The Commentariat -- Sept. 30, 2012
My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on the New York Times' policy of using the term "illegal immigrants" to describe undocumented residents.
** David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Mr. Obama’s biggest mistake as president has not been the story he told the country about the economy. It’s the story he and his advisers told themselves."
"To See Ourselves as Others See Us." Kevin Sieff & Richard Leiby of the Washington Post: "Eleven years into the war, NATO troops and Afghan soldiers are still beset by a dangerous lack of cultural awareness, officials say, contributing to a string of insider attacks that have threatened to undermine the military partnership. So the Afghan army is trying something new: a guide to the strange ways of the American soldier. The goal is to convince Afghan troops that when their Western counterparts do something deeply insulting, it's likely a product of cultural ignorance and not worthy of revenge." Sieff & Leiby include English translations of some of the advice in the booklet -- definitely worth a read.
Elizabeth Titus of Politico: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid became the latest high-ranking Democrat to defend the Obama administration's handling of information following the Sept. 11 Libya consulate attack, saying he was 'deeply concerned about recent attempts to politicize the tragic events.'"
Follow-Up. A couple of days ago I posted a video of a young woman in Colorado who was trying to register only declared Republican voters. In an article on the growing evidence of GOP-sponsored voter registration fraud in Florida, Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times writes, "In Colorado, a young woman employed by Strategic Allied was shown on a video outside a store in Colorado Springs recently telling a potential voter that she wanted to register only Republicans and that she worked for the county clerk's office. The woman was fired, said Ryan Call, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party." Strategic Allied is the same outfit -- hired & recently fired by the GOP -- that has been submitting false voter registration forms & committing other related crimes & misdemeanors.
Presidential Race
Quote of the Day. You know, I think my biggest concern, obviously, would just be for his mental well-being. -- Ann Romney, responding to a question about what her "primary worry" would be about a Romney presidency. Thanks to reader Judy K. for the link. ...
Mike Lillis of The Hill: "Rallying the Democratic faithful in Fort Myers, Fla., [Vice President] Biden characterized [Rep. Paul] Ryan as 'the ideological center' of the Republican Party and warned the crowd that Romney's plan to cut Medicare -- among other popular federal programs – is hiding in plain sight. 'What Gov. Romney did in picking Paul Ryan is he has given clear definition to all those vague assertions he was making during his primary campaign,' Biden said. '[And] nowhere is it more clear what they would do than in Medicare.'"
The Obama campaign is back to hitting Romney for destroying "good American jobs" as part of Bain Capital's corporate takeovers. There's a much more comprehensive hit list at this campaign Webpage. Via Alexander Burns of Politico:
Ann Gerhart & Philip Rucker of the Washington Post on Mitt Romney & His Money. The writers try to explain Mitt's relationship to the Almighty Dollar; it is largely positive, but informative. There's a related photo slideshow here.
* * *
Peter Baker & Ashley Parker: "With more than 50 million people watching and the presidency at stake, the candidates will meet for their first debate on Wednesday at the University of Denver, and both are cramming like college students before an exam.... Mr. Romney's team has ... equipped him with a series of zingers that he has memorized and has been practicing on aides since August. His strategy includes luring the president into appearing smug or evasive about his responsibility for the economy." CW: can hardly wait. Nothing is funnier or more effective than a spontaneous bon mot you've been practicing for 6 weeks. ...
... Steve M. of No More Mister Nice Blog: "... if Romney competently delivers a zinger or two, Chuck Todd will no doubt replicate the restaurant scene from When Harry Met Sally, and he won't be faking. People like him will declare Romney the victor as a result."
... CW: A few weeks ago, Jim Lehrer announced the topics for the first debate. I have a couple of suggestions for questions that would fit right in and keep the candidates from rambling or going off-topic:
(A) Mr. Romney, how much do you hate the 47 percent of Americans who are in the tank for President Obama? Answer (1) for "I don't hate them; I don't even think about those low-life moochers. They're not my problem." Answer (2) for "I wouldn't use the word 'hate.' More like 'despise,' 'disdain' or 'abhor.'" Answer (3) for "I hate their lazy, dissipated guts, & I have a plan that will make most of them self-deport in leaky rowboats. Thanks for asking, Jimbo."
