criminal released from prison will commit 187 more crimes per year!' 'I'm not in the prison-building business!' Actually, that ad didn't convince many voters to vote Republican, but it did remind us that prison-building could be profit building! And how!
"My favorite campaign? Well, it's been running since the 1970's and blames legal abortion on Democrats, when everyone knows that the GOP could have passed and signed legislation to repeal Roe v. Wade at any time during 2003 or 2004. They didn't, and you didn't ask them why? You just passed the Republican citizenship test!
"We have so many more attack ads to get to, but we'll need to do that on another day. For now, kudos to Scott Brown, Joni Ernst, and Monica Wehby! Keep up the good work! Maybe the voters are dumb enough to believe you! We'll find out in November!
"Well, thanks for being so easily convinced. I'm Troy McClure."