(b) Mr. President, Sir, have you ever traveled with Bo on the roof of the Beast? Answer (1) for "No, absolutely not." Answer (2) for "No, and I wouldn't put a kitty or a gerbil or a pet lizard on the roof. Unlike Willard there, I'm an animal lover. And a people lover. I care about every one of you, my fellow Americans, and I'm ready to devote the next four years of my life to serving you-all. God bless America."
I hope some of you will suggest equally appropriate, fair & balanced questions.
CW: I can't tell which of these posts from Dan Amira of New York magazine, on the campaign's attempts to set debate expectations, is factual, so you be the judge. This one sounds pretty good, but Amira's report on memos from the campaigns seems plausible, too.
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Tom Friedman: "Mitt Romney ... acts instead as if he learned his foreign policy at the International House of Pancakes, where the menu and architecture rarely changes.... Romney has chosen ... to go with the same old G.O.P. bacon and eggs -- that the Democrats are toothless wimps who won't stand up to our foes or for our values, that the Republicans are tough and that it is 1989 all over again. That is, America stands astride the globe with unrivaled power to bend the world our way, and the only thing missing is a president with 'will.' The only thing missing is a president who is ready to simultaneously confront Russia, bash China, tell Iraqis we're not leaving their country, snub the Muslim world by outsourcing our Arab-Israel policy to the prime minister of Israel, green light Israel to bomb Iran -- and raise the defense budget while cutting taxes and eliminating the deficit."
Keeping It Classy. Matt Dixon of the AP: "In audio picked up by an answering machine, a volunteer for the Republican Party of Clay County can be heard calling President Barack Obama 'a Muslim' and saying he wants to 'get rid of your Medicare' while reaching out to voters in support of Mitt Romney's campaign. The call was made as part of a statewide phone bank for Romney's campaign being conducted by the Clay County GOP."
Andrew Rosenthal of the New York Times discusses a remark by former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, a Romney advisor, in which Bolton likened President Obama's foreign policy to a homophobic slur.
Nicholas Lemann talks about his profile of Mitt Romney which appears in this week's New Yorker (the article is firewalled):
News Ledes
New York Times: "Only two days after joint operations between American and Afghan forces were said to be returning to normal, five people -- two Americans and three Afghans -- were killed when a pitched battle broke out between soldiers of the two sides.... Afghan officials said that the clash on Saturday was a misunderstanding and that the Americans apparently attacked an Afghan National Army unit in error. A top coalition officer said the Americans were attacked first...."
AP: "U.S. military deaths in the Afghan war have reached 2,000, a cold reminder of the human cost of an 11-year-old conflict that garners little public interest at home as the United States prepares to withdraw most of its combat forces by the end of 2014. The toll has climbed steadily in recent months with a spate of attacks by Afghan army and police against American and NATO troops...." ...
... Washington Post: "An apparent insider attack killed one NATO soldier and a civilian contractor Saturday, hours after the United States said joint raids with Afghan forces were returning to normal. Saturday's attack, which also killed several Afghan troops...."
New York Times: "Xi Jinping, who, despite a recent two-week absence from public view that raised questions about his health, is on the cusp of taking over as China&'s supreme leader at a party congress that officials announced Friday would begin Nov. 8."
Al Jazeera: "At least 25 people have been killed in a series of attacks in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital, and elsewhere. Four car bombs in the Taji neighbourhood in the north of the city killed at least six and injured eight others...."
AP: "Three weeks after a massive Catalan separatist march in Barcelona -- the biggest since the 1970s -- the independence flags still flutter from balconies across Spain's second largest city. Spain's crushing recession has had this divisive consequence: soaring popular sentiment in Catalonia that the affluent region would be better off as separate nation."
Reuters: "Hundreds of Muslims in Bangladesh burned at least four Buddhist temples and 15 homes of Buddhists on Sunday after complaining that a Buddhist man had insulted Islam...."
Guardian: "A Russian court is due to hear the appeal of jailed punk band Pussy Riot on Monday against a two-year sentence for performing an anti-Kremlin song in a Moscow cathedral. The case against Pussy Riot highlighted the crackdown on freedom in Vladimir Putin's Russia and the rising power of the Russian Orthodox church."
AP: "Neil Young, the Black Keys, Foo Fighters and others wowed thousands who turned out Saturday night for a free concert in Central Park to call attention to poverty worldwide. Dubbed the Global Citizen Festival, the concert also featured K'naan, John Legend and Band of Horses, with Young's performance capping off the evening. Video of the event was streamed worldwide as about 60,000 music fans crowded the park's Great Lawn...."
AP: "Carmageddon II, the sequel to last year's shutdown of one of the nation's busiest freeways, is going according to script as many Los Angeles drivers heeded warnings to stay off [Interstate 405]. Traffic tie-ups were minimal Saturday as construction crews worked around the clock to tear down a portion of the Mulholland Drive bridge on Interstate 405 as part of a $1 billion project to add a new carpool lane. Officials said the demolition was on schedule and that they expect to reopen the freeway as planned for Monday morning."
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Reader Comments (12)
Dear Ann Romney: Yeah, me too.
Lady Romney-
My concern doubles for You People.
Here's the happy thought of the day: according to a Pew Research study, Romney's 47% speech has been viewed three times as often as his convention speech. Here's the link:
http://www.businessinsider.com/romneys-47-viewed-more-than-convention-speech-2012-9
Narrator:
Mr. Romney, the 2008 election put the first African American into the Presidency of the United States. What are your thoughts considering the idea of potentially becoming the first Mormon to become President and what does that mean to you, personally, as a covert pseudo-practioner?
Romney, "Well, you know, our country took a big step in electing an African into office. It has really strengthened the roots between our two countries, Angola and the US. Economically speaking, Africa is a very important nation and as President I will create 12 million jobs in Africa in just my first term.
Being able to replace this Minority and bring my people back to the White House is a divine sign from the man up above. Now don't get me wrong, since 1978 my church has granted those blackened people equal status in society. I think that shows our progressive nature, changing with the times. But now it's our turn. It's time to see a Mormon sworn into office. As Supreme Bishop and President of the United States, I will shower the globe with the foot soldiers carrying the true Word of God. I will become legendary and after my passing, I will have my carcass stuffed and put on display in the Mormon Museum which I will fund through charity as is my custom. And, because I'm President, I will make it my duty to write these expenses off of my taxes for doing otherwise would prove me unfit for the office of the Supreme Bishop and President of the United States."
Narrator, "Mr. President, you governed the first four years with a message of bipartisanship that at times proved to be difficult. If you are re-elected, how will you close the ideological divide between the two parties and create a harmonious political environment within the Washington Establishment?
Obama, "Shortly after taking office, a fellow American that I respect dearly publicly declared to the American people that his sole mission in life was to have me be a one term President. This particular person will be getting the first phone call of my second term. The message will be short and simple: Get on the bus, or get outta the way.
I faced bitter opposition to every policy I supported, even when these positions hurt the American people. More Americans could be working today if Republicans hadn't systematically blocked every effort for a jobs bill. For my second term, I'm going to bring together and work together with all of my colleagues who want to work for a better America. Those other folks who come to Washington with their conflicting interests will find themselves on the sidelines. My second term will be about reviving the economy and improving the lives of each and every American in our great nation. Elected representatives should come to play ball, or don't come at all."
Memo to: Ann Romney
In re: Mitt's mental health
In case you haven't noticed, Your Ladyship, that yacht sailed long ago.
Am now reading Lemann's profile of Romney in the New Yorker. Here's a segment I found interesting:
Jensen and Meckling [faculty members at the U.of Rochester's business school] in 1976, argued that publicly held corporations were poorly managed, because their chief executives, with their generous salaries and high job security, had no real incentive to "maximize the value of the firm." If a company could be restructured so that it was run by the owner, and if it could take on a lot of new debt that it had to pay down with cash, then it would maximize its value, rather than the comfort and prestige of it C.E.O.
'In the nineteen-eighties, Harvard Business School hired Michael Jensen as a faculty member, and the battles between him and the pro-corporate professors defined the intellectual life of the school just as much as the battles over critical legal studies defined Harvard Law School when obama was a student there.
Jensen argued in favor of junk bonds, hostile takeovers, leveraged buyouts, and stock options for chief executives. Mitt Romney and others, with these new techniques at their disposal, were able to raise pools of capital and use it to slice, dice, and rearrange the American economy. In a speech in 1993, Jensen announced that the country was experiencing a "third industrial revolution." It was as economically consequential, he said, and likely to become as politically and culturally controversial, as the industrial revolutions of the nineteenth century."
Hence the venture capital fund of Bain began its buy-out–consulting– business bragging about their "all powerful analytic methods," they weren't traders, they were "efficiency experts," what they did was "operational engineering." Lehmann says in Romney's mind "he is a master chief executive who started a very successful business that brought a particular approach to problems––not a guy who used debt to buy and resell businesses."
More later after I finish article.
Re: Good questions, JJG; Since I was born above the 47th rung on the ladder, I never gave those people a thought until I wanted their vote. Frankly, I was more than a little surprised to find out those people's votes count. If elected I will try to change the "one person, one vote" to "one dollar, one vote."
My plan for the economy is very much like my underwear; it's magic, nobody can see it, and at the end of the day, it stinks.
My religion will not affect the way I will run the government; I will be the same lying, cheating, greedy son of a bitch that the good lord wants me to be.
My foreign policy will be based on the bottom lines of our patriotic suppliers to the military.
My policy on health care has never wavered. I was against the bill I signed as governor. Look closely at the photo of the signing; my fingers were crossed.
My wife said she is concerned about my mental health? Ha, she'd say anything to get a new horse. Everyday I wake up to a clean slate; I'm like a great white shark, always moving towards a good meal, never thinking about anything but the next bite. Ha, my wife, take her, I've got more.
A thank you out to the Constant Weeder and the someone from the Heartland for responding to my query re: Ann Coulter yesterday.
Thomas Friedman may be the columnist one likes to poke fun at, but he has today written a truly insightful, well crafted column analyzing and comparing the foreign policy approach of Romney and Obama. One of the many points Friedman raises is the relationship of strong domestic policy, including investments in infrastructure and education, to our national security. He observes that Romney had a knee jerk response to the violence in Libya which would have included the immediate use of force. By waiting, Obama allowed the Libyans themselves to demonstrate against the perpetrators of the violence....
It's well worth a read....which is probably why Marie linked it, come to think of it!
OMG! J.D. Kleinke, a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (a conservative "think tank"---oxymoron), opines that Obamacare is basically a conservative solution to the health care crisis for which Mitt Romney should take credit! The link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/30/opinion/sunday/why-obamacare-is-a-conservatives-dream.html?pagewanted=2&hp
The Post story on this new handbook to explain boorish and insulting westerners to Afghan troops calls to mind the never ending whine by the right, at least in this country, that even acknowledging cultural norms and customs in foreign countries is tantamount to apologizing for being American, one of Willard the Rat's favorite tropes.
Remember that international man of mystery, George Dubya Bush, slamming anyone who had even a middling familiarity with foreign customs and languages (even though he tried to parlay his limited knowledge of Spanish "Hola!" into something approximating a multicultural sensibility)? His administration displayed how dangerous such cultivated ignorant parochialism can be when, after lying to start a war in an Islamic country, none of his senior staff had any idea how Sunnis differed from Shiites. Rather like passing yourself off as a Wall Street trader and not knowing the difference between stocks and bonds. Pure imbecility.
But it's a right-wing imbecility that Romney has bought into.
Utilizing any knowledge of another culture, even knowledge that could ward off or ameliorate unnecessary deaths is somehow an act of treason to the dearly held anchor of American Exceptionalism.
Their idea is that everyone must bend to us, must acculturate themselves to the American Way. This is the mindset of totalitarianism.
Sorry George and Mittens, they don't hate us for Our Freedoms, they hate us (most of them anyway) for your ignorance.
Morons.
RE: Illegal immigrants,
Sorry Marie, but I disagree with you on this. IMO, "undocumented residents" is just a euphemism for illegal immigrants, much like "death taxes" is used by conservatives to describe estate taxes. They ARE here illegally. As a liberal Democrat who lives in a small rural farming community, I am well acquainted with this issue. I see, everyday, the impact on the community, on the schools and on the public services such as police and health care. I know people who have had their social security numbers stolen, jeopardizing their social security and their credit. I have had license plates and registration stickers stolen so that illegal immigrants can obtain "legal documentation". The large number of uninsured drivers in our county means that our insurance premiums are higher. So to me, "undocumented" does not make it sound better, because the lack of those documents makes it harder for everyone else as well. As a social liberal, however, I do have compassion for their situation and do not necessarily want them deported (unless they've been convicted of drunk driving, and then I want them OUT), I want a solution to the immigration issue in this country. Do you have one?
I want them to be able to obtain their immigration status and the documentation they need LEGALLY, not ILLEGALLY by stealing mine. I have worked and played side by side with illegal immigrants for 30 years and they are neither all good, nor all bad. We should be debating how to the solve the problem, not what we call them.